veteranstoday--2020-09-22--Iran’s victims of terrorism have become messengers for world peace

Mansournejad : It is wrong to think that the actions of ISIS and Taliban are related to Islam …from the Assoc .
of Defending Victioms of Terrorism ( ADVT ) [ Editor ’ s Note : ADVT has dedicated itself to building an international organization for the families of all terror victims to represent their lost members without any geopolitical or religious dogma influence .
They were wise in learning after many years that any effort that could be viewed as part of a political effort would be doomed , and that it must be a people to people effort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hurdle that the worldwide Covid pandemic has confronted us with , but the Iranians are moving ahead , as they see no other alternative to change the cruel dynamic we all live under , the scourge of state sponsored terrorism using proxy terror groups .
The US has dug out of its Cold War closet its long experience at doing exactly this , brushing the cobwebs off the Jihadi movement it created with the help of Saudi Arabia to turn the Soviet Afghan war into the Soviets ’ Vietnam .
VT ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in that war and saw it all , ending up in a diplomatic position there at the end , so VT has the whole story on that sad affair from a long time eyewitness participant .
Many question why Iran ’ s victims refuse to be silent , or not just go away , or move on with their lives .
I will share with you an American version of why from our own civil war .
I learned some of the details during my years as a member of the Sons of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mother ’ s family .
A large Yankee patrol had cornered a Confederate rebel in a rocky area , and they had been taking shots at each other all day , having a lot of ammo .
As dusk fell the Yankee officer called out , “ Hey Johnny Reb , how come you are fighting so hard when you know you can ’ t get away ?
” His response was , “ Because ‘ you-uns ’ is down here , that ’ s why ” , which was a very good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have an analogous situation .
They understand that honoring their own victims of terrorism lies on the path of honoring all victims of terrorism , so that the governments that sponsor the proxy terrorists can not continue with the free ride they have had , as they used the scourge to their political advantage…Jim W. Dean ] Jim 's Editor ’ s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal Jim 's work includes research , field trips , Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more .
Thanks for helping .
Click to donate > > @ @ @ @ @ @ @ webinar was held attended by families of martyrs of terrorism and university professors .
At the beginning of the meeting , Ms. Karami , chairwoman of Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism commemorated the International Day of Peace and said when there is continuous violence and threats in the society .
The foundation of peace is affected and the society suffer irreparable mental and physical damages , so the victims of terrorism are the best messengers of peace .
In another part of the meeting , Ms. Zohreh Haghpanahi , survivor of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tavassoli , said that peace will not be achieved unless all the victims unite and take action in the fight against terrorism .
“ Journalists must help us and spread the truth and make the victims heard , ” she said .
Then , Dr. Mohammad Mansournejad , a university professor of theology , at the beginning of his speech said that in examining revelatory and non-revelatory religions , three levels of analysis should be considered : religious text , religious understanding and religious practice .
Now the question is whether the actions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the texts .
No , they are not .
The action of the followers is different from the text .
There is no harmony between the texts and the teachings and followers of the religions all over the world .
He went on to say that it is wrong to think that the actions of ISIS and Taliban are related to Islam .
The practice of all followers of religions does not necessarily correspond to the text of religions .
The secretary of the Religious Studies and Peace Committee of the Scientific Association @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that today the world has a problem with the issue of peace .
This dilemma has nothing to do with Islam .
Secular thought is taking power in the world , and violent and belligerent movements are taking power as well , and that is the problem of global peace .
“ The world today needs a culture of peace , ” he said .
“ We need to practice .
The minimum of peace is that there should be no war , and the maximum of peace is positive , and everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ From this viewpoint , religious people have peaceful narratives of religion and religious culture can help the world create a positive peace .
In another part of the meeting , Mr. Azim Beik made some points about peace and the religion of Islam .
The theologian stated that Islam is the religion of peace , and from the perspective of Quran , as the constitution of Islam , forgiveness has always been recommended , and in verse 85 of Surah Al-Hijr , it says , “ Forgive with greatness and beauty.
” Another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Surah Ma ’ idah , which says that if someone kills a person for no reason , it is as if he has killed all of humanity .
Saadi ’ s famous poem that human beings are members of one body is also taken from the same verse and shows that one person is worth as much as all of humanity .
It may be said that the rulings in Islam are against infidels , while the logic of Quran is to distinguish between military and non-military infidels , and non-military infidels have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And Quran instructs us that if a military infidel seeks peace , you should also make peace with him , and these cases show that the logic of Islam is the logic of peace .
Dr. Alexander Azadgan , a university professor from California , was the next speaker at the meeting .
“ I believe there is a model of unipolarity in the world now , and that is a problem .
We are still in the era of unipolarity and have not reached the world of multipolarity ” , he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then he pointed out six important factors in today ’ s world .
Senior expert of the Katehon think tank believes that the first factor is equal rights and mutual respect .
The second is the non-intervention in the sovereignty of states , which is not limited to interfering in the Iran ’ s affairs .
Other countries such as India are also under pressure from foreign countries .
The third is the non-aggressive way of thinking , which is the first option of war in the aggressive approach , while UN law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war as a violation of international regulations .
He added that since 2003 , international law has been weakened by a lie told by George W. Bush , who attacked Iraq , one of the strongest Arab states .
Dr. Alexander Azadgan continued “ The fourth case is the rapid move towards democratization of international relations , while international relations are now controlled by the states of the Security Council , which are the largest producers of weapons in the world , and this is strange , and unfortunately the war continues because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We need to democratize the Security Council process , and this power should be possessed by just five countries ” .
The university professor in political economy said that the fifth factor is to address peace and all-round security , which means that in order to have peace , all countries of the world must move towards peace and tranquility , and finally the sixth factor , according to Dr. Azadgan is calling upon international community to create a new concept of security based on three elements of mutual trust , mutual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Azadgan stated that “ We can not make peace unless we make peace within ourselves .
We must achieve inner peace in order to achieve world peace .
He was asked if we were incapable of making sustainable peace and he replied “ Yes , as long as we fail to make peace on the basis of factors such as tackling poverty , lies , unemployment , reaction and short-sightedness , narcissism and self-centeredness in politics , and finally unculturedness in areas such as employment , sustainable peace will not be achieved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there is an unjust peace , he said “ Yes , there is .
Like the pact that the West signed with Hitler and one of the main reasons for unjust peace is emotional optimism instead of rational optimism .
Pointing out the role of victims of terrorism in making peace “ The first measure that the families of the victims of terrorism should take is to reveal the reality of the systems of terrorist organizations such as the Hypocrites ( MEK ) , ” said the political analyst at American universities .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fact that they were complicit with Saddam .
The second measure is to know those who support the Hypocrite organization .
Currently , the Zionists and Mossad are the sponsors of the Hypocrite organization and they are the tools of Mossad ’ s assassination in Iran .
Recognizing the enemies is very important .
After that , the injuries of the victims of terrorism must be addressed continuously .
In the end , he pointed out the importance of cyberspace and said we must have an effective presence in cyberspace .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be made between the Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism and the American Churches to establish a link between the civil society and the world of Western Christians , because unfortunately Muslims have been recognized as violent people by Zionists and Evangelical Christians .
“ We have to try to get rid of this image , ” he said .
We must save Islam from Zionist Judaism minds of the American audience .
We need to link to people and be up to date in cyberspace and influence the audience .
Those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the victims in order to change the image and perception of Iran and Iranians and the victims in general .
In the end of the meeting , Ms. Elham Jalizavi , daughter of the martyr teacher of Ahvaz read the message “ Victims of Terrorism as the Messengers of Peace ” .

