Joe Biden on Impeachment for Illegal Warmaking
I don ’t know if the moderators oftonight ’s Democratic primary debate are taking requests, but here ’s my question for former vice-president—and current frontrunner—Joe Biden:“Mr. Biden, the last time you were running for president, you promised that if George W. Bush ‘takes this nation to war in Iran, without congressional approval,I will make it my business to impeach him.’ Now, over a decade later, war with Iran is again on the horizon, and just this Monday,the president said he does not need congressional authorization to wage war. If he acts on that belief,will you call for Congress to impeach Preside...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 27, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Gene Healy Source Type: blogs
Changing the Way America Goes to War
America ' s vast power, and the weakness of most of its enemies, has allowed it to get away with a striking absence of deliberative judgment when deciding on war, as the Iraq case makes clear. But that free pass is coming to an end. It ' s time for the United States to rethink the way it decides on wars of choice. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - June 24, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Michael J. Mazarr Source Type: blogs
Is the Trump Administration Pushing for a Cold War with China?
In aWashington Post op-ed last week, Josh Rogin argued this:Despite what you may have read, the United States ’ strategy toward China does not entail launching another Cold War, imposing a zero-sum game or even winning a “clash of civilizations.” In fact, the entire objective of the Trump administration’s Asia approach is to avoid outright conflict with China. But to do that, Beijing must be deterre d from continuing on its aggressive path.The idea that the White House ’s new approach to confront China’s economic aggression and military expansion represents a “Cold War mentality” is popular with pundits...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 10, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Simon Lester Source Type: blogs
Impeach John Bolton?
“We’re not looking for regime change [in Iran]. I want to make that clear,”President Trump said Monday at a news conference in Japan, “nobody wants to see terrible things happen, especially me.” That’s good to hear, but has Trump’s National Security Advisor gotten the message?It ’s theundeterrable John Bolton, after all, who ’s been at the epicenter of the rumors of war plaguing Washington in recent weeks. It’s Bolton whoordered up a Pentagon plan for “retaliatory and offensive options” to check Iran, including a 120,000 troop surge to the region, and Bolton whoblustered that a recent carrier-strike...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 29, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Gene Healy Source Type: blogs
Memorial Day Thoughts
Benjamin Franklin said, “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” Given Franklin’s leadership in the struggle for American independence, we can infer that he did not think that there never was a war that was necessary, or a war that was worth its cost. But he reminds us that even necessary wars have terrible costs .I thought about Franklin when I read an eloquentcolumn on the meaning of Memorial Day by the novelist Mark Helprin, who is also a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute. He lamented:Though if by and large we ignore the debt we owe to those who fell at Saratoga, Antietam, the Marne, the Pointe du H...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 24, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
The United States (Probably) Won't Go to War with Iran
For weeks the Trump administration has beenissuing warnings about increased attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria by Iranian proxies. Recently the administration revealed that it has satellite imagery ofwhat it says are Iranian paramilitary forces loading missiles onto a small boat. In response, the Pentagonrecently presented national security adviser John Bolton and Trump ’s national security team with an updated plan that would send 120,000 troops to the Middle East if Iran attacks American forces or ramps up its development of nuclear weapons. Though the plans apparently do not include a ground invasion of Iran, what...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 18, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: A. Trevor Thrall Source Type: blogs
Boiling a Frog in the Middle East
Tensions in theMiddle East are getting higher, with the announcement that Iran would take steps that could make it harder for them to comply with the terms of the nuclear deal – and more importantly, that they would potentially violate the deal if the other parties to the agreement don’t do more to mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions.The announcement came after weeks of Trump administration moves to ratchet up pressure on Iran, from oil sanctions waivers to designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Just this week, John Bolton announced that the U.S. would be sending “a clear and unmistakable message to the ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 8, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Emma Ashford Source Type: blogs
AAR: “ The Medical Mindset, ” by Travis Hall
Second in my reviews of medical training courses at #NRAAM2019 is Travis Hall’s “Medical Mindset: Are You Prepared?” First in such short seminars is verifying the instructor’s bona fides. Travis “Doc T” Hall is an 18-Delta (special forces medical sergeant) from 5th SFG, with over 8 years combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. That checks ... (Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver)
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 27, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: ambulancedriverfiles Tags: 2nd Amendment First Aid Kits NRA Annual Meeting Tourniquets Training Source Type: blogs
Yes, the U.S. Could Be Drawn Into Yet Another Big War
The outcome of the Iraq invasion has done little to alter the factors that have led American leaders and the public into unwise military adventures. Today ' s big idea of America ' s mission is not so different from what it was in 2003. Any number of events could spark a new moral imperative to act. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - April 18, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Michael J. Mazarr Source Type: blogs
A New Installment in the Libya Tragedy
The Libya tragedy that Barack Obama ’s administration unleashed with a U.S.-led NATO military intervention in 2011 has entered yet another violent phase. Forces loyal to Field MarshalKhalifa Haftar, aone-time CIA asset that Washington now opposes, arewaging an offensive against the so-called Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli. Both theUnited Nations Security Council and the European Union support the GNA and have passed resolutionsdemanding that Haftar ’s troops cease their advance and adhere to thecease fire and plan for nation-wide elections that French President Emmanuel Macron negotiated last yea...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 16, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs
More administrative statements
I have started posting again on another of my blogs,Windham County. It ' s more personal and located in my own space and time. I ' m going to try to post at least a couple of times a week, so check it out if you think you might be interested.I have stopped posting on Today in Iraq and Afghanistan for now. During the height of the U.S. war in Iraq, it was a high-traffic blog, in the blogroll on Eschaton and Riverbend (now also defunct) and many other popular sites, and I got comments and e-mails from Pentagon and State Department officials, Iraqi politicians and activists, and links from all over. Well, U.S. forces are stil...
Source: Stayin' Alive - April 7, 2019 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
How internet "echo chambers" lead to faster radicalization on Marketplace Tech
The audio clip lasts about 6 minutes. Molly Wood is the moderator of Marketplace Tech. Fathali Moghaddam is a professor psychology at Georgetown University. Molly Wood: What are the things that move people, ultimately, to violence?Fathali Moghaddam: It's a slow process sometimes, but it can also be rapid. The key issues are that individuals feel that they are being mistreated, that there is injustice in the world. Particularly nowadays, through the internet, an echo chamber has developed and isolation takes place, so this group radicalizes. The radicalization takes place in relation to other groups. It's what I call m...
Source: Markham's Behavioral Health - March 20, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: David G. Markham Source Type: blogs
Trump's Crazy Military Budget
The White House unveiled its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2020 and, to the apparent surprise of some military planners, the White House is calling for a top line national defense budget of$750 billion. Pentagon officials had reportedly anticipated a budget of $733 billion, which would have been a 2.4 percent increase over last year ’s. They got a 4.7 percent increase instead. According to thesupporting documentation, the request is intended to provide the Department of Defense with the resources to “remain the preeminent military power in the world, ensure balances of power in key regions remain in America’s favor...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 11, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Christopher A. Preble Source Type: blogs
