Category Archives: USA

General T&T, International, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, USA

Putin’s crime; Europe’s shame

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 07, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeSometimes a conflict shapes our views of the world in ways that we never knew were possible. We think we have a good understanding of how the world works, and then we come up against a situation for which we do not have an accurate answer. Although some important thinkers saw the Ukrainian disaster coming, neither the US nor the European Union (EU) took the Russians seriously. Today, Ukraine is paying for it.
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General T&T, International, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UK, Ukraine, USA, Yemen

COUNTERPUNCH: PRECEDENTS OF PERMISSIBILITY

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By Alfred de Zayas
March 04, 2022 – Dezayasalfred.Wordpress.Com

Alfred de ZayasRussia’s aggression against Ukraine entails a grave violation of the jus cogens rule stipulated in article 2, paragraph 4, of the UN Charter – the prohibition of the use of force without approval of the Security Council. Admittedly, Russia has invoked article 51 of the Charter, which recognizes the right of self-defence until the Security Council is seised of the matter. However, this provision only operates when there has been a prior military attack, which a state must repulse, because its very survival is at stake. This is not the case in the current conflict.
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General T&T, International, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA, Yemen

Saudi-led war on Yemen

The Brutal War on Yemen
By Baher Kamal, March 21, 2022
Baher Kamal reports on U.N. agencies’ warnings of the catastrophic consequences of the Saudi Arabia/UAE coalition’s war on Yemen, which is being fueled by U.S. and European arms deals.

A War on Civilians:
Yemeni Suffering Intensifies Due to U.S., Saudi & Emirati Bombs and Blockade
February 02, 2022

Professor Shireen Al-Adeimi, Yemeni-born anti-war activist & Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, joined Eugene Puryear and Rania Khalek on The Freedom Side to discuss the ongoing Saudi and Emirate destruction of Yemen and the role of the US and UK in making it possible.
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General T&T, International, Russia, Ukraine, USA

The West Provoked Ukraine War

Russia’s intervention in Ukraine is not ‘inter-imperialist war’ – imperialism is a system
https://rokfin.com/post/78169/Russias-intervention-in-Ukraine-is-not-interimperialist-war–imperialism-is-a-system
An explanation of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not an example of “inter-imperialist war.” Russia is not an imperialist power; imperialism is a global economic system, and Russia is part of the semi-periphery, not the core. Moreover, the US-led NATO imperialist bloc started this crisis in Ukraine by sponsoring a coup in 2014, fueling a civil war in the eastern Donbas region, encircling Russia with Western military bases, arming and training Nazis and other far-right extremists, and flooding Ukraine with billions of dollars of weapons. (This talk was part of an event held on March 6 by the International Manifesto Group.)
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General T&T, International, Russia, Ukraine, USA

Imperial power

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 28, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhen Russian troops invaded Ukraine last week, it set in motion the possibility of another major transformation in the European political and economic order.

Russia launched its attack from Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus, across its eastern frontier with Russia, and in the south from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014. Such a move suggests that more than the annexation of Ukraine is at stake.
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General T&T, International, Russia, Ukraine, USA

Putin—casualty of his own war

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By Raffique Shah
February 28, 2022

Raffique ShahI told everybody who asked my opinion on the likelihood of war, of Vladimir Putin’s massive military force positioned close to Russia’s boundaries with Ukraine storming into the latter’s territory in a bid to re-draw the maps for that part of the world, that was unlikely.

Speaking more from my heart than my head, I suppose, I posited that “nobody wants a war”—not now, not ever. Wars are costly, bloody affairs that wipe out of existence entire generations of mostly young people.
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General T&T, International, Oil and Gas, Russia, Ukraine, USA

What You Should Really Know About Russia and Ukraine

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Did Putin Have ‘Other Options’ on Ukraine?
By Ray McGovern, May 22, 2023
The attempt at balance – however transparent – is welcome. But are readers not owed some attempt to spell out those “other options”? This is not a marginal quibble; we are talking war. When one glibly asserts, glibly, that that a country that launched hostilities had other options, well, what were they? A statement as lengthy as that published in the NYT might have made room for an attempt to cite one or two of those options

John Mearsheimer Ukraine Salon May 23, 2023

The Biden Administration is engulfed in a staggeringly expensive folly in Ukraine with no forseeable good outcomes. The Committee hosted University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer the week after the Russian invasion fourteen months ago. That zoom salon had 1,136,000 views. The Committee has invited John to return — this time in person.
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General T&T, International, Politics, Racism Watch, USA

Black Lives Matter

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 21, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIt is gratifying to see the United States Embassy in Port of Spain flying its flag atop its building together with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) flag in honour of Black History Month.

It has taken the US a long time to recognise the important role blacks have played in the making of its country. An accompanying statement to this event noted: “Raising BLM flags on US embassy and consulate flagpoles throughout the world calls attention to efforts to advance racial equity and access to justice in the US and worldwide.” (Express, February 16.)
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General T&T, International, Racism Watch, USA

When extraordinary isn’t good enough

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 08, 2022

“[In the United States] Black people have had to perform at a much higher standard simply to receive the rewards of being ordinary. For Black people, being ordinary is an extraordinary achievement.”

—Lewis R Gordon on Du Bois’s Political Thought

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDuring his lowest ebb in his political career at the Democratic primaries in 2020, Joe Biden promised he would select a black woman to be a US Supreme Court justice if he were elected. About a week ago, Justice Stephen Breyer resigned from the court, allowing Biden the opportunity to fulfil his promise.
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General T&T, International, Racism Watch, USA

Voting Rights in America

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 24, 2022

“Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the right to vote.”

—Frederick Douglass (1865).

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA few days ago, in the United States Senate, the Democrats fought vigorously against the suppression of the rights of black people to vote that were passed by 19 Republican-controlled states of the union.

In spite of their best efforts, the Democrats failed to achieve their objective, which led Carl Hulse to opine: “It was a disheartening moment for congressional Democrats, who put the full force of their majority behind the issue, despite the long odds of success” (Boston Globe, January 26).
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