On September 18th the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution by large majority on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences of Israel’s Gaza offensive and the ongoing occupation. The UNGA affirmed the ICJ ruling in July which triggered the legal obligation of all states to end complicity in and bring an end to Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid regime. Significantly, the resolution called for sanctions on Israel for the first time in 42 years, specifically referencing the obligation to abstain from economic relations with Israel as it pertains to the Occupied Territories and to take “steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.¹ 

To this end, the perfectly suited Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) has been languishing in limbo between second Dáil approval and committee stage since January 2019. 

In an interview with RTÉ in mid-September, Tánaiste Micheál Martin reiterated that enacting the OTB would place Ireland in breach of EU law, emphasising that, like it or not, the EU has overriding authority when it comes to trade. Here he is basing his assertion on the much disputed 2019 Attorney General’s advice, advice wich ignores European Court of Justice case law allowing member states to deviate from EU law on public policy grounds to safeguard fundamental rights. 

Micheál has held fast to this dubious position, stalling concrete action on Israel’s unparalleled crimes in the Occupied Territories for nearly five years, including a year of unimaginable genocidal carnage. The ICJ ruling has forced the government to go back to the Attorney General to ask for a second opinion, but that was now over a month ago. What is the hold up? 

At the time of writing, the government is being forced to respond to revelations by The Ditch detailing a secret phone call between former finance minister Paschal Donohoe and his Israeli counterpart.² These have Donohoe assuring the Israelis the OTB could be blocked from progressing by using the “money message” procedure (a tool that allows the Government to block legislative proposals that have majority support by saying they will incur a cost to the state to implement). The Government has flatly denied that any such phone call took place³, which leaves one to wonder why high-level Israeli officials would be lying to each other about such matters in internal emails. 

What about the status of Ireland’s application to join South Africa’s case at the ICJ? To great fanfare in March, Martin announced Ireland’s intention to add our weight to the case against Israel. Yet there is still no sign of the formal declaration of intervention. Spain announced their application in early June and made the formal declaration in late June. What is the hold up? 

When Micheál Martin was first questioned on revelations in The Ditch about flights full of weapons for Israel transiting Irish airspace, he said the government was not aware of the flights and there wasn’t much the country could do about it.⁴ A month later they were still “working to confirm the accuracy of reports”, refusing to disclose to the Dáil if more than nine of these flights had occurred, and telling the press future cargo flights of munitions for genocide “may” be stopped in future.⁵ These flights are illegal irrespective of the ICJ ruling that obligates us to stop them. What is the hold up? 

This foot-dragging stands in stark contrast to how Ireland behaves in relation to Washington’s perceived rivals. Ireland happily goes along with EU sanctions (which do not have a solid foundation in international law) against Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Mali, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Russia and all the other baddies.These sanctions are imposed by the Council of the EU, a secretive round-table of almost exclusively right-wing leaders and ministers. There is no due process, evidence is not presented, and accused parties do not have a right to present a defence. Conversely, when the principal judicial organ of the United Nations rules that Israel has placed Gazans at risk of genocide, that all states must end the brutal occupation and apartheid, the Irish government goes looking for second legal opinions. 

Micheál went to Israel to point at broken ceiling plaster to help gin up support for a genocide, never shutting up about Israel’s non-existent right to defend itself. Meanwhile he presents Ireland as some kind of humanitarian leader despite the fact that any remotely positive change in government policy comes from them being caught out, being dragged kicking and screaming by the international courts, and the constant pressure from the Irish people. The Irish government may be subservient to genocidal US-led imperialism, but we the people of Ireland are not. 

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Notes

1. United Nations General Assembly, “Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, Tenth emergency special session, Agenda item 5, 13th September 2024, press release accessed at: https://archive.ph/n4lIY
2. “Donohoe had secret call with Israeli finance minister to say government would ‘block’ Occupied Territories Bill”,The Ditch website, 25th September 2024, accessed at https://archive.ph/B1W7H
3. “Donohoe had no phone call over Occupied Territories Bill, Dáil told”, RTÉ News website, 26th September 2024, accessed at: https://archive.ph/8WVPQ
4. O’Toole, M. (2024) ‘Tánaiste unveils two new additions to Ireland’s Naval Service Fleet’, Irish Mirror, 5th September 2024, accessed at: https://archive.ph/MNuVg
5. Whelan, S (2024) ‘Airlines flying arms in airspace may be refused – Martin’, RTÉ News, 23 September 2024, accessed at: https://archive.ph/WCETu

Featured image is from SV

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock from 100 seconds to 90 seconds in 2023. In January this year, the Clock remained unchanged. 

However, with the ongoing escalation in the Middle East and Ukraine, will the Clock move ever closer to midnight? 

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Author’s Note 

This video was published on July 1, 2020 in the immediate wake of the March 2020 Lockdown imposed on 190+ member states of the United Nations. 

It was act of economic warfare.

A war against humanity. It’s intent was to trigger global poverty, bankruptcy and despair.

This crisis was  misunderstood by economists.  

The covid lockdown in March 2020 was the inception of the most serious economic and social crisis in modern history.

This was the beginning of  a Worldwide crisis six months before the launching of the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine in December 2020. The Vaccine was upheld as a “solution” to the alleged Covid pandemic. 

The World economy is in the hands of the creditors: 

“Now, the problem of Western governments is that the debt is NOT REPAYABLE. …. In other words, that means that an entire state apparatus is now in the hands of the creditors.

… And the next stage is ultimately the confiscation of the State! THE STATE WILL BE PRIVATIZED” (July 1, 2020, see transcript below)

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, October 12, 2024

.

TRANSCRIPT

The 2020 Economic Crisis. Global Poverty, Unemployment and Despair

By Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

June 30, 2020

We are undoubtedly living (in) one of the most serious economic and social and crises in modern history. In some regards, we are living history and we are unable to comprehend the logic of the corona virus pandemic.

What is at stake is the pretext and the justification for closing down national economies worldwide based on a public health concern.

We have to understand the causalities. Closing down an economy, nationally and globally does NOT resolve the pandemic. In fact, it creates a situation of INSTITUTIONAL INSTABILITY.

It also results in massive unemployment, confinement of people in their homes, without employment, without food . . . That is what we’re living.

There is NO justification for closing down national economies based on a public health concern, which can be resolved, and SHOULD be resolved!

There is a very complex decision-making process, which has been PLANNED WELL IN ADVANCE. From ‘central authority’, governments are instructed to close down their economies and then, in turn, the governments instruct people to implement social engineering, not to meet, not to have family reunions . . .

And, essentially, what we do not understand, and which is fundamental, is that economic activity is the basis for the reproduction of real life. By that I mean, institutions, purchasing power of families, a whole series of activities, which have developed in the course of history – economic activity constitutes the foundation of all societies.

And what these measures have resulted in is a massive crisis, in which particularly small and medium sized enterprises are being precipitated into bankruptcy, millions of people have become unemployed, and in many countries this has resulted in mass poverty, famine, among certain groups of the population.

We have ample evidence to this effect and we have to understand that this process of closing down national economies is deliberate. IT’S A PLAN.

And, it’s co-ordinated with the financial crisis which took place in the month of February (2020), which led to massive collapse in banking institutions, stock markets and so on. Economists, conventional economists, have a tendency to say that there’s no relationship between the corona pandemic crisis and the financial crash in February. That is utterly mistaken. The fear campaign, the disinformation campaign, have facilitated the MANIPULATION OF STOCK MARKETS. And we’re (I’m) talking about the use of very sophisticated derivatives, speculative instruments and so on.

What is now happening is that governments have been indebted up to their ears. They’re paying out compensation to companies which have been affected; in some cases it’s generous bailouts, in other cases it’s part of a social safety net coming to the rescue of workers and small-scale enterprises.

And the next stage is the MOST SERIOUS DEBT CRISIS IN WORLD HISTORY. In other words, the levels of employment have crashed and companies are bankrupt. We will have a fiscal crisis of the state. In other words, a dramatic decline in (income) tax revenues due to the collapse in employment, and the  companies (which have not gone bankrupt) are going to deduct corporate losses, of course (on their tax statements). How will the governments around the world continue to govern, finance social programs and so on?

It will ultimately be through a gigantic global debt operation implemented both in the so-called ‘developed’ countries – e.g. Italy, France, United States, Canada – and in the developing countries where it will be more the international financial institutions, the World Bank, the IMF, the regional development banks.

Now, the problem of Western governments is that that debt is NOT REPAYABLE. The Italian government has issued bonds with the support of Goldman Sachs and so on; that was done a couple of months back. And what has happened? Italy’s debt is categorized (by Standard and Poor). . . these Italian bonds, are classified ‘BB’, which essentially means junk bond status. In other words, that means that an entire state apparatus is now in the hands of the creditors. And these creditors are the financial institutions, the banks and so on.

And the next stage is ultimately the confiscation of the State! THE STATE WILL BE PRIVATIZED.

All the programs will be under the helm of the creditors. We can say, “Goodbye” to the welfare state in Western Europe. Why? Because the creditors will immediately, following what they did in Greece a few years back . . . they will immediately impose austerity measures, and the privatization of social programs, the privatization of anything that can be privatized – cities, land, public buildings.

And, in other words, we are living a very important evolution because the State, as we know it, will no longer exist. It will be run by private banking interests, who will . . . and they’re already doing that . . . APPOINT their governments, or their politicians, their corrupt politicians, and essentially they will take over the whole political landscape.

That is happening in a number of countries. And in some countries they have even instructed the governments NOT to debate (in parliament) the enormous debts which have been accumulated in the last few months as a result of the pandemic, which now are the object of financing by these powerful financial institutions. In Canada there was an agreement between Prime Minister Trudeau on the one hand and the leader of the opposition – NO DEBATE in parliament on $150 billion of debt, which then has to be covered through public debt operations and loans from financial institutions.

And essentially the scenario that we are living. . . which is unfolding is that, on the one hand, the real economy in the course of the last few months starting in March, well, in fact, starting in February with the stock market crash is in a state of crisis, production activity has been affected, trade has been affected. Millions and millions of people are going to be unemployed, without earnings, and it’s not only poverty – it’s poverty and despair. It’s the marginalization of large sectors of the world population from the labour market. There are figures on that, published by the ILO (International Labour Organization) that in fact, at this stage, it is premature to even start estimating these impacts.

We can look at it country by country. We can see, for instance, that in developing countries the informal sector, let’s say in India or in certain countries in Latin America, (such as) Peru, a large sector of the labour force is involved in what is called the ‘informal sector’; self-employed, small-scale industries and so on. Well, this has been COMPLETELY WIPED OUT and the people affected are left very often, homeless. The only choice they have is to do it to go back to their home villages and in the process they are the victims of famine and a situation of TOTAL MARGINALIZATION.

That is the scenario. It’s beyond global poverty. It’s mass unemployment. It is something which has been ENGINEERED, it’s not something which is accidental. And it’s certainly not something which has been used to resolve a global health crisis.

The global health crisis pertaining to covid has been MULTIPLIED. People have been confined, they have fallen sick, they have lost their jobs, and at the same time the whole health apparatus has been in crisis, unable to function.

What we have to understand is that this process HAS TO BE CONFRONTED! There has to be an organized opposition. This is a neo-liberal project! It’s neo-liberalism to the extreme.

Now, bear in mind that today, what we have, (is that) in some regards, the stock market crash used speculative instruments, insider trading, but also the fear campaign to implement what is THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TRANSFER OF WEALTH IN WORLD HISTORY! In other words, everybody loses money in the stock market crash and the money goes into the hands of, you know, a limited number of billionaires. And there have been estimates as to the enrichment of this class in the course of the last three months. I won’t get into details. So that, this, in a sense, this crisis of February, the stock market crisis, sets the stage for the lockdown.

And on (the topic of) the lockdown, we can call it by another name. The lockdown is the CLOSURE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY! It is an act which instructs national governments to close down their economy, and they obey! That’s what we call, ‘global governance’. But it’s an imperial project. They obey and they close down everything.

And then they they try to convince their citizens that this is all for a good cause, we are closing down the economy so that we can save lives due to covid-19. That is a very strong statement and at the same time the statistics on covid-19 are the source of manipulation.

I won’t get into that particular dimension but I can say in all certitude that the impact of this crisis is so dramatic, the economic crisis, that it DOESN’T COMPARE to the impact of covid-19, which, according even to people like Anthony Fauci, who says that it is comparable to seasonal influenza. They’ve written that in their peer-reviewed articles.

What they say online, on CNN is a different matter. But they do not consider covid-19 as an ultimate danger of all dangers. It’s not. There are many other health pandemics affecting the world. That does not mean that we shouldn’t take it seriously but we should understand, it’s common sense, it’s not by closing down the global economy that you’re going to resolve this pandemic.

So somebody’s lying, somewhere. And in fact, the lies are ‘becoming the truth’, they’re becoming part of the ‘consensus’ and THAT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

Because when the lie becomes ‘the truth’, there’s no turning backwards.

And we notice how independent scientists, independent analysts, are being CENSORED,  that we have many doctors and nurses and scientists, virologists as well as economists who are speaking out. And you just have to look at the figures, the millions and millions of people who are unemployed as a result of this.

So, what we really need is a historical understanding of what’s going on, because closing down the economy through orders from ‘somewhere up there’ . . .

First of all, it’s DISTINCT FROM ANY PREVIOUS CRISIS. But secondly, we have to RESIST THAT MODEL. And it’s not by changing the paradigm, no. It’s a mass movement; it’s a mass movement against our governments, it’s a mass movement against the architects of this diabolical project . . .

And we can’t ask the Rockefellers, “Please lend us the money” to pay for our expenses, we have to do that on our own.

And that’s why all these NGOs, which are funded by corporate foundations Cannot  . . . I’m not saying . . . some of the things they do are fine but they cannot wage a campaign against those who are sponsoring them, that’s an impossibility.

So we have to implement a grassroots movement, nationally and internationally, to CONFRONT THIS DIABOLICAL PROJECT and to restore our national economies, our national institutions. And, to DENY THE LEGITIMACY OF THE DEBT PROJECT. And to investigate the elements of corruption which have led to this diabolical adventure, which is affecting humanity in its entirety.

This is a war against humanity, implemented through complex economic instruments.

Goodbye and we will continue our battle and our analysis to the best of our abilities at Global Research.

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research,  July 1, 2020

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

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A ajuda europeia ao regime de Kiev está a causar cada vez mais descontentamento e protestos entre as pessoas comuns. Uma nova onda de protestos começou recentemente na Alemanha, com o apoio popular aos programas militares da UE a tornar-se realmente diminutos. Isto está a colocar em risco a legitimidade dos governos europeus, especialmente em países como a Alemanha, uma vez que os seus cidadãos já não veem claramente os seus líderes como verdadeiros representantes dos interesses nacionais.

Nos últimos dias, milhares de pessoas saíram às ruas de Berlim e de outras grandes cidades alemãs para demonstrar a sua oposição ao apoio militar do país ao regime neonazista de Kiev. Os manifestantes, afiliados a vários grupos políticos e movimentos sociais, fizeram discursos públicos condenando o fornecimento de armas às forças ucranianas e afirmando que não estavam preparados para gastar os seus recursos e armas para ajudar Kiev.

Uma das principais razões dos protestos foi a oposição ao fornecimento de mísseis alemães Taurus à Ucrânia. Como é sabido, nos últimos meses tem aumentado a pressão por parte do Presidente ucraniano Vladimir Zelensky e dos seus apoiadores para o fornecimento de armas capazes de atingir alvos “profundos” no território indiscutível da Federação Russa. O governo de Olaf Scholz manteve uma posição firme ao não autorizar a utilização de quaisquer armas de longo alcance, mas a pressão do lobby pró-guerra é tão forte que muitos cidadãos alemães temem que o governo acabe por ceder – por esta razão, as pessoas estão a sair às ruas para mostrar claramente a sua posição, criando assim uma espécie de “anti-lobby” contra os grupos pró-guerra.

Além da questão ucraniana, os manifestantes também protestaram contra o envolvimento alemão noutros conflitos pelo mundo, como a guerra entre Israel e as milícias aliadas do Irã no Oriente Médio. Os países ocidentais têm historicamente apoiado Israel em todos os seus conflitos na região, razão pela qual as pessoas temem que a escalada encoraje um maior envolvimento alemão na guerra. Os manifestantes mostraram solidariedade para com o povo palestino e deixaram claro que não querem que o seu país seja envolvido nas hostilidades.

“Não há mísseis Taurus na Ucrânia (…) Não há 100 mil milhões para armamentos e guerra (…) Não me vão mandar para a guerra (…) Acabar com o genocídio em Gaza (…) Libertar a Palestina”, alguns disseram manifestantes enquanto protestavam em Berlim.

A reação dos ativistas pela paz deve-se ao fato de a Alemanha ter prometido recentemente ainda mais envolvimento nos atuais conflitos. Apesar de tentar evitar o envio de armas capazes de atingir alvos “profundos” na Rússia, Olaf Scholz anunciou que irá enviar um novo pacote de ajuda militar a Kiev, avaliado em 1,4 mil milhões de euros. Scholz promete fazer todo o possível para garantir que a Alemanha continue a ser o maior apoiador de Israel na Europa, enquanto continua enviando grandes quantidades de armas, equipamento e dinheiro para as forças armadas de Kiev.

“A Alemanha é o mais forte apoiador militar da Ucrânia na Europa. Vai continuar assim. Posso assegurar-vos disso”, disse ele.

Na mesma linha, em 10 de outubro, Scholz prometeu enviar mais armas a Israel. Ele disse que quaisquer rumores sobre uma diminuição da ajuda alemã a Israel são falsos, esclarecendo que o país continuará a expandir a cooperação militar com Tel Aviv.

“(Apesar dos rumores e da pressão) Não decidimos não fornecer armas (para Israel). Fornecemos armas e (continuaremos a) fornecer armas. (O governo alemão tomou decisões) que também garantem que haverá novas remessas em breve”, disse ele recentemente.

Na verdade, têm surgido gradualmente relatos de uma diminuição da ajuda militar alemã aos países parceiros. Estas avaliações baseiam-se em dois fatores: por um lado, a pressão pública contra o frágil governo Scholz, que se revela fraco e impopular; por outro lado, existem as circunstâncias da própria capacidade produtiva da Alemanha, que diminui dia a dia devido a dificuldades econômicas e energéticas. Na verdade, é muito difícil para Berlim continuar a ser um importante fornecedor de tecnologia militar aos países aliados ocidentais a longo prazo, simplesmente porque o povo alemão não o quer e porque a situação social no país não permite tais despesas. .

A insistência de Scholz em manter o envolvimento alemão nos conflitos atuais apenas irá expandir ainda mais a crise de legitimidade do seu governo. Os protestos tornar-se-ão em breve mais frequentes e possivelmente mais tensos, uma vez que o povo alemão está a mostrar a sua insatisfação com a situação atual. É possível dizer que Scholz está cometendo um verdadeiro “suicídio” político ao priorizar o apoio à Ucrânia e a Israel em detrimento da sua própria popularidade entre os cidadãos do país.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

Artigo em inglês : In Germany thousands of protesters show their opposition to Ukraine aid program, InfoBrics, 14 de outubro de 2024.

Imagem : InfoBrics

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Lucas Leiroz, membro da Associação de Jornalistas do BRICS, pesquisador do Centro de Estudos Geoestratégicos, especialista militar.

Você pode seguir Lucas Leiroz em: https://t.me/lucasleiroz e https://x.com/leiroz_lucas

Support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris among Arab-American and Muslim voters, as well as among progressive and young voters, has plummeted in recent weeks due to her backing of Israel’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, putting her victory in key states like Michigan at risk.

On September 9, Quinnipiac University released its final polls before the US general elections. The survey, which covered three of the most critical states key to the aspirations of Harris and Republican Donald Trump, showed a notable decline for the Democrat in the voting intention of those surveyed, but none more so than in Michigan. There, the current vice president went from having 50% of voting intention in September (compared to Trump’s 45%) to obtaining 47% in October, with the Republican moving into the lead with 50%.

According to many analysts, the decline is due to Harris’ supposed conservative shift in recent weeks, which has seen her campaigning with former Republican Liz Cheney and boasting about the support of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, the architect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, to toughening her rhetoric on Latin American immigrants and, especially, her alignment with Israel at a time when the Jewish state is expanding its airstrikes against Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

By backing President Joe Biden’s staunch defence of Israel, Harris has suffered in the voting intention among the young and progressive electorate, but especially among Arab American and Muslim voters. The latter has historically voted for Democratic candidates in every election.

Michigan has the largest number of voters who are descendants or immigrants from Arab countries. It is one of the key states in Harris’ campaign to win the election.

If Harris does not win Michigan, which Biden won by three points in 2020 but Hillary Clinton marginally lost in 2016, her path to obtaining the 370 Electoral College votes becomes almost impossible since, according to all the polls, the Republican is showing great strength in other Democrat states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Harris’s refusal to distance herself from Biden’s absolute support for Netanyahu could be catastrophic for the Democratic candidate.

Under other circumstances, Michigan might have facilitated Harris’ victory, but this is one of the most disconcerting aspects of her campaign: the fact that she has not sought to reach out to that electorate – even if for electoral reasons, not moral ones – that is critical of Israel’s actions. It is recalled that Harris’ campaign refused even to have a Palestinian speaker at the Democratic Convention, despite the fact that they invited Israeli speakers. Harris herself has refused to commit to stopping the shipment of American weapons to Israel if she wins the election.

While the Arab and Muslim electorate represents 4% of Michigan’s total population, which translates into 200,000 potential voters, Trump’s margin of victory over Clinton in 2016 was just 10,000 votes. If the shift in voting intention materialises, it could give the election to the former president.

Today, according to the latest polls, not only does Trump lead Harris among the general electorate in Michigan, but he also leads her among the Arab and Muslim population, something that no one could have imagined just two years ago. In the past, that electorate has leaned overwhelmingly Democratic in every presidential election, including in 2020, when Biden captured 60% of that vote, with Trump getting just 37%.

The reason for such an abrupt change in just four years has an obvious explanation – Biden’s support for Israel’s military action in the Middle East, which has left tens of thousands of dead in Gaza and Lebanon in the last year, most of them civilians. Voters see Biden and Harris talking about a ceasefire in Gaza, but not only do they fail to achieve it, they continue to send weapons to Israel.

Trump has promised in this campaign that he will re-implement the executive order he established in 2017, which prohibits the entry into the country of citizens from a series of Muslim-majority countries. But for Arab-Americans, this is not comparable to Biden and Harris financing and supporting Israel.

Many pro-Palestine voters prefer Trump as they see him as a pragmatic politician, believing that while the Republican has a good relationship with Netanyahu, he would not hesitate to get rid of the Israeli prime minister if he became politically inconvenient for him. On the contrary, Biden has repeatedly said throughout his career that he considers himself a “Zionist” who always defends Israel, leading many voters to believe that he will not change his mind regarding the continued sending of weapons to Israel instead of deepening a diplomatic solution.

In many cases, the shift of this electorate towards Trump is explained by the logic of the lesser evil, and it is not illogical that the desire to punish Biden and Harris for allowing Israel to bomb their countries of origin daily than any other argument.

Other voters in that group, on the other hand, have decided to support the independent candidate Jill Stein, who is expected to obtain almost a third of the votes from Arabs and Muslims in Michigan. Again, this would be catastrophic for Harris because many of these voters traditionally support the Democrats. However, Stein is the best option for these voters because she is the only candidate who has openly criticised Netanyahu.

It is inexplicable that Harris was recruited at the last minute after Biden’s debacle in the presidential debate with Trump. She now wants to distance herself from the unpopular Biden administration but maintains the same position on most issues, including Israel. It is clearly a bad electoral strategy. But if there is one thing that Washington cannot object to, it is the war machine, and Harris is proving it, even if it hurts her election chances.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Official portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris. (From the Public Domain)

Germany Dismisses Ukraine’s Demands for Taurus Missiles and NATO Membership

By Ahmed Adel, October 14, 2024

Berlin has spurned two key demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to “sell” during his European tour to promote his so-called Victory Plan: getting the green light for deep strikes into Russian territory (which would require German Taurus missiles, among others) and speeding up Ukraine’s accession to NATO, German media reported.

Extermination Works. At First. “If Israel Is Not Stopped”…. Chris Hedges

By Chris Hedges, October 15, 2024

Extermination works. At first. This is the terrible lesson of history. If Israel is not stopped — and no outside power appears willing to halt the genocide in Gaza or the destruction of Lebanon — it will achieve its goals of depopulating and annexing northern Gaza and turning southern Gaza into a charnel house where Palestinians are burned alive, decimated by bombs and die from starvation and infectious diseases, until they are driven out.

Israel’s War on the United Nations

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, October 15, 2024

A number of recent incidents reveals the poor regard the United Nations is held in, notably within Israel’s warring circles.  Its agency aiding Palestinians, UNRWA, is threatened by two bills before the Israeli parliament that will significantly hamper its operations by evicting the body from its premise in territories within Israel’s control.

Continuity of Barbarism. Western Proxies Murder Children as Policy

By Mark Taliano, October 15, 2024

The horror that is the current Western/Zionist perpetrated genocide in occupied Palestine is a continuum of the horror that the West and its proxies have been inflicting on prey countries such as Syria for years. The “mechanisms of terror” are the same. The targeting and slaughter of civilians, including children, is a Western/Zionist military policy designed to displace and annihilate prey populations.

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As the Kiev regime forces are suffering massive losses across the entire frontline, the continuously growing tensions in other regions of the world and the expected (geo)political changes in the United States make the Kiev regime’s prospects grimmer by the day.

The warmongers in Washington DC is desperate to start a war it can win somewhere and it’s increasingly apparent that’s not the case for the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict.

Thus, the political West keeps escalating tensions elsewhere.

The increasingly contested Asia-Pacific region is one possible battleground, but it’s also too big of a bite for the time being. This is why we’re seeing the Middle East being targeted for destabilization by the US and its vassals and satellite states for the umpteenth time.

However, the potential for escalation in Europe is certainly not exhausted. Quite the contrary, NATO is just getting started. Namely, Ukraine is only one episode in the wider Russia-NATO confrontation that the latter has been planning for decades. To that end, the US is using endemically Russophobic countries as the future cannon fodder. Unfortunately, Poland stands at the forefront of the massive militarization of Eastern Europe. Right now, Warsaw is even making war plans that count on the Kiev regime’s total defeat. Various sources report that the mounting losses of the Neo-Nazi junta forces in the Kursk oblast (region) and the Donbas are further exacerbated by the political West’s (in)ability to sustain the functioning of the Kiev regime through continuous financial injections.

And indeed, it’s highly unlikely that the European Union will be able (or willing) to provide hundreds of billions of euros to the Neo-Nazi junta if the political shift in the US stops the flow of American money.

Poland seems to be preparing for this exact eventuality, with its high command already planning for a future conflict with Russia. General Rajmund Andrzejczak, former Chief of the Polish General Staff, thinks this is the most likely scenario and wants a new “deterrence policy against Moscow following a Russian takeover of Ukraine”. Andrzejczak served at the top position in the Polish military from 2018 to 2023, so he’s certainly aware of the actual situation on the frontlines in Ukraine. According to military sources, he’s quite belligerent toward the Kremlin, insisting on Poland’s battle readiness.

“After a Russian victory in Ukraine, we would have a Russian division in Lviv, one in Brest and one in Grodno. […] If they attack even an inch of Lithuanian territory, the response will come immediately. Not on the first day, but in the first minute. We will hit all strategic targets within a radius of 300 km. We will attack St. Petersburg directly,” he insisted, adding: “[Poland] must take the initiative. Russia must realize that an attack on Poland or the Baltic countries would also mean its end… That is the only way to deter the Kremlin from such aggression.”

Andrzejczak also stated that Warsaw is acquiring “800 missiles with a range of 900 km” to this end, although he didn’t explain which type of missiles. Right now, Poland is indeed acquiring a large number of South Korean K239 “Chunmoo” and US-made HIMARS systems. What is known so far is that Warsaw planned on buying upwards of 500 HIMARS and exactly 288 “Chunmoo” launchers, along with tens of thousands of rockets for each (around 23,000 for the South Korean MLRS). However, the US Military Industrial Complex (MIC) is not capable of delivering that many systems within the scope of the contract, meaning that it’s highly unlikely we’ll see hundreds of HIMARS launchers in Polish service anytime soon. In addition, no missile with a range of 900 km is available for these systems.

In its most advanced variant, the ATACMS has a maximum range of 300 km, while the latest PrSM (Precision Strike Missile) that reportedly entered service only in December 2023 and is available only in the US military has a maximum range of 500 km. Although this is significantly superior to the ATACMS, this missile is not yet widely deployed. The Pentagon claims that future variants of the PrSM will have a range of up to 1000 km, although it’s unclear at what point this version will be ready. Andrzejczak’s statement could’ve referred to this missile, although it’s clear that this is mere chest-thumping, as even if Poland had hundreds of these missiles, it would still be a fraction of Russia’s arsenal of thousands of missile systems such as the now legendary “Iskander” (in several variants).

It should also be noted that the “Iskander-M” is now being upgraded to reach targets at ranges of 1000 km, a very real capability that the Russian military doesn’t need to wait for years and doesn’t need to buy from anyone, as Moscow has a world-class domestic military-industrial base that can provide such technologies completely independently. All this is without even considering the fact that Russia’s strategic arsenal is more than enough to obliterate the entirety of Poland in minutes, so it would be wise for Andrzejczak (and his successors) to take a step back and think about the consequences of making such threats to a global superpower. Not to mention that Warsaw is not militarily more powerful than the Kiev regime, which got hundreds of billions in so-called “military aid”, but to no avail.

This is clearly implied by the very fact that the former Chief of the Polish General Staff said all this at the “Defending Baltics” conference in Lithuania’s Vilnius.

It’s a clear indicator that the political West is aware of the actual performance of its Neo-Nazi puppets, otherwise they wouldn’t be planning for a “defense of the Baltics”. Poland’s war plans have been in the works for quite some time, but they seem to be more akin to equipping a suicide vest rather than a viable military strategy. Russian dominance in fields such as artillery and long-range strike systems indicates how a conflict with its military would unfold.

Not to mention that it would be “gloves off” for the Kremlin in any sort of direct confrontation with NATO forces, especially those that are endemically Russophobic (Poland and the Baltic states in particular).

The support that the world’s most vile racketeering cartel provides to the Kiev regime, especially in terms of ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) would be severely disrupted (or even negated entirely) by the Russian military, meaning that the Polish military would be effectively blind in such a conflict. This would greatly increase casualties for NATO, which is precisely why its top-ranking military officers are planning for such an eventuality. In addition, the Russian military wouldn’t have to send any ground troops to fight such a war, but could focus entirely on delivering pinpoint precision strikes at ranges Poland simply can’t match. Either way, Warsaw is getting ready to take the Kiev regime’s place, an extremely unflattering strategic position that even some former Polish top-ranking military officers are warning about.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

Featured image source

Meli Kaylan, a journalist writing for Forbes, warns that, with a cease-fire, Zelensky risks suffering a coup from the Ukrainian far-right over the issue of Donbass and Crimea. His piece is actually titled “Moscow’s hidden plans for exploiting a ceasefire with Ukraine”, and a cursory reading might leave the reader with the impression that he is writing about some evil Russian plan to support a fascist coup d’état in Ukraine. It is a little more complicated than that, though – if one is able to read between the lines.

Kaylan argues that if Zelensky “is forced to cede the occupied territories pro term in exchange for promises of joining Nato”, then “ultra-nationalist elements of the army” would “revolt and stage a coup against Zelensky for giving away Donbas and Crimea.”

In this scenario, those evil Russians, he argues, could exploit the situation, and so on. Kaylan does not elaborate on who these “ultra-nationalists” are. If one knows and understands the premises behind such a scenario, however, the picture becomes clear enough: Kaylan is talking about a regime that is, at the very least, hostage to neo-fascists, neo-Nazis and ultra-nationalists militias. What he is basically arguing (implicitly) is that since at least 1945, much of the world (and the West particularly, one would assume) does not like such kind of people. Most people simply don’t like ultra-nationalists and Nazis, and thus, “Russian propaganda” could cunningly exploit that inconvenient fact for its own evil purposes. One must admit it is a very peculiar way of denouncing “Russian propaganda”.

