Not only are the architects of The War On Iraq regularly hailed as Serious Thinkers and Hard-Headed Foreign Policy Experts, even though precisely none of the rosy scenarios they publicly predicted came to pass, those who dared oppose the war were cast into Outer Darkness, even though the war was more disastrous than anyone foretold.
I feel that anyone responding or adding to the facts outlined in Caitlin’s articles by adding other comments in support of Caitlin’s main theme, needs to be a stoic. So I'm a stoic.
The Iraq war, millions killed, now a “mistake”. It was not a mistake as Caitlin has said. A planned mass murder. But Bush, Cheney and the Israeli Neocon brigade are still walking free. No trials.
(Julian Assange however, locked up in London)
The same could apply to Korea, yet another US “failure” with 24,000 US troops still there on the border for their own purposes, of course. Convenient as yet another US base as well.
Vietnam, another mistake where the US, the world’s #1 bully boy retreated hurriedly to avoid a glaring defeat, leaving that country in the hands of their enemy, the Vietnamese, the limp US tail once again between its legs. Remember Laos and Cambodia? Still killing children today.
Then comes Iraq. Now officially titled “a mistake” but the unwelcome US still there on the ground of a country wrecked by the US military. Yet another ongoing military presence. (Yes, they have lots of oil)
Then the most recent, the Afghanistan humiliating retreat. Perhaps another “mistake” , another tail between the legs episode and showing in no uncertain terms the character of the USA. But the CIA’s drug empire made billions for the USA. All good for US profits
Now let’s compare China’s “mistakes”. ( Research notes must have been lost. Nothing listed). Sorry.
So let us talk about the International Criminal Court who have investigated or are investigating Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Darfur, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Libya, Uganda, Bangladesh/Myanmar, Palestine and Venezuela. Why no mention of the USA, the world’s #1 criminal. This is also the case with the lack of action by the United Nations following its 55 years of ignoring the world’s greatest apartheid regime. Israel. Why? The UN is a toothless USA theatrical club and it shows daily by its total subservience to the dictates of the USA, a country where Israel absolutely controls both houses of its government, which makes the outcomes predictable as they have been for so long. Ask any Palestinian. Ask Libya, now a failed state, and on, and on.
What does that indicate to even a five year old school child. The USA has not committed any crimes. Therefore Clinton’s “we came, we saw, he died” efforts in Libya was a mirage, the oil rich countries that have felt US efforts for government overthrow, regime changes and plain bloody murder such as Chile, Venezuela, Syria (still there stealing oil), Iraq (still there stealing oil) Libya ( ripping out and controlling oil there as well), interference in almost all South American countries. All crimes not worthy of a UN mention or ICC action?
The whole "management” of the world’s affairs is something of a sick, hypocritical joke.
A US playground, 20 million deaths to their credit since 1945. Always looking for more.
Surely the decent people in the world, yes, those in the USA as well, will see the writing on the wall. Clearly, with Israel (400+ nuclear weapons) as the local partner, the Middle East is the exceptional USA’s long term target. It is not Anglo, not Christian in the main, is not what the US considers to be ‘White’, nor a Western culture. Where have the problems been, and are now…..Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan (surrounded), Turkey, Yemen and with great quantity of oil, Saudi Arabia. All on the agenda, some on the way already.
Remember, those middle eastern targets have 64% of the world’s oil reserves. USA and Israel, totalling just 2.2% Relevant?
No wars on US soil, or UK, or France, in all the US controlled European stooges and NATO puppets, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. So what is left to conquer for the Anglos? ASIA, after they finish off the Middle East by “mistakes” such as wars, planning already well on the way with AUKUS…….made up of the USA, the UK and little Australia, tagging along at a cost of 300 billion dollars.
$12,000 per head of population in Australia, men, women and children.
So for the future, it is sanctions, economic starvation, regime changes, assassinations and wars by the USA.. No one does it better, while the rest of the world (except China and Russia) , sits by and watches ........and while the whoring press sings America’s praises every day.
😎. Awesome. Thank you for this horrifying summary. The planet needs to unplug the US mil-ind complex and the foreign and domestic special interests running the show.
