Explore Freedom

Points to Ponder at Five Minutes before Midnight

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 21, 2003

On the eve of the U.S. government’s upcoming invasion of Iraq, we might want to ponder some important points: 1. The invasion will be illegal under the supreme law of the United States. Our Constitution, which is the law that binds the conduct of our public officials, requires a congressional declaration of war before the president can ... [click for more]

What Do Facts Have to Do with It?

by Sheldon Richman February 12, 2003

If Osama bin Laden, who condemns Saddam Hussein as a socialist and a bad Muslim whom hed prefer to see overthrown, is in cahoots with the Iraqi dictator, he has a strange way of showing it. Perhaps President Bush is an ally of Husseins also: he agrees with bin Laden on all counts. Most people who studied Secretary of State ... [click for more]

True Internationalism

by Scott McPherson February 3, 2003

Speaking to a Georgetown University audience on January 23, Sen. John Kerry of Massachsuetts, one of six Democratic hopefuls for the presidential nomination, called for a “bold, progressive internationalism” to combat terrorism against the United States. “What America needs today is a smarter, more comprehensive and farsighted strategy for modernizing the Middle East,” he ... [click for more]

Is a Bankrupt Foreign Policy Worth It?

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 8, 2003

Is terrorism rooted in hatred for our “freedom and values,” as the Bush administration has steadfastly maintained ever since the September 11 attacks, or is it instead rooted in a bankrupt foreign policy whose adverse effects are finally rising to the surface? Before he was recently executed for killing two CIA agents, Mir Aimal Kasi, a ... [click for more]

Kissinger is the Wrong Man

by Sheldon Richman January 2, 2003

Henry Kissinger personifies all that is wrong with government in America, particularly the making of foreign policy. So it is no surprise that President Bush wanted him to chair the commission looking into the monumental U.S. intelligence failures that gave us 9/11. We can be grateful that Kissinger has resigned even before he got started. Throughout ... [click for more]

Another Frankenstein’s Monster

by Sheldon Richman December 27, 2002

When a nemesis such as Osama bin Laden speaks, one would expect his words to be of great interest. But this is apparently not the case. The latest audiotape of a voice purporting to be bin Laden’s prompted discussion principally of three issues: (1) Was it really him? (2) Why wasn’t it a videotape? (3) Where is he? There was ... [click for more]

The Axis and the Bully

by Scott McPherson December 17, 2002

Hoping to rally the country and the world around his “war on terrorism,” President Bush previously identified an “axis of evil” of rogue states that he claimed help to train, fund, support, or provide safe haven to terrorists, states that he hinted could easily find themselves in the sights of the U.S. war machine. These ... [click for more]

Arrogance Is Humility

by Sheldon Richman December 4, 2002

Taking a step back from all the particulars, the lesson of 9/11 is that for more than 50 years the U.S. government has put the American people in harm’s way by its heavy-handed intervention in bitter disputes throughout the Middle East. Then, despite hundreds of billions spent each year on “national security” and countless signals ... [click for more]

Make Him an Offer He Can’t Accept

by Sheldon Richman September 16, 2002

President Bush is no Don Corleone. When the Godfather wanted something, he would make an uncooperative person an offer he couldn’t refuse. Mr. Bush, following his predecessor, makes his adversary an offer he can’t accept. Former President Clinton did this with President Milosevic of Yugoslavia before launching a war over Kosovo. Clinton made demands — including ... [click for more]

Homeland Security and the Bureaucratic Dilemma

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 2002

On the evening of June 6, 2002, President George W. Bush delivered a brief nationwide television address in which he called for the creation of a new cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. The president stated that “America is leading the civilized world in a titanic struggle against terror. Freedom and fear are at war. And freedom is winning.” But in ... [click for more]

Liberty Again at Risk

by Sheldon Richman August 13, 2002

At the root of the concept “America” is the idea that you can go about your daily business without being monitored by the government. Indeed, every piece of literature about the horrors of totalitarianism includes secret police whose job it is to keep tabs on the people because everyone is under suspicion. This more than ... [click for more]

Anything for War? George W. Bush and the Shadow of FDR

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 2002

In 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, “I am perfectly willing to mislead and tell lies if it will help win the war.” Now in wartime it certainly may be necessary for a general or a commander in chief to try to misinform or deceive the enemy about a planned attack or about the defense positions and strength of one’s ... [click for more]