'It's Over' - Zelensky HAMMERED In Time Magazine
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What a difference a year makes. Less than a year ago Time Magazine named Ukrainian president Zelensky its "person of year" and raised his status practically to a saint. This week's Time cover could not be more of a contrast. Have the elites finally thrown "Project Ukraine" and Zelensky under the bus now that a new shiny object - a Middle East war - has come around? Watch today's Liberty Report: 'It's Over' - Zelensky HAMMERED In Time Magazine Click on the headline to read the full story from
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If you are opposed to continued US involvement in wars which are percolating globally and which threaten to ensnare our country, jeopardize our troops and ruin our economy, please read this article. President Biden and Congress this week, in separate funding attempts, will likely pursue money to fund wars against Ukraine and Gaza, and to intensify further actions which could start wars against China and Iran. This is a defining moment for Mr. Biden, for Congress, for America and the world. Congress may well split war appropriations into separate bills, but once the spigot is open, more and more money will flow to accelerate the killing. We are on the offense vs. Russia, and preparing for offense vs. Iran and China. NONE of these nations have forward bases to attack the US. We have over 800 bases around the world. We spend close to ONE TRILLION DOLLARS a year, almost half of our discretionary spending for the Pentagon and various intelligence services. We do have the obligation to protect our nation. However, we can’t protect it by actively inciting tensions and pre-emptively bombing Iran, Russia or China. Such attacks will risk massive retaliatory strikes which would destroy our major cities and kill millions of Americans, no matter how good our defense is. We bombed and killed a million Iraqis precisely because they could not fight back, just as Gazans are being bombed under US supervision. Iran, China and Russia can and will fight back. America is at greater risk today than ever because our leaders are prepared to gamble with wiping out all history and posterity. Don’t say it can’t happen. American foreign policy is a game of liar’s poker, money piles in and stakes go up. These powers in front of and behind the veil of government, including media pundits and their rhetoric, are betting with our money and our lives. We have the power to stop wars. Now. Here’s how. Here are short-term actions that you can take: 1. Contact your Congressional representative in Washington, by phone or email, NOW and tell them to oppose appropriations for war. Give your name and address The US Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121. 2. Visit your local congressional office. Ask to meet with the District Director. Tell them you want your congressperson to vote against appropriating money for the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Russia or China. 3. Encourage, support and vote for those who oppose money for more war. War is the defining issue of our generation. 4. Be prepared to oppose those congresspersons who support money for more war and don’t be afraid to tell them that. 5. Ask the President and the Congress to support our troops by bringing them home. They are being used as bait. Demand all US troops, Special Forces, naval and air personnel who are stationed proximate to conflict areas outside the US to be brought home. 6. Support humanitarian aid, for food, water, shelter, and medical care to relieve the suffering of people in war-torn regions. 7. Attend rallies in your hometown to express your support for peaceful resolution of conflict at all levels and international diplomacy to settle disputes, before they turn violent. 8. Call the White House at 202-456-1414 and express your opposition to more money for war, or email comments@whitehouse.gov Now is the time to build a new movement for Human and Ecological Security and Peace. Now is the time to become active, as though your life depends upon it. It may. Kucinich is a Member of the Ron Paul Institute's Board of Advisors. Reprinted with permission from The Kucinich Report. Subscribe and support here. How to Stop the War(s) Click on the headline to read the full story from
There they go again! New US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was chosen to replace a Speaker McCarthy over McCarthy's determination to continue dumping billions into Ukraine. Not one week into his Speakership, however, Johnson's views have "evolved" and now he favors more money to Ukraine...and a war in the Middle East! Watch today's Liberty Report: Hold Your Wallets! New Speaker's Ukraine Aid Views 'Evolving!' Click on the headline to read the full story from Peace and Prosperity October 7 testimonies reveal Israels military shelling Israeli citizens with tanks missiles10/30/2023 Several new testimonies by Israeli witnesses to the October 7 Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel adds to growing evidence that the Israeli military killed its own citizens as they fought to neutralize Palestinian gunmen. Tuval Escapa, a member of the security team for Kibbutz Be’eri, set up a hotline to coordinate between kibbutz residents and the Israeli army. He told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that as desperation began to set in, “the commanders in the field made difficult decisions – including shelling houses on their occupants in order to eliminate the terrorists along with the hostages.” A separate report published in Haaretz noted that the Israeli military was “compelled to request an aerial strike” against its own facility inside the Erez Crossing to Gaza “in order to repulse the terrorists” who had seized control. That base was filled with Israeli Civil Administration officers and soldiers at the time. These reports indicate that orders came down from the military’s high command to attack homes and and other areas inside Israel, even at the cost of many Israeli lives. An Israeli woman named Yasmin Porat confirmed in an interview with Israel Radio that the military “undoubtedly” killed numerous Israeli noncombatants during gun battles with Hamas militants on October 7. “They eliminated everyone, including the hostages,” she stated, referring to