Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.)

We aren’t miracle workers. We’re just soldiers after all – kids barely out of their teens and officers in their mid-20s do most of the fighting. Still, policymakers in Washington, and citizens on Main Street both seem convinced that the mere presence of a few hundred or thousand American troops can alter societies, vanquish the … Continue reading “The Limits of Power – The Myth of the Magical American Soldier”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. It’s time to ask an uncomfortable question: What exactly is the U.S. getting out of its partnership with Saudi Arabia? The answer is: nothing but headaches, human rights abuses and national embarrassment. In the cynical past, the US could at least argue that it needed Saudi oil, but that’s … Continue reading “Saudi Arabia Financed the Killers of American Troops I Commanded”

This week, the Taliban ambushed the latest senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan – General Miller. Though he was unhurt, senior Afghan officials were killed. I knew one of them – General Raziq – and he might just have been a war criminal…that’s instructive. by Danny Sjursen This week, the Taliban demonstrated – once again – … Continue reading “Quagmire: What the Attack on General Miller in Afghanistan Tells Us”

The absurd hopelessness was the worst part. No, it wasn’t the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) blowing limbs off my boys, or the well-aimed gunshot wounds suffered by others; it wasn’t even the horror of ordering the deaths of other ("enemy") human beings. No, for a captain commanding 100 odd troopers in Southwest Kandahar province at … Continue reading “Not Worth Another Life: An Afghan Anniversary To Lament”

The Israelis military is killing kids in the Gaza Strip – like, on the regular. You wouldn’t know it though; not unless you watch the BBC or Al Jazeera, that is. The uncomfortable truth is this: most Americans, frankly, don’t care. Most of the populace and a bipartisan coalition of nearly all policymakers are so … Continue reading “Gaza: The Most Important Story Not Covered in the MSM”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. In July 1999, Chalmers Johnson began the prologue to Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire this way: "Instead of demobilizing after the Cold War, the United States imprudently committed itself to maintaining a global empire. This book is an account of the resentments our policies have built up and … Continue reading “Backfire, a Generation of American Folly”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. “Shall I tell you what this collision means? They who think that it is accidental, unnecessary, the work of interested or fanatical agitators … mistake the case altogether. It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the United States must and will, sooner … Continue reading “A Broken Union (1851-1861)”

Alex should have never been asked to accomplish the impossible. But he was. We all were. Thing is, if anyone could have done it – "beat" the Taliban and brought home a win for the US of A – it’d have been my friend Alex. Sure, I’m biased. He was a star platoon leader and … Continue reading “Forever War?: Lieutenant Alex and the Limits of American Courage”

On paper, Rachel Maddow may be the brightest host on all of cable news. Educated first at Stanford and then earning a PhD as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, she’s an eloquent speaker and distinguished author. But these days Maddow and her fellow "mainstream" progressives at MSNBC and CNN sound like hysterical, bellicose neocons. … Continue reading “The ‘Left’ Gone Mad: Mainstream Liberals as Modern Day Warhawks”

This article originally appeared at TruthDig. The United States of America conquered half of Mexico. There isn’t any way around that fact. The regions of the U.S. most affected by “illegal” immigration—California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas—were once part of the Republic of Mexico. They would have remained so if not for the Mexican-American War … Continue reading “The Fraudulent Mexican-American War (1846-48)”