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 Big Brotherness of It All

Note: It’s that time of year again when graduates, watched by friends and family, leave campuses across the country amid celebrations and enter our increasingly strange world. I admit to having a weakness for commencement addresses. Though often degraded, they can be inspiring and insightful. On occasion, TomDispatch has carried actual commencement addresses – from … Continue reading “The Big Brotherness of It All”

How ‘Benghazi’ Birthed the New Normal in Africa

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Amid the horrific headlines about the fanatical Islamist sect Boko Haram that should make Nigerians cringe, here’s a line from a recent Guardian article that should make Americans do the same, as the U.S. military continues its “pivot” to Africa: “[U.S.] defense officials are looking to Washington’s alliance with Yemen, with … Continue reading “How ‘Benghazi’ Birthed the New Normal in Africa”

How I Met Edward Snowden

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Make no mistake: it’s been the year of Edward Snowden.  Not since Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War has a trove of documents revealing the inner workings and thinking of the U.S. government so changed the conversation.  In Ellsberg’s case, that conversation was transformed only in the … Continue reading “How I Met Edward Snowden”

The True Costs of Remote Control War

It’s rare to hear a government official speak in contrite tones; rarer still if that official represents the National Security Agency.  Recently, however, Anne Neuberger, a special assistant to former NSA Director Keith Alexander, did just that. A year of revelations, courtesy of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, prepared the way.  Since last June, the world … Continue reading “The True Costs of Remote Control War”

How To Lose a War That Wasn’t There

Originally posted at TomDispatch. You might think that 12-and-a-half years after it began, Washington would have learned something useful about its war on terror, but no such luck. If you remember, back in the distant days just after 9/11 when that war was launched (or, in a sense, “lost”), the Bush administration was readying itself … Continue reading “How To Lose a War That Wasn’t There”

Abu Ghraib Never Left Us

Originally posted at TomDispatch. In mid-April, Abu Ghraib was closed down. It was a grim end for the Iraqi prison where the Bush administration gave autocrat Saddam Hussein a run for his money. The Iraqi government feared it might be overrun by an al-Qaeda offshoot that calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the … Continue reading “Abu Ghraib Never Left Us”

The Creation of a Border Security State

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Sometimes you really do need a map if you want to know where you are. In 2008, the ACLU issued just such a map of this country and it’s like nothing ever seen before. Titled “the Constitution-Free Zone of the United States,” it traces our country’s borders. Maybe you’re already tuning … Continue reading “The Creation of a Border Security State”

Too Big to Jail?

Originally posted at TomDispatch. How the mighty have fallen. Once known as "Obama’s favorite general," James Cartwright will soon don a prison uniform and, thanks to a plea deal, spend 13 months behind bars. Involved in setting up the earliest military cyberforce inside U.S. Strategic Command, which he led from 2004 to 2007, Cartwright also … Continue reading “Too Big to Jail?”

How America’s Wars Came Home With the Troops

Originally posted at TomDispatch. After an argument about a leave denied, Specialist Ivan Lopez pulled out a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and began a shooting spree at Fort Hood, America’s biggest stateside base, that left three soldiers dead and 16 wounded. When he did so, he also pulled America’s fading wars out of the … Continue reading “How America’s Wars Came Home With the Troops”