Government commissions are always set up to cover up or hide government incompetence or maliciousness once exposed. They are put together when the government fails spectacularly -- as on 9/11 -- and they are staffed with government insiders who can be trusted to not dig too deeply into government responsibility for its own failures or even its lawlessness. Look on the board of any government commission and you will always see the consummate insiders like Lee Hamilton. read on...
Don't miss Tom Woods' interview with Pat Buchanan on the Peter Schiff show. Woods and Buchanan dissect US foreign policy in such a coherent and elegant manner. read on...
US intervention in the Middle East, whether overt or covert, was supposed to bring peace and stability -- even democracy and human rights -- to the region. Ten years after the US "liberation" of Iraq and some two years after US intervention on behalf of rebels seeking to overthrow the government in Syria we see these two horrific stories side-by-side. Do not be fooled: both are the direct result of US interventionism. And in both cases, the victims were made victims by the interventionism of the US government. As we ponder the supposedly rising terror threat of a suddenly reinvigorated al-Qaeda, we would do well to consider how the result of US intervention plays out on the ground -- particularly as the Obama administration has become full to the brim with "humanitarian interventionists." read on...
In yet another timely and important article at this critical time in US/Iran relations, Ron Paul Institute Academic Board Members Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett shed some much-needed light and perspective on the seemingly irrational US reaction to the ascendence of an entire new ruling group in Iran which is expressly interested in finding a way to bridge the gaps with the West. The question, essentially, is whether the US is open to dialogue and the possibility of a peaceful solution to the three-plus decade US/Iran impasse, or whether war is considered the only available option. read on...
What should we make of the latest worldwide US government terrorism threat warning? Amidst the dramatic -- and well-covered in the mainstream media -- shuttering of several US embassies for at least a day or so, Americans are suddenly told to be very afraid. The media is so excited by this dramatic story that they have seemingly forgotten all about the latest NSA spying revelations. read on...
Remember the color-coded threat level alerts that President Bush's' Homeland Security Secretary would always kick up a few colors when the domestic political heat increased on the Administration? For example when it was clear that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? It seems so long ago, a simpler time. read on...
Former director of the CIA and NSA, General Michael Hayden, oversaw the early construction of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping database of the telephone conversations of American citizens. He demonstrated his ignorance by arguing in a 2006 interview that the 4th Amendment of the Constitution did not mention "probable cause." While Director of Central Intelligence he fought for a new rules of engagement for US drone operators that allowed them to shoot at vehicles based solely on the behavior of the drivers rather than any suspected association with terrorism. It is not known how many innocent people were murdered based on Hayden's directions. read on...
As Bradley Manning finds his escape routes from a life sentence for his whistle-blowing quickly shut down by judges who are closely tied to the prosecutors, and as whistle-blower Edward Snowden faces life on the run from the largest intelligence network in history along with its army of drones, US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul found time to Tweet his extreme dissatisfaction with a criminal trial in Moscow. “We are deeply disappointed in the conviction of Navalny and the apparent political motivations in this trial,” he announced to his Twitter followers. The irony escaped him, to be sure.
Like the majority of Russians who have never heard of Alexei Navalny, most Americans are likely unfamiliar with the dissident so cherished by the neoconservative regime change crowd in the US. To Washington Post’s extreme Russophobic editorial page editor Fred Hiatt, Navalny is a “daring opposition blogger” who is to be held up as the model of a civil society that would emerge if only the tyrant Putin were overthrown. read on...
As Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano departs her post for the fairer climes of the University of California, she leaves behind a government monstrosity that not only is not in better shape than when she arrived, but is teetering on the verge of total collapse. The woman whose husky voice reminded us -- in the Metro, in Walmart, everywhere -- to say something if we see something, has left behind a workplace where the employees have the lowest morale anywhere in government -- despite pay boosts and numerous colorful special recognition awards programs.
In all fairness, it would be wrong to blame only Ms. Napolitano for the fact that most DHS employees would rather get a root canal than go to work. Imagine the humiliation of working for the Transportation Security Administration, for example, where days are spent either irradiating innocent Americans or groping them. Snatching an iPad from someone's bag may give a temporary boost, but in all it is miserable work. read on...
At the Ron Paul Institute, our job is to look critically at US foreign policy and point out the disasters of successive interventionist and empire-building administrations. But asked to more clearly define what this Administration is really up to thus far in its second term -- what are its goals, what values does it seek to convey worldwide, what are its motivations -- we often feel at a profound loss.
What does the president want to see happen in Egypt? Syria? What happens next in Afghanistan, Obama's "good war"? Russia re-set? read on...
