Archiv: „Global War on Terror“ / AUMF 2001 / unlimited neverending Authorization for Use of Military Force / granted to the US president by Congress on September 14th 2001


15.02.2025 - 19:17 [ Nicolas J.S. Davies / Mintpress.com ]

Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen: Calculating the Millions-High Death Toll of America’s Post-9/11 Wars

(26.4.2018)

As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.

After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.

04.02.2025 - 17:56 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

U.S.-Imperium will „globale Koalition“ für Terrorkrieg 2.0 und bastelt an „Nachrüstung“ der Kriegsvollmacht aus 2001

(September 2, 2014)

Auf dem Gipfel des Nordatlantikpakts in Wales wird es weniger um Russland als um die Frage gehen, mit welcher schwachsinnigen Ausrede nun die N.A.T.O. den am 4. Oktober 2001 ausgerufenen „kollektiven Verteidigungsfall“ aufrechterhalten will.

Eine Option: Noch mehr Eroberungen islamischer Staaten, wegen dem „Islamischen Staat“.

01.02.2025 - 00:58 [ New York Times ]

U.S. Relies Heavily on Saudi Money to Support Syrian Rebels

(January 23, 2016)

In addition to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil reserves and role as the spiritual anchor of the Sunni Muslim world, the long intelligence relationship helps explain why the United States has been reluctant to openly criticize Saudi Arabia for its human rights abuses, its treatment of women and its support for the extreme strain of Islam, Wahhabism, that has inspired many of the very terrorist groups the United States is fighting. The Obama administration did not publicly condemn Saudi Arabia’s beheading this month of a dissident Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who had challenged the royal family.

01.02.2025 - 00:46 [ Libertarian Institute ]

‘People in Our Government Supported Al-Qaeda’: Gabbard in Heated Exchange With Sen. Kelly

(January 30,2025)

“It was shocking and a betrayal to me and every person who was killed on 9/11, their families, and my brothers and sisters in uniform.” She continued, “When as a member of Congress, I learned about President Obama’s, dual programs that he had begun, really to overthrow the regime of Syria and being willing to, through the CIA’s Timber Sycamore program that has now been made public, of working with and arming and equipping Al Qaeda in an effort to overthrow that regime, starting yet another regime change war in the Middle East.”

21.01.2025 - 18:27 [ White House ]

Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists

(b) Within 14 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all appropriate action, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to make operational preparations regarding the implementation of any decision I make to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., in relation to the existence of any qualifying invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States by a qualifying actor, and to prepare such facilities as necessary to expedite the removal of those who may be designated under this order.

20.01.2025 - 21:04 [ ABC News ]

What to know about Trump‘s immigration and border executive actions

The incoming administration will sign an executive order to designate drug cartels and other criminal organizations, including the U.S.-El Salvadoran-based MS-13 and Venezuela‘s Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations or specifically designated global terrorists (SDGT).

An incoming White House official said Monday that the order will direct authorities to specifically remove members of Tren de Agua from the United States. And, citing the Alien Enemies Act enacted more than two centuries ago, the official said Tren de Agua has become an „irregular armed force of Venezuela‘s government conducting a predatory incursion and invasion into the United States.“

20.01.2025 - 20:06 [ cnbctv18.com ]

Trump declares war on illegal immigrants, cartels from Mexico

Trump also declared that he will sign a Day 1 executive order designating cartels foreign terrorist organisations, allowing the government to take deadly measures against them.

„Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations. And by invoking the alien enemies act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to us, soil, including our cities and inner cities,“ Trump said.

13.01.2025 - 11:49 [ Antiwar.com ]

CIA Director Reiterates There’s No Evidence Iran Has Decided To Build a Nuclear Bomb

(January 12, 2025)

The hype about Iran’s nuclear program is focused on the enrichment of some uranium at 60% purity, which is still below the 90% needed for weapons-grade. Iran took the step to enrich at 60% in response to an Israeli covert attack on its Natanz nuclear facility in 2021.

Iran is also a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, unlike Israel, which never signed the NPT and has a covert nuclear stockpile that’s not officially acknowledged by the US.

13.01.2025 - 11:47 [ NPR.org ]

Transcript: NPR‘s full conversation with CIA Director William Burns

(January 10, 2025)

Kelly: Iran, which had a pretty lousy 2024, weakened internally, mounting pressures externally. We interviewed Jake Sullivan, the national security, the national security adviser at the White House the other day. He told me the big question on his mind is, given the losses Iran has sustained, will it make it more likely, more likely that Iran tries to go for a nuclear weapon? Director Burns, will it?

