There is something of a consensus forming around the conclusion that a preventive US and/or Israeli attack on Iran (for a nuclear weapons program it doesn't have) is the wrong thing to do. Last night former Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke at an event warning "the...
How the Two Parties Control the Presidential Debates, Marginalize Dissent
George Farah, founder and executive director of Open Debates, tells Democracy Now that the two parties impose rules on the debates "to control various components of the debates to eliminate both third party candidates, unpredictable questions, and any threat to their...
State Dept. Gets Asked the Moral Question on Iran Sanctions
In a press briefing yesterday with State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, an unusual question was asked about the morality of the US-led sanctions regime on Iran, which is primarily hurting the population. QUESTION: Do you have any concern about the effects –...
Obama Risks Handing ‘Loaded Gun’ Drone Program to Romney
President Obama’s personal involvement in selecting the targets of covert drone strikes means he risks effectively handing a ‘loaded gun’ to Mitt Romney come November, says the co-author of a new report aimed at US policymakers. ‘If Obama leaves, he’s leaving a loaded...
Drones and Proxies: The Expanding War Plans for North Africa
One of the biggest problems (and there are many) with the Obama administration's drone program is that it targets unidentified individuals, the vast majority of whom have not been shown to present any real threat to Americans. According to the recent academic study,...
National Pentagon Radio (NPR) Watch
Friday brought another report of the civil war in Syria by Kelly McEvers of NPR’s Morning Edition. The opening summary tells us that rebels “captured a third major border crossing between Syria and Turkey. The rebels are trying to restore services to a recently...
More Hubris From the Interventionists on Syria
In a new piece at Foreign Policy, Ammar Abdulhamid meticulously describes how fundamentally disparate, disorganized, and divided are the Syrian rebels. He writes that although they all want the overthrow of Assad, there is no unified goal as to what ought to come...