W.J. Astore On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a powerful speech (“Beyond Vietnam – A Time to Break Silence”) that condemned America’s war in Vietnam. Exactly one year later, he was assassinated in Memphis. What follows are excerpts from MLK’s speech. I urge you to read it in its entirety, but I’d…
Originally posted on The Contrary Perspective:
Egyptian Students Protesting the Decision to Exonerate Mubarak of Murder b. traven and W.J. Astore It’s time to eliminate U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies. It is they who are most responsible for setting up the extremist and jihadist organizations that are creating havoc throughout the world community. Amazingly, the…
W.J. Astore A popular headline in the media is to describe the Afghan War as “America’s longest,” as in this brief summary today from Foreign Policy: The war in Afghanistan, America’s longest, is now formally over. The 13-year war, which claimed more than 2,200 American lives and cost more than one trillion dollars, ended quietly…
W.J. Astore Leading figures in the Bush Administration — Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz — fancied themselves to be the new Vulcans. As in Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the forge, armorer for gods and mortals. In the aftermath of 9/11, they didn’t look to Darth Vader in their journey…
The so-called Senate CIA Torture Report is supposed to be released today. Five years ago, I wrote an article for Nieman Watchdog on the Bush Administration’s decision to resort to “enhanced interrogation techniques,” or torture in plain speak. Torture, I wrote back then, was the refuge of the impatient and incompetent, an approach that abrogated…
b. traven and W.J. Astore It’s time to eliminate U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies. It is they who are most responsible for setting up the extremist and jihadist organizations that are creating havoc throughout the world community. Amazingly, the CIA and the Mossad have started and funded entities like the Shah of Iran, the Mujahedeen…
Henry Pelifian Today, war in the U.S. is like no-fault car insurance. Nobody is responsible, but everybody pays. Even a declaration of war as stated in the U.S. Constitution is not needed. This no-fault war policy is bipartisan and includes the endless Global War on Terror at enormous cost. The policy includes a codicil extending to national security…
Michael Murry I wrote this poem in 2005, two years after U.S. President George (Deputy Dubya) Bush’s notorious “Mission Accomplished” proclamation. With the U.S. Military hopelessly mired in the twin quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan and desperately searching for any face-saving way out, I understood the predictable predicament, since I served eighteen months as a…
W.J. Astore News that President Obama has doubled the number of American troops (whoops — I mean advisers) in Iraq to 3100 is already a tacit admission of defeat in that troubled region. Let’s recall that the Iraqi security forces the U.S. trained and equipped to the tune of $25 billion simply melted away when…
Richard Silverstein. Introduction by b. traven. The truth that all fear to talk about. The Democrats waltz around it. The Republicans embrace it. The Israelis hint at anti-Semitism for those who speak it. The world is aware of it and possibly a majority of Americans would acknowledge it but fear to rock the boat. What…
The Contrary Perspective 