#america has and nato forces in general

[chaiaurchaandni]

Palestinian reporter in Gaza throws away his press jacket, because it provides no protection, as he reports on the murder of his colleague. israel has killed 34 journalists in less than a month

[militarymenrbomb]

U.S. Army Warrior Fitness Team Member

Capt. Brian Harris

Capt. Brian Harris, was born in Edmond, Oklahoma and graduated from Edmond North High School in 2009. He was a member of the high school’s baseball and wrestling teams throughout high school. He enlisted in the Oklahoma Army National Guard in August of 2009 as a firefinder radar operator (13R) in field artillery. While serving in the Guard from 2009 to 2013, Harris attended the University of Oklahoma and actively participated in the Army ROTC program. During this time, he was introduced to functional fitness and began competing at a high level at various competitions around the country. In 2013, Harris commissioned into the Regular Army as a Medical Service Corps officer and that year was selected as one of twenty two medical service officers to attend flight training and be trained as an aeromedical evacuation officer (67J) / UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot.

Harris’ assignment history includes Fort Rucker, Alabama where he attended Army flight school followed by Fort Carson, Colorado as a section leader, platoon leader and staff operations officer for the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade. During his time with 4th CAB, Harris participated in several full-scale training exercises and served one nine-month deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation’s Freedom Sentinel and Resolute Support providing aeromedical evacuation services across RC-East and RC-North. In 2016, he was named the 4th Infantry Division’s “Junior Officer of the Year” for his efforts both in combat and garrison. After his time in Colorado, Harris returned to Fort Rucker to serve as the operations officer for their Air Ambulance Detachment (110th Aviation Brigade) known as “Flatiron” providing 24/7 crash rescue support to the Aviation Center of Excellence, as well as, routine support to 6th Ranger Training Battalion at Eglin Air Force Base and support to the local civilian population in accordance with the Wiregrass Letter of Agreement.

Harris is a CrossFit Level 2 certified trainer and master fitness trainer (phase 1) and has accumulated more than 700 hours of one-on-one and group coaching time teaching functional fitness methodologies to servicemembers and civilians enabling them to reach their fitness and lifestyle goals. He has competed at the local, regional and national level in functional fitness competitions. Under the old CrossFit season format, Harris was a 2 time regional qualifier and recently represented the United States of America as a member of the national team at the International Federation of Functional Fitness World Championships in Malmo, Sweden (2018).

His awards and decorations include the Air Medal with “C” device, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 2 bronze oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with 3 bronze oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Unit Citation (2-4 GSAB, 4CAB), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge, Basic Army Aviator’s Badge, Parachute Badge, and the Air Assault qualification badge.

[ketrindoll]

How to recognize state-sponsored Russian propaganda

It's no secret that the Russian state, using troll farms and other means, has been spreading deliberate disinformation for years. They are known to be behind the 2016 Presidential election in the US, the Brexit referendum in the UK, and other smaller and bigger events. For example, the EU discovered financial ties between Kremlin and right-wing political figures in Europe, with Marine LePen being openly financially supported by the Russian bank. Their propaganda has been in full force ever since Russia invaded Ukraine and is part of the openly stated Russian war against the West, which Kremlin propagandists and state media describe as being amoral, degraded (referring to LGBTQ+ community rights in particular), and out to destroy the great and traditional Russian state. It's modern, hybrid warfare is set against us every day.

So how to recognize if something you are reading, whether repeated on the news or in social media comments/posts, is Russian propaganda?

It's going to be a long post, unfortunately, as it's directly linked with the DebunkEU.org investigation, but certainly worth reading.

Part 1: Narratives related to war

After Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February, the trolls had a period of unusual silence. But soon enough they picked up where they left off, perhaps even more severely than before. There were a few key points that Russian trolls spread in the comments:

Refugees are all crooks, that are rude to volunteers, steal from their hosts, steal husbands (the latest British tabloid the Sun post seems to perpetuate this story without any credible evidence, other than a Facebook post), etc. Some impersonate registration center employees to spread fake stories about supposed bad characters among the Ukrainian refugees. Such posts are usually the same in every country and are meant to discourage people from helping those in need. Similar tactics were used in regards to Syrian refugees, who fled Russian-bombed Aleppo, but that time it actually worked. Any actual bad-apple cases would get blown out of proportion to paint all refugees as such. It shows the absolute despicable nature of the Russian government - not only do they destroy a country, but they also make sure its citizens are despised wherever they go. (began to spread late February-early March till now)

Questioning national identity + Whataboutism: "What about Liberia/Iraq/Palestine", "Why are you not putting up your own country's flag?" It's to minimize the open support for Ukraine and spread the classic Russian attitude of {if America did it, why can't we?} (began to spread on the 28th of February)

Ukraine is evil: Biolabs in Ukraine, Ukrainians killing Russians in Donbas, and other similar lies are all just poor attempts at justifying the war. (28th of February till now)

The West is to blame: from blaming NATO to saying that it's America, and not actually Ukraine, that is fighting Russia is all part of Russia's general attitude of "fight against the rotten West and Gayrope [gay Europe]". Even though NATO only expanded as a response to Russian aggression and there were no agreements for it not to expand. The reason it pisses the Russian gov off is that it makes it hard for them to restore the USSR borders by swallowing its neighbors. (began to spread early March till now)

Part 2: What Russia wants you to believe

There are three main conspiracy theories that Russia tries to spread to destabilize Western societies and "divide and conquer".

The concept of public safety. This theory questions the very basics of democracy, by trying to prove that a secret group is controlling everything behind the scenes, thus undermining your power as a voter and belief in a democratic system. This group is supposedly making us choose between few, suitable to them, options, and the only way to avoid being part of the system is by removing ourselves from it altogether and assembling into independent societies. The greatest evil is the West and US in particular, meanwhile, Russia is a state that's immune from this and protects traditional values and spirituality. In Europe, this group calls for the return of the USSR, and all around the world, they are recognized for their talks about globalists and praises of figures like Stalin. This propaganda was first spread by the Soviet secret service and has been officially approved by Putin himself.

New World Order. This theory is perhaps the most widespread and accepted. It states that the world is ruled by elites (again, democracy means nothing), who seek to eliminate individual countries and establish a New World Order. It tries to paint many cultural and intellectual figures as members of this organization, and they are behind every major event locally or internationally, from financial crises to unpopular political decisions. This theory began spreading in the 50s and 60s and gained particularly strong traction during the pandemic.

The great reset. This is a theory that exploded in 2020 and states that while the earth is overpopulated, vaccines and other methods can be used as population control to reset the global political system and economics. Klaus Schwab became a figurehead of this conspiracy. Again, Russia somehow is immune to all of this.

Just so you get an idea of how widespread is Russian state-sponsored propaganda, Lithuania, a country with a population of less than 3 million, has identified 105 pro-Russian or propaganda spreading Facebook groups alone, not to mention websites, "news" sites, and individual fake accounts. Most of those are managed by just 8 people. Think how much could be in large countries like America that Russia considers an enemy state. Also, be careful about what you spread regarding Ukrainian refugees, as an example of what happens when misinformation gets out of control can be seen in how Syrian refugees are treated to this day.

Part 3: Trolls

Regarding trolls, another example of a Lithuanian investigation into one of the pro-Russian Facebook groups shows this:

A post is created that spreads fake news, support for Russia, or some shocking new info about Ukrainians.

In two days, 227 comments are left under the post.

2571 comments are left right after the Bucha massacre.

484 users posted those comments.

400 reacted positively to "Bucha is fake" posts.

An unusually large amount of comments were either a direct/poor translation or in Russian.

Most of the comments were written by fake accounts. One of such accounts wrote 9 comments in just 21 seconds.

What does it tell us? Most of the traction in pro-Russian or misinformation groups is coming from Russia, troll farms in particular. Also, there is no point to argue with them. A bot that posts 9 comments under different posts in just 21 seconds is not going to read your replies or answer them. The best course of action is to report the comment. Facebook is notorious for not giving a shit, but if enough people will report both the comment and the profile, chances of those getting taken down will massively increase. Don't just scroll by, report both the comment and the user.

