Antiwar.com Blog

Originally appeared at The American Conservative.

Buried in this New York Timesreport is a very revealing detail about the current head of Central Command, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, and his absurdly exaggerated view of Iranian power:

Military planners are also advancing the idea of deploying more American forces to the region without taking direct action against Iran. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the commander of Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, has pushed to send additional troops to the region, senior military officials said.

In meetings and in memos, the general has argued that the United States should view Iran as a great power or near-peer threat [bold mine-DL], much as the Trump administration’s formal national security strategy views China, Russia and North Korea.

Continue reading “Threat Hyperinflation at Centcom”

The US Navy confirms that three online videos showing two military air encounters with what it calls “unexplained aerial phenomena,” and the rest of us call “unidentified flying objects” are authentic, Popular Mechanics reports.

The videos are interesting, and some might find them disturbing. What’s more disturbing to me is that the Navy thinks they’re none of our business 15, or even four, years later (the incidents occurred in 2004 and 2015).

Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough tells The Black Vault website, “[t]he videos were never officially released to the general public by the DoD and should still be withheld.”

The videos aren’t classified. They just haven’t been “cleared for public release.”

Continue reading “The US Navy’s Attitude About Releasing UFO Videos Is More Disturbing Than the UFO Videos”

President Trump has named Robert O’Brien, who served as foreign affairs advisor to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, as his replacement for fired National Security Advisor John Bolton. O’Brien is cut from the exact same neoconservative cloth as Bolton and represents, at most, change in style and physical appearance. With pressure mounting on Trump to attack Iran after unproven accusations that it was involved in an attack on Saudi oil facilities, the President’s national security team may find itself without allies in the effort. Will O’Brien put the brakes on Trump’s neocons… or will he hit the accelerator? Tune in to today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

Originally appeared at The American Conservative.

Trump announced the selection of his fourth National Security Advisor:

President Trump announced Wednesday that Robert O’Brien, the special envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department, will be his next national security advisor.

O’Brien previously served in the Bush administration’s State Department. Hugh Hewitt, who wrote the foreword to O’Brien’s book, has described him as a “long time colleague of John Bolton.” Since the Bush years, O’Brien advised the Romney 2012 campaign, and he also advised the short-lived Scott Walker campaign in the 2016 cycle. He is a typical hawkish Republican. Curt Mills referred to him in his recent report on the race to replace Bolton this way:

Robert O’Brien, the Trump hostage negotiator whose stock has risen in the administration in recent months, is “Bolton lite,” according to a source who has known O’Brien for years.

Continue reading “Trump Makes Another Bad Choice for National Security Advisor”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was sure of who was responsible for the attack on Saudi oil facilities shortly after the attack. Neocons followed suit, one by one blaming Iran and calling for the war they’ve been drooling over for years. But not only are Washington’s European partners skeptical of the claims – even Gulf allies are not outright blaming Iran. Lies grease the wheels of the war machine and with the latest attack the grease is flowing freely. What will Trump do? Tune in to today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

After Saturday’s attacks on Saudi oil facilities, President Trump Tweeted that the US is “locked and loaded” and ready to do whatever Saudi Arabia deems appropriate to whoever the Saudis blame for the attack. Will Trump let the Saudis dictate when and where the United States goes to war? Who did it and why? Evidence? False flag? So many questions. Tune in to today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.