Tag: Global War and Violence

Indigenous Americans demand a reckoning with brutal colonial history

As statues of queens and conquistadors are tumbled amid protests across North and South America, Indigenous people are pushing for a region-wide reckoning with colonialism’s bitter legacy of massacre and cultural erasure. From the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego, Indigenous Americans have taken aim at the Catholic Church, national governments and other powerful institutions. In Canada, the horrifying… Read More Indigenous Americans demand a reckoning with brutal colonial history

Dilip

Tom Engelhardt: Biden's indirect admission highlights the steady decline of American empire

It was all so long ago, in a world seemingly without challengers. Do you even remember when we Americans lived on a planet with a recumbent Russia, a barely rising China, and no obvious foes except what later came to be known as an “axis of evil,” three countries then incapable of endangering this one?… Read More Tom Engelhardt: Biden's indirect admission highlights the steady decline of American empire

Dilip

Rumsfeld’s much-vaunted ‘courage’ was a smokescreen for lies, crime and death. By Richard Wolffe

It is customary, at times like these, to gloss over the failures and foibles of recently deceased officials: to paint a portrait in broad brush strokes about their achievements and qualities and public service. In the case of the newly departed Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary who led the catastrophic war in Iraq, this would be… Read More Rumsfeld’s much-vaunted ‘courage’ was a smokescreen for lies, crime and death. By Richard Wolffe

Dilip

American priorities

  Andrew Bacevich: High Crimes and Misdemeanors of the Fading American Century Victor Jara murder: ex-military officers sentenced in Chile for 1973 death Lucian Truscott: Trump wants to end the forever wars – except the one about oil and money Alfred McCoy: The crumbling delusion of Washington’s endless world dominion William Astore: The U.S. Military’s… Read More American priorities

Dilip

Akbar S. Ahmed: Gaza Tests Biden Foreign Policy Team’s Promise To Learn From past Mistakes / Chomsky: Without US Aid, Israel Wouldn’t Be Killing Palestinians En Masse / Photo essay on the suffering of children

NB: The word ‘mistake’ is so ugly in the midst of corpses of children and piles of rubble. Led by the US, the western powers have an unofficial and flexible algebra for the numbers of Palestinian civilians killed, hospitals and schools in Gaza destroyed, before they call for a cease-fire. This is not a mistake… Read More Akbar S. Ahmed: Gaza Tests Biden Foreign Policy Team’s Promise To Learn From past Mistakes / Chomsky: Without US Aid, Israel Wouldn’t Be Killing Palestinians En Masse / Photo essay on the suffering of children

Dilip

Why do Americans turn a Blind eye to Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians? / Children are on the frontline of Israel’s war on Gaza – again / How the United States helps to kill Palestinians

Why governments in London, Paris and Washington back Israel’s Occupation of 5 million stateless Palestinians and its slow ethnic cleansing of them is not so hard to figure out. Israel represents itself as a Western aircraft carrier in a strategically crucial part of the world full of energy resources. It gathers and shares intelligence on… Read More Why do Americans turn a Blind eye to Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians? / Children are on the frontline of Israel’s war on Gaza – again / How the United States helps to kill Palestinians

Dilip

Chris Hedges – Israel's big lie: This isn't self defense, it's a war crime, aided and abetted by the U.S.

Nearly all the words and phrases used by the Democrats, Republicans and the talking heads on the media to describe the unrest inside Israel and the heaviest Israeli assault against the Palestinians since the 2014 attacks on Gaza, which lasted 51 days and killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children, are a lie. Israel, by… Read More Chris Hedges – Israel's big lie: This isn't self defense, it's a war crime, aided and abetted by the U.S.

Dilip

Killing Schoolgirls in Afghanistan: Fundamentalist Attackers Target Girls Leaving Kabul High School

Human Rights Watch – Scenes from Sayed ul-Shuhada High School in Kabul, Afghanistan, where as many as 85 people including many schoolgirls were killed in an attack this weekend, should break anyone’s heart. They certainly broke mine. In 2017 a filmmaker and I spent a week at the school, filming a video to accompany a report on barriers to girls’ education. The… Read More Killing Schoolgirls in Afghanistan: Fundamentalist Attackers Target Girls Leaving Kabul High School

Dilip