Hedges: Need to look at the rupturing of social bonds....
January 14 interview of Chris Hedges by Jimmy Dore.
Why are people on the left cheering on the quickening loss of our civil liberties?
Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....
The collapsing US military & economic empire is making Washington & NATO even more dangerous. US could not beat the Taliban but thinks it can take on China-Russia-Iran...a sign of psychopathology for sure. @BruceKGagnon
January 14 interview of Chris Hedges by Jimmy Dore.
Why are people on the left cheering on the quickening loss of our civil liberties?
Israel & United States Unite Efforts In Large-Scale Strikes On Iranian Infrastructure In Syria
South Front
The first two weeks of 2021 have, so far, been marked by an incredible increase in Israeli activity in the skies over Syria.
The most intense strike took place on January 13 morning hitting multiple Syrian and Iranian-affiliated targets in the province of Deir Ezzor, including the underground base of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Corps near al-Bukamal.
The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli strikes have killed 57 and wounded another 37. Pro-government sources confirmed only 5 casualties.
The airstrikes were so numerous that even Abu Yatem al-Katrani – the commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) 4th Brigade was killed in an airstrike.
The Israeli operations were carried out with the assistance of the United States – it provided intelligence and Israeli struck on them. Former CIA Director, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was reportedly discussing the airstrikes with Yossi Cohen, chief of Israel’s spy agency Mossad.
The US support of Tel Aviv’s aerial raids is a clear message to Iran, and is a very open support to Israel’s undeclared war against Iran, which it has been waging in Syria since hostilities began.
All of the airstrikes in the first two weeks of 2021 are the most significant by Israel, and over all, since the beginning of the war in Syria. They were so significant, that Damascus even accused Tel Aviv of carrying out the strikes in very open support of ISIS militants which the Syrian Arab Army is hunting.
Meanwhile, there appears to be a sense of urgency, or a sense of danger in the air, as the United States reinforced its troop positions in the Omar oil fields with artillery pieces and other equipment.
The US troops, together with their local proxies also hold frequent drills in the area, to keep ready, for some future unknown escalation.
Prior to New Year’s Eve, Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated, in what Tehran claimed to be an elaborate Israeli operation.
Additionally, since around the same time, a farewell strike on Iran has been expected from US President Donald Trump, and the general chaos in the US ahead of Joe Biden stepping into office has been used by Israel as a chance to inflict as much damage as possible on Tehran and its allies.
Russia, at the same time, appears to also be preparing for an escalation of some sort, by building up its forces and is lying in wait.
Israel appears dead set on continuing its crusade against Iran and its allies in Syria. An urgency is felt, since Biden is unlikely to support Tel Aviv as much as Trump did, and every possible chance should be used. This is all in spite of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed the photo of Donald Trump from his Twitter, but all is fair in love and war.
Finally, both the American and Russian forces appear to be biding their time, waiting for an escalation that, with tensions at the breaking point appears closer than ever.
The year began with terrorist attacks in Syria, increased Israeli strikes, Iran threatening against any aggression against it, and the two most significant players in the face of Moscow and Washington are expecting an escalation, and no amount of preparation would be enough for the incoming storm.
Former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ), a longtime expert on Russia and a sober-minded policy analyst, said he was deeply troubled at the relentless expansion of NATO.
In a Jan. 23, 2008 talk before the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, he sounded a disconsolate note, describing NATO expansion a “terribly sad thing … a blunder of monumental proportions… .“ As tensions increased with Russia, Bradley added, “Right now we are confronted with something that could have easily been avoided.”
These words above are by Ray McGovern (former CIA analyst) in a new article about Biden's appointment of William Burns to head the CIA. Very interesting and instructive - see it here.
There are less than two weeks until the World Says No to War on Yemen Global Day of Action and we need your help reaching every corner of the globe! Please share this event as far and wide as you possibly can. You can start by sending it to your mailing lists and putting it on your website, sharing it on your social media accounts, reaching out to fellow organisations and even just talking with your friends and family.
Over 230 organisations from 17 countries have signed up for a call to action against the war on Yemen so far, making this the biggest international anti-war coordination since the campaign against the Iraq war. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic many of the planned physical protests have had to be postponed but our global movement will not be silenced.
The under-reported war in Yemen has led to the death of 250,000 people and created the worst humanitarian crisis anywhere in the world according to the UN. They estimate that more than 24 million people in the country, which was already one of the poorest on the planet prior to the war, will need humanitarian assistance in 2021.
The foreign aggression is led by Saudi Arabia, with the involvement of the UAE, but it is backed by some key Western powers – the US, the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada. In particular, the US and the UK have maintained unquestioning support for Saudi Arabia since the war began and are both participants in the war.
