The US has admitted to assassinating Iran’s most beloved military leader, General Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike which seems very likely to ignite a full-scale war. Six others are also reported killed, including Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
According to the Pentagon, Trump personally ordered the assassination. I’ll keep following this hugely important story and will probably be writing a lot about it as it unfolds. I encourage everyone who values peace and humanity to follow it as well.
“Spoke to a very knowledgeable person about what Iran’s response to Soleimani’s assassination might be,” The Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi tweeted regarding this developing story. “This would be the equivalent of Iran assassinating Petreus or Mattis, I argued. No, he responded, this is much bigger than that.”
Pentagon out with a statement on the airstrike.
"This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world." pic.twitter.com/W1L8ymqScd— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) January 3, 2020
“Most Americans won’t understand the gravity of this,” tweeted journalist Rania Khalek. “Qasem Soleimani is head of the Iranian IRGC’s elite Quds Force, which conducts operations outside of Iran in both Iraq and Syria. He was credited with helping turn the tide in both countries against Al-Qaeda and ISIS.”
“This is very serious,” Khalek added. “The US essentially declared war on Iran by assassinating its most revered military figure in Iraq. And by also killing the head of the PMF, the US created more enemies in Iraq. There will be regional retaliation. It’s unlikely it can be prevented.”
“If true, It is not an understatement to say this could change the entire Middle East,” tweeted Rising‘s Saagar Enjeti.
“There’s going to be that war now that people have been pushing for since tanking the Iran Deal,” tweeted The Intercept‘s Murtaza Mohammad Hussain.
“If this is true, the US has effectively declared war on Iran, which has established militarily ties with Russia and China. It’s not hyperbole to say this could start WW3. Insane,” tweeted Grayzone‘s Dan Cohen, who also highlighted the important fact that “Iran, Russia and China held joint naval drills less than a week ago.”
“Iranian sources in Iran are warning that killing Gen. Qasem Sulaimani spells war,” tweeted Farnaz Fassihi of The New York Times. “‘Official reaction will begin with a strike,’ one says.”
A proportionate retaliatory strike would necessarily entail an attack on US military targets, or the military targets of US allies. If that happens, either the empire stands down or we’re looking at an all-out war of a size that is potentially almost limitless.
Iranian sources in Iran are warning that killing Gen. Qasem Sulaimani spells war.
"Official reaction will begin with a strike," one says.#Iraq— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) January 3, 2020
Months after Donald Trump took office it was reported that the CIA had escalated covert operations in Iran, and the administration has been escalating tensions with that nation further and further ever since it announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 on completely false pretenses. The withdrawal was followed by waves of debilitating, civilian-starving sanctions implemented with the goal of provoking civil unrest, a goal Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has openly admitted. From there we saw increased US military presence in the region, then the Iraqi-killing airstrikes earlier this week and the resulting tense angry standoff at the US embassy in Baghdad, and now here we are with Iran planning retaliation for an unforgivable assassination on its most senior and revered military official.
Many are understandably claiming that this geostrategically pivotal confrontation was precisely what Trump was installed to facilitate all along. The largest donor to any campaign in 2016 was oligarch Sheldon Adelson, who gave $25 million to the Trump campaign, and who in 2013 said that the US should drop a nuclear bomb on Iran. After Trump’s election win, Adelson gave another $5 million to his inauguration, the largest single presidential inaugural donation ever made. Newt Gingrich, another of the billionaire’s hired politicians, has said that Adelson’s “central value” is Israel.
Make no mistake, Iran is not Iraq or Libya. A full-scale war against Iran would be many times more deadly, costly and destabilizing than those interventions; the UK’s Admiral Lord West told The Daily Star Online last year that winning such a war would require no less than a million troops, or nearly the total number of active duty US military personnel in the entire world. Even if a direct war with Iran didn’t lead to a confrontation with China, Russia and the other unabsorbed allies, it would still be worse than Vietnam and Iraq combined in terms of death, destruction, expense, and regional destabilization.
Last year Lord Admiral West warned that the US would need no fewer than a million troops to win a war with Iran, almost the number of total active-duty US military personnel in the whole world. Even if this doesn't become WW3, it would still be worse than Vietnam + Iraq. https://t.co/UKuNxwvfqH
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) January 3, 2020
And now, as I sit as the mother of two teenagers watching what might be a third world war looming on the horizon, all I can think is about how infuriating it is that we’ve spent the last three years on Russia bullshit and sectarian political infighting instead of building an actual cohesive antiwar movement and pushing real opposition to Trump’s warmongering.
Let’s get it together, humans. We need big changes, and we need them yesterday.
________________________________
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119 responses to “US Assassination Of Top Iranian Military Official May Ignite World War”
Now, more than ever, we need the Semper Fi amendment in the U.S. of A (standing for assholes, unfortunately, based on our outward-facing behavior). See: https://medium.com/@inflect0r/the-semper-fi-amendment-bd36a9ca59c5
No one believes a thing you say, not even you. Just go away.
Actually, no, Solemani’s assassination is not likely to start a world war because Iran isn’t strong enough to fight one and neither is the U.S..
This is about who gets to stay in Iraq, the U.S. or Iran, and no-one in the West seems to care what Iraqi’s think about that.
You are exactly right. This is all about moving Iran out of Iraq. Why everyone panics about WWIII is beyond me. This is not it.
It look slike the US is going to be at war with both Iraq AND Iran becuase Trump has said the troops will not leave. Resupply of the troops in Iraq will become problematic aas the persian Gulf will become a diffcult area for American ships. Resupply via the overland route from Turkey can be ruled out as Erdogan is still ticked at the US coup attempt, and Russian forces block the route west through Syria.
The conventional wisdom is that Iran and Russia are not allies, and therefore Russia will stay out of any conflict. However, they recently held joint military exercises (with China) and have worked together in Syria to defeat western head choppers. If the US gets too heavy handed with the Iranians, who are better equiped to defend themselves than is commonly thought, the Russians might feel compelled to intervene in their own interests (as they unexpectedly did in Syria back in 2015).
