CJ>>"The western press do not criticize this power structure. Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists, so it never occurs to them that it is something that can be justifiably criticized and opposed."
From my experience, Westerners are as indoctrinated and propagandized about their reality as Israelis are about theirs. The narratives may be different, but the non-stop brainwashing from birth is present in BOTH.
It takes conscious effort to OVERRIDE this brainwashing, and unfortunately too few are willing to put in the effort. I hope this changes as more and more people open their eyes to the realities they will soon have to reckon with (if they haven't already).
I love Iran which is under a democratical socialism. I've been there and it and the people are wonderful. Smart, too, 98% literacy. They are happy with their government and support it against the war-mongers of the West. Anyone who doesn't support it are paid by the CIA and Mossad.
That's a bit naive. Plenty of Iranians dislike their government. But it's blazingly obvious that Israel and the US, in their offers to "help," have zero interest in the wellbeing of Iranians--what I don't understand is why they're being so explicit, about Mossad agents walking with demonstrators, about installing Reza Pahlavi--I'm old enough to remember what a horror his father, also installed by the US, was.
I saw first hand, SAVAK in US government aupplied vehicles, attempting to identify Iranian students who had a program called Voice of the Iranian People on KPFT-FM in Houston so the could get to their family members in Iran in 1976-77.. I worked with an Iranian (who'd been on their Olympic wrestling team) in the late 60's at a Catskill Mountain hotel who told me of friends tortured by the Shah's SAVAK. We've been f'king the Iranians my whole life.
In the 80s an older couple moved into my remote West Virginia holler. The man had been in the CIA briefly in the 50s. Specifically '53...he was shipped off to Iran, where he had a small role in the coup, something about hiding an official in his shower. Seeing what the CIA really was, he quit and went back to Vermont to be a chicken farmer. But he told me Mossadegh was doing good things, like educating girls--but he nationalized the oil company so the US did the coup on behalf of the UK. He was a good source of education. I was already writing letters on behalf of Amnesty International so I had some idea about these things already but talking to him and reading the book about the CIA he recommended were illuminating.
And yeah--most Americans are largely unaware of this history, but I doubt Iranians are.
Spot on, and most People still think that the Roman Empire no longer exists....We're literally living "in it"...every single day of our lives !!!! Fricking amazing !!!!!!!!!
As a Soviet general told Canadian writer Farley Mowat in the 1970s, "The difference between American propaganda and Soviet propaganda is that no one believes ours."
Exactly. The Russians and Chinese tend to be more aware. The Americans and Israelis…. Clueless.
The old Russian joke - A Russian and an American get on a plane in Moscow and get to talking. The Russian says he works for the Kremlin and he's on his way to go learn American propaganda techniques.
"What American propaganda techniques?" asks the American.
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out...without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Absolutely, inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable,"
Great quote, thank you Mr. High. Agreed, any citizen capable of critical thinking and not blindly accepting the narratives forced upon them would reach that conclusion, I think. Hopefully more people are able to have that level of critical thinking and awareness
"giant globe-spanning power structure which functions more or less as a single empire with regard to foreign policy . . . to subvert, undermine and eventually devour the nations we’ve all been trained to hate."
That's the core of the bloody problem, which you stated so well.
Well said Mr. LoPresti. The "imperial" core of the problem, if you will, whose constituent nations believe themselves sovereign but actually serve as extensions of the same imperialist power structure that takes resources from and undermines other nations, then convinces its' citizens that those nations were worth attacking and pillaging.
To me the "giant globe-spanning power structure" she writes about is the international Zionist cabal with its widely distributed billionaires, who manipulate global affairs because that kind of money talks very loudly.
agreed totally, and through their wealth, they are able to advance their interests and shape public and foreign policy as they see fit. Their interests/goals often align with the imperialist agendas as well
Does anyone have the standing to criticize Iran, other than its own citizens?
Reparations are complicated. How far back in time do we account for, and whose account of history do we use? Must my children pay for my sins? Of course not. But neither should they continue to live in a world where the “Golden Billion” reaps most of the wealth and enforces the rules selectivity.
We need only start by upholding the values that the Collective West professes to hold so dear, the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the UN Charter, or just as a bare minimum the Ten Commandments.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
Thing is, it`s just history, meaningless in a world in which we continue to allow a belligerent power to suspend reality. Sometimes I wonder if the entire leadership of the Collective West nations has been compromised by some evil entity , if one looks at all the madness , there is a common element.
Wendigo or Wetiko is the illness of the west. It is an illness define by greed and excess and lack of awareness or denial of humanities connection to all nature and dependence on nature for life.
Obeying the Ten Commandments would be the best start towards a civilised world. One cannot claim to be the chosen by God and not obey even one of those commandments, both US and israel break all of them daily, as Drumpf claimed when the so-called assassination's miss, when it was the hit that was the actual mistake -- funny we've heard nothing about that person since day two.
Also both regimes covet their neighbours' lands, and what is beneath those lands, which they wish to steal. You know the rest of they're failures.
A huge thank you once again to Caitlin and Tim for all the time you spend correcting falsehoods,and not letting fools gripes stop you from the valuable works you do.
Well I was being facetious with the 10 Commandments part, I trust, hope you were too.
