If you consider yourself a member of that club, the following are the folks you should read to take some comfort from, especially if you are beginning to question your own belief that this COVID-19 lockdown and safe-distancing has been nothing but fearmongering on a grand scale..... even if those near and dear to you are lost for the moment in the government's and the MSM's matrix.... there are still many folks who think like you....so buck up.
Off-Guardian has a whole slew of articles and interviews on the coronavirus dissenters.
https://off-guardian.org/category/coronavirus/
Based upon what
I've seen, it looks like hospitals are reclassifying viral
pneumonia deaths caused by the seasonal flu as COVID-19 deaths in order
to secure additional government money.
Global Research has many an article from authors who
are not at all happy with the lockdown and the "sky is falling, sky is
falling" attitude that most governments of the world has taken.
UK's Peter Hitchens, journalist and free thinker in an interview with a rude radio host.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoOC1PCcfUU
IMO, the Mother
of All Inquiries MUST be opened very soon to set right the madness of
these days or else we are going to see anarchy and revolt all over the
Western world.
"..HAGAI EL-AD: It’s more than 170 fatalities. More than 30 of them were minors, under 18. Three of them were actually children. They were 11 years old. These are the youngest ones that were killed since March 30th. And more than... #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/wgZ0Wbvbm1
This is what the sly PTB have done to art, made folks think that such rubbish is worth paying millions of $sss. Even kindergarten kids can do this any hour of the day, any day of the week. "Sotheby's Burned For $5 Million In Art.. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/hIxEyCrG8L
China "..has a mixed economy but with central planning (government tells the companies what to do, not vice-versa). It is clearly the most successful nation on earth when it comes to working on behalf of, and for the benefit of... #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/VsWJKvdz1K
Canada, USA's whipped lapdog yipping like a rabid dog on behalf of her massa down south!! Stockholm syndrome. Yves Engler: "Canada brings Venezuela to International Criminal Court" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/4k939S0xJ7
".called ‘A Moment of Truth; A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering’. And it was published after the murderous onslaught by Israel against Gaza over Christmas and New Year 2008/9."Saving the Holy Land" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/d3aJMc2PMO
I m waiting 2c what's under all that ice taking up so much space. Earthlings will have more real estate...so bring on the melt but not the tax sheeple r willing 2pay to the PTB's ponzi scheme. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/J1F2s5xvkl
Wanna know what American n Israeli mercenaries (killers) r doing in Yemen on behalf of #Trump's partners in war crimes, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? Blumenthal talks to Watching the Hawks.https://t.co/YEMdZ7h2U7
After segment on US n Israeli killers in Yemen, at approx 14 min mark, Assange's supporter Randy Credico(?) talks re Ecuador threatening to send Assange's cat 2 shelter if Assange does not clean bathroom. Pure mental torture!! #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/YEMdZ7yDLF
Soo, the non-elected screwballs of EU n NATO r desperate 4a nuclear war? ..ok. Let em have it!! Hopefully v in Canada will b spared fm joining these demonic forces." Video: US Nuclear Missiles Deployed in Italy, … against Russia" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/4n20MRRM7s
Vote for the Green party, they r yet 2b corrupted. The other 3 parties in Canada r just bubble heads made of straw. "Canada Provides Safe Haven to White Helmet Terrorist Factions" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/Zsuqa2d3l7 via @grtvnews
Sadly, might is right. USA is top dog responsible 4all injustices meted out to the helpless n as #Trump is Israel's pet bulldog, ICC can scream all they want, no1 can save the downtrodden. "ICC Prosecutor:The Demolition of Khan...#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/ZFTK0hqlDx
Who's afraid of US n Israel-backed Saudi Arabia? All the teeny-weeny mostly wahhabi oil wells. "Kuwait-Turkey Military Cooperation Alarms Saudi Arabia" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/LgidtoqWAN via @grtvnews
"..The PD-14 is the first new engine 100% made in Russia... ..Aviation experts are sure that an MC-21 equipped with a PD-14 easily beats the competition; the Airbus A320 and the Boeing-737.. "What Sanctions on Russia and China... #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/FY63XycteS