Mansournejad: It is wrong to think that the actions of ISIS and Taliban are related to Islam
…from the Assoc. of Defending Victioms of Terrorism (ADVT)
[ Editor’s Note: ADVT has dedicated itself to building an international organization for the families of all terror victims to represent their lost members without any geopolitical or religious dogma influence.
They were wise in learning after many years that any effort that could be viewed as part of a political effort would be doomed, and that it must be a people to people effort.
That process has faced the major hurdle that the worldwide Covid pandemic has confronted us with, but the Iranians are moving ahead, as they see no other alternative to change the cruel dynamic we all live under, the scourge of state sponsored terrorism using proxy terror groups.
The US has dug out of its Cold War closet its long experience at doing exactly this, brushing the cobwebs off the Jihadi movement it created with the help of Saudi Arabia to turn the Soviet Afghan war into the Soviets’ Vietnam.
VT’s own Gene Khruschev was an airborne commander in that war and saw it all, ending up in a diplomatic position there at the end, so VT has the whole story on that sad affair from a long time eyewitness participant.
Many question why Iran’s victims refuse to be silent, or not just go away, or move on with their lives. I will share with you an American version of why from our own civil war. I learned some of the details during my years as a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who were from my mother’s family.
A large Yankee patrol had cornered a Confederate rebel in a rocky area, and they had been taking shots at each other all day, having a lot of ammo.
As dusk fell the Yankee officer called out, “Hey Johnny Reb, how come you are fighting so hard when you know you can’t get away?” His response was, “Because ‘you-uns’ is down here, that’s why”, which was a very good answer.
Iran’s terror victims have an analogous situation. They understand that honoring their own victims of terrorism lies on the path of honoring all victims of terrorism, so that the governments that sponsor the proxy terrorists cannot continue with the free ride they have had, as they used the scourge to their political advantage…Jim W. Dean ]
Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal
Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >>
– First published … September 22, 2020 –
Our recent “Messengers of Peace” webinar was held attended by families of martyrs of terrorism and university professors.
At the beginning of the meeting, Ms. Karami, chairwoman of Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism commemorated the International Day of Peace and said when there is continuous violence and threats in the society. The foundation of peace is affected and the society suffer irreparable mental and physical damages, so the victims of terrorism are the best messengers of peace.
In another part of the meeting, Ms. Zohreh Haghpanahi, survivor of a terrorist attack and wife of martyr Mohammad Tavassoli, said that peace will not be achieved unless all the victims unite and take action in the fight against terrorism. “Journalists must help us and spread the truth and make the victims heard,” she said.
Then, Dr. Mohammad Mansournejad, a university professor of theology, at the beginning of his speech said that in examining revelatory and non-revelatory religions, three levels of analysis should be considered: religious text, religious understanding and religious practice. Now the question is whether the actions of the followers are in accordance with the texts.
No, they are not. The action of the followers is different from the text. There is no harmony between the texts and the teachings and followers of the religions all over the world. He went on to say that it is wrong to think that the actions of ISIS and Taliban are related to Islam. The practice of all followers of religions does not necessarily correspond to the text of religions.
The secretary of the Religious Studies and Peace Committee of the Scientific Association for Peace Studies of Iran further said that today the world has a problem with the issue of peace. This dilemma has nothing to do with Islam. Secular thought is taking power in the world, and violent and belligerent movements are taking power as well, and that is the problem of global peace.
“The world today needs a culture of peace,” he said. “We need to practice. The minimum of peace is that there should be no war, and the maximum of peace is positive, and everyone should help,” he continued. From this viewpoint, religious people have peaceful narratives of religion and religious culture can help the world create a positive peace.
In another part of the meeting, Mr. Azim Beik made some points about peace and the religion of Islam. The theologian stated that Islam is the religion of peace, and from the perspective of Quran, as the constitution of Islam, forgiveness has always been recommended, and in verse 85 of Surah Al-Hijr, it says, “Forgive with greatness and beauty.”
Another criterion in Quran is verse 32 of Surah Ma’idah, which says that if someone kills a person for no reason, it is as if he has killed all of humanity. Saadi’s famous poem that human beings are members of one body is also taken from the same verse and shows that one person is worth as much as all of humanity.
It may be said that the rulings in Islam are against infidels, while the logic of Quran is to distinguish between military and non-military infidels, and non-military infidels have the same honorable rights as Muslims. And Quran instructs us that if a military infidel seeks peace, you should also make peace with him, and these cases show that the logic of Islam is the logic of peace.
Dr. Alexander Azadgan, a university professor from California, was the next speaker at the meeting. “I believe there is a model of unipolarity in the world now, and that is a problem. We are still in the era of unipolarity and have not reached the world of multipolarity”, he said at the beginning of his speech. Then he pointed out six important factors in today’s world.
Senior expert of the Katehon think tank believes that the first factor is equal rights and mutual respect. The second is the non-intervention in the sovereignty of states, which is not limited to interfering in the Iran’s affairs. Other countries such as India are also under pressure from foreign countries.
The third is the non-aggressive way of thinking, which is the first option of war in the aggressive approach, while UN law considers the threat of other countries to war as a violation of international regulations. He added that since 2003, international law has been weakened by a lie told by George W. Bush, who attacked Iraq, one of the strongest Arab states.
Dr. Alexander Azadgan continued “The fourth case is the rapid move towards democratization of international relations, while international relations are now controlled by the states of the Security Council, which are the largest producers of weapons in the world, and this is strange, and unfortunately the war continues because of this issue.”
He said, “We need to democratize the Security Council process, and this power should be possessed by just five countries”.
The university professor in political economy said that the fifth factor is to address peace and all-round security, which means that in order to have peace, all countries of the world must move towards peace and tranquility, and finally the sixth factor, according to Dr. Azadgan is calling upon international community to create a new concept of security based on three elements of mutual trust, mutual benefit, and equality and interaction.
Mr. Azadgan stated that “We cannot make peace unless we make peace within ourselves. We must achieve inner peace in order to achieve world peace. He was asked if we were incapable of making sustainable peace and he replied “Yes, as long as we fail to make peace on the basis of factors such as tackling poverty, lies, unemployment, reaction and short-sightedness, narcissism and self-centeredness in politics, and finally unculturedness in areas such as employment, sustainable peace will not be achieved.
In response to the question whether there is an unjust peace, he said “Yes, there is. Like the pact that the West signed with Hitler and one of the main reasons for unjust peace is emotional optimism instead of rational optimism.
Pointing out the role of victims of terrorism in making peace “The first measure that the families of the victims of terrorism should take is to reveal the reality of the systems of terrorist organizations such as the Hypocrites (MEK),” said the political analyst at American universities.
The Iranian people are completely aware of the fact that they were complicit with Saddam. The second measure is to know those who support the Hypocrite organization.
Currently, the Zionists and Mossad are the sponsors of the Hypocrite organization and they are the tools of Mossad’s assassination in Iran. Recognizing the enemies is very important. After that, the injuries of the victims of terrorism must be addressed continuously. In the end, he pointed out the importance of cyberspace and said we must have an effective presence in cyberspace.
In the end, he hoped that arrangements would be made between the Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism and the American Churches to establish a link between the civil society and the world of Western Christians, because unfortunately Muslims have been recognized as violent people by Zionists and Evangelical Christians.
“We have to try to get rid of this image,” he said. We must save Islam from Zionist Judaism minds of the American audience. We need to link to people and be up to date in cyberspace and influence the audience. Those who have been injured should give voice to the victims in order to change the image and perception of Iran and Iranians and the victims in general.
In the end of the meeting, Ms. Elham Jalizavi, daughter of the martyr teacher of Ahvaz read the message “Victims of Terrorism as the Messengers of Peace”.


veteranstoday--2020-09-22--Official Number crosses 200k threshhold with 205k probable and 300k likely with honest reporting

VT : The official number is 204,878 .
4.54 % of those who test positive die , a number that is holding up well .
This means those who were “ easy pickings ” are gone and of the general population who aren ’ t significantly compromised , a broad culling of over 4 percent of those who test positive are certain to die with a similar number , always much younger , suffering longterm or permanent disability .
The total is just under 10 % of all positive tests , dead and disabled .
What is being kept secret @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
NY Times : The staggering toll comes as the pandemic spreads to places that had been spared early on .
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VT: The official number is 204,878. 4.54% of those who test positive die, a number that is holding up well.
This means those who were “easy pickings” are gone and of the general population who aren’t significantly compromised, a broad culling of over 4 percent of those who test positive are certain to die with a similar number, always much younger, suffering longterm or permanent disability.
The total is just under 10% of all positive tests, dead and disabled.


veteranstoday--2020-09-22--Covert Cash: Saudis and Other US Enemies buying American universities, so far beyond just propaganda

VT : The single biggest violator , Israel , is totally left out of this film While COVID-19 has disrupted many of the routines of normal life , many high school students will be returning to find the same college admissions milestones placed in front of them , with the due date for Early Decision/Early Action applications ranging from November 1st to November 15th , as per normal .
Before applying , however , students might want to watch a new film produced by the Clarion Project , Covert Cash which provides stunning information that might not be readily available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funding that has gone into shaping the education offered by our nation ’ s top universities .
Last spring , many newspapers reported on the arrest of Charles Lieber , the former head of Harvard ’ s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department , for giving false information about the Thousand Talents Program , an alleged scheme by the Chinese government to recruit the world ’ s top scientific minds for their own profit and espionage .
The New York Post recently reported on the failure on the part of various top universities in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receive from foreign government and world powers .
Foreign Funding discusses which countries are not only paying American Universities to spread positively-spun misinformation about their governments , but also exposes which countries are stealing leading scientific research from American scholars .
American Universities are becoming positive public-relations representatives of oppressive regimes like the Chinese and Saudi Governments because of the large amounts of funding they receive from them .
The Clarion Project is a foundation whose main endeavor is to eradicate extremist ideology from all sources , including White Supremacism , Islamic Extremism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as their Shillman Fellow and National Security Analyst .
He can discuss the Clarion Project ’ s film Covert Cash , and how it shines a light on collusion between our top universities and foreign governments .
Ryan is based in Florida but can be interviewed over skype , telephone , or from the studio in his own home .
Please find a link to the movie online here .

