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Janey Thompson, daughter of WBT radio host Bo Thompson, dies after complications from blood clot 

By Spencer Chrisman

Published: Apr. 10, 2024 at 2:03 PM MDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Janey Thompson, the daughter of WBT Morning Show Radio Host Bo Thompson, has passed away after suffering complications from a blood clot, according to the radio station.

Janey died on Tuesday, April 9. She was a sophomore at Wake Forest University and was a biophysics major.

While at Wake Forest, she was a member of the National Society of Physics Students, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Delta Delta Delta sorority.

She was a 2022 graduate of Myers Park High School where she played varsity basketball and softball.

The radio station released the following statement regarding the passing of Janey:

The WBT and Radio One family is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Bo Thompson’s daughter, Janey. There are no words to provide adequate comfort under these circumstances, but we are committed to supporting Bo and his family in any way possible during this difficult time. We know that the WBT Community of listeners joins us in prayers for the Thompson family.

She was mandated COVID-19 Vaccines at Wake Forest University

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My Take…

18 year old Janey Thompson was a fit, high level athlete who played varsity basketball and softball. In the fall of 2022, she was accepted to Wake Forest University (biophysics major) and was required to produce proof of COVID-19 Vaccination Status to attend University.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate was dropped as of May 12, 2023.

Janey, a high level athlete, died less than a year after the mandate was dropped, from a blood clot that “traveled from her leg to her heart”, blood clots being one of the more common side effects of COVID-19 Vaccines.

This is a high likelihood case of a 20 year old girl being murdered by an illegal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate. 

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Case 02: 21 year old Bryce Stanfield, football player and health sciences student collapsed at Furman University in SC during a football workout on Feb. 7, was on life support & died on Feb. 9, 2024. Autopsy: pulmonary embolism

  • Bryce had to abide by a COVID-19 Vaccine mandate to attend Furman University in the fall of 2022 and again in the fall of 2023

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Case 03 – University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) nursing student 21 year old Mia Brown had a medical emergency at the Recreation Center, collapsed and died suddenly on Feb. 12, 2024.

  • Mia Brown had to abide by a COVID-19 Vaccine mandate to attend UCCS in the fall of 2022

 

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Case 04 – Michigan State University student and political science major, 19 year old Angela Christy died in her sleep on Dec. 30, 2023.

  • Mar. 31, 2022: “Our daughter Angela will be attending MSU in the fall. We are beyond proud of her and all of her accomplishments”
  • (Fall 2022 – Angela had to abide by COVID-19 Vaccine and booster mandate to be able to attend Michigan State University)
  • Feb. 28, 2023: “Michigan State University is dropping a COVID-19 vaccine and booster mandate for students and staff a little more than a year after introducing the requirement”
  • Dec. 31, 2023: “We are heartbroken and devastated as our precious daughter Angela Grace suddenly and unexpectedly passed away yesterday in her sleep at 19 years old”

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Case 05 – Fayetteville, NY – 21 year old Salvatore Angotti, basketball and lacrosse player and senior at University at Buffalo died unexpectedly on Oct. 4, 2023.

  • Fall 2021 & Fall 2022 – Salvatore had to abide by COVID-19 Vaccine and booster mandate to be able to attend University at Buffalo

 

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Case 06 – 21 year old Megha Thakur, 21 year old Western University (Canada) student, had a heart attack and died 4 months later on Nov. 24, 2022. Five days after her death, Western University revoked their COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.

 

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April 12, 2024 – Most Canadian Universities continue deadly COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates:

 

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More than 5000 US Colleges and Universities mandated COVID-19 Vaccines

 

Click here to watch the video

My Take…

I don’t understand why parents didn’t push back harder against University and College COVID-19 Vaccine mandates, all of which were illegal.

I have reported over 100 sudden deaths of University or College students. That means there are thousands such deaths.

Even 1 or 2 deaths at each of the 5000 Universities & Colleges that mandated the jabs, would mean thousands of needless deaths.

Certain Universities have had numerous sudden & unexplained student deaths since the jabs were mandated in the fall of 2021 (Cornell, Princeton, Penn State).

So far, not a single University or College leader has been prosecuted for the student deaths their mandates caused. That must change, because the injuries & deaths will continue for a very long time.

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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


The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

by Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.

“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”

Reviews

This is an in-depth resource of great interest if it is the wider perspective you are motivated to understand a little better, the author is very knowledgeable about geopolitics and this comes out in the way Covid is contextualized. —Dr. Mike Yeadon

In this war against humanity in which we find ourselves, in this singular, irregular and massive assault against liberty and the goodness of people, Chossudovsky’s book is a rock upon which to sustain our fight. –Dr. Emanuel Garcia

In fifteen concise science-based chapters, Michel traces the false covid pandemic, explaining how a PCR test, producing up to 97% proven false positives, combined with a relentless 24/7 fear campaign, was able to create a worldwide panic-laden “plandemic”; that this plandemic would never have been possible without the infamous DNA-modifying Polymerase Chain Reaction test – which to this day is being pushed on a majority of innocent people who have no clue. His conclusions are evidenced by renown scientists. —Peter Koenig 

Professor Chossudovsky exposes the truth that “there is no causal relationship between the virus and economic variables.” In other words, it was not COVID-19 but, rather, the deliberate implementation of the illogical, scientifically baseless lockdowns that caused the shutdown of the global economy. –David Skripac

A reading of  Chossudovsky’s book provides a comprehensive lesson in how there is a global coup d’état under way called “The Great Reset” that if not resisted and defeated by freedom loving people everywhere will result in a dystopian future not yet imagined. Pass on this free gift from Professor Chossudovsky before it’s too late.  You will not find so much valuable information and analysis in one place. –Edward Curtin

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0,  Year: 2022,  PDF Ebook,  Pages: 164, 15 Chapters

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

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Mobilisation reserves in Ukraine have been emptied while the military calls for troop rotation at the front, which cannot be done, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on his Telegram channel on October 23. This is unsurprising as Ukraine has been illegally mobilising men since at least January, demonstrating the alarming lack of manpower the country has, an issue even well before the failed so-called “Spring Offensive,” which actually began in early June.

“The mobilisation in Ukraine has turned into a real nightmare for the Ukrainians […] Ukraine’s reserves have been emptied, while at the front, the military is asking for a rotation [of troops], which cannot be done due to lack of personnel in the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” said the former Ukrainian Prime Minister.

According to Azarov’s publication, recruitment centres began attracting former prisoners to “capture” as much of the population as possible because the mobilisation resource was exhausted, and many people fled the country in any way possible.

“Thus, as long as the Ukrainian authorities use force against their own people, there will be fewer and fewer supporters in the country, and fewer volunteers will appear in the ranks of the Ukrainian forces,” the former Ukrainian prime minister added.

“This means that with such sentiments in society, Ukraine has a catastrophically low chance of holding its own,” Azarov concluded.

Earlier, a spokesperson of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the mobilisation potential of Ukraine still allows additional recruitment of men of military age without changing the legislation. Ukraine has been under martial law since February 24, 2022, and the next day, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilisation, and thus, male citizens aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine’s borders. In fact, the legislation is so draconian that Ukrainian men face prison sentences of up to five years for evading military service during mobilisation.

However, even the few provisions within the draconian legislation are being violated, such as the procedure for delivering summonses – a written document issued in the name of a specific person – for conscription. The summons must be prepared in advance, and if issued correctly, the conscript must appear before the relevant state body responsible for mobilisation. According to the law, summonses cannot be delivered by messenger, text, phone, or e-mail, and they cannot be filled out in front of the person to whom it is handed. If the summons is issued incorrectly, the conscript does not have to appear for mobilisation.

Yet, in Ukraine, these few provisions in the legislation are being violated on a mass scale. 

One such case occurred in January 2023 in Odessa, when military recruiters hid inside an ambulance, and when they saw men of military age, they jumped out onto the street, handed out summons and forcibly dragged those who resisted into the ambulance. A month later, in Ternopil, military recruiters grabbed men at a bus station and forced them into the bus. Then, on March 20, a video appeared in which a taxi driver in Odessa expressed “insufficiently patriotic thoughts”, but two days later, he was reportedly “found and drafted into the army.”

These are just three examples of countless Ukrainians being literally dragged off the streets to fight in a war they have no interest in being involved in. This is also a major contributing reason to the utter failure of the so-called “spring offensive.” These forcibly conscripted men became the “cannon fodder” we heard about over the summer because they naturally had low morale and lacked military training.

In addition, many men are motivated to join the Ukrainian military just because it is one of the few secure sources of income, no matter how meagre it is, due to the destroyed economy. However, many of these men end up dead, become incapacitated due to injury, or do their best to avoid conflict to preserve their lives.

It is recalled that Ukrainian investigators detained Yevhen Borisov on charges of illegal enrichment, dereliction of duty, and evading military service in July. Borisov was fired as the military commissioner of the Odessa region in June after investigative reports found he and family members had bought property in Spain along with luxury automobiles worth $4 million, money he attained from taking bribes for exemptions, among other reasons.

In this way, Ukraine does not only have the problem of empty reserves, as highlighted by Azarov, but deep corruption that means many military-age men can avoid conscription, so long as they can pay the bribe, whilst poor Ukrainian men, which today forms most of the male population, are literally dragged off the streets to participate in a futile war against Russia, which they know they cannot win.

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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 InfoBrics

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***

On April 1st when as Israeli airstrike took out half the Iran embassy compound in Damascus, Syria along with Iran’s top ranking generals and 5 other officers, Israel clearly violated international law (both UN Charter Article 51 and 1961’s Vienna Convention) that protects foreign nations’ embassies, consulates and staff around the world. The targeted slain victims were all invited military advisors stationed in Syria, unlike the illegal US military occupiers refusing to leave both Syria and Iraq.

Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei responded by informing Israel and the world that it will deliver a payback “slap in the face” to Israel for its escalated aggression that is clearly a Netanyahu provocation, deliberately attempting to ignite the larger war in the Middle East in order to drag the US into World War III. Though Biden made the usual claim that US support for Israel is “ironclad,” sending US aircraft and destroyers into the area with missile ballistic defense systems to protect Israel, he also made an agreement with Iran not to intervene against Iran’s response after Iran warned the US to stay out of Tehran’s retribution in answer to Israel’s latest aggression.

The stage was already set when on April 13th last Saturday around noon local time Iranian special forces seized an Israeli operated container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing it into Iran port. Then late Saturday night began Iran’s intense barrage reportedly launching over 300 Kamikaze drones, rockets and cruise and ballistic missiles, simultaneously fired directly into Israel from not only directly from Iran, but Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran proxy groups in both Iraq and Syria. With Iran launching the world’s largest drone strike in history and Iran’s biggest missile launch in its history, the world stands at the abyss of global disaster.

The next day on Sunday April 14th Israel and Netanyahu were boasting that 99% of the incoming drones and missiles were effectively intercepted. IDF spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said that most of the drones and missiles were destroyed even prior to entering Israeli airspace, neutralized by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, with assistance from the US and allied coalition member UK, France and even Muslim monarchies Jordan and Saudi Arabia apparently shot down Iran drones. Apparently historical oil-rich Gulf States are still siding with the US/West and Islamic world isn’t so unified as recent appearances indicated. An anonymous source for the Saud family just told the Israeli public broadcaster Kan that the Saudi government blames Iran for financing terrorism responsible for the Hamas October 7th assault on Israel, sabotaging the burgeoning normalized relations between Riyadh and West Jerusalem.

The tally of Iran weapons launched against Israel included about 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles. Israel’s estimated cost was over $1 billion defending itself from the Iran missile and drone attack. Iran stated that its limited objective was to hit an Israeli intelligence base apparently located in the occupied Golan Heights, according to former intelligence operative Hal Turner. That secret base played a key role in the IDF airstrike attack that killed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers in Damascus on April 1st.  Also, two IDF airbases were targeted by Iran in Israel’s Negev Desert. Iran announced its limited campaign hitting only military targets as an appropriate, proportionally measured response was successful exercising Iran’s right to self-defense and that it will suffice for now. Israel admitted only minor damage sustained at one airbase and that a 10-year old Bedouin Israeli girl was slightly injured from falling shrapnel with no deaths or other injuries reported in Israel.

According to an unnamed US defense official, Biden told Netanyahu late Saturday night that the US will not support Israel if it retaliates further against Iran, reportedly telling Bibi:

You got a win. Take the win.

According to a Sunday April 14th Axios exclusive:

The official said that when Biden told Netanyahu that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran and will not support such operations, Netanyahu said he understood.

According to a White House statement, Biden revealed:

I told Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.

This drone and missile attack was Iran’s first military intervention launched from Iran soil against Israel ever. It’s limited strategic objective purposely spared the Israeli population and primarily was intended to send a message of deterrence to Israel, warning that if Israel retaliates, Iran’s response will be much “more extensive” and devastating. Days in advance of Iran’s weekend drone/missile launch, many Islamic nations in the Middle East warned the US of their refusal to allow US to use their land, sea and airspace to help Israel. An early Sunday April 14th CNN article claimed:

American forces intercepted 70 drones and at least three ballistic missiles.

The Biden team held a conference call on Sunday with its G7 counterparts “to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” collectively condemning Iran and demanding restraint.

My impression is that last weekend’s events were all pure theater, carefully plotted and choreographed to make Biden appear more presidential as commander-in-chief during his election year, showing he isn’t so weak and feeble after all, stepping up to save humanity from end of the world Armageddon with his decisive intervention warning Bibi the Butcher no help from US if he retaliates.

It’s a staged shitshow to project the optics that Biden is capable of finally putting his foot down and setting limits with the defiant Israeli dictator who previously has gone out of his way to humiliate Biden by flagrantly refusing all his requests and pressure. It seems to be a high profile image enhancement exercise, an impression management charade spectacle serving as humanity’s projected temporary reprieve from World War III gone kinetic, for the time being at least until the November election.

Incisive geopolitical journalist Brian Berletic wrote a very recent article just ahead of this weekend’s Iranian drone/missile attack on Israel tracing today’s events back to a think tank policy paper from 15 years ago. It crystalizes my own impression and conclusion that this last weeks’ events were all scripted years in advance, as is so often the case. Brian’s New Eastern Outlook piece dated April 15th entitled “2009 US Policy Paper Planned Current Israeli0Iranian Tensions opens with the following sentence:

In reality, almost verbatim, US-Israeli diplomacy (or lack thereof) and military operations are following a carefully laid out policy described in the pages of the Brooking Institution’s 2009 paper, “Which Path to Persia? Options for a new American Strategy Toward Iran.”

It immediately becomes apparent that this government-military-corporate funded behemoth think tank institution’s policy paper has literally been the US-Israel Middle East policy playbook for unfolding regional developments covertly manipulating tensions and hostilities against Iran by hegemonic power interests for the last decade and a half.

The Brooking paper constantly calls for using the press to project Iran the initiator of destabilizing tensions and conflict. Thus, in the immediate aftermath of Iran defending its own sovereignty, controlled puppet politicians in US and Israel in conjunction with the controlled corporate media predictably spin the narrative framing Iran as the belligerent aggressor and Israel the victim. Right on cue, on Sunday April 14th Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz went on the warpath against Iran, accusing:

Iran launched a large-scale and unprecedented attack against the state of Israel, which included hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. This attack once again proves what Israel has been saying for years: Iran is behind terrorist attacks in the region and is also the greatest threat to regional stability and world order, which is why Iran should never acquire nuclear weapons. Iran must pay the price for its aggression, and the first step in this direction must be immediate recognition of the Iranian IRGC – which carried out this large-scale terrorist attack against Israel – as a terrorist organization. The entire free world must stand with Israel against the axis of Iranian evil.

This is all too obvious that if Braindead Biden actually did convince Bibi the Butcher to forego his military retaliation against Iran, which still remains very questionable, FM Katz is attempting to rally the world currying favor for Israel, especially from the West and UN, into collectively delivering painful economic sanctions against Iran, seeking worldwide Israeli support intent on both distracting global attention away from its genocide against the Palestinians and absolving the Jewish Rogue State pariah of its over-the-top international crime on April Fool’s Day, bombing the Iran consulate in Syria, which is the real terrorist act here and of course Israel is actually the real “greatest threat to regional stability and world order.” And clearly all along, the real terrorist pariahs inflicting by far the most death and destruction on the planet are the US/Israel following orders from their kingpin City of London controllers.

Of course, perennial neocon blowhard John Bolton, former US national security adviser and ambassador to the UN had to rally for more warmongering rhetoric with the following statements to CNN:

Passivity at this point for Israel would be a big mistake. This is not time to play academic games and message and signal. This is a question of power. If they came from a different location containing nuclear warheads, Israel might not be so lucky.

Members of both the Senate and House are hardline AIPAC controlled Israeli firsters that demand Biden slam Iran with a new round of economic sanctions against Iran, totally ignoring Israel’s flagrant international breach of law taking out the Iran Consulate in Damascus.

Again, it’s okay if you violate international law as long as you line up on the US/West’s side. Total double standard arbitrarily applied with US rules-based exceptionalism, still trying to impose on nations deemed a threat to Washington’s waning unipolar order. On Monday Congress will vote to impose sanctions barring Iranian imports, Iran’s oil sales to China and financial transactions between Iran and US. Following Israel FM’s lead, the Israel controlled Congress will come up with more sanctions against Iran, and place pressure on EU to declare Iran’s military the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization.

Right on cue French warmonger Macron on Monday is calling for strengthening sanctions against Iran.

Another US House resolution also seeks to defy Biden’s edict and backs Israel’s military retaliation against Iran. Stand with Israel or be unseeded from your lofty position atop the US government is the kind of bribery/blackmail control Israel wields over Washington DC, of course per the marching orders of the City of London planetary controllers pushing the world toward the West vs. East Armageddon scenario.

Again, all of this appears more bread and circus theater and bluster to placate the worried world that WWIII is trying to be avoided. The real terrorists – the planetary controllers well over a century ago planned their scripted Armageddon Zio vs. Islamic war currently bent on executing their drastic depopulation agenda that’s also been in the works for some time, in due time unleashing their WWIII as the globalists’ biggest WMD kill weapon of them all. It seems the big one is coming sooner than later, i.e., possibly prior to the election with yet another US false flag terrorist attack at home as the excuse to declare national emergency martial law to cancel the November election.

As a sidelight to this big theatrical sideshow, Israel propaganda painting Iran as the big bad eternal enemy showing its evil “true colors” displays some of Saturday’s missiles fired at Israel. But the last several seconds of footage is from near a decade ago of a Russian Grad missile launch in what’s being purported as a compilation of this weekend’s Iranian strikes against Israel. This is just one among countless examples of how the Jewish State constantly uses deception to always over play its persecuted victim role to justify continually getting away with murderous genocide nonstop for the last three-quarters of a century during its entire existence as a nation.

Meanwhile, Putin stated this week:

If the United States wants to come to the field to support Israel, we will not sit idle here, the smallest attack by the United States on Iranian soil will force us to support Iran.

Iran’s account of Saturday’s “slap in the [Israeli] face” completely disputes the Israel claim that 99% of all the Iranian drones and missiles were successfully intercepted and failed to hit their targets. On Sunday April 14th Iran Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian stated:

In this operation, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with accurate calculations and using drones and guided missiles, targeted the military base where the Zionist regime’s F-35 aircraft carried out aggression on the building of Iran’s Embassy in Damascus.

The following day on Monday Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani stated:

Iran’s action was necessary and proportionate and targeted military sites. Iran acted to defend its national security and interests given the lack of action by the UN Security Council and ensuing irresponsible behavior of the US, Britain and France.

Again, Iran’s response was precise, measured and on estimate parity with the Israeli April 1st attack, although minus any IDF top brass generals assassinated, unlike the IRGC officers in Syria.

Also on Sunday, Chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Baqeri stated that Iran’s hypersonic missiles “reached their goals,” hitting Israel’s Nevatim Airbase where the US made F-35s were used to carry out the terrorist attack on the Iran Consulate. These claims refute the probable lies from Netanyahu and his war cabinet that little to no damage in Israel occurred. Israel’s war cabinet is discussing how it will respond to the Iran attack as again Bibi could once again defy Biden and retaliate and escalate the wider conflict further. IDF spokesman Peter Lerner told the press on Monday April 15th:

Just because we were successful in intercepting, we should not underestimate what Iran did. We are currently reviewing the options after IDF presented what it believes could be done. [Countermeasures could involve] a strike or no strike.

Iranians celebrate in the city of Ahvaz on April 14, 2024 after hearing news of the country’s retaliation against the Israeli regime’s terrorist attack on the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic mission in Damascus. (Photo by Tasnim news agency)

Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged his government to send the strong signal to its enemies, with this dangerously volatile, provocative, if not maniacal rhetoric:

Ideas of containment and moderation are the perceptions that ended on October 7. To create a deterrent in the Middle East, Israel has got to show that it is prepared to go berserk.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Iran Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) warned Israel with the statement:

Should the Israeli regime plan to continue its wicked actions against Iran, by any means or methods or at any levels, it will get a response ten times harsher.

According to Iran’s Press TV in an article on Monday April 15th:

The Iranian Army Chief Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi says the country will not hesitate to give a ‘stormy and unified’ response to any act of aggression against it.

Brutally massacring close to 34,000 Palestinians in just over six months, mostly women and children, Israel lost this war months ago before the world court of public opinion. Both Israel and the US are genocidal war criminal nations that will eventually be prosecuted and punished. Last Friday April 12th Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled “Israel Wins Gaza Battles but Risks Losing the War” and then the day prior last Thursday, Israel’s Haaretz went even further “Saying What Can’t Be Said: Israel Has Been Defeated – a Total Defeat.” Writer Ron Unz makes the astute observation in his latest April 15th Unz Review article about all previous Israel wars:

Most of these previous half-dozen campaigns were fought against heavily-equipped conventional armies but their combined length totaled considerably less than the time Israel has now spent trying to defeat Gaza’s lightly-armed Hamas militants.

If Biden keeps his word, refusing to join or assist Israel if it continues this deadly tit-for-tat game of chicken, and Israel follows through to strike back at Iran, the Jewish State will then allegedly be on its own to fight off Iran’s reactive wrath that will ignite the full-fledge Middle East war that would almost certainly bring catastrophic consequences to not only Israel and this war-ravaged region, but perhaps entire planet. Both Israel with its Sampson option and Iran possess nuclear weapons. It appears the dreaded World War III scenario that top US Freemason Albert Pike predicted back in 1871, describing the war between the Islamic World (Iran et al backed by Eastern powers Russia, China) versus political Zionists (Rothschild et al City of London controlled Western powers Israel, US, NATO, EU) has at least temporarily been averted. But Israel vows revenge. Meanwhile, Israeli war cabinet meets again today to mull over how and when it will respond to Iran’s weekend attack, with the world teetering on the edge.

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This article was originally published on The Government Rag.

Joachim Hagopian is a West Point graduate, former Army officer and author of “Don’t Let the Bastards Getcha Down” exposing a faulty US military leadership system based on ticket punching up the seniority ladder, invariably weeding out the best and brightest, leaving mediocrity and order followers rising to the top as politician-bureaucrat generals designated to lose every modern US war by elite design. After the military, Joachim earned a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a licensed therapist in the mental health field with abused youth and adolescents for more than a quarter century. In Los Angeles he found himself battling the largest county child protective services in the nation within America’s thoroughly broken and corrupt child welfare system.

The experience in both the military and child welfare system prepared him well as a researcher and independent journalist, exposing the evils of Big Pharma and how the Rockefeller controlled medical and psychiatric system inflict more harm than good, case in point, the pandemic hoax and kill shot genocide. As an independent journalist for the last decade, Joachim has written hundreds of articles for many news sites, including Global Researchlewrockwell.com and currently https//jameshfetzer.orgInteldrop.org and  https://thegovernmentrag.com. As a published author of a 5-book volume series entitled Pedophilia & Empire: Satan, Sodomy & the Deep State, Joachim’s books and chapters are Amazon bestsellers in child advocacy and human rights categories. His A-Z sourcebook series fully document and expose the global pedophilia scourge and remain available free at https://pedoempire.org/contents/. Joachim also hosts the weekly Revolution Radio broadcast “Cabal Empire Exposed” on Friday morning at 7AM EST (ID: revradio, password: rocks!).

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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On Saturday April 13, thousands of people gathered in Niamey, the capital of the West African state of Niger, demanding the dismantling of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) operations inside their country.

This demonstration represents an ongoing struggle in several former French colonies to end the economic, political, cultural and military ties to the imperialist powers.

In addition to the negative influence from Paris, the U.S. has joined their counterparts in France deploying thousands of military personnel under the guise of fighting “Islamic terrorism”. AFRICOM was launched in February 2008 from its base in Stuttgart, Germany.

Over the course of the last sixteen years, the Pentagon has built a military base in the Horn of Africa state of Djibouti, also a former French colony. They share this installation, known as Camp Lemonnier, with thousands of French troops.

Other outposts for AFRICOM operations have included Mali, Guinea-Conakry and Burkina Faso which have been struck by military coups since 2020. In Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the new military-led governments have formed an Alliance of Sahel States. The purpose of the grouping is to enhance the security of these states independent of French and U.S. domination as well as to counter the now lifted sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

ECOWAS, a fifteen-member regional alliance of governments, led now by newly elected President Bola Tinubu of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, had been persuaded by the U.S. and France to take a hostile position towards the overthrow of the western-backed administration of Mohamed Bazoum in Niger last July 26. The National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) was formed with widespread support from broad sections of the Nigerien population.

During the change of governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, people raised their national flags alongside that of the Russian Federation. Since the military seizure of power within these states, military advisors from Moscow have been requested.

Since the Pentagon-NATO-led counter-revolution in Libya during 2011, the first full-scale operation of AFRICOM, rebel groups have surfaced causing tremendous damage to the stability of various states throughout West and North Africa. These rebel formations operate in a similar fashion as al-Qaeda and the so-called “Islamic State.” Both of these designated “terrorist” organizations have their origins within U.S. intelligence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Although these entities claim they are motivated by Islam in carrying out their attacks, nearly all of their operations target civilians, many of whom are Muslims. The existence of these groupings and the violence they perpetuate provides a rationale for the continued presence of imperialism within their territories.

The propaganda and psychological warfare of France and the U.S. seeks to make the case for the indispensability of their assistance and occupation in order to fight terrorism. Nonetheless, since the formation of AFRICOM and the escalation of French interventions, the overall security situation in the Sahel and other regions of the African continent has worsened.

The Arrival of Russian Advisors in Niger

Therefore, following a pattern established by other Sahel states, the CNSP government in Niger has requested security assistance from the Russian Federation. Military advisors began to arrive in the uranium-rich state on April 12.

A report published by Al Mayadeen Television based upon an article from Sputnik news agency says:

“Reporting from the scene, a correspondent from Sputnik revealed that Russian experts have landed in Niger in an effort to train local forces on combating terrorism…. The landing of Russia’s IL-76 aircraft in Niamey was aired by Nigerien state broadcaster RTN which stated that this update came after a conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and chairman of Niger’s National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, Abdourahmane Tchiani. The broadcaster announced that the arrival entails the installation of an air defense system through which Russian instructors will provide quality training for the Nigerien military staff.” 

These developments are creating much consternation on the part of the State Department and Pentagon based in Washington. During March, the U.S. dispatched a high-level delegation from the administration of President Joe Biden to Niamey in a failed attempt to salvage a military agreement allowing AFRICOM to remain in Niger.

Even after the CNSP leadership declared the military pact with the U.S. “null and void”, the Biden administration officials from the Defense and State Departments continued to speak publicly as if there was still the potential for remaining in Niger. The official position of the Biden administration is that they have not been formally ordered to leave the country.

However, it has been quite obvious for many months that the CNSP government views the U.S. in the same vein as France. The steadfast character of Niger and the two other Alliance States has not only staved off the intervention of an imperialist-backed ECOWAS invasion it indeed prompted Tinubu and his colleagues to invite these three governments to return to the regional grouping. All of the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS have been lifted against the CNSP in Niamey.

By setting a standard for anti-French and anti-U.S. postures in these underdeveloped states, the pro-western regimes in West Africa are concerned that the same pattern could unfold in their countries. Even in Nigeria, which is the most populated state on the continent with ostensibly the largest national economy, problems of hyper-inflation and foreign debt are hampering the capacity of the Tinubu administration to provide a decent standard of living for the majority of people inside the country.

CNSP Administration Bolstered by Mass Support for Independent Foreign Policy

Since the July 26 seizure of power by the CNSP, there have been demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of people in Niger compelling the administration to reverse the path of neo-colonial dominance by France and the U.S. During the April 13 rallies and marches, people held signs telling AFRICOM to leave the historic city of Agadez and return to Washington.

French and U.S. involvement in post-colonial African states have never been beneficial to the majority of the people who are workers, farmers and youth. Irrespective of the vast deposits of strategic resources such as gold, diamonds, uranium, iron ore, bauxite, petroleum, natural gas and other assets such as waterways, agricultural potential and youthful labor forces which constitute in many states the overwhelming majority of people, the annual household incomes are some of the lowest in the world. The imperialists are committed to the maintenance of regimes which serve the interests of the ruling classes within the western industrial states.

In acknowledging the withdrawal of French troops from Niger, which was completed in March, the same above-mentioned article from Al Mayadeen noted:

“Presently, the U.S. maintains a deployment of 648 troops across two bases in the former French colony. In 2017, the Nigerien government granted approval for the deployment of armed U.S. drones to target militants as part of the Sahel counterterrorism mission. Despite participating with France and other Western allies in withholding aid to Niamey in response to Bazoum’s ouster, Washington has asserted that disengagement from Niger is not a viable option. As of September, Germany had approximately 110 soldiers stationed in the uranium-rich nation, while Italy had around 300 soldiers deployed there prior to the coup”.

Therefore, the declining influence of the Pentagon and international finance capital poses a dilemma for Washington, Paris and its NATO allies. In the 21st century, the People’s Republic of China has established partnerships with African Union (AU) member-states which have proved far more resilient than what is being offered by the imperialist centers.

Since the beginning of the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine more than two years ago, many AU member-states have exercised their independence in rejecting the overtures from the Biden administration to line up behind the efforts aimed at bringing down the government of President Vladimir Putin. The AU policy on Ukraine is that the war has negatively impacted food security on the continent.

In regard to the situation in Palestine, there is overwhelming support among the African masses for an immediate ceasefire and the recognition of an independent state. The Republic of South Africa, led by the African National Congress (ANC), has taken the Zionist regime to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) even though the legal challenge charging Israeli genocide against the Palestinians has been ridiculed by the Biden administration, saying it has no merit.

All of these factors are shaping the general mood within many African states not limited to the Sahel. With the U.S. pursuing its same unilateral foreign policy, there will surely be a continuing shift away from the forced subservience to Washington and Wall Street.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

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The Middle East has, for some time, been a powder keg where degrees of violence are tolerated with ceremonial mania and a calculus of restraint. 

Assassinations can take place at a moment’s notice. 

Revenge killings follow with dashing speed. 

Suicide bombings of immolating power are carried out. 

Drone strikes of devastating, collective punishment are ordered, all padded by the retarded notion that such killings are morally justified and confined.

In all this viciousness, the conventional armed forces have been held in check, the arsenals contained, the generals busied by plans of contingency rather than reality. The rhetoric may be vengeful and spicily hysterical, but the states in the region keep their armies in reserve, and Armageddon at bay. Till, naturally, they don’t.

To date, Israel is doing much to test the threshold of what might be called the rule of tolerable violence. 

With Iran, for instance, it has adopted a “campaign between the wars”, primarily in Syria.  For over a decade, the Israeli strategy was to prevent the flow of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah, intercepting weapons shipments and targeting storage facilities.  “Importantly,” writes Haid Haid, a consulting fellow for Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, “Israel appeared to avoid, whenever feasible, killing Hezbollah or Iranian operatives during these operations.”

But the state of play has changed.  The Gaza War, which has become more the Gaza Massacre Project, has moved into its seventh month, packing morgues, destroying families and stimulating the terror of famine. Despite calls from the Israeli military and various officials that Hamas’s capabilities have been irreparably weakened (this claim, like all those battling an idea rather than just a corporeal foe, remains refutable and redundant) the killings and policy of starvation continues against the general Palestinian populace.  The International Court of Justice interim orders continue to be ignored, even as the judges deliberate over the issue as to whether genocide is taking place in the Gaza Strip.  The restraints, in other words, have been taken off.

The signs are ominous.  Spilt blood is becoming hard currency.  Daily skirmishes between the IDF and Hezbollah are taking place on the Israeli-Lebanon border.  The Houthis are feverishly engaged with blocking and attacking international shipping in the Red Sea, hooting solidarity for the Palestinian cause.

On April 1, a blood crazed strike by Israel suggested that rules of tolerable violence had, if not been pushed, then altogether suspended.  The attack on Iran’s consular offices in Damascus by the Israeli Air Force was tantamount to striking Iranian soil. In the process, it killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and other commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including Zahedi’s deputy, General Haji Rahimi. Retaliation was accordingly promised, with Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, vowing a response “at the same magnitude and harshness”.

It came on April 13, involving 185 drones, 110 ballistic missiles and 36 cruise missiles, all directed at Israel proper. Superficially, this looks anarchically quixotic, streakily disproportionate. But Tehran went for a spectacular theatrical show to terrify and magnify rather than opt for any broader infliction of damage.  Israel’s Iron Dome system, along with allied powers, could be counted upon to aid the shooting down of almost all the offensive devices.  A statement had been made and the Iranians have so far drawn a line under any further military action.  What was deemed by certain pundits a tactical failure can just as easily be read as a strategic if provocative success.  The question then is: what follows?

The Israeli approach varies depending on who is being asked.  The IDF Chief of Staff, General Herzi Halevi, stated that

“Israel is considering next steps” declaring that “the launch of so many missiles and drones to Israeli territory will be answered with retaliation.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was taloned in his hawkishness, demanding that Israel launch a “crushing” counterattack, “go crazy” and abandon “restraint and proportionality”, “concepts that passed away on October 7.”  The “response must not be a scarecrow, in the style of the dune bombings we saw in previous years in Gaza.”

Cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who is a voting member of the war cabinet alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, is tilting for a “regional coalition” to “exact the price from Iran, in the way and at the time that suits us.  And most importantly, in the face of the desire of our enemies to harm us, we will unite and become stronger.”  The immediate issues for resolution from Gantz’s perspective was the return of Israeli hostages “and the removal of the threat against the residents of the north and south.”

Such thinking will also be prompted by the response from the Biden administration that Netanyahu “think very carefully and strategically” about the next measures. “You got a win,” President Joe Biden is reported to have told Netanyahu.  “Take the win.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also expressed the view that, “Strength and wisdom must be the two sides of the same coin.”

For decades, Israel has struck targets in sovereign countries with impunity, using expansive doctrines of pre-emption and self-defence. In doing so, the state always hoped that the understanding of tolerable violence would prevail.  Any retaliation, if any, would be modest, with “deterrence” assured. With the war in Gaza and the fanning out of conflict, the equation has changed.  To some degree, Ben Gvir is right that concepts of restraint and proportionality have been banished to the mortuary.  But such banishment, to a preponderant degree, was initiated by Israel.  The Israel-Gaza War is now, effectively, a global conflict, waged in regional miniature.

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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]

Iran Strikes Inside Israel for the First Time

April 16th, 2024 by Steven Sahiounie

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Israel started it. First came the unprovoked attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, which killed six Iranian military officials, including two generals, and six Syrian civilians who were pedestrians in the upscale Mezze neighborhood.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the attack on Israel, saying it launched the drones and missiles under Operation True Promise on April 14 as a retaliatory strike.

This was the first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory by Iran, even though Israel has attacked Iran numerous times.

Iran launched a barrage of explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel, although many of the drones and missiles were shot down before reaching Israeli territory. The launches came from Iran, as well as from Iraq and Yemen.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, reported an Israeli military base in southern Israel was hit causing some damage, and added Israel would do what was needed to protect its citizens when asked if Israel would respond to this attack.

A 7-year-old girl was seriously wounded in southern Israel, apparently from debris after the attack.

According to Israeli media, the first wave of the attack saw 300 bomb-carrying drones fired towards Israel. The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system launched hundreds of intercept missiles against the attack. As the region waited with baited breath, 200 ballistic missiles were launched towards Israel in the second wave of the attack, including 30 cruise missiles. Israeli media said the Iron Dome air defense missiles launched in the intercept of the Iranian attack cost $1.3 billion, which was paid for by the American taxpayers.

Air raid sirens wailed across Israel, and people were instructed to find safe shelter well ahead of the beginning of the attack.

Israel has, with the help of the US, a multilayered air-defense network that includes systems capable of intercepting a variety of threats including long-range missiles, cruise missiles, drones and short-range rockets.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said it now deemed the matter “concluded”, referring to the retaliatory strike on Israel in response to the deadly strike in Damascus, carried out on a diplomatic mission, which under the Vienna convention is deemed off-limits to attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today said that his country has been preparing for a direct attack by Iran for years. Netanyahu is remembered for his cartoon drawing of a bomb which he used as a visual aid in his speech of the UN General Assembly in the past. He has consistently pointed to Iran as enemy number one. He was responsible for pressuring President Trump to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, even though it was effectively curbing Iran’s uranium enrichment progress.

When President Biden took office, he had tried to re-negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, but failed to reach an agreement.

Israel’s staunchest ally, the US, stopped many aircraft outside of Israel, while France, the UK and the Kingdom of Jordan all participated in downing their share of Iranian drones and missiles.

Israel has requested the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to meet in an emergency session in order to condemn the attack on Israel.

The UNSC has received a letter from Iran asserting its attack was within the UN Charter framework governing the right to self-defense.

EU leaders have condemned Iran’s revenge attack on Israel, along with the US, the UK, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Mexico, the Netherlands and Norway.

However, following the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the US and its European allies refused to agree to a UN resolution to condemn the Israeli attack. At the time, Iran said they would refrain from a retaliatory strike if the international community would agree to condemn the deadly actions of Israel. But, the western democracies refused, and this set the stage to an obligatory response.

President Biden said he would convene a meeting of the Group of Seven advanced democracies on Sunday “to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.”

In is worth noting, that the ‘Group of Seven advanced democracies’ could view the killing of innocent civilians walking in the street in Damascus on April 1 as acceptable, and not warranting condemnation. It begs the question: what is ‘advanced democracy’?

Regional tensions remain high, amid fears of further escalation in the event of a possible Israeli counter-strike.

Senior international correspondent for CNN, Nick Robertson, analyzed the cause of the attack was Netanyahu’s continuing provocations. He has been mired in a war in Gaza which has seen almost 40,000 deaths, legal charges of genocide leveled at Israel, western aid organizations accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war, and demands of a ceasefire in Gaza coming from European countries which had previously been friends of Israel.

Protest in Tel Aviv (Source)

The Israeli public have revolted against Netanyahu and his extremist right-wing allies. The public have demanded his resignation because of his failure to negotiate the release of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The public accuse Netanyahu of wanting the win his war in Gaza at any cost, even if it means none of the hostages will survive.

While most embattled leaders in a war would focus on the battle zone, Netanyahu instead sends a missile strike on Damascus in an effort to distract from his domestic political problems, and the fact that after six months of daily bombardment of Gaza, he has not claimed victory.

Biden spoke to Netanyahu after the attack, and reaffirmed the US support for Israel under attack, but Biden made it clear that the US will not militarily support Israel if they chose to reply. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US does “not seek escalation.”

Analysts described Iran’s attack on Israel as carefully calibrated to prevent further escalation. Before the Iranian response, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon announced temporarily closing their airspace, and news media were issuing warnings of an imminent attack, even before the first drones were flying. Amir Al-Mousawi, former Iranian diplomat and political analyst, told Al Mayadeen TV in an interview that there had been a deadline for the West and Israel which ended at 9 pm local time April 13, hours prior to the beginning of the attack on Israel.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are supported by Iran, and form part of the axis of resistance to the occupation of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria by Israel. These various resistance groups, some armed, and some unarmed, are calling for the freedom of the Palestinian people who are denied all human rights. Israel also occupies Shebaa Farms in the south of Lebanon, and the Golan Heights of Syria.

Netanyahu might be proud of the success of its defense in the Iranian attack, because he failed to defend Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7. Even though Hamas is just a resistance group, and far less powerful militarily than Israel, which is considered the strongest and best-equipped army in the Middle East, Israel’s border defenses collapsed and the military took days to repel the Hamas militants. On that day, militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people, mainly women and children.

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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

Bedfellows: Pharma and U.S. Government Agencies

April 16th, 2024 by John Leake

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Over the last couple of years, many readers have urged me to focus my investigative reporting on the role of U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Defense instead of harping on the perfidious conduct of pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Moderna.

I am aware of the preeminent role the Department of Defense has played in the criminal pandemic response. Nevertheless, I do not draw a sharp distinction between the DoD and companies like Pfizer and Moderna. I view the officers and directors of these corporations as having a symbiotic relationship with ranking officers of U.S. government agencies.

Fellow Substack authors, Katharine Watt and Sasha Latypova, have correctly emphasized that the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech gene injection shots are NOT pharmaceutical products, and that neither company actually manufactures these substances.

Both investigators emphasize that Pfizer and Moderna are mere front organizations, and—pursuant to the PREP Act of 2005—bear no actual power or liability.

I agree. However, in reviewing the history of the U.S. industrial corporations, I note that many guys moved back and forth between heading corporations and heading government agencies. Robert McNamara began his career in the military working for General Curtis LeMay. Later he worked for the Ford Motor Company and ultimately became its president, and then he became the Secretary of Defense for Kennedy and Johnson.

Senior officers and directors of the industrial services company, Brown & Root, were key supporters of Lyndon Johnson’s political career, and he rewarded the company handsomely after escalating the war in Vietnam, thereby helping the company to win the moniker “Burn & Loot.”

Donald Rumseld and Dick Cheney enjoyed similar careers, moving back and forth between the private and public sectors. Shortly before Cheney became a key figure in America’s Iraq War fiasco, he was the CEO of Halliburton, whose stock price enjoyed a 5X return between March 2003 and June 2008.

During the bird flu scare of 2005, President Bush asked Congress to allocate $7 billion in emergency funding to prepare for the possibility of the bird flu mutating into a human epidemic. He specifically asked for $1 billion to be allocated for the purchase of Tamiflu, jointly developed by Gilead Sciences and Roche. It just so happened that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was a major shareholder who made millions from the trade.

2005 was a windfall year for the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex, whose lobbyists worked closely with the Bush Administration to pass the PREP Act. This radical piece of legislation has served as a key instrument for giving U.S. government agencies emergency power and for enriching the pharmaceutical industry in the event of a pandemic—real, perceived, exaggerated, or fabricated.

One of the most powerful supporters of Theranos—the fraudulent blood testing company started by Elizabeth Holmes—was former Secretary of State, George Schultz. He still had cronies in the Pentagon who were keen to purchase Holmes’s bogus machines for the military.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw the blossoming of similar cozy relationships. FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb was appointed to Pfizer’s Board of Directors shortly after he left the agency. Likewise, six months after he gave approval to Moderna’s new COVID-19 vaccine, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn was offered a position at the venture capital firm that was one of Moderna’s primary backers. Among major media players, Jim Smith, the CEO of Reuters, was appointed to Pfizer’s Board of Directors in 2014 and is also on the international business council of the World Economic Forum.

Moncef Slaoui was head of vaccine development at GlaxoSmithKline until 2017. At the time President Trump appointed him to lead Operation Warp Speed, he was a board member of both CEPI and Moderna, a primary candidate for Warp Speed funds. Though he resigned from the Moderna board to avoid a conflict of interest, he retained his stock options, which gained $2.4 million in value on the day the company announced favorable preliminary results of its Phase I trials. This raised concerns about his neutrality in judging its vaccine’s safety and efficacy data, so he agreed to divest his shares of Moderna stock.

Like Krupp and I.G. Farben during the Third Reich, U.S. corporations are bound to U.S. government institutions like the DoD, DARPA, NIH, HHS, and BARDA in an arrangement that strongly resembles Fascist Corporatism.

It seems to me that in trying to understand these relationships, it is useful to consider President Eisenhower’s Farewell Address in 1961. His warning to Americans about the rise of the Military-Industrial Complex is now more relevant than ever, and all Americans should be throughly acquainted with this speech.

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The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

by Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.

“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”

Reviews

This is an in-depth resource of great interest if it is the wider perspective you are motivated to understand a little better, the author is very knowledgeable about geopolitics and this comes out in the way Covid is contextualized. —Dr. Mike Yeadon

In this war against humanity in which we find ourselves, in this singular, irregular and massive assault against liberty and the goodness of people, Chossudovsky’s book is a rock upon which to sustain our fight. –Dr. Emanuel Garcia

In fifteen concise science-based chapters, Michel traces the false covid pandemic, explaining how a PCR test, producing up to 97% proven false positives, combined with a relentless 24/7 fear campaign, was able to create a worldwide panic-laden “plandemic”; that this plandemic would never have been possible without the infamous DNA-modifying Polymerase Chain Reaction test – which to this day is being pushed on a majority of innocent people who have no clue. His conclusions are evidenced by renown scientists. —Peter Koenig 

Professor Chossudovsky exposes the truth that “there is no causal relationship between the virus and economic variables.” In other words, it was not COVID-19 but, rather, the deliberate implementation of the illogical, scientifically baseless lockdowns that caused the shutdown of the global economy. –David Skripac

A reading of  Chossudovsky’s book provides a comprehensive lesson in how there is a global coup d’état under way called “The Great Reset” that if not resisted and defeated by freedom loving people everywhere will result in a dystopian future not yet imagined. Pass on this free gift from Professor Chossudovsky before it’s too late.  You will not find so much valuable information and analysis in one place. –Edward Curtin

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0,  Year: 2022,  PDF Ebook,  Pages: 164, 15 Chapters

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

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***

Good night to the Middle East.

After Iran’s retaliation against Israel with 330 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, there were no fatal casualties or civilian damage in Israel. Iran demonstrated its capabilities, put up deterrence, and offered to “call it a day”. US President Biden and other Israeli allies quickly urged Israel to accept the Iranian offer and not start a new much bigger round of escalation.

Israel, however, knows only genocide and escalation. Netanyahu’s government has this evening Monday 15 April 2025 promised to hit “hard” back at Iran.

In an unsourced report, Channel 12 claims the war cabinet has made the decision to hit back “clearly and forcefully” against Iran for its missile and drone attack on Saturday night.

The response will be designed to send the message that Israel “will not allow an attack of that magnitude against it to pass without a reaction,” the report says. The response will also be designed to make plain that Israel will not allow the Iranians to “establish the equation” they have sought to assert in recent days. This appears to be a reference to Iran’s warning that future Israeli strikes on Iranian territory, including its international diplomatic premises, will henceforth again be met by Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel. (The Times of Israel, April 15, 2024)

Netanyahu of course knows, that next time, Iran will respond with not “just” 330 drones or missiles, but up to 10 times more, or 3,000 – 3,500 missiles. Israel’s claim that they shot down “more than 99% of the Iranian missiles” is a blatant lie. The big majority of Iran’s drones and cruise missiles were meant to deplete Israeli air defense magazines, make Israel reveal its air defense structure – and make way for Iranian ballistic missiles with up to 1,500 kg. warheads. Iran succeeded eminently. Out of the 330 missiles, shooting down “more than 99%” would mean that only three Iranian missiles got through.

Western media have confirmed, that at least nine Iranian ballistic missiles came through and hit 3-4 of Israel’s most guarded military sites, including two airbases and a security center.

The number of nine Iranian ballistic missiles getting through is to be seen relative to the fact, that only 110 missiles were ballistic out of the total 330 drones and missiles which Iran sent. There is no chance that Israel can intercept the next wave of perhaps 3,500 Iranian missiles, or that Iran next time will be polite enough to warn Israel and the US 72 hours in advance.

But Netanyahu calculates that with the next round of escalation with Iran, Israel will either drag the US into a war with Iran – or Israel will go nuclear.

And Israel’s president Isaac Herzog already yesterday said in an interview with Sky News that Israel would have to make it “clear” to the Iranian régime, that this cannot pass by. Herzog and Netanyahu are on the same page.

Israel will push the US to attack Iran – or Israel will go up to the nuclear level.

Those are the alternatives put up by Netanyahu for US president Biden to contemplate.

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Karsten Riise is a Master of Science (Econ) from Copenhagen Business School and has a university degree in Spanish Culture and Languages from Copenhagen University. He is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Mercedes-Benz in Denmark and Sweden.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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***

Today, April 15, a day when American citizens pay taxes, I wanted to talk to you about where the money you pay for taxes actually goes and about the need to create an accountable and transparent system for budgeting and financing of the Federal Government so as to assure that your money goes to efforts that are in your interest, in the national interest.

But, sadly, the threat of world war is so great today that I must address that overwhelming subject first.

The possibility of a world war is so high that we have no choice, for sake of human survival, but to launch a global peace movement that is not merely about opposing war, but also is about organizing people, in every country, people who have the will, the bravery, the vision, and the determination to shut down every aspect of the economy, the culture, the educational system, the media, and of daily life that promotes the current deadly addiction to war.

While we were sleeping the United States economy was so hollowed out by the so-called free trade pushed by the banks, the control of our money so monopolized by the rich, and so many jobs were shipped abroad to enrich the few and impoverish the many, that now war appears to be the only stimulant left that can induce economic vitality.

War is most certainly the best way to give power to bankrupt governments and to give legitimacy to broken ideological systems. In addition, many politicians around the world are secretly thinking to themselves that war is the only thing that can save them from being overthrown and jailed.

The constant attacks of Israel on Iran have drawn the first of what could be numerous attacks by Iran on Israel. Those attacks will be used to justify greater attacks by Israel on Iran, and then attacks on other countries. Those attacks will eventually force the United States into the conflict, and that conflict may merge with the conflict Ukraine, thus bringing in Russia, and perhaps Germany, France, Great Britain, and Turkey.

How much further the conflict would spread beyond that, whether up to nuclear war, or out to China, India, Korea and Japan, we do not know yet.

What we do know is that Israel is inseparable from the financial, technological, military, intelligence, industrial complex that now has near complete control of the media and of policy in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.

We must not fool ourselves about the gravity of the situation. The fact that Iran’s attack on Israel was smaller than it could have been, or the fact that Israel’s possible response is marketed as a possible “tit-for-tat,” mean nothing.

We must remember the “Phoney War.”

The Phoney War refers to the eight months between the German invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939 and the German invasion of France on May 10th, 1940. Although there was great uncertainly as to what would happen then, and plenty of wishful thinking about some magic solution, the truth was that once United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany following the invasion of Poland, the ball was set in motion.

You see, banks and corporations make enormous fortunes from the build up for war, and they want to encourage crises that demand massive spending on weapons—which translate into massive profits for their owners.

But banks and corporations do not want total war because total war is profoundly destructive, and because if there is such a war, the chain of command will shift from the banks and corporations to the military—which is not in the interests of the bankers.

The problem is that if the banks and corporations push the situation too far, as they have done now, then the chain of command moves over to the hands of the military and the generals follow orders like clockwork—and that is even more true granted the dangerous push to import AI going on everywhere.

It will require a revolution, at every level, to stave off this war. We must question the authority of the rich and powerful to make policy at every turn, and question every decision from the top to the bottom, asking of every single policy, law, or guideline, whether it is constitutional, legal, or moral.

We must not be afraid to say no to those who cloak themselves in Ivy League authority, or to those who wear uniforms, or to those who drive fancy cars, live in luxurious homes, and appear on TV.

If we must build our own journalism, our own communities, our own provisional governments to oppose this illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of authority, then so be it.

Only the pursuit of truth, combined with focused and immediate action, can put us on a road towards peace and away from a war of annihilation.

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This article was originally published on Fear No Evil.

Emanuel Pastreich served as the president of the Asia Institute, a think tank with offices in Washington DC, Seoul, Tokyo and Hanoi. Pastreich also serves as director general of the Institute for Future Urban Environments. Pastreich declared his candidacy for president of the United States as an independent in February, 2020.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

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A three-day Palestine conference in Berlin was forcibly shut down after three hours on Friday. Electricity was abruptly terminated in the midst of the presentation by Salman Abu Sitta, the 87 year old author of the authoritative “Atlas of Palestine”.

Former Greek Finance Minister and leader of DIEM25, Yanis Varoufakis, was prevented from entering Germany to attend the conference. He went on Twitter/X to send a message,

“Do you know that the German Interior Ministry has just banned me from entering Germany? Indeed if that were not enough,  I have been banned  from talking to you via zoom, or indeed through a video message like this, exactly like this. The threat being that I will be tried in Germany for breaking German law. Why? Because of a speech that I published yesterday on my blog calling for universal human rights in Israel-Palestine …. So my question to my German friends, to Germans in general whether you agree with me or not doesn’t matter. … Is this (banning) in your name? Is it something that you feel comfortable happening in your democracy? From my perspective this is essentially the death knell of the prospects of democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany.” 

Another banned guest speaker was UK citizen Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah. He told Middle East Eye,

”I have just returned from Germany where I was prevented from entering the country for attending a conference in Germany to give evidence on the war in Gaza and my witness statement as a doctor working in its hospitals. This morning at 10 I landed in Berlin to attend a conference on Palestine where I had been asked … to give my evidence of the 43 days that I had seen in the hospitals in Gaza, working in both Shifa and al-Ahli Hospital. Upon arrival I was stopped at the passport office. I was then escorted down to the basement of the airport where I was questioned for around 3.5 hours. At the end of 3.5 hours I was told that I will not be allowed to enter German soil and that this ban will last the whole of April. Not just that … if I were to try to link up by Zoom or Facetime with the conference even if I were outside Germany or if I were to send a video of my lecture to the conference in Berlin, then that would constitute a breach of German law and that I would endanger myself to have a fine or even up to a year in prison.” 

Dr. Abu Sitta further commented,

“Germany is defending itself against Nicaraguan charges that it is an accomplice to genocidal war as described by the International Court of Justice. This is exactly what accomplices to a crime do. They bury the evidence and they silence or harass or intimidate the witnesses. …. This crackdown on free speech is a dangerous precedent…  We are watching the first genocide unfold in the 21st Century and for Germany to become implicated as an accomplice in silencing the witnesses of this genocide does not bode well for the rest of the century.” 

A large contingent of police invaded the conference and shut off the electricity. Organizers told the reported 250 conference attendees to not provoke the police to violence. Afterward, organizers  held a press conference  reporting on the behaviour of police before and during the crackdown. Even before the conference, police tried to intimidate supporters of the conference and the owner of the conference venue. They threatened the venue owner might not be able to hold events in future if the conference went ahead.  An organizer asked, “Are these the methods of the mafia or democracy?” 

Western and Israeli media reported the closure was to prevent “anti semitism” or “hatred of Israel”. On this dubious and hypothetical basis, public education about a real ongoing massacre and mass starvation was made illegal. 

Source: PressTV

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Rick Sterling is an independent journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from PressTV

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feature image: Hitler, Schacht and Prescott Bush

First published by Global Research in May 2016,  this carefully researched article by Yuri Rubtsov sheds light on the role of Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve in financing the Nazi government of Adolph Hitler.

 

Global Research Introduction

From World War I to the Present: Dollar denominated debt has been the driving force behind all US led wars.

Wall Street creditors are the main actors.

They were firmly behind Nazi Germany. They financed Operation Barbarossa and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. 

1932 Secret Agreement: Wall Street Finances Hitler’s Nazi Party 

“On January 4th, 1932, a meeting was held between British financier Montagu Norman (Governor of the Bank of England), Adolf Hitler and Franz Von Papen (who became Chancellor a few months later in May 1932) At this meeting, an agreement on the financing of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP or Nazi Party) was reached.

This meeting was also attended by US policy-makers and the Dulles brothers, something which their biographers do not like to mention.

A year later, on January 14th, 1933, another meeting was held between Adolph Hitler, Germany’s Financier Baron Kurt von Schroeder, Chancellor Franz von Papen and Hitler’s Economic Advisor Wilhelm Keppler took place, where Hitler’s program was fully approved.” (Y. Rubtsov, text below)

Upon the accession of Adolph Hitler as Chancellor in March 1933, a massive privatization program was initiated which bears the finger-prints of Wall Street.

Dr. Hjalmar Schacht –re-appointed in March 1933 by Adolph Hitler to the position of President of The Reichsbank— was invited to the White House (May 1933) by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“After his meeting with the U.S. President and the big bankers on Wall Street, America allocated Germany new loans totalling $1 billion” [equivalent to $23.7 billion in 2023, PPP estimate] (Y. Rubtsov, op cit)

Barely a year later, in April 1934, The Economist “reported that military expenditure was forcing the Minister of Finance to look for new resources” including the privatization of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Railways) (quoted in Germa Bel, p. 20). The Nazi government also sold off State owned shipbuilding companies, State infrastructure and public utilities.

With a “Nazi- Liberal” slant, –no doubt with “conditionalities”- the privatization program was negotiated with Germany’s Wall Street creditors. Several major banking institutions including  Deutsche Bank and Dresden Bank were also privatized.

“[T]he government of the Nazi Party sold off public ownership in several State-owned firms in the mid-1930s. These firms belonged to a wide range of sectors: steel, mining, banking, local public utilities, shipyards, ship-lines, railways, etc.

In addition, the delivery of some public services that were produced by government prior to the 1930s, especially social and labor-related services, was transferred to the private sector, mainly to organizations within the party.” (Germa Bel, University of Barcelona)

The proceeds of the privatization program were used to repay outstanding debts as well as fund Nazi Germany’s buoyant military industrial complex.

Numerous U.S. conglomerates had invested in Nazi Germany’s arms industry including Ford and General Motors: 

Both General Motors and Ford insist that they bear little or no responsibility for the operations of their German subsidiaries, which controlled 70 percent of the German car market at the outbreak of war in 1939 and rapidly retooled themselves to become suppliers of war materiel to the German army.

… In certain instances, American managers of both GM and Ford went along with the conversion of their German plants to military production at a time when U.S. government documents show they were still resisting calls by the Roosevelt administration to step up military production in their plants at home. (Washington Post,  November 30, 1998)

“A Famous American Family” Sleeping with the Enemy. The Role of Prescott Bush

Of significance: “A  famous American family” made its fortune from the Nazis, according to John Loftus’ documented historical analysis.    

Prescott Bush (grandfather of George W. Bush) was a partner in Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. , and director of the Union Banking Corporation , closely linked to the interests of German corporations, including Thyssen Stahl, an important company involved in the arms industry of the Third Reich. 

The Bush family links to Nazi Germany’s war economy were first brought to light at the Nuremberg trials in the testimony of Nazi Germany’s steel magnate Fritz Thyssen.

Image: Senator Prescott Bush with his son George H. Walker Bush. (1950s)

Thyssen was a partner of George W. Bush’s grandfather Prescott Bush: 

“From 1945 until 1949 in Nuremberg, one of the lengthiest and, it now appears, most futile interrogations of a Nazi war crimes suspect began in the American Zone of Occupied Germany.

Multibillionaire steel magnate Fritz Thyssen –-the man whose steel combine was the cold heart of the Nazi war machine– talked and talked and talked to a joint US-UK interrogation team.

… What the Allied investigators never understood was that they were not asking Thyssen the right question. Thyssen did not need any foreign bank accounts because his family secretly owned an entire chain of banks.

He did not have to transfer his Nazi assets at the end of World War II, all he had to do was transfer the ownership documents – stocks, bonds, deeds and trusts–from his bank in Berlin through his bank in Holland to his American friends in New York City: Prescott Bush and Herbert Walker [father in law of Prescott Bush]. Thyssen’s partners in crime were the father and [grandfather] of a future President of the United States [George Herbert Walker Bush]. (John Loftus, How the Bush family made its fortune from the Nazis: The Dutch Connection

The American public was not aware of the links of the Bush family to Nazi Germany because the historical record had been carefully withheld by the mainstream media. In September 2004, however, The Guardian revealed that:

George Bush’s grandfather, the late US Senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.  … 

His business dealings, which continued until his company’s assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave labourers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy.”

( Ben Aris and Duncan Campbell, How the Bush’s Grandfather Helped Hitlers Rise to Power,   Guardian, September 25, 2004)

 

Screenshot, The Guardian 

Prescott Bush entered politics in 1950. In 1952 he was elected Senator for Connecticut, a position which he held until January 1963.

Evidence of the Bush family’s  links to Nazism was available well before George Herbert Walker Bush (Senior) and George W. Bush entered politics, not to mention Bush Senior’s stint at the CIA. 

The U.S. media remained totally mum. According to John Buchanan (New Hampshire Gazette, 10 October 2003):

After 60 years of inattention and even denial by the U.S. media, newly-uncovered government documents in The National Archives and Library of Congress reveal that Prescott Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush, served as a business partner of and U.S. banking operative for the financial architect of the Nazi war machine from 1926 until 1942, when Congress took aggressive action against Bush and his “enem\\y national” partners.

The documents also show that Bush and his colleagues, according to reports from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, tried to conceal their financial alliance with German industrialist Fritz Thyssen, a steel and coal baron who, beginning in the mid-1920s, personally funded Adolf Hitler’s rise to power by the subversion of democratic principle and German law. Furthermore, the declassified records demonstrate that Bush and his associates, who included E. Roland Harriman, younger brother of American icon W. Averell Harriman, and George Herbert Walker, President Bush’s maternal great-grandfather, continued their dealings with the German industrial tycoon for nearly a year after the U.S. entered the war.

While Prescott Bush’s company’s assets, namely Union Banking Corporation  were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act (See below), George W. Bush’s grandfather was never prosecuted for his business dealings with  Nazi Germany.

“In 1952, Prescott Bush was elected to the U.S. Senate, with no press accounts about his well-concealed Nazi past.

There is no record of any U.S. press coverage of the Bush-Nazi connection during any political campaigns conducted by George Herbert Walker Bush, Jeb Bush, or George W. Bush, with the exception of a brief mention in an unrelated story in the Sarasota Herald Tribune in November 2000 and a brief but inaccurate account in The Boston Globe in 2001.” (John Buchanan, op. cit)

Up until Pearl Harbor (December 1941), Wall Street was trading with Germany.

In the wake of Pearl Harbor (1941-1945), Standard Oil “was trading with the enemy” selling oil to Nazi Germany through the intermediation of so-called “neutral countries” including Venezuela and Argentina.

Without the U.S. supply of oil to Nazi Germany instrumented by Standard Oil of New Jersey, the Third Reich would not have been able to invade the Soviet Union. 

 

Michel Chossudovsky,  November 21, 2023

 

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History: Hitler was Financed

by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England

By Yuri Rubtsov

May 2016

 

World War II: More than 80 years ago was the start of the greatest slaughter in history.

If we are to approach the problem of “responsibility for the war”, then we first need to answer the following key questions:

  • Who helped the Nazis come to power?
  • Who sent them on their way to world catastrophe?

The entire pre-war history of Germany shows that the provision of the “necessary” policies were managed by the financial turmoil, in which the world was plunged into in the wake of  World War I. 

The key structures that defined the post-war development strategy of the West were the central financial institutions of Great Britain and the United States — the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve System (FRS) — and the associated financial and industrial organizations set out as a means to establish absolute control over the financial system of Germany and its ability to control political processes in Central Europe.

To implement this strategy, the following stages were envisaged:  

  1.  From 1919 to 1924 — to prepare the ground for massive American financial investment in the German economy;
  2. From 1924 to 1929 — the establishment of control over the financial system of Germany and financial support for Nazism (“national socialism”);
  3. From 1929 to 1933 — provoking and unleashing a deep financial and economic crisis and ensuring the Nazis come to power;
  4. From 1933 to 1939 — financial cooperation with the Nazi government and support for its expansionist foreign policy, aimed at preparing and unleashing a new World War.

WWI “War Reparations”

In the first stage, the main levers to ensure the penetration of American capital into Europe began with WWI war debts and the closely related problem of German reparations. 

After the US’ formal entry into the first World War, they gave the allies (primarily England and France) loans to the amount of $8.8 billion. The total sum of war debts, including loans granted to the United States in 1919-1921, was more than $11 billion.

To solve this problem, creditor nations tried to impose extremely difficult conditions for the payment of war reparations at the expense of Germany. This was caused by the flight of German capital abroad, and the refusal to pay taxes which led to a state budget deficit that could be covered only through mass production of unsecured German Marks.

The result was the collapse of the German currency — the “great inflation” of 1923,  when the dollar was worth 4.2 trillion Marks. German Industrialists began to openly sabotage all activities in the payment of reparation obligations, which eventually caused the famous “Ruhr crisis” — Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in January 1923.

The Anglo-American ruling elites, in order to take the initiative in their  own hands, waited for France to get caught up in a venturing adventure and to prove its inability to solve the problem. US Secretary of State Hughes pointed out:

“It is necessary to wait for Europe to mature in order to accept the American proposal.”

The new project was developed in the depths of “JP Morgan & Co.” under the instruction of the head of the Bank of England, Montagu Norman. At the core of his ideas was representative of the “Dresdner Bank” Hjalmar Schacht, who formulated it in March 1922 at the suggestion of John Foster Dulles (future Secretary of state in the Cabinet of President Eisenhower) and legal adviser to President W. Wilson at the Paris peace conference.

Dulles gave this note to the chief Trustee “JP Morgan & Co.”,which then recommended H. Schacht in consultation with Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England.

In December, 1923, H. Schacht became Manager of the Reichsbank and was instrumental in bringing together the Anglo-American and German financial elites. 

In the summer of 1924, the project known as the “Dawes plan” (named after the Chairman of the Committee of experts who created it – American banker and Director of one of the banks of the Morgan group), was adopted at the London conference. He called for halving the reparations and solved the question about the sources of their coverage. However, the main task was to ensure favorable conditions for US investment, which was only possible with the stabilization of the German Mark.

To this end, the plan gave Germany a large loan of $200 million, half of which was accounted for by JP Morgan.

While the Anglo-American banks gained control not only over the transfer of German payments, but also for the budget, the system of monetary circulation and to a large extent the credit system of the country.

The Weimar Republic

By August 1924, the old German Mark was replaced by a new, stabilized financial situation in Germany, and, as researcher G.D Preparta wrote, the Weimar Republic was prepared for:

“the most picturesque economic aid in history, followed by the most bitter harvest in world history” — “an unstoppable flood of American blood poured into the financial veins of Germany.”

The consequences of this were not slow to appear.

This was primarily due to the fact that the annual reparations were to cover the amount of debt paid by the allies, formed by the so-called “absurd Weimar circle”.

The gold that Germany paid in the form of war reparations, was sold, pawned, and disappeared in the US, where it was returned to Germany in the form of an “aid” plan, who gave it to England and France, and they in turn were to pay the war debt of the United States. It was then overlayed with interest, and again sent  to Germany. In the end, all in Germany lived in debt [were indebted] , and it was clear that should Wall Street withdraw their loans, the country would suffer complete bankruptcy.

Secondly, although formal credit was issued to secure payment, it was actually the restoration of the military-industrial potential of the country.

The fact is that the Germans were paid in shares of companies for the loans so that American capital began to actively integrate into the German economy.

The total amount of foreign investments in German industry during 1924-1929 amounted to almost 63 billion gold Marks (30 billion was accounted for by loans), and the payment of reparations — 10 billion Marks. 70% of revenues were provided by bankers from the United States, and most of the banks were from JP Morgan. As a result, in 1929, German industry was in second place in the world, but it was largely in the hands of America’s leading financial-industrial groups.

US Investments in Nazi Germany. Rockefeller Financed Adolf Hitler’s Election Campaign

“Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie”, the main supplier of the German war machine, financed 45% of the election campaign of Hitler in 1930, and was under the control of Rockefeller’s “Standard oil”.

Morgan, through “General Electric”, controlled the German radio and electrical industry via AEG and Siemens (up to 1933, 30% of the shares of AEG owned “General Electric”) through the Telecom company ITT — 40% of the telephone network in Germany.

In addition, they owned a 30% stake in the aircraft manufacturing company “Focke-Wulf”.

“General Motors”, belonging to the DuPont family, established control over “Opel”.

Henry Ford controlled 100% of the shares of  “Volkswagen”.

In 1926, with the participation of the Rockefeller Bank “Dillon, Reed & Co.” the second largest  industrial monopoly in Germany after “I.G Farben” emerged — metallurgical concern “Vereinigte Stahlwerke” (Steel Trust) Thyssen, Flick, Wolff, Feglera etc.

American cooperation with the German military-industrial complex was so intense and pervasive that by 1933 the key sectors of German industry and large banks such as Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Danat-Bank (Darmstädter und Nationalbank), etc.  were under the control of American financial capital.

The political force that was intended to play a crucial role in Anglo-American plans was being simultaneously prepared. We are talking about the funding of the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler personally.

As former German Chancellor Brüning wrote in his memoirs, since 1923, Hitler received large sums from abroad. Where they went is unknown, but they were received through Swiss and Swedish banks.

It is also known that, in 1922 in Munich, a meeting took place between A. Hitler and the military attaché of the US to Germany – Captain Truman Smith – who compiled a detailed report for his Washington superiors (in the office of military intelligence), in which he spoke highly of Hitler.

It was through Smith’s circle of acquaintances that Hitler was first introduced to German-American businessman Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl, a graduate of Harvard University who played an important role in the formation of A. Hitler as a politician, endorsed by significant financial support, while securing him ties and communication with prominent personalities of the British establishment.

Hitler was prepared in politics, however, whereas Germany under the Weimar Republic reigned, his party remained on the periphery of public life. The situation changed dramatically with the beginning of the 1929 financial crisis.

Since the autumn of 1929 after the collapse of the America’s stock exchange was triggered by the Federal Reserve, the third stage of the strategy of the Anglo-American financial establishment commenced.

The Federal Reserve and JP Morgan decided to stop lending to Germany, inspired by the banking crisis and economic depression in Central Europe. In September 1931, England abandoned the gold standard, deliberately destroying the international system of payments and completely cutting off the flow of “financial oxygen” to the Weimar Republic.

But a financial miracle occurred with the Nazi party: in September 1930, as a result of large donations from Thyssen, “I.G. Farben” and Industrialist Emil Kirdorf (who was a firm supporter of Adolf Hitler), the Nazi party got 6.4 million votes, and took second place in the Reichstag, after which generous investments from abroad were activated.

The main link between the major German industrialists and foreign financiers became H. Schacht.

1932 Secret Agreement: Wall Street Finances Hitler’s Nazi Party 

On January 4th, 1932, a meeting was held between British financier Montagu Norman (Governor of the Bank of England), Adolf Hitler and Franz Von Papen (who became Chancellor a few months later in May 1932) At this meeting, an agreement on the financing of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP or Nazi Party) was reached.

This meeting was also attended by US policy-makers and the Dulles brothers, something which their biographers do not like to mention.

A year later, on January 14th, 1933, another meeting was held between Adolph Hitler, Germany’s Financier Baron Kurt von Schroeder, Chancellor Franz von Papen and Hitler’s Economic Advisor Wilhelm Keppler took place, where Hitler’s program was fully approved.

It was here that they finally resolved the issue of the transfer of power to the Nazis, and on the 30th of January 1933 Hitler became Chancellor. The implementation of the fourth stage of the strategy thus begun.

 

The attitude of the Anglo-American ruling elites in relation to the new Nazi government was very sympathetic.

When Hitler refused to pay reparations, which, naturally, called into question the payment of war debts, neither Britain nor France showed him the claims of the payments.

Moreover, after his  visit to the United States in May 1933, H. Schacht became once more head of Reichsbank, and after his meeting with the U.S. President and the big bankers on Wall Street, America allocated Germany new loans totalling $1 billion.

In June, during a trip to London and a meeting with Montagu  Norman, Schacht also sought a British loan of $2 billion, and a reduction and cessation of payments on old loans.

Thus, the Nazis got what they could not achieve with the previous government.

In the summer of 1934, Britain signed the Anglo-German transfer agreement, which became one of the foundations of British policy towards the Third Reich, and at the end of the 1930’s, Germany became the main trading partner of England.

Schroeder Bank became the main agent of Germany in the UK, and in 1936 his office in New York teamed up with the   Rockefellers to create the “Schroeder, Rockefeller & Co.” investment Bank, which Times Magazine called the “economic propagandist axis of Berlin-Rome”.

As Hitler himself admitted, he conceived his four-year plan on the basis of foreign financial loans, so it never inspired him with the slightest alarm.

In August 1934, America’s Standard Oil [owned by the Rockefellers] in Germany acquired 730,000 acres of land and built large oil refineries that supplied the Nazis with oil. At the same time, Germany  secretly took delivery of the most modern equipment for aircraft factories from the United States, which would begin the production of German planes.

Germany received a large number of military patents from American firms Pratt and Whitney”, “Douglas”, “Curtis Wright”, and American technology was building the “Junkers-87”. In 1941, when the Second world war was raging, American investments in the economy of Germany amounted to $475 million. “Standard oil” invested – 120 million, General Motors- $35 million, ITT — $30 million, and Ford — $17.5 million.

The close financial and economic cooperation of Anglo-American and Nazi business circles was the background against which, in the 1930’s, a policy of appeasement led to World War II.

Today, the world’s financial elites have implemented the Great Depression 2.o [2008], with a followup transition towards a “New World Order“.

Yuri Rubtsov is a doctor of historical sciences, academician of the Russian Academy of military sciences, and member of  the International Association of historians of World War II

Translated from Russian by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ. (references not available in this version of the article)

ru-polit.livejournal (originally from 2009) 

Investigadores federais ordenaram ao Google entregasse informações pessoais de espectadores de vídeos específicos do YouTube, gerando dúvidas entre especialistas em privacidade sobre a constitucionalidade de tais solicitações.

Os pedidos, obtidos pela Forbes, exigem do Google forneça nomes, endereços, números de telefone e atividades de usuários de titulares de contas – e endereços IP, identificadores numéricos de localização na Internet, de não titulares de contas – que assistiram a determinados vídeos.

Os críticos disseram que as exigências ameaçam transformar espectadores inocentes do YouTube em suspeitos de crimes, violando seus direitos de liberdade de expressão sob a Primeira Emenda e direitos de privacidade sob a Quarta Emenda.

Não está claro se o Google cumpriu os pedidos

Em um caso de Kentucky analisado pela Forbes, a polícia disfarçada tentou identificar a pessoa por trás do apelido online “elonmuskwhm”, suspeita de comprar bitcoin por dinheiro, em potencial violação das leis e regras de lavagem de dinheiro que regem a transmissão de dinheiro não licenciado.

A polícia enviou links para tutoriais do YouTube – que acumularam mais de 30.000 visualizações – sobre mapeamento de drones e realidade aumentada e, em seguida, pediu ao Google informações sobre qualquer pessoa que tivesse acessado os vídeos de 1º a 8 de janeiro de 2023.

O tribunal concedeu a ordem, mas os registros judiciais não revelam se o Google cumpriu.

Num caso separado de New Hampshire, a polícia de Portsmouth recebeu uma ameaça sobre um explosivo colocado numa lata de lixo pública, informou a Forbes. Depois de vasculhar a área, a polícia descobriu que eles estavam sendo assistidos por meio de uma transmissão ao vivo do YouTube associada a uma empresa local.

Investigadores federais acreditam que eventos semelhantes ao de Portsmouth ocorreram em todo o país e solicitaram que o Google fornecesse uma lista de contas que “visualizaram e/ou interagiram com” oito transmissões ao vivo do YouTube, incluindo uma postada por Boston e Maine Live com 130.000 assinantes.

Ainda não está claro se o Google forneceu os dados neste caso.

O porta-voz do Google, Matt Bryant, disse que a empresa tem “um processo rigoroso projetado para proteger a privacidade e os direitos constitucionais de nossos usuários, ao mesmo tempo que apoia o importante trabalho de aplicação da lei”, de acordo com a Forbes.

Bryant disse que o Google examina cada demanda quanto à validade legal, rejeita solicitações excessivamente amplas ou inadequadas e às vezes se opõe totalmente às demandas.

O Google anunciou recentemente uma atualização que tornará tecnicamente impossível para a empresa fornecer informações em resposta a ordens de cerca geográfica – ordens que buscam dados de todos os usuários a uma certa distância de um crime.

Esta medida surge depois de um tribunal da Califórnia ter decidido que um mandado de cerca geográfica que cobria várias áreas densamente povoadas em Los Angeles era inconstitucional, aumentando a esperança de que os tribunais impedissem a polícia de procurar tais dados.

O YouTube não deve identificar usuários ‘sem um mandado válido’

De acordo com o advogado e especialista em privacidade digital Greg Glaser, plataformas de mídia social como o YouTube são frequentemente consideradas parte da esfera pública, e as agências de aplicação da lei normalmente fazem um bom trabalho no tratamento de tais evidências.

No entanto, Glaser enfatizou que as informações pessoais não publicadas de um usuário, como nome e endereço associado à sua conta no YouTube, devem permanecer privadas.

“Sem um mandado válido, o YouTube não deveria revelar às autoridades os detalhes não publicados das contas pessoais de seus usuários”, disse Glaser ao The Defender.

Glaser sugeriu que quando os vídeos retratam atividades criminosas, os mandados serão prontamente emitidos contra os diretamente envolvidos.

Ele também observou que, para crimes específicos, como a exploração pornográfica de crianças, a simples posse ou visualização de tais vídeos é legitimamente considerada um ato criminoso.

“O direito à privacidade não cria o direito de se envolver em atividades criminosas ou de conspirar com criminosos”, disse ele.

Apesar disso, Glaser reconheceu a necessidade de salvaguardar contra vigilância excessiva ou “espionagem de arrasto”.

“Alguns estados implementaram variações de uma ‘Lei de Proteção da Quarta Emenda‘” para resolver esta preocupação, disse Glaser. “Essas leis respeitam o bom trabalho policial e também a necessidade de um mandado, mesmo na era da vigilância eletrônica”, disse ele.

‘Inconstitucional’ e ‘aterrorizante’

Especialistas em privacidade que conversaram com a Forbes expressaram sérias preocupações sobre a constitucionalidade das ordens judiciais, argumentando que elas ameaçam desfazer as proteções constitucionais.

Albert Fox Cahn, diretor executivo do Projeto de Supervisão de Tecnologia de Vigilância, chamou as ordens de “inconstitucionais” e “aterrorizantes”, comparando-as a controversos mandados de cerca geográfica.

“Ninguém deve temer uma batida da polícia na porta simplesmente por causa do que o algoritmo do YouTube oferece”, disse Fox Cahn à Forbes. “Estou horrorizado que os tribunais estejam permitindo isso.”

John Davisson, consultor sênior do Electronic Privacy Information Center, ecoou as preocupações de Fox Cahn, enfatizando que os hábitos de visualização online podem revelar “informações profundamente sensíveis” sobre indivíduos, tais como suas crenças políticas, paixões e opiniões religiosas.

“É justo esperar que as autoridades não tenham acesso a essas informações sem uma causa provável”, disse Davisson à Forbes. “Esta ordem vira essa suposição de cabeça para baixo.”

Numerosas tecnologias cobriram o artigo da Forbes e opinaram sobre a polêmica.

O Engadget observou que os indivíduos não precisam se envolver em atividades ilegais para que seus dados sejam solicitados pelas autoridades. Essas violações de privacidade muitas vezes não são contestadas, a menos que a vítima se envolva em longas batalhas judiciais – às vezes até a Suprema Corte dos EUA, escreveu a PCWorld.

A Reclaim the Net caracterizou os esforços de vigilância do governo como “extremos”, salientando que desmascarar todos os que assistiram a um determinado vídeo “torna todos suspeitos” sem causa provável.

John-Michael Dumais

Attacks by the Chicken-Hawks

April 15th, 2024 by Richard C. Cook

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Chicken-Hawks

Chicken-Hawk: Someone who sends, or intends to send, other people to die for their own ambitions or ulterior motives.

Who are the biggest Chicken-Hawks in today’s world?

How about French President Emmanuel Macron? British Foreign Secretary David “Lord” Cameron? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? U.S. President Joe Biden?

That’s enough to start on.

Macron

France has been a second-rate power since the defeat of Napoleon. 19th century France had too many presidents, emperors, and cabinets to count. Germany crushed France in weeks in the Franco-Prussian War, the biggest European war of the period. France and Russia were then roped into World War I by Great Britain, which used them as cannon fodder in its obsession of annihilating Germany until the Americans arrived on the scene to finish the dirty work.

The story was repeated with World War II, with France again smashed until they were bailed out once more, this time by the Soviets on the Eastern Front and the Americans on the Western. Now, France plays second fiddle to Germany in the EU without anyone taking the country seriously on any matter of importance. France today is mainly a tourist attraction. It is even being kicked out of West Africa by its former colonies who are tired of being manipulated.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been supporting the U.S. proxy war against Russia in Ukraine by failing to honor the French commitments at Minsk to guarantee a peaceful settlement, by supplying weapons to Ukraine that have been used to kill Donbass civilians, and by allowing French mercenaries to fight. Now Macron wants to send 20,000 French troops into Ukraine to make a further statement against Russia.

Macron has been trying to get Britain and the U.S. to support him, with British foreign minister David “Lord” Cameron evidently taking the bait. Russia has said any NATO troops setting foot on Ukraine will be destroyed, and they mean it. Alex Christoforou of The Duran says that Macron is trying to start World War III, hoping as with the previous two world wars, that the U.S. will ride to Europe’s rescue. Of course, starting big wars is a time-tested method of dodging domestic problems which France and the West have in spades.

From my perspective, trying to draw in the U.S. against Russia in what would likely become a nuclear holocaust, qualifies Macron as a Chicken-Hawk.

Of course, it’s not all Macron’s fault. He got the training for his current job while working as a Rothschild banker, and we all know that the Rothschilds own France.

“Lord” Cameron

Don’t get me wrong, the Rothschilds own Great Britain too. Reportedly, head financier Nathaniel Rothschild, the 5th Baron Rothchild, recently sent a letter to the British government demanding that Ukraine win its war against Russia and that Russian President Vladimir Putin be gotten rid of.

So former British P.M. David Cameron was made a “Lord,” evidently so he wouldn’t have to answer questions on foreign policy in the House of Commons, then was appointed as Britain’s foreign minister. While P.M. from 2010 to 2016, Cameron had joined with Hillary Clinton in bombing Libya to destruction (a real NATO triumph) and assassinating Libyan President Qaddafi. (Remember Clinton’s gloating words: “We came, we saw, he died.”)

Cameron has now told Macron that, yeah, a new British-French entente would be a great step forward toward world peace. Again, it’s just like World War I and II, where the only way the British Empire was able to stay on its feet, was with the Americans—and Soviets in WWII—riding to the rescue. Of course, Britain lost its colonies in WWII, but was still able to secure Palestine for the Jews and keep financial control of half the world from the money-laundering center of the City of London and its outliers in the Cayman Islands, etc.

Britain has taken the lead in keeping Ukraine from making peace with Russia since early 2022, when then-P.M. Boris Johnson got Ukraine’s Zelensky to back off a signed agreement with Russia for a cease-fire. Britain has also flooded Eastern Europe and West Asia with MI6 operatives (as has the CIA) and hired jihadists to stir the pot by trying to keep Russia under attack and off-balance. Britain has had an abiding hatred toward Russia since the days of the “Great Game,” despite being willing to use Russia as a wartime ally as needed before stabbing them in the back as Churchill did after World War II.

Britain’s own army is virtually non-existent. A retired British commanding general has said their army would not last for two weeks against Russia in the field. Days ago, “Lord” Cameron paid a visit to the U.S. to demand release of the $61 billion in aid to Ukraine promised by President Joe Biden, but he was rebuffed by presidential candidate Donald Trump, while Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refused even to meet with him. Along with other Chicken-Hawks, like U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, “Lord” Cameron declared the money spent by the U.S. on using Ukraine to weaken Russia to be a “good investment.”

It’s Cameron’s joining with Macron in trying to draw the U.S. into World War III against Russia—with China obviously included—that qualifies him as a Chicken-Hawk.

Netanyahu

Labeling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a Chicken-Hawk is a walk in the park. Slaughtering over 33,000 defenseless Palestinian civilians, a majority women and children, along with health care and relief workers and journalists, for any reason is a prima facie case, plus suppositions that part of his motive was to escape corruption charges in the Israeli courts. A majority of the world sees what Israel is doing as outright and unabashed genocide, with more evidently to come. Now we have the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus in an apparent attempt to draw Iran into a major conflict that could very well be the provocation needed to provoke World War III on the Middle Eastern node of the Anglo-American-Zionist Empire.

‘Nuff said about Chicken-Hawk Netanyahu.

Biden

To pick up on a previous point, obviously, the Rothschilds have always had a stake in America as well as Britain and France, but we have had plenty of homegrown financial oligarchs. Right now it’s the hedge fund oligarchs running places like J.P. Morgan Chase, BlackRock, Vanguard, Goldman Sachs, the Rockefeller Foundation, and others who rule over the system and dole out cash to politicians who do their bidding, Biden included. And together the oligarchs worldwide seem to have pooled their resources in supporting the WEF and its “Great Reset,” which translated is a massive program of population reduction.

But on to Biden. While a leader of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden was the strongest Senate backer of President George W. Bush’s wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. As Obama’s vice-president, Biden was the Obama administration’s point man, along with Victoria Nuland, the foremost U.S. Neocon, for the 2014 coup against the democratically-elected government of Ukraine.

Biden is strongly believed to have used his official position as vice-president and later president to enrich himself and his family, including through his son Hunter’s board membership with Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm. Biden and his administration can be credibly accused of perpetrating serial instances of “lawfare” against his main political opponent, Donald Trump. Biden is complicit in the fake Covid pandemic and in supporting the WHO and Bill Gates in preparation for the next one, with an upcoming May 2024 vote on the WHO Pandemic Treaty expected to give the WHO dictatorial powers.

Election manipulation seems to have been a specialty of the Democratic National Committee’s backing of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, when both Biden and Clinton maneuvered their way around Bernie Sanders to secure the presidential nomination. Now, in 2024, Biden has refused to grant Secret Service protection to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., even as the DNC launches its own dirty tricks campaign against Kennedy.

Of course, we have yet to see if the 2024 election will even be held. There are reports that with the early retirements of several Republican congresspersons, the House may swing to the Democrats where it could cancel the election results if Trump wins.

While claiming the U.S. is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine, the Biden administration has been provoking all-out war with Russia and threatening war with China, even while Biden runs for president at the age of 81 when he can barely speak a coherent sentence. Continuing to supply Israel with weapons for its assaults in Gaza and the West Bank, Biden is complicit in Netanyahu’s genocidal vendetta.

Further, Biden and his Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have been destroying the country by fostering massive illegal immigration, with rumors now afloat that their purpose is to recruit a huge mercenary army to be launched against Russia, China, and their allies in World War III. This would be an attempt to deal with the fact that the American and European publics do not support such a war. Biden steadfastly refuses to take responsibility for his actions and for what he has done to this country, even as the plans for future disasters are being laid.

But there is one more thing. Biden started the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine (see my book Our Country, Then and Now) for which his intent was to “fight to the last Ukrainian,” without risking American lives. Millions of Ukrainians have fled from their homes to save their lives in this war. Probably a million young Ukrainians who stayed behind have been killed or seriously wounded with many more to come.  Such psychopathy, added to the millions of deaths worldwide in other wars Biden has supported, fully qualifies Biden to be named the biggest Chicken-Hawk of all.

Conclusion

So much can and should be said here, but let me ask just one pertinent question. Are the billions of intelligent, caring people in the world who just want to live and let live for their own sake and the sake of future generations going to let this gang of Chicken-Hawks and the people in their employ destroy human life on earth and/or reduce human society to a totalitarian anthill?

More specifically, will the rest of 2024 see a Disease X “plandemic,” a canceled 2024 presidential election, then all-out world war going nuclear?

It seems possible, if not likely, with Chicken-Hawks like these in charge.

*

A Personal Statement

Finally, let me emphasize that I am not making these rather “strong” statements as a partisan of Russia, China, Iran, or any other foreign nation or combination of foreign nations. I am a proud 32-year veteran of the federal government’s civil service and a loyal citizen of the U.S. My ancestors have served our nation going back to the Revolutionary War.

But I am deeply opposed to the catastrophic trajectory of U.S. foreign policy over the past several decades under the regime of endless war. I am deeply opposed to the malign influence of the military-industrial complex over all aspects of American life. I am deeply opposed to the covert manipulation of government policy by the agencies of the Deep State. I am deeply opposed to the self-serving exercise of hidden power by the financial oligarchy headquartered in Wall Street. I am deeply opposed to the dark influence over U.S. foreign policy by the faction known as the Neocons whose loyalties so obviously lie elsewhere.

I believe U.S. foreign policy can and should perform an about-face, where it becomes a force for peace and good in the world instead of war and hatred. This means reaching accommodation and striving for cooperation and friendship with countries now considered “adversaries” or even “enemies.”

Those of us within the U.S. who honor such ideals need to take action now to assure that the U.S. and the rest of the world has a future.

*

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This article was originally published on VT Foreign Policy.

Richard C. Cook is a 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 regular contributor to Global Research.


Our Country, Then and Now

by Richard C. Cook

ISBN: 9781949762853

E-book ISBN: 978-1-949762-86-0

Year: 2023

Our Country Then and Now takes us on a 400-year journey through America’s history, providing unique snapshots from African enslavement, native dispossession, financial scandals, and wars of expansion and aggression, interspersed with tales from author Richard C. Cook’s ancestry—from Puritan forebears to fighters in the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War, to Midwest Pioneer farmers and their relations with native nations.

Click here to order.

Huge Middle East War – With the US in It

April 15th, 2024 by Karsten Riise

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330 Against Israel

Iran just sent 330 drones and missiles from own territory to Israel. In spite of Israeli statements – the Iranian attack DID penetrate Israel’s defenses, see this.

The Israeli generals don’t look happy.

This Will Explode

Israel will retaliate.

Iran is already prepared to escalate on an even MUCH larger scale.

Iran’s response to any action will be much greater, see this.

There is no way Israel will sit down and say “let’s call it a day”. Israel will have to respond even bigger, and Iran’s next wave of attack will be even bigger yet. How big? Well – credible sources say that Hezbollah has got 150,000 missiles. Imagine Iran having many times that number of missiles prepared. Israel will be overwhelmed and smashed.

Israel Has Limited Magazines

The thing is, that no matter how well Israel’s air defense is, it only has a finite number of missiles to shoot down enemy attacks. It’s called “limited magazine depth“. Iran expects most the drones and missiles in its first waves of attack to be shot own – that’s part of the plan: To empty Israel’s air defense magazines. Once that is achieved, Iran will have free rein to hit anywhere in Israel – just like Russia has it in Ukraine.

And yes – Israel is helping Ukraine, so Russia is no doubt helping Iran right now.

It is important to note how self-confident Iran is in going up against Israel and even the USA. Iran deliberately attacked Israel at the moment when such an attack was MOST expected. This is contrary to the element of surprise.

Iran says: We are strong enough – we even warn you before we hit you.

The operation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was carried out while the world media was reporting that it was imminent.

The maximum preparedness of the Zionist regime and the political, diplomatic, intelligence and military support of the United States and other regime-friendly countries had created the suspicion that Iran’s military action would be neutralized by the systems of this regime and its allies. But despite the expectation of the Zionists to counter Iran’s weapons, there are many images of lightning strikes of our country’s drones and missiles on military targets and the failure of the American and British defense systems. The extent of the operations, their accuracy and pinpointing, shocked and surprised the Zionists. See this.

Iran also explains in detail how this first attack was carefully designed not to hit civilian or residential areas of Israel. What happens when this escalates in following waves, we can easily imagine.

Both sides are boasting of course. But with the report in the Middle East Eye (link above) that Iran already struck an Israeli airbase, we already see evidence for Iran’s claims to have hit strategic targets in Israel.

The Nuclear Element

The NUCLEAR element is important too. Everybody knows that Israel has got at least 200-300 nuclear weapons. According to one extremely well informed source, Israeli threatened Syria with nuclear attack during the 1973, and that is why Syria stopped the war back then. But Iran is different. Everybody knows that Iran for a long time has had enough nuclear material to build nuclear weapons. And we can be sure, that Iran the past 6 months has prepared for going nuclear. As both sides have nuclear capabilities, it means, that Israel now in 2024 against Iran does NOT control the upper end of the escalation, nuclear war.

Big War – And the US Is in It

This is already a huge Middle East war and it is about to escalate and expand both vertically and horizontally. No doubt. Russia and China have coordinated the playbook with even Türkiye and Saudi Arabia. With Biden’s stupid comments the past days to “defend Israel” we know two things:

  1. Biden will NOT cut weapons supplies – Netanyahu has carte-blanche to continue genocide.
  2. US has already been attack recently, and will be fighting against Iran, Hezbollah, and many others – VERY soon.

US is losing in Ukraine.

US is at risk around Taiwan.

Already, US troops in Syria, Jordan, and Iraq have been targeted. And with Biden’s support to fight for Israel, we know that US supply of weapons for Israel’s genocide will continue. The US is already fully into this war. Gulf States friendly to the US have already told the US not to use bases in their countries to attack Iran – but the US will disregard the wishes of its host countries. As the war escalates, US troops in Jordan, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere will be “removed” and the US will soon find itself fighting against Iran and others. This is a war the US cannot win.

How dumb is that for the USA?

*

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Karsten Riise is a Master of Science (Econ) from Copenhagen Business School and has a university degree in Spanish Culture and Languages from Copenhagen University. He is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Mercedes-Benz in Denmark and Sweden.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Israeli generals don’t look happy – image from Middle East Eye, brought under fair use.

Iran on the Rise: Retaliation, “Important Military Targets”. Peter Koenig

By Peter Koenig, April 15, 2024

The warning was on the wall. Ever since Israel attacked “out of the blue” on 1 April 2024 the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing seven, including two generals, an Iranian retaliation was to be expected. 

