Iraq.
Libya.
Egypt.
Syria.
Gaza.
Somalia.
No CIA- and Mossad-constructed regime change operation in the Middle East has ever made life better for the ordinary people of the country, nor even delivered the promised increase in personal and political freedoms.
The only limited improvement that might be gained comes from the lifting of Western sanction regimes. Apparently you can now buy M&Ms much more freely in Damascus. But that in itself is a reminder that the alleged “misgovernance” of non-puppet regimes is often the direct result of sanctions.
That is entirely true of the current situation in Iran, where the current unrest was almost entirely sparked by economic hardship attributable directly to Western sanctions on what should be a very wealthy country.
If anybody really wanted to help actual Iranians, they should be campaigning to lift the sanctions. Making that dependent on the installation of a Zionist Shah shows that this is actually about support for Israel, not about helping ordinary Iranians.
How many of those Western political and media commentators now obsessed with the rights of women not to wear a hijab, with the rights of gays, and with the stopping of executions, are campaigning for the violent overthrow of their Saudi Arabian ally on precisely the same grounds?
How many of them support the installation of the al-Jolani regime in Damascus, which is actively and newly imposing the very things they claim to oppose in Iran?
Did you know that the number of women in the Syrian parliament has just fallen from 28 under Assad to 6 under al-Jolani?
Did you know that over half of university students in Iran are female? That in STEM subjects it is over 60%?
Did you know that approximately 15,000 Jews live in Iran? The community has been there 2,700 years and their rights and synagogues are protected. There is even a dedicated Jewish seat in Parliament.
I do not paint Iran as a paradise. I am not, personally, in favour of theocratic government anywhere. I respect people’s right to live according to religious observance if they so wish, but not the right to compel religious observance on those who do not wish it or to impose law on the grounds of divine ordination.
If you wish to live in a pure religious society, then enter a closed religious order or wait until you reach your Heaven.
I oppose theocracy in Israel, in Saudi Arabia, in Iran; equally. I deplore the Christian Zionist influence bringing effective theocracy to the United States. I deplore bishops in the House of Lords.
I have a great deal of respect for the teachings of Islam. But religious leaders should not have the command of worldly affairs anywhere, on the basis of institutional appointment. Those who wish to live their lives outside of religious guidelines should be free to do so.
In addition to which, Iran is as susceptible as the rest of the world to the misuse of power by individuals, to corruption and to abuse of office, to inequality and the abuse of power. I should like to see reform in Iran, as I should like to see reform everywhere, towards a freer and more equal society.
But that reform will not be obtained by a violent movement of protest that seizes on the economic suffering under sanctions to whip up people to murder and arson.
Israel is boasting that it is arming and organising protestors in Iran.
Again I do not view the Iranian government as blameless. If it had allowed more space for reasonable reformists to operate, for opposition figures to campaign, then you would not have a situation where the crowds are shouting the name of the sickening Zionist Pahlavi stooge, simply because it is the only “opposition” name they have heard.
It does seem the moment of greatest madness has passed. I do hope that the Iranian government reflects on opening more political space in the medium term.
But I have nothing but contempt for those in the West who have jumped on the anti-Iranian bandwagon.
Iran is the only remaining power in the Middle East that stood up against the genocide in Gaza. The Iranian sponsored resistance have been the only military opposition to the expansion of Greater Israel. Houthis aside, those resistance forces have been set back badly in the last two years, though not entirely defeated nor disbanded.
The installation of the Zionist puppet al-Jolani was a great boon for the expansion of Israel. They are now gunning for Iran itself.
Those in the West who pretend this is about human rights, and not about eliminating the last elements of physical resistance to Greater Israel, are sickeningly hypocritical.
Opposition to the government of Iran and support for its violent overthrow has become the new entry ticket to the Overton Window Show of British media and politics. It is the new “Do you condemn Hamas?”
Those who bow the knee before the latest ruse of Western Imperialist conquest, in the interests of maintaining their establishment respectability, should be treated with contempt.
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Carney Declares Death Of The ‘Rules-Based Order’ (Moon of Alabama, 21 Jan 2026)
« Yesterday Mark Carney, a former central banker and now Prime Minister of Canada, gave a remarkable speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
It is an attack on the ‘international rules-based order’, the concept that the imperial Western nations have promoted and used to justify their myriad deviations from, and abuses of international law:
‟For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We joined its institutions, praised its principles, and benefited from its predictability. We could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.
We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.“
The concept of the rules based order, a lie in itself, was useful for the proxy forces and vassals of the global hegemon as long as they themselves were not threatened by its consequences.
But as that hegemon has turned on those vassals who supported it, the concept has become dangerous and must be discarded. »
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/01/carney-declares-death-of-the-rules-based-order.html
This Carney speech has laid out what most western leaders have known all along, the old order has gone, to be replaced by the Trump/Miller ‘might is right’ order.
The EU/UK vassals do not know what to do, now that Trump has turned on them, excoriating their policies at every turn, then finishing them off with the coup de grace “I want to own Greenland and its minerals”. Now after following Biden into Ukraine and rejecting even any negotiation with Russia, they are being shafted by Trump. They are shocked, I tell you, shocked that they should be treated this way. In my opinion they had it coming from the time they huddled at the feet of the master in the oval office some months ago, he knew they were weak then, and rather than take Trumps orders, they preferred to hunker down with Zelenski and continue the futile war.
Now Merz and Meloni are saying we must negotiate with Russia, and Starmer is flying off to China to drum up orders.
Since Biden blew up the Nord Sea pipe line cheap Russian gas is no longer available, the EU is dependent on liquid Gas from the US. The US can turn that gas off at the flick of a switch, oops, the US now have us by the short and curlies. Now will you follow me, says Trump, Mark Rutte surely will, whose his boss, why Trump of course? This scenario was always in the cards, but our leaders [the 7 dwarfs] never thought the idea of ‘America first’ would come to this.
Since Biden blew up the Nord Sea pipe line cheap Russian gas is no longer available, the EU is dependent on liquid Gas from the US.
Aside from the fact that whoever blew up Nord Sea it wasn’t transporting any gas at the time so the effect would’ve been zero.
Whilst the US is the biggest supplier of imported gas most of the EU (and UK) supply comes from Norway, the US is only slightly ahead of Algeria and has to compete on price.
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/where-does-the-eu-s-gas-come-from/
How dangerous to be dependent on the US who could turn off the gas at the flick of a switch than to be dependent on Russia who actually did!
https://www.businessghana.com/site/news/politics/267447/Nord%20Stream%201%3A%20Why%20is%20Russia%20cutting%20gas%20supplies%20to%20Europe%3F
Do you still not see that all this Atlanticist/ neocon love for Washington is entirely unreciprocated? It’s all one way.
Nord Stream was the moment when Washington realised fully what they are dealing with in Europe. They saw the Germans award Biden their highest national honour as a thank you for destroying their industrial economy and standard of living.
The Brits, French, Germans and EU leadership/ Parliament participated wholeheartedly in the Gaza Genocide and what do they have to show for it?
Punishing, humiliating trade deals with Washington and the Greenland tariffs.
What have you got back for all this?
I don’t sense any love just realpolitik.
A realpolitik of genocide and constant humiliation? What has been the reward from Washington that has you still going to bat for them? It can only be reflex at this point.
Europe being dependent on the US for 20% of it’s gas is preferable to being 100% dependent on Russia as events have shown.
That’s Washington’s reward to them? Europe’s critical infrastructure blown up. German industry – centrepiece of the continent’s economy – now in terminal decline?
That’s the big win for European leaders that has made all the political humiliation and genocidal depravity worthwhile?
Moscow’s ‘reward’ was to shut off or severely limit gas supplies after Germany expressed opposition to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine but that didn’t have any effect on Germany’s economy??
The malaise in the German economy started in 2020 anyway and can be traced back to Germany’s decision in 2011 to prematurely close its nuclear power stations. It has since become increasingly dependent on expensive fossil fuel imports prompting many companies to move production to low-cost base economies with less regulation. China, once a major market for German exports, has now turned into a major competitor.
“It has since become increasingly dependent on expensive fossil fuel imports”
The Nordstream Bomber was rewarded with their highest national honour, while they helped him slaughter babies in Gaza.
“Moscow’s ‘reward’ was to shut off or severely limit gas supplies after Germany expressed opposition to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine ”
How do you come to that conclusion? Russia never shut off Nordstream 2.
Pears, yourself and JK redux, seem to disagree with Craig’s take on most contemporary issues, along with most of the posters’ opinions expressed here. Without meaning to be confrontational. Why bother sticking around, beating the drum for Empire, imperialism among anti-imperialists? I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t, but it is odd that you hang around a place where views run counter to your own. I mean, I wouldn’t post on say, Conservative Home’s forums,because I don’t like the Conservative party.
=====================================
At least browser-based AI will still speak the truth, at least for now. Got this upon asking a question. Thought I’d share:
“Intelligence “cut-outs”—covert intermediaries, front organizations, or, increasingly, automated systems and AI algorithms—are being used to corrupt democratic processes by enabling state and non-state actors to interfere in elections, sway public opinion, and erode trust in institutions while maintaining plausible deniability
. These methods create a “closed loop” of misinformation and manipulation that is difficult to detect or combat, often resulting in a “phantom democracy” where public opinion is fabricated to justify the actions of autocrats or corporate interests.”
