Norman Solomon

The frontrunner to become the next president of the United States is playing an old and dangerous political game – comparing a foreign leader to Adolf Hitler. At a private charity event on Tuesday, in comments preserved on audio, Hillary Clinton talked about actions by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in the Crimea. "Now if this … Continue reading “Hillary Clinton: Playing a Dog-Eared ‘Hitler’ Card”

President Obama is now considering whether to order the Central Intelligence Agency to kill a U.S. citizen in Pakistan. That’s big news this week. But hidden in plain sight is the fact that Amazon would be an accessory to the assassination. Amazon has a $600 million contract with the CIA to provide the agency with … Continue reading “If Obama Orders the CIA to Kill a US Citizen, Amazon Will Be a Partner in Assassination”

The National Security Agency depends on huge computers that guzzle electricity in the service of the surveillance state. For the NSA’s top executives, maintaining a vast flow of juice to keep Big Brother nourished is essential – and any interference with that flow is unthinkable. But interference isn’t unthinkable. And in fact, it may be … Continue reading “Cut Off the NSA’s Juice”

Since its founding six years ago, J Street has emerged as a major Jewish organization under the banner "Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace." By now J Street is able to be a partial counterweight to AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The contrast between the two U.S. groups is sometimes stark. J Street applauds diplomacy with Iran, … Continue reading “The Blind Alley of J Street and Liberal American Zionism”

More than ever, Israel is isolated from world opinion and the squishy entity known as "the international community." The Israeli government keeps condemning the Iran nuclear deal, by any rational standard a positive step away from the threat of catastrophic war. In the short run, the belligerent responses from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are bound … Continue reading “Overplaying Its Hand, Israel Still Holds Plenty of US Cards”

To the people in control of the Executive Branch, violating our civil liberties is an essential government service. So – to ensure total fulfillment of Big Brother’s vast responsibilities – the National Security Agency is insulated from any fiscal disruption. The NSA’s surveillance programs are exempt from a government shutdown. With typical understatement, an unnamed … Continue reading “The NSA Deserves a Permanent Shutdown”

There’s something profoundly despicable about a Justice Department that would brazenly violate the First and Fourth Amendments while spying on journalists, then claim to be reassessing such policies after an avalanche of criticism – and then proceed, as it did this week, to gloat that those policies made possible a long prison sentence for a … Continue reading “Obama’s New Victory in War on Freedom of the Press”

Now that public pressure has foiled U.S. plans to bomb Syria, the next urgent step is to build public pressure for stopping the deluge of weapons into that country. Top officials in Washington are happy that American “lethal aid” has begun to flow into Syria, and they act as though such arms shipments are unstoppable. … Continue reading “Next Step for Peace in Syria – Stop the ‘Lethal Aid’”

The sun rose with a moral verdict on Bradley Manning well before the military judge could proclaim his guilt. The human verdict would necessarily clash with the proclamation from the judicial bench. In lockstep with administrators of the nation’s war services, judgment day arrived on Tuesday to exact official retribution. After unforgiveable actions, the defendant’s … Continue reading “The Moral Verdict on Bradley Manning: A Conviction of Love in Action”

It’s now painfully clear that the president has put out a contract on the Fourth Amendment. And at the Capitol, the hierarchies of both parties are stuffing it into the trunks of their limousines, so each provision can be neatly fitted with cement shoes and delivered to the bottom of the Potomac. Some other Americans … Continue reading “Obama’s Willing Executioners of the Fourth Amendment”