As Hassan Rouhani approaches his inauguration this weekend, there is self-referential optimism in Western policy circles about what his accession might portend. A substantial quorum in these circles sees Rouhani as perhaps someone with whom the West—to recall Margaret Thatcher’s 1984 assessment of rising Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—“can do business.” The traits these observers cite to justify their optimism—Rouhani’s deep knowledge of the nuclear file, his history of seeking creative...
Featured Articles
Time to Abolish the DHS?
by Kelley B. Vlahos | Aug 1, 2013 | Featured Articles
photo: Steve RhodesTo the glee of her critics, Janet Napolitano, the longest-serving secretary at the Department of Homeland Security in its decade-long existence, has announced her resignation. No longer will Republicans have old Janet to kick around. As for the civil libertarians and frustrated national security state watchers, she was a reliable foot solider and bureaucrat and her departure is welcome for as much as it will make a difference, which is likely not much.That’s...
Jennifer Rubin’s Panic Attack
by Chris Rossini | Jul 31, 2013 | Neocon Watch
The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald has a piece out this week that covers the big shift taking place in major public opinion against NSA surveillance. For the first time since 9/11, Americans are starting to get concerned about what has been going on under the radar. This is a tough pill for neocons to swallow. Demagoguery and keeping public opinion in line are always at the top of their “to do” list. If the public gets squeamish, it could turn out to be the first domino to fall in the direction of...
Congress to Tighten Screws on Iran Tomorrow
by Daniel McAdams | Jul 30, 2013 | Congress Alert
photo: MudflapDCAs we wrote several days ago, the House will vote on a new Iran sanctions bill this week, possibly as early as tomorrow. With nearly 400 co-sponsors of the bill, known as HR 850 -- the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, the debate is likely to be rather one-sided and in fact a recorded roll call vote is unlikely. It is considered too non-controversial to warrant a recorded vote.The bill has undergone some further revisions in the past days, primarily to add more aggressive and...
House to Hit Iran With New Sanctions Bill This Week
by Daniel McAdams | Jul 29, 2013 | Congress Alert
photo: World Can't WaitThe House Leadership has announced that it will bring a new Iran sanctions bill to the Floor for a vote this week. The bill, HR 850 - Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, will be brought up on the "suspension" calendar this coming week. Traditionally, bills are brought to the floor under suspension of the rules because they are considered "non-controversial" and therefore the higher, 2/3 affirmative vote threshold for passage is not considered an impediment. This is generally...
The American Surveillance State Is Here. Can It Be Evaded?
by John W. Whitehead | Jul 29, 2013 | Featured Articles
photo: TheeErin “If, as it seems, we are in the process of becoming a totalitarian society in which the state apparatus is all-powerful, the ethics most important for the survival of the true, free, human individual would be: cheat, lie, evade, fake it, be elsewhere, forge documents, build improved electronic gadgets in your garage that’ll outwit the gadgets used by the authorities.” – Philip K. Dick, author of Minority Report On any given day, the average American going about his daily...
Japan Must Face Up To China
by Eric Margolis | Jul 28, 2013 | Featured Articles
photo: guccio@文房具社World War II has never really ended for Japan. Sixty-eight years after the battleship US “Missouri” sailed into Tokyo Bay to receive the surrender of the Japanese Empire, Japan still behaves like a meek, defeated nation rather than one of the world’s great powers – and great peoples.Economically, Japan is a giant, albeit a staggering one. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party just secured full control of both houses of Japan’s parliament. Abe’s “three-arrow”...
Neocon Zalmay Khalilzad Knows His Side is Losing on Afghanistan
by Col. W. Patrick Lang | Jul 26, 2013 | Neocon Watch
photo: Gage SkidmoreZalmay Khalilzad is a neocon operative. I remember the time just after the first Gulf War when he was my guest for lunch at the Army and Navy Club in Washington. He was then some sort of minor sub-cabinet political appointee in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He had authored a draft strategy statement for the Department of Defense that was a preview of the neocon vision of imperial expansion and sphere of influence policy that became dominant in the Bush 43...
Sen. Graham Pounds His Shoe at Russia
by Daniel McAdams | Jul 25, 2013 | Neocon Watch
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is furious that Moscow will not deliver NSA leaker Edward Snowden to the US to face treason and espionage charges. Graham no doubt misses the irony that what Snowden revealed was that the US government has been operating like the old Soviet Union and East Germany rolled into one and given a heavy dose of steroids. Graham demands punishment for behavior that, had it been 25 years ago and a Soviet dissident rather than an American whistleblower, he likely would have...