Kiev Regime Obliging Soldiers to Keep Fighting

By Lucas Leiroz de Almeida, April 15, 2024

Lawmakers recently voted against demobilizing veteran soldiers, forcing them to remain on the front lines for many months more. It is expected that there will be a major crisis in the army’s ranks, as soldiers are being prevented from returning to their homes, despite having fulfilled their military duties.

US-NATO: The Cost of War. Manlio Dinucci

By Manlio Dinucci, April 15, 2024

NATO’s war against Russia in Ukraine involves increasing military spending. According to official data, Italy’s military spending has increased from 21 billion euros in 2019 to more than 30 billion euros in 2023, equivalent to an annual daily average of more than 80 million euros, in public money diverted from social spending.

Ten New Studies Detail Health Risks of 5G

By Dr. Joseph Mercola, April 15, 2024

While the wireless industry is built on the premise that the only type of radiation capable of causing harm is ionizing — X-rays being one example — researchers have for a long time warned that even nonionizing and non-heating radiation can jeopardize your health. This includes not only human health, but also that of plants and animals.

Iran Retaliates for Embassy Attack Launching Hundreds of Missiles and Drones Inside Occupied Territories

By Abayomi Azikiwe, April 15, 2024

The United Nations Security Council failed to condemn the attacks against the Iranian embassy due to the lack of support by the western imperialist states which arm and finance the settler-colonial regime in Israel. Therefore, it was not surprising that the Iranian government was compelled to strike Israel in a major way.

CARICOM and the Imperialists Are Aiding in the “Recolonization” of Haiti

By Richard Dunn, April 15, 2024

On March 11, 2024, the Jamaican government hosted a CARICOM meeting, reportedly to discuss and find some resolution to the social disruption in Haiti. The meeting was a farce from conception and was nothing more than a ploy, by the United States especially, to give some legitimacy to the unelected government of Haiti, and to use the Jamaican and other Caribbean political stooges to create a semblance of concern for the issues in Haiti.

Nuclear Weapons Are the Biggest Single Danger for Humanity and All Forms of Life

By Bharat Dogra, April 15, 2024

Nearly one hundred thousand people were killed within a few minutes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after being hit by nuclear weapons in 1945, but if we count the longer-term deaths, those caused by internal bleeding, leukaemia, various other forms of cancer, then the death toll is likely to be as high as 3,50,000.

Kiev Regime Obliging Soldiers to Keep Fighting

April 15th, 2024 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

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Apparently, the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev wants to keep its troops on the battlefield even longer, not even sparing veterans from the terror of war. Lawmakers recently voted against demobilizing veteran soldiers, forcing them to remain on the front lines for many months more. It is expected that there will be a major crisis in the army’s ranks, as soldiers are being prevented from returning to their homes, despite having fulfilled their military duties.

On April 11, the Ukrainian Parliament voted against the approval of a bill that established the demobilization of troops who served for more than 36 months on the front lines. The project was modified and approved only under the condition that veteran soldiers remain at the front until at least February 2025. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were anxiously awaiting the approval of the project in its original terms so that they could finally return to their families, however, given the new terms, many of them will continue fighting until next year.

The dissatisfaction of the military can already be seen on social media. For example, Maxim Nesmaynov, a Ukrainian State Border Guard Service officer, published a post on Facebook describing the lawmakers’ actions as a “disaster”, claiming that Kiev is destroying itself “from inside”.

“This is a disaster (…) How could it be possible to promise demobilization to soldiers (…) only to abandon them at the end? (…) You can’t take away hope from soldiers that they will return home. Someone is trying to destroy the country from inside!”, he wrote on a social media post.

The Ukrainian measure is not surprising, considering the recent package of pro-mobilization policies implemented in the country. The lowering of the minimum recruitment age and the enlistment of women, the elderly and people with health problems are some examples of the Ukrainian desperation. Kiev needs to keep fighting, as its Western sponsors do not allow it to surrender. However, with constant casualties and mass migration, there are few people left to fight on the front lines. So, the “solution” proposed by the regime is simply to send women and elderly people to the front – as well as not allowing men of military age to leave the battlefield.

The main problem is that such measures are obviously unpopular among the military. Unlike nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries, who fight for ideology or money, ordinary Ukrainian soldiers are fighting in the war only because the state forces them to, having no other reason to combat other than the fear of punishment for disobeying orders. They urgently want to return to their homes and see their families. More than that, given the high lethality rate on the front lines, each day more they fight, their hope of reuniting with their families diminishes, which is why they are in a hurry to leave the battlefield.

There are also other factors that make it extremely necessary to return soldiers to their homes. On the front lines, soldiers go through many moments of high levels of stress, which is why they can develop various health problems if they do not have long periods of rest. Returning home and reuniting with family is a way to alleviate soldiers’ suffering and allow them to continue fulfilling their military duties properly in the future. However, by forcing them to stay at the front, the Ukrainian authorities are simply harming the soldiers’ mental health and subjecting them to prolonged periods of risk during the intense battles, making it almost impossible for the soldiers to see their relatives again.

The unpopularity of the measure tends to generate a serious crisis of legitimacy. On the front lines, soldiers may rebel and begin a wave of evasion or mass surrenders. In the cities, families waiting for their loved ones will certainly start protests against the neo-Nazi dictatorship. Even military commanders tend to take more critical positions against the government, considering that they need to continue to be respected by their subordinates – which will not happen if they refuse to try to protect the interests of the troops.

All these factors will make the political and military collapse of the Kiev regime even faster. Ukraine clearly no longer has the means to continue fighting, with defeat and unconditional surrender being a mere matter of time – despite all NATO’s efforts to ensure that the war continues.

*

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Lucas Leiroz is a member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert. You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

US-NATO: The Cost of War. Manlio Dinucci

April 15th, 2024 by Manlio Dinucci

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NATO’s war against Russia in Ukraine involves increasing military spending. According to official data, Italy’s military spending has increased from 21 billion euros in 2019 to more than 30 billion euros in 2023, equivalent to an annual daily average of more than 80 million euros, in public money diverted from social spending. According to the NATO commitment, Italy will have to increase this spending to about 100 million euros per day. Since 2014, NATO-member Europe’s military spending has soared, exceeding the level of the last phase of the Cold War.

NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg emphasizes,

“The Allies are providing Ukraine with unprecedented military and financial aid. France will soon send more Caesar howitzers, and several Allies have joined the Czech Republic’s initiative to procure 800,000 additional artillery shells.”

Italy, which has already also supplied Kiev with heavy artillery pieces, is participating in the purchase of these additional 800,000 shells, with an additional outlay of public money paid by us citizens

A further aggravation comes from the fact that Italy shares in the expenses of U.S.-NATO bases that, from Italian territory, play primary roles in supporting war operations, from Ukraine to the Middle East. Of particular importance is the role of Camp Darby, the largest U.S. arsenal outside U.S. territory. These days, new and more powerful armored vehicles are arriving from the United States at this base, located between Pisa and Livorno, which will be sent from Camp Darby, via the port of Livorno, to Ukraine.

The U.S. bases at Camp Darby, Sigonella and others on Italian soil also support war operations in the Middle East, where the United States continues to arm Israel under an agreement, entered into by President Obama and his deputy Biden, to supply Israel with $38 billion worth of weapons, including the bombs with which Israel is exterminating Palestinians in Gaza.

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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.

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Ten New Studies Detail Health Risks of 5G

April 15th, 2024 by Dr. Joseph Mercola

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Several studies published between 2022 and 2024 underscore the health risks posed by 5G technology

Research contradicts the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines, demonstrating various harmful biological effects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) on humans and the environment, including potential cancer risk

Studies reveal 5G’s potential to induce neurological damage and psychiatric problems, highlighting its effects on brain development, including the increased risk of conditions like dementia through mechanisms such as the impairment of neurosin

A December 2023 study illustrates the detrimental effects of 5G RFR on rat sperm, showing decreased sperm count and quality, with melatonin offering a protective effect

February 2024 research indicates significant changes in the fecal microbiome and metabolome profiles in mice exposed to 5G RFR, hinting at broader implications for health, including mental well-being and immune function

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Over the past decade, I’ve written many articles discussing the evidence of biological harm from nonionizing electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation and radiofrequency radiation (RFR) from wireless technologies.

The video above features an interview I did with Siim Land in February 2020 for his Body Mind Empowerment podcast in which I discuss EMF — what it is, your greatest sources of exposure, how it affects your biology, and how to minimize your exposure. I also review how the telecommunications industry manipulates the truth to keep you unaware of the potential hazards.

While the wireless industry is built on the premise that the only type of radiation capable of causing harm is ionizing — X-rays being one example — researchers have for a long time warned that even nonionizing and non-heating radiation can jeopardize your health. This includes not only human health, but also that of plants and animals.

Over time, I became so convinced of the deleterious effects of EMF, I took three years to write “EMF*D” which was published in 2020. In it, I reviewed the overwhelming evidence showing EMFs are a hidden health hazard that simply cannot be ignored any longer.

During the pandemic, we also witnessed the rollout and installation of 5G across the country, which has exponentially increased exposures, as it’s added on top of the already existing wireless infrastructure.

The short video below, published by Investigative Europe in January 2019, gives a quick overview of how 5G differs from previous wireless technology. At the time, little if any research had been done on 5G specifically, but between 2022 and 2024, 10 new studies have been published that shed more light on this fifth-generation technology.1

5G Appeals for Moratorium Ignored Despite Evidence

The first of these, published in September 2022 in the journal Reviews on Environmental Health,2provides a good overview of the hazards 5G poses. The authors pointed out that, since September 2017, over 400 scientists and doctors have collectively submitted six appeals to the European Union, calling for a moratorium on 5G technology. All have been ignored.

The September 2021 appeal included an “extensive cover letter” in which experts argued that the EU’s reliance on guidelines by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) places public health at risk because the guidelines only consider “heating and no other health relevant biological effects from RFR.”

The letter countered the ICNIRP’s guidance with research from European and international expert groups detailing myriad adverse biological effects of RFR on humans and the environment. According to the authors:3

“Evidence to establish this position is drawn from studies showing changes to neurotransmitters and receptors, damage to cells, proteins, DNA, sperm, the immune system, and human health, including cancer.

The 2021 Appeal goes on to warn that 5G signals are likely to additionally alter the behavior of oxygen and water molecules at the quantum level, unfold proteins, damage skin, and cause harm to insects, birds, frogs, plants and animals.”

Aggregation of Signals Pose Serious Concerns

Under the subhead “Great Plans, Great Promises but False Claims,” the authors go on to highlight the government’s own findings:

“… the potential health and safety risks associated with RFR have been exposed in a recent EU-commissioned review of the currently available scientific evidence, the 2021 European Parliamentary Research Service’s EPRS/STOA Health impact of 5G report.4

The conclusions of the comprehensive review declared sufficient evidence for cancer from RFR in animals, sufficient evidence for adverse effects from RFR on the fertility of men, male rats and mice, and that RFR is probably carcinogenic to humans.

In short, the EPRS/STOA report shows that RFR is harmful for health. The report subsequently calls for measures to incentivize the reduction of RF-EMF exposures (p. 153), such as lowering the limit for allowed exposures and the preferential use of wired connections.

Similarly, the EU’s own (ITRE committee) 2019 in-depth analysis, 5G Deployment: State of Play in Europe, USA and Asia5 warned that, when added to 2G, 3G, 4G, WiFi, WIMAX, DECT, radar etc., 5G will cumulatively lead to dramatically more total radiation: not only from the use of much higher frequencies in 5G but also from the potential for the aggregation of different signals, their dynamic nature, and the complex interference effects that may result, especially in dense urban areas (p 11).

These concerns are based on the complexity of communications signals and the unknowns of their interactions. Electromagnetic signals transmitted by manmade communication devices are not regular waves; rather, they are a complex combination of ultra-high frequency carrier waves, and modulations that encode the messages using extremely-low and ultra-low frequencies.

In addition, the signals are pulsed at ultra-low frequencies (sent in short on-off bursts). This means that although the RFR carrier waves may sit in the high frequency GHz range, their modulations and pulse rates are much closer to brain-wave frequencies; e.g., the 217 Hz pulsing of a GSM phone signal.

Pulsed or modulated RFR signals have been shown to be more bio-active than simple continuous waves of the same intensity and exposure duration. This is of significant concern in relation to public health and is not limited to just the higher 5G frequencies.

Furthermore, as the report noted, the effects of these new complex beam formed signals have unpredictable propagation patterns that could result in unacceptable levels of human exposure to electromagnetic radiation (p. 6) but are yet to be mapped reliably for real situations, outside the laboratory.”

5G May Cause Neurological and Psychiatric Problems

The second study,6 published in November 2022, investigated the effects of 4.9 GHz (one of several 5G frequencies) RFR on the emotional behaviors and spatial memory in adult male mice. The exposure was found to induce “depression-like behavior” caused by “neuronal pyroptosis in the amygdala.”

Pyroptosis is a form of programmed cell death distinct from other forms of apoptosis, characterized by its inflammatory response. It involves the swelling and bursting of the cell, leading to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and intracellular contents that can trigger an immune response in the surrounding tissue.

This process is controlled by gasdermin proteins, which form pores in the cell membrane, and is often initiated in response to infections by pathogens or other signals indicating cellular damage.

The amygdala is a region of the brain involved in emotion regulation, memory, and decision-making. So, pyroptosis in this area could be indicative of neurological damage or inflammation, potentially affecting emotional regulation, behavior, and cognitive functions.

This could be relevant in the context of neurodegenerative diseases, brain injuries, or infections that impact the central nervous system, leading to various neurological and psychiatric implications.

Four Studies Confirm 5G’s Impact on Neurology

Another four studies published in 2023 also show a variety of damage occurring in the brain:

  • 5G increases permeability of the blood-brain barrier7 In the first, RFR from 5G cellphones at 3.5 GHz or 4.9 GHz for one hour per day for 35 days straight was found to increase the permeability of the BBB in the cerebral cortex of mice.
  • RFR impairs neurogenesis and causes neuronal DNA damage8 In the second, continuous RFR from cellphones at 2115 MHz for eight hours was shown to induce higher levels of lipid peroxidation, carbon-centered lipid radicals, and single-strand DNA damage, resulting in impaired neurogenesis in the hippocampal region and neuronal degeneration in the dentate gyrus region.

Translation: Cellphone radiation may cause cognitive impairment and deficits, behavioral changes and dysfunctional mood regulation, neurodegenerative disorders (due to the oxidative stress within neurons) and psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression.

  • Electromagnetic radiation associated with anxiety9 This study found anxiety-like behavior in male mice exposed electromagnetic radiation at 2650 MHz for four hours a day for 28 days.
  • 5G may promote dementia10 Lastly, a follow-up study on previous research concluded that RFRs at 1.8 GHz to 3.5 GHz:
    • Inhibit neurosin, an enzyme that plays a role in brain health, including the breakdown of proteins that, if not properly managed, could lead to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. This finding suggests that cellphone radiation could potentially interfere with the brain’s ability to prevent the buildup of harmful proteins.
    • Inhibit the electrical activity of neurons in vitro — Neurons communicate with each other using electrical signals and this activity is crucial for everything your brain does, from processing sensory information to controlling muscle movements. Inhibiting electrical activity means disrupting normal brain cell communication, which could potentially impact brain functions.

5G Affects Brain Development

An October 2023 study11 by Bodin et al. investigated the effects of exposure to 5G during the perinatal period — around the time of birth — on the neurodevelopment of rats. The main goal of this study was to explore how being exposed to 5G EMF around the time of birth affects the brain development of rats as they grow into juveniles and adolescents.

Both male and female rat pups exposed to 5G EMF showed delayed incisor (front teeth) eruption. This indicates that EMF exposure could potentially slow down certain aspects of physical development. The study also found notable differences in behavior based on the sex of the rats.

In adolescent female rats, there was a significant reduction (70%) in stereotyped movements, such as repetitive patterns of behavior, in the open field test. This suggests that exposure may reduce certain repetitive behaviors in females. In contrast, male rats exhibited a 50% increase in stereotyped movements, indicating that the same exposure led to an increase in repetitive behaviors.

In short, the research suggests that exposure to 5G EMF at levels below the regulatory threshold during a critical period of development (perinatal period) has the potential to cause disturbances in neurodevelopment. These effects are seen in juvenile and adolescent descendants and manifest differently in males and females.

While it’s difficult to predict what the human health implications of this might be, it’s worth noting that repetitive behaviors are often associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In such cases, these behaviors may signal underlying neurological differences and can impact an individual’s social interactions, learning, and daily functioning.

In some instances, repetitive behaviors can also be symptomatic of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), stress-related disorders and self-harming behaviors such as skin picking or hair pulling. For some individuals, repetitive behaviors can interfere with attention and focus, affecting academic performance, workplace productivity, and the ability to complete daily tasks efficiently.

It can also affect an individual’s social interactions and relationships, and can lead to social isolation, bullying, or stigma, particularly in children and adolescents, further impacting emotional well-being and self-esteem. Repetitive behaviors, particularly those associated with anxiety or compulsive disorders, can also disrupt sleep patterns, leading to insomnia or poor sleep quality, which in turn affects overall health and well-being.

RFR Decimates Male Fertility — Melatonin Can Help Restore It

A December 2023 study,12 which explored the negative effects of long-term exposure to 2100 MHz RFR on rat sperm characteristics, brought both good and bad news.

On the downside, male rats exposed to RFR at 2100 MHz for 30 minutes a day had a significantly higher percentage of sperm with abnormal shapes. There was also a significant reduction in the total sperm count among the exposed rats.

At a more detailed level, examining the sperm structure under a microscope (the ultrastructural level), damage was observed in critical parts of the sperm, including the:

  • Acrosome, a cap-like structure that helps the sperm penetrate an egg
  • Axoneme, the central shaft of the sperm tail
  • Mitochondrial sheath, which powers the sperm tail’s movement
  • Outer dense fibers, which are part of the sperm tail

The good news is that melatonin supplementation was able to prevent these problems. Rats given 10 milligrams of melatonin per kilo of bodyweight via subcutaneous administration had increased sperm counts and the proportion of sperms with normal shapes increased. Moreover, the ultrastructural damage to sperm caused by RF exposure was fully reversed. As reported by the authors:

“The percentages of abnormal sperm morphology were significantly increased with RF exposure, while the total sperm count was significantly decreased … The number of total sperms, sperms with normal morphology increased, and ultrastructural appearance returned to normal by melatonin administration.”

Case Study of 8-Year-Old Boy

In January 2024, Hardell et al. presented a case study13 of an eight-year-old boy experiencing severe headaches and other symptoms while attending a school located near a mobile phone tower equipped with 5G base stations.

The boy’s school is situated 200 meters away from a mobile phone tower with 5G base stations, with his classroom being 285 meters away. Soon after starting school, he began experiencing headaches, which were initially sporadic, not occurring every day or every week.

By autumn 2023, the boy’s headaches intensified, occurring daily and rated as a 10 on a 10-grade scale, where 0 signifies no discomfort and 10 indicates unbearable pain. He also experienced fatigue (rated 5) and occasional dizziness (rated 7), specifically while at school. At home, he occasionally had mild headaches (rated 2) that subsided relatively quickly.

In the autumn of 2023, he started wearing an RF-protective cap and outerwear at school, both indoors and outside, after which the headaches vanished.

This paper also cites epidemiological studies and laboratory research linking RF radiation exposure to cancer through mechanisms such as oxidative stress, mRNA effects and DNA damage, and argues for classifying RF radiation as a Group 1 human carcinogen, noting that “This classification should have a major impact on prevention measures.”

5G Alters Your Microbiome

Lastly, a February 2024 study14 by Wang et al. examined the impact of 5G RFR on the fecal microbiome and metabolome profiles in mice. The results indicated that the mice exposed to RFR experienced significant alterations in their intestinal microbial compositions, characterized by a decrease in microbial diversity and shifts in the microbial community distribution.

Through metabolomics profiling, the researchers identified 258 metabolites that were significantly differentially abundant in the mice exposed to RF fields compared to controls, which suggests it can have a profound impact on metabolic processes.

The authors concluded that exposure to 4.9 GHz RFR can cause intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in mice and hypothesized that the observed imbalances in gut microbiota and metabolism might be linked to depression-like behaviors in mice seen in so many studies. The imbalance in the metabolic profile may also be associated with changes in immune regulation or inflammation.

5G Will Harm Every Living Being

In September 2019, the Minister for Communications, Hon. Paul Fletcher MP asked the Committee to complete and inquiry into the “deployment, adoption and application of 5G in Australia.”15 In response, Paul Barratt, on behalf of ElectricSense, submitted a document, available as a download from aph.org, stating, in part:

“5G is dangerous and will harm every living being. Thousands of studies link low-level wireless radio frequency radiation exposures to a long list of adverse biological effects, including:

  • DNA single and double strand breaks
  • oxidative damage
  • disruption of cell metabolism
  • increased blood brain barrier permeability
  • melatonin reduction
  • disruption to brain glucose metabolism
  • generation of stress proteins

Let’s not also forget that in 2011 the World Health Organization (WHO) classified radio frequency radiation as a possible 2B carcinogen. More recently the $25 million National Toxicology Program concluded that radio frequency radiation of the type currently used by cell phones can cause cancer.

But where does 5G fit into all this? Given that 5G is set to utilize frequencies above and below existing frequency bands 5G sits in the middle of all this. But the tendency (it varies from country to country) is for 5G to utilize the higher frequency bands. Which brings its own particular concerns.”

Barratt goes on to list “11 reasons to be concerned about 5G radiation,” including:

Protect Yourself and Your Family From Excessive EMF

There’s no doubt in my mind that RF-EMF exposure is a significant hazard that needs to be addressed if you’re concerned about your health. The rollout of 5G certainly makes remedial action more difficult, but the added hazards are all the more reason to get involved and do what we can to minimize exposure.

Here are several suggestions that will help reduce your EMF exposure and help mitigate damage from unavoidable exposures. For even more do’s and don’ts, see the infographic by the Environmental Health Trust below.

 

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Notes

1 Global Research March 21, 2024

2, 3 Reviews on Environmental Health September 22, 2022

4 European parliamentary research service, scientific foresight unit. Brussels; 2021

5 Luxembourg: Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies, European Parliament; 2019

6 International Journal of Environmental Health Research November 22, 2022; 34(1): 316-327

7 Chinese Journal of Radiological Medicine and Protection 2023; 12: 176-181

8 Neurotoxicology January 2023; 94: 45-58

9 Brain and Behavior April 28, 2023; 13(6): e3004

10 Frontiers in Public Health August 6, 2023; 11

11 Environmental Science and Pollution Research October 18, 2023; 30: 113704-113717

12 Revista International de Andrologia October-December 2023; 21(4): 100371

13 Annals of Clinical Case Studies ISSN: 2688-1241

14 Scientific Reports February 12, 2024; 14, Article number 3571

15 Aph.gov.au Inquiry into 5G in Australia

16 YouTube 5G Technology

17 AAP.org, Growing Up Digital October 1, 2015 (Archived)

18 The Global Healing Center November 13, 2014

19 Amazon.com Mission Darkness Faraday Bag for Phones

20 Journal of Advanced Research March 2013; 4(2): 181-187

21 Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Feb; 12(2): 2071–2087

22 Behav Sleep Med. 2014 Sep 3;12(5):343-5

23 CNN June 12, 2014

24 Sheng Li Zue Bao 2015 Feb 25;67(1):1-18

25 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications November 27, 2009; 389(4): 651-656

26 Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry January 2013; 373(1-2): 1-9

27 Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism September 2014; 32(5): 494-504

28 British Journal of Pharmacology 2013; 168: 1412-1420

29 Frontiers in Pharmacology October 27, 2016

Featured image is from Children’s Health Defense

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Iran has fired hundreds of drones and missiles into Occupied Palestine in retaliation for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) bombing of their embassy in Damascus, Syria on April 1.

Seven people were killed in the attack which was never condemned by the staunch allies of Tel Aviv in Washington, London and Brussels.

The United Nations Security Council failed to condemn the attacks against the Iranian embassy due to the lack of support by the western imperialist states which arm and finance the settler-colonial regime in Israel. Therefore, it was not surprising that the Iranian government was compelled to strike Israel in a major way.

President Joe Biden of the United States has recently declared that Washington’s support for the Zionist state in Tel Aviv was “ironclad.” Just days before, the White House wanted to make it appear as if the administration had fundamental differences with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the way it was carrying out the genocidal onslaught against the people of Gaza. In actuality, there are no disagreements over the maintenance and security of the Israeli regime because it serves as an imperialist outpost in the West Asia and North Africa geo-political regions.

Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, the U.S. has refused to call for a permanent ceasefire in the war. The mass outpouring of opposition to the U.S. arming and diplomatic support to Tel Aviv has further fractured the Democratic Party and its electoral base. The “Abandon Biden” campaign which began in the state of Michigan, has mobilized significant “uncommitted” votes within the Democratic primaries in other key swing states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota.

This retaliation by Tehran will intensify the level of military tensions throughout the Occupied Territories and the broader regions. Although Israel and the U.S. had anticipated some response from the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), they did not expect that in a matter of hours 400-500 drones and missiles would be launched at Israeli military targets. Despite the much championed “Iron Dome” surrounding the State of Israel, Iranian and other regional sources indicated that more than half of the missiles and drones deployed reached their intended targets. See this.

In a statement issued by the IRGC on the character of the strikes against the Israeli regime, it emphasizes:

“In response to the Zionist regime’s numerous crimes, including the attack on the consular section of Iran’s Embassy in Damascus and the martyrdom of a number of our country’s commanders and military advisors in Syria, the IRGC’s Aerospace Division launched tens of missiles and drones against certain targets inside the occupied territories.” 

Biden in his official response to the Iranian retaliatory attacks, urged the Israeli regime not to respond militarily to the strikes. The logical outcome of a continuing military engagement with Iran would be the enhancement of Pentagon forces in the region and the eventual need for a ground operation.

Over the last 34 years, the U.S. has been involved in several air and ground operations in the West Asia and North Africa regions. In Iraq and Kuwait during 1990-91, the U.S. deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to ostensibly eject the Iraqi military from Kuwait. Later draconian United Nations sanctions resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

There was the imposition of a “no-fly zone” over Iraq where repeated U.S. bombings of the country were carried out. By March 2003, the U.S. under then President George Bush, Jr. engineered a major build-up in military forces as a precursor to another invasion and occupation. Hundreds of thousands more U.S. troops established bases in Iraq where they faced fierce resistance which continues up until today.

Other bombing operations, occupations and destabilization efforts have occurred in Syria, Libya and Yemen. Due to U.S. and NATO interference, large-scale dislocations have taken place involving up to 75 million people over the last two decades.

Another article published by Press TV said of the current situation that:

“‘Operation True Promise’ was in response to the assassination of seven Iranian military advisors in Damascus on April 1, including a senior IRGC commander in Lebanon and Syria, General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and his deputy General Hadi Haj Rahemi, the IRGC said in its first statement. In the second statement, the IRGC retaliation came after 10 days of ‘silence and neglect’ on the part of the international organizations, especially the United Nations Security Council, to condemn Israeli aggression or punish the regime in line with Article 7 of the UN Charter. Iran then resorted to retaliatory strikes, ‘using its strategic intelligence capabilities, missiles, and drones’ to attack ‘targets of the Zionist terrorist army in the occupied territories, successfully hitting and destroying them.’” 

U.S. Hypocritical Stance on Palestine Has Damaged the Administration

During the last several months since early October, the Biden administration’s miscalculation that it could avoid the political consequences of facilitating genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza has cost it politically. Most polls reflect the close race for president between Biden and former President Donald J. Trump. Biden is trailing Trump in several polls taken over the last six months and if the administration cannot reverse course on Palestine and other important foreign and domestic problems, it will inevitably fail in November to get reelected.

Even if Biden loses in the upcoming presidential elections, this will not automatically shift the U.S. foreign policy toward the Palestinian question. Trump, who was defeated in November 2020, is also a proponent of Zionism and the suppression of the people within the regions of West Asia and North Africa. It was Trump who illegally moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, Biden did not nullify this move while continuing the arms supplies to the State of Israel.

Since coming into office in January 2021, Biden has been responsible for initiating two wars. In Ukraine, the Russian Special Military Operation was a direct outcome of the U.S. policy of expanding NATO and weakening Moscow. The ongoing military, economic and political support for Tel Aviv has encouraged the six months genocide in Gaza and other areas of the Occupied Territories.

In both of these wars, the Biden administration has failed to call for a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement to the fighting. The U.S. sabotage of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

Quite similarly in Palestine, all efforts to reach a ceasefire and begin talks over a permanent solution to the problems of national oppression, displacement and genocide have been blocked by the U.S. administration. Consequently, the Biden administration and its calls for ending the war, at least temporarily, is not being matched by its actions which involve provoking resistance groups in Palestine and other contiguous and neighboring states.

In Lebanon, the role of the settler-colonial regime in Israel has reignited military clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah. Although Biden has threatened the affiliates of the Axis of Resistance ordering them not to attack Israel and its allies, the objective conditions in the entire West Asia region cannot restrain the people from defending themselves against Zionist and imperialist aggression.

With specific reference to Lebanon, Al Mayadeen reported:

“The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon announced early Sunday (April 14) the targeting of several Israeli military sites in northern occupied Palestine using dozens of Katyusha rockets. In a statement, Hezbollah announced strikes on the Israeli Nafah, Yarden, and Kila outposts in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. It reiterated that the operations were in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and their brave and honorable Resistance and in response to the Israeli aggression on the southern Lebanese villages and towns, including al-Khiyam and Kafr Kila, which resulted in the killing and injuring of several civilians.” 

Antiwar and anti-imperialist organizations along with Palestine solidarity activists must view the Israeli attacks on Iran as a direct threat to the struggle for peace and national liberation. A regional approach to ending settler-colonialism in West Asia and North Africa is the only real path to victory over racism and genocide.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

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The warning was on the wall. Ever since Israel attacked “out of the blue” on 1 April 2024 the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, Syria, killing 7, including two generals, an Iranian retaliation was to be expected. 

The New York Times (NYT) reports 

“Iran mounted an immense aerial attack on Israel on Saturday night, launching more than 200 drones [other sources talk about 300 drones] and missiles in retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike in Syria two weeks ago, and marking a significant escalation in hostilities between the two regional foes.” 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say there were over 300 areal threats, including some 200 drones, 100 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles. See this.

Israel and her Western friends claim that many of the drones were intercepted by IDF and the help from allied military support. The latter apparently include the UK, France, and Jordan – and most likely also US-NATO forces that have long been stationed in the region.

Nevertheless, according to several RT reports, a large-scale missile and drone attack against Israel has been a success, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said in a statement published by IRNA news agency. The Islamic Republic’s military managed to “hit and destroy” some “important military targets,” it added, without providing any further details.

Short video clips published by Iranian media on social networks, viewing Islamic Republic’s missiles hitting their targets in Israel. Several missiles appeared to have been striking targets in a settlement, RT reports, however without being able to confirm the veracity of the clips.

The Guardian informs, that it was the Islamic Republic’s first-ever direct attack on the Jewish State, a development that brings the two countries to the brink of all-out conflict after more than a decade of shadow war and soaring stress six months into Israel’s war in Gaza, following the Hamas attack last October.

It was reported on Israeli television that Iran had launched more than 100 drones as well as cruise missiles towards Israel, and Iran later said it had fired a “first wave” of ballistic missiles. See this. 

This latest war theatre is in full development. At this point it is unclear what exactly happened and to what level the conflict may escalate. A regional war that could expand to a WW-scenario is a real danger. It depends largely to what extent foreign – non regional – players will get involved. Arab states have already warned against any “foreign”, meaning non-regional, intervention. Specifically, that means the US / NATO. The latter would include of course almost all of the spineless European nations.

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Iran has many reasons for retaliation. Other than the Syrian Consulate event, the killing of General Qasem Soleimani with a targeted US drone attack on 3 January 2020 in Baghdad. This assassination was still carried out under President Trump, but the question remains, did he act on behalf of Israel – as many analysts suspect?  

After a public mourning of Major General Soleimani, Iran launched missiles against US military bases in Iraq wounding at least 110 troops. Deaths were not officially reported. 

Over the past several decades Israeli provocations on Iran abounded no end. Israel’s intent is to wipe out Iran as part of its “master plan” towards “Greater Israel”, and control of the Gulf of Hormuz with access to the Arabian Sea – and ultimately Asia. And in the north, where Israel is currently attempting to brutally genociding Palestinians – evicting them from their homeland, an atrocious slaughter supported by most Western un-human leaders (sic). 

This is not only Apartheid “social cleansing” – it is also taking possession, stealing, of tens or hundreds of billions worth of Gazan off-shore gas reserves. 

To be sure, Israel is an illegal state, on Palestinian land stolen through the 1917 UK-sponsored Zionist-initiated Balfour Declaration, with the support in 1948 of the then 52-member young US-dominated United Nations. See this.

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For the past 100 years or so, Washington was – and still is – tacitly as well as openly manipulated by a strong worldwide Zionist movement. Zionists control the world’s – at least the Western world’s – financial system, Big Finance, Wall Street, and not least the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), in Basle Switzerland, also called the Central Bank of all central banks, controlling about 90% of the worldwide monetary flow. All in Zionists command.

There is a strong symbiotic relationship, an interdependence between the Zionists, today’s Israel, and the US. The Zionists, the self-declared Chosen People, wield the scepter of Big Finance, aspiring for world domination through Greater Israel (see provisional map, below), with the might of military power by the United States. 

Iran is the major stumbling block for Israel’s Zionists to achieve their goal. Once Iran is conquered, they dream, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States will fall in place.  

Zionist-Israel has been allowed by the discreet influence of the US and UK secret services to become a “clandestine” nuclear power. They know they can count not only on the US tax-payers financial support, but more importantly, also with the Pentagon’s military might. By the way, US taxpayers have been footing a considerable portion of Israel’s budget for its 75-year existence.

Sounds controversial, doesn’t it – with the Zionists in control of worldwide Big Finance.

Israel’s provocations on Iran are openly or tacitly supported or even encouraged by Washington. The Washington war-mongers would love to go to war with Iran, a military and economic heavy weight, way beyond the Middle East.

And now, as a new BRICS member (BRICS-plus 5 [the sixth nation, Argentina, dropped out]), Iran’s strength has expanded almost exponentially, with such heavy-weight allies like China and Russia.

*

Israel’s assault on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, may have been the spark that lit the fire. The extent of the “fire” cannot be assessed yet, as it will depend on clear-thinking and levelheadedness – or not – of Western decision makers – specifically NATO countries. 

President Biden has been clear, so Western media:

“Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”

How serious is this American promise? There is more at stake than words, especially considering Israel’s ever deeper falling within the world’s sympathy for her non-stop onslaught against Gaza and Palestine in general – having killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, about 70% of whom are women and children.

Strategically speaking, can the US afford this “unwavering” support for an outright genocide nation? And secondly, Washington knows that Iran has full support from Russia and China, Iran’s BRICS allies. BRICS association has similar meaning to that of NATO’s: Attack one country means you attack them all – and retaliation may be massive.

Are there still a few clear-thinking Western political human strategists left, not to risk total destruction of civilization as we know it? As President Putin has warned on several occasions, A Third World War, turning nuclear has no winner.

Let us hope reason and the sense for Peace will prevail.

*

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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. 

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

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***

Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel will go down in history as one of the greatest victories of this century.

I’ve been writing about Iran for more than two decades. In 2005, I made a trip to Iran to ascertain the “ground truth” about that nation, a truth which I then incorporated into a book, Target Iran, laying out the US-Israeli collaboration to craft a justification for a military attack on Iran designed to bring down its theocratic government. I followed this book up with another, Dealbreaker, in 2018, which brought this US-Israeli effort up to date.

Back in November 2006, in an address to Columbia University’s School of International Relations, I underscored that the United States would never abandon my “good friend” Israel until, of course, we did. What could precipitate such an action, I asked? I noted that Israel was a nation drunk of hubris and power, and unless the United States could find a way to remove the keys from the ignition of the bus Israel was navigating toward the abyss, we would not join Israel in its lemming-like suicidal journey.

The next year, in 2007, during an address to the American Jewish Committee, I pointed out that my criticism of Israel (which many in the audience took strong umbrage against) came from a place of concern for Israel’s future. I underscored the reality that I had spent the better part of a decade trying to protect Israel from Iraqi missiles, both during my service in Desert Storm, where I played a role in the counter-SCUD missile campaign, and as a United Nations weapons inspector, where I worked with Israeli intelligence to make sure Iraq’s SCUD missiles were eliminated.

“The last thing I want to see,” I told the crowd, “is a scenario where Iranian missiles were impacting on the soil of Israel. But unless Israel changes course, this is the inevitable outcome of a policy driven more by arrogance than common sense.”

On the night of 13-14 April 2024, my concerns were played out live before an international audience—Iranian missiles rained down on Israel, and there was nothing Israel could do to stop them. As had been the case a little more than 33 years prior, when Iraqi SCUD missiles overcame US and Israeli Patriot missile defenses to strike Israel dozens of times over the course of a month and a half, Iranian missiles, integrated into a plan of attack which was designed to overwhelm Israeli missile defense systems, struck designated targets inside Israel with impunity.

Despite having employed an extensive integrated anti-missile defense system comprised of the so-called “Iron Dome” system, US-made Patriot missile batteries, and the Arrow and David’s Sling missile interceptors, along with US, British, and Israeli aircraft, and US and French shipborne anti-missile defenses, well over a dozen Iranian missiles struck heavily-protected Israeli airfields and air defense installations.

Image is from The Unz Review

The Iranian missile attack on Israel did not come out of the blue, so to speak, but rather was retaliation for an April 1 Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate building, in Damascus, Syria, that killed several senior Iranian military commanders. While Israel has carried out attacks against Iranian personnel inside Syria in the past, the April 1 strike differed by not only killing very senior Iranian personnel, but by striking what was legally speaking sovereign Iranian territory—the Iranian consulate.

From an Iranian perspective, the attack on the consulate was a redline which, if not retaliated against, would erase any notion of deterrence, opening the door for even more brazen Israeli military action, up to and including direct attacks on Iran. Weighing against retaliation, however, were a complex web of interwoven policy objectives which would probably be mooted by the kind of large-scale conflict between Israel and Iran that could be precipitated by any meaningful Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel.

First and foremost, Iran has been engaged in a strategic policy premised on a pivot away from Europe and the United States, and toward Russia, China, and the Eurasian landmass. This shift has been driven by Iran’s frustration over the US-driven policy of economic sanctions, and the inability and/or unwillingness on the part of the collective West to find a path forward that would see these sanctions lifted. The failure of the Iranian nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) to produce the kind of economic opportunities that had been promised at its signing has been a major driver behind this Iranian eastward pivot. In its stead, Iran has joined both the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS forum and has directed its diplomatic energies into seeing Iran thoroughly and productively integrated into both groups.

A general war with Israel would play havoc on these efforts.

Secondly, but no less important in the overall geopolitical equation for Iran, is the ongoing conflict in Gaza. This is a game-changing event, where Israel is facing strategic defeat at the hands of Hamas and its regional allies, including the Iranian-led axis of resistance. For the first time ever, the issue of Palestinian statehood has been taken up by a global audience. This cause is further facilitated by the fact that the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, formed from a political coalition which is vehemently opposed to any notion of Palestinian statehood, finds itself in danger of collapse as a direct result of the consequences accrued from the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent failure of Israel to defeat Hamas militarily or politically. Israel is likewise hampered by the actions of Hezbollah, which has held Israel in check along its northern border with Lebanon, and non-state actors such as the pro-Iranian Iraqi militias and the Houthi of Yemen which have attacked Israel directly and, in the case of the Houthi, indirectly, shutting down critical sea lines of communication which have the result of strangling the Israeli economy.

But it is Israel that has done the most damage to itself, carrying out a genocidal policy of retribution against the civilian population of Gaza. The Israeli actions in Gaza are the living manifestation of the very hubris and power-driven policies I warned about back in 2006-2007. Then, I said that the US would not be willing to be a passenger in a policy bus driven by Israel that would take us off the cliff of an unwinnable war with Iran.

Through its criminal behavior toward the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Israel has lost the support of much of the world, putting the United States in a position where it will see its already-tarnished reputation irreparably damaged, at a time when the world is transitioning from a period of American-dominated singularity to a BRICS-driven multipolarity, and the US needs to retain as much clout in the so-called “global south” as possible.

The US has tried—unsuccessfully—to take the keys out of the ignition of Netanyahu’s suicide bus ride. Faced with extreme reticence on the part of the Israeli government when it comes to altering its policy on Hamas and Gaza, the administration of President Joe Biden has begun to distance itself from the policies of Netanyahu and has put Israel on notice that there would be consequences for its refusal to alter its actions in Gaza to take US concerns into account.  

Any Iranian retaliation against Israel would need to navigate these extremely complicated policy waters, enabling Iran to impose a viable deterrence posture designed to prevent future Israeli attacks while making sure that neither its policy objectives regarding a geopolitical pivot to the east, nor the elevation of the cause of Palestinian statehood on the global stage, were sidetracked.

The Iranian attack on Israel appears to have successfully maneuvered through these rocky policy shoals. It did so first and foremost by keeping the United States out of the fight. Yes, the United States participated in the defense of Israel, helping shoot down scores of Iranian drones and missiles. This engagement was to the benefit of Iran, since it only reinforced the fact that there was no combination of missile defense capability that could, in the end, prevent Iranian missiles from hitting their designated targets.

The targets Iran struck—two air bases in the Negev desert from which aircraft used in the April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate had been launched, along with several Israeli air defense sites—were directly related to the points Iran was trying to make in establishing the scope and scale of its deterrence policy. First, that the Iranian actions were justified under Article 51 of the UN Charter—Iran retaliated against those targets in Israel directly related to the Israeli attack on Iran, and second, that Israeli air defense sites were vulnerable to Iranian attack. The combined impact of these two factors is that all of Israel was vulnerable to being struck by Iran at any time, and that there was nothing Israel or its allies could do to stop such an attack.

This message resonated not only in the halls of power in Tel Aviv, but also in Washington, DC, where US policy makers were confronted with the uncomfortable truth that if the US were to act in concert with Israel to either participate in or facilitate an Israeli retaliation, then US military facilities throughout the Middle East would be subjected to Iranian attacks that the US would be powerless to stop.

This is why the Iranians placed so much emphasis on keeping the US out of the conflict, and why the Biden administration was so anxious to make sure that both Iran and Israel understood that the US would not participate in any Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran.

The “Missiles of April” represent a sea-change moment in Middle Eastern geopolitics—the establishment of Iranian deterrence that impacts both Israel and the United States. While emotions in Tel Aviv, especially among the more radical conservatives of the Israeli government, run high, and the threat of an Israeli retaliation against Iran cannot be completely discounted, the fact is the underlying policy objective of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the course of the past 30-plus years, namely to drag the US into a war with Iran, has been put into checkmate by Iran.

Moreover, Iran has been able to accomplish this without either disrupting its strategic pivot to the east or undermining the cause of Palestinian statehood. “Operation True Promise,” as Iran named its retaliatory attack on Israel, will go down in history as one of the most important military victories in the history of modern Iran, keeping in mind that war is but an extension of politics by other means. The fact that Iran has established a credible deterrence posture without disrupting major policy goals and objectives is the very definition of victory.

*

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Featured image: An Iranian missile is launched. Scores of these missiles were used to attack Israel. (Source: Scott Ritter Extra)

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***

The late Malcolm X commenting in one of his speeches on the state of Black leadership at the time said: “These negroes do not want to build any nation; they want to crawl back on the plantation.”

On March 11, 2024, the Jamaican government hosted a CARICOM meeting, reportedly to discuss and find some resolution to the social disruption in Haiti.

The meeting was a farce from conception and was nothing more than a ploy, by the United States especially, to give some legitimacy to the unelected government of Haiti, and to use the Jamaican and other Caribbean political stooges to create a semblance of concern for the issues in Haiti.

The analytical and historical bankruptcy of the Jamaican government is openly demonstrated by the invitees to the meeting.

The three primary culprits of the Core Group—the United States, France and Canada—were invited to participate in the meeting.

These are the countries primarily responsible for the destabilization and social upheaval taking place in Haiti. Such idiocy is tantamount to putting the proverbial fox to watch the hen house.

The Jamaican parliamentary opposition, People’s National Party (PNP), needs to take a principled and enlightened position on this issue.

For much too long Jamaica’s performance at international forums and its foreign policy positions in general have degenerated into the abyss of total disappointment; it has traveled from the elementary and simplistic to backward and reactionary, respectively.

In the interest of national self-determination and respect, someone needs to rescue and restore some semblance of national pride, not just in sports but in the critical area of politics as well. If the PNP continues to sit on the sideline, then for those so inclined, Dante’s suggestion that “the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality,” is applicable.

Kenya and Jamaica are in no moral, legal, or political position to send any troops to Haiti, to supposedly bring law, order and stability. Apart from the Geneva Convention regarding the “noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries,” there also do not exist any agreements between Haiti and any of the subject countries, for providing military assistance to Haiti.

On the social level, they both have serious socio-economic problems, including high inflation, skyrocketing prices on basic consumer goods, a large unemployment burden, and crime rates that rival any large, developed country.

Jamaica cannot even control the reported 600 gangs running amuck in the country: shootouts in broad daylight in crowded squares; armed robberies of grocery stores or supermarkets; attacks on churches as well as the holdup of public transportation vehicles.

The Jamaican government is incapable of finding a sustainable and effective solution to the problem of crime. The “knee-jerk” approach with the Zones of Special Operations (ZoSo) have outlived their usefulness, and are a diversionary tactic for the government’s political impotence.

The convening of the meeting was not only ridiculous in the first place but, moreover, lacked legitimacy. CARICOM had no legal authority to convene such a “meeting” when one was not requested by a popularly elected government of Haiti.

The absurdity lies in the fact that the meeting was supposed to be discussing and resolving the social issues in Haiti; however, no legitimate social organization representing the Haitian working class or even from academia were represented. How stupid can that be?

Unless one is a willing participant in the imperialists’ plan to re-occupy Haiti. It is obvious that CARICOM leaders, like the OAS, are nothing but ideological misfits and imperialist “agents” in black face, and are a disgrace to the working class of their respective countries. The best reward for them is hastily voting them out of office and dumping them on the scrapheap of history.

It is disappointing that the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, took such a reactionary and opportunistic position by supporting foreign intervention in the domestic affairs of Haiti. Her position, by default, also gives credence to the erroneous idea that Haitians in particular, and African people in general, cannot govern themselves and need outside support—and white support at that—to bring law and order to the country.

One of the stipulations for the formation of the “interim” government is that none of the participants should be opposed to foreign intervention. This is the same line carried by the United States. Of course, Mia Mottley gladly “parrots” this position. It is rumored that she has ambitions of being Secretary General of the United Nations (UN); she is currently securing votes from the influential countries, if and when she is up for election.

