Connor Freeman | The Libertarian Institute

China, Philippine Vessels in Stand-Off in South China Sea

by Connor Freeman | Sep 11, 2023 | News

China and the Philippines have engaged in another stand-off near the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef in the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly Islands. This comes as Washington is building up its military presence in the Philippines and elsewhere in the region, eyeing a future war with Beijing. Last month, during a tense confrontation, Chinese Coast Guard ships fired a water cannon at Philippine boats attempting to re-supply a World War II era tank-landing ship. The BRP Sierra Madre, grounded on the reef in 1999, is used by Manilla as a base of operations and to assert its claims. In a more...

ICC Lead Prosecutor: We Will Prosecute Cyber ‘War Crimes’

by Connor Freeman | Sep 7, 2023 | News

In an article published last month in Foreign Policy Analytics, Karim Khan - the lead prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in the Hague - declared that his office will now be investigating and potentially prosecuting “war crimes” committed in cyberspace. This comes after Joe Biden ordered his administration to begin sharing evidence of alleged Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine with the ICC. Khan wrote that his office will investigate cyber crimes that possibly violate the Rome Statute. “Cyber warfare does not play out in the abstract. Rather, it can have a...

US Carries Out ICBM Test Amid Tensions with North Korea and Russia

by Connor Freeman | Sep 6, 2023 | News

The US Air Force and Space Force jointly launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Wednesday, amidst increased tensions with Pyongyang and Moscow. Air Force Global Strike Command carried out the test firing from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. “These test launches demonstrate the readiness of [US] nuclear forces and provide confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” said Space Launch Delta 30 vice commander Col. Bryan Titus. A day earlier, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan threatened Pyongyang...

Watchdog: Cluster Bomb Deaths in Ukraine Are Highest in the World

by Connor Freeman | Sep 5, 2023 | News

As the proxy war in Ukraine continues raging, people are being killed and wounded by cluster bombs at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world including Syria, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition. The coalition - which is a network of non-governmental organizations that support banning the controversial weapons - released an annual report showing 2022 was the deadliest year on record globally for cluster bomb related killings. Cluster bombs open up in the air and scatter scores of small bomblets and submunitions across large target areas, these often kill non-combatants for...

Ukraine Defense Minister Resigns Amid Military Graft and Corruption Scandals

by Connor Freeman | Sep 4, 2023 | News

Amidst a deluge of corruption scandals, particularly with regards to military graft, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov resigned on Monday. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he will be replaced a day earlier. This comes as some US lawmakers have cited graft as a reason to impose limits on military and financial aid to Kiev for its war with Moscow. Zelensky has come under pressure from the West to ensure “Ukrainian officials were not siphoning off some of the billions of dollars in aid that was flowing into [Kiev],” according to the New York Times. Last week, National Security...

Clashes Continue Between US-Backed Militias in East Syria, Pentagon Calls For End to Fighting

by Connor Freeman | Aug 31, 2023 | News

Fighting continued between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Deir Ezzor Military Council (DEMC), two US backed militias in east Syria, on Wednesday. The US military has urged an end to the tensions, ongoing for four days, which have left at least 40 people dead. Clashes, which began Monday, have pitted the SDF against the Arab-led DEMC, its former ally, as well as some regional Arab tribesmen who have aligned with them. Hostilities were sparked after the SDF arrested Abu Khawla, the head of the DEMC and a senior SDF commander. Khawla and four other militia leaders were...

Pyongyang Test Fires Two ‘Tactical’ Ballistic Missiles as US Flies Bombers, Conducts War Games

by Connor Freeman | Aug 30, 2023 | News

Hours after the US flew bombers in separate joint air drills with Tokyo and Seoul, North Korea test fired two short-range ballistic missiles. This comes as Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), has warned that increased military provocations by the US, Japan, and South Korea could cause a nuclear war. Ancillary to Washington’s massive Ulchi Freedom Shield annual joint war games with Seoul, a US B-1B flew alongside South Korean FA-50 jets and American F-16s on Wednesday. This marks Washington’s tenth such bomber flight this year. The 11-day...

Released Documents Show Nixon’s Intel Briefings Related to US-Backed Chilean Coup

by Connor Freeman | Aug 29, 2023 | News

Two fifty-year old documents related to the coup in Chile were released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the State Department last week. The democratically elected, left wing government of President Salvador Allende was overthrown in 1973 by the Chilean military, with covert CIA backing. A US-supported dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet was subsequently installed. President Richard Nixon’s daily briefs related to the coup on September 8th as well as the 11th - the day the Chilean military seized control of the government - were released. This declassification followed...