43 Articles

Monday, October 17, 2011
UN Torture Report Stirs Pressure for Congressional Response
No one in Congress has introduced language to expose and defund US assistance to human rights violators like the Afghan security forces, but the time may be approaching. The gravity of the UN report is stirring new concern in NATO countries and may make it impossible to continue routine evasions of the Leahy Law here.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
US Killings in Yemen: Good Politics at Home, But a Quagmire Abroad
(5 comments) On May 2 of this year, Osama bin Laden was killed in a Navy Seals raid on his home and compound. That killing didn't deter an attack on a Chinook that left 38 dead, including 30 Americans, among them 22 Navy Seals, nor did the assassination of the Al Qaeda leader stop the September insurgent attacks on the US embassy, NATO headquarters and a CIA station in Kabul.

Thursday, June 23, 2011
Obama Quickens Afghan Withdrawal in Face of Pressure for Peace
(1 comments) Obama will be trying to sell himself to peace voters while watching out for the military, as well as unpredictable pressures from Republicans, and facing military families who wonder just what this was all about.

Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Fight for Peace Heats Up
(3 comments) An Obama refusal to decide on a significant troop reduction may jeopardize his re-election and will reveal much about power in Washington. Is there an institutional mindset firmly committed to the Long War in spite of huge public opposition, or does democratic sentiment matter enough overrule the elites and shorten the war?

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Elections a Setback for Peace
Both parties collaborated in keeping Afghanistan out of the national election debate and media coverage while during the period June-November alone, 274 American soldiers were killed and 2,934 were wounded on the battlefield.

Thursday, August 26, 2010
US Combat Ends in Iraq, But Covert Operations Begin
(2 comments) The immediate future is uncertain. US soldiers currently being sent to Iraq are told their mission is "to shut it down." But the real story is being hidden by the Obama administration's insistence that its promise to end the war is being kept. A war that started with dreams of bringing democracy to the Middle East is ending by keeping plans for more troops hidden from American voters.

Friday, July 2, 2010
House Stands Firm on Afghanistan Withdrawal Timetable
One hundred sixty-two House members, including a large majority of Democrats, sent a significant antiwar message to President Obama last night, forcing the White House to depend for Afghanistan war support on the Republicans who want to unseat the Democrats and Obama himself in upcoming elections.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Congress Votes for War, 65 Dissent
(14 comments) A plain reading of yesterday's vote on the Kucinich war powers resolution is that an overwhelming majority of the House has authorized the Afghanistan war, including a majority of Democrats. The war now has greater legitimacy. The vote was 356-65-9.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Exit Strategies for Afghanistan and Iraq
Meanwhile, on Afghanistan, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is in disarray. Leadership on Afghanistan issues has been passed to Representative Mike Honda, a progressive Democrat from San Jose, who last year circulated a dramatic exit proposal that would flip US Afghan spending from 80 percent military to 80 percent civilian.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Why die for Karzai?
(4 comments) Has it occurred to anyone in the White House national security circles or the pundit class that these recent American deaths were wasteful and immoral? That sending Americans to die for an unpopular regime of warlords, landlords, drug dealers and CIA assets (Karzai's brother) is impossible to justify? And that rather than admitting the mistake, the president and his advisors are preparing to compound it?

Thursday, September 24, 2009
A Bold Sen. Feingold Could Lead the Way Out of Afghanistan
(1 comments) Feingold has learned to play the Senate game when it comes to new proposals. Like chess, when a single senator moves, other senators follow or readjust. That's what is happening. Not a single senator had spoken out against the war until Feingold said in an Aug. 24 interview in Appleton that the U.S. should consider a flexible timetable.

Thursday, July 9, 2009
Has Bratton's LAPD Really Reformed?
Retaliation is so integral to LAPD culture that judicial notice of its role is in order. --Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel, Rampart Reconsidered, 2007 Last week's arrest of Alex Sanchez on gang conspiracy charges raises fundamental questions about whether the Los Angeles Police Department has reformed itself, or whether extralegal tactics are still being employed on the streets of the underclass.

Thursday, July 2, 2009
Alex Sanchez Denied Bail
A federal magistrate yesterday denied Alex Sanchez bail in his gang conspiracy trial as expected, but the prosecution entered a surprisingly "weak" case, according to defense counsel. The indictment of Alex Sanchez, a revered gangbanger-turned-peacemaker, raises doubts about the LAPD and whether it should be released from a federal court order. A federal magistrate denied Alex Sanchez bail in his gang conspiracy trial, but

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
El Salvador Rising
(1 comments) Tom Hayden has traveled to El Salvador three times, has written extensively about cross-border street gang issues and, as a California state senator, passed legislation authorizing creation of the first Central American studies program on an American campus, California State Northridge, in 1999. His writings can be found at tomhayden.com. Research, translation and photographic assistance for this article came from....

