Members of Congress are fleeing Washington’s steam bath for their August recess, making this a key time for constituents to raise their voices on crucial issues. Right now, the biggest thing lawmakers must decide is whether they’ll join the 54 percent of voters who...
Obama Does Have a Strategy in Iraq: Escalation
Almost nine months after President Obama admitted that “we don’t have a strategy yet” to challenge the Islamic State – and just days after he said he still has “no complete Iraq strategy” – the non-strategy suddenly has a name:...
Jim Crow in the Holy Land
The last days of the campaign sounded an awful lot like the Jim Crow South, when African Americans had officially won the right to vote but still faced massive discrimination. On election morning, a powerful white official running for re-election urged his followers...
In Gaza, International Law Is Up in Flames
As Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip rages on, ceasefires come and go. Most last just long enough for Palestinians to dig out the dead from beneath their collapsed houses, get the injured to overcrowded and under-resourced hospitals, and seek enough food and water to...
Pope Francis in Palestine
There were plenty of important statements from Pope Francis during his recent three-day trip to Palestine and Israel – including a plea for “justice,” a traditional call for peace, and a reference to the “State of Palestine” – but at the end of the day it...
Obama Could Go it Alone: Bring All the Troops Home, and Stop the Killing
President Obama said during his State of the Union address that he would focus on things he could do alone — without having to depend on a badly divided, partisan Congress. And the powerful imagery he summoned in support of voting rights — real,...
No Military Intervention in Syria
The brave, nonviolent Syrian challenge to a brutal dictatorship emerged as part of the Arab risings across the region. But that short Syrian spring of 2011 has long since morphed into an escalation of militarization and death. The International Committee of the Red...
We’re Fighting in a War We Lost Before the War Began
It shouldn't surprise anyone, but support for the longest U.S. war is dropping further and faster than ever. The latest national U.S. poll, released on May 9, shows 66 percent of Americans are against the war in Afghanistan – with 40 percent "strongly...
The Phases of War: Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Israel
What’s Next for US-Libyan Relations?
After Moammar Gadhafi's demise, the future of Libya's relationship with the United States remains uncertain. Libya ousted its longtime leader in essentially a civil war in which the U.S. and NATO backed one side. This is a stark contrast with the independent and...