Yes, we can blame Trump for many ills. But were Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton, or any other former president really any better? Each wished to make his mark. But if we look beyond the ignorance and arrogance of these empty shells and observe the Empire's actions, we see clearly: its noble words are hollow, its actions are consistent , those of a supremacist that only understands belligerent force. So let's forever beware when slave owners gather to write admirable declarations of 'rights,' insist to make 'peace' with war, and force their democracy upon us
Of course I was, becausewhen you have people using the bible as an excuse for killing the true semitic people of Palestine then one uses that same reference to show how many lies they spout, while breaking every one of that book's commandments. If it is good to use for genocide, it is good to use against the genocider.
Sorry, 1 and 3 are not possible for me. I pray to the Universe, far more forgiving. I typically work as I need to sometimes that is the weekend. When the Universe is angry though everyone pays, Neutron stars are not discriminating. : (
Jesus fucking christ, the first four are completely out for me... especially #3 (which, apparently, is instead sometimes listed as #2, denomination-dependent?)... and I have no idea what comes after the first four anyway... bcuz I tend to completely lose focus dealing with such a humongous set of elements.
Let's apply that principle consistently. What, then, what do we owe the Palestinians, who have lost over a hundred years? What do we owe the Native Americans, who lost over five hundred years and a continent? And what of the freed Black Americans, to whom the promise of '40 acres and a mule' was not just broken but brutally revoked?
Can we ever truly settle the debt of inhumanity with land and money? If you wish to argue for wealth redistribution, land reform, and the dismantling of capitalism, I stand with you. But for me, the greatest payment we can make on this debt is to cease our belligerence and start treating each other as equals.
I want no more talk of a two-state solution, but of one state where all are equal. I want no nation to use force to subjugate another. Is this fair? Perhaps not. But wounds need time and care to heal, no wound has ever healed by inflicting more wounds upon the perpetrator.
Reparations are a legitimate demand. When people are thwarted from developing for centuries the abuse they suffered is still ongoing. It is a societal situation. The governments must do something on a broad based, structural level. Individuals must take responsibility to ensure their ongoing participation in the abuse ceases. It is why Caitlin writes. It is why people demonstrate against racism. It is why people oppose US funding of Israel's genocide.
And to remind, the Zionists fought for years to get reparations for the holocaust as well as international demands for ongoing submission to the current Zionists for this historic horror. What other People get this recognition? Our American Native people certainly dont despite all the treaties the US signed and ignored. The Armenians are still fighting for recognition of the genocide against them. Just to name 2 situations. The one difference is that the Zionists were European white supremacists!
It seems rather arse about face for zionists to demand reparation for a holocaust they caused against the Jewish people. After all they did very well from the sale of Jewish jewelry and art etc., to the Nazi leaders, you can bet any reparation did not reach many Jewish survivors but went into the pockets of the zionists that started the whole business. Right now you can be sure they, zionusts, are doing very well from the holocaust of Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank -- where there is money to be made, there you will find zionists, especially if there is murder included.
And the Take over of the middle East by the Foreign Land grabbing Israeli Zionist just keeps on swallowing up the Region state by State mostly under the Radar and totally supported and aided by the most powerful Imperialist State the world, the USA
Maybe their Jewish God also gave them these states 3,000 years ago?
CounterPunch Investigative Fund.Zionist Expansion: A First-Hand Account of Israel’s Illegal Occupation of Southwestern Syria.
“They came in the night after Assad fled,” said Mohammed, a resident of Kodena, a small village perched upon rolling hills of rocky soil, about a mile and a half east of the unofficial border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Israeli forces “rode in jeeps, hummers, armored personnel carriers, Merkava tanks,” into the rural hamlet in southern Quneitra province, said Mohammed, who declined to give his last name out of fear of reprisal for speaking to the media
Thank you, Caitlin, excellent perspective (as usual). Iran is an ancient civilization that basically wants to live their lives on their own sovereign land. Their "evil" in "Western" eyes is 1) being there; 2) supporting other peoples in the area under duress such as Palestinians and Hezbollah and Yemen; 3) supplying heavy crude oil to China, which must be stopped to cause China to be diminished. And any of this should concern the U.S. because?
It's astonishing how little people care about what is about to happen to Iran and its poor people. The same people who are crying about ICE shooting white people in their communities, don't even give it a second thought when someone tells them that far worse will happen to the people in Iran - or has happened to the people in the middle east over the past 40 years via the same imperial machine that is now enabling ICE and that has turned those nations into failed states. I have come to the sad realization that most people just don't want to see white people shot in the streets, but are perfectly fine as long as it happens to black and brown people. Do you think we would see the same backlash in Minneapolis if the two civilians shot were black?
This is the reason Trump will get away with what he is about to do to Iran. It is the same reason their beloved Obama got away with droning Yemeni weddings massacring civilians to maybe get one target. As long as people don't connect the dots and reserve their outrage for "worthy" victims, nothing will change.
Hopefully you're a bit unrealistic in expecting people struggling with their own frequently miserable life worlds to have the energy to commiserate with the others in remote regions actually suffering from the same set of conditions and oppressive class structures as themselves. The common reality is class war and i would love to learn of any other critical perspective than socialism to give a clearer explanation of why such vile ruling classes haven't yet been rendered harmless. We can't flounder around in the empirical morass of daily master ideology and wage slavery and hope to attain the levels of solidarity and empathy that we need to stop being the stooges of truly vile humans with too much loot.
