Facebook has assumed additional political police powers, disrupting a planned counter-demonstration against white supremacists, set for August 12th in Washington, on the grounds that it was initiated and inspired by “Russians” as part of a Kremlin campaign to “sow dissention” in the U.S. The Facebook intervention is a qualitative escalation of the McCarthyite offensive launched by the Democrat Party and elements of the national security state, and backed by most of the corporate media, initially to blame Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat on “collusion” between Wikileaks, “the Russians” and the Trump campaign to steal and publicize embarrassing Clinton campaign emails.
After failing to produce one shred of hard evidence to support their conspiracy theory, the anti-Russia hysteria mongers switched gears, focusing on the alleged purchase of about $100,000 in Facebook ads by the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a St. Petersburg-based Russian company, over a multi-year period. The problem was, most of the ads had no direct connection to the presidential contest, or were posted after the election was over, and many had no political content, at all. The messages were all over the place, politically, with the alleged Russian operatives posing as Christian activists, pro- and anti-immigration activists, and supporters of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Special prosecutor Robert Mueller was forced to flip the script, indicting 13 Russians for promoting general “discord” and undermining “public confidence in democracy” in the United States – thus creating a political crime that has not previously been codified in the United States.
It doesn't have to be that hard. It shouldn't be. Just tell the truth. Glen Ford proves it can be done. So many others, however, are just demonstrating how easy it is to lie.
They lie on MSNBC all the time. All the time.
Some fools want war with Iran. Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Safety tries to toss out some reality on that topic:
As
drums beat again for a military attack — this time on Iran, we Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and other experienced, objective
analysts are, by all appearances, being disregarded again. And, this
time, we fear the consequences will be all-caps CATASTROPHIC — in
comparison with the catastrophe of Iraq.
In memoranda to you over the past year and a half we have pointed out
that (1) Iran’s current support for international terrorism is far
short of what it was decades ago; and (2) that you are being played by
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims about Iran: they are based on
intelligence exposed as fraudulent several years ago. Tellingly,
Netanyahu waited for your new national security adviser to be in place
for three weeks before performing his April 30 slide show alleging that
Iran has a covert nuclear weapons program. On the chance that our
analysis of Netanyahu’s show-and-tell failed to reach you, please know
that the Israeli prime minister was recycling information from proven
forgeries, which we reported in a Memorandum to you early last spring.
If our Memorandum of May 7 fell through some cracks in the West Wing, here are its main findings:
The
evidence displayed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
on April 30 in what he called his “Iranian atomic archive” showed
blatant signs of fabrication. That evidence is linked to documents
presented by the Bush Administration more than a decade earlier as
“proof” of a covert Iran nuclear weapons program. Those documents were
clearly fabricated, as well.
In
our May 7, 2018 Memorandum we also asserted: “We can prove that the
actual documents originally came not from Iran but from Israel.
Moreover, the documents were never authenticated by the CIA or the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”
Maybe the first thing to remember if you want to tell the truth is: Take a breath. Hysteria's all around you. Take a breath first and get your bearings. It'll make it easier to take on the nonsense.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, August 1, 2018. Despite four years of failure and the Iraqi
people rejecting him at the voting booth, the US government is
attempting to install Hayder al-Abadi for a second term as prime
minister.
A new month begins and yet Iraq still has not formed a government.
A new month begins and yet Iraq still has not formed a government.
Iraq is living this anarchy since 2003. It is irritating that some analyst think that there was some level of stability in Iraq. Since 2003 Iraq is a failure state, chaos and disorder is the norm.
#Iraq
#IraqProtests
Where are the adults? You hold an election, you form a government. In 2010, it took eight months for Iraq to form a government and this only happened by overturning the votes with the US negotiated Erbil Agreement. Brett McGruk was the lead on that. And now he's back in Iraq.
What's he doing? What we've said he was doing.
.@brett_mcgurk meets with President Barzani for the 3rd time since May 12 elections.
Reports have been circulating in Iraqi media outlets that the #US is strongly pushing for Abadi's second term in office. McGurk wants to convince the Kurds to support the plan.
