RT (2020-03-04). US strikes Taliban as Trump's Afghanistan peace deal risks collapse. rt.com The US military has conducted an airstrike against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Helmand province, jeopardizing a fragile ceasefire and Donald Trump's much-touted peace roadmap for Afghanistan. | A spokesman for US forces said that an airstrike had targeted Taliban fighters in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand, who were "actively attacking" an Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) checkpoint. The Pentagon insisted the strike was defensive and aimed at "disrupting" the Taliban assault, claiming that it was the first US attack on the Taliban in eleven days. | The spokesman also called on the Taliban to stop "needless a…

teleSUR (2020-03-04). Colombia: Social Actors to Debate Country's Armed Conflict. telesurenglish.net Representatives of all social sectors in Colombia will reflect next week on the country's armed conflict, thanks to the initiative "Espacios de Escucha" (Listening Spaces), promoted by the Truth Commission and the result of the Peace Agreement signed by the Colombian State and the former guerrilla group FARC-EP. | RELATED: | The Truth Commission informed this Wednesday that listening spaces be h…

David Swanson (2020-03-04). Yet Another Mass Shooter Was a Military Veteran. counterpunch.org Thursday yet another mass shooting was committed by a military veteran, this one in Milwaukee. Virtually all military veterans are not mass shooters. Many peace activists are veterans. Many everything under the sun are veterans. But mass shooters are very disproportionately military veterans. Some mass shooters who are not veterans are acting out a pretense of

teleSUR (2020-03-04). US Military Launches Airstrike Against Taliban After Peace Deal. telesurenglish.net The U.S. Military Wednesday bombed Taliban fighters supposedly to protect the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). This unexpected military action occurred just four days after the U.S. government signed a peace agreement with the insurgents. | RELATED: ‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã | "The U.S. conducted an airstrike on Mar…

Fight Back (2020-03-04). Denver students celebrate Black History Month. fightbacknews.org Denver, CO – Denver Students for a Democratic Society hosted local Denver activist Shareef Aleem for an event about radical Black history in the U.S., Feb. 25, as a part of Black History Month. At the event, Aleem discussed the history of radical Black activism, as well as how Black art and culture has been seized and stolen for generations. Aleem, an activist for over 20 years, has been involved in numerous groups, particularly in the peace movement and in the movement for police accountability. | "Anything Black people have in this country, somebody spilled their blood over," Aleem noted in his speech. Aleem th…

Staff (2020-03-04). Trump's Afghanistan Deal Prioritizes Bragging Rights Over Lasting Peace. truthout.org It's true that the Trump administration signed a "peace deal" with the Taliban — something that eluded both George W. Bush and Barack Obama — but a closer look at the agreement reveals it to be riddled with conditions that are fraught with obstacles. | The terms of the deal suggest that Trump is more interested in boasting that he's fulfilling his campaign promise to bring the troops home than he is committed to achieving real peace in Afghanistan. This fact has also been noted by Trump…

Fight Back (2020-03-04). Eyewitness Venezuela: Sanctions kill but Venezuelans stand strong. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – Over 40 people gathered March 1 to hear Brad Sigal and Sarah Martin talk about their experience at the third World Anti-Imperialist Congress in Venezuela. This Congress was attended by over 1500 delegates from 73 countries in January, included a delegation from Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The delegates were able to bring their organizational and individual experience to Caracas to work with each other on resisting imperialism. | Since Nicolás Maduro was elected president, the U.S. has ratcheted up sanctions, currency manipulation, and backed coup attempts to destabilize Venezuela…

Nino Pagliccia (2020-03-04). Venezuela Responds with Principled Conviction to the US' Desperate Attempts at Regime Change. globalresearch.ca The continued effort to overthrow President Maduro does not seem to produce the intended results for the perpetrators, but rather sends signals of desperation. The regime change plotters may be wishing to achieve what they did in Bolivia. But that …

teleSUR (2020-03-04). Super Tuesday: 'At Stake Is the Soul of the Democratic Party'. telesurenglish.net "The battle is not just between candidates for the presidency, it really is about the soul and essence of the democratic party," Professor of Venezuelan History at Pitzer University in California Miguel Tinker Salas told teleSUR as voters took to the polls on Super Tuesday's Democratic primaries. | RELATED: | What is at stake, said the academic in an interview with teleSUR, is whether the Democratic Party will be "capable of forging a new coalition that can represent th…

Elson Concepción Pérez (2020-03-04). From Monroe to Trump. US Sponsored Military Coups in Latin America. globalresearch.ca The current U.S. President again threatens military action against Venezuela and continues sanctioning governments and companies with ties to the Bolivarian Republic and Cuba | *** | More than 200 years have passed since James Monroe became the fifth president of the …

teleSUR (2020-03-04). Conviasa Receives International Certificate of Operation. telesurenglish.net The Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Coniviasa) received the standard certification that validates its functioning under The International Certification Network (IQNet) standards. | RELATED: | According to Ramon Celestino Velasquez Araguayan, CONVIASA's president, this document represents an international acknowledgment of the airline and allows it to run under the norm ISO90…

M.K. Bhadrakumar (2020-03-04). The prospect of peace in Afghanistan is real—and Pakistan is the key player. mronline.org The U.S.-Taliban peace agreement signed in Doha on February 29 must be put in proper perspective. Indeed, there can't be two opinions that the curtain is coming down on what U.S. President Donald Trump called the "endless war" in which America squandered away over a trillion dollars and lost thousands of lives with no victory […] |

Global Research News (2020-03-04). Selected Articles: From Monroe to Trump. US Sponsored Military Coups in Latin America. globalresearch.ca A future without independent media leaves us with an upside down reality where according to the corporate media "NATO deserves a Nobel Peace Prize", and where "nuclear weapons and wars make us safer" | | | If, like us, this is a …

Jon Queally (2020-03-04). The US — Taliban Deal. zcomm.org The agreement, warned Rep. Barbara Lee, "leaves thousands of troops in Afghanistan and lacks the critical investments in peacebuilding, human-centered development, or governance reform needed to rebuild Afghan society"

yenisafak (2020-03-04). US embassy in Libya to put sanctions on those who threaten peace. yenisafak.com In a Facebook post, the embassy pledged to work with Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), saying they held a meeting Monday with Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and National Security Advisor Taj al-Din al-Rezagi.At the meeting, Charge d'Affaires Joshua Harris stressed "the U.S. embassy will work with Minister Bashagha to ensure implementation of U.S. Executive Order 13726, which allows for sanctions against individuals that threaten the peace, security and stability of Libya".A day after the meeting, Bashagha said the GNA will shift from a defensive to an offensive stance against the militi…

teleSUR (2020-03-03). Former Nobel Peace Prize Nominates Morales for 2020 Distinction. telesurenglish.net The Argentinian activist and human rights defender Adolfo Perez Esquivel announced Tuesday that he nominated the former Bolivian president, Evo Morales, for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. | RELATED: | Perez received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 thanks to his commitment to defending democracy and human rights against the region's military dictatorships. | "It is an honor for me to inform you that I have nominated comra…

Andrew Korybko (2020-03-03). Afghan Peace Deal: Observations, Loopholes, and Expectations. globalresearch.ca The US and the Taliban signed an historic peace deal on Saturday in the Qatari capital of Doha which sets the timeline and conditions for the full withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, with this landmark agreement giving credible reasons …

Junaid S. Ahmad (2020-03-03). The US-Taliban 'Peace Deal'? Imperial State Criminality and Terrorism, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and "Restorative Justice" globalresearch.ca March 2nd, was the birthday of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. People may be forgiven (should they be?) for forgetting about Aafia since these seventeen birthdays of hers have gone by with her incarcerated, humiliated, tortured, and God knows what in …

teleSUR (2020-03-03). Venezuelan Vice President Highlights Progress in National Talks. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Executive Vice President, RELATED: | Through a message posted on the social network Twitter, Rodriguez said that the talks promoted by President Nicolas Maduro are a good option to ensure the country's f…

Ali Salam (2020-03-02). 12 Palestinians Shot by Israeli Forces, 50 Exposed to Tear Gas, near Nablus. imemc.org Several Palestinians, on Monday, were injured, when Israeli soldiers opened fire at them as they peacefully defended a mountain in Beita town, south of Nablus, against a settler takeover, local sources reported. Palestinians gathered on the Jabal al-Arma mountain to protect their land, located in the northern occupied West Bank, …

