War Is Freedom

Tom Mullen debunks the Orwellian argument that "critics of the empire enjoy the freedom of speech with which they criticize the government only because the military has fought to defend that freedom" — Fighting For Our Freedom?

"The assumption is that if the U.S. had not fought any of its past or current wars or had not maintained its military presence around the world, that we would have lost some or all of our freedom," he writes. "This fundamental assumption is never questioned (or I suspect even considered) by supporters of U.S. foreign policy, despite the fact that it completely disintegrates under even superficial examination."

The only error in the article is made in its first sentence: "To even question the active wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or the now-institutionalized worldwide military empire being maintained by the U.S. government draws Tourette’s-like attacks from all who identify themselves as conservatives." From all who identify themselves as conservatives? Tell that to The American Conservative, in which not an issue goes by without "question[ing] the active wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or the now-institutionalized worldwide military empire being maintained by the U.S. government." A strange error to have been made by an author who mentions Patrick J. Buchanan two paragraphs later.