America surely has problems, but the Republican Right tends to ignore its role in causing them and now – under President Obama – exaggerates how bad the situation is, writes former Republican staffer Mike Lofgren.
How the Right Tears Down America
Tag: Ronald Reagan
How US Wars Have Bred Terrorism
The Reagan administration inadvertently created Al Qaeda by arming the Afghan mujahedeen in the 1980s, then George W. Bush’s Iraq War gave rise to ISIS. So, one might draw a lesson about overusing military force abroad, says Ivan Eland.
Lost History of Iran’s 1981 Coup
The U.S. mainstream media avoids the word “coup” when a disfavored leader is ousted, but the silence around Iran’s 1981 coup also may have served Ronald Reagan’s political self-interest in keeping secret his own “coup,” as Mahmood Delkhasteh reflects.
How Roy Cohn Helped Rupert Murdoch
From the Archive: The Washington Post’s takeout on Donald Trump’s ties to notorious McCarthyite Roy Cohn mentioned Cohn’s links to Ronald Reagan and Rupert Murdoch, but there is much more to that, reported Robert Parry in 2015.
Democrats Are Now the Aggressive War Party
Exclusive: For nearly a half century – since late in the Vietnam War – the Democrats have been the less warlike of the two parties, but that has flipped with the choice of war hawk Hillary Clinton, writes Robert Parry.
Trump and the Neocon Lament
Upset that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump isn’t one of them, angry neocons insist that they represent America’s reasonable foreign policy consensus, a claim challenged by ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.
How Israel Out-Foxed US Presidents
From the Archive: A century ago, the British-French Sykes-Picot deal carved up the Mideast, setting in motion conflicts made more complicated when Israel emerged and mastered American politics, as Morgan Strong described in 2010.
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.
Bush-41’s October Surprise Denials
Exclusive: “Deny everything,” British traitor Kim Philby said, explaining how the powerful can bluff past their crimes, a truism known to George H.W. Bush when he denied charges of his own near treason in the October Surprise case, writes Robert Parry.
Reagan’s Bargain/Charlie Wilson’s War
From the Archive: The threat from Pakistan’s nukes began with Ronald Reagan’s deal trading U.S. acquiescence on nukes for Pakistani help organizing Islamist militants to fight Soviets in Afghanistan, wrote ex-CIA analyst Peter W. Dickson in 2008.