US spy satellites have detected Chinese oil sales to North Korean ships in violation of UN Security Council sanctions. Will the US demand to board Chinese ships in international waters? Escalation? And why these sanctions in the first place? Does the US and UN really think that freezing the civilian population in North Korea will help them overthrow their leader? Tune in to today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report.
Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.
I’ll be teaching a webinar at Renegade University on the history of the war in Afghanistan. It’s called “Afghanistan: America’s Longest War.” I’ll give a presentation, based on all the research I did for my book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, and then you’ll be able to ask me questions during the discussion section of the webinar.
The webinar will be live on Wednesday, January 3, at 8:30 PM Eastern Time, 7:30 PM Central Time, and 5:30 PM Pacific Time.
To sign up for my webinar on the Afghanistan war, go to thaddeusrussell.com. I hope to see you there.
General Robert Neller, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, is in the news since he told Marines to get ready for a big fight. This doesn’t really alarm me. A military exists to be ready to fight, and the Marines place a premium on combat readiness. No – what bothers me is the nine rows of ribbons General Neller is sporting on his uniform.
And compared to the other services (Army, Navy, and Air Force), the Marines are usually the most reluctant to hand out ribbons freely.
I wrote about this back in 2007: why medals and metrics in the U.S. military mislead. A big offender back then was General David Petraeus, whose uniform was festooned with ribbons and badges of all kinds, most of them of the “been there” rather than “done that” variety.
On May 2, 2017, before becoming Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as Minister of Defense, spoke about the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen, a war he orchestrated since March of 2015. "A long war is in our interest," he said, explaining that the Houthi rebels would eventually run out of cash, lack external supplies and break apart. Conversely, the Saudis could count on a steady flow of cash and weapons. "Time is on our side," he concluded.
Powerful people in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Senegal and Jordan have colluded with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince to prolong the war against Yemen. The Saudis have employed Sudanese fighters from the terrifying Janjaweed militias to fight in small cities along Yemen’s coast line. The seeming objective is to gain ground control leading to the vital Port of Hodeidah. UAE military are reported to operate a network of secret prisons where Yemenis disappear and are tortured, deterring people from speaking up about human rights violations lest they land in one of these dreaded prisons.
Among the most powerful warlords participating in the war are the U.S. and the UK.
Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to Bagram air base in Afghanistan, reassuring the assembled troops that they are winning the war there, despite evidence to the contrary. For the occasion he donned a spiffy-looking leather military flight jacket, customized for him, as have other presidents and VPs going back at least as far as Ronald Reagan.
I’ve written about this before, this adoption of military clothing by civilian commanders. It’s an insidious blurring of the lines between the civilian chain of command – and the crucial idea of civilian control of the military – and the military chain. You don’t see generals and admirals on active duty showing up to testify before Congress in civilian coat and tie: they wear their uniforms because that’s who they are – commissioned military officers. Similarly, our civilian leaders, whether Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama or Donald Trump, should wear their “uniform,” typically civilian coat and tie, for that is who they are. They should never wear military flight jackets and similar items, no matter how “cool” or “supportive” they think they look. It sends the wrong sartorial and political signals.
Continue reading “William Astore on Mike Pence’s Visit to Afghanistan”
After opposing escalation with Russia over Ukraine as a candidate, President Trump made the surprising decision to begin supplying Ukraine with lethal arms this week. The neocons are pleased but urge him to allow even more weapons. What’s the reason for the flip-flop? Join today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report for our take.
Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.