Nobdoy thought there was too much reason to worry over an archduke being shot in 1914.
Iran scrambles F-14 fighters after pledging ‘crushing revenge’ on US as war fears grow. F-14s were built in the 1970’s and were provided to the Shah’s government. We should be really quaking in our boots. LOL.
Iranian frogmen slip across the narrow Persian gulf and sink an American frigate with mines. Militias mortar the US embassy in Baghdad and nobody saw anything.
So you are saying Iran is no threat to anyone. Makes one wonder why we insist on picking a fight with them.
Believing that it matters which Sociopaths are In Charge is a delusion. Obama was just as bloodthirsty as any. In fact, he started the move toward invasion of Syria, and only stopped when the people told him to fuck off. He didn’t stop assassinating people with drones, including at least one US citizen. We can hope and pray the people say fuck off to the current Sociopaths In Charge regarding Iran. Or they could just be too busy with their SJW Wokester projects.
I have no idea the percentage of your readers that are Americans but here is the last paragraph, of the many, that Senator Sanders said in response to this latest action by the evil empire that is disrupting the worlds possibility of any peaceful cooperation in the fulfillment of the human spirit.
“Let me conclude by simply saying this: At a time when we have 500,000 Americans who are homeless today, including 30,000 veterans, at a time when some 87 million people are either uninsured or underinsured and 30,000 die each year because they don’t get to a doctor when they should, and at a time when we face an urgent need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, to build the housing that we desperately need and to address the existential crisis of climate change, we as a nation must get our priorities right. We must invest in the needs of the American people, not spend trillions more on endless wars.”
Says the guy who faithfully voted for every single war budget since 1990.
Inserted in the last budget was an amendment that prohibited the the TPTB from attacking or assassinating anyone one from Iran. It was removed before it was signed and approved. So….
I wrote this song after the global march of an estimated 40 million people
in protest of the US illegal invasion of Iraq 2003
………………..
don’t mean to be heavy but there’s something you should know..
big world leaders set to control you plan to rule the world..
the arms and weapons are building up all in the name of defense..
better dig into your fallout shelter things get really tense..
and who don’t respect international law and nobody wins nuclear war..
no blood for oil..
united nations sanctions are a slow way to die..
raining white phosphorus burning children alive..
suicide bombs and stepping on landmines is really blowing them out..
and you just fill up your car with petrol and go cruising about..
and who don’t respect international law and nobody wins nuclear war..
no blood for oil..
and they chant “death to America’ the axis of evil is the USA..
they’re teaching their daughters the fine art of torture..
it was exposed at Abu Graib and Guantanamo bay..
no blood for oil..
Killing people makes money!
In other words: Mr. Volker was saying that Ukraines Government would follow through with Americas war against Russia, next door to Ukraine, and that therefore, United States taxpayers should pay for Ukraines purchases of United States-made weapons, such as from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
He was saying that milking United States taxpayers to boost those United States corporations profits is good, not bad.You can read this article here:
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/01/03/new-york-times-reveals-americas-weapons-makers-drive-trump-impeachment/
and this is new to someone???
The assassination could easily trigger world war three. In the last hundred years humanity has fought two world wars, and stands on the precipice of a third. The pattern of history shows it all to be about one thing: power.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
Yeah, you’re a mom and it hits you where it hurts, in the heart. The prospect of war brings a personal emotion that makes one understand that there is no way to peace, peace is the way. How can mankind be so foolish? Right? How can we sacrifice our children? While we wonder what will happen tomorrow, TPTB already know. The “lie feed” is spouting the potential scenarios as I sit here writing this. The other day I alluded to the financial situation of America and the world. The MSM, in their constant spewing of possibilities warned that Iran could attack America with a cybercrime that could prevent people from access to their bank accounts!! Classic. Telling you what is going to happen before they do it. Now they have someone to blame and retaliate against. Hit’em in the pockets, really piss them off and the public will be begging TPTB to attack. I just heard someone say, on the boobtube, this is a great day for America!! How can people be so foolish? Those of you that don’t live in America, be happy that you don’t. It can be lonely with your thoughts and convictions. Tomorrow when you tune into the “lie feed” sound off if you hear about the protests against war in Iran. They will be happening. Here is the schedule. Mobilization efforts are constant. Those that know the horrors of war first hand, will be front and center. Of this, you can be sure. Action not words.
https://www.answercoalition.org/national_action_us_troops_out_of_iraq
answer coalition is already busted as a front for the zionist israhell firsters, per grayzone articles.
What?
Iran’s most beloved military leader, General Qassem Soleimani,
The Silent Majority in Iran hate this guy as much as the Silent Majority in the US hated Bolton. The Iranian Military is who most likely organized and agreed to Soleimani being taken out. Time for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to go the way of the US Neocons, the dustbin of history.
Watch now how in a few months, Iran will leave Syria, followed by the US departure. Soleimani would never allow Iran to leave Syria and now they can. Peace is what follows this event nothing more.
how’s the weather in hell aviv? stinky as usual?
Asking yourself a question? LMFAO
Actually, @”Rod Coffman,” your responses do seem to fit the profile of a professional Hasbara artist, perhaps Defense Dept., or CIA, or, who knows, based in Israel also a possibility, but certainly catapulting the propaganda. You might want to hold onto your ass, you’ll look funny without it.
Iran is unlikely to leave Syria. There will possibly be a much wider war. This will not go well for the U.S., or for Trump, I’m afraid. But, Israel is likely to revel in it. For a while…
Rod Coffman, you tool you.
I’ve seen footage of mourners, and celebration. Hard to say what’s going on in Iran without being there, and probably not then. We in the US have a portion of our domestic policy generated by a tiny minority of folks who are delusional about their gender, for whom I have the deepest sympathy, so there’s really no telling what will happen in response to this.
Absolutely correct.
You have to wonder if the Rapture Ready Evangelicals from Mike Pompeo to Mike Pence to assorted Christian fundamentalists are jizzing themselves in excitement at the prospect of World War 3.
