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New Exposés in Special Print Edition of CounterPunch
CIA's Overthrow Plans for Iran

Agency musters Swiftboat vets, pumps funding into destabilization program aimed at Teheran. Trish Schuh reveals how White House approves race-baiting smears of Islam. Remember how Leadbelly got ripped off by Lomax, how Louis Armstrong's agent got richer than his most famous client? The rip-offs never die. Fred Wilhelms narrates how artists and musicians are being shafted in the age of the internet. Meet the real Judge John Roberts, serf for big business. Cockburn and St Clair dissect the Court's new nominee. Tailhook vet and self-proclaimed Tom Cruise model bites dust in Pentagon scandal: a defense industry parable. St. Clair on Duke Cunningham's Crash Landing. Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now!

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Today's Stories

August 15, 2005

Kathleen Christison
Camp David Redux: Anatomy of a Frame-Up

August 13 / 14, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
When Down is Up: the "Stricken" President

William Blum
The al-Dubya Training Manual

Gary Leupp
High Tide for the Neocons?

Jack Z. Bratich
Secreting the News: Anonymous vs. Confidential Sources

Brian Cloughley
The Ridiculous Rice

Ron Jacobs
Klan Justice: Mississippi is Still Burning

John Farley
"Beyond Chutzpah" Too Hot for Harvard Bookstore?

Dave Lindorff
Making the World Safer...for Nukes

Tim Wise
Animal Whites: PETA and the Politics of Putting Things in Perspective

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
There's Not One Real Liberal or Conservative in the Senate

John Gershman
The Bolton Opportunity

Felice Pace
Saving Northwest Forests: Time for a Fresh Look

Fred Gardner
Feds Takeover Prosecution of Dustin Costa

David Krieger
The Fable of the Emperor and the Grieving Mother

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Being a Protestant Fundamentalist

Ben Tripp
GWAT: a Tone Poem

Poets' Basement
Reiss, Nettnin, Engel and Louise

 

 

 

August 12, 2005

Christopher Brauchli
Courting God: Justice Sunday II

Greg Moses
A Crawford Peace House Morning with Cindy Sheehan

Ramzy Baroud
Israel's Nuclear Puzzle

Norman Solomon
Cindy Sheehan's Message: Repudiating Bush and Dean

Chris Genovali
Why is a Canadian Politician Trying to End Protections for US Grizzly Bears?

Chris Floyd
Cheney and Halliburton, the Stench Gets Worse

Tariq Ali
Blair's New Authoritarianism

 

August 11, 2005

Saul Landau
Globalization and Its Discontents

Dave Lindorff
Privatization will Harm Same Sex Couples

Ralph Nader
Dear Cindy Sheehan: May You Prevail Where Others Have Failed

Talli Nauman
Radioactive Border: the Hot Mounds of Samalayuca

Gary Leupp
Politics of an Outing: Plame, Ledeen and Iran

Sharon Smith
The New Anti-War Majority

Paul Craig Roberts
Why is Cheney Lobbying for a Boost in China's Nuclear Capability?

 

 

August 10, 2005

Tim Wise
Indian Mascots and White Rage

Ron Jacobs
Rumsfeld's Delusions

Joshua Frank
Dean and the PDA: Don't Believe the Hype

Cynthia McKinney
The 9/11 Op-Ed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Refuses to Run

Rick Wilhelm
Peter Jennings, Excuse Maker for War and Empire

Stan Goff
Homegrown Resistance

 

August 9, 2005

Mike Ferner
What One Mom has to Say to Bush: Cindy Sheehan in Dallas

Monica Benderman
Is Being a Conscientious Objector Now Criminal?

Mike Marqusee
Making Excuses for Killing De Menezes

Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Strange Fruit and Tree-Shakers

Paul Craig Roberts
Watching the US Economy Crumble

 

August 6-8, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
How the British Destroyed India

Jason Leopold
Halliburton and Iran: Still Doing Business After All These Years?

