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"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

News and Opinion

Biden Has Started Another US War

The Washington Post has an article out titled “As Houthis vow to fight on, U.S. prepares for sustained campaign,” with “sustained campaign” being empire-speak for a new American war.

“The Biden administration is crafting plans for a sustained military campaign targeting the Houthis in Yemen after 10 days of strikes failed to halt the group’s attacks on maritime commerce, stoking concern among some officials that an open-ended operation could derail the war-ravaged country’s fragile peace and pull Washington into another unpredictable Middle Eastern conflict,” the Post reports.

The Post acknowledges that “sustained military campaign” means “war” in the ninth paragraph of the article, saying the anonymous US officials cited in the report “don’t expect that the operation will stretch on for years like previous U.S. wars in Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria.” Which is about as reassuring as a pyromaniac saying he doesn’t expect he’ll be burning down any more houses like all those other houses he’s burned down.

This bizarre refusal to just call a war a war also appeared in a recent press conference with Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, who acted shocked and aghast that reporters would even ask if repeatedly bombing a country would qualify as being at war with them.

“Is it now fair to say that the U.S. is at war in Yemen?” Singh was asked by a Reuters reporter on Thursday.

“No, we don’t seek war,” Singh replied. “We don’t think that we are at war. We don’t want to see a regional war. The Houthis are the ones that continue to launch cruise missiles, antiship missiles at innocent mariners, at commercial vessels that are just transiting an area that sees, you know, 10 to 15 percent of world’s commerce.”

In a follow-up several questions later, Singh was asked by a reporter from Politico, “You said that we are not at war with the Houthis, but if — you know, this tit-for-tat bombing — we’ve bombed them five times now. So if this isn’t war, can you just explain this a little — a little bit more to us? If this isn’t war, what is war?”

“Sure, Lara, sure, great question, I just wasn’t expecting it phrased exactly that way,” Singh replied with a laugh and a smirk. “Look, we are — we do not seek war. We are — we do not — we are not at war with the Houthis. In terms of a definition, I think that would be more of a clear declaration from the United States. But again, what we are doing and the actions that we are taking are defensive in nature.”

It is worth noting that since that Thursday press conference the number of US strikes on Yemen has increased from five to seven as of this writing.

It is also worth noting here that, per Singh’s absurd definition, the US has not been at war since the end of WWII, as there has not been a “clear declaration of war” since June 5, 1942. The only wars the US has officially declared through congress in accordance with its own constitution have been the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, and the two world wars.

If you go by this definition the US is among the more peaceful nations in the world, since it hasn’t been at war in eight decades. In reality the US is the single most warlike and murderous nation of modern times with wars of aggression that have killed millions and displaced tens of millions just in the 21st century alone, and plays some role in most of the world’s major international conflicts.

Singh’s claim that the US attacks on Yemen are “defensive in nature” is also self-evidently absurd; Yemeni forces weren’t even attacking American commercial vessels until the US began attacking them. Only the US could launch unprovoked attacks on a foreign nation on the other side of the planet and call it self-defense.

Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp explains:

“Before the US began bombing the Houthis, Ansar Allah officials made clear they would only stop attacking Israeli-linked commercial shipping if the onslaught on Gaza ended. Instead of pressuring Israel to end the slaughter in Gaza, President Biden chose escalation, and now the Houthis are targeting US commercial shipping, and several US merchant vessels have been hit with missiles.”

Indeed, the only reason Houthi forces began attacking ships in the Red Sea was to pressure Israel and its allies into ceasing the ongoing massacre that has been taking place in Gaza since October 7. As usual the world’s most murderous and powerful government is framing its horrifying acts of extreme aggression as innocent defensive responses to unprovoked attacks, when in reality the US empire is bombing Yemen in order to facilitate the genocide of Palestinians.

And while we’re on the subject of Gaza and Yemen it’s probably worth pointing out that according to US empire managers the stated goals of both campaigns have been completely unsuccessful. A new report by The Wall Street Journal says that according to US intelligence Israel is nowhere remotely close to eliminating Hamas, with only 20 to 30 percent of the group having been killed since October. Asked by the press on Thursday if the strikes against the Houthis are working, Biden replied “Well, when you say ‘working’ — are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.”

