Iraq

The Real Lessons from the Iraq War, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 1, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 Our nation was founded as a limited-government republic. It was a type of government whose powers were few and limited. That’s the way our ancestors wanted it. They believed that the greatest threat to their freedom and well-being lay not with some foreign threat but rather with their very own government. Our ancestors were fiercely ...

The Real Lessons from the Iraq War, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 Twenty years ago — March 19, 2003 — the U.S. government launched its invasion and war of aggression against Iraq. It was a deadly intervention, one that resulted in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people and thousands of U.S. soldiers. The invasion and resulting occupation also succeeded in destroying ...

The Iraq War Was a Systematic Atrocity

by James Bovard June 1, 2023

Media coverage of the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War mostly portrayed the war as a blunder. There were systematic war crimes that have largely vanished into the memory hole, but permitting government officials to vaporize their victims paves the way to new atrocities. On the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, former First Lady Barbara ...

Come You Masters of War

by Matthew Harwood July 1, 2017

America’s War for the Greater Middle East by Andrew J. Bacevich (New York: Random House, 2016; 480 pages) America’s military involvement in the Middle East began in classic imperial fashion, according to military historian and retired Army colonel Andrew J. Bacevich. They had something we needed, and we made sure we had access to it. “Oil has ...

The Worst Mistake in U.S. History

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2017

The worst mistake in U.S. history was the conversion after World War II of the U.S. government from a constitutional, limited-government republic to a national-security state. Nothing has done more to warp and distort the conscience, principles, and values of the American people, including those who serve in the U.S. military. A good example of how the national-security state has ...

Iraq and American Sniper

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 2015

Last January the movie American Sniper was breaking box-office records and generating a national debate over the nature of war and how the movie depicts war. The movie revolved around Chris Kyle, a real-life U.S. soldier who had four tours in Iraq as a sniper and, in the process, set a record for the number of people killed by ...

The Libertarian Angle: The Discovery of Iraq’s WMDs (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation October 20, 2014

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and FFF vice president Sheldon Richman discuss the hot topics of the day. This week: the recent revelations of the U.S. government's decision to hide its discovery of chemical weapons in Iraq. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Go to the podcast.

Obama Follows Bush’s Iraq Playbook

by Sheldon Richman September 10, 2014

U.S. politicians are exploiting the gruesome beheadings of two American journalists to whip up war fever against ISIS, the “criminal gang” masquerading as an organization of devout Sunni Muslims that controls large parts of Syria and Iraq. The American propaganda campaign seems to be working if recent polls are accurate. No decent person is anything ...

The Libertarian Angle: Iraq

by Future of Freedom Foundation August 25, 2014

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and FFF vice president Sheldon Richman discuss the hot topics of the day. This week: the continuing saga of Iraq. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Go to the podcast.

Mission Creep in Iraq

by Sheldon Richman August 21, 2014

There are several reasons not to intervene militarily in another country’s conflict, even modestly. One is the potential for mission creep. We already could detect the signs of mission creep in Iraq. Now, with the stepped-up U.S. airstrikes after the Islamic State's horrific execution of American reporter Jim Foley, the signs are clearer than ever. On August 7, Barack Obama sa

Out of Iraq, Etc.!

by Sheldon Richman August 13, 2014

Nearly a century ago, after four bloody years of World War I, British colonialists created the state of Iraq, complete with their hand-picked monarch. Britain and France were authorized — or, more precisely, authorized themselves — to create states in the Arab world, despite the prior British promise of independence in return for the Arabs’ revolt against the Ottoman ...

The Noninterventionists Told You So

by Sheldon Richman June 18, 2014

Contrary to popular belief, there is no satisfaction in being able to say, “I told you so.” This is especially so with Iraq, where recent events are enough to sicken one’s stomach. Yet it still must be said: those who opposed the George W. Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq in March 2003 — not to mention his father’s war ...