Wednesday, March 03, 2021

A must stream conversation

 

What's coming next?  To prepare yourself, stream the conversation above.


This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Tuesday:


Tuesday, March 2, 2021.  In Iraq, protests continue (and attacks on protesters continue), the Pope gears up for this week's visit, while in the US Joe Biden bombs the hopes of a $15 an hour minimum wage.


In the US, minimum wage hasn't increased since 2009.  As Trina points out in "Joe Biden is not a friend to working people,"  the president has no desire to make things better for working Americans. Jake Johnson (COMMON DREAMS) reports on Senator Bernie Sanders' effort to force a vote in the Senate on including the $15 an hour minimum wage in the upcoming Coronavirus relief package.  WORKERS WORLD points out:


Two-thirds of workers report they have been living paycheck to paycheck since COVID-19 hit U.S. shores. Nearly half were in that predicament even prior to the pandemic. This is due to extremely low wages, combined with the exorbitant costs of housing and other necessities.

Many families are one paycheck away from economic ruin, and face a crisis every month when bills come due. Millions of workers must toil at two or more jobs to make ends meet, and have to turn to government programs or community food pantries to feed their families.

The woefully inadequate federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25 has not risen since 2009, while the cost of living has skyrocketed. If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would now be $12 per hour. A full-time worker earning the current minimum wage cannot pay rent in most areas of the country.



In the meantime, Senator Elizabeth Warren does have a proposal:


Warren, Jayapal, Boyle Introduce Ultra-Millionaire Tax on Fortunes Over $50 Million

NEW ANALYSIS: The Ultra-Millionaire Tax would bring in at least $3 trillion in revenue over 10 years - without raising taxes on the 99.95% of American households that have net worth below $50 million


Data for Progress Poll on Wealth Tax Support (PDF) |
Letters on Constitutionality here and here (PDF)

Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), a member of the House Budget Committee, and Representative Brendan Boyle (D-PA-02), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee today unveiled the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act.

The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would level the playing field and narrow the racial wealth gap by asking the wealthiest 100,000 households in America, or the top 0.05%, to pay their fair share. The Ultra-Millionaire Tax would bring in at least $3 trillion in revenue over 10 years - without raising taxes on the 99.95% of American households that have net worth below $50 million  - according to a 2021 analysis from economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman from the University of California-Berkeley.
The bill would create a fairer economy through:

  • A 2% annual tax on the net worth of households and trusts between $50 million and $1 billion
  • A 1% annual surtax (3% tax overall) on the net worth of households and trusts above $1 billion

The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii.).

"The ultra-rich and powerful have rigged the rules in their favor so much that the top 0.1% pay a lower effective tax rate than the bottom 99%, and billionaire wealth is 40% higher than before the COVID crisis began. A wealth tax is popular among voters on both sides for good reason: because they understand the system is rigged to benefit the wealthy and large corporations," said Senator Warren. "As Congress develops additional plans to help our economy, the wealth tax should be at the top of the list to help pay for these plans because of the huge amounts of revenue it would generate. This is money that should be invested in child care and early education, K-12, infrastructure, all of which are priorities of President Biden and Democrats in Congress. I'm confident lawmakers will catch up to the overwhelming majority of Americans who are demanding more fairness, more change, and who believe it's time for a wealth tax."

"As working families struggle to put food on the table, keep the heat on, and pay the rent during this devastating economic crisis that has caused the poverty rate to jump by the largest amount in at least 60 years, the rich have only gotten richer and the wealth of billionaires has jumped by 40%," said Congresswoman Jayapal. "The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act will help level the playing field, narrow the racial wealth gap, ensure the wealthiest finally begin to pay their fair share, and invest trillions of dollars into our communities so we can make a real difference in the lives of people across America."

"The hyper concentration of wealth among a tiny number of multimillionaires and billionaires is a crisis for American capitalism and the American Dream," said Congressman Boyle. "Wealth inequality is at its highest level since the Gilded Age. The wealth share of the richest 0.1% has nearly tripled since the late 1970s. It is time for the ultra-millionaires to pay their fair share so that critical government programs can be bolstered to help the everyday American. Our proposal will make a meaningful difference in the lives of Americans who need the most help and bolster our country's shrinking middle class."

"When I was growing up, my dad's job as a union machinist was enough to buy a modest house, pay our family's bills, and take us on annual camping vacations. But since then, costs have gone through the roof and wages have stayed the same, making stories like my family's fewer and farther between," said Senator Merkley. "The powerful and privileged have spent decades bending Congress around their wishes to give themselves tax giveaway after giveaway, while cutting investments in the things working families need to thrive, like living wage jobs, affordable health care, a good education, and a home they can afford. We need to level the playing field, and that means the richest of the rich must pay their fair share in taxes, just like working families already do."

