History Q & A

WMD: Where Did the Phrase Come from?

by Will Mallon

The origin of the term Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) is almost as elusive as Iraq's weapons themselves. In 1925, the Geneva Convention prohibited "the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of bacteriological methods of warfare." It did not prohibit the manufacturing and stockpiling of chemical or biological weapons. In 1972, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) prohibited the development, production and stockpiling of bio

Is the Abuse of POW's Under American Control Unprecedented?

by Günter Bischof

Is the current controversy about the abuse of Iraqi POWs by American interrogators and guards and the prolonged imprisonment of “enemy combatants” at Guantanamo unprecendented in American history? What is the American record of treating its Prisoners of Wars (POWs) in previous wars? Good, in general, but at times gives to abuse too. In the final weeks of World War II my father was captured by the U.S. Army in March 1945. As a Wehrmacht soldier he fought on the Western

What Other Presidents Have Faced Official Questioning?

President Bush Meets with the 9/11 Commission on Thursday. President Bush on Thursday said,"This is an important commission, and it's important that they ask the questions they ask so that they can help make recommendations necessary to better protect our homeland." -- White House Website April 29, 2004   

Who Are the Shia?

by Paul Sullivan

An initial caveat: Shia Islam is a very complex religion and society. One could hardly do justice its the depth and breadth in a short article. This is an attempt to get some of the salient points across. Why should we care about the Iraqi Shia? The Shia constitute about 60 percent of the population of Iraq, mostly in the south upwards to Baghdad. They are hankering for the political and economic power their numbers should have had in the past, but never have.

Is Iraq an Arab Country?

by Juan Cole

Islam Online reports a heated debate in Iraq and in the Interim Governing Council over whether Iraq should be identified in the Fundamental Law (the interim constitution) as an Arab state. Iraq's population is about 24 million, probably. Some 65 percent or 15.6 million are Shiite Arabs. Another 15 percent or 3.6 million are Sunni Arabs. That's 80 percent of the country. The remaining 20 percent is probably split this way: 2 percent Chaldeans and Assyrians, many of whom speak Aramaic as th

Did the Jews Kill Jesus?

by Robert Goldenberg

At worst, the idea that"the Jews" killed Jesus is outrageous, the product of hate-filled minds eager to spread incredible lies about the targets of their hate.  At best, the notion is completely illogical, the equivalent of proposing that"the Republicans," or"the Texans," destroyed the Enron Corporation.  No one would even consider thinking along such lines; the fact that Enron was brought down by a handful of Republicans from Texas would never lead to such a broad, untenable charg

Are New Purple Hearts Being Manufactured to Meet the Demand?

by D.M Giangreco and Kathryn Moore

In 2000, for the first time in years, the government ordered a new supply of Purple Hearts. The old supply, manufactured in anticipation of the invasion of the home islands of Japan during World War II, had begun to run low. The decoration, which goes to American troops wounded in battle and the families of those killed in action, had been only one of countless thousands of supplies produced for the planned 1945 invasion of Japan, which military leaders believed would last un

Have Presidents in the Past Attended the Funerals of Dead Soldiers?

by HNN Staff

Recently, President Bush has been criticized for failing to attend the funerals of the soldiers killed in Iraq. Maureen Dowd noted sarcastically in a recent NYT column that the president had not even bothered to attend the funeral of Specialist Darryl Dent, a "21-year-old National Guard officer from Washington who died outside Baghdad in late August when a bomb struck his tru

How Did the Public Financing of Presidential Candidates Come About?

by Marc Wiseman

"We have supported public financing, but the unabashed actions of this president to undercut our democratic process with floods of special interest money have forced us to abandon a broken system." --Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, speaking to supporters at a news conference Saturday November 8th.Thus Dr. Dean became the first Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 30 years to opt out of the public finance system. The Dean Camp sees

Whatever Happened to the Old-Fashioned Jimmy Stewart-Style Filibuster?

by Aaron Erlich

In 1932, Huey Long, the notorious Senator from Louisiana, was fighting part of President Roosevelt's New Deal with one of his well-known filibusters. After reading and interpreting the Constitution, which he thought the New Deal had "turned into ancient and forgotten lore," Long offered up some of his favorite recipes-fried oysters and potlikkers. After 15 hours, he lost the floor when he had to use the toilet, and the legislation he was filibustering passed. Nowadays we

How Do the Losses Suffered on 9-11 Compare with Other U.S. Tragedies?

by HNN Staff

The chart below lists the loss of American lives in various battles and incidents. The chart does not include the loss of enemy lives, except where indicated. No one yet knows how many people were killed on the Day of Infamy. The figure of 3,000 includes hundreds of foreign nationals who worked at the World Trade Center.DAY OF INFAMY September 11, 20013,000 DeadC

How Far Back Do Suicide Attacks Go?

by Willard Hogeboom

The Western public finds it difficult to understand the idea of the suicide assassin. "How do they get people to willingly do that?" is the question usually asked. The media often cite the promise of Paradise where beautiful virgins will serve such "martyrs". During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Iranian troops would often recruit large groups of young boys to go out over roads or fields suspected of being mined. Around their necks they carried keys which would

What Is the Difference Between Islam and Islamism?

by Melvin E. Matthews, Jr

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 tragedy, one commentator noted that the attacks climaxed almost two decades of terrorist acts committed in the name of Islam--a bloody, violent era that began with the suicide bombings against American and French peacekeeping forces in Beirut in 1983. The commentator, Martin Kramer, noted:Islam is no more inclined to terrorism than any other monotheistic fait

What Is the History of Recall Elections?

by Joshua Spivak

Even though 26 states authorize the recall in some form, Gray Davis is only the second governor in U.S. history to face a recall vote. Despite its infrequently usage, the recall has a long, if spotty, history in America. The recall has always been at the forefront of a fundamental question about the role of an elected officials, namely whether the official should act as a trustee and vote his own opinion or perform as a delegate and vote according to the wishes of his constituency.

What Is Medicare?

by Will Mallon

Medicare is a government service that helps provide health care for senior citizens and disabled U.S. citizens.

How Strong Are the Ties that Bind the U.S. and Liberia? This Strong ...

by HNN Staff

Just how strong are the ties that bind Liberia and the United States? Liberia was established by the American Colonization Society (1817), which was formed to create a haven for freed blacks. Robert G. Harper, a South Carolinian, gave the country its name. (He also named Monrovia.) In 1847 Liberia declared its independence as a republic. Through the years Americans and Liberians remained in close contact as can be gleaned from references to the country, cited below,

When Did Federal Deficits Begin to Decline?

by HNN Staff

Ask almost anybody and they'll tell you the federal deficit began going down in the 1990s following the 1993 tax hike, the largest tax increase in history. Tables put out by the government seem to bolster this impression. This is a chart published by the White House Office of Management and Budget on August 22, 2001. The table seems to show that the deficts increased in the early 1980s, then flat

What You Need to Know About the Kurds

by Paul Sullivan

Q: Do you think the Kurds will achieve their aim of having their own and unified state? Answer: The Kurds are an ethnic group of about 35 million people who have their own language, culture and history. They had an independent state for about 3 weeks soon after World War I. In the Treaty of Sevres (1920) the victors of the War, including the United States, agreed to give them a state. The U.S. was very much behind this back then.

Is It Sacajawea or Sacagawea?

by Melvin E. Matthews, Jr.

 

How Did the Iraqi Opposition Come into Existence?

by Robert Rabil

Calls for liberating Iraq and bringing democracy to the country have been heralded by members of the Bush administration as part of the policy of regime change. "Iraq