Israeli special forces. As David Sheen and Ali Abunimah reported in Electronic Intifada, Porat described “very, very heavy crossfire” and Israeli tank shelling, which led to many casualties among Israelis. While being held by the Hamas gunmen, Porat recalled, “They did not abuse us. We were treated very humanely… No one treated us violently.” She added, “The objective was to kidnap us to Gaza, not to murder us.” According to Haaretz, the army was only able to restore control over Be’eri after admittedly “shelling” the homes of Israelis who had been taken captive. “The price was terrible: at least 112 Be’eri residents were killed,” the paper chronicled. “Others were kidnapped. Yesterday, 11 days after the massacre, the bodies of a mother and her son were discovered in one of the destroyed houses. It is believed that more bodies are still lying in the rubble.” Much of the shelling in Be’eri was carried out by Israeli tank crews. As a reporter for the Israeli Foreign Ministry-sponsored outlet i24 noted during a visit to Be’eri, “small and quaint homes [were] bombarded or destroyed,” and “well-maintained lawns [were] ripped up by the tracks of an armored vehicle, perhaps a tank.” Apache attack helicopters also figured heavily in the Israeli military’s response on October 7. Pilots have told Israeli media they scrambled to the battlefield without any intelligence, unable to differentiate between Hamas fighters and Israeli noncombatants, and yet determined to “empty the belly” of their war machines. “I find myself in a dilemma as to what to shoot at, because there are so many of them,” one Apache pilot commented. Video filmed by uniformed Hamas gunmen makes it clear they intentionally shot many Israelis with Kalashnikov rifles on October 7. However, the Israeli government has not been content to rely on verified video evidence. Instead, it continues to push discredited claims of “beheaded babies” while distributing photographs of “bodies burned beyond recognition” to insist that militants sadistically immolated their captives, and even raped some before torching them alive. The objective behind Tel Aviv’s atrocity exhibition is clear: to paint Hamas as “worse than ISIS” while cultivating support for the Israeli army’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has left over 7000 dead, including at least 2500 children at the time of publication. While hundreds of wounded children in Gaza have been treated for what a surgeon described as “fourth degree burns” caused by novel weapons, the Western media’s focus remains trained on Israeli citizens supposedly “burned alive” on October 7. Yet the mounting evidence of friendly fire orders handed down by Israeli army commanders strongly suggests that at least some of the most jarring images of charred Israeli corpses, Israeli homes reduced to rubble and burned out hulks of vehicles presented to Western media were, in fact, the handiwork of tank crews and helicopter pilots blanketing Israeli territory with shells, cannon fire and Hellfire missiles. Indeed, it appears that on October 7, Israel’s military resorted to the same tactics it has employed against civilians in Gaza, driving up the death toll of its own citizens with the indiscriminate use of heavy weapons. Israel bombs its own base, nerve center of the Gaza siege Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood at 6 AM on October 7, quickly overwhelming the military bases from which Israel maintain its siege of the Gaza Strip. Chief among the objectives outlined by Hamas and PIJ was the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including as many as 700 children passing through the system each year along with 1264 Palestinians currently being held without charges. The 2011 swap for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured five years prior and released in exchange for 1027 prisoners, provided clear inspiration for Al-Aqsa Flood. By storming military bases and kibbutzes, the Palestinian militants aimed to capture as many Israeli soldiers and civilians as possible, and bring them back to Gaza alive. The lighting assault immediately overwhelmed Israel’s Gaza Division. Video recorded from GoPro cameras mounted on the helmets of Palestinian fighters shows Israeli soldiers cut down in rapid succession, many still dressed in underwear and caught off guard. At least 340 active soldiers and intelligence officers were killed on October 7, accounting for close to 50% of confirmed Israeli deaths. The casualties included high ranking officers like Col. Jonathan Steinberg, the commander of Israel’s Nahal Brigade. (Many first responders and armed Israeli civilians were also killed). The Erez Crossing is the home of a massive military and Coordination of Government Activities in the [Occupied] Territories (COGAT) facility which functions as the nerve center of Israel’s siege on Gaza. When it was overrun by Palestinian fighters on October 7 with droves of army bureaucrats inside, the Israeli military flew into a panic. According to Haaretz, the commander of the Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, “entrenched himself in the division’s subterranean war room together with a handful of male and female soldiers, trying desperately to rescue and organize the sector under attack. Many of the soldiers, most of them not combat personnel, were killed or wounded outside. The division was compelled to request an aerial strike against the [Erez Crossing] base itself in order to repulse the terrorists.” Video released by Israel’s COGAT ten days after the battle – and the Israeli airstrike – shows severe structural damage to the roof of the Erez Crossing facility. Read the whole article at The Grayzone. October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles Click on the headline to read the full story from Jack Smiths War on Free Speech: Attorney General Garland Should Rein in His Special Counsel10/30/2023 Below is my column in The Messenger on the renewed effort of Special Counsel Jack Smith to gag former President Donald Trump. At the same time, Judge Arthur Engoron has repeatedly fined Trump for his public statements about the New York fraud case. Engoron declared this week “Anybody can run for president. I am going to protect my staff.” There is widespread support for barring attacks on court staff and Trump did attack the Court’s clerk in a