Imperial Hubris

Trump approves Pentagon warfighting authority expansion

"Week by week, country by country, the Pentagon is quietly seizing more control over warfighting decisions, sending hundreds more troops to war with little public debate and seeking greater authority to battle extremists across the Middle East and Africa. This week it was Somalia, where President Donald Trump gave the U.S. military more authority to conduct offensive airstrikes on al-Qaida-linked militants. Next week it could be Yemen, where military leaders want to provide more help for the United Arab Emirates' battle against Iranian-backed rebels." Continue reading →

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30 Years After Saddam Hussein, Now U.S. Bombs Kurds To Smithereens

The Pentagon has admitted to an airstrike that is believed to have killed more than 200 civilians in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, at the edge of the autonomous Kurdistan region. In the 1980s, Kurdistan was targeted by Saddam … Continue reading →

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Iran to be hooked up to global banks in weeks; U.S. investors still banned

"A nuclear deal between world powers and Iran led to the removal of the curbs on Tehran's banking, insurance and shipping sectors last weekend, as well as restrictions on oil exports. But for Iran to resume business with the global banking world - for the first time since 2012 - its banks need to be linked to overseas lenders on SWIFT. The system is used to transmit payments and letters of credit. Many international sanctions relating to Iran's nuclear program were lifted but most involving U.S. measures remain in place. Non-U.S. banks may trade with Iran without fear of punishment in the United States but U.S. banks may not do so, directly or indirectly." Continue reading →

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U.S. bailout places ‘Puerto Rico’s democracy at risk’

"The U.S. Senate is considering a bill called the Puerto Rico Assistance Act of 2015. It offers minor assistance: a temporary reduction in payroll taxes and a 'development fund' of $3 billion. But the real purpose of this bill is the installation of a six-member Financial Control Authority. That authority, if it gets the chance, will rule over Puerto Rico. Completely. What this legislation contemplates is beyond extraordinary; it is essentially the destruction of whatever semblance of genuine democracy currently rules the island. According to the bill, five members will be appointed by the U.S. President. The sixth will be the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, who will also serve as Chairman." Continue reading →

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Saudi Arabia’s Secret Holdings of U.S. Debt Are Suddenly a Big Deal

"That question -- unanswered since the 1970s, under an unusual blackout by the U.S. Treasury Department -- has come to the fore as Saudi Arabia is pressured by plunging oil prices and costly wars in the Middle East. As a matter of policy, the Treasury has never disclosed the holdings of Saudi Arabia, long a key ally in the volatile Middle East, and instead groups it with 14 other mostly OPEC nations including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria. Apart from the kingdom itself, only a handful of Treasury officials, and those at the Federal Reserve who compile the data on their behalf, have a clear picture of Saudi Arabia’s U.S. debt holdings and whether they’re rising or falling." Continue reading →

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Ron Paul Says to Watch the Petrodollar

"From 1972 to 1974, the U.S. government made a series of agreements with Saudi Arabia. These agreements created the petrodollar system. The U.S. government chose Saudi Arabia because of its vast petroleum reserves, its dominant position in OPEC, and the (correct) perception that the Saudi royal family was corruptible. In essence, the petrodollar system was an agreement that the U.S. would guarantee the survival of the House of Saud. It’s hard to overstate how much the petrodollar system benefits the U.S. dollar. It’s allowed the U.S. government and many Americans to live beyond their means for decades." Continue reading →

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Hillary Emails Reveal Propaganda, Executions, Coveting Libyan Oil and Gold

"Historians of the 2011 NATO war in Libya will be sure to notice a few of the truly explosive confirmations contained in the new emails: admissions of rebel war crimes, special ops trainers inside Libya from nearly the start of protests, Al Qaeda embedded in the U.S. backed opposition, Western nations jockeying for access to Libyan oil, the nefarious origins of the absurd Viagra mass rape claim, and concern over Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves threatening European currency." Continue reading →

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Et Tu, Brute? (How Empires Die)

"The state-owned Bank of China has been ordered by an American court to hand over customer information to the US. The bank has refused to comply, as to do so would violate China’s privacy law. The US court has subsequently ordered the Bank of China to pay a fine of $50,000 per day. China is a sovereign nation, halfway around the globe from the US, yet the US seems to feel that it’s somehow entitled to set the rules for China. All over the world, those who live outside the US are increasingly observing that the US has become so drunk with power that they’re threatening both friend and foe with fines, trade restrictions, monetary sanctions, warfare, and invasions." Continue reading →

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Drone Pilots Expose Civilian Murder, U.S. Freezes Their Financial Accounts

"The U.S. Government failed to deter them through threats of criminal prosecution, and clumsy attempts to intimidate their families. Now four former Air Force drone operators-turned-whistleblowers have had their credit cards and bank accounts frozen, according to human rights attorney Jesselyn Radack. Michael Haas, Brandon Bryant, Cian Westmoreland and Stephen Lewis, who served as drone operators in the US Air Force, have gone public with detailed accounts of the widespread corruption and institutionalized indifference to civilian casualties that characterize the program." Continue reading →

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The Feds Won’t Stop Terrorism This Way

"While the current rationale for encryption back doors is to fight terrorism, they wouldn’t be used just for that purpose. For proof, just look at the history of the PATRIOT Act. This law gives the US government unprecedented civil forfeiture authority over the US 'correspondent accounts' of any bank in the world. If an alleged terrorist or other criminal deposits money at the bank overseas, the PATRIOT Act allows the government to seize an equivalent sum of money in the correspondent account in the US. Proponents justified the law as a necessary escalation in the 'War on Terror.' But the very first time the government used its new civil forfeiture authority, it had nothing to do with terrorism." Continue reading →

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