It turns out that the CIA has realised for years that drone attacks are of very limited utility. Like so many of the injustices of the “War on Terror”, they are in fact a driver for armed hatred of the West, not least because they kill more civilians than targets.
But of course, the “war on terror” is very much about boosting the standing of politicians who are “fighting terror” on behalf of their citizens, and about boosting the ever-inflating powers – and budgets – of the security services. SO counterproductive measures are, paradoxically, the most attractive to those whose aim is not to obtain peace, but rather to maintain the concentration of power and finance consequent upon an eternal state of phoney war.
We have always been at war with Eastasia.
If you’ve never watched Adam Curtis’ series “The Power of Nightmares” I’d highly recommend it. Some of the commentary has been overtaken by the passage of time but the underlying message is still entirely sound.
All three films are available free at https://archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares-Episode1BabyItsColdOutside
The films compare the rise of the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States and the radical Islamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and claiming similarities between the two. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries – and particularly American Neo-Conservatives – in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies.
“the “war on terror” is very much about boosting the standing of politicians who are “fighting terror” on behalf of their citizens”
In other words the war on terror is about persecuting ‘the other’ who have retained in their religion the original rules of our own.
I have always called in extra-judicial killing.
called IT……
Spot on Craig.
That second paragraph in your header should be in dictionaries as the definition of the War on Terror.
The whole thing is a grotesque lie by incompetent bellicose buffoons.
Funny old world where those who are anti-war and support balance,reason and truth are now The Enemy-torturable,murderable,experimentable by the snarling madmen of war and their eagerly complicit lapdogs of medialand,
Its truly nauseating,
We will remember…
Half a million children have died in Iraq since UN sanctions were imposed – most enthusiastically by Britain and the US. Three UN officials have resigned in despair. Meanwhile, bombing of Iraq continues almost daily.
http://johnpilger.com/articles/squeezed-to-death
Another offshoot of the destruction of the Soviet Union? Whilst the latter was the enemy because they lied to as subjugated their people, the West could never allow itself to be seen as doing the same. A generation later, everyone seems to have forgotten all that, and in terms of propaganda and subjugation of the people the West is rapidly becoming the new Soviet Union.
There is other forms of warfare that don’t work/have unintended consequences,
“It is a grave mistake to put President Vladimir Putin or the leader of any nation with nuclear weapons into a situation in which they think they have nothing to lose.
I wrote a post Wednesday on the danger of nuclear war with Russia. Pepe Escobar pointed out that Russia has other means of Mutually Assured Destruction.
One would be to default on Russia’s debts, or even suspend payment on the debts, pending the end of the current emergency. This would threaten major banks in Western Europe that have extended credit to Russia.
Another would be to cut off gas exports to Ukraine and the countries of the European Union.
Either of these things would hurt Russia as much as it hurts Russia’s enemies. Russia needs credit, and Russia needs foreign markets.
But if the country has been brought to the brink of collapse anyway, then its leaders have nothing left to lose by striking back.”
http://philebersole.wordpress.com/
Iraq sanctions revisited.
Good insight Craig. The “War on terror” was always classic Debordian spectacle, designed to avoid or delay reforms to US energy consumption, and all the Fordist hegemony that goes with…
But the truth will out, and most people, Americans included, are decent enough, though I’ve no doubt your comments moderation folder might tempt you think otherwise from time to time 🙂
Keep up the good work!
(And warmest season’s greetings)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30560941
Russia says it will not “cave in” to pressure, following a fresh set of US, EU and Canadian sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.
A spokesman said Moscow regretted “that the West is yet again displaying a complete lack of interest” in resolving the crisis in south-east Ukraine.
Russia was developing “retaliatory measures”, the spokesman said.
War is peace
‘Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear — kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor — with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant funds demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real’—General Douglas MacArthur
Well put, Mr Murray – keep joining those dots.
For “War on Terror” read “Strategy of Tension”.
Question everything.
Another case (like the torture) of the U.S. imitating long-standing Israeli practices. In this case, targeted killings.
No wonder Netanyahu initially welcomed 9/11, until he found himself forced to walk that one back.
