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Author Topic: War Provocations and Peace Actions  (Read 20007 times)

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AGelbert

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Wed, 04/22/2020 - 11:46



Quote
JeanTrejean 👍 59 seconds ago

Is this harassing ? 

Or it's just a Trump's dream ?

Small boats, very small boats.

Even the guns are not pointed to the US vessels.

Trump is really getting crazy ! Please ! Save the world and sent him in cure.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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May 4, 2020



A new collection of maps displays what militarism looks like in the world. Included are these topics: Wars, Weapons, U.S. Weapons, Money, Nukes, Chemical and Biological, U.S. Military, Air Strikes, Law, and Promotes Peace and Security. See the maps. 👀

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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Green Beret Tried To Overthrow Maduro With 300 Thick Neck Brutes, Another Coup Attempt By Boat
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Green Beret Tried To Overthrow Maduro With 300 Thick Neck Brutes, Another Coup Attempt By Boat

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Cut The Sh!t
« Reply #408 on: May 07, 2020, 02:54:37 pm »
Cut The Sh!t
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Peace Actions
« Reply #409 on: June 19, 2021, 02:41:00 pm »


June 17, 2021

BY Chris Walker, Truthout

House Passes Historic Bill 🕊️ Ending Military Authorization in Iraq

SNIPPET:

Legislation that would end the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq or in situations where U.S. interests are impacted in that region of the world, passed within the House of Representatives on Thursday.

The vote on the bill was technically bipartisan , with 49 🐘 Republicans joining 219 Democrats in the House.

The bill, which ends the AUMF that was originally passed in 2002 during the run-up to the war in Iraq, has the support of lawmakers in the Senate as well. The White House has also signaled that President Joe Biden would sign the bill into law if it reached his desk.

“The administration supports the repeal of the 2002 AUMF, as the United States has no ongoing military activities that rely solely on the 2002 AUMF as a domestic legal basis,” the White House said in a statement earlier this week.

The Iraq War has been over for nearly a decade. The authorization passed in 2002 is no longer necessary in 2021,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York).

Full article:
https://truthout.org/articles/congress-poised-to-end-presidential-authority-for-use-of-military-force-in-iraq/

 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Shrewd deceptions: Lying by omission
« Reply #410 on: June 22, 2021, 12:26:17 pm »

Shrewd 😈 deceptions: Lying by omission

Understanding how misguided and arguablyinsane our 🦍 military priorities    and 💵💰🎩🍌 spending are.

By John Rachel -June 21, 2021

SOURCE NationofChange
 
We all know what ‘asymmetry’ means when it comes to military conflict. One country drops a few bombs. The bombed country responds not in-kind, but in another fashion: a cyber attack, a psyops, biochemical attack, they hack into elections (thank you, Rachel Maddow, for bringing us up to speed on that!), they put LSD in the drinking water.

Here’s a different feature of that concept which is useful for understanding how misguided, arguably insane, our military priorities and spending are.

Within kinetic warfare itself—bombs, missiles, soldiers, planes, submarines, tanks—there’s also a profound asymmetry. And the asymmetry is the difference between OFFENSIVE WARFARE and DEFENSIVE WARFARE.

First off, let’s be clear about something: Defending one’s own nation is much easier and less expensive than attacking another nation, because first of all the positioning of military assets is at the outset opposite, then what is used in the engagement of the enemy and how the enemy is engaged is dramatically different.

That being said . . .

We hear the following question over and over: Why is it that the U.S. spends more on military than the next 9 countries combined?

In parallel . . .

Why is it the combined defense budget of the U.S. and NATO, which in 2020 came in at over a trillion dollars ($1.028 trillion) is four times the combined defense budgets of China ($237 billion) and Russia ($48 billion)?

FOUR TIMES as big!

Yet, we are now hearing even louder and more insistently than ever the harangue from generals and other military planners that WE NEED MORE! More equipment, more troops deployed, more bombs, more ships, more missiles.

MORE MONEY!


And at the core of the justification for the latest DOD money grab is this statement, coming by the way from both the Army and Navy:

“We can’t win a war with either Russia or China.”

Wait!

We can’t win a war with Russia and China. YES . . . that’s true. But you know what else is true? They can’t win a war with us!

