Tag: perpetual war

Ukraine Might Be Gearing Up To Attack Or Cut Off Belarus’ Southeastern City Of Gomel

Its Foreign Ministry’s ominously implied ultimatum to Minsk and reaffirmation of Ukraine’s right to self-defense suggest that Kiev might invade Belarus’ Gomel Region and/or Russia’s Bryansk Region.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Sunday warning about what it described as the “threat” posed by Belarus’ military buildup along the border, the motivations of which were analyzed here in early August. Belarusian President Lukashenko also drew attention last week to the whopping 120,000 Ukrainian troops that he claims were the first to deploy there. For reference, Belarus only has around 65,000 active soldiers, one-third of whom are stationed along the Ukrainian border.

Less than a week ago, a small Ukrainian force unsuccessfully tried to invade a tiny village in Russia’s Bryansk Region that’s only 30 kilometers from the Belarusian border. It was likely a probing attempt in hindsight, but any Kursk-like invasion along that front could risk impeding or even cutting off Russia’s military logistics to Belarus’ southeastern city of Gomel. That’s because there’s a nearby highway running between there and Bryansk’s eponymous capital just 30-50 kilometers inside of Russia from the border.

Ukraine might be gearing up to either attack Gomel (which is just 30 kilometers from the border) or at least threaten Russia’s military logistics to there from Bryansk judging by its Foreign Ministry’s statement, which the “Kyiv Independent” noted was the first about Belarus since last September. They ominously implied an ultimatum by writing that “we urge its armed forces to cease unfriendly actions and withdraw forces away from Ukraine’s state border to a distance greater than the firing range of Belarus’ systems.”

This was backed up by them reminding Belarus that “We warn that in case of a violation of Ukraine’s state border by Belarus, our state will take all necessary measures to exercise the right to self-defense guaranteed by the UN Charter. Consequently, all troop concentrations, military facilities, and supply routes in Belarus will become legitimate targets for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” The stage is therefore set for opening up another front on this false pretext if Kiev has the political will to do so.

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Ukrainian Commanders Blame Poorly Trained Soldiers for Donbas Losses: ‘Panic & Chaos’

As Kiev attempts to bask in triumph over its territorial gains inside of Russia, its forces are losing territory along the Eastern front lines in Ukraine. Ukrainian military commanders say the reason for the losses is poorly trained soldiers; many are even afraid to fire their weapons. 

Speaking with the Associated Press, a battalion commander in Ukraine’s 47th Brigade said, “Some people don’t want to shoot. They see the enemy in the firing position in trenches but don’t open fire. … That is why our men are dying. When they don’t use the weapon, they are ineffective.”

After pushing Kiev to forego a diplomatic settlement with Moscow in April 2022, Western leaders pledged that they would arm, equip, and train Ukrainian soldiers to fight off the Russian invaders.

However, two and a half years into the conflict, it has turned into a war of attrition, and Kiev’s backers are struggling to sustain Ukraine’s military amid massive losses. 

While Kiev has not made an official statement regarding its casualties, they are estimated to be well into the hundreds of thousands. Support for the war has also been dipped in Ukraine, leading Kiev to draft more Ukrainians, including increasingly younger citizens, into the military. 

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You Will Hear the Names of the Dead: The DNC in Chicago

A couple of weeks ago, I plunged into Lake Michigan. Unlike usual, the water felt warm. It was easy to run all the way in and easy to float over the waves. Montrose beach was crowded with families, pitching tents to keep out of the sun. Children played, laughed, and cried. Midwesterners who still hadn’t made it out into the sun crisped their pale shoulders. It would have been a perfectly relaxing day, but fighter jets circled above everyone’s heads — doing dives and turning every which way. Mothers plugged their children’s ears and I saw a baby wearing noise cancelling headphones.

It was the Air and Water show — an annual proud display of American military capabilities. They are the same jets that fly over the shores of Gaza, dropping bombs on families. That’s what I thought about — it was just by happen stance that we were there watching these planes as a performance rather than in Gaza as weapon of mass slaughter. The more places I travel to, the more I realize how much the world looks the same. People everywhere are really kind and generous — the only thing that separates us is if the stars align to have us born under the boot of the United States or not.

