The Peace Press — Saturday, October 30, 2021 edition
“Assange is being extradited because his organization WikiLeaks released the Iraq War Logs in October 2010, which documented numerous U.S. war crimes — including video images of the gunning down of two Reuters journalists and 10 other unarmed civilians in the Collateral Murder video, the routine torture of Iraqi prisoners, the covering up of thousands of civilian deaths and the killing of nearly 700 civilians who had approached too closely to U.S. checkpoints.”
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“Tyrannies invert the rule of law. They turn the law into an instrument of injustice. They cloak their crimes in a faux legality. They use the decorum of the courts and trials, to mask their criminality. Those, such as Assange, who expose that criminality to the public are dangerous, for without the pretext of legitimacy the tyranny loses credibility and has nothing left in its arsenal but fear, coercion and violence.
The long campaign against Assange and WikiLeaks is a window into the collapse of the rule of law, the rise of what the political philosopher Sheldon Wolin calls our system of inverted totalitarianism, a form of totalitarianism that maintains the fictions of the old capitalist democracy, including its institutions, iconography, patriotic symbols and rhetoric, but internally has surrendered total control to the dictates of global corporations and the security and surveillance state.
There is no legal basis to hold Assange in prison. There is no legal basis to try him, an Australian citizen, under the U.S. Espionage Act. The CIA spied on Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy through a Spanish company, UC Global, contracted to provide embassy security.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/28/chris-hedges-the-most-important-battle-for-press-freedom-in-our-time/
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The bombshell revelations of the imprisoned journalist were arguably small potatoes compared to the criminality Assange exposed by simply standing his ground, writes Caitlin Johnstone.
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/29/from-press-freedom-to-prison-systems-everything-assange-touches-gets-illuminated/
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If the Nobel Peace prize actually stood for anything noble, it should have awarded Julian Assange with the Nobel Peace prize.
“The work of the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder could have world-changing consequences leading to harmony among nations, writes Karen Sharpe.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/29/instead-of-facing-extradition-assange-should-have-won-the-nobel-war-prize/
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Appeal Hearing: Prosecutor Attacks Judge’s Decision, Which Blocked US From Extraditing Assange
https://thedissenter.org/prosecutor-attacks-judges-decision-which-blocked-us-from-extraditing-assange/
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“Why is Joe Biden’s Department of Justice continuing Donald Trump’s persecution of WikiLeaks founder, publisher and journalist Julian Assange?”
https://truthout.org/articles/uk-high-court-should-deny-extradition-because-cia-planned-to-assassinate-assange/
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“Were his extradition to be allowed it would set a precedent that would effectively criminalise common journalistic practices.”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/10/27/free-julian-assange-now
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“Virtually no one responsible for alleged U.S. war crimes committed in the course of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars has been held accountable… and yet a publisher who exposed such crimes is potentially facing a lifetime in jail.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/27/us-makes-case-extradition-global-demand-rises-assanges-immediate-freedom
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“Ahead of an appeal hearing against the decision by a UK court not to extradite Julian Assange to the USA, Amnesty International’s Secretary General has called on US authorities to drop the charges against him and the UK authorities not to extradite him but release him immediately.
The call by Agnès Callamard follows an investigation by Yahoo News revealing that US security services considered kidnapping or killing Julian Assange when he was resident in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. These reports further weaken already unreliable US diplomatic assurances that Assange will not be placed in conditions that could amount to ill-treatment if extradited.”
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/news-news/2021/10/us-uk-drop-the-charges-stop-the-extradition-and-free-julian-assange-says-amnesty-head/
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“The two-day U.S. appeal against the denial of extradition of Julian Assange has ended in London with the U.S. promising humane prison conditions and Assange’s lawyers saying the CIA tried to kill him.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/28/day-two-cia-tried-to-kill-assange-us-hes-only-moderately-depressed-wont-go-to-isolation/
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“The Central Intelligence Agency’s record of retaliation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, including reported plans to kidnap or assassinate him, was focused on during the second day of the United States government’s appeal hearing.
It was part of the Assange legal team’s effort to convince the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom of the gravity of the risks, which Assange would face if they overturn a district judge’s decision and allow extradition.”
https://thedissenter.org/appeal-hearing-cia-war-assange-most-prominent-critic/
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“The US government’s efforts to extradite the Wikileaks founder pose a grave threat to press freedom both in the US and abroad.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/10/27/free-julian-assange-now
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Perpetual military spending on artificial boogeymen and made-up monsters is the greatest threat to what is left of our democracy and our liberty at home. It is also the greatest threat to the lives of the troops sent to fight abroad. China and Russia are being artificially painted as exactly such monsters and this serves the needs of the Empire by providing an everlasting enemy upon which perpetual war and perpetual military spending both depend upon for survival. Meanwhile, your liberty and economic well-being continually suffers. So ask the question: What value does the U.S. military actually provide to this nation? Does perpetually high military spending do us more harm than good? If you think so, then I encourage to do whatever you can to speak out, change minds and help undermine and subvert the warfare state.
