In previous interventions the US would take in "pro-American" "freedom fighters" when the intervention failed, but it seems they are no longer offering that incentive. Are there other incentives instead? Cash?
"Iran is not a democracy, and carefully vets the candidates allowed to run."
In real democracies they have "primaries". Any candidate with enough big money and special interest lobbies behind them can run.
They are dropping tear gas from drones. Under the CWC, riot control agents are allowed for law enforcement, but are banned as chemical weapons in warfare. Can Israel claim this is "law enforcement"?
Israel (along with North Korea, South Sudan and Egypt) is not a party to the CWC but it is "Customary International Law".
When you get involved in other countries you inevitably need to find local factions willing to collaborate with you and support "American interests". These tend to be treasonous crooks.
I hope the Palestinians don't fall for the "generous offer" ploy again. Let Kushner put it in writing, including all the fine print, and make it public.
Ukraine is knocking down Lenin statues while glorifying collaborators like Stepan Bandera (Do a google image search on that name). Also Hungary and Lithuania. And Israel has banned reference to the Nakba.
I think the reason the Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing is being ignored is to prevent any comparisons with the Palestinian Ethnic Cleansing or even the American Ethnic Cleansing. There is a conspicuous lack of the usual historical perspective (such as it is) like the media dish out on military, economics, sports, etc.
Ironically they call the the 150 non-dependencies "puppets" (I can't imagine who the puppet-masters are supposed to be):
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called the UN a "collection of hypocrites and 'puppets' " who, he said, are "forced to dance while the Palestinian leadership looks on with glee."
Haley said "The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very right of exercising our right as a sovereign nation"
And the the "sovereign nations" Guatemala, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo obediently voted with their imperial masters.
The Shah of Iran came to my mind. His secret police were managed by US and Israeli "advisers". Salman will need plenty of military and police "democracy building" assistance to keep him in power.
At one time it was claimed that the settlers had nothing to do with Israel, they were just individual Jews "returning". I haven't heard that one lately.
We are still told that the territories are "disputed" (not "occupied") although Israel has avoided making any formal claim of sovereignty. If they did they would be indisputably an apartheid state.
(Juan, I wish someone with a well stocked bookshelf would write a history of Hasbara.)
This should be required reading for any government considering participating in US military training programs.
Military aid programs have the effect of making the recipient military dependent on the donor country. Some gratitude and loyalty is expected. I wonder what percentage of these coups were instantly recognised by the US.
If Qatar doesn't back down will there be a Saudi-USraeli coup or regime change? This might set a precedent for the other Gulf poo-bahs, ultimately including Saudi. Trump did promise to steal the oil.
“Friends, the United States and the State of Israel have a strong bond, going back to the moment of Israel’s founding. There is no question that we should be, and will be Israel’s strong friend and ally in the years to come."
“And by the way, I want regulation. I want to protect our environment, I want regulations for safety, I want all of the regulations that we need and I want them to be so strong and so tough…”
That was Harper's approach in Canada. He proceeded to slash environmental monitoring and enforcement staff, so the tough laws weren't enforced.
I suspect the Arab dictators and royals are cozying up to Israel and USA because they soon may need protection from their subjects.
BTW, Juan: What do you make of the CIA head meeting with Abbas?
Mujanović says for observers and reporters of authoritarianism, Trump's behaviour sounds off all kinds of alarm bells.
"I don't think it's an accident that some of the most prescient analysis and critique that has come out over the last year year and a half has been from people who have studied authoritarianism, you know in the Middle East and Eastern Europe etc."
"I don't want that to be interpreted as an attack on the media. I have colleagues who work in journalism. I just think that the issue is that reporters in the United States and Canada and large parts of Europe really have no first-hand experience with authoritarianism so to them this is this is entertainment. This is a circus."
The demonization playbook always includes allegations of corruption. Did they ever find the stolen billions of Saddam, Gaddafi, Arafat or Yanukovych? (They did find some of non-demonized Marcos' assets, including a Canadian drug store chain named "Big M".)
If they wanted to show a pattern of Russian hacking they could mention the Victoria Nuland phone call, but I guess they prefer not to call attention to that.
