Commentary
Protracted War
America vs. Bush vs. Iran
February 18, 2007
The free ride for the Left in opposing George W. Bush may be over. Things are going to get more complicated and ambiguous. Speaking as someone who blogged against the War on Terror since 2002, it was an easy target for anybody with a computer, access to...
Like A Rat Running for Daylight
President Bush and the Politics of Perpetual War
January 31, 2007
There is, I think, a misconception about the Bush administration’s military strategy for the Middle East. There is no military strategy. There is only a political strategy. The political strategy is to keep the pot boiling in the Middle East so that...Have You Got What It Takes to Torture?
January 16, 2007
Now that the Iraq adventure is officially a fiasco, the liberal hawks are crawling out of the woodwork and defend their early support for what is now irrevocably and safely Bush’s cock-up. Max Sawicky and Kevin Drum are pushing the argument disapprovingly...Bush's War
January 11, 2007
Consider Bush’s speech last night as his first salvo in the new war against the only enemy he has a chance of defeating: the Democratic Congress and, by extension, the American people. As the movement of our carrier group into the Persian Gulf, the attack...The New "Grand Bargain"
America, Israel, and Saudi Arabia Take on the Sh’ia and Syria
December 23, 2006
During his current consultations on the new strategy for Iraq, President Bush has told those advising him that he is not interested in any proposals that do not involve “success.” “Anyone who does not believe in victory should leave the room right now,”...Kill Another Day
December 16, 2006
Kill Iraqis, declare victory, and get out. That’s a strategy that seems to have taken hold with President Bush, the military, and the realist crowd. Bush’s energetic squirming to avoid kowtowing to the Baker Hamilton ISG is just that: a piece of sordid...Staying the Course...With Iran
December 4, 2006
It’s nice we’ve finally found a party with interests common to ours in Iraq. Iran. Both President Bush and Iran are intent upon preventing internationalization of the Iraq crisis. President Bush doesn’t want to talk to Iran and Syria about stabilizing...Why George Bush Needs the Axis of Evil
December 3, 2006
George W. Bush has staked the remainder of his presidency on the Axis of Evil. Beyond the obvious psychodrama of Bush attempting to defy his father and the desires of the U.S. electorate for disengagement from Iraq is an attempt to reaffirm the Manichean...Indecent Interval
November 29, 2006
Words do matter. If they force us to examine the assumptions behind them. That’s why calling the conflict in Iraq a civil war - as the White House still stubbornly refuses to - is important. Iraq was America’s war. Until now. By emerging pundit consensus,...Daddy's Home
November 8, 2006
I’m surprised that the reportage surrounding the appointment of Robert Gates gave little weight to his most important credential: Membership in the Iraq Study Group. The Iraq Study Group is meant to forestall a horrible catastrophe... ...in the United...Shut Up, Condi
July 26, 2006
There’s a little voice telling Condi to zip it with the talk about the birth pangs of a new Middle East. It’s not just the voice inside her head, telling her she’s once again gone a bridge too far in her role as enabler of Bush’s dreams of glory instead...Civil War
It's not a flaw...
July 24, 2006
The outline of the joint Israeli-U.S. strategy is finally becoming clear. That Sunni-Shi’a civil war in Iraq? That’s not a flaw. It’s a feature. And it’s going to be exported to the rest of the Middle East. Israel’s extensive assault on Lebanon beyond...Why Is Tonight Different From Any Other Night?
July 19, 2006
Disillusionment about the Iraq invasion apparently hasn't slaked our thirst for collective madness or made it possible for most observers to appreciate the pitfalls of war as a national security measure. An important Rubicon was crossed when Israel...A House Divided
April 13, 2006
It is rather instructive watching America floundering - as a nation - trying to deal with the problem of undocumented immigrants a.k.a. illegal aliens. Lock ‘em up, says the Right. Welcome them with (somewhat) open arms, says the Left. Appeals to law...Delectatio Morosa
The Sins of Zacarias Moussaoui
March 19, 2006
The case of Zacarias Moussaoui, notorious 21st hijacker, is disturbing and dangerous. Not because of Moussaoui. He’s guaranteed a life sentence. His Bush-like combination of fanaticism, incompetence, and personal obliviousness won’t be hurting anyone....The Desperate Hours
March 16, 2006
In its darkest imaginings, I wonder if the Bush administration sees a glimmer of hope for escape from its Iraq quagmire by attacking Iran. What better excuse could there be to cut and run from Iraq - and punish that brutalized nation’s ingratitude for our...Where's The Quail?
February 18, 2006
One thing was missing from Harry Whittington’s heartfelt apology for the pain and suffering he had caused Dick Cheney. The quail. The quail Dick would have bagged if Harry’s face hadn’t got in the way. Harry owes Big Time big time. One can sympathize with...Warrantless Surveillance Isn’t the Problem National Security Isn’t the Problem
George Bush is the Problem
January 25, 2006
I find the whole kerfluffle about Osama bin Laden channeling Michael Moore and regurgitating liberal talking points rather amusing. It’s not as if liberals were given unlimited money, troops, and international support to get bin Laden - which we then...Bush and Cheney Hit the Bricks
…McCain and Kerry in 2006
November 18, 2005
History is best served cold. Colin Powell, talking about his schedule for a tell-all book skewering the Bush Iraq effort History is written by the winners. It’s time to get some winners into the White House. It’s time for the losers in Iraq to step...No More Blank Checks for Bush
Just Checks and Balances Instead
November 16, 2005
The Bush presidency is imploding. Today, denial, bluster, deceit, and the cynical partisanship of the GOP are no longer protecting Bush from the consequences of his failures. Regardless of the nuances, elisions, hypocrisy, or political calculation behind...France and the Emerging Levantine Axis
November 9, 2005
Thanks to France, we seem to be seeing a sea change in Middle Eastern power politics. It can be seen most clearly in the rapid isolation of Syria as a result of the UN resolutions 1559 and 1636, co-sponsored by France and the United States. Traditionally,...Treason-Based Intelligence
November 4, 2005
There's faith based intelligence, reality based intelligence... ...and there's another kind. I've been watching the Bush presidency for the last 5 years and I can say that nothing in my experience matches the desperate, systematic, and pre-emptive...A Cancer on the Presidency
October 25, 2005
With Plame-gate indictments in the pipeline, it looks to me like Scooter Libby is going to take the fall as the overzealous, Wilson-hating dingbat while Karl will hang on to do battle, indictment or no, as the guy so busy guiding the nation’s business...Quack. Quack. Quack.
