Why Smedley Butler left the imperialist front despising ‘Gangsters of Capitalism’
New book shows how the American general’s contempt for ‘the racket’ was born during his service in the 20th century ‘small wars.’
New book shows how the American general’s contempt for ‘the racket’ was born during his service in the 20th century ‘small wars.’
This is no movie. We’ve got to uncover our eyes and stop the industry’s race toward fully autonomous weapons.
Coercive tactics could generate blowback among Asian countries divided on what to do about Beijing’s rise.
Right out of the playbook: hype the threat of a potential Chinese naval base facing the Atlantic, get more funding for military operations.
The long-awaited Global Force Posture review shows that status quo is the key refrain as the China song remains the same.
But the training and military cooperation with other countries in the region is certainly picking up.
It’s fine to be outraged but don’t be shocked: our righteous war-making is not clean, nor humane. It never was.
Most spoke about the pride they felt in uniform, but disenchantment with the war, and a somewhat dismal view of the future.
The White House is being cagey, but despite ‘withdrawal’ the military has been operating non-stop on the ground there for 20 years.
After a US outpost is struck again, reportedly by Iranian-backed militias, the DoD assures our forces aren’t going anywhere. This is folly.
A veteran war correspondent recalls the ignorance, poor judgement, exceptionalism, and hubris in all of our interventions.
The Democratic congresswoman supports legislation allowing the president to bypass Congress to defend Taiwan.
Like their ancient Roman counterparts, U.S. legions supplement regional security, and so the footprint grows.
The foreign policy elite are focused on defending their reputations and privileges, not in confronting failure in Afghanistan.
It required a ‘whole of government’ response, but DC wasn’t firing on all cylinders. There is plenty of blame to go around.
Thursday’s ghastly bombings reflect a real threat to the Taliban’s new-found control over the country — and to the U.S. evacuation on the ground.
They were the media darlings of their times, but we are still living with ‘King David’s’ mistakes and his love affair with the press.
An historian points out that our partners weren’t equipped to win without air support — but neither are we.
There are too many careers and too much money tied to American power projection. So expect it to shift, not recede from the stage.
Cities are falling to the Taliban at a rapid pace, but the conditions for failure were set long before the US troop withdrawal this summer.
Another example of how our post-9/11 counterterrorism interests have emboldened violent leaders who seem to stay in power forever.