It turns out that the CIA has realised for years that drone attacks are of very limited utility. Like so many of the injustices of the “War on Terror”, they are in fact a driver for armed hatred of the West, not least because they kill more civilians than targets.
But of course, the “war on terror” is very much about boosting the standing of politicians who are “fighting terror” on behalf of their citizens, and about boosting the ever-inflating powers – and budgets – of the security services. SO counterproductive measures are, paradoxically, the most attractive to those whose aim is not to obtain peace, but rather to maintain the concentration of power and finance consequent upon an eternal state of phoney war.
Happy Saturnalia! Joyous Bacchanal.
Seriously. Merry Christmas to all. 🙂
“Nollaig shona agus aithbhliain faoi mhaise dhibh uilig.”
……………………
Nollaig chridheil agus bliadhna mhath ur.
and to everyone else, Merry christmas and a Happy New Year.
Everybody in the world who gets their news from outside MSM knows that Vladislav Voloshin was the Ukrainian pilot who shot down MH17. But there is a Joint Investigation Team from Ukraine (who knows who did it but still pretends not to know), Holland, Belgium, Australia (who all probably know who did it) and Malaysia (recently admitted due to pressure from the Malaysian media and others) who could save lots of money by interviewing the pilot. This story, like the release of Russia’s satellite images on 22nd July, hardly gets a mention in western MSM, and it is why nobody uses it as a source any more.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/meet-the-pilot-who-shot-down-malaysian-boeing-mh-17-vladislav-voloshin-the-plane-was-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time/5421363
Just a fleeting visit to wish you all a Happy Christmas from me and the robin who befriended me.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127161425@N07/15911112969/
2015
My usual crystal ball gazing is early this year as something else takes over. To look over the horizon I hope you will agree we must acknowledge the geopolitical shift towards Russia-China integration and the intention to attract and ‘turn-on’ the industrious Germany towards a trade alliance, a new economic reality on Eurasian turf.
Most I hope will agree, the US Empire of Chaos together with it’s ‘City of London’ monarchy has used European countries as pawns in a really awful, miserable and torturous game of chess.
What about the other side of the board? Can we trust Xi and his master plan since he holds the best position in this game? Allow me to answer that in simple terms. I have never ever had a dodgy Chinese meal and even Fuzzy’s Chinese bike has done her proud. Dun Che Lao Ren is generous and kind, so yes I trust Xi.
Can we trust Vladimir Putin? Naturally I think by growing faith we can grow hope until acceptance aligns with truth. In other words we can cultivate truth from many strands to form a strong bond. I can try to unravel a few strands.
In simple terms I think the Soviet Union or USSR imploded itself – not from communism or socialism or US propaganda or ‘reds under bed’ – No, I think Russia congealed and ‘caved into’ a curdled mixture of communism and corrupt capitalism that moth-balled all things Russian. Effectively Russia froze, paralyzed by its own oligarths with their off-shore banks and illegal enterprises.
With no warning, on December 31, 1999, President Boris Yeltsin made the announcement to the world that from the next day he was leaving Russia in the hands of an unknown, Vladimir Putin. Putin was the quiet boy at school who loved martial arts and stood up to the school bullies. In his mind a new Russia would be a level playing field such when asked what should be the relationship with the so-called Russian oligarchs, he relied, “the same as anyone else.” “The same as the owner of a small bakery or a shoe repair shop.”
Subsequent ‘deals’ with these Russian tycoons sent a signal to Margaret Thatcher who warned a nervous and naive Blair to devise a plan ‘to champion the Russian oligarths, notably highly political Mikhail Khodorkovsky who didn’t pay taxes, and prior to being apprehended and jailed was in the process of selling a major portion of Russia’s largest private oil company, Yukos Oil, to Shell Exxon Mobil.
Today and tomorrow Britain will target the oligarths, Poroshenko is a good example. The Empire of Chaos may be good at bluffing, can use the buttress of Israel’s deception but, like all such liars is lousy at this risk game. America, Britain and Israel will ‘up the ante’ to force Russia to back down.
