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. subscribe to Tom Engelhardt's feed

Leaving a Permanent Mark on Iraq

Posted on: Feb 16, 2006, Source: TomDispatch.com

No matter how much the military hems and haws about withdrawing from Iraq, the bases we're installing tell the real story.

Our State of Disunity

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

In Bush's fifth State of the Union speech, we can only begin to guess what words will come back to haunt him in the coming year.

How The Bush Administration Got Spooked

Posted on: Nov 25, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

Starting when he blinked in the face of Cindy Sheehan's challenge, the political landscape has tilted steeply away from President Bush in recent weeks.

Failing Upward, Bush Style

Posted on: Nov 9, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

In keeping with Bush's bass-ackwards management style, we present a gallery of the rogues, criminals and liars he has promoted or awarded for their grave mistakes.

Katrina and Cindy Blow into Town

Posted on: Sep 25, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

The staggering turnout of Saturday's antiwar protest in Washington DC reflected the American public's growing opposition to the war in Iraq.

A War of Words

Posted on: Aug 29, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

The language Bush has used in recent speeches about Iraq and Cindy Sheehan illustrates why his message (and approval rating) is starting to fail.

Cindy, Don, and George

Posted on: Aug 14, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

Cindy Sheehan's blunt, take-no-prisoners approach has been remarkably successful and may even spark the Iraq War's first 'tipping point.'

The Media's Roving Eye

Posted on: Jul 28, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

Connect some recent media 'dots' to a few forgotten ones and you have framework for understanding the Plame case.

The Spies Who Came In from the Hot Tub

Posted on: Jul 24, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

The massive footprints left by spies in Italy have given us a glimpse into the Bush administration's "shadow war" being conducted -- on our behalf -- through the CIA.

Boy-President in a Failed World?

Posted on: Jul 11, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

As reality grows ever darker, our President never ventures far from his scripted version of a fictional world that is nowhere to be seen.

It’s a Pentagon World and Welcome to It

Posted on: Jun 2, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

A plan to reorganize military bases at home is just one piece of a larger puzzle that involves the projection of American power into the distant lands that most concern us.

Winners and Losers

Posted on: May 6, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

What we have been seeing throughout Latin America -- as along Russia's border -- has been a serial revolt in country after country against the Cold War world and the imperial orders it imposed on its near abroads.

Iraq "Uptick," Superpower Downtick?

Posted on: Apr 25, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

In Iraq, we can see the same basic pattern recurring as happened in Vietnam -- recent glowing statements about insurgency downticks that were followed by reports on upticks in fighting in Iraq with a similar slow erosion of support for the war in the United States.

Faking Civil Society

Posted on: Apr 8, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

Yesterday's Senate hearing on the Patriot Act reveals how far we've come from a functioning civil society.

One-Way Planet

Posted on: Mar 24, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

Exactly how narrow have the boundaries of discussion about the American "mission" in the world grown in the Bush years?

Unconnected Dots

Posted on: Jan 25, 2005, Source: TomDispatch.com

The global reach of Bush's inauguration speech was lost on a media with a fragmented view the world; for a holistic analysis you'll have to click off that TV, use your local paper to wrap the fish, and head for the internet.

War on the Floor

Posted on: Dec 22, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

At Toys "R" Us, you learn much about the true forces of history; for there, children led the way in the crucial battles for market share. It was a war that put history to shame – and there's probably no better place to start than with a "real American hero," G.I. Joe.

Icarus (Armed With Vipers) Over Iraq

Posted on: Dec 6, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

For almost a century now, air power has been America's signature way of war. So where are the stories about aerial bombing in Iraq?

Osama bin Laden as Global Shock Jock

Posted on: Oct 31, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

With TV-perfect timing, Bin Laden has once again managed, like the Wizard of Oz, to magnify himself.

The Incident on 'Death Street'

Posted on: Sep 20, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

The attacks within the 'Green Zone" – one of the few remaining bastions of U.S control – threaten the presidential fantasy of 'progress' in Iraq.

Entering the Belief System

Posted on: Sep 1, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

Voices from the Convention floor.

What October Surprise?

Posted on: Aug 9, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

While the Bush administration would consider almost any scenario that might advance their candidate's second-term fortunes, an October surprise is doubtful, considering these ten surprises they proved remarkably unprepared for.

All Orange, All the Time

Posted on: Aug 4, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

An urgent terror alert was based on information that is as much as three years old and largely based on public documents. Why are the media still playing Keystone Kops with the administration?

Letting Bush Off the Hook

Posted on: Jul 12, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

The Senate Intelligence Committee allows an increasingly desperate administration duck responsibility for the Iraq war by pointing the finger solely at the CIA.

In the Driver's Seat

Posted on: Jul 6, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

Looking forward and looking backward, how will history look to Americans years hence?

Inventing Sovereignty

Posted on: Jun 22, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

The new "Iraqi government" has indeed been granted sovereignty, but sadly only in the United States and by our media. Someone should tell the Iraqis.

Postcards from the Edge

Posted on: May 8, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

From Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib, the American mini-gulag was never meant to be a system of imprisonment for crimes; it was meant for information extraction -- in essence, a torture system.

Welcome To Guantanamo World

Posted on: Apr 4, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

The military has been 'outsourcing' its detention centers, creating a shadow archipelago of penal colonies.

Twenty-first Century Gunboat Diplomacy

Posted on: Mar 30, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

Our new military bases are essentially the 21st-century version of the old European warships. In the last decade-plus, as the pace of our foreign wars has picked up, we've left behind an ever-widening world of bases.

Impermeable Barriers

Posted on: Feb 29, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

The urge for walled-in security is as old as the most ancient walled city. But Israel's most essential problems can't be solved by a wall -- even one that successfully left the "barbarians" outside the gates.

Cheney Sees His Shadow

Posted on: Feb 1, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

Like Punxsutawney Phil, Vice President Cheney emerged recently from his bunker in Washington. What is the significance of these suddenly prolific sightings?

Watching the Numbers

Posted on: Jan 25, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

A remarkable Newsweek poll puts Bush on the defensive against Kerry, with 52 percent of voters angling for the president's defeat.

The Imperial Gong Show Year

Posted on: Jan 3, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

The president and his men have been living in a fantasy world that makes 'The Lord of the Rings' look like an exercise in reality.

Justice Goes Offshore and is Imprisoned

Posted on: Jan 1, 2004, Source: TomDispatch.com

America’s use of torture is becoming commonplace.

Intelligence Unglued

Posted on: Jul 13, 2003, Source: TomDispatch.com

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, a group of 30 retired senior intelligence officers keeping watch on the use and abuse of intelligence, voices its deep concern.

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