Month: December 2015

Epic Foreign Policy Fail – Most Iraqis Think the U.S. Government Supports ISIS

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My belief is, we will, in fact be greeted as liberators.

– Dick Cheney on NBC’s Meet the Press, March 16, 2003

The fighters there insist there have been no strikes by the Americans at all. “We’d be better off without them,” said 1st Lt. Murtada Fadl, who is serving with the Iraqi elite forces in Baiji. He said that the only air support had come from the Iraqi air force and that he wishes the government would ask the Russians to replace the Americans.

“The image of the U.S. was damaged in the region, so they created Daesh in order to fight them and restore their image,” said Mohammed Abdul Khaleq, a journalist for a local TV station who was drinking coffee in a cafe favored by writers, most of whom said they agreed.

– From the Washington Post article: Iraqis Think the U.S. is in Cahoots With the Islamic State, and it is Hurting the War  

The Iraq War will go down as the single greatest foreign policy blunder in U.S. history. It is simply the unmitigated disaster that keeps on giving.

To recap, the people who the U.S. government supposedly “liberated,” now hate Americans so much that most of them are convinced the U.S. is in cahoots with ISIS. Not that you could blame them for coming to this conclusion, considering the indisputable role the U.S. government played in the creation of ISIS.

From the post: Additional Details Emerge on How U.S. Government Policy Created, Armed, Supported and Funded ISIS

Telling Hasan that he had read the document himself, Flynn said that it was among a range of intelligence being circulated throughout the US intelligence community that had led him to attempt to dissuade the White House from supporting these groups, albeit without success.

Despite this, Flynn’s account shows that the US commitment to supporting the Syrian insurgency against Bashir al-Assad led the US to deliberately support the very al-Qaeda affiliated forces it had previously fought in Iraq.

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UK Prime Minister David Cameron Compares Those Against Syrian Airstrikes to “Terrorist Sympathizers”

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How low can a politician go? It seems David Cameron is trying his best to find out.

For those of you not paying attention to politics across the pond, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is desperately trying to secure backing for his enthusiastic push to start bombing Syria. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is proving to be a significant thorn in his side, so this is how Cameron is fighting back.

From the Guardian:

David Cameron has appealed to Conservative MPs to give him an overall parliamentary majority in favour of military action in Syria by warning them against voting alongside “Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathizers”.

“You should not be walking through the lobbies with Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathizers,” the prime minister reportedly told the committee.

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Liberty Links – 12/1/15

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Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail.

This post will be updated with new links throughout the day.

The Fed’s New Bailout Rule Expands Its Powers Rather than Limiting Them (Wall Street on Parade)

Why the U.S. Pays More Than Other Countries for Drugs (Wall Street Journal)

Turkey Stages Coup Against Its Own Press and Generals in Bid to Arm Syrian Militants (TruthDig)

Oklahoma Wesleyan University President Dr. Everett Piper: ‘This is Not a Daycare’ (NBC News)

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11 Years Later, We Finally Know What’s in a National Security Letter (It’s Bad)

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Back in 2004, Nicholas Merrill, who was then president of Calyx Internet Access, received a National Security Letter (NSL) from the FBI. These letters are notoriously authoritarian in that they come with a gag order that prevents the receiving party from even informing its customers it has received one.

Fortunately for us all, Nicholas Merrill refused to comply, and decided to fight the gag order in court. Eleven years later, his efforts have paid off, and we finally know just how awful these NSLs really are.

From ArsTechnica:

The National Security Letter (NSL) is a potent surveillance tool that allows the government to acquire a wide swath of private information—all without a warrant. Federal investigators issue tens of thousands of them each year to banks, ISPs, car dealers, insurance companies, doctors, and you name it. The letters don’t need a judge’s signature and come with a gag to the recipient, forbidding the disclosure of the NSL to the public or the target.

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A Look Inside Saudi Arabia’s Elaborate U.S. Propaganda Machine

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Elements of the charm offensive include the launch of a pro-Saudi Arabia media portal operated by high-profile Republican campaign consultants; a special English-language website devoted to putting a positive spin on the latest developments in the Yemen war; glitzy dinners with American political and business elites; and a non-stop push to sway reporters and policymakers.

That has been accompanied by a spending spree on American lobbyists with ties to the Washington establishment. The Saudi Arabian Embassy, as we’ve reported, now retains the brother of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, the leader of one of the largest Republican Super PACs in the country, and a law firm with deep ties to the Obama administration. One of Jeb Bush’s top fundraisers, Ignacio Sanchez, is also lobbying for the Saudi Kingdom.

In September, the Kingdom helped sponsor opulent galas for Washington’s business elite at the Ritz Carlton and the Andrew Mellon Auditorium. The events were attended by King Salman, along with the chief executives of General Electric and Lockheed Martin, the chairman of Marriott International, and prominent think tank officials.

– From the Intercept article: Inside Saudi Arabia’s Campaign to Charm American Policymakers and Journalists

So what do you do when you’re a barbaric monarchy with a justice system remarkably similar to ISIS, but at the same time want to remain very close ally of the U.S. government? You create a sophisticated propaganda network, naturally.

This is precisely what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has done, and the Intercept’s Lee Fang shined some light into this very dark and slimy corner.

From the Intercept:

Soon after launching a brutal air and ground assault in Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia began devoting significant resources to a sophisticated public relations blitz in Washington, D.C.

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