So they’re raining military explosives on impoverished middle easterners to maintain their status quo domination, under the pretense of goals which they themselves admit are not being achieved. Just another day in the empire, I guess.

US and UK strike Yemen in latest attempt to stop Houthis targeting ships

The US and the UK have conducted a further round of strikes against the Houthis in an attempt to stop the rebel group targeting shipping in the southern Red Sea.

A joint statement from both countries said that they had conducted “an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes” against eight Houthi targets, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.

The number of targets is considerably lower than the 60 which were struck in the first air raids on Yemen made by the two countries 10 days earlier, while their effect and the number of casualties caused is uncertain.

The latest raid marks the eighth time the US has conducted strikes on Houthi targets this months and the second time that the UK has participated.

US officials briefed that the attacks by the two countries were taking place using fighter jets and ship launched cruise missiles, as initial footage and reports emerged on social media of explosions around the Houthi controlled capital Sana’a.

Q: "Is it now fair to say that the US is at war in Yemen?"

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh: "We don't think that we are at war."

Q: "We've bombed them five times now...If this isn't war, what is war?"

Singh: "We are not at war with the Houthis." pic.twitter.com/2fN8kC261Z

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 20, 2024

US, UK Bomb Yemeni Capital as Part of 'Sustained' Attack on Houthis

Anti-war voices on Monday condemned the start of what appeared to be the "sustained" assault on Yemen by U.S. and U.K. forces that top Biden administration officials have reportedly been planning—without congressional approval—in a bid to stop Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.

"The U.S. just bombed Yemen again," the peace group CodePink lamented on social media. "The U.S. is illegally attacking Yemen so Israel can continue illegally attacking Gaza."

The intensified attacks on Yemen—an impoverished nation reeling from a decade of civil war and U.S.-backed Saudi-led airstrikes—come amid Israel's 108-day assault on Gaza, which has killed over 25,000 people and drawn a response from the Houthis in the form of largely ineffective missile and drone strikes. ...

Fatik Al-Rodaini, a Yemeni journalist and human rights activist who founded the charity Mona Relief, reported on social media that "massive explosions have been heard loudly in the capital Sanaa," while multiple videos published online showed large explosions rocking the city, raising fears of civilian casualties.

Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti vowed on social media Monday that "the American-British aggression will only increase the Yemeni people's determination to carry out their moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards the oppressed in Gaza."

"The war today is between Yemen, which is struggling to stop the crimes of genocide, and the American-British coalition to support and protect its perpetrators," he added. "Thus, every party or individual in this world is faced with two choices that have no thirds: either to preserve its humanity and stand with Yemen, or to lose it and stand with the American-British alliance."

Biden Thinks It’s Just a Matter of Time Before US Troops Are Killed in Iraq or Syria

President Biden and his top advisors worry that it’s just a matter of time before an American soldier is killed in Iraq or Syria amid a flurry of rocket attacks launched by Shia militias on US bases that started in response to US support for the Israeli slaughter in Gaza, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

US officials suggested that if an American is killed, President Biden would attack Iran directly, which could provoke a major war. Iran is allied with the Shia militias that have been taking credit for attacks on US troops, but Tehran has denied it’s involved in the operations.

In October, the Pentagon said it had no direct evidence Iran was ordering attacks on US troops, and a US official told CNN that how willing the Shia militias were to act independently was always a “persistent intelligence gap.” Regardless, the US is still blaming Iran for the attacks.

24 IDF SOLDIERS KILLED As US Says Israel Losing War

US Intelligence Says Israel Nowhere Close to Its Goal of Eliminating Hamas

US intelligence officials estimate Israel is nowhere close to its goal of eliminating Hamas after over three months of relentless airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza, The Wall Street Journal reported.