The Ultra-Millionaire Tax includes robust anti-evasion and avoidance measures, including:
  • A $100 billion investment to rebuild and strengthen the IRS, ensuring the agency has the resources to hire and train additional personnel, modernize IT systems, and implement the new asset valuation, reporting, and enforcement requirements for the Ultra-Millionaire Tax
  • A 30% minimum audit rate for taxpayers subject to the Ultra-Millionaire Tax
  • A 40% "exit tax" on the net worth above $50 million of any U.S. citizen who renounces their citizenship in order to escape paying their fair share in taxes
  • New tools to determine the value of hard-to-value assets, enabling the IRS to tighten and expand upon existing valuation rules
  • Systematic third-party reporting that builds on existing tax information exchange agreements adopted after the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, and penalties for underpayment

"Wealth at the top has boomed during the COVID crisis. Billionaires' wealth has literally exploded while many Americans struggle with job and income loss. The ultra-millionaire wealth tax is the most direct and powerful tool to curb growing wealth concentration in the US and make sure the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes. It will also bring substantial and much needed tax revenue to address the many challenges the country is facing," wrote Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists from the University of California-Berkeley

The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act has been endorsed by: Action Center on Race and the Economy, AFL-CIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Americans for Financial Reform, Americans for Tax Fairness, Center for Law and Social Policy, Climate Hawks Vote, Communications Workers of America, Data for Progress, Democracy for America, Jobs with Justice, Justice Democrats, Indivisible, Institute for Policy Studies - Program on Inequality, Liberation in a Generation, National Domestic Workers Alliance, People's Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Public Citizen, SEIU, Sunrise Movement, Take on Wall Street, Tax March, Unemployed Workers United, UNITE HERE, United for Respect, Working Families Party, Health Care for America Now.

"Wall Street billionaires have escaped paying their fair share of taxes for decades, thanks to laws they themselves have had an outsize influence in shaping. This bill requiring the ultrarich to pay some tax on their wealth, which was too often accumulated through predatory business models that extracted wealth from workers and communities, is an important step forward for economic justice," said Lisa Donner, executive director, Americans for Financial Reform.

"The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act will narrow the country's extraordinary wealth gap, raise trillions of dollars from the super-wealthy and help fund the recovery our nation so desperately needs. We've calculated that U.S. billionaires have increased their wealth by nearly 50 percent since the pandemic began while tens of millions of people have lost their jobs, can't pay their rent, and go to bed hungry at night. We estimate the Ultra-Millionaire tax will raise $1.4 trillion from billionaires alone over the next 10 years; even more will be raised from the simply super-rich. That's why this legislation is critical to creating a fair-share tax system," said Frank Clemente, Executive Director, Americans for Tax Fairness.

"In the midst of a pandemic that has left millions of Americans economically devastated, the net wealth of America's billionaires has increased by over $1 trillion. Wealth inequality in the United States is out of control, with millionaires and billionaires becoming richer by the day as the American people struggle to get by with stagnant wages and a lack of adequate government support. Senator Warren's wealth tax would do more than almost any other plan to tackle this crisis of wealth inequality forcefully, directly, and effectively," said Morris Pearl, Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires.

"A tax on wealth above $50 million is very popular, and is even more popular when it funds priorities like child care, health care, and jobs in our communities. As President Biden calls for a Build Back Better plan that invests in American infrastructure and jobs, every senator should be proud to fund these investments by signing on to Senator Warren's wealth tax legislation," said Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founder.

"The pandemic has shone a harsh light on America's staggering inequalities-the fortunes of the richest Americans are ballooning while huge swaths of America suffer. It's time to level the playing field and passage of the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would be a monumental step toward addressing wealth inequality. 99.9% of Americans won't owe an extra dime in taxes under this proposal while the super-rich who have benefitted from a rigged system will finally start paying their fair share in taxes," said Susan Harley, managing director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division.

"The wealth tax introduced today by Senator Warren and Representatives Jayapal and Boyle would help narrow the racial wealth divide in this country, at the same time as it raises money to invest in caregiving for our youngest and oldest Americans, rebuilding infrastructure, and paying for high quality k-12 education and tuition-free public college. At this moment in our history, it would be reckless not to pursue a policy that supports both of these goals," said Mandla Deskins of the Take on Wall Street campaign.

"Tax March started in a moment of national outrage at corruption and inequality, and has since grown into a national movement with a simple demand: Tax the rich. We're proud to support Sen. Warren and the bill's cosponsors as they fight to do exactly that. Right now, the American economy is at a crucial decision point between recovery and further disaster. To revive America's middle and working classes again, safeguard the country from future collapse, and build a new economy that truly works for everyone, Congress must tax the trillions of dollars in wealth hoarded by a few ultra-millionaires," said Tax March Campaign Director Dana Bye.

"The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act will capture a portion of the tremendous windfall that billionaires have reaped during the pandemic. It will both restore lost fairness and progressivity to the U.S. tax system and will also slow the build-up of democracy-distorting concentrations of wealth and power," said Chuck Collins, Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies, and author of The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions. 

###




Meanwhile, protests continue in Iraq.  MEMO notes security forces attacked protesters in Baghdad yesterday.  They were protesting the attacks Friday on protesters in Nassiriya:



Dozens protested in Tahrir Square in a reaction to security force violence against protesters in the southern city of Nassiriya on Friday that left at least eight demonstrators dead and some 250 injured.

A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the protesters in Tahrir numbered no more than 60 and they were dispersed within half an hour.

Several hundred people also rallied in the southern port city of Basra on Monday in solidarity with the Nassiriya protesters, according to a Reuters witness.



Randa Habib Tweets:


At least five protesters were killed and more than 175 people injured on Friday in clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the southern #Iraq city of Nassiriya


Balsam offers:


"Our existence is chaotic & our death is chaotic', a young woman from #Nassiriya, south of Iraq, says in a #Clubhouse session. I just can't get this sentence out of my head. It perfectly & truly sums up Iraqi women's suffering under a patriarchal, militiatised & tribal society.
8:17 AM · Feb 27, 2021


In other news, THE WALL ST. JOURNAL notes the Pope's upcoming visit to Iraq:


Pope Francis is heading to Iraq this week, undeterred by Covid-19 and security fears, in what will be its first papal visit


Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Iraq from March 5th to March 8th.  Emil Anton (VATICAN NEWS) attempts to trace the history of Christianity in Iraq in a single article and here's the opening:


Modern Iraq covers most of the area of ancient Mesopotamia, which was home to the East Semitic Assyrian and Babylonian empires.