As the jets flew over our heads I felt my stomach sour. In two weeks, the Democratic National Convention would come to Chicago and it was a present opportunity to make clear the contradictions that kept me up at night. Once months and months away, the DNC was finally around the corner.

This week, members of the Democratic Party came from all parts of the country to convene in Chicago. They were coronating Kamala Harris as their presidential nominee, a woman no one really voted for. Even in the face of this blatant lack of democracy, the party members were elated to choose her. They carried signs with her husband’s name and applause erupted from the tens of thousands of people in the United Center when she declared that the United States would have the “most lethal military” in the world under her leadership. To the people well aware of the millions of people the United States killed in the last twenty years alone, her statement was a threat.

The week was marked by the obvious gaps between the people going into the United Center and the people outside of it.

There was a young woman that sat outside the exit of the Democratic National Convention on its third night reading the names of the children Israel has killed in the last ten months. She did it for hours, until her speaker battery died. She did it alone, taking care to pronounce every child’s name correctly and to say their age at the time of their murder. Without her, many of the DNC guests wouldn’t necessarily be confronted with the carnage members of their party is carrying out.

Outside the gates of the DNC I saw a young woman making sure the children of Palestine weren’t just numbers, and I saw people laughing at her for doing so. They laughed loudly and mocked her voice. They mocked the names of the dead babies. They yelled at her to leave them alone. They left the coronation ceremony livid that they had to even hear about Gaza.

That night was demoralizing, and it’s something I will remember for the rest of my life. Democrats laugh at the names of dead children. They openly refuse to let a Palestinian speak for two minutes at their four day long event. They order riot cops on people protesting a genocide. They have their parties, fundraisers, and happy hours while bodies pile up. If they really didn’t think the genocide was so bad, they wouldn’t get so mad at us for reminding them. They knew that the people they were rallying behind are cheering on mass slaughter — they’ve just weighed their fun, their careers, and their vanity against the lives of 180,000 Palestinians and decided that nothing could be more important than themselves. I don’t care what they said to me, or my friends, but I hope our faces and our presence made them feel even an ounce of discomfort. In the best case scenario, I hope they went to sleep hearing the echoes of the martyrs names. I still foolishly hope they turn a corner at some point.

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Donald Trump promises to create a Space Force National Guard if elected president

Donald Trump has promised to create a Space Force National Guard if elected president.

The Republican nominee told the National Guard Association of the United States in Detroit that a reserve force is critical for defense in outer space.

Fears of Russia developing nuclear weapons to use specifically in space have ramped up in recent months.

Space is also becoming a vital area of national security as adversaries develop their celestial military capabilities. 

Trump set up Space Force in December 2019 to form the first new branch of the military since 1947, when the Air Force became its own entity.

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NYT Uncritically Reported Israel’s Version of Golan Bombing

As the US-backed genocide in Gaza continues, US media assist in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to widen the war, parroting the words of the aggressor. A consequential example of US press support for escalation was Western media’s coverage of the July 27 strike that killed 12 Druze children on a soccer field near the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Israel and the US immediately blamed the Iran-backed Lebanese organization Hezbollah for the strike—citing Israeli intelligence reports of an Iranian Falaq-1 missile being found at the soccer field (BBC, 7/28/24).

But, in a move that Hezbollah expert Amal Saad called “uncharacteristic” (Drop Site, 7/30/24), the group adamantly denied responsibility for the attack. Saad, a lecturer in politics at Cardiff University, noted that targeting the Syrian Golan Heights—where many inhabitants are hostile towards Israel—would be “illogical” and “provocative” for Hezbollah. Further, if the organization had accidentally committed an attack, Saad pointed to a precedent of the group issuing a public apology in a case of misfire, with the organization’s leader, Hassan Nasrullah, visiting families of victims.

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Something’s Coming, We Don’t Know What It Is But It Is Going To Be Bad

“With a click, with a shock
Phone’ll jingle, door’ll knock, open the latch
Something’s coming, don’t know when but it’s soon…”“Something’s Coming,” lyrics by S. Sondheim, music by L. Bernstein – West Side Story

Shock should not be the word, but when World War III breaks fully loose many who are now sleeping will be shocked. The war has already started, but it’s full fury and devastation are just around the corner. When it does, Tony’s singular fate in West Side Story will be the fate of untold millions.

