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Posted December 10, 2003
'Antiwar.com Joins Ranks of Major Online Media'
I'm not at all surprised myself, though very, very proud of you guys. If it weren't for Antiwar.com, I truly believe that at least some of the unbelievably vast amounts of disinformation being put out by the administration and the Pentagon would have leeched into my head. Your site is a great tool – for truth, justice, democracy and all the other good things the Powers That Be continue to prate about, but which they are so actively engaged in tearing apart.
So congratulations, and thank you!
~ Ray Greene, Los Angeles, California
No need to be humble, Justin.
Your success (and Antiwar.com's) is well deserved.
Thank you (and Gospodin Malic) for your efforts in printing the truth about Serbia, never mind all your other fine work.
Well done.
~ Boris Mihailovic, Editor, THE PICTURE, Australia
Jaya! Jaya! Jaya! (Victory)
I am so pleased to read this and it makes me KNOW that we are doing the right thing at the right time and we should be prepared to lay down our lives for truth, before we let these madmen continue to destroy what is left of the human civilization on this small planet.
I have been reading ANTIWAR every day for the past 30 months, and supporting financially as I am able. Your site along with TRUTHOUT.org are my two favorites.
Keep up the great work.
~ Bhakta Dasa, Cuttack, Orissa, INDIA
Way to go! Congratulations Justin (and all your colleagues, too). Antiwar.com deserves a web version of the Pulitzer, or maybe just a plain, old-fashioned Pulitzer; but don't hold your breath. Indeed, the numerous 'awards' in journalism are surely as politicized than those in film. Expect Tom Friedman or a reasonable facsimile to win honors this year. It is likely that Antiwar.com will be recognized later on for its valiant, courageous analyses. Thank you all.
~ Mark P. Green, Santa Barbara, California
Well deserved, of course. I'm someone who probably differs greatly from you politically, being a lefty, but reading your site is an essential part of my day.
More power to ya! (And us.)
I knew this had to happen. Here in Australia we like to get the real news regarding the dangers this administration poses to the world
That is indeed impressive! Congratulations. Well-deserved.
~ Bernie Weiner, The Crisis Papers
Congratulations!
I am a regular visitor to this great site and so delighted to see you guys keep on beating those powerful crap media (even TIME magazine, unbelievable!). Keep on with your great work, friend. I will always support you.
This is wonderful news! Between Harry Browne, Lew Rockwell and Antiwar.com, I receive expert information about the realities of war (I was in Vietnam); I appreciate your coverage.
~ Doug Butler, Gainesville, Georgia
Congratulations on #36.
I
think that quality and consistency and overall trustworthiness of reporting
has brought you there. Certainly, it is the first place I go after Yahoo
/Google (I just haven't been able to break the habit of finding out the
breaking news). I have examined that behavior – it is useless, for
there isn't any real "news," and it is depressing. But it is
sort of like that old ad of the dog listening to the Victrola: "His
Master's Voice." I just have to know what the rulers of the known
universe want me to believe today.
Now, to break into the top 10 you need corporate sponsorship and relentless self-promotion. DON'T GO THERE. I WON'T FOLLOW.
My sincere congratulations on a job well done. Please continue the good crusade. Antiwar.com certainly speaks for me, and indeed most if not all Iraqis in diaspora.
I'm an Australian reader of Antiwar.com, and find it a wonderful insight into what's being written and said in the USA – an important matter here in Australia (Melbourne) where our wretched Government and our awful PM, committed us to support Bush and Co., despite massive public opposition both on the streets and in the polls.
Our PM suggests that criticism of Bush is anti-Americanism, and tries to rally support on that basis – it helps his critics to be able to quote the host of sane Americans who oppose the Bush wars. ...
Well done, if it continues like this I shall be forced to send you some money. You have the best site on the media for keeping up with what is going on. My friends have been amazed at my depth of knowledge, nearly all due to your site.
Congratulations. Antiwar is the first site I visit. Except for the local news, I have given up on the broadcast media that views news coverage as entertainment or propaganda in its continual emphasis on ratings. Television news competes with the likes of Jerry Springer and talk radio serves as a support group for right-wing wackos. The print media, except in isolated cases, is hardly much better.