The Old Testament records the fall of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (612 BC), as well as the invasion of Babylon by Cyrus the Great of Persia (539 BC). After a period of Greek rule following the conquests of Alexander the Great (4th to 2nd centuries BC), Mesopotamia again fell under Persian (Parthian) rule at the time of Jesus and the Apostles.

Aramaic was the main language spoken in the entire area at the time the Son of God walked the earth. A close relative of Hebrew, Aramaic was the language of the ancient West Semitic Arameans, who brought it to Mesopotamia from what is now Syria. With its handy alphabetic writing, Aramaic gradually replaced Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform, becoming the lingua franca of the Middle East. It is still spoken today by many Iraqi Christians.

Christian Mesopotamia

When and how did Mesopotamia become Christian?

We know that there were Parthians and Mesopotamians—ancient Iraqis—present in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:9). And it is possible, if not probable, that some knowledge or version of Christianity made its way to what is now Iraq during the lifetime of the Apostles. Tradition identifies the apostles of Mesopotamia as Addai and Mari, after whom the ancient liturgy of the Church of the East is named.

The Teaching of Addai, an important document from around 400 AD, suggests that miracles (such as healings), reasoned arguments (against polytheism), and new ethical standards laid the groundwork for the spread of Christianity throughout Mesopotamia. As happened in the West, the blood of martyrs also proved to be the seed of the Church in this region.



Francesco Bongarrà (ARAB NEWS) notes:


The visit of Pope Francis to Iraq this week will send a message of “consolation and hope” to those who have suffered so much in the country, according to the archbishop who revolutionized the Vatican’s communications.

Claudio Maria Celli, who was president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 2007 to 2016, worked closely with Pope Francis after helping convert Catholic leaders to social media to deliver their message to followers around the world.

As a result, the pope’s historic Iraq visit will be relayed through the various social media accounts, including @Pontifex, the account of Pope Francis.

“With this trip, the pope intends to reach the hearts of all Iraqis. He doesn’t want to talk just to the Christians who live in that country and who’ve suffered so much from war and persecution by Daesh,” said Celli. “He wants to bring his closeness … to the people, no matter what their faith.”


CATHOLIC MASSES reports:

Among those awaiting Pope Francis’ planned March 5-8 visit to Iraq are the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, a community in the Nineveh plain that is still rebuilding after Islamic State fighters invaded the area some six years ago.

Sr. Luma Khudher, a member of the group, described how they received warning of the approaching fighters near midnight on Aug. 3, 2014, and fled from their motherhouse in Mosul right away.

The community found safety near Irbil in Iraqi’s Kurdistan region, but was not able to return home for two years.

“We need the world to know what ISIS have done to us, how we have suffered in these years,” Khudher told NCR. “For some time, the media focused on Iraq and then, all of a sudden, they forgot us.”

“The pope’s visit will place the world’s eyes on us, on our story and our struggle to survive,” she said, adding that she expects Francis will bring with him “a message of peace and coexistence.”

“We are confident that his visit will bring balance to our country,” said Khudher.

The Dominican sister was born and raised in Qaraqosh, an area home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East. She said that before the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq she was able to travel around freely in Iraq, without any fear about being a Christian in a Muslim-majority country.


The Pope is on a spiritual mission and the bulk of the press in the US seems unaware of that.  I don't know how you avoid religious purposes while reporting on a religious leader but the US corporate press manages to.  A risk, we're told, that's what the Pope's taking.  I would assume every Pope has taken risks.  That is the job.  


The skittish US press -- as well as so-called experts -- are in dismay over the Pope visiting Iraq.  But they weren't concerned about campaigning in 2020 -- for the House, for the Senate, for the presidency.  The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church and he has duties and obligations and a role.  


His job isn't my job, his role isn't my role.  


I don't pretend to understand it but I do respect it.  And it really doesn't seem the US corporate media is even able to acknowledge these duties and roles.  


Or maybe they're just opposed to any move towards peace when it comes to Iraq.  Again, I'm sure the Pope has given deep thought about the visit and seriously prayed over it and I cannot say the same about the US corporate press in the lead up to the Iraq War.  


I hope the trip goes well, I hope those eager to see the Pope are able to.   I will be thrilled with any aspects of peace that the visit inspires or encourages.


Andrea Tornielli (VATICAN NEWS) notes:

 

Iraqi Christians had been waiting for the Pope for twenty-two years. It was in 1999 when St John Paul II planned a short but significant pilgrimage to Ur of the Chaldees, the first stage of the Jubilee journey to the places of salvation. He wanted to start with Abraham, the common father recognised by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Many advised the elderly Polish pontiff against making a journey which could have run the risk of strengthening Saddam Hussein, who was still in power after the first Gulf War. Pope John Paul II went forward, despite attempts to dissuade him, particularly by the United States. But at the end of the day that whirlwind trip of an exclusively religious nature did not take place, due to the opposition of the Iraqi president.

