Iraq

Pro-Democracy Killing in Iraq

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 14, 2007

During the recent Republican presidential debate, former Governor Mike Huckabee took Congressman Ron Paul to task for calling for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Huckabee suggested that it was irrelevant whether the United States should have invaded Iraq. The point, he stated, was that because the invasion ...

Iraq and Vietnam

by Sheldon Richman August 31, 2007

President Bush, one of the two most famous pro-Vietnam War members of his generation to avoid fighting in that war, has finally accepted what he previously rejected: that there are parallels between the war he ducked out of and his violent occupation of Iraq. (The other best-known famous pro-war war ...

Winning Is Losing

by Sheldon Richman August 10, 2007

It’s amazing what passes for news these days. Two Brookings Institution “liberals” who favored the invasion of Iraq before it occurred and have since led the war-cheerleading section are now getting attention for writing on the New York Times op-ed page that if the Bush administration stays the course, ...

Following a Couple Wannabes

by Bill Thompson August 1, 2007

In case you missed it, America has been at war in Iraq for four years, as of tomorrow . And despite more than 25,000 American casualties and a dwindling list of good reasons to stay, some modern-day Audie Murphys think those who make the common-sense suggestion to get our brave soldiers out of ...

Yes to Recriminations against Iraq Policymakers

by Sheldon Richman July 18, 2007

If, as President Bush claims, Iraq is a sovereign country and its government represents the people, then why are American officials ordering the parliament to cancel its August vacation and insisting that the al-Maliki government meet certain “benchmarks”? Is it sovereign or not? By what authority does the U.S. government ...

Bush War Policy Comes Crashing Down

by Sheldon Richman May 4, 2007

It’s been a rough several weeks for President Bush and the war party. Observe some recent headlines: “Training Iraqi troops no longer driving force in U.S. policy” — The McClatchy Newspaper story pointed out, “Military planners have abandoned the idea that training Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start ...

What’s to Lose?

by Sheldon Richman April 20, 2007

The other day President Bush charged the congressional Democrats with wanting to “legislate defeat” in Iraq. It’s a standard political ploy to smear one’s opponents, but maybe we should follow this line of thought (if that’s not too dignified a word) and see where it leads. What would an American defeat ...

Our Patience on Iraq Should Be Exhausted

by Sheldon Richman April 4, 2007

President Bush started the fifth year of his war in Iraq by pleading with the American people for patience. Give the escalation (“surge”) a chance to work, he said. He sees signs of success already, but the Democrats in Congress are showing their impatience, with the House attaching a 2008 withdrawal ...

War Lies and the 2004 Election

by James Bovard April 1, 2007

Shortly after he was reelected, President Bush declared that American voters had had their “moment of accountability” regarding the Iraq war. Since he had gotten slightly more than 50 percent of the votes in the November 2004 election, that meant that they had ratified his policies and that Bush was ...

Know When to Fold ’Em

by Sheldon Richman February 17, 2007

Hawks such as Sen. John McCain who oppose Senate resolutions against the so-called troop surge in Iraq make a pernicious argument. Such a resolution “is basically a vote of no confidence in the men and women we are sending over there,” McCain said. “We’re saying, ‘We’re ...

Bush’s Doublethink

by Sheldon Richman January 19, 2007

The most peculiar passage in President Bushs much-dissected surge speech was this: I have made it clear to the prime minister and Iraqs other leaders that Americas commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people. What could the president have meant by ...

Anti-Life Ethics in Iraq

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 15, 2006

As the debacle of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq continues to spiral downward, sucking countless more people into its death throes, some of those whose philosophy contributed to the fiasco remain steadfastly unrepentant for the death and destruction they have wrought. Among the unrepentant is George Weigel, senior ...