Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Blaming the Afghan War Failure on — Russia

Exclusive: Another part of the U.S. mainstream media’s rash of Russia-bashing is to claim that Moscow is arming Afghanistan’s Taliban, but again the evidence doesn’t match the accusations, writes Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall News flash: The United States is…

Democrats, Class and Russia-gate Magic

Stunned by the defection of working-class whites, many Democrats respond by calling these Trump voters “stupid” and hoping that Russia-gate will be the “deus ex machina” to restore Democratic power, as poet Phil Rockstroh explains. By Phil Rockstroh Recently, Democratic…

California Wildfires and the Undocumented

California’s wildfires, like the hurricane devastation in Texas and Florida, compounded human rights concerns about the Trump administration’s treatment of the undocumented amid emergencies, as Dennis J Bernstein reports. By Dennis J Bernstein Even as Northern California’s massive wildfires are…

Sorting Out the Russia Mess

Exclusive: The U.S. mainstream media finally has its “smoking gun” on Russia-gate — incriminating information from a junior Trump campaign adviser — but a closer look reveals serious problems with the “evidence,” writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Russia-gate special…

Monday, October 30, 2017

How America Spreads Global Chaos

The U.S. government may pretend to respect a “rules-based” global order, but the only rule Washington seems to follow is “might makes right” — and the CIA has long served as a chief instigator and enforcer, writes Nicolas J.S. Davies.…

The Deep State’s JFK Triumph Over Trump

  Exclusive: Fifty-four years after President Kennedy’s assassination, the CIA and FBI demanded more time to decide what secrets to keep hiding – and a chastened President Trump bowed to their power, observes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. By Ray McGovern…

The Political Organization Men

Many working-class Americans voted for Donald Trump believing he would address their needs, not those of rich Republicans. But all pols, it seems, end up conforming to their political group’s priorities, as Lawrence Davidson explains. By Lawrence Davidson In 1956,…

Sunday, October 29, 2017

The Democratic Money Behind Russia-gate

As Russia-gate continues to buffet the Trump administration, we now know that the “scandal” started with Democrats funding the original dubious allegations of Russian interference, notes Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria The two sources that originated the allegations claiming that…

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Guardians of the Magnitsky Myth

Exclusive: In pursuit of Russia-gate, the U.S. mainstream media embraces any attack on Russia and works to ensure that Americans don’t hear the other side of the story, as with the Magnitsky myth, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry As…

Hillary Clinton Keeps Pointing Fingers

Hillary Clinton blames others for last year’s electoral defeat, never recognizing that many Americans — both Democrats and Republicans — found her public record appalling, as Dennis J Bernstein discusses with John Pilger.   By Dennis J Bernstein Because of…

Friday, October 27, 2017

A Voiceless Left Faces History’s Monster

Despite all its armed might and long history of conquests, America remains a perpetually frightened country without a strong movement to  protest this imperialism and warmongering, notes poet Phil Rockstroh. By Phil Rockstroh Rumors of war and the lexicon of…

US Tries to Stir Up Trouble for Iran

Ash President Trump’s foreign policy falls deeply under the Israeli-Saudi spell, his Mideast diplomats are stirring up conflict against Iran and drawing a rebuke from Iraq, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul R. Pillar In Iraq, as…

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Russia-gate Breeds ‘Establishment McCarthyism’

Exclusive: As Russia-gate gives cover for an Establishment attack on Internet freedom and independent news, traditional defenders of a free press and civil liberties are joining the assault or staying on the sidelines, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry In…

The Ploy to Shift 9/11 Blame to Iran

The U.S. government often plays the game of blaming “enemies” and excusing “friends,” a particularly ugly reality in the push to blame Iran and absolve Saudi Arabia for the 9/11 attacks, says 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser. By Kristen Breitweiser Largely…

NYT’s Assault on Press Freedom

Exclusive: The New York Times, which once postured as the champion of a free press, now is seeking crackdowns on news that the public gets from the Internet under the guise of combatting “Russian propaganda,” explains Daniel Lazare. By Daniel…

Iraqi Kurds Suffer Major Setback

A political miscalculation by Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani – staging an independence referendum that prompted fierce retaliation by Baghdad – has set back hopes for a Kurdish state by decades, writes Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria Masoud Barzani was…

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

What Did Hillary Clinton Know?