Agree, the architects of our 21st century wars and those that implemented them are still held in high regard and not seen as the murderous bastards they really are. They pushed a long held agenda planned in the early 1990's just waiting for a 9/11 to pull it off. Anyone who doubts this should listen to Weslie Clark, You-tube: "Gen Wesley Clark Reveals US Plan To Invade Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Lybia." They rationalize the horror they created, the people they killed, and somehow are able to live with themselves. Just think of Cheney who is a primary signatory on the Project for a New American Century who pushed for the war in Iraq, orchestrated it, yet gets paraded around the Jan 6 comm by his daughter and continues to be held in esteem while we're targeting Trump for the Jan 6 riot. Yeah, nothing like a scapegoat to divert attention away from the horrors we implemented in the 21st century. Focus your ire on Trump, hate him, and let everyone else slip away unscathed. A perfect scapegoat used by many. He was in no way perfect, and implemented policies one could truly challenge, but he was, and in many ways continues to be our scapegoat. He continues to be used in that way by the democrats, although indirectly, as was demonstrated when Taibbi came before them to give his findings on the Twitter files which showed that Twitter, Facebook Google etc, were taking orders from the FBI, the CIA, the democrats etc, that is, "The news media became an arm of a state-sponsored thought-policing system", Taibbi. said. He took a lot of loathsome flack from the democrats that day. One of the orders Twitter took was to push the lie that Biden's son's lap top was nothing more then Russian disinformation, since they wanted a Biden win, and maybe they thought they deserved it after pushing the lie of Russia-gate for four long years which continues to this day.
Are you capable of commenting, ever, without looping the nasty Democrats persecuting Trump refrain? Seriously, it’s become a running gag on Caitlin’s blog. It isn’t that you’re wrong, it’s just that it’s a known, digested story, but you seem to want to argue that he’s a viable alternative for peaceniks who want their country back. Are you aware that this current run on banks is a direct result of your guy weakening the laws that were drafted in 2009 to prevent a repeat of the near global economic depression in 2008? He’s a human toxin. He loves oligarchs and hates the poor. He is presently campaigning for the 2024 Republican nomination by promising to cease aid to Ukraine and politically destroying the neocons. The only reason he probably won’t win is because he’s a notorious liar.
My commentary on Trump, or my position is a running gag on Caitlain's site? Well, I'll be damned, thanks for telling, maybe I'll pay attention to it sometime. Or maybe not because who gives a shit. Sure lets blame him for the Banks, and if that's the case the democrats supported him on that one. Well, I did defend him when they said he was an illegitimate president because the Russians put him in office, you know Russia-gate, and I was right on that count. I defended him when they said he sent some hookers over to a hotel room in Russia where Obama and his wife slept and paid them to piss on their bed. I never believed that, and I was right, and he never did that. Did you believe it, because it's so stupid. I thought that what they are calling an insurrection wasn't an insurrection, but a riot and Glen Greenwald agrees. It was a riot, and I don't think he told them to do that. Go prove that he did, but you can't use the mainstream media as proof. Guess why? He didn't lie us into any new wars and Caitlan is talking about the Iraq war which was based on lies, lies Biden even sold to his fellow democrats in the Senate. Then he said when there were no weapons found, he just took George at his word. He forgot, I guess, he was pushing that war in the 1990's. Unwarranted you made a lot of unwarranted accusations and when you do that it makes an ass out of you. Now you would think someone like yourself might be more concerned about the lies pushed by Biden and those in his administration who has us on the brink of a possible nuclear war, remember Trump wanted to get along with Russia, but they wouldn't let him.
They only work because the average person is completely brain dead, minds rotted out by “social media” and mainstream media manipulation- and believes everything they are told.
What continues to amaze me is that people fall for it, over and over again.
Told a mrówka the other day "Think how many times US intelligence has told flat out conscious lies in recent years? So why should you believe them when they tell an obviously bullshit story about the Nordstream destruction?"
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. If you realize that you are ruled by sociopaths, then you have to make hard choices, choices which can lead to very serious consequences, especially considering your relative lack of personal power.
If you go with the flow, you can avoid those consequences for the time being.
Franz Fanon's teachings on cognitive dissonance also come to mind.
"... the average person is completely brain dead ..." - various considerations are always offered to try to explain it, often with implications that somehow it can be fixed.
My explanation is radical and all-encompassing - the humans are fundamentally flawed just as suggested by religions. They cannot "evolve". And the fact has been so acknowledged by the rulers that they no longer pretend to care about hiding the fact they openly manipulate the populace. They don't need to. With the fall of religions there is no longer any internal moral mechanism for the people to keep themselves in check and they've been turned loose, "freed".
With disastrous results as can be observed by anyone who's not blind.
As I said, in my opinion we are "evolved" enough to manage our destiny as a unified group. But we chose and continue to choose the wrong system, the one which enables the exploitive to exploit us. Then, because the system's propaganda is all about bootstraps, and the "dignity" of not taking handouts - which in fact is our own money, we get involved in situations, like marriage and children, mortgages and bank accounts, which dispose us to being "in denial": we are reluctant to take chances, and want to believe things might - will get better- when that is very doubtful. So we are trapped by our humanity - in an inhuman system.
No, usually it's the religion in concert with the powerful, that "flaws" them - as in Bush's interpretation of and use of The Divine. Every species is born with the capability of sustaining itself, and we are no different. We are ruled by a small number of assholes, and can't extricate ourselves. That is the entire problem.
