lewrockwell--2020-03-04--What Would Murray Say About the Coronavirus?

Murray Rothbard died in January 1995 , long before this year ’ s coronavirus scare .
But the principles this great thinker taught us can help us answer questions about the coronavirus outbreak which trouble many of us .
Would the US government be justified in imposing massive involuntary quarantines , in order to slow down the spread of disease ?
What about vaccines ?
If government scientists claim that they have discovered a vaccine for coronavirus , should we take it ?
If we refuse , can the government force us to do so ?
These are the sort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look to Murray for help .
The fundamental rule for deciding whether anyone , including the government , is justified in using force to make us do something we don ’ t want to do is the Nonaggression Principle ( NAP ) .
As Murray put in in “ War , Peace , and the State , ” “ No one may threaten or commit violence ( ‘ aggress ’ ) against another man ’ s person or property .
Violence may be employed only against the man who commits such violence ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aggressive violence of another .
In short , no violence may be employed against a nonaggressor.
” You might at first think that you can use the NAP to justify forced quarantines against the coronavirus .
Suppose someone had a deadly disease that would always spread to others if he came in contact with them .
Probably the person would want to isolate himself and not infect others , but if he refused , wouldn ’ t the people in danger be justified in isolating him ?
He is a threat to others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intend to harm them .
The Ethics of Liberty Rothbard , Murray N. Best Price : $ 9.63 Buy New $ 19.00 Thinking about this case can lead us astray , and here is where Murray can help us most .
In his great book The Ethics of Liberty , he says , “ It is important to insist , however , that the threat of aggression be palpable , immediate , and direct , in short , that it be embodied in the initiation of an overt act .
Any remote or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threat ’ —is simply an excuse for invasive action by the supposed ‘ defender ’ against the alleged ‘ threat.
’ ” Murray hammers home the point later in the book .
He says , “ Once one can use force against someone because of his ‘ risky ’ activities , the sky is the limit , and there is virtually no limit to aggression against the rights of others .
Once permit someone ’ s ‘ fear ’ of the ‘ risky ’ activities of others to lead to coercive action , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we apply what Murray says to the coronavirus situation , we can answer our question about forced quarantines .
People are not threatening others with immediate death by contagion .
Rather , if you have the disease , you might pass it on to others .
Or you might not .
What happens if someone gets the disease is also uncertain .
The key fact about the disease is that we know very little about it .
We talk about the “ coronavirus , ” but we don ’ t know that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In fact , there is a lot of evidence that it isn ’ t .
Bill Sardi interviewed a renowned expert on infectious diseases , Dr. Lawrence Bronxmeyer .
Dr. Bronxmeyer pointed out that “ Antibiotics can not be used for viruses .
If a virus , then why aren ’ t antiviral drugs working but antibiotics are ?
” Further , the disease , fortunately , is not the great danger that it is being played up to be .
“ Fear of the COVID-19 coronavirus may be misplaced .
More people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million ) in a year than the few who have been infected ( ~80,000 ) or have died ( less than 2000 ) of the COVID-19 coronavirus .
It is projected that the “ COVID-19 Coronavirus ” will peak worldwide in March and then return in a second but lesser peak in September , in accordance with Yang ’ s Wuhan study from 2004 to 2013 , describing the annual TB surges in Wuhan , China .
Saying the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus is inevitable , a CDC ( Centers for Disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools , avoid going to church , and self-quarantine their families .
These onerous measures are for a virus that has ( Feb. 25 ) , mostly among people who traveled recently to China .
” Murray would agree with Sardi , who says about quarantining Americans , “ The coronavirus infects and then produces symptoms 3-5 days later ( the incubation period ) .
However , maybe a 2-week quarantine period is not long enough .
A recent study says the maximum incubation period is 24 days .
That is a long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ draconian quarantine measures are an overkill .
The COVID-19 coronavirus , as it is now called , is infecting and killing no more people than what occurs in a common cold/flu season ( 2.5 % death rate among infected individuals ) .
For comparison , the 2017 flu season in the U.S. caused a reported 2 deaths per 100,000.
” Why has a panic developed over this disease ?
Here we can again learn from Murray .
He taught us to follow the money , and in this case , drug manufacturers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they can frighten enough people .
We all remember the “ swine flu ” panic of several years ago .
Doctors developed a vaccine to prevent people from getting the alleged disease , and this vaccine killed many people .
When Gerald Ford was President , there was also a “ swine flu ” panic , and you can watch Murray laughing at the panic here .
If he were with us today , he would be laughing at the fearmongers , warning us about the dangers of vaccines , drugs , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main danger we face is the tyrannical and predatory State .
The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell , Jr .

Murray Rothbard died in January 1995, long before this year’s coronavirus scare. But the principles this great thinker taught us can help us answer questions about the coronavirus outbreak which trouble many of us. Would the US government be justified in imposing massive involuntary quarantines, in order to slow down the spread of disease? What about vaccines? If government scientists claim that they have discovered a vaccine for coronavirus, should we take it? If we refuse, can the government force us to do so? These are the sort of problems we can solve if we look to Murray for help.
The fundamental rule for deciding whether anyone, including the government, is justified in using force to make us do something we don’t want to do is the Nonaggression Principle (NAP). As Murray put in in “War, Peace, and the State,” “No one may threaten or commit violence (‘aggress’) against another man’s person or property. Violence may be employed only against the man who commits such violence; that is, only defensively against the aggressive violence of another. In short, no violence may be employed against a nonaggressor.”
You might at first think that you can use the NAP to justify forced quarantines against the coronavirus. Suppose someone had a deadly disease that would always spread to others if he came in contact with them. Probably the person would want to isolate himself and not infect others, but if he refused, wouldn’t the people in danger be justified in isolating him? He is a threat to others, even if he doesn’t intend to harm them. The Ethics of Liberty Rothbard, Murray N. Best Price: $9.63 Buy New $19.00 (as of 02:25 UTC - Details)
Thinking about this case can lead us astray, and here is where Murray can help us most. In his great book The Ethics of Liberty, he says, “It is important to insist, however, that the threat of aggression be palpable, immediate, and direct, in short, that it be embodied in the initiation of an overt act. Any remote or indirect criterion—any ‘risk’ or ‘threat’—is simply an excuse for invasive action by the supposed ‘defender’ against the alleged ‘threat.’” Murray hammers home the point later in the book. He says, “Once one can use force against someone because of his ‘risky’ activities, the sky is the limit, and there is virtually no limit to aggression against the rights of others. Once permit someone’s ‘fear’ of the ‘risky’ activities of others to lead to coercive action, then any tyranny becomes justified.”
When we apply what Murray says to the coronavirus situation, we can answer our question about forced quarantines. People are not threatening others with immediate death by contagion. Rather, if you have the disease, you might pass it on to others. Or you might not. What happens if someone gets the disease is also uncertain.
The key fact about the disease is that we know very little about it. We talk about the “coronavirus,” but we don’t know that the disease is caused by a virus. In fact, there is a lot of evidence that it isn’t. Bill Sardi interviewed a renowned expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Lawrence Bronxmeyer. Dr. Bronxmeyer pointed out that “Antibiotics cannot be used for viruses. If a virus, then why aren’t antiviral drugs working but antibiotics are?”
Further, the disease, fortunately, is not the great danger that it is being played up to be. “Fear of the COVID-19 coronavirus may be misplaced. More people are killed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (1.7 million) in a year than the few who have been infected (~80,000) or have died (less than 2000) of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
It is projected that the “COVID-19 Coronavirus” will peak worldwide in March and then return in a second but lesser peak in September, in accordance with Yang’s Wuhan study from 2004 to 2013, describing the annual TB surges in Wuhan, China.
Saying the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus is inevitable, a CDC (Centers for Disease Control) official advised Americans “brace themselves” and prepare to shut down public schools, avoid going to church , and self-quarantine their families. These onerous measures are for a virus that has infected just 53 Americans (Feb. 25), mostly among people who traveled recently to China .”
Murray would agree with Sardi, who says about quarantining Americans, “The coronavirus infects and then produces symptoms 3-5 days later (the incubation period). However, maybe a 2-week quarantine period is not long enough. A recent study says the maximum incubation period is 24 days. That is a long time to quarantine human populations.
These draconian quarantine measures are an overkill. The COVID-19 coronavirus, as it is now called, is infecting and killing no more people than what occurs in a common cold/flu season (2.5% death rate among infected individuals). For comparison, the 2017 flu season in the U.S. caused a reported 2 deaths per 100,000.”
Why has a panic developed over this disease? Here we can again learn from Murray. He taught us to follow the money, and in this case, drug manufacturers and developers of vaccines stand to profit if they can frighten enough people. We all remember the “swine flu” panic of several years ago. Doctors developed a vaccine to prevent people from getting the alleged disease, and this vaccine killed many people. When Gerald Ford was President, there was also a “swine flu” panic, and you can watch Murray laughing at the panic here. If he were with us today, he would be laughing at the fearmongers, warning us about the dangers of vaccines, drugs, and quarantines, and reminding us that the main danger we face is the tyrannical and predatory State.
The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.


