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…
Richard Silverstein Steve Bannon gave a speech to a Vatican conference sponsored by a right-wing Catholic organization. It’s eye-opening, not because we ever needed proof that Bannon was an alt-right extremist, but because it sets these disturbing views down clearly on the page for all to read. One of the things that strikes me is…
Colin Robinson In a democratic country, it is a matter of basic principle that elections are preferable to violence as a way of resolving conflict, and that after a government has been elected, you don’t take up arms to overthrow it. These are excellent principles. But when dealing with political conflicts in foreign countries, democratic…
Michael Gallagher The lead story in the New York Times a few days ago reported there is little or no likelihood that President Obama, our Nobel Peace Laureate president, will announce a no first use of nuclear weapons pledge, a declaration that seems to have met with a collective yawn. Though I lack the means…
b. traven I remember that day in August 1945. The war was over. We were all in “for the duration.” It was not a ‘perpetual war.’ With the war over, so was our commitment to war. It started as just another day at the bomber base I was attached to. No sailors around. They were…
b. traven I’m certainly no supporter of Hillary Clinton, so I am happy that the House Republicans are calling FBI’s Director Comey in for questioning on the strange conclusion of the FBI investigation that, while clearing Clinton of criminal malfeasance, maintains that she violated several laws worthy of a criminal indictment. As any of convicted…
by Michael Gallagher There were all sorts of ironies attending President Obama’s visit to Vietnam. One struck me with special force when I saw a picture of some happy and healthy Vietnamese children clutching little American flags as they waited at the airport for the arrival of the president of the nation that devastated their…
The Contrary Perspective 