Ray McGovern
Iran, Truth-Tellers and the Devotees of Preemption

David Krieger
From Hiroshima to Humanity

Sharon K. Weiner / Robert Jensen
From Hiroshima to Iraq and Back

Fred Gardner
The Budtender's View of a Rip-Off

 

August 5, 2005

Bill Christison
New NIE Report on Iran's Nukes will Not Deter US's Posture of Extreme Aggressiveness

Paul Craig Roberts
Kelo: a Supreme Assault on Personal Liberty

Alexander Cockburn
The Taj Mahal as Kitsch; the Editor and the Water-Walking Guru

 

 

August 4, 2005

Tom Barry
Inside Bush's "World Democracy Movement"

Lila Rajiva
John Bolton's New Internationalism

Greg Moses
Bush Teaches Intelligent Design in Prison

Alexander Cockburn
Indian Journal: Why Indian Farmers Kill Themselves

August 3, 2005

 

 

August 3, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Broken Arrows and Iran: a B-52 Pilot Remembers

Paul Craig Roberts
The Kelo Calamity: Money, Power and Eminent Domaine

William A. Cook
Innocent Victims: From Hiroshima to Lower Manhattan

Dave Zirin
Bush's Texas Rangers: a Crackhouse for Juiced Players?

Dave Lindorff
Court Packing and Worker Rights

José Pertierra
Why Hamdi Isaac Yes and Posada Carriles No?

 

August 2, 2005

Ramzi Kysia
Disengagement and Diaspora: High Walls and Razor Wire in the Hebron

William A. Cook
Words Without Meaning: Torturing Bodies and Language

Paul Craig Roberts
When Armageddon Gets No Press

Mike Whitney
Chertoff's Preemptive Crackdown: 600 Arrests, Only 76 Charged

Ron Jacobs
Be a Hero: Demand That Johnny Come Home

Norman Madarsz
Before the Stun Gun: Jean Charles de Menezes, RIP

Tim Wise
The Faulty Logic of "Terrorist" Profiling

 

 

August 1, 2005

Virginia Rodino
Why Bono and Geldof Got It Wrong: War and Global Poverty are Linked

Diana Barahona
Return to Venezuela: Land Reform and Neighborhood Doctors

Joshua Frank
Gitmo's Kangaroo Courts: First Torture Them, Then Rig Their Trials

Mike Whitney
The Consolidation of Powers: Rubber Stamp Roberts

Norm Dixon
The Worst Terror Attacks in History

Norman Solomon
Operation Withdrawal Scam

James Petras
The Corruption of Lula's Regime

 

 

July 30 / 31, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Lost Nuclear Warheads Now in Iran?

JoAnn Wypijewski
Scenes and Silver Linings from Labor's Crack-Up: a Special Report from Chicago

Sheldon Rampton
War is Fun as Hell: the Video Games Recruiters Play

Jack Z. Bratich
Fingerprints of Power: a Summer of Double Super Secrecy

Greg Moses
How to Cool Your Heels in Texas When It's Late July Across the World

Jordan Green
From Woolworth to Wal-Mart: Economics and the Race Divide in a Southern City

Patrick Cockburn
Getting Out of Iraq: 5,000 US Troops Have Gone AWOL

Brian Cloughley
The Bush-Cheney Fixation on Iran

Justin Taylor
Harry Potter and the War on Terror

Saul Landau
Enhancements for the Imperial Life: Fashionism Takes Command!

John Walsh
Dems Field Another Pro-War Candidate: Meet Hack the Hawk

Joshua Frank
Color-Coded Justice: John Roberts's Racial Hang Up

Ron Jacobs
Who Needs Feminism? We Have Condi Rice!

Fred Gardner
The Ethan and Gavin Show

John Chuckman
Friedman on Terrorism: the Dumbest Story Ever Written

Liaquat Ali Khan
Lessons City Bombers Need to Learn from Newton and Donne

Remi Kanazi
Annexing Justice in Palestine

Naveen Jaganathan
The Gurgaon Riots Rock India

Richard Heinberg
Where is the Hirsch Peak Oil Report?