It’s just business. Fulfilling the highest aspirations of wealth and status. Christ, they need something to fill the void vacated by meaningless, consumptive, destructive lives, slaving every day to this system, controlling every aspect of personal volition….. Then they rail against socialism as too communist, inhibiting individuality. The irony.
Maybe society is way too free when your up to all kinds of stuff you don’t want ordinary people to know, or to know yourself, mixing with anyone with a bit of honesty is a no no. And all that etiquette and formally neatly covers any human stuff that may intrude. You know, the scum or the “chavs” they are doing there best to stomp on, Ie most other people really.
I know some people like this and pity them generally (thought what they do disgusts me) as I think the extent to which you have to debase yourself is harmful. The money some have who don’t even use it to be free, but to just make more, to ‘move up’. Maybe those who seek out these things are the weakest and most pathetic. Certainly the least free.
As to those larger terrorists pushing the war on terror, scrambling to find justifications to increase it, im not even thinking about the reality they inhabit. For the inqisative, ask al-Qaeda?
Enjoy the break.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG7woCQkGUw
Ps, Don’t those “Islam’a’fascists” (or should I say that idea of “Islam’a’fascists”) in reality reflect what is pretty mainstream extremism of powerful western states.
When are people who drone on (pun noted) about the “nature” of Islam going to realise they are backing the same basic ideology, and those that have it do have nukes, and use them as constant threats. And notably only identify “terrorists” as dark skinned Muslims.
Tools.
Alex Salmond was interviewed on RT today.
Mary. 12 34pm
“I have always called in extra-judicial killing.”
Your correction, though prompt, was still too late for Dad.
The last I saw of him was the soles of his sheep-skin slippers as he dived into his nuclear shelter.*
The Prendergasts have thrown a street party and Mr O’Brien’s Ukrainian builder friends are already pouring the second stage of their 1:10 scale model of the Chernobyl containment sarcophagus over the reinforced steel door.
Looks like you’ll have a peaceful Christmas!
*He dug it beside this shed in the back garden in 1963 and installed a really expensive 7 year, tamper-proof lock to make sure his conscience wouldn’t let him open it and share his sixteen tons of tinned spam with the roving bands of mutants.
Police are investigating claims that at least five paedophile rings operating at the heart of Westminster were covered up.
Labour MP John Mann has submitted an explosive dossier to police naming 22 politicians – including three serving MPs and three serving members of the House of Lords – linked to historical child abuse.
Last night, he said the complexity of the criminality at the heart of the Establishment during the 1970s and 1980s had been underestimated.
The document submitted to police by Mr Mann also includes the names of 13 ex-ministers, including at least two who are claimed to have gone to ‘abuse parties’ held at Dolphin Square, the luxury riverside estate in Pimlico which has been home to dozens of MPs.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2883012/Scotland-Yard-probing-five-VIP-paedophile-rings-Labour-MP-hands-dossier-naming-six-serving-politicians-Lords.html
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The document names 13 ex-ministers, more conformation (as if it were needed) that Westminster is indeed a den of iniquity.
North Korea has issued a threat to attack US landmarks after claiming to have proof that the government was behind the controversial movie The Interview.
The yet-to-be-released film, starring James Franco and Seth Rogan, has been thrust into the centre of a row between North Korea and the US after hackers attacked Sony’s computer systems.
The plot of the comedy eventually sees dictator Kim Jong Un be assassinated.
A statement from the state news agency KCNA said: “Nothing is a more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target of this counteraction.
“Our target is all the citadels of the US imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans.
“The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the US in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/north-korea-threatens-blow-up-4851446
………………………….
Looks like the US is going to keep goading China’s little bulldog North Korea, the idea possibly, is to allow the US and the west to, forcing Kim Jong Un, into doing something he may regret, whilst isolating China in the process.
Re the Sony film you couldn’t buy better publicity.
Forget, oil prices, nukes and Russian, US and North Korea’s stand off, this is the real tragedy, and its happening right on our doorsteps.
……………………………..
The Public and Commercial Services Union said data provided by the Department for Work and Pensions showed 74,000 would lose more than £19million in Jobseeker’s Allowance
Around 80,000 families face benefit cuts of £250 this month in further sanctions against the jobless and disabled, it has been claimed.
