Letting US ‘Lead’ Against Islamic State

America’s Mideast “allies” are less eager to take on Islamic State terrorists themselves than to urge the U.S. military to do so, raising questions about whether much of today’s campaign-trail tough-guy/gal talk about Washington taking the lead really means doing the dirty work for Saudi Arabia, Israel and others, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2016/01/letting-us-lead-against-islamic-state.html

‘Cut-out’ Anti-Drone Protest Brings Arrests

The U.S. government’s lethal drone program continues to spark protests from anti-war activists, including a novel “blockade” outside upstate New York’s Hancock air base where a dozen protesters arrayed life-size cut-outs of the late anti-war activist Jerry Berrigan and faced arrest. On Jan. 28, 30 life-size cutouts of the late anti-war activist Jerry Berrigan –…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2016/01/cut-out-anti-drone-protest-brings.html

Hillary Clinton’s Iraq War Albatross

George W. Bush’s Iraq invasion may rank as the worst foreign policy disaster in U.S. history – spreading chaos across the Mideast and now into Europe, yet polls show Democrats nationwide favor nominating Hillary Clinton, who voted for the war and backed it even after Bush’s WMD claims were debunked, recalls Stephen Zunes. By Stephen…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2016/01/hillary-clintons-iraq-war-albatross.html

The Dangerous Ideology of Religion

Ideology, in the hands of true-believers, tends to reject facts in favor of some grander “truth,” an especially dangerous tendency when mixed with religious conviction and certainty, as Lawrence Davidson explains. By Lawrence Davidson Ideologies are pre-set forms of thinking that shape people’s worldviews and, supposedly, help to order and simplify reality. While this supposition is…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-dangerous-ideology-of-religion.html

Lobbying’s Mile-High Plateau

Special-interest money in Washington may have peaked but it looks more like it has plateaued at mile-high altitudes, with hundreds of millions of dollars continuing to fill the coffers of lobbying firms each year as they sign up ex-members of Congress and other well-connected “public servants,” as Michael Winship reports. By Michael Winship Pity poor…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2016/01/lobbyings-mile-high-plateau.html

A Russian Diplomat’s Take on the World

As the West’s mainstream media portrays Russia as a crazy rogue state, Moscow’s thoughtful critiques of world affairs are ignored, not fitting the propaganda theme. Such was the case when Foreign Minister Lavrov explained why there would be no more “business as usual” with the West, as Gilbert Doctorow describes. By Gilbert Doctorow On Jan.…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-russian-diplomats-take-on-world.html

Hillary Clinton’s Own Petard

In 2008, Hillary Clinton sought to exploit Barack Obama’s limited foreign policy experience by claiming she was more fit to answer a 3 a.m. phone call announcing some crisis, but her national security judgments continue to demonstrate serious weaknesses and fail to meet her own standard, writes Bart Gruzalski. By Bart Gruzalski Journalist Robert Parry…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2016/01/hillary-clintons-own-petard.html