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Posted May 19, 2001
Today Daniel Ellsberg gave a talk about the Pentagon Papers. He said that even though the documents showed that the Nixon administration was going to escalate the war (in spite of his promise to the American people to get the US out of Vietnam), the Pentagon Papers failed to stop the escalation. After hearing this it occurred to me that the US Government learned more than the public did from the war. The Government learned that even with the release of the papers the media and public quickly glaze over. I see a direct line between the failure of the Pentagon Papers and the way the Government very effectively managed the media and public perception during the bombing of Yugoslavia. Mr. Ellsberg knows about Antiwar.com, but when I asked him if he would be interested in submitting one or more columns he kept asking me if Justin Raimondo is a right-winger. I told him that Justin is a Libertarian, but he said that he thought Justin is a right-winger from an article about FDR and Pearl Harbor. I told him again that Justin is a Libertarian, that I am a conservative, that Eric (I think) is on the Left, but so what? I can't figure out if Daniel Ellsberg is or isn't stuck in a partisan time warp.
~ Francis K. Krikorian
The next time you see Dan Ellsberg, would you please tell him that, yes, Justin Raimondo is indeed a right-winger. It's typical that a leftie would be made more than a little nervous by any hint that the "good war" (World War II) could be questioned, or that FDR -- the biggest warmonger of them all – could be anything other than heroic. The Daniel Ellsbergs of World War II would never have leaked the "Pentagon Papers" of their era. We had to wait more than 50 years for Robert Stinnett to fully uncover and document the truth: that FDR not only provoked the Pearl Harbor attack but had plenty of advance warning -- yet chose to sacrifice American soldiers and civilians to the "noble" cause of getting us into the war. Ellsberg and his fellow lefties caught in a time warp? I think you're on to something. ~ JR
Why He Hates Us
[Justin Raimondo's column, "Why They Hate Us"] sounds like the ranting of a white supremacist, not an anti-war person. I started reading this site a year ago, it just dawned on me that it a pro-war crank site.
[Mr. Raimondo wrote that] "…the South African regime…is moving to muzzle the independent media and cracking down on the opposition…"
Bush*t [sic] man, our freedom in SA has never been more secure, and all issues are discussed in the media. Perhaps our friend thinks Apartheid magically ended in 1994 with the election of Mandela, [but] we are daily confronted with the legacy of Apartheid, and white-power groups, whom our friend obviously supports, are still active.
~ Sotiri Bonanos, System Developer
Mr. Raimondo's column may have offended you, but does that really mean that Antiwar.com is a "pro-war crank site"? If so, why did you only realize this after a year of reading? Also, since Mr. Raimondo's column harshly criticized everyone but the Australians and the Antarcticans, why would criticism of the South African government indicate racism? ~SK
The USA is a Cultural Midget
I was left flabbergasted when I finished reading the hysterical article [5/14/01] of Justin Raimondo… I had the impression…that Mr. Raimondo was an objective and fair critic of the world and of his country; obviously I was misled. …How many innocent victims must be dragged behind the bloody chariot of your indispensable nation before you realize the fallibility of its existence?
I am a foreign student in this country (don't bother to give me your immigration advice, I have received it already from other patriots of the same kind) and what I came to realize by the time I stepped my foot on this country…is the debilitated psychotic minds the majority of the population has. These poor minds, trained to consume until there isn't anything else to buy or devour, were coincidental though on one thing: their fulfillment and pride as their country was boasting their imperial realization through conquering, slaughtering and bullying other nations!
The indispensable nation, the political, economic and military giant is a cultural midget. The fast food nation's culture is sex-and-violence oriented… From the beginning of its history with the Native American genocide until today, the indispensable nation knows only one rule: the rule of the jungle! …
~ Filippos Klironomos, Graduate student of physics, University of Florida
I know you don't want to hear this, Filippos, but maybe – just maybe – you should go back to your own damn country. After all, we wouldn't want to impose all that sex and violence on you: the former, I'm sure, is wasted on you, and as for the latter: it seems to me that your stomping grounds, the Balkans, are a LOT more violent than the US, but then, maybe that's why you're here. Come to think of it, why ARE you here? ~JR