Originally posted at TomDispatch. Washington and Kabul have, for endless months, been performing a strange pas de deux over the issue of American withdrawal. Initially, the Obama administration insisted that if, by December 31, 2013, Afghan President Hamid Karzai didn’t sign a bilateral security agreement the two sides had negotiated, the U.S. would have to …
Continue reading “The Pentagon’s Phony Budget War”
In assessing the motives and actions of Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton compared them to Adolf Hitler’s. Almost always a mistake. After 12 years in power, Hitler was dead, having slaughtered millions and conquered Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals. And Putin? After 13 years in power, and facing a crisis in Ukraine, he directed …
Continue reading “Hillary, Hitler, and Cold War II”
At least 82 people were killed and 176 were wounded across Iraq today. Most of the casualties were civilians. A series of bombings once again took place in Baghdad province, but there were significant blasts in nearby cities as well.
For months, Senate Bill 744 – which would reform immigration and make citizenship possible for some of the 11 million individuals living illegally in the U.S. – has been – has been stuck in the House. Generally, Republicans think it is too soft. Democrats have pushed and compromised. But the bill is bad. Not because …
Continue reading “America’s Maginot Line”
A series of bombings once again rocked Baghdad, while fighting and shelling continued in Anbar province. Celebratory gunfire after a soccer victory may have given cover to some of the attacks. Also, Indian tourists were attacked in the east. The casualty figures for today are 53 dead and 106 wounded overall.
President Obama’s defense plan has positive aspects but is not part of a coherent strategic vision for the nation. With this failing, Obama, as commander-in-chief, is not unique. Ever since the end of the Cold War in 1991, the United States has lacked a vision of what it wanted to do in the world and …
Continue reading “U.S. Defense Policy: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”
A familiar clutch of hawks have taken wing over the rapidly developing crisis in Ukraine, as neo-conservatives and other interventionists claim that President Barack Obama’s preference for diplomacy over military action invited Russian aggression. At stake in the current crisis, according to these right-wing critics, are not only Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also …
Continue reading “US Hawks Take Flight Over Ukraine”
With the eyes of the world fixed on Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the prospect of a wider war engulfing all Ukraine, our attention has been diverted from what may be the most significant aspect of this crisis: the ascension of a genuinely fascist mass movement into the corridors of power. Our "mainstream" media shrugs …
Continue reading “A Monster Reawakens: The Rise of Ukrainian Fascism”
Who can keep up? The revelations – mainly thanks to the documents Edward Snowden took from the National Security Agency – are never-ending. Just this week, we learned that GCHQ, the British intelligence agency whose activities are interwoven with the NSA’s, used a program called Optic Nerve to intercept and store “the webcam images of …
Continue reading “The Next Battleground in the War on Whistleblowers”
Militants staged an attacked north of Baghdad in the city of Samarra. They were able to hold the local city council building, but were eventually overcome. At least 42 people were killed and 74 more were wounded across the country.
