Tag: Interventionism

Is This A “Peace Prize” Resume?

For months if not years Donny has been whining and crying in his soup because he got passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize not once but twice.

His selfish whining aside….let’s look at Donny’s ‘peace’ initiatives….this since January of last year….

Somalia

The Trump administration has conducted an unprecedented escalation of the US air war in Somalia this year, launching at least 127 airstrikes, more than double the previous annual record of US bombings in the country, which Trump set at 63 during his first term in office.

According to New America, an organization that tracks the air war, the airstrikes launched in 2025 are more than were conducted in Somalia during the administrations of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush combined.

US airstrikes in Somalia have targeted al-Shabaab in the south and a small ISIS affiliate based in caves in the northeastern Puntland region. There have been some reports of civilians being killed in US airstrikes and military operations conducted by US-backed forces in recent months.

Overall, it’s difficult to ascertain the situation on the ground in Somalia, as there’s virtually no US media coverage of the air war despite the unprecedented escalation. The US-backed government, which is based in Mogadishu, is also known for arresting and restricting journalists who report critically on Somalia’s security forces, and al-Shabaab maintains restrictions on internet use in the areas under its control.

Nigeria

President Trump launched the first known US missile strikes in Nigeria on Christmas Day, which were conducted by a US warship in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Nigerian government said the target was “two major Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist enclaves” in the forests of the Tangaza district in Nigeria’s northwest Sokoto State, an area that’s not known as a major hub for ISIS-affiliated militants, raising questions about why it was the US’s first target.

US missiles also fell on two villages that were not the intended target, according to the Nigerian government, destroying several homes and scaring residents. Nearly a week after the US strikes, it’s unclear if there were any casualties among ISIS-affiliated militants. Analysts suspect the target was the Lakurawa, an armed group that’s believed to be linked to ISIS.

Yemen

The Trump administration launched a heavy bombing campaign in Yemen starting on March 15 in response to the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, announcing they were re-imposing their blockade on Israeli shipping due to Israeli violations of the short-lived Gaza ceasefire deal signed back in January.

The US campaign, dubbed “Operation Rough Rider,” was especially brutal and killed more than 250 civilians, according to Air Wars. Strikes included the April 17 bombing of the Ras Issa Fuel Port, which killed 84 people, all civilians. A few days later, the US bombed a migrant detention facility in Sadaa, Yemen, killing 68 African migrants.

Operation Rough Rider ended with a ceasefire between the US and the Houthis on May 6. The US failed to stop Houthi attacks on Israel and Israeli-linked shipping, which only ended after the latest Gaza ceasefire deal was signed in October.

Iraq and Syria

The US has launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria this year under the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and has several thousand troops in both countries. On December 19, the US launched significant strikes in Syria that it said targeted ISIS in response to a December 13 attack in central Syria that killed two US National Guard members and an American civilian interpreter.

However, the attack that killed the three Americans was launched by a member of the Syrian government’s security forces and was not claimed by ISIS. The Trump administration has made an ally out of the new Syrian government despite the fact that it’s led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, and has absorbed foreign jihadists into its military, putting US troops at risk of more insider attacks.

US troops are now regularly conducting raids with both Syrian government fighters and members of the Kurdish-led SDF against suspected ISIS members. CENTCOM said on December 30 that its forces and partners “killed or captured nearly 25 ISIS operatives” in Syria since the December 19 airstrikes.

Iran

President Trump became the first US president to bomb Iran in June when US B-2 bombers armed with 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs and submarines firing Tomahawk missiles targeted Iranian nuclear facilities. The US also supported heavy Israeli airstrikes across Iran, which killed more than 1,000 people over 12 days of war.

The US refueled Israeli jets that were bombing Iran and spent billions of dollars intercepting missiles that were being fired at Israel. Many Iranian missiles made it through US and Israeli air defenses, which is ultimately what led to Israel agreeing to a ceasefire after 12 days.

Another US-Israeli war on Iran seems likely in 2026 as Israel is seeking US support for more attacks, with Iran’s conventional missiles being the pretext. President Trump said on Monday that he would support an Israeli attack if Iran “continues” its missile program or if it rebuilds its damaged nuclear facilities.

The Caribbean and Eastern Pacific

The Trump administration began conducting a bombing campaign targeting boats in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela that it claimed were carrying drugs on September 2. The attacks started as part of the pressure campaign against Venezuela aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro, and later expanded to the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where the majority have now been launched.

