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.

The Hyperpower Hype and Where It Took Us

Just last week, a jury began to deliberate on the fate of Zacarias Moussaoui, who may or may not have been the missing 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks. At the same time, newly released recordings of 911 operators responding to calls from those about to die that day in the two towers were … Continue reading “The Hyperpower Hype and Where It Took Us”

What Ever Happened to Congress?

In Part 1 of his interview, Chalmers Johnson suggested what that fall-of-the-Berlin-Wall, end-of-the-Cold-War moment meant to him; explored how deeply empire and militarism have entered the American bloodstream; and began to consider what it means to live in an unacknowledged state of military Keynesianism, garrisoning the planet, and with an imperial budget – a real … Continue reading “What Ever Happened to Congress?”

Cold Warrior in a Strange Land

As he and his wife Sheila drive me through downtown San Diego in the glare of midday, he suddenly exclaims, “Look at that structure!” I glance over, and just across the blue expanse of the harbor is an enormous aircraft carrier. “It’s the USS Ronald Reagan,” he says, “the newest carrier in the fleet. It’s … Continue reading “Cold Warrior in a Strange Land”

Connecting the Dots, Bush-Style

As readers flee news on the printed page for an online life and classified ads head out the door for Craigslist and points west, the Washington Post became just the latest major newspaper to announce significant staff cuts. With fourth-quarter revenue down 3 percent from the previous year, eighty jobs – 9 percent of the … Continue reading “Connecting the Dots, Bush-Style”

Reprogramming the Infinite Loop

Since today’s dispatch is by a former federal prosecutor, let me suggest a small “law” of my own, one fit for the present moment: When it comes to the Bush administration, whatever the subject may be and however bad you think things are, they’re going to be at least several fallback positions worse than whatever … Continue reading “Reprogramming the Infinite Loop”

Baghdad’s Besieged Press

Back in September 2004, the Wall Street Journal‘s Farnaz Fassihi, then covering Iraq, wrote an e-mail to friends that began: “Being a foreign correspondent in Baghdad these days is like being under virtual house arrest.” A year and a half later, it’s still a striking account to read, because the grim news she was delivering … Continue reading “Baghdad’s Besieged Press”

The Campaign to Pacify Sunni Iraq

In the first of a two-part dispatch, “Disintegrating Iraqi Sovereignty,” Michael Schwartz explored Iraq’s missing “sovereignty.” Most of us take sovereignty for granted, but under the pressure of invasion, occupation, destruction, and arrogance as well as increasing ethnic/religious strife and rippling chaos, it has proved ever harder to bring to bear in Iraq. Schwartz explored … Continue reading “The Campaign to Pacify Sunni Iraq”

Disintegrating Iraqi Sovereignty

You know things are going badly indeed in Iraq when U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad chooses to use an image – Pandora’s box – previously wielded only by that critic of the Iraq War, French President Jacques Chirac. Back in September 2004, Chirac compared American actions in Iraq to the famed box of myth, at a … Continue reading “Disintegrating Iraqi Sovereignty”

Tracing the Trail of Torture

The other day on Jerry Agar’s radio show, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld responded to accusations about American atrocities at our prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He accused the detainees there of manipulating public opinion by lying about their treatment. He said, in part: “They’re taught to lie, they’re taught to allege that they have … Continue reading “Tracing the Trail of Torture”