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PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Latest & Most Reckless US Imperial Act

PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Latest & Most Reckless US Imperial Act

January 21, 2020 · by Patrick Lawrence · in Articles, Consortium News

Following the U.S. assassination of Soleimani, the Trump administration is leading American conduct abroad into a zone of probably unprecedented lawlessness. Of all the preposterous assertions made since the drone assassination of Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Jan. 3, the…

PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Iranian General’s Intent

PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Iranian General’s Intent

January 6, 2020 · by Patrick Lawrence · in Articles, Consortium News

Given the gravity of last week’s drone assassination, the State and Defense Departments must prove their claims against Qassem Soleimani. AFAQ–TV, a satellite station broadcasting from Baghdad, ran a brief video clip last May of Ali Khamenei speaking to a small gathering….

The Revelations of WikiLeaks: No. 3—The Most Extensive Classified Leak in History

The Revelations of WikiLeaks: No. 3—The Most Extensive Classified Leak in History

May 16, 2019 · by Patrick Lawrence · in Articles, Consortium News

The “Iraq War Logs” disgorged an unprecedented profusion of documents, military reports and videos, reports Patrick Lawrence.  For WikiLeaks, 2010 was an exceptionally eventful year. In April the transparency organization released “Collateral Murder,” the video of U.S. Army helicopters as they shot more…

Turkey Could Turn the Battle for Mosul into a Sectarian Bloodbath

Turkey Could Turn the Battle for Mosul into a Sectarian Bloodbath

October 28, 2016 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

We are now ten days into the Iraqi–led, U.S.–backed fight to retake Mosul, ISIS’s remaining stronghold in Iraq. Assuming a victory, will it look much different than a defeat? The most consequential aftermath is the political, diplomatic, and battlefield mess Turkish…

Obama Is Making Two Huge Mistakes in the War on ISIS in Mosul

Obama Is Making Two Huge Mistakes in the War on ISIS in Mosul

October 21, 2016 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

The long-anticipated battle to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, is the biggest test to date for President Obama’s strategy against ISIS and other terrorist groups active in the Middle East. The chances of success are decidedly mixed. Paradoxically, the forces…

“This will stop only when the American people get fed up”: American exceptionalism, the New York Times, and our foreign policy after Barack Obama

“This will stop only when the American people get fed up”: American exceptionalism, the New York Times, and our foreign policy after Barack Obama

May 22, 2016 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

Our smartest modern military historian explains to Salon what’s wrong about our adventures in the Middle East Part one of my interview with Andrew Bacevich, the soldier-turned-scholar who has just published “America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military…

“The scope of our failure”: The real story of our decades-long foreign policy disaster that set the Middle East on fire

“The scope of our failure”: The real story of our decades-long foreign policy disaster that set the Middle East on fire

May 15, 2016 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

The brilliant Andrew Bacevich tells Salon why our massive march to folly in Middle East has to be seen as one war I first interviewed Andrew Bacevich, the soldier turned scholar, after he spoke at the Hope Club, an old-line…

“Does anyone have a plan?” Here’s how we fix decades of overseas neo-conservative adventurism

“Does anyone have a plan?” Here’s how we fix decades of overseas neo-conservative adventurism

October 28, 2015 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

We have accepted the horrors of American exceptionalism for too long. Here’s a progressive foreign policy blueprint “Tell me, what exactly is ‘an authentically progressive foreign policy.’” That is the request of a reader responding to last week’s column in the comment…

This is not a democracy: Behind the Deep State that Obama, Hillary or Trump couldn’t control

This is not a democracy: Behind the Deep State that Obama, Hillary or Trump couldn’t control

October 21, 2015 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

Foreign policy never really changes regardless of who holds the White House. This is why exceptionalism always wins There are two ways to consider the White House’s announcement last week that, no, American troops will no longer withdraw from Afghanistan…

Donald Trump’s biggest crime is his honesty: How he exposes the sickening rot at the core of the GOP

Donald Trump’s biggest crime is his honesty: How he exposes the sickening rot at the core of the GOP

August 13, 2015 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

Republicans have spent decades dressing up fear as courage, pretending at seriousness while advancing hysteria. Many of us cast last week’s Republican debate in Cleveland as entertainment—I have heard the thought repeated many times—but this seems to me a cheap…

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Writer, commentator, longtime newspaper and magazine correspondent abroad. Writes often on Europe and Asia. Published five books.

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  • PATRICK LAWRENCE: History Turned in Beijing May 18, 2026
  • “For Trump, it’s Israel über alles now.” May 18, 2026
  • “Dignity in a West Bank refugee camp.” May 16, 2026

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