There is a heavy bias towards implicating only Russia, China and Iran in such behaviour.
French Navy Intercepts Russia-Linked Oil Tanker In Mediterranean: ‘We’ll Let Nothing Pass’, by Tyler Durden (ZeroHedge, 22 Jan 2026)
« “This morning, the French Navy boarded and searched an oil tanker from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on X.
“The operation was carried out on the high seas in the Mediterranean, with the support of several of our allies,” he added, noting that the vessel had been “diverted”.
“We will let nothing pass,” Macron then stated, seeking to appear ‘tough’ at a moment much of European leadership is focused on the Greenland crisis.
“The activities of the shadow fleet help finance the war of aggression against Ukraine,” he added. »
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/french-navy-intercepts-russia-linked-oil-tanker-mediterranean-well-let-nothing-pass
This is very foolish from the desperate Macron, these tankers are part of a ‘Dark Fleet’ the Russians use, they have been “sanctioned” by the west, but have not been sanctioned by the UNSC. Macron and the French are playing with fire, literally.
Of course Macron could have told Putin “I fart in your general direction” or after the black knight said “none shall pass” https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lrZeiX6d9SE And, if you don’t go away, I will taunt you some more”, says Macron
Labour ministers have today been crowing online about how they stood by Denmark and Greenland. What on Earth was the alternative? Demand Denmark hand Greenland over to Trump? It’s laughable, isn’t it. Starmer made a public address from No.10 to basically distance the UK from EU plans to impose reciprocal tariffs, which was basically like waving a white flag. Had the EU copied Starmer’s approach and not talked of implementing their Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), nicknamed the trade bazooka, well, I have little doubt Trump’s planned trade tariffs would still be in place. I really don’t think Starmer emerges from this debacle with any credit whatsoever.
And what has Rutte agreed? A Danish minister said today on [X], that he really doesn’t know? He seemed nonplussed by the unelected , overreaching NATO SG, Mark Rutte’s behaviour. The idea of NATO policing the Arctic is fraught with danger too. Look at a top-down map of the Arctic and you see Russia has the dominant claim to much of it. And then there is the Svalbard Treaty, that permits access and mining rights for signatory countries. If NATO wants to start playing imaginary exclusion zones, then Russia and China will respond in kind, and they have a lot more coastline to do it with.
Zelensky’s whingeing that Greenland was a distraction from Ukraine made him sound like a complete twat, but don’t hold your breath for anyone in the MSM noticing. “Turn the cameras back on me, now, if you don’t mind.”
He also spoke about Iran “drowning in blood” – taking figures from highly suspect sources outside the country, funded by intel cut-outs that are hugely invested in regime change. Zelenskyy’s words were clearly a sop to all those who think U.S. bombing solves problems and improves countries in that part of the world.
For days now, Zionist accounts on [X] have been repackaging old footage of the Iranian riots, as if protests continue. The distortion is a deliberate attempt to cobble together some ridiculous pretext for military intervention long after the protests ended. Ironic , isn’t it, Zelenskyy : the product of one failed ‘colour revolution’ (EuroMaidan) supporting another, in Iran.
Interesting fact about Zelenskyy, is he grew up in Ukraine’s east, Kryvyi Rih, speaking Russian as his first language. It’s all his family spoke. He had to learn Ukrainian to become president. This fact makes it seem all the more ridiculous to me that he isn’t able to compromise. You’ve got to wonder if his eastern Russian-speaking heritage, isn’t putting him under a lot more pressure not to compromise, from hardline Ukrainian speaking nationalists in the West, lest be accused of being a traitor?
Brian Red
Have you seen this tonight:
Greenland says red lines must be respected as Trump says US will have ‘total’ access to island
Island’s PM says sovereignty is non-negotiable after Trump claimed agreement would give US full access with ‘no end, no time limit’
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, said on Thursday he did not know what was in the deal.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/22/denmark-pm-calls-for-constructive-greenland-negotiation-with-trump [or on archive.is]
Darkly humorous, isn’t it.
It looks to me like Mark Rutte has been negotiating without authority, or consultation. This so-called ‘deal’ on Greenland could go pear-shaped at any moment.
Maybe @Tatyana, could comment on my query about whether the Russians feel Zelenskyy is incapable of compromise because of his Eastern Ukrainian, Kryvyi Rih, Russian-speaking heritage? Does he maybe have to constantly prove to skeptical western Ukrainians, he won’t give an inch? If he is under this strain, there surely can be no compromise on territory, while he is president? A bad situation for those who wish to see peace. It may be better were someone from the West, with Ukrainian as their first language, negotiating?
Something similar in Canada occured, with French Canadian leaders, like Jean Chrétien and Justin Trudeau; they had to prove they were anti Quebec independence, Quebec being French speaking. You have to be bilingual(French/English) to get govt jobs, in parts of Eastern Canada, I’d assume it’s the same throughout Canada?
Wouldn’t it be a lark if the Seppoes ordered Sturmer to give six Irish counties back to Ireland? ;O)
Harry Law
January 22, 2026 at 21:01
All very amusing Harry but what is your point?
That France shouldn’t interfere with honest Russkiy sailors?
“what is your point?”
The world has changed, here’s how….. Trump’s key advisor Stephen Miller said the other day, “we live in a world were you can talk all you want about International niceties and everything else, but we live in a world, in the real world today that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, and is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time”. Here he is only reflecting his masters voice. In his conversation with the New York Times, Trump said, “I don’t need international law.”
The EU/UK are running around like headless chickens, it seems le petit Napoleon is the only resistance [he does possess the force de frappe and a soiled suit of armor, complete with visor to cover his two black eyes]. Also the EU/UK may send a dog sled to Greenland with its two lead dogs, Ursula and Kaja, a fearsome duo leading the pack with Yvette in the rear.
Trump [the madman] has utter contempt for UK/EU leaders, they are slowly learning the facts of life as set out by Stephen Miller in my first paragraph.
Plus ca change…
“The aide said that guys like me were ‘in what we call the reality-based community,’ which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.’ I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ‘That’s not the way the world really works anymore,’ he continued. ‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors… and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'”
– Ronald Suskind (American journalist) reporting the comments of a White House aide (later identified as Karl Rove) [“Without A Doubt” by Ron Suskind, The New York Times Magazine, 17 October 2004].
I look forward to headlines like “Napoleon BlownApart”.
It’s kind of nice that the Minor Imperial Powers are just slightly feeling the hot breath of THE major Imperialist Power (the US) similar to the way they and the US used to ( and still does) grind the Global South and the poor countries into submission over the years.
We are witnessing the shuffling of Minor Imperialist Powers furniture now, as it has took these geniuses a very long time to work out who has really ran the show since WW2.
Carney was x Goldman – Sachs I think and still is in his terms of thinking so, let’s not get carried away by the ‘ Out of the Box ‘ thinking from non US western leaders here.
Liberal media types might think its a change of heart but they are all just protecting rich people’s assets so that the US can’t grab them – like an oil tanker or a country.
JK Redux:
The above is most certainly schadenfreude from myself.
MARK M CUTTS
January 22, 2026 at 23:05
Mark, good that karma is no longer in play.
A person would need to have plenty of gold stashed away before welcoming the prospect of the triumph of Putin’s sleazy Reich.
JK Redux
Unfortunately this is the Liberal and left Liberal dilemma.
Trump is a shifty bastard (who knew?) and Putin is an Evil Ex Commie.
So, Liberals are always searching for some kind of place in the Middle.
The Golden mean.
Looking for the third of Goldilock’s Three Bears.
Porridge too hot – too cold so there must be a perfect way of getting the just right warm version of porridge.
The bad news when the cognicenti speak about ‘ Freedom ‘ is that they may as well speak about clouds.
In the era of the delights of Imperialism and what it has delivered to all people – not some people (the 1%) is right in front of our eyes.
the Imperialists Imperial ( Trump ) has trampled all over that airy fairy non descript word.
The Minor Imperialists used to do and still do it part -time but Trumps’ trying to make America great again by making the minor Imperialists pay for it.
That means that the ordinary (non rich ) people of the US – Europe and Ukraine will be contributing to America’s efforts and coffers.
The truth is that ‘ Freedom ‘ to choose doesn’t exist – you have to take a side.
Mine is an anti Imperialist side with all it’s flaws and when a Massive Bully like the US can get away with pushing major economies around (they can’t do that with China and to an extent Russia) then the bullied capitalists will pass the US’s bill onto us as usual because the capitalist rich want to keep or gain more money – not lose it to the US.
The question is for the people of the world and not just the West is, whether we are prepared to pay the price for all this?
Not just America’s price but the EU’s and the UK’s.
5% of GDP to fight China and Russia will have to come from somewhere.
It will come from cuts to the Welfare State across Europe and beyond.
It will come from the US peoples too.
And to cuts to Aid Budgets as well.
As I say – you have to take sides there is no in between.
In actuality there never has been, despite the legends opined in the media and so on.
Even that dolt George W Bush got it right:
‘ You’re either with us or against us ‘
I’m most definitely against him and the other countries who are with him.
“A person would need to have plenty of gold stashed away before welcoming the prospect of the triumph of Putin’s sleazy Reich.”
Why does the “the triumph of Putin’s sleazy Reich” bother you so much? Do you really think it is going to invade Ireland, or even to have any effect on it whatsoever? Are you not similarly concerned about sleazy reichs in places like Nigeria, Argentina or, the capital of corruption, Ukraine?
