Originally posted at TomDispatch. Think of it as Cold War II or, as President Biden put it in his first news conference, “a battle between the utility of democracies in the twenty-first century and autocracies.” In other words, it’s us versus...
The History of the Present
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Assassination has not exactly been a foreign concept to American presidents. After all, there were those CIA-backed plots during the presidency of John F. Kennedy (who was himself assassinated) aimed at killing foreign leaders ranging...
The Massive and Unseen Costs of America’s Post-9/11 Wars
Perhaps the strangest thing about America’s "forever wars" is how little obvious impact they’ve had here. A country – an imperial power, in fact, that liked to think of itself as the planet’s last or "lone" superpower – goes to war for so long (and...
We’re All Prisoners of War Now
Originally posted at TomDispatch. America has essentially been at war, nonstop, since the weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Those “forever wars,” as they’re now commonly called, have been both truly distant from and eerily close to us, far away and yet a...
How Not To End Terror Wars
Originally posted at TomDispatch. As his time in office ends in a mob invasion of the Capitol and an avalanche of pardons for his pals and cohorts, Donald Trump also pardoned four American guards from the former private security company Blackwater (run by Erik Prince,...
The Madness of War, American-Style
Originally posted at TomDispatch. The American invasion of Iraq began almost 18 years ago in mid-March 2003. By early April, that country's capital, Baghdad, had fallen and before the month ended the war was considered over and won. On May 1st, President George W....
All-War-All-the-Time?
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Hmmm... let me see if I've gotten this straight. In his last days in office, Donald Trump is "ending" America's forever wars (as he long promised he would do) by leaving 2,500 American troops in Afghanistan, a similar number in Iraq,...
Spilling Ink and Spilling Blood
Originally posted at TomDispatch. TomDispatch is essentially a no-submissions site. The only exception I’ve made over the years has been for those in the U.S. military or retired from it who, miraculously enough, became critical of it and the forever wars that...
From the Forever Wars to the Cataclysmic Wars
Originally posted at TomDispatch. You may have noticed those U.S. aircraft carrier task forces repeatedly entering the South China Sea to challenge Beijing or the increased arms sales to Taiwan and the special visits high Trump administration officials have paid to...
Stop Thanking the Troops and Lend a Hand
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Nineteen years ago, the administration of George W. Bush responded to the 9/11 attacks by invading Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. And, yes, you won’t be shocked to learn that the Taliban is stronger now than at any time since...