Letting US ‘Lead’ Against Islamic State

America’s Mideast “allies” are less eager to take on Islamic State terrorists themselves than to urge the U.S. military to do so, raising questions about whether much of today’s campaign-trail tough-guy/gal talk about Washington taking the lead really means doing the dirty work for Saudi Arabia, Israel and others, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar…

‘Cut-out’ Anti-Drone Protest Brings Arrests

The U.S. government’s lethal drone program continues to spark protests from anti-war activists, including a novel “blockade” outside upstate New York’s Hancock air base where a dozen protesters arrayed life-size cut-outs of the late anti-war activist Jerry Berrigan and faced arrest. On Jan. 28, 30 life-size cutouts of the late anti-war activist Jerry Berrigan –…

Hillary Clinton’s Iraq War Albatross

George W. Bush’s Iraq invasion may rank as the worst foreign policy disaster in U.S. history – spreading chaos across the Mideast and now into Europe, yet polls show Democrats nationwide favor nominating Hillary Clinton, who voted for the war and backed it even after Bush’s WMD claims were debunked, recalls Stephen Zunes. By Stephen…

The Dangerous Ideology of Religion

Ideology, in the hands of true-believers, tends to reject facts in favor of some grander “truth,” an especially dangerous tendency when mixed with religious conviction and certainty, as Lawrence Davidson explains. By Lawrence Davidson Ideologies are pre-set forms of thinking that shape people’s worldviews and, supposedly, help to order and simplify reality. While this supposition is…

Lobbying’s Mile-High Plateau

Special-interest money in Washington may have peaked but it looks more like it has plateaued at mile-high altitudes, with hundreds of millions of dollars continuing to fill the coffers of lobbying firms each year as they sign up ex-members of Congress and other well-connected “public servants,” as Michael Winship reports. By Michael Winship Pity poor…

A Russian Diplomat’s Take on the World

As the West’s mainstream media portrays Russia as a crazy rogue state, Moscow’s thoughtful critiques of world affairs are ignored, not fitting the propaganda theme. Such was the case when Foreign Minister Lavrov explained why there would be no more “business as usual” with the West, as Gilbert Doctorow describes. By Gilbert Doctorow On Jan.…

Hillary Clinton’s Own Petard

In 2008, Hillary Clinton sought to exploit Barack Obama’s limited foreign policy experience by claiming she was more fit to answer a 3 a.m. phone call announcing some crisis, but her national security judgments continue to demonstrate serious weaknesses and fail to meet her own standard, writes Bart Gruzalski. By Bart Gruzalski Journalist Robert Parry…

A Step Toward Campaign Transparency

President Obama has called government “transparency” vital for a democracy. But, in practice, he has favored secrecy, keeping key foreign-policy facts away from Americans (all the better to manipulate them) and even balking at a rule requiring government contractors to disclose campaign spending, the latter only requiring a stroke of his pen, says Bill Moyers.…

Ukraine Merges Nazis and Islamists

From the Archive: Many defenders of Ukraine’s post-coup government dismiss reports about neo-Nazis playing key roles in the U.S.-backed regime, but even the most enthusiastic Western propagandists have occasionally glimpsed that reality – and worse, as Robert Parry reported in last July. By Robert Parry (Originally published on July 7, 2015) In a curiously upbeat…

The country is falling apart and it’s your fault

I’m not one to pander to my audience. You might hate my guts — and maybe you’ll hate it even more after you read this — but hopefully you can at least give me that much.

And although I run the risk of alienating literally everyone with this piece, I hope you’ll give it a read anyway, because I’m trying to put into words something I’ve wanted to say for a longtime.

I think it’s time for accountability. I think it’s time we stop blaming the decline of our country on shadowy, vague, abstract groups of people, and start analyzing our own role. Here’s the reality: if we were better — if we made good choices (especially in the voting booth), if we paid attention, if we were more rational, wise, prudent and thoughtful — we wouldn’t be in this mess. Our culture is being destroyed not by outside forces, but by us. We have been in the process of committing a very drawn out act of mass suicide, and our final blow to ourselves might be this next presidential election.

