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Posted January 3, 2004
Is There Hope? – Where to Look for It
This article clearly sees that the fault is not just with the Palestinians "missing the window" of opportunity. The delaying tactics are classic and have been used over and over. I must agree that the Israeli grass roots isn't buying the regimes stories, but they are not as effective in that "democracy" as we would wish.
HaCohen sees the problems, but what solutions are realistic enough to see an end to the bloodshed, dehumanization and sadness?
~ Alma Lou Annab, Amman, Jordan
It is interesting that in your recitation of "cracks" in Israel's policies, you date it from the first refusniks. I doubt that was the beginning – I don't think Sharon cared until the reservists and pilots joined, and maybe not even then. But even if that is where it started, surely one of the most important elements of the "crack" is that important articles appeared in Israel and the US on the option of a bi-national state. It was put back on the table, often joined with the problem of trying to undo large, very substantially populated settlements. I wonder why these were not part of your analysis?
Ran HaCohen replies:
As for the "cracks", I do date it from the pilots, not from the first refuseniks long ago. As for the reappearance of the bi-national state option, you may be right; but it took place mostly outside Israel – there is hardly any public debate on it in Israel, as far as I can see.
Pope John Paul II: Man of the Year
While I almost always find you to be a very good read, I believe you have erred in the above essay. Those acting under the color of the Roman Catholic Church historically have done things in their own time and for their own reasons, none of which need work the good of anyone else. (Not that they are alone in this: all religious hierarchs act similarly.) I do not imagine the antiwar stance of John Paul II to be any different.
The RCC is quintessentially an anti-rationalist and anti-freedom institution. That its leader, for a moment, aligns with rational and pro-freedom aims signifies nothing.
Justin Raimondo replies:
Nonsense. How "rational" is it to dismiss the entire corpus of Catholic moral and "just war" theory away with an imperious gesture? The Marxists and totalitarians of all sorts embraced "rationalism": indeed, the Jacobins erected a statue to the "goddess of Reason" in the very shadow of the guillotine....
Usually I agree with you 100%, but not today. I agree with Eliazabeth Cady Stanton who thought that religion set civilization back and Tom Paine who thought that religion hijacked the brain!
Maybe Pope John was courageous to stand up to the "war party", but we are desperately in need for some authority to stand up and say "Hey, you guys need to realize that we are down here alone, and the future of the planet and the human race depends on us"! What kind of a god would wait around and allow all of this killing to go on in the belief that "My god is the only true god, and is bigger and better than yours"? How many wars can be traced back to this kind of irrationality?
Justin Raimondo replies:
What kind of God would permit humans to err? The kind that permits free will.
You still are a Catholic (universal) Son. I know of your preferences and attitudes concerning the Church. You are however, loved my many Catholics and we are proud to know you.
From a Vietnam era vet, father, brother in peace and Catholic Worker.
I realize that Raimondo is able to give credit where credit is due to the Pope because he was raised Catholic and has an understanding of the Church.
Nevertheless, it is nice to read a "nonbeliever" who is not also a rabid know-nothing parrot of old, anti Catholic lies universally believed by willfully ignorant Protestants.
Not Catholic myself, I long ago discovered that for one raised in the English language to learn true history he must resort to Catholic records. The most biased, most fictionalized, history in the world is English language history. Thanks to the legacy of Henry VIII and Catholic-hating followers of the old rogue who robbed the riches of "merry old (Catholic) England" and brought the main population of the island to poverty and sorrow, as romanticized by Dickens.
"Although I was raised a Catholic, I am not a believer. But I must recognize the moral stature of a man like John Paul II, who stood up to the Communist would-be hegemon and is now standing up to another. As he said in a speech to the Vatican diplomatic corps..."
Your article made me weep. Thank you, sir. I have not seen such faith and courage among many of the the children of the Church.
Quo Vadis? What’s in Store for 2004
Why does a site titled Antiwar.com publish an editorial that implies that a secret-police organized assassination that led to millions of war deaths is a model for action against the USA? Malic writes:
"It was just a century ago that people of the Balkans fought ferociously for their freedom, so much that one simple act of tyrannicide ended up shattering the world of Imperial Europe. Have the horrors of the 20th century killed that freedom-loving streak in Europe's southwestern corner? That is truly hard to believe."
Unfortunately, the link he provides also tells us that, "It has now been conclusively proved that the assassination was funded by and undertaken in behalf of a secret Serbian society known as 'Union or Death' and popularly called 'The Black Hand,' which provided the bombs and pistols. The mastermind of the plot to kill Franz Ferdinand was a mysterious, restless individual nicknamed Apis (Bee), the chief of Serbian military intelligence." ...
