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After nearly every U.S. military intervention since World War II, public opinion has followed the same trajectory: overwhelming support when the bombs first fall, then waning approval once casualties mount and victory proves elusive.

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Unlike Bolton’s bombast, Danny Sjursen offers a different and much more believable “troika of tyranny.” They are American Empire’s greatest allies in the Middle East -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel. 

Of course it was just a coincidence that the first organized attack on a North Korean facility by internal rebels (supposedly) took place days before the scheduled North Korean-US summit in Hanoi. Ten masked men stole computers, interrogated North Korean officials, and drove off in a number of luxury cars. Credit was taken by a group that calls itself Chollima.

Despite constantly being told by the Western media that this is a totally unknown group, to anyone who knows the least bit about Korean history, this is laughable. In the mid-1950s, China’s “Great Leap Forward” was in progress, and Chollima was the Korean equivalent. It means “speed” of an unusual sort, and the symbolism was based on a mythological winged horse that could supposedly gallop at one thousand li (over a mile) a minute.

Since the North had limited physical resources, the idea was to overcome this by sheer ideological zeal. In short, Chollima was never some secret movement in opposition to the regime, but was instead a state-sponsored phenomenon from start to finish. “Chollima” is what they call their state soccer team.

So who are they, really, and what do they hope to accomplish?

“I wonder how he goes to work every day,” says a longtime aide to John Bolton, “because deep in his heart he believes the President is a moron.”

The joke is on Bolton. Having been handed a near impossible task in overthrowing the leftist regimes of Venezuela and Nicaragua, Bolton and his little neocon cabal have been set up for failure – and Trump doesn’t like failure. When it comes to neocon foreign policy, you can reverse the Trumpism that the President adorns his speeches with: Are you tired of losing yet?

And defeat looms large in the neocon effort to bring down Maduro.

Wednesday (May 1) was supposed to be the Day of Revolution in which the Yankee running dogs of imperialism were supposed to be defeated and run out of the country.

It didn’t happen.

Blindly backing Israel has become an article of faith, a civic religion even, for mainstream American politicians. Rarely do any dare publicly question the costs and benefits of this decades-old relationship. Such hesitancy is understandable. After all, to criticize Israeli policy, however mildly, is to risk near certain rebuke and reflexive charges of anti-semitism. Denouncing Israel’s current right-wing government or its ongoing, half-century-long occupation of Palestinian Territories is all risk and no reward – it’s a potential career-ender or, at least, a ticket to the margins of polite political discourse. Israel/Palestine is, as I’ve long said, the veritable "third-rail" of U.S. foreign policy debate.

Nonetheless, regarding the U.S.-Israel nexus, the time is now for reassessment and realignment. For far too long, Washington’s bipartisan, reflexive backing of Israel has damaged America’s good name on the Arab (or Muslim) "street," and inflicted substantial strategic costs in the Greater Middle East. As President Trump, ostensibly, gears up to withdraw** **the US military from a series of regional quagmires, he should simultaneously address one root of America’s long-term "beef" with average Muslims – Washington’s no-strings-attached support for Israel.

He won’t, naturally. Though Trump sometimes displays admirable instincts to ditch military liabilities in the Mideast, he has only ratcheted up America’s iron-alliance with Israel. In a staggering, and internationally isolated, move, he even moved the US embassy to Israel into the heart of Jerusalem – recognizing the contested city as the singular capital of the Jewish state. Look, Israel – like our other nefarious frenemy, Saudi Arabia – buys tons of American weapons, and Trump-the-businessman absolutely loves that. Besides, Trump and (recently indicted) Prime Minister Netanyahu are political peas in a pod – both face potential corruption charges and rely on fear-mongering to whip up support from their right wing bases.

The (not so) dirty little secret is that the American president could care less about the plight of brown-skinned foreigners, whether along the US southern border or in Gaza and West Bank refugee camps. Trump doesn’t want to recalibrate America’s relationship with the Muslim world, he simply wants to (rightfully) cut the sunk costs of aimless US military interventions in the region. Cynicism, even when the man is right – remains the name of the proverbial game.

For a while there, I was a real star. High up in my class at West Point, tough combat deployments in two wars, a slew of glowing evaluations, even a teaching assignment back at the military academy. I inhabited a universe most only dream of: praised, patted and highly respected by everyone in my life system and viewed as a brave American soldier. It’s a safe, sensible spot. For most, that’s enough. Too bad it was all bunk. Absurdity incarnate.

The truth is, I fought for next to nothing, for a country that, in recent conflicts, has made the world a deadlier, more chaotic place. Even back in 2011—or even 2006, for that matter—I was just smart and just sensitive enough to know that, to feel it viscerally.

Still, the decision to publicly dissent is a tough one. It’s by no means easy. Easy would be to go on playing hero and accepting adulation while staying between the lines. Play it safe, stick to your own, make everyone proud. That’s easy, intellectually immature—the new American way.

When you take the journey of dissent, you lose friends, alienate family, confuse confidants and become a lonely voice in your professional world. I’ve spent years sitting in military classrooms from West Point to Fort Knox to Fort Leavenworth as the odd man, the outlier, the confusing character in the corner. It’s like leaving the church, becoming an atheist, all while still living in the monastery. Still, the truth is that the military is more accommodating than one might suspect. I wrote a critical book, published some skeptical articles, but it’s not as though anyone ever outright threatened me. The pressure is different, more subtle: veiled warnings from superiors, cautious advice from mentors.

You’re not supposed to utter these words, but what the heck: Osama bin Laden had a point. No, his grievances, as well as those of his followers and sympathizers, didn’t excuse the mass murder of 9/11 – not by a long shot. After all, I am a native New Yorker whose family and neighborhood were directly touched by the horror of those inexcusable attacks. Still, more than 17 years after the attacks on the Pentagon and twin towers, it’s worth reflecting on bin Laden’s motives and discussing the stark fact that the United States government has made no moves to address his gripes.

Now is as good a time as any. The U.S. military remains mired in wars across the Greater Middle East that have now entered their 18th year. The cost: $5.9 trillion, 7,000 dead American soldiers, at least 480,000 locals killed and 21 million refugees created. The outcome: more instability, more violence, more global terror attacks and a US reputation ruined for at least a generation in the Islamic world.

Need proof? Consider the regular polling that indicates that the US is considered the greatest threat to world peace. Not China, Russia, Iran or even North Korea. The United States of America.

Why, exactly, is the US so unpopular, from West Africa to South Asia? This can be explained in part by the mere presence – sustained, at that – of US troops in the region. As a historian, I can assure you that folks don’t usually take well to being occupied. Nevertheless, it’s more than that. And here’s the rub: Washington, unwilling to even consider the grievances bin Laden and his acolytes clearly communicated, has instead doubled down on militarism in the region – thereby turning al-Qaida’s fringe complaints into a mainstream sense of injustice throughout the Muslim world.