US intelligence agencies estimate between 20% and 30% of Hamas fighters have been killed. The US estimates the group has about 25,000-30,000 militants and a few thousand police and other types of forces. There are also other militant groups inside Gaza, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The report came after a member of Israel’s war cabinet, Gadi Eisenkot, suggested the goal of eradicating Hamas is unrealistic in a veiled swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Whoever speaks of the absolute defeat [of Hamas in Gaza] and of it no longer having the will or the capability [to harm Israel], is not speaking the truth. That is why we should not tell tall tales,” said Eisenkot, a former head of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) whose son died fighting in Gaza in December.

Prof. John Mearsheimer: Israeli Dilemma: Destroy Hamas OR Free the Hostages

Hamas official says ‘no chance’ hostages will return to Israel after Netanyahu rejects deal

The prospect of a deal to release the remaining hostages held by Hamas appeared to recede on Sunday after a Hamas official said Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of their conditions meant there was “no chance” of their return.

Netanyahu had earlier dismissed the militant group’s conditions to end the war, which he said included leaving Hamas in power and Israel’s complete withdrawal from the territory.

A Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told Reuters the Israeli prime minister’s refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza “means there is no chance for the return of the [Israeli] captives”, which are estimated to be 130 in number.

Israeli hostages’ families storm Knesset meeting to demand their return

Family members of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip have stormed a parliamentary meeting in Jerusalem to demand that Israel’s government does more to return their loved ones, as fighting in Khan Younis reached unprecedented levels.

About 20 relatives of people seized as captives by the Palestinian militant group in the 7 October attack disrupted a Knesset finance committee meeting on Monday, chanting: “Release them now, now, now!”

One woman, who has three family members taken by Hamas, cried: “Just one I’d like to get back alive, one out of three.” Other protesters held up signs reading: “You will not sit here while they die there.”

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected new Hamas conditions for ending the war and releasing the hostages including the Islamist group retaining control of Gaza and Israel withdrawing completely. In response, a Hamas official in Qatar said Netanyahu’s refusal to end the military offensive in Gaza meant there was “no chance for the return of the captives”.

A total of 110 Israelis and other nationals were released in return for 240 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons as part of a week-long truce at the end of November. Several attempts at a ceasefire since have failed.

Traumatizing the public into compliance w/official Israeli, US lies

EU foreign policy chief says Israel failed to engage with Brussels peace summit

One of the EU’s most senior diplomats has criticised the Israeli foreign minister for not properly engaging with a summit in Brussels designed to pave the way for a peace plan in the Middle East. Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, told reporters Israel Katz had come to the meeting to present plans for an artificial island off the coast of Gaza and a railway to India, concepts that had nothing to do with the peace talks.

Borrell said: “We had had the pleasure of watching two very interesting videos, one about an artificial island project to serve as a port … and another one about a project to build a railroad line linking the Middle East with India, which also seemed to us to be very interesting.“I think the minister could have made better use of his time to worry about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in the Middle East and the high death toll in Gaza.”

The EU foreign policy chief has said he is determined to pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East, whether Israel is ready to participate or not. “Peace is a very general objective, nobody would say they are against peace; in our view we should stop talking about peace in the Middle East but talk about specifics, about the two-state solution,” he said. “If Israel does not want the solution, it is going to be difficult for them to take part … but it does not stop others taking part.” ...

Alluding to Israel’s stated objective of annihilating Hamas in its three-month-old war in the Gaza Strip, Borrell told reporters: “What are the other solutions they have in mind? Make all the Palestinians leave? Kill all of them? … The way they are destroying Hamas is not the way to do it. They are sealing the hate for generations.”

"Many of My Shows Have Been Canceled": Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei on Israel, Gaza & Censorship

US Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Silence Palestinian Rights Advocacy

Free speech defenders welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to take up a lawsuit that outlandishly claimed a civil society group provided "material support" for terrorism by advocating for Palestinian human rights.

The Supreme Court's punting of Jewish National Fund v. U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights—which comes over three months into Israel's war on the Gaza Strip—marks the third consecutive time a federal court has dismissed the case, which USCPR said casts "collective activism and expression of solidarity as unlawful."

In the case's first dismissal in March 2021, a federal judge said that the plaintiffs' argument was "to say the least, not persuasive."

USCPR executive director Ahmad Abuznaid hailed Monday's move by the nation's highest court, reiterating the group stands for "justice for all and an end to funding genocide." ...
The Jewish National Fund (JNF)—which was established in 1901 to purchase land for Jewish settler colonists in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire—claimed USCPR's advocacy during the demonstrations violated a provision of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, a highly contentious law signed by then-President Bill Clinton which prohibits "material support" for activities the United States considers terrorism.

"The JNF's prolonged and egregious pursuit of a fishing expedition to silence and intimidate urgent advocacy for Palestinian rights has been definitively put to rest by the Supreme Court," said Diala Shamas, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which supported the defendants.

"The JNF's accusations were baseless, as recognized by the district court, the court of appeals, and now confirmed by the Supreme Court," Shamas added. "Now, as the government of Israel is carrying out an unfolding genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, it is more important than ever that activists be free to speak out without fear. This is an important victory, but USCPR shouldn't have been subjected to these smears in the first place."

From Freezing Cold to Housing Insecurity, Migrants Face Crisis in NYC, Chicago & Beyond

US supreme court allows border patrol to cut razor wire installed by Texas

The Biden administration is allowed to cut the razor wire deployed by Texas at the border with Mexico, the US supreme court ruled on Monday. The concertina wire, deployed at the direction of the Republican Texas governor, Greg Abbott, runs roughly 30 miles (48km) along the Rio Grande river, near the border city of Eagle Pass. It is part of Abbott’s broader fight with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement and what he calls “Biden’s reckless open-border policies”. ...

Border security and immigration officially fall under the purview of the federal government, as decided in the 2012 supreme court case, Arizona v United States. The court held that federal immigration law preempted Arizona’s immigration laws.

In a narrow 5-4 vote, the supreme court has now granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration. The ruling now means the lone star state must comply with the Biden administration and allow federal authorities access to the border, contrary to recent actions taken by state.

Texas officials have argued that federal agents cut the wire to help groups crossing illegally through the river before taking them in for processing. A federal appeals court last month forced federal agents to stop cutting the concertina wire. ...

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor sided with the administration. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas voted with Texas.

Tobacco workers? Shouldn't that be air-traffic controllers?

‘We want everybody walking out’: UAW chief outlines mass strike for May 2028

Shawn Fain, the United Auto Workers president, criticized Donald Trump on Monday but declined to back Joe Biden as he reaffirmed plans to lead a general strike in the US in 2028. Speaking to union members at the UAW national political conference in Washington DC, Fain said it was time for union members to come together.

“We have to pay for our sins of the past. Back in 1980 when Reagan at the time fired tobacco workers, everybody in this country should have stood up and walked the hell out,” Fain said. “We missed the opportunity then, but we’re not going to miss it in 2028. That’s the plan. We want a general strike. We want everybody walking out just like they do in other countries.”

He reaffirmed ambitious plans to organize a general strike for 1 May 2028, coinciding with International Solidarity Day or May Day.

The UAW rescheduled the expiration of their union contracts with the US’s big three automakers to align on this day in the contracts it reached late last year and has been encouraging other labor unions to schedule contracts to expire on this day to maximize the participation from workers across different industries.

NH Politco URGES 'CEASEFIRE' Write-In For Biden Message

Biden’s name won’t appear on New Hampshire ballots – where does that leave Democrats?

While Donald Trump and Nikki Haley might draw focus, a shadow presidential primary is taking place in New Hampshire, where Joe Biden could stumble at the first hurdle of his bid to run for president again in 2024 following an internal Democratic party feud.

As a consequence of the party scrap, Biden’s name will not even appear on the ballot in the Granite state on Tuesday. While the president remains the favorite to win his party’s overall nomination, his absence here has opened a window for Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman from Minnesota, and Marianne Williamson, an author and self-help guru who ran for president in 2020, to mount longshot presidential bids.

The pair have spent weeks campaigning in the state, pitching different visions for the future. Phillips, 55, has touted his reputation as a centrist; his record of working with Republicans to get things done; and the fact that he is 26 years younger than Biden. ... So far it is Phillips who seems to be drawing the most attention from Granite staters, even if, as he told voters in Salem on Friday, challenging Biden has meant being “excommunicated” from the wider Democratic party.