lewrockwell--2020-03-04--Keep It Simple and Question: Propaganda, Technology, and Coronavirus (COVID-19)

My father , a well-educated lawyer with a very sophisticated mind , used to advise me to “ keep it simple.
” By simple he didn ’ t mean simplistic .
He meant fundamentally logical and to the point .
So I will do that here and stick to some simple realities , now that understanding what is going on in the world has become an idiot ’ s game played by the corporate mass media to confuse people .
I have been writing about the dangers of technology for many years .
Not all technology , of course , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with is a technology , and an amazing and underappreciated one .
I am referring to the techno-scientific , digital , high-tech sort , the world of computers , cell phones , genetic engineering , biological weapons development , etc .
You know , all the stuff that has made our lives easier .
Two of the major problems the world faces – world destruction with nuclear weapons and the poisoning of the earth ’ s ecology and atmosphere – are the result of the marriage of science and technique that has given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Little Boy and Fat Man ) that were used by the U.S. to massacre hundreds of thousands of Japanese and now threaten to incinerate everyone , and the chemical and toxic inventions that have despoiled the earth , air , and water and continue to kill people worldwide through America ’ s endless war-making and industrial applications .
Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 Technology and technique , the technical way of thinking that undergirds it , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the will-o ’ -the-wisps marched out daily by the corporate mass media to create fear and panic .
Those are ghost fears that should only frighten children .
But as I have written before , most Americans are children , living inside a doll ’ s house of illusions and delusions while government and intelligence forces and their mass media accomplices play with them through technological propaganda .
For every problem caused by technology , a technological “ solution ” is always offered that creates further technological problems ad infinitum .
But since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they embrace the alleged technological “ solutions ” that are necessitated by the problems caused by the original technology .
It ’ s a circle game .
In our technopoly , logical thinking has become illogical ; cause and effect , means and ends have been inverted .
The causes of our problems are touted as the means to end them .
These “ solutions ” are always offered with a straight face , as if they made perfect sense .
This is how societies operate when in the grip of myths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of science , progress , and history .
Such myths render the obvious invisible as they create a hopeless inevitability in people who can imagine no alternative and have been convinced that science is the secret to salvation and the means to the things they have learned to desire , including longevity and perhaps “ immortality.
” And these things have become the means to additional means in an endless loop from which , by definition , ends are absent .
As a result , the search for truth , celebrated as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Keeping it simple becomes harder and harder .
The important point is that the entire system of propaganda works on fear that is promulgated via the electronic media : television , cell phones , and computers .
It is pumped out non-stop .
The fear is the fear of death , the fundamental human fear that the powerful know how to manipulate to control people .
Death that can come at the hands of fabricated enemies , disease , or state forces that will get you if you step too far out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iran , corona virus , Julian Assange , and Chelsey Manning being a few prominent recent examples of what to fear and what will become of you if you resist the fear-mongering and lies , and are brave .
Since today ’ s news is dominated by the fear of coronavirus , here is a partial list of other diseases that since 2003 we were told loudly and repeatedly would become pandemics and decimate the human race .
Diseases to be very afraid of since they were coming for you if you weren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wash your hands .
Well , they didn ’ t , very far from it ; they were like scam telephone calls that scare the gullible into believing the message that they will be immediately arrested if they don ’ t send $ 1,000 to Mr. X somewhere .
But just like the color-coded terrorism warnings under George W. Bush , the pandemic alerts regularly pressed the panic button and kept fear in the air , until the panic balloon later burst under careful scrutiny , but at a point when most people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earlier headlines and were not about to follow-up .
Now we have Coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) .
So beware .
Let us show you how to wash your hands and protect yourself .
Ten minutes viewing of any of the major television networks news shows is like entering a house of horrors at an amusement park .
After viewing one , you want to wear your football helmet and mask , go to bed , and never get up .
They ooze fear , as is their intent .
The game is both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is hyped , here and there the media throw in exaggerated figures on the regular flu , as if to say : we are fair and objective ; both are bad , even if the coronavirus might soon become a pandemic .
It ’ s akin to their saying Trump is really scary , but look how scary the socialist Sanders is .
You don ’ t want either .
You want the one we will tell you to want who will protect you .
Listen to us , for we are here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The news reports about the regular seasonal flu are most interesting .
If you peruse the media across all platforms , including alternative sources , you will see people repeating as fact the numbers of flu deaths in the U.S.A. so far this flu season ( October 1 , 2019 until today ) .
The numbers range from 12,000 to 18 , 000 and higher , from CNN , CBS , NBC , etc .
Try it .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) estimates the “ flu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 18,000 to 46,000 .
However , if you dig down into the CDC figures and look at its table , which few do , you will see that the actual number of flu deaths claimed by the CDC for this season so far is 2,946 .
They also claim the number of cases is decreasing and this season doesn ’ t look particularly bad .
( Go here , scroll down , and click on “ View Data Chart ” ) .
Isn ’ t that strange ?
A bit of a simple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Why would the CDC do that , and why would the media repeat it ?
The CDC claims there will be 18,000-46,000 deaths this season but only 2,946 have so far died of the flu and the peak months for flu have ended .
Where are those 15,000-46,000 additional deaths going to come from ?
What kind of game is going on here ?
To repeat : the essential fear that the powerful use to manipulate and control people is the fear of death .
Death in many guises : physical , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fear of death must be used in a way that is very confusing and scrambles people ’ s thinking while it frightens them .
The 2001 Anthrax Decep ... MacQueen , Graeme Best Price : $ 19.67 Buy New $ 15.10 If we keep it simple and examine what there really is to fear , it is the growth of the sophisticated modern technology in the hands of governments and corporations that has destroyed privacy , poisoned people and the earth , created digital dementia on a vast scale , allowed propaganda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is poised to blow the world to smithereens with nuclear weapons .
Then , of course there is the biologic disease warfare research and development that the U.S.A. has been involved in since it brought the German scientists here after WW II ( Operation Paperclip ) to continue the work they did for Hitler .
Genetic research and the creation of virulent forms of viruses and bacteria became twisted into a system of science and medicine funded by the government to serve duel purposes that have become hard to distinguish .
So instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to ask some simple questions and seek simple answers .
Maybe start by checking the CDC data and then asking what those anthrax attacks following the attacks of September 11 , 2001 were all about , and why the U.S.A. refused in the summer of 2001 to sign the Protocol to the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention ( BWC ) that would have added verification procedures to the BWC .
Maybe read Graeme Mac Queen ’ s eye-opening book , The 2001 Anthrax Deception .
Maybe see that the mass media reports about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Keep it simple and question .
The Best of Edward Curtin