Thursday, June 11, 2009
MoveOn: Break the Silence on Torture and War
(3 comments) The real effect of Obama's censorship decision is to dampen any resurgence of antiwar sentiment and public support for an investigation of past crimes. Silence in the face of censorship means collaborating in the cover-up of torture. The political effect is to leave antiwar Democrats under greater pressure to yield than to stand their ground.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Long Peace Movement: The Silence of MoveOn
(2 comments) MoveOn has collected a privately held list of 5 million names, most of them strong peace advocates. The organization's membership contributed an unprecedented $180 million for the federal election cycle in 2004-2006. Those resources, now squelched or sequestered, mean that the most vital organization in the American peace movement is missing in action.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Long Peace Movement: The Silence of MoveOn
(4 comments) The most powerful grass-roots organization of the peace movement, MoveOn, remains silent as the American wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan simmer or escalate.

Thursday, May 14, 2009
McChrystal's Rise: More Secrets, Less Daylight
Tom Hayden: A "Long War" may be underway in South and Central Asia and the Middle East that could last fifty years. Only a fifty-year commitment to peace can prevent it.

Friday, May 8, 2009
Tom Hayden on Mark Rudd
(1 comments) Rudd struggles to reconcile these two selves, representing two eras, in his memoir, "Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen," an important contribution to a growing collection of narratives from former participants in the revolutionary 1960s' underground. Other recent works include Bill Ayers' "Fugitive Days," Cathy Wilkerson's "Flying Close to the Sun," Bernardine Dohrn, Bill Ayers, and Jeff Jones' "Sing a Battle So

Monday, May 4, 2009
Ten More Things You Can Do to Oppose War in Afghanistan
This early period of Obama's presidency is an opportunity to rebuild Afghanistan. It is a chance to become clearer than "out now," while still using the same force in opposing the war. In addition to education on the specifics of the administration's plan and the after-effects in Afghanistan, take these concrete steps to build infrastructure from the bottom up.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Don't Go There Mr. President!
(14 comments) The movement could begin this week, a living memorial to the passing of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968. Don't Escalate, Negotiate Diplomacy and Development, Not Predators and Prisons

Monday, March 30, 2009
Why Is a Progressive Think Tank Telling Obama to Escalate the War in Afghanistan?
(53 comments) Whether streets of LA or alleys of Kabul, law-and-order always comes first along with promises of jobs and development "later", a later that gradually becomes never. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the levels of suffering are among the most extreme in the world, and from suffering, from having nothing to live for, comes the will to die for a cause.---hard to avoid that the white man's burden is falling on a black man's shoulders

Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Rage Is Good
(3 comments) The peace movement claims victory with Obama's promise to pull US troops from Iraq by 2011. But elsewhere in a volatile world, a long war looms. The US-Iraq Security Pact signals the war is ending--though not soon enough--and challenges peace activists to broaden their agenda against new quagmires.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Undecided Progressives: Make the Difference for Obama
(4 comments) The first arena for debate, recalling the 1965 Vietnam teach-ins on campuses, will be the blogosphere. The second will be Congressional hearings, with critics at the table. And the third phase is likely to be direct dialogue and engagement in the 2010 elections, district by district. At this point, however, the movement will have to engage MoveOn and many liberal Democrats who are mired in the lingering belief that Afghanista

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Torture Now an Afghanistan Issue
(1 comments) Torture remains a critical issue for the Obama administration as the focus shifts to Afghanistan.

Monday, November 24, 2008
Frankenstein in Mesopotamia
(2 comments) The pact being negotiated between the US and Baghdad governments includes a direct rebuff to president-elect Barack Obama's promised policy of withdrawing American combat troops in 16-18 months. The pact instead would leave those troops in place until the end of 2011, a doubling of the timeline to which Obama pledged himself. But that's not all.

Friday, September 26, 2008
McCain's Bold Move, the Bailout, and Progessives
(1 comments) John McCain has a rescue plan for his campaign, and don't count him out yet. In returning to Washington, he hopes to deliver his Republican Caucus for the Bush-Paulson plan, plus a few concessions to the Democrats. The clue is the statement by former Speaker Newt Gingrich hailing McCain's move as great leadership.

