John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ROGER PUMPER IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“‘Guess That’s It for Us,’ Islamist Terrorists Say
“They all give up now”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/guess-thats-it-for-us-islamist-terrorists-say/
Crap propaganda, very thinly disguised as satire.
As long as the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and Israel are willing to sign paychecks and supply goods, "Islamic terrorists" in the Middle East will be around.
They have served many useful purposes for the states supporting them.
Oh sure, "Islamic terrorists," but you never saw any of them once attack Israeli interests of the interests of the fat corrupt princes of Saudi Arabia or indeed any Americans hanging around – all the obvious natural targets for any genuine "Islamic terrorists."
They all busied themselves attacking what America and Israel wanted attacked, such as the government of Syria.
Gee, I wonder why that would be?
“You don’t bite the hand that feeds you” is the old cliché.
Al-Baghdadi was an American/Israeli asset from the start.
If he is dead, which I tend to doubt, it's only because the states destroying so much of the Middle East had some change of plans. Such men are always regarded as expendable when they are no longer useful or there is some possibility for embarrassing revelations.
Even on the home front, look at Mossad asset Jeffrey Epstein's fate when his usefulness ended and threats existed through new legal proceedings for some truth being revealed.
Look at the doubtful death back in 1991, of British media tycoon, Robert Maxwell, a man acknowledged in Israel to be one of the country’s most important spies ever. And, by the way, his daughter, Ghislaine, was long-time companion and helper to Epstein.
Indeed, getting rid of a man like al-Baghdadi, or pretending to do so, gives idiotic Trump something to crow about.
Cui bono?
Thursday, October 31, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: SURVIVING A MINORITY PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN CANADA - FALSE PARALLELS BETWEEN A GREAT NATIONAL LEADER LIKE THE LATE PIERRE TRUDEAU AND A PROVEN INADEQUATE ONE LIKE THE CURRENT JUSTIN TRUDEAU
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“How Pierre Trudeau survived a minority government - and how Justin Trudeau can do the same"
I'm sorry but that is a superficial parallel that does not take account of major differences.
Pierre Trudeau was a highly intelligent, tough, and independent-minded leader with something real to offer Canada.
His final list of accomplishments is impressive and historic. One of our greatest, for sure.
Justin has, in my view, not only embarrassed us, both at home and abroad, but he has no real substantial accomplishments. None.
He has demonstrated no real force of mind or spirit. He not only broke important promises, the whole tone of his government resembled something from an insipid television sitcom. Millennialist mush with no solid thought or dedication.
His frequent appearance in rolled-up sleeves of an expensive, well-pressed dress shirt almost perfectly symbolize the emptiness of his government for me.
That is, when his government is not dealing with the really serious matter of American Neocon policies abroad, ugly stuff which he and his foreign minister have completely embraced.
Justin Trudeau was a truly failed prime minister who did not deserve to be re-elected.
But the other parties didn’t do their jobs and offered weak alternatives, and good old "first past the post" voting - something Trudeau had strongly promised to reform but failed to act on - gave him back a government even with fewer votes than his main opponent. Shabby.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“How Pierre Trudeau survived a minority government - and how Justin Trudeau can do the same"
I'm sorry but that is a superficial parallel that does not take account of major differences.
Pierre Trudeau was a highly intelligent, tough, and independent-minded leader with something real to offer Canada.
His final list of accomplishments is impressive and historic. One of our greatest, for sure.
Justin has, in my view, not only embarrassed us, both at home and abroad, but he has no real substantial accomplishments. None.
He has demonstrated no real force of mind or spirit. He not only broke important promises, the whole tone of his government resembled something from an insipid television sitcom. Millennialist mush with no solid thought or dedication.
His frequent appearance in rolled-up sleeves of an expensive, well-pressed dress shirt almost perfectly symbolize the emptiness of his government for me.
That is, when his government is not dealing with the really serious matter of American Neocon policies abroad, ugly stuff which he and his foreign minister have completely embraced.
Justin Trudeau was a truly failed prime minister who did not deserve to be re-elected.
But the other parties didn’t do their jobs and offered weak alternatives, and good old "first past the post" voting - something Trudeau had strongly promised to reform but failed to act on - gave him back a government even with fewer votes than his main opponent. Shabby.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: SOLVING THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PLASTIC BOTTLES - WE NEED TO SOLVE DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING PROBLEMS - NOT JUST BAN SOMETHING SO VERY HELPFUL IN EVERYDAY LIFE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
"We know plastic bottles are choking our planet. So why are companies still selling them?"
We definitely need to handle and recycle plastic bottles in a better fashion. We can solve the problems without banning something of great value to everyday life.
We take their value for granted, but it is considerable.
They are safer than glass to handle in many uses. They are lighter in weight to carry. Their transportation in bulk requires less fuel. They don't smash on the floor or in the bathtub, creating scattered razor-sharp shards of broken glass. Old people and children can handle them better.
We need to really think through the problems their disposal creates, but I think talking about just getting rid of them is extreme and not helpful.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
"We know plastic bottles are choking our planet. So why are companies still selling them?"
We definitely need to handle and recycle plastic bottles in a better fashion. We can solve the problems without banning something of great value to everyday life.
We take their value for granted, but it is considerable.
They are safer than glass to handle in many uses. They are lighter in weight to carry. Their transportation in bulk requires less fuel. They don't smash on the floor or in the bathtub, creating scattered razor-sharp shards of broken glass. Old people and children can handle them better.
We need to really think through the problems their disposal creates, but I think talking about just getting rid of them is extreme and not helpful.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN ARTICLE PORTRAYS PENTAGON OFFICIALS AS HAVING CONVINCED TRUMP ON THE BASIS OF HIS GREED TO MAKE OCCUPYING SYRIAN OIL FIELDS PART OF HIS "WITHDRAWAL" - MY DOUBTS OWING TO THE REMARKABLY LARGE AND DETAILED AMOUNT OF INSIDER INFORMATION WE HAVE ABOUT TRUMP'S BASIC NATURE - HE'S GREEDY BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT IS DOMINANT HERE - WE HAVE ANOTHER ASPECT OF HIS TOTAL OBSESSION WITH BEING RE-ELECTED, AND THAT IS ISRAEL
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DANIEL LARISON IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
https://www.checkpointasia.net/how-the-pentagon-used-trumps-fixation-on-plunder-to-get-its-syria-occupation-reinstated/#disqus_thread
How the Pentagon Used Trump’s Fixation on Plunder to Get Its Syria Occupation Reinstated
"'This is like feeding a baby its medicine in yogurt or applesauce' said the official"
It seems to me that portraying Trump as someone who can be easily lured by Pentagon officials at the prospect of plunder to change a major decision is superficial, especially given a major decision governed completely by Trump’s political prospects and judgments.
Foreign policy as such does not really exist for Trump. The topic likely goes into the same mental trash bin as international organizations, “globalism,” and migration and refugees. Foreign affairs are just an arena for making gains in domestic political combat.
Trump’s political instincts are powerful, gut-level ones. He much resembles a high-level predator constantly sniffing the breeze for the scent of prey. Such instincts are not easily deflected or defeated.
Everything we really know about Trump – and, quite uniquely in modern history I think over so brief a time, we know an extraordinary amount of detail from many books and articles by insiders – simply does not support the idea of someone easily manipulated. Not at all.
Most insiders were baffled in their attempts to influence him, even in good ways. That includes people a good deal smarter than the average Pentagon general, but it also includes former top-level generals. Everyone agrees that he just does not listen to anyone, no matter what the person’s job title or qualifications, when what they are saying contains even a hint of anything which opposes his instincts.
While Trump is an erratic, rash, impatient, angry, and unpleasant man, he is also an unbelievably stubborn one, an almost textbook-perfect narcissist, one utterly convinced of his own rightness and remarkably proof against the ideas and arguments of others.
Trump functions at a gut level, and that's just what the stuff about "plunder" and "feeding a baby" is intended to appeal to readers with. Yes, Trump is greedy – although I think no more so than most of the important players in Washington. But in this case, greed takes second place, at best, to political survival.
Trump is nothing less than obsessed with getting re-elected, and all of his twists and turns in Syria reflect that drive. He keeps making adjustments in what he is doing according to the political pressures he feels from different interests. Withdrawal was intended to appease the anti-war vote he desperately needs to supplement his not-quite-large-enough base. The anti-war folks made it possible for him to win in 2016.
But adjustments to the size and nature of that withdrawal reflect another important interest.
Nothing about American policy in the Middle East can be understood without taking account of Israel.
The Neocon Wars are not given that name for nothing. And efforts in Syria are just one theater in those wars, a theater where the decision was made to pursue the country’s destruction not through conventional invasion as in Iraq, something which had immense costs and many undesirable side-effects for the United States.
Israel wanted Syria toppled or broken up, but it was on the losing side in the main proxy war. It hung on to the hope of weakening Syria, as by creating a northeastern rump state for the Kurds, but that idea never was realistic given Erdogan’s attitude towards Kurds.
Trump’s original withdrawal, intended to attract anti-war voters - especially given the likelihood that the Democrats will oppose him with someone with no hint of being opposed to war, Biden or Warren - ignored what Israel wants. Trump has been reminded of what Israel wants - whether directly or by the Pentagon and CIA, both of whom have close working relationships with Israel.
So, a new scheme of occupying oil resources was hatched. This new hybrid scheme keeps an American presence in the region while allowing Syria to reclaim a considerable part of its lost territory, yet deprives Syria of a valuable natural resource, particularly critical with national reconstruction efforts ahead, efforts Trump has always been very uncooperative about, again looking to what Israel wants.
Trump does not need help, whether from the Pentagon or anyone else, in responding to what Israel wants. Such activity has been a dominant feature of his administration - as we’ve seen in everything from giving away what was not his to give in Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to needlessly generating intense new hostilities against Iran and appointing people like Bolton and Pompeo to high office – Trump responds to Israel as few other presidents have.
And that responsiveness has a lot to do with his depending on some extremely wealthy American campaign contributors who help his sense of security both as to re-election and a possible impeachment. He can depend on them so long as he puts their major interest, Israel, as a top priority, and he has consistently done so.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DANIEL LARISON IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
https://www.checkpointasia.net/how-the-pentagon-used-trumps-fixation-on-plunder-to-get-its-syria-occupation-reinstated/#disqus_thread
How the Pentagon Used Trump’s Fixation on Plunder to Get Its Syria Occupation Reinstated
"'This is like feeding a baby its medicine in yogurt or applesauce' said the official"
It seems to me that portraying Trump as someone who can be easily lured by Pentagon officials at the prospect of plunder to change a major decision is superficial, especially given a major decision governed completely by Trump’s political prospects and judgments.
Foreign policy as such does not really exist for Trump. The topic likely goes into the same mental trash bin as international organizations, “globalism,” and migration and refugees. Foreign affairs are just an arena for making gains in domestic political combat.
Trump’s political instincts are powerful, gut-level ones. He much resembles a high-level predator constantly sniffing the breeze for the scent of prey. Such instincts are not easily deflected or defeated.
Everything we really know about Trump – and, quite uniquely in modern history I think over so brief a time, we know an extraordinary amount of detail from many books and articles by insiders – simply does not support the idea of someone easily manipulated. Not at all.
Most insiders were baffled in their attempts to influence him, even in good ways. That includes people a good deal smarter than the average Pentagon general, but it also includes former top-level generals. Everyone agrees that he just does not listen to anyone, no matter what the person’s job title or qualifications, when what they are saying contains even a hint of anything which opposes his instincts.
While Trump is an erratic, rash, impatient, angry, and unpleasant man, he is also an unbelievably stubborn one, an almost textbook-perfect narcissist, one utterly convinced of his own rightness and remarkably proof against the ideas and arguments of others.
Trump functions at a gut level, and that's just what the stuff about "plunder" and "feeding a baby" is intended to appeal to readers with. Yes, Trump is greedy – although I think no more so than most of the important players in Washington. But in this case, greed takes second place, at best, to political survival.
Trump is nothing less than obsessed with getting re-elected, and all of his twists and turns in Syria reflect that drive. He keeps making adjustments in what he is doing according to the political pressures he feels from different interests. Withdrawal was intended to appease the anti-war vote he desperately needs to supplement his not-quite-large-enough base. The anti-war folks made it possible for him to win in 2016.
But adjustments to the size and nature of that withdrawal reflect another important interest.
Nothing about American policy in the Middle East can be understood without taking account of Israel.
The Neocon Wars are not given that name for nothing. And efforts in Syria are just one theater in those wars, a theater where the decision was made to pursue the country’s destruction not through conventional invasion as in Iraq, something which had immense costs and many undesirable side-effects for the United States.
Israel wanted Syria toppled or broken up, but it was on the losing side in the main proxy war. It hung on to the hope of weakening Syria, as by creating a northeastern rump state for the Kurds, but that idea never was realistic given Erdogan’s attitude towards Kurds.
Trump’s original withdrawal, intended to attract anti-war voters - especially given the likelihood that the Democrats will oppose him with someone with no hint of being opposed to war, Biden or Warren - ignored what Israel wants. Trump has been reminded of what Israel wants - whether directly or by the Pentagon and CIA, both of whom have close working relationships with Israel.
So, a new scheme of occupying oil resources was hatched. This new hybrid scheme keeps an American presence in the region while allowing Syria to reclaim a considerable part of its lost territory, yet deprives Syria of a valuable natural resource, particularly critical with national reconstruction efforts ahead, efforts Trump has always been very uncooperative about, again looking to what Israel wants.
Trump does not need help, whether from the Pentagon or anyone else, in responding to what Israel wants. Such activity has been a dominant feature of his administration - as we’ve seen in everything from giving away what was not his to give in Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to needlessly generating intense new hostilities against Iran and appointing people like Bolton and Pompeo to high office – Trump responds to Israel as few other presidents have.
And that responsiveness has a lot to do with his depending on some extremely wealthy American campaign contributors who help his sense of security both as to re-election and a possible impeachment. He can depend on them so long as he puts their major interest, Israel, as a top priority, and he has consistently done so.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE REMARKABLE CLAIM THAT TRUMP UNDERSTANDS WHAT CONGRESS DOES NOT: SYRIA IS NOT AMERICA'S WAR - MY GOD, THAT'S TAKING POLITICAL SUPPORT INTO THE TWILIGHT ZONE - HERE IS EXACTLY WHAT TRUMP UNDERSTANDS ABOUT SYRIA AND WHY HE MAKES THE BIZARRE EFFORTS HE DOES - "FOREIGN POLICY" IS A TERM YOU CAN'T EVEN APPLY TO THIS MANIC FIGURE READY TO DO ANYTHING FOR RE-ELECTION - WHEN A WITHDRAWAL IS NOT A WITHDRAWAL
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR
“President Trump Understands What Congress Does Not: Syria Is Not America’s War”
He does?
That sure comes as news to me.
All he has done in Syria is play election games with the different interest groups. The “withdrawal" was about re-attracting the alienated anti-war vote of 2016. He had done nothing about the wars as he had promised he would, and his own base constituency – the Wall and hate-migrants crowd - is just not quite big enough to re-elect him.
Well, as soon as you touch anything in Syria, you touch Israel because it is at the center of what the proxy war was always about, weakening Syria for Israel’s benefit and maybe even breaking the country into pieces.
He thought he had done enough for Israel - in the way of giving away things he had no legal right to give, such as Jerusalem and Syria’s Golan Heights - so that he wouldn't hear complaints over a withdrawal that they strongly disapproved of, that they would understand his political need going into the next election.
But he was wrong. You can never give a man like Netanyahu enough of almost anything.
The truth is that Trump has no foreign policy. His “policy” is a set of ever-changing responses to various political pressures. They display absolutely no principle or understanding concerning Syria, or indeed any of other places receiving his malign touch.
He is madly driven by a compulsion to be re-elected, to receive that personal adulation, and he is ready to try just about anything to get what he needs - in votes, campaign funds, and favorable publicity.
So, now the “withdrawal” - which has gone through several shape-changes and flip-flops, and never was all that much to start with since the number of troops in Syria never was large - has been turned into an Election Foreign Policy Political Blue Plate Special by withdrawing just enough troops to get some favorable headlines back home for anti-war voters while sending more troops back in, reinforced with heavy armor and ready to steal Syria’s oil, to get favorable headlines in Israel.
The only understanding displayed in any of it is that of a truly manic politician responding to various pressures. None of it can be graced with the term, “foreign policy.”
Now, he's literally stealing Syrian oil because one interest group - that for Israel - wanted a consolation prize for losing the long proxy war against Syria, a country towards whom it has long displayed great animosity.
The oil Trump is stealing is not about greed for resources, as many seem to believe, so much as it is a mechanism for hurting Syria, although I’m sure the revenue will be happily pocketed. America is deliberately hurting Syria as it faces the needs for massive post-war reconstruction, a reconstruction Trump has made a number of efforts to be very unhelpful about.
How can anyone say Trump shows understanding when he has shown only contempt for that basic building block of all societies and of all relationships between them, the principle of rule of law, in his mad rush to insure his re-election?
He did so again with his arbitrary behavior over the Iran nuclear agreement, a smoothly-working, much-praised international treaty for about four years, and one representing the interests of half a dozen other states who were signatories.
Trump just ripped it up like an angry child, in defiance of everyone else’s interests. Then he hurled harsh, war-like sanctions against eighty million people in Iran who had been meeting all their obligations and made serious military threats, even once incoherently talking about their “obliteration.”
Why did he do that? Because immensely important political contributors back home wanted to see what had long been a demand of Netanyahu’s fulfilled. Netanyahu has always thought it fitting that a huge, proud, and ancient country like Iran should be reduced to a supplicant in the Middle east, rather than a competitor for influence.
Trump’s violation of basic principles hurts everyone on the planet, and it will come back to haunt America. To hurt the people he wants to hurt with sanctions, he has effectively weaponized the dollar, using America’s various mechanisms and institutions controlling the dollar to impose what is a set of American domestic laws upon seven billion people, something widely resented, by friend and foe alike.
The dollar is gradually losing its special place in the world for various reasons, just as America’s relative economic importance declines. Trump’s efforts only increase the rate of decay. And the same goes for America’s place in the hearts even of allies. How do you trust a law-breaking, dishonest state which behaves like a schoolyard bully?
In the end, you cannot.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR
“President Trump Understands What Congress Does Not: Syria Is Not America’s War”
He does?
That sure comes as news to me.
All he has done in Syria is play election games with the different interest groups. The “withdrawal" was about re-attracting the alienated anti-war vote of 2016. He had done nothing about the wars as he had promised he would, and his own base constituency – the Wall and hate-migrants crowd - is just not quite big enough to re-elect him.
