The Freedom Watch

Afghan government says NATO-led military operation ‘aimless and unwise’

"Kabul’s angry response deepens a war of words that threatens to derail NATO attempts to ensure a smooth security transition as international troops head home and fears grow that Afghanistan could tip into further instability. The United States, which provides 66,000 of the 100,000 NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, was stunned by the accusations earlier this month from Karzai, who accused the US of colluding with the Taliban to justify its presence in the country. The United States on Tuesday warned Afghanistan that ensuring a credible presidential election next year would be 'critical' to maintaining international support after 2014." Continue reading →

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Two U.S. sailors admit to Okinawa rape charges

"Okinawa is the reluctant host of more than half of the 47,000 US military personnel in Japan. The rape provoked outrage and led to a nationwide curfew on all American military personnel in Japan. Despite the curfew, misconduct involving US servicemen, much of it drunken, has continued to fuel anti-US sentiment in communities with bases. The attack came amid already high tensions in Okinawa, which saw demonstrations last year against the US deployment to the island of Osprey aircraft. Local activists charge they have a poor safety record. Washington sees the island as a vital strategic base in a region that is increasingly wary of the power of China’s rising military." Continue reading →

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No, thanks: Stop saying “support the troops”

"To support the troops is to accept a particular idea of the American role in the world. It also forces us to pretend that it is a country legitimately interested in equality for all its citizens. In reality, the troops are not actually recipients of any meaningful support. That honor is reserved for the government and its elite constituencies. 'Support our troops' entails a tacit injunction that we also support whatever politicians in any given moment deem the national interest. If we understand that 'the national interest' is but a metonym for the aspirations of the ruling class, then supporting the troops becomes a counterintuitive, even harmful, gesture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNo, thanks: Stop saying “support the troops”

Sanctions on Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan?

"The New York Times has confirmed that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Quatar and Jordan are arming anti-Assad factions in Syria. The CIA is participating too. U.S. air bases are also implicated. These actions violate the U.N. charter. So, will anyone in the U.S. government raise the issue of sanctions against Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Quatar and Jordan? Don't hold your breath." Continue reading →

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Qatar: Rich and Dangerous

"Why would Qatar want to become involved in Syria where they have little invested? A map reveals that the kingdom is a geographic prisoner in a small enclave on the Persian Gulf coast. It relies upon the export of LNG, because it is restricted by Saudi Arabia from building pipelines to distant markets. A saturated North American gas market and a far more competitive Asian market leaves only Europe. The discovery in 2009 of a new gas field near Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Syria opened new possibilities to bypass the Saudi Barrier and to secure a new source of income. Pipelines are in place already in Turkey to receive the gas. Only Al-Assad is in the way." Continue reading →

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Mystery Sponsor Of Weapons And Money To Syrian Mercenary “Rebels” Revealed

"The tiny gas-rich state of Qatar has spent as much as $3bn over the past two years supporting the rebellion in Syria, far exceeding any other government, but is now being nudged aside by Saudi Arabia as the prime source of arms to rebels. The cost of Qatar’s intervention, its latest push to back an Arab revolt, amounts to a fraction of its international investment portfolio. But its financial support for the revolution that has turned into a vicious civil war dramatically overshadows western backing for the opposition. For Qatar, owner of the world’s third-largest gas reserves, its intervention in Syria is part of an aggressive quest for global recognition, following its backing of Libya’s rebels." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMystery Sponsor Of Weapons And Money To Syrian Mercenary “Rebels” Revealed

US Refines “Military Options” Ahead Of Syrian Strikes

"Over the next week, we fully expect to wake up to news that a US and Israeli-led fly-by has crippled several key Syrian military installations in 'punishment' for a chemical attack that with virtual certainty was conducted not by the regime which knows it every action is observed by spy satellites, but by the Qatari mercenaries whose only job is precisely to topple the Assad regime so the much-delayed LNG pipeline can finally pass underneath Syria. Because if it wasn't for that, why on earth would Saudi Arabia grovel before Putin demanding just that?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Refines “Military Options” Ahead Of Syrian Strikes

Syria crisis: Moscow reminds US of Iraq mistakes

"Russia warned that the alleged chemical attack could have been a staged “provocation” by the Syrian opposition forces and said US rhetoric recalled the allegations preceding the invasion of Iraq. 'All of this makes one recall the events that happened 10 years ago, when, using false information about Iraqis having weapons of mass destructions, the US bypassed the United Nations and started a scheme whose consequences are well known to everyone,' the Russian Foreign ministry said in a statement. 'Once again we call not to repeat past mistakes, not to allow actions that contradict international law,' the ministry said." Continue reading →

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Bombs kill 42 outside mosques in Lebanon’s Tripoli after car bomb kills 24

The apparently coordinated blasts - the biggest and deadliest in Tripoli since the end of Lebanon's own civil war - struck as locals were finishing Friday prayers in the largely Sunni Muslim city. Lebanese officials appealed for calm. The explosions in Tripoli came a week after a huge car bomb killed at least 24 people in a part of Beirut controlled by the Shi'ite Muslim militant movement Hezbollah. Both Hezbollah and radical Sunni groups in Lebanon have sent fighters over the border to support opposing sides in Syria. Salem al-Rafei, chief cleric of the Taqwa mosque, is a staunch supporter of Syrian Sunni rebels as well as Lebanese Sunni militants who have joined the anti-Assad battle in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBombs kill 42 outside mosques in Lebanon’s Tripoli after car bomb kills 24

What Really Happened during the Iran Hostage Crisis?

"Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days (November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981), after a group of Iranian students supporting the Iranian Revolution took over the American Embassy in Tehran. Gary Sick wrote both an editorial for The New York Times in April of 1990 and a book on the subject: In October 1980 officials in Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign made a secret deal with Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until after the election and in return for this, the U.S. purportedly arranged for Israel to ship weapons to Iran. Sick had interviewed a witness who saw members of the Reagan election team in Paris in negotiations with the Iranian government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Really Happened during the Iran Hostage Crisis?