According to numbers released by the Trump administration, a total of 30 strikes have been launched, and 107 people have been killed in what are extra-judicial executions that clearly violate US and international law. Throughout the bombing campaign, the Pentagon has provided no evidence to back up its claims about what the boats were carrying, and it has admitted to not knowing the identities of all the people it has killed.

Venezuela

President Trump has claimed that the US launched an attack inside Venezuela on December 24 that blew up a “major facility” where boats were loaded with drugs. After his comments, US media reported, citing anonymous officials, that the CIA conducted a drone strike targeting a dock facility the US believed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

US officials speaking to the media outlets said there was no one present at the facility at the time, and there were no casualties. At this point, the attack still hasn’t been confirmed by the Venezuelan government or sources in Venezuela, but if true, the strike marks a major escalation in the US aggression against the country, which has also involved a naval blockade and the seizure of two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil.

(antiwar.com)

Sorry but no matter the fake ‘peace’ deals he claims he brokered none of this is a strong case for Donny to get a prize.

I am sure Donny is not finished with his empire building exercises.

Thought?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

I Have A New Label!

Just a mere few weeks ago I was told by the Secretary of War that if I did not support unlimited aid for these many many wars that I was an non-interventionist.

In case you missed my label from a few weeks ago…..

Non-Interventionists Are Bad!

I explained in my post why I thought the Sec of War was speaking out his rectum.

Now Congress weighs in on people that criticize Israel…..now thanx to the House I am a anti-Semite….

This should explain it….

The House on Tuesday passed a resolution that says “anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” the chamber’s latest piece of legislation conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

The resolution, which is presented as a resolution condemning antisemitism, passed in a vote of 314-14-92. Only thirteen Democrats and one Republican voted against the legislation, while 92 Democrats voted “present” in protest of a line buried in the bill that explicitly claims anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

The Republican-drafted resolution declares that the House of Representatives “clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the most senior Jewish member of the House, criticized the language of the bill ahead of the vote. “The resolution suggests that ALL anti-Zionism is antisemitism. That is either intellectually disingenuous or just factually wrong. And it unfairly implicates many of my orthodox former constituents in Brooklyn, many of whose families rose from the ashes of the Holocaust,” he said.

Nadler claimed that “most anti-Zionism is antisemitism” but added that if authors of the bill “were at all familiar with Jewish history and culture, should know about Jewish anti-Zionism that was, and is, expressly NOT antisemitic.”

“This resolution ignores the fact that even today, certain orthodox Hasidic Jewish communities—the Satmars in New York and others—as well as adherents of the pre-state Jewish labor movement have held views that are at odds with the modern Zionist conception,” he said.

While coming out strongly against the language, Nadler voted “present” instead of “no.” The thirteen Democrats who voted against the bill include Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), Jesús García (D-IL), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Summer Lee (D-PA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican to vote against the bill. Last week, he was the lone member of Congress to vote against a resolution that claimed “denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of antisemitism.” Explaining his opposition, Massie said the resolution also equated anti-Zionism with antisemitism, although not as explicitly as the bill passed on Tuesday.

(antiwar.com)

First these well paid toadies of AIPAC wanted  to make it illegal to boycott Israel and its products….now if anyone criticizes Israel they are anti-Semitic….

What CRAP!

When it comes to religion I could care less what they believe or care to worship that is between them and the Great Spirit.

My criticism has nothing to do with religion but rather how a country that pretends to be a world citizen can act in such barbaric ways.

The Congress can kiss my ass….I will not buy any product or service that originates in Israel…..and I shall continue to criticize Israel when I think they are wrong.

So Congress take your best shots.

Has anyone asked why the Congress is so gung-ho for Israel?

The simple answer is….MONEY!

I know you think I am making this shit up….well I am not….

One of every three members of Congress boarding a jetliner on a privately-funded all-expense paid trip overseas has Israel as their final destination. Only one out of a hundred ever visits Palestinian territories as a final destination.

Analysis of Gift Travel Filings made to the US House of Representatives Office of the Clerk over the past half-decade reveals Israel is far and away their top foreign destination. House of Representatives members made nearly 1,400 trips to Israel, while total subsidized visits to foreign countries other than Israel were 2,500.

The vast majority of Israel trips are funded by the American Israel Education Foundation which raises tax-exempt contributions from pro-Israel donors and Jewish federations. They typically last eight days and cost $10,000. AEIF is a corporation created in 1988 by the domestically-registered lobbying group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. In 2009 66% of AEIF’s board was comprised of AIPAC directors. Since AIEF is merely a lobbying funding conduit with no employees, whenever members of Congress travel to Israel, they are accompanied instead by staffers from AIPAC. In 2017 AIEF reported raising $60 million in revenue and expending $57 million. Another sole-purpose entity set up by AIPAC in 1984 is the Washington Institute for Near East Policy which works to portray policies favored by the Israeli government as being in the American interest.

https://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2019/02/28/do-members-of-congress-take-too-many-private-trips-to-israel-with-aipac/

Like I said….MONEY!

