Brett Wilkins

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”

Experts on the adverse effects of the military-industrial complex on Wednesday blasted a plan by the Trump administration to sell nearly half a billion dollars worth of advanced U.S. bombs to Saudi Arabia, which for over five years has been leading an airstrike campaign and starvation blockade that have added tens of thousands of civilian … Continue reading “Experts Blast Trump Plan To Sell Millions in Bombs to Criminal Saudi Regime”

An extraordinary investigation by Australian journalist Andrew Quilty published Friday by The Intercept reveals U.S.-backed Afghan government paramilitary death squads have been waging a campaign of terror targeting civilians – including children – in Wardak province as part of the American military occupation of the nation that began nearly two decades ago. In one December … Continue reading “Investigative Reporting Details Massacres, Reign of Terror by US-Backed Death Squads in Afghanistan”

President Donald Trump has sparked considerable controversy by threatening to veto the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act – a behemoth bill authorizing $740 billion in U.S. military expenditures – for the first time in its nearly 60-year history. However, one peace group on Friday warned against making the NDAA all about Trump, reminding Americans of … Continue reading “Peace Group Warns Against Making NDAA Fight All About Trump”

Peace activists on Monday sounded the alarm over President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, citing her role in drone strike policy during Barack Obama’s presidency and covering up torture perpetrated by members of the George W. Bush administration. Haines, as former deputy national security adviser and former deputy CIA director, … Continue reading “Peace Groups Blast Biden’s DNI Pick Over Links to Drones, Torture, and Mass Surveillance”

In the pre-dawn darkness of Monday, August 10, 1970, Dan Mitrione’s bullet-ridden body was discovered in the back seat of a stolen Buick convertible in a quiet residential neighborhood of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital. He had just turned 50, and he had recently started a new dream job, although it was thousands of miles from … Continue reading “Teaching Torture: The Death and Legacy of Dan Mitrione”