Politics

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

Authored by Eric Zuesse,

America’s military budget is roughly 7.2 times that of Russia ($610 billion compared to $84.5 billion), but even Western news-accounts are saying that the weaponry produced in Russia is superior overall to the weaponry produced in the United States.

President Putin of Russia has met with the former U.S. Secretary of State and National Security advisor Henry Kissinger at his residence outside Moscow. RT reports: The Kremlin said that the two have “long-standing, friendly relations” and that they have used the “opportunity to talk.” The meeting is a continuation of a “friendly dialogue between President Putin and Henry Kissinger, who are bound by a longstanding relationship,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “They communicate all the time, use the opportunity to talk,” he added.

Iraq probably didn’t need to become any more fractious.

The country is deeply divided along sectarian lines with the Shiite government effectively making up for lost time spent under Saddam by marginalizing Iraq’s Sunni minority in the wake of the US invasion that ousted the Ba’athists.

Complicating matters is the presence of Islamic State (which in its early days recruited from the ranks of Saddam’s conquered security apparatus), who still control the country’s second-largest city as well as several oil fields.

Via AetherCzar,

The 2016 Presidential election features a wide range of Republican contenders. How do they compare to John Charles Fremont, who in 1856 became the very first Republican candidate for President? Adventurer, explorer, military officer, businessman, and U.S. Senator, the current contenders must pool their experience to match Fremont’s remarkable resume.