Well, as soon as you touch anything in Syria, you touch Israel because it is at the center of what the proxy war was always about, weakening Syria for Israel’s benefit and maybe even breaking the country into pieces.
He thought he had done enough for Israel - in the way of giving away things he had no legal right to give, such as Jerusalem and Syria’s Golan Heights - so that he wouldn't hear complaints over a withdrawal that they strongly disapproved of, that they would understand his political need going into the next election.
But he was wrong. You can never give a man like Netanyahu enough of almost anything.
The truth is that Trump has no foreign policy. His “policy” is a set of ever-changing responses to various political pressures. They display absolutely no principle or understanding concerning Syria, or indeed any of other places receiving his malign touch.
He is madly driven by a compulsion to be re-elected, to receive that personal adulation, and he is ready to try just about anything to get what he needs - in votes, campaign funds, and favorable publicity.
So, now the “withdrawal” - which has gone through several shape-changes and flip-flops, and never was all that much to start with since the number of troops in Syria never was large - has been turned into an Election Foreign Policy Political Blue Plate Special by withdrawing just enough troops to get some favorable headlines back home for anti-war voters while sending more troops back in, reinforced with heavy armor and ready to steal Syria’s oil, to get favorable headlines in Israel.
The only understanding displayed in any of it is that of a truly manic politician responding to various pressures. None of it can be graced with the term, “foreign policy.”
Now, he's literally stealing Syrian oil because one interest group - that for Israel - wanted a consolation prize for losing the long proxy war against Syria, a country towards whom it has long displayed great animosity.
The oil Trump is stealing is not about greed for resources, as many seem to believe, so much as it is a mechanism for hurting Syria, although I’m sure the revenue will be happily pocketed. America is deliberately hurting Syria as it faces the needs for massive post-war reconstruction, a reconstruction Trump has made a number of efforts to be very unhelpful about.
How can anyone say Trump shows understanding when he has shown only contempt for that basic building block of all societies and of all relationships between them, the principle of rule of law, in his mad rush to insure his re-election?
He did so again with his arbitrary behavior over the Iran nuclear agreement, a smoothly-working, much-praised international treaty for about four years, and one representing the interests of half a dozen other states who were signatories.
Trump just ripped it up like an angry child, in defiance of everyone else’s interests. Then he hurled harsh, war-like sanctions against eighty million people in Iran who had been meeting all their obligations and made serious military threats, even once incoherently talking about their “obliteration.”
Why did he do that? Because immensely important political contributors back home wanted to see what had long been a demand of Netanyahu’s fulfilled. Netanyahu has always thought it fitting that a huge, proud, and ancient country like Iran should be reduced to a supplicant in the Middle east, rather than a competitor for influence.
Trump’s violation of basic principles hurts everyone on the planet, and it will come back to haunt America. To hurt the people he wants to hurt with sanctions, he has effectively weaponized the dollar, using America’s various mechanisms and institutions controlling the dollar to impose what is a set of American domestic laws upon seven billion people, something widely resented, by friend and foe alike.
The dollar is gradually losing its special place in the world for various reasons, just as America’s relative economic importance declines. Trump’s efforts only increase the rate of decay. And the same goes for America’s place in the hearts even of allies. How do you trust a law-breaking, dishonest state which behaves like a schoolyard bully?
In the end, you cannot.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: CANADA'S CRACKERJACK FOREIGN AFFAIRS TEAM OF TRUDEAU AND FREELAND FINALLY GETS AROUND TO APPOINTING A NEW AMBASSADOR TO CHINA - ABOUT NINE MONTHS AFTER THE PREVIOUS ONE WAS FIRED - THIS ALL IN A PERIOD OF TERRIBLE RELATIONS WITH ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST IMPORTANT COUNTRIES CREATED BY ONE BLUNDERING ACT AFTER ANOTHER FROM THE SAME TEAM
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“Canada's new ambassador to China leads 1st consular visits with Spavor, Kovrig
“Men have been held since December 2018; Dominic Barton named ambassador days before federal election”
Our crackerjack foreign affairs team of Trudeau and Freeland finally got around to putting a new ambassador to work in one of the world's most important countries, the able John McCallum having been fired from his post in China around the end of January, itself a very poor decision over a minor error.
China is a country with which Trudeau and Freeland have managed to create terrible relations, and a country we have literally insulted in several ways.
They arrested an important Chinese hi-tech executive, Ms. Meng of Huawei, at America's beckoning, an act that was completely avoidable with just a scrap of forethought and planning.
They sent a Canadian warship steaming through the South China Sea, something calculated to make China angry, again at America's beckoning.
Freeland has parroted much of the needlessly hostile rhetoric of Washington, doing so being one of her specialties, whether it concerns China or Russia or Iran or Venezuela.
And she very much stuck her nose where it does not belong, into Hong Kong. China told Canada to stop meddling in China's internal affairs. There was no good reason for Freeland to do so, again except to please Washington.
She didn't meddle in the far more violent demonstrations of France and of Israel in Gaza. Nor did she speak against the immense violence of the Crown Prince’s Saudi Arabia. But with Freeland and Trudeau, we do what pleases Washington in foreign affairs, and the Hong Kong shambles is welcomed there, almost certainly even covertly assisted. Shameful for a Liberal government.
Trudeau's big gesture for relations with China was the national embarrassment of his suddenly taking off one day for Washington to plead for help from the most disliked man in China, Donald Trump. Does judgment come any poorer? He got no "help” of course. Except the privilege of a brief return visit from the disagreeable and dishonest Mike Pompeo who used the opportunity to say more annoying things in Ottawa.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“Canada's new ambassador to China leads 1st consular visits with Spavor, Kovrig
“Men have been held since December 2018; Dominic Barton named ambassador days before federal election”
Our crackerjack foreign affairs team of Trudeau and Freeland finally got around to putting a new ambassador to work in one of the world's most important countries, the able John McCallum having been fired from his post in China around the end of January, itself a very poor decision over a minor error.
China is a country with which Trudeau and Freeland have managed to create terrible relations, and a country we have literally insulted in several ways.
They arrested an important Chinese hi-tech executive, Ms. Meng of Huawei, at America's beckoning, an act that was completely avoidable with just a scrap of forethought and planning.
They sent a Canadian warship steaming through the South China Sea, something calculated to make China angry, again at America's beckoning.
Freeland has parroted much of the needlessly hostile rhetoric of Washington, doing so being one of her specialties, whether it concerns China or Russia or Iran or Venezuela.
And she very much stuck her nose where it does not belong, into Hong Kong. China told Canada to stop meddling in China's internal affairs. There was no good reason for Freeland to do so, again except to please Washington.
She didn't meddle in the far more violent demonstrations of France and of Israel in Gaza. Nor did she speak against the immense violence of the Crown Prince’s Saudi Arabia. But with Freeland and Trudeau, we do what pleases Washington in foreign affairs, and the Hong Kong shambles is welcomed there, almost certainly even covertly assisted. Shameful for a Liberal government.
Trudeau's big gesture for relations with China was the national embarrassment of his suddenly taking off one day for Washington to plead for help from the most disliked man in China, Donald Trump. Does judgment come any poorer? He got no "help” of course. Except the privilege of a brief return visit from the disagreeable and dishonest Mike Pompeo who used the opportunity to say more annoying things in Ottawa.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY ARE THE SAME - A PRO-LIFE CANDIDATE'S CONCERN THAT SOME VOTERS CAN'T TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD ABOUT HIS VIEW BEING PERSONAL ONLY WITH NO BEARING ON LEGISLATION OR POLICY - I AM REMINDED OF THE DAYS WHEN PEOPLE WOULD NOT VOTE FOR A CATHOLIC - I HEARD SOME PRETTY UGLY WORDS ABOUT JOHN KENNEDY WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY NEIL MACDONALD IN CBC NEWS
“Andrew Scheer is effectively pro-choice, why not just own it?
"Saying you can keep personal views and political policy separate is a tough sell these days”
It is indeed.
There was a day, not that terribly long ago, when a leader's religious faith would be regarded the same way, as in, "I'll never vote for a Catholic!"
It was as late as John Kennedy’s time in America that serious doubts were publicly expressed about a Catholic being elected as president.
While that kind of strictly religious-based attitude has faded – perhaps reflecting the general decline in traditional religious identity - we may just have had new secular-religious attitudes and intolerances exactly replace them.
We pride ourselves on advancing as a society away from narrowness, but in a very real sense we have not advanced when people can still say the equivalent of “I’ll never vote for a Catholic,” just substituting a new word for Catholic. A word like Pro-life or Pro-choice.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY NEIL MACDONALD IN CBC NEWS
“Andrew Scheer is effectively pro-choice, why not just own it?
"Saying you can keep personal views and political policy separate is a tough sell these days”
It is indeed.
There was a day, not that terribly long ago, when a leader's religious faith would be regarded the same way, as in, "I'll never vote for a Catholic!"
It was as late as John Kennedy’s time in America that serious doubts were publicly expressed about a Catholic being elected as president.
While that kind of strictly religious-based attitude has faded – perhaps reflecting the general decline in traditional religious identity - we may just have had new secular-religious attitudes and intolerances exactly replace them.
We pride ourselves on advancing as a society away from narrowness, but in a very real sense we have not advanced when people can still say the equivalent of “I’ll never vote for a Catholic,” just substituting a new word for Catholic. A word like Pro-life or Pro-choice.
Monday, October 28, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ON TRUMP'S WATCHING THE ATTACK ON AL-BAGHDADI - POSED IMAGES ACCORDING TO FORMER WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHER - TRUTH ABOUT THE ROLE OF ISIS AND AL-BAGHDADI - JOHN MCCAIN AND AL-BAGHDADI - ALMOST EVERYTHING WE SEE AND HEAR ABOUT SYRIA FROM THE CORPORATE PRESS IS DISINFORMATION COVERING AMERICA'S DARK INTENTIONS
John Chuckman
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“‘He died whimpering and crying’: Trump announces Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed in US raid in Syria
“The president watched live as US special forces cornered the Isis leader after blasting into his compound”
A former White House photographer for Obama has said the scenes of Trump watching events on television were fake. He’s certainly in some position to judge.
I wouldn’t doubt it all.
Trump has uttered almost not a single word of truth in all of this - including both the supposed death of the ISIS leader and his sending troops with tanks back into northeastern Syria to steal oil.
I’ve posted some analysis of the situation:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2019/10/28/john-chuckman-comment-more-on-the-reported-american-killing-of-isis-leader-al-baghdadi-trumps-believability-while-he-yet-again-changes-what-he-is-doing-in-syria-in-all-matters-trump-cannot-dist/
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2019/10/27/john-chuckman-comment-events-in-syria-the-killing-of-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-and-the-sending-of-american-troops-back-into-northeastern-syria-this-time-with-heavy-armor-what-trump-is-rea/
___________________________
Response to a comment saying, “Wasn’t this bloke one of neocon warmonger John McCain’s best mates? https://www.globalresearch.ca/did-john-mccain-meet-with-abu-bakral-baghdadi-the-alleged-head-of-the-islamic-state-isis-isil-daesh/5498177
Absolutely.
Virtually everything we see and read about America’s involvement in Syria is government disinformation, dutifully repeated and reaffirmed by the mainline press.
ISIS has largely served as an excuse for Americans to occupy what they want to occupy and to bomb what they want to bomb in a country where they have no legal right even to be.
America never really fought ISIS. Indeed, ISIS never has really attacked Saudi or Israeli or American interests.
Syria and Russia have virtually eliminated ISIS in that country through a very hard-fought campaign, a fact our press and politicians simply ignore.
America’s efforts, through overt and largely covert work, have always, always been about destroying Syria and, if possible, dismembering it.
A huge, ugly dirty game with nothing brave or heroic about any of it. Despite the words of an unbalanced President who would have us believe virtually the opposite.
____________________________
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi pretty much always was an American/Israeli covert asset.
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“‘He died whimpering and crying’: Trump announces Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed in US raid in Syria
“The president watched live as US special forces cornered the Isis leader after blasting into his compound”
A former White House photographer for Obama has said the scenes of Trump watching events on television were fake. He’s certainly in some position to judge.
I wouldn’t doubt it all.
Trump has uttered almost not a single word of truth in all of this - including both the supposed death of the ISIS leader and his sending troops with tanks back into northeastern Syria to steal oil.
I’ve posted some analysis of the situation:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2019/10/28/john-chuckman-comment-more-on-the-reported-american-killing-of-isis-leader-al-baghdadi-trumps-believability-while-he-yet-again-changes-what-he-is-doing-in-syria-in-all-matters-trump-cannot-dist/
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2019/10/27/john-chuckman-comment-events-in-syria-the-killing-of-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-and-the-sending-of-american-troops-back-into-northeastern-syria-this-time-with-heavy-armor-what-trump-is-rea/
___________________________
Response to a comment saying, “Wasn’t this bloke one of neocon warmonger John McCain’s best mates? https://www.globalresearch.ca/did-john-mccain-meet-with-abu-bakral-baghdadi-the-alleged-head-of-the-islamic-state-isis-isil-daesh/5498177
Absolutely.
Virtually everything we see and read about America’s involvement in Syria is government disinformation, dutifully repeated and reaffirmed by the mainline press.
ISIS has largely served as an excuse for Americans to occupy what they want to occupy and to bomb what they want to bomb in a country where they have no legal right even to be.
America never really fought ISIS. Indeed, ISIS never has really attacked Saudi or Israeli or American interests.
Syria and Russia have virtually eliminated ISIS in that country through a very hard-fought campaign, a fact our press and politicians simply ignore.
America’s efforts, through overt and largely covert work, have always, always been about destroying Syria and, if possible, dismembering it.
A huge, ugly dirty game with nothing brave or heroic about any of it. Despite the words of an unbalanced President who would have us believe virtually the opposite.
____________________________
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi pretty much always was an American/Israeli covert asset.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: CANADIAN GOVERNMENT MINISTER SPEAKS OF "MEDDLING AND MISINFORMATION" ON THE INTERNET DURING THE ELECTION - WHY I FIND SUCH TALK UNWELCOME - SOME HISTORY - IF YOU CRITICIZE ANYTHING OF THIS NATURE YOU NEED TO BE SPECIFIC AND NOT VAGUE - AND A RECORD OF MISINFORMATION FROM THE TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT ITSELF
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“'More needs to be done,' [Minister for Democratic Institutions] Karina Gould says after some online election meddling detected
“There were attempts to spread misinformation or disinformation, officials confirm”
As far as online misinformation is concerned, the situation seems to me little different than a century ago when rumors, graffiti, and malign pamphlets were everywhere. Malign pamphlets were an industry for a couple of centuries.
You cannot force people to be true and accurate. Print newspapers, too, have a long history of misinformation and maligning politicians. In his day, Lincoln, that most beloved of American Presidents, was described as “an obscene ape” by a newspaper.
I do get serious concerns when a national minister emphasizes the Internet, given the growing levels of control and snooping and censorship we see today in the Western world. I fear her kind of speech can serve as preparation for control and censorship. I do not welcome her words.
I am sorry, Karina Gould, but I do see one of the most serious misinformation sources to which Canadians have been exposed as being your boss, the Prime Minister himself.
There are a number of very important matters where he just has not been honest with us. The people sense it, and that is why your government is in office with fewer votes than its main opposition party, a situation which could not have occurred had the Prime Minister kept his promise for ballot reform.
Voters know of his numerous omissions and shortcomings largely through the Internet.
Trudeau's entire handling of the SNC Affair and two critical, honest ministers was an extended, complicated, and eventually embarrassingly public, effort at misinformation.
The grotesquely mishandled business with China, perhaps his gravest set of errors because of its serious long-term consequences, also was dealt with by a lot of what I regard as misinformation from the Prime Minister and, very much so, from his unpleasant Foreign Minister.
And what is it but serious misinformation to be calling the twice-elected government of Venezuela “illegitimate” and actively supporting its overthrow by the good old boys running the White House?
We have still other examples, too, as in numerous echoes of Washington’s dishonest and hateful attitudes towards Russia or Iran.
On a personal level, we have such matters as his initial disingenuous response when the "blackface" business first showed up. Two more incidents were then documented, showing the practice was a years-long source of amusement for him.
When a leader performs consistently as a sound and honest statesman, there really is very little room for misinformation to take hold and damage him.
But is that what we've seen from Justin Trudeau?
________________________________
There is a reference here to The Buffalo Chronicle, but absolutely no information about its "misinformation."
I do know the story, but I've seen no evidence that it was incorrect. That publication claimed a documentary basis for the story.
If it was incorrect, correct it. Easily enough done, and the most effective method. But don't just label something as misinformation with no explanation. An old bit of advice to writers has some application here: you should show readers with your words, not just tell them.
Labelling things or people is the kind of activity an outfit like Facebook does, and I can’t imagine a worse possible example to follow.
Isn't it actually a form of misinformation to accuse someone of being wrong on an important matter while supplying absolutely no explanation or evidence for the charge?
You can’t respond to every rumor, nor is there any need to do so, but when a story carries some weight, it deserves something more than just a dismissal and being called “misinformation.”
At least, I tend to think so.
EXPANSION OF COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“'More needs to be done,' [Minister for Democratic Institutions] Karina Gould says after some online election meddling detected
“There were attempts to spread misinformation or disinformation, officials confirm”
As far as online misinformation is concerned, the situation seems to me little different than a century ago when rumors, graffiti, and malign pamphlets were everywhere. Malign pamphlets were an industry for a couple of centuries.
You cannot force people to be true and accurate. Print newspapers, too, have a long history of misinformation and maligning politicians. In his day, Lincoln, that most beloved of American Presidents, was described as “an obscene ape” by a newspaper.
I do get serious concerns when a national minister emphasizes the Internet, given the growing levels of control and snooping and censorship we see today in the Western world. I fear her kind of speech can serve as preparation for control and censorship. I do not welcome her words.
I am sorry, Karina Gould, but I do see one of the most serious misinformation sources to which Canadians have been exposed as being your boss, the Prime Minister himself.
There are a number of very important matters where he just has not been honest with us. The people sense it, and that is why your government is in office with fewer votes than its main opposition party, a situation which could not have occurred had the Prime Minister kept his promise for ballot reform.
Voters know of his numerous omissions and shortcomings largely through the Internet.
Trudeau's entire handling of the SNC Affair and two critical, honest ministers was an extended, complicated, and eventually embarrassingly public, effort at misinformation.
