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"War is the field on which life or death is determined and the road that leads to either survival or ruin, and must be examined with the greatest care."
--Sun Tzu
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."
--Mark Twain
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Highlights from Populist Party Commentary
Getting out of Iraq
by Ron Paul
We have been financing this war through inflation, and attempting to paper over reality with misleading economic indicators. The government has changed the methodology of calculating things like CPI and GDP to hide the bad news. They won't even publish M3, the total money supply statistic anymore. But reality is hitting the American people at gas pumps and grocery stores, sending more Americans into foreclosure and unemployment lines. More are hurting while Washington keeps forgetting its promises. Eventually, this will all come to a head.
Perhaps an even greater fear is that even if our financial trouble doesn't get our troops out of Iraq, moving them over to fight a new war in Iran, will. Washington should be crystal clear on this very important point - just getting the troops out of Iraq means nothing. Bringing them HOME means everything, and that is what the people in both countries demand.
(read more here)
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The Problem of Patriotism
by James Rothenberg
One could argue that we are all Americans and what is so bad about this, fighting for our country? Two things. Americans do not decide when to fight and Americans do not fight for the country. The political leadership decides when to fight and Americans fight for the political leadership.
It must be added that we are not the only nation with a military and patriotic citizens. We are, though, the reigning superpower with a bad history of state violence, for those interested in the record. Due to the preeminence of our military power the decent moral position would be for us to be the last to use it. Unfortunately, we are consumed with its display and demonstration.
(read more here)
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Legitimizing Permanent Occupation of Iraq
by Stephen Lendman
Within the US, some in Congress object that George Bush claims authority as commander-in-chief to constitutionally bypass lawmakers and deal unilaterally with the Iraqi government. Others like Yale Law School Professors Oona Hathaway and Bruce Ackerman concur and believe the agreement "moves far beyond" traditional accords and must be subject to congressional review.
Besides permanent bases and immunity from Iraqi law (largely written by Washington), the newly proposed deal gives US military forces a free hand. It lets them carry out operations inside Iraq, presumably anywhere in the region as well, and grants the right to arrest Iraqis.
(read more here)
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War Crimes Paradox
by Paul Craig Roberts
A kid who trained guard dogs is being deported as a war criminal, but the head of state who launched two wars of naked aggression, resulting in the deaths of more than 1.2 million people, and who has the entire world on edge awaiting his third war of aggression, this time against Iran, is received respectfully by foreign governments. Corporations and trade associations will pay him $100,000 per speech when he leaves office. He will make millions of dollars more from memoirs written by a ghostwriter.
Does no one see the paradox of deporting Henss while leaving the war criminal in the White House?
(read more here)
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Sun Tzu Goes to Washington
by Brian Trent
"War is a vital matter for state," Sun Tzu wrote 2,400 years ago in his classic volume on warfare. In the most fundamental iteration we see how correct he is. War is the tool of a nation; without the means of national defense, you are subject to the whims and appetites of predators.
Yet one of the problems with American culture today is its utter misunderstanding of war, both in purpose and execution. We think of Hollywood depictions, where things have a clear beginning, definite objective, and certain end credits. We add a toxic amount of jingoism into our perception of why wars are fought, and perhaps worst of all we tend to polarize ourselves into two quibbling - and ultimately idiotic - camps. Pacifists and militarists share the same fanatical pathology.
Sun Tzu built a reputation on strategy, tactics, and the art of warfare, the study of which had been going on in China long before his birth. In America, we tend not to study warfare at all. This is a weakness .
(read more here)
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Published 5 days a week, Populist Party Commentary and the Populist Party blog both strive to provide an alternative point of view to current events and political theory.
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In the spirit of liberty,
From All of Us on the Populist Party team
Copyright 2008, The Populist Party of America
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