Saturday, February 03, 2018

The war for empire continues





Neil Clark (above) writes at RT:

For the truth is the ‘I’ word is the elephant in the room in contemporary discourse. We’re not supposed to acknowledge its existence. Imperialism, according to the dominant Establishment narrative, ended when the European empires gave their colonies independence in the 1950s and 60s. In fact, the ‘old’ imperialism was only replaced by a new variant which is even more destructive, and certainly more dishonest. At least the British Empire admitted it was an empire.
Today’s US-led neoliberal empire, which has Britain as its junior partner, does no such thing. Entire countries have been destroyed, with millions killed, and it’s been done under a ‘progressive’ banner trumpeting concern for ‘human rights’ and ‘enhancing freedoms.’
In an electrifying address, Wight lambasted the pro-imperial propaganda to which we are relentlessly subjected to in the West. How absurd is it, he asked, that NATO troops are on Russia’s borders, while Russian troops have been fighting in Syria the same ISIS/Al-Qaeda terrorist groups who have been killing British citizens back home? Citing Marx, Wight reminded the audience of how the ideas of the ruling class become the dominant ideas, and the demonization of Russia is a classic example of this. Ordinary Britons don’t regard Putin as a ‘threat’ as they go about their daily business, but they do – rightly – regard the terrorist groups that Russia has been fighting as a danger to them. But the ruling class hate Russia because it has thwarted its imperial ambitions.
Wight said that opponents of imperialism should never go on the back foot when confronted by supporters of criminal wars of aggression, such as the Iraq War – which has led to the deaths of around 1 million people and the rise of ISIS. He mentioned that these people hate the fact that there are now alternative media channels such as RT which challenge the dominant neocon/neoliberal narrative.
“Alternative media and those who go on it are under attack because they have the temerity to ask the most subversive question in the English language which is: Why? Why did we go to war in Iraq? Why are there sanctions on Cuba? Why are we going after Iran but are close friends with the Saudis? This question is so powerful. We are attacked because we ask the question, why? I am reminded of the African proverb that until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. Now with the alternative media, the lions have their historians. We can put the case for the Syrian people; we can put the case for the Venezuelan people; we can put the case why Russia should not be our enemy.”

[. . .]


In my address, I stressed how important it was to see the US-led attacks, interventions and destabilization campaigns against sovereign states of the past 20 years as part of the same war, one waged for total global domination. Independent, resource-rich countries usually with socialist/socialistic governments and economies which weren’t controlled by global corporations, have been targeted, one-by-one. In each case, the leaders of the countries concerned were relentlessly demonized. They were called dictators, even though in the case of Hugo Chavez and Slobodan Milosevic they had won numerous democratic elections and operated in countries where opposition parties freely operated.
The ‘target states’ were subject to draconian sanctions which created economic hardship and a ‘pressure cooker’ environment, which usually resulted in street protests against the government, egged on by the US. The governments were then told ‘the world is watching you’ and ordered not to respond, even when violence was used by protestors. The same strategy was deployed in Yugoslavia in 2000, Ukraine in 2014, and Venezuela in 2017. In Afghanistan and Iraq, we had a full-scale invasion (based on the ‘fake news’ that Saddam possessed WMDs) and in Libya (and Yugoslavia) a NATO bombing campaign.
There has been endless war for the past twenty years and it won’t end until we understand what’s been going on and demand a new foreign policy in place of the current racist one which holds that the US and its closest allies have the right to say who should or shouldn’t be in charge of other countries, but denies the same rights to the ‘inferior’ countries targeted.


And the Iraq War continues.


THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS JOURNAL notes, "In operations related to Iraq, a total of 4,534 members of the U.S. military have died. Another 32,310 U.S. service personnel have been wounded in action."

And it continues.

KURDISTAN 24 reports:



During January, 115 civilians were killed and 250 more injured due to violence, terrorism, and armed conflict in Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) stated on Thursday.
According to the UNAMI statement, the Iraqi capital of Baghdad was the most affected province due to violence and terror attacks during January, with 323 casualties of which 90 were killed, and 233 wounded.


Wow.  The month of January began with Patrick Cockburn giving us "good news" about Baghdad, violence was down, blah blah blah . . .

The month ended with Baghdad seeing the most violence.

Maybe things would be more accurate if so-called reporters would be less eager to impart "good news" and more concerned with reality?