The grotesquely mishandled business with China, perhaps his gravest set of errors because of its serious long-term consequences, also was dealt with by a lot of what I regard as misinformation from the Prime Minister and, very much so, from his unpleasant Foreign Minister.
And what is it but serious misinformation to be calling the twice-elected government of Venezuela “illegitimate” and actively supporting its overthrow by the good old boys running the White House?
We have still other examples, too, as in numerous echoes of Washington’s dishonest and hateful attitudes towards Russia or Iran.
On a personal level, we have such matters as his initial disingenuous response when the "blackface" business first showed up. Two more incidents were then documented, showing the practice was a years-long source of amusement for him.
When a leader performs consistently as a sound and honest statesman, there really is very little room for misinformation to take hold and damage him.
But is that what we've seen from Justin Trudeau?
________________________________
There is a reference here to The Buffalo Chronicle, but absolutely no information about its "misinformation."
I do know the story, but I've seen no evidence that it was incorrect. That publication claimed a documentary basis for the story.
If it was incorrect, correct it. Easily enough done, and the most effective method. But don't just label something as misinformation with no explanation. An old bit of advice to writers has some application here: you should show readers with your words, not just tell them.
Labelling things or people is the kind of activity an outfit like Facebook does, and I can’t imagine a worse possible example to follow.
Isn't it actually a form of misinformation to accuse someone of being wrong on an important matter while supplying absolutely no explanation or evidence for the charge?
You can’t respond to every rumor, nor is there any need to do so, but when a story carries some weight, it deserves something more than just a dismissal and being called “misinformation.”
At least, I tend to think so.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: MORE ON THE REPORTED AMERICAN KILLING OF ISIS LEADER AL-BAGHDADI - TRUMP'S BELIEVABILITY WHILE HE YET AGAIN CHANGES WHAT HE IS DOING IN SYRIA - IN ALL MATTERS TRUMP CANNOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TRUTH AND WHAT HE WANTS TO BE TRUE - NATURE OF ISIS
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“Beware of ISIS retaliation in wake of leader's death, experts say
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead after U.S. targeted mission on Saturday night”
It is not at all clear that Trump is telling the truth, and it would hardly surprise anyone to discover, once again, that he isn’t. I think it fair to say that Trump, after a lifetime’s practice, can no longer distinguish truth from what he wants to be true.
Trump's presentation of the "facts" is dubious. His words and tone are almost ridiculously unsuitable for the nature of what he discusses.
And al-Baghdadi has been reported as being killed many times in the past.
It is not known whether he escaped previous efforts or has been kept "alive" for American disinformation purposes. Some past reports were given in very strong terms.
This time, he is said to have blown himself up with a suicide vest.
However, American planes immediately did numerous bombing runs over the area, effectively destroying any evidence to be discovered.
They were supposedly destroying any possibility of a future shrine to the man, but that is a ridiculous claim. Muslim mosques contain no representation of people. They have none of Christianity’s statues and icons and paintings because Muslims do not worship human figures the way Christians do.
So, with all that immediate destruction, it is hard to see how Trump can possibly know what he claims to know.
We must consider the fact that Trump - given his just sending back troops into northern Syria, this time accompanied by heavy armor - needed some kind of strong attention-getting counter to his at least partial reversal of "policy" in Syria.
The man only ever thinks about his own re-election - that's all the "withdrawal" in Syria ever was about, so he could face a war-supporting Democrat, which is what all the likely candidates, such as Biden or Warren, indeed are.
Trump has a large political base, but it is not large enough to elect him without pulling in anti-war voters also, as he did in 2016.
This killing of al-Baghdadi smells strongly of a stunt, while American troops busy themselves plundering Syrian oil, activity spy satellites have already photographed, and the Russians have published.
As for ISIS as a threat to the West, that has never been established. Given the record of what they actually have attacked over their brief history (which just happens to correspond to America’s activities in the region), all things America and its allies wanted attacked, like the Syrian government and certain elements in Iraq, you might well regard such talk of threats as propaganda.
INTERESTING AFTERNOTE:
Russian news sources have reported the following.
While Trump said, "Russia treated us great. They opened up - we had to fly over certain Russia-held areas. Russia was great," the Russian Defence Ministry said they are unaware of providing cooperation to American air units entering airspace over the Idlib in Syria.
"No airstrikes performed by US aircraft or aircraft belonging to the so called 'international coalition' were detected on Saturday or during the following days," Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
"Since the moment of the final Daesh’s defeat at the hands of the Syrian government army supported by Russian Aerospace Forces in early 2018, yet another ‘death’ of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi does not have any strategic importance regarding the situation in Syria or the actions of the remaining terrorists in Idlib."
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“Beware of ISIS retaliation in wake of leader's death, experts say
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead after U.S. targeted mission on Saturday night”
It is not at all clear that Trump is telling the truth, and it would hardly surprise anyone to discover, once again, that he isn’t. I think it fair to say that Trump, after a lifetime’s practice, can no longer distinguish truth from what he wants to be true.
Trump's presentation of the "facts" is dubious. His words and tone are almost ridiculously unsuitable for the nature of what he discusses.
And al-Baghdadi has been reported as being killed many times in the past.
It is not known whether he escaped previous efforts or has been kept "alive" for American disinformation purposes. Some past reports were given in very strong terms.
This time, he is said to have blown himself up with a suicide vest.
However, American planes immediately did numerous bombing runs over the area, effectively destroying any evidence to be discovered.
They were supposedly destroying any possibility of a future shrine to the man, but that is a ridiculous claim. Muslim mosques contain no representation of people. They have none of Christianity’s statues and icons and paintings because Muslims do not worship human figures the way Christians do.
So, with all that immediate destruction, it is hard to see how Trump can possibly know what he claims to know.
We must consider the fact that Trump - given his just sending back troops into northern Syria, this time accompanied by heavy armor - needed some kind of strong attention-getting counter to his at least partial reversal of "policy" in Syria.
The man only ever thinks about his own re-election - that's all the "withdrawal" in Syria ever was about, so he could face a war-supporting Democrat, which is what all the likely candidates, such as Biden or Warren, indeed are.
Trump has a large political base, but it is not large enough to elect him without pulling in anti-war voters also, as he did in 2016.
This killing of al-Baghdadi smells strongly of a stunt, while American troops busy themselves plundering Syrian oil, activity spy satellites have already photographed, and the Russians have published.
As for ISIS as a threat to the West, that has never been established. Given the record of what they actually have attacked over their brief history (which just happens to correspond to America’s activities in the region), all things America and its allies wanted attacked, like the Syrian government and certain elements in Iraq, you might well regard such talk of threats as propaganda.
INTERESTING AFTERNOTE:
Russian news sources have reported the following.
While Trump said, "Russia treated us great. They opened up - we had to fly over certain Russia-held areas. Russia was great," the Russian Defence Ministry said they are unaware of providing cooperation to American air units entering airspace over the Idlib in Syria.
"No airstrikes performed by US aircraft or aircraft belonging to the so called 'international coalition' were detected on Saturday or during the following days," Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
"Since the moment of the final Daesh’s defeat at the hands of the Syrian government army supported by Russian Aerospace Forces in early 2018, yet another ‘death’ of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi does not have any strategic importance regarding the situation in Syria or the actions of the remaining terrorists in Idlib."
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: IT'S JUST BRED IN THE BONE - EVEN IN AN OTHERWISE EXCELLENT SOMEWHAT-TECHNICAL DISCUSSION OF RUSSIAN AFFAIRS, AN AMERICAN JUST CANNOT HELP DROPPING BITS OF RUSSOPHOBIC LITTER
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DAVID AUERSWALD IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“US Navy Trying to Force Its Way Through Russia’s Arctic Sea Route Would Be a Bad Idea Indeed
“Should be very, very cautious about saber-rattling in the Russian Arctic”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/us-navy-trying-to-force-its-way-through-russias-arctic-sea-route-would-be-a-bad-idea-indeed/
There are many good points here. On the whole, it is a strong discussion.
But the piece needlessly contains bits of American-viewpoint propaganda language.
Why do we have stuff like the following included?
"Finally, the Arctic resonates with Russians’ conceptions of self and with the Putin regime’s desire to maintain great power status."
"Remember that Russian behavior in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, and online (with regard to election interference) continued even in the face of Western sanctions"
It's not a government? It's a regime. And it has conceptions of self?
Election interference? Behavior in Crimea and eastern Ukraine?
Americans simply cannot help themselves. It's bred in the bone to talk about Russia with contempt and dishonesty, even in the middle of an otherwise well-done somewhat technical discussion.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DAVID AUERSWALD IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“US Navy Trying to Force Its Way Through Russia’s Arctic Sea Route Would Be a Bad Idea Indeed
“Should be very, very cautious about saber-rattling in the Russian Arctic”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/us-navy-trying-to-force-its-way-through-russias-arctic-sea-route-would-be-a-bad-idea-indeed/
There are many good points here. On the whole, it is a strong discussion.
But the piece needlessly contains bits of American-viewpoint propaganda language.
Why do we have stuff like the following included?
"Finally, the Arctic resonates with Russians’ conceptions of self and with the Putin regime’s desire to maintain great power status."
"Remember that Russian behavior in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, and online (with regard to election interference) continued even in the face of Western sanctions"
It's not a government? It's a regime. And it has conceptions of self?
Election interference? Behavior in Crimea and eastern Ukraine?
Americans simply cannot help themselves. It's bred in the bone to talk about Russia with contempt and dishonesty, even in the middle of an otherwise well-done somewhat technical discussion.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: EVENTS IN SYRIA - THE KILLING OF ISIS LEADER ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI AND THE SENDING OF AMERICAN TROOPS BACK INTO NORTHEASTERN SYRIA, THIS TIME WITH HEAVY ARMOR - WHAT TRUMP IS REALLY DOING
John Chuckman
COMMENT ON EVENTS IN SYRIA INCLUDING THE KILLING OF ISIS LEADER ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI AND THE SENDING OF AMERICAN TROOPS BACK INTO PART OF NORTHEASTERN SYRIA, THIS TIME WITH HEAVY ARMOR
Well, the United States is claiming that it has killed the fabled leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in northern Syria.
The United States has made such claims in the past, and they’ve always proved false, so much so that many have speculated that al-Baghdadi was always a Western agent. More than one source has speculated that al-Baghdadi was an American agent or asset, possibly even an Israeli one, and there are some grounds supporting such suggestions.
There are old photographs of the late John McCain with al-Baghdadi and some others. McCain was, after all, America’s tireless peripatetic advocate for bombing runs everywhere.
The ISIS operations in Iraq and in Syria generally served American objectives, giving it a reason for illegally keeping well-armed troops there and building bases in someone else’s country with no permission. There is absolutely no record of ISIS ever attacking even the most minor Israeli or Saudi interests, the very groups, along with any Americans who happened to be around, who would be the prime targets for the kind of Jihadi group ISIS is supposed to be.
Now and then, the United States may have targeted elements of ISIS, but, after all, when you are dealing with kind of rag-tag mercenary killers and adventurers attracted by such outfits, you do get some folks who don’t follow directions well or who get ideas of their own, or who, much like Trump himself at a G-7 meeting, sit with scowling looks on their faces and their arms tightly folded over their chests, refusing even to respond to others in the room.
If so, they are easily enough brought back into line by bombs, and they have no one in the West sympathetic with them. While their past theatrical shows of brutality were deliberate efforts to terrorize the very people the United States wanted terrorized, they served also to advertise to the West what an ugly bunch it was that America “was bravely fighting.”
The Syrian Army, supported by Russia and Iran as legal allies, has done all the heavy-lifting against ISIS, treating it always as the terrorist organization that it is, one consistently working to hurt Syria. The whole past record of what ISIS attacked and who it hurt is very much in agreement with the idea of its serving American and Israeli aims.
Much of America’s past bombing – as also that of its allies, Britain and France - really has been more of a covert operation against Syrian infrastructure, to hurt Syria’s national government while pretending to attack ISIS. America has been sarcastically described in the past as providing an air force for ISIS. And American and Israeli helicopters in the past have been observed moving around ISIS groups. The same for other terror groups, as al-Nusra, doing pretty much the same work.
The Russian military, fairly recently, said that if there was one place al-Baghdadi was not to be found, it was in northern Syria where Trump is claiming to have killed him, and no one has any better intelligence on the region than the Russians who have been so active in the air and on the ground.
The United States just loves blubbering about killing “masterminds,” just as it did for Osama bin Laden, but such talk is often pure comic-book stuff. The notion appeals to the black-and-white thinking Washington loves to foster while it pursues its many shadowy projects. Black-and-white thinking is the thinking useful to propaganda because it is easily absorbed by large numbers of people who appreciate having an “explanation” for what is mysteriously going on.
In a sense, it is almost irrelevant whether the new claim is accurate or not. Al-Baghdadi ‘s “death” now serves a useful purpose. It helps justify America’s turnaround in evacuating all its troops from Syria, sending some back in from the places in Iraq they also illegally occupy, accompanied by heavy armor. “See, we told you, ISIS is still a threat in the region.”
The place where al-Baghdadi is said to have been killed was quickly destroyed by American air strikes. How very convenient.
Just as when Osama bin-Laden’s body was buried unobserved at sea. I don’t think there was any suspicion of Osama’s having worked for American interests, but many believe he actually died long before his “killing” in Pakistan by American special forces. I don’t know or make any claim that way, but such is the stuff that swirls around all of America’s secretive, murderous work in the Middle East.
I should qualify the first part of that last sentence. Osama did effectively work for American interests in the 1980s, when he helped fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He was with the mujahideen groups who were covertly subsidized and supplied with weapons by the CIA. By all accounts, he was a brave and able fighter, and the Taliban faction, who came later to rule Afghanistan after a post-Soviet period of chaos, gladly gave Osama, a Saudi, refuge in recognition of that fact.
And “we need to protect Syria’s crude oil fields from falling into the hands of ISIS, who would use them to finance their evil operations.” ISIS is an outfit that has served a lot of useful American purposes in the region. Of course, what the United States is doing is undoing much of what Trump has bragged about doing in recent days.
It sure helps to have a big diversion on hand when you reverse yourself as extremely as Trump has, a diversion identifying you with something good in the comic-book world, like killing an evil “mastermind.”
If Trump isn’t going to have quite the withdrawal of troops that he thought he’d have as a key bragging point for his re-election (vis-Ã -vis any of the war-supporting Democrats who are likely opponents), at least he has this to demonstrate why he needed so quickly to alter his plans.
The real reason is that Israel and its supporters have been extremely unhappy at the idea of the United States returning northeastern Syria back to Syria’s national government. This grabbing with armored columns of an important national resource has no other reason but to weaken Syria and make a little profit while doing so.
Russia spy-satellite photos have shown that the United States has been stealing oil in the region already. Russian officials are calling America’s behavior, “banditry,” and it is hard to see how any informed person can argue with that.
COMMENT ON EVENTS IN SYRIA INCLUDING THE KILLING OF ISIS LEADER ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI AND THE SENDING OF AMERICAN TROOPS BACK INTO PART OF NORTHEASTERN SYRIA, THIS TIME WITH HEAVY ARMOR
Well, the United States is claiming that it has killed the fabled leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in northern Syria.
The United States has made such claims in the past, and they’ve always proved false, so much so that many have speculated that al-Baghdadi was always a Western agent. More than one source has speculated that al-Baghdadi was an American agent or asset, possibly even an Israeli one, and there are some grounds supporting such suggestions.
There are old photographs of the late John McCain with al-Baghdadi and some others. McCain was, after all, America’s tireless peripatetic advocate for bombing runs everywhere.
The ISIS operations in Iraq and in Syria generally served American objectives, giving it a reason for illegally keeping well-armed troops there and building bases in someone else’s country with no permission. There is absolutely no record of ISIS ever attacking even the most minor Israeli or Saudi interests, the very groups, along with any Americans who happened to be around, who would be the prime targets for the kind of Jihadi group ISIS is supposed to be.
Now and then, the United States may have targeted elements of ISIS, but, after all, when you are dealing with kind of rag-tag mercenary killers and adventurers attracted by such outfits, you do get some folks who don’t follow directions well or who get ideas of their own, or who, much like Trump himself at a G-7 meeting, sit with scowling looks on their faces and their arms tightly folded over their chests, refusing even to respond to others in the room.
If so, they are easily enough brought back into line by bombs, and they have no one in the West sympathetic with them. While their past theatrical shows of brutality were deliberate efforts to terrorize the very people the United States wanted terrorized, they served also to advertise to the West what an ugly bunch it was that America “was bravely fighting.”
The Syrian Army, supported by Russia and Iran as legal allies, has done all the heavy-lifting against ISIS, treating it always as the terrorist organization that it is, one consistently working to hurt Syria. The whole past record of what ISIS attacked and who it hurt is very much in agreement with the idea of its serving American and Israeli aims.
Much of America’s past bombing – as also that of its allies, Britain and France - really has been more of a covert operation against Syrian infrastructure, to hurt Syria’s national government while pretending to attack ISIS. America has been sarcastically described in the past as providing an air force for ISIS. And American and Israeli helicopters in the past have been observed moving around ISIS groups. The same for other terror groups, as al-Nusra, doing pretty much the same work.
The Russian military, fairly recently, said that if there was one place al-Baghdadi was not to be found, it was in northern Syria where Trump is claiming to have killed him, and no one has any better intelligence on the region than the Russians who have been so active in the air and on the ground.
The United States just loves blubbering about killing “masterminds,” just as it did for Osama bin Laden, but such talk is often pure comic-book stuff. The notion appeals to the black-and-white thinking Washington loves to foster while it pursues its many shadowy projects. Black-and-white thinking is the thinking useful to propaganda because it is easily absorbed by large numbers of people who appreciate having an “explanation” for what is mysteriously going on.
In a sense, it is almost irrelevant whether the new claim is accurate or not. Al-Baghdadi ‘s “death” now serves a useful purpose. It helps justify America’s turnaround in evacuating all its troops from Syria, sending some back in from the places in Iraq they also illegally occupy, accompanied by heavy armor. “See, we told you, ISIS is still a threat in the region.”
The place where al-Baghdadi is said to have been killed was quickly destroyed by American air strikes. How very convenient.
Just as when Osama bin-Laden’s body was buried unobserved at sea. I don’t think there was any suspicion of Osama’s having worked for American interests, but many believe he actually died long before his “killing” in Pakistan by American special forces. I don’t know or make any claim that way, but such is the stuff that swirls around all of America’s secretive, murderous work in the Middle East.
