Portside

They weren’t kidding when they called Afghanistan the “graveyard of empires.” That cemetery has just taken another imperial body. And it wasn’t pretty, was it? Not that anyone should be surprised. Even after 20 years of preparation, a burial never is

The Court’s decision on Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy upends decades of precedent warning that judges shouldn’t mess with foreign affairs.

The idea was already absurd and dangerous. But now the Afghanistan debacle should bury it permanently. Despite 20 years and $1 trillion in military and other aid, the U.S. supported-government collapsed within weeks.

Since World War II, U.S. soldiers have been stationed on U.S. military bases around the globe. Today, there are around 750 such bases in some eighty countries and colonies.

President Biden was right to withdraw US troops. But we should have no illusion that this will end the war for Afghans.

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The House passed a bill that sounds good, but doesn’t end Washington's failed, militarized approach or get to root problems.

We need to a new “people’s” military as a force that could truly defend the American republic, focused above all on supporting the Constitution, freedom of speech, the press, and assembly, the right to privacy and due process, justice for all.

Congress should listen to all of the countries of the world who have repeatedly urged the lifting of the punishing blockade of Cuba. It is time to end the U.S.’s economic war on Cuba.

It’s time to end the war on drug users — repeal the heavy penalties for possession; pardon the millions of nonviolent offenders; replace mass incarceration with mandatory drug treatment; restore voting rights to convicts and ex-convicts.