America used to be truly exceptional. In some respects it still is. But whereas today’s America may be exceptional in terms of material wealth and human capital, the exceptionalism of past was in thought. It was in the way people felt about themselves, their...
Mass Execution Filmed; 131 Killed in Iraq
Killing People, Breaking Things, and America’s Winless Wars
It’s the timing that should amaze us (were anyone to think about it for 30 seconds). Let’s start with the conflict in Afghanistan, now regularly described as the longest war in American history. It began on October 7, 2001, and will soon reach its 15th...
The Debate: Trump’s Three Points for Peace
For all Hillary Clinton’s reputation as a policy wonk, her debate performance consisted almost entirely of personal attacks. And while our media is out there proclaiming a Clinton "victory," their evaluation merely shows how distanced they are from ordinary...
Ban Ki-Moon’s Legacy in Palestine: Failure in Words and Deeds
Ban Ki-Moon's second term as the Secretary General of the United Nations is ending this December. He was the most ideal man for the job as far as the United States and its allies are concerned. Of course, there will always be other Ban Ki-Moons. In fact, the man...
Bombers Kill, Wound Scores in Baghdad; 83 Killed Across Iraq
Where Is That Wasteful Government Spending?
In early September 2016, Donald Trump announced his plan for a vast expansion of the U.S. military, including 90,000 new soldiers for the Army, nearly 75 new ships for the Navy, and dozens of new fighter aircraft for the Air Force. Although the cost of this increase...
Fighting Ramps up in Anbar province; 112 Killed in Iraq
The New Cold Warriors Sic the FBI on Donald Trump
While we have gotten used to the neo-McCarthyite tactics employed by the Clinton campaign linking Donald Trump to the Kremlin, the whole disgraceful operation has reached a new low with the introduction of US law enforcement agencies into the mix. According to a...
How the Pentagon Sank the US-Russia Deal in Syria – and the Ceasefire
Another US-Russian Syria ceasefire deal has been blown up. Whether it could have survived even with a US-Russian accord is open to doubt, given the incentives for al-Qaeda and its allies to destroy it. But the politics of the US-Russian relationship played a central...