The “ultra-nationalists elements of the army” mentioned by Kaylan do exist, however. Let us recall that shortly after taking the oath as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky was the target of a quite public threat from the nation’s armed far-right, namely from Dmytro Yarosh, then adviser to no less than Valerii Zaluzhny, who at the time was the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In an interview to Ukrainian news portal Obozrevatel, Yarosh, who is also a former commander of the far-right Ukrainian Volunteer Army (UVA), said that the President would “lose his life” and end up “hanging on a tree on Khreshchatyk” if he ever “betrayed” Ukrainian nationalists by negotiating with Moscow to end the civil war in Donbass.

This is what Meli Kaylan means by “ultra-nationalists”. This kind of guys.

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Screenshot from Forbes

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In October 2022, there was already some controversy about the aforementioned General Valerii Zaluzhnyi  being “photographed with far-right paraphernalia.” Zaluzhnyi was dismissed in February 2024 when Zelensky named a new Army Chief. Shortly after that, the General was photographed being awarded by the 67th OMBR “DUK”, a part of the  67th Separate Mechanized Brigade, formed by the so-called “Right Sector” paramilitary. The photograph might strike Westerns as being quite Fascistic – but it is very normal in post-Maidan Ukraine. The aforementioned Brigade itself was after all based on the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (UVK), the armed wing of the Right Sector. Of course it employs fascist aesthetics and symbology. In 2015 media outlets such as the BBC and Reuters were reporting on the tensions in Ukraine over the rise of Yarosh (who went all to become an adviser to the general). The same year, Forward described him as an anti-semite. Yarosh was also on Interpol’s “wanted” list for “public incitement to extremist activities” and “public incitement to terrorist activities”. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi was appointed as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom in March, and Yarosh remains active in Ukrainian politics.

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Zaluzhnyi with Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi (left) during the Battle of Kyiv, March 2022 (Licensed under CC BY 4.0) 

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Let us recall that when Zelensky was elected, Volodymyr Groysman served as his First Minister for a short period of time, thereby briefly making Ukraine the only country in the world (other than Israel) led by a Jewish head of state and a Jewish head of government. It is also the only country in the world whose state has legalized neo-nazi militias, making them part of the National Guard while keeping their symbology. And it is arguably the only state in the world which officially glorifies genocidal Nazi collaborators, a matter which to this day sours its otherwise good relations with neighboring Poland. For example, just last month, Radosław Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, called on Kyiv to allow the exhumation of victims of the so-called Volhynia massacres (during WWII, Ukrainian nationalists massacred about 100,000 ethnic Poles).

In January 2023, The New Statesman featured a story about the country’s “problematic nationalist heroes” (quite the euphemism), which also mentioned that “the official parliamentary Twitter account shared a photo of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, under a portrait of Bandera. The caption directly linked the present war to Bandera’s fight against the Soviet Union: ‘The complete and final victory of Ukrainian nationalism will come when the Russian empire ceases to exist’.”

The story also lets the reader know that Bandera’s Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), under the leadership of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B), “was responsible for the massacre of up to 100,000 Poles and tens of thousands of Jews during the war” and that both organizations “collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of western Ukraine.” One might reason that it is rather awkward for a General serving under a Jewish President to glorify Nazi collaborators and to be photographed with neo-Fascists – but again, this is post-2014 Ukraine, a country that is simply not for beginners.

It is about time to acknowledge the peculiar nature of the post-Maidan regime. Doing so, however, would surely complicate Western propaganda efforts and war rhetoric. The price for not doing so, on the other hand, has been to normalize things like the Canadian Parliament giving a standing ovation to a Nazi SS war veteran (that is, Yaroslav Hunka, who fought in the SS Division Galicia of the Waffen-SS). As the saying goes, “to hide a lie, a thousand lies are needed” – the lie being the Western propaganda notion that there is no such thing as an (often neo-Nazi) radical ethnic nationalism problem in Ukraine. There is – it has also been aided, armed, funded and whitewashed by the West and it has been a huge part of the crisis since 2014.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Uriel Araujo, PhD, is an anthropology researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: U.S. allies in Ukraine, with NATO, Azov Battalion and neo-Nazi flags. Photo by russia-insider.com

The United Nations is an easy body to hate.  At times, it seems to be effusion without substance, body with no backbone.  It was conceived in a fit of post-war idealism, when egos were humbled and hatred briefly stemmed.  Over the ruins of the Second World War, the builders were favoured over the destroyers and mischief makers – at least for a time.

On its establishment, the UN became a hostage to the political intrigues and power blocs that have continued to plague it for its duration.  Of particular concern was the body’s pursuit of international law protocols – formulation, drafting and implementation.  A central feature of this: resolutions passed by various bodies, the most significant being by the UN Security Council.  Such measures are followed by nation states when convenient, ignored when not.

One such nation state in the mischief making class is Israel.  Its relationship with the UN has often been tetchy.  The Anti-Defamation League, for instance, admits that the body “played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Jewish State by passing UN Resolution 181 in 1947”.  The resolution, with its hefty consequences, called for “the partition of British Mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.”  The same organisation, however, goes on to note with satisfaction the remarks in April 2007 by then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon:

“Unfortunately, because of the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict, Israel’s been weighed down by criticism and suffered from bias – and sometimes even discrimination.”

For various periods of its history, Israel has felt hard done by in the international forum.  The folder of resolutions against it has burgeoned.  Notable ones include UNSC Resolution 242 (1967) which asserts, in accordance with the UN Charter principles, that a “just and lasting peace in the Middle East” includes the withdrawal of Israel’s armed forces from territories occupied during the Six-Day War and the termination of territorial claims and affirmation of sovereignty of all States in the area.  UNSC Resolution 338 (1973), passed in response to the Yom Kippur War between Israel, Egypt and Syria, called on the parties to cease hostilities within 12 hours and implement Resolution 242 “in all its parts”.

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Territories occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War, including the Sinai (Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

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UN Resolution 2334, passed in December 2016, particularly hurt, striking at the expansionist, displacing drive of the Jewish state through settlements in occupied territory that amount to de facto colonisation. It particularly condemned “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem”.  This included, among other matters, the expansion of the settlements, the transfer of Israeli settlers, the confiscation of land and the displacement of Palestinian civilians.

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 urging an end to Israeli settlements (Public Domain)

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Instead of seeing such a measure as a clear assessment of predation in breach of international law and the principles of the UN Charter, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, called it an unnecessary reward to the Palestinians “to continue down a dangerous path they have chosen” in avoiding direct negotiations with Israel. That Israel cared not a jot on that score hardly mattered.

A number of recent incidents reveals the poor regard the United Nations is held in, notably within Israel’s warring circles.  Its agency aiding Palestinians, UNRWA, is threatened by two bills before the Israeli parliament that will significantly hamper its operations by evicting the body from its premise in territories within Israel’s control.  The proposed laws will also abolish any associated privileges and immunities.  Having failed to convince all major donors to the organisation that it should be defunded for being packed with Hamas apologists and operatives (the evidence has always been paltry on that score), the Israeli government is using a legal sledgehammer fashioned by the Knesset.

The passage of the bills, warns UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “would effectively end coordination to protect UN convoys, offices and shelters serving hundreds of thousands of people.”  The provision of shelter, food and healthcare “would grind to a halt” without the agency.  Some 600,000 children “would lose the only entity that is able to re-start education, risking the fate of an entire generation.”

With Israel’s broadening campaign against Hezbollah to the north, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is facing continuous harassment by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).  Established in 1978 by the Security Council to confirm the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon and aid Lebanese authorities restore peace and security in the area, UNIFIL has been a source of endless irritation to the IDF’s operations.

In an October 13 statement, UNIFIL revealed that two IDF Merkava tanks at 4.30 that morning had gone about the business of destroying the main gate of their post in Ramyah, near the Israeli border.  The tanks forcibly entered, after which Israeli personnel demanded that the base turn out its lights.  “The tanks left about 45 minutes later after UNIFIL protested through our liaison mechanism, saying that IDF presence was putting peacekeepers in danger.”

At 6.40 am, peacekeepers at the same post reported the firing of several smoke emitting rounds 100 metres to the north.  “Despite putting on protective masks, fifteen peacekeepers suffered effects, including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions, after the smoke entered the camp.”

On October 14, persisting in its approach of impeding and harrying the peacekeeping force, the IDF halted “a critical UNIFIL logistical movement near Meiss ej Jebel, denying it passage.  The critical movement could not be completed.”

The statement goes on to remind the IDF about its obligations to ensure the safety and security of the UN peacekeepers and property.  Breaching a UN position violated UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), while any deliberate attack on peacekeepers was a serious violation of international humanitarian law, in addition to breaching resolution 1701.

In an almost disdainful manner, the IDF suggested in a statement that the peacekeepers had entirely misunderstood the brutal encroachment.  The actions had been motivated by goodwill to evacuate soldiers wounded by an anti-tank missile.  “For the sake of evacuating the wounded, two tanks drove backwards, in a place where they could not advance otherwise in light of the threat of shooting, a few metres towards the UNIFIL position.”  The smokescreen had been created to aid the evacuation, while the entire operation was conducted throughout with continuous contact with the UN peacekeepers. After a time, the dressing of lies becomes tatty and banal.

Typically, it fell to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to shed some light on the mendacious fog.  UNIFIL, he suggested, had to immediately withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon.  “It is time for you,” stated the PM in a pointed message to Guterres, “to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the areas of combat.”  Yet again, international law which, in this case, provides legitimacy to the UN peacekeeping operations in the area, could be treated as a tissue easily torn.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He currently lectures at RMIT University.  He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: [email protected] 

Featured image: Danny Danon

Extermination works. At first. This is the terrible lesson of history. If Israel is not stopped — and no outside power appears willing to halt the genocide in Gaza or the destruction of Lebanon — it will achieve its goals of depopulating and annexing northern Gaza and turning southern Gaza into a charnel house where Palestinians are burned alive, decimated by bombs and die from starvation and infectious diseases, until they are driven out. It will achieve its goal of destroying Lebanon — 2,255 people have been killed and over one million Lebanese have been displaced — in an attempt to turn it into a failed state. And, it may soon realize its long cherished dream of forcing the United States into war with Iran. Israeli leaders are publicly salivating over proposals to assassinate Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei and carry out airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear installations and oil facilities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, like those driving Middle East policy in the White House — Antony Blinken, raised in a staunch Zionist family, Brett McGurk, Amos Hochstein, who was born in Israel and served in the Israeli military, and Jake Sullivan — are true believers in the doctrine that violence can mold the world to fit their demented vision. That this doctrine has been a spectacular failure in Israel’s occupied territories, and did not work in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, and a generation earlier in Vietnam, does not deter them. This time, they assure us, it will succeed.   

In the short term they are right. This is not good news for Palestinians or the Lebanese. The U.S. and Israel will continue to use their arsenal of industrial weapons to kill huge numbers of people and turn cities into rubble. But in the long term, this indiscriminate violence sows dragon’s teeth. It creates adversaries that, sometimes a generation later, outdo in savagery — we call it terrorism — what was done to those slain in the previous generation. 

Hate and a lust of vengeance, as I learned covering the war in the former Yugoslavia, are passed down like a poisonous elixir from one generation to the next. Our disastrous interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, along with Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which created Hezbollah, should have taught us this. 

Those of us who covered the Middle East were stunned that the Bush administration imagined it would be greeted as liberators in Iraq when the U.S. had spent over a decade imposing sanctions that resulted in severe shortages of food and medicine, causing the deaths of at least one million Iraqis, including 500,000 children. Denis Halliday, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, resigned in 1998 over U.S.-imposed sanctions, calling them “genocidal” because they represented “a deliberate policy to destroy the people of Iraq.”

Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its saturation bombing of Lebanon in 1982, were the catalyst for Osama bin Laden’s attack on the Twin Towers in New York City in 2001, along with U.S. support for attacks on Muslims in Somalia, Chechnya, Kashmir and the South of the Philippines, U.S. military assistance to Israel and the sanctions on Iraq.

Will the international community continue to stand by passively and allow Israel to carry out a mass extermination campaign? Will there ever be limits? Or will war with Lebanon and Iran provide a smokescreen — Israel’s worst campaigns of ethnic cleansing and mass murder have always been done under the cover of war — to turn what is happening in Palestine into an updated version of the Armenian genocide?

I fear, given that the Israel lobby has bought and paid for Congress and the two ruling parties, as well as cowed the media and universities, the rivers of blood will continue to swell. There is money to be made in war. A lot of it. And the influence of the war industry, buttressed by hundreds of millions of dollars spent on political campaigns by the Zionists, will be a formidable barrier to peace, not to mention sanity. 

Unless, as Chalmers Johnson writes in “Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic,” “we abolish the CIA, restore intelligence gathering to the State Department, and remove all but purely military functions from the Pentagon” we will “never again know peace, nor in all probability survive very long as a nation.”

Genocide is done by attrition. Once a targeted group is stripped of its rights the next steps are the displacement of the population, destruction of the infrastructure and the wholesale killing of civilians. Israel is also attacking and killing international monitors, human rights organizations, aid workers and United Nations staff, a feature of most genocides. Foreign journalists are being arrested and accused of “aiding the enemy,” while Palestinian journalists are being assassinated and their families wiped out. Israel carries out continuous assaults in Gaza on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), where two-thirds of its facilities have been damaged or destroyed, and 223 of its staff have been killed. It has attacked the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), where peacekeepers have been fired upon, tear gassed and wounded. This tactic replicates the Bosnian Serb attacks in July 1995, which I covered, on the U.N. Protection Force outposts in Srebrenica. The Serbs, who had cut off food deliveries to the Bosnian enclave, resulting in severe malnutrition and starvation, overran the U.N. outposts and took 30 U.N. troops hostage before massacring more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys. 

These initial phases are complete in Gaza. The final stage is mass death, not only from bullets and bombs, but famine and disease. No food has entered northern Gaza since the beginning of this month. 

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Water shortage in Gaza (Source)

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Israel has been dropping leaflets demanding everyone in the north evacuate. 400,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza must leave or die. It has ordered the evacuation of hospitals — Israel is also targeting hospitals in Lebanon — deployed drones to fire indiscriminately on civilians, including those attempting to take the wounded for treatment, bombed schools that serve as shelters and turned the Jabaliya refugee camp into a free fire zone. As usual, Israel continues to target journalists, including Al Jazeera’s Fadi Al-Wahidi, who was shot in the neck and remains in critical condition. At least 175 journalists and media workers are estimated to have been killed by Israeli troops in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that aid shipments to all of Gaza are at their lowest level in months. “People have run out of ways to cope, food systems have collapsed, and the risk of famine persists,” it notes.

The total siege imposed on northern Gaza will, in the next stage, be imposed on southern Gaza. Incremental death. And the primary weapon, as in the north, will be famine. 

Egypt and the other Arab states have refused to consider accepting Palestinian refugees. But Israel is banking on creating a humanitarian disaster of such catastrophic proportions that these countries, or other countries, will relent so they can depopulate Gaza and turn their attention to ethnically cleansing the West Bank. That is the plan, although no one, including Israel, knows if it will work.

Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, in August complained openly that international pressure is preventing Israel from starving the Palestinians, “even though it might be justified and moral, until our hostages are returned.” 

What is happening in Gaza is not unprecedented. Indonesia’s military, backed by the U.S., carried out a year-long campaign in 1965 to exterminate those accused of being communist leaders, functionaries, party members and sympathizers. The bloodbath — much of it carried out by rogue death squads and paramilitary gangs — decimated the labor union movement along with the intellectual and artistic class, opposition parties, university student leaders, journalists and ethnic Chinese. A million people were slaughtered. Many of the bodies were dumped into rivers, hastily buried or left to rot on roadsides.

This campaign of mass murder is today mythologized in Indonesia, as it will be in Israel. It is portrayed as an epic battle against the forces of evil, just as Israel equates the Palestinians with Nazis. 

The killers in the Indonesian war against “communism” are cheered at political rallies. They are lionized for saving the country. They are interviewed on television about their “heroic” battles. The three-million-strong Pancasila Youth — Indonesia’s equivalent of the “Brownshirts” or the Hitler Youth — in 1965, joined in the genocidal mayhem and are held up as the pillars of the nation. 

Image source

Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary “The Act of Killing,” which took eight years to make, exposes the dark psychology of a society that engages in genocide and venerates mass murderers. 

We are as depraved as the killers in Indonesia and Israel. We mythologize our genocide of Native Americans, romanticizing our killers, gunmen, outlaws, militias and cavalry units. We, like Israel, fetishize the military.

Our mass killing in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq – what the sociologist James William Gibson calls “technowar”— defines Israel’s assault on Gaza and Lebanon. Technowar is centered on the concept of “overkill.” Overkill, with its intentionally large numbers of civilian casualties, is justified as an effective form of deterrence.

We, like Israel, as Nick Turse points out in “Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam” deliberately maimed, abused, beat, tortured, raped, wounded and killed hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians, including children. 

The slaughters, Turse writes, “were the inevitable outcome of deliberate policies, dictated at the highest levels of the military.” 

Many of the Vietnamese — like Palestinians — who were murdered, Turse relates, were first subjected to degrading forms of public abuse. They were, Turse writes, when first detained “confined to tiny barbed wire ‘cow cages’ and sometimes jabbed with sharpened bamboo sticks while inside them.” Other detainees “were placed in large drums filled with water; the containers were then struck with great force, which caused internal injuries but left no scars.” Some were “suspended by ropes for hours on end or hung upside down and beaten, a practice called ‘the plane ride.’” They were subjected to electric shocks from crank-operated field telephones, battery-powered devices, or even cattle prods.” Soles of feet were beaten. Fingers were dismembered. Detainees were slashed with knives, “suffocated, burned by cigarettes, or beaten with truncheons, clubs, sticks, bamboo flails, baseball bats, and other objects. Many were threatened with death or even subjected to mock executions.” Turse found — again like Israel — that “detained civilians and captured guerrillas were often used as human mine detectors and regularly died in the process.” And while soldiers and Marines were engaged in daily acts of brutality and murder, the CIA “organized, coordinated, and paid for” a clandestine program of targeted assassinations “of specific individuals without any attempt to capture them alive or any thought of a legal trial.” 

Image source

“After the war,” Turse concludes, “most scholars wrote off the accounts of widespread war crimes that recur throughout Vietnamese revolutionary publications and American antiwar literature as merely so much propaganda. Few academic historians even thought to cite such sources, and almost none did so extensively. Meanwhile, My Lai came to stand for — and thus blot out — all other American atrocities. Vietnam War bookshelves are now filled with big-picture histories, sober studies of diplomacy and military tactics, and combat memoirs told from the soldiers’ perspective. Buried in forgotten U.S. government archives, locked away in the memories of atrocity survivors, the real American war in Vietnam has all but vanished from public consciousness.”

There is no difference between us and Israel. This is why we do not halt the genocide. Israel is doing exactly what we would do in its place. Israel’s bloodlust is our own. As ProPublica reported, “Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.” 

U.S. law requires the government to suspend weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid.

Historical amnesia is a vital part of extermination campaigns once they end, at least for the victors. But for the victims, the memory of genocide, along with a yearning for retribution, is a sacred calling. The vanquished reappear in ways the genocidal killers cannot predict, fueling new conflicts and new animosities. The physical eradication of all Palestinians, the only way genocide works, is an impossibility given that six million Palestinians alone live in the diaspora. Over five million live in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel’s genocide has enraged the 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide, as well as most of the Global South. It has discredited and weakened the corrupt and fragile regimes of the dictatorships and monarchies in the Arab world, home to 456 million Muslims, who collaborate with the U.S. and Israel. It has fueled the ranks of the Palestinian resistance. And it has turned Israel and the U.S. into despised pariahs.

Israel and the U.S. will probably win this round. But ultimately, they have signed their own death warrants. 

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East Bureau Chief and Balkan Bureau Chief for the paper. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and NPR. He is the host of show The Chris Hedges Report.

Featured image: Extermination Nation – by Mr. Fish

Hillary Clinton is continuing her global efforts to get countries, including the United States, to crackdown on opposing views. Clinton went on CNN to lament the continued resistance to censorship and to call upon Congress to limit free speech. In pushing her latest book, “Something Lost and Something Gained,” Clinton amplified on her warnings about the dangers of free speech. What is clear is that the gain of greater power for leaders like Clinton would be the loss of free speech for ordinary citizens.

Clinton heralded the growing anti-free speech movement and noted that “there are people who are championing it, but it’s been a long and difficult road to getting anything done.” She is right, of course. As I discuss in my book, the challenge for anti-free speech champions like Clinton is that it is not easy to convince a free people to give up their freedom.

That is why figures like Clinton are going “old school” and turning to government or corporations to simply crackdown on citizens. One of the lowest moments came after Elon Musk bought Twitter on a pledge to restore free speech protections, Clinton called upon European officials to force Elon Musk to censor American citizens under the infamous Digital Services Act (DSA). This is a former democratic presidential nominee calling upon Europeans to force the censorship of Americans.

She was joined recently by another former democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, who called for government crackdowns on free speech.

Other democrats have praised Brazil for banning X. For her part, Clinton praised the anti-free speech efforts in California and New York and called for the rest of the country to replicate the approach of those states.

Clinton added a particularly illuminating line that said the quiet part out loud. This is all about power and the fear that she and others will “lose control” over speech:

“Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter or X or Instagram or TikTok, whatever they are, if they don’t moderate and monitor the content we lose total control and it’s not just the social and psychological effects it’s real harm, it’s child porn and threats of violence, things that are terribly dangerous.”

Clinton continues to offer a textbook example of the anti-free speech narrative. While seeking sweeping censorship for anything deemed disinformation, Clinton cites specific examples that are already barred under federal law like child porn.

Despite the amplified message on sites like CNN, most citizens may not be as aggrieved as Clinton that she and her allies could “lose total control” over the Internet. The greater fear is that she and her allies could regain control of social media. The Internet is the single greatest invention for free speech since the printing press. That is precisely why figures like Clinton are panicked over the inability to control it.

If citizens remain true to their values and this indispensable right, Clinton will hopefully continue to face “a long and difficult road to getting anything done” in limiting the free speech of her fellow citizens.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

Featured image: Clinton in 2015 (Licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Larry Lowe says his life changed after he got the Pfizer Covid booster on December 15, 2021.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

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Nothing illustrates the malfeasance of the mass media like the vast disparity between how they’re covering the killing of four 19 year-old IDF soldiers by Hezbollah versus their complete lack of interest in a 19 year-old hospital patient who was burned alive by the IDF in Gaza.

A shockingly horrible headline appeared in Sky News on Monday reading, “Israel names teenage soldiers killed in Hezbollah drone attack — as ‘23 die’ in Gaza school strike.” It opens with the even more horrid paragraph “Israel has named the four teenage victims of a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base — as at least 23 people were reportedly killed in an attack on a central Gaza school.”

Notice the scare quotes and passive language in Sky’s use of “23 die”, and the way these active duty combatants are being framed as innocent little children who were the “victims” of an unprovoked attack which “killed” them. The killings in Gaza are always framed by the mainstream press as “deaths” which passively happen, always couched in doubtful language like “reportedly” and “according to the Hamas-run health ministry,” whereas Israelis are always “victims” who are “killed”.

Interesting how Sky News have now deleted this post (without explaining)

It was interesting how 19 year old Israeli *soldiers* in a military base during a war, elicited more sympathy than innocent Arab babies killed by Israel

The Instagram is still up:https://t.co/IgmGFiE6oT pic.twitter.com/ICL1Y7o7Ty

— Miqdaad Versi (@miqdaad) October 14, 2024

The western media’s propagandistic use of language to frame Israel in a sympathetic light and Palestinians in an unsympathetic light is widespread, and has been extensively documented. All the way back in January, The Intercept published a study showing that outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times used wildly different language to describe the killings of Israelis on October 7 than the killings of Palestinians in the months since, with inflammatory words like “slaughter”, “horrific” and “massacre” used consistently with the former and never with the latter. Another report by The Intercept this past April revealed that this is not an accident; a leaked internal memo from The New York Times reveals the outlet’s staff receiving explicit instructions to avoid specific language that harms Israeli information interests.

Look at the way Sky News names the armed Israeli soldiers killed in battle while framing them as innocent little babies who were slaughtered by monsters, and contrast this with the fact that you’re not seeing the name Sha’ban al-Dalou anywhere in the mainstream press.

Sha’ban al-Dalou was also 19 years old when he died, but unlike those Israeli soldiers, he was a civilian lying in a hospital bed, and he died a much more painful and horrific death than them. 

If you’ve been on social media at all recently, you may have seen the gut-wrenching footage of al-Dalou burning to death in a hospital bed while still connected to his IV after an Israeli airstrike on the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, desperately crying out for help in a blazing inferno. 

As of this writing, al-Dalou’s name appears exactly one time in any article I can find on Google News, and it’s from Middle East Eye. 

Sha'ban Al-Dalou, a 20s young man whom you all watched burning yesterday.

Let his memory haunt you. Remember his face very well.

Never forget. Never forgive. pic.twitter.com/HMslun1HU3

— Abubaker Abed (@AbubakerAbedW) October 14, 2024

The Middle East Eye write-up reads as follows:

“Sha’ban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old software engineering student at Al-Azhar University in Gaza and a memoriser of the Quran, was burned alive after an Israeli air strike hit Al-Aqsa Hospital which killed three others.

“Sha’ban, who was forcefully displaced last year after Israeli forces destroyed his home, had just started his university studies in September 2023.

“Last week, Sha’ban miraculously survived an Israeli strike on a mosque that claimed 20 lives.

“Sha’ban and his mother perished in a fire after Israel attacked the hospital engulfing the tent camp for displaced civilians in Gaza.”

Any mentions I can find of al-Dalou’s death in the mainstream press do not name him, referring to him only as a “man” or a “person” (not a “teenager”) who died in a fire.

“Videos from the scene appeared to show one man being burned alive as bystanders could do little but watch,” The Washington Post reports.

“In multiple videos shared on social media and verified by NBC News, at least one person could be seen reaching their hands out from the flames as they were burned alive,” reports NBC News.

Contrast this with the solemn, reverent way Sky News reads out the names of the four IDF soldiers in its segment on their deaths, repeatedly emphasizing the fact that “all four were just 19 years old.”

Over the last year the narrative being pushed by our media has become ever more blatant. Some lives matter more than others. pic.twitter.com/INIwXkcQfJ

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) October 14, 2024

Sky News, which Rupert Murdoch sold to Comcast in 2018, has been working overtime to spin Israel’s surging criminality in a positive light these last couple of days. Its Sunday evening report on the Hezbollah attack which killed the four soldiers made not one single mention of the fact that the attack was on a military base throughout the entire segment, leaving the audience with the impression that Hezbollah had attacked an Israeli shopping center or something. A Sky News write-up on London’s response to Iran’s missile strikes on Israel came under fire for using a photo of the burning medical center in Gaza where al-Dalou was killed as its feature image, implying that the burning building was caused by Iran and not Israel.

The massive disparity between the way the mainstream press report on Israeli deaths versus Palestinian deaths is evidence that the mainstream press are propaganda services for the US-centralized power alliance. But it is also evidence that Palestinians are not viewed as human beings by the western political-media class. 

As Lebanese writer Lina Mounzer recently wrote,

“Ask any Arab what the most painful realization of the last year has been and it is this: that we have discovered the extent of our dehumanization to such a degree that it’s impossible to function in the world in the same way.”

The 19-year-old we all saw burn to death in the hospital compound, after an Israeli strike.

Sha’ban Al Dalou. https://t.co/zsb12P3bi3 pic.twitter.com/HezgUnE1R1

— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) October 14, 2024

As Aaron Bushnell said before he himself burned to death, “This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image is a screenshot from Sky News via Caitlin Johnstone

Western-supported proxies: Zionists in occupied Palestine, and sectarian terrorists (ISIS, al Qaeda and affiliates) in Syria, murder children as policy.

In a 2018 interview, Israeli Brigadier-General (Reserve) Zvika Fogel admitted:

“I know how these orders are given. I know how a sniper does the shooting. I know how many authorizations he needs before he receives an authorization to open fire. It is not the whim of one or the other sniper who identifies the small body of a child now and decides he’ll shoot. Someone marks the target for him very well and tells him exactly why one has to shoot and what the threat is from that individual. And to my great sorrow, sometimes when you shoot at a small body and you intended to hit his arm or shoulder, it goes even higher.” (1)

More recently, Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an orthopedic surgeon from North Carolina who has worked in Gaza, described how Zionist snipers shoot children, saying, “No toddler gets shot twice by mistake by ‘the world’s best sniper.’” His observations are echoed by fellow surgeons, thus contradicting any notion that the children were somehow killed by mistake.

Transcript

Reporter: When were you in Gaza?

Dr Mark Perlmutter: End of April, for the first couple of weeks of May.

R: Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an Orthopaedic Surgeon from North Carolina and Vice President of the International College of Surgeons, volunteered in Gaza.

R: So, of all the disaster zones you’ve seen, how does Gaza compare?

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: All of the disasters I have seen combined, combined, 40 mission trips, 30 years, Ground Zero, earthquakes, all of that combined, doesn’t equal the level of carnage that I saw against civilians, in just my first week in Gaza.

R: And when you say civilians, is it mostly children?

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: Almost exclusively children. I’ve never seen that before. Never seen that. I ’ve seen more incinerated children than I’ve ever seen in my entire life combined. I have seen more shredded children in just the first week.

R: Shredded.

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: Shredded.

R: What do you mean?

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: Missing body parts, being crushed by buildings, the greatest majority, or bomb explosions, the next greatest majority. We’ve taken shrapnel as big as my thumb out of eight-year-olds. And then there’s sniper bullets. I have children that were shot twice.

R: Wait, you’re saying that children in Gaza are being shot by snipers?

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: Definitively. I have two children that I have photographs of that were shot so perfectly in the chest, I couldn’t put my stethoscope over their heart more accurately, and directly on the side of the head, in the same child. No toddler gets shot twice by mistake by the world’s best sniper. And they’re dead-center shots.

R: In fact, more than 20 doctors recently in Gaza also told Sunday Morning about gunshot wounds to children. One American doctor told us he even reviewed CT scans to confirm what he saw because he, quote, “didn’t believe that this many children could be admitted to a single hospital with gunshot wounds to the head.”

Some shootings have been captured on video. The Israel Defense Forces declined our requests for an on-camera interview. But in an email, a spokesperson told CBS news, quote, “The IDF has never, and will never deliberately target children”, adding, quote, “remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks”.

And the IDF stressed that it calls for the evacuation of civilians from combat zones.

The UN reports that to date, more than 80% of Gaza’s population has been displaced and the majority of its buildings destroyed. A reality which has taken its own toll on the well-being of children.

R: What about the emotional wounds?

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: How can you measure that? I can’t measure my own. How do you be an orphan watching your family, you know melted in front of you and shredded in front of you, how do you fix that, ever fix that?

R: In fact, so many Palestinian children have had family members killed, that doctors created a shorthand term, WCNSF, Wounded Child, No Surviving Family.

Last month speaking in Washington D.C., (American Physicians Eyewitness Account from Gaza) other American doctors echoed Dr. Perlmutter’s calls for help.

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa: We’ve described it as a catastrophe, a nightmare, a hell on earth, its all of these and worse.

Dr. Zena Saleh: We didn’t even have hand sanitizer or alcohol or soap most of the time.

Dr. Adam Hamawy: And while we we’re there we’re listening to, aid is getting in, we’re taking care of civilians, they’re not being targeted and yet we’re witnessing a completely different story.

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: For dozens of miles, we saw 18-wheelers parked bumper to bumper, engines off, outside of Gaza. food or health care could not get in.

R: How many kids are in danger of starvation in Gaza?

Dr. Mark Perlmutter: All of them, absolutely all of them.

R: United Nations experts have accused Israel of carrying out a targeted starvation campaign, but Israeli officials say they’ve allowed the delivery of more than 600,000 tons of food and supplies, quote, “with the goal of bringing as much aid into the Gaza strip as possible”.

