Antiwar.com contributing editor Lucy Steigerwald testified today before the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS). Her testimony is here:
Thanks to Tom Knapp for creating the clip.
Iraq Lies Redux: Trump Admin Claims Iran/al-Qaeda Alliance
In an astonishing Washington Times article this week, unnamed Trump Administration officials (who may or may not be called “John Bolton”) are claiming that Iran, which has been battling al-Qaeda in Syria for nearly four years, is actually secretly allied with al-Qaeda and therefore Iran can be attacked with no further Congressional authorization. Are we seeing the old “babies thrown from incubators” lies resurrected to gin up a war with Iran? Warning lights in today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:
Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.
The US Military Is Everywhere
Most Americans would say we have a military for national defense and security. But our military is not a defensive force. Defense is not its ethos, nor is it how our military is structured. Our military is a power-projection force. It is an offensive force. It is designed to take the fight to the enemy. To strike first, usually justified as “preemptive” or “preventive” action. It’s a military that believes “the best defense is a good offense,” with leaders who believe in “full-spectrum dominance,” i.e. quick and overwhelming victories, enabled by superior technology and firepower, whether on the ground, on the seas, in the air, or even in space or cyberspace.
Thus the “global war on terror” wasn’t a misnomer, or at least the word “global” wasn’t. Consider the article below today from TomDispatch.com by Stephanie Savell. Our military is involved in at least 80 countries in this global war, with no downsizing of the mission evident in the immediate future (perhaps, perhaps, a slow withdrawal from Syria; perhaps, perhaps, a winding down of the Afghan War; meanwhile, we hear rumblings of possible military interventions in Venezuela and Iran).
A Reality Check on Our Absurd Venezuela Policy
Originally appeared on The American Conservative.
The Trump administration is running into the stubborn reality that the “government” they recognize in Venezuela doesn’t actually control anything:
It is a risky gamble for Mr. Maduro’s adversaries, who say they are unclear as to how they will break the blockade at the border on Saturday.
While Mr. Guaidó is regarded by the Trump administration as Venezuela’s rightful president, the White House is facing the reality that Mr. Maduro still controls the military, and with it, the state.
“If the opposition – and Trump administration – are trying to find ways to peel away military support for Maduro, threatening its monopoly on food distribution is not likely to be helpful in that regard,” said Cynthia J. Arnson, the Latin America director at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
The opposition wants to use aid deliveries to emphasize Maduro’s illegitimacy, but if they cannot bring the aid in and deliver it because Maduro has the ability to prevent them from doing so it really just underscores how impotent the self-declared president is. Military officers aren’t likely to take the risk of defecting to the opposition side when they are in such a weak position, and without those defections the attempt at regime change cannot succeed. Meanwhile, U.S. sanctions will further devastate an already ravaged economy, and the civilian population’s misery will deepen.
Continue reading “A Reality Check on Our Absurd Venezuela Policy”
Ron Paul and Tom Luongo on Whistling Past NATO’s Graveyard
The recent Warsaw and Munich summits have proven disastrous to Trump’s foreign policy as pursued by his neocon top advisors. They were supposed to line up for war on Iran and further isolation of Russia and China, yet none of the war bugles sounded. Have the Europeans had enough of “US global dominance”? Geopolitical analyst Tom Luongo joins today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:
Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Warmongers in Their Ivory Towers
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard released this 30-second video in her campaign for the White House. It is one of the most clear and unequivocal statements I have ever heard from a presidential candidate:
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