Month: June 2014

Originally posted at TomDispatch. I’ll bet you didn’t know that June is “torture awareness month” thanks to the fact that, on June 26, 1987, the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment went into effect internationally. In this country, however, as a recent Amnesty International survey indicated, Americans are essentially … Continue reading “A Tale of Torture and Forgiveness”

It took a searing crisis for the United States to officially acknowledge that it needs Iran’s help. On Monday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns reportedly discussed the jihadist takeover of Iraq’s Sunni heartland with his Iranian counterparts on the sidelines of nuclear talks in Vienna. Good idea. For years, we’ve been calling … Continue reading “America Can’t Force Iran’s Surrender”

As prisoners are exchanged and the combat portion of the long and exhausting U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan winds down, the brazen lethal attack on the Karachi International airport by the Pakistani Taliban graphically highlights the principal unfortunate legacy of the needless nation-building Afghan conflict: the destabilization of neighboring Pakistan. Although few in … Continue reading “The Worst Effect of the Afghan War”

As in recent days, there is a lot of news to cover. And, a lot of casualties. At least 270 civilians, security forces and militants were killed and another 89 were wounded in recent violence. Most of it is highly plausible. The government also reported killing 270 militants in just one air strike in Falluja.

How would you like to spend a week in an exotic locale with “The Boss”? No, not that “Boss,” the other “Boss” – as in the Bruce Springsteen of Neo-Con crooners, the silver-tongued frontman of the rockin’-shockin’-awe-inspiring band that gave America and the world some of the greatest hits on Iraq. Folks, put your hands … Continue reading “The Neo-Con Travel Agency Is Open for Business”

As the Islamic warriors of ISIS rolled down the road from Mosul, John McCain was an echo of French Premier Paul Reynaud, when word reached Paris that Rommel had broken through in the Ardennes: “We are now facing an existential threat to the security of the United States of America,” said McCain. But nothing that … Continue reading “Their War, Not Ours”

At least 339 people were killed today and 91 more were wounded. This figure includes 200 militants that the Iraqi government says were killed in Anbar province. As in recent days, it is difficult to gauge which reports are complete exaggerations.

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s what passes for good news when it comes to a free press these days: two weeks ago, the Supreme Court refused without comment to hear a case involving New York Times reporter James Risen. It concerned his unwillingness to testify before a grand jury under subpoena and reveal a confidential … Continue reading “What We’ve Lost Since 9/11”

In 2006, I invited the late General Bill Odom to address my Thursday Congressional luncheon group. Gen. Odom, a former NSA director, called the Iraq war “the greatest strategic disaster in American history," and told the surprised audience that he could not understand why Congress had not impeached the president for pushing this disaster on … Continue reading “Haven’t We Already Done Enough Damage in Iraq?”

The defeat of Eric Cantor – GOP House majority leader and a leading light of the party’s neoconservative–corporatist wing – has the pundits in an uproar. They are flummoxed: what could have led to one of the biggest upsets in American political history? After all, a party majority leader hasn’t been defeated – let alone … Continue reading “The Coming Storm”