Haiti’s “Unpardonable Sin”

The Republic of Haiti, founded in 1804, was the first African-populated country in the Western Hemisphere to victoriously fight for and secure its independence from the colonizers, France.

Napoleon Bonaparte, with his advanced army of personnel and arms, were routed by the Haitians and sent back to France. Having beaten the French and securing their independence was not enough; France demanded financial compensation from Haiti for its so-called material and financial “loss.”

To add insult to the socio-economic injury, the United States invaded and occupied Haiti from 1915 until 1934; the  imperial powers have never “forgiven” Haiti for the triumph of its revolution.

A group of soldiers holding rifles Description automatically generated

U.S. Marine invaders in Haiti: hunting Caco rebels. [Source: laprensagrafica.com]

During the period of United States occupation, the authorities rewrote the Haitian Constitution and installed a titular president, Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam. Sam made all kinds of agreements with the colonizer, including giving control of Haiti’s finances to the United States.

Over the following decades, the United States and its allies have worked tirelessly to undermine the stability of Haitian society: support of the murderous dictatorship of Francois Duvalier (“Papa Doc”) and, later, his son Jean-Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”); direct destabilization; and two coups finally resulting in the physical removal from the country of the first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Imperialism’s Colonization Plan for Haiti

Ever since the reversal of the democratic gains achieved by the Aristide era, Haiti has consistently descended into social chaos to the point that it is now: the complete breakdown of the social structure and lawlessness.

Contrary to the imperialists’ narrative reported in their apologist press, there is no takeover of Haiti by gangs. The lawlessness and violence carried out in Haiti are by armed paramilitary groups supported militarily, and funded by sections of the CORE group, mainly the United States, France and Canada.

It should be noted that, in 2004, Brazil under President Lula, led the military intervention in Haiti, which overthrew Aristide. Some of these paramilitary groups include ex-security forces and current police members. And some of these paramilitary groups are known and supported by the local Haitian oligarchy, both financially and materially.

The purpose is to create havoc, social unrest, economic collapse, and political instability, which will give the imperialists a pretext to once again occupy the country through military intervention and pave the way for a puppet government, which will be favorable to capital. 

The U.S. plan for reintroducing colonization and furthering Haiti’s dependency is brilliantly outlined in an essay by Haitian scholar Jemima Pierre titled “Haiti as Empire’s Laboratory.” From the signing into law by then-President Donald Trump of the Global Fragility Act (GFA), it was made clear that the United States was intent on imposing its waning world hegemony through any means necessary. This would include continued covert action in countries it saw as “threats to U.S. security.” Jemima Pierre writes: “Among the five trial countries for GFA implementation, Haiti is the first target.”

Imperialism has always changed its tactics of intervention depending on conditions: At times they use invasion, like in the cases of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan; at other times they create unrest using local reactionary forces which have the appearance of being locally initiated and of local origin.

History is loaded with examples of developing countries struggling for national liberation and self-determination, only to have the process thwarted by imperialist intervention both from outside and within. Intervention protects and expand the oligarchy, thereby oppressing the masses. Military intervention is the political tool for reinforcing and maintaining the dominance of capital over the lives of the working class. 

We Must Stand with Haiti – Resist All Intervention!

The democratic and nation-building process that began with the election of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and directly destroyed by the United States and its allies, must be resumed and continued by the democratic forces within Haiti. This calls for the full mobilization and participation of the working class of Haiti.

A U.S. Marine convoy makes its way through Port-au-Prince on April 5, 2004. [Source: nacla.org]

According to Mildred Aristide: “The struggle for freedom, dignity, security and peace has been a constant throughout Haiti’s history.”

In order for Haiti to begin the long and arduous road to recovery, the following needs to be done:

  • The United States and its allies—especially Canada, France and Britain—must immediately stop interfering in the internal affairs of Haiti.
  • There must be NO military intervention, United Nations (UN) or otherwise.
  • There must be NO support for foreign intervention in Haiti, disguised as “assistance,” by organizations such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), or the African Union (AU).
  • United States imperialism and its allies must be rejected and defeated by actively supporting the Zone of Peace Campaign initiated by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2014.
  • The United States and its allies must stop supporting a repressive, corrupt and illegitimate regime.
  • Progressive forces internationally, and within the African diaspora especially, must demonstrate solidarity with the people of Haiti by engaging their respective elected officials, and participatory social action to thwart any impending military action and allow the people of Haiti to solve their own problems in their own ways.

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Richard Dunn is a retired construction professional, trained in Architecture and Energy Management. He’s been a social justice activist since 1968 and was particularly active with the Walter Rodney defense demonstrations. Richard is an author, a contributing columnist to newspapers, an editor for a music industry magazine and operates a social justice website. Richard can be reached at: [email protected].

Featured image: Jamaican gangs are out of control. [Source: dreadeditions.com]

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***

Hiroshima, August 6, 1945 : Father Kleinsorge, a German missionary, heard pathetic voices of people asking for water. When he managed to reach the place from where the voice had come, he saw nearly 20 persons, all of them in similar condition – their faces were wholly burned, their eye sockets were hollow, the fluid from their melted eyes had run down their checks.

Temperature at the hypocentre of the explosion reaching the double of what it takes to melt iron, the face of a schoolgirl sitting almost a kilometre away from this hypocentre being burnt beyond recognition, skin sloughing off scalded bodies, badly injured starving people unable to swallow anything because of the stench of dead bodies – this was the devastation caused by a 12.5 Kiloton bomb in Hiroshima which killed and wounded as many people as a mass raid of 279 aircrafts, laden to capacity with bombs, striking at a city ten times as populous.

Nearly one hundred thousand people were killed within a few minutes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after being hit by nuclear weapons in 1945, but if we count the longer-term deaths, those caused by internal bleeding, leukaemia, various other forms of cancer, then the death toll is likely to be as high as 3,50,000. In addition the next generation continued to pay for this cruelty in the form of children born with mental retardation, physical deformities and other serious health problems.

So cruel was the devastation that all of us must necessarily ask – we certainly do not want Hiroshima to happen to our friends, but do we want it to happen even to our worst enemies?

Despite this, the incredibly dangerous and cruel fact remains that humankind now possesses nuclear weapons which are many times more powerful than the ones used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and efforts are constantly on to increase the destructiveness of these weapons.

Some of the most eminent medical journals (including The Lancet, BMJ and JAMA) recently took an almost unprecedented initiative to together publish a joint editorial on August 1, 2023 asking for the elimination of nuclear weapons in view of their unacceptably high risks. What should be particularly welcomed is that they have taken the stand of elimination of nuclear weapons and not just of de-escalation or reduction, for as long as there are nuclear weapons there will be at least some possibility of their actual use as well.

This editorial has pointed out, on the basis of studies,  that a large-scale nuclear war between the USA and Russia could kill 200 million people or more in the near term and potentially cause a global ‘nuclear winter’ that could kill 5 to 6 billion people, threatening the survival of humanity.

This editorial also stated that once a nuclear weapon is detonated, escalation to all-out nuclear war could occur rapidly. This is particularly important to consider at the present juncture when the risk of actual use of nuclear weapons has increased compared to any other period in the past three decades or so.

This risk has been frequently discussed and serious fears over it expressed by several eminent experts in the context of the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Here four nuclear weapon countries can be involved—Russia, USA, Britain and France. Of course USA nuclear weapons are also deployed in several other European countries as well and to that extent these also get involved but the weapons are under the control of the USA. 

USA, France and UK are unlikely to knowingly start an attack on Russia and similarly Russia is unlikely to knowingly attack USA, France or UK because of the huge risks and likelihood of equally destructive retaliation. However the risk of tensions, suspicions and brinkmanship extended over a long time leading to start of unintentional nuclear war, based on misunderstanding of each other’s intentions and some accidental event on top of it is possible. As pointed out earlier once this starts this can very quickly lead to a bigger exchange of nuclear weapons. The situation is not like the one in 1945 where there was to be no retaliation and it was well known by the aggressor also that there will be nothing beyond the use of two nuclear weapons as far as the attack on Japan was concerned. Now the present situation is a very different one as we do not know where it will stop when it starts. Also the speed which the nuclear weapon now travels towards its target also gives very little time to correct very costly mistakes.

The second possibility that has been discussed is whether Russia will at some stage use tactical or relatively smaller nuclear weapons against Ukraine. This is very unlikely today. Russia’s security doctrine is that it will use nuclear weapons only if there is serious risk to its freedom, sovereignty and survival. Hence risks of nuclear weapon by Russia arises only if NATO escalates risks for Russia beyond a certain red line. However views can differ on how the red line is perceived or identified, and this is why the risk of nuclear war also remains present in this conflict zone. 

In the middle of all the irrational Russophobia in the West and in particular among the ruling elites here, if the ultimate result of all the efforts to corner and surround Russia proves increasingly successful ( which appears highly unlikely just now), the final impact will be only to compel Russia to exercise the nuclear weapon option. Then if this results in the USA or NATO also using nuclear weapons against Russia, and Russia retaliates, again we do not know where this will end. This brings out also the sheer absurdity, and of course the extreme danger, of the western/NATO strategy of encircling and bleeding as big a nuclear weapon power as Russia as much as possible, instead of using diplomacy to sort out all differences.  

The second highest possibility of use of nuclear weapons will be when the USA shifts more of its aggression towards China at some point in future, as has been widely discussed. If the Korean region is to become a flashpoint of such a confrontation, then apart from China one more nuclear weapon power will be involved here in the form of N. Korea.

While this is for the future, the threat perception in just the Ukraine conflict by itself is so serious as to prompt warnings from several senior experts time and again. When the possibility of destruction likely to be caused is so huge, even a 5 to 10% increase in the possibility of use of nuclear weapons should be taken very seriously, and what has happened recently is a somewhat bigger increase in this possibility. As world leadership does not appear to be fulfilling the trust reposed in it for protecting us all from the worst possible destruction on earth, it is time for the people worldwide to come forward to make the peace and disarmament movement so strong that the leadership also comes under increasing pressure from people to move towards a path of a safer present and future. In the vision of the peace movement, one of the topmost priorities should be for the elimination of nuclear weapons as well as for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction.

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Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Save the Earth Now Campaign. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children, Man over Machine and A Day in 2071. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Countercurrents

Сви чланци Глобалног истраживања могу се читати на 51 језику тако што ћете активирати дугме Преведи веб локацију испод имена аутора (доступно само у верзији за десктоп).

Да бисте добили дневни билтен Глобал Ресеарцх-а (изабрани чланци), кликните овде.

Кликните на дугме за дељење изнад да бисте е-поштом/проследили овај чланак својим пријатељима и колегама. Пратите нас на Инстаграму и Твиттеру и претплатите се на наш Телеграм канал. Слободно поново постављајте и делите чланке Глобалног истраживања.

Глобални истраживачки позив: Наши читаоци су наша линија спаса

***

Пише: Слободан РЕЉИЋ

ПОВОДОМ 25-годишњице НАТО-бомбардовања Срба, на скупу који је огранизовао Београдски форум за свет равноправних, дошло је и тридесет слободномислећих Немаца.

Посланик у Бундестагу Рајнер Ротфус је отишао до споменика Милице Ракић на Ташмајдану положио цвеће и – клекнуо.

„Оно у шта верујемо јесу правда, истина и пријатељство међу народима. То је симболизовано на дуксерици коју сам поклонио Вучићу. На левој страни симбола срца налазе се боје Немачке, а на десној је српска застава. Испред срца је бели голуб као симбол мира. Ми чезнемо за помирењем са Србијом, за постизањем мира у Европи, укључујући и Русију“, реако је Ротфус, функционер Алтернативе за Немачку (АфД), сада већ друге партије у Немачкој.

Партије у успону.

Рајнер Ротфус је још 2019. био у Београду на скупу „на којем су изнете чињенице о срамоти бомбардовања, као и о употреби оружја са осиромашеним уранијумом које је бесмислено убило хиљаде невиних људи… Када је бивши министар спољних послова Живадин Јовановић говорио о цивилним жртвама, схватио сам колико је рат био ужасан за обичан народ. Како је НАТО могао да погоди 60 одсто цивилних циљева а да људи у његовим државама чланицама и даље верују да је то била ‘хуманитарна акција’.“

Живорад Јовановић је ових дана констатовао:

„НАТО агресија на Југославију 1999. године била је почетак глобализације војног интервенционизма НАТО-а предвођеног САД. После тога, видели смо многе интервенције и агресије засноване на преседану НАТО-а из 1999. године против Југославије. Немачки политичар Вили Вимер рекао је 2022. да су прве бомбе на Украјину пале 1999. године. НАТО предвођен САД, по мом мишљењу је војна, нуклеарна песница експанзионистичке стратегије, глобалне доминације у оквиру униполарности.“

Ова оцена се, иначе, појављује у Глобал тајмсу, пекиншком листу који излази на кинеском и енглеском, чији је издавач Комунистичка партија Кине – најутицајнија партијска организација на светска кретања, како економска тако све више и политичка. Лист је, иначе, поводом „4. априла 2024. кад се навршава се 75 година од оснивања НАТО-а… разговарао са бројним стручњацима и научницима да би открио како САД искоришћавају НАТО да служи америчким геополитичким циљевима и како НАТО дестабилизује свет, погоршава нуклеарне претње и доноси конфронтацију у Азији“.

Почетну тезу да је „као производ хладног рата, НАТО требало да буде распуштен, али је током година послужио као ратна машина и омогућио хегемонију САД“- уредништво је искористило да „у првом интервјуу ове серије, репортер Глобал тајмса Ванг Венвен разговара са Живадином Јовановићем, председником Београдског форума за свет равноправних, који је био министар спољних послова СР Југославије од 1998. до 2000.“

Да, те 1999. НАТО је славио 50-годишњицу (23-25. април, Вашингтон, 2500 гостију ) и – распојасан „уз ратне покличе“ вршио агресију без одобрења Савета безбедности УН (да би избегли вето Русије и Кине) на једну суверену земљу – Савезну Републику Југославију. Тиме је показао однос према свету који би свакако био и праведнији и бољи без те сатаре преостале из Хладног рата.

И ми ћемо тој очигледности сада додати једно сведочење поменутог Вилија Вимера:

„Америчка страна је спремна да у глобалном оквиру, због остваривања својих циљева, поткопа у укине међународни правни поредак… Сила има да стоји изнад права. Тамо где међународно право стоји на путу, треба га уклонити“, писао је Вимер свом канцелару Шредеру маја 2000, после учешћа на конфренцији затвореног типа у Братислави а коју су заједнички организовали америчко министарство иностраних дела и American Enterprise Institut (Спољнополитички институт Републиканске странке). „Конференцији су присуствовали веома високи политички представници, на што указује присуство великог броја председника влада, као и министара иностраних послова и министара одбране из тог региона“, а „главне теме скупа биле су Балкан и проширење НАТО“.

Ето, зашто Кинези почињу серијал разговором са Живорадом Јовановићем.

У агресији на СРЈ су прегажене Уједињене нације, а „када је сличну судбину доживело Друштво народа, Други светски рат није више био далеко. Начин размишљања, који води рачуна само о сопственим интересима, може да се назове само тоталитарним.“ (Вимер)

Ароганција коју су Американци показивали на том скупу је застрашујућа. Иако су усвојили Резолуцију 1244 СБ УН, ту су инститрали да се Косово што пре призна као суверена држава, а за Савезну Републику Југославију, која им се нашла на путу, инсистирали су да се „налази ван сваког правног поретка“ (после су је разбили), да је НАТО-бомбардовање било исправљање „погрешна одлука генерала Ајзенхауера из Другог светског рата“ и да ће НАТО сада држати „територије између Балтичког мора и Анадолије, како је било у време Римског царства“; даље, „да Пољска мора да буде окружена са севера и југа демократским државама, а Румунија и Бугарска да обезбеде копнену везу са Турском“ и да Србија (вероватно због обезбеђивања несметаног војног присуства САД) трајно мора да буде искључена из европског развоја“; да „северно од Пољске треба да се оствари потпуна контрола над прилазима Санкт Петербургу у Балтичком мору“; и – да се сецесије свуда и увек требају подржавати кроз право народа на самоопредељење и томе „треба дати предност над свим другим одредбама или правилима међународног права“; врхунац ароганције је бестидност да „тврдња да је НАТО приликом напада на Савезну Републику Југославију прекршио сва међународна правила, а нарочито све одговарајуће одредбе међународног права – није оспоравана“. Баш их брига!

Мало је људи тада, пре четврт века, разумевало од коликог је значаја за будуће међународне односе – рат НАТО против Срба. Али, то није промакло Хенрију Кисинџеру.

Напротив, он је у „Њузвику“ последњег дана маја 1999. (усред бомбардовања) објавио текст насловљен New World Disorder. У поднаслову је стајало: погрешно промишљен рат на Косову је подрио односе с Кином и Русијом и изложио НАТО опасности.

Кисинџер се чудио како се у Вашингтону пре бесловесног закључка да ће рат потрајати неколико дана нико није запитао: „Али шта ако Србија, земља која се тукла с Турском и Аустријском империјом и пркосила Хитлеру и Стаљину на врхунцима њихових моћи, не попусти? Колико смо ми спремни далеко да идемо? Без копнене интервенције, што је објављено на самом почетку, наводили смо Милошевића да тестира издржљивост непрестаног бомбардовања.“

И, тако се и дешавало.

Није било велике дилеме како ће НАТО бомбардовање бити схваћено у Русији. Солжењицин ће после у интервјуу „Шпиглу“ рећи да је Русију из осонова променило „сурово бомбардовање Србије. То је обележило црном, непоправљивом цртом одонос према Западу – и истине ради, треба рећи у свим слојевима руског друштва“.

А док се још дизао дим из бомбардоване кинеске амбасаде у Београду (за коју више нико и не помиње ону лаж да је погођана грешком) Кисинџер је знао да су „блиске везе САД и Кине доведенe у питање“. И да то „за Америку, сигурно значи метеж у целој Азији, који кинеске суседе гура у нужду да бирају између најмногољудније земље у свету, којој њена историја од 5.000 година даје посебно место у Азији, и Америке, једине светске суперсиле“.

А НАТО?

„Упркос привидном јединству на НАТО самиту, Косово ће расправу о будућности Алијансе учинити неизбежном“, написао је Хенри Кисинџер маја 1999.

Кисинџер није био усамљен, али су ти гласови игнорисани без обзира на логичност. Сила логику не воли. Тако је угледни конгресмен из Тенесија Џими Данкан тада говрио „да је председник Клинтон довео земљу у немогућу ситуацију у којој нема доброг одговора.“ И сам је био у Београду 1997. и сад разуме да су “наша бомбардовања у суштини створила избегличку ситуацију”.

Избегличка криза на коју су играли САД и НАТО била је крајње неубедљива. Данкан је подсетио да је ТВ станица МСНБЦ поставила питање да ли су је иузбегличку кризу створиле НАТО бомбе или српске трупе и: “Шездесет пет одсто од много хиљада оних које су позвали, рекло је да је углавном криво бомбардовање НАТО.”

Извикане „огромне симпатије према избеглицама“ показао је лажним. „Али неколико стотина хиљада Срба је недавно протерано из Хрватске. Они су тада били жртве етничког чишћења, а ми ништа нисмо урадили по том питању. И као што су многи људи истакли, тренутно се воде мали ратови или борбе на 30 или 40 различитих места широм света. Неколико од тих ситуација је било много горе него на Косову пре него што смо започели бомбардовање.“

О „великој забави“ коју је НАТО припремио у Вашингтону поводом пола века постојања Данкан рече: „НАТО се спрема да овде, овог викенда, одржи једну од највећих забава које је овај град икада видео. Верујем да су НАТО и наш председник мислили да ће Милошевић поклекнути после само неколико дана бомбардовања и да би онда могли да наздраве једни другима на великој прослави победе за 50. годишњицу НАТО овог викенда. Каква погрешна процена! То је свакако била једна од највећих погрешних процена у америчкој историји.“

Данкан је закључио да оно што је заиста учињено „јесте претварање српских пријатељa у непријатеље уз велику цену за ову земљу и упадање у једну од највећих невоља, тако да Америка мора да преговара и да се извуче из овог нереда ‘што је пре могуће’“.

Америка ни после четврт века није стигла до те једноставне истине. Напротив, њихово малтретирање Срба „пријатеља“ се наставља све грубље, а сукоб са светом их је довео до – очигледног опадања утицаја и значаја.

Десет година касније (2009) Сергеј Караганов, кључни човек руског Савета за спољну и одбрамбену политику, (2005. од америчког и британског часописа проглашен за једног од 100 најутицајнијих интелектуалаца у свету, једини из Русије) „напоменуће да се свет више не мења у интервалима као раније, већ да је ушао у раздобље ‘перманентне геополитичке и геоекономске револуције’. Њен досадашњи ток донео је низ америчких војних интервенција које су се завршиле ‘серијом крупних пораза’, како констатује Караганов, истичући да је преломни моменат био напад НАТО под вођством САД на СРЈ 1999. године.“

Јесте та агресија „изазвала још само таласање“, али довољно да „већи део руске елите схвати како са Западом, на жалост, није могућа интеграција“ (Караганов). Рус је тврдио како је „наставак америчког интервенционизма потврдио ту констатацију и у све већем делу света сукцесивно изазивао све храбрије супротстављање не само америчкој хегемонији, већ и цивилизацијском моделу Запада“.

Пре пет година (2019), а поводом 20-годишњице НАТО-бомбардовања Форин полиси је констатовао:

„Косовски рат је био кратак (само три месеца), али није био мали рат. У фундаменталном учинку, био је покретач нове међународне политике.“

Требало им је две деценије.

После четврт века (2024) помињани немачки парламенатарац Рајнер Ротфус каже нам:

„Ваша земља је, с правом, изабрала да се не приклони политици НАТО, већ да остане мост између Запада с једне стране и Русије и Кине са друге стране. Пошто то није у њиховим геополитичким интересима, западне земље ће наставити да говоре о сецесији Косова као о ‘праву народа на самоопредељење’.“ А ако странке у ЕУ, у изборима који предстоје а које мисле као и његов АфД удвоструче број места у Европском парламенту „то ће ставити тачку на имеријалистички однос Брисела према Мађарској, Србији и другим нацијама које се буде“.

На крају, три-четири реченице из почетног прилога оног серијала Глобал тајмса: „Главна препрека новом светском поретку, заснованом на принципу суверене равноправности и немешања у унутрашње ствари, јесте политика експанзије и глобалне доминације мањине западних земаља коју предводе САД. Чини се да они не разумеју глобалне промене и трендове мултиполаризације и склони су веровању да могу да зауставе те историјске трендове, чак и да их преокрену, силом, укључујући нуклеарну. Ове доктрине представљају главни извор озбиљних претњи глобалном миру и развоју. Ово је претња човечанству. (Живорад Јовановић)

Јесте, важно је да разумемо – због свега што се дешава – шта је догађај чију смо 25-годишњицу обележили. И зашто се према нама понашају као и пред Први и пред Други светски рат. И да има пријатеља Срба у тим земљама, али да они нису на власти. И да амбасадори „квинте“ не говоре у њихово име.

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Ми, учесници Међународне конференције, одржане у Београду 22-23. марта 2024. године поводом 25. годишњнице оружане агресије НАТО против Ссавезне Ррепублике Југославије (СРЈ) са темом „Од агресије до новог праведног поретка“, окупљени из свих делова света, изјављујемо:

Припадамо различитим земљама, нацијама, идеологијама, религијама и цивилизацијама, али смо чврсто уједињени у привржености миру, равноправности и напретку за све народе као и у осуди политике силе, експанзије, доминције и хегемонизма.

Одлучно осуђујемо ничим изазвану оружану агресију НАТО против СРЈ (Србија и Црбе Горе) 1999. године, као илегалан, освајачки и злочиначки рат против суверене, мирољубиве европске земље, предузет без одобрења Савета безбедности УН, уз најгрубље кршење Повеље Уједињених нација, Завршног документа ОЕБС-а из Хелсинкија (1975) и основних принципа међународног права.

Указујемо да је агресија извршена под лажним изговорима и одговорност НАТО не може се ничим умањити. «Хуманитарна катастрофа» није претила од државних власти већ од експанзионизма НАТО. У Рачку се није догодио «масакр цивила» већ легитимна државна реакција против тероризма. «План потковица» није постојао. «Хуманитарни» ратови или интервенције – не постоје.

Да је НАТО је 1999. вратио рат на тло Европе у коме је Европа учествовала против саме себе.

То није био ,,мали косовски рат”, већ рат са геополитичким циљевима. То су: а) отимање Косова и Метохије од Србије и пуна контрола Балкана; б) распоређивање америчких трупа на Балкану за потребе стратегије ширења на Исток; в) успостављање преседна за интервенције кршењем међународног права и неприкосновености СБ УН; г) оправдавање постојања и излазак НАТО-а изван уговорног подручја утврђеног 1949;

Aгресија НАТО представљала рушење правног поретка мира и безбедности у Европи и свету, успостављених на резултатима Другог светског рата. Балкан је данас нестабилнији, Европа без самосталности идентитета и визије.

У агресији је страдало 1.139 војника и полицајаца, око 3.000 цивила, (међу којима 89 деце), док је око 10.000 људи рањено. Далеко су веће последице продуженог дејства оружја са осиромашеним уранијумом и отровним једињењима.

НАТО је, такође, бомбардовао амбасаду НР Кине у Београду, усмртивши три кинеска новинара и потпуно разоривши зграду Амбасаде.

Изражавамо најдубље поштовање свим недужним људским жртвама и искрено саучешће породицама жртава као и свим грађанима Србије.

Уништена је или оштећена инфраструктура земље, као што су пруге, путеви, мостови, аеродроми, стамбени блолкови, енергетика, индустријски системи, школе, болнице, обданишта, споменици културе и многи други цивилни циљеви. Директна штета је процењена на око 100 милијарди америчких долара.

Србија као жртва противправног акта агресије има право на накнаду ратне штете.

Апелујемо да се обнови рад посебних државних и стручних за утврђивање последица агресије на здравље грађана и животну средину и да се ратни злочини против цивила и за непоштовање ратних конвенција процесуирају и санкционишу.

Изражавамо снажну подршку и солидарност са напорима Србије у отклањању последица агресије и настојањима да не дозволи да се оружана агресија НАТО наставља другим средствима.

Изражавамо пуну подршку суверенитету и територијалном интегритету Србије са међународно-признатим граница у којима је наставила своје чланство у ОУН, ОЕБС и другим универзалним међународним организацијама.

Дубоко смо забринути због масовног кршења основних људских права српске заједнице на Косову и Метохији, настављањa систематског прпотеривања као и спречавањa слободног и безбедног повратка преко 250.000 протераних Срба и других неалбанаца у њихове домове и на њихова имања.

Уверени смо да се статус покрајине Косово и Метохија, може решавати искључиво у складу са међународним правом и Резолуцијом Савета безбедности УН 1244, од 10. јуна 1999. која има трајни, правно општеобавезујући карактер.

Осуђујемо сва кршења тог правног документа и политику уцена, притисака и свих једностраних корака који су усмерени на легализацију отимања државне територије, окончање етничког чишћења преосталог српског становништва и припрему стварања тзв. велике Албаније.

Супротстављамо се униполарном светском поретку који је заснован на стратегији хегемонизма и глобалне доминације са НАТО-м као оружаним инструментом који је нанео велику штету цивилизацији и хуманизму.

Агресија на СР Југославију 1999. представља убрзање стратегије ширења на Исток која је извор опасности по мир у Европи и свету. У време агресије НАТО је имао 19, данас има 32 чланице. Изградњу америчке војне базе Бондстил на Косову и Метохији, следила је изградња десетина нових САД/НАТО база ка Истоку.

На «Старом Континенту» данас постоји више страних војних база и стокова страног нуклеарног оружја него у време врхунца хладног рата. Европа је најмилитаризованији део планете.

Изражавамо најдубљу забринутост због убрзања ескалације непријатељстава и сукоба у глобалним односима, доливања уља на ватру сукоба, настављања провокација и опасности од глобалног сукоба. Свет је на ивици нуклеарног понора. Човечанство ће – или обуздати разуларену агресију отуђених центара моћи, или пасти у тај понор.

Зато смо јединствени у захтеву за неодложно отпочињање дијалога на стратешком нивоу, под окриљем УН, са циљем да се зауставе ескалација, гомилање конвенционалног и нуклеарног оружја и кршење међународних споразума.

Тражимо укидање страних војних база, потпуно повлачење америчког тактичког нуклеарног оружја и постројења тзв. антиракетне одбране из Европе, који погоршавају безбедност.

Позивамо да се прекине ратнно-хушкачка реторика, да се сви одговорни државници окрену дијалогу и изналажењу мирних, праведних и одрживих решења за све текуће сукобе и кризе.

Упућујемо апел свим мирољубивим снагама у свету да удруже снаге у борби за поштовање међународног права, суверенитета и територијалног интегритета свих држава, јачање ауторитета и улоге Уједињених нација и других универзалних међународних организација, за поштовање принципа равноправности, суверенитета и територијалног интегритета, за сарадњу и координацију у борби против тероризма и сепаратизма као глобалних опасности.

Подржавамо процес мултиполаризације глобалних односа и њихову демократизацију на основама суверене равноправности свих држава и народа

Подржавамо мировне, безбедносне и развојне иницијативе које полазе од принципа недељивости мира, безбедности и развоја и које уважавају узроке проблема. Кључну улогу у том процесу играју БРИКС, ЕАЕУ, Глобална иницијатива «Појас и Пут», Шангајска организација за сарадњу, ПНЗ. Подржавамо укидање свих монопола, привилегија или «изузетности». Не прихватамо нове «зидове» ни поделе. Покушај поделе света на «демократије» и «аутократије» је подметње центара моћи да би се продужило трајање униполарног поретка.

Политика конфронтације, интервенционизма и мешања у унутрашње ствари, коју подстичу војно-индустријски комплекс и крупни финансијски капитал, морају уступити место дијалогу, партнерству, поштовању основних норми међународног права и мултиполарног светског поретка.

За мир, стабилност, демократију и инклузивни развој неопходне су корените промене у светским односима, поштовање суверене равноправности, немешање у послове другх држава, мултилатерализам, уважавање заједничких интереса и искључивање сваког егоизма, протекционизма и привилегија.

Највећу препреку поретку равноправних народа представљају реликти џладног рата. Зато НАТО треба распустити а доктрину хегемонизма, експанзионизма и неоколонијализма послати у историју.

Осуђујемо масовно убијање недужног Палестинског народа, посебно, масовно убијање деце, и позивамо на неодложан прекид ватре у појасу Газе и другим деловима у којима живи палестински народ, како би се коначно зауставило страдање људи без преседана у новијој историји, а угроженом становништву несметано испоручили храна, лекови, вода и друге животне потрепштине. Залажемо се за решење по принципу две државе, слободан и безбедан повратак свих протераних, укидање окупације и успостављање Палестинске државе у границама од пре 4. јуна 1967. године са Источним Јерусалимом као престоницом, у складу са Одлукама Уједињених нација.

Изражавамо солидарност са народом Кубе који је дуги низ година суочен са разопрним последицама једностраног ембарга САД. Кубански народ има неотуђиво право да самостално бира путеве унутрашњег развоја, без ичијег мешања са стране. Захтевамо поштовање ставова УН о укидању америчке блокаде Кубе и скидање Кубе листе „држава које спонзоришу тероризам“ лишене сваког основа.

Сматрамо да је Украјинска криза последица стратегије ширења НАТО-а на Исток, при чему су изневерени сви договори да неће бити експанзије. Верујемо да се криза, може решити мирним путем уз признавање и отклањање узрока и гарантовања једнаке безбедности за све државе. Заједничка будућност човечанства искључује егоизам и уске прилазе каква је теза о безбедности „златне милијарде“.

Изражвамо признање и захвалност домаћинима – Београдском форуму за свет равноправних, Клубу генерала и адмирала Србије, СУБНОР-у Србије, Фонду дијаспора за матицу и Удружењу ветерана војно- обавештајне службе, као и грађанима Србије – на гостопримству доброј организацији рада.

Организатори изражавају признање учесницима Конференције, посебно Светском савету за мир и њеним чланицама, на деценијама дугој солидарности и подршци Србији и српском народу, као и на доприносу резултатима рада Конференције.

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Истакнута слика: 27. април 1999, Сурдулица, Србија, у серији НАТО бомбардовања цивила

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The salience of the phone call from the US President Joe Biden to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday is their consensus that during the period since their summit meeting in Woodside, California, in November 2023, the US-China relationship “is beginning to stabilise”. 

Both sides agreed that their discussion was “candid and constructive.” The Chinese analysts estimate that there is a common will in Beijing and Washington “to prevent negative factors from influencing the general stability of bilateral ties.” 

Xi proposed three “overarching principles” to navigate 2024 — “peace must be valued”; “stability must be prioritised”; and, commitments should be followed up with action. 

In general, the phone call can be viewed in positive terms. Both Xi and Biden expressed the wish for stabilising bilateral relations, managing differences, expanding cooperation, and concurred that a stable and predictable China-US relationship is in their  interests. 

Washington announced after the phone call that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be travelling to China on an extended visit through April 3-9. The US Treasury Department stated that she “will build on the intensive diplomacy she has engaged in to responsibly manage the bilateral economic relationship and advance American interests.” 

Earlier, during a press call at the White House, a senior administration official stressed that the Biden Administration has not changed its approach to China, “which remains one focused on the framework of invest, align, and compete. Intense competition requires intense diplomacy to manage tensions, address misperceptions, and prevent unintended conflict. And this call is one way to do that.”     

That said, she also listed areas of cooperation in important areas “where our interests align” — counternarcotics, AI, military-to-military communication channels and climate issues. She anticipated that “depending what happens in the coming year, there would be — we would hope there would be a chance for another in-person (summit) meeting, but don’t have anything even to speculate on when that might be. But certainly, value in that in-person meeting and the calls in the interim.” 

Yellen’s six-day visit will be followed by a trip to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken “in the coming weeks.” A call between the defence ministers is also expected “soon.” Indeed, a steady build-up is under way.

Biden initiated the call. Conceivably, Washington, faced with multiple problems at home and abroad, needs China more than the other way around. Bogged down in the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, it can ill afford a confrontation in the Taiwan Straits. Again, the US needs China’s cooperation in important areas such as fentanyl control, climate change, Artificial Intelligence, green-energy transition, etc. — and, most important, financial stability. 

Financial stability is a core issue. Yellen’s itinerary is anchored on her extended meetings with Vice Premier He Lifeng spread over two days. He Lifeng was appointed last November as head of office of the Central Financial Commission and has become the helmsman of the core financial and economic staff of the Chinese communist party. 

Yellen is due to meet Finance Minister Lan Fo’an, Premier Li Qiang, Beijing Mayor Yin Yong, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, and leading Chinese economists. Clearly, Yellen’s focus will be on financial stability, a crucial template of the US-China relationship.  

The US monetary policy is at an inflection point. Financial risks have risen and there is rising uncertainty in the global market. The anxiety shared by investors is evident in the surge in gold’s appeal as a safe haven asset. 

The global financial system is buffeted by multiple factors, such as unsustainable levels of debt, geopolitical confrontation, and a new era of low growth, low global investment and de-globalisation. But a major factor affecting the resilience of the global financial system is the current speculation regarding a US interest rate cut, which would have a ripple effect on the world economy. 

Historically, US monetary easing has been the harbinger of global financial crises. As the world’s first and second economies, the US and China will be in the cockpit to navigate any global financial crisis, of which the run on gold as safe haven asset by investors is an early  warning signal. 

The rise of gold prices reflects as much a panic toward the risks surrounding the global financial system as a lack of confidence in US dollar-denominated assets. The point is, the US’ irresponsible monetary policy has greatly affected the international demand for dollars and dollar-denominated assets. 

The enormity of the crisis in the US economy cannot be shoved under the carpet much longer. The US national debt today, estimated at $34 trillion, is almost equal to the combined value of the economies of China, Germany, Japan, India and the UK.

Enter China. China’s steady monetary policy has created policy space and tools in reserve for Beijing to cope with any new challenges lying ahead in the global financial system, while its foreign exchange market has become more resilient.                   

Thus, while a rate cut by the Fed raises fears of continued capital outflows from the US (as lower interest rates mean a lower return rate on investment in US dollar-denominated assets), there is every likelihood that it would make China the preferred destination for international capital inflows. 

Belying Western media hype that China is losing attractiveness to foreign investors, top US firms began flocking to China last month, pledging commitment to the Chinese market, announcing new investment deals and setting up new shop or factory floors. 

China can become a safe haven for international capital. Its economy is on an upward trend and given the tools at its disposal to ensure financial stability, China’s foreign exchange market is expected to maintain a relatively stable performance at a time of  increasing uncertainty in the global financial market. 

Why is this a big deal? The heart of the matter is that as the global price of gold soars, a rate cut cycle begins and financial risks deepen, China gets more options in the management of its assets portfolios and this could affect Beijing’s holding of US Treasury bonds. 

Beijing’s huge stimulus program helped the West to recover from the 2008 financial crisis. As the rest of the world teeters on the brink of recession, the last thing Western policymakers want is to ruffle China, the biggest driver of global economic growth. Their expectation is that China would help offset an expected slowdown in other parts of the world. 

But geopolitical issues come into play. The Taiwan question and Beijing’s friendly ties with Moscow top the list of contentious issues. Biden raised with Xi concerns over China’s “support for Russia’s defence industrial base and its impact on European and transatlantic security.” 

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin promptly pushed back that “Other countries should not smear and attack normal relations between China and Russia, should not undermine the legitimate rights of China and Chinese companies, and should not shift blame to China wantonly and provoke camp confrontation.” 

Beijing wouldn’t have forgotten that the Obama administration showed its “gratitude” within a couple of years after the 2008 financial crisis by unveiling the “pivot to Asia” strategy to clip China’s wings and contain its rise — a mindset that still defines  Biden administration’s flight path. 

Xi was upfront warning Biden that “China is not going to sit on its hands” faced with external encouragement and support for Taiwan’s independence. Nor, he said, is China “going to sit back and watch” if the US remains “adamant on containing China’s hi-tech development and depriving China of its legitimate right to development.” 

Biden’s response was that “It is in the interest of the world for China to succeed.”     

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Gaza War Ends. Will Biden Get a Nobel?

April 15th, 2024 by M. K. Bhadrakumar

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Israel’s Damascus strike on April 1 will go down in the corpus of literature on war and diplomacy as an act of high-intensity deception. Iran wouldn’t have expected a cowardly attack using stealth fighters on its diplomatic compound. 

Israel’s a priori national deception practices provided no clues. But the asymmetry in the aura of secrecy makes the Iranian retaliation rather challenging. Speculations are rife. 

Israel seems confident about its counter-deception system. The Israeli Defence Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi stressed on Sunday that Israel knows “how to handle Iran.” He said,

“We are prepared for this; we have good defensive systems and know how to act forcefully against Iran in both near and distant places. We are operating in cooperation with the USA and strategic partners in the region.” [Emphasis added.]

The bit about the USA is disconcerting because the bazaar gossip is that Americans quietly assured the Iranians that they had no clue about Israel’s Damascus attack, leave alone a role in it. But the deployment of F-35 jets for such a mission wasn’t a coincidence, after all. 

The Biden Administration routinely gives assurances to Russians whenever Ukrainians strike deep inside Russian territory with Americans or Brits providing satellite intelligence, logistics, weaponry — and increasingly with NATO countries’ military personnel controlling the operations. 

Russia’s dilemma is similar to what Iran faces. The big question, prima  facie, would have four parts:

1. To what extent were Americans in the loop?

2. Going forward, will the US go the whole hog in an election year to kickstart another Middle Eastern war?

3. Is this any longer an exclusive affair between Iran and the Axis of Resistance on one side and Israel on the other side? 

4. What are the US motivations if it indeed conveyed any assurance to Tehran?

In the commentariat, there is a delusional opinion that in the action-reaction syndrome involving Israel and Iran, President Biden will keep the US out of any direct intervention because the American public opinion militates against another war after Iraq and Afghanistan. But in reality, that is rarely the case.  

Since the storm clouds on the horizon presage a world war, an analogy from the 1940s would be appropriate. President Franklin Roosevelt took on his own the audacious decision to participate in World War II by developing an initiative that was consistent with the legal prohibition against the granting of credit, satisfactory to military leadership, and acceptable to an American public that generally resisted involving the US in the European conflict.

Now, the “Globalists” who dominate the US establishment, including Biden himself, also know that World War II eventually restored (“fixed”) the American economy. During World War II, 17 million new civilian jobs were created, industrial productivity increased by 96 percent, and corporate profits after taxes doubled. 

The government expenditures helped bring about the business recovery in the US economy that had eluded FDR’s New Deal. That analogy also holds good today. Indeed, American politicians of all stripes harken back to those halcyon days to make a case for their agendas even today. And they include Biden himself, who is fond of comparing himself in broad historical strokes with FDR. 

Equally, there is a common belief today, which is not without basis,  that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has contrived to draw the US into the conflict situation in the Middle East. But didn’t Winston Churchill do exactly the same, calculating that the US’ entry in the continental war with Germany would decisively tilt the balance of forces? 

Churchill apparently said — rather, he claimed so in his not-so-honest history of the war — that for the first time in a long time he slept easy, secure in the knowledge that with the US in the war, victory was inevitable. 

Suffice to say, the probability cannot be ruled out that we are overplaying the chill in Biden’s equations with Netanyahu.  On the other hand, all this would imply at the very least that Iran has a massive challenge in crafting a proportionate response to the Israeli aggression. The retaliation has to be symbolic and substantive, cogent and convincing and above all, reasonable and rational. Most important, it should not trigger a world war — Iran most certainly does not want a war.

But every cloud has a silver lining, too. The mitigating factor in the grim situation is that on Sunday, Israel withdrew its ground forces from Khan Younis marking the end of so-called high-intensity conflict. At one stroke, the matrix has changed.

The Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant unilaterally announced victory claiming that Hamas has “stopped functioning as a military organisation throughout the Gaza Strip.” Which, of course, flies in the face of reality, as at least six Hamas battalions are reportedly hiding, still functional, including its leaders who are surrounded by  about 130 hostages.

Call it what you will, but this is a significant climbdown by Israel with much unfinished business remaining still, as it were: release of all the hostages; return of residents back home in the south and north; a set-up to administer Gaza Strip where Hamas remains the de facto  leadership enjoying massive popular backing.

Gen. Halevi put a brave face on it, asserting this does not signal the end of war but only, “we’re fighting this war differently … Senior Hamas officials are still in hiding. We will get to them sooner or later… We have plans and we will act when we decide.”

This unceremonious end to Israel’s Gaza war after six months is almost certainly linked to the reported progress in the negotiations in Cairo over the release of hostages. Well, Israel’s score card is not entirely empty! Besides, the Damascus strike can be deemed a parting kick at the Quds Force of Iran’s elite IRGC at the operational level in both Iraq and Syria.

But then, Tehran has a noble tradition of eyeing martyrdom as the ultimate victory for its generals. Indeed, Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi didn’t attain martyrdom in vain. This needs explaining.

No matter what Gen. Halevi says about living to fight another day, there is the bigger picture, in which a truce-hostage deal is finally taking shape, which creates an entirely new dynamic all around — most significantly, in Israeli domestic politics that would give impetus to new thinking.

Israel is traditionally quick to adapt to alien circumstances. For the second time, Israel is retrenching from Gaza and this time around, with its reputation as the Middle East’s cat whiskers severely damaged. What emerges is also that Israel can no longer take for granted seamless American support.

The prominent Israeli commentator David Horowitz wrote with biting sarcasm, “Is this how the war ends? Not with a bang, or even a whimper…” But if an inconclusive war can still produce peace as its outcome, it must be welcomed — and Iran will have no doubts on that score. Quintessentially, Hamas’ victory is Iran’s sweet revenge, too. It makes a direct Iranian retaliation against Israel seem lacking in elan, somewhat old-fashioned and redundant.

That said, at the end of the day, as hours are ticking away, nothing is certain until a truce and hostage release deal is through. The pendulum keeps swinging from one end to the other by the hour.

If peace doves get released tied to the purse strings of wealthy Arab states, the biggest winner might yet be Biden. Unlike Barack Obama, he worked hard to earn it. All the guile in his tool kit as politician has been in display. It is no small feat to try to manipulate Netanyahu. An election victory in November, possibly holding a Nobel as his trophy, isn’t a far-fetched thought.

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Are We Witnessing a Tempering of American-Israeli Aggression?

April 15th, 2024 by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

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Axios reports that

Biden told Netanyahu he won’t support retaliation against Iran.

Washington is reportedly worried about a major escalation fraught with “catastrophic consequences”

For many years Israel has been pushing Washington to attack Iran, and neoconservatives and Congress have been chomping at the bit to do so. If this report on Axios is correct, it suggests that the power of neoconservatives over US Middle East Policy has been broken. I cannot help to be a bit suspicious of the report as it attributes more sense to Biden and his regime than we have previously seen any sign of.

And there are what seem to be conflicting reports. For example: “US sends reinforcements to ‘defend Israel’” and “Biden has been clear: The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran,” US National Security Council spokeswoman stated.

There are also differing reports as to the success of the Iranian attack. As I have previously written the attack and the risks of it could have been prevented by the announcement of a Russian-Chinese-Iranian mutual defense treaty, but the political vision was absent.

The attack could also have been prevented if Syria had been permitted to use Russian air defense systems in Syria to prevent the Israeli attack on Damascus that provoked the Iranian retaliatory response.

If the Axios report is correct, the downside is that it is likely to convince Putin and Xi that Washington has finally come to its senses, and they will put their guard down and be tricked into more deceiving agreements like the Minsk Agreement resulting in even more distrust.

It has taken a long time for Zionist Israel to discredit itself. It did so with Israel’s declared policy of genocide of the Palestinians. As it was our bombs, missiles, and money that Israel used, America was also discredited.

The self-inflicted diminution of American prestige and its isolation as the supporter of Israel’s attempted genocide of Palestine has altered the balance of power and influence in the world. With the impoverished Houthis standing up to mighty America and Israel, and with Iran finally standing up to Israel, it is possible that the American-Israeli aggression leading to nuclear war has been tempered. The recent firing of Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland is another possible indication.

Haaretz, the only objective Israeli newspaper, says Netanyahu should accept that the Iranian response was a limited attack provoked by Israel’s attack that murdered Iranian officials in Damascus and refrain from further military action. US bases throughout the Middle East and Israel’s Dimona nuclear arsenal are easy targets for a heavy Iranian attack. If Israel pushes further, a major war will erupt.

Perhaps it will dawn on Putin and Xi to stabilize the Middle East with announcement of a Russian-Chinese-Iranian mutual defense treaty. It is the absence of countervailing power in the Middle East that has made the region a tinderbox.

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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.

Featured image: President Joe Biden participates in a restricted bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Hotel Kempinski in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, October 18, 2023. (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)

US Declines Israel’s Invitation to Start WW3 (For Now)

April 15th, 2024 by Caitlin Johnstone

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Iran has carried out its long-promised retaliation for Israel’s attack on its consulate building in Damascus, launching a massive barrage of drones and missiles which it claims hit and destroyed Israeli military targets, while Israel says they dealt only superficial damage with a few injuries. The US and its allies reportedly helped shoot down a number of the Iranian projectiles. 