Canadian PM Carney’s invitation “Board of Peace” has been withdrawn by Trump. this ultra Zionist group has Netanyahu in it with Trump as Chairman [with veto power]. I suspect he thinks this could be a nascent United Nations with Trump [Caligula] the Emperor in charge of world affairs. Could he appoint Maxwell’s horse [Bubba] as a member?
“Trump withdraws invitation for Canada to join Board of Peace
Donald Trump has withdrawn an earlier invitation for Canadian prime minister Mark Carney to join his proposed “Board of Peace”, announcing the decision in a post on Truth Social addressed directly to Carney.
The board, initially floated as part of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, has since expanded in scope to cover a much wider range of global issues.
The move appears to follow remarks Carney made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he warned that “Great powers… have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited”.
Mark Carney was all in when those weapons and coercions were being used against the global South. He was a participant in the Gaza Genocide and an enthusiastic supporter of regime change in Venezuela and Iran. The fact he was considering joining the nakedly colonialist Trump-Kushner Board of Peace speaks louder than any of his hypocritical declarations. It shows the depths of our predicament that this guy is being hailed as a heroic rallying figure in Britain and Europe.
The biter bit.
zoot
January 23, 2026 at 06:59
Carney is (with Macron) one of the few Zapaddian (sic) leaders not kissing the Mango Mussolini’s fragrant ass.
You would prefer universal submission to Dementia Don?
Macron is another genocidal Davos banker, same as Carney. They represent the same social class as Trump and share the same broad worldview as him. Neither of them is your friend. Get a grip.
On the contrary, zoot, perhaps he sees all three of them as friends – it depends who and what JK Redux is, doesn’t it?
He genuinely believes Trump is Putin’s Puppet, while the likes of Joe Biden, Carney and Macron are innately good people no matter what they do or support.
Zoot
I would be very cautious about being certain what anyone posting on this blog really believes
It’s remarkable how in the Brit media in particular Carney is described as such a great guy, essentially a “safe pair of hands” type of white colonial, an Oxford graduate whose sister married a hereditary peer. In actual fact he’s an example of the relatively new phenomenon of an international finance guy who has moved unashamedly from a senior position in one country’s official government structure to a senior position in another country’s. He’s a good fit for an epoch where USA foreign ministry official Natalie Jaresko became Ukraine’s finance minister, and where Donald Trump calls himself “acting president of Venezuela”. But Carney can warn us all about finance and coercion. R-i-i-ight.
Brian Red
January 23, 2026 at 13:00
Extraordinary that Canadian voters elected Carney to Parliament.
And that MPs elelected him PM.
If only this forum had more Canadian members.
“Extraordinary that Canadian voters elected Carney to Parliament.”
From Wikipedia: “In January 2025, after Trudeau announced his resignation amid a political crisis, Carney entered the Liberal Party leadership election, winning a landslide victory that March. After he became party leader, Carney was appointed prime minister, becoming the first prime minister in Canadian history never to have held elected office.”
So Carney became prime minister without ever having been elected an MP. He was elected by 0.5% of the electorate in a two-horse race. In the later general election, he was elected as an MP by 0.16% of the electorate . I would say it was extraordinary that it took so few Canadian voters to elect Carney to Parliament, but that is what you get with the wonderful British form of “democracy”. It really isn’t a ringing endorsement from the general population when a party can stand their leader in a safe seat and know that they will be elected. Somewhat different to a country where the entire electorate votes for the leader, like the USA, or Russia.
“[Carney] warned that ‘Great powers… have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited’.”
It’s been like that since about 1300 (Venice). Next Carney will discover lending money at interest.
Agree with the thought and spirit of this post of yours, and ditto for your post of 13:00.
You could also have named Mario Draghi as a similar example; he did Rome – Frankfurt – Rome.
Or the former President of Georgia, who started off as a senior French diplomat.
Salomé Zourabichvili is an excellent example – French diplomat, reaching the position of French ambassador to Georgia, who then became Georgian foreign minister.
If I recall correctly, Carney was one of the principal architects of the 2008 economic crash.
Stevie Boy
January 23, 2026 at 17:47
At least Trump hasn’t withdrawn his invitation to Putin and Lukashenko to join the Bored (sic) of Peace.
Labour MP, David Taylor, standing up pressing, Minister Hamish Falconer(alleged ex-Mi6 – Kit Klarenberg) to support U.S. military intervention in Iran. Many of these hawkish, spooky Labour MPs share similar backgrounds : Taylor worked for an international charity. Shouldn’t those who’ve worked in, or are connected to UK intelligence, have to declare that, when moving into politics? It seems a reasonable demand. I believe that’s the case in the U.S. too re, former CIA/FBI.
What’s to stop the spy agencies using their influence /leverage to effectively take over UK parties – as seems to have happened with Labour? Similar debate over the Integrity Initiative and intel-linked journos posing as independent, writing pieces for intel funded cutout publications.The overreach is appalling.
If democracy isn’t organic, free-functioning and for the people, by the people, it’s a sham.
Remember Paul Mason, he of mind map notoriety, with apparent close ties to senior securocrats. He is a former BBC presenter on Newsnight. He was pictured plotting with Starmer, before the 2019 general election, and Starmer’s eventual leadership bid, in which he callously tricked Labour members with the now infamous 10 Pledges,pledges that he obviously never intended to implement, nor believed in.
How many at the BBC connected to the intel agencies? Investigator Vanessa Beeley highlighted Chloe Hadjimatheou. Chloe Hadjimatheou is a BBC journalist who produced the I’m Not a Monster podcast series, which investigated individuals involved in conflicts in Syria and ISIS, pushing certain narratives.
This isn’t a critique of intel agencies per se, it’s about the the core conflict involved; in MI5/MI6’s investigative nature versus journalism’s role as an independent observer, making dual roles wrong on many levels.
It’s a sham !
Starmer pulls Chagos deal following Trump backlash
Typical Starmer-esque underhand behaviour : publicly admonshing Trump over his Afghanistan ‘ Allies avoided the front line’ comments, while throwing him a bone over Diego Garcia.
This move could cause Starmer, or whomever his successor is, real problems. Let’s not forget, the deal that’s been pulled, was a preemptive move by the UK govt, to prevent a potentially binding, damaging ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the unlawful separation of the islands in 1965. And unlike for the U.S., it would be politically untenable for he UK to ignore an adverse ruling.
Perhaps a shaman?
I return to a common theme of mine:
Who actually decides our foreign and security policy posture, as a country? It’s a legit question, because nothing meaningful is debated in parliament by elected representatives these days. Parliament is shameful as a debating chamber; debates are typically very poorly attended and nobody changes their positions, it’s all just Tory-Labour/ Labour-Tory agreement and backslapping. National security matters aren’t discussed at all. I can’t imagine the cabinet debates these matters either, as Clare Short highlighted how Blair railroaded Iraq through, like some fait accompli – the decision made already.
it seems it”s left to small, very right-wing, narrow securocrat cliques, people like Capo di tutti i capi Sir Mark Lyall Grant and Col Richard Kemp. Kemp’s views, expressed on [X] on Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, are truly revolting. Horrific to think these hawkish men, could be pushing us towards WW3, in secret, and without any democratic scrutiny.
Another observation. On [X], Iran’s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, posts, and under his posts, besides the [X] boosted, bloodthirsty Zionists, desperate for any enemy of Israel’s genocidal expansionism to be taken out, there are multiple very graphic videos (the type of videos immediately flagged and age-verified if featuring dead or injured Gazans) And very lurid death threats made to Mr Araghchi. How is this consistent with [X]’s moderation policies?
I posted earlier, more evidence [X] boosting AIPAC content, yet de-boosting anyone that is anti-zionist/genocide or criticizes Israel. : https://x.com/WarFrontIntel/status/2014155086730342845/photo/1
Musk is running a real shitshow, isn’t he. One that protects western-favoured criminals from criticism, while a laissez-faire approach is taken with so-called adversaries. You won’t hear anyone in the UK govt complaining about the treatment of Seyed Abbas Araghchi either, I’d wager. So much for their much ballyhooed ‘values’ which are meant to be universal in their application.
Had to laugh at a comment I’d broadly concur with, under Yvette Cooper’s [X] post on how the UK objected to Putin sitting on Trump’s ‘Board of Peace,’ alongside the likes of Jared Kushner and Netanyahu, neither of whom, Cooper had any objection to.
The comment : “Putin’s the only person on it, I’d trust to act honourably”
Ask Ukrainians and Putin’s internal enemies what they think of the honour of the latest member of the “Board of Peace”.
FFS.
JK redux
On Palestine/Gaza though, both Russia and China, have been pretty good in their official statements. More in tune with British public opinion than our own govt or the Friends of Israel dominated House of Commons. And that is just a fact.
Goose
January 23, 2026 at 22:09
That’s a narrow definition of “honour”.
Putin is a cold blooded killer.
JK redux
So are all the leaders of what are considered top-tier military powers (USA, China, Russia), of those I’d guess Xi has the least amount of blood on his hands. The same is true of medium-tier military countries, like the UK and France.
Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan total dead?
What do you think the roughly 500 active SAS soldiers do, play chess all day? We don’t even know their annual operation figures, because the number isn’t even disclosed.
Goose
January 23, 2026 at 22:42
One difference perhaps is that Putin has used state power to murder his internal opponents.
