Tag: Global War and Violence

Nabil Salih: An Iraqi in the capital of the US Empire / Tom Engelhardt: A Nation Unmade by War

As a child in Baghdad, I opened my eyes to a world holding its whip and subjugating us Iraqis to collective punishment through sanctions and repeated wars. Death in Iraq was a spectacle on TV screens in the US. War coverage paid scarce attention to civilian casualties. As one Iraqi woman put it after the Gulf War, “Did they… Read More Nabil Salih: An Iraqi in the capital of the US Empire / Tom Engelhardt: A Nation Unmade by War

Dilip

Michael Brenner: Lowering the Throne of America’s Delusion

The Afghan fiasco pales compared to the multi-dimensional tragedy created by the Iraq invasion and occupation. The scorecard: Hundreds of thousands dead, wounded, orphaned The fostering of sectarian blood-letting that institutionalizes the country’s political fragmentation. The massive destruction of economic infrastructure. The welding of ties between Shi’te majority governments in Iraq with Iran’s clerical regime… Read More Michael Brenner: Lowering the Throne of America’s Delusion

Dilip

WILLIAM J. ASTORE: Pentagon's funding grows to $778 billion after losing the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

Where are you going to get the money? That question haunts congressional proposals to help the poor, the unhoused, and those struggling to pay the mortgage or rent or medical bills, among so many other critical domestic matters. And yet — big surprise! — there’s always plenty of money for the Pentagon. In fiscal year 2022, in… Read More WILLIAM J. ASTORE: Pentagon's funding grows to $778 billion after losing the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

Dilip

Amitabh Mattoo: America’s failure of imagination / P B Mehta: What 9/11 unleashed on us / Ben Rhodes: Afghanistan withdrawal has ended the 9/11 era / Uday Bhaskar & Madhavan Palat on 20 Years after 9/11

No other event of the 21st century has defined international politics quite in the same manner as that of September 11, 2001. Twenty years later, the world is still grappling with the deeper philosophical, political, economic, and social consequences of “that day” – of the most audacious attack on American territory – and the forces… Read More Amitabh Mattoo: America’s failure of imagination / P B Mehta: What 9/11 unleashed on us / Ben Rhodes: Afghanistan withdrawal has ended the 9/11 era / Uday Bhaskar & Madhavan Palat on 20 Years after 9/11

Dilip

Farooq Tariq – The US occupation took only human lives: Taliban victory is not a sign of peace // The leader of the anti-Taliban resistance speaks out

The Taliban’s victory is bad news for the progressives around the world. The victory is not a sign of peace but a message of perpetual civil war. The establishment of another religious fanatic state in South Asia will promote religious sectarianism throughout the region… Soviet forces stay lasted 10 years and failed. For 20 years,… Read More Farooq Tariq – The US occupation took only human lives: Taliban victory is not a sign of peace // The leader of the anti-Taliban resistance speaks out

Dilip

Go back to Afghanistan? Men like McMaster and Panetta are addicted to war / How the American empire dug its own grave / Let’s Take the Profit Out of War

All empires die. The end is usually unpleasant. The American empire, humiliated in Afghanistan, as it was in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, the Bay of Pigs and in Vietnam, is blind to its own declining strength, ineptitude and savagery. Its entire economy, a military Keynesianism, revolves around the war industry. Military spending and war are… Read More Go back to Afghanistan? Men like McMaster and Panetta are addicted to war / How the American empire dug its own grave / Let’s Take the Profit Out of War

Dilip

Bhaskar Sunkara: The media is lambasting Biden over Afghanistan. He should stand firm

NB: Will someone ask America’s spin-artists a simple question: who gave the American establishment the right to carry out ‘nation-building’ projects wherever and whenever they deem fit? Have they noticed that this ‘building’ more closely resembles a wrecking ball? DS During the Trump years, publications like the New York Times and Washington Post presented themselves… Read More Bhaskar Sunkara: The media is lambasting Biden over Afghanistan. He should stand firm

Dilip

Book review: Approach to Battle: Training the Indian Army during the Second World War

Approach to Battle is an excellent and meticulously researched narrative of pure vanilla military history. It explores the transformation of the Indian Army from a bloated, undertrained, and poorly led force during World War I and the early years of World War II into a fighting machine that gave the British Empire one of its most… Read More Book review: Approach to Battle: Training the Indian Army during the Second World War

Dilip

In pictures: Afghans mark Independence Day as challenges to Taliban rule rise

The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day on Thursday by declaring they beat the United States, but challenges to their rule ranging from running a country severely short on cash and bureaucrats to potentially facing an armed opposition began to emerge. The holiday commemorates the 1919 treaty that ended British rule in the central Asian nation.… Read More In pictures: Afghans mark Independence Day as challenges to Taliban rule rise

Dilip