Cynics of the “historic” peace deals signed this week at the White House between Gulf Arab rulers and Israel were further emboldened in their criticism with reports that former British premier Tony Blair was a leading mediator behind the development.
September 18. Central Criminal Court, London.
The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey moved into a higher gear today. Testimonies spanned the importance of classified information in war journalism, the teasing offer of a pardon for Assange by US President Donald Trump, torture inflicted by the US Central Intelligence Agency, the chilling effect of indictments under the Extradition Act and the legacy of the Collateral Murder video.
Hager, war and journalism
Terrorism is a very peculiar word indeed. In the Middle East, it’s hard to find two people who agree on who they deem terrorist, versus who they consider a venerable freedom fighter or legitimate army. That said, one question which is being applied more to Trump these days, is did he do anything in his term to reduce terrorism? Or in fact did he merely fan the flames? Or perhaps, does he have any clue at all what he is doing in any of these so-called terror campaigns and is merely a four-year-old playing with crayons hoping that something, at some point, will become clearer?
Despite recent pledges by the Trump Administration to drawdown forces in the Middle East, specifically with cuts in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials in Washington do not appear to be extending such pre-election pledges for its running contingent still illegally occupying parts of northeastern Syria.
The report caused the establishment to throw a tantrum ‘symptomatic of the reflexive defensiveness’ of the blob.
Barbara BOLAND
This week, the top U.S. general in the Middle East, Frank McKenzie, confirmed plans for partial troop drawdowns in both Iraq and Afghanistan scheduled to happen before the 2020 Presidential Election on Nov. 3. The plans seeks to cut the troop presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 by the end of September. Is this an earnest rethink of western hegemony in the region, or is President Donald Trump merely seeking political capital by fulfilling his 2016 campaign pledge to end “America’s endless wars.”
What's the real point of this deal?* Setting the groundwork for recognition of the stolen occupied territory.
It was announced on September 9 that the U.S. Administration would reduce troop numbers in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 by the end of the month. The commander Central Command, General McKenzie, said the withdrawal was to take place because of “the great progress the Iraqi forces have made” and that the “ultimate goal” was having local forces who were capable of preventing a resurgence of Islamic State in the country.”
Nineteen years after more than 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, there remains a bipartisan commitment to fight an endless “war on terrorism,” instigate regime change coups, increase military spending, enhance US nuclear weapons, deport undocumented residents, curtail civil liberties, and militarize the police.
This video places great focus on the situation in Syria, including, remarkably, Mr. Carlson’s assertion that the allegation that Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in his own country was false (in 2018 and 2017 this was the hot American media narrative). Tucker Carlson makes the same case Rush Limbaugh and I made a few days ago: President Trump is probably the most anti-war president in US history.