After all, they believe that they are God’s Select and thus will saved by Baby Jesus, who will be their personal concierge to the Pearly Gates–while the vast majority of humanity will burn as a result of the actions of these Evangelical lunatics.
The (Nuclear) Rapture is Coming!
Not to mention their allegiance to Israel, which is led by a criminal that has always loved war, and now seeks it to save his ass from prison. Zionists are one of the most destabilizing factors in the world today, whether Christian or Jew. A number of the latter in the US are praising this assassination, Democrat and Republican. Combine them with the Military Industrial Congressional complex, another destabilizing influence equal to Zionism, and the money to be made, and peace is on thin ice. I’ll be at the door to the local recruiting office Monday, trying to discourage potential enlistees. Again. It’s a small act, but one I can do immediately, accounting for business hours. Do what you can. Please.
Mask is of. And has been for a while.
http://telemarksporten.no/SakerPhotos/Mike_Pompeo_Faces_of_Evil.jpg
Will he be screaming for nails?
http://telemarksporten.no/SakerPhotos/TrumpNails.jpg
Or just shoveling Dong (his own?).
http://telemarksporten.no/SakerPhotos/TrumpShitDigging.jpg
Who knows.
Kent
I predicted when Trump started doing these things that it would lead to conflict between Iran and the United States in ways that Trump himself could not foresee (people like Trump with narcissism personality disorder cannot empathize with the pain of other people, so Iran is invisible to him). The economic strangulation of Iran was bound to lead to pushback, as with encouraging Iraqi Shiite militias to target Americans, and to an escalation between the two countries.
Please read this article here:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-real-reason-trump-assassinated-qasem-soleimani/
Capitalism can only work if ALL costs are accounted for in the profit system. For instance, if companies are going to produce Greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, they have to pay enough to replace the burned down houses and dead firefighters from the raging wildfires. Plus all the other impacts of raising the temperature of the planet by several degrees C. Pay the costs of what you do.
Or, the oil companies need to pay a tax on every barrel of oil that covers not only the greenhouse effects of the gas but also the extreme military costs of stealing that oil as well as for all the damages you do to the people who happen to live on top of the sand above what you call your oil.
—————
World War 3 in Iran, and the now yearly wildfires in places like Australia and California are linked, not only by being the side effects of a carbon fuel society, but also in that both are areas where capitalism has failed because it was not honest enough to make people and companies pay the real costs of what they are doing.
————-
Humankind has not yet developed the levels of morality that would let a system like Capitalism actually work. When everyone is robbing each other and cheating the system and dumping costs off onto other people, the system is doomed to fail. When complex systems fail, they tend to fail spectacularly. Humans are not yet morally developed enough to be able to handle Capitalism.
We should put that on a monument and leave it for the scientists who come this planet to study who build all of those ruins.
Please. Take a breath. You have twisted yourself into a panic over climate change. You have been over indoctrinated. Take 20 mg of xanax and lie down. You will be fine.
trust the giant oil companies, they would never lie. fortunately government is impervious to their influence, and would never go to war over oil.
The Military Industrial Congressional Complex goes to war for profit, regardless of the source, or the cost in lives. Munitions, embezzling foreign aid, control of resources, you name it.
Holy Krishna is the propaganda on over drive in justifying the murders. Just two tweets I just saw. Work for peace.
Adam Johnson
https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/1213083907735904258
this is a major rhetoric problem and one i’ve been writing about for yrs & i have no idea how people dont see how prefacing nominal anti-war statements by ACCEPTING THE ENTIRE MORAL PREMISE OF A WAR/BOMBING is a bad idea. It’s not “nuance” its helping further PR for US aggression
Michael Moore
(Picture of Sulamani below)
https://twitter.com/MMFlint/status/1213084631530196992
Hello fellow Americans. Do you know this man? Did you know he was your enemy? What? Never heard of him? By the end of today you will be trained to hate him. You will be glad Trump had him assassinated. You will do as you are told. Get ready to send your sons &daughters off 2 war
work for justice if you want peace.
Interesting, but not necessarily anything but smoke. You notice how the MSM is now telling the truth? Not very likely, and how about that, ‘Intercept’? Essentially nothing more than a mouthpiece for the CIA; they’re suddenly concerned about war? The US and Israel knows that Iran has enough nuclear weapons to destroy all the capitols of the middle East; this is nothing more than your typical faggot sissy punch on Iran. Anyone who watches Washington, et al, knows that all these people running our country are the worse type of homosexuals, who need to kill their victims before they rape them.
lat howl of the dying ghouls.
last howls of the dying ghouls.
Wow, so now we’ve moved beyond Iran not even actually having a nuclear weapons program (most intelligence agencies always said they didn’t see one) to somehow magically Iran now having “enough nuclear weapons to destroy all of the capitols of the Middle East”. Incredible. Its amazing how a nuclear weapon program that never existed, in a country that then agreed to shut down civilian nuclear uses to please an American bully, now suddenly has a massive arsenal of nuclear weapons.
—–
I think this commenter got lost and mistook the ICBM silo fields of Nebraska for being somewhere in Iran.
The nuclear weapons are kept in thr same bunker as the weapons of mass destruction Saddam was planning on using. Pre emptive action is needed immediately.
You’re wrong. Iran has no nuclear weapons. ISRAEL has hundreds of them, aimed at European and Middle East capitols.
is the green zone evacuated, leaving prolly the commandos? some foreign news outlets are reporting so, but nothing on google search.
Caitlin I sorry to hear that you have two teen age children. But it’s because of those two children that you and the rest of the alternative community stop pulling punches on Israel and lay it out for your audience to see. WE are all Trauma Bond by the world’s perpetual victim [expelled from 109 countries since 250 AD [http://biblebelievers.org.au/expelled.htm]–with the extreme irony being that these Toxic Lounge Neanderthals have expressed their intent [in their numerous Luciferian doctrines] to exterminate the Gentiles [Cro-magnon]. This is an inter-species battle that we had better acknowledge–one way or another–if your teenagers are to survive.
