Washington Rules

In a recent article, historian and retired Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich raises questions that have been ignored in the 2016 presidential race. (His son was killed during Bush's Iraq attack and occupation.)

Bacevich joins Democracy Now from Boston to talk about the race and these missing questions. His new book, "America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History," will be published next month. He is professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston University.

Mostly I agree with Bacevich's analysis but not when he calls Russia's President Putin a "thug".  As far as I can see the Russians have 2-3 military bases outside of their country.  Other than their current military operation inside of Syria - and remember they were invited by the Syrian government to be there to help defend them against ISIS - I don't see Russia invading other countries.

Let's be honest and recognize that it was Russia which got Syria to get rid of their chemical weapons.  It was Russia who helped steer the Iran Nuclear Deal to a successful conclusion.  It has been Russia that has shown considerable restraint in Ukraine despite having Kiev's Army fire shells into Russian territory and witnessing more than 9,000 Russian speaking citizens in eastern Ukraine killed by the US-NATO directed attacks near their border.  It has been Russia that has repeatedly tried to make the Minsk agreements for ceasefire in Ukraine work under the worst conditions as Washington and Brussels have done all they could to undermine their peaceful efforts.

If one wants to throw the thug label around though it would seem more than appropriate to label US foreign policy as completely thuggish.  While Bacevich is clearly critical of the US he fails to label his own nation's behavior (which includes 1,000 military outposts around the globe) as being that of a bully on behalf of corporate capitalism.  Let's call the kettle black here......