The Pentagon’s Blank Check

Soon after the invasion of Iraq was launched, war supporters and critics alike, in a bow to the Vietnam era, began to speak referentially of the “Q-word” – for “quagmire,” of course. By now, Iraq has had that administration-inspired “Q” hung firmly around its neck, but what of the engine pushing it, the Pentagon? Perhaps … Continue reading “The Pentagon’s Blank Check”

Has Libby Learned Nothing?

Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega has been writing about the case of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame for this site since the summer of 2005. The story itself began back in July 2003 with a New York Times op-ed by Plame’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, that called into question one of the … Continue reading “Has Libby Learned Nothing?”

Words in a Time of War

A few weeks ago, I offered Tomdispatch readers, “Close Your Eyes,” my fantasy graduation speech for the class of 2007, given from the podium of some university of my mind. Mark Danner, however, recently stood at an actual podium at the University of California, Berkeley, and gave a genuine commencement address to a group of … Continue reading “Words in a Time of War”

The Colossus of Baghdad

Of the seven wonders of the ancient Mediterranean world, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Colossus of Rhodes, four were destroyed by earthquakes, two by fire. Only the Great Pyramid of Giza today remains. We no longer know who built those fabled monuments to the grandiosity of kings, pharaohs, and gods; nowadays, at … Continue reading “The Colossus of Baghdad”

The Air War in Iraq Uncovered

In a recent inside-the-fold roundup of the previous day’s mayhem in Iraq, David S. Cloud, writing for my hometown paper, devoted 729 words to an account of American casualties from IEDs (“Six American soldiers and their interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad…”), Iraqi Army, police, insurgent, and civilian casualties, and various … Continue reading “The Air War in Iraq Uncovered”

US Takes Gold in
Arms Olympics

Hey, aren’t we the most exceptional nation in history? George Bush and his pals thought so – and they were in a great American tradition of exceptionalism. Of course, they were imagining us as the most exceptional empire in history (or maybe at the end of it), the ultimate New Rome. Anyway, explain this to … Continue reading “US Takes Gold in
Arms Olympics”

Turkey’s Unholy Alliance

For Americans, whose view of Islam and Islamic politics is, to put the matter politely, less than complex, it’s worth being reminded of just how complex, how unexpected, politics (religious or otherwise) can turn out to be anywhere on this planet. With that in mind, Dilip Hiro, Tomdispatch regular and author most recently of Blood … Continue reading “Turkey’s Unholy Alliance”

A Small War Guaranteed to Damage a Superpower

Patrick Cockburn has been hailed by Sidney Blumenthal in Salon as “one of the most accurate and intrepid journalists in Iraq.” And that’s hardly praise enough, given what the man has done. The Middle Eastern correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, he’s been on the spot from the moment when, in February 2003, he … Continue reading “A Small War Guaranteed to Damage a Superpower”