Norman Solomon
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London: Public Meeting Friday 9 August: War and Whistleblowers – Why Bradley Manning Should be Free
Bradley Manning faces a prison sentence of up to 136 years after being found guilty of 20 charges for revealing the war crimes carried out in our name. This public meeting, with speakers including Tariq Ali, Peter Tatchell, and Norman Solomon from the USA, will discuss the courage and sacrifice of truth-tellers like Bradley Manning… Continue reading
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ColdType, September 2012: Herman / Solomon / Schecter et al
Cover story is The Internment of Marian Price, Eamonn McCann’s tale of the strange affair of Marian Price, a gravely-ill former IRA bomber, who has been detained by the British government. The story says much about the state’s denial of legal and human rights to its citizens. Continue reading
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A Hollow Bomber Jacket By Norman Solomon
For the Obama presidency, moral collapse has taken on the appearance of craven clockwork, establishing a concentric pattern — doing immense damage to economic security at home while ratcheting up warfare overseas. Continue reading
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Gen. Petraeus Goes to Media War By Norman Solomon
Let’s be clear about what’s happening here. The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, with the evident approval of the White House, has launched a fierce media blitz to cripple the policy option of any significant military withdrawal a year from now. Riding high in what is supposed to be a civilian-run military, Petraeus is… Continue reading
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State of Denial: After the Big Leak, Spinning for War By Norman Solomon
Washington’s spin machine is in overdrive to counter the massive leak of documents on Afghanistan. Much of the counterattack revolves around the theme that the documents aren’t particularly relevant to this year’s new-and-improved war effort. Continue reading
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Unanimous Conformity in the Senate By Norman Solomon
Every living senator voted Wednesday to approve Gen. David Petraeus as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Call it the unanimity of lemmings — except the senators and their families aren’t the ones who’ll keep plunging into the sea. Continue reading
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From Great Man to Great Screwup: Behind the McChrystal Uproar By Norman Solomon
For months, the McChrystal star had been slipping. A few days before the Rolling Stone piece caused a sudden plunge from war-making grace, Time Magazine’s conventional-wisdom weathervane Joe Klein was notably down on McChrystal’s results: “Six months after Barack Obama announced his new Afghan strategy in a speech at West Point, the policy seems stymied.” Continue reading
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All the (un)usual suspects. What is RT.com up to? By William Bowles
Full page ads in the London Independent? Though the word ‘Russia’ is nowhere to be seen, instead it’s RT.com, what we used to know as Russia Today. But RT.com is a far cry from its crude beginnings four years ago as a mouthpiece for the Russian state. The question is, what kind of animal is… Continue reading
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Don’t Call It a “Defense” Budget By Norman Solomon
After three decades of frequent carnage and extreme poverty in Afghanistan, a new influx of lethal violence is arriving via the Defense Department. That’s the cosmetically named agency in charge of sending U.S. soldiers to endure and inflict unspeakable horrors. Continue reading
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Obama and Anti-War Democrats By Norman Solomon
As a close vote neared on a supplemental funding bill for more war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that “the White House has threatened to pull support from Democratic freshmen who vote no.” In effect, it was so important to President Obama to get the war funds that he was willing… Continue reading
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These Colors Won’t Run… Afghanistan By Norman Solomon
We desperately need a substantive national debate on U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the Obama administration says that the problems of the region cannot be solved by military means, the basic approach is reliance on heightened military means. Continue reading
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Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon Announcing the P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2008
Now in their seventeenth year, the P.U.-litzer Prizes recognize some of the nation’s stinkiest media performances. As the judges for these annual awards, we do our best to identify the most deserving recipients of this unwelcome plaudit. Continue reading
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Thomas Friedman: Hooked on War by Norman Solomon
Reading his “Letter From Baghdad” column in the New York Times on Wednesday, you’d never know that Thomas Friedman has a history of enthusiasm for war. Now he laments that Iraq is bad for the United States — “everyone loves seeing us tied down here” — stuck in the “madness that is Iraq.” And he Continue reading
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Backspin for War: The Convenience of Denial By Norman Solomon
The man who ran CNN’s news operation during the invasion of Iraq is now doing damage control in response to a new documentary’s evidence that he kowtowed to the Pentagon on behalf of the cable network. His current denial says a lot about how “liberal media†outlets remain deeply embedded in the mindsets of pro-military Continue reading
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Book Review: ‘War Made Easy – How presidents and pundits keep spinning us to death’ By William Bowles
16 August 2005 ‘War Made Easy – How presidents and pundits keep spinning us to death’ by Norman Solomon. John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Think of Iraq as a military base with a very large oil reserve underneath – Fadel Gheit, oil industry expert In the autumn of 2001, the Bush administration hired Charlotte Beers Continue reading
The New Dark Age 