Tom Engelhardt

An editor in publishing for the last 25 years, Tom Engelhardt is the author of The End of Victory Culture, a history of American triumphalism in the Cold War era, now out in a revised edition with a new preface and afterword, and Mission Unaccomplished, TomDispatch Interviews With American Iconoclasts and Dissenters. He is at present consulting editor for Metropolitan Books, a fellow of the Nation Institute, and a teaching fellow at the journalism school of the University of California, Berkeley. Visit his Web site. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com.

Thelma and Louise Imperialism: Over the Cliff with George and Dick?

Let me make an argument about Bush administration Iran policy – about the possibility that a regime-change-style, shock-and-awe air assault might someday be launched on Iranian nuclear facilities and associated targets – based on no insider knowledge, just the logic of George and Dick’s Thelma-and-Louise-style imperialism. Of course, we all know at least half the … Continue reading “Thelma and Louise Imperialism: Over the Cliff with George and Dick?”

The Pentagon’s Secret Air War in Iraq

Just last week, in a typical air strike of the Iraq War, two missiles were fired at targets somewhere in the city of Ramadi, capital of al-Anbar province in the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, in the course of a battle with American forces stationed there. According to newspaper accounts, “18 insurgents” were killed. Air … Continue reading “The Pentagon’s Secret Air War in Iraq”

Afghanistan: Just Another
Bush Success Story

Afghanistan remains the forgotten war, yet, in an eerie lockstep with Iraq, it seems to be following a distinctly Bush administration-style path toward “the gates of hell.” While almost all attention in Washington and the U.S. media has been focused on the president’s new “surge” plan in Iraq – is it for 21,000 or 50,000 … Continue reading “Afghanistan: Just Another
Bush Success Story”

The New Investigation Season

At the moment, the spectacle of the I. Lewis Libby trial, of the den of thieves falling out, of the unraveling of old administration war stories, and of the possibility that, in the near future, the vice president might appear in the witness stand for a grilling all occupy Washington’s center stage along with a … Continue reading “The New Investigation Season”

Empire v. Democracy: Why Nemesis Is at Our Door

The dream of the Bush administration – eternal global domination abroad with no other superpower or bloc of powers on the military horizon and a Republican Party dominant at home for at least a generation – long ago evaporated in Iraq. A midterm election and subsequent devastating polling figures tell the tale. The days when … Continue reading “Empire v. Democracy: Why Nemesis Is at Our Door”

The Forgotten American Dead

Rural America Pays the President’s Price in Iraq When we hear about the American dead in Iraq, we normally learn about the circumstances in which they died. Last Saturday, for instance, was, for American troops, the third bloodiest day since the Bush administration launched its invasion in March 2003 – 27 of them died. Twelve … Continue reading “The Forgotten American Dead”

The State Spies on the Union

State of the what? Let’s see, 28 percent, 31 percent, 33 percent, 35 percent. That pretty much sums up the state of the president – or, at least, of his ever more dismal approval ratings in four of the latest major polls (and don’t even mention his state of approval in similar nose-diving polls abroad). … Continue reading “The State Spies on the Union”

Over the Top in Iraq

It’s been a repetitive phenomenon of these last years – when fears about disaster (or further disaster, or even the farthest reaches of disaster) in Iraq rise, so does the specter of Vietnam. Despite the obvious dissimilarities between the two situations, Vietnam has been the shadow war we’re still fighting. The Bush administration began its … Continue reading “Over the Top in Iraq”

George Bush’s Crusading Scorecard (01-2007)

Just five days after the September 11th attacks in 2001, in a Q and A with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, a president with a new mission, a new cause, and a new purpose in life told the American people that, though they had to “go back to work tomorrow,” they … Continue reading “George Bush’s Crusading Scorecard (01-2007)”

Bush’s Sacrificial Americans

On January 4th, the Pentagon “announced the identities” of six American soldiers who had died between December 28th and New Year’s Eve. It was just one of many such listings over these last years and, like similar announcements, this one had a just-the-facts quality to it – spare to the bone, barely more information than … Continue reading “Bush’s Sacrificial Americans”