October 5, 2005
Mike Ramirez is a brilliant political cartoonist. He is also one of the most reliable, relentless, and vindictive purveyors of conservative talking points practicing today. In his Oct. 5 cartoon (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-include-ramirez,0,36...George of the Living Dead
September 19, 2005
I think it would have been appropriate if a crowd of vengeful zombies had devoured President Bush during his televised address from New Orleans on Thursday night. It would have given the evening some much-needed meaning and symbolism. After all, Bush...An Accountability Moment
September 13, 2005
Today only racists, idiots, and opportunists can be satisfied with the way George W. Bush is running the country. Unfortunately, that's still 38% of the population, enough in our electorally skewed, red-state weighted scheme of things, for an incompetent,...The Battle of New Orleans
September 6, 2005
One of the bitter ironies of Bush’s shameful, incompetent, and belated public relations parade through the South that it was seen by none of the people it was ostensibly intended to succor. The desperate people hunkered down amid the sewage and corpses in...So Long, Suckers
August 2, 2005
Donald Rumsfeld's quick visit to Baghdad and his admonition that the Iraqis better get their act together on the constitution seems to be the latest manifestation of Operation Cut and Run. Major troop drawdowns are being rumored for 2006, presumably timed...Collateral damage in the Plame game: US national security
July 14, 2005
The most interesting element in the Plame game is "Who sent Joe Wilson to Niger?" We already know the answer. The CIA. The Republican talking points are trying to make it look like this trip was cooked up by professional Bush-hater Joe Wilson and useful...Membership Has Its Privileges
July 8, 2005
After New York City's DOA Olympic bid got thrown out, enough of the pro-U.S. bloc lined up behind London to deny the Olympics to the perfidious Frenchies. But Tony Blair had only a few precious hours to savor what was perhaps the only benefit that...Vice in the Pursuit of Liberty is No Vice
June 24, 2005
Dick Durbin blew it. Here’s a message progressives need tattooed to their foreheads: Don’t use Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot analogies. Not because they are inaccurate, unfair, or subject to misinterpretation. Because these analogies are the breath of life...Stabbed in the Back
June 17, 2005
The American adventure in Iraq is collapsing, militarily and politically. In the immortal words of Middle East expert Juan Cole, sometimes you are just screwed. There is...No Korans Were Harmed in the Making of this Movie
May 17, 2005
I just know the CIA has special Koran protection teams at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib. When they hear a scream coming from a cell, they rush in and make sure the Holy Book is not getting splashed with blood, shit, or spittle, torn by dogs, ejaculated on, crushed...Freedom Isn't Free
May 8, 2005
Certainly Vladimir Putin must be annoyed by our Boy King’s efforts to upstage Russia’s VE celebrations with his little freedom tour of the Baltic States. On the lowest level, it’s probably an expression of Bush’s corrosive egotism - his insistence that he...Strange Days
May 1, 2005
All that is needed for evil to triumph… …is for good men to do nothing… …and bad men to get really, really busy. A harmonic convergence of Bush badness is gathering over Washington: Social Security reform, the nuclear option, and the campaign against...Two Ring Circus
March 30, 2005
What do Terri Schiavo and Social Security reform have in common? More than you might think. The surprisingly inept campaign for Social Security reform should have us scratching our heads. The policy as originally conceived was a classic wedge. Bush would...Wedge Democracy
March 28, 2005
Something very simple is happening in our country and our world today. Divide and conquer. But people get confused because it’s called “democracy”. Democracy was supposed to be the weapon of the lower and middle class against the upper class. But the...Screwing Up Democracy
March 11, 2005
Let’s give George W. Bush credit for inspiring the anti-Syrian demonstrations in Beirut. Hundreds of billions of dollars, 145,000 troops, hundreds of thousands of lives lost or shattered must have reshaped the political map of the Middle East somehow. So...Zero Sum Future
March 4, 2005
After the massive anti-U.S. Hezbollah demonstration in Beirut knocked the Bush "freedom on the march" rhetoric for a public relations loop, my pessimistic vaporings about the Bush administration's remorseless exploitation of democracy as a wedge issue...The Thief of Baghdad
February 21, 2005
We now know how important democracy is to Bush’s second term. We may soon find out how low he’s prepared to go in exploiting it to achieve his goals. Scott Ritter says that the Iraq elections were fixed to reduce...Hard Power
February 15, 2005
Pre-emptive neo-con squeals of anti-Semitism and a general unwillingness to address the morally and politically messy question of Israel's role in our anti-terror and Middle East policy have created a void at the center of our national security debate....Truth and Power
February 2, 2005
Sometimes democracy sucks. The Sunni feel that way, and I can sympathize with them. When your enemy has the advantage of numbers, and not only holds overwhelming military and economic power and a lock on the media but also possesses the institutional and...F Words
January 26, 2005
Excuse me, invincible and omniscient progressive Democrats, if I don’t join you in sneering at George W. Bush’s inaugural address. Yes, the speech was meaningless piffle, an attempt to apply retroactively a crusading veneer to Dear Leader’s blind, bloody...Send In the Clowns
January 13, 2005
Or, more accurately, the death squads. Hot on the heels of the Gonzales hearings, which enshrined “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” and “physical and mental pain and suffering” (stop calling it “torture”, folks!) as the hallmarks of our detention...World of Pain
January 9, 2005
The other two defendants… were made to strip and they were laid over chairs and their backs were cut to pieces with a leather strap with buckles on it, and they were likewise made by the said deputy definitely to understand that the whipping would be...Sorry, Mr. Bush. Your Mandate Just Isn’t Big Enough
December 17, 2004
George Bush’s second-term Stud-in-Chief act isn’t really working, is it? He’s rubbing the nose of his dad and his dad’s advisors - not to mention the nation - in the fact of his election, trying to present himself as America’s Godfather, scowling...In Case of Rapture This Mandate Will Be Unfunded
December 9, 2004
James Watt told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he said, "after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back." quoted by Bill Moyers...Friendly Fire
December 6, 2004
I am Pat fucking Tillman! Tillman’s last desperate cry , as he was accidentally shot to death by his own platoon in Afghanistan. Now another Pat, Patrick Daley, scion of...Democratic Party R.I.P.?