You can’t engage in class struggle without a global, labor-centered lens. Class struggle starts with a simple fact: workers everywhere are exploited by the same system. Borders exist for labor, not for capital. The wealthy move freely, park their money anywhere, and collect passports like accessories. Immigration laws are enforced only on working people; if you have enough money, you don’t have to follow them.
The bigger picture is this: the machinery that bombs people abroad is the same machinery crushing your neighbors in Minneapolis. If you can’t see that connection, you will never organize against real power - let alone capital. When you only care about what’s directly in front of you, the ruling class keeps winning. No community can be free while others are being systematically immiserated. As trite as it may sound, liberation is collective, or it doesn’t happen at all.
in my experience, those actually engaging in class struggle are the same people that engage in anti-imperialism. other orgs seem rather vague about it.
In fact people of color are being killed in the street by ICE and this is not broadcast. The West is rabidly racist and white supremacist. You are right about some people being 'worthy' victims and others not. Get the MAGA people to see this.
In 1905 the Imperial Russian Baltic battle fleet took seven months to sail 18,000 miles to take on the Japanese Imperial fleet, which destroyed the Russians at Tsushima. Now we have the Americans having sailed their big, bad carriers I don't know how many thousands of miles to Iranian proximate waters with the apparent intention of waging unprovoked aggressive war on that country. I personally have nothing against the American people generally, but I honestly wouldn't feel too broken up if some Iranian hypersonic missiles sank the shit out of those carriers, and I feel very confident that the vast majority of the world's peoples feel the same way.
Blowback is a female dog. Bring it on. The Navy crews should change the attack from Iran to the area of Zionist Occupied Palestine. Sink that so called U.S. Carrier of WMD State.
“Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists”
Funny you should say that. As a teenager and young adult in the 1980s, I knew it existed. Despite going to a conservative high school. Despite there being no internet. Despite living in a far-off backwater as far away from Europe as you can get. And it’s true that I didn’t learn about it in school. So how did I know about its existence? How did I know that I was living in an empire? Art, music, films, magazines, literature, lectures, student radio, protests, dissident academics, trade unionists, anti-racist groups, occasional appearances by anti-imperial figures in the mainstream press, the library, bookshops, my father’s occasional acerbic rants against “the yanks”, subtle hints from teachers, etc, etc. I really believe that most westerners’ ignorance of their position within the empire is the result of unconscious avoidance of thought on the subject as a mechanism to prevent crippling cognitive dissonance. Psychological self preservation. But it’s actually a choice. It’s not particularly hard to see at least part of the truth. And then it’s up to the individual to look for more information. The demonisation of “evil regimes” takes place through long-term immersion in certain narratives. This pervasive information warfare can even turn highly intelligent and highly informed people into mouthpieces for CIA talking points. No one is completely immune from this psychological operation.
Part of the training is telling kids to not be different. People won't like you. Don't rock the boat. You won't be safe if you speak out. Etc, etc, etc.
One of the ways societies maintain cohesiveness is to get the population to buy into obedience--not just of behavior but also of thought. It is part of the socialization of children which then becomes part of the demand to participate in the propaganda. Just look at the Covid debacle which was a total fabrication. The propaganda was out in public daily. Ensure a few people die and poison many and use fearmongering 24/7. Attack anyone who speaks out with character assassinations, isolation (deplatforming with MSM attacks and shut down their banks accounts). Call a fraudulently tested drug a vaccine and questioning it is worse than attacking someone's religion! Today every one of those questions and criticisms has been validated but never on the front page of the MSMs. Attack RFKjr and claim he knows nothing and his appointments of doctors and other experts in science and medicine are labeled quacks automatically simply because they have more independence from the pharma industry which is exactly what RFKjr is trying to do. The propaganda machine in the medical industry is one of the worst when it comes to controlling people's thinking and response. Our independent media which will criticize the government and its control by industry cannot/will not see that the medical industry is no different than any other industries that seek total control and wealth! We still have a very long way to go in understanding propaganda and totalitarian control tactics
What a fucked world we now life in. The Iran miltary has been classified as a terrorist organisation, the US, Uk and yes, by Australia. Again the colitionof the all over again. What really gets me, the IDF has killed 10 times the amount of people, likked neally 180 jouralist, destroyed hospitals, staved a population, killed people who were lined up to recive aid. Invaded several sovergn
I hate to be the one to raise this but it was us that did it to us. Ordinary people like you and me, spray our skies, dump toxins in the water and attack unarmed people with weapons. They own practically everything and what does everybody do? Support them.
I don't criticise Iran because they are never allowed to be a proper country at peace as they are always under pressure from the West and are always reacting against these pressures trying to hold it all together. They are authoritarian as there are terrorist cells trying to overthrow the country. If there is a fissure in Iran numerous western agencies are there trying to use these cracks to destroy the country. Besides, can we actually believe anything the Western media ever says about the place?
When Iran is able to settle down and behave like a 'normal' peaceful country and deficiencies still exist, then it's time to be critical of them, but we are a long way from that and the West is making sure that we never get to that time.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
As a Jewish American I grew up hearing, “Why is it Israel that everybody picks on?” This is part and parcel of the hasbara perpetuated by Israel. And in the US, it’s defend your country which can do no wrong. Same thing. It comes from an ignorant public living in a country that is never held to account for one’s horrific actions.
