theduran--2020-01-08--Trump Assassinated the Leading General Who Fought Against ISIS.

Even some mainstream U.S. ‘ news ’ -media ( but none that are Republican ) acknowledge the fact that Qasem Soleimani was among the most effective of all nations ’ generals who fought against ISIS .
Other mainstream U.S. ‘ news ’ -media seem very reluctant to do so , because the entirety of America ’ s mainstream ‘ journalism ’ has spewed hatred against Iran ’ s Government after Iranians in 1979 succeeded at overthrowing the dictator Shah whom America ’ s CIA had installed in 1953 to end Iran ’ s democracy and to control the country , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ company and cut America ’ s aristocrats in on the profits from sales of Iranian oil .
( Under George W. Bush , the U.S. Government did basically the same thing to Iraq ’ s oil industry . )
So , America ’ s mainstream ‘ news ’ -media , which are owned by the same aristocracy that imposed Iran ’ s dictatorship in 1953 , have portrayed Iran ’ s # 2 leader , General Qasem Soleimani , as a ‘ terrorist ’ , instead of as the leading fighter against ISIS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3 January 2020 , Ilan Goldenberg , of the Democratic Party neoconservative Center for a New American Security , headlined in the Council on Foreign Relations ’ s Foreign Affairs , “ Will Iran ’ s Response to the Soleimani Strike Lead to War ?
” and only two references to ISIS were there , both buried in his article : “ He led Iran ’ s campaign to arm and train Shiite militias in Iraq — militias responsible for the deaths of an estimated 600 American troops from 2003 to 2011— and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influence in Iraq thereafter , most notably through his efforts to fight the Islamic State ( ISIS ) .
” And : “ ISIS retains an underground presence and could take advantage of the chaos of an American withdrawal or a U.S.-Iranian conflict to improve its position in Iraq.
” So , it ’ s hard for a reader there to figure out that Trump actually assassinated ISIS ’ s main enemy .
On January 4th , Marketwatch headlined “ Who was Qassem Soleimani , and why is his death a major development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there was only a single reference to ISIS , the source being Iran , which that article was criticizing : “ In a tweet , Iran ’ s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the strike that killed the general as an act of international terrorism : ‘ The US act of international terrorism , targeting & assassinating General Soleimani — THE most effective force fighting Daesh ( ISIS ) , Al Nusrah , Al Qaeda et al — is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation , ’ he wrote on Twitter .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ consequences of its rogue adventurism , ’ he said.
” Some of America ’ s mainstream ‘ news ’ -media portrayed the killing of Soleimani as being damaging to America ’ s ability to continue occupying Iraq and therefore harmful to the fight against ISIS because the U.S. — not Iran and Russia — lead the fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria .
In other words : they presume that lie .
Politico headlined on January 3rd , “ How the Soleimani strike could kneecap the fight against ISIS ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iran ’ s top military leader could put America ’ s fight against the Islamic State in jeopardy , opening the door to the reemergence of the terrorist group .
The Thursday night attack on Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani could also prompt the government in Iraq to kick U.S. troops out of the country , ending America ’ s mission to train the Iraqi military to fight terrorist groups .
U.S. troops have deployed to Iraq since 2014 to fight ISIS and train Iraqi forces with permission from the Iraqi government .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked the U.S. specifically not to target Iran within the country , a request America has now violated “ in flagrant fashion ” with the strike on Soleimani near the Baghdad airport , said Scott Anderson , a former legal adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad .
“ This is going to put a lot of pressure on those aspects of our relationship they have control over , ” Anderson , a fellow at the Brookings Institution , said Friday .
… “ If we can ’ t be in Iraq , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Barbara Slavin , the director of the Future Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council , said Friday .
They don ’ t mention that both Brookings and the Atlantic Council are neoconservative , pro-imperialist , and controlled by ( overwhelmingly funded by ) large U.S.-based international corporations and U.S.-allied governments , which benefit from U.S.-and-allied arms-sales and oil-extraction .
So , that ’ s just a standard propaganda-piece from Politico , pumping the U.S. empire .
For once , CNN broke with U.S. imperialism , and headlined on January 3rd , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to remember the role Soleimani played in the fight against ISIS ” .
Perhaps because CNN is controlled by Democratic Party billionaires instead of by Republican-Party ones , they reported that : It is important to remember the role both he and Iran played in the fight against ISIS .
While US aircraft , special forces and local allies fought ISIS in Syria , as well as in Iraq , Iranian-backed militia also pushed the terror group back in Iraq .
Soleimani was reported to have often led that fight from the front @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s elite Quds Force , which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces .
There was no contradiction between those two positions shared both by Soleimani and Iran , because ISIS was created as a fundamentalist-Sunni U.S. proxy fighting force against Iraq ’ s Shiites .
There was also this : Long known as the ‘ shadow commander ’ in Western media , his profile was raised in 2015 as Iranian outlets began releasing photos of him in the battlefield guiding the war against ISIS .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Islamic State militant group in Iraq .
In a 2017 public letter , he denounced the “ evil movement ” that managed “ to deceive tens of thousands of Muslim youth ” in Iraq and Syria , while also blaming the U.S. for the rise and spread of ISIS .
Iran had launched airstrikes against ISIS fighters outside Baghdad in late 2014 just as the United States and its coalition partners were taking on the extremist group .
ISIS , made up of Sunni extremists , was ideologically at odds with Soleimani @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Soleimani and his commanders were on the front lines in Iraq and his name became synonymous with victories attributed to Iraqi ground forces [ fighting against ISIS ] .
He had presented himself as the face of the offensive in Tikrit , a city which fell under ISIS control in 2014 [ HE WAS FIGHTING AGAINST ISIS THERE ] .
Iran sought to highlight his efforts against ISIS while protesting his death Friday .
Another pro-Democratic-Party ‘ news ’ -site , MSNBC , likewise included , on January 3rd , some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this : “ The 62-year-old led Iran ’ s elite Quds Force , which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces.
” Indicating how confused and hostile Americans are to encounter — in the few media where they can — the truth about Soleimani and about the reality in the Middle East , there was a January 3rd news-report from Washington Times headlined “ Geraldo Rivera laments strike on U.S. ‘ friend ’ Qassem Soleimani , says Quds leader ‘ saved people ’ ” which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says the Baghdad airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was a strategic error against a U.S. “ friend ” who “ saved people.
” A “ Fox & Friends ” panel was injected with heated rhetoric on Friday when Mr. Rivera defended the Quds force leader ’ s résumé in a discussion with Ainsley Earhardt , Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy .
“ Six months ago , Ainsley , this guy was our friend , ” Mr. Rivera said .
Rivera was opposed not only by the other Fox “ Friends ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as the most-liked ones : What planet does Rivera live on ?
Soleimani has engineered the killing of many Americans .
stalin was our friend and helped us defeat hitler .
no really a friend .
ha They want to remain suckers of America ’ s billionaires , who want to have Iran back .
Of course , Russia ’ s news-media were honest about this matter ; they have no reason to lie about it ; and , besides , they don ’ t lie nearly as frequently as America ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — they know they are distrusted from the get-go throughout the U.S. empire , because Russia ’ s lying Soviet predecessors ( before 1991 ) are constantly pumped to America ’ s ‘ news ’ -media behind the scenes by America ’ s CIA ( representing America ’ s billionaires ) as being like today ’ s Russian news-media , which they very much are not .
Russia really did end the Cold War ; the U.S. regime never did .
On January 4th , India ’ s Economic Times headlined “ Soleimani @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Taliban ” , and reported that : Soleimani was the face of armed resistance against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and contributed in a big way in defeating ISIS , said an expert familiar with West Asian dynamics who requested not to be identified .
Last year Soleimani had also slammed Pakistan for its failure to control terror groups on its soil that targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guards group .
Iran and India were among regional powers that backed anti-Taliban forces along with Russia before Taliban was ousted in Afghanistan .
… Last February @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a bus of Revolutionary Guard soldiers on Zahedan-Khash road in Iran ’ s border province of Sistan-Balouchestan , killing 27 and injuring 13 .
Pakistan-based Jaish ul-Adl Takfiri terrorist group , which has ties to al-Qaeda , claimed responsibility for the attack .
Days after the attack , Soleimani said Iran does not want mere condolences , but concrete action from Pakistan .
“ Can ’ t you , as a nuclear-armed state , deal with a hundreds-strong terrorist group in the region ?
” he had said .
That ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which isn ’ t a place about which readers in America and allied countries haven ’ t been taught by their news-media to expect to see such a commentary being published .
According to Wikipedia , “ As of 2012 , it is the world ’ s second-most widely read English-language business newspaper , after The Wall Street Journal , [ 4 ] with a readership of over 800,000.
” Also on January 4th former UK Ambassador Craig Murray headlined from Britain “ Lies , the Bethlehem Doctrine , and the Illegal Murder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Soleimani by Democratic U.S. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren , U.S. Vice President Mike Pence , and a key neoconservative legal advisor to UK ’ s Government .
He was exposing there a bipartisan and international sliming operation , the type of thing that traditionally persuades masses of suckers to vote for politicians who continue the grand imperial enterprise , for the benefit of U.S.-and-allied billionaires .
