A report found that since President Obama took office between 282 and 535 civilians have been reported as killed in Pakistan, including more than 60 children.
Hastings, in his hard-hitting new book, discusses "politically correct imperialism," why the military is obsessed with its legacy, and why we're stuck in post-9/11 thinking.
Emily Dickinson, Washington Monthly. January 16, 2012.
Colombia’s incredible turnaround strategy has become a rare success story in the drug war, as well as its most formidable brand and export. It is, however, problematic.
Phillip Smith, Drug War Chronicle. December 19, 2011.
Amnesty International has called on Iran to stop executing people for drug offenses, saying the Islamic Republic has embarked on "a killing spree of staggering proportions."
Aurelia Fierros, Huffington Post. December 7, 2011.
In part of a move to transfer tactics from the "war on terror" to the "war on drugs", the Pentagon is paying private security firms millions to fight the drug war internationally.
Enmired in wars with phantoms, Washington has been blindsided by every major trend of the last decade. We may be going deeper into the darkness than any of us dare to imagine.
Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com. September 8, 2011.
We could stop using it to make ourselves feel like a far better country than we are. We could leave the dead in peace and take a hard look at ourselves in the nearest mirror.
Joseph Stiglitz, Al Jazeera English. September 6, 2011.
The September 11, 2001, attacks by al-Qaeda were meant to harm the United States, and they did, but in ways that Osama bin Laden probably never imagined.