"I will be with you, whatever," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to U.S. President George Bush on July 28, 2002. That vow was made public Tuesday in the damning Chilcot Inquiry, underscoring the investigation's conclusion: The invasion of Iraq was decided on well before all peaceful resolutions were exhausted, proving—as critics have long-contended—that the disastrous intervent [...]

It would be good to see that on the basis of the Chilcot report Tony Blair could potentially face prosecution for war crimes, Anne Machon, former British intelligence officer told RT. Other experts also weighed in with their opinions. [...]

There 'has to be a judicial or political reckoning' for Blair's role in Iraq War, one critic charges. Ahead of Wednesday's release of the long-awaited UK government inquiry into the Iraq War—which took a full seven years to complete—many anti-war critics are demanding that Tony Blair and other prominent officials finally face justice for the disastrous decision to invade Iraq in 2003. [...]

The U.S. mainstream media avoids the word “coup” when a disfavored leader is ousted, but the silence around Iran’s 1981 coup also may have served Ronald Reagan’s political self-interest in keeping secret his own "coup," as Mahmood Delkhasteh reflects. Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff calls her impeachment a coup d’état. Many academics and political experts agree that the [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has received a letter in which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the death of the pilot who was killed when a Russian jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border last November, the Kremlin said. [...]

Official Washington’s neocon foreign policy establishment looks forward to more “regime change” wars in the Mideast and more “blank checks” for Israel, but ex-Ambassador Chas W. Freeman Jr. sees such actions as a continued march of folly. I have been asked to speak about the geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East, the realignments occurring among states there, and the prospects for [...]

While civilians who still live on the Turkish-Syrian border suffer from Islamic State attacks and blame Turkish army inaction, so-called moderate rebels of the Free Syrian Army, fighting side-by-side with Islamist extremists, openly admit Ankara’s support. [...]

The West is playing into the Islamophobic narrative blaming Islam for all the recent attacks, while the real cause is political radicalization, said political analyst Catherine Shakdam. Europe opened up its borders to radicals and faces terror, she added. [...]

While criticizing Israeli policy, US National Security Advisor Susan Rice has nonetheless promised to provide a large military aid package to the Middle Eastern nation. Speaking at the American Jewish Committee Global Forum on Monday, Rice spoke of the necessity of a peaceful two-state solution. [...]

The US doesn’t have any leverage over “moderate rebels” in Syria who coordinate their attacks with the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group; and it does not have a strategy for the region, experts tell RT. The Al-Nusra Front in Syria has started a major offensive. The terrorists resumed artillery barrages on residential areas of Aleppo. [...]

Former PM Tony Blair will respond to the Chilcot report on the legality of the 2003 Iraq invasion by arguing the Middle East state was devastated by Iran, Al-Qaeda and a powder keg of tribal animosity unleashed by Saddam’s removal, reports suggest. He is expected to defend the war while trying to externalize the continuing bloodshed, but not before the Chilcot Inquiry reports on July 6. [...]

Turkey has had numerous problems with other nations recently. But after the German Parliament voted in favor of labeling the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, Ankara is losing its "only friend in Europe," an article in Foreign Policy read. [...]

The Syrian Army launched on June 3 a large-scale offensive to liberate the city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Daesh caliphate. Retired Syrian Major General Sabet Muhammad told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that the operation started from the town of Isriya, in Hama province, nearly 140 km to the west from Raqqa. [...]

Four illegal oil production facilities controlled by the terrorist group Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State, have been destroyed by Russian fighter jets. "Russian air force jets destroyed four targets of illegal oil extraction, located to the northwest of Raqqa and controlled by Daesh militants," Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement. [...]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara will take retaliatory measures after the German parliament voted to recognize as ‘genocide’ the Armenian massacre of 1915. Turkey has already recalled its ambassador to Germany in protest. [...]

The US Treasury Department has exposed Saudi Arabia's total US debt holdings for the first time in 40 years, allowing analysts to answer the crucial question of whether or not Riyadh can carry out its threat to undermine America's economy. A month ago, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir threatened Washington, saying his country would sell off up to $750 billion in US Treasures and o [...]

For 41 years the amount of Saudi Arabia's holdings in US Treasuries remained shrouded in secrecy. What was behind the mysterious deal It seemed all was lost in 1974: following the Yom Kippur War (Arab-Israeli War) of 1973, the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo in response to Washington's aid to Israel which led to the "first oil shock." [...]

Turkey has questioned its relationship with the US, with the deputy prime minister saying it is "unsuitable" for soldiers of a country which is friends with Ankara to wear the badges of a "terrorist organization." [...]

Besides US special forces and advisers, American volunteers have also been seen fighting alongside the Kurdish militia in Syria. One US vigilante just outside Islamic State-controlled Raqqa said they are there to bring democracy to the war-torn country. [...]

US foreign policy in Syria is schizophrenic and opportunist as they are combating the Assad government, which has done the bulk of the fighting against Islamic State and the terrorists in general, Brian Becker, from the anti-war ANSWER Coalition told RT. [...]

A HEROIC German shepherd has reportedly saved the lives of a group of SAS fighters facing off against ISIS in Iraq. The Special Forces team were ambushed by a group of ISIS fighters when the Alsatian attacked two jihadis. The furry fighter escaped the battle unhurt and has been hailed a hero by troops after saving the British team’s lives. [...]

As the West is sucked deeper into the Syrian conflict and starts a new Cold War with Russia, the mainstream news media has collapsed as a vehicle for reliable information, creating a danger for the world, writes Robert Parry. Does any intelligent person look at a New York Times article about Russia or Vladimir Putin these days and expect to read an objective, balanced account? [...]