An important distinction in politics is discerning the difference between a politician who advances principles pragmatically and one that puts career before principle, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.
Balancing Principles and Pragmatism
Month: April 2016
Hillary Clinton’s Gender Argument
Exclusive: Hillary Clinton calls on women to support her to be the first female President, but all Americans should look carefully at her record advocating bloody, neocon “regime change” wars, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
Learning to Love the Bomb — Again
Perhaps the height of Official Washington’s madness is the casual decision to invest $1 trillion in a new generation of nukes, including a downsized, easy-to-use variety, with almost no debate, a danger that Michael Brenner addresses.
The ‘Credibility’ Illusion
Exclusive: The Obama administration protects its “credibility” by refusing to budge on its claims about the 2013 Syria-sarin case or the 2014 plane shoot-down in eastern Ukraine even as the evidence shifts, writes Robert Parry.
Duping Progressives into Wars
The online advocacy group, Avaaz, has pulled progressives into support of U.S. “humanitarian” wars in Libya and Syria by promoting sweet-sounding ideas like “no-fly zones,” as John Hanrahan explains.
Pope Francis Reinforces Sexual Taboos
Pope Francis won wide praise for lightening up on Catholic condemnation of divorce but a closer reading of his text shows him reinforcing the Church’s repressive positions on human sexual behavior, writes Daniel C. Maguire.
Pope Francis Takes On ‘Just War’ Theory
The Catholic Church, which over the centuries has blessed many dreadful wars, is shifting to an anti-war position favored by Pope Francis and more in line with Jesus’s teachings, writes ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller.
The New Propaganda War
Exclusive: Despite Western media dominance, the U.S. government wants to stop the world from hearing the “other side” on foreign disputes by “countering” or discrediting those voices, explains Jonathan Marshall.
The Victory of ‘Perception Management’
From the Archive: In the 1980s, the Reagan team pioneered “perception management” to get Americans to “kick the Vietnam Syndrome,” an ongoing propaganda structure now justifying endless war, wrote Robert Parry in 2014.
Should Obama Visit Hiroshima?
At the upcoming G-7 meeting in Japan, President Obama will have a chance to pay his respects to the Hiroshima victims of the first U.S. nuclear bomb, but he’ll get criticized by political enemies, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.