Russia won’t back down so expect 2015 to be the ‘year of fear’ as the rampantly irrational and specious Empire of Chaos makes it’s moves.
Always has to have the last word. Very Irish.
While most of us sit down at tables groaning with a surfeit of food, spare a thought for those hanging on to the edge in Gaza.
22/12/2014
UN predictions fall short: Gaza uninhabitable today
By Eva Bartlett, RT
http://www.panorama.am/en/popular/2014/12/22/eva-bartlett/
Eva even quotes Dr Mads!
‘Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert has shared the last three major wars with the Palestinians in Gaza. Recently, Israeli authorities banned him from entering Gaza, in spite of him maintaining a professional neutrality. Gilbert said: “I think the truth is the security risk because when I, as a white medical doctor with blue eyes and white hair, tell the real story of the realities in the sharp end of the Israeli attacks, the Palestinians change from being terrorists to being humans, the numbers change from being numbers to being people, and the children appear as yours and my children. …this is actually a danger to the Israeli narrative and, in a way, the global reputation of Israel, which is partially falling apart now.”
Aside from Gilbert’s heart-breaking observations on the slaughter of Palestinians, he notes poignantly, “The average age is 17.6 years, …a child ghetto of 1.2 million children and young people are being denied the right to escape the bombs, to fly, because they cannot get out.” This, incidentally, was the third major massacre for Palestinians six years or older in Gaza since December 2008.’
“In his mind a new Russia would be a level playing field such when asked what should be the relationship with the so-called Russian oligarchs, he relied, “the same as anyone else.” “The same as the owner of a small bakery or a shoe repair shop.”
So that’s why he decided to give them all a flat 13% income tax rate!
The spiel that Putin is standing up to the oligarchs is comedy of the highest order – yes he has dealt with those oligarch’s who challenge his own circle, but that circle has demonstrated an even higher of greed. Remember that relations between different branches of any “mafia” are not usually characterised by harmony. Look at how the capital outflows from Russia under Putin have increased dramatically, look at the positions held by members of Putin’s Petersburg circle, ask yourself how Putin came to replace Yeltsin so seamlessly, look into the deals Putin undertook when he worked for Sobchak in Petersburg before he had such an apparatus to cover his tracks (read Masha Gessen on this subject), ask yourself if Putin is really a man whose income is limited to his officially declared salary of less than £100k, ask yourself why the common name for Putin’s political party is the “party of crooks and thieves”.
The political crime in Britain is that we have acted as the laundry for so much money and assets that have in effect been stolen from the Russian people. It is worth remembering that for much of the Putin period and beforehand Russian nationals have not been permitted to have foreign bank accounts or own foreign shares without the permission of the Central Bank of Russia – a fact conveniently ignored by foreign banks when considering whether funds represent the proceeds of crime. Similarly, the sale of key Russian materials has not been permitted without a state licence – remember that when you meet Russian oil traders etc. who have somehow diverted the proceeds of such sales into the bank accounts of their personal companies.
I do agree with Mr Golding that the Soviet Union imploded not from communism but under the greed and inefficiency of its own nomenklatura – but I’m afraid it is the same people who are by and large still in charge although their formal political ideology has changed to something more in line with their personal avarice. In the meantime they have converted Russia into an economy with next to no industrial base apart from its military complex, retained the stifling and corrupt bureaucracy and increased the whole country’s dependence on the price of raw materials. Russia deserves a lot better.
Merry Xmas everyone
I second that Fedup and best wishes to you too.
@ Giyane:
“Al Qaida’s takfirism/ denial of others’ faith by which they declare the rights and properties of Muslims forfeit, is universally acknowledged by all Islamic scholars as a Western innovation firstly through blackmail and partisan support for the Saudi family in KSA inserting Zionists into the monarchy and incorrect beliefs into the religion, and secondly through Zionists in Egypt influencing Islam through the Muslim Brotherhood against traditional Islamic values which are similar to the values of the ten commandments of Moses in respect of life and property.”
