P. GREANVILLE—This project, which as an added benefit creates jobs in the US, something badly needed at this point, costs a pittance compared to the obscene sums (such as the US$ 95 billion recently approved by our non-representative political class) to be squandered on repulsively criminal regimes in Ukraine and Israel, not to mention to pick an idiotic and equally criminal fight with China. Criminal because a war with China will be mind-boggingly destructive to everyone on this planet, including Americans, who—assuming they survive— will see their already tenuous standard of living plummet dramatically as a result of a conflict “of choice” started by the US establishment.
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EDITOR—Jimmy Dore and his team explain how NPR has evolved from a decently progressive news and commentary outlet to a mouthpiece for liberal globalism, afflicted with a bad case of WOKISM and Trump derangement syndrome, that is, US imperialism with a new mask, and why it is now virtually useless to the real left.
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SCOTT RITTER; CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN, WHAT IS IT REALLY ABOUT?
by Scott Ritter7 minutes readEDITOR—Scott Ritter presents his uniquely insightful analysis of events in the Middle East and beyond offering clarification for the moves by various players in a confrontation —especially US, Iran and Israel—that could easily escalate into a global conflagration.
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JIM NAURECKAS—Ethnic cleansing” does not have a legal definition, but surely the Israeli military campaign that has displaced 85% of Gaza’s population, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises he is “working on” the “voluntary emigration” of that population (Mondoweiss, 12/28/23), qualifies under any reasonable standard.
In contrast to its take on “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing,” the memo contends that “it is accurate to use ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ in describing the attacks of October 7″; the words “fighters” or “militants,” however, are discouraged for participants in those attacks. This is the opposite of the approach taken by outlets like AP (X, formerly Twitter, 1/7/21) and the BBC (10/11/23); John Simpson, world affairs editor for the latter, calls “terrorism” a “loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally.”
Also on the Times’ list of approved language: “the deadliest attack on Israel in decades.” Reporters are apparently not offered any superlatives to use to describe the Israeli assault on Gaza, such as “among the deadliest and most destructive in history” (AP, 12/21/23), or the most “rapid deterioration into widespread starvation” (Oxfam, 3/18/24), or “the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history” (New Yorker, 3/21/24).
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TNA—The New Arab also spoke to Michael, a 77-year-old former US veteran from Seattle, USA. He said his decision to participate in the flotilla was a way to atone for his involvement with the US army in Vietnam.
“This is a dangerous journey to undertake, and I do ask myself, why am I here? My wife asks me why I am here. I was drafted into the Vietnam War in 1965, I was just out of high school. At the time I understood what conscientious objection was, but I did not have the courage to fight against the US military and say, no!
“But now, I am older, and as I watch what is happening to the people of Gaza, I am appalled. It is not only the children, although that is what hits me the most. But now, it is the time to object to what my country, the US is doing. This is what conscientious objection is about. I am putting my body, my money, my time, my everything on the line to say, ‘I object to what my country is doing, we should not be doing this’. I want to stand up for those people in the US who agree with what I am doing and represent my country on this journey,” said Michael. Michael said he draws courage from the people of Gaza.