Let Us Be The Peacemakers Let Us Be The Peacemakers
The most striking American tragedy of these last nine years—far worse than the tragedy of 9/11 itself—is just how weak we have been in the wake of war.
Sep 20, 2010 / Timothy Patrick McCarthy
Blackwater’s Black Ops Blackwater’s Black Ops
Internal documents reveal the firm's clandestine work for multinationals and governments.
Sep 15, 2010 / Decade in Review / Jeremy Scahill
The Other Side of the New American Foundation: The Afghan ‘War of Necessity’ The Other Side of the New American Foundation: The Afghan ‘War of Necessity’
A former Cheney aide Michael Waltz blasts Obama at a New America Foundation forum, following the Foundation's recent internal disagreement over the war in Afghanistan.
Sep 15, 2010 / Blog / Bob Dreyfuss
The ‘American Way of War’ Quiz The ‘American Way of War’ Quiz
To weigh your skills, take the eleven-question pop quiz below, and see if you deserve to be a four-star general, a gun-totin’ mercenary or a mere private.
Sep 14, 2010 / Tom Engelhardt and Nick Turse
Afghanistan on Life Support Afghanistan on Life Support
The American war and Afghanistan’s civilians.
Sep 13, 2010 / Nick Turse
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
The Afghanistan Study Group Challenges US Strategy, With Flawed but Useful Report The Afghanistan Study Group Challenges US Strategy, With Flawed but Useful Report
Will the "Team B"–style approach open the debate over the Afghan war, in which the establishment has largely closed ranks in support of a failing strategy?
Sep 10, 2010 / Blog / Bob Dreyfuss
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child… Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child…
Newest pieces, women complaining about the attention given to Jonathan Franzen, some book and DVD recommendations and the latest mail.
Sep 9, 2010 / Blog / Eric Alterman
Against Counterinsurgency Against Counterinsurgency
The recently released report of the Afghanistan Study Group affirms The Nation's long-held belief that American military disengagement in Afghanistan, combined with a new diplomati...
Sep 9, 2010 / Editorial / The Editors
Biden Aide Refuses to Rule Out Continuing US Occupation in Iraq Biden Aide Refuses to Rule Out Continuing US Occupation in Iraq
Tony Blinken says that the US intends to remove the rest of troops in 2011, but he won't say that they'll leave even if Iraq falls apart. And, he says, there is no dialogue with Ir...
Sep 8, 2010 / Blog / Bob Dreyfuss