The First 50 Days-“Perversifying” the Misdeeds of the Past
Four years ago, I published Subtle Tools, a book on the erosion of American democratic norms in the face of what came to be known as the Global War on Terror.…
Karen J Greenberg
The True Cost of Guantánamo
On January 10th, one day before the 23rd anniversary of its opening, a much-anticipated hearing was set to take place at the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility on the island of…
The Never-ending Legacy of the War on Terror
Post-election America finds itself in a panic. Voices from across a wide political spectrum warn that the country stands on the precipice of a potentially unprecedented and chaotic disregard for…
A New Age of Presidential Unilaterism?
As the dust settles over election day, it’s worth reflecting that it’s not only the election results that have been at stake, but the future of the presidency and its…
The War on Terror 23 Years Later
September marked the 23rd anniversary of al-Qaeda’s 2001 attacks on the United States, which left nearly 3,000 people dead. For the two decades since then, I’ve been writing, often for TomDispatch, about…
Guantánamo Forever (Yet Forgotten)?
Last weekend my father, Larry Greenberg, passed away at the age of 93. Several days later, I received an email from the French film director Phillippe Diaz who sent me…
Trump’s Justice
In 1868, British Prime Minister William Gladstone famously said, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” The phrase has often been repeated here in the United States, most famously by the Reverend…
Sunsetting the War on Terror — Or Not
This week marks the 22nd anniversary of the opening of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, the infamous prison on the island of Cuba designed to hold detainees from this country’s…
Closing Guantánamo?
For 18 years, I’ve been writing articles for TomDispatch on the never-ending story of the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility. And here’s my ultimate takeaway (for the moment): 21 years after that grim offshore prison…
Guantánamo 21 Years Later
There can be little question that the grim prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which still shows no sign of closing anytime soon, is a key legacy — in the worst…
Blindman’s Buff-America’s Continuing Quest to Hide Torture
In the Blindman’s Buff variation of tag, a child designated as “It” is tasked with tapping another child while wearing a blindfold. The sightless child knows the other children, all able to see,…
Will It Never Stop? From Forever War to Eternal War
“It is time,” President Biden announced in April 2021, “to end the forever war” that started with the invasion of Afghanistan soon after the tragic terror attacks on this country on September…
Gallows Humor in Washington and Brazil
Americans tuning into the television news on January 8th eyed a disturbingly recognizable scene. In an “eerily familiar” moment of “déjà vu,” just two years and two days after the…
Guantánamo’s First 7,627 Days
Will America's Forever Prison Finally Close on Biden's Watch? As of December 8, 2022, Guantánamo Bay detention facility — a prison offshore of American justice and built for those detained…
State of Disgrace in Washington
Well before the House select committee’s January 6th investigation began, trust in the classic American system of checks and balances as reliable protection against executive (or, more recently, Supreme Court)…
Our Ukraine Wake-Up Call – The Global Age is Upon Us
In recent days, experts have begun laying out the potential hardships the Russian invasion of Ukraine might inflict here in the United States, thousands and thousands of miles from the…
Guantánamo’s Forever Elusive Endgame – Will We “Celebrate” Its 30th Anniversary?
It’s now more than 20 years later and that American offshore symbol of mistreatment and injustice, the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, is still open. In fact, as 2021 ended, New…
Are We Forever Captives of America’s Forever Wars?
As August ended, American troops completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan almost 20 years after they first arrived. On the formal date of withdrawal, however, President Biden insisted that “over-the-horizon capabilities” (airpower and Special Operations…
Never Having to Say You’re Sorry – No Accountability and No Apologies
The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was marked by days of remembrances — for the courageous rescue workers of that moment, for the thousands murdered as the Twin Towers collapsed,…
The Endless Shadow of the War on Terror
It ended in chaos and disaster. Kabul has fallen and Joe Biden is being blamed (by congressional Republicans in particular) for America’s now almost-20-year disaster in Afghanistan. But is the war on…
Can Guantánamo Ever Be Shut Down?
Dealing with the Forever Prison of America's Forever Wars The Guantánamo conundrum never seems to end. Twelve years ago, I had other expectations. I envisioned a writing project that I…
Moving on from the War on Terror?
In the first two months of Joe Biden’s presidency, you could feel the country holding its breath. Sheltered in place, hidden behind masks, unsure about whether to trust in a…
Donald Trump’s Failed State: America’s Daunting New World and the Coming Election
These past few months, it’s grown ever harder to recognize life in America. Thanks to Covid-19, basic day-to-day existence has changed in complicated, often confusing ways. Just putting food on…
Accountability Is Gone in America
Whether you consider the appalling death toll or the equally unacceptable rising numbers of Covid-19 cases, the United States has one of the worst records worldwide when it comes to the pandemic.…
America’s Pandemic Role Reversal
Remember the song “Over There”? “Over there, over there Send the word, send the word over there That the Yanks are coming, The Yanks are coming, The drums rum-tumming everywhere...”…
While Rome Burns – Trump Gets What He’s Always Wanted
Last month, Donald Trump retweeted a doctored photo of himself playing the fiddle that was labeled “My next piece is called: nothing can stop what’s coming.” It was clearly an homage to…
How Democracy Ends – Not With a Bang But With a Whimper
In this fast-paced century, rife with technological innovation, we’ve grown accustomed to the impermanence of things. Whatever is here now will likely someday vanish, possibly sooner than we imagine. Movies…
Guantánamo’s Indelible Legacy
Co-Written by Karen J. Greenberg & Joshua L. Dratel In January 2002, the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility in Cuba opened its gates for the first 20 detainees of the war…
The War on Words in Donald Trump’s White House
How to Fudge, Obfuscate, and Lie Our Way into a New Universe These days, witnessing the administration’s never-ending cruelty at the border, the shenanigans of a White House caught red-handed…
What the Child Detentions at the Border Really Tell Us
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the Grimms' fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. Terrified by cruel conditions at home, the brother and sister flee, winding their way, hungry and scared,…
Redacting Democracy: What You Can’t See Can Hurt You
The Nobel Prize-winning Czech author Milan Kundera began his 1979 novel, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, by describing two photographs. In the first, two men are standing side by side, a…
Citizenship in the Age of Trump
It turns out that walls can’t always be seen. Donald Trump may never build his “great, great wall,” but that doesn’t mean he isn’t working to wall Americans in. It’s…
Creating a Global Lost Generation
Halfway through 2018, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski hurled a mother-to-mother dagger at Ivanka Trump. How, during the very weeks when the headlines were filled with grim news of child separations and…
Guantánamo’s Last 100 Days : The Story That Never Was
In the spring of 2016, I asked a student of mine to do me a favor and figure out which day would be the 100th before Barack Obama’s presidency ended.…
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