Exclusive: With the disclosure that Hillary Clinton’s campaign helped pay for the original Russia-gate allegations against Donald Trump, a new question arises: what did Clinton know and when did she know it, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The revelation…

Perpetual War: Treadmill of America’s Mind

Like a caged hamster on a running wheel, the American people are trapped in perpetual wars that the foreign policy elites offer no way to end, only excuses to continue, observes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar…

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Escaping the Colonized Mind

In our late-stage capitalism, every inch of humanity has been exploited and maximized for profit, creating “colonized” minds and emotions, a challenge for humans to free themselves and save the planet, says poet Phil Rockstroh. By Phil Rockstroh Human sexuality…

California Wildfires Inflict More Devastation

Among recent natural disasters striking the U.S. are devastating wildfires that torched California’s wine country, destroyed thousands of homes and killed more than 40 people, report Dennis J Bernstein and Miguel Gavilan Molina.   By Dennis J Bernstein and Miguel…

Getting the Left to Embrace US ‘Exceptionalism’

Exclusive: Neocons have deftly used the Left’s hatred of President Trump and the demonizing of Russia to lure liberals and progressives into an interventionist mindset to defend “American exceptionalism,” observes James W. Carden. By James W. Carden Last year, Donald…

Trump’s Praise for Philippines’ Killer-President

Exclusive: President Trump may see his tough-guy rhetoric as just part of the reality TV show that he’s putting on, but violent talk often goes hand-in-hand with real-life violence as in the Philippines, notes Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall White…

Demonizing Venezuela’s Revolution

Venezuela’s socialist experiment, which seeks to reduce the country’s extreme income equality and alleviate widespread poverty, has upset U.S. policymakers who now have new hopes for regime change, as Dennis J Bernstein explains.   By Dennis J Bernstein The U.S.…

Monday, October 23, 2017

Russia-China Tandem Changes the World

The West’s persistent demonization of Russia over the past decade has pushed Moscow into a de facto alliance with China, changing the geopolitical landscape in ways that U.S. pundits still won’t admit, writes Gilbert Doctorow. By Gilbert Doctorow Much of…

As Trump Preens, Puerto Rico Still Suffers

Many Puerto Ricans continue to live in primitive and dangerous conditions more than a month after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory in the Caribbean, as Judith Berkan explained to Dennis J Bernstein.   By Dennis J Bernstein Last Thursday,…

Sunday, October 22, 2017

The Strange World of Russian ‘Trolls’

A big part of the Russia-gate hysteria is to accuse Russia of spreading U.S. dissension via Internet “trolling,” but that’s just one more wild exaggeration among many, as William Blum describes at Anti-Empire Report. By William Blum Webster’s dictionary: troll…

In Case You Missed…

Some of our special stories in September examined the risk of nuclear war over North Korea, the shifting power balance in the Middle East and the escalating hysteria over Russia-gate. “Seymour Hersh Honored for Integrity” by Ray McGovern, Sep. 1,…

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Trump and His ‘Beautiful’ Weapons

It’s easy to understand why some of President Trump’s senior advisers privately consider him a “moron,” with a limited vocabulary and stunning lack of normal human empathy, as William Blum explains at Anti-Empire Report. Capturing the wisdom and the beauty…

Trump Bows to Neocons, Netanyahu

Rather than expand U.S. exports to Iran – and create more American jobs – President Trump fell in line behind Israel’s P.M. Netanyahu, decertifying the Iran-nuclear deal and risking more war, as Gareth Porter explains at The American Conservative. By…

Friday, October 20, 2017

Clinton, Assange and the War on Truth

Australia’s public broadcasting network gave Hillary Clinton an open mike to defame WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange as “a tool of Russian intelligence” without giving him a chance to respond, as John Pilger describes. By John Pilger On Oct. 16, the Australian…

Uncle Sam: The Ultimate Gun Nut

The murky motive behind the Las Vegas massacre – carried out by a heavily armed “gun nut” – parallels the incomprehensible rationales for the global wars waged by the ultimate “gun nut,” Uncle Sam, writes JP Sottile. By JP Sottile…

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Man Bites Dog: NYT Does Journalism

Exclusive: When the Trump administration blamed Cuba for a “sonic attack” on U.S. diplomats, a New York Times reporter did something unusual for his newspaper: he tried objectively to assess the evidence, as Robert Parry reports. By Robert Parry I…

Trump’s Nihilism on Healthcare

Petulant bombast is a dangerous approach to governance – what the Founders associated with the British crown – but now President Trump has brought that style to U.S. policymaking on healthcare, as Michael Winship observes. By Michael Winship A couple…

The Indonesia Massacre’s Historic Message

Exclusive: The U.S. mainstream media’s credulity toward today’s Official Narratives is especially troubling given the false storylines from the past, such as the cover-up of Washington’s hand in the Indonesia massacres, as Jonathan Marshall describes. By Jonathan Marshall Fifty-four years…

