Category: Politics

Should We Fall Again for ‘Trust Me’?

Exclusive: Forgetting lessons from the Tonkin Gulf to the Iraq War, the U.S. news media has mostly elbowed past doubts about whether the Syrian government launched the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack and now is focused on the political drama…

Putting a Rush to War on Pause

By seeking congressional approval before bombing Syria, President Obama may have recognized a political reality the danger from pressing ahead unilaterally on a risky mission but the move also offers a valuable breather in the hasty rush to war, as…

Dr. King’s ‘Four Catastrophes’

Reflections on Martin Luther King Jr.’s “dream” a half century after he delivered his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial have been clouded by the prospect of a U.S. military strike against Syria, as President Obama seems to have forgotten…

An Iraq War ‘Déjà Vu’ in Syria

There’s an ominous sense of déjà vu as the U.S. prepares to attack Syria: dubious WMD claims, intense pressure from self-interested lobbies, a compliant mass media, a disregard of popular opposition, even a rush to remove UN investigators. This repeat…

The Broader Stakes of Syrian Crisis

Exclusive: Though some intelligence analysts still doubt that the Syrian government launched a chemical attack, the political momentum for a U.S. retaliatory strike may be unstoppable. But the broader framework of the crisis involves the Israeli-Iranian dispute and the future of…

A CIA Hand in an American ‘Coup’?

Special Report: The U.S. government decries leaks, but the other side of the story is that key chapters of American history are hidden from the public for decades and maybe forever. The CIA has just admitted its 1953 Iran coup…

Democracy’s Fateful Choice in Egypt

Egypt’s “democracy movement” largely sided with the military in its brutal coup against an elected Muslim Brotherhood government. But that fateful choice suggests these “moderates” may not understand the grim history of such tradeoffs, says Lawrence Davidson.

Reflecting on Washington DC

Washington DC is a mix of several cities in one: a large but dwindling population of African-Americans, a solid middle class of government bureaucrats, and a growing uber-class of extremely well-paid corporate executives and lobbyists, a changing demographic that troubles…

Rick Perry’s Neo-Confederate Stance

Exclusive: Texas Gov. Rick Perry and other neo-Confederate politicians are citing the Tenth Amendment in claiming the federal government has no authority to protect minority voting rights. But they’re wrong both in their constitutional analysis and their ignorance of the…

Looking Backward on Bradley Manning

Exclusive: A military judge sentenced 25-year-old Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking classified documents including evidence of U.S. war crimes and proof the U.S. public was being manipulated. Yet, the perpetrators of the crimes and lies face no…