Foreign Policy

Understanding Russian Foreign Policy Today

December 28, 2016 Raymond Smith, www.afsa.org Educate! Foreign Policy, Russia

By Raymond Smith for AFSA - I assume we would all agree that each country has its own national interests, which sometimes conflict with the national interests of other countries. Conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. Satisfactorily resolved conflicts can improve relations, create expectations about how future conflicts will be resolved and decrease the likelihood that countries will consider resorting to violence. A diplomat’s primary responsibility is to advance his or her own country’s interests. In doing that, they are in a unique position to contribute to the satisfactory resolution of conflicts by helping their leaders understand how the other country sees its interests.

As Israel Prospers, Obama Set To Give Billions More In Aid

August 6, 2016 Glenn Greenwald, www.theintercept.com Educate! Foreign Policy, Israel, USAID

By Glenn Greenwald for The Intercept - FOR ALL THE chatter about animosity between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Washington Post reports that “a senior Israeli official will arrive in Washington next week for a final round of negotiations involving the largest military aid package the United States has ever given any country and that will last more than a decade after President Obama leaves office.” The U.S. already transfers $3.1 billion in taxpayer money every year to Israel — more than any other country by far — but the new agreement Obama is set to sign “significantly raises” that amount, and guarantees it for 10 years.

Former U.S. Diplomats Decry U.S.-Backed Saudi War In Yemen

May 9, 2016 Alex Emmons and Zaid Jilani, www.theintercept.com Resist! Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Saudi Arabia, Wars and Militarism, Yemen

By Alex Emmons and Zaid Jilani for The Intercept - SAUDI ARABIA AND the other Arab states that form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have been brutally bombing Yemen for more than a year, hoping to drive Houthi rebels out of the capital they overran in 2014 and restore Saudi-backed President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The United States has forcefully backed the Saudi-led war. In addition to sharing intelligence, the U.S. has sold tens of billions of dollars in munitions to the Saudis since the war began.

Fidel Castro Makes Rare Appearance At Cuban Congress

April 20, 2016 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Resist! Cuba, Foreign Policy, Politics, United States

By Staff of Tele Sur - Leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz made a rare public appearance during the closure of the seventh Congress of the Communist Party Tuesday morning, where President Raul Castro Ruz was also in attendance. "This may be one of the last times that I speak in this room," said Fidel Castro. "I appreciate the invitation and the honor to speak in front of you," he said. "The Cuban people will be victorious."

Does The US Have A Plan In Syria, Iraq, Or Yemen?

March 30, 2016 Dan Wright, www.shadowproof.com Educate! Foreign Policy, Iraq, Syria, United States, Yemen

By Dan Wright for Shadow Proof - The literal DC turf war in Syria continues to rage between the CIA and the Department of Defense. The Los Angeles Times reported the fighting between a CIA-backed Syrian rebel group, Fursan al Haq, and the Pentagon-backed Kurds has intensified in the last two months. The CIA operates part of its Syria program out of Turkey, where it provides Fursan Al Haq and others Saudi anti-tank missiles and other arms. The Kurds receive support from the Department of Defense to fight ISIS.

Human Rights Watch: The Empire’s Human Rights Group

February 12, 2016 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Foreign Policy, Human Rights Watch, Latin America, United States

By Staff of Tele Sur - In its 2016 World report, Human Rights Watch shows how deeply it shares the U.S. government’s concern about its declining influence in Latin America. Executive director Ken Roth does not see the U.S. and its EU allies as the most abusive and dangerous states in the world - something the ongoing destruction of Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan should make clear to anyone. In Latin America, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost due to U.S. backed coups and “counterinsurgency” in the past half century – all motivated by the U.S. government’s efforts to maintain a dominant role in the region.

The Empire Files: Examining the Syria War Chessboard

January 25, 2016 AbMartin, www.videos.telesurtv.net Resistance Report Foreign Policy, Imperialism, Middle East, United States

By Abby Martin for Tele Sur - The war in Syria is an unparalleled crisis. It has gone far beyond an internal political struggle, and is marked by a complex array of forces that the U.S. Empire hopes to command: Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and more. To simplify this web of enemies and friends, Abby Martin interviews Dr. Vijay Prashad, professor of International Studies at Trinity College and author of several books.

Harper’s Article Exposes Who Controls America

December 28, 2015 Eric Zuesse, www.informationclearinghouse.info Educate! Foreign Policy, Money, United States

By Eric Zuesse for ICH - December 18, 2015 "Information Clearing House" - There can be little doubt now: America’s decades-long catastrophic failures to make significant progress in eliminating even a single one of the numerous jihadist groups around the world is due to the American government’s secret under-the-table crucial ongoing assistance to those groups, and this American-government support has intentionally encouraged recent terrorist events especially in Syria, Libya, and other countries that had been allied with Russia — but which might be flipped ‘our’ way, by those jihadists. In such countries (America’s ‘enemies’), the U.S. government calls the jihadist groups ‘moderates’ and ‘pro-democracy.’

CIA Manual: How The CIA Destablizes National Governments

December 23, 2015 Jake Anderson, www.globalresearch.ca Educate! CIA, Foreign Policy

By Jake Anderson for GlobalResearch - The World War II-era document, called Simple Sabotage Field Manual, outlines ways in which operatives can disrupt and demoralize enemy administrators and police forces. The first section of the document, which can be read in its entiretyhere, addresses “Organizations and Conferences” — and how to turn them into a “dysfunctional mess”: Insist on doing everything through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions. Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences.

