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US Opens Provocative Missile Base in Poland

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | November 14, 2024

After nearly two decades, President George W. Bush’s plan to put the Aegis Ashore missile system in Poland was achieved this week. The system is capable of firing offensive missiles, and is viewed as a serious national security threat by Russia.

The base is located in Redzikowo, Northern Poland, near the Baltic coast. During the base’s opening ceremony, Polish President Andrzej Duda said, “The whole world will see clearly that this is not Russia’s sphere of interest anymore… From the Polish point of view, this is strategically the most important thing.”

Since the base was announced by Bush, Washington has asserted that the purpose of installing the missile defense system in Poland, and a second in Romania, was to protect Europe from Iranian missile attacks.

However, the launchers that fire the Aegis interceptors can also fire offensive Tomahawk missiles. Previously, the US fielded a variant of the Tomahawk that was capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. The Kremlin views the presence of the launchers in Eastern Europe as a strategic threat to Russia.

As the base was under planning and construction, Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed multiple American presidents not to deploy the Aegis Ashore systems in Poland and Romania. The Polish Foreign Minister noted during the opening ceremony, “Governments changed in the United States, in Poland, [since] this base was created. This base is a monument not only to the Polish-American alliance, its stability, but also to the Polish-Polish alliance.”

Moscow argued that the system’s MK-41 launchers violated the INF Treaty, a bilateral arms control pact between the US and Russia. The treaty explicitly outlaws the deployment of intermediate land-based offensive missile launchers. The MK-41 can fire Tomahawks. During the first Donald Trump presidency, Washington unilaterally left the INF Treaty.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin Spokesman said Russia would respond to the base opening but did not provide details. “Of course, this requires the adoption of appropriate measures to maintain parity,” he stated.

While the Aegis system has created significant friction between Russia and NATO, Warsaw wants to further expand the missile base. Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Monday the scope of the shield needed to be expanded.

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | 1 Comment

Gaza Municipality: 70% of wells and 105,000 water lines destroyed

Palestinian Information Center – November 14, 2024

GAZA – The Gaza Municipality revealed on Thursday that the Israeli occupation destroyed more than 105,000 water lines and more than 70% of water wells in the Gaza Strip.

The limited capabilities of the municipality hinder its ability to solve this severe crisis, which forces citizens to transport water manually to their homes, said the municipality’s spokesman, Asem Al-Nabih.

He pointed out that the prices of desalinated water witnessed a significant increase due to the sharp increase in fuel prices, which further exacerbates the suffering of local citizens in obtaining potable water.

On October 23, two employees of the Gaza Municipality were killed, and two others were injured while repairing water wells at the Bir Al-Safa station in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza.

Since the start of the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the Israeli occupation has been working to destroy all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip.

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

US appeals court overturns 1983 Beirut bombing victims’ $1.68B judgment against Iran

Press TV – November 14, 2024

A US appeals court has revoked a $1.68 billion judgment against Central Bank of Iran (CBI), known as Bank Markazi, regarding the damages won by the families of the victims of a 1983 bombing in Beirut, which targeted a US Marine Corps barracks in the Lebanese capital and was blamed on the Islamic Republic.

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan threw out the $1.68 billion judgment on Wednesday and said a lower court judge should have addressed questions of state law before ruling against Bank Markazi and Clearstream, a subsidiary of Germany’s stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse where Iranian assets are held.

In a 3-0 decision, the panel also rejected a claim that a 2019 federal law designed to make it easier to confiscate Iranian assets outside the United States waived Bank Markazi’s sovereign immunity.

That law “neither abrogates Bank Markazi’s jurisdictional immunity nor provides an independent grant of subject matter jurisdiction,” Circuit Judge Robert Sack wrote.

The court returned the case to US District Loretta Preska in Manhattan to address state law questions in the 11-year-old case, and decide whether the case can proceed in Bank Markazi’s absence.

Bombing victims sought to hold Iran liable for what they claimed to be providing material support for the October 23, 1983, suicide attack that killed 241 US service members, by seizing bond proceeds held by Clearstream in a blocked account on the CBI’s behalf.

The CBI declared immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally shields foreign governments from liability in US courts.

