The War Abroad

A collection of 148 posts

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The One Surefire Thing Biden Can Do To Stop Houthi Attacks on Shipping

Hint: Biden doesn't seem like he's going to do it. But it'll both work and pay the biggest of dividends. PLUS: RIP to a Guantanamo attorney.

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"We Have To Strike Back At The Houthis"

Our last edition of 2023 asks: who's ready to Americanize the war in Yemen? PLUS: A Palestinian case before the European Court of Human Rights.

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Somalis Whose Relatives Were Killed by U.S. Strikes 'Have Yet To Receive Acknowledgement'

A letter human rights groups sent to the Pentagon indicates that the U.S. has reverted its typical callousness. PLUS: 'From The River To The Sea,' a free eBook I contributed to

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The Future of Warfare Is Happening In Gaza

Gaza is not just a (war-) crime scene, it's an AI laboratory. And it's clarifying that the point of AI-enabled war isn't precision—it's scale.

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My Kissinger Obit for ‘Rolling Stone’

A few notes on "Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies." If you like this piece, you'll love WALLER VS. WILDSTORM

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Meanwhile, in The West Bank

The quasi-ceasefire in Gaza will thankfully last into Wednesday. But the West Bank continues to be riven by Israeli violence and displacement

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Peace Is Built, Not Handed Out

A pause in the bombing and a hostage release is the first sign of hope since Oct. 7. But the U.S. is bombing Iraq now, and the deal doesn't constrain Israel in the West Bank

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Usama bin Laden Was Bad, In Case I Really Have To Explain That

Sure, it's social-media manipulation pushing us to the Edgelord Singularity. But just because you were lied to about UBL doesn't make him redeemable.

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A Ceasefire/Hostage Release Might Have Saved These Elite U.S. Soldiers

It's been a simply horrific past 72 hours in Gaza, as Israel besieges hospitals and the latest round of U.S.-Iranian escalation unfolds.

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Pentagon Confirms U.S. Drone Presence Over Gaza

They're not armed, DOD says. But drone footage, especially cumulatively, provides Biden a substantial look at the realities Israel is creating on the ground.

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U.S. Hostage Rescue Is A 'Contingency' for U.S. Special Ops in Israel

It isn't the mission for elite U.S. forces, according to a senior Pentagon official. But it's an option—and one that the Biden team has to be very careful about.

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Video: How Israel Is Repeating The U.S.' Post-9/11 Mistakes

I spoke with DW, the German news outlet, about the "grim chain of consequences" known as the War on Terror, and how Israel's devastation of Gaza follows the template. PLUS: Amalek in Gaza

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U.S. Bombs Iran in Syria And Tries To Call Time-Out

As it struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps positions in Syria, the Pentagon insisted that it's neither part of Israel's war and it doesn't want to fire again. Good luck with that

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Talking Israel/Palestine on The Ezra Klein Show

PLUS: the Pentagon sees "a prospect for much more significant escalation," while the King of Jordan has a message about U.S. leadership in light of Gaza.

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Biden's "Indispensable Nation" Is on The Brink of A Wider War

A regional war that could involve America is frighteningly close. Biden's speech talked past it

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Veto Joe

Whatever the Biden administration sought this week for humanitarian aid to Gaza, they blocked a U.N. resolution demanding the violence pause in order to provide it.

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Confront 9/11 Politics And They Can Be Defeated

If this is Israel's 9/11, be Susan Sontag. Apartheid is what has gotten over 1200 Israelis killed and may soon "pretty much ethnically cleanse the northern part of the Gaza Strip"

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Sami al-Arian & Daniel Levy on The Return To Open War in Israel/Palestine

Two wise people, a Palestinian and an Israeli, on a harrowing past few days and avoiding the horrors to come. FOREVER WARS editorializes: if you want peace, free Palestine.

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The Media's Role in 20 Years of Islamophobia

Notes on a weekend in Doha and my prepared remarks to a panel discussion on Islamophobia that Georgetown University convened. PLUS: Your War on Terror news roundup

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China Says NSA Surveillance Is Intensifying

As Uncle Ben once said, with great power competition comes great espionage expansions. PLUS: Egypt buys a senator; and more!

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Anatomy of a U.S. Foreign Policy Win

Ukraine gets weapons. Imran Khan gets dismissed and prosecuted. The only ones who lose are Pakistanis, and since when does the U.S. give a shit about them?

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The Virgin Rome And The Chad Constantinople

Do you think about the Roman Empire a lot? Obviously. But which Roman Empire? And which successor to the Roman Empire? PLUS: Some appearances I'm doing.

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Writing Villains: A Place To Put Bad Feelings

Waller Vs. Wildstorm #3, the big action issue, is in stores now! No spoilers, just notes on the catharsis of scripting people who do evil things, like "peace operations officer" Slade Wilson.

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Military Judge Rejects CIA's 'Rectal Feeding' Narrative for Post-9/11 Sexual Assault

No previous judge has challenged the agency's line about what it did to 9/11-era detainees. PLUS: The absence of the U.S. military for the relief of Maui.

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CIA Story Time: From Patrice Lumumba's Assassination To Post-9/11 Torture

Before his death in 2008, CIA operator Larry Devlin lamented the persecution of agency interrogators. A forthcoming book sheds light on his role overthrowing Congo's first post-colonial government.