How often do we see Jewish Americans railing at the genocide in Palestine?? Are they tongue tied? Or, are they merely threatened by structures like ADL to keep their mouths shut, no matter how they feel about Israeli transgressions?
Actually I rail at the genocide, as do many other US Jews. Not so much of course on the MSM but in many podcasts and on social media such as the Katie Halper show, Useful Idiots, Norman Finkelstein, Jeffrey Sachs, Substack, Instagram, Democracy Now!, If Not Now, Jewish Voice for Peace, there are many Jewish Americans involved in fighting back against Zionism with information. There is a lot of pushback and I dwell in that space. But the blackout of the corporate media and Israeli propaganda maintain the stranglehold on American Jewish communities. Israel manages this "consciousness" and has done so throughout its creation. It's a tough nut to crack but I do think the Israel-American Jew tie is cracking, especially in the younger generation of Jews. I think both the US and Israel are destroying themselves in tandem.
I disagree on a few points. There's a looseness when talking about "there's a lot of jews fighting back against Zionism". Can't go along with this vague declaration, sorry. I understand that there is a fear element which precludes some jews from coming out against the genocide just as there are jews on Substack that insist there is no genocide, no murders, and love is all around. What jews will go to synagogue and decry the genocide, I've seen no evidence of that, perhaps poor sampling on my part. There's sneaky jews that insist "let's not rail against Zionism, let's just talk about unfortunate circumstances in Gaza". Let's be euphemistic, let's blame unnamed individuals rather than pinpointing with the word "Zionism".
I can’t argue with that. I admit I personally know few Jews who are outspoken against Israel and Zionism. That doesn’t mean they don’t agree with my stance but as you say there is a fear element, and definitely that plays into non-Jews’ silence for fear of being accused of antisemitism. I am still flummoxed by the absence of synagogues slamming Israel. In my early naivety I half-expected at least more tuned-in synagogues to lead the cry against a clear genocide perpetuated by the Jewish state. I guess they haven’t gotten the memo that refutes the pervasive hasbara. Israel did a top notch sales job over the years. The flocks are brain dead. But I still feel there are many of us out there. The media plays against us just as Israel blocks the major news outlets. I hear the outrage from many other countries but they seem to honor inaction more. I do think and hope Israel will destroy itself.
There are a few details being left out of the Iran narrative in the western press. Like the Mossad agents infiltrating the protests and causing a lot of grief. And then there's StarLink and the role it played...
Fortunately israel is broadcasting those facts. Their pride in effective destruction I think has gotten the better of them. Not sure if I am worried about my countries future I would have admitted all of those war crimes and they are war crimes.
"The average westerner is not even aware that they live in an empire."
You got that right. The average westerner just lives in their own little bubble and doesn't know (or care) what's happening outside their bubble. And they can't figure out why nobody else on the planet cares about the westerner's little bubble. A rude wake up call for all of us is in the works. #FreeIran
I agree, living outside the u.s. now and then for extended times destroyed my bubble thankfully. My first thought when I hear something from u.s. media is, What is the truth and where do I find it outside the u.s owned media. Thankfully today we are very fortunate to have the Nation of Caitlin where I can always find the truth.
The majority, not the average, are not aware that they are still self-imprisoned in a very old cave.
Yes, we are no longer limited to watching the same shadows. Now we each can let our heads drop and be immersed in the shadows of our choice.
And any fool brave enough to attempt to awaken another abruptly seldom is thanked, more often then not, scorned and banished. No, we must raise our heads of our own accord, in a sense pinch ourselves by questioning what is real.
Now within this cave, this place where we many brave fools have foolishly fled to for shelter, we are again imprisoning ourselves with the same amenities.
Yes, it is so refreshing to read your clear commentary and explanations. It is disappointing the bad stuff we do, but it is important to be aware of it.
CJ>>"The western press do not criticize this power structure. Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists, so it never occurs to them that it is something that can be justifiably criticized and opposed."
From my experience, Westerners are as indoctrinated and propagandized about their reality as Israelis are about theirs. The narratives may be different, but the non-stop brainwashing from birth is present in BOTH.
It takes conscious effort to OVERRIDE this brainwashing, and unfortunately too few are willing to put in the effort. I hope this changes as more and more people open their eyes to the realities they will soon have to reckon with (if they haven't already).
Chang Chokaski, excellent comment. Thank you.
I love Iran which is under a democratical socialism. I've been there and it and the people are wonderful. Smart, too, 98% literacy. They are happy with their government and support it against the war-mongers of the West. Anyone who doesn't support it are paid by the CIA and Mossad.
Caitlin and Tim, stay safe wherever you are.
That's a bit naive. Plenty of Iranians dislike their government. But it's blazingly obvious that Israel and the US, in their offers to "help," have zero interest in the wellbeing of Iranians--what I don't understand is why they're being so explicit, about Mossad agents walking with demonstrators, about installing Reza Pahlavi--I'm old enough to remember what a horror his father, also installed by the US, was.
I saw first hand, SAVAK in US government aupplied vehicles, attempting to identify Iranian students who had a program called Voice of the Iranian People on KPFT-FM in Houston so the could get to their family members in Iran in 1976-77.. I worked with an Iranian (who'd been on their Olympic wrestling team) in the late 60's at a Catskill Mountain hotel who told me of friends tortured by the Shah's SAVAK. We've been f'king the Iranians my whole life.