Staff (2020-03-02). Breakthrough U.S.-Taliban Deal Signed, But Airstrikes Likely to Continue & Mercenaries to Remain. democracynow.org The U.S. has signed a deal with the Taliban aimed at drawing down its military presence and ending its 18-year war in Afghanistan. The long-anticipated deal comes after a year and a half of negotiations and following a week-long partial truce. Officials hope the accord will set the stage for a more detailed peace plan that creates a power-sharing arrangement and lasting ceasefire, but the deal did not include a key player: the U.S.-backed Afghanistan government. The Taliban has long refused to speak to the government, calling it a "puppet regime." Under the deal, nearly 5,000 of the 12,000 U.S. troops still in Af…

Medea Benjamin (2020-03-02). Can the World's Second Superpower Rise From the Ashes of Twenty Years of War? zcomm.org If there is a lesson for peace-loving Americans in the Obama and Trump presidencies, it is that we cannot just walk out of the voting booth and leave it to a champion in the White House to end our wars and bring us peace. In the final analysis, it really is up to us…

news.un (2020-03-02). Declaring commitment to 'peace and stability' for Libya, top UN envoy steps down as stress takes its toll. news.un.org After serving more than two years as the UN's Special Representative in charge of finding a way to a lasting peace in war-torn Libya, Ghassan Salamé – who also heads up the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) – handed in his resignation on Monday, citing failing health caused by the immense stress of the job.

Roger D. Harris (2020-03-01). Venezuela Embassy Protectors on Trial. dissidentvoice.org Judicial proceedings are taking place in DC federal court where the judge has ruled inadmissible the question whether the democratically elected Nicolás Maduro or the Trump-chosen Juan Guaidó is the legitimate president of Venezuela. Like an emperor of yore appointing regents of vassal states, US President Trump tapped then recently seated head of the suspended …

news.un (2020-02-29). United States-Taliban deal: UN welcomes efforts to reach political settlement in Afghanistan. news.un.org On Saturday the United Nations called for further reductions in violence in Afghanistan, and for the conditions for intra-Afghan peace talks to be met, following the announcement of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban.

news.un (2020-02-28). US Israel-Palestinian peace plan a 'mockery', upends long-standing consensus — International Conference hears. news.un.org The United States' announcement of a new vision for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, touted as the "Deal of the Century", is a "mockery", the Prime Minister of Malaysia told an international conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Vijay Prashad (2020-02-28). Witnessing the hell that a migrant can face. mronline.org The Saudi-UAE war on Yemen has been going on for five years. Despite recent peace talks leading to an improvement in aid distribution, the violence has escalated in certain key districts of Yemen over the past two weeks. Since January, 35,000 Yemenis have been displaced from their homes, an indicator of the dangerous situation in […] |

Reza Marashi (2020-02-28). Pandemics, Politics, and Peace — Episode 11. iranian.com Episode Description: This week, Reza breaks down Trump's dangerous response to the Corona Virus, why it's bananas for the DC establishment to criticize Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren's call to drawdown US troops in the Middle East, and how Iran nuclear deal opponents have boxed themselves in. Sune Engel Rasmussen, Correspondent for The Wall Street …

Staff (2020-02-27). "Dead Bodies Everywhere": Hindu Nationalist Violence Rocks Delhi as Trump Visits Modi in India. democracynow.org In India, the death toll from anti-Muslim violence in Delhi has risen to at least 34, with police accused of turning a blind eye to assaults on Muslims committed by Hindu nationalist mobs. The violence began Sunday, when groups of Hindus attacked peaceful sit-ins of Muslims protesting against Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new citizenship law, which widely restricts Muslim immigration to India. Modi said nothing as the violence continued for days, instead hosting President Donald Trump on a two-day state visit in which Trump heaped praise on the Indian prime minister. We speak with Neha Dixit, i…

Pepe Escobar (2020-02-27). Afghanistan 'peace deal' is not real without Iran. iranian.com Nearly two decades after the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan post-9/11, and after an interminable war costing over $ 2 trillion, there's hardly anything "historic" about a possible peace deal that may be signed in Doha this coming Saturday between Washington and the Taliban. We should start by stressing three points. 1- The Taliban wanted …

Paul Kawika Martin (2020-02-13). Peace Action: Senate Reclaims War Powers to Thwart Iran War. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — February 13, 2020 — In response to the Senate passing the bipartisan bill — S.J.Res.68 — that would thwart President Trump from going to war with Iran and end any current hostilities, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement: "It's about time …

Strategic Culture (2020-02-08). US Deploys 'Mini-Nukes' in Deplorable Threat to World Peace. theantimedia.com These so-called "mini-nukes" represent—despite the diminutive-sounding name—an increased risk of nuclear war.

