It Was About “Regime Change” from the Get-Go by Jacob G. Hornberger May 7, 2004 Spain has now completed the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq. Other countries that are following suit include the Dominican Republic and Honduras; El Salvador and Poland are contemplating doing the same. Unlike the United States, which is determined to continue its indefinite occupation of Iraq, it is ...
No Draft — Ever! by Sheldon Richman May 5, 2004 Iraq has become a bottomless pit for American blood and treasure. (To the Bush administration, Iraqi casualties seem unworthy of counting.) Congress will provide the treasure, compliments of the taxpayers. But who will provide the blood? At the moment, there are not enough men and women under arms. ...
Marry and Let Marry by Sheldon Richman May 3, 2004 President George W. Bush has amply demonstrated that he is a stranger to the U.S. Constitution. He’s meddled in education, about which the Constitution has not one word. He aspires to give taxpayers’ money to religious groups doing social work, despite the First Amendment’s barrier to state entanglement with ...
Imperial Shame for America at Abu Ghraib by Jacob G. Hornberger May 3, 2004 The sex-abuse, rape, and torture scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq might explain why U.S. officials have steadfastly opposed joining other nations in the formation of an international war-crimes tribunal. When government officials are actively involved in war crimes, the last thing they want ...
Rebuilding America: Foreign Policy by Jacob G. Hornberger May 1, 2004 Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet empire, it has been an article of faith among many Americans that an extensive overseas military empire and a massive domestic military-industrial complex are vitally important and greatly beneficial to our country. Being the world’s “sole remaining superpower,” it has been widely believed, enables the ...
Is Free Trade Obsolete? Part 2 by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2004 Part 1 | Part 2 Is it time to throw out all the textbooks that defend free trade? Some people — including one former free trader — think so. Last month we saw how Ricardo’s law of comparative advantage, operating through the price system and the phenomenon of opportunity cost, induces people and groups to specialize in the production of ...
The Neocon War on Peace and Freedom, Part 2 by James Bovard May 1, 2004 Part 1 | Part 2 In their book An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror, David Frum and Richard Perle’s attitude towards civilian casualties shines through in their brief discussion of the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq from 1990 to 2003. During the first Gulf War, the United States intentionally destroyed Iraq’s infrastructure. A 1995 ...
Government Interventionism in Ireland, Part 1 by Scott McPherson May 1, 2004 Part 1 | Part 2 Ireland at the turn of the 20th century was poised for change. Most of Irelands inhabitants wanted to alter in some respect the nature of their relationship with Great Britain, which had been interfering in Irish affairs for more than 700 years. In 1801 the British government had even declared Ireland to be, constitutionally, ...
The Colonial Venture of Ireland, Part 1 by Wendy McElroy May 1, 2004 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Irish history has been likened to the cry of wind through a ruined house because so much of it deals with destruction and the breaking of a whole into parts. Centuries of conflict between Catholic and Protestant, Irish rebel and British authority offer a dramatic narrative ...
Fourth Circuit Moussaoui Ruling Is a Loss for the Constitution by Jacob G. Hornberger April 30, 2004 Although the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals paid the obligatory lip service to the Sixth Amendment in the Zacharias Moussaoui case, in an audacious act of judicial activism, its ruling effectively rewrote and negated the Sixth Amendment to account for the government’s new “war on terrorism.” While ostensibly upholding the Constitution, the court’s ruling was actually a ...
Privatize the Airwaves! by Sheldon Richman April 26, 2004 The Federal Communications Commission has begun a new crackdown on “indecency” on radio and television. While the baring of Janet Jackson’s breast during the Super Bowl halftime show created a stir, the FCC has mainly focused on “shock-jock” radio. Someone called Bubba the Love Sponge lost his ...