The Melding of Welfare and Warfare by Jacob G. Hornberger August 27, 2008 In a move that is certain to leave American anti-militarist liberals (i.e., leftists) in a quandary, the Pentagon has sent a U.S. Navy destroyer to Georgia to deliver “humanitarian aid” in the form of such things as baby food and bottled water. After all, don’t liberals believe that the primary mission of government is to ...
Is Iraq a Sovereign and Independent Colony? by Jacob G. Hornberger August 26, 2008 One cannot help but be amused over the negotiations taking place between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki over how long U.S. troops will be permitted to stay in Iraq and whether occupation troops will be subject to Iraqi law in the interim. My question is: Why is this something that even ...
“Red-Lining” in Cuba and Georgia by Jacob G. Hornberger August 25, 2008 In my August 19 blog, I pointed out how President Bush knowingly and intentionally ignored Russian President Putin’s warning that pushing to admit Georgia into NATO would cross Russian “red lines.” At the urging of the U.S. government, NATO, whose original mission was to defend against a Soviet attack, has already admitted many Soviet-bloc countries as members. U.S. officials ...
Dictatorial Power on War and Treaties by Jacob G. Hornberger August 22, 2008 If anyone still has any doubts about whether President Bush is exercising powers that any self-respecting dictator would relish, all he has to do is consider the military pact that Bush is entering into with Iraq. The pact involves the continued U.S. military occupation of Iraq as well as a date on which U.S. ...
Freedom of Speech in China and America by Jacob G. Hornberger August 21, 2008 According to today’s New York Times, two Chinese women, both in their 70s, have been sentenced to reeducation camp. The charge? Applying for a permit to protest, in accordance with rules previously established by Chinese communist authorities. The women wanted to protest the eminent-domain taking of their homes in Beijing for the purpose of ...
Lessons for Americans from Welfare-State Failure in Cuba by Jacob G. Hornberger August 20, 2008 Uh, oh! Problems in socialist paradise land. It seems that one of the primary bastions of socialism is considering moving away from its welfare-state principles. According to the Financial Times, “Cuba, one of the world’s surviving Communist states, is looking at watering down the generous social welfare system that has been a cornerstone ...
Home-Made Crises by Jacob G. Hornberger August 19, 2008 Yesterday, I wrote about how U.S. foreign policy ignites and engenders a variety of crises, especially since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Such crises are then used to get the citizenry all worked up and panic-stricken, which then enables the government to increase its power over ...
A New (but Old) Official Enemy by Jacob G. Hornberger August 18, 2008 With the Russian invasion of Georgia, Americans are able to capture a glimpse of another U.S. foreign-policy “success” story. The most shocking event in the history of the U.S. military-industrial complex, which President Eisenhower said was a grave threat to our democratic processes, occurred in 1989. That was the year that the Soviet Empire disintegrated, ...
Interventionist Hypocrisy by Jacob G. Hornberger August 15, 2008 Referring to Russia’s incursion into Georgia, President Bush says that invading a sovereign country that poses no threat is “unacceptable in the 21st century.” John McCain echoes that sentiment with, “In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.” What planet do Bush and McCain live on? Have they never heard of Iraq? That’s a ...
War Crimes at Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Jacob G. Hornberger August 14, 2008 This month marks the 63rd anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. U.S. officials have long justified the nuclear attacks on the rationale that the attacks shortened the war. If the bombs had not been dropped, the argument goes, tens of thousands of U.S. troops would have had to die ...
Neo-Con Hypocrisy on Georgia and Iraq by Jacob G. Hornberger August 13, 2008 Amidst the death and destruction in Georgia, the neo-conservative reaction here in the United States is a sight to behold. Aggression, the neo-cons are screaming. The Russians are waging an unprovoked war of aggression, they’re exclaiming. This is unacceptable, they’re declaring. Something must be done, they’re saying. Oh? Where were all those terms when the U.S. ...
A Tyrannical Farce at Gitmo by Jacob G. Hornberger August 12, 2008 In the first trial held in the Pentagon’s “judicial” system at Guantanamo Bay, Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, was acquitted of conspiracy, convicted of providing “material support” to a U.S.-named terrorist organization, and given a 5 ½ year sentence, with credit for the 5 years of time that Hamdan has already served at ...