Venezuela Analysis (2020-02-06). Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law" theantimedia.com In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

CounterSpin (2020-01-31). Omar Baddar on Israel/Palestine 'Peace' Plan, Rainey Reitman on Greenwald Persecution. fair.org MP3 Link This week on CounterSpin: It is strange to think that you could create a plan to shape the relationship between two entities, in consultation with one but not the other, and then not just declare it, yourself, a "win-win," but also say to the unconsulted party, "You better take it, or else." Yet …

Jon Rainwater (2020-01-31). House Votes to Rein in Trump's Iran War Powers While Ending Endless Wars. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — January 30, 2020 — In response to two high-profile war powers votes on the House floor today, Peace Action released the following statement: "Our nation's endless wars are on autopilot, with Trump fitfully grabbing the steering wheel until his attention wanders somewhere else. Today's votes are a step toward Congress reclaiming its …

Jon Rainwater (2020-01-08). In the ongoing crisis, Congress must rein in Trump's war powers. peaceaction.org As we feared, President Trump's reckless assassination of Iran's Gen. Soleimani resulted in escalation — direct Iranian missile attacks on two military bases in Iraq. It's painful to watch more violence in a country that has already suffered far too much from endless war. All parties in the US/Iran conflict must cease military action and …

Joe Emersberger (2019-12-20). Notes on a private TV newscast in Bolivia. The contrast with Venezuela is clear as day. zcomm.org In August, I took detailed notes a news broadcast on one of Venezuela's largest TV networks. I summarized these notes in an interview I did with the Real News Network making the point that Venezuela's private media (which reaches 60-90% of households) is remarkably free — most especially when you consider the US is openly

Joe Emersberger (2019-12-16). Francisco Rodriguez answers some questions I asked about Venezuela. zcomm.org Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodriguez, formerly of Torino Economics, answered a few questions of mine about his country. He was the economic adviser to Henri Falcon, the second place finisher in the May 2018 presidential election. His updated estimate for 2019 is that Venezuela's real GDP will contract by 25% . That's horrific, but less severe

Jon Rainwater (2019-11-07). Take Action — Some actual, SANE legislation. peaceaction.org Trump has plans to spend nearly $2 TRILLION over the next 30 years on unneeded and unnecessary nuclear weapons and delivery systems. This makes no sense. This is insane. That's nearly $100 million wasted every day for thirty years on weapons we are supposed to be getting rid of. To put that amount in perspective, …

Jon Rainwater (2019-09-25). Take Action to Avoid War with Iran. peaceaction.org photo credit Dear Groundswell Readers, We have to keep pushing Congress this week if we want to avoid war with Iran. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said recently that the U.K. might join a U.S.-led military effort in the Gulf. When other nations step up to join the "coalition of the willing" it's often a bad sign. …

Paul Kawika Martin (2019-07-18). Diplomacy Instead of a Disaster in Iran. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — July 18, 2019 — In response to reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement: "Because of the Trump administration's policy of maximum provocation towards Iran, America stands on the precipice of another blunderous …

Peace Action (2019-07-11). Peace Action Endorses 'the Squad' — Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib for Congress. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — July 11, 2019 — Peace Action, the nation's largest grassroots peace organization, has endorsed four progressive champions for the House of Representatives in the 2020 election, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for New York's 14th district, Rep. Ilhan Omar for Minnesota's 5th district, Rep. Ayanna Pressley for Massachusetts' 7th district, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib …

Paul Kawika Martin (2019-06-28). Most Senators Oppose War with Iran Without Congressional Approval. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — June 28, 2019 — In response to the Senate voting 50-40 in favor of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to block funding for military action against Iran without congressional approval, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement: "Because …

Peace Action (2019-06-25). Peace Action Endorses Ilhan Omar for Congress. peaceaction.org Washington, DC — June 25, 2019 — Peace Action has announced its endorsement of Ilhan Omar for Congress in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. Peace Action is a national grassroots organization working to advance nuclear disarmament, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights, and support nonmilitary …

Peace Action (2019-06-24). Peace Action Endorses Kara Eastman for Congress. peaceaction.org Washington, DC — June 24, 2019 — Peace Action has announced its endorsement of Kara Eastman for Congress in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. Peace Action is a national grassroots organization working to advance nuclear disarmament, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights, and support nonmilitary …