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Washington to Whomever: Please Fight the Islamic State for Us

Thursday December 17, 2015

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In the many strategies proposed to defeat the Islamic State (IS) by presidential candidates, policymakers, and media pundits alike across the American political spectrum, one common element stands out: someone else should really do it.

The United States will send in planes, advisers, and special ops guys, but it would be best — and this varies depending on which pseudo-strategist you cite — if the Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Sunnis, and/or Shias would please step in soon and get America off the hook.
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Washington's 'Plan B' in Syria: Renewed Military Intervention to Oust Assad?

Thursday December 17, 2015

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US top diplomat John Kerry appeared to offer cooperation during lengthy talks in Moscow this week with President Vladimir Putin. Kerry said that US policy was not trying to isolate Russia, neither was it seeking regime change in Syria.

Rhetoric aside, Kerry’s expressions of goodwill simply do not cut it.

During a walkabout in Moscow, the US Secretary of State chanced on a little Christmas shopping, with Kerry buying a Babushka stacking doll among other souvenirs. The iconic Russian doll containing six shelled figurines could serve as a metaphor for Washington’s elusive rhetoric.

Following his three-hour discussion with Putin, Kerry said: “While we don’t see eye to eye on every aspect of Syria, we see Syria fundamentally similarly.”

US government-owned media outlet Voice of America added: “He [Kerry] said the US and Russia identify the same challenges and dangers, and want the same outcomes [in Syria].”

That, to put it bluntly, is simply not true. Washington and Moscow do not see Syria fundamentally similarly nor want the same outcomes.
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How US and EU Manipulate Public Consciousness: Montenegro

Wednesday December 16, 2015

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I’ve been working on this post for a long time, meticulously collecting scraps of information piece by piece to give you a comprehensive picture.

It is well known that the US employs a sophisticated network of non-governmental organizations to manipulate public consciousness in multiple countries across the world. NGOs also play a key role in preparing color revolutions.

These last months I’ve been closely following the events in Montenegro, a small country anxious about the efforts of its NATO ‘partners’ doing the best to integrate that Balkan state in the alliance. Well, you’ll be greatly surprised to find out the scale of those efforts.

It would be an understatement to say that a network of foreign controlled organizations is active in Montenegro. It’s not just a network, it is a system of its own, a ‘network of networks’.

This scheme illustrates the structural ties between the agents of influence which attempt to manipulate and brainwash the minds of Montenegro citizens:

As you can see, governmental structures, NGOs, media as well as commercial entities are involved in the unnatural process of pulling Montenegro into NATO.
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GOP Debate: Fear Won, Liberty Lost

Wednesday December 16, 2015

Host Wolf Blitzer set the tone for last night's Republican Party presidential debate when he solemnly told the audience that Americans are more fearful now than at any time since 9/11. The fear of terrorism is the number one issue, he emphasized, trumping all other concerns. With the stage thus set, the candidates, with a few exceptions, proceeded to tell voters how many new wars they would start, how many civilians they would kill overseas, how many of our liberties we must give up at home. Today's Liberty Report takes a look at the dismal future laid out by most of the candidates...
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‘Washington Has Gone From "Regime Change" to "Political Transition" in Syria, But We are Not Stupid’

Wednesday December 16, 2015

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It is a good sign that John Kerry visited Moscow and had high-level meetings, but we must remember that US foreign policy will not change on a dime, said Daniel McAdams, Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

RT: Washington appears to be backing away from previous calls to isolate Russia... What is behind the apparent change in policy?

Daniel McAdams: I think, first of all, diplomacy is always good. It is a very good sign that John Kerry actually went to Moscow, made the effort to go out there and had these high-level meetings. I think it is something very positive. However, I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves here because policy doesn’t change on a dime. But what is the reason for this apparent shift, I think the facts on the grounds have changed in places like - particularly - Syria. 

Russia was very assertive several months ago and they literally changed the situation. The US was not counting on Russia being so assertive. They were well into the stages of planning a ‘no-fly zone’which would have been a hub for the US-preferred rebels to operate from to continue the US policy - which has not abated - of overthrowing the government of Assad. The Russian move into Syria, based on a bilateral agreement with the Syrian government, has changed the facts on the ground. The aggressive American rhetoric, along with control of the skies and the ground in Syria, ended, and I think Washington took a long time to find its feet. And I think now they might be trying to attract some flies with honey instead of vinegar, as we say here.
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Ron Paul Rewind: Smacking Down Militarism and Liberty Abuses in 2011 CNN Debate

Tuesday December 15, 2015

Tonight, Republican presidential candidates will participate in a CNN debate moderated by Wolf Blitzer. On November 22, 2011, Ron Paul, in another Blitzer-moderated CNN presidential debate, boldly proposed ending US militarism abroad and liberty abuses at home.