"Divide and Conquer" the diabolical strategy of the ex empire UK, has been adopted and fine-tuned by the presently dying USA. What's happening with the Churches in Ukraine. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/uyDwImifjo
Going Underground on #Trump's moneybags in both Saudi Arabia n Israel. The guy GU is talking to is no saint either. He has made tons of $ss fm betraying many as do most $s hungry folks focused on becoming ultra rich. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/3HniGx17By
Must Watch. KSA under Mafia protection of USA/UK/Israel/France n Germany have been kidnapping, killing, drugging princes anybody else fm way, way back n fm anywhere on Earth. This doc is fm Journeyman.#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/nzkUjWgXsx
Illegal Shysters, the legal ones r in government n banks. "Largest Ever Ponzi Scheme In Maryland" Rocks Investors, $345 Million Vanishes" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/4b04AiUF6p
Col Lawrence Wilkerson talks to Sophie&Co on Syria, #Trump, Iran, neo-cons n possibly a surprise fm Trump on Iran issue. My bet is the last won't happen, this guy has no idea how much the Israelis control Trump. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/biMPet7ze9
The Palestinian future lies with the young Jewish activists with their conscience still intact and their eyes wide open ... like this guy and many others working for the human rights of the Palestinians. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/TONw3l5Qgj
"..Crowds on Demand provides pop-up "protests, rallies, flash mobs, paparazzi events and other inventive PR stunts," according to its website.... "Paid Protest Firm "Crowds On Demand" Sued In $23 Million Extortion Plot" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/153ejMTXSq
Ah yes...the West against the Rest. In case of WW3, West has approx 50% former citizens of Rest. Sooo...internment of Rest or defeat of West? "Dangerous Crossroads: Extensive Russian and Allied War Games in Response to US-NATO..#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/5eAvZu8RSB
MSM is mum on the protests and marches organized by Code Pnk and American women activists. It's good that the activism is starting from right now b4 #Trump n his minions start bombing Iran. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/MY6y1aKnFt
This time the protest marches didn't have Deep State infiltrators w pink vaginas 2 slur objective of Anti-war activists. Code Pink shld be on high alert against such agents bent on slurring yr name. R u listening @medeabenjamin?? #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/OmbNNvYUXC
#Trump is hell-bent on starting wars, if not w Iran then a nuclear one with Russia. This is not just an excuse to make $ss for the WMD makers. When there's an overload of WMDs, there are wars just as B follows A. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/wmoaS7ZBiH
Chris Hedges: "..Most of the uber-rich lacked the capacity for empathy and compassion. They formed elite cliques that hazed, bullied and taunted any nonconformist..." The Rule of the Uber-Rich Means Tyranny or Revolution" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/7Rp1tBzWTR
Dr Ron Paul n Daniel McAdams discuss the "migrant army" on its way2 US. Why is Honduras's poor on the move? Wasn't it Obama n his coup loving squad that started it all by removing the legally elected prez n installing an US lapdog? #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/3ZXILQUKMu
No One is too big to fail and fall!! "The New Social Media: Alternatives To Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, And Other Big Tech Platforms" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/mmGNNxwgyz
This is all USA's fault. Why? Cuz if US had not instigated Taiwan 2go against China (research last few years) in usual "divide n conquer" strategy, China wud not hve 2show who's boss in that area. "Taiwan To Hold Live-Fire Drill.. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/R84dKGm8UE
The first black prez of USA is truly black both outside n inside. Lying $-hungry warlord. Ugh! "Obama Calls Trump "Tin-Pot Dictator", Takes Credit For "Economic Miracles" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/mGvX6Q6Lkr
Yes, with #Trump it all boils down to his most fav nation, Israel. Damn everthing n anybody else, even his own America n Americans. That has been plain 2c fm day1. https://t.co/lsokoiKHQF
Ah yes...Norway freed from Nazis by Russia n now Norway gives free use of that same freed land to NATO to target Russia. Our ungrateful backbiting world!! "Norway in the Middle of NATO’s Arctic Wargames" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/P4Ra8H5Psj via @grtvnews
"..Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has confirmed that over 100 Palestinians were killed in a single day during the 30th March of Return held October 19.. "Israel Invokes Its “Fight for Survival” as It Descends into a Racist.. #cdnpoli#tcot 'TOpoli https://t.co/4NGgoSRRB7
"Poking the Russian Bear with the NATO Umbrella" "..Our Western European partners thought it was a bad idea then, and do now. Why aren't we listening?...#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/OOs2wtRGze via @grtvnews
Have u been using Wikipedia for your research, then chances r u have been misled. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Chris Hedges on how Wikipedia has become a tool of the PTB. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpoli updated w correct attachment as below.https://t.co/3XNQabtMeM
What's a yuge load of Takiyyah or Hasbara among bosom friends, eh?!! "Saudi Crown Prince Denounces Khashoggi Murder As "Heinous Crime" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/g6JcuIJImH
Isn't this how it's supposed 2b? Duh r those who think it shld b otherwise. "Science Wins - Trump Administration Proposes Transgender Policy Based On Biology" #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/UIa02EqR6t
Just like how v avoid why v hve 2accept US/UK/EU/Canada funded "rebels" aka headchoppers as refugees/returning "citizens", so 2 every1 avoids talking why Hondurans r running away fm US created hell in their country. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/waYXtnWcuo
Hmm..Deep State working overtime 2bring down #Trump. It wants Pence 2take over cuz Pence like Obama will obey it from A to Z n won't b an uncouth loudmouth like Trump. 'Suspicious Package' Found Outside Restaurant Owned... #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/4mY8q8BA4B
Yup..the PTB don't like their blood-soaked linen washed in public 4all 2c. "..'Bloggers' Blasted For Questioning Establishment 'White Helmets' Narrative... #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/ZUMaLHQpXH
Ouch!!! "Roundup for Breakfast: Monsanto’s Weed Killer Found in All Kids’ Cereals Sampled.... General Mills, Quaker and Kellogg’s, PepsiCo. Findings Released as Major Scientific Study Shows Eating Organic Lowers Cancer Risks..#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/YwStVPVVIa
Neil Postman: "What Orwell feared were those who would ban books.What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book,for there would be no one who wanted to read one Orwell feared those who would deprive us of....#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/0X4PVYmAOa
Top News for Oct 25 from Democracy Now. DN has been one of the very few constantly bringing to light the atrocities committed by KSA with US weapons in Yemen.#cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/6E3mRf4EpN
"Facebook Censorship of Alternative Media "Just the Beginning," Says Top Neocon Insider" "..At a Berlin security conference, hardline neocon Jamie Fly appeared to claim some credit for the recent coordinated purge.. #cdnpoli#tcot#TOpolihttps://t.co/vTJY9wnmRP
From RT Street celebrations in Aleppo on news of Syrian Army retaking east of city – RT reporter (VIDEO) Aleppo streets have erupted in celebrations with people waving flags and shooting in the air as reports said the Syrian Army has taken control of the last militant-held areas in eastern part of the city, RT’s Lizzie Phelan reports from the ground While an official statement on the situation is yet to emerge from Damascus, a source close to Syrian Army headquarters told RIA Novosti that the army is on the brink of liberating the city.
“The army has begun clearing out the last terrorist stronghold in the Salaheddin neighborhood. The terrorists are firing back and are trying to use mortars,” the source told the news agency. “However, the complete liberation of Aleppo could happen soon, which will be officially announced.”
Meanwhile people have already taken to the streets of the war-torn city in celebrations, RT’s Lizzie Phelan reported from Aleppo....
This is supposedly filmed during the final stage of the Battle of Aleppo with headchoppers in retreat.
DAMASCUS – According to two reports coming out of Aleppo today, at least 14 US Coalition military officers were captured this morning in an East Aleppo bunker by Syrian Special Forces.
This story was quietly leaked by Voltaire.net, who announced, “The Security Council is sitting in private on Friday, December 16, 2016, at 17:00 GMT, while NATO officers were arrested this morning by the Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in East Aleppo.”
Fares Shehabi MP, a prominent Syrian Parliamentarian and head of Aleppo’s Chamber of Commerce published the names of the Coalition officers on his Facebook page on the 15th December (emphasis added):
Mutaz KanoÄŸlu – Turkey David Scott Winer – USA David Shlomo Aram – Israel Muhamad Tamimi – Qatar Muhamad Ahmad Assabian – Saudi Abd-el-Menham Fahd al Harij – Saudi Islam Salam Ezzahran Al Hajlan – Saudi Ahmed Ben Naoufel Al Darij – Saudi Muhamad Hassan Al Sabihi – Saudi Hamad Fahad Al Dousri – Saudi Amjad Qassem Al Tiraoui – Jordan Qassem Saad Al Shamry – Saudi Ayman Qassem Al Thahalbi – Saudi Mohamed Ech-Chafihi El Idrissi – Moroccan
In addition to Voltaire.net, the other original report was provided by Damascus-based Syrian journalist Said Hilal Alcharifi. According to Alcharifi, captured “NATO” officers were from a number of member states including the US, France, Germany and Turkey, as well as Israel. Here is his statement (translated from French):
“Thanks to information received, Syrian authorities discovered the headquarters of high ranking western/NATO officers in the basement of an area in East Aleppo and have captured them alive. Some names have already been given to Syrian journalists, myself included. The nationalities are US, French, British, German, Israeli, Turkish, Saudi, Moroccan, Qatari etc. In light of their nationalities and their rank, I assure you that the Syrian government have a very important catch, which should enable them to direct negotiations with the countries that have tried to destroy them.”......
As Aleppo has been almost entirely liberated from militants by the Syrian Army, the daunting task of rebuilding people’s lives lies ahead. RT’s Lizzie Phelan met with orphaned children from the city whose harrowing stories epitomize the horrors of war.
Over the past few days, some 100,000 civilians, including 40,000 children, have left eastern Aleppo, according to the Russian Reconciliation Center.
The UN says one in four children have been affected by the Syrian war. In Aleppo, that figure appears a gross understatement, Phelan reports.
Children such as Moussa, who is around eight, Jamil, 14, and Asma – around the same age – shared their chilling experience of watching their parents and siblings killed by terrorists before their eyes while they had to flee the fighting on their own.
“My father was killed five days ago,” says the tearful Asma, who’s been left to fend for herself with her five younger brothers and sisters. The Red Crescent picked them up as it did countless other children from what was the rebel-held Aleppo. Dirty, hungry and too traumatized to talk about their ordeal, they were dropped off at an orphanage a few days ago....
I have not ever experienced a #fakenews onslaught as today. Every mainstream media and agency seems to have lost all inhibitions and is reporting any rumor claim regarding the liberation of east-Aleppo as fact.
Consider this BBC headline and opener:
Aleppo battle: UN says 82 civilians shot on the spot
Syrian pro-government forces have been entering homes in eastern Aleppo and killing those inside, including women and children, the UN says.
The UN's human rights office said it had reliable evidence that in four areas 82 civilians were shot on sight.
1. A UN human rights office does not exists. What the BBC means is the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR). That commissioner is the Jordanian Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, a Hashemite educated in the UK and U.S. and a relative of the Jordanian dictator king. That is relevant to note as Jordan is heavily involved in the supporting the "rebels" against the Syrian government.
2. The office has not "said" that "82 civilians were shot" or other such gruesome stuff. It said that there were "sources" that have "reports" that such happened. From its press statement today:
Multiple sources have reports that tens of civilians were shot dead yesterday in al-Ahrar Square in al-Kallaseh neighbourhood, and also in Bustan al-Qasr, by Government forces and their allies, including allegedly the Iraqi al-Nujabaa armed group.
The OHCHR claiming that "multiple sources have reports" of XYZ, without revealing neither the "sources" nor the provenance of the alleged "reports" of XYZ, certainly does not translate into "The UN said XYZ happened."....
#Syria: Christian town of Al-Suqaylabiyah today "If practicing your faith in peace means being pro-Assad then we are all Assadists" pic.twitter.com/Ac6K9natRL
From SputnikNews Aleppo Liberation Exposed Mainstream Media and Their Lies About Syria Radio Sputnik discussed the situation in East Aleppo with Vanessa Beeley, an investigative journalist and peace activist, who has just returned from the city and is currently in the Syrian capital, Damascus. “What we are seeing is an incredible hysteria from the corporate and mainstream media about the situation on the ground in East Aleppo and I can categorically and unequivocally say that the majority of their reports are based on unverified sources and are blatantly untrue,” Beeley said....
Draft of a table to make the Syrian conflict clear & remove propaganda financed by SaudiBarbaria pic.twitter.com/Dvf7AJ59lN
From GlobalResearch “I Just Want Truth to Come out”: Syrian Army Captain Tells About Aleppo Victory. America is Helping the Terrorists Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that all eastern Aleppo districts had been freed from terrorists, while some hotbeds of militants’ resistance remained.
“I don’t know what has been happening in the media. I could not watch the television. The soldiers don’t have the internet; they don’t know what is being said. What we do know is that when we came to Aleppo the situation was bad. One of my soldiers was killed,” Abboud said.
He further said that in the Old City there was one woman who got sick. The soldiers called the army doctor and he said that she was in dire need of surgery, “The doctor started the surgery right away in order to save her life,” the captain said....
From Alalam Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Congratulates Nation on Aleppo Liberation (video) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has offered felicitations to the Arab nation on the liberation of Aleppo city from foreign-backed militants amid an ongoing mission to take out the remaining armed men and civilians from the embattled northwestern city. In a video posted on the Syrian presidency’s official social media accounts, Assad said the “liberation” was “history in the making and worthy of more than the word ‘congratulations’.”
“What is happening today is the writing of a history written by every Syrian citizen. The writing did not start today, it started six years ago when the crisis and war started against Syria,” he added.
"I think that after the liberation of Aleppo we'll talk about the situation as ... before the liberation of Aleppo and after the liberation of Aleppo," he said....
Constant western-biased anti-Russia, anti-Assad propaganda is not offering the friendly neutral environment needed to talk seriously about peace. February in Geneva. It is utterly frustrating living the daily lie and slander propaganda against Russia and against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, of this ‘neutral’ country, Switzerland, where soon peace talks are expected to begin. The UN hub in Geneva has in the past often served for peace negotiations, for mediation talks, but also failed more often than not, always when the American interests were not accommodated by an agreement.
How could it be different in the case of Syria? – Switzerland, like Brussels, has become the epicentre of European neoliberal politics with a broadcast system emitting half-hourly Putin and Assad bashing news......... The first being labelled as a human rights abuser responsible for the Ukrainian war, for the ‘annexation’ of Crimea, for thousands of Syrian deaths and tens of thousands of refugees, as a result of Russia bombarding Syria; refugees stranded and starving at the Turkish border and eventually invading Europe. Mr. Assad is being called a ferocious dictator, who does not shy from killing his own people and has to be removed for the good of the world. There is constant talk about a ‘transition government’, meaning without Mr. Assad, not even remotely considering that Syria is a sovereign nation, and that the Syrian people should have a say in who will be their president – and not at all foreign forces, who are responsible for the criminal massacres and war in the first place.
Mr. Assad and his secular Arab Socialist Ba’ath party is indeed not convenient for the neo-colonial interests of the west. Never mind that he had been re-elected with more than 80% majority by Syrians, just about 20 months ago. Mr. Gadaffi, who intended with the riches of Libya to free Africa from the continuous ....
Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.
For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo. Their rule began with a wave of repression. They posted notices warning residents: “Don’t send your children to school. If you do, we will get the backpack and you will get the coffin.” Then they destroyed factories, hoping that unemployed workers would have no recourse other than to become fighters. They trucked looted machinery to Turkey and sold it. This month, people in Aleppo have finally seen glimmers of hope. The Syrian army and its allies have been pushing militants out of the city. Last week they reclaimed the main power plant. Regular electricity may soon be restored. The militants’ hold on the city could be ending.......
....Americans are being told that the virtuous course in Syria is to fight the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian partners. We are supposed to hope that a righteous coalition of Americans, Turks, Saudis, Kurds, and the “moderate opposition” will win.
This is convoluted nonsense, but Americans cannot be blamed for believing it. We have almost no real information about the combatants, their goals, or their tactics. Much blame for this lies with our media.
Under intense financial pressure, most American newspapers, magazines, and broadcast networks have drastically reduced their corps of foreign correspondents. Much important news about the world now comes from reporters based in Washington. In that environment, access and credibility depend on acceptance of official paradigms. Reporters who cover Syria check with the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, and think tank “experts.” After a spin on that soiled carousel, they feel they have covered all sides of the story. This form of stenography produces the pabulum that passes for news about Syria.....
....Reporters who cover Syria check with the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House, and think tank “experts.” After a spin on that soiled carousel, they feel they have covered all sides of the story. This form of stenography produces the pabulum that passes for news about Syria....
From The Burning Platform: ....It appears there is an existential shortage of paint, hammers, garbage bags, wedding rings, and employed upstanding men taking responsibility for the children they father in West Philly. There is plenty of yellow crime scene tape, as West Philly accounts for a significant portion of Philadelphia’s 280 annual murders (up 13% in 2015). Houses originally well built in the 1950s and with some upkeep would still be fine homes, are in disrepair, with collapsing porches, dilapidated gutters and roofs, crumbling sidewalks, boarded up windows, and satellite dishes on every one. The lucky end units usually have a mural of black people doing great things, with trash, garbage and overgrown weeds underneath and black people not doing great things shuffling along the streets.....
As you witness the crumbling infrastructure of West Philly, with water mains bursting on a regular basis, streets sinking, houses falling down during heavy rainstorms, boarded up rat infested hovels housing drug addicts, and schools resembling prisons, it leaves you pondering how it came to this and why the fifty year War on Poverty left the people in these neighborhoods mover impoverished. I don’t blame the people stuck living in West Philly. I blame the corrupt politicians who have run the city for the last sixty years.
Liberal solutions based upon welfare handouts, union government workers, idiotic solutions sold by slimy politicians and high taxes have combined to create a morass of uneducated, unmotivated, unmarried people who live in squalor created by the very politicians they have been voting for over the last six decades. The city has been under the complete control of the Democratic Party the entire time..... Robert F Kennedy,Jr. at Politico In part because my father was murdered by an Arab, I've made an effort to understand the impact of U.S. policy in the Mideast and particularly the factors that sometimes motivate bloodthirsty responses from the Islamic world against our country. As we focus on the rise of the Islamic State and search for the source of the savagery that took so many innocent lives in Paris and San Bernardino, we might want to look beyond the convenient explanations of religion and ideology. Instead we should examine the more complex rationales of history and oil—and how they often point the finger of blame back at our own shores. America’s unsavory record of violent interventions in Syria—little-known to the American people yet well-known to Syrians—sowed fertile ground for the violent Islamic jihadism that now complicates any effective response by our government to address the challenge of ISIL. So long as the American public and policymakers are unaware of this past, further interventions are likely only to compound the crisis. Secretary of State John Kerry this week announced a “provisional” ceasefire in Syria. But since U.S. leverage and prestige within Syria is minimal—and the ceasefire doesn’t include key combatants such as Islamic State and al Nusra--it’s bound to be a shaky truce at best. Similarly President Obama’s stepped-up military intervention in Libya—U.S. airstrikes targeted an Islamic State training camp last week—is likely to strengthen rather than weaken the radicals. As the New York Times reported in a December 8, 2015, front-page story, Islamic State political leaders and strategic planners are working to provoke an American military intervention. They know from experience this will flood their ranks with volunteer fighters, drown the voices of moderation and unify the Islamic world against America.
To understand this dynamic, we need to look at history from the Syrians’ perspective and particularly the seeds of the current conflict. Long before our 2003 occupation of Iraq triggered the Sunni uprising that has now morphed into the Islamic State, the CIA had.... Jonathan Marshall at ConsortiumNews Exclusive: The Obama administration, eager to assuage Saudi Arabia’s anger over the Iran nuclear deal and the failure to achieve “regime change” in Syria, has turned a blind eye to Riyadh’s savaging of Yemen, even though that is helping Al Qaeda militants expand their territory, writes Jonathan Marshall.
By Jonathan Marshall For nearly a year, the Obama administration has turned a blind eye to the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen since Saudi Arabia invaded in March 2015 to crush an Iranian-supported insurgency and restore a discredited former president to power. But Washington cannot so easily ignore the rapid resurgence of a dangerous branch of Al Qaeda that is thriving on the chaos to take control of much of southern Yemen.
The war between indigenous Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed supporters of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has cost more than 6,000 lives and caused more than 35,000 casualties. What a United Nations report called “widespread and systematic” attacks against civilians by Saudi and Gulf emirate pilots, armed with U.S.-made aircraft and cluster bombs that are banned by international treaty, account for the bulk of civilian deaths and for the wholesale destruction of ancient cities and cultural centers.
In addition, a Saudi-imposed blockade on Yemen, supported by Washington, has allowed only a trickle ....
Patrick L Smith at Salon This is how we spooked Putin: What the New York Times won’t tell you about the American adventure in Ukraine The failure of Washington’s most adventurous power assertion in post-Cold War period can no longer be papered over ....
While the world is focused on Syria and the invasion of refugees to EU from Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Nigeria, Iraq and from every country where the USA and NATO have meddled, bombed, killed and uprooted those now fleeing to Europe - let's read below what's going on in the Ukraine. Remember the Ukraine, the country that USA and Canada "brought out of Russian influence" ? Yup, that Ukraine!
A good place, if you desire to know more on the situation in the Ukraine or on Russia, after reading the articles below, the The Saker blog has most of the nitty-gritty. Here's the latest report of Feb 4 from that blog.
The international situation is very dangerous. Syria seems to be holding everyone’s attention, but the Ukrainian tinderbox still smoulders. Fascists hold power in Kiev. They do not miss an opportunity to make provocative declarations or commit hostile acts against Russia or against Russian people in Ukraine. The Kiev junta is a repressive, murderous regime intolerant of political opposition.
Former Nazi collaborators like Stepan Bandera have been transformed into national heroes remembered in torch light parades evocative of Nazi Germany. Violence is exalted and tawdry fascist masculinity is openly celebrated.
Recently, Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine declared that in 2016 the junta would retake control of the Donbass and Crimea. Whilst the fate of the Donbass remains uncertain, the status of Crimea is clear. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said recently, Crimea is an integral part of the Russian Federation and there is nothing to «negotiate» about it. In fact, the only way Ukraine can hope to take over Crimea would be in the aftermath of a Third World War won by the United States and its NATO vassals. To say the least, this is an unlikely eventuality. Not that a world war would overly trouble the burlesque Poroshenko, who still seeks to drag the European Union (EU) and the United States deeper into the Kiev junta’s conflict with Moscow. It is his lone hope for success....
....US intervention in Ukraine is a grave matter and a direct attack on the security of the Russian Federation. It is also an attempt to change the course of history and to break the bonds of culture, religion and kinship dating back more than one thousand years. The first Russian state was established at Kiev in the 9th century. During the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods Ukraine was a contested borderland and no-man’s land between Muscovy, then tsarist Russia, Poland-Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire. Before 1991 Ukraine never existed as an independent state, or did so only in Kiev for a few months in 1918 and 1919, and then as a puppet regime of Wilhelmine Germany or France. It is ironic that so-called Ukrainian «nationalists», then as now, could only establish their putative authority under foreign domination. Then as now, foreign powers seek to use a Ukrainian client state as a place d’armes or as a proxy to attack Russian power in Moscow....
Back in the 1930s, the Soviet government knew better how to deal with the Nazis. Fashizm – eto voina was a well-known Soviet slogan, fascism means war. Only after six vain years of attempts to organise an anti-Nazi coalition with the West did the Soviet government seek to buy time by signing the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact in August 1939, another example, incidentally, of sinuous Russian diplomacy. Come to think of it, one might even compare the Minsk accords to the non-aggression pact. «Play for time», the strategy seems to be in Moscow: count on a favourable turn of events, hope for a genuine implementation of Minsk leading to the end of fascism in Ukraine, and obtain security and real autonomy for the Donbass. If these scenarios sound like wishful thinking, they are, for the Kiev junta has not respected the Minsk accords for a single day.....
I absolutely like the title of the blog: "Letters To The Beast" .... that's really telling them beasts what one thinks of them. I read the entire blog post with a big smile on my face. I love it when I find there are many other Canadians out there who are just as frustrated as moi with our lying Conservative party and the way they are pandering to the USA and Israel even when it is apparent to the rest of the world and those probably in outer space and in the next galaxy that both the USA and Israel are the main cause of all disharmony on planet Earth.
From LettersToTheBeast blog: Sharia brutality in Syria, Iraq and Libya after the N.W.O.’s glorious liberation of their countries. October 1, 2014 Mr. Robert Nicholson, M.K. The Knesset (Canada) Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A5 Dear Bob: Some disturbing reports have emerged recently in different parts of the world regarding war crimes, barbarism and other atrocities. This week, foreign media organizations such as OneIndia, International Business Times and Russia Today (among others) reported on mass graves found in an area of the Ukraine which recently came under the control of pro-Russian separatists. One mass grave is estimated to contain the bodies of 400 people (presumably Russian), who appear to have had their hands bound and been shot. The obvious conclusion is that the perpetrators were agents of the Poroshenko regime which your regime, among others, installed after overthrowing the legitimately-elected Yanukovich government........
This was a great panel. Everything David Swanson said, I agreed with completely. His website is here. He's the author of "War is a Lie" and other books.
A few extracts from the Situation Report on Iraq and related stuff Aug 22 - 25
From TheVineyardSaker blog August 22nd to 25th Iraq SITREP by Mindfriedo: An eye for eye 22nd Aug: Abu Musa, spokesperson for Daash, is killed in Syria during an assault on the Taqba military base: http://rt.com/usa/182256-is-spokesman-mosa-killed/ Abu Musa had also appeared on several videos documenting Daash on Vice News. 23rd Aug: Musab Al Sinjeri a Daash commander in Diyal is killed along with his assistant Khalid al Dulaimi by the Iraqi Security Forces. 23rd Aug: Three people are killed and nine injured in a suicide bomb attack on the headquarters of the Intelligence Services in Baghdad. 23rd Aug: Yazidi volunteer fighters ambush a three vehicle convoy of Daash near Sinjar Mountain and kill the occupants of all three vehicles they destroyed. The Yazidis also recovered arms and ammunition from the vehicles. Ambushes and retaliatory attacks by Yazidi fighters are forcing Daash to carry out most of its activities after dark. 24th Aug: A car bomb targets a Shia area of Baghdad on Sunday killing 3 and wounding 15 24th Aug: Iraqi Forces repel an assault on the Baiji refinery north of Tikrit. The Iraqi Air Force attacks assaulting militants and bombs one of the buildings in which they took shelter. The Iraqi forces claimed to have destroyed 4 tanks and 6 vehicles being used in the assault 25th Aug: Daash gets paid in kind: A car bomb, the first of its kind in Mosul, goes off outside one of the Daash headquarters in New Mosul, Mosul. The number of casualties is reported to be high but unverified. 25th Aug: Two bombs explode in the Shia city of Karbala in south Iraq, one at a transportation hub, and leave many dead and injured. 25th Aug: Ten Shia worshippers are killed and 25 injured in Baghdad when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shia Hussanieh in Baghdad. 25th Aug: The Egyptian Dar al Ifta launches a campaign to ban the use of the term “Islamic State” and is asking the international community and Muslims to refer to it instead as “QSIS” (Al Qa'ida Separatists in Iraq and Syria). http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/dar-al-ifta-bans-use-%E2%80%9Cislamic-state%E2%80%9D-term