Trump did not order the attack [https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-again-mulling-raid-on-iran-thinks-trump-unlike-obama-wont-oppose/]–Trump is a fucking puppet–and if you don’t know that by know you should find another to spend your time.
Between the vaccinations, the chemtrails, GMOs, failed education and medical systems, 5G, gun control, etc., etc., do you well meaning Gentile knuckleheads get it yet–you are under attack and your your lives are being destroyed: Wake the fuck up!!!
I love the way that all of the screwed up internet theories get combined into one massive psychosis. 5G and vaccinations and chemtrails and on and on and on and on and its all all controlled by Israel.
If this is modern humanity, its time to consider the experiment to be failed and just pull the plug on the whole thing. Which appears to be a self-executing process already in progress. I hope this whole “intelligent life” thing has worked out better on other worlds. It seemed like an idea that had such promise. But obviously its a lot harder than it looks.
The president doesn’t want war with Iran. We don’t have any useful military options. He seeks peace.
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Iran-send-attacks-on-Saudi-oil-sites/answers/168013218
The problem is that we are in the return of the days of Noah and it being the case, the ruling elites are totally decadent and should be changed.
But most of the population are also decadent… so we have a huge problem.
We have people both in the ruling elites and in the wider population who do not value anything but money, power and social status.
It surely was like that in the days of Noah…
The good news is that it means the return of Jesus is very near since He told us that at His Second Coming it would be similar to the days of Noah…
And I pray the Rosary to hasten the return of Jesus because I have seen more than enough bullshit.
amen
What is finally going to unite US voters in the time of Trump is what has always united them – wars and identifying new enemies. THIS is the real reason for the INTERNATIONAL Deep State’s crusade against Agent Orange (AO). When AO talked about making nice with Russia during his presidential campaign and then, after his taking office, he went to Singapore and Helsinki for “summits” with Kim and Mr. Putin, that INTERNATIONAL Deep State’s Coup against AO shifted into high gear. Trump’s failure to destroy Syria and respond to the Iranian shoot-down of a US drone were other strikes against him.
Why do I say all this? Because the US economy LITERALLY. CAN. NOT. AFFORD. to let peace break out! VIP George Kennan explained exactly why just a few short years before the end of the Soviet Union. (What he said is even more true today.)
“Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. ANYTHING ELSE would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy.”
The situation Kennan described has grown infinitely worse during the last 30 years. For at least the last 18 years, China and Russia have been rising economic and military powers. The very serious problem for the transnational US Elite is that USD hegemony is now being seriously challenged by those and other nations’ economies and their currencies AND their weapons. Things are no longer going completely the Superpower US’s way. China’s economy is perhaps even now larger than that of the US.
To boil it all down, we are living in the competition of all tribal competitions and the outcome of this “contest” will determine the role of the US economy in the world, as well as the ultimate fate of the Fed’s hundreds of trillions, perhaps quadrillions of printed-out-of-thin-air USD.
The US’s imposition of all these tariffs and “sanctions” and wars are absolute proof of the transnational US Elite’s and their Deep State’s flailing desperation to do only one thing –maintain USD hegemony in order to prevent Kennan’s “unacceptable shock to the American economy”. These measures will ultimately fail and, therefore the only really important question that remains is whether the increasingly-desperate US Elite will “go gentle into that good night” and develop a peace-based economy amidst near-certain economic/political/social chaos, or will this insane Elite “false-flag” the rest of the world into a no-win nuclear shootout at the OK Corral. The latest strike on the Iranian leadership, the US Secretary of the Interior’s recent threat to perhaps use the US navy to blockade Russian exports, the US ambassador to NATO’s recent threat to “take out” Russian missiles on Russian soil, and the US’s decision to pull out of the INF treaty indicate that the shoot-out is being seriously considered.
Therefore, the one and the only “idea” that can possibly “unite the nation” within its literally-war-based economy is not only the MAINTENANCE of Russia and China as enemies, but the INTENSIFICATION of the PERCEPTION of these nations as enemies in the minds of the US bewildered herd of voters.
Especially after AO’s attack on the leadership of Iran, here’s the most important question for the world, not just US citizens to answer: Just exactly why are perpetual war and warmongers so attractive to US voters that they vote for them election after election? It has absolutely nothing to do with being bamboozled by MSM propaganda and absolutely everything to do with money/income/profit!
Google “governmentcontractswon”; go to that site and see that in 2018, “private” businesses in the state of Virgina (population 8.4 million) were awarded 324,283 contracts worth $46.4 billion and that there are 17,538 private DoD contractors in Virginia, and that from 2000 to 2018 private DoD contractors in Virginia were awarded over $733.9 billion for 936,040 contracts.
Virginians’ economic well-being depends upon those DoD dollars continuing, year after year, decade after decade, literally forever! Therefore, no majority of voters in Virginia is ever, and I do mean ever, no matter how “woke”, going to vote for a candidate, maybe like Gabbard, who might be promising to destroy Virginia’s war-based economy and destroy many well-paying jobs. They’re going to CONTINUE to vote for warmongers for POTUS and congress! They do not give a damn how many people are killed by the weapons that they are helping to produce.
Virginia is not alone in the war business. Check out what “private” DoD contractors in other states such as California receive annually. It’s mind boggling.
Therefore, the US will never, and I do mean never, be politically capable of changing it’s “foreign policy” unless and until, once again with feeling, Virginians /Americans are given a detailed alternative to their present “war way” of making a living and no D or R candidate is spelling out such an alternative.
But there is still a faint glimmer of hope.
Trump proved that a complete political outsider could/can “go around” the MIC and be elected. Trump paid a helluva price when he shook hands with Putin in Helsinki. That summit proved that the US MSM is also an MIC tool and that the MIC’s pockets are very deep — in fact, infinitely deep. The Fed will fund the whole nine yards. This is the reason that Trump has had to endure the siege of the Deep State. Shiff’s impeachment “witnesses” spelled it all out, letter by letter. If the US does not fight Russia in Ukraine, it will have to fight Russia in the US. No applicant for a job in the Deep State Department will get that job unless they espouse exactly what those witnesses espoused. The HR dept should have a sign on its door stating “Russiaphobes only”.
