Articles
April 30, 2006
Ending the Darfur silence
Phil Gallagher
Today's Boston Globe editorial, "Ending the Darfur Silence," focused on the genocide in the Darfur section of Sudan. While forceful in its argument that this is an international humanitarian disaster, it is hypocritical and almost weasily in the way it... More
April 30, 2006
Goodbye, Saigon – Goodbye, Baghdad?
Dennis Sevakis
Thirty—one years ago this weekend the United States departed, some say fled, South Vietnam. A people we had promised to keep free and protect were soon swallowed by the Communist North of the once—divided country. Whether or not we should have... More
April 29, 2006
Phony moral equivalence on Israel and the Bomb
James Lewis
In a WaPo opinion piece this Sunday, Avner Cohen and William Burr present a critique of US policy on Israel's nuclear weapons capacity. As usual in the liberal media, they take their facts completely out of context: This is Hamlet... More
April 29, 2006
Great Mind Warp
Jonathan David Carson
Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky are often called philosophical or theological novels. Their subject is neither philosophy nor theology, but human beings, whom Dostoevsky correctly portrays as motivated by philosophical and theological ideas, however superficially... More
April 29, 2006
United 93: a Review
Rick Moran
There is a moment in the film United 93 where director Paul Greengrass takes a small step backward from the unrelenting intimate universe into which he has boldly thrust the audience and allows a glimmer of the larger truth of... More
April 28, 2006
Judge Walton Rules Against Scooter Libby
Clarice Feldman
Judge Reggie B. Walton yesterday rejected the defense Motion to Dismiss filed by Lewis Libby. His opinion is deeply flawed, and I think the arguments made by Libby's counsel are compelling, so I hope a special interlocutory appeal is allowed... More
April 28, 2006
The "Mexicanization" of America
Thomas Baffy
The United States is being 'Mexicanized' as we watch. I am not talking about race or demographics at all. I mean that our system of governance is being undermined, and that if we let matters continue, we will end up... More
April 28, 2006
Small Towns are Smile Towns
Bookworm
There once was a time when movies celebrated peculiarly American traits, circumstances and settings. Small town America, as it appeared in the films until the Sixities generation seized the arts, was close to heaven on earth. Small Town Girl, a... More
April 27, 2006
Cancerous Remnants of the Clinton Era
Christopher G. Adamo
In contrast to recent revelations of national security leaks occurring within the CIA, consider the absurdly trivial and wholly unsubstantiated charges that ultimately drove House Majority Leader Tom Delay from office. After presenting a vapid case before numerous grand juries... More
April 27, 2006
The Yellowcake Connection
Douglas Hanson
CIA officer Mary McCarthy was fired for leaking a possibly trumped—up story about a secret network of CIA—run prisons in Europe. Ms. McCarthy's pattern of political donations, her Clinton administration White House service, and her extensive network of ties to other important... More
April 27, 2006
Iran a Tough Race
Marc Sheppard
Monday's reiteration by Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he'll consider withdrawing from the Nuclear Non—proliferation Treaty (NNPT) if the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 'tries to prevent his country from enriching uranium' is tantamount to a recalcitrant child threatening... More
April 26, 2006
The White House Shifts Gears
Thomas Lifson
Gears are shifting at the White House. We are moving into election mode. Expect the national conversation to change. The White House has a new spokesman, Tony Snow, whose appointment is being confirmed by his former employer, Fox News. He... More
April 26, 2006
The Generals and CDI
J.R. Dunn
A critical element of the 'General's Revolt' that has not received enough attention is the involvement of the Center for Defense Information (CDI). The CDI is a Washington—based advocacy group that, like the Institute of Policy Studies or the National... More
April 26, 2006
Amnesty Through Irish Eyes
Kieran Michael Lalor
The "one—time" amnesty of 1986 legalized two million aliens. However, it inspired six times that number to enter the United States illegally and emboldened them remain until their numbers reached a critical mass big enough to demand a logically absurd "second... More
April 25, 2006
The Guns of '88: Lessons of the Forgotten Tanker War
J.R. Dunn
Iran once again directly challenges the United States today as a nuclear power in the making, and panic attacks are breaking out in the expected quarters. Hardly a day goes by without another round of bloodcurdling threats from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... More
April 25, 2006
What if America Acted Like the French?