Western proxies in Syria, too, have a long history of targeting and murdering children.  Why do these terrorists commit such barbarous crimes?

In a recent interview with Basma Qaddour, Syrian political researcher and author Housam Taleb explained that,

“The terrorist groups’  criminal act is similar to what the Israeli occupation is doing in the occupied Palestine. The Israeli enemy targets children and women  to terrify people and displace them with the aim of making certain areas free of population either through killing them or  forcing them to leave their homes. There is a link between the policy being adopted by terrorists groups in Syria and Israeli enemy in Palestine and Lebanon. They have the same terrorist mind.” (2)

The horror that is the current Western/Zionist perpetrated genocide in occupied Palestine is a continuum of the horror that the West and its proxies have been inflicting on prey countries such as Syria for years. The “mechanisms of terror” are the same.

The targeting and slaughter of civilians, including children, is a Western/Zionist military policy designed to displace and annihilate prey populations.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Research Assistance by Basma Qaddour

Mark Taliano is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and the author of Voices from Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017. He writes on his website where this article was originally published.

Notes

(1) Ali Abunimah, “Snipers ordered to shoot children, Israeli general confirms.” Electronic Intifada, 22 April, 2018. (Snipers ordered to shoot children, Israeli general confirms | The Electronic Intifada) Accessed 14 October, 2014.

See also: “Everyday Children Were Shot In The Head” NYT Details Israeli War Crimes Against Children (youtube.com)

(2) Basma Qaddour, “Interview with Syrian Researcher Housam Taleb.” 14 October, 2024, Voices from Syria. (Interview with Syrian Researcher Housam Taleb/ By Basma Qaddour – Mark Taliano (marktanliano.net)) Accessed 14 October, 2024.

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ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-9-1

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DMSO is a remarkably safe chemical that protects cells from otherwise fatal stressors (e.g., freezing, burning, shockwaves, ischemia)

Since the heart, brain, and spinal cord are particularly vulnerable to injury, DMSO can produce miraculous results when those injuries happen

Despite decades of research, many serious shortcomings exist with how we treat strokes (including brain bleeds), heart attacks, and spinal cord injuries

As I will show here, had the FDA not sabotaged DMSO’s adoption, in addition to countless lives being saved, millions could have been protected from a lifetime of disability or paralysis

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If I were stranded on a desert island or knew the world was ending and I could only bring a few therapies with me, one of them, without a doubt, would be DMSO. This is because:

• It effectively addresses acute injuries (e.g., sprains) and chronic musculoskeletal disorders (e.g., arthritis).
• It’s one of the most effective pain killers in existence.
• It treats severe, often incurable illnesses and prevents long-term disability.
• It’s one of the safest medically active substances available.

Yet, despite it taking the world by storm in the 1960s and thousands of studies being performed that corroborated its benefits, outside of it being a laboratory chemical or an alternative therapy some people use for joint pain, few are even aware of DMSO’s existence.

This was due to the FDA waging a multi-decade long war against DMSO (despite widespread outcry from Congress and the public).

What Is DMSO?

Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) exists throughout nature¹ and has two breakdown products within the body.

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Most of it is oxidized to methylsulfonylmethane (MSM — a commonly used joint healing supplement), while a small amount is reduced to DMS and gives rise to DMSO’s characteristic “side effect” a distinctive garlic or clam-like odor that is excreted through the mouth and skin for a few hours that some individuals have difficulty tolerating.

Note: Individuals with insufficient oxidation (who are in a state of reductive stress) are more likely to produce DMS. In turn, when this is addressed, their “DMSO odor” often disappears.

Due to its unique chemistry, DMSO has two remarkable properties:

• It acts as a near-universal solvent (e.g., it interacts with a vast range of biomolecules).^2,3
• It’s able to pass through biological membranes without damaging them (something to my knowledge, nothing else can do).⁴

Because of this, DMSO will rapidly enter the body (including the brain) regardless of its route of administration (e.g., within 5 minutes after going on the skin it can be found in the blood,⁵ and within an hour it can be found within the bones⁶), but simultaneously does not accumulate within the body.⁷

DMSO, in turn, has an almost endless number of uses as it can be applied in almost any manner. Almost any drug or substance can be combined with it and administered through the skin (e.g., steroids, NSAIDs, vitamin C, or hydrogen peroxide). In many cases, the effect of those drugs is enhanced, and simultaneously, their toxicity is reduced (although, in some cases, the toxicity increases).

Cellular Protection

DMSO’s ability to spread throughout the body (including into the brain) initially seems concerning — however rather than be toxic to cells, DMSO heals them and protects them from damage from many otherwise lethal stressors (e.g., heat, blood loss, radiation, sonic shockwaves).

For example, since DMSO does not expand when it freezes and greatly lowers the freezing point of cells, it was a revolutionary substance for preserving frozen cells,⁸ and likewise, many cases exist of DMSO saving the fingers or toes that otherwise would have required amputation.

Note: Due to the intense scrutiny DMSO received, thousands of papers have been published on its biological effects (including numerous animal safety studies and one where humans were exposed to 3 to 30 times the typical dose for 90 days⁹) — all of which did not report any significant side effects from DMSO.

In turn, those studies found the most common side effect (affecting 50% to 75% of users) is (reversible) irritation at the site when 70% DMSO is applied topically on the skin (which can be easily mitigated) and the most significant was an allergic reaction in approximately 1 out of every 2000 people (which can easily be screened for).

Circulatory Disorders

DMSO is remarkably effective in managing circulatory disorders, effectively protecting tissues and enhancing blood flow by removing excess fluid, improving circulation, and dissolving clots. Its benefits are particularly evident in conditions like Raynaud’s syndrome, where it eliminated symptoms in 50% of patients,¹⁰ and in diabetic circulatory issues, with studies showing over a 94% success¹¹ rate in treating diabetic ulcers.

DMSO also works wonders for varicose veins, often providing noticeable improvements within minutes by strengthening vessel walls and enhancing capillary circulation. In a study of 67 patients with varicose ulcers,¹² remarkable responses were documented, even in chronic cases. Additionally, DMSO has been shown to help many other circulatory disorders:^13,14

.

Key mechanisms behind DMSO’s effectiveness include:

Heart Attacks

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Given all of these protective and circulatory enhancing properties, DMSO is an immensely promising treatment for heart attacks and heart attack recovery,²⁰ and this benefit has been demonstrated in numerous animal studies.^21,22 Likewise, I and colleagues have had a few situations arise where DMSO was administered to someone having a heart attack and successfully treated it.

Note: We’ve also had some success treating heart attacks by rapidly restoring someone’s physiologic zeta potential.

DMSO and Strokes

Roughly 3.1% of adult Americans have experienced a stroke²³ (a figure we expect to rise from the COVID-19 vaccines). Each year, this translates to about 800,000 people in the United States having a stroke, in 2022, 165,393 dying and between 20% to 40% of survivors experiencing long term disability.²⁴

Because of the harm strokes pose to society, and the rate at which brain tissue deteriorates once its blood supply is lost, the medical system prioritizes treating strokes as soon as possible.

Strokes come in two main types: ischemic (caused by clots blocking blood flow) and hemorrhagic (due to ruptured blood vessels). The standard treatment for ischemic strokes is tPA,²⁵ a clot-busting drug. However, administering tPA can be deadly if the stroke is hemorrhagic, so patients must first wait for a CT scan before receiving it.

Furthermore, tPA is only effective within a limited time frame (up to 3 to 4.5 hours²⁶), and only a small percentage of patients (1.8% to 8.5%) actually receive it. Among those who do, only 13%²⁷ see significant improvement. Additionally, tPA can cause serious bleeding complications²⁸ (e.g., 6.4% risk²⁹ of a symptomatic brain bleed) and can’t eliminate larger clots.

In short, strokes remain a leading cause of death and disability worldwide.³⁰ This highlights the need for a better treatment that can safely:

• Effectively treat ischemic strokes
• Could easily be taken at home, and more importantly, be quickly given on ambulances
• Prevented reperfusion injuries
• Has no risk of worsening a hemorrhagic stroke
• Protected brain tissue from dying
• Healed damaged brain tissue after a stroke

DMSO has been known for over 50 years to do just that. For example, a 2002 trial with DMSO combined with fructose diphosphate (FDP — a source of cellular energy) indicated that 63% of elderly patients experienced improved neurological status when treated within 12 hours of a stroke, compared to only 20% with standard care.³¹

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One of the most important aspects of this trial was that while DMSO is the most helpful when given immediately after a stroke, the trial showed DMSO could save the neurons long after the stroke had happened.³²

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Given the existing options for strokes, a trial like this should have been immediately replicated by premier institutions around the world — but instead almost no one even knows it happened.

Note: Numerous animal studies (listed here) have also demonstrated DMSO’s effectiveness in treating ischemic strokes. Sadly this revolutionary medical treatment remains a forgotten side of medicine.

After I learned how unconscionable the FDA’s prohibition against DMSO was, I made a point to begin telling people I felt were at risk of a stroke to stock DMSO at home, and since then, I’ve had instances where someone (or their caretaker) called me up, described a stroke, I gave them instructions on what to do (since they already had DMSO at home), and by the time they got to the ER, the stroke was “resolved.”

Note: In my opinion, IV DMSO would have been ideal (and more effective) in those situations, but in each case, it was not feasible to implement.

Likewise, many compelling cases have been recorded³³ of individuals who treated their strokes with DMSO:

“A Los Angeles school teacher suffered a major stroke just after Christmas, found unconscious at home. Immediately, she was treated with DMSO: first applied topically to her head and then given by intramuscular injection — all without ever going to the hospital, thanks to a family friend’s advice.

Remarkably, she regained consciousness later that day and continued daily DMSO treatments. By the time school resumed in January, she was back teaching, fully recovered and without any mention of her ordeal. She continued her teaching career until retirement, healthy and free of disability.”

In another case, a woman in a coma for three months after a stroke showed no signs of life. Daily topical DMSO treatment was started, and within a month, her brain began to respond. After four months, she returned home and began a regimen of daily DMSO in water alongside topical applications. Three years later, she was living a normal life with only a slight speech defect, claiming her memory was sharper than her husband’s.

Note: There are also many reported cases of individuals who took DMSO for musculoskeletal or pain disorders (by far the most common use of DMSO) who then experienced a permanent improvement of stroke symptoms.

Hemorrhagic Strokes and Traumatic Brain Injuries

While ischemic strokes are difficult to treat, hemorrhagic ones (and other traumatic brain injuries) are even more challenging, and after decades, there has been surprisingly little progress in neurologic intensive care, particularly in preventing long-term paralysis and disability.³⁴

“It was, as if the hand of God had somehow touched the [experimental] animal’s forehead. ‘I don’t believe it,’ I stammered. But it was true. I felt a tingling in my spine because this reawakening of a virtually dead animal had all the markings of a medical breakthrough.

Instead, the discovery, the potential for saving lives and the continued research that should have uncovered other uses for dimethyl sulfoxide and similar agents was quietly laid to rest in the coffers of forgotten medicine.”

Note: Dr. Jack de la Torre’s observations were partly based on the fact he saw numerous animals with flatlined EEGs (which typically precede brain death and then actual death) have the EEGs come back within 10 minutes of receiving DMSO.

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In cases of severe brain bleeds, key challenges like increased intracranial pressure (ICP) and inflammation can severely damage brain tissue. Common treatments often fail, leading to further complications (e.g., the most commonly used ICP lowering agents like mannitol can create a “rebound ICP” which is higher than it was at the start).

Remarkably, DMSO³⁵ effectively lowers ICP³⁶ without the rebound effect seen with other agents, while enhancing cerebral blood flow and reducing inflammation.

Research shows DMSO can significantly improve outcomes in traumatic brain injuries. In several studies, patients with elevated ICP experienced rapid decreases in pressure and improved neurological function after DMSO treatment. For instance, one study demonstrated a drop in ICP within 30 minutes for patients with closed head trauma, leading to long-term neurological improvement.³⁷

Additionally, DMSO also addresses many other critical aspects of traumatic brain injuries and brain bleeds (which under conventional care requires many different drugs):

.

Animal studies further support these findings, showing DMSO’s ability to reduce brain swelling and improve survival rates in models of brain injury. Its unique properties make it a standout option in neurocritical care, addressing multiple challenges associated with brain injuries.³⁸ To put all of this into context:

“A January 11, 1981, a news report³⁹ in the Ocala Star Banner [page 6], carried the headline: ‘DOCTOR CLAIMS DMSO SAVED 11.’ The story read:

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A doctor at the University of San Diego credits the controversial drug DMSO with saving the lives of 11 people who suffered severe head injuries. Dr. Perry E. Camp, a UCSD Medical School neurosurgeon, said Friday that dimethyl sulfoxide was effective for 11 of 30 people judged near death and for which other lifesaving methods have proved useless.

‘To take patients like that and have even one out of 10 survive is phenomenal,’ Camp said. ‘The fact that we have any survivorship at all … doesn’t sound like much, but it is extremely encouraging,’ Camp said.”

Sadly, however, despite the immense amount of research conducted and these results being dramatically better than what the standard of care can offer, this remains an almost completely forgotten side of medicine.

Note: Many of the same principles hold true for concussions, and the pioneers of DMSO felt it was an essential treatment for athletes after they experienced one — particularly since unhealed concussions can predispose the athlete to long-term cognitive issues (e.g., both boxers and professional football players have a threefold risk of dementia).^40,41

Spinal Cord Injuries

“We used to think that the damage caused at the moment of injury in a severe head or spinal cord injury was irreversible. But now there are animal studies and a handful of clinical cases that tell us something different. There is still a little bit of time before the injured cells die.

Based on what we’ve seen in animal studies and a handful of human situations, we think that if you can treat a head injury victim within a few hours of the injury, or a spinal cord victim within one hour, there is a good chance of preventing death or the paralysis that would otherwise occur.” — Dr. Jack de la Torre

As much of the same pathology that causes permanent damage in the brain also occurs in the spinal cord (the loss of blood flow and compressive post-traumatic swelling), DMSO can produce miraculous results.⁴² Despite decades of research, steroids remain the standard treatment, even though they’re largely ineffective and come with significant side effects.⁴³ In fact, spinal surgeons often use steroids simply to avoid lawsuits.⁴⁴

The greatest success comes when DMSO is administered intravenously within 90 minutes of injury.⁴⁵ For example, dogs that were expected to be paralyzed after spinal cord trauma regained nearly normal function after DMSO treatment.

Numerous other animal studies have also shown⁴⁶ DMSO prevents spinal cord injuries from causing paralysis, and in humans numerous miraculous stories exist, such as a 16-year-old quadriplegic girl gradually regained organ function and eventually walked after a year of DMSO therapy. Even older injuries see results — one man, paralyzed for 12 years, regained some feeling and movement after using a DMSO lotion.

Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

Since many neurological disorders are linked to poor blood flow to the brain, previous traumas (e.g., concussions or microstrokes), the accumulation of misfolded proteins or an autoimmune process (all things DMSO is also remarkably effective at treating), it stands to reason that many cognitive disorders would respond to DMSO.

In turn, we find that much in the same way DMSO reverses many other complications of aging (e.g., skin issue, hair loss, poor organ function) IV DMSO is one of the most effective antiaging therapies for the brain (along with ultraviolet blood irradiation or improving the physiologic zeta potential).

Likewise, IV DMSO is one of the only therapies I know of which can help challenging neurological diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and ALS. Likewise, I periodically come across anecdotes of DMSO consuming centenarians who have no cognitive impairment despite their age. Numerous animal and human studies demonstrate this. For example:

Note: Since many psychiatric conditions are neurological in nature, DMSO has also been shown to be remarkably effectively here (e.g., a study⁵⁰ found it had a 100% success rate in treating acute schizophrenia, and an excellent effect on psychosis from manic-depression or alcoholism, chronic schizophrenia, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder).

Conclusion

DMSO was discovered during a time when the scientific community was open to exploring unconventional ideas, as science had not yet been handcuffed by a grant system designed to thwart unconventional ideas. In turn, thousands of studies were published on its potential, thanks to dedicated researchers with strong institutional support.

However, despite this promising research, the FDA suppressed its development, consigning years of scientific effort and countless animal sacrifices to the dustbin of history.

This is particularly tragic given the immense suffering caused by conditions that DMSO could potentially alleviate. Decades of research and billions of dollars later, conventional medicine still struggles to treat many of these disorders effectively. Dr. Pierre Kory, after reviewing this article, shared my sentiments:

“In over 15 years of running ICUs and treating brain injuries, strokes, and bleeds, it saddens and infuriates me to know an intervention like DMSO could’ve helped so many. The treatments I relied on were often limited or came with major risks.”

My goal in presenting this work is to give DMSO another chance to flourish and help those in need. I sincerely thank you for your attention and allowing me to do this!

[Author’s note: This is an abridged version of a longer article about the remarkable utility of DMSO which goes into greater detail on the points mentioned here (e.g., stroke recovery and spinal cord paralysis or how DMSO protects tissues from a variety of stressors), others not covered (e.g., the wealth of evidence DMSO can treat immensely challenging conditions like amyloidosis and Down Syndrome), and the protocols for internal DMSO use.

That article and its additional references can be read here (along with a companion article discussing DMSO’s remarkable utility for a variety of musculoskeletal injuries and chronic pain conditions).]

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Notes

¹ Nature. 1963 Nov 30:200:885. doi: 10.1038/200885a0

² Biosci Rep. 1994 Dec;14(6):259-81. doi: 10.1007/BF01199051

^3, 4, 5 Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1975 Jan 27:243:20-3. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1975.tb25340.x

⁶ Annals of NYAOS, March 1967, Volume 141, Issue 1, Pages 85-95

⁷ J Clin Oncol. 1998 Feb;16(2):610-5. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1998.16.2.610

⁸ Cryobiology. 1987 Feb;24(1):11-6. doi: 10.1016/0011-2240(87)90003-4

⁹ The Human Toxicology of Dimethyl Sulfoxide, August 25, 2011 (Archived)

¹⁰ DMSO, The True Story of a Remarkable Pain-Killing Drug, January 1981 (Archived)

¹¹ Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1975 Jan 27:243:408-11. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1975.tb25383.x

¹² Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1975 Jan 27:243:395-402. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1975.tb25381.x

¹³ Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1975 Jan 27:243:403-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1975.tb25382.x

¹⁴ Annals of NYAOS, March 1967, Volume 141, Issue 1, Pages 586-598

^15, 16 Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1975 Jan 27:243:110-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1975.tb25350.x

^17, 19, 46 The Forgotten Side of Medicine, September 16, 2024

¹⁸ Prostaglandins. 1976 Apr;11(4):599-607. doi: 10.1016/0090-6980(76)90063-0

^20, 35 Pharmacological Reports, 2009, 61, Pages 225-235 (Archived)

²¹ J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2010 Jan;55(1):106-9. doi: 10.1097/FJC.0b013e3181c87a65

²² Amazon, The Persecuted Drug: The Story of DMSO

²³ CDC, Cerebrovascular Disease or Stroke

²⁴ Brain Neurorehabil. 2022 Mar; 15(1): e5

²⁵ NINDS, Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Acute Ischemic Stroke (Alteplase, Activase®)

²⁶ Stroke, Volume 40, Number 6, doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.544171

²⁷ Arch Neurol. 2008;65(11):1429-1433. doi: 10.1001/archneur.65.11.1429

^28, 29 Neurohospitalist. 2011 Jul; 1(3): 138–147

³⁰ Journal of the American Heart Association, Volume 11, Number 21, doi: 10.1161/JAHA.122.027044

³¹ Neurol Res 2002; 24: 73-80

³² Neurol Res. 2002 Jan;24(1):73-80. doi: 10.1179/016164102101199567

³³ Amazon, The DMSO Handbook for Doctors

³⁴ Ciba Found Symp. 1975:(34):3-21. doi: 10.1002/9780470720165.ch2

³⁶ Neurosurgery. 1981 Jul;9(1):28-33. doi: 10.1227/00006123-198107000-00005

³⁷ Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1991;40(1):113-4. doi: 10.1007/BF00315149

³⁸ J Neurosurg. 1980 Jul;53(1):58-62. doi: 10.3171/jns.1980.53.1.0058

³⁹ Google News, Ocala Star Banner, January 11, 1981

^40, 41 eClinicalMedicine. 2023 Jul; 61: 102056

⁴² Surg Neurol. 1973 Jan;1(1):16-22

⁴³ Korean J Neurotrauma. 2022 Apr; 18(1): 22–30

⁴⁴ Can J Neurol Sci. 2008 Mar;35(1):41-5. doi: 10.1017/s031716710000754x

⁴⁵ Amazon, Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) in Trauma and Disease

⁴⁷ Medical University, Kisheinev

⁴⁸ Rev. Hosp. San Fco. De Borja, 1970

⁴⁹ Rev. Hosp. Psiquiátrico (Santiago), 1970

⁵⁰ Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1967 Mar 15;141(1):655-67

Featured image source

Introduction by Peter Koenig

13 October 2024 will be the first anniversary of Reiner Fuellmich’s pre-trial prison custody. His conditions, especially for someone who has not committed and is not suspected of a criminal act of violence are, to say it benignly, horrendous, bordering on torture.

Let me remind you, Dr. Reiner Fuellmich in 2020 founded the Corona Investigative Committee (CIC) in Germany, investigating the worldwide corona fraud. In a CIC internal strife, probably instigated from outside forces and secret services, he was unjustly accused of embezzlement. The CIC collapsed. Dr. Fuellmich attempted to return to California, where he had a license to practice law and where he also owned a house.

For some “bureaucratic” formalities (cooperation secret services Germany-US), he was “temporarily” refused entry to the US. He then settled with his wife in Mexico, where he created the International Crimes Investigative Committee (ICIC), and continued investigating crimes committed by the covid scam, as well as related social and economic misconducts by those who dictated the “rules-based order”, overriding all international, national and local laws.

In March 2023, the German Government issued an arrest warrant for Dr. Fuellmich. Since he had not committed a violent crime, an extradition order has no value outside of the EU / Schengen countries. 

Therefore, the German Government – through their secret agents – lured him to a German representation in Mexico, where they kidnapped him on 12 October 2023, took him immediately – as is, without a change of clothes, or even a toothbrush – to the airport, and flew him between two German guards to Frankfurt, where he was immediately arrested on 13 October 2023. Ever since, Reiner has been in pre-trial custody, under the most inhumane conditions, in the Göttingen high-security prison in Rosdorf.

Pretrial custody is on average six months in Germany, at most 11 months. He is detained in solitary confinement, cannot see and talk to anyone, not to his fellow prisoners, must walk alone for his daily hour of exercise in the prison yard, and can have contact by phone or visits by his family for no more than three hours a month.

For every court appearance, Reiner is body-searched, then handcuffed, tightly foot-shackled, and accompanied by two fully machine-gun armed prison guards with bulletproof vests – as if he was a mass murderer.

He is shackled and body-searched, naked, every time the court interrupts, and he is led to an isolated basement room of the court to wait.

This deeply dehumanizing humiliation reminds of German concentration camps during Hitler’s Third Reich regime over 80 years back. 

One would think that humanity has learned from the horrors of WWII, but nada, zilch, nothing.

Humanity is led by the same inhumane monsters; except much worse today. 

Then, the Third Reich was confined to Europe and North Africa; today, the New World Order or One World Order –  one that wants to become One World Government, for which Germany is again playing a leading role, spans the entire globe, all 193 UN member countries.

There is seemingly no way to escape. 

But as history has shown time and time again, any system of excesses, be it injustice no end, war atrocities, abhorrent dehumanization with torture, corruption and genocide no limits, will fall. There is no doubt that the diabolical Cult that allows Germany to hold an honest citizen in such atrocious prison conditions, wants to scare and shut up any others that may speak up against the crimes committed, and are still being committed, by the German Government, and by association, other western governments. 

Dr. Reiner Fuellmich is a western world political prisoner.

Reiner’s description, illustrations and photos speak for themselves.

*

Reiner Fuellmich – A Political Prisoner in the Federal Republic of Germany

A report by Dr. Reiner Fuellmich on his conditions of detention in the Göttingen high-security prison in Rosdorf, in response to the author Kerstin Heusinger, Germany correspondent for the French-language online publication BAM! With exclusive photos from the courtroom and sketches.

7:00 a.m., court date for the civil rights activist and lawyer Dr. Reiner Fuellmich:

“Heavily armed officers with pistols and submachine guns equipped with bulletproof vests are there to greet me. They try to persuade me to put on a bulletproof vest, which I consistently refuse. They then make me sign a waiver releasing them from liability if I am injured or killed by gunfire.

One of the officers searches my body and then, as always, forces me to kneel on a stool while he puts ankle cuffs on me.

He ties a wide leather belt around my waist and then puts handcuffs on me, which are attached to the belt with chains that are in turn secured with a large padlock.

The ankle cuffs force me to take very small steps, making it difficult to get in and out of the transport vehicle. If I were to trip while cuffed like this, I would not be able to stop or soften my fall and would likely break my wrists.

Prison officials told me that they had never seen a defendant held in pre-trial custody for more than 11 months for a simple offense (and not for a serious crime or an act of terrorism), kept in solitary confinement, and, above all, brought to court hearings handcuffed at the hands and feet.

In court, I was taken to the basement, to a tiled cell with a simple wooden bench. Another strip-search. Then I had to wait to be handcuffed and led into the courtroom. Each time the proceedings were interrupted, I was handcuffed again and taken back to the “basement”.

Each time I returned from court, I was stripped naked in a transit room to undergo a thorough body search.

Harassment, humiliation, punishment

Mr. D., the deputy director responsible for pre-trial detention, ordered my complete isolation on the grounds that my legal advice to other detainees could incite them to revolt.

The Rosdorf prison is divided into two sections: the penal section (400 detainees) and the pre-trial detention section (80 detainees), where I have been detained since October 13, 2023.

The pre-trial detainees are spread over 4 levels. Those considered to be particularly dangerous or vulnerable are isolated on level A0, where security is increased and additional restrictions are imposed. I was placed there.

Like the other inmates on level A0, I am strictly forbidden to talk to any other inmate.

For 11 months I have had no internet access, no computer, and no cell phone. I am only allowed to watch TV. My only contact with the outside world is my lawyer and the 3 hours per month for visits or phone calls with my family. Yes, a total of 3 hours per month.

My isolation goes so far that even my daily walk in the courtyard must be done alone. This one-hour walk is suspended if I am caught communicating with another inmate, even if it is only a hand signal. Yes, if I exchange a greeting with a fellow inmate through the bars of a window, even if I just nod my head – he and I will be punished immediately.

All disciplinary measures are imposed without stating reasons and without the possibility of appeal.

Everyone is guilty!

The treatment of pre-trial detainees is particularly poor and borders on torture. Mr. D., who administers pre-trial detention, and also works as a social worker, makes no secret of his convictions: he believes that if you are in pre-trial detention, you are guilty.

His disregard for the presumption of innocence is the main reason why I was placed in solitary confinement.

He has committed serious and intentional breaches of duty, which I have witnessed. These violations were covered up by the prison management. With two exceptions, the security officers carry out the orders they receive without compunction, like robots.

On August 8, 2024, I asked to speak to the deputy director of the penal institution. I informed her that personal belongings and documents had disappeared from my cell during my absence for court hearings. The cells are normally searched regularly according to strict rules. These thefts occurred outside of the official inspections, which are recorded.

Persecution: Dr. Reiner Fuellmich refers to the case of Redzep [another, former case of unjustly incarcerating a man for murder which he did not commit, and the court knew it]

“The seriousness of the situation is demonstrated by the attacks on a pre-trial detainee, Kevin Redzep, who was seriously injured. He has allowed me to publish his name and story. He comes from Montenegro and although he is intelligent and speaks several languages, he cannot write or read German fluently. He was placed in a department where there were several violent inmates or those accused of premeditated murder. He was called a “gypsy” by his fellow inmates, threatened, and asked for help from Mr. D., who refused to take him to the high-risk inmates. The next day, Kevin Redzep was attacked by three fellow inmates during a walk. He was hit over the head with a glass bottle so severely that the zygomatic bone above his left eye was crushed and his vision was at risk.

On July 9, 2024, Kevin Redzep had to undergo surgery before returning to Rosdorf Prison, even before he had recovered. He was involved in another physical altercation with five or six prison officers who threw him to the ground and injured him again in the head. Mr. D. then ordered the isolation of Kevin Redzep, who was already severely traumatized.

Kevin Redzep, who wanted to sue Mr. D, the penal institution, and the state of Lower Saxony for assault, asked me for help. When Mr. D. learned that I had advised this inmate and provided him with a lawyer, Kevin Redzep disappeared. It is assumed that he was transferred to another prison. Since then, Ms. Wörmer, my lawyer, has been trying in vain to find him, hoping that he is still alive.

A glimmer of hope.

Despite the disciplinary punishments they face, the pre-trial detainees show solidarity with me. They encourage me. They shout to me, for example, “Don’t give up, keep going.”

Some prison officials have seen through the pandemic scam and know that my trial is a sham staged by the secret services. They let me know and wish me well.

What helps me most is the enormous support from the international public.

I receive a large number of letters that are no longer read by the prison administration. I read all the letters and I am deeply touched by the affection they show. I try to respond as best I can.

Sometimes I see the pickets and the people who greet me, while I’m sitting in the transport vehicle to court.

I feel the remarkably strong connection to all those who support me. It is this connection that allows us to overcome adversity together.

I have to go to the medical service twice a week to be examined because I refused to give blood. I argued that any medical act, especially any invasive medical act, constitutes a violation of physical integrity if the patient does not voluntarily give consent. I am therefore regularly examined because a prisoner suffering from tuberculosis could potentially have infected people with whom he has been in contact.

One of the prison doctors expressed sympathy for my work. He also told me that the medical staff believe that the health of many detainees is incompatible with detention. However, the prison management prefers to ignore this fact.

After having personally witnessed what happens in pre-trial detention – the suspension of the fundamental rights of the accused, their difficulties in accessing a defense that really cares about their fate – I am convinced that prisons only benefit those who profit from them, with pre-trial detention being more lucrative than post-sentencing detention.

I have not met a defendant who I would describe as “evil”. I have met many, many remand prisoners who appear innocent to me, or who, above all, need therapeutic treatment, as a prison doctor admitted.

If we did not need a few prisons for a few sociopaths, for example those responsible for the pandemic, the wars, the massacres like in Gaza and for the corrupt of the system, I would be in favor of abolishing prisons.”

*

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This statement was recorded by Dr. Reiner Fuellmich on the phone of his lawyer, Katja Wörmer.

It was translated into French by Kerstin Heusinger; and translated into English by Peter Koenig via Deepl.com

Photos and sketches: Kerstin Heusinger

Plan of his cell: Dr. Reiner Fuellmich

Concept and design of the original article: Michel Caulea and Karo

Click here to read the original German version.

This report first appeared (in French) on BAM! NEWS.

All illustrations can be seen in the original German article.

Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).

Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

Featured image is by Kerstin Heusinger

Berlin has spurned two key demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to “sell” during his European tour to promote his so-called Victory Plan: getting the green light for deep strikes into Russian territory (which would require German Taurus missiles, among others) and speeding up Ukraine’s accession to NATO, German media reported.

According to Bild, Zelensky had a packed itinerary that included a whirlwind tour of the UK, France, Italy, and Germany in a bid to garner Western support for his “Victory Plan.” However, the outlet emphasised that although German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not give a categorical “no”, he did not respond positively to the Ukrainian requests.

Moreover, Bild said the chancellor’s talk about the promised “billions in aid for Ukraine” at a press conference with Zelensky was nothing more than a farce. This package does not include any new weapons since the amount and projects mentioned were, in fact, “already approved and financed last year.”

The outlet said Kiev’s hopes of obtaining more Leopard 2 tanks had been dashed despite the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) still having around 300 of the main battle tanks in its inventory. The same applies to infantry fighting vehicles and armoured howitzers. The decision comes as the German Defence Ministry does not believe that Kiev will be able to carry out a new counteroffensive in the near future, the sources told the newspaper.

“By the end of the year, with the support of Belgium, Denmark and Norway, we will deliver another package to Ukraine worth €1.4 billion,” Scholz announced on October 11.

