Recipe for creating inextinguishable, persistently mutating & rabid disaster, also known as ‘bringing democracy’ to the Arab world:
Hydras & Hydrophobia (or how to create black out of white)
General Petraeus training and arming Sunni ‘awakening councils’ in Iraq.
Stop paying & leave noted ‘councils’ unemployed on exit.
Arrange Sunni insurrection in neighboring Syria, where recently trained & presently unemployed Iraqis can look for a job.
Set up financing and arms to opposition in Syria via Saudi Arabia, courtesy of a Petraeus led CIA (financing by default to the Saudi favored Salafist fundamentalist groups, inclusive of al-Qaida aligned militia.)
Base your operations out of NATO’s Turkey & western democracies’ lap-dog Jordan.
Have your ally in Qatar broadcast a call to jihad in Syria, to millions of Sunni Muslims across the world (why, thank you al-Jazeera!)
Have the CIA, in concert with MI6, DGSE & MOSSAD, contract former special operations forces to assist the opposition in Syria.
Realize too late, fundamentalists who source their training to initial American efforts in Iraq and recently boosted by the new endeavors of western intelligence, have become the most powerful factions in Syria.
Replace psycho-killer Petraeus at CIA with psycho-killer John Brennan.
Freak out at your own anti-Assad effort in Syria upon realizing who will be in control if CIA led effort to overthrow the regime is successful (Salifist fundamentalists, in some cases so extreme as to be disowned by al-Qaida.)
Distract people from what’s happening with the world class CIA screw-up in Syria with new caper engineered by same CIA, in Ukraine.
As Assad reasserts control in Syria, see thousands of well trained fundamentalists pour out of Syria across the border into Iraq, rout the Iraqi army and capture countless tons of American supplied weapons.
When Ukraine distraction has failed, blame Russia for everything.
Fail to realize the eventual assessment of the Christian fundamentalists running the Pentagon will be, the only sensible option is to nuke the Islamic fundamentalists, as well as Russians, Jews, Blacks, cartoonists, author of this blog, women, gays, anyone who doesn’t believe in literal Armageddon, people who sue the church (especially alter-boys that talk) …
Were England’s World Cup aspirations a test of national character, the British body politic should take note, as the UKIP insurgency has based itself on the continent
Some people, the Anglo-Saxon race particularly, it would appear, never learn. Blair’s gay relationship (think Bugs Bunny in drag) with Bush and torture (that was a mean wabbit) for the sake of modern corporate empire (money, it’s a drag- ‘Pink Floyd’) bleeds the taxpayer, for the sake of Canary Warf jet setters, a true case of ‘English Setters’ don’t dare think the ‘Bulldog’ Lennon had honestly castrated with a song
Now, ‘peace envoy’ Blair plays Middle East contracts like Rooney the striker, thinking himself a step up from premier play, but his closet neo-liberal fascism is entirely ineffectual, this grimace-grin legacy of failed policy smiling for the paparrazi from Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv.. oh and he embraces ‘popery’ like a Guy Fawkes embraced patriotism, all-the-while his soul-mate Rooney smolders with distemper and a stiffy’d upper lip, likely he’d bite the ‘head’ of Suarez when he ‘blows’
Anchoring the midfield of the nation, Lampard-Gerrard & Cameron-Clegg do make-nice kisses in conjugal pornography bed-set for tabloid media
All across England, wankers print their aim on the House of Battenberg, the Royal Post dripping wet fallout of pundits sucking themselves off in the mirror, oh, Oh, OH -ahhh- gushing like a BP ‘blow’-out for the camera, who will clean up England’s mess? Such world class wealth wasted on the Germans-
Oh my, England, but do you really believe yourselves? Better had British talent for blowing bubbles which burst, considering ethics, take responsibility, pensioners doomed well deservedly by a ‘privatised’ dead empire’s sacrosanct ‘investment’ (wank on that)
So, you think the USA are an average side? Not so my cousin, USA are an exceptional side, spawn of colonial yore, yet to meet its comeuppance of empire failed, sociopath collective mentality not reduced to loser/whiner retrospective, do outplay those first kicked a kings head about the battlefield. Were it Harold the ball? Did William strike and score at Hastings?
Methinks the Anglo-Saxon had learnt naught since 948 years…
No, I’ve not become an unabashed supporter of Marine Le Pen. And I am not in love with Putin’s conservatism in every respect. But the thing is, when truth is trashed by the neo-liberal left, it should be exposed equally as to any truths trashed by the neo-conservative right. Where Putin, Le Pen and Farage stand head and shoulders above Obama, Hollande, Cameron and Merkel is, Putin, Le Pen and Farage have some degree of principled ethics which are actually meant to be put into practice, as opposed to the political lies of the western political personalities and pundits, so easily and naturally expressed (and exposed I might add.)
The so-called ‘left-liberal-progressive’ “NATION” magazine has become, over this past decade, a shameless disinformation yellow sheet (or ‘rag’) little better than the “National Enquirer” in respect to factual reporting. Hosting guests such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, and with columnists such as Robert ‘Bob’ Dreyfuss, recalls George Orwell…
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which”
…considering the neo-liberal foreign policy wonks cannot be distinguished from the neo-conservative, let alone distinguish for themselves the difference between a legitimate conservative and a Nazi. I had already dealt with Brzezinski’s geopolitical lies and now it is Dreyfuss turn. Dreyfuss opens his 30 May 2014 column at The Nation with:
“The scary fascists who, according to Russia, have taken over Ukraine since the “coup d’état” and ousted the former president didn’t do too well. Who did do well were the actual scary fascists in Western Europe who were supported by, well, Russia. According to one report:
“”The supposed reservoirs of reactionary thinking in Western Ukraine generated an embarrassing 1 percent of the vote for Oleh Tyagnibok of ultra-nationalist Svoboda Party and less than 1 percent for Dmitry Yarosh of the new Right Sector party that sprung up during the protests. A story run by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency notes that Tyagnibok and Yarosh together received fewer votes than Vadim Rabinovich, a Jewish candidate who captured a little over 2 percent of the ballots””
“There’s no doubt that Svoboda and Right Sector are bad actors. But the overweening propaganda from Moscow claiming that Kiev is being ruled by “fascists” is now proved to be ridiculous. (Not that Moscow’s propaganda since the Ukraine crisis erupted has been anything but ridiculous, starting with its claims that it wasn’t invading Crimea and its claims that it isn’t secretly behind the eruption of ersatz “people’s republics” in Eastern Ukraine’s Donets Basin region.)”
This sort of drivel is why I’d long since cancelled my subscription to The Nation. In fact Svoboda still has 37 seats in parliament and five ministries in the CIA supported, putsch installed regime in Kiev. But somehow Dreyfuss would have us all believe one recently elected candy oligarch, who has not dropped a line coming from the authentic fascists holding Parliament and larger government hostage in Kiev, is a substitute for Fall elections, before we can know the rest of the story. At the pace things are moving in Ukraine, Fall is a very long ways off.
And then Dreyfuss goes on:
“Meanwhile, the elections for the European Parliament—admittedly, a weak institution—reflect a troubling shift toward right-wing, fascist-leaning and ultra-nationalist politics in several European countries, including France and Great Britain. While some left-leaning parties did well, too, the biggest gains were made by parties such as the UK Independence Party, France’s National Front and a pair of far-right Greek parties. As I wrote in this space on May 21, Russia has formed an anti-EU alliance of convenience with many of these self-same fascist parties in Europe”
In fact the UK Independence Party is quite a long a stretch to compare to the neo-nazis in Kiev. It is only recently UKIP has been smeared as fascist and racist, when it became apparent voters were turned off by the neo-conservative/neo-liberal partnership of Cameron-Clegg and wanting nothing to do with the neo-liberal legacy of Tony Blair represented in the Labor Party, had turned to the man who was making desperately desired common sense on an out of control European Union: Nigel Farange.