Paul began his debate comments with a concise introduction of himself and his outlook concerning militarism and liberty:
I'm Ron Paul, a congressman from Texas. I am pleased to be here at the debate because this is a very important debate. I am convinced that needless and unnecessary wars are a great detriment. They undermine our prosperity and our liberties. They add to our deficits and they consume our welfare. We should take a careful look at our foreign policy.
Paul argued for a noninterventionist foreign policy throughout the debate.
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ISIS Is Big Winner In Saudis' Yemen War

Tuesday December 15, 2015

Eleven months of Saudi bombs on Yemen has produced thousands of dead civilians, devastated infrastructure, a threatened famine, and...ISIS! The US-backed Saudi intervention to push back a Houthi-led insurgency in Yemen was presumably driven by the Saudi obsession with reducing any perceived Iranian advantage in the Middle East. The fruits of the intervention are increasingly bitter, however. A Libya, part II -- or perhaps a preview of post-Assad Syria if the Saudis, Americans, and Turks have their way. As a new round of peace talks begins today in Switzerland, the Ron Paul Liberty Report takes a look at who's winning big in Yemen...
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Turkey's Dangerous Game

Tuesday December 15, 2015

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Turkey borders several Middle Eastern countries that are either unstable or potentially hostile to it, sometimes both simultaneously. With a modern military of more than 600,000 underwritten by NATO membership it is regional superpower whose ability to dominate the politics of its neighbors is sometimes exercised. Turkey has a large and educated population, a vibrant diversified economy and is at the crossroads of east and west, Asia and Europe. Together with Egypt, it is truly the indispensable nation if anyone wants to seriously consider influencing developments in the Near East.

It is perhaps Turkey’s indispensability that is part of the problem, as it has given its current government a hubristic sense of entitlement that has developed into a conceit that it can be the arbiter for all its neighbors while also transforming itself into an autocracy at home. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to turn the country’s traditionally fractious party politics into one party rule with himself at the helm. In so doing he has created what some call an “illiberal democracy” where dissent is systematically repressed and elections are rigged to favor his incumbency.

Erdogan has largely destroyed his country’s independent media by imprisoning and intimidating journalists, has not hesitated to characterize protesters as “terrorists” before having them beaten and shot, has packed the military and intelligence services with his own supporters, and has hobbled the judiciary and police. In Turkey it is now a crime to “insult” a public official. The law is strictly enforced regarding Erdogan. A man was fired from his job and is facing two years in prison for comparing the president to Gollum, the character in Lord of the Rings.
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What Truly Conservative Foreign Policy Looks Like

Monday December 14, 2015

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American foreign policy is based on deep convictions. Those who shape it believe the United States is the indispensable nation that must lead the world; this leadership requires toughness; and toughness is best shown by threatening or using force. Beneath these beliefs lies the assumption that the United States knows more and sees further than other countries.

Many liberals embrace this dogma. That makes sense. It emerges from the liberal tradition, which imagines that humanity is steadily progressing toward a perfect world in which no one will go hungry, warlords will disappear, diseases will be cured, and people will cooperate for the common good.

Any true conservative would find this preposterous. Liberals have an expansive, optimistic view of what they can achieve in the world. They see themselves as a force for good and can be tempted to crash into other countries to “help” them toward “modernity.” Liberalism contains within it a sense of evangelical mission, which sometimes leads to we-know-best arrogance.

Conservatism, by contrast, is a live-and-let-live ideology. By nature it is prudent, careful, and restrained. Conservatives do not believe that any country can solve the world’s problems or is called to do so. They want to leave other nations alone, not remake them. That makes restraint in foreign affairs an essentially conservative doctrine.
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Cheap Oil: Great For The Economy?

Monday December 14, 2015

Cheap oil has not driven an economic recovery in the US as it was supposed to do. Consumers have benefitted in the short-term from lower prices, but there are still record numbers of Americans out of the work force and the economy looks as shaky as ever. Much of the shale boom was driven by the Federal Reserve Bank's money-printing policies, which created boatloads of money looking for places to mal-invest. But the soft underbelly of the current cheap oil "crisis" is geopolitical uncertainty primarily in the Middle East. The world is one Turkish missile, or Russian bomb, or US airstrike, or Saudi invasion away from what could a global earthquake in the oil markets. Today's Liberty Report takes a look at the economics and politics of cheap oil...
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