The island of Cuba occupies a big place in the imagination and politics of the United States. The powerful anti-Castro lobby has greatly influenced U.S. policy toward the Caribbean nation. The landscape of U.S./Cuba relations is dotted with the missile crisis, blockades, embargoes and boat refugees. Few know the details of the extensive CIA operations […]

In 1920, T. E. Lawrence, the famous Lawrence of Arabia wrote, “The people of England have been led in Iraq into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. It is a disgrace to our imperial record, […]

President Bush declared after the attack on Iraq: “We’re not an imperial power. We’re a liberating power.” The president maintains the rhetoric that empires throughout history have taken—wars are waged for “liberation” rather than for domination. Perhaps Bush is unaware that he was echoing British General Stanley Maude, who, after conquering Baghdad in 1917, proclaimed, […]

The U.S. is now bogged down in a guerilla war in Iraq. The political leadership misled the people in a pattern of deception that Machiavelli would have admired. The media, with few exceptions, never challenged the official stories. Only a handful in Congress asked questions. In a remarkable propaganda triumph, the Bush Administration managed to […]