The risk that the multi-sided Syrian war could spark World War III continues as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and U.S. neocons seek an invasion that could kill Russian troops — and possibly escalate the Syrian crisis into a nuclear showdown, amazingly to protect Al Qaeda terrorists, reports Robert Parry. When President Barack Obama took questions from reporters on Tuesday, [...]

President Obama has a bee in his bonnet about Putin and he keeps denying the reality, Professor Stephen F. Cohen, who wrote The Nation article ‘The Obama administration recklessly escalates confrontation with Russia’, told RT’s Ed Schultz. [...]

The Western powers don’t care about Syria, they don’t care about Lebanon; those countries are expendable. The goal is to destroy the modernizing countries in the region, political writer Diana Johnstone tells RT. Five years ago a day of rage was proclaimed in Libya with anti-government protesters pouring onto the streets across the country. [...]

Instead of being happy the Americans seem to be in a sort of melancholy stage. They are upset the Russians and the Syrian government are working together and are able to push back the terrorists, says Brian Becker, of the anti-war ANSWER coalition. Speaking at the US-ASEAN summit in [...]

Talking to journalists gathered at the Pentagon, the US command has blamed “brutal dictatorship” for the human suffering in Syria, claiming that the Russian op has only caused further “tremendous damage” – yet again offering no proof to back the assertions. “Let’s be clear: the human suffering on the ground [in Syria] is the result of the Assad regime’s brutal dictatorship,”  [...]

Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a 20-year sentence in the US for alleged drug trafficking, has told reporters about numerous violations of his rights and “deliberate attempts to kill him” through cruel conditions and poor medical treatment. [...]

A Syrian military source said the battle for Aleppo, a major prize in a war which has killed a quarter of a million people, would continue in "all directions." World powers pressed Russia on Wednesday to stop bombing around Aleppo in support of a Syrian government offensive to recapture the city and a Western official said Moscow had presented a proposal envisaging a truce in three weeks' time. [...]

The dramatic success of the Syrian Army's operation to liberate Aleppo province and to surround the jihadist-held section of the key city of Aleppo has left Washington scrambling to find ways to "delay or derail" the operation "and avoid the impending collapse of US policy in Syria," writes independent US journalist Mike Whitney. [...]

The Democrats’ fight against Bernie is appearing futile. Like a python choking on an elephant, they’ve miscalculated. The Party elites underestimated their opponent, and with each new attack the snake swallows an extra inch, harming only itself. Establishment figureheads are taking turns [...]

In an angry tirade Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Washington of causing the bloodbath in Syria by not recognizing as terrorists the Kurdish forces fighting against Islamic State in the region. Bringing a new level of pressure to bear on its NATO ally, the Turkish president questioned Washington’s commitment as a fellow coalition member. [...]

Two US Air Force A-10 warplanes carried out airstrikes on Aleppo Wednesday, destroying nine facilities, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported. The same day, the Pentagon accused Moscow of bombing two hospitals, despite no Russian flights over the city. [...]

The neocons and liberal hawks who dominate the U.S. foreign policy and media establishment are pushing the world toward a nuclear showdown with Russia as few people hear a comprehensive response from the other side, an imbalance that a new Russian documentary addresses, writes Gilbert Doctorow. Without mincing words, the new Russian documentary World Order is a devastating critique of U.S. glob [...]

The twin explosions of post-9/11 national security extravagance and Citizens United political spending bonanza have reshaped Washington — not only in its political outlook but physically, with this New Class preferring lavish McMansions to show off their newfound wealth, as Mike Lofgren describes. In 1927, H.L. Mencken rode by train through the Pennsylvania coal country. [...]

Riled by a meeting between a US official and members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which controls the Syrian town of Kobane, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Washington to choose between Turkey and, as he put it, the “terrorists.” [...]

After more than a decade of legal battles and stonewalling, the Department of Defense released 198 photos relating to prisoner abuse by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. The photos were released in response to an ACLU lawsuit that we have been litigating for almost 12 years. [...]

The idea of U.S. funding going to directly to groups that employ child soldiers is repugnant and shocking to the conscience. The killing of a 10-year-old Afghan boy, Wasil Ahmad, by Taliban forces has raised serious questions about the United State’s creation and backing of a militia group using of child soldiers. [...]

The Pentagon on Friday was forced to release nearly 200 photographs of bruises, lacerations, and other injuries inflicted on prisoners presumably by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. The record-dump was the result of a Freedom of Information Act request and nearly 12 years of [...]

For the third year in a row the number of people renouncing their citizenship or abandoning green cards has beaten the record set the previous year, US Treasury Department data reveal. The surge is likely the result of stringent US tax policy. A record-breaking 4,279 individuals decided to call it quits with the US in 2015 in comparison to 3,415 people the previous year, according to a US Treas [...]

The US European Command published its revamped military doctrine which places emphasis on deterring the "Russian threat." According to military political analyst Andrei Koshkin, the US seeks to draw Europeans’ attention from the migrant crisis and make them obedient once more. [...]

After Saudi-backed Syrian rebels balked at peace talks and the Russian-backed Syrian army cut off Turkish supply lines to jihadists and other Syrian rebels, the U.S. and its Mideast Sunni “allies” appear poised to invade Syria and force “regime change” even at the risk of fighting Russia, a gamble with nuclear war, writes Joe Lauria. [...]

A long profile on Hillary Clinton in the Washington Post earlier this week highlights the 2011 Libyan intervention as a key indicator of her approach to foreign policy. Clinton claims that the Libyan bombing campaign was an example of “smart power at its best.” If she actually believes that, it raises serious questions about her judgment, as well as about her ability to analyze foreign policy [...]

A new White House plan to combat climate change and update transportation systems would impose a fee of $10 per barrel of oil to fund $300 billion in spending over the next decade. President Barack Obama is expected to make his case to Congress next week. Promoting a “21st century clean transportation system,” the Obama administration unveiled its transportation budget Thursday, first to [...]