Peace and Security
Burying the Hatchet with Iran
Don't tell anyone, but the United States and Iran are getting closer — perhaps closer than ever — to letting go of 35 years of enmity. No, Washington and Tehran aren't going to be BFFs or anything. But they do share a common interest in rolling back the so-called...
Afghanistan’s Poppy Output Hits New Highs
I have breaking news from the frontlines of the war. No, not the new war in Iraq. That really is Iraq War III for us — our nation's third trip there in just 25 years. Maybe the third try will be the charm, though I really don't think there's anything charming about...
The Military-Industrial Complex Blasts Its Way into the Civilian Market
Don't look now, but the overbearing power of America's military-industrial complex has probably snuck into your town. The multibillion-dollar global armament giants have discovered a hot new growth market here at home: police forces. The people of Ferguson learned...
What Would the Founders Do?
The soldiers who fought the Revolutionary War were our first veterans, the only cohort of U.S. warriors who took up arms to create rather than defend a country. If they lost, it meant treason. Having won, the nation treated them with a special reverence, right?...
Don’t Ask the Pentagon Where Its Money Goes
President Barack Obama proudly signed the law that repealed the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, freeing lesbian, gay, and bisexual Americans (although not trans people) to openly serve in the military four years ago. But when it comes to budgeting, the...
Irked by Israel’s Foot-Dragging
In his recent meeting with President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "committed to the vision of peace for two states for two peoples." That sounds nice. But Netanyahu has done everything possible to demonstrate that he's not...
Off to War We Go
Here we go again — into yet another war in a tumultuous swath of the world we still don't comprehend. For a preview of what we're stepping into in Iraq and Syria, let's remember Afghanistan. In the yesteryear of the Cheney-Bush regime, the promise was that our Afghan...
Obama’s Dumb War
If Barack Obama owes his presidency to one thing, it was the good sense he had back in 2002 to call the Iraq War what it was: "dumb." Now, with scarcely a whisper of debate, Obama has become the fourth consecutive U.S. president to bomb Iraq — and in fact has outdone...
No Exit Strategy
The Not-So-Good News about the Border Crisis
Did you notice that all that fuss over those Central American kids who were crossing the U.S. border alone suddenly died down? As recently as June, more than 10,000 children fleeing unchecked gang violence in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala made it here over the...
