Category: News

On Monday, the Senate voted 97-2 to cut off debate on approving the admission of Montenegro to NATO. The two Senators to vote no were Republicans Rand Paul and Mike Lee.

Watch his speech to the Senate:

As presented at the “The Israel Lobby and American Policy” conference presented March 24, 2017 by the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy.

Public opinion polling is important, but little of it accurately measures what the American public thinks about key Israel/lobby issues. This survey series begins to fill in that information deficit.

Focused, accurate polling should guide elected representatives, who can then act in the broader public interest. Polling about Israel lobby programs reveals a large gap between US government actions demanded by the lobby and policy outcomes the public prefers.

The Israel lobby’s growth, size, composition and division of labor has become better understood since the disastrous US invasion of Iraq (which the lobby quietly supported) and the more recent battles over the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) signed by the Obama administration (which the lobby publicly, though unsuccessfully, opposed). This report uses the neologism “Israel/lobby” to express the oftentimes simultaneous public relations campaigns and lobbying programs pursued by the Israeli government in coordination with top advocacy organizations lobbying for Israel within the United States. Key US organizations include the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Hundreds more, including a small number of evangelical Christian organizations, play a role within a vast ecosystem that demands unconditional US support for Israel.

Continue reading “American Attitudes About Israel/Lobby Programs”

Conference early feed, highlights below. The expanded feed will be posted soon.

Speakers include:

Grant Smith, Hanan Ashrawi, John Mearsheimer, Ilan Pappé, Wajahat Ali, Tom Hayes, Khalil Jahshan, Maria LaHood, Jim Moran, Nick Rahall, Jack Shaheen, Clayton Swisher.

Continue reading “Israel Lobby and American Policy Conference: Post-Event Video”

One of the planned cornerstones of the 15+ year Afghan Reconstruction Effort was to be an extensive, nationwide network of roads.

The United States’ concept was roads would allow the Afghan economy to flourish as trade could reach throughout the country, security would be enhanced by the ability to move security forces quickly to where they were needed, and that the presence of the roads would serve as a literal symbol of the central government’s ability to extend its presence into the countryside.

The Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released its audit of the Department of Defense’s and USAID’s $2.8 billion investment in Afghanistan’s road infrastructure.

Continue reading “Cornerstone of Afghan Reconstruction Effort – Roads – Is Near-Total Failure”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) dropped a bombshell yesterday when he revealed that members of the Trump campaign staff – possibly including Trump himself – had their communications intercepted by US intelligence. The surveillance was likely undertaken under expanded spying permission granted by section 702 of the post-9/11 FISA amendments. This provision enables the NSA to listen in to and keep information from phone calls of US citizens as long as the person on the other end is believed to be a non-US citizen overseas. The possibilities for abusing this expanded authority for political or other gain are endless and this may be what is behind the latest revelations. Politicians don’t mind when we are spied on by the government, but they scream loudest when they are the victims. What’s the solution? Tune in to today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

Have you had enough of the Russia bashing yet? The anti-Russia rhetoric can be heard frequently in the mainstream media, and the new issue at hand is the expansion of NATO further into the Balkans. The Cold War-era alliance is looking to grab its third constituent country from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Although opinion polls within Montenegro show a huge split between those in favor of membership and those opposed, this will not stop the American-dominated alliance from infuriating the giant Russian bear. Perhaps Senator Rand Paul can fly the bald eagle in the right direction.

NATO has been moving into what was formerly seen as the Russian sphere of influence since the end of the Cold War, and the promise made by President George H. W. Bush that this expansion would not occur in exchange for the reunification of Germany and the end of the conflict was broken with the admission of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in 1999 (some American officials like to argue that this promise did not occur to justify their actions). This obviously had implications that have led to deteriorated relations between the United States and Russia. It can, therefore, be argued that so-called intrusions by Russia into countries like Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are responses to the United States creeping ever-closer to the Russian border. Plus, Russia has not invaded these countries, but has rather intervened in response to situations and conflicts that arise there between the governments and pro-Russian citizens.

Continue reading “Montenegro Is About To Fall Into Orbit”