The sad and horrifying reality is that we may well be looking at a Trump-Sanders or Trump-Clinton election. Out of all the available match ups, as it stands right now, we are on target to select the absolute worst ones for ourselves. We are on a path to give ourselves a choice only between one tyrant or another.

But, frustratingly, many people insist this isn’t our fault. Even folks who aren’t Trump/Sanders/Clinton supporters will often rationalize for those who are. They’ll say “people are angry” and “the establishment is corrupt” and “DC is blah blah whatever” as if any of these statements actually qualify as an excuse for people who would CHOOSE to vote for the most corrupt, tyrannical, anti-freedom, anti-Constitution candidates in the whole race. But this is how it always goes. I remember having the same conversations back in 2008. “You can’t blame Obama voters, they’re just fed up with politics as usual and yadda yadda blabber blabber.”

They’re fed up with politics as usual so they vote in one of the worst politicians in the history of this country? Stop acting like that makes sense. Stop acting like American voters are children who can’t be expected to think rationally. Stop excusing what is inexcusable.

There is no excuse. We do this to ourselves:

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The post The country is falling apart and it’s your fault appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

Nazi Roots of Ukraine’s Conflict

Exclusive: Few Americans understand the ugly history behind the Nazi-affiliated movements that have gained substantial power in today’s U.S.-backed Ukrainian regime. Western propaganda has made these right-wing extremists the “good guys” versus the Russian “bad guys,” as Jonathan Marshall explains. By Jonathan Marshall The latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine, one of the leading journals in…

Cheering a ‘Democratic’ Coup in Ukraine

From the Archive: After the 2014 coup ousting Ukraine’s elected President Yanukovych, the mainstream U.S. media hailed this unconstitutional move as a victory for “democracy” while ignoring the darker side, neo-Nazis coddled by the U.S. government since the Cold War, as Robert Parry wrote four days after the putsch. By Robert Parry (Originally published on Feb. 26, 2014) There was…

Is Obama’s Drug Clemency a Mirage?

President Obama once promised hope and that is what some non-violent drug offenders have left as they serve draconian “drug war” sentences. But Obama’s offer of clemency may be more mirage than reality, says ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou, who himself was imprisoned for telling the truth about illegal torture. By John Kiriakou The federal government’s program to reduce prison sentences…

A Crazy Establishment Demands ‘Sanity’

Exclusive: As support grows for anti-Establishment candidates Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, a frantic Establishment is demanding that Americans “stay sane” and vote for one of its approved candidates. But is it sane to follow advice that have led to endless wars and a disappearing middle class, asks Robert Parry. By Robert Parry With ever-growing hysteria, the Establishment…

Spinning US Voters to Stay Passive

As public anger toward America’s self-interested establishment bubbles into a boil, the mainstream media has grown frantic appealing to the masses to “stay sane,” reject populism — especially Bernie Sanders’s variety — and renew the establishment’s lease on the White House, as Norman Solomon notes. By Norman Solomon For a long time, as he campaigned…

Seeking Justice for Guatemalan Slaughter

Brave prosecutors in Guatemala are trying to enforce accountability for government-sponsored rapes, tortures and murders in the 1980s, a time when President Reagan and his administration were complicit in the atrocities but remain respected U.S. figures, as Allan Nairn explained to Dennis J Bernstein. By Dennis J Bernstein Comedian-turned-politician Jimmy Morales, who was sworn in as…

Assessing a Murder Case Against Putin

Once Western media demonizes a foreign leader it becomes hard to assess allegations because if you express doubt, you’re dubbed an “apologist.” But careful analysis is still crucial as Russia Insider editor Alexander Mercouris offers on the British claim that Russian President Putin “probably” ordered a murder in London. By Alexander Mercouris This analysis shows why…

The Iraq War’s Known Unknowns

Exclusive: In September 2002, as the Bush-43 administration was rolling out its ad campaign for invading Iraq because of alleged WMD, the Joint Chiefs of Staff received a briefing about the paucity of WMD evidence. But the report was shelved and the war went on, as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern explains. By Ray McGovern There is a…

The Limits of Jihadi Nihilism

The West has committed many sins against the Muslim world, making moral pronouncements from Washington, London or Paris ring hollow, but more and more Muslims are recognizing that the violent nihilism of jihadi terror is morally reprehensible and must be stopped, says ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller. By Graham E. Fuller It is hard to find even…

US Abets Saudi War Crimes in Yemen

U.S. officials are quick to decry “human rights violations” in “enemy” states, but different rules apply to “allies” such as Saudi Arabia, which is committing war crimes in Yemen and executing dissidents at home while the Obama administration aids and abets the atrocities, writes Marjorie Cohn for TeleSUR. By Marjorie Cohn Saudi Arabia has engaged…

Yemen as Vietnam or Afghanistan

From the Archive: With U.S. weapons, Saudi Arabia is waging a brutal air war on impoverished Yemen, turning a long-simmering civil war into a proxy fight with regional rival Iran, a scenario that reminded retired U.S. emissary William R. Polk of his work for President Kennedy on an earlier Yemeni war. By William R. Polk (Originally published…

Can US Break with Jihadist Allies?

Exclusive: The Obama administration finds itself caught in the contradictions of its Syrian policy, having backed radical jihadists to achieve another “regime change” but now finding that its opportunism is spreading chaos beyond the Mideast into Europe. But can the U.S. adjust course and abandon its jihadist clients, asks Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria The…

Betting on the Wall Street Crash

Exclusive: The 2008 Wall Street crash resulted from a combination of unrestrained greed and political contempt for government regulators who might have prevented the devastation. In The Big Short, the tale is told from the perspective of a few players who saw the inevitable and made money on the crash, writes James DiEugenio. By James…

Encountering a Sophisticated Putin

Pretty much all that Americans – and much of the West – get to hear about Russian President Putin is heavy-handed propaganda often read over images of him riding shirtless on a horse. He’s either a bully or a buffoon. But editors of a popular German newspaper encountered a much more sophisticated figure, writes Gilbert…

The Game of Demonizing Putin

Official Washington influences the opinions of the American people about world affairs by demonizing certain foreign leaders, making them objects of both revulsion and ridicule, thus justifying “regime change” strategies, a particularly dangerous game when played against nuclear-armed Russia, as John Ivens explains. By John Ivens On the morning of Jan. 16 at Hillary Clinton’s campaign…

Learning to Love — and Use — the Bomb

Exclusive: The endless demonizing of Russian President Putin is the new fun game in Official Washington as neocons dream about “regime change” in Moscow and military contractors drool over huge profits from “modernizing” America’s nuclear arsenal, with few thoughts about the heightened risk of nuclear annihilation, writes Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall At a time…

Panicked Over the Trump Phenomenon

America’s conservative establishment is in panic mode as renegade billionaire Donald Trump continues to dominate the Republican presidential race and thumb his nose at the GOP donor class, which is alarmed that all its money might not dictate the outcome this time, as Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write. By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship…

Islamic State’s Bloody Decline

Washington’s pundit class has interpreted the Islamic State’s recent turn toward international terrorism as proof of its growing strength, but it may actually represent the opposite, the group’s recognition that its “caliphate” is under stress and shrinking, observes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar Large-scale armed insurrection tends to move through identifiable…

Hillary Clinton Seeks Neocon Shelter

Special Report: Stunned by falling poll numbers, Hillary Clinton is hoping that Democrats will rally to her neocon-oriented foreign policy and break with Bernie Sanders as insufficiently devoted to Israel. But will that hawkish strategy work this time, asks Robert Parry. By Robert Parry  In seeking to put Sen. Bernie Sanders on the defensive over…

Neocons Flack for Unsavory Saudis

Exclusive: Since Israel decided that Iran was its big enemy – and made Saudi Arabia its quiet ally – American neocons have fallen in line, demanding that the U.S. government punish Iran and coddle the Saudis whatever their unsavory behavior, notes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare Bret Stephens, the deputy editorial page editor who writes…