My father, a well-educated lawyer with a very sophisticated mind, used to advise me to “keep it simple.” By simple he didn’t mean simplistic. He meant fundamentally logical and to the point. So I will do that here and stick to some simple realities, now that understanding what is going on in the world has become an idiot’s game played by the corporate mass media to confuse people.
I have been writing about the dangers of technology for many years. Not all technology, of course, for the pencil I am writing this with is a technology, and an amazing and underappreciated one. I am referring to the techno-scientific, digital, high-tech sort, the world of computers, cell phones, genetic engineering, biological weapons development, etc. You know, all the stuff that has made our lives easier.
Two of the major problems the world faces – world destruction with nuclear weapons and the poisoning of the earth’s ecology and atmosphere – are the result of the marriage of science and technique that has given birth to the technological “babies” (Little Boy and Fat Man) that were used by the U.S. to massacre hundreds of thousands of Japanese and now threaten to incinerate everyone, and the chemical and toxic inventions that have despoiled the earth, air, and water and continue to kill people worldwide through America’s endless war-making and industrial applications.
Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details) Technology and technique, the technical way of thinking that undergirds it, are what we should fear most, not the will-o’-the-wisps marched out daily by the corporate mass media to create fear and panic. Those are ghost fears that should only frighten children. But as I have written before, most Americans are children, living inside a doll’s house of illusions and delusions while government and intelligence forces and their mass media accomplices play with them through technological propaganda.
For every problem caused by technology, a technological “solution” is always offered that creates further technological problems ad infinitum. But since people have been taught to love technology, they embrace the alleged technological “solutions” that are necessitated by the problems caused by the original technology. It’s a circle game.
In our technopoly, logical thinking has become illogical; cause and effect, means and ends have been inverted. The causes of our problems are touted as the means to end them. These “solutions” are always offered with a straight face, as if they made perfect sense. This is how societies operate when in the grip of myths. In this case, the myths of science, progress, and history. Such myths render the obvious invisible as they create a hopeless inevitability in people who can imagine no alternative and have been convinced that science is the secret to salvation and the means to the things they have learned to desire, including longevity and perhaps “immortality.” And these things have become the means to additional means in an endless loop from which, by definition, ends are absent. As a result, the search for truth, celebrated as a goal of science, is slyly eliminated. Keeping it simple becomes harder and harder.
The important point is that the entire system of propaganda works on fear that is promulgated via the electronic media: television, cell phones, and computers. It is pumped out non-stop.
The fear is the fear of death, the fundamental human fear that the powerful know how to manipulate to control people.
Death that can come at the hands of fabricated enemies, disease, or state forces that will get you if you step too far out of line. Russia, China, Iran, corona virus, Julian Assange, and Chelsey Manning being a few prominent recent examples of what to fear and what will become of you if you resist the fear-mongering and lies, and are brave.
Since today’s news is dominated by the fear of coronavirus, here is a partial list of other diseases that since 2003 we were told loudly and repeatedly would become pandemics and decimate the human race. Diseases to be very afraid of since they were coming for you if you weren’t very vigilant and forgot to wash your hands.
2003 SARS
2005 Avian Flu
2009 Swine Flu
2012 West Nile Virus
2014 Ebola
2016 Zika
Well, they didn’t, very far from it; they were like scam telephone calls that scare the gullible into believing the message that they will be immediately arrested if they don’t send $1,000 to Mr. X somewhere. But just like the color-coded terrorism warnings under George W. Bush, the pandemic alerts regularly pressed the panic button and kept fear in the air, until the panic balloon later burst under careful scrutiny, but at a point when most people had ingested the false fear of the earlier headlines and were not about to follow-up.
Now we have Coronavirus (COVID-19). So beware. Let us show you how to wash your hands and protect yourself.
Ten minutes viewing of any of the major television networks news shows is like entering a house of horrors at an amusement park. After viewing one, you want to wear your football helmet and mask, go to bed, and never get up. They ooze fear, as is their intent.
The game is both obvious and subtle. Even while COVID-19 is hyped, here and there the media throw in exaggerated figures on the regular flu, as if to say: we are fair and objective; both are bad, even if the coronavirus might soon become a pandemic.
It’s akin to their saying Trump is really scary, but look how scary the socialist Sanders is. You don’t want either. You want the one we will tell you to want who will protect you. Listen to us, for we are here to advise, so you will consent.
The news reports about the regular seasonal flu are most interesting. If you peruse the media across all platforms, including alternative sources, you will see people repeating as fact the numbers of flu deaths in the U.S.A. so far this flu season (October 1, 2019 until today). The numbers range from 12,000 to 18, 000 and higher, from CNN, CBS, NBC, etc. Try it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the “flu deaths” for this season will be 18,000 to 46,000. However, if you dig down into the CDC figures and look at its table, which few do, you will see that the actual number of flu deaths claimed by the CDC for this season so far is 2,946. They also claim the number of cases is decreasing and this season doesn’t look particularly bad. (Go here, scroll down, and click on “View Data Chart”).
Isn’t that strange? A bit of a simple discrepancy, wouldn’t you say? Why would the CDC do that, and why would the media repeat it?
The CDC claims there will be 18,000-46,000 deaths this season but only 2,946 have so far died of the flu and the peak months for flu have ended. Where are those 15,000-46,000 additional deaths going to come from?
What kind of game is going on here?
To repeat: the essential fear that the powerful use to manipulate and control people is the fear of death. Death in many guises: physical, social, psychological, etc. But the fear of death must be used in a way that is very confusing and scrambles people’s thinking while it frightens them. The 2001 Anthrax Decep... MacQueen, Graeme Best Price: $19.67 Buy New $15.10 (as of 09:45 UTC - Details)
If we keep it simple and examine what there really is to fear, it is the growth of the sophisticated modern technology in the hands of governments and corporations that has destroyed privacy, poisoned people and the earth, created digital dementia on a vast scale, allowed propaganda to flourish as never before, and is poised to blow the world to smithereens with nuclear weapons.
Then, of course there is the biologic disease warfare research and development that the U.S.A. has been involved in since it brought the German scientists here after WW II (Operation Paperclip) to continue the work they did for Hitler. Genetic research and the creation of virulent forms of viruses and bacteria became twisted into a system of science and medicine funded by the government to serve duel purposes that have become hard to distinguish.
So instead of panicking, perhaps it is better to ask some simple questions and seek simple answers. Maybe start by checking the CDC data and then asking what those anthrax attacks following the attacks of September 11, 2001 were all about, and why the U.S.A. refused in the summer of 2001 to sign the Protocol to the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) that would have added verification procedures to the BWC. Maybe read Graeme Mac Queen’s eye-opening book, The 2001 Anthrax Deception.
Maybe see that the mass media reports about the coronavirus conceal more than they reveal.
Keep it simple and question.
The Best of Edward Curtin


