Stories by Tom Engelhardt

Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of The American Way of War: How Bush’s Wars Became Obama’s as well as The End of Victory Culture, runs the Nation Institute's TomDispatch.com. His latest book, The United States of Fear (Haymarket Books), has just been published in November.Sign up to receive the latest updates fromTomDispatch.com here.

Finally, the U.S. Mega-Bases in Iraq Are Under Debate

Posted on: Jun 15, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

In the last five-plus years, untold billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on the construction and upgrading of permanent bases.

Shocking Bush 'Pep Talk' to His War Cabinet on Iraq: 'We Are Going to Wipe Them out!'

Posted on: Jun 1, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

"Kill them." Gen. Ricardo Sanchez's memoirs contain a transcript from a bloodthirsty and over the top private speech by Bush.

Endless War: Is the U.S. Trying to Set Whole World on Fire?

Posted on: May 5, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

The Iraq war won't end, but in the Pentagon they're already arguing about the next one.

12 Reasons Why Leaving Iraq Is the Only Sane Thing to Do

Posted on: Apr 23, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

Since the press doesn't bother to ask key questions, here's an attempt to unravel the situation in Iraq.

Don't Betray Us, General: Admit That Iraq Keeps Getting Worse and That the Surge Failed

Posted on: Apr 7, 2008, Source: TheNation.com

Gen. David Petraeus ought to level with the American public about the dire state of affairs in Iraq in his testimony to Congress this week.

Bush Diplomacy: Predator Planes Are Conducting Assassinations by Air

Posted on: Mar 16, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

Attacks all over the planet by U.S. Predator planes suggest Bush thinks he has the "right" to kill civilians.

Hey Homeowners, Bush Blames You -- Not Iraq -- for Our Tanking Economy

Posted on: Feb 28, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

Five years into Iraq, Bush denies any link between Americans' economic pain and war spending.

How to Stay in Iraq for the Next Million Years

Posted on: Feb 21, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

When did immediate military withdrawal from Iraq stop being an option?

The Kristol Whose Crystal Ball Never Works

Posted on: Feb 21, 2008, Source: The Nation

The New York Times' right-wing columnist isn't just wrong in his ideology -- he is simply wrong.

Imagine 50 Million American Refugees

Posted on: Feb 11, 2008, Source: The Nation

The refugee crisis is working!

Bombs Away Over Iraq

Posted on: Feb 3, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

The U.S. recently dropped 100,000 pounds of bombs on a small village in Iraq to combat 'al-Qaeda' -- part of the growing air war in Iraq.

How Bush Took Us to the Dark Side

Posted on: Jan 4, 2008, Source: TomDispatch.com

There are dire consequences that Americans will have to face now that torture and imprisonment of innocent people is everyday government practice.

'Enduring' Bases in Iraq: More Toys for the Pentagon's Sandbox

Posted on: Dec 3, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

Vast stretches of Iraq have turned into construction sites run by the Pentagon, while Bush makes up claims that Iraqis support an "long-term relationship."

We Face Worldwide Drought with No Contingency Plan

Posted on: Nov 24, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

As droughts reach record levels worldwide, no one is asking the tough question: What happens when there is not enough water to go around?

Where Have All the Protests Gone?

Posted on: Oct 29, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

As the occupation of Iraq continues, the number and magnitude of demonstrations appear to be shrinking. What is happening to the protest culture of wars past?

Congress Wants to Split Iraq in Three Pieces, But Who Asked Them?

Posted on: Oct 5, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

Congress wants to further mess Iraq up by splitting it into three areas. Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki calls the plan a "disaster."

The Pentagon Rivals Hollywood at Telling War Stories

Posted on: Sep 21, 2007, Source: University of Massachusetts Press

With its dazzling array of propaganda techniques in Iraq, the U.S. military has learned how to conduct war and defeat the press at the same time, as this excerpt from author Tom Engelhardt's End of Victory Culture explains.

Petraeus: The Paris Hilton of Generals

Posted on: Sep 11, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

Like Hilton, Petraeus is a vain media darling with almost no credibility.

Here Are the Real Numbers That Tally Iraq's 'Progress'

Posted on: Sep 9, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

As Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus prepares to give his own cooked-up statistics on the 'progress' in Iraq, here's the rundown on the numbers that give the true picture of what a disaster the occupation has been.

All-time Highs in Iraq: Escalation by the Numbers

Posted on: Aug 15, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

The number of taxpayer-paid private contractors in Iraq, the number of bullets fired for each insurgent killed, the percentage of amputations performed on U.S. war-wounded: a compilation of numbers puts Iraq into perspective.