Merkel’s Power Shaken by Refugee Crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Time magazine’s “person of the year” in 2015, is facing her biggest political crisis as her welcoming of Mideast refugees has troubled and angered many Europeans, raising the possibility that Merkel’s days as the Continent’s undisputed leader may be numbered, writes Gilbert Doctorow. By Gilbert Doctorow The online edition of Bloomberg…

Kerry Pressed for MH-17 Evidence

Exclusive: The father of a young American who died aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is pressing Secretary of State John Kerry to release evidence to support his early claims that the U.S. government possessed details about the launch of the missile that killed 298 people, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The father of Quinn…

Institutionalizing the US-Iran Detente

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have built a personal trust that has enabled diplomacy to begin overcoming decades of distrust, but this promising U.S.-Iranian relationship remains fragile and could disappear once a new president takes office, warn Trita Parsi and Tyler Cullis. By Trita Parsi and Tyler Cullis…

Jailing an Anti-Drone Protester

As the U.S. government fights its endless wars around the globe, some Americans are moving beyond despair and confusion to challenge the military machine, people like Mary Anne Grady Flores, who was sentenced to six months in jail for photographing an anti-drone protest, writes Bill Moyers. By Bill Moyers Mary Anne Grady Flores is in…

Democrats in ‘Group Think’ Land

Exclusive: When Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate turned to world affairs, the NBC correspondents and both Sen. Sanders and ex-Secretary Clinton fell in line behind “group thinks” about Syria, Iran and Russia that lack evidentiary support, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry A curious reality about Official Washington is that to have “credibility” you must accept…

Toward a More Subtle US Foreign Policy

Largely because Israel’s right-wing government now considers Iran the great enemy and has a fonder view of Saudi Arabia, U.S. politicians and media have followed that lead, decrying Iranians and tolerating Saudis, but such simplistic thinking does not serve American interests well, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul R. Pillar The dramatic…

Turning Change into Chaos

Early U.S. presidents warned that foreign entanglements could endanger the Republic, but it turns out that modern U.S. interventions are hazardous to the rest of the world as well, achieving neither democracy nor human rights, while spreading chaos and death, a tragic turn addressed by ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller. By Graham E. Fuller A…

A Reminder about Comment Rules

From Editor Robert Parry: At Consortiumnews, we welcome substantive comments about our articles, but comments should avoid abusive language toward other commenters or our writers, racial or religious slurs (including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia), and allegations that are unsupported by facts. If we notice violations of this comment policy, we will take down such comments. If readers…

Dear Christians, If You Vote For A Godless Man, You Are Asking For Tyranny

We’ve long been suffering under incompetent and corrupt leadership, but we deserve no sympathy. We are not victims. Despite what we say about the “rigged” system, the truth is that we have this sort of government because we chose this sort of government. It’s really that simple. We flock to the polls and put morally bankrupt people in charge, and now we are morally (and financially) bankrupt nation. This ain’t calculus. It’s very straightforward. Don’t want tyranny? Stop electing tyrants.

My radical theory is that we should TRY as best we can to elect God fearing, morally centered leaders. Yes, you never know if someone is really a snake in the grass, but at the very least we should avoid supporting people who practically advertise their self-idolization.

I know this message will not resonate with secularists and atheists. But Christians ought to all agree. We Christians should do our very best to ensure we are supporting candidates who appear to be steadfast in their principles and their faith in God. Any who do not fit that description should be disqualified from consideration immediately, without exception.

