War Guilt in the Middle East

War Guilt in the Middle East by Murray Rothbard

I suspect there are far too few people willing to take the time and expend the effort to actually read a paper like this. It seems people want sound bites and screaming headlines, and not reason, which requires something too few are willing to do: think.

What makes this paper important? It's important because, if you read it to the end, you'll see that Mr Rothbard (in 1967) describes a useful, workable solution to the gigantic mess in the Middle East.

"Israel, therefore, faces a long-run dilemma which she must someday meet. Either to continue on her present course and, after years of mutual hostility and conflict be overthrown by Arab people’s guerrilla war. Or – to change direction drastically, to cut herself loose completely from Western imperial ties, and become simply Jewish citizens of the Middle East. If she did that, then peace and harmony and justice would at last reign in that tortured region."

My reasoning has come to exactly the same conclusion, although I could never articulate it as clearly.

Will Eliminating Nuclear Weapons Make Peace More Likely? by Ivan Eland

An excellent position paper on what should be done about nuclear weapons.

Learning From History: Can the US Win the Afghan War? by Ivan Eland

"So the U.S. escalation in Afghanistan is likely to face insurmountable long-term obstacles. "

Another great piece by Ivan Eland. I think he should also explore the connection between the winding up of Afghanistan and the winding down of Iraq in the "news", and the consequential shift of the American frame of reference from one to the other. See how easy it is to manipulate people? Think back, at the time of the pump-up for the invasion of Iraq, and how many times Saddam's face was on the TV and in the newspapers, and nary a word of (now plainly) more correct opposition to the plan. We were mightily duped then - and we're being mightily duped now. Nothing has changed, except some faces.


A Photo to Pass Along by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

Where is justice?


Bill