Time to Stop Making Nice to the Military Time to Stop Making Nice to the Military
President Obama's go-slow approach to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discrimination in the military has left repeal on life support in a lame-duck session of Congress.
Nov 11, 2010 / The Notion / Laura Flanders
The Lies of Islamophobia The Lies of Islamophobia
When it comes to US foreign policy and the Muslim world, it’s as if we remain fixed in the eleventh century in a perpetual battle of “us” against “the...
Nov 8, 2010 / John Feffer
The New American Isolationism The New American Isolationism
The cost of turning away from war's horrific realities.
Nov 1, 2010 / William J. Astore
Jeremy Scahill: Inside the WikiLeaks Torture Documents Jeremy Scahill: Inside the WikiLeaks Torture Documents
Documents recently released by WikiLeaks confirm that the Pentagon knew about the real civilian death toll in Iraq, and that security forces were torturing detainees.
Oct 26, 2010 / Nation in the News / Press Room
NATO Backs Taliban Peace Talks NATO Backs Taliban Peace Talks
With Bob Gates on the way out, and a new national security adviser who's a war skeptic, Obama has shifted gears on negotiating with the Taliban.
Oct 14, 2010 / Blog / Bob Dreyfuss
Judge Issues Injunction Effectively Ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Judge Issues Injunction Effectively Ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
The Log Cabin Republicans triumph in a lawsuit that could end DADT—unless the Obama administration appeals the ruling.
Oct 13, 2010 / Blog / John Nichols
The War Addicts The War Addicts
Are the Pentagon and US military high command addicted not to victory, but to the state of war itself?
Sep 30, 2010 / Tom Engelhardt
The Washington Gossip Machine The Washington Gossip Machine
Once a serious journalist, the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward now makes a very fine living as chief gossip-monger of the governing class.
Sep 27, 2010 / Andrew J. Bacevich
One and a Half Cheers for American Decline One and a Half Cheers for American Decline
US troops in Afghanistan are coming home whether Washington wants them to or not, whether there's an antiwar movement or not. And it's going to happen more quickly than anyon...
Sep 21, 2010 / Tom Engelhardt
Congress to Hold Hearings on Nation Investigation Into Discharges of Veterans Congress to Hold Hearings on Nation Investigation Into Discharges of Veterans
The House Veterans Affairs Committee will hold hearings Wednesday morning into the impact of "personality disorder discharges," and allegations raised in The Nation in April that the Department of Defense is cheating veterans of health benefits through faulty "personality disorder" diagnoses. The Committee, chaired by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) will call both reporter Joshua Kors and the subject of his investigation, former Army Sgt. Chuck Luther, as witnesses. Information about the hearing is here. You can read Joshua Kors's "Disposable Soldiers" here. For media inquiries, contact ben [at] thenation [dot] com. In "Disposable Soldiers," Kors provides an overview of the investigation and the issue at stake: For three years The Nation has been reporting on military doctors' fraudulent use of personality disorder to discharge wounded soldiers [see Kors, "How Specialist Town Lost His Benefits," April 9, 2007]. PD is a severe mental illness that emerges during childhood and is listed in military regulations as a pre-existing condition, not a result of combat. Thus those who are discharged with PD are denied a lifetime of disability benefits, which the military is required to provide to soldiers wounded during service. Soldiers discharged with PD are also denied long-term medical care. And they have to give back a slice of their re-enlistment bonus. That amount is often larger than the soldier's final paycheck. As a result, on the day of their discharge, many injured vets learn that they owe the Army several thousand dollars. According to figures from the Pentagon and a Harvard University study, the military is saving billions by discharging soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan with personality disorder.
Sep 13, 2010 / Press Room