A man who clearly has a passion for language, Phillips then addressed a Democratic effort to write-in Biden’s name on the ballot on Tuesday by suggesting: “If he wrote you off, why would you write him in,” and claimed that Biden “took the granite state for gran-ted”. ...

New Hampshire polling shows Biden with a commanding lead over Phillips, and an even more commanding lead over Williamson. But given Biden’s name isn’t on the ballot, there’s a possibility Phillips could win.

RFK JR SURGES to 21% in National Poll; Trump Expected to TROUNCE Nikki Haley in NH

Louisiana court upholds air permits for petrochemical complex in Cancer Alley

A Louisiana appellate court has upheld air permits for a giant proposed petrochemical complex in a region known as Cancer Alley, enraging local advocates. The decision, issued on Friday, will help clear a path for Formosa Plastics to build the nation’s largest petrochemical complex of its kind. The project has long faced staunch opposition from local and national environmental justice groups.

“Once again the state of Louisiana is putting polluters before people,” Sharon Lavigne, founder of the grassroots organization Rise St James, which works in the region, said in an emailed statement.

Friday’s ruling overturns a 2022 decision that vacated air permits for the $9.4bn project.

Those air permits, which the new decision affirmed, will authorize the plant to spew out more than 800 tons of air pollution each year – including carcinogenic ethylene oxide, as well as fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, which have been linked to respiratory and cardiac illnesses. The new permits could triple the levels of cancer-causing pollutants in the region, whose population is majority-Black, one analysis found.

Worth a full read:

Why 2024 will be a crucial year for climate litigation

Amid record domestic oil and gas production in the US and broken promises from fossil fuel companies, climate champions are increasingly looking to the courts to bring about accountability for climate damage. More than two dozen local and state governments are challenging oil companies on these grounds, while youth plaintiffs have seven pending lawsuits targeting state and federal lawmakers.

Last year brought landmark victories for these complaints, including a groundbreaking ruling in Montana that could force the state to alter its environmental policies. Supporters hope that pattern continues. “We might look back and say 2024 is the year that climate lawsuits really took off,” said Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, a non-profit that tracks and supports climate complaints.

But obstacles lie ahead. Last week the Biden administration filed a motion indicating it aims to have a major youth-led suit against the federal government dismissed.

US oil company ExxonMobil sues to block investors’ climate proposals

The US oil company ExxonMobil has filed a lawsuit to block a vote on a climate resolution brought by a green activist, in move that will be watched closely by fossil fuel companies worldwide.

The company hopes to stop investors voting on a motion put forward by Follow This, a Dutch green activist investor group, which called for Exxon to accelerate its attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The company filed the lawsuit at a US district court in Texas on Sunday, arguing that the proposal violates SEC investor petition rules. It asked the court to make a decision by 19 March, before its annual meeting on 29 May.

The move will be followed closely by other oil and gas companies and green groups, as environmental campaigners attempt to hold the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies to account for their emissions.

Follow This, which put the motion forward with the investment adviser Arjuna Capital, has registered motions at a series of oil companies’ annual general meetings for years, in a campaign to tighten their commitments to reducing their emissions.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

U.S. Claims No Alternative To Larger Middle East War

Netanyahu outlines his plan to ethnically cleanse and seize Gaza for Israel

Israel Wants a Palestinian Intifada in the West Bank

Further Discussion of the South Africa Genocide Case Against Israel: Evaluating What the Court Might Do

Why Don’t More Countries Take Action Against Israel?

Patrick Lawrence: Russia’s Turn From the West

A Fed Whistleblower Reveals Efforts to Silence Him 30 Years Ago

Macron’s dangerous escalation with Russia

A Little Night Music

Toussaint McCall - Let's Do It Over

Toussaint McCall - I'll Do It for You

Toussaint McCall - The Toussaint Shuffle

Toussaint McCall - I Would Rather Have All of Nothing

Toussaint McCall - Shimmy

Toussaint McCall - I'm Undecided

Toussaint McCall - I Stand Accused

Toussaint McCall - I'm Gonna Make Me A Woman

Toussaint McCall - My Love Is A Guarantee