Burns: It‘s something we watch very intently, because you‘re right, Iran has it‘s strategic position has suffered considerably over the course of the last six or seven months. You know, two failed efforts to launch significant ballistic missile strikes against Israel, the collapse of its leading proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the severe degradation of Hamas in Gaza, and then the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. All of that, I think, strategically puts the Iranian regime in a much weaker position. And so Jake Sullivan was right to express the concern that, you know, the Iranian regime could decide in the face of that weakness that it needs to restore its deterrence as it sees it and, you know, reverse the decision made at the end of 2003 to suspend their weaponization program. We do not see any sign today that any such decision has been made, but we obviously watch it intently.

13.01.2025 - 11:04 [ Jacobin ]

Is Iran Next?

(January 10, 2025)

Israeli military sources claim that its strikes inside Iran (precipitated by an Iranian missile assault on Israel) dismantled much of its air defense systems. These security officials note that this was a key mission: to eliminate Iran’s air defenses in preparation for a future all-out assault on its nuclear program. The sources estimate it will take a year or more for Iran to repair the current damage and restore its capabilities.

13.01.2025 - 10:57 [ Reason.com ]

Is Biden Teeing Up an Iran War for Trump?

(January 3, 2025)

President Joe Biden has less than a month in office, but that might be enough time to leave a very big mess on President-elect Donald Trump‘s desk. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan presented Biden with plans to bomb Iranian nuclear sites before the end of his term „in a meeting several weeks ago,“ Axios reported on Thursday. A source told Axios that Biden‘s inner circle believes that he has both „an imperative and an opportunity to strike“ now.

07.01.2025 - 19:23 [ MintPressNews.com ]

From ‘Terrorist’ to ‘Freedom Fighter’: How the West Rebranded Al-Qaeda’s Jolani as Syria’s ‘Woke’ New Leader

(December 12, 2024)

In 2003, he went to Iraq to fight against American forces. After three years of war, he was captured by the U.S. military and spent over five years in prison, including a stint at the notorious Abu Ghraib torture center.

While in Iraq, Jolani fought with ISIS and was even a deputy to its founder. Immediately upon release in 2011, ISIS sent him to Syria with a rumored $1 billion to found the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda and participate in the armed protest movement against Assad that arose out of the Arab Spring.

04.01.2025 - 16:07 [ NewArab.com ]

Controversy as Syria‘s de-facto ruler declines to shake hands with German FM Annalena Baerbock

Baerbock and her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot visited Syria in a sign of support for the transitional government, where they expressed willingness to help the war-torn country after Bashar al-Assad’s regime was toppled last month, making them the first European officials to do so.

04.01.2025 - 16:02 [ MSN.com ]

German, French foreign ministers meet with Syria‘s HTS Islamist group

Syria‘s new de facto ruler and leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) received an EU delegation led by German Foreign Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Friday.

01.01.2025 - 18:16 [ Antiwar.com ]

Foreign Jihadists Appointed to Senior Positions in New Syrian Military

Syrian sources told Reuters that the foreign fighters appointed to the military include Uyghurs, a Jordanian, a Turk, and an Albanian. “This is a small token of recognition for the sacrifices Islamist jihadists gave to our struggle for freedom from Assad’s oppression,” an HTS source told the media outlet.
(…)
HTS is still designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization, but the Biden administration has celebrated its takeover of Syria. The US has also made clear it’s willing to work with the new government and its de facto leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who has been going by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa.

26.12.2024 - 12:22 [ Antiwar.com ]

Pentagon Admits It’s Been Lying About the Number of Troops in Both Iraq and Syria

The Pentagon said on Monday that the US has more troops deployed in Iraq than it has been disclosing, an admission that comes after it revealed there are significantly more US troops in Syria than the US has said.

22.12.2024 - 07:24 [ Antiwar.com ]

Report: US Had Foreknowledge of HTS Offensive To Topple Assad and Prepared Other Rebel Group To Join

(December 19, 2024)

“They did not tell us how it would happen,” Bashar al-Mashadani, an RCA commander, told The Telegraph. “We were just told: ‘Everything is about to change. This is your moment. Either Assad will fall, or you will fall.’ But they did not say when or where, they just told us to be ready.”

In October, the US brought several other Sunni Muslim militias under the command of the RCA, swelling the force from 800 fighters to about 3,000. All of the fighters are armed by the US, and the US pays their salaries of $400 per month.

22.12.2024 - 05:36 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

US ‘prepared Syrian rebel group to help topple Bashar al-Assad’

(December 18, 2024)

RCA fighters who captured the Russian-controlled Syrian air base on the outskirts of the town last week said they had been told to prepare for Assad’s possible fall in early November, nearly three weeks before the offensive began.

Until one month earlier, Capt Mashadani had been second-in-command of the Abu Khatab brigade. This small unit of 150 men was created by US Special Forces and trained by their British counterparts in Jordan until 2016, to hunt down Isis fighters near Deir ez-Zor, a city in eastern Syria.

