History Repeating

Andrew J. Bacevich: A Letter to Paul Wolfowitz

"Your imagination led you to foresee a brief conflict, with Iraqis rather than U.S. taxpayers footing the bill for any mess left behind. After all, preventive war was supposed to solve problems. Eliminating threats before they could materialize was going to enhance our standing, positioning us to call the shots. Instead, the result was a train wreck of epic proportions. Granted, as you yourself have said, 'the world is better off' with Saddam Hussein having met his maker. But taken as a whole, the cost-benefit ratio is cause for weeping. As for global hegemony, we can kiss it goodbye. What conclusions should we draw from the events that actually occurred, rather than from those you hoped for?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAndrew J. Bacevich: A Letter to Paul Wolfowitz

Nick Turse Describes the Real Vietnam War

"Journalist Nick Turse describes his personal mission to compile a complete and compelling account of the Vietnam War’s horror as experienced by all sides, including innocent civilians who were sucked into its violent vortex. Turse, who devoted 12 years to tracking down the true story of Vietnam, unlocked secret troves of documents, interviewed officials and veterans — including many accused of war atrocities — and traveled throughout the Vietnamese countryside talking with eyewitnesses to create his book, Kill Anything That Moves. 'American culture has never fully come to grips with Vietnam,' Turse tells Bill, referring to 'hidden and forbidden histories that just haven’t been fully engaged.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNick Turse Describes the Real Vietnam War

Julian Assange: The Modern State Is Acting Like A Mongol Horde

"What is happening to the world now is not some Henry Kissinger-esque figure making secret plots...That happens a little bit, and those people like to think that they're in charge. But it seems to me that what is actually going on is a pretty much out of control bureaucracy involving The State and Big Corporations, the National Security Agency now. Eighty-percent of its budget goes to Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin... I liken it to a Mongul horde. Yeah, there are some people trying to be in charge of it in some ways, but its basically an unthinking, unreasoned process. And all the secrecy means that no one has the proper oversight of what is going on." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJulian Assange: The Modern State Is Acting Like A Mongol Horde

Kerry After Syria Hearing Protest: ‘I Once Had Very Similar Feelings’

"'The first time I testified before this committee when I was 27 years old, I had feelings very similar to that protester,' Kerry said after order was restored. 'I would just say that is exactly why it is so important that we are all here having this debate, talking about these things before the country and that the Congress itself will act representing the American people. And I think we can all respect those who have a different point of view. And we do.' Kerry said a Syria strike would 'unequivocally' make the U.S. more secure, and Hagel said there are U.S. allies in the region ready to support any U.S. action." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKerry After Syria Hearing Protest: ‘I Once Had Very Similar Feelings’

John Kerry: Syria war no time for ‘armchair isolationism’

"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the debate about military strikes is not about President Barack Obama's 'red line,' but the world's. The UN refugee agency reported Tuesday the number of refugees fleeing Syria's violence has surpassed the two million mark. Kerry told Congress that it is 'a red line that anyone with a conscience ought to draw.' Some lawmakers have expressed reluctance about being drawn into a larger conflict. But Kerry stressed that what Obama is seeking would be military action limited in scope and duration that would send a message to the Assad regime that it can't get away with using chemical weapons." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry: Syria war no time for ‘armchair isolationism’

‘Surgical Strikes’ an Orwellian Dream

"Imagine for a moment that you live in the nation’s capitol, by the Pentagon or minutes away in Quantico, the Marine Corps headquarters, or one exit down the parkway from the National Security Agency (NSA) in nearby Maryland. Imagine farther out, places where our Navy fleets are stationed – Norfolk, San Diego – or the main Air Force satellite control center in Colorado Springs. Any military installation across the country. Now imagine what it would be like to hear over radio waves and on your television set that one of those places might be bombed as punishment for something your president did." Continue reading →

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A Century of Lies: The Rationales for Engaging in Foreign Wars

"If President Barack Obama and his administration are not lying in the lead-up to a probable bombing campaign of Syria it will be a rare exception among US Presidents, particularly since their public duplicity concerning war dates to at least the early twentieth century. Indeed, being forthrightly dishonest to the American people concerning the rationales for engaging in foreign wars has become a century-old White House tradition. The historical record of past presidents’ prewar and wartime hucksterism is unambiguous, greatly contributing to the immense bloodshed and destruction that continues under the country’s reckless international leadership to this day." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Century of Lies: The Rationales for Engaging in Foreign Wars

Hagel and Kerry make case to Congress for attacking Syria

"In what will be one of the most high-profile political set pieces in Washington in weeks, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel will testify to the Senate Foreign Relations committee, on Tuesday. America’s top military officer, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will also go before the panel. Kerry will argue that failing to act in Syria 'unravels the deterrent impact of the international norm against chemical weapons use,' a senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity. Inaction also 'endangers our friends and our partners along Syria’s borders… and risks emboldening Assad and his key allies – Hezbollah and Iran,' the official warned." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHagel and Kerry make case to Congress for attacking Syria

Can You Trust the Case for War this Time?

"Emails supposedly leaked to the public by a hacker suggest that the chemical attacks in Syria were actually staged by U.S. intelligence. Is this true? We doubt it, but when you consider the whole history of U.S. wars, it's hard to argue that our 'government' deserves the benefit of the doubt. We share some of that history in a sample letter to Congress below. Public pressure has already forced the President to seek Congressional approval. Maybe more pressure could also deny that approval. Please tell Congress to oppose war in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCan You Trust the Case for War this Time?

Looters ransack Baghdad museum [2003]

"Unesco has urged the US and Britain to deploy troops at Iraq's key archaeological sites and museums to stop widespread looting and destruction. Armed men have been roaming the streets of Baghdad since the city was taken by US troops on Wednesday. A museum guard said that since Thursday, hundreds of looters had carried away artefacts on carts and wheelbarrows. The museum's deputy director said looters had taken or destroyed 170,000 items of antiquity dating back thousands of years. 'They were worth billions of dollars,' she said. 'The Americans were supposed to protect the museum. If they had just one tank and two soldiers nothing like this would have happened.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLooters ransack Baghdad museum [2003]