In the 80s an older couple moved into my remote West Virginia holler. The man had been in the CIA briefly in the 50s. Specifically '53...he was shipped off to Iran, where he had a small role in the coup, something about hiding an official in his shower. Seeing what the CIA really was, he quit and went back to Vermont to be a chicken farmer. But he told me Mossadegh was doing good things, like educating girls--but he nationalized the oil company so the US did the coup on behalf of the UK. He was a good source of education. I was already writing letters on behalf of Amnesty International so I had some idea about these things already but talking to him and reading the book about the CIA he recommended were illuminating.
And yeah--most Americans are largely unaware of this history, but I doubt Iranians are.
Could you pass on the book recommendation? I’m in the midst of the CIA reading rabbit hole and am always looking for additional source material. Thx.
It's an old one Philip Agee Inside the Company: CIA Diary
Spot on, and most People still think that the Roman Empire no longer exists....We're literally living "in it"...every single day of our lives !!!! Fricking amazing !!!!!!!!!
As a Soviet general told Canadian writer Farley Mowat in the 1970s, "The difference between American propaganda and Soviet propaganda is that no one believes ours."
Exactly. The Russians and Chinese tend to be more aware. The Americans and Israelis…. Clueless.
The old Russian joke - A Russian and an American get on a plane in Moscow and get to talking. The Russian says he works for the Kremlin and he's on his way to go learn American propaganda techniques.
"What American propaganda techniques?" asks the American.
"Exactly," the Russian replies.
Excellent way of putting the situation.
Farley Mowat!!! You just made me smile.
My favorite Canadian author. Thanks for making my day!
"We accept the reality that we’re given" -Christoff from the Truman Show
The true man in that story, Mr. Burbank, bucked that system. Let's all do the same.
James Brown said it: ‘Think!’
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out...without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Absolutely, inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable,"
— H. L. Mencken
My goodness references in today’s comments are awesome, first Farley Mowat, and now James Brown! Please, please please!
Great quote, thank you Mr. High. Agreed, any citizen capable of critical thinking and not blindly accepting the narratives forced upon them would reach that conclusion, I think. Hopefully more people are able to have that level of critical thinking and awareness
So you blocked me? What did I say that you would block me? Interesting. I wasn't going to ask but............
But keep in mind, that the cost of regrets far exceed the cost of "discipline"
"giant globe-spanning power structure which functions more or less as a single empire with regard to foreign policy . . . to subvert, undermine and eventually devour the nations we’ve all been trained to hate."
That's the core of the bloody problem, which you stated so well.
..........and it's time to go. It's not working.
Well said Mr. LoPresti. The "imperial" core of the problem, if you will, whose constituent nations believe themselves sovereign but actually serve as extensions of the same imperialist power structure that takes resources from and undermines other nations, then convinces its' citizens that those nations were worth attacking and pillaging.
To me the "giant globe-spanning power structure" she writes about is the international Zionist cabal with its widely distributed billionaires, who manipulate global affairs because that kind of money talks very loudly.
agreed totally, and through their wealth, they are able to advance their interests and shape public and foreign policy as they see fit. Their interests/goals often align with the imperialist agendas as well
None of us in the West has the standing to criticize Iran.
Iran has the absolute moral right to criticize us, for the destruction we have perpetrated against its society for almost a century.
We owe reparations to Iran, and to many other countries we attacked, as much as Nazi Germany owed reparations to its surviving victims.
Does anyone have the standing to criticize Iran, other than its own citizens?
Reparations are complicated. How far back in time do we account for, and whose account of history do we use? Must my children pay for my sins? Of course not. But neither should they continue to live in a world where the “Golden Billion” reaps most of the wealth and enforces the rules selectivity.
We need only start by upholding the values that the Collective West professes to hold so dear, the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the UN Charter, or just as a bare minimum the Ten Commandments.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cia-assisted-coup-overthrows-government-of-iran.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
Thing is, it`s just history, meaningless in a world in which we continue to allow a belligerent power to suspend reality. Sometimes I wonder if the entire leadership of the Collective West nations has been compromised by some evil entity , if one looks at all the madness , there is a common element.
Wendigo or Wetiko is the illness of the west. It is an illness define by greed and excess and lack of awareness or denial of humanities connection to all nature and dependence on nature for life.
OK, I took your bait and looked up Wendigo or Wetiko ,
Native American/Algonquian terms? ,
Well, not the common element I had in mind, but yes a good one.
If I may ask, what was the element you had in mind?
Obeying the Ten Commandments would be the best start towards a civilised world. One cannot claim to be the chosen by God and not obey even one of those commandments, both US and israel break all of them daily, as Drumpf claimed when the so-called assassination's miss, when it was the hit that was the actual mistake -- funny we've heard nothing about that person since day two.
Also both regimes covet their neighbours' lands, and what is beneath those lands, which they wish to steal. You know the rest of they're failures.
A huge thank you once again to Caitlin and Tim for all the time you spend correcting falsehoods,and not letting fools gripes stop you from the valuable works you do.
Well I was being facetious with the 10 Commandments part, I trust, hope you were too.
Yes, we can blame Trump for many ills. But were Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton, or any other former president really any better? Each wished to make his mark. But if we look beyond the ignorance and arrogance of these empty shells and observe the Empire's actions, we see clearly: its noble words are hollow, its actions are consistent , those of a supremacist that only understands belligerent force. So let's forever beware when slave owners gather to write admirable declarations of 'rights,' insist to make 'peace' with war, and force their democracy upon us
Of course I was, becausewhen you have people using the bible as an excuse for killing the true semitic people of Palestine then one uses that same reference to show how many lies they spout, while breaking every one of that book's commandments. If it is good to use for genocide, it is good to use against the genocider.
Sorry, 1 and 3 are not possible for me. I pray to the Universe, far more forgiving. I typically work as I need to sometimes that is the weekend. When the Universe is angry though everyone pays, Neutron stars are not discriminating. : (
Jesus fucking christ, the first four are completely out for me... especially #3 (which, apparently, is instead sometimes listed as #2, denomination-dependent?)... and I have no idea what comes after the first four anyway... bcuz I tend to completely lose focus dealing with such a humongous set of elements.
That should be: and NOT letting fools...
40 yrs of sanctions is a good way to start reparations.
please explain,
The amount of money lost in Iran because of sanctions.
The amount of money AND LIVES lost in Iran because of sanctions.
Let's apply that principle consistently. What, then, what do we owe the Palestinians, who have lost over a hundred years? What do we owe the Native Americans, who lost over five hundred years and a continent? And what of the freed Black Americans, to whom the promise of '40 acres and a mule' was not just broken but brutally revoked?
Can we ever truly settle the debt of inhumanity with land and money? If you wish to argue for wealth redistribution, land reform, and the dismantling of capitalism, I stand with you. But for me, the greatest payment we can make on this debt is to cease our belligerence and start treating each other as equals.
I want no more talk of a two-state solution, but of one state where all are equal. I want no nation to use force to subjugate another. Is this fair? Perhaps not. But wounds need time and care to heal, no wound has ever healed by inflicting more wounds upon the perpetrator.
Reparations are a legitimate demand. When people are thwarted from developing for centuries the abuse they suffered is still ongoing. It is a societal situation. The governments must do something on a broad based, structural level. Individuals must take responsibility to ensure their ongoing participation in the abuse ceases. It is why Caitlin writes. It is why people demonstrate against racism. It is why people oppose US funding of Israel's genocide.
And to remind, the Zionists fought for years to get reparations for the holocaust as well as international demands for ongoing submission to the current Zionists for this historic horror. What other People get this recognition? Our American Native people certainly dont despite all the treaties the US signed and ignored. The Armenians are still fighting for recognition of the genocide against them. Just to name 2 situations. The one difference is that the Zionists were European white supremacists!
It seems rather arse about face for zionists to demand reparation for a holocaust they caused against the Jewish people. After all they did very well from the sale of Jewish jewelry and art etc., to the Nazi leaders, you can bet any reparation did not reach many Jewish survivors but went into the pockets of the zionists that started the whole business. Right now you can be sure they, zionusts, are doing very well from the holocaust of Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank -- where there is money to be made, there you will find zionists, especially if there is murder included.
And the Take over of the middle East by the Foreign Land grabbing Israeli Zionist just keeps on swallowing up the Region state by State mostly under the Radar and totally supported and aided by the most powerful Imperialist State the world, the USA
Maybe their Jewish God also gave them these states 3,000 years ago?
CounterPunch Investigative Fund.Zionist Expansion: A First-Hand Account of Israel’s Illegal Occupation of Southwestern Syria.
ZIONIST EXPANSION IN SYRIA
BY SAM KIMBALL.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/27/a-first-hand-account-of-israels-illegal-occupation-of-southern-syria/
“They came in the night after Assad fled,” said Mohammed, a resident of Kodena, a small village perched upon rolling hills of rocky soil, about a mile and a half east of the unofficial border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Israeli forces “rode in jeeps, hummers, armored personnel carriers, Merkava tanks,” into the rural hamlet in southern Quneitra province, said Mohammed, who declined to give his last name out of fear of reprisal for speaking to the media
Thank you, Caitlin, excellent perspective (as usual). Iran is an ancient civilization that basically wants to live their lives on their own sovereign land. Their "evil" in "Western" eyes is 1) being there; 2) supporting other peoples in the area under duress such as Palestinians and Hezbollah and Yemen; 3) supplying heavy crude oil to China, which must be stopped to cause China to be diminished. And any of this should concern the U.S. because?
It's astonishing how little people care about what is about to happen to Iran and its poor people. The same people who are crying about ICE shooting white people in their communities, don't even give it a second thought when someone tells them that far worse will happen to the people in Iran - or has happened to the people in the middle east over the past 40 years via the same imperial machine that is now enabling ICE and that has turned those nations into failed states. I have come to the sad realization that most people just don't want to see white people shot in the streets, but are perfectly fine as long as it happens to black and brown people. Do you think we would see the same backlash in Minneapolis if the two civilians shot were black?
This is the reason Trump will get away with what he is about to do to Iran. It is the same reason their beloved Obama got away with droning Yemeni weddings massacring civilians to maybe get one target. As long as people don't connect the dots and reserve their outrage for "worthy" victims, nothing will change.
There have already been black and brown people murdered by ICE. The media response? ...crickets...