VT: The single biggest violator, Israel, is totally left out of this film
While COVID-19 has disrupted many of the routines of normal life, many high school students will be returning to find the same college admissions milestones placed in front of them, with the due date for Early Decision/Early Action applications ranging from November 1st to November 15th, as per normal.
Before applying, however, students might want to watch a new film produced by the Clarion Project, Covert Cash which provides stunning information that might not be readily available to the American public about the foreign funding that has gone into shaping the education offered by our nation’s top universities.
Last spring, many newspapers reported on the arrest of Charles Lieber, the former head of Harvard’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, for giving false information about the Thousand Talents Program, an alleged scheme by the Chinese government to recruit the world’s top scientific minds for their own profit and espionage.
The New York Post recently reported on the failure on the part of various top universities in the US to report the funding they receive from foreign government and world powers. Foreign Funding discusses which countries are not only paying American Universities to spread positively-spun misinformation about their governments, but also exposes which countries are stealing leading scientific research from American scholars.
American Universities are becoming positive public-relations representatives of oppressive regimes like the Chinese and Saudi Governments because of the large amounts of funding they receive from them. The Clarion Project is a foundation whose main endeavor is to eradicate extremist ideology from all sources, including White Supremacism, Islamic Extremism, and Communism. Ryan Mauro serves as their Shillman Fellow and National Security Analyst. He can discuss the Clarion Project’s film Covert Cash, and how it shines a light on collusion between our top universities and foreign governments. Ryan is based in Florida but can be interviewed over skype, telephone, or from the studio in his own home. Please find a link to the movie online here.


veteranstoday--2020-09-22--Secret CIA Memo: Putin probably orchestrating anti-Biden disinformation campaign

Evidence is overwhelming .
VT thinks it is very good for Russia to have a puppet like Trump destroying the United States .
We don ’ t think that just because it ’ s “ good for Russia ” that people who claim to be American “ patriots ” should openly support a Russian program to destroy their worst enemy…us .
Daily Beast : A top-secret CIA assessment has reportedly concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “ probably directing ” a disinformation campaign designed to damage Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 U.S. election .
Citing two unnamed sources @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post reported that the first line of the document states : “ We assess that President Vladimir Putin and the senior most Russian officials are aware of and probably directing Russia ’ s influence operations aimed at denigrating the former U.S. vice president , supporting the U.S. president and fueling public discord ahead of the U.S. election in November.
” The highly classified report was reportedly published internally at the end of August , and builds upon intelligence gathered by the FBI and the NSA .
The Post reports that the document also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been working publicly with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani for several months—has been spreading disparaging information about Biden inside the U.S. through his long list of influential contacts .
President Trump last week attacked FBI Director Christopher Wray after he testified to Congress that the Bureau saw Russian interference in the election .

I like Putin, he likes me...plus the only thing that would bother me, a video of women pissing in my mouth (like the Las Vegas video)...helps me like Putin even more
Evidence is overwhelming. VT thinks it is very good for Russia to have a puppet like Trump destroying the United States.
We don’t think that just because it’s “good for Russia” that people who claim to be American “patriots” should openly support a Russian program to destroy their worst enemy…us.
Daily Beast: A top-secret CIA assessment has reportedly concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “probably directing” a disinformation campaign designed to damage Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 U.S. election.
https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1308366421316038659?s=20
Citing two unnamed sources who reviewed the assessment, The Washington Post reported that the first line of the document states: “We assess that President Vladimir Putin and the senior most Russian officials are aware of and probably directing Russia’s influence operations aimed at denigrating the former U.S. vice president, supporting the U.S. president and fueling public discord ahead of the U.S. election in November.” The highly classified report was reportedly published internally at the end of August, and builds upon intelligence gathered by the FBI and the NSA. JUST IN: CIA found Putin "probably directing" disinformation campaign against Biden: report https://t.co/g8w3QeanSK pic.twitter.com/ErvNlX6PA6 — The Hill (@thehill) September 22, 2020 The Post reports that the document also warns that Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach—who has been working publicly with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani for several months—has been spreading disparaging information about Biden inside the U.S. through his long list of influential contacts. The CIA assesses that Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials “are aware of and probably directing Russia’s influence operations” aimed at undermining Joe Biden, the Washington Post reports. @joshrogin explains. https://t.co/DUu7Uw4y03 pic.twitter.com/SfX5dJ55fp — CNN (@CNN) September 22, 2020 President Trump last week attacked FBI Director Christopher Wray after he testified to Congress that the Bureau saw Russian interference in the election.


veteranstoday--2020-09-22--RELATED:  #UNRIG Video (14:32): Juan Luis Reports from the UK Courtroom and Asks President Trump to

RELATED:  #UNRIG Video (14:32): Juan Luis Reports from the UK Courtroom and Asks President Trump to Pardon Julian Assange   #UNRIG Video (5:09) Trump To Pardon Edward Snowden and Julian Assange For DNC Source, Seth Rich?   Randy Short & Robert Steele: 12 Pardons = Black Male Vote [Comment by Cynthia McKinney]   Randy Short: Promotions and Pardons Healing of the Black Community for President Donald Trump’s Consideration

Robert David Steele is the conceptualizer of integrated election reform ( # UNRIG ) and the integration of holistic analytics @ @ @ @ @ and Open Source Everything Engineering ( OSEE ) such that we can achieve a prosperous @ @ @ @ @ % the cost of the failed Western economic model burdened by banks and lawyers.A former @ @ @ @ @ the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity , he is today the Chief Enabling Officer ( CeO @ @ @ @ @ , a 501c3 and now also CeO of Open Source Everything ( OSE Inc. ) @ @ @ @ @ with non-fiction reading , posting over 2,000 reviews across 98 categories ; his hobbies include @ @ @ @ @ to his blog at PhiBetaIota.net Subscribe free to videos at # UNRIG @ YouTube Subscribe @ @ @ @ @ Steele Report

Robert David Steele is the conceptualizer of integrated election reform (#UNRIG) and the integration of holistic analytics, true cost economics, and Open Source Everything Engineering (OSEE) such that we can achieve a prosperous world at peace at 10-20% the cost of the failed Western economic model burdened by banks and lawyers.
A former US spy and co-founder of the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, he is today the Chief Enabling Officer (CeO) of Earth Intelligence Network, a 501c3, and now also CeO of Open Source Everything (OSE Inc.). He continues his education with non-fiction reading, posting over 2,000 reviews across 98 categories; his hobbies include off-shore sailing and racketball.


veteranstoday--2020-09-22--Op Ed: Why Biden’s Harris Pick is so Terrible for America

Had the 77-year-old Biden chosen Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer , White governor of a crucial swing state , his victory would be assured , a race war avoided , and the odds of a Mideast blood bath involving American soldiers and Marines greatly diminished .
But you have to hand it to Biden .
His choice of Black California Senator Kamala Harris and her Jewish husband was devilishly clever .
After more than a century of Gentile Zionists in the White House , the prospect of a Jewish one has moved tens of millions of dollars promised to Trump to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump campaign has had to cut way back on advertising at a time when they ’ re down in the polls big time .
The Biden camp , naturally enough , is spending like there ’ s no tomorrow .
Trump has talked about putting in his own money to make the difference , but he has so many lawsuits filed against him he ’ s spending $ 60m a year just to pay lawyers to defend himself .
If they asked him , he did it .
And it proves beyond any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s no more honor among racists than among thieves .
Don ’ t think Zionism is racist ?
Consider the three tenets of Zionism set forth in The Jewish State , a pamphlet written in 1896 by its founder , Hungarian journalist Theodore Herzl : • European Gentiles will persecute a noble Jewish race wherever they find them in appreciable numbers .
• The race must for its own protection emigrate to the ancient land of its forebears and push aside the inferior Semitic peoples who ’ ve resided there for millennia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ facto anti-Semitic , especially if they point to Jewish supremacy in Palestine as being one and the same as White supremacy in the American .
Jews who resist the siren song of Zionism are denounced as “ self-haters.
” Just as Christianity became the state religion of the Roman empire following the conversion of Emperor Constantine , so too did the Cult of Zionism become the state religion of the United States following the conversion of President Woodrow Wilson .
Wilson was far and away our most racist president before Trump came along @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d be fair and they gave him their support .
Once in office , however , he segregated federal facilities and told them in a heated exchange that “ segregation was good ” for them .
He also began the twenty-year occupation of Haiti and the seven-year occupation of Nicaragua .
And he was fiercely loyal to the Zionists and sent 55,000 American soldiers and Marines to their deaths in France that Palestine might be awarded them as a prize of war and as a payoff for bringing the United States into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden and his new found Zionist money and what it means for American boots on the ground in the inevitable blood bath in the Mideast .
IT ’ S INEVITABLE BECAUSE ISRAEL IS A BELEAGUERED EUROPEN COLONY COMPOSED OF SIX MILLION JEWS SURROUNDED 260 MILLION HOSTILES .
A peaceful solution can only be reached by way of a military alliance between the United States , China and Russia in which the American military role is confined ( at it politically must be ) to protecting its new allies from British and French interference @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chinese and Russian militaries to pressure Israel into surrendering its vast WMD arsenal and force a Jewish exodus from Palestine .
Folks , Zionist money comes with strings attached .
It always has and it always will .
A prime example appears at pages 86 to 91 of my book White Nation Going , Going , Gone in a section titled : “ JFK Compromised , Elected , Hoodwinked , and Replaced.
” Read it and fear for our men and women in uniform .
Other than Zionist money , Harris contributes nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Everyone knows Biden already owns the national minority vote .
Does anyone seriously think California ’ s electoral vote is up for grabs ?
With or without Harris , he couldn ’ t lose California if he tried .
Plus , it ’ s hard to see how his choice of a person of color helps with the whites .
After all , Mr. Obama was part of the same 13 % minority as Harris and he received terms in office .
Moreover , once the Whites lose their majority ( the Census @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little over two decades from now ) is it realistic to believe any Caucasian man or woman will ever thereafter occupy the Oval Office ?
Which brings me to my contention the Harris pick makes a race war inevitable .
Everyone knows by now that Donald Trump is a terrible person .
His former lawyer , former associates , even members of his family tell us so .
As indicated earlier he has so many lawsuits pending against him he ’ s paying out $ 60m a year in legal fees and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his home state are sniffing around his tax returns trying to find a way to catch him in a violation of the law .
And he ’ s way down in the polls .
This man is like a trapped animal , which makes him extremely dangerous .
We also know one more thing about Mr. Trump : he ’ s is a consummate opportunist .
Joe Biden , by choosing a black woman as his running mate , has just handed him a political lifeline .
And all Trump has to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government payments to the many minority unemployed come to an end .
Which is happening right now .
I just saw an interview of an unemployed black man with a family who say his only savings are equal to his September rent .
Since minorities are usually last hired , first fired , I dare say there are millions more just like him .
When the money runs out , what are they to do ?
Do I really have to tell you ?
You know damn well they ’ re gon na @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get quite ugly .
How did our race relations get so bad ?
Consider these words of an unknown but prophetic pundit published in1896 : Corporations have been enthroned , and an era of corruption will follow in which the Money Power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the country until wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed .
In White Nation…I tell how the Money Power has historically and to this very day placed racists on the Supreme Court who “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s words ) just as they did before the Civil War .
These perversions serve to oppress minorities by denying them their civil rights while masking the oppression and convincing the white majority that the minorities are receiving special treatment .
The Court has also upheld unconstitutional statutes some of which , such as the equal employment opportunity laws , were supposedly enacted to protect the American worker from discrimination but in practice are used to pit the races and genders against each other to keep wages low .
The worst of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them ) occurred in the 2012 case of National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius in which seven justices , five Republican and two Democrats , held a perfectly constitutional mandate to the Southern and border states–that they expand Medicaid to the 28 million mostly Black and brown working poor or lose all federal Medicaid funding—unconstitutional .
Justice Ginsburg ’ s dissent , joined in by Justice Sotomayer , was quite strong on the law , but So weak that it can only charitably be called a “ looking the other way ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better than this whopper President Obama told the nation : “ Good afternoon .
Earlier today the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
” In the three-page statement that followed there was no mention of or reference to the Congressional mandate .
Five months later Mr. Obama was re-elected , but the Democratic Congress which had assiduously done its job relative to health care was not .
In the six and a three-quarter years since the mandate was to take effect ( and using my estimate at page 49 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ algebra ) , OVER FOUR MILLION have died as a result of the decision .
Soon that figure will exceed the six million killed in the Holocaust .
The remedy : Congressional authorization for the appointment of sixteen additional justices to the Court who will enter an order reversing existing perversions and prevent additional ones .
A proposal for such an order concludes White Nation .

