Why Don’t We Call Sieges ‘Sieges’?

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INDRAJIT
indi.ca • Views from the third world. Earth.

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Gaza mosque destroyed

(TGP screenshot-IslamiCity)



One of the curious things about the Hypocritical Hegemon (America) is that it never declares war and never uses the word ‘siege’. But it’s always at war, and always besieging people!

Right now, to take just one example, Gaza is under siege. That’s a simple historical fact, buried in the news. What else do you call cutting off a population from food and water, launching missiles at them, and slaughtering them in the streets? This is what the proxy ‘Israel’ is doing, and what they could not do without full imperial backing. The Embarrassed Empire, however, doesn’t like the word ‘siege’. They call it self-defense, among other mendacities. But it is what it is. It’s just a siege.

All that is happening in Gaza is a ‘medieval’ siege of a walled city. Invaders would surround a city, cut off and/or poison food and water supplies, hurl projectiles over the walls, and wait for the population to submit, starve, or die of disease. Ideally all three. Once you got in the walls, you could go door to door, slaughtering men, women, and children. This is precisely what ‘Israel’ is doing, only with modern weapons. The imperial media use the fact that we live in modernity to imply that a ‘medieval’ siege simply isn’t possible, even though it’s obviously happening. A modern siege is the same as a medieval siege, just with more technology and hypocrisy.

Gaza has, in fact, been under siege since 2007. It has been walled in, blockaded by sea, and anyone that tried to break the blockade was boarded and killed. For decades, ‘Israel’ tightly controlled inputs into Gaza to provide the bare caloric minimum for human life. After people broke out of this open-air prison in 2023, however, ‘Israel’ abandoned that pretence and is openly trying to kill everybody. The long, slow siege became a rapid genocide, as the invaders streamed over the gates (they put up) in F16s.

In its bombing of everything, ‘Israel’ has paid special attention to water supplies, food stores, hospitals, and human shelter. Classic siege warfare, just with modern technology. The point of a siege is to make a place so unlivable that people either sicken, die or surrender (preferably all three). All of ‘Israel’s’ modern siege machinery comes from America, the colonial White Empire at large. They are nor merely complicit, they are the causal factor behind both ‘Israel’ and the genocide it necessarily causes. These carbon crusaders are not passively ‘supporting’ a genocide, they’re doing it. They’re the active party, ‘Israel’ is just their dog on a long leash.

The even more pointy end of a siege is armed men going into the walled city and slaughtering everybody. Since ‘Israel’ built the walls, they can come and go (generally) as they please, and they have been executing, kidnapping, torturing and simply killing people in the streets. Their troops have continued the secondary siege work of destroying hospitals, homes, pharmacies, water supplies, and food stores, and also simply killed and maimed people en masse. Entire ‘engineering’ crews are devoted to blowing up civilian homes, universities, public records, etc. They’re stealing gold and savings, old-fashioned looting and pillaging. Snipers are shooting people through hospital windows.‘Soldiers’ are tying men up and murdering them in front of their families, then throwing grenades at their families. It’s as brutal as any medieval siege, but we somehow don’t see it that way because they’re not using knives and bare hands. But to the people dying, what’s the difference?

This is a classic ‘medieval’ siege in that ‘Israel’ is razing the place, and they’ve been quite open about it. Israel’s Prime Monster has called the Palestinian people “Amalek,” meaning a biblical population that was killed man, woman, and child. He has also said that they’ll reduce Gaza to rubble, which is precisely what they’ve done. This is historically very simple and only complicated by the ‘news’. It’s just a brutal siege, using all the industrial might of modernity, backed by the largest empire in human history, and all of its treachery.

One of the most brutal modern siege weapons is bureaucracy. ‘Sanctions’, blockades, starvation by writ, sieges without moving a ship. Now for example, America and its vassals have cut off funding the the refugee agency (UNRWA) serving the Palestinians, just as most of the population of Gaza has become refugees. They continue ‘Israel’s’ work of killing these people, just with benign bureaucracy, and bullshit ‘investigations’.