Maybe I’m being quixotic but this sounds to me like a cause for celebration. In some twisted 21st Century way, this is a recipe for peace! None of the major powers would dare start a war since they know up front they’d lose.

I say . . . break out the champagne!

Of course, that begs the question: why are our military planners crying the blues, getting all weepy, and saying we’re in a boatload of trouble? America’s military force is apparently a paper tiger.

The answer is both simple and quite revealing. Because what we have here is yet another example of the grotesque deceptions we’re relentlessly subjected to. This one is a classic case of LYING BY OMISSION.

What did they leave out? Well, what they left out is . . .

WE CAN’T WIN A WAR OF AGGRESSION against Russia.

WE CAN’T WIN A WAR OF AGGRESSION against China.

We can’t attack them on their soil, in their sphere of influence, on their seas, in their skies . . . and defeat them. WE’RE A SAD BUNCH OF LOSERS!

This heightened paranoia and self-serving prevarication highlights in big bold letters exactly what’s wrong with our foreign policy, our military planning, our conquer-the-world mentality, the whole regime of military and diplomatic planning.

AND . . . it also makes it completely clear why our DOD budgets are and will always be increasing, why our bloated expenditures on bringing the rest of the world to its knees to worship at the altar of our absolute power are completely irrational, the product of delusion and pure hubris.

There simply is no bottom to the hole we’re digging ourselves into.

Right now our military is freaking out about the advanced weaponry of Russia. We can’t keep up. Hypersonic missiles, nuclear-powered cruise missiles, high-speed aquatic attack drones, advanced Anti-Access/Area Denial electronic warfare.

Russia has left the U.S. in the dust!

Our DOD budget for 2020? . . . $718 billion. 

Russia’s military budget 2020? . . . $48 billion.

Yes, really. Only $48 BILLION!

Let’s even factor in the differences in cost of living. Current figures show that the COL of Russia is about half that of the U.S., meaning in U.S. dollars everything would cost twice as much. Alright, 2 times $48 billion is STILL ONLY $96 billion. In U.S. dollars, to create and maintain their awesome, SCARY military power, Russia spends 13% of what the U.S. does.

THAT’S how inexpensive a truly remarkable, effective DEFENSIVE military can be designed and deployed. Why then are we spending over seven times as much for our less-than-capable military machine?

As if we could forget, we haven’t won a single war since WWII. Okay okay . . . we trounced Granada in a one-sided invasion against some lifeguards and tow-truck drivers.

The problem is obvious . . . trying to police and conquer the entire planet is bankrupting us! No amount of lying, propaganda, and rah-rah-support-our-troops PR blitzing changes the truth.

Isn’t time we the people put a stop to this grotesque fraud? Isn’t it time we united behind a couple simple, straightforward, obvious propositions?

Enough is enough!

We’re not going to take it anymore!

Stop the military insanity before we destroy ourselves!

We can do this, if we just do what we need to do. Our current leadership and the military are incapable of reining themselves in. It’s up to us—we the people—alone.

We must confront the lies and remove from power the liars who tell them, to halt America’s self-destructive obsession with full spectrum dominance.

Like Julian Assange says: “If wars can be started by lies, they can be stopped by truth.”
https://www.nationofchange.org/2021/06/21/shrewd-deceptions-lying-by-omission/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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“a decision based on hubris.”
« Reply #411 on: August 17, 2021, 02:42:47 pm »

Aug 16 2021, 10:05 PM By Grace Benninghoff

Vermont delegation stands by Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan

Vermont’s three congressional delegates continued to support President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan on Monday despite a swift collapse of the government and takeover by the Taliban.

At the same time, U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., expressed dismay at the unfolding crisis there and urged the president to do everything possible to save allies still trapped in the country.

The Taliban’s remarkable advance was capped Sunday when the American-backed government in Afghanistan collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country — just a few months after Biden announced his decision to withdraw troops after 20 years of American presence in the country.   

Droves of civilians flocked to the airport, some of them hanging on to American military jets, desperate to escape Taliban rule.


All three members of Congress from Vermont backed Biden when he first announced in April that he would be withdrawing troops and ending the American occupation of Afghanistan, including Welch calling the decision “long overdue” and Sanders calling it “brave and right.”

In an interview on Monday, Welch said he still supported the decision but suggested the “execution is a catastrophe.”

He said the U.S. should have never been “engaged in nation-building in Afghanistan” to begin with, calling it “a decision based on hubris.”