22.12.2024 - 04:23 [ Antiwar.com ]

US Official Has ‘Good, Productive’ Meeting with al-Qaeda-Linked Julani in Damascus

Julani fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq against American soldiers during the Iraq War. He then founded al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, the al-Nusra Front. In recent years, he has attempted to soften his image by giving friendly interviews to Western journalists, often appearing in a suit and with a trimmed beard to obscure his jihadist ideology.

Leaf said of Julani after the meeting, who is also going by Ahmad al-Sharaa, “I heard him on his priorities, which are very much rooted in getting Syria on the road to economic recovery.”

“We’ve been hearing this for some time, some very pragmatic and moderate statements on various issues, from women’s rights to protection to equal rights for all communities,” she added. “It was a good first meeting. We will judge by deeds, not just by words.”

20.12.2024 - 19:47 [ New York Times ]

Senior U.S. Diplomats Arrive in Syria to Meet With Governing Militias

The State Department said early Friday that three senior American diplomats had arrived in Damascus, the capital of Syria, to meet with leaders of the militias that have seized control of the country, and to look for signs of the journalist Austin Tice and other missing U.S. citizens.

20.12.2024 - 13:10 [ Fox News ]

Pentagon says the number of US troops in Syria is much higher than previously reported

After learning of the fluctuation in number of troops, Fox News’ Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin pressed Ryder about the correction to the number of troops and timing.

„This is more than double the number of troops that we’ve been told for quite some time. So, are we talking about this has been going on for months? For Years?“ Griffin asked. „Is this something that just happened this summer? We need a time frame.“

„Yeah, I think it would probably be fair to say at a minimum, months,“ Ryder said. „I’ll go back and look. But it’s…yeah, it’s been going on for a while.“

18.12.2024 - 03:03 [ Antiwar.com ]

US Launches More Airstrikes in Syria, Claims 12 ISIS Fighters Killed

Since Assad’s downfall, the US, Turkey, and Israel have all been bombing Syria. On December 8, the day Assad fled, the US launched heavy airstrikes in Syria, saying it hit 75 ISIS-related targets.

US officials justify the strikes by saying they don’t want ISIS to reconstitute itself following the regime change. But on the other hand, the US has supported the HTS takeover even though the group is designated by the US as a terrorist organization and has a similar ideology to ISIS.

The US has also made clear it has no intention of withdrawing the approximately 900 troops that it has occupying eastern Syria.

17.12.2024 - 22:16 [ Middle East Eye ]

Germany joins US, UK in making diplomatic contact with Syria‘s HTS

Germany plans talks with representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said, joining the United States and Britain in establishing contact with the group after it led the overthrow of Syria‘s Bashar al-Assad.

16.12.2024 - 12:17 [ Middle East Eye ]

Lammy: UK had ‚diplomatic contact‘ with HTS

„Using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and, of course, intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to.“

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has had direct contact with HTS.

15.12.2024 - 07:31 [ New York Times ]

U.S. in Direct Contact With Rebels Who Took Over Syria

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the United States was communicating directly with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant rebel faction, despite its designation as a terrorist group.

11.12.2024 - 07:21 [ Washington Post ]

U.S. would recognize a Syrian government that comes from inclusive process, Blinken says

The U.S. government would “recognize and fully support” a future Syrian government that results from an inclusive and transparent transition process, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, outlining a first set of principles regarding the Biden administration’s hopes to influence discussions over Syria’s future after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

08.12.2024 - 22:25 [ Rudaw.net ]

US Strikes over 70 ISIS camps in Syria

The United States army announced on Sunday that it carried out airstrikes against 75 Islamic State (ISIS) camps in Syria, to prevent the group from taking “advantage” of the recent kerfuffle in the country.

“The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS,” read a statement from the army’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US troops in the Middle East.

08.12.2024 - 22:10 [ C-SPAN / Youtube ]

President Biden on Situation in Syria: „At long last the Assad regime has fallen.“

President Biden: „After 13 years of civil war in Syria, more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office, flee the country.“

08.12.2024 - 21:50 [ Washington Post ]

Assad must go, Obama says

(18.8.2011)

As Obama issued his statement, the leaders of France, Germany and Britain joined him in calling on Assad “to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the Syrian people and to step aside.”

Obama had spoken to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron over the past two weeks to discuss calling for Assad’s resignation and to coordinate steps on sanctions.

08.12.2024 - 21:34 [ BBC ]

US expands ‚axis of evil‘

(6.5.2002)

The United States has added Cuba, Libya and Syria to the nations it claims are deliberately seeking to obtain chemical or biological weapons.

