Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.)

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. Nothing is inevitable. Not war, not peace. Those writers and politicians who tell readers or constituents otherwise are selling snake oil. So it is, oftentimes, with proclamations about the Cold War. Americans have been taught, programmed even, to believe that a permanently bellicose nuclear standoff with the Soviet Union … Continue reading “A Cruel, Costly, and Anxious ‘Cold’ War”

The 2020 election will not turn on global issues – and more’s the pity. After all, thanks to decades upon decades of accumulating executive power in an increasingly imperial presidency, it is in foreign affairs that the commander-in-chief possesses near dictatorial power. Conversely, in domestic policy, a hostile Congress can – just ask Barry Obama … Continue reading “Still Waiting: 2020 Fever and the Quest for a Progressive Foreign Policy”

There are times when I wish that the United States would just drop the charade and declare itself a global empire. As a veteran of two imperial wars, a witness to the dark underside of America’s empire-denial, I’ve grown tired of the equivocation and denials from senior policymakers. The U.S. can’t be an empire, we’re … Continue reading “Empire of Absurdity: Recycled Neocons, Recycled Enemies”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. I arrived an absolute mess; most of us did. Bloated cheeks, sunken eyes, wearing my PTSD and depression on every inch of my face. I can’t say I really wanted to be there, even if I had volunteered. Ironic, wasn’t it? This, a civilian treatment facility in nowhere, Arizona, … Continue reading “Uncle Sam Sent Me to Rehab for PTSD”

Blindly backing Israel has become an article of faith, a civic religion even, for mainstream American politicians. Rarely do any dare publicly question the costs and benefits of this decades-old relationship. Such hesitancy is understandable. After all, to criticize Israeli policy, however mildly, is to risk near certain rebuke and reflexive charges of anti-semitism. Denouncing … Continue reading “The Israel Liability: Moral and Strategic Hazards of an Ill-Advised Alliance”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig on January 3, 2018. For a while there, I was a real star. High up in my class at West Point, tough combat deployments in two wars, a slew of glowing evaluations, even a teaching assignment back at the military academy. I inhabited a universe most only dream of: … Continue reading “An Officer’s Path to Dissent”

I’m just old enough to remember a time – before 9/11 – when the death of a US soldier in combat was an exceptionally rare thing. Indeed, its hard not to look back fondly on those days of relative peace. Since then, nearly 7000 Americans – and perhaps half a million local civilians – have … Continue reading “Syria’s Sunken Cost Fallacy: Not a Reason To Stay”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. As the nation continued to reel from President Donald Trump’s shock decision last month to remove all U.S. troops from Syria, news came Wednesday that an unknown number of US soldiers were among at least 15 killed in a bombing in northern Syria. Amid such continued violence, one would … Continue reading “Let’s Expose Congress Members for the Warhawks They Are”

These are tumultuous, ambiguous, and trying times for the United States. The nation enters 2019 carrying both the baggage of ongoing wars and the vague hope for a new path in foreign affairs. On the one hand, America’s military remains mired in undeclared wars in several countries across the globe. Our servicemen inhabit hundreds of … Continue reading “Hope or Despair?: A Bit of Both in 2019”

If anyone else were president, the "liberals" would be celebrating. After all, pulling American soldiers out of a couple of failing, endless wars seems like a "win" for progressives. Heck, if Obama did it there might be a ticker-tape parade down Broadway. And there should be. The intervention in Syria is increasingly aimless, dangerous and … Continue reading “Hypocrisy Without Bounds: The Tragedy of ‘Liberal’ Foreign Policy”