Marine Le Pen’s National Front is another long stretch to compare to avowed neo-nazis such as the Ukrainian Svoboda party. Marine Le Pen’s political philosophy:
“advocates to “restore the political framework of the national community” and to implement the direct democracy which enables the “civic responsibility and the collective tie” thanks to the participation of public-spirited citizens for the decisions. The predominant political theme was the uncompromising defence of a protective and efficient State, which favours secularism, prosperity and liberties. She also denounced the “Europe of Brussels” which “everywhere imposed the destructive principles of ultra-liberalism and Free trade, at the expense of public utilities, employment, social equity and even our economic growth which became within twenty years the weakest of the world””
Compare this preceding to the facts as laid out by renown scholar Robert English, commenting on Ukraine’s Svoboda and Right Sector controlling events from Kiev:
“These are groups whose thuggish young legions still sport a swastika-like symbol, whose leaders have publicly praised many aspects of Nazism and who venerate the World War II nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, whose troops occasionally collaborated with Hitler’s and massacred thousands of Poles and Jews.
“But scarier than these parties’ whitewashing of the past are their plans for the future. They have openly advocated that no Russian language be taught in Ukrainian schools, that citizenship is only for those who pass Ukrainian language and culture exams, that only ethnic Ukrainians may adopt Ukrainian orphans and that new passports must identify their holders’ ethnicity — be it Ukrainian, Pole, Russian, Jew or other”
To conflate the Ukrainian Svoboda & Right Sector with UKIP & LePen’s National Front, labeling them collectively fascist, and this is what Dreyfuss attempts to do, lends an understanding to the conservative alliance of Putin, Farage and LePen… they all share in common being smeared by western media elements. In fact were there any truth in Dreyfuss’ assertions (and Western media generally) concerning the character of UKIP & National Front, they would be on the side of Kiev rather than Putin. In fact Marine Le Pen rejects the NDP & Golden Dawn extreme right or neo-nazi parties Dreyfuss insinuates are consistent or complicit with Le Pen’s National Front in the Europen Parliament. The more honest facts of the matter are, Germany’s support of Kiev is factually sympathetic to the neo-nazi Svoboda party, with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats authentic Nazi legacy in cooperation with known neo-nazis, is well documented. Recalling the election for Ukrainian parliament are put off to Fall and neo-nazis remain in control of Ukraine in the meanwhile, Dreyfuss stating…
“the overweening propaganda from Moscow claiming that Kiev is being ruled by “fascists” is now proved to be ridiculous”
…is simply the worst sort of ‘overweening’ propaganda.
I’ll simply go on to note as an analyst of many years, what Dreyfuss presents in his article falls under the process of invention (fantasy.) On the other hand, Russian propaganda works because it employs a superior technique to western propaganda. The Russian method is minimal omissions of fact in the narrative, whereas the western method is largely broadcasting inventions. At the end of the day, when it comes to thinking people willing to cross check a few facts, the Russians omitting 10% of the reality, or less tampering with the facts, is by far superior to the western press, in this case Dreyfuss inventing 90% of the picture or better said, illusion. In fact RT (Russian TV) has been providing reliable video of the new Ukrainian National Guard (i.e. Svoboda militia) indiscriminately shooting civilians. Nothing quite like ‘seeing is believing.’ The Nation could do better but has a long ways to go, to become as competent as Russian propaganda. They cannot match the Russians when it so happens the facts more or less line up on Putin’s side… or better said, so long as the editorial board at the Nation is willing to insult people’s intelligence with the rot we see in articles like Dreyfuss presents.
Meanwhile, there are stories the Nation doesn’t touch with a ten foot pole, like how Obama is pursuing liberal/criminal policy wonk Zbigneiw Brzezinki’s ‘grand chessboard’ strategy of cornering and attempting to isolate Russia. Or how creating insurgencies prop up the western economies and how Ukraine plays in that.
You’ve heard of ‘you are what you eat’? The Nation would prefer ‘you are what you think.’ Unfortunately, in the case of the USA supported putsch regime in Ukraine, they’d like you to think along the lines of George Orwell’s observation:
“In the case of a word like DEMOCRACY, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of régime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way”
The Nation, per Orwell’s observation, demonstrates itself a consciously dishonest publication
Former FBI Coleen Rowley on Counterfeit Coin: “Wow, very well put and comprehensive. I tend to agree with your assessments“
Deep State series, part five of eight
COUNTERFEIT COIN
(The alliance of economics & counter-insurgency)
“If the Soviet Union were to disappear off the face of the map, the United States would quickly seek out new enemies to justify its own military-industrial complex” -CIA officer John Stockwell, 1980
What I had learned based on studying my special forces operations assignment is, counter-insurgency does not work. Insurgency is largely sustained by social inequities, and counter-insurgency, more often than not, props up the status quo. The result? Prolonged civil war with attending process of radicalization in the populace. So it should come as no surprise the U.S. military’s counter-insurgency [COIN] manual’s ‘don’t create more enemies than you eliminate’ is factually unobtainable. Consequently, when the manual states…
“The conclusion of any counterinsurgency effort is primarily dependent on the host nation and the people who reside in that nation. Ultimately, every society has to provide solutions to its own problems. As such, one of the Army and Marine Corps’ primary roles in counterinsurgency is to enable the host nation.”
…is a classic case of what George Orwell aptly called ‘doublethink.’ USA supported counter-insurgency is the farthest possible thing from allowing societies solve its own problems, particularly when a society’s grassroots insurgency has determined the incumbent powers cannot be otherwise influenced to social equity. The resultant counter-insurgency effect of radicalizing of social elements with the propping up of corrupt regimes, metastasizes and leads to events such as ‘global jihad’, example given.
In my day, our Special Operations Forces had not yet become pervasively criminalized but we did see the beginning of this process when Special Forces elements coordinated with the CIA and PHOENIX. Apart from this initial perversion, we saw ourselves more along the lines of an elite Peace Corps working the most hazardous territories of a Cold War world. Critical to our mission was pacification of populace in the areas we worked, and pacification is and was a straightforward word. We worked to bring peace to neighborhoods in conflicts. John Wayne stereotype aside, the military aspects were honest endeavor to provide self-defense training to remote villages with an objective the populace could not be easily exploited by irregular militia, but that was never going to be accomplished in any case, except that we understood and respected and even integrated to the local customs and culture. Our primary work was focused on action anthropology, providing health care and education in an indigenous social context.
That we had elite, lethal training, was primarily survival oriented, yes, there were the occasional ‘special operation’ to perhaps decapitate the leadership of a particular guerrilla group or undertake sabotage behind enemy lines in the course of our work, examples given, but this was the exception, not the rule.
Primarily our superior skills were required to operate small teams in areas where we might meet with considerably stronger numerical force. The highly honed and elite skills of the 1960s and 1970s Green Berets teams were more often than not, more than equal to a larger irregular force. If vastly out numbered, we knew how to inflict savage and costly casualties on our pursuers in the course of evasion. In our pacification work, Action Anthropology …
“committed to collaborative work, social justice, and a pragmatic view of social scientific knowledge … envisioned the possibility of simultaneously advancing such knowledge and helping the subjects of ethnographic fieldwork articulate and accomplish their own goals”
… was the norm of the day. We integrated to our human and social environment. We were armed educators, medical providers and social workers. We were not primarily meant to be offensive, to the contrary, restraint was a big piece of our discipline and training. Cowboy mentalities were not tolerated.
It is quite clear things have changed away from this ideal (and somewhat self-propagandized) focus, dramatically, for the military applications of special operations forces, in the approximately four decades since Vietnam. Firstly, one must consider a flipped circumstance; the Cold War world, or one might say the previous ‘bi-polar’ world, was a world where the rug had since been pulled out from numerous societies stability. Into the vacuum created by the dismantling of the Soviet Union and its many aligned satellite states political structures around the world, greed is stepping in as the western democracies ‘capitalize’ on this circumstance. Consequently, as opposed to a primary focus on the ‘liberation’ of oppressed peoples (recalling the Special Forces motto ‘De Opresso Liber’ or ‘liberate the oppressed’) from totalitarian rule, the actuality has become the reverse- openly propping up corrupt regimes whose relationship to us is one of inter-exploitation. Example would be mining Corporations and the Toronto Stock Exchange:
The corrupt regimes handing us (in the western democracies) raw resources on the cheap are no less dependent on us than we are dependent on corrupt regimes to keep the value of our stocks competitive. It is a trap, where if the western democracies allow for social equity to be realized, and must pay a fair market value for resources consequently, the value of stocks will drop in the market ‘adjustment’ to the new circumstance. In a situation of many cases of exploitation, concerning many nations and hundreds of stocks at the exchanges in Frankfurt, London, Toronto and Wall Street (among other exchanges), a drop in these values reflecting a fair market value wealth redistribution necessary to achieve social stability in the developing nations, would also see a dramatic drop in the stocks of the military-industrial sector which is inter-dependent with the corruption and associated expenditures on counter-insurgency necessary to prop up the corrupt regimes providing resources on the cheap.
