russiainsider--2020-02-20--Trump Is Lying Through His Teeth About US Wounded in Iran, It's a Sign of an Empire in Terminal Decl

Trump Is Lying Through His Teeth About US Wounded in Iran, It's a Sign of an Empire in Terminal Decline

`` With time , the entire edifice of lies built by US and EU politicians will come crashing down , either as a consequence of a military defeat impossible to hide , or from a major economic shock . ''
Friends , the Pentagon did it again .
Through CNN , of course .
Here is this “ latest news ” : On his website , Colonel Cassad offered this , shall we say , “ evolution ” of the truth as reported by the United States : Notice that while the number of surviving wounded steadily goes up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of dead .
All we have are “ aircraft crashes ” ( all , we are told , accidental ) .
Ask any military specialist ( or military historian ) and you will be told that this kind of “ evolution ” is exceedingly unlikely ( see here for one discussion ) .
Simply put – these kinds of numbers are pretty obviously impossible , which means that from the moment the Idiot-in-Chief tweeted “ so far so good ” , the US was already lying : Is there really anybody out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government lies pretty much about everything and anything ?
.
And it ’ s not just the Executive Branch , Congress lies possibly even more ( both parties , of course ) .
In fact , I would argue that lying is both necessary AND expected from any US politician .
When somebody like Tulsi Gabbard or Ron Paul don ’ t abide by this rule , the media immediately dismisses them as “ Putin agents ” or something equally insipid .
The truth is that lies have become the norm of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough by itself .
But there is worse .
The worst is not that western politicians lie , the worst is that almost nobody cares .
That is really scary .
Because in a society which expects everybody to lie , facts simply don ’ t matter any more .
So that is the key question : do we care or don ’ t we ?
Well , some clearly still care .
Or we would not have Howard Zinn ’ s books , or Oliver Stone ’ s movies as best sellers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9/11 Truth movement .
You want more evidence ?
Sure !
How about all the folks who are willing to go into exile ( or to jail ! )
to uphold the rights of historians to freely investigate the history of WWII ?
How about Ed Snowden , Julian Assange or Bradley Manning ?
How about the millions of people in the West who took to the streets to protest the various GWOT wars ?
No , there clearly are a lot of people who care .
The problem is that their impact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I want to look into today .
Have facts and truth become redundant ?
I doubt that there are many reading these lines who don ’ t already know for a fact that Kennedy was not killed by one “ lone gunman ” .
Likewise , we all know the truth about the “ Gulf of Tonkin ” incident .
Then there are those who realize that something about the Pearl Harbor attack stinks to high heaven .
Some even remember the USS Liberty .
Most specialists know about GLADIO .
And I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact is that most of the worst lies of the 20th century have been debunked beyond reasonable doubt , really .
Chris Hedges really nailed it when he spoke of an “ Empire of Illusions “ .
He names the following types of illusions : the illusion of Literacy , the illusion of Love , the illusion of Wisdom , the illusion of Happiness and the illusion of America .
The book is most interesting , and I highly recommend it .
But I think that there is one crucial aspect of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and that is the illusion of Reality .
What do I mean by that ?
I mean the following : most people are aware that there is a “ reality ” of some kind out there .
Of course , many people are aware of how difficult it can be to ascertain what the “ real reality ” really is , thus they prefer to cautiously state that getting to the truth is a very difficult endeavor .
These are the folks who know enough to know that they really don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are also those who misinterpret this caution as to mean that there really is no such thing as reality at all and all there is , is the sum of our subjective perception thereof ( of reality that is ) .
Pretty soon we have slipped from : • Reality is often very difficult to establish • Reality does not really exist at all ( or , if it does , it really doesn ’ t matter ) Of course , most people won ’ t directly declare that reality does not exist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t .
It all began centuries ago by a quite formidable indifference to Truth on the part of the leaders of the Papacy .
These folks were all about power , so if religion could give it to them , then religion was good , but when religion placed limits on what the Latins could or could not do ( say like during the famous “ Valladolid debate “ ) , then suddenly religion became a hindrance which had to be “ reformed ” .
And , indeed , once the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be it by the Reform or the Counter-Reformation ) all hell broke lose for most of mankind and the Age of Imperialism was fully ushered in and the ancient motto “ exitus acta probat ” became the de facto measure of morality .
Then came the first blow of the scientific revolution of the late Renaissance which left the Papacy with very little credibility left .
The next blow came during WWII when the Papacy saw its very last hurrah come and go , pretty quickly , in fact ( it lasted just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1000 year Reich ” did : 12 years ) .
By the end of the war , western Christianity was left in shambles and , even worse was the fact that none of the victors of WWII ( Reformed Anglos , Atheist Soviets , Jews – secular and not , etc . )
had any warm feelings left for the Christianity ( truth be told , neither did Hitler or Mussolini ) .
At this point the Papacy decided to commit suicide and organized the Vatican II Council , which must be the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for sacred in history .
This ill-advised attempt to show “ Roman Catholicism with a human face ” resulted in a total failure .
Those who hated the Papacy were unimpressed did not like it any more .
As for the confused rank and file “ Roman Catholics ” ( whom I refer to as “ Latins ” ) , they were were left with the following conundrum : if the Pope is infallible ( which he is as per the First Vatican Council of 1868 ) , how can he so clearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( not to mention the teachings of his putatively infallible predecessors ! )
?
Some declared that the Pope was a heretic , others simply declared that the “ Holy See ” was unoccupied ( “ sedevacantism “ ) , but most simply gave up in total disgust ( sex scandals did not help ! )
and simply stopped asking “ what is the truth ” ?
When a Church which had declared itself “ The Church ” ( all in CAPS , and at the exclusion of all others ) for 910 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suddenly acts as if all religions were equally “ true ” ( this is logically impossible , but never mind that ) and when a once powerful “ Holy Father ” ( and Vicar of Christ , no less ! )
becomes just another public figure somewhere between Kim Kardashian and Greta Thunberg , you know that something very big has taken place .
Something very bad too .
The truth is not only unwelcome , it does not even exist , right ?
!
Both world wars were the manifestation of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collapse of the traditional European monarchies and empires .
WWII , and its absolutely unprecedented explosion of hatred ( political , class , racial , linguistic , religious , etc . )
saw Europe , once the center of our planet , being subjected to a monstrous ( but also highly predictable ) bloodbath which resulted in two non-European powers splitting the world into two spheres of influence ( at least that was the plan ) .
More interestingly , while nominally “ Christian ” rulers and countries could not openly advocate for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secular folks had no such problems at all .
Just read Trotsky ’ s brilliant , if clearly satanic , “ Dictatorship versus Democracy ” or Hitler ’ s 5th chapter in Mein Kampf ( here in German if you can ! )
.
Both Dostoevskii and Solzhenitsyn predicted what would inevitably happen to a world in which Nihilism prevails .
Dostoevskii very simply summarized it all when he wrote ( in the Karamazov Brothers ) “ if there is no God , then everything is allowed “ .
The Nihilists have simply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God , and everything is allowed , then nothing really exists , most certainly not any “ real ” ( objective ) reality .
Even the very notions of “ good ” and “ evil ” are absolutely meaningless absent an absolute reference system .
Bertrand Russel ( and , apparently , also Voltaire ) once brilliantly wrote that “ God created Man in His image and Man returned Him the favor “ .
Amazing words , really !
If we are not the creation of God , but God is our creation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , does it not ?
And , as “ gods ” – don ’ t we deserve to define for ourselves what is “ good ” and what is “ bad ” ?
Of course we do !
Once life/existence has no meaning , how could concepts such as “ good ” or “ evil ” ?
And that is exactly what we have done , especially our post-modern 21 century Nihilists !
Back to where we started – assessing the “ so what ?
” defense I have already mentioned many times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who all hate on Trump for his alleged “ so what ?
” defense ( which , by the way , is a mis-characterization – his defense was much more solid and logical ) , but have absolutely no problems with people like the Obamas or , even better , the Clintons next to whom Trump almost sounds like a paragon of honesty , integrity and an acute sense of decency .
I mean , really , the Clintons made even violent mobsters ( Italian or Jewish ) look pure and innocent .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ absolutely no big deal .
But when Trump lies , then he elicits the kind of blind , impotent , rage which in the Gospel is described by the words “ weeping and gnashing of teeth “ .
Maybe that is what they refer to when they speak of a “ Trump derangement syndrome ” amongst US liberals ?
The truth is simple : we all know that Trump lied .
About the Iranian counter-strike and about many other things .
We also know that Obama lied .
And Baby-Bush too .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we remember “ read my lips , no new taxes ” just as well as we remember “ We did not , I repeat , did not trade weapons or anything else [ to Iran ] for hostages , nor will we “ .
So yes , we remember .
We have been completely desensitized not only to truth , but even to reality .
So what , right ?
And the consequences are dire indeed !
The fact that we , who live inside the Empire , live in a reality-free world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our rulers .
After all , if nobody really believes in , or cares about , reality , then why should our rulers bother with making reality any better , especially for us ?
It is much , much , simpler to simply present a “ feelgood ” message about how great “ America ” is ( as in “ We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world , by far !
“ ) and never mind that this most powerful military in the Galaxy could not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they knew exactly when and where the Iranian counter-strike would come .
Of course , with time , the entire edifice of lies built by US and EU politicians will come crashing down , either as a consequence of a military defeat impossible to hide , or from a major economic shock .
This will be totally unexpected for those who choose to live in a reality-free world .

"With time, the entire edifice of lies built by US and EU politicians will come crashing down, either as a consequence of a military defeat impossible to hide, or from a major economic shock."
Friends, the Pentagon did it again. Through CNN, of course. Here is this “latest news”:
Over 100 US service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries in the wake of the January 8 Iranian missile attack on the al Asad military base in Iraq, according to a US official with knowledge of the latest information?
On his website, Colonel Cassad offered this, shall we say, “evolution” of the truth as reported by the United States:
X stands for “surviving casualties”
Y stands for “dead”
X = 0, Y = 0 X = 11, Y = 0 X = 34, Y = 0 X = 50, Y = 0 X = 64, Y = 0 X=100+?, Y = 0 X> 200, Y> 80?
(that last line is, obviously, hypothetical, but at the time of writing, we are already up to 109 casualties!)
Notice that while the number of surviving wounded steadily goes up, there is no corresponding increase in the number of dead. All we have are “aircraft crashes” (all, we are told, accidental). Ask any military specialist (or military historian) and you will be told that this kind of “evolution” is exceedingly unlikely (see here for one discussion). Simply put – these kinds of numbers are pretty obviously impossible, which means that from the moment the Idiot-in-Chief tweeted “so far so good”, the US was already lying:
All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2020
Is there really anybody out there who will deny that the US government lies pretty much about everything and anything?. And it’s not just the Executive Branch, Congress lies possibly even more (both parties, of course). In fact, I would argue that lying is both necessary AND expected from any US politician. When somebody like Tulsi Gabbard or Ron Paul don’t abide by this rule, the media immediately dismisses them as “Putin agents” or something equally insipid.
The truth is that lies have become the norm of the western political discourse.
That is bad enough by itself. But there is worse.
The worst is not that western politicians lie, the worst is that almost nobody cares.
That is really scary.
Why?
Because in a society which expects everybody to lie, facts simply don’t matter any more.
So that is the key question: do we care or don’t we?
Well, some clearly still care. Or we would not have Howard Zinn’s books, or Oliver Stone’s movies as best sellers. Neither would we have a vibrant 9/11 Truth movement. You want more evidence? Sure! How about all the folks who are willing to go into exile (or to jail!) to uphold the rights of historians to freely investigate the history of WWII? How about Ed Snowden, Julian Assange or Bradley Manning? How about the millions of people in the West who took to the streets to protest the various GWOT wars? No, there clearly are a lot of people who care.
The problem is that their impact is minimal, and that is what I want to look into today.
Have facts and truth become redundant?
I doubt that there are many reading these lines who don’t already know for a fact that Kennedy was not killed by one “lone gunman”. Likewise, we all know the truth about the “Gulf of Tonkin” incident. Then there are those who realize that something about the Pearl Harbor attack stinks to high heaven. Some even remember the USS Liberty. Most specialists know about GLADIO. And I could go on and on. The fact is that most of the worst lies of the 20th century have been debunked beyond reasonable doubt, really.
Chris Hedges really nailed it when he spoke of an “Empire of Illusions“. He names the following types of illusions: the illusion of Literacy, the illusion of Love, the illusion of Wisdom, the illusion of Happiness and the illusion of America. The book is most interesting, and I highly recommend it. But I think that there is one crucial aspect of the Empire being an “Empire of Illusions” and that is the illusion of Reality. What do I mean by that?
I mean the following: most people are aware that there is a “reality” of some kind out there. Of course, many people are aware of how difficult it can be to ascertain what the “real reality” really is, thus they prefer to cautiously state that getting to the truth is a very difficult endeavor. These are the folks who know enough to know that they really don’t know much. But then there are also those who misinterpret this caution as to mean that there really is no such thing as reality at all and all there is, is the sum of our subjective perception thereof (of reality that is). Pretty soon we have slipped from:
Reality is often very difficult to establish
to
Reality is impossible to establish
to
Reality does not really exist at all (or, if it does, it really doesn’t matter)
Of course, most people won’t directly declare that reality does not exist – they just act as if it didn’t.
It all began centuries ago by a quite formidable indifference to Truth on the part of the leaders of the Papacy. These folks were all about power, so if religion could give it to them, then religion was good, but when religion placed limits on what the Latins could or could not do (say like during the famous “Valladolid debate“), then suddenly religion became a hindrance which had to be “reformed”. And, indeed, once the original Christianity was “reformed” (be it by the Reform or the Counter-Reformation) all hell broke lose for most of mankind and the Age of Imperialism was fully ushered in and the ancient motto “exitus acta probat” became the de facto measure of morality.
Then came the first blow of the scientific revolution of the late Renaissance which left the Papacy with very little credibility left.
The next blow came during WWII when the Papacy saw its very last hurrah come and go, pretty quickly, in fact (it lasted just as long as Hitler’s “1000 year Reich” did: 12 years). By the end of the war, western Christianity was left in shambles and, even worse was the fact that none of the victors of WWII (Reformed Anglos, Atheist Soviets, Jews – secular and not, etc.) had any warm feelings left for the Christianity (truth be told, neither did Hitler or Mussolini). At this point the Papacy decided to commit suicide and organized the Vatican II Council, which must be the most massive surrender of values previously held for sacred in history. This ill-advised attempt to show “Roman Catholicism with a human face” resulted in a total failure.
Those who hated the Papacy were unimpressed did not like it any more. As for the confused rank and file “Roman Catholics” (whom I refer to as “Latins”), they were were left with the following conundrum: if the Pope is infallible (which he is as per the First Vatican Council of 1868), how can he so clearly contradict the teachings of his own Church (not to mention the teachings of his putatively infallible predecessors!)? Some declared that the Pope was a heretic, others simply declared that the “Holy See” was unoccupied (“sedevacantism“), but most simply gave up in total disgust (sex scandals did not help!) and simply stopped asking “what is the truth”?
When a Church which had declared itself “The Church” (all in CAPS, and at the exclusion of all others) for 910 years (almost a millennium!) suddenly acts as if all religions were equally “true” (this is logically impossible, but never mind that) and when a once powerful “Holy Father” (and Vicar of Christ, no less!) becomes just another public figure somewhere between Kim Kardashian and Greta Thunberg, you know that something very big has taken place.
Something very bad too.
The truth is not only unwelcome, it does not even exist, right?!
Both world wars were the manifestation of an immense civilizational collapse. WWI saw the collapse of the traditional European monarchies and empires. WWII, and its absolutely unprecedented explosion of hatred (political, class, racial, linguistic, religious, etc.) saw Europe, once the center of our planet, being subjected to a monstrous (but also highly predictable) bloodbath which resulted in two non-European powers splitting the world into two spheres of influence (at least that was the plan). More interestingly, while nominally “Christian” rulers and countries could not openly advocate for mass terror, the “enlightened” secular folks had no such problems at all. Just read Trotsky’s brilliant, if clearly satanic, “Dictatorship versus Democracy” or Hitler’s 5th chapter in Mein Kampf (here in German if you can!).
Both Dostoevskii and Solzhenitsyn predicted what would inevitably happen to a world in which Nihilism prevails. Dostoevskii very simply summarized it all when he wrote (in the Karamazov Brothers) “if there is no God, then everything is allowed“. The Nihilists have simply logically concluded that if there is no God, and everything is allowed, then nothing really exists, most certainly not any “real” (objective) reality. Even the very notions of “good” and “evil” are absolutely meaningless absent an absolute reference system.
Bertrand Russel (and, apparently, also Voltaire) once brilliantly wrote that “God created Man in His image and Man returned Him the favor“. Amazing words, really! If we are not the creation of God, but God is our creation, that makes us very much God-like, does it not? And, as “gods” – don’t we deserve to define for ourselves what is “good” and what is “bad”? Of course we do! Once life/existence has no meaning, how could concepts such as “good” or “evil”? And that is exactly what we have done, especially our post-modern 21 century Nihilists!
Back to where we started – assessing the “so what?” defense
I have already mentioned many times the mind-blowing hypocrisy of the Dems, who all hate on Trump for his alleged “so what?” defense (which, by the way, is a mis-characterization – his defense was much more solid and logical), but have absolutely no problems with people like the Obamas or, even better, the Clintons next to whom Trump almost sounds like a paragon of honesty, integrity and an acute sense of decency. I mean, really, the Clintons made even violent mobsters (Italian or Jewish) look pure and innocent. And when they lie, this is absolutely no big deal. But when Trump lies, then he elicits the kind of blind, impotent, rage which in the Gospel is described by the words “weeping and gnashing of teeth“. Maybe that is what they refer to when they speak of a “Trump derangement syndrome” amongst US liberals?
The truth is simple: we all know that Trump lied. About the Iranian counter-strike and about many other things. We also know that Obama lied. And Baby-Bush too. And the Clinton and his no-sex cigars… And we remember “read my lips, no new taxes” just as well as we remember “We did not, I repeat, did not trade weapons or anything else [to Iran] for hostages, nor will we“. So yes, we remember.
We just don’t care anymore.
We have been completely desensitized not only to truth, but even to reality.
So what, right?
And the consequences are dire indeed!
Conclusion: life in a reality-free world
The fact that we, who live inside the Empire, live in a reality-free world has a huge impact upon the actions of our rulers. After all, if nobody really believes in, or cares about, reality, then why should our rulers bother with making reality any better, especially for us? It is much, much, simpler to simply present a “feelgood” message about how great “America” is (as in “We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!“) and never mind that this most powerful military in the Galaxy could not even protect its own soldiers even though they knew exactly when and where the Iranian counter-strike would come.
Of course, with time, the entire edifice of lies built by US and EU politicians will come crashing down, either as a consequence of a military defeat impossible to hide, or from a major economic shock. This will be totally unexpected for those who choose to live in a reality-free world.