The plaintiffs sued in 2013 to partially satisfy a $2.65 billion default judgment they had won against Iran in 2007. Another judge dismissed the case in 2015, but the 2nd Circuit Court revived it in 2017.

Then in 2020, the US Supreme Court ordered a fresh review in light of the 2019 law, which then-President Donald Trump signed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

The plaintiffs have said they hold more than $4 billion of judgments against Iran and have been unable to collect for decades.

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Islamophobia | , | Leave a comment

Trump names RFK Jr. to cabinet position

RT | November 14, 2024

US President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), declaring that the former Democrat will ensure that “everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals [and] pollutants.”

Trump announced his choice in a social media post on Thursday evening. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” he wrote.

“HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country,” he continued. “Mr. Kennedy will restore these agencies to the traditions of gold standard scientific research… to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”

The New York Post claimed the previous day that some of Trump’s closest advisers were pushing for Kennedy to be given an advisory position, but that the former Democrat was “stubborn” in demanding control of HHS.

If confirmed, Kennedy would oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other sub-agencies. Kennedy has been vocally critical of all of these agencies, and vowed to enact sweeping reforms if placed in charge of them.

A long-time vaccine skeptic and proponent of organic agriculture, Kennedy has promised to “get processed food out of school lunch immediately,” to recommend that fluoride be removed from the water supply, and to crack down on the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides in farming.

Kennedy announced last October that he would run for the presidency as an independent candidate, ending his bid to challenge President Joe Biden in the Democratic Party’s primary elections. He suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump in August, citing Trump’s support for free speech, his promise to end the Ukraine conflict, and his willingness to tackle what Kennedy called “the chronic disease epidemic” afflicting American children.

https://twitter.com/MidwesternDoc/status/1854781830693581049

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Science and Pseudo-Science | , , , , | Leave a comment

Michigan Senate Advances Bill To Impose Fines for Spreading Election “Misinformation”

By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | November 14, 2024

A Senate committee in the US state of Michigan has approved Bill 707, which seeks to impose fines on those who, under the proposed legislation’s scope, are found to be spreading election misinformation, and doing that intentionally.

Introduced earlier in the year by Senator Mary Cavanagh, if adopted, this bill would amend the Michigan election law to introduce fines ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 and qualify “spreading of election disinformation” as an offense.

Disinformation here is defined as statements and misrepresentations that are considered false by the authorities – but the authorities would also have to determine if those statements are made intentionally.

This is not the first time Cavanagh, a Democrat, has tried to push through legislation of this kind; the first attempt happened in 2022.

And it’s not the first time that similar proposals, similarly vaguely worded have seen the light of day in the US these last years; here as well, opponents are wondering who would be “the judge and jury” that declares somebody had intent to spread false information – but also, how the amended bill would be enforced.

“What is the burden of proof here? Is it clear and convincing evidence?,” asked Senator Ed McBroom, a Republican.

Supporters of the new bill – accepted by the Senate’s Elections and Ethics Committee along party lines – say it would “clarify” the state’s existing law dealing with voter intimidation, and adapt it to “modern” intimidation techniques.

Senator Cavanagh said that in addition to “specifying” that an individual (or a company employing them) must know their election-related statements are false, the bill aims to make sure voters in this swing state are aware of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling.

Namely, it decided that the First Amendment protections somehow “do not extend to intentionally false speech about election misinformation,” Cavanagh noted.

Therefore, what was left to do was introduce a new bill that “specifies” (but crucially, opponents think – it actually doesn’t) what passes for “intentionally spreading election disinformation,” and then suppress this speech.

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | , | Leave a comment

French prosecutor wants a five-year prison term and a ban from running for public office for Le Pen

RT | November 14, 2024

French prosecutors have asked a judge to slap former National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen with a five-year prison term and a ban from running for public office in an embezzlement case.

Le Pen and 24 other current and former members of the right-wing National Rally are accused of using €3 million ($3.3 million) in European Parliament money intended for payments to parliamentary assistants to fund work on internal party business from 2004 to 2016, in violation of EU law. All of the defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

During the proceedings in Paris on Wednesday, the prosecutors argued that Le Pen should receive the harshest punishment as she was a member of the European Parliament and the leader of the National Rally when some of the alleged violations took place. She led the party, which was previously called the National Front, from 2011 to 2021 and still remains a member.

