News Commentary

Bill Bonner: Is it time to choose sides in Egypt?

"Is there a bigger jackass than John Bolton? He makes no mention of his own role in causing the regional chaos in the Middle East. He was a major war monger, arguing for the invasion of Iraq is now on track to cost the US more than $5 trillion... And who gained? Only Islamic terrorists...and the defense industry. Now he says we should go into Egypt on the side of the military. Why? He doesn't like the Muslim Brotherhood. How many brothers has he met? We don't know, but he gives the impression that he thinks they are bad people. Facing off against him in the WSJ is Elliot Abrams. We couldn't make much sense of Mr. Abrams' argument other than that he thinks the military rulers are bad people." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Is it time to choose sides in Egypt?

The army pulled the trigger, but the West loaded the gun

"To focus on the actions of the security forces alone, on what they did with their trigger fingers yesterday, is to miss the bigger picture; it is to overlook the question of where the military regime got the moral authority to clamp down on its critics so violently in the name of preserving its undemocratic grip on power. It got it from the West, including from so-called Western liberals and human-rights activists. The moral ammunition for yesterday’s massacres was provided by the very politicians and campaigners now crying crocodile tears over the sight of hundreds of dead Egyptians." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe army pulled the trigger, but the West loaded the gun

CFR’s Leslie Gelb on Egypt: Hold Your Nose and Back the Junta!

"Long-time foreign policy insider Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, believes democracy is when the guys he likes win. Free elections that produce 'enemies' of the US or Israel are by definition not democratic and the winners should be overthrown by the US and its allies. Gelb is back this weekend, penning a piece as Egypt drowns in blood in the aftermath of the military massacre of supporters of the deposed president Morsi. He warns us against getting bogged down in 'moral posturing about democracy in Egypt' and urges that we 'hold our nose and back Egypt’s military.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCFR’s Leslie Gelb on Egypt: Hold Your Nose and Back the Junta!

Eric Margolis: Storm On The Nile

"So far, army and security police have scored brilliant battlefield victories against unarmed men, women and children, killing and wounding thousands who were demanding a return to democratic government. The latest Cairo protests by supporters of the elected Morsi government have been scattered by gunfire and huge armored bulldozers resembling the giant vehicles used by Israel to smash Palestinian barricades and protesters. All Egyptians opposing the Sisi dictatorship are now officially, 'terrorists.' Egypt’s generals and hard right Mubarakist supporters have ditched any pretense of civilian government and now rely on the bayonet and tank. The men with the guns make the rules." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Margolis: Storm On The Nile

Washington frets over Saudi ties

"Saudi Arabia did not just pledge a combined US$12 billion in financial assistance, but it has also promised to make up for any Western aid that may be withheld as a result of the coup and the ongoing crackdown in which about 1,000 protesters are believed to have been killed to date. Perhaps even more worrisome to some experts in Washington has been the exceptionally tough language directed against Washington's own condemnation of the coup by top Saudi officials, including King Abdullah, who declared last week that '[t]he kingdom stands ... against all those who try to interfere with its domestic affairs' and charged that criticism of the army crackdown amounted to helping the 'terrorists'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWashington frets over Saudi ties

U.S. Officials Are Above the Law of Nations and Ordinary Laws

"With regard to Nuremberg ideas of law and sanctions against aggressive war, the U.S. government considers itself above all that. It’s a case of 'now you see it, now you don’t'. If the U.S. decides to bomb somebody and wants to mention Nuremberg as a justification (or its equivalent like a charge of killing one’s own people), now you see it. If it decides its own officials can get away with aggression against Iraq, now you don’t. The fact of the matter is that the U.S. government regards itself as a law unto itself. It is the supreme and only superpower, by virtue of which what it says, goes. And what it says is law, it also claims." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Officials Are Above the Law of Nations and Ordinary Laws

“Absolute Immunity” for the “Supreme Crime”

"One week before whistleblower Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for exposing war crimes, the Obama administration filed a petition with a federal court in San Francisco arguing that George W. Bush and his top advisers enjoy 'absolute immunity' against any potential criminal charges or civil liability arising from the Iraq war. At the Nuremberg Tribunal following World War II, aggressive war was designated the 'supreme crime,' and it was recognized that faithful execution of unlawful orders does not immunize soldiers for their actions in waging aggressive war. High-ranking officials of the National Socialist Party were sent to the gallows for the crime committed by Bush and his cohorts." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“Absolute Immunity” for the “Supreme Crime”

How to Start a War by the Bootstrap Method

"The U.S. need never again be at peace, because it has so many ways to get war going. There is now a new way to create a war. Obama has invented it. At this point in its history, the empire no longer needs to be attacked, by an actual or fabricated attack. It no longer needs to manufacture a pretext. It no longer needs to say that there is a threat of a threat. It no longer needs to suspect weapons of mass destruction. It no longer needs to point to an humanitarian concern. It no longer needs to mention national security. Obama’s method is simple. Make a threat by drawing a red line. There need be no relation of that line to any U.S. interest or to national defense or an attack on America." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to Start a War by the Bootstrap Method

Global Warming Alarmists Seek to Restrict Air Conditioning

"New York University sociology professor Eric Klinenberg said it is 'indefensible' for people to use air conditioning the way we do. Klinenberg argues that air conditioning requires too much electricity, the generation of which accelerates global warming. 'What’s indefensible is our habit of converting homes, offices and massive commercial outlets into igloos on summer days, regardless of how hot it is outdoors,' wrote Klinenberg. Klinenberg also argued for laws requiring businesses to keep summer temperatures at their facilities above a government-dictated mandatory minimum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlobal Warming Alarmists Seek to Restrict Air Conditioning

Saudi Arabia Pushes US Toward Military Strike in Syria

"Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal urged the Arab League to back a military strike against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime after the chemical attack on Ghouta in which hundreds of Syrians were killed. Away from humanitarian concerns over the Syrian victims of chemical attacks, the Saudi antagonism to Assad’s regime started in 2006, when it appeared that together with Iraq, Syria was beginning to drift even more toward the Iranian sphere of influence and away from the Saudi-led Arab position, causing discomfort in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia aims to return Syria to its fold after years of estrangement and even hostility." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSaudi Arabia Pushes US Toward Military Strike in Syria