Also, follow the money. Facebook ads are not cheap, and if you see someone promoting their conspiracy ideas, think about how they got the cash. In a small country like Lithuania for a politician or supposedly freelance journalist to have 10'000-16'000 euros for ads is highly suspicious. It rings true everywhere - from QAnon to others, how can they afford to promote themselves, to buy domains, to support a large team, etc. Basically, follow the money.

And for goodness sake, stop watching those random YouTube videos as a source of truth.

[hussyknee]

If y'all want to feel sympathy for the Israelis, you better have it for every single genocider. Slavers and settlers that scalped Natives and Nazis and Imperial Japan and Stalinists and Serbs and the British East India company and white nationalists and Islamic fundamentalists and Hindutvas and Assad's forces and and and.

People do not become genociders because of victimhood. The majority of the worst colonial empires were people who hadn't been oppressed themselves in centuries. Groups become genocidal because they have power and want to take their trauma or paranoia out on someone weaker than they are. Even the ones who aren't gleefully enthusiastic go along with it because the benefits and risks of dissent outweigh your moral conscience. You're not forced to make those choices. That's not what indoctination is. Indoctrination helps dehumanization. It's making it easy to silence every doubt and qualm and instinct for empathy and compassion. But you still choose. You make a conscious decision to see a human being as a vermin to be eradicated. It's easy to do that when you have no incentive to see them as human and no consequences for treating them accordingly.

For fuck's sake, stop using the Holocaust as an excuse for Zionists. Half of them are converts or the children of converts who never lived the Jewish generational legacy of persecution. Most of their families migrated from places where they had a perfectly comfortable lives, and the other half was born in Israel and never knew what being a marginalized minority was like. Israelis are literally the least oppressed Jews in the known world. They victimize Palestinians because colonizers and oppressors live in mortal fear of the people they colonize and oppress, because they KNOW that they're crushing them and have to manufacture all sorts of narratives to rationalize and justify that they're actually the good guys.

Colonization and genocide is a result of power. I and a lot of other BIPOC have been traumatized by Zionists before we ever knew the word for them, because they keep taking out their paranoia of Jewish hate on Black people, Natives, immigrants, Muslims and Arabs and every kind of racial minority that have no systemic power to hurt them. They have such a foothold in the Jewish communities of Europe and its settler colonies (Australia, the Americas), because white Jews have assimilated into whiteness. However conditional their acceptance among white Christians, they have the same racial and institutional power over Black and brown colonized people. Which makes it easy for them to choose Zionism— the legitimizing of white colonial anxiety in place of fear of their oppressor. Antisemitism is their ready and convenient way to rationalize the racism and Islamphobia and racial superiority they already have.

Do you think Jews are the only people who have ever been genocided? The Holocaust was not exceptional, it was exceptionalized by the Western powers to launder their own atrocities that far outstripped Nazi Germany. Look at what they're doing with Ukraine. They're being genocided and colonized and they deserve empathy and help against Russia. But the West isn't concerned about Armenia the same way even though it's also an Eastern European country. They definitely weren't concerned about any of the other countries Russia has attacked or helped genocide (like Syria). Including Ukraine itself before all this. Putin has been attacking Donbas since 2014.

So why now? They care about who's genociding Ukraine, not about Ukrainians. Russia under Putin is very much a threat to NATO and Ukraine is bordered by NATO countries. The Western PR machine still had to make Ukrainians white, because Slavs are ethnically marginalized in Western Europe, and even North America to a lesser degree. They have white privilege over all Asians and Africans and Indigenous people because the colour system of race is based on European colonization, but they have only conditional whiteness in the imperial sphere of both the US and Russia. But because they're ethnically European, the US and Western Europe was able to launch a PR "Look They're Just Like Us!" campaign to elevate them to full whiteness, so that their own citizens would actually give a shit about this country they'd barely heard of before. That's why we're all more concerned about Ukraine than any other Eastern Europeans (we're all conditioned into white supremacy). After that, the US went around thumping its own chest for a full year and half, trying to launder its military image after the twenty year Muslim genocide that was the War on Terror (still ongoing).

This is exactly what they did with European Jews. High-ho, somebody victimized by the Enemy! Dust them off and lookie! They're European! People will give a shit that we liberated them if we make them all white! But uh, do we really want five million Jewish refugees in here? Oh I know, we'll thrown in with those crazy Jewish terrorists that were giving the Brits so much trouble, and give them a state! They're also from Europe after all, and Civilized™, unlike the savages!

And then the liberated Jews accepted doing exactly what the Nazis did to them. Not because they had to! They could have just lived in Palestine, that whole region of the Levant was pretty secular and multicultural. But they didn't see Arabs as human beings! Because Europeans are taught to see Black and brown people as servants and savages! They massacred Palestinians and took the place over because they could and then called it the War of Independence. The first people they victimized after that? Were Arab Jews. They colluded with Arab nationalists to have them ethnically cleansed entirely out of their countries and scooped them up to create a labouring underclass! Put them up in such squalid conditions that scores died!

And did those people look around and realize white Jews were their oppressors and they had far more in common with Palestinians? No. They threw in with their oppressors to help make Palestinians lives a generational nightmare. Because power and assimilation! This is the exact same reason why Zionists has been trying to cosy up to Nazis since before Hitler.

(Oh and by the way? Germans never regretted the Nazis or the Holocaust. The Americans "denazification" was a dead fail. They just used Israel to make a whole dog and pony show of how very sorry they were and how it was a Dark Moment in Their History™ (because nothing they've ever done to colonized people counts). They paid reparations because the West made them, but they never got over the massive post-war genocide the Allies subjected their people to, or the way they carved up the country like a Christmas turkey. But again, did they hold Britain, France, US and Russia responsible for it? Did they acknowledge that the most severe cases of post-war violence came from American GIs? Of course not. Obviously the biggest threat was...the Poles.)

If you really see all those TikTok videos of families dancing to their genocide songs, taunting starving and dehydrated Palestinians and teens lampooning Palestinian mothers grieving their dead children and think "they're also victims because Western imperialists exploited their fear and made them into monsters" then I don't even know what to say to you. That level of infantilization, wilful ignorance and need to turn sadism into victimhood is breathtakingly racist and paternalistic. Even if you believe #Not All Israelis, the point is there's enough Israelis. Also what is even there to feel sorry for?? Are Israelis about to be turned out and shot in the streets? Starve to death? Have their limbs amputated without anesthetic and still die of sepsis? Literally what??

Emotions are signifiers of your own internal biases and perspectives. They aren't indicative of justice or morality. We can't move through a deeply unequal world and believe that compassion is having the same responses, judgements and feelings for everyone. It's not empathy you're feeling for Israelis, it's conditioned philosemitism and casual racism against Palestinians. If you actually followed the videos and images and news coming out of Palestine, you would feel about as sympathetic towards them as Nazis. You would understand that this kind of atrocity doesn't come from trauma or having been victims. It comes from having zero consequences for doing them. It comes from unchecked, gleeful, sadistic power.

[usafphantom2]

USAF F-16 fighters train in Bosnia on alert against "separatist activity"

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 01/11/2024 - 16:00 in Military, War Zones

Two U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons conducted bilateral air-to-ground training with joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) from the U.S. Special Operations Command in Europe and the Bosnia and Herzegovina Armed Forces JTACs near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on January 8, 2024.

This bilateral formation is an example of advanced cooperation between the military that contributes to peace and security in the Western Balkans and throughout Europe. It is also a show of force aimed at deterring the "separatist activity" of Bosnian Serbs that is in disagreement with the U.S.-mediated peace agreements, the U.S. government said.

The exercise aimed to support America's commitment to Bosnia's territorial integrity, amid growing tensions inflamed by Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik, whom Russia supports.

January 9 is celebrated as Republika Srpska Day by Bosnian Serbs and marks the anniversary of the declaration of independence that started the conflict in Bosnia in 1992, which killed more than 100,000 people and led to ethnic cleansing and the massacre of civilians.

“Joint military events like this are a demonstration of the U.S.' lasting partnership with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Armed Forces,” said U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Steven L. Basham, deputy commander of the U.S. European Command.

"American support for the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina is inflexible, forged over years of close cooperation. For twenty years, the Armed Forces of our two countries maintained a remarkable and robust military relationship between the military," added Basham. "The United States continues to provide assistance that will help its armed forces modernize and become a contributor to security, both regionally and globally.”