prior posting. However, most of his comments have been directed at Engoron and his alleged hostility toward Trump. Where to draw this line is the subject of this column. In my view, criticism of the case, the court, and the prosecutor should be treated as protected speech. Here is the column: In 2016, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion overturning a conviction that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had seemed willing to secure at whatever cost to the rule of law. The case involved the prosecution of former governor Bob McDonnell (R-Va.), and the lead DOJ prosecutor was now-special counsel Jack Smith. The court dismissed the “tawdry tales” offered by the DOJ and declared that it was far more concerned with the damage that Smith was causing to the legal system with his virtually limitless interpretation of criminality. The rebuke came to mind this week as Smith continued his unrelenting effort to gag former president Donald Trump before the 2024 election. Some of us have previously denounced the gag order issued by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan as unconstitutional, but even that order was more limited than what Smith had demanded. Even the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a leading critic of Trump, has come out against Smith’s efforts as an attack on the First Amendment. Undeterred, Smith now wants to reinstate and expand the gag on Trump, citing Trump’s comments about his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who reportedly has been given an immunity deal by Smith. (Meadows’ lawyer disputes those reports.) Smith wants to bar Trump from criticizing any witnesses as well as the prosecution and the court. That would include criticisms of former Vice President Mike Pence, currently one of his opponents for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on his allegations linked to the earlier election.[Update: after this column ran, Pence withdrew from the presidential campaign] Of course, gagging Trump will not materially affect the jury pool in the case. The Smith prosecutions are one of the biggest issues in this election. Moreover, it will not protect potential witnesses from withering criticism in the middle of an election that could turn on the public view of these cases. Indeed, Smith has insisted on trying Trump before the election but now also wants to prevent him from speaking fully about the case before the election. Trump alone would be gagged, even as other politicians and pundits debate the merits of the cases and the countervailing allegations of the weaponization of the criminal justice system. The prior order issued by Judge Chutkan is shockingly vague and overbroad. It bars Trump from “targeting” Smith or his staff or potential witnesses or the “substance of their testimony.” It leaves an undefined and uncertain line as Trump campaigns on what he (and millions of citizens) view as the abuse of the criminal justice system to target President Biden’s main political opponent. Smith would add to the scope and ambiguity of the order in his latest motion. He is arguing that the court should “modify the defendant’s conditions of release … by clarifying that the existing condition barring communication with witnesses about the facts of the case includes indirect messages to witnesses made publicly on social media or in speeches.” Consider that for a moment: Smith would treat comments about witnesses, such as Meadows or Pence, as an effort to communicate with a witness. Thus, Smith continues to litigate with a sense of utter abandon, showing his signature lack of concern for the implications of his legal arguments. It is the type of blind purpose that leads — as it did in the McDonnell case — to a unanimous ruling against you on an otherwise divided Supreme Court. Ironically, it calls for a level of self-restraint that the trial court itself failed to show in the past. In sentencing a rioter in 2022, Judge Chutkan said that January 6 defendants “were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man — not to the Constitution.” She added that it was “a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.” Despite clearly indicating with her comment that she believed Trump should be jailed (long before he was indicted), Chutkan has refused to recuse herself in this trial. The lack of restraint shown by Smith only magnifies the lack of leadership from Attorney General Merrick Garland. The attorney general has repeatedly said that he would give the special counsel full authority and independence. However, that would not ordinarily mean that the attorney general would reduce himself to a mere pedestrian in this process. This is an example of the ever-shrinking profile of Garland at the Justice Department. He has often told Congress that his knowledge of controversies is limited to what he has read in press accounts. Even beyond the special counsel’s investigations, he seems as proactive as a ficus plant. Yet, this new gag motion presents a far more serious cost to Garland’s passive role at the department. Smith is taking a hatchet to the First Amendment in these motions. In doing so, he is fueling anger over the perception of a weaponized criminal justice system. Smith’s deafening attacks on free speech are matched equally by Garland’s utter silence. The attorney general seems to believe that removing himself entirely from these investigations is more important than guaranteeing that his department does not become the enemy of core constitutional rights. As Smith seems intent on inviting another unanimous Supreme Court opinion against his department, Garland may want to consider voicing a modicum of concern over the cost to free speech in Smith’s efforts to gag Donald Trump. Reprinted with permission from JonathanTurley.org. Jack Smith’s War on Free Speech: Attorney General Garland Should Rein in His Special Counsel Click on the headline to read the full story from Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson has been chosen as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, ending the three-week drama. Representative Johnson has a reputation as a fiscal and social conservative. He has at times opposed funding the Ukraine war, suggesting he may be open to non-interventionist arguments or at least unwilling to give the military-industrial complex a blank