russiainsider--2020-02-20--Ayatollah Tweets 'Wealthy Zionists Control US', Senators Rubio, Cruz, Cotton, Owned by Israel Lobby,

Ayatollah Tweets 'Wealthy Zionists Control US', Senators Rubio, Cruz, Cotton, Owned by Israel Lobby, Ask Twitter to Ban Him

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has marked the latest national event commemorating the death of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani by tweeting a deeply provocative statement asserting that “ wealthy Zionists ” control America .
The United States has reached the “ peak of arrogance , ” and is controlled by “ wealthy Zionists and their corporate owners , ” which makes it a “ manifestation of oppression , abhorred by the world , ” he said further , as reported in The Jerusalem Post .
The statement comes after the Islamic Republic 's top cleric and head of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peace plan “ Deal of the Century ” as “ satanic ” because it ultimately represents the “ Jewishization ” of Jerusalem and the suppression of Islamic identity .
“ To the dismay of US politicians , the satanic , evil US policy about Palestine — the so-called Deal Of The Century— will never bear fruit , by the grace of God , ” Khamenei wrote on his official Twitter account in late January .
Such inflammatory and religiously charged rhetoric will likely only fuel an ongoing initiative of hawkish Republican Senators to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banned from Twitter and other US social media platforms .
Earlier this month the group of Republicans including Ted Cruz ( Tx . )
, Tom Cotton ( Ark . )
Marsha Blackburn ( Tenn. ) and Marco Rubio ( Fla. ) wrote in the letter to Twitter : `` While the First Amendment protects the free speech rights of Americans — and Twitter should not be censoring the political speech of Americans — the Ayatollah enjoys zero protection from the United States Bill of Rights . ''
`` And , as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state sponsor of terrorism — directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of U.S. citizens — the Ayatollah and any American companies providing him assistance are entirely subject to U.S. sanctions laws , '' they added .
Twitter has long defended its position of never banning heads of state from the platform , given the need to publicly articulate a country 's positions .
Israeli media has carefully documented Khamenei 's recent history of lashing out at `` Zionists and Jews '' on Twitter ; however , as The Jerusalem Post notes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political Zionism and adherents of the Jewish religion : Regardless , American politicians and pundits typically view any and all disparaging remarks about 'Zionists ' - especially coming out of Iran or the Islamic world in general - as an anti-Semitic trope .

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has marked the latest national event commemorating the death of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani by tweeting a deeply provocative statement asserting that “wealthy Zionists” control America.
The United States has reached the “peak of arrogance,” and is controlled by “wealthy Zionists and their corporate owners,” which makes it a “manifestation of oppression, abhorred by the world,” he said further, as reported in The Jerusalem Post.
Now deceased Iran's Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani (left) with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, via Times of Israel/Wiki Commons.
The statement comes after the Islamic Republic's top cleric and head of the regime previously slammed Trump's Mideast peace plan “Deal of the Century” as “satanic” because it ultimately represents the “Jewishization” of Jerusalem and the suppression of Islamic identity.
“To the dismay of US politicians, the satanic, evil US policy about Palestine — the so-called Deal Of The Century— will never bear fruit, by the grace of God,” Khamenei wrote on his official Twitter account in late January.
Such inflammatory and religiously charged rhetoric will likely only fuel an ongoing initiative of hawkish Republican Senators to get Khamenei and other top Iranian leaders banned from Twitter and other US social media platforms.
We are against the rule of oppression and arrogance. This is what we mean by “America.” Today, the peak of arrogance is the US, which is controlled by the wealthy Zionists & their corporate owners. The US is a manifestation of oppression. Thus, they’re abhorred by the world. — Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) February 18, 2020
Earlier this month the group of Republicans including Ted Cruz (Tx.), Tom Cotton (Ark.) Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) wrote in the letter to Twitter: "While the First Amendment protects the free speech rights of Americans — and Twitter should not be censoring the political speech of Americans — the Ayatollah enjoys zero protection from the United States Bill of Rights."
"And, as the leader of the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism — directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of U.S. citizens — the Ayatollah and any American companies providing him assistance are entirely subject to U.S. sanctions laws," they added.
Twitter has long defended its position of never banning heads of state from the platform, given the need to publicly articulate a country's positions.
Israeli media has carefully documented Khamenei's recent history of lashing out at "Zionists and Jews" on Twitter; however, as The Jerusalem Post notes, he's long underscored a distinction between political Zionism and adherents of the Jewish religion:
Last year, the ayatollah said Iran is not antisemitic and that Jews live safely in Iran. In June 2019, he contrasted Iran’s treatment of Jews with “certain old Arab leaders who believed Jews should be thrown into the sea.”He says Iran is only opposed to the “Zionist” regime.
Regardless, American politicians and pundits typically view any and all disparaging remarks about 'Zionists' - especially coming out of Iran or the Islamic world in general - as an anti-Semitic trope.


russiainsider--2020-02-20--Russian TV Reports on Massive Investment in Largest Oil Project in History of World in Russian Arcti

Russian TV Reports on Massive Investment in Largest Oil Project in History of World in Russian Arctic

For more details about the project , see our article from last week : Russia Planning Biggest Oil Project in History of World - $ 155 Billion Investment , 15 New Towns , Airports , Ports , 100K Jobs Rosneft is the biggest taxpayer in Russia .
For the last year , it will pay over 3.5 trillion rubles to Russia 's budget .
Igor Sechin , the company 's CEO , stated that today at a meeting with Vladimir Putin .
The meeting was dedicated to Rosneft 's recent performance figures and future projects .
The most important of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an essentially new oil and gas province to be formed on the Taimyr Peninsula .
Dmitry Petrov has the details on how it could change the life of the Russian North .
The biggest oil company in the country and one of the world 's leaders in oil and gas production retained its position despite the general decline on the global market .
They fully maintained production and processing volumes .
: “ Mr .
Sechin , would you like to report on last year 's performance ?
” : “ In 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the previous year , 285.5 million tons of hydrocarbons .
Average daily production amounted to 5.8 million barrels per day .
This is a good result , one of the best in the global industry.
” Rosneft is the world 's leader in costs per unit of oil production ; they have the lowest costs .
It 's also the leader in the size of deposits .
Last year , they even managed to replenish them by almost three times .
The company actively develops oil and gas exploration .
It has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Rosneft remains a reliable counterparty for foreign partners .
They have the contracts to supply oil to Poland and the Czech Republic through the Druzhba pipeline have been extended .
Rosneft has significantly increased its presence in Germany 's energy market .
There are new projects ahead .
Vostok Oil is the largest of them .
- In total , the project features the creation of 15 towns to house oilfield workers , two airports , a seaport , about 800 kilometers ( 500 miles ) pipeline , and 100,000 jobs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ said ?
- About 10 trillion rubles , maybe more .
- Will it result in about 2 % of GDP ?
- It 'll result in the growth of the country 's GDP by 2 % per year .
It will be a new world-level oil cluster .
Vostok Oil will be comprised of the biggest oil fields in Siberia - the Vankor , Suzunskoye , Tagulskoye , and Lodochnoye oil fields , as well as several other fields in the north of Krasnoyarsk Krai - the Payakh Oil Field , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the West-Irkin Cluster .
Five billion tons .
Access to the Northern Sea Route is an additional competitive advantage .
The powerful Russian ice-breaker fleet will ensure the navigation of tankers through the Arctic ice in any direction - whether to Europe or to Asia .
: “ Of course , the project is ambitious and promising .
It will facilitate GDP growth , increase shipping along the Northern Sea Route , and , of course , reinforce Russia 's position in the Arctic in general .
I wish you success @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calculations . ''
: “ We will keep working , and we are counting on your support for this project.
” In 2019 , as the country 's biggest taxpayer , Rosneft will pay over 3.5 trillion rubles to the federal budget .

For more details about the project, see our article from last week: Russia Planning Biggest Oil Project in History of World - $155 Billion Investment, 15 New Towns, Airports, Ports, 100K Jobs
Transcript:
Rosneft is the biggest taxpayer in Russia. For the last year, it will pay over 3.5 trillion rubles to Russia's budget. Igor Sechin, the company's CEO, stated that today at a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The meeting was dedicated to Rosneft's recent performance figures and future projects. The most important of them, Vostok Oil, will allow an essentially new oil and gas province to be formed on the Taimyr Peninsula.
Dmitry Petrov has the details on how it could change the life of the Russian North.
The biggest oil company in the country and one of the world's leaders in oil and gas production retained its position despite the general decline on the global market. They fully maintained production and processing volumes.
Vladimir Putin : “Mr. Sechin, would you like to report on last year's performance?”
Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO : “In 2019, hydrocarbon production remained at the level of the previous year, 285.5 million tons of hydrocarbons. Average daily production amounted to 5.8 million barrels per day. This is a good result, one of the best in the global industry.”
Rosneft is the world's leader in costs per unit of oil production; they have the lowest costs. It's also the leader in the size of deposits. Last year, they even managed to replenish them by almost three times. The company actively develops oil and gas exploration. It has almost 150 exploration wells in different regions.
Rosneft remains a reliable counterparty for foreign partners. They have the contracts to supply oil to Poland and the Czech Republic through the Druzhba pipeline have been extended. Rosneft has significantly increased its presence in Germany's energy market. There are new projects ahead. Vostok Oil is the largest of them.
Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO :
- In total, the project features the creation of 15 towns to house oilfield workers, two airports, a seaport, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) pipeline, and 100,000 jobs.
Vladimir Putin :
- What was the total investment you said?
- About 10 trillion rubles, maybe more.
- Will it result in about 2% of GDP?
- It'll result in the growth of the country's GDP by 2% per year.
It will be a new world-level oil cluster. Vostok Oil will be comprised of the biggest oil fields in Siberia - the Vankor, Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye, and Lodochnoye oil fields, as well as several other fields in the north of Krasnoyarsk Krai - the Payakh Oil Field, where the Yenisei flows into the Kara Sea, and the West-Irkin Cluster. Five billion tons. Access to the Northern Sea Route is an additional competitive advantage. The powerful Russian ice-breaker fleet will ensure the navigation of tankers through the Arctic ice in any direction - whether to Europe or to Asia.
Vladimir Putin : “Of course, the project is ambitious and promising. It will facilitate GDP growth, increase shipping along the Northern Sea Route, and, of course, reinforce Russia's position in the Arctic in general. I wish you success. You only need to make accurate calculations."
Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO : “We will keep working, and we are counting on your support for this project.”
In 2019, as the country's biggest taxpayer, Rosneft will pay over 3.5 trillion rubles to the federal budget.


russiainsider--2020-02-20--Russia Welcomed 20% More Tourists in 2019, Mostly from China

Tourist arrivals to Russia have surged by 20.5 % in 2019 , according to official figures cited by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia ( ATOR ) on Monday .
More than 5 million tourists visited Russia in January-December 2019 , according to ATOR ’ s breakdown of Federal Security Service ( FSB ) border service data , up from 4.2 million tourists the previous year .
The numbers come as Russia moves to simplify visa requirements for citizens of 53 countries next year and boost its tourism revenue .
Country-specific figures showed increasing tourist arrivals in Russia from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top five countries where tourists came from remained unchanged since 2018 .
China supplied the highest share of inbound visitors at 1.5 million tourists , an increase of 19 % from 2018 .
Russia has introduced visa-free travel for Chinese tour groups and hired Chinese-speaking staff at airports and train stations to accommodate the surge .
Germany accounted for the second-most visitors with more than 520,000 tourists , an increase of 15.7 % from 2018 .
South Korea contributed the third-most visitors at more than 413,000 tourists , an increase of 20.8 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in fourth with 241,000 American tourists last year , up by 6 % from 2018 .
Israel rounded out the top five with 199,000 inbound tourists , an increase of 21.7 % in a year .
Almost 33 million foreigners visited Russia overall , not only for tourism .

The numbers come as Russia moves to simplify visa requirements for citizens of 53 countries and boost its tourism revenue.Kirill Zykov / Moskva News Agency
Tourist arrivals to Russia have surged by 20.5% in 2019, according to official figures cited by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) on Monday.
More than 5 million tourists visited Russia in January-December 2019, according to ATOR’s breakdown of Federal Security Service (FSB) border service data, up from 4.2 million tourists the previous year. The numbers come as Russia moves to simplify visa requirements for citizens of 53 countries next year and boost its tourism revenue.
Country-specific figures showed increasing tourist arrivals in Russia from all continents except Latin America. The top five countries where tourists came from remained unchanged since 2018.
China supplied the highest share of inbound visitors at 1.5 million tourists, an increase of 19% from 2018. Russia has introduced visa-free travel for Chinese tour groups and hired Chinese-speaking staff at airports and train stations to accommodate the surge.
Germany accounted for the second-most visitors with more than 520,000 tourists, an increase of 15.7% from 2018. South Korea contributed the third-most visitors at more than 413,000 tourists, an increase of 20.8% from 2018.
The United States came in fourth with 241,000 American tourists last year, up by 6% from 2018.
Israel rounded out the top five with 199,000 inbound tourists, an increase of 21.7% in a year.
Almost 33 million foreigners visited Russia overall, not only for tourism.


russiainsider--2020-02-20--Will Censorship Prevail Over the First Amendment?