The training was part of the routine efforts of U.S. forces to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures with the forces of partner countries.

The mission of the F-16 fighters assigned to the 31ª Fighter Wing of Aviano Air Base, Italy, was supported by a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 100ª Air Refueling Wing, from the RAF Base in Mildenhall, United Kingdom, which provided air refueling for the F-16s and contributed to fulfilling all training objectives.

The U.S. Department of Defense and the Bosnian and Herzegovina Armed Forces share a common goal of contributing to continued stability in the region and are natural partners in their global commitment to global security.

In the 1990s, NATO intervened with military force, first through the beginning of Operation Deny Flight, which aimed to impose a United Nations no-fly zone during the conflict in the Balkans, and later Operation Deliberate Force, an air campaign against the Bosnian Serbian Army. In 1995, the US mediated the Dayton Agreements, agreed at Wright-Patterson Air Base, Ohio, with Republika Srpska, of a Serbian majority, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of Bosnian and Croatian majority, agreeing to peace as a single state.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in November that the alliance was “concerned about secessionist and divisionist rhetoric, as well as evil foreign interference, including Russia”.

After the celebration of Republika Srpska Day on January 9, the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo condemned the actions.

Soldiers of the U.S. Special Operations Command in Europe and joint terminal attack controllers of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) remain united during a bilateral training event at BiH on January 8, 2024. (Photo: U.S Army / Sgt. Alejandro Lucero)

“The United States has acted to address anti-Dayton actions like this in the past and will not hesitate to do so again in the future,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement on January 9.

EUCOM said that the Air Force exercise held on January 8 aimed to strengthen peace in the Balkans.

Tags: Military AviationF-16 Fighting FalconNATO - North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air ForceWar Zones

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[mariacallous]

Denying Russia’s Only Strategy for Success

Russia cannot defeat Ukraine or the West - and will likely lose - if the West mobilizes its resources to resist the Kremlin. The West’s existing and latent capability dwarfs that of Russia. The combined gross domestic product (GDP) of NATO countries, non-NATO European Union states, and our Asian allies is over $63 trillion.[1] The Russian GDP is on the close order of $1.9 trillion.[2] Iran and North Korea add little in terms of materiel support. China is enabling Russia, but it is not mobilized on behalf of Russia and is unlikely to do so.[3] If we lean in and surge, Russia loses.

The notion that the war is unwinnable because of Russia’s dominance is a Russian information operation, which gives us a glimpse of the Kremlin’s real strategy and only real hope of success. The Kremlin must get the United States to the sidelines, allowing Russia to fight Ukraine in isolation and then proceed to Moscow’s next targets, which Russia will also seek to isolate. The Kremlin needs the United States to choose inaction and embrace the false inevitability that Russia will prevail in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s center of gravity is his ability to shape the will and decisions of the West, Ukraine, and Russia itself. The Russian strategy that matters most, therefore, is not Moscow’s warfighting strategy, but rather the Kremlin’s strategy to cause us to see the world as it wishes us to see it and make decisions in that Kremlin-generated alternative reality that will allow Russia to win in the real world.

Those whose perspective aligns with the Kremlin’s are not ipso facto Russian dupes. The Kremlin links genuine sentiment and even some legitimate arguments to Russia’s interests in public debate. The Kremlin is also an equal opportunity manipulator. It targets the full spectrum of those making or informing decisions. It partially succeeds on every side of the political spectrum. Perception manipulation is one of the Kremlin’s core capabilities — now unleashed with full force onto the Western public as the Kremlin’s only strategy for winning in Ukraine.[4] That is not a challenge most societies are equipped to contend with.

The United States has the power to deny Russia its only strategy for success, nevertheless. The United States has allowed Russia to play an outsized role in shaping American decision-making, but the United States has also made many sound choices regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.[5] The key successes achieved by Ukraine and its partners in this war have resulted from strategic clarity.[6] Lost opportunities on the battlefield, on the other hand, have resulted from the West’s failure to connect ground truths to our interests quickly enough to act.[7] Fortunately, the United States faces an easier task in overcoming the Kremlin's manipulations than Russia does in closing the massive gap between Russia's war aims and its capabilities. The United States must surge its support to Ukraine, and it must do so in time. Delays come at the cost of Ukrainian lives, increased risk of failure in Ukraine, and the erosion of the US advantage over Russia, granting the Kremlin time to rebuild and develop capabilities that it intends to use against the West — likely on a shorter timeline than the West assesses.[8]

The United States must defeat Russia’s efforts to alter American will and decision-making for reasons that transcend Ukraine. For the United States to deter, win, or help win any future war, US decisions must be timely, connected to our interests, values, and ground truth, but above all – these decisions must be ours. The US national security community theorizes a lot about the importance of US decision advantage over our adversaries, including timeliness. Russia presents an urgent and real-world requirement for America to do so in practice.

[nicklloydnow]

“For the generation of Americans who came of age in the shadow of the September 11 attacks, the world America had made came with a question mark. Their formative experiences were the ones in which American power had been used for ill, in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the Middle East more broadly, and for much longer, the United States had built a security architecture around some of the world’s most repressive regimes. For those on the left, this was nothing new, and it was all too obvious. I spent my college years reading Noam Chomsky and other leftist critics of U.S. foreign policy, and they weren’t entirely wrong. On balance, the U.S. may have been a force for good, but in particular regions and at particular times, it had been anything but.

Blaming America first became all too easy. After September 11, U.S. power was as overwhelming as it was uncontested. That it was squandered on two endless wars made it convenient to focus on America’s sins, while underplaying Russia’s and China’s growing ambitions.

(…)

Russia’s unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation, in Europe no less, has put matters back in their proper framing. The question of whether the United States is a uniquely malevolent force in global politics has been resolved. In the span of a few days, skeptics of American power have gotten a taste of what a world where America grows weak and Russia grows strong looks like. Of course, there are still holdouts who insist on seeing the United States as the provocateur. In its only public statement on Ukraine, the Democratic Socialists of America condemned Russia’s invasion but also called for “the U.S. to withdraw from NATO and to end the imperialist expansionism that set the stage for this conflict.” This is an odd statement considering that Russia, rather than the United States, has been the world’s most unabashedly imperialist force for the past three decades. But many on the anti-imperialist left aren’t really anti-imperialist; they just have an instinctive aversion to American power.

America’s low opinion of its own capacity for good — and the resulting desire to retreat or disengage — hasn’t just been a preoccupation of the far left. The crisis of confidence has been pervasive, spreading to the halls of power and even President Barack Obama, whose memorable mantra was “Don’t do stupid sh*t.” Instead of thinking about what we could do, or what we could do better, Obama was more interested in a self-limiting principle. For their part, European powers — content to bask under their U.S. security umbrella — could afford to believe in fantasies of perpetual peace. Europe’s gentleness and lethargy — coaxing Germany to commit even 2% of its GDP to defense seemed impossible — became something of a joke. One popular Twitter account, @ISEUConcerned, devoted itself to mocking the European Union’s propensity to express “concern,” but do little else, whenever something bad happened.

(…)

The coming weeks, months, and years are likely to be as fascinating as they are terrifying. In a sense, we knew that a great confrontation was coming, even if we hadn’t quite envisioned its precise contours. At the start of his presidency, Joe Biden declared that the battle between democracies and autocracies would be the defining struggle of our time. This was grandiose rhetoric, but was it more than that? What does it actually mean to fight such a battle?

In any number of ways, Russia’s aggression has underscored why Biden was right and why authoritarians — and the authoritarian idea itself — are such a threat to peace and stability. Russia invaded Ukraine, a democracy, because of the recklessness and domination of one man, Vladimir Putin. The countries that have rallied most enthusiastically behind Ukraine have almost uniformly been democracies, chief among them the United States. America is lousy, disappointing, and maddeningly hypocritical in its conduct abroad, but the notion of any moral equivalence between the United States and Putin’s Russia has been rendered laughable. And if there is such a thing as a better world, then anti-imperialists may find themselves in the odd position of hoping and praying for the health and longevity of not just the West but of Western power.”