Sunday, July 20, 2008
Maliki Endorses Obama Timeline in Huge Blow for McCain, Bush
(2 comments) In a stunning diplomatic breakthrough for Barack Obama, Iraq's prime minister yesterday endorsed the Democratic candidate's 16-month timeline for withdrawing combat troops from Iraq.

Saturday, July 5, 2008
No Retreat: If you Want to Win, Stop the War! Barack at Risk
(12 comments) Call him slippery or nuanced, Barack Obama's core position on Iraq has always been more ambiguous than audacious. Now it is catching up with him as his latest remarks are questioned by the Republicans, the mainstream media, and the antiwar movement. He could put his candidacy at risk if his audacity continues to shrivel.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Clinton in Denial of Obama Nomination. Why?
(3 comments) There's a cleft, perhaps even a political schizophrenia, within Hillary Clinton that explains her refusal on election night to recognize defeat.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Turning Point for Obama, Limbaugh Winning Indiana for Hillary
(1 comments) Barack got his game back. Hillary needs a reality check. Barack had the voters at his back against all the forces trying to bring him down. He held his lead in NC, and only the Rush Limbaugh Republican vote stands between Barack and victory in Indiana. Hillary needed two wins. She failed utterly. But she will not stop, not on her own. The superdelegates should intervene tomorrow to send Hillary a message. Out now!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Why Hillary Makes My Wife Scream
(9 comments) For Tom Hayden's wife Barbara, Hillary has become the screech on the blackboard. From First Lady to Lady Macbeth.

Saturday, March 8, 2008
The New Phase for Obama, Clinton and the Rest of Us
(2 comments) Obama must get tougher without contradicting the high standards he is setting for himself. There are two lines he can pursue: His campaign can demand immediate disclosure of the Clinton tax returns, White House and Library documents that will show where Hillary Clinton's $5 million donation came from, and whether Bill Clinton has used his influence in cases like the uranium contract with Kazakhstan for a Clinton donor...

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Edwards First Major Candidate Calling for All Troops Out, Breaks with Establishment Consensus on Iraq
(28 comments) One day before the Iowa caucuses, John Edwards has become the first major presidential candidate to favor withdrawing all American troops, including advisers, from Iraq, doing so in response to queries from a leading military correspondent, the New York Times' Michael Gordon.

Sunday, November 11, 2007
An Appeal to Barack Obama

Sunday, September 9, 2007
Ending the War in 2009
The illusion is that we are preventing a sectarian civil war when the reality is that, in the best British tradition, we have been fomenting and feeding a civil war which will fragment, subdivide and eliminate the basis of Arab nationalism in Iraq.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Anti-War Dynamic Accelerating, Bush Power Dropping
(3 comments) The implosion of the White House Iraq policy is unfolding on three tracks: on the ground in Iraq, in the clash between Democrats and Republicans over withdrawal, and in the widening scandals weakening the presidency itself.

Saturday, February 17, 2007
Ending It: How to End the Iraq War and Occupation
Despite promises to the contrary, the US has placed in power a sectarian coalition of Shi'as and Kurds who wield power through the Badr militia and the peshmerga. The coalition is carrying out ethnic cleansing in the name of security. Instead of propping up a sectarian war regime, why not support a transitional peace regime reflecting the aspirations of most Iraqis?

Saturday, November 25, 2006
Documents Reveal Secret Talks Between U.S. and Armed Iraqi Resistance
It is not for holiday purposes that George Bush and Condoleeza Rice are meeting next week with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in Amman while Dick Cheney rushes to Saudi Arabia. The only question being kept from the American people is what the high-level talks are about.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Iraq Wins the Election, What Now?
As the campaign began, consultants and bigwigs of both parties sought to keep Iraq from becoming an election issue. To their credit, the American voters disagreed, insisted on changing course, and let Iraq become the critical factor in overthrowing a rigged Republican majority. Now what?

Saturday, September 16, 2006
Withdraw from Iraq Or Carve It Up?
(1 comments) The big new buzz on Capitol Hill is partitioning Iraq into three ethnic enclaves,

Sunday, August 13, 2006
See You At Armageddon?
(1 comments) This is about the November 2006 election, Armageddon for Republicans who fear losing their monopolistic grip on the Congress, and about the 2008 election which will be a referendum on what the neo-conservatives have wrought. This is about the fate of the planet for this generation. Who has a plan?

Monday, July 24, 2006
Tom Hayden: Things Come 'Round in Mideast
What I fear is that the progress of the American peace movement against the Iraq war will be diverted and undermined, at least for now, by the entry of Israel from the sidelines into the center of the equation. What I fear is the rehabilitation of the discredited U.S. neoconservative agenda to ignite a larger war against Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.