Mea culpa. In "Coronavirus Lays Low the Military" (Antiwar.com, Apr. 2), I wrote that "it’s taken the military several weeks to realize what’s going on" with Covid-19, and that "judging from the mixed messages sent by Secretary of Defense Mark...
Coronavirus Lays Low the Military
Don’t look now but, for all intents and purposes the US war machine has ceased to exist. It’s not the case for defensive purposes. If the United States were to come under attack, the Pentagon would throw everything it has at the problem from ground troops to advanced...
Will COVID Bring Down the American War Machine?
COVID is changing everything, including foreign policy. Just a few weeks ago, the United States thought it was a swell idea to station troops in more than 150 countries, five of them war zones. Even in Afghanistan, a hopeless quagmire if ever there was one, it found...
Saudi Arabia: The Crown Prince in His Labyrinth
As Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman arrests his nearest relatives on treason charges, Saudi Arabia is bracing itself for a new reign of terror. But rest assured, it’s only temporary. At the end of the line lies something even worse: full-scale collapse. Yeah, yeah,...
The Ukraine: Things Fall Apart
Volodymyr Zelensky used to play a school teacher on a hit Ukrainian TV show called "Servant of the People." The premise was simple: a video goes viral of the teacher sounding off about corruption and, before you know it, he’s elected president. The program...
Afghanistan: Imagine There’s No Future
Here’s a little thought experiment. Imagine it’s Sept. 12, 2001, and America is in deep shock over the destruction of the World Trade Center the previous day. George W. Bush goes on national TV and declares: "Now is not the time to lose our heads. Like Pearl...
Erdogan’s Dance of Death With NATO
In order to understand why the war in Syria’s northwest Idlib province is likely to spread, it may be helpful to think back to the dark days of early World War II. Britain was alone and on the ropes. Plenty of countries wished it well. But with France, Denmark, the...
Did WikiLeaks Put Lives at Risk?
Julian Assange’s extradition trial in London got off with a bang yesterday when James Lewis, the lawyer representing the Trump administration, told the court that Washington "is aware of sources, whose unredacted names and other identifying information was...
Erdogan’s Excellent Syrian Adventure
What’s a political strongman to do when his economy is weak and another round of financial turbulence is on the way? When political support is languishing and a series of budget-busting construction projects has people shaking their head in dismay? The answer is...
Tactical Nukes: Armageddon on the Installment Plan
How’s this for a nice little nightmare? Imagine that Iran responds to another Qassem Soleimani-style provocation with a missile barrage that sinks a $40-billion aircraft carrier with 6,000 personnel on board. The US response is ferocious. But then comes the...