08.12.2024 - 21:24 [ Washington Post ]

Text of President Bush‘s 2002 State of the Union Address

(Jan. 29, 2002)

Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction.

Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September 11, but we know their true nature. North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.

Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people‘s hope for freedom.

Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade.

This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.

10.11.2024 - 14:44 [ Statista.com ]

1.25 Million Have ‚Top Secret‘ Access in the U.S.

(April 14, 2023)

Peo0le with clearance and access to „Top Secret“ U.S.federal government information, by employee type
Government 605.579
Contractor 472.576
Other 173.803
Total 1.251.958

As of Oct.1, 2019
Source: Office of the Director of National Intelligence via Federation of American Scientists

10.11.2024 - 14:30 [ Washington Post ]

TOP SECRET AMERICA: National Security Inc.

(July 20, 2010)

The Post investigation uncovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America created since 9/11 that is hidden from public view, lacking in thorough oversight and so unwieldy that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.

It is also a system in which contractors are playing an ever more important role. The Post estimates that out of 854,000 people with top-secret clearances, 265,000 are contractors. There is no better example of the government‘s dependency on them than at the CIA, the one place in government that exists to do things overseas that no other U.S. agency is allowed to do.

(…)

Contractors kill enemy fighters. They spy on foreign governments and eavesdrop on terrorist networks. They help craft war plans. They gather information on local factions in war zones. They are the historians, the architects, the recruiters in the nation‘s most secretive agencies. They staff watch centers across the Washington area. They are among the most trusted advisers to the four-star generals leading the nation‘s wars.

10.11.2024 - 13:35 [ New York Times ]

When Did Liberals Become So Comfortable With War?

First, history has shown that governments and bureaucracies tend to become addicted to a war footing, with failure sucking them in further — think of America’s war on terror, or Vietnam. War encourages a perverse cycle of escalation in which huge financial and political gains accrue for governments and the military-industrial complex while the costs tend to be borne by weaker parties — before they start to come home in some shape or form.

We’ve called this bipartisan pattern “wreckonomics” and have found it especially present in wars or conflicts with costs that Western politicians can largely outsource — from fighting terrorism, drugs and smugglers to quasi-colonial interventions during the Cold War.

11.09.2024 - 13:45 [ ABC News ]

Obama: `This War, Like All Wars, Must End`

(23. Mai 2013)

Now, the speech:

The president who dramatically expanded the CIA secret drone war, ordered a troop surge in Afghanistan and aggressively prosecuted leakers made a forceful defense of his actions and an even more forceful case for winding down the war on terrorism.

The key line: „This war, like all wars, must end. That‘s what history advises. That‘s what our democracy demands.“

11.09.2024 - 12:00 [ Fox News ]

Top 5 moments during Trump-Harris presidential debate: ‚I‘m talking now‘

„Do you believe you bear any responsibility in the way that withdrawal played out?“ Harris was asked by a moderator.

„Well, I will tell you, I agreed with President Biden‘s decision to pull out of Afghanistan.“ she said.

„Four presidents said they would and Joe Biden did.“

During the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, 13 U.S. service members were killed in a terrorist attack.

28.08.2024 - 14:04 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

Die “Authorization For Use of Military Force” vom 14. September 2001 im Wortlaut

(29. August 2014)

Seit Beginn des weltweiten Terrorkrieges in 2001 herrschten in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika zwei Personen als Kriegspräsidenten und “mächtigste Männer der Welt”, George Bush Junior und Barack Obama. Der Kern ihrer Legitimation für

– fast jede seit dem 14. September 2001 angeordnete militärische Aktion, Operation und Invasion, wie der Eroberung von Afghanistan (2001), Irak (2003), Libyen (2011), Luftangriffen bzw Bodenoperationen z.B. in Somalia, Jemen, Pakistan, Kenia, etc, etc, pp,

– den versuchten Aufbau einer “Totalen Informationskenntnis” (“Total Information Awareness”) über alle Menschen, Gruppen, Strömungen und Organisationen im Macht- bzw Einflussbereich der U.S.A. (also dem, was die Gesellschaft heute als “Totalüberwachung” versteht),

– die folgende Erschaffung eines informationstechnologischen, Privatleben fressenden Frankensteins, eines weltweit vernetzten Golem der “Nationalen Sicherheit AG” bzw dem “sicherheitsindustriellen Komplex”, der allein 800.000 Personen (Stand: 2010) Zugang zu “streng geheimen” Informationen und damit Zugang zu praktisch allen u.a. aus Telekommunikationssystemen wie dem Internet gesammelten bzw geraubten Daten von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern in ungezählten Datenbanken und Tauschbörsen der Spione, Militärs und (Geheim)Polizeien und Behörden allein in den U.S.A. gibt, samt einer bis heute nicht verifizierten Zahl assoziierter Kräfte und Stellen, z.B. in der Republik Deutschland,

