Antiwar.com Weekly Newsletter for January 14, 2021

Your source for foreign policy news.

January 13th, 2021

Pompeo Accuses Iran of al-Qaeda Ties

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed without evidence that Iran is al-Qaeda's "new home base," recycling an old talking point of an al-Qaeda-Iran alliance that has been repeatedly debunked.

Sources first told Reuters about the planned speech on Monday night and said Pompeo was poised to make the accusation despite skepticism in Congress and US intelligence agencies. A former US intelligence official told Reuters that Iran was never friendly with al-Qaeda before or after 9/11, and that "any claims of current cooperation should be viewed warily."

Despite the doubt, Pompeo still made the claim. Hurling accusations at Iran without evidence is nothing new for the secretary of state. Tuesday’s speech was part of his effort to ramp up the pressure on Iran as much as possible before Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th.

By Dave DeCamp

Trump Administration Designates Cuba as State Sponsor of Terror

After weeks of rumors, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that the Trump administration is re-designating Cuba as a "state sponsor of terror." The move could hamper efforts by the incoming Biden administration to attempt to normalize relations with Havana.

Cuba was first designated as a state sponsor of terror by the Reagan administration in 1982. This move was reversed in 2015 by President Obama, who took other steps to normalize with Havana, including lifting travel restrictions and sanctions on Cuban goods.

By Dave DeCamp

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The [Neocon] Empire Strikes Back: Victoria Nuland, and the Kagans Who Love Her

Recently on Twitter, a someone graciously dubbed me a "prophet" after rereading my April article arguing that "American Exceptionalism Scars Both Victim and Victimizer" - and which pivoted around actual philosophical prophet, Ms. Simone Weil. This social media follower, "TheAyatollaOfRocknRolla," is clearly a man of cinematic allusion - to 1981's Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - after my own heart. Still, my anecdote transcends any possible proclivity for the ole backdoor brag.

Because what prompted the Ayatolla's comment was, as he noted, perusing the piece "as we watch the tragic comedy of political stupidities unfold!" That, of course, was a few days before the delusional - but dangerous - MAGA maelstrom unleashed on the Capitol yesterday. It is perhaps also an illustrative diagnosis of a broken system, rigged long before the latest indecency that's been the Trump phenomenon - and which status quo Joe neither can, nor means, to overhaul.

By Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.)

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2021: Palestine's Chance of Fighting Back

2020 will go down in history as the year that terminated the American-sponsored "peace process". While 2021 will not reverse the monumental change in the US attitude and objectives in Palestine, Israel and the Middle East, the new year presents Palestinians with the opportunity to think outside the American box.

The previous year began with an unmistakable American push to translate its new political discourse with decisive action. On January 28, the so–called "Deal of the Century" was declared as an actual political doctrine. A new political lexicon began to quickly take hold. The "peace process", which has dominated the American language for several decades, seemed a distant memory. Because the Palestinian Authority has, for decades, molded its own strategy to accommodate American demands and expectations, the shift in Washington left the PA with very few options.

By Ramzy Baroud

Washington's Bipartisan War Party is Never at a Loss on Why War Is Necessary

Starting last Spring the coronavirus pandemic kept me at home, encouraging me to watch webinars. Many webinars. Washington, D.C.'s gaggle of think tanks have filled online space with seemingly endless discussions of what to do about the world. With an emphasis on do.

Members of the infamous Blob, the Washington foreign policy establishment, bridle at criticism of their uniformity of views. Why, they insist, they argue about everything. Like whether we should sanction a country before bombing it. Whether the post-invasion occupation of a nation will require 50,000 or 100,000 troops.

By Doug Bandow

The US and UK Are Making Assange's Death More Likely

There was a hope in some quarters after Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled on Monday against an application to extradite Julian Assange to the US, where he faced being locked away for the rest of his life, that she might finally be changing tack.

Washington has wanted Assange permanently silenced and made an example of – by demonstrating to other journalists its terrifying reach and powers of retaliation – ever since the WikiLeaks founder exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago.

By Jonathan Cook

Trump Administration Announces Houthi Terror Designation

Kelley Vlahos on America's Endless War Against Iraq

Biden Calls Pro-Trump Capitol Protesters 'Domestic Terrorists'

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