Double Standards for Israel and Syria

The Israeli government has cited rocket fire from Gaza as justification for its bombardment and assault on the narrow strip of land holding some 1.8 million Palestinians. (Graphic from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Facebook page)

When Israel bombards Gaza after some ineffectual rocket attacks, the U.S. sees a right of self-defense, but different standards apply to Syria when foreign-backed terrorists fire deadly rockets and mortars, notes Rick Sterling.

Making Cold War to the End of the World

A military parade on Red Square. May 9, 2016 Moscow. (Photo from: http://en.kremlin.ru)

The Western media’s orgy of anti-Russia propaganda includes the curious claim that it is Moscow that is undermining faith in the U.S. presidential election, not the widely despised major party candidates, notes William Blum.

Contrasting Mayor LaGuardia and Donald Trump

New York City's three-term Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia.

New York’s New Deal-era Mayor Fiorella La Guardia and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump both belonged to the Republican Party, lived in New York and showed self-confidence but their similarities stop there, writes Michael Winship.

Do We Really Want Nuclear War with Russia?

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a meeting room at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, at the outset of a bilateral meeting on July 14, 2016. [State Department Photo]

Special Report: The U.S. propaganda war against Russia is spinning out of control, rolling ever faster downhill with a dangerous momentum that threatens to drive the world into a nuclear showdown, reports Robert Parry.

Obama Warned to Defuse Tensions with Russia

Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventy-first session. 20 September 2016 (UN Photo)

A group of ex-U.S. intelligence officials is warning President Obama to defuse growing tensions with Russia over Syria by reining in the demonization of President Putin and asserting White House civilian control over the Pentagon.

Trump’s Blindness Toward Slavery, Jim Crow

Post card photo of the lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie in  Duluth, Minnesota, June 15. 1920.

Exclusive: Donald Trump’s remarkable comments about American blacks never being worse off demonstrated a stunning ignorance of or callousness toward the grotesque evils of slavery and Jim Crow, writes Marjorie Cohn.

Clinton Shows a Dovish Side on Nukes

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire on July 12, 2016. (Photo from cloud2013 Flickr)

Exclusive: Hillary Clinton, who has carved out a reputation as a war hawk, has quietly voiced opposition to a $1 trillion plan to modernize America’s nuclear arsenal, including a nuke-tipped cruise missile, notes Jonathan Marshall.

The Russian View of Trump-Clinton Debate

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. (Photos by Gage Skidmore and derivative by Krassotkin, Wikipedia)

Russian media is much more nuanced than the U.S. public is led to believe, even showing a perceptive approach to describing the Trump-Clinton presidential debate, as Gilbert Doctorow observed first-hand.

How Arms Sales Distort US Foreign Policy

Saudi King Salman bids farewell to President Barack Obama at Erga Palace after a state visit to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 27, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Exclusive: Money may not be the root of all evil but it surely contributes to horrible war crimes when lucrative arms sales distort U.S. foreign policy and cause selective outrage over human rights atrocities, writes Jonathan Marshall.

A Process That Makes Democracy Look Bad

The run-down PIX Theatre sign reads "Vote Trump" on Main Street in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. July 15, 2016. (Photo by Tony Webster Flickr)

The circus-like U.S. political process, with a media that treasures trivia over substance, is giving democracy a bad name in the world and making alternative structures look good by comparison, says ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller.

Russia-Baiting and Risks of Nuclear War

Sergey V. Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventy-first session.
23 September 2016 (UN Photo)

Exclusive: The propaganda war on Russia is spinning out of control with a biased investigation blaming Moscow for the MH-17 tragedy and angry exchanges over Syria, raising the risks of nuclear war, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

A Victory in Mosul Could Help Clinton

President Barack Obama walks from Marine One upon arrival on the White House South Lawn, July 5, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

If a U.S.-backed coalition drives the Islamic State from Mosul, Iraq, before the U.S. elections, the victory could boost Hillary Clinton’s campaign and undercut Donald Trump’s criticisms, writes Joe Lauria.

Obama’s Gift to Israel — and Lockheed

Lockheed-Martin's F-35 war plane.

President Obama approved $38 billion in military aid to Israel, but that cash is then recycled to subsidize the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex like some giant money-laundering machine of the taxpayers’ money, explains JP Sottile.

Parry Laments Loss of Journalistic Skepticism

Journalist Robert Parry

From Editor Robert Parry: Skepticism once was considered a universal virtue in American journalism, but – as we’ve seen in too many recent cases – it is now applied selectively. When some demonized American “adversary” is accused of something, skepticism…

US Foreign Policy Elite vs. the Evil One

A scene from "Dr. Strangelove," in which the bomber pilot (played by actor Slim Pickens) rides a nuclear bomb to its target in the Soviet Union.

The crème de la U.S. foreign policy establishment gathered in Texas last week, reaffirming at a friendly conclave the need for their skillful stewardship of the national security state, as Michael Brenner witnessed.

How the US Armed-up Syrian Jihadists

Journalist James Foley shortly before he was executed by an Islamic State operative.

The West blames Russia for the bloody mess in Syria, but U.S. Special Forces saw close up how the chaotic U.S. policy of aiding Syrian jihadists enabled Al Qaeda and ISIS to rip Syria apart, explains ex-British diplomat Alastair Crooke.