James Lewis
Suppose the United States followed the ideas of the Left and took the French approach to Iranian nukes: Ignore the threat and just try to buy into Iran's oil and gas fields. As for Israel, it is only "un petit... More
April 25, 2006
Benedict's Annum
Andrew Sumereau
Pope Benedict XVI began his second year in the Chair of Peter yesterday, and what a difference a year makes. Part of the press tarred him as the 'Hitler Youth' Pope, Cardinal 'Panzer' Ratzinger, John Paul II's 'orthodox enforcer,' feared by... More
April 24, 2006
Defend Dissent by Punishing the Leakers
Rick Moran
Like a bad penny, we just can't seem to rid ourselves of the irksome presence of John Kerry. Ostensibly still a Senator (although you'd be hard pressed to come up with anything noteworthy the former Presidential candidate has ever done... More
April 24, 2006
It's Time to Stand Up
Steven M. Warshawsky
After the pro—terror rallies held by Muslims in London last January (supposedly to protest the Danish cartoons of Muhammad), I wondered why there were no counter—protests by ordinary Britons standing up for their country and civilization. I asked at the... More
April 24, 2006
Three Dollar Gasoline: an Opportunity, Not a Crisis,
Christopher Chantrill
Some observers think that President Bush's dismal job approval rating is not about the mess in Iraq. It is not about the shocking corruption of the Republican Congress. It is not even about President Bush's failure to prevent Hurricane Katrina. ... More
April 22, 2006
A Silent Killer
Bob Weir
It was one of those hot, muggy, summer nights in Brooklyn, New York, prior to the advent of air—conditioning in police cars. The heat from the day had been absorbed into the concrete streets and brick buildings, storing the radiation... More
April 22, 2006
Life on Earth Day
Tim Haering
Pooh on Earth Day, sort of. Where is People Day? Maybe we have all watched too many Disney Movies. Personification and ego have run amok. We are now declaring ourselves protectors of this rock we live on, as though Grandmother Nature is... More
April 21, 2006
Pinch Gets Punched
Thomas Lifson
Arthur Ochs 'Pinch' Sulzberger, Jr., the scion of a family dynasty founded by his great grandfather, is well into the process of destroying the patrimony handed to him on a silver platter. Even worse, the whole world is starting to... More
April 21, 2006
The EMP Threat: ElectroMagnetic Pulse Warfare
J.R. Dunn
Concerns are rising about the threat of an EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) attack, aimed at destroying our electronic guts. What if our computers and other electronics didn't work? What if electronic records of your bank account were immobilized? What would happen... More
April 21, 2006
Iran's 'Nuclear Nationalism'
Roya Johnson
A nation advancing in the fields of science and technology usually inspires pride among its citizens. Iranians are no exception. Throughout Iran's history, the traditional culture has been particularly focused on scientific and intellectual achievement, and these pursuits have been... More
April 20, 2006
Open Borders Threaten Free Trade
Mac Johnson
Free trade and liberal immigration policy are intimately linked in the minds of the more puritanical proponents of free trade. For them, 'labor' is simply one more variable in a theoretical economic model, equivalent in every way to capital or... More
April 20, 2006
General Amnesia: A Tale of Two Zinnis
Noel Sheppard
Have you ever considered the peculiar yet convenient amnesia that regularly strikes members of the drive—by media when it fits their political agenda? Given the development of the Internet, the accuracy and ease of search engines, and the ready access of... More
April 20, 2006
America's Elites and Saudi Money
Lee Kaplan
On March 29th, 2006 the drive—by media failed to report the scuttling of a new bill in the House of Representatives. H.R. bill 609 would have amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 and required America's colleges and universities to report... More
April 19, 2006
Fetuses and Pain
Mary L. Davenport, MD
Can fetuses feel pain? The question has moved beyond the realm of science into politics, with powerful overtones for the general public's understanding of abortion itself. Regrettably, politics is trumping science in some quarters. There have been at least two... More
April 19, 2006
The 2006 Prospects for Capitol Hill Control
Richard Baehr
Several months back, many political pundits were arguing that the Democrats had a real chance of winning control of the Senate in the 2006 elections. There were fewer stories about the battle for control of the House. This is not surprising... More
April 19, 2006
Eleanor Clift Almost Blames Democrats for Something
Noel Sheppard