While that may have happened in the Zapad (Dr Kelly?) it is rare as the media (like this forum) are not entirely muzzled.
JK Reflux,
May one assume, from your recent posts on this thread, that Vladimir Vladimirovich was omitted from your Christmas card list last month?
JK redux
How do you know he murdered his internal opponents? Take the famous case of leading opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, and what happened in 2015, for example. Shot and killed crossing the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge near the Kremlin. A clumsy, brazen way of getting rid of someone, no? The car the shooter fired from sped off.
Ukraine had plenty of motive to incriminate Putin, after Crimea’s annexation. Ukraine tried to stage the fake slaying of Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, with the intention of framing Russia remember. The whole Alexei Navalny “novichok’ed underpants” story was also full of holes, no pun int.. Multiple very well resourced intel agencies in the West(CIA, MI6), and Ukraine(SZRU,FISU formerly SBU), have long had an interest in destroying Putin’s domestic reputation and trying to foment protests in Russia.
Yet you assume what you read in the western media is 100% the unvarnished truth. I don”t know either, but try to keep an open mind. The truth would probably make your jaw hit the floor in disbelief. There are people in the West making decisions, who are just as ruthless as Putin, if not more so.
It’s not as if Nemtsov was the only opposition figure to be shot by mysterious assailants or to take a tumble through a window. He criticized Putin’s government for being increasingly authoritarian and undemocratic, highlighting widespread embezzlement and profiteering ahead of the Sochi Olympics and Russian political interference and military involvement in Ukraine. At the time of his murder he was organizing a rally to protest against Russian military presence in Ukraine.
https://www.newsweek.com/putin-critics-dead-full-list-navalny-1870692
https://journalists-in-russia.org/
If you’re going to try to whitewash Putin you’re going to need to try harder.
Goose
January 24, 2026 at 01:51
Alexei Navalny died in jail.
No doubt from natural causes.
Frank Hovis
January 24, 2026 at 00:00
Unkind or careless to misspell my username.
Happily, despite considerable thought, I cannot think of a clever respelling of your username.
Perhaps other forum members can help?
Pears Morgaine
I’m not trying to whitewash Putin. For what my opinion is worth on the matter, I do think Putin has been in and around power(because there was a brief interlude with Medvedev in power) far longer than is healthy for Russian democracy.
But I also think, the reason many countries, like Russia, drift from the democratic path, is because the West won’t stop meddling in their affairs. Russian TV aired Surveillance footage, recorded in the early 2010s, that they claimed, showed a close associate of Alexey Navalny seeking cash and intelligence from an alleged British spy and suggesting his anti-corruption work may benefit firms in London. The person he met at a Moscow cafe was identified as James William Thomas Ford, then Second Secretary for political affairs of the UK embassy in Russia. The FSB suspected he was an MI6 agent working under diplomatic cover.
Has anyone ever denied the accusation: that MI6 tried to help Russia’s opposition financially?
We in the UK, as I’m sure you’ll know, recently had a scandal involving some minor politician and ex-MEP, Nathan Gill, and he’s been sent to prison for taking bribes from an alleged ‘Russian network’. It’s hypocritical if we are attempting the same thing elsewhere ourselves. And Craig has written about Bill Browder KCMG, not being the wholesome figure, the British establishment and media present him as. Quite why the Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, a British order of chivalry awarded for ‘exceptional service in foreign and Commonwealth affairs’, was given to him, is a mystery? All he seems to do these days, is post Russophobic posts on [X].
@ J Redux
“Unkind or careless to misspell my username.
Happily, despite considerable thought, I cannot think of a clever respelling of your username.
Perhaps other forum members can help?”
Frank Hubris?
“He criticized Putin’s government for being increasingly authoritarian and undemocratic, highlighting widespread embezzlement and profiteering ahead of the Sochi Olympics and Russian political interference and military involvement in Ukraine. At the time of his murder he was organizing a rally to protest against Russian military presence in Ukraine.”
Just because he criticised Putin and was murdered, doesn’t mean that Putin had him bumped off. Plenty of people have criticised Putin and have not been killed and plenty of people who have not criticised Putin have been murdered, or do you think that Putin is personally behind every murder that happens in Russia, or do you think that denying that would lead you open to charges of “whitewashing Putin”?
Replying to Frank, “JK Reflux”
This and the rest of your message is childish. Can’t you just engage with the argument?
“Ask Ukrainians and Putin’s internal enemies what they think of the honour of the latest member of the “Board of Peace”.
Well duh! Ask anyone’s enemies what they think of them and you are likely to get the same answer. That’s why they’re enemies. Do you really think anyone has enemies who are going to speak well of them? FFS, there are plenty of people in the world that even their friends have no time for.
As reported in The Cradle, Araghchi also criticised Zelenskyy’s speech at Davos.
In the post, Araghchi said Zelensky “has been rinsing American and European taxpayers to fill the pockets of his corrupt generals” under the pretext of resisting “an unlawful aggression in violation of the UN Charter,” while at the same time “openly and unashamedly” advocating US aggression against Iran, also in violation of the UN Charter.
Araghchi dismissed Zelensky’s position as hypocritical, saying “The world has had enough of Confused Clowns, Mr. Zelensky,” and stating that Iran, unlike what he called Ukraine’s “foreign-backed and mercenary-infested military,” is capable of defending itself without reliance on external powers.
Well, he’s correct, in that it is hypocritical from Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy was also fully supportive of Israel’s war in Gaza : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/19/palestinians-in-ukraine-decry-double-standard-as-kyiv-supports-israel
Like many others Zelenskyy has to butter up Trump. It’s disgusting I agree but it doesn’t make Russia’s invasion any less illegal.
Normally supportive European leaders didn’t like Zelenskyy’s speech much either. Many found it delusional, and some fringe parties even questioned whether Zelenskyy was high on drugs.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called it “unfair to Europe,” telling Corriere della Sera that the continent has “guaranteed Ukraine’s independence” through immense political, financial, and military support.”
In Germany, MP Sevin Gagdelen accused Zelensky of “megalomania” for calling Europe a “fragmented kaleidoscope of small and medium-sized powers” and claiming it is “degrading” itself by failing to stand up to Russia and US President Donald Trump’s Greenland aspirations.
Zelensky called for giving “every Viktor who lives off European money… a smack in the head,” apparently referring to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Hungarian leader responded by calling Zelensky “a man in a desperate position” who has been “unable or unwilling to bring a war to an end.”
Orban said Zelensky “crossed a line” by criticizing every European leader, and slammed his demand for another $800 billion for Ukraine, adding that despite Brussels’ willingness to foot the bill, Budapest “will not pay!”
Former French MEP Florian Philippot condemned Zelensky’s speech, describing it as a “moment of madness” that managed to “insult everyone,” including “the European people who have been giving him weapons and billions for years!” The leader of the Patriots party said: “not a single euro, not a single weapon, and obviously not a single French soldier for Ukraine!”
I wouldn’t expect any of the people you’ve quoted to be anything but critical of Zelenskyy.
Maybe he was too forthright but he was only saying what a lot of people are thinking and it was a lot less offensive to Europe than Trump’s rant.
The embezzlement issue is virtually ignored by the western media and political class, yet if Zelenskyy’s inner circle, in wartime, can’t keep their grubby mitts off the billions handed to Ukraine; NABU have literally filmed piles of sealed fresh dollars like something out of Breaking Bad, then what hope for Ukraine?
Remember, every Ukrainian leader has been accused of corruption dating way back. Poroshenko, who preceded Zelenskyy, accused Zelenskyy of corruption and likewise, Zelenskyy accused Poroshenko. Yulia Tymoshenko, a former Prime Minister, was filmed recently offering bribes to law makers. Corruption is endemic in Ukraine.
What is Zelenskyy doing to extradite those, like Mindich, previously his close business partner and in his inner circle, who’ve fled with their ill-gotten loot? We see images of Mindich, on a beach in Israel , smiling like he won the lottery. Who tipped them off about the NABU raids?
PM
Kyiv says Moscow used 396 drones and missiles in ‘another night of Russian terror’ ….killing one person.
I’m not seeking to absolve Russia, I think the invasion was wrong, both in terms of international law and strategically. But you have to agree, Russia is clearly taking much more care than the Israeli’s took in Gaza; where we saw whole apartment blocks targeted and collapsing. I don’t know how western media, esp BBC, maintains the myth that Russia is deliberately trying to kill civilians.The death tolls in Kyiv would be horrific if they were.
Goose
January 24, 2026 at 15:46
Putin is, we understand, attempting to destroy Ukraine’s electricity and heating infrastructure.
With the intention of undermining Ukraine’s will and ability to resist.
It didn’t work for Hitler – he bombed London instead of air force bases and radar sites.
JK Redux, it is a documented matter of fact that Hitler gave explicit and strict orders that not one bomb was to fall on British population centres.
That continued to be the case, with the exception of a single bomb dropped by accident, until Churchill ordered the start of heavy bomber raids on German cities. Churchill did that specifically to force Hitler’s hand. After a couple of weeks of British raids, Hitler most reluctantly ordered retaliation against British cities.
It is significant that while Britain designed and built large numbers of heavy bombers in the 1930s – and the USA did too – Germany, which Hitler had ruled since 1933, did not. The Germans had no plans to bomb civilians, and when they did they had to use inappropriate medium bombers that had been designed for military use.