lewrockwell--2020-03-04--One Nation Under Surveillance

One Nation Under Surveillance

John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute , whose writings frequently appear on LewRockwell.com was recently interviewed by Rich Sanchez on RT America .
He discussed the disturbing trends taking place in America , trends that are eerily similar to the cases of using forced psychiatric hospitalization as a tool against any individual who criticized the government , as detailed in this Mises article , “ Soviet Dissidents and the Weaponization of Psychiatry ” and also in this article “ The totalitarian government in Soviet Russia invented a mental illness to lock up resisters.
” The terrible irony is that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hates Russia and careens towards conflict with it , the more it is becoming a mirror image of the former Soviet state in its intolerance , use of force and persecution of any who dare dissent .
As Whitehead notes in the RT America interview , “ What I see in the American government today , there is a bit of paranoia about American citizens and people who are opposed to government .
Anyone who says , ‘ I don ’ t like the way the government is operating , I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t like Congress ’ automatically goes on a watch list and we ’ ve had cases [ at the Rutherford Institute ] where the police show up with the Department of Homeland Security and drag people out of their homes for doing a Facebook post.
” Whitehead discussed , as he has written about in the past , “ Operation Vigilant Eagle ” in this piece , “ Casualties of War : Military Veterans Have Become America ’ s Walking Wounded ” and he discussed the case of Brandon Raub : Battlefield @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Best Price : $ 10.95 Buy New $ 18.80 Raub , a 26-year-old decorated Marine , actually found himself interrogated by government agents about his views on government corruption , arrested with no warning , labeled mentally ill for subscribing to so-called “ conspiratorial ” views about the government , detained against his will in a psych ward for standing by his views , and isolated from his family , friends and attorneys… Outraged onlookers filmed the arrest and posted the footage to YouTube , where it quickly went viral .
Meanwhile , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a deaf ear to Raub ’ s explanations about the fact that his Facebook posts were being read out of context , Raub was sentenced to up to 30 days ’ further confinement in a psychiatric ward .
Thankfully , The Rutherford Institute came to Raub ’ s assistance , which combined with heightened media attention , brought about his release and may have helped prevent Raub from being successfully “ disappeared ” by the government .
Even so , within days of Raub being seized and forcibly held in a VA psych @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other veterans having similar experiences .
Rutherford has written about the ludicrously titled totalitarian federal “ Operation Vigilant Eagle ” on his site in this piece , “ Operation Vigilant Eagle : Is This Really How We Honor Our Nation ’ s Veterans ?
” published in 2013 .
What is chilling is that Rutherford ’ s statement in the interview that as many as 1.5 million Americans are being “ disappeared.
” Eventually , as I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stands to reason that if the government can ’ t be bothered to abide by its constitutional mandate to respect the citizenry ’ s rights—whether it ’ s the right to be free from government surveillance and censorship , the right to due process and fair hearings , the right to be free from roadside strip searches and militarized police , or the right to peacefully assemble and protest and exercise our right to free speech—then why should anyone expect the government to treat our nation ’ s veterans with respect and dignity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if you really want to do something to show your respect and appreciation for the nation ’ s veterans , why not skip the parades and the flag-waving and instead go exercise your rights—the freedoms that those veterans swore to protect—by pushing back against the government ’ s tyranny .
It ’ s time the rest of the nation did its part to safeguard the freedoms we too often take for granted .
Of course , that ’ s true—freedom is not free , we have to be willing to fight for it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answer to those with the courage to criticize and to stand up to it , and it ’ s that old Soviet technique : forcibly incarcerate anyone who dares oppose its most egregious actions , no matter which political party is allegedly in charge , and that ’ s to target and eliminate all opposition .
I do have hope that there are courageous defenders of our First Amendment rights like John Rutherford .
However , that so few Americans seem to care about the truth or realize the extent of the deceptions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disheartening to say the least .
In the end , these actions by governments are actions of weakness .
They may try to try treat all critics like Assange but I believe , like the Soviet state , all the oppressive regimes will self-destruct in time ; I think there are too many men and women of conscience to incarcerate them all .
In the meantime , it doesn ’ t hurt to be aware that most likely if you are reading these words , you are already on the “ enemies ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Thunder : The Sp ... Yvonne Lorenzo Buy New $ 12.00 The Cloak of Freya : Th ... Yvonne Lorenzo Buy New $ 14.00 The Best of Yvonne Lorenzo

John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute, whose writings frequently appear on LewRockwell.com was recently interviewed by Rich Sanchez on RT America. He discussed the disturbing trends taking place in America, trends that are eerily similar to the cases of using forced psychiatric hospitalization as a tool against any individual who criticized the government, as detailed in this Mises article, “Soviet Dissidents and the Weaponization of Psychiatry” and also in this article “The totalitarian government in Soviet Russia invented a mental illness to lock up resisters.” The terrible irony is that the more the Oligarchy that controls the government hates Russia and careens towards conflict with it, the more it is becoming a mirror image of the former Soviet state in its intolerance, use of force and persecution of any who dare dissent.
As Whitehead notes in the RT America interview, “What I see in the American government today, there is a bit of paranoia about American citizens and people who are opposed to government. Anyone who says, ‘I don’t like the way the government is operating, I don’t like the president, I don’t like Congress’ automatically goes on a watch list and we’ve had cases [at the Rutherford Institute] where the police show up with the Department of Homeland Security and drag people out of their homes for doing a Facebook post.”
Whitehead discussed, as he has written about in the past, “Operation Vigilant Eagle” in this piece, “Casualties of War: Military Veterans Have Become America’s Walking Wounded” and he discussed the case of Brandon Raub: Battlefield America: T... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $10.95 Buy New $18.80 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details)
Raub, a 26-year-old decorated Marine, actually found himself interrogated by government agents about his views on government corruption, arrested with no warning, labeled mentally ill for subscribing to so-called “conspiratorial” views about the government, detained against his will in a psych ward for standing by his views, and isolated from his family, friends and attorneys… Outraged onlookers filmed the arrest and posted the footage to YouTube, where it quickly went viral. Meanwhile, in a kangaroo court hearing that turned a deaf ear to Raub’s explanations about the fact that his Facebook posts were being read out of context, Raub was sentenced to up to 30 days’ further confinement in a psychiatric ward. Thankfully, The Rutherford Institute came to Raub’s assistance, which combined with heightened media attention, brought about his release and may have helped prevent Raub from being successfully “disappeared” by the government. Even so, within days of Raub being seized and forcibly held in a VA psych ward, news reports started surfacing of other veterans having similar experiences.
Rutherford has written about the ludicrously titled totalitarian federal “Operation Vigilant Eagle” on his site in this piece, “Operation Vigilant Eagle: Is This Really How We Honor Our Nation’s Veterans?” published in 2013. What is chilling is that Rutherford’s statement in the interview that as many as 1.5 million Americans are being “disappeared.”
Whitehead concluded in “Casualties of War”:
Eventually, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we all suffer the same fate. It stands to reason that if the government can’t be bothered to abide by its constitutional mandate to respect the citizenry’s rights—whether it’s the right to be free from government surveillance and censorship, the right to due process and fair hearings, the right to be free from roadside strip searches and militarized police, or the right to peacefully assemble and protest and exercise our right to free speech—then why should anyone expect the government to treat our nation’s veterans with respect and dignity? Here’s a suggestion: if you really want to do something to show your respect and appreciation for the nation’s veterans, why not skip the parades and the flag-waving and instead go exercise your rights—the freedoms that those veterans swore to protect—by pushing back against the government’s tyranny. It’s time the rest of the nation did its part to safeguard the freedoms we too often take for granted. Freedom is not free.
Of course, that’s true—freedom is not free, we have to be willing to fight for it. But the federal government has an answer to those with the courage to criticize and to stand up to it, and it’s that old Soviet technique: forcibly incarcerate anyone who dares oppose its most egregious actions, no matter which political party is allegedly in charge, and that’s to target and eliminate all opposition. I do have hope that there are courageous defenders of our First Amendment rights like John Rutherford. However, that so few Americans seem to care about the truth or realize the extent of the deceptions, much less oppose them, is disheartening to say the least.
In the end, these actions by governments are actions of weakness. They may try to try treat all critics like Assange but I believe, like the Soviet state, all the oppressive regimes will self-destruct in time; I think there are too many men and women of conscience to incarcerate them all. In the meantime, it doesn’t hurt to be aware that most likely if you are reading these words, you are already on the “enemies” list John Whitehead talked about.

Son of Thunder: The Sp... Yvonne Lorenzo Buy New $12.00 (as of 04:45 UTC - Details) The Cloak of Freya: Th... Yvonne Lorenzo Buy New $14.00 (as of 04:45 UTC - Details)
The Best of Yvonne Lorenzo


