US politics

“Katrina vanden Heuvel [editor of The Nation] and Bill Kristol tussled over Iraq on ABC’s This Week today when vanden Heuvel lumped in Kristol with the Iraq “architects of catastrophe” and suggested he enlist in the Iraqi army if he’s so serious about fixing the region. Vanden Heuvel said there should be some accountability for […]

Bush

Hyenas vs. Rhinos: Who could the NYT get to write an Op-ed on Iraq? Hmm…

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan did a quick study and found that critics of the paper of record over its preference for Iraq War hawks as sources and commentators in the past two weeks are justified in their feeling that Iraq War critics have been slighted. This lack of balance […]

Banking

UN to Detroit: Denial of Water to Thousands 'Violates Human Rights'

contributors

By Sarah Lazare Experts slam city's aggressive drive to disconnect water from residents who are unable to pay United Nations experts declared Wednesday that the city of Detroit's shut-off of water to thousands of residents who are unable to pay their bills "constitutes a violation of the human right to water" and may be discriminatory […]

Democracy

A Subtle Alchemy: US Finds it easier to Occupy Abroad than to Withdraw

contributors

By Alan McPherson In 2003, former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld infamously foresaw victory in Afghanistan and Iraq as demanding a “long, hard slog” and listed a multitude of unanswered questions. Over a decade later, as President Obama (slowly) fulfills his promise to pull all US troops from Afghanistan, a different set of questions emerges. […]

Barack Obama

Clinton to Cheney: Blaming Obama for not cleaning up your mess… Unseemly

contributors

During recent interview with David Gregory, Pres. Bill Clinton laughed off Dick Cheney’s suggestion that President Obama is to blame for the strife in Iraq, placing the blame directly at the feet of the former Vice President himself. When Gregory asked him if Dick Cheney had any credibility, the former president replied, “Well, I believe, […]

Barack Obama

Top 5 Reasons US Aid to “Moderate” Syrian Fighters is Quixotic

Juan Cole

The Obama administration’s fruitless search for effective Sunni “moderate” fighters in Syria continues, with the announcement of a $500 million grant to them for training and weaponry. This policy seems in part to be driven by Saudi Arabia from abroad and by liberal interventionists, including Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and UN Ambassador Susan […]

Militarization

Unconstitutional: Top 4 Ways the US Gov’t has Shredded the 4th Amendment

contributors

By Peter Van Buren Here’s a bit of history from another America: the Bill of Rights was designed to protect the people from their government. If the First Amendment’s right to speak out publicly was the people’s wall of security, then the Fourth Amendment’s right to privacy was its buttress. It was once thought that the government […]

Iraq

Dear Neocons: Why we’re not Sending Combat Troops to Iraq no matter how much you Pout

contributors

By Scott Corey There are only three things wrong with the idea of sending combat troops to Iraq at this time, as a range of hawks from Bill Kristol to Sen. John McCain has suggested. It is foolish obedience to bad allies. It abandons President Obama’s wise doctrine of self-limited commitment. And it prematurely commits […]

Dissent

Fox News A ‘Fanatical Terrorist Propagandist Organization’ According To Russell Brand (VIDEO)

contributors

By Samuel Warde According to Russell Brand, “fanatical” Fox News is “more dangerous than Isis.” His comments were made in response to a particularly disturbing rant by Fox News host Jeanine Pirro in which she claimed that Obama “didn’t have the balls” to try Taliban suspects at Guantanamo Bay, and said Americans “are not convinced” […]