By John Haywood for VT
Had the 77-year-old Biden chosen Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, White governor of a crucial swing state, his victory would be assured, a race war avoided, and the odds of a Mideast blood bath involving American soldiers and Marines greatly diminished.
But you have to hand it to Biden. His choice of Black California Senator Kamala Harris and her Jewish husband was devilishly clever. After more than a century of Gentile Zionists in the White House, the prospect of a Jewish one has moved tens of millions of dollars promised to Trump to Mr. Biden.
The upshot: The Trump campaign has had to cut way back on advertising at a time when they’re down in the polls big time. The Biden camp, naturally enough, is spending like there’s no tomorrow. Trump has talked about putting in his own money to make the difference, but he has so many lawsuits filed against him he’s spending $60m a year just to pay lawyers to defend himself.
This even after Trump has jumped through every hoop the Zionists placed before him: recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the American embassy there, approving the annexation of the Golan Heights, trashing Obama’s deal with Iran and reimposing sanctions, cutting aid to the Palestinian Authority, etc.
If they asked him, he did it. And it proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that there’s no more honor among racists than among thieves.
Don’t think Zionism is racist? Consider the three tenets of Zionism set forth in The Jewish State, a pamphlet written in 1896 by its founder, Hungarian journalist Theodore Herzl:
European Gentiles will persecute a noble Jewish race wherever they find them in appreciable numbers. The race must for its own protection emigrate to the ancient land of its forebears and push aside the inferior Semitic peoples who’ve resided there for millennia. Those who oppose Zionism are ipso facto anti-Semitic, especially if they point to Jewish supremacy in Palestine as being one and the same as White supremacy in the American. Jews who resist the siren song of Zionism are denounced as “self-haters.”
Just as Christianity became the state religion of the Roman empire following the conversion of Emperor Constantine, so too did the Cult of Zionism become the state religion of the United States following the conversion of President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was far and away our most racist president before Trump came along. He promised the NAACP he’d be fair and they gave him their support. Once in office, however, he segregated federal facilities and told them in a heated exchange that “segregation was good” for them. He also began the twenty-year occupation of Haiti and the seven-year occupation of Nicaragua.
And he was fiercely loyal to the Zionists and sent 55,000 American soldiers and Marines to their deaths in France that Palestine might be awarded them as a prize of war and as a payoff for bringing the United States into the war.
But I digress from Joe Biden and his new found Zionist money and what it means for American boots on the ground in the inevitable blood bath in the Mideast. IT’S INEVITABLE BECAUSE ISRAEL IS A BELEAGUERED EUROPEN COLONY COMPOSED OF SIX MILLION JEWS SURROUNDED 260 MILLION HOSTILES.
A peaceful solution can only be reached by way of a military alliance between the United States, China and Russia in which the American military role is confined (at it politically must be) to protecting its new allies from British and French interference. It will be up to the Chinese and Russian militaries to pressure Israel into surrendering its vast WMD arsenal and force a Jewish exodus from Palestine.
Folks, Zionist money comes with strings attached. It always has and it always will. A prime example appears at pages 86 to 91 of my book White Nation Going, Going, Gone in a section titled: “JFK Compromised, Elected, Hoodwinked, and Replaced.” Read it and fear for our men and women in uniform.
Other than Zionist money, Harris contributes nothing toward winning the election for Biden. Everyone knows Biden already owns the national minority vote. Does anyone seriously think California’s electoral vote is up for grabs? With or without Harris, he couldn’t lose California if he tried. Plus, it’s hard to see how his choice of a person of color helps with the whites. After all, Mr. Obama was part of the same 13% minority as Harris and he received two terms in office. Moreover, once the Whites lose their majority (the Census Bureau says it will happen in a little over two decades from now) is it realistic to believe any Caucasian man or woman will ever thereafter occupy the Oval Office?
Which brings me to my contention the Harris pick makes a race war inevitable. Everyone knows by now that Donald Trump is a terrible person. His former lawyer, former associates, even members of his family tell us so. As indicated earlier he has so many lawsuits pending against him he’s paying out $60m a year in legal fees and that may go on forever. Investigators in his home state are sniffing around his tax returns trying to find a way to catch him in a violation of the law. And he’s way down in the polls. This man is like a trapped animal, which makes him extremely dangerous.
We also know one more thing about Mr. Trump: he’s is a consummate opportunist. Joe Biden, by choosing a black woman as his running mate, has just handed him a political lifeline. And all Trump has to do to seize it is to let federal government payments to the many minority unemployed come to an end. Which is happening right now.
I just saw an interview of an unemployed black man with a family who say his only savings are equal to his September rent. Since minorities are usually last hired, first fired, I dare say there are millions more just like him.
When the money runs out, what are they to do? Do I really have to tell you? You know damn well they’re gonna hit the streets. It really could get quite ugly.
How did our race relations get so bad? Consider these words of an unknown but prophetic pundit published in1896:
Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption will follow in which the Money Power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the country until wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed.
In White Nation…I tell how the Money Power has historically and to this very day placed racists on the Supreme Court who “pervert the Constitution” (Lincoln’s words) just as they did before the Civil War. These perversions serve to oppress minorities by denying them their civil rights while masking the oppression and convincing the white majority that the minorities are receiving special treatment. The Court has also upheld unconstitutional statutes some of which, such as the equal employment opportunity laws, were supposedly enacted to protect the American worker from discrimination but in practice are used to pit the races and genders against each other to keep wages low.
The worst of these perversions (there are a number of them) occurred in the 2012 case of National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius in which seven justices, five Republican and two Democrats, held a perfectly constitutional mandate to the Southern and border states–that they expand Medicaid to the 28 million mostly Black and brown working poor or lose all federal Medicaid funding—unconstitutional.
Justice Ginsburg’s dissent, joined in by Justice Sotomayer, was quite strong on the law, but extremely weak on the consequences. So weak that it can only charitably be called a “looking the other way” even though looking the other way was better than this whopper President Obama told the nation:
“Good afternoon. Earlier today the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.”
In the three-page statement that followed there was no mention of or reference to the Congressional mandate. Five months later Mr. Obama was re-elected, but the Democratic Congress which had assiduously done its job relative to health care was not.
In the six and a three-quarter years since the mandate was to take effect (and using my estimate at page 49 of White Nation which involves 9th grade algebra), OVER FOUR MILLION have died as a result of the decision. Soon that figure will exceed the six million killed in the Holocaust.
The remedy: Congressional authorization for the appointment of sixteen additional justices to the Court who will enter an order reversing existing perversions and prevent additional ones. A proposal for such an order concludes White Nation.


veteranstoday--2020-09-22--Andre Vltchek Dead—Murdered by NATO/Zionists?

