Author: Chris Ernesto

In North Africa and Ukraine, April has not been a good month for the American Empire.

Algeria

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, an ally of the U.S., stepped down after 20 years in power, bowing to pressure from weeks of demonstrations led by young people looking for a better life. Protesters remained peaceful and eventually convinced the military to change sides.

The demonstrators are looking for more than just Bouteflika’s departure, and are acting to ensure the military and ruling elite do not repeat the authoritarian practices of the previous government in North Africa.

Last Friday, hundreds of thousands of protesters peacefully rallied in Algiers for a tenth consecutive week. Algeria’s wealthiest businessman and four other tycoons close to Bouteflika were arrested, and it appears the people of Algeria will not stop until their government is expunged of the former ruling class, which could be problematic for American imperial desires.

Sudan

Peaceful protests led to the ouster and house arrest of 30-year-long Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

Continue reading “Not a Good Month for the Empire”

It was a bad week for two former puppets of the American Empire.

In Ukraine, former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was chased out of his apartment onto the roof where he threatened to jump. Police arrested him, but Saakashvili’s supporters surrounded the police van, smashed the front window, and pulled Saakashvili from the vehicle. Immediately afterwards, Saakashvili led a march on parliament in Kiev where he encouraged his supporters to topple the current Ukrainian leadership. Eventually, though, Saakashvili was re-arrested on Friday and now faces the prospect of having no passport and no support from the entity that brought him to power – the United States.

Saakashvili was America’s choice to run the country of Georgia following the dubious Rose Revolution in 2003. Having been educated in the U.S., Saakashvili was a favorite of the neoconservative war machine, in part because of his disdain for Russia. In 2008, Saakashvili initiated a conflict with Russia over the issue of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Georgian military, despite support from the US, was quickly defeated by Russia, and Saakashvili and his US counterparts suffered an embarrassing loss, as Abkhazia and South Ossetia became independent states.

Continue reading “Bad Week for 2 US Puppets”

A number of years ago I was at an antiwar protest in St. Petersburg, FL where one of my fellow protesters was holding a sign that said, "The U.S. military is killing innocent people in Iraq."

Within moments, a person who said he was in the Army began screaming at the protester saying, "I just came back from Iraq where I was fighting for your freedom. Without the military you wouldn’t have the right to protest." The protester, himself an Army veteran, replied, "you look good for someone who is over 200 years old, because that was the last time the US fought a war for freedom."

The returning soldier tried to argue that the attacks on 9/11 were a threat to the Constitution, but his argument was weak and he eventually scurried off. I don’t know if he really felt he went to Iraq to protect free speech, or he was just angry that we were protesting something he believed in (which would have been ironic), but he wasn’t the first or last person I’ve heard claim that the US fights wars overseas to protect the rights of US citizens.

Continue reading “Wars Are Not Fought To ‘Protect Your Freedoms’”

Below are foreign policy highlights and lowlights from the first month of Donald Trump’s presidency.

THE GOOD

• Trump said: “Russia … this is fake news put out by the media … I’m here today to tell you the whole Russian thing, that’s a ruse."
• "It’s going to be impossible for [me] to ever get along with Russia because of all the pressure [I’ve] got with this fake story"
• "If we could get along with Russia … China and Japan and everyone … it would be a positive thing, not a negative thing”.
• “I say it’s better to get along with Russia than not.”
• When asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was called a “killer” by the interviewer, Trump responded, “We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country is so innocent?… take a look at what we’ve done too."
  Continue reading “Trump’s Foreign Policy: The Good and the Bad in His First 30 Days”

In the final days of his presidency, Barack Obama deployed 3,500 US troops, 87 tanks and 144 Bradley fighting vehicles to Poland, and 330 Marines to Norway. He also signed "milestone" agreements with Estonia and Lithuania enabling a broad range of defense-related activities.

For Poland, this marks the first time forces from the West will have a continuous presence on NATO’s eastern flank.  For Norway, it’s the first time since WWII that foreign troops will be allowed to be stationed there.

The US, through NATO, had already begun the “biggest reinforcement since the Cold War, posting four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. In November, Washington announced the deployment of nearly 6,000 troops, along with tanks, infantry vehicles, heavy howitzers, and combat helicopters to Eastern Europe.”

Continue reading “Peace Out, Obama”

When I heard about Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem, I jumped up and started cheering him on as if he were running for a game-winning touchdown.

Finally, someone in the public spotlight was taking a significant stand on behalf of people of color in the United States. I was pumping my fist when he said, "I have to stand up for people that are oppressed."

But I got a pit in my stomach when I heard a reporter ask Kaepernick if his refusal to stand for the national anthem was disrespectful to the U.S. military.

Continue reading “Kaepernick Almost Scores a TD”