“The “rules-based world order” is a system of norms and values that describe how the world ought to work, not how it actually works. This aspirational order is rooted in the idealistic aftermath of the Second World War, when it was transcribed into a series of documents: the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Genocide Convention, and the Geneva Conventions on the laws of war, among others. In the more than seven decades since they were written, these documents have frequently been ignored. The UN Genocide Convention did not prevent genocide in Rwanda. The Geneva Conventions did not stop the Vietnamese from torturing American prisoners of war, did not prevent Americans at Abu Ghraib from torturing Iraqi prisoners of war, and do not prevent Russians from torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war today. Signatories of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights include known violators of human rights, among them China, Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela. The UN Commission on Human Rights deteriorated into parody long ago.

Nevertheless, these documents have influenced real behavior in the real world. Soviet dissidents used to embarrass their government by pointing to human-rights language in treaties the Kremlin had signed and did not respect. Even when fighting brutal or colonial wars, countries that had signed treaties on the laws of war either tried to abide by them—avoiding civilian casualties, for example—or at least felt remorseful when they failed to do so. Americans who mistreated Iraqi prisoners of war were court-martialed, convicted, and sentenced to time in military prisons. The British still agonize over the past behavior of their soldiers in Northern Ireland, and the French over theirs in Algeria.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s surprise attack on Israeli civilians are both blatant rejections of that rules-based world order, and they herald something new. Both aggressors have deployed a sophisticated, militarized, modern form of terrorism, and they do not feel apologetic or embarrassed about this at all. Terrorists, by definition, are not fighting conventional wars and do not obey the laws of war. Instead, they deliberately create fear and chaos among civilian populations. Although terrorist tactics are usually associated with small revolutionary movements or clandestine groups, terrorism is now simply part of the way Russia fights wars. Although a sovereign state and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia first began deliberately hitting civilian targets in Syria in 2015, including power stations, water plants, and above all hospitals and medical facilities, 25 of which were hit in a single month in 2019. These attacks were unquestionably war crimes, and those who chose the targets knew they were war crimes. Some of the hospitals had shared their coordinates with the UN to avoid being hit. Instead, Russian and Syrian government forces may have used that information to find them.

(…)

The Hamas terrorists paid no attention to any modern laws of war, or any norms of any kind: Like the Russians, Hamas and its Iranian backers (who are also Russian allies) run nihilistic regimes whose goal is to undo whatever remains of the rules-based world order, and to put anarchy in its place. They did not hide their war crimes. Instead, they filmed them and circulated the videos online. Their goal was not to gain territory or engage an army, but rather to create misery and anger. Which they have—and not only in Israel. Hamas had to have anticipated a massive retaliation in Gaza, and indeed that retaliation has begun. As a result, hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian civilians will now be victims too.

To explain why one permanent member of the UN Security Council and one quasi-state have adopted this kind of behavior, it is best to start with the nature of their own totalitarian regimes. But there is plenty more blame to go around, because the rules-based order, always pretty tenuous, has actually been dying for a long time. Autocracies, led by China, have been seeking to undermine or remove language about human rights and the rule of law from international forums for years, replacing it with the language of “sovereignty.” Not that this is just a matter of language: The Chinese have carried out atrocities against their Uyghur minority for years, so far with impunity, and openly conducted a successful assault on the rights of the population of Hong Kong. They, and others, have also indulged in deliberately provocative behavior, designed to mock the rule of law outside their own borders. Belarus got away with forcing an Irish-owned airplane to land in Minsk and then kidnapping one of its citizens who was onboard. Russia has organized murders of its citizens in London, Washington, and Berlin.

(…)

During its lifetime, the aspirational rules-based world order and the international community that supported it were frequently mocked, and rightly so. The crocodile tears of the statesmen who expressed “profound concern” when their unenforced rules were broken were often unbearable. Their hypocrisy, as they opined on distant conflicts, was intolerable. On Saturday, Russia’s deputy defense minister parodied this kind of talk when he called for “peace” between Israel and Hamas based on “recognized agreements,” as if Russia accepted any “recognized agreements” as a basis for “peace” in Ukraine.

But like the equally outdated Pax Americana that accompanied the rules-based world order—the expectation that the U.S. plays some role in the resolution of every conflict—we might miss the Geneva Conventions when they are gone. Open brutality has again become celebrated in international conflicts, and a long time may pass before anything else replaces it.”

“The history of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh was ended in the old manner of conflict resolution: siege, conquest, expulsion. After a 10-month blockade, Azerbaijan launched an attack on Sept. 19, claiming the enclave in a day and causing nearly the entire ethnic Armenian population to flee. Give war a chance, as the saying goes.

For Armenians, a classic relic ethnic minority whose Christianity and peculiar alphabet date to the epic struggles between the Romans and the Parthians, it was another genocide. For the Azerbaijanis, Turkic in language and historically Shia Muslim, a great triumph. Yet despite appearances, the conflict is not a Samuel Huntington-style clash of civilizations. Instead, in its emboldening of traditional regional powers like Turkey, scrambling for geopolitical spoils after the retreat of superpowers, it’s a harbinger of the coming world disorder.

(…)

In the chaotic aftermath of Soviet collapse, the Armenians undertook to defend Nagorno-Karabakh by force. Instead of poetic intellectuals, the wartime generation of Armenian leaders became militia commanders. They proved earthier and, soon, brazenly corrupt. Defending the country became their sole means of legitimacy, ruling out the concessions that peace would require. By 1994 the Armenians, mobilizing around the traumatic memories of genocide, succeeded in expelling scores of Azeris from the enclave. Last month, Azerbaijan got more than even.

In that project, it had a powerful backer: Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a master of vertiginous visions, has already tried Islamic liberalism, joining Europe, leading the Arab revolts, challenging Israel and negotiating peace in Ukraine. He now has another dream: opening a geopolitical corridor from Europe through Central Asia, all the way to China. This is the “Zangezur corridor,” a 25-mile-long strip of land to be carved through Armenia as part of a peace deal imposed at gunpoint.

Iran is not happy with Azerbaijan’s victory. As openly as the Iranians ever do, they’ve threatened to use force against any changes to the borders of Armenia. Iran, a millenniums-old civilization central to a whole continent, cannot tolerate being walled off behind a chain of Turkish dependencies. India, similarly, is on Armenia’s side and has been sending a regular supply of weapons. One spur for such support, no doubt, is Pakistan’s joining the Azeri-Turkish alliance. In the jargon of American lawyers, this opens a whole new can of worms.

Then there’s Russia, whose absence from the denouement in Nagorno-Karabakh was striking. Even after the 1990s, Moscow still remained by far the biggest supplier of weapons to both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Their economies and societies, above all the elites and their corruption networks, were until very recently molded together. What we are seeing now, as both nations slip out of Russia’s orbit, might be the second round of Soviet collapse.

(…)

That brought nearly all the perimeter of the former Soviet Union into Russia’s sphere of influence. Rebellious Belarus, its dictator dependent on Russian support, was in hand; so too the war-torn Caucasus. The large and oil-rich Kazakhstan itself requested Russian peacekeepers during a bewildering bout of street violence in January 2022. Strangely, the elite Russian troops soon departed from Kazakhstan. A month later, the whole world realized that they had been dispatched to Ukraine, the last sizable piece of Mr. Putin’s post-Soviet gambit. And there his plan broke down.

History has a habit of serving the same lessons with changed variables. In 1988, it was the dreamer Gorbachev stumbling over Nagorno-Karabakh that unwittingly shattered the world order. Today, Mr. Putin could become the second, much darker incarnation of the Kremlin aggrandizer going awry on all fronts. The consequences — from emboldening international aggression to reanimating the West under the banner of NATO — will be profound. As events in Nagorno-Karabakh show, the fragile post-Cold War order is giving way to something else entirely.

The Caucasus might seem strange and distant. Yet it might prove the wedge that turns the fortunes of world order. Trieste, Smyrna, Sarajevo, Danzig and Crimea were all such places. Let us not have to relearn history at the cost of yet another ethnic cleansing.”

[theculturedmarxist]

Antiwar libertarian hero Scott Horton has a viral tweet going around which reads simply, “Biden’s refusal to attempt to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine is the greatest scandal in American political history.”

Kind of smacks you in the face, doesn’t it? I’ve never seen anyone put it quite like that before, but if you think about it, how could it not be true?