I remember when censorship in America was a limited phenomenon .
It applied during war time— “ loose lips sink ships.
” It applied to pornography .
It applied to curse words on the public airwaves and in movies .
It applied to violence in movies .
There could be violence , but not the level that has become common .
Today censorship is ubiquitous .
It is everywhere .
In the United States censorship is both imposed from above and flows from the bottom up .
Censorship is imposed from above by , for example , TV and print @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and by laws in 28 states prohibiting criticism and participation in boycotts of Israel and by President Trump ’ s executive order preventing federal funding of educational institutions that permit criticisms of Israel .
Censorship flows from the bottom up by , for example , people of protected races , genders , and sexual preference claiming to be offended .
The ubiquitous censorship that today is characteristic of the United States has shut down comedians .
It has shut down criticism of non-whites , homosexuals , transgendered , feminists , and Israel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skeptics “ conspiracy theorists.
” The ubiquitous censorship in the United States is an extraordinary development as the US Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and a free press .
We owe journalist Abby Martin appreciation for reminding us of our right to free speech .
Abby is suing the state of Georgia , one of 28 states that have violated the Constitutional protection of free speech .
Abby was scheduled to give the keynote speech at a conference at Georgia Southern University .
She discovered that in order to speak publicly at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pledge of allegiance not to criticize Israel .
Her refusal to sign resulted in the conference being cancelled .
Here we have the state of Georgia blocking free speech because it will not support the Israeli position on Palestine .
See : Think about this for a moment .
More than half of the 50 states that comprise the United States have passed laws that are clear violations of the US Constitution.Moreover , these 28 states have imposed censorship in behalf of a foreign country.Americans have gags stuck in their mouths because 28 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher than the First Amendment of the US Constitution .
When government itself is opposed to free speech , what becomes of democracy and accountable government ?
Why would 28 states legislate against the US Constitution ?
One explanation is that the state governments were bought by the Israel Lobby with money under the table , by promises of political campaign donations , or by threats of financing rival candidates.How else do we explain 28 state governments imposing censorship in behalf of a foreign country ?
Abby Martin is one person who will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brought a lawsuit that—if the US Supreme Court is still a protector of the First Amendment—will result in the 28 state laws and Trump ’ s executive order being overturned .
The protection of Israel against boycotts parallels state laws passed in the 1950s that prevented Martin Luther King ’ s movement from boycotting businesses that practiced racial segregation .
These laws were overturned by the Supreme Court .
The outcome of Abby Martin ’ s suit will tell us whether the US Constitution is still a living document .

I remember when censorship in America was a limited phenomenon. It applied during war time—“loose lips sink ships.” It applied to pornography. It applied to curse words on the public airwaves and in movies. It applied to violence in movies. There could be violence, but not the level that has become common.
Today censorship is ubiquitous. It is everywhere. In the United States censorship is both imposed from above and flows from the bottom up. Censorship is imposed from above by, for example, TV and print media, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and by laws in 28 states prohibiting criticism and participation in boycotts of Israel and by President Trump’s executive order preventing federal funding of educational institutions that permit criticisms of Israel. Censorship flows from the bottom up by, for example, people of protected races, genders, and sexual preference claiming to be offended.
The ubiquitous censorship that today is characteristic of the United States has shut down comedians. It has shut down criticism of non-whites, homosexuals, transgendered, feminists, and Israel. Official explanations are shielded by labeling skeptics “conspiracy theorists.” The ubiquitous censorship in the United States is an extraordinary development as the US Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and a free press.
We owe journalist Abby Martin appreciation for reminding us of our right to free speech. Abby is suing the state of Georgia, one of 28 states that have violated the Constitutional protection of free speech.
Abby was scheduled to give the keynote speech at a conference at Georgia Southern University. She discovered that in order to speak publicly at a Georgia college she had to sign a pledge of allegiance not to criticize Israel. Her refusal to sign resulted in the conference being cancelled.
Here we have the state of Georgia blocking free speech because it will not support the Israeli position on Palestine. See:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/02/no_author/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/ .
Also: https://www.timesofisrael.com/filmmaker-who-wouldnt-sign-georgias-oath-not-to-boycott-israel-sues-us-state/
Think about this for a moment. More than half of the 50 states that comprise the United States have passed laws that are clear violations of the US Constitution.Moreover, these 28 states have imposed censorship in behalf of a foreign country.Americans have gags stuck in their mouths because 28 state governments put the interest of Israel higher than the First Amendment of the US Constitution. When government itself is opposed to free speech, what becomes of democracy and accountable government?
Why would 28 states legislate against the US Constitution? One explanation is that the state governments were bought by the Israel Lobby with money under the table, by promises of political campaign donations, or by threats of financing rival candidates.How else do we explain 28 state governments imposing censorship in behalf of a foreign country?
Abby Martin is one person who will not stand for it. She has brought a lawsuit that—if the US Supreme Court is still a protector of the First Amendment—will result in the 28 state laws and Trump’s executive order being overturned. The protection of Israel against boycotts parallels state laws passed in the 1950s that prevented Martin Luther King’s movement from boycotting businesses that practiced racial segregation. These laws were overturned by the Supreme Court.
The outcome of Abby Martin’s suit will tell us whether the US Constitution is still a living document.


russiainsider--2020-02-20--GREAT NEWS: Head Of Church to Ensure that Russian Constitution Affirm Existence of God

“ The majority of Russian citizens believe in God .
I ’ m not only talking about the Orthodox—I ’ m also talking about Muslims and many others , ” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said at a reception on February 1 on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of his enthronement as Patriarch , calling a reference to God to be added to the Russian constitution .
After all , the Russian national anthem , one of the state symbols of the country , contains the words , “ God-protected native land , ” His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t this be said in our constitution ?
” he asked .
“ Let us pray and work so God would be mentioned in our foundational law , ” His Holiness urged .
“ This is not yet the case , but I think that through joint efforts and prayers we will help to ensure that such a lofty idea as faith in God , which forms the moral , personal , social , and political , would be included in our constitution , ” Pat .
Kirill said .
Andrei Klishas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preparing proposals for amendments to the constitution and Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation , told that the Patriarch ’ s request will be considered .
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation Michael Emelyanov noted that the Patriarch ’ s proposal does not contradict the separation of Church and state enshrined in article 14 of the constitution , as he did not call for Orthodoxy to become the official state religion , but to reference belief in God which is common to nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the State Duma Committee on Civil Society Development and Issues of Religious and Public Associations , that God is mentioned in the hymn [ of Russia ] , and the majority in our country respect this hymn , whether Orthodox , Muslims , or Jews.
” He noted that a broad discussion is needed to discuss possible amendments to the constitution , including mentioning God .
However , not all Deputies have positively evaluated the Patriarch ’ s proposal .
For example , , Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Council for Human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group on preparing proposals for amendments to the Constitution , noted that there are also atheists in Russia for whom such an amendment would be unacceptable .

