President Barack Obama struggled to explain his planned veto of UN recognition of a Palestinian state just a year after he welcomed the idea. His speech was a painful example of a leader knowing what is right and calculating that…
Category: Obama Administration
The One Answer: Tax the Rich
Exclusive: When President Barack Obama suggested a minor adjustment in tax rates for the rich to make sure they pay at least the same percentage as their employees Republicans cried “class warfare.” But higher taxes on the rich may be…
In Case You Missed…
Some of our special stories in August explored stubborn conflicts raging from Libya to Afghanistan, reported on social upheavals within Western societies, reflected on the hypocrisy of Christian violence, and more.
Obama’s Double Talk on Palestine
At the United Nations, President Barack Obama tried to square the circle of U.S. support for democracy and freedom across the Middle East with his threat to veto statehood for the Palestinians, a cause he championed just last year. In an open…
Goodbye to International Law
Though the World War II victors promised that the Nuremberg principles would apply not just to the Nazis but to everyone, today’s reality is that international law follows two standards: a lenient one for the West and its friends and a stringent…
‘Pro-Life’ Government Kills Troy Davis
People around the world were gripped by the grim drama of Troy Davis’s execution by authorities in Georgia, after the state clemency board brushed aside grave doubts about his murder conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed his final appeal.…
Running from Right-Wing Clowns
By the late 1970s, there was a serious national debate about the blood-soaked Vietnam War, but then came Ronald Reagan rebranding it a “noble cause” and right-wing accusations against critics who “blame America first,” followed by the panicked retreat of…
Afghan Raids Target Taliban Families
As the Afghan War drags on and surviving Taliban commanders prove elusive U.S. forces are targeting friends and families, according to a new study, Gareth Porter reports for Inter Press Service.
The Dark Legacy of Reaganomics
Exclusive: For half a century from the depths of the Great Depression until the rise of Ronald Reagan the U.S. government invested in building the nation and funding key research. And the country flourished. But Reagan then reversed those priorities. The…
A Death-Row Drama in Georgia
Georgia’s planned execution of Troy Davis, set for Wednesday, is drawing protests from around the world because of grave doubts that he actually committed the murder of an off-duty policeman 22 years ago. Dennis Bernstein explores the case in an…