Bush or any other politician are not an authority on religions. Neither is the church. Priests et al are people too and subject to all the flaws just like the rest of us. Well, I guess catholics consider their Pope to be someone divine but that's their problem. To the others he's just a man. No more no less.
So the perversions and malicious applications of religion are misdeeds of the people once again.
And to your "We are ruled by a small number of assholes, and can't extricate ourselves." I can only ask - why? My explanation is in the original reply. Yours must be different. Eager to hear it. Attempted for the millionth time throughout the centuries, I'd guess.
Are priests and vicars "authorities on religion", Yes, by definition: they made it up. Alll religions have them, always did. But they are not authorities on God , either as a personage, or as the concept of the "highest good." That is something for human beings themselves to decide, democratically.
Why are we ruled by a small number of assholes? Because they originally took over by force: they are not held back by conscience. Once a power/wealth structure is established, it runs pretty much on its own. There is no new money, just recycled and enhanced old money. People have always known they were being screwed: history is full of evidence. Seventy thousand slaves rebelled under Spartacus, knowing the consequences if caught. Citizens have challenged their governments at the risk of horrible torture and death.
People do know better and object to injustice constantly, unless they are on the winning end.
of course propaganda is a big factor- especially concerning war, and the men who are gang-pressed to fight. It has to do with false, flattering concepts of "honour" and "manliness". It has to do with "divide and rule."
"That is something for human beings themselves to decide, democratically." - that's what's been happening through the ages and it's called sects. Of all kinds, "values", you name it. "Democratic" too.
And so here we are - evolved per your opinion - yet completely hapless and sheep-like. Some evolution!
We don't have democracy, and never did. Sect leaders are hardly democratic. Where did you get that idea ? Calling something "democratic". doesn't make it so. It's magic.
You can't expect ordinary people to think radically. Thinking radically is hard in itself, and in any case those who do it will be punished, because the most important thing in our social order when it is in trouble is loyalty and submission to the tribe and its leaders, in other words, the Führerprinzip. It's not very reasonable to blame behaviors going back many millennia on modern social or mainstream media.
I'm an "ordinary person" that thinks "radically" in your view. If I can do it, anyone can do it. That's the problem--we allow the "divide and conquer" philosophy into leftist thinking. We become elitist-leftists and tell ourselves, "I'm smarter than those stupid rednecks who didn't vote to install a union." No, we are not. We are all human beings capable of learning concepts that can free us and make the world more egalitarian and peaceful. I'm sure Caitlin and Tim would agree.
The Iraq invasion was calculated and deliberate, and the reason for it is clearly stated in the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) published in September of 2000: "This report proceeds from the belief that America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces."
The Iraq War was not a mistake. It was a premeditated crime, whose perpetrators have become increasingly bold and influential. In a just world, they would be in prison, where they could no longer poison US foreign policy and public discourse. But they are free, respected and prosperous. That’s the very opposite of just.
"The Iraq War was not a "mistake". ... Someone who makes a "mistake" doesn't get everything they always wanted as a result and suffer zero consequences for the damage it caused. That's what happens to someone who took a deliberate, calculated action in their own interests."
Good point, Caitlin! Too many elitists use the "I'm sorry I made a mistake," line to handle PR disasters and make themselves look like fallen saints. In reality, they're just saying, "I'm sorry I got caught red-handed doing evil sh*t and hurting people. Here's some propaganda b.s. to confuse you and make you feel kind/sorry towards me." It's time to expose the liars, cheaters, and outright criminal minds. Unless you take responsibility for your crimes, you are NOT "sorry" and don't deserve to be let off the hook. You deserve to be sent to the ICC, judged and jailed. #EatTheWarCriminals
As you point out, Biden, the serial plagiarist, was Chmn of Senate Foreign Affairs and so a key cheerleader and enabler of the invasion of Iraq. And in gratitude he’s elected President, clearly because he would do what he was told. And his Senate whip for the invasion, Blinken, is now Sec of State. Vicki Nuland, the silver-tongued and forked-tongued diplomatic ( ‘Fuck the EU ‘) puppeteer of the regime change in Ukraine, is now America’s ~most senior diplomat . Known widely as the “war witch” she brooms her way (thx Matt) around, bullying Asian countries to sign up for mayhem.
Benjamin Franklin and the other pillars of American success are turning in their grave. The present farcical faux democracy is enough to wake any dead with decency and conscience. Ben vigorously and presciently campaigned against the bald eagle being made national bird, citing its bad moral character and propensity to rob and steal the work of other birds. Was he right about everything? Pretty much.
I love your writing and your political take on things.
My thoughts on the gulf war are many, sometimes conflicting. I forgot any thoughts of military action in Iraq being positive the day of the invasion when we opened the war by bombing two residential sections of Baghdad, supposedly based on "wrong intelligence". It seemed like pure terrorism to me. Then there was the thoughtless destruction and vandalism of antiquities, and the driving of the Sunnis into a guerilla movement. We did all the wrong things and turned the invasion into a total "kick the anthill" to destabilized what is a very barbaric area of the world.