Three years of Le Pen’s sentence would be suspended, and the other two could be served with an electronic bracelet, the prosecutors said. They also asked for her to be fined €300,000 ($316,000).

The prosecutors said the five-year ban on running for office should be implemented immediately, before the defense can appeal the ruling. This means that if found guilty, Le Pen would be disqualified from the presidential election in 2027. During the trial, which began in late September, she announced plans to run for president for the third time.

“It is clear that the only thing the public prosecutors wanted was Marine Le Pen’s exclusion from political life,” Le Pen told reporters after the hearings.

National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, who is not a defendant in the case, took to X to accuse the prosecutors of an “assault on democracy,” saying they are “seeking to persecute and take revenge on Marine Le Pen.”

The prosecutors also requested that the National Rally be fined €2 million, and that all of the others who are accused receive bans from running for public office from one to five years.

The defense will now present its arguments to the judge until the trial concludes on November 27. A verdict is expected in early 2025.

In the 2022 election, Le Pen lost to President Emmanuel Macron in the second round 58.55% to 41.45%.

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties | | 1 Comment

India-Russia ties ‘helpful’ for the world – foreign minister

RT | November 14, 2024

Friendly relations between Moscow and New Delhi are an important element of international stability, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told Sky News Australia in an interview published this week. According to the diplomat, the West should be less concerned about countries enjoying good relationships with Russia and more about diplomacy and ending the Ukraine conflict.

The minister defended New Delhi’s decision to increase oil purchases from Russia after the US and its allies slapped Moscow with unprecedented sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, which targeted Russia’s financial sector and international trade.

“If we had not made the moves we had, let me tell you the energy markets would have taken a completely different turn and actually would have precipitated a global energy crisis. It would have caused inflation across the world as a consequence,” Jaishankar said.

Imports of crude oil from Russia currently constitute nearly 40% of India’s total oil purchases, up from less than 1% before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Earlier this week, the foreign minister said that he expected bilateral trade between the two nations to reach a target volume of $100 billion before 2030.

The minister was responding to Sky News host Sharri Markson, who said that New Delhi’s close ties to Moscow were causing “angst” in Australia. Jaishankar hit back by saying that “countries don’t have exclusive relationships” nowadays. Using the same logic, India should be worried about any country who has a relationship with its regional rival, Pakistan.

“What India has done and is doing with Russia is actually… helpful to the international community as a whole,” the minister said. He said that not only had India’s actions helped to avert a potential global energy crisis, but may also contribute to ending the fighting between Moscow and Kiev.

New Delhi can talk to both parties and “try to find some intersection in those conversations” to eventually find a way to get them both to the negotiating table, according to the top diplomat.

“I think the world, including Australia, needs such a country that will help bring this conflict back to the conference table,” he stated, adding that “conflicts rarely ends on the battlefield, mostly they end [through] negotiations.”

When further pressed by Markson on whether India is concerned about growing cooperation between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, Jaishankar replied that such developments, which were further encouraged by the Ukraine conflict, show that the West should also be primarily interested in ending the hostilities.

”It’s in everybody’s interest that the sooner the conflict ends the better,” the minister said. “The longer the conflict drags out… all sorts of things are going to happen. Not all those things could necessarily be to Australia’s advantage or… that of Western countries.”

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism, Russophobia | , , , | Leave a comment

Marco Rubio’s love affair with Israel, MKO, Pahlavis

Press TV – November 14, 2024 

Marco Rubio, a Republican foreign policy hawk tapped by Donald Trump to lead the US Department of State in his new administration, is known for his confrontational stance toward Iran and close ties with anti-Iran groups.

A staunch ally of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Rubio has even advocated for a direct attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities by the Israeli regime, saying such an attack “would have been successful.”

In a 2015 interview, he asserted that the Tel Aviv regime “has a right to act in its self-defense, which it did in the past when it struck facilities in Syria and other places.”

