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Meaning of Torture Report: Simply a Catharsis? - Daniel McAdams and Jay Taylor

What is the final meaning of the Senate's recent release of its report on CIA torture activities? We know that no one will be prosecuted, as they have already been given immunity by the president. We have no reason to believe the out-of-control CIA will have its wings clipped after release of the report. Just as the NSA did not cease, but rather increased, its spying on the rest of us after the Snowden revelations.
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Rep. Walter Jones: Omnibus Bill? Are You Kidding? I Don't Even Know What's In It!

Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), an RPI Board Member, again demonstrates why he is one of the few exemplary Members of Congress left in the House. Asked by CNSNews whether he would be voting for the monstrous omnibus continuing resolution on the House Floor this past week, he replied:
I am not voting for the bill. I have been very outspoken on this. How can you take a 1,600 page bill, get the rule on it today, and expect Members to cast a sensible vote on that kind of bill? You can't do it. I don't even know what's in the bill.
If only the other Member adopted Rep. Jones' position on bills that could not be read, could not be understood, but were deemed so critical by House leadership that to vote "no" was to constitute a serious violation. Rep. Jones has paid for his independence and his willingness to stand up for America rather than just the Republican Party. He deserves our thanks.
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The US Must Purge Itself

CIA Director Brennan's self administered auto-de-fé fell flat.  He met with the president this morning and was evidently told to get his statement in line with the president's position "or else." The "else" is pretty clear. He could easily find himself doing the "Hagel Two Step."  As a result the gospel according to Brennan backed away from any real defense of the deeds of CIA in its tormented and torturing history since 9/11.

On the one hand, he told us that information derived from torture was, at times, useful. On the other hand he told us that it is "unknowable" if the information so derived had any real value. He said that some of the things done by CIA officials were "abhorrent" but in answer to a question was ambiguous and non-committal as to whether or not it might be necessary to do the same kind of things in the future.
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House Russia Bill, New SecDef, Hungary Regime Change: Foreign Policy Week in Review

RPI's Daniel McAdams joins Jay Taylor again to look back over the top foreign policy stories of the past week. Why is Ukraine naming a former State Department employee to head its finance ministry? Is Ukraine the 51st state? What about Congress flexing its muscles at Russia? What is the origin of the notion of "color revolution," and why does it seem Hungary is next on the US list for regime change?
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The Anatomy of Regime Change

What do all regime change operations have in common? RPI Board Member John Laughland explains to the "World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations" conference last month that all such interventions essentially include the criminal prosecution of the vanquished party. We have seen this most recently in Ukraine, Libya, Ivory Coast, against ISIS, and elsewhere.
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State Spokesperson: 'Our Line is Ridiculous...'

Every time State Department spokespersons proclaim the Department position on critical trouble spots like Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Russia, we have the feeling they are shoveling a line of bovine excrement and well know it. And know we know it. And don't care.

Jen Psaki in particular has demonstrated a great talent for doublespeak, saying one thing and its exact opposite at the same time without missing a beat.
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What Would SecDef Ashton Carter Mean for the Military?

We know from RPI Chairman Ron Paul that President Obama's choice to be the next Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter, will mean no big changes in current US foreign and military policy. 

International correspondent Pepe Escobar informs us that Carter is:
...the typical Beltway apparatchik – profiting from the revolving door between the military, heavy industry and academia.

He was and remains a key actor in the ever evolving “policy” of demonization of Russia.
Carter was also panicking about (non-existent) Iraqi and Iranian WMDs as long ago as 1996, and he supported a military strike against North Korea if they tested a ballistic missile.
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ISIS: Another Chapter in the Forever War

US politicians and officials keep upping the number of years the US will be at war in Iraq, with Sen. John McCain claiming we must remain for 100 years! In the latest podcast with Ron Paul and Charles Goyette, Dr. Paul shares his concerns that a new and "wildly hawkish" Senate will likely pursue "much more war, more killing, and more spending." It appears that the war will go on until we are entirely bankrupt.

Dr. Paul points out that Obama's first choice to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Hagel was Michelle Flournoy, whose Center for a New American Security is entirely funded by defense contractors. That is the kind of thinking in Washington. Bankrupting the country on useless wars that enrich the well-connected.
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Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Want to Help Injured Veterans? Stop Interminable War

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, interviewed Tuesday by Jessica Desvarieux on the Real News Network, explains that stopping the United States’ “interminable war” is one important way to help “millions of Americans, who were sent off to do their nation's business and who are now back seriously harmed, seriously injured psychologically and physically, sometimes both.”

Wilkerson, a College of William & Mary professor and a Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity academic board member, points to the trouble caused for veterans when they have fought for “a nation that is interminably at war, and arguably at war that many of these veterans don't understand the purpose of.”
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Weapons to Ukraine? Assad Overthrow? RPI's Daniel McAdams Speaks With Jay Taylor

Indications that the US is looking to accelerate the conflict in Ukraine, with Vice President Biden in Kiev followed by NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. Pressure to provide US weapons to the Kiev regime is mounting. Also, what does departure of US Defense Secretary Hagel mean for US war plans in the Middle East? Will the neocons get their way in their push to overthrow Syria's Assad? RPI Director Daniel McAdams is back with Jay Taylor to discuss the pressing foreign policy headlines of the week.
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