The '06 Stakes Just Got Raised
The U.S. Supreme Court's rebuff of George W. Bush over his military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay marks a historic repudiation of Bush's self-image as an all-powerful "war president." But the fragility of what amounts to a one-vote margin on the high court also highlights the enormous stakes now on the table for the congressional elections in November 2006. June 30, 2006

The Neocon Battle for Media
The harsh right-wing attacks on the New York Times for publishing articles about the Bush administration's secret monitoring of phone calls and financial transactions mark a new phase in the long neoconservative battle to intimidate and dominate the U.S. news media. But the struggle has dangerous implications as well for the future of the American Republic. June 29, 2006

One Percent Madness
According to author Ron Suskind, the Bush administration's War on Terror is guided by Dick Cheney's "one percent doctrine," that if a terrorist threat is just one percent possible, the United States must act like it's a certainty. But this strategy has a touch of madness, leaving the nation trapped in a dark world of dangerous, unintended consequences. June 27, 2006

Terrorists in Miami, Oh My!
The Bush administration's high-profile round-up of seven young black men in Miami for what amounts to "aspirational" terrorism stands in marked contrast to the see-no-evil approach taken toward right-wing Cuban terrorists who have been protected by the Bush family for three decades. Though the Cubans have engaged in actual terrorism, including the mid-air bombing of a Cubana Airlines plane, they are shielded from ever facing justice for their crimes. June 24, 2006

Win One for Gipper Khameini
By pursuing Dick Cheney's "one percent doctrine" -- that the U.S. must react to any one percent terror threat -- the U.S. government is setting off a chain of unintended consequences around the world. It's like a geopolitical version of the old lady who swallowed a fly. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland looks at what happened with Iran because George W. Bush swallowed Iraq. June 22, 2006

Wash Post Smears War Critics, Again
As the U.S. death toll in the Iraq War passes 2,500, the Washington Post continues its longstanding campaign to disparage Democratic war critics, this time by calling them people who try to "exploit bad news without appearing to rejoice in it." These ugly charges have been part of the Post's pattern of de-legitimizing dissent against George W. Bush's war policies since 2002. June 21, 2006

Five Days Left
Editor Robert Parry explains why he didn't go to recent progressive conferences that dealt with media issues. The chief reason is that the time for talking is past; if something isn't done quickly, the time for action might be past soon. This Web site has five days left to raise half its target for its spring fund-raiser. June 16, 2006

The Hariri Mirage: Lessons Unlearned
In October 2005, a drumbeat began about Syria's presumed guilt for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. From President Bush to the New York Times editorial page, almost everyone agreed that Syrian security forces must have been responsible, though there was some debate about whether "regime change" was called for. However, with little notice in the past half year, the initial Hariri investigation has crumbled. Still, the American people have heard almost nothing about this changed situation. June 16, 2006

The Moon-Bush Cash Conduit
South Korean theocrat Sun Myung Moon has long boasted of his ability to "hook" politicians by putting money into their pockets and into their political machines. But Moon's most important catch may have come from the millions of dollars sunk into the powerful Bush family -- and the subsequent lack of U.S. interest in evidence of Moon's criminal activities. June 14, 2006

Haditha, Vietnam & War Crimes
Memories of the My Lai massacre hover over the U.S. slaughter of 24 civilians at Haditha, Iraq. The recollections are especially poignant for Lawrence Colburn, one of the few Americans who tried to stop the killing at My Lai,  and to Colin Powell, an Army major in Vietnam who botched an early My Lai investigation and then helped sell the case for war with Iraq 35 years later. June 13, 2006

Zarqawi's Death May Aid Insurgency
Since the first days of the Iraq War, the Bush administration has expected that eliminating key enemy leaders would be the magic bullet for winning the war. The reality, however, has turned out very differently. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland looks at the possibility that the killing of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will become the latest false turning point. June 13, 2006

The Trumpet Summons Us Again
In this guest essay, political analyst Brent Budowsky examines the prospects for profound political change in this election year. June 10, 2006

Overselling Terror
George W. Bush can expect a political boost from the killing of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the recent arrest of 17 alleged terror plotters in Canada. But those developments obscure a very different reality: new intelligence discoveries suggest that Bush has long been exaggerating the danger from al-Qaeda and Islamic terrorism. June 9, 2006

Why Democrats Lose
The defeat of Democrat Francine Busby in a special congressional election outside San Diego was a case study in why Democrats lose. With conservatives dominating the media and with Busby running a "safe" consultant-driven campaign, the Republicans pounced on a minor verbal slip-up by Busby in the final days and propelled Brian Bilbray to victory. The question now is: what can the Democrats do to ever break out of their cycle of losing? June 7, 2006

Readers React to 'Why Dems Lose'