Followup on "The Democratic Party Must Die"
November 23, 2004
After I posted The Democratic Party Must Die I went to bed with the complacent satisfaction of an author who knows in advance that his latest work will excite dismay, disgust, maybe even delight, but certainly not indifference. To address the reactions...The Democratic Party Must Die
November 22, 2004
Proverbially, generals resort to refighting the last war when faced with the bewildering choices and uncertainties of a new battle. As is becoming increasingly clear, Democratic tacticians relied on the tried-and-true tactics of mobilizing urban liberals...Why We Fight
November 16, 2004
Military commanders point to several accomplishments in Falluja… The offensive…shut down what officers said was a propaganda weapon for the militants: Falluja General Hospital, with its stream of reports of civilian casualties. With Capture of Falluja, a...Democracy Is Dead! Long Live Liberty!
November 10, 2004
Our country hasn’t moved to the right… …it’s moved to the wrong. Forgive me for not contributing to the healing process. George W. Bush is one of the worst presidents ever. The election results were appalling. The people who voted for Bush are idiots. In...What Is To Be Done?
November 5, 2004
I’ve been writing on my own site and on Smirking Chimp since 2002, trying to whip the faithful into an anti-war, anti-Bush lather. I look back at what I wrote and feel pretty well vindicated by events. Political, intellectual, and media elites failed us...No Surrender
November 4, 2004
I've got a question for you. How many of you are going to be here for a second term, please raise your hand. (Laughter.) Gosh, we're going to have a lot of fun then. (Laughter.) Thank you all. In his first post-election press conference, sparring...Dark Messenger
November 3, 2004
This can’t be happening! Sandra Day O’Connor in 2000, who made sure it didn’t happen when Florida was called for Gore Where’s my rent-a-riot? Where’s my firebreathing count-every-vote candidate? Where’s my victory? A demoralized blogosphere is not a...The Buck Better Stop Here
Preparing for Power, Leadership, and Responsibility Post-November 2
October 31, 2004
Kerry’s response to the Osama tape was fine. The reaction of the rest of the campaign, the Democratic pundits, and the left-wing activists was, at best, mixed. Let’s say it sucked. This tape could have, should have been played as a godsend for Kerry: four...Reflections on Ralph Nader, the 2004 Election, and Democracy
Originally written February 27 2004
October 29, 2004
But first… Thank God George Bush is an idiot. Next to the Museum of Irreproducible Results, there should be the George W. Bush Exhibition Center of Unimplementable Initiatives. There we would find goodies like Mission to Mars and No Child Left Behind. And...Brave New World
October 29, 2004
The most remarkable thing about the Osama bin Laden tape was how eerily normal it seemed. OBL came into our living rooms and looked like he belonged there. He chose the right moment to cut through the clutter and deliver his message to the American...We Need a Landslide
October 28, 2004
It seems Bush and Kerry aren’t campaigning for the presidency of the United States. Instead, they appear to be battling for dominion over Whatthefuckyoucallitstan, that unholy gerrymandered monstrosity composed of Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, and whatever...The Great Enabler
October 25, 2004
It’s not surprising that Vladimir Putin endorsed Bush for president, saying that anything else would be a victory for international terrorists. Of course, Putin considers Bush to be an idiot who blundered into a hopeless Iraq quagmire while trying to...Drinking the Koolaid
October 23, 2004
Now we realize what is the flip side of the coin to Karl Rove’s seemingly suicidal obsession with mobilizing the “base” and kissing off the independents: Voter suppression on a titanic scale. If you’re going to try to win an election on the backs of a..."L" is For...
October 15, 2004
The Mary Cheney flap, minor and manufactured as it is, probably would not have gained any traction if John Kerry had used the term “gay” instead of “lesbian” in his debate remarks. What we have here is a failure to communicate. What we also have, of...It's Good to be King
October 14, 2004
George Bush looked like the King last night. Like Elvis. George Bush looked like crap. Blotchy skin, uncertain eyes, a blob of nursing home spittle on the corner of his freakishly fixed smile… So much like Elvis in his last years, pushed on stage by...War Is Hell
October 12, 2004
I haven’t seen the anti-Kerry film Stolen Honor . I expect it’s a dishonest smear just like the Swift Boat ad campaign. I agree that Sinclair’s order to affiliates to air it is a low, partisan blow by a...High Anxiety
October 10, 2004
Remember that scene in the comedy High Anxiety, where Mel Brooks performs the title song? His character aims for Rat Pack edginess, style and swagger, but succeeds only in conveying unease and unfocussed menace as he abruptly barks the lyrics and...A River Runs Through It
October 7, 2004
Denial. It’s not just a river in Egypt. I, for one, am overjoyed that the Big Media attack poodles have latched on to a convenient anti-Bush meme to drive the newscycle. The basic theme is that Bush’s unwillingness to admit errors in the Iraq...Who's Your Daddy?
September 4, 2004
Have you noticed how the GOP attack machine is morphing John Kerry into George W. Bush’s most hated and feared enemy? Namely, Bush’s father, one George Herbert Walker Bush, a.k.a. “41”. The Kerry that emerged from the GOP hate-fest in New York is the...Dirty Work
August 30, 2004
Get ready to meet John Kerry, traitor. Now that the Swift Boat slander has found life beyond the right wing media echo chamber and Kerry's military heroism has been effectively if not honestly questioned, it's time to villify Kerry over his anti-war...The Shadow of Sadr...and Chavez
August 18, 2004
Who will rid me of this troublesome priest? Something else to ponder, now that al-Sadr has, thanks to Allawi's weakness and the Bush administration's leadership paralysis, once again slipped the noose in Najaf. If the United States wants a peek at...U.S.--Your Illusion
August 9, 2004
The beauty of democratic choice in America, courtesy of your media outlets: Bush or Kerry, ‘War on Terror’ Unlikely to Change Bush, Kerry offer little contrast on foreign policy...Thank You, George W. Bush
July 28, 2004
More than Al Gore invented the Internet, George W. Bush created the blogosphere. What he was trying to do instead was build an empire out of lies. But his arrogant rejection of the public’s right to know or the media’s responsibility to inquire; his...911 Changed Nothing
Originally posted February 9, 2004
July 23, 2004
George Bush needs to repackage his failed war of choice in Iraq as a noble, 9/11 crusade. Too bad the facts won’t let him. From the February 6 press gaggle: QUESTION: They had nothing to do with September 11th, the Iraqis. MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, I beg to...They're Baaaaaaack!
