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Another 'Humanitarian' Intervention

“We’ve Got To DO Something About Syria!” Uh, No You Don’t

Archives for Февраль 2018

UN Attempt to Link North Korea to Syrian Chemical Weapons Program Nothing New

Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech in 2002 was precursor to disastrous invasion and regime change. Now once again, under Trump, that narrative has re-emerged — this time linking Syria with North Korea, based on allegations by unidentified parties regarding chemical weapons shipments.

A crew member of the Danish warship Esbern Snare enters a decontamination shower wearing a gas mask, during preparations to head to the Syrian port of Latakia to pick up more than 1,000 tons of chemical agents slated for destruction as agreed upon with the Syrian government. (AP/Petros Karadjias)

Yesterday, the New York Times reported on a UN report written by an unnamed “panel of experts” that purported to link the North Korean government to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons program. This report, which still remains classified and thus hidden from public scrutiny, was previously leaked to Reuters in August of last year. At that

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Has So-Called ‘Humanitarian Aid’ Become a Euphemism for Oppression?

A terminal lack of transparency combined with the massive power imbalance in aid work is causing an endless repetition of financial and sexual abuse by members of charities that take advantage of the most vulnerable under the cover of chaos.

A sign in Haiti depicts a United Nations Peacekeeper in the form of a monster. (Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP)

The latest Oxfam sex abuse scandal does not exist in a vacuum. It is not the first time that aid groups have been accused of sexual misconduct towards the very people the entities purport to protect, and without significant change, it will not be the last time that such allegations emerge. The current debacle began with the revelation of sexual

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Ohio Governor John Kasich Foresees End of Two-Party System

Kasich said that both the Republican and Democratic parties are failing the U.S. people, noting that “we may be beginning to see the end of a two-party system.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, right, joined by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, left, speaks during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, June 27, 2017. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Columbus, OH — On February 25th, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a staunch Trump critic and 2016 Republican presidential primary challenger, said that both the Republican and Democratic parties are failing the U.S. people, noting that “we may be beginning to see the end of a two-party system.” Appearing on ABC’s “This Week”, Kasich— who was allegedly

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Foreign Officials Discussed How To Manipulate «Naive» Jared Kushner

The officials — who were not named or — were from Israel, China, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, speaks with Haim Saban, about the Trump administration's approach to the Middle East region at the Saban Forum in Washington, DC (Brookings Institute Twitter)

Just hours after Politico reported that White House senior advisor and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner had been stripped of his top-level security clearance, the Washington Post dropped a bombshell report that purports to provide an unprecedented level of insight into why Kushner wasn't granted an exemption. According to WaPo, officials in at

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The Authoritarians Who Silence Questions on Syria

It is not the critical thinkers on Syria who are demanding that only one side of the narrative is heard; it is western governments and supposedly “liberal” journalists like Brian Whitaker and George Monbiot.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, center, confers with members of the United Nations Security Council just outside the chamber before a scheduled vote on a resolution, Feb. 24, 2018, demanding a 30-day humanitarian cease-fire across Syria. (AP/Craig Ruttle)

Opinion -- I am loath to draw more attention to the kind of idiocy that passes for informed comment nowadays from academics and mainstream journalists. Recently I lambasted Prof Richard Carver for his arguments against BDS that should have gained him an F for logic in any high school exam. Now we have to endure Brian Whitaker, the Guardian’s

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Ecuador Quietly Grants Transnational Corporations Rights To Protected Forests and Indigenous Land

The Ecuadorean government has quietly granted mining concessions to over 4.25 million acres of forest reserves and indigenous territories to transnational corporations in closed-door deals without public knowledge or consent.

Sarayaku women attend a ceremony where the Ecuadorian Government offered a public apology that came as part of a ruling by the Inter-American Human Rights Court which found that the government allowed for oil exploration in Sarayaku lands without their consent. Indigenous people will have access to the courts as part of a recent historical declaration protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples through-out the Americas, with the exception of the U.S. and Canada.

Ecuador (Editorial) -- The tropical Andes of Ecuador are at the top of the world list of biodiversity hotspots in terms of vertebrate species, endemic vertebrates, and endemic plants. Ecuador has more orchid and hummingbird species than Brazil, which is 32 times larger, and more diversity than the entire USA. In the last year, the Ecuadorean

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