Iran Nukes: U.S. Denial of Reality
The disastrous U.S. invasion of Iraq has limited Washington's options in dealing with Iran's nuclear experimentation. First, Iran saw what happened to Iraq when it agreed to United Nations weapons inspections; the invasion came anyway. Plus, the 135,000 U.S. troops  in Iraq are now almost hostages to possible Shiite retaliation if the United States does attack Iran. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland examines the Bush administration's dwindling choices on Iran. June 7, 2006

Haditha, Bush & Nuremberg's Laws
As the U.S. military wraps up its investigation of the alleged U.S. Marine massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha, George W. Bush says he expects any Marines implicated in the murder to be brought to justice. But Bush -- and the U.S. news media -- miss the point that under the Nuremberg Principles established by U.S. and allied jurists after World War II, the architects of aggressive war -- in this case, including Bush -- are culpable for the crimes of their subordinates. In this guest essay, Peter Dyer reminds us of these legal standards. June 6, 2006

Vote 2006: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Will Election 2006 be just another round of consultant-driven politics or will it stand as a transcendent political moment when U.S. voters repudiate what they have seen happen to the American Republic over the past six years? In this passionate guest essay, political analyst Brent Budowsky sees the November balloting as a potential turning point for a revived patriotism and a reborn democracy. June 5, 2006

Is O'Reilly a Nazi? Just Asking
Fox News star Bill O'Reilly has accused American troops in World War II of murdering unarmed Nazi SS forces at Malmedy, Belgium, and systematically burning alive surrendering Japanese soldiers at Iwo Jima. But O'Reilly's historical smears are no more accurate than many of his current ones. For instance, at Malmedy, SS troops murdered unarmed Americans, not the other way around. O'Reilly's bizarre sympathy for the Axis Powers might justify one of those loaded Fox News questions: "Is Bill O'Reilly a Nazi?" Just asking. June 3, 2006

Washington's Orwellian Consensus
Disclosures of spying on Americans and George W. Bush's sinking poll numbers have surprisingly not changed the political dynamic in Washington, as Bush continues to fend off serious oversight while consolidating his imperial presidency. Bush's ultimate trump card in gaining this Orwellian consensus has turned out to be his control of government secrets, with only the November elections looming as a potential obstacle in his path. June 2, 2006

Colombia's 'Narco-Presidente'
The re-election of Colombia's president Alvaro Uribe marked a rare victory for George W. Bush in South American elections. Uribe gives Bush one regional ally whose country can serve as a base for challenging Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez. But Uribe also carries with him baggage as a political leader who tolerates political violence and narco-trafficking by his allies. June 1, 2006

Honoring the Dead, Questioning War
The admonition to "support the troops" has often been used to stifle debate about the wisdom of George W. Bush's war policies. But the mounting U.S. death toll is proof that the greatest failure to "support the troops" may have been the political cowardice that ducked a full debate before American soldiers were committed to battle. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland looks at how fuzzy "patriotism" can be the greatest betrayal of the troops. May 31, 2006

Bush's My Lai
The latest war-crimes scandal in Iraq -- the alleged murder of two dozen Iraqis in Haditha at the hands of U.S. Marines -- is drawing comparisons to the Vietnam War's My Lai massacre. But the bigger issue is whether George W. Bush should be held accountable since he misled both the American public and U.S. troops into believing that the invasion of Iraq was a way to avenge the 9/11 attacks -- a lie that created the conditions for atrocities. May 30, 2006

Bush's Enron Lies
When Ken Lay's Enron Corp. collapsed in fall 2001, George W. Bush's defenders said the President proved his ethical mettle by rebuffing pleas to bail out Lay, one of Bush's top political donors. But that story wasn't true. Behind the scenes, Bush pushed several plans to put hundreds of millions of dollars in Enron's coffers. One scheme was run by the National Security Council in summer 2001, while it was ignoring warnings about an impending al-Qaeda attack. May 26, 2006

Government Secrecy Is a Farce
The Bush administration has exploited the "war on terror" to wrap many of its most controversial policies in tight secrecy, such as spying on Americans and torturing detainees. Then, when the secrets are revealed, the White House exaggerates the real harm to national security and threatens prosecution of leakers and journalists. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland examines the fictitious nature of many "secrets" and their harmful effect on democracy. May 25, 2006

Bush's Garroting of Democracy
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales warned U.S. news organizations that they face prosecution for revealing government "secrets" while his Justice Department conducted an extraordinary raid on a congressman's Capitol Hill office, prompting a protest from House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The Bush administration seems to be signaling that its steady garroting of the institutions -- and the principles -- of American democracy will continue. May 24, 2006

Liberty Over Safety
After more than two centuries of Americans sacrificing safety for liberty -- from the Lexington Green to the Normandy beaches -- the Bush administration is telling Americans that they now must swap their liberties for a bit more safety. The historical shift can be seen by comparing Patrick Henry's revolutionary vow of "give me liberty or give me death" to Sen. Pat Roberts's self-centered observation that "you have no civil liberties if you're dead." May 19, 2006

