US-based corporate-financier funded policy think tank, the Brookings Institution, published a particularly incoherent piece titled, “Should we work with the devil we know against the Islamic State?” The piece’s author, a senior fellow in the Center for Middle …

In a speech delivered Tuesday to a military audience at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, President Barack Obama made a veiled warning about the threat to American democracy posed by 15 years of unending war.

The speech, delivered …

Today, New York State released Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Blacklist of institutions that participate in Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) in support of Palestinian human rights.  Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order in June calling for the Blacklist and ordering all …

Extension of Iran sanctions, contact with Taiwan and the Trump appointments of Flynn and Mattis signals more war and genocide

Three important decisions by the political wing of the United States capitalist system reveals that the drive towards “permanent imperialist …

On December 3, Syrian government forces broke again Al-Nusra-led militant coalition (Jaish al-Fatah) defense lines in Aleppo city significant areas west of the Aleppo International Airport. The Syrian army, Liwa al-Quds and their allies liberated Tareeq al-Bab and al-Myassar Jazmati …

DAMASCUS – In a stunning development today, 21WIRE has received reports from on the ground in Syria that remaining ‘rebel’ militants have fled the Old City of Aleppo, even leaving behind a substantial amount of equipment and weapons – as …

South Korea Influence-Peddling Scandal, Mass Protests, Impeachment Process

By SooKyung Nam, December 06 2016

Cannon Ball, ND – A steady stream of U.S. military veterans continued to pour into the Standing Rock protest camps over the weekend, with our sources on the ground estimating nearly 5,000 vets already there, and more arriving throughout the …

Today, the US Army Corps announced that it would not grant Dakota Access LLC the last remaining easement it needs to drill under the Mni Sose (Missouri River) at Lake Oahe and complete construction of the pipeline.  The statement implies …

On Wednesday, the Pentagon released its 2015 National Military Strategy, a 24-page blueprint for ruling the world through military force. While the language in the report is subtler and less incendiary than similar documents in the past, the determination to …

In less than seven weeks, President Barack Obama will hand over the government to Donald Trump, including access to the White House, Air Force One, and Camp David. Trump will also, of course, inherit the infamous nuclear codes, as well …

Amid a burgeoning crisis of the cities the ruling class is still committed to maintaining status-quo

Over the last several weeks it has become quite evident to many of those who thought a Donald Trump presidency would advance a political …

The UN General Assembly has backed a new resolution on DU weapons by 151 votes to 4. The resolution, which highlights the ongoing concerns of affected states and communities, health experts and civil society over the potential health risks …

The terrorists used precision fire on the Russian Defense Ministry mobile hospital in Syria’s Aleppo, they definitely had its exact coordinates, the Kremlin spokesman said Tuesday.

“Of course, it was precision fire. It confirmed the fact that the militants who

Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution which would have mandated a seven-day ceasefire in Syria’s Aleppo.

On Monday, Russia stated that a truce would only permit the militants to regroup and that the subject requires further …

This may very well be the bribe of the century.

Instead of helping EU citizens suffering from years of austerity, poverty and misery, the EU oligarchs ruling in Brussels prefer to give EU cash on hand to Al Qaeda and …

Listening to the media, you would think that yesterday’s Italian referendum results were yet another victory of right-wing populism against democracy. The situation, however, is much more complex than this, and the No victory is a victory for democracy and …

In the wake of Brexit and Trump, ‘mainstream’ media have done the formerly unthinkable by focusing on media bias. The intensity of focus has been such that the Oxford Dictionaries have announced that ‘post-truth’ is their ‘Word of the Year …

This is the situation in east-Aleppo as of Dec 4, 6PM ET.

The enclosed green area, held by al-Qaeda and its allies, will soon be gone.

Map via Fabrice Balanche – bigger

The British Foreign Minister says that the foreseeable …

Korean national trade union centre KCTU held a general strike on November 30 to protest the government’s labour policies, as opposition to embattled President Park Guen-hye grows.

The other main national centre FKTU held a national rally November 19. Hundreds …

Obama will be remembered for waging endless wars of aggression throughout his tenure, at home and abroad – a war criminal remaining unaccountable for his high crimes, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, one of many examples mocking its legitimacy.

He’ll …

President-elect Donald Trump did not wait until taking office to upend decades of diplomatic protocol by accepting a phone call last Friday from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. The conversation was the first between leaders of the two countries since 1979, …

For the sixth straight weekend, hundreds of thousands of Koreans came out in Seoul (and with other Korean cities estimates approaching 2 million people on the streets) to demand the resignation of President Park Geun-hye. This Saturday December 3, the …

Chosen Leaders, Proven Failures and Political Debacles

By Prof. James Petras, December 05 2016

Prime Minister, you said that in India even Beggars are going Cashless. You are absolutely true. I keep seeing the Whaatsapp message that you work for 18 hours a day, haven’t taken a single leave for the last many years, …

Mosul is the second largest city in Iraq, after Baghdad. It is a city of 1.5 million people (according to UN estimates). It is a city where Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Kurds, Yezidis, Armenians, Assyrians, Turkmens, and even some followers …

The mainstream media portrays the German chancellor as the guardian of western liberal democratic principles.

