Tag Archives: war

Covert War

“That’s a legal issue. In U.S. law, it’s a covert action when the president says it’s a covert action. I think if you’re on the receiving end of the covert action, it’s an act of war.” -Richard Clarke on US … Continue reading

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State-Sponsored Terror

So Iran is supporting rebels fighting a dictatorship in one country (Yemen) and supporting the dictatorship in another (Syria). In those two countries, the U.S. is doing exactly the reverse: propping up the Yemeni dictatorship while arming the Syrian rebels. … Continue reading

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Decline and Fall

“If there is no rolling back of the NDAA law [aka the Homeland Battlefield Bill] we cease to be a constitutional democracy.” -Chris Hedges lays it out.

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Messaging

“Little of that [bad news] is expected to be mentioned publicly at the Chicago meeting [of NATO]. Mr. Obama and the NATO allies, European and American officials said, must instead present a picture of success that includes the possibility of … Continue reading

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Moral Distinction

“There is no moral distinction between a drone strike and the explosion of the improvised explosive device, between a suicide bombing and a targeted assassination.” -Chris Hedges in another lucid explanation of how war works.

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This Times is Different

“This time, the Times has to show the readers everything. You guys not only aren’t allowed to screw it up, again, you also aren’t allowed to complain that the coverage criticism isn’t fair. You people blew through all our good … Continue reading

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Trust Us

“That’s not how the Constitution works, buddy.” -Jonathan Turley explains the woefully inept reasoning behind Obama’s assassination program

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Sanctions

Iran’s middle classes are already being deeply hurt by sanctions. The idea that they will mobilize to pressure the government to give up nuclear enrichment as a result is a non-starter. -Juan Cole on how sanctions work. They inflict pain … Continue reading

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Warmongers for Hire

“It is interesting to see the sources on whom NBC News executives rely to develop their understanding of the world, and it’s even more interesting to learn what they’re being told about that.” -Greenwald on the recent hawkish report that … Continue reading

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Failure

“There’s a certain impatience — I mean, there are people who don’t see how we succeed under the current conditions, and their case is getting stronger,” –Another one of those anonymous American officials, explaining the obvious about Afghanistan

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