BRITISH/ EU/ NATO COMPLICITY

GREG MAYBURY—‘It is hardly surprising that those who hold power should seek to control the words and language people use’ said Canadian author John Ralston Saul in his 1993 book Voltaire’s Bastards–the Dictatorship of Reason in the West. Fittingly, in a discussion encompassing amongst other things history, language, power, and dissent, he opined, ‘Determining how individuals communicate is’…an objective which represents for the power elites ‘the best chance’ [they] have to control what people think. In essence, this translates as: The more control ‘we’ have over what the proles think, the more ‘we’ can reduce the inherent risk for elites in democracy.

KENNETH SURIN—Israeli conduct falls short of standards expected of democratic nations– e.g. using military snipers to murder and wound with impunity medical personnel and journalists in Gaza, all clearly identified by their clothing. There are aspects of Israeli policy and practice with tangible similarities to the Nazis– arbitrary confiscation and demolition of Palestinian dwellings, the use of attack dogs to bite and corral non-violent demonstrators, the repeated use of collective punishments, starvation as a weapon of occupation, the deliberate destruction of agricultural crops, the use of snipers to target unarmed civilians, and so forth.

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM—On international politics, such as the NATO-backed covert war for regime change in Syria, or the deplorable incitement of tensions by Washington and London towards Iran, Russian news media have provided a critical source of reporting and analysis. Often that alternative perspective has allowed Western public to hold their governments and derelict media to account. The fable of “the emperor with no clothes” comes to mind.

ALISON TAHMIZIAN MEUSE—The raid itself – videotaped and published by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps – shows Balaclava-wearing commandos descending on the British tanker by helicopter. The seizure appeared designed to replicate Britain’s impounding of an Iranian tanker earlier this month. Asked on Monday what the United States would do to help retrieve the vessel of its ally, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to wash his hands of the incident.