Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.)

It has long been called the most dangerous place in the world. Still, few Americans know anything about the place; nor could they point out the troubled region of Kashmir on a map. Yet for 62 years India and Pakistan have contested for control of the province. In fact, a long-running insurgency there has even … Continue reading “India: The Next Apartheid State?”

I lost my temper. In retrospect I was out of control. Waving my pistol around like a damn cowboy and screaming at a frail old man who didn’t know anything. It was New Year’s Eve 2006, just south of Baghdad, and yet another roadside bomb had just exploded near my platoon’s patrol, in broad daylight … Continue reading “Justice or Militarism: US Army Regulations Might be Stricter Than the in the NYPD”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. It was big news. U.S. military forces streamed into Saudi Arabia in response to a supposedly serious threat to the kingdom’s eastern region. The American troops were invited by nervous Saudi royals; it wasn’t an American invasion per se. Everything unfolded smoothly at first; still, the consequences would be … Continue reading “US Troops Are Back in Saudia Arabia – This Will End Badly”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Recently, at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mark Esper, President Trump’s nominee to be the new secretary of defense, faced questioning on all sorts of subjects, including on his past position as the top Washington lobbyist for weapons-maker Raytheon and on Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile … Continue reading “Could Donald Trump End the Afghan War?”

It was a lonely place for me. Actively dissenting in a public forum against the wars I’d fought in and the institution to which I’d dedicated my adult life since age seventeen. It was, as I’ve often said, the atheist in the monastery syndrome. I was passionate, more than a little angry; but I was … Continue reading “A Home for Patriotic Dissent: Antiwar.com – More Vital Than Ever”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. Empires in decline tend to behave badly. Indeed, whether British, French or Russian, the twilight years of imperialism often brought brutal repression of subjects abroad, the suppression of civil liberties at home and general varieties of brutality toward foreigners, be they refugees or migrants. The British built concentration camps … Continue reading “An American Tragedy: Empire at Home and Abroad”

I was just about the youngest person in the room. I usually am when I address veterans’ peace organizations. Of course, when I speak at universities, it’s the exact opposite case. Being a 35-year old post 9/11 antiwar vet can be a bit lonely, a feeling of being stuck between two generational worlds. In this … Continue reading “Peacestock 2019: The Seeds of a Veterans’ Antiwar Movement”

It is undoubtedly my favorite part of every wedding. That awkward, but strangely forthright moment when the preacher asks the crowd for any objections to the couple’s marriage. No one ever objects, of course, but it’s still a raw, if tense, moment. I just love it. I suppose we had that ubiquitous ritual in mind … Continue reading “What Was It All for For: Vets Have Finally Turned on America’s Endless Wars”

Uncle Joe has never been much for apologies. Whether it was his backing of the ‘90s crime bill that helped fuel mass incarceration, or his mistreatment of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings, Biden has been loathe to admit wrong and make amends. Thus it was a bit of a surprise this weekend when … Continue reading “The Real Biden Apology America Deserves: The Iraq War”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. “It is natural for mankind to set a higher value on courage then timidity, on activity than prudence, on strength than counsel.” ~ Montesquieu, “The Spirit of the Laws” They are undoubtedly America’s favorite, most lauded shock troops. More, even, than the Marines or the Army’s Green Berets and Rangers, Navy SEALs have captured America’s … Continue reading “Putting the Warriors on Terror on Trial”