World Can’t Wait | January 16, 2016 {jathumbnailoff}
“We forget at our peril that Trump has made it clear through his political appointments that his administration will be the most militarist, warlike and jingoist administration in modern history” — Marc Norton at 48hills.org.
The president-elect may prove to be even more “peaceful” than 2009 Nobel Prize-winner Barack Obama, commander of at least seven U.S. wars for empire. 26,000 bombs have been dropped in 2016 alone. Accommodation of his policies has proved a disaster to every country he has targeted. Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan all suffer the consequences of American “stabilization.” Today we face the potential of an armed clash with Russia and China.“Trump will have a vast national security and military apparatus at his disposal,” warns Trevor Timm at The Guardian, “including a nuclear arsenal, to wreak havoc in the US and abroad.”
Voters were rightfully apprehensive that Democratic Party leadership would renew a Cold War against Russia. The buildup of U.S. forces inside the Polish border is indeed alarming. Certain ‘leftists’ fancy that Trump’s romance with Vladimir Putin promises détente; Trump and Putin doshare an embrace of capitalist imperialism. But Trump’s determination to dismiss sanctions on Russia appears to be wavering.
Sanctions levied against Russian military involvement in Ukraine in 2014 hamper the designated secretary of state’s avarice for foreign oil. Former CEO Rex Tillerson has much at stake: Exxon Mobil has billions of dollars in deals that can go forward only if the United States lifts sanctions, and Tillerson holds $218 million in company stock, with a pension plan worth nearly $70 million. Ultimately, Trump’s decision on sanctions will depend on whether Moscow “proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other goals important to Washington, reported the Wall Street Journal.
“Give him a chance” populists cite the president-elect’s promise to “end the current strategy of nation-building and regime change.” But it should be noted that his statement contains a caveat of submission to his “America First” policy to “advance core national interests.”
Donald Trump is no pacifist, posts Ryan McCarrel atthepolicy.us. “It might seem fairly obvious to the astute among us but it turns out that it is not a good idea to hand over the reigns of the world’s most powerful military to a megalomaniac thrill-seeker.” Trump’s foreign policy lacks clarity, but he’s already demonstrated willingness to advance President Obama’s ‘infrastructure’ for civil-liberties violations that the next president will Inherit, including and in particular the impunity to torture.
Governments use torture to keep themselves in power, to enforce their particular political philosophy, to remove opposition and to implement particular policies, instructs a BBC Ethics Guide. Witnesses against torture staged multiple DC protests of the current administration’s failure to close Guantanamo Wednesday January 11, the 15th anniversary of the opening of the concentration camp, calling on President Obama “to use his last days in office to expedite releases from Guantanamo, and make public the full U.S. Senate Torture Report,” adding “We demand that President-elect Trump reject the use of torture, continue transferring men from Guantanamo, end indefinite detention and reject national security or other measures that discriminate against Muslims.” Read the full report, including photos here.
San Francisco activists complimented DC action with a vigil and procession from the Phillip Burton Federal Building, home to the local Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office. The venue was chosen to protest Donald Trump’s selection of DHS chief John Kelly, former commander of the infamous torture prison. Kelly’s confirmation the previous day demonstrates willful collaboration of Congress to institutionalize the surveillance state and war machine of the Obama administration.
The current program of false imprisonment cultured under pretext of U.S. exception to international law is expected to expand upon Trump’s coronation; the interests of humanity demand us to resist, to say NO! to white supremacy and anti-immigrant hysteria attending the fraudulent election of Donald Trump.
Could the Trump regime actually be prevented from ruling?
Refuse Fascism has posted a series of FAQ’s on stopping Trump-Pence, with a vision of how the legitimacy of that rule could be very broadly questioned and how an informed public could be inspired to bring business-as-usual to a halt.
“There are, of course, no guarantees of victory for people who have right on their side,” allows the Call to Refuse to Accept a Fascist America. But “the only guarantee that has ever existed is that if you don’t fight for justice you will certainly not get it.
“Let us fight.”
You don’t have to be in DC to get started. A calendar of events across the country is posted here. Find an event in your neighborhood, or better yet, initiate one of your own. Find and post events here. A better world is possible. Join us today.