Make a point to stream that episode of The Convo Couch above. Pair that with Scot Lehigh's piece below:
Information Clearing House -- " "Boston Globe" -- For the media and for members of the public more generally, the eruption of war creates an urgent need to affix blame and identify villains. Rendering such judgments helps make sense of an otherwise inexplicable event. It offers assurance that the moral universe remains intact, with a bright line separating good and evil.
That rule certainly applies to the case of the invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor and President Vladimir Putin a bad guy straight out of central casting: On that point, opinion in the United States and Europe is nearly unanimous. Even in a secular age, we know whose side God is on.
World War I illustrates the point. The conflict began with the German Army invading France. When the war finally ended, the victorious Allies charged Germany with “war guilt,” a judgment that accomplished little apart from setting the stage for an even more disastrous conflict two decades later. It turned out that in 1914 there had been plenty of guilt to go around. Among the several nations that participated in that war, none could claim innocence.
A similar rush to judgment regarding Ukraine will inevitably inhibit our understanding of the war’s origins and implications, with potentially dangerous consequences. Yes, Russian aggression deserves widespread condemnation. Yet the United States cannot absolve itself of responsibility for this catastrophe. Indeed, the conflict renders a judgment on post-Cold War US policy. That policy has now culminated in a massive diplomatic failure.
The failure stemmed from two defects that permeate contemporary American statecraft. The first involves hypocrisy and the second a penchant for overreaching.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Monday:
Monday, March 14, 2022. The persecution of Julian Assangec ontinues, truth tellers continue to fight back against the corporate media, and , in Iraq, Moqtada appears to be reaching out to Nouri.
Starting with the ongoing persecution of Julian Assange. US President Joe Biden wants to attack the free press and the First Amendment which is why he continues the government's atack on Julian Assange for exposing War Crimes -- such as in Iraq. Joe will never punish the War Criminals (he'd have to punish himself) but he will go after Julian Assange.
Kristinn Hrafusson is the editor-in-chief at WIKILEAKS and he speaks about the persecution of Julian in the video below.
Jamse Bradford has a question:
Luke Rudkowski Tweets:
In other news, THE GUARDIAN notes:
The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will get married in Belmarsh prison on 23 March, with just four guests allowed to attend.
Vivienne Westwood is designing a wedding dress for the 50-year-old’s fiancee, the lawyer Stella Moris, and a kilt for Assange, whose parents have links to Scotland. The designer has been a staunch supporter of Assange.
Moris, who met Assange when he was living in London’s Ecuadorian embassy seeking political asylum, will marry the WikiLeaks founder in the high-security jail nearly three years after his arrest. The couple have two children.
Moris, who spoke to her fiance on Sunday, told the PA news agency they were both “very excited” despite restrictions on the ceremony.
Meanwhile, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is set to fund al Qaeda with US tax dollars. What are talking about?
If you're late to the party . . . Not Woke Enough Tweets:
While Sasha Tweets:
A certain Swedish government has been in the news for possibly funding ISIS. There's no question that Nancy's $14 billion gift would fund al Qaeda.
She wont help the American people. Chris Floyd Tweets of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelsi:
Pelosi is perhaps the most inept, ineffective political leader of our time. I won't attribute it to her age, because I know several people older than her who are sharp, insightful, vigorous and wise. I will, however, attribute it to her wealth, which has separated her from even
Margaret Kimberley observes:
The editorial board of WSWS notes:
As the conflict develops, the US and NATO are involving themselves ever more directly in the proxy war against Russia. The imperialist powers provoked the conflict with the idea that they could bog down Russia in an Afghanistan-like conflict, using the fact that Ukraine is not officially part of NATO to pursue the war without provoking a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.
However, as the war has developed, the fiction that NATO is not directly involved is increasingly impossible to maintain. Over 20 countries, including most members of NATO, have poured missiles, anti-aircraft systems, aircraft, vehicles and other weapons into Ukraine. The United States, having transferred over $350 million in weapons to Ukraine in the span of just two weeks, authorized another $200 million in military equipment over the weekend.
[. . .]
The escalating war between the US-NATO and Russia over Ukraine is at the same time a war against the entire working class. With surging prices causing real wages to plummet, workers are simply told to grit their teeth in the name of defending “freedom”—that is, the right of Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance. “NATO Needs More Guns and Less Butter,” demanded a March 7 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, calling for Social Security and Medicare to be gutted.
In just a matter of weeks, the war has set the stage for a massive realignment of government expenditures around the world. Last week, the United States passed the largest military budget in history, while slashing remaining funding for the COVID-19 pandemic. Germany has utilized the crisis to triple its military budget.
The war will, in other words, become the occasion for a massive reduction of living standards for the working class, in which real wage declines caused by runaway inflation are accompanied by social austerity and court-mediated injunctions against strikes in the name of “national security.”
Cindy Sheehan offers the following:
I have lived through the Domino
Theory in Southeast Asia; “WMD” in Iraq and the demonization of many
world leaders, including, but not limited to: Fidel Castro; Saddam
Hussein; The (fill in the blank) Terrorist Group; M. Qaddafi; Hugo
Chavez; Evo Morales; etc, etc. Some of those leaders stayed strong, but
most met the final solution fate of Empire. Under Republican and
Democrat regimes alike, the crapaganda has been strong and their voters
very weak and gullible. Today, the current "bad guy" is Vladimir Putin
of Russia.
