THE “LONGEST WAR” IS NOT OVER

Speaking from the White House on August 31, President Joe Biden lied to the people of the U.S. and to the world: “Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan — the longest war in American history.” The U.S. war on Afghanistan did not end— it has only adapted to technological advances and morphed into a war that read more

Climate Crisis Chronicle #1: Cat 4 and 5 Hurricanes, Tornados Where They Haven’t Been, and Rising Temps Ahead Bode More Like It

By Dave Lindorff

My township of Upper Dublin, located about 12 miles north of Philadelphia, got clobbered by Hurricane Ida, but what’s strange about that is we’re located 1100 miles, as the crow (or a jet plane on a direct route) flies, from where Ida made landfall last Sunday.

While hurricanes, even a powerful Cat 4 storm like Ida with 150 mph sustained winds as it reached the coast of Louisiana, weaken quickly once they leave a warm body of water, and become no read more

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, David Swanson, Jackie Larkin September 9, 2021

By Gorilla Radio, September 5, 2021

LISTEN HERE.

Many took heart when America announced an end to its military occupation of Afghanistan last month. But optimism for a beginning of peace in that benighted country’s decades-long state of civil conflict and uncertainty is now clouded by bellicose statements made in Washington by an administration that seems to want to end its war and fight it too. Following a recent attack against civilians and American troops at Kabul’s airport, in a speech delivered read more

What Ending a War Could Look Like

By David Swanson

When you imagine ending a war, do you imagine the U.S. President lamenting the human cost of the war’s financial expense while simultaneously demanding that Congress increase military spending — and while mentioning new wars that could potentially be launched?

Do you picture him blowing up families with missiles from robot airplanes, and committing to continuing those “strikes” while maintaining that such things don’t constitute continuing the war?

Did you hope that if read more

Kids die last as Biden tries plays tough guy: Humbled US Leaves Chaos and Mass Murder while Fleeing Afghanistan

By Dave Lindorff

America’s last days in Afghanistan offered a sickening display of all that was wrong with the $2.3-trillion, 20-year failed attempt by a blundering, self-congratulatory but decaying empire to have its way in a place it neither really cared about at all, nor understood in the least.

First there was a catastrophic but predictable attack on US and Taliban troops as well as desperate civilians trying to escape the ruins and chaos of the country the US read more

Talk World Radio: Afghanistan: And Stay Out

Talk World Radio is recorded as audio and video on Riverside.fm. Here is this week’s video and all the videos on Youtube.

This week on Talk World Radio: Better late and diastrously than never. It’s never too soon to end a war, even if you don’t really end it, tell lots of lies about it, and increase military spending to prepare for more wars.

Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

Download from LetsTryDemocracy.

Download from read more

What the War of Terror Has Cost Us So Far


Malika Ahmadi, two, died in a U.S. drone strike on Kabul today, her family says. Has the war of 20 years cost us the ability to care?

The war on Afghanistan and the war on Iraq that it was a means of helping start, and all the other spin-off wars leave (if you count only bombing from above as leaving) millions dead, millions injured, millions traumatized, millions homeless, the rule of law eroded, the natural environment devastated, government secrecy and surveillance and authoritarianism increased read more

The Washington Post’s Case Against Democracy

The Washington Post has been a leading promoter of the Rules Based Order, which some have confused with a pro-democracy initiative. The Post has, however, assembled a powerful case against democracy, that we all need to take seriously if we want to be, you know, serious.

I want to highlight just the most recent two additions to the anti-democracy argument that by now is quite overwhelmingly established.

On August 29th, a column read more

Building Social Solidarity Across National Boundaries

Is it possible to build social solidarity beyond the state?

It’s easy to conclude that it’s not.  In 1915, as national governments produced the shocking carnage of World War I, Ralph Chaplin, an activist in the Industrial Workers of the World, wrote his stirring song, “Solidarity Forever.”  Taken up by unions around the globe, it proclaimed that there was “no power greater anywhere beneath the sun” than international read more