Trump Gives CIA More Autonomy On Drone Strikes

Trump told CIA Director Mike Pompeo and other officials he wants an even more aggressive drone posture from the CIA.

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
President Donald Trump touches a drone during a tour of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border equipment at their airport hanger at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Yuma, Ariz. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Early after taking office, President trump visited CIA headquarters, and among the topics discussed was the global drone war. President Trump came out of the tour, as he has so many tours, “impressed” with what he saw and wanting more of that. In this case, Trump told CIA Director Mike Pompeo and other officials he wants an even more

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Military Drones Will Soon Replace Police Helicopters In Neighborhoods Near You

American law enforcement agencies are getting their hands on the same drones that have been carrying out airstrikes and surveillance on foreign battlefields.

The Anti-Media
By The Anti-Media
A fully armed MQ-9 Reaper taxis down an Afghanistan runway. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)

According to the defense contractor that developed the Predator and Reaper drones for the United States military’s operations in the Middle East, drones will have begun to replace piloted law enforcement helicopters by the year 2025. On Monday, it was reported that the contractor, General Atomics (GA), is pressing hard for the Federal Aviation

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US & Russia Inch Toward Hot War In Syria

With the US having already directly targeted Syria’s military once, another move against them especially would risk provoking a Russian reaction, which could quickly spiral out of control.

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
U.S. forces patrol on the outskirts of the Syrian town, Manbij, a flashpoint between Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters and U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters, in al-Asaliyah village, Aleppo province, Syria, March 7, 2017. (Arab 24 via AP)

In backing the rebels in the early part of the Syrian Civil War, the US was rather cynically engaging in a proxy war against Russia, angling for regime change in Russia’s main Mediterranean ally, and the host of their lone Mediterranean base. Syria’s been a source of tension ever since between the two countries, but as America’s direct ground

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NATO’s War Of Resources Is Causing A Humanitarian Crisis In West Africa

As millions suffer from hunger, disease, illiteracy and grinding poverty in the Lake Chad region of West Africa, a sinister game of resource extraction and exploitation is playing out, with geopolitics at the heart of it all.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks with Multinational Joint Task Force Commander Maj. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, right, as she departs their headquarters in N'Djamena, Chad,, April 20, 2016. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

NEW YORK -- (Analysis) In late February 2017, Norway hosted an international humanitarian conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad region in hopes of attracting major donors to fund relief work.  As Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende explained, “The conference has three aims: to raise awareness about the crisis, to gain more support

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Trump Gave CIA Secret New Authority To Launch Drone Strikes

The move is aimed at dialing back Obama’s efforts to transfer drone strike authority to the Pentagon.

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up after speaking to Navy and shipyard personnel aboard nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., Thursday, March 2, 2017. (AP/Steve Helber)

While President Obama’s terms in office marked the beginning of widespread use of CIA drones for assassination campaigns, in his last couple of years in office, he dramatically shifted focus, aiming to limit CIA drone operations to intelligence gathering and confining the authority to carry out strikes to the Pentagon. President Trump appears to

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Obama’s Bombing Legacy

President Obama has joked he still doesn’t know why he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, but his record of waging war was no joke to thousands at the receiving end of U.S. bombs, says Nicolas J S Davies.

Nicolas J.S. Davies
By Nicolas J.S. Davies
President Barack Obama, accompanied by, from left, Office of National Intelligence Director James Clapper, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State John Kerry, walks away from the podium after speaking at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Va.,Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

As President Obama leaves office, much of his foreign policy record remains shrouded in the symbolism that has been the hallmark of his presidency. The persistence of Obama’s image as a reluctant war-maker and a Nobel Peace Prize winner has allowed Donald Trump and his cabinet nominees to claim that Obama has underfunded the military and been less

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