Why Are We in Afghanistan? Written and directed by Michael Zweig. Illustrated by Mike Konopacki. Edited by Trish Dalton. Produced by Trish Dalton, Michael Zweig, and the Center for Study of Working Class Life. As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan, polls show that 63% of Americans now oppose […]
Subjects Archives: Imperialism
Imperialism, Globalization, and War
Tunisia: Notes on the Army
Saturday, January 15, 2011 On the way downtown our cab had to stop. The army and police were both outside the town liquor store arresting looters. The army was arguing with the police and eventually made them leave. Then this happened. . . I wrote in the last page that, despite what I would […]
Which One Gets to Be Called a Terrorist?
This one killed six people while trying to assassinate a blue dog congresswoman. . . This one didn’t kill anyone but was used last month to scare the public in the FBI’s Portland sting operation. I submit the media refuses to call white men terrorists because a significant minority of its audience shares their basic […]
Racist Rage: Islamophobia, the Tea Party, and Endless War
We are witnessing an unprecedented surge in racism against Muslims in the US. There is a real fear among US Muslims that if there’s a successful terrorist attack on Americans, particularly on US soil, we will surely face pogroms and detention centers. The growth of the Far Right and, more specifically, the Tea Party over […]
The War Party Pushes Obama for Even More Iran Sanctions
The first issue of The Weekly Standard for 2011 includes an article by Reuel Marc Gerecht and Mark Dubowitz, entitled “The Logic of Our Iran Sanctions: Accelerate Them Now.” Gerecht and Dubowitz are both affiliated with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and are prominent voices in neoconservative circles focused on Iran. We highlight their […]
They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To! Why Even the Best Post-war Economist Ended Up a Tragic Figure
The Crash of 2008 and its ghastly aftermath was not just an economic crisis but also a crisis aided and abetted by economics. Previously I have written about the Econobubble (the handmaiden of the “real” Bubble) and the toxic theories of economists who were very recently rewarded with the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Following […]
Afghanistan and Iran: War, Human Rights, and Socioeconomic Development
Listen to the interview with Jerica Arents and Mary Dean: Jerica Arents: What’s interesting, we heard many people who are in higher echelons of society [in Bamiyan Province in Afghanistan] say that “US forces need to stay, they are protecting us,” but ordinary people, ordinary Afghans, whom we talked to said, “We want the […]
Occupation of the Territories: Israeli Soldier Testimonies 2000-2010
Excerpt: From the descriptions given by the soldiers, one comes to grasp the logic of Israeli operations overall. The testimonies leave no room for doubt: while it is true that the Israeli security apparatus has had to deal with concrete threats in the past decade, including terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens, Israeli operations are not […]
Notes on Contemporary Imperialism
Phases of Imperialism Lenin dated the imperialist phase of capitalism, which he associated with monopoly capitalism, from the beginning of the twentieth century, when the process of centralization of capital had led to the emergence of monopoly in industry and among banks. The coming together (coalescence) of the capitals in these two spheres led to […]
West Sea Crisis in Korea
Contested Waters: Background to a Crisis 1. On November 23, 2010, military troops from the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) and the United States conducted war-simulation exercises, dubbed “Hoguk” [“Defend the State”], a massive joint endeavor involving 70,000 soldiers, 600 tanks, 500 warplanes, 90 helicopters, and 50 warships. It was slated to […]
Israel’s War on Children of Jerusalem
Israeli police have been criticized over their treatment of hundreds of Palestinian children, some as young as seven, arrested and interrogated on suspicion of stone throwing in East Jerusalem. In the past year, criminal investigations have been opened against more than 1,200 Palestinian minors in Jerusalem on stone-throwing charges, according to police statistics gathered by […]
Beyond Words: Palestinian Voices in Search of Justice
“My name is Bassam ‘Aramin. I am a resident of the town of Anata. . . . At 9:30 am on 16 January 2007, an Israeli Border Guard soldier shot my daughter ‘Abeer in the head from a distance of 15 meters. She died two days later in the hospital. . . . The soldier […]
Nut-bag Letter to Jon Stewart from the Mad Peace Activist
Dear Mr. Stewart, Remember your “Rally to Restore Sanity” in DC last October? I’m sorry, but my sanity remains unrestored. In fact, I’ve been feeling increasingly deranged. It’s like I’m speeding down Life’s superhighway at 666 miles per hour, headed for Nut City, where I am due to give my inaugural speech as Mayor. At […]
Korea: Still an Unknown War
Bruce Cumings. The Korean War: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2010. Cloth, $24.00, pp 288. Any time that a book appears by Bruce Cumings, one of our foremost scholars on Korea, it merits attention. His latest book, The Korean War, is particularly welcome given the recent sharp increase in tensions on the Korean Peninsula. […]
A Letter from Tel Aviv: The Right in Israel Is Playing with Fire
I am in Tel Aviv. 70 km away from the fires, I cannot even see the smoke cloud above the Haifa area, which is moving into the sea and may reach Cyprus before it comes to me. The pictures on my plasma TV are, however, very saddening. You see tens of thousands evacuated from […]
Fire in My Belly
wo * * * “When he died in 1992, David Wojnarowicz, artist and writer with AIDS, left a body of work about the disease that remains unrivaled for its power and beauty. On December 1, 2010, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC celebrated World AIDS Day by capitulating to the demands of […]
Currency War and US Imperialism: Interview with Samir Amin
There has been much publicity about the so-called “currency war” arising from the discussions at the recent G20 meeting. Can you explain what is meant by currency war? The discourse, the rhetoric, on the currency war is very superficial and even misleading. As everybody knows, what is being said is that the Chinese yuan is […]
The War on the Resistance in Lebanon Enters Its Fifth Phase
“We have overcome four phases [Resolution 1559, sponsored by France and the United States, imposing the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon; the French temptation, i.e. Jacques Chirac’s offer of power in exchange for disarmament; Israel’s July War, backed by the United States, against Lebanon in 2006; the 5 May 2008 decision of the Lebanese government, prodded […]
Take a Stand for Peace
This letter invites you to join what will be the largest veteran-led civil resistance to U.S. wars and occupations in recent history, Washington, D.C., December 16: <www.stopthesewars.org>. During the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King called our government “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” That was true then — and is even […]
U.S. Reverses Course and Designates Anti-Iranian Jundallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
In a notable turn-around, the U.S. Department of State today designated Jundallah as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). In early 2009, shortly after President Obama came into office, the United States considered designating Jundallah as an FTO, as a conciliatory message to the Islamic Republic of Iran. In March 2009, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali […]
