Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an “armed attack” on a NATO member “shall be considered an attack against them all” and that all parties to the treaty must join in to “restore and maintain the security of the North...
US Military Adventurism: The Definition of Insanity
On October 22, US Army Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler died near Hawija, in northern Iraq, while taking part in a mission aimed at rescuing prisoners from Islamic State forces. Wheeler is the first American soldier – or at least the first one we’ve been told...
Five Years Is Five Years Too Long: Free Julian Assange!
The Associated Press reports that “British police have removed the officers standing watch over Julian Assange outside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, but say they will still do their best to arrest the WikiLeaks founder who has been holed up there since June...
War Party’s New Line: Vladimir Putin Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Remember the good old days? The US and the Soviet Union constantly staring each other down? Mutual Assured Destruction? Perpetual brushfire and proxy wars punctuated by deadly and disastrous conflicts like Korea and Vietnam? They’re baaaaaaack …...
August 1945: Let’s Talk About Terrorism
On August 6, 1945, the United States of America became the first and, to this day, the only nation to use atomic or nuclear weapons in actual hostilities (as opposed to testing). The unconditional surrender of Japan quickly followed, bringing an end to...
Hubris Unlimited: Tom Cotton versus Reality
Freshman Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) wants the United States to pick a fight with Iran. Not an all-out brawl, he says; just an itty-bitty bout along the lines of 1998s Operation Desert Fox, in which US aircraft carried out four days of airstrikes on Iraq. Setting...
Joe Biden’s Dangerous Game
US vice-president Joe Biden put American exceptionalism on display in a big way Saturday (February 7), laying down a tough line of patter to the 2015 Munich Security Conference. Biden called on Russian president Vladimir Putin to get out of Ukraine,...
The Best Defense (for the Welfare State) Is an Expensive Offense
In late January, the US military-industrial complex reported results for 2014's fourth quarter and expectations for 2015. Good times! Northrop Grumman knocked down nearly $6 billion in Q4 2014 and expects 2015 sales of around $23.5 billion. Raytheon did about as well...
Chemical Weapons Hypocrisy: WMD for We But Not For Thee
The French, British and Israeli governments have all accused Syria’s regime of using chemical weapons in its ongoing struggle with foreign-backed rebels. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is urging Assad to allow UN inspectors into the country to verify or disprove the...
War, Children: It’s Just a Welfare Check Away
When pundits name-check “the welfare-warfare state,” we usually mean, and are usually understood to mean, something along the lines of “bread and circuses at home, military adventurism abroad.” That’s as good a definition as any, I suppose, and certainly an accurate...