Another African Tragedy

Here are a few headlines about an African tragedy : “ Africa ’ s Worst Locust Plague in Decades Threatens Millions ” ( The Wall Street Journal ) , “ ‘ Unprecedented ’ Locust Invasion Approaches Full-Blown Crisis ” ( Scientific American ) , “ Somalia Declares Locust Outbreak a ‘ National Emergency ' ” ( The National ) and “ UN Calls for International Action on East Africa Locust Outbreak ” ( Bloomberg Green ) .
This ongoing tragedy is mostly man-made , according to an analysis by Paul Driessen , who is a senior policy adviser with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) and the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise .
Driessen says that billions of desert locusts have attacked the eastern Africa nations of Kenya , Ethiopia , Eritrea , Djibouti and Somalia .
According to the U.N. , the locust attack in Kenya is the worst in 70 years and the worst in 25 years for other east African nations .
Locusts are destroying crops and threatening tens of millions of Africans with lost livelihoods and starvation .
These locust swarms can blanket 460 square miles at a time and consume @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daily .
They reproduce fast , too , meaning locust swarms could be 500 times bigger in six months .
American Contempt for ... Williams , Walter E. Best Price : $ 14.29 Buy New $ 11.75 Africa ’ s locust plague is man-made .
Economic development organizations and activist nongovernmental organizations have foisted “ agroecology ” on the poorest nations — an organic-style agriculture .
They promote the virtues of peasant farming .
So how do these poor farmers fight the locust plague ?
Driessen says : “ Desperate Africans are responding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and shouting loudly , banging on metal buckets , waving blankets and sticks , crushing the bugs perhaps even roasting and eating them , under UN-approved nutrition programs .
In Eritrea , they are using ‘ more advanced ’ methods : hand-held and truck-mounted sprayers .
In Kenya , police are firing machine guns and tear gas into the swarms !
” Antonio Guterres of Portugal , the U.N. secretary-general , claimed global warming as a cause of the problem .
He said there is a link between climate change and the unprecedented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Guterres said : “ Warmer seas mean more cyclones generating the perfect breeding ground for locusts .
Today the swarms are as big as major cities and it is getting worse by the day.
” Guterres ’ suggestion that global warming is the cause of today ’ s plague is sheer nonsense .
Locust infestations have been feared and revered throughout mankind ’ s history .
Devastating locust attacks in Egypt around 1446 B.C .
were mentioned in the Book of Exodus in the Bible .
“ The Iliad ” describes locusts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of locusts are also mentioned in the Quran .
Driessen concludes : “ A primary reason this plague of locusts has overwhelmed East Africa — indeed , perhaps THE primary reason — is that the UN Food and Agricultural Organization , other UN agencies and multiple environmentalist NGOs have been extolling and imposing ‘ agroecology ’ on Africa .
This highly politicized ‘ movement ’ rabidly opposes hybrid seeds , synthetic insecticides and fertilizers , biotechnology , and even mechanized equipment like tractors !
Acceptance of its tenets and restrictions has become a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other assistance , and their countries and local communities getting development loans and food aid.
” By the way , locusts are not only a threat to crops ; they threaten people in another way .
In early January , a Boeing 737 on final landing approach to Dire Dawa , Ethiopia , found itself in the midst of a massive cloud of locusts swarming above the airport .
The insects were sucked into the plane ’ s engines .
Their bodies were splattered across the windshield blinding the pilots to the runway @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the swarm .
The pilot depressurized the cabin so he could open the side window and reach around to clear the windshield by hand .
Diverting to Addis Ababa Bole International Airport , the pilot was able to land the plane safely .
The Best of Walter E. Williams

Here are a few headlines about an African tragedy: “Africa’s Worst Locust Plague in Decades Threatens Millions” (The Wall Street Journal), “‘Unprecedented’ Locust Invasion Approaches Full-Blown Crisis” (Scientific American), “Somalia Declares Locust Outbreak a ‘National Emergency'” (The National) and “UN Calls for International Action on East Africa Locust Outbreak” (Bloomberg Green). This ongoing tragedy is mostly man-made, according to an analysis by Paul Driessen, who is a senior policy adviser with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise.
Driessen says that billions of desert locusts have attacked the eastern Africa nations of Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. According to the U.N., the locust attack in Kenya is the worst in 70 years and the worst in 25 years for other east African nations. Locusts are destroying crops and threatening tens of millions of Africans with lost livelihoods and starvation. These locust swarms can blanket 460 square miles at a time and consume more than 400 million pounds of vegetation daily. They reproduce fast, too, meaning locust swarms could be 500 times bigger in six months.
American Contempt for ... Williams, Walter E. Best Price: $14.29 Buy New $11.75 (as of 02:30 UTC - Details) Africa’s locust plague is man-made. Economic development organizations and activist nongovernmental organizations have foisted “agroecology” on the poorest nations — an organic-style agriculture. They promote the virtues of peasant farming. So how do these poor farmers fight the locust plague? Driessen says: “Desperate Africans are responding with ‘time-tested’ methods: whistling and shouting loudly, banging on metal buckets, waving blankets and sticks, crushing the bugs perhaps even roasting and eating them, under UN-approved nutrition programs. In Eritrea, they are using ‘more advanced’ methods: hand-held and truck-mounted sprayers. In Kenya, police are firing machine guns and tear gas into the swarms!”
Antonio Guterres of Portugal, the U.N. secretary-general, claimed global warming as a cause of the problem. He said there is a link between climate change and the unprecedented locust crisis plaguing Ethiopia and East Africa. Guterres said: “Warmer seas mean more cyclones generating the perfect breeding ground for locusts. Today the swarms are as big as major cities and it is getting worse by the day.”
Guterres’ suggestion that global warming is the cause of today’s plague is sheer nonsense. Locust infestations have been feared and revered throughout mankind’s history. Devastating locust attacks in Egypt around 1446 B.C. were mentioned in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. “The Iliad” describes locusts taking flight to escape fire. Plagues of locusts are also mentioned in the Quran.
Driessen concludes: “A primary reason this plague of locusts has overwhelmed East Africa — indeed, perhaps THE primary reason — is that the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, other UN agencies and multiple environmentalist NGOs have been extolling and imposing ‘agroecology’ on Africa. This highly politicized ‘movement’ rabidly opposes hybrid seeds, synthetic insecticides and fertilizers, biotechnology, and even mechanized equipment like tractors! Acceptance of its tenets and restrictions has become a condition for poor farmers getting seeds and other assistance, and their countries and local communities getting development loans and food aid.”
By the way, locusts are not only a threat to crops; they threaten people in another way. In early January, a Boeing 737 on final landing approach to Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, found itself in the midst of a massive cloud of locusts swarming above the airport. The insects were sucked into the plane’s engines. Their bodies were splattered across the windshield blinding the pilots to the runway ahead. The Boeing 737 climbed above the swarm. The pilot depressurized the cabin so he could open the side window and reach around to clear the windshield by hand. Diverting to Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, the pilot was able to land the plane safely.
The Best of Walter E. Williams


lewrockwell--2020-03-04--Will Idlib Be Putin’s Folly or Erdogan’s Rubicon?

