Desperate to secure supply routes to Afghanistan, the United States has been spending at least six times more on military aid for the mostly authoritarian states of Central Asia than on efforts to promote political liberalisation and human rights in the region, according to a new report released here by the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
After the drums of war had begun to beat, after the first headlines had screamed their World-War-II-style messages (“the Pearl Harbor of the 21st century”), I had another thought. And for a reasonably politically sophisticated guy, my second response was not only as off-base as the first, but also remarkably dumb. I thought that this horrific event taking place in my hometown might open Americans up to the pain of the world. No such luck, of course.
The progressive dilemma at this time of political crisis is not one of vision. We have identified the key fundamental values needed to construct an alternative to the abundantly discredited neoliberal world older. But on a tactical level we have failed to translate these values into a political program compelling to those most affected by the global financial crisis.
According to the 2006 report, 14 of the 38 most valuable large bases in the world are concentrated in Japan. This includes the top three: the Navy base at Yokosuka, home port for a nuclear aircraft carrier ($3.88 billion); the Air Force base at Kadena, the largest air terminal in Asia ($3.82 billion); and the airbase at Misawa ($3.71 billion).
The One Nation Working Together rally reminded us that the solution to our economic crisis lies in drastically reducing our military budget.
The U.S. nuclear arsenal may soon experience a shortage of tritium, which enhances the explosive power of nuclear weapons. Tant pis.
People who lives in glass houses . . . sectarian violence in Iraq echoed butchery during the U.S. Civil War.
Individuals from the former or current U.S. administrations may be implicated in the “Merchant of Death” affair.
In a little-noted passage from Bob Woodward’s new book, Rahm Emanuel pressured former Director of National Intelligence Blair to tweak a key intelligence assessment.
Attacks on U.S. convoys carrying fuel are just the latest examples of a vicious circle in which oil begets war and war begets oil.