Imperial Hubris

At least 70 supporters of Mohamed Morsi killed by security services in Cairo

"Egypt’s troubled transition reached a new nadir of bloodletting today when at least 70 supporters of toppled President Mohamed Morsi were gunned down during a sustained attack by the security services – three weeks after the army committed a similar massacre in nearly exactly the same spot. Doctors at the scene said they believed more than 100 people may have been killed. An exact tally has not yet been confirmed, but the massacre ranks as one of the worst single incidents of violence since the fall of Hosni Mubarak two and a half years ago. Clashes continued this morning as police squared off against thousands of protesters close to Nasr City." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAt least 70 supporters of Mohamed Morsi killed by security services in Cairo

Iran and Iraq, BFF (Best Friends Forever)?

"Why did Iraq invade Iran in 1980? A major reason was the fact that Iraq's majority is Shiite. Let's not forget that the majority of Iran's citizens associate themselves with the Shi'a branch of Islam. Remember Saddam Hussein? Well he was a Sunni, and the Sunnis were in control in Iraq. Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military were backed by the US, Britain, and other Western countries. Saddam invaded Iran to establish Iraq as the dominant Gulf state, and to also suppress the Shi'a majority from revolting in Iraq. Now the government of Iraq is ruled by Shiites. The government of Iran is also Shi'a dominated, with the majority of the population being Shiite." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran and Iraq, BFF (Best Friends Forever)?

Seven killed, hundreds injured in new round of dueling protests in Egypt

"At least seven people were killed and hundreds wounded in scattered violence across Egypt during mass rallies for and against the army’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, who was placed under investigation for murder. With hundreds of thousands taking to the streets on Friday, the new bloodshed deepened the turmoil convulsing the Arab world’s most populous country, and could trigger a decisive move by the military against Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood. The country of 84 million people forms a bridge between the Middle East and North Africa and receives $1.5 billion a year in mainly military aid from Washington." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSeven killed, hundreds injured in new round of dueling protests in Egypt

Eric Margolis: Japan Must Face Up To China

"The 1960 US-Japan Security Treaty laid the foundation of relations between Washington and Tokyo. [...] The key to the treaty was the establishment of permanent US air, land, and sea bases in Japan. They remain, half a century later. Japan thus became a giant US aircraft carrier from which it dominates highly strategic North Asia. In exchange, Japanese industry was given open access to the US market, thus laying the base of Japan’s economic upsurge of the 1960’s. South Korea enjoyed a similar deal. This cozy arrangement is now being challenged by the rapid rise of China’s military and economic power." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Margolis: Japan Must Face Up To China

Paul Craig Roberts: The Two Faux Democracies Threaten Life On Earth

"The Pentagon’s 'AirSea Battle' and Lieber and Press’ article in Foreign Affairs have informed China and Russia that Washington is contemplating pre-emptive nuclear attack on both countries. To ensure Russia’s inability to retaliate, Washington is placing anti-ballistic missiles on Russia’s borders in violation of the US-USSR agreement. Because the American press is a corrupt government propaganda ministry, the American people have no idea that neoconized Washington is planning nuclear war, or of former President Jimmy Carter’s recent statement, reported only in Germany, that the United States no longer has a functioning democracy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: The Two Faux Democracies Threaten Life On Earth

House Democrat proposes police registration for neighborhood watchmen

"Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said Wednesday that she would soon introduce legislation that would cut federal funding to any state that doesn't require neighborhood watch programs to register with police. 'We will … decrease the incidence of gun violence resulting from vigilantes by reducing by 20 percent the funds that would otherwise be allocated … to any state that does not require local neighborhood watch programs to be registered with a local [law] enforcement agency,' Jackson Lee said on the House floor. She said her bill would also use the threat of less federal money to entice states to change their 'stand your ground' laws." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHouse Democrat proposes police registration for neighborhood watchmen

Blind Man’s Bluff: Why the Surveillance State Is Doomed

"The bureaucrats' quest for omniscience and omnipotence will come to a well-deserved end, just as it did in the Soviet Union, and for the same reason. The state is inherently myopic: short-sighted. Computers make it blind. The state focuses on the short run. Computers overwhelm bureaucrats with short-run information. Let us not forget that the Internet was invented by DARPA: the military's research branch. It invented the Internet to protect the military's communications network from a nuclear attack by the USSR. Today, there is no USSR. There is the World Wide Web: the greatest technological enemy of the state since Gutenberg's printing press." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBlind Man’s Bluff: Why the Surveillance State Is Doomed

Paul Craig Roberts: How the US Became the USSR

"The communists had a Julian Assange and an Edward Snowden of their own. His name was Cardinal Jozef Mindszenty, the leader of the Hungarian Catholic Church. Mindszenty opposed tyranny. For his efforts he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Communists also regarded him as an undesirable, and he was tortured and given a life sentence in 1949. Freed by the short-lived Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Mindszenty reached the American Embassy in Budapest and was granted political asylum by Washington. However, the communists would not give him the free passage that asylum presumes, and Mindszenty lived in the US Embassy for 15 years, 79% of his remaining life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: How the US Became the USSR

U.S. condemns ‘outrageous’ Tunisia assassination

"The United States on Thursday condemned the assassination of a leading critic of Tunisia’s ruling Islamists, saying violence had no place in the country’s transition to democracy. Tunisian MP Mohamed Brahmi was shot dead outside his home Thursday in the second such slaying this year, with fingers again pointed at the authorities. 'We offer our sincere condolences to Mr. Brahmi’s family, friends and colleagues and to the people of Tunisia,' State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said, adding US officials 'strongly condemn' the killing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. condemns ‘outrageous’ Tunisia assassination

America has history when it comes to forcing down planes in defiance of international law

"International law (and the Chicago Convention regulating air traffic) emphatically asserts freedom to traverse international airspace, but America tends to treat international law as binding on everyone except America (and Israel). Thus when Egypt did a deal with the Achille Lauro hijackers and sent them on a commercial flight to Tunis, US F-14 jets intercepted the plane in international airspace and forced it to land in Italy, where the hijackers were tried and jailed. In 1986 Israel forced down a Libyan commercial plane in the mistaken belief that PLO leaders were among its passengers, and the US vetoed UN security council condemnation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica has history when it comes to forcing down planes in defiance of international law