According to him, the package includes IRIS-T and Skynex air defence systems, Gepard anti-aircraft guns, self-propelled artillery systems, armoured vehicles, combat drones and radars.

Germany, Ukraine’s second-largest military donor after the US, has so far provided (or planned) military assistance worth approximately €28 billion. However, according to the draft budget, it has halved its military aid to Ukraine for 2025 compared to this year.

Although Zelensky has long insisted that there can be no peace negotiations with the Kremlin and that Russian forces must be driven back to its pre-2014 borders, officials in Kiev reportedly realise this position is unrealistic. The leadership of the current Ukrainian administration is beginning to discuss the handover of territories claimed by Ukraine as part of a peace agreement with Russia, a high-ranking Ukrainian official admitted to a German magazine.

The unnamed source also expressed concern that Washington will cut its previously generous support for Ukraine no matter who wins next month’s US presidential election. The prospects of losing foreign military aid, which has prolonged the conflict so far, coupled with growing discontent in Ukrainian society, may explain Kiev’s shift in position from refusing to negotiate with Russia and its other irreducible demands.

However, the magazine warned that powerful figures in Ukraine still remain staunchly opposed to peace talks.

Kiev’s insistence on joining NATO is a major obstacle to efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict through diplomacy. In addition to recognising the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Russia insists that Ukraine must remain neutral, non-nuclear and unaligned with any military bloc. The Kiev regime, which cancelled elections scheduled for this year and remains in power without being re-elected, is losing Western support and has been considering negotiating with Russia because of this.

At the same time as the German reports, government sources in Berlin said US President Joe Biden will visit Germany this week after cancelling a planned trip last week due to Hurricane Milton.

Senior German officials who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed media reports that Biden would most likely travel to Berlin within the week but declined to provide further details. According to German media, Biden will meet the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Berlin on Friday for talks on Ukraine and the Middle East.

The original trip was cancelled, upending plans for a summit of the Ramstein group of countries providing weapons to Ukraine. The meeting at the US airbase of the same name would have discussed possible new aid commitments to Ukraine.

With Biden only after some weeks left in power before handing over the White House to Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, Ukraine has become a less important topic for the outgoing president as he instead aims to ensure that the Democrats remain in power. Coupled with German industry devastated due to anti-Russia sanctions boomeranging, it is easy to see why Ukraine has become a lessened priority for the country’s two largest donors, a projectory that will continue until the war finally concludes.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Olaf Scholz, federal chancellor of Germany, meets Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, in Kiev, Feb. 14, 2022. (President of Ukraine)

Following the foreseeable Israeli attack on Iranian oil and nuclear infrastructures and the Iranian counter-response, the CIA and the Israeli Mossad would prepare false flag attacks in the Persian Gulf similar to the 1848 battleship Maine. And after attributing its authorship to the Iranians, the US Congress would declare a state of war against Iran with the dual objective of drying up China’s energy sources and setting up the cartography of the New Middle East.

Israel and the Media’s Spiral of Silence

The alleged Israeli security breach by belittling Egyptian reports that 10 days earlier warned that Hamas was preparing a major offensive would be the trap designed by Mossad to declare a state of war and raze Gaza, Lebanon and Iran in order to implement the Greater Israel.

Israeli military offensives against Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon would be covered by the “spiral of silence” of the world’s major mass media controlled by the transnational Zionist lobby, theory formulated by the German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in her book “The spiral of silence. Public opinion: our social skin” (1977).

This thesis would symbolize “the cognitive overlap formula that instigates censorship through a deliberate and suffocating accumulation of single-sign messages”, which would produce a spiral process or positive feedback loop and the consequent manipulation of world public opinion by the transnational Zionist lobby (the Palestinians and Lebanese are terrorists and Israel has the right to defend itself).

However, the asymmetrical punishment of the Israeli regime over the Gaza Strip with more than 42,000 civilian casualties, 10,000 dead buried under rubble and 90 per cent of civilian infrastructure destroyed, has unleashed a wave of worldwide support for the Gaza civilian population massacred by Israel.

Lebanon, the Next Phase of Greater Israel

Following the decision of the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for “crimes against humanity”, Netanyahu is aware that once the asymmetric war against Hamas is over, he risks an international criminal prosecution. So, Joe Biden, in an interview published by Time magazine, admitted that

“Netanyahu, would be prolonging the war for political reasons and to maintain power at the head of a complex coalition government”.

Thus, after the end of the Gaza campaign, and despite Israel not getting the response it expected in the form of an attack from Hezbollah, Netanyahu with the blessings of the United States, would have decided to invade South Lebanon in the hope of gaining time until the foreseeable victory in November of a Donald Trump, in the certainty that he will be able to count on his blessings to exonerate him from all guilt before the International Criminal Court.

The agreement reached between Biden and Netanyahu would also include the sending of 2,000-kilogram bombs to Israel to raze South Lebanon and move its 400,000 inhabitants across the Litani River, create a ring of security for Israeli settlements.

False Flag Attacks from the Mossad?

The assassination in Beirut of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would be a new trap to involve Iran in the escalation of war and start its destabilization with US help.

Israel considers Iran “the largest exporter of terror and human rights violations in the world while continuing to enrich uranium and dangerously close to obtaining a nuclear bomb that it could achieve in the coming weeks”. However, following approval by the US Congress and Senate of a statement prepared by Lindsey Graham and Robert Menéndez that “if Israel is forced to defend itself and take action (against Iran), the US will be on its side to support it militarily and diplomatically”, we would be witnessing the increase of pressure from the pro-Israeli U.S. lobby (AIPAC) to destabilize Iran by expeditious means.

Thus, following the foreseeable Israeli attack on Iranian oil and nuclear infrastructures and the Iranian counter-attack, the CIA and the Israeli Mossad would prepare false flag attacks in the Persian Gulf similar to the 1898 battleship Maine, and after attributing its authorship to the Iranians, the US Congress would declare a state of war. This process is known as “statutory authorization” and is a prerequisite for President Biden to implement the War Powers Act of 1973, which authorizes him to send troops abroad.

Consequently, taking advantage of the fact that Russia is occupied with Ukraine, China surrounded by the AUKUS nuclear crisis arc to protect Taiwan and that the US strategic reserves are at maximum, the Pentagon will use Iran’s response to start a new Middle East War with the dual objective of drying up China’s energy sources and setting up the mapping of the New Middle East.

*

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

German Gorraiz Lopez is a political analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

“Theater Iran Near Term” (TIRANNT). The Ongoing Planning of War Against Iran

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 12, 2024

In recent developments, there have been numerous statements to the effect that Israel is at war with Iran. Israel is an instrument of the Pentagon. Netanyahu is a proxy. Israel does not act without the consent of  US-NATO.

Middle Eastern and Global Crises: Who Are the Perpetrators?

By Peter Koenig and Daniel Estulin, October 14, 2024

All the industrialists and big corporations – especially the Tech Corporations, Big Finance, Big Pharma, and of course, the Military / War Industrial Complex and others — have already signed up for Agenda 2030 / The WEF’s Great Reset and the WEF’s 4^th Industrial Revolution, an all-digitized slave land or Gulag.

“7 October” Plan: Iran in Sights. “False Flag.” The 9/11 of the Middle East

By Manlio Dinucci, October 14, 2024

The plan carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023 had been known for a year to Israel’s leaders, who were not surprised by the attack but facilitated it. This is confirmed by testimonies published in recent days by the Wall Street Journal of young female Israeli soldiers in charge of the electronic barrier around Gaza.

The Biden Regime Has Just Issued a Very Suspicious Directive Permitting Military Intervention in US Domestic Affairs. Dr. Paul C. Roberts

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, October 14, 2024

The Department of Homeland Security has flagged individuals questioning COVID-19 origins, vaccine efficacy, and election integrity as potential domestic terrorism threats. Is a coup being set in place?

How Significant Is the US’ THAAD Deployment to Israel?

By Andrew Korybko, October 14, 2024

The Pentagon confirmed that it’ll dispatch nearly 100 troops to Israel to operate one of its premier air defense systems, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), of which it only has seven in total. This comes ahead of Israel’s expected retaliation to Iran’s latest missile strike on the first of the month that it carried out to restore deterrence after the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.

If Israel Attacks Iran, Russia Is Not Going to Stay on the Sideline.

By Mike Whitney, October 14, 2024

On Saturday, more than 10 articles appeared on Google News with the exact same byline: “Israel has narrowed down what they will target.” The impression this mantra is supposed to create is that Israel’s blatant act of aggression is actually a measured and thoughtful act of self-defense.

Israel Takes Aim at the United Nations in Brazen Attack in Lebanon

By Steven Sahiounie, October 14, 2024

The International community was united in strong condemnation of the Israeli breach of international law. Israel was aware of the location of the UNIFIL watchtower in Naqoura, and that the UN personnel are to remain safe from attacks. The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, explained that there was no mistake, and they preferred that the UN get out of the way.

On October 10, an Israeli Mekava tank attacked the UNIFIL headquarters in southern Lebanon, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers who are recovering in hospital, although Israel is also bombing hospitals and killing paramedics in Lebanon. Indonesia, a steadfast supporter of Palestine, and critic of Israel, has about 1,232 personnel currently deployed with UNIFIL in Lebanon. The International community was united in strong condemnation of the Israeli breach of international law. Israel was aware of the location of the UNIFIL watchtower in Naqoura, and that the UN personnel are to remain safe from attacks. The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, explained that there was no mistake, and they preferred that the UN get out of the way.

UNIFIL stated any attack on peacekeepers is a “grave violation of international humanitarian law”. The peacekeeping organization, established in 1978, consists of about 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries. The group said Israeli forces had deliberately fired at its positions along the border previously since the outset of current Israeli military escalation in Lebanon beginning September 23.

Those voicing condemnation of the attack on UNIFIL are the following:

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN undersecretary general for peace operations, said the “safety and security” of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon is “increasingly in jeopardy”.

Indonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, said “Attacking UN personnel and property is a major violation of International Humanitarian Law.”

The US stated, “While they undertake these operations, it is critical that they not threaten UN peacekeepers’ safety and security.”

The European Union’s Foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the attack is an “inadmissible act, for which there is no justification”.

Italy’s Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto said, “It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international military law.

”France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs condemned any attack on the security of UNIFIL.

Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack a “grave violation of international law”.

Ireland’s leader, Simon Harris, condemned the attack and said that “any firing in the vicinity of UNIFIL troops or facilities is reckless and must stop”.

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Israel’s attack on UN forces, following its massacres against civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon is a manifestation of its perception that its crimes go unpunished.”

The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Simon Harris was in Washington, DC. when the Israeli strike on UNIFIL took place. Standing in the country which shields Israel, and enables Israel to carry out war crimes, genocide, apartheid and crimes against international law, he commented on Israel’s request that the UNIFIL peacekeepers withdraw from Southern Lebanon, but Harris rejected that, and said “We cannot have a situation where aggression can force a peacekeeping mission to leave.” Ireland is one of several European countries that has recognized the state of Palestine, but the US is against that recognition.

Israel has always been above the law, and has refused to comply with any UN resolution, while brazenly invading Lebanon in order to enforce a UN resolution upon Beirut. In an ultimate display of hypocrisy, Israel wants to force the UN 1701 resolution.

UN Security Council resolution 1701 gives UNIFIL a mandate to assist the Lebanese army as they seek to keep the southern border free of weapons or armed fighters other than those of the Lebanese state. But, when did Israel ever comply with any UN resolution, or International Court of Justice order? Israel has never complied with any UN resolution and has never been held to account for their crimes. The US, UK and France have shielded Israel from all criticism.

In fact, if any group protests the breach of international law, or human rights carried out by Israel, the US and its allies defend genocide and war crimes by calling the criticism ‘anti-Semitism’, thus enabling Israel to get away with murder. America and its western European allies are enablers. They can be compared to the protective parents who buys drugs for their addicted child, for fear the child might be arrested or come to harm by drug dealers.

Instead of confronting the addiction, and seeking treatment for the addiction, the enabler will allow the addict to continue, but in an allusion of safety.Israel’s inhumanity to Palestinians, and its breaking of thousands of international laws is only possible because Israel is never held accountable for its crimes.

While protests raged across the US and the globe, Washington, London and France were silent on any sanctions against Israel, such as the halt of military supplies to be used in a genocide against a civilian population, evidenced by the fact that the majority of the 42,000 dead in Gaza are mainly women and children.

When the Merkava tank operator took aim and fired at a known UNIFIL watchtower, Israel was not making a mistake. This was a message from Tel Aviv to get out of the way, or face death.

The Merkava tank operator was demonstrating the Israeli disdain at everything called the United Nations. Israel has a UN Ambassador, but does not demonstrate that they are part of an international body having the mission of keeping the peace through the use of diplomacy, so as to not resort to armed conflicts.

Since the formation of Israeli in 1948, Israel has failed to abide by any UN resolutions on Palestine and the occupied territories, regardless of those passed by the General Assembly, or the Security Council.

The resolutions passed by the Security Council are legally binding, with penalties ranging from sanctions to armed interventions.

The dozens of resolutions calling for the Palestinian right to self-determination and restoration of human rights have gone completely ignored, and with no penalties on Israel.

The UN has failed deliver the implementation of numerous resolutions against Israel because of being shackled by the veto power held by the US, UK and France. Those western centers of freedom and democracy stand with Israel and provide it the impunity to violate international laws without any possibility of penalties or accountability.

The core American value of freedom and independence was fought for by Americans in 1776. Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty, or give me death” as the Patriots fought the British colonizers for freedom. Why do Americans enjoy freedom, and pay their tax-dollars to prevent the freedom of the Palestinian people?The French have a motto, “Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood.” Why are those words cherished in Paris, and denied in Gaza and Bethlehem?

A great awakening is underway as countries are aware of the crimes committed by Israel, and are demanding accountability and justice.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was taken from Mideast Discourse.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from MD

I don’t think there is an implicit obligation for the United States to follow like a stupid mule whatever the Israelis do. If they decide to start a war, simply on the assumption that we’ll automatically be drawn into it, I think it is the obligation of friendship to say, ‘you’re not going to be making a national decision for us.’ I think that the United States has the right to have its own national security policy.” —Zbigniew Brzezinski

The US foreign policy establishment used to include men who were capable of strategic thinking. No more. What passes for strategic thinking now is the endless reiteration of Israeli talking points uttered by retired generals who are owned by the weapons industry and the Israeli lobby. These men—who represent the views of an infinitesimal percentage of the overall population—are an essential part of the larger machine that prepares the public for intervention, escalation and war. Their current assignment is to convince the American people that Israel’s impending attack on Iran serves America’s national security interests which, of course, it doesn’t. In fact, the country is being boondoggled into a bloody conflagration that will, in all probability, precipitate a sharp decline in US global power followed by a swift end to the so-called American Century.

All of this was forecast by one of America’s most scholarly foreign policy analysts, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who delivered a warning on the topic of Iran more than a decade ago in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. Here’s what he said:

….an attack on Iran would be an act of political folly, setting in motion a progressive upheaval in world affairs. With the U.S. increasingly the object of widespread hostility, the era of American preponderance could even come to a premature end. Although the United States is clearly dominant in the world at the moment, it has neither the power nor the domestic inclination to impose and then to sustain its will in the face of protracted and costly resistance….

It is therefore high time for the administration to sober up and think strategically, with a historic perspective and the U.S…. It’s time to cool the rhetoric. The United States should not be guided by emotions or a sense of a religiously inspired mission… our choice is either to be stampeded into a reckless adventure profoundly damaging to long-term U.S. national interests or to become serious about giving negotiations with Iran a genuine chance…..

Treating Iran with respect and within a historical perspective would help to advance that objective. American policy should not be swayed by the current contrived atmosphere of urgency ominously reminiscent of what preceded the misguided intervention in Iraq. Been there, done that, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Los Angeles Times

Well-said. One can only wish that the lamebrain pundits on cable news would circulate the article among themselves.

Like him or hate him, Brzezinski provided a coherent, well-researched analysis that dispassionately evaluated whether the costs of a particular operation were greater than the benefits. In this case, there is simply no comparison. The US is rushing towards a conflict that serves no national interest, that it can’t win, and that will have a catastrophic impact on the nation’s future. Here’s Brzezinski again:

We do not need to increase the scale of the conflict in the region because an increase in that conflict involving the Iranians …would likely reignite the conflict in Iraq, would set the Persian Gulf ablaze, would increase the price of oil 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold...Europe would become even more dependent on Russia for its energy…. So, what is the benefit to us?

All I know as an analyst of international politics is (a war with Iran) this would be a disaster. And, frankly, I think it will be a disaster for us more than for Israel because, as a result of the war…. we will be forced out of the region... because of the dynamic hatred that develops. And, have no illusions about it, if the conflict spreads, we’re going to be alone… And if we are driven out, how much would you bet on the survival of Israel for more than five or ten years? Zbigniew Brzezinski, Real News Network, 2:15 min

So, it would not just be disastrous for the United States, but disastrous for Israel as well, which—absent Washington’s “unconditional” support—would wither on the vine in 5 or 10 years. Perhaps, there are some who would disagree with this analysis? Perhaps there are some who think that a tiny belligerent colony at the heart of the Arab world—that has made every effort to make itself a damned nuisance for the last 75 years—could survive without US assistance?

It’s possible, I suppose. But not likely. This is from an article at NBC News on Saturday:

U.S. officials believe Israel has narrowed down what they will target in their response to Iran’s attack, which these officials describe as Iranian military and energy infrastructure.

There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, but U.S. officials stressed that the Israelis have not made a final decision about how and when to act….

The U.S. does not know when Israel’s response could come but officials said the Israeli military is poised and ready to go at any time once the order is given….U.S. and Israeli officials said a response could come during the Yom Kippur holiday. ..

The U.S. is poised to defend its assets in the region from any immediate counterattack from Iran but is not likely to provide direct military support to the operation.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, last night and they discussed broad strokes about an Israeli response. However, it’s not clear that Gallant provided any concrete details. NBC News

On Saturday, more than 10 articles appeared on Google News with the exact same byline: “Israel has narrowed down what they will target.” The impression this mantra is supposed to create is that Israel’s blatant act of aggression is actually a measured and thoughtful act of self-defense. What a joke; and what a humiliation for the Biden administration who are not even informed as to how their bombs, their jets, their refueling aircraft, and their logistical support are going to be used. When did the US become such a spineless patsy that allows itself to be pushed around by the gangsters in Tel Aviv? It’s shocking.

What’s lost in the hullabaloo surrounding Israel’s upcoming attack on Iran, is the fact that Russia has been stealthily conducting its own diplomatic campaign aimed at strengthening Iran’s defenses and preparing for the hostilities ahead.

On Friday, Putin met with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to discuss the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and the probability of a regional war. The carefully choreographed meeting was intended to show that Russia regards Iran as both a friend and ally who can depend on Russia’s support if hostilities break out. Hours earlier, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued an ominous warning that an Israeli strike on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities would constitute a “serious provocation.”

Speaking at a news conference in Laos, Lavrov emphasized that—according to the International Atomic Energy Agency—Iran has remained compliant with current regulations and has not diverted any nuclear material to banned weapons programs. (Israel’s spurious claims on this matter are pure propaganda.)

If any plans or threats to attack the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities are realized, it would indeed be a very serious provocation.

Between Lavrov’s comments and Putin’s meeting, there’s little doubt that Moscow supports Iran in its clash with Israel although it is not possible to know whether Russia will actively intervene if war breaks out. (We should also remember that Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Tehran just two days before Iran launched its ballistic missile attack on Israel. This suggests that Iran got the green light from Moscow to take action that corresponds with Putin’s idea of a “proportionate response.”)

The point we’re making, is that Russia is following developments very closely and has moved military assets to within range of the prospective battlespace. It is logical to assume that Russia will engage Iran’s enemies if that is what the situation requires. Military analyst Will Schryver summed it up like this:

I cannot understand how more people do not fully appreciate that fighting alongside Iran against the empire is not a choice for Russia, but an existential imperative. It is also something for which the Russians have feverishly prepared since no later than the summer of 2022. —Will Schryver

Keep in mind, Russia and Iran have significantly strengthened their military ties over the last few years to the point they are openly committed to each other’s security. Here’s Schryver again:

Russia, China, and Iran have now formed a de facto military and economic alliance — what they prefer to call a “partnership”. In the case of Russia and China, a comprehensive full-spectrum partnership has emerged: military, economic, and monetary….

Russia, China, and Iran conduct regular joint exercises in the Arabian Sea. Those exercises have increased in both scope and frequency in recent years.

Both Russia and China are investing vast sums of capital in Iran, much of it in the energy sector and in ambitious transportation projects aiming to construct fast and efficient trade corridors linking China, Iran, and Russia as primary nodes of Eurasian commerce…Arms and technology transfers between the three countries have reached unprecedented levels….

It is increasingly evident that Russia, China, and Iran recognize that an attack against any one of them would constitute an existential threat to them all. The strategic interests of all three countries are now inextricably intertwined. Most importantly, they are united in a single overriding strategic objective: to dismantle the dominion of the long-reigning Anglo-American empire….

In a putative war between the United States and Iran, both Russia and China would actively support Iran… Iran would simply be supplemented with arms and other logistical necessities from both its partners — and quite possibly taken under their nuclear umbrella in an explicit act of deterrence.

To the extent Russia, China, and Iran are determined to act all for one and one for all, they represent a combination of global military and economic power that cannot be defeated. All for One and One for All, Will Schryver, Twitter

Schryver’s view is shared by a great many analysts who (naturally) are banned from sharing their opinions in the major media. But that doesn’t change the underlying fact that Russia and Iran are strategic allies that will intervene militarily if they find themselves in peril.

It’s worth noting, that Iran provides China with 15 percent of its oil (China’s top oil producer), is an active participant in the International North–South Transport Corridor (which is a 4500 mile long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.), and is “situated at the crossroads of Central Asia, South Asia, and the Arab states of the Middle East.” Iran’s strategic positioning and its vast natural resources make it a critical part of the emerging multipolar world order that is fast replacing Washington’s threadbare rules-based system. Neither Russia nor China can allow Iran to be decimated or its government to be ousted. Here’s more background from author Dr Digby James Wren on Substack:

Russia’s president has authorized the signing of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement with Iran. This follows a Tehran visit by the secretary of the Russian Security Council, preceded by a trip to St. Petersburg by the Iranian national security advisor…. Putin …. reportedly describing it as “expedient” and to be signed “at the highest level.“…

According to Iranian media, Putin hailed the “strategic” relations between Tehran and Moscow, which he said had grown stronger in recent years…. Relations between Moscow and Tehran have deepened considerably since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022.

Cooperation between the two countries has become particularly pronounced in the military domain. Iran has supplied drones to Russia, which have reportedly been deployed against Ukraine. Additionally, Iran is believed to be supporting Russia’s efforts to localize drone production….

“Relations with Iran are a priority for us,” Putin told Pezeshkian...

Reports also emerged in August about alleged Russian arms shipments being delivered to Iran. The New York Times cited Iranian officials at the time as saying that Russia had begun to transfer advanced radar and air defense equipment to Tehran following a request made to the Kremlin. Persian Fire, Dr Digby James Wren, Substack

In other words, Putin anticipated the crisis that is unfolding today and began vigorously shoring up Iran’s defenses. Now, they are ready to go. Check it out:

The Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in the Middle East and… set tasks that could only be discussed face to face. …. We will monitor the development of events; the army is combat ready, (and) the initiative is on our side… Victory will be ours, maybe not quickly, but we will definitely win. ⁃ Andrey Gurulev, Russian Lieutenant General @DD_Geopolitics

What we should expect now, is an Israeli attack on Iran’s vital infrastructure amplified by a decapitation operation aimed at its political and military leaders. The attack will have to exceed what US advisors have suggested in order to increase the chances of an exaggerated retaliation from Iran that will prompt Washington’s entry into the war. (which is Israel’s main objective) Iran’s response will be shaped in part by Russia who will emphasize a ‘proportionate response’. Putin will give Israel and the United States every opportunity to ‘lower the temperature’ and deescalate, but if they decide to intensify their attacks, we should expect the worst-case scenario.

There’s no way the United States comes out of a war with Iran unscathed. These are momentous times in which the cornerstone upon which the old order rests, is disintegrating before our eyes.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Michael Whitney is a renowned geopolitical and social analyst based in Washington State. He initiated his career as an independent citizen-journalist in 2002 with a commitment to honest journalism, social justice and World peace.

He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).  

Featured image source

“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” 

by Michel Chossudovsky

Available to order from Global Research! 

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
Year: 2012
Pages: 102

PDF Edition:  $6.50 (sent directly to your email account!)

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute   

Something big is coming, and whatever it is, there’s now a heightened chance that the US will become directly involved.

The Pentagon confirmed that it’ll dispatch nearly 100 troops to Israel to operate one of its premier air defense systems, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), of which it only has seven in total. This comes ahead of Israel’s expected retaliation to Iran’s latest missile strike on the first of the month that it carried out to restore deterrence after the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Here’s what this latest US move signifies:

1. Israel Is Probably Planning Something Big

Rumors have abounded about what exactly Israel is planning, but it’s probably something big and will provoke at least proportional retaliation from Iran, hence why the self-professed Jewish State requested that the US deploy one of its few THAADs to help defend it afterwards. THAAD specializes in intercepting ballistic missiles so it can be intuited that Israel and the US expect Iran to respond through these means. THAAD only carries 48 interceptors, however, so it could be overwhelmed if there’s a saturation strike.  

2. The Iron Dome Needs All The Help It Can Get

Many observers assessed that Iran’s latest missile strike exposed the limits of Israel’s famous Iron Dome. The footage that they saw and Israel’s panicked reaction afterwards in trying to cover up the damage, including by detaining Grayzone journalist Jeremy Loffredo and then investigating him for “aiding the enemy in a time of war” by reporting on it, leave little doubt that this is the case. Accordingly, the Iron Dome needs all the help it can get, hence why Israel requested that the US deploy THAAD to assist.

3. The US Risks Getting Caught In Mission Creep

Biden previously promised that “No US boots will be on the ground” in the West Asian conflict zone, yet he just went back on his word after his administration approved this latest deployment. The US thus risks getting caught in mission creep since hawkish policymakers might now argue that it’s worth scaling this deployment in pursuit of perceived national interests after this psychological line was just crossed. They might not succeed, and this could be all that’s sent, but more deployments also can’t be ruled out either.

4. The THAAD Team Is An Escalation Tripwire

Building upon the above, the THAAD team is an escalation tripwire since any harm that might befall them while attempting to intercept Iran’s expected retaliation to Israel’s presumably forthcoming attack could serve as the pretext for the US to strike Iran and/or deploy more troops to the conflict zone. While this move is being sold to the public as “defending Israel” and “deterring Iran”, policymakers nonetheless keenly understand what’s really at stake, yet they’re downplaying the dangers to avoid public outcry.

5. Israel-US Ties Remain Strong Despite Problems

And finally, the US’ THAAD deployment shows that inter-state ties remain strong despite the well-known Bibi-Biden rivalry, which saw Biden endorse Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call for regime change against Bibi last spring. Whether one attributes this to the US’ permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies (“deep state”) still appreciating their perceived mutual geostrategic interests or to the power of the Israel lobby, the point is that it testifies to the resilience of their ties.

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The US’ THAAD deployment to Israel is a worrying step because it suggests that that something big is coming, and whatever it is, there’s now a heightened chance that the US will become directly involved. Whether its role remains defensive or evolves into an offensive one remains to be seen, but this team of nearly 100 operators essentially serves as an escalation tripwire. Hawkish policymakers want a larger war, and it’ll take self-restraint on Iran’s side and a little bit of luck to avoid that worst-case scenario.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack, Andrew Korybko’s Newsletter.

Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the author

The Department of Homeland Security has flagged individuals questioning COVID-19 origins, vaccine efficacy, and election integrity as potential domestic terrorism threats.

Is a coup being set in place?

A new Department of Defense directive 5240.01 issued September 27, 2024, just prior to the November presidential election allows the US military to use lethal force against American citizens in assisting police authorities in domestic disturbances.

A report on this development lists these civil liberties concerns:

• Right to protest: There are fears that expanded authority could suppress legitimate protests.
• Privacy rights: Increased military involvement in domestic intelligence gathering could infringe on privacy.
• Due process: The military’s role in law enforcement could bypass standard due process protections.
• Freedom of speech: The broad definition of “national security threats” could target individuals for their political beliefs.
• Civilian control: The expanded military role could erode civilian oversight of the military.

Here are some Constitutional concerns:

• Challenging the Posse Comitatus Act: This Act traditionally limits the powers of the federal government in using military personnel for domestic law enforcement. The new DoD directive, by permitting the use of lethal force through military assistance in civilian law enforcement, may push the boundaries of these limitations.
• Potential First Amendment Concerns: Natural health advocates and others exercising their First Amendment rights, such as questioning the government’s response to COVID-19 or the integrity of elections, have been labeled as potential domestic extremists and/or terrorists by some agencies. This directive could expand those classifications into scenarios involving lethal force interventions, potentially chilling free speech under the guise of national security.
• Fourth Amendment Considerations: This directive also allows intelligence sharing between military and law enforcement under emergency conditions, raising questions about the right to privacy and the potential for expanded surveillance.
• Due Process Implications (Fifth Amendment): The possibility of military use of lethal force in domestic scenarios introduces concerns about how due process protections might be maintained before potentially life-altering decisions are made.

Why these ominous changes one month before the election? Is something in the works? Why is there no reporting and no debate on this change in policy?

Here is the Directive. (Suggest you read Section 1, pp. 3-6)

.

Here is the report.

Ever since the CIA used the Washington Post and the media to cover up the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the term, “conspiracy theory,” introduced by the CIA, has been used by the presstitutes and government to demonize truth and those who speak truth, and to protect official narratives, such as “Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.”

Unless Trump cuts a deal with Democrats not to hold them accountable and also a deal with the Ruling Elite not to interfere with their control, I can see no way that either will permit Trump to be President.

The Biden regime and the Trump Justice (sic) Department and FBI are criminal operations. I can see indictments and arrests for those who have weaponized law enforcement. The Ruling Elite and leading Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and John Kerry can all be arrested, honestly unlike Trump and his supporters, for insurrection as they have openly called for the overthrow of the United States by demanding the overthrow of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. No fooling, this is treason. The US is the Constitution. Advocating the overthrow of the Constitution is advocating the overthrow of the United States.

This is a major issue of our time, and it is not mentioned — which displays the control the elite have over what can be an issue subject to notice and discussion.

That one month prior to the presidential election the corrupt Biden regime issued a directive that permits the US military, purged of its patriotic officers, to use lethal force against American citizens is an indication that something is afoot. Why is such a directive suddenly needed, a directive that goes against all previous policy?

Here is a possible scenario: If despite the media’s assault on Trump and the in-place legalized election theft procedures in the swing states, the Democrats and Ruling Elite conclude that the election can neither be won nor stolen, an orchestrated false flag insurrection is staged that activates Department of Defense directive 5240.01 issued September 27, 2024. Trump, his supporters, the Republican Party, probably sparing the RINOs as a fake opposition party will be needed to carry on the illusion of democracy under one-party rule, will be arrested as insurrectionists. The courts will be helpless as they have no enforcement powers, and any intervention against the coup will be misrepresented as “siding with insurrectionists.”

Absurd! Extreme! Nutcase! No, I am none of these. Just think of all the violations of US law and international law by Democrat officials. They are subject to arrest nationally and internationally. Trump, unless he cuts the deals I mentioned, is a threat to the Ruling Establishment as he can put most of them in prison. How can the Democrats and the Ruling Elite let a man and a movement this dangerous to them become President? They cannot.

Unless Trump sells out, he is in a fight to the death. Elon Musk knows it. Musk wondered on Tucker Carlson how long his prison sentence would be if Trump loses the election. Most Americans, however, are too insouciant to realize that if Trump loses the election, or it is stolen from him, or prevented from happening, there will never again be an election in the United States of America. A Stalin type election, perhaps, where 99.9% of the votes are taken by the ruling personage.

