Antiwar.com Weekly Newsletter for January 5, 2021

Your source for foreign policy news. 

January 5th, 2021

Pentagon Officials Divided Over Threat of an Iranian Attack

After weeks of warnings from US and Israeli officials about possible Iranian attacks, some Pentagon officials are downplaying the threat.

An unnamed senior Pentagon official told CNN that there is "not a single piece of corroborating intel," showing that an Iranian attack is imminent.

In another sign of the split in the Pentagon, on Thursday, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller ordered the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to return from its deployment in the Middle East. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, has been pushing to extend the Nimitz's deployment.

By Dave DeCamp

The ICC's Indefensible Decision on Alleged UK War Crimes in Iraq

Support for the rule of international law, and for the institutions which uphold it, is one of the principles of this blog. I have therefore always been extremely keen to defend and support the International Criminal Court, despite widespread criticism that it is simply a tool for use against leaders in the developing world and other opponents of the neo-con world order. I maintained that the standard of justice and investigation in the cases it did consider was generally good, and the need was to widen its ambit.

By Craig Murray

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Assange Wins. The Cost: The Crushing of Press Freedom, and the Labeling of Dissent as Mental Illness

The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped by larger lessons that should disturb us deeply.

Those who campaigned so vigorously to keep Assange's case in the spotlight, even as the US and UK corporate media worked so strenuously to keep it in darkness, are the heroes of the day. They made the price too steep for Baraitser or the British establishment to agree to lock Assange away indefinitely in the US for exposing its war crimes and its crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Jonathan Cook

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UK Judge Denies Assange's Extradition, US Will Appeal the Decision

On Monday, a British judge rejected the US government's extradition request of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The US now has two weeks to appeal the decision, which they are expected to do. Assange's legal team is preparing to present a bail application on Wednesday in hopes of freeing Assange from London's Belmarsh Prison, where he has been held since April 2019.

By Dave DeCamp

New York Stock Exchange Reverses Plan to Delist Chinese Firms

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced on Monday that it no longer plans to delist three of China's largest telecommunication companies.

Last week, the NYSE said it was delisting China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp Ltd., China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. to comply with an executive order signed by President Trump. The order bans investments in Chinese firms the US claims have ties to China's military and comes into effect on January 11th.

In a brief statement published on its website, the NYSE said it made the decision "in light of further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)." The OFAC is the enforcement arm of the Treasury Department.

By Dave DeCamp

World War I Redux: Setting Up Tripwires to War

The bipartisan War Party will be firmly in control in Washington, D.C. when Joe Biden becomes president. He supported most conflicts waged by the U.S. since he entered the Senate in 1973. Those tapped to lead his foreign policy are architects of such disasters as inflaming a Libyan civil war now in its ninth year and supporting the murderous Saudi/Emirati invasion of Yemen.

Quite a legacy to build on!

These foolish wars of choice have been costly, especially in lives of foreigners. For instance, George W. Bush & Co. are awash in the blood of 400,000 or more Iraqis, most of whom who died in sectarian fighting after the invasion. No US official has been held responsible for his or her gross policy malpractice.

By Doug Bandow

Biden Needs To Repudiate Obama's Policy Legacy: The Case of Libya

Kevin Gosztola on the Rejection of Julian Assange's Extradition

Saudi Warplanes Pound Yemeni Capital of Sanaa

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