Originally posted at TomDispatch. Amid the horrific headlines about the fanatical Islamist sect Boko Haram that should make Nigerians cringe, here’s a line from a recent Guardian article that should make Americans do the same, as the U.S. military continues its...

Last summer, after the in-FBI-custody shooting of Ibragim Todashev, a friend of the elder Boston bomber, the Bureau told the same story they have been telling since 1993 – this was justified. Furthermore, documents acquired by The New York Times last June showed that...

As diplomats began drafting a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program and Western sanctions in Vienna Tuesday, US officials were poised to demand a drastic cut in Iran’s enrichment capabilities that is widely expected to deadlock the negotiations. Iran...

Scores were reported killed during Anbar operations that are seen as precursors to a full assault on militants in Falluja. The numbers given are reported by Iraqi officials and cannot be independently confirmed. If the government figures are accurate, at least 210 people were killed and 120 were wounded. Well over half the dead were militants. Bombers also attacked a courthouse in Baghdad, but they were unable to penetrate the building.

In Anbar: Shelling killed seven civilians and wounded nine more in Falluja. A suicide bomber in Hit killed one policeman and wounded four more. In Abu Ghraib, police found a dumped body. A roadside bomb wounded four people. Seven militants were killed during a clash...

All in all, I don’t think Barack Obama has been a very good president. In a new updated version of my book, Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty, being published this fall, I rank him 34th of 41 presidents rated. His further...

The release of Glenn Greenwald’s new book, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, has been the occasion for a media storm: Greenwald is all over the place, from Colbert to "Democracy Now," and there is much new material...

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ad-Dawla al-Isl·miyya fi al-‘Ir·q wa-sh-Sh·m) claimed responsibility for several bombings in Baghdad today. Today is the anniversary of the birth of Imam Ali, who is a central figure in the schism between Sunnis and Shi’ites. At least 60 people were killed and 119 more were wounded in the capital and elsewhere.

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Make no mistake: it’s been the year of Edward Snowden.  Not since Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War has a trove of documents revealing the inner workings and thinking of the U.S. government...

Is overwhelming national military power a reliable source of influence in world affairs? If so, the United States should certainly have plenty of influence today. For decades, it has been the world’s Number 1 military spender. And it continues in this role. According...