Longtime readers of this column will recall my Bizarro World theory: the idea that the 9/11 terrorist attacks ripped a hole in the space-time continuum and pushed us into another dimension, one known – to all us fans of Superman comics – as Bizarro World. This is a...
Militants Execute Their Own; 206 Killed across Iraq
The people of Haditha are running low on necessities and could be the Islamic State militants’ next target. But if the town should fall, with it might go a critical dam. At least 206 were killed and 94 were wounded in the latest violence: In Baghdad, a blast killed 16...
Take It Down: US Support for Jim Crow Israel
When it comes to flags, George Carlin said it best: “I see them as symbols, and I leave them to the symbol-minded.” Yet, those who fanatically oppose particular flags are just as symbol/simple-minded as those who wave them. For example, the recent Jacobin surge to...
Lessons from Obama’s War in Libya
In March 2011, President Barack Obama succumbed to French pressure and led the NATO alliance from behind in bombing the Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi. At the time, Obama was criticized for not letting the United States remain in the forefront of eliminating odious...
A Mideast Game of Thrones
As President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran is compared to Richard Nixon's opening to China, Bibi Netanyahu must know how Chiang Kai-shek felt as he watched his old friend Nixon toasting Mao in Peking. The Iran nuclear deal is not on the same geostrategic level. Yet...
Iran Agreement Boosts Peace, Defeats Neocons
Last week’s successfully concluded Iran agreement is one of the two most important achievements of an otherwise pretty dismal Obama presidency. Along with the ongoing process of normalizing relations with Cuba, this move shows that diplomacy can produce peaceful,...
204 Killed across Iraq; Large Stadium Demolished
At least 204 were killed and 30 were wounded in the latest violence. In Hudaid, 10 people were killed and 16 were wounded in a mortar attack. Thirteen men were kidnapped, including a Sunni tribal leader and his three sons. Militants killed three soldiers, including a...
The ‘Liberal’ Police State: It’s Here, It’s Now
Wesley Clark, the retired general who almost started World War III with Russia, has a bright idea: why not set up internment camps for "radicalized" Americans in order to stanch the threat of domestic terrorism? Yes, he actually said this, and, what's more, MSNBC...
The Dangerously Vague Romance of War
Which sounds better, to “die for your government”, or “give your life for your country”? The first could be interpreted, after a mountain of bodies pile up, as a mistake. As something that would seem to require scrutiny, admissions of having been wrong, of blame to...