Just as we discussed in the lead-up to the strike, the western political-media class are acting as though this was a completely unprovoked attack launched against the innocent, Bambi-eyed victim Israel. Comments from western officials and pundits and headlines from the mass media are omitting the fact that Israel instigated these hostilities with its extreme act of aggression in Syria as much as possible. Here in Australia the Sydney Morning Herald write-up about the strike didn’t get around to informing its readers about the attack on the Iranian consulate until the tenth paragraph of the article, and said only that Iran had “accused” Israel of launching the attack because Israel has never officially confirmed it.

In any case, Iran says the attack is now over. Given that we’re not seeing any signs of massive damage, Iran’s reported claim that its retaliation would be calibrated to avoid escalation into a full-scale regional war seems to have been accurate, as does Washington’s reported claim that it didn’t expect the strike to be large enough to draw the US into war.

A new report from Axios says Biden has personally told Netanyahu that the US will not be supporting any Israeli military response to the Iranian strike. An anonymous senior White House official told Axios that Biden said to Netanyahu, “You got a win. Take the win,” in reference to the number of Iranian weapons that were taken out of the sky by the international coalition in Israel’s defense. Apparently helping to mitigate the damage from the Iranian attack is all the military commitment the White House is willing to make against Iran at this time.

And thank all that is holy for that. A war between the US alliance and Iran and its allies would be the stuff of nightmares, making the horrors we’ve been seeing in Gaza these last six months look like an episode of Peppa Pig.

But Washington merely declining to get involved is nowhere near enough. As the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi quipped on Twitter, “Biden needs to PREVENT further escalation, not just declare his desire to stay out of it.”

Indeed, Israel has already made it clear that it is going to be moving forward with an escalation against Iran. Israel’s Channel 12 cites an unnamed senior official saying the Iranian counter strike is going to receive an “unprecedented response”.

“Israel has already informed the Americans and governments in the region that its response is inevitable,” The Economist reports. “Its military options include launching drones at Iran, and long-range airstrikes on Iran, possibly on military bases or nuclear installations.”

It’s unclear at this time how much the latest message from the Biden administration will affect the calculations of this position, but the mass media are reporting that White House officials are worried Israel is getting ready to do something extremely reckless that could draw the US into a war it would rather avoid. 

NBC News reports the following:

“Some top U.S. officials are concerned Israel could do something quickly in response to Iran’s attacks without thinking through potential fallout afterward, according to a senior administration official and a senior defense official.

“Those concerns stem in part from the administration’s views of the approach Israel has taken to its war against Hamas, as well as the attack in Damascus.

“President Joe Biden has privately expressed concern that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to drag the U.S. more deeply into a broader conflict, according to three people familiar with his comments.”

People have been raising this concern for some time now. Earlier this month Responsible Statecraft’s Paul Pillar wrote up a solid argument that Netanyahu stands a lot to gain personally from drawing the US into a war with Iran to help him with his legal and political troubles and take the focus off of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

Whether that’s the case or not it’s pretty absurd for the Biden administration to just sit around passively hoping this doesn’t happen as though it wouldn’t have a say in the matter, and as though there’s nothing it can do to prevent such an occurrence right now. Biden has had the ability to end this insane cycle of escalation in the middle east since it started six months ago by demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and demanding that Israel rein in its murder machine, just as US presidents have done successfully in the past.

Biden could end all this with one phone call. The fact that he doesn’t means he’s a monster, and no amount of mass media reports about how “concerned” and “frustrated” he is regarding Israel’s actions will ever change that.

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President Xi and President Biden Exchanged Views on Tele-con

April 15th, 2024 by Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden engaged in a significant phone conversation on 02 April 2024 (Tuesday) at President Biden’s request, delving into various aspects of China-U.S. relations and mutual concerns.

President Xi highlighted the forward-looking vision established during his meeting with President Biden in San Francisco last November, emphasizing the subsequent earnest actions taken by both sides to materialize their understandings. While acknowledging the initial stabilization of China-U.S. relations, President Xi also noted the emergence of negative elements, warranting careful attention from both nations.

Emphasizing the paramount importance of strategic perception in bilateral relations, President Xi likened it to the first button on a shirt that must be properly secured. He stressed against severing ties or resorting to conflict, urging mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and mutually beneficial cooperation to maintain stable, constructive relations.

President Xi outlined three fundamental principles for guiding China-U.S. relations in 2024: valuing peace, prioritizing stability, and upholding credibility. He underscored the significance of respecting commitments, managing differences prudently, and enhancing cooperation while addressing global challenges responsibly.

Regarding sensitive issues such as Taiwan, President Xi reiterated China’s stance, highlighting the red line of “Taiwan independence” and urging concrete actions from the U.S. to align with President Biden’s commitment. He cautioned against actions that hinder China’s development or provoke conflict.

President Biden acknowledged the critical nature of the China-U.S. relationship, commending progress since the San Francisco meeting and emphasizing cooperation alongside managing differences responsibly. He reiterated the U.S.’s commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes, non-interference in China’s internal affairs, and adherence to the one-China policy.

President Biden raised concerns about various issues, including Taiwan, the South China Sea, and trade practices. He emphasized the importance of fair trade and preventing technology misuse while maintaining open channels of communication and diplomatic engagement.

Both leaders agreed on the importance of continued dialogue and cooperation across various domains, including diplomacy, economy, and climate response. They tasked their respective teams to advance the San Francisco vision, enhance bilateral exchanges, and address regional and global challenges collaboratively.

The conversation between President Xi and President Biden reflected a commitment to constructive engagement, highlighting the significance of managing differences while pursuing mutual interests for the stability and prosperity of both nations and the broader international community.

The relationship between China and the US holds immense significance on the global stage, and it’s imperative to diffuse tensions and bridge differences to foster harmony and understanding, thus promoting global stability and peace. Communication and dialogue play pivotal roles in achieving these goals, and recent interactions between the two nations are welcomed as positive steps in the right direction.

However, considering the political landscape in the US, one may speculate that these communications were politically motivated, particularly as President Biden faces considerable pressure amid declining popularity leading up to the upcoming Presidential Elections. Criticism of his nearly four-year tenure, particularly regarding policies on issues such as Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, the South China Sea, North Korea, and Iran, has led to a sharp decline in his popularity.

It appears that President Biden’s conversation with President Xi may hold political significance for him, potentially aimed at demonstrating a strong stance on China and perhaps even competing with his predecessor, President Trump. Moreover, with only a few months left in office, the feasibility of implementing any commitments made during these communications may be limited, as voters will ultimately assess his performance over the entirety of his term, rather than focusing solely on recent dialogue.

In contrast, President Xi approached the conversation with seriousness, seizing the opportunity to express his firm stance on issues such as Taiwan and the ongoing technological competition and sanctions. As both the Secretary-General of the CPC and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission of China, President Xi commands significant authority and is known for his resolute statements, reflecting a genuine commitment to his positions.

Ultimately, it is in the best interest of both the US and China to normalize relations and redirect their energies towards global development, economic prosperity, and maintaining global peace and security. By working together harmoniously, they can contribute to creating a better world for current and future generations.

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Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Founding Chair GSRRA, Sinologist, Diplomat, Editor, Analyst, Consultant, Advisor, and Non-Resident Fellow of CCG. (E-mail: [email protected]).

Featured image: President Joe Biden greets President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, Wednesday, November 15, 2023, at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, California.(Official White House Photo by Carlos Fyfe)

O custo da guerra

April 14th, 2024 by Manlio Dinucci

A guerra da NATO contra a Rússia na Ucrânia leva ao aumento das despesas militares. De acordo com dados oficiais, as despesas militares italianas aumentaram de 21 mil milhões de euros em 2019 para mais de 30 mil milhões em 2023, o que equivale a uma média anual de mais de 80 milhões de euros por dia em dinheiro público desviado das despesas sociais. De acordo com o compromisso da NATO, a Itália terá de aumentar esta despesa para cerca de 100 milhões de euros por dia. Desde 2014, as despesas militares da Europa filiada na NATO dispararam, ultrapassando o nível da última fase da Guerra Fria.

O Secretário-Geral da NATO, Stoltenberg, salienta que:

“Os aliados estão a fornecer à Ucrânia uma ajuda militar e financeira sem precedentes. A França vai enviar em breve mais obuses Caesar e vários aliados juntaram-se à iniciativa da República Checa para adquirir 800.000 cartuchos de artilharia adicionais”.

A Itália, que já forneceu a Kiev peças de artilharia pesada, também participa na compra destes 800.000 projécteis adicionais. Mais uma despesa adicional de dinheiro público pago pelos nossos cidadãos.

Um outro agravante deriva do facto de a Itália contribuir para os custos das bases dos EUA-NATO que, a partir do território italiano, desempenham papéis fundamentais no apoio a operações de guerra, da Ucrânia ao Médio Oriente. De particular importância é o papel de Camp Darby, o maior arsenal americano fora do território dos Estados Unidos. Atualmente, chegam dos Estados Unidos a esta base, situada entre Pisa e Livorno, novos e mais potentes veículos blindados que, a partir de Camp Darby, através do porto de Livorno, serão enviados para a Ucrânia.

As bases americanas de Camp Darby, Sigonella e outras em território italiano apoiam também as operações de guerra no Médio Oriente. Aqui, os EUA continuam a armar Israel ao abrigo de um acordo assinado pelo Presidente Obama e pelo seu adjunto Biden. Este acordo fornece a Israel armas no valor de 38 mil milhões de dólares, incluindo as bombas com que Israel está a exterminar os palestinianos em Gaza.

Manlio Dinucci

Artigo original em italiano :

Il Costo della Guerra

byoblu.com

Traduçao : Mondialisation.ca com DeepL

VIDEO :

Os drones dos EUA estão se revelando inúteis na Ucrânia.

April 14th, 2024 by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

A ajuda dos EUA à Ucrânia com drones está a revelar-se insuficiente no campo de batalha. Recentemente, a mídia ocidental admitiu que os veículos aéreos não tripulados (UAVs) americanos na Ucrânia são ineficazes no combate à Rússia. O caso mostra claramente as fraquezas da tecnologia militar ocidental, que se revelou inútil quando testada no campo de batalha.

De acordo com o Wall Street Journal (WSJ), os pequenos drones americanos enviados para a Ucrânia não são capazes de escapar aos mecanismos eficientes de guerra eletrônica russos. Os UAV fabricados nos EUA são utilizados massivamente para operações de reconhecimento e ataques com granadas, mas os seus resultados são insatisfatórios e não trazem benefícios reais para as tropas ucranianas nas linhas da frente.

Segundo o jornal, a reputação da indústria militar americana de drones está seriamente ameaçada pelo fraco desempenho dos UAVs na zona de combate. Anteriormente, este equipamento era considerado adequado pelo Pentágono até mesmo para soldados americanos, mas a incapacidade de lidar com a realidade militar ucraniana mostrou que a tecnologia das forças armadas dos EUA está ultrapassada e necessita urgentemente de mudanças para enfrentar os novos desafios da guerra contemporânea.

“A reputação geral de todas as classes de drones dos EUA na Ucrânia é que eles não funcionam tão bem como outros sistemas (…) [os drones americanos] não são uma plataforma muito bem-sucedida nas linhas de frente”, disse um especialista ao WSJ. .

A matéria menciona uma lista de armas com problemas operacionais, incluindo drones fabricados pela Cyberlux e, principalmente, pela Skydio, empresa do Vale do Silício que enviou milhões de equipamentos militares para a Ucrânia. As startups de defesa dos EUA, que até então eram elogiadas como grandes centros de inovação na indústria militar, estão agora a ser testadas e a demonstrar verdadeira incompetência em lidar com as realidades da guerra.

“A empresa do Vale do Silício, Skydio, enviou centenas de seus melhores drones para a Ucrânia para ajudar a combater os russos. As coisas não correram bem. Os drones da Skydio saíram do curso e se perderam, sendo vítimas da guerra eletrônica da Rússia. Desde então, a empresa voltou à prancheta para construir uma nova frota. A maioria dos pequenos drones de startups dos EUA não conseguiram ser efetivos em combate, frustrando as esperanças das empresas de que um diferencial de ter sido testado em batalha traria vendas e atenção às startups. Também é uma má notícia para o Pentágono, que precisa de um fornecimento confiável de milhares de aeronaves pequenas e não tripuladas. Na primeira guerra com pequenos drones tendo destaque, as empresas americanas ainda não têm presença significativa. Os drones fabricados na América tendem a ser caros, com falhas e difíceis de reparar, disseram os executivos de empresas, ucranianos na linha de frente, funcionários do governo ucraniano e ex-funcionários da defesa dos EUA”, diz o artigo.

Na verdade, esta notícia deve ser entendida como mais uma prova de que a indústria militar americana está gravemente afetada por um processo de “desprofissionalização”. Startups de investidores que não possuem nenhum conhecimento militar estão empreendendo projetos muitas vezes elogiados e incorporados pelo Pentágono em meio à busca por “inovação” no setor de defesa. O resultado é que a ausência de conhecimento técnico militar e de experiência de combate torna impossível aos fabricantes produzir equipamentos suficientemente eficazes para lidar com as realidades de uma guerra real. Nesse sentido, os drones americanos, que eram considerados produtos “inovadores” e de alta qualidade tecnológica, passam a ser vistos como armas caras e facilmente neutralizáveis.

Os EUA passaram décadas a investir em projetos de inovação tecnológica no setor militar que, no final, se revelaram inúteis. A maior parte destas “inovações” centraram-se na satisfação dos interesses dos investidores no setor tecnológico, mas não tiveram em conta os conhecimentos técnicos militares. O Estado americano confiou na entrada de novas startups tecnológicas dentro do aparato do complexo militar-industrial e agora o resultado se mostra catastrófico. Entretanto, na Rússia, o setor da defesa continua extremamente controlado por profissionais militares experientes, sendo todas as inovações tecnológicas rigorosamente avaliadas por especialistas militares e testadas no campo de batalha.

Um ponto que também precisa ser enfatizado é o desenvolvimento do setor russo de guerra eletrônica – também chamado de “guerra de espectro”. Este setor consiste basicamente na utilização do campo eletromagnético para fins militares. As armas atuais, dada a sua alta tecnologia, criam um campo de ondas electromagnéticas em torno da zona de conflito. O lado mais hábil na utilização destes dados eletromagnéticos em operações de inteligência, reconhecimento e sabotagem torna-se capaz de neutralizar a maioria dos ataques inimigos.

A eficiência russa na guerra eletrônica já é reconhecida até pelos analistas militares como a principal razão para o fracasso dos esforços dos drones da Ucrânia. A maioria dos drones ocidentais lançados por Kiev são desviados por mecanismos de guerra eletrônica. O resultado é um cenário em que os americanos gastam milhões para produzir UAV inúteis que são facilmente sabotados por ferramentas baratas.

No final, o conflito na Ucrânia está a mostrar como a indústria militar americana se tornou num verdadeiro tigre de papel, controlada por investidores sem conhecimentos especializados e fortemente dependente de investimentos dispendiosos para obter maus resultados.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

 

Artigo em inglês :

US Drones Useless in Ukraine. Russia’s Electromagnetic Waves Technology Used to Neutralize Enemy Attacks

https://infobrics.org/post/40941

Imagem : InfoBrics

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Lucas Leiroz, jornalista, pesquisador do Center for Geostrategic Studies, consultor geopolítico.

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

Philosophy is Life and a Way of Life

April 14th, 2024 by Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu

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First published on April 6, 2024

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Philosophy Reaching Insight into the Nature of Reality

One crucial and relevant aspect of Philosophy as an academic inquiry is the fact that Philosophy engages our ordinary experience as an entry point venue, as a stepping-stone, and as a vehicle towards reaching insight into the nature of Reality.

Philosophy engages even the most ordinary, the most down-to-earth, the most mundane, and simplest experience of life as a diving board to reach what Plato called the logos (the essential principle) of Reality and what Aristotle termed the telos (ultimate end or absolute purpose) of Life and Existence.

Right image: Aristotle

It is in this thought that Philosophy is referred to as a transcendental subject in and of itself.

Philosophy looks at the wholeness of things instead of partiality or particularity.

Philosophy seeks a unitive and holistic understanding of things instead of looking at things from the point of view of separateness and divisiveness. 

There are many intellectual fields or subjects of academic endeavors that elucidate their respective discipline by making categories, particularizations, and distinctions in order to explain what for them constitutes Reality (be it social reality, political reality, constructed reality, or even metaphysical reality itself); however, Philosophy as a synthesizing discipline sees Reality as unitive, as a seamless whole, as a complete and comprehensive totality—hence

Philosophy by its very nature looks at the world exhaustively and holistically.

The Ultimate Reality from the positionality and perspective of Philosophy is first and foremost through-and-through unitive before it is divided into particularities, distinctiveness, or separateness.

Philosophy Looks at Absolute Truth 

Philosophy looks at Absolute Truth as undivided whole and essentially unitive:

hence Philosophy cannot help but be holistic and synthetic (approaching the view of synthesis) in its view of things and events—and philosophers are also expected to look at the world, things, events, and indeed our total ecosystem from a tolerant perspective of an all-embracing synthesis and comprehensive wholeness.

Philosophy and Consumerism 

There is a growing trend and a latent tendency in our contemporary educational system to see education as merely positivistic, scientistic, hyper-empiricistic, utilitarian, extractive, and instrumentalist.

The present profit-oriented, consumeristic, and capitalistic rising trend of our present educational system is to glorify what the ancient Sophists call teknike (the “how to” of things) rather than the ethike which is the discourse of ideal philosophical and ethical principles.

The Contemporary Academic System: Utilitarian and Instrumentalist  

The contemporary academic system is geared towards a utilitarian, instrumentalist, pragmatic approach to education that caters only to the utility of our present capitalist and consumerist economic setup. The purpose of contemporary education in our day and age is simply to supply workers to First World markets and laborers in the capitalistic corporatocratic cog.

Many educational systems in the Third World are right now mainly focusing in their academic syllabi and emphasizing in their curriculum the utility and marketability of their graduates to supply the intellectual, technical, and labor force to the capitalist corporations and consumerist economic outfits of First World countries.

If capitalistic productivity and consumeristic profiteering are to be the present focus and emphasis of our contemporary educational system, then Philosophy is simply counterproductive, passe, and totally irrelevant for an extractive capitalistic and corporatocratic educational system: since there is no utilitarian need of philosophers in the world of “get” and in the culture of accumulation: and no need for philosophical critique, rigorous reflection, and intellectual reflexivity in a commodified world whose emphasis is frenzied profitable action and unthinking compliance to the greedy demands of capitalistic corporatocracies.

Philosophy and Humanistic Education  

And yet, Philosophy is very crucial and relevant discipline if we are to establish a humanistic education since it is Philosophy that puts the “mind, heart, and soul” as well as humanness, humane-ness, and proper humanity to the human person.

It is Philosophy that informs the human person of his or her unrepeatable, irreducible, irreplaceable, and unique worth in the midst of the commodifying and objectifying hold of a profiteering capitalism, consumerism, and avaricious corporatocracy on humans and on human relationships.

It is Philosophy that guides the human person who is in search of ethical and spiritual authenticity in the midst of this glittering world of money and this oppressive world of power-mongering and influence-peddling. It is Philosophy that allows humans to be in awe at Life with the view of knowing himself or herself in relation to others and the world. 

By emphasizing on the consumeristic, positivistic, instrumentalist, utilitarian, extractive, and pragmatic demands of capitalist-oriented education, the relevance of Philosophy may diminish in the eyes of present academic curriculum makers, and it may vanish in the General Education courses and syllabi of profit-oriented capitalistic universities and other same-minded academic institutions—and God forbid, Philosophy as a subject or course may not be offered anymore in the academic prospectus of many educational institution in our day and age. But who will be at a loss? It will be the students themselves: and eventually, our present societies will intellectually be at a loss; since the ultimate goal of Philosophy is to be the venue for the authentic humanization of students so that they will become persons of wholeness for the sake of themselves, for others, for the world, and for the ecosystem.

Philosophy is Life Itself 

It may be that Philosophy will not anymore be offered as an academic subject or course in the universities in the near future—and yet it will not be the death of Philosophy for Philosophy is, properly speaking, NOT just an academic discipline.

Philosophy is LIFE itself: and for as long as there are people who longs for authenticity in their very own existence and who continually wonder, question, and search for the raison d’ être of their life and being in the Greater Scheme of Things, for as long as there are still people who are not jaded to Life, but are continually amazed at the beauty of what Life has to offer, for as long as there are persons who want to be living sacrifice to the Altar of True Wisdom so they can expend and offer their lives for the good of humanity and for service to the world, then assuredly, Philosophy is here to stay, and will definitely be always here to stay.

Our capitalistic, monetarily extractive, and profit-driven contemporary educational system can never extinguish the ever-illuminating Torch of Wisdom, which is Philosophy itself.

Philosophy is Life and it is more expansive, more comprehensive, and more exhaustive than mere theorizing learned by rote, or plain memorizing, or by the relentless conditioning wrought by this consumer-crazed capitalistic education of today.

Philosophy Is Life and a Way of Life

As sure as the sun rises in the East, it can be certainly vouched—Philosophy as Life and as a way of Life is sure to stay for as long as there are authentic humans who are in earnest search for Life’s significance, who are in awe of Life’s bittersweet reality, and who longs for wholeness and genuineness in the midst of this modern world of extractive utilitarianism, instrumentalism, objectification, and commodification of humans, of both abiotic and biotic components of our ecosystem by the profit-driven capitalism and consumerism in our present corporatocratic educational system.

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Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu is Associate Professor-7 of Philosophy and Asian Studies at the University of the Philippines (UP), Cebu City, Philippines.

He was Academic Coordinator of the Political Science Program at UP Cebu from 2011-2014, and Program Coordinator of Gender and Development (GAD) Office at UP Cebu from 2015-2016 and from 2018-2019.

His research interests include Theoretical and Applied Ethics, Islamic Studies particularly Sunni jurisprudence (Sunni Fiqh), Islamic feminist discourses, Islam in interfaith dialogue initiatives, Islamic environmentalism, Classical Sunni Islamic pedagogy, the writings of Al-Ghazali on pluralism and tolerance, Islam in the Indian Subcontinent, Turkish Sufism, Ataturk Studies, Ottoman Studies, Genghis Khan Studies, Marxian Political Thought, Muslim-Christian Dialogue, Middle Eastern Affairs, Peace Studies, Public Theology, and Postmodernism in Philosophy.

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

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Rick Rozoff is a renowned author and geopolitical analyst, actively involved in opposing war, militarism and interventionism for over fifty years. He manages the Anti-Bellum and For peace, against war website

In the following interview, recorded on March 26, 2024, Mr. Rozoff talks about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which he has opposed for decades, and where it is headed.

Global Research: It’s been said that the real reason an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not really to end the war. The allied Soviet Union had said they were preparing an invasion in early-August 1945, so the US figured it would drop the bombs first and thereby send the message that they had won the war by forcing Japan’s surrender. But they were also warning the Soviet Union about their awesome arsenal that could be targeting them. I bring this up, because I suspect the role of NATO to defend the world from the Soviet threat maybe – may not be accurate either. There is another story behind building up NATO. What in your view is the real reason NATO came into existence?

Rick Rozoff: It was a shift in World War II where the Western powers, US, Britain, French Resistance and Free French and such like continued the War, but shifted from waging war against the Axis powers, Germany, Italy, Romania, and so forth, towards the Soviet Union. I mean, it’s quite simply that. And Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was, you know, the top commander of allied forces in Europe during World War II became the first supreme allied commander of NATO when NATO was set up in 1949. So, it was a very smooth transition, down to the very same, you know, top commander.

World War II did not, in that sense, end so much as it was reconfigured and directed eastward, that’s my read on it. And of course, it was 75 years ago next month that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established, initially with 12 members. All 12 of which, with the exception of Italy, could lay claim to being on the North Atlantic Ocean, by the way. Italy, if you really wanted to stretch the point also, you know, through being in the Mediterranean which is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Of course, now you’re looking – well, I don’t want to jump too far ahead – but you’re looking at NATO which has grown appreciably where the majority of its members are nowhere near the North Atlantic Ocean.

GR: So, basically you’re saying that – I mean, like the alliance, you know, to fight off Hitler, I mean I guess they felt they had a good thing coming, so… But, I guess there’s somehow that solidarity or whatever. Let’s just hold onto this and just direct it towards the Big Red Bear. Is that essentially what you’re saying?

RR: That’s exactly what happened. And they pivoted, to use the popular expression, on a dime. It didn’t take very long. Almost immediately after V-E Day and certainly after V-J Day, you know, Victory in Europe, Victory Over Japan that you alluded to, then the Soviet Union became the replacement for the Third Reich and Mussolini.

And so, the military apparatus that the United States had established during the years from 1943-45 in Italy and in Germany and France and then the Low Countries, Benelux Countries, then became the foundation for NATO which remained and remains to this day, by the way, where the supreme allied commander of NATO has always been an American general or admiral. So, that much has not changed from 1949, or for that matter from 1945, until the current day.

GR: So, during the Cold War, I mean, was there anything, you know, about NATO – because, I mean, you started criticizing NATO before the fall of the Berlin Wall as I understand it. So, what were you finding objectionable back in the Cold War era that set you off?

RR: I wouldn’t want to put too fine a point on this because I think, you know, it’s going to distract from talking about post-Cold War NATO. And there are people out there who may want to defend NATO up until 1989 or up until 1991, and my argument is really not with them so much anymore, because as interesting as that is, I think we have more pressing concerns to be honest, Michael. And I personally feel that it was meant as a display of American military might in Europe, not only against the Soviet Union, its allies, and Eastern Europe, but also against political parties in countries like France, Belgium, Italy, Communist Party in the first instance, that may have wanted to reach some rapprochement with the Soviet Union and the permanent deployment of US – and the US, you know, Sixth Fleet is still based in Italy. And the US still has nuclear weapons in five European countries and suchlike. But this is all the result of using NATO to position the US Military for a permanent presence in Europe, first of all against the Soviet Union, then again the Soviet successor state: Russia.

Yet also, you know, you mention nuclear weapons. I believe it was as early as 1951, which is to say, only two years after the founding of NATO that the US moved nuclear weapons into Europe, into Britain initially, under NATO auspices and why NATO continues to maintain tactical nuclear weapons in Belgium, in The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, and Turkey under what NATO calls “burden sharing,” or “nuclear sharing” arrangements.

GR: Well, NATO underwent a transformation after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism, because it otherwise would no longer have a reason to continue, but it did. What do you know about what the thinkers at the top were thinking? I mean, how and when did they come to the conclusion that NATO would now be an aggressive force behind human rights. I mean, subsequently attacking people in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Libya?

RR: The 1989 speech by President H.W. Bush in Mainz, Germany whence the expression – it’s actually sometimes published with – the expression I’m going to mention in a second – as it’s titled, “A Europe Whole and Free,” sometimes “Europe Whole, Free, and at Peace.” And this is after the, you know, the dismantling of the Wall in Berlin and the beginning of the reunification of Germany. So, the point is clear coming from Washington, coming from the White House, that Europe was to be “united,” — the exact word – there was to be a continental system, you know, if I’m not going too far astray, comparable to those of Napoleon Bonaparte, or for that matter, Hitler, that would unite the entire European continent under one military command.

That has been NATO’s objective since 1989. Certainly since 1991 with the formal dissolution of the Warsaw Pact which itself, by the way, was founded six years after NATO and in reaction to not only NATO being founded, but Germany, West Germany, the Southern Republic of Germany, being brought into NATO the preceding year. Contrary to the Potsdam, you know, Accords reached by Britain, United States, and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.

So, what NATO has accomplished in the interim and is now going to celebrate in all its splendour in July in the United States in Washington at its 75th anniversary summit, is that indeed, the entire European continent, with the exception of Russia and Belarus, have now been brought under NATO command.

GR: But NATO is not just a military force. It seems to me it’s a parasite. There are components of NATO that involve industry and jobs and a whole economic and financial infrastructure has grown around NATO. So, there would be massive losses of jobs and a shrinking of a tax base meaning, you know, social programs as well would be compromised. Can you address these sorts of concerns about some who would resist ending NATO or getting out of NATO?

RR: I mean, you’re correct about the fact that the NATO countries – I mean, let’s look at some arithmetic: the annual collective military spending – this is official, right, through defence ministries and the Defense Department in the United States. It excludes, you know, a good deal other military-related spending. But the official numbers, with the US leading the way by a long shot to the tune of something like 68 percent, but nevertheless, NATO countries account for $1.3 trillion in military spending per annum. This is as compared to, for example, Russia maybe $60 billion, you know, a small fraction of that. The population combined or collective population, NATO countries, now with Sweden joining, is 1 billion. You know, Russia is 150 million, if I remember right. So, to place these matters in perspective.

The other thing that needs to be mentioned – and this is the NATO summit in Washington in the Summer – will be the second time a NATO summit has been held in the capital of the United States. That symbolism is not to be missed. There was only one other summit in the United States and it was here in Chicago in 2012. But the first summit in Washington, the first in the United States, was in 1999 to mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of NATO. This one will mark the 75th anniversary.

Fifty years ago – I’m sorry, not 50 years ago but 25 years ago in 1999, when NATO met in Washington Nato had 16 members. When it finishes its summit this July in Washington, it will have 32 members, which is to say twice as many as it had in 1999 when it launched its first full fledged war against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In the interim also, starting in the 1990s – you read an excerpt which I assumed was mine, it sounded very much like mine at the beginning of the programme – NATO has, in addition to those 32 full members, partners in the neighbourhood of probably 40 officially. And if you want to include the fact that NATO considers the African Union to be a collective partner, it has a liaison office next to that of the African Union in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. But officially, they have 40 members who, together with the – not 40 members, 40 partners – who, together with the 32 members, some of these are countries, are on all six inhabited continents, bar none. And as there are military personnel in Antarctica from NATO countries, you can throw that one in for good measure and all the continents in the world even have NATO presence.

That is something that is so historically unprecedented in scale and scope and ambition and nature, that it really puzzles me and I have to admit it makes me despondent sometimes that for 25 years I’ve been trying to alert people to this, to the scale of it. And I feel that people are either indifferent to it, they downplay it, they mock it. Global Research is not immune itself from running articles that suggest that, you know, NATO is a paper tiger, paper pussycat in one person’s parlance, and so forth. I’ll state my claim, and I hope I’m not wrong, that NATO is a deadly serious business and a real threat to world peace. And if it is, and it has been for the past 25 years, then I think the peace movement and other forces in the world have been grossly negligent in taking this one on.

GR: Going forward then, what would you assume NATO’s next targets would be if there’s no resistance? And you know, what kinds of – how do you expect their development to evolve over the next two or three years?

RR: You know, they’re very open about these matters. There’s nothing esoteric about them. Go to the NATO website. They have two features today and one is at the Moldova [SIC] solidifying its relationship with NATO. It’s going to join. But you know, as a precondition for joining, it cannot have foreign troops on its territory, nor can it have unresolved territorial disputes. And Transnistria, you know, fills, you know, both those – checks both of those boxes off. So, it would be necessary. And Transnistria is surrounded by Moldova in the West, Ukraine on the East, it would be necessary to expel the Russian peacekeeping force of the couple thousand troops, and then reincorporate Transnistria into Moldova in order for it to join NATO. But you know, those movements – that movement is well under way.

The general secretary of NATO, as you may know, has just recently made a trip to the three South Caucasus nations of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Armenia has suspended its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, I would argue justifiably, you know, given Russia’s unwillingness to defend it against attacks from Azerbaijan. And so, what are they doing? They’re wrapping up – they’re doing a mopping up operation. They are absorbing what’s left of the former Soviet Union, except for, at least the moment, Belarus and Russia itself. They’ve already incorporated, of course, some 15 years ago they incorporated – more than that, 17 years ago – they – 20 years ago they incorporated three former Soviet Union republics, you know, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuanian. They, you know, ensconced themselves deeply in the three countries I’ve just mentioned in the South Caucasus. Ukraine I don’t have to tell you about. And Moldova, that’s the former Soviet Union.

So, they have not only – there was a statement by George W. Bush during the round of massive NATO expansions in the early part of the century where, at one NATO summit, seven countries joined at one time. Again, that’s totally unprecedented. Two of those former Yugoslav federal republics and three of them former Soviet republics. There was a statement attributed to George W. Bush saying, “The Warsaw Pact has now become NATO, in fact.”

GR: Rick Rozoff, thank you very much for your intelligent and eloquent analysis.

RR: Yeah, I wish I had better news to bring you, my friend. You know, we sit back and we allow military monoliths of this scale to spread over the last, you know, 33 years and we effectively do nothing about it. You know, they’re not going to be held in check unless we hold them in check. And we have to sound the alarm that the existence of a military bloc of 70-some odd countries on all continents is something that really should ring some bells and really should raise some alarms and people should really commit themselves to looking into it and doing what they can to reign this thing in until it can be dismantled.

 

 

Il Costo della Guerra

April 14th, 2024 by Manlio Dinucci

La guerra della NATO contro la Russia in Ucraina comporta una crescente spesa militare. Secondo i dati ufficiali, la spesa militare italiana è aumentata da 21 miliardi di euro nel 2019 a oltre 30 miliardi nel 2023, equivalenti a una media giornaliera annua di oltre 80 milioni di euro, in denaro pubblico sottratto alle spese sociali. Secondo l’impegno assunto nella NATO, l’Italia dovrà portare tale spesa a circa 100 milioni di euro al giorno. Dal 2014 la spesa militare dell’Europa appartenente alla NATO è vertiginosamente cresciuta, superando il livello dell’ultima fase della Guerra Fredda.

Il segretario generale della NATO Stoltenberg sottolinea:

“Gli Alleati stanno fornendo all’Ucraina aiuti militari e finanziari senza precedenti. La Francia invierà presto altri obici Caesar e diversi Alleati hanno aderito all’iniziativa della Repubblica Ceca di procurare 800.000 proiettili d’artiglieria supplementari”.

L’Italia, che ha già fornito a Kiev anche pezzi di artiglieria pesante, partecipa all’acquisto di questi altri 800.000 proiettili. Più un ulteriore esborso di denaro pubblico pagato da noi cittadini.

Le basi USA-NATO

Un ulteriore aggravio deriva dal fatto che l’Italia compartecipa alle spese delle basi USA-NATO che, dal territorio italiano, svolgono fondamentali ruoli di supporto delle operazioni belliche, dall’Ucraina al Medioriente. Di particolare importanza il ruolo di Camp Darby, il più grande arsenale USA fuori dal territorio statunitense. In questi giorni stanno arrivando dagli Stati Uniti in questa base, situata tra Pisa e Livorno, nuovi e più potenti mezzi corazzati che da Camp Darby, tramite il porto di Livorno, saranno inviati in Ucraina.

Le basi USA di Camp Darby, Sigonella e altre sul territorio italiano supportano anche le operazioni belliche in Medioriente. Qui gli Stati Uniti continuano ad armare Israele nell’ambito di un accordo, stipulato dal Presidente Obama e dal suo vice Biden. Questo prevede di fornire a Israele armi per il valore di 38 miliardi di dollari, comprese le bombe con cui Israele sta sterminando i Palestinesi a Gaza.

Manlio Dinucci

 

VIDEO :

The text below is Chapter III of Michel Chossudovsky’s book entitled:  The Globalization of War. America’s Long War against Humanity, Global Research Publishers, Montreal, 2015.  To order the book directly from Global Research click here

This chapter provides a historical perspective of US war plans directed against Iran, including the use of a preemptive nuclear attack, using low yield, “more usable” tactical nuclear weapons.

This analysis is of particular relevance to the Biden administration’s ongoing threats to attack Iran.

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While one can conceptualize the loss of life and destruction resulting from present-day wars including Iraq and Afghanistan, it is impossible to fully comprehend the devastation which might result from a Third World War, using “new technologies” and advanced weapons, until it occurs and becomes a reality. The international community has endorsed nuclear war in the name of world peace. “Making the world safer” is the justification for launching a military operation which could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust.”

The stockpiling and deployment of advanced weapons systems directed against Iran started in the immediate wake of the 2003 bombing and invasion of Iraq. From the outset, these war plans were led by the U.S. in liaison with NATO and Israel.

Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration identified Iran and Syria as the next stage of “the road map to war”. U.S. military sources intimated at the time that an aerial attack on Iran could involve a large scale deployment comparable to the U.S. “shock and awe” bombing raids on Iraq in March 2003:

American air strikes on Iran would vastly exceed the scope of the 1981 Israeli attack on the Osiraq nuclear center in Iraq, and would more resemble the opening days of the 2003 air campaign against Iraq.1

“Theater Iran Near Term” (TIRANNT)

Code named by U.S. military planners as TIRANNT, “Theater Iran Near Term”, simulations of an attack on Iran were initiated in May 2003 “when modelers and intelligence specialists pulled together the data needed for theater-level (meaning large-scale) scenario analysis for Iran.”2

The scenarios identified several thousand targets inside Iran as part of a “Shock and Awe” Blitzkrieg:

The analysis, called TIRANNT, for “Theater Iran Near Term,” was coupled with a mock scenario for a Marine Corps invasion and a simulation of the Iranian missile force. U.S. and British planners conducted a Caspian Sea war game around the same time. And Bush directed the U.S. Strategic Command to draw up a global strike war plan for an attack against Iranian weapons of mass destruction. All of this will ultimately feed into a new war plan for “major combat operations” against Iran that military sources confirm now [April 2006] exists in draft form.

… Under TIRANNT, Army and U.S. Central Command planners have been examining both near-term and out-year scenarios for war with Iran, including all aspects of a major combat operation, from mobilization and deployment of forces through postwar stability operations after regime change.3

Different “theater scenarios” for an all-out attack on Iran had been contemplated:

The U.S. army, navy, air force and marines have all prepared battle plans and spent four years building bases and training for “Operation Iranian Freedom”. Admiral Fallon, the new head of U.S. Central Command, has inherited computerized plans under the name TIRANNT (Theatre Iran Near Term).4

In 2004, drawing upon the initial war scenarios under TIRANNT, Vice President Dick Cheney instructed U.S. Strategic Command (U.S.STRATCOM) to draw up a “contingency plan” of a large scale military operation directed against Iran “to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States” on the presumption that the government in Tehran would be behind the terrorist plot. The plan included the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state:

The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than four hundred fifty major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing –that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack– but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.5

The Military Road Map: “First Iraq, then Iran”

The decision to target Iran under TIRANNT was part of the broader process of military planning and sequencing of military operations. Already under the Clinton administration, U.S. Central Command (U.S.CENTCOM) had formulated “in war theater plans” to invade first Iraq and then Iran. Access to Middle East oil was the stated strategic objective:

The broad national security interests and objectives expressed in the President’s National Security Strategy (NSS) and the Chairman’s National Military Strategy (NMS) form the foundation of the United States Central Command’s theater strategy. The NSS directs implementation of a strategy of dual containment of the rogue states of Iraq and Iran as long as those states pose a threat to U.S. interests, to other states in the region, and to their own citizens. Dual containment is designed to maintain the balance of power in the region without depending on either Iraq or Iran. U.S.CENTCOM’s theater strategy is interest-based and threat-focused. The purpose of U.S. engagement, as espoused in the NSS, is to protect the United States’ vital interest in the region – uninterrupted, secure U.S./Allied access to Gulf oil.6

The war on Iran was viewed as part of a succession of military operations. According to (former) NATO Commander General Wesley Clark, the Pentagon’s military road-map consisted of a sequence of countries:

[The] Five-year campaign plan [includes]… a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.6 (For further details, see Chapter I)

The Role of Israel

There has been much debate regarding the role of Israel in initiating an attack against Iran.

Israel is part of a military alliance. Tel Aviv is not a prime mover. It does not have a separate and distinct military agenda.

Israel is integrated into the “war plan for major combat operations” against Iran formulated in 2006 by U.S. Strategic Command (U.S.STRATCOM). In the context of large scale military operations, an uncoordinated unilateral military action by one coalition partner, namely Israel, is from a military and strategic point almost an impossibility. Israel is a de facto member of NATO. Any action by Israel would require a “green light” from Washington.

An attack by Israel could, however, be used as “the trigger mechanism” which would unleash an all-out war against Iran, as well as retaliation by Iran directed against Israel.

In this regard, there are indications going back to the Bush administration that Washington had indeed contemplated the option of an initial (U.S. backed) attack by Israel rather than an outright U.S.-led military operation directed against Iran. The Israeli attack –although led in close liaison with the Pentagon and NATO– would have been presented to public opinion as a unilateral decision by Tel Aviv. It would then have been used by Washington to justify, in the eyes of World opinion, a military intervention of the U.S. and NATO with a view to “defending Israel”, rather than attacking Iran. Under existing military cooperation agreements, both the U.S. and NATO would be “obligated” to “defend Israel” against Iran and Syria.

It is worth noting, in this regard, that at the outset of Bush’s second term, (former) Vice President Dick Cheney had hinted, in no uncertain terms, that Iran was “right at the top of the list” of the “rogue enemies” of America, and that Israel would, so to speak, “be doing the bombing for us”, without U.S. military involvement and without us putting pressure on them “to do it”8

According to Cheney:

One of the concerns people have is that Israel might do it without being asked. …Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards,9

Commenting the Vice President’s assertion, former National Security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski in an interview on PBS, confirmed with some apprehension, yes: Cheney wants Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to act on America’s behalf and “do it” for us:

Iran I think is more ambiguous. And there the issue is certainly not tyranny; it’s nuclear weapons. And the vice president today in a kind of a strange parallel statement to this declaration of freedom hinted that the Israelis may do it and in fact used language which sounds like a justification or even an encouragement for the Israelis to do it.10

What we are dealing with is a process of joint U.S.-NATO-Israel military planning. An operation to bomb Iran has been in the active planning stage since 2004. Officials in the Defense Department, under Bush and Obama, have been working assiduously with their Israeli military and intelligence counterparts, carefully identifying targets inside Iran. In practical military terms, any action by Israel would have to be planned and coordinated at the highest levels of the U.S. led coalition.

An attack by Israel against Iran would also require coordinated U.S.-NATO logistical support, particularly with regard to Israel’s air defense system, which since January 2009 is fully integrated into that of the U.S. and NATO.11

Israel’s X band radar system established in early 2009 with U.S. technical support has “integrate[d] Israel’s missile defenses with the U.S. global missile [Space-based] detection network, which includes satellites, Aegis ships on the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and Red Sea, and land-based Patriot radars and interceptors.”12

What this means is that Washington ultimately calls the shots. The U.S. rather than Israel controls the air defense system:

This is and will remain a U.S. radar system,’ Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

‘So this is not something we are giving or selling to the Israelis and it is something that will likely require U.S. personnel on-site to operate.13

The U.S. military oversees Israel’s Air Defense system, which is integrated into the Pentagon’s global system. In other words, Israel cannot launch a war against Iran without Washington’s consent. Hence the importance of the so-called “Green Light” legislation in the U.S. Congress sponsored by the Republican party under House Resolution 1553, which explicitly supported an Israeli attack on Iran:

The measure, introduced by Texas Republican Louie Gohmert and 46 of his colleagues, endorses Israel’s use of “all means necessary” against Iran “including the use of military force.” … “We’ve got to get this done. We need to show our support for Israel. We need to quit playing games with this critical ally in such a difficult area”.14

In practice, the proposed legislation serves as a “Green Light” to the White House and the Pentagon rather than to Israel. It constitutes a rubber stamp to a U.S. sponsored war on Iran which uses Israel as a convenient military launch pad. It also serves as a justification to wage war with a view to defending Israel.

In this context, Israel could indeed provide the pretext to wage war, in response to alleged Hamas or Hezbollah attacks and/or the triggering of hostilities on the border of Israel with Lebanon. What is crucial to understand is that a minor “incident” could be used as a pretext to spark off a major military operation against Iran.

Known to U.S. military planners, Israel (rather than the U.S.A) would be the first target of military retaliation by Iran. Broadly speaking, Israelis would be the victims of the machinations of both Washington and their own government. It is, in this regard, absolutely crucial that Israelis forcefully oppose any action by the Netanyahu government to attack Iran.

Global Warfare: The Role of U.S. Strategic Command (US.STRATCOM)

In January 2005, at the outset of the military deployment and build-up directed against Iran, U.S.STRATCOM was identified as “the lead Combatant Command for integration and synchronization of DoD-wide efforts in combating weapons of mass destruction.”15 What this means is that the coordination of a large scale attack on Iran, including the various scenarios of escalation in and beyond the broader Middle East Central Asian region would be coordinated by U.S.STRATCOM. (See Chapter I).

Confirmed by military documents as well as official statements, both the U.S. and Israel contemplate the use of nuclear weapons directed against Iran. In 2006, U.S. Strategic Command (U.S.STRATCOM) announced it had achieved an operational capability for rapidly striking targets around the globe using nuclear or conventional weapons. This announcement was made after the conduct of military simulations pertaining to a U.S. led nuclear attack against a fictional country.16

Continuity in Relation to the Bush-Cheney Era

President Obama has largely endorsed the doctrine of pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons formulated by the previous administration. Under the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, the Obama administration confirmed “that it is reserving the right to use nuclear weapons against Iran” for its non-compliance with U.S. demands regarding its alleged (nonexistent) nuclear weapons program.17 The Obama administration has also intimated that it would use nukes in the case of an Iranian response to an Israeli attack on Iran. Israel has also drawn up its own “secret plans” to bomb Iran with tactical nuclear weapons:

Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said.18

Obama’s statements on the use of nuclear weapons against Iran and North Korea are consistent with post-9/11 U.S. nuclear weapons doctrine, which allows for the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the conventional war theater.

Through a propaganda campaign which has enlisted the support of “authoritative” nuclear scientists, mini-nukes are upheld as an instrument of peace, namely a means to combating “Islamic terrorism” and instating Western style “democracy” in Iran. The low-yield nukes have been cleared for “battlefield use”. They are slated to be used against Iran and Syria in the next stage of America’s “War on Terrorism” alongside conventional weapons:

Administration officials argue that low-yield nuclear weapons are needed as a credible deterrent against rogue states. [Iran, Syria, North Korea] Their logic is that existing war. Potential enemies realize this, thus they do not consider the threat of nuclear retaliation to be credible. However, low-yield nuclear weapons are less destructive, thus might conceivably be used. That would make them more effective as a deterrent.19

The preferred nuclear weapon to be used against Iran are tactical nuclear weapons (Made in America), namely bunker buster bombs with nuclear warheads (for example, B61-11), with an explosive capacity between one third to six times a Hiroshima bomb.

The B61-11 is the “nuclear version” of the “conventional” BLU 113. or Guided Bomb Unit GBU-28. It can be delivered in much same way as the conventional bunker buster bomb.20

While the U.S. does not contemplate the use of strategic thermonuclear weapons against Iran, Israel’s nuclear arsenal is largely composed of thermonuclear bombs which are deployed and could be used in a war with Iran. Under Israel’s Jericho III missile system with a range between 4,800 km to 6,500 km, all Iran would be within reach.

