Daily Archives: August 20, 2021

2021-08-20: News Headlines

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2021-08-20). Will Americans Who Were Right on Afghanistan Still Be Ignored? dissidentvoice.org Protest in Westwood, California 2002. Photo: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images America's corporate media are ringing with recriminations over the humiliating U.S. military defeat in Afghanistan. But very little of the criticism goes to the root of the problem, which was the original decision to militarily invade and occupy Afghanistan in the first …

Edward C. Corrigan (2021-08-20). The United States Does Not Learn from its Past Mistakes. dissidentvoice.org It is said that Afghanistan is the grave yard of Empires. Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the Empire of Great Britain, the Soviet Union and now the American Empire and its NATO allies have all suffered defeat at the hands of the fiercely independent Afghans. As the World watches in disbelief, the American-backed government in …

Editor2 (2021-08-20). President Maduro: 'Afghanistan Speaks Volumes on Decline of US Empire'. orinocotribune.com The warmongering and interventionist policy of the United States empire has failed, as evidenced by the "pathetic" situation in which Afghanistan was left following the 20-year U.S. occupation, according to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. | What's more, the Venezuelan President said that the misinformation given by U.S. intelligence just days prior indicates that they're either tragically misinformed "or someone within the United States intelligence apparatus is conspiring" to try to sink the U.S. President. | President Maduro

Jeffrey St. Clair (2021-08-20). Roaming Charges: When the Empire of Graveyards Falls in the Graveyard of Empires. counterpunch.org The next war on Afghanistan will be a silent war, one waged behind the shadowed windows of board rooms and bank vaults, an economic war, fought with sanctions and debt, weapons indiscriminate as cluster bombs, that will almost certainly inflict much more misery and death than the hot war of the last 20 years. It's already started.

Anonymous669 (2021-08-20). Israeli F-35 Stealthy Fighter Jets Spotted Over Lebanon Only Day After Strikes On Syria (Photos). southfront.org Israel's first two F-35 stealth fighter jets on their maiden flight as part of the Israeli Air Force on December 13, 2016. (Israel Defense Forces) | On August 20, several F-35 stealthy fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) were spotted flying over South Lebanon, the heartland of Hezbollah. | Lebanese activists shared photos of the fighter jets, which were apparently conducting a training or a reconnaissance mission in Lebanon's airspace in a blatant violation of the country's sovereignty and international laws. | At lea…

The Socialist Program (2021-08-19). A Turning Point? Afghanistan and the Future of the U.S. Empire. liberationnews.org Will the chaotic end of the Afghanistan War deal a lasting blow to US imperialism?

Staff (2021-08-19). Anti-war activists mock CNN as it cries over $1 trillion worth of 'desperately needed' minerals left behind in Afghanistan. rt.com CNN has been hit with a wave of anti-war sentiment after publishing a curious piece highlighting the $1 trillion worth of minerals in Afghanistan being left behind that "the world desperately needs." | When the US finishes its exit from the country after 20 years, it will be leaving behind valuable, untapped mineral deposits worth a $1 trillion, according to US military officials and geologists in 2010. | Minerals such as iron, copper, gold and lithium are found in huge quantities there, and have remained mostly untouched due to the unstable state of the nation, something that doesn't look to be changing as th…

teleSUR (2021-08-19). Afghan Tricolor Flag Defies the Taliban on Independence Day. telesurenglish.net On Thursday, August 19, Afghans celebrated the 102nd anniversary of their country's independence from the British Empire by waving their tricolor flag as a symbol of resistance to the Taliban. | RELATED: | The situation in Afghanistan is developing rapidly. Former President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani announced from the United Arab Emirates that he had to leave office after threats to be beheaded if he continue…

Ron Jacobs (2021-08-19). Kabul's Victors and the Vanquished. counterpunch.org Speculation abounds. The end of US-managed rule in the nation called Afghanistan has fueled a flood of warnings, blame, and just plain guessing about what comes next there. Liberal and neocon warmongers in the media wring their hands looking for someone/anyone to blame beside their failed imperial strategy. The far right in the US have yet to speak their piece on the so-called fall of Kabul. Perhaps they are waiting for their two primary impulses of libertarianism and military imperialism factions to fight it out.

Tom Clifford (2021-08-19). Post-US Afghanistan: Can China Navigate a Way Through the Tombstones? counterpunch.org Beijing. Another name has been chiseled on the tombstone in the graveyard of empires. The United States of America. 2001-2021. From the swords of Alexander the Great, the British empire, the Russians before and after Lenin, and the US as the newest members of the Great Game, military powers have seen the Afghan sand swallow

_____ (2021-08-19). Three Activists Arrested After Blockading Drone Factory. popularresistance.org Palestine Action have returned to Elbit System's drone factory in Braunstone Town, Leicester, and have once again disrupted the production of killer drones used for repressive purposes by Israeli forces. The factory — ran by Elbit-Thales joint venture UAV Tactical Systems — has been blockaded by Palestine Action activists. Two activists in a 'lock-on' and one activist who had D-locked their body to gates have been arrested, after placing their bodies in the way of Elbit's drone manufacture operations. | The previous occupation of the Leicester site — from May 19th-25th — was Palestine Acti…

Vincent Tsai (2021-08-19). East Harlem defends 'Dos Alas' mural of Puerto Rican & Cuban solidarity. liberationnews.org Over the last couple of weeks, community activists with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Justice Center en El Barrio, East Harlem Preservation, and signees of a list of over 40 endorsing organizations and individuals, have been gathering hundreds of in-person petition signatures to defend the Dos Alas mural in the East Harlem (El …

_____ (2021-08-19). As US Empire Declines, What Openings Exist For Progressive Movements? popularresistance.org The fall of Kabul with, once again, the hurried and chaotic departure of surprised Americans, has led to an abundance of hand-wringing from the U.S. political center, as well as the right. Its larger meaning is important for people who want progressive change in the United States. | For well over a decade I've noted to activist audiences that the U.S. empire is in decline. At the same time, I've encouraged activists to see this as good news — even if it means there will be challenges like increasing polarization. | For one thing, the decline won't be causing centrists to re-evaluate their support for empire…

_____ (2021-08-19). As The US Empire Declines, What Openings Exist For Progressive Movements? popularresistance.org While we can't change the events of the past week — let alone the past 20 years — we can start thinking about next steps, and that leads to an important question: What can U.S. activists do with the opportunities associated with imperial decline? Here are two winning ideas.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-08-19). Dispatches from India: The Olympic journey. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode, we take a look at India's performance at the Tokyo Olympics, the culture of sport and the support given to it in the country. We also look at manual scavenging and the deaths caused due to it, a protest by community health activists, the developments in Parliament, and the observation of Save India Day by trade unions…

_____ (2021-08-19). Activists Rally Across US Urging Congress to #SealTheDeal on $3.5 Trillion Infrastructure Plan. commondreams.org

_____ (2021-08-19). Feds Targeted BLM Activists to Foil Racial Justice Protests: Report. commondreams.org "More for me. None for you. America first. This is American Covid-19 vaccine policy now," one epidemiologist lamented as the U.S. moved ahead with its booster campaign.

Tom Engelhardt (2021-08-19). Tomgram: Patterson Deppen, America as a Base Nation Revisited. warisacrime.org This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. In January 2004, Chalmers Johnson wrote "America's Empire of Bases" for TomDispatch, breaking what was, in effect, a silence around those strange edifices, some the size of small towns, scattered around the planet. He began it this way: …

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