The MoA Week In Review – Open Thread 2020-03

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January 12, 2020

The MoA Week In Review – Open Thread 2020-03

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

January 6 – Axis Of Resistance Says How It Will Avenge Qassem Soleimani
January 7 – Blowback From The Soleimani Assassination Increases As Iraq Reveals How Trump Tried To Steal Its Oil
January 8 – Iran's Missile Launch Against Two U.S. Bases in Iraq Calls Trump's Bluff – Updated
January 9 – Pentagon Accuses Iran Of Shooting Down A Ukrainian Plane But Its Evidence Is Flimsy
January 10 – Update On The Ukrainian Plane Incident Near Tehran
January 10 – In Iraq The U.S. Is Again An Occupation Force As It Rejects To Leave As Demanded
January 11 – Iranian Armed Forces Say They Inadvertently Shot Down The Ukrainian Plane – Updated
January 12 – Was The Shootdown Of The Ukrainian Airplane Near Tehran Really A 'Mistake'?

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Other issues:

Meta:

This was a record week for Moon of Alabama. Nine posts plus a MoA Week in Review with a total of more than 12,300 words were published. More than 2,800 comments were made. The traffic by far exceeded the usual level.

Pageviews per day on MoonofAlabama.org
(The value of 'Today' is of 10:00am EST)

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The traffic will come down again and the average will likely settle a bit above the usual level of 25,000 pageviews per day. The number of comments will likewise fall back to the usual 100 per day. Even though I tried during the week to block or delete some of the spam and insults in the comments there was too little time to police them all. I will have to find a better solution for that problem.

Navy:

The U.S. Navy loves to exaggerate its 'swagger'. This week it claimed that a 5^th fleet ship was harassed by a Russian war ship and alleged that the Russian ship broke the traffic rules at sea. It published two videos of the incident. But we have been here before. In June last year there was a similar case with a 7^th fleet ship in which the navy also published videos and pictures. By analyzing those videos and by consulting the International Maritime Organization (IMO) nautical rules we could prove that it was the U.S. ship which had violated the law. The recent case is similar.

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The U.S. ship is to the left of the Russian ship with their projected courses crossing at an acute angle. The U.S. ship was faster and tried to get in front of the Russian one which it eventually did. It was the wrong thing to do:

>Power-driven vessel A approaches the port side of power-driven vessel B. Vessel A is considered the give-way vessel. As the give-way vessel, A must take EARLY and SUBSTANTIAL action to keep clear and avoid crossing the stand-on vessel B.<

Ship A, the USS Farragut which took the pictures, should have given way and should have passed behind the Russian vessel. The Russian Ministry of Defense is absolutely right when it blames the U.S. ship of violating the rules:

>"It was the US destroyer that blatantly violated international rules for preventing collisions at sea on 9 January 2020 by making a manoeuvre to cross the Russian ship's course, while being positioned to the left of the forward-moving Russian military vessel", the ministry's statement reads.<

The U.S. Navy should stop this silly nonsense. By posting video evidence of the misbehavior of its own ships it only makes itself into a laughing stock. It should instead punish the captains who are responsible for such breaches of the rules at sea.

737 MAX:

Boeing Employees Mocked F.A.A. and ‘Clowns’ Who Designed 737 Max – New York Times
Beyond pilot trash talk, 737 MAX documents reveal how intensely Boeing focused on cost – Seattle Times
Boeing's ousted CEO departs with $62 million, even without severance pay – Reuters

The new CEO of Boeing is a long term board member who is to a large part responsible for the chaos Boeing finds itself in.

Fantastic 9-month CEO or disastrous multi-year CEO? – Leeham News
Boeing's Unique Accounting Method Helps Improve Profit Picture – Wall Street Journal (2016, no paywall)

Censorship:

Facebook Says It Won’t Back Down From Allowing Lies in Political Ads – New York Times
Instagram say it's removing posts supporting Soleimani to comply with US sanctions – CNN

>Instagram and its parent company Facebook are removing posts that voice support for slain Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani to comply with US sanctions, a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business Friday.<

tim anderson @timand2037 – 1:01 UTC · Jan 12, 2020
#Washington enforces its world view. #Facebook (incl. #Instagram) taking down posts favorable to #Soleimani, #Nasrallah etc because it "operates under U.S. laws". That means banning posts supportive of #Cuba, #Venezuela, #Iran, #Hezbollah, #Palestinian militia, #Iraqi PMUs etc

Use as open thread …

Posted by b on January 12, 2020 at 19:01 UTC | Permalink

Comments

thanks for all your work here b.. much appreciated… kudos in the increased readership… i wonder what the subversive % was??
“”censorship – to comply with US sanctions”” has an interesting ring to it.. when is the planet going to catch up on this sanctions approach and how it has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with a dictatorship??
article some might want to read –
Pompeo’s Gulf of Tonkin Incident

Posted by: james | Jan 12 2020 19:50 utc | 1

Is this true?
https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=50812&SEO=putin-proposes-syrian-president-to-invite-trump-to-damascus
This and the success in Libya, the sleeping euro- fat cats must be dead jalous.

Posted by: Mina | Jan 12 2020 19:57 utc | 2

Thanks b – I have just read an excellent article at commondreams.org. I will give title and author, so as not to be early in creating a hazard here. It should be easy to locate using the above by scrolling down the main page, or by using a search:
Published on
Sunday, January 12, 2020
by Responsible Statecraft
Congress’s Work to Prevent War With Iran has Only Just Begun
There are some commendable House of Representatives bills about to be voted upon, along with the resolution to prohibit Trump from war upon Iran. I thought I had the author’s name therein – will post that in my next comment.

Posted by: juliania | Jan 12 2020 19:58 utc | 3

Flightrada24. Who owns. Who funds it. Who runs it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flightradar24
Flightradar24 is a Swedish internet-based service that shows real-time commercial aircraft flight information on a map. It includes flight tracks, origins and destinations, flight numbers, aircraft types, positions, altitudes, headings and speeds. It can also show time-lapse replays of previous tracks and historical flight data by airline, aircraft, aircraft type, area or airport. It aggregates data from multiple sources but, outside of the United States, mostly from crowdsourced information gathering by volunteers with ADS-B receivers.
The service was founded as a hobby in 2006 by two Swedish aviation enthusiasts.[2] It is available via a web page or mobile device apps. The Guardian considers the site to be “authoritative”.[3]
The service was founded by two Swedish aviation enthusiasts in 2006 for Northern and Central Europe, who then opened it up, allowing anyone with a suitable ADS-B receiver to contribute data in 2009.[2]
The service received extensive exposure in 2010 when international media relied on it to describe the flight disruption over the north Atlantic and Europe caused by the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruptions.[4][5][6]
In 2014 it was used by multiple major news outlets following several high-profile crashes. The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370,[7] and in July 2014 after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine,[8] and in December when Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 went missing. Flightradar24 reported that its web traffic increased to around 50 times normal and caused some access congestion to users.
……………….
Is this US government controlled.. something like a bellingcat with a difference. Provides a free service to the public most of the time but on the odd occasion when required provide a service for US five eyes.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 12 2020 19:58 utc | 4

24 YEARS OF TWA 800 HOAX?
The United States should finally admit that they shot down TWA flight 800 in July 1996. Instead they have maintained a coverup for 24 years.
I spent yesterday looking at photographs of the reconstructed fuselage of the Boeing 747-131 plane used on TWA flight 800. The crashes of MH17, PS752 and TWA800 look similar. A surface-to-air missile destroyed the cockpit. With an understanding of MH17 it is trivial to see that the alleged fuel explosion in the center wing tank was not the cause of the breakup of the TWA 800 fuselage.

The structural damage does not start from the wing section.
The fuselage has been torn apart by wind forces, starting from the front. The folded or bent pieces of the roof are a result of this process. Similar pieces are seen in the MH17 roof.
The cockpit where the crucial evidence of the missile would most likely be located is completely missing from the reconstruction. Either the pieces of the lower cockpit were too small to reassemble or were intentionally hidden, or both.
An explosion under the fuselage has collapsed the front section from below. (Note the gap and the crimped aluminum skin between the 1st and 2nd decks.) I guess the coverup could claim that this collapse happened when the front section hit water, but the breakup pattern makes it evident that this happened before the fuselage broke up.

The reconstruction as it is presented serves only one purpose, the amplify the lie that wing section is important and everything else can be overlooked.
Using Google image search I found a few high resolution images of the blast area around the cargo door on in the lower right side of the front section of the fuselage.
Google also finds a large number of sites disagreeing with the official narrative. A good place to start os this article by Ron Unz.

American Pravda: the Destruction of TWA Flight 800
Large numbers of local witnesses were immediately interviewed by the swarm of federal agents, with 278 of them reporting that they saw a streak of light, much like a missile, shoot up into the sky in the direction of the aircraft just before the huge explosion. Employees at the local FAA radar installation immediately reported to the government that they had seen what appeared to be a missile closing with the airliner just before it exploded, and other installations produced similar radar records. When tests were eventually performed on the plane wreckage, traces of explosive chemicals were found, exactly the sort used in the warhead of a missile, as well as some reddish-orange chemical residue that a laboratory later identified as likely missile exhaust propellant. An enormous effort was made to locate every possible piece of the wreckage, and for many of these, the contours of the damage indicated an initial explosion external to the plane. Almost immediately after the disaster, a bidding-war allegedly broke out between the national television networks for an amateur home-video showing a missile striking and destroying TWA 800, with the tape eventually being sold for more than $50,000 and briefly broadcast on the MSNBC cable news channel before reportedly being seized as evidence by FBI agents. In addition, a local resident provided a still photo taken at the time showing what seemed to be a missile rising toward the aircraft.

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Jan 12 2020 19:59 utc | 5

Here is the author’s blurb to my above comment @ 3:
Kate Kizer (@KateKizer) is the policy director at Win Without War, which seeks to establish a more progressive U.S. foreign policy and national security strategy. Previously she was the director of policy and advocacy at the Yemen Peace Project, a non-profit that advocates for the rights and interests of Yemeni Americans and for constructive U.S. policies toward Yemen.

