Free Republic

...Chalmers Johnson died a few hours ago, at age 79, at his home near San Diego. He had had a variety of health problems for a long time... Johnson -- "Chal" -- was a penetrating, original, and influential scholar, plus a very gifted literary and conversational stylist...

I listened to the endless chatter about it on talk radio. I read the news stories, along with the editorials condemning Ward Churchill's essay. I have just gotten around to reading what the professor actually wrote. The University of Colorado professor could have used a good editor. That's the first thing I noticed. And certainly, he holds back not at all in casting blame for Sept. 11. What struck me the most, though, is how familiar it all was. The Eichmann reference clearly was stupid and was designed to be incendiary. A fair reader of the essay will not, though,...

The United States faces a real crisis. It's not just the military failure of Bush's policies in Iraq or the discrediting of our armed forces and intelligence agencies as corrupt, incompetent, and criminal. It is above all our international isolation and disgrace because of our contempt for the rule of law. Article six of the U. S. Constitution says, in part, "all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land." The Geneva Conventions of 1949 covering the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians in wartime...

No Stinking Empire The Army of World War II, you might say, was the last Army of the republic. It performed great deeds, but there was not much luxury, not even for the generals and admirals. Nobody was paid much. Travel was by military plane, troop train or warship, even for generals, admirals and world leaders. Not so in today's imperial Army. According to Chalmers Johnson, an excellent writer, in his new book, "The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic," the Defense Department maintains a fleet of 71 Lear jets, 13 Gulfstream IIIs and 17...

<p>Every Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, the fate of Hideki Tojo comes to life in Japan. The United States declared Tojo, briefly a prime minister, a war criminal and he was hanged after a two- year trial, along with a half dozen other leaders. But the executions hardly settled their legacy as the U.S. had intended.</p>