The Public and Commercial Services Union said data provided by the Department for Work and Pensions showed 74,000 would lose more than £19million in Jobseeker’s Allowance.
And £700,000 in employment and support allowances are being taken away from 6,800 disabled people.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Use of these sanctions has spiralled in recent years.
“But they do nothing but heap blame and misery on some of the poorest in society and should be scrapped.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/80000-families-face-benefits-cuts-4851665
A group of Israeli settlers have stormed into the Islamic museum of the al-Aqsa Mosque in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) amid rising tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The settlers forced their way into the mosque under the protection of Israeli forces in their latest acts of violence against the holy Islamic site.
According to a recent report by the Palestinian non-governmental organization of the al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, nearly 14,000 Israelis, most of them extremist settlers, have stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound since the beginning of 2014.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/12/21/391208/israeli-settlers-raid-alaqsa-mosque/
………………………
We shouldn’t be surprised by that lots actions, we should know by now, that they’re capable of anything.
RoS
Might this be yet another PressTV fabrication regarding Israeli ‘settlers’ storming al-Aqsa Mosque? They seem to release one of these al-Aqsa storming stories every month, a fact I believe that has been pointed out once or twice before on this blog. I’m quite happy to be proved wrong in this case but can you provide another source?
The Salmond interview is being replayed on RT right now. He apparently intends to run for a seat in the House of Commons at Westminster.
Might this be yet another PressTV fabrication regarding Israeli ‘settlers’ storming al-Aqsa Mosque? They seem to release one of these al-Aqsa storming stories every month, a fact I believe that has been pointed out once or twice before on this blog. I’m quite happy to be proved wrong in this case but can you provide another source?
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Anon.
Press TV fabrication, what makes you say that? Press TV may lay it on a bit thick but not as thick as all western pro-Israeli TV stations, such as the BBC nor pro-Israel Rupert Murdoch who owns countless networks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch
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Press TV shows the story from another angle, an angle western pro-Israeli networks would prefer you didn’t see.
Republicofscotland
Thanks you for another series of cut-and-pastes and thank you even more for yet another set of profound “thoughts” to complement them:
“We shouldn’t be surprised by that lots actions, we should know by now, that they’re capable of anything.”
and
“Forget, oil prices, nukes and Russian, US and North Korea’s stand off, this is the real tragedy, and its happening right on our doorsteps.”
and
“The document names 13 ex-ministers, more conformation (as if it were needed) that Westminster is indeed a den of iniquity.”
One cannot but admire your keen insight and profundity.
Republicofscotland
“Press TV shows the story from another angle, an angle western pro-Israeli networks would prefer you didn’t see.”
_________________
Well, yes, provided of course that it isn’t another fabrication as Anon suggests.
Have you got any other sources?
Here’s a report Republic of Scotland that corroborates the Press TV report that the doubting Zionists amongst us prefer to disbelieve.
Jewish settlers storm Al-Aqsa compound on Hanukkah
Jewish organizations had called on supporters to storm the mosque compound this week to mark the advent of the Jewish Hanukkah holidays, or the “Festival of Lights.”
Scores of Jewish settlers on Monday stormed occupied East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after several Jewish groups called for mass incursions into the religious site to mark the Jewish Hanukkah holidays, a Palestinian official has said.
“Around 70 Jewish settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa complex through the Al-Magharbeh Gate under Israeli police protection,” General Director of Muslim Endowments and Al-Aqsa Affairs Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib told The Anadolu Agency.
“The settlers wandered around the compound and attempted to perform Talmudic rituals, but Muslim worshipers stood up to them,” he said.
Al-Khatib added that Israeli police had detained three Muslim worshippers inside the mosque compound’s Al-Asbat Gate.
Since Monday’s early hours, Palestinian worshipers have converged inside the compound to demonstrate against repeated incursions by Jewish extremists.
Demonstrators gathered in front of the Al-Magharbeh Gate, through which Jewish settlers frequently force their way into the compound.
Jewish organizations had called on supporters to storm the mosque compound this week to mark the advent of the Jewish Hanukkah holidays, or the “Festival of Lights.”
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.
In September 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the “Second Intifada,” a popular uprising against Israel’s decades-long occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/world/151388/jewish-settlers-storm-al-aqsa-compound-on-hanukkah