Bush: 'Alpha Male on the Cruise Ship'
At a press conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, George W. Bush asserted his primal dominance by poking fun at Howard's bald head and homely appearance. Bush's put-down humor has long made him the ultimate caricature of the wise-cracking guy that many Americans have encountered on vacation: the alpha male on the cruise ship. May 18, 2006

Readers React to Bush/Alpha Story

Stopping Hayden & the NSA
The Bush administration's internal debates about how far to go in encroaching on constitutional freedoms turned to splitting hairs about what could be done politically rather than what the law allowed. In that sense, the supposed "moderates," like National Security Agency director Michael Hayden, sacrificed principle for expediency. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland argues that the violations were egregious enough to justify closing down both Hayden's nomination to be CIA director and the NSA. May 17, 2006

Dixie Chicks, Valerie Plame & Bush
More than any recent President, George W. Bush has demonstrated an almost pathological hostility toward dissent. Two cases illustrate Bush's techniques for punishing critics -- the use of surrogates to damage the careers of dissenters like the Dixie Chicks, who have faced three years of boycotts for criticizing Bush, and a more hands-on approach, as happened with the exposure of CIA officer Valerie Plame after her husband criticized Bush's Iraq evidence. May 16, 2006

Iran, Bush & Nuremberg
George W. Bush often lectures the American people and other nations on the need to respect the rule of law. But a consistent inconsistency of his administration has been Bush's own flouting of rules that get in his way, especially international laws against the use of force against other countries. In this guest essay, Peter Dyer looks at how Bush continues to turn his back on well-established principles of civilized behavior. May 15, 2006

Bush's 'Big Brother' Blunder
Some Americans are so afraid of terrorism that they're willing to trade off their "unalienable rights" for a small measure of additional security. But George W. Bush's massive investment in a "Big Brother-style" data base of phone calls made by some 200 million Americans may not only intrude on constitutional rights but lessen the nation's safety by diverting money better spent on more practical strategies, like hiring translators and inspecting cargo. May 13, 2006

This Time, It Really Is Orwellian
Over the past several years, the word "Orwellian" has sometimes been overused in describing George W. Bush's authoritarian policies. But a newly disclosed government operation to electronically warehouse the phone records of 200 million Americans over their lifetimes does truly capture the essence of George Orwell's Big Brother nightmare. May 12, 2006

Hey, Democrats, the Truth Matters!
"Centrist" Democrats are urging the party to forego investigations of the Bush administration if Democrats win control of one or more houses of Congress in November. But the idea of helping Republicans sweep scandals under the rug was tried before, by President Bill Clinton, and it didn't work out very well, either for the American people or the Democrats. May 11, 2006

Failed Intelligence Reorganization
The sudden ouster of CIA Director Porter Goss highlights yet another failure by the Bush administration to address bureaucratic problems that endanger the United States. As occurred with the Department of Homeland Security -- during the Katrina crisis -- politics and cronyism were again allowed to trump efficient government. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland examines why the administration's intelligence reorganization failed. May 10, 2006

The CIA, a Bush Family Fiefdom
The latest CIA shakeup promises again to fix the glaring problems that have made the United States more vulnerable to security threats, like 9/11, and to strategic blunders, like Iraq. But the core problem is still being missed. It is the political corruption of the intelligence analysis that has grown worse because George W. Bush sees the spy agency as a Bush family fiefdom. May 9, 2006

Rummy Logic & Enduring Lies
Facing hecklers over Iraq War lies, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appealed for renewed faith in George W. Bush's honesty. But Rumsfeld then resumed the Bush administration's long pattern of deceiving the American people with what might be called "Rummy logic." Yet, even as the public catches on, the mainstream news media continues to act the fool. May 8, 2006

Colbert & the Courtier Press
The outrage sweeping Washington journalism circles over comedian Stephen Colbert's lampooning of George W. Bush is just the latest sign of a national news media that puts coziness with insiders ahead of its responsibility to hold the Bush administration accountable. The American people are discovering that one of the biggest threats to the future of the Republic is the courtier press. May 5, 2006

Bush, Iran & the WMD Boomerang
Another downside of the Iraq War is that it has become an object lesson to other nations, like Iran and North Korea, about what happens to a country and its leaders if they comply with international demands and scrap their weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations can't protect them from a devastating military attack ordered by George W. Bush. In other words, the Iraq invasion appears to have had a boomerang effect, spurring rather than stopping the spread of WMD. In this guest essay, Ivan Eland looks at this dilemma. May 4, 2006

A Reverse Thousand Days
Americans who want to restore traditional concepts of a limited Executive and "unalienable rights" for all citizens have less than 1,000 days left in George W. Bush's presidential terms to do so, roughly the same length of time that John F. Kennedy served in a presidency cut short by assassination. Now, the goal of undoing Bush's concept of himself as the all-powerful Commander in Chief faces what might be called "a reverse thousand days." May 2, 2006