Lynching the Past

Chris Hedges and Mr. Fish / Truthdig Oct 1, 2018 Many Southern whites continue to lie to themselves and the world about the Civil War and the antebellum South. These lies perpetuate the evil they seek to hide. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

Politics

American History for Truthdiggers: Reconstruction, a Failed Experiment

Maj. Danny Sjursen / Truthdig Sep 29, 2018 After many thousands of Northerners died in a war aimed in part at freeing the slaves, white America lacked the will to follow through. Dig deeper ( 20 Min. Read )

Could Trump Really Militarize the Border?

Bill Blum / Truthdig Apr 9, 2018 Long-standing federal statutes limit the use of troops to enforce domestic civil law. But don't be surprised if this president tries anyway. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

America Needs a Radical Dr. King, Not a New Obama

Paul Street / CounterPunch Jan 22, 2018 The real Martin Luther King—not a sanitized version—was a democratic socialist who believed the U.S. had to reconstruct its whole system. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

U.N. Declares Gaza Will Soon Be ‘Uninhabitable’ If Israeli Blockade and Wars Continue

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Sep 2, 2015 Here's why, according to a report released Tuesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, it's entirely Israel's fault that the Palestinian territory may become totally unlivable five years from now. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gaza Reconstruction Is Moving at ‘Snail’s Pace’

Roisin Davis / Truthdig Jun 25, 2015 It will likely take 30 years to repair the damage to the Gaza Strip, given the current rate of construction, a senior United Nations official has said. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Inquiry Finds Japanese Tsunami Funds ‘Misspent’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Oct 31, 2012 A government audit showed Japanese authorities have used funds intended for reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami on unrelated projects. Those paid for out of the $150 billion relief package include roads in Okinawa, advertisements for Japan’s tallest building and whaling research. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

How Not to Reconstruct Iraq, Afghanistan — or America

By Peter Van Buren, TomDispatch Aug 18, 2012 Why has the United States spent so much money and time so disastrously trying to rebuild occupied nations abroad, while allowing its own infrastructure to crumble untended? Why do we even think of that as “policy”? Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

U.S. Wasted $30 Billion on Contractors

Staff / Truthdig Aug 30, 2011 By an estimate its co-chairs call conservative, the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting has found that the government wasted $30 billion on the use of private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The co-chairs, writing in The Washington Post, say that number could double. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Iraq: The Case of the Missing $6.6 Billion

Staff / Truthdig Jun 13, 2011 Benjamin Franklin may be one of the most wanted men in Iraq right now, as the country's officials threaten to take the Pentagon to court to recoup some $6.6 billion in cash airlifted from the U.S. in 2004 for the purpose of Iraqi reconstruction. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Man Faces Prison for Videotaping Cop

Staff / Truthdig Jul 28, 2010 Today on the list: Why you can't really get to know more than 150 people, why Democrats should be jealous of Greens and why a Maryland man faces 16 years in prison for shooting a video. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

$8.7 Billion More Disappears in Iraq

Staff / Truthdig Jul 28, 2010 The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says the Pentagon cannot account for $8.7 billion of Iraq's money. The Department of Defense was supposed to spend the funds, which came from the sale of oil and other assets, on reconstruction, and it may have -- it just doesn't know for sure. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )