Ron Paul: What We Have Learned From Afghanistan

"Last week the Taliban opened an office in Doha, Qatar with the US government's blessing. They raised the Taliban flag at the opening ceremony and referred to Afghanistan as the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan' − the name they used when they were in charge before the US attack in 2001. For years many of us had argued the need to get out of Afghanistan. We cannot leave, we were told for all those years. If we leave Afghanistan now, the Taliban will come back! Well, guess what? After 12 years, trillions of dollars, more than 2,200 Americans killed and perhaps more than 50,000 dead Afghan civilians and fighters, the Taliban is coming back anyway!" Continue reading

Continue ReadingRon Paul: What We Have Learned From Afghanistan

CIA agents training Syrian rebels since late 2012

"The CIA and US special operations forces have been training Syrian rebels for months, since long before President Barack Obama announced plans to arm the opposition, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Training for rebel forces covers the use of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and has been carried out at bases in Jordan and Turkey since late last year. The two-week courses, for about 20 to 45 fighters at a time, began last November at a new US base in the desert in southwest Jordan, it said. The report came days after the Obama administration announced it had approved the arming of Syrian rebels." Continue reading

Continue ReadingCIA agents training Syrian rebels since late 2012

Charles A. Burris: War Crimes, the Holocaust, and Today’s National Security State

"Vocal defenders of the National Security State loudly proclaim that such extra-constitutional intrusions into the privacy of Americans are justified on the grounds of 'national security' because we are at total war with Radical Islam and its alleged supporters. 9/11 changed everything. The rule of law and constitutional safeguards are to be suspended during this national emergency. The Constitution is not a 'suicide pact.' Survival of the state is the only thing that counts. These are precisely the very arguments used by Otto Olendorf, commander of Einsatzgruppe D, and his fellow defendants in their Nuremberg War Crime Trials following World War Two." Continue reading

Continue ReadingCharles A. Burris: War Crimes, the Holocaust, and Today’s National Security State

Jihawg Ammo: Pork-laced Bullets Designed To Send Muslims Straight ‘To Hell’

"Still angry about the idea of an Islamic cultural center opening near Ground Zero, a group of Idaho gun enthusiasts decided to fight back with a new line of pork-laced bullets. The bullets are coated in pork-infused paint, which the company states makes the ammo 'haram,' or unclean, and therefore will keep a Muslim who’s shot with one of the bullets from entering paradise. The ammo has plenty of supporters, with more than 4,300 people liking it on Facebook. One fan, Ted of California, said he planned to buy 500 rounds. Another, Jeffrey, said he hoped someone would smuggle the bullets into U.S. military troops." Continue reading

Continue ReadingJihawg Ammo: Pork-laced Bullets Designed To Send Muslims Straight ‘To Hell’

U.S. Promises Smooth Transfer of Quagmire from Afghanistan to Syria

"Supporters of the United States’ twelve-year quagmire in Afghanistan cheered the news today that the U.S. would strive to achieve a seamless transfer of that quagmire to Syria, effective immediately. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sought to reassure those who were concerned that the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan signalled a wavering of the nation’s commitment to being mired in open-ended military muddles: 'I am confident that we could be involved in Syria for many, many years before figuring out why we are there.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingU.S. Promises Smooth Transfer of Quagmire from Afghanistan to Syria

U.S. Leaving $7 Billion of Military Equipment Behind in Afghanistan

"Not only has the U.S. created a disaster with the unconstitutional invasion of Afghanistan, but now that they've been forced to retreat, they're leaving behind some stuff...$7 BILLION worth! The Washington Post reports: 'Military planners have determined that they will not ship back more than $7 billion worth of equipment — about 20 percent of what the U.S. military has in Afghanistan — because it is no longer needed or would be too costly to ship back home.' What's $7 billion when you can always just turn on the taxpayer spigot? And doesn't Bernanke create $7 billion just in his sleep? What's the big deal?" Continue reading

Continue ReadingU.S. Leaving $7 Billion of Military Equipment Behind in Afghanistan

Ted Cruz: Will Obama do background checks before giving arms to Syrian rebels?

"In a tweet called the 'zinger of the day' by Twitchy, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wondered Tuesday if President Obama would conduct background checks before giving arms to Syrian rebels. 'Anyone know if President Obama intends to perform background checks on the Syrian rebels before providing them weapons?' he asked. As of this writing, the short message has been retweeted 6,480 times. Polls released Monday show that an overwhelming majority of Americans do not support plans to arm the rebels, Breitbart.com said. Part of the problem, John Nolte said, is 'the fear that the new boss will be an awful lot like the old boss.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingTed Cruz: Will Obama do background checks before giving arms to Syrian rebels?

Syrian rebels say they have received anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles

"Syrian rebels have received heavy weapons -- including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles -- from 'brotherly nations that support the Syrian revolution,' a rebel spokesman said Friday. Free Syrian Army political and media coordinator The White House has not publicly specified what steps it would take to support members of Syria's opposition, though sources have told CNN that small arms, ammunition and possibly anti-tank weapons would be part of the assistance package. The White House announcement this month that it was increasing the 'size and scope' of its material support to Syrian rebels came after months of political debate over the U.S. role in the conflict." Continue reading

Continue ReadingSyrian rebels say they have received anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles

Jacob Hornberger: Replacing The Welfare-Warfare State With A Free Society

"We live under a governmental system in which the president, the military, the CIA, and the NSA now wield powers that the greatest dictators in history have wielded. The powers to assassinate people, to indefinitely detain people without due process or trial by jury, to kidnap and rendition people, to torture people, to subject people to LSD experiments, to invade and occupy foreign countries, to support coups in foreign lands, to install, train, maintain, and support brutal dictatorial regimes, to spy on and monitor the activities of people everywhere. In other words, the dark type of things that Americans used to complain that communist or totalitarian regimes were engaged in." Continue reading

Continue ReadingJacob Hornberger: Replacing The Welfare-Warfare State With A Free Society

Bill Bonner: How to Disappear Without a Trace

"Twelve years ago – when the 'homeland' was first invented (a smooth adaptation of Hitler's 'fatherland') and TSA agents began frisking grandmothers – the whole thing seemed like a joke. It looked as though America's leaders had gotten themselves into a hysterical panic. They thought al-Qaida really existed... that there were terrorist sleeper cells in every hamlet and burg... and that these infiltrators were about to wreak havoc on the nation. It was a preposterous lie, but we figured they'd come to their senses soon. Instead of coming to their senses, America's leaders began to see the advantage of a war that could neither be won nor lost." Continue reading

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: How to Disappear Without a Trace