Foreign Policy & War

Whither Congress?

by Scott McPherson September 23, 2002

As President Bush rushes the nation headlong into another foreign war, an important question should be finally and unambiguously answered: What exactly were those old gentlemen talking about in 1787 when they wrote that Congress, not the president, held the power to declare war? Are we to believe that they actually ...

Make Him an Offer He Can’t Accept

by Sheldon Richman September 16, 2002

President Bush is no Don Corleone. When the Godfather wanted something, he would make an uncooperative person an offer he couldn’t refuse. Mr. Bush, following his predecessor, makes his adversary an offer he can’t accept. Former President Clinton did this with President Milosevic of Yugoslavia before launching a war over Kosovo. Clinton made demands — including ...

Why Is the Self a Lesser Cause?

by Sheldon Richman August 20, 2002

War increases the burdens of government. If you seek evidence, look around. Government does not grow only in obvious ways, for example by gaining the power to hold individuals without charge or to monitor their lawful activities. It also grows through the promotion of a culture of sacrifice. In war, more ...

Feeling a Draft?

by Sheldon Richman August 12, 2002

Most people may have long forgotten it, but American males who turn 18 are still compelled to register with the Selective Service System. Failure to do so carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. What’s more, states have enacted laws barring nonregistrants from getting ...

Anything for War? George W. Bush and the Shadow of FDR

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 2002

In 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, “I am perfectly willing to mislead and tell lies if it will help win the war.” Now in wartime it certainly may be necessary for a general or a commander in chief to try to misinform or deceive the enemy about a planned attack or about the defense positions and strength of one’s ...

Can We Call It an Empire Yet?

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 2002

Once upon a time people who favored an aggressive global military policy for the United States avoided the word “empire.” They instinctively sensed the anti-American ring to it, so they found euphemisms and dismissed charges of U.S. imperialism as delusions from the fevered imaginations of unpatriotic agitators. Now that has begun to change. First the new imperialists approached the issue ...

Conscription: Not Now; Not Ever, Part 2

by Doug Bandow August 1, 2002

Part 1 | Part 2 Dubious international commitments have exacerbated the military’s recruitment and retention problems. Focus-group interviews have found young men to be reluctant to support America’s increasing role as international policeman. Reported two researchers at the Defense Manpower Data Center, “Youth today generally view the military as less attractive than before the end of the Cold War. A ...

Finding Safety from Terrorism

by Scott McPherson July 1, 2002

Since September 11, safety, security, and liberty are at the forefront of every American’s mind. As in most crises, some Americans believe that a stronger and more powerful central government is the answer. But is it? Responding to an increased demand for protection, the federal government has embraced a number of “solutions” to the terrorist threat, ...

Conscription: Not Now; Not Ever, Part 1

by Doug Bandow July 1, 2002

Part 1 | Part 2 ON SEPTEMBER 11, it had been almost 60 years since the U.S. homeland had come under attack. As they did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans turned to the military for their defense. But now, in contrast to the past, they are finding security in a volunteer military. When ...

The Price of Liberty and the Cost of War

by Jeffrey A. Singer July 1, 2002

Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, ...

The World’s Poor Lose a Friend

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2002

On May 2 the best friend of the world’s poor died at home in London. Peter Bauer was 86 and had just been named winner of the first Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, awarded by the Cato Institute. Never heard of Peter Bauer? That’s because his analysis of poverty ...

9/11 and Pearl Harbor

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 22, 2002

Immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attack, some people compared that attack to the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 12/7/1941. It now seems that the comparisons might be more appropriate than anyone could have imagined. Prior to Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt administration ignored increasing signs that a surprise attack somewhere in the Pacific was ...