Antiwar candidates can be elected, but if they are elected, just like Trump they’ll be fighting the MSM and civil service and intelligence deep state every day of their political lives, which does not make for a very nice way of life for those politicians’ families. This is why a majority of congress must also be real anti-war so that they can support each other as a bloc against the unelected deep state.
Present reality is that politicians are selected by voters every two or four years. None of these politicians are going to change absolutely anything about the election system or rules of campaign financing (bribery). Therefore, to stop the MIC and change the US’s war-based economy, antiwar candidates must somehow get elected within that very same system. If that does not happen, the US is doomed to suffer financial or nuclear destruction.
(Furthermore, if the US cannot develop an economic system that does not absolutely depend upon perpetual population/economic growth, humanity will certainly suffer an environmental disaster. IMO, designing and implementing such an alternative economic system will be far more difficult than getting antiwar POTUS and congress people elected, which is really saying something. When people cannot even agree upon the meanings of words as a vitally necessary first step, this may simply be a bridge too far for the supposedly most intelligent species on the planet.)
Again, for the present moment, here in reality-land, at least the number of voters who voted for Agent Orange have to somehow be enticed into voting for an anti-war candidate for POTUS and a majority of anti-war candidates running for seats in the legislative branch. That is the one and the only way that the MIC is going to go away.
How do antiwar candidates “entice” millions of voters all across the 50 United In Warfare States Of America, who make their living in the MIC or its spin-offs, into voting for these anti-war candidates? That is the question, not whether “to be or not to be?” If those candidates can not be elected, the US, and perhaps all the other nations of the world, are not going “to be” for much longer.
To entice those MIC etc. voters, those anti-war candidates are going to have to promise that if they are elected they are going to maintain the present DoD contract system, so that these millions of voters will not lose their jobs; but their jobs will be to produce all the great things that will improve the lives of all their fellow citizens. And by “improve” I mean that instead of making military aircraft that will in a few years end up sitting in a bone yard, they will make, for just a few examples, wind turbines, solar panels, bullet trains, etc. The services or electric power from these devices would not be “free”, just as the weapon systems of today are not free.
Which would millions of voters enjoy more, the benefit they receive from weapon systems, or electric power, a trip across the country in an electric-powered bullet train, etc.? How would millions of voters feel about the US becoming energy independent in very few years of spending under a slightly-altered DoD contract system?
If I were an anti-war candidate, I would propose to millions of voters that the nation create another “Liberty Ship” program (again, under the existing DoD contract system). Liberty Ships were the workhorses of World War II. They were built in 13 states by 15 companies in 18 shipyards. The first of 2,710 Liberty ships, the SS Patrick Henry, was launched in September 1941, after 150 days of construction. (The shipyard was built at the same time as the ship.) Under this highly automated ship-building system, the SS Robert E. Peary liberty ship was built in 4 Days 15 Hours 29 Minutes.
These were not small boats, not by a long shot. Here are some specifications.
Displacement: 14,245 long tons (14,474 t)[2]
Length: 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam: 56 ft 10.75 in (17.3 m)
Draft: 27 ft 9.25 in (8.5 m)
Propulsion: Two oil-fired boilers; triple-expansion steam engine; single screw, 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Range: 20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi)
Capacity: 10,856 t (10,685 long tons)
Again, in just a few years of assembly-line development, one of these vessels was assembled in only 4 Days 15 Hours 29 Minutes. Imagine such an assembly line system for relatively simple wind turbines, bullet trains, vehicles of all types, etc.
This is what anti-war candidates have to promise those millions of voters in the MIC in order to capture their votes. This is precisely what Gabbard and other anti-war candidates have to start proposing today, not 6 months down the road. If she were to do this today, she would start a firestorm of a debate, which is precisely what is needed to shake up the present arrangement. Does she have the intellectual wherewithal and “courage” to do this? We will soon find out, but I suspect that she does not. Unless anti-war candidates specifically propose such a detailed transition from a war-based economy to one based upon peace, they will not be elected and the US MIC’s perpetual wars will go on until the nukes start dropping.
The above is the one and the only realistic, practical, politically acceptable way that humanity has a future. But will capitalists be as eager to increase the national debt for peace as they are for war?
Again, IMO, we are going to see and INTESIFICATION of the already-intense anti-Russian rhetoric which may lead to a rabid anti-Russian candidate being elected president. Maybe AO will become that balls-to-bones rabid anti-Russian candidate that the Deep State has always wanted him to be.
Of course Mr. Putin will be watching what transpires in the US. What is he going to do if he sees a rabid anti-Russian elected president – say one who promises to force Russia and China to “come to heel” by the even-more-aggressive use of the US military power? What would YOU do?
Americans’ choice is simple. Either somehow organize / design a peace-based economy, and that right soon, or suffer nuclear devastation.
no one’s suicidal, including the neoliberal Deep State. Israhell just lost its reason to exist, and will have to pack up and leave in the dark of the night. i presume the zionists will settle in Ukraine, their new colony / base to colonize Russia and Europe. at least that’s their mellennial plan, it seems.
I hope other countries open criminal proceedings against US leaders.
they don’t need no stinking legal proceedings to justify their actions against the US criminals.
Trump taking us into WWIII
I am aghast at what must be the most egregious and stupid action by an American President. Trump is totally manipulated by Israel who have been trying to start a war with Iran for years and to get the US to do their dirty work. Well, let me tell you Iran is no push-over. This may well start WWlll Trump must be insane and should be immediately relieved of his Presidency. Our country did not authorise this attack/assassination. General Qasem Sleimani (a national hero) was fighting ISIS and Al-Qaida and Trump/America/Israel couldn’t have someone destroying their proxy army. This is of course done along-side the Israeli’s Massad who are America’s real enemy. Israel has done nothing but invade and kill and is support by the US. I don’t blame Iran, Russia and China if they show no restraint over this.
