Recently Published

Axis of Twits

by P. M. Carpenter

Contrary to the president's repeated claims that a blow against Saddam Hussein will be a blow against terrorism, the most recent Osama bin Laden audiotape confirms that a blow against Saddam will be a gift to al Qaeda, more valuable in propagandistic weight than U.S. airbases in Saudi Arabia.Bin Laden--the actual criminal of 9/11, quite independent of Iraq, yet about whom Bush has not spoken since the summer of 2002--virtually begs America to attack. He cunningly chums up to the Iraqi

Save the Saddam Papers Before They're Lost to History

by Martin Kramer

Saddam soon will be history. It's important that the United States collect and preserve as much of it as possible. I refer to the vast archives of the various arms of the Iraqi regime: the presidency of the republic, the Baath Party, the Republican Guard, the intelligence and security organizations, the ministries of foreign affairs and information, and more. If the United States establishes a military authority to run the country, it should do what the Western allies did in occup

A Conservative Student at a Liberal School

by J.D. Cassidy

HNN INDEX: Are Historians Biased? Like so many colleges that were once steeped in tradition and firmly dedicated to intellectual honesty, Bridgewater State College (BSC) has been transformed into an institution whose primary goal is ideological con

History: A Guide to Dealing with Saddam?

by HNN Staff

Both opponents and supporters of a war in Iraq are using history to buttress their arguments. So whose got history on their side? You decide.

Sure Sounds Like Appeasement to Me

by Ron Radosh

Why is it that those of us who remember World War II and the calls of the international peace movement in the decades before it started seem to see so much of that sordid past r

W’s Voodoo Vision

by P. M. Carpenter

Recall reading of those halcyon days before the feds rudely intervened on the poor's behalf? Aside from serial and safety-netless economic depressions, disinterested state g

Is the U.S. an Empire?

by Paul Schroeder

At the January meeting of the American Historical Association Professor Schroeder gave an electrifying address on the differences between imperialism and h

The Historian Who Denounced the Military for "Baby-Killing" Tactics

by HNN Staff

Breaking News (11-17-02): Saint Xavier University has announced that Mr. Kirstein has been suspended from teaching for the remainder of the semester. He has been officially reprimanded. In the spring semester, while on sabbatical, his scholarship and record will be subjected to peer review. In addition:"Any future faculty contract(s) extended to Professor Kirstein will include a binding addendum specifically requiring him to adhe

Noindoctrination.org: Complaints Against Historians Accused of Bias

Since last fall NoIndoctrination.org has kept track of alleged political bias on college campuses. Some 40-odd complaints have been posted thus far (about a third of the total complaints received). Half a dozen concern historians. The complaints, as listed on the website, are provided below in full. Some readers, noticing that all of the complaints are against liberal professors, have wondered if NoIndoctrination.org is being used by conserv

The Historian Who Called Harry Truman "America's Stalin"

by Arnold Beichman

Paul Buhle teaches courses on American civilization at Brown University, a prestigious Ivy League institution in Rhode Island. In 1994, he called President

Al Sharpton, President of the United States?

by Jim Sleeper

How will the Rev. Al Sharpton do as a Democratic presidential primary candidate against all those big-time, well-backed white guys? They won't know what

Did Uncle Sam Play the Role of Hitler in Killing Blacks and Indians?

by Lisa Makson

A Critical Holocaust Anthology will hit the shelves this spring that will attempt to remove the Holocaust from its historical moorings in order to"open up a s

Are We Repeating the Mistakes of the Last War on Terror?

by Eric Rauchway

The last American war on terror failed to catch the perpetrators and its flailing ruthlessness instead eroded trust in government. The present war is heading in the

Why We Should Consider Bringing Back the Draft

by Mark Safranski

"But men living in times of democracy seldom choose a soldier's life. Democratic peoples are therefore soon led to give up voluntary recruitment

Why Bringing Back the Draft Won't be Easy--And May Not Be Desirable

by David Greenberg

The draft is back—or at least back on the table. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is fronting a group of anti-war leftists sounding a theme more commonly heard in

Why President Bush Should Sit Through an Old Peter Sellers Movie

by Andrew M. Schocket

The administration has made a big deal of pointing out that President Bush reads thick presidential biographies for policy guidance. But, having led a coalition to

Is the United States Undermining Nuclear Non-Proliferation?

by John Burroughs

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is much in the news due to North Korea's announced withdrawal, its steps toward the resumption of the production of plutoniu

The Difficulty Writing Iraqi History in the United States

by Juan Cole

Who are America's historians of modern Iraq? They exist, but you would not know it from the U.S. mass media. As a second war looms with Baghdad, one would have thought that journalists were besieging them for informed views of the country. Instead, they have remained virtually anonymous and unheard in the unfolding debates. It is an index of America's longstanding anti-intellectualism that long hours of cable television news are filled with the views on Iraq of s

Gore in Four?

by David Greenberg

Al Gore wants a rematch. Pundits are already discounting his chances at beating George W. Bush in 2004 not without good reason, given his reported 19 percent favorable rat

War Protests: An Echo of the 1960s?

by Norman Markowitz

In response to the Bush administration's preparations for a second gulf war against Iraq major demonstrations were held in Washi