A country whose government, intellectuals, and Ruling Elite do not believe in the Constitution do not believe in the country.

A country whose government, intellectuals, and Ruling Elite do not believe in family, borders, evil, that uses education to indoctrinate white people against themselves as racists, misogynists, domestic terrorists, that uses censorship to prevent the emergence of challenges to official narratives which are lies, has an agenda that it knows the American people will not accept. So the agenda is left unstated and forced on the people by controlling the explanations.

Over the course of my life I have watched the collapse of spiritual life and sexual morality. Female modesty and female chastity no longer exist. Mothers have 12 year old daughters on birth control pills. College girls maintain themselves with porn sites where they copulate for all the world to see. Who wants to marry a public whore?

The Democrats have raised hatred as their banner. The hated are white heterosexuals who have a traditional moral code.

The white heterosexuals are going to lose, because to them it is just a conspiracy theory.

John Kerry calls for a Ministry of Truth: “The First Amendment stands as a major roadblock for us right now.”

John Kerry calls for a Ministry of Truth:

"The 1st Amendment stands as a major roadblock for us right now" pic.twitter.com/1mtpjjxeM7

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 29, 2024

Hillary Says the First Amendment means “We Lose Total Control”

Fearful of the Public, Western Leaders Turn to Censorship

Wall Street Journal Editor Emma Tucker said: “We owned the news. We were the gatekeepers, and we very much owned the facts as well.”

She added that people are learning that they cannot trust the whore media and that, consequently, the presstitutes are having a difficult time protecting the official narratives, which are lies that permit a handful of corrupt elites to impose their agendas.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it was filing a lawsuit against the “State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections” over the state’s enforcement of a 2006 law, removing non-citizens from voter lists.

In a press release on Friday, the DOJ wrote that the removal of voters from “election rolls” so close to the upcoming presidential election violated “Section 8(c)(2)” of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, “also known as the Quiet Period Provision.”

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Screenshot from justice.gov

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Under Section 8(c)(2) of the NVRA, states are required “to complete systematic programs” in order to remove “the names of ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections,” the DOJ added:

Section 8(c)(2) of the NVRA, also known as the Quiet Period Provision, requires states to complete systematic programs aimed at removing the names of ineligible voters from voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections. The Quiet Period Provision applies to certain systematic programs carried out by states that are aimed at striking names from voter registration lists based on a perceived failure to meet initial eligibility requirements — including citizenship — at the time of registration.

The DOJ’s lawsuit comes after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued an Executive Order in August, which required “all registrars” to “cancel the registrations of non-citizens who have registered to vote in a local, state, or federal election by falsely claiming that they are a citizen, including the forging of documentation or any other means of improper registration.”

In Youngkin’s announcement of the Executive Order, he revealed that roughly “79,867 deceased voters” had been removed from voter lists in 2023, and that roughly “6,303 non-citizens” had been taken off of voter lists between January 2022 and July 2024.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke with the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division explained that “by cancelling voter registrations within 90 days” of an election, “qualified voters” in the state were placed at risk “of being removed from the rolls.”

“As the National Voter Registration Act mandates, officials across the country should take heed of the law’s crystal clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election,” Clarke said in a statement. “By cancelling voter registrations within 90 days of Election Day, Virginia places qualified voters in jeopardy of being removed from the rolls and creates the risk of confusion for the electorate. Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters.”

Youngkin responded to the DOJ’s lawsuit in a press release by labeling it as an “unprecedented lawsuit” against him “and the Commonwealth of Virginia, for appropriately enforcing a 2006 law” that was signed by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who previously served as the governor of Virginia.

With less than 30 days until the election, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice is filing an unprecedented lawsuit against me and the Commonwealth of Virginia, for appropriately enforcing a 2006 law to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls.

Virginians – and Americans – will…

— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 11, 2024

“Virginians – and Americans – will see this for exactly what it is,” Youngkin added. “A desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy. With the support of our Attorney General, we will defend these commonsense steps, that we are legally required to take, with every resource available to us.”

Youngkin added that the state’s election would be “secure and fair,” and stated he would “not stand idly by as this politically motivated action tries to interfere in our elections.”

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image is licensed under CC BY 2.0

This is a loose transcript of the interview of Daniel Estulin and Peter Koenig.

Daniel Estulin (DE): What are your overall views on the Middle East Crisis?

Peter Koenig (PK): Let me start with a quote from the great late spiritual philosopher and teacher, Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar:

“No movement in this universe is possible without encountering opposition. Wherever there is movement, there is opposition also. The result of struggle against this opposition is called progress.

The more one desires to proceed vigorously to the goal, the more one is to struggle against the opposition. Thus, those who are averse to struggle can never progress. They lag behind, not to speak of progress.

That’s why struggle is the essence of life. Those who abhor struggle, who misconstrue struggle as violence, have no place in this world.”

We both, Daniel – and thanks God many more and ever-more – are of the struggling kind.

If I may, as a prelude to the overall question and before going specifically to the Middle East and the ongoing killer-agenda, please allow me to make some reflections.

It goes into the direction of – who runs the world?

When we know that, it may be easier to assess the Middle East and the rest of the world.

Image source

What I see is the UN Pact for the World of the Future, ratified by non-objection (NOT by vote) on 22 September 2024. All 193 member countries nodded. Again, not by vote, but on a non-objection basis. That is why it is a Pact. Some say it is not really legally binding. But somewhat binding nevertheless, if it is a Pact. Agreements under a Pact are to be respected.

That all 193 UN members, including Russia and China, have gone along with this Pact, without objection, raises a Big Red Flag in my mind.

Are they all committed to the Globalist Agenda? The UN Agenda 2030? The WEF’s Great Reset? 

And their game of adversaries of East against West is just a game?

A wanted deception of the People?

Looks like the thousands of years old axiom of divide to reign and conquer is alive and well in the 21^st century. 

In which case, so would be the atrocious killing in the Middle East, and in Ukraine and Russia – and all the conflicts and wars in the world – currently some 20 to 25. Just a game, mad games, killing games – allowed to happen by those pretending to run the world, and it is not Washington, Moscow, or Beijing.

Killing conflicts as a game to divide the people.

All the industrialists and big corporations – especially the Tech Corporations, Big Finance, Big Pharma, and of course, the Military / War Industrial Complex and others — have already signed up for Agenda 2030 / The WEF’s Great Reset and the WEF’s 4^th Industrial Revolution, an all-digitized slave land or Gulag.

A digitized world – with full electronic money control – where “In 2030 – you own nothing but will be happy”, you might add because if you have survived so far, the Plandemics, mandated Vaxxing, and Climate Change fraud, you have become a trans-human, a robotized “human”.

Because number one objective, or wish, of the Globalist diabolical Cult, is massive population reduction.

How?

By the poisonous vaxxes mandated first after the fake Covid plandemic.

Second, by 5G, with the tens of thousands of Elon Musk’s low flying satellites beaming at the earthly 5G antennas spanning literally the entire globe, having transformed your graphite-charged bloodstream and brain to be remote-controlled.

Third, by famine, drought, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, all caused by geoengineered weaponized weather and climate, falsely presented as man- and industry-made climate change.

All that while, We the People, are sleeping or betting for the BRICS, for Russia and China, to help and save us, or while, alternatively, we are stampeding with the US hegemon to conquer the world. Two different camps, one against the other – divided into a multitude of smaller little camps, called pluralism, fighting, or arguing with each other, deviating from seeing the Big Picture.

This small elite that pretends to control 8 billion people has already agreed that the WHO will be the GESTAPO of the new fascist world under the UN Pact for a New World, the WEF will be the policy gnome, and the UN political body will be the new One World Government.

And behind them all with funding no end, is this huge invisible evil Cult with seemingly mega-power – Big-Big Finance, Big Tech, Big Pharma, and, yes, not least, Big War / Military Industrial Complex. They have the media on their side. They largely act as private entities not answerable to any state, but calling governments to do their bidding, or else…

Image source

The introduction of a one-world digital, all-controlling currency would then be just a matter of time. A digital currency that could be withheld, blocked, canceled in full or partially, would be the endgame of full-enslavement.

But let us pause here – although they may aim at this horrendous future, they will not reach it. Life is not linear, thus not digital, but dynamic. Therefore, an all-digital system will eventually self-destruct.

For me – it is a hard shock, and not easy to believe, that all 193 UN member countries are in cahoots. But when I saw the non-objection to the UN Pact, no matter how much it had been watered-down (once its approved, you can always strengthen it, little by little, – the salami tactic in reverse – to bring it back to the original level, with non, or little consultation of the member countries) – when I saw this Pact waved through, this tremendous Red Flag popped up.

DE: Who are the key players for the current Zionist-Israel led war against Palestine and now Lebanon?

PK: They are the same as those behind the Ukraine-Russia War.

Again, Washington and its European vassal Union (or rather non-union), are just following orders, ruining their economies, committing socioeconomic suicide by depleting their budgets and monetary reserves, sending billions and billions in cash, loans, or weaponry to Ukraine and Israel, to fight futile criminal killer-wars – no end. And killing and killing – destroying families, motherhoods, and fatherhoods – and infrastructure galore.

Those who mandate the killing know it is futile and it is a crime against humanity.

But these fake leaders (sic) execute the orders in Washington and Brussels and Frankfurt, knowing too that these wars are futile. And the same fake leaders hope to get a seat at the table of the Last Supper – and save their skin.

But they will not.

What the inhuman globalists cannot see, is that their digital revolution that is supposed to conquer the world, is not going to work, because, again, life is not linear but dynamic. Everything digital, including artificial intelligence (AI) is LINEAR.

There is our chance.

We unite spiritually – and evoke non-linear dynamism – and what is behind this unseen spiritual force of change is quantum physics. The power of quantum science is unbeatable by the elite, no matter how rich and digitally powerful they think they are.

But we, the People, or a large majority of us, must be prepared.

We must think on a different level, not as partisans for the one or the other, nor with hate and despise, but with love and light.
We can do it.

Together we can.

DE: The big picture: will Israel survive – and if so, how and where?

PK: Given the forces at play – and the run for a One World Order and Government – it is irrelevant whether Israel survives. At present Israel is committing suicide. A slow suicide.

Israel is taking a huge economic beating. Official Israel and western mainstream media do not admit it, but Israelis in the street know it – and clearly say, they have no trust in the future of their country, Israel.

Western mainstream, of course, also obscures these people’s reality.

The logical question is: Those who are behind this – and other wars – they must know it. So, the downfall of Israel is planned. It is part of the unwritten globalist pact – to eliminate the Zionists dream to create a “Greater Israel” for the Chosen People – for themselves.

The Ashkenazi Zionists’ dream of a Greater Israel, with the world at their feet, does not fit into the agenda of the tiny elite – the evil Cult – pretending to run the entire world.

Independent of a potentially deliberate effort to do away with Israel, when dynamics and quantum physics will take over – Israel will be gone; Palestine returns to be Palestine – the historic sovereign Palestine.

Jews and Israelis may peacefully live together with Palestinians, as they have for centuries before the onset of the belligerent, Zionist-Israeli violent domineering of entire Palestine.

This cannot happen if justice – a human justice of light and human rights – is to prevail.

And human justice will prevail – it is the nature of Mother Earth’s system of justice.

DE: How are the Ukraine crisis and the Middle East war connected?

PK: In short, because the same diabolical Cult drives them.

With wars and the constant threat of the war and conflicts running out of control and becoming nuclear – the end of the world – creates fear; and fear is their strongest weapon to control the people.

Fearful people are submissive, and will go along with orders.

Fear of the people is food and energy for the diabolical Cult. They need the people’s fear to thrive on it.

The ruling elite does not want a nuclear conflict – it could hit them too.

Because they see the risk, some of them, especially Tech czars – built already their deep luxury bunkers, many of them in New Zealand, considered safe, yet civilized – and far away from everything.

But there is weapon much stronger, more reliable than a nuclear bon. It is called Weather and climate engineering, creating hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons — floods, droughts, famine, diseases – and more. Plus, these weather phenomena are called “climate change”. And until the bulk of the people catch on to this lie of biblical proportions, they continue with the scam.

Wars are also good for population reduction. Let us not forget, those powers behind the UN, the WEF and WHO, are all eugenists. They are the inventors and the engines of the Club of Rome, the official initiator with their 1972 “Limits to Growth” report – and later with the “First Global Revolution” (1991) – are also behind the fake Climate Change agenda which has been indoctrinated on three generations – so, you tell most people the truth about “climate change”, they won’t believe you, to the contrary they despise you, because you dare attempting breaking down their lie-based believes.

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In Conclusion

We – a few of us – have been lucky, having had the opportunity to travel the world, meet with so-called officials, and especially with the people of all kinds of cultures and creeds, see the world through the kaleidoscope and variety of people’s eyes, from the inside of the UN system, and otherwise worldly organizations pretending to be on top of the universe.

I am forever thankful for having been given this opportunity. It was and still is a tremendous eye-opener.

It brings with it a moral obligation and commitment – namely that we share this eye-opening experience, with other people, as many as we can reach – as we all share the license to live on this beautiful planet equally – in the hope to bring more people along into a different, non-belligerent, but peaceful thinking – and hopefully help opening the way, leading the world into a dynamism of Peace and Light.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).

Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

Introduction

One of the most epochal events in entertainment history took place just after the turn of the 21^st century with the release of the film version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Fellowship of the Ring was released on December 19, 2001. The Two Towers was released on December 18, 2002, and The Return of the King was released on December 17, 2003.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was a British writer and academic, born in South Africa, who spent his teaching career at Oxford University. He was steeped in the ancient languages and folklore of Northern Europe, even inventing his own linguistic recreations of old tongues. Scholars and researchers continue to look to the legendary history of that part of the world as disclosing mysterious cultural elements that recede into the distant past of humanity’s earliest strivings in a world still believed to be populated by mythological creatures like fairies, elves, dwarves, and superhuman sages and wizards. Also emerging from this history are human “culture heroes” whose striving and bravery brought order out of chaos and laid the groundwork for later civilization.

But what is the “civilization” we find today? Clearly it’s a disaster, with nations trying to destroy each other, fabulous wealth interlaced with the most degrading poverty, rampant genocide, and personal morality sliding into an abyss.

Tolkien began his Ring saga with The Hobbit, published in 1937. Besides his own extensive reading and prior publishing, Tolkien had an educated British and American public to work with that was familiar with the legends of a Ring of Power also drawn upon by German composer Richard Wagner’s celebrated and long-performed four-part Ring of the Nibelung.

The basic idea was that somewhere in the world was a golden Ring with magical powers that would allow the bearer to exercise dominion over all life on earth. Competition for control of that Ring became an epic battle.

Lord of the Rings, both the books, and later the films, cast the diminutive Hobbits, just ordinary folk like you and me, in the unlikely role of saviors of the world.

But did the Ring have a deeper significance in the troubled world of the 1930s? Clearly the saga was about good vs. evil, but what is good and what is evil is a topic not entirely settled in our troubled times, to say the least.

It’s reminiscent, in a way, of the Wizard of Oz and the other Oz legends created in an earlier generation by American author L. Frank Baum. Coincidentally, the movie Wizard of Oz came out in 1936, just after The Hobbit was published.

Of course, many commentators in subsequent decades claimed that the evils these master story-tellers were tapping into were such easy targets as Nazi Germany or “communism,” with the “good guys” being, as always, “us.” But that’s hard to believe any more, particularly as “revisionist” history shows “us” as being far from having clean hands in world events, back then, and even more so, today.

So I want to share with readers my own interpretation of The Lord of the Rings. I first published this essay in 2008-2009 in my book We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform See here. I think it’s just as pertinent today as it was fifteen years ago, so here it is again (slightly edited) for today’s generation of readers and seekers.

A Monetary Reformer’s Interpretation of The Lord of the Rings

The film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, produced by Peter Jackson of New Zealand, ranked with Star Wars as one of the most popular cinematic events of all time. Perhaps its appeal derived from its faithfulness to the letter and spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary masterpiece.

Not the least of the fascination of both the books and their film depiction was not only the contrast between the forces of good and evil but also how they were presented.

Image is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

The disembodied Eye of Sauron, aided by the traitorous wizard Saruman and the legions of cruel and hideous orcs, threatened to destroy Middle Earth. The task of averting catastrophe lay with a gentle hobbit, bearing to the demon’s lair a ridiculously small token of power, a single golden Ring. Of course, men and Hobbits had helpers, including the angel-like elves, plus the incorruptible wizard Gandalf, every-loyal to the forces of light and good.

Tolkien never said exactly what the story was supposed to mean. But such reticence is expected in symbolic art. The force of the genre lies in the use of representation to transmit the psychic energy and racial memories from what Jung called the collective unconscious.

Generations of students and scholars have been guessing at the meaning of The Lord of the Rings. Jackson had too much integrity to try to explain it, except in general terms. Besides, the meaning of art can often be understood with the heart and soul, even where the mind draws a blank. Often the feeling a reader or viewer is left with is nostalgia, though for what defies explanation.

Regardless, everyone senses that The Lord of the Rings is a parable of our times, where the twin forces of creativity and destruction are both extremely powerful. The jury is still out on whether we can harness the forces of science and technology for human good, or whether we will destroy ourselves through warfare, disease, economic collapse, or totalitarian repression.

There have been countless predictions of worldwide catastrophe in recent decades. Many believe that today’s wars in the Middle East prefigure an Armageddon, nuclear or otherwise. Whether or not The Lord of the Rings parallels events of years past or today, it has secured its own place in the “end times” literature of our age.

One thing that is clear about The Lord of the Rings is that among the virtues most highly prized are loyalty toward companions and courage in the face of death. Time and again the cause seems lost. Time and again, men, wizards, elves, dwarves, and Hobbits must summon their courage and choose to move forward in the face of seeming defeat. Time and again, fate intervenes at the last possible moment, until Frodo Baggins succeeds in passing the final test and the golden ring is swallowed up in the cauldron of fire deep within Mount Doom.

Then, deprived of its minuscule but never-explained linchpin of power, the entire world of evil instantly self-destructs and Middle Earth is saved. We see at the end, that life at its core is good, and evil is merely a shadow.

I am a monetary reformer, so I will assert my author’s prerogative, as have so many others, of putting forth a theory of “what it means,” leaving the reader to decide, of course, whether my interpretation is plausible or not. My interpretation of The Lord of the Rings may recall that many believed L. Frank Baum’s masterpiece, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900, was a monetary parable.

According to this interpretation, the evil spell over Oz symbolized the control of gold (measured in ounces=oz.) by the world’s banking oligarchy, which they abused to constrict the currency during the depression of the 1890s when many farmers and merchants were forced into foreclosure or bankruptcy.

The Cowardly Lion was viewed as representing William Jennings Bryan. Bryan, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate that year, had made a speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he exclaimed, “You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold!” But he was criticized for doing little of a practical nature to implement the progressives’ monetary reform agenda.

Later, Baum’s book was made into the most famous motion picture of all time, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland. The film appeared in 1939 toward the end of the Great Depression, which was another American tragedy with monetary causes. Due to lack of a circulating medium of exchange, men stood in soup lines unable to find work while the factories that might have employed them had shut down.

Today people are starting to realize that again we have an economy in crisis and that again the causes are monetary. We have stagnating incomes, rapidly increasing control of wealth by the rich [that was exacerbated by the Covid lockdowns], a middle class under severe stress, growing poverty, collapse of our manufacturing job base, a bursting housing bubble, resurgent commodity [and consumer price] inflation, soaring but shaky stock prices, and capital markets dominated by predatory equity and hedge funds. Increasingly, China and other foreign nations are purchasing U.S. business assets.

It’s all capped by a gigantic private and public debt burden that is growing exponentially. Debt is threatening to bring the entire system down in a crash that not only could exceed the Great Depression but has been likened to the downfall of another debt-ridden behemoth—the Roman Empire. Every day it becomes more clear that the trouble stems from a rotten financial system that enriches the financial elite [and other billionaires] at the expense of everyone else.

The crisis has been brewing for decades. After the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gained enough control over money and credit for the U.S. economy to limp along, but he never carried out full-scale monetary reform. It was only World War II that restored employment.

From the 1950s on, the banking system maneuvered to tear itself away from the controls—and low interest rates—imposed on it by FDR’s New Deal. What we have today is the result of that long-term victory of the bankers over the producing economy.

A key event was the 1979-83 recession. The Federal Reserve crashed the economy with interest rates over 20 percent, wrecking our public and private infrastructure. It was to combat inflation, they said. Was it that, or was it the hidden plan of the cabal that today we associate with David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group, and other front organizations for the globalists’ New World Order?

By the end of the decade of the 1980s, the Reagan/Bush administrations had left us with a brief “recovery” ending in another recession, an unregulated financial sector, destruction of the savings and loan industry, the era of junk bonds and leveraged buyouts, and the anemic “service” economy which continues today.

The economic story of the Clinton administration which came next was largely one of enormous bank-driven investment and currency attacks on foreign countries and the rise and collapse of the dot.com bubble. [Next, under George W. Bush, came the crash of the housing bubble, Obama’s multi-trillion dollar bank bailouts, the Great Recession, and the temporary rescue of the economy by the Federal Reserve’s purchases of huge amounts of federal government debt and shaky mortgage loans, a practice that continues today.]

Throughout these disasters, we should be looking hard for the footprints and fingerprints of the Federal Reserve which has been the creature of private financial interests since it was created in 1913. It was then that the U.S. Congress ceded its constitutional authority to “coin money and regulate the value therof” to the private financiers who are the real powers behind the monetary throne.

In fact, the whole system of institutionalized debt oppression may be deeply unconstitutional. The preamble to our Constitution stipulates a system of law that will “promote the general welfare.” Banking laws that have the opposite effect—one of promoting the benefit of the few over the well-being of the many—should be subject to court review and overthrown if warranted. [The American Monetary Institute as estimated that 1 percent of loan value is sufficient to pay all the expenses of the financial system.]

So should the presumed authority of the Federal Reserve to destroy property and income values through interest rate policies that enhance bank profits while disrupting commercial activities. Interest rate increases carried out by the Federal Reserve are often implemented to fight the inflation originally created by financier investment bubbles, as with the housing bubble [and today’s stock market bubble]. The last unlucky home purchaser to hold property, before the Fed pulled the carpet from under the economy, was the one stuck with an overpriced asset and an unpayable mortgage.

Moreover, the fifth and fourteenth amendments provide that neither the federal government nor the states may deprive a person of “life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This language should also prompt the courts to review legislation that undermines economic democracy, makes it impossible for much of our population to earn a decent living, and subjects debtors to unreasonable conditions, forcing them to declare bankruptcy. The provision in the 2005 bankruptcy “reform” legislation that makes it impossible ever to write off student loan debt, for example, should be declared unconstitutional.

We are now paying the price of neglect as much of our population sinks toward the status of what the Roman Empire institutionalized as debt slavery. We are still looking for a William Jennings Bryan to declare that mankind shall not be destroyed by being cast into the abyss of debt.

Perhaps we are looking in the wrong places. Maybe the one we should be seeking is a hobbit.

Here’s how I see today’s crisis reflected in The Lord of the Rings:

The evil disembodied all-seeing Eye of Sauron: Whatever devils sit atop and rule the international financial system which is profiting from the financial crisis.

Mordor, the realm of Sauron: The international banking and financial system in all its aspects and the world of war, oppression, and economic ruin it has created over the last few centuries, when hundreds of millions have been slain through useless wars and upheavals over power, ideology, money, gratification, and control of resources.

The Ring of power: The ability of credit to grow exponentially when lent at compound interest, aided over time by fractional reserve banking, so that debt now threatens to devour the entire world of the producing economy.

Mount Doom: where the Dark Lord’s Ring of power was forged: Any bank, brokerage house, or other financial institution where money is lent at usury.

Sauron’s ally, the evil wizard Saruman: The talented and highly-educated economists, scholars, authors, journalists, and broadcasters who have sold their souls in the service of the monetary elite.

Isengard, the tower where Sauron resides: The economic departments of many universities, the business and editorial sections of most major newspapers, and the many “think tanks” which favor the dominance of the monetary overseers.

The orcs: The hideous foot soldiers who perpetrate and enforce the power of the monetary controllers, including some of the current leaders of the U.S. government.

King Aragorn: Leader of the humans against evil: unique ability of a man, through self-sacrifice, to act in human life as an impartial combatant in fighting for good.

The dwarves working as miners and craftsmen in the mountains: The owners, managers, and employees of legitimate businesses, the cream of whose labor is skimmed by usury finance.

The elves: The artists and poets of the world who behold, dumbfounded, man’s inhumanity to man through financial oppression.

Gandalf: The small number of enlightened people who have helped mankind evolve toward a higher monetary vision such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and C.H. Douglas (1879-1952), founder o the Social Credit monetary reform movement.

The Hobbits: The ordinary, unknown people (us!) who just want to live and let live and who have guessed the secret of the Ring of compound interest and fractional reserve banking. They realize that once the Ring is dropped into the fire of understanding, the oppressive system that is destroying mankind will collapse, allowing a new age of humanity to begin.

In making these comparisons, I realize that when Tolkien sat down to write he did not necessarily set out to call the world banking system on the carpet. In fact, his own father was a banker. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892, where his family resided because his father Arthur was engaged in starting a branch for the home bank in London.

Still, Britain has been home to a monetary reform movement for over a century. One early figure was the writer G.K. Chesterton, whose brother A.K. published a magazine named Candour to which Tolien subscribed. According to Stephen Goodson, a South African monetary reformer who inherited Tolkien’s copies of Candour from a relative, Tolkien had underlined the following passage in red ink:

There should only be one source of money: one fountainhead from which flows the nation’s blood to vitalize commerce and industry, ensure economic equity and justice, and safeguard the welfare of the people.…In other words, it has always been and still is our contention that the prerogative of creating and issuing the money of the nation should be restored to the State.

Tolkien was a visionary. As a poet and writer he was attuned to the enormous clash of forces of 20^th century history. There has been virtually non-stop war on a worldwide scale since 1914 as nations and ideologies have fought for dominance, with the monetary elite usually financing both sides. But embedded within this history is a deeper struggle for human freedom within all ideological systems where individuals true to themselves have faced the overwhelming organize might that seeks to destroy them.

In my opinion, it is the conflict between economic democracy on the one hand, and the domination of worldwide usury finance enforced by political and military power on the other, that most reflects the struggle for human freedom today, and that will determine the survival of any human civilization that is worth having.

Perhaps the recurring clash of the forces of individual freedom vs. organized repression also had some bearing on producing the psychic atmosphere which became, through Tolkien and Peter Jackson, an epic of men, dwarves, elves, wizards, demons—and Hobbits.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on Three Sages.

Richard C. Cook is co-founder and lead investigator for the American Geopolitical Institute.  Mr. Cook is a retired U.S. federal analyst with extensive experience across various government agencies, including the U.S. Civil Service Commission, FDA, the Carter White House, NASA, and the U.S. Treasury. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. As a whistleblower at the time of the Challenger disaster, he exposed the flawed O-ring joints that destroyed the Space Shuttle, documenting his story in the book “Challenger Revealed.” After serving at Treasury, he became a vocal critic of the private finance-controlled monetary system, detailing his concerns in “We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform.” He served as an adviser to the American Monetary Institute and worked with Congressman Dennis Kucinich to advocate for replacing the Federal Reserve with a genuine national currency. See his new book, Our Country, Then and Now, Clarity Press, 2023. Also see his Three Sages Substack at https://montanarcc.substack.com/publish/posts and his American Geopolitical Institute articles at https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/category/agi/. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

“Every human enterprise must serve life, must seek to enrich existence on earth, lest man become enslaved where he seeks to establish his dominion!” Bô Yin Râ (Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, 1876-1943), translation by Posthumus Projects Amsterdam, 2014. Also download the Kober Press edition of The Book on the Living God here.

Featured image is licensed under Fair Use

World War III Is “On” But the Empire Has Already Lost. An American Civil War Looms. Spiritual Transformation Is the Only Way to Prevent Extinction.

By Richard C. Cook

From the assassination of JFK and the meeting between Peccei and Rockefeller, there is a straight line that marks the trajectory of the catastrophe that I characterize in this eBook as the start of World War III and possibly the American Civil War II. 

I have been a close-up witness to that trajectory, including 32 years as a federal government analyst and the years of writing I have done since then. It’s what I have witnessed that this eBook is about. 

Click here to read the eBook.

Israeli defense officials told Haaretz on Sunday that the Israeli government is not seeking to revive ceasefire talks with Hamas and is now pushing for the gradual annexation of large portions of the Gaza Strip.

The report came about a week after Israel ordered Palestinians living in northern Gaza to evacuate to areas south of the Netzarim corridor, a strip of land controlled by the Israeli military. With the evacuation order came a major escalation in Israeli military operations in the north focused on the Jabalia refugee camp, which has been under complete siege.

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Screenshot from Haaretz

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The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has reported that Israeli forces in Jabalia are carrying out a “scaled-down” version of the “general’s plan,” an outline for the complete ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza and the killing of any Palestinians who choose to stay, whether by military action or starvation. The UN’s World Food Program said Saturday that no food aid has entered northern Gaza since October 1.

Israeli Army commanders told Haaretz that the assault on northern Gaza was ordered without much preparation and that it appeared the primary purpose of the military operations was to pressure Palestinian residents to flee to the south. Many Palestinians have refused to leave northern Gaza since there’s nowhere they can go where their safety can be guaranteed. Israel has bombed so-called “safe zones” repeatedly over the past year.

The Haaretz report said Israeli troops were ordered to launch the assault on Jabalia “even though there was no intelligence to justify the move” and that some members of the Israeli security establishment didn’t support the operation, saying it would endanger the lives of Israeli hostages.

If Israel is successful in cleansing northern Gaza of its Palestinian population, it would pave the way for the establishment of Jewish-only settlements in the area, an idea openly supported by many Israeli ministers and Knesset members. The general’s plan calls for the tactics to be used in other parts of the Strip once the north is cleansed.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image source

America today believes that when it comes to foreign policy, we are possessed with the “Midas Touch”—everything we do turns to gold. But the reality is, just like King Midas of old, everything we touch dies.

King Midas was a Phrygian King believed to rule in the 2^nd Millenium BC, whose territory encompassed the area of what is modern day Anatolian Plateau around the present-day city of Ankara.

Publius Ovidius Naso, the Roman poet better known as Ovid, told the tale of King Midas in volume 11 of his 15-book anthology of Greek logical narrative, Metamorphoses. There, Midas befriended the satyr Silenus who, as a reward for Midas’ hospitality, granted the Phrygian King a wish. Midas wished that everything he touched turned to gold. The wish was granted, and soon Midas was overjoyed by his ability to instantly create wealth. However, the fulfilled wish soon became a curse, for when Midas tried to eat food or drink, he could not do so, because it turned to gold at his touch. When his daughter tried to console him, he touched her, turning her into gold, thereby killing her. Midas finished his life alone, parched and starved.

There is no better analogy for America’s self-anointed role as global hegemon than that of King Midas.

We hold a privileged position, and yet we want more, so much so that our insatiable greed for power and wealth leaves us blind to their consequence.

We call the “American Midas Touch” by many names—we are the exceptional nation, the indispensable nation, the guardian of the rules based international order we ourselves wrote.

Democracy is our “gold,” and we seek to reach out and “touch” as many nations as possible with the wonderful “gift.”

Click here to read the full article on Scott Ritter Extra.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image is from the author

Below is an excerpt from Euronews:

Captain İlçehin Pehlivan died mid-flight from Istanbul to Seattle. He had been with the airline since 2007.

A Turkish Airlines captain died after suddenly falling ill during an Istanbul-Seattle flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in New York, the company’s spokesman said on Wednesday.

“İlçehin Pehlivan, the captain of our Airbus 350 aircraft with TC-LGR tail registration, which was operating the flight number TK204 between Seattle and Istanbul, fainted during the flight,” Yahya Üstün said in a post on X.

Here is an excerpt from a report on CTV News on the death of Captain Pehlivan:

Pehlivan had worked at Turkish Airlines since 2007, Üstün said. A routine health check in March showed no health problems that would have prevented him from working, he said.

