Welfare-Warfare State

Gorbachev urges US-Russia deal on Syria

"Gorbachev, 82, said the international community must be level-headed. 'I think that we've seen situations in the past that were more dangerous and where we were nevertheless able to find a solution and to find a way out,' he said. 'A lot will depend on the permanent members of the UN Security Council. They need to show the Cold War is over, that they are able to work together,' he said. Gorbachev took a jab at France, a vocal supporter of intervention in Syria. 'I was surprised that France, instead of supporting an international conference, is taking its current position on Syria,' he said. 'I think that France will have to change its position.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGorbachev urges US-Russia deal on Syria

David Stockman: The End of U.S. Imperium—Finally!

"Next week Congress can do far more than stop a feckless Tomahawk barrage on a small country that is already a graveyard of civil war and sectarian slaughter. By voting 'no,' it can trigger the end of the American Imperium—five decades of incessant meddling, bullying, and subversion around the globe that has added precious little to national security but left America fiscally exhausted and morally diminished. Indeed, the tragedy of this vast string of misbegotten interventions is that virtually none of them involved defending the homeland or any tangible, steely-eyed linkages to national security. They were all rooted in ideology." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Stockman: The End of U.S. Imperium—Finally!

Ron Paul: Syria Intervention ‘Beginning of the End’ of ‘American Empire’

"'How many people do we have to kill?' former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) told Fox News Channel host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday. Discussing the plan for a possible intervention in Syria after government forces used chemical weapons on civilians, Paul said that if the president does not get a vote in Congress authorizing Syrian intervention, it would represent 'the beginning of the end' of the 'American empire.' 'I think there is a sea change,' Paul said of the debate over Syrian intervention. 'The American people are waking up. They are tired of it. They don't have the money.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Syria Intervention ‘Beginning of the End’ of ‘American Empire’

U.S. Will Now Let in A Whole 2,000 Syrian Refugees Per Year

"The numbers are relatively small: just 2,000 refugees, compared to an estimated two million people who have fled Syria during the civil war. But it's a significant increase from the 90 or so Syrian refugees who have been permanently admitted to the U.S. in the last two years. And it's not entirely uncontroversial. The refugees, mostly women and children, will be screened for terrorist ties -- a process that could take a year or more to complete. Unlike previous efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to give temporary protected status to Syrians already in the United States, the State Department effort will bring in Syrians from overseas for permanent resettlement in America." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Will Now Let in A Whole 2,000 Syrian Refugees Per Year

6 Groups that Will Win Big From a War with Syria

"It has to be obvious to almost everyone that the US war machine is trying desperately to get another war going… and – at least for the moment – failing miserably. The Romans had a phrase that they used for legal analysis: qui bono, which translates to 'who benefits?' Clearly, powerful individuals are pushing hard for the US to go to war. Let’s take a look at who these people are." Continue reading →

Continue Reading6 Groups that Will Win Big From a War with Syria

Bradley Manning: The Mighty Fist!

"We stand in solidarity with PFC Manning and the peace his actions stand for. The state has grown far too large. The centralized, federated nation-state is a great agent of repression. Its power lies in the hands of state servants who wish to extinguish what tiny flames of liberty are left among us. But for many, this sentence has inspired a howl so large that these flames may rage into a roaring fire. If such an injustice can come down on Manning then it can come down on any of us who wish to challenge the immoral actions of the state. May the mighty fist of solidarity vanquish this state!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBradley Manning: The Mighty Fist!

Julian Assange: The Modern State Is Acting Like A Mongol Horde

"What is happening to the world now is not some Henry Kissinger-esque figure making secret plots...That happens a little bit, and those people like to think that they're in charge. But it seems to me that what is actually going on is a pretty much out of control bureaucracy involving The State and Big Corporations, the National Security Agency now. Eighty-percent of its budget goes to Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin... I liken it to a Mongul horde. Yeah, there are some people trying to be in charge of it in some ways, but its basically an unthinking, unreasoned process. And all the secrecy means that no one has the proper oversight of what is going on." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJulian Assange: The Modern State Is Acting Like A Mongol Horde

A Century of Lies: The Rationales for Engaging in Foreign Wars

"If President Barack Obama and his administration are not lying in the lead-up to a probable bombing campaign of Syria it will be a rare exception among US Presidents, particularly since their public duplicity concerning war dates to at least the early twentieth century. Indeed, being forthrightly dishonest to the American people concerning the rationales for engaging in foreign wars has become a century-old White House tradition. The historical record of past presidents’ prewar and wartime hucksterism is unambiguous, greatly contributing to the immense bloodshed and destruction that continues under the country’s reckless international leadership to this day." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Century of Lies: The Rationales for Engaging in Foreign Wars

Obama Has Decided That It Is Safer To Buy Congress Than To Go It Alone

"The White House will bribe, cajole, and intimidate the Congress. The regime’s argument will be that with America’s prestige and credibility on the line, Congress must support the President. The President and Secretary of State have made unequivocal statements of Assad’s guilt and their determination to punish Assad. Given Washington’s insanity, the way Washington punishes Assad for (allegedly) killing Syrians with chemical weapons is for Washington to kill more Syrians with cruise missiles. If this doesn’t make sense to you, you don’t belong in Obama’s government or in the American media, and you could never be a neoconservative." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Has Decided That It Is Safer To Buy Congress Than To Go It Alone

Bipartisan calls to cut off Egyptian aid emerge after military crackdown

"Untangling the aid relationship with Cairo would not be simple and could be costly for the United States as well as Egypt. A special financing arrangement Cairo uses could leave U.S. taxpayers holding the bill for billions of dollars in equipment Egypt already has ordered on credit, and companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics that build military hardware for Egypt would be affected by aid restrictions. Also on Sunday, several lawmakers made the point that the security of neighboring Israel and the Suez canal were compelling reasons in favor of continued aid. Since 1979, when Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel, it has been the second largest recipient, after Israel, of U.S. bilateral foreign aid." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBipartisan calls to cut off Egyptian aid emerge after military crackdown