Maryland, and Every Other State Should Stop Sending Guard Troops to Distant Wars

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, February 12, 2023

I drafted the following as testimony to the Maryland General Assembly in support of bill HB0220

A U.S. polling company called Zogby Research Services was able to poll U.S. troops in Iraq in 2006, and found that 72 percent of those polled wanted the war to be ended in 2006. For those in the Army, 70 percent wanted that 2006 ending date, but in the Marines only 58 percent did. In the reserves and National Guard, however, the numbers were 89 and read more

Through Cold and Snow, and Unarmed, People Try to Keep Their Mountain Out of War

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, February 12, 2023

When I tell some people that the inhabitants of certain mountains in Montenegro are trying to protect their home from being turned into a giant military training ground by NATO, they inform me that the training ground (which, up until that monent, they’d never heard of) in Montenegro (which they’d never heard of) is absolutely required because of Putin.

Needless to say, I think that Putin (and every living U.S. president, and quite a number read more

Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, I Never Thought I’d Miss the Earthquakes

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

In many ways, it’s hard to absorb (if I can even use that word) the increasing extremity of our weather world. Just when you’ve taken in the latest newsflashes, something even more extreme appears on the radar screen and that news becomes history. It’s already ancient news that the read more

The Monroe Doctrine Is Soaked in Blood

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, February 5, 2023

David Swanson is the author of the new book The Monroe Doctrine at 200 and What to Replace It With.

The Monroe Doctrine was first discussed under that name as justification for the U.S. war on Mexico that moved the western U.S. border south, swallowing up the present-day states of California, Nevada, and Utah, most of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. By no means was that as far south as some read more

Joe and Vlad in the Land of Stories

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, February 4, 2023

In a children’s book by Chris Colfer called The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning, a Napoleonic French army of soldiers, guns, swords, and cannons arrives in the fairy tale land where Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and all sorts of similar people and fairies dwell.

The girl in charge of the place immediately begins organizing armies to fight the invaders. What choice does she have? Well, there are a number of reasons, somewhat unique to the read more