It ’ s been a dramatic few days in Syria .
The Syrian Army pushed across Idlib Province to retake major strongholds of Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists who have controlled the region for years thanks to support from Turkey .
This provoked a major escalation from Turkey ’ s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan .
Major offensives by the jihadists , backed by Turkish armor and air power , pushed back the Syrian army from the outskirts of Idlib city and took back the town of Saraqib at the confluence of the M4 and M5 highways which are of major strategic importance .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ had moved south to claim vast territory northeast of the Russian air base at Latakia .
Erdogan has been threatening for weeks for the Syrian army to halt its advance or face the brunt of the Turkish Army .
He made good on those threats , but only after taking advantage of Russian President Vladimir Putin ’ s temperance .
Over 30 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike on a convoy in southern Idlib who , by all accounts , were embedded with , to Russia , legitimate targets , i.e .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( HTS ) , formerly al-Nusra and really just al-Qaeda .
War with Russia ?
: From ... Cohen , Stephen F. Best Price : $ 8.99 Buy New $ 8.50 According to the latest from Elijah Magnier , Putin unilaterally stood his air force down to de-escalate the situation and Erdogan used that opening to attack east of Idlib and south against the Kurds at Afrin towards Aleppo .
Two possibilities exist here .
Either Putin entirely miscalculated Erdogan ’ s intentions in Idlib expecting to him to be reasonable knowing that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Putin stood his forces down to finally find out what Erdogan was willing to do to retain Idlib .
It ’ s clear that Erdogan believes something that is simply not true , that the Sochi agreement between Russia and Turkey which established the demilitarized zones and Turkish observation posts was a de facto ceding that territory to Turkey .
Putin has made it clear that the territorial integrity of Syria is to be re-established and from there a political solution determined by Syrians occurs .
Erdogan ’ s betrayal goes far beyond @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also ignored entreaties from Iran to stop attacking and sent drones in to attack an Iranian base and military hospital south of Aleppo .
And this is the big problem for Erdogan .
Because he has now decided that because Russia doesn ’ t want a war with a member of NATO , he feels that gives him the room to enforce his edicts in Syria .
But in doing this he has also greatly over-extended himself because the U.S. , under Trump , wants nothing to do with what he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war is fine .
Harrassing Assad is fine .
Forcing Putin to commit more while the world economy shudders is fine .
But there ’ s nothing Trump will do materially to get involved in Idlib .
The usual suspects in the U.S. are crying for a U.S. maintained “ No Fly Zone ” over Idlib but that is simply the Israeli lobby talking .
That has been ruled out .
Multiple times Erdogan has gone to the U.S. and NATO asking for assistance and multiple times he ’ s been sent back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it !
” But at the same time , Putin ’ s political instincts may have betrayed him here .
Russia ’ s position in Syria is tenuous if Erdogan wants to play all of his cards .
It would be insane for him to do this , but this is not someone I believe at this point is a rational actor .
By all accounts the Kremlin was slow to respond to the ferocity of Turkey ’ s attacks over the weekend and it resulted in a lot of battle-hardened Syrian troops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot of armor ( and possibly air defense systems ) destroyed .
And now , Putin will have to resupply the Syrians while regaining their trust that he has the situation in hand .
It is hard to fault Putin ’ s handling of the situation in Syria , overall .
He ’ s made deft move after deft move , operating at an incredibly high rate of competence over the past four-plus years .
At some point he was going to make a serious mistake , and this unilateral cease fire over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a duplicitous snake like Erdogan to not seize the opportunity Putin ’ s humanity afforded him has , at a minimum , extended the timetable for a resolution of Idlib .
We don ’ t know as of yet what extent the damage Turkey has inflicted on the Syrians to hold their gains and/or counter-attack .
The Turks are obviously lying about the number of tanks destroyed and Syrian troops killed .
The SAA has re-taken Saraqib and the M4/M5 crossing , but they had to abandon gains made in the south to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to retake the M4 highway and cut off Turkey ’ s resupply routes to Idlib .
Idlib City is , for now , off the table .
And Putin ’ s move to immediately deploy Russian military police there is a clear message to Erdogan that if he is serious about not wanting a war with Russia , Saraqib is now off limits .
The question is whether or not Erdogan is listening .
Because to this point he hasn ’ t been .
There are other reports of Russia moving large numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weaponry into Latakia air base and the naval base at Tartus and turn the tables on Erdogan .
For more than a year Erdogan has used his troops as shields in those observation posts to allow HTS and al-Nusra terrorists to attack across the agreed upon DMZ , especially south towards the suburbs of Damascus .
Those observation posts and the troops are now in the hands of the SAA and are effectively hostages .
This is also part of the reason why Erdogan has escalated things here .
This is deeply embarrassing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this is backdrop for the upcoming meeting between Putin and Erdogan in Moscow later this week .
Make no mistake , the Sultan has been summoned not the other way around .
Erdogan will try and wheedle a deal out of Putin which gives him some of what he wants .
However , I don ’ t think that will fly .
Despite his missteps here , I think Putin still has this situation under control .
In fact , if I know Putin at all , I ’ d say that Erdogan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though Erdogan has cards he thinks he can play .
And it is the silence coming from major NATO players that is his biggest issue .
Trump can not get involved in Idlib in an election year .
Without NATO backing him up , what is he going to offer Putin ?
Having ticked off all of his benefactors to this point , trying to use access to the Bosporus and NATO Article 5 as leverage for his aggressions in Syria have their limits .
But , at the same time , Putin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moves by Erdogan , that he is dealing with a person with delusions of grandeur at a Hitlerian level .
And I don ’ t say that lightly .
It ’ s clear his neo-Ottoman Empire dreams blind him and all he sees is the U.S. ’ s pullback from the region as his opportunity to press his military advantage regionally .
A Peace to End All Pea ... Fromkin , David Best Price : $ 4.51 Buy New $ 14.19 If Putin doesn ’ t recognize this and put a stop to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his troops will be there far longer and under much worse conditions than even he has the political capital to expend .
Erdogan ’ s moves here betray a solipsism which infects all men who have held power for too long and through their success , believe themselves infallible .
He ’ s managed to bring Turkey to this point where NATO is exasperated with him and the SCO states see Turkey as a prize to advance their agenda to stare down the unipolar power , the U.S. , in the West .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is anyone ’ s guess .
I expect it ’ s a bit of both , since I don ’ t like to underestimate my enemies .
And I honestly think he thought he would be able to turn the tables on Russia and China here , getting concessions from them while blackmailing NATO with refugees .
The Saker has initial thoughts on this a bit more detailed militarily than I do , and I recommend you read them .
But with Erdogan ’ s drones now falling out of the sky at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potentially facing thousands of Iranian-made precision missiles and Hezbollah likely rejoining the fight in real numbers thanks to his betrayal of them , it is likely his misjudgment is far greater than anything Putin is guilty of .
It looks like this is that moment where someone finally tells tells him that while Turkey may be important , he isn ’ t .
And if he wants to stay in power , the time for him to leave NATO for real is now .
The Best of Thomas Luongo

