bn
as the global population grows to 9 billion by midcentury will there be enough food and water?
when it comes to national security policy, the U.S. has been on a steady hypermilitarized arc for decades. U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Patron is a bomb-sniffing 2yo Jack Russell terrier targeting explosive ordinance in Ukraine. The tiny dog is credited with over 262 saves. President Zelenskyy held a ceremony for Patron at the Palace where a medal was given for "dedicated work in the UA army."
UN votes to suspend Russia from its Human Rights Council
UN resolutions are non-binding, but a diplomatic victory for Ukraine as the UN General Assembly condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 07 Apr 2022
UN says "bad Russia"
UN General Assembly vote, 141 of 193 nations reprimand Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, demand withdrawal of forces. Resolution deplores Russia's aggression and condems Putin, increasing international isolation. 02 Mar 2022
NATO map select NATO MEMBERS in left nav or Active layers in lower right.
Michael McFaul, fmr. U.S. Ambassador to Russia. @McFaul Twitter /and article in journalofdemocracy.org
Peter Strzok, Compromised
$768 billion
for fiscal year 2022 the NDAA authorized $768b in defense spending. Compare a 1 year budget vs. over a 10 year span for Biden's Build Back Better $2trillion.
fiscal year budget
the FY 2022 US defense budget request of $715b, reflects a 1.6% increase, when compared to the FY 2021 enacted amount of $703.7b.
chart pgPeterson Foundation Afghanistan and Iraq war costs are estimated to be $2 trillion.
good luck trying to get translators for your next war if you cannot be trusted to keep your promises to local allies.
American conservatives assumed that military power would enable the U.S. to accomplish a radical idealogical agenda, particularly in the Middle East. neocon neoconservatism described the thinking of aggressive foreign policy through military might, and made the strident case for U.S. global military dominance, and open-ended wars. That effort to force liberal democracies on other cultures and countries proved to be a costly failure. see Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, President George W. Bush.
ISIL vs. affiliates, al-Qaeda vs. Taliban
Sunni-Shia conflict as well as the intra-Sunni conflict
ISIL was formed by defectors from al-Qaeda in 2014 in Syria who then attacked their parent organisation and its Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra. ISKP was formed primarily by defectors from the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2015, who then went on to attack the Afghan branch. In both cases, the defectors considered their former organisations not extreme enough or not committed enough to attack fellow Sunnis, who they considered deviants, or Shia Muslims.
the threat of ISKP in Afghanistan Aljazeera Aug 2021
Taliban before U.S. invasion of Afghanistan:
open-bed Toyota trucks, primary weapon: AK-47, that the Russians left behind.
Taliban after U.S. invasion of Afghanistan:
brand-new .50 Cal turret mounted Humvee armored vehicles:
high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV),
primary weapon: M4, that the U.S. left behind.
no gun left behind
the U.S. M4/M4A1 5.56mm carbine service rifle, is a lightweight, gas-operated, direct impingement, shoulder fired weapon and a 30 Rd mag capacity. The short barrel, 14.5 inch barrel length with built-in accessory rail, and telescoping stock, provides soldiers operating in close quarters with improved handling and the capability to rapidly and accurately engage targets at extended range, day or night. The M4 has a maximum range of 600 m, rate of fire of 700-950 rpm, muzzle velocity of 2,900 fps. The trigger unit of the M4A1 is modified to fire full-auto instead of the 3-round burst in the M4.
Palestine
U.S.
Voting rights
Voting Rights Act of 1965, considered the most important civil rights statue, overturned totalitarian apartheid in the South. GOP effort to make voting harder and donating easier, is the opposite of the Voting Rights Act.
the recent GOP effort to restrict voting rights of Americans is against democracy.
democracy
the platform of the GOP is against a multiracial democracy.
Noam Chomsky chomsky.info
Ilhan Omar for telling the truth The Intercept
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