I raise my finger to Congress and I do not think they are number one.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Let’s Go To The Polls

Closing Thought–28Nov19

Polls that magical trick that pundits use to help the MSM drive the news cycle. Some polls are the heart beat of the nation and then others are fake news and some sort of “witch hunt”…..just depends what you WANT to believe….not what is accurate or truthful.

Now that I stepped off that soap box I recently saw a poll that as an antiwar and anti-interventionist I like the numbers…..

A new poll conducted by the Eurasia Group Foundation shows Americans are losing their belief in American exceptionalism, and tend to favor a more non-interventionist foreign policy. The participants were asked a range of foreign policy questions.

Over 1,200 people across the country were surveyed for the Eurasia Group poll. Here are some of its findings:

Most of the participants believe that America is an exceptional nation. 42.4 percent believe America is exceptional for what it represents, and 18.2 percent believe the nation is exceptional for what it has done in the world. 39.5 percent of the participants believe America is not exceptional, just another country acting on behalf of its own interests. That number is up 6.1 percent from the previous year.

Looking at the different age groups shows younger people do not think America is anything special. In the 18-29-year age bracket, just 45.1 percent find America to be exceptional. Those who are 60 and over find America to be the most exceptional, at 75.2 percent.

…

This poll from the Eurasia Group Foundation reflects a poll released by the Pew Research Center back in July. The Pew poll found most veterans they surveyed do not believe the wars they fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria were worth fighting. A shocking 64 percent found the war in Iraq was not worth it, 58 percent for the war in Afghanistan, and 55 percent for Syria.

The Costs of War project at Brown University released a study this November that found the so-called War on Terror has killed over 800,000 people, and cost the US $6.4 trillion. The death toll only takes into account those killed in direct violence, not including those killed by disease, malnutrition, or other indirect causes. It’s no mystery as to why Americans, even those who fought the wars, are starting to favor a more noninterventionist approach.

New Poll Shows Americans Favor Non-Intervention

How nice!

I do not believe any of it for a  moment.

The American people allow this sort of BS to continue….war that is….intervention that is…..regime change that is…..if they are so against this crap they need to grow a spine and speak up.

Cash trumps sentiment….

Thanx for spending some time on IST on this busy shopping day….your visits are appreciated.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

War And Peace And 2020

We are quickly approaching the election of 2020 and the Dems are coming out of the woodwork to challenge a president that is as worthless as old spinach….even the Obama VP Biden, is thinking about another run at the presidency……he has yet to announce….my thought is stop pussy footing around announce or go away to the shores of the Chesapeake and let the MSM move on to something important like the next celeb to say something stupid.

Now that I got that off my chest…..for me I want a “peace” candidate and so far I have seen none other than Tulsi Gabbard….not Beto (the media darling)…not Kamala….not Mayor Pete……and certainly not Biden……

By “Peace” I mean someone that will do as much as possible to end these wars of intervention……

Well let’s look at these candidates that have so much to say but not about war……

Forty-five years after Congress passed the War Powers Act in the wake of the Vietnam War, it has finally used it for the first time, to try to end the U.S.-Saudi war on the people of Yemen and to recover its constitutional authority over questions of war and peace. This hasn’t stopped the war yet, and President Trump has threatened to veto the bill. But its passage in Congress, and the debate it has spawned, could be an important first step on a tortuous path to a less militarized U.S. foreign policy in Yemen and beyond.

While the United States has been involved in wars throughout much of its history, since the 9/11 attacks the US military has been engaged in a series of wars that have dragged on for almost two decades. Many refer to them as “endless wars.” One of the basic lessons we have all learned from this is that it is easier to start wars than to stop them. So, even as we have come to see this state of war as a kind of “new normal,” the American public is wiser, calling for less military intervention and more congressional oversight.

https://original.antiwar.com/mbenjamin/2019/03/27/war-peace-and-presidential-candidates/

Americans need to demand an end to these exercises in adventurism…..we are staring to look like an imperial power from the 19th century…..time to stop all these wars that waste manpower and money……

Who profits from these wars?

Answer that question and you will know why these wars continue.

The US Can No Longer Afford War!