I should qualify the first part of that last sentence. Osama did effectively work for American interests in the 1980s, when he helped fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He was with the mujahideen groups who were covertly subsidized and supplied with weapons by the CIA. By all accounts, he was a brave and able fighter, and the Taliban faction, who came later to rule Afghanistan after a post-Soviet period of chaos, gladly gave Osama, a Saudi, refuge in recognition of that fact.
And “we need to protect Syria’s crude oil fields from falling into the hands of ISIS, who would use them to finance their evil operations.” ISIS is an outfit that has served a lot of useful American purposes in the region. Of course, what the United States is doing is undoing much of what Trump has bragged about doing in recent days.
It sure helps to have a big diversion on hand when you reverse yourself as extremely as Trump has, a diversion identifying you with something good in the comic-book world, like killing an evil “mastermind.”
If Trump isn’t going to have quite the withdrawal of troops that he thought he’d have as a key bragging point for his re-election (vis-Ã -vis any of the war-supporting Democrats who are likely opponents), at least he has this to demonstrate why he needed so quickly to alter his plans.
The real reason is that Israel and its supporters have been extremely unhappy at the idea of the United States returning northeastern Syria back to Syria’s national government. This grabbing with armored columns of an important national resource has no other reason but to weaken Syria and make a little profit while doing so.
Russia spy-satellite photos have shown that the United States has been stealing oil in the region already. Russian officials are calling America’s behavior, “banditry,” and it is hard to see how any informed person can argue with that.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: GRETA THUNBERG WORKING HER MAGIC IN VANCOUVER - HER THIRD TIME DOING A 1933-STYLE RANT TO A STREET CROWD IN A CANADIAN CITY - I WISH SHE'D SHARE A BIT MORE WITH OTHERS AND PARTICULARLY IN THE COUNTRIES WHERE WHAT SHE IS RANTING ABOUT IS AN INCOMPARABLY LARGER PHENOMENON THAN IT IS IN CANADA - WE HAVE NO SCIENTIFIC CERTAINTY ABOUT THE CAUSE OF CURRENT CLIMATE CHANGE - AND RANTING HELPS NOTHING
John Chuckman
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
Greta Thunberg addresses thousands at Vancouver climate rally
Crowd estimated to be around 10,000, according to police”
'Together, we are unstoppable'
"Today Germany, tomorrow the world!"
_________________
Does this Greta craze represent our Prime Minister's influence?
He can't manage our affairs with China.
He couldn't manage vote reform.
In the absence of vote reform, he got re-elected with fewer votes than his main opponent.
And there is a whole list of priorities for Canada he has mismanaged, including Alberta’s access to markets.
But I guess there's always room for this kind of public performance.
______________________
It's saddening to see crowds of Canadians gathered for a performance of this nature. I know they mean well, but in these matters just meaning well is not good enough.
As we advance in science and technology, one expects traditional religion gradually to die out.
But, no, here we are, inventing a new religion, complete with crowds looking for miracles and pilgrimages by devotees and the appearance of a sainted figure.
Science has not – repeat, not - yet established that human activity is the cause of climate change.
After all, we've had a very large number of climate changes in the past, many different ones. Some quite devastating.
They are as much a part of earth's history as geology and evolution. And the overwhelming majority of such events happened before our species even came into being a mere couple of hundred thousand years ago.
___________________
If, in fact, it were the case that carbon dioxide emissions cause climate change, Canada is responsible for the tiniest fraction of them. And our vast forests offset much or all of that.
Look to the United States. Look to Brazil. Look to China. And to many other industrial and emerging nations.
Canada can affect virtually nothing, no matter how hard it tries. No matter how much money it spends making itself less competitive in the world’s markets
Yet here we are again playing host, a third time, to this child’s ranting to crowds.
It makes no sense. None at all.
Ranting is ranting, no matter how convinced you are that yours is a worthy cause.
Hold speaking engagements for prominent experts, if you will. Hold public debates with experts.
Ranting to large crowds in the streets is unpleasant and suggestive of some very dark events in the past. The one thing that it certainly is not is informative.
After all, there are all kinds of people out there who rant, believing they are right, but whom we wouldn't dream of inviting to address rallies in this 1933 fashion.
_________________________
“Is population control the answer to fixing climate change?”
There is a role clearly for population reduction in many serious pollution problems.
Everything from the amount of mining and smelting to the amount of trash and to the volumes of industrial poisons used.
I am not so sure there's a role for climate change because the truth is that it has not been proven that human activity is what causes it.
There are new suggestions as to its cause being investigated.
An interesting piece of mathematical work recently by a physicist raised an issue. He claimed to show that carbon dioxide cannot be the cause of global warming, that the typical assumption of a blanket effect by carbon dioxide simply cannot be accurate, looking at the fundamental nature and properties of the gas.
I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. But I'm sure not one to jump on the Thunberg bandwagon.
By the way, a lot of people don't realize how underpopulated much of our earth really is. We give over vast tracts of land to agriculture, and in a few decades a good deal of that won't be needed with hi-tech, hi-rise growing facilities producing perfect crops near consumers several times a year.
Also, I'm sure it won't be too long before good food in some useful forms can be directly manufactured with no growing at all. Perhaps meat or meat substitutes.
___________________
A last note, an estimated crowd of ten thousand in Vancouver represents about one per cent of the city’s population. Hardly impressive, and even a little reassuring.
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
Greta Thunberg addresses thousands at Vancouver climate rally
Crowd estimated to be around 10,000, according to police”
'Together, we are unstoppable'
"Today Germany, tomorrow the world!"
_________________
Does this Greta craze represent our Prime Minister's influence?
He can't manage our affairs with China.
He couldn't manage vote reform.
In the absence of vote reform, he got re-elected with fewer votes than his main opponent.
And there is a whole list of priorities for Canada he has mismanaged, including Alberta’s access to markets.
But I guess there's always room for this kind of public performance.
______________________
It's saddening to see crowds of Canadians gathered for a performance of this nature. I know they mean well, but in these matters just meaning well is not good enough.
As we advance in science and technology, one expects traditional religion gradually to die out.
But, no, here we are, inventing a new religion, complete with crowds looking for miracles and pilgrimages by devotees and the appearance of a sainted figure.
Science has not – repeat, not - yet established that human activity is the cause of climate change.
After all, we've had a very large number of climate changes in the past, many different ones. Some quite devastating.
They are as much a part of earth's history as geology and evolution. And the overwhelming majority of such events happened before our species even came into being a mere couple of hundred thousand years ago.
___________________
If, in fact, it were the case that carbon dioxide emissions cause climate change, Canada is responsible for the tiniest fraction of them. And our vast forests offset much or all of that.
Look to the United States. Look to Brazil. Look to China. And to many other industrial and emerging nations.
Canada can affect virtually nothing, no matter how hard it tries. No matter how much money it spends making itself less competitive in the world’s markets
Yet here we are again playing host, a third time, to this child’s ranting to crowds.
It makes no sense. None at all.
Ranting is ranting, no matter how convinced you are that yours is a worthy cause.
Hold speaking engagements for prominent experts, if you will. Hold public debates with experts.
Ranting to large crowds in the streets is unpleasant and suggestive of some very dark events in the past. The one thing that it certainly is not is informative.
After all, there are all kinds of people out there who rant, believing they are right, but whom we wouldn't dream of inviting to address rallies in this 1933 fashion.
_________________________
“Is population control the answer to fixing climate change?”
There is a role clearly for population reduction in many serious pollution problems.
Everything from the amount of mining and smelting to the amount of trash and to the volumes of industrial poisons used.
I am not so sure there's a role for climate change because the truth is that it has not been proven that human activity is what causes it.
There are new suggestions as to its cause being investigated.
An interesting piece of mathematical work recently by a physicist raised an issue. He claimed to show that carbon dioxide cannot be the cause of global warming, that the typical assumption of a blanket effect by carbon dioxide simply cannot be accurate, looking at the fundamental nature and properties of the gas.
I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. But I'm sure not one to jump on the Thunberg bandwagon.
By the way, a lot of people don't realize how underpopulated much of our earth really is. We give over vast tracts of land to agriculture, and in a few decades a good deal of that won't be needed with hi-tech, hi-rise growing facilities producing perfect crops near consumers several times a year.
Also, I'm sure it won't be too long before good food in some useful forms can be directly manufactured with no growing at all. Perhaps meat or meat substitutes.
___________________
A last note, an estimated crowd of ten thousand in Vancouver represents about one per cent of the city’s population. Hardly impressive, and even a little reassuring.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: MARIA BUTINA FINALLY RELEASED BY THE UNITED STATES - HERE IS THE BEST MEASURE OF THE RUSSO-PHOBIA SICKNESS GRIPPING THE UNITED STATES
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
"Maria Butina: Russian agent who tried to infiltrate the NRA released from prison and deported"
Just the headline is ridiculous.
The Independent should be ashamed.
She admitted to what her torturers insisted. Otherwise, she faced never again seeing the light of day.
Imagine, a gun enthusiast from another country who was a university student in the United States being accused of "spying" for joining a private organization that lobbies for gun owners?
The case provides a powerful measure of the extent of America's Russia-phobia mental disorder. She was effectively tortured and intimidated for months by American officials.
Just absurd... and vicious.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
"Maria Butina: Russian agent who tried to infiltrate the NRA released from prison and deported"
Just the headline is ridiculous.
The Independent should be ashamed.
She admitted to what her torturers insisted. Otherwise, she faced never again seeing the light of day.
Imagine, a gun enthusiast from another country who was a university student in the United States being accused of "spying" for joining a private organization that lobbies for gun owners?
The case provides a powerful measure of the extent of America's Russia-phobia mental disorder. She was effectively tortured and intimidated for months by American officials.
Just absurd... and vicious.
Friday, October 25, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: MADNESS STRIKES AMERICA AGAIN - TRUMP INTENDS TO WITHDRAW FROM THE "OPEN SKIES" TREATY WITH RUSSIA - HERE IS WHAT DRIVES AMERICA'S FRIGHTENING BEHAVIOR ABROAD - IT IS HARD TO SEE ANY HOPE FOR CHANGE EVEN IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT OF TRUMP BEING REMOVED
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JAMES CARDEN IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
Trump’s Withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty Jeopardizes US National Security
Clueless Trump clearing another impediment to an arms race with Russia
https://www.checkpointasia.net/trumps-withdrawal-from-the-open-skies-treaty-jeopardizes-us-national-security/
Good piece. Trump is nicely and accurately characterized at the beginning.
We are all living through the deliberate setting-up of a nightmare world, one where international law and order and institutions count for little or nothing.
But note that we do not see Congress making any efforts to stop Trump’s abusive efforts abroad.
I don’t think the impeachment investigation counts because that is about politics, the politics of realizing they do not have a leading candidate for the 2020 election who likely can defeat Trump.
And the politics around the possible opening of the whole “can of worms” involved in the American-induced coup in Ukraine with all of its aftereffects.
Not to mention, the insane Russia-gate fantasies which seem to have acquired a life of their own simply because they are so useful to so many important figures.
The fantasies do not die away because America has been conditioned for three-quarters of a century to hate and fear Russia. It was ferocious conditioning in everything from the language of the press and politicians to the entertainment industry with its streams of shows and films like the old J Edgar Hoover-approved “FBI” series or “I Led Three Lives” or “The Manchurian Candidate” and scores of others.
Anyone pointing out the many merits of today’s Russia, so immediately in stark contrast with the Russia of the prime Soviet period, only risks being called a Russian “troll” or “bot” or “asset.”
The Congress is under exactly the same set of influences as Trump.
He's just loud and ugly about it, and they gladly let him take the blame for going where they want to go themselves, but they really do nothing to stop him.
All of these matters - from the destruction of important treaties to the horrors of Syria and support for one of the world’s bloodiest tyrants in Saudi Arabia - ultimately reflect America's awareness of its relative decline in the world and its refusal to accept new realities.
It perhaps has come to believe in its own myths of exceptionalism too much, of its inherent goodness, of its rightness, of its entitlement. Patriotism as it is practiced in America is, after all, a form of religion with its own sacred myths and tenets and blind spots, and it has a fierce hold on the country still.
It is stoked regularly as an important reinforcing mechanism for all those pointless imperial wars and insane military costs.
The country’s relative decline represents no malign forces at work, as the bizarre words of Trump often suggest. It is a quite natural outcome of the growth and development of other states plus changing technologies, but it is an outcome America's establishment is desperate to somehow correct by almost any means, except the straightforward one of working hard to compete.
With prestige and authority and wealth at stake, virtually all pretenses of still being Jimmy Stewart’s America of, say, 1953, are gone. There is simply no room for tears or sentimentality or wanting the reputation of being a nice guy.
America’s establishment is much quietly encouraged in this by Israeli interests because Israel sees its best interests in the Middle East as being supported by an aggressive America, not a polite and diplomatic one. It can’t be kingpin in its region if America isn’t feared.
And despite its own good relations with Putin, Israel, beneath the surface, does not like Russia. It does not want Russia's influence in the Middle East, and it very much sees Russia as a stumbling block to the desired America supremacy and aggression in many areas.
To start with, Russia is friendly with too many Arabs, and that’s an automatic black mark in Israel’s power calculous. The fact that Putin’s Russia strives to have good relations with all states means nothing to Israel, a state which deliberately maintains terrible relations with a number of others.
The growing sense of Russia’s increasing prestige in the Middle East and America’s declining prestige also generates quiet animosity.
The only way I can see this changing is with a turnaround in Israel’s view of its place in the region and of its neighbors. And just what are the chances of that?
But even without Israel's influential encouragement, Washington's power establishment does seem set on maintaining a dangerous course out of its own motives of pride and arrogance.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JAMES CARDEN IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
Trump’s Withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty Jeopardizes US National Security
Clueless Trump clearing another impediment to an arms race with Russia
https://www.checkpointasia.net/trumps-withdrawal-from-the-open-skies-treaty-jeopardizes-us-national-security/
Good piece. Trump is nicely and accurately characterized at the beginning.
We are all living through the deliberate setting-up of a nightmare world, one where international law and order and institutions count for little or nothing.
But note that we do not see Congress making any efforts to stop Trump’s abusive efforts abroad.
I don’t think the impeachment investigation counts because that is about politics, the politics of realizing they do not have a leading candidate for the 2020 election who likely can defeat Trump.
And the politics around the possible opening of the whole “can of worms” involved in the American-induced coup in Ukraine with all of its aftereffects.
Not to mention, the insane Russia-gate fantasies which seem to have acquired a life of their own simply because they are so useful to so many important figures.
The fantasies do not die away because America has been conditioned for three-quarters of a century to hate and fear Russia. It was ferocious conditioning in everything from the language of the press and politicians to the entertainment industry with its streams of shows and films like the old J Edgar Hoover-approved “FBI” series or “I Led Three Lives” or “The Manchurian Candidate” and scores of others.
Anyone pointing out the many merits of today’s Russia, so immediately in stark contrast with the Russia of the prime Soviet period, only risks being called a Russian “troll” or “bot” or “asset.”
The Congress is under exactly the same set of influences as Trump.
He's just loud and ugly about it, and they gladly let him take the blame for going where they want to go themselves, but they really do nothing to stop him.
All of these matters - from the destruction of important treaties to the horrors of Syria and support for one of the world’s bloodiest tyrants in Saudi Arabia - ultimately reflect America's awareness of its relative decline in the world and its refusal to accept new realities.
It perhaps has come to believe in its own myths of exceptionalism too much, of its inherent goodness, of its rightness, of its entitlement. Patriotism as it is practiced in America is, after all, a form of religion with its own sacred myths and tenets and blind spots, and it has a fierce hold on the country still.
It is stoked regularly as an important reinforcing mechanism for all those pointless imperial wars and insane military costs.
The country’s relative decline represents no malign forces at work, as the bizarre words of Trump often suggest. It is a quite natural outcome of the growth and development of other states plus changing technologies, but it is an outcome America's establishment is desperate to somehow correct by almost any means, except the straightforward one of working hard to compete.
With prestige and authority and wealth at stake, virtually all pretenses of still being Jimmy Stewart’s America of, say, 1953, are gone. There is simply no room for tears or sentimentality or wanting the reputation of being a nice guy.
America’s establishment is much quietly encouraged in this by Israeli interests because Israel sees its best interests in the Middle East as being supported by an aggressive America, not a polite and diplomatic one. It can’t be kingpin in its region if America isn’t feared.
And despite its own good relations with Putin, Israel, beneath the surface, does not like Russia. It does not want Russia's influence in the Middle East, and it very much sees Russia as a stumbling block to the desired America supremacy and aggression in many areas.
To start with, Russia is friendly with too many Arabs, and that’s an automatic black mark in Israel’s power calculous. The fact that Putin’s Russia strives to have good relations with all states means nothing to Israel, a state which deliberately maintains terrible relations with a number of others.
The growing sense of Russia’s increasing prestige in the Middle East and America’s declining prestige also generates quiet animosity.
The only way I can see this changing is with a turnaround in Israel’s view of its place in the region and of its neighbors. And just what are the chances of that?
But even without Israel's influential encouragement, Washington's power establishment does seem set on maintaining a dangerous course out of its own motives of pride and arrogance.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: PUTIN'S MAGNIFICENT INITIATIVE FOR AFRICA - RUSSIA AS ALL THAT AMERICA SHOULD HAVE BEEN
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Putin Hosts VIRTUALLY ALL African Leaders at Gargantuan Trade Forum in Sochi
“Writes off $20bn in old debts, bashes western intimidation and blackmail of Africans, concludes a flurry of agreements
“Heads of African countries have flocked to Russia for a first-of-its-kind summit, where Moscow will be offering business ties and security arrangements alternative to ‘colonial-style’ relations with the West.”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/putin-hosts-virtually-all-african-leaders-at-gargantuan-trade-forum-in-sochi/
Just fascinating.
Putin and his remarkable team never stop coming up with new efforts to peacefully channel the course of world affairs and to increase Russia's trade and influence with others.
Building new relationships, offering new services, offering genuine help.
The cancelling of all that African debt, too, is a master stroke.
The Russians and the Chinese are everything today in such international affairs that the United States should have been, but very much is not.
Of course, in some ways, both Russia and China are in special positions to help such countries, given their immense experience in huge infrastructure projects, from dams and nuclear power plants to railroads and agriculture and heavy industries.
Africa is even more interesting today because of its continental free-trade association.
