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Latest Articles: War, War, War
Will Obama Exploit the Unemployed as Recruits for a Ramped Up War in Afghanistan?
Post Date: 2009-02-12 06:06:24 by Kamala
2 Comments
Will Obama Exploit the Unemployed as Recruits for a Ramped Up War in Afghanistan? By Paul Craig Roberts, CounterPunch Posted on February 11, 2009, Printed on February 12, 2009 www.alternet.org/story/126319/ Is there intelligent life in Washington, D.C.? Not a speck of it. The U.S. economy is imploding, and President Barack Obama is being led by his government of neoconservatives and Israeli agents into a quagmire in Afghanistan that will bring the U.S. into confrontation with Russia, and possibly China, America's largest creditor. The January payroll job figures reveal that last month, 20,000 Americans lost their jobs every day. In addition, December's job losses were revised ...
The Audacity of Mendacity
Post Date: 2009-02-11 06:09:30 by Ada
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Obama's real foreign policy agenda While the great debate over the "stimulus" spending bill was the focus of President Obama's Monday sermon, some of the questions asked at a subsequent press conference dealt with foreign policy, including a pointed one by CNN's Ed Henry, and it was a double zinger: "Thank you, Mr. President. You've promised to send more troops to Afghanistan. And since you've been very clear about a timetable to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, I wonder, what's your timetable to withdraw troops eventually from Afghanistan? "And related to that, there's a Pentagon policy that bans media coverage of the ...
Obama's "War on Terror"
Post Date: 2009-02-11 05:58:52 by Stephen Lendman
1 Comments
Obama's "War on Terror" - by Stephen Lendman The language is softened and deceptive. The strategy and tactics are not. The "war on terror" continues. Promised change is talk, not policy. Just look at Obama's "war cabinet," discussed in an earlier article. It assures: -- the "strongest military on the planet" by outspending all other countries combined; -- continued foreign wars; -- possible new ones in prospect; on February 7, vice-president Joe Biden outlined continuity of the Bush administration's policy toward Iran, including "preventive" wars under the National Security Strategy; demands also that Iran abandon its legal ...
US military develops anti-aircraft laser
Post Date: 2009-02-10 20:37:56 by Horse
6 Comments
The Laser Avenger successfully shot down a series of unmanned aerial vehicles during recent tests and is being hailed as a revolutionary weapon for future warfare. The experiment was the first time that a ground vehicle has used a laser to destroy moving aircraft and marks a watershed moment in the development of lasers for battlefield use. Invented by Boeing, the laser is fitted to a Humvee off-road vehicle, allowing it to be moved into the most remote locations to shoot down enemy planes. It is hoped that the Laser Avenger will be used to help US forces tackle small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which often carry explosives or surveillance equipment. Such devices are difficult for ...
Immediately Withdraw From Afghanistan Too
Post Date: 2009-02-10 06:34:53 by Ada
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Permit me to make my proposal for Afghanistan: Get out. Now. No handwringing and no delays. President Obama should issue an immediate order that all U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan and return to the United States at once. Look, they’ve had seven years to kill the terrorists. That’s longer than World War II. Longtime supporters of The Future of Freedom Foundation know that when George W. Bush declared his “war on terrorism” seven years ago, we warned that such a war would prove to be much like the drug war — that is, one that has no end. Who can now doubt that we were right? U.S. officials tell us that the war on terrorism in Afghanistan is just now getting a ...
Foreign Spies Are Serious. Are We?
Post Date: 2009-02-09 19:14:41 by X-15
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Back in 2002, I got an unexpected phone call from the White House. "Would you be interested in serving as the head of U.S. counterintelligence?" they asked. The Obama administration may already have placed such a call and picked someone to handle my old job: identifying and stopping other nations' spies. But my successor will have his or her work cut out for them. In 2003, when I began my three years as the first congressionally mandated national counterintelligence executive (known by the unpronounceable acronym NCIX), Washington seemed ready to transform the fight against foreign espionage into a focused, coherent enterprise. But today, this vital national security mission ...
Karzi scares Obama with Russia
Post Date: 2009-02-09 09:06:09 by Tatarewicz
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Differences between the Afghan Kabul government and the US may become issues in Afghanistan's coming elections and may see Russia displacing America in the country. President Karzai said recently that if the US does not speed up a program to equip Afghanistan's military the task will be carried out by other countries. Russia's Medvedev expressed readiness to help Afghans' armed forces and an Afghan delegation will visit Moscow in the near future to discuss military-technical co-operation. Meanwhile, the first rail shipment of Russian flour has arrived in the Afghan city of Haraton as part of a UN food program to counter starvation which with the severe winter has seen 300 ...
A Short History of the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict: Past Is Prologue
Post Date: 2009-02-09 06:11:29 by Stephen Lendman
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A Short History of the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict: Past Is Prologue - by Stephen Lendman Its roots are from the late 19th century when Theodor Herzl founded modern Zionism at the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland in 1897. In his book "Overcoming Zionism," Joel Kovel writes: Zionism seeks "the restoration of tribalism in the guise of a modern, highly militaralized and aggressive state. (It) cut Jews off from (their) history and led to a fateful identity of interests with antisemitism (becoming) the only thing that united them. (It) fell into the ways of imperialist expansion and militarism, and showed signs of the fascist malignancy." If you accept ...
Obama Puts Brake On Afghan Surge
Post Date: 2009-02-08 15:46:47 by Brian S
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PRESIDENT Barack Obama has demanded that American defence chiefs review their strategy in Afghanistan before going ahead with a troop surge. There is concern among senior Democrats that the military is preparing to send up to 30,000 extra troops without a coherent plan or exit strategy. The Pentagon was set to announce the deployment of 17,000 extra soldiers and marines last week but Robert Gates, the defence secretary, postponed the decision after questions from Obama. The president was concerned by a lack of strategy at his first meeting with Gates and the US joint chiefs of staff last month in “the tank”, the secure conference room in the Pentagon. He asked: ...
Back on world stage, a larger-than-life Holbrooke
Post Date: 2009-02-08 07:20:03 by Disgusted
2 Comments
Stashed in a drawer in his New York apartment between snapshots of family vacations, a photograph shows Richard Holbrooke on a private visit to Afghanistan in 2006. He is mugging atop an abandoned Russian tank, flashing a sardonic V-for-victory sign and his best Nixon-style grin. The pose is a little like Holbrooke himself: looming, theatrical, passionate, indignant. Three years later, he has inherited responsibility for the terrain he surveyed from that tank. As President Barack Obama's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Holbrooke will help reformulate and carry out American policy in what many call the most problematic region on earth. Between them, the two ...
Iran and the US: United over Afghanistan?
Post Date: 2009-02-08 00:12:28 by Horse
1 Comments
KARACHI - The annual Munich Security Conference, which brings together a dozen world leaders and about 50 top diplomats and defense officials, starts on Friday for the 45th time with one item paramount on its agenda: the United States-led world order, given the troubles in Afghanistan and Iraq and the ongoing impasse with Iran. The US has sent a high-ranking delegation led by Vice President Joe Biden and the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrook. They are expected to seek informal dialogue with Iran, represented by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and parliament speaker Ali Larijani. This contact on the event's sidelines will likely focus on the ...
U.S. Can Ship Afghan Aid Through Russia, Kremlin Says [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2009-02-07 10:19:43 by Jethro Tull
104 Comments
U.S. Can Ship Afghan Aid Through Russia, Kremlin Says By ELLEN BARRY Published: February 6, 2009 MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said Friday that Russia had fast-tracked approval of a plan to allow the United States military to ship nonlethal equipment across Russian territory to Afghanistan. Skip to next paragraph Related News Analysis: Russia Offers Kind Words, but Its Fist Is Clenched (February 6, 2009) “We gave our consent, literally, in 24 hours,” he said. “We expect our American partners to provide a concrete request with the quantity and description of cargo. We shall grant the relevant permission as soon as it happens.” Russia ...
Exclusive: Gates Delays Troop Decision
Post Date: 2009-02-06 11:02:03 by christine
13 Comments
ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: ABC News has learned that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has deferred a much-anticipated decision on sending additional troops into Afghanistan until President Obama decides what force levels he wants. The news comes after an anticipated Pentagon proposal to send three additional combat brigades to Afghanistan -- or 17,000 troops, as reported by ABC News last week -- was presented to Gates for his approval this afternoon. An element of the Pentagon troop proposal anticipated a large Marine brigade to be followed by two Army Brigade Combat Teams, including a Stryker Brigade. The top U.S. general in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, favors using the ...
Key Gitmo Advisers Still On Job At Pentagon
Post Date: 2009-02-06 06:25:24 by Ada
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AP Enterprise: Obama wants to shift course but Bush hires still on job at Gitmo policy shop A senior judge who has not followed President Barack Obama's order to halt military trials at Guantanamo Bay is among Bush administration appointees still overseeing how the Pentagon deals with terror captives. Two other senior Pentagon officials have been shunted into civil service jobs. As a result, they cannot be summarily fired because of the change in presidential administrations. Susan J. Crawford is the top legal authority running military trials at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. She is a Bush political appointee who has remained idle since a lower-ranking military judge ordered a week ...
Blackwater Ad
Post Date: 2009-02-05 23:31:53 by yukon
4 Comments
Army Official: Suicides In January 'Terrifying'
Post Date: 2009-02-05 17:16:49 by Brian S
9 Comments
Story Highlights Two dozen soldiers believed to have killed themselves in January, official says The number of likely suicides more than those killed in combat last month Army psychologist says long, cold months of winter might have contributed to spike Army takes rare step of releasing figures for month rather than waiting till end of year WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One week after the U.S. Army announced record suicide rates among its soldiers last year, the service is worried about a spike in possible suicides in the new year. If reports of suicides are confirmed, more soldiers will have taken their lives in January than died in combat. If reports of suicides are confirmed, more soldiers will ...
US army deserters flee Iraq
Post Date: 2009-02-05 07:25:24 by Tatarewicz
1 Comments
Last week's successful election in Iraq was a major step towards withdrawal of US troops from the country. But some soldiers are jumping the gun...deserting the army despite possible death penalty, insisting the occupation is unjust. According to the Pentagon, 5000 are missing from duty. (more at link)
$40 Billion Increase Billed as Pentagon Budget 'Cut'
Post Date: 2009-02-03 09:57:45 by tom007
2 Comments
$40 Billion Increase Billed as Pentagon Budget 'Cut' (Updated) By Noah Shachtman EmailFebruary 02, 2009 | 2:21:39 PMCategories: Cash Rules Everything Around Me, Money Money Money, Politricks 080610f0440g012 Conservatives howled, when word leaked that the Obama White House might be looking to "cut" the Pentagon's budget request for the next fiscal year. But it's only under the odd rules of Beltway bizarroland that this can be considered in any way a trim. As CQ's Josh Rogin reports, Team Obama wants an eight percent, $40 billion increase in the Defense Department budget -- from $487.7 billion in 2009 to $527.7 billion in 2010. But this uptick is only about ...
Iraq's Shocking Human Toll: About 1 Million Killed, 4.5 Million Displaced, 1-2 Million Widows, 5 Million Orphans
Post Date: 2009-02-03 06:20:14 by Ada
2 Comments
Now that Bush is gone, perhaps we can honestly face the damage we have wrought and the responsibilities we must accept from it. We are now able to estimate the number of Iraqis who have died in the war instigated by the Bush administration. Looking at the empirical evidence of Bush's war legacy will put his claims of victory in perspective. Of course, even by his standards -- "stability" -- the jury is out. Most independent analysts would say it's too soon to judge the political outcome. Nearly six years after the invasion, the country remains riven by sectarian politics and major unresolved issues, like the status of Kirkuk. We have a better grasp of the human costs of ...
North Korea warns of possible war with South Korea
Post Date: 2009-02-01 16:15:01 by Rotara
2 Comments
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea warned Sunday that South Korea's confrontational policies may trigger a war on the divided peninsula, a message coming two days after the communist country vowed to abandon all peace agreements with its southern neighbor. Relations between the two Koreas have been strained since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office nearly a year ago in Seoul, pledging to take a harder line on the North. Tension heightened Friday when the North said it was ditching a nonaggression pact and all other peace accords with South Korea. The tension may lead to "an unavoidable military conflict and a war," North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun ...
Ceasefires, Israeli-Style
Post Date: 2009-02-01 13:10:12 by Stephen Lendman
1 Comments
Ceasefires, Israeli-Style - by Stephen Lendman Waging war while talking peace is customary Israeli practice. On January 19, Haaretz headlined: "Israel declares unilateral cease-fire. The security cabinet last night authorized a unilateral cease-fire (to take effect) at 2AM (Sunday morning), ending three weeks of intense fighting." Declaration notwithstanding, nothing changed. Gaza remains occupied, under siege, and totally isolated. Borders are still closed. On January 28, The New York Times said "truckloads of humanitarian aid" are stuck in Egypt because of Israeli and Cairo restrictions. Little can get in, and attacks merely downshifted to a lower gear. Shortly ...
Mullen Says Close to 30,000 New Soldiers Likely for Afghanistan
Post Date: 2009-01-30 19:14:52 by Jethro Tull
19 Comments
Mullen Says Close to 30,000 New Soldiers Likely for Afghanistan Email | Print | A A A By Ken Fireman Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Admiral Michael Mullen, the most senior American military officer, said the U.S. will probably deploy close to 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to shore up deteriorating security there. In an interview, Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also said he is hopeful that other NATO nations will contribute additional military and civilian resources this year to the fight against a resurgent Taliban. The Islamist militia, which once ruled Afghanistan and sheltered al-Qaeda, is threatening large areas of the country with mounting attacks. ...
Officials: Army suicides at 3-decade high
Post Date: 2009-01-29 09:38:45 by richard9151
1 Comments
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer – 4 mins ago WASHINGTON – Suicides among Army troops soared again last year and are at a nearly three-decade high, senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. At least 128 soldiers killed themselves in 2008, said two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the data has not been formally released. The final count likely will be considerably higher because more than a dozen other suspicious deaths are still being investigated and could also turn out to be self-inflicted. The new figure of more than 128 compares to 115 in 2007 and 102 in 2006 — and is the highest since record keeping began in 1980. ...
USA Today 2A Poll
Post Date: 2009-01-28 15:33:41 by Lod
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Does the 2nd Amendment give individuals the right to own firearms?
Vote at the link.
Thanks.
US missile strikes in Pakistan will continue-Gates
Post Date: 2009-01-28 10:26:09 by christine
2 Comments
WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The United States will continue to carry out missile strikes against al Qaeda militants in Pakistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. Pakistani officials have complained publicly about the attacks from unmanned U.S. aircraft in tribal areas, saying they are a violation of sovereignty and increase resentment towards both Pakistan's government and the United States. U.S. officials normally decline to comment publicly on reports of the missile strikes, but Gates made an exception when asked about Pakistan's complaints at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. U.S. drones fired missiles into the northwestern regions of North ...
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