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The Myth of ‘Indispensability’ and Our Free-Rider Problem

Christopher Preble adds to the discussion about U.S. allies and clients:

We can see, then, that for all the talk of free riding, for all those instances when some U.S. government official expresses concern or frustration that allies don’t do more to defend themselves and their interests, it’s just that: talk. For the dominant foreign-policy community, allies are the equivalent of Facebook friends. U.S. officials count them, rank them, and occasionally thank them. But we don’t ever expect these “allies” to actually do anything for us in return.

Russian Fighter Jet Barrel Rolls US Plane Over Baltic Sea

A Russian SU-27 fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane, barrel-rolling on top of it over the Baltic Sea, according to the US military. But why is the US flying spy missions off the Russian coast? CNN reports: The incident Thursday occurred when a Russian jet “performed erratic and aggressive maneuvers” as it flew within 50 feet of the U.S. aircraft’s wing tip, Danny Hernandez, a spokesman for U.S. European Command, said in a response to a question from CNN. The Russian Su-27 began the barrel roll from the left side of the U.S.

Saudi Arabia’s Role in 9/11 ‘Deliberately’ Covered Up At Highest Levels

The “highest levels” of the U.S. government are implicated in covering-up of Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks and it’s all to preserve diplomatic relations with the oil-rich Kingdom. The extent of the cover-up goes beyond hiding 28 pages of a congressional report on 9/11 which was released in 2002 according to The New York Post : In its report on the still-censored “28 pages” implicating the Saudi government in 9/11, “60 Minutes” last weekend said the Saudi role in the attacks has been “soft-pedaled” to protect America’s delicate alliance with the oil-rich kingdom.

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