USA and Canada

Photo: The Aukus submarine pact caused a falling-out with France Source: Deutsche Welle.

AUKUS Threatens to Damage NATO

Viewpoint by James W. Carden

This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. James W. Carden is a writing fellow at Globetrotter and a former adviser to the U.S. State Department. Previously, he was a contributing writer on foreign affairs at the Nation, and his work has also appeared in the Quincy Institute’s Responsible Statecraft, the American Conservative, Asia Times, and more. Source: Globetrotter

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 22 September 2021

Photo (top) Credit: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

US Arms in Afghanistan Mostly Inoperable, but Others Maybe Battle-Ready

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — When the last of the US troops pulled out of Kabul on August 31—after a prolonged 20-year military occupation of Afghanistan—they left behind a treasure trove of weapons but most of them abandoned by retreating Afghan forces who were American allies.

These weapons, including combat helicopters, armoured vehicles, battle tanks and transport aircraft, were apparently de-activated by the departing Americans, but some reportedly remain functional and battle-ready.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Conventional & Autonomous Weapons; 12 September 2021

Photo: Participants in a rally sponsored by The World Can't Wait are dressed as hooded detainees and holding WCW signs in Upper Senate Park on January 4, 2007. Photo by Ben Schumin. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

It's Time to Question the Validity of the "War on Terror"

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) — Twenty years after the events of 9/11, 2001, and in the midst of the messy withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, it seems appropriate to question the validity of the so-called “War on Terror”. The Costs of War project estimates that America's 20-years of wars, initiated with the supposed intention of fighting terrorism, have killed almost a million people, displaced 37 million, and have cost the US government 8 trillion dollars.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 12 September 2021

Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) with U.S. President Joe Biden (right). Screenshot of France24 video.

Ukraine's President Is Using the 'Kremlin Excuse' to Ban Media That Doesn't Always Agree with Him

Viewpoint by David C. Speedie

This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. David C. Speedie, a Board Member of ACURA, was formerly Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on U.S. Global Engagement at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Prior to this, he chaired the Program on International Peace and Security at Carnegie Corporation. Source: Globetrotter.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 08 September 2021

Taiwan Unlikely to Return as Part of Mainland China

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

TAIPEI (IDN) — “And then, there is Taiwan, the issue administration officials and national security experts agree is most likely to tip the scales from power struggle to military conflict. At the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, officials are trying to figure out if the long-time American policy of “strategic ambiguity”—providing political and military support to Taiwan, while not explicitly promising to defend it from a Chinese attack—has run its course. Pentagon officials say the matter could come to a head within six years,” wrote New York Times recently.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 07 September 2021

Photo: Lawmakers at the signing of the Texas Heartbeat Act. Photo from Sen. Bryan Hughes. Credit: The Texan.

Abortion Bounty Hunters in Texas Are Not ‘Whistleblowers’ — They’re Cruel Vigilantes

Viewpoint by Norman Solomon

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and the author of many books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 September 2021

Photo: Afghanistan civilians attempt on the airfield as a C-17 attempts to take off from the Kabul airport. Source: USNI News

Massive Intellectual Dishonesty Prevails Debate on Exodus from Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — I like this. It’s from yesterday’s New York Times. Senator Christopher Murphy, a Democrat of Connecticut who supports President Joe Biden’s withdrawal, said those arguing to keep troops in Afghanistan were the ones who failed to win the war for two decades and perpetually pushed to stay even though “we have been losing for six to eight years.”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 31 August 2021

Photo: Millions of Afghans have been displaced by the war. Credit: MikrofonNews

Afghan Crisis Must End America’s Empire of War, Corruption and Poverty

Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies*

NEW YORK (IDN) — Americans have been shocked by videos of thousands of Afghans risking their lives to flee the Taliban’s return to power in their country—and then by an Islamic State suicide bombing and ensuing massacre by U.S. forces that together killed at least 170 people, including 13 U.S. troops.

Even as UN agencies warn of an impending humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the U.S. Treasury has frozen nearly all of the Afghan Central Bank’s $9.4 billion in foreign currency reserves, depriving the new government of funds that it will desperately need in the coming months to feed its people and provide basic services.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 31 August 2021

Photo: Lower Manhattan skyline as seen from Governors Island in June 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0

The Ultimate Nuclear Terrorist Attack?

Viewpoint by Donald A. Collins

Donald A. Collins is a former US Navy officer, banker, venture capitalist, and a free-lance writer who has spent over 40 years working for women’s reproductive health as a board member and/or officer of numerous family planning organizations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Family Health International and Ipas.

WASHINTON D.C. (IDN) — A nuclear attack on New York city? It can’t happen. But the question of a nuclear war has been feared since Hiroshima.

: Opinion Editor; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 30 August 2021

Photo: Remains of 6, 7, and 1 WTC on September 17. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Lies About How the Attack on Afghanistan Started

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) — The mainstream media, including the BBC, do not tell us the true story of how Afghanistan was invaded by the United States and its allies. Here is a link to an article by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies about the invasion of Afghanistan:

https://truthout.org/articles/will-the-voices-of-those-who-were-always-right-on-afghanistan-still-be-ignored/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=0260a0ca-3224-4181-89de-adf54fb583df