July 17, 2004
We interrupt our planned feel-good post about the impending election of a member of the American trickle-down imperial elite who does not happen to be George W. Bush… …for a reminder why it is vitally important. The neocons, unfazed by their calamitous...War of Attrition
July 12, 2004
It looks as if the battle to evict George W. Bush from the White House democratically may extend beyond the conventional November 2 deadline. As reported in Newsweek , the Bush administration is testing...Let's De-Bushify
July 8, 2004
If George W Bush truly cared about the future of Iraq, he would resign immediately. Dubya’s continued presence in the White House is the biggest obstacle to a resolution of the international and local crises his invasion of Iraq has fomented. The...Welcome to Cheneyworld
Colin Powell wanted Iraq contained...Paul Wolfowitz dreamed of Iraq reborn...Ahmad Chalabi schemed for Iraq resurgent...Dick Cheney just wanted Iraq destroyed. Guess who got his wish?
June 4, 2004
Iraq is turning into something Dick Cheney, at least, could love. Instead of the triumphant Middle Eastern Israel-loving free market democracy dreamed of by the neocons - or the emerging power acknowledging Shi’ite aspirations and Iranian regional...The War Against America
May 31, 2004
The war is coming home. Bush’s war against America. The war he must win in order to win the 2004 election. If Iraq goes according to plan (insert derisive snort here), the recycled IGC stooges we’ve foisted on the transitional government will keep the lid...Betraying Feith
May 24, 2004
It's not what Chalabi told Iran about America that got him into trouble. And certainly the White House doesn't blame him for providing the enabling lies it knowingly solicited in order to kickstart the longed-for, long-planned invasion of Iraq. The cause...John Kerry Needs a Bigger Band of Brothers
May 21, 2004
There are heartening signs - via the torrent of unfavorable insider leaks on Iraq and Abu Ghraib in the press - that a slow-motion mutiny of professional soldiers, career spooks, and moderate Republicans is swelling to push Bush, Rumsfeld, and the neocons...How the Terrorists Can Win
May 20, 2004
It’s official. If Bush wins the election, the terrorists have won. From U.S. News and World Reports : White House officials say they've got a "working premise" about terrorism and the...Rally Round, Mushheads!
May 19, 2004
Max Sawicky posted the following slam on his website: MaxSpeak, You Listen!: PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Ted Rall sucks. That is all. Maxspeak is taking umbrage at a Ted Rall cartoon attacking the...Pyrrhic Victory
May 17, 2004
They got pictures of us making their guys look silly. We’ve got video of them cutting a guy’s head off! We win! We win! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! That’s pretty much the attitude of the apologists of Abu Ghraib after the release of the Nick Berg video. By...The Dyslexia of King George
May 15, 2004
People are supposed to learn from their mistakes. George Bush repackages his failures as victories and hope nobody notices. Often Bush’s ostentatious certainty is treated as an aspect of his confidence, arrogance, or religion. But as the errors pile up...Patriots and Assholes
May 12, 2004
According to CNN, John McCain walked out of the hearings when Sen. James Inhofe, GOP maggot from the State of Oklahoma, test drove this excuse for torture at Al Ghraib: "These prisoners, you know they're not there for...Who Lost Iraq?
May 3, 2004
Lenin famously described communism as “socialism plus electricity”. We can only hope that people will describe our stewardship of the Abu Ghraib prison as “Saddam without the amperage”. After all, maybe we wired up people’s genitals but we didn’t run any...A Picture is Worth a Thousand Lies
U.S. News & World Reports and the Kerry/Bush Cover
April 29, 2004
This week, U.S. News and World Reports weighed in with a cover story about John Kerry and George Bush in 1971. On the cover they employed an image that I (and I’m not alone) took to be a blatant piece...War Fever
April 28, 2004
George Bush: ...foolish firebug who set himself alight trying to ignite Armageddon in the Middle East, now frantically peeing his own pants to douse the flame? …or an implacable armchair Zhukov crushing Fallujah in deadly rings of steel and righteous...George Bush: Our anti-Midas. John Kerry: Our antidote?
April 26, 2004
Through accident, incompetence, or design, pretty much everything George Bush touches turns to shit. It's his best hope for re-election. Disaster by design has, of course, always been a cherished Republican objective. In domestic politics, the...Bush: Jesus Made Me Do It!
April 19, 2004
"You know he (ed. George H.W. Bush a.k.a. 41) is the wrong father to appeal to in terms of strength. There is a higher father that I appeal to." - George W. Bush as quoted by Bob Woodward (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17347-2004Apr164.h...The light at the end of the tunnel in Iraq
April 4, 2004
Iraq 2004. It's not Vietnam. It's not the West Bank. It's worse. Think of Russia in 1941. Think of Hungary in 1956. Think of a foreign conqueror bereft of popular legitimacy and local support, reduced to trying to kill its way out of its problems with the...Next Year in Geneva, Ahmad!
March 31, 2004
Here’s a bold prediction: One year from now, Ahmad Chalabi is gone from Iraq. Unless some aggrieved Iraqi prematurely blasts Chalabi’s ass to the Quisling Valhalla, I believe that within 12 months of Jerry Bremer’s departure, Ahmad will decide his...Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio...Uh, Wesley Clark?
February 27, 2004
Baseball season is coming up. Bush wants to turn the clock back three years, past Iraq and the Patriotic Act, to his “Nuremburg moment” in Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series, when 50,000+ roared the chant “Bush… Bush…Bush!” As usual, the only...Beyond the Pale: Bush, Iraq, and Treason
February 25, 2004
Bush’s Iraq policy has achieved the acme of irresponsibility. It is a farrago of election year delusion, deception, and desperate attempts to evade personal accountability and avoid political consequences at the cost of American lives and interests. In...It’s Over
February 18, 2004
Jerry Bremer has left the building. He has decided to abandon the collapsing edifice of the CPA before it buries him. No doubt he is already imagining the day when he can shed those clumping black army boots and walk out his door without worrying about...The Big O
February 11, 2004
“I’m a wartime president” GWB, on Feb. 8, 2004 Meet the Press If George isn’t toast yet, he’s starting to look a little brown and crumbly around the edges. Now the question is, Can Osama save him? It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Per the Rovian...You Say Pre-emptive, I Say Preventive
February 5, 2004
You Say Preemptive, I Say Preventive February 5, 2004 What’s the difference? George W. Bush Well, you dumb mutt, the difference between a pre-emptive war against an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and a preventive war against an inconvenient...Losing the Plot
February 3, 2004
Some of the progressive press, as well as the mainstream media, are getting distracted by the “WMD Intelligence Failure” red herring. It’s always amusing to see the words “intelligence failure” and George W. Bush in the same sentence. It’s also gratifying...If We Make it Through November
Look What the Internet Can Do For You!
