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Welcome to Issue 5 of "Week in Review." New this week: Antiwar.com Shops! Check it out (the polo shirt is the best!).
Monday Troops in Iraq conducted more "sweeps for guerillas" in an attempt to halt the deadly attacks against Americans, which has cost 66 lives since the war ended May 1st. In a surprise, Iran invited the UN to begin talks on nuclear inspections . . . perhaps the neocon's will have to settle for diplomacy this time around. On to Liberia? The debate surrounding this question should show the true resolve of the Left's antiwar stance. Pat Buchanan demanded a closer look into the missing WMD: Is
it possible Iraq never had that vast arsenal of anthrax, VX, sarin,
and mustard gas we were led to believe? Did the intelligence agencies
fail us, or did someone “cook the books” to meet the recipe
for an imperial war? It is time Congress investigated the Office
of Special Plans, set up in the Pentagon to sift and interpret all
intelligence and placed under neoconservative super-hawk, Paul Wolfowitz.
Finally, Matthew Barganier had a great plan for the 4th: No, I won't spend the Fourth applauding the death my dollars have wrought. Nor will I indulge the sad patriotism of feeble minds, those who think they flatter their country by bashing Lafayette's. I will celebrate the real America, the friendships, investments, ideals, and ingenuity that have produced so many heroes. Tuesday A sign of a "broad-based revolt," six American soldiers were wounded in a raid of an Iraqi mosque. These events can only bolster the waning public support for continued operations. In a positive step for peace in the Middle East and the "road map," the Israelis planned to relieve control of Bethlehem to the Palestinians. However, Justin Raimondo suspected that the "road map" is but another facet of the American Empire: With the U.S. as the dominant power in the Middle East, the terms and conditions of regional survival had been totally transformed, and the President acted swiftly to impose his imperial will. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be "solved," the Iranians and the Syrians would be tamed, if not overthrown, and the region would be dominated by the U.S. military presence in Iraq, where American centurions would stand guard for the next decade or so. Sheldon Richman questioned the Republican claims that demanding an explanation for the missing WMD was "playing with partisan politics": The faux naiveté is precious. Presidents have been waging politically motivated wars almost since the country was founded. Attempting to separate war from politics is futile. As Karl von Clausewitz famously said, “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” Wednesday Sometimes, it is best to let words speak for themselves: 'Bring Them On!' Bush Says to Iraq Attacks Say that to the 202 lost American soldiers and their families...Hey, while I am at it: That's fun (and much easier than writing about the news!). Who woulda thought, but we were we right, for in a slight turn around, the UK and US admitted mistakes in their war plans. In a further piece of good news, the US pulled military aid from 50 countries as punishment for their support of the international war crimes court. Granted it is only $50 million, but I will take what I can get. Justin Raimondo saw the War Party in a bit of a retreat: There is the potential here for a radical turnaround in public opinion, and the War Party is running scared. They thought they would have time to consolidate their position and even have the opportunity to start moving in on their next target. Instead, however, they have been thrown on the defensive, with chief warlord Donald Rumsfeld now forced to admit – not long after the presidential proclamation of "victory" – the fighting will continue "for some time." Thursday Nebojsa Malic had some enlightening insights into the nature of government: Every government is by definition a kleptocracy, i.e. the governing steal the property of the governed. But there are few places in the world where this arrangement is so glaringly obvious, and yet tolerated by the victims, as in Serbia. As I mentioned above, the debate surrounding intervention in Liberia - all but inevitable - would reveal the true stance of the antiwar Left. Indeed, it has: Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a prominent opponent of the war in Iraq, called Wednesday for dispatching U.S. troops to Liberia to head off a human rights crisis. "I would urge the president to tie our commitment to assist in this multilateral effort to an appeal to the world to join us in the work that remains to be done in Iraq," Dean said. With the choices dwindling, I think I will vote Mr. T for President. Back to the news.... The American public may finally turn around and demand some accountability from those in Washington, for they are now questioning the veracity of their President. If you are in the market for a stylish polo shirt or coffee mug, then stop by the brand-new Antiwar.com Shop!
Friday Happy Fourth of July! In celebration of this important holiday, I thought that I could post some classic American quotes that have yet to lose their relevance: “America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will recommend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example." - John Q. Adams When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. - Declaration of Independence The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. - George Washington Take a minute today and think about our troops and hope for their safe and quick return home. ::Previous
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