The Florida senator is an ardent and self-proclaimed Zionist who supports the Tel Aviv regime’s settler-colonialism project and land grabs in the occupied West Bank, as well as ongoing genocide in Gaza and Lebanon.

Like Trump and Biden, Rubio is fiercely opposed to the truce and blames all civilian casualties on the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, for which he even employs dehumanizing vocabulary. He was heard recently referring to Palestinian resistance fighters as “vicious animals.”

Trump’s pick for Secretary of State is among the Israeli lobby’s biggest recipients of donation, receiving at least $1,013,563 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the top Zionist lobby group in the US that exerts considerable influence in US power corridors.

The incoming American top diplomat is also known for his open association with foreign-based anti-Iran groups, including the Albania-headquartered Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) terror cult.

He has been invited to MKO galas many times in the past and has been photographed with the son of the deposed Iranian monarch, mainly to demonstrate his antagonism toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to those who have followed his work, Rubio is seen as a young member of the new generation of neoconservative pundits, compared to older ones such as John Bolton, John McCain and Dick Cheney, who have had direct hand in American hegemonic projects across West Asia and South Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Support for MKO terrorists

In September 2020, Rubio spoke at an event organized by MKO, a Zionist-sponsored terrorist cult that aggressively seeks to overthrow Iran’s democratic political system.

The terrorist group is notorious in Iran for being responsible for the deaths of 17,000 Iranian citizens, participating in Iraqi Baathist aggression against Iran, and supporting the genocide of Iraqi people in the 1980s.

It was on the list of terrorist groups in the United States but was removed after intense lobbying by neocon and Zionist groups who recognized it as a means to harm Iran.

In his speech at the MKO gala, Rubio emphasized that they share a “common battle” that is not just to deter “nuclear weapons acquisition” and “support for terrorism” but to “give power back to the people,” a euphemism for overthrowing the democratic Islamic Republic.

Apart from Rubio, others who spoke at the event were US Senators Ted Cruz, Roy Blunt, Bob Menendez, Joseph Lieberman, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former National Security Advisor James Jones, and former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.

Attendees of these events are rewarded handsomely by the cash-rich West-backed terror cult. Frequent MKO event attendee John Bolton was found to have received $180,000 for his multiple appearances, including $40,000 for an event in Paris.

The speech delivered by Rubio, according to privy sources, reportedly made him richer by tens of thousands of dollars.

Promoting wannabe dictators and monarchist terrorists

Rubio’s support and endorsement of anti-Iranian groups is not only limited to the MKO terror cult but extends to monarchist terrorists and their sympathizers as well.

In June 2021, he met with Reza Pahlavi, the son of the West-backed deposed Iranian dictator, who in recent years has become more involved in self-promotion with Zionist and American financial assistance.

According to media reports, the duo discussed US policy toward Tehran and Iranian domestic politics, bizarrely stating that they advocate “human rights, freedom, and democracy.”

According to observers, what both have in common is sponsorship by pro-Israel lobbies, friendship with Benjamin Netanyahu, anti-Palestinian sentiment, and an unfulfilled desire for the downfall of Iran’s democratic political system.

Earlier this month, Rubio also condemned the death of Jamshid Sharmahd, a convicted terrorist on death row who died in prison of natural causes. Rubio called him a “dissident” and labeled the court verdict against him as “bogus,” along with typical insults toward Iranian authorities.

Sharmahd was the leader of the monarchist terrorist group Tondar, responsible for a 2008 terrorist attack on a mosque in Shiraz, killing 14 and wounding 215 people.

Before his arrest by Iranian services, he lived for years in Germany and the US, where he openly took responsibility and glorified terrorist attacks on his website, without reaction from authorities there.

Sharmahd enjoyed widespread support from government officials in the United States, Canada and Germany, despite his proven track record of terrorist activities in Iran.

Backing 2022 Iran riots

In late 2022, Rubio expressed open support for foreign-backed deadly riots in Iran that resulted in hundreds of casualties and extensive damage to public properties across the country.

He has repeatedly claimed that Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian girl who died in police custody as a result of natural causes, was “beaten and killed” by the police, even though surveillance cameras and forensic medical records have dismissed such claims.