It is within our power and thus we must use it to sabotage the U.S. war effort.
Together we can.
“Given the 20 years of disastrous warfare that followed the George W. Bush administration’s announcement of a “Global War on Terror” and its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, what business does Washington have building a new military alliance in Asia? Shouldn’t the Biden administration instead be building alliances dedicated to combating global warming, pandemics, hunger, and other urgent human needs? What business do three white leaders of three white-majority countries have attempting to dominate that region through military force?
While the leaders of some countries there have welcomed AUKUS, the three allies signaled the racist, retrograde, downright colonial nature of their Anglo Alliance by excluding other Asian countries from their all-white club. Naming China as its obvious target and escalating Cold War–style us-vs.-them tensions risk fueling already rampant anti-Chinese and anti-Asian racism in the United States and globally. Belligerent, often warlike rhetoric against China, associated with former President Donald Trump and other far-right Republicans, has increasingly been embraced by the Biden administration and some Democrats. It “has directly contributed to rising anti-Asian violence across the country,” write Asia experts Christine Ahn, Terry Park, and Kathleen Richards.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/cold-war-china/
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“Our spending isn’t just misguided; it’s immoral. Our choices today are condemning millions of people — descendants — to death.”
The largest institutional contributor to climate change is the United States military which uses 14 million gallons of gasoline per day.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/10/28/military-vs-climate-spending-moral-catastrophe-three-pictures
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Why is the U.S. in Syria, what national interest is in Syria and what are we fighting for?
“The Afghanistan withdrawal sparked rumors that the US might leave Syria, but the Biden administration has made it clear they plan to stay”
https://news.antiwar.com/2021/10/26/biden-officials-say-us-military-not-leaving-syria-any-time-soon/
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“After a US outpost is struck again, reportedly by Iranian-backed militias, the DoD assures our forces aren’t going anywhere. This is folly.”
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/10/28/our-troops-are-targets-in-syria-why-is-biden-keeping-them-there/
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“On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russia and China held their first ever joint naval patrols in the western Pacific as the two countries continue to step up military cooperation in the face of pressure from the US and its allies.
The patrols took place from October 17th to the 23rd and involved five Chinese warships and five Russian warships. The patrols included a passage through the Tsugaru Strait, which separates the northern Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.”
https://news.antiwar.com/2021/10/26/russia-china-hold-first-ever-joint-patrol-in-western-pacific/
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“Opposition to spheres of influence has been the mantra of the US government as long as it was powerful enough to assert itself in other nations’ neighborhoods. Washington officials were never against intervention or interference. They were only against intervention or interference by anyone other than a loyal US ally acting under Washington’s direction. Thus, American policymakers today solemnly intone that Ukraine, Georgia, Taiwan, and whatever other threatened country — outside of America’s neighborhood, anyway — has the right to choose its own future, free of outside interference. However reasonable this may sound, it is hard to square with Americans warning other states to respect the Monroe Doctrine.”
https://original.antiwar.com/doug-bandow/2021/10/26/china-and-the-monroe-doctrine-whats-good-for-the-goose-is-good-for-the-gander/
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“The security pact between the U.S., U.K. and Australia is a troubling reminder that these Anglo-Saxon powers are stuck in a Cold War mindset.”
https://www.noemamag.com/aukus-new-imperial-alliance-threatens-peace-in-asia/
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“The US is not obliged to defend Taiwan, and because of that China hawks have been agitating for at least the last year to make an explicit security guarantee to protect Taiwan against attack. Last week, President Biden made another unforced error when he affirmed that the US has a “commitment” to defend Taiwan when it does not, and his White House immediately clarified that he didn’t really mean what he had said. Sloppy and careless presidential rhetoric can create misunderstanding in foreign capitals, and it can also create opportunities for hard-liners to box a president in with his own ill-chosen words. “
https://original.antiwar.com/Daniel_Larison/2021/10/26/bidens-unforced-taiwan-error/
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“This battle of words has significant implications because the entire fabric of US-China relations rests on a certain understanding of Taiwan’s political status. Under the existing “One China” policy, adopted by US leaders when recognizing the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the United States acknowledges that Taiwan and the mainland are both part of China, with the relationship between those two segments to be settled between them in a peaceful fashion. This somewhat nebulous framework has allowed the US and China to establish mutually beneficial trade relations over the years and to avoid a war over Taiwan. But many in Taiwan and the US now want to abandon the One China concept in favor of outright support for an independent Taiwan — a position that can never be accepted by Beijing. The more US politicians seek to actualize such a posture by guarantying Taiwan military backing if it moves toward independence, the greater the likelihood China will feel compelled to preempt such a move through full-scale invasion, whatever the risks.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/china-taiwan-conflict/
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“The generals in the Pentagon want to get rich. Most strive to take this or that board position at one of the large weapon manufacturers after they retire. But to get there requires that the generals, while still in the military, promote more weapons sales.
