RPI Director Daniel McAdams joins Jay Taylor to look back on the week in foreign affairs. The hypocrisy of the Paris "unity" march, the free speech crackdown in France, free speech in the US, the US decision to begin training Syrian rebels with US troops, Ukraine civil war hotting up, and why on earth did RPI run the Paul Craig Roberts article questioning whether the Paris shooting was a false flag? read on...
Ron Paul is a well-known opponent of the militarization and nationalization of local police in America. Yet, he cautions against looking at this development in isolation. On the Alex Jones Show on Tuesday, Paul discussed the economic policies of the US government and the provocations by people such as Al Sharpton that have, together with the nationalization of militarization of police, helped create a very dangerous situation in US cities. read on...
Well that didn't take long. Just three days after the French government hosted dozens of foreign leaders in a "unity rally" to defend free speech in the wake of last week's shooting at the Charlie Hebdo magazine, France has begun arresting its citizens for actually exercising free speech.
According to news reports, more than 50 French citizens were arrested today and charged with offensive speech — the same kind of speech that was the trademark of of the Charlie Hebdo publication.
None of those arrested were charged with links to terrorism or any real crime. Instead, they are facing up to seven years in prison for making statements the French authorities claim are supportive of the shootings or are anti-Semitic. read on...
On Tuesday a civilian bus was attacked in the breakaway region of eastern Ukraine. Some 12 people were killed in what was initially reported to be a grad missile attack but that looks much more like the work of some sort of small arms fire or anti-personnel mine. After weeks of a shaky ceasefire -- which was not much of a ceasefire to the 1,300+ killed in the breakaway region since it was announced -- it appears a return to open combat is increasingly likely.
The State Department immediately blamed the bus attack on the pro-independence militia in eastern Ukraine, again making a connection between the militia and what it claims is its Russian sponsor. According to State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf, the bus attack was "just the latest egregious violations of the commitments made by the Russian-backed separatists." read on...
The Paris "unity rally" to stand up for free speech in the face of last week's magazine shooting in Paris was an exercise in hypocrisy by the western political leaders who rushed in for the photo-op, RPI Director Daniel McAdams told Sputnik News today. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom routinely jail their own citizens who express opinions their governments object to, he added.
These three countries have actually supported the kinds of jihadists who carried out the shooting last week, he said, referring to their support for those seeking to overthrow Syrian President Assad. The two Paris shooters "were essentially promoting French foreign policy when they were in Syria last summer fighting against the Assad government," he said. read on...
RPI Chairman Ron Paul was criticized for daring to mention "blowback" in relation to the recent attack on a provocative French magazine. The usual neocon outlets made their usual superficial accusations that Dr. Paul was somehow justifying the attack. But is it justifying an attack to simply look to the possible motivations for the attack? Logic tells us it is not. Is it not true that France has pursued an extremely aggressive foreign policy in predominantly-Muslim countries, including participation in the bombing of Libya and support for Islamic radicals attempting to overthrow Assad in Syria. With France's large Muslim population, is it not possible for some to be motivated to strike back at state and other organs perceived as the most anti-Muslim in France? read on...
Micheal Scheuer, whose twenty-plus years working at the Central Intelligence Agency included several years in charge of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden unit, describes the killings at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris this week as blowback. Scheuer, a Ron Paul Institute Academic Board member, states this judgment among his extensive, insightful comments related to the killings in a Telegraph article published on Thursday. read on...
Non-interventionists and antiwar activists are often accused of exaggerating the extent of US military actions overseas to make our point about the costs of empire. We are said to over-estimate US troop deployments and level of military activity overseas. We reject that assertion, but fair enough: let's look to a more authoritative source for the answers. read on...
Ron Paul Institute Director cannot understand new Obama sanctions on North Korea as the US case against North Korea involvement in recent hack of Sony falls apart. North Korea hacks Sony to block a film featuring assassination of North Korea leader? What about the State Department and Pentagon approving Sony film featuring killing a foreign leader? Propaganda? read on...
Free trade is essential to prosperity, peace, and civilization. But free trade does not mean State-managed trade of the Nafta sort. It means businesses and individuals able to deal across international borders as easily as across town borders. Many things hamper free trade, such as fluctuating fiat currencies, which reintroduce barter, as Hoppe notes. But trade sanctions are also damaging and dangerous, and multiplying. Sanctions, which are acts of war, seek to sicken and impoverish civilians in a hated foreign country. Any GOP neocon or con claiming to believe in free trade and sanctions is a fraud. Of course, that’s hardly news. But we can know that anyone championing trade barriers against Russia, Iran, Cuba, or any place else is an enemy of capitalism, freedom, and peace. read on...
