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US Foreign Policy

Close But No Cigar: How America Failed To Kill Fidel Castro

November 29, 2016 Duncan Campbell, www.theguardian.com , ,
By Duncan Campbell for The Guardian - From the famous exploding cigars to poison pills hidden in a cold-cream jar, the CIA and Cuban exile groups spent nearly 50 years devising ways to kill Fidel Castro. None of the plots, of course, succeeded but one of his loyal security men calculated that a total of 634 attempts, some ludicrous, some deadly serious, had been made on the life of El Comandante. On one occasion, aware that Castro was a keen scuba-diver, the CIA devised a cunning plan.

Lawsuit Aims To Block U.S. Aid To Israel

November 4, 2016 Grant F. Smith, www.wrmea.org , , ,
By Grant F. Smith for Washington Report - ON AUG. 8 THIS writer filed a lawsuit in DC federal court challenging U.S. foreign aid to Israel. The U.S. is finalizing a new 10-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) which will reportedly boost that aid to between $4 billion and $5 billion per year, up from its current $3.1 billion annually. However, U.S. aid to Israel violates longstanding bans on funds to non-signatories to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) with nuclear weapons programs. Many have wondered why these bans are never enforced, but none have had standing to mount a challenge—until now.

Opposition Leaders Murdered In Honduras While US Supports Gov

November 1, 2016 Mark Weisbrot, www.thehill.com , ,
By Mark Weisbrot for The Hill - Since a 2009 military coup against the democratic government of President Mel Zelaya, Honduras has become the most dangerous country in the world for environmental and human rights activists. On Oct. 17, two more prominent rural organizers, José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George, were assassinated in Colón. Flores was the president of the Unified Campesinos Movement of the Aguán Valley (MUCA), and George was a well-known leader from the same organization.

US Hypocrisy’s Face At The UN – Samantha Power

November 1, 2016 William Boardman, www.readersupportednews.org ,
By William Boardman for Reader Supported News - Samantha Power is the face of American diplomacy at the UN, where she gives ardent voice to American hypocrisy, deceit, intellectual dishonesty, and mockery of the rest of the world. Appalling as her performance has been, her portrayal is accurate, right down to her denial-laden confidence in American exceptionalism. Power’s comment above came in the midst of a discussion of the carnage in Syria, a discussion without substance or pity, without a care for ending the killing.

As Election Day Nears, Military Hawks Circle To Promote New Wave Of War

October 24, 2016 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org , , ,
By Lauren McCauley for Common Dreams - Though the hawkish stance of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has been too often ignored this election season, new reporting on Thursday highlights how her presumed win in November will likely usher in a more aggressive, bipartisan foreign policy in the Middle East and beyond. "The Republicans and Democrats who make up the foreign policy elite are laying the groundwork for a more assertive American foreign policy via a flurry of reports shaped by officials...

Clinton Emails Reveal Direct US Sabotage Of Venezuela

October 24, 2016 Staff, www.informationclearinghouse.info , , ,
By Staff of Telesur - October 20, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "teleSur"- As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton led a team committed to delegitimizing the politics of the late Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution. While Hillary Clinton publicly welcomed improved relations with Venezuela as secretary of state, she privately ridiculed the country and continued to support destabilization efforts, revealed her emails leaked by WikiLeaks.

The New U.S. Way Of War

October 21, 2016 Staff, www.moonofalabama.org ,
By Staff of Moon of Alabama - Would that "anarchic" nation Somalia still be "anarchic" if the U.S. would end its endless fighting there? That is very unlikely. Without outer interference Somalia would have been peaceful again many years ago. But the war continues, run not with regular U.S. forces, but with mercenaries, proxies, drones and a few U.S. Special Forces.

The $5 Trillion Wars

October 20, 2016 Linda Bilmes, www.bostonglobe.com ,
By Linda Bilmes for The Boston Globe - THIS OCTOBER MARKS 15 years since American troops entered Afghanistan. It was a precursor to the occupation of Iraq and is the longest military conflict in US history. Yet the trillions of dollars and thousands of lives expended in these wars have rated barely a mention in the presidential campaign. The most recent estimates suggest that war costs will run to nearly $5 trillion — a staggering sum that exceeds even the $3 trillion that Joseph Stiglitz and I predicted back in 2008.

