Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Trump’s speech on Afghanistan: The military in command – SEP Newsletter

Many sites are being targeted by Google and those who would prefer to hide reality. WSWS is one of the two most important to members of this community (the other is BLACK AGENDA REPORT). The SEP newsletter below provides you with a load of information that, as is usually the case with WSWS, you won't find anywhere else (a point Trina's already made tonight).

Trump’s new policy in Afghanistan, unveiled in a nationally televised address Monday evening, is a declaration of open-ended and unrestrained military violence against a country that has suffered sixteen years of unbroken American aggression. It was at the same time an expression of the extraordinary degree of power and influence exercised by the military over political life in the United States.

In their conflict with Trump, the Democrats and their political allies have worked to bury beneath an endless series of diversionary issues—centered on a grossly distorted presentation of the United States as a country torn by irreconcilable racial divisions—the most critical issues: social inequality, poverty, war and the unprecedented growth in the power of the military-industrial-financial complex, which represents the most serious threat to the democratic and social rights of the working class.

In response to Trump’s commitment to ever-greater military violence, a new antiwar movement must be built. The fight against imperialist war must be rooted in the working class, mobilized on an international basis in opposition to all the organizations and institutions of the ruling class and the capitalist system they defend.

Contact the SEP today to help build this movement!

Fraternally,
Joseph Kishore
SEP National Secretary

Trump’s speech on Afghanistan: The military in command

By Joseph Kishore

The most remarkable passages in Trump’s speech came at the beginning. He delivered a paean to the military as the essential force for controlling a divided nation. The military is an instrument of “absolutely perfect cohesion,” Trump declared. “The soldier understands what we as a nation too often forget,” he said. “The young men and women we send to fight our wars abroad deserve to return to a country that is not at war with itself at home.”

Trump’s statements have profoundly sinister implications. They portray the military as the unifier of a fractured country, a force for structure, discipline—and repression. Under conditions of mounting social and political conflicts within the United States, his speech is a declaration of the central role of the military not only in waging war abroad, but maintaining order at home. Read more »

Behind the political warfare in the US: Rising fears of financial collapse, social unrest

By Nick Beams

There are growing concerns in US and global financial circles that the rise in the US stock market that accelerated with the election of Donald Trump is heading for a major downturn. These concerns shed a revealing light on some of the underlying forces driving the virtual civil war in the US political establishment.

The view among Wall Street speculators and corporate executives is that the “Trump trade”, which sent the Dow Jones and other market indexes to record highs, has run its course, with the president increasingly becoming an economic liability. The tipping point in business sentiment came in the wake of the conflict over the Charlottesville Nazi rampage. Trump’s remarks defending neo-Nazis were seen as undermining the interests of American imperialism internationally and threatening to unleash social and political instability at home.

However, concerns over the instability caused by Trump reflect deeper fears. The American ruling class confronts problems that extend far beyond the current occupant of the White House. Read more »

Trump, Charlottesville and Jorg Baberowski

By Johannes Stern

It is difficult to overstate the hypocrisy of the German ruling class. When the right-wing extremist German Professor Jörg Baberowski trivializes the crimes of the Nazis and endorses right-wing violence, there is no outcry from the political or media establishment. On the contrary, these very same circles slander and seek to censor those critical voices that are raised in opposition to Baberowski’s pro-Nazi apologetics—above all the World Socialist Web Site.

Under the protection of influential forces in the realms of politics, the media and the military, Baberowski has for years been using his position at Humboldt University to agitate against refugees, argue in favour of illegal methods of war, and whitewash the Nazis. His right-wing extremist statements go well beyond anything Trump has said publicly. Baberowski is, for example, a declared supporter of Ernst Nolte, the most well known Nazi apologist among post-World War II historians. “Nolte was done an injustice. Historically speaking, he was right,” Baberowski told Der Spiegel in 2014. Read more »

Stop internet censorship!
End Google’s blacklist of the World Socialist Web Site!

More than two thousand sign petition to stop Google censorship

By Zac Corrigan

On August 14, the World Socialist Web Site launched a petition against the manipulation of search results by tech giant Google, which is aimed at blocking access to socialist, anti-war, and progressive websites, with the WSWS the principal target. After one week, more than 2,000 people from at least 70 countries have signed the petition, demanding that Google’s top executives stop their “attack on free speech, independent thought, and the basic right to uncensored information.”

The number of signatures jumped over the weekend, after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange tweeted a link to the WSWS’s exposure of Google’s actions.

Google’s censorship program, which was announced on April 25 under the pretext of countering “fake news,” has been thoroughly exposed by the WSWS in an ongoing series of articles. Since April, thirteen leading oppositional websites have been buried or banished altogether from Google search results, causing a massive drop in their readership. The WSWS itself was the hardest hit, losing more than two-thirds of its traffic that originated from Google searches. The top 45 search terms that formerly led readers to the WSWS are now blocked by Google. Read more »

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Iraq snapshot

Wednesday, August 23, 2017. Chaos and violence continue, a reporter visits 'liberated' Mosul, the US government works overtime to prevent Kurdish independence, and much more.

From video report below: "The Baghdad government has declared victory. But the threat still lingers. There are still pockets of ISIS fighters in the old city. And this is what liberation looks like. Iraq's second largest city, just ruins."

Yalda Hakim reporting from Mosul for the BBC.