It remains a very important source for a whole range of important minerals, and its population is growing more rapidly than we see anywhere else, offering big future opportunities for trade and investment growth.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Putin Hosts VIRTUALLY ALL African Leaders at Gargantuan Trade Forum in Sochi
“Writes off $20bn in old debts, bashes western intimidation and blackmail of Africans, concludes a flurry of agreements
“Heads of African countries have flocked to Russia for a first-of-its-kind summit, where Moscow will be offering business ties and security arrangements alternative to ‘colonial-style’ relations with the West.”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/putin-hosts-virtually-all-african-leaders-at-gargantuan-trade-forum-in-sochi/
Just fascinating.
Putin and his remarkable team never stop coming up with new efforts to peacefully channel the course of world affairs and to increase Russia's trade and influence with others.
Building new relationships, offering new services, offering genuine help.
The cancelling of all that African debt, too, is a master stroke.
The Russians and the Chinese are everything today in such international affairs that the United States should have been, but very much is not.
Of course, in some ways, both Russia and China are in special positions to help such countries, given their immense experience in huge infrastructure projects, from dams and nuclear power plants to railroads and agriculture and heavy industries.
Africa is even more interesting today because of its continental free-trade association.
It remains a very important source for a whole range of important minerals, and its population is growing more rapidly than we see anywhere else, offering big future opportunities for trade and investment growth.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: WHAT JUSTIN TRUDEAU'S "WIN" OF A MINORITY GOVERNMENT IN CANADA REALLY MEANS - "WESTERN DEMOCRACY" PARLIAMENTS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY ELECTION SYSTEMS THAT DELIVER RULE WITH A MINORITY OF VOTES - AMERICA HAS AN EVEN MORE DEVIOUS SYSTEM
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTH FRONT
“BRAND TRUDEAU WINS A SECOND TERM”
Trudeau’s party actually ended up receiving significantly fewer votes (33.1 % of total) than the opposition Conservatives under Andrew Scheer (34.4 %).
It's an unhappy, anti-democratic outcome of the voting system used for Parliament.
Just as is the fact that a government can rule with an unshakable “majority” of seats in Parliament with the kind of the numbers Trudeau attracted in 2015 (39.5% of total popular vote).
Similar results prevail for Britain’s parliament. A “majority” government there typically represents well under 40% of the total votes cast.
And, of course, in the United States, with its antiquated Electoral College system on top of still other important issues, minority presidents are not an unusual election outcome. Trump is one of them (46.1% of votes cast versus 48.2% for Hillary Clinton).
Such are the glorious results of “Western democracy” so often glibly praised by press and politicians.
The irony is Trudeau had campaigned strongly four years ago in support of election reform, of getting rid of our "first past the post" vote counting and using instead something yielding proportionate representation.
But, as in so many things, Trudeau completely failed to make good on his promise. It was a serious disappointment, but for this 2019 election his failure kept him in power.
Trudeau has failed in a number of extremely important national matters, and he is, additionally, someone known for a number of embarrassing personal follies and scandals.
It genuinely is disheartening to see him back on the job.
Lack of significant voter choice in candidates is the immediate explanation for the election result, something which is sadly all too common in our "Western democracies."
The other parties - especially the ones with some chance of gaining power, the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party - simply did not offer candidates strong and appealing enough to vote Trudeau out under the existing voting system.
Lack of attractive alternatives can reflect, as I think is the case here, poorly functioning political party organizations. But, in some “Western democracies,” as in the United States, it represents a mechanism by the official parties (only two of them and each equally dominated by establishment interests) to limit voter choice by design.
Good God, look at the two candidates America offered its voters in 2016. Frightening, each of them in his or her own way. Simply an unbelievable choice offered.
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/john-chuckman-comment-how-american-politics-really-work-why-there-are-terrible-candidates-and-constant-wars-and-peoples-problems-are-ignored-why-heroes-like-julian-assange-are-persecuted-and-r/
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTH FRONT
“BRAND TRUDEAU WINS A SECOND TERM”
Trudeau’s party actually ended up receiving significantly fewer votes (33.1 % of total) than the opposition Conservatives under Andrew Scheer (34.4 %).
It's an unhappy, anti-democratic outcome of the voting system used for Parliament.
Just as is the fact that a government can rule with an unshakable “majority” of seats in Parliament with the kind of the numbers Trudeau attracted in 2015 (39.5% of total popular vote).
Similar results prevail for Britain’s parliament. A “majority” government there typically represents well under 40% of the total votes cast.
And, of course, in the United States, with its antiquated Electoral College system on top of still other important issues, minority presidents are not an unusual election outcome. Trump is one of them (46.1% of votes cast versus 48.2% for Hillary Clinton).
Such are the glorious results of “Western democracy” so often glibly praised by press and politicians.
The irony is Trudeau had campaigned strongly four years ago in support of election reform, of getting rid of our "first past the post" vote counting and using instead something yielding proportionate representation.
But, as in so many things, Trudeau completely failed to make good on his promise. It was a serious disappointment, but for this 2019 election his failure kept him in power.
Trudeau has failed in a number of extremely important national matters, and he is, additionally, someone known for a number of embarrassing personal follies and scandals.
It genuinely is disheartening to see him back on the job.
Lack of significant voter choice in candidates is the immediate explanation for the election result, something which is sadly all too common in our "Western democracies."
The other parties - especially the ones with some chance of gaining power, the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party - simply did not offer candidates strong and appealing enough to vote Trudeau out under the existing voting system.
Lack of attractive alternatives can reflect, as I think is the case here, poorly functioning political party organizations. But, in some “Western democracies,” as in the United States, it represents a mechanism by the official parties (only two of them and each equally dominated by establishment interests) to limit voter choice by design.
Good God, look at the two candidates America offered its voters in 2016. Frightening, each of them in his or her own way. Simply an unbelievable choice offered.
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/john-chuckman-comment-how-american-politics-really-work-why-there-are-terrible-candidates-and-constant-wars-and-peoples-problems-are-ignored-why-heroes-like-julian-assange-are-persecuted-and-r/
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE PRICE OF TRUTH IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN THE PLACES IT DOMINATES - A MOVING PIECE ON WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO JULIAN ASSANGE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY CRAIG MURRAY IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Physically, Mentally Frail Assange Suffers "Vicious Travesty of Justice" in Latest Court Appearance”
https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/physically-mentally-frail-assange-suffers-vicious-travesty-justice-latest-court-appearance
Thank you, Craig Murray.
A wonderful piece of writing on a terrible set of events.
We all feel Assange's powerlessness in the face of shadowy tyranny.
We all feel the lack of reason and logic by unreasoning state actors.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY CRAIG MURRAY IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Physically, Mentally Frail Assange Suffers "Vicious Travesty of Justice" in Latest Court Appearance”
https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/physically-mentally-frail-assange-suffers-vicious-travesty-justice-latest-court-appearance
Thank you, Craig Murray.
A wonderful piece of writing on a terrible set of events.
We all feel Assange's powerlessness in the face of shadowy tyranny.
We all feel the lack of reason and logic by unreasoning state actors.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ANOTHER HARE-BRAINED IDEA FROM TRUMP: LEAVING TWO HUNDRED SPECIAL FORCES BEHIND TO CONTROL SYRIA'S OIL - WHAT DRIVES TRUMP'S EVERY MOVE IN FOREIGN POLICY IS NOT IN FACT FOREIGN POLICY - EXACTLY WHAT THE SYRIAN WAR WAS ABOUT - THE TERRIBLY FAILED, DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY WILL MANAGE TO RE-ELECT TRUMP IF IT DOESN'T MANAGE TO IMPEACH HIM
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DANIEL LARRISON IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
‘Trump with a Plan to Divorce Syria’s Kurds but Not Her Oil
‘Trump: "I don’t want to leave troops" in Syria except to "secure the oil"’
https://www.checkpointasia.net/trump-with-a-plan-to-divorce-syrias-kurds-but-not-her-oil/
This is not really about oil.
The notion of leaving two hundred American special forces in Syria and perhaps interfering with Syria's access to its own oil represents a hastily, and badly, conceived scheme to placate Netanyahu and the Israel lobby in the United States for the de facto loss of a long and costly proxy war.
Trump essentially has no foreign policy, policy implying a well-thought out set of goals and strategies. Trump takes whatever steps he thinks will secure his re-election, even when the next step seems to contradict the previous one. That's all the Syria withdrawal was ever about.
Indeed, it is what drives all his efforts abroad, efforts which may be characterized as being consistent only in their inconsistency.
He isn’t a sound pragmatist and strong logical thinker like Putin. Although you might regard his bending every situation towards his own re-election as a kind of pragmatism, it really is not.
It is chaotic because it depends on Trump’s own faulty and fickle judgment, and it involves no other, larger considerations at all. He sacrifices basic principles in his various lurches and drives, principles such as always respecting allies and always acting so that the world regards America as consistent, stable, and dependable.
He needed a "withdrawal" to try re-securing the support of that portion of 2016 voters who have been alienated from him, the anti-war voters who do not necessarily agree with any of his other belly-over-the belt attitudes, such as the importance of building a costly, cumbersome wall on America’s southern border or the benefits of starting international trade wars.
His natural political base is simply not quite large enough to elect him. He must draw a bit of additional support from somewhere, and the anti-war crowd represents his best possibility.
The Democrats have made no effort to offer the anti-war constituency anything. The few who have are treated as pariahs by members of their own party in a shabby public name-calling spectacle, and they will be prevented from winning the nomination.
After all, the Democratic Party in 2016 displayed to the world just how willing it is to manipulate democratic contests for a predetermined end, in that case for the nomination of Hillary Clinton over a firebrand challenger.
Interestingly enough, the Democratic Party’s anti-democratic efforts in 2016 ended by getting Trump elected. Sanders would have defeated him handily at that time. Hillary is not a well-liked or trusted figure and has always been a cheerleader for war. She provided Trump with just the opportunity he needed.
If they prevent a thoughtful, articulate anti-war candidate like Tulsi Gabbard from getting the nomination, which they almost certainly will, they will repeat history. Trump will win. That’s why they are becoming serious about impeaching him. As I’ve explained before, impeachment in America always is a political act. It would only be otherwise if a President were caught committing a serious felony or a treasonous act, both quite unlikely.
The withdrawal from Syria deeply conflicts with Netanyahu's fervently declared wishes. Trump undoubtedly thought he had done enough for Israel in the form of lavish giveaways and favors that he wouldn't hear any complaints over his relatively minor Syria withdrawal.
But he was wrong. There has been noise and pressure. Netanyahu's capacity to ask for more of almost anything is virtually limitless.
America's entire set of efforts in Syria - both covert in supporting jihadi-looking mercenaries and overt in occupying certain areas and doing plenty of bombing while pretending to fight ISIS - has had from the beginning nothing directly to do with oil. Syrian oil only came into play as a way to finance some of the terrorist activity and as something valuable of which to deprive Syria’s government.
American efforts have always been about destabilizing or destroying a government that does not toe its foreign policy line, which of course, would involve Syria’s paying homage to Israel, America’s Middle Eastern privileged special-status colony, as the dominant regional power, just as Saudi Arabia, under its usurper Crown Prince, has now effectively done.
Israel has had a tremendous interest in seeing Syria incapacitated because it wanted not only to secure and legitimize its occupation of the Golan Heights, but even perhaps to grab another slice of Syria, a "buffer zone," in all the chaos of the long proxy war.
Israel has always hated Assad, again for his independent-mindedness, a leadership characteristic which the long series of Neocon Wars, starting with Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq, was intended to uproot throughout the Middle East. Or as the worst American imperialists like to put it, in order to make all the killing and destruction sound wholesome, inducing “the birth of a new Middle East.”
So, Israel is working away on Trump to get what it can out of the general defeat in Syria, and that includes any annoyance and irritation that can possibly be achieved in northeastern Syria.
But the notion of a couple of hundred American special forces hanging around to control Syria's oil for any period of time seems very far-fetched. Maybe it’s a good measure of just how disillusioned and desperate the people who created seven years of terrible war in Syria are.
There's no way that Putin, after all his immense effort, is going to watch a reunited Syria be reduced by having its natural resources stripped from it. One way or another, this "plan" will fail, even though it may provide difficulties in the meantime.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DANIEL LARRISON IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
‘Trump with a Plan to Divorce Syria’s Kurds but Not Her Oil
‘Trump: "I don’t want to leave troops" in Syria except to "secure the oil"’
https://www.checkpointasia.net/trump-with-a-plan-to-divorce-syrias-kurds-but-not-her-oil/
This is not really about oil.
The notion of leaving two hundred American special forces in Syria and perhaps interfering with Syria's access to its own oil represents a hastily, and badly, conceived scheme to placate Netanyahu and the Israel lobby in the United States for the de facto loss of a long and costly proxy war.
Trump essentially has no foreign policy, policy implying a well-thought out set of goals and strategies. Trump takes whatever steps he thinks will secure his re-election, even when the next step seems to contradict the previous one. That's all the Syria withdrawal was ever about.
Indeed, it is what drives all his efforts abroad, efforts which may be characterized as being consistent only in their inconsistency.
He isn’t a sound pragmatist and strong logical thinker like Putin. Although you might regard his bending every situation towards his own re-election as a kind of pragmatism, it really is not.
It is chaotic because it depends on Trump’s own faulty and fickle judgment, and it involves no other, larger considerations at all. He sacrifices basic principles in his various lurches and drives, principles such as always respecting allies and always acting so that the world regards America as consistent, stable, and dependable.
He needed a "withdrawal" to try re-securing the support of that portion of 2016 voters who have been alienated from him, the anti-war voters who do not necessarily agree with any of his other belly-over-the belt attitudes, such as the importance of building a costly, cumbersome wall on America’s southern border or the benefits of starting international trade wars.
His natural political base is simply not quite large enough to elect him. He must draw a bit of additional support from somewhere, and the anti-war crowd represents his best possibility.
The Democrats have made no effort to offer the anti-war constituency anything. The few who have are treated as pariahs by members of their own party in a shabby public name-calling spectacle, and they will be prevented from winning the nomination.
After all, the Democratic Party in 2016 displayed to the world just how willing it is to manipulate democratic contests for a predetermined end, in that case for the nomination of Hillary Clinton over a firebrand challenger.
Interestingly enough, the Democratic Party’s anti-democratic efforts in 2016 ended by getting Trump elected. Sanders would have defeated him handily at that time. Hillary is not a well-liked or trusted figure and has always been a cheerleader for war. She provided Trump with just the opportunity he needed.
If they prevent a thoughtful, articulate anti-war candidate like Tulsi Gabbard from getting the nomination, which they almost certainly will, they will repeat history. Trump will win. That’s why they are becoming serious about impeaching him. As I’ve explained before, impeachment in America always is a political act. It would only be otherwise if a President were caught committing a serious felony or a treasonous act, both quite unlikely.
The withdrawal from Syria deeply conflicts with Netanyahu's fervently declared wishes. Trump undoubtedly thought he had done enough for Israel in the form of lavish giveaways and favors that he wouldn't hear any complaints over his relatively minor Syria withdrawal.
But he was wrong. There has been noise and pressure. Netanyahu's capacity to ask for more of almost anything is virtually limitless.
America's entire set of efforts in Syria - both covert in supporting jihadi-looking mercenaries and overt in occupying certain areas and doing plenty of bombing while pretending to fight ISIS - has had from the beginning nothing directly to do with oil. Syrian oil only came into play as a way to finance some of the terrorist activity and as something valuable of which to deprive Syria’s government.
American efforts have always been about destabilizing or destroying a government that does not toe its foreign policy line, which of course, would involve Syria’s paying homage to Israel, America’s Middle Eastern privileged special-status colony, as the dominant regional power, just as Saudi Arabia, under its usurper Crown Prince, has now effectively done.
Israel has had a tremendous interest in seeing Syria incapacitated because it wanted not only to secure and legitimize its occupation of the Golan Heights, but even perhaps to grab another slice of Syria, a "buffer zone," in all the chaos of the long proxy war.
Israel has always hated Assad, again for his independent-mindedness, a leadership characteristic which the long series of Neocon Wars, starting with Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq, was intended to uproot throughout the Middle East. Or as the worst American imperialists like to put it, in order to make all the killing and destruction sound wholesome, inducing “the birth of a new Middle East.”
So, Israel is working away on Trump to get what it can out of the general defeat in Syria, and that includes any annoyance and irritation that can possibly be achieved in northeastern Syria.
But the notion of a couple of hundred American special forces hanging around to control Syria's oil for any period of time seems very far-fetched. Maybe it’s a good measure of just how disillusioned and desperate the people who created seven years of terrible war in Syria are.
There's no way that Putin, after all his immense effort, is going to watch a reunited Syria be reduced by having its natural resources stripped from it. One way or another, this "plan" will fail, even though it may provide difficulties in the meantime.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: IN COMPARING HARPER'S F-35 FIASCO WITH DIEFENBAKER'S AVRO ARROW WRITER SEEKS TO MAKE EXCUSES FOR HARPER - THE TWO ARE NOT PARALLEL
JOHN CHUCKMAN
POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY HARRY SWAIN IN TORONTO'S GLOBE AND MAIL
"The parallels to the F-35 are eerie..."
I am not sure that Mr. Swain has told the whole story here.
I don't agree with him that both planes were obsolete the day they first flew.
The F-35, if it could do what it was supposed to do, would not be obsolete, but it cannot perform as intended: it represents a set of blunders.
The Arrow certainly was not obsolete in its day.
The project was stopped and existing planes were chopped up without any meaningful explanation by Diefenbaker owing to American Defense Department pressure.
The Americans did not welcome Canada's entry into the world of high-performance military aircraft - it is an area where competition is not welcome with all the internal subsidies going to the Pentagon - and it very much made its feelings known secretly and strongly, as it always does in such matters.
In the case of the F-35, Harper's government bought the (unproved) thing because of Pentagon pressure.
All of America's allies have had significant pressures to buy some of these hi-tech lemons: the reason is to subsidize the immense costs of correcting its design errors.
The only common threads are Pentagon pressure and governments of Canada giving in - in the first case to stop and in the second place to buy.
POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY HARRY SWAIN IN TORONTO'S GLOBE AND MAIL
"The parallels to the F-35 are eerie..."
I am not sure that Mr. Swain has told the whole story here.
I don't agree with him that both planes were obsolete the day they first flew.
The F-35, if it could do what it was supposed to do, would not be obsolete, but it cannot perform as intended: it represents a set of blunders.
The Arrow certainly was not obsolete in its day.
The project was stopped and existing planes were chopped up without any meaningful explanation by Diefenbaker owing to American Defense Department pressure.
The Americans did not welcome Canada's entry into the world of high-performance military aircraft - it is an area where competition is not welcome with all the internal subsidies going to the Pentagon - and it very much made its feelings known secretly and strongly, as it always does in such matters.
