Originally posted at TomDispatch. It’s not that I knew nothing about U.S. military bases before I met Chalmers Johnson. In certain ways, my idea of the good life had been strongly shaped by such a base. Admittedly, it wasn’t in Germany or Japan or South Korea or some...

When the U.S. Department of Defense published a new Law of War Manual (LOW) this past summer, editorialists at the New York Times sat up and took notice. Their concern was that the manual stated that journalists could be deemed “unprivileged belligerents.” The...

Battles, airstrikes, and executions left hundreds dead across Iraq.

At least 72 people were killed across Iraq in recent violence. Meanwhile, two of Iraq’s top Shi’ite figures are seeking the release of 18 Kidnapped Turks.

This column was inspired by one of Rupert Murdoch’s tweets on September 6: “Big military brings peace through strength.” A clichéd tweet by Murdoch isn’t what most people would consider a news hook. But it’s just the latest expression – caveman syntax perhaps...

While the death count still seemed like it might number in the tens of thousands, a few people remembered to warn against a disproportionate reaction to the 9/11 attacks. Perhaps the oddest thing about these events which provoked two wars and a constant drone presence...

We have this tragic misperception that humanity is predisposed to violence. The truth is that humanity is predisposed to peace. The default position for humanity is that of conscientious objector to war and violence. In our work at the Center on Conscience & War,...

At least 47 were killed and 97 were wounded across Iraq. Peshmerga forces launched a costly operation near Kirkuk.

I heard it before I saw it: the horror in the voice of a TV anchor on the morning of September 11, 2001. As my father shook me awake – “Wake up, look at this!” – I shot straight up in my bed and beheld the scene unfolding on the television screen: a plane plowing...

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Let’s take a moment to consider failure and its options in Washington. The U.S. has been warring with the Islamic State (IS) for more than a year now. The centerpiece of that war has been an ongoing campaign of bombings and air...