Together with Democratic Senator Alex Padilla, Rubio introduced the “MAHSA Act,” named after the Iranian girl, which was passed by the US Congress and signed into law by President Biden in April of this year.

This federal law imposes various new sanctions on Iran, based on false accusations of “oppression, crimes against humanity, and international terrorism.”

Rubio has consistently lobbied for piling up sanctions against Iran, as evidenced by the fact that even before the Iran riots broke out, he had prepared the “PUNISH Act” with Joni Ernst and Mike Waltz, alleging that Iran was attempting to assassinate US politicians.

These accusations surfaced again recently after a foreign national was arrested in the US for “plotting to assassinate” American politicians, including Trump. Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed the accusations.

On his page on X Rubio also expressed support for Reza Rasaea, who was executed in August this year for his involvement in Iran riots, including the murder of security guard Nader Bayrami.

The Republican described the rioter convicted of murder as a “courageous protester.”

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Israel is brazenly going against the entire world community

By Viktor Mikhin – New Eastern Outlook – November 14 2024

It is difficult for any reasonable person to understand or explain Israel’s recent actions with regard to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). After the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, it took two years for it to become a full member of the then nascent UN. One of the key issues that prevented Israel from joining the UN was the status of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who had been made refugees by the Israeli military. For its part, the UN adopted a clear and unambiguous resolution (General Assembly Resolution 194) guaranteeing the right of return and compensation for losses suffered by Palestinian refugees. Decades later, during negotiations, the Palestinians insisted that Tel Aviv recognize its historical and moral responsibility for the Palestinian refugee crisis.

Members of the UN Security Council, wanting to alleviate the terrible humanitarian conditions in which Palestinian refugees lived in tents in countries bordering Israel, helped create the UNRWA, which began operations in 1950. Donors to the UN agency included the US until President Donald Trump took office and cut off aid. These actions, which continued in part under the Biden administration because of enormous pro-Israel pressure in Congress, whetted the appetite of members of the now extreme right-wing Israeli government who had always hoped that the Palestinian refugee problem would simply disappear on its own.

The UNRWA provides humanitarian assistance to nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is the main source of humanitarian support for the Palestinians. Its services include the provision of basic needs such as education, food, healthcare and fuel distribution. The closure of the Agency may inevitably lead to the withdrawal of basic services to the Palestinians. UNRWA is not a political body—it refrains from any political action and strictly follows the regularly approved UN mandate.

The mandate of the Agency, as defined by the UN General Assembly, is to provide assistance to “Palestinian refugees.” This term was defined in 1952 as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” Palestinian refugees include both those who meet this definition and the descendants of those who meet this definition.

For years, Israel and its supporters have pressured the humanitarian agency, trying to get it closed, forcing countries not to fund it, or making false and often ridiculously trumped-up accusations against the UNRWA or its staff. The latest fiction that several local UNRWA staffers were involved in the October 7 (2023) Hamas attacks on Israel has been recently debunked by a high-level Investigative Committee set up by the UN secretary-general. The UN investigation, published in April, found no evidence of wrongdoing by UNRWA staff, noting also that Israel had not responded to requests for names and information and “has not reported any specific concerns about UNRWA staff to the UNRWA since 2011.”

But despite Israel’s failure to convince the world of the validity of its accusations, and despite pressure from Israel’s allies not to approve the ban, 92 of 120 Knesset members voted in favor of banning UNRWA from working in Israel, and 87 supported banning government agencies from any contact with the agency, effectively barring it from operating in the occupied territories.

Foreign ministers from Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Britain jointly criticized the proposed ban, saying it could have “devastating consequences” in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This move comes shortly after Israeli authorities confiscated land in East Jerusalem, where the UNRWA headquarters is located. The Israeli authorities plan to build 1,440 housing units on the site, which is illegal under international law. But Israel and its rulers simply don’t care about international law—they consider themselves above it.

While the international community was debating, under enormous pressure from Israel, whether and how much to allocate funds to this important UN agency, no one expected the Knesset to act so callously, in such heartless, brazen defiance of the entire international community and vote in its highest legislative chamber to ban UNRWA from providing simple humanitarian aid to Palestinians in dire need. It appears that the Israelis not only want to gratuitously appropriate Palestinian property, they want to destroy these people, to simply starve them to death.

For decades, Israel has demanded that the world, including its enemies, recognize its right to exist. But Palestinians also have a legitimate right to defend themselves. Yet by banning the UN agency, Israel weakens its own legitimacy and becomes an international pariah.

There are many proverbs in folklore that apply to what Israel, a UN member state bound by the UN Charter, plans to do to UNRWA. “Do not spit in the well from which you drink” and “do not cut off the branch on which you sit” are two examples that seem to perfectly illustrate the folly of a country that worries about its legitimacy while opposing the only international UN organization that gave it the right to exist. But the UN can also change its decision, which it made long ago in sympathy with Jewish refugees from WWII Europe.

What Israel does in this conflict it calls an “existential war” is actually weakening its own status in the world community. When someone else’s land is stolen and a new country is created on someone else’s property, the last thing you want is to strengthen those who question your own existence. And yet, that is the vast majority of the world community.

Thus, when the now racist Netanyahu government tries to solve the Palestinian refugee problem by exterminating the Palestinians, this move may have the opposite effect. As a UN member state that bans the UN agency for now, Israel is helping to strengthen the demands of its adversaries and forcing the international community to seriously consider its membership in the global body that once recognized it. Apparently, it is indeed true that, when God wants to punish someone, he simply takes away their mind.

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , | 1 Comment

All Of Your War Propaganda Describes Israel

By John Weeks | The Libertarian Institute | November 14, 2024

On October 30, former President Bill Clinton gave a campaign speech for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. Speaking at the Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Church, Clinton attempted to persuade American Muslims in that crucial swing state to vote for Harris despite her support for the Joe Biden administration’s disastrous Middle East policy.

It did not go well. For one thing, Harris went on to lose Michigan (and the election) in stunning fashion. There was also immediate backlash.

As the Huffington Post put it, Bill Clinton Justifies The Mass Killings Of Palestinians In Racist Michigan Speech.”

Clinton’s support for mass murder is not surprising. After all, this is the same Bill Clinton who presided over the massacre of American citizens and their foreign national guests at the Mount Carmel church and residence outside of Waco during the first year of his presidency.

The Waco slaughter was accompanied by a massive state and regime media disinformation campaign to convince the American people that the good folks to be sacrificed on the state’s altar were raving lunatics, armed to the teeth, and intent on waging war on downtown Waco.

The demonic entity that the propaganda portrayed the Christians of Mount Carmel as was pure fantasy. But decades later, the demon has slithered onto the world stage for real. That demon is Israel, and just like the fantasy version, the real demon was Made in America™.

The Waco propaganda was so good, more than thirty years later it still exists in the public mind. On the same day Clinton gave his pro-genocide speech, Stephen Colbert told a Waco joke during the opening monologue of The Late Show:

“[Elon] Musk already has eleven children and sources say he wants to gather them all together by creating a family compound in Texas. And you know a story is always going to end well when it starts with a compound in Texas.”

A “compound in Texas” is clearly a reference to the Mount Carmel church and home, which the state and its minions demonized as a compound with a “bunker” run by “lieutenants.” Did some deep state apparatchik submit that joke to The Late Show staff as a subtle threat against Musk (who heavily endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign)?

The state certainly has been filled with levity recently:

“State Department spokesman Matt Miller on Monday [November 4] made a joke and laughed when pressed about Israel failing to meet U.S. requests to allow more aid into Gaza as it’s imposing a starvation blockade on the northern part of the Strip.”

The point is that the state’s Waco talking points still resonate. In fact, they have become part of a larger propaganda template routinely used by the United States Imperial Government (USIG).

As the Soviet Union was in free fall, the USIG launched its war of choice against Iraq in 1991. It even got the Soviets to diplomatically back the Desert Storm adventure. As George Carlin put it:

“We couldn’t wait for that Cold War to be over, could we? Couldn’t wait for the Cold War to be over so we can go and play with our toys in the sand. Go and play with our toys in the sand.”

