How to Start a War: The American Use of War Pretext Incidents. Richard Sanders The following article by Richard Sanders published in May 2002, prior to the onslaught of the Iraq war, carefully documents the History of War Pretext Incidents. This historical review raises an important issue: Is the Pentagon seeking to trigger military confrontation in […]
The Geo-Politics of the Strait of Hormuz: Could the U.S. Navy be defeated by Iran in the Persian Gulf? Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya After years of U.S. threats, Iran is taking steps which suggest that is both willing and capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz. On December 24, 2011 Iran started its Velayat-90 naval drills […]
Afghan solutions for Afghan women Lael A. Mohib Audiences around the world were horrified to see the image of Bibi Aisha, a young Afghan girl whose nose had been cut off by her husband and his family, on the cover of an August 2010 issue of TIME Magazine. Western media outlets largely attributed Aisha’s case […]
Iran: It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again Einstein defined stupidity as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Aijaz Zaka Syed January 08, 2012 “Arab News” – – This dangerous game of brinkmanship and perpetual bickering between America and Iran has been played out for over three decades now. Little […]
The road map to the Afghan endgame Pepe Escobar Once upon a time they favoured Dubai – their smuggling Mecca. Now the Taliban go-to destination of choice will be Doha. So the Taliban will open a political office in Qatar to be engaged in negotiations “with the international community”, according to Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid. […]
Monopoly Media Manipulation Michael Parenti In a capitalist “democracy” like the United States, the corporate news media faithfully reflect the dominant class ideology both in their reportage and commentary. At the same time, these media leave the impression that they are free and independent, capable of balanced coverage and objective commentary. How they achieve these […]
The Drone That Fell From the Sky What a Busted Robot Airplane Tells Us About the American Empire in 2012 and Beyond Nick Nurse The drone had been in the air for close to five hours before its mission crew realized that something was wrong. The oil temperature in the plane’s turbocharger, they noticed, had […]
American Decline: Causes and Consequences Noam Chomsky In the 2011 summer issue of the journal of the American Academy of Political Science, we read that it is “a common theme” that the United States, which “only a few years ago was hailed to stride the world as a colossus with unparalleled power and unmatched appeal […]
How Two Wars in the Greater Middle East Revealed the Weakness of the Global Superpower Tom Engelhardt It was to be the war that would establish empire as an American fact. It would result in a thousand-year Pax Americana. It was to be “mission accomplished” all the way. And then, of course, it wasn’t. And […]
Avoiding Another “Long War”: Intelligence Officials Reveal “Dubious” IAEA Report on Iran’s Alleged Nuclear Weapons Program by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity Exaggerated coverage of a dubious report by the International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program has spurred a rush toward a new war in the Middle East, but ex-U.S. intelligence officials […]