Thomas Knapp

The New York Times reports that US and/or US-allied forces in Syria may be using white phosphorous munitions in the assault on Raqqa, capital city of the Islamic State in Syria. The use of white phosphorous in war is a perennial complaint among human rights activists. And while it’s valid as far as it goes, … Continue reading “The Problem Isn’t Willie Pete – The Problem Is War Crimes”

In December of 2014, The US Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence issued a report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s “inadequate and deeply flawed” interrogation techniques, concluding that those practices were “not effective” and that they were “far more brutal” than the public – or Congress – had been led to believe. The document is commonly … Continue reading “CIA Torture Report: Where’s Our Next Heroic Whistleblower?”

This weekend, Americans will seize the opportunity to sleep in an extra day, fire up the family grill, and maybe – probably not, but maybe – wheel out to a family cemetery, lay flowers on graves, and contemplate the memories of their beloved for a few minutes. Veterans’ organizations will parade in celebration of their … Continue reading “This Memorial Day, Remember the Victims of Democide”

According to the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department, the nation’s capital reported 135 homicides last year. One of those homicides, the killing of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich on July 10, 2016, continues to make news ten months later. Who killed Seth Rich, and why? We may never know for sure. On the … Continue reading “Seth Rich, the DNC, and WikiLeaks: The Plot Thickens”

With the US occupation of Afghanistan well into its sixteenth year and the country no closer to becoming a stable democracy than it was in late 2001, Antiwar.com reports that this isn’t an “all options are on the table” scenario. President Donald Trump seems to have rejected the idea of withdrawing US troops and ending … Continue reading “Congress Should Just Say No to Trump’s Afghanistan Surge”

More than half a century ago, Congress passed the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Since mid-April, US president Donald Trump has twice invoked one of the law’s nearly forgotten provisions, ordering Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross to investigate the possibility that steel and aluminum imports “threaten to impair the national security.” If Ross says they do … Continue reading “‘National Security’: The Last Refuge of Vote-Buying Politicians”

Last July, while stumping for then-candidate, now-president Donald Trump, US Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS) gleefully referenced nearly 20,000 Democratic National Committee emails released by the transparency/disclosure journalists at WikiLeaks. “Need further proof that the fix was in from Pres. Obama on down?” Pompeo tweeted. The emails showed that DNC officials had worked overtime to rig … Continue reading “Pompeo vs. WikiLeaks: It’s No Contest”

As I write this, two key questions remain unanswered, and a third mostly unasked, about a deadly daybreak attack on Khan Sheikhoun, a northwest Syrian city of (pre-war) 50,000. Hundreds were wounded and as many as 100 killed, apparently chemical weaponry (Turkey’s health ministry believes the agent in question was the nerve gas sarin), on … Continue reading “We’re Asking the Wrong Questions About Syria”

“Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti- war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances,” Illinois State Senator Barack Obama said in 2002. Later in the same speech: “What I am opposed to is a dumb war.” Although elected … Continue reading “Trump’s Foreign Policy: Obama’s Third Term, Bush’s Fifth”

In 2011, American citizens Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan were murdered – killed without charge or trial – on the orders of then-president Barack Obama. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki’s teenage son, Abdulrahman, also an American citizen, was murdered – again, killed without charge or trial – also on Obama’s orders. When questioned on the propriety … Continue reading “War Crimes: Key Decision Point for a New President”