It’s just a simple fact that the Biden administration is actually hindering diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to this war, and that it has refused to provide Ukraine with any kind of diplomatic negotiating power regarding the possible rollback of sanctions and other US measures to help secure peace. Washington’s top diplomats have consistently been conspicuously absent from any kind of dialogue with their counterparts in Moscow.

Statements from the administration in fact indicate that they expect this war to drag on for a long time, making it abundantly clear that a swift end to minimize the death and destruction is not just uninteresting but undesirable for the US empire. Ukrainian media report that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Zelensky on behalf of NATO powers that “even if Ukraine is ready to sign some agreements on guarantees with Putin, they are not.”

And this isn’t just another war. This is a proxy war being waged by one of the world’s two top nuclear forces against the world’s other top nuclear force. This is more serious than Iraq. It is more serious than Vietnam. It is more serious than any US war that has happened in the lifetime of anyone likely to be reading these words, because Russia has increasingly valid reasons to believe its very existence as a nation is being threatened. This is therefore a war that could very easily result in the death of everyone on earth.

The US Secretary of “Defense” has openly said that America’s goal is to “weaken” Russia in this war. Biden himself has made statements which can only be interpreted as calls for regime change in Moscow. US officials have been leaking to the press claims that US intelligence has directly facilitated the killing of Russian generals and the sinking of a Russian war ship.

The imperial political/media class are not even denying that this is a US proxy war anymore. In an alarmingly rapid pivot from the mass media’s earlier position that calling this a proxy war is merely an “accusation” promoted solely by Russia, we’re now seeing the use of that term becoming more and more common in authorized news outlets. The New Yorker came right out and declared that the US is in “a full proxy war with Russia” the other day, and US congressman Seth Moulton recently told Fox News that the US is at war with Russia through a proxy.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to realize we’re at war, and we’re not just at war to support the Ukrainians,” Moulton said. “We’re fundamentally at war, although it’s somewhat through proxy, with Russia. And it’s important that we win.”

How fast did that happen? How fast were we paced from “It’s Russian propaganda to call this a proxy war” to “Obviously this is a proxy war and we need to make sure we win”? Fast enough to make your head spin, that’s for sure.

And it’s not just a proxy war, it’s a proxy war the US knowingly provoked. We know now that the US intelligence cartel had clear vision into Russia’s plans to launch this invasion, which means they also knew how to prevent it. A few low-cost maneuvers like promising not to add Ukraine to NATO as well as promising Zelensky that the US would protect him and his government from the violent fascist factions who were threatening to kill him if he honored the Minsk agreements and made peace with Russia as Ukrainians elected him to do. That’s all it would have taken.

Many, many western experts warned for many years that the actions of the US and NATO would lead to the confrontation we’re now being menaced with. There was every opportunity to turn away from this war, and instead the US-centralized empire hit the accelerator and drove right into it. Knowingly.

The whole thing was premeditated. All with the goal of weakening Russia and effecting regime change in Moscow in order to secure US unipolar hegemony.

The Biden administration was the last in a long line of decision makers to choose this world-threatening confrontation over peace. There was an opportunity to avert this horror, and that opportunity wasn’t taken.

Allowing the world to come this close to nuclear war already makes Biden the worst US president since Bush. At least. History may well show his to be the single most depraved presidency of all time.

Preventing nuclear war is a US president’s single most important job. It’s so important you shouldn’t even really have to talk about it, because it’s so self-evidently the number one priority. And this administration is just rolling the dice on nuclear conflict with increasing frequency every day.

Even if humanity survives this standoff (and the one with China that’s next in line), Biden will still have been an unforgivably depraved president for allowing it to get this close. There’s no excuse whatsoever for just casually rolling the dice on all terrestrial life like this.

Just seriously meditating on what nuclear war is and what it means should be enough to show anyone that any flirtation with the remotest possibility of inflicting it on our world is unforgivable. It’s the worst crime anyone could possibly commit short of actual nuclear war.

Now all we can do is hope some small spark of sanity ignites deep within our species before we snuff ourselves out for good.

[arcticdementor]

For The Atlantic’s January/February 2024 issue, 24 contributors consider what Donald Trump could do if he were to return to the White House.

Just the summary page is a hilarious parade of catastrophizing. First, the editor's note:

• A WARNING, By Jeffrey Goldberg

America survived the first Trump term, though not without sustaining serious damage. A second term, if there is one, will be much worse.

Then the rest:

• THE DANGER AHEAD, By David Frum

If Donald Trump returns to the White House, he’d bring a better understanding of the system’s vulnerabilities, more willing enablers, and a more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries.

• TRUMP WILL ABANDON NATO, By Anne Applebaum

If reelected, he would end our commitment to the European alliance, reshaping the international order and hobbling American influence in the world.

• LOYALISTS, LAPDOGS, AND CRONIES, By McKay Coppins

In a second Trump term, there would be no adults in the room.

• THE SPECTER OF FAMILY SEPARATION, By Caitlin Dickerson

Donald Trump and his allies have promised to restore their draconian zero-tolerance immigration policy.

• HOW TRUMP GETS AWAY WITH IT, By Barton Gellman

If reelected, he could use the powers of the presidency to evade justice and punish his enemies.

• FOUR MORE YEARS OF UNCHECKED MISOGYNY, By Sophie Gilbert

In a second Trump term, women would once again be targets.

• THE CLIMATE CAN’T AFFORD ANOTHER TRUMP PRESIDENCY, By Zoë Schlanger

His approach to the environment: ignore it.

• IS JOURNALISM READY?, By George Packer

[Which rule is it that says that if a headline is a question, the answer is probably "no"?]

The press has repeatedly fallen into Donald Trump’s traps. A second term could render it irrelevant.

• TRUMP’S POLARIZATION OF SCIENCE IS BAD FOR EVERYONE, By Sarah Zhang

A re­elected Donald Trump would continue to attack studies that stand in the way of his agenda—and to make support for scientific inquiry a tribal belief.

• CORRUPTION UNBOUND, By Franklin Foer

Donald Trump and his cronies left his first administration with a playbook for self-enrichment in a second term.

• WHY XI WANTS TRUMP TO WIN, By Michael Schuman

A second Trump term would allow China to cement its grip on the developing world.

• A MAGA JUDICIARY, By Adam Serwer

In a second term, Donald Trump would appoint more judges who don’t care about the law.

• THE PROUD BOYS LOVE A WINNER, By Juliette Kayyem

A second Trump term would validate the violent ideologies of far-right extremists—and allow them to escape legal jeopardy.

• A PLAN TO OUTLAW ABORTION EVERYWHERE, By Elaine Godfrey

Activists hope a Trump Justice Department would criminalize the procedure, with or without a federal ban.

• THE TRUTH WON’T MATTER, By Megan Garber

If reelected, Donald Trump will once again churn out absurdity and outrage with factory efficiency.

• DONALD TRUMP VS. AMERICAN HISTORY, By Clint Smith

He has promised to impose his harmful, erroneous claims on school curricula in a second term.

• A WAR ON BLUE AMERICA, By Ronald Brownstein

In a second term, Trump would punish the cities and states that don’t support him.

• TRUMP ISN’T BLUFFING, By David A. Graham

We’ve become inured to his rhetoric, but his message has grown darker.

• CIVIL RIGHTS UNDONE, By Vann R. Newkirk II

How Trump could unwind generations of progress

• TRUMP’S PLAN TO POLICE GENDER, By Spencer Kornhaber

His campaign is promising a more repressive and dangerous America.

• A MILITARY LOYAL TO TRUMP, By Tom Nichols

In 2020, the armed forces were a bulwark against Donald Trump’s antidemocratic designs. Changing that would be a high priority in a second term.

• THE LEFT CAN’T AFFORD TO GO MAD, By Helen Lewis

[This one looks like the closest to an even-handed approach, and stands out in comparison to the rest]

A second Trump term would require an opposition that focuses on his abuses of power—and seeks converts rather than hunting heretics.

• WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE AMERICAN PSYCHE IF TRUMP IS REELECTED?, By Jennifer Senior

Our bodies are not designed to handle chronic stress.

