During the summer of 2002, in the run-up to President Bush’s invasion of Iraq, the US military staged the most elaborate and expensive war games ever conceived. Operation Millennium Challenge, as it was called, cost some $250 million, and required two years of planning. The mock war was not aimed at Iraq, at least, not overtly. But it was set in the Persian Gulf, and simulated a conflict with a hypothetical rogue state. The “war” involved heavy use of computers, and was also played out in the field by 13,500 US troops, at 17 different locations and 9 live-force training sites. All of the services participated under a single joint command, known as JOINTFOR. The US forces were designated as “Force Blue,” and the enemy as OPFOR, or “Force Red.” The “war” lasted three weeks and ended with the overthrow of the dictatorial regime on August 15.

At any rate, that was the official outcome. What actually happened was quite different, and ought to serve up a warning about the grave peril the world will face if the US should become embroiled in a widening conflict in the region.

The State of Israel is the 4th largest military power in the world. The State is believed to possess the largest and most sophisticated nuclear arsenal outside of the 5 declared nuclear powers- the USA, Russia, France, China and the UK. A nuclear reactor and plutonium production facility was built by France back in the late 1950's and early 60's in the southern desert of Israel called the Negev Nuclear Research Centre, or simply "Dimona".

Since that time, the state has subsequently developed an extensive array of tactical nuclear weapons, nuclear artillery shells and nuclear-tipped medium range ballistic missiles (the Jericho 1 and 2). Arsenal estimates range in the order of between 2000-5000 warheads- many of them FIRST STRIKE weapons, most of them nuetron bombs, designed to maximize human kill ratio and minimize physical damage, since Israel is such a small nation.

The United States provides the State of Israel with an annual US$4 billion in financial and military aid- by far the largest recipient of US foreign aid of any country in the world. Extensive nuclear and military collaboration has

Debates About Torture 

"In the early...years...the admissibility of torture..was openly debated. Judging by the subsequent course of events, the answer deduced was positive, although not universally so."  

Authorization For Torture vs Discretion  

 "...If..[at first]..some kind of formal documentation was required preliminary to torture, as well as specific permission for each case under investigation, then [later] in view of the extraordinary situation prevailing, interrogators were allowed to use ...torture...at their own discretion, and in accordance with the demands of their work quotas and the amount of time they were given."  

"..[later] such indiscriminate authorization was withdrawn, and once again written permission was required.. "  

Only Certain Prisoners   

President Bush just told reporters that he has no intention of setting any timetable for withdrawal. "Our troops will come home when Iraq is capable of defending herself," he said. Powerful pundits keep telling us that a swift pullout of U.S. troops would be irresponsible. And plenty of people have bought into that idea -- including quite a few progressives. Such acceptance is part of what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism."

Sometimes, an unspoken assumption among progressive activists is that the occupation of Iraq must be tolerated for tactical reasons -- while other issues, notably domestic ones, are more winnable on Capitol Hill. But this acceptance means going along with many of the devastating effects of a militarized society: from ravaged budgets for social programs to more authoritarian attitudes and violence in communities across the country.

"The bombs in Vietnam," King said in 1967, "explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America." He rejected the insistent claims that it would be more prudent to avoid clear opposition to