America’s atrocities are mounting daily and yet the American people remain silent along with the Israeli and US/Israel MSM. It’s time now, before we cross the line into an all-out nuclear war, to rise-up and take our country back from Trump and these warmongering psychopaths.
no Trump is withdrawing the US military from Iraq, after allegedly killing THE general and declaring “i freed iraq and iran from the murderer”. hey, not a bad outcome for iraq and iran, as well as the US population, if you ask me. not a good outcome to Israhell, though.
Assuming Iraq “asks” the US to leave, does anyone seriously think it will?
Wasnt that the whole purpose of the drone strike, to start a war. Oh no, thats right. It was to keep me safe. Thats ok then.
The USA has been pushing the world towards war relentlessly for a long time now, so this stupid move should be no surprise for anyone awake. It’s only surprising that it has taken so long for it to come to a boil.
It is inexcusable that a clearly demented man such as Mr. Trump is allowed so much power to provoke a multi-national war. He needed to be removed long ago, even disregarding any criminal activity, just because of his diminished mental capacity.
Not that this would stop the US empire, but it might prevent some of the worst consequences. SOme of those folks in the Administration at least can think strategically.
Catch-22
The years-long coup against Trump by the Intelligence Community, MSM and Democrats decimated his administration. Many members resigned and/or were indicted.
To get his feet on steady ground he brought in some of the foulest of the foul.
He has moved in the direction of the Democrats who are total warmongers.
Hillary Clinton was certainly no alternative, she advocated WWIII right from stage. She said she would shoot down
the Russian planes over Syria. She said this multiple times over a long period of time.
(I vote Green Party)
Enough virtue signalling. Trump is no more or less demented than any other president holding the office in the last 50 years or more. The same action is just as likely if Hilary had been elected. In fact, given her extreme hostility toward Russia, we may have already seen mushroom clouds on the horizon ( anyone closer would not have seen anything). The problem isn’t which sociopath got elected. The problem is they are ALL sociopaths. Being insanely egocentric, sociopaths having no conscience, sympathy, or empathy will not hesitate to destroy the planet to protect their overblown egos.
If we are so lucky as to avoid full scale war, the Sociopaths In Charge have opened the door to their own assassination. I forget the name of the policy (not law) of NOT assassinating foreign leaders, but the gist of it is that if you assassinate them, they are justified assassinating you.
So you think someone saner like HRC would have kept us out of war.
How timely was Caitlin’s excellent observation a few days ago about that go-to criticism “Opposing Interventionism In Nation X Means You Love Nation X’s Government!” https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/12/27/opposing-interventionism-in-nation-x-means-you-love-nation-xs-government/
Observing that Mr. Trump is demented – in that he appears to suffer from a disease of the brain resulting in dementia – does not equate believing that the had Mrs. Clinton been installed as POTUS that she would not have taken the U.S. into further warfare in the region.
Zionists were co-perpetrators of the Holocaust.
Zionists tricked hundreds of thousands of their own onto the trains to Auschwitz.
Zionists were the trusted leaders in the Jewish community of Hungary.
The Zionists were working for the Nazis and told their people that they would be taken to
a place of safety. Hundreds of thousands trusted their leaders. The Nazis rewarded the treachery
and the Zionists were given passage to Palestine. These leaders became leaders in the new State of Israel.
The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that it was alright to have done this as the Jews of Hungary were not worth saving.
It was kicked upstairs to the Supreme Court as the first trial involved a leader in the Israeli government
and it failed miserably for the government.
first trial search: Halevi verdict Kastner 1955
link: http://www.fantompowa.net/Flame/judge_halevi.htm
We need a global mass-meditation for peace – RIGHT NOW. Otherwise, we’ll not make it to the middle of 2020.
Crying as I write this.
We need a GIGANTIC mass-meditation for peace – RIGHT NOW. Otherwise, we’ll not make it to the middle of 2020.
Crying as I write this.
Qassim Suleimani was Obi Wan Kenobi
http://www.johndayblog.com/2020/01/tortured-existence.html
Craig Murray has these relevant insights.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/01/the-terrifying-rise-of-the-zombie-state-narrative/amp/
Jesus said: “You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end (τελος, first means: fulfillment) is not yet.” (Matthew 24:6, HCSB) The global nuclear war, (this will be the fulfillment of the sign of Jesus), will start with an ethnic conflict: “For nation will rise against nation”, like as in 2008 in Georgia. (Matthew 24:7) This war will be a sign that Jesus’ announcements are beginning to come true. (Mark 13:4, 8, Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition)
Yay! Jesus!
Iran will issue bitter complaints and empty threats. Russia will carp and whine. China will do nothing. That’s all, folks.
You hope. Amazing how Amernazis believe they can always inflict harm in entire regions with impunity. The country is near bankruptcy and hated globally. And the interests of two countries that could kill every Amernazi in an afternoon are now engaged.
Russia and China will certainly not get directly involved in the fighting, but they will provide Iran with military aid and weapons. Does that count?
Pompeo The Pyscho has tweeted several times that the United States… “is committed to de-escalation”.
After their insane provocation of assassinating Soleimani.
Seriously…. What the fuck!? And of course the Empire’s puppets are lining up to express agreement with today’s criminal act of this rogue state.
As if they would disobey their master.
We are living in the world of “Newspeak” (war is peace) it is important to watch what they do, not what they say.
Here is a thought: could it be that Trump is intent on pulling OUT of Iraq and using this as a pretext?
A. The Iraqi Government will now ask the US to leave Iraq
B. The US does not have the resources to sustain a long term force in Iraq without a full-scale re-invasion (forget the 750 paratroopers and 4,000 other troops – they are a tiny force), and I can’t see the US embassy in the Green Zone becoming a new Alamo (it would hardly be an election winner for Trump)
Maybe packing up now after a period of parleying with ‘the good guys’ is the plan?
The Iranians are not known for their stupidity. No doubt they will respond in their own good time with the correct degree of plausible deniability.
They just sent the entire 82nd Airborne, enroute!