Radioactive Fallout

The issue of radioactive fallout and contamination, while casually dismissed by U.S.-NATO military analysts, would be devastating, potentially affecting a large area of the broader Middle East (including Israel) and Central Asian region.

In an utterly twisted logic, nuclear weapons are presented as a means to building peace and preventing “collateral damage”. Iran’s nonexistent nuclear weapons are a threat to global security, whereas those of the U.S. and Israel are instruments of peace “harmless to the surrounding civilian population.”

“The Mother of All Bombs” (MOAB) Slated to be Used against Iran

Of military significance within the U.S. conventional weapons arsenal is the 21,500-pound “monster weapon” nicknamed the “mother of all bombs” The GBU-43/B or Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) was categorized “as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed” with the the largest yield in the U.S. conventional arsenal. The MOAB was tested in early March 2003 before being deployed to the Iraq war theater. According to U.S. military sources, The Joint Chiefs of Staff had advised the government of Saddam Hussein prior to launching the 2003 that the “mother of all bombs” was to be used against Iraq. (There were unconfirmed reports that it had been used in Iraq).

The U.S. Department of Defense already confirmed in 2009 that it intends to use the “Mother of All Bombs” (MOAB) against Iran. The MOAB is said to be ”ideally suited to hit deeply buried nuclear facilities such as Natanz or Qom in Iran”21. The truth of the matter is that the MOAB, given its explosive capacity, would result in significant civilian casualties. It is a conventional “killing machine” with a nuclear type mushroom cloud.

The procurement of four MOABs was commissioned in October 2009 at the hefty cost of $58.4 million, ($14.6 million for each bomb). This amount includes the costs of development and testing as well as integration of the MOAB bombs onto B-2 stealth bombers. This procurement is directly linked to war preparations in relation to Iran. The notification was contained in a ninety-three-page “reprograming memo” which included the following instructions:

“The Department has an Urgent Operational Need (UON) for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high threat environments. The MOP [Mother of All Bombs] is the weapon of choice to meet the requirements of the UON [Urgent Operational Need].” It further states that the request is endorsed by Pacific Command (which has responsibility over North Korea) and Central Command (which has responsibility over Iran).23

The Pentagon is planning on a process of extensive destruction of Iran’s infrastructure and mass civilian casualties through the combined use of tactical nukes and monster conventional mushroom cloud bombs, including the MOAB and the larger GBU-57A/B or Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which surpasses the MOAB in terms of explosive capacity.

The MOP is described as “a powerful new bomb aimed squarely at the underground nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea. The gargantuan bomb–longer than eleven persons standing shoulder-to-shoulder or more than twenty feet base to nose”.24

These are WMDs in the true sense of the word. The not so hidden objective of the MOAB and MOP, including the American nickname used to casually describe the MOAB (“Mother of all Bombs”), is “mass destruction” and mass civilian casualties with a view to instilling fear and despair.

State of the Art Weaponry: “War Made Possible Through New Technologies”

The process of U.S. military decision making in relation to Iran is supported by Star Wars, the militarization of outer space and the revolution in communications and information systems. Given the advances in military technology and the development of new weapons systems, an attack on Iran could be significantly different in terms of the mix of weapons systems, when compared to the March 2003 Blitzkrieg launched against Iraq. The Iran operation is slated to use the most advanced weapons systems in support of its aerial attacks. In all likelihood, new weapons systems will be tested.

The 2000 Project for the New American Century (PNAC) document entitled Rebuilding American Defenses, outlined the mandate of the U.S. military in terms of large scale theater wars, to be waged simultaneously in different regions of the World: “Fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars”. (See Chapter I)

This formulation is tantamount to a global war of conquest by a single imperial superpower. The PNAC document also called for the transformation of U.S. forces to exploit the “revolution in military affairs”, namely the implementation of “war made possible through new technologies”. 25 The latter consists in developing and perfecting a state of the art global killing machine based on an arsenal of sophisticated new weaponry, which would eventually replace the existing paradigms.

Thus, it can be foreseen that the process of transformation will in fact be a two-stage process: first of transition, then of more thoroughgoing transformation. The breakpoint will come when a preponderance of new weapons systems begins to enter service, perhaps when, for example, unmanned aerial vehicles begin to be as numerous as manned aircraft. In this regard, the Pentagon should be very wary of making large investments in new programs –tanks, planes, aircraft carriers, for example– that would commit U.S. forces to current paradigms of warfare for many decades to come.26

The war on Iran could indeed mark this crucial break-point, with new space-based weapons systems being applied with a view to disabling an enemy which has significant conventional military capabilities including more than half a million ground forces.

Electromagnetic Weapons

Electromagnetic weapons could be used to destabilize Iran’s communications systems, disable electric power generation, undermine and destabilize command and control, government infrastructure, transportation, energy, etc. Within the same family of weapons, environmental modifications techniques (ENMOD) (weather warfare) developed under the HAARP program could also be applied.27 These weapons systems are fully operational. In this context, the U.S. Air Force document AF 2025 explicitly acknowledged the military applications of weather modification technologies:

Weather modification will become a part of domestic and international security and could be done unilaterally. … It could have offensive and defensive applications and even be used for deterrence purposes. The ability to generate precipitation, fog, and storms on earth or to modify space weather, improve communications through ionospheric modification (the use of ionospheric mirrors), and the production of artificial weather all are a part of an integrated set of technologies which can provide substantial increase in U.S., or degraded capability in an adversary, to achieve global awareness, reach, and power.28

Electromagnetic radiation enabling “remote health impairment” might also be envisaged in the war theater.29 In turn, new uses of biological weapons by the U.S. military might also be envisaged as suggested by the PNAC: “[A]dvanced forms of biological warfare that can ‘target’ specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.”30

Iran’s Military Capabilities: Medium and Long-range Missiles

Iran has advanced military capabilities, including medium and long-range missiles capable of reaching targets in Israel and the Gulf States. Hence the emphasis by the U.S.-NATO Israel alliance on the use of nuclear weapons, which are slated to be used either pre-emptively or in response to an Iranian retaliatory missile attack.

In November 2006, Iran tests of surface missiles two were marked by precise planning in a carefully staged operation. According to a senior American missile expert, “the Iranians demonstrated up-to-date missile-launching technology which the West had not known them to possess.”31 Israel acknowledged that “the Shehab-3, whose 2,000-km range brings Israel, the Middle East and Europe within reach”.32

According to Uzi Rubin, former head of Israel’s anti-ballistic missile program, “the intensity of the military exercise was unprecedented… It was meant to make an impression – and it made an impression.”33

The 2006 exercises, while creating a political stir in the U.S. and Israel, did not in any way modify U.S.-NATO-Israeli resolve to wage war on Iran.

Tehran has confirmed in several statements that it will respond if it is attacked. Israel would be the immediate object of Iranian missile attacks as confirmed by the Iranian government. The issue of Israel’s air defense system is therefore crucial. U.S. and allied military facilities in the Gulf states, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iraq could also be targeted by Iran.

Iran’s Ground Forces

While Iran is encircled by U.S. and allied military bases, the Islamic Republic has significant military capabilities. What is important to acknowledge is the sheer size of Iranian forces in terms of personnel (army, navy, air force) when compared to U.S. and NATO forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Confronted with a well-organized insurgency, coalition forces are already overstretched in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Would these forces be able to cope if Iranian ground forces were to enter the existing battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan? The potential of the Resistance movement to U.S. and allied occupation would inevitably be affected.

Iranian ground forces are of the order of 700,000 of which 130,000 are professional soldiers, 220,000 are conscripts and 350,000 are reservists.34 There are 18,000 personnel in Iran’s Navy and 52,000 in the Air Force. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, “the Revolutionary Guards has an estimated 125,000 personnel in five branches: Its own Navy, Air Force, and Ground Forces; and the Quds Force (Special Forces).”

According to the CISS, Iran’s Basij paramilitary volunteer force controlled by the Revolutionary Guards “has an estimated 90,000 active-duty full-time uniformed members, 300,000 reservists, and a total of 11 million men that can be mobilized if need be”35, In other words, Iran can mobilize up to half a million regular troops and several million militia. Its Quds special forces are already operating inside Iraq.

U.S. Military and Allied Facilities Surrounding Iran

For several years now, Iran has been conducting its own war drills and exercises. While its Air Force has weaknesses, its intermediate and long-range missiles are fully operational. Iran’s military is in a state of readiness. Iranian troop concentrations are currently within a few kilometers of the Iraqi and Afghan borders, and within proximity of Kuwait. The Iranian Navy is deployed in the Persian Gulf within proximity of U.S. and allied military facilities in the United Arab Emirates.

It is worth noting that in response to Iran’s military build-up, the U.S. has been transferring large amounts of weapons to its non-NATO allies in the Persian Gulf including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

While Iran’s advanced weapons do not measure up to those of the U.S. and NATO, Iranian forces would be in a position to inflict substantial losses to coalition forces in a conventional war theater, on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan. Iranian ground troops and tanks in December 2009 crossed the border into Iraq without being confronted or challenged by allied forces and occupied a disputed territory in the East Maysan oil field.

Even in the event of an effective Blitzkrieg, which targets Iran’s military facilities, its communications systems etc., through massive aerial bombing, using cruise missiles, conventional bunker buster bombs and tactical nuclear weapons, a war with Iran, once initiated, could eventually lead into a ground war. This is something which U.S. military planners have no doubt contemplated in their simulated war scenarios.

An operation of this nature would result in significant military and civilian casualties, particularly if nuclear weapons are used.

Within a scenario of escalation, Iranian troops could cross the border into Iraq and Afghanistan.

In turn, military escalation using nuclear weapons could lead us into a World War III scenario, extending beyond the Middle-East – Central Asian region.

In a very real sense, this military project, which has been on the Pentagon’s drawing board for more than ten years, threatens the future of humanity.

Our focus in this chapter has been on war preparations. The fact that war preparations are in an advanced state of readiness does not imply that these war plans will be carried out.

The U.S.-NATO-Israel alliance realizes that the enemy has significant capabilities to respond and retaliate. This factor in itself has been crucial in the decision by the U.S. and its allies to postpone an attack on Iran.

Another crucial factor is the structure of military alliances. Whereas NATO has become a formidable force, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which constitutes an alliance between Russia and China and a number of former Soviet Republics has been significantly weakened.

The ongoing U.S. military threats directed against China and Russia are intended to weaken the SCO and discourage any form of military action on the part of Iran’s allies in the case of a U.S. NATO Israeli attack.

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Notes

1. See Target Iran – Air Strikes, Globalsecurity.org, undated.

2. William Arkin, Washington Post, April 16, 2006.

3. Ibid.

4. New Statesman, February 19, 2007.

5. Philip Giraldi, Deep Background,The American Conservative August 2005.

6. U.S.CENTCOM, http://www.milnet.com/milnet/pentagon/centcom/chap1/stratgic.htm#U.S.Policy, link no longer active, archived at http://tinyurl.com/37gafu9.

7. General Wesley Clark, for further details see Chapter I.

8. See Michel Chossudovsky, Planned U.S.-Israeli Attack on Iran, Global Research, May 1, 2005.

9. Dick Cheney, quoted from an MSNBC Interview, January 2005.

10. According to Zbigniew Brzezinski.

11. Michel Chossudovsky, Unusually Large U.S. Weapons Shipment to Israel: Are the U.S. and Israel Planning a Broader Middle East War? Global Research, January 11, 2009.

12. Defense Talk.com, January 6, 2009.

13. Quoted in Israel National News, January 9, 2009.

14. Webster Tarpley, Fidel Castro Warns of Imminent Nuclear War; Admiral Mullen Threatens Iran; U.S.-Israel versus Iran-Hezbollah Confrontation Builds On, Global Research, August 10, 2010.

15. Michel Chossudovsky, Nuclear War against Iran, Global Research, January 3, 2006.

16. David Ruppe, Pre-emptive Nuclear War in a State of Readiness: U.S. Command Declares Global Strike Capability, Global Security Newswire, December 2, 2005.

17. U.S. Nuclear Option on Iran Linked to Israeli Attack Threat – IPS ipsnews.net, April 23, 2010.

18. Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran – Times Online, January 7, 2007.

19. Opponents Surprised By Elimination of Nuke Research Funds, Defense News, November 29, 2004.

20. See Michel Chossudovsky, “Tactical Nuclear Weapons” against Afghanistan?, Global Research, December 5,

2001. See also http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=jf03norris.

21. Jonathan Karl, Is the U.S. Preparing to Bomb Iran? ABC News, October 9, 2009.

22. Ibid.

23. ABC News, op cit, emphasis added. To consult the reprogramming request (pdf) click here.

24. See Edwin Black, “Super Bunker-Buster Bombs Fast-Tracked for Possible Use Against Iran and North Korea Nuclear Programs”, Cutting Edge, September 21, 2009.

25. See Project for a New American Century, Rebuilding America’s Defenses Washington DC, September 2000, pdf.

26. Ibid, emphasis added.

27. See Michel Chossudovsky, “Owning the Weather” for Military Use, Global Research, September 27, 2004.

28. Air Force 2025 Final Report, See also U.S. Air Force: Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025, AF2025 v3c15-1.

29. See Mojmir Babacek, Electromagnetic and Informational Weapons:, Global Research, August 6, 2004.

30. Project for a New American Century, op cit., p. 60.

31. See Michel Chossudovsky, Iran’s “Power of Deterrence” Global Research, November 5, 2006.

32. Debka, November 5, 2006.

33. www.cnsnews.com November 3, 2006.

34. See Islamic Republic of Iran Army – Wikipedia.

35. Ibid.

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The Globalization of War: America’s “Long War” against Humanity

Michel Chossudovsky

The “globalization of war” is a hegemonic project. Major military and covert intelligence operations are being undertaken simultaneously in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Far East. The U.S. military agenda combines both major theater operations as well as covert actions geared towards destabilizing sovereign states.

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“Let there be no doubt: the Rwandan genocide was the ultimate responsibility of those Rwandans who planned, ordered, supervised and eventually conducted it….But the deaths of Rwandans can also be laid at the door of the military genius Paul Kagame, who did not speed up his campaign when the scale of the genocide became clear and even talked candidly with me at several points about the price his fellow Tutsis might have to pay for the cause.”

Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, 2004 [1] (emphasis added.)

“I think that the initial story, the story that everyone believes – 800,000 Tutsis massacred by Hutus led by the Hutu government – that’s a false story.”

Ann Garrison (from this week’s interview)

LISTEN TO THE SHOW


Click to download the audio (MP3 format)

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia resource, run and written by volunteers, and, according to The Economist, “the biggest and most-read reference work ever” had the following to say about the 1994 Rwanda genocide:

During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias… The RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) quickly resumed the civil war once the genocide started and captured all government territory, ending the genocide and forcing the government and génocidaires into Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). [2]

Leading and respected researchers, and journalists, from Phil Taylor and Judi Rever to Justin Podhur, Peter Erlinder, and Pierre-Claver Ndacyayisenga have contradicted this story. Official documents such as the 1994 [UN] Gersony Report question it, and place much more blame on the Rwandan Patriotic Front. Even the revered figure Edward S. Herman together with David Peterson in the book Politics of Genocide (2010) and its follow-up, Enduring Lies: The Rwandan Genocide in the Propaganda System, 20 Years Later (2014) argued that the Hutus, not the Tutsis, made up the majority of the victims. They were consequently accused of “genocide denial.” [3]

Today the “genocide of the Tutsis” is taken as a sad chapter in history. The day we could all learn from to prevent such violence from ever happening again. Anyone who questions it should be hung to dry, or criticized as has done been done by Africa “specialist” Gerald Caplan and Adam Jones, Canadian author of Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction.

But questioning official narratives is a fundamental staple in the Global Research News Hour den of goodies, and we need to get to the bottom of this disaster if we are to avoid a response that does not play into the pockets of misleading U.S. military, intelligence and corporate personnel.

In our first half hour, journalist Ann Garrison joins us to spell out the brutal truth of the affair, the imperial moves by the U.S., and the threats to the people, particularly the dissidents, in Rwanda today. In our second half hour, writer, translator and publisher Robin Philpot expands on his 2013 book, entitled Rwanda and the New Scramble for Africa, outlining the role of Paul Kagame and the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the role of Canadians like L Gen Roméo Dallaire and Prosecutor Louise Arbour, and the grand contest between the United States and France over African resources.

Ann Garrison is a Black Agenda Report Contributing Editor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2014, she received the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize for her reporting on conflict in the African Great Lakes region. She can be reached at [email protected]. You can help support her work on Patreon

Robin Philpot is a graduate of the university of Toronto and founder of Baraka Books in Montreal. He is author of A People’s History of Quebec, with Jacques Lacoursière (Baraka Books, 2009); and Rwanda and the New Scramble For Africa: From Tragedy to Useful Imperial Fiction (Baraka Books, 2013), among other works. Robin can be reached at [email protected].

(Global Research News Hour Episode 427)

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Transcript of Robin Philpot, April 8, 2024

Global Research: Mr. Philpot, thank you so much for making yourself available on the Global Research News Hour.

Robin Philpot: Okay, thank you, Michael, for inviting me. It’s a privilege, it’s a privilege.

GR : We appreciate it. So, Mr. Philpot, when and why exactly did you start your research into the Rwandan genocide?

RP: I started doing it during the crisis in Rwanda in 1994. It’s as simple as that. I had lived in Africa, I studied African history. Even before the plane was shot down on the 6th of April, I was following very closely what was going on, because the major error people make is that they start everything on a date, the 7th of April as we saw, we’re marking the 30 years since that tragedy. That is the number one mistake and it is the number one reason – and yes, we can go back and say, “Why is that being done?” — that people are not understanding what really happened.

So, I started working on it then and I published many articles starting in 1994 basically questioning what we were being told at the time. I had a lot of Rwandan friends who were here studying and we – you know, that’s what we started looking at, you know, like – you starting realizing that there’s something more going on than an internal fight in an African – independent African country. There was more to it.

And so – so, like – because – so, you know, it went on. The book came out originally in French in 2003. And then, with time, I ended up publishing it in English, updated in 2014. Yeah, it was 2014.

So, it is important that – when you look at that crisis, that’s tragedy – that you realize – people realize that it – what happened in 1994 was the result of what had been going on since 1990, when the Rwandan Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda.

GR: Yeah, you mentioned that in great detail in the first part of the book, you know, that since 1990 there were nearly, you know, three years in advance of what we call the genocide. People in the North were displaced from their homes. I mean, can you explain how this set up the circumstance for the —

RP: Oh, yeah. I think you have to go back a bit historically. Say that – to realize, in fact, what 1994 was, it was the reconquest of power by a minority who had run a feudal state under Belgian colonialism until 1959. What happened in 1959 was there was independence. And following 1959, and what was known as the Social Revolution in Rwanda where – and with the minority Tutsis who – and I – once again it’s partly the Tutsis, but they controlled everything and the Hutus were in a feudal situation in Rwanda. There was a social revolution with independence and certain parts of the population, the Tutsi elite, left and went to Uganda, Zaire, which was The Congo, and some to Burundi as well.

And so, that – what happened – it was for – finally the 85 percent of the population started having equality, that was the aim of that social revolution and independence. And as some people point out, Rwanda is the only place in what we used to call “Black Africa” where, except for maybe Zanzibar, where there was a revolution with independence, you know?

And so, what happened in 1990: a group of Rwandan exiles living in Uganda who had helped neighbouring President Museveni take power. And they were armed, they were part of the army, the head of the military intelligence in Uganda. They formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front in Washington, that’s where it was founded. The invasion was the 1st of October, 1990.

And it was very, very violent, and it was not – it wasn’t a civil war. This army, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, was armed and supported continually for three years by the Ugandans – by Uganda. Right from 1990 until 1994. So, that is the background. And it was quite obvious for many that the Rwandan Patriotic Front just wanted to take power.

So, there was a lot of a – there were huge numbers, up to 1.5 million people who were displaced South towards Kigali during that period of war. And if the big powers decided, ‘Okay, well you have to negotiate a peace agreement and a power-sharing agreement.’ Which is what happened in 1993, there was the Arusha Peace Accords, under which in Canada – not Canada. They created UNIMAR, the United Nations mission in Rwanda. The person in charge of the military part of it was Roméo Dallaire. It wasn’t Canada who put him in there. The United States needed a French-speaking head who was not from France.

In 1993, you got to remember, the Soviet Bloc had fallen and the Americans were triumphant. They wanted to take over from France in many places in  Africa. France had its own, you know, its own area which was Le Gaul Francafrique. The Americans wanted to take over from Rwanda – from France. And so, that’s how Dallaire was appointed to run the military, he didn’t even know where Rwanda was on the map.

GR: Yeah. Could you just talk a little bit about Paul Kagame for a second, his background? Because I’m thinking he’s kind of like, you know, the predecessor of Juan Guaido in a way, because I mean – what was his background and what explains the West’s interest in his leadership?

RP: Well, he was the head of the military intelligence in Uganda. He was sent by Uganda to – for a training session in Fort Leavenworth under the American army. He was number two in the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The first one was a man by the name of Fred Rwigyema. But he was killed in that invasion in 1990. It was three or four days after the invasion. And then, Paul Kagame became – he was major at the time – he was head of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

They called it the Rwandan Patriotic Army which was more accurate. So, he was the guy who led the war right through to 1990 and he is in power since.

GR: Mm-hmm.

RP: He does tolerate opposition, as we know. Like, we can get into that, but… So, he was a – and he is a person who you could say is responsible for many extra-territorial assassinations. Responsible for the destruction of the Eastern Congo. Invasion with a proxy army that’s going on right now that we can hear about occasionally in the media. He is the man who took power.

So, he is a real dictator. Unlike Guaido, he is a – Guaido is like a figurehead, kind of a, you know, puppet. Kagame is a – is more along the lines of Netanyahu if you want to – Netanyahu. Who, by the way, after he took power, about the first place he went in 1996, in October 1996, was to Israel.

And there is a famous photo of him meeting the prime minister of Israel who was Benjamin Netanyahu. In other words, you want to find somebody who is more like an ultra violent killer. It’s as simple as that. That is the description, the best description, of Paul Kagame. His best supporters were and are Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and the successive American presidents, right from – it was obvious that the Americans were behind the RPF from the beginning, you know?

One of the starting points for my book, and not from my work on this thing, was when I found – I read – I was reading a book by Boutros-Ghali. Boutros- Ghali was the Secretary General of the UN at the time. And he had a quote there and he said, “The Rwandan Genocide was 100 percent American responsibility.” That was – he was removed from the UN about a year after – or so after that, basically by the Americans. Because they were having a total unipolar war – world at that time. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it was the American – the American century lasted about 10 or 20 years, but that was a period where the Americans ruled the roost totally. They did not like people saying, ‘Hang on,’ — you know, ‘–you have to give – you have to respect rules’ and all that.

But Boutros-Ghali had said that. And the reason he said it – I interviewed him twice, by the way for the book. And he said – and I said, ‘Well, why is it that you can say that?’ and he said, ‘Americans, with the help of the British, did everything they could to prevent the UN from creating – from establishing peace in Rwanda.’ And it was because the Americans wanted a decisive, unequivocal victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. It did not want to apply – the Americans did not want to apply the Arusha Accord, which was a power-sharing agreement which was the under – which was what Dallaire was sent there to apply, which he of course didn’t apply. That’s another issue.

So, I mean, that is one of the things that – one of my departure points on this book was Boutros-Ghali saying that, but why? And so, how did that not work? And that’s the conclusion I came to.

Now the use of the word “genocide,” people can use it. I actually think it doesn’t help understand. It doesn’t mean that all these killings happened – they did happen. And not only the way people say it. In other words, not only the so-called Hutu militias, but the RPF, the Rwandan Patriotic Front did a lot of massacring as some books, some recent books – and I can talk about them later – have gotten into great detail about that.

What is important is that using the word “genocide” is that, for instance, Rwanda and the Western world, mark the anniversary of that tragedy on the 7th of April.

GR: Yeah.

RP: Yeah, okay.

GR: If you just joined us, you’re listening to the Global Research News Hour. My name is Michael Welch and I’m in a conversation with the writer, translator, and publisher Robin Philpot on his book “Rwanda and the New Scramble for Africa: From Tragedy to Useful Imperial Fiction.” Just to go back, I mean you were talking about Roméo Dallaire earlier —

RP: Mm-hmm.

GR: — the force commander of UNAMIR. And basically, I mean he’s not the only  Canadian that’s involved in this. There is also Louise Arbour, the Canadian prosecutor. There is the Canadian General Maurice Baril. A Canadian ambassador, Raymond Chrétien. I think they have more involvement in this – in, you know, settling affairs one way or the other than, I don’t know, anything that I can recall since.

RP: Mm-hmm.

GR: Could you explain, you know, a little bit more about how I guess the United States is using Canada in this situation? Because I suspect it’s more than just, you know, the close kinship between Chrétien and Bill Clinton.

RP: Yeah. No, it’s an important point. I will get back to this question about the Peace Accords.

The United States, as I said, were – they were triumphant with the fall of the Soviet Union. One of their secretaries of state, I think it was Warren Christopher, was going around to all the countries where France – basically it was France’s area, France’s – the place that France that considered theirs, it had special relationships with African countries and said, ‘We don’t have any history of colonialism. And we will no longer put up with dictatorships and colonialism.’ They were basically aimed on taking control of what was considered French – where French – areas of of French influence. The British also were agreed with that [SIC], remember that’s West Africa, that’s The Congo, Cameroon, where large parts of West Africa that are French-speaking and had these long-standing relationship, sort of neo-colonial but it was France. And the Americans wanted in. They made it very clear.

And so, when this UNAMIR was set up, the United States did not want to have somebody from France or even perhaps from Belgium. They wanted a French-speaking general who was against France. From within Canada, that can be found in Ottawa. It’s as simple as that. You can find that in the military, in the judiciary, and in the diplomacy circles in the Canadian government.

So, that explains why Roméo Dallaire got appointed, because he didn’t arrive with a lot of skills in the area. He didn’t know where Africa was – where Rwanda was. He admits it in his book. And I think he was a total failure. You know, he said, ‘Well, I tried,’ but no, that’s not how it happened.

Louise Arbour, she got appointed by Madeleine Albright, who then got in touch then with the Canadian government was – they got in touch with the Canadian government. In other words, she got vetted by Madeleine Albright who was Secretary of State in the United States before – they didn’t do it along diplomatic circles, they didn’t get in touch with Canada and said, ‘Have you got a judge you can –’ or ‘– a prosecutor you can propose,’ it was the other way around. They started identifying – they wanted to have a French-speaking judge or person who was not necessarily in France.

Then Maurice Baril was working in the Peacekeeping Association and it – this is one thing that I also got from Boutros-Ghali, that he was – they were operating basically according to the Pentagon – what the Pentagon wanted. Maurice Baril was the one who was giving – communicating with Roméo Dallaire.

Raymond Chrétien got appointed when there was the invasion of – he was the man brought in to try and find a solution after – there was huge refugee camps in Eastern Congo. And the Rwandan government, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the government, was bombing the camps. And the refugees were being massacred and they had to flee. So, he was brought in to try and find a solution between the Congo – at the time it was called Zaire – and Rwanda. And he was a – it was a failure.

I interviewed the man and he and Baril were sort – Baril, they managed to set up an intervention force. It was going to be led by Maurice Baril. Maurice Baril flew over the area. He said the refugees were safe. And this forced invention the UN was setting up was stillborn. This was the Fall of 1996. Anybody who you spoke to, who lived there, said that sacrifice, hundreds of thousands of refugees, people who had to flee to the West of Congo and their stories of people, how they walked around the Congo. We published a book, in fact, by one man whose family walked across the Congo on foot. They were being chased by the Rwandan army. That is going on up to now with – at the – with actions by the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

If you’ll allow me to just go back on one thing about the – when the 6th of April, this the date, the most important date, not the 7th, the 6th of April, the President of Rwanda flew back from peace discussions, peace talks in Dar es Salaam with the President of Burundi. Their plane was shot down on the evening of April 6th. In the plane there were – there was Chief of Staff of the Rwandan army and other top military leaders. The Rwandan state was decapitated with that. And that meant the end of the peace agreement.

Now to this day, although everybody knows it was the RPF, and it was ordered by Kagame, his close associates who have fled in the past were there when they planned his assassination. But to this day, there has never been an independent inquiry into it. And people got – they keep a kind of artistic vagueness about it all, you know —

GR: Well, you talked – you talked in the third part of it, you talked about the basically use of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda as, you know, basically a kangaroo court, you know, because it was very not even-handed and so on. I mean, could you elaborate on the use of the international criminal justice as what you call “a battering ram”?

RP: Yeah. I wasn’t the one calling it a battering ram, by the way. But no, they created this court, which – as an international criminal tribunal for Rwanda and they created one for Yugoslavia as well. They gave all the power to the prosecutor. It was – it actually – there is a term, but it’s used as a battering ram, as that was one of their US ambassadors for human rights and international tribunals who said – who described how he managed to organize the tribunal so that it would be a battering ram in the advancement of US and NATO interests. He said that. David Scheffer was his name and he was one of the American appointees, ambassador-at-large for it.

That’s what it was. And the best example is that they gave themselves a one-year period when the crimes had to be committed that they were going to examine. But they only indicted one side of the – they did not, nobody in the RPF was indicted, nobody. And you know, nobody was – when they actually started discovering who shot down the plane, and it was Kagame and his others – his henchmen, the people with him, they started discovering that Louise Arbour put an end to that investigation.

In other words, she was in ‘97 if I’m not mistaken. She was the one in charge. And they started finding out this crime was committed on the 6th of April. And yet, it was excluded from the perview of the – by Louise Arbour herself. And so, she is – so, the tribunal – and, you know, the interesting thing – well, I mean, her successor was Carla Del Ponte. And she said, if it’s true that the RPF shot down the plane on the 6th of April, then the history of the Rwandan genocide has to be rewritten. But of course, she got moved out, she got removed from that, so…

GR: Okay. We’ve only got a couple of minutes left. But I just wanted to say, first of all, in the middle chapter —

RP: Yeah.

GR: — you highlighted four books, one from the United States, one from Canada, another novel from Quebec, and another report from Belgium and they all seem to have that same tendency to highlight the remnants of literary thinking going back to Joseph Conrad and his article – his novel. But also, you – basically you say that when you look at this monstrous deception and what it led to, you find that the RPF in Rwanda is in the glove of the US and it’s propelling towards Congo. So, basically they’ve turned it into kind of like another Israel and Middle East, as you said, or post-coup Ukraine against Russia all while pushing back against France. So, in the last two minutes or so, is there any highlights that you want to focus on – you know, conclude with to, you know, anything you haven’t gotten into in enough detail.

RP: Well, yeah, yeah. What I would say is that by reduce – by not looking at why this happened – and those four books help you show that it  started with racist colonial mentality, of people who comment on these events on – and write about it, that they will reduce it to a question of Africans fighting among themselves and how brutal and bloodthirsty they are. That is what you read.

And if you don’t go and say, now why did this happen? How can a — not a rag-tag – a fist of the army be developed and armed and financed and invade a country, and then the powers that be come along and say, ‘Okay, you have to negotiate.’ Force the Rwandan government into a corner where they can’t stand up. Create a conditions where you also know that there is a history of conflict among – in the population of Rwanda. And basically you add fuel to the fire. You fuel that conflict because of your own interests and that is what was going on.

So, we’ve been through in the last week or so an outpouring of propaganda about what happened there. But none of it, as far as I can see, actually tries to understand what really happened and why and who was involved.

Right now, we want – we do not want, you know, what’s going on in Gaza right now. Everybody sees it now, that if the Americans were backing Israel who are killing and killing and killing. You don’t want that in 20 years, 30 years to say, well, this was just violent Arabs and jihadists who were fighting against the vulnerable Israeli population who have been through a holocaust. You know, like that’s basically what’s happened here. But you know, if people want to understand what happened, you’ve got to start looking. And that is not what our media has done in the last week or two.


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 Notes:
  1. Liuetenant- General (Ret) Roméo Dallaire (2003), p 515, ‘Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda’, Vintage Canada
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide
  3. George Monbiot (June 13, 2011), ‘Left and libertarian right cohabit in the weird world of the genocide belittlers’, The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/13/left-and-libertarian-right

As the Ukrainian crisis continues to unfold, the foreign funding and backing for the current destabilization becomes more apparent.

Now geopolitical analysts across the board analyze the roots of the situation, and whether this conflict is sowing the seeds of the next major war.

That major war was part of our analysis eight years ago in the immediate wake of the Euromaidan.

First published by Global Research on March 4, 2014

 

***

This is the GRTV Backgrounder on Global Research TV.

In late 2004, protests erupted after Viktor Yanukovych won the 2004 Ukrainian Presidential election, with protestors claiming that the vote had been rigged. The protests forced a revote, in which Yanukovych’s rival, Viktor Yuschenko, was elected president. This movement, dubbed the Orange Revolution for the orange ribbons and clothing sported by its members, was one of a series of so-called colour revolutions which swept the former Soviet Republics in the last decade.

The two events are not unrelated. As The Guardian noted at the time of the protests:

“[…]the campaign [Orange Revolution] is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes.[…]The Democratic parrty’s National Democratic Institute, the Republican party’s International Republican Institute, the US state department and USAid are the main agencies involved in these grassroots campaigns as well as the Freedom House NGO and billionaire George Soros’s open society institute.”

So it is not without reason that seasoned political observers looked for outside connections to the recent protests in Ukraine that has, in an almost exact repeat of the 2004 protests, sought to overthrow the elected government of Viktor Yanukovych in order to install Viktor Yuschenko’s political allies. Those connections have not been difficult to find.

Audio of Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland apparently dictating who the US wanted “in” and “out” of the supposedly grassroots-supported interim government only came as a surprise to those who did not believe Washington or its allies in the Washington Consensus were actively involved with the ongoing protests in the country. As did the revelation of her admission last December that the US had already pumped $5 billion into the funding of the Ukrainian opposition.

As did the appearance of confirmed terrorist supporter John McCain at a rally with the leader of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Svoboda party leader. As did the appointment of a central banker as the interim Prime Minister and his immediate announcement that the country was in talks with the US, EU, and IMF for emergency loans. As did the appearance of a slick new viral propaganda video in English promoting the supposedly grassroots uprising which was immediately exposed as finding its “inspiration” in Council on Foreign Relations member Larry Diamond, who has worked closely with the same N.E.D. and USAID that were linked to the 2004 Orange Revolution.

In the latest startling revelation, Pando.com has published documents implicating the Omidyar Network in the funding of the current Ukrainian protest movement. The Omidyar Network is the NGO of billionaire Ebay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, who recently set up “First Look” as an outlet for (among others) Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to selectively publish some of the Snowden document archive, 99% of which continues to be withheld from the public.

As geopolitical analysts from across the board explain, the Ukrainian coup has been deliberately provoked by outside agents to promote a combination of US, EU, NATO and IMF interests.

Perhaps more worrying than the interference itself are its potential implications. As Russia’s every move is now being scrutinized for a possible military response to the ongoing crisis, the specter of a larger military operation now hangs over Eastern Europe. Part of the decade-long encirclement of Russia by NATO and deliberate provocations on Russia’s doorstep, this process of brinksmanship now threatens to plunge the region into a war the consequences of which cannot be foreseen, let alone contained.

As supposedly “progressive” outlets once again scramble to throw their support behind the billionaire oligarchs and NGOs that have helped to destabilize the country, and as neocons unite with neoliberals in their agenda to carve up Ukraine for western interests, it remains to be seen what genuine alternative outlets will stand up against this blatant interference and stand up for the principle that it is up to the Ukrainian people, and no one else, to decide what happens in their country.

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The Role of Canada within NATO. Yves Engler

April 13th, 2024 by Yves Engler

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Yves Engler is an author, activist and Canadian Foreign Policy critic. He recently wrote with co-author Owen Schalk the book Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy. His book tour can be found at this website:

Book Tour: Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy – Yves Engler

The following is an interview we recorded with him on the afternoon of April 3, 2024  regarding the role of Canada within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO,) and the result of pulling out as opposed to remaining in as the “voice of reason” at the table.

Global Research: We start the program by considering Canada’s role in it. On this question we talked to Yves Engler the activist, author and Canadian Foreign Policy critic. I asked him why forming a defensive military alliance was any worse than joining it in the field as in World War 2.

Yves Engler: Well, concretely, if you go back to the founding of NATO, NATO led Canada into sending troops to Europe to help block indigenous communism and socialism. So, to basically blunt the Left in Western Europe which was very strong at the end of World War II. Communists would have won in Italy the first election if the Americans hadn’t intervened. They had 30 percent of the vote in France and a bunch of the ministers in the government. Kind of similar dynamic in Greece. And so, what NATO was initially conceived as, was as a tool to blunt the Left. It was a perception that communism was the way of the future. And Lester Pearson, who was then Canada’s Foreign Minister around the creation of NATO, he was open about this, even in the House of Commons. I’ve quoted his speech many times where he actually says – he said that the communists were taking over all elements of society including the kindergartens, and we needed NATO to blunt that. So, that was an element. And we stationed thousands of troops in Western Europe and obviously many tens of thousands of US troops were stationed in Western Europe partly as part of that process.

The other part of the process was it was about bringing the decolonizing – the colonial powers were weakened during World War II. And the US was in ascendance and it was about bringing the geopolitical order under a US-led umbrella and to sort of have a – let’s call it a fake decolonization where the decolonization, to the extent that it happened would, you know, be with US dominance.

But concretely, we began providing all kinds of weapons to the colonial powers in the 1950s as they were suppressing independence movements in, you know, the Kikuyu in Kenya, in The Congo, obviously the French in Algeria, that was the most egregious example when it was the 400,000 French troops in Algeria, Canada was giving – giving, not selling – giving bullets and the like to the French, knowing full well where the French were using those weapons.

So, that formal alliance that Canada was – three countries, Canada, the US, and Britain – were the three countries that initiated the initial secret talks to form NATO. Some people say NATO was a Canadian idea. That basically brought Canada into a deepening alliance around colonialism, protecting the elite structure within Western Europe. And that’s the history of it. And then you, you know, fast forward into today and NATO is a tool that has been used to justify Canada bombing Yugoslavia, you know, in the late 1990s, bombing Libya in 2011. Stationing troops on Russia’s border. It is used to justify expanding military spending. It’s not the only tool or alliance, but it is a central one in justifying a more militaristic, Washington-centred Canadian foreign policy.

GR: Does this membership in NATO then curtail Canadian sovereignty in any way?

YE: I mean, it doesn’t formally. But it does, it’s a – I would see it more as a tool in the hands of the pro-imperialist, pro-militarist elements of Canadian society. And it regularly gets brought up as that, you know, we’re part of this alliance, we have to support the alliance, we have to send troops to Russia’s border. We’re part of the alliance, the alliance is getting ready to bomb Libya, we have to participate. That’s kind of how it’s used.

Most instances – because you know, they frame it as a defensive alliance and it’s not, of course – they – and you know, if there is a NATO member that is attacked, we are technically responsible to defend that member. Now how you defend that member is up for discussion. Do you send one troop? Do you send 10,000 troops? There’s all kinds of ways in which you could parse that out. But in the practical world where NATO is not a defensive alliance, where it’s a belligerent alliance in the real world, the contributions – you know, Canada didn’t need to lead the bombing of Libya in 2011. Some NATO members didn’t participate in the bombing of – and the war, not just bombing, we had special forces and naval vessels that were part of that war. They didn’t even participate.

So, it doesn’t – you know, in a sense, I wouldn’t emphasize this idea that it impinges on Canadian sovereignty. In fact, I would say that NORAD in many ways is a more clear-cut impingement on sovereignty than NATO is. But in practical reality, NATO becomes, I would say undercuts the popular ethos that is somewhat ambivalent toward military spending and ambivalent towards joining US-led wars which I think the Canadian public is somewhat ambivalent towards both of those things. And NATO basically strengthens the hands of those who, you know, want more participation. So, to call it undercut – undermining sovereignty, I don’t know if I would use that language exactly. But certainly, it undercuts a ambiguousness or – sorry, ambivalenceness towards militarism and US imperialism.

GR: You mentioned earlier that this NATO was basically put down the Left as it started to emerge following 1945. But the NDP, has it been consistently supportive of this NATO? How do you – you know, because that’s a party of the Left in Canada. So, how —

YE: Yeah.

GR: — do you kind of string those two things together?

YE: The CCF was, before – immediately, the CCF leadership backed NATO. Now the CCF was the predecessor to the NDP. And it took a pro-NATO position. It actually subverted internal democracy in – there was a convention coming up in 1950 and they – the leadership came out in favour before allowing members to have that discussion. And for years, more than a decade, two decades almost, NATO was the most contentious issue at CCF and then later NDP conventions. Where the sort of activist base, peace-minded base of the party, increasingly pushed the Canada-out-of-NATO position. And then, they finally won that in the 1966 – I believe it was – convention. The party had a Canada-out-of-NATO position for about 20 years. And then, when Ed Broadbent in 1987 looked like he had a real shot at becoming prime minister, the media started really kind of raising this Canada-out-of-NATO policy of the NDP and sort of made like an issue of the matter. And Broadbent basically, without ever passing it at a convention, just kind of like was able to toss out this policy and re-wrote the policy to say that basically the party didn’t have a Canada-NATO position. It was never formally withdrawn and there was never a vote. So, you know, the NDP voted for the bombing of Libya in 2011, same thing with Yugoslavia. Even Svend Robinson, who is certainly the most left-wing foreign affairs critic in NDP history, he even went on – he supported the bombing of Yugoslavia for the first part. He changed his course I think like 40 or 50 days into the bombing campaign, but he initially endorses it. So, the NDP has been pro-NATO.

Now the, you know, big factions of the sort of social democratic world within Western Europe have also been pro-NATO. And so, it was, you know, sort of anti-communist, you know, in the sense of the French Communist Party or the Italian Communist Party in the 1940s and 1950s. But yeah, so, you know, I don’t think that that’s – there’s no necessary contradiction between the NDP/CCF being supportive of NATO, and NATO having this element of its history. It’s no longer important to the alliance today, but an element of its history of having been a tool of weakening the Western European Left or more specifically the Western European communist movement.

GR: Okay. Like, let’s suppose you’re the Prime Minister for a second and, you know, you have the opportunity to take us out of NATO, but you got to consider that a lot of the people who might support that like want NATO completely gone, not just, ‘We’re out of it.’ Because, if we’re out of it, then you know, NATO is still going to carry on doing what they’re doing, except how much influence will we have as an independent nation. At least in NATO, within NATO we can sit at the table and say, ‘Well, okay, let’s break up NATO. But in the meantime, you know, I’m going to stay there.’ You know what I’m saying? It’s like, having an influence at the table, is that, you know basically – like even to the – you might be able to moderate or eliminate the use of nuclear weapons within the house, so to speak. So, how —

YE: Yeah, it —

GR: — how do you respond to that?

YE: Well, it was the other way around, in fact. On the nuclear weapons question is a good one on that front, because the reason why the Canadian government has been so opposed to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which – I forget the exact number now – but I think it’s like a 130 countries have signed or more than 130 countries have endorsed it and it came into operation after 50 countries formally endorsed it and that was about two years ago. I’m not sure what the number is up to now, it’s probably – I think it’s like 60 or 60-something. It’s an effort to abolish nuclear weapons. A general assembly votes, it’s more than two thirds of countries in the world support these votes. And the Canadian government, which we of course don’t have nuclear weapons. And I think, you know, even Canada outside of NATO may still not take up the nuclear question like I would like to see it.

But the major obstacle – and the Canadian officials have even stated this – that we can’t endorse the bid to abolish nuclear weapons because we are a part of an alliance where nuclear weapons are part of the military strategy. NATO has a working group on nuclear weapons that, you know, incorporates the use of nuclear weapons as part of their military strategies. If the Canadian government withdrew from NATO, its margin for maneuver on taking, you know, clear anti-nuclear policies which they claim to support, right? The Trudeau government claims to support abolishing nuclear weapons. But yet, they won’t actually sign onto an international treaty that’s trying to do that. So, NATO becomes an obstacle to that kind of thing.

Now the more general question – I mean, you know, who do we send into NATO? You know, it’s Canadian generals and Canadian military figures, right? These are not, you know, peace activists who are going in and making the case for demilitarization. These are military officials and some of them are, you know, global affairs diplomats.

A large part is, you know, military officials. And it’s a body for them to organize themselves collectively, internationally. It’s a body for them to, you know, ramp themselves up really, in terms of taking ever more militaristic positions. No, I don’t think that there is any sort of sensible position that is like, ‘Let’s keep, you know, continue to have a seat at the table to make the case against militarism. If Canada was to withdraw from NATO, that would have massive reverberations on the alliance. I mean, thinking you know, if in a short-term perspective, if Canada tried to do that, you had some sort of left-wing government try to do that, the Americans would try to overthrow the Canadian government. I mean, it would be – the implications would be so significant with that.

Now if it was done as part of a process of building and rebuilding and to work for us – that would not just be within Canada, that would be, you know, within all the NATO countries. For the most part, those anti-war movements have been fairly weak. I mean, the recent response to the destruction of Gaza has rekindled some anti-war organization and mobilization. But if you go back six months, we were in a very weak point. If we build this anti-NATO position, I know, you know, there’s a big NATO summit in Washington D.C. in July and a big protest planned in the US against that. And so, you know, if we build – put on the political agenda Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Poland, wherever that, you know, out-of-NATO kind of position. You know, if Canada, you know, let’s say ten years down the road, five years down the road, whereas you know, the movement is building and Canada withdraws and that can help spur the forces within Poland and Germany and France calling for withdrawal.

That, to me, is the kind of realistic scenario which Canada-out-of-NATO would play out and it could have quite a, you know, beneficial effect on unravelling the whole alliance, even though of course it only just be one country withdrawn.

GR: Before you go, is there anything you want to say to tell listeners about your recent book, co-written with Owen Schalk called “Canada’s Fight Against Democracy”?

YE: No, it’s just – it’s a – details 20-plus coups that Canada has been involved with. You know, half of those are sort of passively supportive, like against Mosaddegh in Iran or Arbenz in Guatemala. And then, other examples are more active. The most clear-cut example, of course, is against the Aristide in the Haitian government in 2004, but also against Allende in Chile and Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah and the like. And it’s a book that I think, you know, it’s some history that is important history, but it also tells us a lot about this whole business about foreign interference that we’re – there’s a huge storm about foreign interference. And we don’t really talk about Canada’s interference abroad and that book, I think, may question some of this whole concern about foreign interference. And then, it also, it I think helps to understand whether these – you know, we’re at conflict with China and Russia and Iran and they say it’s because those are authoritarian countries and we believe in democracy. And you say, ‘Well, we’ve been involved with trying to overthrow 20 different governments. Are we really concerned about democracy?’ So, it makes you – I think helps understand that these conflicts with China and Russia and Iran maybe are about something else besides just the question of democracy versus authoritarianism. So, I think the book, you know, helps people make sense of some of the current foreign policy, but it’s also, I think, just an important history.