#Iraq #Kurdistan
Hayder al-Abadi came in third. Third. This is just like when the Iraqi voters said no, in March, 2010, to a second term for thug Nouri al-Maliki and Brett and The Erbil Agreement gave Nouri a second term -- which created the rise of ISIS among other things.
Despite blood being already on their hands, the US government is eager to trash the election results again.
Grasp that and grasp that the incessant caterwauling never ends in the US over claims that the Russians must have interfered in the 2016 presidential election. As usual, it's narcissism on display. Me-me-me, only I matter!
So it's outrage over the belief that Russia might have interfered but it's silence over the fact that we interfered in Iraq's election in 2010. The after effects of that 2010 action led to the rise of ISIS, led to the deaths of many. And yet the Alyssa Milanos, Patty Arquettes and Debra Messings never express any outrage over that. By their actions, they make clear that it's okay for the US to interfere in the elections of other countries.
Hayder al-Abadi is a failure.
The Iraqi people said so.
To yet again overturn their will?
Let's stop pretending we want democracy in Iraq. In fact, let's let the country save millions by not even carrying out a vote if the US government is not going to respect the results or the will of the people. Just come out and publicly appoint the puppet. It would be a lot more honest.
PM @HaiderAlAbadi: It is the duty of the government to deliver good services to all Iraqis, maintain security and safeguard Iraq’s stability
Yes, Hayder, those are the duties of the government and you've had four years already to carry those duties out but you have failed repeatedly. As your term winds down, you have no success to point to. You failed the Iraqi people. Daily and repeatedly, you failed the Iraqi people.
Barack Obama picked you and put you in place and you were weak and useless for the Iraqi people.
You didn't protect the families in Falluja. Nouri al-Maliki had started shelling their homes in his second term. You continued the practice -- you continued the practice despite declaring it wrong and stating in September of 2014 that it would cease. You continued to bomb the homes of civilians. That's actually not just wrong, it's also a War Crime.
Hayder is a failure.
Protests are taking place in Iraq.
"Despite Basra's oil wealth, people lack basic amenities such as clean water, electricity and waste management."
Clean water and electricity? Those are not outrageous demands. Those are basic needs. Hayder had four years and he has failed to deliver.
And he's done nothing to combat corruption which was a major issue before he was put in place by Barack and what was the leading issue in the May 12th elections.
Iraq brings in billions from oil and yet the people live in poverty and jobs are in short supply.
WORLD BULLETIN notes today:
Iraq has raised more than $700 billion from oil since 2005, but almost the entire amount has been spent, the central bank announced Tuesday.
"A total of $703.11 billion, or 99.5 percent of the amount, has been spent," it said.
Since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State group last December, marking an end to decades of conflict in Iraq, social grievances have boiled over in a series of protests.
Where did that $703 billion go? It didn't go into rebuilding the infrastructure. It went into the pockets of corrupt politicians (and, in Nouri's case, the son of a corrupt politician).
And there's no victory over the Islamic State. It's carrying out attacks pretty much daily in Iraq today. Just this week, Margaret Griffis (ANTIWAR.COM) penned, "Fresh Anti-ISIS Operations in Kirkuk, Diyala; 34 Killed in Iraq."
Protests continue in Iraq. Patrick Cockburn (INDEPENDENT) summed them up, "Part of the wave of demonstrations sweeping across central and southern Iraq, they demanded jobs, electricity, water and an end to the mass theft of Iraq’s oil wealth by the political parties."
Iraq struggles to contain Basra oil protests goo.gl/fFsDKE
There are no jobs, clean electricity and water are in short supply, ISIS remains operating in Iraq, what has Hayder accomplished in four years?
Not a damn thing.
Margaret Griffis (ANTIWAR.COM) reports:
At least 675 people were killed in Iraq during the month of July. Another 807 were wounded. The number of injured exploded in July due to protests over jobs and services in the southern provinces. About half of the fatalities belonged to Islamic State militants being killed in fresh operations. In June, 772 were killed or found dead, and 294 were wounded.
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