In the case of the F-35, Harper's government bought the (unproved) thing because of Pentagon pressure.
All of America's allies have had significant pressures to buy some of these hi-tech lemons: the reason is to subsidize the immense costs of correcting its design errors.
The only common threads are Pentagon pressure and governments of Canada giving in - in the first case to stop and in the second place to buy.
Monday, October 21, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A SENIOR RETIRED AMERICAN GENERAL SUGGESTS A COUP AGAINST TRUMP, TRIGGERING THOUGHTS ABOUT THE GRIM STATE OF AFFAIRS AT THE CENTER OF AMERICAN EMPIRE - KENNEDY DEFINITELY FEARED A MILITARY COUP BUT THE CIA GOT TO HIM FIRST - NOT A LOT NEW IN THE PLOTTING AGAINST TRUMP NOR IN THE CLOSE-TO-ABSOLUTE CORRUPTION THAT REIGNS IN WASHINGTON - ET APRES NOUS, LE DELUGE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PETER VAN BUREN IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“So, Admiral McRaven Just Called for a Military Coup, Kinda
“Laying the groundwork to normalize the idea of one”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/so-admiral-mcraven-just-called-for-a-military-coup-kinda/
One comment here refers to hate and fear in America.
I am afraid that is the real problem with the country, but not as the person making the comment seems to think.
I see hate and fear on all sides, and it's a pretty sickening. It really has to do with the almost complete corruption of the country’s major institutions and its leadership on all sides, with neither establishment party standing for anything.
There is the fear that the whole edifice is going to come tumbling down. And it is a justified fear. It is going to come tumbling down. The world economy is fragile, and America does nothing but attack what stability it does have, in all major regions of the world.
And it does so with the incredible arrogance of someone who fanatically believes he is right and will listen to no one else. Tariffs everywhere. Sanctions everywhere. Attacking important international organizations everywhere. Assaulting allies and those opposed to you. Creating enemies you don’t even need to have.
It insists on treating the world’s economy as a zero-sum game from which it demands a greater share than it has been getting. The limits of that should be apparent to high-schoolers, never mind thousands in Washington with exalted titles and salaries.
And it attacks every organization and institution intended to help ameliorate the world’s problems and to bring orderly ways of doing things.
Trump is in fact a terrible, utterly incompetent president. He hasn’t a single real achievement of any substance even judged on his own unbelievably narrow terms.
There are no arguments in his favor. Even when he takes an appropriate action, he does it badly, hurting others, without giving it a thought. He stands for absolutely no principle of any description, except the importance of his being re-elected. Even his patriotism is a hollow show, just advertising slogans for himself.
But what else do we see in Washington? An utterly corrupt Congress unable to stand up for any principle beyond protecting the interests of the lobbyists offering the highest donations and ancillary benefits like good publicity in the corporate press. Any single voice that arises, critical of even a portion of what’s going on, is shouted down, called insulting names, and crowded out from access.
It’s literally a standard of government from the Third World. The only grace and polish are those applied to window dress and pose as something else.
A Congress whose focus is running a world empire and gigantic military establishment serving plutocrats who keep it in campaigns funds and privileges and benefits. Where do you see anything for “we, the people,” except in empty windbag speeches?
And then we have those monstrous sick creations, the Pentagon and CIA. An army of monsters who do nothing for this world but bomb people and overturn governments and oppose all independence of thought in the world.
Now, we even have threats of military coup in the air. Of course, as perhaps some will not know, that has appeared before. President Kennedy was acutely aware of the possibility in the tensions of his day. The film “Seven Days in May” was made with his encouragement as a way to raise the issue in public.
Of course, in the end, it wasn’t the Pentagon that revolted, it was the CIA, and half of Kennedy’s head was blown onto the streets of Dallas, which makes the insider attacks on Trump’s legitimacy actually seem rather tame.
America effectively subsidizes the high psychopathic portion of its population, dressing them up in shiny uniforms and big suits.
The level of thinking is primitive: it tells the entire world, you are either with us or against us. Some liberty of thought. Some democratic ideal. Some great principle to spend a trillion dollars a year on.
We could add the NSA too now, a monstrous bureaucracy of super computers spying on literally everyone, both abroad and at home. The idea of privacy and indeed independence crushed, in the name of the security of the state.
America simply unbelievably insists on telling everyone else in the world what they should be doing, and it cannot even run its own affairs competently.
It does not take care of its own citizens in need, it allows urban and rural rot everywhere, it cannot repair its infrastructure, it cannot even begin to balance its own budgets, it borrows at a frightening rate, but it spends hundreds and hundreds of billions on telling other people what to do and on destroying their various ways of life.
It really should be clear that this gigantic circus is not going to continue for very much longer. It has become a parody of what it seemed to be in, say, 1946, and it is very sick in fundamental ways not visible day-to-day in movements of the stock market and approval ratings for politicians.
AFTERNOTE: A COMMENT TO ANOTHER RELATED ARTICLE
“Trump Hails “Resettling New Areas With Kurds” as up to 130,000 Flee Turkish Offensive
“Senile or pro-expulsions?”
Does anyone understand fully what this maniac is doing in Syria?
Perhaps, that's not possible since I doubt the maniac himself fully understands.
Now, we even have talk of special forces to be left in the country? In response of course to another lunatic, the one running Israel, the single most influential person in Trump's political universe.
And stuff about “securing Syria's oil fields”? They are to be deprived of their own resources?
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PETER VAN BUREN IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“So, Admiral McRaven Just Called for a Military Coup, Kinda
“Laying the groundwork to normalize the idea of one”
https://www.checkpointasia.net/so-admiral-mcraven-just-called-for-a-military-coup-kinda/
One comment here refers to hate and fear in America.
I am afraid that is the real problem with the country, but not as the person making the comment seems to think.
I see hate and fear on all sides, and it's a pretty sickening. It really has to do with the almost complete corruption of the country’s major institutions and its leadership on all sides, with neither establishment party standing for anything.
There is the fear that the whole edifice is going to come tumbling down. And it is a justified fear. It is going to come tumbling down. The world economy is fragile, and America does nothing but attack what stability it does have, in all major regions of the world.
And it does so with the incredible arrogance of someone who fanatically believes he is right and will listen to no one else. Tariffs everywhere. Sanctions everywhere. Attacking important international organizations everywhere. Assaulting allies and those opposed to you. Creating enemies you don’t even need to have.
It insists on treating the world’s economy as a zero-sum game from which it demands a greater share than it has been getting. The limits of that should be apparent to high-schoolers, never mind thousands in Washington with exalted titles and salaries.
And it attacks every organization and institution intended to help ameliorate the world’s problems and to bring orderly ways of doing things.
Trump is in fact a terrible, utterly incompetent president. He hasn’t a single real achievement of any substance even judged on his own unbelievably narrow terms.
There are no arguments in his favor. Even when he takes an appropriate action, he does it badly, hurting others, without giving it a thought. He stands for absolutely no principle of any description, except the importance of his being re-elected. Even his patriotism is a hollow show, just advertising slogans for himself.
But what else do we see in Washington? An utterly corrupt Congress unable to stand up for any principle beyond protecting the interests of the lobbyists offering the highest donations and ancillary benefits like good publicity in the corporate press. Any single voice that arises, critical of even a portion of what’s going on, is shouted down, called insulting names, and crowded out from access.
It’s literally a standard of government from the Third World. The only grace and polish are those applied to window dress and pose as something else.
A Congress whose focus is running a world empire and gigantic military establishment serving plutocrats who keep it in campaigns funds and privileges and benefits. Where do you see anything for “we, the people,” except in empty windbag speeches?
And then we have those monstrous sick creations, the Pentagon and CIA. An army of monsters who do nothing for this world but bomb people and overturn governments and oppose all independence of thought in the world.
Now, we even have threats of military coup in the air. Of course, as perhaps some will not know, that has appeared before. President Kennedy was acutely aware of the possibility in the tensions of his day. The film “Seven Days in May” was made with his encouragement as a way to raise the issue in public.
Of course, in the end, it wasn’t the Pentagon that revolted, it was the CIA, and half of Kennedy’s head was blown onto the streets of Dallas, which makes the insider attacks on Trump’s legitimacy actually seem rather tame.
America effectively subsidizes the high psychopathic portion of its population, dressing them up in shiny uniforms and big suits.
The level of thinking is primitive: it tells the entire world, you are either with us or against us. Some liberty of thought. Some democratic ideal. Some great principle to spend a trillion dollars a year on.
We could add the NSA too now, a monstrous bureaucracy of super computers spying on literally everyone, both abroad and at home. The idea of privacy and indeed independence crushed, in the name of the security of the state.
America simply unbelievably insists on telling everyone else in the world what they should be doing, and it cannot even run its own affairs competently.
It does not take care of its own citizens in need, it allows urban and rural rot everywhere, it cannot repair its infrastructure, it cannot even begin to balance its own budgets, it borrows at a frightening rate, but it spends hundreds and hundreds of billions on telling other people what to do and on destroying their various ways of life.
It really should be clear that this gigantic circus is not going to continue for very much longer. It has become a parody of what it seemed to be in, say, 1946, and it is very sick in fundamental ways not visible day-to-day in movements of the stock market and approval ratings for politicians.
AFTERNOTE: A COMMENT TO ANOTHER RELATED ARTICLE
“Trump Hails “Resettling New Areas With Kurds” as up to 130,000 Flee Turkish Offensive
“Senile or pro-expulsions?”
Does anyone understand fully what this maniac is doing in Syria?
Perhaps, that's not possible since I doubt the maniac himself fully understands.
Now, we even have talk of special forces to be left in the country? In response of course to another lunatic, the one running Israel, the single most influential person in Trump's political universe.
And stuff about “securing Syria's oil fields”? They are to be deprived of their own resources?
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM FOR VOTERS UNDER GOVERNMENTS WHICH STYLE THEMSELVES AS AT ALL DEMOCRATIC: DETECTING LIES - THE UNFORTUNATE ATTRACTION OF HIGH-LEVEL POLITICS FOR PSYCHOPATHS AND NARCISSISTS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“Malcolm Gladwell on why it's so tricky detecting liars based on behaviour
“Our inability to accurately read whether others are lying is at the root of many problems”
At the start of this piece, I thought, "Well, maybe he does have something to say."
And, it is an important and interesting topic.
But it seemed by the end that Gladwell has in fact written a book largely missing his subject.
For example, it is well known that psychopaths and narcissists, that next degree down on the scale of bent human minds, are perfectly able to convincingly lie. It's just part of the equipment that such high predators use on victims.
They are known equally for their ability to exude great personal charm, personal magnetism, again part of the equipment nature has endowed them with as predators luring victims.
The trouble is that politics, at least at its higher levels, not so much at its workaday levels, is indescribably attractive to such people.
They are literally drawn by the possibility obtaining power over others, using the gift of superficial charm and convincing lying to do so, and then being able to hurt them in various secret ways that are delightful and amusing to them in private.
The average member of the public simply has no grasp that such realities exist.
It is just part of the human condition that a certain small percentage of the population is born this way, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
I think it is possible to learn the warning signs, but it takes effort and skill. It can’t be reduced to a few lines everyone could be taught.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“Malcolm Gladwell on why it's so tricky detecting liars based on behaviour
“Our inability to accurately read whether others are lying is at the root of many problems”
At the start of this piece, I thought, "Well, maybe he does have something to say."
And, it is an important and interesting topic.
But it seemed by the end that Gladwell has in fact written a book largely missing his subject.
For example, it is well known that psychopaths and narcissists, that next degree down on the scale of bent human minds, are perfectly able to convincingly lie. It's just part of the equipment that such high predators use on victims.
They are known equally for their ability to exude great personal charm, personal magnetism, again part of the equipment nature has endowed them with as predators luring victims.
The trouble is that politics, at least at its higher levels, not so much at its workaday levels, is indescribably attractive to such people.
They are literally drawn by the possibility obtaining power over others, using the gift of superficial charm and convincing lying to do so, and then being able to hurt them in various secret ways that are delightful and amusing to them in private.
The average member of the public simply has no grasp that such realities exist.
It is just part of the human condition that a certain small percentage of the population is born this way, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
I think it is possible to learn the warning signs, but it takes effort and skill. It can’t be reduced to a few lines everyone could be taught.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: MIKE POMPEO ADDS ANOTHER TO THE SERIES OF INSANE STATEMENTS COMING FROM WASHINGTON
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTHFRONT
"MIKE POMPEO: ISRAEL HAS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO BOMB ANY PLACE ACROSS MIDDLE EAST"
Simply unbelievable that anyone would say such a thing.
Much less someone in so high and influential a position. And much less still someone bragging about how much of a Christian he is.
But I think it an excellent measure of just how debased American politics have become.
The statement ranks right up there with Hillary Clinton's hysterical outburst about Tulsi Gabbard and Jill Stein being "Russian assets."
Given the nonstop rush of conflicting, rude and violent statements coming from Donald Trump and the sickly stream of lies from Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, you just have to shake your head and wonder why the press even bothers to report most of what American politicians say today.
Past wild claims about "fake news" really seem to recede into tameness compared with the actual public words major American political figures now openly offer.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTHFRONT
"MIKE POMPEO: ISRAEL HAS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO BOMB ANY PLACE ACROSS MIDDLE EAST"
Simply unbelievable that anyone would say such a thing.
Much less someone in so high and influential a position. And much less still someone bragging about how much of a Christian he is.
But I think it an excellent measure of just how debased American politics have become.
The statement ranks right up there with Hillary Clinton's hysterical outburst about Tulsi Gabbard and Jill Stein being "Russian assets."
Given the nonstop rush of conflicting, rude and violent statements coming from Donald Trump and the sickly stream of lies from Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, you just have to shake your head and wonder why the press even bothers to report most of what American politicians say today.
Past wild claims about "fake news" really seem to recede into tameness compared with the actual public words major American political figures now openly offer.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: I HOPE THE ADMIRABLE DAVID ATTENBOROUGH ISN'T JOINING GRETA THUNBERG'S CHILDREN'S CRUSADE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
"David Attenborough says humans have made ‘tragic, desperate mess’ of planet'
I've long enjoyed David Attenborough's work. I have seen a number of his excellent nature films.
But I disagree with this statement of his.
It sounds a bit like the regrettable Greta Thunberg, someone I've compared to a Jehovah's Witness at your front door on steroids.
I'm all in favor of sensible measures to protect our environment.
But the Thunberg phenomenon is religion and not science. Fanatical religion, something always dangerous.
A children's crusade.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
"David Attenborough says humans have made ‘tragic, desperate mess’ of planet'
I've long enjoyed David Attenborough's work. I have seen a number of his excellent nature films.
But I disagree with this statement of his.
It sounds a bit like the regrettable Greta Thunberg, someone I've compared to a Jehovah's Witness at your front door on steroids.
I'm all in favor of sensible measures to protect our environment.
But the Thunberg phenomenon is religion and not science. Fanatical religion, something always dangerous.
A children's crusade.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ACTING AS A NAZI ISN'T RESTRICTED BY ETHNICITY OR RELIGION - EVERY GROUP IS PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SOME PEOPLE WITH THIS BEHAVIOR - AS WE SEE TODAY AMONGST SOME DESCENDENTS OF THE NAZIS' MOST TERRIBLE VICTIMS - ISRAEL AND ITS TREATMENT OF THE PALESTINIANS
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY EVA BARTLETT IN MINT PRESS
“Under Fire from Ukraine and Misperceived by the West, The People of the DPR Share Their Stories
“Eva Bartlett traveled to the besieged Donetsk People’s Republic to see firsthand how residents are faring amidst a western-backed Ukrainian incursion”
__________________________
Response to a comment saying, ‘"There is a Nazi state in the middle of Europe in the 21st Century. They are dangerous both for us and for the Western world" ‘Give me a break. Ukraine is basically run by Jews.’ In the length of his comment, the reader was essentially saying it was a contradiction in terms to speak of Nazis in a place run by Jewish people.
First, as to the article author's observation of "a Nazi state in the middle of Europe," something to which this commenter takes exception, see the interesting discussion and photos at: https://southfront.org/the-saker-zelenskii-in-free-fall/
But the focus of my response here is Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, a people whose numbers in the occupied territories and in Israel proper, are on the order of six million.
So, Jews can't possibly behave as Nazis?
A ridiculous assertion when we see millions of people held against their will with no rights and no votes and no hope by Israel for over half a century. Not just held but frequently abused and wounded and killed.
The people, the Palestinians, are left in a kind of perpetual institutionalized hell, modelled from the words of the conquering general in the Six Day War, Moshe Dayan, who said publicly afterward that it would be necessary to make the Palestinians miserable enough so they'd want to leave voluntarily.
Dayan’s advice has been Israel's unspoken policy ever since.
Frequently, there are even voices in Israel advocating such measures as driving the Palestinians off their land entirely. Quite prominent figures have thoughtlessly and angrily advocated that.
To where? Who cares? is basically the attitude.
And while they are held by Israel in a form of modern bondage, confined to Apartheid-style Bantustan districts, often, we see yet more homes and farms just openly stolen. Families are assaulted and, sometimes, killed. Farmers’ orchards and vines are often uprooted or vandalized. Streets are patrolled and homes are raided by heavily-armed Israeli soldiers.
The ugliest possible insults are used by some Israelis. Prominent voices have used the most savage language in describing Palestinians. Words like “vermin.” Gigantic concrete walls, with high observation and gun towers, have been constructed across some areas, always with their foundations laid on Palestinian land, walls which, apart from their dreariness, break up traditional routes and patterns, making life that much more difficult.
And where there aren’t walls, there are the many checkpoints at which people must stand in line sometimes for hours to speak to a rude soldier before being able to proceed to their destination. And if they don’t have their required identification in order, they won’t proceed at all.
Regular Israeli practices include improper imprisonment - that is, imprisonment with no proper legal charges or trial - for thousands. The arrest of children. Torture. Assassination of leaders and potential leaders. Brutally unfair laws and arbitrary restrictions, even around such humble, everyday matters as a small home improvement or repair. Harshly limited opportunities for employment and business growth. And really, just no opportunity for millions of people to thrive and develop as in a normal society.
That’s going on three entire generations of massive repression.
And the situation in the separate enclave of Gaza, a place whose very dense population reflects its having become a refugee camp for those driven from their homes and farms by the advancing terrors of 1948?
Gaza is one of the most appalling human situations on the planet. A giant, unsanitary, open-air prison surrounded by fences and automated radar-operated machine-gun towers and armed patrol boats on the water. Fishermen, in their tiny old-fashioned boats, straying at all from the tight distance limits imposed on the water have often been shot over the years.
