State Department

The silhouette of Georges Soros of the Soros Fondation, is pictured as he speaks to the media at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 25 ,2012.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at the U.S.-Saudi Arabia CEO Summit, Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman was an Egyptian cleric who played a critical role in the early years of Al Qaeda. Rahman and his followers took over the New York branch of the MAK, an international fundraising and recruiting organisation that was central to the CIA's Operation Cyclone. His followers carried out several major crimes - the murders of the mosque's original imam Mustafa Shalabi and of Jewish Defence League founder Meir Kahane, as well at the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Mothers cuddle their babies as they undergo free medical checkups under the United Nations Population Fund at Cainta Town Hall at Cainta township, Rizal province east of Manila, Philippines.. (AP/Bullit Marquez)
President Donald Trump’s State Department announced late Monday that it was cutting off millions of dollars in funding for a United Nations family planning agency that offers reproductive and maternal health services worldwide, serving tens of thousands of women.

In this month's subscriber-only podcast Pearse and I discuss the 1986 TV movie Under Siege. Co-written by former Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward on the surface this is a liberal take on the Reagan White House, but underneath is a profoundly neoconservative film. When terrorists attack the US on a large scale the CIA and the military want to immediately take revenge on Iran, but the FBI director wants to hold back until they know who was responsible.

Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
The Trump administration is imposing sanctions on 30 foreign companies and people from 10 countries, including China.
The State Department said Friday that the entities and people contribute to activity that “only serves to escalate regional conflicts further and poses a significant threat to regional security.”

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, right, and Former Sen. Jim DeMint of the Heritage Foundation, left, walk away from the West Wing of the White House, Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in Washington. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

A picture of Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, is displayed while people sign condolences books at the Russian Mission to the U.N. in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (AP/Seth Wenig)

Anti-Assad protesters burn a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with ‘Corruption’ written across his face. (AP/Kostas Tsironis)
SYRIA — While the nearly seven-year-long sectarian “civil war” in Syria is widely believed to have started in 2011, revelations in recent years have shown that the sectarian war that has sunk Syria into chaos actually precedes the “official” start of the conflict.

This week I joined Pearse on his radio show to revisit the 1993 WTC bombing, in light of the recent anniversary and the death of former CIA asset the Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. (Read more...)