I contribute on a regular basis and I feel it is the best investment I make. With continued exposure Antiwar.com might soon be numero uno.
Congratulations on making the major media list! Especially heartening to see you've beat out Time and The Houston Chronicle. It's because your site has superlative coverage of what's up and excellent analysis of the politics of our current quagmires. I use Antiwar.com as my home page just to start the day off right, er, left, er, well you know what I mean. Keep up the outstanding work – millions depend on it!
Congratulations! I feel this fact by my skin because on our ML, which is supposed to be influential among Japanese readers, at least 3 main members now regularly check Antiwar.com. Since they refer to Antiwar.com as one of their main information sources, other members may be following suit. At the beginning of the Iraq invasion, I was the only one who regularly checked it.
Boortz's followers "rednecks"? Try wannabe-Yuppie scalawags! This Carolina redneck doesn't want a damn thing to do with Neil Boortz or the Bushlings. Two guys I went to high school with have now come back from Iraq in "transfer tubes." Damn Bush, and all his baying pro-war minions, straight to the ninth circle of Hell!
~ Nick Bull, Abbeville, South Carolina
Justin Raimondo replies:
I hesitated for a moment before I wrote the word "redneck," and you're right: no self-respecting redneck would have anything to do with Bush and his war. I stand corrected.
If
the Libertarian Party can't be unambiguous about its stand on war –
especially empire wars – then perhaps some mention should be made
of another party that is clearly anti-war.
The America
First Party not only opposed the war on Iraq; they have recently called
for the impeachment of George Bush, who has earned an impeachment thanks
to his endless deception, unjustified murder of foreign nationals and
squandering of the lives of American soldiers.
"The American soldiers who reportedly killed some 46 guerrilla attackers in a guerrilla-style ambush in the Iraqi city of Samarra, near Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit, demonstrated that when it comes to set-piece battles for which they have had occasion to prepare, the American military is virtually unsurpassed in today's world. The Americans suffered only five wounded, while reportedly killing 46 of the guerrillas. They also wounded 18 of the attackers and captured eight."
Now, what makes Mr. Bock so sure that those numbers are correct when they are still disputed? And, what makes him so sure that those Iraqis killed are guerrilla attackers? As of now, I have not read anything that confirms that information. Correct me if I am wrong.
Beside, this statement: "demonstrated that when it comes to set-piece battles for which they have had occasion to prepare, the American military is virtually unsurpassed in today's world," is based on reportedly!
As we all know, this whole war is based on REPORTEDLY WMD, are we now going to base our opinions on REPORTEDLY?
Finally, please convey my admiration and appreciation to Mr. Bock. He is a wealth of knowledge from which we are educating ourselves continually.
Alan Bock replies:
All right, by the time I wrote this there had been some questions about the numbers, and even some about non-guerrilla casualties, which is why, knowing almost nothing about the specifics of the questions at the time, I fudged it with the "reportedly." Perhaps I should have questioned more explicitly. And perhaps the "unsurpassed" was overstated, but my opinion that the US military does fairly well in set-piece battles was based not just on this incident but on talking with any number of reputed military experts and former US military personnel (current ones seldom talk very frankly to the likes of me) over the years. It could be an incorrect assessment, but I still think it isn't a bad one. This incident did seem to confirm it (even if the numbers of dead are in dispute), but the aftermath also suggests that skill in set-piece battles might not be what is most needed in Iraq (assuming Dubya isn't going to do the sensible thing and start pulling out tomorrow) just now.
I'm sure you weren't lecturing me, given what I've written recently, about taking reports of WMDs at face value.
And thanks for the nice comments.
The post on this blog http://radio.weblogs.com/0112894/2003/11/14.html has info on the mandatory draft registration for 18-26 year olds wishing to obtain driver licenses in North Carolina. The requirement became effective a month ago on November 3rd.
I didn't notice this in the article, but legislation has already been introduced in Congress to re-establish the draft, (2 years military or alternate "homeland security" service requirement) for all males and females, ages 18-26.
See it yourself at http://thomas.loc.gov
W.H.