In 1999, the country was already on its knees because of the bloody war with Iran (1980-1988) and the international sanctions that followed the invasion of Kuwait and the first Gulf War. The number of Christians in Iraq at the time was more than three times higher than it is today. John Paul II’s missed trip remained an open wound. The Polish Pope raised his voice against the second Western military expedition to the country, the lightning war of 2003, which ended with the overthrow of Saddam’s government. At the Angelus of 16 March he said: “I would like to remind the member countries of the United Nations, and especially those who make up the Security Council, that the use of force represents the last recourse, after having exhausted every other peaceful solution, in keeping with the well-known principles of the UN Charter.” Then, in the post-Angelus, he pleaded: “I belong to that generation that lived through World War II and, thanks be to God, survived it. I have the duty to say to all young people, to those who are younger than I, who have not had this experience: ‘No more war’ as Paul VI said during his first visit to the United Nations. We must do everything possible.”

He remained unheard by those “young people” who made war and were incapable of building peace. Iraq was hit by terrorism, with attacks, bombs and devastation. The social fabric disintegrated. And in 2014, the country saw the rise of the so-called Islamic State, proclaimed by ISIS. Devastation, persecution and violence continued, with regional and international powers fighting on Iraqi soil, with the multiplication of out-of-control militias. The defenceless population, divided by ethnic and religious allegiances, is paying the price, at a high cost in human lives. Looking at the Iraqi situation, one can see for oneself the concreteness and realism of the words that Francis wanted to hammer home in his latest encyclical, Fratelli tutti: “We can no longer think of war as a solution, because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a “just war”. Never again war!... Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil.”



The following sites updated:


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Tuesday, March 02, 2021

Joe Biden is not a friend to working people

tim

 

Monday afternoon, Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Joe Responds" went up.  Joe Biden is a fake and it's time people started grasping the reality they've spent so long denying.  He won't even support a $15 an hour minimum wage.


Minimum wage was last raised in 2009.  That's 12 years ago.  Twelve years ago.  Let's not pretend that there's any real concern for working people when it comes to our representatives.


Marcus Day (WSWS) reports:

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party effectively ended efforts to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of the COVID-19 stimulus package making its way through Congress. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has not been increased since 2009, and the dropping of the raise will leave millions of workers in utter destitution.

The White House and congressional Democrats have falsely sought to present themselves as having their hands tied, holding up the advisory ruling of the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth McDonough, as an excuse. McDonough, an unelected official appointed to her role by the Democrats in 2012, ruled that the wage hike is not allowable in a bill using the budget reconciliation process.

But the decision by the Democrats to abandon the wage hike is one of choice, even preference, not necessity.

Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role as Senate president, has the ability to overrule the Senate parliamentarian. Or, if the Democrats had any inclination to press the issue, they could have fired McDonough and replaced her, as the Republicans did in order to move tax cuts through the Senate under then-President George W. Bush in 2001.

The Democrats have rejected these options out of hand, however. On the contrary, for weeks Biden has signaled his expectation—all but explicitly stating his desire—that the wage raise would not survive the Senate, and a White House official told CNN that the parliamentarian’s ruling is viewed as a positive development, “clearing the way” for the bill, now set to be watered down even more in the Senate.



This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Monday:

Monday, March 1, 2021.  As Iraq gears up for the Pope's planned visit, Joe Biden's bombing of Syria continues to be no big deal to the corporate media.  


As noted in Friday's snapshot, US President Joe Biden bombed Syria last week because of . . . alleged Iranian involvement in Iraq.  Caitlin Johnstone observes:

So we are being told that the United States launched an airstrike on Syria, a nation it invaded and is illegally occupying, because of attacks on “US locations” in Iraq, another nation the US invaded and is illegally occupying. This attack is justified on the basis that the Iraqi fighters were “Iranian-linked”, a claim that is both entirely without evidence and irrelevant to the justification of deadly military force. And this is somehow being framed in mainstream news publications as a defensive operation.

This is Defense Department stenography. The US military is an invading force in both Syria and Iraq; it is impossible for its actions in either of those countries to be defensive. It is always necessarily the aggressor. It’s the people trying to eject them who are acting defensively. The deaths of US troops and contractors in those countries can only be blamed on the powerful people who sent them there.

The US is just taking it as a given that it has de facto jurisdiction over the nations of Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and that any attempt to interfere in its authority in the region is an unprovoked attack which must be defended against. This is completely backwards and illegitimate. Only through the most perversely warped American supremacist reality tunnels can it look valid to dictate the affairs of sovereign nations on the other side of the planet and respond with violence if anyone in those nations tries to eject them.



Joe's act of war is treated as a shrug by the MSM.  Don't look, don't critique, just smile and watch TV.  

U.S. military bases worldwide. Remember this the next time the United States bombs a sovereign country and claims “self-defense”.
Image
2:21 PM · Feb 28, 2021


With a deadly missile strike against an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia position on the Syria-Iraq border Friday, the Biden administration has spelled out in blood the real meaning of the Democratic president’s incessant declarations that “America is back.”

The attack, executed in blatant violation of international law and with no legal authorization from the US Congress, signals that the Biden White House is embarking upon a highly aggressive American foreign policy, escalating the militarism and confrontations pursued by its predecessor, in the Middle East and internationally.

According to Syrian medical sources quoted by Reuters, the US air raid, carried out at dawn on Friday, killed at least 17 Iraqi militiamen. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the strike had killed 22 fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces, an official arm of Iraq’s military, which was sent into Syria to combat ISIS. More fighters were wounded, and the death toll is likely to rise.

Ostensibly, the missile strike was in retaliation for a February 15 rocket attack on a US base in Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital Erbil that killed a single Syrian contractor. There is no evidence that the attack on the US base was the work of the Iranian-backed militia that the US struck on Friday, which had not only denied responsibility, but denounced the attack on the Erbil base.