– die Errichtung des Lagers Guantanamo, sowie einer unbekannten Zahl geheimer Folterkammern und Kerker auf eigenem Territorium, in Besatzungszonen und / oder in kollaborierenden Staaten, in denen Menschen willkürlich eingesperrt, gequält oder ermordet wurden,

sowie weitere offene oder klandestine Maßnahmen, wie z.B. die “Uminterpretation” von geltendem Recht zu faktischem geheimen Kriegsrecht in ungezählten Staaten, ist ein am 14. September 2001 bei alleiniger Gegenstimme von Barbara Lee durch den Kongress gejagter und, zumindest in der Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, präzedenzloser Gesetzestext: die “Authorization for Use of Military Force”.

Hier dessen gerade einmal 60 Worte und keinerlei zeitliche oder räumliche Einschränkung enthaltende Wirkungstext, beschlossen am 14.09.2001 von beiden Kammern des Kongresses, Repräsentantenhaus und Senat:

28.08.2024 - 13:45 [ Just Security ]

A Presidential Proclamation to End the Iraq War: Unilateral Executive Action to Defang a Zombie AUMF

(August 20, 2024)

The current blockage in the House—particularly given its potential use for a war with Iran— should prompt the White House to consider alternative means to disarm the 2002 Iraq AUMF. One reported reason that repeal legislation has yet to receive an up-or-down vote in the House is that some members are concerned about losing a potential authority for war with Iran. (The House of Representatives already voted to repeal the 2002 authorization in a previous Congress.) To be clear, it does not do so (see here and here). Nevertheless, a desire to keep the 2002 Iraq AUMF on the books as authority to fight Iran was certainly expressed by a number of senators who opposed repeal.

28.08.2024 - 13:40 [ CBS News ]

Senate votes overwhelmingly to keep 2001 authorization for war on terror

(March 23, 2023)

Senators rejected the amendment 86-9 as they are debating a separate repeal of two authorizations of military force in Iraq. There is broad bipartisan support to withdraw that congressional approval granted in 1991 and 2002 for military strikes against Saddam Hussein‘s regime.

While those two authorizations are rarely used and focused on just one country, Iraq, the 2001 measure gave President George W. Bush broad authority for the invasion of Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism, approving force „against those nations, organizations, or persons“ that planned or aided the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

11.04.2024 - 15:33 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utpie ]

Sie wissen von der Bundeswehr-Beteiligung an der Kriegsflotte im Persischen Golf, oder?

(3. August 2021)

24. Juni 2019: Der damalige U.S.-Außenminister Mike Pompeo fordert eine „globale Koalition“ gegen den Iran. passenderweise vorgetragen bei einem Blitzbesuch Pompeos in Saudi-Arabien.

4. August 2019: Ich lege mich fest und prognostiziere, dass „Bundeswehr-Marine .. noch vor Weihnachten unter Oberbefehl einer ausländischen Macht in den Persischen Golf entsandt“ wird.

(…)

20. Januar 2020: Monate vor der Ausrufung des bis heute andauernden Ausnahmezustands und bereits im Windschatten von SARS II („Coronavirus“), beschließen die Staatsführungen von Frankreich, Deutschland, Griechenland, Italien, der Niederlande, Belgien, Dänemark und Portugal in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung die „European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz“ (E.M.A.S.O.H.), von der Sie und 80 Millionen Andere bis heute nie gehört haben.

20.03.2024 - 23:01 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

Alle wissen, wie der Krieg gegen die Ukraine beendet werden kann

(5. März 2022)

Was eine (weitere) verantwortliche, eine rationale, eine solidarische Maßnahme aus dem Weißen Haus wäre, ähnlich wie die Zurückhaltung was die Provokationen aus dem Kreml angeht: von sich aus auf eine N.A.T.O.-Mitgliedschaft der Ukraine zu verzichten. Neben der Lieferung von Defensivwaffen gäbe es nichts Besseres, was “der Westen” derzeit für die Ukraine tun kann. Man könnte vielleicht auch verkünden, man habe sich in den letzten 30 Jahren mit der N.A.T.O. genug gedehnt. Und zwanzig Jahre lang genug ruhmreichen Terrorkrieg geführt. Ein paar Millionen Tote würden nun reichen.

Das Ende des Afghanistan-Krieges, allein beendet durch den Befehl eines einzigen Mannes, Joe Biden, war diesbezüglich ein guter Anfang. Zur Erinnerung; die “Authorization for Use of Military Force” aus 2001, das entscheidende Kriegsermächtigungsgesetz was in Deutschland bis heute fast keiner kennt, ist vom Kongress immer noch nicht aufgehoben, obwohl dies bereits 2013 von Barack Obama angekündigt wurde.

