Author: Norman Solomon

  • From Moscow to Washington, the Barbarism and Hypocrisy Don’t Justify Each Other

    By Norman Solomon Russia’s war in Ukraine — like the USA’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — should be understood as barbaric mass slaughter. For all their mutual hostility, the Kremlin and the White House are willing to rely on similar precepts: Might makes right. International law is what you extol when you aren’t violating…

  • Bob Dylan and the Ukraine Crisis

    By Norman Solomon Fifty-nine years ago, Bob Dylan recorded “With God on Our Side.” You probably haven’t heard it on the radio for a very long time, if ever, but right now you could listen to it as his most evergreen of topical songs: I've learned to hate the RussiansAll through my whole lifeIf another…

  • U.S. to Russia: Do as We Say, Not as We Do

    By Norman Solomon Hidden in plain sight, the extreme hypocrisy of the U.S. position on NATO and Ukraine cries out for journalistic coverage and open debate in the USA’s major media outlets. But those outlets, with rare exceptions, have gone into virtually Orwellian mode, only allowing elaboration on the theme of America good, Russia bad.…

  • Ominous History in Real Time: Where We Are Now in the USA

    By Norman Solomon      This article is adapted from the new edition of Norman Solomon’s book “Made Love, Got War,” being published next week as a free e-book. The final big legislative achievement of 2021 was a bill authorizing $768 billion in military spending for the next fiscal year. President Biden signed it two days…

  • The Pentagon’s 20-Year Killing Spree Has Always Treated Civilians as Expendable

    By Norman Solomon Top U.S. officials want us to believe that the Pentagon carefully spares civilian lives while making war overseas. The notion is pleasant. And with high-tech killing far from home, the physical and psychological distances have made it even easier to believe recent claims that American warfare has become “humane.” Such pretenses should…