How Many Millions Have Been Killed in America’s Post-9/11 Wars? Part 3: Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen
In the first two parts of this report, I have estimated that about 2.4 million people have been killed as a result of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, while about 1.2 million have been killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a result of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. In the third and final part of this report, I will estimate how many people have been killed as a result of U.S. military and CIA interventions in Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen.
Protests Across the U.S. and Around the World Demand: Hands Off Syria!
Last weekend, Trump's Make America Great Again move was airstrikes on what was reportedly the Syrian government's chemical weapons facility. The Pentagon could show no proof that chemical weapons had been used by the Syrian government in Douma, and said so; then suddenly the Pentagon had "proof," although it did not and could not wait for international inspectors to search for it. Journalist Robert Fisk, in Douma, reported on a horrific scene, with civilians at the mercy of all forces in the conflict, living in underground tunnels at the edge of survival. Doctors he interviewed said people were treated for hypoxia from dust storms not gas but that rumors spread it was poison gas.
Thousands of Hearts and Minds
Ed Kinane | April 21, 2018
To work against militarism and for social justice is to struggle for hearts and minds. We “educate, agitate, and organize.” We reach out to the public to mobilize its conscience. But the public is large and we are few. Most ways to reach the public are costly. Or shaped by other agendas. So mostly we operate small scale. We could however make much greater use of a familiar and broad public forum: letters to the editor.
No 'Chinese Hoax,' Climate Change Cannot Be Ignored
Curt Wechsler | April 18, 2018
Climate scientist Ben Santer fights 'alternative facts'. He's not alone. The consequences of global warming denial affect every person on the planet. Santer advises human actions must be part of the solution:
"You jump through hoops. You do due diligence. You go down every blind alley, every rabbit hole. Over time, the evidence for a discernible human influence on global climate becomes overwhelming.
Mueller or Not, the Trump/Pence Regime Has Got to Go
As Friday the 13th goes dark in DC, impeachment sponsors should not despair. There is more than one way to depose a despot.
"Impeachments take time: months, if not longer -- even with an enthusiastic Congress," notes Georgetown University's Rosa Brooks, weighing options to dump Trump. "And when you have a lunatic controlling the nuclear codes, even a few months seems like a perilously long time to wait. How long will it take before Trump decides that 'you're fired' is a phrase that should also apply to nuclear missiles? (Aimed, perhaps, at Mexico?)"
It Will Take More Than a Blue Wave to Stop Fascism
"There's a lot of people hoping that Democrats somehow intervene," says Refuse Fascism organizer Raphael Kadaris. Or that a successful conclusion to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election will force Donald Trump's resignation or impeachment. But "the idea we that we can rely on people in the FBI or Democratic party is a dangerous illusion." And we should not be dissuaded by political pundits (Madeleine Albright for example) whose real mission, in calling out fascism, is to preserve U.S. imperialism.
Indefinite Detention Is Torture
Indefinite Detention Is Torture
Habeas corpus, or the Great Writ, is the legal procedure that keeps the government from holding you indefinitely without showing cause. “The serious physical and psychological harm that results from such detention can constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” charges The Center for Victims of Torture. “These effects are amplified in detainees who have been tortured or experienced trauma prior to commencement of indefinite detention.”
United States of Denial
From the American "foundational atrocity" of slavery to the ascendance of German Nazification in the 1930s, a refusal of collective responsibility hindered a national reckoning for state-sponsored terror. It also enabled the forced displacement of millions of "undesirables," a policy now embraced by President Trump, along with the hideous programs advocated by his new cabinet-designates: preemptive war and torture, both war crimes.
The Invasion Of Iraq Wasn't a 'Blunder,' Or Even a 'Colossal Mistake.' It's a Crime We Won't Forget.
Those who perpetrated the Iraq War are still at large, we are reminded by Attytood blogger Will Bunch. "The good people who made a few tiny mistakes back in those crazy post-9/11 times [haven't] turned over a new leaf."
How did America get to this state of amnesia?
CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel allies say she has learned from her mistakes (torture of Cat's Eye detainees). George W. Bush's Iraq War cheerleader John Bolton insists he's not that guy anymore. The former president channels his "inner Rembrandt" to rehabilitate his image by painting portraits of military veterans. Barack Obama turned a blind-eye to prosecution for war crimes in the interest of partisan harmony.
A Failure of Accountability Made Gina Haspel's Nomination Possible
Few people have paid a professional price for involvement in America's torture program, notes Rogue Justice author Karen Greenberg. John Yoo, the author of the infamous 2002 memos declaring torture legal, remains a tenured professor at Berkeley. Steven Bradbury, who authorized "enhanced" interrogation techniques, now serves as General Counsel of the United States Department of Transportation. Disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales eventually landed a job as Dean of Belmont University College of Law, in Nashville, Tennessee, where he currently teaches Constitutional Law. Former Bush and Obama administrators found senior posts in business and academia (universities, think tanks, foundations, corporations, law firms) and serve to arbiter public opinion on the crimes of the Trump/Pence regime.
The Mustache and The Sentry Team Up to Bomb North Korea
"There are few people more likely than Mr. Bolton is to lead the country into war. His selection is a decision that is as alarming as any Mr. Trump has made so far," asserts The New York Times Editorial Board. "Coupled with his nomination of the hard-line C.I.A. director, Mike Pompeo, as secretary of state, Mr. Trump is indulging his worst nationalistic instincts."
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