Auden said it best in his poem "Epitaph on a Tyrant":
"Perfection,
of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets."
Thanks for a another great article.
As a WWII, U.S. Navy veteran with commendations from President Harry S. Truman and Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, I must say that you epitomize and personify a most patriotic American that is proving that this Administration is conducting an illegal war that was not declared by a Congress that relinquished it elected duties and cowardly acquiesced carte blanche to 87 billions for Iraq, monies that should have been allocated toward the betterment of Americans and for our country. All parties involved are more concerned with greed, power and November 2004 elections.
~ Charles Fortunato, Oceanside, California
Even the phrase "we're fighting them here, so we won't have to fight them in America" is stupid if you think on it. As an example, take 100 Iraqi insurgents and let them try to operate in some place like Iowa and see how long before some American citizen notices them. The same 100 insurgents could operate in Baghdad forever. To me, any large-scale "Iraqi terrorist" invasion of America wouldn't last a day. Isn't this why we have spent billions on Home Defense?
The reason we accept Bush's idiotic reasoning is because, as a country we have become corrupt – we have traded decency and common sense for total security for our privileged little asses. "Go ahead, kill the Arab children; just don't let anything disturb Joshua and Samantha's little routine of soccer games and trips to the mall."
~ Richard Vajs, Franklin, West Virginia
I enjoy your column and read it often.
I am writing with a different viewpoint on Bush's trip to Baghdad.
I am a Vietnam Vet and flew 76 combat missions there. Missions that our brave Commander in Chief could also have flown if he hadn't trampled over the 500 others in line to get into the Texas Air National Guard unit. The trip was just another example of this man's cowardly character as I see it. The fact is that he landed in the dark and took off in the dark. It must have been some time between 3AM and 5AM that the troops were called into the mess to dine on Thanksgiving Dinner – that's not when we usually have Thanksgiving "dinner" at my house. God forbid if word had gotten out that he was going to be in Baghdad – news stories say that during the last 3 hours of the trip he would order to "turn this baby around" if there were any leaks of his arrival there. I wonder if we would have even heard of the trip if he had tuned back? What kind of message would that have sent?
Would he be basking in re-runs of that photo-op as he most surely is this one?
The gullible public takes this trip at face value taking the bait as the Madison Avenue types intended. We must question the fact that the most powerful man in the world has to slip into and out of arguably the most well-protected place on the planet (at least while he was there) – I understand that the main danger might have been from falling debris from an inadvertent night mid-air collision of the squadrons of Apache helicopters patrolling the perimeter– in the middle of the night, just for want of higher poll numbers.
... Even if the horrible incidents outlined by “Ishmael M.” are true, using these to justify labeling Israel as Nazi-like, is like comparing a puddle with an ocean. Using Nazi comparisons is really a desperate attempt to legitimize the deligitimization of Israel.
What you neglected to mention is that if Americans reelect George Bush, they'll also be "reelecting" the rabidly pro-Israel neoconservative Pentagon ideologues who got us into the Iraq quagmire and who would very much like the opportunity to implement policies that would get us into yet more(and worse) quagmires, especially Iran and Syria, not to mention Lebanon and Libya.
The American Enterprise Institute (whose Laurie Mylroie cooked up the case for blaming 9/11 on Saddam) has a member named Michael Ledeen who is as intent on regime change in Iran as Paul Wolfowitz was about Regime change in Iraq.
You're correct – it's not about Bush – it's about whether or not we give another 4 years to a group of people who want to exploit the US power to make the Middle East safer for Israel.
I have no quarrel with the substance of the article!
But a comment on economics:
If someone wrote 2+2 = 5, you would suspect the intelligence of the writer. This is effectively what Reese does when he says trade deficits cause a drop off in foreign investment. Its a point of arithmetic: a trade deficit MUST be matched by an equal flow of investment by foreigners in the US. It is a matter of pure accounting logic, and is true by definition.
Your editorial was very good and I think right on point except for one thing. You give Bush too much credit for fortitude. I believe he is a coward. He jumped ahead in the long waiting line to get in the National Guard and then was AWOL for a year or more. My friends were serving in Vietnam and were being shot, killed, and imprisoned.
