military industrial complex

College Students Chase, Heckle David Petraeus on First Day of Class

"Petraeus was on the way to teaching his first class at CUNY’s honors college, entitled 'Are We on the Threshold of the North American Decade?' He took on the teaching gig as part of rehabilitating his image following an extramarital affair scandal that led to his resignation from the CIA. The students can be heard yelling 'War criminal!' at the retired military officer who played a key role in the 'counterinsurgency' strategy of the Iraq War. 'Every class, David!' the students shout, suggesting they plan to protest him on a weekly basis, before every lecture. 'Petraeus out of CUNY' and 'Fascist' were some of the other chants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCollege Students Chase, Heckle David Petraeus on First Day of Class

Is This Why Obama is So Desperate for a Nice Little War?

"Why the desperation to focus our attention externally, to monsters abroad in need of slaying? Could it be the mushrooming NSA scandal, that all of a sudden has grown exponentially more serious with today’s Guardian Snowden-leak sourced report that the 'NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel.' According to Glenn Greenwald, the National Security Agency routinely sends raw intelligence information to Israeli intelligence without first removing information about American citizens. In effect, rather than serving to protect the safety of Americans and national security of the United States the NSA has seemingly become an agent of Israeli intelligence." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs This Why Obama is So Desperate for a Nice Little War?

NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel

"Details of the intelligence-sharing agreement are laid out in a memorandum of understanding between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart that shows the US government handed over intercepted communications likely to contain phone calls and emails of American citizens. The agreement places no legally binding limits on the use of the data by the Israelis. The disclosure that the NSA agreed to provide raw intelligence data to a foreign country contrasts with assurances from the Obama administration that there are rigorous safeguards to protect the privacyof US citizens caught in the dragnet. The deal was reached in principle in March 2009, according to the undated memorandum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel

NSA routinely spied on phone records unrelated to terrorism cases

"US intelligence officials declassified documents Tuesday revealing the National Security Agency violated privacy rules for three years when it sifted phone records of Americans with no suspected links to terrorists. The government was forced to disclose the documents by a judge’s order after a Freedom of Information lawsuit. The NSA had been permitted by the court to only search phone numbers that had 'reasonable articulable suspicion' of having links to terrorism. But out of more than 17,000 numbers on a NSA list in 2009, the agency only had reasonable suspicion for about 1,800 of the numbers, two senior intelligence officials told reporters on Tuesday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA routinely spied on phone records unrelated to terrorism cases

NSA evidence may be key to Hammarskjold mystery death

"America's National Security Agency may hold crucial evidence about one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the Cold War — the cause of the 1961 plane crash which killed United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, a commission of prominent jurists says. Widely considered the U.N.'s most effective chief, Hammarskjold died as he was attempting to bring peace to the newly independent Congo. It's long been rumored that his DC-6 plane was shot down, and an independent commission set up to evaluate new evidence surrounding his death on Monday recommended a fresh investigation — citing radio intercepts held by the NSA as the possible key to solving the case." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA evidence may be key to Hammarskjold mystery death

Researchers demand sealed files about JFK assassination be made public

"Fifty years after the assassination of President John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, researchers are still investigating his mysterious murder. Thousands of pages pertaining to the assassination are still sealed, and researchers are calling for a complete public release. The first official investigation found that Lee Harvey Oswald was acting alone, after failing to get a visa to Cuba and his wife Marina rejected his attempts at reconciliation. Another investigation in the mid-1970s said that the assassination was probably a conspiracy, after discovering audio files suggesting a second shooter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingResearchers demand sealed files about JFK assassination be made public

Ron Paul: Why Aren’t We Talking About the Cost of War in Syria?

"Despite Obama’s assurances that U.S. military action won’t involve 'boots on the ground,' Paul warned about the human cost of 'so many more lives lost than [lawmakers] are anticipating. They think they can predict these things, but there is a cost – the cost of life and limb, the cost of freedoms at home because of a war atmosphere.' 'Just because one cruise missile might cost one-and-a-half million dollars –there are a lot more expenses involved' in any military strike, said Ron Paul. 'It will be easy [for costs] to go much, much higher.' He compared the difference in costs in the Iraq War: 'It was estimated to cost $60 billion – and it turned out to be into the trillions.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Why Aren’t We Talking About the Cost of War in Syria?

On Syria (and all else), it’s ‘Us’ against ‘Them’

"The 'estimable' men arguing for war in both Houses and before them are not on the people’s side. Never will be. For they do not accept that a just government’s duty is to its own citizens first. We have a solemn [negative] duty not to violate the rights of foreigners everywhere to life, liberty and property. But we have no duty to uphold their rights. Why? Because the ostensible upholding of the negative rights of the world’s citizens involves compromising the negative liberties of Americans – our lives, our liberties and our livelihoods. By this imperative, Kerry, Hagel, Dempsey, Kinzinger, the senior Republican flake from Arizona, the junior Jeff Flake from the same state, will never abide." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOn Syria (and all else), it’s ‘Us’ against ‘Them’

Pepe Escobar: Dogs of war versus the emerging caravan

"Not even the ghost of Machiavelli would come up with an adjective to describe the whole planet waiting in disbelief to see whether the almost universally despised House of Representatives (15% approval rating, according to RealClearPolitics) decides, Roman Empire style, to give the thumbs down and authorize the bombing of one of the oldest cities in humanity (well, they have an illustrious precedent of applauding Shock and Awe over Baghdad, which topped the Mongols going medieval in the 13th century). And all this against the will of the 'American people' who, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll support this folly by an overwhelming 9%. Yes We Bomb. But what for?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: Dogs of war versus the emerging caravan

A war the Pentagon doesn’t want

"They are embarrassed to be associated with the amateurism of the Obama administration’s attempts to craft a plan that makes strategic sense. None of the White House staff has any experience in war or understands it. So far, at least, this path to war violates every principle of war, including the element of surprise, achieving mass and having a clearly defined and obtainable objective. They are repelled by the hypocrisy of a media blitz that warns against the return of Hitlerism but privately acknowledges that the motive for risking American lives is our 'responsibility to protect' the world’s innocents." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA war the Pentagon doesn’t want