However , that scam might not be so successful this time around .
On January 6th , the U.S. Government informed Iraq ’ s Government that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now at an end and all U.S. forces are withdrawing from Iraq .
Then Trump changed his mind .
Shortly afterward .
Iran did its first retaliation , firing missiles against U.S. military facilities in Iraq .
Trump ’ s constant aggressions against Iran ( starting with cancellation ot the Iran nuclear agreement and restoration of anti-Iran sanctions ) will sink the Middle East and maybe the entire world in blood .
The EU seems nonetheless to be sticking by the U.S. regime .
All leaders who do so will be damned along @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem even to care .
They all share in his guilt .
Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author , most recently , of They ’ re Not Even Close : The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records , 1910-2010 , and of CHRIST ’ S VENTRILOQUISTS : The Event that Created Christianity .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Eric Zuesse, originally posted at The Saker
Even some mainstream U.S. ‘news’-media (but none that are Republican) acknowledge the fact that Qasem Soleimani was among the most effective of all nations’ generals who fought against ISIS. Other mainstream U.S. ‘news’-media seem very reluctant to do so, because the entirety of America’s mainstream ‘journalism’ has spewed hatred against Iran’s Government after Iranians in 1979 succeeded at overthrowing the dictator Shah whom America’s CIA had installed in 1953 to end Iran’s democracy and to control the country, and he privatized the National Iranian Oil company and cut America’s aristocrats in on the profits from sales of Iranian oil. (Under George W. Bush, the U.S. Government did basically the same thing to Iraq’s oil industry.) So, America’s mainstream ‘news’-media, which are owned by the same aristocracy that imposed Iran’s dictatorship in 1953, have portrayed Iran’s #2 leader, General Qasem Soleimani, as a ‘terrorist’, instead of as the leading fighter against ISIS, which he actually was.
On 3 January 2020, Ilan Goldenberg, of the Democratic Party neoconservative Center for a New American Security, headlined in the Council on Foreign Relations’s Foreign Affairs, “Will Iran’s Response to the Soleimani Strike Lead to War?” and only two references to ISIS were there, both buried in his article: “He led Iran’s campaign to arm and train Shiite militias in Iraq — militias responsible for the deaths of an estimated 600 American troops from 2003 to 2011— and became the chief purveyor of Iranian political influence in Iraq thereafter, most notably through his efforts to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).” And: “ISIS retains an underground presence and could take advantage of the chaos of an American withdrawal or a U.S.-Iranian conflict to improve its position in Iraq.” So, it’s hard for a reader there to figure out that Trump actually assassinated ISIS’s main enemy.
On January 4th, Marketwatch headlined “Who was Qassem Soleimani, and why is his death a major development in U.S.-Middle East relations?” and there was only a single reference to ISIS, the source being Iran, which that article was criticizing: “In a tweet, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the strike that killed the general as an act of international terrorism: ‘The US act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani — THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al — is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation,’ he wrote on Twitter. ‘The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,’ he said.”
Some of America’s mainstream ‘news’-media portrayed the killing of Soleimani as being damaging to America’s ability to continue occupying Iraq and therefore harmful to the fight against ISIS because the U.S. — not Iran and Russia — lead the fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. In other words: they presume that lie. Politico headlined on January 3rd, “How the Soleimani strike could kneecap the fight against ISIS” and opened:
The U.S. strike that killed Iran’s top military leader could put America’s fight against the Islamic State in jeopardy, opening the door to the reemergence of the terrorist group.
The Thursday night attack on Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani could also prompt the government in Iraq to kick U.S. troops out of the country, ending America’s mission to train the Iraqi military to fight terrorist groups.
U.S. troops have deployed to Iraq since 2014 to fight ISIS and train Iraqi forces with permission from the Iraqi government. As part of this agreement, Iraq asked the U.S. specifically not to target Iran within the country, a request America has now violated “in flagrant fashion” with the strike on Soleimani near the Baghdad airport, said Scott Anderson, a former legal adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
“This is going to put a lot of pressure on those aspects of our relationship they have control over,” Anderson, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Friday. … “If we can’t be in Iraq, we can’t be in Syria,” Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said Friday.
They don’t mention that both Brookings and the Atlantic Council are neoconservative, pro-imperialist, and controlled by (overwhelmingly funded by) large U.S.-based international corporations and U.S.-allied governments, which benefit from U.S.-and-allied arms-sales and oil-extraction. So, that’s just a standard propaganda-piece from Politico, pumping the U.S. empire.
For once, CNN broke with U.S. imperialism, and headlined on January 3rd, “Analysis: It’s important to remember the role Soleimani played in the fight against ISIS”. Perhaps because CNN is controlled by Democratic Party billionaires instead of by Republican-Party ones, they reported that:
It is important to remember the role both he and Iran played in the fight against ISIS.
While US aircraft, special forces and local allies fought ISIS in Syria, as well as in Iraq, Iranian-backed militia also pushed the terror group back in Iraq. Soleimani was reported to have often led that fight from the front line …
The 62-year-old led Iran’s elite Quds Force, which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces.
There was no contradiction between those two positions shared both by Soleimani and Iran, because ISIS was created as a fundamentalist-Sunni U.S. proxy fighting force against Iraq’s Shiites. There was also this:
Long known as the ‘shadow commander’ in Western media, his profile was raised in 2015 as Iranian outlets began releasing photos of him in the battlefield guiding the war against ISIS. …
Soleimani is also credited with fighting the Islamic State militant group in Iraq. In a 2017 public letter, he denounced the “evil movement” that managed “to deceive tens of thousands of Muslim youth” in Iraq and Syria, while also blaming the U.S. for the rise and spread of ISIS.
Iran had launched airstrikes against ISIS fighters outside Baghdad in late 2014 just as the United States and its coalition partners were taking on the extremist group.
ISIS, made up of Sunni extremists, was ideologically at odds with Soleimani and the Iranian Shiite regime he defended.
Soleimani and his commanders were on the front lines in Iraq and his name became synonymous with victories attributed to Iraqi ground forces [fighting against ISIS]. He had presented himself as the face of the offensive in Tikrit, a city which fell under ISIS control in 2014 [HE WAS FIGHTING AGAINST ISIS THERE].
Iran sought to highlight his efforts against ISIS while protesting his death Friday.
Another pro-Democratic-Party ‘news’-site, MSNBC, likewise included, on January 3rd, some of ‘the enemy’s side’ in this: “The 62-year-old led Iran’s elite Quds Force, which had a hand in both fighting the Islamic State militant group and U.S. forces.”
Indicating how confused and hostile Americans are to encounter — in the few media where they can — the truth about Soleimani and about the reality in the Middle East, there was a January 3rd news-report from Washington Times headlined “Geraldo Rivera laments strike on U.S. ‘friend’ Qassem Soleimani, says Quds leader ‘saved people’” which opened:
Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera says the Baghdad airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was a strategic error against a U.S. “friend” who “saved people.”
A “Fox & Friends” panel was injected with heated rhetoric on Friday when Mr. Rivera defended the Quds force leader’s résumé in a discussion with Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy.
“Six months ago, Ainsley, this guy was our friend,” Mr. Rivera said.
Rivera was opposed not only by the other Fox “Friends” there, but by the reader-comments, such as the most-liked ones:
Sort byBest
• RedBowtie
What planet does Rivera live on? Soleimani has engineered the killing of many Americans.
7 Likes
• RedGuitar
stalin was our friend and helped us defeat hitler. no really a friend. ha
6 Likes
They want to remain suckers of America’s billionaires, who want to have Iran back.
Of course, Russia’s news-media were honest about this matter; they have no reason to lie about it; and, besides, they don’t lie nearly as frequently as America’s billionaire-controlled ‘news’-media do — they know they are distrusted from the get-go throughout the U.S. empire, because Russia’s lying Soviet predecessors (before 1991) are constantly pumped to America’s ‘news’-media behind the scenes by America’s CIA (representing America’s billionaires) as being like today’s Russian news-media, which they very much are not. Russia really did end the Cold War; the U.S. regime never did.
On January 4th, India’s Economic Times headlined “Soleimani, face of fight against ISIS, Taliban”, and reported that:
Soleimani was the face of armed resistance against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and contributed in a big way in defeating ISIS, said an expert familiar with West Asian dynamics who requested not to be identified.
Last year Soleimani had also slammed Pakistan for its failure to control terror groups on its soil that targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guards group.
Iran and India were among regional powers that backed anti-Taliban forces along with Russia before Taliban was ousted in Afghanistan. …
Last February, a car laden with explosives hit a bus of Revolutionary Guard soldiers on Zahedan-Khash road in Iran’s border province of Sistan-Balouchestan, killing 27 and injuring 13. Pakistan-based Jaish ul-Adl Takfiri terrorist group, which has ties to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Days after the attack, Soleimani said Iran does not want mere condolences, but concrete action from Pakistan. “Can’t you, as a nuclear-armed state, deal with a hundreds-strong terrorist group in the region?” he had said.
