Brave New Foundation has the honor of releasing a video to accompany a seminal report by human rights law experts at Stanford and New York University law schools. The report, entitled “Living Under Drones” presents chilling first-hand testimony from Pakistani civilians on the humanitarian and security costs of escalating drone attacks by the United States. The report uncovers civilian deaths, and shocking psychological and social damage to whole families and communities – where people are literally scared to leave their homes because of drones flying overhead 24 hours a day.

Congress is getting cold feet about knocking the Pentagon's budget back to 2006 levels. You read that right, 2006 levels, when times were no doubt quite good for a Pentagon and defense industry supporting two wars abroad. But to not slow the growth of the Pentagon after wars end would be an historical first for the U.S. since World War II. This chart says it all: 

It's moments like this that underscore the near, if not complete, evaporation between the interests of the war industry and the public entity that's supposed to have oversight over it, the U.S. Congress. Read this post from Colorlines' Seth Freed Wessler and try to describe where the drone lobby and industry end and where the House of Represenatives Unmanned Systems (or Drone) Caucus begins: 

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.

By Tom Engelhardt

It’s pop-quiz time when it comes to the American way of war: three questions, torn from the latest news, just for you.  Here’s the first of them, and good luck!

Two weeks ago, 200 U.S. Marines began armed operations in…?:

a)Afghanistan
b)Pakistan
c)Iran
d)Somalia
e)Yemen
f)Central Africa
g) Northern Mali
h) The Philippines
i)Guatemala

This article was originally published at TomDispatch.com.

By Peter Van Buren

Here is what military briefers like to call BLUF, the Bottom Line Up Front: no one except John Kiriakou is being held accountable for America’s torture policy. And John Kiriakou didn’t torture anyone, he just blew the whistle on it.

Robert Greenwald discusses the ongoing Afghanistan war, why neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney will want to talk about the failing, unpopular war during the presidential campaign, and why the continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan will likely mean more anger and resentment among Afghans.