Imperial Presidency

Ron Paul: Bradley Manning Promotes Peace More Than Obama

"Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is [convicted] of providing an enormous stash of classified government documents to WikiLeaks for publication, deserves a Nobel Peace Prize more than President Barack Obama, according to former Texas Rep. Ron Paul. 'While President Obama was starting and expanding unconstitutional wars overseas, Bradley Manning, whose actions have caused exactly zero deaths, was shining light on the truth behind these wars,' the former Republican presidential contender told U.S. News. 'It's clear which individual has done more to promote peace.' Manning was nominated for the award in 2011, 2012 and again earlier this year. Obama won the award in 2009." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Bradley Manning Promotes Peace More Than Obama

Glenn Greenwald: Three key lessons from the Obama administration’s drone lies

"It's entirely unsurprising that the Obama administration got caught making plainly false statements about its killing program. But for the same reason, it's very significant that it has been caught. In light of this evidence, any journalists that continue to rely on US government statements about its killing program are revealing themselves to be eager propagandists, willing to be lied to and help amplify those lies (the same was true of journalists who continued to rely on government statements about 'militants' being killed even after they knew how Obama officials had broadened that term to the point of meaninglessness). How many times do we have to learn these same lessons?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Three key lessons from the Obama administration’s drone lies

Obama moves towards sending military weapons to Somalia

[April 2013] "President Barack Obama took the first step Monday toward providing US military assistance to Somali forces battling Islamist militants, after the easing of a UN arms embargo last month. Obama signed a determination stating that having the legal capacity to offer defense equipment to Somalia was in the national interest of the United States and could promote peace and stability in East Africa. The move allows the US Secretary of State to consider the provision of arms to Somalia but does not signal a decision to provide specific assistance. Since 2007, the United States has provided $133 million in security sector assistance to Somalia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama moves towards sending military weapons to Somalia

Transparent Hoax Could Lead to War

"Those rollicking jihadists, the Syrian rebels, love a joke: although they can be deadly serious – such as when they’re eating the internal organs of their enemies – what they enjoy more than anything is a really good prank. There was the time they claimed the Assad regime was killing babies in incubators – not very original, but hey, it worked for the Kuwaitis! Then there was the 'massacre' at Houla, which was alleged to have killed 32 children and over 60 adults: a photo started appearing in the mainstream media, documenting the slaughter. The state-supported BBC was first to run with it – until it was discovered the supposedly incriminating photo was taken in Iraq during the recent war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTransparent Hoax Could Lead to War

Paul Craig Roberts: Another Western War Crime In The Making

"The UK Independent reports that over this past week-end Obama, Cameron, and Hollande agreed to launch cruise missile attacks against the Syrian government within two weeks despite the lack of any authorization from the UN and despite the absence of any evidence in behalf of Washington’s claim that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the Washington-backed “rebels”, largely US supported external forces, seeking to overthrow the Syrian government. Indeed, one reason for the rush to war is to prevent the UN inspection that Washington knows would disprove its claim and possibly implicate Washington in the false flag attack by the 'rebels.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Another Western War Crime In The Making

In Swat Valley, U.S. drone strikes radicalizing a new generation

"The boys here, aged 8 to 18, were all militants at some point. Some are killers, some helped build and plant improvised explosive devices, and others were destined to be suicide bombers until they were captured or turned over to the Pakistani army. All of them are at the school to be de-radicalized. Ninety-nine percent of the boys, I am told, have never heard of Osama bin Laden, despite the fact he was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in the next valley over from here. What has radicalized these boys instead, the school's director says, is what turns teenagers the world over to crime: poverty, poor education, limited prospects and often lack of parental control." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn Swat Valley, U.S. drone strikes radicalizing a new generation
Read more about the article How to End the Wars – It really is easy and it’s been done before

How to End the Wars – It really is easy and it’s been done before

"The slaughter of millions of southeast Asians and a rising US military death toll was angering the people. LBJ's war was such a disaster that his re-election was in jeopardy. As the situation grew progressively worse for LBJ, he feared the humiliation of a general election or primary defeat so he decided NOT to run for re-election in 1968. Nixon, a foreign policy hawk, won the 1968 election. The Vietnam War resulted in over 58,000 dead Americans but the hawks were determined to wage the Vietnam War for all eternity. However, Nixon was soon smothered with anti-war Congress Critters who ferociously fought to end the Vietnam War. By 1973, Congress simply refused to fund it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to End the Wars – It really is easy and it’s been done before

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Snippy Letter to Dorothy Day [2011]

"On April 17, 1959 the indefatigable Dorothy Day once again defied the annual civil defense drill in New York City known as Operation Alert. She had been protesting the nationwide test every year since 1955. And, as she had been in previous years, the pacifist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement was promptly arrested and charged. At some point around the time of her initial arrest, Ms. Day had written a letter to the former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, concerning, apparently, Operation Alert. On April 21, 1959 Mrs. Roosevelt replied. The obtuse, schoolmarmish tone of the letter is shocking considering Roosevelt’s standing as the matriarch of liberalism." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEleanor Roosevelt’s Snippy Letter to Dorothy Day [2011]

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

NSA promises transparency by launching new Tumblr blog

"IC on the Record will host official statements, declassified documents, speeches, interviews, fact sheets and videos among other content. Plans for the blog were announced by President Barack Obama earlier in August, as part of promises for more transparency on the activities of the US intelligence community in the wake ofrecent revelations about the NSA and its PRISM program of electronic surveillance. The IC on the Record blog was launched with a post by US director of national intelligence James Clapper, who has been criticised recently after he apologised for misleading a Senate hearing by denying that the NSA collects information about US citizens." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA promises transparency by launching new Tumblr blog