The Narco-Terror War and Fallout from Libya to Afghanistan
By Edited by Michael Flynn July 6, 2011
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FEATURED ARTICLE
The Narco-Terror War
By Charles Davis
Despite vocal efforts by some foreign policy hawks to view the war on drugs as an extension of the war on terror, the emerging consensus—even among the political establishment—is that the war on drugs has been a dismal failure. Drug production—and body counts—surge in Latin America, opium is a staple crop in Afghanistan despite the presence of tens of thousands of occupying troops, and anti-drug policies that have helped put hundreds of thousands of non-violent offenders behind bars have had no discernible impact on usage. But for much of the rightwing establishment, drug prohibition is just like any other war: deserving of uncritical support even in the face of defeat. Read article.
MILITARIST MONITOR
With President Obama’s announcement that he would withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2011 and an additional 23,000 the following year, the president effectively ruptured the uneasy alliance his administration had maintained with prominent foreign policy hawks and neoconservatives ever since his progressive base began to question his escalation of the war. However much Obama’s conservative critics accused him of “dithering” in advance of his earlier decision to “surge” U.S. forces in the country, they were nonetheless among his more reliable backers when it came to the war in Afghanistan. This alliance, however, is no more. Militarist Monitor.
FEATURED PROFILES
The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations during the Bush presidency, Khalilzad is president of the international consulting firm Khalilzad Associates and an outspoken supporter of aggressive U.S. support for toppling Mideast regimes caught up in the “Arab Spring” as part of an effort to contain Iran.
Gompert, a former vice president of the RAND Corporation known for his hawkish views on defense, served briefly as President Barack Obama’s acting director of national intelligence before becoming a director at Pentagon contractor Global Integrated Security.
Rubin, a “scholar” at the American Enterprise Institute who has attacked what he call’s Right Web’s “fake, conspiracy riddled biographies,” views the revolt in Egypt through the lens of Iran’s Islamic revolution.
Hirsi Ali, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has a made a career denouncing Islam, argues that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood may be more dangerous than Al Qaeda precisely because it has given up armed struggle.
Garner, the erstwhile “mayor of Baghdad,” has capitalized on his experiences in Iraq to pursue oil deals in Kurdish areas of the country.
ALSO NEW ON RIGHT WEB
Kerry, McCain Come to Obama’s Rescue Over Libya
In the face of growing congressional criticism over the legal basis for the Libyan War, Barack Obama received a lifeline from two Senate allies: John Kerry and John McCain.
Obama Leaves Door Open to Long-Term US Afghan Combat
Despite Barack Obama's announcement of a gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan, the reality is that U.S. troops are far from coming home.
Obama Takes the Centrist Option on Withdrawal
By announcing a small troop drawdown, but refraining to set a deadline for full troop withdrawal, Barack Obama is trying to stake out a middle ground in the Afghan war debate.
Neoconservatives Losing Hold Over Republican Foreign Policy
Neoconservative dominance of Republican Party foreign policy trends is steadily waning, with leading 2012 candidates expressing doubt about U.S. military engagements abroad and massive majorities of Republican voters turning their backs on the Bush-era “Freedom Agenda.”
Obama’s Claim of Libya War Powers Widely Disputed
The lengthening U.S. intervention in Libya has prompted Congress to angrily claim President Obama is not complying with the 1973 War Powers Act.
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