The election's over. They are preoccupied with black Friday, Xmas and New Year. When the hangovers wear off and the bills arrive they will be impatient for "You will all be so rich".
Trump says that Europe, Japan and Korea should pay their own way on defence. He has not said the same about Israel. But given his purported dislike of US involvement in the Mideast, maybe he will say to Israel: "We are giving you $billions of weapons, you know the neighbourhood, so I am putting you in charge of the region". So Israel will have to prop up their Saudi/Sisi/Jordanian pals.
"arms for the Jewish community to prosecute the 1947-48 war". I wish you would write about Plan Dalet and the Czech arms purchase. Few people seem to know about these.
The notion of "taking the oil" is absurd. Iraq is already producing as much as it can. It would take an enormous investment in oilfields, pipelines and port facilities to significantly increase production. Where would you put it, since storage facilities are already full? If you just dumped it on the world market it would further depress prices an bankrupt the oil industry.
"Setting up such a system on such a grand scale would require a lot of programming work ..."
Decades ago I programmed my computer to randomly dialup a pager (belonging to a contractor who skipped with a deposit). It was not a lot of work, and would not have been much more work to do multiple pagers.
The "West" pretends that support for Israel's wars is not religious, but the operative definition of "Jewishness" in Israeli law (maternal inheritance or Orthodox conversion) is a religious doctrine - there is no secular scientific basis for this classification.
You didn't mention that the Saudis are already involved in backing Islamist "Rebels" in Syria. Or is that "fake news"?
In previous interventions the US would take in "pro-American" "freedom fighters" when the intervention failed, but it seems they are no longer offering that incentive. Are there other incentives instead? Cash?
The OPCW is carrying on the inspection today despite the attack:
https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/opcw-continuing-mission-alleged-douma-gas-attack-despite-air-strikes-doc-1409me3
Can they decide "on the spot" to ask to also visit the bombed "chemical facilities", and inspect them if Syria allows?
Trump is threatening war on Syria, using the same demonization playbook.
You could have mentioned the Saudi intervention in Bahrain :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi-led_intervention_in_Bahrain
"Iran is not a democracy, and carefully vets the candidates allowed to run."
In real democracies they have "primaries". Any candidate with enough big money and special interest lobbies behind them can run.
"the uncle was a cannier negotiator. He wanted something for admitting Israel’s right to exist"
Maybe Bin Salman is getting something: an alliance of the two dominant Mideast tribes against modern pluralist secular tendencies.
They are dropping tear gas from drones. Under the CWC, riot control agents are allowed for law enforcement, but are banned as chemical weapons in warfare. Can Israel claim this is "law enforcement"?
Israel (along with North Korea, South Sudan and Egypt) is not a party to the CWC but it is "Customary International Law".
When you get involved in other countries you inevitably need to find local factions willing to collaborate with you and support "American interests". These tend to be treasonous crooks.
Racist: A person who prefers the narrowest possible definition of "racist".
I hope the Palestinians don't fall for the "generous offer" ploy again. Let Kushner put it in writing, including all the fine print, and make it public.
Naw, Putin done it 'cause he Hates Our Freedom.
I thought Judea and Samaria were supposed to be the sacred ancestral homeland.
"rarely appears in media reports"
That might call attention to the annexation of the Golan (a Bad Thing when Russia does it.
The linked paper was paywalled for me. Try this instead:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322875340_Extraordinary_Biomass-Burning_Episode_and_Impact_Winter_Triggered_by_the_Younger_Dryas_Cosmic_Impact_12800_Years_Ago_1_Ice_Cores_and_Glaciers
Ukraine is knocking down Lenin statues while glorifying collaborators like Stepan Bandera (Do a google image search on that name). Also Hungary and Lithuania. And Israel has banned reference to the Nakba.
Bloomberg says the list of oligarchs is just a cut'n'paste of Forbes list of wealthiest Russians. Some of these have not done business in Russia for years.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-30/the-u-s-list-of-russian-oligarchs-is-a-disgrace
"Read: Young American Jews increasingly hostile towards Israel, says Jewish Agency CEO"
Here is one version:
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-jewish-agency-chief-warns-young-u-s-jews-more-turned-off-to-israel-1.5751616
"your forces were supplied arms and explosives through our soil"
Past tense? Does the US still have the alternate overland supply (or escape) route through Russia?
