Iraq

Better Late than Never on Sanctions

by Sheldon Richman May 16, 2003

The Bush administration wants the United Nations to lift the economic sanctions against the now-Hussein-less Iraq because they impose cruel hardship on the Iraqi people. Better late than never. Some of us have been saying for years that the sanctions were a cruel and futile attempt to undermine Saddam Hussein’s regime ...

The O.P.S.B.

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 16, 2003

Prior to and during President Bush's recent war on Iraq, there were multitudes of old American men (i.e., men more than 40 years old) who eagerly supported sending American troops into battle. Those American men who lacked the courage to “support the troops” in this way were denounced by ...

Backpedaling on Iraqi Weapons

by Sheldon Richman May 3, 2003

The campaign of deception continues, but the handwriting is on the wall. President Bush himself now says that so-called weapons of mass destruction may never be found in Iraq. But hes not yet willing to concede that perhaps Saddam Hussein was telling the truth when he said he had none. ...

Joining the Ranks of Aggressor Nations

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 2, 2003

It really doesn’t matter whether U.S. military forces now find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or not. From a moral standpoint, it’s too late for that. As everyone knows, in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, President Bush provided several justifications for the invasion, and people were ...

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 ...

What’s Wrong with Looting? It’s the American Way!

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 30, 2003

Responding to the massive looting committed by Iraqis as part of their newly found “freedom,” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld observed, “Stuff happens. It’s untidy. And freedom’s untidy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.” The reason for his indifference is simple: ...

U.S. Torture and Mistreatment of POWs and Criminal Suspects

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 28, 2003

Iraqi POW Death Under Scrutiny" CBS News. Rules of War Apply to Us Too, by Robyn E. Blumner St. Petersburg Times. Guantanamo example may hurt POWs, by Ivan Roman Orlando Sentinel. Hypocrisy In U.S. Demands That Call For Respect Of Geneva Conventions Dar Al-Hayat.

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 ...

If This Is Freedom, What Exactly Is Dictatorship?

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 21, 2003

Let me see if I have this right. In the United States of America: 1. The president now has the unrestricted power to declare war against a country that has not attacked the United States, wreaking death and destruction on both sides of the conflict. 2. The president now has ...

Drunk with Power

by Scott McPherson April 18, 2003

Following the inevitable victory of allied military power over Iraq’s decrepit army, White House officials were hesitant to express too much jubilation, lest their reaction be thought to lack seemly restraint. As buildings burned and children died, apparently they saw wisdom in a muted celebration. “Administration officials ...