Tag: perpetual war

American Citizen Fatally Shot by IDF Soldier During Pro-Palestine Protest in West Bank

US citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was fatally shot by IDF soldiers during a pro-Palestinian protest that took place near Nabulus in the northern West Bank on Friday.

According to AP News, protests started out as peaceful, but turned violent when activists began throwing stones at Israeli Defense Force soldiers, prompting them to fire live ammunition into the crowd.

One of the IDF bullets tragically struck Eygi in the head, killing her on site.

From AP News:

“The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at an ‘instigator of violent activity’ in the area of the protest.

The killing came amid a surge of violence in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and heavier military crackdowns on Palestinian protests. More than 690 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health officials.”

Biden State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that the U.S. government was aware of the death in statements he made on Friday.

“We offer our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones,” he said. “We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn more.”

The White House also responded to the reports stating it was “deeply disturbed” by the death while urging the IDF to open an investigation into the incident.

Another activist who was at the protest told reporters that there were “two separate shots of live ammunition,” that were fired by officers into the crowd.

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US Wants To Deploy Controversial Missile System to Japan

The US wants to deploy a previously banned missile system to Japan for military drills, Nikkei Asia reported Thursday.

The Typhon missile launcher is a ground-based system that can fire nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of more than 1,000 miles. Ground-based missiles with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles were banned by the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which the US withdrew from in 2019. The Typhon also fires SM-6 missiles, which can hit targets up to 290 miles away.

The US deployed a Typhon system to the Philippines for military drills, a move that China viewed as a major provocation. The missile system was sent to the Philippines for several months. It was first deployed for the drills that started in April, and Manila said it would be pulled out in September, meaning it could still be there.

The Philippines said China expressed “very dramatic” alarm over the deployment of the Typhon system. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said the deployment “put the entire region under the fire of the United States (and) brought huge risks of war into the region.”

US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said on Wednesday that she told Japanese officials the US wanted to deploy the Typhon to Japan next. “We’ve made our interest in this clear with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces,” she said at a Defense News conference in Virginia.

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Why’s Poland Talking Tough About Possibly Shooting Down Russian Missiles Over Ukraine?

The sequence of events that would have to transpire in order to turn this into a reality are that: the next NATO leader and his team end up being hawkish on this issue; Polish policymakers overcome their differences and agree that it’s worth the risks; and the US gives them the greenlight.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told the Financial Times in an interview earlier this week that “Membership in Nato does not trump each country’s responsibility for the protection of its own airspace — it’s our own constitutional duty. I’m personally of the view that, when hostile missiles are on course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defence [to strike them] because once they do cross into our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone is significant.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski clarified that these was Sikorski’s own personal views and don’t reflect Poland’s official ones, elaborating that “If we have the capability and Ukraine agrees, then we should consider it. But ultimately, this is the minister’s personal opinion.” Nevertheless, their comments still suggested that this scenario might once again be in the cards under certain conditions despite having earlier been rebuffed by the US, UK, and NATO. Here are three background briefings:

* 17 April: “It Would Be Surprising If Polish Patriot Systems Were Used To Protect Western Ukraine”

* 18 July: “Ukraine Likely Feels Jaded After NATO Said That It Won’t Allow Poland To Intercept Russian Missiles”

* 30 August: “Poland Finally Maxed Out Its Military Support For Ukraine”

The last of these three included Zelensky’s most recent demand at the time to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine. He said that “We have talked a lot about this and we need, as I understand it, the support of several countries. Poland … hesitates to be alone with this decision. It wants the support of other countries in NATO. I think this would lead to a positive decision by Romania.” That same analysis also cited Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz’s response to him too.

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Democratization as Regime Preservation

When in the 1970s it became increasingly clear Taipei and its allies in the United States were no longer going to be able to postpone Washington’s recognition of the Chinese Communist Party government in Beijing, the longtime dictator of Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek, grasped for a solution to the problem of how his regime was to survive de-recognition as the official government of China.

The answer? Democratization.

This strategy, which his successors embraced and ultimately fulfilled over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, proved far-sighted.

