News Commentary

Civil liberties may not survive the ‘Gorgon Stare’

"At the top of the executive branch, President Obama and his team favor Orwellian euphemism, preferring wordblobs like 'disposition matrix' to the harsh Anglo-Saxon of 'kill list' -- mumbling 'kinetic military action' when what they really mean is 'war.' But further down the administrative ladder, the language sometimes gets admirably blunt. The National Security Agency has programs with names like 'TRAFFICTHIEF' and 'PANOPTICON.' And DHS has even expressed interest in 'Gorgon Stare,' a drone-mounted camera array under development by the Air Force that can watch whole cities at a time (and turn the inhabitants to stone?)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCivil liberties may not survive the ‘Gorgon Stare’

Western logic on Syria: ‘We need to bomb it to save it’

"The narrative that the Assad government used chemical weapons, specifically while a UN team was in Damascus to investigate previous uses of chemical weapons, is tactically and politically illogical and in no way serves the interests of the Syrian government. Above all, the use of chemical weapons benefits the arms industry, as four US warships with ballistic missiles are moving into position in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, ready to shower Damascus with Tomahawk cruise missiles – all under the auspices of protecting civilians. There are numerous revelations that would suggest that anti-government militias have access to these weapons and are in fact guilty of using them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWestern logic on Syria: ‘We need to bomb it to save it’

Firebombing Denver instead of Dresden?

"What might other countries do to us as Our Rulers continue spending money they (and we) don’t have while stretching thin their lethal but ultimately limited and therefore fallible armies? And at what point will surveilled, plundered, regulated, tyrannized Americans rise up against their – and the world’s – execrable oppressors? What misery Germans would have saved themselves if they had defied Hitler in 1936 or ’37! Instead, aside from a few incredibly brave dissidents, they waited for the rest of mankind to chastise him – and them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFirebombing Denver instead of Dresden?

Justifying the Unjustifiable: US Uses Past Crimes to Legalize Future Ones

"The US/NATO war against Yugoslavia, which used unilateral force to break up a sovereign state, detaching the historic Serbian province of Kosovo and transforming it into a US satellite, was clearly in violation of international law. During the past decade, the Western powers have invented and promoted a theoretical 'right to protect' (R2P) in an effort to get around the UN Charter in order to clear the way for wars whose final purpose is regime change. The use of R2P to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya gave the game away, ensuring Russian and Chinese opposition for any further such manoeuvre in the UN Security Council." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustifying the Unjustifiable: US Uses Past Crimes to Legalize Future Ones

Congress Should Veto Obama’s War

"Who made Barack Obama the Wyatt Earp of the Global Village? Moreover, where is the evidence that WMDs were used and that it had to be Assad who ordered them? Such an attack makes no sense. Firing a few shells of gas at Syrian civilians was not going to advance Assad’s cause but, rather, was certain to bring universal condemnation on his regime and deal cards to the War Party which wants a U.S. war on Syria as the back door to war on Iran. The basic question that needs to be asked about this horrific attack on civilians, which appears to be gas related, is: Cui bono? To whose benefit would the use of nerve gas on Syrian women and children redound?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress Should Veto Obama’s War

Michael Scheuer: Observing King Obama’s Syrian madness, II

"General Keane responded that polls showing the strong and historically consistent non-interventionist beliefs of the American people should play no role in a U.S. president’s decision on an issue of national security. In essence, General Keane told Mr. Baier and all other Americans to be quiet, go home, eat a cookie, watch TV, and let the vaunted U.S. military and our interventionist, bipartisan governing elite do as they wish regarding war with Syria. These arrogant and self-proclaimed aristocrats always know what is best for a taxed-to-death riff-raff that is only needed every four years to elect someone running on a 'no war' platform that will be utterly and cynically discarded once the presidency is won." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Scheuer: Observing King Obama’s Syrian madness, II

Bill Bonner: ‘Return to Zombieland’

"It’s a gold rush. People now come to Washington to get rich. That was never the defining ethic of the town, certainly 30 years ago. There is now so much money. It is now the wealthiest community in the United States. It is home to 7 of the wealthiest 10 counties in the United States. If you can sell yourself as someone who knows how Washington works, someone who has these relationships, someone who can get on the phone and get the president of the United States… that’s a very, very marketable commodity. I mean, if you are seen as someone who knows how this town works, someone who is a usual suspect in this town, you can dine out for years. That’s why no one leaves." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: ‘Return to Zombieland’

Who Will Punish Americans for Their Manifest Violations, Joe?

"Americans can expect to be attacked in the future by those seeking to 'punish' them for a very long list of their own manifest violations of not only international norms, but more importantly international laws that their government has signed on to and then brazenly broken. In other words, the White House is digging the graves of Americans and lowering their security by lowering the bar for what it takes to attack another country. Why can’t some other country claim that the Kent State massacre, or the Waco massacre, or the attack on Iraq, or bombing Libya, or bombing Serbia, or killing innocents by drones, or the sanctions on Iraq that killed 500,000 children, or removing the government in Afghanistan?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWho Will Punish Americans for Their Manifest Violations, Joe?

Even Eurocrats Realize that Taxes Can Be Too High

"Tax increases imposed by the Socialist-led government in France have reached a 'fatal level', the EU's commissioner for economic affairs said today. Olli Rehn warned that a series of tax hikes since the Socialists took power 14 months ago – including €33bn in new taxes this year – threatens to 'destroy growth and handicap the creation of jobs'. President Hollande has kept his electoral promise to attack French deficits and accumulated debt. He has done so, however, almost entirely by tax increases rather than by cuts in a state apparatus which swallows 56.6 per cent of the country’s GDP. It has emerged that final budget plans for 2014 will include at least €6bn in tax rises." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEven Eurocrats Realize that Taxes Can Be Too High

Sanctions on Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan?

"The New York Times has confirmed that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Quatar and Jordan are arming anti-Assad factions in Syria. The CIA is participating too. U.S. air bases are also implicated. These actions violate the U.N. charter. So, will anyone in the U.S. government raise the issue of sanctions against Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Quatar and Jordan? Don't hold your breath." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSanctions on Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan?