| Your source for foreign policy news.
|
| |
|---|
|
| There is an ongoing debate between centrist Democrats and progressives in Washington over giving President Biden war powers to go to war with China in the case that Beijing invades Taiwan, Foreign Policy reported on Wednesday. The centrists are in favor of expanding Biden's authorities even though any military action against China risks nuclear war, while the progressives favor the current policy. One Democrat in the House, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), the House Foreign Affairs Committee vice-chair, made the case to give Biden the war powers in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Luria's concern is that if China moves to take Taiwan, getting authorization from Congress would take too long. "So if you cant act quickly enough, China overwhelmingly takes Taiwan," she told Foreign Policy. |
|
|---|
|
| The single best option for reducing the risk of nuclear war is hidden in plain sight. News outlets dont mention it. Pundits ignore it. Even progressive and peace-oriented members of Congress tiptoe around it. And yet, for many years, experts have been calling for this act of sanity that could save humanity: Shutting down all of the nation's intercontinental ballistic missiles. Four hundred ICBMs dot the rural landscapes of Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Loaded in silos, these missiles are uniquely - and dangerously - on hair-trigger alert. Unlike the nuclear weapons on submarines or bombers, the land-based missiles are vulnerable to attack and could present the commander in chief with a sudden use-them-or-lose-them choice. "If our sensors indicate that enemy missiles are en route to the United States, the president would have to consider launching ICBMs before the enemy missiles could destroy them. Once they are launched, they cannot be recalled," former Defense Secretary William Perry warns. "The president would have less than 30 minutes to make that terrible decision." |
| By Daniel Ellsberg and Norman Soloman
|
| According to a report from Israel's Channel 12, the Israeli government approved a $1.5 billion budget to prepare for a potential attack on Iran. The extra funds would be used to purchase additional aircraft, surveillance drones, and the munitions needed to strike Irans underground nuclear facilities. The report said about $620 million would come from the 2022 military budget, and the rest of the funds would come from this year's budget. For years, Israel has been seeking bunker-busting bombs that could penetrate Irans underground facilities. If they did acquire the munitions, Israel would also need bombers capable of carrying them, something it currently doesnt have. The US tested a new 5,000-pound bunker buster earlier this month, which Israeli media interpreted as a possible message to Iran. |
| | The US deployed a fleet of B-1B bombers and 200 airmen to its base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean that arrived on the island late last week. The US has deployed B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia in recent years, but the Air Force said it was the first time in 15 years that the US sent B1-Bs to the base. "It's been over 15 years since B-1s have operated out of this location and the 37th Bomb Squadron is beyond proud to be back," said Lt. Col. Ross Hobbs, the director for operations of the Air Force's 37th Bomb Squadron. |
| Israel attacking Syria is nothing new, but the Wednesday night strikes near Palmyra are raising some eyebrows, with the reports that the attacking F-16s deliberately used civilian airliners as cover to strike with impunity.
This isn't the first time Israel has done this. They appear to be betting that the Syrian air defense systems won't be activated around civilian airliners for fear of embarrassing shootdown incidents.
Such tactics have been harshly criticized by Russia in the past, as in 2018 they used a Russian spy plane for cover, getting the plane shut down and 15 crew members killed. Russia declared Israel wholly responsible. |
| Bill Clinton's administration made a geopolitical mess in the Balkans during the 1990s by instigating and leading military interventions in both Bosnia and Kosovo. Periodically thereafter, the United States has succumbed to the temptation to interfere diplomatically in the affairs of that chronically dysfunctional region. Now, several of Washington's mini-state "allies" and their advocates in the United States are pressing the Biden administration to take a more active role again. It is imperative that administration officials spurn that campaign. The latest lobbying effort to get Washington more deeply involved in the region's parochial squabbles came in the form of an October 11 open letter by more than 30 leaders of Bosnian (Muslim) Albanian, and Montenegrin communities in America - many with close ties to the respective governments. Their letter was addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It was a document dripping with anti-Serb venom from start to finish. |
|
|---|
|
| Keep your finger on the pulse of US foreign policy. Subscribe to our Daily Digest and each evening, the day's top news stories and editorials are delivered straight to your email. Please support our work by signing up.
|
|
|---|
|
| Antiwar.com, 1017 El Camino Real #306, Redwood City, CA 94063 | 323 512 7095 | www.antiwar.com |
|
|---|
|
|
