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Archives: National Security State

What if we Gave Six Wars and No Americans Noticed?

What if we Gave Seven Wars and No Americans Noticed?

By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Consider, if you will, these two indisputable facts. First, the United States is today more or less permanently engaged in hostilities in…

Iranian Leader: Trump is “Disturbed,” speaks like a Cowboy or Mobster

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Iranian hardliners are still responding to Trump's speech at the UN Monday, in which he accused Iran of backing terrorism and called the…

Trump blasts Iran for backing Syria, ignores Russia, Praises Saudis

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Trump more or less threatened to wipe out the 25 million people of North Korea in his speech at the UN. Then he…

Are US troops in Afghanistan causing Talibanism?

By Ann Jones | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Here we go again! Years after most Americans forgot about the longest war this country ever fought, American soldiers are again being deployed…

Our failing Forever Wars and the End of Democracy

By William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - When it comes to the “world’s greatest military,” the news has been shocking. Two fast U.S. Navy ships colliding with slow-moving commercial…

Shadowy US Covert Ops & Surveillance Abroad always Come Home

By Alfred W. McCoy | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - [This piece has been adapted and expanded from the introduction to Alfred W. McCoy’s new book, In the Shadows of the American Century:…

No Longer “Indispensable?” The World is moving on from Trump’s America

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Let me try to get this straight: from the moment the Soviet Union imploded in 1991 until recently just about every politician and…

Is it time for Trump Administration to stop Declaring War on every Problem?

By Rebecca Gordon | (Via Todmispatch.com ) | - - Since September 11, 2001, the United States has been fighting a “war on terror.” Real soldiers have been deployed to distant lands;…

Leaking in the Age of Trump: Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers (VICE Video)

VICE News | (Video News Report) | - - "VICE News examines the Trump administration's war on leakers, with Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. "We're really seeing leaks that are dangerous to…

The U.S. Empire is ‘Fraying’ and ‘Collapsing’: Pentagon Study

TeleSur | - - Report says Washington should consider the "post-primacy" milieu as a "wakeup call". A study by the Pentagon, "At Our Own Peril: DoD Risk Assessment in a Post-Primacy World"…

Empire of Destruction: Mosul reveals Myth of Precision Bombing

By Tom Engelhardt | (Via Tomdispatch.com ) | - - You remember. It was supposed to be twenty-first-century war, American-style: precise beyond imagining; smart bombs; drones capable of taking out a carefully…

Is Trump Sign or Cause of US Imperial Meltdown?

By Alfred W. McCoy | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - The superhighway to disaster is already being paved. From Donald Trump’s first days in office, news of the damage to America’s…

What good is our Nat’l Security State if we’re afraid to Leave Home?

By William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Has there ever been a nation as dedicated to preparing for doomsday as the United States? If that’s a thought that hasn’t…

Congress must take back the car keys of Perpetual War from Trump

By Peter Certo. | (Otherwords.org) | - - By putting such a sinister face on it, Trump might have finally inspired lawmakers to rein in America’s post-9/11 war machine. A Bipartisan Vote…

What’s with the Victorious GOP’s obsession with Civil War?

By David Faris | (Informed Comment) | - - Have you and your friends gotten into a spirited board game of Bizingo recently? Have you ordered a slew of dome-style skirts from…

The Violent “American Century”

By John Feffer | (FPIF) | Originally published in Korea Quarterly | - - The last near-century of American dominance was extraordinarily violent. Is it coming to an end? John Dower is…

Back to Quagmire: Beware endless US Troop Escalations in Afghanistan

By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - We walked in a single file. Not because it was tactically sound. It wasn’t -- at least according to standard infantry doctrine. Patrolling…

America’s Special Ops Perpetual World War

Nick Turse | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - The tabs on their shoulders read “Special Forces,” “Ranger,” “Airborne.” And soon their guidon -- the “colors” of Company B, 3rd Battalion of…

First, the Soviets Collapsed: Is it America’s Turn Now?

By William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Jump into your time machine and let me transport you back to another age. It’s May 2001 and the Atlantic Monthly has…

The Mystery of Washington’s Iran Derangement Syndrome

By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - “Everywhere you look, if there is trouble in the region,” Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters on a mid-April visit to Riyadh,…