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William Bowles - In today’s globalised environment, the idea of a single ‘superpower’ is a redundant concept. It is within this context that we need to set recent history, for there is no escaping the terrible ‘logic’ of capitalism – expand or die. The problem is where to expand to? The USA and UK are still attempting to recreate a world long dead and buried - a world dominated by an outdated economic model that nevertheless refuses to die simply because it has the military and economic power to threaten the rest of the world with destruction unless it tows the line. So what’s an ‘old’ socialist like me to do, for it’s clear that at least in the current climate of fear and repression, and the fact that an alternate economic model based upon cooperation and a shared system of humane values is not on the cards, the world is faced with catastrophe.
John Maxwell - If the war on Iraq was a crime against humanity, what description do we use for the decapitation of the Haitian democracy? The world press, those brave gladiators for justice and truth, speak about “hapless Haiti” and the “hapless Haitians”; they hide their prejudice and deceit behind euphemisms, behind circumlocution, obfuscations and outright lies to conceal foul crimes. They say President Aristide fled “amid a popular revolt” – of about 500 bandits in a population of eight million. But the Haitians are “hapless.” Our leaders, on the other hand, like the leaders of the United States, France and Canada, the triad behind the criminal enterprise in Haiti, are all full of hap: hatred, arrogance and prejudice.
Don Nash - In all good conscience, I cannot support George Bush. His political philosophy of Machiavellian expedience is morally bankrupt and without precedent in the history of the American presidency. Bush’s premise of ‘preemptive war’ is so inhumanely offensive, it smacks of being almost genocidal by it’s very definition. The Bush administration is wrong on every count that one might care to examine. The Bush administration is wrong to plunder America’s resources simply to satisfy some pre-election pact that they entered into prior to the 2000 election. The Bush administration was wrong to have pulled America out of the Kyoto Accord. The Bush administration was wrong to squander America’s treasury with the still untested missile defense system. If Bush and company are for it, I am against it.
Thomas Wheeler - Here’s an interesting thought experiment. Imagine a German citizen harshly denouncing Hitler’s invasion of Poland, then volunteering for the German military and eagerly participating in the brutal occupation of Poland. Or, how about harshly denouncing the bombing of abortion clinics, then joining a group to assist them in bombing clinics. Such a person would be mercilessly ridiculed as a complete idiot. But in the upside-down Orwellian world of hypocritical liberals and the utterly dumb-as-shit military veterans that support Kerry, this sort of insanely stupid criminal behavior is applauded.
Asad Haider - The left needs to come to its senses about the 2004 election. Some thoughtful analysis has appeared on ZNet and elsewhere, but it seems that too much commentary is coming to reflect the regrettable polarization into a “more-radical-than-thou” camp and a “more-sensible-than-thou” camp, one of the most unfortunate setbacks for the left since the fall of Barcelona. It’s a real shame, because there is a great need for serious strategic analysis today, and the often dogmatic and sectarian quibbling over Kerry is a real obstacle to creating the kind of unified left that is so necessary in the United States. Last year, we were able to unite into the strongest anti-war movement in human history; what the hell happened?
M. Junaid Alam - The most irksome and identifiable feature of the anti-American American is his flagrant abuse of the First Amendment. He deviously twists and distorts his constitutionally-guaranteed right to free speech by exercising this right – at a time when an important event is underway, no less: the war in Iraq, and more broadly, the so-called war on terror. It should be obvious to the reasonable American that, in times of war, speaking one’s mind is quite a dangerous and reckless act: there is, after all, only so much free speech to go around, and, as our soldiers are busily bringing it to inferior races via cruise missiles and cluster bombs abroad, there is little left for consumption at home.
Chris Marsden and Julie Hyland - The reception accorded to Tony Blair at his party’s national conference this week says more about the Labour Party than it does about the prime minister. If ever a party got the leadership it deserved, British Labour is that party. By any normal criteria, Blair would be considered an electoral liability. Since taking office in 1997, Labour’s membership has halved to a 70-year low; most Britons opposed the war in Iraq and want their troops brought home; Labour’s social policies have no popular support, and it stands in opposition to its traditional constituency on every major issue - be it the National Health Service, education, or public services. But Blair has the support of big business, and that is all he needs, as far as Labour’s apparatus is concerned.
Daniel Ellsberg - Like Robert McNamara, under whom I served, Mr. Rumsfeld appears to inspire great loyalty among his aides. As the scandal at Abu Ghraib shows, however, there are more important principles. Mr. Rumsfeld might not have seen the damning photographs and the report of Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba as soon as he did - just as he would never have seen the Pentagon Papers 33 years ago - if some anonymous people in his own department had not bypassed the chain of command and disclosed them, without authorization, to the news media. And without public awareness of the scandal, reforms would be less likely.
Jimmy Carter - After the debacle in Florida four years ago, former president Gerald Ford and I were asked to lead a blue-ribbon commission to recommend changes in the American electoral process. After months of concerted effort by a dedicated and bipartisan group of experts, we presented unanimous recommendations to the president and Congress. The government responded with the Help America Vote Act of October 2002. Unfortunately, however, many of the act’s key provisions have not been implemented because of inadequate funding or political disputes. The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely, even as many other nations are conducting elections that are internationally certified to be transparent, honest and fair.
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