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Reviewing James Petras' The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East (Part II)
by Stephen Lendman
Presidential Rule by Deception: Obama, the Master Con-Man
Petras pulled no punches saying "(i)n an electoral system, run by and for a corporate oligarchy, deception and demagoguery are essential elements - entertaining the people while working for the wealthy."
Every US president does it. All congressional leaders. It's "de rigueur" to pretend to be "everyman." It persists while committing "war crimes worthy of prosecution."
It's play-acting. It's duplicity. Obama is the "master of deceit." He lacks an honest bone in his body.
He condemns torture while practicing it. He denounces Wall Street excess while supporting it. He wages one war after another while promising peace.
He backs Palestinian rights while trashing them. He supports the worst of Zionist militancy. He ignores institutionalized Israeli racism.
His word isn't his bond. He broke every major promise made. He's "hands down" the "greatest con-man president in American history," Petras explains.
Reviewing James Petras' The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East (Part I)
by Stephen Lendman
It's Petras at his best. It's important reading. It covers vital topics. Petras tells readers what they need to know. His analysis is masterful. Below is an account of what he said.
Washington and Israel are longstanding imperial partners. Petras does some of the best analysis explaining it.
Overview: The State of the Empire
In the 1990s, imperial adventurism increased. Post-9/11, it accelerated. One war after another followed. They continue "unhampered by congressional or large-scale public opposition," said Petras.
At least so far. Popular opinion against Obama's Syria war postponed it. Resuming it could happen any time. Perhaps it's one major false flag attack away.
Other wars may follow. Iran's turn awaits. Ukraine's full-blown crisis and regime change aftermath happened largely beyond the timeline of Petras' book.
He's a valued contributor to a forthcoming Clarity Press (CP) account of Ukraine's crisis. It promises to be the definitive analysis of what happened, why it matters, and what may follow. Watch for CP's announced publishing date.
Another False Flag Chemical Weapons Attack Planned
by Stephen Lendman
Jobar is a Damascus area suburb. On April 1, Syria's permanent UN envoy Bashir al-Jaafari said terrorists plan attacking it with chemical weapons.
He knew days earlier. He sent two identical letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council President Joy Ogwu.
He said Syrian authorities monitored a landline call between two Jobar area terrorists. They discussed distributing gas masks to their elements to protect against a planned toxic gas attack.
A second intercepted call discussed launching it. Blaming Assad for their crime is planned. At issue is Ghouta 2.0.
On August 21, 2013, Assad was wrongfully blamed for insurgents attacking Ghouta. It's a Damascus suburb.
Clear evidence proved a false flag. Terror gangs launched others earlier. At the time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said:
Palestine to Join 15 UN Bodies and Treaties
by Stephen Lendman
On April 1, Abbas signed documents to do so. He'll submit them to UN authorities. It's high time he did so.
He should have years ago. It's Palestine's legal right. It's able to join all UN bodies and treaties. It can ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
It can file a formal state to state complaint against Israeli past and current officials. It can ask they be held responsible for crimes of war and against humanity.
It can ratify the Genocide Convention. It can sue Israel at the World Court. It can get a temporary restraining order. It can do so against Zionist lawlessness.
It can go to the Security Council for enforcement. If vetoed by Washington, it can petition the General Assembly.
It can do so under the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution 377. If approved, vetoes become null and void.
Waves of Nationwide Actions Planned at Key Historic Moment
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
Worldwide #WaveOfAction and Global Climate Convergence Build Popular Movement as Multiple Crises Escalate
Update: Two more spring campaigns have been announced, Reset The Net, to take back our Internet privacy and Our Land Our Business, protesting the World Bank
Every wave on the ocean that has ever risen up and refused to lay back down has been dashed on the shore, but it is the very purpose of a wave to rise up, because once it rises up above the horizon it finally has the perspective to see that it's not just a wave, that it's a part of a mighty ocean. And the sharpest rock on the wildest shore can never break that ocean apart; they can never wear that ocean down, because it's the ocean that shapes the shore. That's what we're starting to do here today. That's what we're starting to do here this week. With wave after wave after wave crashing against that shore, we shape it to our vision.
Rosenberg’s rubbishing of BDS misses the point
By Alan Hart
In an article asserting that the BDS (Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions) Movement is “irrelevant”, M. J. Rosenberg has written, under the headline The Goal Of The BDS Movement Is Dismantling Israel, Not The ’67 Occupation, “The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is two states for two peoples.” The question he chose to ignore - I wonder why? - is this: What are the most likely future scenarios if Israel’s leaders remain totally opposed to the creation of a viable Palestine state on all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with either East Jerusalem its capital or Jerusalem an undivided, open city and the capital of two states?
Jonathan Pollard's Imminent Release?
by Stephen Lendman
On Monday, John Kerry traveled to Israel for the 11th time. He did so relating to sham peace talks. Last July they began. No progress whatever was achieved.
Kerry wants Palestinians relinquishing fundamental rights too important to sacrifice. He's Israel's man in Washington.
An April 29 deadline approaches. Kerry wants it extended. He wants more time for bullying and bluster.
He spent Monday in discussions with Netanyahu and Palestinian negotiators. He left Tuesday. He did so to attend day two Brussels NATO ministers talks.
He'll return on Wednesday for further discussions. Or will he? On Tuesday evening, he said he won't return after PLO officials said they'll apply for membership to 15 world organizations. They include the International Criminal Court.
NATO Plans Global Dominance
by Stephen Lendman
NATO was established in April 1949. It's a US imperial tool. It's been this way from inception. Washington provides the lion's share of funding. It's around 75%.
Claiming a NATO "political and military alliance for peace and security" doesn't wash. It never did. It's polar opposite truth. NATO's mission is offense, not defense.
Post-WW II, the Russians weren't coming. War devastated their country. It took years to recover. Cold War hysteria was contrived. It stoked fear.
It launched an arms race. War profiteers benefitted hugely. Napoleon once said: "Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self-interest."
Robert Griffiths is UK Communist Party general secretary. In 2010, he called NATO a "global military and reconnaissance infrastructure…created to support US, British and western European big business interests, especially energy, financial and armaments monopolies."
US and North Korea Have Something in Common: The Highest Incarceration Rates
MARK KARLIN , EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
In a recent New York Times (NYT) column, Nikolas Kristof used a 12 question test to point out some of the tragic absurdities of posturing by the big powers and claims to moral legitimacy. He entitled it, "Do You Speak Dictator?"
For instance, if the United States is number one in anything, it is literally the first in the world in the percentage of its population incarcerated. Kristof, in one of his questions, points out, however, that North Korea probably comes in second or maybe even a tie in this dubious distinction award (exact numbers of those imprisoned in North Korea are not available). That's a rather horrifying ranking to possibly share with the world's most isolated dictatorship.
NATO Steps Up Military Pressure on Russia
By Stefan Steinberg and Peter Schwarz
NATO continued its military build-up on the Russian border even as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Paris Sunday evening to discuss the conflict over Ukraine. The meeting, involving four hours of “frank” talks, ended with no breakthrough and separate news conferences.
The two men met after Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated his readiness to make certain concessions. Last Friday he phoned US President Barack Obama in Saudi Arabia to discuss a “diplomatic resolution to the crisis.” On Sunday, Kerry dismissed Lavrov’s proposal for a Federal Ukraine that was not part of NATO, cynically declaring that was “up to the Ukrainians”—that is, the fascist-led regime in Kiev backed by Washington.
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