Muting criticism of US stand on Ukraine war encourages nuclear conflict, which Moscow is spoiling for
There is a disturbing aspect to the discourse in Washington DC and European capitals surrounding the war in Ukraine that seeks to quash any dissent from the official narrative surrounding Nato’s military support for Ukraine. As the world was thrust into Cold War 2.0, the Western commentariat dusted off the...
Ukraine reporter’s diary: After all the horror they’d experienced, the desperation I saw was hard to process
I’ve been covering conflict in Ukraine for more than eight years. I was in the country when Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24 last year and have visited several times since. Still, I was shocked by what I saw during my latest reporting trip in January. Before the...
Last year Congress allocated $45 billion more to military although America’s not won a war of faintest significance since 1945
Look, what matters to the American military-industrial complex isn’t either the truth or saving your taxpayer dollars but keeping those weapons programmes going and the money flowing. What matters, above all, is keeping America’s economy on a permanent wartime footing both by buying endless new (and old) weapons systems for...
US’ permanent war economy chokes democracy via its warriors, militarism that kill civil liberties
My name is Bill Astore and I’m a card-carrying member of the military-industrial complex (MIC). Sure, I hung up my military uniform for the last time in 2005. Since 2007, I’ve been writing articles for TomDispatch focused largely on critiquing that same MIC and America’s permanent war economy. I’ve written...
Questions raised about why Africa’s last colony – Western Sahara – is deprived of UN human rights monitoring
Western Sahara is the territory in northwest Africa bordered by Morocco in the north, Algeria and Mauritania in the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. A former Spanish colony, it’s listed by the United Nations as one of only 17 territories that remain without self-government. Since becoming independent...
Guantanamo: While Trump vowed ‘we gonna load it up with some bad dudes’ there’s slim hope Biden will close it
All told, although President Barack Obama’s administration poured far more energy into the effort to close Gitmo than his predecessor George W. Bush’s administration had, Obama failed during his terms in office to do so. In his last year, Obama continued to push hard with the rallying cry, “Let’s go...
Guantanamo Bay: Will America’s forever prison finally close on President Joe Biden’s watch?
As of December 8, 2022, Guantánamo Bay detention facility – a prison offshore of American justice and built for those detained in this country’s never-ending Global War on Terror – has been open for nearly 21 years (or, to be precise, 7,627 days). Thirteen years ago, I published a book,...
Why despite having world’s oldest and most-at-risk population, Japan has lowest Covid incidence
Through six waves of Covid-19 in Japan, the number of cases and deaths per capita has been significantly lower than in other G7 countries. This is despite having the world’s oldest population, and being densely packed. Yes, Japan has high vaccination rates, especially for older people, and masking is common....
Iranian rights matter: Or since the World Cup is over, the world has moved on and Tehran tyranny must reign?
It’s two weeks since Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup and a month since Iran – aka Team Melli – left Qatar after losing to the USA in their final group match. In the context of the continuing disaster in Iranian society and politics, the World Cup is an irrelevance....
Climate change is an ‘attractive’ problem that exposes societies to the siren song of technology pushers
The world is under growing pressure to find sustainable options to cut emissions or lessen the impacts of climate change. Technology entrepreneurs from around the globe claim to have the solutions – not just yet, but soon. The biotech sector in particular is now using climate change as an urgent...
