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.

You Can Do Anything With a Bayonet Except Sit on It

On a cloudless day, the sky a brilliant, late-afternoon blue, my car winds its way up the Berkeley hills. Plum and pear trees in glorious whites and pinks burst into sight at each turn in the road. Beds of yellow flowers, trees hung with lemons, and the odd palm are surrounded by the green of … Continue reading “You Can Do Anything With a Bayonet Except Sit on It”

How Costly Is Too Costly?

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse – the al-Askariya shrine, the Golden Mosque of Samarra, one of Shia Islam’s most revered sites, was invaded by gunmen in police uniforms (possibly from Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia group, though no one has yet taken responsibility), bombed, and thoroughly desecrated, as photos make shockingly clear. Shia … Continue reading “How Costly Is Too Costly?”

A Quailhawk’s Cakewalk

Over a week ago, Vice President Cheney managed to put a couple of hundred pellets of birdshot into his 78-year-old friend and Texas Republican Party builder, Harry Whittington. As the event turned into a national joke, edged with anger, and a late night spectacle, it was natural that the subject of Iraq would arise. After … Continue reading “A Quailhawk’s Cakewalk”

Farewell to Ground Zero

Jonathan Schell, who lives in downtown New York City, began writing his “Letter from Ground Zero” column – still unnamed – almost before the white dust storm of 9/11 had settled. The first of what would become almost four-and-a-half years of such columns – piercing, questioning, thoughtful – appeared the next week in The Nation … Continue reading “Farewell to Ground Zero”

Can You Say ‘Permanent Bases’?

We’re in a new period in the war in Iraq – one that brings to mind the Nixonian era of “Vietnamization”: A president presiding over an increasingly unpopular war that won’t end; an election bearing down; the need to placate a restive American public; and an army under so much strain that it seems to … Continue reading “Can You Say ‘Permanent Bases’?”

The Bureaucracy Strikes Back

In the first installment of this series, I offered 42 names to begin what now seems an endless – and ever growing – list of top officials as well as beleaguered administrators, managers, and career civil servants who quit their government posts in protest or were ridiculed, defamed, threatened, fired, forced out, demoted, or driven … Continue reading “The Bureaucracy Strikes Back”

How Not to Ban Torture in Congress

Alfred McCoy, an expert on the CIA and its history of torture, has some actual news – the sort that’s been sitting unnoticed right in front of our collective, reportorial eyes. Last year’s clash between John McCain and the Bush administration over the senator’s successful attempt to attach a ban on torture and other abusive … Continue reading “How Not to Ban Torture in Congress”

When Two Worlds Collide

The president passed through his State of the Union address – ill-digested chunks of so many other speeches he’s given (“We’re writing a new chapter in the story of self-government – with women lining up to vote in Afghanistan, and millions of Iraqis marking their liberty with purple ink…") – largely untouched by the media. … Continue reading “When Two Worlds Collide”

Spying, Lying, and Saying No

On the day that Ayman al-Zawahiri appeared in his nine thousandth video from – assumedly – the remarkably technologized wilds of the Afghan-Pakistan border region, mocking President Bush for a botched Predator-drone missile attempt on his life, another article caught my eye. In a piece in the Los Angeles Times, headlined “CIA Expands Use of … Continue reading “Spying, Lying, and Saying No”

‘Maybe They Just Need to Have Their Civil War’

Here are a few headlines from stories you probably didn’t even see this week (and they could be multiplied numerous times over): “Another day of bloodshed in Iraq“ “Senior Sunni official killed in Iraq“ “U.S. Private Contractors leaving Iraq“ “Three Civilians, Seven GIs Killed in Iraq“ “Twelve U.S. servicemembers killed in Iraq since Friday” These … Continue reading “‘Maybe They Just Need to Have Their Civil War’”