Hopefully you're a bit unrealistic in expecting people struggling with their own frequently miserable life worlds to have the energy to commiserate with the others in remote regions actually suffering from the same set of conditions and oppressive class structures as themselves. The common reality is class war and i would love to learn of any other critical perspective than socialism to give a clearer explanation of why such vile ruling classes haven't yet been rendered harmless. We can't flounder around in the empirical morass of daily master ideology and wage slavery and hope to attain the levels of solidarity and empathy that we need to stop being the stooges of truly vile humans with too much loot.
You can’t engage in class struggle without a global, labor-centered lens. Class struggle starts with a simple fact: workers everywhere are exploited by the same system. Borders exist for labor, not for capital. The wealthy move freely, park their money anywhere, and collect passports like accessories. Immigration laws are enforced only on working people; if you have enough money, you don’t have to follow them.
The bigger picture is this: the machinery that bombs people abroad is the same machinery crushing your neighbors in Minneapolis. If you can’t see that connection, you will never organize against real power - let alone capital. When you only care about what’s directly in front of you, the ruling class keeps winning. No community can be free while others are being systematically immiserated. As trite as it may sound, liberation is collective, or it doesn’t happen at all.
in my experience, those actually engaging in class struggle are the same people that engage in anti-imperialism. other orgs seem rather vague about it.
In fact people of color are being killed in the street by ICE and this is not broadcast. The West is rabidly racist and white supremacist. You are right about some people being 'worthy' victims and others not. Get the MAGA people to see this.
In 1905 the Imperial Russian Baltic battle fleet took seven months to sail 18,000 miles to take on the Japanese Imperial fleet, which destroyed the Russians at Tsushima. Now we have the Americans having sailed their big, bad carriers I don't know how many thousands of miles to Iranian proximate waters with the apparent intention of waging unprovoked aggressive war on that country. I personally have nothing against the American people generally, but I honestly wouldn't feel too broken up if some Iranian hypersonic missiles sank the shit out of those carriers, and I feel very confident that the vast majority of the world's peoples feel the same way.
Blowback is a female dog. Bring it on. The Navy crews should change the attack from Iran to the area of Zionist Occupied Palestine. Sink that so called U.S. Carrier of WMD State.
Had the same thought. Caused me to burst into song: Bomb, bomb, bomb; bomb Tel Aviv/Bomb, bomb, bomb; bomb Tel Aviv. . . .
I forgot to give the same message to the USA Air Force too! Free Palestine.
“Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists”
Funny you should say that. As a teenager and young adult in the 1980s, I knew it existed. Despite going to a conservative high school. Despite there being no internet. Despite living in a far-off backwater as far away from Europe as you can get. And it’s true that I didn’t learn about it in school. So how did I know about its existence? How did I know that I was living in an empire? Art, music, films, magazines, literature, lectures, student radio, protests, dissident academics, trade unionists, anti-racist groups, occasional appearances by anti-imperial figures in the mainstream press, the library, bookshops, my father’s occasional acerbic rants against “the yanks”, subtle hints from teachers, etc, etc. I really believe that most westerners’ ignorance of their position within the empire is the result of unconscious avoidance of thought on the subject as a mechanism to prevent crippling cognitive dissonance. Psychological self preservation. But it’s actually a choice. It’s not particularly hard to see at least part of the truth. And then it’s up to the individual to look for more information. The demonisation of “evil regimes” takes place through long-term immersion in certain narratives. This pervasive information warfare can even turn highly intelligent and highly informed people into mouthpieces for CIA talking points. No one is completely immune from this psychological operation.
Part of the training is telling kids to not be different. People won't like you. Don't rock the boat. You won't be safe if you speak out. Etc, etc, etc.
One of the ways societies maintain cohesiveness is to get the population to buy into obedience--not just of behavior but also of thought. It is part of the socialization of children which then becomes part of the demand to participate in the propaganda. Just look at the Covid debacle which was a total fabrication. The propaganda was out in public daily. Ensure a few people die and poison many and use fearmongering 24/7. Attack anyone who speaks out with character assassinations, isolation (deplatforming with MSM attacks and shut down their banks accounts). Call a fraudulently tested drug a vaccine and questioning it is worse than attacking someone's religion! Today every one of those questions and criticisms has been validated but never on the front page of the MSMs. Attack RFKjr and claim he knows nothing and his appointments of doctors and other experts in science and medicine are labeled quacks automatically simply because they have more independence from the pharma industry which is exactly what RFKjr is trying to do. The propaganda machine in the medical industry is one of the worst when it comes to controlling people's thinking and response. Our independent media which will criticize the government and its control by industry cannot/will not see that the medical industry is no different than any other industries that seek total control and wealth! We still have a very long way to go in understanding propaganda and totalitarian control tactics
What a fucked world we now life in. The Iran miltary has been classified as a terrorist organisation, the US, Uk and yes, by Australia. Again the colitionof the all over again. What really gets me, the IDF has killed 10 times the amount of people, likked neally 180 jouralist, destroyed hospitals, staved a population, killed people who were lined up to recive aid. Invaded several sovergn
I hate to be the one to raise this but it was us that did it to us. Ordinary people like you and me, spray our skies, dump toxins in the water and attack unarmed people with weapons. They own practically everything and what does everybody do? Support them.
Yes. We're all responsible.
