Greg Laxer The common thread connecting these three recently deceased individuals stands out like a flashing neon sign for an objective observer: they were all executed without benefit of arrest, arraignment and trial. That is why I dare to link the supposed arch-fiend bin-Laden with a young black man in a St. Louis suburb and…
Why You Should Expect More Bombs to be Dropped Everywhere By William J. Astore Read the entire article at TomDispatch.com When you do something again and again, placing great faith in it, investing enormous amounts of money in it, only to see indifferent or even negative results, you wouldn’t be entirely surprised if a neutral observer…
b. traven Richard Silverstein, who authors what I consider the most authoritative blog on Israeli politics and policy, has a take on a shift in Israeli foreign relations that should interest those Americans who are following affairs in the Middle East. In an article titled “Israel Turning from U.S. to Russian-Arab Autocratic Alliance” (read the entire article…
Michael Murry As a veteran of the Nixon-Kissinger Fig Leaf Contingent (Vietnam 1970-72) I have always thought that the American slogan “Peace With Honor” had little to do with Peace and nothing to do with Honor. Over forty years later, witnessing the U.S. military floundering about in — and flailing away at — Afghanistan and…
W.J. Astore In April of 2009, I wrote the following article for TomDispatch.com on the situation in Afghanistan. During his 2008 campaign for President, Obama had claimed that Afghanistan was the right war to be fighting, and that Bush and Company had taken their eye off the Afghan ball when they chose to invade Iraq…
Richard Sahn When I was in the middle of my Bar Mitzvah celebration at age thirteen in Brooklyn the furthest thing from my mind was that fifty seven years later I would find myself highly critical of Israel–specifically, the Israeli government–the refuge for European Jews after the Holocaust. I’m fortunate, or maybe unfortunate, to have…
By Richard Silverstein. Introduction by b. traven. Richard Silverstein is an insightful American-Jewish commentator on Israeli affairs. His web site, http://www.richardsilverstein.com, offers a contrarian perspective on Israeli policies and coverage of them by the American mainstream media. Read on for some refreshingly critical perspectives on U.S. cease-fire and peace initiatives, such as they are. b.…
b. traven Israel is a big disappointment to many of us. Israel, once a David, is now a Goliath. A former Israeli leader, Ehud Barack, had this to say about Israel’s situation: “We live in a dangerous neighborhood.” So true. Israel is surrounded by generally hostile and tribal regimes. Nevertheless, that is where Jews chose to…
Peter Van Buren [Originally posted at Reuters here] America’s new strategy for resolving the Sunni-Shi’ite crisis in Iraq? The Surge — again. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey sounds as if he were reading off the 2007 script, echoing the divide-and-conquer strategy that was the basis for the Surge: “If you can separate those [Sunni] groups,”…
b. traven Knowledgeable Americans are concerned about the conflation of Israeli-Saudi foreign policies with our own. Today we are confronted with problems which both of these countries, ostensibly allies of the U.S., have foisted on the Middle East, the United States, and indeed the entire world. The Saudis with their continued support of the most…
The Contrary Perspective 