On November 21, 2024, Senior Judge Marsha J. Pechman of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington issued what seems likely to be her final order in Kinnucan v. National Security Agency et al. The order came more than four years after the federal case was first filed in September 2020. The … Continue reading “Deadly USS Liberty Attack Records Remain Secret – For Now”
Will Donald Trump Stop Domestic Spying?
During the course of an FBI written response to a Freedom of Information Act request asking about the trade names and suppliers of surveillance software the FBI had purchased, the government has yet again quietly acknowledged its antipathy to constitutional provisions that all of its employees have sworn to uphold. Since we are dealing with … Continue reading “Will Donald Trump Stop Domestic Spying?”
The Syrian Fiasco
About 17 years ago the insufferable former general, Wesley Clark, reported on a talk he once had in the Pentagon: “This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.” Well, it took several … Continue reading “The Syrian Fiasco”
Brian Mast As Foreign Policy Indicator: New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
In 2016, Donald Trump ran for president as a kinda-sorta, maybe-a-little-bit, “antiwar” candidate. Once in office, however, he escalated every war he had inherited, ending none of them, “surging” US troops into Syria and Afghanistan, making a public head-fake at withdrawing from Syria before changing his mind, abrogating the Iran “nuclear deal,” and negotiating a … Continue reading “Brian Mast As Foreign Policy Indicator: New Boss, Same as the Old Boss”
Syria’s Assad Has Fallen – Just as the Pentagon Planned 23 Years Ago
The long-harboured aspirations of the US, Turkey and Israel to topple the Syrian government, mainly through their rebranded al-Qaeda allies, succeeded at lightning speed. Damascus fell days after Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces under Abu Mohammad al-Jolani surprised observers by breaking out of their small north-western enclave in Syria and seizing the country’s second city, … Continue reading “Syria’s Assad Has Fallen – Just as the Pentagon Planned 23 Years Ago”
Trading Iran for Al-Qaeda
In a reversal of the old proverb “Better the devil you know,” the U.S. and its partners in the Political West have embraced the devil they don’t. In Syria, they have traded Iran for al-Qaeda. When Bashar al-Assad fell, many of his international partners suffered injuries. But none was hurt so badly as Iran. Unable … Continue reading “Trading Iran for Al-Qaeda”
The Tectonic Shift: The Gaza Genocide and the Limits of Israeli Hasbara
The ongoing war and genocide in Gaza is unprecedented. Nothing that Israel and its supporters can say or do will avoid the historical accountability of the extermination of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. The above assertion is critical, both for ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine and achieving Palestinian freedom. This is why. … Continue reading “The Tectonic Shift: The Gaza Genocide and the Limits of Israeli Hasbara”
Leave Syria Alone
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule is an opportunity for the US to overhaul its bankrupt Syria policy. The US should have abandoned this policy years earlier, but now there are no longer any pretexts for continuing the collective punishment of the Syrian people and the illegal American military presence on Syrian soil. The time … Continue reading “Leave Syria Alone”
The Syrian Rebellion: Who Are the Big Losers?
After an inconceivably fast twelve day march through Syria by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in exile in Moscow, his government has fallen, the more than five decade’s long Ba’ath rule of Syria is over and a group descended from Al-Qaeda is in control of Syria. The Assad regime only survived … Continue reading “The Syrian Rebellion: Who Are the Big Losers?”
Warning Signs for Washington’s East Asia Policy
The final weeks of the Biden administration have been filled with turbulence in foreign policy. Some of the most serious wounds have been self-inflicted. For example, no one forced America’s lame-duck president to capitulate to Ukraine’s longstanding lobbying effort to obtain U.S. ATACM missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Russia. Biden and his foreign … Continue reading “Warning Signs for Washington’s East Asia Policy”