I don't criticise Iran because they are never allowed to be a proper country at peace as they are always under pressure from the West and are always reacting against these pressures trying to hold it all together. They are authoritarian as there are terrorist cells trying to overthrow the country. If there is a fissure in Iran numerous western agencies are there trying to use these cracks to destroy the country. Besides, can we actually believe anything the Western media ever says about the place?
When Iran is able to settle down and behave like a 'normal' peaceful country and deficiencies still exist, then it's time to be critical of them, but we are a long way from that and the West is making sure that we never get to that time.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cia-assisted-coup-overthrows-government-of-iran.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
As a Jewish American I grew up hearing, “Why is it Israel that everybody picks on?” This is part and parcel of the hasbara perpetuated by Israel. And in the US, it’s defend your country which can do no wrong. Same thing. It comes from an ignorant public living in a country that is never held to account for one’s horrific actions.
yeah, one has to seize the press and education and/or build parallel structures. lots of work to be done, let's get to it.
How often do we see Jewish Americans railing at the genocide in Palestine?? Are they tongue tied? Or, are they merely threatened by structures like ADL to keep their mouths shut, no matter how they feel about Israeli transgressions?
Actually I rail at the genocide, as do many other US Jews. Not so much of course on the MSM but in many podcasts and on social media such as the Katie Halper show, Useful Idiots, Norman Finkelstein, Jeffrey Sachs, Substack, Instagram, Democracy Now!, If Not Now, Jewish Voice for Peace, there are many Jewish Americans involved in fighting back against Zionism with information. There is a lot of pushback and I dwell in that space. But the blackout of the corporate media and Israeli propaganda maintain the stranglehold on American Jewish communities. Israel manages this "consciousness" and has done so throughout its creation. It's a tough nut to crack but I do think the Israel-American Jew tie is cracking, especially in the younger generation of Jews. I think both the US and Israel are destroying themselves in tandem.
I disagree on a few points. There's a looseness when talking about "there's a lot of jews fighting back against Zionism". Can't go along with this vague declaration, sorry. I understand that there is a fear element which precludes some jews from coming out against the genocide just as there are jews on Substack that insist there is no genocide, no murders, and love is all around. What jews will go to synagogue and decry the genocide, I've seen no evidence of that, perhaps poor sampling on my part. There's sneaky jews that insist "let's not rail against Zionism, let's just talk about unfortunate circumstances in Gaza". Let's be euphemistic, let's blame unnamed individuals rather than pinpointing with the word "Zionism".
I can’t argue with that. I admit I personally know few Jews who are outspoken against Israel and Zionism. That doesn’t mean they don’t agree with my stance but as you say there is a fear element, and definitely that plays into non-Jews’ silence for fear of being accused of antisemitism. I am still flummoxed by the absence of synagogues slamming Israel. In my early naivety I half-expected at least more tuned-in synagogues to lead the cry against a clear genocide perpetuated by the Jewish state. I guess they haven’t gotten the memo that refutes the pervasive hasbara. Israel did a top notch sales job over the years. The flocks are brain dead. But I still feel there are many of us out there. The media plays against us just as Israel blocks the major news outlets. I hear the outrage from many other countries but they seem to honor inaction more. I do think and hope Israel will destroy itself.
There are a few details being left out of the Iran narrative in the western press. Like the Mossad agents infiltrating the protests and causing a lot of grief. And then there's StarLink and the role it played...
Fortunately israel is broadcasting those facts. Their pride in effective destruction I think has gotten the better of them. Not sure if I am worried about my countries future I would have admitted all of those war crimes and they are war crimes.
"The average westerner is not even aware that they live in an empire."
You got that right. The average westerner just lives in their own little bubble and doesn't know (or care) what's happening outside their bubble. And they can't figure out why nobody else on the planet cares about the westerner's little bubble. A rude wake up call for all of us is in the works. #FreeIran
Quiet! Sit down... Big Brother [insert your own choice of inane media pap here] is about to start on the telly... 😵💫
Americans are VERY good at willful ignorance.. The best in the world, actually.
A trait developed over generations ever since the genocide of the native American population.
When confronted with his criminal actions and asked if he was worried, Allen Dulles famously said "Americans don’t read"
I agree, living outside the u.s. now and then for extended times destroyed my bubble thankfully. My first thought when I hear something from u.s. media is, What is the truth and where do I find it outside the u.s owned media. Thankfully today we are very fortunate to have the Nation of Caitlin where I can always find the truth.
“.....the Nation of Caitlin where I can always find the truth.” ?
My fellow minion, when our bubble bursts, we ought not scorn those who hold the needle, but equally we must be careful not to worship them blindly.
The majority, not the average, are not aware that they are still self-imprisoned in a very old cave.
Yes, we are no longer limited to watching the same shadows. Now we each can let our heads drop and be immersed in the shadows of our choice.
And any fool brave enough to attempt to awaken another abruptly seldom is thanked, more often then not, scorned and banished. No, we must raise our heads of our own accord, in a sense pinch ourselves by questioning what is real.
Now within this cave, this place where we many brave fools have foolishly fled to for shelter, we are again imprisoning ourselves with the same amenities.
Everything We do is good.
Everything They do is bad.
See? It's easy.
Excellent article and spot on.. 👍
What idiot, reading your newsletter, would ask a ridiculous question like that?
Just what I was thinking!
Yes, it is so refreshing to read your clear commentary and explanations. It is disappointing the bad stuff we do, but it is important to be aware of it.