Sheldon Richman

While an eerie, surreal calm has fallen over US-Iranian relations, I wouldn’t assume we’re out of the woods yet. Trump had no reason to be confident that Iran’s response to his most recent escalation of violence would be little more than symbolic. Although he’s accepted that response more or less passively for now, with Trump, … Continue reading “Trump’s Escalation Imperils Innocents”

Speaking before Sheldon Adelson’s Israeli-American Council the other day, Trump took a shot at Jewish Americans who he says don’t "love Israel enough." "We have to get the people of our country, of this country, to love Israel more," Trump said. "We have to get them to love Israel more because you have people that … Continue reading “But Mr. Trump, Is Israel Lovable?”

Israel’s champions owe us an explanation. First, they insist that Israel is and always must be a Jewish state, by which most of them mean not religiously Jewish but of the “Jewish People” everywhere, including Jews who are citizens of other states and not looking for a new country. To be Jewish, according to the … Continue reading “To Be or Not To Be a Jewish State: That Is the Question”

For most of the opinion-making class in America today, war is the default position. Representatives of establishment newspapers and TV news operations are not likely to grill someone who favors U.S. military intervention somewhere – anywhere. He or she will have no burden of proof to sustain. But those who oppose a new war or … Continue reading “America’s War Culture”

Today, the United States and Allies conducted an extraordinary flight under the Open Skies Treaty. The timing of this flight is intended to reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine and other partner nations.? The United States is resolute in our support for the security of European nations. – Department of Defense news release, Dec. 6, 2018 … Continue reading “Are You Ready To Fight a War Over Ukraine?”

The Trump administration and its apologists are quick to point out that Barack Obama was as willing as Donald Trump himself to tear-gas desperate people trying to protect themselves by crossing America’s southern border. So he was, though many will refuse to believe it. Let’s not forget, after all, that Obama, like Trump, was willing … Continue reading “The Cruel Tear-Gassing of Asylum Seekers”

Beyond any reasonable doubt, in substance if not in appearance, Donald Trump is a thoroughly conventional American politician. It’s a wonder that anyone requires proof at this late date. This couldn’t be clearer than in foreign policy. Some of us who understand the links among freedom, free trade, durable prosperity, and a noninterventionist foreign policy … Continue reading “Trump’s Foreign Policy War on Americans”

In 2016 and 2017 Al Jazeera produced a program that unmistakenly documents the Israel government and U.S. Israel lobby’s all-out effort to spy on, smear, and disrupt American students and other activists who are working to build an understanding of the Palestinians’ plight. The Lobby – USA, however, has never been broadcast by Al Jazeera. … Continue reading “The Art of the Smear – The Israel Lobby Busted”

Imagine that back in the day, the U.S. government had contracted postal services out to a private company rather than setting up its own “public” agency. Today the US Postal Corp. would have officers, directors, and employees who were not on the government payroll. They would be paid from the money raised by selling its … Continue reading “Let’s Stop the Merchants of Death”

Even if the Saudi monarchy or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in particular did not murder journalist Jamal Khashoggi, that regime is an especially evil one in both its domestic and international conduct. To see that, one need only consider the horrendous Saudi war against the people of Yemen, which has been backed by the … Continue reading “The Insidious Wiles of Foreign Influence: Trump, Bin Salman, and Netanyahu”