War on Terrorism

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right

by Sheldon Richman February 1, 2002

War has many bad consequences. One of the worst is the stigmatizing of dissent. Yet sometimes dissent is the only thing that stands between us and catastrophe. According to the U.S. government, the mission of the current war was to root out the terror network of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and their Taliban support in Afghanistan. So what did the ...

Keep the Borders Open

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 2002

This article was originally published in the January 2002 edition of The World and I. In times of crisis, it is sometimes wise and constructive for people to return to first principles and to reexamine and reflect on where we started as a nation, the road we’ve traveled, where we are ...

An Astounding Remark

by Sheldon Richman January 20, 2002

When Attorney General John Ashcroft told the nation, "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists," he wasn't blazing any new trails. He was merely doing what despots and would-be despots always do: attempting to intimidate into silence those who dare to question ...

The Bill of Rights at Work

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 15, 2002

The unfolding developments in the John Walker Lindh case and the Guantanamo "detainees" situation reflect why Americans should be so grateful to our early ancestors for demanding the first ten amendments to the Constitution as a condition of adopting the Constitution. Recall that there was tremendous resistance among the several states to the adoption of the ...

Curing the Political Disease of Terrorism

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 12, 2002

Since the U.S. government's bombing of Afghanistan has failed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice "dead or alive," the U.S. government has now decided to permanently extend its empire to that part of the world. Moreover, the bombing has killed thousands of innocent civilians, whose surviving friends and family members now have the incentive ...

Protecting Our Way of Life?

by Sheldon Richman January 10, 2002

Even when responding to a monstrous and unjustifiable provocation such as September 11, the U.S. government threatens our liberty. We have much to fear from the power in Washington. At least Osama bin Laden never says he has our interests at heart. We can't be lulled into trusting him. Not so with the U.S. government. It ...

Republic or Empire: Which Path for America in the 21st Century?

by Richard M. Ebeling January 1, 2002

IN THE FIRST ISSUE of Modern Age, a conservative journal of opinion, published in 1957, there appeared an article by the classical-liberal journalist and author Felix Morley on the question of whether America was still a republic or becoming an empire. He later developed this theme in his 1959 volume, Freedom and Federalism. Morley’s point was that ...

Does Endorsement of Military Tribunals Insult Bush?

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2002

As FFF friends and supporters know, we have taken a firm stand against President Bush's military tribunals. See, for example, "Military Tribunals: Another Step Away from Our Principles" by Jacob G. Hornberger and "Emergencies, Military Tribunals, and the Constitution" by Jacob G. Hornberger. In a recent conversation I had with Sheldon Richman, he ...

The Drug War and Terrorism

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2002

AMERICANS NO DOUBTwould be distressed to learn that the U.S. government helped finance the terrorist attacks that killed so many people in New York and Washington. It’s not such a far-fetched thought. According to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, terrorist organizations are financed in part by profits from trading in drugs. “The illegal drug trade is ...

Declare War before Waging War, Part 1

by Doug Bandow January 1, 2002

Part 1 | Part 2 LIKE MOST CRISES, the shocking attack on the World Trade Center caused a rush to government for protection. People seemed willing to accept almost any new restriction on liberty or new spending program in the name of fighting terrorism. Few seem willing to criticize the president should he decide to expand the war to Indonesia, ...

Military Tribunals: Another Step Away from Our Principles

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 29, 2001

President Bush's plan to form military tribunals to punish suspected terrorists is one more step away from the civilized principles of constitutional government and the rule of law that have long distinguished the United States from other nations in history. The president's tribunals would apply to two classes of accused terrorists: those captured as part of ...

A Victory for Freedom

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 22, 2001

Kudos to President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft for ultimately deciding to comply with the Constitution in the U.S. government's prosecution of suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, who is accused of having participated in the September 11 attacks. Bush and Ashcroft had threatened to try Moussaoui before a secret military tribunal whose Star Chamber and ...