Brett Wilkins

Palestinian families facing ethnic cleansing from their Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday rejected a so-called “compromise” offer from Israel’s Supreme Court, which would allow them to remain in their homes if they recognize as rightful owners the Israeli settler group trying to steal the properties. Under the Israeli high court proposal, … Continue reading “‘We Are the Owners’: Palestinians Refuse To Concede Land Rights to Israelis in Sheikh Jarrah”

Over two dozen advocacy groups on Monday sent a letter urging members of Congress to back a measure that, if enacted, would close the so-called “backdoor search” loophole that allows warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens’ data by government agencies including the FBI and CIA. The letter (pdf), led by Demand Progress and signed by 27 … Continue reading “27 Groups Urge Congress To Close FBI ‘Backdoor Search’ Loophole”

As it did while attempting to build a natural gas pipeline through the region in the 1990s and during the early years of the so-called War on Terror, the U.S. government is once again courting Central Asian dictatorships in a bid to secure a military staging area from which it could launch strikes against resurgent … Continue reading “US Courts Central Asian Dictators in Pursuit of Post-Afghan War Objectives”

Donald Rumsfeld, the former U.S. congressman, aide to several Republican presidents, and two-time defense secretary whose torture-laden tenure and ruinous legacy were defined by his lies in service of an unending war that’s killed at least hundreds of thousands of people, died Tuesday at age 88. By the time he was chosen as then-President George … Continue reading “‘Merciless War Criminal’ and Ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Dead at 88”

Human rights defenders on Wednesday accused the Biden administration of joining its predecessors in undercounting the number of civilians killed during US wars, as the latest annual Pentagon report on noncombatants killed by American bombs and bullets was blasted as “grossly inadequate” by a leading ACLU official. According to a Department of Defense report (pdf), … Continue reading “Biden Joins Long Line of Presidents to ‘Woefully’ Undercount Civilians Killed in US Wars”

Press freedom, peace, and human rights advocates are rallying behind Daniel Hale, the former intelligence analyst who blew the whistle on the U.S. government’s drone assassination program, and who pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to violating the Espionage Act. The Washington Post reports Hale, who was set to go on trial next week, pleaded … Continue reading “As Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale Pleads Guilty, Advocates Warn of ‘Profound Threat’ to Free Press”

A report published Tuesday by Yemeni human rights defenders examines dozens of casualties resulting from U.S. drone strikes and other attacks on civilians in the war-torn nation in recent years, incidents the publication says often occur without accountability, investigation, compensation – and sometimes even acknowledgment. The report – entitled Death Falling From the Sky: Civilian … Continue reading “‘Death Falling From the Sky’: Report Spotlights Civilian Harm From US Drone Strikes in Yemen”

As President Joe Biden mulls missing the May 1 deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, he faces growing calls from voices across the political spectrum to stick to the date set by his predecessor and end the longest war in American history. Last week, Biden told ABC News that it would be “tough” for … Continue reading “Calls Grow for Biden To Fully Withdraw US Troops From Afghanistan by May 1”

Buoyed by President Joe Biden’s announced decision to limit U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, U.K. peace activists on Friday renewed calls for the British government to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. The Stop the War Coalition called Biden’s move “a welcome change to US foreign policy,” and the group’s convener, Lindsey … Continue reading “After Biden Move, Antiwar Groups Call on Boris Johnson To End UK Support for Saudi Assault on Yemen”

Digital rights advocates reacted with alarm to a report published Friday detailing how Defense Intelligence Agency analysts in recent years bought databases of U.S. smartphone location data without first obtaining warrants. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is part of the Department of Defense and is tasked with informing military and civilian policymakers about the activities … Continue reading “Rights Advocates Alarmed by US Spy Agency’s Purchase of Warrantless Phone Location Data”