War in Libya a Failure

Seven months after NATO’s misguided war in Libya began, Moammar Gadhafi has been killed. Conventional wisdom seems to be that this outcome has proved the intervention to be right because it “worked.” However, far from vindicating the decision to attack Libya, Gadhafi’s bloody end represents much of what was wrong with the intervention from the […]

The need to democratize Western societies and claim control of our foreign policy

With respect to the Egyptian revolution, the discussion here in the West should focus on the factor we are responsible for and can influence – the role our governments have played in suppressing the Egyptian people. Your taxes have been used to arm, fund and fuel this dictatorship. You have unwittingly helped to keep these […]

American Foreign Policy Folly

The U.S. keeps Mubarak in power—it gave his regime $1.5 billion in aid last year—mainly because he supports America’s pro-Israel policies, especially by helping Israel maintain its stranglehold on Gaza. [Israel and Egypt alone receive 1/3 of America's total American foreign aid!] The U.S. supports Mahmoud Abbas for the same reason: he is seen as […]

An American veteran on what drives US foreign policy

Michael Prysner joined the Army out of high school in June 2001 and was part of the Iraq invasion force. He worked during the war in Iraq tracking targets and calling in airstrikes and artillery barrages. He took part in nighttime raids on Iraqi homes. He worked as an interrogator. He did ground surveillance missions […]

How the US has changed its tune on the Taliban

Back in the 80s, the Taliban [aka mujahedeen] were fighting the Soviets, the enemies of our enemies, [so the Taliban were] thus, our beloved friends, our trusted, financed and backed allies. Based on the report by FAIR: “The press coverage of this era was overwhelmingly positive, even glowing, with regard to the guerrillas’ conduct in […]

Why the U.S. interest in Yemen? Hint: Yemen is an Oil Chokepoint

The strategic significance of the region between Yemen and Somalia is a point of geopolitical interest. It is the site of Bab el-Mandab, one of what the US Government lists as seven strategic world oil shipping chokepoints. The US Government Energy Information Agency states that “closure of the Bab el-Mandab could keep tankers from the […]

Israeli newspaper says U.S. officials face ‘pro-Israel’ background check

There is an amazing story in Ha’aretz on the “pro-Israel” litmus test that determines who is permitted to serve in the United States government: Every appointee to the American government must endure a thorough background check by the American Jewish community. In the case of Obama’s government in particular, every criticism against Israel made by […]

Christianity and War

In his latest book, Christianity and War, Laurence Vance, a Christian writer, collects 79 essays on military and foreign policy and declares: “Christians who condone the warfare state and its nebulous crusades against ‘evil’ have been duped. There is nothing ‘Christian’ about the state’s aggressive militarism, its senseless wars, its interventions into the affairs of […]