Hey, aren’t we the most exceptional nation in history? George Bush and his pals thought so – and they were in a great American tradition of exceptionalism. Of course, they were imagining us as the most exceptional empire in history (or maybe at the end of it), the ultimate New Rome. Anyway, explain this to … Continue reading “US Takes Gold in
Arms Olympics”
Tom Engelhardt
An editor in publishing for the last 25 years, Tom Engelhardt is the author
of The
End of Victory Culture, a history of American triumphalism in the Cold
War era, now out in a revised edition with a new preface and afterword, and Mission Unaccomplished, TomDispatch Interviews With American Iconoclasts and Dissenters.
He is at present consulting editor for Metropolitan Books, a fellow of the
Nation Institute, and a teaching fellow at the journalism school of the University of California, Berkeley.
Visit his Web site.
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US Takes Gold in
Ending the Empire
Way back in 1999, when I was still a TomDispatch-less book editor, I read a proposal from Chalmers Johnson. He was, then, known mainly as a scholar of modern Japan, though years earlier I had read his brilliant book on Chinese peasant nationalism – about a period in the 1940s when imperial Japan was carrying … Continue reading “Ending the Empire”
What Price Slaughter?
What value has a human life? We usually think of this in terms of sentiment – of memories, grief, love, longing, of everything, in short, that is too deep and valuable to put a price upon. Then again, is anything in our world truly priceless? As anyone who has ever taken out a life insurance … Continue reading “What Price Slaughter?”
Turkey’s Unholy Alliance
For Americans, whose view of Islam and Islamic politics is, to put the matter politely, less than complex, it’s worth being reminded of just how complex, how unexpected, politics (religious or otherwise) can turn out to be anywhere on this planet. With that in mind, Dilip Hiro, Tomdispatch regular and author most recently of Blood … Continue reading “Turkey’s Unholy Alliance”
A Small War Guaranteed to Damage a Superpower
Patrick Cockburn has been hailed by Sidney Blumenthal in Salon as “one of the most accurate and intrepid journalists in Iraq.” And that’s hardly praise enough, given what the man has done. The Middle Eastern correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, he’s been on the spot from the moment when, in February 2003, he … Continue reading “A Small War Guaranteed to Damage a Superpower”
Preserving Iraq’s ‘Patrimony’
In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2002-2003, oil was seldom mentioned. Yes, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz did describe the country as afloat “on a sea of oil” (which might fund any American war and reconstruction program there); and, yes, on rare occasions, the president did speak reverentially of preserving “the … Continue reading “Preserving Iraq’s ‘Patrimony’”
Tick… Tick… Tick… in Washington and Baghdad
[Note for TomDispatch readers: On this fourth anniversary of the president’s “Mission Accomplished” moment, I urge you to consider ordering yourself a copy of Mission Unaccomplished: TomDispatch Interviews with American Iconoclasts and Dissenters (Nation Books). James Carroll, Chalmers Johnson, Katrina van den Heuvel, Howard Zinn, Juan Cole, Mike Davis, Barbara Ehrenreich, Mark Danner, and other … Continue reading “Tick… Tick… Tick… in Washington and Baghdad”
A Democratic Sellout on
Bush’s Mercenaries
Let’s be clear about what it is – when it comes to “withdrawal” from Iraq – that the president will veto this Wednesday. Section 1904(b) of the supplemental appropriations bill for the Pentagon, H.R. 1591, passed by the House and Senate, mandates that the secretary of defense “commence the redeployment of the Armed Forces from … Continue reading “A Democratic Sellout on
Bush’s Mercenaries”
Bush’s Mercenaries”
Can Guantánamo Be Closed?
Back in September 2006, I wrote a post, “The Facts on the Ground, Mini-Gulags, Hired Guns, Lobbyists, and a Reality Built on Fear,” in which I wondered whether any new administration, any new president would ever be able to take real steps toward ridding our world of the realities created by the Bush administration – … Continue reading “Can Guantánamo Be Closed?”
The Blacksburg Massacre in Global Context
Last Jan. 16, a car bomb blew up near an entrance to Mustansiriya University in Baghdad – and then, as rescuers approached, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowd. In all, at least 60 Iraqis, mostly female students leaving campus for home, were killed and more than 100 wounded. Founded in 1232 by … Continue reading “The Blacksburg Massacre in Global Context”