US Moral Authority Is Dead And Buried

CaitlinJohnstone

April 16, 2023

Seven progressive Democrats from the House of Representatives have signed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for the Biden administration to drop the charges against Julian Assange and cease seeking his extradition.

Reclaiming the US

Chris Hedges

April 5, 2023

“At what point does a beleaguered population living near or below the poverty line rise up in protest?” From the author’s talk on April 4 at the Independent National Convention in Austin, Texas.

Why Socialism?

AlbertEinstein

April 15, 2023

Albert Einstein is the world-famous physicist. This article was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949). It was subsequently published in May 1998 to commemorate the first issue of MR‘s fiftieth year.

—The Editors

US Military: Losing Wars is making Recruitment Harder

NanLevinson

April 14, 2023

After more than 20 years of losing wars, recruiting for the U.S. Army is now officially a mess. Last year, that service fell short of its goal by 15,000 recruits, or a quarter of its target. Despite reports of better numbers in the first months of this year, Army officials doubt they will achieve their objective this time around either. The commanding general at Fort Jackson, the South Carolina facility that provides basic training to 50% of all new members of the Army, called the recruiting command’s task the hardest since the all-volunteer military was launched in 1973. The Army’s leaders were alarmed enough to make available up to $1.2 billion for recruitment incentives and related initiatives.

The US Could Use Some Separation Of Media And State

CaitlinJohnstone

April 14, 2023

The US State Department’s spokesperson Ned Price is being replaced by a man named Matthew Miller. Like Price, Miller has had extensive prior involvement in both the US government and the mass media; Price is a former CIA officer and Obama administration National Security Council staffer who for years worked as an NBC News analyst, while Miller has previously had roles in both the Obama and Biden administrations and spent years as an analyst for MSNBC.

Russia, China FM attend high-level conference on Afghanistan

AssociatedPress

April 13, 2023

The top diplomats from Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan attended a conference Thursday that focused on ensuring regional security in light of the situation in Afghanistan.

From Forever to Eternal War

KarenJ. Greenberg

April 12, 2023

“It is time,” President Biden announced in April 2021, “to end the forever war” that started with the invasion of Afghanistan soon after the tragic terror attacks on this country on September 11, 2001. Indeed, that August, amid chaos and disaster, the president did finally pull the last remaining U.S. forces out of that country.

90 Seconds to Midnight: The Doomsday Clock and Me

Frida Berrigan

April 11, 2023

I’m not a TikTok person. I’m too old. But when I finally ventured onto that popular but much-maligned app, which traffics in short videos and hot takes, I was surprised to find many videos about the Doomsday Clock. It’s nothing like a conventional timepiece, of course. It’s meant to show how close humanity has come to nuclear Armageddon — to the proverbial “midnight.”

Vladimir Pozner: Why was Russia's EU & NATO bids rejected?

https://youtu.be/rfGJjrb3fZ8

Jan 26, 2023

148 views • Jan 26, 2023

Vladimir Vladimirovich Pozner is a French-born Russian-American journalist and presenter. He is best known in the West for his television appearances representing and explaining the views of the Soviet Union during the Cold War

The Hypocrisy of the Christian Church

Chris Hedges

April 6, 2023

This is a talk I gave on April 6 at a protest at Princeton Theological Seminary demanding the removal of hedge fund billionaire Michael Fisch as chair of the seminary's trustee board.

We are not here to debate the moral squalor that defines the life of the hedge fund billionaire and chair of the seminary’s trustee board, Michael Fisch.

Analysis: Will Azerbaijan-Iran tensions lead to war?

Maziar Motamedi

April 8, 2023

Tehran has warned it cannot ignore what it considers a security threat emanating from growing Azerbaijan-Israel ties.

Iran installs cameras in public to crack down on women refusing to wear headscarves

GeorgeStyllis

April 8, 2023

Cameras are being installed in Iran to catch and punish women walking in public without a headscarf, as the regime in Tehran cracks down on those defying strict dress codes.

How has the Saudi-Iran divide affected the Middle East?

Story by Al Jazeera Staff

April 7, 2023

Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to follow up on arrangements to reopen their diplomatic missions to Tehran and Riyadh respectively and to discuss resuming flights between them.

Azerbaijan expels four Iranian diplomats amid rising tensions

Al Jazeerah

April 6, 2023

Azerbaijan said it would expel four Iranian diplomats over “provocative actions” in the latest deterioration of relations between the neighbours.

The Poisonous Atmosphere That Pervades Iran

RoyaHakakian

April 6, 2023

In late November, a journalist named Ali Pour-Tabatabaie reported that 18 girls from an arts academy in the city of Qom, Iran, had fallen sick, apparently from the effects of poison. The story got little attention at the time, as the country was consumed with the protests that had begun after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. The 22-year-old woman had been arrested by the morality police on grounds of not wearing the hijab, or mandatory headscarf, properly. Two weeks after that first report of poisoning, 51 students were hospitalized in Qom. By the end of December, a dozen more cases of suspected mass poisoning of students, most of them female, were reported in states around the country. The timing of these incidents, occurring within weeks of the nationwide anti-regime protests led by women and girls, has raised suspicion for many Iranians that the attacks are a form of retribution for dissent.

Fascism Denial American Style: Exceptionalism in the Ivory Tower

AnthonyDiMaggio

April 5, 2023

It borders on cliché the number of times historians lament how “fascism” is an over-used term. But Sinclair Lewis, writing about the specter of fascism a century ago, understood something most historians don’t – that U.S. intellectual culture is loathe to acknowledge fascist undercurrents in this country. I attribute this hostility to intellectuals’ belief that their nation is an exceptionalist democracy – hence fascism “can’t happen here.”

As Tax Day Approaches: Is the Federal Budget Moral or Immoral?

H.Patricia Hynes

April 4, 2023

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment) – April, the month tax filings are due, prompts us to ponder what our income taxes pay for.  Are they used to provide all citizens sufficient resources and public goods for human security and well-being – the core of our national security?

Western News Media Downplay Ukraine War Crimes

Ted Galen Carpenter

April 4, 2023

In late March, the United Nations issued a new report on war crimes being committed by both Russian and Ukrainian forces. The document provides a shocking litany of brutal behavior on the part of both militaries, although the investigators concluded that Russian units have committed the majority of offenses. Given the extent of Western pressure and the UN’s own biases, it is hard to determine the accuracy of that conclusion. However, the evidence cited of Ukrainian abuses is far from trivial.

Iranian media claims naval forces warned US Navy aircraft against entering its airspace

BradfordBetz

April 2, 2023

Iranian media on Sunday reported that the country’s naval forces had warned off a U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft from entering Iran’s airspace over the Sea of Oman.

Iran arrests women for not wearing hijab after man threw yogurt on them

AdamSchrader

April 2, 2023

Authorities in Iran have arrested two women at a store in the city of Shandiz after a man was seen throwing yogurt at them Thursday, officials said.