As this process accelerates and widens, recently the example is Ukraine with Western democracies intelligence agencies laundering operations with professional mercenaries assisting the new regime in Kiev with COIN tactics employed in the ethnic Russian areas of the south and east, this raises a question; at what point has the corruption become so endemic to the cycle, that to break the cycle of corruption would collapse the economic engines of the western democracies, which have become dependent on arms sales feeding associated aggression required to prop up the (profitable to us) necessarily unstable, corrupt regimes?
Another critical consideration is, now that ‘liberty’ is become an increasingly obvious, patent lie (no longer a ‘half truth’ of previous era), what will be the end result of a power grab by corporate elites dedicated to maintaining the status quo?
“Mr. Snowden has brought home to us that, while we Americans do not yet live in a police state or tyranny, we are well along in building the infrastructure on which either could be instantly erected if our leaders decided to do so. No longer protected by the law, our freedoms now depend on the self-restraint of men and women in authority, many of them in uniform. History protests that if one builds a turnkey totalitarian state, those who hold the keys will eventually turn them” -former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman
With the Soviet Union no longer a justifiable geopolitical boogeyman to frighten us into vast arms and ‘security’ expenditures, ‘terror’ has replaced our past Cold War world’s enemies. But nearly everywhere you see a relationship to terror, you will also find a history of corrupt, authoritarian regimes propped up by the western democracies.
1) Authoritarian regime x resultant civil unrest x resultant hyper regime repression = insurgency
2) Insurgency x counter-insurgency = long term civil war
3) Long term civil war x resultant radicalized population metastasizes into terror and spreads
4) Western societies, bled by taxes and political lies propping up the status quo for what amounts to the sole benefit of western corporate oligarchs, become destabilized.
This returns us to the lie of COIN. The factual deceit in counter insurgency is, it must propagate, or be part and parcel of a larger web of lies (or self-deceits) in any case. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it cannot be admitted the wealth of the western democracies depends on exploitations, effective enslavement of entire societies, to prop up our so-called ‘liberties’ and associated economic freedoms which must be severely curtailed in the event of the actual fair, equitable and lawful redistribution of wealth required to cease the oppression of peoples around the world. People with eyes open call our system ’empire.’ People who live in illusion call our system ‘democracy’, however it is necessary to build a police state to maintain our so-called ‘democracy’ because of the raw hatred or ‘terror’ the system generates. And at the end of the day, the only meaningful vote is in the corporate boardroom and that does not bode well for our future because:
“In any democracy, ethics, self restraint, tolerance and honesty will always take a second seat to narcissism, avarice, bigotry & persecution, if only because people who play by the rules in any democracy are at a disadvantage to those who easily subvert the rules to their own advantage” –Ronald’s Maxim
Our poster child for this militarized society is General Petraeus. It is common political knowledge in Washington DC, that President Obama had appointed General Petraeus to head the CIA as a means of sidelining the General’s political ambitions over serious concerns Petraeus would hook up with the likes of Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman in a run against Obama for the presidency in 2012. Either way you have it, a commander-in-chief, whether a military veteran or not, is a sword that can cut two ways. Obama’s naiveté in military affairs, having never served, is the 2nd worst possible circumstance in an America where naked fundamentalist ambition has overtaken the leadership of American military command structures, outside an out and out fundamentalist president. That Obama would, as a matter of political expediency, appoint Petraeus to head up the CIA with its historically out of control Operational Division working in close concert with the radicalized and criminalized Christian extremist special operations forces of today’s American military…
…was simply asking for disaster. General Petraeus was key [together with Robert Gates] in convincing Obama to radically beef up the USA’s special operations forces, at a time it was already decided the overall troop numbers would have to be reduced.
General Petraeus has had a close association with special operations forces throughout his career. When Petraeus had been appointed to DCI [Director of Central Intelligence or CIA] Admiral William H McRaven, overall boss of the special operations forces which these days are routinely assigned to CIA operational missions, had requested his forces be allowed to operate outside the traditional Department of Defense channels. This was, no doubt, a sleight-of-hand grab for these elite forces away from normal supervision via established Department of Defense structures, and away from any significant oversight by Congress, by Admiral McRaven and his close professional associate, then CIA Director Petraeus.
The myth of General Petraeus in the public purview is a demonstrable tactical lie. In fact the ‘surge that turned around the war in Iraq’ for which he became famous, was at best a deceit along the lines of a shell game or bait and switch. General Petraeus beefed up the American force, momentarily disrupted the insurgency with an all out push that could not be sustained in any case, and then pulled the bulk of the American forces back to their bases and took the Americans, for the first time, largely out of public circulation before the insurgents in Iraq could regroup. It is this removing the American soldiers from the everyday Iraqi life which had dramatically dropped the violence in Iraq, nothing more. The same could have been accomplished in 2004, and honestly at that, were it not for literally crusading extremist neo-con commanders and secular officers afraid to speak out and challenge the status quo at the CIA and Pentagon, to call a spade a spade, a career ending move. It is truly Faustian, if you speak out your career is over and you have been weeded from the ranks which only become more Christian extremist with the favored or ‘blessed’ replacements, if you keep your mouth shut, it all evolves towards fascism regardless.
Moving over to Afghanistan, notoriously there have been many special operations forces crimes, inclusive of attacking weddings and other incidents where fleeing women and kids had been shot in their backs, cold blooded murders. We pay the Afghans compensation but the root problem of anti-Islam fundamentalism in the American military is never effectively addressed and the hate for the Americans only spreads. General Petraeus had a large hand in keeping these American special operations independent of NATO, effectively exercising impunity and generating a strengthened Taliban when the Americans are seen as a worse curse. This is today’s COIN in action.
General Petraeus had been the hand that guided today’s COIN manual creation, one of the most, perhaps THE most influential military publication in modern American military strategy. When testifying to Congress, where it is essential the success of a counter-insurgency strategy lie be maintained, the COIN manual stating…
“The general rule for the use of force for the counterinsurgents is ‘do not create more enemies than you eliminate with your action’”
…cannot be squared with General Petraeus ties to CIA dirty wars…
…and bringing in veteran professional killers to oversee secret torture centers and and running death squads in Iraq as established by the (above linked) Guardian/BBC Arabic exposé. But that is the real nature of the militarized beast that would rule our society.
“perhaps the severest criticism of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine derives from actual record of counterinsurgency programs. The continuing violence and instability in Iraq and Afghanistan would seem to indicate that existing counterinsurgency doctrine is either misconceived or that, for whatever reason, it cannot be effectively implemented”
Aftergood sets out two premise in his conclusion, ‘misconceived’ and ‘cannot be effectively implemented.’ Based on my own Special Forces operations assignment, and related studies in social psychology, I can make the case it is not one or the other, but is both. Counter-insurgency in any case, creates more enemies than it eliminates for the very fact of its inter-dependence with propping up western corporate capitalism’s profit line with necessary support for corrupt and authoritarian regimes. The idea of countering ‘terror’ with COIN is a lie.
Similar to Gladio, the American COIN doctrine is a virus that has escaped the lab. Essentially, COIN generates the terror it self-justifies for its existence, practically speaking, a military-industrial employment insurance package that means you will never be out of a job. A practical application of this is, COIN provides the very skills used to fight insurgency, to the insurgents themselves.
