“The Right Against War in Iran”

The Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy held a forum on Wednesday: “The Right Against War with Iran.”

Videos of the event speakers are now available on The Free Liberal website. The speakers included:

  • Ivan Eland
    Independent Institute, Antiwar.com Columnist
    “The United States Might Have to Accept a Nuclear Iran”
  • Philip Giraldi
    Former CIA officer, partner in Cannistraro Associates
    “Iran: Same Bad Intelligence, Same Catastrophic Results”
  • Doug Bandow
    Liberty Coalition and Antiwar.com columnist
    “Another War: Another Attack on Civil Liberties”
  • Charles Peña
    Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy and Antiwar.com columnist
    “Refocusing the War on Terrorism”

Neocons Pressure for Militarization of U.S. Border

The neoconservatives have issued their own statement on immigration, supporting pending Congressional legislation for militarization of the borders using federal troops for “border enforcement, and interior enforcement (employer sanctions).” The letter is signed by 39 “prominent conservatives and civic leaders,” such as the unapologetically pro-war William Bennett, Frank Gaffney, Newt Gingrich, David Horowitz, Michael Ledeen, Victor Davis Hansen, and Daniel Pipes: link.

The letter states, “Today, we need proof that enforcement (both at the border and in the interior) is successful before anything else happens,” and commends the pro-militarization legislative efforts of “Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and House chairmen Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) for their leadership role in putting America’s national interests in border and interior enforcement first.”

What makes this letter additionally noteworthy is its “coincidental” appearance just hours before the public release of the Independent Institute’s Open Letter on Immigration, which has been signed by 500+ economists and other scholars, including five Nobel Prize-winners, plus 44 scholars from other countries. Link.

Was the neocon effort thrown together in a last-minute scramble and timed for release prior to the Independent Institute’s far more prestigious, bipartisan and credible Open Letter which debunks the economic and social arguments used by those pushing for border militarization? Well, you fill in the blanks. Circulated for signatures for a month prior to its release, the Independent Institute’s Open Letter was well known of in major academic circles (including neocon ones), and the neocon letter was the work of Hudson Institute John Fonte, who has made no secret of his outrage over Independent Institute stands against the war in Iraq, the national surveillance state and U.S. interventionism around the world.

Reflecting a broad consensus against the arguments used to support border militarization, the signatories to the Independent Institute’s Open Letter include prominent economists involved in both Democratic and Republican administrations such as Gregory Mankiw (Harvard U.), former Chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Bradford DeLong (U. of California, Berkeley), Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton, as well as Alfred Kahn (Cornell U.), Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board under President Jimmy Carter, and Paul McCracken (U. of Michigan), Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Richard Nixon. In addition, the 5 Nobel Laureates include the diverse Thomas Schelling (Maryland), Robert Lucas (Chicago), Daniel McFadden (Berkeley), Vernon Smith (George Mason), and James Heckman (Chicago). Link.

So, who would you trust, 500 economists, including Nobel Prize-winners, and the courageous and impeccably honorable Independent Institute, or the likes of the same people who have relentlessly championed the war in Iraq, the USA PATRIOT Act, and greatest expansion of federal power and pork spending since the New Deal?

DC Forum: “Right Against War with Iran,” June 21

This Wednesday, June 21, the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy Presents “Right Against War with Iran.”

  • Ivan Eland
    Independent Institute, Antiwar.com Columnist
    “The United States Might Have to Accept a Nuclear Iran”
  • Philip Giraldi
    Former CIA officer, partner in Cannistraro Associates
    “Iran: Same Bad Intelligence, Same Catastrophic Results”
  • Doug Bandow
    Liberty Coalition and Antiwar.com columnist
    “Another War: Another Attack on Civil Liberties”
  • Charles Peña
    Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy and Antiwar.com columnist
    “Refocusing the War on Terrorism”

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
2pm-3pm
122 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC

The event is free-of-charge, open to the public, and no reservation is required.

If you have any questions please call Michael D. Ostrolenk, Policy Fellow, Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy at 301-717-0599, or michaeldostrolenk@gmail.com.

Good News for al-Qaeda? and a Prophetic Post

Is the death of al-Zarqawi good news for the US military? Or is it good news for al-Qaeda?

Reports from April indicate that Zarqawi had been “demoted” within al-Qaeda. Huthayfah Azzam, son of Abdullah Azzam, the mentor of both Osama bin Laden and Mr. Zarqawi, said Zarqawi was stripped of his political duties two weeks ago due to concerns that his actions were hurting the Iraqi insurgency’s support in the Arab world.

On Wednesday, June 7, a mere 24 hours before the announced killing of al-Zarqawi, this piece was posted on Strategypage.com:

Zarqawi Scheduled for Martyrdom

The relationship between terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi and and the mainline al Qaeda leadership continues to deteriorate. Zarqawi’s recent audio messages have not only attacked the U.S. and the Shia-dominated government in Iraq, but also Iran. He’s even claiming that the U.S., Iran, and Shia in general, are in cahoots to destroy Islam. He has also called for continued attacks against Shia.

Except for his verbal attacks on the U.S. and the Iraqi government, he is almost totally distanced himself from the central leadership. Other al Qaeda leaders have been trying to down play anti-Iranian and anti-Shia rhetoric, and have been strongly discouraging attacks on civilians.

Given that Zarqawi has become a loose cannon and that his actions are handicapping Al Qaeda’s efforts, it seems reasonable to expect that an accident may befall him at some point in the near future. If handled right it can be made to look like he went out in a blaze of glory fighting American troops or that he was foully murdered. Either way, al Qaeda gets rid of a problem and gains another “martyr.”

General Bill Caldwell has revealed that US forces relied on information that came from within Zarqawi’s own organization.

No doubt the home-grown Iraqi insurgency is glad to see Zarqawi go. But it is also very likely that StrategyPage.com is correct that they have lost a problem and gained a martyr.

Remembering Lloyd Bentsen

Virtually every story on the death of Lloyd Bentsen has focused on the quote most people remember him for in his debate with Dan Quayle: “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

I remember Lloyd Bentsen for another quote – older and I think more significant: “I propose the president of the United States advise the commander of the North Korean troops to withdraw his forces beyond the 38th parallel within one week or use that week to evacuate civilians from a specified list of North Korean cities that will be subjected to atomic attack by the United States Air Force.”

Congressman Lloyd Bentsen, 1950
Here is an audio clip of the quote. (thanks to Scott Horton)

This quote is featured in the great movie, The Atomic Cafe.

On This Day: Daniel Ellsberg’s Charges Dismissed

On May 11, 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited government misconduct.

The “misconduct” was revealed by White House Counsel John Dean (under questioning in the Senate Watergate Hearings) that White House operatives had broken into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office as part of a plan to blackmail Ellsberg. Nixon Special Counsel Charles Colson went to prison for his involvement in the break-in.

Ellsberg worked on the Top Secret McNamara study of U.S. Decision-making in Vietnam, 1945-68, which later came to be known as the Pentagon Papers. In 1969, he photocopied the 7,000 page study and gave it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; in 1971 he gave it to the New York Times, Washington Post and 17 other newspapers. Before the dismissal, he faced twelve felony counts posing a possible sentence of 115 years. The events led to the convictions of several White House aides and figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.

A few years ago, Pat Buchanan blamed (credited?) Ellsberg for America’s loss in Vietnam.

Thanks to Jack Dean for pointing this out.