b. traven Well known, veteran Middle East journalist, Robert Fisk. tells how he really feels about our president. Of course it is “fake” news but if words like “Booby,” “Crank,” “Crackpot” and “Mad” ring a bell with you as possibly apt descriptions you can add, “a dangerous and racist xenophobe,” or ” …to enter Trump’s…
Peter Van Buren Peter is a 24 year veteran as a State Department diplomat and ended his service as leading an FOB ( forward operating base) during the Iraq war. The base was used to establish an American presence to spend millions on Iraqi community support. – Ed. In the longer view, the Iraq Wars…
Peter Van Buren Peter is a 24 year veteran as a State Department diplomat and ended his service as leading an FOB ( forward operating base) during the Iraq war. The base was used to establish an American presence to spend millions on Iraqi community support. – Ed. Going forward, Trump is unlikely to pull…
Peter Van Buren The last quarter century of Iraq Wars (from Desert Storm 1991 to the present) thrust the region into chaos while progressively erasing American dominance. Iran is picking up the pieces. As long as the U.S. insists on not opening diplomatic relations with Tehran, it will have no way short of war to…
Dan White, the author of this article is a confirmed and vocal “contrarian,” a breed we need ever more of in our country of “go along, get along” citizens. This is why his article resonated with me. Several months ago I had an appointment at our local VA and found at the entrance was a…
Greg Laxer On November 3, 2017, at his General Court-Martial at Fort Bragg, NC Army Sergeant Robert ‘Bowe’ Bergdahl was sentenced to reduction to lowest enlisted rank, forfeiture of $10,000 of the back pay he had previously been awarded, and a Dishonorable Discharge. He had opted for trial by a Military Judge (Colonel Jeffery Nance)…
Richard Silverstein As the October 15th deadline for President Trump to certify Iranian compliance with the P5+1 nuclear deal, the administration, through various media leaks made clear it will refuse to do so. His grounds for refusal are the flimsiest imaginable: Iran has engaged in objectionable behavior which the President wishes violated the deal, but…
Gregory Laxer On Wednesday, September 6, I drove round trip to Boston, MA to attend a Preview for the Ken Burns’ gargantuan TV series on the Vietnam War, debuting September 17 on PBS affiliates. The event was held in an 1100-seat auditorium and, frankly, I didn’t expect it would be a full house. To my…
Vietnam will be revisited starting September 17th by a Ken Burns documentary series. Greg Laxer is a Vietnam-era army veteran who refused to go to Vietnam on principal, and was subsequently court-martialled for this. It affected his entire life, and even as he ages, he has not softened his critical views of state misuse of…
Matthew Hoh I did an interview with Scott Horton a couple of weeks back on Afghanistan and then the United States dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever to be used against life in the history of mankind a couple of days later. I know the district it was used in. I was close to Achin in…
The Contrary Perspective 