Tag Archives: Afghanistan

Latest dispatch from HAW

Here are some notes, followed by our more or less biweekly set of links to recent articles by historians (or at least with substantial historical content) on HAW-relevant topics.

1. Today (October 7) Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) launched its campaign called Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops. On its website, IVAW explains the background of the campaign and asks for public support.

2. More than 150 scholars, including many historians, signed a September 29 press release calling on Georgetown University to revoke its appointment of former Colombia president Álvaro Uribe as a “Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership.” Uribe’s administration was linked to numerous human rights violations.

3. Frank Brodhead, a history PhD and activist, sends weekly e-mailings under the title of “Afghanistan War Weekly,” summarizing news reports from a range of periodicals. They are archived on the United for Peace and Justice website, and anyone can get on the e-mailing list by writing to the author at fbrodhead@aol.com.

Links to Recent Articles of Interest

“The Long War, Year Ten: Lost in the Desert with the GPS on the Fritz”
By Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch.com, posted October 7
The author teaches history and international relations at Boston University.

“Scapegoating War Crimes in Af-Pak on Drugs”
By Jeremy Kuzmarov, History News Network, posted October 4
The author teaches history at the University of Tulsa; the article draws parallels with the Vietnam War.

“An American Tradition of War and War Protest”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-wachtell/an-american-tradition-of-_b_749867.html
By Cynthia Wachtell
The author teaches American Studies at Yeshiva University.

“The Tale of Progressivism’s Death Has Been Exaggerated”
http://www.hnn.us/articles/132031.html
By Martin Halpern, History News Network, posted October 4
The author teaches history at Henderson State University in Arkansas

“In Struggle with the American Mind”
By William Blum, CounterPunch.org, posted October 1

“The War Addicts: 2016 and Then Some”
By Tom Englehardt, TomDispatch.com, posted September 30

“Prisoners of War: Bob Woodward and All the President’s Men (2010 Edition)”
By Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch.com, posted September 27

Public Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free World
By Lawrence S. Wittner, September 23, 2010
The author teaches history at SUNY Albany

Links to Recent Articles of Interest—Historians Against the War

Links to Recent Articles of Interest

“The Tragedy of Obama’s Middle East Policy”
By Ussama Makdisi, Informed Comment blog, posted September 22
The author teaches history at Rice University

“One and a Half Cheers for American Decline”
By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted September 21

“Bradley Manning: An American Hero”
By Marjorie Cohn, CommonDreams.org, posted September 20
Makes comparison with the Pentagon Papers release

“Historian: U.S. Islamophobia Worse Now”
CNN video interview with Simon Schama, posted on History News Network September 14
Simon Schama teaches history at Columbia University.

“Here Come the True Believers: The Great Muslim Scare”
By Lawrence Davidson, CounterPunch, posted September 16
The author teaches history at West Chester University

“Why Peaceniks Should Care About the Afghanistan Study Group Report”
By Robert Weissman, Z-Net, posted September 11

“Hillary Clinton’s ‘American Moment’ Was Nothing But American Blather”
By Andrew Bacevich, The New Republic, posted September 13
The author teaches history and international relations at Boston University.

“The Great Pakistani Deluge Never Happened: Don’t Tune In, It’s Not Important”
By Juan Cole, TomDispatch.com, posted September 9
The author teaches Middle East history at the University of Michigan.

“The Ghost of Munich: America’s Appeasement Complex”
By Fredrik Logevall and Kenneth Osgood, World Affairs Journal, posted September 9

“They used to Burn Catholic Churches, now they Burn Mosques”
By Juan Cole, Informed Comment blog, posted September 9

Recent articles recommended by Historians Against the War

“Diary”
By Jonathan Steele, London Review of Books, September 9 issue
On the past and present of the Taliban, by a veteran journalist

“Will Our Generals Ever Shut Up? The Military’s Media Megaphone and the U.S. Global Military Presence”
By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted September 7
On the erosion of civilian control of foreign policy

“Turning Iraq into a ‘Good War’: How the Obama Administration Adopted the Bush/Petraeus Story Line”
By Gareth Porter, CounterPunch.org, posted September 7

“Our ‘Dumb Wars’ Will Go On”
By Stanley Kutler, TruthDig.com, posted September 6
The author is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin

“History Repeats Itself in Anti-Islamic Mood”
By Jonathan Zimmerman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, posted September 2
Makes historical parallel with anti-Catholicism

“The Speech President Obama Should Give about the Iraq War (But Won’t)
By Juan Cole, Informed Comment, posted August 31
The author teaches Middle East history at the University of Michigan

“The Unmaking of a Company Man: An Education Begun in the Shadow of the Brandenburg Gate”
By Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch.com, posted August 26
The author teaches history and international relations at Boston University

“General McChrystal, General Petraeus, and General Confusion”
By Michael H. Hunt, History News Network, posted August 23
The author is a professor of history emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“Spinning the U.S. Failure in Iraq”
By Robert Parry, Consortiumnews.com, posted August 20

“Presidents Flying Blind”
By Andrew J. Bacevich, History News Network, posted August 20 (from Los Angeles Times, August 19)

Latest from Historians Against the War

To members and friends of Historians Against the War,

Here are some notes, followed by our latest more-or-less biweekly listing of recent articles of interest.

