NewsTrust - Foreign Policy - Most Recent Stories

Stuck in a Job at the End of the World

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By John LaForge - May. 22 (Special Report) - Very little sympathy is felt for Air Force personnel assigned to fire nuclear missiles that could end all life on the planet. But their grim, boring and existentially absurd job has eroded staff morale so much that their collapsing competence has added to the world’s risk

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Allan Nairn: After Ríos Montt Verdict, Time for U.S. to Account for Its Role in Guatemalan Genocide

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 15 (News Analysis) - Following last week’s guilty verdict in Guatemala's historic genocide trial, reporter Allan Nairn says the United States should follow Guatemala's lead and indict the Reagan administration officials who supported the genocide under General Efraín Ríos Montt. "All of [these crimes] were crimes not just of General Ríos Montt, but also of the U.S. government," Nairn says. Former President Ronald Reagan once called Ríos Montt "a man of great personal integrity." After the verdict, Judge Yasmin Barrios ordered the attorney general to launch an immediate investigation of "all others" connected to the crimes.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Dick Cheney, Benghazi, and White House Lies

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By David Corn - May. 15 (Opinion) - Dick Cheney has never been short on chutzpah. Jumping aboard the GOP scandal-mongering machine, the former vice president appeared on Fox News (where else?) and declared to Sean Hannity (who else?) that President Barack Obama and his aides "lied" about the attack in Benghazi last September that left four Americans dead. "I think it's one of the worst incidents frankly that I can recall in my career," Cheney huffed—as if 9/11 had never happened. The former veep went the full Monty and echoed (discredited) right-wing charges that the Obama administration refused to deploy military forces to help Ambassador Chris Stevens and other Americans when they were assaulted in Benghazi.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Large Corporations Seek U.S.–European 'Free Trade Agreement' to Further Global Dominance

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Andrew Gavin Marshall - May. 13 (Special Report) - A corporate world order is emerging, and like any parasite, it is slowly killing off its host. Unfortunately, the "host" happens to be the planet, and all life upon and within it. So, while the extinction of the species will be the end result of passively accepting a corporate-driven world, on the other hand, it’s very profitable for those corporations and their shareholders.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.8 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Ríos Montt Guilty of Genocide: Are Guatemalan President Pérez Molina, U.S. Officials Next?

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 13 (News Report) - In a historic verdict, former U.S.-backed Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt has been sentenced to 80 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Ríos Montt was convicted of overseeing the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after seizing power in 1982. The ruling marks the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide in his own country. The judge in the case has instructed prosecutors to launch an immediate investigation of "all others" connected to the crimes

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Obama, Cameron Promote Trade Deal Granting Corporations Political Power

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:44:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Zach Carter - May. 13 (News) - President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday pledged to pursue a broad trade agreement between the U.S. and European Union, amid growing domestic unrest with the Obama administration's plans to include new political powers for corporations in the deal.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Eduardo Galeano, Chronicler of Latin America's "Open Veins," on His New Book "Children of the Days"

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 08 (Interview) - One of Latin America’s most acclaimed writers, Eduardo Galeano is out with the new book, "Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History." Galeano's classic "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," made headlines when Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez gave President Obama a copy at the Summit of the Americas in 2009. Since its publication in 1971, "Open Veins" has sold over a million copies worldwide despite being banned by the military governments in Chile, Argentina and his native country of Uruguay. While in exile after the Uruguayan military junta seized power in a 1973 coup, Galeano began work on his classic trilogy, "Memory of Fire," which rewrites five centuries of North and South American history.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Benghazi talking points: What’s known and unknown

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Glenn Kessler - May. 07 (Fact Check) - “I wasn’t involved in the talking points process….As I understand it, as I’ve been told, it was a typical interagency process where staff, including from the State Department, all participated, to try to come up with whatever was going to be made publicly available, and it was an intelligence product.” Read full article ...

NewsTrust Rating: 1.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Obama in Mexico for talks on economy, security

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Julie Pace - May. 02 () - Seeking to put a new spin on a long-standing partnership, President Barack Obama is promoting jobs and trade — not drug wars or border security — as the driving force behind the U.S.-Mexico relationship. But security concerns are shadowing his two-day visit, given Mexico's recent moves to limit American law enforcement access within its borders.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

How the CIA's Bags of Cash Undermined the Afghanistan War

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Wired - By Spencer Ackerman - Apr. 29 (Opinion) - It’s the most understandable, intuitive and tempting mistake in geopolitics: secretly pay a powerful foreigner to do what you want. The CIA, like many spy agencies, has done it throughout its history, and now we know it helped undermine the America’s longest war.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Millions In 'Ghost Money' Paid To Afghanistan President's Office, New York Times Reports

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - Apr. 29 (News) - The so-called "ghost money" was meant to buy influence for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) but instead fuelled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington's exit strategy from Afghanistan, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying. "The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan", one American official said, "was the United States."