February 2, 2004
There’s a lugubrious “lost my job and got no money for presents for my little girl” Merle Haggard tearjerker called: “If We Make it Through December” . The Bush variant...The French Disease
What a tangled web we weave…
January 28, 2004
Amazingly, our floundering effort in Iraq is now all about France. Not just reconstruction contracts. Or UN mandates. Even Saddam’s capture. In a development that no doubt has neocon strategists gnashing their teeth with impotent rage, Chinese premier Hu...Blood in the Water
January 19, 2004
It was worse than a crime. It was a blunder. (Talleyrand, concerning a foreign policy mis-step by Napoleon) It is now commonly recognized that George W. Bush’s Iraq policy has degenerated into a cynical, nakedly political election year exercise. Ted...The French Disease
January 18, 2004
What a tangled web we weave... Amazingly, our floundering effort in Iraq is now all about France. Not just reconstruction contracts. Or UN mandates. Even Saddam's capture. In a development that no doubt has neocon strategists gnashing their teeth with...Fairly Unbalanced
January 14, 2004
Maybe it was different last year, when the American media considered its main job to be lying to the United Nations, giving our armed forces an illusion of principled purpose, and making sure that that fat sleepy hog known as American popular opinion got...Cutting Down the Shrub
January 12, 2004
The Republicans are right. Hating George Bush makes us look bad. The proper tone is contempt. Amused contempt. It’s time to twist the nose of the little man who’s making such a big mess of the world these days. We’ve done a pretty good job of broadcasting...The Evil That Men Do
January 9, 2004
The Evil That Men Do January 9, 2004 The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones. (Shakespeare) Error, haste, and indifference guarantee that benevolent ephemera such as democracy, justice, and security will not...Strange Gift
January 5, 2004
“Gift” in the original German means “poison”. It can also mean “a transforming elixir”. Let’s consider the notorious Washington Post editorial of Dec. 18, “Beyond the Mainstream” against Howard Dean in that light. The editorial was breathtaking in its...Endgame in Iraq
2004
People Power in Iraq? American strategists are wringing their hands over a possible Iran-style upheaval that brings a Shi’a theocracy to power in Iraq. They may be blind to the fact that history might indeed repeating itself - but the history of another,...No WMD? No Problem!
2004
No WMD? No Problem! George W. Bush faces no legal problems stemming from his hard core intel abuse and the mysterious absence of WMDs in Iraq. Politically, it’s another story. The Iraq war may have been sold as a pre-emptive war, but it was legislated and...House of Mirrors
December 22, 2003
What’s the difference? George W. Bush, dismissing the distinction between actual possession and intent to acquire WMDs, in an interview with Diane Sawyer Indeed. When you’re a president who traffics in misleadingly-named policies (think “Healthy...Our Saddam Trials
December 16, 2003
Cheer up, Mr. and Ms. Progressive. It’s OK to feel bad about America nailing Saddam. After all, catching Saddam does not deliver the world from evil, or fix Iraq for that matter. For the last eight months, Saddam’s sole lieutenants were Commander Cassette...Snakeeater Nation
December 10, 2003
America’s draconian anti-terror laws are about to receive their first blood sacrifice. Ironically, the inaugural victim will be Gulf War vet and convicted Washington sniper John Mohammed. John Ashcroft directed that Mohammed first be tried in Virginia....The Leadership Vacuum in Iraq
December 3, 2003
President Bush’s furtive dash to serve turkey and stuffing to American servicemen and women at Baghdad Airport at 6:00 in the morning was a dramatic reminder of Iraq’s dire straits. The president was denied a triumphal entry into a land he conquered...As the Turkey Flies
December 1, 2003
Bush’s latest photo-op stunt seems to be giving him a bounce measured in nanoseconds. The first moments were filled with the excited giggling of the co-opted media dingbats selected to accompany Junior on his dash to Baghdad. But the aftertaste now seems...Dark Land
Bremer of the Potomac
November 28, 2003
Let’s ditch those unfair and inflammatory Hitler comparisons. Just call George W. Bush “America’s L. Paul Bremer”. There are differences, of course. Bremer clumps around in army boots against the likely day when a car bomb or RPG sends him staggering...Wedgied!
November 25, 2003
The war on terror is faltering. The war on Iraq is a debacle. But Bush’s war on the Democrats is going just fine, thank you. Consider the edifying Medicare prescription-drug benefit farce. Bush took a cherished Democratic hot button issue… …loaded enough...Cutting loose Iraq
November 18, 2003
George Bush is about to enter his Mesopotamian nirvana: Opportunity Without Responsibility in Iraq One under-reported byproduct of Operation Cut and Runóexcuse me, the careful, prudent transfer of authority to a newly-constituted Iraqi governmentóis that...The land of the middle finger
November 12, 2003
What was more ridiculous about the Democrat's confederate flag flap? New England's own, Governor Howard Dean, chumming awkwardly for the peckerhead vote? ... ...or the parade of Democratic challengers lining up to denounce him, each seemingly vying for...Master of disaster
November 6, 2003
Thou canst not say I did it: never shake / Thy gory locks at me.? (Macbeth explains the principal of plausible deniability to Banquo's ghost) A photo in the LA Times made me wince. It pictured George Bush surrounded by a crowd of adoring firefighters as...America's Secret Stake in the Yukos Affair
November 5, 2003
Who is Mikhail Khodorkovsky? Russia's richest man, principal owner of Russia's biggest oil company, Yukos, currently under arrest by Putin for some obscure financial hanky panky. Who cares? At first I didn't. I thought of Khodorkovsky merely as a distant...De-Bushification and the future of Iraq
November 3, 2003
The gates of hell were pushed open a crack by the car bombings in Baghdad. For a few hideous moments, we saw the future of Iraq illuminated by those fierce orange flames that consumed 34 lives. With enough troops, money, and blood, maybe we can push the...Bush fatigue
October 29, 2003
They say the Baghdad car bomber they captured was carrying a Syrian passport. Hmmm... Why would a car bomber bring his passport along on a suicide mission? Not much use at a roadblock. "As you can see from my papers, officer, I am an international...Candyman
October 24, 2003
The true source of Bush's problems in Iraq can now be revealed. Candy. A forthcoming book reveals that George W. Bush foreswore the consumption of candy while our troops were at risk in Iraq. Unfortunately for the nation, I believe our dry-drunk Caesar...'Independents' day in California
October 10, 2003
Gray Davis didn't have a chance. Facing the voters with a 71% disapproval rating, not even his friends - concentrated in the California boom industries of corrections and casinos - could save him. The really ugly news was how Cruz Bustamante got his ass...Eyeless in Gaza…and Damascus
October 7, 2003
Where would we be without Israel? It’s not surprising that an administration whose definition of internationalism is "Let’s drive to Texarkana for pork barbecue" needs a guide to lead it through the bloody intricacies of the Middle East. It’s also no...Son Down
October 1, 2003
How considerate of the CIA to toss the floundering George W. Bush an anvil marked "Valerie Plame". How intriguing to speculate that his father may have had a hand in it. After all: 41's man in Iraq: None other than Joseph C. Wilson IV, Deputy Chief of...Useful Idiot
September 7, 2003
The international community, just like Halliburton, the neocons, and the religious right, have discovered the advantages of having a weak and easily led nincompoop in the White House. Just at the time that ordinary Americans are finally waking up to the...Punch-Drunk
August 29, 2003
Six months ago George Bush shit in the Iraq punchbowl. Now he’s inviting the world over for a drink. Form one line, please! No pushing! Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage floated the idea that the U.S. occupation in Iraq would remain militarily...That Giant Sucking Sound
August 21, 2003
That giant sucking sound you hear is the the world’s terrorists and jihadniks rushing to Iraq in search of employment and exaltation. It is also the sound of the World’s Only Superpower desperately laboring to pull its imperial boot out of the Iraq...The Iraq Cancer
August 10, 2003
At one time it looked like what Bush had in mind for Iraq was “Texasization” - the reckless exploitation of the country’s natural and strategic resources and the wholesale degradation of its politics, environment, and social fabric by a greedy, callous,...Billion Dollar Corpses
July 22, 2003
Know'st thou not any whom corrupting gold Will tempt unto a close exploit of death? Richard III, Act IV, looking for a few good men to take out the princes in the Tower At least Iraq will be spared the horror of being ruled by an unelected...Bad Dog!