Tom Welsh
January 24, 2026 at 18:03
I don’t think that we disagree about Hitler’s contemptible evil.
Perhaps Churchill duped him into diverting his attacks against large urban centres or perhaps that was his inclination anyway.
Either way, the key insight is that by not primarily focusing on airfields and radar installations his attack on England was blunted to the point of futility.
“Either way, the key insight is that by not primarily focusing on airfields and radar installations his attack on England was blunted to the point of futility.”
Did the lack of focus by the RAF and the USAF on airfields in Germany blunt their attack on Germany to the point of futility also? Just think how many bombs they wasted on places like Dresden that could have been put to better use elsewhere.
“Corruption is endemic in Ukraine.”
Sorry Goose but Ukraine is another country that can do no wrong and therefore must not be criticized!
Poor little Ukraine, always the victim. Now where have we heard that before ?
“In response to the newspaper’s (the Berliner Zeitung) request, the European Commission stated that it is monitoring the corruption scandal in Ukraine, noting that corruption scandals “demonstrate that Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies are doing their job and making progress in their investigations.”
Is it just me, or does that imply that any country that had had an anti-corruption agency investigating their senior politicians and their immediate circle would produce similar scandals and that Ukraine is nothing out of the ordinary here?
Re. Ukrainian corruption… would it be very cynical to wonder if Zelensky and co are very keen to avoid any peace deal, because they are making so much money out of the current situation, and definitely don’t want that gravy train halting any time soon?
Goose: Zelensky’s Davos speech didn’t mention Gaza at all. But a group of Ukrainian intellectuals have signed an open letter of solidarity with the Palestinians.
It may be true to say that Ukraine needs and is undergoing a process of education about Palestine that has already been underway in the Anglophone world, despite the Zionist lobby. Films such as Israelism and writers, not only Israelis like Ilan Pappé and Miko Peled but also well-known Palestinians like Susan Abulhawa, Rashid Khalidi and the late Edward Said need to become available in East European languages (like Ukrainian).
I do wonder if the current focus on Iran is just shadow play to presage an attack on Yemen now that the Israeli’s have struck a deal with Somaliland and we are now moving into phase two of the so called Gaza peace plan ? Saudi activity in Yemen could also be part of this. Similarly with the US war fleet turning up in the Med this may also presage an attack on Southern Lebanon by Israel in order to neutralize the other so called proxies of Iran prior to the ethnic cleansing operation in Gaza ?
Just speculating at this point.
Sorry just to clarify the attack on Yemen toward Ansar Allah.
The US has ships in the Med, but it’s the US fleet on its way towards Iran (and Yemen) currently in the Indian Ocean that looks especially menacing right now, the “USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group”.
Tomorrow is Burns Night, so a wee verse from him to all those who are bored of peace:
” Yie Hypocrites, are these your pranks
To murder men and gie God thanks
Desist for shame, proceed no further
God won’t accept your thanks for murder.”
Ewan2:
The Scot’s Bard nails it everytime !
There are some truly horrific videos doing the rounds on [X], some posted by the likes of Tommy Robinson, of what appear to be young Iranian women having bullets fired into them by masked men as they hover over them, shooting at very close range, as the women lay prone in defensive positions on the ground. The claims by Zionist [X] accounts, are that these masked men, wearing civilian clothes are IRGC – a claim which seems utterly preposterous; as why would the IRGC shoot defenceless young women and more importantly, why stand there filming their sadistic crimes gonzo style, for posterity? How would such footage end up in Israeli hands? It’s all very reminiscent of the sick videos that emerged from Syria, of groups that we now know were funded and trained by the CIA, and imho, it’s likely the same people. The idea this stuff is being used to build a pretext for military intervention is outrageous.
why would the IRGC shoot defenceless young women
See the posts below describing ICE agents brutalizing their fellow Americans. Both groups made up of thugs indoctrinated by the regimes they work for.
PM
If you see the footage and I don’t recommend it, but if you do, you’ll understand exactly what I’m saying here.
Do you really think the IRGC are going to pump bullets into two young women, in a totally overkill way, while standing over them while others stand literally alongside, filming it on their phones? The IRGC would be hung for that. And the fact the recorded footage is in Israeli or US hands, when the internet is down, kinda gives the game away.
It doesn’t matter if it makes no sense. If zionists are saying it, that se.
We’ve seen how sick and demented these people are in Gaza.
Someone posted footage recently of a young girl in Gaza struggling to carry a full water container, the next moment, she is blown to bits by an IDF drone strike. Other reports say the IDF played sick games; shooting kids in various body parts ,, as if in some sick archery competition. And those dual nationals, who’ve served in the IDF, are allowed back into the UK without so much as a questionnaire to fill in about their activities. All while journalists, who’ve never handled a weapon, are detained and quizzed for hours. The UK has lost the plot, hasn’t it.
And these people, wiping Gazan kids out, for fun, claim online, they are seriously worried for the safety of Iranian protesters.
“See the posts below describing ICE agents brutalizing their fellow Americans. ”
It appears that a large number of ICE agents are actually Israelis and ex-IDF, but then, those really are thugs indoctrinated by the regimes they work(ed) for.
Your reasoning, once again, is along the lines of “give a dog a bad name and beat it”: the IRGC are thugs (I say so), therefore it must have been them in the video. Meanwhile it couldn’t possibly have been Mossad agents, because they are most definitely not thugs, no they are all sugar and spice and all things nice.
“It appears that a large number of ICE agents are actually Israelis and ex-IDF, ”
I have ever heard that one before, Bayard. Scandalous if true. Could you please indicate your source, so that we can look into this in greater detail?
I’d be interested to learn more about that too. Certainly a large proportion of security companies in the USA employ ex-IDF guys, so if ICE have been recruiting muscle and expertise from the private sector it would make sense if a lot of their personnel are Israeli.
Having been so successful in Ukraine, could the Zionists be pulling a similar stunt on the USA?
Sometimes whether something is “private” or “state” makes little difference and is the wrong question. From 6 Jan 2021 to ICE to ??? Whichever way we look at it, someone seems to be running a destabilisation job on the USA.
Your favourite search engine with “ice idf” entered into it will give you lots of hits.
Apparently, a lot of the ICE thugs are trained by the Israelis as are some UK police forces. Obviously, if you want expertise in murdering and abusing men, women and children you would call in the Israelis.
From time to time I come here to document the next click in the tightening of the ratchet.
Trump’s Chief of Staff is replicating IDF techniques against the citizens of Minnesota. ICE agents have the liberty to do harm, to kill, to abduct, to torture brown and black people, and ordinary citizens have no lawful redress. Rule of Law, rights, and the independence of states to make their own laws have been cancelled.
GB News is calling for another Christian march like the one for the sacrificed influencer. I commented that perhaps they might like to go to church instead?
Heather Cox Richardson has become a very popular blogger among Guardian readers. I shared my observation of the Victoria Nuland presentation to the Senate Committee 12 years, ago on her FB page. Fifth columnists descended on my comment with pornographic intensity. The following morning Facebook required me to either accept ads and tracking cookies or pay for an ad free service.
Larry Ellison has bought into TikTok. Another Trump billionaire has bought into Greenland via its water bottling company which was looking for investors to expand its market. Fifth columnists are cementing their hold on all our key government and opposition posts. FOI membership is mandatory, it would appear.
Only the leader of the Green Party is telling it as it is, and he had an Orthodox upbringing and schooling, although he says he is no longer affiliated. His leadership, openly spelling out the dangers, will draw observant and compassionate people out from their fear of exposure, allowing them to feel safe in a real political party. Its previous leadership cohort vanished from the leadership election and were completely surprised by the appearance of a new, younger, dynamic leadership. His happy confidence makes it clear that he holds no fear for his own personal safety.
Anyone who thinks the greens are an answer to our current woes is deluded.
As an example of their position on free speech:
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/01/23/green-party-expels-member-for-mocking-fairy-pronouns-and-gets-sued/
Nutters all.
“No fear for his own personal safety”. Is he protected?
Let’s not hold our breath waiting for the new and (it sounds) swiftly and expertly installed party leadership to say something about the Green politicians’ use of the “Nelson touch” in Brighton towards organised crime leader Nicholas van Hoogstraten (now known as Nicholas Adolf von Hessen) who has “connections” with a hotel from which more than 100 refugee children “disappeared”, and is well known to “own” much of the Brighton area:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/25/child-migrants-to-be-sent-back-to-hotel-where-136-vanished
Anything “green” is a scam and bullsh*t.
The Greens were only in national office in Germany for a short time before Germany under a Green foreign minister got involved in a NATO war against Yugoslavia. F*cking Darréites, the lot of them, as Teddy Goldsmith doubtless would have admitted privately.
Once upon a time there was an anti-nuclear movement that was against both nuclear weapons and, because of its adverse health effects, also nuclear power. Truly compassionate people don’t buy into the line that a nice society gives a slice to “people”, a slice to “profit”, and a slice to “planet”.
Although I don’t put much faith in polls where Britain is concerned (they are a bit more reliable in France), I could easily imagine the Greens increasing their vote in the next general election and doing well in other elections including by-elections beforehand. It sounds insane, but many people in the smartphone epoch are getting thicker and thicker and it won’t be surprising if those belonging to a non-negligible part of the electorate think “I can’t pay my bills and my family is in danger of being thrown out on the street, so let’s vote for a colour rather than all that ‘right’, ‘left’, ‘conservative’, and ‘reform’ political stuff”.
