Winning Hearts & Minds

U.S. drone strikes intensify in Yemen

"Yemen saw a drastic increase in the clandestine attacks, with strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants rising from 18 in 2011 to 53 in 2012. This 'drone war' is officially classified, and the US does not provide any information on the strikes. President Barack Obama only incidentally recognized their existence at the end of January in an online exchange. In Yemen, between 397 and 539 militants were killed by drone strikes, according to the New America Foundation, which did not specify the number of civilian victims. The drones used there are operated both by the CIA and by the Joint Special Operations Command." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. drone strikes intensify in Yemen

Bahrain, a Brutal U.S. Ally

"The United States speaks about supporting human rights and democracy, but while the Saudis send troops to aid the Khalifa government, America is sending arms. The United States is doing itself a huge disservice by displaying such an obvious double standard toward human rights violations in the Middle East. Washington condemns the violence of the Syrian government but turns a blind eye to blatant human rights abuses committed by its ally Bahrain. This double standard is costing America its credibility across the region; and the message being understood is that if you are an ally of America, then you can get away with abusing human rights." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBahrain, a Brutal U.S. Ally

Human Rights Watch: Kuwait using ‘excessive force’ against protesters

"During large demonstrations staged by the opposition since October 15, police frequently used tear gas and stun grenades and beat up protesters, leading to the injury of dozens and the arrest of many more, said HRW. The Islamist, nationalist and liberal opposition, angry over an amended electoral law, has been staging protests almost every night since December 1 polls to demand the parliament’s dissolution and scrapping of the amendment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHuman Rights Watch: Kuwait using ‘excessive force’ against protesters

‘Liberator Of Kuwait’: ‘Stormin Norman’ Schwarzkopf dead at 78

"Norman Schwarzkopf, the US general who led 1991 Operation Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has died at the age of 78, a US official said Thursday. Schwarzkopf, an American hero known popularly as 'Stormin Norman,' died in Tampa, where he retired after his last military posting as commander-in-chief of US Central Command. Former president George H. W. Bush, himself sick in intensive care in Texas, was first to issue a statement mourning the loss of the man he chose to lead the war that came to define both of their careers." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Liberator Of Kuwait’: ‘Stormin Norman’ Schwarzkopf dead at 78

Will Grigg: “Damned from Memory”: When the Drug War Turns on its Own

The 'war on drugs' is a narcotics price support program and a public works project for the coercive sector (especially the prison-industrial complex). It also provides an apparently bottomless well of revenue to fund the projects in subversion and state terrorism carried out by the CIA and its affiliates. Investigators like John McLaughlin are rewarded for gathering up huge volumes of tiny fish – and severely punished when they disturb any of the politically protected barracudas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill Grigg: “Damned from Memory”: When the Drug War Turns on its Own

Suicide underscores grim conditions at Guantanamo

"The suicide of a Guantanamo inmate underscores the grim reality for detainees held there for nearly 11 years without charge or trial, with no end in sight to their imprisonment. Three months after Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif was found dead in his cell, the US Army formally declared his death to be a suicide — the seventh at the prison. How, Remes would like to know, did the prisoner manage to die at the tightly-controlled facility of a self-administered drug overdose, as the autopsy report cites as the cause? And how could an inmate suffering from acute pneumonia be languishing in a disciplinary cell without medical care?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSuicide underscores grim conditions at Guantanamo

Iran to citizens: avoid U.S. travel due to ‘targeted Iranophobia’

"Iran has issued a travel warning to its citizens against visiting arch-foe the United States, an official said, after the death of an Iranian national reportedly following a grilling by US customs officials. 'Iranian citizens are advised to avoid non-essential travels to the US and, in case of visit, to exercise maximum caution,' foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in remarks reported by the ISNA news agency. The US is a 'high risk' destination for Iranian travellers, he said citing a 'targeted Iranophobia trend in the US and repeated incidents in which Iranian citizens are threatened and arrested there.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran to citizens: avoid U.S. travel due to ‘targeted Iranophobia’

U.K. pays Iraqi torture victims millions in compensation

"The Ministry of Defence has paid out £14m in compensation and costs to hundreds of Iraqis who complained that they were illegally detained and tortured by British forces during the five-year occupation of the south-east of the country. Hundreds more claims are in the pipeline as Iraqis become aware that they are able to bring proceedings against the UK authorities in the London courts. Human rights groups and lawyers representing former prisoners say that the abuse was systemic, with military interrogators and guards responsible for the mistreatment acting in accordance with both their training in the UK and orders issued in Iraq." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.K. pays Iraqi torture victims millions in compensation

Obama Orders Children Murdered

"As Obama grandstands and uses the Sandy Hook crisis to, in the words of Eric Holder 'brainwash the public' that guns are bad and the cause of violent crime and misery, We decided to show just a few of the documented cases of drone attacks that he personally ordered where children were killed. Drone attack after drone attack you will see the real face of the Globalists. This man does not care about children he cares about disarming the American people to bring in a totalitarian government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Orders Children Murdered

Deportations of illegal immigrants in 2012 reach new US record

"The United States deported more than 400,000 illegal immigrants in 2012, the most of any year in the nation’s history, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports. In four years, the Obama administration has deported three-quarters of the number of people that President George W. Bush’s administration did in eight. And unlike Mr. Bush, Obama made no concerted effort to reform the US immigration system – a history that’s not lost on the president’s Latino supporters. Representative Gutierrez said some 90,000 undocumented parents of American-born children continue to be deported each year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeportations of illegal immigrants in 2012 reach new US record