July 16, 2003
Maybe Congressional Republicans will club together and vote to rename the French Poodle “The Freedom Blairhound”. Otherwise Prime Minister Blair can’t expect too much in the way of concrete honors when he flies to Washington for a state visit. Beset with...Tipping Point
July 15, 2003
For the neocons, one of the aching disappointments of the Iraq adventure is that the hoped-for massacre of Ba’athists hasn’t materialized. Vengeance, after all, is liberation’s bloody doppelganger. The joyful populace garlands the liberating tanks with...How to Impeach Bush
June 15, 2003
Leave it to the constitution to screw up a perfectly good conspiracy. When the US Congress abdicated its warmaking powers to the White House (the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002), it retained as a meagre figleaf for...Collateral Democracy
June 13, 2003
Another conundrum for the anti-war movement: Iran. Some students participating in the growing street demonstrations in Teheran believe all their anti-mullah movement needs is a dose of American intervention to carry it to victory. "Of course it would be...The World Turned Upside Down
June 10, 2003
After this article was posted I received an e-mail strongly objecting to my categorization of Bush's blindly loyal base as "trailer park nutbars". My characterization was wrong, misleading, and a lazy use of a stereotype to ridicule Bush. I apologize and...It Can’t Happen Here
Forcible Saddamy: an illicit act of private violence masquerading as public necessity. First inflicted on Saddam Hussein by George Bush, 2002-2003.
May 28, 2003
Now it’s the turn of Iran and France to experience that sore, irritated feeling that results from an unscrupulous assault of vilification, isolation, and confrontation by the Bush administration. But it can’t happen here, in America. Right? Well, maybe. A...There He Goes Again...into Iran
May 26, 2003
You’d think this wouldn’t be the time to foment another Middle East war. It is becoming ever more clear that our undersized invasion force barely escaped military disaster in Iraq not because of Rumsfeld’s overhyped plan, or our 21st vaunted technological...Coalition of the Killing
May 22, 2003
“Kill them all. God will know his own.” (Pope Innocent III’s representative commands crusaders to massacre 10,000 Catholics in the town of Beziers in order to extirpate an estimated 500 Cathar heretics in their midst, France, 1209.) Fortunately for Bush...Asymmetric Advantages
May 13, 2003
Author's note: My gibe, It's Safer in the Army, turned out to be cruelly wrong. One of the abiding mysteries of the Iraq conflict is why the U.S. government has been indifferent to the point of callousness to the suffering of its soldiers brought about by...Freedom™, American Style
May 12, 2003
“Boy, that was fast, even for me!” George Bush must be saying. It did not take long for Bush’s genius for misadministration to reassert itself. The same arrogant, lazy indifference that reduced Arbusto, Harken, the State of Texas, and much of the US...Power Play
April 30, 2003
There’s that socially awkward moment after you’ve knocked the girl to the ground and you don’t know whether to rape her or steal her purse. If you’re the United States in Iraq you say, Let’s do both! With America walking tall and much of the world...The Last Laugh
April 20, 2003
Saddam’s final revenge on George W. Bush may be the unleashing of the force Bush fears more than any other: democracy. Our omniscient CIA, probably with no help from its shadow spook network at the Pentagon, has finally twigged to the fact that the Iraqi...Suppose They Gave a War...And Nobody Cared?
April 17, 2003
The collapse of organized military resistance in Iraq has thrown the anti-war movement into disarray. First of all, the war is over, which really takes the winds out of our sails. Secondly, the quagmire Cassandras, your humble narrator included, have been...War Without End, Amen
April 6, 2003
One lesson America’s future adversaries would be well advised to study is how to manage and dominate the 24-hour news cycle. Whether it is an unopposed advance or a bloody incursion, the White House knows how to keep the world’s attention riveted on its...Rumsfeld's War
April 2, 2003
The battle for the soul of the U.S. military - and the United States - is currently being fought south of Baghdad. If press reports accurately reflect the facts on the ground, U.S. forces are engaged in a hurry-up offensive to destroy the Republican Guard...Operation Rolling SNAFU: On to Damascus…and Teheran!
March 31, 2003
What do you do if you’re playing a losing hand? If you’re George Bush and company, you double down. That’s the only explanation for Rumsfeld and Powell ostentatiously twisting the noses of Syria and Iran over the last few days over night vision goggles...How to Lose a War in a Week
March 30, 2003
George Bush has been surprised that major elements of the Iraqi army do not share his privileged personal perspective on combat duty - that it should be avoided at all costs - and dismayed that that he has lost the battle for the hearts and minds of a...George Bush’s Human Shields
March 27, 2003
The reckless and despised leader buckles under relentless attacks. All other options exhausted, he rings his bunker with the innocent, the unlucky, and the desperate for one last-ditch battle… Of course we’re not talking about Saddam Hussein. The...Promises, Promises
March 23, 2003
War apologists and wobbly anti-war types alike are hurrying to spoon some humanitarian Miracle Whip on the war-crime cowpie George W. Bush and company are unloading on Iraq. But I still don’t think the Iraq war is going to be to everybody’s taste. The...Shock and Awe
March 19, 2003
Iraq is probably the last Bush war that was debated before it began. Truth, time, and reason are the enemies of America’s opportunistic policy of unprovoked aggression, which Condi Rice described, too optimistically, as falling in that grey area between...Is Tony Blair Getting Ready to Sell Out Bush?
