Tom Engelhardt on Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines

Obama’s Mission Accomplished Moment?

2012-01-14T17:14:00+00:00

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch

When it came to rolling out a new 10-year plan for the future of the U.S. military recently, President Obama was at the top of his game.

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Debacle! How Two Wars in the Greater Middle East Revealed the Weakness of the Global Superpower

2012-01-04T18:46:00+00:00

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch

It was to be the war that would establish empire as an American fact. It would result in a thousand-year Pax Americana. It was to be “mission accomplished” all the way. And then, of course, it wasn’t. And then, almost nine dismal years later, it was over (sorta).

An All-American Nightmare: This Is What Defeat Looks Like

2011-11-09T18:41:00+00:00

How about a moment of silence for the passing of the American Dream—Saddam Hussein’s nonexistent nuclear arsenal, dumb and even dumber decisions, a bloody civil war, dead Americans, crony corporations, a trillion or more taxpayer dollars flushed down the toilet. You know, George W. Bush’s dream.

The Afghanistan Speech Obama Should Give (but Won’t)

2009-11-19T22:50:00+00:00

President Obama will undoubtedly address the American people on whatever decision he makes about the war in Afghanistan. Every sign indicates that it will not sound like this.

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American Exceptionalism Meets Team Jesus

2007-09-17T21:22:00+00:00

There’s a lot of talk about religious fundamentalism these days, but how much do we really know about the brand of Christian fundamentalism that has developed in America since, and in response to, the Enlightenment? Author James Carroll holds forth on the subject in this interview with TomDispatch editor Tom Engelhardt.

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The Withdrawal Follies

2007-07-26T22:23:00+00:00

Although the concept of withdrawing American troops from Iraq has gone mainstream, the word has been repurposed by the very people opposed to such a plan.

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Carnage From the Air

2007-07-09T19:04:00+00:00

Civilian deaths as a result of ground operations (see Haditha) often evoke cries of barbarism from the media, but the killing of innocents in airstrikes is routinely characterized as “collateral damage” and a cold fact of modern warfare. Tom Engelhardt of Tomdispatch proposes that we start to speak honestly about the devastation American military operations have rained down on Afghanistan and Iraq and see “collateral damage” for what it really is: carnage.

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The Great American Disconnect

2007-06-10T22:40:00+00:00

If the Bush administration is only now considering the possibility of a South Korea-style military presence in Iraq, then why has it been building permanent bases since the start of the occupation?

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