Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Israel looks ready to escalate its devastating war on Gaza after stationing troops and vehicles at nearby army bases and outposts just outside the enclave, according to satellite imagery obtained and assessed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit. The analysis indicates that Israel has deployed more than 800 military vehicles to two bases. At least 120 vehicles are stationed at the northern border of the Gaza Strip and 700 are in the Negev desert, to the south. The satellite imagery also reveals that Israel has established nine military outposts just outside the enclave. … The findings indicate that Israel plans to continue its war on Gaza, which was launched after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israeli communities and military outposts on October 7, despite global condemnation.” (04/23/24)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/23/satellite-images-show-israeli-forces-gathered-for-gaza-escalation
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Daniel Davis was on Antiwar Radio to discuss the West’s effort to extend the war in Ukraine. He and Scott review some of the arguments he faced in a recent debate where he and John Mearsheimer faced off against some members of the foreign policy blob. They use some of the claims made in that debate to explain why extending the war is not just a mistake, but deeply immoral.” (04/22/24)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/4-18-24-daniel-davis-it-is-immoral-to-keep-the-war-in-ukraine-going/
Source: Bitcoin.com
by Corbin Fraser
“Amidst a decline in traditional democratic structures and financial systems, cryptocurrencies emerge as a revitalizing force, offering a new form of accountability and transparency that could potentially restore public institutions.” (04/22/24)
https://news.bitcoin.com/democracy-fails-without-cryptocurrency/
Source: ABC News
“The Senate will return Tuesday to begin consideration of a package to deliver $95 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The legislation, which includes four bills, passed the House over the weekend with bipartisan support. President Joe Biden urged the Senate to quickly advance the measures to his desk. The package provides roughly $26 billion for Israel, currently at war with Hamas in Gaza; as well as $61 billion for Ukraine and $8 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific. A fourth bill would force a U.S. ban of TikTok if its Chinese parent company doesn’t sell it; impose sanctions on Russia, China and Iran; and seize Russian assets to help Ukraine rebuild from the war’s damage.” (04/23/24)
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-returns-95b-foreign-aid-package-ukraine-israel/story?id=109506150
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Daniel Larison
“Is America experiencing a crisis of confidence? That is the assessment of some world leaders from allied and partner nations in recent months. Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen criticized the U.S. at the start of the year, ‘Recent global events in the Taiwan Strait, in the Middle East, in Ukraine are all results of American hesitance to actually lead.’ As he addressed Congress earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chided his audience for what he called ‘an undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be.’ One implication of these complaints is that the world would supposedly become more stable and secure if the U.S. simply possessed and demonstrated greater resolve. Given the wreckage created by American hubris during the first part of this century, we know that this is not true.” (04/22/24)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-global-leadership/
Source: Reason
“Worst 4/20 Ever.” (04/22/24)
https://reason.com/podcast/2024/04/22/worst-4-20-ever/
Source: Semafor
“The head of Israel’s military intelligence has resigned from his post, citing failures surrounding Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack as the main reason for his departure. ‘The military intelligence directorate under my command did not live up to our mission,’ Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva wrote in a resignation letter released on Monday. ‘I have been carrying that black day ever since, day and night. I will live with the horrible pain of the war every day.’ Haliva’s departure marks the first major resignation among Israel’s top brass since the Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,100 people, and ultimately triggered a war that has lasted more than six months and left more than 34,000 Palestinians dead.” (04/22/24)
https://www.semafor.com/article/04/22/2024/israels-idf-intelligence-chief-resigns-citing-oct-7-failures
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“Former Senator Bob Graham passed away on April 16 at the age of 87. Graham had been one of the most outspoken opponents of the Iraq War, but his brightest legacy was his perennial fight against the George W. Bush administration’s cover-up of the 9/11 attacks. Graham was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee when terrorists toppled the World Trade Center towers. When President Bush whipped up support for war by blaming the 9/11 attacks on Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Graham recognized the scam. In October 2002, when Bush rammed a pro-war resolution (though not a formal declaration of war) through Congress, Graham objected that another war in the Middle East would obscure the real perils: ‘If you believe that the American people are not going to be at additional threat, then, frankly, my friends — to use a blunt term—blood is going to be on your hands.'” (04/22/24)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2024/04/22/sen-bob-graham-9-11-and-the-mirage-of-american-democracy/
Source: Associated Press
“Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. … A defense lawyer countered by assailing the case as baseless and attacking the integrity of the onetime Trump confidant who’s now the government’s star witness. … It is the first criminal trial of a former American president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury. Befitting that history, prosecutors sought from the outset to elevate the gravity of the case, which they said was chiefly about election interference as reflected by the hush money payments to a porn actor who said she had a sexual encounter with Trump.” (04/22/24)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-trial-hush-money-opening-stormy-daniels-6beee9b99114898ee0dd60185d43bac5
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“You’ve heard how Japan finally surrendered to the United States after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You’ve heard how Emperor Hirohito went on Japanese radio and informed his people of his decision. But have you ever actually heard what Hirohito told his subjects? The Emperor’s surrender speech is one of the most egregious examples of demagoguery that I’ve ever read. A pile of preposterous pretty political lies for peace. And while we should all embrace the peace, today we’re going to review the lies.” (04/22/24)
https://betonit.substack.com/p/the-demagoguery-of-emperor-hirohito
