Pope Benedict on Bush’s War on Iraq by Jacob G. Hornberger April 17, 2008 Unfortunately, during his private meeting with President Bush yesterday, it doesn’t seem that Pope Benedict repeated the sentiments on the president’s war on Iraq that he expressed prior to the president’s invasion of Iraq five years ago. According to an article in the Houston Catholic Worker, prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Benedict ...
Trying CIA Kidnappers and Torturers in Absentia by Jacob G. Hornberger April 16, 2008 Twenty-six CIA agents are scheduled to go on trial today for kidnapping. Unfortunately, all of them will be tried in absentia because the Bush administration, which has long claimed to be against torture, refuses to send the accused kidnappers to Italy, where the prosecution is taking place. The Italian indictment alleges that in June 2005 the ...
The Wars on Drugs, Terrorism, and Immigrants by Jacob G. Hornberger April 15, 2008 Ironically, the war on drugs has some interesting parallels with the war on terrorism and sometimes integrates with the war on immigrants. Recently, Norberto Ramirez, a 44-year-old Mexican father of five in the isolated village of Nocupetaro, Mexico, was kidnapped and brutally tortured by Mexican soldiers. The reason? Drug lords recently ambushed a Mexican army unit whose mission was to ...
Iran as the New Official Enemy in Iraq by Jacob G. Hornberger April 14, 2008 Uh, oh! It seems as though U.S. official are preparing the mindsets of the American people to accept a new official enemy in Iraq — Iran. You’ll recall that when the U.S. government invaded Iraq five years ago, the official enemy was Saddam Hussein. U.S. officials did everything they could to mold the mindsets of the American ...
An Immigration Problem with Italian Food by Jacob G. Hornberger April 11, 2008 Uh, oh! There is a big immigration problem occurring in Italy, specifically with Italian food being served in Italian restaurants. You see, it might not be Italian food after all. Why? Well, that’s where the immigration problem comes in. It seems that some of the best Italian restaurants in Italy are being run by — ...
The Federal Dole Brings Federal Control by Jacob G. Hornberger April 10, 2008 American colleges and universities are discovering that there’s a price to be paid for going on the dole: federal control over their activities. According to an article in Army Times, the Defense Department is implementing a new “get-tough policy” with colleges and universities that refuse to give the Pentagon equal access to their student directories. ...
The Military’s Disintegrating Family Life by Jacob G. Hornberger April 9, 2008 Last Sunday’s New York Times Sunday Styles section had an article entitled, “After War, Love Can Be a Battlefield” by Leslie Kaufman. The article was about the stresses and strains that the invasion and occupation of Iraq have placed on soldiers’ marriages. Major Levi Dunton told the Times that “he had trouble being involved with his family. ...
What Motivates the Terrorists? by Jacob G. Hornberger April 8, 2008 Immediately after 9/11, U.S. officials, led by President Bush and Vice-President Cheney, announced that the attacks were motivated by hatred for America’s freedom and values. Not so, responded we libertarians. Instead, the anger and hatred that people have in the Middle East for the United States is rooted in U.S. foreign policy, specifically the bad things that the U.S. ...
Going After the Lawyers by Jacob G. Hornberger April 7, 2008 In her Sunday column yesterday, St. Petersburg Times columnist Robyn Blumner tells an ominous story that describes the Bush administration’s attitude toward criminal-defense attorneys, an attitude that is remarkably similar to that held by Bush war-on-terrorism partner Pervez Musharraf, the brutal military dictator of Pakistan. Roy Black is one of the most prominent and successful criminal-defense ...
Are the Basra Deserters Bad Guys Too? by Jacob G. Hornberger April 4, 2008 According to a front-page article in today’s New York Times, more than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen, including military officers as high as colonel, refused orders to participate in the Iraqi government’s assault on Basra. The deserters either had no stomach for killing fellow Iraqis or they feared the later consequences (i.e., deadly retaliation) for doing so. Not surprisingly, the refusal ...
Was Killing Iraqi Children Worth It? by Jacob G. Hornberger April 3, 2008 A snapshot of the opening scene in the U.S. invasion of Iraq provides an excellent insight into the immorality and horror of the entire operation, from start to whenever it finally finishes. According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times, at the outset of the invasion the U.S. military dropped bombs on a palatial compound in which Saddam Hussein ...
Immigrants, Work, and Welfare by Jacob G. Hornberger April 2, 2008 One of the common laments of the anti-immigration crowd is that illegal immigrants are coming to the United States just to get on welfare. I suppose the idea is that illegal immigrants are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to an illegal guide to take them on a dangerous trek across the desert or have them ...
