Pentagon

Why didn’t US strikes on Afghan Weddings generate Press Outrage like Russia’s Killings of Civilians in Ukraine?

( Tomdispatch.com ) – You’ve seen the grisly footage. You’ve read the harrowing reports. The evidence is everywhere and it’s as chilling as it is irrefutable. There was the young boy who was beaten and shot in cold blood; the man used for target practice; the old man thrown off a cliff; and the group […]

Inequality

It Goes up but Never Comes Down: What Would It Take to Reduce US Military Spending?

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com) – I have a question for you: What would it take in today’s world for America’s military spending to go down? Here’s one admittedly farfetched scenario: Vladimir Putin loses his grip on power and Russia retrenches militarily while reaching out to normalize relations with the West. At the same time, China prudently decides […]

Counter-Terrorism

US could have done more to prevent civilian casualties in Raqqa, report says

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – The United States could have done more to eliminate the chances of killing civilians in the campaign to capture the city of Raqqa in northern Syria three years ago, a newly-released report by the RAND Corporation has stated. The report released on Thursday acknowledged the impact of the US-led […]

Arab Spring

Ukraine: What the Libya War tells us about Why we Really don’t want a NATO No-Fly Zone

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tracy Wilkinson at the Los Angeles Times writes about the no-fly zone proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and the flat refusal of the Pentagon to go in that direction. The clamor for a no-fly zone among some in Congress and in US civil society, however, displays a remarkable […]

China

Would a “Cold” War Be the Best News Around? Ukraine, Taiwan, and Other Flashpoints in a New Age of Geopolitics

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been widely described as the beginning of a new cold war, much like the old one in both its cast of characters and ideological nature. “In the contest between democracy and autocracy, between sovereignty and subjugation, make no mistake — freedom will prevail,” President Biden asserted […]

Pentagon

Holy War, American-Style: Reaping What We Sow

Tomdispatch

By Kelly Denton-Borhaug | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Lately, random verses from the Bible have been popping into my mind unbidden, like St. Paul’s famous line from Galatians, “A person reaps what they sow.” The words sprang into my consciousness when I learned of the death of the 95-year-old Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace […]

Cold War

America’s Disastrous 60-Year War: Three Generations of Conspicuous Destruction by the Military-Industrial Complex

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In my lifetime of nearly 60 years, America has waged five major wars, winning one decisively, then throwing that victory away, while losing the other four disastrously. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as the Global War on Terror, were the losses, of course; the Cold War being the solitary win […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

What responsibility do Western troops fighting ISIL have for the Children that Terrorists use as Human Shields?

The Conversation

By Beth Morrison and Shannon Zimmerman | – Islamic State recently staged their most sophisticated attack since 2019 – a prison break to release former IS fighters in an effort to refill their ranks once again. According to Save the Children, hundreds of boys and teenagers were allegedly used as human shields during the fighting. […]

Climate Crisis

From War on Terror to War on Climate Change: US Army to seek Green Electricity by 2030

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The US military has been worried deeply for over a decade about the impact of the climate emergency on its bases and operational readiness. The Department of the Army has just released its first Climate Strategy for dealing with what Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin calls an “existential crisis.” The […]