It is a Greek tragedy brought on by the terrible hubris of the United States, its NATO accomplices, and the genocidal state of Israel and the Zionist terrorists who run it.

Tony felt a miracle was due, but it didn’t come true for him except to briefly love Maria and then get killed as result of a false report, and only a miracle will now save the world from the cataclysm that is on the way, whether it is initiated by intent, a false report, an accident, or the game of nuclear chicken played once too often.

Let us hope but not be naïve.  The signs all point in one direction.  The gun on the wall in the first act of this tragic play is primed to go off in the final one.  Every effort to avoid this terrible fate by seeking peace and not war has been rejected by the U.S. and its equally insane allies.

Every so-called red line laid down by Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinians, and their allies has been violated with impunity and blatant arrogance.  But impunity has its limits and the dark Furies of vengeance will have their day.

“It is the dead, not the living,” said Antigone, “who make the longest demands.” Their ghostly voices cry out to be avenged.

I wish I were not compelled by conscience to write this, but it seems clearly evident to me that we stand on the edge of an abyss. The fate of the world rests in the hands of leaders who are clearly psychotic and who harbor death wishes. It’s not terribly complex. Netanyahu and Biden are two of them.

Yes, like other mass killers, I think they love their children and give their dogs biscuits to eat.  But yes, they also are so corrupted in their souls that they relish war and the sense of false power and prestige it brings them.  They gladly kill other people’s children.  They can defend themselves many times over, offer all kinds of excuses, but the facts speak otherwise.  This is hard for regular people to accept.

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Biden Pentagon spokesman insisted Afghan withdrawal wasn’t chaotic but his emails say otherwise

The Pentagon’s chief spokesman has long insisted there was no “chaos” during the bungled U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, but his own email correspondence shows senior officials were acutely aware that conditions in the country were chaotic and spiraling into deadly violence, according to newly obtained government documents.

These memos and emails chronicle political efforts by the Biden/Harris administration to soft-pedal the truth to the American people about its first major foreign crisis. The documents were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from the nonprofit watchdog Functional Government Initiative.

The memos show, for instance, that while then-DOD Undersecretary of Communications John Kirby tried to jaw-bone reporters to portray the Afghan withdrawal as orderly like President Joe Biden had promised, he was receiving briefings from diplomats and military officials in theater who were frantic to stabilize a crisis, particularly at the Kabul airport were evacuations of Americans were taking place.

One State Department situation report emailed to Kirby on Aug. 16, 2021 — 10 days before a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. Marines — referred to “breaches” and “flightline insecurity” at the airport that resulted in the exchange of gunfire that killed five Afghans and may have wounded an American soldier. “The crowd was out of control, the firing was only done to defuse the chaos,” the email reported, citing an official U.S. statement released inside the country.

“Hundreds have flooded the flight line and in at least one case, have forced themselves onto at least one US mil (and other civilian) aircraft. Crowds continue to run alongside planes, including mil aircraft,” the report added. Several Afghans clinging to U.S. aircraft fell to their deaths.

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Under the radar, Ireland is helping illegal Israeli settlements do business

Ireland has been called the most pro-Palestinian country in Europe. So this might surprise you: at the same time – largely under the radar – it has been playing a pivotal role in connecting businesses in illegal Israeli settlements with consumers around the world.

Take the case of Etsy, the popular platform for more “ethical” artisanal and vintage shopping online. The company’s business outside the Americas is handled by its Irish subsidiary. This business includes hosting dozens of shops that explicitly list illegal settlements as their locations (as documented in a recent investigative report I worked on).

Etsy has a big Dublin office not far from Ireland’s parliament, which has been discussing a new bill to prohibit state investment in settlement businesses. It is the latest but not the only example of such contradictions. Airbnb has been challenged for years for listing properties in settlements, also through its Dublin-based subsidiary.