The USIG took most of the toys it had been training with to fight the Soviet Union and unleashed them on its own client state:

“Desert Storm was, in effect, the NATO–Warsaw Pact war that never was, pitting largely Soviet weaponry, doctrine, and tactics against a Coalition, which reflected NATO strategic thinking.”

Desert Storm, like all U.S. wars, was based on lies. The Cold War was over, so the fantasy of international communism taking over America was obsolete. After Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, President George H. W. Bush went with a fan favorite and accused Hussein of being “Hitler Revisited.” The regime falsely claimed Iraq was poised to invade Saudi Arabia and that its soldiers had murdered over 300 babies by taking them from their incubators and [leaving them] “on the cold floor to die.”

At Mount Carmel, the imperial information warfare directorate and some of the toys from Desert Storm were deployed on the mainland to crush Americans who had the misfortune of drawing the AFT’s attention during budget season. As Libertarian Institute Executive Director Scott Horton put it:

“… these are Texans. These people are 100 miles up the road. But they’re a foreign nation. They’re Iraqis dude. You could just drop the nuke on them and… the housewives of Northwest Austin would have been happy with that.”

David Koresh, the preacher who oversaw Mount Carmel, was the new Saddam Hussein; the new Hitler. As Horton observed, the propaganda template became locked in.

The template was deployed over and over again, most famously during the Iraq War in 2003. Saddam Hussein was the new Hitler. (Again.) His regime possessed illegal weapons of mass destruction. And he was bad to his own people. As Horton put it, “That’s all Waco was. It was Iraq War II writ small.”

Koresh might have been a morally indefensible man, but the government never provided any evidence he broke any law. Saddam was a monster (which is why he worked for years as a U.S. government proxy) and he brutally repressed his own people, but he did not have the fantasy nuclear weapons the Bush regime pretended he did. Nor did he have ties to Al Qaeda.

Israel, meanwhile, fully fits the template. It is run by madmen who peddle religious kookery. It has illegal nuclear weapons. It is mean to its own people. It has supported Al Qaeda and ISIS. It has slaughtered U.S. military personnel. It interferes with American democracy. It is committing genocide. It is attempting to spark a regional war. Israel even kills little newborn babies for real, the way Iraq did in the fantasy.

The state is a disease masquerading as its own cure. Keep that in mind when the likes of Bill Clinton tell you Israel is defending western civilization.

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

West Asia reacts to Trump’s dalliance with Zionism

By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR | Indian Punchline | November 14, 2024 

The election victory of Donald Trump in the November 5 election is being perceived in the West Asian region with growing anxiety as presaging the US aligning one hundred percent with the Zionist project for Greater Israel. 

Although Trump has kept out vociferous neocons from his government positions, the same cannot be said for pro-Zionist figures. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims he has spoken three times with Trump already since the election and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components.”

The “components” implies that Netanyahu hopes to get a blank cheque from Trump to accelerate the ethnic cleansing in Gaza, for annexation of West Bank, violent reprisals against Palestinians and, most important, to carry the war right into Iranian territory.  

Three events in as many days this week show the first signs of a backlash building up. On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei gave Tehran’s first official reaction to Trump’s election victory. Baqaei took a nuanced line saying, “What matters to us in this region is the United States’ actual behaviour and policies regarding Iran and the broader West Asia.” 

Notably, Baqaei expressed “cautious optimism that the new [Trump] administration might adopt a more peace-oriented approach, reduce regional hostilities, and uphold its commitments.” (Tehran Times) Baqaei also refuted the recent allegation by Washington that Iran was involved in plots to assassinate Trump. He called the Biden Administration’s allegation as “nothing more than an attempt to sabotage relations” between Tehran and Washington by “laying traps to complicate the path for the next administration.” 

Baqaei also held out an assurance to the incoming US administration that Tehran firmly adheres to a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes. He announced that Rafael Grossi, head of International Atomic Energy (IAEA) was due to arrive in Tehran  on Wednesday night. 

Taken together, Baqaei’s remarks suggest that Iran hopes there’s still daylight possible between Trump and Netanyahu. The clincher here would have been the remark that Trump slipped into his victory speech with great deliberation on November 6 that “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” 

Trump was on record during his election campaign that “I don’t want to do damage to Iran but they cannot have nuclear weapons.” Tehran’s consultations with Grossi responds to Trump’s concern. This is smart thinking. Iran’s non-provocative stance would mean there is no alibi for attacking Iran.

