PAUL VALE – The former top US Special Forces chief claimed on Sunday, November 29, that blinding emotion after the 9/11 attacks led the United States and its allies to take the wrong strategic decisions to counter al-Qaeda, calling the subsequent Iraq War a “huge error.†The admission by Michael Flynn, made to German newspaper Der Spiegel, comes as British MPs prepare to vote on extending the UK’s bombing campaign against the Islamic State into Syria following the massacre in Paris.
Grand Promises of Paris Climate Deal Undermined by Squalid Retrenchments
GEORGE MONBIOT – By comparison to what it could have been, it’s a miracle. By comparison to what it should have been, it’s a disaster, for until governments undertake to keep fossil fuels in the ground, they will continue to undermine [the] agreement they have just made.
Do Mass Killings Bother You?
DAVID SWANSON – Exploiting one tragedy to fuel hatred toward a large segment of the human population of earth is madness.
How Our Naive Understanding of Violence Helps ISIS
PAUL K. CHAPPELL – Today most people’s understanding of violence is naive, because they do not realize how much the Internet and social media, the newest incarnations of mass media, have changed warfare. The most powerful weapon that ISIS has is the Internet with social media, which has allowed ISIS to recruit people from all over the world.
Obama’s Speech, Translated into Candor
NORMAN SOLOMON – Here is a condensed version of President Obama’s speech from the Oval Office on Sunday night, unofficially translated into plain English.
Can Cities Take the Lead on Climate Change?
SAM ROSS-BROWN – As national efforts heading into the Paris summit fall short of averting catastrophic warming, how far cities can go to close the gap is hard to know.