United States to Drastically Expand Military Assistance to Ukraine

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 allocated $250m in military assistance to Ukraine, including lethal arms.

Peter Korzun
By Peter Korzun
wwiii

Washington is upping the ante in Ukraine. Kurt Volker, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, said in an interview with the Guardian published on September 1 that “Washington is ready to expand arms supplies to Ukraine in order to build up the country’s naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern

Read Full Article

Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy Introduces NDAA Amendment to Defund US Involvement in Yemen War

This congressional pushback against Trump comes just a few days after Saudi Arabia targeted and bombed a school bus filled with children in northern Yemen, killing over 50 civilians, 44 of them children. Images of the burnt bodies of children caused international outrage among human-rights groups.

Mnar Adley
By Mnar Adley
civilian deaths in yemen

WASHINGTON -- Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is trying to pass an amendment to the Trump Administration's National Defense Appropriations Act of 2019 (NDAA) that would defund U.S. involvement in the Saudi war in Yemen. This would prevent the Pentagon from spending any future funds and withdraw current funding that would contribute to the U.S.-backed,

Read Full Article

House Democrats and Republicans Unite to Expand U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

Democrats attempted to include gun control legislation in the bill that would have expanded background checks, while Republicans sought to include an amendment requiring the military buy only American-made dinner and flatware.

Emma Fiala
By Emma Fiala
f35 shipments to turkey

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved its version of the $717 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2019 on Thursday, with a bipartisan 351 to 66 vote that included 131 Democrats. The significant increase in the NDAA budget garnered the support of both parties, which cited concerns about the

Read Full Article

Lifting of US Propaganda Ban Gives New Meaning to Old Song

In the age of legal, weaponized propaganda directed against the American people, false narratives have become so commonplace in the mainstream media that they have essentially become normalized, leading to the era of “fake news” and “alternative facts.”

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
"U.S. Official War Pictures", propaganda poster by Louis D. Fancher circa 1917. (Public Domain)

Though its ostensible purpose is to fund the U.S. military over a one year period, the National Defense Authorization Act, better known as the NDAA, has had numerous provisions tucked into it over the years that have targeted American civil liberties. The most well-known of these include allowing the government to wiretap American citizens without

Read Full Article

New NDAA Provision Would Allow US To Arm Syrian Rebels With Anti-Aircraft Weapons

The 2017 NDAA has a provision within it that would allow the US to send shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to rebel factions in Syria

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
A screenshot showing Syrian rebels using an American made BGM-71 TOW missile.

It wasn’t widely reported during the debate of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), nor indeed was it mentioned in either the House or Senate versions of the bill, but the NDAA has a provision within it that would allow the US to send shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to rebel factions in Syria. The provision was slipped into

Read Full Article