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Blaming Russia for the Internet ‘Sewer’

Exclusive: As the Russia-gate hysteria spirals down from the implausible to the absurd, almost every bad thing is blamed on the Russians, even how they turned the previously pristine Internet into a “sewer,” reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry With…

Trump Escalates Anti-Leak Campaign

President Trump has made clear his anger about “leaks,” but he is far from alone among recent U.S. presidents waging war against whistleblowing, write Jesselyn Radack and Kathleen McClellan for ExposeFacts. By Jesselyn Radack and Kathleen McClellan The Trump administration…

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Why the Vengeance Toward Sgt. Bergdahl

The angry politics around Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s “desertion” in Afghanistan revolve around right-wing hatred for President Obama who engineered Bergdahl’s freedom from the Taliban, as Matthew Hoh describes. By Matthew Hoh Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl’s guilty plea begins the end of…

The Thwarted Dreams of Kurdistan

Almost a century ago, European powers promised the Kurds a state but soon reneged on the deal, leaving Kurdish nationalists to fume for generations and leading to Iraq’s recent military capture of Kirkuk, reports Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson It…

Busting Upward the Military Budget

The Trump administration and Congress are in accord on one thing: the budget constraints on military spending must be busted to sustain overseas bases and to fund local pork projects, writes Ivan Eland. By Ivan Eland Although the Senate and…

Human Anxiety in Late-Stage Capitalism

  Superficial explanations for today’s social anxiety and political discontent miss the underlying reality: the crisis of late-stage capitalism in its frantic death throes, explains poet Phil Rockstroh. By Phil Rockstroh A number of recent, press articles, including an over…

Monday, October 16, 2017

Understanding the ‘Fake News’ Hysteria

The mainstream media’s hysteria over “fake news” is aimed less at the few instances of intentionally fabricated stories than at well-reported articles that challenge the U.S. government’s dubious official narratives, says David P. Hamilton. By David P. Hamilton For the…

Iraqi Forces Clash with Kurdish Militia

Iraqi military forces have seized strategic positions around the oil-rich city of Kirkuk as a showdown over Kurdish calls for independence enters a dangerous new phase, writes Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria Overreaction in Baghdad, Ankara and Tehran to what…

Sunday, October 15, 2017

How Netanyahu Pulls Trump’s Strings

Special Report: It turns out that Hillary Clinton was partly correct: President Trump is a “puppet,” but his puppet master isn’t Russian President Putin but Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry In the final presidential debate…

Trump Ignores Israeli/Saudi Abuses

By offering a propagandistic tirade on Iran’s role in the Mideast – a classic neocon screed – President Trump has demonstrated his inability to bring any fresh or honest thinking to the regional crises, as Kathy Kelly explains. By Kathy…

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Fueling More Bloodshed in Ukraine

Exclusive: In the U.S., Russia-hating liberals are joining the neocons in seeking more war in Ukraine, as the prospects for a rational and peaceful resolution to the crisis continue to fade, explains James W. Carden. By James W. Carden Last January,…

Trump’s North Korea Delusions

Exclusive: A combination of ignorance and rashness is making President Trump a particularly dangerous leader as he crashes ahead with a possible preemptive war on North Korea, writes Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall President Trump reportedly tells an average of…

Friday, October 13, 2017

The Legacy of Reagan’s Civilian ‘Psyops’

Special Report: When the Reagan administration launched peacetime “psyops” in the mid-1980s, it pulled in civilian agencies to help spread these still-ongoing techniques of deception and manipulation, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Declassified records from the Reagan presidential library…

Trump’s Mendacious Speech on Iran

President Trump, in decertifying the Iran-nuclear deal, trotted out all the tripe about the “world leading sponsor of terrorism” and ties to Al Qaeda. But his new policy is one of dangerous incoherence, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By…

Trump’s War for Coal Raises Risks

Exclusive: President Trump’s war for coal is threatening progress on alternative energy while creating hazards both in the weather effects from global warming and in health risks from breathing dirty air, writes Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall When Environmental Protection…

As Trump Fumes, Puerto Rico Struggles

Angered by criticism from desperate U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico, President Trump lashed out with threats to remove federal rescue and recovery personnel — even as the crisis grows worse, as Dennis J Bernstein reports. By Dennis J Bernstein Some…

Thursday, October 12, 2017

How Trump’s Iran Decision Invites War

By decertifying the Iran-nuke deal, President Trump would put another Mideast war of choice on the table, but war on Iran is really the choice of Israel and Saudi Arabia wanting the U.S. to do the killing and dying, as…

