John Chuckman
COMMENTS – RECENT BITS AND PIECES – VOLUME SIX
Just one added thought.
When we discuss such dark matters as biological warfare, it is important to understand, just as with nuclear weapons, we are talking not about something theoretical but something the United States has actually used in the past.
During the Korean War, the United States used extremely brutal methods. It carpet-bombed North Korea for three years, destroying one-fifth of its entire population. (Note, that brutality was a major reason for North Korea’s costly pursuit of nuclear weapons as a deterrent.)
The US committed a number of terrible atrocities like the massacre at No Gun Ri, where it shot hundreds of civilians, including women and children, as they were fleeing and looking for refuge.
And, it used biological weapons in North Korea and nearby China. This is documented, although the US always denies it.
Japan’s infamous Unit 731 was set up in occupied China in 1938. Many Chinese were killed by its biological weapons and many suffered from hideous Nazi-like “experiments.’
The American occupation forces in Japan decided not to prosecute any of the war criminals and indeed covered up Unit 731’s existence. Undoubtedly, American officials learned something about the use of such weapons from investigating the Unit’s past work.
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US sells over a million barrels of seized Iranian fuel headed for Venezuela”
It is simply piracy and theft by the United States.
US laws written by and for Americans have absolutely no legal authority over others in the absence of support from the United Nations.
Every time the US engages in this kind of behavior, its moral and ethical credibility is only further reduced.
It has foolishly “weaponized” its dollar. And it has foolishly grabbed other people’s assets. If you think that kind of behavior will not have a long-term effect on trust and faith in the United States, I suggest you study some economic history.
America’s political reputation is already in tatters. Few anymore regard it as a model. Its social problems, especially its inequality and division, are immense, and they are ignored by its government. And its economic status is in steady relative decline because it simply cannot compete with some other countries.
Effectively, America’s government, not knowing how to respond to its many problems but muscle-bound with ignorant military power, participates in accelerating its own decline.
It truly is a sad spectacle.
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It is almost a waste of time to talk to Macron about
anything serious.
He is ineffective, he is visibly servile to the interests of others, and, as he demonstrated on the streets of Paris, he is quite a brutal thug pretending to be a very civilized man.
He has lied countless times, and I have a hard time even thinking of any sensible idea he has contributed to international affairs. Good God, Saudi Arabia should join a new JCPOA?
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Electric vehicles are assuming a place in the transportation
mix.
But it will remain a minor part until some serious new technology comes along, especially in batteries.
Electric power cannot even begin to replace the totality of trucks and buses and trains and other vehicles.
We are going to need hydrocarbons for a good long while. And we should take care of the industry that produces them.
As far as the generation of electricity itself, it is hard to see where any great progress can be made without either nuclear or natural gas.
A real economy cannot be run on pipedreams if you want real jobs and real growth.
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Given China’s latest hypersonic anti-ship missiles, it’s
possible to imagine American aircraft-carrier pilots in the South China Sea one
day taking off and returning only to find nowhere to land.
Carriers still make intimidating displays, especially against smaller countries, but against a major opponent, they are reduced to very costly targets.
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The very continued existence of Iran with its several
regional allies and its remarkable weapons program is proof of a kind of
victory after more than forty years of the most intense hostility from the US
and Israel.
Even overcoming the terrible ordeal of a long war encouraged by the US in which many war crimes were committed.
It is a set of achievements of which to be proud, and I hope Iran will continue to uphold its worthiest principles in the region.
It's about 8,000 miles from the South China Sea to the West Coast of the US.
What on earth are American warships doing there?
As though these thousands-of-year-old Asian societies could not work out their own practices?
And we’ve certainly seen from recent events, how very well America runs its own society and how much it has to offer others.
It's beyond arrogant. It is just plain stupid.
And that kind of stupidity by America’s privileged elites is just part of why China is going to inherit the earth.
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The WHO findings in China confirm what thoughtful people
have believed from the beginning.
We have a long history of viruses in nature changing slightly and jumping from one host to humans, as was the case, famously, with AIDS.
As for the world’s supply of ignorant and hateful people, no facts will ever stand in the way of their promoting malicious ideas.
It is just a shame that one such person happened to be President of the United States at the time of this virus’s emergence.
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“EU-Russia ties far from satisfactory: Top EU diplomat”
Do you think the mere fact that the EU has accused Russia of poisoning a man and done so with no evidence it will provide could possibly have something to do with the state of relations?
In fact, it’s the second time such an ugly, unsupported accusation has been made. The elaborate and costly charades in both cases were certainly the work of Western security services.
And then there’s all the nonsense about Ukraine when in fact the source of all problems there is Ukraine itself, the Ukraine as governed after an American coup the EU doesn’t even acknowledge.
It is almost impossible to believe the asinine level on which many foreign relations are conducted today.
But that’s what happens when an international bully dominates everyone and demands its sick lies and fantasies be supported.
“Nuclear war with China, Russia is 'real possibility': US
commander”
A truly stupid thing for anyone to say.
But still immensely more stupid for a high-ranking general to say.
Perhaps, the United States has too many of these uniformed, beribboned popinjays sitting at desks in the Pentagon with little real to do?
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Biden lacks clarity in most large foreign-policy issues.
Already, his statements in many matters are contradictory or confused.
For example, with Russia he has taken the positive step of renewing the New START Treaty.
