I do not need a politician to stand up for civil rights, the rule of law, international treaties signed by the US and the US Constitution when it’s popular. I need them to stand up for those things when it’s difficult.
(more…)

Popularity: 11% [?]

According to the principles established by the Nuremberg trials, you and I are probably in the clear with respect to charges of crimes against humanity or war crimes, but perhaps our political leaders are not. Could those principles be extended to all taxpayers who fund war criminals? It might sound obvious or absurd depending on how you view the issues, but it’s not an easy question.

(more…)

Popularity: 7% [?]

I’m reading the somewhat disappointing book Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989 by Michael Beschloss. I’ll have to do a complete review, but in brief, the disappointing part is that in most episodes, I get to the end and think “Oh, it’s over.” Somehow it reads a bit like a core dump and the storytelling could be much more compelling. That said, there are interesting tidbits here and there, such as a brief discussion (a couple of sentences) regarding the Ludlow Amendment, which would have dramatically changed the way the US went to war.
(more…)

Popularity: 5% [?]

Before finally being deposed and right up to his final moments, Donald Rumsfeld frequently argued that those who did not support the war in Iraq had failed to learn the lessons of history. He said that it had been a mistake to appease Hitler in 1938 when the Germans retook the Sudetenland, and that it was a similar mistake to treat with Saddam Hussein. The problem, of course, is that Rumsfeld takes one example from history, and a more ambiguous example than many think, and makes it a universal principle of statesmanship. That wouldn’t be so bad if Rumsfeld hadn’t been in a position to persuade the president and others and, in fact, might not be that bad if there had been a little analysis of the idea itself. Since I’ve been preoccuppied with other things lately, I haven’t written about this, but just because Rumsfeld is gone, the Rumsfeld mentality is not and it bears some examination.
(more…)

Popularity: 21% [?]

I sent the following letter to my representative asking him to look into the Charles Swift situation. Swift, a military lawyer, mounted a serious defense of an accused prisoner and may have been the target of retribution for having done so. (more…)

Popularity: 27% [?]

600,000 Dead FRom Iraq War

This made big headlines - “600,000 civilians have died in violence across Iraq since the 2003 American invasion,” 56% of them from gunshots. There is a wide range in the estimate (from 426,369 to 793,663 with 600,000 simply being near the middle of the range).
(more…)

Popularity: 24% [?]

President Bush, addressing the United Nations, said that American forces and interrogators were being hampered by the vague language of the Ten Commandments and added that he did not wish US forces to be bound by them. Democratic leader Harry Reid accused the president of trying to “reinterpret” the Decalogue.
(more…)

Popularity: 31% [?]

In the summer of 1959 there occurred a series of events which demonstrated our national ignorance in a shameful and nearly fatal manner. Briefly, the United States threatened intervention in a foreign country for reasons which, it turned out, had no basis in fact… Our Secretary of State called the situation grave; our ambassador to the U.N. called for world action; our press carried scare headlines; our senior naval officer implied armed intervention and was seconded by ranking Congressmen, including the Chairman of the National Committee of the Republican Party, which was then in power (p. 12-13)…. In the eyes of the world, the United States looked very foolish at best, and very dangerous at worst (p. 28)…. We have thrown away our good will and political strength by an ignorance which led to false confidence and corruption. We have clumsily alienated potential supporters by neglecting them for a few “pets” and have repelled others by maladroitness (p. 30).

(more…)

Popularity: 14% [?]

No, that’s not a quote from The Ranter’s close friends Dubya or Rummy. That’s from David Maraniss’ book They Marched Into Sunlight (Simon & Schuster, 2003). Maraniss follows two parallel stories, that of a battle in Vietnam and that of a student protest in Madison, Wisconsin. The two stories converge on October 19, 1967, when they appear side by side on the front page of the paper. For Maraniss, that was the beginning of the real slide in public opinion in favor of the war. Why bring this up now? Because the administration’s assessment of the situation in Vietnam in 1967 appears chillingly like the current administration’s assessment of Iraq today.
(more…)

Popularity: 11% [?]