The Greens’ popularity is because they have not yet become completely the Green wing of the Tory Party and therefore people will vote for them because they are not Red, Blue, Yellow or Turquoise Tories, in the same way as they voted for the Red Tories because they weren’t the Blue Tories. History tells us that, should they get within sniffing distance of the levers of power, they will change their tune dramatically.
Is another way of saying the first bit to say that the Greens will pick up a kind of “anti-system” vote in the same way that the Liberals and Liberal Democrats once did, as also did Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, and as did parties such as the National Front, British National Party, UKIP, and the Social Democratic Party?
Certainly many people in the bottom 80-90% of society now think they are pissed off with the “system”.
I wouldn’t call Reform “Turquoise Tories” in the emotional context of why many may vote for them, even if they are obviously Toryoid in the sense of being pro the army, the monarchy, tradition, and white pride. (Their dislike of compassion and human rights, though, and their flag shagging, could lump them in with neo-Nazis as much as with the Tories.)
An interesting case was the 1989 European Parliament election in Britain, in which the Greens won 15% of the vote, having won 0.5% (as the “Ecology Party”) in the preceding election in 1984. Wow! This was because of the way they were talked about in the media beforehand. It may be that the intention was that they would take votes from the left (this is why the Greens were established in Germany and probably more generally in most places), but in that election they ended up taking votes in southern England from the Tories. Oops! (Quite a few young rich people who weren’t “City pinstripe” types were open to the idea of rejecting the traditional Tory image but without buying into the idea of being so generous to the proles that they’d opt for “socialism”. Deep down, they still saw the “class-based” left as filth, simpletons, or traitors. Before the Greens, the Liberals and Liberal Democrats benefited from this kind of thinking for years.)
Polanski is a former treasurer of the Jewish Greens. I’ll look at him. Who else should I look at in the “new leadership” of that party? Seems this party has been reshaped for possible use in a big way. Which doesn’t mean they will be used in a big way, but we shall see.
“I wouldn’t call Reform “Turquoise Tories” in the emotional context of why many may vote for them, ”
I was meaning it more in the context of who wouldn’t vote for them and would vote for the Greens as being “not them”.
Please feel free to delete this rather long quote from citizen observers in Minnesota:
‘ A man lies subdued on the ground, held down by two ICE agents. A third leans in and sprays pepper spray point blank into his face.
Not to restrain him. Not to control him. Simply to punish him — to inflict pain on someone who dared to bear witness as a mob of federal agents dragged two teenagers out of a car.
This happened on Wednesday, on West 28th Street and Blaisdell Avenue in south Minneapolis. Agents boxed in a vehicle and began questioning a Latino teenager inside. “They said, ‘If you don’t open the window in three seconds or open the door, we will break the window,'” one witness recounted. The agents then dragged both him — a 16-year-old who kept saying “I came out of school” — and a Latino girl from the car.
When protesters gathered to exercise their Constitutionally-protected right to document the arrests, agents forced a man facedown in the frozen street and then sprayed bright orange chemical irritant directly into his face. Star Tribune photographer Rich Tsong-Taatarii, who captured this brutal moment, said he did not see the man touch the agents before they assaulted him.
For any normal law enforcement officer — personnel who are actually vetted, trained, and expected to follow established standards of conduct — pinning a man down and spraying chemicals directly into his face would trigger an immediate investigation and likely termination. It is, by any reasonable standard, excessive force applied to someone already restrained.
With ICE, there are no such constraints.
Trump’s new footsoldiers, rushed to the streets through shoddy hiring and training time slashed by three-quarters, have received the message loud and clear from the highest offices. From Vance. From Miller. From Noem. Again and again, they hear it: they are “protected by absolute immunity.” No controls. No consequences.
ICE has been operating this way for months, and without meaningful oversight, the brutality only escalates. In November, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a preliminary injunction against federal immigration enforcement tactics in Chicago, condemning conduct she said “shocks the conscience.” She found that agents had been deploying force with no connection to any actual threat — wielding violence not as a last resort but as a first instinct.
“I see little reason for the use of force that the federal agents are currently using,” the judge stated. Her order banned chemical weapons against non-threatening individuals, required body cameras, and mandated use-of-force reporting — the kind of baseline oversight that any functioning law enforcement agency should have had from the start.
Then came Minnesota. When thousands of federal agents flooded the Twin Cities, residents responded by documenting what they saw. The people who brought suit against ICE weren’t blocking arrests or attacking agents. They were observing. Recording. Bearing witness. All activities the First Amendment explicitly protects. And for that, according to the lawsuit, they were pepper sprayed, detained, had firearms pointed at them, and in some cases arrested — without ever being charged with a crime.
U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez looked at the evidence and called the agents’ behavior what it was: unconstitutional. Her ruling prohibited federal agents from retaliating against people engaged in peaceful protest, from using pepper spray or tear gas as crowd dispersal against demonstrators, and from stopping or detaining drivers without reasonable suspicion they’re actually obstructing operations. Crucially, she also ruled that following ICE vehicles at a safe distance to document their activities is protected First Amendment conduct — not obstruction.
This was a major win. It affirmed that constitutional rights don’t disappear because federal agents find witnesses inconvenient.
That protection lasted five days.
On Monday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay, suspending Menendez’s injunction while the government appeals. Attorney General Pam Bondi crowed about a “victory” over “a liberal judge” who tried to “handcuff ICE agents.” On Wednesday, agents were back to pinning protesters to the pavement and spraying chemicals in their faces.
This is the reality on the ground, in city after city. Federal agents violently retaliating against people engaged in peaceful protest. Using pepper spray and tear gas as weapons against demonstrators. Stopping and detaining drivers without reasonable suspicion. Breaking car windows. Dragging people out based only on the color of their skin. A paramilitary force operating in American cities, in ordinary neighborhoods, in a way that would appall any normal law enforcement officer.
This week in Minnesota, local law enforcement leaders held a press conference to denounce exactly that. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley described what his department has been witnessing: “Recently, over the last two weeks, we, as the law enforcement community, have been receiving endless complaints about civil rights violations in our streets from U.S. citizens. What we’re hearing is they’re being stopped in traffic stops or on the street with no cause and being forced to [produce] paperwork to determine if they are here legally. Every one of these individuals is a person of color who has had this happen to them.”
And it isn’t just civilians. Off-duty officers — people who carry badges and know the Constitution — are being targeted too. One Brooklyn Park officer was boxed in by ICE vehicles, had guns drawn on her, and was demanded to produce immigration “paperwork.” When she tried to record the encounter, an agent knocked the phone from her hand. “If it is happening to our officers,” Bruley warned, “it pains me to think of how many of our community members are falling victim to this every day. It has to stop.”
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, the county’s first Black woman sheriff, put it plainly: “I am seeing and hearing about people in Hennepin County being stopped, questioned and harassed solely because of the color of their skin.”
And from the administration? A drumbeat of lies and deflection.
When DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was asked about agents targeting individuals based on skin color, she erupted: “That is not true! That has been another false narrative that has been put out there in the media that I absolutely want to throw back at you and say that is absolutely false, and don’t you dare ever say that again!”
Vance called Renee Good — the 37-year-old mother of three shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7th — a “deranged leftist.” He said her death was “a tragedy of her own making.” The man who shot her was captured on his own cellphone video calling her a “f*cking b*tch” as Good’s SUV drifted away, her body slumped at the wheel. Vance said this man — who killed an American citizen in broad daylight, on camera, in front of witnesses — “deserves a debt of gratitude.” There would be no accountability, Vance declared, because the agent was “protected by absolute immunity.”
Stephen Miller — Trump’s deputy chief of staff and the architect of his immigration agenda — went even farther, directly telling ICE agents they have “federal immunity” to do whatever they want. In a video message directed to ICE agents, Miller declared: “You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties, and anybody who lays a hand on you, or tries to stop you, or tries to obstruct you, is committing a felony. You have immunity to perform your duties and no one — no city official, no state official, no illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist — can prevent you from fulfilling your legal obligations and duties.”
“Absolute immunity.” The lie the administration peddles again and again to justify pinning down a man in the street and spraying him point-blank in the face.
It is a lie. There is no such thing as “federal immunity” for killing American citizens. Michael J.Z. Mannheimer, a constitutional law professor at Northern Kentucky University, was blunt: “The idea that a federal agent has absolute immunity for crimes they commit on the job is absolutely ridiculous.”
But the point isn’t legal accuracy. The point is the message being sent — to ICE agents and to the American public alike. Noem’s denials, Vance’s pronouncements, and Miller’s declarations amount to a greenlight for abuse, open season on citizens and immigrants alike. These are the actions of an administration committed to impunity — telling Americans, in plain terms: You cannot question us.
There has never been a sharper divide in competing visions for this country. One honors the rule of law. The other embraces thuggery in the streets. One believes in accountability. The other demands impunity. One values decency and compassion. The other celebrates cruelty as strength.
The man in that photograph, his face being sprayed with chemicals as he lies helpless on frozen pavement — he is what one vision looks like in practice. The agents holding him down, faces masked, names hidden, operating without oversight or consequence — they are what the other vision looks like.
The courts have tried to draw lines. Judge Ellis in Chicago. Judge Menendez in Minnesota. But lines only hold when power is willing to respect them. And this administration has made clear, again and again, that it is not.
