The War Party Conquers Cato?

A few months ago, Mark Brady, over at the Liberty and Power blog, noted that the libertarian Cato Institute had not published or posted anything about the Iraq war since the beginning of the year. Hmmmmm, I thought: an ill wind blows. It wasn’t a good sign for the venerable libertarian thinktank, which opposed Gulf War I, and – despite a few wobbles – stood up against the second Iraq war. However, I knew that a growing neocon contingent within Cato – including longtime apparatchik Tom Palmer, and policy analyst Brink Lindsay – supported the war, with Palmer coming out in a special Cato brochure calling for the military “defeat” of the insurgency, and traveling to Iraq to “advise” the National Assembly and campaign for the “Islam is the law” Iraqi constitution. In this context, the sudden involuntary departure of defense policy director Charles V. Pena, the respected defense policy analyst and staunch anti-interventionist, paints a troubling picture of an institution in the throes of a pro-war purge.

The earlier (voluntary) departure of Ivan Eland, who is now with the Independent Institute – and a regular Antiwar.com columnist – was a portent of things to come, and Pena’s departure is but the latest sign that Cato is going over to the War Party. As one observer put it: “Fortunately, Ted Carpenter and Chris Preble are still there but who knows what their future is. I think the jury is still out, but it’s hard not to read between the lines.”

According to a source at Cato, Pena was told that the institute needed to cut staff to close a 7-figure budget deficit. Yet only one other person (not a policy director and not someone in the defense and foreign policy department) was let go (at the end of August). Curiously enough, the day after he was RIF’ed (yes, that’s the term they used: “reduction in force”) Cato President Ed Crane announced the promotion of no less than 4 people at Cato (with each presumably receiving a raise) and the hiring of a new director of government affairs. Also, there’s been plenty of talk about adding 3 floors to the building — to accommodate a larger staff.

What’s going on at Cato is not a “reduction in force,” but a betrayal of libertarian principle. Pena, a senior fellow with the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, has been a strong advocate of withdrawing from Iraq – a position that Cato is now dropping. This is typical of the Cato crowd: their opportunism has always been beset by bad timing. At the dawn of the Republican-led anti-government revolution, they were telling the world they were “low tax liberals.” Now that the majority of Americans have turned against this war, the Cato bigwigs are lining up with the neoconservatives who want to “stay the course.”

These people, in short, are perpetual losers, who are constantly two steps behind the Zeitgeist and care only about sucking up to Power. They believe that selling out the vitally important principle of a noninterventionist foreign policy is a necessary step on their road to respectability. The reality is that, by aligning themselves with the War Party, which is on the brink of crashing and burning, along with the colonial regime in Iraq, they are consigning themselves to oblivion – and a richly deserved one, at that.

I am reminded of what Murray N. Rothbard said of the Catoites back in the 1980s, when they were trying to pass off libertarianism as “low-tax liberalism”: “They have sold out for a mess of pottage,” he wrote, “without even getting the pottage in return.”

UPDATE: Whoa! The mail is flying in over this one! (Libertarians love gossip.) At least one emailer informs me that I might not have the whole story: while it is true that others were promoted over Pena, it seems that one of them was the heroic Justin Logan, whose blog is a delight (sure, we disagreed about the Yushchenko affair, but now that I’ve been proven right, who cares?). Logan is a hardcore — and very knowledgeable — opponent of interventionism, and he’s a good writer, too.

I am also reminded that good old Ed Crane hates the neocons, and that they couldn’t find a more formidable enemy than the chief cog in the “Crane Machine. ”

So, while the neos have a foothold in the biggest bastion of libertarian opposition to the Warfare State in the Imperial City, they haven’t conquered it — yet! In any case, we’re watching them very closely — and you can bet they know it.

319 thoughts on “The War Party Conquers Cato?”

  2. WHAT IT IS: Plant Delivered Formula With Added Vitamin A, C, D and E For Maximum Results. Contains researched dosages of active ingredient ceramides that delivers 350 mg of Phytoceramides deep into the cells where your body needs it. Cutting edge face, hair & skin care hydration renew technology complex that is available today that was used in Japan for centuries!

  4. In all honesty, there are a lot of reasons why the Ford Mustang is not just the staple American muscle car yet likewise the best muscle car.

  6. The elasticated material delivers sustained pressure to key acupuncture points on the dog's body which in turn builds up their confidence.

  7. Even though fitness is an important part of the lives of many people, there is a lot of information people are missing, partly because the correct resources are not available.

  10. We are happy we could create this awesome tool for you and with the help of our PS3 Downgrader you can downgrade fast and without any hard work. You don't even have to open your PS3 case or use complicated files. You just have to download this tool, install it and let it do it's job.

  11. We believe that every woman deserves the best care for her body. Our product line is selected to accommodate the wants and needs of a women specifically. We have researched all of the best supplements for women to use for optional health, beauty and vitality.

  12. TARGET THE CELLULAR LEVEL: Topical anti-aging treatments only penetrate the superficial levels of the skin. Phytoceramide supplements can more effectively assist in hydration by working from the inside out.

  13. Very Finest Fish Oil Orange Flavor by Carlson Laboratories 500 ml Liquid Very Finest Fish Oil Orange Flavor From Norway The finest fish oil from deep cold ocean-water fish. Bottled in Norway to insure maximum freshness. Refreshing natural orange taste. Take by the teaspoonful mix with foods and try it on salads Supplement Facts Serving Size 1 Teaspoon Amount Per 1 Teaspoon DV Omega-3 Fatty Acids 1600 mg Vitamin E (as d-Alpha tocopherol) 10 IU 33 Other Omega-3 Fatty Acids 300 mg DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) 500 mg EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) 800 mg Daily Value (DV) not established

  43. Pug could be among the cutest pet dogs to have. Getting your pug for the first time will certainly be exciting, but it can likewise become truly demanding as well as exhausting.

Comments are closed.

viewpoint highlights
breaking news
© 2024 Antiwar.com. All rights reserved.
Antiwar.com Blog Stock Photos provided by our partner Depositphotos