The US and South Korean large-scale combined joint exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) begins on Aug. 21 to last till Aug. 31. There will be approximately 17,500 total US service members participating, with roughly 3,000 coming from off-peninsula - 500 more than last year. The numbers of all participants swell to a total of about 530,000 because South Korean servicemen (around 50,000), government officials and civilians also take part in the drills. The missions include: amphibious landings, intense live-fire exercises, counter-terrorism drills and simulated or tabletop battle plans.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow was deeply worried and considered the risk of military conflict between the US and North Korea "very high." He suggested a plan under which North Korea would halt missile tests if the US and South Korea would cancel the drills. China also objects to the exercise.
The UFG training event was initiated in 1976 and is conducted annually during August or September. This year, it is the first UFG exercise to be held after Pyongyang fire-tested intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking US territory, such as the island of Guam. North Korea feels threatened by a squadron of B-1B bombers on the island. The aircraft flying to the peninsula for taking part in the exercise could provoke it into launching ballistic missiles to spark a war. Last year, Pyongyang responded to the UFG by testing a nuclear weapon.
North Korea alleges that the drill is a precursor to a war planned against it. With bits of information coming from various sources pieced together, one can come to conclusion that this time it may be right. It’s not a routine training event.
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If there was a prize for the world’s most ineffective institution, the International Criminal Court would win hands down.
Consider this: The court has been in operation for fifteen years, has spent over a billion Euros, and has convicted just four war criminals. Yes, that's correct. In a decade and a half, an institution proclaiming itself the world’s first permanent war crimes court has jailed just four war criminals.
In any other justice system that kind of abysmal conviction rate would get its chiefs sacked. But not the ICC. They continue to have a comfortable luxurious life in The Hague, ruling on the handful of cases that come their way, while the world’s wars rage fiercer than ever.
One reason the ICC is such a disaster is the paradox at the heart of its existence.
The ICC is not part of the United Nations. Instead, it has authority over the 124 states that have joined it. But most states likely to commit war crimes don’t join the ICC. The result? A court full of states that don’t commit war crimes.
The big three powers, the United States, China, and Russia have have all refused to join, concerned about accountability. The US State Department puts it best, saying there are "insufficient checks and balances on the authority of the ICC prosecutor and judges," and the court has "insufficient protection against politicized prosecutions or other abuses.”
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Trump of Afghanistan
Last night, the prez announced that as Caesar of the greatest military empire in the history of the world, he needed to kill more Afghans in an unlimited war. That meant, of course, more US troops to “train” the Afghans.
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Trump's 'New' Afghan Strategy: Protect The Empire!
President Trump said his gut tells him to get out of Afghanistan, but after giving it some more thought -- with the help of his generals -- he's decided to expand US military actions rather than to wind the war down. Were the conclusions leading him to make this decision based on solid analysis and fact? Not at all! The only thing really "new" about this new strategy is that it is now official policy to never tell what US objectives are in the country! Our take on the President's speech in today's Liberty Report...
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The Afghanistan Speech President Trump Should Deliver Tonight
President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a speech tonight in which he announces the deployment of more United States troops to Afghanistan to take part in America’s longest war. Over at The Intercept today Jon Schwarz and Robert Mackey document many of Trump’s pronouncements over the last few years, largely on Twitter, opposing continuation of the war and proposing that the US troops leave Afghanistan.
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Trump's Afghanistan Strategy: What To Expect. With Jacob Hornberger
President Trump will unveil his new strategy for Afghanistan tonight. Will he do the sensible thing and end the failed longest war in history? Or will he continue doing the same thing and expect that somehow he will "win" the war? Does he even know what "winning" looks like? Today's Liberty Report is joined by Future of Freedom Foundation president Jacob Hornberger to preview what the president may say...
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Lawrence Wilkerson Explains the Danger of Trump Handing War Decisions over to Pentagon
Retired Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, interviewed last week by host Aaron Maté at The Real News, explained the danger that is materializing from President Donald Trump significantly decreasing presidential control over the military’s war activities.
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New Aug. 1:
Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) announced on Monday that he will not seek reelection in 2018 to the United States House of Representatives. In addition to being one of the longest-serving Republican members of the House (representing the second district of Tennessee since 1988), Duncan, who argues that being antiwar is a conservative position, is also one of the House’s strongest proponents for peace.
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