“Intelligent people know that the empire is on the downhill”: A veteran CIA agent spills the goods on the Deep State and our foreign policy nightmares
After almost 30 years in the CIA, Ray McGovern became a truth-teller. He sits down with Salon for a long debriefing I first heard Ray McGovern speak on a country road in the New England hills. This was courtesy of…
Why US Companies Are Left Out as Iran Gets Back to Business
It’s hard to say who pounced more quickly, the Iranians or the rest of the world, when punishing international sanctions were lifted last month. In a matter of days, the Islamic Republic is back in business. As expected, the European…
From Mideast to Moscow, These 3 Crises Could Wreck Obama’s Foreign Policy
What a start for the Obama administration’s final year. In the course of a few days,Russia declares the U.S. a threat to its security taking relations to a perilous new low, and Iran announces it will escalate a new missile…
At Stake in Climate Talks: America’s Global Leadership Role
The final week of climate negotiations begins today and a lot is at stake. Of the 195 nations in attendance, two have more to gain or lose than any others. One of these is the Marshall Islands. Anebok, one of…
Obama’s Job Now: Fight ISIS All-In as Turkey Plays Both Sides
Turkey’s stunningly rash decision last week to down a Russian Su-24 fighter jet flying an anti-terrorist mission near the Turkish-Syrian border alters the calculus in the Syria crisis at least as much as the ISIS ’s November 13 attacks in…
SYRIA.
Salon did not publish the following column. It was filed November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving and three days after Turkish pilots shot a Russian jet out of the sky near the border between Syria and Turkey—by what evidence has…
Why Allies and Adversaries Should Unite to Defeat ISIS
Suddenly, the civilized world has one thing on its mind — an alliance among key nations to fight ISIS. No one is talking about containment anymore. The topic is decisive defeat on Syrian and Iraqi battlefields and anywhere else terrorists…
Obama’s Foreign Policy Smacks of the ‘Carter Syndrome’
With a vastly ambitious deal governing trans-Pacific trade and a “no” to the oil industry’s pet pipeline project, President Obama is now thoroughly in that mode all White House occupants favor late in their time. Our 44th president is building…
Defense and State In a Tug of War Over Obama’s Syria Policy
For many of us, the news last week that President Obama is sending U.S. Special Forces to Syria to oversee the training of Syrian rebels fighting ISIS is confusing. It begs the question—what exactly is the Obama administration’s policy, strategy,…
How Putin Put Obama in a Bind on Syria
As Russia’s advance into Syria proceeds, apparently with some early successes against key targets, it starts to look as if Moscow is using the Syria crisis to force the Obama administration into a bind. On Saturday, Jordan agreed to cooperate…
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