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.

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”

Dubya’s Inferno, and Other Images From a No-Name War

Look at the polls. When Gallup’s pollsters go out to ask Americans about the Bush administration and Iraq, they frame their questions this way: “Do you think the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq, or not?”; “Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war with Iraq?”; “Who do you think is … Continue reading “Dubya’s Inferno, and Other Images From a No-Name War”

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”