The War on Terror has costs the nation about $2 trillion (yes that is a “T” for trillion)……chasing terrorists around the world has lead to adventurism by the US on every continent of the globe.

It is getting out of hand….but that does not stop these war hawks for demanding more and more money to fight wars we do not need.  Time to think outside of the Conflict box…..

According to the CBO, fiscal reality is coming, and far faster than most Washington policymakers appear to realize.

Republican presidents and Congresses claim to support fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets. Yet the previous GOP president, George W. Bush, was a wild spender. The Republican-controlled Congress that served alongside him was no better.

So too it looks to be the case with President Donald Trump and the current GOP-dominated legislative branch. The former doesn’t want to touch entitlements. The latter doesn’t like the big cuts President Trump proposed in discretionary outlays in areas such as the State Department. And most of the Republicans are clamoring to fill the Pentagon’s coffers: the only question is how much, how quickly.

Source: America Literally Can’t Afford More Military Adventurism | RealClearWorld

It is your money they are spending on all these wars…is it not about time that you let your feelings be known?

I mean according to studies most Americans are in fear of a major war in the future…..

on-stop smaller wars, and officials always playing up the risk of bigger wars to get bigger military budgets have always had Americans worried about a new major war being on the horizon, but the latest NBC/SurveyMonkey poll shows that such fears have been growing dramatically in recent months.

This new poll showed an overwhelming majority, 76% of Americans, are now worried that the US will get drawn into a new “major war” in the next four years. This is an increase of 10% over the last time the question was asked, in mid-February.

As far as who the US might get into that major war with, the plurality went to North Korea, with 41% of Americans believing that the isolated nation is the “greatest immediate threat” to the US. ISIS was second at 28%, Russia at 18%, with China and Iran rounding out the top 5.

(antiwar.com)

I am for a more diplomatic approach over a military force one…..but that is a dream that will not be possible as long as we have an anti-diplomacy president…..diplomacy is much cheaper than force…..

The Mother Of Intervention

The US has been in the intervention business for many years and it only gets worse with each passing year.  But the problem is that this country has learned very little with each intervention……and we blunder off into yet another quagmire.

There are some simple rules for intervention and I mean a successful intervention….something the US has yet to master.

These rules were recently published in the American Conservative…….

After trillions of dollars spent, thousands of dead and wounded, and the creation of myriad new terrorist enemies, Washington could learn a few lessons when considering future interventions.

1. Do not attempt to establish multi-ethnic democracies in nations with no traditions of limited government. Each faction believes that “an alien master is worst of all” and dreads the certain prospect of total subordination to the election victors. Do not foster electoral ceremonies where freedom from fear and the rule of law are absent: they beget, at best, the democratic centralism of Lenin. Never propagate civil wars: the revenge killings last for a hundred years.

Read on…..

Source: 17 Rules for Foreign Interventions | The American Conservative

These are some simple rules that should be taught at the War College…after all it is they that carry out all the orders to intervene….

What is it that Einstein had to say about doing things?

The Surreal World of Foreign Interventionism

Does anyone besides me and a few others realize that we have been intervening in the Middle East for 27 years?

In all that time just what has been accomplished?

I think it is about time to re-think all this intervention crap.

I read an interesting paper written for a mostly Libertarian blog, the Future of Freedom Foundation….interesting points.

I published an article entitled “Prepare Now for Blowback,” in which I pointed out what would seem to be obvious to any reasonable person after some 27 continuous years of U.S. interventionism in the Middle East and 16 continuous years of interventionism in Afghanistan: that some people who sympathize with the people who the U.S. government is killing, bombing, and destroying are going to retaliate with terrorist attacks. It’s just a fact of interventionist life.

I suggested that people should ponder the blowback from U.S foreign policy now, when things are relatively calm, because when another big retaliatory terrorist attack occurs here in the United States, rational thinking is going to be in short supply. That’s when U.S. officials will be exclaiming about how the terrorists (or the Muslims) hate us for our freedom and values and will be completely ignoring the role that U.S. interventionism plays in producing the deep anger and hatred that motivates acts of anti-American revenge.

Source: The Surreal World of Foreign Interventionism – The Future of Freedom Foundation

So yes I am one who thinks we have overstayed our welcome in the Middle East…..time for the US to bow out and let situations play out….I believe we might be seriously surprised.

Another article that supports what I am purposing….

It’s time to end US military engagements in the Middle East. Drones, special operations, CIA arms supplies, military advisers, aerial bombings — the whole nine yards. Over and done with. That might seem impossible in the face of ISIS, terrorism, Iranian ballistic missiles, and other US security interests, but a military withdrawal from the Middle East is by far the safest path for the United States and the region. That approach has instructive historical precedents.

