The Parties Come Together to Save the Military-Industrial Complex
December 13, 2013
As anyone exposed to a whiff of news media knows, Republicans and Democrats are more divided than ever. They just can’t come together like they used to, goes the cliché. But this week, they did come together. Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Patty Murray hashed out a budget deal to avoid automatic sequestration cuts. It […]
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Corporate Lobbyist Hired as Obama Adviser Has Ties to Defense, Energy Industries
December 13, 2013
On Obama’s first day in office, he signed an executive order restricting current and former lobbyists from working in his administration. From the very beginning, the President has wiggled around this measure, as people like Tim Carney at the Washington Examiner have meticulously documented. But at this point it seems like the President is getting […]
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Obama Urged to Fire DNI Clapper
December 11, 2013
Last March – before Edward Snowden revealed the NSA’s sweeping collection of phone and other data – Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said no such operation existed. Now, a group of ex-national security officials urge President Obama to fire Clapper. MEMORANDUM FOR: The President FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) SUBJECT: Fire James […]
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From the Middle East to Lausanne: Arabic Thoughts Amidst the Alps
December 11, 2013
Here in Switzerland, the train chugs along nicely between Geneva and Lausanne. The Alpine mountain range desperately fights to make its presence known despite the irritating persistence of low- hanging clouds. A friend had just introduced me to the music of J.J. Cale, but my thoughts were moving faster than the speed of the train. […]
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NATO Is About US Control: Washington Targets Turkey
December 10, 2013
When U.S. leaders and pundits talk about NATO, they describe it as the linchpin of world security and the manifestation of Western liberal values. In other formulations, the U.S. is graciously bestowing a kind of welfare program to its allies in the form of security and protection throughout the European continent because, well, that’s just […]
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Is Congress Trying to Convince Iran that US Policy Is Really Regime Change?
December 10, 2013
The House of Representatives is currently considering putting forth a vote on additional sanctions on the Iranian economy. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has declared unequivocally that additional sanctions would mean “the entire deal is dead.” Well, that seems to be the point. This piece in Al Monitor authored by Daniel Kurtzer and Thomas Pickering, two […]
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Seymour Hersh on Democracy Now: Obama ‘Cherry-Picked’ Intel for Planned US Airstrikes in Syria
December 9, 2013
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Discussing Israeli ‘Apartheid’
December 9, 2013
Last week I drew a comparison between the South African apartheid system that is now the focus of Nelson Mandela’s legacy and current Israeli policies toward Palestinians. Obviously, that strikes many in the U.S. as offensive and inaccurate. But, as Israeli activist and military veteran Mikhael Manekin said in January 2012, the “apartheid” criticism is an accepted […]
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How to Avoid Conflict in the Asia-Pacific
December 9, 2013
Writing at The Diplomat, Zheng Wang, an Associate Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, paints a gloomy picture of the recent heightened tensions in the East China Sea: The clock starts ticking for the next crisis. With China’s announcement of […]
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Hardliners in the US and Iran, a Mirror Image
December 9, 2013
In Washington, there is a lot of opposition to the ongoing diplomatic negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. For the most part, the reasons for their opposition are unconvincing reiterations of trite political slogans. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), for example, insists the Iranians are not sincere and are only engaging in talks to distract […]
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