 Europeans are led to believe the German leader is following in the steps of enlightment thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Jefferson or her compatriot Wilhelm …

A recent survey of construction companies involved in World Cup-related infrastructure projects in Qatar raises questions about whether the Gulf state and world soccer body FIFA are doing all that could do to enforce international standards for the living and …

Cannon Ball, North Dakota (Oceti Sakowin or Council of the Seven Fires Camp) – Today, the people won a major victory in the fight to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The US Army Corps of Engineers sided with the …

The discredited mainstream media has evidently not learned anything from the fiasco of the 2016 United States presidential election, for which it predicted an 85 percent probability of a Hillary Clinton win, instead of the Donald Trump landslide that happened. …

15 years into the Afghan War, Pentagon statements are almost never the final word on what happened. False denials and upbeat predictions that never pan out have left US credibility incredibly low. Time and again, UN reports have contradicted the …

With the passing of Thailand’s head of state, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a universally revered cultural and pragmatic leader for the last 70 years, Thailand’s enemies see an opportunity in what they perceive as a void in national unity.

Throughout …

We still don’t have any sort of apology or retraction from the Washington Post for promoting “The List” — the highly dangerous blacklist that got a huge boost from the newspaper’s fawning coverage on November 24. The project of smearing …

The disclosure by President-elect Donald Trump Thursday night that he will appoint retired Marine Corps General James Mattis as his secretary of defense has been greeted with approval across the political establishment and in the major organs of the corporate-controlled …

Nearly 60% of Italian voters rejected Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s attempted constitutional power grab by referendum endorsement.

Following defeat, he announced his resignation on national television, “accept(ing) full responsibility,” adding he’ll officially resign on Monday.

The referendum, supported by Renzi …

When Fidel Castro died on Nov. 25 at the age of 90, we lost one of the most remarkable leaders of the Twentieth Century.

No other head of state has so steadfastly stood up to the United States and survived.…

By an overwhelming 375-34 vote, the US House of Representatives last Friday passed a $619 billion Pentagon budget that ensures the growth of war and militarism under an incoming Trump administration, while also barring the shutdown of the American prison …

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The UN mission in Iraq, UNAMI, will stop publicizing military casualty figures after the Joint Operations Command of the Iraqi military complained the UN’s figures for November were “much exaggerated.”

“UNAMI acknowledges that the military figures …

Fake news is a US government, mainstream media specialty – proliferating managed news misinformation agitprop, truth-telling suppressed on issues mattering most.

Propaganda wars precede hot ones. Deception, popular fiction and Big Lies launch them. Intense Russia bashing risks world peace, …

Trump’s first day at the Oval Office after being elected President.

First briefing to the President by CIA, Pentagon, FBI:

Trump: We must destroy ISIS immediately. No delays.

CIA: We cannot do that, sir. We created them along with Turkey, …

The so called “journalist” Roy Gutman is marketing an old fairy tale in three acts. It was the Syrian President Assad who created ISIS. Assad also faked the Al-Qaeda bombings in Syria to get sympathy in the “west”. The Daily …

There is no greater single human rights dilemma facing the Australian parliament at the moment: refugees, declining, mouldering, decaying in detention centres in carceral conditions, being shifted, carted, moved from one base to another, from one nation state to another.  …

Next month, Donald J. Trump, with hand on Bible, will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Or will he? The recent talk about recounting votes and ‘faithless electors’ suggests this highly contentious power struggle is …

Till the very end of November both the EU and Washington sought to convince international community that none of the parties to the Syrian conflict are strong enough to have a decisive advantage over the opponent on the field of …

US Secretary of State Kerry’s latest offer for all Jihadis to leave Aleppo appears to be an attempt to get the Russians to agree to a ceasefire in order to preserve the Al-Qaeda controlled pocket in eastern Aleppo until after …

After spending the past month blaming Hillary’s loss on the rampant spread of “fake news,” because choosing a failed candidate subject to numerous active federal criminal investigations and/or Obama’s failed policies couldn’t possibly be to blame, Mic is reporting that …

“Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.” -Fidel Castro Ruz (Concluding remarks from courtroom defense speech; October 16, 1953) [1]  

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On Friday November 25, …

On November 29, he publicly announced that Turkey had launched its operations in Syria to end the rule of “the tyrant al-Assad“:

The Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end the rule of Syrian President Bashar

US President-elect Donald Trump expressed his support for the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) ahead of an evacuation order, due to go into effect on Monday, against thousands of people protesting the oil pipeline project.

Trump’s transition team …

Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that his government has given the go-ahead for two major pipeline projects, including the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline to transport diluted bitumen (heavy oil) from Alberta’s tar sands to the British …

Democrats are trying to stop Donald Trump’s inauguration by claiming Russian interference in the election, but the White House sees no evidence and Trump is now challenging the recounts, reports Joe Lauria.

