William Blum: USA – Exporting War & Repression

01 Poverty, 02 Infectious Disease, 03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 06 Genocide, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Corruption, Government, Military, Officers Call
William Blum
William Blum

Since the end of World War 2, the United States has:

  • Attempted to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, most of which were democratically-elected.
  • Dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries.
  • Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.
  • Attempted to suppress a populist or nationalist movement in 20 countries.
  • Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries.
  • Plus … although not easily quantified … more involved in the practice of torture than any other country in the world … for over a century … not just performing the actual torture, but teaching it, providing the manuals, and furnishing the equipment.

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Berto Jongman: CIA’s Secret Torture Sites & the Competing CIA and DoD Drone Assassination Programs

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism

berto smallCIA Torture

REVEALED: The boom and bust of the CIA’s secret torture sites

The quality of debriefers and security officers being sent to the site was degenerating, while the information coming out of it was “mediocre or, I dare say, useless”.

The Assassination Complex

Eight Papers on the Drone Programs of the USA

Taken together, the secret documents lead to the conclusion that Washington’s 14-year high-value targeting campaign suffers from an overreliance on signals intelligence, an apparently incalculable civilian toll, and — due to a preference for assassination rather than capture — an inability to extract potentially valuable intelligence from terror suspects. They also highlight the futility of the war in Afghanistan by showing how the U.S. has poured vast resources into killing local insurgents, in the process exacerbating the very threat the U.S. is seeking to confront.

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Chuck Spinney & Gareth Porter: US to Blame for Rise of Islamic State and Syria Disaster UPDATE 1: WikiLeaks Documents US Perfidy

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

Below is a very important report describing how a string of US covert operations reaching back to the 1980s has created the bloody shambles in Iraq, Syria and the emergence of ISIS.*

The author, Gareth Porter, is one of the finest investigative reporters now operating in the United States.  Most importantly, IMO, Porter ends by connecting these covert operations to the money flowing through the political-economy of Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex.  Understanding this connection is key to understanding and correcting pathological militarism now distorting US behaviour at home as well as abroad.

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Chuck Spinney: Syria as Root for WWIII UPDATE Mike Whitney on Putin Winning

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 06 Russia, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Officers Call
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

A General Summing Up of the West’s March to Folly in Syria

EXTRACT

These early failures by the German and American leaderships led to ever more costly missteps and a loss of purpose as the respective leaders ‘dug in' to defend their mistakes.  To make matters worse, some domestic interests — e.g., the Krupp in Germany and the MICC in the US — thrived on the carnage and had an economic interest in its continuation.  And so, in very different circumstances, each conflict acquired a life of its own.

UPDATE 1: Putin’s “Endgame” in Syria

Complete essay and three links below the fold.

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Wayne Madsen: CIA; Turks created caliphate to launch attacks on Russia and China UPDATE 2 Russians Accuse CIA on ISIS

09 Terrorism
Wayne Madsen
Wayne Madsen

October 5-6, 2015 — CIA; Turks created caliphate to launch attacks on Russia and China

CIA has been nurturing Russian and Chinese terrorists inside Syria.

CONCLUSION:

When Obama and his mouth pieces claim that Russia is attacking “non-jihadist” targets in Syria they are being disingenuous. What they should say, if they wanted to be honest, is that Russia is hitting non-Syrian and non-Arab Islamists in Syria who were recruited for the anti-Assad jihad by America's Turkish and Saudi “allies” and armed and trained by the CIA and Mossad. The CIA's Brennan studiously avoids the use of the term “jihadist” in order to not alienate the agency's radical Islamist friends and drive them away from Langley's control in the future U.S.-planned terrorist wars against Russia and China.

Full Text of Entire Madsen Story with Photos Below the Fold

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Berto Jongman: ISIS Terrorist Financing – Not As Reported, Some Useful Nuances

09 Terrorism

berto smallThe Archivist: Unseen Islamic State Financial Accounts for Deir az-Zor Province

Figures in the documents help us to quantify IS financing. From IS’ richest province in fossil fuels, revenues and expenditures for the province come in the form of millions of dollars on a monthly basis, not tens or hundreds of millions. As can be seen, a plurality of the income actually comes from confiscations of property and money.

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