Boycott the Boycotters by Sheldon Richman April 30, 2003 I’m not much for consumer boycotts, but if I were to boycott anyone, it would be those who are calling on Americans to boycott the French. Chief among them is the Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly. Since I already don’t watch his program, I guess I can’t boycott him. ...
A Stupid War by Scott McPherson April 25, 2003 President Bush and his allies claimed emphatically during the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein was an evil madman in possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), requiring an immediate preemptive invasion to topple his dictatorial regime and avert a nuclear, biological, or chemical ...
The Costs of War and Some Who Benefit by Richard M. Ebeling April 11, 2003 War is never profitable for either the victor or the vanquished nation. It imposes various costs on the people of the combatant nations. First, and most obvious, war costs some of them their lives and leaves others permanently crippled and incapacitated. They are the victims on both sides whose ...
Obedience to Orders, Part 3: A Response to Paul Maini, VMI Alumni Association by Jacob G. Hornberger April 7, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses | Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass | Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss To: Mr. Paul Maini Executive Vice President VMI Alumni Association pmaini@vmiaa.org Dear Mr. Maini: My associates here at The Future of Freedom Foundation have been sent a copy of your critical email to ...
Hornberger v. The Brass by Jacob G. Hornberger April 3, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses | Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass | Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss From Colonel #1 (Pentagon) to Hornberger: Sorry, but I don't find your Part 2 article or your note below convincing or acceptable. You didn't limit your comments to the treatment of POW's, ...
The West Point Firestorm by Jacob G. Hornberger April 2, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses | Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass | Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss The following emails are responses to Jacob Hornberger’s series "Obedience to Orders." Also see "Hornberger vs. the Brass." ##### I can’t tell you how inspiring your essays – which target the bovine instinct that ...
Unnecessary Tragedy by Sheldon Richman April 2, 2003 The U.S. military’s killing of at least seven Iraqi civilians — including five little children — at a U.S. checkpoint on Route 9 south of Karbala certainly isn’t going to help win the hearts and minds of the people of that war-torn country. Whose fault was it? To answer that question, ...
Obedience to Orders, Part 2 by Jacob G. Hornberger April 2, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses | Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass | Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss Last week we posted my article Obedience to Orders, Part 1, which has generated a load of reader responses, including many from cadets and officers from both West Point and ...
Blackmail Bad, Bribery Good by Scott McPherson April 1, 2003 Tony Blankley, the editorial page editor of the Washington Times, is extremely upset. It seems the French, in an attempt to keep Eastern European nations from backing President Bushs war plans, are threatening to withhold European Union membership to countries who sign on to the U.S. agenda. According to Blankley, French president Jacques Chirac revealed himself to be a vulgar, ...
An American Empire! If You Want It instead of Freedom, Part 1 by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 Fifty years ago, the classical liberal author and journalist Garet Garrett published a collection of essays called The People's Pottage (1953). In the midst of the Korean War, he tried to persuade the American people that the United States was on a new course that conflicted with the original conception of the nation. Its ...
War as a Media Subsidy by Scott McPherson March 31, 2003 One can’t help but be amused by the way television news programs become practically weak at the knees when war looms. The prospect of reporting on a major armed conflict is met with almost universal applause by our friends in the entertainment, oops, the news industry — and it’s ...
Obedience to Orders, Part 1 by Jacob G. Hornberger March 29, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Reader Responses | Jacob Hornberger vs. the Brass | Jacob Hornberger’s VMI Valedictory Addresss I couldn’t help but be struck by the photograph in the mainstream press last week in which an Iraqi soldier who had been taken captive was resting in the arms of two American GIs. The prisoner ...