Blowback

Terrorism: The Latest Salvo on LNG Exports

"In the latest twist, a U.S. lawmaker said capitalizing on the natural gas boom through exports would expose the country to national security risks from terrorism. Several news outlets, citing unnamed or anonymous sources, reported al-Qaida militants killed four soldiers in their sleep in an attack on Balhaf, the country's lone liquefied natural gas export terminal. Drone strikes over Yemen increased in the wake of an early August security warning linking al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to Yemen's al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and a security source working in the energy sector said the raid on Balhaf was in response to those incidents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTerrorism: The Latest Salvo on LNG Exports

Ladar Levison’s Lesson

"Bureaucrats, inspectors, cops, and soldiers have guns. All of them, whether they realize it or not, have the power to damage and even ruin lives. When that happens, some maintain they're just following orders. Instead, I want them to have a crisis of conscience. I want them to learn Ladar Levison's lesson and declare, 'I don’t want to become complicit in crimes against the American people.' Right now, there’s a vast and growing body of evidence that the police are not here to protect and serve. They’re being given unlawful or immoral orders. Yet they’re NOT responding with Ladar Levison's words." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLadar Levison’s Lesson

Greenwald vows to release UK secrets after 9-hour detention of his partner

"The journalist who first published secrets leaked by fugitive former U.S. intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden vowed on Monday to publish more documents and said Britain will be 'sorry' for detaining his partner for nine hours. British authorities used anti-terrorism laws on Sunday to detain David Miranda, partner of U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, as he passed through London’s Heathrow airport. Greenwald said the detention was an attempt to intimidate him for publishing documents leaked by Snowden disclosing U.S. surveillance of global internet communications. Snowden gave Greenwald from 15,000 to 20,000 documents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreenwald vows to release UK secrets after 9-hour detention of his partner

Consequences of Power

"What we are seeing in Egypt and across the Middle East is the consequence of decades of US hegemony. Supporters of US policy in the region will argue that military aid to Egypt, arming Syrian rebels, drone strikes in Yemen, occupied forces in Afghanistan, etc, serve a national interest and that the 'Great Peacekeeping Armadas' of western nation states are doing exactly what they are supposed to: Maintain peace through strength. Is this a terribly misguided philosophy or a bold-faced lie? Does Obama really 'deplore violence against civilians?' Do US special interests really 'support universal rights essential to human dignity?' Has any administration?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConsequences of Power

Iraq Kurds reach out to Baghdad to fight surging al Qaeda

"The Shi'ite-led Iraqi government and Kurdish authorities are now looking at examples like the Shirqat attack and considering the once unthinkable - launching joint security operations and sharing intelligence - to combat the common enemy of al Qaeda. Such cooperation has been extremely rare since U.S. troops left at the end of 2011, while the central government and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region in the north have been locked in an increasingly hostile dispute over land and oil. That the two sides are publicly contemplating working together underlines how worried they are about the insurgency and the threat of Iraq slipping back into all-out sectarian war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIraq Kurds reach out to Baghdad to fight surging al Qaeda

5 Myths Used to Justify Death By Drone and America’s Assassination Policy

"America’s never-ending war on terrorism is almost always depicted in the mainstream media as a military and intelligence agency fight on a global battlefield. But it is also a propaganda war where the public is fed inaccuracies from Washington, especially when it comes to overseas killings by U.S. military drones. Here are five myths perpetuated by the military and its weapons makers that seek to make Americans feel good about drones and the White House’s policy of targeted assassinations." Continue reading →

Continue Reading5 Myths Used to Justify Death By Drone and America’s Assassination Policy

5 Myths Used to Justify Death By Drone and America’s Assassination Policy

"America’s never-ending war on terrorism is almost always depicted in the mainstream media as a military and intelligence agency fight on a global battlefield. But it is also a propaganda war where the public is fed inaccuracies from Washington, especially when it comes to overseas killings by U.S. military drones. Here are five myths perpetuated by the military and its weapons makers that seek to make Americans feel good about drones and the White House’s policy of targeted assassinations." Continue reading →

Continue Reading5 Myths Used to Justify Death By Drone and America’s Assassination Policy

Afghani Hornets Get Pissed After Soldiers Blow Up Their Home

"This video was captured a few years back, but the metaphor remains as stingingly apt as ever. According to the original uploader, a boulder blocking a military route in Afghanistan had to be removed, so an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit was called in to blow it up. In the process of eliminating the fallen rock, a large hornets nest tucked underneath was also decimated, causing its inhabitants to go berserk and attack the military equipment. It's unclear what happened next, but something tells me it didn't end well." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfghani Hornets Get Pissed After Soldiers Blow Up Their Home