Photo: RIA-Novosti
“The majority of Russian citizens believe in God. I’m not only talking about the Orthodox—I’m also talking about Muslims and many others,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said at a reception on February 1 on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of his enthronement as Patriarch, calling a reference to God to be added to the Russian constitution.
After all, the Russian national anthem, one of the state symbols of the country, contains the words, “God-protected native land,” His Holiness said. “So why can’t this be said in our constitution?” he asked.
“Let us pray and work so God would be mentioned in our foundational law,” His Holiness urged.
“This is not yet the case, but I think that through joint efforts and prayers we will help to ensure that such a lofty idea as faith in God, which forms the moral, personal, social, and political, would be included in our constitution,” Pat. Kirill said.
Andrei Klishas, Co-chairman of the working group on preparing proposals for amendments to the constitution and Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, told RIA-Novosti that the Patriarch’s request will be considered.
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation Michael Emelyanov noted that the Patriarch’s proposal does not contradict the separation of Church and state enshrined in article 14 of the constitution, as he did not call for Orthodoxy to become the official state religion, but to reference belief in God which is common to nearly all Russians.
Sergei Gavrilov, head of the State Duma Committee on Civil Society Development and Issues of Religious and Public Associations, commented that God is mentioned in the hymn [of Russia], and the majority in our country respect this hymn, whether Orthodox, Muslims, or Jews.”
He noted that a broad discussion is needed to discuss possible amendments to the constitution, including mentioning God.


russiainsider--2020-02-19--The Fat Schmuck at CNN in Charge of Reporting on 'Dishonesty in Media', Yes, Seriously (Donie O'Sull

The Fat Schmuck at CNN in Charge of Reporting on 'Dishonesty in Media', Yes, Seriously (Donie O'Sullivan)

Yes , CNN actually has a guy like this , and he is as dumb as you might imagine .
Who else but a moron or a psychopath would take a job like that at CNN ?
- and he 's not smart enough to be a psychopath , unlike CNN 's senior management .
Imagine .
CNN has a reporter whose beat is “ disinformation.
” That ’ s satire , right ?
Nope .
It ’ s true .
Donie O ’ Sullivan is CNN ’ s “ disinformation ” reporter .
CNN ’ s O ’ Sullivan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Herald Tribune .
The disinformation reporter ’ s effort is , to put it mildly , decidedly disingenuous .
One of the many problems with O ’ Sullivan ’ s disinfo essay is that he wrote it without even trying to interview the person who has been Editor In Chief of AHT since its inception .
I am that person .
O ’ Sullivan has quickly made himself notorious in media circles for his pompous sanctimoniousness .
His pomposities have drawn fire from the likes of Tucker Carlson at Fox News and from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ O ’ Sullivan has been singled out especially for his dim witted and humourless attack on a satirical piece that has attracted a lot of positive buzz to its publisher , Babylon Bee .
Babylon Bee specializes in satire from a Christian conservative perspective .
O ’ Sullivan expressed dismay at the large number of Facebook shares triggered by Babylon Bee ’ s spoof .
This spoof explains the “ Democrats Call For Flags To Be Flown At Half-Mast To Grieve Death Of Soleimani.
” The satirist went on to imagine Congresswoman Ilhan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we need to stop and grieve this great , austere , revered religious scholar .
He was one of the good ones . ''
The fact that this example of gallows humour earned many more Facebook shares than the top stories on CNN and the New York Times prompted O ’ Sullivan to suggest that Babylon Bee should be deplatformed .
It seems the disinformation reporter at CNN is enamoured with censorship as an instrument of spin doctoring .
O ’ Sullivan worried that the popularity of the satirical item was caused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ content to be true .
The joke was illustrated by a photoshopped image of Congress flying a US flag at half- mast .
O ’ Sullivan described the tongue-in-cheek story as “ clickbait ” and “ misinformation.
” As justification for his outrage O ’ Sullivan cited a Facebook comment exclaiming , “ I wish this was a joke .
Half of the left has gone full Anti-America , full terrorist supporter this week.
” The controversy stirred up enough attention in mainstream media for Tucker Carlson to invite onto Fox the CEO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As the duo warmed up for their critique of the CNN gong show , Dillon and Tucker shared a joke .
How “ hilarious ” it seemed to both of them that Babylon Bee should be accused of “ disinformation ” by CNN , a notorious purveyor of disinfo .
The light-hearted exchange was interspersed with serious commentary about CNN ’ s propensity to promote the Internet censorship of those with whom the network disagrees .
Some might go as far as observing that Donie O ’ Sullivan is making a fool of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ missteps as CNN ’ s disinformation reporter .
In its headline describing the half-mast fiasco , the web site Twichy exclaimed in its headline , “ CNN ’ s Donie O ’ Sullivan accidentally proves the ‘ garbage state ’ of media in a thread whining about Babylon Bee.
” In a more probing commentary on the Babylon Bee/O ’ Sullivan dust up , the National Review ’ s senior writer observed , American Herald Tribune exists as a rich source of varied commentary on international affairs for those who understand the mainstream @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disinformation .
Our pluralistic coverage of recent news events like the drone strike assassinations of General Qassem Soleimani , Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their murdered entourage is , for us , far from a laughing matter .
It is not a subject that AHT would treat as a suitable topic for satire .
It would only add insult to injury , however , to criticize a Christian conservative satire site for looking at the astonishing developments of January 2020 through an entirely different lens than we do .
Many of the writers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to share a view that finds merit in the stance of the Axis of Resistance as opposed to the stance of the US and Israeli-led side in the fast coalescing conflict .
This conflict is now engulfing the Middle East even as it threatens to become fully global in scope .
Rather than stoke the flames of intolerance and antagonism as Donie O ’ Sullivan , CNN and the Trump White House are doing , AHT prefers to promote dialogue and negotiation as an alternative to hateful war mongering .
The people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are prone to identify with the urge to self-defence of the Houthi and other Yemani people .
Hence we condemn the Saudi Armed Forces that continue to use Western weaponry in the mass slaughter of Yemeni civilians .
Where do Donie O ’ Sullivan and CNN stand on the issue of genocide in Yemen ?
We recognize that General Soleimani was a soldier genuinely devoted to fighting the mercenary forces of Daesh ( aka ISIL , ISIS ) Like its predecessor , al-Qaeda , Daesh was created as a proxy army largely funded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Saudi Arabia with the Israeli government pulling many of the strings in the background .
Daesh has been moved around in the Middle East and Eurasia to give justifications for many US military operations where the cause of fighting terrorism is nothing but a pretext .
How come the US government has supported in Syria the mercenary forces of al-Qaeda/al-Nusra , the very entity that the US government points to as the 9/11 culprits ?
Why doesn ’ t CNN properly investigate the apparent contradictions between the US support for al-Qaeda in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 9/11 crimes ?
When it comes to the reasons General Soleimani flew to Baghdad on January 2 the readers and writers at AHT are generally inclined to believe more the account of the Iraqi Prime Minister , Abdul Mahdi , than that of the Christian Zionist Secretary of State , Mike Pompeo .
AHT has reported extensively in support of the argument that the Quds Force leader was invited by the Iraqi Prime Minister to engage in diplomatic peace talks .
He did not come to Baghdad with the intention of doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and blowing up embassies .
Where is the evidence for the US claim that President Trump did not commit a war crime with his order to conduct drone assassinations in Baghdad on 2 January 2020 ?
As for myself , I am 68 years old and have recently retired to become Professor Emeritus at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta Canada .
I have travelled to and from Iran several times over the last six years .
I have taken part in New Horizon conferences and have given a paper at an academic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I have also participated in a large event in 2017 emphasizing Muslim solidarity with the plight of Palestinian people living under Israeli control .
In the course of these visits I have developed friendships and collegial relations with some Iranian people .
Some of this networking is reflected in the very wide array of contributors to AHT .
Our contributors reside in many lands all over the world .
Compared to AHT ’ s international representation of international affairs , CNN is a very narrow and parochial venue .
Among the contributors at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CNN is the renowned Iranian film maker , journalist and public affairs commentator , Nader Talebzadeh .
I believe I have been making much better use of my time than the partisan spin doctors at CNN who have taken the side of Hillary Clinton Democrats in the efforts to impeach Donald Trump .
Trump should be impeached , but not for his involvement in the Hunter Biden mess in Ukraine .
Rather the US President should be impeached for the extrajudicial assassinations executed on his orders through the Baghdad drone strike of 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be wrong to fly some flags at half-mast because of the tragedy that has befallen so many otherwise sane Americans who have succumbed to the derangements of Islamophobia , Arabophobia and Iranophobia .
What are the chances that the world ’ s peace loving people , including many anti-war activists in the United States , can hold back the global catastrophe set in motion by the most destabilizing drone strike ever ?