Newsweek's Eleanor Clift has certainly never been accused of being an impartial journalist. Quite the contrary, when compared with other antique media members, Clift has to be considered one of the most consistently biased — unashamedly and unapologetically appearing as... More
April 18, 2006
The Generals are Revolting
Herbert E. Meyer
Six retired generals have now called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the grounds that... well, just what has the Secretary done, or not done, that justifies his removal from the Pentagon in the middle of a... More
April 18, 2006
Rumsfeld's Enemies and the White Flag of Surrender
Greg Richards
There is a story that in the early days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Moshe Dayan, the Israeli general with the eyepatch, who is regarded as the father of the IDF and who was then Defense Minister, offered his... More
April 18, 2006
Connecting Some Dots in Plamegate
Rick Ballard with M. Lopez
Speculation is mounting (except, of course, among the 'professional' press), as to the identities of six of the eight individuals included in the Libby subpoena to The New York Times (see Clarice Feldman's piece here). The Times deemed the identities... More
April 17, 2006
Don't Panic on Iran
James Lewis
The hardest thing in times of crisis is not to panic ——— to hang on and think very hard about the options. "Don't shoot 'till you see the whites of their eyes" is the old phrase. It signals mental clarity,... More
April 17, 2006
Lightweights: The Iranian Nuclear Threat
J.R. Dunn
The sabre—rattling coming from Tehran has more rattle than sabre to it. Iran is making threats on which it cannot deliver. Literally. The Federation of American scientists site features a useful guide to international weaponry, containing detailed descriptions, histories, and... More
April 17, 2006
Misinformation, Misquotes, Misattributions and Matthews
Marc Sheppard
'Anchorman' Chris Matthews concluded the April 8, 2006 episode of the NBC show which shares his name with these words [emphasis mine]: "Yes an anchor is not simply a newsreader or even someone who decides the news items to be... More
April 16, 2006
From commander, 1st Bn, 22nd Inf. in Iraq
Lieutenant Colonel Craig A. Osborne
Happy Easter from FOB FALCON in southern Baghdad! We have completed our fourth month here and continue to improve every day. Our Soldiers are doing very well and I am incredibly proud of each one of them and what they have... More
April 15, 2006
Plantation America
Timothy Birdnow
Welcome to America! Here in America we invite you to come to clean our toilets, pick our lettuce, and mow our lawns. Come on in, folks; we need you to do the work we have become to lazy to... More
April 15, 2006
Iran Will Destroy Israel, Unless We Act
Steven M. Warshawsky
The fanatical president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has once again threatened to destroy Israel. As reported by AP, Ahmadinejad today told an audience at a pro—Palestinian conference that Israel is a "permanent threat" to the Middle East and that "the Zionist... More
April 14, 2006
General Zinni and Pre-War Intelligence
Douglas Hanson
Former CENTCOM commander General Anthony Zinni recently added his two cents worth to retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton's call for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, over his alleged incompetent leadership in conducting the Iraq War. Zinni resurrected... More
April 14, 2006
The Hidden History of the Iraq War Critics
John B. Dwyer
'The plan has been through the combatant commanders, it has been through the National Security Council process. General Myers and General Pace (chairman and vice—chairman, Joint Chiefs) and others, including this individual, have seen it in a variety of iterations.... More
April 14, 2006
A Brief History of Counsels and Leaks
James Lewis
Who remembers Sam Dash? If you were transfixed by the Watergate hearings, the bloodsport initiation of today's drive—by media, you may remember him as the "highly respected Counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee." Sam Dash's name is now iconic, celebrated... More
April 13, 2006
Drama in Dry Documents: the Libby Case Deepens
Clarice Feldman
The prosecution of Lewis 'Scooter' Libby has drama aplenty, though in its pre—trial phase, the action is visible only to those who carefully dissect the complex and dry language of seemingly—arcane filings with the court. Just before midnight last night Lewis Libby... More
April 13, 2006
Who Can Secure A GOP Presidential Victory In '08?
Christopher G. Adamo
With the Democrat Presidential primaries apparently already completed, and Hillary Clinton still leading the pack, with Al Gore in the (left) wings waiting to stride onstage, it might behoove Republicans to start pondering a workable strategy for the 2008 election... More
April 13, 2006
When is Jihad Not Jihad?
