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 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”

The Pentagon, Libya, and Tomorrow’s Blowback Today

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Be careful what you wish for. In 2011, a Libyan rebellion began against autocrat Muammar Gaddafi. It undoubtedly reflected the wish of many Libyans for a new world of their own without his heavy hand or that of his secret police and secret prisons. Wishing to be rid of a ruler … Continue reading “The Pentagon, Libya, and Tomorrow’s Blowback Today”

AFRICOM Becomes a ‘War-Fighting Combatant Command’

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Let me explain why writing the introduction to today’s post by TomDispatch Managing Editor Nick Turse is such a problem. In these intros, I tend to riff off the ripples of news that regularly surround whatever subject an author might be focusing on. So when it comes to the U.S. military, … Continue reading “AFRICOM Becomes a ‘War-Fighting Combatant Command’”

No-Fly-List America

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s what the president said back in June 2013, while reassuring the American people about the National Security Agency’s collection of their phone metadata: “When it comes to telephone calls, nobody is listening to your telephone calls. That’s not what this program’s about. As was indicated, what the intelligence community is … Continue reading “No-Fly-List America”

Hijacking the American Plane of State

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Isn’t there something strangely reassuring when your eyeballs are gripped by a “mystery” on the news that has no greater meaning and yet sweeps all else away? This, of course, is the essence of the ongoing tale of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Except to the relatives of those … Continue reading “Hijacking the American Plane of State”

Jonathan Schell and the Fate of the Earth

Originally posted at TomDispatch. "Up to a few months ago, Ben Suc was a prosperous village of some thirty-five hundred people." That is the initial line of The Village of Ben Suc, his first book, a copy of which I recently reread on a plane trip, knowing that he was soon to die. That book, … Continue reading “Jonathan Schell and the Fate of the Earth”

America’s Non-Stop Ops in Africa

Originally posted at TomDispatch. After years in the shadows, U.S. Navy SEALs emerged in a big way with the 2011 night raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Afterward, they were lauded in print as supermen, feted by the president, and praised by the first lady. Soon, some of the country’s most secretive and elite special … Continue reading “America’s Non-Stop Ops in Africa”

American Proxy Wars in Africa

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Our major post-9/11 wars are goners and the imagery of American war-making is heading downhill. The Iraq War was long ago left in the trash heap of history, while in Afghanistan the talk is now about “the zero option” – that is, about an irritated Obama administration making a lock, stock, … Continue reading “American Proxy Wars in Africa”