It’s been a dramatic few days in Syria. The Syrian Army pushed across Idlib Province to retake major strongholds of Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists who have controlled the region for years thanks to support from Turkey.
This provoked a major escalation from Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Major offensives by the jihadists, backed by Turkish armor and air power, pushed back the Syrian army from the outskirts of Idlib city and took back the town of Saraqib at the confluence of the M4 and M5 highways which are of major strategic importance.
That counterattack occurred while the Syrian Army had moved south to claim vast territory northeast of the Russian air base at Latakia.
Erdogan has been threatening for weeks for the Syrian army to halt its advance or face the brunt of the Turkish Army. He made good on those threats, but only after taking advantage of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s temperance.
Over 30 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike on a convoy in southern Idlib who, by all accounts, were embedded with, to Russia, legitimate targets, i.e. members of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly al-Nusra and really just al-Qaeda. War with Russia?: From... Cohen, Stephen F. Best Price: $8.99 Buy New $8.50 (as of 02:15 UTC - Details)
According to the latest from Elijah Magnier, Putin unilaterally stood his air force down to de-escalate the situation and Erdogan used that opening to attack east of Idlib and south against the Kurds at Afrin towards Aleppo.
According to the sources, Russia was surprised by the number of Turkish soldiers killed and declared a unilateral ceasefire to calm down the front and de-escalate. Moscow ordered its military operational room in Syria to stop the military push and halt the attack on rural Idlib. Engaging in a war against Turkey is not part of President Putin’s plans in Syria. Russia thought it the right time to quieten the front and allow Erdogan to lick his wounds.
Two possibilities exist here. Either Putin entirely miscalculated Erdogan’s intentions in Idlib expecting to him to be reasonable knowing that the bombing was unintentional. Or, Putin stood his forces down to finally find out what Erdogan was willing to do to retain Idlib.
It’s clear that Erdogan believes something that is simply not true, that the Sochi agreement between Russia and Turkey which established the demilitarized zones and Turkish observation posts was a de facto ceding that territory to Turkey.
Putin has made it clear that the territorial integrity of Syria is to be re-established and from there a political solution determined by Syrians occurs.
Erdogan’s betrayal goes far beyond just the counter-attack at Saraqib. He also ignored entreaties from Iran to stop attacking and sent drones in to attack an Iranian base and military hospital south of Aleppo.
Again from Magnier:
Turkey, which maintains over 2000 officers and soldiers in 14 observation locations that are today under Syrian Army control, ignored the Iranian request and bombed Iranian HQ and that of its allies, including a military field hospital killing 30 (9 Hezbollah and 21 Fatimiyoun) and tens of the Syrian army officers. The Turkish attack wounded more than 150 soldiers of the Syrian Army and their allies.
And this is the big problem for Erdogan. Because he has now decided that because Russia doesn’t want a war with a member of NATO, he feels that gives him the room to enforce his edicts in Syria.
But in doing this he has also greatly over-extended himself because the U.S., under Trump, wants nothing to do with what he’s doing in Idlib directly. The proxy war is fine. Harrassing Assad is fine. Forcing Putin to commit more while the world economy shudders is fine.
But there’s nothing Trump will do materially to get involved in Idlib. The usual suspects in the U.S. are crying for a U.S. maintained “No Fly Zone” over Idlib but that is simply the Israeli lobby talking.
That has been ruled out.
Multiple times Erdogan has gone to the U.S. and NATO asking for assistance and multiple times he’s been sent back with nothing except, “Go for it!”
But at the same time, Putin’s political instincts may have betrayed him here. Russia’s position in Syria is tenuous if Erdogan wants to play all of his cards. It would be insane for him to do this, but this is not someone I believe at this point is a rational actor.
By all accounts the Kremlin was slow to respond to the ferocity of Turkey’s attacks over the weekend and it resulted in a lot of battle-hardened Syrian troops and commanders getting killed along with a lot of armor (and possibly air defense systems) destroyed.
And now, Putin will have to resupply the Syrians while regaining their trust that he has the situation in hand. It is hard to fault Putin’s handling of the situation in Syria, overall. He’s made deft move after deft move, operating at an incredibly high rate of competence over the past four-plus years.
At some point he was going to make a serious mistake, and this unilateral cease fire over Idlib may have been it. Trusting a duplicitous snake like Erdogan to not seize the opportunity Putin’s humanity afforded him has, at a minimum, extended the timetable for a resolution of Idlib.
We don’t know as of yet what extent the damage Turkey has inflicted on the Syrians to hold their gains and/or counter-attack. The Turks are obviously lying about the number of tanks destroyed and Syrian troops killed.
The numbers are laughably large.
The SAA has re-taken Saraqib and the M4/M5 crossing, but they had to abandon gains made in the south to do so. That ended their campaign to retake the M4 highway and cut off Turkey’s resupply routes to Idlib.
Idlib City is, for now, off the table.
And Putin’s move to immediately deploy Russian military police there is a clear message to Erdogan that if he is serious about not wanting a war with Russia, Saraqib is now off limits.
The question is whether or not Erdogan is listening. Because to this point he hasn’t been.
There are other reports of Russia moving large numbers of troops and airlifting in personnel and weaponry into Latakia air base and the naval base at Tartus and turn the tables on Erdogan.
Mass transfer: 8 Il-76 arrived in Khmeimim, as well as a group of air defense officers🇷🇺🇸🇾 3 Il-76 transport aircraft of RuAF arrived in Khmeimim in Syrian province of Latakia on night of March 1 to 2. In general, over past 72 hours, 8 aircraft of this type have landed at AFB. pic.twitter.com/2aSNZPeNDi — Sukhoi Su-57 Felon 🇷🇺🇮🇳 (@I30mki) March 2, 2020
For more than a year Erdogan has used his troops as shields in those observation posts to allow HTS and al-Nusra terrorists to attack across the agreed upon DMZ, especially south towards the suburbs of Damascus.
Those observation posts and the troops are now in the hands of the SAA and are effectively hostages. This is also part of the reason why Erdogan has escalated things here.
This is deeply embarrassing to the would-be Sultan.
All of this is backdrop for the upcoming meeting between Putin and Erdogan in Moscow later this week. Make no mistake, the Sultan has been summoned not the other way around. Erdogan will try and wheedle a deal out of Putin which gives him some of what he wants.
However, I don’t think that will fly. Despite his missteps here, I think Putin still has this situation under control. In fact, if I know Putin at all, I’d say that Erdogan will leave Moscow with nothing, even though Erdogan has cards he thinks he can play.
And it is the silence coming from major NATO players that is his biggest issue. Trump cannot get involved in Idlib in an election year.
Without NATO backing him up, what is he going to offer Putin?
Having ticked off all of his benefactors to this point, trying to use access to the Bosporus and NATO Article 5 as leverage for his aggressions in Syria have their limits.
But, at the same time, Putin has to recognize now, with these moves by Erdogan, that he is dealing with a person with delusions of grandeur at a Hitlerian level. And I don’t say that lightly.
It’s clear his neo-Ottoman Empire dreams blind him and all he sees is the U.S.’s pullback from the region as his opportunity to press his military advantage regionally. A Peace to End All Pea... Fromkin, David Best Price: $4.51 Buy New $14.19 (as of 11:15 UTC - Details)
If Putin doesn’t recognize this and put a stop to him now, Idlib will deteriorate and his troops will be there far longer and under much worse conditions than even he has the political capital to expend.
Erdogan’s moves here betray a solipsism which infects all men who have held power for too long and through their success, believe themselves infallible.
He’s managed to bring Turkey to this point where NATO is exasperated with him and the SCO states see Turkey as a prize to advance their agenda to stare down the unipolar power, the U.S., in the West. Whether this was skill or blind luck is anyone’s guess.
I expect it’s a bit of both, since I don’t like to underestimate my enemies.
And I honestly think he thought he would be able to turn the tables on Russia and China here, getting concessions from them while blackmailing NATO with refugees.
The Saker has initial thoughts on this a bit more detailed militarily than I do, and I recommend you read them.
But with Erdogan’s drones now falling out of the sky at the Syrian border and his army now potentially facing thousands of Iranian-made precision missiles and Hezbollah likely rejoining the fight in real numbers thanks to his betrayal of them, it is likely his misjudgment is far greater than anything Putin is guilty of.
It looks like this is that moment where someone finally tells tells him that while Turkey may be important, he isn’t.
And if he wants to stay in power, the time for him to leave NATO for real is now.
Reprinted with permission from Gold Goats ‘n Guns.
The Best of Tom Luongo


lewrockwell--2020-03-04--Afghan Peace Deal Shows Cracks After Trump Puts Politics Ahead of Process To Take Credit for Ending

Afghan Peace Deal Shows Cracks After Trump Puts Politics Ahead of Process To Take Credit for Ending US’s Longest Conflict

The Trump administration , anxious to be able to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end war in Afghanistan , pressed for a signed peace deal , leaving it to the Afghan government and the Taliban to hammer out the details .
The ink was barely dry on the historic US-Taliban Peace Agreement , however , when the Taliban announced the ceasefire that underpinned the agreement was off .
At issue are 5,000 prisoners held by the Afghan government whose release is seen as a precondition for intra-Afghan talks on the future of Afghanistan .
The Afghan government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the peace plan , and its decision not to release the prisoners was seen as a statement of sovereignty .
At the end of the day , however , the Afghan government has no real choice but to comply .
On February 29 , after more than 18 years of fighting , the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation , Zalmay Khalilzad , met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar , a senior Taliban official , in Qatar where the two men signed a peace agreement which , if implemented , would bring an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all American forces eventually return home .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the signing ceremony but left the task of putting pen to paper to Ambassador Khalilzad .
War Is A Racket : Origi ... Butler , Smedley D. Best Price : $ 4.72 Buy New $ 3.75 Back in Washington , DC , President Trump hailed the peace agreement , noting that it set the stage for ending a conflict and thanked “ the people of the United States for having spent so much in terms of blood , in terms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that the Taliban had been trying to reach an agreement with the US for a long time .
“ Everyone , ” he said , “ is tired of war.
” The cost of the Afghanistan War for the US was high , with more than 2,400 troops killed and another 20,000 wounded in the fighting ( another 1,100 NATO and non-NATO allied soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan , with more than 8,000 others wounded ) .
As of 2019 , the Department of Defense estimated the cost of the war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cost for the people of Afghanistan has been equally severe .
More than 130,000 civilians are believed to have lost their lives in Afghanistan , along with another 29,000 Afghan soldiers and police ( another 20-35,000 Taliban are believed to have been killed ) .
The economic cost for Afghanistan is equally devastating , estimated at more than $ 21 billion a year .
The terms of the peace deal were straightforward — the Taliban would continue to respect the ceasefire and agree not to allow either Al-Qaeda or Islamic State ( IS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Taliban-controlled territory .
For its part , the US agreed to reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan from more than 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days of signing .
The US also committed to work closely with its NATO and non-NATO allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over that period , and to pull out all remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban forces adhered to their security guarantees and ceasefire , and a political solution could be reached between the Taliban and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called for a prisoner swap , with some 5,000 Taliban prisoners to be exchanged for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10 , a date set by the peace agreement for intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government .
The issue of Taliban-Afghan government talks were always a sensitive issue , with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fearful that any peace process that rushed ahead without providing sufficient assurances about the future of both his government and the Afghan security forces was little more than a facilitator of the eventual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ahead of the 2020 elections , the Trump administration was apparently keen to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end the war in Afghanistan , so it pressed ahead with the peace talks , leaving it up to the government in Kabul and the Taliban to agree on the details .
Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 The day after the peace agreement was signed in Qatar , President Ghani rejected the idea that the 5,000 prisoners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to any talks about the future of Afghanistan .
Ghani noted that neither he nor his government had been part of any such agreement , and that the US had no authority to order the prisoners ’ release .
For its part , the Taliban declared that there could be no talks unless the prisoners were released , and that unless this happened by March 10 , then the ceasefire , as it applied to Afghan military and security forces , would be ended .
From the standpoint of the agreement itself , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fatal ; US officials have noted that the agreement , the details of which remain secret , does not make the withdrawal of US and allied troops contingent on talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government about the future of Afghanistan .
By taking his position on prisoners , Ghani is playing a very weak hand poorly , overplaying the sovereignty card at a time when Afghanistan is totally reliant upon US security and financial assistance for its continued survival .
Moreover , by threatening the peace deal , Ghani is treading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a presidential election where Trump has expended considerable political capital to make an Afghan peace deal a reality .
In the days ahead , concerted pressure can be expected to be brought to bear on Ghani by senior US military and diplomatic officials to get him to change his position .
At the end of the day , it is President Trump , and not the Taliban , who stands to lose the most if Ghani successfully scuppers the peace agreement .
The statements , views and opinions expressed in this column @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do not necessarily represent those of RT .

