William J. Astore

A very useful and informative site, Michigan War Studies Review, recently stopped publishing book reviews after 18 years. The site’s editor, James Holoka, posted several reviews written by yours truly, including this one in 2013 on Jeremy Scahill’s book, Dirty Wars. The idea that “the world is a battlefield” grows ever stronger in America. As … Continue reading “America’s Mercenary Wars”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. I turn 60 this year. My health is generally good, though I have aches and pains from a form of arthritis. I’m not optimistic enough to believe that the best years of my life are ahead of me, nor so pessimistic as to assume that the best years are behind me. … Continue reading “Nuking the Promise of America”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. What has America learned from the colossal failure of the Iraq War? Not what it should have learned, notes historian (and retired U.S. Army colonel) Greg Daddis at War on the Rocks. Daddis recently attended a 20-year retrospective symposium on the Iraq War, where he heard two … Continue reading “Learning Nothing from the Iraq War”

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Just in case you were wondering where your tax dollars went in this century, consider the American war, now 20 years old, in Iraq (and after 2014 in Syria as well). Neta Crawford of the invaluable Costs of War Project has just released her latest summary of what that invasion and … Continue reading “America Hangs From a Cross of Iron”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Military invasions don’t produce democracies – who knew? Whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, somehow the U.S. government worked to convince itself and the American people that democracy could be exported at rifle point. Not surprisingly, military invasions spread what they usually do: death, destruction and chaos while … Continue reading “Learning Little from the Iraq War”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Yesterday, journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Their testimony, and the risible reactions of Democrats on the subcommittee, are well worth watching; I watched the entire hearing, which lasted 140 minutes. Kim Iverson has … Continue reading “With the Twitter Files, Democrats Support Government Censorship of Lawful Speech”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) had it right. The military-industrial complex (MIC) is fundamentally antidemocratic The national security state has become the fourth branch of government and arguably the most powerful one. It gets the most money, more than half of the federal discretionary budget, even as … Continue reading “The Military-Industrial Complex and American Fascism”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. February 19th is the Rage Against the War Machine rally in DC. It just so happens to be my dad’s birthday as well. He was born on that date in 1917, endured the Great Depression, worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps and in factories until being drafted … Continue reading “Enough Is Enough: My Speech for the Rage Against the War Machine Rally”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Two articles I read Monday are typical of polarized, indeed antithetical, views on the Russia-Ukraine War. At the British Guardian, Simon Tisdall says this is Europe’s moment to step up and support Ukraine in a righteous war against Putin. He concludes, with passion: Zelenskiy is right. Risk-averse … Continue reading “Let the Weapons Flow and the Body Count Grow”

More than two millennia ago, in the History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides recounted a disastrous conflict Athens waged against Sparta. A masterwork on strategy and war, the book is still taught at the US Army War College and many other military institutions across the world. A passage from it describing an ultimatum Athens gave … Continue reading “Imperial Dominance Disguised as Democratic Deterrence”