From the moment the first Russian warplanes started launching attacks inside Syria, a new campaign in the information war was also launched, with various groups trying to get their stamps on conflicting stories about what exactly Russia attacked, whether they hit ISIS, ISIS allies, pro-US rebels, or just random Syrian civilians. read on...
On Wednesday the Russian military became active in the fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria. Pursuant to a request from the Syrian government, Moscow first began deploying military equipment and trainers as well as humanitarian assistance. Then the Russian parliament approved the use of force, and force was indeed used on Wednesday.
The Obama Administration is not happy about this development.
The US has been bombing Syria for a year without permission from the Syrian government and without a UN Security Council resolution authorizing an attack on a sovereign nation. That means US strikes on Syrian soil are illegal according to international law. However the first US response to the Russian strikes against ISIS in Syria was to condemn the Russian government for not coordinating its strikes with the US. read on...
Legal marijuana in Colorado has been a boon for freedom, allowing people to make, transfer, and consume marijuana products free from the threat of arrest by state or local police. At the same time, there is an unfortunate side-effect of the liberalization of marijuana laws in the state — the government scooping up great amounts of money via marijuana “sin taxes.”
The high marijuana taxes punish people who purchase marijuana by depriving them of money to save, to give away, or to spend on other goods or services. The sin taxes also are a means of controlling people’s behavior. Facing high taxes, some people will forgo or reduce their purchases of products containing the plant. read on...
The US government has been relying on its standard narrative that the Syria crisis emerged spontaneously after an "Arab Spring" inspired protest was violently suppressed by the Syrian government. The entire US intervention was justified on these grounds. In other words, the "Assad must go" position of the US government was simply a reflection of his decision to attack his own citizens in 2011. Thus the Obama Administration, as it did in Ukraine, has attempted to disavow any role in fomenting the uprising and thus any responsibility for the violence that ensued.
But like much else in US foreign policy the narrative is wholly false, constructed to propagandize the American people in favor of US intervention and shield the US government from any fallout.
In fact the US government had long had its sights on regime change in Syria, starting at least with the Project for a New American Century's plan peddled to George W. Bush to overthrow five countries in five years and remake the entire Middle East. The neocons always like to think big, but like any slimy salesman they never deliver as promised. Their Iraq "cakewalk" proved a deathwalk. read on...
College of William & Mary Professor and Ron Paul Institute Academic Board Member Lawrence Wilkerson examined, in an interview last week with host Paul Jay on the Real News Network, the connection between war and profits. War brings profits, and this feeds a Washington, DC bias toward war, says Wilkerson. read on...
Speaking Friday with host Scott Horton on the Scott Horton Show, Ron Paul Institute Academic Board Member Eric Margolis related the devastating consequences foreign intervention to depose Syria President Bashar al-Assad has created, as well as the further devastation that would be wrought if the intervention accomplishes its goal.
Concluding a discussion largely focused on governments, including those of the United States, Britain, and France, intervening in Syria, Margolis presents an important warning. “The question is ‘Why overthrow Assad?’” asks Margolis, “because, when he’s gone, we are definitely going to miss him.” read on...
The board of trustees overseeing the Kilton Public Library in West Lebanon, New Hampshire on Tuesday decided, despite pushback from the United States Department of Homeland Security, to reinstate a Tor relay the board had approved in an effort to enhance privacy on the internet. The library board drew the attention of Homeland Security when the board decided in June to make the Kilton Public Library the first library in America to install a Tor relay. After Homeland Security promptly responded by telling state and local government officials that the Tor relay may aid criminals, the board had suspended the relay. read on...
The whistleblowers and government secrets revealers Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden are not free to travel. But, this week — in the form of a sculpture including their life-size bronze statues — they are standing in a Geneva, Switzerland plaza near the European headquarters of the United Nations. The sculpture’s message is antiwar, says its Italian sculptor Davide Dormino. read on...
Ron Paul, the former United States presidential candidate and Republican House of Representatives member from Texas, discussed in an August 8 radio interview evangelical Zionists who support the US government’s wars overseas. Paul examines the matter with Patriot’s Lament show host Joshua Bennett on KFAR radio of Fairbanks, Alaska. read on...