Big newspapers are another party with interests in promoting weapon manufacturers and wars. They pay for quite a lot of advertisement. News of weapons and wars also nice clickbait which brings more paying subscribers and again additional advertisement.
These two forces collaborate in their weapon and war promoting efforts which in the best case result in the plundering of the common people. In the worst case the end result is the slaughter of many innocent humans for no sensible cause or reason.”
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/10/pentagon-generals-news-writers-abuse-chinese-test-flight-to-argue-for-more-weapons.html
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“After 20 years of war, only a limited number say they would decrease the overseas footprint. Most want a “shared leadership role” globally.”
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/10/11/poll-americans-urge-diplomacy-but-like-projecting-military-power-too/
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“From My Lai to WMD Lie
In dominant capitalist-imperialist media, America’s imperial crimes are airbrushed out of historical memory, like they never took place.”
“Ultimately deprived of real-world evidence for the non-existent menace, Bush went on to falsely claim that the US was invading and occupying Iraq to advance democracy — another striking deceit in which Powell participated.”
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/10/27/colin-powell-and-imperial-crimes-that-happen-but-dont/
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“Washington and Tel Aviv’s threats against Iran are rapidly proliferating. The Israelis reportedly just approved a $1.5 billion budget for a possible military attack on Iran. Israel’s Air Force is currently training “intensely” to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Under Joe Biden’s watch, the Iranian people continue to be crushed under the same cruel “maximum pressure” sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration. In fact, on multiple occasions, Biden has imposed new sanctions on Iran. The ceaseless economic warfare is justified by the lie that Iran was or is seeking nuclear weapons as well as the ever present ancillary alarmism that this would imperil Israel.
Apartheid Israel has maintained nuclear weapons for decades, numbering perhaps hundreds.”
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-hawks-are-encircling-iran-again/
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“One peace advocate urged all sides to reconvene negotiations “as soon as possible and with renewed urgency” to avert “disastrous” consequences for Iran and the world.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/27/very-welcome-progress-iran-agrees-restart-talks-nuclear-deal-sabotaged-trump
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“The US is growing impatient waiting for Iran to return to the JCPOA nuclear talks, which is odd since they’re the ones who left the agreement, and they’re the ones who have done nothing to return to it, including returning the required sanction relief.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken admonished Iran and said that “time is running short.” US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley warned that there is a “shared impatience” between the US and its allies as they wait for Iran.
But as the US grows unfairly impatient, Iran is growing increasingly patient. As time goes by, the reasons may be mounting why Iran is feeling less urgency than they did to rush back into the nuclear agreement.”
https://original.antiwar.com/Ted_Snider/2021/10/28/the-iran-nuclear-deal-the-us-is-losing-patience-iran-is-not/
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“Although critics of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan to increase funding for U.S. education, healthcare, and action against climate catastrophe say the United States can’t afford it, there are no such qualms about ramping up funding for the U.S. military.
This May, the Pentagon asked Congress to fund a $715 billion budget for Fiscal 2022 — an increase of $10 billion over the previous year. Together with another $38 billion requested for military-related programs at other government agencies, this would bring total U.S. military spending to $753 billion.
But from the standpoint of most Republicans and many Democrats in Congress, this was not enough.”
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/10/27/why-is-u-s-military-spending-increasing-to-new-outlandish-levels/
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“Raytheon’s CEO says Congress’s military allotment is more ‘aligned’ with the company’s business interests.”
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/10/27/weapons-execs-lament-losses-from-afghanistan-exit-tout-dod-budget-increase/
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“The Biden administration has sanctioned Eritrea and Ethiopia for alleged crimes against the Tigray people. But over the last three decades, successive US governments trained and modernized Ethiopia’s military under the cover of “peacekeeping” operations.”
