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.

If You Build It, They Will Kill

There’s that classic line of career advice to the confused young hero of the 1967 film The Graduate: “I want to say one word to you. Just one word… plastics.” With the perspective of a few extra decades under our belts (or beltways), that word probably should have been “arms.” After all, what a couple … Continue reading “If You Build It, They Will Kill”

Why World War IV Can’t Sell

Earlier this month, having long been bothered by the claims of various neocons that we were in “World War IV” (also known as “the Global War on Terrorism”), I wrote a piece, "Which War Is This Again?," considering the idea. I pointed out among other things that whatever the Cold War might have been, it … Continue reading “Why World War IV Can’t Sell”

Deconstructing Iraq: Year Three Begins

A Little Background Music Shakar Odai, the head of the Internal Affairs Department of the Baghdad police, was recently interviewed by David Enders of Mother Jones magazine, who wrote: “‘More than 98’ percent of the police officers (a force known alike for its use of torture and its widespread corruption) returned to work after the … Continue reading “Deconstructing Iraq: Year Three Begins”

Playing the Democracy Card

Have we really almost rolled around – yet again – to the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, this time amid much Bush administration and neocon self-congratulation, as well as media congratulations (grudging or otherwise) for an Iraqi-election-inspired spread of democracy in the Middle East? And what will we be congratulating ourselves on next year, … Continue reading “Playing the Democracy Card”

Coming to Terms With China

In our media lives, Asia plays a remarkably small and fragmented role, given its growing importance in the world. In our press, coverage of Asia is a strange jumble of alarums, fears, and trends: the North Korean bomb, avian flu and SARS, the tsunami, the Taiwan “war bill,” the growth of the Chinese Navy, anime … Continue reading “Coming to Terms With China”

False Victories in the War on Terror

In the rush of recent news about renditions, extraordinary renditions, the beating to death and systematic abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan, the holding of children as young as 11 in Abu Ghraib prison, the desire of Donald Rumsfeld to transfer large numbers of prisoners in Guantánamo back to their countries of origin, and other tales … Continue reading “False Victories in the War on Terror”

Going to War With the Army You Have

“‘If you look back over the last year, we estimate we have killed or captured about 15,000 people as part of this counter-insurgency,’ [Gen. George] Casey, the only four-star American general in Iraq, told reporters.” (Jan. 26, 2005) “[Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard] Myers said getting an accurate count of insurgents is difficult. ‘I’d say … Continue reading “Going to War With the Army You Have”

A Less Super Superpower

There is a bleak wondrousness to this American world of ours. The Bush administration, after all, loathes fundamentalists – those dangerous fanatics in strange lands with bizarre medieval belief systems, who wish us such ill and are more than ready to go to some twisted paradise to prove their fervor – except, of course, for … Continue reading “A Less Super Superpower”