"Freedom is beautiful," George Bush said as elections were held in the country he conquered. Ordinary Afghanis would use different words to describe the "vote"--like "fraud."
Is the U.S. fighting for women's liberation?
Many voices are applauding the U.S. war in Afghanistan for supposedly putting an end to the horrible conditions that women suffered under the Taliban government. But Washington's newfound concern for women's rights is utter hypocrisy.
Why the U.S. won't wage a "just" war
The Bush White House doesn't even try to hide it anymore. "If Osama bin Laden was gone today, the war would continue tomorrow," press secretary Ari Fleischer declared. But at the liberal Nation magazine, the editors are still recommending a "just war."
Why we oppose all U.S. interventions
"So what should the U.S. do?" Most opponents of the U.S. government's war on Afghanistan have been asked this question. If the bombing campaign is only causing more misery and making the crisis worse, then what do we propose?
Back to the top
BACKGROUND TO THE WAR
How oil interests shaped U.S. policy
What the U.S. wants from this war
"Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs," one U.S. diplomat reportedly told the Taliban during negotiations with the U.S. that ended weeks before September 11.
How Afghanistan was bled dry
The U.S. is prepared to rain death and destruction on a country that has already been devastated by more than 20 years of military occupation and civil war.
Back to the top
WHAT THEY WANT FROM THIS WAR
The U.S. and its allies have made the world more dangerous
Why the "war on terror" is a war of terror
In the name of the "war on terror," the U.S. and its allies have inflicted suffering across the Middle East and around the globe--and made the world a far more dangerous place.
U.S. maneuvers to maintain its grip on the Middle East
Washington's "democracy" double-talk
The Bush administration's grandiose claims that it was spreading "democracy" through the Middle East have melted away, revealing imperial politics as usual.
Behind bipartisan consensus
What the U.S. "war on terror" is really about
Invoking the "war on terror" hasn't made the occupation of Iraq more popular. Yet the White House has preserved a bipartisan consensus in favor of aggressive use of military force.
Tied together by the U.S. drive to control the Middle East
Palestine and Iraq: The tale of two occupations
Toufic Haddad, the coeditor of the left-wing magazine Between the Lines, looks at what connects the occupations of Palestine and Iraq.
Washington hawks on the attack
The new U.S. war on Iraq began on March 20. But for a hard core of "hawks" in the Bush administration, the planning for it began years before.
What does Washington want from this war?
Socialist Worker looks at two motivations behind the Bush administration's desire for war with Iraq--the thirst for oil profits and Washington's drive to expand its power.
The Bush Doctrine: What it means
The Bush administration has produced a National Security Strategy document that goes further than ever before in asserting U.S. military and economic power as the world's unchallenged super-cop.
Back to the top
THE HISTORY OF WASHINGTON'S WARS
Thirty years after the end of the Vietnam War
The fall of Saigon
On April 30, 1975, the U.S.-backed government in Saigon collapsed, ending three decades of war in Vietnam and serving the U.S. its greatest military defeat ever.
The truth about empire
A growing chorus of right-wing ideologues is encouraging Washington to take pride in being a world superpower. But this project depends on erasing the bloody history of imperial conquest.
The Gulf War of 1991
It was a one-sided slaughter
The 1991 Gulf War against Iraq wasn't really a war at all. It was a one-sided slaughter in a country that was no match for the massive armed might of the U.S. military and its many allies.
Brendan Sexton III on what really happened in Somalia
What's wrong with Black Hawk Down
The Pentagon brass love Black Hawk Down, the movie about a U.S. mission gone wrong during the 1993 occupation of Somalia. But as actor Brendan Sexton III, who appeared in the movie, explains, the real story of the U.S. government's "humanitarian" mission is very different.
History of U.S. violence across the globe
Washington's war crimes
When George W. Bush announced that the U.S. bombing campaign against Afghanistan had begun, he declared, "We are a peaceful nation." Not exactly. Here is a partial time line of America's imperialist adventures.
Home page | Back to the top