Watch the Narratives please. The following is paraphrased from the pages of this blog:
Who do you know that repeatedly spins narratives about the inherent evil of the United States, or the kind of persons running the United States foreign policy?
Most of us have at least one strong narrative manipulator in our circle somewhere; media, blogs, newspapers, religious leaders, politicians etc. . You can spot them by how much energy they pour into manufacturing a consensus about someone in their circle, including themselves; working to spin narratives about themselves that make them look good (smart or right), or narratives about someone else to make them look bad (evil or racist).
Lets not begin the Narrative with Iran on the moral high ground.
@David McVey: “…the kind of persons running the United States foreign policy…” is perfectly evident from the nature of their heinous crimes and epic lacks of compassion or good sense. They, in their infinite wisdom, are the ones who have, at this crucial moment, put Iran on the moral high ground.
A related article in the Military Times manages to blame the attack on a US helicopter air strike on the one hand and then Katyusha rockets (Russian) truck mounted on the other. It further reports the target as the figure central to Syria and Russia’s defeat of ISIS and Al-Quada who has been reported dead several times before. His body was blown to bits but he was identified by his ring… this smells more fishy than late Friday at the market these days.
Correction, Article was posted in Military.com
The US-American Terrorist Forces killed General Qasem Soleimani. This act of state-run terrorism should bear severe consequences for the US Occupation Forces all around the Middle East. It was a stupid decision by President Donald Trump, which will be carried by the ordinary US military men and women. Not Iran is the so-called main sponsor of terrorism around the Middle East but the US, not to forget Israel. In the upcoming US war against Iran, Russia and China must support Iran by any means.
Oh, so it turns out the U.S. really is The Great Satan! The Iranians knew it all along. Americans were too smug in their programmed patriotism to even dream that the Iranians were right. Trump is just an arrogant puppet serving the forces of evil that pull his strings. It has never been the will of the American people to go around assassinating foreign leaders and invading/looting their countries. That is the will of the ruling sociopaths, the hidden puppet masters of the U.S. and the world. The real enemy is not the Iranians or the Chinese or the Russians. The real enemy of humanity is a small group of organized sociopaths that control the money system of the planet. In 1849, Gutle Schnaper, Mayer Amschel Rothschild’s wife died. Before her death she would nonchalantly state, “If my sons did not want wars, there would be none.” It’s clear from the last 170 years of history that not only did her sons want wars, but so did her grandsons and their line of descendants. For these inhuman parasites, war is simply good business, and they don’t care how many millions have to die for them to maintain their power and control. Instead of being tricked to war against each other, we should war against these monsters and finally free humanity from their iron grip.
Right on.
The Gentle Art of Blessing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX5fEQ1_tP4
I hope this can be some kind of antidote to the poison spread by this insane empire. Maybe it can be the seed of peace, awakened by our tears of despair……… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BkT6-CDIjw
My sole prediction for 2020 was a war between the United States and Iran by January 25, 2020. On a balance sheet it might look like ” no contest “; after all the United States ( and Israel ) are equipped with nuclear weapons and Iran is not. United States forces and ” interests ” are spread out over our entire planet therefor targets are everywhere. If the Russians or the Chinese station troops inside of Iran the nuclear option comes off of the table. The prospect for ” peace ” does not look good at all.
*Like to this article (thank you Caitlin) and all the previous comments – it is encouraging to know that people are awake.
It appears that ISIS has a new Commander in Chief, Abu Bakr al-Trump. I can’t wait for Q to tell us that arrests are coming SOON!
Perhaps, it is an ominous sign of the times, but #World War 3 is now trending in a big way on Twitter.
This might be more about America’s domestic politics- Trump can’t win the next election without Florida, and he can’t get Florida unless he looks like he’s defeating Iran and Venezuela. As the old joke goes, when America sneezes the world catches cold.
Florida is home to lots and lots of upper rank jews and various jew crime syndicates. Unless Stoopid Donald gives these fine folks succor, he won’t win Florida. Just that simple, the jews own the idiot Donald.
Jews aren’t the problem, and bigotry isn’t the solution.
Certain individual jews with certain high non-american priorities do own Donald Trump, and that is a big problem. You can’t prevent the truth from being what it is.
You could not get a more deranged act.
Right now, the entire Middle East is on the brink of being engulfed in a cataclysmic war.
I found out about this madness a few hours ago, and am still dumbfounded that the United States has assassinated Soleimani.
And then publically admitted this outrageous crime.
And thank you for mentioning Israel, who are right up to their necks in all this.
Netanyahu has been absolutely gagging for all out war with Iran for years.
He’ll now almost certainly get his wish.
Your assessment on this is correct Caitlin, as are the thoughts of Rania Khalek, Farnaz Fassihi and others.
This is potentially the beginning of WW3..
I doubt this is a coincidence:
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/fuel-deal-between-trump-and-australia-secures-crucial-backing-20191223-p53mbe.html
We’re looking at history repeating itself.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/hirohito-1
Replace Hirohito with Trump; Israel for Germany; Iraq for Hawaii ( remember, Hawaii was not yet a US State in 1941); Baghdad Airport for Pearl Harbor; etc.
Oh yeah, I left out the Asian neighbors bit.
Replace that with Latin American neighbors.
WW-ll = WW-lll
My apologies to descendants of the Hirohito family for comparing Trump to the emporor.
Sorry..
Other echoes: Far more potent and emotionally devastating for million than the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria that was the proximate cause of WWI.
this may not ignite a full on WWIII with China and Russia, but it will definitely excelerate the speed of a clear split between two camps, the US-UK-Israhell and the China-Russia-Iran in all aspects from military, economic, financial, cultural activities.
many local struggles around the world will intensify, positions will harden on both sides, and EU and middle east will have to take a side. mind you, 85% of the Jordanian population are anti-america. don’t even ask about other countries.
with this criminal act, Trump can kiss goodbye re-election but also say hello to his new residency in some federal prison, as nobody will come to his defense no matter what.
or maybe that was the whole goal of the zionist ghouls that have had a gun to his head all along.