The United States As Destroyer Of Nations

October 17, 2016 Daniel Kovalik, www.counterpunch.org ,
By Daniel Kovalik for Counter Punch - In the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 – an invasion which many Iraqis believe left their country in the worst condition it has been since the Mongol invasion of 1258 — there was much discussion in the media about the Bush Administration’s goal for “nation-building” in that country. Of course, if there ever were such a goal, it was quickly abandoned, and one hardly ever hears the term “nation-building” discussed as a U.S. foreign policy objective anymore.

State Department’s Alternate Reality On Palestine

October 17, 2016 Maureen Clare Murphy, www.electronicintifada.net , ,
By Maureen Clare Murphy for The Electronic Antifada - The Obama administration just handed Israel the largest military aid deal in US history. Now it is feigning outrage that Israel keeps colonizing the occupied West Bank, as it has done for decades, in defiance of the White House’s wishes. “We strongly condemn the Israeli government’s recent decision to advance a plan that would create a significant new settlement deep in the West Bank,” State Department spokesperson Mark Toner saidon Wednesday.

40 Million Russians Set To Drill For World War III

October 11, 2016 Tyler Durden, www.zerohedge.com , ,
By Tyler Durden for Zero Hedge - I’ve been searching for ways to wake up America to the immediate danger of a Nuclear War, given the situation in the Middle East. Little to nothing has been said about WWIII in American mainstream media. If I bring the subject up in conversation with educated, intelligent Americans they look at me as though I’ve gone crazy, yet all indictors are that the Syrian situation is quickly going in this direction. If nothing else, this “preparedness event” of hopefully 40,000,000 Russians will put this discussion on the front burner here with American citizens, also European and other citizens across the world.

Western-Backed Coalition Under Pressure Over Yemen Raid

October 11, 2016 William Maclean, www.reuters.com , ,
By William Maclean for Reuters - An air strike on a funeral gathering, widely blamed on Saudi-led warplanes, poses more trouble for a Western-backed Arab campaign against Yemen's Houthis that has long been criticized for civilian losses. The White House announced an immediate review of Washington's support for the 18-month-old military push after planes hit mourners at a community hall in the capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, killing 140 people, according to one U.N. estimate and 82 according to the Houthis.

U.S. Admits Israel Is Building Permanent Apartheid Regime

October 11, 2016 Glenn Greenwald, www.theintercept.com , ,
By Glenn Greenwald for The Intercept - IN 2010, ISRAEL’S then-defense minister, Ehud Barak, explicitly warned that Israel would become a permanent “apartheid” state if it failed to reach a peace agreement with Palestinians that creates their own sovereign nation and vests them with full political rights. “As long as in this territory west of the Jordan River there is only one political entity called Israel, it is going to be either non-Jewish, or non-democratic,” Barak said. “If this bloc of millions of ­Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state.”

US Prepares For Nuclear War, Air Force Drops Two Faux Nukes

October 8, 2016 Marcus Weisgerber, www.defenseone.com , ,
By Marcus Weisgerber for Defense One - The tests in the Nevada desert come as tensions rise with Russia and the Pentagon seeks to replace its aging nuclear arsenal. A pair of U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers dropped two 700-pound faux nuclear bombs in the middle of the Nevada desert within the past few days. Now the Pentagon wants to tell you about it. Conducted “earlier this month,” according to an Oct. 6 press release, the test involved two dummy variants of the B61, a nuclear bomb that has been in the U.S. arsenal since the 1960s.

US Hypocrisy: Urges Inclusive Debates Around The World But Not In US

October 7, 2016 Lee Fang, www.theintercept.com , , ,
By Lee Fang for The Intercept - When it comes to presidential debates, the United States does not practice what it preaches: When advising debate organizers in foreign countries, government officials advise them to include minor party candidates. USAID, the government agency charged with promoting foreign development, funded a guide for “organizers around the globe seeking to hold candidate debates for elected offices.” The guide, published in 2014, recommends that debates be as inclusive as possible.
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