War & Peace

When Did U.S. Start Warring in Yemen?

"Quick research suggests that Bush authorized making war in Yemen around November of 2002. That was the time of the first drone strike. Obama intensified the war in 2011, following up on his earlier intensification in 2009. Even a CFR publication by Micah Zenko (Reforming U.S. Drone Strike Policies) is highly critical of drone warfare and recognizes that retaliation grows and anti-U.S. groups enlarge as the U.S. increases its violence. Today’s headlines say that the recent 'terror' warning applies specifically to Yemen. The U.S. has advised Americans to leave Yemen. Bush escalated the fighting, although the U.S. was unsure who bombed the Cole." Continue reading →

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How Dare the Iranians Elect a Moderate!

"What did the Iranians do to warrant such deafening and dramatic saber-rattling? Test a nuclear device? Open a military base in Mexico? No. They voted for moderate Iranian politician, Hasan Rouhani, to be president. To punctuate his expressed desire to open to the West, the English-speaking Rouhani unveiled his cabinet today, which includes a PhD from the University of Denver as his new foreign minister and a PhD from the George Washington University as his chief of staff. Iran watcher and RPI advisor Prof. Flint Leverett observed that 'Rohani has appointed his A-team to do a deal with the U.S. It shows Iran is serious.'" Continue reading →

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CIA Should Probably Stop Having Drones Fire Again On Whoever Shows Up After a Strike

"Double tapping is sure to make even those who support the use of drones at least a little queasy. To many, it is uncomfortably similar to the tactics used by some of the terrorists we are supposed to be morally superior to: Hamas, for example. Some argue that it is a violation of international law, including at least one UN official. At the very least, it is a risky tactic for a country that holds itself up as an example of rectitude in the world and it weakens our moral authority. Worse yet, it creates a justification that could be used against us by future enemies who don't even pretend to have our level of regard for human life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA Should Probably Stop Having Drones Fire Again On Whoever Shows Up After a Strike

Yemeni Engineer Begs Obama to Stop Murdering His Family with Drones

"Last year, Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, a respected Muslim cleric in Yemen, gave a speech denouncing al Qaeda. Representatives from Al Qaeda came to speak with Jaber and his cousin in a private meeting. During this meeting, they were all incinerated in a drone strike by the United States. Jaber’s brother-in-law, Faisal bin Ali Jaber, has written a letter, distributed by human rights group Reprieve, begging Obama and Hadi to stop killing innocents in these drone strikes and warning that they are making enemies of the very communities they claim to be trying to protect." Continue reading →

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Archived papers reveal Queen Elizabeth’s ‘World War Three’ speech

"Relations between the Soviet Union and the West had become so tense 30 years ago that British officials drew up a speech for Queen Elizabeth to deliver to the nation in the event of a nuclear war, newly released archives showed on Thursday. In the speech, the monarch was to urge Britons to remain united and resolute in the face of the 'madness of war.' Written by government officials, the hypothetical speech was part of a secret exercise designed to prepare Britain for the threat of a possible World War Three, but was never broadcast." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArchived papers reveal Queen Elizabeth’s ‘World War Three’ speech

Last Hurrah of the Interventionists?

"In what a Washington Post columnist describes as a rout of Rand Paul isolationism, the Senate just voted overwhelmingly to send another $1.5 billion in foreign aid to Egypt. The House voted 400-20 to impose new sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, two days before Iran’s new president, elected on a pledge to re-engage the West on the nuclear issue, takes his oath. Do these triumphs of AIPAC and the War Party, of neocons and liberal internationalists, tell us where we are going? Or are they the last hurrahs of the interventionists, as America’s long retreat proceeds apace." Continue reading →

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More than 1,000 Iraqis killed in July, highest monthly toll since 2008

"More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in sectarian violence in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, the United Nations said, as Sunni Islamist groups stepped up their insurgency against Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government. Most of the 1,057 victims were civilians, killed in a relentless campaign of bombings and shootings that some Iraqis fear could drag the country into another war. July’s toll brought the number of people killed in militant attacks since the start of the year to 4,137. Last week hundreds of convicts ran free after simultaneous attacks on two high-security prisons, raising questions about the ability of the security services to combat al Qaeda." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMore than 1,000 Iraqis killed in July, highest monthly toll since 2008

Ron Paul: Iraq Collapse Shows Bankruptcy of Interventionism

"Millions live in constant fear, refugees do not return home, and the economy is destroyed. The Christian community, some 1.2 million persons before 2003, has been nearly wiped off the Iraqi map. Other minorities have likewise disappeared. U.S. support for the Syrian rebels next door has drawn the Shi’ite-led Iraqi government into the spreading regional unrest. The invasion of Iraq opened the door to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which did not exist beforehand, while simultaneously strengthening the hand of Iran in the region. Were the 'experts' who planned for and advocated the U.S. attack really this incompetent?" Continue reading →

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John Kerry hopes drone strikes end ‘soon,’ State Dept thinks otherwise

"After nearly two years of rocky relations, Secretary of State John Kerry went to Pakistan to begin to repair ties between the US and its ally. Pakistani officials were outraged over the impunity of US drone strikes in the Muslim nation and RT's Erin Ade has more Kerry's comments regarding the matter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry hopes drone strikes end ‘soon,’ State Dept thinks otherwise

How Bank of England ‘helped Nazis sell gold stolen from Czechs’

"Bank of England records detailing its involvement in the transfer and sale of gold stolen by Nazis after the invasion of Czechoslovakia were revealed online on Tuesday. The gold had been deposited during the 1930s with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the so-called Central Banker's bank, as the Czechoslovak government faced a growing threat from Germany. The document goes on to detail how a request was made in March 1939 to transfer gold, then worth £5.6m, from a Czech National Bank account at the BIS to an account operated by Germany's Reichsbank. Some £4m of the gold went to banks in the Netherlands and Belgium, while the rest was sold in London." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Bank of England ‘helped Nazis sell gold stolen from Czechs’