In other words, Christians should not support Donald Trump. To support Donald Trump is to compromise your values and put politics ahead of the Gospel. It also means ignoring what is just plain old common sense:

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The post Dear Christians, If You Vote For A Godless Man, You Are Asking For Tyranny appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

In Case You Missed…

Some of our special stories in December addressed the dangers of global warming, the false narratives of the Mideast conflicts, and America’s chaotic presidential politics. “Near Boiling Point on Global Warming” by Nat Parry, Dec. 1, 2015 “The US-Russia Proxy War in Syria” by Ray McGovern, Dec. 1, 2015 “Obama Taunts Putin over Syria” by…

Iran Changes the Regional Dynamic

Israel and — to a lesser extent — Saudi Arabia continue to dictate much of U.S. foreign policy in the Mideast, especially animosity toward Iran. But the Iran nuclear deal may change the dynamic toward a more balanced strategy at least in the long term if not the short, as Gareth Porter explains. By Gareth Porter The…

MLK’s Warning of America’s Spiritual Death

From the Archive: A year before his death, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. broke with many political allies by warning that the Vietnam War was inflicting a “spiritual death” on America, casting King outside mainstream opinion circles which called his advice naïve and irresponsible, as Gary G. Kohls recalled in 2014. By Gary G. Kohls (Originally published…

The Battle over Dr. King’s Message

From the Archive: Martin Luther King Day is a rare moment in American life when people reflect on the ideals that guided Dr. King’s life and led to his death. Thus, the struggle over his message is intense, pitting a bland conventional view against a radical call for profound change, said Brian J. Trautman in 2014. By…

MLK and the Curse of ‘Moderation’

From the Archive: When Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. went to jail to focus national attention on the injustice of segregation, he was stung by criticism from Christian clergy who feared upsetting the status quo and urged “moderation,” prompting his historic rejoinder from the Birmingham jail, as Rev. Howard Bess recalled in 2014. By Rev. Howard Bess…

Playing Games with War Deaths

There’s a double standard in how the U.S. mainstream media reports civilian deaths depending if the U.S. military is fighting the wars or not, accepting absurdly low numbers when the U.S. is at fault and hyping death tolls when “enemies” are involved, a manipulation of human tragedy, says Nicolas J S Davies. By Nicolas J S Davies How…

How Neocons Banished Realism

The grip that neocons and liberal interventionists have on Official Washington’s opinion circles is now so strong that “realists” who once provided an important counterbalance have been almost banished from foreign policy debates, a dangerous dilemma that James W Carden explores. By James W Carden In a widely remarked upon article for the online version of…

WPost’s Deadly Lack of Realism

The Washington Post’s neocon editors advocate one regime change after another, oblivious to the death and destruction that their strategies have unleashed across the Mideast and now into Europe – and reflecting a lack of realism about what U.S. foreign policy can achieve, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar notes. By Paul R. Pillar Fred Hiatt,…

MH-17’s Unnecessary Mystery

Exclusive: Nearly 18 months after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in eastern Ukraine, one of the troubling mysteries is why the U.S. government – after rushing to blame Russia and ethnic Russian rebels – then went silent, effectively obstructing the investigation into 298 deaths, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry As the whodunit mystery surrounding the…

The Clintons’ Cheap Shot at Sanders

Seeing the polls tighten, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has gone on the attack against Sen. Bernie Sanders over his support for Medicare for all, accusing him of seeking to destroy Obamacare (though he voted for it). It’s a deceptive assault, say Bill Moyers and Michael Winship. By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship The Clinton campaign just…

Will Reckless Saudis Seek War with Iran?

Exclusive: Under growing economic and political pressure, the new Saudi leadership is showing a dangerous impulse toward military interventions, raising prospects for a direct and destructive confrontation with its regional rival Iran, writes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare Now that Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with Iran and reportedly bombed Iran’s embassy in Yemen, the big…

GOP Reaps What Was Sown

Since the 1960s, the Republican Party has sought out and corralled the angry white vote which was back-lashing against the civil rights movement and black progress. But now that disaffected base is turning on the wealthy GOP elites and no one should be surprised, writes Michael Winship. By Michael Winship Now, On May 21, 1946,…

Diplomatic Sanity Prevails with Iran

Before President Obama’s State of the Union Address, U.S. cable news blasted out bulletins about Iran seizing American sailors, as Obama’s critics blasted him. But the U.S. intrusion into Iranian waters was quickly explained and the sailors returned, a sign of diplomatic sanity, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar Hardliners who —…