While Welch said he supports the actions Biden is taking to secure the airport in Kabul, he expressed concern for the many interpreters, women and American allies who live far from the capital and likely will not be able to make safe passage to the airport.

“How can folks in rural parts of Afghanistan get to the airport? It’s heartbreaking,” he said, recalling four trips he had taken to the country.

Leahy echoed Welch on both counts. He said he supported Biden’s decision — calling it “long overdue” — but believed it was executed poorly due to “bad intelligence,” a phrase that was also used by Welch.

“The counterinsurgency war was unwinnable, and the Afghan government was never a credible partner,” Leahy said in a written statement provided to VTDigger. “The withdrawal was poorly planned due to a glaring failure of intelligence about the resilience of the Afghan army.”

Sanders tweeted on Sunday night that “after 20 years of U.S. effort, the loss of 2,448 soldiers and a trillion spent, Afghanistan was left with a corrupt government and an ineffectual military.”

His office did not respond to a request for comment.

“We must do everything we can to evacuate our allies and open our doors to refugees,” Sanders wrote in the tweet.

Biden addressed the nation from the East Room of the White House on Monday afternoon, where he fervently stood by his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

“There was only the cold reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw our sources,” the president said, referring to a deal the Trump administration made with the Taliban to withdraw troops by May 2021 in exchange for a ceasefire, “or escalating the conflict and sending thousands more American troops back into combat in Afghanistan and lurching into the third decade of conflict. I stand squarely behind my decision.”

He conceded that the Taliban’s takeover “did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.”

Biden revealed he had authorized the deployment of 6,000 U.S. troops to the airport in Kabul, where he said they would “assist in the departure of U.S. and allied civilian personnel from Afghanistan” and “evacuate Afghan allies to safety outside of Afghanistan.”

Welch and Leahy argued the Biden administration should have made better arrangements in advance to get allies out of the country before “total breakdown,” noting that many American allies, including women, judges, journalists and interpreters would likely face retaliation from the Taliban.

As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Leahy secured a deal in July that would provide $1.125 billion of emergency security money to Afghan refugee assistance in the wake of the United States’ withdrawal from the region. The package also included $600 million for humanitarian aid for Afghan refugees and 8,000 new Afghan special immigration visas. Biden signed the bill into law early this month.

The funds were initially opposed by Republicans and “are obviously needed today,” Leahy said.

He also said the United States should take in more Afghan refugees. “I know in Vermont there are communities ready and willing to welcome Afghans, and that is true of communities in many states,” Leahy wrote.

Welch agreed.

“We should be doing everything we can to help those who helped us in getting out of Afghanistan,” Welch said. “We should be very generous with refugee visas for those folks. That’s the bare minimum.”

https://vtdigger.org/2021/08/16/vermont-delegation-stands-by-bidens-decision-to-withdraw-troops-from-afghanistan/

« Last Edit: August 17, 2021, 04:29:55 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Aug 20, 2021

Maj. Danny Sjursen (ret.) 🗽: The War Machine Fails. What Have We Learned?


The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow ✨ 45.9K subscribers

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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On July 3, 1979, unknown to the American people and Congress, Carter authorized a $500 million “covert action” program to overthrow Afghanistan’s first secular, progressive government. This was code-named by the CIA Operation Cyclone. The aim was to spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia and destabilize and eventually destroy the Soviet Union. In August 1979, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul reported that “the United States’ larger interests… would be served by the demise of the PDPA government, despite whatever setbacks this might mean for future social and economic reforms in Afghanistan.” Read again the words I have italicized. It is not often that such cynical intent is spelled out as clearly. The United States was saying that a genuinely progressive Afghan government and the rights of Afghan women could go to hell.

 August 26, 2021

Catastrophe in Afghanistan: U.S. wrecks another country thinking it’s playing the ‘great game’

By John Pilger

As a tsunami of crocodile tears engulfs Western politicians, history is suppressed. More than a generation ago, Afghanistan won its freedom, which the United States, Britain and their “allies” destroyed.