Trump’s re-election tactics always seemed insane and doomed to fail. It made no sense for a horribly unpopular politician to always play to his Qanon crazy base while alienating the majority of voters. In a real election, that only leads to Trump getting clobbered on Election Day.
So, instead he appears to have decided to go for the Dubya Dubya Dubya style of War President campaign.
But, the people around him aren’t smart enough to realize that being an unpopular leader in wartime is a very unstable position. Especially when also seen as incompetent.
I seem to remember a Russian Czar who tried that about a 100 years ago. It doesn’t always end well for the leader, but the Russian peasants got fed for awhile and got rid of their oligarchs for awhile.
naw, the democrats will support it, 2 versions of the same warmongers. the democrats just want to impeach him over something they wouldn’t do. the warmongers are going to find a way to embroil us in a major war, the fucking idiots think they are invulnerable.
This kind of human behavior begins at school, when children are encouraged to compete with each other instead of co-operating with each other. At a very early age we are indoctrinated with the winners/losers bullshit, encouraging us to strive to be “better” than our friends.
The very concept of “winning a war with Iran” is absolutely obscene. It is time for the ordinary people to remove the comfy chairs from under the fat backsides of the psychopaths who have dared to rule over us and place the monsters into secure rehabilitation centers. A heavy dose of fluoride and about 300 vaccinations for each of them should suffice.
This outrageous and criminal act of cold-blooded murder of the courageous General Soleimani by the jackals of the US military-industrial war mongers, apparently under the direction of
dominionist Mike Pompeo, is a blatant provocation and an invitation to a major war.
The man who fought ISIS so valiantly, and who actually participated in the field, (unlike the cowardly generals of the USA, who sit safely in the US directing their criminal destruction of entire societies and peoples), will be missed by all people on Earth who value decency and courage. And the drone killing is equivalent to shooting a man in the back, an act of extreme treachery and cowardice.
Iran has every right to shut down the Strait of Hormutz. Americans who enthusiastically applaud the death and destruction done in their names, by their military, should pay for this disgusting act of the cold-blooded murderers who rampage around the world, killing hope and destroying societies, in the name of the United States of America.
Brava. Well said. This is horrifying. I do believe this shows that Trump has finally caved to the deep state, if he didn’t months ago.
Call me an “anti-semite” because that is what you have been programmed to do, I didn’t say this; ‘” that Adelson’s “central value” is Israel”.I just hope you did not miss it. You are deluding yourself if you think within all the dual passport holders out there in our Gov. and media that Adelson is the only one whose, “central value is Israel”, not America – Israel
I once saw Hilary on live TV say that she would always do what’s ‘right’ for the Apartheid state even if it harmed USSA
Adelson is considered by American Intelligence to be a foreign agent of Israel and is considered untrustworthy by them. Yet this single person is the largest contributor to the Republican Party. He essentially bought them. Whatever they do, you can be assured it is approved by their owner. Robert Mercer is another one. He and his daughter Rebecca single handedly resurrected Trump’s faltering campaign and moved in their people to assure his win. Yet the MSM constantly points to Russia. It is way past time to take a closer look at the people behind the curtain that are turning the world into a nightmare.
Good info. Then there is Saban and the Koch brothers. Imagine if Russian citizens where in the positions of power and authority and in the exceeding numbers that many Israeli citizens are. I just think it will be way too late when Americans figure it out.
I’ve got nothing very wise or well informed to say.
I think we all hold our breath now, as everyone did for 2 weeks when I was 12, during the so-called Cuban Missile Crisis – for the incredible maturity & genuine love for life & humanity that exists outside the insane, evil realm of the US & its allies – to save us all, again.
Arohanui, solidarity with the workers of the world, from Aotearoa/NZ.
For the children of the future xxxxx
Interesting mention, in that I’ve been reading Daniel Ellsberg insider account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was in the middle of it as a RAND consultant in the top of the DOD. He points out that both Kennedy and Khrushchev had both deliberately decided not to push that crisis to the brink, and yet it came so very, very near to a disaster that neither leader wanted or even wanted to risk. So close that in the heat of the moment, an order to fire nuclear weapons had to be countermanded at the last instant.
This time we get to do it with a narcissistic megalomaniac as President who’s top foreign adviser is a religious nut who talks a lot about the Rapture after they reach the glories of Armageddon. And to be honest, an entire USA power structure that seems to have been denuded of all talent and brains as it seems to be a rule of fascism that the no-talent grifters end up in power and everyone else is either dead or exiled.
The book is “The Doomsday Machine” by Daniel Ellsberg
… for those looking for reading materials while sitting in the deck chairs of the Titanic.
For those too young to remember, Ellsberg was the Snowden of his day when he leaked the Pentagon Papers exposing the lies of the Vietnam War. He was being tried for Treason, on President Nixon’s orders, when it was disclosed that Nixon’s black-bag thugs had broken into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office and stolen notes then shared them with the prosecution. Back then America still had a few shreds of integrity, so that was enough prosecutorial misconduct to get the charges thrown out and for Ellsberg to avoid decades in prison as a political prisoner who dared to tell the truth.
there was no need for kennedy to initiate the crisis in the first place. russia was trying to put some missles in cuba to counter the us missles in turkey, result strategically even. kennedy was trying to maintain the u.s. edge, instead of removing the turkey missles (which he did eventually anyway). he should have either removed them immediately or negotiated immediately.
Trauma keeps on repeating, a toxic psychosis of abuse driven toward violence and planetary destruction. Very saddening to see, though surprised it didn’t happen before with Bolton in. Thanks for keeping us updated Caitlin! And I am with Bruce, let’s stay in contact with Peace, the work of love and connection continues, even as the violence escalates.
We all have a side in this: Defend Iran! Down with US imperialism! Any defeat for US imperialism helps the oppressed all round the world, including in the US!
BDS the enemy, and we all know who and what our enemy is.
Happy New Year, Earth. Please, everyone, stay in contact with your center of Peace within.