We just lost one of the world ’ s greatest journalists…and one of my radio show ’ s most eloquent and informative regular guests .
Andre Vltchek , globetrotting scourge of the Western power elite , mysteriously dropped dead while riding in a chauffeured car between Samsun and Istanbul .
ABC News reports : According to Turkish media , police recorded the case as a “ suspicious death.
” That is actually quite an understatement .
They should have just written “ obvious assassination.
” Andre Vltchek ’ s purpose in life was to royally piss off the people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he was a scourge of the Zionist genocide perpetrators .
In places like Latin America , Indonesia , and Thailand , he documented the horrors of US imperial mass murder and destruction of culture , savaging complicit local elites .
In “ enemy countries ” like Iran , Zimbabwe , Eritrea , and North Korea , he reported that contrary to MSM propaganda , the people and economies and built environment and natural environment of such places tended to compare favorably with Western occupied countries .
Above all , Andre Vltchek savaged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million people in US and CIA interventions since World War II .
Below is my VT introduction to Andre ’ s book ( co-written with Noam Chomsky ) On Western Terrorism .
Andre Vltchek , you will be grievously missed !
May God grant you a high place in Paradise… and may He assist us in sending the scumbags you so fearlessly exposed , especially the ones who killed you , straight to Hellfire .
André Vltchek , who has recently been serving as unofficial globe-trotting correspondent for Truth Jihad Radio ( see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the co-author with Noam Chomsky of On Western Terrorism : From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare .
I must take a brief break from my usual Chomsky-bashing to point out that On Western Terrorism is a very useful and unusually readable introduction to the authors ’ respective worldviews .
Chomsky and Vltchek are well-versed in the history of Western war crimes and crimes against humanity , and this small volume could serve as an excellent “ gateway drug ” for those who are less aware .
Much of the credit for the book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who keeps up a lively conversation with Chomsky and spices the book with insights and anecdotes drawn from years of reporting from the the non-Western world .
Before we move on to the lengthy and glowing review by another of my regular radio guests , Richard Falk ( see here , here , and here ) I must point out that this book ( like so much of Chomsky ’ s work ) includes a “ poison pill ” of 9/11 denial .
Here is the offending passage : Chomsky : … ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just draw people away from the real issues , from serious activism .
I mean , take the 9/11 Truth Movement – its major impact has been to draw off energy from trying to do anything about the problems that have arisen .
It ’ s easier to sit at the internet and to work through some technical article you don ’ t understand about whether there are nanothermite traces found in the building WTC-7 .
It ’ s easier to do that than organizing protests against the Iraq war – a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pretty striking phenomenon .
It has quite a lot of outreach .
I mean , I wouldn ’ t be surprised if maybe a third of the population thinks it ’ s sort of credible .
So maybe a third of the population thinks we are governed by homicidal maniacs who want to murder us all .
Well , ok , now go back to work , you can ’ t do anything about it so it ’ s out of my hands .
I don ’ t think we can just attribute @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At least in the US , it ’ s part of a general decline of faith in institutions , almost any institutions .
And that traces to factors much deeper and more pervasive than the internet.
“ As always , when the subject of 9/11 comes up , Chomsky starts spouting nonsense .
In the above passage , he makes a specious comparison between the relative ease of informing oneself about issues the mainstream is lying about , versus the relative difficulty of organizing demonstrations against the evils one discovers once one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his readers by comparing apples ( informing yourself about 9/11 , not Iraq ) and oranges ( organizing demonstrations about Iraq , not 9/11 ) .
Having organized demonstrations demanding 9/11 truth , I can assure Chomsky that these are much harder to organize than are antiwar demonstrations , because the entire foundation-funded Zionist-infiltrated Chomsky-worshipping organized/controlled/gatekeeper “ left ” does everything in its considerable well-funded power to make sure your 9/11 truth demonstration comes to naught .
In fact , if Chomsky and the other left gatekeepers had exposed 9/11 early on , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get tens of millions of Americans into the streets demanding Cheney ’ s head on a platter , a 95 % slash in the Pentagon budget , the termination of the CIA , the end of the US empire , and the end of the Zionist occupation of Palestine .
No opportunity for a war on Iraq would have even arisen .
Millions of lives would have been saved .
Chomsky ’ s ostensible objectives would have been achieved .
Chomsky – a man we always thought WANTED to end the empire – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bemoans “ the general decline of faith in institutions , any institutions.
” Wait a minute – is this the same Chomsky who has shown that Western media and academia are mendacious propagandists , “ manufacturers of consent , ” and that government and corporate institutions have perpetrated an invisible holocaust of 55 million people ?
Now he wants us to have faith in the very institutions whose credibility he has done so much to undermine ?
Perhaps the climax of Chomsky ’ s extreme irrationality in this passage comes when he says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ thinks we are governed by homicidal maniacs who want to murder us all.
” What can this statement possibly mean ?
On Western Terrorism and the rest of Chomsky ’ s work is one extended proof that yes , OF COURSE we are ruled by homicidal maniacs .
After all , they have murdered 55 to 60 million people around the world during the past half-century .
So why are the pro-9/11-truth people crazy to believe exactly what Chomsky believes ?
Maybe it ’ s not crazy to recognize that the masters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is crazy to think that they want to “ murder us all.
” But wait – what does this have to do with the 9/11 truth movement , which argues that the masters of empire , who routinely slaughter millions , sacrificed fewer than 3,000 lives on 9/11 in order to gain a massive strategic advantage ?
Chomsky ’ s caricature of the truth movement ’ s position as “ they want to murder us all ” doesn ’ t make sense – except maybe as a Freudian slip revealing why the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much more powerful than that of the Chomsky-kool-aid-drinking foundation-funded left .
For it is the very fact that the masters of empire are willing to murder Americans in such outrageous fashion that could cause Americans to rise up against them .
Chomsky grew very angry at me when I explained this to him in the email exchange I will soon be re-publishing .
He pretended to be in utter denial of the fact that Americans would obviously react more angrily to the treasonous mass slaughter of their compatriots than to the killings of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Research has shown that mass opposition to the Vietnam war was almost entirely driven by reaction to US casualties , rather than the butchering of millions of Vietnamese . )
Apparently , Chomsky doesn ’ t want Americans to know that their leaders are perfectly happy to murder them en masse .
If they knew that , after all , they might rise up and overthrow the empire .
And then Chomsky , who leads a very comfortable and well-remunerated life as the official number one critic of empire , would be out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ read On Western Terrorism : from Hiroshima to Drone Warfare , published in 2013 by Pluto Press here in London , and consisting of a series of conversations between Chomsky and the Czech filmmaker , journalist , and author , Andre Vltchek , who is now a naturalized American citizen .
Vltchek in an illuminating Preface describes his long and close friendship with Chomsky , and explains that these fascinating conversations took place over the course of two days , and was filmed with the intention of producing a documentary .
The book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big complaint being about the misdirection of the title—there is virtually nothing said about either Hiroshima or drone warfare , but almost everything else politically imaginable !
Vltchek , previously unknown to me , consistently and calmly held his own during the conversations , speaking with comparable authority and knowledge about an extraordinary assortment of topics that embraced the entire global scene , something few of us would have the nerve to attempt , much less manage with such verve , insight , and empathy .
After finishing the book my immediate reaction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and ‘ Vltchek has been everywhere and done everything.
’ Omniscience and omnipresence are not often encountered , being primary attributes commonly attributed by theologians to a monotheistic god !
Leaving aside this hyperbole , one is stunned throughout by the quality of the deep knowledge and compassion exhibited by these two public intellectuals , and even more by their deeply felt sympathy for all those being victimized as a result of the way in which the world is organized and Western hard power has been and is being deployed .
The book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much that even those of us who try to be progressive and informed leave untouched , huge happenings taking place in domains beyond the borders of our consciousness .
It suggests that almost all of us are ignoring massive injustices because they receive such scant attention from mainstream media and our access to alternative sources is too restricted .
And , maybe also , are capacity for the intake of severe injustice is limited for most of us .
The book is well worth reading just to grasp this gap between what we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caring about .
Somehow , part of what is so amazing about this exposure to the range of concerns that preoccupy Chomsky and Vltchek is the degree to which their knowledge and ethical sensitivity seems so comprehensive without ever appearing to be superficial .
How do they find the time , perseverance , and energy ?
Of course , it helps to be blessed with high intelligence , clarity of spirit , astonishing retentive gifts , and a seeming refusal to sleep , rest , and recreate ( which was among the traits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Noam ’ s Vietnam writing , my first encounters with his political thought , having earlier been awed by his revolutionary linguistics approach ) .
While appearing to be on an equal footing throughout this dialogic text , Vltchek does acknowledge his reverential admiration for Chomsky , this extraordinary iconic American intellectual who has remained situated on the front lines of global critical debate for the past half century .
In Vltchek ’ s words : “ ” The way I saw it , we were fighting for the same cause , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for all people around the world .
And we were fighting against colonialism and fascism , in whichever form it came.
” “ For Noam , fighting injustice seemed to be as natural as breathing .