Shia death squads set up under Petreaus command in Iraq, followed on with General Petraeus responsible for training and arming the so-called Sunni ‘awakening councils‘, strengthened al-Qaida in Iraq & Levant (now operating in Syria and Iraq under the banner of ISIS since breaking with al-Qaida) empowering both parties to the civil war that followed the USA’s exit from Iraq:
“Crazy as it may seem, to an [American military trained but now unemployed] Iraqi who’s been left high and dry to fend for himself by his “liberators,” killing his fellow citizens to feed his family is a viable option. Al Qaeda knows this, and is taking full advantage of the situation”
Reiterating the fact General Petraeus ‘surge’ in Iraq appeared to work on paper for the reason the U.S withdrew to its bases after, and violence dropped because the Americans were out of public exposure for the first time since invasion (and why the Iranian aligned Iraqi Shia cleric al-Sadr declared his ceasefire, relating to the Americans) points to the insurgency having had national roots in a society where all sides wanted the Americans out, first and primarily. In the mix of this, the so-called ‘awakening councils’ put into practice by the Petraeus written COIN doctrine (no matter if it were initiated by subordinate generals on location in Iraq during Petraeus interim assignment at the Pentagon) is what eventually empowered today’s ISIS at the apex of Iraq’s widening civil war, a civil war initiated by Petraeus earlier (1st Iraq tour), when setting up the Shia death squads, he had trained al-Sadr’s militia (as documented in the the above linked Guardian/BBC Arabic exposé “Searching for Steele”.) COIN training, consequently, had been responsible for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq from both Shia and Sunni elements. Both had sent numerous members to be trained in the two programs. The same COIN model has been taken advantage of by radicalized insurgents in Syria, where special operations training has been offered to the ‘opposition’ and now you see the fruits of this spilled back into Iraq (again.)
The Petraeus COIN doctrine presently, enthusiastically, embraced by Obama (not only by Bush and too many other neo-conservatives and neo-liberals to count) is the tool of choice with side effect responsible for what you see coming apart at the seams (blow-back) from Ukraine to Iraq to Africa, and ultimately is policy of military-industrial corporate boards and used for propping up stock values from Frankfurt to London to Toronto to Wall Street. Also, it would appear the several western democracies military and intelligence agencies have elements answering to corporate boards as opposed to executive or legislative oversight with strong evidence this has gone on for a very long time.
Destabilized nations are ripe for rip-off, and the recipe is, desperate for cash related to ‘security’, corrupt regimes propped up by the western democracies are inclined to sell their resources on the cheap and use the proceeds to buy military equipment necessary to beat back insurgency and stay in power, so the money they received from selling their resources to the western democracies are returned to the western democracies military-industrial coffers (noting it is not only the USA in this game.) This model has been initiated in Ukraine and if there were successful regime change accomplished in Syria, you would see it happen there, all a criminal enterprise heavily subsidized by the American taxpayer (not to mention soldiers deaths in the thousands) to the benefit of the stockholder bottom line (profit.)
If you wonder whether the western democracies corporate body might learn its lesson from having trained al-Qaida and other Salafist militia (preceding notes on the ‘awakening councils’), the answer is obviously NO. Previous to this, the CIA had employed American special operations forces for provision of advanced training to Mexican military officers who’d ultimately defected to the drug cartels and it was not long before they’d formed a cartel of their own, Los Zetas:
“Los Zetas’ training as a local version of the Green Berets constitutes their foremost asset. In cooperation with their U.S. counterparts, the Mexican military created the Gafes in mid-1990s. Foreign specialists, including Americans, French, and Israelis, instructed members of this elite unit in rapid deployment, aerial assaults, marksmanship, ambushes, intelligence collection, counter-surveillance techniques, prisoner rescues, sophisticated communications, and the art of intimidation”
And now, following on having trained al-Qaida in Iraq & Los Zetas in Mexico as special operations commandos who in turn can train their own future generations of recruits, the USA is repeating the same behavior in Africa:
“The secretive program, financed in part with millions of dollars in classified Pentagon spending and carried out by trainers, including members of the Army’s Green Berets and Delta Force, was begun last year to instruct and equip hundreds of handpicked commandos in Libya, Niger, Mauritania and Mali”
Epilogue
Restated in the simplest possible terms, the USA’s ‘vital national interests’ (and western democracies generally) is euphemism for corporate welfare, corporate welfare is all about the bottom line (profit) and profit historically has happened when we take raw material at gunpoint from disadvantaged nations. Modern corporate neo-colonialism creates social unrest and consequent fighting back which has evolved to ‘terror’, which in turn strengthens the market place in the ‘security’ or arms industry. The overthrow of Gaddafi (for reasons including he wasn’t buying high end weapons from France, following his ‘rehabilitation’) started brush fires (e.g. Mali) with his now unemployed mercenaries, ‘lost’ weapons flow and western trained guerrillas/insurgents moved on to instances of ‘jihad’ the western powers feel must be in turn stamped out. This strengthens the cycle of spreading ‘terror’ which again strengthens the outlay for security, propping up western economies in what has become a war of civilizations.
In the case of Djibouti and a one billion dollar USA drones base built there, there is yet a French Foreign Legion presence hanging on from colonial era with the region surrounding nearby Somalia in process of destabilizing since Charles Grassley’s efforts provided a vast arsenal of American weapons to the regime of Mohammed Said Barre nearly 30 years ago. Barre in turn employed those weapons to wreak a biblical terror on his own nation. This has impacted from Ethiopia to Kenya and beyond.
The result at home? ‘Terror’ propaganda leading to the loss of civil liberties and increasing consolidation of the corporate-power corrupt over the vast and spreading malignancy of the entire cycle. This fact can only lead to our national demise when you factor in the western democracies own ‘jihadis’, i.e. extreme ‘Christian Taliban’ personalities attracted to the ‘security’ business. Now days the Pentagon is fundamentalist Christian crusader central and has moved from ‘the only good Indian is a dead Indian’ to ‘the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim’ as a matter of policy in a pursuit of world-wide “manifest destiny.” And so reality is created for us and reality is pointed to literal Armageddon, the consequence of living beyond our means.
The other side of this coin is, if the arms and related ‘security’ expenditures were halted, the resulting jobs loss would finish collapsing the western democracies economic engines, where the armaments industries are a critical component of the dynamic propping up our infrastructure.
What are the chances the western democratic leaders will surrender ego to reality and begin dismantling this hydra? Not good when reality is we should be moving towards construction of changed climate Hobbit burrows to survive.
What’s happening isn’t rocket science, but it is a trap
If you want stronger evidence for the criminal insanity of the western democracies counter-insurgency policies (a core component of what’s known as ‘humanitarian violence‘) you likely need psychiatric help-
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The USA’s criminal military-industrial complex policies are certainly consistent; judging by the 1935 speech of General Smedley Butler (‘war is a racket’ that has gone on for a very long time.)
A former Special Forces Sergeant of Operations and Intelligence, Ronald Thomas West is a retired paralegal/investigator (living in exile) whose work focus had been anti-corruption and human rights. Ronald is published in International Law as a layman (The Mueller-Wilson Report, co-authored with Dr Mark D Cole) and has been adjunct professor of American Constitutional Law at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany (for English credit, summer semester 2008.) Ronald’s formal educational background is primarily social psychology.
The proposal in this essay “In fact it is perfectly possible by the time Snowden had traveled to Moscow with Harrison, he may no longer have been in possession of the documents at all” in fact had been almost immediately established as the case in fact, when Snowden stated he was no longer in possession of any NSA documents when he’d traveled to Russia, in his Moscow interview with NBC
It is a near impossible task to try and wipe egg off someone’s face, that is, if that someone doesn’t care to acknowledge the facts, if the facts shake their foundation in reality or they are simply willfully stubborn. When egg yolk has dried on ceramic, those of you who know how to wash dishes will know to use fingernails, or risk scratches and look for the steel wool. So this analysis is going to be abrasive to the idealists in the peace movement and associated journalists concerned with social justice. And it is an attempt to pull Glenn Greenwald’s chestnuts out of the fire, before they are reduced to ashes by counter-espionage and damage control spooks. Good luck with that, is the cynical admonition to myself, because this one might get eggs thrown at me with a vengeance.