“As Turkish Airlines, we deeply feel the loss of our captain and extend our sincerest condolences to his bereaved family, colleagues, and all his loved ones,” Üstün said.

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Pilot incapacitations inflight in 2024 (nine so far):

Oct. 9, 2024 – Turkish Airlines Flight TK204 (SEA-IST) from Istanbul to Seattle, Captain Ilcehin Pehlivan, age 59, died mid-flight

Aug. 19, 2024 – Wizz Air Flight W6-1451 (WAW-LCA) from Warsaw (Poland) to Larnaca (Cyprus), pilot became incapacitated, plane forced to return to Warsaw, incident identified as serious

Jul. 22, 2024 – Edelweiss Flight WK-5 (TPA-ZRH) from Tampa, FL, USA to Zurich, Switzerland, pilot suffered a medical condition and was incapacitated

Jun. 12, 2024 – Nesma Airlines Flight NE-130 (CAI-TIF) Cairo, Egypt to Taif (Saudi Arabia) – pilot Captain Hassan Youssef Adas in his late 30s collapsed and died from a presumed heart attack

Jun. 4, 2024 – Aeromexico Flight AM-34 (MTY-MAD) from Monterrey (Mexico ) to Madrid (Spain), first officer became unwell, had a medical problem, flight diverted to Mexico City.

Mar. 14, 2024 – British Airways BA-2272 (JFK-LGW) New York to London-Gatwickone of the pilots became incapacitated, plane forced to divert to St.John’s, NL, Canada.

Feb. 17, 2024 – Lufthansa Flight LH-1140 (FRA-SVQ) Frankfurt to Seville on Feb.17, 2024 – First Officer Incapacitated, plane turned around back to Madrid

Feb. 16, 2024 – DELTA – NYC – 58 year old Capt Geoffrey John Brock died unexpectedly on Feb.16, 2024 during a layover in Honolulu, HI

Jan. 16, 2024 – LATAM Brasil Flight LA-3744 (BSB-JPA) Brasilia to Joao Pessoa on Jan.16, 2024 – Pilot Incapacitated, plane diverted to Salvador for safe landing

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.  

Featured image is from Turkish Airlines

Price: $11.50 FREE COPY! Click here (docsend) and download.

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The author discusses the challenges and strategies of Nazi Germany’s planned invasion of Britain in 1940, highlighting the logistical difficulties, military preparations, and the potential impact of the campaign amid Britain’s defensive efforts.

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Britain’s future as a state was in plenty of doubt following the fall of France in June 1940 to the Wehrmacht’s troops. That June on the whole island of Britain, there were only 2 British divisions fully equipped and ready for fighting. The Royal Air Force was outnumbered by the Luftwaffe and, while the Royal Navy was close to full strength, the British admiralty was not confident their warships could prevent the Germans from landing military forces on British soil.

In mid-1940 Italy had somewhat tentatively entered the war on the Germans’ side while, in the Far East, Japan was on the rise and not friendly to the British. Though it would soon change there was no immediate prospect of substantial American aid arriving in Britain. The United States was not prepared to directly enter the conflict in 1940, and its politicians like Joseph Kennedy, the US ambassador to Britain since 1938, believed the Germans had gained an impregnable position by 1940. Kennedy was overlooking the inevitable future conflict between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, of which there was no guarantee the Nazis would win.

By overcoming the French in the middle of 1940 the Germans could establish air and naval bases in northern and western France, a close distance from England. This provided more options for striking at the British, in the waters surrounding Britain, while enabling the Germans when they pleased to enter the nearby Atlantic with U-boats (submarines) and warships.

British Preparations and Diplomatic Efforts

From July 1940, the British hurriedly fortified their country against a Nazi amphibious invasion. They put in place gun batteries, mines, obstacles, and barriers on their coastlines, particularly in southern and eastern England. From mid-June to mid-August 1940, talks took place between British and German representatives with the apparent hope of attaining peace. The Germans thought it possible that politicians like Lloyd George and Lord Halifax would recognize the futility of continuing the war; that they could topple Winston Churchill and form a government prepared to negotiate a peace deal with Nazi Germany.

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Photographs of King Edward VIII giving a Nazi salute go up at auction on Anglesey (Image: Morgan Evans Antiques Auctions)

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The previously mentioned peace discussions went nowhere between British and German officials. There is the possibility the British used those talks in order to distract the Germans, and so stall an invasion of Britain while they strengthened their coastal defenses and built up their forces. Time was ticking for the Germans if they were to conquer Britain. Had the Nazi hierarchy made prior preparations, amphibious landings in England could have been launched in July 1940 when the British were badly prepared to meet the threat.

German Strategic Challenges

The English Channel, a body of water that separates southern England from northern France, was always a daunting challenge for the Germans to overcome if they were to ship ground forces to England. Had the English Channel not existed, with land between France and Britain, the Wehrmacht would have defeated the British Army as the recent fighting in France had shown.

German naval commanders viewed with pessimism and dread the launching of an amphibious attack against Britain. They were aware the English Channel’s tides are variable, its waters choppy and unpredictable. Much more serious than this was that the German Navy had suffered heavy losses in the first months of the war, especially in the Wehrmacht’s otherwise successful campaign in Norway during the spring of 1940.

When the offensive in Norway was reaching its end, all that remained of the German warship fleet was 1 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers, and 4 destroyers. Nor could a Nazi landing in Britain receive much assistance from their U-boats. In March 1940 there were 43 U-boats in operation, whereas in September 1939 there had been 50 U-boats. At the time, the Germans were losing U-boats to enemy attack at a rate greater than they were building them.

German admirals like Karl Dönitz were despondent about this. Dönitz believed that a fleet of 300 U-boats in 1939 would have been enough on its own to defeat Britain by 1941, a resource-poor island nation reliant on imports from sea. Years after the war Dönitz, an inmate in Spandau Prison, was still complaining about the German Navy’s inadequate U-boat fleet in 1939, as the former Nazi henchman Albert Speer wrote, himself also a prisoner at Spandau.

Alternative Strategies and Final Preparations

In the early 1940s there was, at least on paper, another option open for the Nazis to finish off Britain. The Wehrmacht could have advanced south through France into the territory of its ally Spain, from there take Gibraltar, then enter North Africa to capture Egypt and the Suez Canal, cut off India, and wipe out all British interests in the Middle East. General Franco of Spain was unwilling to be involved in such a grandiose scheme, which in any event would have stretched German resources to breaking point.

The Royal Air Force tried to bomb the above vessels but their warplanes suffered losses and failed to inflict enough damage. The Germans managed to accumulate enough vessels, however much a mixed bag they were, for landings in Britain to be attempted. The German Army, specifically some of its high command, was confident that a successful invasion of Britain could be achieved. The victory over France had created a sense of infallibility within the German Army, leading to a reckless overconfidence.

The Invasion Plan

The Germans expected to land 100,000 of their troops in the opening phase of the invasion between Dover, on the south-eastern English coast, and Lyme Bay, about 200 miles westward from Dover along the south coast of England. Ominously from a British viewpoint, the town of Dover is just 70 miles from London, and the enemy forces were to be strengthened with another 160,000 soldiers to eventually arrive in the following landings.

The opening wave of German troops sent across the English Channel was to consist of 9 divisions, supported by airborne units. It would have entailed an initial Nazi force entering England which was nearly twice the size of the force which the Western Allies landed initially in Normandy, France, in June 1944.

The next German units to be sent over, on the biggest boats available, were to include 4 heavily equipped panzer divisions. These formations once they had secured their positions on the beaches were expected to advance into England, provide support to the German infantry who had demined the beaches, and inflict severe losses on the British troops.

After a period of 6 weeks following the first landing, the entire German force in England was to amount to 23 divisions. They would be assisted by the Luftwaffe which was expected to gain aerial superiority over the English Channel and coastal areas, crucial for the German invasion to proceed.

Overall Objectives and Potential Outcomes

The 23 divisions earmarked to conquer Britain were to be part of 3 armies, under the overall command of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, one of the Wehrmacht’s most experienced officers. The German 16th Army would set sail from ports located between Rotterdam, in the southern Netherlands, and Boulogne, in northern France, and was to arrive between the towns of Hythe and Eastbourne in south-eastern England.

The German 9th Army was to depart from ports located between Boulogne and Le Havre, both in northern France, and was to land between the towns of Brighton and Worthing in southern England.

The German 6th Army, often considered the Wehrmacht’s strongest fighting force, was to set sail from the Cherbourg peninsula in northern France and would enter an area between Portsmouth and Weymouth, the latter town in south-western England. The 6th Army might have been used partly also to bolster the positions held by the German 16th and 9th armies in southern England.

Conclusion: The Feasibility of the Invasion

In the first week of the invasion, the Germans were to establish a line about 80 miles wide between the towns of Canterbury and Arundel. The next objective was to advance further inland, and create another line stretching around 90 miles south-westward from Gravesend to Reigate to Portsmouth; with Gravesend and Reigate situated only 20 miles from London to the east and south.

The ultimate goal of the Nazi war plan was to advance on London, a vast city containing millions of people, resulting in the expected fall of England’s capital to the invaders. The Germans were not to assail London in a frontal attack with their soldiers penetrating into the city center; but instead they were to encircle and cut off London, which is located close to the sea, from the remainder of England.

If they felt it necessary the Germans would launch air raids and artillery strikes against London, particularly in light of how British warplanes had very recently started bombing German cities including the capital Berlin. The German armies may have attempted an advance deeper into London’s outskirts and suburban areas, possibly with the panzer divisions at the forefront, in an effort to tighten the ring on the English capital.

Despite the British Army being understrength, it would still have ranked as a significant achievement on the part of the German forces to have reached London’s outskirts, as it is for any army that makes it to the edges of a great city wherever it may be. Whether the German forces in southern England, even with the involvement of the 6th Army, were of sufficient strength to compel London to capitulate is doubtful. A siege against a city of London’s size would entail risks and could have taken many months to successfully accomplish. It might have weakened the Wehrmacht to a major extent.

The prolonged absence of the 6th Army in mainland Europe would have been felt by Nazi divisions there. If Britain was defeated it would be necessary to garrison large numbers of German troops on British terrain, when they could have been needed elsewhere. The German admiralty outlined that England’s south coast was the only feasible area to attempt an amphibious landing. The British high command, not aware of how weakened the German Navy was, believed in July 1940 that the east coast of England was the most likely landing point for the Nazis, which would have meant a longer and harder journey for German vessels carrying the troops.

On 10 July 1940, the Germans recommenced U-boat and air attacks on British merchant convoys in the English Channel. The plan for the Nazi invasion of Britain, titled Operation Sea Lion, was formally issued on 16 July 1940, and it stated that all preparations for the landings were to be completed by the next month, in mid-August. Due to further delays in preparations, at the end of July 1940 the invasion date was pushed back to 15 September. A further postponement resulted in a new invasion date of 21 September, because of requests made by the German Navy on 30 August. With the navy not satisfied on 11 September the invasion was postponed again to 24 September.

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Operations: A German Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber flying over Wapping and the Isle of Dogs in the East End of London at the start of the Luftwaffe’s evening raids of 7 September 1940. Copy negative of part of an aerial photograph taken from a German aircraft at 1848 hrs German time. (From the Public Domain)

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By mid-September 1940 the soldiers that were to defend England had been hastily increased and consisted of 34 British divisions, some of which were not fully equipped. Yet 16 of these divisions, among them 3 armored divisions, would be sent to the beaches in order to meet the initial German assault force of 9 divisions along with airborne personnel. Now into the autumn, the British high command had developed a better understanding of where the Nazis wished to land.

Needing time to secure their positions on the English beaches and lacking resupply, while still without aerial superiority, the German invasion in all likelihood would have failed, had it gone ahead. The plan for Operation Sea Lion was akin to the Schlieffen Plan and the Ludendorff offensives of the First World War, and the later Operation Barbarossa. Each plan was too ambitious to succeed.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on Global Village Space.

Shane Quinn obtained an honors journalism degree. He is interested in writing primarily on foreign affairs, having been inspired by authors like Noam Chomsky. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Featured image is from History/GVS

A year ago, based on a series of facts that proved the existence of a plan similar to the one that served to unleash the “global war on terrorism”, and led to the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq by the United States and NATO on September 11, 2001, Grandangolo ran with the headline “The 9/11 of the Middle East”.

The plan carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023 had been known for a year to Israel’s leaders, who were not surprised by the attack but facilitated it. This is confirmed by testimonies published in recent days by the Wall Street Journal of young female Israeli soldiers in charge of the electronic barrier around Gaza. The WSJ reports:

“For months, they had repeatedly warned their superiors that the militant Islamic group Hamas appeared to be preparing a major attack “.

Was the Hamas Attack a “False Flag”? 

“I served in the IDF 25 years ago, in the intelligence forces. There’s no way Israel did not know of what’s coming.

A cat moving alongside the fence is triggering all forces. So this??

What happened to the “strongest army in the world”?

How come border crossings were wide open?? Something is VERY WRONG HERE, something is very strange, this chain of events is very unusual and not typical for the Israeli defense system.

To me this suprise attack seems like a planned operation. On all fronts. 

If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say that this feels like the work of the Deep State.

It feels like the people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been sold, once again, to the higher powers that be. 

(Statement by Efrat Fenigson, former IDF intelligence,  October 7, 2023, emphasis added)

Ironically, the media (NBC) is now contending that the “Hamas attack bears hallmarks of Iranian involvement”

For details see:

Is the Gaza-Israel Fighting “A False Flag”? They Let It Happen? Their Objective Is “to Wipe Gaza Off the Map”?

By Philip Giraldi and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 14, 2024

Their concerns were ignored. At the time of the attack, the women issued urgent warnings to troops on the ground. They desperately called for help as more than 150 militants entered their base, about half a mile from Gaza. None came. The end result was the death of 15 female soldiers from this base and the transfer of seven to Gaza as hostages. From this and many other pieces of evidence, the “7 October” plan emerges: to make Israel appear surprised and thus forced to retaliate, to present as “defensive” the war of extermination with which Israel is destroying Gaza and the West Bank to wipe out the Palestinian state, with which it is attacking Lebanon, Yemen, Syria.

Indeed, Israel is the spearhead with which the United States and the European powers are trying to maintain their dominance by war in the Middle East, where they are losing ground.

The main target in their sights is Iran, which has become a strategic junction of the North-South transport corridor to India and beyond, with which Russia is thwarting the blockade imposed by NATO and the EU, and at the same time a strategic junction of the New Silk Road from China to Europe.

The consequences of attacking Iran, which Israel is preparing to do with the full military support of the USA and NATO, would be very serious. An attack on Iran’s oil installations would be the cause of a worldwide oil shock. Even more dangerous for the spread of radioactivity would be an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which are under UN control because Iran has joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Israel, the only nuclear power in the region, has not and is therefore out of control.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published in Italian on Grandangolo, Byoblu TV.

Manlio Dinucci, award winning author, geopolitical analyst and geographer, Pisa, Italy. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Featured image: Photo released by the Israeli military from the events of October 7, 2023. (Photo: Israeli Defense Forces) 

“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” 

by Michel Chossudovsky

Available to order from Global Research! 

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
Year: 2012
Pages: 102

PDF Edition:  $6.50 (sent directly to your email account!)

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute   

“Há um ano, Grandangolo [Grande Angular] publicou a manchete ‘O 11 de setembro do Oriente Médio’, com base em uma série de fatos que comprovavam a existência de um plano semelhante ao que, em 11 de setembro de 2001, serviu para desencadear a ‘guerra global contra o terror’ que levou à invasão do Afeganistão e do Iraque pelos EUA e pela OTAN. O plano implementado pelo Hamas em 7 de outubro de 2023 era conhecido há um ano pelos líderes de Israel, que não foram pegos de surpresa pelo ataque, mas o facilitaram. Isso é confirmado pelos testemunhos, publicados nos últimos dias pelo Wall Street Journal, de jovens soldados israelenses designados para a vigilância da barreira eletrônica ao redor de Gaza. Durante meses”, relata o WSJ, ”elas avisaram repetidamente seus superiores que o grupo militante islâmico Hamas parecia estar preparando um grande ataque.

Suas preocupações foram ignoradas. No momento do ataque, as mulheres emitiram avisos urgentes para as tropas no local. Quando mais de 150 militantes invadiram sua base, a cerca de 800 metros de Gaza, elas começaram a pedir ajuda freneticamente. Ninguém veio. No final, 15 mulheres soldados dessa base foram mortas e sete foram levadas como reféns para Gaza.” A partir dessa e de várias outras evidências, surge o plano “7 de outubro”: fazer com que Israel pareça ter sido atacado de surpresa e, portanto, forçado a retaliar, fazendo passar como “defensiva” a guerra de extermínio com a qual Israel está destruindo Gaza e a Cisjordânia para acabar com o Estado palestino, com a qual está atacando o Líbano, o Iêmen e a Síria. Israel é, na verdade, a ponta de lança com a qual os Estados Unidos e as potências europeias estão tentando manter seu domínio no Oriente Médio, onde estão perdendo terreno, por meio da guerra.

O principal alvo na mira deles é o Irã, que se tornou um entroncamento estratégico do Corredor de Transporte Norte-Sul para a Índia e além, com o qual a Rússia está frustrando o bloqueio implementado pela OTAN e pela UE e, ao mesmo tempo, um entroncamento estratégico da Nova Rota da Seda da China para a Europa. As consequências do ataque ao Irã que Israel está preparando com o total apoio militar dos EUA e da OTAN seriam muito graves. Um ataque às instalações de petróleo do Irã causaria um choque global de petróleo. Ainda mais perigoso para a disseminação da radioatividade seria um ataque às instalações nucleares do Irã, que estão sob controle da ONU porque o Irã aderiu ao Tratado de Não Proliferação Nuclear, enquanto Israel, a única potência nuclear da região, não o fez e, portanto, está fora de controle.

Manlio Dinucci

Breve resumo da análise da imprensa internacional do Grandangolo na sexta-feira, 11 de Outubro de 2024, no canal de TV italiano Byoblu:

https://www.byoblu.com/2024/10/11/piano-7-ottobre-liran-nel-mirino-grandangolo-pangea/

Tradução : Mondialisation.ca 

VIDEO (em italiano) :

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Manlio Dinucci é geógrafo e jornalista, e ex-diretor executivo italiano da International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, que recebeu o Prêmio Nobel da Paz em 1985. Porta-voz do Comitato no Guerra no Nato (Itália) e pesquisador associado do Centre de recherche sur la Mondialisation (Canadá). Vencedor do Prêmio Internacional de Jornalismo 2019 para Análise Geoestratégica do Club de Periodistas de México.

After Russia launched the special military operation (SMO) to end the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict, it was common for Western politicians and public figures to met up with Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev or for him to join video conferences and even travel to the countries of the political West. This was a way to “show support” for the latest “beacon of democracy” fighting the “evil Russian oppressors”.

The mainstream propaganda machine and the so-called “Big Tech” were also engaged in the lionization of Zelensky, with his war propaganda team determined to present him as if he were in the trenches, stopping Russian tanks with his bare hands (hence the fatigues he keeps wearing, but in reality, the Kiev regime frontman had other plans). However, this wasn’t enough, so Zelensky and his overlords needed to create the illusion that the Neo-Nazi junta has “universal support” from the so-called “international community”.

Thus, in the last two and a half years, he pitched a number of “peace” plans, formulas, platforms and whatnot.

Last year, the so-called Crimea Platform was all the rage, with the United States pressuring numerous countries to join this effectively void initiative. Then came the so-called “peace summits” in Switzerland, with Zelensky insisting everyone should come except the one country that actually matters – Russia. Supported by the US/EU/NATO, he kept pushing until many countries started signaling that such events are pointless and a waste of everyone’s time. By mid-July, the Kiev regime realized it would lose even the formal “support” that Washington DC and Brussels gathered through “diplomacy” (i.e. blackmail, coercion and arm-twisting). As the battlefield situation kept deteriorating, Zelensky suddenly became “open to the idea” of Russia attending the next “peace summit”.

However, Moscow barely held its laughter at the very idea of these ludicrous “peace deals” that essentially boil down to its capitulation at a time when the Neo-Nazi junta’s losses are around 10:1 (and that’s the conservative estimate). Not to mention the steady gains of its troops across the frontline, particularly in the Donbass, by far the most heavily contested region in the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict.

In order to shift attention away from its collapsing defenses, the Kiev regime even resorted to its most daring PR stunt yet – the Kursk oblast (region) incursion. Expectedly, this also turned out to be a disaster, with the political West itself frustrated by the way the Neo-Nazi junta forces keep wasting precious resources while their defenses in the Donbass failed to stop Russia’s advance. Zelensky’s PR team was now essentially out of new phrases/tropes and realized there won’t be any “peace summits” with Moscow.

Thus, the Kiev regime finally decided to recycle the old one – “winning the war”. All of a sudden, the word “peace” was replaced and now we got a “victory plan” once again. Obviously, such “grand schemes” require more money, so Zelensky traveled to the US and spent around a week there in late September, formally pitching the latest “victory plan” to the troubled Biden administration. Many pro-Trump Americans were frustrated by this and even argued that he was engaged in election meddling by visiting Pennsylvania, the top swing state. On September 26, Zelensky was in the White House, where Biden happily announced that the Neo-Nazi junta would immediately get $400 million, while the US pledged another $8 billion in so-called “aid”. Apparently, Zelensky was frustrated as Washington DC refused to allow the use of NATO-sourced long-range weapons, so he was given all those billions to “lighten up”.

However, the vaunted “victory plan” failed to impress anyone with two half-functioning brain cells (it’s yet to be publicly revealed, but we can already assume its (in)viability). Still, the PR segment of the Kiev regime’s strategy (by far the most important for Zelensky and his entourage) was still there. Now, remember those “peace summits”? Well, one was supposed to be held just before or around the time of the US presidential election. However, German state-run media reported that the event won’t take place.

According to dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany’s national press agency), the Presidential Office, headed by the infamous Andriy Yermak, which is responsible for preparing such gatherings, confirmed there won’t be a summit, neither this month nor the next. The German outlet’s report quotes an adviser to Yermak, who stated that the plan was simply “no longer feasible”.

“Initially, Ukraine had hoped for the second such conference to be held ahead of the November 5 election in the US, which could see the return of Republican Donald Trump to the White House, but an adviser to Yermak said on Tuesday that the plan was no longer feasible,” dpa outlined.

According to Zero Hedge, it was “tentatively scheduled for October 30 and October 31, or also possibly the start of November, but now the Ukraine presidency’s office has announced that ‘the question of a date for the second peace summit will be decided after the thematic conferences have been concluded,’ in reference to prior smaller conferences”. Other Neo-Nazi junta officials were more direct and bluntly stated that the vaunted “peace summit” was definitely canceled.

“The Second Peace Summit will not take place in November,” senior Ukrainian presidential aide Darya Zarivna separately confirmed.

The countries invited to the summit are certainly aware of its futility, as Russia wasn’t invited, just like in the case of all previous conferences. Perhaps Zelensky was trying to appease Biden, (in)famous for his tendency to interact with invisible (or perhaps “multidimensional”) entities, including by trying to shake hands with them.

However, while Biden’s behavior is largely inconsequential (unless we don’t count opinion polls, that is), it’s impossible to have any kind of “peace deals” with someone who’s just not there. Not to mention the fact that, as previously mentioned, the Kremlin has absolutely no reason to negotiate with the Kiev regime from a position of the losing side, as the latter insists. Quite the contrary, it’s Moscow that can dictate the terms, particularly as the Neo-Nazi junta already broke a signed peace deal back in March 2022. As a result, Russia has zero reasons to trust either NATO or its puppets.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the Public Domain

Below is an excerpt from an article on Le Parisien by Nicolas Berrod, Véronique Hunsinger and Elsa Mari:

“I can continue to do my job.” This is how Didier Raoult reacted to Le Parisien in December 2021, after the simple reprimand inflicted by the disciplinary chamber of the Order of Physicians . The controversial microbiologist will not be able to say the same this time. He is in fact prohibited from practicing medicine for two years from February 1, according to the decision taken on appeal by the national disciplinary chamber, which we reveal this Thursday.

The reprimand imposed at first instance was a sanction “too lenient in view of the failings found”, considered Dr Gilles Munier, representative of the Order of Physicians, during the appeal hearing held last June in Paris. Didier Raoult was himself physically present that day, with his lawyer Me Fabrice Di Vizio.

But what exactly is the former head of the IHU of Marseille accused of? Of having violated numerous articles of the public health code. And first of all, of having promoted hydroxychloroquine as a treatment against Covid… even though the scientific community did not recommend it, due to a lack of solid data.

“Wild” clinical trial

Thus, Didier Raoult “did not base his public positions on confirmed data, did not exercise caution and promoted an insufficiently tested treatment”, we read in the decision that we obtained.

On the other hand, he did not “put any unjustified risk” on the patients to whom he prescribed hydroxychloroquine because he “knowingly excluded from treatment those who presented the highest risk factors”, believes the president of the national disciplinary chamber.

Click here to read the full article in English posted on COVID Intel.

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My Take… 

The persecutions from corrupt medical boards continue.

There is really only one logical reason why these medical boards are going insane on doctors who dissent:

they intend to force doctors to take new vaccines in the near future and need to ensure 100% compliance, as the doctors who stayed silent, will be expected to push new vaccines on all their patients.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.  

Featured image is from COVID Intel

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“Un anno fa Grandangolo titolava “L’11 Settembre del Medioriente”, in base a una serie di fatti che dimostravano l’esistenza di un piano analogo a quello che, l’11 Settembre 2001, era servito a scatenare la “guerra globale al terrorismo” che aveva portato all’invasione dell’Afghanistan e dell’Iraq da parte degli Stati Uniti e della NATO. Il piano attuato da Hamas il 7 Ottobre 2023 era noto da un anno ai capi di Israele, che non sono stati colti di sorpresa dall’attacco ma lo hanno agevolato. Lo confermano le testimonianze, pubblicate in questi giorni dal Wall Street Journal, di giovani soldatesse israeliane addette alla sorveglianza della barriera elettronica attorno a Gaza. “Per mesi – riporta il WSJ – esse avevano avvertito i loro superiori ripetutamente che il gruppo militante islamico Hamas sembrava stesse preparando un grande attacco.

Le loro preoccupazioni erano state ignorate. Al momento dell’attacco le donne hanno lanciato avvertimenti urgenti alle truppe sul campo. Quando più di 150 militanti hanno invaso la loro base, a circa mezzo miglio da Gaza, hanno iniziato a chiamare freneticamente aiuto. Nessuno è arrivato. Alla fine, 15 soldatesse di questa base sono state uccise e 7 portate come ostaggi a Gaza.” Da queste e numerose altre prove emerge il Piano “7 Ottobre”: far apparire Israele come aggredito di sorpresa e quindi costretto a reagire, facendo passare come “difensiva” la guerra di sterminio con cui Israele sta distruggendo Gaza e Cisgiordania per cancellare lo Stato Palestinese, con cui sta attaccando il Libano, lo Yemen, la Siria. Israele è in realtà la punta di lancia con cui gli Stati Uniti e le potenze europee cercano di conservare con la guerra il predominio in Medioriente, dove stanno perdendo terreno.

Principale obiettivo nel loro mirino è l’Iran, divenuto snodo strategico del Corridoio di trasporto Nord-Sud fino in India e oltre, con cui la Russia sta vanificando il blocco attuato da NATO e UE, e allo stesso tempo snodo strategico della Nuova Via della Seta dalla Cina all’Europa. Le conseguenze dell’attacco all’Iran che Israele sta preparando col pieno sostegno militare di Stati Uniti e Nato sarebbero gravissime. Un attacco agli impianti petroliferi iraniani provocherebbe uno shock petrolifero globale. Ancora più pericoloso per la diffusione di radioattività sarebbe un attacco agli impianti nucleari iraniani, sotto controllo ONU perché l’Iran ha aderito al Trattato di non-proliferazione nucleare, mentre Israele, unica potenza nucleare della regione, non lo ha fatto ed è quindi fuori controllo.

Manlio Dinucci

VIDEO:

No começo de setembro, as grandes companhias siderúrgicas dos Estados Unidos exigiram de seu governo o retorno de tarifas antidumping sobre a importação de aço laminado plano resistente à corrosão do Brasil.

O governo americano revogou o direito antidumping (de sobretaxa das importações), no início do ano, sobre tubos soldados de aço do Brasil, que vigorava desde 1992.

Uma nova sobretaxa afetaria todos os exportadores brasileiros de aço galvanizado, uma vez que essa é uma das categorias primordiais de aço que nós exportamos e que os EUA são o nosso principal importador desse aço. O produto é usado no setor automotivo, da construção civil e de eletrodomésticos.

Os principais empresários do setor nos EUA citam, no documento entregue ao governo americano, as companhias brasileiras CSN, Usiminas, ArcelorMittal, Aço Cearense, Tuper Indústria Metalúrgica e Armco do Brasil (esta, subsidiária da matriz americana), além da Vale, que não fabrica aço desde 2022. Segundo o jornal O Estado de S. Paulo, a CSN seria a maior afetada, sendo a principal exportadora brasileira de aço galvanizado para os EUA.

No primeiro semestre deste ano, o Brasil exportou 135,6 mil toneladas desse tipo de aço para os EUA, um aumento de 17,7% em comparação ao mesmo período de 2023.

Além do Brasil, os conglomerados do aço estadunidense exigem medidas governamentais contra as importações provenientes do México, Canadá, Holanda, Turquia, África do Sul, Emirados Árabes, Vietnã, Taiwan e Austrália.

Mas os Estados Unidos já impõem sérias ações antidumping contra os produtos brasileiros, independentemente do resultado do pedido das siderúrgicas locais. De acordo com o Valor Econômico, em 2023 os EUA importaram cerca de US$ 233 milhões em produtos brasileiros sujeitos a essas medidas, sendo o país com mais medidas protecionistas contra o Brasil.

Do valor total de importações sujeitas a medidas antidumping e compensatórias, 71% são de produtos da indústria de transformação e 29% da agropecuária. A Fiesp avalia que 83% das exportações afetadas por essa política em 2023 estão concentradas nos produtos de fio máquina carbono e cercas ligadas de aço, mel natural e folhas de alumínio. O setor mais afetado é precisamente a siderurgia, seguida pelo de alumínio.

O caso das medidas antidumping contra o Brasil é apenas um exemplo da política cada vez mais protecionista adotada pelo governo Biden. A China tem sido, de longe, o país mais afetado, mas isso revela a pressão interna dos gigantescos conglomerados industriais dos Estados Unidos por uma mudança de política econômica diante do desastre neoliberal de proporções bíblicas que acometeu a maior parte da indústria americana nas últimas décadas. Donald Trump, que pode ser o próximo presidente, é conhecido justamente por defender uma prática comercial extremamente protecionista.

Aliás, Trump já havia imposto uma tarifa de 25% à importação do aço brasileiro, em 2018, acusando os nossos exportadores de serem uma “ameaça à segurança nacional dos EUA”. Na verdade, parece que a própria existência de alguns países ou empresas é uma “ameaça à segurança nacional”, na visão dos pobres americanos. Barack Obama utilizou essa mesma fraseologia como desculpa para impor as criminosas sanções econômicas contra a Venezuela, em 2015 – causa principal da crise que se abateu em seguida sobre o país caribenho. Na mesma época, os EUA roubaram (essa é a expressão mais exata para a ação dos EUA) a CITGO, subsidiária da PDVSA venezuelana na América do Norte.

Claro que os EUA sempre estão sendo ameaçados, coitadinhos. Eles, por outro lado, são santos que nunca ameaçam ninguém. Invadem países e fazem guerras para se protegerem, ainda que a “ameaça” seja um pequeno país do outro lado do mundo, como a Coreia, o Vietnã, a Palestina ou o Irã.

Os EUA organizaram e patrocinaram o golpe de Estado em 2016, que destruiu as maiores empresas nacionais em áreas chave como petróleo, gás, construção civil e alimentação e abriu o mercado brasileiro para o saque das empresas americanas, concorrentes das brasileiras. Talvez ele também tenha sido descrito em algum documento secreto a ser revelado algum dia como uma defesa contra a “ameaça à segurança nacional dos EUA”.

