Some people are living symbols, sheer embodiments of a concept that fits their persona as snugly as their skin: e.g. the Dalai Lama personifies Contemplative Piety, Harvey Weinstein is the incarnation of Brazen Vulgarity, and John McCain’s very person exudes the...
Insider Threat Program Training and Trump’s War on Leaks: A Chilling Combination for Whistleblowers
The Trump administration has declared a war on media leaks and called for the U.S. federal workforce and contractors to receive “anti-leak” training. The centerpiece of Trump’s anti-leak campaign, aside from early morning tweet-storms railing against leakers and...
Kurds Begin Return Home to Kirkuk; Eight Killed in Iraq
The Real Reason Behind Trump’s Angry Diplomacy in North Korea
To understand the United States’ stratagem in the Pacific, and against North Korea in particular, one has to understand the fundamental changes that are under way in that region. China's clout as an Asian superpower and as a global economic powerhouse has been growing...
Nixon’s Children
Originally posted at TomDispatch. It took 14 years, but now we have an answer. It was March 2003, the invasion of Iraq was underway, and Major General David Petraeus was in command of the 101st Airborne Division heading for the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Rick...
The Decertification of Iran Speech: Refuting Trump
Iran’s hardliners were right. They recited a long history of agreements in which Iranian compliance was repaid with American betrayal. Like a Persian chorus of Cassandras, they called their warnings into the wind, and the world called them crazy. Well, the mad mullahs...
Kurds Flee as Baghdad Captures Kirkuk; 60 Killed, 133 Wounded
Iraqi forces have captured the contested city of Kirkuk in an aggressive attempt to reestablish control of its Kurdish population, which voted for independence in a non-binding referendum on September 25. Heavily outnumbered, Kurdish forces withdrew without fighting....
Is War With Iran Now Inevitable?
With his declaration Friday that the Iran nuclear deal is not in the national interest, President Donald Trump may have put us on the road to war with Iran. Indeed, it is easier to see the collisions that are coming than to see how we get off this road before the...
President Trump Beats War Drums for Iran
President Trump has been notoriously inconsistent in his foreign policy. He campaigned on and won the presidency with promises to repair relations with Russia, pull out of no-win wars like Afghanistan, and end the failed US policy of nation-building overseas. Once in...