March 12, 2003
If not, he should be. It’s not easy being Tony Blair. His head, heart, and nuts are all caught in a vise with Bush, the EU, and the U.K. electorate madly tightening the screws. But Donald Rumsfeld’s remark on going it alone without the U.K. may cause a...Dead Dope Walking
March 11, 2003
The war party and the Republicans can take their cue from Bush’s zombie-like performance at his weekend press conference. They are dead meat. White House spinmeisters are attempting to draw solace from the most recent NY Times poll, which shows support...The French Have a Word For It...Merde
March 7, 2003
George W. Bush once famously complained that the French “have no word for entrepreneur”. But the French certainly have a word for the sorry state of the world a la Bush. And so do the Mexicans, Russians, Chinese, English, Filipinos, Koreans, Turks, Kurds,...Blind Faith
March 5, 2003
It’s time to count the cost of having a born again wing nut as President. But first, a few choice words about the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed: Puh-leeeeze, people! Do you think they grabbed him and immediately blabbed it to the press - so that every...Waiving the Bloody Shirt
March 4, 2003
With the case for the Iraq war bereft of any conventional casus belli, war advocates are reduced to waiving the bloody shirt of 9/11. The emotional appeal "September 11 changed everything" is intended to transport debate about the Iraq war to a magical...Want to Get Rid of Saddam?
Restart the Middle East Peace Process
February 15, 2003
The job of the U.N. is to talk wars to death. So far they’ve succeeded admirably on Iraq, much to George Bush’s disgust. The glorious outpouring of February 15 also served notice that the Bush war process, instead of showing a grateful globe the way to a...Situation Normal: All Bushed Up
February 12, 2003
The poll numbers are in, and they aren't good for the anti-war movement. Pro-war sentiment has strengthened since Bush's State of the Union address and Powell's dog and pony show at the U.N., and half of anti-war sentiment is described as weak and ready...Rat Hunt
February 2, 2003
If you’ve got a rat in the house, do you trap the rat, buy a cat…or burn the house down? If you’re George Bush, you not only burn the house down; you nail the doors shut, trapping helpless women and children inside; feed the flames with a mountain of...The Imagined Empire
January 29, 2003
We live in an imagined empire. Bush and Cheney and the neocon cabal dream of it, and strive indefatigably to realize it. Its heartland shares the boundaries of our republic but is fundamentally different. It is a national security empire that finds its...A Few Good Men...And Condi, Too!
January 17, 2003
A Few Good Men…and Condi, Too! January 17, 2003 There’s a scene in “A Few Good Men” where Jack Nicholson presents himself as the only thing that stands between the helpless American people and the insane wrath of…Fidel Castro. In the climactic scene, he...2003: Our Year of Living Dangerously
January 11, 2003
Has George W. Bush terminally screwed up Gulf War II? Have his blunderings through the U.N. inspection regime and the North Korean imbroglio convinced the world that his vaunted moral clarity is nothing more than the unacceptable intellectual opacity of a...Exporting Terrorism
2003
Surprised the Iraq military didn’t share his perspective on combat duty - that it should be avoided - and dismayed that the political advantage is irretrievably lost (America not a triumphant juggernaut but a clumsy giant with questionable judgement and...The World Turned Upside Down
2003
Maybe only the Republicans can save us from George Bush. There are emerging signs that old-fashioned Republicans and libertarians, with their mantras of fiscal prudence, civic and national responsibility, and theoretical rigor are beginning to share the...How George Bush Bet the World…and Lost
2003
Hopefully we won’t be rereading this in the comfort of our fallout shelters a few months from now… The world is beginning to calculate the dire nuclear costs of George W. Bush’s lazily arrogant assertion of American imperial power through his unilateral...Our Year of Living Dangerously
2003
The anti-war movement might think this is time to pat itself on the back. Domestic enthusiasm for the vaguely defined, alarmist war strategy of the Bush administration appears to have peaked and is now ebbing. Everybody seems resigned to the fact that the...The Bill Clinton of Baghdad
December 21, 2002
The current situation is starting to look a lot like events that unfolded long ago in a presidency far, far, away… Not Gulf War I… Monicagate! Are you beginning to notice that George W. Bush and Ken Starr have a lot in common? Both of them are so...Gotcha!
December 5, 2002
The well-connected Washington Times reports that the U.S. government is withholding intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction from the inspectors so Bush can play “Gotcha” after the Iraqi weapons declaration comes out this weekend. “Gotcha” in...Driving While Saddam
November 12, 2002
After all the dramatic rhetoric, the campaign against Saddam Hussein has come down to the world’s most expensive traffic stop. It’s not terror, weapons of mass destruction, civilization, oil, or empire anymore. It’s “if you’ve got a busted tail light,...Now What?
November 6, 2002
The rainbow-colored wave of indignation that was supposed to sweep Jeb Bush from office never materialized. It turned out to be a shallow puddle the Republicans splashed through on the way to their victory celebration. George W. Bush can rest easier...Look Out for the November Surprise
October 25, 2002
Is George W. Bush getting ready to steal another election? Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz have set up a special Pentagon team to mine intelligence data in search of a November surprise. They are scouring CIA data and intercepts for the Holy Grail: the...Hitler is Coming! Hitler is Coming!
