Imperial Hubris

Glenn Greenwald: The NSA’s mass and indiscriminate spying on Brazilians

"The NSA has, for years, systematically tapped into the Brazilian telecommunication network and indiscriminately intercepted, collected and stored the email and telephone records of millions of Brazilians. All of this bulk, indiscriminate surveillance aimed at populations of friendly foreign nations is part of the NSA's 'FAIRVIEW' program. Under that program, the NSA partners with a large US telecommunications company, and that US company then partners with telecoms in the foreign countries. Those partnerships allow the US company access to those countries' telecommunications systems, and that access is then exploited to direct traffic to the NSA's repositories." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: The NSA’s mass and indiscriminate spying on Brazilians

Paul Craig Roberts: Lawlessness Is The New Normal

"Europe headlines are that 'NSA surveillance threatens the EU free trade deal' and 'Merkel demands explanations.' The protests are the necessary public posturing of puppets and will be regarded as such by Washington. The French government says the trade talks should be temporarily suspended 'for a couple of weeks to avoid any controversy.' However, the German government says, 'We want this free trade agreement and we want to start the talks now.' In other words, what Merkel describes as 'unacceptable Cold War-style behavior' is acceptable as long as Germany gets the free trade agreement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Lawlessness Is The New Normal

Russia chides France, Spain and Portugal over Morales aircraft incident

"Russia has blasted the European countries which barred the Bolivian presidential aircraft from entering their airspace as unfriendly action, adding that such moves could compromise passengers’ safety. Russian diplomats added that they will continue to press for unconditional observation of international rules that guarantee the personal immunity of heads of state that prevent any attempts on their life, freedom and dignity. The Bolivian presidential aircraft had to land in Vienna, Austria, and remain grounded for 12 hours as France, Spain and Portugal closed their airspace for transit over a suspicion it could have been carrying NSA leaker Edward Snowden." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussia chides France, Spain and Portugal over Morales aircraft incident

17 Dead, More than 200 Injured As Morsi Supporters Rally To Reject ‘Coup’

"It seems the turmoil in Egypt is far from over as hundreds of thousands (if not more than a million) protesters rallied on Friday to reject the military's removal and arrest of President Mohamed Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Egypt's health ministry reports that 17 people were killed and more 200 were injured in clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters on Friday. You can watch live feeds from the protests here, and Business Insider has a correspondent on the ground. Some of the most intense clashes came on the October 6th bridge in Cairo, where gun shots were heard and a car has been set ablaze." Continue reading →

Continue Reading17 Dead, More than 200 Injured As Morsi Supporters Rally To Reject ‘Coup’

It Is Now Common Knowledge That US Drones Bomb Civilian Rescuers

"That tactic is known as the 'double tap,' which bombs multiple targets in relatively quick succession — meaning that the second strike often hits first responders. In 2007 the FBI said the tactic as commonly used by terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Last year a study by NYU and Stanford detailed the U.S. use of the double tap, providing first-hand accounts of its devastating effect on rescuers and humanitarian workers. Last June the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Christof Heyns said he considers secondary strikes to be 'war crimes.' The fact that it is now normalized as a common tactic of the U.S. drone war is stunning." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt Is Now Common Knowledge That US Drones Bomb Civilian Rescuers

Can You Pass The Terrorism Quiz? (Updated June 2013)

"It should be banal to read in the mainstream media that the US not only engages in terrorism but often aggravates it; that if the current crop of terrorists in, say, the Middle East were killed, new terrorists would simply arise if the underlying political and economic conditions remained unchanged; and, that if a particular country is perceived as actively supporting dysfunctional political and economic conditions in a part of the world, it will become the target of anger and, possibly, violence. Yet, instead of such obvious conclusions about terrorism, we are daily exposed to much bias and distortion. To counter such inadequate journalism, I have prepared the following quiz." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCan You Pass The Terrorism Quiz? (Updated June 2013)

Is the lawlessness of Obama’s drone policy coming home?

"Global powers have an antisocial habit of bringing their work back home. The British government imported some of the methods it used against its colonial subjects to suppress domestic protests and strikes. Once an administrative class becomes accustomed to treating foreigners as if they have no rights, and once the domestic population broadly accepts their justifications, it is almost inevitable that the habit migrates from one arena into another. If hundreds of people living abroad can be executed by American agents on no more than suspicion, should we be surprised if residents of the United States began to be treated the same way?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs the lawlessness of Obama’s drone policy coming home?

US Obsession With the Importance of the Mideast and Solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

"Recent developments in Egypt–with a sizeable minority of the population justifiably concerned about their rights at the hands of the majority of fundamentalist Islamists—show that arriving at liberal democracy from democracy may be a difficult and destabilizing prospect. The lesson from this messy process is not that the United States should intervene and remain until liberal democracies take hold in developing nations, but that the process is so chaotic that the United States should stay out of these nations, especially in the Middle East. This recommendation will be hard for the government of a swaggering superpower to stomach." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Obsession With the Importance of the Mideast and Solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

What Does History Say About U.S. Success in Arming Rebel Movements?

"So what does history say about how successful the U.S. has been in arming rebel opposition movements? On that, we get two views, Michael Pillsbury was assistant undersecretary of defense for policy planning during the Reagan administration. He was responsible for coordinating covert aid to the Afghanistan mujahideen in their fight against the Soviets. He's now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and still advises the Defense Department. And Robert Dreyfuss is a journalist and contributing editor at 'The Nation' and author of the book 'Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Does History Say About U.S. Success in Arming Rebel Movements?