Our present story begins precisely 11 months ago, 23 June 2013, when The Guardian had reported concerning the WikiLeaks supposed (reported widely in ‘mainstream’ media) ‘legal expert’ accompanying Edward Snowden, Sarah Harrison, on Snowden’s odyssey to Moscow:
“Despite her closeness to Assange, Harrison may seem a strange choice to accompany Snowden, as unlike several people close to WikiLeaks – most notably human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson – Harrison has no legal qualifications or background”
Yeah, that’s likely why Snowden faxed perfectly useless asylum requests all over the world from the Moscow airport, not realizing (technically speaking, such as in an embassy) he had to be standing on the territory of the nation he would wish to acquire asylum in. But it gets by far more interesting. As I’d pointed out in my piece ‘WikiLeaks & Spy Agencies‘…
“In espionage [or counter-espionage], there are three basic means of penetrating and/or using a hostile organization to one’s advantage:
1) Turning an employee through some means such as blackmail, sex, bribery or appeal to a psychological weakness such as working on someone’s conscience or ideology and convince them to become your organization’s asset (agent/traitor)
2) Placing your own officer within the organization as an employee (spy)
3) Using psychology and disinformation to convince the organization’s staff to work to your advantage and/or commit acts against its own interests (false flag/sale)
Typically there would be each of these approaches assessed individually and in various combinations and/or variants when planning an operation. WikiLeaks would be vulnerable to this on several counts”
…now, we will look at this a bit more closely in a related development of the past several days.
On 19 May, 2014, the new venture of Greenwald (among others) ‘The Intercept’ published a piece based on the Snowden NSA documents, concerning MYSTIC sub-project SOMALGET, detailing how entire nations are being prepared for TOTAL surveillance of phone traffic, inclusive of all audio conversation. The apparent ‘pilot program’ of laboratory test animals is the Bahamas and an unnamed nation (in the intercept article.)
^NSA illustration via The Intercept
Almost immediately, Julian Assange (@WikiLeaks) and Greenwald were in a ‘twitter’ spat over Greenwald with-holding the 2nd nations name, Assange claiming Greenwald’s rationale for following long established journalism protocol to protect at risk persons by with-holding information was essentially selling out. AND THEN, WikiLeaks (Assange) threatened to reveal the nation’s name, if The Intercept and Greenwald refused to do so .. and subsequently named Afghanistan. What we see here, on its face, is brilliant counter-espionage work, of a nature so serious a threat to Greenwald (and others) journalism at The Intercept, as to appear to send Greenwald to Moscow to meet with Snowden, or so rumor would have it:
^Destination Moscow (in closing remarks by hostess)
The problem with WikiLeaks naming the unnamed country? Now, the ‘mainstream’ (CIA manipulated) media can claim in full on attack on Greenwald and the others at The Intercept, these journalists have no credibility insofar as security of content concerning the NSA documents in their possession. As well, there most certainly will be assessment of possibility to link Greenwald (and others at The Intercept) to any criminal case being developed against Assange. Touche, NSA! Counter-espionage has drawn blood.
Now to the question .. how did WikiLeaks acquire the name of Afghanistan? WikiLeaks isn’t saying. But first suspicion would naturally fall on close Assange confidant Sarah Harrison who’d been with Snowden ’24/7′ for weeks while Snowden was sorting out where he might be able to safely stay (having to ultimately settle on Russia.) I believe this is the least likely scenario, however we will go there first. It’s as simple as Sarah Harrison would have stole the documents from Snowden. If that were the case, WikiLeaks has all of the Snowden NSA disclosures and they don’t dare admit they’d violated Snowden’s trust. If Greenwald is indeed in Moscow meeting with Snowden, it would go to exploring this possibility. But I doubt this is what happened, not because WikiLeaks would not have stolen the documents if they could have, but because I expect Snowden was smart enough to secure the documents throughout Sarah Harrison’s stay with him, not every possible ‘honey-pot’ or using a woman in seduction for operational purposes is going to be successful. Whether Harrison were Assange’s mole or a British intelligence agent or double agent, Snowden was not a good candidate to fall for this sort of operation when it is demonstrable Snowden’s own girlfriend had no idea what he was up to in the months and days leading up to his revelations and flight. The man is well disciplined in the rules of personal secrecy attending espionage. In fact it is perfectly possible by the time Snowden had traveled to Moscow with Harrison, he may no longer have been in possession of the documents at all. But the brilliant aspect of this, from the point of view of counter-espionage and exploiting public perception is, it will appear the documents were not secured and Greenwald & Laura Poitras can be pilloried as irresponsible and endangering the USA’s national security, inclusive of putting lives at risk, possibly to a point of building a criminal case. Meanwhile, if Greenwald had traveled to Moscow, he is barking up the wrong tree.
The more likely scenario is quite straightforward. The NSA arranged to ‘leak’ the information concerned to WikiLeaks, for clear intent of going after Greenwald and The Intercept with PsyOps, sowing distrust and misleading the principal players in a counter-operation that will be highly publicized propaganda.
So, one might ask, how can leaking the nation’s name, Afghanistan, almost certainly laundered via some CIA embed or ‘social justice’ source known to WikiLeaks, square with the USA purportedly concerned for the lives put at risk? Here is where the cynicism of evil plays in the world of spy craft; people at the top, certainly inclusive of Obama’s CIA Director John ‘Kill List‘ Brennan, NSA associates and ‘friends’ play the game of ‘trade-offs.’ The people whose lives are ‘at risk’ due to the disclosures will be relatively low level assets, easily expendable technicians. They are suddenly fodder for the greater gain of going after Greenwald and damaging The Intercept. It is actually as simple as that. If some of these technicians are killed, so much the better from the point of view at the top, that will be frosting on the cake of working to destroy (and likely pursue a frame-up with criminal charges) those persons who initially broke the Snowden story and facilitated the NSA documents release.
To Glenn & Co at The Intercept, welcome to the real world of spies.
Reprinted with permission of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Very soon, cadets at the US Air Force Academy (USAFA) and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, as well as midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, will be marching to one of the happiest events of their lives: graduation. At USAFA, on the day before the actual stadium graduation, soon-to-be lieutenants literally march out of their squadron formations on the parade field in a “Flying Wedge Formation,” the inverse of how they marched into their squadrons almost four years earlier. It’s an exceedingly beautiful and emotional sight for parents, faculty, and staff. Later that day, squadrons hold “commissioning ceremonies.” There are a total of forty squadrons in the Cadet Wing/student body – at which a personally chosen officer administers the oath of office, “swearing them in” as USAF second lieutenants.
The oath of office is well known and traces its heritage to Washington’s oath written for the Continental Army. Unlike Washington’s oath, however, this oath contains four final words: “So Help Me God”. In practice, these four final words are “optional” for those who may object to adding them – consistent with Article Six of the Constitution, which bans any religious test for public office.
However “optional” those last four words may be, legally speaking, the pressure to say them can be literally overwhelming. Large cue cards for all oath administrators not only include those words, but they’re also usually highlighted in a bold, all-caps font. Unless the cadet specifically asks the administrator in advance to omit those jarringly theologically inspired words, they will certainly be said – as sure as the sun sets in the west. This leaves the non-believing cadet the only option of either NOT repeating them – which runs the very real risk of ostracism or being perceived as “disrespecting the administrator” – or stating something that counters their core personal beliefs.
Whether the cadet pre-arranges the omission or just opts not to repeat it, the die is fully cast: ALL in attendance immediately know that the omitting cadet is “different,” publicly proclaiming non-membership in the monotheistic supermajority. In the minds of many, this is tantamount to moral and spiritual inferiority, as well as a lack of the necessary and sufficient religious qualities that America expects of its military leaders. Having witnessed this abortive pause before, I can tell you that it is terribly chilling. It would be as if someone next to you sat down abruptly DURING the national anthem, specifically ignoring “…and the home of the brave!”
Recently, dozens of USAFA cadets notified the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to express their sharp concern about rumors that each squadron’s commissioning would include “confidential informants” (CIs) to record and report any who choose to omit the “four words.” Most of those who have reached out to MRFF are practicing Christians themselves, just not of the fundamentalist caliber. These cadets fear that offenders’ names will be passed like black balls at a fraternity induction to future military bases and supervisors through the vast and byzantine network of fundamentalist Christian organizations that illicitly pervade the ranks of the armed forces, e.g., Officers Christian Fellowship, Navigators, Campus Crusade for Christ’s Military Ministries. These cadets are legitimately afraid that their careers could be fatally stunted before they even get off the ground – having no recourse because they remain in the dark regarding the identity of the CIs and their contacts. To be branded as a “not-Christian enough” troublemaker before one even reports to their first duty assignment can have an enormously disheartening impact on these newly-minted, shiny, and (hopefully) idealistic models of the Air Force Core Values of Integrity, Service, and Excellence.
