USA and Canada

Photo: Official portrait of CIA deputy director Gina Haspel. Credit: CIA

Trump Nominates a Torturer to Become CIA Boss

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Charles Dickens in his novel “A Tale of Two Cities”, set during the French revolution of 1789, draws the character of Madame Defarge. She along with other members of the Tricoteuse, the knitting women, perch every day next to the guillotine, knitting into hats and socks the names of those to be executed, while watching the upper aristocracy and upper bourgeoisie being dispatched to their death one by one. They were regarded as respected sisters of the revolution.

I can’t help being reminded of her when I read the CV of the woman nominated by President Donald Trump to be the new head of the CIA, Gina Haspel, who is due to be cross examined at a Senate hearing on May 9. She is a career officer who ran a CIA “black site” in Thailand. She implemented the torture policies of President George W. Bush. She also, according to the Economist, transmitted her boss’s orders to destroy video evidence of brutal interrogations.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 08 May 2018

Photo: President Buhari with U.S. counterpart Trump at Oval Office on April 30, 2018. Credit: Information Nigeria.

Trump Promises Nigerian Leader Banned Military Aircraft

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – At a long-awaited meeting between President Donald Trump and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the U.S. president announced the approval of a dozen warplanes for Nigeria whose sale had been frozen by former President Barack Obama.

Rebuking his Nigerian counterpart for the proliferation of violence throughout that country, Trump expressed concern for “the burning of churches and killing of Christians.” President Buhari blamed the violence on militia trained by the late former Libyan President, Muammar Gadaffi. He thanked the U.S. for “giving us the aircraft that we asked for,” adding: “We’re even more grateful for the presence of U.S. military advisors in Nigeria.”

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 May 2018

Photo: The Allée des Nations, with the flags of the UN member countries. Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0

U.S. Charm Offensive Takes Center Stage in Geneva

Viewpoint by Rick Wayman

The writer is Programs Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). In April 2016, he received the 'Activist of the Year' award from the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) for "dynamic leadership in bringing the Marshall Islanders' Nuclear Zero litigation to world attention, activating the next generation of peace leaders, and guiding ANA as board member and tech guru." – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN) – In February, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was widely and, I would say, unfairly criticized by the U.S. media, politicians, and even diplomats for its participation in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. By sending high-level, suave officials to the Olympics, the narrative went, the DPRK was engaged in a “charm offensive” to win over the world and make us forget about its serious human rights violations.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 26 April 2018

Photo: An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 3, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. William Collette)

US Launches Minuteman III Missile Test in Cloud of Secrecy

NEW YORK (IDN) – With little prior notice from military officials, the U.S. launched a Minuteman III Ballistic Missile on April 25 morning at approximately 5:26 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Civilians and residents living near the base, who regularly receive ample notice of missile tests, were left in the dark this time as the missile raced through the early morning sky, according to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

The U.S conducts three or four ICBM tests each year. These are the same class of missiles for which the U.S. has been highly critical of the North Koreans for developing and testing, the Santa Barbara based Foundation said.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 25 April 2018

'Fire and Fury' in Danger of Becoming Trump's 'Mantra'

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – A speech of General George Patton, a famous World War 2 warrior, has an uncanny resemblance to the philosophy of Donald Trump. “All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser – Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win – all the time. That’s why Americans have never lost, not ever will lose a war, for the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.”

Then came the Korean War (a stalemate), Vietnam (a loss), Afghanistan (mired in unconquerable mountains), Iraq 2 (a quagmire).

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 24 April 2018

Photo: China and Russia are reportedly challenging US military dominance. China's AVIC AG600, code named Kunlong, also known as TA-600, is the largest amphibious aircraft currently flying. CC BY-SA 4.0

Back to the Past with Trump’s National Security Strategy – Part 4

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the fourth of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump's Contradictions’ published earlier by IDN

ROME (IDN) – Under Putin, Russia has acquired the ability to strengthen ties with some former Soviet republics (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and in order to prevent entry into NATO and the European Union it has embarked on a war with Georgia (facilitated by the adventurism of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili) and promoted and supported the secessionism of the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, also annexing the Crimea.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 19 April 2018

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, June 2017. CC BY 4.0

Back to the Past with Trump’s National Security Strategy – Part 3

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the third of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump's Contradictions’ published earlier by IDN

ROME (IDN) – Various versions of the NSS show the oscillations in relations between the United States and Russia, but until the beginning of Putin's third presidential term (marked by a strong domestic dispute) and the civil war in Ukraine, on the whole the prevailing trend after every crisis (Kosovo in 1999, the "coloured revolutions" in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan between 2003 and 2005, the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008) was in the direction of improving relations between the two states.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 18 April 2018

Photo: The panel during the South Centre debate (from left to right): Andrew Cornford, Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva; YV Reddy, South Centre Board Member; Martin Khor, South Centre; Yilmaz Akyuz, South Centre; Hervé Hannoun and Peter Dittus, co-authors of Revolution Required. Credit: South Centre.

G7 Fiscal, Monetary Policies Are Ticking Time Bombs

By D. Ravi Kanth

This article was published in No. 211, 18 April 2018 in SOUTHNEWS, a service of the South Centre to provide information and news on topical issues from a South perspective. It was originally carried by the South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) #8663 on 17 April 2018. – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – Major developed countries led by the United States are "sleep walking towards war" by implementing unsustainable fiscal and monetary policies since the 2008 financial crisis, with the destructive consequences to be borne by the developing countries, two former senior officials of the Bank for International Settlements have warned.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 18 April 2018

Photo: Nicaraguan Contra Rebels who were among the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to the early 1990s in opposition to the socialist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government in Nicaragua. CC BY-SA 3.0

Back to the Past with Trump’s National Security Strategy – Part 2

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the second of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump's Contradictions’ published earlier by IDN. – The Editor.

ROME (IDN) – Obviously, it is not difficult to list the many cases in which the United States has worked against democratically-elected governments or supported dictatorships: during the Cold War, political liberalisation in peripheral or developing countries was subordinated to the "containment of communism" and limited by the risk that it would trigger processes of social and political mobilisation that would bring parties favourable to the Soviet Union or China to power. Practical Wilsonianism has been rather selective.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 17 April 2018

Photo: President Trump explaining a 'New National Security Strategy for a New Era' on December 18, 2017. Credit: whitehouse.gov

Back to the Past with Trump’s National Security Strategy – Part 1

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the first of a four-part article looking at the approach to Russia and China in the national security strategy of the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump. The article is a follow-up to the five-part article by the same author on ‘US Foreign Policy and Trump's Contradictions’ published earlier by IDN. – The Editor.

ROME (IDN) – At the end of 2017, the administration of US President Donald Trump published its National Security Strategy (NSS), the report that the president of the United States is required to present annually to Congress. It is legitimate to ask what interest a document such as an NSS can have since it certainly contains no military action plans, not even in general terms.