I think the reason the Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing is being ignored is to prevent any comparisons with the Palestinian Ethnic Cleansing or even the American Ethnic Cleansing. There is a conspicuous lack of the usual historical perspective (such as it is) like the media dish out on military, economics, sports, etc.
Ironically they call the the 150 non-dependencies "puppets" (I can't imagine who the puppet-masters are supposed to be):
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called the UN a "collection of hypocrites and 'puppets' " who, he said, are "forced to dance while the Palestinian leadership looks on with glee."
Haley said "The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very right of exercising our right as a sovereign nation"
And the the "sovereign nations" Guatemala, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo obediently voted with their imperial masters.
Also there was the Victoria Nuland phone call:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Nuland#Leaked_phone_conversation
Not technically election interference, since it was conspiring in violent regime change.
If the US declared "Mission Accomplished", people might ask what those thousands of troops are doing in Iraq and Syria.
Bought a $450M painting? In NY, don’t worry about the tax
By Karen Matthews
Associated Press writer
NEW YORK — New York collects sales tax on even the smallest items, but it probably won’t collect a cent on a nearly half-billion dollar painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/articles/2017/12/08/da-vinci-jesus-painting-sales-tax-12-8-17
Where would they be locked up?
Trump did promise to "take the oil".
Also not covered: what happened to the US-backed Freedom Fighters?
What if they had succeeded in keeping Algeria part of France?
The Shah of Iran came to my mind. His secret police were managed by US and Israeli "advisers". Salman will need plenty of military and police "democracy building" assistance to keep him in power.
How do they say it in Arabic translations of the Bible?
"Elta North America, (a subsidiary of the Israel Aerospace Industry)"
This is "Israel Aerospace Industries", wholly owned by the government of Israel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Aerospace_Industries
At one time we were told that the squatters had nothing to do with Israel. When did they become "Israelis"?
Canada's special operations troops have put a temporary hold on their training of Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the wake of fighting between the two factions.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/iraq-canadian-special-forces-suspended-1.4376244
What about western volunteers fighting for the Kurds, now fighting against our allies? Will they be considered terrorists?
"next 9/11 will come from Africa"
And our leaders will say "how could they hate us so" and "they hate our freedom".
If he cancels NAFTA it will be a shock to the Canadian and Mexican economies. They will be looking for more reliable, non-bullying partners.
At one time it was claimed that the settlers had nothing to do with Israel, they were just individual Jews "returning". I haven't heard that one lately.
We are still told that the territories are "disputed" (not "occupied") although Israel has avoided making any formal claim of sovereignty. If they did they would be indisputably an apartheid state.
(Juan, I wish someone with a well stocked bookshelf would write a history of Hasbara.)
I have seen claims that singing anthems and saluting can be conditions of employment contracts and thus are voluntary.
Ben Gurion had the Czech arms purchase. Iraq has a US armed and trained air force.
"Israeli Right Wing Faction" in the title should be something like "Ruling Coalition Faction".
I would just draw the hat floating in the middle of a semi-submerged community.
This should be required reading for any government considering participating in US military training programs.
Military aid programs have the effect of making the recipient military dependent on the donor country. Some gratitude and loyalty is expected. I wonder what percentage of these coups were instantly recognised by the US.
Leonid Bershidsky (Bloomberg) could not find any evidence of Putin's billions (other than fake news).
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2013-09-17/vladimir-putin-the-richest-man-on-earth
There was much more concern in the Western media about civilian casualties in Aleppo.
[on economic damage from climate change]
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2017/06/29/climate-change-damage-us-economy-increase-inequality
Map:
https://www.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/styles/half_2x/public/images/2017/06/damages_total_2080_to_2090_edit.jpg?itok=0eMZcKJo
If Qatar doesn't back down will there be a Saudi-USraeli coup or regime change? This might set a precedent for the other Gulf poo-bahs, ultimately including Saudi. Trump did promise to steal the oil.
Meanwhile, the legitimacy of the violent coup and the "voluntary" resignation of dozens of legislators was never questioned.
"Israelis ... expelled hundreds of thousands".
It was European colonialists. "Israelis" weren't invented then.
