Antiwar.com Original
Originally posted at TomDispatch.
As his time in office ends in a mob invasion of the Capitol and an avalanche of pardons for his pals and cohorts, Donald Trump also pardoned four American guards from the former private security company Blackwater (run by Erik Prince, brother of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos), part of a convoy that sprayed Baghdad’s Nisour Square with a devastating wave of gunfire and grenades in September 2007. In that unprovoked massacre, 14 civilians died, including a nine-year-old boy, and 17 more were wounded. The four perpetrators were later convicted of first-degree murder or manslaughter in an American court (with Iraqi
In 1829, an engineer named Francis Xaver Riepl and the Austrian banker Salomon von Rothschild decided that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was ready to enter the Railroad Era.
The two men went to the court of the Habsburg Emperor Francis I and requested permission and funds to build Austria’s first steam-powered railroad line.
But Francis was not blind.
His family dynasty had ruled large swaths of Europe and all of Austria for more than 550 years, and it hadn’t maintained its dominion for centuries by ignoring threats to its power.
The emperor knew exactly what was happening to the British monarchy and nobility as the industrial revolution overhauled Britain, and wanted no part of it.
“This is a different kind of war, which we will wage aggressively and methodically to disrupt and destroy terrorist activity,” President George W. Bush announced a little more than two weeks after the 9/11 attacks. “Some victories will be won outside of public view, in tragedies avoided and threats eliminated. Other victories will be clear to all.”
This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the war on terror, including America’s undeclared conflict in Afghanistan. After that war’s original moniker, Operation Infinite Justice, was nixed for offending Muslim sensibilities, the Pentagon rebranded it Operation Enduring Freedom. Despite neither a clear victory, nor the slightest evidence that enduring freedom had ever been imposed on that country, “U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan ended,” according to the Defense Department, in 2014. In reality, that combat simply continued under a new name, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, and grinds on to this very day.
Letter to the editor: Collins, King should take steps to avoid war with Iran
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As referenced in the letter by Ginny Schneider on Dec. 8, it is imperative for our nation to avoid a war with Iran. As suggested, a step toward this goal would be for our Maine senators to support the repeal of the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq. Ending this authorization was in the initial House version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Our war with Iraq ended long ago and the 2002 authorization should not be extended to Iran. We need to solve our disagreements with Iran and seek diplomacy rather than war.