War on Terrorism

Augusto Pinochet and the Conservative Threat to America

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 12, 2005

While some people might believe that those on the Left wing of the political spectrum pose the bigger threat to the freedom and well-being of the American people, nothing could be further from the truth. Today, the much bigger threat (Readhere and here) comes instead from the Right wing or conservative side ...

Gun Nuts at 30,000 Feet?

by James Bovard December 1, 2004

After the pervasive failure of airport security on 9/11, the Air Line Pilots Association sought federal permission for pilots to carry handguns to defeat hijackers. Capt. Steve Luckey, chairman of the association’s flight-security committee, explained, “The only reason we want lethal force in the cockpit is to provide an opportunity to get the aircraft ...

U.S. Regime Change, Torture, and Murder in Chile

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 24, 2004

President Bush’s recent trip to South America provides a valuable foreign-policy lesson for Americans. The president was greeted in Santiago, Chile, by some 30,000 angry demonstrators. But it was not only Bush’s invasion and war of aggression against Iraq that Chileans were angry about. Unlike so many Americans, the Chilean people have not fallen for ...

The No-Fault No-Fly List: Washington’s Most Irresponsible Agency Strikes Again

by James Bovard October 8, 2004

The Transportation Security Administration got another black eye recently when Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) revealed that he had been blocked from flying five times because his name triggered an alarm on the feds’ No-Fly list. Kennedy’s staff had to make multiple calls to high-ranking federal officials before the attempted travel ban was lifted on ...

Another Perverse Consequence of the “War on Terrorism”

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 10, 2004

Sometimes the perverse consequences of federal government policies and programs are evident immediately and sometimes they take a bit longer. For example, at the end of World War I, statists, imperialists, and interventionists were in ecstasy over the U.S. intervention, proudly claiming that the loss of more than 100,000 American deaths was worth the ...

The Endless War on Terrorism

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2004

It feels good when a public official, especially the president of the United States, speaks the truth, which is what happened on Monday when President George W. Bush uttered words that The Future of Freedom Foundation has been publishing ever since 9/11 — “I don’t think you can win .” Well, duh! ...

The Bush Betrayal

by James Bovard August 27, 2004

As we defend liberty and justice abroad, we must always honor those values here at home. George W. Bush, October 28, 2003 George W. Bush came to the presidency promising prosperity, peace, and humility. Instead, Bush has spawned record federal budget deficits, launched an unnecessary war, and made America the most hated nation in the world. Bush ...

FBI Blunders and the First World Trade Center Bombing

by James Bovard August 1, 2004

As Americans continue trying to understand how the government failed to stop the 9/11 hijack conspiracy, important clues can be garnered from examining the first World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. This bombing — the most economically destructive terrorist attack ever to occur in the United States up to that time — was partly ...

Should We Have Faith in the Government?

by Sheldon Richman July 30, 2004

Ever since the attacks of 9/11, unsanctioned alternative explanations of what happened and why have been in ample supply. What are the American people to make of these explanations? That depends on the alternative offered. My purpose here is not to lend credence to any of them, but rather ...

Padilla, Hamdi, and Rasul: Charge Them or Release Them

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 16, 2004

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that Yaser Hamdi and Shafiq Rasul (and other Guantanamo detainees) are entitled to seek habeas corpus relief in U.S. federal district courts to challenge their detention by U.S. military officials, the question naturally arises: What relief should the federal district courts ...

Terrorism Debacles in the Reagan Administration

by James Bovard June 1, 2004

Many Americans are unaware of the dark side of U.S. foreign policys past. Some conservatives think that Ronald Reagans foreign policy began and ended with the thwarting of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, there were many other U.S. actions during his reign that did not reflect favorably on the U.S. governments devotion to human rights. There were few common-places that offended ...

The Bush Administration’s Appalling Ineptness

by Sheldon Richman May 14, 2004

The ineptness of the Bush administration in the so-called war on terror is something to behold. One would not have expected the seasoned politicians and bureaucrats around President Bush to be so bumbling and tone-deaf. That they are both offers a valuable lesson: so-called experts are often worth less than any nonexpert with common sense. The ...