• TRUMP VOTERS ARE AMERICA TOO, By Mark Leibovich

(Note: even this one is totally negative)

If he wins a second term, perhaps we’ll finally dispense with the myth that “this is not who we are.”

[voskhozhdeniye]

Global economic contours are shifting inexorably towards the countries of global south. The U.S. and EU markets are less important to China, relatively speaking, than are the growth markets of the developing world. And for the developing world, China is a more important partner than most others. Trade and investment flows have been trending in this direction for some time already, aided by initiatives such as the BRI as well as the recently launched Asian free trade zone - the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The growing interlinking of Chinese capital markets with those of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are creating the new pipelines for capital flow between China and West Asia. The consolidation of a Eurasian economic sphere, including the energy-rich nations of West Asia, is creating new opportunities for value growth and flow. Trade growth is being complemented by capital circulation by way of investment flows denominated in national currencies. The ability to trade OPEC oil with national currencies is enabling these nations to evolve away from dependence on the USD. Economic decentering is one feature of the collective west’s displacement anxiety. The reality that its claimed military preponderance is more rhetoric than real brings a “hard power” edge to these anxieties.   These material factors are buttressed by deep rooted Manichaean frames in which racialised exceptionalism is ever-present. This is most pronounced in the Millenarian zealotry that underlies American exceptionalism. The idea of decentering is bad enough; it’s made all the worse as the new centres are found in the Orientals of the “near- and far east”.   Against this backdrop, we can expect the transatlantic neocons to intensify their attempts to hang on to what’s left of western colonial hegemony and American primacy. The neocon playbook has been to generate regional instability whenever and wherever it feels threatened. This “divide and conquer” strategy has played out in numerous “colour revolutions” and “coups” over the decades; in short, regime change operations aimed at installing pliable regimes.   Colour revolution risks across Eurasia are likely to intensify over the next few years. China’s President Xi was prescient last year when he warned Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members of these risks.   Additionally, preparations for proxy wars in Asia, borrowing from the Ukraine 2014-2022 playbook, are also likely to continue, as I have previously described. The Philippines is being groomed, as is Taiwan. As the US and NATO face defeat on the steppes of Ukraine, NATO has set its sights on becoming a global military force; and that means it will continue to seek ways of asserting a presence in Asia. Its attempt to secure a foothold in Japan was rebuffed by the French, but this is unlikely to be its last attempt to turn the “A” in NATO from meaning “Atlantic” to meaning “Asia”. The transatlantic neocons have been decentred, economically and geopolitically. Five centuries of colonial dominance, coupled with seven decades of American Primacy are coming to an end. This is doubtless a discomforting experience. Antonio Gramsci once observed: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” Today, the monsters Gramsci spoke of are those that torment the collective west and its neocon political elite as they confront their anxieties of being displaced by a Multipolarity that is struggling its way forward. This is why the 2020s is the “decade of living dangerously”.

[gijoe-forever]

Steel Brigade is an international security force that works with the G.I. Joe Task Force. It is composed by the best of the best that the world has to offer. They are tasked by the United Nations to keep the peace as an arm of NATO. Steel Brigade responses to any emergency, whether it is natural or man made.

History

Steel Brigade was created by the G.I. Joe Task Force in 1987 as a training unit for potential members. Members were referred to as Agent and their last name until they earned their code name. After they earned their code name, they could stay with Steel Brigade or transfer to Joe operations. They acted as support personal during their training. Their duties included, but were not limited to, the following: vehicle maintenance, facility maintenance, security, routine daily operations, combat support, and intelligence gathering.

They continued in this capacity until shortly before G.I. Joe was publicly disbanded in 1995. Even though this was a ruse to trick Cobra, Steel Brigade was officially no longer part of the United States armed forces. But instead of retiring the unit, the United States of America transferred it to NATO as part of their military support. This included some equipment, such as the Skyhawk.

The remaining members of Steel Brigade began recruiting and training new members from not just the USA, but also from the international community. Agents were found in military and civilian agencies. This has allowed them to become the premier security force, able to respond quickly and save countless lives.

In 2005, G.I. Joe member Gung-Ho and Oktober Guard member Dragonsky became honorary members of Steel Brigade and took charge of a mission to stop General Mayhem. After the successful completion of the mission, both became trainers. This has only increased the overall effectiveness of team members.

In 2014, Steel Brigade suffered a major loss. Their Pennsylvania base was destroyed after a mission in Cleveland, Ohio. Cobra agents released a substance called Compound Z. All the agents at that location were transformed into zombies, with the exception of the Steel Brigade Commander of that location. All agents were killed and the instillation was deemed a complete loss.

Uniforms

Members of Steel Brigade are issued a uniform based on the original uniforms. Agents that earned their code name were permitted to personalize their uniform. Over the years the uniform has changed to show what division each member is a part of. The divisions and uniforms for each are described below.

The standard agent uniform for Steel Brigade agents has changed little since 1987. Each team member is issued an olive drab balaclava, light blue long sleeve shirt or sweater, khaki pants, black combat boots, and black gloves. Their tactical gear is an olive drab molle vest, a black bandoleer, black kneepads, and a standard issue Steel Brigade helmet.

Steel Brigade Delta agents are vehicle specialists. They are divided into Ground units and Aerial units.

Ground vehicle specialists are agents that operate the military ground units such as tanks and the VAMP MKII. They are issued an olive drab coverall, gray combat boots, gray gloves, and a gray balaclava. Their tactical gear is a green tactical vest and a green and a brown Steel Brigade Delta helmet.

Aerial vehicle specialists are agents that operate the military air units such as the Skyhawk. They are issued an olive drab balaclava, light blue long sleeve shirt or sweater, Urban Rain Camo pants, black combat boots, and black gloves. Their tactical gear is a green and black tactical vest and a silver and black Steel Brigade Delta helmet.

Paratrooper specialists are issued a gray balaclava, Urban Rain Camo coverall, black boots, and black gloves. Their tactical gear is a black tactical vest and a paratrooper Steel Brigade helmet.

There are times when agents are issued an alternative uniform for special missions. These uniforms may very per mission requirements.

The non-commissioned officer uniform and tactical gear is the same as the division they belong to. They are also issued a side arm, boot knife and ammo pouch.

The Paratrooper Commander wears a black balaclava, a black long sleeve shirt/sweater, Urban Rain Camo pants, black gloves, and black combat boots. The Commander’s tactical gear consists of a black tactical vest and a gold paratrooper helmet, special modified to assist with command and control.

Steel Brigade commanders wear a green balaclava, black gloves, black combat boots, and either a blue coverall or a blue long sleeve shirt/sweater and blue pants with a gold belt. Their tactical gear is a green molle vest, a black bandoleer, black kneepads, and a gold Steel Brigade helmet, special modified to assist with command and control.

Steel Brigade agents are trained to use multiple firearms and weapons, but most use a modified M4 with a bayonet.

[connorthemaoist]

The International League of Peoples’ Struggle stands united in unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.  The Palestinian people are absolutely united in their aspiration to bring an end to the Zionist occupation and to finally live in a free and democratic Palestine.

The actions by the Zionist state are nothing short of a genocide.  Since the latest attacks against Gaza began, over 3,000 have been killed in indiscriminate airstrikes, including at least 500 getting medical treatment and taking refuge in a hospital.  A complete blockade has deliberately cut Gaza off from food, water, fuel and electricity, leaving the people starving and with a medical system on the brink of collapse with over 10,000 injuries and rising.  Palestinian health officials cannot keep up with carrying away the dead bodies that lie unattended throughout the strip, leading to the high risk of a disease outbreak amongst the population.  Zionist forces have also demanded that 2.3 million Gazans evacuate to the south to make way for their ground invasion and likely attempt to re-occupy the strip while killing even civilians obeying this order.  Airstrikes have even hit the southern border between Gaza and Egypt, the only way for Palestinians to leave the strip if they want, leaving desperately needed humanitarian aid packages sitting at the border unable to enter.  In addition to airstrikes, the Zionists have even used internationally banned weapons such as white phosphorus gas.  Included is the continued violence by soldiers and armed settlers which has killed over 70 in the past 11 days alone.

Indeed, the Zionist government may have declared war on October 7th, but the previous 75 years of occupation and ethnic cleansing policies since the Nakba have been a never-ending war against the Palestinian people.  What we see now is merely a heightened general offensive by Zionism within Palestine itself with continuing aggression against neighboring rival countries.

