Iraq

We Want to Free You . . . but Just Dont Come Here

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 18, 2003

Amidst all the U.S. government outrage over Fidel Castro's tyrannical treatment of Cuban citizens, U.S. officials unfortunately remain steadfastly committed to working with Castro to forcibly repatriate Cuban refugees back into Castro's communist tyranny. For that matter, how many U.S. officials who are now claiming to have had a longtime, heartfelt urge to free the ...

The Moral Cost of Liberating Iraq

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 16, 2003

During the three weeks of the war on Iraq, Americans seemed to have been discomforted by accounts of Iraqis killed or injured, including both enemy soldiers and civilians. Perhaps that’s why the U.S. television networks, which provided around-the-clock coverage, scrupulously avoided exposing viewers to those gruesome scenes. ...

If Iraq Really Adopts Freedom, Should We Move There?

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 11, 2003

Model Amendments to the Iraqi Constitution of 2003 Whereas, the U.S. government has waged war on our land in which it has sacrificed the lives of dozens of its soldiers and those of thousands of the Iraqi people; and Whereas, the purpose of the war was to free the Iraqi people from ...

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 ...

How to Free the Iraqis

by Sheldon Richman April 11, 2003

In terms of the sheer image, no freedom lover could help but be moved by the scenes of Iraqis stomping on the fallen statue of the vicious dictator Saddam Hussein. Whether or not one thinks the U.S. government should have invaded Iraq (I believe it was an unconstitutional action), ...

Does the End Justify the Means?

by Bart Frazier April 11, 2003

When I saw Iraqis in Baghdad celebrating the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial regime, I could not help but jump for joy along with them. Only a heartless soul could watch the statue of Saddam Hussein come down in the middle of Baghdad and not be moved by the jubilant crowd ...

What If Democracy “Fails”?

by Scott McPherson April 11, 2003

Since the “justification” for war in Iraq noticeably shifted from ridding Saddam Hussein’s regime of its alleged cache of weapons of mass destruction, to liberating the Iraqis from an evil dictator and bringing democracy to a subjugated country, a hypothetical question arises: What if democracy “fails”? For months U.S. government ...

The Second Casualty of War

by Sheldon Richman April 7, 2003

President Bush has asked Congress for about $75 billion to begin paying for the war in Iraq and other costs related to it and the war on terrorism. (Some of the money will also pay for U.S. intervention in Colombia’s civil war.) Boy, is he living in a dream ...

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 ...

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 ...

An American Empire! If You Want It instead of Freedom, Part 1

by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 Fifty years ago, the classical liberal author and journalist Garet Garrett published a collection of essays called The People's Pottage (1953). In the midst of the Korean War, he tried to persuade the American people that the United States was on a new course that conflicted with the original conception of the nation. Its ...