Continue reading →
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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A Story of War
« Reply #414 on: November 14, 2021, 03:49:06 pm »
Economic Update: A Story of War


Nov 8, 2021 46,004 views

Democracy At Work 259K subscribers

A Story of War

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff discusses how Amazon rips off small business and squeezes workers, US and China's military tactics, top mainstream economists grasp the deepening critique of capitalism, and how strikes at Nabisco and Kellogg expose capitalism's classic contours of class struggle. The second half of the show features an interview with Prof Talia Lugacy on her new independent film "This is Not a War Story" released by Warner Media HBO Max.

**Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a@Democracy At Work production. We make it a point to provide the show free of ads. Please consider supporting our work. Donate one time or become a monthly donor by visiting us at democracyatwork.info/donate or become a patron of Economic Update on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/economicupdate.

Your contributions help keep this content free and accessible to all. Now more than ever, sharing Prof. Wolff's message is critical.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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MOSCOW, Feb 12, 2022 (Reuters)

The Russian Navy's guided missile cruiser Moskva and frigate Admiral Grigorovich are seen ahead of the Navy Day parade in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea July 23, 2021. REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak

More Than 30 Russian Ships Start Drills Near Crimea Peninsula

SNIPPETS:

More than 30 ships from the Russian Black Sea fleet have started training exercises near the Crimea peninsula as part of wider navy drills, RIA news agency reported on Saturday citing the fleet, as Western nations warned that a war in Ukraine could ignite at any moment. ... ...

Moscow denies any plan to invade, saying it is maintaining its own security against aggression by NATO allies.

read more:
 https://gcaptain.com/30-russian-ships-start-drills-crimea-peninsula/

February 14, 2022

The Russian Navy Udaloy-class destroyer RFS Admiral Panteleyev (BPK 548) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise 2012. (U.S. Navy photo by Sean Furey)

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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February 24, 2022

What Happened in Ukraine?


The turmoil today in Ukraine has its roots in the 2014 when democratically elected Ukrainian President Yanukovych was toppled in a US-backed coup. Victoria Nuland was instrumental in orchestrating that US-backed coup.

Why did the US want to get rid of Yanukovych? Because he was against Ukraine joining NATO.

The current comedian president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, repeated two days ago his desire to join NATO. Volodymyr Zelenskyy literally is a comedian who ran for office and won.

McCain dined with Svoboda Party leader Oleg Tyagnibok. The Svoboda Party is a group of neo-Nazis.

The citizens of Ukraine were used as pawns in yet another US mission that backfired.

Victoria Nuland and Obama and Biden (and McCain and so on and so bipartisan forth) did not care then, and do not care now, about the Neo-Nazi massacre of ethnic Russians as long as the US-backed Neo-Nazis continue to want Ukraine in NATO. Birds of a fascist feather, and all that. 

That's the real story the (Fascist loving) US 🐍 media will not discuss.

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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agelbert a day ago
Victoria Nuland is involved with this up to her evil eyeballs. For those who did not quite connect all the dots from the above article, here is the summary of the pro-fascist US skullduggery in Ukraine:
What Happened in Ukraine?
The turmoil today in Ukraine has its roots in the 2014 when democratically elected Ukrainian President Yanukovych was toppled in a US-backed coup. Victoria Nuland was instrumental in orchestrating that US-backed coup.
Why did the US want to get rid of Yanukovych? Because he was against Ukraine joining NATO.
The current comedian president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, repeated two days ago his desire to join NATO. Volodymyr Zelenskyy literally is a comedian who ran for office and won.
McCain dined with Svoboda Party leader Oleg Tyagnibok. The Svoboda Party is a group of neo-Nazis. The citizens of Ukraine were used as pawns in yet another US mission that backfired. Victoria Nuland and Obama and Biden (and McCain and so on and so bipartisan fascism loving forth) did not care then, and do not care now, about the Neo-Nazi massacre of ethnic Russians as long as the US-backed Neo-Nazis continue to want Ukraine in NATO. Birds of a fascist feather, and all that.

That's the real story the (Fascist loving) US media will not discuss.

Quote
dmorista ✨ 6 hours ago
Thank you so much for a good comment on a fine article; a comment that further illuminates the events that took place in Ukraine back during the 2014 Coup period. Yanukovich was not an ideal leader, nor was he a Jeffersonian Democrat, but that is pretty well typical of the sort of leadership we see in places like Ukraine. Whatever the failings of the Yanukovich administration, the Coup that replaced him was far worse and was run by much more ruthless operatives.