October 23, 2002
Coming soon to your op-ed page: Adolf Hitler. His mission: justify war in the Middle East. President Bush has virtually exhausted his political capital and credibility stumbling from one rationale to another for the Iraq war, desperately seeking an issue...The Coming Crisis of the Anti-war Movement
October 22, 2002
In the hearts and minds department, the anti-war movement has been doing pretty well. George W. Bush has lost the battle for elite opinion in promoting his Iraq adventure and is rightly regarded as a war-hungry laughingstock. The general public is moving...North Korea, the Hubcap of the Axis of Evil
October 22, 2002
North Korea has caused the Bush administration some serious embarrassment with its awkward strip-tease of revelations concerning its nuclear program. Not only is Kim Jung-il calling the rationale for the Iraq invasion into question, currently the ultimate...Minority Report: Iraq
October 14, 2002
The Washington precrime unit is getting quite a workout justifying the Iraq invasion. Ineluctably, as credible current and future threats to the United States from Saddam Hussein have been discounted, the White House and pundits have been reduced to...The Iraq War
Now or Never
October 8, 2002
At last it has come to this. With every invade-Iraq justification from Sept. 11 to U.N. resolutions bankrupted, President Bush has finally fallen back on the pre-crime justification from “Minority Report” - seize, convict, and execute sentence on Saddam...Sadamaggeddon
October 4, 2002
When the history of our oil adventure in Iraq is written, we may find out how close the United States came to disaster. Not how close we came to "Saddamaggedon” - the oft-invoked but remote possibility of a catastrophic attack on our nation, its allies,...Saddamageddon
October 4, 2002
When the history of our oil adventure in Iraq is written, we may find out how close the United States came to disaster. Not how close we came to "Saddamaggedon” - the oft-invoked but remote possibility of a catastrophic attack on our nation, its allies,...Bozo’s Idiot Enablers
October 3, 2002
When they write the book about the buildup to the Iraq invasion, they can treat it as a sequel to “Hitler’s Willing Executioners”, but played as farce. Call it “Bozo’s Idiot Enablers”. Starring the American media. As Bush desperately flounders toward the...Israelizing America
October 3, 2002
George W. Bush would like to be Churchill. But he will settle for being Arial Sharon. The only true success Bush has enjoyed in his year of bluster and blunder has been his decision to follow Sharon’s lead and destroy the Middle East peace process. And,...Dick's Desert Dream
Cheney, Wolfowitz, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Iraq
October 1, 2002
The re-release of “Lawrence of Arabia” on DVD presents the world with a major danger. It threatens to stoke the sandy imperial fantasies of Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz. If the avid warhawks choose to review the new version with its enhanced sound (and...The Real Saddam Hussein
September 28, 2002
It is a time of terrible risk and great opportunity. A shattering attack claims thousands of lives and places the nation's security, prosperity, and way of life in jeopardy. A dynamic and tenacious leader rallies his people and a laboriously forged...Call it Rope-a-Dope
Balkanizing the Middle East and Israelizing American Society with George W. Bush
September 26, 2002
Probably the great turning point of the Bush administration and, if Bush has his way, of world history in the 21st century, was America’s abandonment of the Middle East peace process in June of this year. You might recall that GWB promised to return to...Was Saddam Doing Too Good a Job?
September 25, 2002
Striving to restore his country to its leading position among the family of nations in a time of national crisis and severe economic challenges, he skillfully created an international coalition and reached out to his domestic opposition to achieve...The Israelization of American Society
September 24, 2002
George W. Bush doesn’t want to be Hitler. But he’ll settle for being Arial Sharon. If there is more than mulish stupidity to Bush’s obsessive pursuit of an Iraq war, it has to do with his recognition of what a single-minded policy of military violence can...Why Bush Wants this War
September 20, 2002
"Why does a dog lick its own balls?" the joke goes. "Because he can." And so the justification for the Iraq war has drifted from urgency to necessity to facility, and now simple gratification. The new selling point for the invasion is that it will be easy...Why Bush Wants This War
September 17, 2002
“Why does a dog lick its own balls?” the joke goes. “Because he can.” And so the justification for the Iraq war has drifted from urgency to necessity to facility, and now simple gratification. The new selling point for the invasion is that it will be easy...Do What I Want
September 12, 2002
George Bush’s message to the U.N. is “Do what I want…or I’ll do what I want”. It is unlikely to impress U.N. members as anything other than further evidence of his arrogance and inflexibility. In the echo chamber of Bush’s own mind, however, his bellicose...America Held Hostage
September 12, 2002
There is a madman holding America hostage. His name is George W. Bush. If he is not permitted to attack Iraq, he will incite Saddam Hussein to deliver weapons of mass destruction into the hands of terrorists. When the Iraq adventure was first floated,...Bush Desperately Pursues Regime Change in Baghdad
To Avoid Regime Change in Washington
September 2002
Every day, it becomes ever more clear that President Bush’s desperate tenacity in promoting an invasion of Iraq has one overriding motive - the political survival of George W. Bush. The war on terror rationale has evaporated, absent any links between...The Secret War Doctrine
August 19, 2002
Now that the Gulf War elders have come out against a unilateral U.S. invasion of Iraq, people are finally starting to ask the question, “Why does George W. Bush have such a hard-on for Iraq?” The idea that the most pressing duty of the American eagle,...U.S. Petro-Gangsters Muscle in On Saddam’s Turf
Fighting ExxonMobil’s War in Iraq
July 21, 2002
The “War on Terrorism” is no longer about bringing the September 11 murderers to justice. It’s not about terror either, since hotbeds of terrorist, anti-US sentiment such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt serve as our allies and clients and not our...The Road to Hell
June 25, 2002
George W. Bush’s June 24 speech on the Middle East crisis revealed, above all, his intellectual and moral laziness. For him, the Israel-Palestine conflict was a reprise of all the unwelcome school assignments he shirked during his undistinguished academic...Assymetric Threats
American Civilians are on the Front Lines
June 12, 2002
The term “assymetric threats” is the Pentagon’s lament at the collapse of the Soviet Union. The only adversary ready to go slug it out with us - they had the army, the attitude, and enough nukes to justify massive retaliation - disintegrated into a heap...Sucker's Game
The Arms Control Treaty and the China Card
June 12, 2002
We have a new arms control treaty with the Russians - sort of. In the coming days, commentators will pick apart the absurdities of this 3 page treaty, which gives both sides complete flexibility to expand or contract their nuclear arsenals as they see fit...War, War Everywhere
June 3, 2002
In places like the Middle East and Kashmir, there used to be a peace process. Now there’s a war process. Countries that used to regard war as the last resort now consider it the first option. It’s another example of unexpected blowback from the Bush...Sometimes This Stuff Just Writes Itself
April 16, 2002
I originally began Halcyon Days as a forum to post my satires. When I read this quote about Chavez, I realized that writing fiction and trying to stay ahead of the Bush administration in matters of absurdity and mendacity would be an unnecessary...The War We Can't Afford
2002
The War We Can’t Afford Did Bush just blink? The headlines advertise the $2.23 trillion budget…and the $300 billion deficit. But the fine print reveals that the cost of the Iraq war isn’t even included! If it was, headlines like “War budget projects...