20.03.2024 - 22:55 [ Nicolas J.S. Davies / Mintpress.com ]

Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen: Calculating the Millions-High Death Toll of America’s Post-9/11 Wars

(26.4.2018)

As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.

After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.

28.02.2024 - 22:06 [ Middle East Eye ]

US officials grilled over lack of congressional approval for Houthi strikes

Since 11 January, the US and UK have hit over 230 Houthi targets in Yemen – including attack boats, helicopters, air defence systems, and missile storage facilities. The US is also leading Operation Prosperity Guardian, a naval task force designed to step up policing in the Red Sea.

President Biden himself has said the strikes have failed to deter the Houthis and that he expects them to continue targeting vessels in the Red Sea. He has vowed to press ahead with the military campaign without providing an end date.

28.02.2024 - 22:02 [ JustSecurity.com ]

Still at War: The United States in Yemen

(24.03.2022)

As a matter of domestic law, the operations against AQAP rest primarily on the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), which is the central authority cited by the U.S. government for counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda and “associated forces,” including AQAP and ISIS, in Yemen.

22.02.2024 - 18:50 [ DissidentVoice.org ]

Identifying Imperial Venality: Day One of Julian Assange’s High Court Appeal

On February 20, it was clear that things were not going to be made easy for Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who infuriated the US imperium, the national security establishment, and a stable of journalists upset that he had cut their ill-tended lawns. He was too ill to attend what may well be the final appeal against his extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States. Were he to be sent to the US, he faces a possible sentence amounting to 175 years arising from 18 venally cobbled charges, 17 spliced from that archaic horror, the Espionage Act of 1917….

19.02.2024 - 09:53 [ Legal Tribune Online ]

Beistands-Beschluss der Nato von 2001: Bünd­nis­fall ohne Ende

(07.09.2021)

Heute, zwanzig Jahre später, ist der Nato-Bündnisfall immer noch in Kraft. Zumindest wurde er nicht aufgehoben. „Die Ausrufung des Bündnisfalls ist ein Ausdruck der Solidarität“, erklärte das Verteidigungsministerium auf Anfrage. „Eine formale Beendigung erfolgt entsprechend nicht.“

08.02.2024 - 19:55 [ الوزراء العراقي / The Official Account of the Iraqi Prime Minister / Twitter ]

American forces has repeated irresponsibly all the actions that would undermine the established understandings and hinder the initiation of bilateral dialogue. It conducted a blatant assassination through an airstrike in the heart of a residential neighborhood in the capital, Baghdad, showing no regard for civilian lives or international laws.

By this act, the American forces jeopardize civil peace, violate Iraqi sovereignty, and disregard the safety and lives of our citizens. Even more concerning is that the coalition consistently deviates from the reasons and objectives for its presence on our territory.
This trajectory compels the Iraqi government more than ever to terminate the mission of this coalition, which has become a factor for instability and threatens to entangle Iraq in the cycle of conflict, and our armed forces cannot neglect their constitutional duties and responsibilities, which demand safeguarding the security of Iraqis and the land of Iraq from all threats.
God‘s mercy and honor to the martyrs of this attack and to all martyrs of Iraq.
Major General Special Forces
Yehia Rasool
The Spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

08.02.2024 - 19:46 [ Washington Post ]

U.S. strike in Baghdad kills key militia commander, officials say

U.S. military officials said Wednesday’s strike was carried out about 9:30 p.m. “in response to the attacks on U.S. service members” and resulted in the death of a militia commander “responsible for directly planning and participating” in those attacks. The statement, which does not identify the individual who was killed, said there were no initial indications of civilian casualties.

08.02.2024 - 19:42 [ Tagesschau.de ]

Drohnenangriff: US-Militär tötet irakischen Milizkommandeur

Nach Angaben des Sprechers der irakischen Streitkräfte, Jahja Rasul, ereignete sich der Angriff in einer Wohngegend. Der US-Angriff habe stattgefunden „ohne Rücksicht auf das Leben von Zivilisten oder internationales Recht“. Es bereite noch mehr Sorge, dass die Koalition ständig von den eigentlichen „Gründen und Zielen ihrer Präsenz“ im Irak abweiche.

Rasul bezeichnete die Präsenz der US-geführten Koalition als „Faktor für Instabilität“: „Dieser Kurs zwingt die irakische Regierung mehr als jemals zuvor, den Einsatz dieser Koalition zu beenden.“

06.02.2024 - 10:30 [ Niall Bradley / Twitter ]

BOOM! In an interview yesterday on Fox, Trump divulged that the Iranian ‚revenge strikes‘ against the US airbase in northern Iraq 4 years ago were ‚arranged‘ with Iran such that no US troops would be killed, AND that the plan to whack General Soleimani was entirely Netanyahu‘s but that he ‚pulled Israel out‘ of actively participating in the assassination just 2 days beforehand.