Max Watts
Francis Ona, the Napoleon of Mekamui

Ben Tripp
Write Your Own Editorial!

Poets' Basement
Whalen & Engel, Landau, Albert and Krieger

 

 

 

July 29, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
Who's the Real Martyr? Judy Miller or Jim DeFede?

P. Sainath
The Class War in Gurgaon

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
How the West Was Lost: CAFTA and the Disassembling of America

Dave Lindorff
Marvelous Marvin Bush

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
America's Racist Inventory: Oppression Breeds Violence

Pat Williams
Giving Away the Last Best Place

Norman Solomon
In Praise of Kevin Benderman: a Moral Leader of the Nation Goes to Prison

Sen. Russ Feingold
The Bad News About the Energy Bill

 

 

July 28, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
Departing Iraq

William S. Lind
The Duke of Alba and George W. Bush

Gilad Atzmon
Blair the Camera Man

Joshua Frank
Passing CAFTA: Blame the Democrats

Lila Rajiva
Vision Mumbai Submerged

Amina Mire
Pigmentation and Empire: the Emerging Skin-Whitening Industry

Website of the Day
Gateway to Underground News

 

 

July 27, 2005

Roger Morris
The Source Beyond Rove: Condoleezza Rice at the Center of the Plame Scandal

Gary Leupp
Is Iran Being Set Up?

Paul Craig Roberts
US Falling Behind Across the Board

Jackie Corr
Class War on the Ruby River: the Billionaire with His Foot in His Mouth

Mike Whitney
The Coming End of the Housing Bubble

Dave Zirin
Why Lance Armstrong Must Break with Bush

Christopher Bradley
Why I Have Trouble Reading the News

Norman Solomon
Thomas Friedman, Liberal Sadist?

Website of the Day
Stormin' Norman

 

 

July 26, 2005

Suren Pillay
The Enemy Within: When the "Other" is One of "Us"

JoAnn Wypijewski
Fission and Fizzle in Chicago: SEIU and Teamsters Quit the AFL

Patrick Cockburn
Iraq: the Unwinnable War

David Anderson
When the Greatest Outrage is the Lack of Outrage: NYC's Subway Searches

Joshua Frank
Hillary Clinton: Outflanking Bush from the Right

Lenni Brenner
Biography as Wish-Fulfillment: Jefferson, Hitchens and Atheism

David Swanson
Nuking Native Land

 

 

July 25, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
China-Mart Takes Over

M. Shahid Alam
Terrorism: America Defines Its Targets

Uri Avnery
March of the Orange Shirts

Stan Cox
Kreationism in Kansas

Norman Solomon
"Wagging the Puppy"

Ramzy Baroud
London Bombings: Barbaric, But Not Unexpected

Mickey Z.
No Gun Ri: 55 Years Later

Website of the Day
The Birth of a Hummingbird in 15 Images

 

 

July 23 / 24, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Islamo-Anarchs or Islamo-Fascists?

Tariq Ali
The War Comes Home

Robert Fisk
Something Happened

Dave Lindorff
Return of the Academic Witch Hunts

Ricardo Alarcón
Kidnapping in Miami: the UN, the US and the Cuban 5

Col. Dan Smith
Living in a Twilight Zone: Troop Strength, Recruitment and the Draft

Brian Cloughley
The Pentagon's China Hypocrisy

Kevin Zeese
Growing Republican Opposition to Iraq War

Bill Quigley
Harrowing Hours in Haiti

Fred Gardner
The Reverberations of Raich

Rep. Ron Paul
The Patriot Act is a Threat to Liberty

Joshua Frank
Framing Abortion: Gonadal Politics and the Democrats

Shivali Tukdeo
Project Mumbai Makeover: Casualties of Development

Gilad Atzmon
Blair's "Evil Ideology"

James Petras
Baghdad: Barbarism and Civilization (a Fiction)

Ben Tripp
When Being American Was Fun

Poets' Basement
Krieger, Louise, Buknatski, Albert and Engel

Website of the Weekend
Remember the West Memphis 3

 

July 22, 2005

Heather Gray
Home Grown Axis of Evil: Corp. Agribusiness, the Occupation of Iraq and the Dred Scott Decision

David Domke
The American Press and Credibility

Lance Selfa
Battle of the Insiders: No Heroes in the Plame Leak Scandal

JoAnn Wypijewski
Is This Really an "Insurgency" to Shake Up the Labor Movement?

