News Release Archive - Foreign Policy

An NBC headline claims: “Biden defends decision to end war in Afghanistan.” Similarly, a recent New York Times headline claims: “Unlikely Coalition of Veterans Backs Biden on Ending Afghan War.”

Nick Mottern in “Biden Betrays Another Campaign Pledge — Admits that U.S. Will Continue to Bomb Afghanistan” scrutinizes comments Biden made on July 4: “When the President refers to ‘over-the-horizon capacity that we can be value added,’ he is referring to a plan, that appears might cost $10 billion, to fly drones and manned attack aircraft from bases as far away as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.”

Similarly, David Swanson in “Biden Defends Ending a War He’s Not Fully Ending” notes that Biden’s remarks on Thursday referred to “counterterrorism over-the-horizon capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on any direct threats to the United States in the region, and act quickly and decisively if needed.”

On July 6, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby was asked for examples of continued military operations. He responded: “the way you’ve seen it being conducted in the past, through — through airstrikes.”

Late last month a petition was launched: “To: President Joe Biden — No More U.S. Air Attacks in Afghanistan” to forestall such continued war-making. See June 29 IPA news release: “Former State Dept. Officials Call on Biden to Bar ‘Over the Horizon’ Drone Attacks in Afghanistan.”

Signers of the petition include:

Matthew Hoh – Former U.S. Marine officer and resigned U.S. State Department official in Afghanistan

Kathy Kelly – Peace activist who has made 30 trips to Afghanistan and co-coordinator BanKillerDrones.org

Media contact: Nick Mottern — nickmottern@gmail.com

Retired Army Colonel Ann Wright and former Marine Captain Matthew Hoh, both of whom resigned from the State Department because of their opposition to U.S. war policies in Afghanistan, are among peace and justice leaders and policy analysts who have signed an online petition calling on President Joe Biden “to pledge that there will be no further U.S. air attacks on the Afghan people and that the U.S. will discontinue drone surveillance there as well.”

The petition is being circulated in response to press reports and officials statements that the U.S. is planning “over the horizon” air missions against Al Qaeda and ISIS in Afghanistan while not foreclosing the possibility of U.S. air attacks against the Taliban, should it be on the verge of taking over Afghanistan’s central government. These missions would be flown from the system of U.S. bases in Qatar, the United Arab Republic, and Kuwait; the U.S. Air Force is seeking $10 billion to support this system, according to a June 8, 2021 report in Defense One, referencing the “over the horizon” planning.

The 10-point petition notes that the “over the horizon” operation will reportedly depend heavily on the use of attack and surveillance drones, which, the petition says “amounts to an effort to further occupy Afghanistan from the sky, and represents a bid for U.S. influence in events on the ground through the veto power of assassination and ability to target attacks by manned aircraft.”

The petition, drafted by BanKillerDrones.org, expresses concern that U.S. air operations will hasten the introduction into Afghanistan of drones and other high-tech weaponry by China, Turkey, Russia, and other nations, prolonging the civil war, as has happened in Libya.

Early signers of the petition include:

Ann Wright – Col. U.S. Army (Retired), resigned U.S. State Department official in Afghanistan and member of the CODEPINK anti-drone war delegation to Pakistan in 2012

Matthew Hoh – Former U.S. Marine officer and resigned U.S. State Department official in Afghanistan

Kathy Kelly – Peace activist who has made 30 trips to Afghanistan and co-coordinator of BanKillerDrones.org

Brian Terrell – Peace activist who has made multiple trips to Afghanistan and board member of BanKilerDrones.org

The Guardian reports in “Peru: Fujimori cries electoral fraud — and unleashes torrent of racism“: “The prospect of the son of illiterate Andean peasants becoming president as his rival cries fraud has shaken Peru’s entrenched class system and its fragile democracy, letting loose a torrent of racism in the bicentennial year of the country’s independence.

“With 100 percent of the official vote counted, leftist Pedro Castillo had 50.12 percent and [an] advantage of about 44,000 votes over his far-right rival Keiko Fujimori. But Fujimori has claimed fraud, challenging about 500,000 votes, calling for half to be annulled, and obliging officials at Peru’s electoral board to reexamine ballots — despite the lack of evidence of wrongdoing.”