Similiar thing for Afghanistan. I was one who followed Afghanistan well before 9-11, when women's groups were actually calling for military action to remove the Taliban because of their backwards low-tech totalitarian misogynistic regime. I don't think we were aggressive enough there.
To me this war with Russia and China is wrong, and destructive to the entire planet - we have to learn to get along, but the Middle East and North Korea are places where we should be cooperating.
The hard part for anyone, is drawing the line as when military force is OK, and when it is not. It's seemingly impossible for any country to be united in any such decision, and what drives us all crazy are the things going on in our names that we have no knowledge of or control over.
But the fascist pattern has always been stronger and before the democratic push-back. The pattern of a vicious elite pushing everyone away from the bounty of nature's resources, and then selling them back in an arbirage exchange for only their bare minimal lives. That is where fascism leads.
I have a newsletter called "THE GREAT AWAKENING" which central point of discussion is how humanity is rushing toward annihilation and how we can ensure our survival on this planet.
We have many problems at hand - overpopulation, climate crisis, nuclear threat, animal cruelty, etc. We are creating hell on this beautiful planet and the reason is not this or that political party or economic system. The most fundamental reason is our current relationship with thought; our ego; our false sense of "I." That's the root.
Apart from talking about all these crises, all the propaganda we go through, we will also talk about spirituality (not in today' sense) because only that can transcend humanity into being a more conscious species.
I’d like to believe it’s all incompetence. We mistakenly allowed multiple commercial planes to be hijacked & flown into buildings. We lucked out getting a video of Bin Laden confessing & realized what a mistake we made to train & arm his army and befriend his rich family. Then we goofed when we buried him, the most wanted man in the western world, in the ocean without objective proof. Trump totally messed up when he constantly ran his mouth about the swamp, then hired them all. What a mistake. Then he mistakenly riled up his base of naive Americans enough to show up for him to protest election mistakes. Then the Capitol police mistakenly allowed crowds to flow in and others to wreak havoc & vandalize the building. The was a dumb mistake to not secure the building knowing the emotion around it...its like the dems, repubs, & trump all made mistakes together! All these people making these mistakes were mistakenly found going to Epstein island. What a mistake to be that guys friend. Then the bumbling prison guards forgot to get a goods nights sleep & check the cameras & Epstein accidentally fell off his bed while snuggling his blanket around his neck. It was a mistake to sign the Minsk agreement. Good thing we crossed our fingers. Business is booming. Except everything now costs more, so we kind of made a boo boo printing too much money. Now we can’t raise interest rates because all our regional banks will fail & need to consolidate. Oopsy. Uhg. So many mistakes.
Compare with the recent ICC indictment of V.V. Putin. The indictment is obviously not enforceable, but is intended to send a message that the West will continue to double down with regard to the War On Ukraine.
That the indictment focuses on the charge of taking children from a war zone seems bizarre at first, but this charge was chosen specifically because the Bush, Cheney or Blair could not be readily accused of doing anything similar, thus attempting to sidestep the obvious question why the ICC indicts Putin ignores the far worse crimes committed by the perpetrators of the War On Iraq.
"the West will continue to double down" - more and more overwhelming confirmation on this point. Since the first - I believe Polish around March 2022 - supply of the weapons out in the open that's been my impression. We are heading towards nuclear. The populace doesn't seem to mind.
It still is a wonder that so many psychopaths were able to accumulate in government at the highest levels over a substantial period of time, creating the perfect storm of corruption and malevolence It's also amazing how such a relatively small group of people (relative to the rest of us) can do so much damage and cause so much carnage and still be able to live with themselves. I know that's what psychopaths do, but it still is frightful and depressing to watch them do it, and get away with it.
Not only are the architects of The War On Iraq regularly hailed as Serious Thinkers and Hard-Headed Foreign Policy Experts, even though precisely none of the rosy scenarios they publicly predicted came to pass, those who dared oppose the war were cast into Outer Darkness, even though the war was more disastrous than anyone foretold.
I feel that anyone responding or adding to the facts outlined in Caitlin’s articles by adding other comments in support of Caitlin’s main theme, needs to be a stoic. So I'm a stoic.
The Iraq war, millions killed, now a “mistake”. It was not a mistake as Caitlin has said. A planned mass murder. But Bush, Cheney and the Israeli Neocon brigade are still walking free. No trials.
(Julian Assange however, locked up in London)
The same could apply to Korea, yet another US “failure” with 24,000 US troops still there on the border for their own purposes, of course. Convenient as yet another US base as well.
Vietnam, another mistake where the US, the world’s #1 bully boy retreated hurriedly to avoid a glaring defeat, leaving that country in the hands of their enemy, the Vietnamese, the limp US tail once again between its legs. Remember Laos and Cambodia? Still killing children today.