1. Two authors who have frequently been featured in our listings of “articles of interest” have come out with new books this summer. Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich’s latest book is Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (Metropolitan Books), and Tom Engelhardt’s new book, based on his “TomDispatch” e-mailings (see two articles cited below) is The American Way of War: How Bush’s Wars Became Obama’s (Haymarket Books).

2. Tom Hayden has initiated an online petition supporting WikiLeaks at http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38165.html. The preamble says, “We believe that WikiLeaks and those whistleblowers who declassify documents in a time of secret war should be welcomed as defenders of democracy, not demonized as criminals. We support their First Amendment rights and welcome their continued disobedience in response to a long train of official deception.”

Recent Articles of Interest

“The Guns of August: Lowering the Flag on the American Century”
By Chalmers Johnson, TomDispatch.com, posted August 17

“WikiLeaks and War Crimes”
By Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, posted August 12

“‘Blood on Our Hands’”
By Dahr Jamail, Truth-Out.org, posted August 11
On the US invasion of Iraq

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Political Legacy to the United States”
By Herbert P. Bix, Z-Net, posted August 6
The author won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

“Confronting a Mindset”
By Susan Galleymore, CounterPunch.org, posted August 5
On the Hiroshima bombing and the continued testing of nuclear weapons

“65 Years after Hiroshima: Truman’s Choices”
By Stanley Kutler, Truthdig.com, posted August 6
The author is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin

“Whose Blood, Whose Hands: Killing Civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq”
By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted August 5
On the Wikileaks revelations

“What’s the War About?”
By William Blum, CounterPunch.org, posted August 5
On September 11 and Afghanistan

“Toxic Legacy of US Assault on Fallujah ‘Worse than Hiroshima’”
By Patrick Cockburn, Z-Net, posted August 5 (from The Independent)

“Why the Feds Fear Thinkers Like Howard Zinn”
By Chris Hedges, Truthdig.com, posted August 1
On Zinn’s FBI file

More articles from HAW

Recommended reading from Historians Against the War

“Afghanistan’s Armies, Past and Present”
By Stephanie Cronin, History & Policy, posted July 8
The author teaches Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford

“Non-Believer”
By Andrew Bacevich, The New Republic, posted July 7
The author teaches history and international relations at Boston University

“Mark Twain’s Early Protest Against the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan”
By Cynthia Wachtell, Tikkun Daily, posted July 7
Based on the author’s just-published book War No More: The Antiwar Impulse in American Literature, 1961-1914 (LSU Press)

“What Eisenhower Could Teach Obama”
By Melvin A. Goodman, ConsortiumNews.com, posted July 5

“Why McChrystal Did It”
By Immanuel Wallerstein, Z-Net, posted July 4

“What Drives Israel?”
By Ilan Pappe, posted June 30 (originally in the Scotland Herald)
The author teaches history at the University of Exeter, UK

“How Afghanistan Became the Ignored War”
By Julian Zelizer, CNN.com, posted June 28
The author teaches history at Princeton University

“The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die: Obama, Petraeus, and the Cult of COIN in Afghanistan”
By Robert Dreyfuss, TomDispatch.com, posted June 27

“Why the Taliban Is Winning in Afghanistan”
By William Dalrymple, New Statesman, posted June 22
Compares the current war to the disastrous First Anglo-Afghan War of 1839-42

Lastest articles from Historians Against the War

Links to Recent Articles of Interest

“Death Squads in Afghanistan”
By Francis Shor, CounterPunch.com, posted April 27

Winning All the Battles but Losing the War, Just Like Hannibal”
By Robert O’Connell, History News Network, posted April 26
The author is a history PhD who has had a 30-year career in Army Intelligence

“The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Past & Present”
By Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network, posted April 26
The author teaches history at SUNY Albany

“Can You Pass the Iran Quiz?”
By Jeffrey Rudolph, Countercurrents.org, posted April 24A
26-question quiz on Iranian history and society, recommended by Juan Cole in his Informed Comment blog

“The Urge to Stay”
By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted April 24
On US decision-making on Iraq and Afghanistan, with historical parallels

“Rummaging in ‘The Hurt Locker’ for the Moral Equivalent of War”
http://www.hnn.us/articles/125503.html
By James Livingston, History News Network, posted April 19
The author teaches history at Rutgers University

“America and Dictators: Diem to Karzai”
By Alfred W. McCoy, ReaderSupportedNews.org, posted April 18 (from Asia Times)
The author teaches history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

“On Karzai and Unreliable Partners”
By Andrew Bacevich, Politico.com, posted April 15
Draws sardonic lessons for President Karzai from the contrasting fates of former US clients Ngo Dinh Diem and Chiang Kai-Shek. The author teaches history and international relations at Boston University

“The Pentagon Papers are Public This Time”
By David Swanson, AfterDowningStreet.org, posted April 15
On Daniel Ellsberg and comparisons with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars

Recent articles from HAW on Obama, Afghanistan & Haiti

This is the latest in the series of biweekly mailings that we started in September, linking to recent articles on HAW-relevant topics, either written by historians or written by others but providing historical background.

