Monthly Archives: January 2016

The National Security State’s Incestuous Relationship with the Islamic State

Posted on by

“Islamic terrorism remains at the bottom of the barrel in the company of other frightening but rare events like shark attacks. Yet the American national security state has essentially been built and funded to protect you from that danger alone.  Put another way, the officials of that security state have bet the farm on the preeminence of the terrorist ‘threat,’ which has, not so surprisingly, left them eerily reliant on the Islamic State and other such organizations for the perpetuation of their way of life, their career opportunities, their growing powers, and their relative freedom to infringe on basic rights, as well as for that comfortably all-embracing blanket of secrecy that envelops their activities.”

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176071/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_the_national_security_state’s_incestuous_relationship_with_the_islamic_state/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Noninterventionism Is the Only Cure for America’s Foreign Policy Woes

Posted on by

hornberger1

“After the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, interventionists maintained that U.S. troops are over there killing the terrorists before they can come over here and kill us. That notion obviously hasn’t worked out extremely well.  Today Americans are more scared of the terrorists than ever before.  The war on terrorism racket is so ingenious that regardless of what happens, the U.S. national-security state benefits from it. That is, if there were no more terrorist attacks, interventionists would say, ‘We’ve got to stay the course because it’s working.’ But if there were more terrorist attacks, interventionists would say, ‘The danger is bigger than ever. We’ve got to stay the course until we kill them all.'”

http://fff.org/2015/12/15/noninterventionism-cure-americas-foreign-policy-woes/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

67 Countries the U.S. Is Obliged to Go to War For

Posted on by

“The United States has entered a lot of treaties over the years, especially after the complicated network put in place after World War II. The Myth of Entangling Alliances by Michael Beckley sought to figure out a hard number for just how many countries the United States has agreed to defend in war. Thanks to NATO, ANZUS, OAS, and bilateral agreements, the U.S. has promised 67 countries protection. Here’s a look at the list included in Beckley’s paper.”

http://mentalfloss.com/article/65816/67-countries-us-obliged-go-war

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

$10 trillion IPO plan for Saudi Aramco confirmed

Posted on by

“Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, said on Friday that it is considering an initial public offering. It confirmed an interview with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman published in the Economist Thursday.  The company could be worth anything from $1 trillion (€910bn) to upwards of $10 trillion, which would make it the most valuable company in the world, according to research firm Capital Economics. The last mega IPO from the oil industry was a decade ago, when Russia’s OAO Rosneft raised more than $10bn.  Even if Saudi Arabia sells a small stake, a listing could easily surpass that of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. whose $25bn IPO is the largest on record.”

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/disbelief-at-tipped-10-trillion-plan-for-saudi-aramco-ipo-34348331.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

The Cost of Terror in Brussels

Posted on by

“This prolonged state of insecurity has had a negative impact on the economic and social life of the capital. The most overt statistics pertaining to touristic activities, social outings, and public gatherings show a general change in the perception of the city and an overall evolution in the local mood.  The enhanced presence of military personnel in the streets of Brussels as well as the ongoing discourse over the current will of terrorist organisations to target the capital led to a mood change among the local population. The fear of potential attacks is playing as a long-term obstacle to private expenditures, tourism and the participation in major public social events.”

http://globalriskinsights.com/2016/01/the-cost-of-terror-in-brussels/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Desert Storm Anniversary Reminds Us That Even Victorious Wars Are Problematic

Posted on by

eland_ivan_100x1331

“Even tumultuous military victories can lead to unfortunate unplanned future disasters. Even after one of the most one-sided victories in American history, Desert Storm demonstrated this effect. The impetus for bin Laden to begin his war on the United States, which later became a catastrophic threat to the American homeland on September 11, 2001, was his anger at the U.S. military presence on soil of Saudi Arabia—the Muslim holy land—before, during, and after Desert Storm in the 1990s. One of the U.S. government’s primary reasons for being is to protect its citizens and territory from external attack; on 9/11, it failed to do so from a threat that it helped create and motivate.”

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=8645

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

A Special Relationship: The U.S. is teaming up with Al Qaeda, again

Posted on by

“The Saudis, of course, had been an integral part of the anti-Soviet campaign from the beginning. According to one former CIA official closely involved in the Afghanistan operation, Saudi Arabia supplied 40 percent of the budget for the rebels.  Al Qaeda, employing a largely Saudi suicide squad, destroyed the World Trade Center. In a sane world, this disaster might have permanently ended Washington’s long-standing taste for mixing Islam with politics. But old habits die hard.”

http://harpers.org/archive/2016/01/a-special-relationship/?single=1

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

U.S. Dropped 23,144 Bombs on Muslim-Majority Countries in 2015

Posted on by

“Council of Foreign Relations resident skeptic Micah Zenko recently tallied up how many bombs the United States has dropped on other countries and the results are as depressing as one would think. Zenko figured that since Jan. 1, 2015, the U.S. has dropped around 23,144 bombs on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, all countries that are majority Muslim.  The chart, provided by the generally pro-State Department think tank, puts in stark terms how much destruction the U.S. has leveled on other countries. Whether or not one thinks such bombing is justified, it’s a blunt illustration of how much raw damage the United States inflicts on the Muslim world.”

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/us-dropped-23144-bombs-muslim-majority-countries-2015

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Reckless Frenemy Saudi Arabia Makes World More Dangerous for America

Posted on by

“Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to turn their national struggle into a religious conflict. The first is dangerous. The second could be catastrophic.  Yet Riyadh, America’s nominal ally, just demonstrated that it is the more reckless of the two states by executing Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.  There is much bad to say about Tehran’s authoritarian and interventionist Islamic regime. But even worse is Saudi Arabia, considered by Washington to be a valued ally.  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is essentially a totalitarian state. Purported ‘antiterrorism’ legislation allowed the ‘authorities to press terrorism charges against anyone who demands reform, exposes corruption or otherwise engages in dissent.'”

http://www.cato.org/blog/reckless-frenemy-saudi-arabia-makes-world-more-dangerous-america

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

The Deceptive Debate Over What Causes Terrorism Against the West

Posted on by

“By pointing out the causal connection between U.S. violence and the decision to bring violence to the West, one is not denying that the attackers lack agency, nor is one claiming they are ‘forced’ by the West to do this, nor is one ‘infantilizing’ them. To recognize this causation is to do exactly the opposite: to point out that some human beings will decide — using their rational and reasoning faculties and adult decision-making capabilities — that violence is justified and even necessary against those who continually impose violence and aggression on others ”

https://theintercept.com/2016/01/06/the-deceptive-debate-over-what-causes-terrorism-against-the-west/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet