As part of its 60 year anniversary, Roll Call newspaper is looking back on its coverage over the years. Have a look at how they covered Ron Paul when he was first elected to Congress in 1976:
Roll Call Question: What freshman lawmaker was described as “somewhat cocky and questioning” in 1976?
This week NATO delivered more than 100 tanks and heavy armored units, and several thousand soldiers including US troops, to Latvia, on the border with Russia, in its "Operation Atlantic Resolve." US Army General John O'Conner made no secret that the military operation was aimed at fighting Russia, stating that the delivery of the heavy weapons to Latvia would "demonstrate resolve to President Putin and Russia that collectively we can come together." The tanks would stay, he added, "for as long as required to deter Russian aggression.”
As the western tanks and soldiers arrived, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told the US Senate that she could "confirm" that new Russian weapons were being delivered to Ukraine, but she provided no details or evidence and the OSCE monitors on the ground have not reported any such movement. read on...
Generally speaking, if one were to argue that the US foreign policy elites secretly back al-Qaeda, that person would be accused of extreme stupidity and of wallowing in the conspiracy theory mud.
But what happens when a writer in the flagship journal of the foreign policy elites writes that we need to re-assess our 15 year war on the organization that attacked New York and Washington on 9/11, and instead start "accepting al-Qaeda"?
Writing in Foreign Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations' publication, Barak Mendelsohn argues that because the United States has been (ill-advisedly in his opinion) reluctant to place a full contingent of US boots on the ground for Iraq-War-III-Plus-Syria against ISIS and Assad, the only remaining option is to embrace (and presumably provide assistance to) al-Qaeda in its dual fight against ISIS and the secular Assad government in Syria. read on...
In her current article at Antiwar.com, Lucy Steigerwald reminds us that, while the deaths of tens of millions of innocent men, women, and children provide the strongest indictment of war, there are other costs that need to be accounted for; costs that can only be calculated in terms of the adverse consequences to peaceful, productive, and decent society — i.e., to civilization itself. Among the earliest casualties of the American attack on Iraq were the destruction and looting of archeological sites, museums, libraries, and other cultural locations that help a nation to define itself. The United States did not invent such ruinous forms of barbarism, nor has the practice abated in such cities as Mosul, where ISIS forces have eagerly and intentionally looted the local museum of its important collections. The fourth century burning of the library at Alexandria — then considered to be the greatest collection of the world’s literature – reveals the depths of insanity that inhere in the war system. read on...
What happens when a close friend starts acting so bizarrely that you need to gently extract yourself from his ravings lest you be tarred with the same brush -- or worse? That is the position in which Germany is increasingly finding itself, as the US government's strange pronouncements about Ukraine are getting too much to bear. The German establishment magazine Der Spiegel has just published a very important article, "Breedlove's Bellicosity: Berlin Alarmed by Aggressive NATO Stance on Ukraine," that lifts the lid on what official Germany really thinks about the US neocon push to war with Russia over Ukraine.
Der Spiegel starts by recalling an event last Wednesday. It was a time when the "Minsk II" ceasefire agreement had produced relative calm throughout eastern Ukraine. The weaponry was being withdrawn and an encouraging, if imperfect, ceasefire was holding. The deal, brokered personally by the German, French, Russian, and Ukrainian leadership, was producing results. Yet on that very day, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe (SACEUR), the American General Philip Breedlove, was spinning a completely different yarn. read on...
Victoria Nuland distorts the US role in the Ukraine coup before Congress. Isn't it supposed to be frowned upon to lie to Congress? Also Iran joins the fight against ISIS and John McCain is troubled by the development. He would rather have Americans on the ground fighting. RPI Director Daniel McAdams again joins Jay Taylor to look back on the main foreign policy events of the week. read on...
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Tuesday speech to the United States Congress is a continuation of his nearly 20 years of scaremongering the US government to encourage both US intervention in the Middle East and US military aid for Israel says Ron Paul Institute Academic Board Member Hillary Mann Leverett in a new CCTV interview. Instead of falling for the scare tactics again, Mann Leverett suggests the US move toward a policy approach that would include pulling back from repeated military invasions and occupations designed to achieve dominance in the Middle East. read on...
US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland appeared before the House International Relations Committee yesterday to beat the war drums against Russia over Ukraine. Her testimony was full of lies, RPI Director Daniel McAdams told RT, starting with her claim that the US-backed violent overthrow of the Ukrainian government last year was the work of "peaceful protesters."
What is the real story behind Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress this week? Who invited him and why? Are critics of the "Israel lobby" just anti-Semites? Why would Congress turn to Netanyahu for advice on foreign policy when he has been so wrong in the past -- his cheerleading for the US attack on Iraq, for example? Join RPI's Daniel McAdams and Tom Woods for a discussion of one of the most important foreign policy event of the year. read on...
Texas State Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview) introduced a bill, HB 2165, on Monday that he says is intended to remove marijuana offenses entirely from Texas state law and replace them with nothing. Simpson, in a KETK-TV story, is quoted explaining that he is proposing with his legislation that marijuana “be regulated like tomatoes, jalapeños or coffee.” If Simpson’s bill is enacted, Texas would have the least government controls on marijuana of any state in America. read on...
