Originally posted at TomDispatch. Of all the things I don’t remember anymore, here’s one I do. As a boy, I dreamt about being a foreign correspondent, a war reporter in particular – and I think that Bob Shaplen must have been the reason why. He was a...
The Fake News of D-Day
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Yes, they’re now known as the “greatest generation,” while the generation that followed them is sometimes referred to as the “silent” one. In my own limited experience, however, those World War II vets,...
Of Crimes and Pardons
Originally posted at TomDispatch. How about a little round of Auld Lang Syne? After all, when it comes to war crimes, whatever he ends up doing, Donald Trump will still be a johnny-come-lately. Remember, for instance, that top officials in the administration of George...
The American Cult of Bombing and Endless War
Originally posted at TomDispatch. In those pre-seat-belt years – it might have been 1953 – I can remember being in the back seat of the family car with our dog. My dad was driving, my mom sitting next to him. And I can still practically hear them launching, with...
The Navy’s War vs. Bolton’s War
We’re plunged into a world in which yesterday’s strangeness is instantly overwhelmed by today’s, which, in turn, is guaranteed to be overshadowed by tomorrow’s. Our president regularly regales his infamous base while mocking his enemies in ways that, not long ago,...
Key American Allies in the Middle East Are the Real Tyrants
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Think of U.S. policy in the Middle East as the proverbial broken record. Explain it as you will, Washington’s focus always comes back to Iran. Seldom has a country that remains anything but a superpower (even a regional one)...
The 12 Days of Bombing That Never End (for Me)
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Call it strange, but call it something. After all, never in history had there been such active opposition to a war before it began. I’m thinking, of course, about the antiwar surge that, in the winter and early spring of 2003,...
The ‘Forever Wars’ Enshrined
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Today, TomDispatch regular Andrew Bacevich, author of America’s War for the Greater Middle East, focuses on the sole memorial in this country to those who have fought in our now almost 18-year-old war on terror – never actually...
Election-Meddling Follies, 1945-2019
Originally posted at TomDispatch. In this country, reactions to the Mueller report have been all-American beyond belief. Let's face it, when it comes to election meddling, it’s been me, me, me, 24/7 here. Yes, in some fashion some set of Russians meddled in the...
Lobbying for War
Originally posted at TomDispatch. As William Hartung and Mandy Smithberger reported at TomDispatch recently, the national security budget has reached $1.25 trillion annually without evidently peaking, while the U.S. military fights wars without end across a...