Please write an editorial about Bush's military service.
What a beautiful Op-Ed piece! I've been wishing to read /hear such a down-to-earth opinion presented somewhere in the media and wondering why only Michael Moore has seemed to join me in asking where my country (along with its values and ideals – as represented by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights) has gone. I've never before been so alarmed and frightened about the direction that this country has taken. Based on my reading of history I feel as if we're teetering on the edge of an abyss that's leading to terrible violence, widespread poverty and fascist abuses. Thank you for making me feel less alone in my concerns.
Affable Mr. Bush may be. Decent he is not.
Lying the nation into war is not decent. As to his being an elected president – please.
Otherwise a fine column. The skulk in and out of Baghdad should be remembered along with the Mission Accomplished travesty.
As for next year's elections, I say to Karl Rove, Bring 'em on. It is about Bush, about those he stands with, and what he stands for. All despicable.
No Blood for Water
I'm absolutely convinced that the primary reason for the US invasion of Iraq is Israel's need for water. Israel's only source of fresh water is under the West Bank and even if they could keep control of the West Bank, the supply is not enough in the long term for the area's population. Desalinated water cannot be used for agriculture and is used primarily for industrial purposes. Therefore, Israel cannot continue to exist without another source of fresh water. They were not able to buy water from Turkey because of transportation problems. If they brought the water in over land, it would have to cross Syria or Iraq and this was not politically possible. It is too expensive and unreliable to try to transport it by sea. The only option to guarantee Israel a water supply was to change the regime in Iraq and distribute Iraq's abundant water to surrounding areas; and I'm sure in the not too distant future, you will see this start to happen.
I believe the American people should be made aware of the real reasons we go to war and spend billions of dollars and lives in such an endeavor; and should be made aware of the reasons in real time and not years in the future when it becomes just a historical debate.
We already know that our headlong rush to invade Iraq was not because of their link to Osama and not because of weapons of mass destruction. It's very clear to anyone with an IQ over 70 that these were just transparent excuses. I also don't buy into the theory that our invasion of Iraq was for oil. If our Middle East policy were just about oil, we would not have supported Israel all these years.
The World Bank has made studies and keeps track of every drop of potable water on earth, and someone with contacts at the World Bank might be able to obtain proposed plans showing how the World Bank proposes to distribute the fresh water supplies in the region. There's no doubt the World Bank will be very involved in these projects.
I'm hoping that you might look into my water theory and track future developments as far as Iraq's water resources are concerned.
Mexican Parents of GIs in Iraq: 'Bring Our Children Home'
Thank you for printing this message! This war In Iraq is a crime! And who is the cannon-fodder? We all know: Our young men who have been conned into this fiasco by recruiters who know how to be persuasive with their "promises." (I'm 71 and five feet tall, but I know I would have to strength to yank George Bush out from behind his desk and lead him out of the White House by the nap of the neck, if given the opportunity!) I am an angry patriotic American!
My deepest sympathy to Mr. Suarez.
~ Nancy Walker, Avila Beach, California
"The fall of the Third (Communist) International, headquartered in the East, left Poland's reds without a foreign lodestar."
This line leaves the definite impression that the Third International did indeed recently collapse along with the Eastern Bloc – when in fact, the actual Third International organization (and these were all Marxist in origin – even the Second International, historically) was finally done-in by Stalin during WWII. In actuality, this was the administering of a coup de grace to an already gutted shell of an organization – done as part of a larger quid pro quo, ironically, to satisfy the Allies over Stalin's promise that 'their' local commies would no longer be posing the problem they'd been under Lenin's watch, postwar. This behavior actually fits in well with all previous and subsequent Stalinist behavior: Stalinists being more-or-less opportunist functionaries of the same sort as labor leaders everywhere. It also fits well with the fact that both sides did indeed divvy up the planet into 'spheres of influence' before the (formal) start of the Cold War.
I suppose it could be argued that Raimondo kind of knows this stuff, and was just being cute; but it certainly doesn't read that way.
