“The way to respond to ISIS is not through violence.”
Joe Scarry of #NoNukesTuesday weighs in on ISIS and nonviolence.
Kathy Kelly/Buddy Bell | No Warlords Need Apply: A call for credible peacemaking in Afghanistan
Kelly: Recanting such threats and removing drones from the skies of Afghanistan during peace talks would inspire respect for the idea of peace processes. Rural populations -- the “constituency” of the Taliban in Afghanistan-- fear the drones and look for protection, making them vulnerable to recruitment by armed militias vowing to eject the foreign militaries.
Sonali Kolhatkar: We Have Failed Afghanistan Again and Again
Kolhatkar: In the 14 years it has occupied Afghanistan, America’s longest war has achieved mostly bloodshed. Despite spending billions of dollars—the U.S. offered its largest share of foreign aid to Afghans last year—there is little to show for it. Nearly $10 billion was spent on arming and training Afghan forces. But as the dismal state of the Afghan National Army shows, that money may as well have been poured down the drain.
Mark Fiore: Who Created ISIS? (animated cartoon)
Fiore: With the fall of Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria, fingers are pointing faster than you can say “Preemptive War.”
Tomgram: Nick Turse, The U.S. Military’s Battlefield of Tomorrow
Turse: In 2013, the combined total of all U.S. activities on the continent reached 546, an average of more than one mission per day. Last year, that number leapt to 674. In other words, U.S. troops were carrying out almost two operations, exercises, or activities -- from drone strikes to counterinsurgency instruction, intelligence gathering to marksmanship training -- somewhere in Africa every day.
▶ Sami Rasouli | Iraq: Back in the Eye of the Storm
What is happening in Iraq today? What is ISIS? Is the Iraqi army as bad as ISIS? What is the U.S. military doing in Iraq? Is a new major U.S. war in Iraq imminent? What is the role of Islamophobia in the west in justifying U.S. intervention? What is happening in Mosul? Who is benefiting from Iraqi oil resources? After the loss of thousands of lives in Iraq over the past 11 years, millions of refugees later, and trillions of dollars spent, the U.S. is starting a new military intervention in that country.
▶ Endless War: As US Strikes Tikrit and Delays Afghan Pullout, “War on Terror” Toll Tops 1.3 Million
Dr. Robert Gould, the figures laid out in this report say 1.3 million people have died in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in [Pakistan]. And it says that this could possibly be not an overestimate; it says it's the minimum numbers. It could possibly be as high as two million. Can you talk about the significance More
John Pilger: Why the Rise of Fascism Is Again the Issue
From the article: Above all, they want Ukraine’s mighty neighbour, Russia. They want to Balkanise or dismember Russia and exploit the greatest source of natural gas on earth. As the Arctic ice melts, they want control of the Arctic Ocean and its energy riches, and Russia’s long Arctic land border. Their man in Moscow used to be Boris Yeltsin, a drunk, who handed his country’s economy to the West. His successor, Putin, has re-established Russia as a sovereign nation; that is his crime.
AP Poll: Police Killings of Blacks Voted Top Story of 2014
List of top 10 stories, in order. In a year crowded with dramatic and often wrenching news developments around the world, the No. 2 story was the devastating outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, followed by the conflict in Iraq and Syria fueled by the brutal actions of Islamic State militants.
Kathy Kelly: Stop the Killing
When the U.S. insisted on imposing crushing and murderous economic sanctions on Iraq for the next 13 years [after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s], these sanctions directly contributed to the deaths of a half million children under age five. BY KATHY KELLY LAProgressive.com October 20, 2014 On August 9, 1983, three people dressed as More
Corporate Media Beating the Drums of War — Mnar Muhawesh Speaks Out
Mnar Muhawesh, Founder and Editor In Chief, MintPress News, talked about how the tightly controlled corporate media ignores reporting and good journalism to follow directives on creating enemies and promoting wars. Almost all of the media outlets in this country are owned by a few corporations. Thank you so much for having me, I’m honored to be More