So you’re saying Saudi is really run, if not by the Jews (yes, I know, Zionist /= Jewish), then at least as a proxy of the Israeli government. And the main opposition group in Egypt, which was persecuted for decades for being ‘too Muslim’ (and yes, of course, representing ‘people power’ instead of ‘army power’), is also in reality secretly in step with Israel’s agenda…
Most of Craig’s comment threads have a fair spread of batshit tinfoil hattism amongst the acres of common sense but this one has to be the best so far.
Resident Dissident 24 Dec, 2014 – 10:02 pm : “I do agree with Mr Golding …
It must be Christmas! Ho! Ho! Ho!
“When are people who drone on (pun noted) about the “nature” of Islam going to realise they are backing the same basic ideology, and those that have it do have nukes, and use them as constant threats. And notably only identify “terrorists” as dark skinned Muslims. ”
Who would they be? I am yet to hear any establishment figure, or military leader, make derogatory statements about Islam in contradiction to the obligatory “.. is a religion of peace”. And I’ve heard and read nothing about terrorists being only “dark skinned muslims” other than from bogans and rabble rousers that establishment media trot out to make Islamophilia appear reasonable.
“I served my youth in the military. I know you cannot mistake a commercial airliner flying at 23,000 feet from an SU25.”
I didn’t realise that serving in the catering division includes training in air-to-air target discrimination using Russian technology. All that potato peeling has cleary paid off.
“Data released by the (ONS), Office of national Statistics, show the UK’s growth rate, on trade and business has been revised down.
This action discredits Gideon Osborne’s claim that the UK economy is the fastest growing economy of any of the major economies in the world.
In fact the US and Australian economies are now growing at a much faster rate than the UK’s.”
The rarely reported and openly discussed ‘truth’ is that Australia’s “economic growth” is contrived by massive immigration, an illegal foreign owned property bubble and rapacious, unsustainable resource exploitation.
Manufacturing has been decimated by inflation of the Aussie dollar, and the resources sector that caused its inflation is failing to fill the gap due to a sudden (unexpected??) collapse of the dollar and predictable fall in commodities prices.
Yet, despite this slow motion train crash that is driving unemployment to sharply rise, the government, in its infinite wisdom and supported by both Aussie flag-burning liberals and Aussie flag-waving corporate gangsters, has deregulated work visas to allow importation of more foreign labour and has its foot on the immigration pedal to the floor.
But who cares about fundamentals? Certainly not the fantasists who perpetuate the myth of endless growth.
Merry Christmas all. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/30/article-2675165-0022FC9C00000258-891_634x623.jpg
Merry Christmas to decent and honest people, the world over.
Being merry requires not living in a state of dread and fear that on the whim of some hypocritical carrerist government minister in thrall to defunct discredited neo-liberal dogma, the holed and ragged tissue that constitutes the fabric of your life, from how and where you live, to what – even if – you eat, can, this afternoon, tomorrow, be rent to pieces. With not even a gutter to call your own. A consumerist splurge predicated on preposterous religious fictions, fables and fairy tales, a gluttenous feast of unwholesome comfort foods, more sweatshop fashioned fashionable clothing to add to the mouldering piles of functionally identical items discarded since this time last year and the year before that, the latest must-have gadget in this years cooler shade of plastic.
Fuck christmas, and all who keep up the pretence that life for most is anything other than painful, trying and desperately sad, for whom simply facing another day is a challenge too much. The indomitable will to survive, sustained by the faintest of hope and the infinitesimally small probability of resolution or change in their circumstances and plight, releasing them from the numbing insecurites that gnaw upon the never-hads and the have-nots – the greatest in number – and dominate their every living moment and thought, is not strengthened by over-indulgence in sugary confections and false bonhomie, instead the hollowness of it all stands in stark relief. This time of year ranks high for incidence of suicides and of strife. For parents particularly christmas is a time of piling on unmanageable debts to meet, or more often dismally fail to meet expectations their children have been conditioned by the wider society to expect or demand, and failure in even partial fulfilment of which, would be cruelty.
Canting hypocrites and their fucking ‘blessed’ day.
There’s is a Ying and a Yang Tony, there’s Disney/Sony a plenty and the realities of Syria, Egypt Gaza and Ukraine.
