Connor Freeman | The Libertarian Institute

Report: China’s Xi Says US Attempted To Trick Him Into Taiwan Invasion

by Connor Freeman | Jun 19, 2024 | News

During a conversation in 2023 with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese President Xi Jinping accused the US of attempting to goad him into invading the island of Taiwan. This is according to people familiar with the matter, speaking with Financial Times. Despite a long spate of provocations by Washington that threatened to cross China’s “first red line,” undermining cross-strait peace and regional security more broadly, the Chinese leader said he would not take the bait. US provocations have continued into the current year. The meeting between the two leaders took...

China Blamed as West Fuels Nuclear Buildup

by Connor Freeman | Jun 17, 2024 | News

A recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says China is undertaking a “significant” expansion and modernization of its nuclear arsenal and predicts Beijing could be on pace to obtain in 2030 an equal number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) as Russia or the US. China’s actions are doubtless a response to the destabilization engendered by Washington’s new Cold Wars as well as the concomitant nuclear arms race successive American presidents have spearheaded this century. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) says...

Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir Oppose Army Pauses in Parts of Gaza

by Connor Freeman | Jun 17, 2024 | News

Following an announcement by the Israeli military on Sunday that there will now be 11-hour daily tactical pauses along one of the bombed-out Gaza Strip’s main roads, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the plan is “unacceptable,” according to an Israeli official speaking with Reuters. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads the extremist Jewish Power party, said whoever came up with the idea is a “fool” and should be fired. “When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that...

US and Canadian Warships Arrive in Cuba During Russian Naval Deployment

by Connor Freeman | Jun 17, 2024 | News

Three Russian warships and one nuclear-powered submarine arrived in Havana for naval exercises this week after carrying out what the Russian Defense Ministry called “high-precision missile weapons” training in the Atlantic Ocean. On Friday, in what is being viewed as a response to Moscow’s deployment to the Caribbean nation, a US fast-attack submarine made an uninvited port visit to Guantanamo Bay. Additionally, a Canadian patrol vessel entered Havana Harbor. Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío expressed displeasure with the advent of the American fast-attack submarine Helena in...

Goodbye to Pete McCloskey, an Antiwar Hero

by Connor Freeman | May 20, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, History, Politics

From Richard Nixon to the Israel lobby, the late Republican Congressman Paul Norton “Pete” McCloskey Jr. challenged the most powerful elements of the ruling class on the American people’s behalf. On September 29, 1927, McCloskey was born in San Bernardino, California. He was raised in South Pasadena. After graduating high school in 1945, McCloskey joined the Navy and attended Occidental College as well as the California Institute of Technology. In 1950, he graduated from Stanford with a Bachelor’s degree. When the Korean War began, McCloskey joined the Marines where he led a rifle platoon in...

Military Whistleblower McBride Sentenced to Nearly Six Years in Prison

by Connor Freeman | May 15, 2024 | News

Australia’s David McBride, the 60-year old ex-military lawyer turned Afghanistan War whistleblower, was sentenced to almost six years in prison by a federal judge in Canberra on Tuesday, Consortium News (CN) reports. Although McBride argues he was fulfilling his obligation to his country, leaking documents to the media uncovering atrocities committed against civilians by Australian military personnel in Afghanistan, the judge made clear the harsh sentence is intended to deter any future whistleblowers or similar disclosures. Mark Davis, an attorney for McBride as well as his solicitor, told...

AP: Israeli Settlers’ Rampage Against West Bank Village Leaves ‘Trail of Wreckage’

by Connor Freeman | May 11, 2024 | News

A rampage led by illegal settlers against the village of Duma last month has left a “trail of wreckage,” including approximately $1.3 million in damages, epitomizing the dire situation for Palestinians within all the Israeli occupied territories during the Gaza war. The leaders of the Duma community told the Associated Press that the Israeli army, Israel Defense Forces (IDF), arrived shortly after the three-hour attack erupted but hardly intervened to stop the mayhem apart from shooting at Palestinians attempting to repulse the settlers as homes and cars were set ablaze. According to the UN,...

Netanyahu Implored Qataris to Continue Funding Hamas in 2018 Letter

by Connor Freeman | May 8, 2024 | News

As Israel’s war on Palestinians living in the besieged Gaza Strip continues escalating, a secret 2018 letter penned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the leadership in Doha exposes Tel Aviv’s diplomatic efforts to ensure tens of millions of dollars would reach Hamas every month. The decades-long policy of Netanyahu’s far-right Likud Party to directly and indirectly fund Hamas has been well documented by the US and Israeli press. In the letter, only seen by a handful of people, Netanyahu implored the Qatari government to send Hamas another major cash infusion. According to Ynet, an...