check. However, he also supports giving Israel "whatever it needs" to defeat Hamas. Speaker Johnson has suggested that another short-term continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown may be necessary to ensure the House is not pressured into passing an omnibus spending bill at the end of the year. He has said he wants to pass individual spending bills through the House. This could help restrain spending. However, Speaker Johnson should not trade away the leverage a potential shutdown gives fiscal conservatives. A Speaker who is truly committed to individual liberty and who understands the urgent need to cut government spending would be willing to shut down the government if that is what it takes to get Congress to make real spending cuts. This hypothetical pro-liberty Speaker would refuse to bring any bill increasing any spending in any area to the House floor unless it offsets the spending increases with equal or greater spending cuts. A pro-liberty Speaker would work to repeal unconstitutional federal programs, agencies, and departments. Instead of replacing Obamacare with Obamacare Light, a pro-liberty Speaker would work to repeal all federal intervention in healthcare and restore patient control via tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Instead of No Child Left Behind 2.0, a pro-liberty Speaker would work to shut down the unconstitutional Department of Education. A pro-liberty Speaker would form coalitions with antiwar progressives to defund all unconstitutional military operations, bring the troops home, dramatically cut spending on militarism, and forbid funding for wars not declared by Congress. There could also be a left-right populist coalition formed to end corporate welfare and all other federal regulatory and spending legislation that benefits large financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and other big businesses. The savings from those cuts could be used to support those dependent on government programs while Congress phases out the welfare state. Also, young people should be allowed to opt out of Social Security and Medicare in exchange for a payroll tax exemption. A pro-liberty Speaker would only bring legislation to the floor of the House that protects liberty and is constitutional. A pro-liberty Speaker would work to protect the entire Bill of Rights. That means no more PATRIOT Acts, drug wars, civil asset forfeiture, airport harassment, or government-sponsored online censorship. Instead of responding to mass shootings with thoughts, prayers, and authoritarianism, a pro-liberty Speaker would work to repeal unconstitutional gun control laws that leave innocent Americans defenseless. Last, but certainly not least, a pro-liberty Speaker would seek to audit and end the Federal Reserve. He should also seek to protect the people’s right to use alternative currencies such as precious metals and cryptocurrency. The election of a pro-liberty Speaker of the House will not happen until the liberty movement is able to gain more influence in the political climate. This is why all of us who know the truth must continue to spread the ideas of liberty. A Pro-Liberty Speaker Click on the headline to read the full story from “Peace Dove” by Jose Trujillo When will we ever learn? As a member of the US Congress for 16 years, I gave over 500 speeches warning about the consequences of US wars against Afghanistan, the Balkans, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria. I spoke for the imperative of peace in the Middle East, on behalf of Israelis and the Palestinians alike. I met with leaders of many countries who were grappling to keep their nations out of conflict and I came to understand the role some in the US government have played to intentionally catalyze war, fueling arms sales globally, without regard for the consequences. The consequences are here! We are cartwheeling towards a massive East v. West war with religious and ethnic overtones. This seemingly inexorable March of (nuclear) Folly, will ultimately pit the United States militarily against China, Russia and their allies. The US, with its political divisions on full display, functions now only for purposes of funding wars. Otherwise, the government will shut down over its inability to balance the books from the expenses of previous wars which were put on the national credit card. The polarization of US politics, the cognitively impaired and failing executive branch, the instability of the congressional leadership, the purblind partisanship, the ideologically, click-bait driven media has produced a mad blood lust for war against Iran and acceleration toward the abyss. Through illegal war after illegal war, the US has demoralized and demonized itself against the rest of the world. It is the US and Israel against the Arab, Muslim, Chinese, Russian, Iranian, Turks, et al. The probability of nuclear war is higher than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 16-28, 1962, when President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev found an off ramp averting annihilation. Today, the price of nuclear vengeance and retribution would be the deaths of at least five billion people, and the end of life on planet Earth. The Biden foreign policy has always been a shambles. It has been based on military domination, economic coercion, and ideological arrogance which has swept up in its maw the Democratic party. The war in Ukraine, for example, meant to weaken Russia, has strengthened it economically and politically at the cost of the lives of 350,000 of the flower of Ukrainian youth. The US has rattled China over Taiwan, pretending we can intimidate the Chinese Navy and Coast Guard in their own front yard. The latent virus of megalomania has so excited America’s leaders that it has accelerated the formation of an alliance against our nation, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Diplomacy has become an abattoir. Blood lust blinds, sweeping aside primal human sympathies, exciting those ancient emotions to declare enemies, take up the cudgel and beat those enemies to death. We are at an exceedingly dangerous moment of world crisis when the fragile bonds which connect us, each to the other, are being torn asunder by acts of mass murder, the miasma of apartheid, oppression and occupation, stereotyping, racism, bigotry, accelerating