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Paris and What Should Be Done

Sunday November 15, 2015

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The horrific attacks in Paris on Friday have, predictably, led to much over-reaction and demands that we do more of the exact things that radicalize people and make them want to attack us. The French military wasted no time bombing Syria in retaliation for the attacks, though it is not known where exactly the attackers were from. Thousands of ISIS fighters in Syria are not Syrian, but came to Syria to overthrow the Assad government from a number of foreign countries -- including from France and the US. 

Ironically, the overthrow of Assad has also been the goal of both the US and France since at least 2011.

Because the US and its allies are essentially on the same side as ISIS and other groups – seeking the overthrow of Assad – many of the weapons they have sent to the more “moderate” factions also seeking Assad’s ouster have ended up in the hands of radicals.
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The City of Light Falls Dark

Sunday November 15, 2015

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On Friday the 13th, Paris, the City of Light, was plunged into darkness and fear.

At least eight young jihadists, allegedly from the so-called Islamic State group, attacked the national sports stadium, where President Francois Hollande was attending a soccer match with Germany’s foreign minister. They also attacked outdoor cafes, a pizzeria and a rock club.

As of this writing, 127 civilians were killed and dozens wounded. All of the attackers are believed to have died. For the second time this year, Paris is terror-struck and shaken to its foundation. Pope Francis aptly described the attacks as “homicidal madness.”

What was Islamic State’s objective in attacking all these improbable soft targets? Madness is not a sufficient motive. Clearly, Islamic State’s 20-somethings were bombing and shooting up targets that youngsters frequented, like a pizzeria or Friday night heavy metal concert. Their objective: to kill as many people as possible in a pure revenge attack.

Islamic State (IS), a collection of young hooligans, misguided idealists, and bitter riff-raff, have warned the West, “we will make you feel what we have felt.” They adopted this slogan from the Chechen independence fighters who resorted to attacks on Russian civilians after Russian forces killed an estimated 100,000 of their people in the 1990’s.
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Opting Out: A Small Step for Peace

Sunday November 15, 2015

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Let’s discuss conscientious objection. For those who don’t know what it is, conscientious objection is a moral or religious opposition to war. It is essentially the refusal to participate on moral or religious grounds. So I am a conscientious objector. Interestingly enough, before I conscientiously objected, I was an F-15E fighter pilot. I deployed twice to Afghanistan, and I sincerely regret to say that I have killed people. That is a heavy burden for an honest person to carry whether it’s justified or not.

People disagree on this point for obvious reasons: was it self-defense or aggression? It’s difficult to tell for sure. Most of the situations I have experienced are very gray. They could easily be viewed as self-defense (particularly from a tactical "on the battlefield" perspective). That is, when somebody shoots at you or some 18-year-old kid you’re supposed to protect, you shoot back. Pretty simple. Or is it? From a strategic perspective, it’s hard for me to see the world in the same light. Sure, you can make a pretty good case that Osama Bin Laden should have been captured, put on trial, and convicted for his crimes. That’s fairly straightforward. But he’s dead now and none of the countries we’ve invaded since 2001 had anything to do with it. Nor have they attacked the United States. That should be a problem for any sensible person. So I guess my point is that your perspective matters. The tactical perspective is very different than the larger picture.

What I am very proud to say is that when I personally changed my mind about the moral foundation of the American wars of the last century, I had the courage to act on my convictions and quit the military. To actually change your behavior is very difficult, but possible. Now I’m here to make the case for freedom of conscience in hopes of changing a few minds for peace. So what are we to do about all this war? In my view the answer is conscientiousness.
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Paris: You Don’t Want to Read This

Saturday November 14, 2015

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You don’t want to read this, and I take no pleasure in writing it, and no one really wants to hear it right now. But I believe it needs to be said.

I join the world in grieving for the dead in Paris. I have grieved for the dead from 9/11 forward — the Australians who died in terror attacks on Bali in 2005, Londoners who died in terror attacks in 2005, the French citizens who died in the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January of this year, the Russians whose plane went down over the Sinai a week or so ago. I grieve also for those killed in smaller attacks already smuggled deep into the obscurity of our memory.

And so we Tweet hashtags and phrases in high school French and post GIFs to Facebook. We know what to do; we’ve done this before.

But it has to be said, especially looking at the sick repetition of the same story, that despite fourteen plus years of a war on terror, terror seems to be with us as much as ever, maybe even more. It is time to rethink what we have done and are doing.

Since that day in 2001, the one with those terrible sparkling blue skies in New York, we have spied on the world, Americans at home and foreigners abroad, yet no one detected anything that stopped the Paris attacks. We gave up much to that spying and got nothing in return.
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Paid Patriotism: The Artist Formerly Known as ‘Propaganda’

Friday November 13, 2015

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Last week, Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and John McCain (R-AZ) released a report revealing the Department of Defense paid professional sports teams to host “patriotic events.”