Pentagon officials indicated that President Joe Biden was given a menu of targets and levels of US military destruction to choose from and signed off on the Syria missile strike.

Asked on Friday what “message” Biden was sending with the strike, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC television news, “The message is clear and unambiguous; we’re going to protect our national interests in the region.”



If you voted for the Dems, then

This act of international aggression, and all those which will now follow, are on YOU!

Yes, you.  There is simply *no way* that you could argue that “oh I did not know” or “but, but, Biden promised to be a good president“.  Sorry, because for the past 4 years thousands of us have been trying to warn you, to explain to you in detail what would happen if the Neocons fully took control of the USA. We predicted it all, we gave you all the evidence, but you refused to listen.  Now it is too late.

And while it is true that Biden did steal the election, those who truly and legally voted for him now bear the moral responsibility for this crime and all the future crime of the Biden Administration.

Only those who did not vote for the Dems can still say “not in my name”.

All others are now accomplices (before, during and after the fact) to the crime of aggression.  They are also to blame for the internal chaos which will result from having a the first “Woke Administration”.

All the innocent blood is on you, Biden voter.



That's The Saker's viewpoint.  It's not my viewpoint.  I didn't spend the last four years yelling at those who voted for Donald Trump.  It's easy to scream and attack voters, I'm not sure how productive it is but I know it's not it's not reality.  I didn't vote for Joe Biden -- due to the Iraq War and due to Tara Reade and so much more.  But many voted for him with the best of intentions.  Joe's failure to live up to the trust some people put in him falls on Joe and not on the voters.  


Syria condemned in the strongest terms the US attack in eastern Syria that killed at least 17 people yesterday, stressing it demonstrates the aggressive policies by the new American administration.

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement that “In a flagrant violation of the rules of international law and Charter of the United Nations, the US warplanes on Thursday, February 25, 2021, launched a cowardly aggression by bombing some areas in Deir Ezzor province near the Syrian-Iraqi borders.

Foreign Ministry stated that this blatant aggression is a new chain in the series of repeated attacks by the Israeli occupation forces, the so-called “international coalition,” the Turkish occupation, and the crimes of armed terrorist organizations against the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic under illusive pretexts.

” The Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest terms the US aggression against its sovereignty, which contradicts with the terms of international law and the United Nations Charter and with its role as a permanent member of the Security Council,” the statement said.



Voices from around the world condemned this act of war, recognizing the clear continuity of U.S. aggression between the Trump and Biden administrations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov remarked that the strike against his country’s long-time ally Syria was conducted with just “four or five minutes” of warning from the U.S. government to Moscow. At the invitation of the Syrian government Russia maintains a military presence inside the country to assist in the war against religious fundamentalist armed groups. If the United States had accidentally killed Russian soldiers, the world would have been plunged into a new crisis.

For all the talk about Iran, not much is being made in the major U.S. media about the fact that this attack was conducted on Syrian soil. The United States is not at war with Syria and has not been invited into Syria, but regardless has established permanent occupation bases there on the pretext of fighting ISIS. The Syrian Foreign Ministry stated it “strongly condemns the cowardly American aggression” and that “it is a bad sign regarding the policies of the new U.S. administration, which should adhere to international [law].”

Even members of Biden’s own Democratic Party admitted that the administration was in violation of domestic law. “Congress should … require clear legal justifications for military action, especially inside theaters like Syria, where Congress has not explicitly authorized any American military action,” according to Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democratic Senator, pointed out the unconstitutional nature of Biden conducting “offensive military action without congressional approval.” Representative Ro Khanna of California reminded the public in his condemnation of the deadly airstrike that Biden is now the fifth consecutive president to order strikes in the Middle East.

If Congress is serious about their opposition to this type of military action, they should refuse to write the checks that keep the war machine running. The U.S. military budget, passed almost unanimously every year, is higher than ever and more dangerous to ordinary people around the world each day. Meanwhile people freeze to death in foreseeable winter storms or die by the tens of thousands of a preventable viral infection here in the United States.


The War Machine keeps marching under Joe Biden.  Black Alliance For Peace issued the following:

For immediate release

Contacts:

Ajamu Baraka – Black Alliance for Peace, 202-643-1136.

Margaret Flowers – Popular Resistance, info@PopularResistance.org, 410-591-0892.

Photo: Click here for photos by Professor Danny Shaw who is currently in Haiti.

Nearly 800 Organizations and Individuals in the United States Demand the Biden Administration End Its Support for the Brutal Moïse Regime in Haiti.

United States - Today, February 24, 72 organizations and 700 individuals published an open letter calling for the Biden administration to end its illegal and destructive intervention in Haiti. While Joe Biden and the Democrats condemned the Trump forces for not respecting the results of the U.S. election, they are supporting Jovenel Moïse’s refusal to leave office after his term as president ended on February 7, 2021. Moïse has unleashed violent gangs, the police and the military against protesters who are demanding that he respect the Constitution and step down.

“President Biden claims to care about racial equity but his actions in Haiti show the emptiness of that rhetoric,” said Ajamu Baraka of the Black Alliance for Peace. “For centuries now, the United States has employed force to dominate Haiti, the first Black Republic that was established in 1804 after the defeat of French and Spanish colonizers. President Biden has an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to democracy and Black self-determination by ending support for the Moïse regime and denouncing the current violence.”

