Insider Attacks Are the Ultimate Treachery
WIB politics October 2, 2018
He was shot in the back, the ultimate act of treachery. On Sept. 3, 2018, a U.S Army sergeant major was killed by two Afghan police officers — the very people his unit, the new Security Force Assistance Brigade, was there to train. It was the second fatal “insider... Read more
The Dark Logic Behind Armies That Rape
WIB politics October 1, 2018
In the era of #MeToo many are looking to science to better understand sexual violence—whether its why victims don’t come forward or why perpetrators commit such violence. Here I try to utilize social science to better understand why sexual violence is so pervasive during civil war. This truly horrific... Read more
To Understand Venezuela’s Crisis, Look to the Past … and the CIA
WIB politics September 28, 2018
On Sept. 11, 1973, a military junta headed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet completed a coup against the left-wing government of Chilean president Salvador Allende. Allende had given hope to many leftists around the world that socialism could come to power peacefully and coexist with liberal political institutions. The chaos... Read more
Donald Trump’s Space Force Is a Scam
WIB politics September 27, 2018
On June 18, 2018, Pres. Donald Trump announced he was directing the Pentagon to develop a new branch of the U.S. military, a “Space Force” that would give the United States “dominance” in that realm. It would be, he said — and here he used a classic phrase from... Read more
Hurricane Maria Killed as Many American Citizens as 9/11 Did
WIB politics September 20, 2018
On Aug. 28, 2018, the Milken Institute School of Public Health released a study concluding with 95-percent confidence that Hurricane Maria had led to the “excess” deaths of between 2,658 and 3,290 U.S. citizens on the island of Puerto Rico. It so happens that the average figure of 2,975... Read more
From Peace to Armageddon
WIB politics September 18, 2018
When I first traveled to Israel-Palestine in 1994, during the heady early days of the Oslo peace process, I was expecting to see more of the joyful celebrations I’d watched on television at home. The emotional welcoming of Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat back to Palestine. The massive... Read more
After Donald Trump
WIB politics September 13, 2018
Donald Trump’s tenure as the 45th U.S. president may last another few weeks, another year or another 16 months. However unsettling the prospect, the leaky vessel that is the S.S. Trump might even manage to stay afloat for a second term. Nonetheless, recent headline-making revelations suggest that, like some... Read more
Holding the Line on Torture
WIB politics September 12, 2018
Sometimes the good guys do win. That’s what happened on Aug. 8, 2018 in San Francisco when the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association decided to extend a policy keeping its members out of the U.S. detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The APA’s decision is important... Read more
A Simple Equation Proves the U.S. Armed Forces Have Triumphed in the War on Terror
WIB politics September 7, 2018
4,000,000,029,057. Remember that number. It’s going to come up again later. But let’s begin with another number entirely. 145,000 — as in, 145,000 uniformed soldiers striding down Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s the number of troops who marched down that very street in May 1865 after the United States defeated... Read more
F-35 Program Still Cutting Corners to ‘Complete’ Development
WIB politics September 6, 2018
Officials in the F-35 Joint Program Office are making paper reclassifications of potentially life-threatening design flaws to make them appear less serious, likely in an attempt to prevent the $1.5-trillion program from blowing through another schedule deadline and budget cap. The Center for Defense Information at the Project On... Read more