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/10/26/training-ethiopias-us-anti-tigray-offensive/
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“Congress has the opportunity to enact essential reforms to protect us in the face of powerful and invasive technologies going forward. America’s leaders must put an end to mass spying — by ensuring that surveillance is targeted, that there is robust judicial oversight, and that people whose lives the government invades can have their day in court.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/578156-20-years-later-its-time-to-move-on-from-mass-surveillance
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“Tuesday is the 20th anniversary of the Patriot Act, the sweeping authorization of invasive federal surveillance powers passed shortly after the 9/11 attacks of 2001. Congress should observe the two-decade mark by starting work to repeal the law in full.
Much like the Iraq War in 2003, the Patriot Act began with lies. The George W. Bush administration claimed its changes would be “modest” and “incremental,” characterizing the law as a means of taking “existing legal principles and retrofitt[ing] them to preserve the lives and liberty of the American people from the challenges posed by a global terrorist network.” As civil libertarians argued at the time and subsequent years have demonstrated ad nauseum — not least via the 2013 revelations of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden — none of that was true.”
https://news.yahoo.com/patriot-act-20-years-old-155052907.html
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“Wishful thinking aside, the threat of nuclear war has not receded. In fact, the opposite is the case. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has been moving the “Doomsday Clock” ever closer to cataclysmic midnight; the symbolic hands are now merely 100 seconds from midnight, in contrast to six minutes a decade ago.
A nuclear war would quickly bring cataclysmic climate change.”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/10/27/climate-emergency-includes-threat-nuclear-winter
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“The world is a mess, and conservative politicians talk about increasing “defense spending.” This has obvious appeal. After all, who can be against defending the country?
The problem is that most of America’s military outlays have nothing to do with defense.
From 1789 to 1947, the US had a Department of War. So when Washington seized half of Mexico’s land and grabbed both Cuba and the Philippines from Spain — which required years more of combat to suppress local opposition — there was no implicit claim that these conflicts had anything to do with defending Americans.
Washington constantly intervened in Latin America, often for corporate interests. The famed Monroe Doctrine sought to exclude the Europeans, but not for the benefit of people in neighboring states. Rather, the purpose was to leave the region free for American military intervention.”
Disinformation and propaganda-by-omission — — — — brought to you by CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post and nearly every newspaper, magazine or periodical in the West. Arbiters of truth, my ass.
“Billionaire CIA-linked “overt operative” George Soros teams up on a shady media venture with tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, who financed a Facebook disinfo operation that framed Russia for meddling in US elections.”
The pseudo-Fascist, racist, oppressor-Apartheid State-of-Israel now conflates human rights activism with terrorism. How convenient for this oppressor nation?
“The aim is to embarrass Europe into defunding Palestinian human rights groups who have been effective at documenting Israeli war crimes, and therefore prevent further scrutiny.”
https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2021/10/26/israel-calls-the-fight-for-palestinian-rights-terror-and-so-turns-reality-on-its-head/
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Keep on doing the human rights work and keep on doing the BDS work. If Israel or the United States accuses you of terrorism, then admit to it and keep on doing what you are doing. Like this for example: I, Eric Edward Johansson, am a U.S. terrorist and I plan to keep on doing my non-violent terrorism perpetually and if my government doesn’t like it, well then they can drop to their knees, pucker up and kiss my big, fat, white ass. Whatcha going to do about it? Claiming to be a terrorist is an act of Free Speech and so long as you don’t actually hurt anyone is well within your rights to claim. Show no fear and if the government or their agents don’t like it, well that’s tough shit.
Wage Peace and Persevere!!!
“The organizations called the designation “a draconian measure that criminalizes critical human rights work.”
https://original.antiwar.com/Brett_Wilkins/2021/10/27/an-act-of-cowardice-21-israel-based-groups-condemn-terror-label-for-palestine-ngos/
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Biting rhetoric means nothing, President Biden, without the willingness to cut off all foreign aid to the State of Israel.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-10-26/us-voices-opposition-to-israels-plans-for-new-west-bank-settlement-homes
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“Nearly a year later, however, one struggles to understand the Palestinian euphoria of last year, and the absence of criticism of the current US administration for failing to reverse most of the pro-Israel decisions enacted by Trump. The latter’s unwarranted steps included the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, all in violation of international law and even the US’ own declared policies.
Considering all of this, why does the PA leadership remain largely silent regarding the fact that the Biden Administration, despite its rhetoric about peace and dialogue, maintains the same degree of commitment to Israel as Trump’s? The short answer is money.”
