Portside

Nation-building in Afghanistan and Iraq was the resurrection of a doctrine that should have been buried after Vietnam.

Growing up in the U.S., September 11, 1973, was as important a date for my bi-national family as the 4th of July. My parents met through Chile Solidarity, the international movement to defend the Chilean people against its neoliberal dictatorship.

The war in Afghanistan wasn’t a failure. It was a massive success — for those who made a fortune off it. Instead of a nation, what we really built were more than 500 military bases — and the personal fortunes of the people who supplied them.

Labor unrest, European elections, signs of a people's war in Myanmar, and a left perspective on vaxxing

I feel the burden of having to demonstrate that my ancestral homeland deserves to exist, and that my people are human and multi-faceted, with a rich history and resistance, and deserve the opportunity to thrive.

Aftershocks 9/11/01, international attacks on abortion rights, and “The Activist” - the reality show

A reckoning with America’s failed national security policy is long overdue. America’s current vision of security has been ruinous both to the world and to the American people. A different future is possible.

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

At the dawn of the new millennium, we directed our national resources in the exact wrong direction. But it’s not too late to turn things around.