That’s a major daily newspaper in Hindu India, which isn’t a place about which readers in America and allied countries haven’t been taught by their news-media to expect to see such a commentary being published. According to Wikipedia, “As of 2012, it is the world’s second-most widely read English-language business newspaper, after The Wall Street Journal,[4] with a readership of over 800,000.”
Also on January 4th former UK Ambassador Craig Murray headlined from Britain “Lies, the Bethlehem Doctrine, and the Illegal Murder of Soleimani” and he exposed lies against Soleimani by Democratic U.S. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, and a key neoconservative legal advisor to UK’s Government. He was exposing there a bipartisan and international sliming operation, the type of thing that traditionally persuades masses of suckers to vote for politicians who continue the grand imperial enterprise, for the benefit of U.S.-and-allied billionaires. However, that scam might not be so successful this time around.
On January 6th, the U.S. Government informed Iraq’s Government that the U.S. military occupation of Iraq is now at an end and all U.S. forces are withdrawing from Iraq. Then Trump changed his mind. Shortly afterward. Iran did its first retaliation, firing missiles against U.S. military facilities in Iraq. Trump’s constant aggressions against Iran (starting with cancellation ot the Iran nuclear agreement and restoration of anti-Iran sanctions) will sink the Middle East and maybe the entire world in blood. The EU seems nonetheless to be sticking by the U.S. regime. All leaders who do so will be damned along with him. But none of them seem even to care. They all share in his guilt.
—————
Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.
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theduran--2020-01-09--The Deeper Story Behind the Assassination of Soleimani

Authored by Federico Pieraccini via The Strategic Culture Foundation : Days after the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani , new and important information is coming to light from a speech given by the Iraqi prime minister .
The story behind Soleimani ’ s assassination seems to go much deeper than what has thus far been reported , involving Saudi Arabia and China as well the US dollar ’ s role as the global reserve currency .
The Iraqi prime minister , Adil Abdul-Mahdi , has revealed details of his interactions with Trump in the weeks leading up to Soleimani ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iraqi parliament .
He tried to explain several times on live television how Washington had been browbeating him and other Iraqi members of parliament to toe the American line , even threatening to engage in false-flag sniper shootings of both protesters and security personnel in order to inflame the situation , recalling similar modi operandi seen in Cairo in 2009 , Libya in 2011 , and Maidan in 2014 .
The purpose of such cynicism was to throw Iraq into chaos .
Here is the reconstruction of the story : [ Speaker of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Halbousi attended the parliamentary session while almost none of the Sunni members did .
This was because the Americans had learned that Abdul-Mehdi was planning to reveal sensitive secrets in the session and sent Halbousi to prevent this .
Halbousi cut Abdul-Mehdi off at the commencement of his speech and then asked for the live airing of the session to be stopped .
After this , Halbousi together with other members , sat next to Abdul-Mehdi , speaking openly with him but without it being recorded .
This is what was discussed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Abdul-Mehdi spoke angrily about how the Americans had ruined the country and now refused to complete infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless they were promised 50 % of oil revenues , which Abdul-Mehdi refused .
The complete ( translated ) words of Abdul-Mahdi ’ s speech to parliament : This is why I visited China and signed an important agreement with them to undertake the construction instead .
Upon my return , Trump called me to ask me to reject this agreement .
When I refused , he threatened to unleash huge demonstrations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Huge demonstrations against me duly materialized and Trump called again to threaten that if I did not comply with his demands , then he would have Marine snipers on tall buildings target protesters and security personnel alike in order to pressure me .
I refused again and handed in my resignation .
To this day the Americans insist on us rescinding our deal with the Chinese .
After this , when our Minister of Defense publicly stated that a third party was targeting both protestors and security personnel alike ( just as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I received a new call from Trump threatening to kill both me and the Minister of Defense if we kept on talking about this “ third party ” .
Nobody imagined that the threat was to be applied to General Soleimani , but it was difficult for Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to reveal the weekslong backstory behind the terrorist attack .
We can surmise , judging by Saudi Arabia ’ s reaction , that some kind of negotiation was going on between Tehran and Riyadh : Above all , the Saudi Royal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they had not been informed of the US operation : And to emphasize his reluctance for war , Mohammad bin Salman sent a delegation to the United States .
Liz Sly , the Washington Post Beirut bureau chief , tweated : Saudi Arabia is sending a delegation to Washington to urge restraint with Iran on behalf of [ Persian ] Gulf states .
The message will be : ‘ Please spare us the pain of going through another war ’ .
What clearly emerges is that the success of the operation against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intelligence gathering of the US or Israel .
It was known to all and sundry that Soleimani was heading to Baghdad in a diplomatic capacity that acknowledged Iraq ’ s efforts to mediate a solution to the regional crisis with Saudi Arabia .
It would seem that the Saudis , Iranians and Iraqis were well on the way towards averting a regional conflict involving Syria , Iraq and Yemen .
Riyadh ’ s reaction to the American strike evinced no public joy or celebration .
Qatar , while not seeing eye to eye @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately expressed solidarity with Tehran , hosting a meeting at a senior government level with Mohammad Zarif Jarif , the Iranian foreign minister .
Even Turkey and Egypt , when commenting on the asassination , employed moderating language .
This could reflect a fear of being on the receiving end of Iran ’ s retaliation .
Qatar , the country from which the drone that killed Soleimani took off , is only a stone ’ s throw away from Iran , situated on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz .
Riyadh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regional enemies , both know that a military conflict with Iran would mean the end of the Saudi royal family .
When the words of the Iraqi prime minister are linked back to the geopolitical and energy agreements in the region , then the worrying picture starts to emerge of a desperate US lashing out at a world turning its back on a unipolar world order in favor of the emerging multipolar about which I have long written .
The US , now considering itself a net energy exporter as a result of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jury is still out ) , no longer needs to import oil from the Middle East .
However , this does not mean that oil can now be traded in any other currency other than the US dollar .
The petrodollar is what ensures that the US dollar retains its status as the global reserve currency , granting the US a monopolistic position from which it derives enormous benefits from playing the role of regional hegemon .
This privileged position of holding the global reserve currency also ensures that the US can easily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fact that much of the world is obliged to buy its treasury bonds that it is simply able to conjure out of thin air .
To threaten this comfortable arrangement is to threaten Washington ’ s global power .
Even so , the geopolitical and economic trend is inexorably towards a multipolar world order , with China increasingly playing a leading role , especially in the Middle East and South America .
Venezuela , Russia , Iran , Iraq , Qatar and Saudi Arabia together make up the overwhelming majority of oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The first three have an elevated relationship with Beijing and are very much in the multipolar camp , something that China and Russia are keen to further consolidate in order to ensure the future growth for the Eurasian supercontinent without war and conflict .
Saudi Arabia , on the other hand , is pro-US but could gravitate towards the Sino-Russian camp both militarily and in terms of energy .
The same process is going on with Iraq and Qatar thanks to Washington ’ s numerous strategic errors in the region starting from Iraq @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Syria and Yemen in recent years .
The agreement between Iraq and China is a prime example of how Beijing intends to use the Iraq-Iran-Syria troika to revive the Middle East and and link it to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative .
While Doha and Riyadh would be the first to suffer economically from such an agreement , Beijing ’ s economic power is such that , with its win-win approach , there is room for everyone .
Saudi Arabia provides China with most of its oil and Qatar , together with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most of its LNG needs , which lines up with Xi Jinping ’ s 2030 vision that aims to greatly reduce polluting emissions .
The US is absent in this picture , with little ability to influence events or offer any appealing economic alternatives .
Washington would like to prevent any Eurasian integration by unleashing chaos and destruction in the region , and killing Soleimani served this purpose .
The US can not contemplate the idea of the dollar losing its status as the global reserve currency .
Trump is engaging in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The region , in a worst-case scenario , could be engulfed in a devastating war involving multiple countries .
Oil refineries could be destroyed all across the region , a quarter of the world ’ s oil transit could be blocked , oil prices would skyrocket ( $ 200- $ 300 a barrel ) and dozens of countries would be plunged into a global financial crisis .
The blame would be laid squarely at Trump ’ s feet , ending his chances for re-election .
To try and keep everyone in line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrorism , lies and unspecified threats of visiting destruction on friends and enemies alike .
Trump has evidently been convinced by someone that the US can do without the Middle East , that it can do without allies in the region , and that nobody would ever dare to sell oil in any other currency than the US dollar .
Soleimani ’ s death is the result of a convergence of US and Israeli interests .
With no other way of halting Eurasian integration , Washington can only throw the region into chaos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Syria that are central to the Eurasian project .
While Israel has never had the ability or audacity to carry out such an assassination itself , the importance of the Israel Lobby to Trump ’ s electoral success would have influenced his decision , all the more so in an election year .
Trump believed his drone attack could solve all his problems by frightening his opponents , winning the support of his voters ( by equating Soleimani ’ s assassination to Osama bin Laden ’ s ) , and sending a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of deepening their ties with China .
The assassination of Soleimani is the US lashing out at its steady loss of influence in the region .
The Iraqi attempt to mediate a lasting peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been scuppered by the US and Israel ’ s determination to prevent peace in the region and instead increase chaos and instability .
