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.

Iraq War 4.0?

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Let’s play a game, the kind that makes no sense on this single-superpower planet of ours. For a moment, do your best to suspend disbelief and imagine that there’s another superpower, great power, or even regional power somewhere that, between 2001 and 2003, launched two major wars in the Greater Middle … Continue reading “Iraq War 4.0?”

When Is a ‘Base Camp’ Neither a Base Nor a Camp?

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Sometimes, to see the big picture you need to focus on the smallest part of it, as Nick Turse does in the latest of his dispatches on the U.S. military in Africa. He takes a look at that military in Chad. Yep, I said “in Chad.” At least 99% of Americans … Continue reading “When Is a ‘Base Camp’ Neither a Base Nor a Camp?”

A Permanent Infrastructure for Permanent War

Originally posted at TomDispatch. In a September address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Barack Obama spoke forcefully about the “cycle of conflict” in the Middle East, about “violence within Muslim communities that has become the source of so much human misery.” The president was adamant: “It is time to acknowledge the destruction wrought … Continue reading “A Permanent Infrastructure for Permanent War”

Iraq and the Battle of the Potomac

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Last week, the New York Times front-paged a story about plans for "Iraq" to mount "a major spring offensive against Islamic State fighters." Its goal, among other things: to take back the country’s second largest city, Mosul. The plan, wrote Michael Gordon and Eric Schmitt, was "being devised with the help … Continue reading “Iraq and the Battle of the Potomac”

An Electronic Archipelago of Domestic Surveillance

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Let me tell you my modest post-9/11 dream. One morning, I’ll wake up and see a newspaper article that begins something like this: “The FBI is attempting to persuade an obscure regulatory body in Washington to change its rules of engagement in order to curtail the agency’s significant powers to hack … Continue reading “An Electronic Archipelago of Domestic Surveillance”

Building an Escalation Machine

Sometimes it seemed that only two issues mattered in the midterm election campaigns just ended. No, I’m not talking about Obamacare, or the inequality gap, or the country’s sagging infrastructure, or education, or energy policy. I mean two issues that truly threaten the wellbeing of citizens from Kansas, Colorado, and Iowa to New Hampshire and … Continue reading “Building an Escalation Machine”

Why Do We Keep Thanking the Troops?

More than a few times I’ve found myself in a crowd of Vietnam veterans, and more than a few times at least one of them was wearing a curious blue or yellow t-shirt. Once that shirt undoubtedly fit a lean physique of the late 1970s or early 1980s, but by the time I saw it … Continue reading “Why Do We Keep Thanking the Troops?”

American Exceptionalism and Its Discontents

Originally posted at TomDispatch. We’re now passing through a no-name election season of a particularly lusterless sort, but don’t count on that for 2016. Here, in fact, is a surefire prediction for that moment, which (given the nature of modern presidential campaigns) will kick off with the usual round of media speculation and odds-making on … Continue reading “American Exceptionalism and Its Discontents”

Will the US Go to ‘War’ Against Ebola?

Originally posted at TomDispatch. These days, two “wars” are in the headlines: one against the marauding Islamic State and its new caliphate of terror carved out of parts of Iraq and Syria, the other against a marauding disease and potential pandemic, Ebola, spreading across West Africa, with the first cases already reaching the United States … Continue reading “Will the US Go to ‘War’ Against Ebola?”

Edward Snowden and the Golden Age of Spying

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! stat from our new age of national security. How many Americans have security clearances? The answer: 5.1 million, a figure that reflects the explosive growth of the national security state in the post-9/11 era. Imagine the kind of system needed just to vet that … Continue reading “Edward Snowden and the Golden Age of Spying”