 

July 21, 2005

Rose Ann DeMoro
The Top 10 Problems with the "Crisis" in the Labor Movement

William Blum
London: Another Casualty in the War on Terror

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
Whites Need to Learn Something: Dixie is Everywhere

Christopher Brauchli
Strange Affairs: Liberals and Alberto Gonzales

Joshua Frank
Plame Blame Game: the 5 Ws

Brian Concannon, Jr.
Haiti's Elections: Time for a Reality Check

Patrick Cockburn
The True, Terrible State of Iraq and the Link to London

Website of the Day
Who Blew Up the Murrah Building?

 

 

July 20, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
Judge Roberts: Business as Usual

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Red Christmas

Ray McGovern
Did Dick Finger Valerie?: the Hand of Cheney

Chris Floyd
Judge Dread: John Roberts and the "Enemy Combatants"

Uri Avnery
"Silence is Filth"

Dave Lindorff
Westmoreland's Body Count Goes Up by One

Norman Solomon
Gen. Westmoreland's Death Wish

Bill Quigley
Travels in Haiti with a Wanted Priest

 

 

 

July 19, 2005

Tariq Ali
An Isolated Regime

John Ross
Jihad Meets G-8

Davey D.
More Clear Channel Censorship: "Don't F--K Around with Tha Police"

Greg Weiher
Muzzling Saddam: the Old Bait-and-Switch in Iraqi Jurisprudence

Brian McKinlay
An "Arse Licker" Goes to Washington: John Howard's Grand Tour

Norman Solomon
Nukes for India; Threats for Iran

Dave Lindorff
Get Back to Where We Once Belonged

Bill Christison
Bush's Itinerary: First Stop Syria, Next Stop Iran

Joshua Frank
Laura's Justice?: Meet Edith Brown Clement

 

July 18, 2005

Joshua Frank
An Interview with Ward Churchill

M. Shahid Alam
A Muslim Problem: Did Thomas Friedman Flunk History?

Jude Wanniski
Memo to Patrick Fitzgerald

Ron Jacobs
A Weekend to Stop the War

Mike Whitney
The Straight Line Between Falluja and King's Cross Station

William MacDougall
From "Bring It On" to "London Can Take It"

Seth Sandronsky
Temporary Recovery: New Frontiers in Labor Flexibility

Richard Lichtman
The Consolations of George Lakoff

Paul Craig Roberts
Can Congressional Republicans End Bush's Wars?

Website of the Weekend
Novels of the Neo-Cons

 

July 15 / 17, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Don't You Dare Call It Treason

Jeffrey St. Clair
Sticky Fingers: the Making of Halliburton

Paul Craig Roberts
Economic Treason

Harry Browne
"What They Do to Us, They Will Do to You": Shell Oil in Mayo, Ireland

Uri Davis, Ilan Pappe and Tamar Yaron
A Warning from Israel

Andrew Rubin
End of the Enlightenment: an Open Letter to Stephen Plaut

Patrick Cockburn
Iraq's Ghost Battalions

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
Changes in Selma: Standing Up to Racism in the South

Fred Gardner
A Professional Bust

Christopher Brauchli
An Olympic Feat: How to "Double" Aid with No New Money

Chris Floyd
The Great Iraq Oil Giveaway

Ben Tripp
The Dark Incontinent

Col. Dan Smith
General Abizaid, I'm Glad You Asked

Jason Leopold
What Did Rove Say and When Did He Say It?

Jack Random
Miller Time

Norman Solomon
War and Venture Capitalism

George Ochenski
Liberate Montana's Rivers: Come One, Come All!

