On the ninth anniversary of 9/11 (the day that America became unhinged and ushered in a lucrative national security state), we remember the innocent victims and the heroes who lost their lives trying to save them and others. Seven thousand miles away, a hundred thousand American troops and another hundred thousand plus private contractors and NATO troops are supposedly fighting …
Intractable international problems continually and increasingly reveal how ineffective— and unethical— it is for any single nation, like the United States, to assume the mantle of “World Sheriff.”
Hostile occupation is like a coiled spring– the greater the force applied, the greater the force generated when the spring is finally sprung. For instance, triple the amount of occupation forces in Afghanistan, as President Obama has done and voila!– a proportional number of new resistance forces are added to the equation. That’s just the nature of the beast. People …
Rep. Alan Grayson introducing his War Is Making You Poor Act on the House floor As we look back to honor the fallen on Memorial Day, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on. Afghanistan, in its ninth year, is already the longest war in US History and Iraq, at seven years, is not far behind. On May 21, …
A Dire Straits message for President Obama Is President Obama suffering from Stockholm Syndrome brought on by the D.C. culture of Regulatory Capture corruption he inherited? Regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead acts in favor of the commercial or special interests that dominate in the industry or sector it is …
Urban renewal, Afghanistan style Under its own heading, FEAR OF A FUTILE MISSION INCREASES, Huffpo links to an article in today’s Time’s Online that provides another point of view about current conditions in Afghanistan. While we’ve heard plenty from military commanders, diplomats, politicians, and the punditocracy, we haven’t heard anything from the grunts on the ground who have to actually …
The contents of General McCrystal’s top-down review of Afghanistan ordered by President Obama found its way into the front pages of the NY Times and Washington Post today. As expected, it paints a grim picture and calls for more of everything– more troops, more money, more nation building– on top of the $ 4 billion a month we’re already spending …