Then comes Iraq. Now officially titled “a mistake” but the unwelcome US still there on the ground of a country wrecked by the US military. Yet another ongoing military presence. (Yes, they have lots of oil)
Then the most recent, the Afghanistan humiliating retreat. Perhaps another “mistake” , another tail between the legs episode and showing in no uncertain terms the character of the USA. But the CIA’s drug empire made billions for the USA. All good for US profits
Now let’s compare China’s “mistakes”. ( Research notes must have been lost. Nothing listed). Sorry.
So let us talk about the International Criminal Court who have investigated or are investigating Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Darfur, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Libya, Uganda, Bangladesh/Myanmar, Palestine and Venezuela. Why no mention of the USA, the world’s #1 criminal. This is also the case with the lack of action by the United Nations following its 55 years of ignoring the world’s greatest apartheid regime. Israel. Why? The UN is a toothless USA theatrical club and it shows daily by its total subservience to the dictates of the USA, a country where Israel absolutely controls both houses of its government, which makes the outcomes predictable as they have been for so long. Ask any Palestinian. Ask Libya, now a failed state, and on, and on.
What does that indicate to even a five year old school child. The USA has not committed any crimes. Therefore Clinton’s “we came, we saw, he died” efforts in Libya was a mirage, the oil rich countries that have felt US efforts for government overthrow, regime changes and plain bloody murder such as Chile, Venezuela, Syria (still there stealing oil), Iraq (still there stealing oil) Libya ( ripping out and controlling oil there as well), interference in almost all South American countries. All crimes not worthy of a UN mention or ICC action?
The whole "management” of the world’s affairs is something of a sick, hypocritical joke.
A US playground, 20 million deaths to their credit since 1945. Always looking for more.
Surely the decent people in the world, yes, those in the USA as well, will see the writing on the wall. Clearly, with Israel (400+ nuclear weapons) as the local partner, the Middle East is the exceptional USA’s long term target. It is not Anglo, not Christian in the main, is not what the US considers to be ‘White’, nor a Western culture. Where have the problems been, and are now…..Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan (surrounded), Turkey, Yemen and with great quantity of oil, Saudi Arabia. All on the agenda, some on the way already.
Remember, those middle eastern targets have 64% of the world’s oil reserves. USA and Israel, totalling just 2.2% Relevant?
No wars on US soil, or UK, or France, in all the US controlled European stooges and NATO puppets, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. So what is left to conquer for the Anglos? ASIA, after they finish off the Middle East by “mistakes” such as wars, planning already well on the way with AUKUS…….made up of the USA, the UK and little Australia, tagging along at a cost of 300 billion dollars.
$12,000 per head of population in Australia, men, women and children.
So for the future, it is sanctions, economic starvation, regime changes, assassinations and wars by the USA.. No one does it better, while the rest of the world (except China and Russia) , sits by and watches ........and while the whoring press sings America’s praises every day.
That’s our future.
Superb comment.
😎. Awesome. Thank you for this horrifying summary. The planet needs to unplug the US mil-ind complex and the foreign and domestic special interests running the show.
Agree, the architects of our 21st century wars and those that implemented them are still held in high regard and not seen as the murderous bastards they really are. They pushed a long held agenda planned in the early 1990's just waiting for a 9/11 to pull it off. Anyone who doubts this should listen to Weslie Clark, You-tube: "Gen Wesley Clark Reveals US Plan To Invade Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Lybia." They rationalize the horror they created, the people they killed, and somehow are able to live with themselves. Just think of Cheney who is a primary signatory on the Project for a New American Century who pushed for the war in Iraq, orchestrated it, yet gets paraded around the Jan 6 comm by his daughter and continues to be held in esteem while we're targeting Trump for the Jan 6 riot. Yeah, nothing like a scapegoat to divert attention away from the horrors we implemented in the 21st century. Focus your ire on Trump, hate him, and let everyone else slip away unscathed. A perfect scapegoat used by many. He was in no way perfect, and implemented policies one could truly challenge, but he was, and in many ways continues to be our scapegoat. He continues to be used in that way by the democrats, although indirectly, as was demonstrated when Taibbi came before them to give his findings on the Twitter files which showed that Twitter, Facebook Google etc, were taking orders from the FBI, the CIA, the democrats etc, that is, "The news media became an arm of a state-sponsored thought-policing system", Taibbi. said. He took a lot of loathsome flack from the democrats that day. One of the orders Twitter took was to push the lie that Biden's son's lap top was nothing more then Russian disinformation, since they wanted a Biden win, and maybe they thought they deserved it after pushing the lie of Russia-gate for four long years which continues to this day.