Iraq by the Numbers

Posted on: Jun 27, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

Americans are waiting for General David Petraeus to report to Congress in September on the "progress" of the President's surge strategy. But there's no reason to wait for September. Here's a look at some telltale numbers that show the horror in Iraq.

Take the Quiz on the Bush Administration's War of the Words

Posted on: Jun 17, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

From "mission accomplished" through those endless "turning points" and "the precipice," American officials in Baghdad and Washington haven't been sparing with the use of images or analogies. Can you pass the War of the Words quiz?

Permanent Bases the World Over: Behold the American Empire

Posted on: Jun 13, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

In Iraq and beyond, America's empire of permanent bases grows at an alarming pace.

The Colossus of Baghdad: A Mammoth New American Embassy in Iraq

Posted on: May 29, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

The U.S. is building an embassy in the heart of Baghdad's embattled Green Zone that will be the largest embassy on the planet -- big enough to embody the Bush administration's vision of an American-reordered Middle East.

9/11 Life Worth $1.8 million; Iraqi Life, $2,000. What Does It Mean?

Posted on: May 14, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

Using publicly available numbers, one can calculate that the U.S. government values an innocent civilian slaughtered by al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 at $1.8 million, and an Iraqi civilian killed by Marines at $2,000.

Words to Die For: The Devil's Dictionary in Iraq

Posted on: Apr 24, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

The administration's language for the President's plan in Baghdad creates a "new" plan out of ancient, failed strategies, ignores some of Iraq's recent horrendous past, and strips us of our responsibility for it.

Americans in the Opinion Polls, Not in the Streets

Posted on: Mar 26, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

If so many people are fed up with the war, why is everyone so silent? Is this the way it usually feels in the heartlands of great empires until the barbarians actually do come knocking at the gates?

Neocons in Cheney's Office Fund al Qaeda-Tied Groups ... and No One Cares?

Posted on: Mar 16, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

Seymour Hersh's recent report that Iran-Contra veterans working out of Dick Cheney's office are using stolen funds from Iraq to arm al Qaeda-tied groups and foment a larger Sunni-Shia war is a very big deal.

The Numbers in Iraq Keep Creeping Up

Posted on: Mar 11, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

Whether it's the size of the military deployment in Iraq, the financial cost of the war or the amount of time US troops are spending in Iraq, the numbers keep creeping up, even as the situation deteriorates.

Rural America Pays the Price for War in Iraq

Posted on: Jan 26, 2007, Source: TomDispatch.com

American dead of the Iraq and Afghan occupations come disproportionately from rural America.

Iraq Study Group Offers No Real Plan for Withdrawal

Posted on: Dec 4, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

If we were to follow the recommendations of James Baker's Iraq Study Group, we'd be embedded in Iraq for at least another three to five years.

Will Papa Bush's Old Pals Prolong the Iraq Occupation?

Posted on: Nov 21, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

While everyone in Washington is treating Bush Senior's ally Robert Gates' Pentagon arrival and James Baker's Iraq Study Group report as godsends that will end the war in Iraq, it's quite likely that they will deploy more troops and stay there indefinitely.

Voters Attack Bush's Empire

Posted on: Nov 8, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

Yesterday's elections marked the beginning of the end of Bush's Global War on Terror; here's what to look for next as we take apart the imperial state.

A War of the Words Against George Bush

Posted on: Oct 15, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

Apt quotes from some of the most eloquent Bush critics in our era -- from Howard Zinn to Barbara Ehrenreich.

Imagine the Twin Towers Hadn't Fallen on 9/11

Posted on: Sep 8, 2006, Source: The Nation and TomDispatch.com

What if there had been no giant cloud of destruction capable of bringing to mind the look of "the day after," no images of crumbling towers worthy of Independence Day?

The Hiroshima Stories We Can't Tell

Posted on: Aug 7, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

The Earth was knocked off its axis with America's atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 61 years ago. In some ways, we haven't yet recovered.

Bush's Global Green Zone

Posted on: Jun 28, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

The administration has painstakingly created a fictitious bubble of safety in its Baghdad 'Green Zone.' Now Bush expects us to buy into the belief that he's made us all safer, here and abroad.

A Guided Tour of Class War

Posted on: Jun 5, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

In this in-depth interview, Barbara Ehrenreich reveals how the class war rages on, and why middle-class Americans are so worried.

Protesters Give Bush the Finger

Posted on: Apr 30, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

This weekend's enormous anti-war march in New York City was unlike earlier protests, in part because none of the protesters even remotely believed the President would listen to them.

The Hyperpower Hype

Posted on: Apr 4, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

While Bush talked a great game when it came to exporting democracy to the Middle East, his main exports have been mayhem and ruins.

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