“What has been the outcome of this 16-year quagmire in Afghanistan? The nation-building war that Bush, Obama and now Trump continue to wage has destabilized neighboring Pakistan further.”
Read more: http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=9242
“Recent reports suggest the US is considering a ‘bloody nose’ strike — highly visible but materially limited — on North Korea to make a statement, and that President Donald Trump’s secretaries of state and defense are the key figures holding him back. Experts have panned the idea of a strike on North Korea with near unanimity, but the Trump administration has consistently touted the use of force as a potential tool.”
“President Trump’s new Nuclear Posture Review is expected to call for new ‘low-yield’ nuclear weapons and an expansion of the scenarios in which the US may use a nuclear ‘first strike.’ Is this a good idea? We discuss in today’s Liberty Report…”
“In Iraq, a population that numbered more than a million in the 1990s dwindled to less than a third of that in the wake of the US-led invasion and removal of the secular government of Saddam Hussein. In Syria, under threat since 2011 by Salafist groups armed and funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other countries – the US shamefully included – Christians seemed to be facing a similar fate.”
Read more: https://www.rt.com/op-edge/415047-syria-christmas-russia-vatican/
“Contradiction has become the norm for US foreign policy over the past many years – an observation that is clear to anyone even remotely paying attention. On Tuesday the US State Department spokesperson was asked during the daily press briefing about the obvious contradiction inherent in US ally and NATO member Turkey shelling US-backed Kurdish forces in Afrin – the Kurdish held zone in northwest Syria near the Turkish border.”
“Despite the PKK being listed as a terrorist group by the U.S., European Union, and U.K., the U.S.-led coalition supports the PYD and YPG as the most effective partner against Daesh, overlooking their proven links with the PKK.”
“‘The United States has admitted that it has created a terrorist force along our country’s border. Our duty is to drown this army of terror before it is born,’ Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. The U.S.-led coalition declined to comment on Erdogan’s threats.”
“The BBC reports 250 ISIS fighters were permitted to leave Raqqa with 3,500 family members to ISIS-controlled territory. The U.S. and British-led coalition reportedly knew about the deal brokered by Syrian Democratic Forces and monitored the exodus. Quentin Sommerville of our partners at BBC report.”
“Are you a dictator in need of public support for your latest draconian clampdown on dissent? Or a deep state plotter hoping to topple a foreign government who doesn’t comply with your every wish? A low-level Machiavellian schemer looking for the ultimate trick for defeating your enemies without lifting a finger? Then look no further than this handy-dandy guide to ‘How To Engineer A Crisis.'”
“No one disputes that the Hartes are innocent of any criminal wrongdoing. No one disputes that the officers conducted a raid on their home after mistaking tea for marijuana. And no one disputes that the officers improperly used the results of notoriously unreliable field tests as probable cause for the mistaken raid, instead of sending the tea to a lab for more rigorous testing. No one disputes any of these things. Yet the system failed to compensate the Hartes for what happened to them, and the system failed to hold any of the law enforcement officers accountable for their mistakes.”