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…
My Opposition to the Vietnam War Greg Laxer. Introduction by William Astore. This week, historians have marked the 100th anniversary of World War I, a cataclysm that resulted in the deaths of more than nine million soldiers and the collapse of four empires. Yet there’s another grim anniversary that has gone mostly unmarked: the 50th…
W.J. Astore Dissent is fundamental to democracy. Or so we claim. Until such dissent makes us angry or uncomfortable. Then we yell at the dissenter to shut up; better yet, we denounce him or her as a traitor to … well, whatever fits. But responsible criticism of the actions of one’s government is not disloyalty;…
W.J. Astore. Also featured at Huffington Post. This August marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. That “Great War” was many things, but it was most certainly a war of machines, of dreadnought battleships and “Big Bertha” artillery, of newfangled airplanes and tortoise-like tanks. Industrial juggernauts like Great Britain, France, and…
W.J. Astore The Middle East of the early 21st century is looking more and more like the Thirty Years’ War of the early 17th century that tore apart the Germanic states of the Holy Roman Empire. Religious sectarianism? In the 17th century, Catholics and Protestants killed each other with gusto. Disunity? Yes, within and among…
Michael Gallagher. Introduction by William Astore. The Contrary Perspective is pleased to offer an early look at the first chapter of Mike Gallagher’s new book, provisionally titled The Bishop’s Beggar: A Memoir. Gallagher tackles the question of how and why the Catholic hierarchy failed to condemn mass murder, specifically the policy of mutual assured destruction…
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…
W.J. Astore When I was a kid, I was a big admirer of Israel. I saw Israel as being surrounded by implacable enemies bent on its destruction. Israel was the plucky underdog, David against Goliath, with Goliath being Arab countries like Egypt and Syria, having militaries trained and equipped by the Soviet Union, sworn enemy…
The Contrary Perspective 