Andrew G. Bostom
There is an old, dry pun on the query 'When is a door not a door?'—the answer being, 'When it is ajar.' But dry humor is clearly preferable to deluded and dangerous censorship of the lexicon which leads to this... More
April 12, 2006
The Missing Mexican Link
Noel Sheppard
In the past couple of weeks as illegal immigration has dominated the front pages and the lead stories of virtually every network's evening news program, you haven't been able to swing a gato muerto without hitting some pundit or broadcaster... More
April 12, 2006
Racism 101 at Duke
Peter Bradley
The negative DNA tests in the alleged Duke University lacrosse team rape case raise the specter of yet another possible hate crime hoax. The timing of the case just before a local election for district attorney, racial and class polarization in Durham,... More
April 12, 2006
Disputing Truman's Use of Nuclear Weapons- Again
Robert James Maddox
The contentious debate over President Truman's use of nuclear weapons against Japan to end World War Two in 1945 is once again roiling academic waters. Nuclear doctrine is a question of concern far beyond the rarified circle of intellectual elites,... More
April 11, 2006
The Essential Nobility of US Foreign Policy
James Lewis
Now that the Left, in the shape of the Academic Dean of the Kennedy School at Harvard, has decided that the Nazis were right, and the United States really is controlled by a Jewish cabal, it is useful to remind... More
April 11, 2006
Religions of Freedom
Jonathan David Carson
However often Jews and Christians have acquiesced in tyranny or even been guilty of it themselves, Judaism and Christianity are fundamentally religions of freedom. What we call progress is the fitful victory of the freedom at their core over the... More
April 11, 2006
Goebbels and the Jihadist Youth
Andrew G. Bostom
The Big Lie as propaganda device has a long and dishonorable history, gulling onto complacency those who prefer to avoid unpleasant worries. The Nazi propagandist Goebbels was its most notable practitioner, but for sheer numbers and historical roots, no other... More
April 10, 2006
Parkinson's War
J. R. Dunn
C. Northcote Parkinson has a lot to say about the war on terror, even though he died in 1993. And not simply because he predicted (in East and West, published in 1962) that the great conflict of the third millennium... More
April 10, 2006
Missing the Big Story: The CIA's War with the White House
Rick Moran
Did the lead editorial in yesterday's Washington Post that defended the President's authorizing the declassification of a secret NIE report on Iraq WMD misstate the facts surrounding the Administration's handling of pre—war intelligence? The entire left wing of the blogosphere... More
April 10, 2006
The ACLU's anti-Religious Hypocrisy
Hillel Stavis
For nearly a hundred years the crèche sat in front of the Balch Elementary School in South Norwood, Massachusetts. Then in 2004, Sarah Wunsch, attorney for the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union contended that the display depicting... More
April 09, 2006
Islam Apologists Tell a Partial Story
James M. Arlandson
On April 2, 2006, M. Cherif Bassiouni, a professor and the president of the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University College of Law, wrote an op—ed in the Chicago Tribune on apostasy (leaving a religion), asserting that it is not... More
April 09, 2006
Red State Taliban
Stephen Shields
The Red State Taliban has been arraigned as a Clear and Present Danger to the nation by Kevin Phillips in his new book American Theocracy. They had been evading detection in the Sun Belt since first surveilled by Mr. Phillips... More
April 08, 2006
Muslims Muzzling Memphis
Brigitte Gabriel
Universities, for those of us who lecture on campuses, are the battleground for the heart and soul of the next generation of leaders. They are the battleground where we must fight to win back the opinions and allegiance of American... More
April 08, 2006
Democratic Security Plan
LTC John M. Kannaley
During the course of war, the minority party has two choices. It can acquiesce to the majority party on war strategy for the sake of national unity, and provide opposition on domestic programs. Or, it can obstruct successful war operations... More
April 08, 2006
Higher Education (a poem)
Russ Vaughn
Inspired by the Sean Hannity interview with Ward Churchill We send our kids to college, To get an education; We send them there for knowledge, Not to learn to hate their nation. The billions that we pay, These high... More
April 07, 2006
The College Rejection Bonanza
Richard Baehr
'April is the cruelest month' — T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland It is rejection time for almost all the applicants to elite colleges and universities. America's most prestigious schools, which pride themselves on their ever—lower acceptance rates, are basking in their... More
April 07, 2006
Confronting Chavez Wins Voters in Mexico and Peru
A.M. Mora y Leon
This week, two amazing developments have begun to shift the electoral landscape in two Latin American countries in a conservative direction. We may have Hugo Chavez, the Castro—loving, petro—dollar fuelled president of Venezuela to thank for the just—emerging turn away from... More
April 07, 2006
The Antiwar Crowd Forgets We're All In This Together
Norman F. Hapke Jr.