Many of Gaza’s buildings and sanitary facilities have been left in ruins for years after several successive Israeli attacks, attacks which killed several thousand people, some of the streets’ open gutters literally ran red with blood at the time. Supplies needed for repairs are not permitted under a years-long, war-like blockade.
And when residents protest in marches, invariably without guns, Israel's "moral army" kneels behind a fence and shoots into the crowd, killing men, women, and children.
Over the last year and a half of protests, more than 300 have been killed and thousands wounded, some very seriously wounded because part of the "moral army" was using illegal butterfly-type ammunition, which, like dum-dums, blows big holes in limbs with even a slight contact.
The badly wounded only immensely compound the problems of poor sanitation, broken facilities, shortage of supplies, and no ability to receive adequate assistance from outside.
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY EVA BARTLETT IN MINT PRESS
“Under Fire from Ukraine and Misperceived by the West, The People of the DPR Share Their Stories
“Eva Bartlett traveled to the besieged Donetsk People’s Republic to see firsthand how residents are faring amidst a western-backed Ukrainian incursion”
__________________________
Response to a comment saying, ‘"There is a Nazi state in the middle of Europe in the 21st Century. They are dangerous both for us and for the Western world" ‘Give me a break. Ukraine is basically run by Jews.’ In the length of his comment, the reader was essentially saying it was a contradiction in terms to speak of Nazis in a place run by Jewish people.
First, as to the article author's observation of "a Nazi state in the middle of Europe," something to which this commenter takes exception, see the interesting discussion and photos at: https://southfront.org/the-saker-zelenskii-in-free-fall/
But the focus of my response here is Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, a people whose numbers in the occupied territories and in Israel proper, are on the order of six million.
So, Jews can't possibly behave as Nazis?
A ridiculous assertion when we see millions of people held against their will with no rights and no votes and no hope by Israel for over half a century. Not just held but frequently abused and wounded and killed.
The people, the Palestinians, are left in a kind of perpetual institutionalized hell, modelled from the words of the conquering general in the Six Day War, Moshe Dayan, who said publicly afterward that it would be necessary to make the Palestinians miserable enough so they'd want to leave voluntarily.
Dayan’s advice has been Israel's unspoken policy ever since.
Frequently, there are even voices in Israel advocating such measures as driving the Palestinians off their land entirely. Quite prominent figures have thoughtlessly and angrily advocated that.
To where? Who cares? is basically the attitude.
And while they are held by Israel in a form of modern bondage, confined to Apartheid-style Bantustan districts, often, we see yet more homes and farms just openly stolen. Families are assaulted and, sometimes, killed. Farmers’ orchards and vines are often uprooted or vandalized. Streets are patrolled and homes are raided by heavily-armed Israeli soldiers.
The ugliest possible insults are used by some Israelis. Prominent voices have used the most savage language in describing Palestinians. Words like “vermin.” Gigantic concrete walls, with high observation and gun towers, have been constructed across some areas, always with their foundations laid on Palestinian land, walls which, apart from their dreariness, break up traditional routes and patterns, making life that much more difficult.
And where there aren’t walls, there are the many checkpoints at which people must stand in line sometimes for hours to speak to a rude soldier before being able to proceed to their destination. And if they don’t have their required identification in order, they won’t proceed at all.
Regular Israeli practices include improper imprisonment - that is, imprisonment with no proper legal charges or trial - for thousands. The arrest of children. Torture. Assassination of leaders and potential leaders. Brutally unfair laws and arbitrary restrictions, even around such humble, everyday matters as a small home improvement or repair. Harshly limited opportunities for employment and business growth. And really, just no opportunity for millions of people to thrive and develop as in a normal society.
That’s going on three entire generations of massive repression.
And the situation in the separate enclave of Gaza, a place whose very dense population reflects its having become a refugee camp for those driven from their homes and farms by the advancing terrors of 1948?
Gaza is one of the most appalling human situations on the planet. A giant, unsanitary, open-air prison surrounded by fences and automated radar-operated machine-gun towers and armed patrol boats on the water. Fishermen, in their tiny old-fashioned boats, straying at all from the tight distance limits imposed on the water have often been shot over the years.
Many of Gaza’s buildings and sanitary facilities have been left in ruins for years after several successive Israeli attacks, attacks which killed several thousand people, some of the streets’ open gutters literally ran red with blood at the time. Supplies needed for repairs are not permitted under a years-long, war-like blockade.
And when residents protest in marches, invariably without guns, Israel's "moral army" kneels behind a fence and shoots into the crowd, killing men, women, and children.
Over the last year and a half of protests, more than 300 have been killed and thousands wounded, some very seriously wounded because part of the "moral army" was using illegal butterfly-type ammunition, which, like dum-dums, blows big holes in limbs with even a slight contact.
The badly wounded only immensely compound the problems of poor sanitation, broken facilities, shortage of supplies, and no ability to receive adequate assistance from outside.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: OBAMA HAD A FINE SMILE AND NEVER MADE THE RUDE LUNATIC NOISES OF TRUMP SO THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO THINK HE WAS A GOOD MAN - BUT VIOLENCE AND SECRECY WERE HIS TRUE GIFTS
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN INTERVIEW BY NICK LEHR WITH DAVID BROMWICH IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Why Barack Obama Was Particularly Unsuited to Live up to the Ideals of the Nobel Peace Prize
“A new book is unsparing in its assessment of Obama’s legacy”
I can’t believe how many people still are fooled by Obama’s boyish smile and baritone voice.
Perhaps the sheer contrast in style to the rude, incessant bombast and repulsive insults from his successor in office contributes to sustaining some illusion.
Perhaps also his being the first black man elected as president lends him a special aura, associations in people’s minds that do not really fit the man.
As though he were somehow associated with all those struggling people in the Third World and in the vast sprawl of ghettos which pockmark most of America’s cities.
(Of course, when he ran for office, he played off those very things, as when speaking to crowds of black Americans in the rhythms of old-style preachers with a much-repeated phrase like, “Yes, we can!”)
As though he weren’t at all associated with the brutal, soulless officials of Washington’s vast imperial establishment. Men who sit at meetings around large polished oak tables and decide the fates of others thousands of miles away. Who will live, and who will die. Men, women, and children.
Although much reduced from his earliest days in office, he does still have a following.
I agree with the author that early on he was seen as something of an anti-war figure. I saw him that way myself, briefly regarding him as almost heroic, but it really did not take very long to see how wrong that assessment was.
Indeed, by the time he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, it was already clear what sort of man he was. Of course, many of the Peace Prizes have been awarded on the basis of airy hopes, somewhat better than the numerous awards to outright killers and terrorists.
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/on-obamas-nobel-peace-prize/
Not only did he not keep his own promises, such as closing that shameful place called Guantanamo, this man spent eight solid years killing people.
He bombed somewhere every day of his two terms.
And he holds the distinction of having created an industrial-scale extrajudicial killing system, incinerating people far away who were never legally charged or tried for anything. The method frequently kills bystanders, too, but even the targets are legally guilty of nothing.
All in the name of freedom, the same freedom as is used in the name of the medal he awarded to Joe Biden, his Vice President, a strong inside advocate for creating the mass hi-tech operation for “disappearing” people.
Obama turned an extremely well-run country like Libya - maybe not a democracy, but a place where no one did without clean water and housing and free education and health care, and a place that remained at peace for decades - into a vision from hell. It remains so to this day.
And he worked very hard to do the same for Syria, having his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, oversee the transfer of savage fighters and storehouses full of weapons from the ruins of Libya through devious channels to the beautiful, historic land of Syria.
We even know from one of our finest living investigative reporters, Seymour Hersh, that she had a small amount of Libya’s stock of poison nerve agent shipped for ultimate use in Syria. Gaddafi, just as several Arab leaders had done, kept such stocks as a counter to Israel’s secret nuclear arsenal.
They wanted to create an incident so that Obama’s public warning about Syria’s government “not crossing red lines” (in its fight against the terrorizing mercenaries sent to destabilize the country) could be used to bomb the crap out of the place, just as had been done in Libya.
He only failed because of immense efforts by others (especially Russia’s Vladimir Putin).
He signed off on a coup against an elected government in Ukraine, something done for no other reason than to threaten and harass Russia, creating a series of conflicts and problems we have to this day, including a civil war in the country’s East, the Donbass, that has killed thousands.
He once quietly joked with words to the effect, ‘Hey, I’m pretty good at this killing stuff.’ I have no idea why he spoke in that strange way, but his words were recorded.
A penchant for brutal humor seemed to be part of the environment of his government. After the unspeakably grisly death of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi (there is a video you could not pay me to watch), his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was recorded saying, “We came, we saw, he died! Ha, ha, ha!”
He pressed hard against the elected government of Venezuela with economic measures that served only to reduce the lives of millions of ordinary people.
In addition to the immense amount of violence Obama oversaw as President, he had a very strong tendency towards secrecy, and went after whistleblowers with a vengeance.
Poor dear Chelsea Manning was imprisoned under him, an ordeal she almost didn’t survive.
Edward Snowden was forced into exile under his watch.
John Kiriakou went to prison under him for revealing the CIA’s use of torture.
And it was in his time as President that Julian Assange sought asylum from Ecuador.
The intelligence community’s massive new Utah Data Center, designed to hold unholy amounts of secret data about people was opened under this President.
He often was remarkably arrogant, something not widely noticed, but you can see it clearly in his posture and finger-pointing in some old photos.
https://chuckmangrotesques.blogspot.com/2016/10/john-chuckman-grotesque-obama-best.html
This truly was a monster, just one with a deceptively pleasant face.
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN INTERVIEW BY NICK LEHR WITH DAVID BROMWICH IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Why Barack Obama Was Particularly Unsuited to Live up to the Ideals of the Nobel Peace Prize
“A new book is unsparing in its assessment of Obama’s legacy”
I can’t believe how many people still are fooled by Obama’s boyish smile and baritone voice.
Perhaps the sheer contrast in style to the rude, incessant bombast and repulsive insults from his successor in office contributes to sustaining some illusion.
Perhaps also his being the first black man elected as president lends him a special aura, associations in people’s minds that do not really fit the man.
As though he were somehow associated with all those struggling people in the Third World and in the vast sprawl of ghettos which pockmark most of America’s cities.
(Of course, when he ran for office, he played off those very things, as when speaking to crowds of black Americans in the rhythms of old-style preachers with a much-repeated phrase like, “Yes, we can!”)
As though he weren’t at all associated with the brutal, soulless officials of Washington’s vast imperial establishment. Men who sit at meetings around large polished oak tables and decide the fates of others thousands of miles away. Who will live, and who will die. Men, women, and children.
Although much reduced from his earliest days in office, he does still have a following.
I agree with the author that early on he was seen as something of an anti-war figure. I saw him that way myself, briefly regarding him as almost heroic, but it really did not take very long to see how wrong that assessment was.
Indeed, by the time he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, it was already clear what sort of man he was. Of course, many of the Peace Prizes have been awarded on the basis of airy hopes, somewhat better than the numerous awards to outright killers and terrorists.
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/on-obamas-nobel-peace-prize/
Not only did he not keep his own promises, such as closing that shameful place called Guantanamo, this man spent eight solid years killing people.
He bombed somewhere every day of his two terms.
And he holds the distinction of having created an industrial-scale extrajudicial killing system, incinerating people far away who were never legally charged or tried for anything. The method frequently kills bystanders, too, but even the targets are legally guilty of nothing.
All in the name of freedom, the same freedom as is used in the name of the medal he awarded to Joe Biden, his Vice President, a strong inside advocate for creating the mass hi-tech operation for “disappearing” people.
Obama turned an extremely well-run country like Libya - maybe not a democracy, but a place where no one did without clean water and housing and free education and health care, and a place that remained at peace for decades - into a vision from hell. It remains so to this day.
And he worked very hard to do the same for Syria, having his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, oversee the transfer of savage fighters and storehouses full of weapons from the ruins of Libya through devious channels to the beautiful, historic land of Syria.
We even know from one of our finest living investigative reporters, Seymour Hersh, that she had a small amount of Libya’s stock of poison nerve agent shipped for ultimate use in Syria. Gaddafi, just as several Arab leaders had done, kept such stocks as a counter to Israel’s secret nuclear arsenal.
They wanted to create an incident so that Obama’s public warning about Syria’s government “not crossing red lines” (in its fight against the terrorizing mercenaries sent to destabilize the country) could be used to bomb the crap out of the place, just as had been done in Libya.
He only failed because of immense efforts by others (especially Russia’s Vladimir Putin).
He signed off on a coup against an elected government in Ukraine, something done for no other reason than to threaten and harass Russia, creating a series of conflicts and problems we have to this day, including a civil war in the country’s East, the Donbass, that has killed thousands.
He once quietly joked with words to the effect, ‘Hey, I’m pretty good at this killing stuff.’ I have no idea why he spoke in that strange way, but his words were recorded.
A penchant for brutal humor seemed to be part of the environment of his government. After the unspeakably grisly death of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi (there is a video you could not pay me to watch), his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was recorded saying, “We came, we saw, he died! Ha, ha, ha!”
He pressed hard against the elected government of Venezuela with economic measures that served only to reduce the lives of millions of ordinary people.
In addition to the immense amount of violence Obama oversaw as President, he had a very strong tendency towards secrecy, and went after whistleblowers with a vengeance.
Poor dear Chelsea Manning was imprisoned under him, an ordeal she almost didn’t survive.
Edward Snowden was forced into exile under his watch.
John Kiriakou went to prison under him for revealing the CIA’s use of torture.
And it was in his time as President that Julian Assange sought asylum from Ecuador.
The intelligence community’s massive new Utah Data Center, designed to hold unholy amounts of secret data about people was opened under this President.
He often was remarkably arrogant, something not widely noticed, but you can see it clearly in his posture and finger-pointing in some old photos.
https://chuckmangrotesques.blogspot.com/2016/10/john-chuckman-grotesque-obama-best.html
This truly was a monster, just one with a deceptively pleasant face.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AMERICA'S GROTESQUE PRESIDENT ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING RIGHT IN LEAVING SYRIA, ALTHOUGH HE DID IT VERY BADLY
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARKO MARJANOVIC IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Donald J. Trump’s Brilliant, Hilarious Rebuke of the War Party”
"Trump is a lazy, demented degenerate."
Indeed.
He's almost unbelievable. You have to rub your eyes watching him.
An American original grotesque. Like something strange escaped from a zoo. Or Victor Frankenstein’s creature lurching around.
But, despite his ghastly nature, getting out of Syria was a good thing, although he did it very badly, costing many lives.
I actually did not think it would happen. After all, it very much goes against Israel's wishes.
I think the key considerations for Trump were that he felt he had done enough for Israel's desires in other matters that he could afford to oppose them here, and, the really important thing for this ultimate narcissist, that he was convinced he needed a "withdrawal" somewhere to get re-elected.
And, I'm inclined to think him right in that. Biden or Warren running against him is just the same old, same old, undeviating support for Pentagon and Empire. He won't have done much, but his opponent will have done nothing.
Of course, this for that other segment that supported him in 2016, not the base wearing red MAGA caps on shopping trips to Walmart, the folks who love walls and hate anyone kneeling near Old Glory or speaking Spanish.
His opponent will say he did Putin’s work for him, but I don’t think that charge carries any weight with those opposed to America’s insane wars.
He has created an extraordinary political situation.
Readers might like:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/john-chuckman-comment-trump-and-northeastern-syria-withdrawal-turkeys-invasion-putins-success-notes-on-saudi-arabias-crown-possibly-endangered-prince-irans-new-pride-in-its-capabiliti/
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARKO MARJANOVIC IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Donald J. Trump’s Brilliant, Hilarious Rebuke of the War Party”
"Trump is a lazy, demented degenerate."
Indeed.
He's almost unbelievable. You have to rub your eyes watching him.
An American original grotesque. Like something strange escaped from a zoo. Or Victor Frankenstein’s creature lurching around.
But, despite his ghastly nature, getting out of Syria was a good thing, although he did it very badly, costing many lives.
I actually did not think it would happen. After all, it very much goes against Israel's wishes.
I think the key considerations for Trump were that he felt he had done enough for Israel's desires in other matters that he could afford to oppose them here, and, the really important thing for this ultimate narcissist, that he was convinced he needed a "withdrawal" somewhere to get re-elected.
And, I'm inclined to think him right in that. Biden or Warren running against him is just the same old, same old, undeviating support for Pentagon and Empire. He won't have done much, but his opponent will have done nothing.
Of course, this for that other segment that supported him in 2016, not the base wearing red MAGA caps on shopping trips to Walmart, the folks who love walls and hate anyone kneeling near Old Glory or speaking Spanish.
His opponent will say he did Putin’s work for him, but I don’t think that charge carries any weight with those opposed to America’s insane wars.
He has created an extraordinary political situation.
Readers might like:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/john-chuckman-comment-trump-and-northeastern-syria-withdrawal-turkeys-invasion-putins-success-notes-on-saudi-arabias-crown-possibly-endangered-prince-irans-new-pride-in-its-capabiliti/
Monday, October 14, 2019
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: TRUMP AND THE BADLY-HANDLED SYRIA WITHDRAWAL - TURKEY'S INVASION - PUTIN'S SUCCESS IN REUNITING SYRIA - SAUDI ARABIA'S INEPT AND POSSIBLY-ENDANGERED CROWN PRINCE - IRAN'S NEW PRIDE IN ITS CAPABILITIES - RISE OF RUSSIA'S INFLUENCE IN THE REGION AND DECLINE OF AMERICA'S
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARKO MARJANOVIC IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Syrian Army Enters US/Kurdish-Held Northern Syria to Block Turko-Jihadi Offensive
To do what the Americans won't”
_____________________________
Response to a comment saying, “Erdogan is about to lose a critical ally (Russia) if this operation persists. I believe a US-led coup against Erdogan is being developed. Russia has caught wind of it and I sense unless Syrian events change, Moscow won't lift a finger to assist Erdogan.”
It's impossible at this point to accurately understand the set of real relationships and forces at work here behind the scenes.
First, we have a genuine lunatic in the Oval Office., and one who has failed at almost everything he has tried.
And the (supposedly limited) invasion of northeastern Syria by Turkey, accommodated by American troops stepping aside almost as though by agreement, has now generated dramatic new changes. All American troops are now leaving the area, as are the limited number of other foreign troops, such as the French, Trump had managed previously to dragoon into support. The Syrian army has entered the region to protect the Kurds and oppose Turkey’s invasion. That last important step is the result of an agreement brokered by Putin.
