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Comments on Michael Beckley’s Foreign Affairs essay The Strange Triumph of a Broken America
Foreign Affairs published this essay by Michael Beckley of Tufts University and the Foreign Policy Research Institute: The Strange Triumph of a Broken America Why Power Abroad Comes With Dysfunction at Home Beckley says the U.S. has an aggressive foreign policy but it often loses wars because it doesn’t spend enough on the military to…
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Netanyahu is not ignoring Biden’s wishes
Several commentators have claimed that Benjamin Netanyayhu is thumbing his nose at President Biden and is ignoring the desire of the Biden administration for Israel to adopt a less aggressive stance towards the Palestinians, Lebanon, and Iran. For example, in October of 2024, Tom Engelhardt wrote: “But if you want a measurement of just how far…
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Rock Opera about U.S. Militarism: Part One
Using my own lyrics and Udio.com for the music, I created a rock opera about U.S. militarism. This is part one, on U.S. illegal and disastrous wars since WWII. (Also available on Youtube here.) Part Two, on the war in Ukraine is here. The finale is Blessed are the Peacemakers. How many wars will…
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Letter from Bellingham Travail: Stopping the War Machine
In Bellingham on Jan 28, 2024 the Washington State Democratic Central Committee passed a resolution written by me, Donald A. Smith, PhD, along with Sharon Abreu and Linda Boyd, calling for a less militarized foreign policy and for a “just transition” to a peace economy. Resolution on the Urgency of Transitioning to an Economy Based…
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Another good article by Jeffrey Sachs
In Jeffrey Sach’s NATO Expansion & Ukraine’s Destruction, he quotes NATO Secretary0-General Jens Stoltenberg saying, “So, he [Putin] went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders. He has got the exact opposite.” When Prof. John Mearsheimer, I, and others have said the same, we’ve been attacked as Putin apologists. The same…
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Summary of Jeffrey Sachs interview with Andrew Napolitano about the CIA, JFK, and Ukraine
CIA Manipulation of Public Opinion Here’s my summary: The security state (CIA and Pentagon) run the government more than the White House does, especially when the president is old and weak, as is Biden. Congress mostly follows what the White House wants (on foreign policy) [and funds the security state extravagantly]. The peoples’ voices barely…
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WA 40thLD Resolution from 2014 warned about U.S. provocations in Ukraine
RESOLUTION TO 40th LD DEMOCRATS REGARDING SITUATION IN UKRAINE: WHEREAS the conflict in the Ukraine is heating up into a potential major war between nuclear superpowers, and WHEREAS in February of this year, the U.S. government, led by neo-con Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Ukraine ambassador Geoffrey Piatt, supported the…
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New Yorker article on post-Soviet Russia ignores U.S. involvement in 2014 coup and other provocations
In The New Yorker’s How Russia went from Ally to Adversary, (published in the June 19, 2023 print edition as “Eastern Promises”), author Keith Gessen tells some of the history of post-Soviet Russia. Unusual for mainstream journalism, the article indicates that U.S. policy contributed to the rise of Putin and other authoritarian leaders in Russia…
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Evidence that U.S. Meddling in Brazilian politics helped elect Bolsonaro
The Intercept reports: “Keep It Confidential” The Secret History of U.S. Involvement in Brazil’s Scandal-Wracked Operation Car Wash. Leaked conversations between Brazilian officials reveal the inner workings of a secretive collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice on a sprawling anti-corruption effort known as Operation Car Wash. The chats, analyzed in partnership with the…
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The New Yorker article on the immigration crisis ignores U.S. responsibility for provoking it
The New Yorker article Biden’s Dilemma at the Border (June 19, 2023), by Dexter Filkins, describes the havoc and suffering caused by the large number of migrants fleeing South America towards the United States. The article says “Some of the biggest groups [of immigrants] were coming from four countries—Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti—with which the…