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.

Voices From the Frontlines of Protest

(Photos by Tam Turse) George was out of town, of course, in the “battle cab” at the U.S. Northern Command’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, checking out the latest in homeland-security technology and picking up photo-ops; while White House aides, as the Washington Post wrote that morning, were attempting “to reestablish Bush’s swagger.” The Democrats had … Continue reading “Voices From the Frontlines of Protest”

Why Immediate Withdrawal Makes Sense

Not long after Baghdad fell to American troops, it was already apparent that the United States was part of the problem, not part of the solution, in Iraq; and that, as long as the American military occupied the country, matters would just get worse. Every passing month has only predictably confirmed that reality. There’s no … Continue reading “Why Immediate Withdrawal Makes Sense”

More Blood, Less Oil

It has long been an article of faith among America’s senior policymakers – Democrats and Republicans alike – that military force is an effective tool for ensuring control over foreign sources of oil. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to embrace this view, in February 1945, when he promised King Abdul Aziz of Saudi … Continue reading “More Blood, Less Oil”

The Mosquito and the Hammer

We pull into the parking lot at the same moment in separate cars, both of us slightly vacation-disheveled. He wears a baseball-style cap and a half-length purple raincoat in anticipation of the downpour which begins soon after we huddle safely in a local coffee shop. As I fumble with my two tape recorders, he immediately … Continue reading “The Mosquito and the Hammer”

The Outer Limits of Empire

He’s tall and thin, with a shock of white hair. A bombardier in the great war against fascism and an antiwar veteran of America’s wars ever since, he’s best known as the author of the pathbreaking A People’s History of the United States, and as an expert on the unexpected voices of resistance that have … Continue reading “The Outer Limits of Empire”

The Military-Gastronomic Complex

That long Labor Day weekend, traditionally a time of rest, lies ahead. It marks the end of this summer’s not-so-silly season, a few days when TomDispatch shuts down and everyone who can light a barbecue or visit that favorite end-of-summer vacation restaurant is likely to do so. Nick Turse plans to put in a pit … Continue reading “The Military-Gastronomic Complex”

The President, Cindy Sheehan, and How Words Die

“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” – George Bush, “President Participates in Social Security Conversation in New York,” May 24, 2005 Forced from his five-week vacation idyll in Crawford by the … Continue reading “The President, Cindy Sheehan, and How Words Die”

The Achilles Heel of Torture

Extraordinary renditions, torture, abuse, humiliation, detention without charge or end, an obsession with protecting American officials (and military men) from future foreign or domestic criminal charges for their acts – these are the cornerstones of foreign policy under George Bush, and they have produced horror stories galore. His is a presidency that has made the … Continue reading “The Achilles Heel of Torture”

Military Families May Once Again Lead Us Out of War

On the April day in 2003 when American troops first entered Baghdad, historian Marilyn Young suggested that Operation Iraqi Freedom was “Vietnam on crack cocaine.” She wrote presciently at the time: “In less than two weeks, a 30-year-old vocabulary is back: credibility gap, seek and destroy, hard to tell friend from foe, civilian interference in … Continue reading “Military Families May Once Again Lead Us Out of War”

George’s Lucky ‘Top 13’ Summer-of-Cindy Reading List

It’s been a month of momentous White House announcements. First, there was Laura’s gender-bending, glass-soufflé-dish breaking decision to choose Cristeta Comerford for the previously all-male post of White House head chef. Then came the issuing of the presidential vacation reading list. Besieged in Crawford’s Green Zone by Cindy Sheehan and her supporters, but also by … Continue reading “George’s Lucky ‘Top 13’ Summer-of-Cindy Reading List”