Tuesday, August 25, 2015

The Case for Pragmatism

The hard truth is that there is a limit to the amount of neocon-induced trouble that the planet can absorb without major dislocations of the international economic system – and we may be testing that limit now. The problem is that America’s neocons and their liberal interventionist sidekicks continue to put their ideological priorities ahead of what’s good for the average person on earth.

In other words, it may make sense for some neocon think tank or a “human rights” NGO to demand interventions via “hard power” (military action) or “soft power” (economic sanctions, propaganda or other non-military means). After all, neocon think tanks raise money from self-interested sectors, such as the Military-Industrial Complex, and non-governmental organizations always have their hands out for donations from the U.S. government or friendly billionaires.

Monday, August 24, 2015

‘Neocon’ ideas re-emerge amid US election race

Once thought dead and buried on the battlefields of Iraq, a muscular and militaristic “neoconservative” approach to US foreign policy is making a comeback.

For most of the last decade, the “neocons” - personified by former vice president Dick Cheney and ex-Pentagon boss Donald Rumsfeld - have been out of office and out of fashion.

But the 2016 presidential race has seen Republican candidates embrace ideas and advisers once ostracised for the catastrophes and hubris of George W Bush’s “preemptive war” in Iraq.

Read the entire article

Jeb Bush Abandons Mainstream, Finds Inner Neocon

Bush contended that America’s “alliances need rebuilding.” Which means increasing subsidies for rich industrialized states, which are capable of defending themselves. Bush also believes in placating authoritarian governments—Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and others. So much for democracy and liberty.

Finally, like other Republican presidential wannabes, Bush is oblivious to the consequences of U.S. policy. Droning, bombing, invading, and occupying other nations create blowback. While Washington’s behavior doesn’t justify terrorism, promiscuous intervention helps explain it.

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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Neocons Falsify Iraq War ‘Lessons’

It really rankles some people that Barack Obama was correct from the outset, before any unfolding of the history confirming he was right, that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a huge mistake. And one can understand how to some ears Mr. Obama’s subsequent references to the Iraq War may have a grating “I told you so” quality.

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‘Neocons’ making a comeback

One thought dead and buried on the battlefields of Iraq, a muscular and militaristic “neoconservative” approach to US foreign policy is making a comeback. For most of the last decade, the “neocons,” personified by former Vice President Dick Cheney and ex-Pentagon boss Donald Rumsfeld, have been out of office and out of fashion.

Read the entire article

Monday, August 17, 2015

Neocons to Americans: Trust Us Again

America’s neocons insist that their only mistake was falling for some false intelligence about Iraq’s WMD and that they shouldn’t be stripped of their powerful positions of influence for just one little boo-boo. That’s the point of view taken by Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt as he whines about the unfairness of applying “a single-interest litmus test,” i.e., the Iraq War debacle, to judge him and his fellow war boosters.

Read the entire article

Thursday, August 06, 2015

Neocon’s Bolton And Graham Try To Scare The American People Into More Military Escapades

Are you shaking in your boots yet? Some of the most prominent neoconservatives in the country tried their hardest to do just that as they attempt to sway the country for more military intervention.
It started just hours ago when John Bolton’s nonprofit war propaganda organization, The Foundation for American Security and Freedom, released the ultimate scare tactic and a direct jab at Kentucky Senator and Republican presidential candidate, Rand Paul.

The Disastrous Neocon Mindset

The neocon mindset, which envisions U.S. military force remaking the Mideast at the point of a gun or the warhead of a drone, has confronted a string of disasters and faces a new challenge from President Obama’s successful diplomacy with Iran, but the mindset will likely survive, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.

Read the entire article

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

What next after the neocon rape of Ukraine?

Since its divestment from the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been something of a schizophrenic nation with conflicting allegiances in the West and East of the country. In recent years, a neocon agenda has stoked up this internal strife to incendiary levels.
The people in the East speak Russian and incline towards Russia, while those in western Ukraine march to a different drum: they speak Ukrainian and foster fond hopes of becoming real Europeans. In Crimea, the majority converse in Russian and their hearts have always beaten patriotically for the motherland. Crimea, after all, was part of Russia from 1784 until 1954, at which juncture Nikita Khrushchev, a native of Ukraine incidentally, made what some consider a major blunder: the Soviet leader gift-wrapped the peninsula and handed it over to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Sunday, August 02, 2015

Monsters of Ukraine: Made in the USA

We’re in the summer doldrums of the news cycle, a perfect time for our government and the media – or do I repeat myself? – to drop certain inconvenient stories down the Memory Hole. My job, of course, is to retrieve them….
Remember Ukraine? I seem to recall blaring headlines about a supposedly “imminent” and “massive” Russian invasion of that country: the Anglo-Saxon media was ablazewith a veritable countdown to D-Day and we were treated to ominous sightings of Russian troops and tanks gathering at the border, allegedly just awaiting the order from Putin to take Kiev. And it turns out there has been an invasion, of sorts – although it isn’t a Russian one. It’s the Kiev regime’s own foot-soldiers returning from the front and turning on their masters.