That said, however, the “known unknown” still remains — namely, Iran’s retaliation to the Israeli attack on October 26. On November 2, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a video released by Iranian state media, promised “a crushing response” to Israeli attack. Conceivably, the period till January 20 when Trump is sworn in, is going to be critical. 

Meanwhile, this week witnessed that Iran and Saudi Arabia have given verve to their detente, which is now manifesting as Riyadh’s solidarity and open support for Iran in its growing confrontation with Israel.

Amidst the growing tensions in the region, the chief of staff of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, visited Tehran on November 10 and met with his Iranian counterpart General Mohammad Bagheri. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke on the phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the phone in the context of a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – Arab League in Riyadh on November 11-12. Iran has extended an invitation to MbS to visit Tehran! 

Two hugely significant highlights of the Riyadh summit have been, first, the Saudi prince’s inaugural address where he warned Israel against hitting Iran. This marked a historic turn by Riyadh toward Tehran-Israeli conflict, and away from US-supported normalisation with Jerusalem.

MbS told the summit that the international community should oblige Israel “to respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands.” 

Again, Saudi Arabia accused Israel for the first time of committing “genocide” in Gaza. MbS told the leaders who gathered in Riyadh, that the kingdom renewed “its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people…”

Trump has been put on notice that he’s meeting a radically different geopolitical landscape in West Asia compared to his first term as president. The Trump transition team is keeping its cards close, offering NatSec Daily a boilerplate statement that Trump will take “necessary action” to “lead our country” and “restore peace through strength.” But warning bells are ringing. 

The key pillars of Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy against Tehran — isolating Iran and ramping up economic pressure while  maintaining a credible threat of military force as deterrent — have become wobbly.

On the other hand, the massive Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1 and the colossal failure of the Israeli air strike on Iran twenty-six days later convey a loud message all across West Asia that Israel is no longer the dominant military power it used to be — and there is a new sheriff in town. Trump will have to navigate the fallout of both sides of this issue with diminished US diplomatic and geopolitical capital at his disposal. 

Meanwhile, Tehran is also deepening its cooperation with Russia, which adds a giant new Ukraine-sized complexity to Trump’s Iran policy. While in Eurasia, the US has allies, Trump is navigating in West Asia pretty much alone.

The US’ stark isolation comes home dramatically by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement on Wednesday that Turkey, a NATO member country, has severed all ties with Israel. Erdogan disclosed this to journalists aboard his plane after visiting Saudi Arabia. A regional trend to ostracise Israel is visible now and it is destined to expand and deepen. 

The summit in Riyadh witnessed the African Union joining hands with the Arab League and OIC to sign a tripartite agreement on Tuesday to establish a mechanism to support the Palestinian cause, which will be coordinated through the three organisations’ secretariats as a game changer to strengthen their influence in international forums. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan noted that the three organisations will now onward speak with one voice internationally. 

Even as the summit concluded in Riyadh, Crown Prince Salman had a call on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin readout stated that the two leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to continue the consistent expansion” of Russian-Saudi ties and specifically “stressed the importance of continuing close coordination within OPEC Plus and stated the effectiveness and timeliness of the steps being taken in this format to ensure balance on the global energy market.”

On the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Kremlin readout noted with satisfaction that “the principled approaches of Russia and Saudi Arabia with regard to the Middle East settlement are essentially identical.”

MbS’ initiative to re-invigorate his conversation with Putin can only be seen against the backdrop of the profound misgivings in Riyadh regarding the Trump-Netanyahu bromance and the spectre of a possible regional war haunting the region stemming out of Israel drawing encouragement from the seamless US support expected through the coming 4-year period for the Zionist cause. 

November 14, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Truth About the violence in Amsterdam

If Americans Knew • November 13, 2024

See the full video at    • Sky News DELETES Truth About Israeli …  

Owen Jones is a writer and political commentator in the United Kingdom. He is a columnist for The Guardian and the author of two books.

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November 14, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Fake News, Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Video | , , | Leave a comment