Famously, or infamously, the protests at the main square in Kiev in the winter of 2014, saw about 95 deaths, most of people shot by secretive snipers lurking on the roofs and upper floors of various buildings. These snipers shot protesters from both the pro and anti Yanukovich forces and also killed several police and military personnel. A couple of emergency room physicians noted that it appeared that the same weapons and ammunition were used in all the shooting deaths. The sniper force was apparently acting to sow as much chaos, hatred, and disorder as possible. This has all the hallmarks of the operations, run by both the U.S. and Israel, in previous coups and regime change exercises.

The connection to the U.S. and its allies was highlighted by the intercepted cell phone call, in which Victoria Nuland exclaimed that, Yats is our guy, F**k the E.U., and tells the other person that the U.S. spent $5 billion in Ukraine to support our allies and enable a political change favorable to U.S. interests. We must note that Nuland, was Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian affairs at the US Department of State, at the time of the call. She is also the wife of Robert Kagan, the notorious Neo-Con, Ultra Zionist Israel Firster, and founding member of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

Yanukovich considered an offer from the European Union (E.U.) and decided it was not as good as the arrangements that Ukraine already had with Russia. This enraged the interests in Ukraine that wanted to change over to closer economic relations with the E.U. These interests stood to benefit handsomely from the graft and theft made possible from loans to Ukraine by the European Central Bank and to take a rake off the top of any funding the E.U. provided. The cost to the bulk of the population of Ukraine would have been severe. These costs included International Monetary Fund (IMF) type austerity cuts to social services and “structural adjustment” policies. Those policies inevitably require cuts in social services and the sell-off of publicly owned assets, at fire sale prices, to well connected finance capitalists from the U.S. and Western Europe loomed in the background.

Ukraine is a large country with several distinct regions. Western Ukraine is wheat growing country, sort of like Kansas or Nebraska. Populated largely by right-wing farmers. Eastern Ukraine is more like Ohio or Michigan, a declining industrial region, but with a long history of worker activism and left-leaning politics. The areas near the Black Sea, including both the actual Crimea that voted overwhelmingly to leave Ukraine and join Russia, as well as neighboring areas not within the boundary of Crimea, are all largely Russian Speaking. Fascist operatives launched various attacks against the Russian Speaking population there in 2014, shortly after the Coup occurred in Kiev. These attacks included the intentional burning of the Labor Center in Odessa, a fire that killed 39 people who had taken refuge in the Union Building. They were under attack by rightist gangs on the streets near the Labor Center when they took refuge there. The Coup government made all kinds of threats against the Russian Speaking population of Ukraine (they compose close to half the country) including a declaration by a female member of the inner circle that all Russian Speakers should be exterminated.

Like nearly all large capitol cities, Kiev is more cosmopolitan than the surrounding right-wing Ukrainian countryside. A significant part of its population is composed of people much like the Russian speaking populations of the Donets, Luhansk, and Crimean regions.

agelbert > dmorista  13 minutes ago
Excellent analysis ✨ of the situation. Thank you for posting this.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2022, 03:38:20 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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Quote
"One of the functions of war hysteria is to create a giant atavistic and nationalist fog that erases public attention and consciousness regarding underlying social, political economic, and environmental oppression within and across nation states." -- Paul Street ✨ February 25, 2022

Here's some background on Ukraine you need to know that our corrupted 🐍 media wants you to forget or never learn in the first place:
 

Why is Ukraine the West's Fault?

UnCommon Core: The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis

John J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science and Co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago, assesses the causes of the present Ukraine crisis, the best way to end it, and its consequences for all of the main actors.

A key assumption is that in order to come up with the optimum plan for ending the crisis, it is essential to know what caused the crisis. Regarding the all-important question of causes, the key issue is whether Russia or the West bears primary responsibility.


dmorista Mod  > agelbert • 7 minutes ago
Thanks, I had noticed this talk before, it has now moved up to the top of my need-to-watch list. He and Walt wrote the pathbreaking study The Israel Lobby and were attacked professionally by that very lobby. They are brave and honest academics. We need more like them.

agelbert > dmorista Mod
The Israel lobby is pack of fascism enablers. Anyone that exposes their skullduggery needs to be listened to and honored.
http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/geopolitics/war-provocations-and-peace-actions/msg17324/#msg17324
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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