Such is modern warfare. It‘s all ‚your proxy force against mine‘, and theatrical ‚force-posturing‘ because, if any real war were to break out between countries with sizable arsenals, the global economy would be wrecked.

Relevant transcript, on Iran telling the US exactly where and when they would strike the US base in northern Iraq:

„I had Iran in check. We hit them very hard [via the assassination of Soleimani], and they had to hit back, I understand that.

Do you know they called me to tell me they‘re going to hit a certain location [at al-Asad airbase], it‘s gonna be outside the perimeter.

They let us know. We had 16 missiles [targeting the base]. They said ‚don‘t move, we‘re going to have to hit you back‘.

Psychologically, they had to do that because we hit them. So they aimed those missiles [outside the base] and said ‚please don‘t attack us, we‘re not gonna hit you‘.“

And, on Israel backing out of the plot:

„When we took out Soleimani, you know, Israel was supposed to do it with us. Two days before the takeout, they said, ‚We can‘t do it, we can‘t do it.‘

I said, ‚What? We can‘t do it?‘

Then I had a certain general, who‘s great, and I said, ‚So, General, do we do it ourselves?‘

He said, ‚We can, sir, it‘s up to you.‘ I said, ‚We‘ll do it.‘

But Israel was a part of it, you know. Bibi [Netanyahu] was a big part of it. And we had everything planned, everything.“

06.02.2024 - 10:25 [ i24news.tv ]

Trump: Israel was in on Soleimani assassination, backed out at 11th hour

(04.02.2024)

The former president and current presidential candidate also told Fox News the Iranian regime was in the final stretch of their controversial nuclear drive, with the connivance of Joe Biden, the sitting U.S. president and Trump‘s main political rival.

„Iran is going to have a nuclear weapon in 60 days, and Biden is allowing them to do it! Now they are a very rich country and they are taking over Iraq.“

06.02.2024 - 10:20 [ Mediaite.com ]

Trump Says ‘Netanyahu Let Us Down’ Over Bombing Of Iranian General: ‘Then Bibi Tried to Take Credit For It’

(11.10.2023)

Trump ordered Soleimani’s assassination via a drone strike on Jan. 3, 2020, near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. Speaking in West Palm Beach, Florida on Wednesday, Trump said Netanyahu was no help in that effort, but that afterward he tried to take credit for it:

05.02.2024 - 18:50 [ Robert F. Kennedy Jr / Twitter ]

If we “do not seek conflict,” then let’s get the troops out of there. They are not welcome. They are not needed. They are indefensible targets for anyone in the region who wants to provoke a conflict. Get them out!

(03.02.2024)

05.02.2024 - 18:46 [ 2024 campaign of Claudia De La Cruz for President & Karina Garcia for VP, running with the Party for Socialism and Liberation / Twitter ]

The US war machine just bombed 85 locations in Iraq and Syria — and Biden is promising more. Biden is driving us deeper and deeper into a regional war through escalations. What we need is not only a ceasefire in Gaza, but all U.S. troops OUT of the Middle East immediately!

(03.02.2024)

05.02.2024 - 11:45 [ Politico.com ]

Forget No Labels. Biden’s Third-Party Peril is on the Left.

Biden’s deep-seated fear: that Netanyahu is eager to drag the U.S. into a wider war in the Middle East, a conflict that would ensure American weapons keep flowing to the region, troops soon follow and, in the maelstrom, international pressure on him to agree to a Gaza cease-fire and his domestic political difficulties both dissipate.

Not that the president would ever say such things in public.

05.02.2024 - 11:05 [ Middle East Eye ]

US national security adviser refuses to rule out attacks on Iran

Speaking to NBC, Sullivan was asked repeatedly if the US was considering attacks inside Iran.

„Well, sitting here today on a national news programme, I‘m not going to get into what we‘ve ruled in and ruled out from the point of view of military action,“ he said.

„What I will say is that the president is determined to respond forcefully to attacks on our people. The president also is not looking for a wider war in the Middle East.“

04.02.2024 - 14:40 [ Tagesschau.de ]

Russland ruft den UN-Sicherheitsrat an

Das russische Außenministerium in Moskau hatte erklärt: „Washington, das sich seiner Straffreiheit sicher ist, setzt seine Saat des Chaos und der Zerstörung im Nahen Osten fort.“ Das Außenministerium fügte hinzu, es habe die Angriffe „entschieden verurteilt“.

