Gareth Porter is a historian, journalist and policy analyst on U.S. foreign and military policy. His latest book is Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam (University of California Press, 2005).
Gareth Porter
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Exactly Which “Terror Plots” Are Relevant to the Bulgarian Bombing?
The arrest of a “suspected” Hezbollah operative who is “suspected” of a plan to kill Israeli tourists has become the equivalent of an actual terrorist attack.
How The Media Got The Parchin Access Story Wrong
Access to an Iranian military test facility wan’t explicitly denied to nuclear inspectors, just subject to bargaining.
In Signal to Israel and Iran, Obama Delays War Exercise
The postponement of a massive joint U.S.-Israeli military exercise appears to be the culmination of a series of events that has impelled the Barack Obama administration to put more distance between the United States and aggressive Israeli policies toward Iran.
The Motive for Terrorism That Officials Dare Not Acknowledge
The intelligence and counter-terrorism communities concede that America’s continuing wars actually increase the risk of terrorism against the United States.
Obama and Gates Disagree to Agree on Military Spending
Tension between President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates over military spending may have been scripted.
Why Washington Clings to a Failed Middle-East Strategy
It’s time to scrap our failed client-regime national-security strategy.
From Military-Industrial Complex to Permanent War State
A quick history of how militarism became the most powerful force in the United States.
The Petraeus Bait and Switch Maneuver
General Petraeus reverses field on the Afghan withdrawal timetable he promised President Obama.
Biden Embraces Myth That Surge Turned Iraq Into Good War
By embracing the myth of the surge, Joe Biden reveals the extent to which Obama has continued Bush’s strategy.
Serial Denialists and the State of Permanent War
Reluctance to withdraw from Afghanistan is only a symptom of the investment American political elites have in global military hegemony.
Israel Playing With a Fire It Expects the U.S. to Put Out
Israel needs to know that the United States will finish the war that Israel wants to start.
How Basra Slipped Out of Control: Portent in the Shiite South?
What happened in Basra may be a preview of a strategy aimed at causing the collapse of the U.S. political position in one city after another.
Outmaneuver the War Proponents
For an anti-war activist of the Vietnam era, the current search for a political strategy for ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq brings to mind the very similar problems facing the movement to end the Vietnam War in 1968-69.
Does U.S. Occupation Prevent Civil War in Iraq? Think Again.
As the U.S. occupation of Iraq heads toward its third year, there is a remarkable absence of debate over withdrawal, despite the evidence that a clear majority of the American people want out.
The Real Story of the Iraqi Elections
Amid the orgy of self-congratulation over the bravery of Iraqi voters, officials and commentators have ignored the most important story of the election results: a Sunni electoral boycott that demonstrates a level of support for the insurgency in the Sunni triangle that is far greater than what the administration has admitted.
A Negotiated Settlement in Iraq
It is now time for the United States to pursue the one policy option that has been missing from the national discussion of Iraq: the negotiation of a peace settlement with the insurgents that would involve the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops in return for the surrender of the insurgents and the reintegration of the Sunni region into the post-Saddam political system.
Explaining Vietnam 30 Years LaterAsian Dominoes or U.S. Dominance?
Thirty years after the last chopper left the Saigon embassy, Americans still don??t know why this country fought in Vietnam.
Iraq: Stop Intervening in the Civil War
The most important development in Iraq since the January 2005 election is the emergence of a sectarian civil war between Sunnis and Shiites.
“Not Even a Shadow of Iraqi Counterinsurgency”
The occupation’s defenders reject the parallel between Iraq and Vietnam