Kafka’s America: Secret Courts, Secret Laws, and Total Surveillance
by John W. Whitehead | Jul 24, 2013 | Featured Articles
photo: Tom Hilton “Logic may indeed be unshakeable, but it cannot withstand a man who is determined to live. Where was the judge he had never seen? Where was the High Court he had never reached? He raised his hands and spread out all his fingers. But the hands of one of the men closed round his throat, just as the other drove the knife deep into his heart and turned it twice.” – Franz Kafka, The Trial In a bizarre and ludicrous attempt at “transparency,” the Obama administration has announced...
Anthony Cordesman: ‘Let’s Be Heroes in Error on Syria!’
by Daniel McAdams | Jul 23, 2013 | Neocon Watch
phhoto: Rami AlhamesIt is probably not completely fair to label establishmentarian "serious thinker" Anthony Cordesman a neocon, though his entire career has been more or less spent in their service, including as John McCain's national security aide. But here at Neocon Watch we have to judge the man (or woman) by the words they utter. And Cordesman unleashed a whopper this morning in the Washington Post. Urging more US involvement in Syria, Cordesman makes the same neocon arguments made over...
Defense Bill Up Today: Mini-Rebellion Crushed
by Daniel McAdams | Jul 23, 2013 | Congress Alert
House Leadership has put forth a limited closed rule governing the debate over the Defense Appropriations bill (HR 2367), approving just over 100 amendments to the bill. The bill will be on the House Floor today shortly after noon.By approving for debate several watered-down amendments on controversial issues, such as Rep. Radel's (R-FL) meaningless fund limitation on Syria, this rule will allow Members to placate constituents back home, who want no part of another Middle East war, while in...
NRA vs Medical Associations: Guess Who Wants You in the Government Database?
by Adam Dick | Jul 23, 2013 | Featured Articles
photo: Orange County ArchivesA conflict may be emerging between the National Rifle Association (NRA) and several large national medical and mental health associations regarding the expansion of US and state government mental health databases. Medical Daily reported last week that four national medical and mental health associations have sent letters to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expressing concern about a proposed rule to increase the flow of mental health records...
The Road to Nowhere: Kerry's Mideast Journey
by Eric Margolis | Jul 20, 2013 | Featured Articles
photo: World Economic ForumHere we go again, another round of Mideast peace talk kabuki. A process in which Washington, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization hold intense talks over holding talks, a ritual as stylized as the traditional Japanese dance. In the end, it’s the same empty, cynical ritual, year after year. This past week, US Secretary of State John Kerry has been leading the dance in the latest attempt to restart peace talks between Israel and the Mahmoud Abbas’ PLO. As...
Defense Appropriations Delayed — Rebellion in the Works?
by Daniel McAdams | Jul 19, 2013 | Congress Alert
Faced with an unexpected groundswell of opposition to its highly unusual move to limit debate on the Defense Appropriations bill, as well as fears over a Floor fight on such contentious issues as the coup in Egypt, arming the Syrian rebels, and NSA spying, House leadership has made it clear that the bill is on hold until at least next week. House leadership hoped to limit discussion of and potential votes on issues it considered too hot to handle by offering up a very unusual modified closed...
Lindsey Graham: Boycott the Soviets Again!
by Daniel McAdams | Jul 18, 2013 | Neocon Watch
photo: U.S Embassy Kabul AfghanistanQ: Why couldn't Lindsey Graham find Russia on the map? A: He'd be too confused looking for the Soviet UnionNeocon prince Lindsey Graham has decided to really hit the Soviets, er, Russians where it hurts. Although he no doubt dreams about bombs -- or at least sanctions -- to bring those stubborn Russians back in line, he has had to set his sights rather lower. In his hyperventilated desperation to punish Russia for not sending NSA leaker Edward Snowden back...
Here They Go Again: Biden 'Senses' Russia About To Attack Ukraine
Frenzied US predictions of an impending Russian assault on Kiev have one-by-one fallen by the wayside, leaving the Biden Administration's credibility in tatters. Yet they still...
Here They Go Again: Biden 'Senses' Russia About To Attack Ukraine
Feb 17, 2022
Frenzied US predictions of an impending Russian assault on Kiev have one-by-one fallen by the wayside, leaving the Biden Administration's credibility in tatters. Yet they still...
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