(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.“
(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:
(28.02.2024)
Die amerikanische Drohne sei nicht im Rahmen der US-Mission „Prosperity Guardian“, die gegen Angriffe der Houthi-Rebellen im Roten Meer patrouilliert, im Einsatz gewesen. Denn die Besatzung der „Hessen“ sei nach Sichtung der unbekannten Drohne mit Mitgliedern von „Prosperity Guardian“ in Kontakt gewesen. Doch auch diese wussten nicht Bescheid vom Einsatz des Flugobjekts. Diese sei vermutlich für eine andere US-Mission in der Region unterwegs gewesen.
Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of the U.S. Central Command, is expected to meet Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and senior Israel Defense Forces officials.
Israeli officials say they are preparing for a possible unprecedented direct attack from Iranian soil using ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles against Israeli targets.
In such a scenario, Israel will retaliate with a direct attack against Iran, the officials said.
The US has been tight-lipped in its public reaction to the Apr 1 strike, saying it has not determined whether Israel struck a diplomatic facility, which would breach international agreements on the inviolability of embassies and consulates.
The US and its allies believe major missile or drone strikes by Iran or its proxies against military and government targets in Israel are imminent, in what would mark a significant widening of the six-month-old conflict, according to people familiar with the intelligence.
(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.
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.
(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.
The „Hesse“ frigate opened fire after efforts to identify an unknown drone „were unsuccessful“, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said during a visit to the German town of Oberviechtach, adding however that the target was „not hit“.
The drone later turned out to be a „reconnaissance drone“, he said.
According to Der Spiegel weekly, the frigate fired two missiles at the drone but both crashed into the sea because of „a technical defect“.
Die amerikanische Drohne sei nicht im Rahmen der US-Mission „Prosperity Guardian“, die gegen Angriffe der Houthi-Rebellen im Roten Meer patrouilliert, im Einsatz gewesen. Denn die Besatzung der „Hessen“ sei nach Sichtung der unbekannten Drohne mit Mitgliedern von „Prosperity Guardian“ in Kontakt gewesen. Doch auch diese wussten nicht Bescheid vom Einsatz des Flugobjekts. Diese sei vermutlich für eine andere US-Mission in der Region unterwegs gewesen.
Nach Absprache mit den US-Kollegen habe der Kommandeur der „Hessen“ den Befehl zum Abschuss der Drohne gegeben, die in Richtung des deutschen Schiffes flog. Erst nach dem gescheiterten Manöver sei bekannt geworden, dass es sich um eine US-Drohne gehandelt habe, schreibt der „Spiegel“.
This was the German navy‘s first live weapons engagement of the deployment, which began on Friday and is considered one of the German armed forces‘ most dangerous missions in decades.
538 von 573 Abgeordneten votierten in einer namentlichen Abstimmung dafür, 31 dagegen, 4 enthielten sich. Neben den drei Ampel-Fraktionen SPD, Grüne und FDP hatten in der Debatte auch die CDU/CSU und die AfD ihre Zustimmung signalisiert.
Deutschland will sich an dem Einsatz mit der Fregatte „Hessen“ beteiligen. Das Kriegsschiff mit rund 240 Soldatinnen und Soldaten an Bord war dafür bereits am 8. Februar von Wilhelmshaven aus auf den Weg ins Mittelmeer geschickt worden. Das Mandat für die EU-Mission „Aspides“ erfordert die Zustimmung des Bundestags. Die Abstimmung wird am kommenden Freitag erwartet.
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“.
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.
(09.01.2024)
(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.
Barbara Lee explains her rationale for voting against the Authorization to Use Military Force in Afghanistan, citing the overly broad nature of the bill.
(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.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on 31 January plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within three weeks that seeks to protect Israeli-linked commercial vessels.
„Not all [EU] member states will be willing to participate, but no one will obstruct … I hope that on the 17th of this month (February), the mission can be launched,“ Borrell told reporters before chairing a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday.
Wie die Nachrichtenagentur dpa berichtet, soll das Schiff am 8. Februar von Wilhelmshaven aus auslaufen und so Ende des Monats das Einsatzgebiet erreichen. Damit trifft die Bundeswehr Vorkehrungen, um nach einem Mandat des Bundestages schnellstmöglich einen entsprechenden Auftrag ausführen zu können.
(today)
Both the strikes in Iraq and Yemen targeted sites that the U.S. has said are involved in the attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria and were threatening U.S. military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The airstrikes, carried out on Monday night, marked the eighth round of allied attacks in 12 days. They targeted an underground storage site and locations linked to the Houthis’ “missile and air surveillance capabilities,” the US and UK said in a statement along with partners Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands.
All Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, have issued many statements condemning Israel‘s assault on Gaza, but they did not take any further action. Saudi Arabia and the Arab League waited for more than a month of onslaught in Gaza to hold a summit in Riyadh to discuss the issue.
The summit decided to break the siege and blockade, but Arab countries never turned this resolution into action. Instead, Egypt obeyed Israeli commands and refused to give access to move injured civilians for treatment outside of Gaza unless Israel approved their names.