What remains is what has always remained when institutions falter: the courage of ordinary people to bear witness, to document, to resist — knowing that an agent might spray chemicals in their face for doing so.
The question is not whether ICE will relent, whether this administration will respect the rule of law. They have shown us they will not.
The question is whether the rest of us will meet this moment — or let it pass in silence.
–> If you’ve had enough of the cruelty and the lies, here’s how to take action against the illegal actions of ICE and the militarization of U.S. cities: Congress must fund the Department of Homeland Security by January 30, and spending bills require 60 votes in the Senate — meaning Democrats have leverage to demand restrictions on ICE.’
They still have hope and faith in their democratic institutions
Many far right people in the US are exhibiting signs of fascism and take delight in inflicting pain and humiliation on their opponents, four examples here….
Trump, Miller, Nick Fuentes and Lindsey Graham all seem to have this same US entitlement through its economic and military hegemony over most of the world, although both are disappearing fast.
Any objective observation of the shooting of the protestor Renee Good could only conclude that it was murder, but rather than do the sensible thing and call for an inquiry, Vance, and other cabinet members immediately took sides by backing the Ice agent, in effect, calling this murder the correct thing to do, this alienates even many of their own base, by treating them all as idiots.
Of more concern to me is how the frothing at the mouth Lindsey Graham [who has an orgasm whenever he hears of people being killed] can win election after election in South Carolina. Or are his electorate as bloodthirsty as he? What would Nick Fuentes say with his US has the right to bully others,with might is right arguments, i.e. when confronted with a gang coveting things he owns, with the expression “He has It. We Want It. We Take It”, leaving him with two broken legs?
” frothing at the mouth Lindsey Graham [who has an orgasm whenever he hears of people being killed] ”
I am puzzled that you should say that, because I always get the impression, when seeing Mr Graham, that the man is “eeeeeempotent” (as George Steiner used to pronounce it).
Apparently the lovable old zionist adores children so he can’t be all bad 🙂
What kind of message do ICE, cops, other law enforcement, even store security guards, get when they hear Trump and co speak in this way?
The next step would be something like the Duty of Guards law (Postenpflicht) in Germany, which, starting in Dachau in 1933, made it compulsory for guards to shoot dead any prisoner who crossed the line in front of the fence. Trials are for wimps!
Trump doesn’t understand this life and death thing. See what he has said about military graves, and also what he said recently about US satellite countries’ soldiers in Afghanistan. I totally opposed the US invasion and I consider the good side to have been the side of those who defended where they lived against the invaders. Also if you compare death rates and the use of technology that killed from afar (e.g. by “Prince” Harry), it is obvious that there was more bravery on the side that eventually won. Nonetheless even from this viewpoint I would not insult fallen enemy soldiers. If fallen invaders hadn’t taken risks, generally considered to be an attribute of bravery, they wouldn’t have fallen.
The biggest cowards are the rich scum and their paid-for governments that started and prolonged that war.
For Trump, anyone who dies is a “loser”. Starting with his elder brother who was the focus of his disgusting parents’ hopes before he died at a young age, do we think? I’m pretty sure his niece Mary, daughter of his elder brother, would say yes.
Trump, like many politicians was a draft dodger, AKA ‘bone spurs’ to many.
It’s easy to send people off to their death when you have no skin in the game.
“It’s easy to send people off to their death when you have no skin in the game.”
and it’s easy to be enthusiastic about other people going to war when you are in no danger of being drafted and sent into battle yourself. Principles suddenly don’t seem quite so important when you when you are no longer defending them sat in front of a keyboard, but in a muddy field at the risk of your life.
He doesn’t want people to resist because they will lose… translation of Trump-speak
Harry Law, Vance did something much worse than that : he brought Renee Good’s alleged political proclivities into it; the implication being all ‘leftist’ opponents are somehow fair game for the same treatment.
The whole political spectrum is the U.S. is hideously distorted; the Democrats(liberals) are to the right of Starmer’s Labour, yet they are labeled ‘far-left’ lunatics by Trump and co. As in the U.K., the rotten two-party system is the real enemy. Neither the U.S.,nor the U.K, can be considered truly representative democracies. Although the U.S. does at least have primaries, offering the slim glimmer of hope of booting out the most obnoxious party hacks and careerists.
“Trump’s new footsoldiers, rushed to the streets through shoddy hiring and training time slashed by three-quarters,”
ICE are the new Black and Tans.
With your permission, I’d like to go back to the previous thread.
What did the judge finally decide about Mr Murray’s action? Or has his verdict not yet come?
U.S. President Donald Trump says Canadian goods exported to the United States would be hit with 100 percent tariffs if Canada makes a deal with China.
“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on the morning of Jan. 24.
“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The U.S. president wrote the remarks while posting a Jan. 23 article by Just the News titled, “Deal with the Devil: How Canada’s New Partnership With China Could Backfire.”
These deals have already been made, Canada is exporting oil, canola, and other products, and Canada is importing electric cars, dropping a tariff of 100% to just 6% Trump is going ballistic. Canada has recently dropped its order for F35 fighters and is buying the Cheaper Swedish Gripen fighter which also has far cheaper operating costs. The US usually tells other counties who they can trade with, even which crops they can grow, OR ELSE! Who will win this trade war, is Carney all hat and no cattle?
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-says-canada-will-face-100-tariffs-if-it-makes-deal-china
More ignorance from the orange one. The fact is that for many decades Canada has had (good) deals and imported many goods from China. This is nothing new. It’s also a fact that the USA is very reliant on Canada for electricity, raw materials and machined parts, amongst others. If Canada had a backbone and put reciprocal tariffs on the USA they would squeal.
Trump is implementing his imperial mandates all over the world, now he is telling Iraq who they can have in their next government, or they will lose their oil money which is deposited in the US Federal Reserve.
Because of US sanctions, few countries can trade with Iran, increasing its reliance on Iraqi markets for exports and on Baghdad’s banking system as a monetary outlet to the rest of the world.
As punishment, the US government has restricted the flow of dollars to Iraqi banks on several occasions in recent years, raising the price of imports for Iraqi consumers and making it difficult for Iraq to pay for desperately needed natural gas imports from Iran.
However, this is the first time the US has threatened to cut off the flow of dollars from the New York Federal Reserve to the Central Bank of Iraq.
Officials in Washington can threaten Baghdad in this way because the country was forced to place all revenues from oil sales into an account at the New York Fed following the US military’s invasion of the country in 2003.
This gives Washington strong leverage against Baghdad, as oil revenue accounts for 90 percent of the Iraqi government’s budget. While occupying Iraq for decades and controlling its oil revenues, Washington accuses Iran of infringing on Iraq’s sovereignty.
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/us-pledges-starve-iraq-oil-revenue-if-pro-iran-parties-join-new-government
It is thought Nouri al-Maliki, of the State of Law Coalition and the Dawa Party, will return to power. Maliki, who enjoys support from the PMU-linked parties, served as prime minister between 2006 and 2014, including when ISIS invaded western Iraq and conquered large swathes of the country. If he does then any PMU affiliates in the next Iraqi government will be met with the US stealing those Iraqi funds from the Fed.
Trump loves grabbing other countries by their resources. I heard he likes grabbing women by their genitals. Same thing I suppose.
Regarding the Board of Peace (“Board of Peace Dukes”), everyone is commenting on how the logo is a Trumpo-vulgar gold version of the United Nations logo but with the USA at its centre, but few have observed that it also contains a representation of a shield. A shield is a piece of fighting equipment, or “defence” technology if you like, but it’s nothing to do with the idea of swords into ploughshares and peace.
Donald Trump has almost zero clue about design, as shown by the crap kerning in the lettering on his towers and also by the not-even-kitsch Columbus Circle Globe outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York, a “homage” to the Unisphere elsewhere in that city.
That said, it was notable that he was interested in the Cosmati pavement in Westminster Abbey.
Gotta wonder where the Board of Peace will have its HQ if it ever gets one. A job for Kushner’s 660 Fifth Avenue, maybe renamed back to 666 Fifth Avenue? Must get the gematria right.
? Governor Carney? Is Trump already assuming Canada is just another state of the US Empire? Will he send the rabid gangsters of ICE there next?
European leaders are meeting to discuss fears that American owned money transfer systems are being used to cut off people from their bank accounts. This is not just a problem for the members of the ICC who had access to their online banking frozen and personal accounts closed. The international transfers of money and goods use a shared system which may cease to work.
I have dug out an old book, which previously didn’t seem plausible but now defines our current global dystopia.
Making Europe Unconquerable, by Gene Sharp
Forword, page xiv ‘The successful imposition of foreign domination over a given country requires the ability of the dominating power to find, from within the population of that country, a faction either so inspired or so successfully cowed as to serve as a puppet government. It then requires that this faction should have the capacity to recruit the requisite indigenous bureaucracy, and to compel the population to accept and respect its authority.’
This is the Friends of Israel guiding hand within our political parties.
Gene Sharp’s other book which I have somewhere, was the blueprint for peaceful revolutions like the Arab Spring and the Maidan overthrow. I remember how the people of Egypt regretted having overthrown their secular government and how first they got a Saudi backed hardline Muslim government and invaders coming across the Sinai desert, and then they got Sissi repelling the invaders but the oil companies were still taking all the oil and the petrol pumps were still running dry.