For me , it became both a great honor and great adventure to work with him.
” ( ix ) Vltchek believes that the lines of inspiration beneath a photo of the great English scholar/seer/activitst , Betrand Russell , which hangs ion the wall in Chomsky ’ s MIT office are also descriptive of what drives Chomsky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passions , simple but overwhelmingly strong have governed my life : the longing for love , the search for knowledge , and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
” ( vi , xv ) .
Vltchek shares with Chomsky an outlook that interprets the world on the basis of a deep structure of moral and political indictment directed at Western imperialism .
Vltchek expresses this shared understanding clearly : “ After witnessing and analyzing numerous atrocious conflicts , invasions and wars on all continents , I became convinced that almost all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ geopolitical and economic interests.
” ( ix ) .
The extent and gravity of the accusations is expressed statistically by Vltchek : “ Along with the 55 million or so people killed as the direct result of wars initiated by the West , pro-Western coups and other conflicts , hundreds of millions have died indirectly in absolute misery , and silently.
” ( 1 ) Chomsky agrees , wondering about which is the worst crime that should be attributed to the West , positing the destruction of the 80-100 indigenous people living in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrived , as one option .
In reflecting upon this , he abruptly shifts direction by observing , “ ..we are moving toward what may in fact be the ultimate genocide—the destruction of the environment.
” ( 2 ) Chomsky laments that despite the overwhelming evidence of this self-destructive momentum , the challenge continues to be largely ignored by the public and the government , even in the face of dire warnings from the scientific community .
The capitalist obsession with profits and capital accumulation , combined with psycho-political control over the dissemination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of societies , makes it almost impossible to ‘ see ’ these threatening dimensions of social , economic , and political reality .
In a sense these conversations are an extended intellectual journey through the cartography of victimization brought about by Western colonial and post-colonial undertakings .
Vltchek says early on “ Colonialism continues but it appears that it is much more difficult for local people to point the finger and say exactly what is happening and who their enemies are.
” ( 6 ) Chomsky responds “ Some of the worst atrocities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last few years in the Eastern Congo .
Three to five million people have been killed.
” Aside from the magnitude of such a catastrophe what is so startling is its relative invisibility .
This process of horrifying violence and unawareness is deeply troubling to both Chomsky and Vltchek .
Chomsky repeatedly , and tellingly , refers to such victims as ‘ un-people , ’ those in non-Western realms whose death and suffering barely register on Western consciousness unless there are self-interested geopolitical reasons in a particular context to take non-Western suffering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ view such tragedies as outcomes of global corporate greed , the struggle for control of Africa ’ s abundant natural resources leading these private sector actors to fund factions and militias that are out front , doing the fighting and killing .
The true culprits hide behind curtains of evasion to remain invisible to the public .
The media is shockingly complicit by reporting only on what is in view , avoiding critical investigative journalism .
Chomsky and Vltchek help us to realize that an array of powerful forces are using their wealth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We are allowed to see only as much as the gatekeepers of the public mind want us to see , and yet we are not relieved from using our capacities for sight .
Reading Chomsky and Vltchek removes the scales from our eyes , at least temporarily , as they have managed to elude these gatekeepers , but at considerable risk , with a display of moral courage , civic responsibility , and extraordinary intellectual energy .
I learn a lesson in civics from their vigilance : as citizens of constitutional democracies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possess a heavy responsibility to see for ourselves what is being done in our name , and not being content by becoming informed about distant victimizations , but learning to heed above all those that are proximate , and once we see what is nearby , we have a responsibility to act .
Without venturing onto the terrain of ‘ Orientalism ’ the conversations are sensitive to what Chomsky refers to as “ intellectual and moral colonization ” that reinforces patterns of “ political and economic colonization.
” In this regard , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main achievement of hierarchy and oppression is to get the un-people to accept that it ’ s natural.
” ( 17 ) , that is , to induce passivity and resignation among the ranks of the victimized .
The moral consciousness of the perpetrators is also deliberately neutralized .
When Chomsky inquires as to whether Europeans have “ any consciousness of colonial history ” Vltchek responds : “ No , grotesquely there is very little consciousness.
” He adds that such ignorance is “ shameful and revealing ” : “ Europeans make sure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crimes , about the genocides they committed and are still involved in .
What do they know about what their governments and companies were and are doing in DR Congo ?
” ( 20 ) But just as the devil resides in the details , so too do angels of perceptions many of whom inhabit the pages of this book , and a few can be briefly mentioned here .
The conversations weave a fabric of awareness that shifts back and forth between lamenting inattention and denial to the exposure of occurrences and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Without extending this commentary too much further , let me note some of the areas of agreement between Chomsky and Vltchek that corrected or collided with my own understanding .
First , the comparison between China and India in which China is praised almost without reservation and India is condemned almost without qualification , surprisingly close to the approach taken by that arch consevative V.S .
Naipaul [ See Naipaul ’ s India , A Wounded Civilization ( 1977 ) ] Their essential argument is that India is exceptionally cruel in its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little to alleviate poverty , while China has made extraordinary progress that is spread widely throughout the country .
Both confirm , contrary to Western propaganda and consistent with what I also experienced during a visit a year ago , that young university students in China seem fearless , raising sensitive controversial issues in public venues .
In effect , India gets too much credit in the West because it possesses the trappings of liberal democracy , while China ’ s achievements are downplayed because socialist values are mixed with predatory capitalist practices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blinded , or at least numbed me , to the worst of India , and has consistently thrilled me with its cultural vibrancy and rich heritage , which included Gandhi and his incredible mobilization of a militant nonviolent challenge to the then still mighty British Empire .
The two conversationalists agree that the most encouraging political moves in the world from a progressive perspective have been made in Latin America .
There are political experiments , as in Bolivia and Venezuela , that express the energies of a socialist populism with original regional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an encouraging set of hemispheric moves to repudiate the main signs of a crippling past dependency on the United States .
Chomsky and Vltchek point out that in Latin America , and Asia , the United States has supported vicious and repressive political forces so as to secure the wealth generating interests of corporate America , personified by what might be called ‘ the United Fruit Syndrome , ’ or more popularly , the perpetuation of ‘ banana republics.
’ A telling argument made in the book is that the military dictatorships in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and sustain in the 1970s and 1980s were far more oppressive and exploitative of their populations than were the Stalinist governments in control of East Europe during the Cold War decades .
There is agreement among the authors that the heroes of the liberal establishment should be recast as villains .
Two such exemplary individuals are Winston Churchill , reviled here for his criminal outlook toward African colonial peoples , and George Kennan , who is portrayed as a leading architect of the American global domination project put into operational form during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ War II .
Part of this exercise of demonization by Chomsky and Vltchek is to illustrate the mind games of liberal hegemonic ideology that treat such political luminaries as paragons of moral virtue .
It continues the tradition of critical perception of the ruling elites that Chomsky so brilliantly set forth in American Power and The New Mandarins back in 1969 .
Chomsky and Vltchek both persuasively accord great significance to the almost forgotten Indonesian massacre of 1965 in which more than a million people were sacrificed in a massive bloodbath designed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the wealth producing capacity of the country .
The governments of the United States and Australia have much blood on their hands in encouraging this atrocity , and its aftermath that included genocidal incidents in East Timor .
The authors are negative about Asia other than China , supposing that it has swallowed a huge dose of poisonous cool aid called ‘ neoliberalism.
’ Such illustrative discussion just scratches the surface of these exceptionally perceptive conversations .
It would be misleading to suggest that these two progressive interpreters of the whole world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ somewhat more tentative about developments in Turkey or in writing the obituary of the Arab Spring than is Vltchek who seems less nuanced in some of his commentary .
Chomsky welcomes improvements and positive trends , while Vltchek believes that only structural change can make a sufficient difference to bring real hope to oppressed peoples .
In a similar vein , Chomsky seems more convinced than in the past that keeping hope alive is almost a duty expressive of solidarity with those currently victimized .
More than before Chomsky is articulate about his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change is possible , there will be no challenge mounted against an intolerable status quo .
The book ends with Chomsky depicting two trajectories for the human future : either a continuation of ecological sleep leading to species suicide or an awakening to the ecological challenge , with accompanying improvements .
( 173 ) As Chomsky has aged , although far more gradually than is normal , he has somewhat mellowed , and seems less pessimistic and assured overall than when I first came to know him in the late 1960s .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has endowed him wisdom that acts as a complement to his astonishing command over the specifics of the whole spectrum of political concerns .
This substantive authoritativeness set him apart long ago as our foremost intellectual and most beloved commentator on the passing scene of world events , but now he has also become a ‘ wise elder , ’ and whose views of the world deserves the greatest respect from all of us .