Posted by: juliania | Jan 12 2020 20:01 utc | 6

The USA is founding the DFC – an American alternative to the Chinese BRI:
US International Development Finance Corporation targets Asia as Washington seeks to offer alternative to Chinese cash
Meanwhile, also the USA:
Trump renews pressure on Seoul over defense costs

“These rich countries have to pay for it. South Korea gave us $500 million,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News, Friday (local time). “They’re a wealthy country. They build all your television sets, they took that away from us, they build ships, they build a lot of things. I said we’re protecting and you’ve got to pay. They paid us $500 million; they’re going to pay us a lot more.”

The days of the Marshall Plan are over. It’s not that the Americans are unwilling to pay for its occupation of its vassal-states: it’s that they simply don’t have the resources to do so anymore. Remember Puerto Rico – which needs USD 90 billion just to rebuild what it had before the hurricane (Trump has already stated the USG won’t pay, and some congressmen and senators are rumored to be already considering giving Puerto Rico its independence). Remember the country’s own deficit of USD 1.1 trillion just to rebuild its own domestic infrastructure.
Yes, the USA has a gargantuan GDP – USD 22 trillion. But most of it is financial (fictitious). At the eve of the American Civil War (1861), the South (Confederates) entire slave stock was worth, in money terms, the entire North’s (Union) manufacturing infrastructure – except for the fact most of it was financial speculation in London; in reality, the North had six times the population (that’s why they easily won the race to California), and its industrial sector enabled them to have, among other things, railways and warships. The war effectively ended when they besieged New Orleans and sailed upstream through the Mississippi in order to carve up the Confederation’s heart, the Mississipi Valley.
–//–
Jeremy Corbyn is haunting British politics

Labour leadership candidates are still having to preach the left-wing gospel despite the party’s stunning loss in last month’s election.

When Corbyn first rose, I pointed out that he would be, at best, a transition leader (given his age). People who supported Corbyn didn’t do so because they followed Corbyn the individual (personality cult), but because of the idea he represented.
The image that the left is just a cult waiting for the next Messias is a wrong preconception in the West. It is the myth of personality cult. In reality, it is the liberals who are the personality cultists, they are the ones who put the individual above everything else.
Bonus point:

So far, the battle appears to be between shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer and shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey. Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, has two strikes against him from the outset: He’s male and represents a London seat. Labour is intensely conscious of being the only party that hasn’t had a female leader, and also that it’s seen as too urban and out of touch with its once loyal base in northern England. He’s an establishment figure, however much he claims working-class roots.
It would be a shame if Labour voters let those factors distract them. What Starmer may lack in everyman appeal, he makes up for in intellect, integrity and respect across the benches.

Translating from the language of the liberals: listen guys, you know the argument we used against Corbyn that Labour was long overdue for its first female leader? Abort that! Our guy is a male this time!
Long-Bailey is Corbyn’s successor, and has advocated for, among other things you already know from Labour’s previous manifesto, the abolition of the House of Lords.

Posted by: vk | Jan 12 2020 20:07 utc | 7

Get ready for the Democratic Party sheep-dogs who are posturing as antiwar advocates opposed to “Trump’s War” on Iran.
The Democrats have, on the whole, aided and abetted this American war on Iran
Sheep-Dogging on Steroids: The New Democratic Party Anti-War Activists
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/01/10/sheep-dogging-on-steroids-the-new-democratic-party-anti-war-activists/
Trump’s march to war on Iran aided by Democrats’ weakness on sanctions, nuclear deal
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/01/04/trumps-march-to-war-on-iran-aided-by-democrats-weakness-on-sanctions-nuclear-deal/#more-18677

Posted by: ak74 | Jan 12 2020 20:38 utc | 8

B,
Your extremely timely and prolific posts during this past week’s jam packed ‘breaking ‘ ME events clearly demonstrates why this site is one of the most important sources for informational context and counter-corporate/state narrative that still remains an available on the internet.
It’s also no surprise that MOA is become increasingly riddled with these predictable disrupters (trolls, bots..etc) that are now, more than ever, frantically seeking to swarm, disrupt, distort and effectively hijack this blog – as it’s becomes even more influential as a potent and threatening alternative to the vast ocean of disinformation drek that’s disseminated 24/7 by this high, late empire’s stupefying array of Imperial stenographers.
Thank you!

Posted by: time2wakeup | Jan 12 2020 20:41 utc | 9

Speaks for itself!
We “slaughtered” Jeremy Corbyn, says Israel lobbyist Joe Glasman
Unfortunately, Kier Starmer is set to be the next Labour leader. I’m afraid that if Rebecca Long-Bailey is somehow elected then she will be in for the same treatment that as Corbyn.

Posted by: ADKC | Jan 12 2020 21:07 utc | 10

Very interesting thread on Twitter regarding the
“spontaneous” protests and the timing of the shooting down confession.

Posted by: hosscara | Jan 12 2020 21:09 utc | 11

Posted by: kooshy | Jan 12 2020 21:10 utc | 12

Regarding comment #9….
I think it is right on target! As for “B”…just a big thank you for all the hard work you put into Moon of Alabama. I greatly appreciate it.

Posted by: Gregory | Jan 12 2020 21:22 utc | 13

If you are having issues with big links breaking the webpage, try using the following bookmarklet that truncates the text of the link (not the link itself).
1) Navigate to this page (jsfiddle – javascript code snippet sharing – you can inspect the code before commiting to this solution)
2) Drag the link (truncate_links) in the bottom right, to your bookmarks bar OR right click mouse on top of the bookmarklet link and chose “Bookmark this link”.
3) Whenever a page becomes broken just click the bookmark “truncate_links” and all links longer then 40 characters will be replaced with “truncated_link”
The page will revert to original after refresh (F5), this is the same solution Paveway suggested in another post but in a shortcut form and valid for any affecting link

Posted by: Vasco da Gama | Jan 12 2020 21:36 utc | 14

@vk 7
…except for the fact most of it was financial speculation in London
What are the best studies of the City’s role in this Southern slave speculation? Hobsbawm’s Industry and Empire?

Posted by: Patroklos | Jan 12 2020 21:44 utc | 15

@ Posted by: Patroklos | Jan 12 2020 21:44 utc | 15
See “slave bubble” of the 1830s. There’s also a book from a Harvard scholar that’s about the south’s advance accountancy techniques.
Never read Hobsbawm’s Industry and Empire, so I’m not sure about this one.

Posted by: vk | Jan 12 2020 22:06 utc | 16

Below is a Reuters link that shows that the pressure on the US is still being exerted
Four wounded in attack on Iraqi military base that houses U.S. forces
The take away quote
”
They said seven mortar bombs had hit the base’s runway.
”
They don’t say if the runway is still useable but taking away runways has to be a good point of pressure

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 12 2020 22:24 utc | 17

@Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 12 2020 22:24 utc | 17
Reuters has been already proven unreliable source, and alligned with MSM propaganda fro the US.
Some information Reuters will never tell to understand that these are only shenanigans by the US to spread chaos and cause division amongst the Iraqi society, as it was intendeed by the initial attack to justify the killing of Soleimani…This is a blue en blue attack where they do not even risk anything, since there is no more US personel in Al Abad, but saying that this is a US base serves their propaganda purpose on demonizing Iran and jusity their refusal to leave Iraq…

This needs confirmation:
Why on Earth Iran would use Grad BM21 rockets to shell Iraqi base?
Its sounds the same as the original provocation in which US accused Iran, provocation that killed one American contractor, but which was most likely perpetrated by ISIS or Al Qaeda.

https://twitter.com/elenaevdokimov7/status/1216414360563617792

Posted by: Sasha | Jan 12 2020 22:37 utc | 18

thanks psychohistorian.. it brings me to a wider comment i want to make.. the war is on… i think this is now clear to anyone who was not sure before.. whether covert – as it technically was up til very recently, or overt as it is now – the usa-israel is at war with iran and will continue to find ways to increase the hostilities.. but here is what i want to talk about..
reality verses propaganda… which war is more important to win?
reading comments on the other threads it seems these 2 topics get blurred together with some thinking the propaganda war is the important one to win.. i don’t see it that way.. the war that counts is the one in real terms that is being played out at present.. sure, if the propaganda was hugely successful, the usa-israel could convince the west of the importance of war on iran, but the facts that are on display at present are showing the military details where it really matters.. whether one thinks iran is up to the task of punching the bully in the face or not, i think the missile attack on aid assad airport is proof of their ability to inflict harm if pushed hard.. there is no doubt the usa is able to inflict harm..
i just can’t see russia and china sitting idly by in all of this either.. knocking off important people in the pmu on the part of usa-israel will probably continue.. throwing money into this to support isis as its role as trojan horse will probably continue as well.. iran is going to have to do more then punch usa in the face like they did the other day.. in fact the battle over time will likely be won by the usa, barring a direct confrontation on irans soil.. even then it will be tough for iran.. but as i see it all the propaganda being generated in the west is so much paid for neo con talk that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.. where it matters is on the war front.. those who argue that iran is on the backfoot and etc. etc. are referring to the propaganda war mostly.. iran has been successful in iraq and in syria to a good extent.. maybe some will see this as propaganda too, but it is how i see it.. thanks..

Posted by: james | Jan 12 2020 22:40 utc | 19

********self-awareness fail of the day**********
“These continued violations of Iraq’s sovereignty by groups not loyal to the Iraqi government must end” -M Pompeo
https://www.dw.com/en/rockets-hit-iraq-air-base-housing-us-troops/a-51975783

Posted by: farm ecologist | Jan 12 2020 23:07 utc | 20

The U.S. Navy should stop this silly nonsense. By posting video evidence of the misbehavior of its own ships it only makes itself into a laughing stock. It should instead punish the captains who are responsible for such breaches of the rules at sea.

To be honest it should reward the PR handlers that allow it to present bad news as good. And we should punish the media that let it get away with it.
I’m quite sure that the superior sailors in the Russian Navy set up these little traps deliberately as part of some big joke.

Posted by: Michael Droy | Jan 12 2020 23:11 utc | 21

1. Make American (Debt) Great Again: (how to make war as a bankrupt)
$22,000,000,000,000 (trillion) in national debt. Up by $2 trillion since Trump took office.
us-national-debt-tops-22-trillion
2. Interesting development and choice.
“CIA Creates New Mission Center to Turn Up the Heat on Iran”
“To lead the new group, Mr. Pompeo picked a veteran intelligence officer, Michael D’Andrea, who recently oversaw the agency’s program of lethal drone strikes and has been credited by many of his peers for successes against al Qaeda in the U.S.’s long campaign against the terrorist group. . . .
Mr. D’Andrea, a former director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, is known among peers as a demanding but effective manager, and a convert to Islam [through need in order to marry] who works long hours. Some U.S. officials have expressed concern over what they perceive as his aggressive stance toward Iran.”
cia-creates-new-mission-center-to-turn-up-heat-on-iran
D’Andrea looks more like a strategy choice to keep Iraq than conquer Iran. Then again, given his Wikipedia outline this could be the poison chalice to solve two problems with one stone.
Michael_Andrea

Posted by: imo | Jan 12 2020 23:11 utc | 22

Seattle Times headline: “Boeing, reversing itself, says all 737 MAX pilots will need costly flight simulator training”
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-says-all-737-max-pilots-will-need-flight-simulator-training/

Posted by: moe | Jan 12 2020 23:17 utc | 23

I wouldn’t count on traffic decreasing anytime soon. I pass your articles on to others, as am sure other readers do.
I see those folks reading and passing on to others as well.
The more of us that are well informed, the better. Thank you.
The ‘poor poet’ may need an assistant sooner than later 🙂

Posted by: CD Waller | Jan 12 2020 23:30 utc | 24

james “those who argue that iran is on the backfoot and etc. etc. are referring to the propaganda war mostly”
It is in the minds of the Iranians. The IRGC have worked had to give the image of a very professional force which they are. The IRGC General who give the speech felt that he had lost his reputation over the incident.
Zarif and others in government who were sure the plane had not been shot down, who ridiculed the five eyes claims that it had been shot down by a Tor missile – the have worked hard to build a reputation as straight talkers, Zarif especially, always on the world stage. Same for them, a great loss of reputation loss of face. This I believe is what may put them on the back foot for awhile.
Also, will air defence hesitate to fire when they need to do so.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 12 2020 23:30 utc | 25

Some things never change. Everyone should also look into who actually engaged in slave trafficking, and ownership, in the
” Old South “.
– Blond, tall, with honey-colored eyes: Jewish ownership
of slaves in the Ottoman Empire –
http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~yaronbn/No.26.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0UNVENiKebCdTHI4RBQNsLhKpUn_M1iJVVYTqkFKHCNQ-QUI57CpcpYHQ

Posted by: Fog of War | Jan 13 2020 0:10 utc | 26

@20 FE. Priceless!

Posted by: Lozion | Jan 13 2020 0:19 utc | 27

@ peter au.. i don’t disagree with you, but would like to emphasize it’s on the ground removed from the court of public opinion where i think it really matters..of course if it translates as a loss of faith, that will lead to consequences too. thanks..

Posted by: james | Jan 13 2020 0:19 utc | 28

bevin kind of makes my point on another thread here –
“The point is that the US is trying to cause accidents, trying to bring the Iranian government into disrepute, trying to shift the entire question into one on the field of propaganda which is the last arena in which the US is still hegemonic….
Posted by: bevin | Jan 12 2020 23:49 utc | 91

Posted by: james | Jan 13 2020 0:37 utc | 29

james
It may well affect their tactics against the US and reactions when Trump makes his next military move. The other thing is it may affect the nuke deal. Trump would like the europeans to use the snapback provisions to bring back into place the UNSC sanctions against Iran. If the Europeans think Iran is on the back foot and Trump may prevail then they will be out to please Trump.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jan 13 2020 0:45 utc | 30

Shocking to read that Nettiyahoo lied when he announced Israel had nothing to do with Soleimani’s murder. It was all a U.S. operation.
The Times of Israel repeating NBC News:
Israeli intel helped US carry out strike that killed Iran’s Soleimani
How is that request for immunity?
Knesset to go forward debating & rejecting Bibi’s immunity request as his allies cry it will be a ‘jungle’

LINK
In a blow to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Knesset was given the green light to debate his immunity from prosecution. The legislative body is likely to deny it, paving the way for his corruption trial to start.
Netanyahu requested immunity after he was indicted in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust saying he needs “to continue to lead Israel to great achievements.”
On Sunday Eyal Yinon, the Knesset’s legal adviser, issued a ruling that Speaker Yuli Edelstein should allow the formation of a Knesset House Committee that will look into the matter and is expected to reject the request.[.]
[Yinon’s ruling], this means one will need to be formed anyway. When Netanyahu’s request is rejected, as many expect to happen, then a corruption trial can officially begin.
And with Israel’s general election set for March 2, Netanyahu may become the first sitting prime minister to enter an election while on trial.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 13 2020 0:56 utc | 31

Below is a ZH link to a report about Boeing sub contractor layoffs in Kansas
“Harsh Blow” – Boeing Supplier Cuts 2,800 Jobs Amid 737 Max Production Halt
I read somewhere today also that Boeing is now admitting that pilots will need training on whatever 737 MAX fixes finally come together. ……death by a thousand cuts.
Boeing is one of the major stocks in the DOW Industrial average that continues to be propped up with Fed REPO borrowing. One would think that at some point the public would see through the “US economy is great” smoke and mirrors but it hasn’t happened yet.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 13 2020 1:54 utc | 32

Asshat Trump is trying to milk the animosity directed at Iran from all directions over the downed flight 752 using his own meddlesome psy-ops. Today he tweeted:

To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!

Watch for MEK to activate more protests in Tehran on behalf of the Zionist U.S. The dollar payola for terrorist groups to fight Shia in Iraq and Iran just doubled. The U.S can manufacture protests anywhere in the world when it’s got so many terrorists on its bankroll.

Posted by: Circe | Jan 13 2020 2:22 utc | 33

All the UK Labour Leadership candidates (bar Clive Lewis who has little chance of getting required nominations) have accepted the Jewish Board of Deputies 10 pledges.
The Labour Party will now not be able to support Palestinians and have effectively become an adjunct of Israel.

Posted by: ADKC | Jan 13 2020 3:35 utc | 34

@31 that isn’t surprising in the slightest. When whatever US talking head said they “recieved intelligence” it could only be from occupied Palestine.
As for te increased traffic, any article mentioning Iran will be swarmed with bots, Hasbara, and MeK trolls. To them it’s a propaganda war.

Posted by: Sorghum | Jan 13 2020 3:48 utc | 35

We are now in the quiet period. Ignore the pleasing words yesterday calling for negotiations deescalation.
It’s Sunday, different day: FoxNews interviewed US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin who revealed:
US wants China to stop buying Iranian oil

Stephen Mnuchin noted that through sanctions Washington has now managed to “cut off probably over 95% of the oil revenues” of Iran
NEW YORK, January 13. /TASS/. US officials are consulting with Chinese colleagues to cut off oil supplies from Iran to China, US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin told Fox News.
He noted that through sanctions Washington has now managed to “cut off probably over 95% of the oil revenues” of Iran. According to Mnuchin, at present, China accounts for a significant part of the remaining oil exports of Iran.
“I sat down with the Chinese officials. They flew in a delegation to meet with us and the State Department to talk about this.
They’ve cut off all of the state companies from buying oil, and we’re working closely with them to make sure that they cease all additional oil activities,” Mnuchin said.[.]

This should get very interesting. These guys are clueless, never seen an ocean Billing of Laden. If Iran can not export any oil, there will be no oil tanker sailing through the Gulf. Short memories; Stena Impero.
And we have lunatic Trump blackmailing Iraq over its oil sales bank account:

U.S. Warns Iraq It Risks Losing Access to Key Bank Account if Troops Told to Leave
The Trump administration warned Iraq this week that it risks losing access to a critical government bank account if Baghdad kicks out American forces.

2020 may just turn out to be the year of the great global reset.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 13 2020 3:54 utc | 36

Circe #33
Quote Trump

To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!

I am reminded of the USA union struggle over centuries, occupy wall street and black US citizens. F#ck Trump and his scabrous predecessors.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 13 2020 3:57 utc | 37

@34 ADKC
I’m not surprised at all and saw this coming. The UK has gone mad. Jeremy Corbyn is just one more of the countless victms smeared with the A-S scarlett letter whose careers were derailed by Zionist power. Zionists have no problem at all now exposing just how powerful they are everywhere it matters since fool politicians are taking in millions legislating censorship and making it illegal to protest and resist Zionism. All resistance to it is being destroyed; Iran case in point.
People think that Zionism is all about Israel, but Israel is only the tip of the iceberg. Zionism is about power; absolute corrupt power. It is inherently fascist and survives and spreads on subverting democracy.

Posted by: Circe | Jan 13 2020 4:11 utc | 38

On facebook

#Washington enforces its world view. #Facebook (incl. #Instagram) taking down posts favorable to #Soleimani, #Nasrallah etc because it “operates under U.S. laws”. That means banning posts supportive of #Cuba, #Venezuela, #Iran, #Hezbollah, #Palestinian militia, #Iraqi PMUs etc

my emphasis
So that means facebook dutifully pays taxes on its global revenue at the USA rate or does it enjoy a small relaxation on that law? These corporate pirates are reprehensible scum so I guess that is why they pay lip service to the USA.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 13 2020 4:14 utc | 39

@36 likklemore
Just mentioning that policy threat should encourage the world to slowly reduce what they keep in the Fed. The threat of having your reserves confiscated because Trump is pissed off at you today should make everyone reconsider the financial status quo.
That strikes me as a watershed moment/admission.

Posted by: Sorghum | Jan 13 2020 4:20 utc | 40

@36 Likklemore
China of all countries has the most to lose if it submits to Zionist U.S. orders. If Iran falls, China falls in a not too distant future.
Why is China building up its military? Obviously because it doesn’t trust the U.S. So the day Iran falls and the U.S. installs a puppet leader, the U.S. will be controlling under which circumstances Iran must not sell oil & gas to China.
Today they’re coming for Iran; tomorrow they’ll come for China. The Chinese are stupid and short-sighted if the help the U.S. destroy Iran.

Posted by: Circe | Jan 13 2020 4:44 utc | 41

Interesting thread mentioned in 11. As outlined there, and in its comments, Its only a minor detail but the clearly staged post-shootdown protests and the almost contradictory cries of “Death to liars” do make a case for this being fore-planned. If Iran knew there was no shootdown (by them) but that the crash wasn’t purely accidental would they have the foresight to know that the US would use such an event (and control of the ‘investigation’) as a focal point for a new colour-revolution attempt?
The Autumn protests gave them reason to believe popular opinion was with them, the assassination of Soleimani would have demanded some response, and that response would have been usable by the US to threaten strikes, creating the conditions needed for an ‘accidental shootdown’. If you believe the USA, or other ‘involved states’ are capable of sacrificing an airplane and 170 passengers for an attempt at Iranian regime change, its worth considering.
If that was the case then Iranian admission of guilt would have completely ruined their plans. Note that this is not a theory I believe or advocate (for now Occam suggest we take Iran’s admission at face value), just one which I found interesting and which I will file away for future reference should an article ever appear showing that “new evidence reveals plane was actually hacked/hit by Manpad/had a bomb on board, etc.”

Posted by: Bran | Jan 13 2020 4:59 utc | 42

Some good news – a Canadian business exec has bucked the government’s “official messaging” and is calling out the culpability of the US in the PS752 disaster.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/maple-leaf-foods-ceo-ps752-us-iran-1.5424530?__vfz=medium%3Dtray_notification#

Posted by: farm ecologist | Jan 13 2020 5:04 utc | 43

As an addendum to my comment above (and again this is just thoughts in response to the earlier twitter thread), people often dismiss Northwoods now due to it being linked to 9/11. The thinking being that “just because high-ranking US military leaders were willing sacrifice a plane full of foreign passengers as a pretext for regime change, it can’t be taken as evidence they would be willing to kill several planes of US citizens and destroy major US buildings”. Yes, but there are some things it does set a precedent for…
If they were to target a plane in such a way, what would they aim for? A high number of Iranian passengers to generate popular anger? A high number of victims from a liberal, seemingly neutral and pro-Muslim country, to lead the class for investigation? An airline from a country whose security services would be fully onboard with US geopolitical aims? Clearly this is the ‘conspiratorial’ take on the issue and while such things are not necessarily wrong, I am not suggesting this is more plausible than the current accepted version of events as an accidental shootdown.

Posted by: Bran | Jan 13 2020 5:20 utc | 44

I have updated the Barfly Tools Userscript. New additions are Block/Unblock buttons placed beside poster names, blocklist stored in browser storage so you no longer need to manually edit the script, and a fix for page-breaking long links.
Get the script here. You’ll need to copy the contents and paste it into a new script for MoA. If you don’t have a Userscript addon for your browser, you need Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey or Violentmonkey from your browser addon/extension store.

Posted by: Drive-by Commenting | Jan 13 2020 5:44 utc | 45

@ 43 farm ecologist.. what is interesting is seeing the up votes in the comment section.. here is the highest rated comments on that thread – “I agree with the man. The seminal moment in this path to disaster was the day Trump welshed on the nukes deal.” and “Most Canadians agree with McCain ( the canuck biz exec quoted in the article).”

Posted by: james | Jan 13 2020 5:44 utc | 46

Strategic Culture offers an excellent article, “What Poland Has to Hide About the Origins of World War II,” that looks into the basis of Putin’s very uncharacteristic rant related to the attempts to alter history by dissing the very costly Soviet/Russian effort to defeat the Nazis and blame the start of the conflict on Soviet Russia instead of the Trio of Poland, England, and France as proven by genuine history.
The way things stand today, it would be best for the shits from England, France, USA, and their NATO kin to stay away from Russia’s 75th Anniversary Celebration as they’re 100% unworthy; and in the Outlaw US Empire’s case, the direct descendent of Fascist Germany and intent on finishing its program.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 13 2020 6:12 utc | 47

Trump wrote on twitter that he couldn’t care less if the sanctions brings the iranians to the negotiating table.
Then what is the overall goal behind the maximum pressure campaign?

Posted by: never mind | Jan 13 2020 6:18 utc | 48

Middle East Eye has a decent article on the aftermath of the assassination. Apparently the US has thrown the various Iran factions in Iraq into disarray with no clear leader on the horizon able to unify the command. It has also brought fear on the table as to the US ability to strike the leadership anytime anywhere…
The men acted as compasses, guiding the missions and strategies of the Iranian-backed factions in Iraq, and with their loss, the factions have lost their confidence and ability to work together, say multiple sources…
The circumstances around their killings, including the accuracy of the attack and its reliance on intelligence, has left leaders of the Iraqi armed factions with a strong feeling that the US has penetrated their ranks and will now terminate them, one by one…
Those are some choice comments. If all of this is true I would guess that the killing is just one part of the plan. They may plan to move forward by sewing distrust and disunity in the ranks splitting the groups up and shattering their cohesiveness.
There are multiple ways that can be accomplished where they would turn their swords upon each other. Planting evidence, throwing money around, creating jealousies. Another factor to do that would be to slow the pace of operations and not give them an excuse to reunify while they exploit the human factors of greed, jealousy, fear, and other like human emotions.
Everyone has appeared to step back from the brink for a while despite some small attacks on US installations. It appears that the US has not swiftly retaliated against the isolated mortar and missile attacks on their installations. That could be very telling. They do not wish to stir the pot further at this time.
Iran would need to to the opposite to get their proxy forces reunified. As in all things time will tell.

Posted by: dltravers | Jan 13 2020 6:26 utc | 49

Within the article I linked @47 is another by the author dealing with similar subject matter of the Soviet’s attempt to arrive at a collective security agreement with the French and English, “Fiasco: The Anglo-Franco-Soviet Alliance That Never Was and the Unpublished British White Paper, 1939–1940.” The paper can be found, downloaded and saved here. What follows is an abstract of this important historical paper:
“This article is about the Anglo-Franco-Soviet negotiations in 1939 for an alliance against Nazi Germany and about how the British government later tried to represent those negotiations to public opinion. The first part of the essay presents the Soviet point of view on the negotiations and how the British and French governments, though mainly the British, reacted to Soviet alliance proposals. It is a fresh representation of the Soviet perspective from published and unpublished Russian language sources. The second part of the essay focuses on how the British sought to represent the abortive negotiations through a white paper, placing the blame for failure on the Soviet Union. France opposed publication because, however carefully prepared, the white paper showed that the Soviet side had made serious alliance proposals with precise, reciprocal undertakings which the British government was reticent to entertain. The French were all the more annoyed because the white paper omitted to underline that they had been more receptive to Soviet proposals. The trilingual, multi-archival evidence presented in the first part of the essay effectively supports the French perception of the white paper and more generally of the failed tripartite negotiations.”
As I was telling a young acquaintance this evening, a concerted attempt’s being made to alter the historical truth about both World Wars that relates very well to the plot lines of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, which I suggest you read as soon as you can. We discussed numerous other contemporary issues, to which she closely listened and asked good questions. Too bad she’s not the norm!

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 13 2020 6:45 utc | 50

– Lawrence Wilkerson on Trump’s Iran War:
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/01/07/lawrence-wilkerson-on-trumps-iran-aggression-same-neocon-lies-new-target/

Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 13 2020 6:49 utc | 51

Karlof1 @47, 51
As you probably know, this is all old hat, and has been dealt with by real historians years ago, such as AJP Taylor in his “Origins of the Second World War” (published in the early 60s). Many of the facts are there, and the interpretations seem adequate, and contrary to many we would see today. The problem, as you note, is the effort to rewrite history to justify political actions taken today.

Posted by: bluedotterel | Jan 13 2020 7:57 utc | 52

This comment has been fermenting in my mind for the last few minutes and I posted it on George Galloways rant about the topic of Harry and Meghan seeking a private life.
Bravo Harry and Meghan, why be sucked in to the Royal Family Cult?
This Queen of the Englanders is a serial crime against humanity. She has executed these crimes against humanity in absolute silence.
When Madeleine Albright was enforcing the illegal sanctions against Iraq where 500,000 children were killed through the withholding of medications and the UK government eagerly complied with those sanctions, Queen Elizabeth was silent. Silence is consent.
Equally when her Prime Minister and his Ministers decided to wage war on Iraq, a crime against humanity where more than a million Iraqis are said to have died, the Queen was silent. Even ‘her’ church was outspoken and opposed. Silence is consent to these crimes against humanity.
When her Prime Minister led an illegal bombing assault on the cities of Libya this Queen was silent. Her silence consented to this crime against humanity and her silence resulted in Libyan people falling under the rule of sectarian gangs.
Syria, Yemen, extra-judicial murder via drones… who in their right mind would chose to be associated with this cabal of silent killers.
This Queen could promote a world of peace, a world of diplomacy, a world of respect, a world where her countries politicians are free from rabid zionist oppression. This Queen is silent and her descendants are absolutely right to distance themselves from this appalling failure, this appalling perpetrator of crimes against humanity.
The people yearn for peace and her silence comforts the war criminals.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 13 2020 8:33 utc | 53

Posted by: dltravers | Jan 13 2020 6:26 utc | 49
That Middle East Eye article has already been heavily criticised. It’s an inaccurate appreciation of the position. People like the journalist Salhy are putting up a strawman of a powerful united militia reaction to the death of al-Muhandis. It was never likely to be like that.
Firstly remember that Abd ul-Mahdi is a weak leader, only there because the US agreed to him. The US has made sure that the Iraqi leadership is not strong. Secondly, there was always going to be a time necessary for a new militia leader to emerge. Instant reaction was just about impossible.
However in the long term, the prospects are good. The Shi’a are in power in Iraq without question. The Sunnis are out of it, the Kurds no longer intervene outside KRG. All the cr*p about civil war is nonsense. The Shi’a factions all have basically the same interest, and conflict is only between different leaders of the same grouping. Things could turn around in an instant.
The anti-US movement is popular sentiment, not govt led. The more the US offends that sentiment, as will inevitably happen, the stronger the movement will be. We already have seen the way things will go. US bases are being sprayed with rockets. That will make life difficult for the US. The more they punish the culprits, the more resentment there will be. There’s no way things can work out well for the US.
The writer Salhy, like most journalists, is just giving an instant reaction, without situating the event in the longer term.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jan 13 2020 8:43 utc | 54

Actually, re 55, I was quite interested by the remarks of Ayatullah Sistani last Friday, I think it was, criticising Iran and the US equally for illegal attacks on Iraqi soil.
The context is of course that Sistani is Iranian, but has never taken a pro-Iranian position. He is aged now, and his view is expressed by his aides, so it can be taken that this is the view of the Sistani organisation, not so necessarily of the man himself. It is quite nationalistic, and not subservient to Iran, as everybody is currently claiming. Iraqi Shi’a independence from Iran has always been the policy, and its being reaffirmed. Iran remains an ally, naturally.

Posted by: Laguerre | Jan 13 2020 9:05 utc | 55

@ karlof1 | Jan 13 2020 6:45 utc | 51
A likely cause of the failure of Soviet attempts to form coalition with the French/British Entente grew from positions effectively taken in the Spanish Civil War, the French/British surreptitiously backed Franco’s coup de état while the Soviets supported the legitimate elected Republican government which replaced a politically autocratic military dictatorship. The civil war began in 1936 and culminated with Franco’s final ‘victory’ [victory enabled by use of extreme terrorism on Spanish population] in early 1939. The Soviet Union, clearly on the ‘wrong side’ then would not have had much appeal for the British ruling classes, politically perturbed, unbalanced by the abdication of their figurehead monarch, testosterone addled, living with trousers circumscribing ankles , recently ascended to sovereignty[‘testosterone…ankles’ also fits ‘Randy Andy, Queen’s-son’ and ne’er-do-well, genetics? or culture?]. The rebuff the Soviets received became basis of Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty that bought the Soviet Union time to prepare for the foreseeable conflict with Germany. The Winter War with Finland also sheds some highlight on the Soviet considerations of that era.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jan 13 2020 10:00 utc | 56

Has anybody else experienced not being able to reach/open Iranian news site like Fars news, Irna, etc. using T-Mobil cellular data, Ican open related Iranian news sites by using WiFi on my iPhone where ever available, but since last Saturday I am not able opening Iranian news sites using cellular data on my T-Mobil service. I have called T-Mobil Tech support and they have said they will investigate and reply in 72 hours. by: kooshy @ 12 I am finding that certain browsers are blocking Or certain blowers are being blocked from, certain websites.
for example Vivaldi cannot access whatdoesitmean.com. yet on the same machine, firefox has no problem.. .. Fars news opens in Vivaldi but not in firefox. presstv.com firefox on windows denies access as does IE but on linux no problem with the same name browser (but linux version) and so on.. There is some kind of IP detection and control schema at work, seems to block research browsing as soon as it can detect a link between the subject being worked on, and the collection of sites visited, once it makes that connect, nothing can be accessed. I have not yet discovered how it works or who or how it is being enforced.. also sites which use chrome proof technologies are nearly universally denied at government websites. Apparently the owners making the rat cage smaller and reducing the maze options to fewer and fewer.
i still say, a private off the radar Internet technology is needed, one that can kept the government and commercial snoops out. It can’t be that hard to change the protocol, encrypt the content, and to use their own lines and routers.

Posted by: snake | Jan 13 2020 10:07 utc | 57

@ uncle tungsten | Jan 13 2020 8:33 utc | 54
Am not often given to fulsome approbation but what you have written needs be carved in marble and prominently mounted on the Marble Arch, London. Kudos.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jan 13 2020 10:11 utc | 58

Although the record is well-known among informed people, it’s always good to have a reminder that, contrary to the mythology of celebrity-worshipping fanbots, Bernie Sanders is not anti-imperial, anti-war or anti-Zionist.
“Bernie Sanders says “some wars are necessary” ”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/11/sand-j11.html
The Democratic Party, including the fake-“independent” Hillary-shilling Bernie Sanders, is a hard core pro-war pro-imperialist party. It always has been and always will be. One of its core missions always has been to co-opt, derail, and attack real anti-imperialist movements. This never will change, and no “reform” of the party is possible. There is no way forward with the Democratic Party.

Posted by: Russ | Jan 13 2020 10:23 utc | 59

I just read on RT that Steve Mnuchin the U.S. Treasury secretary has told Chinese officials he will sanction Chinese companies further if they continue to buy Iranian oil. He boasts the U.S. has cut Iranian oil exports by 90% and the amount China is currently importing is significantly down from it’s 600.000 BPD of 2018.
I’m anticipating with pleasure how the Chinese react and I wonder when these hubristic cretins in the U.S. administration will wake up to the fact they are the authors of their own destruction.
When the end comes, I doubt the U.S., despite it’s addiction to show and bravado, will go out with a bang.

Posted by: Beibdnn | Jan 13 2020 11:36 utc | 60

We keep hearing that the hegemonic power is crumbling, yet the US death grip in the Iranian economy seems to be intensifying, with nearly every country collaborating and the remaining holdouts under fire.

Posted by: Paul | Jan 13 2020 12:02 utc | 61

@ Paul 62. It’s all a matter of time. The U.S. has taken over from the U.K. In projecting a world hegemony but both are still very well entwined fiscally. The U.K. has a huge influence in the world financial markets. Both Russia and China have only very recently been developing their economies and countries infrastructure. The One Belt One Way initiative will be the method/tool that breaks this 500 year western hegemony. Whilst nothing is inevitable the U.S. and the U.K. elites must realize that their reign is coming to an end. The anti- Iranian/ China/ Russia et all strategies are the way they believe they can indefinitely delay their grip on the world.
All things must pass is one of the most salient facts of life, the time of their demise is approaching, it just seems that it will never arrive, it will and Iran knows it just has to hang on. Not easy but behind the scenes, people much better at understanding the Human condition are manouvering to ensure that a multi-polar world will emerge.

Posted by: Beibdnn | Jan 13 2020 12:28 utc | 62

The author – and the German government – are lying on this:
Try as It Might, Germany Isn’t Warming to Huawei
The German politicians are lying when they state they are worried about Chinese spying through Huawai 5G equipment. 5G technology potentially enables quantum encryption, which is theoretically unbreakable, so nobody could spy on a 5G user. The Americans (and maybe also the BND?) are lobbying against Huawei because they won’t be able to spy on each other, not the Chinese.
This national security threat argument those lawmakers have been parroting non-stop in the Bundestag comes from one source: Bruno Kahl, BND’s chief, who probably is parroting what the CIA told him to parrot.
The other argument used by some German politicians regard China’s economic system: China is a socialist country, so everything Huawei does it does to the benefit of the CCP.
Well, if you want to wage a war against China in the name of capitalism, then do it – just don’t use the nationalist argument. If you have to tell one thing to your colleagues, but another completely different story to the masses, then there’s a contradiction with your narrative.
And this anti-socialist argument gets even more ridiculous by the fact that the solution proposed by the Bundestag is… using the EU state machine to prop up Nokia and Ericsson!
That’s right folks: they want to 1) protect the EU internal market, so it can only choose between Nokia and Ericsson (assuming they won’t do a joint-venture on this, thus forming an absolute monopoly) and probably 2) fill them up with taxpayer money so they can be viable. Fight socialism with socialism!
So, which one has a problem: China’s socialism or German (European) capitalism?
The Germans should look themselves at the mirror for once.

Posted by: vk | Jan 13 2020 12:40 utc | 63

One of those killed in a downed Ukrainian plane was Elena Malakhova, director of Sky Avia Trans. This company owned a Ukrainian transport aircraft destroyed by a drone strike in Libya in the summer of 2019.
https://gdb.rferl.org/202E786E-37CD-42E7-B4D3-6F4249F3A728_w650_r0_s.png
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-06/east-libya-forces-say-they-destroyed-cargo-plane-carrying-arms
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/one-pilot-died-after-two-ukrainian-ilyushin-il-76td-cargo-aircraft-were-destroyed-in-libya/
https://worldposts.net/news/an-undeclared-alliance-between-turkey-and-libya/
https://almarsad.co/en/2019/07/09/more-turkish-made-drones-delivered-to-misrata-for-the-gna/

Posted by: Mao | Jan 13 2020 12:47 utc | 64

Thanks to whom posted the article on Poland-Nazi Germany relation pre-WW2.
I was wondering if it is possible to find online some US/UK/FR “world news” of 1936 to see how the olympic games in Berlin were reported in the West (i.e. in the news that came before films in movie theaters)… since most Western countries enthusiastically participated.

Posted by: Mina | Jan 13 2020 13:09 utc | 65

This strengthens my previous opinion that milking the downing of the UIA plane is the West’s “plan B”, or, actually, an improvisation:
Esper contradicts Trump on intel that led to Gen. Soleimani’s assassination
The extraordinary fact here is that, this time, even the heavyweights of the Western MSM (NYT, WaPo) are contesting Trump’s claim Soleimani was planning “to attack 4 embassies”.
Even Pompeo – who openly celebrated Soleimani’s death immediately after the fact – has apparently calmed down a little, and suspended his announcement for his candidacy to the Senate after it was evident Soleimani was extremely popular – and not unpopular – in Iran. He probably received an imprecise intel from the CIA, the Pentagon or both, and thought “Iran would be one step closer to regime change” if Soleimani was killed by an overt American attack.
Iran is different than Iraq 2003 by the simple, but essential, fact that, this time, the American elite is divided. The Congress has already voted for removing Trump’s war declaration powers. Even some republicans seem to be against Trump in his quest for war against Iran. Bernie Sanders is in favor of a hot war against Iran – confirming my early suspicion that the apparent divide between socialism and capitalism in the USA is not really between socialism and capitalism, but between social-democracy and neoliberalism. The debate is how the spoils of the empire should be shared among the American citizens – not America should or shouldn’t continue to be an empire.

Posted by: vk | Jan 13 2020 13:17 utc | 66

Danke schoen, thank you, merci beaucoup.

Posted by: Taffyboy | Jan 13 2020 13:33 utc | 67

The 1937 Hollywood movie “Charlie Chan at the Olympics” gives a very favorable view of the Berlin Olympics.

Posted by: lysias | Jan 13 2020 13:43 utc | 68

@67 vk
Bernie Sanders is in favor of a hot war against Iran
LIAR!!! Where’s your proof?!
And don’t respond with anything Russ wrote @60!
I suppose AOC, Tlaib and Omar who support him are pro-war too, (and even Gabbard who’s always with Bernie on fp) according to you???
Never mind, don’t answer that, I’m in no mood for bullshet!

Posted by: Circe | Jan 13 2020 13:47 utc | 69

I’m referring to Sanders’ recente interview at the National Public Radio (NPR), on January 8th, 2020:
Bernie Sanders says “some wars are necessary”
Now, you know I don’t trust the WSWS. But, this time, the author mentioned his source, which is a primary one (i.e. directly from Bernie Sanders’ mouth). If your sources are solid, I don’t care about your credibility: facts are facts.
The part where he tacitly supports Trump’s war against Iran is this:

“We should use our wealth and our resources, through carrots and sticks, to bring countries together, to end the kind of terrible conflicts that we are seeing all over the world, to strengthen international organizations where people can sit down and argue rather than shoot guns or drop bombs against each other.”
[…]
“Now, I’m not a pacifist (…) There are times when war may be necessary. But I believe, as somebody who as a young person opposed the Vietnam War, which was such a disaster for my generation, as somebody who helped lead the effort against the war in Iraq, which was such a disaster for our younger people, that I will do everything I can to resolve international conflict through diplomacy, through negotiations, and not through the continuation of endless wars. Enough is enough.”

Given the date of the interview and its political context, Sanders can only be talking about the war against Iran as a “war (that) may be necessary”.
On a personal level, I didn’t find Sanders position on war surprising: he’s in the game to win, and no candidate to the White House will even win being completely anti-war. What I’m saying is that people – specially people from the First World – should not feed any illusions about social-democracy, and realize its ugly truth: that it depends on super-profits extracted from the Third World to exist. Bernie Sanders will not stop with America’s war of aggression in the Middle East precisely because the Middle East produces most of the oil that would be necessary to make social-democracy viable in the USA.

Posted by: vk | Jan 13 2020 14:05 utc | 70

Facebook and Instagram are now clearly propaganda tools for the USA.
I have stopped using them.

Posted by: Virgile | Jan 13 2020 14:06 utc | 71

Speaking of oil from the Middle East…
‘The Only Troops I Have are Taking the Oil’: Watch Trump Double Down on Pledge to Steal Syria’s Oil

“They say ‘he left troops in Syria. You know what I did? I left troops to take the oil. I took the oil. The only troops I have are taking the oil. They’re protecting the oil,” Trump said, speaking to the Fox News host.

That’s the true reason Trump is not going to nuke Iran.

Posted by: vk | Jan 13 2020 14:08 utc | 72

Devastating bushfires may cost Australia up to US$3.5bn & take toll on economic growth
As the old saying goes: the pro-coal government in Australia is “penny wise and pound foolish”.
That – or they are simply receiving fabulous bribes and gifts from the coal and oil companies and will retire soon somewhere in the USA or the UK (Hawaii looks nice…).

Posted by: vk | Jan 13 2020 14:13 utc | 73

@ sorghum 40; circe 41
China is working assiduously with Russia to save the Iran nuclear deal. The west has a great misunderstanding; Chinese will always listen while reminding themselves of the u.s. activities to contain them; terror in HK, Taiwan, South China sea and economic war- ZTE, Huawei comes to mind.
Trump is rushing the demise of the USD. Threatening Iraq, Iran with sanctions will fail. Economic war always fails.
And today we read of sanctions for China “stop buying Iran oil or face sanctions.”. How does one threaten his/her banker? Follow the Ocean Bills of Lading. Sanctions are being ignored.
Trump and Mnuchin should be reminded of the China-Iran partnership:
China quietly ramps up oil production in Iran

RT 11 Dec., 2019
Following the strategic partnership Tehran inked with Beijing earlier this year, China has moved to ramp up oil production in Iran’s prolific West Karoun area.
The supergiant Azadegan oil field, comprising major north and south sites, is as important to Iran’s overall strategic plan to survive the current sanctions environment and to prosper when they are lifted as the flagship South Pars supergiant gas field and the added-value products of its petrochemicals sector.
Last week Iran’s Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC) announced that five new development wells and an appraisal well are to be spudded in North Azadegan to maintain current production levels. OilPrice.com understands from various senior energy sources in Iran that this is only part of the picture, with much bigger plans having been agreed for rollout in the coming six months with the help of China and Russia.

…. this Monday morning:
Iranian leadership: Revenge for Soleimani’s assassination not over

Retaliatory action may be taken by the “front of resistance,” the representative revealed
TEHRAN, January 13. /TASS/. Iran’s revenge to the United States for the killing of the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qasem Soleimani, is not over yet, the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to the Quds Force, Ali Shirazi, said on Monday.
“We have not completed our revenge to the enemies for the killing of Soleimani and his associates,” the news agency Fars quotes Shirazi as saying. “Retaliatory action will not be necessarily taken by Iran alone. The front of resistance will take active revenge.”
Iran uses the term “front of resistance” in relation to all allies in the region whose task is to resist “world imperialism.”

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 13 2020 15:00 utc | 74

“Long-Bailey is Corbyn’s successor, and has advocated for, among other things you already know from Labour’s previous manifesto, the abolition of the House of Lords.” vk@7
Corbyn was defeated by the Parliamentary Labour Party insisting that he compromise on the Brexit matter- and, in doing so, both enable PLP members, in the South, to claim that Labour was the Remain Party and that a vote for Labour was a vote against Brexit. And give the Tories and their allies all the ammunition they needed to tell the Northern voter that a vote for Corbyn would be a vote to remain in the EU.
Put very simply: the problem was the PLP, the vast majority of whose members had been carefully selected by Blair and his allies with any socialist candidates being vetoed by the National Executive Committee.
As part of the plan to exclude socialists from the party and to ensure that the PLP would be dominated by imperialist supporting neo-liberals, the Blairites did two things, first they selected, on the whole, young candidates in safe seats, who could be expected to occupy those seats for decades. Secondly they made it virtually impossible for local members to select replacements if they were dissatisfied with the MPs foisted on them by the London HQ. There is nothing like the Primary system.
To understand what has really happened to Labour you have to look at Scotland. There Labour was the dominant party for many years and its MPs became increasingly corrupt and notoriously right wing and cotemptuous of the membership and voters. But it was virtually impossible for local parties to get rid of them. That was a major reason why Scotland is now dominated by the SNP- 90% of Labour’s left wing has left the party in despair. And with an intense dislike of London as well.
What happened in the last election was that the North essentially followed Scotland’s lead by getting rid of MPs the only way it could, by voting against them in the General Election.
The real disappointment with Corbyn’s legacy is that the Labour Party is still not much closer to being democratic- Conference delegates still do not make policy, local parties are still unable to select candidates and de-select sitting MPs. To run for the leadership it is still necessary to get the nominations of 10% of the PLP. The system remains stacked against the membership. And the inevitable result will be that the biggest party in Europe, with half a million members, is about to shrivel up again into a rump of careerists, office seekers, municipal machines and Trade Union bureaucrats looking for a quiet life.
As to the candidates in the Leadership election none of them is a tenth as good as Corbyn was. And Corbyn was, in the end, defeated by the Blairites, broken (as his pathetic speech last weekend on Iran showed) as much by his ‘allies’ as by his enemies.
This is not to say that the situation is hopeless, it isn’t, but that the current course of the Labour Party is headed in the same direction that the French Socialists, PASOK and the SPD have all taken- hard right turns at the very moment in history when the only alternative to fascism is radical, campaigning socialism.

Posted by: bevin | Jan 13 2020 15:09 utc | 75

Australian authorities not optimistic about the rain season to end the bushfires, “not enough”:
Australia fires: heavy rain and cooler temperatures ‘unlikely’ to end bushfire threat

“With the period of drought we’ve experienced, we’d need to get extended periods of consistent rainfall in order to get the moisture content up enough for it to put out fires … which is unlikely,” said (NSW Rural Fire Service spokesperson Anthony) Bradstreet.
“With the period of drought we’ve experienced, we’d need to get extended periods of consistent rainfall in order to get the moisture content up enough for it to put out fires … which is unlikely,” said Bradstreet.

So, it was climate change after all.
That being the case, the Australian right-wing, under commander Rupert Murdoch, should stop witch-hunting:

“After lightning started the fire on October 26, it has burnt through more than 512,000 hectares across the Lithgow, Hawkesbury, Hunter Valley, Cudgegong, Blue Mountains and Central Coast local government areas,” the Hawkesbury RFS said on Facebook.

Posted by: vk | Jan 13 2020 15:24 utc | 76

Patroklos the book vk refers to is Accounting for Slavery by Rosenthal. He argues, convincingly that what is called Fordism and Scientific Management were techniques developed by slaveowners.
Aithors who are good on Slavery include Robin Blackburn (The Making of New World Slavery), Gerald Horne (The Apocalypse of Settler Slavery) and David Brion Davis.
Two recent books that are very good are The Half Has Never been Told by Edward E Baptist and Walter Johnson’s River of Dark Dreams. There are many, many more. Roll Jordan Roll by Eugene Genovese being a good intro.
Then there are the other forms of slavery A New System of Slavery by Hugh Tinker describes the selling of Indian peasants as ‘indentured servants’.
As you will imagine I could go on but ….

Posted by: bevin | Jan 13 2020 15:35 utc | 77

MH17 was NOT shot down by a surface to air missile. There was NO BUK missile involved, either Russian or Uki, that was a fiction the US/ZATO uses to sheepdog the public. MH17 was shot down by a combination of air-air missiles and then the cockpit was shot up with alternating armour-piercing and incendiary 30mm rounds from a specially equipped SU-24. The Dutch “investigation results” were a quid pro quo where the Netherlands got back the same amount of gold the US had been holding as “safekeeping” since WW2. Funny thing, it was not the original gold bars returned. There is not nearly enough gold in Fort Knox or the US to reclaim their safekeeping gold from both the US and Britain, getting it in dribs and dabs.
There is plenty of evidence easily searched… start with “MH17 SU24”.

Posted by: A P | Jan 13 2020 15:38 utc | 78

Russ @60 is correct in that even Sanders cannot take America where it needs to go for inner peace and world peace (same destination yields both… when the global psycho killer stops being a psycho killer then the world can be at peace, though there are other routes to world peace that don’t work out as good for America).
With that said, we cannot get from here to there in one step (yeah, this is Trotskyist stuff). The US population teethed on moose and squirrel cartoons, and they continue to be spoon-fed cartoon-like media 24×7. Churchill observed that “Americans will always do the right thing, after they have tried everything else,” and Americans be like “Why do we have to get off our couches and organize ourselves into a mass-based political/economic force? That’s too much like hard work! We haven’t even tried solving the problem with ACME rocket powered roller skates yet! That could work, you know!”
Americans have to try and fail, then try something else and fail again, each time hopefully getting closer to what some of us might think of as the obvious solution. Americans have mountains of disinformation and metaphysical nonsense to work through before they can even clearly see and begin to understand the problems that they are facing. They all think they understand, or even know that they understand, but as one of America’s greatest philosophers observed, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” This cannot be corrected among the larger US population through patient explanation alone. They have to burn their fingers on the real world before they give up on cherished misbeliefs.
No, Sanders cannot get us to where humanity needs to be, but the social democracy that he stands for is a failure that Americans need to experience firsthand before they can take the next step, and the American working people have to rediscover their own alternative to the bourgeois democracy that Sanders champions through trial and error. Americans cannot be convinced by reason. They are gut-thinkers, not head-thinkers; nevertheless, Sanders campaign in 2015-2016 did dramatically alter the entire political discourse in America. Prior to the election “socialism” was a taboo dirty word in America. Now you actually have young people investigating what it is. Sure, they’re still just at reading the super-simplified abridged comic book versions of Marx, but that is an enormous change from a decade prior when Marx was unquestioningly believed to be the greatest evil in all human history.
So that’s the real (non-CIA) Trotskyist perspective. Is it deceptive for them to advocate for candidates like Sanders when they know that horse cannot finish the race that we are actually running? Maybe a little, but it isn’t like the non-CIA Trotskyists are hiding their real objectives. The people who don’t know what those objectives are have just never bothered to ask.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 13 2020 15:38 utc | 79

Gabbard is the least worst candidate, all the rest are (or will be soon after the election) Deep State puppets. Just like virtually every president since Eisenhower.

Posted by: A P | Jan 13 2020 15:41 utc | 80

According to CNN, Iran’s attack on the US airbase is having an unpleasant effect on troop morale. Troopers are feeling a bit exposed these days. They are starting to understand that in spite of spending a trillion dollars a year, US Dear Leaders have done nothing to defend troops from missile attacks, not even adequate bunkers:

Several troops CNN spoke to said the event had shifted their view of warcraft: the US military is rarely on the receiving end of sophisticated weaponry, despite launching the most advanced attacks in the world.
“You looked around at each other and you think: Where are we going to run? How are you going to get away from that?” said Ferguson.
“I don’t wish anyone to have that level of fear,” he said. “No one in the world should ever have to feel something like that.”

One wonders if that would include millions of civilians with zero protection who live in fear of US assassination machines circling overhead, every day, year after year. They never get to rotate out to a safe home half a world away.

Posted by: Trailer Trash | Jan 13 2020 15:44 utc | 81

The “socialist” label is misapplied to any US POTUS or political/social policy. In the US there is only far-right and ultra-far right, “centrist and left” in the US translates to slightly right of centre and “normal” right in the rest of the world.

Posted by: A P | Jan 13 2020 15:45 utc | 82

The way I see it during the past five or six years the US has lost in Ukraine (“everyone” left, some taking parts of the country with them), lost in Turkey (Erdogan still there), lost in Korea (fouling up with silly demands), lost in Syria (“because Russia!”), lost in Venezuela (perhaps “because jungle”, it’s no Florida or Tennessee), temporarily won in Bolivia (enough local retards, for now), lost in HK (funds for paid protest now gone or sufficiently restricted? At least that’s what I read), and most recently lost in Iraq and Iran by pissing off both while also “legitimizing” assassinating anyone in any US political, military, or bureaucratic position.
For all the bleating everywhere that’s an impressive amount of losing (did I miss any of the major losses?).
Am I completely wrong? (I could be).

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Jan 13 2020 15:53 utc | 83

oh oh !
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51095769

Posted by: Mina | Jan 13 2020 15:54 utc | 84

vk
From Tony Greenstein’s blog
“Open Letter to Rebecca Long-Bailey”
“Your acceptance of the Board of Deputies’s 10 Pledges means there is no real difference between you and Keir Starmer
“Socialists, Anti-racists and Anti-imperialists Cannot Support a Candidate Who Supports Israeli Apartheid and Racial Supremacy in the name of opposing ‘anti-Semitism'”

Posted by: bevin | Jan 13 2020 16:04 utc | 85

to Trailer Trash: Well said.

Posted by: Miss Lacy | Jan 13 2020 16:14 utc | 86

Hmmmm.
https://www.rt.com/news/478140-libya-moscow-talks-haftar/
Are Putin and Erdogan collaborating to create a gigantic “Mesopotamia Pocket” for western forces?

Posted by: Figleaf23 | Jan 13 2020 16:22 utc | 87

@ Mina 84
expresses the view of many Canadians..

Reuters Link
“A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran. U.S. government leaders unconstrained by checks/balances, concocted an ill-conceived plan to divert focus from political woes,” McCain said in a tweet posted on the company’s Twitter account on Sunday.
“The world knows Iran is a dangerous state, but the world found a path to contain it; not perfect but by most accounts it was the right direction,” he added in a series of tweets. (bit.ly/2QOdgtc)

3,2,1 That is an insult, a personal affront to little Trumpy, Pompeo, and Esper.
Maple Leaf Foods and its CEO will be sanctioned. Note to Americans returning from Canada: Anything with the maple leaf brand on it is forbidden. That includes a hockey game souvenir or a snowflake on the windshield of your car.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 13 2020 16:40 utc | 88

For the edification of all.
Canada has~ 200,000 Iranians. Some were born in Iran, some are 1st generation born in Canada. They began coming to Canada prior to ’79 and that accelerated post ’79.
New Year is a big deal in Persian culture; it would be a surprise at this time of year that a flight leaving Tehran and heading to Canada WOULD not have a large contingent of Iranian_Canadians returning home.
This would be known by ANY intelligence org worth its salt.
They are basically darker skinned Caucasians, speak an Indo-European language (not difficult) and are pretty sophisticated thinkers due to 5,ooo years of civilization. They do, however, have a somewhat annoying habit of never wanting to pay retail. As in any migratory situation, much of the best and brightest have relocated to the West since the Revolution.
There are a multitude of expressions in many acts and the shooting down of this plane is one of them. In essence, the Iranians were tricked into shooting this plane down BUT that will be very hard to conclusively prove. Bear in mind, Canadian leadership (an oxymoron) has consistently pissed Trump off- professionally and personally. Justine Castro has annoyed the hell out of Trump in EVERY negotiation-the U.S. is Canada’s largest trade partner-and made disparaging personal comments about Trump on camera; he was unknowingly filmed mocking him to European leaders whilst drinking his 3rd Cuba Libre.
Further, Canada did, in essence, succumb to the power of the Zionists during the 1970’s. Israel’s local agents, the Bronfmans, carried this coup through. Despite this, Iran managed to get invaluable information out of a civilian nuclear facility in the 1980’s and 90’s by Iranian-Canadian nuclear physicist working at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Given, this information was intended to aid Iran in building civilian reactors; Canada did build half decent nuclear reactors at one point in time. Iran has wished to implement nuclear energy in its electrical grid and use its oil and gas to develop its economy.
There are many reasons to give Canada a black eye. Not only did this whole episode make Justine look weak and unable to protect Canadian citizens, this embarassed Canada internationally by creating the effect of a ‘loyalty’ test. Is Canada with its American ally or not? The message is clear. Stop doing Trade with Iran or we will keep killing your Iranian-Canadian citizens.
There is much more to this story. The relationship between Canada, the U.S. and Iran is long and complex. There aren’t simple answers. Iranians can and do travel back and forth between Iran and Canada. They are usually dual citizens that, even though Iran doesn’t recognize dual citizenship, are needed for economic reasons. The international mafia, ie, the Five eyes intelligence outfits, have CSIS to watch over Iranian-Canadians and make sure people aren’t crossing certain lines. Iran does likewise. Bear in mind these are just basic facts. It should be obvious but I will state it anyways: I have no affiliation with any intelligence agencies, am a private citizen availing myself of the slowly dying ‘right to free speech and association’ and, other than Peace and Freedom as wishes, I have no skin in this game. Truth will out.

Posted by: dorje | Jan 13 2020 16:42 utc | 89

Tehran Plans to Take Trump to International Court for Soleimani’s Assassination – Iran’s Top Judge
Raisi also clarified that Iran plans to pursue the case against Trump whether it occurs during his term in office or after the end of his presidency.

The Iranian government will seek to prosecute US President Donald Trump for the assassination of Maj. Gen. Soleimani, Iranian Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi has said.
“We should collar the American president as the first defendant. He should be prosecuted and taken to court in front of the world,” Raisi said Monday during a meeting of judiciary officials, his remarks cited by the Fars News Agency.
The senior judicial figure called on legal scholars to “shout their protest,” and warned that if Iran does not pursue justice for the commission of “such a horrific crime” against its general, “we will not be able to follow up any others.”[.]
Iran’s Human Rights Committee and Foreign Ministry are expected to file a formal complaint to international organizations on Trump’s potential prosecution at a later date, according to Raisi.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 13 2020 17:04 utc | 90

To Sunny Runner Burger: The mistake too many make about the aims of the US/ZATO/MIC is that “winning” a war is the objective. Sure the US/ZATO/MIC will take a “win” (eg Bolivia) if they manage it, but mostly they want to break down the targeted countries gov’t, causing chaos and economic disruptions.
So for the US/ZATO/MIC, the destruction in Palestine (Israel is not a real country, it is built on stolen lands) Ukraine, Syria, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Korea, Haiti, former Baltic and USSR states, etc (the list is too long to provide in full here) ARE WINS. Chaos is the most easily achieved goal, as weaker/fragmented statelets are easier to subjugate than a cohesive country like Russia or Iran. Called Disaster Capitalism and also documented in Diary of an Economic Hitman. Milgram and Zimbardo show how authority can so easily be misused to convince the masses via Bernay’s propaganda schema.

Posted by: A P | Jan 13 2020 17:05 utc | 91

Iran’s Nuclear roots? See “Atoms for Peace”, where starting in 1957 the US gave the despotic Shah of Iran (that the US installed after overthrowing Mossadegh in 1953) nuclear technology.

Posted by: A P | Jan 13 2020 17:11 utc | 92

William Gruff @79–
An interesting idea that electing Sanders would constitute a mistake. I agree with Hudson & Keen here that his proposed Wealth Tax is wrongheaded since the wealthy easily avoid the sort of taxes proposed. They suggest looking at the balance sheet instead of the income statement, which I applauded. But with Biden digging his hole deeper daily, I don’t see how Sanders doesn’t become the #1 Primary winner prior to the Convention. I do agree there’s little he or anyone else can do regarding China Policy since that’s a systemic problem for the nation that will take at least a generation to fix provided the correct direction is embarked upon as soon as 2021 begins. During the discussion at the 2nd link’s vid, a few good pragmatic suggestions are made; but within the nation’s current political-economic structure, they become radical despite their pragmatism–and that’s a huge problem for any attempt to reform America.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 13 2020 17:30 utc | 93

@ William Gruff and karlof1 @ 93 you guys are tracking things correctly I think.. I offer the following because it reveals some parallel things we might all keep an eye out for.
Analyzing what was said by the academia side before 1914 and by the defeated side in 1919 .. six prerequisites to a successful war were arranged by the mobsters to be put into place so that war could not be avoided. The same goals exist, and if one looks carefully one can see the same types of posturing games are still in play.. goals=quash German Competition, take the oil and own the middle east.
Over arching the prerequisites, and hidden in the background, is the goal that produced the coordination, delivered the effort to find the funds, and allowed the preparatory (prerequisite) events to come into place. It was the down the road goal, that guided the independently located private parties to weave and control the actions and inactions of the culpable.leaderships, gullible.leaderships or corruptible.leaderships of the nation states (collectively the cgc.leaders) that the banksters, corporations and privateers [collectively the mobsters] used to coordinate the independent nation states into mobster allies willing to use the humanities contained within each of those independent, but allied nation states to help imperial mobster controlled Britain and imperial mobster controlled France reduce Germany from an independent thriving and viable state to a dependent serf-state owned or controlled by mobsters in Britain and France.
The relevant mobster goal was to eliminate independent, highly competitive ever-growing Germany from taking a competitive seat at the table of the profitable game of Imperialism. Mobsters d/n want Germany to share in the profits and stability to be had from British and French empire conducted imperialism. The mobsters felt that the British and the French empires, were unable by them selves, without help from America, be able to accomplish their goals. They needed more firepower, being nearly broke, they needed money, and they needed manpower.
Germany, the allied enemy, was close to, and well embedded in the affairs of the Ottoman, and the mobster goal which brought the Ottoman into play was the fact that nearly all the known oil reserves in the world lay beneath the great mass of lands controlled by the Ottoman. Hence taking out German competition and gaining access to oil under the Ottoman held lands, became the goal of the time.
Arranging the various nation states into one allied force capable to defeat Germany and planting center-place an Icon within the Ottoman oil rich land was an essential component of herding Jews by mobster directed propaganda to invade and occupy the oil rich Ottoman Empire. The mobsters put their plan into action beginning in 1897 and brought at its height, in 1918, Germany was defeated, Russia was in chaos, and the Jews, victims of propaganda, were personally aware of their obligation as Jews to invade and occupy the Ottoman Empire already, by then, British Palestine and French Syria.
So what were these six prerequisites?
1. secret agreements between leaders <=created allied forces; imposed on nations obligation to put in place prerequisites needed for war 2. position Germany in an inescapable "defeat Germany box" <=yield nothing to Germany, no matter what 3. Establish a central purpose icon, the Balfour Agreement 4. Impose British Military Propaganda on domestic politics of USA governed America <=necessary to get America into the war 5. Tax personal wealth of Americans (Income Tax Act 1912-3) to collateralize central bank loans to warring allied European nations. 6. Privatize banking (i. e. Federal Reserve Act of 1913) to force donate by lending American wealth to European warriors.

Posted by: snake | Jan 13 2020 17:43 utc | 94

dorje, thank you for the summary regarding Canada. It is in a tough spot, trying to hang on to the back of a raging elephant. Eventually it has to jump off or be thrown off. I expect it will be the latter and Canadians will be trampled in the process.
Meanwhile, US is busy building walls of various kinds everywhere. They make the old “Iron Curtain” look like rusty sheet metal. Canadian citizens entering the US now are sometimes asked if they have ever used cannabis. If they say yes, they are banned for life from entering the US, unless they pay huge sums for a review of the lifetime ban.
Instead of answering the question, they are allegedly allowed to turn around and go back to Canada. The theory is that on a different day a different guard might not ask the same questions. I don’t know if this works in actual practice. US border zones are lawless areas where border guards can do whatever they want.
Somehow the border zone has expanded to cover everywhere within 100 miles of a port of entry, so effectively that is a huge part of the country where border goons stop and interrogate people anywhere and everywhere. This has happened to me on busses, Amtrak, and just driving on the interstate.
It sure sucks to live in a police state.

Posted by: Trailer Trash | Jan 13 2020 18:04 utc | 95

A few more or less random observations: The notion that the Blairites are being purged from the true, left Labour Party by heroically ceding their rotten seats strikes me as needing to be demonstrated. I think a list of Blairites who lost in the wipeout in the north of England is a good start. And a comparison of Laobour seats lost in Remain districts versus Labour seats kept in Brexit districts (or the reverse, Labour seats kept in Remain districts versus Labour seats lost in Brexit districts) would be a good second step. Third step would be the breakdown on Labour turnout in Remain and Brexit districts.
Sanders is officially against Iran war, but then, Obama gutted Clinton in the primaries with the claim *he* didn’t vote for the war in Iraq. He wasn’t anti-war, much less anti-imperialist. I think Sanders left foreign policy which doesn’t even feign that many left positions, was more or less disavowed with the remarks about how “some” wars are necessary. I think on foreign policy Sanders is to Warren, as in economic policy Warren is to Buttigieg. The first may sound left but what you’re going to actually get is what the second is already saying.
The chances that “Megxit” isn’t driven by Harry not being Charles’ son strike me as pretty slim.
In the breaking news about foreign relations in 1939 (i.e., the links to Carley articles,) two points? First, the indefinite guarantee for Poland came in spring, and was much more ambiguous. I don’t think it ruled out supporting German “passage” through Poland to fight the USSR. It was the detailed military treaty months later, after the other Non-Aggression Pact (not the German-Polish one,) that committed the guarantee against German invasion. Second, in the efforts to negotiate a collective pact against German expansion, not only did the Poles still wish to forbid the USSR a role, it appears Soviet offers to guarantee neutrality to the Baltic states and Finland were rejected as de facto Soviet direction. Apparently they felt it would violate their independence *not* to pro-German (including being co-belligerents?)

Posted by: steven t johnson | Jan 13 2020 18:35 utc | 96

Electing Sanders would open up a huge can of reactionary fervor and the newscycles would be terribly annoying adnauseum. It would be Trump and the TDS on Non-Fox (50% market share) only in reverse with Sanders on Fox networks.
Thankfully, I don’t pay attention to either.
The Trump-nationalist phenomenon is fading fast, unfortunately, and with this uptick in our aggression towards Iran, those who support Trump along party lines are revealing themselves and sliding back into old habits and calling everyone else’s patriotism into question.
The culture war that united Trump voters has lost preeminence, once again leaving middle America and us nationalists in the dust. We will ditch Trump in the election, or vote him again because of the fear of a Sanders presidency. But it looks as though that is a foregone conclusion as he will lose a significant amount of voters for going full neocon-globalist.
Being lower class, I don’t think I would be too affected, but I have been left out of benefits before for not being low-enough class. Us lower-middle class really get *****!
Those who want to further erode the U.S. into a third world are advocating Sanders. He’s probably the Prez we deserve. What is that founding father’s quote: “you have a republic, try to keep it if you can.” How careless!

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jan 13 2020 18:50 utc | 97

@70 vk
Didn’t I tell you not to bother? That Bernie excerpt you quoted TOTALLY proves Bernie is anti-war, but you took it spun it around and turned it into your own biased, cockamamie interpretation.
@79 William Gruff
WOW! So cynical and down on Bernie Sanders willingness to make dramatic change. I believe him and you stated yourself: nevertheless, Sanders campaign in 2015-2016 did dramatically alter the entire political discourse in America. Okay, but that’s not all he did; he helped usher in representatives who want to carry his revolution forward, so when you write that Sanders cannot take America where it needs to be, you’re wrong, because he will go further than anyone before him and then others like AOC or a surrogate yet to enter Congress will take it the distance. He will build a new foundation and others will build on that.
I’ll bet you anything that when Tulsi gets out of the race, she’ll endorse BERNIE SANDERS cause there’s no one else that’s as trustworthy and authentic as he is. No one. Bernie is the last chance to reverse and dramatically change the destructive policies Trump and his predecessors set in motion.

Posted by: Circe | Jan 13 2020 19:15 utc | 98

@ Posted by: Circe | Jan 13 2020 19:15 utc | 98
I just gave the source the first commenter probably used to conclude Bernie Sanders was pro-Iran war.
I don’t think Sanders’ declaration as a “not a pacifist” shocking at all. I’m not a pacifist either.
I’m just saying the American people shouldn’t feed themselves the illusion they’ll ever have a pacifist POTUS, as the world’s superpower. And that, as such, almost all of the American wars will be wars of aggression, and not on self-defense.

Posted by: vk | Jan 13 2020 19:30 utc | 99

karlof1 @93
I wouldn’t say that voting for Sanders would be a mistake. After all, I am contributing to his campaign in the best ways that I can, and I believe a Sanders/Gabbard ticket would be unbeatable and would represent a significant challenge to the power dynamics in America. I’m just saying that Sanders has ideological shortcomings that will prevent him from being able to follow through with the kinds of changes that many people are hoping for, and few people will be able to see that problem until after Sanders wins. A Sanders victory will thus be a necessary learning experience where people will begin to refine their ideas about what exactly they want to achieve from politics.
Of course, for an opportunity for this kind of educational experience to be realized Americans need politicians that actually seriously try delivering what they campaign on. While most of Sanders’ political peers clearly view their duties to be the precise opposite of that, I am confident that Sanders would apply himself completely to delivering the key planks in his campaign platform. Sanders’ “sheepdogging” back in 2016 after the Democrat convention wasn’t a sinister and cynical effort to herd his followers into supporting the corporate elites, but rather was a stupid mistake that was a natural consequence of Sanders’ ideological shallowness.
Unfortunately, just as Americans couldn’t seriously discuss issues like a national health insurance or a living wage prior to Sanders last run for President, any discussion now of Sanders’ ideological shortcomings is unlikely to be fruitful. Americans need to see the fight before they will accept that classical liberal morality cannot defeat capitalist ideology. One can try explaining `til one is blue in the face that it is impossible for liberal morality to win because that morality is a product of capitalist ideology, but Americans still will not accept it until they see the fight themselves.
So a political win by Sanders, or someone very much like Sanders, is a necessary educational experience before Americans can even define what it is that they really want.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 13 2020 19:36 utc | 100

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