What to do? Ironically, for the sake of saving one’s face and gaining “moral” or “ethical” legitimacy in the eyes of their peers and superiors, these cadets must lie. They convince themselves that taking a stance on principal is just not worth it: “How can I serve and change things for the better – for enhanced inclusiveness and true respect – if I can’t even make it to my first assignment without a black mark? It’s just a little lie. No one really needs to know my religious views anyway. They clearly WANT me to lie—look at that cue card. Do what everyone else is doing… Screw it!”
Our civil rights foundation, MRFF, doesn’t want you to lie – but we understand why you feel like you might have to. As you’re marching to your graduation parade and look over your shoulder at the “Core Values Ramp,” we don’t want you to start your commissioned service by violating the FIRST of those values (“Integrity”) on your FIRST day as a lieutenant—even if it seems that’s what the Air Force wants you to do. They’ve made clear, through Air Force Instruction 1-1 and myriad DoD regulations, that it’s improper for commanders to use their power to coerce religious practice or promote a particular religious viewpoint. Nevertheless, now the same officers tasked with enforcing these regulations are unceremoniously breaking them by putting unbearable pressure on you to break your word. The pressure becomes agonizing as its application becomes a public affair. Why not lie then, since your superiors also lied?
Please don’t. You’ll see enough lies, calumny, and disingenuous glad-handing post-graduation and in the course of your service. You’ll see others use their lies as stepping-stools to even greater and far more perilous lies, as was the case with the falsified nuclear missile launch officer tests and so many other sad instances. If you do lie, then we beg you to make this your LAST lie. After graduation, you’re a commissioned military leader. Rinse yourself of this original sin, and stand up for the Constitution and your fellow airmen. You may have stained your character by lying once, but if you allow yourself to repeat these lies and make it a habit, you are officially a part of the problem – and that is something that we can’t tolerate.
Why? Well, because it’s not actually merely a “problem”, it’s a national security threat. Thus, we urge you: please don’t.
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The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is up against well-funded extremist religious organizations. Your donations allow us to continue our fight in the courts and in the media to fight for separation of church and state in the U.S. military. Please make a fully tax-deductible donation today at helpbuildthewall.org.
Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq. is founder and president of the six-time Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), an honor graduate of the Air Force Academy, and a former J.A.G. in the U.S. Air Force. He served as a White House counsel in the Reagan Administration and as the Committee Management Officer of the “Iran-Contra” Investigation. He is also the former General Counsel to H. Ross Perot and Perot Systems Corporation. His two sons, daughter-in-law, son-in law, and brother-in-law are also graduates of USAFA. In December 2012, Defense News named Mikey one of the 100 Most Influential People in U.S. Defense. He is the author of “With God On Our Side” (2006, St. Martin’s Press) and “No Snowflake in an Avalanche” (2012, Vireo).
Marcy Wheeler at the ’emptywheel’ blog pushes ‘the Russians did it‘ disinformation
Washington Post launders (based on the historical record) what is almost certainly a CIA propaganda project to discredit legitimate alternative news outlets.
Eric Zuesse writing for the Russian site Strategic Culture posts an article that should make the Russians’ faces turn red; while fully aware it was Turkish intelligence (MIT) facilitated delivery of the sarin precursors chemicals which originated in Turkey and provided the rockets used by jihadi militants to murder 1,400 Syrians at Ghouta in August 2013, Zuesse ‘pens’ blame on Hillary Clinton via the CIA’s Libyan arms pipeline to Syria and cites Seymour Hersh as a source for his article’s assertion. Zuesse had already known (personal correspondence) the sarin did not originate in Libya but was provided by a Turkish chemicals company. The question the Russians should be asking themselves is, why frame the established international criminal Hillary Clinton, whose known crimes are many, with superfluous accusation that can’t hold up? What’s the point? The result is Strategic Culture damaged as a credible information outlet and in the meanwhile a case made Strategic Culture has been subverted to serving NATO & Turkey’s purpose; where it can be accurately stated attention has been diverted from the actual perpetrators of a NATO linked war crime.
Kick-ass Cookies publishes the official CIA history of the JFK assassination cover-up (back to the old ‘blame Cuba’ bs) as though it were gospel truth. I left the comment ‘why not just take your material from a David Ignatius novel.’ The CIA method is to publish revisionist history in classified format for ‘inside’ consumption; then ‘quietly’ declassify the same – thus appearing to take responsibility while in actuality pumping disinformation out to alleviate questions in the minds of their own agency personnel in endeavor that ultimately is intended to cover the criminal tracks of the worst of the agency’s legacy.
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LiveLeaks.com; at ‘LiveLeaks‘ Paul Moriera’s film ‘Masks of the Revolution’ had been accompanied by this patent disinformation, since taken down:
“Documentary: Ukraine – Masks of revolution. Eng. Subs. VPE presents highly anticipated, contorversial (to some) documentary about so called Maidan revolution. Movie itself has been produced by high ranking agents of Kremlin inside of French Canal+ TV channel”
^ This small snippet (blatant lie, actually) is a smoking gun LiveLeaks is penetrated/co-opted by western intelligence; intent on discrediting Moreira’s work. This film has Kiev’s ‘authorities’ (empowered by CIA backed neo-nazis) squealing like electrocuted pigs, so it hit a nerve.
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Vice and MI6 Example of how news outlets spawn disinformation operations on behalf of intelligence agencies in geopolitics
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The Myth of Daniel Ellsberg, a mole on the left. Daniel Ellsberg is an intelligence agent fingered by a former Pentagon Liaison to the CIA, L Fletcher Prouty, as the center of a conspiracy at the CIA to shift responsibility of the Vietnam war policy failures from CIA to Pentagon. Supports disinformation operations and its agents, notably WikiLeaks & Julian Assange:
Julian Assange manipulated by intelligence agencies, WikiLeaks is at the center of distracting from truly serious issues, deflecting attention from the most egregious criminal actors and actions behind the scene in Washington, such as the Doug Coe cult which poses the most significant internal danger to western democracies and is never touched by Assange (or Ellsberg & Robert Parry.)
Robert Parry spreading the left’s Anti-Federalist urban legend. The Poison Fruit collection breaks down Robert Parry’s false flag journalism where Parry attacks false narrative with alternative false narrative, one of the most insidious method of disinformation.
Zero Hedge Drinks The Kool Aid Zero Hedge picks up TomDispatch and then (update) goes on to publish an article giving impression the “28 pages” will point to Saudi Arabia as the sole responsible party for 9/11 (altogether ignoring Dick Cheney’s role)
CIA busted by Snowden leak Former DCI William Colby’s old quote “The CIA owns everyone of any significance in major media” is as true today as when he made the statement many years ago; The Intercept has published information catching mainstream media red handed vetting their stories with the Central Intelligence Agency. Related: CIA & The Media Carl Bernstein & The Intercept, then & now
The Daily Beast shill platform for noteworthy neo-con/neo liberal professional personalities like Bernard-Henri Levy, propping up the most dangerous warmongers & their policies
TruthDig slips mainstream disinformation into an ‘alternative mainstream news’ format, for instance when the egotistical social moron Donald Trump questions McCain’s (highly questionable) reputation as a war hero, TruthDig is right there to defend the neo-fascist war monger McCain. Trump being an idiot doesn’t necessarily mean he called that particular shot wrong.
Mark Galeotti intelligent, personable disinformation master, with a focus on crime in geopolitics that is almost entirely one sided. Develops a portrait of Russia’s underworld in relation to Kremlin politics and absolutely panders to a pro-Western bias in the process. Critical insights challenging his work are disallowed in comments at his blog
Sylvia Longmire sanitizes the narrative on the drug cartels, ignores the deep and longstanding USA intelligence involvement and no mention of the rampant, related USA corruption
2 paragraphs daily a sort of condensed neo-con/neo-liberal devotional to the moral inversions of empire, pretty much 100% dedicated to salvation of those necrotic ideals, policies and personalities most invested in humanitarian violence in service of greed. Articles often authored by PhDs, going to show authentic intelligence (no pun intended) is not necessarily going to be discovered in academia.
