Is This the Outbreak of The American Civil War II?

People on this side of the Atlantic and further afield have been wondering for a long time what’s going on in the U.S.A., and what is it all building up to? Please permit me to suggest that the American Civil War II, which has been brewing for past four decades (roughly since I departed for [...]

I’m at a Loss for Words

In a week in which it comes to light that President George W. Bush revealed that God told him to invade Iraq–with all that implies–and former Repulican presidential candidate–and pretender to the vice-presidential slot along with John McCain–Mike Huckabee made a supposedly jocular comment in the middle of a speech to the American Rifle Association [...]

Gringo Baghdad: Luxury Hotels and Golf

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree : Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round : And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree [...]

The Presidential Candidates As Polymorphous Panderers

Who and What the U.S. Presidential Candidates Must Pander to in Order to Get Elected: To extreme right-wing Christians, who don’t require reasons. They have the agenda of their angry God. They’ve formed a group called Christians United for Israel (CUFI). One of their spokesmen, Pastor John Hagee recently declared:“The United States must join Israel [...]

Guantánamo Torture Records “Lost”

Right. This from today’s Guardian. These guys are so predictable. I’m constantly reminded of the old saw: “Military intelligence is to intelligence as military music is to music.”

Why the U.S. Can’t Leave Iraq

Just ran across this fascinating article by Christopher King on the Al Jazeera website. I was impressed not so much by the premise, which is familiar, as by the numbers, which are bruising. If you have ever asked yourself: “When will this American madness end?” you’ll be smitten by this article. But before you go [...]

American Legion Convention 1964

This photograph by Gary Winogrand, taken 44 years ago, seems to me not to have lost any of its powerful meaning. If anything, it’s more relevant today than when it was made. It is, I think, a reminder of lessons that were never learned. Scan courtesy of Masters of Photography

Arizona Legislators Veto Pistol-Packin’ Kindergardeners

Author’s note: This post turned out to be sadly prophetic. I read in yesterday’s International Herald Tribune that Arizona state senator, Karen Johnson, has sponsored a bill–which the Arizona State Judiciary Committee approved last week–that would allow people with a concealed-weapons permit to carry firearms at public colleges and universities. This is a self-styled “right-wing [...]

The Nuremberg Principles

Last night we watched “Nuremberg” again. It’s the made-for-television film with Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessy and Brian Cox which presents a semi-documentary treatment of the International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg, the trial of the most important Nazi party members after World War II. Though it’s unremarkable as cinema, it’s historic content keeps it timely and [...]

NATO is Scraping the Bottom of the Tank

The think tank, that is. According to an article published in The Guardian on January 22, 2008, five of the west’s most senior military officers and strategists got together to affirm that “the west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the ‘imminent’ spread of nuclear and other [...]