Trump’s Scary Nuclear Doctrine

Pleasing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and terrifying almost everybody else, President Trump is threatening nuclear war against North Korea and, by implication, war with Iran, as ex-British diplomat Alastair Crooke explains. By Alastair Crooke There are acres of print analyzing…

Why North Korea Wants Nuke Deterrence

Exclusive: The revelation that North Korea hacked into South Korea’s military secrets and found U.S. plans for a preemptive “decapitation” of Pyongyang’s leadership explains its rush to build a nuclear deterrent, says Nicolas J S Davies. By Nicolas J S…

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Catalonia and the ‘Europe of Regions’

Exclusive: Catalonia’s bid for independence from Spain had a curious twist, a readiness to take its place within the supranational European Union, a further challenge to traditional nation-states, observes Andrew Spannaus. By Andrew Spannaus Political debate across Europe has been…

Puerto Rico’s Continuing Health Crisis

President Trump and his team stress the positive about their response to Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico, but people are dying because the island’s health care system remains crippled, reports Dennis J Bernstein. By Dennis J Bernstein More than…

A Silenced Israeli Critic

Although the U.S. news media’s fancies itself the world’s “gold standard,” it operates with stunning hypocrisy and huge blind spots, none bigger than its fawning coverage of Israel that ignores critics like Miko Peled, notes Rick Sterling. By Rick Sterling…

The Osage Indian Murder Mystery

Exclusive: The European arrival in North America led to genocide against Native Americans along with various schemes to steal their land by both government and individual murderers, as James DiEugenio explains. By James DiEugenio White America has deployed any number…

Trump’s Destructive Priority on Iran

President Trump’s threatened “decertification” of the 2015 agreement to constrain Iran’s nuclear program fits with his desire to negate all of President Obama’s achievements but won’t serve U.S. interests, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar Press…

The Evil That Guns Do

On the defensive over the Las Vegas massacre, the NRA is trotting out some new arguments, such as the inevitability of evil, to deter any meaningful gun control, explains Michael Winship. By Michael Winship In the United States, you will…

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Russia-gate Jumps the Shark

Exclusive: Russia-gate has jumped the shark with laughable new claims about a tiny number of “Russia-linked” social media ads, but the U.S. mainstream media is determined to keep a straight face, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry A key distinction…

Citadels of Paranoia: An Occupation by Phantoms

The frantic fear-mongering of American culture – Russians, North Koreans, Iranians, the Others are out to get us – has generated an alienation that fuels violence, globally and in random acts of murder, writes poet Phil Rockstroh. By Phil Rockstroh…

Monday, October 9, 2017

The Illogical Assault on Iran Deal

Israel’s domination of U.S. foreign policy in the Mideast is no more evident than in the prescribed hatred toward Iran. But there are also logical arguments on the merits that ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar examines. By Paul R. Pillar…

Anti-Nuke Activists Win Nobel Prize

In contrast to past Nobel Peace Prizes often going to war-makers – from Henry Kissinger to Barack Obama – this year’s award went to a global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons, as ex-CIA analyst Elizabeth Murray observes. By…

A Deaf Ear to Dire Russian Warnings

Official Washington is so obsessed with the hyped Russia-gate allegations that it isn’t picking up on dire warnings from Russia that continued U.S. military interference in Syria won’t be tolerated, as Gilbert Doctorow notes. By Gilbert Doctorow From time to…

Agent Orange: Vietnam’s Ongoing Calamity

The U.S. government’s crime of saturating large swaths of Vietnam with poisonous Agent Orange got short shrift in PBS’ “The Vietnam War,” but it remains an ongoing calamity, write Marjorie Cohn and Jonathan Moore. By Marjorie Cohn and Jonathan Moore…

Sunday, October 8, 2017

America’s Long History of Warfare

Americans like to view their country as a force for peace in the world when the historical reality is almost the opposite, a reality ignored by the PBS Vietnam War documentary, writes Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson If you go…

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Last Call on Fall Fund Drive

From Editor Robert Parry: Thanks to the generosity of our readers we have gotten within about $5,000 of our fall fund drive goal of $35,000. If you haven’t and would like to donate, there’s still time. You can donate by credit card…

Kurdish Referendum Roils the Mideast

The Kurdish referendum seeking independence from Iraq has created more uncertainty in the turbulent Mideast with Israel appearing to see value in the new chaos, reports ex-British diplomat Alastair Crooke. By Alastair Crooke One week after Kurdish leader Masud Barzani…

Friday, October 6, 2017

The Rise of Britain’s ‘New Politics’

As more Britons turn toward Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the British establishment is upping the pressure on the “radical” Corbyn to conform to U.S.-U.K. militarism and interventionism, as John Pilger explains. By John Pilger Delegates to the recent Labour…

