This story originally appeared on May 27, 2015. The U.S. and Iran were once best friends. Washington saw the country as a stabilizing force in the Middle East, an ally it could rely on to keep the peace in a confusing and conflict-prone area of the world. It was... Read more
The Cavalier Crusade for a War With Iran
WIB politics May 17, 2018
This story originally appeared on July 15, 2016. One year ago, opponents of the Iran nuclear agreement blasted the landmark accord as ushering in the Apocalypse. They are still at it. “After doing everything they could possibly think of to subvert and undermine the nuclear negotiations before their successful conclusion — even... Read more
An Empire of Nothing at All?
WIB politics May 16, 2018
This essay is the introduction to Tom Engelhardt’s new book, A Nation Unmade by War, a Dispatch Book published by Haymarket Books. As I was putting the finishing touches on my new book, the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute published an estimate of the taxpayer... Read more
Mobilizing for the Third Gulf War
WIB politics May 15, 2018
With Donald Trump’s decision to shred the Iran nuclear agreement, it’s time for the rest of us to start thinking about what a Third Gulf War would mean. The answer, based on the last 16 years of American experience in the Greater Middle East, is that it won’t be... Read more
Bombing Iran Is a Terrible Idea
WIB politics May 11, 2018
This story originally appeared on March 28, 2015, more than three years before Pres. Donald Trump ended the Obama-era deal preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Iran hawks are playing with fire. We are close to a nuclear deal with Iran, but opponents continue to step up attacks aimed... Read more
Donald Trump’s Caliphate
WIB politics May 10, 2018
They are the extremists. If you need proof, look no further than the Afghan capital, Kabul, where the latest wave of suicide bombings in May 2018 has proven devastating. Recently, for instance, a fanatic set off his explosives among a group of citizens lining up outside a government office... Read more
Saving the U.S. Military From Itself
WIB politics May 8, 2018
This story originally appeared in 2007. It’s time to save the U.S. military from itself. I say this as a retired Air Force officer who served for 20 years, my last three in a “joint” assignment, working closely with Army, Marine and Navy officers and enlisted men and women.... Read more
War and the Imperial Presidency
WIB politics May 4, 2018
It may be too late. The president of the United States is now a veritable autocrat in the realm of foreign policy. He has been since at least 1945, when the last congressionally-declared war finally ended. Wars in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen... Read more
“This time, they think they have it right.” So declared an Associated Press story reporting an upbeat assessment by this country’s top military officer at the end of a five-day visit to Afghanistan earlier this spring. Marine general Joseph Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was... Read more
U.S. Air Force Leaders Are Deliberately Slow-Rolling A-10 Refurbishment
WIB airWIB politics May 2, 2018
In a victory for supporters of the battle-proven A-10 close air support aircraft, Congress provided the necessary seed money to extend the fleet’s lifespan for at least another decade in its last spending bill. The U.S. Air Force had announced in 2017 that 110 A-10s were in danger of... Read more