mistrust, desire for vengeance and retribution, compelling a dialectic of conflict which could lead to the destruction of the world. Our survival as a species depends upon surmounting moments such as these, making of human relations a science, and human and ecological security the highest purpose of the work of people everywhere. When our brothers and sisters are killing each other, it is imperative, in the name of all humanity, that we intervene to stop the killing so that all may survive. Like an unruly child, our government out of control. We must call out now, hastened by whatever survival instinct that yet resides in us, and say STOP IT! Stop the escalation. Stop the militarization. Stop the race toward the abyss. It bears reflection at this moment that some of the same individuals, including President Biden, who led us into the disastrous Ukraine war and before that into devastating wars which killed over a million people in Iraq and Libya, are now leading the US into war against Iran … and World War III. The US is now defending itself by bombing sites assumed to be Iranian proxies in Syria. The panoply of offensive material which the US is pouring into the region suggests preparations are being made to attack Iran, which in turn will prompt other nations to respond. Now comes the Middle East conflict between Hamas and Israel. Instead of playing peacemaker, a role which ultimately protects Israel from destruction, the US is enabling the wholesale slaughter of Gazans, naively warning all others to step aside while standing guard with aircraft carriers and planes, emplacing US troops, and putting all US service personnel in the region at grave risk. This as the Netanyahu-Ben Givr government has fearfully approached a ground invasion while collective punishment having been previously meted out from the air to over 7,000 of Gaza’s civilian population. The air attack and the ground invasion are retribution for Hamas’ horrific attack on October 7th, which resulted in the murder of 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians. Under such circumstances, the hostages in Gaza are damned from above and below. On October 7th, shattered were the myths of the omni-competent Mossad and the technologically superior Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which were powerful deterrent factors against attacks. Israeli movements into Gaza will find synchronous advancement by in the north, by Hezbollah, across the Lebanese border and attacks soon coming from many directions. The continued bombing of the Palestinians in Gaza is inciting hundreds of millions of Muslims in the region who were already on edge because of the desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque on October 4th, 2023, which could have played a role inciting Hamas’ Oct. 7thunjustified planned massacre. Masked in the attack on Gaza is the agenda of Israel’s fair-right ultranationalist government to establish an ethnically-pure religious state, removing the Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, and the realization of the establishment of the prophesied Third Temple, which means razing Al Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam. I believe in the protection and survival of Israelis and Palestinians. I believe in the protection and survival of all people. The protection and survival of Israel or Palestine is not furthered by the bombing, starvation, and mass killings of innocents. It is a form of suicide presenting as homicide. It is time to stop taking sides and start working instead for the goal of a just peace. I oppose the killing of innocents whatever their race, color, creed, nationality or nation. There are hundreds of millions of Muslims and Arabs in the neighborhood now seething at the injustices of the massacre of innocents, and only nine million Israelis… The whole world is watching. The region is waiting. The Times of Israel reports today that as of October 29th, Israeli citizens who happen to be Palestinians, will be shot at public protests. Does anyone think the murders of Palestinians in the West Bank, together with those who will be shot for protesting, will not result in a sharp upcycling of violence in the region? Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of Israel through Jihad. Those on both sides who advocate kill or be killed are on the ascendant. Let us stand, then, in the place where all this killing leads, to northern Israel, on Mount Megiddo, (original Hebrew Har Megiddo, Anglicized to Armageddon). The final battle awaits with nuclear missiles as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Then we await the Second Coming of Christ on the Mount of Olives, and the establishment of the Third Temple supplanting Al Aqsa. Frankly, I’d rather watch the Netflix version. Dennis Kucinich is a Member of the Ron Paul Institute Board of Advisors. Reprinted with permission from The Dennis Kucinich Report. Subscribe and support here. Thou Shalt NOT Kill. Click on the headline to read the full story from Escalations Cannot Be Stopped The White House Is Rattled; Escalations Might All Fuse Into One10/27/2023 Tom Friedman uttered his dire warning in the New York Times on Thursday last: I believe that if Israel rushes headlong into Gaza now [unilaterally] to destroy Hamas — it will be making a grave mistake that will be devastating for Israeli interests and American interests”.Friedman here is talking, of course, about an American alliance system, pivoted around the idea of Israel’s military prowess being invincible – the ‘Little NATO’ paradigm that acts as the essential substrata for the spread of the American-led Rules Order through West Asia. It is analogous to the substrata of the NATO alliance, whose claimed ‘unchallengeability’ has underpinned US interests in Europe (at least until the Ukraine war). One Israeli Cabinet member put it to the veteran Israeli defence correspondent Ben Caspit that Israel just cannot permit its long-term deterrence being undermined: 'This is the most important point — "our deterrence"’, the senior war Cabinet source said. 