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Blowback from Interventionism

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By Melvin A. Goodman - Apr. 27 (News Analysis) - American foreign policy remains locked in a cycle of violence, with the Obama administration failing to escape the neocon insistence on a swaggering “tough-guy-ism” abroad. That reliance on military intervention also comes with the cost of “blowback,

NewsTrust Rating: 4.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The World Is a Battlefield: Jeremy Scahill on "Dirty Wars" and Obama's Expanding Drone Attacks

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Jeremy Scahill, amy Goodman - Apr. 24 (Special Report) - Scahill charts the expanding covert wars operated by the CIA and JSOC, the Joint Special Operations Command, in countries from Somalia to Pakistan. "I called it 'Dirty Wars' because, particularly in this administration, in the Obama administration, I think a lot of people are being led to believe that there is such a thing as a clean war," Scahill says. He goes on to discuss secret operations in Africa, the targeting of U.S. citizens in Yemen and the key role WikiLeaks played in researching the book.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

What America's Leaving Behind in Afghanistan: Trained Militias Accused of Rape and Murder

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Jennifer Norris - Apr. 21 (News Report) - Despite some success in achieving security gains, the ALP program has been plagued by such problems as Taliban infiltration and insider attacks. But most controversially, ALP units have been accused of committing serious human rights abuses against local populations with apparent impunity.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Hagel: Israel, U.S. see 'exactly same' Iran threat

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Yahoo! News - Apr. 21 (News Report) - U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Sunday the United States and Israel see "exactly the same" threat from Iran, but differ on when it may reach the point of requiring U.S. or Israeli military action. ...

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Authoritarian Allies & the Myth of U.S. 'Leverage'

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Apr. 20 (Opinion) - The most notable part of the article is the fact that Whitlock has a U.S. official essentially agreeing with a damning critique of U.S. foreign policy: "The countries that cooperate with us get at least a free pass," acknowledged a senior U.S. official who specializes in Africa but spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution. "Whereas other countries that don't cooperate, we ream them as best we can."

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Exclusive: Allan Nairn Exposes Role of U.S. and New Guatemalan President in Indigenous Massacres

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Allan Nairn - Apr. 19 (News Report) - Ríos Montt was charged in connection with the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after he seized power in 1982. His 17-month rule is seen as one of the bloodiest chapters in Guatemala’s decades-long campaign against Maya indigenous people, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. The trial took a surprising turn last week when Guatemala President Gen. Otto Pérez Molina was directly accused of ordering executions

NewsTrust Rating: 4.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Opinion: N. Korea endgame: 3 scenarios

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - By Michael J. Green - Apr. 13 (Opinion) - Hyperbolic North Korean threats of war are not new. What is new is the intensity and persistence of those threats this time around. Add to that an untested 29-year-old leader who is suddenly a four-star general with lots to prove. How does this end? Consider these three possibilities:

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

North Korea issues fresh warning of war

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Apr. 11 (Special Report) - North Korea has warned that war could break out at any moment, as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula. South Korea had raised its alert level amid indications that the North is preparing for a missile test.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Intelligence Documents Suggest Obama Administration Lied About Who Drones Kill

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Steven Hseih - Apr. 10 (News Report) - The documents also provide a glimpse into the Obama administration’s seemingly thin rationale for executing some attacks. Contrary to claims of the CIA program’s precision and “ exceedingly rare” civilian casualties, the intelligence reports proves that “drone operators weren’t always certain who they were killing.” McClatchy’s report notes that several drone victims “died in what appeared to be signature strikes,” or attacks carried out based on a “signature” pattern of behavior, rather than a known identity.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Nouri al-Maliki: The U.S. has a foreign-policy partner in Iraq

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Nouri al-Maliki - Apr. 09 (Opinion) - Today, on the 10th anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the debate about whether it was worth it to topple the regime and the direction of the U.S.-Iraqi relationship is influenced by a pessimistic view that the United States has lost Iraq. Not true. Despite all the problems of the past decade, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis agree that we’re better off today than under Hussein’s brutal dictatorship. Read full article >>

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

"The Kissinger Cables": Three Years After "Collateral Murder," WikiLeaks Explores U.S. Diplomacy

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Apr. 08 (News Report) - The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has just published "the Kissinger Cables," 1.7 million U.S. diplomatic and intelligence documents from 1973 to 1976 that include many once-secret memos written by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. While the documents have been available to the public at the National Archives, WikiLeaks has created a searchable online database to allow anyone in the world to quickly search them.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Organization Releases 1.7 Million U.S. Diplomatic Records Comprising 'The Kissinger Cables'

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Adam Goldberg - Apr. 08 (News Report) - The trove of more than 1.7 million documents contains "205,901 records relating to former US Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger." The massive data collection is part of the launch of the WikiLeaks Public Library of US Diplomacy, or PlusD, which a press release describes as holding "the world's largest searchable collection of United States confidential, or formerly confidential, diplomatic communications."

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Obituary: Margaret Thatcher

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Apr. 08 (Special Report) - Britain's first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, became a central figure in 20th Century politics.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Behind the North Korean Crisis

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By Dennis J. Bernstein - Apr. 06 (Special Report) - U.S. propagandists and the mainstream media present foreign crises, like the current one with North Korea, as black-and-white morality plays with Official Washington behaving wisely and the adversaries as crazy. But the reality is always more complex

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer