It is easy to criticise a government. Apologists and supporters defend it by claiming that they are doing the best they can, and they point to small token victories as evidence of progress. “Look at what this government has done for you”, they say, but my response is always, “is that it?” The ease of…

Nearly a century ago, after four bloody years of World War I, British colonialists created the state of Iraq, complete with their hand-picked monarch. Britain and France were authorized — or, more precisely, authorized themselves — to create states in the Arab world, despite the prior British promise of independence in return for the Arabs’…

No dia 7 de agosto, o presidente Barack Obama anunciou sua autorização a ataques direcionados no Iraque para suprimir a ofensiva da milícia ISIS. As ações seguintes do governo de Obama também são importantes. As bombas começaram a ser lançadas na sexta-feira, anunciando sem dizer nada que a política de gerenciar as questões iraquianas de…

On August 7th, President Obama announced his authorization of targeted strikes over Iraq in order to quell the ongoing Islamic State offensive. Just as important are the statements his administration has made through the actions that followed. The bombs actually started to fall on Friday, announcing without words that the US government’s policy of actively managing Iraqi affairs from afar…

U.S. bombs fall on Iraq yet again, in strikes authorized by Barack Obama against the militant Islamist group Islamic State, which has taken over a chunk of the country. Between this and the deployment of US military “advisers,” the memory of Obama’s campaign criticizing war in Iraq on his way to office has grown a…

Last Friday, August 1st, President Barack Obama commented on the CIA’s use of torture after 9/11. At first glance, his comments look like an acknowledgement of wrongdoing. After all, Obama acknowledged that “When we engaged in some of these enhanced interrogation techniques – techniques that I believe, and I think any fair-minded person would believe were…

Il mese scorso, con un tono che potrebbe essere definito da excusatio non petita, l’ex primo ministro britannico Tony Blair ha voluto rassicurare la popolazione dicendo che “noi” (il Regno Unito e gli Stati Uniti) “dobbiamo liberarci dell’idea che siamo stati noi a causare” la destabilizzazione dell’Iraq e l’emergere dell’Isis. Oh no, siete stati voi,…

Musa al-Gharbi discusses Obama’s foreign policy. Alice Slater discusses how drone assassinations violate the rule of law. Bert Sacks discusses sectarian violence in Iraq. Patrick Cockburn discusses the appeal of ISIS. Shamus Cooke discusses regional war in the Middle East. Kevin Carson reviews a new book by Rich Lowry. William Rivers Pitt discusses the long…

Last month, in a tone which might best be called unlikely insistence, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair reassured the public that “we” — the UK and United States — “have to liberate ourselves from the notion that we caused” the destabilization of Iraq by the ISIS insurgency. Well, actually you did. Let’s go back…

Virtually all commentary about the influx of unaccompanied Central American children into the United States, which some say could rise to 90,000 this year, misses the point: no government has the moral authority to capture these kids and send them back to the miserable situations they have escaped. This claim will strike many people as…

Appena tre anni dopo aver ridotto la sua presenza in Iraq, gli Stati Uniti stanno mandando nuovamente le truppe. In risposta alle conquiste fatte dal gruppo jihadista Isis nella sua ultima offensiva, il presidente americano Barack Obama sta mandando in Iraq 275 soldati per “fornire supporto e sicurezza al personale e all’ambasciata americana di Bagdad.”…

(Inspired by a comment from James Tuttle) SCOTUS has been dancing its way down a “whatever it takes to keep things from collapsing under the weight of their own contradictions” tightrope with ACA. First they affirmed its dubious constitutionality, now they’re carving out exceptions for entities which claim to be acting on orders of a…

Just three years after winding down its presence in Iraq, the United States is sending troops back in. In response to the gains made by jihadist group ISIS in its recent offensive, US president Barack Obama is sending 275 troops to Iraq to “provide support and security for US personnel and the US Embassy in…

If you want a glimpse into the US bipartisan foreign policy establishment’s Heart of Darkness, you need look no further than Robert Kagan. He, along with his father and brother, was a signatory of the Project for a New American Century’s manifesto “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” — something normally associated with the neoconservative circles around George…

Qualche giorno fa mi è capitato di leggere l’articolo di Christopher Dickey “What the D-Day Veteran Told Obama at the 70th Anniversary Commemoration” (The Daily Beast, 6 giugno). Tra i presenti alla giornata dei veterani, assieme ad Obama, c’era il presidente francese Hollande e quello russo Putin. Per lo più, l’articolo parlava dei discorsi dei…

C4SS Senior Fellow and Chair, Sheldon Richman, interviewed on the Rare show “Swapped Taliban detainees: Terrorists or prisoners of war?” hosted by contributor Kurt Wallace. https://soundcloud.com/rare-us/interview-with-sheldon-richman

A few days ago I read Christopher Dickey’s “What the D-Day Veteran Told Obama at the 70th Anniversary Commemoration” (The Daily Beast, June 6). In attendance along with Obama were French president Hollande and Russian president Putin. Most of the article discusses the leaders’ speeches of the day and the awkwardness of having both Obama and…

The “fog of war” is a reference to the moral chaos on the battlefield as well as the rampant confusion. Individuals kill others for no other reason than that they are ordered to. Things deemed unambiguously bad in civilian life are authorized and even lauded in war. The killing and maiming of acknowledged innocents —…

The release and return of American POW Bowe Bergdahl started off as simply cause for relief and celebration for his family and friends. Thanks to politics, it keeps taking on additional layers of interpretation for others. The revelation that Bergdahl questioned the continuing mission in Afghanistan prior to his capture has many of the same people who usually…

Two years ago my wife and I lost a baby. We went to the 20 week ultrasound, expecting to hear if we were having a boy or a girl. Instead, we did not hear a heartbeat. The pain was sharp and immediate, though it has dulled with time. In our grief we sought comfort in…