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.

We Have Met the Alien and He Is Us

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Imagine a secret government facility buried deep in the bowels of a mountain; a deluxe bomb shelter – encased within dense, almost fissure-less rock – for top government officials to ride out doomsday. I did. A lot. I spent an inordinate amount of time as a child reading everything I could … Continue reading “We Have Met the Alien and He Is Us”

Where Did the American Century Go?

Vladimir Putin recently manned up and admitted it. The United States remains the planet’s sole superpower, as it has been since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. “America,” the Russian president said, “is a great power. Today, probably, the only superpower. We accept that.” Think of us, in fact, as the default superpower in an … Continue reading “Where Did the American Century Go?”

Revolving Doors, Robust Rolodexes, and Runaway Generals

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s an oddity: Americans recognize corruption as an endemic problem in much of the world, just not in our own. And that’s strange. After all, to take but one example, America’s twenty-first-century war zones have been notorious quagmires of corruption on a scale that should boggle the imagination. In 2011, a … Continue reading “Revolving Doors, Robust Rolodexes, and Runaway Generals”

An Endless Cycle of Indecisive Wars

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s an unavoidable fact: we are now in a Brexit world. We are seeing the first signs of a major fragmentation of this planet that, until recently, the cognoscenti were convinced was globalizing rapidly and headed for unifications of all sorts. If you want a single figure that catches the grim … Continue reading “An Endless Cycle of Indecisive Wars”

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics… and US Africa Command

Originally posted at TomDispatch. One of the strangest news developments of our time is the way the media now focus for days, if not weeks, 24/7, on a single event and its ramifications. Omar Mateen’s slaughter of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando is only the latest example of this. If no other … Continue reading “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics… and US Africa Command”

Air Supremacy Isn’t What It Used to Be

Originally posted at TomDispatch. On October 7, 2001, less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration launched a bombing campaign against Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. An invasion to “liberate” the country followed. Almost 15 years later, with the Taliban again gaining ground, President Obama has just eased constraints on the U.S. military’s use of … Continue reading “Air Supremacy Isn’t What It Used to Be”

The Pentagon’s Real $trategy: Keeping the Money Flowing

Originally posted at TomDispatch. When it comes to Pentagon weapons systems, have you ever heard of cost “underruns”? I think not. Cost overruns? They turn out to be the unbreachable norm, as they seem to have been from time immemorial. In 1982, for example, the Pentagon announced that the cumulative cost of its 44 major … Continue reading “The Pentagon’s Real $trategy: Keeping the Money Flowing”

Batman in a Hospital Bed

Originally posted at TomDispatch. I can’t tell you exactly why I clicked on the article, but it was probably the title: “The Double-Tap Couple.” To me, a “double tap” is the technique of firing two gunshots in quick succession or employing two strikes in a row, as when U.S. drones or Hamas carry out attacks … Continue reading “Batman in a Hospital Bed”

Justice for Torturers?

Originally posted at TomDispatch. If you happen to be a potential American war criminal, you’ve had a few banner weeks. On May 9th, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter presented former Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger with the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award, that institution’s “highest honorary award for private citizens.” … Continue reading “Justice for Torturers?”

America’s Sinkhole Wars

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s last week’s good news on America’s war fronts: finally, there’s light at the end of the tunnel! From one end of the Greater Middle East to the other, things are looking up for Washington. A U.S. Air Force drone struck for the first time in Baluchistan province and took out … Continue reading “America’s Sinkhole Wars”