US Foreign Policy

US Military Exposed 600,000 To Toxins In Japan And Micronesia

March 12, 2021 John Reinsch, Truthout. Educate! Environmental Destruction, pollution, US Foreign Bases, US Foreign Policy

Most Americans trust the military; a 2020 poll found 72 percent with “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in that institution, edged out only by small business. Many were likely picturing enlisted persons, but their trust often extends to the leadership, both uniformed and civilian. However, those making life-and-death decisions for both U.S. troops and people of other countries — even in the absence of war — deserve our serious scrutiny. A new book, Poisoning the Pacific, examines the military’s long role in the environmental degradation of East Asia and Pacific islands, severely impacting the health of the region’s people and U.S. personnel stationed there. Author Jon Mitchell is a Tokyo-based journalist, and much of his book focuses on Japan, especially its southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

Black Alliance For Peace Solidarity Network Demands NATO Support Peace Process In Afghanistan

March 11, 2021 the Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network, Popular Resistance. Resist! Afghanistan War, Joe Biden, Peace Agreement, US Foreign Policy

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) Solidarity Network, made up of allied organizations and individuals, demands the North Atlantic Treaty Organization end its imperialist endeavor in Afghanistan and calls on the United States to abide by the 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement by exiting Afghanistan by May 1. The BAP Solidarity Network encourages anti-imperialist, anti-war people and organizations to sign a petition to demand the Biden administration exit Afghanistan. It also has developed a template to help the U.S. public write letters to the editors of news organizations to demand an end to the U.S. intervention. The BAP Solidarity Network has uncovered through its research that although 2,500 U.S. troops occupy Afghanistan, 11,000 NATO troops representing 36 countries are in the war-riddled country. At a December 16, 2020 meeting, NATO allies agreed to a $1.94 billion 2021 military budget and a $312.5 million 2021 civil budget—all for its Afghanistan operations.

Smarter Empire

March 11, 2021 Kevin A. Young, New Left Review. Educate! Immigrant Rights, Joe Biden, Latin America, US Foreign Policy

In June 2019, candidate Joe Biden pledged to wealthy donors that ‘nothing would fundamentally change’ once he was elected. In Latin America at least, he is keeping that promise. The evidence so far suggests a continuity of policy objectives: promoting corporate profits, minimizing migration, maintaining alliances with repressive right-wing governments and marginalizing the left. But the Biden team intends to avoid the excesses of his predecessor, seen as ‘counterproductive’ in ruling circles. The roster of appointees suggests a strong affinity with both the Clinton and Obama administrations. Most have passed through the revolving door once or twice, as their official bios and company websites boast. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s resume includes top roles in Washington and at private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners.

Washington Has Been Asking The Wrong Question On North Korea

March 6, 2021 Janine Jackson, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Educate! Korea, Korean War, Peace Agreement, US Foreign Policy

Despite its devastating destructive toll, the Korean War has been dubbed the “Forgotten War,” for the lack of public awareness or understanding in the US. Many Americans might be surprised to hear calls for peace on the Korean Peninsula, because we’re rarely made aware that the conflict there is ongoing, much less the US role in it. And, then again, we don’t very often hear the phrase “Korean Peninsula.” We’re more accustomed to seeing North and South Korea presented as natural antagonists, and North Korea as a virtual cartoon of an official enemy, about whom no claim is too grandiose. Into this context of myth and missing information comes a new call for a peace agreement to officially end the war. The report, called Path to Peace, was compiled by the Korea Peace Now! coalition, and we’re joined now by Hyun Lee, US national organizer for Women Cross DMZ, part of Korea Peace Now!.