'Experts Returning from Iraq Criticize US Tactics'
"'We have to start looking fast to our friends overseas,' according to Pollack, echoing similar suggestions from Cordesman and Korb."
What friends? The Bush administration's policies have not been aimed at making friends. Quite the contrary. They have gone out of their way to antagonize everyone – down to the Queen of England's gardeners who are trying to cope with the devastation created by Bush's helicopters since he could not drive anywhere except on the grounds of Buckingham Palace (from one door to another one).
~ L. Benning, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Justin
is the coolest and one of the most informative antiwar advocates I've
had the pleasure of reading, and I particularly like the ferocity his
articles have in promoting the lies and chicanery of the Bush cabal. I
don't have his book yet but consider The
Terror Enigma a must-read for the future. In these Orwellian times
Antiwar.com and Justin are an oasis in a desert of deceit and what I call
an "apex of corruption" from an Administration that really represents
true domestic tyranny.
Mr. Raimondo, I really appreciate your articles. You have a lot of energy, knowledge, skill and determination.
In a speech given before the Associated Press in 1936, Don Pedro Albizu Campos, the Puerto Rican Nationalist leader, said: "Military intervention is the most brutal and abusive act that can be committed against a people and a nation."
If the American people don't wake up we may end up with four more years of misery and the most corrupt government the US has so far endured.
Brilliant absolutely brilliant. I LOVED that article. I'm a big Reese fan having discovered him through a link from Antiwar.com. His columns are reader-friendly and make perfect sense.
I am an American woman, married to a Saudi, living in Jeddah. I have forwarded Reese's columns to my friends, both American and Arab, in the past and they have been very well received. His comments are right on target time and time again. They are true reflections of what is going on in this region and cut straight to the point.
I am not at all against the Jews as a people. I was with a Jewish friend of mine when I met my husband in Boston. But I have been waiting to hear people finally admit that out relationship with Israel is the cause of the majority of our problems. The US appears to be "In bed with Israel" as many of my Arab friends say. I wish people would read more instead of digesting what the politicians spill out on television. I love my country but have a difficult time defending it.
I noticed a couple of historical errors in this otherwise timely and much needed editorial by Charley Reese. First of all Islam started in the 7th century A.D., not the 8th.
Also, the Roman Empire had not disappeared by the 7th century, but lasted until 1453. Western Europeans and Americans usually call the later Roman Empire the Byzantine Empire, but the people who lived in this realm called themselves Romans. The Romans (or Byzantines) fought hard against the Islamic Arabs when they began pouring out of Arabia soon after Muhammad’s death in 632 AD The Arab conquests were aided, to some degree, by the war-weariness of both the Roman /Byzantine and the Persian empires who had worn themselves out by fighting against each other.
I enjoy reading Charley Reese’s editorials on Antiwar.com. He’s one of the most courageous journalists in America. He tells the truth about our actions in the Middle East. Keep up the good work!
~ Bill McKenney, Pulaski, Tennessee
'Hogtied and Abused at Fort Benning'
The police brutality against Kathy Kelly is shocking, abominable.
These
animals who mistreated her in such a way should be charged for crimes
and should have to pay amends, both financial and jail time. They should
also be relieved of their duties. Their behaviour is proof that the School
of the Americas should be disbanded. It turns human beings into animals.
Some of these animals have executed the Jesuit priests and their housekeepers.
Others raped and killed religious sisters. And of course the graduates of this school killed Father Oscar Romero and thousands of innocent civilians.
NO LONGER IN OUR NAME. CLOSE THE SOA IMMEDIATELY.
~ Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Abowd, Toledo, Ohio
Not a U.S. Person
If it isn't bad enough that we Canadians are getting dragged into the mess your government is making of the world with its war on drugs and war on terrorism, I now get dragged into it with my bank account. I have an account with the HSBC Bank Canada, which I always understood to be a British owned bank. So, I get a letter in the mail today informing me that they are registered in the US, and as such, I must provide a written declaration stating that I am "NOT a US Person". I must also provide my date of birth and social insurance number or else they provide all my personal information to the IRS! What f*cking business does the IRS have with Canadian citizens living in Canada? Your government really pisses me off! ...
~ H. Agbard