Back before my son was KIA in Iraq (after Saddam was
hung and beheaded), I remember Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina
(since, opposed the war; now deceased) changing the name of “French”
Fries to “Freedom” Fries in the Capitol’s dining room. At that time, I
would have considered myself proudly liberal, and I thought the
Republicans were being the biggest xenophobic drama queens on the face
of the earth. It was hilarious. There was a frightening aspect to the
fearporn on steroids, though: many Sikh were attacked because dopes
thought they were Islamic. Today, we are seeing an increase in attacks
on Russian business owners here in the states. Most of these people have
said that they are not pro-Russia invading Ukraine, but the attackers
also don’t get the irony that the neo-Nazi regime in KIEV has been
murdering Russian speakers in east Ukraine for eight-years; so not only
do they “stand” with Ukraine, but they are doing its dirty work, as
well.
Now, over 20 years later, I am not liberal, in fact, they terrify me. Ever ones to jump on the newest cause célèbre,
liberals, who I am sure, couldn't name the president of Ukraine two
weeks ago, are pledging devotion and love to the U.S. puppet Zelenskyy
(displacing the now mostly forgotten Anthony Fauci) (READ ABOUT THE REAL ZELENSKYY HERE).
Liberals are the ones dumping out their Russian vodka (many brands here
are NOT made in Russia) and boycotting Russian dressing: A product of
Vermont. The weirdest thing to me is that they don’t see how truly
preposterous they are being with their double-standards. Most democrat
faithful still believe the now discredited lie that Putin stole the
election from the horrific Hillary Clinton and that somehow Trump is
pulling his strings to this day. Currently with this vilification of
Putin, a Democrat is steering the War Ship of state in DC. So, falling
easily into the trap of the imperialists, "antiwar" liberals are now
demanding no-fly zones over Ukraine; increased funding for NATO; more
armaments for Ukraine; and eliminating Putin all together (okay, that
was an anti-Trump conservative, Lindsey Graham). I said it after the
2016 election when they were screaming for increased sanctioning of
Russia, that these liberal Democrats would rather have World War III
than admit their shitty candidate lost on her own demerits. With their
cries for increased hostility and not diplomacy, their allegiance to the
bloodiest Empire in human history is despicable and dangerous for all
life on planet Earth.
No one has to gaze across the miles to Russia to look for the reason the world is on the brink of another World War—they just have to look at the criminals in WashedUp, DeCeit and their stenographers in the legacy media. Dopey Joe Biden is the spearhead of this latest crisis.
BREAKING NEWS: Anonymous US officials report that Russian troops are taking babies out of incubators and throwing them on the floor in Kuwait."
In 2014 (not ancient history), the U.S. poured millions of dollars to promote and support a “color” revolution in Ukraine. Of course, many times these protests begin with legitimate grievances from the people; but as the diminutive Democrat, Rahm Emanuel famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” The State Department’s apparatchik on the ground at the time was the notoriously belligerent Victoria Nuland and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt did everything in their power to depose the leader and install one more friendly to the US, and, as it happens, more friendly to neo-Nazi elements in Ukraine.
In Iraq, who's back in the news? Nouri al-Maliki. Jawad Bashara Tweets:
October 10th, elections were held in Iraq; however, all this time later, still no president, still no prime minister. Farhad Alaaldin (RUDAW) reports:
As
political stalemate continues in Baghdad, rumours are swirling around
the leader of the Sadrist movement’s nomination for prime minister. In
recent days, Muqtada al-Sadr has made rounds of phone calls to Iraqi
leaders, including his arch-rival Nouri al-Maliki, to discuss his choice
of potential candidate. Sources suggest he is keen to nominate his
cousin for the post: Iraq's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mohammad
Jaafar al-Sadr (MJS).
Little is known about him, but MJS is the son of the revered Shiite
leader Sayeed Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, the founder of the Islamic Dawa
Party, and movements such as the Sadrists and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, who
follow his ideals.
MJS worked at the Ministry of Foreign affairs for some time, and was
elected as a member of parliament in 2010 with the State of Law, led by
Maliki, whereupon he resigned a few months later.
In a rare interview published in Elaph in 2010, MJS discussed his ideals and shared his hopes for Iraq and its future.
Last week, KURDISTAN 24 Tweeted:
Whether this will move the stalemate towards resolution is anyone's guess. Though the US press ignored it, the two met -- along with others -- back in December in a meet-up organized by Hadi al-Amiri.
The following sites updated:
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Russia in Ukraine: Qui Bono?8 hours ago
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Putin and the War in Ukraine15 hours ago
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Banana and Egg Cake in the Kitchen23 hours ago
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That Congressional con game23 hours ago
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Smokey Robinson23 hours ago
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Call Me Kat23 hours ago
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Naomi (The CW)23 hours ago
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Idiot of the Week1 day ago
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SCREAM1 day ago
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