The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley, Cindy Sheehan and the ACLU -- updated:










  • Ahead of Super Bowl, IAVA Calls on Americans to Listen to Veterans, Not Politicize Them

    From IAVA:




    PRESS CONTACT
    Tel: 212-982-9699

    press@iava.org


    February 2, 2018 (New York, NY) — This fall, after politicians and celebrities alike evoked veterans to further their political arguments around protests during NFL football games, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the leading voice of the Post-9/11 generation of veterans, unveiled the findings of the first and most comprehensive national poll of veterans and military personnel on the protests in the NFL. More than 8,000 of IAVA’s 425,000 members nationwide responded to this groundbreaking poll, which overall showed that veterans opinions on the protests span the spectrum.
    In advance of the biggest football game of the year, IAVA is highlighting this information for the media and Americans nationwide. The data, available online here, revealed that 98% of service members and veterans polled believe the First Amendment protects the right to peacefully protest. 62% believe NFL players have the right to peacefully protest during a game. It also found that many disagree with both President Trump and the NFL’s response to the protests and that many will boycott the NFL outright. Most polled also felt that many other issues facing America are more urgent right now.
    “Ahead of the Super Bowl, America once again is talking about the protests in the NFL. And many people are claiming to speak on behalf of veterans and troops. We wanted to give veterans the opportunity to speak for themselves. The most important takeaway from this groundbreaking data is that there is no monolithic veteran opinion. The opinions of veterans are often as diverse as those of all Americans,” said Paul Rieckhoff, Founder and CEO of IAVA. “However, veterans can play a unique and important leadership role in America, especially in moments that test our national unity. We have invaluable experience and perspective–especially around questions of patriotism. We hope this data and our voices will add light to a discussion so far dominated by heat as the world watches the Super Bowl this Sunday. IAVA and our members are standing by to be a voice of perspective, experience and unity. And we are completely committed to doing all that we can help move America forward.”
    Methodology: Emails were sent to IAVA’s veteran members inviting them to participate in IAVA’s poll on the NFL protests. The poll was available from 9/30-10/2/17. Over 8,000, service members and veterans participated. The margin of error for this poll is +/- 1.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. This response is the largest that IAVA has seen in our polling history, and represents only data collected from the military and veteran community.
    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.












    Yo mama's so dumb . . . she lost a rigged election!

    Some Tweets from journalist Margaret Kimberley:


    1. so stupid it says what we already knew. That Hillary Clinton paid a spy to discredit Trump but she still lost despite raising $1 billion. Actually it isn't the memo that's stupid.
    2.   Retweeted
      Yo Mama is so dumb she lost a rigged election with twice the money, all of the media and the FBI, CIA & NSA spying on Trump. "The Memo Reveals the Coup"
    3.   Retweeted
      Replying to 
      Not only Belgium..the Portuguese, Dutch and British were no better. They raped all their colonies for centuries.
    4.   Retweeted
      Replying to 
      Realeza belga era participante importante en esclavitud congoleños.
    5.   Retweeted
      No better than Hitler or Stalin...
    6.   Retweeted
      Replying to 
      And many people in Belgium still consider Leopold II a great king. They even have statues and monuments to remember him. But, he was no more than a raging egotistical and genocidal maniac.
    7.   Retweeted
      Replying to 
      J aimerai BIEN SAVOIR dans ce cas qui est le SAUVAGE ? Le BELGE EVIDEMENT.
    8. "We are doing Putin's job for him." John McCain Putin is a busy man. Let's take something off of his plate. LOL.
    9.   Retweeted
      Ladies deserving our utmost admiration & thanks for reporting the truth from Syria when western MSM used puppet activists there to spread lies. Without these ladies western propaganda would have been much more effective & would have cost many more lives. THANK YOU VANESSA & EVA!
    10.   Retweeted
      Bookstore in 1970's Harlem
    11. Grenada
    12.   Retweeted
      Punishment for not collecting enough of the rubber plant in Belgium Congo, ca. 1908.
    13.   Retweeted
      19 year old Soviet sniper, who killed 54 men during WWII (1940s)
    14.   Retweeted
      Democrats have to be the most brainwashed fools on the planet. Anything exposing them is a Russian plot, spying is just fine against Trump but knowing about the spying is a threat, they cheat, lose, cry sexism, lecture, cover up abuse, love W. Bush and still think they've won
    15.   Retweeted
      I couldn't care less about the memo. I am concerned about how this silliness of Russia-gate has been used by the corporate & state sector to strengthen capitalist dictatorship. You are being played & the driving force for giving power to the state/corporate sector are democrats.
    16.   Retweeted
      It is strange that so-called progressives defend the FBI but for black folks it is absurd. But a result of the FBI led counter-insurgency of the 70s produced the black miss-leadership class that now support oppressive institutions and mimic white power.
    17.   Retweeted
      BREAKING: Punxsutawney Phil named as a person of interest in the probe as a possible Russian operative meddling in U.S. weather.
    18.   Retweeted
      Adam Schiff voted to give unlimited spying powers to the guy he's supposed to be resisting. He's an opportunist hack.
    19.   Retweeted
      I can't stop looking.
       
    20.   Retweeted
      RT if you want to stop censoring a Black anti-imperialist voice! Head to blackallianceforpeace DOT com SLASH newsletter to read our latest take.
    21.   Retweeted
      Portraits of Afro-Palestinians from Jerusalem and Jericho. ✊🏾🖤 🇵🇸