Are you capable of commenting, ever, without looping the nasty Democrats persecuting Trump refrain? Seriously, it’s become a running gag on Caitlin’s blog. It isn’t that you’re wrong, it’s just that it’s a known, digested story, but you seem to want to argue that he’s a viable alternative for peaceniks who want their country back. Are you aware that this current run on banks is a direct result of your guy weakening the laws that were drafted in 2009 to prevent a repeat of the near global economic depression in 2008? He’s a human toxin. He loves oligarchs and hates the poor. He is presently campaigning for the 2024 Republican nomination by promising to cease aid to Ukraine and politically destroying the neocons. The only reason he probably won’t win is because he’s a notorious liar.
My commentary on Trump, or my position is a running gag on Caitlain's site? Well, I'll be damned, thanks for telling, maybe I'll pay attention to it sometime. Or maybe not because who gives a shit. Sure lets blame him for the Banks, and if that's the case the democrats supported him on that one. Well, I did defend him when they said he was an illegitimate president because the Russians put him in office, you know Russia-gate, and I was right on that count. I defended him when they said he sent some hookers over to a hotel room in Russia where Obama and his wife slept and paid them to piss on their bed. I never believed that, and I was right, and he never did that. Did you believe it, because it's so stupid. I thought that what they are calling an insurrection wasn't an insurrection, but a riot and Glen Greenwald agrees. It was a riot, and I don't think he told them to do that. Go prove that he did, but you can't use the mainstream media as proof. Guess why? He didn't lie us into any new wars and Caitlan is talking about the Iraq war which was based on lies, lies Biden even sold to his fellow democrats in the Senate. Then he said when there were no weapons found, he just took George at his word. He forgot, I guess, he was pushing that war in the 1990's. Unwarranted you made a lot of unwarranted accusations and when you do that it makes an ass out of you. Now you would think someone like yourself might be more concerned about the lies pushed by Biden and those in his administration who has us on the brink of a possible nuclear war, remember Trump wanted to get along with Russia, but they wouldn't let him.
These things are obviously lies and gaslighting.
They only work because the average person is completely brain dead, minds rotted out by “social media” and mainstream media manipulation- and believes everything they are told.
What continues to amaze me is that people fall for it, over and over again.
Told a mrówka the other day "Think how many times US intelligence has told flat out conscious lies in recent years? So why should you believe them when they tell an obviously bullshit story about the Nordstream destruction?"
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. If you realize that you are ruled by sociopaths, then you have to make hard choices, choices which can lead to very serious consequences, especially considering your relative lack of personal power.
If you go with the flow, you can avoid those consequences for the time being.
Franz Fanon's teachings on cognitive dissonance also come to mind.
"... the average person is completely brain dead ..." - various considerations are always offered to try to explain it, often with implications that somehow it can be fixed.
My explanation is radical and all-encompassing - the humans are fundamentally flawed just as suggested by religions. They cannot "evolve". And the fact has been so acknowledged by the rulers that they no longer pretend to care about hiding the fact they openly manipulate the populace. They don't need to. With the fall of religions there is no longer any internal moral mechanism for the people to keep themselves in check and they've been turned loose, "freed".
With disastrous results as can be observed by anyone who's not blind.
"... [peeps] cannot 'evolve'."
.
they made a pretty Decent try
anti-Masking anti-Vaxxing
Darwin was waiting in the
wings. the Herd Wants to
be thinned apparently
.
sadly they want Us
thinned out Considerably
as well . . . hmmm. how to Evolve
.
reverse
psychology?
triple projetions?
As I said, in my opinion we are "evolved" enough to manage our destiny as a unified group. But we chose and continue to choose the wrong system, the one which enables the exploitive to exploit us. Then, because the system's propaganda is all about bootstraps, and the "dignity" of not taking handouts - which in fact is our own money, we get involved in situations, like marriage and children, mortgages and bank accounts, which dispose us to being "in denial": we are reluctant to take chances, and want to believe things might - will get better- when that is very doubtful. So we are trapped by our humanity - in an inhuman system.
No, usually it's the religion in concert with the powerful, that "flaws" them - as in Bush's interpretation of and use of The Divine. Every species is born with the capability of sustaining itself, and we are no different. We are ruled by a small number of assholes, and can't extricate ourselves. That is the entire problem.
Bush or any other politician are not an authority on religions. Neither is the church. Priests et al are people too and subject to all the flaws just like the rest of us. Well, I guess catholics consider their Pope to be someone divine but that's their problem. To the others he's just a man. No more no less.
So the perversions and malicious applications of religion are misdeeds of the people once again.
And to your "We are ruled by a small number of assholes, and can't extricate ourselves." I can only ask - why? My explanation is in the original reply. Yours must be different. Eager to hear it. Attempted for the millionth time throughout the centuries, I'd guess.
Are priests and vicars "authorities on religion", Yes, by definition: they made it up. Alll religions have them, always did. But they are not authorities on God , either as a personage, or as the concept of the "highest good." That is something for human beings themselves to decide, democratically.