This is all made to seem very complex in the news but, again, just look at it historically. A population is being starved and infected into submission and providing aid to those people necessarily breaks the siege. So the people providing the aid must be broken. This is again the White Empire’s direct participation in the siege of Gaza. Their hands are not clean and, indeed, their hands are pulling the strings. The deeply cynical fact is that the White Empire pushes the Jews in front of them to do the dirty work of colonizing the Middle East, and taking all the heat. They can bloodlessly direct the siege of Gaza from far away, but make no mistake, they are directing the whole bloody scene.

This is the nature of the Hypocritical Hegemon. Ancient Empires were proud of conquering, slaughtering, and enslaving people. Sieges were just another weapon in their arsenal, and they often advertised their brutality. They wanted the next city to see, and see clearly. This Empire, however, likes to hide in plain sight, or behind pliant proxies, or in a constant fog of ‘debate’. The first casualty of war is truth, and this Empire has been at war throughout colonization. Truth hasn’t had a chance to breathe for centuries. That’s why we don’t talk about ‘sieges’ anymore. Not because they don’t happen. Because words themselves are under siege.

This Empire calls conquest ‘intervention’, they call slaughter ‘self-defense’, they call slavery ‘freedom’, and they expect us all to believe and repeat. They call ‘sieges’ sanctions, and punish rebellious provinces for generations. If you piss off the hegemon, they’ll make sure your children’s children don’t have medicine. This bashful hegemon nonetheless bashes in brains and starves children to death worse than anybody in human history. They have merely industrialized siege warfare and applied modern marketing to it but it’s the same damn thing.

At this point, their lies are falling apart, but it’s still a challenge to name what you see. But just look and apply words logically. ‘Israel’ and Empire itself are cutting a population off from food, water, and medicine, throwing missiles over the wall, and sending in armed men to kill them. A siege by any other name would still reek, and that’s all that’s happening in Gaza, and all the places the Empire is ‘sanctioning’.

Empire is always at war and always besieging people. The words are nowhere, but the facts are everywhere. This should be obvious, but it actually takes quite an effort to break out of the wall-to-wall news cycle and see that our minds themselves are besieged.Thus the first thing to break is this wall of wrong language and endless detail that they put around our eyes, to keep us from seeing what we’re seeing. Men, women, and children, walled in, being slaughtered by swords, starvation, and deprivation. On purpose, by Carbon Crusaders who have no business in that place or any place, besides their filthy business of looting and pillaging.

This is the modern siege of Gaza that we are living through, and that they are dying in. It all seems very complicated in the news, but it’s quite simple historically. It’s a just a siege.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR / SOURCE
My name is Indrajit Samarajiva and I'm a writer. People also call me Indi or Jit. I was born in Canada, raised in America, and live in Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.

 

 


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The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of The Greanville Post. However, we do think they are important enough to be transmitted to a wider audience.

Since the overpaid media shills will never risk their careers to report the truth, the world must rely on citizen journalists to provide the facts that explain reality. Put this effort to use by becoming an influence multiplier. Repost this material everywhere you can. Send it to your friends and kin. Discuss it with your workmates. Liberation from this infernal and mendacious system is in your hands. We can win this. But you must act.
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Decoding Iran’s missile, drone strikes

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M.K. Bhadrakumar
Indian Punchline

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The stunning missile and drone strikes on three countries — Syria, Iraq and Pakistan — over a period of 24 hours and Tehran taking the extraordinary step of announcing its responsibility for the attacks conveyed a very big message to Washington that its stratagem to create a coalition of terror groups in the region surrounding Iran will be resolutely countered.

That the US strategy against Iran was taking new forms began emerging after the October 7 attack on Israel and the consequent erosion of its standing as the regional supremo. The China-brokered Iran-Saudi rapprochement and the induction Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt into BRICS put the US strategists in panic mode. See my analysis titled US embarks on proxy war against Iran, Indian Punchline, November 20, 2023.

There were signs already by the latter half of 2023 that the US with Israeli axis was planning to use terrorism as the only viable means to weaken Iran and restore the regional balance back in favour of Tel Aviv, which is critically important for Washington’s prioritisation of Asia-Pacific and yet need to control oil-rich Middle East. Indeed, a conventional war with Iran is no longer feasible for the US, as it risks the potential destruction of Israel.