04.02.2024 - 13:53 [ CNN ]

US and UK strike Houthi targets in Yemen one day after US strikes in Iraq and Syria

Two US destroyers fired Tomahawk missiles as part of the strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, a US official told CNN. The USS Gravely and USS Carney, both of which are Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, fired the land-attack cruise missiles during the operation.

F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier also took part in the strikes, officials said.

04.02.2024 - 12:56 [ Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN / Twitter ]

Russia has just called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss threats to international peace and security from the US strikes against Iraq and Syria. The meeting is expected to be held at 4 pm EST on February 5

04.02.2024 - 12:10 [ Nino Brodin / Twitter ]

Saudi Arabia ready to back US air strikes on Houthi rebels

(09.01.2024)

04.02.2024 - 11:00 [ Regierung von Jordanien / Government of Jordan - Gov.jo ]

JAF Denies Involvement in US Air Strikes in Iraq, Affirms Respect for Sovereignty

(03.01.2024)

Responding to an inquiry from the Jordanian News Agency (Petra), an official of the Armed Forces dismissed the allegations as unfounded, emphasizing the Jordanian army‘s respect for Iraq‘s sovereignty and highlighting the enduring fraternal ties between the Kingdom and other Arab states.

The Armed Forces‘ General Command also advised the public to ignore rumors circulating on social media and to seek information from official channels, reinforcing its commitment to transparency and accurate dissemination of information.

04.02.2024 - 10:50 [ Tass.com ]

Jordan denies reports of its air force’s involvement in US strikes on Iraq

(03.01.2024)

The Royal Jordanian Air Force did not take part in air strikes carried out by US forces in Iraq last night, an official of the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces said.

04.02.2024 - 10:05 [ Shafaq.com ]

Jordanian military denies participation in US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria

(03.01.2024)

The source, as reported by the official Jordanian news agency Petra, stated that „there is no truth to the reports circulated this morning regarding the participation of Jordanian aircraft in the operations carried out by US aircraft in Iraq.“

„the Jordanian Armed Forces – Arab Army respects the sovereignty of brotherly Iraq,“ the source affirmed „the depth of fraternal relations that unite Jordan with all Arab countries.“

04.02.2024 - 09:04 [ Shafaq.com ]

From retaliation to escalation: decoding the US Strikes in Iraq and Syria

(03.01.2024)

Despite the US Administration‘s announcement that the Iraqi authorities were notified about the strikes, Iraq condemned these attacks and did not confirm the American allegations.

Iraqi government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi denied any „prior coordination“ between Baghdad and Washington in this regard.

Al-Awadi stated, „The American administration committed a new aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq,“ noting that the strikes caused casualties, injuries, and damage to residential buildings and property. He accused the US of „falsifying facts by claiming prior coordination, emphasizing that this aggression jeopardizes security in Iraq and the region.“

04.02.2024 - 08:45 [ Reuters ]

U.S. launches strikes in Iraq, Syria, nearly 40 reported killed

(03.01.2024)

Iraq‘s Popular Mobilization Forces, a state security force including Iran-backed groups, said 16 of its members were killed including fighters and medics. The government earlier said civilians were among 16 dead.
In Syria, the strikes killed 23 people who had been guarding the targeted locations, said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on war in Syria.

04.02.2024 - 08:35 [ Zeit.de ]

US-Angriffe in Syrien und dem Irak töten offenbar 45 Menschen

(03.01.2024)

Unter den 16 Toten im Irak seien auch Zivilisten, teilte ein Regierungssprecher in Bagdad mit. Wie viele genau, sagte er nicht. Zudem habe es 36 Verletzte gegeben sowie Schäden an Wohngebäuden und an Privatbesitz von Irakern. Hinzu kommen mindestens 29 getötete Mitglieder proiranischer Milizen in Syrien, welche die syrische Beobachtungsstelle für Menschenrechte mit Sitz in London registrierte.

04.02.2024 - 08:10 [ Nicolas J.S. Davies / Mintpress.com ]

Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen: Calculating the Millions-High Death Toll of America’s Post-9/11 Wars

(26.4.2018)

As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.

After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.

04.02.2024 - 08:00 [ OneVoicePAC / Youtube ]

Barbara Lee‘s 9/14/01 Speech

Barbara Lee explains her rationale for voting against the Authorization to Use Military Force in Afghanistan, citing the overly broad nature of the bill.

04.02.2024 - 07:50 [ Yahoo.com ]

‘I wish I had been wrong,’ says Barbara Lee, lone congresswoman who voted to oppose Afghan war in 2001

(August 18, 2021)

In the days after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, just one member of Congress voted against giving President Bush authority to go to war in Afghanistan.

Barbara Lee, a Democratic representative from California, warned at the time that approving the so-called Authorisation for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) could mean the US would be embarking “on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target.”