I just did a few events in Southern Ontario. There’s a couple upcoming events in Kingston, in Saskatoon. And then, I’m going to be doing events out in Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and then throughout the prairies in early and mid-June. So, anyone listening you can check out my website for upcoming information on the events.

GR: Okay. Always a pleasure having you on. Thank you very much for appearing on the show, Yves.

YE: Thank you.

 

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[This interview was conducted in 2010.]

***

Michel Chossudovsky of the Centre for Research on Globalization joins us to discuss Argentina’s status in the economic new world order and how that country has served as a testing ground for the neoliberal economic policies that have ravaged countries around the globe and which are being readied for the collapsing economies of the industrialized first world.

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Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

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The political West and its favorite puppet regime in Kiev keep faking “diplomatic efforts” to supposedly “end the war”.

If you just landed on this planet for the first time, you might actually believe such reverie.

In reality, it was Russia that spent (or better said, wasted) well over 30 years trying to build better relations with the political West. However, leaked data unequivocally confirmed that the United States and NATO planned to escalate the situation in Europe to what we’re seeing now. Russia’s red lines were not to be respected in any way.

On the contrary, the goalposts kept moving eastward, intentionally making it impossible for Moscow to resolve anything through talks anymore.

This is precisely why the Eurasian giant was forced to use its massive military power to stop further NATO aggression in Europe.

And what did the belligerent alliance do “in response”? Well, it nearly caused WW3 with its (c)overt involvement in Ukraine, stopping for a short while only due to the simple fact that Russia would easily obliterate any major NATO task force foolish enough to enter Ukraine.

And while the situation on the frontlines keeps deteriorating for the Neo-Nazi junta, the political West needs something to justify its “sudden change of heart” regarding potential negotiations. And that something is yet another Swiss-hosted “peace summit”.

The details are still being worked on with Bern, but the Swiss government already confirmed the “peace summit” will take place. However, as per usual, there’s a “tiny, barely important” caveat – once again, the supposed “negotiations” will not include any Russian representatives.

“Switzerland’s government said Wednesday it will host a high-level international conference in June to help chart a path toward peace in Ukraine after more than two years of war, in hopes that Russia might join in the peace process one day,” the Associated Press reported about the announcement.

The (geo)political reality show (because it’s extremely difficult to describe it in any other way) is planned to take place on June 15-16 at the lakeside Bu‌rgenstock resort near Lucern. To give the event more publicity and fake more “legitimacy”, the Swiss government is expected to invite delegations from more than 100 countries. All this is in line with the joint plan proposed by the Kiev regime frontman Volodymyr Zelensky and Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. The framework has been worked on for months and the best they could do is to invite half of the countries on the planet, or in other words, everyone except the one (and perhaps the only) country that actually matters – Russia. Even US President Joe Biden might be there, as he’s expected to attend the G7 summit in Italy on June 13-15.

“At its meeting today, the Federal Council took note of the results to date and discussed the next steps. There is currently sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process,” the Swiss government confirmed on April 10.

Interestingly, even Bern admitted that “there remain some unknowns ahead of the conference” and that “in view of Switzerland’s long-standing diplomatic tradition and the encouraging feedback received during the exploratory phase, it considers it its responsibility to contribute to the peace process in Ukraine”. This would surely be commendable – if Switzerland was a truly neutral country, which is simply not the case (and hasn’t been for quite some time).

Bern’s actual foreign policy is firmly in line with that of the political West, which is why it joined the illegal (albeit futile and even self-defeating) sanctions warfare against Moscow. To say nothing of the futility of having a supposed “peace summit” without the participation of the other side in this NATO-orchestrated proxy conflict.

What all this will almost certainly boil down to is giving Zelensky yet another platform to present the fantasies from his much-touted “10-point peace plan” that effectively amounts to Russia’s unconditional capitulation, as it includes the “return of Crimea”.

Thus, the chances of having Moscow accept this are equal to the Neo-Nazi junta’s prospects of conquering Vladivostok.

And even in the (impossible) case that Russia might decide to talk about this ludicrous plan, it would still need to be present at the “peace summit” it was never invited to.

For all of human history, when two sides are in a conflict and one wants to initiate peace talks (basic logic and common sense imply it’s usually the one that’s not exactly winning the war), the actual negotiations require both warring sides to be present.

However, the era of the so-called post-truth also seems to be a time of “post-logic”, as the Kiev regime keeps insisting on “peace summits” without Russia.

On the other hand, Moscow recently presented its own view that is much more in line with the situation on the ground. Namely, the Kremlin’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya recently said that

“very soon, the only topic of all international meetings on Ukraine will be their unconditional surrender”.

It may not sound very diplomatic, but who could possibly blame Russia, especially given the fact that the Neo-Nazi junta is openly resorting to terrorist attacks targeting hundreds of Russian civilians. In addition, Nebenzya’s statement is far more realistic, as all battlefield data clearly shows that the Kiev regime forces are losing.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

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

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Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

***

In December 2019 when the Space Force was formed in the USA, President Trump called this a big moment and added that there are “going to be a lot of things happening in space. Because space is the world’s newest war-fighting domain.”

Mark Esper, US Secretary of Defense, added,

“Maintaining American dominance in that domain is now the mission of the United States Space Force.”

These statements have been regarded as official confirmation that the militarization of space has started.

It is now generally agreed that billions of dollars are being spent on this annually with the USA leading, China and Russia following in the next two places and several other countries too joining the dangerous race.

Hence the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 is being increasingly violated, taking advantage of its vagueness on some points.

As there are several meeting points in research for civilian and military uses, this is also used to avoid making steps towards militarization of space less obvious.

Some of the recent discussion points from the USA include reports of a classified contract being awarded to Elon Musk’s space company Space X to build an extensive network of spy satellites. This company already operates over half the active satellites orbiting earth, and its reach is getting bigger still.

A number of other US companies, established ones as well as ambitious start-ups, are also in the race to obtain lucrative contracts related to space militarization.

Hence these contracts can also become a driving force for space militarization, a new and expanding part of the military-industrial-political complex.

These include orders for space-based weapons, surveillance weapons, space vehicles and supersonic rockets. A big deal that has been talked about is called PWSA—Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture—a constellation of hundreds of satellites. There is also talk of Starlink, made up of several satellite constellations.

Karl Grossman, A US Professor who has been warning for long against this very serious, fast increasing danger, has stated, “The US is seeking to control space and from space dominate the earth below.”       

The growing extension of superpower rivalry for dominance of outer space can relate to economic, technological and military aspects.

Ultimately this may lead not only to new kinds of space pollution but in addition also to very big disasters.

The extent to which private corporations are being given a big role in the space race, particularly by the USA, makes a mockery of the great sense of responsibility and careful regulations needed in all developments relating to human activity in outer space.

Private corporations may act in entirely profit motivated narrow ways and in the process the wider responsibilities and concerns may see serious violations. 

Although direct space warfare has not taken place so far, militarization of space has been increasing at several levels to such an extent that the possibility of space warfare becoming a reality is now quite high.

Space warfare can take place in several forms. One object placed in space can attack, destroy, damage or disable another object placed in space by another country. A missile from earth can destroy a satellite of another country in space. Or a weapon from space can destroy a target on earth. One such hostile act is likely to lead to one or more hostile acts by the affected party (if the capacity for retaliation exists) and from here on the situation can escalate with unknown implications and results too frightening to comprehend.

These possibilities of warfare will increase as rival powers try to catch up with the present day dominance of space presence and technology by the USA. A review of space warfare possibilities published in the Scientific American by Lee Billings said,

“As China and Russia aggressively seek to challenge US superiority in space with ambitious military space programs of their own, the power struggle risks sparking a conflict that could cripple the entire planet’s space-based infrastructure. And though it might begin in space, such a conflict could easily ignite full-blown war on earth.”

The biggest danger will no doubt come if nuclear weapons are also taken to space or used in space.

This is of course strongly prohibited by the Outer Space Treaty but still the risk exists.

 Over 90 per cent of countries of the world favor a strong demilitarization of space and this has already been reflected in several resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations. But the veto power at the Security Council comes in the way of strong directions needed for this which are acceptable to big powers.

Dr. Michio Kaku, world renowned physicist has written,

“The weaponisation of space represents a real threat to the security of everyone on earth. …It will greatly accelerate a new arms race in space…”

In addition there is the increasingly serious problem of pollution of space and more prominently the earth’s orbit. 

The first aspect relates to space debris or space junk.

This can be in the form of dysfunctional satellites or the various junk contributed by them or in the process of launching them.

This junk has been increasing rapidly.

The number of debris reported to be under observation is around 18000 but the number of smaller debris is much higher.

The number of debris longer than 10 cm. is estimated to be around 34000, the debris of the length of 1-10 cm. is 900000 ( 0.9 million) while the number of debris smaller than 1 cm. is estimated to be around 128 million.

As even very small objects can result in serious collisions in space, the presence of the smaller debris cannot be ignored.

This number of space debris is set now to increase as never before as the number of satellites in earth’s orbit is entering a pace of unprecedented escalation. This will pose many problems for constructive use of satellites for development purposes by late entering developing countries, apart from increasing the danger of collisions.

The second aspect of space pollution is related to light pollution. This did not become a very serious issue till recently as long as the pace of sending satellites in space was within manageable limits but with the very rapid pace seen recently the situation is changing and the number of satellites in space particularly the lower orbit of earth are likely to multiply by several times within a decade, according to present projections. 

Some senior astronomers have said that astronomy as practiced so far will be jeopardized badly as it will become difficult to study the space and images as they have done so far due to this excessive light pollution. 

Clearly there is a very urgent need to check militarization of space and pollution of space but the unfortunate reality is that these problems appear to be getting worse in recent times.

On the positive side, networks for drawing attention to this increasing and very serious danger are also coming up. Karl Grossman (quoted above) teamed up with the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice as well as Citizens for Peace in Space to set up the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. This has 170 affiliates now. Such efforts will be increasingly needed as the dangers of space militarization increase.

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Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Save the Earth NOW Campaign. His recent books include Man over Machine, Earth Without Borders, A Day in 2071, Protecting Earth for Children and Planet in Peril. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

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Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

***

Journalists of wars prolonging U.S. and NATO nations media are providing cover for a monstrous genocidal crime against humanity by portraying the Israeli U.S. provisioned devastating bombing and air strikes on Israel’s military occupied Gaza Strip as ‘defensive war.’

“Israel can’t claim a right to defend itself from the people it oppresses and whose land it colonises,” UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, April 8, 2023.[1]

The successful Hamas guerrilla attack of October 7 was part of an ongoing many decades long Palestinian fight for freedom, and was so described by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressing the UN General Assembly on October 24  pointed out a second time that:

“The October 7 Hamas attack didn’t happen in a vacuum, The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”[2]

By international law, Israel is legally responsible for the well being of its captive, confined and illegally militarily occupied Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, illegally militarily occupied and entrapped since 1967 in what amounts to an outdoor prison. Western journalists, dutifully serving as accessories to genocide, never mention this as Israel’s American warplanes go on (‘like shooting ducks in a pond.’) destroying the homes and murdering tens of thousands of Gaza’s residents, of whom most are women and children. 

Under International Humanitarian Law, the occupying power must ensure the humane treatment of the population and provide for their basic needs, including food and medical care. Oct 30, 2023 GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN PERSONS IN TIME OF WAR OF 12 AUGUST 1949, Article 60 II. Responsibilities of the Occupying Power. page 189

Since October 7, Israel has blocked, food, water, electricity and fuel from entering Gaza, with the unholy desired effect of the present famine with children now dying of malnutrition.[3] This has been very rarely even mentioned in pro-Israel journalism.

Newscast time is almost entirely devoted to the hostages.

Hegemonic journalists are responsible for prolonging the genocide of their fellow human beings – almost half of them children — by delaying the world from putting an end to Israel’s American provisioned and supported slaughter of Palestinians through air strikes and famine.

How many more children will soon die because journalists working for the giant entertainment/news corporation conglomerates of the U.S.A.-led hegemonic colonialist West have for six months been underreporting this inhumane blockage of life sustaining aid, focusing its audiences attention instead on Israeli propaganda of mostly lies of horrendous atrocities*[4] during the Palestinian freedom fighters guerrilla attack on October 7, 2023, which Western journalists never fail to label a terrorist attack by Hamas repeating ‘which the U.S. and other nations have cited as a terrorist organisation.’ 


*U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on  CSpan, YouTube, 12:19 PM · Oct 31, 2023, 3.4M  Views


On family attacked by Hamas:

“The father’s eye gouged out, the mother’s breast cut off, the girl’s foot amputated, the boy’s fingers cut off before they were executed, and then their executioners sat down and had a meal. That is what this society is dealing with.” 

One Chris Christie tweeted in parody, “Is this before or after they beheaded 40 babies?”[Viewed in ‘Comments’ on Blinken’s…] 

If the world had peace-seeking journalists working for honest media – they could remind Israelis that Hebrew terrorist organisations like the Irgun headed by Menachem Begin used terror to conquer Palestinian lands in 1948. 

Excerpt of a Letter to the New York Times, December 4, 1948, from Albert Einstein and other prominent Jews.

“Attack on Arab Village [5]

A shocking example was their behavior in the Arab village of Deir Yassin. This village, off the main roads and surrounded by Jewish lands, had taken no part in the war, and had even fought off Arab bands who wanted to use the village as their base. On April 9 (THE NEW YORK TIMES), terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed most of its inhabitants ” 240 men, women, and children ” and kept a few of them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish community was horrified at the deed, and the Jewish Agency sent a telegram of apology to King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan. But the terrorists, far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of this massacre, publicised it widely, and invited all the foreign correspondents present in the country to view the heaped corpses and the general havoc at Deir Yassin.” 

Most importantly, todays robot-like  journalists (many of who must be aware of their perfidious role in working for permanent war investor controlled Western media conglomerates), avoid all mention that Hamas and other Palestinian guerrilla groups are fighting against Israel’s generations long oppressive, often murderous, illegal military occupation of Palestinian land and illegal 600,000 settler colonisation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Western ‘news’ media coverage audiences over these last six months have been subjected to listening, reading and watching Israeli government leaders and the families of hostages interviewed with the obvious intention of seeking to justify the horrific and massive genocide being perpetrated on the Palestinian population of Gaza by Israel and America, which has reportedly taken the lives of 33,360 (as of April 9) fellow human beings of these journalists, journalists, who in their work are cooperating with the perpetrators of genocide. It can be assumed that many of these corporate journalists realise this, but need to keep their job. And their ‘job’ is to keep the focus on hostages, and away from the annihilation ongoing in Gaza. 

Worldwide reaching colonialist media journalism will not report the truth that Israel admits Apache helicopters fired on their own civilians running from the Supernova music festival – even when Tel Aviv Ynet reports it to Israelis.[6]

Western media features a readiness to re-examine 7 October long after those events took place.

Each and every time Western media conglomerates consider it necessary to report the number of thousands killed in Gaza, its journalists repeat words to the effect that this is “a response to October 7 terror attack by Hamas — considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union.”

However, during public hearings at the International Court of Justice on Palestinian representatives’ accusation that Israel is creating a permanent and illegal occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, China argued that Palestinians have the right to engage in “armed struggle” against Israel “in pursuit of the right to self-determination.”  [The Times of Israel, Feb. 22, 2024]

A single publication of something ‘uncomfortable to U.S.’

NATO member Turkey’s President Erdogan backs Hamas, calls Netanyahu’s Israel government ‘today’s Nazis’ [New York Post, March 9, 2024]

Turkey’s Erdogan says Hamas is not terrorist organisation, … [Reuters, October 25, 2023]

January 1, tens of thousands of Turks poured on to the streets of Istanbul, chanting “Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine”. [BBC]

Simply not reporting reality is the most major crime in Western entertainment/news conglomerate journalism in hiding up to 90% of reality. Reporting, for example, as infrequently as possible, the reality of the immense and intense suffering of the Palestinians, which is the motive for the very existence of the Hamas militant group.

For more than half a century, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip has resulted in systematic human rights violations against Palestinians living there. Israel maintains an illegal air, sea and land blockade on Gaza and maintains a so-called “access-restricted area” or buffer zone within Gaza. These have cut off more than 2 million Palestinians from other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the outside world. [Amnesty International on its website reported back in 2017] [7] 

Under Reporting Israeli Killing of Palestinians 

This writer found noticeable that during much of December and January, many news hours began simply covering other world and local events to the exclusion of any or little mention of the extermination of Palestinians in Gaza. Not reporting the bombing, the air strikes, the continuing day by day devastation, the dying and the dead, the agony, the constant burials, the amputations, pain and despair. Instead, diverting public attention to other places in the world, except for an occasional reference to the hostages, Has this type of non-reporting of what is obviously genocide not greatly lengthened the time it is taking for world outrage to reach a point of some kind of intervention to halt the American provisioned maniacal genocide reflecting years of Israeli hate?

Not Defending From Hamas – “Complete Siege” of Gaza’s Palestinians From the Beginning

Right away, on October 9, Israel’s defence minister announced a “complete siege” of Gaza, describing the Palestinian fighters who attacked Israel over the weekend as “human animals.” “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza,” Gallant said. “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything will be closed.” [Oct. 9, 2023 HuffPost]

Once Reported – Thereafter Made to be Forgotten

‘Erase Gaza’: War Unleashes Incendiary Rhetoric in Israel

WEBNov 15, 2023 · Erase Gaza. Don’t leave a single person there,” Yair Golan an Israeli politician and senior military officer, said in an interview with Channel 14 on Oct. 15. New York Times Nov. 15, 2023

Shall one attribute the massive indifference and some good deal of enthusiasm of the Israeli citizenry shown toward the genocidally insane bombing of thousands of Palestinian children to death in their homes and the maiming even more thousands, 

in part to word for word belief in their sacred Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. (which also forms the beginning of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible).  Seems agood amount of enthusiasm must be based on genocidal commands in the Bible, which have gone uncommented upon or even covered by our Western obligated journalists even though mass killing has been called for by a number of rabbis.

Genesis 15:18

“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.”

Deuteronomy 2:16 

“However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them – the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite” 

Joshua 6:21

“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.”[8]

Once Reported – Thereafter Made to be Forgotten?

Netanyahu’s references to violent biblical passages raise alarm among critics [Published November 7, 2023, NPR]

The passage from 1 Samuel 1 15:3 referenced,“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”

World Remains Ignorant of What Israelis Well Know of the Indescribable Horror It’s Military is Creating

APRIL 8, 2024, Times of Israel, Radical Israeli rabbis come under fire amid settler violence” [9]

The King’s Torah, a 2009 book by firebrand rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur, is perhaps one of the most provocative texts.

It quotes religious sages as permitting, under certain conditions, the killing of non-Jews, including babies, “if there is a good chance they will grow up to be like their evil parents.” The book says “thou shalt not murder” does not necessarily apply to non-Jewish victims.

Its authors have said it is meant to be seen as religious theory and not a guidebook. The book has been endorsed by other rabbis, among them Rabbi Dov Lior, a longtime symbol of religious and nationalist extremism, and US-born Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, who heads a yeshiva in the hard-line West Bank settlement of Yitzhar.

Critics blame Ginsburgh’s writings — including a pamphlet that praises Baruch Goldstein, a settler who killed 29 Muslim worshippers at a West Bank shrine in 1994 — for fuelling the attacks by extremist Jews against Palestinian property, mosques and churches.

Rabbi Dov Lior, a national- religious leader and the chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba and Hebron, published a letter saying that Jewish law permits destroying the entire Gaza Strip[Jerusalem Post, July 23, 2014]

Media Falsified ‘Search for Peace in the Holy Land 

For seventy-five years, the powerful media of the ‘Colonial Powers renamed ‘Free World’ and finally ‘the International Community of Nations’ have kept up  a murderously deceitful pretence of trying to bring peace to Palestine and the oil rich Middle East.  A quick glance at the provisions of the 1946 proposed UN partition that were fully expected and obviously intended to incite violence and create deadly conflict, permanent hostilities, destabilisation and facilitate Western imperialist penetration, exposes this pretending to search for a peace which that financial element that rules the United States and Wall St. has never wanted.

75 years of pro-Israel journalism for the same U.S. war investing business elite that once heavily invested in Hitler, was itself anti-Semitic in outlook, coldly indifferent and even complicit during the Holocaust its investments had made possible. 

Colonialist Media Silence on Horrible Injustice Perpetrated in 1948 with Anglo-American Backing

Palestinians were forced off their lands or fled en masse from deadly Jewish attacks during the civil war ignited intentionally by the announcement of a never meant to be implemented Partition Plan forced through a yet tiny United Nations by the United States that would eventually result in a Jewish population of 630,000 militarily occupying 77% of what had been British misgoverned Palestine, containing an Arab population of 1,970,000. This injustice of making refugees of so many Arab Palestinians whose homes and orchards were seized by Jews, is the basis for 75 years of massive bloodshed. 

Genocide Enablers’: Gaza And The Corporate Media MediaLens, 5th April 2024

‘We have had genocides captured by video feed day by day.

‘We have IDF forces standing with their thumbs up as they blow up universities, mosques, hospitals, and apartment buildings—it’s unbelievable. We have members of the Israeli cabinet preaching hate.

‘We’ve seen these religious nationalist extremist rabbis talk about killing all the people in Gaza. “And do you mean the children?” the Rabbi is asked. “Yes, the children. They can grow up to be terrorists.”’

Australian writer Caitlin Johnstone wrote this week:

‘Israel has ended its assault on the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, because there is nothing left to assault. The facility — the largest medical complex in Gaza where hundreds of civilians had been sheltering — is now an empty, unusable, burnt-out husk. Witnesses report hundreds of corpses in and around the complex, with video footage showing human body parts protruding from the earth and bodies with zip ties on their wrists.’

British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who spent over a month treating patients at Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist hospitals in Gaza, 

‘I blame the Western journalists, who perpetuated the narrative that militarised the [Al-Shifa] hospital as a justifiable and an acceptable target to the Israelis. These genocide enablers, these Western journalists, from the very beginning, peddled these stories that the Israelis were feeding them about Shifa being on top of this massive complex of a command-and-control center. And their job was to enable the genocide to take place.

Western Media Journalists Avoid Mention of IDF Videos Showing Israeli soldiers Laughing as Universities, Mosques, Hospitals, and Apartment Buildings Are Blown Up

As hegemonic news media makes sure this macabre inhuman slaughter goes on and on, we can recall what hero publisher of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, cried out during the barbaric U.S.UK led war on Iraq. Assange suggested we ask ourselves:

– “of the complicit media, (which is the majority of the mainstream press), what is the average death child count that could be attributed to each journalist?”

When we understand that wars come about and are continued as a result of lies peddled to the British public and the American public and the publics all over Europe and other countries then who are the war criminals?

Journalists Are War Criminals!”

“It is not just leaders, it is not just soldiers, it is journalists; journalists are war criminals. …the reality that is constructed around us is constructed by liars, …if wars can be started by lies, truth can be started, peace can be started by truth. So go and get the truth, and we’ll spread it all over the world.” [War By Media: “Journalists Are War Criminals,” Julian Assange “The Reality That Is Constructed Around Us Is Constructed By Liars.” Celia Farber, The Truth Barrier, Oct. 10, 2023]

Julian Assange spoke succinctly about those media journalists who read us selected, bent and twisted one-sided news to disinform, blind or subtly trick the public to support, accept or ignore ongoing atrocity wars even when massive amount of lives are being taken.

Julian Assange has brought to our attention the pleasant-looking evening news anchor who captivates TV audiences with alternating joviality and gravitas, asking whether they should be seen as insidiously evil as they generate support for horrific suffering, death, maiming and destruction.

Assange seems to have tasked us to awaken a critical number of decent but unwary citizens to the realisation that a trusted prime time personality of theirs is in fact a war criminal?

Countering the CIA-overseen giant entertainment /news/ information conglomerates wars enabling deceptive journalism [11] with truth is more effective than attacking the wars ordering government officials, both those elected and those appointed, who in reality must take orders form the ‘deep state’ Financial-Military-Industrial-Complex ‘deep pocket’ war investors – just, for example, as President Eisenhower did when he ordered Laos bombed, and the Guatemalan and Congo governments overthrown. 

The seemingly ubiquitous accessory to wars CIA overseen international media must and will eventually be taken down by a growing alternate media and new media from powerful greatly populated countries like China, India and other emerging nations of the awakening South. Today’s realities and their history will soon be apparent even to Americans.

Truth will out.

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This article was originally published on Countercurrents.

Jay Janson is an archival research peoples historian activist,  musician and writer; has lived and worked on all continents; articles on media published in China, Italy, UK, India, in Germany & Sweden Einartysken,and in the US by Greanville Post, Dissident Voice; Global Research; Information Clearing House; Counter Currents; Minority Perspective, UK,and others; now resides in NYC; First effort was a series of articles on deadly cultural pollution endangering seven areas of life emanating from Western corporate owned commercial media published in Hong Kong’s Window Magazine 1993; Howard Zinn lent his name to various projects of his; Weekly column, South China Morning Post, 1986-87; reviews for Ta Kung Bao; article China Daily, 1989. Is coordinator of the Howard Zinn co-founded King Condemned US Wars International Awareness Campaign, and website historian of the Ramsey Clark co-founded Prosecute US Crimes Against Humanity Now Campaign, which contains a history of US crimes in 19 nations from 1945 thru 2012.

Notes

1. “Israel has a right to defend itself, but can’t claim it when it comes to the people it oppresses [or] whose land it colonizes,” [UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese, tweeted on X, April 8, 2023]

2. [UN] https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2023-10-24/secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-middle-east%C2%A0

3. In recent days, at least 15 children have died from malnutrition and dehydration at Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital. Additionally, almost 350,000 children under the age of 5 are at risk of starvation. This man-made crisis demands urgent attention and action to prevent further loss of innocent lives.

The international community must come together to address this humanitarian catastrophe and ensure the safety and well-being of the vulnerable population in Gaza. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2024/gaza-food-famine-malnutrition-children-aid/

4. Outrageous allegations, such as the story of Hamas “beheading 40 babies’ made headlines and the front pages of countless western news outlets. President Biden claimed to have seen “confirmed photos of terrorists beheading babies,” and that Israeli women were “raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies” The New York Jewish newspaper Forward’s article on 11 October reported that the Israeli military acknowledged they had no evidence of such allegations. (The White House spokesperson’s retraction received minimal media coverage.)

5. AlbertEinsteinLetterToTheNewYorkTimes.December41948 https://archive.org/details/

6. Survivor Speaks: Israeli forces shot their own civilians, You Tube 

Israeli Apache helicopters killed own soldiers, civilians on …New footage corroborates previous reports that say the Israeli military is responsible for many of the Israeli casualties

The Cradlecradle.com/articles-id/11993

IDF combat helicopter targeting Hamas fighters at Nova festival massacre shot some partygoers by mistake, says Haaretz. 

A Hebrew-language Haaretz newspaper article published on 20 October quotes a kibbutz resident survivor trembling as he spoke of Israeli Defence Force shelling houses with all their occupants inside in order to eliminate the terrorists. Photos show that only the heavy munitions of the Israeli army could have destroyed residential homes in this manner. Yasmin Porat, another survivor from Kibbutz Be’eri, said in an interview for an Israeli radio-show, hosted by state-broadcaster Kan, that Israeli forces “eliminated everyone, including the hostages,” going on to state that “there was very, very heavy crossfire” and even noted tank shelling. 

Chris Hedges Max Blumenthal – What Really Happened on Oct 8

7. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-dispossession/

8.  https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/yehoshua-joshua-full-text

9. https://www.timesofisrael.com/radical-israeli-rabbis-come-under-fire-amid-settler-violence/ 

10. ‘Genocide Enablers’: Gaza And The Corporate Media, MediaLens

https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/AA4fDqpIU6vbZg_mZAEVWNGncnk?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9tYWlsLnlhaG9vLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANSKf2EOF95iT6GbFvbINwFLT3X8Jp-qsqLraVUuUEJCXTwwnCWZRA1cmk3TzTm52eB_vOCwDB2a9GZGrP-kRdeC6yQc09ENhlgcfG9ym2g7HPVx_NHtf9h6SHVcLQPzj39cJQJvJx882aE5iAGAGwH1VKQmDWCmxcuIlEzZqB4s

11. “Worldwide Propaganda Network Built by the C.I.A,” December 26, 1977, New York Times

Featured image is from Countercurrents

WHO Official Admits Vaccine Passports May Have Been a Scam

By Paul D Thacker, April 12, 2024

The World Health Organization’s Dr. Hanna Nohynek testified in court that she advised her government that vaccine passports were not needed but was ignored, despite explaining that the COVID vaccines did not stop virus transmission and the passports gave a false sense of security.

The US-Israel War Against Iran Will be the Beginning of the End of Western-Zionist Dominance in the Middle East

By Timothy Alexander Guzman, April 12, 2024

Following Israel’s terrorist attack on the diplomatic building of the consulate of Iran in Damascus, Syria that resulted in the deaths of several officials of the Iranian military including a highly respected IRGC official, Mohammad Reza Zahedi is essentially the beginning of the end for Western-Zionist power structure in the Middle East. 

Not to Forget US-NATO Armed Aggression. 1999 – 2024. The Belgrade Declaration

By Belgrade Forum, April 12, 2024

The NATO aggression embodied the undoing of the legal order of peace and security in Europe and the world, established on the outcome of the Second World War. Today, the Balkans is more unstable, Europe militarized on dangerous tracks, without autonomy, identity and vision.

US Drones Useless in Ukraine. Russia’s Electromagnetic Waves Technology Used to Neutralize Enemy Attacks

By Lucas Leiroz de Almeida, April 12, 2024

US aid to Ukraine with drones is proving insufficient on the battlefield. Recently, the Western media admitted that American unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Ukraine are ineffective in combating Russia. The case clearly shows the weaknesses of Western military technology, which has proven useless when tested on the battlefield.

U.S. War Secretary Austin Just – “Frankly” – Outlined the Road to Full-scale NATO-Russia War. Jan Oberg

By Jan Oberg, April 12, 2024

Austin here reveals how the real NATO is anything but what you are told: it’s offensive, pursues out-of-area operations (e.g. Yugoslavia), willing to fight an opponent we are told is a huge threat and NATO is inferior to. And, thus, it has operated in complete violation of its treaty’s peaceful, defensive provisions.

War and Peace in an Ocean of Lies. Does Anyone in Washington Care About Israel’s Crimes? Dr. Philip Giraldi

By Philip Giraldi, April 12, 2024

One would have thought that the fake intelligence fabricated by a group of Zionists in the Pentagon and White House to launch the misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq would be as bad as it could possibly get, but the Joe Biden team has outdone even those unfortunately unindicted criminals by allowing itself to be maneuvered by friends in NATO and by Israel into situations that are one step short of nuclear war.

Bombshell: Molecular Geneticist: COVID mRNA Shots Were ‘Designed’ to ‘Destroy Humanity’

By Peter Koenig, April 12, 2024

Would you believe, Michael Nehls, MD, PhD, molecular geneticist, immunologist, author, and educator, reveals as an insider that the mRNA shots, falsely called vaccines, were from the beginning designed to “destroy humanity”.

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Following Israel’s terrorist attack on the diplomatic building of the consulate of Iran in Damascus, Syria that resulted in the deaths of several officials of the Iranian military including a highly respected IRGC official, Mohammad Reza Zahedi is essentially the beginning of the end for Western-Zionist power structure in the Middle East. 

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s reaction to the terrorist attack said that

“After repeated defeats and failures against the faith and will of the Resistance Front fighters, the Zionist regime has put blind assassinations on its agenda in the struggle to save itself,” he continued “Day by day, we have witnessed the strengthening of the Resistance Front and the disgust and hatred of free nations towards the illegitimate nature of (Israel). This cowardly crime will not go unanswered.” 

The Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote on his account on X social media platform

“An important message was sent to the American government as a supporter of the Zionist regime. America must be held responsible.”

The US and Israel should be very worried about their military bases and assets across the Middle East and Africa because Iran will respond with full force.  The red line has been crossed with an unprecedented attack on Iran’s consulate thus angering governments who are allied with Iran including Russia and China and most of the Global South.  

US Commander of the Central Command Visits Israel  

General Michael Erik Kurilla is in Israel to coordinate preparations with top officials from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to counter an Iranian attack. The Jerusalem Post reported that

In recent days, Israeli and American officials have held a series of consultations at all levels to prepare for an Iranian response, senior officials from both countries said.”  The report also highlighted what Biden had said, “Our commitment to Israel’s security is an ironclad commitment.” 

Sounds familiar? of course, because all presidents before Biden had basically said the same thing many times. 

The US military had established a base in Israel back in 2017. The US government funded news organization, Voice of America reported on the development,

“Israel and the U.S. inaugurated the first American military base on Israeli soil on Monday, which will serve dozens of soldiers operating a missile defense system.” The report also said that “The base is located within an existing Israeli air force base and will operate under Israeli military directives.” 

Fast forward to the war in Gaza, the Biden regime is sending more than 1000 US troops who will be assisting in building a seaport to bring food to the Palestinian people even though his regime is arming and funding the Israeli government’s genocide of the same people he claims to be helping. 

Earlier this month, a military news website, ‘Stars and Stripes headlined ‘1,000 US troops will deploy for temporary port operations to move aid into Gaza’ which we know is a complete lie because it’s about establishing a US military presence in a show a force against Israel’s enemies that includes the Palestinian resistance, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen.  

Biden had ordered the Pentagon to support efforts to get “humanitarian aid” into Gaza,

“The Pentagon will soon deploy about 1,000 American troops to build a temporary seaport just off the coast of war-torn Gaza to provide its inhabitants some 2 million meals per day, a Defense Department spokesman said Friday” but this is clearly ‘Mission Creep,’ therefore in reality, US troops who are stationed in Israel are ready to become cannon fodder for Israel.

Israel and the US Face an Uncontrollable Situation in the Middle East

There is no turning back after Israel’s brazen attack because Iran will retaliate against Israel who is already in a war with Hezbollah in its northern borders and with Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. Israel is also at war with the Houthis in Yemen, various resistance groups in Iraq and with the Syrian government. 

Israel and US forces will eventually face the Middle East with over one billion Muslims who reject Israel and its claims to Palestinian land.  Iran can target every US military base in Iraq, Syria (which is an illegal military base in Syria who is literally stealing oil), Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states including its secret bases throughout the Middle East filled with CIA, MI6, Mossad, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda operatives conducting terrorist operations to further destabilize the region.

Iran has close to one million active and reserve personnel and remember, if Israel or the US were to attack Iran directly, most of Iran would unite around the flag, therefore, they will face 10’s of millions of angry Iranians.  The Iranians will unleash everything they have to defeat Israel and the US including its ballistic missiles that can hit every US base in the Middle East. 

The maps below shows that any missile that Iran decides to launch can reach any US military base in the region:

US military bases are within the perimeter listed in the following image:

Israel committed a terrorist attack knowing that any retaliation from Iran would most likely pull in the United States just like what they did in Iraq with the Saddam Hussein has Weapons of Mass Destruction lie. That lie ended up becoming a disaster for the US war machine who clearly lost the war in Iraq with nothing positive to show the world, only resentment from the Iraqi population who wants US forces out of their country.  

Despite what happened in Iraq, the US population, especially in the Midwest and Southern parts who blindly support Israel would eagerly sacrifice their children to fight for the Jewish State to protect the “chosen ones” at all costs. 

Israel and the United States will possibly counterattack, then a full-scale war short of using nuclear weapons will take center stage thus driving up oil prices in an unstable economic global landscape. Rest assured, Russia and China will get involved in some capacity.

Iran’s ballistic missile program has been regarded by many experts across the globe as the largest in the Middle East. Therefore, all US military bases will be hit with Iran’s variety of missiles including one of the most advanced ballistic missiles such as the Zolfaghar, which is capable of striking targets as far as 300 to 700 km away or (186 to 435 miles). They also have the Fateh-110, a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a range of 300km (185 miles) and there are many other missiles at their disposal. 

Israel and their closest ally, the US will face an unwinnable war, would it go nuclear?  Israel is the wild card with nuclear weapons.  Are they willing to use them against Iran?  We don’t know, but one thing is certain, if Israel were to use nuclear weapons against Iran, every single person in the Muslim world and beyond would target Israel, therefore, they will never live in peace. 

Would a new Middle East war between Israel and Iran create a new refugee crisis on US borders? Yes, but this time, it will be Israelis trying to get into the US because they will be fleeing from a war that their own government had started. 

So, would the US government take in the Israelis and create a new Jewish homeland somewhere in Texas or Florida? Would those who support Israel in the US give up their land to help Zionist Jews? I wonder how most Americans would react to that idea.         

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Timothy Alexander Guzman writes on his own blog site, Silent Crow News, where this article was originally published. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

All images in this article are from SCN

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US aid to Ukraine with drones is proving insufficient on the battlefield. Recently, the Western media admitted that American unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Ukraine are ineffective in combating Russia. The case clearly shows the weaknesses of Western military technology, which has proven useless when tested on the battlefield.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), small American drones sent to Ukraine are not capable of evading efficient Russian electronic warfare mechanisms.

US-made UAVs are used massively for reconnaissance operations and grenade attacks, but their results are unsatisfactory and do not bring real benefits to Ukrainian troops on the front lines.

According to the newspaper, the reputation of the American military drone industry is seriously threatened by the poor performance of UAVs on the combat zone. Previously, this equipment was considered adequate by the Pentagon even for American soldiers, but the failure to deal with the Ukrainian military reality has shown that the technology of the US armed forces is outdated and urgently needs changes to face the new challenges of contemporary warfare.

The general reputation for every class of U.S. drone in Ukraine is that they don’t work as well as other systems (…) [American drones are] not a very successful platform on the front lines,” an expert told the WSJ.

The article mentions a list of weapons with operational problems, including drones manufactured by Cyberlux and, mainly, by Skydio, a Silicon Valley company that has sent millions of military equipment to Ukraine. US defense startups, which until then were praised as great centers of innovation in the military industry, are now being tested and showing true incompetence in dealing with the realities of war.

“The Silicon Valley company Skydio sent hundreds of its best drones to Ukraine to help fight the Russians. Things didn’t go well. Skydio’s drones flew off course and were lost, victims of Russia’s electronic warfare. The company has since gone back to the drawing board to build a new fleet. Most small drones from U.S. startups have failed to perform in combat, dashing companies’ hopes that a badge of being battle-tested would bring the startups sales and attention. It is also bad news for the Pentagon, which needs a reliable supply of thousands of small, unmanned aircraft. In the first war to feature small drones prominently, American companies still have no meaningful presence. Made-in-America drones tend to be expensive, glitchy and hard to repair, said drone company executives, Ukrainians on the front lines, Ukrainian government officials and former U.S. defense officials,” the article reads.

In fact, this news should be understood as further evidence that the American military industry is severely affected by a process of “de-professionalization”.

Startups from investors who do not have any military knowledge are undertaking projects that are often praised and incorporated by the Pentagon amid the search for “innovation” in the defense sector. The result is that the absence of military technical knowledge and combat experience makes it impossible for manufacturers to produce equipment strong enough to deal with the realities of an actual war. In this sense, American drones, which were considered as “innovative” products of high technological quality, are now being seen as expensive and easily neutralizable weapons.

The US spent decades investing in technological innovation projects in the military sector that, in the end, are proving to be useless. Most of these “innovations” focused on meeting the interests of investors in the technological sector, but did not take into account military technical expertise. The American State trusted in the entry of new technological startups within the apparatus of the military-industrial complex and now the result is proving to be catastrophic. Meanwhile, in Russia the defense sector remains extremely controlled by experienced military professionals, with all technological innovations being rigorously assessed by military experts and tested on the battlefield.

A point that also needs to be emphasized is the development of the Russian electronic warfare sector – also called “spectrum warfare”.

This sector basically consists of the use of the electromagnetic field for military purposes. Today’s weapons, given their high technology, create a field of electromagnetic waves around the conflict zone. The side most skilled at using these electromagnetic data in intelligence, reconnaissance and sabotage operations becomes capable of neutralizing most enemy attacks.

Russian efficiency in electronic warfare is already recognized even by military analysts as the main reason for the failure of Ukraine’s drone efforts. Most of the Western drones launched by Kiev are diverted by electronic warfare mechanisms. The result is a scenario where Americans spend millions to produce useless UAVs that are easily sabotaged by cheap spectrum warfare tools.

In the end, the conflict in Ukraine is showing how the American military industry has become a true paper tiger, controlled by investors without specialized knowledge and heavily dependent on expensive investments for poor results.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Lucas Leiroz is a member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert. You can follow Lucas on X (former Twitter) and Telegram. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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France has halted talks with Russia over differing accounts on a phone call pertaining mainly to the Moscow terror attack.

Paris is also denying having discussed the issue of Ukraine. What is going on?

After a rare telephone conversation last week between French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Sergei Shoigu, his Russian counterpart, which at first seemed like a diplomatic sign of good will for some dialogue, France’s foreign minister said on Monday that Paris was no longer interested in talking to Moscow.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said the Russian remarks during the aforementioned phone call had been “bizarre and threatening”. Supposedly Russia told France it hoped French Secret Services had not been involved in the Moscow region Crocus City Hall terrorist attack.

French minister Lecornu reportedly wanted to pass on “useful information” regarding the March 22 killings in the spirit of the “long tradition with Russia of cooperation on terrorism”. There are differing accounts on who exactly said what, but in any case France, as well as other Western powers, is currently waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and moreover, these same powers have played a key role in the rise of the ISIS terror group, which is a Russian enemy in Syria and elsewhere, as I wrote. It is thus no wonder at all any Western offer of cooperation on that regard would be met with suspicion or even hostility by Moscow.

After the telephone call, in any case, Russia stated that “readiness for dialogue on Ukraine was noted” during the conversation – which France denies.

French-Russian tensions have been on the rise for a while. In February, President Macron suggested (and then half-denied) Western troops could be deployed in Ukraine. According to Le Monde on February 21 Macron told a handful of guests: “in any case, in the coming year, I’m going to have to send guys to Odessa.” On February 26, after hosting a meeting with several Western leaders, he stated “we will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war”, adding that “we should not exclude that there might be a need for security that then justifies some elements of deployment.” The remark was promptly rebutted by other NATO leaders and by a White house statement.

One may recall that in June 2022, the French leader was being criticized by his allies for being supposedly “too soft on Russia.” 

In addition, since 2023, Macron had been a key proponent of the idea of “strategic autonomy” – which, in stark contrast with today’s stance on the New Cold War, sounded a lot like an European rendering of the Global South’s non-alignmentism. In April 2023, the French President said, in an interview, shortly after having met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, that Europeans should not be “America’s followers” and that the continent should rather become a “third superpower” between the US and China, by focusing on  promoting defense industries. Employing strong language, which sparked controversy, he even said that without “strategic autonomy”, Europeans would become “vassals” (of the Americans).

Macron’s increasingly hawkish rhetoric today, once again igniting controversy, may have a lot to do with attempts to show strength, while preparing for a Trump presidency scenario) in face of the geopolitical crisis currently faced by Paris in the African continent, exemplified by the Niger, Mali and Chad disasters.

This is a region where, military presence aside, France competes with Moscow for influence and soft power projection. Anti-French feelings are in fact on the rise in Africa, while pro-Russian attitudes remain a legacy of the Soviet age: since the early decolonization period in the1950s, Moscow did support a large part of the African independence struggles.

Rhetoric aside, both Paris’ flirting with a non-aligned state and its more recent suggestions about sending troops to Ukraine are seriously constrained by the same factor, namely US-led NATO. France, much like the rest of Western Europe, is too dependent on its American ally (who is also its industrial competitor in a subsidy war), and  too deindustrialized to be able to come up with any real sovereign foreign policy. Moreover, even though its relationship with the Atlantic alliance has always been complex to say the least, France (again, much like the rest of the EU) is too entangled with NATO’s structures to pursue any substantial “strategic autonomy”.

On the other hand, the same NATO structures, namely Article 5 provisions (on attacks against one member being attacks against all) prevent France from deploying troops to Russia’s gates.

Nobody wants a global thermonuclear war for now.

For Washington, it has always been about an attrition proxy war against Russia, anyway.

With the “Ukrainian fatigue” and global tensions having shifted to Palestine and the Red Sea, the US-led West bets, after the American elections, are apparently on a South Korea “land-for-peace” scenario for Ukraine. And Paris, in all likelihood, will follow that line, even if Macron chooses to keep adopting a controversial hawkish tone for reasons that are still not entirely clear. This kind of rhetoric in any case certainly does not do much good, diplomatically speaking.

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

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Austin here reveals how the real NATO is anything but what you are told: it’s offensive, pursues out-of-area operations (e.g. Yugoslavia), willing to fight an opponent we are told is a huge threat and NATO is inferior to. And, thus, it has operated in complete violation of its treaty’s peaceful, defensive provisions.

He did not say that NATO will fight if Russia attacks a NATO country. He says NATO will fight Russia if Ukraine falls. Ukraine is a non-NATO country (which NATO should have nothing to do with).

Ask yourself who threatens whom.

Ask how you think people in Moscow will interpret and react to his words.

Notice how he searches for words and invents on the go because his mind isn’t clear – and it should be in matters like these.

Take note of how he postulates the Russian threat out of the blue and without a shred of evidence or probability.

And shiver at the fact that he does not say – “but we must do what we can to avoid that” or “we of course do not want that.” No, Russia shall be destroyed in Ukraine or in Russia.

Did you ever hear Putin talking about fighting NATO or destroying its member states? I didn’t.

The more such irresponsible, anti-intellectual, unethical and threatening things are stated, the more difficult it will be to change course or back down in the future. Lloyd Austin is an awfully bad strategist.

And all this happens to cover up for NATO’s Himalayan blunder of expanding to Ukraine against warnings from loads of people who knew their trade including e.g. George Kennan, Jack Matlock and the present CIA chief, William Burns – all of whom had been US ambassadors in Moscow.

Furthermore, if you’d asked international affairs experts at any point up to the Russian invasion, they would have told you that Ukraine was of little-to-no strategic importance to the US/NATO world.

Except – now – NATO has turned it into a stepping stone to Armageddon.

In my view, the massive promotion of Russia as a threat is nothing but a psycho-political projection by NATO of its own worst sides onto Russia. Over 75 years, we have heard that the Soviet Union and Russia are coming. But they’ve never attacked a NATO member or a neutral state.

In reality, however, it is NATO coming to Russia. The West has done that before…

Read about this man whose whole life has been military. He wears an inner as well as outer uniform and doesn’t seem to know what real life is. Thus, as I said above, extremely dangerous.

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A new study describes how, despite deaths from heart disease plummeting in the United States over the past three decades, the benefits have mostly been seen in people with higher incomes. Among those with lower incomes, heart attack rates have either stayed the same or worsened. This pattern reflects America’s use of dietary supplements over the same period. While the number of Americans taking supplements has increased dramatically during the past thirty years, people with higher incomes remain far more likely to use them than those with lower incomes. Following the groundbreaking discovery by Dr. Matthias Rath that deficiencies of vitamin C and other nutrients are the primary cause of heart disease, it is time for the protective benefits of dietary supplements to be extended to everyone regardless of economic status.