Taiwan’s democratization process began in the late 1970s, marking a significant shift from decades of authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang (KMT). The death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975 and the ascension of his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, initiated gradual political liberalization. In the late 1970s, internal and external pressures, including Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation following the United Nations’ recognition of the People’s Republic of China, forced the KMT to consider reforms.

In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed, despite the ongoing martial law. This was a critical moment, as it was the first opposition party allowed in Taiwan since the KMT’s rule began. In 1987, Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law, which had been in place since 1949, signaling the beginning of a more open political environment.

Following Chiang Ching-kuo’s death in 1988, his successor, Lee Teng-hui, further advanced democratic reforms. Under Lee’s leadership, Taiwan saw the end of the “Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion” in 1991, which had allowed the KMT to govern without elections. Lee also oversaw the first direct presidential election in 1996, in which he won, solidifying Taiwan’s transition to a full democracy.

By the late 1990s, Taiwan had established a multi-party system with regular, competitive elections, marking a successful transition from one-party rule to a vibrant democracy.

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Chinese Agents Infiltrating US Institutions

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in the first three months of this year, 24,376 Chinese nationals were apprehended crossing the U.S. Southern Border, while about 1,000 have been crossing the northern border monthly. Under the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), all Chinese citizens and entities are required to assist the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in intelligence gathering. The threat from China is real, pervasive, and growing, as Beijing exploits America’s open borders and freedoms to plant spies within the U.S. government, military, research labs, and institutions.

In September 2024, Linda Sun, a former aide to New York Governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul, was arrested for acting as an undisclosed agent for the Chinese government. She is accused of leveraging her position to further Chinese interests by influencing state policies and facilitating meetings between Chinese and U.S. officials. Sun’s case reflects a broader strategy by China to infiltrate U.S. political systems by targeting state and local officials. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) often exploits naturalized U.S. citizens with ties to China, using business opportunities and family connections to gain influence. Sun’s arrest underscores China’s efforts to influence rising political figures and manipulate policies, including those concerning Taiwan, through covert operations.

The Annual Threat Assessment from the U.S. Intelligence Community identifies China as the top espionage threat to the United States. The FBI’s China Threat Report highlights that counterintelligence and economic espionage activities by the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pose a significant danger to U.S. economic security and democratic values. China’s goals include influencing U.S. policy to benefit its interests while striving for global dominance through tactics such as intellectual property theft, cyber intrusions, and predatory business practices. These efforts span various sectors, including business, academia, and government, necessitating a coordinated response from both the U.S. government and private industry to effectively address the threat.

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Putin: The Accelerating Conquest of Donbas Is the Main Objective of the War in Ukraine, Ukraine’s Kursk Incursion Has NOT Distracted Russian Forces

Russian president Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum international conference in Vladivostok, has once again highlighted that the conquest (or liberation) of the Donbas region – comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts – is his military’s ‘first-priority goal’.

Putin says that Kiev made a mistake in deploying ‘fairly large and well-trained units’ to the Kursk offensive in Russian territory.

New York Times reported:

“’The enemy’s goal was to make us nervous and worry and to transfer troops from one sector to another and stop our offensive in key areas, primarily in the Donbas’, Mr. Putin said at the conference. ‘Did it work or no? No’. […] ‘The enemy weakened itself in key areas, and our troops accelerated offensive operations’. […] ‘Most importantly, no actions are taking place to contain our offensive’, he added.”

The fight for the Donbas has been raging since 2014,  and now, in the third year of the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin is nearer than ever in its quest to add this region to its territory, even if some of the most important cities are still to be conquered.

Lately, significant progress has been made in the direction of Pokrovsk, a vital logistics hub for Ukraine, and the largest city to be raided since Bakhmut.

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Ukraine’s allies struggle to supply weapons to Kiev as a difficult winter looms

Ukraine’s allies are struggling to fulfil their own promises to deliver military supplies to Kiev while the volume of Russian military equipment production exceeds that of the West, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. This is creating concerns since Ukraine does not have the means to defend its energy infrastructure, with another difficult winter just weeks away.

“Ukrainian allies meanwhile are scrambling to meet pledges made earlier this year to beef up the war-battered nation’s air-defence systems. Several NATO allies have yet to follow through with commitments reaffirmed at the alliance’s summit in Washington in July,” the report said.