Future historians are sure to study, analyse and arrive at sober conclusions as regards the attacks on Israel by Palestinian resistance groups on October 7. In classic military doctrine, they were quintessentially a pre-emptive strike by resistance groups before the US-Israeli juggernaut of terrorist groups — such as ISIS and Mujahideen-e-Khalq  — turned into a rival platform matching the Axis of Resistance.

Tehran is cognisant of the urgent necessity to carve out strategic depth before the wolves close in. Tehran has been pressing Moscow to expedite a bilateral strategic pact but Russians, unsurprisingly, took time over it. One key agenda item during President Ebrahim Raisi’s “working visit” to Moscow on December 7 to meet with President Putin was the finalisation of the pact.

On Monday, finally, the Russian Defence Ministry disclosed in a rare statement that Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu called his Iranian counterpart Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani to convey that Moscow has agreed to sign the pact. The MoD statement stated:

“Both sides stressed their commitment to the fundamental principles of the Russian-Iranian relations, including unconditional respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which will be confirmed in the major intergovernmental treaty between Russia and Iran as this document is being finalised already.”

According to Iranian news agency IRNA, Shoigu conveyed that Russia’s commitment to Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will be explicitly stated in the pact. The report added that “the two ministers also pointed out the importance of issues related to regional security and emphasised that Moscow and Tehran will continue their joint efforts in establishing a multipolar world order and negating the unilateralism of the United States.” [Emphasis added]

On Wednesday, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, told reporters in Moscow that the new treaty would consolidate the strategic partnership between Russia and Iran and cover the full range of their ties. “This document is not just timely, but also overdue,” said Zakharova.

“Since the signing of the current treaty, the international context has changed and relations between the two countries are experiencing an unprecedented upswing,” she took note. Zakharova said the new treaty was expected to be signed during what she described as one of the upcoming contacts between the two presidents.

Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the TASS state news agency as saying that an exact date for a meeting between Putin and Raisi is to be determined. Clearly, something of profound significance to the geopolitics of the Middle East is happening in front of our eyes.

Suffice to say, Iran’s missile and drone strikes against terrorist targets on Wednesday are a vivid demonstration of its assertiveness to act in self-defence in the new regional and international milieu. Iran’s so-called “proxies” — be it Hezbollah or Houthis — have reached adulthood with a mind of their own, who would decide their own strategic positioning within the Axis of Resistance. They don’t require a life-support system from Tehran. It may take some time for the Anglo-Saxon strategists to get used to this new reality, but eventually they will.

Clearly, it is an underestimation to regard Iran’s missile and drone strikes as merely counter-terrorist operations. Even with regard to the strike on Baluchistan, interestingly, it took place within a month of COAS Gen. Asim Munir’s weeklong trip to Washington in mid-December.

Munir met senior US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, US Forces Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q Brown, and US Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer — and, of course, the redoubtable Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, the driving force behind the Biden administration’s neocon policies.

An official statement in Islamabad December 15 on Munir’s high-flying tour stated that Pakistan and the US “intend to increase interactions” for “mutually beneficial” engagements. It said the two sides discussed the ongoing conflicts in the region and “agreed to increase interactions between Islamabad and Washington.”

The statement said, “Matters of bilateral interests, global and regional security issues, and ongoing conflicts were discussed during the meetings. Both sides agreed to continue engagement for exploring potential avenues of bilateral collaboration in pursuit of shared interests.”

The statement added that during the meeting between the top defence officials of the two countries, “counter-terrorism cooperation and defence collaboration were identified as core areas of cooperation.” On his part, Munir underscored the importance of “understanding each other’s perspectives” on regional security issues and developments affecting strategic stability in South Asia, according to the Pakistani statement.

Pakistan has an entire history of serving American interests in the region and the GHQ in Rawalpindi has been the charioteer of such collaboration. What is on evidence today is that the forthcoming elections in Pakistan did not discourage the Biden administration from rolling out the red carpet for Munir. But the good part is that both Iran and Pakistan are smart enough to know each other’s red lines.

The US intentions are clear: outflank Tehran in the west and east with failing states that are easy to manipulate. The hastily arranged meetings in Davos between the US National Security advisor Jake Sullivan and top Iraq officials (here and here) in the downstream of the Iranian strikes underscored

  • Biden’s invitation for Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani to visit the White House “soon.”

