Biden remains the consummate insider of the foreign policy establishment

I’ve spent my whole journalistic career reporting on the horrors of U.S. militarism, including on the ground in places like Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan. In the beginning, it was a pretty lonely beat.

Much of the establishment media was slow to seize on the rising tide of public anger over the forever wars. But Intercept readers championed our coverage of drone assassinations, civilian massacres, and mercenary profiteering.

That helped to fuel a dramatic shift in the terms of debate, and now President Joe Biden seems set to follow through on Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan. But the devil is in the details: There will still be contractors, U.S. airstrikes and covert CIA and special forces operations.

Make no mistake: Biden remains the consummate insider of the foreign policy establishment. Look no further than Gaza, where he has facilitated a murderous crime against humanity by his “great, great friend” Benjamin Netanyahu.

And of course Biden remains surrounded by scores of hawkish advisers, all of them no doubt hoping that — with Trump out of the way — the rest of us will go back to sleep, confident that the “adults” are back in power.

Having exhaustively reported on Biden’s 50-year record, I’m wide awake. And as a loyal reader of The Intercept, I’m sure you are too.

However, we do have a problem: Across the media and progressive politics, donations and reader interest have declined sharply since Trump left office on January 20.

Unfortunately, The Intercept is no exception to this trend. That’s why this month’s reader fundraising goal is so important.

We’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $400,000 by June 30 because we believe that this is no time to pull back from critical coverage of U.S. imperialism.

I’m hoping you’ll take this moment to become a member of The Intercept, with a donation of whatever you can afford. Our nonprofit newsroom is counting on you.