Once, a long time ago when I was just getting started in commercial aviation, I was forced to fly with an insufferable Captain. Though I had more and more varied experience in the military version of our aircraft than did... More
April 06, 2006
Mexico's Bi-Polar Resentment and the Forthcoming Election
A. M. Mora y Leon
Mexico is a proud nation with a rich distinctive history and heritage, unique in not just North America but the entire Western Hemisphere. Living next door to a much larger and wealthier superpower is guaranteed to raise issues of nationalism... More
April 06, 2006
Pre-emptive Surrender of the Borders
Mac Johnson
You can tell that the tide is turning in the debate over illegal immigration, because the advocates of open borders and amnesty are no longer arguing about what should be done. Now their argument has degenerated into a description of... More
April 06, 2006
Just When You Thought It Was Safe to be Black
Bob Weir
In case you think racial discrimination is a pre—21st century nightmare, a relic of a bygone era in which skin pigmentation decided one's destiny and being black was tantamount to committing a felony, think again. A black employee at a... More
April 05, 2006
The Potemkin Prosecution: Part Two
Clarice Feldman
[Part One may be found here] A few days ago, something quite unprecedented happened. A former federal prosecutor (Richard Convertino) was indicted for obstructing justice and seeking false testimony under oath in the nation's first post—9/11 terror trial three years... More
April 05, 2006
Feminists versus the Band of Sisters
Sharon Tosi Moore
With the release of the report that sexual assaults in the Army are up, the usual feminist suspects have showed up to condemn the military and bewail the plight of the women forced to work with such barbarians. No matter... More
April 05, 2006
Invading Mexico with Boomer retirees
James Lewis
Messy, messy, messy. That's all we can say about the onslaught of uncontrolled, illegal migration of one—eighth of Mexico's population into the United States. The debate is getting hotter in Washington and on the air waves. It will be a... More
April 04, 2006
Dreams and Myths: Hollywood and 9/11
Rick Moran
Coming soon to a theater near you — whether you're ready or not — will be the first mass market attempt by Hollywood to insert the tragedy of 9/11 into the American narrative. United 93, a Universal Studios project set... More
April 04, 2006
Eco-Sacrifice is Closer Than You Think
Christopher Chantrill
We westerners have been properly horrified in recent weeks as the Afghan courts have prosecuted the Christian convert Abdul Rahman and imams of the religion of peace have called for the apostate's death. "Philistine hypocrisy," writes Spengler in Asia Times. ... More
April 04, 2006
Bogus Massacre Reports in Iraq
J. R. Dunn
Over the past few weeks, two serious accusations of mass murder by Coalition units have surfaced, both involving current operations — one against the Jihadis, the other against illegal militia. Both were given a wide airing in the international media.... More
April 03, 2006
Why Americans Hate This 'Immigration' Debate
Herbert E. Meyer
One of the most striking features of the immigration debate now raging in Washington is that none of the Democratic or Republican proposals seem to hold any appeal for ordinary Americans —— which is why this debate is generating so... More
April 03, 2006
Empty Womb
Timothy Birdnow
Immigration has become a great crisis in the United States and Europe, with (much like the old Roman Empire) non—assimilated invaders pouring across the borders unchecked. The situation is grave, with the likelihood of Europe becoming part of the Islamic... More
April 03, 2006
Walking While Arrogant
Bob Weir
Ronald Reagan used to say, 'There you go again.' The Gipper was known for using that phrase every time someone distorted the truth. He probably never gave a thought to Cynthia McKinney, but he was familiar with her type of... More
April 02, 2006
Apostasy in the Quran, Traditions, and Islamic Law
James Arlandson
In 2006 in Pakistan, Christians have been arrested for converting from Islam to Christianity. In 2006 in Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman was prosecuted for converting from Islam to Christianity, a 'crime' that carries the death penalty. He has safely arrived in Italy,... More
April 02, 2006
NYU's Cartoonish Quarantine
Andrew G. Bostom
The late Richard Grenier's book The Marrakesh One—Two was a trenchant fictional account of a doomed effort to film the life of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Grenier (pp.3—4) characterized the filmmakers' basic predicament with biting wit: It's going to be like The... More
April 02, 2006
Caspar Weinberger: Remembering a Great Man
Teri O'Brien
On Sunday, December 14 2003, my cell phone rang at 4:30 am. It was my boss, WLS Program Director Michael Packer, informing me that Saddam Hussein had been dragged out of his spider hole, and that as a result, I... More
April 01, 2006
On Jill Carroll's Release
John B. Dwyer
President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad all expressed great relief and happiness on learning that Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll was released unharmed near an office of the Iraqi Islamic Party... More
April 01, 2006
Mexico, USA
J. James Estrada
[In the spirit of April Fool's Day satire, it is time to examine some new policy options — editor] The problem with the Mexican border is Mexico itself. We're just as close to Mexico as Mexico is to us, right? ... More
April 01, 2006
NASA and Nostradamus: A Spin Puzzle
Paul Shlichta
[Editor's Note: This article is satire in celebration of April Fool's Day.] Nancy Reagan is a loyal American who has endured false accusations in dignified silence and has steadfastly refused to reveal her key role in U.S. foreign policy. I think... More
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