According to officials, the Jan. 11 raid targeted an unflagged ship carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Officials have said that as the team was boarding the ship, one of the SEALs went under in the heavy seas, and a teammate went in to try and save him.
(…)
The U.S. Navy ultimately sunk the ship carrying the weapons after deeming it unsafe, Central Command said. The ship’s 14 crew were detained.
Meanwhile, the war in Gaza rages on. Whatever the real reasons for the conflicts throughout the region (and those reasons are many), some of the combatants in all of them at least say that they’re spinoffs of that larger, historic war, so the spinoff battles are likely to rage on.
The United States said that its forces struck Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday.
(20.01.2024)
Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel, said that there were air raids in the western port city of Hodeida, targeting the al-Jabaana neighborhood in the west of the city. The location of the US strikes could not be immediately confirmed.
(search results)
(January 18, 20245:31 AM UTC)
In a statement on social media platform X, U.S. Central Command said the Houthi missiles presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.
„These missiles on launch rails … could have been fired at any time, prompting U.S. forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves,“ it added.
(January 18, 2024 / 10:54 PM EST)
At about 9 p.m. local time Thursday, Houthi rebels launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the M/V Chem Ranger, a U.S.-owned ship that flies under a Marshal Islands flag, according to U.S. Central Command.
Both missiles landed in the water near the ship, CENTCOM said, and there were no reports of injuries or damage to the Chem Ranger.
CENTCOM did not confirm exactly where the ship was when the attack occurred.
(19:49 GMT)
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and British maritime security firm Ambrey said they received reports of a ship being attacked near the port city of Aden.
The „vessel has been hit on port side by an uncrewed aerial system,“ the organisation said. It added that the vessel and crew are safe and are continuing the journey
(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:
(Jan 17, 2014)
By the end of the meeting, it was clear that this was the resolution, a single sentence and 60 words:
That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.
That was it. After more than a day of negotiations between the White House and Congress, Republicans and Democrats, this is what had emerged. Congress could take it or leave it. There would be no going back to the drawing board.
Over the past months, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in unprecedented attacks against United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism. They have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized global trade, and threatened freedom of navigation. The United States and the international community have been united in our response and in condemning these attacks in the strongest terms.
Today, in response to these continuing threats and attacks, the United States announced the designation of Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The attack against the Gibraltar Eagle appears to be the first time the Houthis have successfully struck a US-owned or operated ship, raising the stakes in the Red Sea after the US vowed that further Houthi launches would be met with a response.
It came just days after a US-led coalition carried out strikes against the Iranian-backed rebel group in Yemen and warned more strikes were possible if the Houthi attacks continue.
So far, two people from the administration have tendered their resignations – Josh Paul, who oversaw arms transfers at State, and Tariq Habash, who worked on education policy at the White House.
The morale of staff in the White House is so low that the chief of staff planned a party in the hopes of cheering up the employees, according to a report from Axios.
However, it‘s not clear if the senior staff members of the administration understand why morale is so low. After the report of the party for White House staff, another report stated that hundreds of federal employees across 22 government agencies are planning a walk-out to protest against Biden‘s handling of the war.
(04.01.2024)
A senior Biden education adviser on Wednesday became the second administration official to resign from his post over the White House’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, the latest instance of internal turmoil over the war.
The Democratic Socialists of America demand an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities by the United States against Yemen and an end to diplomatic and military support of Israel. President Biden widened the existing regional war even further by ordering airstrikes against civilian infrastructure in Yemen in an effort to stop that country’s humanitarian blockade of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Since October 7th, Israel has continuously engaged in provocative military aggression, aimed at expanding its brutal war into Lebanon. Israeli spokespeople continue their propaganda efforts to tie Iran to the events of October 7th and have issued calls for retaliation. A cyberattack believed to be the work of Israeli military intelligence has struck Iranian civilian infrastructure and extrajudicial assassinations have targeted senior leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hamas in Syria and Lebanon. The U.S.’s attack on Yemen comes in the context of Yemeni forces having blocked container ships owned by Israelis or headed towards Israeli ports. U.S. airstrikes are taking place while South Africa presents its arguments to the International Court of Justice for provisional measures against Israel for the crime of genocide.
Mr al-Houthi is known for rarely staying long in one place, for never meeting the media and for an extreme reluctance to make scheduled public appearances.
Since the start of the Yemen war – widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran – foreign officials who dealt with Mr al-Houthi have never met him in person, said a source familiar with the matter.
Many seeking meetings were asked to travel to the Houthi stronghold of Sanaa, where a Houthi security convoy would take them to safe houses and conduct security checks before leading them to an upstairs room where he would only appear on a screen.
„All American and British interests have become legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces in response to their direct and announced aggression against the Yemeni Republic,“ the Houthis‘ Supreme Political Committee said in a statement as tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets to protest the strikes.
(12.01.2024)
(12.91.2024)
When will we learn from our mistakes and realise that war is not the answer?
US President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”
Secretary Antony J. Blinken will travel to Istanbul, Türkiye; Crete, Greece; Amman, Jordan; Doha, Qatar; Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates; Al ‘Ula, Saudi Arabia; Tel Aviv, Israel; the West Bank; and Cairo, Egypt from January 4-11, 2024.