When the Clinton campaign said it would join …

What President-elect Trump says and what he will actually do, still remains to be seen. However, Trump had made statements in the past regarding Israel and the Palestinians do raise some important questions. The Palestinians whether in the West Bank, …

Throughout made in the USA conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, Washington systematically undermined Russia’s good faith efforts for responsible resolution.

America can’t be trusted, vowing one thing, doing another, notably,  under Obama, Bush/Cheney and the Clintons, waging permanent wars on …

Eric Zuesse has brought to our attention that US intelligence officials have placed a story in Buzzfeed, “a Democratic party mouthpiece,” that the Russian government used fake news to get Donald Trump elected president. 

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/12/63755.html 

According to Buzzfeed:

US intelligence

Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s Republic of China president Tsai Ying-wen upended 37 years of precedent in U.S. foreign policy and potentially raised tensions with China, but his tweets afterwards didn’t help matters.

Since the phone call made the …

URGENT ACTION ALERT

On November 30th, the House passed HR 34, a 996-page bill, known as the 21st Century Cures Act. They are now rushing to get it introduced and passed by the Senate on Monday, December 5th, at 5:30 …

The first part of the research on the Horn of Africa described the regional state-to-state political dynamics, and now it’s time to delve into each country more in depth in order to acquire a heightened sense of their strategic positions. …

Last Friday December 2, Denmark has announced officially that it will suspend its participation in airstrikes on Syria and Iraq. In this press note of The Local, we read that Danish Foreign Ministry Anders Samuelsen stated that “We have decided …

While Syrian government forces are retaking neighborhood after neighborhood in east Aleppo, thousands of civilians have seized the opportunity to flee the violence. Locals shared their memories of what they left behind with RT.

The 2016 presidential election did not only expose the political process and the duopoly political party system as a major mechanism of control, but exposed how the Democratic Party and their liberal supporters act as collaborators in upholding the status …

Seasoned journalist, White House official, and historian Pat Buchanan has responded to the Washington Post’s fake news about the independent journalists on the 200 List being Russian agents by reminding us that the US government has always been a major …

Two days after over 80,000 eastern Aleppo residents were freed from US-supported terrorists, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov said the UN, America, Britain and France declined to provide any humanitarian aid.

Russia and Syria alone are helping thousands …

Common wisdom says that after Donald Trump got elected in the United States, Vietnam should be in panic.

True, there could be some ‘objective’ reasons for alarm, if one is truly obsessed with the ‘free’ trade agreements.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership …

On November 30, one week after the Washington Post launched its witch hunt against “Russian propaganda fake news”, with 390 votes for, the House quietly passed “H.R. 6393, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017“, sponsored by California …

During months of US/Russia talks on conflict resolution in Syria, Washington consistently undermined Moscow’s good faith efforts, breaching promises made, violating SC Res. 2254 terms – unanimously adopted in December 2015, calling for ceasefire and diplomatic conflict resolution.

In October …

When I first went to Hiroshima in 1967, the shadow on the steps was still there. It was an almost perfect impression of a human being at ease: legs splayed, back bent, one hand by her side as she sat …

Initially published in 2005, posted on GR on March 15, 2016

Author’s Note

This essay is an updated version of my original piece, ‘Frauds-R-US‘, written for ‘Devastating Society’, edited by Bernd Hamm, Pluto Press, 2005. Unfortunately, due to …

“Taming Trump”, Key Republican Appointments: What a Trump Presidency Might Look Like

By Jack Rasmus, December 02 2016

“The old ladies at the bingo club wouldn’t carry on as much as the politicians have about this whole backpacker tax.”— Fiona Hall, ABC News, Dec 2, 2016

The morning news on the ABC network featured blondes, and more blondes, …

Last night, the Syrian army and its allies withdrew from Sheikh Saeed neighborhood of Aleppo city under the pressure by Jaish al-Fatah militants. Government forces remain in control of some points in the southern part of the area where clashes …

On November 30th, Buzzfeed bannered “Intel Officials Believe Russia Spreads Fake News”. Their ‘reporter’ (that is, stenographer of U.S. government propaganda) opened: “US intelligence officials believe Russia helped disseminate fake and propagandized news as part of a broader effort …

The Russians just gave (again) a public lecture of how to handle the wannabe-Sultan Erdogan.

Turkey entered Syria to end al-Assad’s rule: President Erdoğan  – November 29

The Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end the rule of

We await the crisis. It could be economic. It could be a terrorist attack within the United States. It could be widespread devastation caused by global warming. It could be nationwide unrest as the death spiral of the American empire …

The Washington Post(11/24/16) last week published a front-page blockbuster that quickly went viral: Russia-promoted “fake news” had infiltrated the newsfeeds of 213 million Americans during the election, muddying the waters in a disinformation scheme to benefit Donald …