'The region must quickly understand that whoever harms Israel the way Hamas did, pays a disproportionate price. There is no other way to survive in our neighbourhood than to exact this price now, because many eyes are fixed on us and most of them do not have our best interests at heart'.In other words, the Israeli ‘paradigm’ hinges on manifesting overwhelming, crushing force directed to any emerging challenge. This has had its origin in the US insistence that Israel have both the political leading-edge (all strategic decisions lay with Israel uniquely under Oslo), and equally, that it has the military cutting leading-edge over all its neighbours too. Despite being presented as such, this is not a formula by which to reach any sustainable, peaceful accord by which the 1947 UNGA Resolution 181 (the division of Mandate-era Palestine) into two states can be reached. Rather, Israel under the Netanyahu government has been moving closer and closer to an eschatological founding of Israel on the (Biblical) ‘Land of Israel’ – a move that expunges Palestine totally. It is no coincidence that Netanyahu flourished a map of Israel during his General Assembly address last month in which Israel dominated from the River to the Sea – and Palestine (indeed any Palestinian territory) was non-existent. Tom Friedman in his NYT reflections may fear that just as NATO’s impaired performance in Ukraine has ruptured ‘the NATO myth’, so too the 7 October Israeli military and intelligence collapse and what happens in its wake in Gaza ‘might explode the entire pro-American alliance structure’ in the Middle East. The confluence of two such humiliations might break the spine of western primacy. This seems to be the gist to Friedman’s analysis. (He likely is correct). Hamas has succeeded in smashing the Israel deterrence paradigm: They were not afraid, the IDF proved far from invincible, and the Arab street mobilised as never before (confounding western cynics who laugh at the very notion of there being an ‘Arab Street’). Well, that is where we are – and the White House is rattled. The Axios CEO VandeHei and Mark Allen have taken to print to warn: Never have we talked to so many top government officials who, in private, are so worried … [that] a confluence of crises poses epic concern and historic danger. We don’t like to sound dire. But to sound a siren of clinical, clear-eyed realism: US officials tell us that, inside the White House, this was the heaviest, most chilling week since Joe Biden took office just over 1,000 days ago … Former Defence Secretary Bob Gates tells us America is facing the most crises since World War II ended 78 years ago…However, missing from Friedman’s NYT piece is the other side to the coin – for the Israeli paradigm has two sides: the internal sphere, which is separate to the external need to exact a disproportionate price from Israel’s adversaries. The internal ‘myth’ holds that the Israeli State ‘has its citizens back’, wherever Jews live in Israel and the Occupied Territories – from the remotest settlements, to the alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City. This is more than a social contract; rather, it is a spiritual obligation owed to all Jews living in Israel. This ‘social contract’ of safety however just collapsed. The Kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope are evacuated; twenty kibbuz have been evacuated from the north, and a total of 43 border towns have been evacuated. Will these displaced families trust the State again? Will they return to the settlements one day? Confidence has been ruptured. Yet, it is not Hizbullah’s missiles that frighten the residents, but the pictures from last 7 October in the Gaza periphery communities – the fence that was breached in dozens of spots; the overrun military bases and posts there; the towns that were occupied by Hamas forces; the ensuing deaths; and the fact that approximately 200 Israelis were abducted to Gaza – has left nothing to the imagination. If Hamas succeeded so, what will stop Hezbollah? As in the old nursery rhyme: Humpty-Dumpty had a big fall, yet all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. This is what worries the White House Team. They are deeply unconfident that an Israeli invasion of Gaza will put ‘Humpty’ together again. Rather, they fear that events may go badly for the IDF, and further, that the images relayed across the Middle East of Israel using overwhelming force in a civilian urban setting will revolt the Islamic sphere. In spite of western scepticism, there are signs that this insurrection in the Arab sphere is different, and resembles more the 1916 Arab Revolt that overthrew the Ottoman Empire. It is taking on a distinct ‘edge’ as both Shi’a and Sunni religious authorities state the duty of Muslims to stand with Palestinians. In other words, as the Israeli polity becomes plainly ‘Prophetical’, so the Islamic mood is turning eschatological, in its turn. That the White House should be floating kites about ‘moderate’ Arab leaders pressing ‘moderate’ Palestinians to form an Israeli-friendly government in Gaza that would displace Hamas and impose security and order shows just how severed is the West from reality. Recall that Mahmoud Abbas, General Sisi and the King of Jordan (some of the region’s most pliable leaders) pointedly refused even to meet with Biden after the latter’s Israel trip. The anger across the region is real and threatens ‘moderate’ Arab leaders, whose room for manoeuvre is now circumscribed. So hotspots are proliferating, as are attacks on US deployments around the region. Some in Washington claim to perceive an Iranian hand, and are hoping to expand a window for war with Iran. The panicked White House is over-reacting – sending huge convoys (100s) of heavy-lift cargo planes loaded with bombs, missiles and air defences (THAAD and Patriot) to Israel but also to the Gulf, Jordan and Cyprus. Special Forces and 2,000 marines are being deployed too. Plus two aircraft carriers and their attendant vessels. The US thus is sending a veritable full-scale war Armada. This can only escalate tensions – and provoke counter-moves: Russia now is deploying on Black Sea patrol, MiG-31 aircraft equipped with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles (that can reach the US carrier force off Cyprus), and China reportedly has dispatched naval vessels to the area. China, Russia, Iran and Gulf States are engaged in a frenzy of diplomacy to contain the conflict, even were Hizbullah to enter deeper into the conflict. For the moment, there is focus on hostage releases creating much (deliberate) noise and confusion. Perhaps