Walk down any street in the US and ask people about Tongo, Tongo, Niger, you will get blank stares. Ask them about what happened in Yakla, Yemen and you will get confused looks. Now, ask them about “Benghazi” and you’ll get an immediate reaction. Why is that? Because Republicans took the attacks on two US compounds in Benghazi, Libya and held a hundred hearings about it, they made it part of the conversation. They made it news. To the point where there were books and movies made about it. Trey Gowdy practically made a career out of chairing one sub-committee. Americans …Continue reading →
Last night, Republicans blocked my amendment to the #FY19NDAA that would stop the U.S. from refueling Saudi-led coalition jets bombing civilians in Yemen. They argued that our alliance with the Saudi monarchy meant we needed to overlook their war crimes in Yemen. I disagree. pic.twitter.com/jfTNfct1PF
Go here to see the vote. Unfortunately, it looks like nine Democrats also “blocked” Ro’s amendment, but I’m glad that my Rep. Joe Courtney voted with Ro. Tulsi Gabbard and Beto O’Rourke also voted with Ro.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking in Jordan at the end of a four-day, four-nation tour through the Middle East, expressed support on Monday for Israel and its response to weekly protests in Gaza that have left dozens of people dead. “We do believe the Israelis have the right to defend themselves, and we’re fully supportive of that,” he said at a news conference with Ayman Safadi, the Jordanian foreign minister, when asked about the protests. — www.nytimes.com/… Let us be clear, what Pompeo called “defense” was a nuclear-armed state sending young men and women to shoot at protesters in Gaza, …Continue reading →
I’d like to share a short piece profiling recurring protests in Okinawa simply called, ‘On Hope’. On December 26th, 2017, protesters in Henoko, Okinawa, Japan reached their 5000th day of protest against the ongoing presence of the U.S military. With over 500 protesters, the people of Okinawa continued their fight against U.S. military occupation. I didn’t know that Okinawa used to be independent of Japan. Transferred from one imperial power to another, Okinawa represents a forgotten space of colonial conquest. Once the independent Ryukyu Kingdom, it was annexed by Japan in 1879. A brutal program of cultural and linguistic assimilation …Continue reading →
We have watched this president, like so many before him, drop bombs and hurl missiles at different countries in Asia and Africa. The picture below of US missiles striking Damascus would be perfectly at home in a Hollywood blockbuster about an technologically-advanced alien civilization attacking a human society with less firepower. Few of these movies ever explore what is going on back home in these alien societies. Do their leaders starve their bug-eyed young of resources in learning, so they have more pliable cannon fodder? Do their military-industrial-complexes have bug-shaped lobbyists who ease the path to war, knowing there are billions to be …Continue reading →
Hello All! There’s certainly plenty going on today, not the least of which is how Trump is recklessly threatening Syria and Russia (via Twitter!) over an unsubstantiated gas attack in Syria. Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018 Trump’s making more than just financial markets jittery with his tweets! But rattling the financial markets seems to be his new hobby. Oil prices jump …Continue reading →
In a long article on Trump’s relationship with the military, WaPo reveals that Trump urged CIA employees to commit more war crimes. Trump came to office promising to give the Pentagon a free hand to unleash the full force of U.S. firepower. His impatience was evident on his first full day in office when he visited the CIA and was ushered up to the agency’s drone operations floor. […] Later, when the agency’s head of drone operations explained that the CIA had developed special munitions to limit civilian casualties, the president seemed unimpressed. Watching a previously recorded strike in which the agency held …Continue reading →
Last night, TOP had a liveblog going about Anderson Cooper’s Stephanie Clifford interview on 60 Minutes last night. I discovered it on the Recent Story list while looking for the new series, These Revolutionary Times. Also, I found another FP post by GOS himself, who provided a quick transcript from CBS. To me, it is pitiful but TOP is starving for ratings. I’m surprised they didn’t solicit quite the polling that CNN did: Source: CNN Mind one, I did see the interview when it was being broadcasted last evening. The only thing that was particularly interesting was the timing of …Continue reading →
Today, Trump nominated a person to lead the CIA who ran torture sites and helped order the destruction of videotapes documenting the torture. Gina Haspel was passed over for a promotion in the Obama era, because she ran a CIA black site and destroyed evidence. She remained in place however, ready for a president with fewer qualms about torturing black and brown people. Trump, of course, has clearly said (as president) that he supports torturing people: Gina Haspel, Trump’s pick for CIA director, tied to use of brutal interrogation measures Haspel, 61, would become the first woman to lead the CIA if she is confirmed …Continue reading →
As the Trump administration continues to expand the U.S. military’s role in fueling the Saudi-led coalition’s deadly assault on Yemen—which has killed at least 10,000 civilians and sparked “the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis”—a coalition of senators led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bipartisan joint resolution on Wednesday that calls for the removal of American armed forces from the country.
“The bill will force the first-ever vote in the Senate to withdraw U.S. armed forces from an unauthorized war,” Sanders, who will be joined by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) in introducing the resolution, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The U.S. has been heavily supporting Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen for years, supplying the kingdom with weaponry and military intelligence. Last August, the Pentagon acknowledged for the first time that American troops are on the ground in Yemen.
While American complicity in the Yemen crisis is rarely discussed on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives last November overwhelmingly approved a resolution declaring that U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia in its war on Yemen is not authorized.
With their legislation—titled the Yemen War Powers Resolution—Sanders, Lee, and Murphy are looking to take concrete steps toward ending U.S. complicity in Yemen’s suffering, which Murphy has called “a stain on the conscience of our nation.”
“By continuing to blindly back Saudi Arabia’s starvation campaign, on top of fueling Yemen’s suffering, the U.S. is creating more enemies and fueling the very extremism the War on Terror is supposed to be eradicating,” said Paul Kawika Martin, senior director for policy at Peace Action, in a statement on Wednesday. “Congress knows this, but Saudi Arabia’s legions of lobbyists on Capitol Hill have convinced some members of Congress to bury their heads in the sand.”
Chelsea’s running. A transgender former Army intelligence who rose to national prominence for leaking sensitive information to Wikileaks has taken steps to run for U.S. Senate in Maryland. The Federal Election Commission website indicates Chelsea Manning on Thursday filed for candidacy to run as a Democrat in the mid-term election. It would be difficult for Manning to wrest the Democratic nomination from incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who’s seen the overwhelmingly favorite as he runs for a third term. The primary is set for June 28. Technically, Cardin hasn’t confirmed he’ll be defending his seat. Ben Cardin, 74, has not …Continue reading →
Calls for a US backed military coup in Venezuela have emanated from the Trump White House. Meanwhile, NPR has given coup advocates a platform to advocate for a coup, positioning it as “humanitarian intervention”. It’s worth discussing the history of coups the US has been associated with. Last week, new documents revealed that the UK government had repeatedly asked the US to foment a coup in Iran in 1952. This is from the NSArchive project at GWU: 1953 Iran Coup: New U.S. Documents Confirm British Approached U.S. in Late 1952 About Ousting Mosaddeq State Department Temporarily Declined, in Part Because U.S. Was …Continue reading →
