Today most of the world is celebrating a new international treaty, now in force, that bans all nuclear weapons. So far, 52 nations have ratified the treaty, and 50 nations ratifying is what is needed to become law. The United States, in case you’re wondering, has not signed the treaty and currently possesses 5,800 nuclear… Read More Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Becomes International Law
If the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee, Joe Biden, have a weak spot, it is their general fondness –since the debacle of the Vietnam War– for military solutions and support, including the selling of American weapons, of governments whose commitment to democracy and human rights leave much to be desired. So in the interest… Read More Dear Democrats: A Letter for Peace in the Middle East
To be “liberal” is to be “open to new ideas” and “favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms.” Given the above definition, can a true liberal be a promoter or defender of that most ancient flaw of humanity–war? Is such a thing as a “liberal hawk” logical or possible? One of the oldest… Read More Why I am a “bleeding-heart liberal”
By John Frederick Kaufman So the United States suddenly felt the need to give our MOAB (“mother of all bombs”)–more officially known as GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast–a try on Thursday in the desert of Eastern Afghanistan. Though the bomb has been around for awhile, neither Presidents George W. Bush nor Barack Obama cared to actually… Read More In the Aftermath of Dropping the “MOAB” Bomb on Afghanistan
The ongoing war in Syria is a vast catastrophe; what began as a peaceable resistance movement against the Assad regime, one among many in the “Arab Spring” of 2011, has devolved into a brutal war in which at least 300,000 have been killed and as many as 96,000 Syrian civilians have died, including more than 17,000 children. It… Read More Syria: War Still Not the Answer
Must politicians and journalists succumb to the language of war? Or the flip side: Must we put words like “peace” on weapons of war? I’m thinking of the U.S. nuclear missiles called “peacekeepers.” The “war” on this or that, we say, or the dropping of “bombs” to mean big news; the use of “killer” as an adjective synonymous with… Read More Let’s Stop Saying “Nuclear Option”
First published February 17, 2017 in The Capital Times If there is any consolation to be found in the election of President Trump, it is the opportunity to make anti-war protest great again. Most liberals/progressives were willing to overlook Hillary Clinton’s militaristic sympathies during the Democratic primary and in the national election. I certainly did,… Read More It’s a Really Good Time for an Anti-War Movement
Talks are underway this week at the United Nations in New York on a possible global treaty to officially ban all nuclear weapons. More than 120 nations are participating, but not surprisingly the nuclear nations (those that own nuclear weapons), including the United States, and various allies of them are not eager to outlaw what they… Read More Why it’s Realistic to Ban Nuclear Weapons and Why U.S. Should Lead
How’s this for a grand generalization? The United States is not great at providing health care and really good at waging war. And by “good” I do not mean effectively. We wage war a lot because we can afford to and very few Americans ever personally feel its considerable terrible effects. And we don’t do health care very effectively… Read More “War is the Health of the State”–But Not People
The Pacific 