Foreign Policy & War

West Pointers, Where Are You?

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 3, 2005

More than two years ago, I wrote a series of essays entitled “Obedience to Orders,” in which I suggested that graduates of the professional military academies were much more likely to blindly obey wrongful orders — and much less likely to stand up to their superiors in face of ...

Pat Robertson Describes U.S. Foreign Policy

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 26, 2005

Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has stirred up a firestorm with his call for “taking out” Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. What’s all the fuss about? All that Robertson has done is state publicly what has long been an important part of U.S. foreign policy — assassination of foreign rulers who behave independently of Washington. John Perkins described how ...

Africa Needs Freedom, Not “Aid”

by Sheldon Richman July 18, 2005

Politicians are never more dangerous than when they are thinking, “We’ve got to do something!” Take the just-adjourned G8 meeting in Scotland. The rulers of the most advanced economic powers (and Russia, go figure) met with the intention of looking as though they were doing something to end poverty in Africa. ...

Terrorism Comes with Empire

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 8, 2005

Question: Why didn’t the terrorists strike Switzerland instead of England? After all, the two countries share the same “freedom and values,” don’t they? Answer: The Swiss government didn’t attack Iraq. It doesn’t meddle in the Middle East. It didn’t participate in the brutal sanctions against the Iraqi people. It doesn’t maintain ...

Bush’s Foreign-Aid Fraud

by James Bovard July 1, 2005

President Bush has doled out more than $70 billion in foreign aid and loan guarantees to foreign governments, countries, and international organizations. He committed billions in new aid in large part to get the endorsement of a rock star and to garner applause at a United Nations summit. Because a minuscule percent of the aid will be paid out from ...

From Communism to Terrorism

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 13, 2005

A front-page article in the June 10, 2005, issue of the Los Angeles Times reported another disturbing feature about the 9/11 attacks: A chilling new detail of U.S. intelligence failures emerged Thursday, when the Justice Department disclosed that about 20 months before the Sept. 11 attacks, a CIA ...

Afghan Absurdities

by James Bovard June 1, 2005

Americans have heard many news reports about Bush administration falsehoods on Iraq. However, the scams of Afghanistan have not gotten as much attention as they deserve. Following are some examples of how the Bush administration has misled the American people regarding Afghanistan. In the wake of the U.S. military victory ...

Close the Bases and Cut the Spending

by Sheldon Richman May 30, 2005

The frantic reaction to the Pentagons plans to close 33 major military facilities demonstrates how heavily government dominates modern life. Most of the reaction had nothing to do with national security. After all, it is Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld floating the proposal. Who is going to believe that he and his boss, President Bush, are weak on the military? ...

Democracy, But Not Necessarily Freedom

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2005

Democracy is breaking out all over. Or thats the impression we get from the daily news. Maybe its true. Elections have been held in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories. Theres talk (just talk) of a real presidential election in autocratic Egypt. Whos next? One need not sanction the imperial Bush Doctrine to take inspiration from two salient ...

Pentagon Conduits

by Sheldon Richman April 25, 2005

As we now know, thanks to the New York Times, the military-industrial complex is well represented in the daily television news coverage of the Iraq and Afghan occupations. Those former generals who seemed generously to have come out of retirement to provide disinterested analysis of the Bush administration’s military ...

Book Review: Christianity and War

by Anthony Gregory April 1, 2005

Christianity and War; And Other Essays against the Warfare State by Laurence M. Vance (Pensacola, Fla.: Vance Publications, 2005); 118 pages. When asked to name his favorite political philosopher in late 1999 during a debate with other Republicans in the campaign for the presidential nomination, George W. Bush named Jesus Christ. Bush’s ...

Democracy May Be Breaking Out, But Is Freedom?

by Sheldon Richman March 14, 2005

Virtually everyone from President Bush to the New York Times sees democracy on a roll. Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinians, and Saudi Arabia (men, not women) have had elections. Egypt could be next. Is something really happening in that part of the world? Perhaps. The real question is, what is happening? People are ...