Tom Hayden: Opposition to the US role in the Drug War has risen sharply in Mexico and Central America, even among US allies.
About Tom Hayden
Tom Hayden is a former state senator and leader of Sixties peace, justice and environmental movements. He currently teaches at Pitzer College in Los Angeles. His books include The Port Huron Statement [new edition], Street Wars and The Zapatista Reader.
How U.S. Policies Feed Sweatshop Fires
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Tom Hayden: It is not enough to blame the corruption of Bangladesh factory owners, nor sufficient to suggest better training and factory codes from Walmart or the Gap. It is time to ban the US sale of garments made in Bangladesh until enforceable labor codes are imposed.
Jerry Brown, Archimedes, and the Search for an Energy Tipping Point
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Tom Hayden: Brown is not burdened with the Cold War-like tensions rising between the US and China, but can focus instead on mutually beneficial energy and environmental initiatives, which later might evolve to become US national policy.
Vietnam Between China and the U.S.
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Tom Hayden: The Vietnamese call China “the enemy brother” and, while seeking to avoid a Cold War-style alliance with the US, are exploring the Obama administration’s “Pacific pivot” as a possible balance against China.
The Long War Reaches Mali
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Tom Hayden: Every US and Western intervention in the Long War has resulted in pushing Al Qaeda “affiliates” like AQIM into new territory with angry, restless and anti-Western Muslim populations.
Russell Means: Truth-Teller
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Tom Hayden: Russell was a reminder that the wars against indigenous people, and the conquest of their resources, are far from over, and that we cannot be fully human until remorse with our eyes wide open allows the possibility of reconciliation.
Citizen Diplomacy Against Drones Over Pakistan
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Tom Hayden: A delegation of American peace activists has succeeded in directly engaging the US ambassador to Pakistan over the drone attacks, which have killed civilians and inflamed anti-US opinion in South Asia and around the globe.
US Special Forces Deployed in Iraq, Again
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Tom Hayden: The US is caught in the contradictions of proxy wars, favoring Iran’s ally in Iraq while trying to displace Iran’s proxy in Syria.
American Public Opposes War with Iran
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Tom Hayden: The question is whether Obama will be able to hold out against the Israeli and AIPAC pressure in the volatile weeks ahead.
Obama’s Big Green Building Blocks
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Tom Hayden: Perhaps a deeper problem is the chronic culture of Washington and elite think-tanks, which has fostered a preference for neo-liberalism, and against New Deal state intervention, across partisan lines, from staffers up to decision-makers.
Promoting Middle Class Populism, Downplaying Military Issues
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Tom Hayden: Carville and Greenberg differ from many liberal Democratic advocates, however, in arguing that deficits are a real problem, not ones invented by Republican skinflints and gold bugs.
What the Port Huron Statement Still Has to Say, 50 Years On
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The lasting legacy, however, is participatory democracy, in both practice and theory – the only banner that might unify the rainbow of popular movements from generation to generation.
After Chicago, After Afghanistan: The Complexities Ahead
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Tom Hayden: The peace movement can and will have to merge with the populist movements opposing austerity budgets and Wall Street crimes.
Onward Wisconsin: Writing for a Democratic Society
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Tom Hayden: The Wisconsin movement has blunted, if not broken, the sharp spear the Tea Party was carrying against public sector unions, public education and other government-sponsored programs since its rise in 2010.
Obama’s Afghanistan Speech: A Guide to the Perplexed
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Tom Hayden: Obama spoke directly to public opinion when he refused to leave “immediately,” on the grounds that Afghanistan will need “an opportunity to stabilize,” an observation which the vast majority of Americans will accept, for now.
On Ending the Wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq
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Tom Hayden: The disgrace is that 414 American troops died in 2011, largely to save America’s reputation, and 94 more have been lost during the first four months of this year.
Police, Student Protesters, and Pepper Spray
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Tom Hayden: Unless meaningful action is taken immediately against relentless tuition hikes and the warnings of the Reynoso report, the university will continue disappearing down the path of policing to protect its privatizing.
Participatory Democracy: From the Port Huron Statement to Occupy Wall Street
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Tom Hayden: It is time for a participatory New Deal, to bring the banks and corporations under the regulations and reforms they have escaped through runaway globalization.
Ending the Afghanistan-Pakistan War, Preventing One with Iran
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Tom Hayden: The catastrophic spectacles of American troops urinating on Afghan bodies and burning Korans has provided Obama a new opportunity to cast the Afghanistan war as a hopeless cause.
For Franklin Graham, The Crusades Never End
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Tom Hayden: Thousands of American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are the legacy of a continuing Christian crusade promoted by Franklin Graham, who now is claiming in television interviews that President Obama is a born Muslim and a questionable convert to Christianity.
As Afghan Fissures Worsen, Exit Plan Is Proposed
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Tom Hayden: The US military openly opposes the pace of the drawdown, which already is too slow for most Democrats and the peace movement, because the resulting panic in Kabul could cause an implosion if efforts at a diplomatic settlement bog down.
Ruling in Alex Sanchez Case Expected Soon
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The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is close to ruling on key portions of the Alex Sanchez case involving prosecution conflicts-of-interest and double jeopardy issues. Meanwhile, two-and-one-half years after the initial arrests, the top lawyers for both sides are leaving the case. Sanchez has been out on bail since January 2010 after the 9th [...]
Los Angeles Shows an Alternative Approach to Occupy
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Tom Hayden: Compared with the brutal police crackdowns against the Occupy movement in New York City, Oakland and even the pacific Davis campus of theUniversity of California, the Los Angeles eviction last night was almost entirely peaceful. The question is why.
Who Will Be the Un-Bloomberg? What Mayors Should Say About Wall Street
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Tom Hayden: In light of the police actions in New York, Berkeley, Oakland, Denver, Portland and beyond—and as massive national demonstrations are about to take place—it’s not too late for the mayors to use their political stature to speak out about the crises befalling their cities.
Heart Attack Iraq
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Tom Hayden: Obama, the black candidate, the liberal candidate, the anti-war candidate, the candidate with not a moment of military experience, certainly saw a strategic opportunity to focus laser-like on bin Laden, from the 2008 primaries right through the first two years of his presidency.
Civil Disobedience as a Strategy for the Occupy Movement
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Tom Hayden: If there’s enough people and they all sit down and say “We want to appeal to a jury of our peers, which is our Constitutional right,” that’s something that should make the decision makers take pause because I don’t think juries are going to convict these people.
It’s a Tremor, Not a Quake. Yet.
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Tom Hayden: The LA occupation is not merely symbolic, but constitutes an interruption of government-as-usual by its presence on the City Hall lawn. The protest simply cannot be avoided by those in power.
An Expanding War in Pakistan
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Tom Hayden: Slowly but surely, the United States is creeping deeper and deeper into a disastrous war in Pakistan. The peace movement and its political and media allies need to be ready.
Jonesing in Afghanistan and Iraq
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Tom Hayden: The will, the force, and the momentum sustaining American combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are in definite decline as President Obama orders the pullout of 33,000 troops from Afghanistan.
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What’s Next for Obama and Democrats?
Tom Hayden: Launch a campaign progressive to the core, with no compromises on ending tax cuts for the rich and trillion-dollar wars.