America has been no different from other imperial powers in finding itself ensnared repeatedly in costly, bloody, and eventually futile overseas wars. From the Roman empire till today, the issue is not whether an imperial army can defeat a local one. It usually can, just as the United States did quickly in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. The issue is whether it gains anything by doing so. Following such a “victory,” the imperial power faces unending heavy costs in terms of policing, political instability, guerilla war, and terrorist blowback.

Source: US Military Should Get Out of the Middle East | By Jeffrey D. Sachs | Common Dreams

During the rhetoric of the campaign I was sort of thinking that Trump may embrace the need for the US to get out of the Middle East……but I was mistaken….he has doubled down on all the crap Bush and Obama had been doing in the region.

Time to pack up and come home.

America’s Lost Tradition on Non-Intervention

My regulars know of my interest in foreign policy and international relations.  After my stint in Vietnam (2 1/2 years) I went to university and majored in international relations and after my war experience I became one who believes in non-intervention……that is diplomacy should be exhausted before the consideration of going to war is even on the table……

From the beginning of this country we were following a non-interventionist road….and after WW1 that path became closed and the interventionists, war profiteers, have rule foreign policy ever since……

I found an interesting article that covers this situation from a historical perspective (and you know how I enjoy those?)….

By implicitly criticizing U.S. interventionism, President Trump’s inaugural speech drew denunciations from the Washington establishment as a dangerous deviation, but his message actually fit with U.S. traditions

Although the media trashed Donald Trump’s inaugural address as radical and scary to the United States and the world, his views on American security policy nevertheless may be closest to that of the nation’s founders than those of any U.S. president since the early 1800s.

In his speech, the new president pledged that, “We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.”

Source: America’s Lost Tradition on Non-Intervention – Consortiumnews

I still believe that diplomacy should be the first order of any international policies….even in the age of ISIS (please I am NOT talking about negotiating with terrorists…if you cannot understand that the move the Hell on)……

The only people that profit from the state of the world these days are the war profiteers…..the rest if us are just scared.

Cold War II and the National Security State

Since the election we have been bombarded with reason for a Clinton loss…most of them are off the mark and we have been beat with the possibilities of a new Cold War…Cold War II or even Cold War 2.0….

The press below is from Libertarian site that shares some of my disdain for all of the US interventionism…..

The CIA and its mainstream media acolytes continue to blame Democratic Party Hillary Clinton’s electoral loss on the Russians and, specifically, on supposed hacking by Russia of computers belonging to Clinton and Democratic Party officials. But even if the CIA allegations were true, what all these people are missing is that the election result would not have been changed by the hacking itself but rather by the disclosure of the information that resulted from the supposed hacking. Continue Reading

Source: Cold War II and the National Security State – The Future of Freedom Foundation

The Interventionists’ Double Standards

These days we have interventionist everywhere….and each one tries to justify American adventurism in different ways…..no party is immune from this propaganda.

Our government only mentions a situation when they want to throw our weapons and military at it and use some humanitarian bullshit to get us involved.  And then seldom admits that our intervention is part of the problems that result (famine, deaths and chaos)…..

Matt Purple comments on the disparity between Western outrage over the carnage in Aleppo and general indifference to comparably horrible events in Africa:

None of this should be read as a case for nation building or military intervention in Africa. It’s meant merely to marvel at the most glaring hypocrisy of our foreign policy, a blind spot that blots out an entire continent, which bestows the status of global supervillain on Bashar al-Assad while Salva Kiir remains an unknown. The West has a double standard when it comes to Africa.

Purple is certainly correct about that Western media and interventionist political leaders respond to the terrible effects of conflicts in various parts of the world very differently, but the way that responsibility is assigned for these effects is even more telling. It has become commonplace to blame Obama for the horrors of Syria’s war because he “allowed” them to happen or “failed” to stop them, which takes for granted that the U.S. has both the authority and the ability to halt or at least ameliorate the effects of foreign civil wars at an acceptable cost. Obama is almost never faulted for his role in helping to stoke the conflict, because that doesn’t fit the bogus “withdrawal” narrative that his hawkish critics want to promote. It would also require acknowledging that the U.S. is already involved in the war and its involvement has only made things worse (as opponents of our involvement said it would).

Source: The Interventionists’ Double Standards | The American Conservative

Our interventionism is hurting the world and it is time for the US to re-think their total involvement in others conflicts….especially those that offer NO danger to the continental US….

Can we expect more of the same in the coming years?