Jason Ditz | The Libertarian Institute

Two Tankers Attacked in Gulf of Oman

by Jason Ditz | Jun 13, 2019 | Featured Articles, Politics

Two tankers traveling through the Gulf of Oman were attacked on Thursday, forcing the crews to abandon the ships, and which left one of the ships on fire. One of the sailors was reported “slightly injured” in the incidents. The ships were the Front Altair, a tanker owned by Frontline which was shipping naphtha to Taiwan, and the Kokuka Courageous, a ship owned by Japanese company Kokuka Sangyo, was transporting methanol to Singapore. They departed from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The ships were apparently hit with sea mines, potentially magnetic mines. The US Navy claimed to...

Assange Faces 170 Years in Prison as US Adds Charges Under Espionage Act

by Jason Ditz | May 28, 2019 | Featured Articles, Politics

As the US prepares to try to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through extradition, the Justice Department has revealed a new series of charges against him. Assange would face 170 years in US prison if convicted. The new allegations include 17 separate charges under the Espionage Act. According to the Justice Department, the charges are all related to leaking classified documents related to national security, which were part of the leaks from Chelsea Manning, who the US has already indefinitely jailed for refusing to testify against Assange. This sets up a potentially very...

Trump May Pardon US Troops Accused or Convicted of War Crimes

by Jason Ditz | May 20, 2019 | Featured Articles, Politics

While the Pentagon rarely goes to the lengths of pursuing war crimes charges against American troops, the sheer number of US wars at any given time mean there will inevitably be some. Officials say President Trump is preparing to pardon some of them. President Trump has made expedited requests for the paperwork to pardon troops, and indications are the pardons will be coming on or around Memorial Day. Apparently the pardons are meant to be seen as a pro-military measure for the holiday. Officials have not seen a complete list of the pardons to come, but suggested Edward Gallagher, a Navy...

CNN Falsely Claims Venezuela’s Guaido Was Elected President in January

by Jason Ditz | May 7, 2019 | Featured Articles, Politics

Continuing to try to advance the US narrative that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is the “duly elected” president, CNN went to the trouble on Sunday afternoon of inventing an entire election to base this around. In the CNN report, they declared “pressure is mounting on Maduro to step down, following elections in January in which voters chose opposition leader Juan Guaido over him for president.” There was no election in January. In reality, Venezuela’s presidential election was held on May 20, 2018. The opposition boycotted the vote, Maduro won with 67.8% of the vote, while Guaido...

Lawmakers Urge Trump Not to Veto Yemen War Powers Challenge

by Jason Ditz | Apr 8, 2019 | Featured Articles, Politics

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from both the Senate and the House have issued a letter to President Trump urging him not to veto the SJ Res 7 War Powers Act challenge to the Yemen War. The resolution passed the Senate last month, and the House on Thursday. The War Powers Act requires the president to get the approval of Congress for any overseas military conflicts, and allows Congress to demand a withdrawal form those nations if the operation is unauthorized. The Yemen War was never authorized by Congress. President Trump has threatened to veto the resolution, and the letter urges him not...

Trump: Great Strides Made in ‘Ridiculous’ Afghan War

by Jason Ditz | Apr 3, 2019 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Praises NATO's promised spending hikes Whenever President Trump is dealing with NATO issues, there is always the question of whether Trump is going to praise NATO as the greatest thing since sliced bread, mock them as a relic of the past, or somehow manage to do both at once. Meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday, Trump played up the pledges for increased military spending, while pushing for even more. He also cheered the “great strides” made in Afghanistan militarily by NATO, while terming the war ‘ridiculous.’ Trump is well known to be weary of the Afghan War, and...

Saudi Airstrike Kills Seven at Northern Yemen Hospital

by Jason Ditz | Mar 27, 2019 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

An unusually busy morning at a rural hospital in Yemen’s Saada Province, run by Save the Children, turned into a catastrophe on Tuesday when Saudi warplanes attacked the area, hitting just outside the hospital itself, striking a gas station and killing at least seven people. According to the Save the Children NGO, the slain included at least two children, as well as one staff member who worked at the hospital. Eight other people are confirmed to have been wounded, and two others are unaccounted for after the strike. The group was critical of the attack, saying that “children have the right...

Taliban Attack Kills All 32 Afghan Troops at Border Post

by Jason Ditz | Feb 18, 2019 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

A remote Afghan border post was overrun on Friday in the Spin Boldak District of Kandahar Province, with officials confirming that the Taliban killed all 32 border troops within. Reports say that a single Taliban infiltrator climbed into the base’s guard tower, killing the sentry within. This was followed by the Taliban ramming the gate with an explosives-packed Humvee, then forcing their way in and killing everyone who was still alive. Provincial MPs confirmed that there were no survivors. They also say that the Taliban attackers were able to totally loot the base, taking weapons and...