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.

The Peace Movement’s War Story

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Who even remembers the moment in mid-February 2003, almost 13 years ago, when millions of people across this country and the planet turned out in an antiwar moment unique in history? It was aimed at stopping a conflict that had yet to begin. Those demonstrators, myself included, were trying to put … Continue reading “The Peace Movement’s War Story”

How To Avert Real Change in Election 2016

Originally posted at TomDispatch. It was the grisliest of stories: a decade and a half ago a former KGB man, Alexander Litvinenko, defected to England and turned on the powers-that-be in his own country, accusing its leader of both acts of assassination and, among other things, pedophilia. Litvinenko died in 2006 thanks to a highly … Continue reading “How To Avert Real Change in Election 2016”

Failed States and States of Failure

Originally posted on TomDispatch. One of the charms of the future is its powerful element of unpredictability, its ability to ambush us in lovely ways or bite us unexpectedly in the ass. Most of the futures I imagined as a boy have, for instance, come up deeply short, or else I would now be flying … Continue reading “Failed States and States of Failure”

How To Succeed at Failing, Pentagon-Style

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Iraq and Afghanistan are separated by more than 1,000 miles and, although they both exist in what is now known as the Greater Middle East, they had little in common – at least until March 2003, when the Bush administration followed up its 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by invading Iraq. Since … Continue reading “How To Succeed at Failing, Pentagon-Style”

Enduring Bases, Enduring War in the Middle East

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Meet the hottest new commander in the increasingly secretive world of American warfare, Lieutenant General Raymond “Tony” Thomas. A rare portrait in the Washington Post paints him as a “shadowy figure” – an appropriate phrase for the general who has been leading the U.S. military’s “manhunters,” aka Joint Special Operations Command, … Continue reading “Enduring Bases, Enduring War in the Middle East”

How We Learned To Stop Worrying About People and Love the Bombing

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Torturers, rapists, murderers: for more than a decade as I researched my history of the Vietnam War, Kill Anything That Moves, I spent a good deal of time talking to them, thinking about them, reading about them, writing about them. They all had much in common. At a relatively young age, … Continue reading “How We Learned To Stop Worrying About People and Love the Bombing”

America Revisits the Dark Side

Originally posted at TomDispatch. They’re back! From the look of the presidential campaign, war crimes are back on the American agenda. We really shouldn’t be surprised, because American officials got away with it last time – and in the case of the drone wars continue to get away with it today. Still, there’s nothing like … Continue reading “America Revisits the Dark Side”

The Logic of the Police State

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Sometime in late November, after the Paris terror attacks but before the one in San Bernardino, I was walking to New York’s Grand Central Station to catch the subway home. In front of one of its main entrances, the police had set up shop, blocking off part of an avenue. The … Continue reading “The Logic of the Police State”

America’s Secret African Drone War Against ISIS

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Am I the only person who still remembers how Pentagon officials spoke of the major military bases already on the drawing boards as the invasion of Iraq ended in April 2003? It was taboo back then to refer to those future installations as “permanent bases.” No one wanted to mouth anything … Continue reading “America’s Secret African Drone War Against ISIS”

Who Will Fight the Islamic State?

Originally posted at TomDispatch. In the many strategies proposed to defeat the Islamic State (IS) by presidential candidates, policymakers, and media pundits alike across the American political spectrum, one common element stands out: someone else should really do it. The United States will send in planes, advisers, and special ops guys, but it would be … Continue reading “Who Will Fight the Islamic State?”