President Zigzag

Exclusive: President Trump boasts about his “zigzag” foreign policy as if inconsistency is an attribute in dealing with a fragile world, but his zigzagging endangers backchannel intermediaries handling outreach to North Korea, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry President Trump’s…

Recalling Japan’s ‘Comfort Women’ Rapes

Japan’s current nationalist leadership downplays and denies many crimes from World War II, but a global movement continues to press for a recognition of the mass rapes and murders of so-called “comfort women,” reports Dennis J Bernstein. By Dennis J…

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Political Fig Leaf After Las Vegas Slaughter

The Las Vegas massacre, like all the other massacres, won’t change the easy accessibility of guns in America, but politicians are scrambling to enact a fig-leaf bill against a rapid-fire device used by this one shooter, JP Sottile explains. By…

The Spiraling Crisis of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, which already faced severe pressures because of the U.S. territory’s huge debt and demands from its creditor, has now been devastated by Hurricane Maria, as Dennis J Bernstein reports. By Dennis J Bernstein Though President Trump bragged…

America’s Hypocrisy on Democracy

U.S. politicians often lecture other nations about their flawed governance as if American democracy is the gold standard, but anti-democratic measures like gerrymandering belie that self-image, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar An old fear about…

Ignoring Today’s ‘Great Hungers’

The U.S. government presents itself as the beneficent superpower, but the reality of Washington’s endless wars and lavish spending on bombs – while millions face starvation and disease – suggest a different reality, as Kathy Kelly notes. By Kathy Kelly…

Shielding Saudis on Yemen Atrocities

The Saudi-led war on Yemen is inflicting a slaughter by bombs, famine and disease, yet both Presidents Obama and Trump have insisted on supporting the Saudi “allies” in their war crimes, warns Shireen Al-Adeimi. By Shireen Al-Adeimi Yemen continues to…

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

The Mystery of the Russia-gate Puppies

Exclusive: The U.S. mainstream media is determined to prove Russia-gate despite the scandal’s cracking foundation and its inexplicable anomalies, such as why Russia would set up a Facebook “puppies” page, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry What is perhaps most…

Challenging the Saudi Air War on Yemen

Placating Saudi Arabia over the Iran nuclear deal, President Obama authorized U.S. military support for the Saudi air assault on Yemen, a policy now facing congressional challenge, as Gareth Porter explained at The American Conservative. By Gareth Porter The bill…

Why Trump Slaps Down Minority Protests

There’s a troubling subtext to President Trump’s harsh attacks on people of color who complain and protest, as if he thinks they should keep quiet and know their place, as Michael Winship observes. By Michael Winship A post-surgical convalescence has…

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

How 2nd Amendment Distortions Kill

Exclusive: The Las Vegas massacre underscores the intellectual dishonesty of the “gun rights” lobby, which falsifies Second Amendment history and pretends armed citizens could shoot back to stop slaughters, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Many politicians, especially those on…

America Not Immune from Chaos

“Exceptional” America views itself as largely immune from devastating storms and the violence that infect much of the world, but recent weeks show that there is no protection against natural and human catastrophes, writes Ann Wright. By Ann Wright Over…

Pilger Criticizes Ken Burns’s ‘The Vietnam War’

For decades, the U.S. mainstream media has shied away from a clear-eyed view of the Vietnam War, not wanting to offend the war’s apologists, a residue of which tainted the recent PBS series, as John Pilger told Dennis J Bernstein.…

Monday, October 2, 2017

Galveston BioLab’s Amid Global Warming

Special Report: During Hurricane Harvey, a story questioning the wisdom of putting a biocontainment lab on vulnerable Galveston island revealed not only that public hazard but the failure of today’s corporate media, reports Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria Ken Kramer grew…

Trump’s Hurt Feelings over Puerto Rico

President Trump bristled at criticism of his administration’s slow response to the disaster that Hurricane Maria inflicted on Puerto Rico, lashing out on Twitter against San Jose’s frontline mayor, report Dennis J Bernstein and Randy Credico. By Dennis J Bernstein…

A ‘Challenge’ or Matching Grant

From Editor Robert Parry: A medium-sized foundation, which is considering a $20,000 grant to Consortiumnews.com, has first challenged us to see if we can match that amount from reader donations. So, if you are thinking about contributing to our unique news…

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Russians Battle Western Sanctions

Given Russia’s imbalanced economy — heavily dependent on energy income — it seemed an easy target for Western sanctions, but instead Russians have responded by creating new industries, big and small, writes Gilbert Doctorow. By Gilbert Doctorow In 2014, when…