Along with the difficulties of supplying military equipment to Kiev, the agency highlighted the Russian economy’s ability to ensure the production of defence equipment, including missiles and ammunition, in a quantity that exceeds the West’s ability to send weapons to Ukrainian forces.

According to the cited sources, the Ukrainian Army is facing a shortage of weapons and is unable to contain the advance of Russian troops into the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic amid the failed attempt to weaken Moscow’s offensive through Ukraine’s attack on the Kursk region and the observed reduction in Ukraine’s power generation capacity following the destruction of energy infrastructure.

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Warning of ‘Genocidal Violence’ on the West Bank

An independent U.N. expert warns that “Israel’s genocidal violence risks leaking out of Gaza and into the occupied Palestinian territory as a whole” as Western governments, corporations, and other institutions maintain support for Israel’s military, which stands accused of grave war crimes.

Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement that “there is mounting evidence that no Palestinian is safe under Israel’s unfettered control.”

“The writing is on the wall, and we cannot continue to ignore it,” said Albanese, who released a detailed report in May concluding that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza.

Albanese’s statement came as the Israeli military’s largest assault on the West Bank in decades continued into its second week on Monday. At least 29 Palestinians have been killed during the series of military raids, according to Al Jazeera, including at least five children.

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From ‘Defense’ to Destruction: The Evolution of Zionist Aggression

The most significant recent escalation in the ongoing Zionist real estate project, enabled by apartheid and genocide of the Palestinian people, occurred on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas fighters broke through Gaza’s prison fence, carrying out a bloody incursion on Israeli military installations and border towns. Since, the Israel “Defense” Forces (IDF) have engaged in the offensive flattening of Gaza, destruction of its infrastructure, extensive land seizure and elimination, torture and expulsion of its Palestinian population.

Meanwhile, liberal Zionists have been whitewashing these events, regurgitating fantasies of a “two-state solution” and ignoring widespread use of the Hannibal Directive while scapegoating Netanyahu as a bug rather than a feature. Undeniably, Zionism remains a colonialist, white supremacist movement aimed at capitalist resource acquisition while appropriating Judaism.

Viewing this dynamic through a behavioral neuroscientific lens, which studies violence as an expression of defensive and offensive aggression, provides insight into the mechanisms of a deadly, escalating cycle of eliminatory force, its underlying motivations and associated propaganda. The genocidal imperial practices in Gaza constitute a blueprint for future aggressive actions in the Global South and for suppressing dissent within the imperial core. Thus, such an analysis may assist in identifying state criminality, fostering an improved process of truth and accountability en route to reconciliation, peace, and justice.

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History: The “Penal Colonies” of Palestine. “The Gaza Strip is the Realization of Israel’s Vision of ‘Separation’” Prof. Tanya Reinhart

With tremendous foresight of what is happening now, this article by the late Professor Tanya Reinart was first published by Global Research in 2002 under the title The Penal Colonies.

Our thoughts are with Tanya Reinart. Her legacy will live. 

The Netanyahu government is no longer contemplating “Separation” or “Apartheid”. There is no longer a “Two State Solution”.

The October 7, 2023 Declaration of War against Palestine consists in invading and annexing Gaza and the West Bank, while excluding Palestinians from their homeland. It’s a crime against humanity. 

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research. June 22,2024, September 4, 2024

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Israel’s Vision of Separation

The Gaza strip is a perfect realization of the Israeli vision of “separation”. Surrounded with electric fences and army posts, completely sealed off from the outside world, Gaza has become a huge prison.

About one third of its land was confiscated for the 7,000 Israeli settlers living there (and their defense array), while over a million Palestinians are crowded in the remaining areas of the prison.

With no work or sources of income, about 80% of its residents depend, for their living, on UNRWA, or contributions from Arab states and charity organizations. Now Israel is considering the imprisonment there of families of suicide bombers from the West Bank (1). As a senior Israeli analyst stated, Gaza can now serve as “the penal colony” of Israel its “devils island, Alcatraz”. (Nahum Barnea, Yediot Aharonot June 21, 2002).

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