Chavismo’s Sturdy Legacy

Exclusive: Right-wing parties are staging a comeback in Latin America, with the most dramatic victory in Venezuela’s parliamentary elections. Yet, despite troubled leftist regimes facing weak economies and corruption charges, their social reforms have slashed poverty and appear safe for now, writes Andrés Cala. By Andrés Cala A string of recent electoral and political setbacks for Latin American leftist governments –…

What Hillary Knew about Libya

Exclusive: In Official Washington’s propaganda world, the U.S. government and its “allies” are always standing for what’s right and good and the “enemies” are the epitome of evil doing the vilest things. But some emails to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton depicted a far different reality, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry To justify U.S. “regime…

The Power of Exaggerated Fear

As the American middle class shrinks and citizens feel vulnerable and angry, politicians have found that exaggerating the dangers from some bogeyman – “the Muslim terrorists are out to get you!” – works wonders in distracting them from far more serious threats, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar describes. By Paul R. Pillar Journalists have noticed how much current political…

EU in Stress: the German-Polish Clash

The strains on Europe from neocon-devised policies of “regime change” in Syria and Ukraine are resurfacing historical divisions and reviving old animosities among European states, including a war of words between Angela Merkel’s Germany and Poland’s new right-wing government, as Gilbert Doctorow explains. By Gilbert Doctorow It may have been a foregone conclusion that Poland under…

Surprised by Erratic Erdogan

In a volatile world, predictions are a risky business. But they are required in the intelligence community where analysts are called on not only to assess what happened but to anticipate what will happen, a process that ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller continues as he assessing his last year’s accuracy. By Graham E. Fuller Prediction on Turkey: (I was considerably off…

A US Media Lost in Propaganda

There was once a time – perhaps just a brief moment in time – when American journalists were cynical and responsible enough to resist being jerked around by U.S. government propaganda, but that time has long since passed if it ever existed, a reality that William Blum describes. By William Blum Vulgar, crude, racist and…

How Debt Conquered America

Special Report: America presents itself to the world as “the land of the free” but – for the vast majority – it is a place of enslaving indebtedness, a reality for much of “the 99%” that has deep historical roots hidden or “lost” from our history, as Jada Thacker explains. By Jada Thacker Since its…

Taking Aim at the Israeli Boycott

Mainstream U.S. presidential candidates are lining up behind Israel’s demand that the next “leader of the free world” take aim at Americans who express their contempt for Israel’s persecution of Palestinians through a boycott, as Lawrence Davidson describes. By Lawrence Davidson Most readers will know that the United States has served as the patron of…

Anger and Ugly Faces of Bigotry

Millions of Americans feel disenfranchised by the political establishment – numbers reflected in the populist candidacies of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders – but this sense of betrayal often pours out in ugly expressions of bigotry, as Michael Winship observed. By Michael Winship Philadelphia, Cradle of Liberty and City of Brotherly Love, was anything but…

Not Taking Sides in Saudi-Iran Fights

Many U.S. pols and pundits fret that Saudi Arabia’s feelings are hurt by the Obama administration’s opening to Iran, but they conveniently forget Saudi support for terrorism and other acts harmful to the American people, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul R. Pillar The recent intensification of Saudi-Iranian tension also has intensified the all-too-habitual urge, in debate about…

Saudi Arabia’s Dangerous Decline

Much of Official Washington still toes the Saudi line against Iran – in part because Israel shares that hostility – but that antagonism is putting the world at greater risk as Saudi Arabia demonstrates increasingly reckless and barbaric behavior, the sign of a declining power, says Trita Parsi. By Trita Parsi The escalating tension between Saudi Arabia…

Reality Peeks Through in Ukraine

Exclusive: With corruption rampant and living standards falling, Ukraine may become the next failed state that “benefited” from a neoconservative-driven “regime change,” though the blame will always be placed elsewhere – in this case, on the demonized Russian President Putin, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Nearly two years since U.S. officials helped foment a coup…

