US politics

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – No one wrote more powerfully about humans’ poisoning the Earth and its consequences than biologist Rachel Carson–with a focus on one contaminant, the pesticide DDT. She traced its toxicity through the food chain of nature and the loss of beneficial insects and birds, and then warned of […]

Donald Trump

What’s Preventing a United Front against the Trump Regime?

Norman Solomon

( Tomdispatch.com) – America desperately needs a united front to restrain the wrecking ball of the Trump regime. While outraged opposition has been visible and vocal, it remains a far cry from developing a capacity to protect what’s left of democracy in the United States. With the administration in its fourth month, the magnitude of […]

Donald Trump

Trump, the Suez Canal, and the end of Eisenhower’s World Order

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP reports that Trump has said, “American ships, both military and commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez canals!” He went on to allege that “both routes” would not exist in the first place without the United States. News organizations have probably lost […]

Featured

US Jews to Trump: Stop using Antisemitism Charges to Repress Dissent and Undermine Liberty

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Featured) – On April 15, the venerable Jewish Council on Public Affairs (JCPA) issued an eloquent statement stating their objections to, “the false choice between confronting antisemitism and upholding democracy.” antisemitismhas traditionally been used as a right-wing tool to appeal to a primitive, nativist sense of exclusion. Now the […]

Bill of Rights

If Permanent Resident Mahmoud Khalil can be Deported for Political Speech, the 1st Amendment is at Risk for All

The Conversation

By Erin Corcoran, University of Notre Dame The Trump administration has revoked the visas of more than 1,000 foreign university students since January 2025. Many of the individual cases that have made headlines center on foreign-born university students who participated in Palestinian rights protests. In early March, the federal government arrested, detained and began deportation […]

Bill of Rights

Deporting Dissent: The dangerous Precedent set by the Persecution of pro-Palestine Activists

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – “Rights are granted to those who align with power,” Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, eloquently wrote from his cell. This poignant statement came soon after a judge ruled that the government had met the legal threshold to deport the young activist on the nebulous ground of “foreign […]

Pentagon

The Wasteful and Ever-Expanding War Machine avoids DOGE’s Axe

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Under the guise of efficiency, the Trump administration is taking a sledgehammer to essential programs and agencies that are the backbone of America’s civilian government. The virtual elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and plans to shut down the Department of Education are just the most visible examples […]

Authoritarianism

Trump Harvests Autocratic Powers Planted by Bush and Cheney

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In 2003, the Macedonian police arrested Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen vacationing in their country. They handed the unfortunate man over to the CIA, who shipped him off to one of their “black sites.” For those too young to remember (or who have quite understandably chosen to forget), “black sites” was […]

Featured

Trump Administration to draw Down Troop Presence in New, Fundamentalist Syria

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tara Copp at AP reports that the Trump administration will withdraw some of the 2000 troops now based in southeastern Syria. Some 600 will come out, leaving about 1400. The US has 8 small bases there and will close 3 of them. According to the UAE press which draws on […]