At the same time, though, he makes ridiculous accusations about election interference and Navalny and other matters which are Russia’s internal affairs.
And he is still trying to stop Russia from supplying natural gas to Germany, a grotesque interference into the business affairs of others.
In the matter of Iran, he talks of going back to the JCPOA (Iran Nuclear Agreement) yet makes statements ignoring Iran’s reasonable expectations, statements almost guaranteeing no return to a working treaty that the United States, and the United States alone, destroyed.
Iran only asks for a return to the status quo ante, but Biden’s statements suggest Iran must act first and the need for other terms That is, understandably for Iran, a non-starter. Not a hopeful situation.
I think the basic problem is that Biden and his people want him to appear fair and reasonable, but underneath, when it comes to foreign affairs, the same intense hostilities and jealousies are hard at work, the ones that motivated Trump.
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Economists and serious statesmen and economic historians do
not like trade wars, and for very good reasons. They are destructive, and they
always carry the risk of exploding into real wars.
The only authority for the benefits of trade wars is Donald Trump, a man so ignorant he suggested fighting COVID by injecting antiseptic products like counter cleaners. He is a thoroughly discredited man who failed at almost everything he tried and created a lot of human misery along the way.
One quality study recently showed that at the height of Trump’s malignant efforts against China, the United States actually lost 245,000 jobs.
The illusion of a strong Trump economy is just that, an illusion. It was the result of monstrous tax cuts for the wealthy and the continued easing of money creation – neither of which is sustainable for any time and both of which have negative long-term consequences.
Trump was about as astute in his assessment of trade wars as he was in the management of America’s COVID crisis.
In a post-pandemic world, we will need every bit of trade and investment possible. Letting political attitudes prevail over economics only will impoverish all of us more than need be.
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“We consider any move that does not end the siege and aggression against Yemen as just a formality and do not pay any attention to it,”
Wise words from Yemen.
If the US were determined to end this ugly war, it could do so in a moment.
The Saudis would absolutely not act against direct instructions from the US.
What Biden is doing is just a cheap public relations ploy to separate the US from all the terrible publicity associated with this filthy war it helped start.
It is hypocrisy. And it is the kind of dishonesty which promises no great changes for the Middle East.
Biden is, after all, a fifty-year political veteran of supporting wars and coups and death.
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“Ankara says US behind 2016 abortive coup in Turkey
against Erdogan”
I’ve never doubted it from the beginning.
The US had motive, means, and opportunity.
The big opportunities for Turkish (disloyal) officers and American officers to exchange information were at the Incirlik Air Base.
Erdogan is too independent-minded for America’s liking.
The coup did provide a great opening for Russia, and Russia’s masterful statesman, President Putin, took full advantage of It. He has even managed to sell Turkey the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system.
Not a lot of people realize it, but apart from the system’s excellence, a key reason Erdogan wanted it was that, unlike the US or France or Britain, Russia does not keep a control key to the missile systems it sells.
Libya’s Ghaddafi had just bought an expensive system from France when his country was attacked. The French simply switched the missile system off, so that he was completely vulnerable to air attack.
That’s why Erdogan will not give up his S-400s just because the US demands it.
I wish Iran were in a position to buy these missiles also. It is rumored, too, that their radar can see America’s F-35 stealth jets.
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“Canadian government designates ‘Proud Boys’ as terrorist
group”
Just a ridiculous, cheap stunt to gain some credit in progressive political circles.
Trudeau’s own record as a leader for human and democratic rights in the world is nonexistent. And genuine terror, on a vast and grisly scale, has simply been ignored by Justin Trudeau.
The Proud Boys may be distasteful and unwelcome, but they are not terrorists. I consider that an abuse of language, and, God knows, we already have far too much of that in our politics.
Trudeau has never objected to the terrors of Saudi Arabia, both at home and abroad – indeed, Trudeau has sold the good Prince billions of dollars’ worth of armored cars while the Prince’s armies slaughtered thousands of women and children in Yemen and oppressed minorities at home.
Trudeau never objected to America’s horrific treatment of Venezuela and its seven-times elected government – rather, he joined right in calling for an end to the government and welcoming the sleazy, unelected Juan Guido, as though Venezuela’s politics were any of Canada’s business.
Trudeau never raised his voice once against crude dirty tricks like America’s shutting down Venezuela’s electricity grid several times. You can just imagine the misery and difficulties that caused for millions of ordinary people.
Trudeau never objected to Israel’s shooting down unarmed protesting Palestinians in Gaza with soldiers ambushing them from behind a wall. A couple of hundred were killed and thousands wounded, some mangled for life.
Trudeau never objected to the American horrors imposed on Iran, a country that did nothing wrong and met its obligations under a treaty Trump decided to rip up. America assassinated a number of important people, put eighty million innocent people under siege, and contributed to death and disease with its sanctions in a pandemic.
Trudeau closely aligned himself with Trump’s foreign policies for four years, demonstrating no independence and no courage and certainly no conscience.
And who is the honorary godfather of the Proud Boys? The very same Trump whose policies Trudeau slavishly followed. He even destroyed Canada’s once excellent relations with China in doing so.
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“Iran’s Islamic Revolution set the stage for a new global
anti-imperialist struggle”
That is a very true and interesting observation.
Of course, it is part of why the US has maintained such vicious hostility towards Iran for over forty years.