Saudi Game-Changing Head-Chopping

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia likes to distinguish itself from the head-choppers of the Islamic State but the recent mass executions, including decapitating a top Shiite dissident, reveals the Saudi royals to be just better-dressed jihadists, while creating an opening for a U.S. realignment in the Mideast, says Robert Parry. By Robert Parry For generations, U.S. officials have…

Failed US Sanctions on Russia

The U.S. mainstream media excludes almost all reporting and analysis that challenges the neocon/liberal-interventionist “group think” about the supposed Russian threat, but once in awhile a backhand acknowledgement of reality slips through, as Gilbert Doctorow was surprised to find. By Gilbert Doctorow The newest issue of Foreign Affairs continues to show a significant drop-off of professionalism in…

The Clintons’ Paid-Speech Bonanza

Exclusive: With primary voting set to start next month, one of Hillary Clinton’s remaining hurdles is convincing Democratic voters that she is not beholden to Wall Street and other wealthy interests that have fattened her family’s bank account with tens of millions of dollars for paid speeches, writes Chelsea Gilmour. By Chelsea Gilmour Hillary Clinton…

Neocons Protest US Spying on Israel

U.S. neocons are livid over a report that U.S. intelligence spied on Israeli efforts to sabotage the Iran nuclear talks, though they are curiously silent on evidence that Israel spies on the U.S. Ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar says it would be a mistake to let this pressure blind U.S. leaders on what Israel is up to.…

How Obama Enables Atrocities

Exclusive: President Obama seems so scared of offending the Saudis and their Israeli allies that he will tolerate almost any outrage, including Saudi Arabia’s mass beheadings and/or shootings of the regime’s enemies including a Shiite political leader who dared criticize the monarchy, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry As the New Year dawns, the neocons and…

Saudi Arabia’s Gruesome Provocation

Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent political leader of the monarchy’s Shiite minority has worsened Mideast tensions and is forcing the Obama administration to decide if there are any limits to the outrages that the longtime U.S. “ally” may commit, as Trita Parsi explains. By Trita Parsi There should be little doubt that Saudi Arabia wanted to…

Mideast’s ‘Regime Change’ Madness

Hillary Clinton’s “regime change” policies as Secretary of State helped spread the chaos that has turned the Middle East into a killing field and might have done even worse if not for extraordinary obstructions from the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding Syria, as Gareth Porter recounts at Middle East Eye. By Gareth Porter Seymour…

Just Shy of Our Year-End Goal

From Editor Robert Parry: Thanks to the generosity of our readers Consortiumnews has come close to its year-end fundraising goal of $50,000, which puts us on a more solid footing as we enter an important year for the United States and the world. We will hold the fund drive open a few more days to see…

Hyping More Fears about Iran

Official Washington’s neocon/liberal-hawk establishment is working itself into another lather over Iran, this time by hyping fears about a ballistic missile program as another backdoor way to sabotage the Iran-nuclear agreement, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul R. Pillar There are several important things to understand about ballistic missiles and Iran, beyond the…

Hearing the Russian Perspective

The neocons and liberal hawks who dominate the U.S. foreign policy and media establishment are pushing the world toward a nuclear showdown with Russia as few people hear a comprehensive response from the other side, an imbalance that a new Russian documentary addresses, writes Gilbert Doctorow. By Gilbert Doctorow Without mincing words, the new Russian…

John Brown’s Anti-Slavery Legacy

For some American abolitionists, President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863, was a long time coming, but it was a moment for rejoicing among a racially mixed force in Kansas that included veterans of John Brown’s anti-slavery uprisings, writes William Loren Katz. By William Loren Katz Only the skies were gloomy as Emancipation Day…

A Look-Back at 2015 Stories

At Consortiumnews, we mix today’s journalism with historical analyses on a wide range of topics, showing how current events fit into a larger context, an approach often lacking in the mainstream media. So a selection of our stories from 2015 is an intriguing way to look back – and to understand – the year just ended. “Rebuilding the…