My merriest Crimbo wishes go to Antoine Deltour, for changing Europe’s tax regime. He is a whistle blower for the public interest and he should not be prosecuted for leaking the tax affairs of multinationals and tax avoidance schemes which shift billions pass the exchequers of countries.
Hipp Hipp Hurrah Antoine, thank you for that pressi, much obliged…..
http://www.icij.org/project/luxembourg-leaks/explore-documents-luxembourg-leaks-database
Its not going to be a Happy New Year for the Iranians, with crypto Cameron in the US loop for a forthcoming attack, witness his arrogant “purring” and pro-zio stance (electoral liabilities with 2015 election barely months away) – he definitely knows something we dont. And the other pieces of the jigzio puzzle are in place too, millipede and wellby, we are ready for war, now for an amenable Attorney General.
Queen’s Christmas message 2014 : transcript,
With special thanks to Tony M, official speech writer to the Yule Blog.
What a Palestinian child can expect at Christmas
Posted by John Hilley on December 25, 2014, 10:00 am
Israeli Police Shoot 5-year-old Boy In The Face http://www.imemc.org/article/70107
John
◦Re: What a Palestinian child can expect at Christmas – Ed Today, 10:13 am
◦ Sickening. More solidarity in the new year. The monster is more visible. nm – marknadim Today, 10:28 am
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1419501656.html
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P5vz6iwV38U
“To look over the horizon”……
Hope that all are enjoying a peaceful Christmas.
The Palestinians are certainly not.
With tales from the Holy Land here’s Mads Gilbert.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40543.htm
Apologies if it has already been posted…just watched it and he’s too good to miss.
Christmas pudding
Craig
Brian Fujisan
Tony M
Ben
Mary
Herbie, Silvio, Ba’al, Je
Squonk
Sophia
Tony Opmoc
Res Diss & Kempe
Phil
Doug Scorgie
RepublicOf Scotland
Fred
John Goss
YouKnowMyName
King of Welsh Noir
Clark
Mark Golding
Node
Mods
[craigmurray.org.uk – this comment was delayed in the spam filter – lots of links]
seasons greetings to craig – hope u are over the flu by now – and to all who comment here.
2015 – may people everywhere join together across political and other divides to considerably reduce the might and power of the military/security/industrial complexes that seem to rule the world.
Hear hear Oddie
and I hate heights a Node!
A Spreading Idiocy
http://www.unz.com/article/the-liberal-idiocy-on-russiaukraine/
‘if we wait another year Western Syria will be entirely in Assad’s hands and much of the rest will belong to the other barbarians of ISIS – and the bulk of decent Syrians will be assigned to refugee camps for the rest of their life. If there ever were circumstances that meet John Stuart Mill’s requirements for liberal humanitarian intervention – modern day Syria is such a case.’
Juan Cole makes the same argument here, sans the pipe dreaming from RD about humanitarian intervention and a subsequent ‘regime change’. As Dr Cole notes, over a million refugees have moved from rebel held areas to areas controlled by the Assad regime. He also makes clear that the ‘moderate, secular’ opposition to Assad (on whose behalf RD presumably wishes ‘the West’ to intervene), barely exists beyond those areas controlled by Kurdish militias, whose own agenda (unlike that of RD) has nothing to do with regime change in Damascus.
http://www.juancole.com/2014/12/baathist-riposte-regime.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
And a small dim of light getting bigger, well, not by what our party politicians say, but by the many who fear that Europe, once again, will be steered towards a stupid war nobody wants.
http://danielniazi.com/on-european-decadence/
Georgia and Ukraine are not NATO countries and the expansion of NATO should be halted before this juggernaut full of stupid libertarians speeds up.
There is absolutely no support for what is proposed for Ukraine, except for the warmongers/bankers/ establishment warriors who earn themselves silly on bombs and then let their money rot in some safe tax haven.
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2014/may/07/western-warmongering-based-on-lies-and-fabrication/
MODS, the last line at 8.35pm (above) was meant to be dedicated to yourselves, not “us”, ie it should have read:
Mods
Any chance of you editing 8.35pm and deleting this?
[craigmurray.org.uk – 8:35 comment edited, & thanks for the nice video]