Exclusive: President Obama’s choice in 2009 to expand rather than wind down the Afghan War now looks to be one of his worst decisions as the conflict drifts toward a bloody defeat. But a key factor behind his misjudgment, the myth of George…
Category: Obama Administration
Preparing to ‘Mow the Grass’ in Gaza
‘War on Women’ Breaches Global Norms
Republican bills taking aim at women’s reproductive freedoms have raised alarms about a “war on women,” a development that is shaking up the American political scene. But some of the legislation also is putting the U.S. outside the bounds of international norms,…
Banks Are Called on to Repent
America’s banks remain under fire, including a public resignation by a Goldman Sachs executive disgusted by the firm’s abuse of its clients. New protests also include calls by some Christian churches for the banks to repent for their roles in the…
Tragic Lessons of Afghan Massacre
America’s Crimes of War
Losing Faith in a Democratic Israel
Since its founding in 1948 as a refuge for Holocaust survivors and other Jews, Israel has called itself a democracy but has restricted rights of Arabs inside Israel and under Israeli military occupation. This tension and the rise of Jewish fundamentalism are now…
America’s ‘Core Values’ in Afghan War?
U.S. officials are expressing outrage and regret over the slaughter of 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, allegedly by a deranged U.S. staff sergeant. But the terrible rampage was not an isolated atrocity in the decade-long war in Afghanistan, as Nat…
Reclaiming the Commons
A new law, known as H.R. 347, expands the power of the Secret Service and police to arrest protesters near a “protected person” or at special public events like nominating conventions, a further intrusion on the right of Americans to…
Republicans, a Threat to the Republic?
From the Archive: As Americans watch HBO’s “Game Change” about Election 2008 and reflect on the madcap Republican presidential race of 2012 they confront again the GOP’s modern tendency to promote patently unfit individuals for high office, as Robert Parry…