Website of the Weekend
Vote for CounterPuncher David Vest

 

 

July 14, 2005

Jeffrey St. Clair
Sticky Fingers: the Making of Halliburton

Subcomandante Marcos
This is What Will Do and How We Shall Do It: the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona

Dave Lindorff
No More Moral Relativism: the US is a Terrorist State

Joshua Frank
Rove Agency: Liberals and the CIA

Jude Wanniski
Those 8 Black Pages: What's the Real Story on Karl Rove?

Dave Zirin
Storming the Castle

Kevin Zeese
Exit Strategy: Within Reach?

Robert Jensen
War Myths and the Press

Reza Fiyouzat
A Worldwide Call to Free Akbar Ganji

Carol Norris
Governor Paranoid: Schwarzenegger Comes Unhinged

Website of the Day
Nate Osborn: Heroic Human Rights Activist and CounterPuncher

 

July 13, 2005

Brian Cloughley
Cold Blooded Murders in Iraq

George Galloway
We Can't Separate the London Bombings from the Political Backdrop

Carlos Fierro
A Supreme Waste of Time

Sarah Knopp
Hate on the Border

Norman Solomon
"Isolated Pockets of Problems": the Fake Optimism of Washington's Warriors

Mickey Z.
Water on the Brain

Jim Minick
The Right Tree in the Right Place

Pat Williams
American Indian Education for All

Andrew N. Rubin
Life Behind the Wall: "We are No Longer Able to See the Sun Set"

Website of the Day
"London's Burning": the Mikey Mix

 

 

July 12, 2005

Laith al-Saud
Voices of Resistance: an Interview with Dr. Mohammed al-Obaidi of Iraq's Peoples' Struggle Movement

Kara N. Tina
"This is How We Do It": Report from the Gleneagles Battlefield

William A. Cook
The London Bombings: Why Has It Come to This?

Jack Bratich
2 Live Cruise: Tom Cruise v. Big Pharma

Amina Mire
The Problem with Speaking in the Name of Others

Dick J. Reavis
Lessons from the Christian Jihadists: the Virtues of Burning Crosses and Colored Smoke

Kevin Zeese
Depleted Uranium: States Take Action to Protect Their Vets

Paul Craig Roberts
No-Think Nation

Website of the Day
Coke Gags Indian Artist

 

 

July 9 / 11, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
After the Bombings

Uri Avnery
War of the Colors in Israel

Sheldon Rampton
Blaming Galloway: Rhetoric vs. Reality in London

Bill Christison
Hiroshima's 60th Anniversary and Nukes in Iran: an Opportunity or Just More Hand-wringing from the Peace Movement?

Robert Fisk
Blair's Alliance with Bush Bombed

Stephen Winspear
Collateral Damage in London?

Saul Landau
Mission Accomplished: Iraq is Broken

Behrooz Ghamari
Thomas Friedman's Muslim Problem

Karl Beitel
False Promises and Real Debt Relief

Brian Concannon, Jr.
Throwing Gasoline on Haiti's Fires

Fred Gardner
Sentencing Season

John Whitlow
And What Does the Market Say?

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
The London Blasts: Who's Being Transformed, Them or Us?

Lila Rajiva
Witches and Bastards

Laura Carlsen
CAFTA: Deepening the Inequities

Jackie Corr
Ted Turner and Jiminy Cricket

Dave Lindorff
"My Brother Went Over There Gung Ho; Now He's Just Bitter"

N. D. Jayaprakash
Why the CIA Tried to Kill Chou En Lai at the Bandung Conference

Seth Sandronsky
Meet the "Truth Tour": Rightwing Radio Hosts Go to Iraq

Norman Madarasz
The Choking of Brazil's Worker Party

Ben Tripp
The Inevitability of George W. Bush

Poets' Basement
Louise, Albert, Landau, Davies and Engel

Website of the Weekend
The Mother of All Enemies Lists

 

 

July 8, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
Blowback Hits Britain: Londoners Pay Heavy Price for Blair's Deception

Tariq Ali
The London Bombings: Why They Happened

Monica Benderman
One Soldier's Fight to Legalize Morality

Rick Jahnkow
Beyond Opt-Out: the Counter-Recruitment Movement

Christopher Brauchli
Dear Vet: If You Want to Eat While You Recuperate, You Gotta Pay Extra

Kim Peterson
Bombs in the Underground: Terror Begats Terror

Joshua Frank
Leakers and Liars: Inching Toward Indictments?