Biden’s Plan To ‘Carve Up’ Iraq Into Three Statelets Has Proven Disastrous

March 3, 2021 Mohamed Elmaazi, The Interregnum. Educate! Iraq, Joe Biden, Syria, US Foreign Policy

Sami Ramadani is an Iraqi-born lecturer in sociology and writes on Middle East current affairs. A political exile from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Ramadani nonetheless campaigned against US-led sanctions as well as the invasion and occupation of the country. He is a member of the steering committee of Stop the War Coalition. Ramadani spoke at length with Mohamed Elmaazi about the consequences of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq and challenged some misconceptions regarding the nature of the resistance to the foreign military presence there. He also explained that an improvement of America’s foreign policy towards Iraq will be shaped by whether US President Joe Biden ditches his original plan to carve the country up into three separate ethno-religious statelets, with a weak central government.

‘Muscular’ Foreign Policy: Media Codeword For Violence Abroad

February 25, 2021 Alan Macleod, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Educate! Biden administration, Media, US Foreign Policy, Wars and Militarism

Writing in the Washington Post , pro-war columnist Josh Rogin appeared relieved that Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate for November—as opposed to a progressive like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, who would have called for cutting military budgets, fewer US interventions and the withdrawal of troops stationed abroad. Biden and Harris, he explained, will together pursue a “robust” foreign policy agenda. Harris is described approvingly by one source as “pragmatic” (another media codeword—FAIR.org, 8/21/19), and together, Rogin notes, she and Biden can prove that “muscular liberalism is still the right approach.” What that actually means in practice, he is a little vague on, though he does suggest that will entail “aggressively” “confronting” nuclear powers Russia and China.

Lessons From The November 2019 U.S.-Backed Coup In Bolivia

February 6, 2021 Natalia Schuurman, Alliance for Global Justice. Strategize! Bolivia, Demilitarization, US coup, US Foreign Policy

In October of 2020, the Movement Towards Socialism (acronymed MAS in Spanish) returned to power 11 months after the U.S.-backed far-right coup regime of Jeanine Áñez ousted Evo Morales and his government during Bolivia’s November 2019 elections. The MAS party restored majority control over Bolivia’s legislature, and MAS candidate Luis Arce won the presidential election by a landslide victory, earning about 55% of the vote against the two main anti-MAS candidates, center-right ex-president Carlos Mesa (who received almost 29%) and far-right Luis Camacho (who received only 14%). The right-wing opposition had expected the vote to be close enough to force a run-off election, in which the hope was that the anti-MAS vote would consolidate to elect Mesa over Arce.

Biden Appoints Warmongers

February 2, 2021 Sara Flounders, Workers.org. Educate! Biden Cabinet, Joe Biden, US Foreign Policy, Wars and Militarism

The corporate media has focused on Biden’s promise to overturn many of former-President Trump’s policies. But Biden pledged throughout his campaign to make “no substantial change” — and his foreign policy appointments show he meant that. Despite the media talk of justice, new policy and diversity, behind the scenes the same old U.S. militarist policies are being reinforced through Biden’s cabinet choices and their direct ties to industry-funded think tanks and military contractors. Biden’s cabinet nominations follow the failed imperialist policies of the Trump, Obama, Bush Jr., Clinton and Bush Sr. administrations of the past three decades.

Scheer Intelligence: Jimmy Carter’s Foreign Policy Record Reveals Hope And Cynicism

January 22, 2021 Robert Scheer, ScheerPost.com. Educate! Afghanistan, China, Jimmy Carter, US Foreign Policy

When the Carter presidency comes up, so does a dark moment in American history: the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981. This was, however, not the only significant moment in Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy record; the Democrat had a lasting impact on a number of other countries both during and after his presidency and in some cases, as in the US baiting the Soviets to invade Afghanistan, his policies revealed the deep cynicism that runs through American meddling abroad. In the second part of a two-part interview for “Scheer Intelligence,” Jonathan Alter and host Robert Scheer examine how the 39th president’s decisions regarding Afghanistan, Haiti, North Korea, China, and Israel, among other nations, hold up today.

Will Biden’s America Stop Creating Terrorists?

