Lucy Steigerwald

ISIS is awful. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a frightening band of marauding, violent theocrats. This seems obvious. But pointing out the awfulness of ISIS is something that people who advocate against intervention are going to have to do a lot for the foreseeable future. Pro-interventionists control the narrative so much so … Continue reading “Advocating the Next War Means Forgetting History”

Since the August 9 shooting death of the unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri Police Officer Darren Wilson, the country – and the world – has been captivated by the ensuing local outrage. Also during the past 11 days media, activists, and bystanders have suffered the brunt of an unprofessional, yet exceedingly-armed local police … Continue reading “There’s No Proportionality in American Law and Order”

On Saturday, a still-unnamed member of the Ferguson, Missouri police force fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown. The police say that after Brown was stopped for walking in the street, he shoved the officer back into his car, and fought him for his weapon. Brown, unarmed himself, then ran from the car, and was shot about … Continue reading “Missouri Shooting Provokes Mainstream Backlash Against Militarized Police”

One hundred years ago, along came the long-predicted slide into the First World War. Though it is perhaps second to Vietnam in terms of wars now considered to be a mistake, and in spite of the idea of the horrors of trench warfare, there is still this notion of WWI being an ancient, and even … Continue reading “War Against War! and the Necessity of Graphic War Photos”

Wars should be a tough sell, what with the fact that lots of people tend to die in them. Thankfully for warmongers, there are so many ways to downplay this uncomfortable reality. If you want to go to war, the resulting dead people bit can be downplayed with a few of the following helpful tips. … Continue reading “Top Ways To Justify Civilian Casualties in War”

A common slur from interventionists is that so-called isolationists condone oppressive regimes, cruel warlords, or bloody civil wars simply because they do not wish to militarily engage. To wish to keep your tax dollars, your name, and more importantly, "your" armed forces out of other countries is to not care when other people are suffering. … Continue reading “Yes, We Should Care More About ‘Our’ Wars”

As we’ve been told since 9/11, the government needs certain special powers in order to keep us safe from terrorism. The PATRIOT Act, FISA Courts, telecom immunity, the NSA looking at your naked pictures – all of this is made or enhanced in the name of fighting the type of monsters who perpetrated the 9/11 … Continue reading “It’s Not About Fighting Terror, It’s About Having Power”

The human tragedy of scores of thousands of immigrant kids from south of the border streaming into the US is distracting enough for most people not to notice how damned creepy it is that the press has been completely restricted from touring these overcrowded immigrant detention centers or actually asking these kids some questions firsthand. … Continue reading “The Problem With the American Press”

One of the easiest ways to confirm that there is no difference between (mainstream) Republicans and Democrats is to compare the latter’s vision of perfectible economic meddling with the former’s right-wing dreamworld of international democracy and low, low oil prices. Now, even a statement this general requires caveats. In the last two weeks, Democrat prez … Continue reading “The Perfect Arrogance of the Warmongerer”

This week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published their study of 20 different law enforcement agencies’ use of SWAT teams on 800 occasions between 2011 and 2013. Their conclusions may not surprise people who have been following the militarization and the normalization of that in police departments across the US, but it should shock … Continue reading “The ACLU Knocks Militarized Police”