Stuart Lyle In the era of information overload, it is essential to distinguish between what is misleadingly called “fake news,” and a downright lie. They sound related, but they are not synonymous. In fact, the relationship between the two is more complex, since calling valid reporting, i.e. “news,” fake is a lie itself. A lie…
b. traven How ridiculous can this be? The Clinton/Obama effort to Blame it on Putin (BOP) is more of a ‘reach’ than the illusory WMD was. Will James Clapper get a national Medal of Honor for letting the CIA carry water for this, like Tenet got for helping Bush’s lying us into Iraq? Who knows…
Chris Hedges. Courtesy of Truthdig. Introduction: The rise of Jeremy Corbyn to lead Britain’s Labour Party is heartening. Here’s a man with a heartfelt contrary perspective. Sadly, he has no American equivalent among the major parties’ candidates. Bernie Sanders comes closest, but Sanders supports drone strikes and refuses to take a stand against Israeli aggression.…
Henry Pelifian Trust in war is the constant refrain from elected politicians of both major political parties. The enemies are everywhere: Iran cannot be trusted in the Nuclear Agreement so we should bomb them now before they cheat. Russia is always a threat even with the demise of the USSR so let’s get tough on…
b. traven, W.J. Astore, and Stuart Lyle We at The Contrary Perspective believe in freewheeling debate. We recently had such a debate, largely behind the scenes, on the causes and larger meaning of America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. We offer this debate to our readers, unedited except for the addition of links and clarifications,…
W.J. Astore For George W. Bush, American troops were the greatest force for human freedom in the world. For Barack Obama, the troops represented the world’s finest fighting force, not just in this moment, but in all of human history. What is the reason for such hyperbolic, I’d even say unhinged, praise for our troops? …
Michael Murry. Introduction by William Astore. It’s fascinating to witness Republican candidates for president continuing to swing and miss as they’re tossed softball questions about George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. Jeb Bush was first at bat. He initially said he’d invade Iraq all over again; then he got testy about answering “hypothetical”…
W.J. Astore Yes, I know Republican candidates for president are currently feeding “red meat” to the base, a base that consists of evangelical Christians who vote in the primaries come hell or high water. But the rhetoric used recently by Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee is more rancid than red meat. And it’s dangerous. Jeb…
b. traven and W.J. Astore Are America’s foreign policy leaders mad? It’s a serious question. Consider last week’s dispatch of 300 military trainers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade to Western Ukraine, a country involved in a contentious jousting match with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Or consider this week’s deployment of an aircraft carrier battle group off…
W.J. Astore The United States continues to insert the bodies of its troops into leaky Iraqi and Afghan dikes. That’s the image that came to mind with the recent news from Iraq and Afghanistan. More American “advisers” and weapons being sent to Iraq. The revival of night raids by U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. No…
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