December 15, 2020 Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies, Popular Resistance. Educate! Joe Biden, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy, Wars and Militarism

Joe Biden will take command of the White House at a time when the American public is more concerned about battling coronavirus than fighting overseas wars. But America’s wars rage on regardless, and the militarized counterterrorism policy Biden has supported in the past—based on airstrikes, special operations and the use of proxy forces—is precisely what keeps these conflicts raging. In Afghanistan, Biden opposed Obama’s 2009 troop surge, and after the surge failed, Obama reverted to the policy that Biden favored to begin with, which became the hallmark of their war policy in other countries as well. In insider circles, this was referred to as “counterterrorism,” as opposed to “counterinsurgency.”

Lessons To Be Learned From Washington’s Lethal War Against The World

December 15, 2020 Carlos Martinez, Morningstar Online. Educate! International Law, Sovereignty, US Foreign Bases, US Foreign Policy

The latest book from Indian Marxist Vijay Prashad is a passionate critique of the “US-led liberal international order,” in which Washington has fired — and still fires — its bullets at the peoples of the Global South and the socialist world. In Guatemala, Congo, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, Haiti, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Yemen, Sudan, Grenada, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Angola and so many other countries, Washington’s bullets have been deployed in the pursuance of regime change, the protection of US hegemony and opposition to the emergence of truly sovereign post-colonial nations, all in flagrant violation of international law.

Biden’s Young Hawk: The Case Against Jake Sullivan

December 5, 2020 Maj. Danny Sjursen, ScheerPost.com. Educate! Joe Biden, National Security Administration, US Foreign Policy, Wars and Militarism

Harry Truman. That’s who Jake Sullivan listed as his “political hero/inspiration,” in a Time Magazine “40 Under 40” profile. Fed a question so vague that he could’ve chosen anyone from Cleopatra to Clinton, that Sullivan selected a consummate product of Kansas City’s backroom “machine” politics, and liberal hawk exemplar, is more than instructive — it’s downright disturbing. “Give ‘em Hell” Harry unnecessarily dropped two atomic bombs on babies, and bombastically blundered into a Cold War that nearly ended the world on more than one occasion.

Eisenhower’s Ghost Haunts Biden’s Foreign Policy Team

December 3, 2020 Nicolas J. S. Davies, Popular Resistance. Educate! Joe Biden, Military Industrial Complex, US Foreign Policy, Wars and Militarism

In his first words as President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said, “we have to proceed with equal measures of humility and confidence.” Many around the world will welcome this promise of humility from the new administration, and Americans should too. Biden's foreign policy team will also need a special kind of confidence to confront the most serious challenge they face. That will not be a threat from a hostile foreign country, but the controlling and corrupting power of the Military-Industrial Complex...

A Peek At Our future

November 16, 2020 Bruce Gagnon, Space for Peace. Educate! Biden administration, Joe Biden, Liberal class, US Foreign Policy

It is very important to immediately review the early front-runners for a Biden cabinet in Washington. Many 'liberals' told us not to raise serious issues during the campaign for fear that Biden would lose. But they said they'd be sure to 'push Biden to the left' once he was elected. So far these folks have been out holding rallies calling for Trump to recognize Biden's 'victory'. I see it all as a circus distraction - Trump will leave office and Biden will enter and while the governing style might change a bit the policies will remain deadly similar.

Obama Official Admits Biden Camp Is Already Working With Foreign Leaders

November 11, 2020 Glenn Greenwald, Substack. Educate! Joe Biden, Transition, Trump, US Foreign Policy

Two weeks after Donald Trump wonthe 2016 election, the President-elect named Gen. Michael Flynn to be his National Security Advisor in both the transition and the new administration. Flynn, who had previously served as President Obama’s Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and then campaigned for Trump, quickly got to work in his new position by reaching out to his counterparts in foreign governments, as is customary for national security transition team officials. One of the calls Flynn made, in late December, was to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, after the Obama administration...

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