by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at IPS
23 June, 2011
WASHINGTON, Jun 23, 2011 (IPS) – President Barack Obama’s speech announcing that the 33,000 “surge” troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn by “summer” 2012 indicates that he has given priority to the interests of the military and the Pentagon over concerns by key officials in his administration over the impact of the war’s costs on domestic socioeconomic needs.
by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
20 April, 2011
Image by turtlemoon via Flickr
Last week Barack Obama announced that he wants to cut $400 billion in military spending and said he would work Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs on a “fundamental review” of U.S. “military missions, capabilities and our role in a changing world” before making a decision.
Spokesman Geoff Morrell responded by hinting that Gates was displeased with having to cut that much from his spending plan. Gates “has been clear that further significant defense cuts cannot be accomplished without future cuts in force structure and military capability,” said Morrell, who volunteered that the Secretary not been informed about the Obama decision until the day before.
by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
3 April, 2011
The gulf between what’s happening on the ground in the Middle East and the way it is perceived by the US intelligence services — as well as the gulf between how critics perceive America’s counterterrorism policies in the Middle East, and how those policies are perceived by US intelligence — were recently exposed in an article in the Wall Street Journal by Julian E. Barnes and Adam Entous, entitled, “Upheaval in Mideast Sets Back Terror War.”
By Timothy V. Gatto
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
liberalpro.blogspot.com
March 2, 2011
The news we are hearing about the situation in Libya is conflicted to say the least. In general, the facts presented to us by the mainstream media are sketchy. Reports of Libyan Air Force attacks on protestors are not substantiated in any of the news articles that I have had the opportunity to see, yet the U.S., the UK and NATO member States are calling for a No-Fly zone over Libya. This would be another case of unwanted intervention in the affairs of a sovereign state, not unlike the interventions that have occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan.
by Rick Rozoff
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Stop NATO
Stop NATO-Opposition to global militarism
November 7, 2010
President Barack Obama arrived in Mumbai, India on November 6 and announced $10 billion in business deals with his host country which he claimed will contribute to 50,000 new American jobs. By some accounts half the transactions will be for India’s purchase of U.S. military equipment and half the new jobs will be created in the defense sector.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is completing a nearly two-week tour of the Asia-Pacific region which will culminate in meeting up with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen in Australia on November 8 to among other matters secure the use of the country’s military bases.
by Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Washington, Oct 30, 2010
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is calling upon President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to create an independent, international and transparent investigation into the torture and murder of Iraqi detainees by Iraqi forces after leaked documents revealed that the scope of mistreatment of detainees and the death of civilians in Iraq was far greater that previously reported.
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by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, September 9, 2010 Continue reading
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by Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Washington, Mar 26, 2010
Kucinich Sends Message of Peace and Nuclear Disarmament to President Obama on Behalf of Japanese Students
Origami Peace Crane
folded by Dandelion Salad
photo by Dandelion Salad
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today sent 1000 paper cranes to President Obama, which he received from students visiting his office from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, to highlight the importance of nuclear disarmament. The students told the Congressman that they folded 23,000 cranes to represent the number of nuclear weapons estimated to exist in the world today.
“(The students’) visit was of particular significance as your Administration negotiates a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. The successful ratification of such a treaty is vital in advancing support for a broader international nuclear nonproliferation initiative,” wrote Kucinich in a note to President Obama.
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by Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Washington, Feb 23, 2010
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a vocal critic of the war in Afghanistan, yesterday wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates demanding information on the decision-making process and the underlying intelligence that led to a NATO attack on a civilian convoy. Media reports indicate that 27 civilians were killed, including women and children and many more were injured.
“The U.S. government has an obligation to protect civilians under international law. As Secretary of Defense, you have an obligation to ensure that all military operations conducted in Afghanistan are conducted in accordance to such laws…
by Rick Rozoff
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Stop NATO
Stop NATO -Opposition to global militarism
February 15, 2010
On February 13 the United States and NATO led an assault with 15,000 Western and Afghan government troops against Marjah, a town in Helmand province with a population of 75,000. One soldier for every five civilians. The NATO contingent involved in the offensive includes troops from Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia and the U.S. Continue reading
by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
7 December 2009
In the first detailed announcement about prisoners cleared for release from Guantánamo since September 28, when a military spokesman announced that a list of 78 cleared prisoners had been posted in the prison, defense secretary Robert Gates told a Senate hearing last Thursday that officials were “in the process of identifying detainees that we believe can be transferred to other countries” and “we’ve identified I think 116 at this point.”
This is certainly progress on the part of the administration, as it continues to work out how to close Guantánamo. Since the last announcement, senior officials have also made decisions about who to put forward for trial, announcing on November 13 that five men — including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — will face federal court trials for their alleged involvement in the 9/11 attacks, and another five will be put forward for trial by Military Commission. Officials also briefed journalists that the number of prisoners expected to face any kind of trial would not exceed 40.
TheRealNews
December 03, 2009
Lawrence Wilkerson: Obama’s campaign rhetoric and his generals put him in a corner on Afghanistan
see
The Afghan Quagmire by Ralph Nader
Examining Obama’s Rationale for Escalating the War in Afghanistan by Jeremy R. Hammond
Zoya: A Voice from Afghanistan: Waging war does not bring democracy
Dennis Kucinich: We’re Acting Like a Latter Day Version of the Roman Empire
American Civil Liberties Union
10/29/2009
ACLU Renews Call For Secretary Gates Not To Block Release Of Torture Photos
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
WASHINGTON – President Obama today signed into law a Homeland Security appropriations bill that grants the Department of Defense (DOD) the authority to continue suppressing photos of prisoner abuse. The amendment, which would allow the DOD to exempt photos from the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), is aimed at photos ordered released by a federal appeals court as part of an American Civil Liberties Union FOIA lawsuit for photos and other records related to detainee abuse in U.S. custody overseas, although it would apply to other photos in government custody as well. Earlier this month, the ACLU sent a letter to Secretary Robert Gates urging him not to exercise the authority to suppress the photos in their case, stating that the photos “are of critical relevance to an ongoing national debate about accountability.”
by Eric Ruder
SocialistWorker.org
October 7, 2009
The U.S. war on Afghanistan began eight years ago, and yet today, the U.S. seems further than ever from achieving its goals. The Obama administration is now embroiled in a debate over whether to carry out a further escalation on top of the 21,000 troops Barack Obama ordered to Afghanistan earlier this year. Continue reading
Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 04, 2009 CNN
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Mass Arrests at Obama-Occupied White House
liamh2
October 05, 2009 Continue reading
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