VICE News Frequent CIA friendly, professional disinformation integrated to editorials, panders to a mostly Russo-phobic conservative audience
The Moscow Times is a New York Times clone pandering to anti-Russian propagandists in area of foreign policy particularly. The fact of the site not blocked in Russia makes a lie of western media claims of draconian Russian censorship of press outlets-
endthelie.com CIA friendly, professional disinformation aimed at average IQ of 90, articles linked to and quoting mainstream media outlets. Initial criticisms might be posted by comment moderators but trolls assigned to comments for purpose of assassinating persons with valid criticisms and moderators who do not post intelligent rebuttals
“We do not screen articles for conformance with a house view; our only position is that small wars are wicked problems warranting consideration of myriad views before action, to inform what will no doubt be imperfect decisions with significant unintended consequences”
… but in fact panders to military industrial ‘in house’ projects to keep ‘small wars’ going with failed counter-insurgency policies:
“In spite of the rushed and uncertain character of the Afghan force development, the president chose to provide the minimum recommended mix of U.S. advisors, enablers, and counterinsurgency forces recommended by ISAF for only one year. This, in spite of the fact that the U.S. military has consistently understated the need for advisors, aid, and prolonged effort in their past plans in Vietnam, Iraq, and other operations
WhoWhatWhy.org and Russ Baker, putting new spin on the lies of 9/11. Having emailed Baker some perfectly reasonable tips suggesting examining his material and support…
Hi Russ
Been checking out your stuff, some of it pretty appealing. But then, (full disclosure) I notice some suspect persons on your board;
Daniel Ellsberg and his largely un-investigated relationship to Edward Lansdale, here’s a snippet
Robert Dreyfuss whose Ukraine reporting is so CIA friendly as to be disgusting. His longtime Ford Foundation (CIA) funded ‘Nation Institute’ turns out all sorts of disinformation such as the professional handwringing TomDispatch misdirecting people from the real danger zones.
As I’m typing this, I’ve been listening to your recent radio interview ‘refugees, 9/11 and more’ relating to the Saudi elements concerning 9/11 and invite a read of:
I would simply note many unsuspecting people are what are termed ‘assets’ in spy craft, despite the fact of a sincere belief in what they’re engaged in. The courageous ones will look deeper when apprised of certain possibilities…
I received an invitation to my 45th class reunion at Monrovia, California, several weeks ago. My life in Monrovia (and school life therein) had been blacked out for most of my adult life.
In 2010, for reasons I do not understand (or do not recall), perhaps on a whim, I googled my name together with the school’s name, Monrovia High School, and discovered I was on a roster of dead alumni, class of 1969. It really seemed (in a bizarre sense) apropos, I had a belly laugh and it still brings a smile to my face.
I dutifully sent an email to the owner of the website and notified her this ‘stray cat’ was still alive:
“I googled my name and Monrovia and came up with a linked page at your website ‘stray cats’ and ‘in memoriam’ and thought to mention I am not dead (yet)
“This is many incarnations in this life later-
“I’m not certain I remember you but saw some familiar names among the ‘missing’ (and perhaps I should remain missing) but if you are aware of anyone from that eon ago who’d particularly expressed an interest in my fate.. well.. now you have my email”
Subsequently, I was informed I’d been raised from the dead, and so presumed I’d been re-listed in the category of ‘stray cats.’ I just went to the site again and discovered I’d actually vanished, removed from the dead but not listed with the missing or living. No one had seemed particularly inclined to inquire after my fate in the meanwhile, until my invitation to the 45th reunion a few weeks ago…
Related to this, I recall an event, it was in 1973, when I’d briefly worked a security job at a retail outlet in Pasadena, whilst attending college in Azusa. I’d seen a woman staring at myself as though I were a ghost. I knew her from my high school days and walked over to say hello. Her shock had stemmed from hearing I’d been killed in Vietnam. I did have a couple of close calls in the war but never received life threatening injury, let alone meet my demise. But it was like putting a wax seal on some now ancient record, as I was about to put my Southern California days behind me and indeed I left knowing most of those apparitions of my split childhood on the one side, would move on in this life believing I was dead. And I subsequently mostly forgot about (or blacked out) Monrovia and Monrovia High School until I’d turned up on the ‘in memoriam’ list for dead class alumni.
Now, for the sake (no longer forsaken) of those surviving ghosts of a life I’d deliberately put behind me, here are my ensuing years:
Soldier/student
Army & College
1969 – 1973 (4 years) f’n everywhere
Infantry training, aviation school, Vietnam April 1970 -November 1971, Army Reserve & college (GI BILL), Jesus Commune (Tucson Arizona), working sawmills in the Pacific Northwest, war games at Fort Hood, i.e. several years of FUBAR (for those who know the expression)
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NCOIC Intelligence & Operations, Detachment 1, Company C, 5th SF Bn
19th Special Forces Group
1974 – 1975 (1 year) Kalispell, Montana
Assessment, design and implementation of training operations to penetrate, ambush & assassinate and/or sabotage targeted installations, personnel, equipment and munitions et cetera
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U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery School (Distinguished Graduate)
1975 -1976 (1 year)
Following retraining in surface to air missiles (Advanced Hawk System) and regular army assignment to Germany, I came down with Silk Road Disease and my military days were over.
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Self-Debauched
‘Up The Line’
1976 – 1978 (2 years) Kalispell to Browning, Montana
Drunk and/or stoned
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Remedial reading teacher
Project for Alternative Learning
1979 – 1980 (1 year) Helena, Montana
Taught remedial reading to gifted but learning disabled high school kids
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CEO
Survivalist at self
1981 – 1988 (7 years) Greater Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and surrounding area, Montana
Foraging, horseback riding, hiking, hunting, fishing, playing Stick Game, living on the pow-wow road, wintering with Blackfeet Indians, et cetera. During this period I’d retrained myself as a paralegal and volunteered (free) services to Blackfoot Indians dealing with government bureaucracy.
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Investigator
Mueller Law
1989 – 1999 (10 years) West Glacier, Montana
Investigator for Mueller Law’s Montana cases. Freaking out corrupt corporate personalities, busting criminal rings working the inside of government, protecting sacred Blackfeet lands by winning a case against all odds (CHEVRON put its tail between its legs and backed off, not often you’ll see that)
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Stay at home Dad
Mr Cool
2000 – 2006 (6 years) Sandia Park, New Mexico
Being a best friend to my kid, coaching AYSO soccer, designing home school program, raising a kid who can ACTUALLY READ, and all of the mundane attending tasks, doctor appointments, cooking, you know the score, all the while free lancing investigations into the power corrupt of the USA’s military-industrial complex and making enemies resulting in circumstance you’d typically only see in spy novels and movies-
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CEO
Dilettante Inc
July 2007 – Present (6 years 10 months) at large
Life in exile on account of my former anti-corruption work. My position allows for writing when I like, sleeping when I can, and deciding if, when, and what work I might be interested in, that is when not engaging multiple intelligence agencies devoted to my literal extinction-
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To my former classmates, a short explanation is in order. My sometimes life in Monrovia was, quite honestly put, more than a drag. Having been a product of a split custody arrangement (examples given, my missing freshman year, and absent summers) with a Monrovia home life best described as growing up an abused lawn ornament when contrasted to taste of ultimate freedom with my part time life in Montana … with horse, rifle and wide open space. It was a no contest, contrast.
Basically, I could never fit anywhere at Monrovia. I did not make life long friends and in fact was by high school age allergic to close or emotional relationships. So I ran with the misfits (where I was a misfit.)
There are people I recall somewhat fondly from Monrovia, oddly (or perhaps not) these are mostly on the very ‘in memoriam’ list I’d managed to survive to see my removal from, some 40 years after the fact. How it was I had been reported dead is a mystery to me, but looking back at how many times I likely should have been dead (career/lifestyle) I cannot but wonder if it were cosmic forces wished me dead and I’d managed to defy this for sheer ingenuous stubborn streak.
