As tensions with North Korea continue to intensify, some have suggested the US press China to influence Pyongyang to calm down. The first problem with this is that the US doesn't have the best relationship with China right now because of a little thing called the...
Enemies of the Warfare State: Government Spying on Peaceful Political Dissidents
Just-released declassified documents reveal new details about government surveillance of peaceful political activism in the name of fighting terrorism: Government documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) through its FOIA records requests...
After Iraq, Climbing Out of the Moral Abyss
The only message our children will take away from the war in Iraq is that if you repeat a boldfaced lie enough, it will someday become accepted truth. And as a corollary, saving face is much more important than admitting a mistake, no matter how destructive the...
‘We’re Witnessing a Reactivation of the Death Squads of the ’80s’
Bertha Oliva is the General Coordinator of COFADEH, the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared and Detained in Honduras. Bertha’s husband was "disappeared" in 1981, a period when death squads were active in Honduras. She founded COFADEH together with other women...
Why the Death Count in Syria Actually Doesn’t ‘Count’
In July 2012, Senator John McCain argued the US's unwillingness to intervene militarily in Syria to stop a humanitarian catastrophe was "shameful and disgraceful," because it has allowed Bashar al-Assad "to massacre and slaughter people and stay in power." Last month,...
The Shift in the Drone Debate
When a forum as hawkish at The Washington Post's editorial page starts running pieces arguing the drone war is creating more enemies than it is eliminating, you know the dialogue is beginning to shift. In an Op-Ed yesterday, Danya Greenfield, "deputy director of...
Camp Nama: New Details of the US-Run Torture Prison in Iraq
The Guardian has published a report based on new interviews with British soldiers who witnessed torture and abuse of Iraqi detainees at the US-run prison Camp Nama following the invasion in 2003. "On the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq," the report says, a...
An Outpouring of Love and Support for Bradley Manning to Receive the Nobel Peace Prize
During the last week of March, more than 30,000 people signed a petition urging the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Bradley Manning. While the numbers continue to mount on the petition website, so do the comments from individual signers....
Greater Israel: The Defining Element of Israel-Palestine
Ask your average American or member of Congress what the fundamental characteristic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is and your apt to hear boiler plate explanations of inherent hostilities between Muslims and Jews and catch-phrases like "ensuring Israel's...
Croatian Arms and the Syrian Conflict
As has been widely known and reported, the CIA is facilitating the delivery of weapons to Syrian rebels from countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Jordan. While these regimes have plenty of their own weapons on hand to send into Syria, they've also received...
