Egypt Rejects U.S. “Democracy” Funding

From the WSJ: A U.S. plan to fund the democratic transition in Egypt has led to a confrontation with the country's new rulers, who are suspicious of American aims and what they see as political interference in the aftermath of President Hosni Mubarak's downfall....

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Draw Down Empire, Not Just Afghan War

Katrina vanden Heuvel at The Nation: As we debate an exit from Afghanistan, it’s critical that we focus not only on the costs of deploying the current force of more than 100,000 troops, but also on the costs of maintaining permanent bases long after those troops...

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War in Libya Fought for Oil

Glenn Greenwald has a brilliant piece up today on what seem to be the real reasons behind the war in Libya: oil. Much of the war has actually seemed extremely odd, as if it didn’t match up. There seemed to be many more reasons for the administration not to get...

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Syrian Army Cracks Down, Some Call for Intervention

The horror the Assad regime is unleashing on the Syrian people is the culmination of some of the worst atrocities in this Arab Spring. Details like body counts are occasionally available from elsewhere in Syria, but in Jisr al-Shughour, where thousands of Syrian...

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Expanding Shadow-Government Defense Policy

The decision to make Leon Panetta Secretary of Defense was a very conscious one. Fundamentally, it wasn't so much a strategic change in personnel, but rather a calculated decision to expel the American people from any consciousness of foreign policy. It is easier to...

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Covert War in Yemen Intensifies

New York Times: The Obama administration has intensified the American covert war in Yemen, exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials. ...On Friday, American jets...

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