By Peter Van Buren | (Tomdispatch.com) | <p>“My guilt will never go away,” former Marine Matthew Hoh explained to me. “There is a significant portion of me that doesn’t believe it should be allowed to go away, that this pain is fair.”</p> <p>If America accepts the idea of fighting endless wars, it will have to […]
GOP not the party of ‘Security’ as Intel Allies Flee Trump
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Globally, US security partners are beginning to rethink sharing sensitive intelligence with the United States. That decisio should worry all Americans, since it puts the US at greater risk of being blindsided. The Republican Party has long claimed to be the party of security, in large […]
Erdogan & Trump: Can the Confict over Syria be Resolved?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Two really big egos met Tuesday at the White House, as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan consulted with Donald Trump. The two countries are deeply divided over Syria policy. Syria is actually several wars at once: Rebels are fighting the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad. An al-Qaeda-linked […]
Should the Pentagon be Propping up Dictatorships around the World?
By David Vine | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Much outrage has been expressed in recent weeks over President Donald Trump’s invitation for a White House visit to Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, whose “war on drugs” has led to thousands of extrajudicial killings. Criticism of Trump was especially intense given his similarly […]
Even Conservative SCOTUS can’t Stomach N Carolina Voter Suppression
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer | Commondreams.org | – – North Carolina’s Voter ID Law Meets ‘Its Much-Deserved Demise’ Decision by U.S. Supreme Court not to review appeals court decision on 2013 law affords ‘a huge victory against sham voter ID laws’ The Supreme Court’s decision today, said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting […]
“Can you believe the World we Live in?” Trump doesn’t understand “Classified”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump is most probably not a Russian spy. He may have unusual connections to Russian businessmen (that isn’t clear), and seems to have made $100 million off Russia since 2008 (not that huge a sum for a multi-billionaire). Donald Trump is a braggart. He grabs […]
Clapper Lied & Spied, now charges Trump w/ assault on Gov’t Institutions
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – During the past week we’ve been subjected to hours of testimony by or interviews with James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence. On Sunday, Clapper made waves when he said on CNN that Donald Trump is engaged in an assault on US institutions by doing things […]
GOP Greatest Single Threat to Mothers on Mother’s Day
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – I know it is sort of gauche to politicize Mother’s Day. But then politicians politicize family values all the time. And besides, the Republican Party is being mean to moms, and today is when they should be called out for it. The way this gentleman called […]
Is China Now the Adult in the Room? Xi and Macron Consult
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump preferred the Neofascist Marine Le Pen as president of France, who wanted to pull out of NATO and the European Union. Trump’s own Environmental Protection Agency advisers are resigned because of his attack on the science of climate change. Trump is mulling pulling out […]