Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Mikhail Gorbachev’s passing yesterday at age 91 is a good occasion to review some of the profound mistakes of the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush presidencies regarding Afghanistan. Reagan-era officials refused to believe that Premier Gorbachev actually intended to pull Soviet troops out of Afghanistan, though Gorbachev came into […]
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Central Intelligence Agency
Yes, America overthrew the Democratically Elected gov’t of Iran in 1953 and Ray Takeyh is wrong on the History
Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment) – It is likely that, if the elected government of Iran’s Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh had stayed in power, the Middle East or at least Iran would look very different now. But, in history, we cannot reach satisfactory conclusions based on ‘ifs‘. We have to consider only the facts and […]
Ending Regime Change – in Bolivia and the World
( Code Pink) – Less than a year after the United States and the U.S.-backed Organization of American States (OAS) supported a violent military coup to overthrow the government of Bolivia, the Bolivian people have reelected the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and restored it to power. In the long history of U.S.-backed “regime changes” in […]
Before the CIA Coup in 1953, the US and Iran had been old Friends
By Daniel Thomas Potts | – The British- and American-backed plot to overthrow Iran’s prime minister in 1953 laid the groundwork for the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and decades of hostility with the U.S. A documentary about the plot released on Aug. 19 offers new details of what happened. I believe it is worth recalling […]
Coronavirus and Intelligence: Trump is Getting up Conflict with China the way Bush did with Iraq
By Bob Dreyfuss | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – There’s a meme that appears now and then on Facebook and other social media: “Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.” That’s funny. What’s not is […]
How the CIA’s secret torture program sparked a citizen-led public reckoning in North Carolina
By Alexandra Moore | (The Conversation) | – – President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, is reported to have overseen a U.S. site in Thailand where torture of a suspected terrorist took place. Later she allegedly helped destroy evidence of torture. Her nomination, pending congressional approval, is viewed by many as further […]
John Bolton Skewed Intelligence, Say People Who Worked With Him
By Sebastian Rotella | ProPublica | – – Former colleagues say the next national security adviser — whose job is to marshal information and present it to the president fairly — resists input that doesn’t fit his biases and retaliates against people he disagrees with. In early 2002, as the Bush administration hunted for Osama […]
“Secret” JFK Assassination Files Reveal Bizarre Allegations
TeleSur | – – Nearly 3,000 documents previously kept secret are now in the process of being published online by the National Archive. As much as 88% of the collection has been available to the public since the late 1990s, but a small portion is still being withheld. Conspiracy theorists have been quick to seize […]
Heavy Smoke from SF Russian Consulate Chimney as Moscow Fears Search by US
By Mike Eckel | ( RFE/RL ) | – – WASHINGTON — Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that U.S. law enforcement officials intend to search its San Francisco consulate and some diplomatic residences, and it complained the U.S. demands were posing a “direct threat” to its citizens. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement […]