see the photo at the first link
 
 
 
https://x.com/sahouraxo/status/2088640838121255406
sarah  @sahouraxo 
 
This is South Lebanon today.
Israeli bombs have killed 11 Lebanese civilians at dawn alone today.
Pieces of human bodies were found in a swimming pool. The remains of children.
This is what American taxpayer money bankrolls.
 
——————-
 
https://x.com/ejmalrai/status/2088996522104909971
Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺  @ejmalrai 
 
There is no solution in Lebanon without a war initiated by Iran against Israel to impose the end of the occupation, in a wider Middle Easter war, or the US imposes the Israeli withdrawal after the fall of netanyahu, an ICC fugitive for war crimes.
 
———————-
 
https://english.almanar.com.lb/article/116872/
Ghalibaf: Iran Truly Won the War, Militarily and Politically 
 
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stressed on Sunday that the Islamic Republic triumphed militarily and politically against the United States and ‘Israel’. 
 
In remarks cited by Iranian media, Ghalibaf declared that Iran successfully thwarted the primary military objectives of its adversaries and must now focus on protecting, consolidating, and strengthening that victory. 
 
“The US and Israel failed to achieve any of the strategic goals they outlined at the beginning of the war,” he stated, according to Iranian media……. 
 
…..The Iranian speaker pointed to Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz as premier geopolitical deterrent and negotiation leverage of the Islamic Republic……
 

Posted by: michaelj72 | Aug 16 2026 16:12 utc | 3

repost, may be of interest:
 

https://www.amerikanets.com/p/they-saw-it-coming“In mid-February 2026, before the US military initiated the airstrikes that began Operation “Epic Fury,” the National Intelligence Council (NIC), an agency of the executive branch created to synthesize the analysis of the US’s 18 intelligence agencies, submitted to the president a classified report detailing the prospects of an attack on Iran. This assessment, first reported on in the Washington Post and subsequently confirmed by the Associated Press, painted a grim picture. It concluded that an offensive operation launched by the US military would be unlikely to dismantle the central pillars of the Iranian government. Assassinating Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could backfire, resulting in the consolidation of Iranian military and political structures and the activation of emergency protocols the Iranians had been preparing for years. Iran’s domestic opposition was unlikely to be able to seize power in such a scenario. A limited air campaign or even a protracted war stood a serious chance of failing to achieve regime change.The NIC report was the final warning in a decades-long, documented history of US military and intelligence planners predicting grim strategic outcomes in a war with Iran. Official analysis anticipated every major failure of a potential conflict, from the brutal arithmetic of interceptor production to the possibility that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz. In this piece, we’ll trace the public record of this analysis, and show that it was widely dispersed and understood within the American military, intelligence, and political establishments.”

Also thishttps://www.amerikanets.com/p/why-hasnt-iran-sunk-an-american-aircraft 

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 16 2026 17:17 utc | 5

@ Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Aug 16 2026 17:17 utc | 5
 
—
 
Thank you for that important overview link, YAA.
 
It appears both aggressor states, the Entity and the US, had intel and defense reporting that delivered the same message for years up to Feb 28, 2026, warning off aggressive war on Iran because the outcomes would harm both the US and its Entity while potentially strengthening Iran.
 
Yet within both aggressor countries a minority opinion prevailed and barbarism was unleashed.
 
How to account for this?  What  is behind the curtain?
 
Does the finance capital banking oligarchy have its own intel hierarchy? 
and strings to manipulate? 
preempting the outward and inward facing bureaucracies?
 
None of this computes for me as presented without visiting rabbit holes.
 
~~
 
 

The US military knew in February of 2026 that it didn’t have the air defense munitions to defend military and infrastructural assets in the region, and it knew that it would be unable to put underground Iranian assets at risk…
 
 
While the evacuation of bases may have taken many observers by surprise, it was the result of decades of strategic thinking. American planners knew those bases were indefensible, and that they had no choice but to accept the political and operational consequences of abandoning them…
 
 
Decades of Israeli efforts had culminated in an incredible triumph of influence without any precedent. The US military would deliberately enter into a war of aggression it knew it would lose…
 
https://www.amerikanets.com/p/they-saw-it-coming
 
 
(from YetAnotherAnon)

Posted by: suzan | Aug 16 2026 18:08 utc | 7

Posted by: Ornot | Aug 16 2026 18:20 utc | 8

A ban on access to Spanish territory for all persons directly involved in the genocide, human rights violations and war crimes in Gaza.
 

That point should be interpreted as anybody serving or having served in the IDF or any other security agency in occupied Palestine.
 
Thanks for the link, I support our governmet position on Palestine but if not for your link I wouldn’t have found out, which goes to show that yes, but not all the way, besides, I’m totally opposed to our Spanish government position on Ukraine, I guess its a hard act to balance but that has always been the problem with Social Democrats, they do not go all the way.
 
 

Posted by: Paco | Aug 16 2026 18:33 utc | 9

 suzan | Aug 16 2026 16:55 utc | 4—
 
Thanks for relinking to that very revealing article by Alastair. Hopefully more Barflies who missed seeing it yesterday will take heed and read it. 
 
Paco | Aug 16 2026 18:33 utc | 9—
 
Yes, it would be better if Sanchez had an even policy regarding the ongoing conflicts. I see his conflict with the EU being important. As I recall, the Spanish people didn’t want to become an EU member and were coerced into it against the majority’s will. 

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 16 2026 18:55 utc | 11

In Plato’s Cave for 110 Years https://wwiii.substack.com/p/in-platos-cave-for-110-years?r=16w8dp “The entire operation, now perfected over a century, has two components. Tell the prisoners in front of wall (aka citizens) non-stop that so and so country is about to invade them. Subversively instigate a war with the same country.”

Posted by: manoj samanta | Aug 16 2026 19:05 utc | 13

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 16 2026 18:55 utc | 11 Salud Karl, I’m not so sure about the EU, I believe the majority were for it due to our recent before membership past, but what it is proven and for sure Spaniards were against being members -vassals- of NATO, a very sly and traitorous Mr. González fooled us good, he has become a caricature of himself calling to vote against the party he lead during decades, a fat corrupt cat, servant of Mexican and Colombian oligarchs and kiss friendly with the really sinister “Ansar el Tejano” our own Texas Aznar who played supporting role to Dubbya with the infamous picture in the Azores Island, add weasel Tony Blair, and Barroso that jumped to the side smelling foul, and we all have the picture of how Iraq was destroyed to benefit the occupiers of Palestine.Sanchez is playing a balancing act against very powerful enemies who are probing with internal help, Morocco is the tool they’re positioning, but Moroccans should think twice and realise how proxies end up, Iran has shown the way talking to Oman, lets get along with neighbours and take control of what is ours, if a degenerate like Gates can set up a toll booth for lousy software showing the way to the whole world on how the yankeee does business, then why not Mediterranean style we watch for the Gates of Heracles. A strait is not dire, ask Erdo.

Posted by: Paco | Aug 16 2026 19:18 utc | 15

Paco | Aug 16 2026 19:19 utc | 16—
 
Thanks for your clarifications and additions.
 
Al-Mayadeen provides the following as breaking news:
 
A joint Egyptian-Jordanian-Emirati-Qatari-Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani-Indonesian statement condemns Israel’s rejection of Trump’s Gaza plan.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 16 2026 19:28 utc | 17

@ Paco | Aug 16 2026 19:18 utc | 15 with the perspective from Spain….thanks
 
It seems the world needs to relearn economic geography, eh?
 

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 16 2026 19:39 utc | 19

the supreme idiocy of the United States ruling Elites
 
 
 
https://x.com/IRIMFA_SPOX/status/2088792740553171092
Esmaeil Baqaei  @IRIMFA_SPOX 
 
Marco Rubio: “Imagine an Iranian regime who, instead of spending billions of dollars supporting terrorist groups and building up all of these weapons, had invested that money into Iran, for the people of Iran, ” 
 
Donald Trump: “It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things… We have to take care of one thing: military protection.”
 

Posted by: michaelj72 | Aug 16 2026 19:51 utc | 21

Posted by: manoj samanta | Aug 16 2026 20:15 utc | 22
 
Interesting but not especially persuasive.  There clearly are tensions between the Muslim elements and the Hindu elements in India.
 
Economically it is powering along but it will not become truly modern while in maintains the racist and elitist cast system. It is slowly changing but not quickly enough

Posted by: watcher | Aug 16 2026 20:35 utc | 23

Posted by: Ornot | Aug 16 2026 20:40 utc | 24
 
There was a referendum for NATO permanence, but the party that got elected on a platform of abandoning it, when elected as the first post-dictatorship supposedly left leaning party campaigned and used the very centralized and controlled media machine inherited from the dictatorship to switch the vote 180º and not 360º as Baerbock would say.
 
“OTAN de entrada no”, a smart slogan freely translated as something like “no NATO to start with”, and they were elected with a considerable majority, a couple of years down the road the alliance was manna from heaven and they managed to turn it around with a new slogan, “Vote yes for Spain’s interest”.

Posted by: Paco | Aug 16 2026 21:29 utc | 25

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 16 2026 19:04 utc | 12
 
“The God Of Mammon cult is in an existential crisis because it does not have another host of global economic/military dominance to migrate to….China said NO!”
 
I agree with what you said in general, but are you sure that those in control of China have said no? That would be very interesting, if true.

Posted by: Nor am I | Aug 16 2026 22:14 utc | 27

interesting also last nights russian attacks on arcelormittal ukraine.
40% owned by mittal family who are very close and friendly with pm modi. ..

Posted by: layman | Aug 16 2026 22:21 utc | 29

@ watcher | Aug 16 2026 22:28 utc | 30 writing about the Mecca pact….grin…from Iranintl
 

Trump hails Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan defense pact as ‘big, bold’ step

US President Donald Trump welcomed the recently signed joint defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, describing it as a major step toward greater regional security cooperation.
“THIS IS A BIG, BOLD, AND IMPORTANT FIRST STEP — WOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“It shows how the Middle East is coming together, and how Countries will finally be able to defend themselves in a more meaningful way,” he added.

 
 
Trump is a carnival barker trying to get out in front of trains and lead the way forward but I expect he and my country he is leading are being run over.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 16 2026 22:39 utc | 31

Nor am I | Aug 16 2026 22:14 utc | 27—
 
Xi Jinping has said no along with the CPC. There are many excellent essays on the matter, a few by me, many by a host of others. Here’s a recent very relevant essay, (6) Treating Chinese Marxism Seriously – by Dr Warwick Powell. And here are two others by the same author, A plan for a new energy system – by Dr Warwick Powell and High-Quality Urban Renewal – by Dr Warwick Powell. Here are a plethora of short solo podcasts that have relations with China’s political-economy provided by an American in China. This writer’s analysis has a wider focus while his most recent is excellent, The $23 Trillion Question – by Einar Tangen. 
 
 

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 16 2026 22:45 utc | 33

“US President Donald Trump said Sunday he had instructed the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea, “
 
 Possibly  because the US has no ships?  The USS Washington and its support ships are all headed to the Mid East to relieve the USS Lincoln. 
Also the Destroyer USS Benfold broke down and was adrift for 4 days. Before being towed to the Philippine Islands for repairs. 
That takes a big bite out of the Pacific Fleet.
 
https://news.usni.org/2026/08/14/uss-benfold-was-stalled-in-the-south-china-sea-for-four-days-after-engineering-casualty

Posted by: golddigger | Aug 16 2026 23:18 utc | 35

36–Cont’d:
 
Japan’s “Defense White Paper” exposes Takaichi’s ambitions to become a “military state” – Qiushi.com
 
I see this all got placed onto the Iran thread instead of the open thread, so I apologize for that.

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 16 2026 23:30 utc | 37

@25 Paco

To be honest, I never really understood what NATO was doing in Spain. I understand why NATO would want Spain as member etc. but the organisation just doesn’t fit with Spain’s character or outlook, nor with its history.

Large organisations tend to expand and take over, NATO, EU, Euro and finance, WHO and even UN .

Now I think it is multinational financial corps that are looking for equal acces in Spain, not sure if that was allowed.

The following gives a timeline on NATO regarding Spain…

https://www.icip.cat/perlapau/en/article/30-years-after-the-1986-referendum-on-nato/

and a quote from that ….

– José María Maravall, in his book El control de los políticos (The control of politicians), explained the PSOE government’s action: “Faced with the prospect of a likely defeat, the Socialists […] accentuated the drama of the situation using two new elements: the inevitable resignation of Gonzalez as Prime Minister in the event of a defeat and the risk that an unpopular opposition would obtain a huge political triumph”. As Maravall says, these considerations had a major impact on the public in general, especially on those who had voted for the PSOE in the previous elections and maintained party loyalty in the NATO referendum . In December 1984, Manuel Sacristan would highlight the cost of this way of conducting politics: “Perhaps the most important thing that happens if consensus of one and another politician definitely integrates us into NATO, not the actual integration itself, but instead the imposition on Spaniards of the feeling of helplessness, of political nullity, of their need to obey and to put one’s head where one’s heart should be and vice versa. […]. On the inside, NATO is just as terrible for Spain as it is on the outside, and more corrupting.”

Posted by: Ornot | Aug 17 2026 0:12 utc | 39

I am not understanding why Occupied Palestine is getting away with pounding Lebanon……does it being South Lebanon make it ok?
 
This smells to me like another reason why all the nation state/religious/sectarian geographic boundaries in that region need to be “re”negotiated away from the old colonial divisions…..somehow, eh?
 
 
I am a dreamer but not the only one….

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 17 2026 1:07 utc | 41

Attribution to the quote in above ZH piece is to
 
Derek Holt, head of Capital Markets Economics at Scotiabank in Toronto, provided clients with an assessment

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 17 2026 1:38 utc | 43

Iranintl is reporting the extent that Iran is taking the rhetoric, with financial backing to the US
 

Iran hardline papers splash bounty for killing or capturing US troops

Hardline Iranian newspapers gave prominent front-page treatment Monday to an army chief’s announcement of cash rewards for killing or capturing US military personnel.
Hamshahri devoted much of its front page to an image of a visibly frightened US soldier being grabbed by the collar by a hand wearing an Iranian tricolor wristband.
“Kill or capture any American invader and receive a 3 billion toman reward,” the paper’s headline read, attributing the offer to the army commander.
It added that Iranian women would receive double the reward for doing so.
Kayhan also made the bounty its main front-page story, declaring in a large headline: “30 billion rial reward for hunting any American invader.”
Elsewhere on its front page, Kayhan argued that the United States had lost the war against Iran and would have to make concessions to bring it to an end.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 17 2026 2:47 utc | 45

see the 30-second video at the first/second link. this is just pure terrorism and barbarism. When will it ever end? Who will bring it to an end…… and how??
 
 
 
https://x.com/s_m_marandi/status/2088945582005985766
Seyed Mohammad Marandi  @s_m_marandi 
 
Netanyahu and the Zionists are ruthless monsters.
 
 
https://x.com/OmarHamadD/status/2088729457959837724
Omar Hamad | عُـمَـرْ 𓂆  @OmarHamadD 
 
They even bombed us in the tents, burning us alive as we slept. Israel has committed the most hideous acts humanity has ever witnessed throughout history, proudly flaunting its crimes in full view of the world. 
 
It is a full-fledged genocide.
 
————————
 
https://t.me/me_observer_TG/1069310#
Middle East Observer 
 
Anwar Ibrahim: Iran’s steadfastness and resilience against American-Zionist military aggression are commendable
The Prime Minister of Malaysia in an interview with Al Jazeera network:
 
🔹Malaysia is one of the few countries that has explicitly condemned military attacks on Iran.
 

Posted by: michaelj72 | Aug 17 2026 3:30 utc | 47

 
Why Syria’s New Rulers Still Need Russia
 
https://www.rt.com/news/644263-syria-new-rulers-need-russia/
 
“Two developments in recent days offer a revealing picture of how Russian-Syrian relations are evolving after the change of power in Damascus.
 
After 18 months of negotiations, Moscow and Damascus managed to avoid the breakdown of military cooperation, instead finding a way to transform it.
 
According to the information made public, civilian facilities are to pass under Syrian management, while military sites are expected to be transformed into joint Russian-Syrian training and professional development centres.
 
Part of the Russian military presence is also expected to remain. Its importance lies in creating a model the new Syrian leadership can defend politically.
 
The previous framework was closely associated with the Assad era and could be portrayed as an infringement on sovereignty. The new model gives Damascus greater formal control while preserving access to Russian military expertise. 
 
The compromise would make little sense if Syria had already decided to remove Russia from the country. The 18 months of negotiations suggest the opposite.
 
Damascus wanted different terms not a complete break, while Moscow wanted to preserve a meaningful role without insisting that previous arrangements remain untouched.
 
The result is a framework better suited to the new political reality…”
 
That’s one way of putting it. For those who might have missed it, here’s another:
 
JT: Vanessa Beeley: Russia Gave Up Syria For A Promise From Terrorists 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCezX335Auw
 
“Now it’s trapped.”
 

Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 17 2026 3:53 utc | 49

By way of explanation, Prashad points out that in most SA countries the extreme rightwing Spanish heritage, racist upper class, gente de apellido (people of good name) has not been constrained; Venezuela because of chavismo is an exception which is why it doesn’t have the strong, in-place upper class to draw upon for active support for international rightwing adventures, as do some of the other countries.

Posted by: Lavieja | Aug 17 2026 5:00 utc | 51

Posted by: Lavieja | Aug 17 2026 4:37 utc | 49
 
Israel’s present attention to Guatemala is not, of course, predicated entirely on history. Guatemala can still be an asset in international forums such as the UN, where Israel is often quite isolated. Israel also has significant commercial interests in Guatemala. Moreover, Guatemala’s strategic importance to the United States in the context of its Central American policy, coupled with the often stormy relations between Washington and Guatemala City, have afforded Israel a special role in Guatemala. Guatemalan rulers, for their part, see Israel as the world’s foremost practitioner of counterinsurgency, and look to Israel for advice, models, expertise and arms. [9] Israeli assistance began in 1971, but it took on increased importance after 1977, when the Guatemalan generals rejected US military aid in response to Carter administration pressures to remedy their gross human rights violations. Israel has displayed no similar reluctance to work with the country that one Guatemalan lawyer characterized as “a nation of prisoners.”
 
https://www.merip.org/1986/05/israel-and-guatemala/

Posted by: Paco | Aug 17 2026 6:04 utc | 53

What do the graffities say? 
 
“Bibi’s Cucks,” “Be a good goy and do what Israel tells you to,” “Operation Epstein Fury,” “Peace Deal #64 Incoming…,” “All this for the Holy Land,” “I love Israel. I am a good goyim wolf,” and “Article 15 Incoming.”
 
Intel Slava – Telegram

Posted by: Suresh | Aug 17 2026 6:19 utc | 55

Is there any country in the Americas other than Haiti that has a more horrendous history of US oppression and manipulation (42 years), including the genocide of the Mayan people, than Guatemala? Not even Nicaragua which could be 2nd? Of maybe Chile?

Posted by: Lavieja | Aug 17 2026 8:08 utc | 57

Marjorie Taylor Green says the USA is holding meetings about using nuclear bombs on Iran.
http://youtube.com/post/UgkxyB9ur3sRksBfsSBEGK-olnIZ3hk-8cPU?si=eezQDNo4onx1qhAZ
 
 
Can the “USA lost” people be sure the thousands of USA hegemons will not nuke Iran? Can they make a case that Donald “will end a civilization” Trump wouldn’t nuke Iran.
 
 
Posted by: Cheney | Aug 17 2026 1:43 utc | 44
 
 
 
The comments to this were almost terrifying.  Not one disputed what MTG said, or even the possibility that she might be wrong.
 
I always had a lot of respect for MTG.  When she was in Congress, she gave a speech where she left out the anti-left part of her speech.  I was like OH SHIT THEY ARE REMOVING HER FROM CONGRESS 🙁
 
It turned out that she DID leave Congress, and since then she has grown stronger and more powerful than she ever was as a Congresswoman.  The handful of republican congresspeople (I couldn’t bring myself to say congressmen since half of these are women) that had parts of their speeches consistently devoted to actually helping out working class Americans have all been removed from Congress.  Maybe 1 is left?  Rand Paul kind of barely sometimes?
 
There are times when I think that the Epstein Class will win easily and decisively for a long time.  The MTG quote here, and the supporting comments, well the Epstein Class will still be hard to defeat.  However, it is more likely that the battles will start sooner rather than later.
 
The war on Iran has had a lot of unexpected side effects changing the way that Americans view our country and the world.  Iran is becoming like a shining star, leading by example.  They have been put into a difficult situation through no fault of their own – and so far have played their cards very adroitly.

Posted by: Woke American | Aug 17 2026 8:25 utc | 59

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 16 2026 22:45 utc | 33 Thank you very much for this. Much appreciated.
Posted by: Nor am I | Aug 17 2026 7:24 utc | 56

 
Seconded. An extremely valuable overview.

Posted by: Avtonom | Aug 17 2026 8:43 utc | 61

psychohistorian 31
 
Chas Freeman hints that the Mecca Pact is not directed against Iran, and that the Shi’a- Sunni divide is no longer an obstacle to West Asian unity.
Rather, that the Mecca Pact is filling the vacuum created by Iran’s destruction of US bases and military  equipment. The US is unsafe anywhere in range of Iranian missiles
 
https://www.youtube.com/live/6DhRuRzFF6o?si=y3Vzx33KnixIFopZ
 
Clearly , from Sauds attacks on Yemen, even if this rose-tinted analysis is correct, the Mecca Pact won’t stop any of the 3 members  pursuing their own, individual vendetta against local rivals, like Yemen, Syria or Afghanistan.

Posted by: Giyane | Aug 17 2026 9:26 utc | 63

Can the “USA lost” people be sure the thousands of USA hegemons will not nuke Iran? Can they make a case that Donald “will end a civilization” Trump wouldn’t nuke Iran.
 
Posted by: Cheney | Aug 17 2026 1:43 utc | 44
 

It is indeed quite possible that the USA might admit that it lost, via megadeath and killing of civilians, but all they get for that is careful documentation in the history books under the “sore losers” category and a lack of opportunity for any further negotiations. After all, who would negotiate with a terrorist power … obviously insane … right? The Iranian missiles will still fall on Israel and afterwards they explanation will be simple: “We had to because nuke yaknow?”

Posted by: Tel | Aug 17 2026 10:34 utc | 65

@ Lavieja | Aug 17 2026 8:58 utc | 62
Yes indeed and the sandinistas were supported by the US media.
If you see that as mysterious I dont blame you.
Nobody informs leftists about that but they dont like to know anyway(?).
Both Batista of Cuba and Somosa intended to launch economic development and both liked to implement some of the ideas they assumed were to americas liking. But in the world outside other things went on. I dont know for sure but it may have been the case that the US was afraind when Sputnik I went up and that may have led to the US doing something that was never officially discussed. Something that made it necessary to compensate the USSR and one possibility could be that the compensation was to let Cuba be communist.
 
Another possibility is that they needed it to scare the US middle class into supporting policies favouring the weapons industry.
 
In the Nicaraguan case at that time the US/USSR trade and Economic Council was ongoing with generous bribes to the Soviets for silence about the US space-hoax and the circumstance that a USSR submarine had taken Apollo13 and brought it to Murmansk.
 
I dont know the precise reason but it is not exceptional since Nicaragua is a small country. And if it helps the MIC and fills the weapons industry’s order book it may have been reason enough. But in addition the US elite socielty Skull and Bones, Americas secret order had an agenda of supporting both fascists and communists with the aim to cause permanent conflicts.
 
The long term aim of both the US and UK elites was that this permanent polarisation would lead world opinion to desire a world government and the UK had been saying since the 19th century that they supported socialists with the plan that the revolutionaries would hand over the financial control to their rich benefectors.

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Aug 17 2026 11:17 utc | 67

YetAnotherAnon:
Excellent and informative article!
https://www.amerikanets.com/p/they-saw-it-coming“In mid-February 2026, before the US military initiated the airstrikes that began Operation “Epic Fury,” the National Intelligence Council (NIC), an agency of the executive branch created to synthesize the analysis of the US’s 18 intelligence agencies, submitted to the president a classified report detailing the prospects of an attack on Iran. This assessment, first reported on in the Washington Post and subsequently confirmed by the Associated Press, painted a grim picture.
 

Posted by: Kentuckian | Aug 17 2026 11:33 utc | 69

US and western media were briefly supportive of the Sandinista victory in 1979 because the Somoza dictatorship was so apalling. Within weeks the mainstream  media turned on a dime and began comdemning the Sandinistas.
This extraorinary turnaround nurtured my distrust of official media and encouraged me to visit the beautiful country of Nicaragua and find out for myself what was going on.

Posted by: Alex Cox | Aug 17 2026 11:47 utc | 71

From an article by Alastair Crooke:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2026/08/no_author/netanyahus-reprise-of-the-iraq-wmd-deceit-re-launched-to-promote-war-on-iran/
Israeli strategic commentator Shemuel Meir raises the most compelling doubts that need to be answered:

• Was the Iran war truly a ‘preventative’ war launched on a false pretext of an imminent threat?
• Did Netanyahu lie about the imminence of an Iranian nuclear threat?
• Or, in other words, did Netanyahu emulate the deceit of ‘Iraq and its Weapons of Mass Destruction’ to push Trump into the war?

Writing in early July this year, leading Israeli commentator Ben Caspit admonished Netanyahu:
“Really, Bibi? Did the Iranians have atomic bombs? Are you serious about that? You know, you’re the Prime Minister. Every statement, sentence or word you utter makes the headlines. When you say something like that, it has consequences. Are you aware of that? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint [you] … but Iran did not have atomic bombs. Not at all. Not even as a joke … One cannot say that Iran possessed atomic bombs. Because that is not true … Because it is entirely fictional”.
 

Posted by: Kentuckian | Aug 17 2026 12:07 utc | 73

Tom Pfotzer  72
 
‘Does India have any credibility left in the non-West?’
 
India,  as in the original continent before partition in 1948, spent 250 years under British control and is 200% integrated into Western politics.
Why 200%?  Because Britain used Indians , as newly created social middle class, to control the people of India.  But while everybody in India fully understands how to play the Colonial game, get rich and successful if they want to,  as favoured vassals bossing around the plebs, the Brits themselves since WW2 have still got a Left wing  minority , about one third of the UK population who uetterly detest British Imperialism and everything that sails in it.
 
Yes, I am saying that the citizens of Pakistan , India and Bangladesh absolutely love British Imperialism, and want to live in Britain, while only a relatively small proportion of Brits like Empire2 ToryLabourGreenReform Uniparty Imperialist politics.
They gain nothing from it.
 
You cannot ask a continent , made up of Westernised post colonial , greasy pole climbers, like my MP Shaytana Mahmoud, that is completely addicted to Western Imperialism and its totally  divisive social class system , to abandon it in favour of an egalitarian BRICS.
 
It isn’t time for India to make a choice.
It’s time for BRICS the throw the buggers out.

Posted by: Giyane | Aug 17 2026 12:45 utc | 75

THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. International activists caught Israeli soldiers on camera abducting Palestinian kids in the West Bank for playing too near an illegal Jewish colony.  Posted by: michaelj72 | Aug 17 2026 11:26 utc | 68

 
more shark meat for the Epstein Class. ritual Child sacrifice is a core practice of these people..

Posted by: Exile | Aug 17 2026 12:52 utc | 77

Mahmood OD: ‘Trump in Deep Trouble’
 
https://www.youtube.com/@Mahmood_OD/videos
 
“Navy sailors speak up and expose it all| Iran’s new rules| US oil crisis gets worse|”
 
 
DW: Alastair Crooke: ‘Trump’s Card’
 
https://www.youtube.com/@dialogueworks01/streams
 
“Trump’s card just broke the status quo.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 17 2026 13:14 utc | 79

“This extraorinary turnaround nurtured my distrust of official media and encouraged me to visit the beautiful country of Nicaragua and find out for myself what was going on.
Posted by: Alex Cox | Aug 17 2026 11:47 utc | 71”
 
well, my mother did the Nicaragua audience with Ortega junket like so many, and managed (with some difficulty) to place an article about it in the Carson City Nevada Appeal. Early/mid 80’s I suppose? Ran into some Senator in an airport who went after her about it. 
 
chicken or the egg.
Media consolidation used to be a concern. 
Democracy used to be a thing, fairness doctrines, ownership regulations.
these are different times. That stuff aint coming back until the whole magilla is took down. Internet bitching will be a lost art that never achieved much, if anything. Tech lords are done putting up with us.

Posted by: Not Ewe | Aug 17 2026 13:29 utc | 81

the West may not be able to actually do anything for India.
 
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Aug 17 2026 13:44 utc | 82
 
—
 
Ooophf!
 
The “West” is doing a fine job of exploiting Indian’s Surplus Value.
 

Posted by: too scents | Aug 17 2026 13:47 utc | 83

Horrific Conditions Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln
 
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/08/17/gjzv-a17.html
 
“The ruling class’s contempt for the troops it sends to war…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 17 2026 13:53 utc | 85

an American Psycho
 
 
 
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/17/world/live-news/iran-war-trump
Trump threatens to attack Oman as Kushner meets with Netanyahu  
 
US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack Oman if it interferes with his country’s efforts in the Strait of Hormuz, as the conflict with Iran continues and a two-month window for peace talks expires without a clear path to end the war. 
 
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Trey Yingst that was published today……. 
 
– Talks between Iran and Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz are complex but continuing “in all seriousness,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said. He pointed to several “actors trying to exert influence on this process” as a reason for the delay in a deal. 
 
– Iran’s army is offering a 5 billion tomans ($30,000) cash bounty for anyone who kills or captures a US soldier and hands them over to authorities, according to the country’s semi-official Mehr news agency……
 

Posted by: michaelj72 | Aug 17 2026 14:16 utc | 87

Posted by: too scents | Aug 17 2026 3:46 utc | 48

U.S. servicemen in one of the Gulf states have scribbled protest messages on the dust of an aircraft flap image in link ==> https://t.me/Slavyangrad/173487

I suppose we now know that the US still has aircrafts stationed in a Persian Gulf state.

Posted by: robin | Aug 17 2026 14:43 utc | 89

‘BRICS egalitarianism’!

China’s bottled water king is one of the wealthiest people in the world – ‘wealth’ derived from selling people water in plastic bottles.

You can’t get more capitalist than that.

Posted by: Dan Kelly | Aug 17 2026 15:30 utc | 91

By the way, in the Jamarl Thomas interview with Mark Sleboda, Jamarl also interviews Dr Warwick Powell.
 
https://youtu.be/LXxNd5oEiRo
 
A very interesting discussion about interactions between North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, and the US.  South Korea and Japan are not taking lightly the movement of US military assets from South Korea to the Middle East.  Now that the US has not been focusing on North Korea so much, North Korea is flourishing.  Basically the old WW2 rivalries could very well return, with Japan moving towards returning to its militaristic past.
 
Due to the US not having enough military assets to cover all of its commitments, the US could slide into irrelevance in Eastern Asia.  With Japan and South Korea beefing up their militaries, there is less need for US “protection”.  There was a lot of discussion about either South Korea and Japan possibility building their own nukes.
 
There was a lot of historical information provided, as well as narratives that I was completely unaware of.  With the current state of the US diplomatic corps, the chances that the US will navigate the complexities of all of this are not high.  

Posted by: Woke American | Aug 17 2026 15:45 utc | 93

With the current state of the US diplomatic corps, the chances that the US will navigate the complexities of all of this are not high.  
Posted by: Woke American | Aug 17 2026 15:45 utc | 93

 
The general quality of Foreign Service Officers has markedly declined over the last 30 years.  Its stunning to meet the 30 and 40 something FSOs in Social Settings overseas and wonder how on earth did this innocent-abroad ever pass the written and oral exams ? 

Posted by: Exile | Aug 17 2026 16:19 utc | 95

Petergr…
 
The Sandinistas were, of course, in cahoots with Perfidious Albion and the Bronze Age cultists.
 
There, I finished your train of thought for you…
 
Now let’s get back to Iran and set aside your anti-communist delusions

Posted by: Soviético | Aug 17 2026 16:30 utc | 97

How Israelis Are Colonizing The World
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq_fWXKidhk
 
“Israeli settlers are no longer confined to Palestine – they’re moving abroad and taking over communities in Greece, Thailand, Italy to name a few. The violence inherent in Zionism travels with them.”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Aug 17 2026 16:40 utc | 99