The Zionists may have openly declared war this time, but that’s only because of the Palestinian resistance’s decision to unite in struggle to take up arms against the US-backed occupation state and its “state-of-the-art” military.  For over 75 years, the Palestinian people have used every option they’ve had against the occupation of their land, to no avail.  The international governance system has allowed the occupation to become normalized with no end in sight.  The people have chosen to take the courageous path of united coordination in armed resistance, bravely tearing up the Zionist-imposed border fence of Gaza and launching coordinated strikes in air, land and sea that inspired peoples’ movements the world over to see a united people taking the military might of an imperialist satellite state off guard.

The Palestinian resistance is a beacon to our resistance!  By this, we mean that this strike against a running dog of US imperialism is a move that weakens US imperialism as a whole.  The global imperialist system is entering into a new stage of multipolar turmoil, from the US-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, to the build up to war in Asia-Pacific, to the upsurge of peoples’ movements for national self-determination in Latin America and Africa, and of the continued advance of armed resistance movements in the Philippines, India, Kurdistan, West Papua and of course Palestine.  The Palestinian resistance gives inspiration to all people struggling in this context for national and social liberation, and therefore we must support their resistance as if it was our own.

The ILPS supports all resistance fighters regardless of organizational affiliation – now is the time to unite!

We also condemn the attacks on Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizations around the world on behalf of the US and Zionist forces.  We are witnessing an unprecedented outlawing of democratic organizations and bans on free speech when it comes to the Palestinian cause while pro-Zionist slogans are given full support, even within the so-called “democratic” liberal states of North America and Europe.  Now is the time to defend peoples’ struggle in all its forms.

The ILPS calls on its members to take actions worldwide outside of Israeli, US and European embassies to condemn the genocide taking place in Gaza.  We also encourage members to demand of their own governments official condemnation and to push for the unconditional end of the blockade, assault and genocide of Gaza, as well as the end of all military aid to the Zionist state, especially from the US.

All organizations are encouraged to hold educational sessions on the history and current situation of the US-Zionist occupation and resistance of Palestine.  Ongoing actions in support of the Palestinian resistance must be maintained worldwide, especially amidst the crackdown and banning of anti-Zionist organizations.  We must assert that activism and resistance of any form is not terrorism.

From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!

Palestinian resistance is a beacon to our resistance!

Long live international Solidarity!

Signed:

Len Cooper

ILPS Chairperson

20 October 2023

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Matt Davies ::@MatttDavies

* * * *

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

“We cannot give up on peace.”

October 20, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

          In a short but impactful speech, President Biden explained why American support for Israel and Ukraine is vital to national security and global peace. It was a great speech. Not a good speech or an excellent speech. It was a great speech that rose to a fragile and volatile moment in world history. He moved quickly and easily from global security to the importance of NATO unity in Ukraine to the right of Israel and the Palestinian people to self-determination to condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia to mourning the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian boy he called by name, “Wadea.”

          The video of President Biden’s speech is here, President Biden's Address to the Nation.

          As with his remarks in Israel, Biden did not shrink from difficult subjects. He simultaneously recognized the suffering of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples—as well as the suffering of Americans from Israel and Gaza. He said, “I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you — you’re all Americans.” In an important acknowledgment, he said,

We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.

          In a significant foreign policy shift, he equated the anti-democratic animus of Hamas and Vladimir Putin, saying that both sought to “annihilate” democracy. He said, “Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they are both threats to democracy.” Biden linked Putin and Hamas—"dictators and terrorists”—in the following passage:

History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction.

          Biden also urged Americans to recall the importance of America to maintaining world peace and stability. In memorable phrases, he said that America “is the indispensable nation” and “a beacon to the world.”

          Biden said that he would submit a $100 billion proposal to Congress to support Ukraine and Israel. He said that it represents “a smart investment that will pay dividends to Americans for generations.” There remains serious doubt whether House Republicans can elect a speaker to act on President Biden’s request. See below.

          As with his remarks in Israel, Biden urged Israel to consider the downstream consequences of its actions before acting to invade Gaza. Per The Guardian, “He stressed that Israel should not make the same “mistakes” made by the US after 9/11 when, he said, Americans were “blinded by rage.” (On that topic, there is conflicting evidence of Israel’s intentions. See below.)

          Shortly before Biden spoke to the American people, a US Navy ship in the northern Red Sea “intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen.” See The Guardian. It is not clear whether the missiles were headed toward Israel or the US ship, but the incident may represent the first involvement by US forces in the Israeli war against Hamas.

Israel is on the verge of invading Gaza—or not.

          There has been conflicting reporting over the last forty-eight hours about Israel’s intent to invade Gaza. The Guardian reported on Thursday evening as follows:

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, visited troops on the Gaza border on Thursday, telling them: “You see Gaza now from a distance, you will soon see it from inside. The command will come.”

          But Israeli troops have lingered on the Gaza border for longer than expected, and some sources in Israel have cautioned against expectations for a full-scale invasion. See Dennis Aftergut and Edward Story, MSNBC, Why canceling its ground invasion could help Israel defeat Hamas. Per Aftergut and Story,

In a faint sign of hope, the Israeli military reportedly said on Tuesday that a Gaza ground offensive is “not a certainty.” That tempering of Israel’s militant tone may reflect private conversations Biden had with Netanyahu urging restraint . . . . There is no shame in leaving its IDF forces massed around Gaza without escalating further. Doing so could give the army and intelligence forces more time to locate and possibly exchange the hostages without massive IDF or hostage casualties. Such a pause also gives both Israelis and Palestinians more time to think through how to fill the potential vacuum that will be left if Israel ultimately succeeds in destroying Hamas.

          President Biden has urged restraint and caution on three occasions regarding an invasion of Gaza. The US cannot tell Israel what to do, but Biden is highlighting “mistakes” that the US made after 9/11. We will learn in the coming days whether Israel will slow or avoid its invasion of Gaza in light of America’s difficult and costly 9/11 wars.

Concluding Thoughts.

          We are living through a difficult moment in our nation’s history. American democracy is threatened as never before while Israel’s war on a terrorist group hiding among civilians has divided friends and allies in the fight to preserve democracy in this country. There are no “easy” or “right” answers that will avoid all harm, protect all legitimate interests, and vindicate all wrongs in the Middle East. We must not pretend otherwise.

          Recognizing that there is no single answer that will fix everything, we must not make enemies of fellow citizens with whom we disagree about the Middle East—but with whom we agree about the vital task of defending American democracy. If we treat allies as enemies because we disagree over problems for which there are painful solutions only, we will weaken our efforts to preserve democracy in America. If we lose that battle, nothing else matters.

         A strong, stable democracy in America will advance the cause of global peace. To achieve that goal, we must work together despite our disagreements about the path forward in the Middle East. We share a common purpose and need one another to succeed. The Founders showed us the way when they forged our nation from thirteen quarrelsome, fractious colonies. The process wasn’t easy, pretty, or perfect. But in rising above their differences to promote the common good, they achieved mighty things. Let’s do the same!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[usafphantom2]

IMAGES: B-2s land in Iceland for the first Bomber Task Force in months

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 08/14/2023 - 19:31 in Military

Three B-2 bombers from the 509ª Bomber Wing at Whiteman Air Base, Missouri, landed in Keflavik, Iceland, on August 13 to begin the first outward deployment of the stealth bomber since the B-2 fleet's six-month security pause ended in May.

More than 150 aviators along with the three B-2 Spirit aircraft arrived at Keflavik Air Base with the aim of participating in Bomber Task Force (BTF) missions, a vital component of the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) collaborative training efforts with U.S. Allies, partners and joint forces.

The B-2 is the only operational stealth bomber of the Air Force, with a global range, and the continuous rotations of the Bomber Task Force in Europe are seen as an element of NATO's high alert level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The planned duration of the recent deployment has not been disclosed, but BTFs usually last from 2 to 6 weeks.

Around the world, the U.S. Strategic Command routinely orchestrates BTF operations not only to show the United States' commitment to collective defense, but also to integrate seamlessly with the operations conducted by the Geographic Combat Commands of America. This BTF initiative is designed to strengthen USEUCOM's comprehensive security mandates across the European continent, while offering crews the opportunity to acclimatize to the complexities of joint and coalition operations in foreign locations.

