Antiwar.com Newsletter | May 31, 2013

IN THIS ISSUE

• Happy Birthday Randolph Bourne!
• Top News
• Opinion and analysis

‘War is the Health of the State’

Randolph Bourne came into this world 122 years ago this past Wednesday. Antiwar.com "named our sponsoring organization, the Randolph Bourne Institute, after him because of his famous utterance: "War is the health of the State," writes Justin Raimondo at the blog this week.

What Bourne meant was that "in wartime government would grow into an overweening tyrant, revealing its true and essential nature as an engine of pure coercion," Raimondo added.

Antiwar.com has tried to carry forth the legacy of concern for liberty and opposition to war and state coercion for 18 years. Every day we’ve worked to debunk the War Party’s lies and bring some truth into the debate about U.S. foreign policy.

We’ve reached a critical point in our fund drive this quarter. Contributions have slowed and we’re in danger of not meeting our goal. We need your help if our message of peace is to continue on into the future.

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This week’s top news:

Russia Denies Reports Syria Already Got Anti-Aircraft Missiles: Sources from the Russian Defense Ministry deny that Syria has already received any of the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles they have been contracted to deliver, following Israeli warnings of a preventive strike.

Despite Promises of Transparency, White House Not Talking on Drone Strike: President Obama’s recent speech promising more transparency on the drone program hasn’t amounted to much. The first drone strike since the speech killed seven in Pakistan, and the White House did what it always does, declined specific comment.

UN: Most Syrian Rebels Don’t Want Democracy: A new report from UN independent investigators warns that despite Western protestations that Syrian rebels are "angels," there is only a very small minority of secular rebels still hoping to create a democratic nation with rights for religious minorities.

IAEA: We Might Not Find Anything in Search of Iran Base: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deputy director general Herman Nackaerts conceded that the long-sought search of Iran’s Parchin military base might not actually turn up anything, comments which diplomats spun as proof of an Iranian "clean-up" operation.

UN: Iraq Ready to Explode; Over 600 Killed This Month: UN Special Representative to Iraq Martin Kobler has issued a statement expressing grave concerns about the soaring level of violence in the country, saying the sectarian violence is "ready to explode" into another full scale civil war.

Israel to Expand East Jerusalem Settlement: Israel’s Housing Ministry has announced final approval for another significant expansion of a settlement, meaning several hundred new homes will be built for settlers in occupied East Jerusalem.

Opinion and Analysis:

• Justin Raimondo wrote about Obama’s less-than-honest drone speech, and John McCain’s trip to Syria to buddy up to extremist rebels.
• Kelley Vlahos, in a Memorial Day column, wrote about a whistleblower that cared about soldiers, not war. At the blog, she analyzed The Washington Post’s hawkish position on the government’s new war powers.
• Ivan Eland argued that Obama’s supposed new restrictions on the war on terror are unlikely to be lasting.
• Phil Giraldi critiqued John McCain’s lauded war hero status in U.S. politics.
• John Glaser wrote about the partisanship behind Obama’s new Bush-era pick for FBI chief, John Yoo’s terror logic on the drone war, and the irrelevance of the AUMF.

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