Originally posted at TomDispatch. These days, two “wars” are in the headlines: one against the marauding Islamic State and its new caliphate of terror carved out of parts of Iraq and Syria, the other against a marauding disease and potential pandemic,...
58 Killed, 45 Wounded Across Iraq; Militiamen Boldly Operate Under Own Terms
Britain’s Phantoms of the Past in Palestine
It would be intellectually dishonest to reflect on the British House of Commons' vote of October 13, on a Palestinian state without digging deeper into history. Regardless of the meaning of the non-binding motion, the parliamentary action cannot be brushed off as just...
A Decent Respect for the Opinions of Mankind
If the British parliament had adopted a resolution in favor of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the reaction of our media would have been like this: "In an atmosphere of great enthusiasm, the British parliament adopted with a huge majority (274 for, a...
Turkey’s Reluctance to Help Against ISIS Should Be a Red Flag
The questionable continuance of the NATO alliance after the Cold War ended is demonstrated by Turkey’s reluctance to help against the rampaging group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The alliance was originally supposed to defend NATO members against a Soviet...
Bombs and Battles Kill 243, Wound 139 Across Iraq
Is Mexico a Failed State?
Every time they find a mass grave, they think it’s the one they’re looking for – but it isn’t. No, this isn’t a Halloween tale: it’s a real life story about 43 missing Mexican students who once attended the Escuela Normal Rural Isidro Burgos, a small teachers' college...
Edward Snowden and the Golden Age of Spying
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Here’s a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! stat from our new age of national security. How many Americans have security clearances? The answer: 5.1 million, a figure that reflects the explosive growth of the national security state in the...
Gaza and the Bipartisan War on Human Rights
Israel’s seven weeks of attacks this summer on heavily populated civilian neighborhoods in Gaza has led to unprecedented concern among Americans who, while still broadly supportive of Israel, found the attacks to be disproportionate and unnecessary. Close to 1,500...
National Service Is Anti-Liberty and Un-American
Former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich recently called on the government to force young people to spend two years either serving in the military or performing some other type of government-directed community service....