In closing I will observe, although I do not regret crossing Mr Strube on multiple occasions, nor the fact I’d managed somehow to successfully cut class for what seems like half of my sophomore and junior years, the one act I do regret is setting off a cherry bomb, canceling e-flag (I wanted to try it once and enjoy the 3 days suspension.)
Insofar as my senior year, I sat on the ‘senior wall’ once, it didn’t feel like a fit. Then I walked out into the lawn by the wall (reserved to upper class) and sat down, lit and smoked a cigarette in full view of the administrative offices as an act of defiance (none noticed) and returned to the illegal off-campus haunts of the social rejects, bad kids and generally alienated. I turned in my books at the attendance office on a Friday in February, 1969, as by the following Monday I would 18 years old, keeping a promise I’d made to myself in 3rd grade.
Nevertheless, there are a few persons I notice are yet alive, I will spare them the embarrassment of mentioning any names, to whom I send fond greetings from far, far away (in both space and time)
You’ve all heard of consummate pleasure? This is about consonant leisure or lazy tongue (and other) deformities of speech. It’s like when two, unacquainted, half-wit hair-lips meet and each thinks the other is mimicking-mocking him. And this misunderstanding begins a fight. But in the case of Thuck Norris, it also has to do with Asians cannot distinguish the R and the L or other consonants when speaking English and this often offends his sense of supremacy, because he cannot distinguish between this phenomena and the hair-lip pronunciation, and Norris believes he’s being mocked by the entire world.
It all began in middle school martial arts class, when Thuck had caught roundhouse kick to the side of his head. The sound of his opponent’s foot to Thuck’s ear, on impact, sounded like a sickening ‘thuck.’ Similar to the ugly sound of an over-ripe watermelon cracking open when given too solid a slap.
Lying on the mat, suddenly, permanently stupid, consequent hearing problem with attending brain damage had indelibly imprinted Thuck’s memory, and this had a most unfortunate result; because a concerned Asian kid in his class had shouted “Chuck!” as the martial arts instructor, almost, but not quite simultaneously, had shouted “Norris!” and Thuck Norris thought the Asian kid had shouted “Fuck Norris!” Going forward, because of the resultant hearing problem with attending brain damage, forever after his name always sounded like ‘Thuck Norris!’
And so it was Thuck came to believe every Asian on this planet (except for certain Evangelicals, South Koreans particularly) was deliberately saying “Fuck Norris!” but was unable to get the pronunciation right. Thus Thuck had been indelibly cast into that category of people ‘too stupid to understand they are stupid’, as it seemed to him the larger world had adopted this moniker, which actually exists only in Thuck’s brain damaged understanding. This nevertheless inspired his crusade to beat the living shit out of every gook on the planet and conquer the beliefs of Lao Tzu, Confucius, and the Buddha, all on behalf of ‘The Lord.’
And because the roundhouse kick’s impact had also regurgitated subliminal Sunday school stories and lodged them firmly in Thuck’s frontal cortex, together with Cecil B DeMille cinema scenes, Thuck came to believe he is, at different odd and intermixed moments, Goliath, Samson, and very strangely, for reasons no one understands (not least the Cherokee Nation) Thuck has frequent visions of Virginia Dare in her Native alter-ego: Dancing Water Moccasin.
Thuck, it would seem, has serious life issues.
Thuck joined the Air Force but could not get into the Academy because he believed Angela Jolie’s bra was the definition of Algebra. Thuck ‘wasn’t asked and didn’t tell’ but because of his jealous rage over a certain ex-boyfriend…
…Thuck became a military policeman who nobody could take seriously:
Air Force Airman-sports reporter Hunter Thompson subsequently penned this article on Norris:
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EGLIN AFB, FLORIDA (November 8)— PFC Thuck Norris, a novice Air Policeman, was severely injured here today when a wine bottle exploded against his head at the Air Police gatehouse at the west entrance to the base. Norris largely was incoherent for several hours after the incident, but managed to make a statement which indicated he believed the bottle was hurled from a speeding chariot which approached the gatehouse on the wrong side of the road, coming from the general direction of the SEPARATION CENTER.
Investigators revealed only minutes before the incident at the gatehouse, a reportedly “fanatical” airman had received his separation papers and was rumored to have set out in the direction of the gatehouse at high speed in what Norris described as a Ben Hur style vehicle, powered with stolen horses. An immediate search was begun for Hunter S. Thompson, erstwhile sports editor of the base newspaper and well-known “morale problem.” Thompson was known to have a sometimes overpowering affinity for mocking religious fanatics and had been described by Air Policeman Norris (presently confined to the base sanatorium) as “just the type of bastard who would do a thing like that.”
Meanwhile, PFC Norris will be evaluated in the neuropsychological ward at base hospital, with suspected head injury induced, PTSD delusions he is the Biblical Samson. The ward nurse states the condition of the patient is “Literally guarded.”
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Thuck, with a consequent ‘Brain damaged’ but ‘Loves Jesus’ discharge from the Air Force, went on to become a cultural consultant, physical educator and trainer to the stars; here with Donny & Marie Osmond at his Wimp Thuck Lo (TM) School of Martial Arts, where Marie Osmond becomes infatuated with Thuck, resulting in Donny Osmond has an uncontrollable fit of jealousy and is savagely beaten:
Old age hasn’t made mental state for our B movie hero any better…
Thuck’s Vision
It was the Year of Our Lord 1605. Thuck was tied to a post in the camp of the Apache Winnitou:
Virgina Dare, now grown and known as Dancing Water Moccasin, was present to ‘save’ Norris:
The Indians called a council to discuss the matter, as there was important information to be gained. Lawyer-Chief Broke Medicine Ego, the injured party, following interrogation, made a case for Norris release, based on the rationale Norris was incapable of grasping the gravity of the White Race’s criminal health:
Medicine Ego: “What is this white pus I acquired from Dancing Water Moccasin?”
Norris: “You got White puss?”
Medicine Ego: “It’s white pus.”
Norris: “She’s White puss.”
Medicine Ego: “I’m saying she gave me this white pus.”
Norris: “What’d you expect? She’s White puss.
Medicine Ego: “Everyone has this pus where you came from?”
Norris: “We all get White puss.”
The Indians misunderstanding Norris’ slang, combined with Thuck’s hearing related brain damage altogether missing ‘pus’ in the line of questioning, the Indians concluded White puss and white pus were synonyms. If all were this way, the Whites could not understand and be held accountable.
And so it is, via visionary experience, Thuck consequently believes in White puss salvation, and has become obsessed with commercial fantasies of Michele Bachmann:
And finally, Thuck has become altogether mad, over a late 2006 soccer game at Albuquerque, New Mexico, between Air Force Academy and the New Mexico Lobos, when a New Mexico fan shouted to the Air Force goalie “You play like the women you rape at the academy!” and New Mexico consequently scored against a flipped out Air Force. The now thoroughly insane Thuck Norris consequently became ‘Christian Dominionism’s’ most ardent defender of the United States military’s Christian extremist elements generally, and at the Air Force Academy particularly.
In the after life, when ‘almighty god’ (that is, Thuck Norris) beheld the immortal lampoonist Ronald Thomas West hauled in front of him on Judgement Day, Ronald stated:
“Don’t try to stare ME down, old Thuck. I’ve looked many a better man than you in the eye. Save your speech for some other false conviction, because if I am a monster, you are a fiend, for I have merely satirized a handful of morons, while more good men have been slaughtered by the beliefs expressed in your Dominionist jawbone than Samson slew with the jawbone of that other historic ass!”
And so there it is folks, the story of the man who inspired innumerable Boy Scouts chanting ‘How much wood would a Woodthuck thuck, if a Woodthuck could thuck wood’ .. to goad old Norris into flipping out in his patently juvenile persuasion…
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Disclaimer: Although it was Chuck Norris attacking the Military Religious Freedom Foundation inspired this satire, I did not ask permission of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, whom I support strongly, for permission to write and post this. If I’d asked permission, they might have said ‘no’ and I would have felt compelled to honor the foundation’s wishes. That said, now that it is up, it’s not coming down, no matter who might make any request. I have as much right to exercise my First Amendment ugliness as any Christian Dominionist. Suck on that Thuck.
Ronald Thomas West 