Nebojsa Malic replies:
I won't deny that Young Bosnia was aided by a cabal of Serbian officers, led by Col. Dragutin Dimitrijevic "Apis" However, we need to keep in mind that they assassinated an occupation official (Gen. Potiorek) and the deputy head-of-state of the occupier (Ferdinand) over an illegal and illegitimate annexation (Bosnia, 1908). The only innocent killed in the attack – inadvertently – was Ferdinand's wife, Duchess Sofia Chotek. Vienna long desired a war against Serbia, but lacked the pretext. The Archduke's security was so poor, and the timing of the visit so ill, one is tempted to wonder if certain circles in the Imperia court wanted it to happen. Austria-Hungary launched a war on Serbia, which led to the mindless butchery of 1914-1918, despite the Serbian government's willingness to compromise and accommodate Austrian demands. Serbia itself convicted Apis of conspiracy (against its own government) and had him executed in 1917. Serbia did not want a war, nor did it start one. As for the assassination, consider this: three deaths, of which only one was innocent, versus millions that ensued upon Austria's declaration of war. Or compare it to American "humanitarian" interventions over the course of the last 50 years alone. The bullets of Sarajevo were far more moral, either way.
Eric Garris Replies
Why are y'all against the war on Iraq? I think we are doing a great thing in "cleaning" up the country. I wish war did not have to come, but I understand that it must happen. I wish you would support out troops and Bush now that it has come to this.
~ Private Joel S. (19 years old), Frierson, Mississippi
Eric Garris replies:
I don't think the life of a single US soldier makes the liberation of Iraq worth it. Why don't you ask your question to the families of the 475 American men and women killed so far (more than half since the war "ended")?
I have had a lot of trouble down loading some articles. The latest was today's "Daughter of Slain Iraqi Leader says US helped Saddam" and the article "Israel Continues Ethnic Cleansing of Bedouins."
It is midnight on the West Coast so I don't think that there can be a lot of other North Americans accessing these articles.
Is there a possibility that these pages /sources are being attacked so I can't access them?
Eric Garris replies:
No, these are on media outlets with smaller servers, and they often get overtaxed. They are located in the Middle East, which is late morning when it is midnight on the West Coast.
Where can I find the Congress's "Act for Syrian Accountability" and other US acts or memos? ...
Eric Garris replies:
Here is the text of the act: http://www.theorator.com/bills108/s982.html.
I am wondering why there is no method of forwarding the articles at your site. In a time when educating the ignorant, bringing as much knowledge to as many as possible, is paramount to trying to save even a pretense of democracy in this country, it would be very helpful to be able to send on some of your pertinent articles to interest others in your site and in becoming responsible for their own awareness. Thanks for being there.
Eric Garris replies:
All of our original articles can be forwarded with the "email" link. We have no script in place for forwarding articles off of our site.
However, you can forward any web page you are on by simply going to the browser and under "file" click on "send" and it will send the page in your email program.
A Pox on Fox: Latest Lies From Fox News
Dr. Steinreich quotes Bill O'Reilly's claim that President Bush invading Iraq to drive out Saddam was "exactly what Jesus did in the temple" when he drove out the money changers. I wonder if in Mr. O'Reilly's unique copy of the Bible, Jesus then went outside and machine-gunned a family in a van for not stopping fast enough at the temple checkpoint?
I've admired Tibor Machan for many years. However, I'd like to take issue with his editorial that you just posted. In that piece Machan writes, "If Iraq had had WMDs, or was on the verge of producing them, it would indeed have been justified to attack it."
I disagree. And I think this is an important point which is being missed. The U.S. did not attack Russia, China, France, India or Pakistan when they acquired WMDs. The US has not pressured Israel to abandon the development of WMDs; and some insist that Israel already has them. The North Koreans have openly announced that they have a weapons program, or have the weapons, yet they have not been invaded. In other words, the only country in the world that has been attacked for allegedly having WMDs is Iraq. Yet there is no evidence that even if they had them Iraq would have used them in an aggressive way. People say that Saddam was crazy, but so was Mao, so was Stalin. Yet neither Mao nor Stalin used their WMDs. Yes Saddam attacked his neighbors in the past (Iran and Kuwait), but in neither case did he use WMDs. Even when Iraq was attacked in the First Gulf War, he did not use WMDs which I think is sound evidence of restraint (assuming he had them at that time).
In fact, only one country has used WMDs in warfare, and used them on a completely defenseless and civilian population. That country is the US Using the logic of those who argue that Saddam must be disarmed of all WMDs, the US should invade the US and disarm it.
Mad Cow Restrictions a Multi-billion Dollar Toll of Bush Unilateralism
One isolated case of Mad Cow disease in Washington State, caught through USDA testing policies, has triggered an immediate reaction from members of Bush's "coalition of the willing" like Russia, Japan, and Great Britain – a ban on all US beef imports that could cost the industry billions. Though the circumstances of the current US Mad Cow "scare" are entirely different than those that affected Great Britain in the 1990's, the reaction has proven far more irrational and damaging in context of global trade initiatives. One might be forgiven for suspecting that our coalition partners were seizing upon an excuse that would inflict a nasty bruise on the US economy, especially considering the lack of deference they've received from Washington since Bush was elected. The Bush Administration has determined to exclude all those nations that questioned the argument for war in Iraq (and were eventually proven right), flatly rejected the Kyoto Accord, and has chosen to renew the global arms race. Should American's be the least bit surprised to find themselves on the receiving end of Cold Trade War tactics?
~ Robert Ted Hinds, Candidate for Mayor of Portland, Oregon 2004