Why are we ruled by a small number of assholes? Because they originally took over by force: they are not held back by conscience. Once a power/wealth structure is established, it runs pretty much on its own. There is no new money, just recycled and enhanced old money. People have always known they were being screwed: history is full of evidence. Seventy thousand slaves rebelled under Spartacus, knowing the consequences if caught. Citizens have challenged their governments at the risk of horrible torture and death.
People do know better and object to injustice constantly, unless they are on the winning end.
of course propaganda is a big factor- especially concerning war, and the men who are gang-pressed to fight. It has to do with false, flattering concepts of "honour" and "manliness". It has to do with "divide and rule."
"That is something for human beings themselves to decide, democratically." - that's what's been happening through the ages and it's called sects. Of all kinds, "values", you name it. "Democratic" too.
And so here we are - evolved per your opinion - yet completely hapless and sheep-like. Some evolution!
We don't have democracy, and never did. Sect leaders are hardly democratic. Where did you get that idea ? Calling something "democratic". doesn't make it so. It's magic.
You can't expect ordinary people to think radically. Thinking radically is hard in itself, and in any case those who do it will be punished, because the most important thing in our social order when it is in trouble is loyalty and submission to the tribe and its leaders, in other words, the Führerprinzip. It's not very reasonable to blame behaviors going back many millennia on modern social or mainstream media.
I'm an "ordinary person" that thinks "radically" in your view. If I can do it, anyone can do it. That's the problem--we allow the "divide and conquer" philosophy into leftist thinking. We become elitist-leftists and tell ourselves, "I'm smarter than those stupid rednecks who didn't vote to install a union." No, we are not. We are all human beings capable of learning concepts that can free us and make the world more egalitarian and peaceful. I'm sure Caitlin and Tim would agree.
The Iraq invasion was calculated and deliberate, and the reason for it is clearly stated in the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) published in September of 2000: "This report proceeds from the belief that America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces."
our Mideast Excursions
cost Us TRILLION$ & yet
dick Cheney's Haliburton
Stock made him a Wealthy
Asshole. think what the Left
might do with a VP like good
ole dick Cheney. only Moral, obv.
.
kick our Ass right
Into the 21st Century
& OUTTA the Makers of
WMDs' bloody fucking hands.
KEEP ON FIGHTING CAITLIN!!!
The Iraq War was not a mistake. It was a premeditated crime, whose perpetrators have become increasingly bold and influential. In a just world, they would be in prison, where they could no longer poison US foreign policy and public discourse. But they are free, respected and prosperous. That’s the very opposite of just.
I believe it's Spain
has a Warrant out for the
Cheney/bush Administration folks
meaning the entire European Union
.
they never Did like
Olde Europe.
"The Iraq War was not a "mistake". ... Someone who makes a "mistake" doesn't get everything they always wanted as a result and suffer zero consequences for the damage it caused. That's what happens to someone who took a deliberate, calculated action in their own interests."
Good point, Caitlin! Too many elitists use the "I'm sorry I made a mistake," line to handle PR disasters and make themselves look like fallen saints. In reality, they're just saying, "I'm sorry I got caught red-handed doing evil sh*t and hurting people. Here's some propaganda b.s. to confuse you and make you feel kind/sorry towards me." It's time to expose the liars, cheaters, and outright criminal minds. Unless you take responsibility for your crimes, you are NOT "sorry" and don't deserve to be let off the hook. You deserve to be sent to the ICC, judged and jailed. #EatTheWarCriminals
As you point out, Biden, the serial plagiarist, was Chmn of Senate Foreign Affairs and so a key cheerleader and enabler of the invasion of Iraq. And in gratitude he’s elected President, clearly because he would do what he was told. And his Senate whip for the invasion, Blinken, is now Sec of State. Vicki Nuland, the silver-tongued and forked-tongued diplomatic ( ‘Fuck the EU ‘) puppeteer of the regime change in Ukraine, is now America’s ~most senior diplomat . Known widely as the “war witch” she brooms her way (thx Matt) around, bullying Asian countries to sign up for mayhem.
Benjamin Franklin and the other pillars of American success are turning in their grave. The present farcical faux democracy is enough to wake any dead with decency and conscience. Ben vigorously and presciently campaigned against the bald eagle being made national bird, citing its bad moral character and propensity to rob and steal the work of other birds. Was he right about everything? Pretty much.
See the international weasel Michael Steinhardt
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/michael-steinhardt-antiquities-stolen-artifacts.html
Right on Caitlin!
Foreign policy 'mistakes' are the gift that keeps on giving.
Bravo, Bush & Cheney are war criminals. I marched many a time against their illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq!
ah.
so You
were part of
"the Focus Group" too.
.
