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.

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”

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”

Into the Iraqi Diaspora

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released new figures on the disintegrating health situation in Iraq, where, according to the group, 100 people a day die, on average, and countless more are wounded. Of the injured who manage to make it to an emergency room, 70 percent face a chance of dying there. Many … Continue reading “Into the Iraqi Diaspora”

Can Sadr and Sistani
Handle Bush?

Mortar attacks on the Green Zone, the American-controlled and massively fortified citadel in the heart of Baghdad, were already on the rise when, late last week, a suicide bomber managed to penetrate the parliament building inside the Zone and kill at least one legislator, while wounding others, in its cafeteria. Some parliamentary representatives were soon … Continue reading “Can Sadr and Sistani
Handle Bush?”