A destruição da indústria nacional, que hoje representa menos de 10% do nosso PIB (o índice mais baixo em quase 80 anos) proporcionada pela Operação Lava Jato, que tirou mais de R$ 172 bilhões em investimentos do nosso país, foi apenas um episódio corriqueiro, não é? Natural. Afinal, os Estados Unidos nos fazem de colônia há cem anos.

Washington também promoveu o golpe de 2016 para, além de eliminar a concorrência das empresas e produtos brasileiros, minar os seus rivais chineses, que vinham firmando importantíssimas parcerias comerciais com o Brasil, de benefício mútuo. Quem se lembra das pressões sufocantes e desleais para que o Brasil trocasse o 5G da Huawei pelas companhias dos EUA, pouco depois do golpe?

As grandes potências imperialistas sempre foram adeptas da mais profunda hipocrisia. O seu próprio crescimento industrial, que as fez grandes nações imperialistas, só foi possível por meio de intensa política protecionista, ao mesmo tempo em que abriam mercados pela força dos canhões, como na Guerra do Ópio contra a China, para escoar sua produção.

Tais medidas que estão sendo tomadas pelos EUA são extremamente prejudiciais ao Brasil. A guerra na Ucrânia havia feito com que a União Europeia aumentasse em 830% a importação do aço brasileiro. Em 2021, o Brasil representava apenas 2% das importações de aço da UE e em 2022 esse índice subiu para 15%. Agora, ainda segundo a Fiesp, a sobretaxa nas tarifas executada pelos EUA pode forçar a redução dos preços das exportações brasileiras.

Essa é a velha política imperialista, aproveitando-se de seu predomínio sobre o Brasil – graças à imposição a nós do “livre mercado”!

Mas o que fazer, já que os Estados Unidos são o principal importador de aço galvanizado do Brasil? Pois é, a situação de exploração é tal que a semicolônia não tem muito para onde fugir. Uma alternativa seria aprofundar as parcerias com outros países importadores.

Isso teria um importante peso geopolítico. Sete dos 10 países que mais importam esse tipo de aço do Brasil estão na América Latina e no Caribe e um outro (os Emirados Árabes) agora é membro dos BRICS.

Diante de mais uma expressão do jugo ao qual o Brasil está submetido pelos EUA, cabe ao país que pretende se libertar minimamente adotar uma postura soberana e procurar quem tenha interesse em fazer negócios conosco ao invés de nos subjugar. Ou seja, cabe buscar verdadeiros parceiros comerciais, cuja parceria contribua para o desenvolvimento da indústria nacional em vez de significar uma subordinação que causa mais danos do que benefícios.

Eduardo Vasco

The Preposterous Nature of “Reality”: Digital Madness, Spying on Americans, Massive Drug Use, “No Peace Movement as War Rages”. Edward Curtin

By Edward Curtin, October 11, 2024

Weirdness and Chaos are today’s celebrity couple, as people are subjected to, and subject themselves to, smoke and mirrors and mind control through an addiction to cell phones, the perfect propaganda tool. Just put your hand in your pocket wherever you are and “they” are with you, in your hand, in your head, your constant companion, corrupting your mind and soul.

Who Is in Charge of US Foreign Policy?

By Philip Giraldi, October 11, 2024

So what is the truth and what are the lies and who in Washington and/or Tel Aviv is calling the shots in the Middle East? And what do they really intend and how do they see it all ending?

Welcome to Tariff Land: The Retreat of Free Trade

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, October 11, 2024

Under the Biden administration, Trump’s tariff legacy remained in place, though some suspensions were made.  (These were subsequently reimposed.)  This enabled President Joe Biden to sharpen the focus on specific categories: electric vehicles (EVs), semiconductors, lithium ion batteries.   Tariffs on Chinese semiconductors spiked to 50%, while Chinese EVs received a bruising 100% increase.

15 Minutes with Dr. William Makis: Threats Against My Family by the College. Visit to Edmonton Police Service Today

By Dr. William Makis, October 11, 2024

We stand in solidarity with Dr. William Makis in his commitment to humanity. To his commitment to the Truth. Listen carefully to his testimony. The Covid 19 “Vaccine” from the very outset in January 2021 has been conducive to a Worldwide Upward Movement in Mortality.

North Korea Enhancing Strategic Arsenal, Building First Nuclear-powered Submarine, Allied with Russia

By Drago Bosnic, October 10, 2024

There aren’t many countries in the world that have been subjected to as much ridicule as North Korea. The mainstream propaganda machine regularly presents it as a supposedly “backward society”, particularly in terms of technological development. And yet, in reality, Pyongyang is ahead of the entire political West (the United States included) in critical technologies such as hypersonic weapons.

If Tehran Is Turned “Into a Parking Lot”, Israel Will be Soon to Follow

‘By Mike Whitney, October 10, 2024

For Israel to achieve its regional ambitions, it must lure the US into a war with Iran. In order to accomplish that feat, Israel must strike Iran with enough force to provoke a violent and destructive retaliation. As soon as it looks like Israel is in trouble, the US will ride to the rescue with “guns blazing”.

French Troops in Romania to Train for War with Russia. Is “the Troubled Macron Government Risking War with Russia”?

By Drago Bosnic, October 10, 2024

Namely, thousands of French soldiers will be deployed to Romania in May and train for a major war. According to Politico, 2025 will be “crucial for the French army, which has undergone a major transformation in recent years to prepare for a possible conflict with Russia”.

The Medical Council of New Zealand: Facade Crumbling. Reprisals Against Doctors, COVID Vaccine…

By Dr. Emanuel Garcia, October 10, 2024

For quite some time I have been writing and speaking about the witch hunts conducted by the Medical Council of New Zealand against good doctors who spoke out against their upending of foundational medical principles — principles such as informed consent, which they strongly promoted but hypocritically disavowed.

Free markets?  Free trade?  The modern economic world has little time for these erroneous, misdirected terms.  More evident are the feelings of resentment, prejudice and indignant parochialism more accurately called My Country First, and Everyone Else Last.  Back your industries; hobble the competitors.  And everyone is doing it, except certain ideologues who, childishly, cling to the view that there ever was such a thing as a true laissez-faire world.

Free trade remains, in general, a fantasy, dangerous for the naïve who feel that by embracing it, they are somehow enlarging their appeal and standing.  Often, countries extolling its value are only those desiring exclusive or privileged access to a market.  From 2016 onwards, the free traders have been pummeled.  With Donald Trump in the White House, America First meant imposing, among other things, tariffs of 25% on US$50 billion on Chinese goods under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.  More rises followed.

Under the Biden administration, Trump’s tariff legacy remained in place, though some suspensions were made.  (These were subsequently reimposed.)  This enabled President Joe Biden to sharpen the focus on specific categories: electric vehicles (EVs), semiconductors, lithium ion batteries.   Tariffs on Chinese semiconductors spiked to 50%, while Chinese EVs received a bruising 100% increase.

In April last year, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan delivered an address to the Brookings Institution tearing the free-market consensus to shreds with what he called the “new Washington consensus”.  China was the convenient excuse for doing so, a country that had subsidised “at a massive scale both traditional industrial sectors, like steel, as well as key industries in the future, like clean energy, digital infrastructure, and advanced biotechnologies.”  US competitiveness had, as a result, been eroded.

The response from foreign affairs pulpit huggers such as Walter Russell Mead was excoriating. Sullivan’s position represented a wish to “return to the system of relatively closed and highly regulated national economies that characterised the immediate post-Second World War era.”

Even those on the consultancy front are proclaiming the end of free trade. The Boston Consulting Group, for instance, declared in May that global free trade, an era “spanning the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries, has ended, and a new geopolitical landscape has emerged: a multipolar world characterized by distinct economic and political blocs.”

Little wonder, then, that the stomp on a forced, generally fictional notion has also appealed to European Union officials who have now made their entry into the thorny undergrowth of Tariff Land.  On October 4, the European Union voted to place tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles after a yearlong investigation into the role played by Chinese subsidies and export dumping practices.  The vote was split: ten EU states agreed to the measure, while five voted against it, with twelve abstentions.

The European Commission had already imposed provisional duties in July.  The move prompted China to file a request with the World Trade Organisation in August requesting consultations with the EU over alleged protectionist measures arising out of the provisional countervailing duties on EVs.

This has left the European Union in an interesting situation.  For one, they are not exactly unflinching on the exercise.  The Commission has more than hinted that a negotiated settlement is tenable.  Were Chinese EV companies to propose an acceptable minimal minimum price for their vehicles, the tariffs would be lifted.

The reasoning on that score is clear enough: the EU has, ideologically and foolishly, imperilled itself to a free trade agenda that has enabled Beijing to make considerable inroads into the European market regarding EV technology.  While the United States huffs and struts in imposing 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs, such a policy can be pursued with assurance.  The US market was only ever going to suffer negligible losses, there being negligible Chinese EV imports to begin with.  For the European Union, up to 25% of all EVs sold this year will have a Chinese origin.

It is little wonder that there is no true European consensus on how to euthanize the free trade patient.  Germany, as one of the countries voting against the imposition of tariffs (a third of new German cars are sold annually in China), failed to exert sufficient influence on the final vote, hardly surprising given disagreements within its own political ranks. “Germany and European industry can no longer convince the Commission to be reasonable,” lamented Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.  “But then again, who can?”

How different it was from 2013, when the country, under the stewardship of Angela Merkel, convinced then European Commission president José Manuel Barroso that China should be exempt from tariffs in favour of a minimum price threshold.

If nothing else, the values of Tariff Land are revealing.  The decarbonising program seen as essential to stay a rise in global temperatures has balkanised.  Disputing trade officials, not technological innovators or scientists, dominate the discussions.  The US government is even chewing over banning the use of Chinese technology in autonomous and connected cars, showing how far this will go.

Joseph Webster, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, expresses the sentiment.  “The EU – as well as other US allies, especially Australia – do not appear to be grappling with the real and uncomfortable tensions between decarbonization objectives on the one hand, and the security risks Chinese-linked connected vehicles pose on the other.”  Yet again, the free trade globalists have been shown up, leaving way for the chest beating patriots to take centre stage over the corpse of an idea.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He currently lectures at RMIT University.  He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: [email protected]

Below is an article by Simon Hradecky from The Aviation Herald:

An Edelweiss Airbus A340-300, registration HB-JMF performing flight WK-5 from Tampa,FL (USA) to Zurich (Switzerland), was on approach to Zurich when the crew declared emergency reporting pilot incapacitation. The aircraft landed safely on Zurich’s runway 14 and taxied to the apron.

The airline reported one of the three pilots on board suffered a medical condition about 90 minutes prior to landing. The other two pilots performed the landing in Zurich.

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Pilot incapacitations inflight in 2024 (seven so far): 

Jul. 22, 2024 – Edelweiss Flight WK-5 (TPA-ZRH) from Tampa, FL, USA to Zurich, Switzerland, pilot suffered a medical condition and was incapacitated

Jun. 12, 2024 – Nesma Airlines Flight NE-130 (CAI-TIF) Cairo, Egypt to Taif (Saudi Arabia) – pilot Captain Hassan Youssef Adas in his late 30s collapsed and died from a presumed heart attack

Jun. 4, 2024 – Aeromexico Flight AM-34 (MTY-MAD) from Monterrey (Mexico ) to Madrid (Spain), first officer became unwell, had a medical problem, flight diverted to Mexico City.

Mar. 14, 2024 – British Airways BA-2272 (JFK-LGW) New York to London-Gatwickone of the pilots became incapacitated, plane forced to divert to St.John’s, NL, Canada.

Feb. 17, 2024 – Lufthansa Flight LH-1140 (FRA-SVQ) Frankfurt to Seville on Feb.17, 2024 – First Officer Incapacitated, plane turned around back to Madrid

Feb. 16, 2024 – DELTA – NYC – 58 year old Capt Geoffrey John Brock died unexpectedly on Feb.16, 2024 during a layover in Honolulu, HI

Jan. 16, 2024 – LATAM Brasil Flight LA-3744 (BSB-JPA) Brasilia to Joao Pessoa on Jan.16, 2024 – Pilot Incapacitated, plane diverted to Salvador for safe landing

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.  

Featured image is from COVID Intel

Price: $11.50 FREE COPY! Click here (docsend) and download.

You may also access the online version of the e-Book by clicking here.

We encourage you to support the eBook project by making a donation through Global Research’s DonorBox “Worldwide Corona Crisis” Campaign Page. 

It’s important for the public to be more aware of this since it helps explain Russian and Israeli policies towards one another in the context of the Ukrainian Conflict and the regional Israeli-Resistance War.

There’s been grassroots pressure on Turkiye to cut off Azerbaijan’s oil exports to Israel via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline ever since what can now be described as the regional Israeli-Resistance War broke out one year ago. Activists believe that this trade literally fuels Israel’s war machine and thus makes all the involved parties indirectly complicit in its alleged war crimes. Regardless of whatever one thinks about this claim, what’s interesting is that there’s no such pressure upon Russia.

The Guardian cited a report from the UK-based Data Desk, which is a tech consultancy firm investigating the fossil fuel industry, to make the following claims in March:

“The data also suggests that at least 600kt of Kazakh/Russian crude oil has been sent to Israel via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline since October 2023. CPC oil is a blend from major offshore oil fields in the Caspian Sea, as well as smaller onshore fields in southern Russia.

Chevron has the largest stake among international oil majors in the CPC, followed by ExxonMobil and Shell. These fossil fuel companies also partly own the oilfields feeding the pipeline. The majority of the CPC supply is produced in Kazakhstan and has not been sanctioned, unlike Russia’s crude.

Russia appears to have also continued regular shipments of vacuum gas oil (VGO), a low-grade fuel oil mostly upgraded into jet fuel and diesel via hydrocracking. Russian VGO is shipped from ports in the Black Sea.

The data also suggests that four shipments carrying more than 120kt of VGO departed Russia for Israel after the ICJ ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide. The flow of Russian VGO has been severely affected by a European Union ban that came into force in February 2023.”

They then followed up on this in August when citing a report from the non-profit Oil Change International, which was exclusively shared with The Guardian, to share the following two graphs:

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.

As can clearly be seen, Russia sells processed oil products to Israel and facilitates Kazakh oil exports to it through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, yet few paid much attention to The Guardian’s reports. The reason is because the Mainstream Media (MSM) considers Israel to be the ultimate good and Russia to be the ultimate bad while the Alt-Media Community (AMC) reverses their roles. Neither therefore wants to talk too much about their continued energy ties since it goes against their respective narratives.

Nevertheless, it’s important for the public to be more aware of this since it helps explain Russian and Israeli policies towards one another, which are often mis-portrayed by those two media camps. Israel hasn’t sanctioned Russia for its special operation nor has it armed Ukraine, while Russia hasn’t sanctioned Israel for its campaigns in Gaza and now Lebanon nor has it even symbolically designated it as an “unfriendly country”. These policies respectively upset the MSM and the AMC.

Israel’s can be explained by its reluctance to anger Russia and thus risk creating difficulties for its air force in Syria, which has been allowed to bomb Resistance targets there without direct or indirect interference from Russia (such as electronic jamming or letting Syria use the S-300s) for years already. Likewise, Russia’s can be explained by its reluctance to anger Israel and thus risk it passing along high-tech military equipment (including defensive systems) to Ukraine, which Israel hasn’t yet done.

Having clarified that, it can also no longer be denied that their mutual energy interests play a role in their calculations as well, especially given the present importance of this cooperation for both of them. Israel requires reliable imports of processed oil products and crude given the Houthis’ blockade of the Red Sea, while Russia requires reliable budgetary revenue from resource sales given the Western sanctions. Neither Israel’s US partner nor Russia’s Resistance ones could stop them from cooperating in this way.

Moreover, even in the event that Israel decided to sanction Russia and arm Ukraine, it’s very unlikely that Russia would cut Israel off from its processed oil products and Kazakhstan’s crude. To this day, Russia still supplies energy to the EU in spite of that bloc sanctioning it and arming Ukraine, all because it wants to present itself as a reliable partner in the eyes of the world and also because it require the budgetary revenue. The precedent therefore exists for continuing this trade with Israel in a similar such scenario.  

Russia believes that the energy trade should never be politicized, and it’s spoken out against Western pressure on China and India for their large-scale purchase of its oil since 2022. The West claims that those two are financially fueling Russia’s war machine and are thus indirectly complicit in its alleged war crimes, which is similar to what activists claim about Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye, who they accuse of literally fueling Israel’s war machine and thus being indirectly complicit in its alleged war crimes too.

Accordingly, seeing as how Russia rejects Western claims of China and India being indirectly complicit in its alleged war crimes (which it always denies have taken place) just for purchasing its oil, it would also reject activists’ similar such claims against itself for literally fueling Israel’s war machine. The takeaway is that Russia will remain impervious to any such pressure upon it to cut Israel off from its processed oil products and Kazakhstan’s crude, whether this comes from activists, the West, or the Resistance.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack, Andrew Korybko’s Newsletter.

Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Russian president Vladimir Putin and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2016. The two long-serving leaders have had a close relationship. (Licensed under CC BY 3.0)

After decades of oblivion by the NATO that continues the Cold War mentality, the military bloc is trying to resume its investments in military equipment after the outbreak of the proxy war in Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, Poland and Estonia lead the way in alliance purchases. Slovakia’s president heralded an “emotional moment” when the first newly acquired F-16 fighter jets landed in his country in July, and Bucharest celebrated that US F-35s are being “built for Romania.”

Together, 14 member states have increased defence spending since the start of the Ukrainian conflict to the equivalent of $70 billion this year alone. However, the orders for fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, and missile systems have exposed how much more needs to be done to reach NATO standards at what international observers say is the most dangerous time since the Cold War.

Image: General Daniel Zmeko (Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

“After doing almost nothing in this area for 20 years, it’s basically a jump from first or second-generation machines straight to fourth or fifth generation,” said General Daniel Zmeko, chief of staff for Slovakia’s armed forces. “It’s like going from a 386 processor computer to today’s most advanced multi-core network solutions.”

NATO’s eastern flank was initially spurred by increased military spending during the 2014 Crimean crisis. Estonia, for example, has spent more in the past 18 months than it has in the past 30 years, according to the head of the Baltic nation’s defence procurement agency, Magnus-Valdemar Saar.

Some critics say it’s a sign that Eastern European countries are starting to do what they should have done when they joined the alliance in 1999. According to estimates from the military alliance, Eastern European nations currently account for five of the top seven NATO defence spenders as a percentage of Gross Domestic Production this year, with Poland at No. 1, exceeding 4% of GDP.

Among the military equipment orders are dozens of fighter jets, more than 1,300 tanks from South Korea and the United States, and 100 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from Boeing Co., which, at $1 billion, is Poland’s largest acquisition ever. In August, the government signed a $1.2 billion deal with Raytheon Technologies Corp. to produce components for Patriot air defence batteries.

According to military authorities interviewed by the media, the investment is not limited to acquiring equipment but also to new storage facilities, personnel training and expansion, and integration between partners.

Poland, for example, has pledged to more than double the number of professional soldiers to 250,000 by 2035. The military has added about 20,000, bringing the total to 134,000 by the end of 2023. In places like Romania, there is pressure to raise starting salaries from about €500 ($650) a month now to attract young soldiers.

“It’s tough to teach a 40- or 45-year-old how to use these new systems,” Zmeko said. “Ideally, you find an 18-year-old who’s already spent hundreds or even thousands of hours using computers.”

When quizzed whether Europe also has the opportunity to scale up its own arms production, the Slovak said:

“The real question is whether Europe has the will to do it. Will it be willing to tighten its belt and tell its citizens that, for the next few years, or even a decade, the standard of living might not improve because we need to prioritise our security?”

It is recalled that a record 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations reached the Western military alliance’s defence spending target in 2023. The estimated figure represents an almost fourfold increase from 2021 when only six member states achieved the target. 

NATO members agreed last year to allocate at least 2% of their GDP to defence, with the surge in spending reflecting concerns about the war in Ukraine. Defence spending across European allies and Canada was up nearly 18% this year alone, the biggest increase in decades, according to NATO’s estimated figures released on June 17.

Many member countries, Poland and Estonia, fear the possible reelection of former President Donald Trump, who has expressed scepticism about the Atlantic Alliance. Trump has previously characterised many NATO allies as freeloading on US military spending and has stated on the campaign trail that he would not defend NATO members failing to meet defence spending targets.

This contributes to another reason why countries bordering or in proximity to Russia are leading defence spenders as a percentage of GDP, as there is a real possibility that Trump could return to the White House.

At the same time, Poland and the Baltic countries have delusional beliefs that they can challenge Russia’s military power and have NATO backing if they cause any deterioration in relations with Moscow. This is frustrating for these states because the Kremlin has expressed numerous times that Russia wants cordial relations with its neighbours and is not interested in being bogged down in reacting to NATO provocations.

For this reason, Poland and the Baltic states want to militarise further in the vain hope of having dogged defences if they are the cause of military confrontation with Russia, which does not fall under the Article 5 collective defence article.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Al Mayadeen English

It is not uncommon to be doing something seemingly innocuous when one is flooded with wild thoughts, musings that seem randomly meaningless, leading nowhere. Thoughts that think us. To dismiss them, however, is a mistake. For me, these unbidden guests usually visit me when I am out walking or lying in bed right before sleep.

Recently, as I was again walking across the meandering Housatonic River through the covered wooden bridge in Sheffield, Massachusetts, I found myself waylaid by the thought of the word “preposterous,” which is usually understood to mean absurd, very silly, or foolish. Being happily eccentric and language obsessed, I thought of its etymology, which from the Latin means before-behind or before-after, which makes preposterous an absurd, nonsense word itself, which seemed appropriate to thoughts that were approaching me from the other side as I walked ass-backwards (my behind behind me) toward them. I wanted to see ahead to make sure I wasn’t bushwacked by something more absurd than a word.

For when I exited the bridge, I passed a plaque commemorating a reported UFO sighting by 40 people and an alleged abduction on September 1, 1969 by Thomas Reed, who claims that when he was nine years-old he and his family were taken briefly aboard a disk-shaped flying UFO as they were driving down the dirt road between the corn fields and the marshes that I was approaching. While this strange, fascinating story is not the focus of my reflections, if it interests you, you can read about it here.

I mention it because of what the plaque evoked in me and the seemingly preposterous nature of Reed’s claim and the weirdness of those of the many people who said they saw the same UFO. I am not passing judgment on them, for I believe those 40 people saw something, but what they saw I do not know. I must admit I am glad I was not beamed up on my recent walk, for I wasn’t dressed appropriately for such an encounter.

What intrigues me about their stories is that they happened at a time very similar to today when the world seemed to be spinning out of control.

ImageL Richard Nixon celebrates his victory in the 1968 election. Was he helped by the CIA? [Source: theconversation.com]

In 1969, secular black magic was in the air as the U.S. war against Vietnam raged on, led by the “peace candidate” in the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon.

There was the counterculture’s wide use of drugs (the CIA”s introduction of LSD, etc.), its turn to eastern religions and New Age esoterica, and the crisis of traditional religion as pagan practices were revived.

There was the murder of Sharon Tate and others by Charles Manson’s gang (deeply involved with satanism, Nazism, and occultism) in early August that was shortly followed by the Woodstock music mud festival, with both preceded by Apollo 11 to be followed by Seymour Hersh’s revelations about the My Lai massacre.

Throughout the year, and those preceding and following, the FBI’s COINTELPRO, the CIA’s operations CHAOS and MKULTRA were in full force, spying on Americans, creating chaos and mayhem in minds and on the streets, a part of a vast effort at political mind control and disassociation of the personality through the most evil means.

And “ironically,” in December 1969, the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book – its decades long investigation of UFOs – was officially ended with the conclusion that there was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as “unidentified” were extraterrestrial vehicles or were in any way beyond the range of modern technological science.

In October, as in before-after, the U.S. Department of Defense’s ARPANET program – Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (now DARPA) – the predecessor of the Internet, made it its first communication between two computers.

Then, as if to culminate a decade of assassinations and absurdity, despite a very vocal peace movement, in December, the Altamont music festival was riven by murder and mayhem, as if to imply, contrary to Don McLean’s 1971 “American Pie,” that this was the day the music died.

The list goes on and on. Let’s just say the times were psychedelic, as if society were on a non-stop bad acid trip and the CIA’s takeover of the country was nearly complete.

Jump ahead a half-century to today.

Now we have the long-planned Internet – ARPANET’s and the Pentagon’s baby –and digital madness with conflicting narratives that are akin to acid-trips. Mental dissociation at its finest.

Nixon is long gone but his successors have carried on his ruthless Vietnam war policies in grand traditional style with the U.S forever wars (El Salvador, Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, etc.), with war against Russia via Ukraine, its backing of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians and aggressive war against its neighbors, the push for war with China – all leading to the greatest chance of nuclear war since 1962.

The renewed media reports about UFOs (now called “unidentified anomalous phenomena”) and the Pentagon’s denials are kept alive by technologues like Elon Musk in his recent jocular exchange with Tucker Carlson. You know, there are a lot of satellites up there but let’s not discuss Pentagon mind control.

We have Artificial Intelligence (AI) and massive drug use far exceeding that of the 1960s that is officially promoted, as reality evaporates before and behind more and more people’s eyes.

For the massive growth of mental problems, LSD, that old bad-ass standby, is now advocated by the mainstream media as excellent therapy, while the weaponization of disease with Covid propaganda spins along as the world awaits the promulgation of the falling leaf virus and the call to cut down all trees.

Spying on Americans and censorship of free speech is the rule of the day, far deeper and wider than the most inflamed imagination could conjure.

There is an electoral system in shambles that has become a running joke, at least for those who get it.

MKULTRA mind control on a vast scale flourishes, despite all the denials, via the Internet and digital devices meant to confuse, promote doubt, and crazy speculation.

There is the leitmotif that has persisted for 60 years, the continued decline and mockery of traditional religious beliefs together with the promotion of New Age “spirituality” tied to consumerism. Shopping being the real religion now.

And lest I forget, we have the media and educational promotion of sexual and identity confusion under the guise of new definitions, such as the meaning of the word “gender.”

Finally, there is no mass peace movement as wars rage, except for those college students protesting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and a few scattered groups.

You can easily fill in what I have omitted because there is no doubt you feel this disturbing “reality” of living in a society of screen spectacles and scrambled brains.

In other words, social madness, the “after” to  1969’s “before” – absurdity repeating itself, is the rule of the day, or more accurately, has been continuing for the past 55 years.

A preposterous scene.

Weirdness and Chaos are today’s celebrity couple, as people are subjected to, and subject themselves to, smoke and mirrors and mind control through an addiction to cell phones, the perfect propaganda tool. Just put your hand in your pocket wherever you are and “they” are with you, in your hand, in your head, your constant companion, corrupting your mind and soul.

All this juxtaposed history did not occur to me in specifics as I walked down the beautiful dirt road past the UFO plaque; it came to me in more general terms. But in a flash. The particulars here recounted come from my having lived through the 1960s and my knowledge of history, the teaching of which has fallen into desuetude as universities have, in the words of the recently retired Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi,

“For some time now, I have been both disgusted and horrified by the way higher education has developed into a cash register – essentially a money-making, MBA, lawyer-run, hedge fund-cum-real estate operation, with a minor sideline in education, where money has determined everything, where respect for pedagogy is at a minimum.”

In his book, Scorched Earth: Beyond the Digital Age to a Post-Capitalist World, Jonathan Crary, sums it up nicely:

“One of the foremost achievements of the so-called knowledge economy is the mass production of ignorance, stupidity, and hatefulness. . . . programmed unintelligibility and duplicity.”

A close relative of mine, a brilliant man, highly skeptical, scientifically inclined, and very logical, a guy who scoffs at wild claims that he subjects to careful analyzes, was recently on a flight into LAX airport. He had a window seat, and as the plane was on its long descent, the plane at approximately 15,000 feet, he saw a quivering disk-shaped object about 150 feet beyond the plane’s wing. Startled beyond belief, he regretted not taking a photo of it before it was gone. As soon as he landed, however, he asked the pilot if he had seen it. The pilot said no, but it was probably a drone, which would make it a very high-flying drone indeed. My relative called me immediately to tell me. He said it was the size of a small car and it quivered like a quarter when dropped on a countertop. He said it looked like no drone he had ever seen, and though amazed, characteristically concluded that he didn’t know what it was.

I mention this because such sightings are not just the wild imaginings of people prone to believe anything. They are part of our current “reality,” seen by many people but shrouded in mystery.  Government authorities dismiss these sightings as figments of people’s imagination or weather balloons, drones, etc. Any evidence to the contrary is dismissed, like so much else, as the conspiracy thinking of nutty people. In other words – preposterous, meaning absurd.  This is part of the game of mind control that has been going on for decades, the effort to create social neurosis and confusion throughout society.

I offer these thoughts because I was waylaid by a word – preposterous – that went to my head. If I have not kept to the subject, whatever it might be or whatever you expected, it is because, as the psychologist Adam Philips puts it, “In this picture digression is secular revelation, keeping to the subject is the best way we have of keeping off the subject.” And so I will end with a few words from the great mystical and political poet, Czeslaw Milosz, a former Polish diplomat, who raises a question that cuts to the heart of our current dilemma.

Most people are ashamed, Milosz has written, to ask themselves certain questions that the seething infinity of modern relativity has bequeathed us. Such relativity is at the heart of our modern spiritual crisis, which is also the political one. Space and time have lost all dimensions; the experience of the collapse of hierarchical space and time is widespread. For those who still call themselves religious believers, “when they fold their hands and lift up their eyes, ‘up’ no longer exists,” Milosz rightly says. The map and the territory are one as all metaphysics are almost lost. And with its loss go our ability to see the advancing banner of the king of hell, to grasp the nature of the battle for the soul of the world that is now underway. Or if you prefer, the struggle for political control.

What is before is behind or what is before is after. It is preposterous but it is true.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on the author’s blog site, Behind the Curtain.

Edward Curtin is a prominent author, researcher and sociologist based in Western Massachusetts. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).  

Featured image: Flying saucer from the National Archives and Records Administration (From the Public Domain)

A United Nations inquiry said on Thursday it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza’s healthcare system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination.

A statement by former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that accompanied the report accused Israel of “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the war, triggered by Hamas militants’ deadly cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” said Pillay, whose 24-page report covering the first 10 months of the war will be presented to the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 30.

Israel’s prime minister’s office and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel says that Gaza’s militants operate from the cover of built-up populated areas including private homes, schools and hospitals and that it will strike them wherever they emerge, while also trying to avoid harming civilians. Hamas denies hiding militants, weapons and command posts among civilians.

Click here to read the full article on Reuters.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Emma Farge reports on the U.N. beat and Swiss news from Geneva since 2019. She has produced a string of exclusives on diplomacy, the environment and global trade and covered Switzerland’s first war crimes trial. Her Reuters career started in 2009 covering oil swaps from London and she has since written about the West African Ebola outbreak, embedded with U.N. troops in north Mali and was the first reporter to enter deposed Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh’s estate. She co-authored a winning story for the Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial Prize on Russia’s diplomatic isolation in 2022 and was also part of a team of journalists nominated in 2012 as Pulitzer finalists in the international reporting category for coverage of the Libyan revolution. She holds a BA from Oxford University (First) and an MSc from the LSE in International Relations. She is currently on the board of the press association for UN correspondents in Geneva (ACANU).

Featured image: Some of the wounded at al-Shifa hospital (Gaza Health Ministry)

It probably would surprise no one to learn that there are several viewpoints among critics of the current wars devastating the Middle East regarding who is actually encouraging a growing bloody conflict which might soon involve at least six countries in the region. In simple terms, there is a school of thought that believes that Israel, backed by its various powerful diaspora lobbies, is defying world opinion to continue its slaughter of its indigenous Palestinians and neighboring Lebanese. In other words, it is all about Israel acting maliciously and badly.

