Tag Archives: US foreign politics
| How Libyan ‘Regime Change’ Lies Echo in Syria
By James W Carden
Earlier this month, a select committee of British parliamentarians released a report which condemned the UK government under David Cameron for its role in the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya. The report makes plain that the principal basis on which the intervention was predicated – that then-Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was on the verge of committing a wholesale slaughter of the rebel stronghold Benghazi – was a lie propagated by Western and Gulf State media outlets.
| China: Inherently biased and unjust ‘piece of paper’
Just as anticipated, the South China Sea arbitral tribunal in The Hague delivered an outrageously one-sided ruling in the case initiated by the Philippines.
The Philippines, along with some other countries, may rejoice over the tribunal’s de facto overthrowing of Beijing’s core territorial claims. But there is no moral high ground to claim here, because the ruling is inherently biased, unjust, and thus not executable.
| Hawks in Obama administration dream on Syrian government overthrow
On June 17 Wall Street Journal has published information that “dozens of State Department officials this week protested against U.S. policy in Syria, signing an internal document that calls for targeted military strikes against the Damascus government and urging regime change as the only way to defeat Islamic State.
The “dissent channel cable” was signed by 51 State Department officers… The views expressed by the U.S. officials in the cable amount to a scalding internal critique of a longstanding U.S. policy against taking sides in the Syrian war… The State Department acknowledged the existence of the cable, which is a formal, confidential diplomatic communication… Obama administration officials have expressed concern that attacking the Assad regime could lead to a direct conflict with Russia and Iran”.
It is hard to imagine the link between military strikes against the Damascus government and victory over ISIS. This problem naturally provoked some questions to Obama administration. The next day Deputy Press Secretary Jennifer Friedman was asked: “Is there any reaction from the White House to the internal State Department memo that’s very critical of the President’s Syria policy?”
Ms. Friedman answered she has not read memo yet but it contradicts to Obama’s approach to Syrian problem: “First, the President has always been clear that he doesn’t see a military solution to the crisis in Syria. And that remains the case. And so we’re focused on the threat posed by ISIL and terrorist groups in Syria”. She stressed twice “that the President has been clear and continues to be clear that he doesn’t see a military solution to the crisis in Syria”. Jennifer Friedman added: “That doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be discussions or a variety of conversations and a variety of opinions, but that fundamental principle still remains”.
The discussion may rise from the position of circles round Clinton. Despite the lack of evidence linking Orlando mass murderer Omar Mateen to Daesh (ISIS) in any operational (direct) sense, the first inclination of Hillary Clinton was to renew American bombing of Syria, Iraq and Libya.
| NGOs: A New Face of Destabilization in Latin America
For the United States, “non-governmental organizations” are playing an increasingly prominent role in “democracy promotion” across the planet.
In Latin America, there is increasing awareness about the activities of these groups and those who fund them to undermine elected governments and subvert the region’s autonomy.
