Foreign Policy & War

An American Empire! If You Want It instead of Freedom, Part 2

by Richard M. Ebeling May 1, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 Also making a case for an imperial role for the United States is Deepak Lal, professor of international development studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Lal has long been a leading opponent of central planning and regulation in developing countries and a strong advocate of free markets and competition. On October 30, ...

Bush at War

by James Bovard May 1, 2003

This article was posted March 5, 2003. Bob Woodward, the famed Watergate investigator and now a senior editor at the Washington Post, was granted unprecedented access to George W. Bush and to some of the top players in his administration in the wake of September 11. The result is a new book — ...

Building Democracy in Iraq

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2003

So the Bush administration is going to bring democracy to Iraq. Leaving aside the dubious connection between democracy and freedom (it wasnt Operation Iraqi Democracy), theres a rather large potential problem in realizing that ambition: what if the Iraqis want to do something contrary to the administrations wishes? Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has already declared that the U.S. government ...

Boycott the Boycotters

by Sheldon Richman April 30, 2003

I’m not much for consumer boycotts, but if I were to boycott anyone, it would be those who are calling on Americans to boycott the French. Chief among them is the Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly. Since I already don’t watch his program, I guess I can’t boycott him. ...

A Stupid War

by Scott McPherson April 25, 2003

President Bush and his allies claimed emphatically during the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein was an evil madman in possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), requiring an immediate preemptive invasion to topple his dictatorial regime and avert a nuclear, biological, or chemical ...

The Costs of War and Some Who Benefit

by Richard M. Ebeling April 11, 2003

War is never profitable for either the victor or the vanquished nation. It imposes various costs on the people of the combatant nations. First, and most obvious, war costs some of them their lives and leaves others permanently crippled and incapacitated. They are the victims on both sides whose ...

Obedience to Orders, Part 3: A Response to Paul Maini, VMI Alumni Association

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 7, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses |  Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass |  Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss To: Mr. Paul Maini Executive Vice President VMI Alumni Association pmaini@vmiaa.org Dear Mr. Maini: My associates here at The Future of Freedom Foundation have been sent a copy of your critical email to ...

Hornberger v. The Brass

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 3, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses |  Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass |  Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss From Colonel #1 (Pentagon) to Hornberger: Sorry, but I don't find your Part 2 article or your note below convincing or acceptable. You didn't limit your comments to the treatment of POW's, ...

The West Point Firestorm

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 2, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses |  Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass |  Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss The following emails are responses to Jacob Hornberger’s series "Obedience to Orders." Also see "Hornberger vs. the Brass." ##### I can’t tell you how inspiring your essays – which target the bovine instinct that ...

Unnecessary Tragedy

by Sheldon Richman April 2, 2003

The U.S. military’s killing of at least seven Iraqi civilians — including five little children — at a U.S. checkpoint on Route 9 south of Karbala certainly isn’t going to help win the hearts and minds of the people of that war-torn country. Whose fault was it? To answer that question, ...

Obedience to Orders, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 2, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses |  Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass |  Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss Last week we posted my article Obedience to Orders, Part 1, which has generated a load of reader responses, including many from cadets and officers from both West Point and ...

Blackmail Bad, Bribery Good

by Scott McPherson April 1, 2003

Tony Blankley, the editorial page editor of the Washington Times, is extremely upset. It seems the French, in an attempt to keep Eastern European nations from backing President Bushs war plans, are threatening to withhold European Union membership to countries who sign on to the U.S. agenda. According to Blankley, French president Jacques Chirac revealed himself to be a vulgar, ...