A Radical Question about the CIA in the Mainstream Press by Jacob G. Hornberger December 31, 2014 Several days ago, the New York Times, which of course epitomizes the mainstream press in America, asked a question that ordinarily would be found mainly on libertarian websites like that of The Future of Freedom Foundation. In the Room for Debate section of the Times’ Opinion Pages, the Times asked: “Do We Need the C.I.A.?” In the introduction to the debate, the Times pointed out: Since Senator Daniel Patrick Moynahan introduced bills in 1991 and 1995 to abolish the Central Intelligence Agency and transfer its powers to the State Department, many have continued to share his concerns about the agency’s competence and performance. The Senate intelligence committee’s report on the use of torture is the latest example of the agency’s controversies. The Times concludes its introduction with this remarkable question: Would the security needs of the United States be better served if the C.I.A. were dismantled? That is a remarkable development. When was the last time you read that question being asked by ...
Libertarians vs. Conservatives on Torture by Jacob G. Hornberger December 17, 2014 Sometimes people who are new to libertarianism think that libertarianism is just a subset of conservatism. Nothing could be further from the truth. While there are some overlaps on economic issues, libertarianism is a philosophy that stands squarely against conservatism and, for that matter, liberalism or, as it is commonly known, progressivism. The current national debate on torture provides a good dividing line between libertarians and conservatives. Conservatives love the fact that the U.S. government has a program of “enhanced interrogation.” They want to see more of it. Libertarians hold that the U.S. government’s torture program is one of the most shameful and despicable federal programs in U.S. history. Consider these two articles by two prominent conservatives, which pretty much express the views of the conservative movement: “I Am Not Sorry the CIA Waterboarded” by Bret Stephens and “Tortured Reasoning” by Thomas Sowell, both of whom are conservatives. If you would like to understand how conservatives view the torture scandal, ...
Judicial Deference to the Torturers by Jacob G. Hornberger December 15, 2014 In case anyone is wondering whether any of the CIA’s torture victims will be able to recover damages from CIA torturers, the answer is an unequivocal no. The federal judiciary decided a long time ago that it would not permit lawsuits brought by victims of the CIA or, for that matter, the U.S. military. Among the best examples are two cases that came out of the Chilean military coup of 1973, a coup that was secretly engineered by the U.S. government, operating primarily through the CIA and the U.S. military establishment. One case involved the kidnapping-murder of Chilean General Rene Schneider, who was the overall commander in chief of the Chilean armed forces during the Salvador Allende administration. Schneider angered the CIA because he refused to discuss the CIA’s wish for a military coup that would oust Allende from power and install a military dictator in his stead. The CIA’s position was that it was the moral duty of Chile’s national-security establishment ...
Make the CIA Release Its Chile Torture Files by Jacob G. Hornberger December 10, 2014 With the long-awaited release of the U.S. Senate’s Torture Report, it would be tempting to believe that the CIA’s torture regime began after 9/11 2001. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s not forget the torture regime in Chile that began on 9/11 1973 and continued for years after that. From 1970 to 1973, the CIA did everything it could ...
Congressional Fear of the National-Security State by Jacob G. Hornberger December 2, 2014 During the 1973 military coup in Chile, Chilean national-security state goons murdered two American citizens, Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi. The purpose of the coup, which was headed by military strongman Augusto Pinochet, was to oust the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende, a self-described communist, from power and install a military dictatorship in his stead. The coup had ...
Remembering the Criminal Conviction of the Director of the CIA by Jacob G. Hornberger September 12, 2014 With yesterday marking the 41st anniversary of the U.S.-supported military coup in Chile, which resulted in the kidnapping, detention, rapes, torture, disappearances, and murders of thousands of innocent people, we would be remiss if we failed to commemorate the criminal conviction of Richard Helms, the Director of the CIA, for lying to Congress about the CIA’s role in ...
U.S. Officials Were Partners in Pinochet’s Kidnappings, Rapes, Torture, and Murders by Jacob G. Hornberger September 11, 2014 REMINDER: Our Upcoming One-Day Blockbuster Conference on October 18 at Columbia University in New York City. Don't be caught short. Sign up now because space is limited. Admission price: FREE. Today marks the 41st anniversary of the military coup in Chile, a coup in which Chilean military personnel under the command of Army General Augusto Pinochet brutally raped ...
What If the Military or CIA Had Killed Mike Brown? by Jacob G. Hornberger August 19, 2014 While the facts surrounding the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, must still be determined, one thing is clear: If it turns out that the killing was not justified, the law dictates that he is subject to being criminally indicted and also to being sued in a civil action for wrongful death by Brown’s survivors. Not so, however, ...
Why Not Simply Abolish the CIA? by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2014 If anyone thinks that CIA Director John Brennan is going to be severely punished for lying about the CIA’s hacking into the computers of members of Congress who were investigating torture inflicted on people by the CIA, think again. It’s not going to happen. Everyone knows that lying is the official policy of the CIA and a well-established, accepted ...
What Limited Government? by Jacob G. Hornberger July 31, 2014 One of the common misconceptions about the United States is that the federal government is a “limited government,” unlike tyrannical regimes, which are characterized as “omnipotent government” or “unlimited government.” Limited government means that the government’s powers are limited in nature and scope. Omnipotent or unlimited government means that the government can do whatever it wants. Limited government certainly was ...
The U.S. National-Security State’s Murder of Two Americans by Jacob G. Hornberger July 2, 2014 A Chilean court ruled this week that the U.S. national-security state conspired to murder American citizens Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi in Chile in 1973. The brutal act occurred during the violent military coup in which the Chilean military, with the full support of the U.S. government, ousted the democratically elected president of the country, Salvador Allende, and ...
Catholics, Libertarians, and Foreign Aid by Jacob G. Hornberger June 26, 2014 Here are the links to the first three articles in this series, which is being published in response to a recent conference at the Catholic University of America entitled “Erroneous Autonomy: The Catholic Case Against Libertarianism”: Catholics, Libertarians, and Coerced Charity by Jacob G. Hornberger Catholics, Libertarians, and the Drug War by Jacob G. Hornberger Catholics, Libertarians, and ...