Published in the Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes journal, the study examines data from national surveys involving 26,633 Americans aged between 40 and 75 years old. Overall, the trends show a clear improvement in heart disease between 1988 and 2018. But when the study participants’ economic status is taken into account, it becomes apparent that this progress was not experienced equally across all income groups. While the 10-year cardiovascular risk fell from 7.7 percent to 5.1 percent for people in the highest income group, and from 7.6 percent to 6.1 percent for those in the second-wealthiest group, the risk for people with the lowest incomes remained at more than 8 percent.

The pattern of improvement in cardiovascular health among Americans mirrors their increasing use of dietary supplements over the same period. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) shows that the percentage of the country’s population who used at least one dietary supplement increased from 42 percent in 1988-1994 to 53 percent in 2003-2006. By 2018 consumer surveys indicate that 75 percent of American adults were taking them. Notably, however, mirroring the finding that the country’s least-wealthiest people continue to have the greatest cardiovascular risk, socioeconomic analysis shows that adults with lower incomes are significantly less likely to use dietary supplements than those with higher incomes.

The End of Heart Disease Is Now Possible

The association between dietary supplements and the prevention of heart disease is not merely statistical. Beginning in the late 1980s, Dr. Matthias Rath published a succession of groundbreaking scientific papers describing the role of vitamin C and other nutrients in preventing heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular problems. These publications included, in 1991, a landmark paper coauthored with two-time Nobel prizewinner Linus Pauling in which Dr. Rath presented the solution to the puzzle of heart disease and explained how its primary cause is vitamin C deficiency. The publication of these papers contributed to an explosion of interest in dietary supplements in the United States. This ultimately led to the passing of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994, legislation guaranteeing free access to vitamins and other supplementary nutrients for all Americans.

By 2015, when the Dr. Rath Research Institute published a study proving that atherosclerosis is an early form of scurvy, the clinical syndrome resulting from vitamin C deficiency, it had become clear that the end of heart disease was now possible. Two years later, a review published in the Pharmaceutical Journal – a publication of Britain’s Royal Pharmaceutical Society – added fuel to the scientific fire by confirming that the cholesterol theory of heart disease was now “dead”. Pointing out that the lives of heart attack survivors participating in pharma-sponsored statin trials had been shown to be extended by an average of just 4 days, the authors stated that there was an “ethical and moral imperative” for the potential harms of these drugs to be discussed.

With three-quarters of all American adults using dietary supplements, and deaths from heart disease consequently plummeting, the cardiovascular benefits of dietary supplementation should now be extended to everyone regardless of economic status. Otherwise, the way things are headed, the American Heart Association projects that by 2035 the annual cost of the cardiovascular epidemic to the United States will exceed $1 trillion. It is therefore time for a radical change of approach. As the old saying goes, one sure sign of madness is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.

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This article was originally published on Dr. Rath Health Foundation.

Executive Director of the Dr. Rath Health Foundation and one of the coauthors of our explosive book, “The Nazi Roots of the ‘Brussels EU’”, Paul is also our expert on the Codex Alimentarius Commission and has had eye-witness experience, as an official observer delegate, at its meetings. You can find Paul on Twitter at @paulanthtaylor

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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***

One expects that anyone involved in politics will lie whenever they think they can get away with it to burnish one’s own image and while also distorting reality to promote policies that are being favored. Nevertheless, the record of high crimes committed by a series of presidents and their top aides since the so-called “war on terror” began has established a new low for government veracity. One would have thought that the fake intelligence fabricated by a group of Zionists in the Pentagon and White House to launch the misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq would be as bad as it could possibly get, but the Joe Biden team has outdone even those unfortunately unindicted criminals by allowing itself to be maneuvered by friends in NATO and by Israel into situations that are one step short of nuclear war.

Listening to John Kirby, Lloyd Austin, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield speak suggests that a course of remedial English might be in order as they cannot articulate a sentence that is coherent, especially as they are frequently lying or being deliberately evasive. And then there is teleprompter Joe himself who can pout over the killing of 13,000 children in Palestine while also secretly sending weapons to the Israelis who are eager to slaughter still more based on the judgement that they will grow up to be “terrorists.” Joe’s idea of a exchange of views with the Israeli government is a threat to maybe do something unspecific followed by a strongly worded message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling him to “Go to hell!”

Joe’s gang cannot confirm that the Israelis are committing war crimes linked to genocide even though the rest of the world, including a majority of Americans, watch it happening on television and are convinced regarding what is taking place. But hey, Israel is a wonderful little democracy and America’s best friend and ally in the whole wide world. Or at least that is what Congress and the White House as well as the Jewish dominated media want you to believe. In reality, Israel is a racist and sectarian state that has been a US liability since it was founded, something that Secretary of State George Marshall warned about, but Harry Truman wanted Jewish money so he could get reelected. Some things never change as we watch Biden and Trump battle for the shekels by pledging their loyalty to Israel.

The latest wrinkle on the consequences of loving Israel so much comes with what it going on with Iran, which had its Embassy Consulate General building in Damascus Syria attacked by Israeli fighter planes, killing two senior Iranian generals plus a number of other Iranians, Lebanese and Syrians. For what it’s worth, embassies and consulates are generally speaking regarded as untouchable military targets under the terms of the Vienna Convention, which sought to keep enemies talking to each other even under the most adverse circumstances. In fact, Syria last fought Israel in 1973, more than fifty years ago, and has not gone to war with the Israelis since that time while Israel has been bombing Syria regularly as well as killing Iranian officials and scientists for many years. Iran, like Syria of late, has never attacked Israel.

Iran has said it will retaliate and Israel has gone on high alert. So what does Biden do? He warned Iran to back off and ignores the fact that it was Israel that did the unprovoked attacking and started the whole business and pledges “ironclad” support for the Jewish state if Iran dares to do anything serious in response. There are also reports that Israel and the US are planning jointly their possible retaliation if Iran were to strike. General Erik Kurilla, commander of the US Central Command, is now on his way to Israel and is expected to meet Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and senior Israel Defense Forces officials to coordinate possible US responses with those of Israel. Nota bene that President Biden has flipped the right or wrong of the entire affair over to do exactly what Israel wants, i.e. hopefully have the US go to war with the Iranians. This has been Netanyahu’s intention right from the beginning and there is also a bit of blackmail thrown in for good measure with Israel threatening to start using its secret nuclear arsenal if the United States stops supplying the Jewish state with weapons. Israeli Knesset member Nissim Vaturi, a representative in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, issued the threat in an unsubtle way while discussing the probability that Iran would retaliate against Israel for bombing its embassy. He said

“In the event of a conflict with Iran, if we do not receive American ammunition … we will have to use everything we have.”

In other words, Israel will have no choice but to start dropping nuclear weapons on its enemies and might also attack its friends who failed to support it, a reference to the Samson Option in which a beleaguered Israel would use its nukes to “take everyone down with them.”

The timing of the embassy attack suggests that Israel is acting as it does, i.e. taking steps to shift the narrative and restore its perpetual “victimhood,” because it definitely needs a public relations boost in a world where only the US and a few other nations aligned with Washington are not yet ready to give up on Bibi and his wild plans for regional domination. The horrific killing of hundreds of Palestinians in the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza as well as the targeted assassination of seven employees of a charity that was bringing in food to those starving due to Israel’s blocking the entry of relief supplies have been the top stories all over the world, and rightly so. The Israeli disdain for any behavior that might show weakness in the drive to remove the Palestinians from Palestine has resulted in the Jewish state’s being condemned and boycotted by much of the world with more to come.

Nevertheless, even in those countries that have made illegal pro-Palestinian expressions, demonstrations calling for a ceasefire have attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters. The governments confronting elections later this year, including the US and Germany, are under considerable pressure to respond to the popular sentiment. Indeed, it is already being mooted that President Joe Biden might well fail to be re-elected due to his kid gloves handling of Netanyahu who has assessed Biden’s weakness and has heedlessly taken US support as a given while also ignoring the warnings that are now coming out of Washington and elsewhere over the genocide taking place.

Indeed, it would be useful to speculate that the conflict in Gaza is in part being used as a smokescreen for developments with Iran and other Israeli neighbors that may prove more dangerous in the long run. Even the well-informed might be surprised to learn that even though Israel is not actually at war legally with several of its neighbors, it is nevertheless de facto at war with three countries, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. It has been exchanging fire with the Lebanese Hezbollah militias on its northern border on an almost daily basis since fighting with Hamas began in October and has sought and apparently obtained US guarantees of direct support should Hezbollah escalate its activity. In Syria, which has not in any way attacked Israel, the Israeli air and missile forces have staged numerous attacks against targets that it invariably claims to be “Iranian” even though most of the casualties are Syrians. There have been missile and bombing attacks on Syria nearly weekly since 2017, including a number of recent incidents involving both Damascus and Aleppo international airports that endangered civilian passengers and air crews.

As reported above, the most recent and most damaging attack was directed against the Iranian Consulate General, which was attached to the Iranian Embassy located in an upscale neighborhood in Damascus, Syria’s capital. The building was completely destroyed by six missiles fired from F-35 fighter planes that had crossed over the Syrian border from Israel, killing several long-serving diplomats alongside Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Zahedi’s deputy, General Haji Rahimi. It was also reported that Brigadier General Hossein Amirollah, the chief of general staff for the al-Quds force in Syria and Lebanon, was among the victims as was at least one Hezbollah member. Sources in Syria confirmed that a total of 13 people were killed in the attack, including six Syrians. Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said afterwards that

“We consider this aggression to have violated all diplomatic norms and international treaties. Benjamin Netanyahu has completely lost his mental balance due to the successive failures in Gaza and his failure to achieve his Zionist goals.”

Both Iran and Hezbollah vowed revenge.

And just days before the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the Israeli military had launched massive strikes against a target in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo which killed at least 40 people, most of them soldiers. The air strikes hit a weapons depot, resulting in a series of explosions that also killed six Hezbollah fighters.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) subsequently revealed that it had strengthened air defenses and called up reservists in expectation of a response either from Lebanon or directly from Iran itself. Zahedi was an important Iranian official, reportedly responsible for the IRGC’s operations in Syria and Lebanon, for Iranian militias there, and for ties with Hezbollah, and was thus the most senior commander of Iranian forces in the two countries. His killing was the most significant death of a senior Iranian official since the murder in Baghdad of General Qassim Soleimani by the Trump Administration in January 2020. As the IRGC is a US-designated terrorist organization, Washington may have in advance approved of the Israeli action, though that was denied by the Pentagon.

Iran’s possible reprisal includes the capability to respond by directly launching missiles from its own territory rather than via any of its proxy groups, which include the militias it supports in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. Responding to that possibility, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz has warned on social media that if Tehran attacked from its territory, Israel would react and “attack in Iran.” Iran may therefore choose to respond indirectly or through a proxy, but any major reprisal would be giving Israel an excuse to elevate the conflict, which just might be the main reason for the attack on the Consulate General in the first place. It is, however, widely believed that the Iranian leadership is eager to avoid any escalation into a major or even a minor exchange that could be referred to as a war. Nevertheless, posters have gone up around Tehran in a sign of public pressure for an Iranian response.

“The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech to the country’s officials in Tehran. “Desperate efforts like the one they committed in Syria will not save them from defeat. Of course, they will also be slapped for that action,” he added.

Israeli Defense Minister Gallant responded to the Ayatollah, saying that Israel is “increasing preparedness” in the face of threats from all across the Middle East. Gallant said that the country’s defense establishment is “expanding our operations against Hezbollah, against other bodies that threaten us,” and reiterated that Israel “strikes our enemies all over the Middle East… We will know how to protect the citizens of Israel and we will know how to attack our enemies.”

Intelligence sources in Washington suggest that Iran will try to respond by possibly blowing up an Israeli Embassy or other building, or even by assassinating an Israeli official, but they will more likely do something indirectly through a proxy like Hezbollah or the Houthis. They could also send a more subtle message by accelerating their nuclear program, though there is a danger that that would definitely bring the US into the game, which is precisely what Israel would like to see. They want to cripple Iran but would much prefer that all the heavy lifting – and the casualties and costs – be endured by Washington. If a US intervention were to occur and there were a misstep, it could easily escalate into a regional war with Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran all lined up against the US and Israel with China and Russia likely to be playing a supporting role aiding the Arabs and Iranians. And don’t forget that Israel is nuclear armed. If it gets in trouble it would see itself as a victim and would be tempted to do something very dangerous.

So it is easy to see that Israel has staged a deliberate provocation to draw Washington into its wars.

It is playing with fire in an attempt to once and for all establish its dominance over all of its neighbors. Interestingly, the tone deaf Biden Administration appears to be falling into the trap set by the Israelis.

Beyond the “ironclad” pledge, it also voted against a Russian and Chinese drafted UN Security Council resolution to condemn the Israeli attack on the Iranian Consulate General.

The vote should have been a no brainer given the clear violation of international law and act of war committed by Israel in doing what it did, but the US was joined by Britain and France in casting the veto vote “no” reportedly after “Diplomats said the US told council colleagues that many of the facts of what happened on Monday in Damascus remained unclear.” It all means that Biden is stepping in it yet again in a situation where Netanyahu is in control and running circles around him.

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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.

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Introduction

Would you believe, Michael Nehls, MD, PhD, molecular geneticist, immunologist, author, and educator, reveals as an insider that the mRNA shots, falsely called vaccines, were from the beginning designed to “destroy humanity”.

He claims the injections were part of a plan by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), and Big Pharma to massively reduce world population.

One of the few insiders who blows the whistle on the truth.

One may add that among the hidden criminals were and are to this day active, also Big Finance, the Military Industrial Complex, Big IT, and the corrupted mainstream media, that dominate over 90% of western news outlets.

However, Dr. Nehls, a leading expert with inside knowledge of the plot, says the plan may not be realized in time, because the “shots were created as a ticking time bomb, that would continue to eliminate the vaccinated for several years after they received the shots”.

It would therefore be difficult to identify the cause of death with the covid jabs.

Besides, people who are on the path of dying, or people who know people who have most-likely died due to the shots, will not dare to speak up, either for shame or for fear.

This corner has been “wonderfully” covered by the plotsters. Call it – built-in mind-manipulated propaganda. See also this extraordinary interview of Dr. Nehls by Mike Adams

The delayed genocide-effect was also confirmed by Dr. Mike Yeadon, former Vice President, and chief scientist of Pfizer. See this and this and this.

In a recent video, one of the main authors of the Club of Rome’s “Limits to Growth” (1972) which planted the seeds for drastic depopulation talks about a 86% reduction of the world population. See Genocide Promotion – Club of Rome “Limits to Growth” Author.

According to Dr. Nehls, the plan sought to “conquer the human mind” by destroying most of the human race to eliminate barriers and frontiers that are preventing the globalists from their technocratic take-over through a One World Order and a One World Government.

Dr. Nehls has also studied the effects of the mRNA vaxxes on the brain, and believes it is the way these jabs affect our minds – making people “complacent” – that made governments so eager to push them on their populations.

The “vaxxes” acting on the brain are accompanied by decades of clandestine poisoning of our Mother Earth’s air, soil, and water, with micro-chemicals and microscopic heavy metal particles, through chemtrails, chloride and fluoride in the water – and much more.

The average people have no clue. But their brain capacity and emotion-sensitive pineal gland are being gradually diminished and eventually destroyed.

See also the article on Dr. Nehls entitled: 

Molecular Geneticist: mRNA Shots Were ‘Designed’ to ‘Destroy Humanity’

***

Let us hope that We, the People, will enter a stage of conscious awakening, able to resist and boycott their plan. We are People of the Light.

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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. 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 from COVID Intel

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Flicker of Hope: Biden’s Throwaway Lines on Assange

April 12th, 2024 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

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Walking stiffly, largely distracted, and struggling to focus on the bare essentials, US President Joe Biden was keeping company with his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, when asked the question. It concerned what he was doing regarding Australia’s request that the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be returned to Australia.

Assange, who has spent five tormenting years in Belmarsh Prison in London, is battling extradition to the US on 18 charges, 17 tenuously and dangerously based on the US Espionage Act of 1917.

The words that followed from the near mummified defender of the Free World were short, yet bright enough for the publisher’s supporters. “We’re considering it.” No details were supplied.

To these barest of crumbs came this reaction from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on ABC’s News Breakfast:

“We have raised on behalf of Mr Assange, Australia’s national interest, that enough is enough, that this needs to be brought to a conclusion, and we’ve raised it at each level of government in every possible way.” 

When pressed on whether this was merely an afterthought from the president, Albanese responded with the usual acknowledgments: the case was complex, and responsibility lay with the US Department of Justice.

One of Assange’s lawyers, the relentless Jennifer Robinson, told Sky News Australia of her encouragement at Biden’s “response, this is what we have been asking for over five years. Since 2010 we’ve been saying this is a dangerous precedent that’s being set.  So, we certainly hope it was a serious remark and the US will act on it.” Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, also told Sky News that the statement was significant while WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson thought the utterance “extraordinary”, cautiously hoping “to see in the coming days” whether “clarification of what this means” would be offered by “those in power” and the press corps.

The campaign to free Assange has burgeoned with admirable ferocity.  The transformation of the WikiLeaks founder from eccentric, renegade cyber thief deserving punishment to prosecuted and persecuted scribbler and political prisoner has been astonishing.

The boggling legal process has also been shown up as woefully inadequate and scandalous, a form of long-term torture via judicial torment and deprivation.  The current ludicrous pitstop entails waiting for a UK Court of Appeal decision as to whether Assange will be granted leave for a full reconsideration of his case, including the merits of the extradition order itself.

The March 26 Court of Appeal decision refused to entertain the glaringly obvious features of the case: that Assange is being prosecuted for his political views, that due process is bound to be denied in a country whose authorities have contemplated his abduction and murder, and that he risks being sentenced for conduct he is not charged with “based on evidence he will not see and which may have been unlawfully obtained.”  The refusal to entertain such material as the Yahoo News article from September 2021 outlining the views of intelligence officials on kidnapping and assassination options again cast the entire affair in a poor light.

Even if Assange is granted a full hearing, it is not clear whether the court will go so far as to accept the arguments.  The judges have already nobbled the case by offering US prosecutors the chance to offer undertakings, none of which would or could be binding on the DOJ or any US judge hearing the case.  Extradition, in other words, is likely to be approved if Assange is “permitted to rely on the First Amendment”, “is not prejudiced at trial (including sentence) by reason of his nationality” and that he “is afforded the same First Amendment protection as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty not be imposed”.  These conditions, on the face of it, look absurd in their naïve presumption.

Whether Biden’s latest casual spray lends any credibility to a change of heart remains to be seen.  In December 2010, when Vice President in the Obama administration, Biden described Assange as a “high-tech terrorist” for disclosing State Department cables.  He failed to identify any parallels with previous cases of disclosures such as the Pentagon papers.

Craig Murray, former British diplomat and Assange confidant, adds a note of cautious sobriety to the recent offering from the president: “I’m not going to get too hopeful immediately on a few words out of the mouth of Biden, because there has been no previous indication, nothing from the Justice Department so far to indicate any easing up.”

For all that, it may well be that the current administration, facing a relentless publicity campaign from human rights organisations, newspapers, legal and medical professionals, not to mention pressure from both his own party in Congress and Republicans, is finally yielding.  Caution, however, is the order of the day, and nothing should be read or considered in earnest till signatures are inked and dried.  We are quite a way off from that.

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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: Campaigners pressing for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange take part in a demonstration during a Night Carnival in Parliament Square in London, February 11, 2023

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First published by Global Research on October 20, 2022

***

The COVID database is invalid.

First, the tests are not fit for purpose. Dr. Michael Yeadon describes the PCR tests as the “central operational deceit.” (1) The CDC itself withdrew its support for these tests as of January 2022 . (2) Similarly, rapid antigen test data is invalid.  The test insert states specifically under Intended Use Advisory that

“Positive results indicate the presence of viral antigens, but clinical correlation with patient history and other diagnostic information is necessary to determine infection status. Positive results do not rule out bacterial infection or co-infection with other viruses. The agent detected may not be the definite cause of disease.” (emphasis mine)

As for the WHO which is the fountainhead of the global plandemic, even this institution of corruption, funded in large part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has admitted to the failings of the PCR tests. (3)

So the basis for determining the existence of “confirmed cases” is flawed on multiple levels.

The data for COVID mortality rates is also flawed and invalid.

The CDC changed coding to death certificates for COVID in March 2020, prior to the declared pandemic. CODING changes falsely elevate COVID as cause of death by a factor of about 17 times. How? So-called “COVID deaths” would have been deemed due to other causes using the long-standing, peer-reviewed system of data collection and reporting established in 2003. (4)

As Dr. Ionniditis noted years ago, distinctions are not being made between dying with COVID and dying of COVID. Additionally, there are financial incentives for hospitals to list COVID as cause of death. The CARES ACT, for example, adds a 20% premium for COVID-19 Medicare patients. (5)

On a personal note, I know from a reliable source two local fatal vehicle accidents where the clear cause of death was trauma, but the Death Certificates indicate COVID.

Read Prof Chossudovsky’s new e-book, The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity. It is a fabricated plandemic. Effective, early treatment therapies (off-patent) exist but continue to be censored and prohibited, even as toxic COVID mandates and protocols are embraced.

In a sense it is a pandemic of the vaccinated since they are the ones suffering jab morbidities and mortalities, they are the ones filling hospitals, and they are the ones suffering from impaired immunity thanks to the jabs. (6) All in response to a virus that, according to pre-eminent Doctor John Ionniditis,  “was far less deadly than previously thought.” (7)

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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) Dr. Mike Yeadon, “The Covid Lies”, 10 April, 2022. (The Covid Lies – Doctors for COVID Ethics (doctors4covidethics.org) Accessed 19 October, 2022.

(2) Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, “Bombshell: CDC No Longer Recognizes the PCR Test As a Valid Method for Detecting “Confirmed Covid-19 Cases”?

As of January 1, 2022, the CDC in a request to the FDA withdraws it’s endorsement of the RT-PCR test. ” Global Reserch, 06 April, 2022. (Bombshell: CDC No Longer Recognizes the PCR Test As a Valid Method for Detecting “Confirmed Covid-19 Cases”? – Global ResearchGlobal Research – Centre for Research on Globalization” ) Accessed October, 2022.

(3) Mark Taliano, ” Covid Tests Are Invalid. Politicians Are Lying.” Global Research, 05 April, 2021. (Covid Tests Are Invalid. Politicians Are Lying. – Global ResearchGlobal Research – Centre for Research on Globalization) Accessed 19 October, 2022

see also:

“PCR tests are FOR RESEARCH ONLY. They are not designated for Diagnostic purposes.” 10 July, 2020. (PCR tests are FOR RESEARCH ONLY. They are not designated for Diagnostic purposes. ), Accessed 19 October, 2022.

(4) GreenMedInfo Research Group, ” COVID-19 Fatalities 16.7 Times Too High Due to ‘Illegal’ Inflation.” 1 February, 2021. (COVID-19 Fatalities 16.7 Times Too High Due to ‘Illegal’ Inflation (greenmedinfo.com) Accessed, 19 October, 2022.

(5) John R. Lott Jr. , ” The US is Dramatically Overcounting Coronavirus Deaths.” townhall.com, 16 May, 2020. (The US is Dramatically Overcounting Coronavirus Deaths (townhall.com) Accessed 19 October, 2022.

(6) Dr. Suzanne Burdich, PhD, “UK Documentary Exposes Lies Behind ‘Safe and Effective’ COVID Vaccine Narrative.” Children’s Health Defence, 14 October, 2022. (UK Documentary Exposes Lies Behind ‘Safe and Effective’ COVID Vaccine Narrative • Children’s Health Defense (childrenshealthdefense.org) Accessed 19 October, 2022.

(7) Thomas Oysmuller, ” New Ioannidis study: Covid was already safer in 2020 than previously thought.” tkp, 18 October, 2022. (New Ioannidis study: Covid was already safer in 2020 than previously thought (tkp.at) Accessed 19 October, 2022.


The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

by Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.

“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0,  Year: 2022,  PDF Ebook,  Pages: 164, 15 Chapters

Price: $11.50 

Purchase directly from the Global Research Online Store

You may also purchase directly at DonorBox “Worldwide Corona Crisis” Campaign Page(NOTE: User-friendly)

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

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Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

***

My political awakening came relatively late in life — in my middle twenties — and it came as a consequence of my psychoanalysis. Hitherto I had eschewed all things political, sneered at them, dismissed them and focused instead on the majesty and glories of art, principally literature and music. These were my havens.

Havens they may have been, but I nonetheless was required to live in a real and practically driven world, a world shaped by ‘City Hall’ and the chaotic clamor of individuals attempting to maximize their personal gain, most times at the expense of others. On the rough and tumble streets of Philadelphia one learned quickly about the various personalities and their wiles engaged in self-aggrandizement. And one also learned about the consequences of such personalities on political office.

When Frank Rizzo served as mayor it was common knowledge that favors had been doled out to his supporters or friends or friends of friends. I knew, for example, a classmate of mine who got a job thanks to the mayor, which required nothing more than picking up a pay-check every two weeks.

The vastly larger realm of world politics was, mostly, a mystery. I grew up being worried about Russia and nuclear war, about the murders of JFK, MLK and RFK; about the Vietnam War and the draft which I luckily and narrowly escaped; about the oil crisis that, for the first time in my life, created lines at gas stations; about Oliver North and Nicaragua; and sky-high interest rates during the presidency of Ronald Reagan that essentially doubled the tuition I borrowed to attend medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. These were, I am sorry to say, parochial concerns at the time.

My personal inclinations and, frankly, a wish to be removed from the sordid terrain of political activity, kept me ignorant of the larger and vastly more encompassing influences shaping the world I inhabited. But gradually, as a result of my psychoanalytic treatment and the widened vista I acquired about myself and, consequently, my surroundings, I learned. Thanks to the brilliant essays of Gore Vidal, which combined ancient history — something I liked and studied — with American history, I came to recognize the enormous corrupting power of the modern United States and its virtually limitless thirst for war.

When 9/11 hit I was prepared to see beyond the spectacle and the insipid but effective propaganda that spawned the Patriot Act and forever changed air travel and resulted in a declaration of a never-ending ‘war on terror’. By then I had fully understood that the forces of a state that had already conspired to murder a president, his brother, and a religious man who not only sought to eliminate structural racism but also to protest war and poverty, could be capable of anything.

By anything I mean exactly that: anything. Which includes both selective and widespread murder of its own citizens.

You see, the greatest obstacle to persuading the sleep-walking masses about the enormity of the covidian crimes is precisely that: their enormity. It beggars belief. Surely no government could ever seek purposefully to sicken and kill its peoples. Surely these governments had our interests at heart, and all their lockdowns and masks and inoculations were but the signs of their benevolent, if sometimes stern, compassion for our welfare!

Here in New Zealand where the coronavirus was never a danger, our ‘single source of truth’ managed to convince the population of its correctness in sequestering us, ignoring and suppressing treatment, and insisting on the gene-altering inadequately-tested panacea otherwise known as the Pfizer Jab.

I understand that 86.6 percent of persons 12 and older have received the primary course of covid ‘vaccination’ — which is a positively staggering number.

Harping on the sudden deaths and early deaths and excess deaths and all the adverse events as a consequence of the jabs seems to do little to dent the majority’s naivete, because they simply cannot and will not believe their government could be so astonishingly and despicably evil. Yet the evidence is there for the taking, if only one would take the time to look, and take the time to listen to the creeping stories of recurrent illness and strange cancers and early strokes and other cardiovascular events.

Like the famous prisoners of Plato’s cave in Book VII of The Republic, the shadows they observe flitting in front of them — not the objects casting these shadows nor the world of sunlight above the cave — define reality. Their world has been defined by what they were raised in: the phantoms spewed out from their trusted oracular Media creating the warm illusion of governmental kindness and caritas and good.

We here on the ground, for whom covid has served as a window into the unspeakable depths of governmental malfeasance, deception and destruction — we here who see an attempt to maim, cull, murder and terrify, who reject the scam of climate change, the push for universal digital IDs, the elimination of privacy, the eradication of gender, and the rejection of anything spiritual in favor of a material digitalism — we have the courage to face the evil before us, at least.

And the masses who cannot face it will become willing executioners of their Masters’ designs, and then, eventually and inevitably, hapless victims.

From the street it looks an awful lot like a bunch of transnational war-mongering banksters have been pulling strings. They no doubt fight and squabble among themselves, but they certainly achieved enough unity to have shut down our world and purposefully to have wrought medical and economic devastation genocidal in scope upon us all.

It is the job of those of us who have cast away our chains to show the shackled that there is indeed a different and far better world than the one they have been prostrate before.

However, to do this we ourselves must recognize fully that our opposition is lawless and that they are hell-bent. We are up against an enemy that won’t be won over by niceties or our good will or irrefutable logic or appeals to conscience. Unless and until we bow to this profoundly dark truth we will have no chance.

*

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Dr. Garcia is a Philadelphia-born psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who emigrated to New Zealand in 2006. He has authored articles ranging from explorations of psychoanalytic technique, the psychology of creativity in music (Mahler, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Delius), and politics. He is also a poet, novelist and theatrical director. He retired from psychiatric practice in 2021 after working in the public sector in New Zealand. Visit his substack at https://newzealanddoc.substack.com/.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Massimo Giachetti


The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

by Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.

“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”

Reviews

This is an in-depth resource of great interest if it is the wider perspective you are motivated to understand a little better, the author is very knowledgeable about geopolitics and this comes out in the way Covid is contextualized. —Dr. Mike Yeadon

In this war against humanity in which we find ourselves, in this singular, irregular and massive assault against liberty and the goodness of people, Chossudovsky’s book is a rock upon which to sustain our fight. –Dr. Emanuel Garcia

In fifteen concise science-based chapters, Michel traces the false covid pandemic, explaining how a PCR test, producing up to 97% proven false positives, combined with a relentless 24/7 fear campaign, was able to create a worldwide panic-laden “plandemic”; that this plandemic would never have been possible without the infamous DNA-modifying Polymerase Chain Reaction test – which to this day is being pushed on a majority of innocent people who have no clue. His conclusions are evidenced by renown scientists. —Peter Koenig 

Professor Chossudovsky exposes the truth that “there is no causal relationship between the virus and economic variables.” In other words, it was not COVID-19 but, rather, the deliberate implementation of the illogical, scientifically baseless lockdowns that caused the shutdown of the global economy. –David Skripac

A reading of  Chossudovsky’s book provides a comprehensive lesson in how there is a global coup d’état under way called “The Great Reset” that if not resisted and defeated by freedom loving people everywhere will result in a dystopian future not yet imagined. Pass on this free gift from Professor Chossudovsky before it’s too late.  You will not find so much valuable information and analysis in one place. –Edward Curtin

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0,  Year: 2022,  PDF Ebook,  Pages: 164, 15 Chapters

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

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name (only available in desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.

Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

***

Listen to Professor Inoue’s “Message to the World” and try to fathom the crime against humanity he describes. 

A Stunning message from Professor Masayasu Inoue, Professor Emeritus of Osaka City University Medical School warning of ‘a dangerous, new governmental development’ was delivered from Japan at a World Council for Health conference. 

His powerful statement largely confirms the numerous independent studies which describe the mRNA jab as a “Killer Vaccine”:

“Media lies coupled with a systemic and carefully engineered fear campaign have sustained the image of a killer virus which is relentlessly spreading to all major regions of the world. 

Several billion people in more than 190 countries have been tested (as well as retested) for COVID-19.  

Both sets of figures — morbidity and mortality — are invalid.

These invalid COVID-19 “estimates” have been used to justify confinement, social distancing, wearing of the face mask, the prohibition of social gatherings, cultural and sports events, the closure of economic activity, as well as the enforcement of the mRNA “vaccine” launched in November 2020. 

There is no such thing as a “COVID-19 confirmed case”.

The fear campaign is relentlessly spearheaded by political statements and media disinformation. A closer examination of official reports from national health authorities as well as peer-reviewed articles provides a totally different picture.”

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, April 11, 2024

Professor Masayasu Inoue, who specialises in Molecular Pathology and Medicine, warns that

“There is high risk that Japan made vaccines will be exported under the guise for false trust.

If Japan were to become a vaccine perpetrator, it would leave irreparable harm to future generations.

Therefore, the actions of the Japanese government MUST BE STOPPED by international collaborations.”

Video:  Professor Inoue’s Message to the World

 

Our thanks to John Leake who brought this video to our attention:

Masayasu Inoue is Professor Emeritus of Osaka City University Medical School who specializes in molecular pathology.  

Reviewing his publishing resume, I wasn’t surprised to see that he has a longstanding interest in oxidative stress. His paper titled Mitochondrial Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species and its Role in Aerobic Life presents the following summary:

The present work also describes that a cross-talk of molecular oxygen, nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide radicals regulates the circulation, energy metabolism, apoptosis, and functions as a major defense system against pathogens. Pathophysiological significance of ROS generation by mitochondria in the etiology of aging, cancer and degenerative neuronal diseases is also described.

Lately “the etiology of aging, cancer and degenerative neuronal diseases” has been been on my mind a lot, as the young friend of a friend was recently discovered to have advanced, metastatic melanoma of unknown primary site that had spread to her brain. The day after I heard this news, I saw the following article in the New York PostCancer rates rising in young people due to ‘accelerated aging,’ according to ‘highly troubling’ new study.

Naturally the “troubling new study” mentions nothing about the genetic shots that have been repeatedly injected into young people for the last three years. (John Leake) 


 

The Worldwide Corona Crisis, Global Coup d’Etat Against Humanity

by Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky reviews in detail how this insidious project “destroys people’s lives”. He provides a comprehensive analysis of everything you need to know about the “pandemic” — from the medical dimensions to the economic and social repercussions, political underpinnings, and mental and psychological impacts.

“My objective as an author is to inform people worldwide and refute the official narrative which has been used as a justification to destabilize the economic and social fabric of entire countries, followed by the imposition of the “deadly” COVID-19 “vaccine”. This crisis affects humanity in its entirety: almost 8 billion people. We stand in solidarity with our fellow human beings and our children worldwide. Truth is a powerful instrument.”

 

ISBN: 978-0-9879389-3-0,  Year: 2022,  PDF Ebook,  Pages: 164, 15 Chapters

Price: $11.50 Get yours for FREE! Click here to download.

We encourage you to support the eBook project by making a donation through Global Research’s DonorBox “Worldwide Corona Crisis” Campaign Page

My thanks to the Publisher and to the translator Tatsuo Iwana.

.

 
 
地球規模で仕組まれた〈危機〉の真相

コロナは、入念に準備された世界の初期化=グレート・リセットのための計画である――

●恐怖をあおる政策と、市民社会の破壊
●感染の根拠となったPCR検査の不確実性
●仕組まれた経済不況と億万長者による富の収奪
●パンデミック以前に開発が始まっていたmRNAワクチン
●コロナワクチン市場を寡占する巨大製薬企業の闇
●世界が抱える債務と「新自由主義的ショック療法」

反グローバリゼーションの世界的論客が明かす〈コロナ騒動〉の正体

●目次●
序文・日本語版への序文
第1章 市民社会の破壊と恐怖をあおる政策
第2章 コロナ危機の時系列による経緯
第3章 Covid-19とは何か――どうやって検査・測定されるのか?
第4章 仕組まれた経済不況
第5章 大富豪をさらに富裕化する富の収奪と再配分
第6章 心の健康を破壊する
第7章 大手製薬会社のコロナ「ワクチン」
第8章 豚インフルエンザの世界的流行は本番前の舞台稽古だった?
第9章 「社会を乱すもの」と攻撃される抗議運動
第10章 世界規模のワクチン接種作戦は集団殺戮だ
第11章 世界規模のクーデターと「世界全体の初期化」
第12章 これからの道――「コロナを利用した専制政治」に反対する世界的な運動の構築

.

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Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

***

Though the start of 2024 may have signaled the beginning of a new year, Afghanistan continues to endure the decades-long denial of its sovereignty by the United States.

U.S.-led regime change to produce subservient leadership to fall in line with the militaristic and capitalist aims of the collective West continues to be of utmost importance, especially as the U.S. empire decays and its New Cold War on China escalates. Countries like Afghanistan and Haiti, in key geographic locations for U.S. imperialist aims, are continuously denied self-determination and thus subject to ongoing destabilization efforts that produce exploitation, oppression, and death.

There are indications that U.S.-supported groups, including the National Resistance Front (NRF), are attempting to destabilize the Taliban government militarily.

Ahmad Massoud, leader of the NRF, has requested help from the United States while being hosted by Washington DC think tanks as part of the organization’s bid to depose the Taliban. In October 2023, Massoud even indicated the NRF sought help from Israel. In March 2024, the NRF ramped up attacks with bombings in Kabul, a departure from assessments a year prior that the NRF had been defeated by the Taliban. The new attacks come after reports that neighboring Tajikistan is playing host to a majority of former Afghan officials and opposition leaders, including the NRF, as well as allegations by the Taliban that Tajikistan is hosting ISIS to infiltrate Afghanistan militarily. The United States has also offered support to recent Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory, which killed at least five women and three children. All of this comes despite the Doha peace agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban in 2020.

While international recognition of the Taliban government has often been withheld on the grounds of the Taliban’s treatment of women, U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan, Thomas West, recently indicated that their primary reason for punitive measures against the Taliban is that the United States believes the Taliban are not doing enough to comply with U.S. security interests in Afghanistan.

However, 40 years of U.S.-led war in Afghanistan created the same terror groups, like ISIS-K, who claimed responsibility for the recent attack in Moscow which left 139 people dead, that Thomas West now uses to justify policies of collective punishment against the Afghan people. The U.S. State Department wields the power to decide when the Taliban have met their security obligations. 

The United States continues to hold more than $7 billion of Afghanistan’s sovereign assets seized in 2021, a major factor behind the sharp subsequent economic decline that a recent United Nations Development Program (UNDP) study found is disproportionately affecting women and children. The seizure of assets combined with both U.S. and UN sanctions–ostensibly only targeting the Taliban–have hurt ordinary Afghans and aid organizations, affirmed by US-aligned rights groups and media outlets. The same UNDP report found that 69 percent of Afghans “do not have adequate resources for basic subsistence living,” while an estimated 15.8 million Afghans–including nearly 8 million children–are expected to experience “acute food insecurity” by early 2024.

Meanwhile, a U.S.-controlled “Afghan Fund” possessing $3.5 billion of the $7 billion in Afghan assets seized by the U.S. has indicated that none of these funds have been spent, are planned to be spent, or will ever be used to provide humanitarian or development assistance, according to congressional testimony by SIGAR (Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) on January 4, 2024. This gross enactment of economic warfare against the Afghan people echoes the imperialist treatment inflicted upon Iran, Venezuela, and Russia – countries that have also faced deadly sanctions and the U.S. seizure of their national reserves.

*

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Nicaragua, Memoria Histórica y contra el genocidio

April 11th, 2024 by Ramón Pedregal Casanova

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Global Research Referral Drive: Our Readers Are Our Lifeline

***

Back in late October 2017, Russia donated six MiG-29 fighter jets to Serbia.

Less than a year and a half later, Belarus did the same, donating four aircraft of the same type.

This was a major boost for Belgrade, as it previously had only four (three of which were airworthy) MiG-29 fighter jets that survived NATO aggression in 1999.

Moscow’s and Minsk’s military aid was instrumental in preserving the Serbian Air Force and Air Defense (RViPVO), as it brought the number of operational fighter jets to 14, an increase of 250%. Serbia paid for and conducted the modernization, bringing all jets to the MiG-29SM+ standard. The cost of the upgrade was reportedly less than $400 million altogether, an excellent deal given the circumstances and the general state of RViPVO back then. By early 2022, the modernization was completed and the refurbished MiG-29s now form the backbone of Belgrade’s aerial fleet.

However, this was always an interim solution and was supposed to ensure the safety of Serbian airspace before a more up-to-date successor was found.

Naturally, newer Russian jets were the first in consideration, as Moscow’s and Minsk’s donations were a major geopolitical move that only true allies would make. The political West was determined to torpedo a potential deal in any way it could, but Belgrade stood its ground for the most part. In the meantime, an orchestrated effort to smear and downplay the donation of “Fulcrums” (MiG-29’s NATO reporting name) was launched by the mainstream propaganda machine. These jets were being actively presented as “Russian junk” in an attempt to insult the donors, as well as to discourage potential acquisitions of new Russian-made aircraft. Still, Moscow’s world-class aviation was the natural and logical solution for Belgrade.

Several types came into play, particularly the Kremlin’s export superstar, the Su-30. In addition, when MiG-35 was officially introduced back in 2019, many wanted to acquire this jet, as it was by far the most advanced “Fulcrum” derivative. It would’ve been quite easy and cheap to integrate this aircraft due to its similarities with the MiG-29. Serbia was also planning to acquire advanced Russian air defenses and electronic warfare (EW) systems, with a strong possibility of getting even the unrivaled S-400. However, all this caught the attention of the United States and NATO, which threatened to not only enforce the infamous (and essentially illegal) Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), but also suggested they would block the transport of Russian weapons to Serbia (as the country is surrounded by NATO members), blackmailing Belgrade to “reconsider”.

Its options were now more limited than ever, as Russian weapons that were already paid for and awaiting delivery to Serbia couldn’t reach the country. By the time the special military operation (SMO) started, the situation became unbearable for Belgrade. What’s more, its decision not to impose sanctions on Moscow was seen as “heresy” in Washington DC and Brussels, so Serbia’s desire to acquire Russian weapons was now out of the question, as the possibility of NATO agreeing to this moved from theoretical (albeit already extremely unlikely) to simply impossible. The political West would’ve never allowed any of the Russian weapons to ever reach Serbia. Belgrade was able to acquire some Russian-made weapons from Cyprus, but even this was criticized as “too pro-Russian”. Worse yet, NATO only kept escalating its pressure and crawling aggression on Serbia.

As an alternative, Belgrade tried switching to Chinese weapons. It acquired air defenses from Beijing, specifically the FK-3 (export variant of HQ-22), with military sources suggesting it might even acquire Chinese fighter jets.

However, NATO once again threatened the country, barely allowing it to transport even the FK-3 from China.

Thus, Serbia was left with no choice except to acquire the exorbitantly expensive and overhyped Western weapons. Getting US-made jets was not an option, leaving only several other European candidates, of which France seemed the most logical choice. After years of speculation, recent weeks and months showed that the deal with Paris was closer than ever.

On April 9, during the official state visit in Paris, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Belgrade “reached concrete agreements” on the purchase of “Rafale” jets.

After talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Vucic stated that the contract is expected to be signed in the next two months. The details of the potential deal are yet to be revealed, but military sources suggest that 12 “Rafales” that Belgrade seeks to acquire will cost around €3 billion ($3.2 billion). This massive price tag is equivalent to nearly three annual Serbian military budgets.

The geopolitical aspect of the deal is understandable.

However, the staggering cost could hardly ever be justified. The price of the latest F4.1 jet is upwards of €160 million (over $170 million) apiece, meaning that nearly €2 billion will be paid for the airframes alone, with another billion for missiles, bombs and other weapons, as well as pilot and ground crews training, etc. This is without taking into account any additional costs due to possible delays or any other issues.

What’s more, there are even more expenses such as building adequate infrastructure and making other mandatory changes to the existing one. Western jets such as the “Rafale” are far less robust than Russian equivalents. All of this will only push the price tag even further. Does this mean that “Rafale” is a bad jet? Certainly not. It’s one of the most advanced Western aircraft with excellent multirole capabilities. On paper, it can carry up to 9.5 tons of payload, but in reality, this is much closer to around 6 tons, which is still quite good for such a light aircraft. As for speed, its Mach 1.8 is anything but impressive, although it somewhat makes up for it with a limited Mach 1.4 supercruise ability (supersonic flight without afterburners). And while “Rafale” has more advanced avionics than the older MiG-29, the latter is far more affordable, with a flight hour price tag of €5,000.

In comparison, the French jet costs €20,000 per flight hour or four times as much. It’s also slower than the MiG-29 which can fly at Mach 2.3 or even faster. All this makes the “Fulcrum” a better option for air policing, as it’s far more affordable and easier to maintain and operate. However, in terms of multirole capabilities, “Rafale” certainly has an advantage, although this is expected as it was built for this purpose, while the “Fulcrum” was envisaged as a frontline air superiority fighter. However, this is where problems might arise for Serbia, as the French jet’s armament comes into play, but there’s no guarantee that Paris would deliver the necessary assets (particularly the Damocles and TALIOS targeting pods and relevant air-to-ground weapons such as the AASM-HAMMER bombs and various types of missiles). France may omit those immediately or in any future deals.

As for the more advanced air-to-air missiles, Paris will certainly refuse to export the new “Meteor” (range up to 200 km). Worse yet, it may deny the latest MICA NG variant (range reportedly up to 150 km) and instead provide the older iteration (range 60-80 km). Serbia already has missiles with superior range for its MiG-29SM+ (specifically the R-77-1 with a range of over 110 km). Thus, in purely military terms, this acquisition is extremely risky and unreasonably costly. If Belgrade wasn’t surrounded by NATO, it would’ve easily gotten at least two Su-30SM jets for the price of a single “Rafale”. Better yet, it could’ve gotten at least one Su-35 and saved dozens of millions per airframe. And last but not least, the Su-57E would’ve been more affordable while being at least a generation ahead of the “Rafale”. This is without taking weapons into account.

Namely, Russian air-to-air missiles aren’t just cheaper, but are also far more advanced and stand in a league of their own. Modernized versions of the R-77 (particularly the RVV-AE-PD) have a range of up to 200 km, while the larger R-37M’s maximum range stands at a staggering 400 km. In addition, both missiles are hypersonic (Mach 5-6 and Mach 6-7, respectively). This leaves both the “Meteor” and MICA NG in the dust (both inferior in range and speed). What’s more, Serbia will most likely be waiting until the early 2030s to get the first jet. By then, aircraft such as the MiG-41 will already be operational, making the “Rafale” not only outclassed in every sense of the word, but simply obsolete. Worse yet, even older (but heavier, much faster and higher-flying) jets such as the MiG-31BM and comparable era ones such as the Su-35S are far deadlier in air-to-air combat.

Once again, it’s quite clear that the acquisition from France is a move born out of geopolitical necessity, as getting such extremely expensive aircraft for air policing is tantamount to using sports cars for traffic stops.

However, even the geopolitical aspect is very risky, as Paris has a long history of backstabbing its customers for the sake of NATO allies such as the US and UK. There are multiple accounts of France installing kill switches on its aircraft and air-launched missiles to prevent them from being used against NATO interests.

In addition, many (if not most) weapons used by the “Rafale” rely on US-made components and guidance systems, meaning that these could be turned off or sabotaged in some other way in case of yet another direct NATO aggression against Serbia, while France has repeatedly demonstrated coordination with US/NATO geopolitical interests.

*

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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 InfoBrics