"Israelis refused Palestinian refugees the right of return at the end of hostilities"
And to this day - it is a continuing crime.
Why do you use the sanitised "captured" rather that "conquered".
Do they have a website where people can enter their names into the database?
What if Trump's foreign assets are surrounded by protesters, or attacked? His first thought will be to send in the Marines to protect them.
“Friends, the United States and the State of Israel have a strong bond, going back to the moment of Israel’s founding. There is no question that we should be, and will be Israel’s strong friend and ally in the years to come."
Why?
“And by the way, I want regulation. I want to protect our environment, I want regulations for safety, I want all of the regulations that we need and I want them to be so strong and so tough…”
That was Harper's approach in Canada. He proceeded to slash environmental monitoring and enforcement staff, so the tough laws weren't enforced.
I suspect the Arab dictators and royals are cozying up to Israel and USA because they soon may need protection from their subjects.
BTW, Juan: What do you make of the CIA head meeting with Abbas?
"Nepotism" is trending:
https://www.google.ca/trends/explore?q=nepotism
Right, compare the coverage and international official response to Paris vs. Quebec City.
"shield their fragile Selves"
Like, "snowflakes"?
"anxiety and puzzlement in the Iraqi troops who are fighting alongside US troops. 'Why would you ban us? ' "
The US has a history of taking in "refugees" who have collaborated with US interventions. This incentive may no longer apply to Muslims.
CBC radio interview:
Mujanović says for observers and reporters of authoritarianism, Trump's behaviour sounds off all kinds of alarm bells.
"I don't think it's an accident that some of the most prescient analysis and critique that has come out over the last year year and a half has been from people who have studied authoritarianism, you know in the Middle East and Eastern Europe etc."
"I don't want that to be interpreted as an attack on the media. I have colleagues who work in journalism. I just think that the issue is that reporters in the United States and Canada and large parts of Europe really have no first-hand experience with authoritarianism so to them this is this is entertainment. This is a circus."
The demonization playbook always includes allegations of corruption. Did they ever find the stolen billions of Saddam, Gaddafi, Arafat or Yanukovych? (They did find some of non-demonized Marcos' assets, including a Canadian drug store chain named "Big M".)
If they wanted to show a pattern of Russian hacking they could mention the Victoria Nuland phone call, but I guess they prefer not to call attention to that.
Arming, training and funding the "Syrian rebels" is still "on the sly".
C. "pandering to a large contingent of his base"
The election's over. They are preoccupied with black Friday, Xmas and New Year. When the hangovers wear off and the bills arrive they will be impatient for "You will all be so rich".
Trump says that Europe, Japan and Korea should pay their own way on defence. He has not said the same about Israel. But given his purported dislike of US involvement in the Mideast, maybe he will say to Israel: "We are giving you $billions of weapons, you know the neighbourhood, so I am putting you in charge of the region". So Israel will have to prop up their Saudi/Sisi/Jordanian pals.
"arms for the Jewish community to prosecute the 1947-48 war". I wish you would write about Plan Dalet and the Czech arms purchase. Few people seem to know about these.
Iran will be dependant on the US for parts and service.
RFE/RL is concerned about killing of leftists by Iran? US complicity in Latin American death squads comes to mind.
The notion of "taking the oil" is absurd. Iraq is already producing as much as it can. It would take an enormous investment in oilfields, pipelines and port facilities to significantly increase production. Where would you put it, since storage facilities are already full? If you just dumped it on the world market it would further depress prices an bankrupt the oil industry.
Byzantine.
Back when the British were imposing their superior culture on the world, here's what their women wore to the beach:
https://lisawallerrogers.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/women-wringing-our-swimsuits-ca-1905.png?w=750&h=483
"Setting up such a system on such a grand scale would require a lot of programming work ..."
Decades ago I programmed my computer to randomly dialup a pager (belonging to a contractor who skipped with a deposit). It was not a lot of work, and would not have been much more work to do multiple pagers.
Bad link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/22/
The "West" pretends that support for Israel's wars is not religious, but the operative definition of "Jewishness" in Israeli law (maternal inheritance or Orthodox conversion) is a religious doctrine - there is no secular scientific basis for this classification.