The Trump administration, anxious to be able to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end war in Afghanistan, pressed for a signed peace deal, leaving it to the Afghan government and the Taliban to hammer out the details.
The ink was barely dry on the historic US-Taliban Peace Agreement, however, when the Taliban announced the ceasefire that underpinned the agreement was off. At issue are 5,000 prisoners held by the Afghan government whose release is seen as a precondition for intra-Afghan talks on the future of Afghanistan. The Afghan government had not played a part in drafting the peace plan, and its decision not to release the prisoners was seen as a statement of sovereignty. At the end of the day, however, the Afghan government has no real choice but to comply.
On February 29, after more than 18 years of fighting, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior Taliban official, in Qatar where the two men signed a peace agreement which, if implemented, would bring an end to the Afghanistan conflict and see all American forces eventually return home. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the signing ceremony but left the task of putting pen to paper to Ambassador Khalilzad. War Is A Racket: Origi... Butler, Smedley D. Best Price: $4.72 Buy New $3.75 (as of 08:05 UTC - Details)
Back in Washington, DC, President Trump hailed the peace agreement, noting that it set the stage for ending a conflict and thanked “the people of the United States for having spent so much in terms of blood, in terms of treasure, and treasury.” Trump said that the Taliban had been trying to reach an agreement with the US for a long time. “Everyone,” he said, “is tired of war.”
The cost of the Afghanistan War for the US was high, with more than 2,400 troops killed and another 20,000 wounded in the fighting (another 1,100 NATO and non-NATO allied soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, with more than 8,000 others wounded). As of 2019, the Department of Defense estimated the cost of the war at $737 billion.
The human cost for the people of Afghanistan has been equally severe. More than 130,000 civilians are believed to have lost their lives in Afghanistan, along with another 29,000 Afghan soldiers and police (another 20-35,000 Taliban are believed to have been killed). The economic cost for Afghanistan is equally devastating, estimated at more than $21 billion a year.
The terms of the peace deal were straightforward — the Taliban would continue to respect the ceasefire and agree not to allow either Al-Qaeda or Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) to operate from Taliban-controlled territory. For its part, the US agreed to reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan from more than 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days of signing.
The US also committed to work closely with its NATO and non-NATO allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over that period, and to pull out all remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban forces adhered to their security guarantees and ceasefire, and a political solution could be reached between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The agreement also called for a prisoner swap, with some 5,000 Taliban prisoners to be exchanged for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10, a date set by the peace agreement for intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The issue of Taliban-Afghan government talks were always a sensitive issue, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fearful that any peace process that rushed ahead without providing sufficient assurances about the future of both his government and the Afghan security forces was little more than a facilitator of the eventual assumption of power by the Taliban. Ahead of the 2020 elections, the Trump administration was apparently keen to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end the war in Afghanistan, so it pressed ahead with the peace talks, leaving it up to the government in Kabul and the Taliban to agree on the details.
Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details) The day after the peace agreement was signed in Qatar, President Ghani rejected the idea that the 5,000 prisoners it held had to be released prior to any talks about the future of Afghanistan. Ghani noted that neither he nor his government had been part of any such agreement, and that the US had no authority to order the prisoners’ release. For its part, the Taliban declared that there could be no talks unless the prisoners were released, and that unless this happened by March 10, then the ceasefire, as it applied to Afghan military and security forces, would be ended.
From the standpoint of the agreement itself, Ghani’s actions were not immediately fatal; US officials have noted that the agreement, the details of which remain secret, does not make the withdrawal of US and allied troops contingent on talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government about the future of Afghanistan. By taking his position on prisoners, Ghani is playing a very weak hand poorly, overplaying the sovereignty card at a time when Afghanistan is totally reliant upon US security and financial assistance for its continued survival.
Moreover, by threatening the peace deal, Ghani is treading in American domestic politics on the cusp of a presidential election where Trump has expended considerable political capital to make an Afghan peace deal a reality. In the days ahead, concerted pressure can be expected to be brought to bear on Ghani by senior US military and diplomatic officials to get him to change his position. At the end of the day, it is President Trump, and not the Taliban, who stands to lose the most if Ghani successfully scuppers the peace agreement.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.


A Millennial Moment

There is something worse than a generation gap .
There is a worldview gap .
My generation – Generation X – was the last pre-computer generation and the last generation to reach adulthood before the Safety Cult had metastasized into a mainstream religion .
When we were teenagers , we were expected to learn how to drive – because the cars wouldn ’ t do it for us .
We rose to the challenge .
Most of us learning to drive in cars with manual transmissions because back in the ’ 80s when we were teenagers , most of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had manuals .
It was sink or swim .
Amazon.com Gift Card i ... Buy New $ 10.00 Or suffer the humiliation of riding the bus with the 14 and 15-year-olds .
Oh , yes .
In that better , vanished time a kid was able to drive himself to school the day he turned 16 – which meant driving to school for the last two years of high school , so that by the time one graduated one had been driving for several years and was ready to deal with the adult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are now rising – and “ feel the Bern , ” many of them – grew up strapped in , learned to be fearful and passive .
They are not allowed to drive to school until they are practically out of school .
They have been taught to regard cars as dangerous and despoiling things .
I met one such Millennial the other day at the coffee shop where I usually go to write these rants .
It is my caffeinated version of Orwell ’ s ( or rather Winston Smith ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waiters know me and keep my cup full without my even having to ask .
Anyhow , I ’ m friendly with another guy there , who is friends with this young Millennial .
She proudly told me all about her new car – about how saaaaaaaafe it is .
Not how it drove or looked .
The first thing she waxed rhapsodic about was Lane Keep Assist .
Many new cars have this , apparently because many people have difficulty keeping their car in its travel lane and require “ assistance ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attached to the steering gear – that nudge the car left or right , accordingly , when the driver isn ’ t .
The Best of Eric Peters

There is something worse than a generation gap. There is a worldview gap.
My generation – Generation X – was the last pre-computer generation and the last generation to reach adulthood before the Safety Cult had metastasized into a mainstream religion. When we were teenagers, we were expected to learn how to drive – because the cars wouldn’t do it for us.
We rose to the challenge.
Most of us learning to drive in cars with manual transmissions because back in the ’80s when we were teenagers, most of the cars within a teenager’s budget had manuals.
It was sink or swim. Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $10.00 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details)
Or suffer the humiliation of riding the bus with the 14 and 15-year-olds. Oh, yes. In that better, vanished time a kid was able to drive himself to school the day he turned 16 – which meant driving to school for the last two years of high school, so that by the time one graduated one had been driving for several years and was ready to deal with the adult world of driving.
The Millennials who are now rising – and “feel the Bern,” many of them – grew up strapped in, learned to be fearful and passive. They are not allowed to drive to school until they are practically out of school. They have been taught to regard cars as dangerous and despoiling things.
I met one such Millennial the other day at the coffee shop where I usually go to write these rants. It is my caffeinated version of Orwell’s (or rather Winston Smith’s) Chestnut But Tree Cafe. The waiters know me and keep my cup full without my even having to ask.
Anyhow, I’m friendly with another guy there, who is friends with this young Millennial. She proudly told me all about her new car – about how saaaaaaaafe it is. Not how it drove or looked. The first thing she waxed rhapsodic about was Lane Keep Assist.
Many new cars have this, apparently because many people have difficulty keeping their car in its travel lane and require “assistance” – in the form of electric motors attached to the steering gear – that nudge the car left or right, accordingly, when the driver isn’t.
Probably because she’s texting.
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The Best of Eric Peters