The following two analysts are recently back from observing the election in Peru:

FRANCESCA EMANUELE, emanuelefrancesca@gmail.com
Emanuele is a Peruvian sociologist, born and raised in the province of Ica, four hours from Lima. She is currently a research assistant at American University in Washington, D.C., where she is pursuing doctoral studies in Anthropology.

She said today: “Keiko Fujimori still has not presented evidence supporting her allegations of fraud but continues to use legal tricks to delay the announcement of Pedro Castillo’s victory. This is despite the fact that all the votes have been counted and Castillo is clearly the winner with an advantage of more than 44,000 votes.

“Each day that passes without the official announcement of Castillo’s victory increases further destabilization of the country. Meanwhile, Peruvian elites are becoming increasingly belligerent, supported by a monopolized Peruvian mainstream media that amplifies their unfounded claims. Hundreds of retired members of Peru’s Armed Forces published a letter threatening a coup against Pedro Castillo’s future government. Other violent threats could follow if Keiko’s desperate and irresponsible attempts to reverse the results are not curbed.”

For the past 15 years, Emanuele’s articles have been published in numerous Peruvian newspapers. She is currently a regular columnist for the progressive Peruvian publication, Wayka. Prior to academia, Francesca was the correspondent for Telesur in Washington D.C., and a communications director for the Peru-based non-profit Promsex, which advocates for LGTBI rights and women’s reproductive rights. Her most recent piece in English, on the coup in Bolivia, was published by the magazine Red Pepper.

ALEXANDER MAIN, main@cepr.net, @ceprdc
Director of international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Main said today: “By any objective measure, Pedro Castillo has won Peru’s presidential election. The vote count has been completed and the complaints filed by Fujimori’s team within the legal time frame have been duly addressed by the electoral authorities. Yet, facing enormous pressure from Fujimori and her powerful backers, Peru’s National Jury of Elections has delayed the announcement of Castillo’s victory, generating increasing instability and tension in the country.

“The Organization of American States is the primary international observer of these elections but has failed to denounce the extraordinary pressure and threats targeting Peru’s electoral authorities. Nor has the OAS sought to dispel the unfounded claims of fraud being propagated by Fujimori and her supporters. The OAS’ deafening silence at this critical juncture is shameful and suggests that they may be bowing to political pressure coming from the organization’s Secretary General Luis Almagro, who has frequently supported far right, undemocratic actors in the region. It’s worth remembering that, following Bolivia’s 2019 elections, an OAS observation team promoted false fraud claims and Almagro welcomed the military coup that took place a few weeks later.” See from CEPR from last year: “Data from Bolivia’s Election Add More Evidence That OAS Fabricated Last Year’s Fraud Claims.”

A New York Times headline reads: “Shifting Focus, NATO Views China as a Global Security Challenge.” A Politico headline reads: “Biden fears what ‘best friends’ Xi and Putin could do together.”

JAMES BRADLEY, james@jamesbradley.com
Bradley is author of several best-sellers focused on U.S. policy in the Pacific and Asia, including Flags of Our Fathers and The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia.

He is currently in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, producing his “Untold Pacific” podcast about “the American experience in Asia.” Recent episodes include “China Rising,” “The #1 Focus of the U.S. National Security State is War with China,” “U.S. Military: ‘War with China Inevitable'” and “America’s Pacific Problem is America.”

Bradley said today: “We’ve seen Biden ratchet up the anti-Chinese rhetoric and it is incredibly dangerous. Now, we’re seeing NATO being used toward those ends. There’s a great deal of propaganda that depicts China as this great threat and that taps into a long history of anti-Chinese sentiment and misinformation.”

In a recent interview with CovertAction Magazine, Bradley states: “The U.S. military could withdraw from Asia in a second and what’s going to fall apart? What is the danger? The American media promotes so much anti-Chinese propaganda: It creates the illusion that China is aggressive and going to invade. No. China doesn’t want to rule the world. China is too smart for that.

“The [last time] China went out was in the 13th century. They had those fleets of ‘treasure ships’ larger than any flotilla until World War II. They sailed worldwide. It cost a lot of money and they came back and they reported to the Emperor: ‘The only thing outside of China are Barbarians and bad food.’ Then they burned the ships. The idea of conquering the world is not Chinese. America goes all the way around the world to Iraq or Vietnam.”

“You know all those lines in the South China Sea and China is doing that and this island belongs here and Japan has this island claim … that was all written by the U.S. Navy after Japan surrendered and the U.S. Navy was predominant in the Pacific in 1945.”