Now we have a publicity stunt by our national embarrassment Clacton MP putting out a call for St David’s Day to be a day for celebrating English thuggery against Wales. People in Wales chased away the English flag gangs when England got its half mast lamp posts covered for poor Charlie Kirk.
Gene Sharp
An American national treasure kept under house arrest in his final years. Such a clever man….
Re. your first para, this is a version of what is called social credit in the Chinese context – as is much of what Facebook and X etc. do, and many already accept the principle of it as normal. “Of course
if I don’t follow the crowdif I act like a weirdo the mods are going to mute me, ban me, kick me, and probably kickban me with a bit of banmuting thrown in, or whatever else makes it absolutely clear that I am an ‘account’ that is ‘obviously’ subject to classification reviews and updates and the possibility of sanctions if it misbehaves – what else should I expect?” And then the same gets to apply in “life” outside of phone-picking or posting and reading stuff on what are laughably called “social” services on the internet, in areas such as buying things and probably soon being allowed to drive a car, get a job, or rent a flat. (In Britain during the historically current blink of an eye, this could be sold as helping to reduce immigration and make life difficult for illegal immigrants, so to the extent that any aspect of this requires voter support, job done.)With discourse when more than two or three people are present now almost totally dominated by the enemy, there seriously isn’t a rationalist intellectual “raise the consciousness of the masses” path out of this, and it has to be acknowledged that insurrectionary anarchism (bless its adherents) does not seem a feasible path out either.
“Bai lan” and “tang ping”, well they are resistance of a kind for sure…but what we need is a ginormous unmediated freakout that doesn’t “refuse” to play the game because it never even considered playing the game in the first place. And we need it pretty damned soon or we will all get Xinjianged to the power of Gaza. Look at how “AI” (is it pronounced “aiyeeee”?) has shat on “life” during the past two years.
Get some rest man, you’re ranting.
It doesn’t seem like a rant to me. The text is dense and tightly woven to be sure, but perfectly understandable.
Seconded. I live in China. Nobody that I know has ever heard of social credit. None of my Xinjiang friends or colleagues or their friends or relatives have disappeared. Curious, eh?
Did others see Craig’s appearance yesterday on the Crispin Flintoff Show? He’s in Caracas. Everything is calm there. He hasn’t encountered any gangs or a single checkpoint. The shops are well stocked. In other words, what we hear in our media is a pack of lies, likely fed to them from spooky quarters. The media know that regurgitating that guff unquestioningly ensures a quiet life. Actually sending a reporter would cost money and likely lead to grief. Same will apply to Xinjiang. I have an acquaintance who traveled there, though it was many years ago now. He heard the Uighur language spoken everywhere, even by Party officials, and in first place on signs. On returning home, he heard one of those expatriate creatures of the spooks on the BBC saying how the language was brutally repressed.
Some people you can’t convince, they just know.
“Re. your first para, this is a version of what is called social credit in the Chinese context ”
Does that somehow make it better, that the Chinese are already doing it? or worse? (Not that they are doing it. “Social credit” in China is something quite different.)
Lovely tribute by Ben Norton of Geopolitical Economy Report in respect of the passing of Michael Parenti “He was a brilliant anti-imperialist scholar who dedicated his life to revolutionary popular education, not the ivory tower. He was one of the greatest thinkers of the US left”.
Ben gave a link to Mr Parenti’s webpage. I have had a cursory look and am now absorbing his quotes, many of which really chime. Here is the link.
https://www.michael-parenti.org/quotations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVDjotust3k
Brian Berletic breathes a breath of fresh air (again) as he deconstructs US imperial posturing, using US official and oligarch sources. He’s really rather good on the bimbos in the US and Canada. ;O)
Probably the greatest political scientist. His books were an illuminating and rewarding read for me. Rest in power.
The picture of Parenti in a hat reminded me of another picture of a man on a hat, with a similar tilt – in the Youtube video of the Internationale in Punjabi. I wonder if this was a Communist fashion. The wiki article on him suggests that he may have been unjustly assaulted for peaceful protest, wrongfully convicted and then academically blacklisted, so that he had to work freelance to support himself. No wonder he held anti-Western views. But in defending Sloboban Milosevic and denying the Bosnian genocide he went too far, perhaps as a sop to Russia who is a traditional friend of Serbia. Russian sympathies are also seen in a 2014 article. However he seems to have written little after 2018, perhaps because of age and ill-health, and so there is no evidence of his views on the invasion of Ukraine on 2022.
That should be “Bosnian genocide”.
He correctly pointed out that a western regime change operation was enacted in Ukraine in 2014, whitewashed by western media as a popular pro-democracy uprising.
Thanks for this link, @Johnny.
“You will have no sensation of a leash around your neck if you sit by the peg. It is only when you stray that you feel the restraining tug.”
Very neatly put. Kudos to all who express clued-up humanitarian critique in non-fancy and non-clichéd language. But then there is the unconscious. The unconscious will be a big part of the story as we approach and go into the middle third of the century. No apols for scratching a bit at the word “sensation” here.
You should read what he said about the corporate-imperialist Democratic Party, long before its overtly genocidal turn in Oct 2023.
Brain Red:
No worries. Thought I’d post one I like [by Michael Parenti]:
“Radical views that are outside the mainstream generally (but not always) are more reliable than the dominant view because they are more regularly challenged and tested against evidence. They do not get to float freely down the mainstream; they must swim against the current. They cannot rest on the orthodox power to foreclose dissent, and they are not supported by the unanimity of bias that passes for objectivity.”
Labour MP openly calling for military strikes on Iran in violation of the UN Charter : https://x.com/DavidTaylor85/status/2015731597887103246
Damn you Murray this is no good: it’s almost as though you can’t see black or white but only grey! Really it’s unacceptable: either you need to come out and say down with the Ayatollah, hurrah for the Shah, or admit you are an ayatollah loving pro-iranian terrorist sponsoring stooge! This attempt at a subtle nuanced view…..BOR-ING!!!!!! You’ve got to be either for regime change, or you support the regime.
In all seriousness your article here for me hits every nail on every head. And though yes, it requires understanding of nuances and subtleties, it’s not gargantuanily, (is that a word?) complicated.Yet….what danger is there of finding anything close to it in any mainstream media just now? It’s almost as if coverage sets out to deliberately obscure or prevent such thoughtfulness.
As an Iranian who has lived in both Iran and then in the West for many years, I can say that I agree with 100% of what you said.
It was the most accurate, just, fair, and unbiased analysis that I’ve read or watched.
Thank you very much for your article. I’ve seen so much evil in the media that I never thought people like you existed.
Have a great day.
Surreal Gratuit
In the much larger Green movement protests in 2009, following the election, authorities claimed 36 were killed while Mousavi (opposition candidate) supporters allege at least 72 deaths.
These 20,000, 30,000 even 50,000 figures, are clearly being put out there to justify military intervention by our corrupted western media. Israeli politicians have been boasting that their operatives were active on the streets of Iran, not reported by western MSM. And many of the reported injuries and deaths are consistent close-range, shotgun pellet blasts. Iran is likely the victim of a great crime, in the name of regime change, much as the people of Syria were.
The BBC is ramping up the propaganda too, as the U.S. carrier group moves into position for the inevitable illegal campaign. BBC 2’s Newsnight had two of the most rabid Pahlavi-supporting, western Iranian critics on; both of whom went without challenge. Of all media, the BBC’s Caroline Hawley’s reports are some of the most despicable though. Western media have concentrated on the fate of one girl, a blonde, blue-eyed girl, see what they did there? Her name was Diana and she was active on social media. Diana’s family released a statement, claiming she was killed in a motorbike accident, yet Hawley, in her reports, says a friend of hers(?) told her (Hawley) she’d been shot by the regime. This ‘hearsay’ reporting simply isn’t good enough when war and peace are at stake. https://x.com/SZade15/status/2016217598539579499
Trump is really being lead by the nose by the israelis, not only a looming attack on Iran is on the horizon but now Trump have begun to whine about Iraq too because pro-iranian shiite Nouri al-Maliki could take power:
Iraq’s Maliki rejects ‘blatant US interference’ after Trump warning
Trump threatened to end support to Iraq if Nouri al-Maliki returns to power
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iraq-s-maliki-rejects-blatant-us-interference-after-trump-warning/3813156
This is the same Trump that for years spoke out against these useless wars and regime change ops, he turned out to be a complete fraud.
One wonder if the attack on Iran will come this friday/weekend, next weeked the Olympics will start and it will not look good on him if he start the war then:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Truce
Jack
For a man who dodged the draft no less than five times, he sure likes throwing military weight around, doesn’t he.
the guardian seems to be part of the conditioning exercise too. “Threat of US-Iran war escalates…” An unprovoked attack by Trump isn’t a US-Iran war. Amazing how nobody talks about legality either, anymore. Where the hell is the UN?.After Iraq, and the solemn promises made in hushed silence to the commons, that lessons would be learnt, well, here we are again. US doing what it does best : destroying and killing.
Exactly my view too, where is everyone?! It is disturbing how normalized wars have become just like that.Trump could threat this or that nation with war, could kidnap people freely without anyone even react. What is going on?
The development with Venezuela, Iran really show what a low opinion the West have on the non-western world: they have absolute no rights whatsoever apparently. Obviously the West still have that colonial mindset.
As Rand Paul said the other day, what if another state kidnapped Trump, not a flagrant act of war against the US?!
Video: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUEi537D-Ud/