Thomas Knapp

Thomas L. Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism, publisher of Rational Review News Digest, and moderator of Antiwar.com’s commenting/discussion community.

Ukraine: US ‘Diplomacy’ Is the Problem. Can It Become the Solution?

After weeks of unsuccessfully attempting to either bully Russia’s Vladimir Putin into submission or bait him into war, US president Joe Biden may finally be looking for a face-saving exit from of the Ukraine “crisis” of his own making. Reuters reports that Biden, at the urging of French president Emmanuel Macron, is willing “in principle” … Continue reading “Ukraine: US ‘Diplomacy’ Is the Problem. Can It Become the Solution?”

Vladimir Putin Is Not the Neville Chamberlain the US/NATO Is Looking For

“I think one lesson in recent history,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on January 7, referring to the entry of Russian troops into Kazakhstan to save that country’s allied regime from an uprising of dissatisfied serfs, “is that once Russians are in your house, it’s sometimes very difficult to get them to leave.” … Continue reading “Vladimir Putin Is Not the Neville Chamberlain the US/NATO Is Looking For”

On Foreign Policy, Biden Should Have Taken Golf Lessons

When Joe Biden took office as the 46th President of the United States, those of us who desired a more peaceful foreign policy had reasons for both hope and doubt. The biggest issue for both was the 20-year US war in Afghanistan, for which Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had negotiated a long-overdue US surrender. Would … Continue reading “On Foreign Policy, Biden Should Have Taken Golf Lessons”

US Policy on Taiwan Is a False and Dangerous Two-Step

On November 15, US president Joe Biden and Chinese president Xi Jinping held a “virtual summit” covering a number of subjects and resulting, for the most part, in banal public pledges of “cooperation” to “ease tensions.” Biden, however, managed to score a double own goal on the subject of Taiwan by simultaneously justifying bad US … Continue reading “US Policy on Taiwan Is a False and Dangerous Two-Step”

When Our Politicians Buy Never-Ending War, We Get What They Make Us Pay For

In 1954, Congress passed, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed, a bill transforming Armistice Day – November 11, a post-World-War One celebration of peace – into Veterans Day, a celebration of warriors. Personally, I stick to the original name and the original purpose in my observation of the holiday. Looking at the numbers involved, though, … Continue reading “When Our Politicians Buy Never-Ending War, We Get What They Make Us Pay For”

Powell Lied, People Died: Justice Delayed Was Justice Denied

On October 19, 96-year-old Irmgard Furchner appeared in a German court to answer charges of aiding and abetting 11,412 murders. The murders took place between 1943 and 1945 at the Stutthof concentration camp, where a much younger Furchner worked as secretary to the camp’s commandant. A day before Furchner’s indictment, Colin Powell, the US government’s … Continue reading “Powell Lied, People Died: Justice Delayed Was Justice Denied”

‘No First Use’: An Empty Gesture That Would Cost Nothing

“Debate on ‘no first use’ of nukes mushrooms in Washington,” Joe Gould reports at Defense News. “Five years after President Barack Obama turned back from declaring a ‘no first use’ as US policy for nuclear weapons,” Gould writes, “opponents say the Biden administration is considering it too, and warn that it risks alienating allies.” Is … Continue reading “‘No First Use’: An Empty Gesture That Would Cost Nothing”

Happy 20th Anniversary. Guess What Your Gift Is?

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, the US government is finally – well, probably, kinda sorta – ending its lost war with Afghanistan, drawing down its presence in Iraq, and reducing the heat of its “global war on terror” from a rolling boil to hot-tub temperature. Good news, right? After two decades of getting groped … Continue reading “Happy 20th Anniversary. Guess What Your Gift Is?”

Afghanistan: America’s First Step Out of Trotsky’s Long Shadow?

“President Joe Biden continues to humiliate the United States,” Joseph Klein whines at neoconservative rag FrontPageMag, “by letting the Taliban terrorists dictate the terms of his surrender.” Furthermore, writes Klein, “the president is clearly willfully blind to ISIS in Afghanistan being a long-term threat to the American homeland. … Biden has shown zero concern for … Continue reading “Afghanistan: America’s First Step Out of Trotsky’s Long Shadow?”

Now, About That Peace Dividend …

As I write this, the Taliban have assumed full political control – to the extent that such a thing can exist – of Afghanistan. They’ve taken Kabul. They’ve put the US occupation’s puppet president, and many Afghans who served the occupation presence, to flight. They’ve declared the restoration of their “Islamic Emirate.” Despite the sometimes … Continue reading “Now, About That Peace Dividend …”