Yes, CNN actually has a guy like this, and he is as dumb as you might imagine. Who else but a moron or a psychopath would take a job like that at CNN? - and he's not smart enough to be a psychopath, unlike CNN's senior management.
Imagine. CNN has a reporter whose beat is “disinformation.” That’s satire, right? Nope. It’s true. Donie O’Sullivan is CNN’s “disinformation” reporter. CNN’s O’Sullivan has written a smear piece on American Herald Tribune. The disinformation reporter’s effort is, to put it mildly, decidedly disingenuous. One of the many problems with O’Sullivan’s disinfo essay is that he wrote it without even trying to interview the person who has been Editor In Chief of AHT since its inception. I am that person.
O’Sullivan has quickly made himself notorious in media circles for his pompous sanctimoniousness. His pomposities have drawn fire from the likes of Tucker Carlson at Fox News and from David Harsanyi at the National Review. O’Sullivan has been singled out especially for his dim witted and humourless attack on a satirical piece that has attracted a lot of positive buzz to its publisher, Babylon Bee.
Babylon Bee specializes in satire from a Christian conservative perspective. O’Sullivan expressed dismay at the large number of Facebook shares triggered by Babylon Bee’s spoof. This spoof explains the “Democrats Call For Flags To Be Flown At Half-Mast To Grieve Death Of Soleimani.” The satirist went on to imagine Congresswoman Ilhan Omar announcing, "As a nation, we need to stop and grieve this great, austere, revered religious scholar. He was one of the good ones."
The fact that this example of gallows humour earned many more Facebook shares than the top stories on CNN and the New York Times prompted O’Sullivan to suggest that Babylon Bee should be deplatformed. It seems the disinformation reporter at CNN is enamoured with censorship as an instrument of spin doctoring.
O’Sullivan worried that the popularity of the satirical item was caused because many Internet surfers apparently took its content to be true. The joke was illustrated by a photoshopped image of Congress flying a US flag at half- mast. O’Sullivan described the tongue-in-cheek story as “clickbait” and “misinformation.” As justification for his outrage O’Sullivan cited a Facebook comment exclaiming, “I wish this was a joke. Half of the left has gone full Anti-America, full terrorist supporter this week.”
The controversy stirred up enough attention in mainstream media for Tucker Carlson to invite onto Fox the CEO of Babylon Bee, Seth Dillon. As the duo warmed up for their critique of the CNN gong show, Dillon and Tucker shared a joke. How “hilarious” it seemed to both of them that Babylon Bee should be accused of “disinformation” by CNN, a notorious purveyor of disinfo. The light-hearted exchange was interspersed with serious commentary about CNN’s propensity to promote the Internet censorship of those with whom the network disagrees.
Some might go as far as observing that Donie O’Sullivan is making a fool of himself and his network for his ill-considered missteps as CNN’s disinformation reporter. In its headline describing the half-mast fiasco, the web site Twichy exclaimed in its headline, “CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan accidentally proves the ‘garbage state’ of media in a thread whining about Babylon Bee.” In a more probing commentary on the Babylon Bee/O’Sullivan dust up, the National Review’s senior writer observed,
“What’s most annoying about all this situational and insincere freakout about the veracity of social-media news feeds is that the people who claim to be most concerned about it have done far more damage to the public’s trust than has any satirical site — not only by spreading half-truths and stoking political hysteria, but by undermining their reputation and leaving millions of Americans without any reliable mainstream news organizations to count on.”
American Herald Tribune exists as a rich source of varied commentary on international affairs for those who understand the mainstream media is awash these days in power-serving disinformation. Our pluralistic coverage of recent news events like the drone strike assassinations of General Qassem Soleimani, Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their murdered entourage is, for us, far from a laughing matter. It is not a subject that AHT would treat as a suitable topic for satire. It would only add insult to injury, however, to criticize a Christian conservative satire site for looking at the astonishing developments of January 2020 through an entirely different lens than we do.
Many of the writers and readers of American Herald Tribune tend to share a view that finds merit in the stance of the Axis of Resistance as opposed to the stance of the US and Israeli-led side in the fast coalescing conflict. This conflict is now engulfing the Middle East even as it threatens to become fully global in scope.
Rather than stoke the flames of intolerance and antagonism as Donie O’Sullivan, CNN and the Trump White House are doing, AHT prefers to promote dialogue and negotiation as an alternative to hateful war mongering.
The people who tend to collect in and around AHT are prone to identify with the urge to self-defence of the Houthi and other Yemani people. Hence we condemn the Saudi Armed Forces that continue to use Western weaponry in the mass slaughter of Yemeni civilians. Where do Donie O’Sullivan and CNN stand on the issue of genocide in Yemen?
We recognize that General Soleimani was a soldier genuinely devoted to fighting the mercenary forces of Daesh (aka ISIL, ISIS) Like its predecessor, al-Qaeda, Daesh was created as a proxy army largely funded, directed and equipped by the USA and Saudi Arabia with the Israeli government pulling many of the strings in the background. Daesh has been moved around in the Middle East and Eurasia to give justifications for many US military operations where the cause of fighting terrorism is nothing but a pretext.
How come the US government has supported in Syria the mercenary forces of al-Qaeda/al-Nusra, the very entity that the US government points to as the 9/11 culprits? Why doesn’t CNN properly investigate the apparent contradictions between the US support for al-Qaeda in light of the official US explanation for the 9/11 crimes?
When it comes to the reasons General Soleimani flew to Baghdad on January 2 the readers and writers at AHT are generally inclined to believe more the account of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Abdul Mahdi, than that of the Christian Zionist Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. AHT has reported extensively in support of the argument that the Quds Force leader was invited by the Iraqi Prime Minister to engage in diplomatic peace talks. He did not come to Baghdad with the intention of doing “imminent” damage like killing diplomats and blowing up embassies. Where is the evidence for the US claim that President Trump did not commit a war crime with his order to conduct drone assassinations in Baghdad on 2 January 2020?
As for myself, I am 68 years old and have recently retired to become Professor Emeritus at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta Canada. I have travelled to and from Iran several times over the last six years. I have taken part in New Horizon conferences and have given a paper at an academic event at the University of Tehran. I have also participated in a large event in 2017 emphasizing Muslim solidarity with the plight of Palestinian people living under Israeli control.
In the course of these visits I have developed friendships and collegial relations with some Iranian people. Some of this networking is reflected in the very wide array of contributors to AHT. Our contributors reside in many lands all over the world.
Compared to AHT’s international representation of international affairs, CNN is a very narrow and parochial venue. Among the contributors at AHT that one would never see at CNN is the renowned Iranian film maker, journalist and public affairs commentator, Nader Talebzadeh.
I believe I have been making much better use of my time than the partisan spin doctors at CNN who have taken the side of Hillary Clinton Democrats in the efforts to impeach Donald Trump. Trump should be impeached, but not for his involvement in the Hunter Biden mess in Ukraine. Rather the US President should be impeached for the extrajudicial assassinations executed on his orders through the Baghdad drone strike of 2 January, 2020.
It would not be wrong to fly some flags at half-mast because of the tragedy that has befallen so many otherwise sane Americans who have succumbed to the derangements of Islamophobia, Arabophobia and Iranophobia. What are the chances that the world’s peace loving people, including many anti-war activists in the United States, can hold back the global catastrophe set in motion by the most destabilizing drone strike ever?


russiainsider--2020-02-19--Dresden Terror Bombing, Like Hiroshima, Was a Maniacal Warning to Moscow

