Foreign Policy & War

The Election Isn’t about Vietnam

by Sheldon Richman September 24, 2004

What a topsy-turvy election! One candidate chose to fight in Vietnam. One candidate avoided it. So which candidate is supported by opponents of the Vietnam war? As I said, topsy-turvy. We hear lots of people say that the election should be about terrorism, Iraq, Medicare, Social Security, the budget not about a war that ended 30 years ago and what ...

In Warsaw, a Good War Wasn’t

by Anne Applebaum September 1, 2004

The veterans have left town. The flags have been packed away for the Fourth of July. The memory of the Second World War, our Second World War, has been honored so now perhaps its worth taking a moment to honor someone elses. An opportunity to do so will present itself this Sunday, when CNN broadcasts an unusual documentary called ...

Thank Government for the Mess We’re in

by Sheldon Richman August 23, 2004

The first presidential election in the post–9/11 era has people thinking hitherto unthinkable thoughts: Should the election be postponed if a terrorist attack occurs before election day? What if there is an attack on election day? What happens if an attack takes the lives of the winner of the ...

Saddam, Chalabi, and Allawi Epitomize U.S. Foreign Policy

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 11, 2004

It would be difficult to find a better example of the moral bankruptcy and hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy — and why it has stirred so much anger, hatred, and terrorism against the United States — than the relationship of U.S. officials with Saddam Hussein, Ahmad Chalabi, and Iyad ...

Targeting Civilians at Hiroshima and Nagasaki

by Anthony Gregory August 6, 2004

The U.S. government has killed civilians for well over a century. During the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman waged war on civilians in Atlanta. During the Philippine Insurrection at the turn of 20th century, U.S. forces killed about ...

Mr. Bush, Are You There?

by Sheldon Richman August 4, 2004

If President Bush is trying to convince us that he hasn’t the slightest understanding of the Middle East, then he’s doing an outstanding job. Every statement he makes — and this goes for his secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, too — is soaked in ignorance. Any American who is paying attention should be ...

The Irish Soldiers of Mexico, Part 2

by Michael Hogan August 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 Most of those who had settled in America in the 18th and early 19th centuries had no real sense of national identity. Those in Virginia considered themselves Virginians, those in Texas, Texans or “Texicans,” and those from Maine, “Down Easters.” Allegiances were territorial rather than nationalistic. When the victorious American army finally entered Mexico ...

Should We Have Faith in the Government?

by Sheldon Richman July 30, 2004

Ever since the attacks of 9/11, unsanctioned alternative explanations of what happened and why have been in ample supply. What are the American people to make of these explanations? That depends on the alternative offered. My purpose here is not to lend credence to any of them, but rather ...

The Irish Soldiers of Mexico, Part 1

by Michael Hogan July 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 One of the least-known stories of the Irish who came to America in the 1840s is that of the Irish battalion that fought on the Mexican side in the U.S.-Mexico War of 1846–1848. They came to Mexico and died, some gloriously in combat, others ignominiously on the gallows. United under a green banner, they ...

Kerry: An Echo, Not a Choice

by Sheldon Richman June 7, 2004

In 1964 an incumbent president, Lyndon Johnson, was faced by a challenger, Barry Goldwater, who offered “a choice, not an echo.” In 2004 an incumbent president, George W. Bush, is faced by a challenger, John Kerry, who offers an echo, not a choice — a mere variation on a theme. That’s ...

Government Is Not “Us”

by Sheldon Richman June 2, 2004

“America is not what’s wrong with the world. I read all this stuff — people hate us, people don’t like us. The fact of the matter is, people line up to come into this country every year because it’s better here than other places, and because they respect the ...

Terrorism Debacles in the Reagan Administration

by James Bovard June 1, 2004

Many Americans are unaware of the dark side of U.S. foreign policys past. Some conservatives think that Ronald Reagans foreign policy began and ended with the thwarting of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, there were many other U.S. actions during his reign that did not reflect favorably on the U.S. governments devotion to human rights. There were few common-places that offended ...