Connor Freeman | The Libertarian Institute

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...

Tehran, Baghdad Agree to Disarm Kurdish Militant Groups

by Connor Freeman | Aug 28, 2023 | News

Iran announced it reached an agreement with Iraq to both disarm and relocate exiled Iranian Kurdish “armed terrorist groups” operating in camps in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq (IKR) on Monday. Baghdad must accomplish the task before a mid-September deadline unless Iranian forces will intervene. Speaking before a news conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani said “according to a deal reached between the Iranian and Iraqi governments, the Iraqi government has pledged to disarm armed terrorist groups in Iraq by September 19." Tehran has also notified the...

WaPo: Trump Plans Massive Tariffs If Re-Elected

by Connor Freeman | Aug 23, 2023 | News

Former President Doanld Trump privately met with his top economic advisors last week and discussed plans for major tariff increases, three people familiar with the meeting told the Washington Post. One of the ideas which was floated involves a “universal baseline tariff” on nearly all imports to the US, which may be as high as 10 percent. In attendance were former senior White House officials Larry Kudlow and Brooke Rollins, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, as well as conservative commentator Stephen Moore. According to the report, Trump’s advisors have been debating for months what the...

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