Imperial Hubris

Our Moral Crisis

"It seems official, the United States is a permanent wartime state. Senior Obama Administration officials have stated that the War on Terror, in its 'limitless form,' will carry on for another decade, possibly two. Given our role in the world, as an economic and military super-power, and given the economic, social and environmental crisis we see the world in, we must no longer deny that US foreign policy is a great agent of repression. We are a global threat to peace, security, liberty and the environment. Violence has become our foreign policy – it is the status quo. Perhaps what is most disturbing is the support the public lauds on politicians who support aggressive foreign policy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOur Moral Crisis

Video of Syrian rebel fighter cutting out heart of soldier and eating it condemned

[May 2013] "Human Rights Watch and the Syrian opposition National Coalition have condemned a gruesome video apparently showing a Syrian rebel fighter cutting out the heart of a regime soldier and eating it. 'International news agencies and social media websites have been circulating a video clip in which a person claiming to be a member of the rebels in Homs performs a horrific and inhumane act,' the National Coalition said. Human Rights Watch said the man depicted in the video appeared to be from a rebel brigade in central Homs province that fired indiscriminately at Lebanese villages earlier this year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVideo of Syrian rebel fighter cutting out heart of soldier and eating it condemned

Syrian rebels’ pledge of allegiance to al Qaeda complicates Western intervention strategies

[April 2013] "The West is floundering over how to respond to Syria’s worsening civil war, especially after a leading Islamist rebel group pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda, opposition officials and experts say. The move by the Al-Nusra Front this week has complicated efforts by US and European officials to come up with unified strategy to support the rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. After pushing for weeks to lift a European embargo so arms could be supplied to the rebels, France and Britain have recently backed away from the initiative amid fears weapons could fall into the wrong hands." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyrian rebels’ pledge of allegiance to al Qaeda complicates Western intervention strategies

CFR Head Richard Haass: U.S. is going to take military action against Syria

"Richard Haass, the president on the Council on Foreign Relations, said Monday he was almost certain the United States was going to attack Syria. 'Secretary Kerry went far out on a limb, both in the content and, as you say, the tone,' he told CNN. 'So, sure, I would frankly be surprised and then some if the United States now did not probably together with a few other countries take some military action.' 'You’re probably looking at sea launch cruise missile, probably some airborne cruise missiles, but something along those lines I think would be the most natural sort of response for the United States to launch at this point,' Haass said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCFR Head Richard Haass: U.S. is going to take military action against Syria

John Kerry: Syria guilty of ‘a moral obscenity’

"Speaking amid reports that Washington and its allies are preparing to launch a punitive cruise missile strike on Syrian targets, US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Bashar al-Assad’s regime of engaging in a cover-up. Kerry said Washington would provide more evidence of who was behind the attack, and that US President Barack Obama was determined that the guilty would face consequences. With China and Moscow expected to boycott any resolution backing a military strike, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the West could act even without full UN Security Council backing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry: Syria guilty of ‘a moral obscenity’

Edward Snowden’s not the story. The fate of the internet is

"First, the days of the internet as a truly global network are numbered. It was always a possibility that the system would eventually be Balkanised, ie divided into a number of geographical or jurisdiction-determined subnets as societies such as China, Russia, Iran and other Islamic states decided that they needed to control how their citizens communicated. Now, Balkanisation is a certainty. Second, the issue of internet governance is about to become very contentious. Third, as Evgeny Morozov has pointed out, 'the rhetoric of the 'internet freedom agenda' looks as trustworthy as George Bush's 'freedom agenda' after Abu Ghraib.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEdward Snowden’s not the story. The fate of the internet is

Bush Winks, Sends Millions in Untraceable Cash to Musharraf [2007]

"After Pervez Musharraf declared martial law this weekend, Condoleezza Rice vowed to review U.S. assistance to Pakistan, one of the largest foreign recipients of American aid. Musharraf, of course, has been a crucial American ally since the start of the Afghanistan war in 2001, and the U.S. has rewarded him ever since with over $10 billion in civilian and (mostly) military largesse. A considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf's government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBush Winks, Sends Millions in Untraceable Cash to Musharraf [2007]

Pakistan’s Musharraf charged over murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto

"Pakistan’s ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf was indicted on three counts Tuesday over the 2007 murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack, a prosecutor said. Charging a former army chief is an unprecedented move in a country ruled for more than half of its life by the military and where the army is still considered the most powerful institution. It was the second time that Musharraf, who ruled the nuclear-armed state from 1999-2008, had been summoned to face charges of criminal conspiracy and the murder of Bhutto in December 2007. Musharraf denies the charges and the case has been adjourned until August 27." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPakistan’s Musharraf charged over murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto

Tea partier at Ted Cruz town hall: ‘Canada is not really foreign soil’

"The Texas Tribune caught up with on of those birthers, Republican voter Christina Katok, at a tea party rally where Ted Cruz was speaking earlier this week. Earlier this week, Cruz released his Canadian birth certificate to The Dallas Morning News, proving that he was definitely born in a foreign country to an American mother. But Katok told the Tribune that she wouldn’t hesitate to vote for Cruz. 'As far as I’m concerned, Canada is not really foreign soil,' she explained, adding that she was more worried about the president’s 'strong ties to Kenya.' For his part, Cruz has vowed to renounce his Canadian citizenship, which could require a security check and an eight-month waiting period." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTea partier at Ted Cruz town hall: ‘Canada is not really foreign soil’

David Galland: I’m from the Government, I’m Here to Bend You Over

"Yet, just as a woman can't be 'a little pregnant,' constitutions can't really be a little—or, in the case of the USA these days, a lot—flexible. When that happens, the constitution becomes something else. A document with some general suggestions? A paper with loose ideas that governments are free to accept—or not—depending on the day and circumstance? But it's not a constitution any more. The problem, as I hope you begin to see, is that once a nation—scratch that: once the government of a nation—is allowed to make it up as they go along, the system of laws is certain to quickly deteriorate. The consequences are as clear as the mountain across the valley from where I sit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Galland: I’m from the Government, I’m Here to Bend You Over