What is going on here? Two Irish trends seem to be colliding with each other. For decades, Ireland has worked to make itself a particularly “attractive” base for expanding multinational companies. Meanwhile, it has a long history of opposing occupation and it has been on the global stage for supporting Palestinian rights and statehood.

This is why people of conscience around the world should keep an eye on the Emerald Isle. It has an opportunity to help protect global consumers from complicity in Israeli war crimes. There also seem to be some clear ways in which the country could take action against settlement businesses, including under anti-money laundering legislation.

Illegal Israeli settlements have been expanding amid Israel’s war and “plausible genocide” in Gaza. They have also been in the news for increasing violence by some settlers against Palestinians who live nearby. The United Nations human rights office said that the establishment and expansion of these settlements amounts to a “war crime”.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2024 also confirmed that these settlements go against international law. It was clear that all countries are obliged “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining” this unlawful situation.
Ireland, which additionally officially recognised Palestine as a state earlier this year, is not a country that you’d expect to be enabling illegal Israeli settlements. But it has worked since the 1950s to become a hub for thousands of multinational corporations – including those with connections to these settlements like Etsy and Airbnb.

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Ukraine attempted attack on Kurchatov nuclear power plant

“The primary goal of the Ukrainians was to seize the Kursk nuclear power plant to blackmail Russia. They failed and now they are trying to bomb him risking nuclear destruction over Europe” revealed Russian officials and the president of Russia himself who also informed the IAEA.

In more detail, Russian special forces commander “Akhmat” revealed to Russia Today Kiev’s failed plan to seize the nuclear power plant in Kursk province and use it as a bargaining chip against Moscow in possible peace negotiations.

In this way, it is supposed that Ukraine could … trade the area around the nuclear plant for some of the territory that the Russians completely control, possibly in Donbass, Kherson and Zaporizhia.

And if their… demands were not met, then they might threaten the entire Russian border province with even a nuclear disaster, betting that the Russians would not dare to hit them inside the nuclear power plant.

Chechen General Apty Alaudinov added that the actual number of Ukrainian and foreign well-trained commandos who stormed Kursk is over 11,000.

“The Ukrainians wanted to seize the Kursk nuclear power plant by August 11. Obviously they could not achieve their goal.

The Ukrainians deployed over 11,000 men. Most of the military equipment that the Ukrainians brought with them has already been destroyed. They have already wasted all the resources they had available.”

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The Problem Isn’t the US Having the Wrong President, the Problem Is the US Empire’s Existence

The reason I find myself fighting with both Harris supporters and Trump supporters is because they see the other party as the problem while I see the US empire itself as the problem. They seek to make things better by ensuring that the empire is under the correct management, while I seek the end of the empire.

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People say things like “Oh but Kamala Harris speaks so compassionately about the suffering of the Palestinians!”Foley, Timothy PBest Price: $30.41Buy New $18.00(as of 06:47 UTC – Details)

These dupes had eight years of Obama speaking eloquent, compassionate-sounding words while continuing and expanding all of Bush’s ugliest policies, and they still haven’t learned the lesson here.

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Call me naive but I am truly, legitimately shocked that the Democrats are running on such a warmongering platform instead of pretending to stand for peace this election season. Between the new party platform attacking Trump for not starting a war with Iran, Harris talking about having the “most lethal fighting force in the world” and pledging to protect US interests from “Iran and Iran-backed terrorists”, this is the kind of campaign you’d expect to see from an ultrahawk Republican like Tom Cotton or John Bolton. But those Republican warmongers are not popular enough within their own party to secure its nomination.

I really was not expecting the Democrats to be campaigning like this. Certainly I was expecting them to GOVERN as extreme warmongers like Biden has been, but to sell the American people on it on their actual election platform is really surprising. Usually they put a lot of effort into campaigning as the responsible adults in the room; instead they’re openly going all Dr Strangelove and yeehawing on the bomb. There’s normally a lot more distance between who Democrats are and who they pretend to be.

It’s so wild because they’re just handing Trump another easy “vote for me I’m the peace candidate” campaign like they did when they lost in 2016. All they need to do is lie and say they’ll bring about peace, and instead they’re practically campaigning on starting a war with Iran.

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