Norman Solomon

Russia’s war in Ukraine – like the USA’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – should be understood as barbaric mass slaughter. For all their mutual hostility, the Kremlin and the White House are willing to rely on similar precepts: Might makes right. International law is what you extol when you aren’t violating it. And at … Continue reading “From Moscow to Washington, the Barbarism and Hypocrisy Don’t Justify Each Other”

Fifty-nine years ago, Bob Dylan recorded "With God on Our Side." You probably haven’t heard it on the radio for a very long time, if ever, but right now you could listen to it as his most evergreen of topical songs: I’ve learned to hate the Russians All through my whole life If another war … Continue reading “Bob Dylan and the Ukraine Crisis”

Hidden in plain sight, the extreme hypocrisy of the U.S. position on NATO and Ukraine cries out for journalistic coverage and open debate in the USA’s major media outlets. But those outlets, with rare exceptions, have gone into virtually Orwellian mode, only allowing elaboration on the theme of America good, Russia bad. Aiding and abetting … Continue reading “US to Russia: Do as We Say, Not as We Do”

Top U.S. officials want us to believe that the Pentagon carefully spares civilian lives while making war overseas. The notion is pleasant. And with high-tech killing far from home, the physical and psychological distances have made it even easier to believe recent claims that American warfare has become "humane." Such pretenses should be grimly laughable … Continue reading “The Pentagon’s 20-Year Killing Spree Has Always Treated Civilians as Expendable”

Nuclear weapons are at the pinnacle of what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism." If you’d rather not think about them, that’s understandable. But such a coping strategy has limited value. And those who are making vast profits from preparations for global annihilation are further empowered by our avoidance. At the level … Continue reading “Current Dispute Over ICBMs Is a Quarrel Over How To Fine-Tune the Doomsday Machinery”

Reprinted from The Nation with permission from the authors. The single best option for reducing the risk of nuclear war is hidden in plain sight. News outlets don’t mention it. Pundits ignore it. Even progressive and peace-oriented members of Congress tiptoe around it. And yet, for many years, experts have been calling for this act … Continue reading “To Avoid Armageddon, Don’t Modernize Missiles – Eliminate Them”

It’s bad enough that mainstream news outlets routinely call the Pentagon budget a "defense" budget. But the fact that progressives in Congress and even many antiwar activists also do the same is an indication of how deeply the mindsets of the nation’s warfare state are embedded in the political culture of the United States. The … Continue reading “Stop Calling the Military Budget a ‘Defense’ Budget”

Joe Biden provided a stirring soundbite days ago when he spoke from the White House just after suicide bombers killed 13 U.S. troops and 170 Afghans at a Kabul airport: "To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will … Continue reading “Biden’s Revenge: Fueling ‘Madness of Militarism’ in Afghanistan”

Israel’s missile attack on media offices in Gaza City last weekend was successful. A gratifying response came quickly from the head of The Associated Press, which had a bureau in the building for 15 years: "The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today." For people who care … Continue reading “Why Israel Blows Up Media Offices and Targets Journalists”

When Reese Erlich died in early April, we lost a global reporter who led by example. During five decades as a progressive journalist, Reese created and traveled an independent path while avoiding the comfortable ruts dug by corporate media. When people in the United States read or heard his reporting from more than 50 countries, … Continue reading “Reporting from Around the World, Reese Erlich Was a Beacon of Independent Journalism”