Foreign policy played a minor role in a presidential election that focused on jobs, jobs, jobs. But like it or not, the United States is part of a global community in turmoil, and U.S. policies often help fuel that turmoil. The peace movement, decimated during the first Obama term because so many people were unwilling …
Continue reading “Pushing Obama’s Arc Toward Peace”
Samuel Johnson said, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” H.L. Mencken expanded that definition when he said, “Patriotism, in truth, is the great nursery of scoundrels.… Its chief glories are the demagogue, the military bully, and the spreaders of libels and false history.” I think of this definition every time I hear the …
Continue reading “Support Our Troops — Bring Them All Home Now”
This is the second in a series of profiles and interviews Antiwar.com is conducting this summer with activists who have made it their life’s work to challenge the mighty bulwarks of the U.S. national security state. If you haven’t seen David Swanson, chances are you’ve read his blogs and articles — invariably with headlines like …
Continue reading “David Swanson: Man of Peace”
Kabul – For the Afghan Peace Volunteers, living in a working class area of Kabul’s “Karte Seh” district, daily problem-solving requires a triage process. Last week, upon arrival, I looked at the sagging ceilings over the kitchen, living room, and entryway and felt certain that shifting to new living quarters should be the top priority. …
Continue reading “The Sky as It Falls”
Most discussions about the costs of war focus on two numbers: the cost in dollars and cents and the more profound and heartbreaking cost in lives. Yet even as depressing as these numbers are, the figures discussed rarely encompass the whole truth. Over many generations those in power have learned there are benefits to keeping …
Continue reading “Peace Is Profitable”
At first blush, Karen Kwiatkowski might read like a puzzle: she spent over twenty years in the military, but today is one of its biggest critics. She is running as a Republican, but can’t stand what the party has become. She wants to represent her conservative Virginia district in the House of Representatives, but she …
Continue reading “Karen Kwiatkowski’s Primary Mission”
A recent Rasmussen poll has 51 percent of Americans favoring the pullout of all US troops from Europe – and yet not a single major American politician would even consider endorsing such a move. Why is that? I thought politicians were supposed to be consummate opportunists, whose weather vane-like views shift with the winds of …
Continue reading “Interventionism and the Elites”
On what is now the 17th day of our walk from Madison to Chicago, the number 165 does not seem to encapsulate all the progress we have made. We are 17 days and 165 miles away from the day I drove into Madison, where news arrived that Air Force One had descended on pre-dawn Kabul …
Continue reading “Walk to the NATO Summit: Striding Toward Peace”
Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Israel, by Phillys Bennis
“It’s like the CPAC of the Left.” Someone told me that as I was making my way to the Left Forum at Pace University in lower Manhattan Saturday morning. Since I’ve been a virtual connoisseur of the legendary Conservative Political Action Conference, that annual running of right-wing Republican leaders and lemmings, this didn’t seem to …
Continue reading “A Turn Right at the Left Forum” 