In a nutshell, Sullivan has voiced the US’ intention to strengthen its presence in Iraq — and it has similar objectives to pursue in Pakistan too. Washington trusts Munir to ensure that Imran Khan languishes in jail no matter the outcome of the Pakistani elections.

This strategic realignment comes at a time when Afghanistan has conclusively slipped out of the Anglo-American orbit and Saudi Arabia shows no interest to be a cog in the American wheel or dabble with the forces of extremism and terrorism.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR / SOURCE
M. K. Bhadrakumar is a former senior Indian diplomat.


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The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of The Greanville Post. However, we do think they are important enough to be transmitted to a wider audience.

Since the overpaid media shills will never risk their careers to report the truth, the world must rely on citizen journalists to provide the facts that explain reality. Put this effort to use by becoming an influence multiplier. Repost this material everywhere you can. Send it to your friends and kin. Discuss it with your workmates. Liberation from this infernal and mendacious system is in your hands. We can win this. But you must act.
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Garland Nixon: ISRAEL – THE NEOCON SUICIDE PILL

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Garland Nixon

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR / SOURCE
Garland Nixon is a leading geopolitical analyst, talkshow host, and vlogger residing in the DC area.


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The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of The Greanville Post. However, we do think they are important enough to be transmitted to a wider audience.

Since the overpaid corporate media stenographers will never risk their careers to report the truth, the world must rely on citizen journalists to provide the facts that explain reality. Put this effort to use by becoming an influence multiplier. Repost this material everywhere you can. Send it to your friends and kin. Discuss it with your workmates. Liberation from this infernal and mendacious system is in your hands. We can win this. But you must act.
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Historical Nihilism and the Fall of the USSR [ENG subs] [Chinese Documentary]

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Prepared by C Ozmun

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Since the overpaid corporate media stenographers will never risk their careers to report the truth, the world must rely on citizen journalists to provide the facts that explain reality. Put this effort to use by becoming an influence multiplier. Repost this material everywhere you can. Send it to your friends and kin. Discuss it with your workmates. Liberation from this infernal and mendacious system is in your hands. We can win this. But you must act.
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Billy Bob’s Dispatches: “How do they get out of this”???

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Billy Bob's Dispatches
DANNY HAIPHONG • BRIAN BERLETIC

Streamed live 23 hours ago #Ukraine #Gaza #NATO

Stream starts at 2:08
Brian Berletic of the New Atlas and Carl Zha of Silk and Steel podcast join Danny Haiphong to discuss the three fronts of NATO-US war in Ukraine, Gaza, and the Asia Pacific and where they're headed as the world order begins making permanent moves away from US hegemony. SUPPORT THE CHANNEL'S EQUIPMENT UPGRADES ON PATREON!


"How do they get out of this"??? This is the million dollar question that will be answered within the next five years.

Unfortunately, the ruling class has created a status quo which is incapable of rational behavior. The diverse centers of power within the ruling establishment (including Democrats, Republicans, Zionists, and big business (Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Oil, the Weapons manufacturers)) make rational consensus impossible. The dearth of any sensible ideology and the elevation of the asinine idea of American exceptionalism to the status of holy and unquestioned truth, underscores the impossible challenges facing the US empire.

The anarchy of the market and the promotion of the selfish pursuit of individual interests (within a system completely dominated and controlled by the wealthy elite) results in a rejection of and abhorrence to the necessary truth-telling, planning, consensus building, and unity that is required in order to successfully deal with the challenges of a changing world. The meaningless, empty, and poll tested mantra that "we are the best" is today, the only talking point and idea which unites the ruling class and which links them with the aspirations of the working class.

But what happens when it turns out that this is simply not true? What will happen to a society that has lied to itself for 75 years (or much longer depending on where we place the marker) and whose very survival depends on being honest about this fact and changing course?

In a sane society, this would be the topic of discussion that every family would be having, around the table, during Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, ours is not a sane society.

November 23 at 12:40 PM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR / SOURCE
Billy Bob is a dedicated anti-imperialist activist and blogger. You can reach him at his Facebook page HERE.


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