Washington has not achieved its hegemonic status through a preference for diplomacy and calm dialogue , and Trump has no intention of departing from this approach .
Washington ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reality and implement the countermeasures necessary to contain the madness .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Authored by Federico Pieraccini via The Strategic Culture Foundation:
Days after the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, new and important information is coming to light from a speech given by the Iraqi prime minister. The story behind Soleimani’s assassination seems to go much deeper than what has thus far been reported, involving Saudi Arabia and China as well the US dollar’s role as the global reserve currency.
The Iraqi prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, has revealed details of his interactions with Trump in the weeks leading up to Soleimani’s assassination in a speech to the Iraqi parliament. He tried to explain several times on live television how Washington had been browbeating him and other Iraqi members of parliament to toe the American line, even threatening to engage in false-flag sniper shootings of both protesters and security personnel in order to inflame the situation, recalling similar modi operandi seen in Cairo in 2009, Libya in 2011, and Maidan in 2014. The purpose of such cynicism was to throw Iraq into chaos.
Here is the reconstruction of the story:
[Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq] Halbousi attended the parliamentary session while almost none of the Sunni members did. This was because the Americans had learned that Abdul-Mehdi was planning to reveal sensitive secrets in the session and sent Halbousi to prevent this. Halbousi cut Abdul-Mehdi off at the commencement of his speech and then asked for the live airing of the session to be stopped. After this, Halbousi together with other members, sat next to Abdul-Mehdi, speaking openly with him but without it being recorded. This is what was discussed in that session that was not broadcast: Abdul-Mehdi spoke angrily about how the Americans had ruined the country and now refused to complete infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless they were promised 50% of oil revenues, which Abdul-Mehdi refused.
The complete (translated) words of Abdul-Mahdi’s speech to parliament:
This is why I visited China and signed an important agreement with them to undertake the construction instead. Upon my return, Trump called me to ask me to reject this agreement. When I refused, he threatened to unleash huge demonstrations against me that would end my premiership. Huge demonstrations against me duly materialized and Trump called again to threaten that if I did not comply with his demands, then he would have Marine snipers on tall buildings target protesters and security personnel alike in order to pressure me. I refused again and handed in my resignation. To this day the Americans insist on us rescinding our deal with the Chinese. After this, when our Minister of Defense publicly stated that a third party was targeting both protestors and security personnel alike (just as Trump had threatened he would do), I received a new call from Trump threatening to kill both me and the Minister of Defense if we kept on talking about this “third party”.
Nobody imagined that the threat was to be applied to General Soleimani, but it was difficult for Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to reveal the weekslong backstory behind the terrorist attack.
I was supposed to meet him [Soleimani] later in the morning when he was killed. He came to deliver a message from Iran in response to the message we had delivered to the Iranians from the Saudis.
We can surmise, judging by Saudi Arabia’s reaction, that some kind of negotiation was going on between Tehran and Riyadh:
The Kingdom’s statement regarding the events in Iraq stresses the Kingdom’s view of the importance of de-escalation to save the countries of the region and their people from the risks of any escalation.
Above all, the Saudi Royal family wanted to let people know immediately that they had not been informed of the US operation:
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not consulted regarding the US strike. In light of the rapid developments, the Kingdom stresses the importance of exercising restraint to guard against all acts that may lead to escalation, with severe consequences.
And to emphasize his reluctance for war, Mohammad bin Salman sent a delegation to the United States. Liz Sly, the Washington Post Beirut bureau chief, tweated:
Saudi Arabia is sending a delegation to Washington to urge restraint with Iran on behalf of [Persian] Gulf states. The message will be: ‘Please spare us the pain of going through another war’.
What clearly emerges is that the success of the operation against Soleimani had nothing to do with the intelligence gathering of the US or Israel. It was known to all and sundry that Soleimani was heading to Baghdad in a diplomatic capacity that acknowledged Iraq’s efforts to mediate a solution to the regional crisis with Saudi Arabia.
It would seem that the Saudis, Iranians and Iraqis were well on the way towards averting a regional conflict involving Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Riyadh’s reaction to the American strike evinced no public joy or celebration. Qatar, while not seeing eye to eye with Riyadh on many issues, also immediately expressed solidarity with Tehran, hosting a meeting at a senior government level with Mohammad Zarif Jarif, the Iranian foreign minister. Even Turkey and Egypt, when commenting on the asassination, employed moderating language.
This could reflect a fear of being on the receiving end of Iran’s retaliation. Qatar, the country from which the drone that killed Soleimani took off, is only a stone’s throw away from Iran, situated on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz. Riyadh and Tel Aviv, Tehran’s regional enemies, both know that a military conflict with Iran would mean the end of the Saudi royal family.
When the words of the Iraqi prime minister are linked back to the geopolitical and energy agreements in the region, then the worrying picture starts to emerge of a desperate US lashing out at a world turning its back on a unipolar world order in favor of the emerging multipolar about which I have long written.
The US, now considering itself a net energy exporter as a result of the shale-oil revolution (on which the jury is still out), no longer needs to import oil from the Middle East. However, this does not mean that oil can now be traded in any other currency other than the US dollar.
The petrodollar is what ensures that the US dollar retains its status as the global reserve currency, granting the US a monopolistic position from which it derives enormous benefits from playing the role of regional hegemon.
This privileged position of holding the global reserve currency also ensures that the US can easily fund its war machine by virtue of the fact that much of the world is obliged to buy its treasury bonds that it is simply able to conjure out of thin air. To threaten this comfortable arrangement is to threaten Washington’s global power.
Even so, the geopolitical and economic trend is inexorably towards a multipolar world order, with China increasingly playing a leading role, especially in the Middle East and South America.
Venezuela, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia together make up the overwhelming majority of oil and gas reserves in the world. The first three have an elevated relationship with Beijing and are very much in the multipolar camp, something that China and Russia are keen to further consolidate in order to ensure the future growth for the Eurasian supercontinent without war and conflict.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is pro-US but could gravitate towards the Sino-Russian camp both militarily and in terms of energy. The same process is going on with Iraq and Qatar thanks to Washington’s numerous strategic errors in the region starting from Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011 and Syria and Yemen in recent years.
The agreement between Iraq and China is a prime example of how Beijing intends to use the Iraq-Iran-Syria troika to revive the Middle East and and link it to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
While Doha and Riyadh would be the first to suffer economically from such an agreement, Beijing’s economic power is such that, with its win-win approach, there is room for everyone.
Saudi Arabia provides China with most of its oil and Qatar, together with the Russian Federation, supply China with most of its LNG needs, which lines up with Xi Jinping’s 2030 vision that aims to greatly reduce polluting emissions.
The US is absent in this picture, with little ability to influence events or offer any appealing economic alternatives.
Washington would like to prevent any Eurasian integration by unleashing chaos and destruction in the region, and killing Soleimani served this purpose. The US cannot contemplate the idea of the dollar losing its status as the global reserve currency. Trump is engaging in a desperate gamble that could have disastrous consequences.
The region, in a worst-case scenario, could be engulfed in a devastating war involving multiple countries. Oil refineries could be destroyed all across the region, a quarter of the world’s oil transit could be blocked, oil prices would skyrocket ($200-$300 a barrel) and dozens of countries would be plunged into a global financial crisis. The blame would be laid squarely at Trump’s feet, ending his chances for re-election.
To try and keep everyone in line, Washington is left to resort to terrorism, lies and unspecified threats of visiting destruction on friends and enemies alike.
Trump has evidently been convinced by someone that the US can do without the Middle East, that it can do without allies in the region, and that nobody would ever dare to sell oil in any other currency than the US dollar.
Soleimani’s death is the result of a convergence of US and Israeli interests. With no other way of halting Eurasian integration, Washington can only throw the region into chaos by targeting countries like Iran, Iraq and Syria that are central to the Eurasian project. While Israel has never had the ability or audacity to carry out such an assassination itself, the importance of the Israel Lobby to Trump’s electoral success would have influenced his decision, all the more so in an election year .
Trump believed his drone attack could solve all his problems by frightening his opponents, winning the support of his voters (by equating Soleimani’s assassination to Osama bin Laden’s), and sending a warning to Arab countries of the dangers of deepening their ties with China.
The assassination of Soleimani is the US lashing out at its steady loss of influence in the region. The Iraqi attempt to mediate a lasting peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been scuppered by the US and Israel’s determination to prevent peace in the region and instead increase chaos and instability.
Washington has not achieved its hegemonic status through a preference for diplomacy and calm dialogue, and Trump has no intention of departing from this approach.
Washington’s friends and enemies alike must acknowledge this reality and implement the countermeasures necessary to contain the madness.
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theduran--2020-01-09--Trump refuses war; onus on Iran to accept negotiations [Video]

President Trump spoke briefly on Wednesday morning , Washington D.C. time , appearing with an assortment of military leaders , the Vice President and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo .
The expression on the President ’ s face was serious , but his speech was far from the gloom and doom predicted ( and desired ) by much of the mainstream media outlets ( including Fox News ) , and of course , the military-industrial complex .
Trump offered a benediction of sorts to Iran and its leadership , wishing their success and wishing to help them in their success @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon .
President Trump delivered a stunning statement , clearly pointing at President Obama ’ s handling of the JCPoA deal as the source for the money that paid for the fifteen missiles that were fired last night at American and coalition bases in Iraq .
He did not allude to a theory that I hold , that others also hold – that Iranian missiles hit nothing of importance by design , in the same manner as Trump ’ s own airstrike against Syria in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this as possibly genius strategy here .
Speculation is that Iran did the same thing because they had to put on a show of power for their internal propaganda generators , but were apparently wise enough to not hazard an attack that would really bring down hell on their own country .
Still , Iran ’ s internal social media efforts are jumping today , showing Iran ’ s move as bold and determined to force the “ evil Americans ” out of the region .
My own limited contacts in Iran are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is probably to be expected .
What is kind of amusing and ironic is that nothing would be better for the US than to leave the region .
Iraq doesn ’ t want the US troops there , Iran surely doesn ’ t , and despite the common enemy of ISIS , which the US ( at least on Trump ’ s watch ) helped defeat and destroy , it appears that the Shi ’ ite government of Iraq and their new friends in Iran are united in wanting the American forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is fine !
The time has long since come and gone for the US to start doing smart foreign policy .
It is fair to say that foreign policy under Trump has been much different than before , but at the same time , there is still too much neo-con , war mongering influence .
Nevertheless , today ’ s speech was the most large-scale statement saying in a comprehensive manner that the US has no need to be involved in the Middle East .
The country ’ s energy independence means the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interests .
This statement should not be underestimated , though it certainly will be rebuked and belittled by many who say that this is just words , but that the US wants control over the oil producing regions of the Mideast .
However , it seems pretty clear that the US is willing to demonstrate this attitude in action , at least as the President sees it .
How he pulls this off despite his own government ’ s internal resistance will be interesting , but the premise he makes is accurate .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is very clear : The onus is on Iran .
The president stated that Iran appears to be “ standing down ” , ostensibly having made their “ statement ” in their missile attack .
But the stated wishes for a peaceful , prosperous and very successful Iran were the content of Mr. Trump ’ s attitude towards that country and its leaders , and they probably were expecting a far more hostile approach .
Now , those leaders , as well as all the Iranian people , have something to think about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of reinforced propaganda about Jewish oligarchy and power mongering , or will they come to realize that there is really no way they can win going the way they are going .
The same process also must take place with many other nations in the world , particularly Europe , and to the extent the Europe still wants to appeast Iran , Iran will try to force other nations to do exactly that .
President Trump ’ s speech was intended to change the positions of a lot of people on this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and see how well this change comes into effect , if it does at all .
The video below shows the entire speech .
It is rather brief .
Watch it and see what you think .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
President Trump spoke briefly on Wednesday morning, Washington D.C. time, appearing with an assortment of military leaders, the Vice President and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The expression on the President’s face was serious, but his speech was far from the gloom and doom predicted (and desired) by much of the mainstream media outlets (including Fox News), and of course, the military-industrial complex. Trump offered a benediction of sorts to Iran and its leadership, wishing their success and wishing to help them in their success, while standing absolutely firm on the point that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
President Trump delivered a stunning statement, clearly pointing at President Obama’s handling of the JCPoA deal as the source for the money that paid for the fifteen missiles that were fired last night at American and coalition bases in Iraq.
He did not allude to a theory that I hold, that others also hold – that Iranian missiles hit nothing of importance by design, in the same manner as Trump’s own airstrike against Syria in April of 2018. I wrote about this as possibly genius strategy here. Speculation is that Iran did the same thing because they had to put on a show of power for their internal propaganda generators, but were apparently wise enough to not hazard an attack that would really bring down hell on their own country.
Still, Iran’s internal social media efforts are jumping today, showing Iran’s move as bold and determined to force the “evil Americans” out of the region. My own limited contacts in Iran are fully on-board with this sentiment, but that is probably to be expected. What is kind of amusing and ironic is that nothing would be better for the US than to leave the region. Iraq doesn’t want the US troops there, Iran surely doesn’t, and despite the common enemy of ISIS, which the US (at least on Trump’s watch) helped defeat and destroy, it appears that the Shi’ite government of Iraq and their new friends in Iran are united in wanting the American forces out of the country.
And this is fine!
The time has long since come and gone for the US to start doing smart foreign policy. It is fair to say that foreign policy under Trump has been much different than before, but at the same time, there is still too much neo-con, war mongering influence. Nevertheless, today’s speech was the most large-scale statement saying in a comprehensive manner that the US has no need to be involved in the Middle East. The country’s energy independence means the region is no longer vital to American interests.
This statement should not be underestimated, though it certainly will be rebuked and belittled by many who say that this is just words, but that the US wants control over the oil producing regions of the Mideast. However, it seems pretty clear that the US is willing to demonstrate this attitude in action, at least as the President sees it. How he pulls this off despite his own government’s internal resistance will be interesting, but the premise he makes is accurate.
The outcome of today’s statement is very clear: The onus is on Iran. The president stated that Iran appears to be “standing down”, ostensibly having made their “statement” in their missile attack. But the stated wishes for a peaceful, prosperous and very successful Iran were the content of Mr. Trump’s attitude towards that country and its leaders, and they probably were expecting a far more hostile approach.
Now, those leaders, as well as all the Iranian people, have something to think about. Will they hold on to the years of reinforced propaganda about Jewish oligarchy and power mongering, or will they come to realize that there is really no way they can win going the way they are going. The same process also must take place with many other nations in the world, particularly Europe, and to the extent the Europe still wants to appeast Iran, Iran will try to force other nations to do exactly that.
President Trump’s speech was intended to change the positions of a lot of people on this issue. We will have to wait and see how well this change comes into effect, if it does at all.
The video below shows the entire speech. It is rather brief. Watch it and see what you think.
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theduran--2020-01-09--The cannabis lobby vs reality, Part I: The Decline of Youth

We have to hand it to NORML ( National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws ) and the globalists , led by George Soros and others of his ilk .
They have managed to make cannabis legal for medicinal purposes in 30 US states , and recreationally legal in eleven states plus the District of Columbia .
Not only that , the cannabis lobby has also managed to virtually quash any attempts by the medical , psychological and religious communites , not to mention plain ordinary American moms and dads who simply don ’ t think it is right for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the safety of their children .
In an earlier piece , linked here , I wrote about my observations of life in the United States , insofar as I observed it over the last three months in New York and in Colorado , two places I traveled to recently .
One very peculiar result of my writing about the problems that cannabis is causing a great number of residents in Colorado was an onslaught of comments that all said the same thing : “ Pot has never hurt anyone.
” / “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of smoking pot , ” and the most banal , “ this is Reefer Madness ( an old movie about marijuana ) being played over again in our times.
” The stunning thing about these comments was the utter lack of perspective the people offering them displayed .
For example , alcohol is widely regarded as dangerous , as are other mood-altering drugs such as cocaine , MDMA , speed , crack , heroin , other opioid derivatives and so on .
But somehow , cannibas sativa , a.k.a .
“ pot ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and so on , is , at least for these commenters , nothing short of a miraculous substance , perfectly safe to use , and not at all the cause for any problems , no traffic fatalities , and nothing else .
There is not one mention of broken families , broken homes , destitute people , homelessness , inability to function at work and a host of other problems .
Nope – cannabis is truly the wonder drug – it only does only good for people and nothing bad .
Ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say anything otherwise .
This is part of a normalization campaign , aided and abetted no doubt , by the fact that people who smoke cannabis ( and who know they ought not to ) , justify their actions because they think nothing is happening to them , therefore this stuff is okay for everyone , and indeed , no one should be prevented from having access to it .
Now , to be fair , some people do suggest age limits , like 21 , or even 18 , but these seem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ light of the fact that these ages do not actually signify anything significant regarding one ’ s ability to be responsible for themselves .
( We will explore this further in a subsequent piece . )
It is unlikely that everyone who makes such comments is actually active in an official pot normalization campaign , but it seems very likely that those using the drug and those unwilling to take a stand against it ( perhaps out of fear now , like many other issues in America ) , abet the agenda of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ usually can not tell if or when cannabis is causing them problems , and the high from the drug helps them think everything is wonderful , so they tend to think positively about it , and therefore , they promote its use .
People that stand by in silence are worn down by the pro-pot narrative to the point where , against their own better judgment , they too come to think that there really is no problem with this stuff .
This deduction is arrived at only partly from information , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when a person gets shouted at all the time .
They can either fight back and get mauled , or they can “ surrender on their own terms ” , keeping their real opinion to themselves , but by acting passively they silently help promote that which they disagree with .
We see this in other woke campaigns , such as that with LGBTQrstuvwzyz and the Trump / Russia / impeachment / whatever else narratives .
However , two recent pieces published in the Philadelphia Inquirer blow some significant holes in this tide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gives information about the forthcoming referendum in New Jersey this year to legalize recreational marijuana : Of note is that the New Jersey State Legislature is Democrat-led .
It usually has been Democrats that are given to causes like this .