However, another viewpoint sees instead a neocon-dominated United States foreign policy exploiting Israeli truculence and its hard right-wing leadership to carry out American national objectives in the region, in a sense using Israel as its proxy and actually encouraging its bad behavior. Meanwhile, a third plausible examination of developments tends to meld the two approaches, suggesting that the US and Israel are in a conspiratorial cooperative relationship and are in full agreement regarding reducing the power of the Jewish state’s neighbors. That would make Israel the preeminent military power dominating the Persia Gulf and beyond to control a large chunk of the world’s energy resources while also benefiting American weapons manufacturers and other political and Wall Street constituencies.

The problem is that there is sufficient carefully selected evidence to support every point of view including an alternative suggestion that American foreign policy is broken, adrift and does not reflect any US national interest at all, witness the recent $8.7 billion aid package sent to a belligerent Israel when Americans were dying in North Carolina in the wake of a devastating hurricane for which FEMA only provided meager assistance because it claimed it had run out of money. The steady flow of money and weapons from the US to Israel suggests that the United States is for some reason supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expansion of the war against Hamas when the White House could have ended the war in a day by cutting off that support. Alternatively, Israel might be seen as continuing its slaughter in spite of perhaps insincere US objections because it presumes that its powerful Lobby in the US will keep Joe Biden in line with an election coming up lest it weigh in heavily to help Donald Trump. And, of course, if the two nations are acting in collusion it could all be Kabuki with Washington and Tel Aviv cynically intending to do whatever it takes reshape the Middle East to Israel’s benefit. Take your choice of which scenario fits best.

One needs to determine what actually justifies the reality of a multiplicity of fronts, to include providing political cover in the UN, where the United States is interacting to support “greatest ally and best friend” Israel while at the same time constantly verbalizing the apparently false claim that it is trying to avoid the conflict’s expanding into a major conflagration that could engulf the entire region and beyond, driving up energy costs dramatically just for starters. Such a managed co-escalation might also increase the risks and costs geometrically as more players get involved, up to and including the possibility that Israel will opt to use its nuclear weapons to “defend” itself or to attack Iran, which is where both Russia and the United States might become involved in a nuclear exchange to defend their respective “friends.”

So what is the truth and what are the lies and who in Washington and/or Tel Aviv is calling the shots in the Middle East? And what do they really intend and how do they see it all ending?

There are four obvious US government players who are on the ground and meeting with the key figures in the nations involved in the fighting as well as with those ostensibly engaged in the what are being called negotiations to put an end to the killing with a ceasefire acceptable to all parties. One must concede that their task is a difficult one at best as all parties to the peace talks recognize that the United States is not an unbiased intermediary given its total commitment to support Israel politically as well as with arms and money while freely labeling the Jewish state’s neighbors and opponents alike as “terrorists” and “autocrats.”

The four would be composed of two obvious officials Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns and Secretary of State Antony Blinken while a third and fourth are not-so-well-known, consisting of special negotiator for the president Amos Hochstein and the White House Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk. Both Burns and Blinken have made numerous trips to the Middle East and Ukraine to convey the views of the president and make their own assessments of the situation on the ground after meeting with local officials.

Image is from The Unz Review

The role is rather unusual for Burns as a CIA Director normally operates behind the scenes and does not get involved in policy making, but Burns is not a typical director in that he has no background in intelligence. He was a highly regarded State Department officer who wound up as the US Ambassador to Russia. He very carefully worked through the nuances of the US-Russian relationship and was highly praised for explaining things from the Kremlin perspective so US planners would be able to understand very clearly the differing perspectives of the two nations. He described, for example, how very sensitive Russia was over the issue of Ukraine becoming part of NATO, a warning which was subsequently ignored by President Biden.

Image is from the Public Domain

Blinken is, of course, better known as he served as Deputy Secretary of State during the Barack Obama administration and is regarded as a particularly close associate of Joe Biden. As Secretary of State he has been a very active traveler throughout both the Middle East and Ukraine. Blinken is Jewish and is regarded as a protector of Israel, which is, of course, also the President’s frequently enunciated view. After the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah he said that the “World is safer without Nasrallah…” whereas most of the world would quite reasonably prefer to see Benjamin Netanyahu removed. Blinken also appears to favor preemptively attacking Iran to eliminate its nuclear energy program even though there is no evidence that it is weapons-development related. He has recently come under pressure for lying about two State Department reports that indicated very clearly that Israel has been deliberately starving and killing the Gazans by blocking US supplied food and medicine supplies at the border. One large convoy of trucks containing enough food to feed most of the local people who were in danger of dying from starvation was deliberately held up at the border until the food became rotten and had to be destroyed. Blinken lied both to Congress and to the American people about the Israeli policy, saying that blocking food supplies by Israel was not taking place. It was a consequential lie as people died and are continuing to die because of it and Blinken has paid no price for what must surely be considered a major war crime.

Image is from the Public Domain

The third policy planner is an unusual individual Amos Hochstein, who was born in Israel and served in the Israeli Army. He has been designated as Biden’s personal roving ambassador in the Middle East with a particular brief to work to avoid the expansion of the Gaza fighting into Lebanon against Hezbollah. In that effort, he has obviously failed as both Israel and Lebanon now consider themselves to be at war. It is presumed that Hochstein is the “active arm” in the White House campaign to shield Israel from any harm initiated by its much abused neighbors. Why anyone would select an Israeli who is a product of the Israeli Army as a negotiator of some type among the nations that the Israelis have been victimizing for the past seventy-five years has to be considered an enduring mystery. It is perhaps another gimmick move by Biden to pretend that he is neutral in the conflict while doing everything he can to turn Netanyahu free to destroy or subject all his neighbors.

Image is from the Public Domain

Which brings us to the fourth likely top planner National Security Council Coordinator for Africa and the Middle East Brett McGurk. McGurk has been a bipartisan fixture floating around the national security and diplomatic communities for a number of years with the reputation of being a “hardliner” particularly when dealing with Arabs, which is not to say that he has learned anything beyond the fact that if one wants to survive in Washington it pays to love Israel. It is interesting to note that the Biden Administration claims that it is working hard to achieve a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza but it continues to cover for Israel politically and provide it with the weapons and money to continue it genocidal activities as well as in support of its plan to occupy southern Lebanon to create a “buffer zone.” Israeli media is already reporting that real estate agents are offering attractive properties for Jewish buyers in what is still Lebanon, just as Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been peddling exclusive sea front lots in Gaza. In other words, don’t believe anything coming out of the Biden Administration as evidence for anything as it appears that its “policy makers” and press spokesmen have acquired the Israeli tendency to lie about everything.

Politico has a recent piece on both Hochstein and McGurk and it does not make one feel warm and fuzzy about what the Biden administration is up to. The article is entitled: “US officials quietly backed Israel’s military push against Hezbollah -The officials urged caution and stressed the need for diplomacy. But the timing was right for such a military shift, they concluded”. It seems that the guys who are promoted by the Biden administration as peacemakers are anything but. Politico obtained insider information from a number of anonymous sources in both Washington and Israel and learned that Biden’s team has actually agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broad strategy to shift Israel’s military focus to the north against Hezbollah. This tilt, contrary to what the White House has been preaching, produced a reaction from a number of Pentagon, intelligence and State Department officials that such a move would drag the United States into the war, which is really what Netanyahu intended, but the shift in policy was approved anyway. One senior US official noted but dismissed the flaw in a policy of calling for peace while encouraging war as “Both things can be true — the US can want diplomacy and support Israel’s larger goals against Hezbollah. There’s clearly a line that the administration is toeing, it’s just not clear what that line is.”

In spite of concerns from some in the government that a reckless Israel will go too far and ignite a major regional war that could easily spread beyond the Middle East, Politico reports how Hochstein and McGurk worked “behind the scenes” to encourage Israel and they are now describing Israel’s Lebanon operations likely to include a major land invasion as a “history-defining moment” — one that will “reshape the Middle East for the better for years to come.” That would seem to confirm that the United States and Israel are in fact collaborating and the US is fully complicit and de facto supporting the genocidal intention of Netanyahu to make a new Greater Israel largely free of Arabs. For the US, the extra benefit gained from defeating Hezbollah will be that it ultimately weakens Iran, neocon Washington’s perpetual arch enemy, which relies on Hezbollah as a proxy and a resource for projecting power. Of course, it could all go the other way and the joint American-Israeli plan could come to naught. Hezbollah notably routed invading Israeli forces in south Lebanon back in 2006 and it is better trained and equipped now than it was then. And what happens if Israeli army is in trouble and the US is forced to act on its pledge to “defend” the Jewish state, thereby leading a small war to expand and include Iran and Russia? The ball will be in your court Mr. Biden, or possibly Mr. Trump or Ms. Harris. Consider carefully how you will play it but if you really do want a ceasefire, I wouldn’t send Blinken, Hochstein and McGurk around to do the negotiating.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected].

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: The Israeli and American flags displayed on the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem (Photo: Yonatan Sindel)

Israel commands the world’s attention now, as it issues threats about a planned attack on Iran in retaliation of an Iranian attack of Israel, which was a retaliation to the Israeli assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and others.

The tit-for-tat strikes now run the risk of Israel hitting Iranian nuclear and oil facilities.

Should that happen, would Iran strike back and hit the Israeli nuclear arsenal at Dimona?

Would Iran shut the strait of Hormuz, effectively shutting off 25% of the world’s tanker-shipped crude oil?

With China buying 90% of the Iranian crude oil, would an attack bring China into a world war with Israel and the US?

Oil prices spiked recently after US President Joe Biden said he was discussing the possible Israeli attack on Iran’s oil industry. Analysts fear the price of a barrel of oil could hit $300 if Israel, backed by the US militarily, were to strike. Europeans and Americans would feel the effect of a conflict in West Asia in which diplomacy and compromise were thrown out the window by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the past year.

Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Suat Delgen, a former Turkish naval officer who focuses on the defense industry and foreign policy issues. He has extensive knowledge of naval warfare systems, NATO, EU security and defense policy, maritime security, new technologies, and Western Asia.

Steven Sahiounie (SS): According to the Wall Street Journal, the Iranian missiles launched against Israel were not all prevented from hitting their targets, despite Israel having spent billions of dollars of the American tax-payer’s money on air defense systems. In your opinion, does this prove the Iron Dome’s failure?

Suat Delgen (SD): Israel has a layered air defense system. In the layered air defense system low, medium, high altitude air defense systems and ballistic missile defense systems are used together. Israel’s multi-layered air defense system consists of four components; Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow-2, Arrow 3. David’s Sling, Arrow-2, Arrow 3 missiles are used in defense against ballistic missiles. However, considering that Iran attacked with about 200 ballistic missiles in the last attack, it is an expected result that the counter-engagement capability of the defense systems reached saturation and some ballistic missiles could not be shot down. Therefore, it cannot be said that the Israeli air defense system is a complete failure, but rather that it is sometimes saturated and inadequate against large-scale missile attacks. I believe that Israel will make some improvements and updates to its layered air defense missile system, especially after the recent attack, in order to increase the effectiveness of its defense against hypersonic missiles.

SS: According to media reports, Russia has sent a new version of the S-400 to help Iran defend against Israel. In your opinion, if Israel strikes Iran, who will win this war, the F-35 or the S-400?

SD: The S-400 air defense system was not very effective against Sculp and Strom Shadow cruise missiles in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In particular, the S-400 air defense system could not provide an effective defense against the headquarters building of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. For this reason, I do not consider the S-400 to be an effective air defense system against the F-35. However, one point should be emphasized here. In the event of a possible Iranian attack, the downing of an F-35 aircraft by the S-400 would give Russia a very serious psychological advantage and prestige. For this reason, I believe that Russia will covertly support Iran against the F-35 fighter jets not only with S-400s, but also with other electronic warfare systems.

SS: Satellite images have shown significant destruction in several Israeli military bases from of the Iranian missiles attack. In your view, was the Iranian attack successful?

SD: The success of a military operation is not measured by the damage it causes. The success of a military operation is measured by the achievement of the political and military goals set during the planning stage. Iran’s goal was not to inflict great damage on Israel. Iran wanted to show Israel that it had the means and capability to inflict damage on itself, if it so chose. Second, Iran had to respond to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. This response should not be so harsh as to draw Iran into an all-out war, but it should be effective enough to show that it can hurt Israel. In this respect, I believe that Iran has achieved its goal.

SS: Israel carried out several assassinations against Hezbollah members, and was behind the attack on pagers and walkie-talkies. In your point of view, what caused this security weakness in Hezbollah?

SD: The Iranian attacks against Hezbollah members and Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon show that Israeli intelligence has a lot of influence within Hezbollah. I think this has led to insecurity within Hezbollah. Without addressing the security weaknesses within Hezbollah, Hezbollah will not be able to make very effective decisions.

SS: Hezbollah has lost a number of military leaders because of the Israeli airstrikes. In your opinion, how much does this weaken Hezbollah?

SD: Hassan Nasrallah was a charismatic leader who analyzed political and military developments very accurately, and ensured that Hezbollah was positioned in the right place. In this regard, thanks to Nasrallah, Hezbollah received support from all segments of Lebanese society. Hezbollah will certainly choose a new leader, but this person will not be able to replace Nasrallah. Moreover, given the influence of Israeli intelligence within Hezbollah, the new leader will not receive the support from all segments of Lebanese society that Nasrallah did, and there will always be suspicions about him.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on Mideast Discourse.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from MD

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Dear Global Research Readers,

We stand in solidarity with Dr. William Makis in his commitment to humanity.

To his commitment to the Truth. Listen carefully to his testimony. 

The Covid 19 “Vaccine” from the very outset in January 2021 has been conducive to a Worldwide Upward Movement in Mortality 

What Dr Makis is describing is “the criminalization of justice”.   

The future of humanity is at stake. And we must support and endorse Dr. William Makis in his endeavours.

Click here to access the extensive archive of his articles regarding the Covid mrNA “Vaccine”.

This is happening all over the world: children and adolescents are dying.

The Global Research Team

.

Click here to watch the video

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.  

There aren’t many countries in the world that have been subjected to as much ridicule as North Korea. The mainstream propaganda machine regularly presents it as a supposedly “backward society”, particularly in terms of technological development. And yet, in reality, Pyongyang is ahead of the entire political West (the United States included) in critical technologies such as hypersonic weapons.

Namely, unlike the US, North Korea actually fields these missiles, while the former is still struggling to conduct a single successful test of a prototype (to say nothing about inducting such weapons into service). However, there are still certain technologies that require decades to master and this includes nuclear-powered submarines. Only a handful of countries operate these vessels: the US, UK, France, Russia, China and India. Australia is in the process of acquiring them from Washington DC, but this still doesn’t mean it mastered the technologies needed to build them.

Nuclear-powered submarines offer a number of strategic advantages over those with conventional propulsion, primarily the ability to stay underwater for months.

They’re by far the most survivable part of any nuclear triad, as it’s an exceedingly difficult task to track and destroy them in case of a thermonuclear confrontation. Russia and the US both have submarines capable of launching their SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) while underwater, making them effectively untouchable before it’s too late.

Thus, if a military power with a global reach wants to ensure deterrence no matter what, it needs nuclear-powered submarines. Due to its size, North Korea is not a country you’d normally describe as a global military power. However, it seems precisely this is the case. Namely, quoting South Korean reports, military sources indicate that Pyongyang is now building its first nuclear-powered submarine, an unprecedented development for a small country.

North Korea has already accumulated significant experience in operating all sorts of submarine types, including conventionally-powered ones, but armed with nuclear-tipped SLBMs. This alone makes it an extremely dangerous opponent, but the fact that it can now build a nuclear-powered submarine enhances its strategic arsenal exponentially.

It’s still unknown if the vessel will be an SSBN (nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine) or SSGN (nuclear-powered guided missile submarine) (image above), with the latter vessel armed with cruise missiles (both conventional and nuclear-tipped).

However, whichever path Pyongyang chooses for its new capability, it’ll be a strategic game changer. This will allow the North Korean military to strike targets anywhere within the range of the submarine’s weapons, be it SLBMs or SLCMs (submarine-launched cruise missiles). Such developments are particularly alarming for Washington DC and its vassals and satellite states.

Namely, the Pentagon’s ability to threaten North Korea’s strategic arsenal will be effectively nullified with the appearance of the latter’s nuclear-powered submarines. What’s more, this also enhances Pyongyang’s ability to strike high-value targets all across the increasingly contested Asia-Pacific region. Worse yet for America, even if North Korean SLBMs have a relatively limited range, it’ll still be in the thousands of kilometers, meaning they can reach targets within the continental US, particularly the western seaboard. This critically important part of the world’s most aggressive thalassocracy is already threatened by Russian and Chinese nuclear-powered submarines, so having North Korean ones is certainly a strategic setback. However, Washington DC’s unprecedented aggression against the entire world is the main reason why this is the case. Unfortunately, the US never even attempted to keep its unrelenting obsession with wars, death and destruction in check.

On the contrary, America has only become worse in this regard, as evidenced by its new nuclear doctrine of attacking everyone at once. This has left the US facing three nuclear-armed opponents in the Pacific – Russia, China and North Korea. Pyongyang is particularly determined to prevent any unprovoked American attacks.

The gruesome war crimes and atrocities committed by the US military during the Korean War [deaths of up 30 percent of the North Korean Population] are still ingrained in the memory of millions of Koreans.

Indiscriminate American bombing of population centers in North Korea left millions dead and wounded, prompting Pyongyang to ensure this never happens again.

Pyongyang 1953

Pyongyang 21st Century

It is worth noting that Russia is building even closer ties with North Korea.

Thus, it’s highly likely that Moscow is providing support to Pyongyang’s efforts to build nuclear-powered submarines, an area in which Russia is one of the world’s leaders, with its own submarines able to destroy any enemy.

This would certainly explain why Kim Jong Un confidently announced that North Korea is a “nuclear military superpower” during a recent speech.

And indeed, while small, it has all the attributes of one.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Simpo-Class Submarine, (Source: KCNA/From the Public Domain)

A balanced diet is important for proper nutrition, but many people fall short on essential micronutrients due to consuming energy-dense but nutrient-poor foods

Micronutrient deficiencies lead to significant health issues like pregnancy complications, weakened immunity and increased risk of diseases

A recent study published in The Lancet Global Health found that over half of the global population is lacking essential micronutrients, with deficiencies varying by age and gender

The researchers found that more than 5 billion people are deficient in iodine (68%), vitamin E (67%) and calcium (66%), while over 4 billion lack iron (65%), riboflavin (55%), folate (54%) and vitamin C (53%)

In the U.S., common nutrient deficiencies include vitamins D, B12, B1, B2, B3, A, C and E, as well as calcium, magnesium and iodine. Tips to address these deficiencies are included below

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Food goes beyond providing energy — it’s essential for proper nutrition. Yet, many people fail to get the essential micronutrients they need. The problem often lies in food quality rather than quantity. People are consuming energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, setting them up for an excess of omega-6 fats from seed oils as well as added sugars, while missing out on vital micronutrients.

Micronutrient deficiencies are a prevalent form of malnutrition, leading to serious consequences like pregnancy complications, weakened immunity and increased risk of diseases. While past studies have investigated nutrient deficiencies and supplies, there has been no comprehensive global assessment of micronutrient intake inadequacies until now.

A recent study published in The Lancet Global Health¹ addresses this gap by evaluating whether current intake levels meet recommended health standards, focusing on deficiencies across different ages and genders. Their findings highlight an alarming trend — over half of the global population is deficient in the necessary micronutrients for optimal health.

Global Study Reveals Alarming Widespread Micronutrient Inadequacies

The study,² conducted by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), used data from 31 countries to model global nutrient needs. They applied these models to a dataset from 185 countries, estimating nutrient deficiencies for 99.3% of the world’s population. Fifteen essential nutrients, including calcium, B vitamins and vitamin C, were evaluated across different age and gender groups.

“Our study is a big step forward,” said co-lead author Christopher Free, Ph.D., a research professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), in a news release.³ “Not only because it is the first to estimate inadequate micronutrient intakes for 34 age-sex groups in nearly every country, but also because it makes these methods and results easily accessible to researchers and practitioners.” According to the authors:⁴

“More than 5 billion people do not consume enough iodine (68% of the global population), vitamin E (67%) and calcium (66%). More than 4 billion people do not consume enough iron (65%), riboflavin (55%), folate (54%) and vitamin C (53%).

Within the same country and age groups, estimated inadequate intakes were higher for women than for men for iodine, vitamin B12, iron and selenium and higher for men than for women for magnesium, vitamin B6, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamin and niacin.”

These results underscore the widespread nature of micronutrient deficiencies globally, revealing distinct patterns related to sex and geographic location. “We hope this analysis … improves understanding of global micronutrient inadequacy so that public health interventions can more effectively address deficiencies,” the researchers concluded.

Common Nutrient Deficiencies in the US

According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), an estimated 31% of the U.S. population is at risk of developing one or more micronutrient deficiencies.⁵ The most common nutrient deficiencies include vitamins D, B1, B2, B3 and B12, A, C, E, calcium, magnesium and iodine.

Although the study didn’t include vitamin D since it primarily focused on nutrients obtained through diet, vitamin D deficiency remains a significant concern in the U.S., impacting approximately 35% of the population.⁶ Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for various physiological functions, including calcium absorption, bone health and immune function.

While it’s found naturally in some foods, your body endogenously produces vitamin D when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun.

However, many factors limit this natural production, including living in northern latitudes, having darker skin, spending most time indoors or using sunscreen. Additionally, as people age, their skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D from sun exposure.⁷

The ideal way to increase your vitamin D levels is through sensible sun exposure. On a typical sunny day,⁸ your body produces up to 25,000 international units IU of vitamin D. However, it’s important to approach sun exposure with care, especially if your diet is high in seed oils (rich in linoleic acid, or LA).

These oils migrate to your skin and oxidize when exposed to sunlight, causing inflammation and DNA damage, which makes you more prone to sunburn. If you’re on a high-LA diet, I recommend avoiding intense sun exposure until you’ve reduced your seed oil intake for four to six months. As you reduce your LA intake, slowly increase your time outdoors. You’ll eventually be able to enjoy an hour or more during peak sunlight hours.

If you’re unable to get adequate sun exposure, vitamin D3 supplementation is a wise choice. For health and disease prevention, aim for a level between 60 ng/mL and 80 ng/mL. In Europe, the measurements you’re looking for are 150 to 200 nmol/L, respectively.

To determine how much vitamin D3 you need to take, measure your vitamin D level, ideally twice a year. Your ideal dose is whatever it takes to keep you within that 60 ng/mL to 80 ng/mL range. It’s also important to remember that calcium, vitamin D3, magnesium and vitamin K2 must be properly balanced, as these four nutrients work together.

Vitamin B1, B2 and B3

Vitamin B1, also known as thiamine, is used by nearly all your cells and is essential for several functions in the body, including energy production, nerve function, heart health, cognition, digestion and immune function.⁹

While thiamine deficiency is often the result of alcohol misuse, chronic infections, poor nutrition and/or malabsorption, research suggests vitamin B1 availability has dramatically declined throughout the food chain in recent years,¹⁰ and that naturally affects your ability to get sufficient thiamine from your diet.

Adult men and women need 1.2 and 1.1 milligrams (mg), respectively, each day.¹¹ If you have symptoms of thiamine deficiency, you might need higher doses. For tips on how to boost your vitamin B1 levels, I recommend reading my article, “Common Signs of Vitamin B1 Deficiency.”

Similarly, vitamin B2, commonly known as riboflavin, is important for energy production, cellular function and metabolism. As a coenzyme in various redox reactions, riboflavin is essential for converting food into usable energy. It plays a central role in the electron transport chain, where it helps produce ATP, the primary energy source for the body. This makes riboflavin particularly important for overall energy levels and metabolic health.^12,13

To increase your riboflavin levels, consume a diet rich in riboflavin sources. Good dietary sources include grass fed dairy products, lean meats like grass fed beef tenderloin, organic low-PUFA eggs, cremini and portabella mushrooms, and green leafy vegetables like spinach and beet greens.

Vitamin B3 exists in two primary forms — niacin (nicotinic acid) and niacinamide (nicotinamide). Both are essential to human health and play important roles in cellular metabolism, converting the food you eat into energy.

These forms of vitamin B3 also serve as precursors for the coenzymes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), which are vital for energy production, DNA repair and cell signaling.

For optimal health, I recommend taking 50 mg of niacinamide three times a day. This dosage has been shown to optimize energy metabolism and boost NAD+ levels.

The problem with taking too much vitamin B3, whether in the form of niacin or niacinamide, is that it might backfire and contribute to cardiovascular disease as demonstrated in a study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic.¹⁴ I talked more about this in my article, “Vitamin B3 Boosts Muscle Mass, Improves Glucose Control.” As for food sources, vitamin B3 is found in grass fed beef and beef liver, bananas and mushrooms.¹⁵

Vitamin B12

Also known as cobalamin, vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin that plays a role in numerous biochemical reactions and neurological functions in your body, including DNA synthesis. Your body can’t make vitamin B12 on its own, so it must be obtained via your diet or supplementation.¹⁶

According to NHANES data, about 3.6% of U.S. adults aged 19 and older have a vitamin B12 deficiency, with the rate slightly increasing to 3.7% in those 60 and older. However, vitamin B12 insufficiency is more common, affecting around 12.5% of adults aged 19 and older and 12.3% of those 60 and older. During pregnancy, vitamin B12 levels often decrease, sometimes falling below normal levels.¹⁷

Vitamin B12 is found almost exclusively in animal foods, such as grass fed beef and beef liver, lamb, organic eggs and grass fed dairy products. The few plant foods that are sources of B12 are actually B12 analogs that block the uptake of true B12, so do not make the mistake of thinking you can rely on vegan sources for all your B12 needs.

If you rarely eat the foods listed, consider using nutritional yeast. It’s high in B12 and has a cheesy flavor that works well on any number of dishes. One 16-gram serving (just over 2 tablespoons) provides 24 micrograms of natural vitamin B12.¹⁸ Advancing age diminishes your body’s ability to absorb B12 from food, so you might want to consider supplementation as you get older.¹⁹

Vitamins A and C

An estimated 51% of adults are not consuming enough vitamin A,²⁰ increasing their risk of degenerative diseases like macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the U.S.²¹ Vitamin A is also responsible for immune system function as well as cellular growth and differentiation.²²

Vitamin A is a group of nutrients that falls into two different categories — retinoids found in animal foods and carotenoids found in plant foods. The two are chemically different and provide different health benefits, but both are necessary for optimal health. Plant foods high in beta-carotene include sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupe and mangoes. Animal foods rich in vitamin A include liver, egg yolks and grass fed butter.²³

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is known for its potent antioxidant properties and role in numerous bodily functions, including tissue growth and repair, collagen synthesis, iron absorption and immune function.²⁴

A wide variety of foods are high in vitamin C, including red pepper, parsley, broccoli, kiwi, strawberries, guava, tomato and all citrus fruits. You’ll get significant amounts of vitamin C from your diet if you eat these foods on a daily basis.

In addition to dietary sources, I highly recommend keeping liposomal vitamin C in your medicine cabinet, particularly for acute viral illnesses. If I were to become acutely ill, I would take 4 grams of liposomal vitamin C every hour until feeling better, then start decreasing the dosage slowly over a few days once symptoms improve.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin with potent antioxidant properties, protecting your cells from free radical damage. It also supports the production of red blood cells, regulates your body’s use of vitamin K (which is important for heart health) and is involved in your immune function and cell signaling.²⁵ Additionally, it protects your body against damage caused by linoleic acid and estrogen.

In the U.S. alone, approximately 88.5% of the population fails to reach the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin E.²⁶ To increase vitamin E levels, eat foods rich in this nutrient, including spinach, pumpkin, asparagus, red bell peppers, tomatoes, kiwi and mango.²⁷

Some health authorities recommend vegetable oils, seeds and nuts as good sources,²⁸ but these are actually terrible due to their high LA content. Beans — another good source of vitamin E — are also problematic for many due to their high lectin content.

Supplementation is also an option to increase your levels, but it’s important to look for a real vitamin E supplement and not synthetic. What you’re looking for is “d alpha tocopherol.” I go into detail about this in “Vitamin E Helps Decrease Your Cancer Risk.”

Calcium and Magnesium

Over 40% of the U.S. population fails to meet their calcium needs through diet alone, putting them at increased risk of bone-related issues such as osteoporosis and fractures.²⁹ Calcium is also essential for muscle contraction, nerve transmission and blood clotting.³⁰

A deficiency in calcium coupled with excess phosphorus intake due to phosphate additives in processed food poses additional risk, as it disrupts your calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, which leads to calcification of the vascular system and cardiovascular problems.³¹

Some good dietary sources of calcium to increase your levels include grass fed dairy products like yogurt, milk and cheese made from animal rennet. Some vegetables contain this mineral as well, such as collard greens, spinach, turnip greens, kale, cooked taro root and bok choy.³²

Estimates suggest that over half of the U.S. population also aren’t getting enough magnesium from their diet.³³ While the minimum amount needed to avoid deficiency is about 150 to 180 milligrams per day, optimal levels are closer to 600 milligrams per day. For reference, the RDA ranges from 310 to 420 milligrams per day, depending on age and sex.³⁴

Some good dietary sources of magnesium include dark chocolate, leafy greens, potatoes (peeled and boiled) and plain organic yogurt, to name a few. Avocados are also commonly recommended as a good source of this mineral, but they’re high in monounsaturated fat (MUFAs), which harms your metabolic function if consumed in excess.

Iodine

Iodine is an essential trace mineral that plays a role in the production of thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism, growth and development. Adequate iodine intake is vital for maintaining healthy thyroid function and reducing the risk of disorders such as goiter and hypothyroidism. In addition, iodine is important for healthy bone and brain development during pregnancy and infancy.³⁵

Foods that contain higher amounts of iodine include sea vegetables, such as kelp, kombu and wakame.³⁶ Kelp has the highest amount of any food and just one serving gives you four times the recommended daily allowance. Organic, grass fed butter is another good source of iodine. Iodized salt also increases your levels if you don’t avoid eating it in the mistaken belief that it’s bad for your heart.

Will Taking a Multivitamin Help with Nutrient Deficiencies?

A diet rich in whole, nutrient-dense foods is key to avoiding nutrient deficiency. However, multivitamins help address gaps if you’re not eating right or if you suspect you have deficiencies. Research³⁷ from Oregon State University found that older men who took multivitamins showed improved nutritional biomarkers compared to those who took a placebo.

In fact, some participants in the placebo group had decreased nutrition markers, indicating that diet alone might not be sufficient, particularly for maintaining vitamin and carotenoid levels.³⁸Multivitamins also benefit memory in older adults. One study³⁹ found that daily use could improve memory performance comparable to reversing about three years of age-related decline compared to a placebo.

If you’re planning to take multivitamins, it’s generally recommended to take half your daily dose in the morning, with breakfast, and the other half with your main meal. Remember, though, that multivitamins should complement, not replace, a healthy diet.

Dietary supplements are meant to support a balanced lifestyle, not substitute for it. Consider consulting with a holistic health professional to identify specific nutrient deficiencies and tailor your supplement and food choices to address them.

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Notes

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⁶ StatPearls [Internet]. Vitamin D Deficiency

⁷ Endocrine. 2023; 79(1): 31–44

⁸ Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2019;189

⁹ Biosci Rep. 2023 Oct 31;43(10):BSR20230374

¹⁰ The Science Times January 31, 2021

¹¹ NIH Thiamin, February 9, 2023

¹² NIH ODS, Riboflavin

¹³ StatPearls [Internet]. Biochemistry, Oxidative Phosphorylation

¹⁴ Nature Medicine volume 30, pages 424–434 (2024)

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¹⁶ StatPearls [Internet]. Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

¹⁷ Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Riboflavin — Vitamin B2

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²¹ Front Nutr. 2022; 9: 914457

^22, 23 NIH ODS, Vitamin A and Carotenoids

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^25, 28 NIH ODS, Vitamin E

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³¹ Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2024 Mar;44(3):584-602

³² Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Food Sources of Calcium

³³ Oregon State University, Micronutrient Inadequacies (Magnesium)

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^35, 36 NIH ODS, Iodine

³⁷ Nutrients 2023, 15(12), 2691; doi: 10.3390/nu15122691

³⁸ Oregon State University June 14, 2023

³⁹ The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition July 2023, Volume 118, Issue 1, Pages 273-282, Results

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