"Each mission of the bomber task force highlights the feat of our armed forces in navigating today's intricate and unpredictable terrain of global security, focusing on promoting stability, security and freedom throughout Europe," said General James Hecker, commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe; U.S. Air Forces in Africa and NATO Allied Command. "In resolute unity, the U.S. maintains our nation's commitment to promoting peace and stability in Europe, collaborating unwaveringly with allies and partners to prevent challenges against the sovereignty of nations throughout the region."

Leading the crew of the expeditionary bomber in its deployment is Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Kousgaard, commander of the 393º Bombing Squadron. He emphasized the essence of the dynamic use of the force, describing it as a strategy that combines strategic unpredictability with operational adaptability. Lieutenant Colonel Kousgaard said: “The B-2 bomber is arguably the most strategically significant aircraft in the world, but that does not mean it is unftably; dynamically deploying bombers is a unique and important capability.”

The presence of the B-2 at Keflavik Air Base serves as a tangible link between U.S. Air Force personnel and their colleagues in the theater of operations. This connection facilitates collaborative training, increasing interoperability and highlighting the unwavering dedication of the United States to the region.

It has not been disclosed whether B-2s will operate from any advanced area in Europe, but BTFs usually include unannounced secondary deployments.

Elaborating on the importance of joint training exercises with the Allies, Lieutenant Colonel Kousgaard highlighted the role of his unit in improving collective military capabilities and increasing the likelihood of successfully achieving the shared goals. He emphasized: "There is simply no substitute for practical integration with our allies and partners that we can carry out during a BTF deployment like this."

In addition to strengthening combat readiness, the BTF initiative allows aviators to engage in a wide spectrum of military operations, covering everything from combat missions to humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.

The Bomber Task Force Europe offers U.S. and NATO leaders strategic options to secure, stop and defend against opposing aggression against the Alliance, throughout Europe and around the world. Regular and routine deployments of U.S. strategic bombers provide our critical touchpoints to train and operate alongside our allies and partners, reinforcing our collective response to any global conflict.

Tags: Military AviationB-2 SpiritBTFUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work around the world of aviation.

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[mariacallous]

European lawmakers are issuing increasingly bleak warnings about the future of the war in Ukraine and the continent’s security as a $60 billion U.S. aid package for Kyiv continues to languish on Capitol Hill and the war is set to enter its third year later this month.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Washington has welcomed a steady stream of lawmakers, government ministers, and heads of state from Europe amid transatlantic efforts to coordinate military and humanitarian support for Ukraine. But there has been a palpable ratcheting up in the intensity and urgency of their message. 

“You can’t help but wonder what has happened here. We seem to have drifted apart,” said Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir, chair of the Icelandic parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. 

Einarsdóttir and a delegation of six other chairs of the parliamentary foreign affairs committees of the Baltic and Nordic states spoke with a small group of journalists on Thursday morning as the U.S. Senate voted to advance a stand-alone aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. It remains unclear whether the bill will be able to garner enough votes to pass the Senate and House. 

A bipartisan effort to combine the aid with an immigration reform package was shot down by Senate Republicans on Wednesday evening after former U.S. President Donald Trump urged his party to reject the legislation. 

“Dear Republican Senators of America,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, following the vote. “Ronald Reagan, who helped millions of us to win back our freedom and independence, must be turning in his grave today. Shame on you.” 

Dire warnings from European lawmakers come as Ukraine has stalled on the battlefield and Russia is making significant investments in defense spending and production. In the early days of the war, Moscow appeared to be on the back foot as its economy was pummeled with international sanctions and its armed forces struggled through a poorly planned invasion. 

But two years on, the Russian economy is projected to grow, albeit marginally, in the coming year fueled by a significant boost in defense spending. One-third of the country’s state budget has been allocated for defense in 2024, and arms manufacturers have been urged to work around the clock. 

“If we cannot manage, together with the U.S., to stop Russia in Ukraine, it’s a matter of time if it is a war against NATO in general, and that will be much higher cost,” said Aron Emilsson, chair of the Swedish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. 

Emilsson’s Latvian counterpart, Rihards Kols, said he was struck by the lack of urgency in Washington about the war. “I got the notion that the war in Ukraine is something very far away, distant from the U.S.,” said Kols, who noted that by comparison, Latvian public discourse had been dominated by the possibility of a wider war. 

Last month, top military officials in Sweden and the United Kingdom warned their populations to prepare for a potential war.

Zygimantas Pavilionis, chair of the Lithuanian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, who has made several trips to Washington since the beginning of the war, said that the reception he and his colleagues get on Capitol Hill is “getting worse with every visit.” Pavilionis, like many lawmakers and officials from the Baltic states, sought to sound the alarm about Russia’s revanchist intentions long before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “Our argument is simple: If you don’t want another Pearl Harbor, you better listen to us,” he said. 

Ahead of this week’s visit, the delegation reached out to the offices of around 20 congressional Republicans who have to varying degrees been skeptical of U.S. aid for Ukraine. Just three offices responded, Kols said.

The visit follows a trip by the chairs of the parliamentary foreign affairs committees from six NATO member states last month who brought a similarly stark message. “The reality is the U.S. also needs a wake-up call,” said Alicia Kearns, chair of the U.K. Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee, the Hill reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also in Washington this week and is set to meet with President Joe Biden and members of Congress to make the case for continued support to Ukraine. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, he laid out his case about the dangers of a Russian victory. 

“We have to do our utmost to prevent Russia from winning. If we don’t, we might soon wake up in a world even more unstable, threatening and unpredictable than it was during the Cold War,” he wrote. 

The United States has provided more than $75 billion in aid to Kyiv since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, of which $46 billion has been military support. Analysts have warned that a collapse in U.S. support would deal a significant blow to Ukraine. 

“We are not able to fill the gap if the U.S. pulls out,” said Ine Eriksen Soreide, chair of the Norwegian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, who stressed that there would be wide-ranging ramifications if Russia were to emerge victorious. “If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wins the war, it would embolden him; it would embolden China; it would embolden Iran; it would embolden [North Korea],” Soreide said. 

[libertariantaoist]

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 6/5/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

The FBI is looking to gather new information about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported on Thursday. AWC

Rodolphe Jaar was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the plot to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021. AJ

Mexico

Mexican TV has reported that a militant affiliated with Mexico’s Gulf Cartel was spotted carrying an advanced rocket launcher, the same type that the US has shipped thousands of to Ukraine. AWC

Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry said early Monday that Ukraine began a “large-scale offensive” by launching attacks along five sections of the frontlines in the eastern Donbas region. AWC

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey has not changed its position on refusing to allow Sweden in the alliance. Boston Herald 

The US will focus its efforts on arming Ukraine and not attempting to bring the war to a negotiated settlement, America’s top diplomat said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out a plan to massively expand Kiev’s military before talks begin. AWC

The Pentagon Thursday said it’s awarded a contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX to ship Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine. AWC

 Ukrainian soldiers trained by NATO and armed with Western weapons will serve as the “tip of the spear” during the upcoming counteroffensive against Russian forces, according to the Washington Post. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said this support represents the “next level” of security assistance. The Institute

The Kremlin says it will not reenter the New Start treaty until Washington lifts its hostile policy towards Russia. Fox News

Zelensky says Ukraine is ready to launch its counteroffensive. The Hill

China

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced Thursday that the US and Taiwan signed the first trade agreement under a new economic initiative that was launched last year. AWC

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu delivered a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and said a conflict between the US and China would be an “unbearable disaster,” a warning that comes amid soaring tensions between the two powers. AWC

US Indo-Pacific Command accused a Chinese warship of acting in an “unsafe manner” when it passed a US Navy guided-missile destroyer that was transiting the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian frigate on Saturday. AWC

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the One China policy is still in effect. Politico

Germany will send two warships to the Indo-Pacific in 2024. Reuters

Iran

Iran’s navy commander said Friday that Tehran was working to form a naval alliance with several Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iraq. AWC

Somalia

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced that it launched an airstrike in Somalia on June 1, marking the second US bombing in the country within a week and the third since May 20. AWC

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