Gareth Porter

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, was published in 2006.

Evidence of 2002 Taliban Offer Damages Myth of al-Qaeda Ties

The central justification of the U.S.-NATO war against the Afghan Taliban – that the Taliban would allow al-Qaeda to return to Afghanistan – has been challenged by new historical evidence of offers by the Taliban leadership to reconcile with the Hamid Karzai government after the fall of the Taliban government in late 2001. The evidence … Continue reading “Evidence of 2002 Taliban Offer Damages Myth of al-Qaeda Ties”

Why Washington Clings to a Failed Middle East Strategy

The death throes of the Mubarak regime in Egypt signal a new level of crisis for a U.S. Middle East strategy that has shown itself over and over again in recent years to be based on nothing more than the illusion of power. The incipient loss of the U.S. client regime in Egypt is an … Continue reading “Why Washington Clings to a Failed Middle East Strategy”

From Military-Industrial Complex to Permanent War State

Fifty years after Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Jan. 17, 1961, speech on the “military-industrial complex,” that threat has morphed into a far more powerful and sinister force than Eisenhower could have imagined. It has become a “permanent war state,” with the power to keep the United States at war continuously for the indefinite future. But despite … Continue reading “From Military-Industrial Complex to Permanent War State”

How Afghanistan Became a War for NATO

The official line of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO command in Afghanistan, is that the war against Afghan insurgents is vital to the security of all the countries providing troops there. In fact, however, NATO was given a central role in Afghanistan because of the influence of U.S. officials concerned with the … Continue reading “How Afghanistan Became a War for NATO”

US Plan for High-Risk Raids into Pakistan Is More Than Psywar

This week’s leak to the New York Times of a proposal for U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) raids against Afghan insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan may be intended to put more pressure on the Pakistani military to take action against those sanctuaries. But the proposal for such cross-border raids also reflects a real demand from the … Continue reading “US Plan for High-Risk Raids into Pakistan Is More Than Psywar”

Gains in Kandahar Came with More Brutal US Tactics

The Barack Obama administration’s claim of "progress" in its war strategy is based on the military seizure of three rural districts outside Kandahar City in October. But those tactical gains have come at the price of further exacerbating the basic U.S. strategic weakness in Afghanistan – the antagonism toward the foreign presence shared throughout the … Continue reading “Gains in Kandahar Came with More Brutal US Tactics”

Russians Refuted US Claim of Iranian Missile Threat to Europe

A diplomatic cable from last February released by WikiLeaks provides a detailed account of how Russian specialists on the Iranian ballistic missile program refuted the U.S. suggestion that Iran has missiles that could target European capitals or intends to develop such a capability. In fact, the Russians challenged the very existence of the mystery missile … Continue reading “Russians Refuted US Claim of Iranian Missile Threat to Europe”

An Overeager Petraeus Ignored Danger Signs on Taliban Imposter

The revelation that the man presumed to be a high-ranking Taliban leader who had met with top Afghan officials was an imposter sheds new light on Gen. David Petraeus’s aggressive propaganda about the supposed Taliban approach to the Hamid Karzai regime. Ever since August, Petraeus had been playing up the Taliban’s supposed willingness to talk … Continue reading “An Overeager Petraeus Ignored Danger Signs on Taliban Imposter”

Behind Drone Issue in Yemen, a Struggle to Control Covert Ops

The drone war that has been anticipated in Yemen for the last few months has been delayed by the failure of U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) to generate usable intelligence on al Qaeda there. That failure has given the CIA a new argument for wresting control of the drone war in Yemen from the Joint … Continue reading “Behind Drone Issue in Yemen, a Struggle to Control Covert Ops”

Dissecting the Perpetual War Machine

Andrew J. Bacevich emerged in the first decade of the century as this country’s most widely read and widely respected critic of U.S. militarism and empire. He has addressed this issue with an intensity that is unprecedented for an academic. With the appearance of Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War, he has produced six … Continue reading “Dissecting the Perpetual War Machine”