NATO, Russia and the Other Broken Promise
Pressured by ever encroaching NATO expansion toward its borders and increased lethal arms sales to, and flirtations with, Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent the US a proposal on mutual security guarantees and an urgent request for immediate...
US Military and Sustainability
Thought experiment: China contaminates the groundwater in certain places on Oahu, the most populous and popular island in Hawaii. Should we issue a statement of concern? Should we impose trade sanctions? Should we bomb a few Chinese military bases? Should we just...
Afghanistan and Our Murderous Sanctions Addiction
The people of Afghanistan are facing what could be the worst modern famine in at least half a century, and US policies will be responsible for much of the humanitarian catastrophe if they are not changed immediately. Afghanistan became heavily dependent on...
New York Times Reporting on Airstrikes Should Give Daniel Hale More Credit
The New York Times recently came through with a display of reporting that should be commended. On December 18, the paper announced its release of hundreds of the Pentagon’s confidential reports of civilian casualties caused by U.S. airstrikes in the Middle East. This...
‘Mission Unaccomplished: America’s Underperforming Military
Originally posted at TomDispatch. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” is an old American adage. Venerable, time-tested, and seemingly true, though here’s an exception: retired general, disgraced former CIA chief, and leaker of classified information,...
What Do Iranians Think? Not Much of America, Thanks to Donald Trump
Negotiations over restoring the nuclear agreement with Iran aren’t quite moribund, but the Biden administration has begun to sound a bit like its predecessor in muttering threats of military action. War with Iran would be a catastrophe, much worse than with Iraq. And...
Iraq Daily Roundup: Three Killed
The Pentagon’s 20-Year Killing Spree Has Always Treated Civilians as Expendable
Top U.S. officials want us to believe that the Pentagon carefully spares civilian lives while making war overseas. The notion is pleasant. And with high-tech killing far from home, the physical and psychological distances have made it even easier to believe recent...
Putin Has a Big Brother in Xi
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and I have something in common. My big brother, Joe-Ray, died during the World War II. Unlike Putin’s big brother, though, mine was done in by meningitis – not by the Germans. Putin’s brother Viktor died during the 872-day German...
