Hating on Bowe Bergdahl

Embittered by double defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan, driven out of both countries with their tails between their legs, the War Party is looking for scapegoats, and has found one in the least likely place – the ranks of the US Army. That’s right: the "support the troops" contingent is now intent on re-torturing Sgt. … Continue reading “Hating on Bowe Bergdahl”

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl: Prisoner of the War Party

Is US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a traitor or a martyr, a coward who walked away from his unit or a symbol of how a misconceived war used US soldiers as pawns in a losing geo-political game? This is going to be the issue as the prisoner swap with the Taliban takes incoming fire from … Continue reading “Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl: Prisoner of the War Party”

Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Dilemma

The War Party is facing a dilemma: how to do an end run around the doggedly "isolationist" American people, who have had it up to here with the overseas adventurism of our out-of-control leaders? After a decade-plus of uninterrupted warfare, with a new intervention waxing on the horizon as soon as the previous one wanes, … Continue reading “Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Dilemma”

Euroskepticism and Its Discontents

The conventional wisdom is nearly always wrong, and rarely so wrong as when it comes to the EU elections, the results of which are being trumpeted as the triumph of the "far right." The more alarmist among these uniformly pro-EU commentators are even claiming neo-fascism in Europe is on the march. Well, they’re at least … Continue reading “Euroskepticism and Its Discontents”

George Packer Is Good at Fellatio

Justin is under the weather, his column will return Wednesday.George Packer, resident egghead-journalist at the New Yorker – and Iraq war supporter-turned-"anguished" semi-recanter – is the latest "liberal" to turn his guns on Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald for their alleged devotion to libertarianism. A whole genre has grown up around this subject: Sean Wilentz, … Continue reading “George Packer Is Good at Fellatio”

The Libyan ‘Coincidence’

It’s just a coincidence that Gen. Khalifa Hifter (sometimes spelled Hiftar) launched his Libyan coup only four days after the US deployed 200 troops to Sicily – a "crisis response team" sent at the State Department’s request. Another coincidence: US-backed Gen. Hifter lived in Washington, D.C. for decades, a few convenient miles from the CIA’s … Continue reading “The Libyan ‘Coincidence’”

The Return of Nationalism

It turns out that Francis Fukuyama, widely mocked post-9/11 for his proclamation that history has "ended," was right after all – but not in the way his journalistic interpreters imagined. Fukuyama’s thesis was that the ideological struggle over the forms of governance had been decisively won by the forces of liberal democracy: this, he averred, … Continue reading “The Return of Nationalism”

Greenwald Against the Establishment

Glenn Greenwald’s new book, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, is many things: an account of his relationship with Snowden, an indictment of political leaders who have used the pretext of "terrorism" to mask their unlimited power-lust, a technical analysis (complete with illustrations culled from the National Security … Continue reading “Greenwald Against the Establishment”

The American Republic Is Dead

The release of Glenn Greenwald’s new book, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, has been the occasion for a media storm: Greenwald is all over the place, from Colbert to "Democracy Now," and there is much new material for us to chew over. One shocker: the NSA intercepts … Continue reading “The American Republic Is Dead”

Ignorance Is the War Party’s Strength

As the Ukraine "crisis" captured the attention of the US public, a unique poll was taken by a team of political scientists: they wanted to know how many Americans could locate Ukraine on a map – and how this related to their view of what the US reaction ought to be. As the authors stated … Continue reading “Ignorance Is the War Party’s Strength”