“Obama’s State of the Union”
By Stephen Zunes, Foreign Policy in Focus, posted February 3
(on foreign policy aspects of the State of the Union speech)

“Missteps on Afghanistan”
By William R. Polk, History News Network, posted February 1
The author formerly taught history at the University of Chicago and is now working on a book to be entitled Afghanistan: Descent into Unending War

“Afraid of the Dark in Afghanistan”
By Anand Gopal and Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted January 28

“Patriotic Anti-Militarism: Remodeling the Antiwar Movement”
By Kevin Zeese, CounterPunch, posted January 26

“Pakistan on the Brink? The Real Threat from Within”
By Adaner Usmani, Against the Current, January-February issue

“Replacing International Oppression with International Aid”
By Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network, posted January 25
The author teaches history at SUNY Albany (not Vassar College, as was mistakenly stated in our last mailing)

“George Clooney’s Haiti — and Beyond”
by Jesse Lemisch, New Politics web site, posted January 23
The author formerly taught history at John Jay College and, before that, the University of Chicago and SUNY Buffalo

“Securing Disaster in Haiti”
By Peter Hallward, Americas Program web site, posted January 22

Historians Against the War: Links to Recent Articles of Interest

Historians Against the War: Links to Recent Articles of Interest

“No Exit: America Has an Impressive Record of Starting Wars but a Dismal One of Ending Them Well”
By Andrew Bacevich, American Conservative, February 1 issue
The author teaches history and international relations at Boston University.

“Haiti’s Troubled History with the U.S. and France”
By Marc Becker, History News Network, posted January 19
The author teaches Latin American history at Truman State University. This article was sent in e-mail form to the HAW-Info list on January 17.

“U.S. Military Escalation in Afghanistan: A Response to President Obama”
By Richard Drake, History News Network, posted January 18
The author teaches history at the University of Montana

[review essay on The Guantanamo Lawyers and Guantanamo USA]
By Jeremy Kuzmarov, History News Network, posted January 17
The author teaches history at the University of Tulsa

“Iran, 1979 and 2010”
By Dilip Hiro and Tom Englehardt, TomDispatch.com, posted January 12

“Nuclear Terrorism: How It Can Be Prevented”
By Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network, posted January 11
The author teaches history at Vassar College

“Yemen: The Latest U.S. Battleground”
By Stephen Zunes, Huffington Post, posted January 8

“Obama’s Alternate Universe”
By Scott Ritter, Truthdig.com, posted January 8

Historians Against the War: Links to Recent Articles of Interest

Historians Against the War: Links to Recent Articles of Interest

“Serial Catastrophes in Afghanistan Threaten Obama Policy”
By Juan Cole, Informed Comment web site, posted January 4

The $30bn Pair of Underpants
By Mark LeVine, Aljazeera.net, posted January 4

“Obama’s Post-Modern War of Attrition”
By Andrew Bacevich, CounterPunch, January 1-3 edition, originally published in New York Daily News

“Catcher’s Mitt: Obama, Pakistan and the Afghan Wars to Come”
By Graham Usher, Middle East Report Online, posted December 31

“The Moment That Changed Afghanistan”
By Stephen Kinzer, The Guardian, posted December 28

“The Revolution Will Be Mercantilized”
By Ali Ansari, The National Interest online, Posted December 21
on the Revolutionary Guard in Iran; the author teaches history at St. Andrews University

“The Best Argument for the Afghan War – and What’s Wrong with It”
By Jon Wiener, The Nation blog, posted December 17

“Obama’s Indecent Interval: Despite the U.S. President’s Pleas to the Contrary, the War in Afghanistan Looks More Like Vietnam than Ever”
By Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason, Foreign Policy, December 10

“Was Kosovo the Good War?”
By David Gibbs, Tikkun, July-August 2009
The author teaches history and government at the University of Arizona

HAW recommended articles: Afghanistan looks like another Vietnam

“New War Order: How Panama Set the Course for Post-Cold War Foreign Policy”
By Ted Galen Carpenter, American Conservative, February 1, 2010 issue

“In War, Winners Can Be Losers”
By Lawrence S. Wittner, History News Network, posted December 21

“Grinding Down the U.S. Army”
By William Astore, TomDispatch.com, posted December 15
The author is a retired Air Force colonel who now teaches history at the Pennsylvania College of Technology

“With Obama’s Strategy, Afghanistan Looks Like Another Vietnam”
By George McGovern, Washington Post, posted December 13

“Beware Presidents’ Use of History”
By John Prados, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, posted December 8

“Afghanistan: Mirage of the Good War”
By Tariq Ali, New Left Review, March-April 2008
This breaks our rules of only recent articles, but one of us ran across this article recently and found that it provides valuable background to today’s events.