By Kevin Barrett, VT Editor
We just lost one of the world’s greatest journalists…and one of my radio show’s most eloquent and informative regular guests.
Andre Vltchek, globetrotting scourge of the Western power elite, mysteriously dropped dead while riding in a chauffeured car between Samsun and Istanbul. ABC News reports:
Turkish authorities are investigating the death of an American author and journalist who died while traveling overnight from the Turkish Black Sea coastal city of Samsun to Istanbul, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Tuesday. Andre Vltchek, 57, and his wife were traveling inside a rented and chauffeured car and arrived in front of their Istanbul hotel at around 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday. His wife tried to wake him up to tell him they had arrived but could not do so, the Anadolu Agency reported.
According to Turkish media, police recorded the case as a “suspicious death.” That is actually quite an understatement. They should have just written “obvious assassination.”
Andre Vltchek’s purpose in life was to royally piss off the people who misrule the world. Based in Lebanon, he was a scourge of the Zionist genocide perpetrators. In places like Latin America, Indonesia, and Thailand, he documented the horrors of US imperial mass murder and destruction of culture, savaging complicit local elites. In “enemy countries” like Iran, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, and North Korea, he reported that contrary to MSM propaganda, the people and economies and built environment and natural environment of such places tended to compare favorably with Western occupied countries.
Above all, Andre Vltchek savaged the American imperialists who have murdered 60 million people in US and CIA interventions since World War II. Below is my VT introduction to Andre’s book (co-written with Noam Chomsky) On Western Terrorism.
Andre Vltchek, you will be grievously missed! May God grant you a high place in Paradise… and may He assist us in sending the scumbags you so fearlessly exposed, especially the ones who killed you, straight to Hellfire. -KB
André Vltchek – Remembered
Peter Koenig
23 September 2020
André, my good friend and comrade is no more.
We worked on several investigative projects together. André’s professional rigor, sharpness of understanding, vision and ability to connecting the dots is exemplary.
We shared some unforgettable moments, when we followed a refugee trail from Bodrum, Turkey, to the Greek Island of Kos in the Aegean Sea – onwards to Athens.
I’m deeply shocked and saddened beyond words by André’s sudden passing.
In the night from Monday to Tuesday 22 September, André traveled by chauffeur-driven car with his wife from Samsun on the Black Sea in Turkey to Istanbul. When they arrived in the early morning hours at the hotel and his wife wanted to wake him up, he didn’t react. He had passed away.
Turkish police said André’s death was “suspicious”. His body was immediately brought to a hospital for forensic analysis.
André traveled relentlessly from one battle field to another, from one conflict zone to a war zone. He exposed innumerable atrocities committed around the world, mostly by western powers. He never wavered from revealing the truth. From Afghanistan to Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan to Argentina, Chile, Peru to Hong Kong, to Xinjiang, the Uygur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China – André was there. He reported on environmental crimes in Borneo, or originally called Kalimantan, Indonesia, where corruption is destroying vital rainforests – the lungs of Mother Earth – for the benefit of western corporations, killing wildlife and annihilating the livelihoods of indigenous people. Here is a video interview (20 min.) of André’s, by DotDotNews, China, of 2 May 2020, depicting a broader picture of André’s engagements around the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CnSXBOrHMc&feature=youtu.be.
André stood always up for justice, in defense of the poor, for the persecuted, the oppressed – for those that by and large are considered non-people by the elitist Global North; the destitute, the refugees, political prisoners, those that disappear and wither away in the shadows. As an investigative journalist and geopolitical analyst, he fought Supremacist Might for Human Rights. André was a true Internationalist. He will be deeply missed.
May his soul rest in peace and his spirit live on.
—
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst.
He is also a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.
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Peter emails Thursday morning:
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for publishing my little eulogy along with yours.
I communicated with his wife yesterday. She confirmed that there was no foul play, no murder. I communicated with his wife yesterday. She confirmed that there was no foul play, no murder.
André passed away peacefully in his sleep next to her during the night ride to Istanbul. After a long police interrogation on Tuesday, they came to the conclusion that there was no suspicion of murder. André was not well for several months, and especially during the last month he felt ill and fortunately his wife was by his side to take care of him. It was his calling. I miss him sorely – and he is a loss for the informed world and for all those who want to know the truth. He deserves to have left this material world peacefully – as he defended peace and justice all his life.
Warm regards
peter
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Chomsky/Vltchek “On Western Terrorism
Richard Falk’s review, introduced by Kevin Barrett
André Vltchek, who has recently been serving as unofficial globe-trotting correspondent for Truth Jihad Radio (see here, here, and here) is the co-author with Noam Chomsky of On Western Terrorism: From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare. I must take a brief break from my usual Chomsky-bashing to point out that On Western Terrorism is a very useful and unusually readable introduction to the authors’ respective worldviews. Chomsky and Vltchek are well-versed in the history of Western war crimes and crimes against humanity, and this small volume could serve as an excellent “gateway drug” for those who are less aware.
Much of the credit for the book’s success goes to Vltchek, who keeps up a lively conversation with Chomsky and spices the book with insights and anecdotes drawn from years of reporting from the the non-Western world.
Before we move on to the lengthy and glowing review by another of my regular radio guests, Richard Falk (see here, here, and here) I must point out that this book (like so much of Chomsky’s work) includes a “poison pill” of 9/11 denial. Here is the offending passage:
Chomsky: …”And you have major cults developing which just draw people away from the real issues, from serious activism. I mean, take the 9/11 Truth Movement – its major impact has been to draw off energy from trying to do anything about the problems that have arisen. It’s easier to sit at the internet and to work through some technical article you don’t understand about whether there are nanothermite traces found in the building WTC-7. It’s easier to do that than organizing protests against the Iraq war – a lot easier. This particular movement is a pretty striking phenomenon. It has quite a lot of outreach. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if maybe a third of the population thinks it’s sort of credible. So maybe a third of the population thinks we are governed by homicidal maniacs who want to murder us all. Well, ok, now go back to work, you can’t do anything about it so it’s out of my hands. I don’t think we can just attribute this to the existence of the internet. At least in the US, it’s part of a general decline of faith in institutions, almost any institutions. And that traces to factors much deeper and more pervasive than the internet.“
As always, when the subject of 9/11 comes up, Chomsky starts spouting nonsense. In the above passage, he makes a specious comparison between the relative ease of informing oneself about issues the mainstream is lying about, versus the relative difficulty of organizing demonstrations against the evils one discovers once one is informed. Chomsky attempts to deceive his readers by comparing apples (informing yourself about 9/11, not Iraq) and oranges (organizing demonstrations about Iraq, not 9/11).
Having organized demonstrations demanding 9/11 truth, I can assure Chomsky that these are much harder to organize than are antiwar demonstrations, because the entire foundation-funded Zionist-infiltrated Chomsky-worshipping organized/controlled/gatekeeper “left” does everything in its considerable well-funded power to make sure your 9/11 truth demonstration comes to naught.
In fact, if Chomsky and the other left gatekeepers had exposed 9/11 early on, it would have been relatively easy to get tens of millions of Americans into the streets demanding Cheney’s head on a platter, a 95% slash in the Pentagon budget, the termination of the CIA, the end of the US empire, and the end of the Zionist occupation of Palestine. No opportunity for a war on Iraq would have even arisen. Millions of lives would have been saved. Chomsky’s ostensible objectives would have been achieved.
Chomsky – a man we always thought WANTED to end the empire – has another surprise for us: He bemoans “the general decline of faith in institutions, any institutions.” Wait a minute – is this the same Chomsky who has shown that Western media and academia are mendacious propagandists, “manufacturers of consent,” and that government and corporate institutions have perpetrated an invisible holocaust of 55 million people? Now he wants us to have faith in the very institutions whose credibility he has done so much to undermine?
Perhaps the climax of Chomsky’s extreme irrationality in this passage comes when he says that the pro-9/11-truth 1/3rd of the population “thinks we are governed by homicidal maniacs who want to murder us all.” What can this statement possibly mean? On Western Terrorism and the rest of Chomsky’s work is one extended proof that yes, OF COURSE we are ruled by homicidal maniacs. After all, they have murdered 55 to 60 million people around the world during the past half-century. So why are the pro-9/11-truth people crazy to believe exactly what Chomsky believes?
Maybe it’s not crazy to recognize that the masters of empire are homicidal maniacs, but it is crazy to think that they want to “murder us all.” But wait – what does this have to do with the 9/11 truth movement, which argues that the masters of empire, who routinely slaughter millions, sacrificed fewer than 3,000 lives on 9/11 in order to gain a massive strategic advantage?
Chomsky’s caricature of the truth movement’s position as “they want to murder us all” doesn’t make sense – except maybe as a Freudian slip revealing why the truth movement’s position is so much more powerful than that of the Chomsky-kool-aid-drinking foundation-funded left. For it is the very fact that the masters of empire are willing to murder Americans in such outrageous fashion that could cause Americans to rise up against them.
Chomsky grew very angry at me when I explained this to him in the email exchange I will soon be re-publishing. He pretended to be in utter denial of the fact that Americans would obviously react more angrily to the treasonous mass slaughter of their compatriots than to the killings of much larger numbers of foreigners. (Research has shown that mass opposition to the Vietnam war was almost entirely driven by reaction to US casualties, rather than the butchering of millions of Vietnamese.)
Apparently, Chomsky doesn’t want Americans to know that their leaders are perfectly happy to murder them en masse. If they knew that, after all, they might rise up and overthrow the empire. And then Chomsky, who leads a very comfortable and well-remunerated life as the official number one critic of empire, would be out of a job.
–KB
The Chomsky/Vltchek Worldview
by Richard Falk
Recently I read On Western Terrorism: from Hiroshima to Drone Warfare, published in 2013 by Pluto Press here in London, and consisting of a series of conversations between Chomsky and the Czech filmmaker, journalist, and author, Andre Vltchek, who is now a naturalized American citizen. Vltchek in an illuminating Preface describes his long and close friendship with Chomsky, and explains that these fascinating conversations took place over the course of two days, and was filmed with the intention of producing a documentary. The book is engaging throughout, with my only big complaint being about the misdirection of the title—there is virtually nothing said about either Hiroshima or drone warfare, but almost everything else politically imaginable!
Vltchek, previously unknown to me, consistently and calmly held his own during the conversations, speaking with comparable authority and knowledge about an extraordinary assortment of topics that embraced the entire global scene, something few of us would have the nerve to attempt, much less manage with such verve, insight, and empathy. After finishing the book my immediate reaction was that ‘Chomsky knows everything’ and ‘Vltchek has been everywhere and done everything.’ Omniscience and omnipresence are not often encountered, being primary attributes commonly attributed by theologians to a monotheistic god! Leaving aside this hyperbole, one is stunned throughout by the quality of the deep knowledge and compassion exhibited by these two public intellectuals, and even more by their deeply felt sympathy for all those being victimized as a result of the way in which the world is organized and Western hard power has been and is being deployed.
