Military

The Classic Military Runaround

By Nick Turse, TomDispatch Jul 9, 2013 For my trouble, on my return to the United States, I was detained at Kennedy Airport in New York by agents of the Department of Homeland Security. Their question for me: Was I planning to fight against U.S. forces in Afghanistan? Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

Egypt’s Uncertain Political Future Debated After ‘Massacre’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jul 9, 2013 Mass protests were mounted in Egypt and political leaders discussed the creation of a civilian transitional government to rule with military support until new elections next year, after the killing of 51 supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi on Monday. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Left, Right & Center’: July 4 and the Meaning of America

Staff / Truthdig Jul 6, 2013 On this Independence Day-themed show, Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer and the other "Left, Right & Center" panelists ponder the meaning of America. If our nation was founded by revolutionaries, what would they think of our current surveillance practices, economic opportunities, gay rights and foreign policy? Is NSA leaker Edward Snowden in the tradition of the founders of this country? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

We Can Handle the Truth

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Jul 6, 2013 I don't believe government officials when they say the National Security Agency's surveillance programs do not invade our privacy. The record suggests that you shouldn't believe them, either. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Ed Asner for Peace and ‘Chain Reaction’ on the Fourth of July

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jul 6, 2013 On Independence Day in Santa Monica, Emmy Award-winning actor Ed Asner played the role he comes to most naturally: the engaged citizen taking a principled stand for what is right, in this case preserving Paul Conrad's compelling reminder of the ever-present danger of a nuclear holocaust.On Independence Day, Emmy Award-winning actor Ed Asner played the role of engaged citizen taking a principled stand against the abuses of power. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘When Is a Military Coup Not a Military Coup?’

BLANK Jul 5, 2013 "For the first time in the history of the world, a coup is not a coup," Robert Fisk writes in The Independent. "The army take over, depose and imprison the democratically elected president, suspend the constitution, arrest the usual suspects, close down television stations and mass their armour in the streets of the capital." But the American president does not name it as so. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Letter From Guantanamo

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jul 4, 2013 As many Americans celebrate their alleged liberties, we look to a cry for freedom from Abdelhadi Faraj, a Syrian who has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 despite being cleared for release in 2010, and one of more than 100 of the detention center's hunger strikers. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

This Independence Day, Thank a Protester

Amy Goodman / Truthdig Jul 4, 2013 More than 160 years ago, the greatest abolitionist in U.S. history, the escaped slave Frederick Douglass, addressed the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

America’s Newest Global War

David Sirota / Truthdig Jun 29, 2013 Out of all the harrowing storylines in journalist Jeremy Scahill's new film "Dirty Wars," the one about Abdulelah Haider Shaye best spotlights the U.S. government's new assault against press freedom. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

U.S. and Taliban Announce Direct Negotiations

Peter Z. Scheer / Truthdig Jun 19, 2013 After more than 11 years of war in Afghanistan, a country known as "the graveyard of empires" for its inability to be conquered and held, the White House announced Tuesday that it will sit down with the Taliban and try to work things out with words instead of bombs. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Soldier Who Never Sleeps

Staff / Truthdig May 31, 2013 Scientists are trying to construct military members who can fight without fatigue and thus be more efficient killing machines; a lot of Chinese students who hope to pursue higher education in the U.S. don't speak enough English to do so; meanwhile, an organization named VIDA was formed to create awareness about gender bias in the literary world and it's succeeding in making some publishers and reviewers uncomfortable. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Obama Says Guantanamo Prison ‘Hurts Us’

Peter Z. Scheer / Truthdig May 1, 2013 The president failed the first time he promised to close America's island gulag, but heading into the fourth month of a hunger strike by prisoners there, Obama renewed his commitment Tuesday to shuttering the facility. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )