Deeper in the Afghan Quagmire by Sheldon Richman September 14, 2012 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organization. What is the Haqqani network? Wikipedia says that it is an insurgent group using asymmetric warfare to fight against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. Originating in Afghanistan during the mid-1970s, it was nurtured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Pakistan’s Inter-Services ...
The United States in Talks to Return the 17 Afghan Prisoners in Guantánamo by Andy Worthington July 6, 2012 Earlier this year, there was much discussion in the U.S. media about the possibility that, as part of negotiations aimed at securing peace in Afghanistan, the United States would release five high-level Taliban prisoners in Guantánamo to Qatar, where they would be held under a form of house arrest. Those plans came to nothing, but last week the
The Myths of NATO by Tim Kelly May 30, 2012 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was cast into the national spotlight last week when the 63-year-old alliance held its 25th summit in Chicago. While the thousands of anti-NATO protesters and the government’s heavy-handed security measures attracted most of the media’s attention, important questions regarding the Cold War–era organization went largely ignored. According to Cold War orthodoxy, the United States ...
Opposing Imperialism Isn’t Isolationism by Sheldon Richman April 26, 2012 When pundits and rival politicians call Ron Paul an “isolationist,” they mislead the American people — and they know it. They know it? How could they not? Ron Paul is for unilateral, unconditional free trade. He believes any American should be perfectly free to buy from or sell to any person in the world. In that sense — the laissez-faire ...
The Spanish-American War: The Leap into Overseas Empire, Part 2 by Joseph R. Stromberg January 1, 1999 Part 1 | Part 2 In February 1899, uneasy relations between U.S. forces and the Filipino insurgents turned into actual fighting. America was now to learn the sorrows of empire along with its joys. Rallying under the slogan " No hay derecho a vender un pueblo como se vende un saco de patatas " ("There is no right to ...