Erdogan, while cunning and gifted in some matters and ruthless, is himself half-mad. Who else builds a thousand-room palace and shoots down a Russian fighter but a madman?
Putin is always thinking. And he uses the weaknesses as well as the strengths of his competitors and associates.
I wouldn't doubt it at all if more coup plans were being brewed up in Washington, although it's a little tough with Erdogan having put a good portion of Turkey’s generals and officials in prison, certainly any even suspected of the wrong kind of relationship with Americans, and having taken special measures at key American-Turkish contact points such as the big airbase, following the 2016 coup attempt.
If Putin can get something useful out of Erdogan still, and I think he can, he will protect him from American plots again. After all, that's what Russia’s S-400 air-defense sale was about, with neither Washington nor Europe being able to turn the air-defense system off (during a coup) as they very much can do with the ones they sell abroad. And besides, Putin is one of the world’s great pragmatists, not anything like Trump who goes around waving his flag in people’s faces and telling everyone publicly just what he thinks of them.
Some have speculated that this whole event represents a clever scheme by Putin and Erdogan to boot the United States out of Syria.
I don't embrace that, but it certainly isn't impossible. Upcoming developments will tell us the truth. Putin wants Syrian territorial integrity for a number of reasons. He is restoring the Middle East’s confidence in Russia’s ability to help and to get jobs done, and he’s doing it during a period of people’s losing confidence in America’s dependability. There is also the matter of the future of Russia's important naval and air bases in Syria being assured.
What Erdogan really hates in Syria is the idea of a Kurd-run entity. He is allergic to Kurds.
Well, you can either fight the entity or its sponsor, which, in this case, is the United States (at least in part on behalf of Israel, someone else Erdogan hates).
With the United States gone, visions of a Kurdish rump state are gone.
This does represent a significant regional defeat for Israel. It regarded the Kurdish rump state as getting at least something out of the larger Syrian proxy war it wanted and assisted, a war which has been lost.
I’m sure Putin is working very hard behind the scenes to have Erdogan halt his invasion. Syria and Russia could placate Erdogan with some special arrangements inside northeastern Syria, removing his concerns about Kurd proximity.
Of course, Erdogan’s concerns may well be, at least in part, excuses for the physical expansion of Turkey. We'll have to see how hard Erdogan keeps pushing.
He has to recognize the potential for running up against Russian fighter planes and the world’s best anti-aircraft missiles if he puts the Syrians into serious jeopardy or in any way embarrasses Putin. Of course, Russia also has some its remarkable Spetsnaz special forces in Syria. They have been used for gathering a lot of intelligence needed for effective bombing campaigns, ones run a little more conscientiously than some of America’s really destructive efforts in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Still others have speculated that the matter reflects a secret agreement between Turkey and the United States, a speculation fed by the timing of Turkey’s entry and America’s withdrawal. It certainly looks suspicious.
Turkey gets to do what it wants, within limits, to the Kurds, and America gets out from Syria altogether under the cover of not wanting to fight with a NATO ally, instead of having to make some big controversial policy announcement about leaving Syria that would anger Israel and its supporters.
I don’t embrace this notion, either, but it certainly is possible.
The idea would appear to be a little short-sighted by not considering Syria’s response and, of course, Russia’s, but being short-sighted is something both Trump and Erdogan have earned sound reputations for.
Russia has brokered the agreement between Syria and the Syrian Kurds, once again raising Russia’s status in the region. Now, if Russia can manage to stop Turkey’s advance by some combination of efforts not including direct conflict with Turkey, its status in the Middle East will be raised still higher, to begin overshadowing that of the United States, the United States having made blunder after blunder in its frantic and destructive Neocon Wars, as recognized by many.
I noted in a comment recently about Russian engineers having built a military-style bridge across the Euphrates River, the boundary for the region with rest of Syria, a bridge capable of supporting armored vehicles. They did so, apparently, in record time. So, it looks as though Putin was putting things together for the return of the Syrian army to the northeast region.
The United States has just announced that it is sending 3,000 troops plus some new missile systems to protect Saudi Arabia. I do think the added American troops and weapons are at least as likely about the Saudi Throne wobbling as any "threat" from Iran. All clear-thinking people know that there is no threat from Iran, unless you insist on regarding Iran’s mere continued existence as a threat.
The Saudi Crown Prince is starting to look as though he's in real trouble on several fronts.
There's still that recent, unexplained mystery of the old King's trusted, loyal, chief bodyguard being murdered in Jeddah. At the same time, there was a huge fire at the new high-speed train station in Jeddah. We’ve not heard another word about that important matter.
Saudi Arabia is for American affairs a key element in the region, and not just for its oil and its support of the petrodollar. It has become an element in America’s brutal efforts to create a new Middle East, one where Israel is comfortably accommodated in its demands and excesses.
That last idea, accommodating Israel, is something that still would not sit well with most Saudis and perhaps some other members of the Royal Family, so the Crown Prince’s very close ties with Israel, something the United States greatly values him for, are not a public bragging point. He has done many things to earn that status with Israel, including his foolish war in Yemen, continuing the years-long Saudi interference in Syria, and generating serious antagonism towards Iran.
The Crown Prince’s special relationship with Israel is what permitted him to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of the latest American weapons, an unprecedented act by an Arab state. But he has used them badly, and he has burned through a lot of money.
He is, in a word, a bungler, an ambitious and ruthless man of no great talent and one with a lot of serious character flaws. Apart from an infamous brutal murder he undoubtedly commissioned, we see a record new rate of executions in Saudi Arabia, his arrogant and wastrel ways, and the Crown Prince is said to have been a regular at Jeffrey Epstein’s sex playground, which almost certainly was an Israeli-supported hi-tech honey-trap for producing lots of compromising photos of influential people.
The Crown Prince’s losing his place, one way or another, would threaten much of what America has ruthlessly worked towards in the region. Of course, from the view of even some inside Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince is regarded as a failure who has spent an awful lot of money achieving nothing but the shame of being successfully counterattacked twice by Yemen’s poor Houthi. The brutal Khashoggi murder, while deliberately overlooked by Trump and others who want to keep their Saudi relationship intact, brought waves of international condemnation.
The Royal Family has lots of Princes, and the current Crown Prince was not first in line. He made a lot of enemies with his clumsy early exploit of locking up a large number of wealthy Princes and making them pay him huge ransoms. Ransoms in the billions. The Crown Prince did effectively seize power, while his father, very old and said to be partly senile, formally remains King, but the usurper has not wielded the power well. He has enemies, and now they have every reason to say he is a failure.
Putin, by the way, is, as I write this, visiting Saudi Arabia and had a meeting with the old King to discuss various kinds of future proposed cooperation. He stays right on top of things.
It is also clear from statements coming out of Iran that that country has found a new sense of self-confidence in its brave efforts to face down America’s reckless assault – Trump’s tearing up an important working treaty, his launching almost a total economic war, and his intimidating Iran militarily with fleets and air power.
Iran’s new weapons have proved extremely effective, causing Saudi Arabia to regard it with new respect and to express a desire to avoid war, something it had seemed earlier rather cavalier about. And Iran is managing to export crude oil by various arrangements and subterfuges.
Trump’s failure in the Middle East has been close to total. His only real success might be said to be relations with Israel, but they only represent his airily giving away things that were not his legally to give, as recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and of the legitimacy of Israel’s self-proclaimed annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights.
Other matters we’ve discussed – American troops leaving northeastern Syria, the success and stability of the Saudi Throne, Iran’s new resolve and military pride, America’s declining influence, Russia’s increasing influence – are considered important in Israel, and they represent nothing but failure, viewed in America’s own terms, not in any larger terms of justice and human rights and decency, all of which have absolutely no place in American foreign policy.
Trump, in yet one more of his many clownish flip-flops, has declared suddenly a number of serious punitive measures against Turkey, including a range of sanctions, big new tariffs, and a stop to important trade negotiations, demanding Turkey stop its invasion. If Turkey pays heed, Trump will have done Putin’s task for him.
Indeed, Trump spoke about being prepared to “destroy the Turkish economy,” the kind of violent language of which he is so fond. These measures reflect I think no principles on Trump’s part, but the heavy criticism he has received from fellow Republicans about what he has done in Syria. As I said, Israel cannot be happy, and I’m sure all of their contacts in Congress are hearing about it.
Even people not under the same influences as Republican politicians, people in the region who wanted to see America leave Syria, such as Iran, are not happy about the way Trump managed to do it, causing considerable misery and death (See my last comment, “A STRIKING REMINDER OF THE GLORIOUS REALITIES OF AMERICA'S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM IN THE MIDDLE EAST”)
But there is no talk of American forces opposing Turkey. Indeed, the withdrawal of troops goes right ahead. I think Trump views at least one small achievement in “getting out of the Middle East” as essential for his re-election.
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARKO MARJANOVIC IN CHECKPOINT ASIA
“Syrian Army Enters US/Kurdish-Held Northern Syria to Block Turko-Jihadi Offensive
To do what the Americans won't”
_____________________________
Response to a comment saying, “Erdogan is about to lose a critical ally (Russia) if this operation persists. I believe a US-led coup against Erdogan is being developed. Russia has caught wind of it and I sense unless Syrian events change, Moscow won't lift a finger to assist Erdogan.”
It's impossible at this point to accurately understand the set of real relationships and forces at work here behind the scenes.
First, we have a genuine lunatic in the Oval Office., and one who has failed at almost everything he has tried.
And the (supposedly limited) invasion of northeastern Syria by Turkey, accommodated by American troops stepping aside almost as though by agreement, has now generated dramatic new changes. All American troops are now leaving the area, as are the limited number of other foreign troops, such as the French, Trump had managed previously to dragoon into support. The Syrian army has entered the region to protect the Kurds and oppose Turkey’s invasion. That last important step is the result of an agreement brokered by Putin.
Erdogan, while cunning and gifted in some matters and ruthless, is himself half-mad. Who else builds a thousand-room palace and shoots down a Russian fighter but a madman?
Putin is always thinking. And he uses the weaknesses as well as the strengths of his competitors and associates.
I wouldn't doubt it at all if more coup plans were being brewed up in Washington, although it's a little tough with Erdogan having put a good portion of Turkey’s generals and officials in prison, certainly any even suspected of the wrong kind of relationship with Americans, and having taken special measures at key American-Turkish contact points such as the big airbase, following the 2016 coup attempt.
If Putin can get something useful out of Erdogan still, and I think he can, he will protect him from American plots again. After all, that's what Russia’s S-400 air-defense sale was about, with neither Washington nor Europe being able to turn the air-defense system off (during a coup) as they very much can do with the ones they sell abroad. And besides, Putin is one of the world’s great pragmatists, not anything like Trump who goes around waving his flag in people’s faces and telling everyone publicly just what he thinks of them.
Some have speculated that this whole event represents a clever scheme by Putin and Erdogan to boot the United States out of Syria.
I don't embrace that, but it certainly isn't impossible. Upcoming developments will tell us the truth. Putin wants Syrian territorial integrity for a number of reasons. He is restoring the Middle East’s confidence in Russia’s ability to help and to get jobs done, and he’s doing it during a period of people’s losing confidence in America’s dependability. There is also the matter of the future of Russia's important naval and air bases in Syria being assured.
What Erdogan really hates in Syria is the idea of a Kurd-run entity. He is allergic to Kurds.
Well, you can either fight the entity or its sponsor, which, in this case, is the United States (at least in part on behalf of Israel, someone else Erdogan hates).
With the United States gone, visions of a Kurdish rump state are gone.
This does represent a significant regional defeat for Israel. It regarded the Kurdish rump state as getting at least something out of the larger Syrian proxy war it wanted and assisted, a war which has been lost.
I’m sure Putin is working very hard behind the scenes to have Erdogan halt his invasion. Syria and Russia could placate Erdogan with some special arrangements inside northeastern Syria, removing his concerns about Kurd proximity.
Of course, Erdogan’s concerns may well be, at least in part, excuses for the physical expansion of Turkey. We'll have to see how hard Erdogan keeps pushing.
He has to recognize the potential for running up against Russian fighter planes and the world’s best anti-aircraft missiles if he puts the Syrians into serious jeopardy or in any way embarrasses Putin. Of course, Russia also has some its remarkable Spetsnaz special forces in Syria. They have been used for gathering a lot of intelligence needed for effective bombing campaigns, ones run a little more conscientiously than some of America’s really destructive efforts in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Still others have speculated that the matter reflects a secret agreement between Turkey and the United States, a speculation fed by the timing of Turkey’s entry and America’s withdrawal. It certainly looks suspicious.
Turkey gets to do what it wants, within limits, to the Kurds, and America gets out from Syria altogether under the cover of not wanting to fight with a NATO ally, instead of having to make some big controversial policy announcement about leaving Syria that would anger Israel and its supporters.
I don’t embrace this notion, either, but it certainly is possible.
The idea would appear to be a little short-sighted by not considering Syria’s response and, of course, Russia’s, but being short-sighted is something both Trump and Erdogan have earned sound reputations for.
Russia has brokered the agreement between Syria and the Syrian Kurds, once again raising Russia’s status in the region. Now, if Russia can manage to stop Turkey’s advance by some combination of efforts not including direct conflict with Turkey, its status in the Middle East will be raised still higher, to begin overshadowing that of the United States, the United States having made blunder after blunder in its frantic and destructive Neocon Wars, as recognized by many.
I noted in a comment recently about Russian engineers having built a military-style bridge across the Euphrates River, the boundary for the region with rest of Syria, a bridge capable of supporting armored vehicles. They did so, apparently, in record time. So, it looks as though Putin was putting things together for the return of the Syrian army to the northeast region.
The United States has just announced that it is sending 3,000 troops plus some new missile systems to protect Saudi Arabia. I do think the added American troops and weapons are at least as likely about the Saudi Throne wobbling as any "threat" from Iran. All clear-thinking people know that there is no threat from Iran, unless you insist on regarding Iran’s mere continued existence as a threat.
The Saudi Crown Prince is starting to look as though he's in real trouble on several fronts.
There's still that recent, unexplained mystery of the old King's trusted, loyal, chief bodyguard being murdered in Jeddah. At the same time, there was a huge fire at the new high-speed train station in Jeddah. We’ve not heard another word about that important matter.
Saudi Arabia is for American affairs a key element in the region, and not just for its oil and its support of the petrodollar. It has become an element in America’s brutal efforts to create a new Middle East, one where Israel is comfortably accommodated in its demands and excesses.
That last idea, accommodating Israel, is something that still would not sit well with most Saudis and perhaps some other members of the Royal Family, so the Crown Prince’s very close ties with Israel, something the United States greatly values him for, are not a public bragging point. He has done many things to earn that status with Israel, including his foolish war in Yemen, continuing the years-long Saudi interference in Syria, and generating serious antagonism towards Iran.
The Crown Prince’s special relationship with Israel is what permitted him to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of the latest American weapons, an unprecedented act by an Arab state. But he has used them badly, and he has burned through a lot of money.
He is, in a word, a bungler, an ambitious and ruthless man of no great talent and one with a lot of serious character flaws. Apart from an infamous brutal murder he undoubtedly commissioned, we see a record new rate of executions in Saudi Arabia, his arrogant and wastrel ways, and the Crown Prince is said to have been a regular at Jeffrey Epstein’s sex playground, which almost certainly was an Israeli-supported hi-tech honey-trap for producing lots of compromising photos of influential people.
The Crown Prince’s losing his place, one way or another, would threaten much of what America has ruthlessly worked towards in the region. Of course, from the view of even some inside Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince is regarded as a failure who has spent an awful lot of money achieving nothing but the shame of being successfully counterattacked twice by Yemen’s poor Houthi. The brutal Khashoggi murder, while deliberately overlooked by Trump and others who want to keep their Saudi relationship intact, brought waves of international condemnation.
The Royal Family has lots of Princes, and the current Crown Prince was not first in line. He made a lot of enemies with his clumsy early exploit of locking up a large number of wealthy Princes and making them pay him huge ransoms. Ransoms in the billions. The Crown Prince did effectively seize power, while his father, very old and said to be partly senile, formally remains King, but the usurper has not wielded the power well. He has enemies, and now they have every reason to say he is a failure.
Putin, by the way, is, as I write this, visiting Saudi Arabia and had a meeting with the old King to discuss various kinds of future proposed cooperation. He stays right on top of things.
It is also clear from statements coming out of Iran that that country has found a new sense of self-confidence in its brave efforts to face down America’s reckless assault – Trump’s tearing up an important working treaty, his launching almost a total economic war, and his intimidating Iran militarily with fleets and air power.
Iran’s new weapons have proved extremely effective, causing Saudi Arabia to regard it with new respect and to express a desire to avoid war, something it had seemed earlier rather cavalier about. And Iran is managing to export crude oil by various arrangements and subterfuges.
Trump’s failure in the Middle East has been close to total. His only real success might be said to be relations with Israel, but they only represent his airily giving away things that were not his legally to give, as recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and of the legitimacy of Israel’s self-proclaimed annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights.
Other matters we’ve discussed – American troops leaving northeastern Syria, the success and stability of the Saudi Throne, Iran’s new resolve and military pride, America’s declining influence, Russia’s increasing influence – are considered important in Israel, and they represent nothing but failure, viewed in America’s own terms, not in any larger terms of justice and human rights and decency, all of which have absolutely no place in American foreign policy.
Trump, in yet one more of his many clownish flip-flops, has declared suddenly a number of serious punitive measures against Turkey, including a range of sanctions, big new tariffs, and a stop to important trade negotiations, demanding Turkey stop its invasion. If Turkey pays heed, Trump will have done Putin’s task for him.
Indeed, Trump spoke about being prepared to “destroy the Turkish economy,” the kind of violent language of which he is so fond. These measures reflect I think no principles on Trump’s part, but the heavy criticism he has received from fellow Republicans about what he has done in Syria. As I said, Israel cannot be happy, and I’m sure all of their contacts in Congress are hearing about it.
Even people not under the same influences as Republican politicians, people in the region who wanted to see America leave Syria, such as Iran, are not happy about the way Trump managed to do it, causing considerable misery and death (See my last comment, “A STRIKING REMINDER OF THE GLORIOUS REALITIES OF AMERICA'S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM IN THE MIDDLE EAST”)
But there is no talk of American forces opposing Turkey. Indeed, the withdrawal of troops goes right ahead. I think Trump views at least one small achievement in “getting out of the Middle East” as essential for his re-election.
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