Category Archives: war

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New Year’s Resolutions for Congress – Ron Paul

As I prepare to retire from Congress, I’d like to suggest a few New Year’s resolutions for my colleagues to consider.  For the sake of liberty, peace, and prosperity I certainly hope more members of Congress consider the strict libertarian constitutional approach to government in 2013.

In just a few days, Congress will solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic.  They should reread Article 1 Section 8 and the Bill of Rights before taking such a serious oath.  Most legislation violates key provisions of the Constitution in very basic ways, and if members can’t bring themselves to say no in the face of pressure from special interests, they have broken trust with their constituents and violated their oaths. Congress does not exist to serve special interests, it exists to protect the rule of law.

I also urge my colleagues to end unconstitutional wars overseas.  Stop the drone strikes; stop the covert activities and meddling in the internal affairs of other nations. Strive to observe “good faith and justice towards all Nations” as George Washington admonished.  We are only making more enemies, wasting lives, and bankrupting ourselves with the neoconservative, interventionist mindset that endorses pre-emptive war that now dominates both parties.

All foreign aid should end because it is blatantly unconstitutional. While it may be a relatively small part of our federal budget, for many countries it is a large part of theirs–and it creates perverse incentives for both our friends and enemies. There is no way members of Congress can know or understand the political, economic, legal, and social realities in the many nations to which they send taxpayer dollars.

Congress needs to stop accumulating more debt. US debt, monetized by the Federal Reserve, is the true threat to our national security. Revisiting the parameters of Article 1 Section 8 would be a good start.

Congress should resolve to respect personal liberty and free markets. Learn more about the free market and how it regulates commerce and produces greater prosperity better than any legislation or regulation. Understand that economic freedom IS freedom.  Resolve not to get in the way of voluntary contracts between consenting adults.  Stop bailing out failed yet politically connected companies and industries. Stop forcing people to engage in commerce when they don’t want to, and stop prohibiting them from buying and selling when they do want to.  Stop trying to legislate your ideas of fairness.  Protect property rights.  Protect the individual.  That is enough.

There are many more resolutions I would like to see my colleagues in Congress adopt, but respect for the Constitution and the oath of office should be at the core of everything members of Congress do in 2013

via New Year’s Resolutions for Congress.

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The Top 5 U.S. Foreign Policy Screw-Ups of 2012 – Reason.com

Matthew Feeney|Dec. 14, 2012 4:30 pm

President Barack Obama came into office promising a foreign policy different from his predecessor, but after four years, U.S. interventionism is no less common than it was during the presidency of George W. Bush.

The Obama administration is preparing to assist the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in fighting Al Qaeda militants in Mali, while at the same time recognizing Syria’s opposition, which is supported by rebels with links to Al Qaeda. Just this morning it was announced that hundreds of U.S. troops are in Turkey as part of a NATO mission, a little after a week after the USS Eisenhower was moved off the coast of Syria. The drone strike program continues despite its effects on innocent civilians and the damage it is doing to America’s reputation.

Egypt will continue to receive U.S. military aid despite being in the midst of a constitutional crisis. Like the drone strike program, this policy threatens to undermine U.S. credibility among those that would be natural allies. Obama intervened in Libya last year, yet this year saw Libya dominate the news again thanks to an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi. The administration’s response to the attack highlighted the fiasco that is U.S. foreign policy.

The five instances listed here are only a sampling of this administration’s foreign policy failures. There is little reason to be hopeful that 2013 will bring a sea change.

Continued:

via The Top 5 U.S. Foreign Policy Screw-Ups of 2012 – Reason.com.

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Wake the F*ck Up! – A Rebuttal (NSFW!) – YouTube

Published on Sep 28, 2012

Samuel L. Jackson’s “Wake the Fuck Up” video urges Americans to re-elect Barack Obama even as it chides the president’s supporters for a lack of enthusiasm.

Why might voters be less than pleased with Obama? Reason TV responds with its own rhyme.

Go to http://reason.com/reasontv/2012/09/28/wake-the-fck-up-a-rebuttal for downloadable versions, full links, and more. And go to http://reason.tv for more videos.

Produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie (who also narrates).

About 1.30 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason’s YouTube channel to get automatic notifications when new material goes live.

via Wake the F*ck Up! – A Rebuttal (NSFW!) – YouTube.

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Cato on Mexico’s Drug Violence and the US’s Culpability « Antiwar.com Blog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qCmBuagOKA&feature=player_embedded

Cato on Mexico’s Drug Violence and the US’s Culpability « Antiwar.com Blog.

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US Demands Judge Dismiss Lawsuits Against Assassination of Citizens — News from Antiwar.com

Vows to Declare ‘State Secrets’ If Case Continues

by Jason Ditz, December 16, 2012

The Obama Administration has demanded that a federal judge throw out a lawsuit relating to the assassination of three US citizens in Obama-ordered drone strikes, saying that questions about overseas kill lists are beyond the purview of the court system and that it is inappropriate to question the president in this regard.

The demand comes with a threat to declare the entire issue of the killings a “state secret” if the judge doesn’t dismiss the lawsuit out of hand, which would make the case as a practical matter virtually impossible.

The Justice Department’s motion went on to say that the court system had no say over the question of whether assassinating American citizens overseas was proportionate or justified, and that questions of “due process” in the summary executions were not something courts could constitutionally consider.

The motion also insisted that there was no standing to question the assassination of Anwar Awlaki or his son, Abdulrahman Awlaki, because the later was the heir of the former and was killed before he was able to file a lawsuit as executor of the estate.

The elder Awlaki was referred to as a “leader” in a terrorist group in the motion, but the administration has repeatedly declined to provide any evidence for this, and has only cited sermons critical of US foreign policy as proof he is an “extremist.” The younger Awlaki was never even suspected of a crime, but was assassinated shortly after his father.

via US Demands Judge Dismiss Lawsuits Against Assassination of Citizens — News from Antiwar.com.

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Nobel Peace Prize: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and two other laureates say European Union is not worthy of being given the award | Mail Online

Desmond Tutu has contested the decision to award the prize to the European Union in an open letter to the Nobel Committee

Fellow Peace Prize laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Perez Esquivel also signed the letter, which insisted the EU was not a ‘champion of peace’

The trio said the $1.2million prize money should not be paid out to the bloc, which they claim contradicts the values associated with the prize

The decision to award the prize to the EU in a year marked by rioting amid the ongoing Eurozone crisis has already been widely derided

More:

via Nobel Peace Prize: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and two other laureates say European Union is not worthy of being given the award | Mail Online.

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As Admin Preps “Enduring Presence” in Afghanistan, Peace Activists Build Ties to War Victims – YouTube

Published on Dec 14, 2012

DemocracyNow.org – While the U.S. military is preparing to extend what is already the nation’s longest war, new ties are emerging between the peace movement here and in Afghanistan. The group “Afghan Peace Volunteers” recently invited international peace activists to help launch a campaign called “2 Million Friends for Peace in Afghanistan,” a nod to the number of Afghans killed in the last four decades of war and occupation. We’re joined by two U.S. peace activists recently back from Afghanistan: Ann Wright, a retired Army colonel and former U.S. diplomat who helped oversee the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan in 2001; and John Dear, a Catholic priest and longtime peace activist who was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

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‘Support for Palestine unprecedented, Netanyahu should recognize it’ – YouTube

Washington has lambasted its main Middle East partner over new settlement plans, saying they’re damaging longstanding US-Israeli ties. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off the criticism today vowing to press ahead and continue construction. British MP Jeremy Corbyn thinks Tel Aviv’s risking losing its allies.