This weekend 75 years ago , the German city of Dresden was razed to the ground by British and American aerial bombardment .
At least 25,000 mainly civilians were destroyed in raid after raid by over 1,200 heavy bombers , indiscriminately dropping high explosives and incendiaries .
It took seven years just to clear the rubble .
The destruction of Dresden , a world-famous cultural center of Baroque majesty , has been long dogged by controversy .
Official British and American military accounts claim it was necessary to hasten the collapse of the Third Reich ; with a reasoning that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 .
Critics say , however , that the mass bombing of Dresden was immaterial in the effort to defeat Nazi Germany .
It was a wanton act of terror – a war crime – carried out by the British and Americans .
Critics point out that most of the industrial and military targets on the outskirts of the beautiful city were largely left untouched by the bombing .
British wartime leader Winston Churchill is even said to have expressed misgivings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indiscriminate bombing of German civilian centers .
Ardent advocates of the terror-bombing campaign said it would exhaust German morale .
A classic case of ends justifying means , no matter how vile the means .
There were also claims at the time that the damage to Nazi communication and transport lines would aid the advancing Soviet Red Army .
But there is good reason to believe that the rationale for the obliteration of Dresden was for an altogether more sinister reason .
It wasn ’ t so much an act of terror aimed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show of maniacal power to the Soviet Union .
A British Royal Air Force memo on the Dresden operation noted that it would “ show the Russians when they arrive what Bomber Command can do.
” ( See caption 17 in this linked photo essay . )
By mid-February 1945 , the front lines of the Western and Eastern allied forces were such that the American and British ground troops had not yet entered Germany territory , while the Soviet Red Army had crossed the Oder River and were a mere 70 kilometers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Third Reich .
Such was the keen advance of the Soviets that the Western allies were concerned that the Red Army might take all of German territory .
Rather than aiding Soviet forces from the mass bombing of Dresden , Leipzig and other cities in the German east , it seems plausible that , as the above British RAF memo indicates , the Western allies were intent on demonstrating a shockingly brutal , raw power to Moscow .
Not just military power , but a will power to use any means necessary to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analogy here with the subsequent atomic bombing of Japan .
At the Potsdam conference in July 1945 following the defeat of Nazi Germany and the carve-up of Berlin , giving the Western allies shared control of the German capital way beyond their final front lines , the American president Harry Truman relished the ability to drop a sinister hint to Josef Stalin about a newly acquired secret weapon – the A-bomb .
As with the earlier British and American bombing of Dresden and other German cities , there was arguably little military justification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 .
Like Dresden , the military significance of those cities was dubious .
The death of 200,000 civilians from the atomic inferno was not a military necessity for defeating imperial Japan , as Truman ’ s top generals MacArthur and Eisenhower were advising him against .
So if the bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki was unnecessary from a military point of view to end the Pacific War , why was it done ?
As with Dresden , the point was a monstrous display of terror by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know that nothing would be off-limits in the postwar geopolitical stand-off that was anticipated and which became the Cold War .
When the A-bombs were dropped on Japan , Stalin was said to have been frozen by reports of the awesome new destructive power .
The Soviet Union was not to develop its A-bomb until 1949 .
The terror unleashed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki seems to have had the intended effect of halting Soviet Red Army advances that were being made into the Korean Peninsula and onwards to Japan .
The American troop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their Soviet counterparts , yet after the A-bombing the US was catapulted to take over both Asian-Pacific territories in the postwar period .
Not unlike the precocious territorial gains that were acquired by the Western allies in defeated Nazi Germany .
Thus the moral controversies about the British and American bombing of German and Japanese cities goes way beyond arguments about the right or wrong of mass murder for the supposed purpose of ending wars .
That moral hazard is difficult enough .
But even more fiendish is a bigger picture ; one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of terror and genocide is not about ending war , but rather to simply exert geopolitical power against a perceived rival in the postwar era .
Terror for terror sake , evil for evil sake .
A final note : it has become fashionable to falsify the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany by claiming that the Red Army became an occupying tyranny in eastern Europe after the war ’ s end .
Suffice to say that if the Soviets committed even a fraction of the crimes that were actually carried out by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of civilians in both Germany and Japan , one would never hear the end of deafening Western condemnations against Moscow to this day , and for decades to come .

This weekend 75 years ago, the German city of Dresden was razed to the ground by British and American aerial bombardment. At least 25,000 mainly civilians were destroyed in raid after raid by over 1,200 heavy bombers, indiscriminately dropping high explosives and incendiaries. It took seven years just to clear the rubble.
The destruction of Dresden, a world-famous cultural center of Baroque majesty, has been long dogged by controversy. Official British and American military accounts claim it was necessary to hasten the collapse of the Third Reich; with a reasoning that resonates with US claims for dropping the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Critics say, however, that the mass bombing of Dresden was immaterial in the effort to defeat Nazi Germany. It was a wanton act of terror – a war crime – carried out by the British and Americans. Critics point out that most of the industrial and military targets on the outskirts of the beautiful city were largely left untouched by the bombing. British wartime leader Winston Churchill is even said to have expressed misgivings about the morality of this and other indiscriminate bombing of German civilian centers.
Ardent advocates of the terror-bombing campaign said it would exhaust German morale. A classic case of ends justifying means, no matter how vile the means.
There were also claims at the time that the damage to Nazi communication and transport lines would aid the advancing Soviet Red Army.
But there is good reason to believe that the rationale for the obliteration of Dresden was for an altogether more sinister reason. It wasn’t so much an act of terror aimed at Nazi Germany, but rather a show of maniacal power to the Soviet Union.
A British Royal Air Force memo on the Dresden operation noted that it would “show the Russians when they arrive what Bomber Command can do.” (See caption 17 in this linked photo essay.)
By mid-February 1945, the front lines of the Western and Eastern allied forces were such that the American and British ground troops had not yet entered Germany territory, while the Soviet Red Army had crossed the Oder River and were a mere 70 kilometers from Berlin, the seat of the Third Reich. Such was the keen advance of the Soviets that the Western allies were concerned that the Red Army might take all of German territory.
Rather than aiding Soviet forces from the mass bombing of Dresden, Leipzig and other cities in the German east, it seems plausible that, as the above British RAF memo indicates, the Western allies were intent on demonstrating a shockingly brutal, raw power to Moscow. Not just military power, but a will power to use any means necessary to defeat enemies.
There is a direct analogy here with the subsequent atomic bombing of Japan. At the Potsdam conference in July 1945 following the defeat of Nazi Germany and the carve-up of Berlin, giving the Western allies shared control of the German capital way beyond their final front lines, the American president Harry Truman relished the ability to drop a sinister hint to Josef Stalin about a newly acquired secret weapon – the A-bomb.
As with the earlier British and American bombing of Dresden and other German cities, there was arguably little military justification for dropping the atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9. Like Dresden, the military significance of those cities was dubious. The death of 200,000 civilians from the atomic inferno was not a military necessity for defeating imperial Japan, as Truman’s top generals MacArthur and Eisenhower were advising him against.
So if the bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki was unnecessary from a military point of view to end the Pacific War, why was it done?
As with Dresden, the point was a monstrous display of terror by Western powers to let the Soviet Union know that nothing would be off-limits in the postwar geopolitical stand-off that was anticipated and which became the Cold War.
When the A-bombs were dropped on Japan, Stalin was said to have been frozen by reports of the awesome new destructive power. The Soviet Union was not to develop its A-bomb until 1949.
The terror unleashed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki seems to have had the intended effect of halting Soviet Red Army advances that were being made into the Korean Peninsula and onwards to Japan. The American troop lines were relatively remote by comparison with their Soviet counterparts, yet after the A-bombing the US was catapulted to take over both Asian-Pacific territories in the postwar period. Not unlike the precocious territorial gains that were acquired by the Western allies in defeated Nazi Germany.
Thus the moral controversies about the British and American bombing of German and Japanese cities goes way beyond arguments about the right or wrong of mass murder for the supposed purpose of ending wars. That moral hazard is difficult enough. But even more fiendish is a bigger picture; one in which the cold, calculated use of terror and genocide is not about ending war, but rather to simply exert geopolitical power against a perceived rival in the postwar era. Terror for terror sake, evil for evil sake.
A final note: it has become fashionable to falsify the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany by claiming that the Red Army became an occupying tyranny in eastern Europe after the war’s end. Suffice to say that if the Soviets committed even a fraction of the crimes that were actually carried out by the Americans and British from their aerial bombing of civilians in both Germany and Japan, one would never hear the end of deafening Western condemnations against Moscow to this day, and for decades to come.