Norman Solomon
Messages from the Carnage

Website of the Day
An Interview with Ray McGovern

 

July 7, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
Judy Miller: the Luckiest Martyr

John Walsh
More Hawkish Than Bush: Dems in Full Battle Cry

Mike Marqusee
Message from London

Gilad Atzmon
London's Burning

Nicole Colson
Showdown at the Supreme Court

Jack Random
Judith Miller, Anti-Hero

Norman Solomon
Judith Miller, Drum Majorette for War

Len Colodny
Is Bob Woodward Still Protecting Al Haig?

Cockburn / St. Clair
Judy Miller: the Luckiest Martyr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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August 15, 2005

Slouching Toward Armageddon?

Get Ready for a Wider War

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

With every poll showing majorities of Americans both fed up with Bush's war against Iraq and convinced that Bush's invasion of Iraq has made Americans less safe, the White House moron proposes to start another war by attacking Iran. VP Cheney has already ordered the US Strategic Command to come up with plans to strike Iran with tactical nuclear weapons.

Bush refuses to meet with Cindy Sheehan, instead using his vacation time at the Crawford ranch to talk war with Israeli television. In a recent interview with Israeli TV, Bush said: "All options are on the table" with regard to Iran.

Likudnik Israel is Bush's last remaining ally, or egger-on, in his war against "Islamic terrorism." Israel, which is loaded with nuclear weapons and is not a signatory to the nuclear pacts, is the accuser against Iran, asserting that Iran's nuclear energy program is just a veil behind which to produce weapons. Israel's Likud Party fears that Iranian weapons would be a check to its plans to complete the dispossession of the Palestinians and further expand Israel's borders.

Iran has signed the nonproliferation pact and is willing for the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor the nuclear energy program.

Bush, however, dismisses all facts and assurances and is willing to attack Iran based on nothing but Israel's paranoia.

Bush can ignore the American public, because the Democrats, like the Tory Party in the UK, have completely collapsed as an opposition party. The Republican Party is now increasingly referred to as the Republikud Party.

The only check on Bush is the lack of US troops. Bogged down in the Iraqi quagmire, US commanders are stating that a third rotation of our exhausted and demoralized troops in Iraq can be avoided only by troop withdrawals by next spring.

However, on August 11 Bush nixed the military's talk of reducing US troops in Iraq. The next day the commander of US logistics in Iraq announced that the number of insurgent attacks on US forces along supply routes has doubled in the last year, making it clear that far from winning, the US is not even holding its own.

Cindy Sheehan has the right question for Bush: What noble cause is being served by all this suffering and destruction?

Bush is in hiding from Mrs. Sheehan, because he knows only ignoble causes are being served. According to the CIA, the main beneficiary of the war is Osama bin Laden's recruitment drives. While America's military recruitment falters and US generals announce that the war has broken the Reserves and National Guard, the cause of Islamic extremism basks in the Iraqi war.

Gentle reader, do you realize the danger of having a president so disconnected from reality that he plots to attack Iran--a country three times the size of Iraq--when he lacks sufficient forces to occupy Baghdad and to protect the road from Baghdad to the airport?

Despite all the high profile "sweeps" of US forces through insurgent strongholds, US commanders report a doubling of insurgent attacks.

The Bush administration is insane. If the American people do not decapitate it by demanding Bush's impeachment, the Bush administration will bring about Armageddon. This may please some Christian evangelicals conned by Rapture predictions, but World War III will please no one else.

Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments and has contributed to numerous scholarly publications. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. His graduate economics education was at the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at: paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com