US auditor finds taxpayer money flowing to Taliban, Al Qaeda - but Army refuses to act The US military has been ignoring warnings that its spending in Afghanistan is funding Al Qaeda and the Taliban. And John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), appears to have had enough. Skip to next paragraph Dan Murphy Staff writer Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Monitor's international desk, focused on the Middle East. Recent posts Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition He issued a blistering cover letter with SIGAR's quarterly report to Congress today that called into question what "appears to be a growing gap between the policy objectives of Washington and the reality of achieving them in Afghanistan." The US has $20 billion of Afghan reconstruction spending scheduled, and a further $10 billion requested for the 2014 budget.
How The US Will Save Syria Obama told friends he reneged on progressive promises out of fear of MLK's fate -- former CIA analyst says Obama has abandoned progressive principles, such as stopping drone attacks and shutting down Guantanamo, because he is afraid of being assassinated, telling friends, “Don’t you remember what happened to Martin Luther King Jr.?” retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern said today. He’s afraid of what happened to Martin Luther King Jr. And I know from a good friend who was there when it happened, that at a small dinner with progressive supporters – after these progressive supporters were banging on Obama before the election, Why don’t you do the things we thought you stood for? McGovern spoke on WBAI’s show Law and Disorder this morning. I’m pretty convinced the President of the United States is afraid of the CIA. During his CIA career, Ray McGovern prepared daily briefings for the president and chaired the National Intelligence Estimates. The crucial segment of the interview begins at about 48 minutes. Ratner then said, “I represent Guantanamo people. McGovern responded:
Four Chemical Attacks U.S. Wants You to Forget | Brainwash Update 'Terrorism' and the Perpetual Emotion War Machine As a perpetual emotion machine -- producing and guzzling its own political fuel -- the “war on terror” continues to normalize itself as a thoroughly American way of life and death. Ongoing warfare has become a matter of default routine, pushed along by mainline media and the leadership of both parties in Washington. Without a clear and effective upsurge of opposition from the grassroots, Americans can expect to remain citizens of a war-driven country for the rest of their lives. Across the United States, many thousands of peeling bumper stickers on the road say: “End this Endless War.” They got mass distribution from MoveOn.org back in 2007, when a Republican was in the White House. MoveOn is very big as online groups go, but it is symptomatic of a widespread problem among an array of left-leaning organizations that have made their peace with the warfare state. Now, on Capitol Hill, the most overt attempt to call a halt to the “war on terror” is coming from Rep.
How Obama's rogue state tramples over every law it demands Syria uphold For 67 years the US has pursued its own interests at the expense of global justice – no wonder people are sceptical now US troops fire a white phosphorous mortar towards a Taliban position on 3 April 2009 in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Photograph: John Moore/Getty You could almost pity these people. For 67 years successive US governments have resisted calls to reform the UN security council. They've defended a system which grants five nations a veto over world affairs, reducing all others to impotent spectators. Eighty-three times the US has exercised its veto. Through this tyrannical dispensation – created at a time when other nations were either broken or voiceless – the great warmongers of the past 60 years remain responsible for global peace. But now, as the veto powers of two permanent members (Russia and China) obstruct its attempt to pour petrol on another Middle Eastern fire, the US suddenly decides that the system is illegitimate. Source: The Guardian
Americans Are as Likely to Be Killed by Their Own Furniture as by Terrorism - Micah Zenko Terrorist attacks killed 17 U.S. civilians last year and 15 the year before. Today, the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) released its 2011 Report on Terrorism. The report offers the U.S. government's best statistical analysis of terrorism trends through its Worldwide Incidents Tracking System (WITS), which compiles and vets open-source information about terrorism--defined by U.S. law as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents." Although I invite you to read the entire thirty-one page report, there are a few points worth highlighting that notably contrast with the conventional narrative of the terrorist threat: "The total number of worldwide attacks in 2011, however, dropped by almost 12 percent from 2010 and nearly 29 percent from 2007." (9)"Attacks by AQ and its affiliates increased by 8 percent from 2010 to 2011. This article originally appeared at CFR.org, an Atlantic partner site.
The Significance of the Upcoming War with Syria