U.S. troops in Mosul, Iraq in 2007. A foreign presence to Iraqis W.J. Astore I’m a retired U.S. military officer. When I think of U.S. troops, naturally I see them as my gals and guys. I identify with them. And I know enough of them to know that their intent is usually good — at…
Walter Stewart Ruck-up America and grab your carbines and kevlars, it’s war on. Of course, I wish it were not so, because I’ve been to war and have second place Vietnam War creds to prove it. But hey, stuff happens, any national cemetery knows that. I don’t think the current war – this one not…
Stuart Lyle There is a day-long debate in the British House of Commons today on the Cameron government’s motion to send the Royal Air Force to drop bombs in Syria. The Opposition Leader, Jeremy Corbyn has stood against the rush to war, but has backed down from forcing all party members to vote against the…
W.J. Astore I recently received an update from the National Priorities Project reminding me of this startling fact: “The president announced last week that American troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond the planned withdrawal at the end of 2016. This is a devastating blow. We’ve already spent $716 billion and counting on the war in…
Walter Stewart Editor’s introduction: I’m a product of the all-volunteer force, having joined ROTC in 1981. But I’m a strong believer in a citizen military, one in which the burden of defending the Constitution, as well as the privilege of doing so, is shared equitably among all young citizens. Walt Stewart is a product of…
W.J. Astore I read the news today, oh boy. President Obama has decided to keep thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan until 2017, effectively kicking the war to the next president. According to the New York Times, “The Obama administration sees the choice to slow down the United States’ Afghan exit as the best of…
Nicolas J S Davies To listen to the Republican candidates’ debate, one would think that President Obama had slashed the U.S. military budget and left our country defenseless. Nothing could be farther off the mark. There are real weaknesses in Obama’s foreign policy, but a lack of funding for weapons and war is not one…
W.J. Astore As David Vine reports for TomDispatch.com, the U.S. has roughly 800 military bases in foreign countries. Maintaining these bases costs upwards of $100 billion each year, more than the federal government spends on U.S. education. The sheer extent and cost of these bases got me to thinking. Each base is basically a “little…
The Crash, Burn, Repeat of America’s Militarized Foreign Policy Tom Engelhardt (courtesy of TomDispatch.com) Let’s take a moment to consider failure and its options in Washington. The U.S. has been warring with the Islamic State (IS) for more than a year now. The centerpiece of that war has been an ongoing campaign of bombings and air…
W.J. Astore Francis Bacon is famous for the aphorism, “Knowledge is power.” Yet the reverse aphorism is not true. The United States is the most powerful nation in the world, yet its knowledge base is notably weak in spite of all that power. Of course, many factors contribute to this weakness. Our public educational systems…
The Contrary Perspective 