Barack Obama

Obama Makes Nice Speeches...

April 2013
Phyllis Bennis

President Obama recognizes injustice and need for two states but does nothing to pressure Netanyahu to make concessions to Palestinians.

September 11th Didn't Change the World. September 12th Did

September 2011
Phyllis Bennis

It wasn’t the events of September 11th that changed the world, but the events of September 12th and beyond, when the Bush administration took the world to war in response; that changed the world, and continues to threaten U.S. and global security, and shred U.S. democracy.

Headlines or Not, the Iraq War is Not Over

September 2011
Phyllis Bennis

It might seem like cause for celebration after reading the New York Times headline, "Iraq War Marks First Month with No U.S. Military Deaths." But the smaller print on the page reminds us why celebrating is not really in order: "Many Iraqis are killed..." 

Staying in Afghanistan: Unending occupation

August 2011
Ross Eventon

While the US focuses on consolidating its permanent military presence in Afghanistan, designed to guard and exploit Central Asian energy reserves, its earlier rational "to fight terrorism" is a faded memory. Afghanis, meanwhile, continue to lose their lives and humanitarian conditions worsen.

Obama offers token troop withdrawals in Afghanistan while maintaining "war on terror” mindset

June 2011
Phyllis Bennis

President Obama passed up an opportunity to end the war in Afghanistan and respect the views of the vast majority of the American people.

Justice or Vengeance: lessons from Bin Laden's death

May 2011
Phyllis Bennis

Vengeance may have been wreaked on the infamous Al Qaeda leader, but as long as deadly U.S. wars continue in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and beyond, justice has not been done.

Another missed opportunity

March 2011
Manuel Perez Rocha

Obama's trip to Latin America: about gaining economic advantages, ignoring historical and recent diplomatic interferences and strategically placed critisism.

Guantanamo, Torture, and the Perversion of Justice: Obama’s New Executive Order

March 2011
Tom Reifer

President Obama ratifies Bush (again): orders indefinite detention without charge for political prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other torture sites.

Obama versus the Polar Bears

January 2011
Tom Reifer

President Obama’s decision comes despite the fact that US government and independent models predict an 80% chance Polar Bears will become mostly extinct by 2050, with total extinction this century without cuts in emissions.

Obama’s Afghanistan Review

December 2010
Phyllis Bennis
Kevin Martin

War in Afghanistan is not working: sixty percent of Americans know it, and the U.S. intelligence agencies know it too.