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Tag: Endless War

False Feminism: Hillary Clinton And Her Financial Backers Are No Friends To Women

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton wants to make history as the first female president of the United States. But just as the election of the first black president hasn’t left black people better off eight years later, can the world’s women really count on Clinton’s support?

Voters understandably look to Clinton to support women’s rights in the U.S. at a time when many feel these rights are under attack, and she’s been happy to deliver feminist-friendly rhetoric. In April, she offered a rousing pro-woman speech at the Women in the World conference in April.

Yet a study of Clinton’s record paints a different picture. Donors from Saudi Arabia gave millions to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit operated by Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, despite Saudi Arabia’s appalling record on women’s rights. In return for their financial support, Hillary Clinton helped Saudi Arabia obtain billions in military equipment from the U.S.

John McCain And Endless War: Best Friends Forever

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Modern American politicians are often criticized for their willingness to bow to popular opinion, changing their professed beliefs from moment to moment based on what they think the public wants to hear. Yet one senator rises above all that through his unabashed love of war — a stance that’s remained consistent regardless of what party sits in the White House and how many civilian lives could hang in the balance.

That senator is John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, who currently leads the Senate Armed Services Committee. In February, as the White House asked for authorization to use military force against the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), McCain appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in support of the idea that there should be no limits on the president’s ability to make war.

“I think we should not restrain the president of the United States,” he said on the show, explaining that to do so would be “unconstitutional and frankly leads to 535 commander-in-chiefs.”

McCain has ensured U.S. support for all sides of the conflict in the Middle East. In 2012, he joined South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham in calling on America to arm the Syrian rebels, many of whom later joined ISIS. Years after helping arm the Syrian rebels, he admitted to Sean Hannity that he’d met ISIS and knew them “intimately.”

White Phosphorous War Crimes Connect Israel To Monsanto

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Monsanto Corporation, the agribusiness giant best known for its pesticides and genetically-modified crops, also manufactured white phosphorous for the U.S. government over at least the past 20 years. Used in incendiary military weapons, the United States sold white phosphorous-based weapons to Israel, which used those weapons to commit brutal war crimes against Palestinians living in Gaza in 2009.

White phosphorous is created from phosphorous through industrial processes — it is not a naturally occurring substance. Exposure can cause severe and often fatal burns, or other complications such as organ failure, with even survivors suffering from long-term health effects.

In addition to its use in weapons, white phosphorous is also used to create phosphoric acid, a key ingredient in some fertilizers, which likely explains why Monsanto would manufacture the substance.

At one point, Monsanto was the only U.S.-based firm manufacturing the substance. This, of course, caught the military’s attention.

Koch, Exxon And Other Big Oil Spend $141 Million Lobbying Washington For More War

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

As of April, the oil and gas industry had already spent over $34 million to influence American politics this year. Fossil fuel companies are one of the top sources of funding for Washington lobbying firms, and their deep pockets allow them to far outspend those who seek to protect the environment and the earth’s resources from exploitation.

The figures come from the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization working “to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government.” According to their data, lobbying from the energy sector topped $141 million last year. The top single corporate spender was Koch Industries, Inc., which spent $13.8 million in lobbying, followed by Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum, one of the country’s top oil producers.

The center’s overview of oil and gas funding suggests that while both parties receive funding from the oil and gas industry, that money has increasingly flowed to the GOP for the last two decades, with 90 percent going toward Republicans during the 2012 election cycle.

Media Blame Lone Gaza Rocket While Ignoring Israel’s History Of Breaking Ceasefires

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Israel launched new airstrikes against Gaza on Tuesday, claiming the action was in retaliation for a lone rocket fired earlier that day. The media views each such exchange in isolation, yet the Israeli government engages in deliberate provocations and ceasefire violations on a nearly daily basis against Gaza.

Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza last summer killed over 2,000 people, mostly civilians, and left another 300,000 homeless. Active and open conflict ended with the signing of a ceasefire on Aug. 26. Then, this week Israel retaliated to a single rocket fired from Gaza by bombing several targets in Gaza it said represented military infrastructure. There were no reported casualties.

The mainstream media was quick to offer Israel’s side of the conflict. “These strikes are a direct response to Hamas and the aggression against Israeli civilians originating from the Gaza Strip,” Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement.

But, as with most such rocket attacks, there were no injuries in Israel. In what Palestinians living in Gaza call self-defense against Israel’s inhumane siege of the Gaza Strip, homemade rockets directed at Israel are a response to Israel blocking humanitarian aid, medical supplies, food, or human rights monitors and journalists documenting Israel’s alleged war crimes against the impoverished region through the siege. And this latest rocket cannot be separated from months of provocative behavior by Israeli forces.