BIGGEST Protests in the
History of the WORLD
PLANET fucking Wide
.
and bush called it a 'focus group'
and then Laughed and looked
behind the Curtain for the
WMDs & Dumfounded
when he couldn't spot
'em anywhere. while
our SOLDIERS were
Dying. what the
fucking Fuck?
.
painting himself
in the shower trying to
wash the Blood off his hands
.
we Remember
mr bush we
Remember.
I love your writing and your political take on things.
My thoughts on the gulf war are many, sometimes conflicting. I forgot any thoughts of military action in Iraq being positive the day of the invasion when we opened the war by bombing two residential sections of Baghdad, supposedly based on "wrong intelligence". It seemed like pure terrorism to me. Then there was the thoughtless destruction and vandalism of antiquities, and the driving of the Sunnis into a guerilla movement. We did all the wrong things and turned the invasion into a total "kick the anthill" to destabilized what is a very barbaric area of the world.
Similiar thing for Afghanistan. I was one who followed Afghanistan well before 9-11, when women's groups were actually calling for military action to remove the Taliban because of their backwards low-tech totalitarian misogynistic regime. I don't think we were aggressive enough there.
To me this war with Russia and China is wrong, and destructive to the entire planet - we have to learn to get along, but the Middle East and North Korea are places where we should be cooperating.
The hard part for anyone, is drawing the line as when military force is OK, and when it is not. It's seemingly impossible for any country to be united in any such decision, and what drives us all crazy are the things going on in our names that we have no knowledge of or control over.
But the fascist pattern has always been stronger and before the democratic push-back. The pattern of a vicious elite pushing everyone away from the bounty of nature's resources, and then selling them back in an arbirage exchange for only their bare minimal lives. That is where fascism leads.
If the US and UK really wanted to win the "War on Terror", they would nuke themselves into oblivion.
hmmm.
Pocket Nukes.
the nra's gonna LOVE this.
I have a newsletter called "THE GREAT AWAKENING" which central point of discussion is how humanity is rushing toward annihilation and how we can ensure our survival on this planet.
We have many problems at hand - overpopulation, climate crisis, nuclear threat, animal cruelty, etc. We are creating hell on this beautiful planet and the reason is not this or that political party or economic system. The most fundamental reason is our current relationship with thought; our ego; our false sense of "I." That's the root.
Apart from talking about all these crises, all the propaganda we go through, we will also talk about spirituality (not in today' sense) because only that can transcend humanity into being a more conscious species.
If it sounds interesting to you, check here:
https://awakes.substack.com
I’d like to believe it’s all incompetence. We mistakenly allowed multiple commercial planes to be hijacked & flown into buildings. We lucked out getting a video of Bin Laden confessing & realized what a mistake we made to train & arm his army and befriend his rich family. Then we goofed when we buried him, the most wanted man in the western world, in the ocean without objective proof. Trump totally messed up when he constantly ran his mouth about the swamp, then hired them all. What a mistake. Then he mistakenly riled up his base of naive Americans enough to show up for him to protest election mistakes. Then the Capitol police mistakenly allowed crowds to flow in and others to wreak havoc & vandalize the building. The was a dumb mistake to not secure the building knowing the emotion around it...its like the dems, repubs, & trump all made mistakes together! All these people making these mistakes were mistakenly found going to Epstein island. What a mistake to be that guys friend. Then the bumbling prison guards forgot to get a goods nights sleep & check the cameras & Epstein accidentally fell off his bed while snuggling his blanket around his neck. It was a mistake to sign the Minsk agreement. Good thing we crossed our fingers. Business is booming. Except everything now costs more, so we kind of made a boo boo printing too much money. Now we can’t raise interest rates because all our regional banks will fail & need to consolidate. Oopsy. Uhg. So many mistakes.
Compare with the recent ICC indictment of V.V. Putin. The indictment is obviously not enforceable, but is intended to send a message that the West will continue to double down with regard to the War On Ukraine.
That the indictment focuses on the charge of taking children from a war zone seems bizarre at first, but this charge was chosen specifically because the Bush, Cheney or Blair could not be readily accused of doing anything similar, thus attempting to sidestep the obvious question why the ICC indicts Putin ignores the far worse crimes committed by the perpetrators of the War On Iraq.
This blatant hypocrisy is entirely intentional.
"the West will continue to double down" - more and more overwhelming confirmation on this point. Since the first - I believe Polish around March 2022 - supply of the weapons out in the open that's been my impression. We are heading towards nuclear. The populace doesn't seem to mind.
Contemplate The Sunk Cost Fallacy.
It still is a wonder that so many psychopaths were able to accumulate in government at the highest levels over a substantial period of time, creating the perfect storm of corruption and malevolence It's also amazing how such a relatively small group of people (relative to the rest of us) can do so much damage and cause so much carnage and still be able to live with themselves. I know that's what psychopaths do, but it still is frightful and depressing to watch them do it, and get away with it.
Power is to sociopaths what catnip is to cats.