Advise, Assist, Arm: The United States at War
During the Cold War, the US military and the CIA were involved in a multitude of "indirect" interventions in developing countries. A few – most dramatically and tragically, Vietnam – evolved from a supporting US role to large-scale combat missions. The...
ISIS Executes Their Own; 12 Killed in Iraq
America at War Since 9/11
Originally posted at TomDispatch. At 36% to 37% in the latest polls, Donald Trump’s approval rating is in a ditch in what should still be the “honeymoon” period of his presidency. And yet, compared to Congress (25%), he’s a maestro of...
Vladimir Putin: A Suitor Spurned
Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump kept repeating a line that stuck in the Establishment’s craw like a cherry pit stuck under a denture: “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get along with Russia?” Russia and specifically Russian President Vladimir...
Heavy Fighting and Counterattacks in Mosul; 61 Killed in Iraq
The Age of No Privacy: The Surveillance State Shifts Into High Gear
“We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government.” ~ William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice, dissenting in Osborn v. United States, 385 U.S. 341 (1966) The...
Understanding ISIS in the Philippines
For about a month the government of the Philippines has been fighting a group who has pledged allegiance to ISIS. The battle is in Marawi City, about an hour from my family’s city, where I have built a house and live part-time. We have relatives in Davao City, where...
Hawija Displaced Found Dead; 200 Killed in Iraq
Who Tried to Kill Putin – Five Times?
Oliver Stone’s series of interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin – conducted between July 2015 and February 2017 – has garnered a lot of attention, albeit in most cases not for the right reasons. In a much-noted appearance of Stephen Colbert’s comedy show, the...