At THE DAILY MIRROR, they have a photo essay featuring Carol Guzy's photographs of some of the Mosul survivors.

Meanwhile, it's apparently victory lap time for others.

Brett McGurk‏Verified account @brett_mcgurk 20 hours ago

Proud to serve with LTG Townsend, a nightmare for #ISIS as he led our @coalition campaign in #Iraq and #Syria over the past 12 months.

25 replies112 retweets367 likes

Hmm.

I wonder.

Mad Maddie Albright infamously declared on TV, in the 90s, that the death of 1/2 million Iraqi children was worth it. She was still aglow, feeding on the blood of the dead.

Ten years later, she realized that gloating would follow her forever.

Will Brett be so proud in 2040? When we have a strong estimate on exactly how many civilians were killed?

And the war drags on.

‏Verified account @XHNews

Iraqi forces enter 1st neighborhood in Tal Afar, last #IS major redoubt in Iraq http://xhne.ws/2OfzB 

2 replies34 retweets70 likes

When Tal Afar falls, I guess they'll move on to the next "last #IS major redoubt in Iraq" -- the way that was once how they described Mosul. Will that be Hawija?

US Special Envoy Brett McGurk called Tal Afar "the last major city they [ISIS]'re holding in northern Iraq."

W.J. Hennigan (LOS ANGELES TIMES) passes on, "U.S. commanders say the offensive against the estimated 2,500 militants in and around Tall Afar will be grinding because Islamic State fighters built extensive defenses. Among them: They lined up derelict vehicles to push invading forces into a kill zone strewn with booby traps." Really?

Grinding?

Because abandoned cars and trucks are directing the foot flow?

How many tons of bombs is the US coalition planning to drop on Tal Afar?

2,500 militants?

You'd think the Iraqi forces -- even the Iraqi forces? -- could handle 2500 fighters by themselves.

You'd think.

In other news, the US government again meddles in foreign elections.

Yesterday, Brett McGurk declared, "We believe these issues should be resolved through dialogue under the constitutional framework and that a referendum, at this time, would be really potentially catastrophic to the counter-ISIS campaign. We've mentioned that before. And so we've made that position very clear, but we are hopeful that this dialogue that's going on now can deliver some results."

But, Brett, the KRG is following the Constitution of Iraq, as you well know.

As for timing?

Isn't it funny how the oppressors will always insist to the oppressed that they're not against freeing the oppressed but just not right now?

There's never a 'good time' for certain types to give up the reigns (and whip?) but there is a "right time" for it and I'd argue a referendum on Kurdish independence is long overdue.

Australia's ABC notes:

And one of them [working for the referendum] is Zirian Fatah, from Kurdish Lobby Australia.
"Both my parents were freedom fighters, fighting on the front line against Saddam Hussein's dictatorship," he said. "As a child my bassinet was a suitcase."
Now, with dialogue rather than bullets, he's working to win support in Australia for the independence referendum.
"The reality of Iraq is it was always fictional. It was always a state that was sticky-taped together," he said.
"During the 1920s, the Kurds were promised their own state. Unfortunately, due to the superpowers — the British and the French — Kurdistan was divided and carved up amongst four host nations. We're hoping to see that undone now.
"The Kurdish people aspire to achieve their independence. It has been a long time coming, and it is an historic moment in time."

But the US government is attempting to stop the vote from taking place.

It's interesting, isn't it, how this happens in the open with no outrage in the US?

Contrast that with the still unproven charge that Russia 'hacked/interfered/mind controlled' the 2016 US presidential election. Contrast it with the outrage and hysteria from Hillary Clinton's Temple Prostitutes. Or crazed Hillary herself, right?

In the United States, IAVA issued the following:

PRESS CONTACT

Tel: 212-982-9699

NEW YORK, NY (August 19, 2017) – Today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the leading voice of the Post-9/11 generation of veterans, applauded the President’s signing of H.R. 873, establishing a memorial in Washington for our generation of warriors. This is the third IAVA legislative priority to become law in the last month, with another expected this week on VA appeals.

“We are proud to support a memorial for the Global War on Terror in the nation’s capital. We thank Andrew Brennan and the GWOT Memorial Foundation for their steadfast leadership, and members of Congress and the President for listening to veterans and acting quickly to sign this bill into law,” said Paul Rieckhoff, Founder and CEO of IAVA. “Eighty-two percent of IAVA members said that they support the creation of a memorial for veterans and their families of this era. Having a place for our generation to gather and mourn is vital to honoring all those who have served since 9/11. We’re proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with our VSO partners to ensure that veterans and their families have somewhere to reflect and remember the sacrifice of those in our community.”

IAVA has advocated for a Post-9/11 National Monument in its Policy Agenda for years. For the full IAVA recommendations on a national memorial, please see the 2017 IAVA Policy Agenda.

Note to media: Email press@iava.org or call 212-982-9699 to speak with IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff or IAVA leadership.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the leading post-9/11 veteran empowerment organization (VEO) with the most diverse and rapidly growing membership in America. As a non-profit founded in 2004, IAVA’s mission is to connect, unite and empower post-9/11 veterans. Celebrating its 12th year anniversary, IAVA has connected more than 1.2 million veterans with resources and community, and provided more than 7,300 veterans with personalized support from IAVA’s Master’s level social workers.

The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley, BLACK AGENDA REPORT, LATINO USA and CHOCOLATE CITY -- updated: