US politics

What dreamers they were! They imagined a kind of global power that would leave even Rome at its Augustan height in the shade. They imagined a world made for one, a planet that could be swallowed by a single great power. No, not just great, but beyond anything ever seen before — one that would […]

Arms Sales

“Why Should we believe anything You Say?” How Ilhan Omar Nailed Elliot Abrams for Iran-Contra Lies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ilhan Omar (D-MN) grilled Elliot Abrams yesterday, holding his feet to the fire about his having lied to Congress (to two counts of which which he pleaded guilty) and about his support for far right wing forces in Central America responsible for massacres (forces Abrams characterizes as “democratic,” confusing oppressive […]

Donald Trump

A Well-Regulated Militia in the Hands of an Out-of-Control President: Is Nat’l Guard his Toy?

Rebecca Gordon

(Tomdispatch.com) – A young friend is seriously considering joining her state’s National Guard. She’s a world-class athlete, but also a working-class woman from a rural background competing in a rich person’s sport. Between seasons, she works for a local farm and auctioneer to put together the money for equipment and travel. Each season, raising the […]

Immigration

“Make America Cruel Again:” Trump’s War on Immigrants

Arnold R. Isaacs

( Tomdispatch.com) – “Make America Cruel Again.” That’s how journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Shipler has reformulated Donald Trump’s trademark slogan. Shipler’s version is particularly apt when you think about the president’s record over the last two years on refugee resettlement and other humanitarian-related immigration issues. President Trump’s border-wall obsession and the political uproar […]

Donald Trump

Trump Hawks don’t Care about Democracy, they Want a Brutal Coup for Venezuelan Oil

Peter Certo

(Otherwords.org) – Do we think people who armed death squads and started wars really want to “bring democracy” to Venezuela? By Peter Certo | January 30, 2019 For some months now, Venezuela’s socialist government has lurched through a series of escalating crises — hyperinflation, mass protests, political violence — while both the government and its […]

Donald Trump

Trump Can’t escape having called Nazis “Very Fine People” by SOTU Spectacle

Juan Cole

So this is the story of how Donald Trump tried to use misdirection at his State of the Union address to take the spotlight off his Neonazi tendencies, which underlie his hatred of African-Americans (against whom he was found to discriminate as a landlord), of Mexicans, of Muslims, and other peoples not coded as “white” […]

Pentagon

US must probe if Saudis gave US Weapons to al-Qaeda in Yemen: General

AFP

Washington, DC (AFP) – The US must examine whether American-made military gear in Yemen is being transferred to unintended recipients, including Al-Qaeda and Iran-backed rebels, a top general said on Tuesday. General Joseph Votel, who heads US Central Command covering the Middle East, expressed concern to senators about a CNN investigation that found weaponry and […]

Donald Trump

America’s Endless Wars on Autopilot in our Endless Trumpworld

Andrew J. Bacevich

(Tomdispatch.com) – The news, however defined, always contains a fair amount of pap. Since Donald Trump’s ascent to the presidency, however, the trivia quotient in the average American’s daily newsfeed has grown like so many toadstools in a compost heap, overshadowing or crowding out matters of real substance. We’re living in TrumpWorld, folks. Never in […]

Donald Trump

Baghdad: Calls to Expel US Troops from Iraq after Trump said They spy on Iran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s assertion that he intends to keep US troops in Iraq to spy on Iran has produced a firestorm of protest and controversy in Baghdad. Trump also committed the faux pas of saying the US had constructed an enormous military base in Iraq, which contradicts the Iraqi government’s line that […]