Originally posted at TomDispatch. Torturers, rapists, murderers: for more than a decade as I researched my history of the Vietnam War, Kill Anything That Moves, I spent a good deal of time talking to them, thinking about them, reading about them, writing about them....
Will the Middle East Crisis Worsen in the New Year?
Washington's extensive military maneuvers in the Middle East since Sept. 11, 2001, have largely failed, creating far worse calamities at great cost to the people and countries of the region – and there is little reason to suspect this will change for the better in New...
Why the War Party Dominates the Media
Stephen Walt has an excellent albeit incomplete piece in Foreign Policy magazine that raises an important question: What accounts for the lack of anti-interventionist voices in the “mainstream” media? Walt uses the term “realist” as a synonym for anti-interventionist,...
Security Forces Killed in Friendly Fire Among 107 Dead in Iraq
The unstable Mosul Dam became the focus of international diplomacy this week when U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi about ongoing negotiations to repair the dam. The danger that the poorly constructed dam would collapse and drown...
197 Killed in Iraq; ISIS Executes Dozens
Taking On the Nuclear Goliath
Just as we stood for freedom in the 20th century, we must stand together for the right of people everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st century. And . . . as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to...
Saudi Arabia Executed a Nonviolent Shiite Cleric – It’s Going To Cost Them Big
Since King Salman inherited the throne in Riyadh a year ago, Saudi Arabia’s execution rate has soared. Last year, the kingdom executed 158 people, marking a 20-year high. Apparently not content to rest on those dubious laurels, Saudi authorities followed that high...
We Are the Human Shields of the Political Class
There’s been quite a bit of chatter in the media recently about the concept of a “soft target” in the wake of the November 13th attack in Paris where 130 innocents were murdered. What is a soft target? According to Wikipedia, “typical "soft targets" are...
112 Killed across Iraq; US Drone Crashes
Why Is North Korea Our Problem?
For Xi Jinping, it has been a rough week. Panicked flight from China's currency twice caused a plunge of 7 percent in her stock market, forcing a suspension of trading. Kim Jong Un, the megalomaniac who runs North Korea, ignored Xi's warning and set off a fourth...


