Leaders from 11 Native American tribes stormed out of a meeting with US federal officials in Rapid City, South Dakota, to protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which they say will lead to environmental genocide.
Both liberals and conservatives who attempt to glorify particular eras of American history and/or American presidents are the worst.
Native Americans are entitled to free and subsidized medical care at some federally-funded health clinics, but ‘Obamacare’ will soon force many of them to buy insurance or else face hefty fines if they are not Indian enough.
Trying to liquidate Al-Qaeda in Mali whilst arming them in Syria is an extremely obvious way of pointing out the Hippocratic nature of US foreign policy in the region.
The legacy of Tony Blair and George Bush will live on in Iraq. The nation will forever remember the enslavers of Mesopotamia, the Islamaphobic rhetoric and the nations oil wealth which was given away to companies so rich many Iraqis who suffered through the sanctions could not even begin to imagine the luxury the ceos lived in. These were the leaders of the ‘free world’, they may have stepped out of their positions now but the two new men who have occupied them continue with the same voracious appetite for imperialist expansion. No wonder hatred thrives in this area of the globe
The worst case of human rights abuses in Cuba is carried out by the US in gitmo. Yet American’s still criticise Cuba for not being free enough.
The logic of the imperialist.
“On 8 February 2013, the US completed 364 drone strikes in Pakistan, killing between 2,640 to 3,474 persons, of which 473 to 893 civilians, including 176 children, and causing 1,270 to 1,433 injured. Out of the 364 strikes, 312 or 86% were ordered by president Obama, the Nobel prize winner for Peace.
The first reported US drone attack in Pakistan took place in June 2004, killing up to 8 people, including 2 children aged 10 and 16. The Pakistan drone war is a special case in which operations fall under the responsibility of the CIA, not the Pentagon — making it a war against alleged al-Qaeda and Taliban combatants and civilian targets engaged by a foreign non-military organization, thus violating on several accounts the rulings of the international humanitarian law.
The facts fly in the face of president Obama’s January 2012 claim that the drone campaign in Pakistan is a “targeted, focused effort” that “has not caused a huge number of civilian casualties”. The killing of up to 800+ civilians does not qualify the CIA-led drone war as a precisely targeted one, and the slaughtering of 176 children is nothing short of a crime. Investigators of the Sunday Times have found that dozens of civilians have been killed after they had come to help rescue victims or when attending funerals. In fact, a CIA tactic consists of using the body of a killed man as bait to attract and take out higher brass alleged militants coming to attend the man’s funeral. When questioned about these practices, a senior US administration official answered that “We don’t discuss classified programs or comment on alleged strikes”.”
Read more here
Yemeni’s burn a drone effigy
As Syriaâs opposition forces and their main international allies meet in Istanbul, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has announced a package of non-lethal military aid to Syriaâs rebels.
As Syria’s opposition forces and their main international allies meet in Istanbul, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has announced that the US will double its non-lethal military aid to Syria’s rebels.
The US$123 million defense aid package was announced by Kerry at the meeting in the Turkish capital on Sunday. The Secretary of State said the new non-lethal military supplies would go beyond the current provisions of food rations and medical kits, but did not elaborate.
“We want to see the coalition lead the way by ramping up its ability in order to be able to provide assistance, deliver services and respond to the needs of the Syrian people,” Kerry said.
He added that the Syrian opposition and foreign backers have agreed that all future aid to rebels will be channeled through opposition’s supreme military command.
The Syrian National Coalition said it firmly rejected “all forms of terrorism” and vowed to guarantee that any weapons it receives will not “fall into wrong hands.”
Since February the US has shipped food and medical supplies to the Free Syrian Army, which has so far cost an estimated US$117 million, according to the White House.
President Obama has said he has no plans to send weapons or give lethal aid to the rebels, despite pressure from congress and some of his advisors.
Before leaving Washington Kerry said that the aim of the meeting in Istanbul was to get the Syrian opposition and prospective donors“on the same page” over how Syria would be governed after Assad is toppled or if he leaves power of his own accord.
Britain and France are pushing for the European Union arms embargo on Syria to be modified when it expires at the end of May. But Germany and the Netherlands are against the change, because they fear it would lead to further bloodshed. US officials have said they support testing the lifting of the arms embargo.
John McCain, one of the top Republicans on the Senate armed services committee, wants to see US airstrikes on Syrian government aircraft and weapons but is against sending in American ground troops.
The Friends of Syria also issued a statement Saturday criticizing Russia for its stance on Syria, and said Moscow doesn’t understand the way history is unfolding in the Middle East.
“Russia is looking at things through a narrow, military point of view and doesn’t appreciate the deep historical changes, which are taking place as a result of the Arab Spring,” said the Friends of Syria in a statement.
Kerry is due to meet Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, on the sidelines of a Nato-Russia Council meeting.
“My hope is that the Russians can be constructive,” said Kerry.
In the most recent clashes, Syrian government troops battled rebels in a strategic area of Homs province near the Lebanese border, Saturday.
According to the United Nations, the violence in Syria has now killed more than 70,000 people and despite international pressure Assad has managed to retain power for far longer than those advocating him to stand down expected.