The book left me with a sense of how much that even those of us who try to be progressive and informed leave untouched, huge happenings taking place in domains beyond the borders of our consciousness. It suggests that almost all of us are ignoring massive injustices because they receive such scant attention from mainstream media and our access to alternative sources is too restricted. And, maybe also, are capacity for the intake of severe injustice is limited for most of us. The book is well worth reading just to grasp this gap between what we care about and what is actually worth caring about. Somehow, part of what is so amazing about this exposure to the range of concerns that preoccupy Chomsky and Vltchek is the degree to which their knowledge and ethical sensitivity seems so comprehensive without ever appearing to be superficial. How do they find the time, perseverance, and energy? Of course, it helps to be blessed with high intelligence, clarity of spirit, astonishing retentive gifts, and a seeming refusal to sleep, rest, and recreate (which was among the traits I found so intimidating long ago in Noam’s Vietnam writing, my first encounters with his political thought, having earlier been awed by his revolutionary linguistics approach).
While appearing to be on an equal footing throughout this dialogic text, Vltchek does acknowledge his reverential admiration for Chomsky, this extraordinary iconic American intellectual who has remained situated on the front lines of global critical debate for the past half century. In Vltchek’s words: “”The way I saw it, we were fighting for the same cause, for the right of self-determination and real freedom for all people around the world. And we were fighting against colonialism and fascism, in whichever form it came.” “For Noam, fighting injustice seemed to be as natural as breathing. For me, it became both a great honor and great adventure to work with him.” (ix) Vltchek believes that the lines of inspiration beneath a photo of the great English scholar/seer/activitst, Betrand Russell, which hangs ion the wall in Chomsky’s MIT office are also descriptive of what drives Chomsky to such heights: “”Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.” (vi, xv).
Vltchek shares with Chomsky an outlook that interprets the world on the basis of a deep structure of moral and political indictment directed at Western imperialism. Vltchek expresses this shared understanding clearly: “After witnessing and analyzing numerous atrocious conflicts, invasions and wars on all continents, I became convinced that almost all of them were orchestrated or provoked by Western geopolitical and economic interests.” (ix). The extent and gravity of the accusations is expressed statistically by Vltchek: “Along with the 55 million or so people killed as the direct result of wars initiated by the West, pro-Western coups and other conflicts, hundreds of millions have died indirectly in absolute misery, and silently.” (1) Chomsky agrees, wondering about which is the worst crime that should be attributed to the West, positing the destruction of the 80-100 indigenous people living in the Western Hemisphere before the European settlers arrived, as one option. In reflecting upon this, he abruptly shifts direction by observing, “..we are moving toward what may in fact be the ultimate genocide—the destruction of the environment.”(2) Chomsky laments that despite the overwhelming evidence of this self-destructive momentum, the challenge continues to be largely ignored by the public and the government, even in the face of dire warnings from the scientific community. The capitalist obsession with profits and capital accumulation, combined with psycho-political control over the dissemination of knowledge in even the most democratic of societies, makes it almost impossible to ‘see’ these threatening dimensions of social, economic, and political reality.
In a sense these conversations are an extended intellectual journey through the cartography of victimization brought about by Western colonial and post-colonial undertakings. Vltchek says early on “Colonialism continues but it appears that it is much more difficult for local people to point the finger and say exactly what is happening and who their enemies are.” (6) Chomsky responds “Some of the worst atrocities in the world have been committed over the last few years in the Eastern Congo. Three to five million people have been killed.” Aside from the magnitude of such a catastrophe what is so startling is its relative invisibility. This process of horrifying violence and unawareness is deeply troubling to both Chomsky and Vltchek. Chomsky repeatedly, and tellingly, refers to such victims as ‘un-people,’ those in non-Western realms whose death and suffering barely register on Western consciousness unless there are self-interested geopolitical reasons in a particular context to take non-Western suffering seriously. Both of these authors also view such tragedies as outcomes of global corporate greed, the struggle for control of Africa’s abundant natural resources leading these private sector actors to fund factions and militias that are out front, doing the fighting and killing. The true culprits hide behind curtains of evasion to remain invisible to the public. The media is shockingly complicit by reporting only on what is in view, avoiding critical investigative journalism. Chomsky and Vltchek help us to realize that an array of powerful forces are using their wealth and influence to prevent us from seeing. We are allowed to see only as much as the gatekeepers of the public mind want us to see, and yet we are not relieved from using our capacities for sight. Reading Chomsky and Vltchek removes the scales from our eyes, at least temporarily, as they have managed to elude these gatekeepers, but at considerable risk, with a display of moral courage, civic responsibility, and extraordinary intellectual energy. I learn a lesson in civics from their vigilance: as citizens of constitutional democracies we retain the freedom, and hence possess a heavy responsibility to see for ourselves what is being done in our name, and not being content by becoming informed about distant victimizations, but learning to heed above all those that are proximate, and once we see what is nearby, we have a responsibility to act.
Without venturing onto the terrain of ‘Orientalism’ the conversations are sensitive to what Chomsky refers to as “intellectual and moral colonization” that reinforces patterns of “political and economic colonization.” In this regard, he goes on to observe that “The main achievement of hierarchy and oppression is to get the un-people to accept that it’s natural.”(17), that is, to induce passivity and resignation among the ranks of the victimized. The moral consciousness of the perpetrators is also deliberately neutralized. When Chomsky inquires as to whether Europeans have “any consciousness of colonial history” Vltchek responds: “No, grotesquely there is very little consciousness.” He adds that such ignorance is “shameful and revealing”: “Europeans make sure that they remain ignorant of their horrid crimes, about the genocides they committed and are still involved in. What do they know about what their governments and companies were and are doing in DR Congo?” (20)
But just as the devil resides in the details, so too do angels of perceptions many of whom inhabit the pages of this book, and a few can be briefly mentioned here. The conversations weave a fabric of awareness that shifts back and forth between lamenting inattention and denial to the exposure of occurrences and realities that are unfamiliar yet crucially revealing. Without extending this commentary too much further, let me note some of the areas of agreement between Chomsky and Vltchek that corrected or collided with my own understanding. First, the comparison between China and India in which China is praised almost without reservation and India is condemned almost without qualification, surprisingly close to the approach taken by that arch consevative V.S. Naipaul [See Naipaul’s India, A Wounded Civilization(1977)] Their essential argument is that India is exceptionally cruel in its cultural practices, and has done relatively little to alleviate poverty, while China has made extraordinary progress that is spread widely throughout the country. Both confirm, contrary to Western propaganda and consistent with what I also experienced during a visit a year ago, that young university students in China seem fearless, raising sensitive controversial issues in public venues. In effect, India gets too much credit in the West because it possesses the trappings of liberal democracy, while China’s achievements are downplayed because socialist values are mixed with predatory capitalist practices. My own love of India has blinded, or at least numbed me, to the worst of India, and has consistently thrilled me with its cultural vibrancy and rich heritage, which included Gandhi and his incredible mobilization of a militant nonviolent challenge to the then still mighty British Empire.
The two conversationalists agree that the most encouraging political moves in the world from a progressive perspective have been made in Latin America. There are political experiments, as in Bolivia and Venezuela, that express the energies of a socialist populism with original regional and national features, and there is an encouraging set of hemispheric moves to repudiate the main signs of a crippling past dependency on the United States. Chomsky and Vltchek point out that in Latin America, and Asia, the United States has supported vicious and repressive political forces so as to secure the wealth generating interests of corporate America, personified by what might be called ‘the United Fruit Syndrome,’ or more popularly, the perpetuation of ‘banana republics.’ A telling argument made in the book is that the military dictatorships in Latin America that the U.S. helped install and sustain in the 1970s and 1980s were far more oppressive and exploitative of their populations than were the Stalinist governments in control of East Europe during the Cold War decades.
There is agreement among the authors that the heroes of the liberal establishment should be recast as villains. Two such exemplary individuals are Winston Churchill, reviled here for his criminal outlook toward African colonial peoples, and George Kennan, who is portrayed as a leading architect of the American global domination project put into operational form during the period of American ascendancy soon after World War II. Part of this exercise of demonization by Chomsky and Vltchek is to illustrate the mind games of liberal hegemonic ideology that treat such political luminaries as paragons of moral virtue. It continues the tradition of critical perception of the ruling elites that Chomsky so brilliantly set forth in American Power and The New Mandarins back in 1969.
Chomsky and Vltchek both persuasively accord great significance to the almost forgotten Indonesian massacre of 1965 in which more than a million people were sacrificed in a massive bloodbath designed to clear the way for a neoliberal takeover of the wealth producing capacity of the country. The governments of the United States and Australia have much blood on their hands in encouraging this atrocity, and its aftermath that included genocidal incidents in East Timor. The authors are negative about Asia other than China, supposing that it has swallowed a huge dose of poisonous cool aid called ‘neoliberalism.’
Such illustrative discussion just scratches the surface of these exceptionally perceptive conversations. It would be misleading to suggest that these two progressive interpreters of the whole world were in complete agreement. Chomsky is somewhat more tentative about developments in Turkey or in writing the obituary of the Arab Spring than is Vltchek who seems less nuanced in some of his commentary. Chomsky welcomes improvements and positive trends, while Vltchek believes that only structural change can make a sufficient difference to bring real hope to oppressed peoples.
In a similar vein, Chomsky seems more convinced than in the past that keeping hope alive is almost a duty expressive of solidarity with those currently victimized. More than before Chomsky is articulate about his belief that without the belief that positive change is possible, there will be no challenge mounted against an intolerable status quo.
The book ends with Chomsky depicting two trajectories for the human future: either a continuation of ecological sleep leading to species suicide or an awakening to the ecological challenge, with accompanying improvements. (173) As Chomsky has aged, although far more gradually than is normal, he has somewhat mellowed, and seems less pessimistic and assured overall than when I first came to know him in the late 1960s. I would say that Chomsky’s maturity has endowed him wisdom that acts as a complement to his astonishing command over the specifics of the whole spectrum of political concerns. This substantive authoritativeness set him apart long ago as our foremost intellectual and most beloved commentator on the passing scene of world events, but now he has also become a ‘wise elder,’ and whose views of the world deserves the greatest respect from all of us.