Westerners Living In Near Total Ignorance About ISIS Oil Sales

December 5, 2015 Gilbert Doctorow, www.usforeignpolicy.blogs.lalibre.be Educate! Foreign Policy, Media, Russia

By Gilbert Doctorow for Une Parole Franche - While it is good that the Russian narrative is reproduced in leading news outlets, the arms-length approach implies confusion in the editorial offices over how to handle these developments which do not match the image of Russia as the West’s enemy…Is it any wonder that your average, well educated, public minded American, Briton, Frenchman, or Belgian is largely clueless about the key international events that are today leading the international community to the brink of world war after reading his or her favorite newspaper of record, be it The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Figaroor Le Soir, and after catching the news bulletins on local state television, or on Euronews or the BBC for that matter.

Obama Pledged To Stop Afghanistan War, End Not In Sight

October 16, 2015 Ali Gharib, www.theguardian.com Educate! Afghanistan, Foreign Policy

By Ali Gharib for The Guardian - President Obama on Thursday proclaimed to be against endless wars, even as he announced that the US will continue to wage one. “I’ve decided to maintain our current posture of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of next year,” Obama said at a press conference where he also reversed his prior decision to have only military presence at the United States’ embassy by 2016. “I believe this mission is vital to our national security interests in preventing terrorist attacks against our citizens and our nation,” Obama said. But, he added, “I do not support the idea of endless war.”

Nearly 60 Lawmakers Boycott Netanyahu Speech

March 4, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! Congress, Foreign Policy, Israel, War Criminal

As Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoyed no less than 26* standing ovationsduring his speech before the United States Congress on Tuesday morning, the resounding applause did not include the clapping hands of nearly sixty lawmakers who did not attend the controversial address. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders (Vt.) joined 56 Democratic lawmakers in the boycott, which was seen by many as snub to the powerful Jewish-American lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Republican House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) had invited the Israeli leader to speak against the ongoing Iranian nuclear talks without first consulting the White House. Ahead of the address, a number of dissenting lawmakers cited their support of President Barack Obama and opposition to Republican efforts to "politicize foreign policy" as reasons for not participating.

How The US Can Really Combat Radicalism

February 26, 2015 As'ad AbuKhalil, www.english.al-akhbar.com Educate! Foreign Policy, Terrorism, Wars and Militarism

The US government held yet another conference on how best to combat “Islamic radicalism.” It is interesting that radicalism — even without adding the Islamic adjective, as the Obama administration avoids the label — is applied to only one cultural and religious milieu. Radicalism is thus assumed to be a phenomenon of one culture and one religion. When the US government speaks about radicalism, it ignores the radicalism that prevails in the US Congress or in the US churches. It has only one radicalism and one form of violence in mind. Thus the violence of the US government, visited upon people in many Muslim countries, is not seen as the product of radicalism, but of moderation and of lofty ideals. Furthermore, for the US to really demonstrate its willingness to effectively combat radicalism it has to undertake those steps and policies — which it will never do. . .

How The West Created ISIS

September 18, 2014 Nafeez Ahmed, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Foreign Policy, Iraq, ISIS, Wars and Militarism

Military action is necessary to halt the spread of the ISIS/IS “cancer,” said President Obama. Yesterday, in his much anticipated address, he called for expanded airstrikes across Iraq and Syria, and new measures to arm and train Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces. “The only way to defeat [IS] is to stand firm and to send a very straightforward message,” declared Prime Minister Cameron. “A country like ours will not be cowed by these barbaric killers.” Missing from the chorus of outrage, however, has been any acknowledgement of the integral role of covert US and British regional military intelligence strategy in empowering and even directly sponsoring the very same virulent Islamist militants in Iraq, Syria and beyond, that went on to break away from al-Qaeda and form ‘ISIS’, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or now simply, the Islamic State (IS). Since 2003, Anglo-American power has secretly and openly coordinated direct and indirect support for Islamist terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda across the Middle East and North Africa. This ill-conceived patchwork geostrategy is a legacy of the persistent influence of neoconservative ideology, motivated by longstanding but often contradictory ambitions to dominate regional oil resources, defend an expansionist Israel, and in pursuit of these, re-draw the map of the Middle East.

Mission Creep In Iraq? U.S. Air Strikes Against ISIS At Mosul Dam

August 18, 2014 TalkLeft, www.talkleft.com Educate! Airstrikes, Foreign Policy, Iraq

CENTCOM confirms 9 strikes against ISIS near the Mosul Dam. This is far beyond the limits Obama set. There are no U.S. personnel or interests in needing protection in Mosul or Erbil. ISIS hasn't threatened U.S. interests. Baghdad, where the Embassy has ,personnel is and our interests lie, is 100 miles away. This is a bait and switch, as we all suspected it would be. Obama authorized air strikes to save the Yazidis. He said further strikes would be allowed to protect American interests and personnel. Beginning last night at 6 pm, U.S. warplanes struck ISIS in Mosul, in an effort to help the Kurds retake the Mosul Dam. The Kurds have reportedly retaken the East side of the dam. "Kurdish peshmerga, with US air support, have seized control of the eastern side of the dam" complex, Major General Abdelrahman Korini told AFP, saying several jihadists had been killed.

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