Radical groups who use Islam as a justification for horrendous acts violate the most profound and beautiful teachings in the qu’ran. This may seem a basic fact, a statement almost to obvious to warrant mention, however as the new-atheist critique edges its way into the complex political landscape of the ‘Arab world’it becomes particularly important to return to it.
The new atheist view point takes the occurrence of religious extremists using Islam as a tool, as an objective proof that Islam is the problem. This is somewhat odd, as rather than using material conditions and historical factors to explain the rise of radical Islam it places the culture and religion of the other as the reason for violence. This position should seem incredibly popular to the American or British patriot, it immediately removes the responsibility for violence in areas where they sponsored the most reactionary political groups and the violence can be reported as an example of how ‘uncivilised’ the culture of the other is. Whilst all the while ignoring the millions of peaceful Muslims just wishing to be closer to God.
The secular leftism which has been systematically beaten and suppressed by the US and their allies has created an awful political vacuum which has been filled by those willing to side with America one day and ready to bomb it the next. The rise of radical Islam is more a result of non-Muslim elements interfering in the decolonisation process of the middle east, rather than faith leading a supposedly oppressed people astray.
The Afghan president made the remarks on Saturday after his government’s investigation into the April 6 incident raised the Afghan civilian death toll from 11 to 17, including 12 children and four women.
Karzai also stated that foreign troops breached his decree, which barred airstrikes in residential areas, and described the move as “unacceptable.”
In addition, the Afghan president ordered his government officials to offer immediate assistance to the families of the victims.
The Afghan government investigators wrote their report after working with 75 tribal elders in the area.
The report said the US strike took place after the Afghan intelligence service came under attack from militants during an operation to arrest two insurgent commanders in the Shigal district of Kunar province.
Americans bombarded houses in the area for hours from the air, according to the report.
It said most of the houses were made out of wood and mud, and caved in during the airstrikes, causing civilian deaths.
Many civilians have lost their lives in US-led operations in various parts of Afghanistan over the past decade, with Afghans becoming increasingly outraged at the seemingly endless number of the deadly assaults.
Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.
The United States and its allies entered the war in Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 11 years, the foreign troops have not been able to establish security in the country.
MP/GJH/AS
Moscow has expressed its concern over the UN’s “inconsistent” and “unconstructive” approach to dealing with the charges of alleged chemical weapons use in Syria. Sara Flounders explains what could go wrong if the issue is not thoroughly addressed.
Russia has accused the UN of yielding to the pressure of “certain states” and disrupting the investigation into what Moscow says are perfectly verifiable claims, all in order to further condemn the regime of President Bashar Assad, while victimizing rebels. The attack in question took place on March 19 and has claimed the lives of 25 people, with blame being directed both ways.
Sara Flounders, who is the head of the International Action Center in New York, is adamantly opposed to the drumming up of any charges as a pretext for intervention or invasion. She recalls the lessons of Iraq and Libya – both now completely destitute and without properly-functioning governments. Finally, Flounders believes that the US is putting the region’s people in mortal danger by supplying extremists in the area with weapons for the purpose of bringing about regime change in Syria.
RT: The UN says it wants to assess all possible uses of chemical weapons, throughout all of Syria, and not just Aleppo. Russia isn’t too happy about that. Is that not the logical way forward?
SF: Well, it’s the most dangerous way forward, because the US is clearly using the UN and every possible international agency in order to continue their intervention. It’ the US and NATO that are clearly pumping arms into the region, that have orchestrated and created the crisis, using chemical weapons that are quite likely set to create a far more serious crisis, because they have not yet been successful in creating a regime change in Syria, which is their agenda. It’s the agenda of Saudi Arabia, of Turkey – a NATO member – and very much the agenda of the US, who is fueling and orchestrating this war crime against the people of Syria.
RT: The Russian foreign minister has drawn a parallel with Iraq where he says that false reports of weapons of mass destruction of course led to the invasion there. Could we perhaps be seeing something similar happening in Syria?
SF: That’s what’s so dangerous about this. The same scenario, the same playbook seems to be used now in Syria with similar charges. I mean – who has the weapons of mass destruction in the world today? It’s the Pentagon. And that’s a fact. Nevertheless, using the charge against countries that are trying to defend their own sovereignty again and again, has been an excuse for war – for occupation, for destabilization, for pumping in more and more weapons, paying mercenaries and death squads, attempting to foment civil war and sectarian warfare. It’s a very dangerous policy, and the worst and most dangerous ones are again and again, from the Sate Department, from the White House: the warnings that chemical weapons would be an excuse for deeper US involvement. So the charge is a very serious charge!
RT: What would happen if Assad’s regime collapsed – and he has allegedly got stockpiles of chemical weapons: what would happen to those? Is there a danger that they could get into the wrong hands?
SF: Of course, there’s a danger from every angle in this. There’s a Syrian government the people are defending. And the idea of outside intervention, of orchestrated mercenaries sweeping into the region and using it as one more weapons cache, is of course very dangerous for all the people of the region. They have no plan for rebuilding Syria, for providing for people’s needs. We can of course see the enormous payoffs, the loss of life the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Libya, have created. If you look at Libya today, it’s without an ounce of stability, a completely non-functional government – this is what they have in store for Syria, where already 70,000 people have died as a result of this US - NATO orchestrated war.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Are Israelis and Americans actually confused over why their countries are hated?