The past two presidents of Haiti, Michel Martelly and Jovenel Moïse, were hand-picked and forced into office by the United States during the Obama administration against the will of the Haitian people. Moïse is currently ruling by decree after dismissing most of the legislators and refusing to hold elections. With the backing of the Core Group, composed of the United States, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, the European Union and the United Nations, Moïse is trying to push a new constitution through using a referendum in April. The new constitution being written by members of the Core Group and without any real participation of the Haitian people would grant greater power to the executive office.

Since February 7, the rogue Moïse government has launched a brutal crackdown on all dissent resulting in home invasions, arrests, the firing of Supreme Court judges and a police inspector general, attacks on the media and the use of chemical agents and live ammunition to disperse protests, as documented by the U. S. Human Rights Clinics.

"The current situation in Haiti is critical," stated Marleine Bastien, the Executive Director of FANM In Action and a leading voice in South Florida's Haitian community. "The Superior Council of Haiti's Judiciary, The Haitian Bar Federation, and credible civil society organizations inside Haiti and their diaspora allies agree that President Moise’s term has in fact ended.  It is time for President Biden to keep his promise and respect the democratic rights and  self-determination of the Haitian people."

Here is the open letter:

On February 7, 2021, Jovenel Moïse’s term as president of Haiti ended - but with the support of the Biden administration he is refusing to leave office. This has created an urgent crisis in the country. A mass movement, reminiscent of the 1986 popular movement that overthrew the brutal U.S.-sponsored dictatorship of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, is demanding Moïse step down. We are alarmed by the abundance of evidence of severe human rights violations by the Moïse regime to quell the protests.

One of the main calls from the mobilizations of hundreds of thousands in the streets of Port-au-Prince and across Haiti has been for the United States, United Nations and the Organization of American States to stop their interference. These bodies, as part of the “Core Group” of imperialist nations and institutions targeting Haiti, are currently pushing their rewrite of the Haitian Constitution through a referendum on April 25.

These organizations have a long history of neocolonial intervention in Haiti and the region. Ever since the democratically elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide was overthrown for a second time by a U.S.-sponsored coup in 2004, Haiti has been occupied by a United Nations force that, at its height, deployed 14,000 troops and personnel. This occupation has changed form over the years (from MINUSTAH to BINUH), but it is ongoing.

The U.S. government has consistently stood as a barrier to popular democracy in the Americas. The 2009 coup in Honduras; the 2019 coup in Bolivia; and the ongoing blockades of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela are but several examples of the U.S.’s poor record on human rights and lack of respect for sovereignty in the region. By its own admission, the State Department “works closely with the OAS, UN, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and individual countries to advance its policy goals in Haiti.” Under the guise of fighting drug trafficking, the U.S. continues to train and fund the Haitian National Police.

The U.S. establishment spin doctors seemingly live in an alternate universe, claiming, "The remarkable lack of popular response to calls for mass protests in recent weeks indicates that Haitian people are tired of endless lockdowns and squabbling over power." The reality is quite the opposite: the Haitian people are united in their call for a peaceful transition to democracy.

We express our solidarity with the Haitian people and our support for their rights to democracy and self-determination. We join our voices to the demands of the Haitian people who are calling for the following:

We demand that Jovenel Moïse

  • Immediately step down.

We demand that the Biden Administration:

  • Withdraw financial support for the illegal constitutional referendum and Moïse dictatorship;

  • Respect the will of the vast majority of the people demanding democracy and Haitian self-determination

  • Reaffirm support for the right to peaceful protest;

  • Immediately cease all U.S. financial and military support to Haiti's security forces

  • Condemn the recent violence against protesters and journalists; and

  • Demand the immediate dismantlement of all paramilitary forces in Haiti and the disarmament of gangs carrying out wanton violence against the popular movement.

The whole world is watching!

Signatories

Organizations:

Black Alliance for Peace
Popular Resistance
Alliance for Global Justice
Anticonquista
Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network
CODEPINK
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
International Action Center
National Lawyers Guild
United National Antiwar Coalition

US Peace Council
Veterans For Peace
World Beyond War
Acción Afro-Dominicana
Agenda Solidaridad, Repùblica Dominicana
Australia Solidarity with Latin America
Baltimore Peace Action
Big Apple Coffee Party
Chicago ALBA Solidarity
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
coasap
Diáspora en Acción
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
Ekta Collective
Environmentalists Against War
Forum of Sao Paulo DC/MD/VA
Friends of Latin America
FURIE - Feminist Uprising to Resist Inequality and Exploitation
Global Coalition for Peace
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Hilton Head for Peace
International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity
Latin America Solidarity Coalition of Western Massachusetts
LynneStewart.org
Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center
MLK Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
Micronesian Political Journal
Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights
New Abolitionist Movement
#NJAntiWarAgenda
NJ State Industrial Union Council
New Progressive Alliance
Nodutdol
Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice
NYC Jericho Movement
Occupy Bergen County
Ode to Earth/Echoes of Silence
Pacifica Peace People
Pan Left Productions
PARC | Politics Art Roots Culture
Peace Task Force
Priority Africa Network
Protect Our Activists
Pueblo Sin Fronteras
Roots Action
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Seattle Anti-War Coalition
Show Up! America
Troika Collective
US Hands Off Cuba and Venezuela South Florida
Veterans For Peace Chapter 92 Seattle, President
Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
White Rabbit Grove RDNA
Women Against Military Madness
Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press
Yoga For Peace, Justice, Harmony With the Planet
Broome Tioga Green Party
Democratic World Federalists
Green Party of Monmouth County, NJ
Green Party of New Jersey
MOLHA
Workers World Party - Bay Area
Young Ecosocialists of the Green Party of the United State

Individuals

Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer, Black Alliance for Peace
Margaret Flowers, MD, Director, Popular Resistance
Bahman Azad, General Secretary, US Peace Council

Leah Bolger, World Beyond War
Renate Bridenthal, Professor
Layla Brown, Professor
Charisse Burden-Stelly, Black Alliance for Peace
Brian E. Concannon, Human Rights Lawyer
Gerry Condon, Veterans For Peace
Dr. Edwin E. Daniel, Professor Emeritus
Nicolas J S Davies, Journalist
Jackie DiSalvo, Professor
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Author
Yves Engler, Journalist
Eunice Mina Escobar, Alliance for Global Justice
Leonardo Flores, CODEPINK Latin America Campaign Coordinator
Al Glatkowski, Peace and anti-imperialist activist
Anthony Gronowicz, Professor
Chris Hedges, Author
Madelyn Hoffman, former candidate for US Senate (NJ)
Nicholas J. S. Davies, Journalist
Rev. John Long
Abby Martin, The Empire Files
Patrick McCann, Veterans For Peace
Nan McCurdy, United Methodist Missionary
Tom Neilson, Ed D
Rael Nidess, MD
Anthony O’Brien, Professor (retired)
Eve Ottenberg, Writer
George L. Pauk, MD
David Paul, Embassy Protector
Mike Prysner, The Empire Files
Victor M. Rodriguez, Emeritus Professor
Sr. Claudette Schiratti, RSM
Danny Shaw, Professor
Cindy Sheehan, Peace and Social Justice Activist
Maj. (ret.) Danny Sjursen
David Swanson, World Beyond War
Rev. James L. Swarts
Roger Waters, Musician/Activist
Colonel Ann Wright, Veterans For Peace

Alainka
Alex
Ángel
Annie
NK A.
Sarah A.
Usama Abbas
Judith anne Ackerman
L. Adams
Liz Aaronsohn
Fran Aguirre
Elizabeth Ahrens
Nia Aisha
Diane Ake
Phyllis T. Albritton
Peter Alexeas
Claire Alexander
Ellan Allen
Matthew Almonte
Wes Alvarez
Luci Amani
Louise Amyot
Ashley Anderson
Glen Anderson
Joshua Angelus
JL Angell
Tina Ann
Merriam Ansara
Ikenna Anumba
Cary Appenzeller
Phyllis Arist
B. Ross Ashley
Mohammad Amir Askari
Nzingha Assata
Kevin Atkins
Vichina Austin
Bob
Art B.
Stephen Bailey
Jean Bails
Kirk Bails
Rhamier Shaka Balagoon
Zeke Baker
Lon H Ball
Enzo Bard
Mara Bard
Karyn Barry
SandraKanela Barton
Michael Bass
Sue Bastian
MJ Baumann
Keith Bavin
Patricia Becker
Jim Becklund
Gerhard Bedding
JoAnne Beemon
Petros Bein
Lily Benavides
Christian Benjamin
Bara Berg
Steven Berge
Sister Deanna Rose von Bargen RSCJ
Nancy Bernstein
Brianna Berry
Michael Betz
J. Beverly
Barbara Biira
Jonah Blaustein
Diana Block
Elizabeth Block
Joy Bo
Pamela Bond
Michael Boone
Patrick D Bosold
Raquel Brac
Joe Nathan Bradley
Joshua Bradley
Chris Brentlinger
Tomas Bribriesco
Edward Briody
Yolanda Stern Broad, PhD
Wolfgang Bronner
David Brookbank
Francine Brown
Layla Brown
Ronald and Deidre Brown
B. Keith Brumley
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Martha W D Bushnell
Charles Byrne
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Robert Cable
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Chico Callman
Benita J. Campbell
Mark Cappetta
Michael Carano
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Mike Casey
Mary Cato
Yhamir Chabur
Susan Chakmakian
Stacie Charlebois
Lela Charney
Claudia Chaufan
Erica Chavez
Courtney Childs
Aimi Chinen
Jane Chischilly
Saheli Chowdhury
Jordan Cisneros
Celeste Clamage
Craig Clark
Joan Clark
Robert Clark
Jill Clark-Gollub
Joseph Clifford
David Coe
Rosemary K Coffey
Merrill Cole
Henry Cooper
Anneke Corbett
Ralph Corbo
Françoise Corgier
Megan Cornish
Gérard Couchoud
Nancy L Cowger
Caryn Cowin
Paul Cox
Michael Craig
Rose Crayton
Nellie Crick
Lauren Croom
Lawrence Crowley
Connie Curtis
Lawrence Cwik
Darian
Denise
Toni Dang
Dr. Edwin E. Daniel
Linda Day
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Marie DesJarlais
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Carol Devoss
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Dorothea DiCecco
Grace Diehl
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Steve Ditore
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Joseph Dumas
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Ingvar Enghardt
Jared Eno
Gary Edward Erb
William Erickson
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Bernadette Evangelist
Michael W Evans
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Michael Leslie Falk
Donald B. Fanning
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Mark Farris
Anjolaoluwa Fashanu
Wendy Fast
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Tracy S Feldman
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Sunil Freeman
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Elijah Gardner
Penelope Gardner
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Jose Garza II
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Mark M Giese
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Jill Godmilow
Frances A Goff
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Maya Guttman-Slater
Helgaleena H
Nolan H.
Chase Halsne
Dee Halzack
James E. Hamilton
H. Hardouf
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Sue Harris
Laura Hart
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Savannah Hawkins
Ken Hayes
Navjot Heer
Maxwell Hellmann
Louis R Hellwig
Jay Henderson
Gene B. Herman
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Elaine Hickman
Arlene Hickory
Hollis Higgins
Monica Hill
Lauri Hoagland
Sally Hobson
Virginia Hollins-Davidson
Bill Holt
Alana Horowitz Friedman
Carl A Howard
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John Huber
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Barbara Humphrey
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Ital Kofi Ital
JP
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Joshua
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Gregory Jones
Jordan Jones
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Nakita Joseph
Robert Curtis Joy
Ana Juarbe
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Karyn
Kayla
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Margo
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Maure
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Ant Massaro
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Jean Mont-Eton
Hugh Moore
Eileen Moran
Kent Mori
Gilda Morkert
Samuel Morningstar
Ulises Moscoso
Gail S. Mott
Michael J. Motta
Dr. Thomas Muhr
Harriet Mullaney
Lauren Murdock
Luci Murphy
Margaret Murphy
Randolph Murray
Nas
Nate
Nicholas
Jonathan T. Nack
Russell Nadel
Adam Nation
Wayne Nealis
Nancy Wallace Nelson
Victor Nepomnyashchy
Immanuel Ness
John Nettleton
Steve Neubeck
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Kris Niznik
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Jon D. Olsen
Cyril Joseph O'Reilly
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Paige
PJ
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Richard Pathak
Lesley Patton
Jill Paulus
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Andrea Perdue
Mary Anne Perrone
JoAnn Peters
Annie Petrokubi
Terry Phelan
Letty Phillips
Barbara Phinney
Felton Pierre
Joe Piette
Mike Pincus Paige
Cecile Pineda
Catherine Podojil
Mary Prophet
George Prudent
Pete Puma
Luis I. Quiñones
Rachel
Aliyah R
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Peter Ranis
Keegan Rasmussen
Jim Rauner
Linda Ray
John Re
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Judith Reed
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SH
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Mark Smith
Mark Smith
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Nancy Wright
Randall Wyatt
Yan
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Jane A Yater
Sahand Yazdanyar
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Zhun Xu
Carlos Zepeda
Denise Zwahlen