However , not a small number of libertarians also support legalization , though their rhetoric is that “ people can be responsible for themselves ” and not have to have the government be a policeman or nagging mother for folks who ought to be able to do anything they want with their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t hurt anybody else.
” That stance would be okay were it true that pot doesn ’ t hurt anybody else ( or the one using it . )
This is where the other piece in the Inquirer weighs in ( emphasis added ) : And here come the cries .
“ Reefer Madness redux !
” “ Pot never hurt anyone !
” “ No one has ever died from pot !
” Except that these pre-programmed knee-jerkers probably didn ’ t read the piece at all , choosing instead to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ piece is actually quite specific about cases of people that ARE being hurt and worse ( again , emphasis added so the stoned pot smokers reading this far can get more stirred up ) : To that end , I can independently verify this claim of pot causing psychosis to a case I know personally .
I met a young man in Florida who is from a country outside the United States , moving there with his family in early childhood before he was a teenager .
While there he got introduced to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 14 ( which was also the common age of introduction to pot as long as thirty years ago ) .
Recently , this youth , now 28 , experienced , in his own words , a “ psychotic break ” while smoking “ weed ” every day , and he completely lost his mind .
While in this state , also considered by medical professionals involved as a “ schizophrenic break ” , he committed a felony , directed to it by the voices he was hearing in his head .
He is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a state of house arrest .
It is his own assessment that the marijuana smoking was chief factor that led him to do what he did .
No doubt the activists have either tuned out already ( perhaps they were too stoned to pay attention this far , one of the reasons I am keeping this piece on the long side . )
Whoever is left that is reading this – you are probably the people I need to reach .
The notion of “ leave this issue alone and it will go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maybe if it is legalized , people will actually use it less ” are both comforting thoughts but false ones .
Homelessness in Colorado appears to be declining overall , but the number of unsheltered homeless people in Colorado almost doubled in the period 2015-2018 .
These are the people who literally are living on the streets .
In San Francisco , the number of homeless people has risen something like 70-80 % since 2015 : While we must fairly say that other communities in the Bay Area registered both rises and drops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the overall trend seems to be increasing , and the centrality of San Francisco itself as the major population center in the region may be part of it .
The availability of free needles for IV drug use may be another .
No doubt you have already heard of the large scale of poverty , homeless people defecating on the sidewalks , needles to be found on the sidewalks and on the street , and Hazmat teams called to literally clean the cr*p up .
But what does pot have to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually .
I know something of the drug treatment centers , having been through one and having worked for it , as well as over 33 years of involvement in recovery groups .
There are a few basic natural ‘ laws ’ for how drug-use usually happens .
The principle I want to focus on is called progression .
Progression is the course that many drug users take during their using career .
In layman ’ s terms , there are two types of progression and both usually occur simultaneously .
The first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use , which for the addict , always increases , primarily around the person ’ s ‘ drug of choice ’ , simply put , that drug whose effects are preferred .
The second type of progression is an that of an increase in the variety or range of substances used , based on strength .
For example , most people start with pot or alcohol , and later the retinue grows to add more substances : speed , ups , downs , cocaine , crack cocaine and others .
The progression always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the stronger .
This is the place where a neat rhetorical loophole was created for pot , considering the substance a ‘ gateway drug.
’ The notion of ‘ gateway ’ was originally used for cigarettes , which , although truly physically addictive ( due to nicotine , a known fact ) , do not have the psychoactive components that mind-altering / mood altering drugs do , and that cannabis has in particular .
However , the term ‘ gateway drug ’ began to be used for pot , giving the impression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ controlled substances were .
As we have already seen , this is false reasoning .
Let us return from this necessary digression to the issue of progression : While the variety of drugs increases for most people and while they also exhibit cravings for their “ Drug of choice ” which is not always pot or alcohol , the use of these earlier substances usually remains .
This has been reported many times by people I helped in treatment , that when no cocaine was available , for example , that didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cocaine just didn ’ t get high .
They used anything they could , and owing to the great availability of pot when it was illegal , they got it .
Now it is legal in many places , so it is much easier to get , and far stronger than it was decades ago .
In a different piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer , we see this statistic from the Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA ) , with emphases added again : That is 20 % , folks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a far higher amount than I remember in my days working as a paracounselor .
While many of these people will escape actual addiction , a great many of them will not , and their problems will perpetuate throughout their life and the lives of those around them .
The researchers were strangely quick to caution that marijuana does not seem to cause mental illness , though given the context here , it appears that whoever said that was trying to avoid a lambasting from the normalization groups .
The Inquirer piece @ @

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
We have to hand it to NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws) and the globalists, led by George Soros and others of his ilk. They have managed to make cannabis legal for medicinal purposes in 30 US states, and recreationally legal in eleven states plus the District of Columbia. Not only that, the cannabis lobby has also managed to virtually quash any attempts by the medical, psychological and religious communites, not to mention plain ordinary American moms and dads who simply don’t think it is right for people to use drugs, for fear of the safety of their children.
In an earlier piece, linked here, I wrote about my observations of life in the United States, insofar as I observed it over the last three months in New York and in Colorado, two places I traveled to recently. One very peculiar result of my writing about the problems that cannabis is causing a great number of residents in Colorado was an onslaught of comments that all said the same thing: “Pot has never hurt anyone.” / “No one has ever been killed because of smoking pot,” and the most banal, “this is Reefer Madness (an old movie about marijuana) being played over again in our times.”
The stunning thing about these comments was the utter lack of perspective the people offering them displayed. For example, alcohol is widely regarded as dangerous, as are other mood-altering drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, speed, crack, heroin, other opioid derivatives and so on.
But somehow, cannibas sativa, a.k.a. “pot”, “weed”, “ganja” and so on, is, at least for these commenters, nothing short of a miraculous substance, perfectly safe to use, and not at all the cause for any problems, no traffic fatalities, and nothing else. There is not one mention of broken families, broken homes, destitute people, homelessness, inability to function at work and a host of other problems. Nope – cannabis is truly the wonder drug – it only does only good for people and nothing bad. Ever. And God help you if you say anything otherwise.
This is part of a normalization campaign, aided and abetted no doubt, by the fact that people who smoke cannabis (and who know they ought not to), justify their actions because they think nothing is happening to them, therefore this stuff is okay for everyone, and indeed, no one should be prevented from having access to it. Now, to be fair, some people do suggest age limits, like 21, or even 18, but these seem to be token offerings, especially in light of the fact that these ages do not actually signify anything significant regarding one’s ability to be responsible for themselves. (We will explore this further in a subsequent piece.)
It is unlikely that everyone who makes such comments is actually active in an official pot normalization campaign, but it seems very likely that those using the drug and those unwilling to take a stand against it (perhaps out of fear now, like many other issues in America), abet the agenda of the activists. People that use it usually cannot tell if or when cannabis is causing them problems, and the high from the drug helps them think everything is wonderful, so they tend to think positively about it, and therefore, they promote its use. People that stand by in silence are worn down by the pro-pot narrative to the point where, against their own better judgment, they too come to think that there really is no problem with this stuff. This deduction is arrived at only partly from information, the bigger effect seems to be what happens when a person gets shouted at all the time. They can either fight back and get mauled, or they can “surrender on their own terms”, keeping their real opinion to themselves, but by acting passively they silently help promote that which they disagree with. We see this in other woke campaigns, such as that with LGBTQrstuvwzyz and the Trump / Russia / impeachment / whatever else narratives.
However, two recent pieces published in the Philadelphia Inquirer blow some significant holes in this tide of nonsense.
The first one simply gives information about the forthcoming referendum in New Jersey this year to legalize recreational marijuana:
The Democratic-led Legislature passed a proposed ballot question by three-fifths majorities in both chambers, setting up a November 2020 vote on legalization of recreational marijuana. Voters will be asked whether to approve letting those 21 and older use the product. The measure would also subject cannabis to the state’s 6.625% sales tax and let towns tax the product as well. If approved, though, it’s unclear how quickly the product could be on shelves. That’s because legislators expect having to pass more legislation to regulate the drug.
Of note is that the New Jersey State Legislature is Democrat-led. It usually has been Democrats that are given to causes like this. However, not a small number of libertarians also support legalization, though their rhetoric is that “people can be responsible for themselves” and not have to have the government be a policeman or nagging mother for folks who ought to be able to do anything they want with their lives “as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else.”
That stance would be okay were it true that pot doesn’t hurt anybody else (or the one using it.) This is where the other piece in the Inquirer weighs in (emphasis added):
Not long ago when Joseph Garbely, chief medical officer for the Caron Foundation, reviewed younger patients starting drug or alcohol treatment on his unit, he usually saw people shaking, sick, and seizing from alcohol or opioid withdrawal. Marijuana was seldom what put them in those medical beds. That has changed. “A few years ago, it was rare to see a young person enter Caron with marijuana-induced psychosis,” said Garbely. “Now we see it on a regular basis. Older teens and young adults — approximately ages 18 to 26 — are the most impacted. We see a significant misperception about the safety and efficacy of marijuana among our teen and young-adult patient population.”
And here come the cries. “Reefer Madness redux!” “Pot never hurt anyone!” “No one has ever died from pot!”
