Connor Freeman | The Libertarian Institute

Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso Establish Military Alliance, Vowing to Collectively Defend Against External Aggression

by Connor Freeman | Sep 17, 2023 | News

The US has resumed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flight operations in order to maintain “force protection” while some troops and assets are relocated Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have signed a charter establishing a mutual defense pact, dubbed the Alliance of Sahel States, on Saturday. The pact commits the three sides to support one another, including with military forces, in response to any external aggression or armed rebellion. It has been described as a “collective [defense] and mutual assistance framework” by Mali military leader Assimi Goita. The agreement binds the...

US Sanctions Target Russia’s Ability to Acquire Western Tech for Military Purposes

by Connor Freeman | Sep 14, 2023 | News

The US State Department and Treasury announced on Thursday a large sanctions package targeting Moscow’s trade with some of Washington’s allies and partners. The aim of this new sanctions package, one of the largest yet, is to block off Russia’s access to money, financial channels and Western technology allegedly being used to bolster the Kremlin’s war effort. Among those targeted are over 150 businesses and individuals from Russia to Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Georgia. Also in the crosshairs are the Russian energy sector, including Arctic liquified natural gas projects,...

US, Bahrain Sign Security Agreement and Invite Other Nations to Join

by Connor Freeman | Sep 13, 2023 | News

Washington and Manama signed a strategic security and economic agreement, which furthers plans to build a US-backed military alliance eyeing Iran in the region, on Wednesday. Concurrently, protests against human rights abuses inside Bahrain are ongoing and the White House is striving to forge a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal. Dubbed the “Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement,” the deal was signed during a meeting at Foggy Bottom with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Bahrain’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Blinken said the agreement...

Clashes Continue Erupting Between US Backed Militias in East Syria, Civilians Killed and Injured

by Connor Freeman | Sep 12, 2023 | News

Fighting between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Arab tribesman aligned with Deir Ezzor Military Council (DEMC) erupted again Monday night in eastern Syria, reports The New Arab. Both sides used to be united in the fight against the Islamic State (IS). However, now that the terrorist group is all but vanquished, ethnic tensions amongst the two groups exacerbated by the illegal US occupation have turned into clashes during recent weeks. Per local sources speaking with the outlet, in the town of Abu Humam, SDF drone strikes killed an elderly man while he was working on...

US, Bahrain to Sign Strategic Security and Economic Agreement

by Connor Freeman | Sep 11, 2023 | News

The US and Bahrain will ink a deal to upgrade the two nations’ strategic partnership this week, according to Axios. One source briefed on the issue said the White House hopes to use this deal as a framework for other regional agreements. The Joe Biden administration is currently striving to induce Riyadh into normalizing with apartheid Israel. Washington and Manama have a strong partnership, the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is headquartered at a large base in Bahrain. Since 2002, the Gulf Kingdom has been a major non-NATO ally of the United States, though this does not include a security...

US Pledges Millions Seized from Russian Oligarch in Latest Ukraine Aid Package

by Connor Freeman | Sep 11, 2023 | News

Attorney General Merrick Garland promises this will not be the last time Kiev will be provided with “forfeited Russian funds.” While visiting Kyiv on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced another pledge of funds to Ukraine worth $1 billion in military and other financial aid. Included in that sum is $5.4 million in seized assets belonging to a Russian oligarch and this will go toward veterans’ services. Blinken declared “those who have enabled Putin’s war of aggression should pay for it.” This is the first time sanctioned Russian oligarchs’ assets will be included in an...

Report: Ukraine’s Growing Assassination Program

by Connor Freeman | Sep 11, 2023 | News

Kiev’s own “Mossad” is shooting, hanging, blowing up, and poisoning dozens of targets in occupied Ukraine as well as the Russian mainland itself. Ukraine’s domestic security service (SBU) has an elite ancillary known as the fifth counter-intelligence directorate, which has taken a central role in “counter-Russia operations” specializing in “wet work” or assassinations, according to a report in The Economist. The report discusses the killing of Yevhen Yunakov, the former mayor of Velykyi Burluk in the Khariv region, after he had been targeted as a “collaborator” with Moscow. Yunakov was...

Iran, US Prisoner Swap and Funds Release Imminent in Qatari-Mediated Deal

by Connor Freeman | Sep 11, 2023 | News

As the result of a deal made possible by at least eight rounds of shuttle diplomacy mediated by Doha, the US and Iran may soon be conducting a prisoner swap. This agreement will additionally see $6 billion in previously frozen funds belonging to Iran transferred to banks in Qatar, where that money will be spent on food and medicine, according to eight Iranian and other sources speaking with Reuters. On August 10, Tehran released four American citizens from prison into house arrest, where they joined a fifth. At least three of them had been accused of spying and cooperating with Washington....