some expect that hopes of hostage releases may delay, and finally bring to a stop the planned invasion into Gaza. However, the military command in Israel, and the public, are insistent that Hamas must be destroyed (as soon as the US vessels and new air defences are positioned). Be that (the invasion) as it may, the reality is that Hamas’ Qassam Brigades have shattered both the internal and external paradigms of Israel. Depending on the outcome of the war in Gaza/Israel, the Brigades may yet land a further contusion on the body-politic that “triggers a global conflagration – and explodes the entire pro-American alliance structure that the US has built” (in Tom Friedman’s words). Should Israel enter Gaza (and Israel may decide it has no choice but to launch a ground operation, given the domestic political dynamics and public sentiment), it is likely that Hizbullah will incrementally be drawn further in, leaving the US with the binary option of seeing Israel defeated, or launching a major war in which all the hotspots become fused ‘as one’. In a sense, the Israeli-Islamic conflict now may only be resolved in this kinetic way. All efforts since 1947 have seen the divide only deepen. The reality of the necessity of war is permeating widely the consciousness of the Arabic and Islamic world. Reprinted with permission from Strategic Culture Foundation. Escalations Cannot Be Stopped – The White House Is Rattled; Escalations Might All Fuse Into ‘One’ Click on the headline to read the full story from Peace and Prosperity Russia’s Dy Foreign Minister & Special Envoy Mikhail Bogdanov (C) held talks with Iran’s Dy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Hamas’ head of International Relations Mousa Marzouk, Moscow, Oct. 26, 2023 The US President Joe Biden is convinced that one of the reasons why Hamas launched the attack on Israel was because of the announcement during the G20 Summit in New Delhi on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor . But he also admitted that this reading was based purely on his instinct and he did not have any proof for it. Biden’s motivation in saying so lies in the US’ desperate need to reclaim its leadership role in the Muslim Middle East. The two most compelling realities rejecting the American leadership are: one, a strong united regional solidarity cutting across sectarian divides to seek a settlement on Palestine, like at no time before; and, two, the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement. The latest developments involving Hamas and Israel undermined the US efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel. No doubt, the Saudi stance on the Palestine problem has hardened. Biden reached out to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday in an attempt to create as much convergence as possible between Washington and Riyadh. But the White House readout shows that a critical mass remained elusive; even as the two leaders agreed on generalities, they couldn’t agree on the all-important specific issue of an urgent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. This profound disagreement is also reflected in the UN Security Council where the United Arab Emirates supported the Russian draft resolution, which called for “an immediate, durable and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire”, but opposed the US draft resolution, which was evasive on ending the fighting and instead harped on Israel’s right to self-defence. A joint statement on Thursday signed by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Morocco called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza Strip. In an admonition to the US and Israel, the statement stated, “The right to self-defence by the United Nations Charter does not justify blatant violations of humanitarian and international law.” Looking ahead, the big question is about American intention. Is it muscle-flexing or a hidden plot to create facts on the ground that can be seized as casus belli to launch an offensive against Iran, which has been a longstanding project of the neoconservatives dominating the US foreign policy discourses? Biden declared at a press conference in the White House on Wednesday that he had warned Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that if Tehran continued to “move against” US forces in the region, Washington would respond. To quote Biden, “My warning to the Ayatollah was that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond. And he should be prepared. It has nothing to do with Israel.” (Biden was referring to growing attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria.) The political deputy at the Iranian president’s office, Mohammad Jamshidi has since countered Biden’s remark, saying, “The US messages were neither directed to the leader of the Islamic Revolution nor were they anything but requests from the Iranian side. If Biden thinks he has warned Iran, he should ask his team to show him the text of the messages.” Hours later, when asked to clarify, the US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby parried, “There was a direct message relayed. That’s as far as I’m going to go.” Conceivably, the recent attacks by militant groups in Syria and Iraq pose a headache to Biden in domestic politics. Reportedly, some two dozen US servicemen have been injured and one military contractor killed so far. There are roughly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria. Possibly, Biden was grandstanding. That is not something unusual in US-Iran standoffs. But more likely, the US hopes to nudge Iran to rein in the free-wheeling militia groups in Syria and Iraq from exacerbating the situation. Iran is on the same page as China and Russia and the Arab States in calling for an immediate ceasefire so that conditions are available for diplomacy to meaningfully tackle the Palestine problem. They stand for a 2-state solution. Ironically, the US also claims it supports a two-state solution. This is what Biden stated at a press conference in the White House yesterday, reading out of a prepared text: “Israel has the right and, I would add, responsibility to respond to the slaughter of their people. And we will ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself against these terrorists. That’s a guarantee… “But that does not lessen the need for — to operate and align with the laws of war for Israeli — it has to do everything in its power — Israel has to do everything in its power, as difficult as it is, to protect innocent civilians … “I also want to take a moment to look ahead toward the future that we seek. Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity, and peace. And there’s no going back to the status quo as it stood on October the 6th … “It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next. And in our view, it has to be a two-state solution. It means a concentrated effort from all the parties — Israelis, Palestinians, regional partners, global leaders — to put us on a path toward peace.” Do these words sound as if Biden is preparing for a war with Iran? For the first time, perhaps, there is a ray of hope that the US will no longer work around the Palestine problem. The bottom line, as the deliberations at the UN Security Council also testify, is that all responsible powers understand that the Middle East continues to be the centre of gravity in world politics and a conflagration in the region could easily turn into a world war. And none of the big powers wants such an apocalyptic outcome. That said, while the US still has unrivalled power in the Middle East, its influence has diminished, as new realities emerged: - Israel has grown more powerful militarily and economically vis-a-vis Palestinians, but no longer enjoys regional dominance. - Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two dominant powers in the Middle East, are increasingly asserting their own interests. - China, although a relatively new player, is no longer confining itself to economic diplomacy. - US has lost the capacity to leverage the world oil market, as Russia works closely with Saudi Arabia within the ambit of OPEC+ to calibrate oil production level and prices. - Consequently, petrodollar is weakening. - The Abraham Accords have been shelved practically. - The Arab-Israeli conflict has assumed new dimensions in the recent years, thanks to the ascendance of the axis of resistance, which require new postures and operational thinking on the part of the US. - Israeli politics has swung sharply to extreme right. - The global environment is highly complicated; the peace process can no longer be under US mentorship. On Thursday, Russia hosted a trilateral meeting in Moscow with Iran’s deputy foreign minister and a Hamas delegation. Later, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, announced that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas “will soon arrive on an official visit” to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an all-out war with Iran, the US will take heavy casualties and the state of Israel may face destruction. Indeed, Iran may opt for nuclear deterrent capability. It is a near-certainty that a US-Iran war will turn into a world war. Clearly, war is not an option. There is high risk, therefore, in an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. If Israel gets bogged down in Gaza, which by no means cannot be ruled out, there is a high possibility that Hezbollah may open a second front. And that, in turn, can trigger a chain reaction that may spin out of control. Herein lies the danger if a ceasefire is not agreed upon early enough in the conflict. Reprinted with permission from Indian Punchline. US Diplomacy Lost Traction in Middle East. Isolating Iran No Longer Possible. Click on the headline to read the full story from It now appears certain the United States is concentrating a huge naval force in the eastern Mediterranean, Red, and Arabian seas. Several NATO nations are also sending warships to join this growing fleet. Unknown numbers of US and NATO submarines are also certainly lurking in these regions. There is already substantial US air power presence in the Persian Gulf region. Israel is clearly working in concert with the US/NATO in whatever is brewing. And make no mistake, something big IS brewing. It is something I have written about for several years now, but consistently believed the Pentagon was not stupid enough to actually attempt. As I view it, there can be only one primary target that would warrant such a large projection of military power as is underway: Iran and its allies in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. And, as I have repeatedly argued over the years, I am convinced making war against Iran is a recipe for unforeseen disaster. Iran wields much more military capability than is generally understood and appreciated both by western military analysts and the western populace. There is no doubt the US/NATO/Israel, in tandem, can inflict severe damage against Iranian targets. But I am convinced they cannot do so without also incurring severe damage themselves. Let's also not forget there is a wildcard in this game: Russia and its strategically imperative bases in Syria. As I see it, there are two realities at work here that will necessarily come into conflict: 1) The Pentagon is almost certain to regard the Russian bases in Syria as unacceptable threats to their objectives in the region. And therefore they will seek to neutralize them.Having now been compelled to abandon their designs to use the #MotherOfAllProxyArmies in Ukraine to weaken Russia, the Masters of Empire would no doubt love to "change the narrative" by defeating the Russians in Syria. Therefore I am increasingly persuaded that any massive US attack against Iranian surrogate forces in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq will almost certainly include a simultaneous attack against the Russian air and naval bases in Syria. I believe Russian recognition of this likely move by the Americans is why Russian President Vladimir Putin — in China, no less — publicly announced 24/7 patrols of Kinzhal-armed Russian aircraft within range of the eastern half of the Mediterranean and much of the Red and Arabian seas. The #EmpireAtAllCosts cult must have convinced themselves the Russians are bluffing, or that their capabilities are much weaker than claimed. I am convinced both ideas are mistaken. If the US itself is not merely bluffing, then this whole thing could get out of hand really fast. Reprinted with permission from imetatronink. Subscribe and support here. Aces and Eights Click on the headline to read the full story from |
Ron Paul
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