 

Turning to the disaster that is Iraq thanks to the US-led invasion,   Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Iraq March 3rd through March 5th.  And 'caring' people in the western media want you to know this is risky and maybe shouldn't take place.  

Where was that care or concern in the lead up to the Iraq War?

So the Pope wants to visit Iraq with the hope of providing healing and this is outrageous.  But travel for war is a-okay?  Is it dangerous?  I'm sure the Pope has been counseled on all the potential dangers.  I'm also sure he's put thought and prayer into whether or not to make the visit -- something that can never be said of the US press that cheered on the Iraq War.  REUTERS notes:

The March 5-8 trip will be Francis' first outside Italy since November 2019, when he visited Thailand and Japan. Four trips planned for 2020 were canceled because of COVID-19.

"He really feels that need to reach out to people on their home ground," said the official, a Vatican prelate who is familiar with Iraq and who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Vatican officials and local Church leaders say they are satisfied that Iraqi forces will be able to provide adequate security for the Pope and his entourage.

"The Pope knows where he is going. He is deliberately coming to an area marked by war and violence to bring a message of peace," Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil told reporters on a recent conference call.


Harriet Sherwood (GUARDIAN) adds, "All members of the papal entourage will be vaccinated against the virus before departure, and social distancing and mask-wearing will be required at events."  There has been less concern of safety over the US bombing of Syria than there is over the Pope's visit of peace.  Maya Gebeily (AFP) reports:

Persecution has already slashed the country's Christian community -- one of the world's oldest -- from 1.5 million in 2003 to just 400,000 today.

The 84-year-old pontiff plans to voice solidarity with them and the rest of Iraq's 40 million people during an intense week of visits nationwide.

From central Baghdad to the Shiite shrine city of Najaf, welcome banners featuring his image and Arabic title "Baba al-Vatican" already dot the streets.

From Ur, the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham in the southern desert, to ravaged Christian towns in the north, roads are being paved and churches rehabilitated in remote areas that have never seen such a high-profile visitor.



Pope Francis has an ambitious agenda for the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, including some of the country's most treasured sites. l
@AFP
politics.com.ph/five-places-th



The pope’s upcoming visit to Iraq is a “precious gift” not only for the Christians who live there, but for all those who after years of war want a return to peace and coexistence between religions, a priest who worked for eight years in the diocese of Mosul told Arab News.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Pope Francis is coming … to invite us to all be instruments of peace,” said Fr. Jalal Jako.

“Like a dove, he’ll bring a twig of peace to all the people living in this land who’ve suffered for too long.”

Jako, currently in Italy, will return to Iraq for the pope’s visit, which will begin on March 5.



 Iraq rejects any Turkish operations on its soil that have not been approved by Baghdad, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry told Rudaw on Monday. 

“We have expressed our stance more than once, and have said that we reject any operation conducted by our neighbor Turkey without approval and collaboration with the government in Baghdad,” Ahmad Sahaf told Rudaw’s Hawraz Gulpi.

“Previously, a number of these operations have caused harm to the infrastructure of certain areas in the north of Iraq, and damaged some buildings, and maybe caused the death of civilians. Any military operation without the approval of Iraq is completely rejected,” he added.

Baghdad has lodged formal protests on a number of occasions over Turkish operations into the Kurdistan Region, accusing Ankara of violating Iraqi sovereignty. 






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