The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq followed by failed nation-building may have taught the U.S. government a few lessons in humility, but the temptation to intervene in crises around the world remains strong, with recent examples in Syria and South…
Tag: Ivan Eland
Oil Supplies Remain US Focus
Despite rhetorical suggestions about a shift in U.S. geopolitical strategy, the pre-placement of military stockpiles indicates that America’s security interests will remain focused on protecting oil supplies, writes the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland.
Beating the Drums of War, Again
The U.S. news media is in harness again, pulling the latest bandwagon for war, this time with Iran. So, Americans should expect soft coverage of U.S.-Israeli provocations of Iran and media outrage over any Iranian retaliation, as the Independent Institute’s…
Failure of ‘Pro-Democracy’ Wars
A key justification for three recent U.S. military actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya was to oust brutal dictators and pave the way for a more democratic future. But these violent strategies have fallen short on the pro-democracy front, writes…
Keeping American Hands Off Iraq
After years of American-led sanctions followed by a U.S. invasion and long occupation, Iraq is a shattered society with sectarian tensions again on the rise, but the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland says the United States should resist the impulse to…
The Bad-Tasting Medicine of Retreat
America’s still-influential neocons are pounding President Obama for failing to negotiate a longer U.S. military occupation of Iraq, blaming him for the country’s latest political crisis. But the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland says the U.S. pullback was part of a…
Ivan Eland Disputes War-for-Oil Dogma
At least since the oil shocks of the 1970s, it has been Official Washington’s dogma that the United States must stand ready to fight wars over access to Middle East oil, but the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland questions that certainty…
The Risk of the ‘Cheap’ Libya Victory
The Western powers achieved violent “regime change” in Libya under cover of a UN resolution to “protect civilians” and by relying mostly on air power to isolate and then kill Muammar Gaddafi and doing it all at a much lower…
The Never-ending Terror Threat
For a decade now, the American people have been told that only a “long war” against Islamist extremism can keep them safe from terrorism, even at the cost of trillions of dollars and loss of their liberties. Not even the…
The Slippery Slope of Assassinations
With the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen and al-Qaeda associate based in Yemen, the Obama administration has stepped onto a slippery slope where loosening standards for extrajudicial killings could slide into a terrifying use of government power, the…