Month

Archives: Militarization

Dear Candidates: What’s the US Military for and What exactly do you want from the Mideast?

by Peter Van Buren | ( Tomdispatch.com) The nuances of foreign policy do not feature heavily in the ongoing presidential campaign. Every candidate intends to “destroy” the Islamic State; each has concerns…

Has the Pentagon become Lawless, Corrupt & only overseen by Civilian Hawks?

Gregory D. Foster | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - Item: Two U.S. Navy patrol boats, with 10 sailors aboard, “stray” into Iranian territorial waters, and are apprehended and held by Iranian…

The US is a Center-Left Country; Why is its politics FrankenRight?

By: Paul Street | ( TeleSur | - - In a recent column opinion writer Roger Cohen notes that “Europe is alarmed by America's’ embrace of a latter-day Mussolini” – namely Donald…

Afghanistan: Washington’s Twenty-First-Century Opium Wars

By Alfred McCoy | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - In October 2001, the U.S. launched its invasion of Afghanistan largely through proxy Afghan fighters with the help of Special Operations forces,…

Is our Military-Industrial Complex a Fat Spoiled Brat?

By William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - The word “affluenza” is much in vogue. Lately, it’s been linked to a Texas teenager, Ethan Couch, who in 2013 killed four…

After 14 Years it sinks in: Maybe US is just not Good at Asian Counter-Insurgency

By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - Here’s my twenty-first-century rule of thumb about this country: if you have to say it over and over, it probably ain’t so. Which is…

Pentagon, running out of Smart Bombs, will Double anti-ISIL Budget

TeleSur | - - Despite the deep social and economic issues President Barack Obama is confronted with, military expenditure was conceived as a priority. The Pentagon plans to spend four more times…

Rhetorical Terror: GOP Candidates Pledge War Crimes, Carpet-Bombing, Asian Land Wars

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - At the Trumpless GOP debate Thursday evening, the candidates once again promised to bankrupt us with military and intelligence spending and to commit…

No, Donald Trump, we can’t just “take their oil”

By Emily Schwartz Greco | (Otherwords.org) | - - Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign ad pledged to “take their oil.” That’s what President (gasp) Trump would do after having “quickly cut the…

War Talk, Jingoism and White Supremacy at GOP Debate

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The GOP presidential debate last night veered even further right on international issues, given the absence of Ron Paul, who represents the Libertarian…

When did Justifying Large Scale Civilian Deaths in Bombardments become a Bipartisan Consensus?

By Stephen Zunes | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - There's a bipartisan effort to justify the killing of civilians in the "war on terrorism." There has been a lot of…

Trump & GOP: Saber Rattling re: Iranians can never be too Aggressive

By Mahsa Alimardani | (Global Voices Online) | - - GOP candidate Donald Trump was the first to attack Iran early on in the [last] debate, calling it a “terrorist nation.”. The…

5 Questions For Syria Hawks

David M. Faris | (Informed Comment) | - - Last month’s horrific attacks in Paris and last week’s massacre in California – which was at most loosely connected to Daesh (ISIS/ISIL)– have…

41% of Trump Supporters want to bomb Aladdin and Jasmine

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Public Policy Polling asked US voters if they favored bombing "Agraba." Some 30% of Republicans said "Yes!" Obviously, this is a a little…

The real Threat to Peace? Marco Rubio Is Winning the Neocon Primary

By Sina Toossi | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - With pundits and columnists dissecting and critiquing every word uttered by GOP front-runners Ben Carson and Donald Trump, comparatively little attention…

Oh, no! Not another American war against evil!

By Ira Chernus | (Informed Comment) | - - This time, it’s the Islamic State (IS). After the attacks in Paris, Barack Obama, spokesman-in-chief for the United States of America, called that…

In Bipartisan display of Bigotry, 47 Democrats Join with House GOP to Refuse Syrian Refugees

By Jon Queally, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) | - - "Not much is bipartisan these days, but apparently bigotry is something both sides of the aisle can come together on." "Speaker Ryan…

After Paris, it’s good detective work that will keep us safe, not mass surveillance

By Pete Fussey | (The Conversation) | - - Before the dust has even settled from the attacks on Paris, familiar calls for greater surveillance powers are surfacing. The desire for greater…

2016 Campaign and Forever War: Electorate gone to Disney World

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - You may not know it, but you’re living in a futuristic science fiction novel. And that’s a fact. If you were to…

War is Beautiful: How Newspapers’ War Photography Conceals the Hideous Reality

By David Shields | (Informed Comment) | - - The following is an excerpt from War Is Beautiful by David Shields: For decades, upon opening the New York Times every morning and…