Tag: Patrick Leahy

U.S. Deployed Air Targeting Team to Israel, Document Suggests

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

TARGETING INTELLIGENCE — THE information used to conduct airstrikes and fire long-range artillery weapons — has played a central role in Israel’s siege of Gaza. A document obtained through the Freedom of Information Act suggests that the U.S. Air Force sent officers specializing in this exact form of intelligence to Israel in late November.

U.S. Deployed Air Targeting Team to Israel, Document Suggests (archived)

If true, this is disturbing! The Hague Invasion Act doesn’t cover the ICJ, from what I can tell. /s

Did The Defense Industry Really Give More To Bernie Sanders Than Any Other 2020 Candidate?!

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Despite his frequent votes against defense bills, Senator Bernie Sanders has collected more presidential campaign contributions from defense industry sources than any other candidate, including Donald Trump. That’s according to data on 2020 funding at the OpenSecrets.org website, which is sponsored by the Center for Responsive Politics.

[12-2019] Defense Industry Gives More To Bernie Than Any 2020 Candidate (originally published at American Conservative)

Links to “Amy Klobuchar”, not “Bernie Sanders”?! According to OpenSecrets, Joe Biden received the most from the MIC. Donald Trump came in second, with Bernie Sanders in third place. OpenSecrets doesn’t distinguish between employers and employees!?*

H/T: Stephen Gardner’s interview with Winslow T. Wheeler

Related:

*Top 20 Recipients (Joe Biden and Donald Trump):

METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs and individuals giving $200 or more.

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Stop Biden From Sending Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
“CODEPINK’s action alert requesting House representatives co-sponsor the amendment to ban the export license for cluster munitions.”

President Biden may have crossed a new red line for the Democratic Party when he announced he would send banned cluster munitions to shore up Ukraine’s slow counter-offensive against Russian troops.

Stop Biden From Sending Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

Related:

Rep. Gaetz Says He Will Co-Sponsor Amendment to Block Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

Gaetz said that the NDAA will be voted on this week in the House. “We have an opportunity with bipartisanship to stand against the war-mongering Bidens,” he said.

Here’s why supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions would be a terrible mistake

Democrats Denounce Biden’s Decision to Send Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

Rules for Pentagon Use of Proxy Forces Shed Light on a Shadowy War Power

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

U.S. Special Operations forces are not required to vet for past human rights violations by the foreign troops they arm and train as surrogates, newly disclosed documents show.

…

The irregular warfare program has provided training to allied forces in countries that face a threat of invasion by larger neighbors, the senior Defense Department official said. The Washington Post has reported that an irregular warfare proxy program in Ukraine was terminated just before the Russian invasion, and that some officials want to restart it.

Rules for Pentagon Use of Proxy Forces Shed Light on a Shadowy War Power

Netanyahu Says US Must ‘Reaffirm’ Alliance With Saudi Arabia + More [Abraham Accords]

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Netanyahu Says US Must ‘Reaffirm’ Alliance With Saudi Arabia

The incoming prime minister said that he wants to build on the Abraham Accords, which his former government signed in 2020 to establish diplomatic ties with Bahrain and the UAE. Netanyahu said it’s “up to the leadership of Saudi Arabia if they want to partake in this effort.”

Saudi officials recently reaffirmed that they seek a Palestinian state as a precondition for normalizing with Israel. But in order to form a coalition government, Netanyahu gave Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist settler, sweeping powers over the West Bank.

Related:

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