Antiwar.com Blog

Over the weekend, President Trump told an audience at a fundraiser that the US attack on Iraq was the “worst decision ever.” As we approach 15 years since the launch of “shock and awe,” the truth of Trump’s words are evermore obvious. As president, however, he has the power to correct that terrible decision and not just for Iraq but for every country “liberated” by previous presidents. He can end the US military presence in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, etc. Will he do it? Tune in to today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

Help End U.S. Complicity in Largest Global Humanitarian Crisis!

During the month of March, the Senate will vote on ending U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has plunged Yemen into the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

S.J.Res. 54 would withdraw U.S. armed forces from this war that is now entering its third year. Because Congress has never authorized this war, this legislation is required to come up for a vote on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.

Call Your Senator and Urge Them to Support SJ Res. 54
+1 (202) 899-8938

By providing mid-air refueling for Saudi and UAE bombers and weapons, intelligence, and logistical support for the Saudi-led coalition, the U.S. is complicit in violations of international law and in creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Invoking the War Powers Resolution to end the illegal U.S. war in Yemen will make history as a step toward restoring congressional authority over decisions about war as required by the Constitution. The bill will force the first-ever vote in the Senate to withdraw U.S. armed forces from an unauthorized war.

Millions of lives hang in the balance. Nowhere in the world does Washington have more leverage to stop millions of people from starvation than in Yemen, where more than 8 million people are on the verge of starving to death.

Call Your Senator and Urge Them to Support SJ Res. 54
+1 (202) 899-8938

On Saturday the Leafs are playing an outdoor game against the Washington Capitals at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. To mark the occasion the team created a jersey with the Royal Canadian Navy’s "Ready, Aye, Ready" motto on it. The website unveiling the sweaters includes a brief history of the RCN and Leafs President Brendan Shanahan said the jerseys were designed to honor"the traditions of the Royal Canadian Navy" whose sailors "stand always ready to defend Canada and proudly safeguard its interests and values whether at home or abroad."

Sounds all maple syrupy, but there are a couple of nagging questions: Whose "interests and values" are we talking about? Should we honor all their traditions?

For example, in 1917 the Royal Bank loaned $200,000 to unpopular Costa Rican dictator Federico Tinoco just as he was about to flee the country. A new government refused to repay, saying the Canadian bank knew Tinoco was likely to steal it. "In 1921," reports Royal Military College historian Sean Maloney in Canadian Gunboat Diplomacy, "Aurora, Patriot and Patrician helped the Royal Bank of Canada satisfactorily settle an outstanding claim with the government of that country."

Continue reading “Hey Maple Leafs, Be Careful What Traditions You Honor”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s State-of-the-Nation speech Thursday represents a liminal event in the East-West strategic balance – and an ominous one.

That the strategic equation is precarious today comes through clearly in Putin’s words. The U.S. and Russia have walked backwards over the threshold of sanity first crossed in the right direction by their predecessors in 1972 with the signing of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Amid the “balance of terror” that reigned pre-1972, sensible statesmen on both sides concluded and implemented the ABM treaty which, in effect, guaranteed “mutual assured destruction” – the (altogether fitting) acronym was MAD – if either side attempted a nuclear attack on the other. MAD might not sound much better than “balance of terror,” but the ABM treaty introduced a significant degree of stability for 30 years.

Continue reading “Ray McGovern says Putin Claims Strategic Parity, Respect”

Every special interest has a pitch on how to get government benefits at the expense of everyone else. This week we get the steel industry pitch. Americans are supposedly going to “Beat China” by paying a tax to the U.S. government. With enough propaganda, Americans will go along with it. But Ron Paul will tell the truth instead.

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

Originally appeared on The American Conservative.

John Bolton defends preventive war against North Korea, but he won’t call it by that name:

Pre-emption opponents argue that action is not justified because Pyongyang does not constitute an “imminent threat.” They are wrong. The threat is imminent, and the case against preemption rests on the misinterpretation of a standard that derives from prenuclear, pre-ballistic-missile times.

The concepts of preemption and imminent threat have been so thoroughly warped by the Iraq war debate that their proper meanings have been all but lost. Preemption means striking before an impending attack occurs, but there is no such attack being prepared by North Korea. If the U.S. strikes North Korea first under these circumstances, our government would be committing an act of aggression pure and simple. There would be no preemption, because there would be no attack to preempt.

Continue reading “John Bolton Wants Preventive War Against North Korea”