US backing for the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was supposed to be all about democracy. As Washington tells it, the people took to the street demanding democratic reforms and Assad did not listen, so he lost his legitimacy and needed to be overthrown. The US helped facilitate that overthrow by shipping in tons of weapons (much of which ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda and ISIS). read on...
Iraq, the failed state that over 4,600 (and counting…) Americans died to free from some evil tyrant 13 years ago, is still ranking high internationally in something. Unfortunately, that something is corruption. A couple of other places where America has been intervening for freedom also made the list. read on...
Much has been reported on United States presidential candidates trying to one-up each other at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington, DC last week as they pledged their intentions to, as president, stand with Israel. Significantly less media attention was paid to another presidential contender, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who, instead of speaking at the AIPAC conference, presented in Utah a speech he says he would have given had he attended the AIPAC conference. While Sanders’ comments regarding Israel were rather nuanced, he did say up front that “Israel is one of America’s closest allies” and that the US is committed “to guaranteeing Israel’s survival.” read on...
The big news out of Syria over the past couple of days has been that Syrian government forces with the help of the Russian military have taken back control of Palmyra from ISIS. The fall of Palmyra and subsequent destruction of the spectacular Roman ruins there by ISIS horrified the civilized world. The US government had claimed from the beginning that the Russians were not targeting ISIS at all, but only the "moderate" rebels supported by Washington. That lie now stands bare in newly-liberated Palmyra and onward, as Syrian government troops aided by the Russians speed east toward the "capital" of the Islamic State, Raqqa. read on...
Over at The Intercept, journalist Glenn Greenwald has written a powerful and insightful examination of how media provides Americans with many details regarding the deaths and suffering caused by terrorist attacks in “western” nations but shields Americans from anywhere near the coverage of victims of the United States and cooperating governments’ attacks in other countries, including the US government’s “hideous civilian-slaughtering strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Libya, and Iraq.” read on...
A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted Thursday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud. read on...
Here's the big -- really big -- story of the day: AP is reporting that ISIS has sent at least 400 fighters into Europe in semi-autonomous cells to rain down a wave of terror that may make the Brussels attacks earlier this week look like child's play. This underground terror army is said to have trained in Syria, Iraq, and possibly some of the former republics of the USSR, and they have infiltrated themselves into Europe to await further instructions. read on...
What is the meaning of the Brussels bombings? "Experts" will make endless self-serving suggestions about how to better fight terrorism -- these "solutions" will always include more jobs for these "experts." Meanwhile, none of the elites will for a minute consider the deadly combination of violent Western intervention in the Middle East and an open door "refugee" policy in the EU. Why do none of the experts see blowback, interventionism, sanctions, and neocons as a cause of hatred in the region? RPI Director Daniel McAdams joins the Scott Horton show to peel back the layers of nonsense that cloud the official story of the "war on terror." Listen to the program here. read on...
Speaking Friday with hosts John Berman and Kate Bolduan at CNN, former three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul predicted that shady maneuvers, like the rules changes and replacement of delegates used against Paul at the 2012 Republican National Convention, will be used against Trump at the upcoming 2016 party convention. Paul says, however, that he believes Trump will win the Republican nomination despite such “establishment” efforts. read on...
Anyone wondering just how bad is US foreign policy need only turn to the daily press briefing by the US State Department for an answer. And let me tell you, the answer is it's really, really bad. Yesterday's briefing was at the same time one for the record books and par for the course, as State Department Spokesman Admiral John Kirby tried to explain Washington's uber-incoherent Syria policy.
First, AP diplomatic reporter Matt Lee -- an excellent journalist -- asked Kirby to explain Washington's opposition to a Kurdish group in Syria announcing the creation of an autonomous Kurdish area inside Syria. After all, observed Lee, Washington does not believe Assad has the legitimacy to govern Syria so the Kurds are not encouraged to put themselves under the control of the current government in Damascus. read on...
