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. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com.

A Catch-22 Nuclear World

Here’s the strange thing: Since 2001, our media has been filled with terrifying nuclear headlines. The Iraqi bomb (you remember those “mushroom clouds” about to rise over American cities), the North Korean bomb, and the Iranian bomb have been almost obsessively in the news. Of course, the Iraqi bomb turned out to be embarrassingly nonexistent; … Continue reading “A Catch-22 Nuclear World”

The Great American Disconnect

Finally, the great American disconnect may be ending. Only four years after the invasion of Iraq, the crucial facts-on-the-ground might finally be coming into sight in this country – not the carnage or the mayhem; not the suicide car bombs or the chlorine truck bombs; not the massive flight of middle-class professionals, the assassination campaign … Continue reading “The Great American Disconnect”

The Pentagon’s Blank Check

Soon after the invasion of Iraq was launched, war supporters and critics alike, in a bow to the Vietnam era, began to speak referentially of the “Q-word” – for “quagmire,” of course. By now, Iraq has had that administration-inspired “Q” hung firmly around its neck, but what of the engine pushing it, the Pentagon? Perhaps … Continue reading “The Pentagon’s Blank Check”

Has Libby Learned Nothing?

Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega has been writing about the case of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame for this site since the summer of 2005. The story itself began back in July 2003 with a New York Times op-ed by Plame’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, that called into question one of the … Continue reading “Has Libby Learned Nothing?”

Words in a Time of War

A few weeks ago, I offered Tomdispatch readers, “Close Your Eyes,” my fantasy graduation speech for the class of 2007, given from the podium of some university of my mind. Mark Danner, however, recently stood at an actual podium at the University of California, Berkeley, and gave a genuine commencement address to a group of … Continue reading “Words in a Time of War”

The Colossus of Baghdad

Of the seven wonders of the ancient Mediterranean world, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Colossus of Rhodes, four were destroyed by earthquakes, two by fire. Only the Great Pyramid of Giza today remains. We no longer know who built those fabled monuments to the grandiosity of kings, pharaohs, and gods; nowadays, at … Continue reading “The Colossus of Baghdad”

The Air War in Iraq Uncovered

In a recent inside-the-fold roundup of the previous day’s mayhem in Iraq, David S. Cloud, writing for my hometown paper, devoted 729 words to an account of American casualties from IEDs (“Six American soldiers and their interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad…”), Iraqi Army, police, insurgent, and civilian casualties, and various … Continue reading “The Air War in Iraq Uncovered”

US Takes Gold in
Arms Olympics

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”