Peter Certo

The scenes from Afghanistan are heartrending. I can’t imagine the desperation of someone who clings to a military airplane as it takes off, as Afghan refugees attempted to in Kabul. Nor is it possible to dismiss the fears of Afghan women, as a faction that once executed them for seeking jobs or education comes back … Continue reading “Biden Is Right To End the War in Afghanistan”

In a full-blown U.S. war with Iran, up to a million people could die initially. Hundreds of thousands more could die in the vacuum to follow. Millions would be made refugees. That’s the conclusion of experts surveyed by Vox reporter Alex Ward. “The worst-case scenarios here are quite serious,” Middle East scholar Michael Hanna warned. … Continue reading “Trump’s Iran Aggression Deserves Full-Throated Opposition”

Hard data shows ending our wars would be smart politics – and the first step toward repairing a moral calamity. By Peter Certo Like anyone else who was around that day, I can tell you exactly where I was on 9/11. I was a Catholic school eighth grader, fresh off my 14th birthday. The school … Continue reading “End the Wars, Win the Antiwar Vote”

How are you spending Memorial Day? Ordinary people may attend parades, host cookouts, or take the long weekend to visit loved ones. Donald Trump, on the other hand, may pardon a few war criminals. The president recently requested the files of several accused and convicted U.S. war criminals, a possible step toward expedited pardons for … Continue reading “Pardoning War Criminals Is a Monstrous Way to Honor Memorial Day”

For some months now, Venezuela’s socialist government has lurched through a series of escalating crises – hyperinflation, mass protests, political violence – while both the government and its opposition have flirted with authoritarianism. It isn’t pretty – and to hear the right wing tell it, it’s the future the U.S. left wants for our own … Continue reading “People Who Care About Democracy Don’t Plot Coups Abroad”

Super Bowl season is like the holidays – a celebration shared by people more accustomed to arguing than sitting down together. As one of the few transpartisan, mass media events left to our tribal culture, the biggest TV night of the year can’t help but channel the political tensions most of us endure all year … Continue reading “Does the Super Bowl Feel Too Political? Thank Militarism”

Our death rituals for public figures are evolving. For a moment, obituaries favored the late President George H. W. Bush with the banal pleasantries usually afforded to deceased presidents. Well-wishers from both sides of the aisle hailed Bush’s patriotism, service, decency, and other traits we think we want leaders to have. Then came the counter-narratives: … Continue reading “It’s Good to Argue About Dead Presidents”

Just after midnight on April 14, the U.S. and its allies bombed three Syrian regime targets. The reason, they said, was to punish Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons in the town of Douma. Now, the Syrian regime’s brutality has been well documented. Maybe the allegations are true. But there’s a lot about this that’s … Continue reading “There Was Nothing Humanitarian About Our Strikes on Syria”

In our military-revering culture, it’s a strange thing for a president to start a war of words with the grieving families of slain soldiers. Strange, yes. But from Donald Trump’s campaign season feud with the parents of Humayun Khan, who died protecting fellow soldiers in Iraq, to his recent feud with the mourning widow of … Continue reading “A US Soldier Died in Niger. What on Earth Are We Doing There?”

One of the few things I recall fondly about the Trump campaign – a short list, I’ll admit – was the candidate’s apparent glee in ridiculing the warmongering of his rivals and predecessors. In early 2016, Trump (correctly) summed up George W. Bush’s legacy this way: “We’ve been in the Middle East for 15 years, … Continue reading “A Bipartisan Vote To Put the Brakes on War”