Anyone who has ever attended a sporting event knows these well. Military personnel are featured on the jumbotron, huge flags are spread across the field, returning veterans are named “hometown heroes,” or asked to participate in half-time contests, ceremonial first pitches, and other activities intended to honor the US military.

Though seemingly a spontaneous illustration of national pride, the report revealed such actions to be anything but genuine. In fact, the report found that the Department of Defense had contracted with the NFL, NHL, MLB, and Major League Soccer to host such events, to the tune of $10.5 million taxpayer dollars.

In releasing the report, Senator McCain expressed his disappointment that sports franchises took federal funds for such purposes saying:
Americans across the country should be deeply disappointed that many of the ceremonies honoring troops at professional sporting events are not actually being conducted out of a sense of patriotism, but for profit in the form of millions in taxpayer dollars going from the Department of Defense to wealthy pro sports franchises. Fans should have confidence that their hometown heroes are being honored because of their honorable military service, not as a marketing ploy.
Criticizing these franchises is easy. Major league sports leagues certainly aren’t known as bastions of morality. People have taken the report as a chance to discuss how “capitalism” has cheapened even our armed forces. But the real villain here isn’t capitalism. It’s the government. While the DOD maintains that such payments were to enhance recruiting, it’s time we call these activities by their appropriate name.
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America’s Dedication to Regime Change in Syria Halting Peace Process

Friday November 13, 2015

With the second round of Syria peace talks scheduled for this weekend, the United States is still strongly objecting to any proposal to bring the Assad government together with moderate rebel factions to discuss political solutions to the ongoing slaughter. According to the US State Department it is "premature" for any talks between the Syrian government and rebels. In an interview, RPI Director Daniel McAdams says, "let's be frank: the US is still completely dedicated to regime change in Syria, and that is where the road block is to further progress."
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US Isolationists Still Block Iran Trade

Thursday November 12, 2015

While France and the rest of Europe -- not to mention Asia -- are busy signing trade deals with Iran for when UN sanctions are lifted early next year, US companies are hampered by myriad legal restrictions on doing business with Iran. Will these restrictions continue even after UN sanctions are lifted, keeping US companies out in the cold? That is what the real isolationists hope for. Who are they? Tune in to today's Liberty Report...
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How Ukraine’s Finance Chief Got Rich

Thursday November 12, 2015

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Before becoming Ukraine’s Finance Minister last December, Natalie Jaresko collected $1.77 million in bonuses from a US-taxpayer-financed investment fund where her annual compensation was supposed to be limited to $150,000, according to financial documents filed with the US Internal Revenue Service this year.

The near 12-fold discrepancy between the compensation ceiling and Jaresko’s bonuses, paid in 2013, was justified in the IRS filing from the Jaresko-led Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) by drawing a distinction between getting paid directly from the $150 million US government grant that created the fund and the money from the fund’s “investment sales proceeds,” which were treated as fair game for extracting bonuses far beyond the prescribed compensation level.

Using this supposed loophole, Jaresko and some of her associates enriched themselves by claiming money generated from US taxpayers’ dollars while avoiding any personal financial risks. She and other WNISEF officers collected the bonuses from what they deemed “profitable” exits from some investments even if the overall fund was losing money and shrinking, as it apparently was in recent years.

According to WNISEF’s filing for the 2013 tax year, submitted to the IRS on Aug. 11, 2015, the value of the investment fund had shrunk from $150 million at its start to $93.9 million in the fund’s 2012 tax year and to $89.8 million in the 2013 tax year. (WNISEF’s tax years end on Sept. 30.)
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Thanking Iraq War Veterans For Their Service

Wednesday November 11, 2015

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I wonder what goes through the mind of an Iraq War veteran when someone says, “Thank you for your service.” I wonder if he ever asks himself, “What exactly am I being thanked for?”

Consider what the Bush administration did to US soldiers on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. Bush and his people, many of whom had avoided the draft during the Vietnam War, knew that many soldiers had serious misgivings about invading Iraq. After all, neither the Iraqi people nor the Iraqi government had ever attacked the United States. In this war, US soldiers were going to be the aggressors.

But American soldiers don’t like looking at themselves as aggressors. They like seeing themselves as defenders, as in defending America from attack or defending our rights and freedoms. That’s why many of them signed up after 9/11.

On the eve of the Iraq invasion, I read a newspaper article that described a Catholic soldier who was in deep consternation about whether he could kill any Iraqi, including Iraqi troops. The soldier was afraid that he would be committing a mortal sin under Catholic doctrine. I was stunned to read that a chaplain assured him that he could kill Iraqis with a clear conscience because he had the right to place his trust in his commander in chief.
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NATO Admits Afghan Mission Failure

Wednesday November 11, 2015

After 14 years, more than a trillion dollars, tens of thousands of lives lost on all sides, the US/NATO mission in Afghanistan is more adrift than ever. Next month NATO member state ministers will meet to determine the next steps in Afghanistan. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg claims there will be no future combat mission for NATO, but NATO generals admit that if NATO leaves there will be an even swifter collapse. In today's Liberty Report, Ron Paul offers some advice to NATO leaders...
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