This protest is timed to take place just days after the inauguration of Joe Biden, who has promised to end US support for the war. This is our one central aim – to hold him to his word and force fellow governments to follow suit. The day of action is also timed for the eve of the Saudi Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.
For the World Says No to War on Yemen Global Online Rally we have brought together a group of prominent voices from across the world to speak out against this utterly brutal war and call for its immediate end.
Among those joining us Monday, January 25, at 11am PST / 2pm EST / 7pm GMT / 10pm Yemen:
Ahmed Al-Babati (British-Yemeni Soldier)
Jeremy Corbyn (UK Member of Parliament)
Danny Glover (Actor)
Tawakkol Karman (Yemeni Nobel Peace Laureate)
Daniele Obono (French National Assembly Member)
Yanis Varoufakis (MeRA25 Secretary-General)
Link to the event, where you and your contacts can register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a1UiRQgwS_Kk-sBG86bv-A
Thank you for your support!
Are we heading for civil war in America? Increasingly I observe that many voices are saying they think such a violent divide is coming. Wouldn't the corporate oligarchs that really run America be quite happy if that was so? Divide and conquer.
I've been sifting my way through many articles and social media postings to try to get a feel for where people's heads are at. Below are just a few samplings of what some folks are writing. I'd be interested to hear what you think about this question....
Bruce
Victoria Nuland, former foreign policy adviser to vice president Dick Cheney, should not be nominated for Undersecretary of State, and if nominated should be rejected by the Senate.
During the Obama Administration Nuland served as Hillary Clinton's Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Her foreign policy views are troublingly close to those of her husband, Robert Kagan, who co-founded the Project for a New American Century in the late 90’s. Kagan remains one of the leading architects and proponents of modern neo-conservatism, and sits on the Council of Foreign Relations.
Nuland played a key role in facilitating a 2014 coup in Kiev, Ukraine that created a civil war costing 10,000 lives and displacing over a million people. She played a key role in arming Ukraine as well. She advocates radically increased military spending, NATO expansion, hostility toward Russia, and efforts to overthrow the Russian government.
The United States invested $5 billion in shaping Ukrainian politics, including overthrowing a democratically elected president who had refused to join NATO. Then Assistant Secretary of State Nuland is on video (below) talking about the U.S. investment and on audiotape (above) planning to install Ukraine’s next leader, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who was subsequently installed.
The Kiev Maidan protests, at which Nuland handed out cookies to protesters, were violently escalated by neo-Nazis and by snipers who opened fire on police. When Poland, Germany, and France negotiated a deal for the Maidan demands and an early election, neo-Nazis instead attacked the government and took over. The U.S. State Department immediately recognized the coup government, and Arseniy Yatsenyuk was installed as Prime Minister.
Nuland has worked with the openly pro-Nazi Svoboda Party in Ukraine. She was long a leading proponent of arming Ukraine. She was also an advocate for removing from office the prosecutor general of Ukraine, whom then Vice President Joe Biden pushed the president to remove.
Nuland wrote this past year that “The challenge for the United States in 2021 will be to lead the democracies of the world in crafting a more effective approach to Russia—one that builds on their strengths and puts stress on Putin where he is vulnerable, including among his own citizens.”
She added: “…Moscow should also see that Washington and its allies are taking concrete steps to shore up their security and raise the cost of Russian confrontation and militarization. That includes maintaining robust defense budgets, continuing to modernize U.S. and allied nuclear weapons systems, and deploying new conventional missiles and missile defenses, . . . establish permanent bases along NATO’s eastern border, and increase the pace and visibility of joint training exercises.”
The United States walked out of the ABM Treaty and later the INF Treaty, began putting missiles into Romania and Poland, expanded NATO to Russia’s border, facilitated a coup in Ukraine, began arming Ukraine, and started holding massive war rehearsal exercises in Eastern Europe. But to read Victoria Nuland’s account, Russia is simply an irrationally evil and aggressive force that must be countered by yet more military spending, bases, and hostility. Some U.S. military officials say this demonizing of Russia is all about weapons profits and bureaucratic power, no more fact-based than the Steele Dossier that was given to the FBI by Victoria Nuland.
You can sign a petition opposing Nuland's nomination by Joe Biden to this new post in his administration here.
Signed by:
Alaska Peace Center
Center for Encounter and Active Non-Violence
CODEPINK
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Greater Brunswick PeaceWorks
Jemez Peacemakers
Knowdrones.com
Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Nukewatch
Peace Action Maine
PEACEWORKERS
Physicians for Social Responsibility – Kansas City
Progressive Democrats of America
Peace Fresno
Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!
The Resistance Center for Peace and Justice
RootsAction.org
Veterans For Peace Chapter 001
Veterans For Peace Chapter 63
Veterans For Peace Chapter 113
Veterans For Peace Chapter 115
Veterans For Peace Chapter 132
Wage Peace
World BEYOND War