Australia’s war
Surprising no one: “A newly declassified report obtained by Fairfax Media reveals Australia’s role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq was undertaken solely to enhance our alliance with the US.”
International
war
Heroes
All the “nobody” people.
Sad
Ad wonders how left wing Trump supporters are now feeling.
Kansas ANZUS.
What to do when your erstwhile ally loses the plot?
Americans Killed By Terrorists since 9/11.
Killed in the USA?
Trump’s Muslim travel ban
Welcome to the new America.
Special Relationship 2
The Bush Blair “special relationship” was a geopolitical disaster of epic proportions. Get ready for Round 2, Trump May.
The Briefing Papers: NZ’s time on the Security Council
The Briefing Papers assesses NZ’s time at the UN Security Council, which came to an end on 31 December. Here are extracts from pieces by commentators Grant Duncan and Paul Buchanan.
Voices of Aleppo.
Ordinary Syrian people on Aleppo.
Netanyahu accuses New Zealand of committing a declaration of war
Israeli Prime Mininster Benjamin Netanyahu told Murray McCully that New Zealand supporting the rights of Palestinians in the homeland areas would be regarded as a declaration of war.
Reason #3751 progressives should oppose Donald Trump presidency
President Donald Trump reckons that the US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability to make the world come to its senses regarding nukes.
Question…
On Aleppo.
Military assessment of climate change
Guardian: “Unchecked global warming is greatest threat to 21st-century security where mass migration could be ‘new normal’, say senior military”.
Trump’s broad international challenges
Barak Obama is leaving Donald Trump a number of international crises to face. What will the Donald do and will he make America great again?
I’m a Muslim, an Immigrant and I voted Trump
Take a deep breath and transcend your fear.
The Trump peace dividend: opportunity for rapprochement
Walking back the last 5 plus years of escalating military, economic and diplomatic proxy war between Russia and the United States will be difficult. But it has to be done.
ISIS Crisis
Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says our training mission to Iraq is undergoing a transformation. We were warned when the troops first went that the mission was always intended to be looser than Brownlee publicly claimed at the time. And so it has turned out to be.
Time for another round of fear mongering
Latest fear mongering sounds like a rerun of the jihadi brides lie, which as an editorial summary put it – “raises serious questions about the accuracy of claims made by John Key, SIS boss Rebecca Kitteridge and Security Intelligence Minister Chris Finlayson.”
Jill Stein: a Clinton Presidency could mean nuclear war with Russia
Hillary Clinton’s no-fly zone policy for Syria as declared in the second presidential election means air war with Russia.
Alert Memo to President Obama: it’s better to Jaw Jaw Jaw than War War War
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity advise Obama that the best way to get out of the dangerously escalating hawkish jam that parts of his government have put him in is to meet directly with Putin.
The Propaganda War
Under the rubble of lies…
Assange is a hero: Jill Stein US Greens Presidential Candidate
Julian Assange is a true hero, says Jill Stein unequivocally, along with other whistleblowers who have had the audacity to challenge the status quo establishment.
Someone in Hamilton is racist as well as stupid
Someone in Hamilton thinks that someone who wears a turban must be an ISIS supporting terrorist.
Syrian flash point just got flash pointier
The major powers are ramping up the stakes in Syria in a big way.
Cluster f*&k on cluster bombs
The Government is refusing to accept there are legal issues with Kiwisaver providers investing in manufacturers of cluster bombs. But it is also not ruling out there may be a problem.
Left Militant
With wars breaking out at an alarming rate and democracy going backwards in much of the world what should a leftie foreign policy be?
Drumpf LIVE!
Establishment candidate and billionaire Donald J Trump is delivering his acceptance speech at the RNC. It’s chockfulla cliches, but hey …
YOOO ESSS AYYYY, YOOO ESSS AYYYY!
Why do they hate us?
658 deaths due to terrorism in Europe and the Americas. 28,031 terrorism deaths in the Middle East and rest of the world.
God Botherer
God’s been a bit of a let down recently. Is it time for Him to retire?
Military coup underway in Turkey: Erdo-gone?
The attempted military coup appears to have been quickly and effectively put down by pro-Erdogan forces.
Helen Clark on Iraq
Thirteen years ago Helen Clark said despite intense pressure that the threshold for the use of force against Iraq had not been met. How right she was.
Jeremy Corbyn apologises for Blair and Bush’s Iraq War
Jeremy Corbyn’s full response to the Chilcot response. Corbyn says that the Iraq war “was an act of military aggression launched on a false pretext” and that he apologises for it on behalf of Labour, who was in Government at the time.
The Chilcot report
The Chilcot report is out and it’s more damning of the decision to invade Iraq than expected.
Chilcot report – Blair’s bad week
Even before its release the Chilcot report is drawing attention to the hubristic warmongering that will forever stain Blair’s time in office.
Istanbul airport bombing
Condolences to all family and friends of the victims.
Chilcot, Corbyn and the UK Labour Party caucus.
Three dots.
Updated