Except that these pre-programmed knee-jerkers probably didn’t read the piece at all, choosing instead to attack it for its title. The piece is actually quite specific about cases of people that ARE being hurt and worse (again, emphasis added so the stoned pot smokers reading this far can get more stirred up):
While it was once doubted as an addictive substance, treatment professionals now say they are seeing more adolescents and young adults with cannabis use disorder. Often starting in their early teens, many graduate to daily use. “The majority of cases we see of substance use disorder are marijuana,” said Ned Campbell, medical director of Rehab After School, an intensive out-patient program for adolescents in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia area. In-patient admissions have increased, as well. At Caron, the number of patients who were admitted with a primary diagnosis of cannabis use disorder increased more than 22% from 2014 to 2019. In those five years, people admitted to treatment for marijuana addiction rose from more than 27% of Caron’s total admissions to nearly 40%. Independence Blue Cross, the region’s largest health insurer, has seen claims for cannabis use disorder treatment rise substantially. Between 2012 and 2018, there was a 180% increase in marijuana treatment claims. That included a 100% claim rise for patients ages 19 to 25. Claims for adolescents requiring treatment went up 25% during the same period. Terri L. Randall, medical director of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Substance Use Disorder Clinic, said it has become more common for young patients to experience such bad reactions as extreme anxiety and even detachment from reality from cannabis use — and continue using. “The fact that kids continue to use, even despite an adverse experience or unpleasant experience with marijuana, is really concerning to me,” Randall said. “Not only are they having difficult consequences of their use, but they also are finding themselves using more and are unable to control their use. That really is at the heart of the diagnosis of addiction.” The extremes aren’t only showing up in treatment offices. “We’re certainly seeing a lot more emergency department visits due to marijuana,” said Kevin Osterhoudt, medical director of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s poison control center. “We’re seeing more people with paranoid delusions. We’re seeing a lot more people with signs of acute psychosis.”
To that end, I can independently verify this claim of pot causing psychosis to a case I know personally. I met a young man in Florida who is from a country outside the United States, moving there with his family in early childhood before he was a teenager.
While there he got introduced to pot, at about the age of 14 (which was also the common age of introduction to pot as long as thirty years ago). Recently, this youth, now 28, experienced, in his own words, a “psychotic break” while smoking “weed” every day, and he completely lost his mind. While in this state, also considered by medical professionals involved as a “schizophrenic break”, he committed a felony, directed to it by the voices he was hearing in his head.
He is currently awaiting trial, and is in a state of house arrest. It is his own assessment that the marijuana smoking was chief factor that led him to do what he did.
No doubt the activists have either tuned out already (perhaps they were too stoned to pay attention this far, one of the reasons I am keeping this piece on the long side.) Whoever is left that is reading this – you are probably the people I need to reach.
The notion of “leave this issue alone and it will go away”, or its corollary “maybe if it is legalized, people will actually use it less” are both comforting thoughts but false ones. Homelessness in Colorado appears to be declining overall, but the number of unsheltered homeless people in Colorado almost doubled in the period 2015-2018. These are the people who literally are living on the streets. In San Francisco, the number of homeless people has risen something like 70-80% since 2015:
While we must fairly say that other communities in the Bay Area registered both rises and drops in each of their own homeless populations, the overall trend seems to be increasing, and the centrality of San Francisco itself as the major population center in the region may be part of it. The availability of free needles for IV drug use may be another.
No doubt you have already heard of the large scale of poverty, homeless people defecating on the sidewalks, needles to be found on the sidewalks and on the street, and Hazmat teams called to literally clean the cr*p up.
But what does pot have to do with people shooting up?
Plenty, actually. I know something of the drug treatment centers, having been through one and having worked for it, as well as over 33 years of involvement in recovery groups. There are a few basic natural ‘laws’ for how drug-use usually happens. The principle I want to focus on is called progression.
Progression is the course that many drug users take during their using career. In layman’s terms, there are two types of progression and both usually occur simultaneously. The first is progression in terms of requency of use, which for the addict, always increases, primarily around the person’s ‘drug of choice’, simply put, that drug whose effects are preferred. The second type of progression is an that of an increase in the variety or range of substances used, based on strength. For example, most people start with pot or alcohol, and later the retinue grows to add more substances: speed, ups, downs, cocaine, crack cocaine and others. The progression always moves from the ‘weaker’ drug to the stronger.
This is the place where a neat rhetorical loophole was created for pot, considering the substance a ‘gateway drug.’ The notion of ‘gateway’ was originally used for cigarettes, which, although truly physically addictive (due to nicotine, a known fact), do not have the psychoactive components that mind-altering / mood altering drugs do, and that cannabis has in particular. However, the term ‘gateway drug’ began to be used for pot, giving the impression that pot itself is harmless but other controlled substances were. As we have already seen, this is false reasoning. Let us return from this necessary digression to the issue of progression:
While the variety of drugs increases for most people and while they also exhibit cravings for their “Drug of choice” which is not always pot or alcohol, the use of these earlier substances usually remains. This has been reported many times by people I helped in treatment, that when no cocaine was available, for example, that didn’t mean the the person who preferred cocaine just didn’t get high. They used anything they could, and owing to the great availability of pot when it was illegal, they got it. Now it is legal in many places, so it is much easier to get, and far stronger than it was decades ago.
In a different piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer, we see this statistic from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), with emphases added again:
About one in five young adults in the United States uses marijuana, and that could be contributing to the high rates of depression and suicide in that group, a new study suggests.
The research, published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry, reviewed data from nearly a dozen studies that included more than 23,000 people. It found that marijuana use in adolescence is linked with an increased risk of depression, as well as suicidal thoughts and attempts, before age 32.
That is 20%, folks. That is a lot of using youths, a far higher amount than I remember in my days working as a paracounselor. While many of these people will escape actual addiction, a great many of them will not, and their problems will perpetuate throughout their life and the lives of those around them.
The researchers were strangely quick to caution that marijuana does not seem to cause mental illness, though given the context here, it appears that whoever said that was trying to avoid a lambasting from the normalization groups. The Inquirer piece continues:
“But if you put everything together — animal studies, brain imaging studies, these types of meta-analyses where you study association — we have an indication at least that adolescents should be aware not to smoke cannabis,” said Gabriella Gobbi, a coauthor of the study and professor of psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal. …Recognizing that youths with depression often self-medicate with marijuana, the researchers only included longitudinal studies in which children weren’t depressed or suicidal at the start. Longitudinal studies follow participants over time and collect data every few years. They’re considered reliable measures of change because of the consistent follow-up. “Given these restrictive characteristics, we have confidence that the data is quite good,” Gobbi said. “Not perfect, but good.” The researchers concluded that about 400,000 cases of adolescent depression in the U.S. are potentially attributable to marijuana. “Cannabis is a serious public health concern,” they wrote. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates 3.1 million adolescents experience at least one major depressive episode per year. So, against all the “nothing is wrong with pot, man” claims we have the National Institute of Mental Health, McGill University, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Poison Control Center of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as their Substance Abuse Clinic, the Caron Foundation and more, plus my own witness described above. It would appear that a great many people have been successfully “had” by a narrative that cares nothing for facts or people, but only about the pot lobby’s perceived “right” to do whatever they wish with their lives, with nary a thought of the impacts on others. That radical selfishness is poisoning our youth, and this is made very clear by what we have see above. In the next piece we will explore the questions for “responsible adults” who use this, and we will even explore the intrusion of cannabis use as normal as viewed through Americans who otherwise confess Christianity, and we will show that there is simply no place for this sort of thing if one wants to be a Christian. No doubt that will irritate many readers, but, oh well. Sometimes the truth hurts. If it isn’t told, then more people will actually be hurt. So we intend to simply tell the truth. After all, the truth is what truly sets us free.
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theduran--2020-01-09--As Iranian Tension Escalated Look What We Did for Pakistan

https : //www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/us-to-resume-military-training-for-pak-but-keeps-security-assistance-on-hold/story-4ijGtugegJRWA6J0ubrgpK.html jezail.org – 1/8/20 – Back to the old game .
After a twenty year track record of treachery and deceit , what does our leadership move to do ?
Yup , go right back to feeding the Pakistani Army and being so bold as to go right past the civilian government like wasn ’ t even there .
Looks like all those photo ops with Imran Khan didn ’ t amount to anything .
As the tension was building with Iran over the Soleimani assassination , Alice Wells at STATE steps forward and announces the resumption of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again .
No one seems to have noticed as the drama in Iraq was unfolding which seems to have amounted to nothing .
Accident of timing ?
Not bloody likely .
In addition to resuming military training ( IMET ) for Pakistan , America had resumed , in July , giving Pakistan technical assistance for it ’ s F16 ’ s at $ 125 million .
When Reuters contacted responsible Congressional oversight offices about this , their calls were never returned .
In the mean time , they have the nerve to rush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charade going .Jezail.org poses the following question : How many US military deaths was Soleimani responsible for and how many are our “ frenemies ” in Pakistan through their unyielding support for the Taliban and the rest of the Islamic looney tune zoo ?
When you get that worked out , please explain why we had to immediately assassinate one man from Iran but we go right on feeding hundreds of billions of US dollars to Pakistan .
Ever get the feeling you ’ re being had ?
It never ends :

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/us-to-resume-military-training-for-pak-but-keeps-security-assistance-on-hold/story-4ijGtugegJRWA6J0ubrgpK.html
jezail.org – 1/8/20 – Back to the old game. After a twenty year track record of treachery and deceit, what does our leadership move to do? Yup, go right back to feeding the Pakistani Army and being so bold as to go right past the civilian government like wasn’t even there. Looks like all those photo ops with Imran Khan didn’t amount to anything. As the tension was building with Iran over the Soleimani assassination, Alice Wells at STATE steps forward and announces the resumption of military training for Pakistani Army officers – again. No one seems to have noticed as the drama in Iraq was unfolding which seems to have amounted to nothing. Accident of timing? Not bloody likely. In addition to resuming military training (IMET) for Pakistan, America had resumed, in July, giving Pakistan technical assistance for it’s F16’s at $125 million. When Reuters contacted responsible Congressional oversight offices about this, their calls were never returned. In the mean time, they have the nerve to rush to the microphones to keep the impeachment charade going .Jezail.org poses the following question: How many US military deaths was Soleimani responsible for and how many are our “frenemies” in Pakistan through their unyielding support for the Taliban and the rest of the Islamic looney tune zoo? When you get that worked out, please explain why we had to immediately assassinate one man from Iran but we go right on feeding hundreds of billions of US dollars to Pakistan. Ever get the feeling you’re being had? It never ends:
jezail.org
Buy now
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theduran--2020-01-09--2019 Was the Year the Truth no Longer Mattered

Submitted by InfoBrics , authored by Johanna Ross , journalist based in Edinburgh , Scotland… New Year happens to be one of these rare moments in the news business when we pause to reflect on the greater context of the endless stories spouted out on a daily basis by an ever-growing variety of media platforms .
And 2019 was one year which deserves more than a moment ’ s reflection .
For it was an iconic year that saw more than ever the label ‘ post-truth era ’ used to describe the time in which we are living .
Nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former Wikileaks editor Julian Assange , a man incarcerated for years inside the Ecuadorian embassy – his only crime to have published footage and documents exposing unlawful killings and torture committed by the US military .
The collusion between the governments of Ecuador , the UK , and the US in orchestrating his illegal arrest – given his right to Asylum – really shines light on the gaping holes in western democracy .
When journalism is attacked in this way , we should all be concerned .
As we speak , Assange is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secure prison , Belmarsh , along with some of the country ’ s most notorious criminals .
His treatment has been condemned by the UN as his basic human rights are continually being violated .
This , I repeat , a man , whose only crime was to expose the crimes of others .
But where are the mainstream journalists leaping to his defence ?
2019 had started with another story which received little or no coverage in the mainstream press however ; that of the UK ’ s Integrity Initiative scheme .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on journalists working in the UK at present , with the revelation that the British government was funding a covert propaganda campaign against Russia , involving journalists and academics across the globe .
It highlighted that many of the anti-Russian articles and media appearances in the mainstream media were in fact ordered and paid for , in part , by the UK Foreign Office .
The exposure of the leaked documents detailing this initiative ruffled more than a few establishment feathers , to the extent that my photograph , along with my colleagues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of a targeted smear story aimed at counteracting what was none other than basic fact .
Once again , journalists had crossed the line in terms of revealing the truth about what the powers that be , are up to .
The mainstream media plays a fundamental role in this era of post-truth , as was never more apparent in the way it aided and abetted the government this year in its strategy to undermine the opposition led by Jeremy Corbyn prior to the election .
In much the same way as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a socialist government from coming to power in 1924 , the media has led a concerted campaign to accuse the Labour leader and his party of anti-semitism , incredibly without providing a shred of evidence .
But the hammering home of the message that Corbyn was anti-semitic paid off for his opponents ; it coloured the December election campaign and was one of the main questions put to Labour MPs in countless negative interviews .
Many prominent Jews spoke out against Labour ’ s unfair treatment , as did the Jewish Voice for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fell on deaf ears .
Not surprising , according to Professor David Miller at the University of Bristol , whom I interviewed back in July 2019 and for whom this catalogue of smears against Corbyn was clear evidence of establishment bias .
As a result the effective nature of the campaign , Corbyn ’ s radical policies to improve people ’ s lives , didn ’ t get a look in .
And despite the fact that Boris Johnson ’ s government was also facing allegations of Islamophobia , this received no real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and his team , led by close advisor Dominic Cummings , know exactly how to play the media .
Cummings , one of the key individuals behind Brexit , led a successful campaign for Britain to leave the EU back in 2016 .
Recently he helped Johnson to win the December general election also , with his catchy ‘ Get Brexit Done ’ slogan .
But such victories have not been without their fare share of lies .
Award-winning journalist Peter Oborne has researched the nature of the relationship between No.10 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , accusing British journalists of becoming part of the Prime Minister ’ s ‘ fake news machine ’ .
He has charged the mainstream media , from The Times to the BBC , of ‘ peddling Downing Street ’ s lies and smears ’ and even runs a website entitled ‘ The lies , falsehoods and misrepresentations of the Boris Johnson government ’ .
And Oborne himself is not even a socialist .
He just believes in the truth .
2019 showed that never before has the survival of independent media been so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media , then the truth itself is at stake .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by InfoBrics, authored by Johanna Ross, journalist based in Edinburgh, Scotland…
New Year happens to be one of these rare moments in the news business when we pause to reflect on the greater context of the endless stories spouted out on a daily basis by an ever-growing variety of media platforms. And 2019 was one year which deserves more than a moment’s reflection. For it was an iconic year that saw more than ever the label ‘post-truth era’ used to describe the time in which we are living.
Nothing signified this more than the arrest of former Wikileaks editor Julian Assange, a man incarcerated for years inside the Ecuadorian embassy – his only crime to have published footage and documents exposing unlawful killings and torture committed by the US military. The collusion between the governments of Ecuador, the UK, and the US in orchestrating his illegal arrest – given his right to Asylum – really shines light on the gaping holes in western democracy. When journalism is attacked in this way, we should all be concerned. As we speak, Assange is slowly dying in Britain’s most secure prison, Belmarsh, along with some of the country’s most notorious criminals. His treatment has been condemned by the UN as his basic human rights are continually being violated. This, I repeat, a man, whose only crime was to expose the crimes of others. But where are the mainstream journalists leaping to his defence?
2019 had started with another story which received little or no coverage in the mainstream press however; that of the UK’s Integrity Initiative scheme. This story clearly demonstrated the restrictions posed on journalists working in the UK at present, with the revelation that the British government was funding a covert propaganda campaign against Russia, involving journalists and academics across the globe. It highlighted that many of the anti-Russian articles and media appearances in the mainstream media were in fact ordered and paid for, in part, by the UK Foreign Office. The exposure of the leaked documents detailing this initiative ruffled more than a few establishment feathers, to the extent that my photograph, along with my colleagues’ was printed in The Times as part of a targeted smear story aimed at counteracting what was none other than basic fact. Once again, journalists had crossed the line in terms of revealing the truth about what the powers that be, are up to.
The mainstream media plays a fundamental role in this era of post-truth, as was never more apparent in the way it aided and abetted the government this year in its strategy to undermine the opposition led by Jeremy Corbyn prior to the election. In much the same way as the Zinoviev letter was used to prevent a socialist government from coming to power in 1924, the media has led a concerted campaign to accuse the Labour leader and his party of anti-semitism, incredibly without providing a shred of evidence. But the hammering home of the message that Corbyn was anti-semitic paid off for his opponents; it coloured the December election campaign and was one of the main questions put to Labour MPs in countless negative interviews. Many prominent Jews spoke out against Labour’s unfair treatment, as did the Jewish Voice for Labour movement. Sadly, their pleas fell on deaf ears. Not surprising, according to Professor David Miller at the University of Bristol, whom I interviewed back in July 2019 and for whom this catalogue of smears against Corbyn was clear evidence of establishment bias.
As a result the effective nature of the campaign, Corbyn’s radical policies to improve people’s lives, didn’t get a look in. And despite the fact that Boris Johnson’s government was also facing allegations of Islamophobia, this received no real traction in the press. But Johnson, and his team, led by close advisor Dominic Cummings, know exactly how to play the media. Cummings, one of the key individuals behind Brexit, led a successful campaign for Britain to leave the EU back in 2016. Recently he helped Johnson to win the December general election also, with his catchy ‘Get Brexit Done’ slogan. But such victories have not been without their fare share of lies. Award-winning journalist Peter Oborne has researched the nature of the relationship between No.10 and the media since Johnson came to power, accusing British journalists of becoming part of the Prime Minister’s ‘fake news machine’. He has charged the mainstream media, from The Times to the BBC, of ‘peddling Downing Street’s lies and smears’ and even runs a website entitled ‘The lies, falsehoods and misrepresentations of the Boris Johnson government’. And Oborne himself is not even a socialist. He just believes in the truth.
2019 showed that never before has the survival of independent media been so important. If we have no objective media, then the truth itself is at stake.
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