Terrorism Comes with Empire by Jacob G. Hornberger July 8, 2005 Question: Why didn’t the terrorists strike Switzerland instead of England? After all, the two countries share the same “freedom and values,” don’t they? Answer: The Swiss government didn’t attack Iraq. It doesn’t meddle in the Middle East. It didn’t participate in the brutal sanctions against the Iraqi people. It doesn’t maintain ...
Bush’s Foreign-Aid Fraud by James Bovard July 1, 2005 President Bush has doled out more than $70 billion in foreign aid and loan guarantees to foreign governments, countries, and international organizations. He committed billions in new aid in large part to get the endorsement of a rock star and to garner applause at a United Nations summit. Because a minuscule percent of the aid will be paid out from ...
From Communism to Terrorism by Jacob G. Hornberger June 13, 2005 A front-page article in the June 10, 2005, issue of the Los Angeles Times reported another disturbing feature about the 9/11 attacks: A chilling new detail of U.S. intelligence failures emerged Thursday, when the Justice Department disclosed that about 20 months before the Sept. 11 attacks, a CIA ...
Afghan Absurdities by James Bovard June 1, 2005 Americans have heard many news reports about Bush administration falsehoods on Iraq. However, the scams of Afghanistan have not gotten as much attention as they deserve. Following are some examples of how the Bush administration has misled the American people regarding Afghanistan. In the wake of the U.S. military victory ...
Close the Bases and Cut the Spending by Sheldon Richman May 30, 2005 The frantic reaction to the Pentagons plans to close 33 major military facilities demonstrates how heavily government dominates modern life. Most of the reaction had nothing to do with national security. After all, it is Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld floating the proposal. Who is going to believe that he and his boss, President Bush, are weak on the military? ...
Democracy, But Not Necessarily Freedom by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2005 Democracy is breaking out all over. Or thats the impression we get from the daily news. Maybe its true. Elections have been held in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories. Theres talk (just talk) of a real presidential election in autocratic Egypt. Whos next? One need not sanction the imperial Bush Doctrine to take inspiration from two salient ...
Pentagon Conduits by Sheldon Richman April 25, 2005 As we now know, thanks to the New York Times, the military-industrial complex is well represented in the daily television news coverage of the Iraq and Afghan occupations. Those former generals who seemed generously to have come out of retirement to provide disinterested analysis of the Bush administration’s military ...
Book Review: Christianity and War by Anthony Gregory April 1, 2005 Christianity and War; And Other Essays against the Warfare State by Laurence M. Vance (Pensacola, Fla.: Vance Publications, 2005); 118 pages. When asked to name his favorite political philosopher in late 1999 during a debate with other Republicans in the campaign for the presidential nomination, George W. Bush named Jesus Christ. Bush’s ...
Democracy May Be Breaking Out, But Is Freedom? by Sheldon Richman March 14, 2005 Virtually everyone from President Bush to the New York Times sees democracy on a roll. Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinians, and Saudi Arabia (men, not women) have had elections. Egypt could be next. Is something really happening in that part of the world? Perhaps. The real question is, what is happening? People are ...
Murder or Ouster for Chavez? by Jacob G. Hornberger March 7, 2005 According to CNN, unnamed U.S. officials have branded the charge of Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez, that the U.S. government plans to oust him from office through assassination as “ridiculous.” Ridiculous? Maybe those particular unnamed U.S. officials aren’t familiar with a government organization known as the Central Intelligence ...
An Anti-Democracy Foreign Policy: Guatemala by Jacob G. Hornberger February 11, 2005 Unfortunately, the CIA “success” in Iran, which produced the CIA’s ouster of Iran’s democratically elected prime minister, bred a CIA “success” in another part of the world, Latin America. One year after the 1953 coup in Iran, the CIA did it again, this time in Guatemala, where U.S. officials feared the communist threat even more than they ...
A More Powerful President Is the Last Thing We Need by Anthony Gregory February 9, 2005 Vice President Richard Cheney recently credited George W. Bush with restoring the presidency to its proper station of authority and power. According to Cheney, the American presidency declined in its prestige and status in recent years, especially during the Nixon, Ford, ...