MSNBC can no longer be characterized as a liberal network. Behind “Never Trump” and Russiagate cover, it has gathered liberal consent for its transition into a 24/7 voice of the corporate center-right.
Max Blumenthal added,
andrew kaczynskiVerified account@KFILE
I’ve looked at this a dozen times and still can’t believe it’s real.
Starting with oil, Tsvetana Paraskova (OILPRICE) points out that Iraq is "OPEC's second biggest producer." And Iraq is coming off a very busy December. Ben Van Heuvelen and Ben Lando (IRAQ OIL REPORT) note,
"Iraq's oil sector finished its most prolific year in history with a
record-setting month of exports." It's most prolific year in history
with a record-setting month of exports?
Protest in Baghdad over services and corruption and in support of those in BasraProtest in Nasiriya over lack of water at university Protest in Basra calling for provincial govt to be dismissed
Grasp that the people in Basra don't have potable water. Grasp that
cholera is again on the rise in Iraq. Grasp all of that and so much
more and ask where the money goes? Refugees? The United Nations, the
Red Cross and others tend to care for the refugees. So where does the
money go?
Of the windfall, Carla Sertin (ARABIAN INDUSTRY) explains, "The vast majority of exports came from Iraq's southern Basra area, which is oil-rich. It exported 2.63mn bpd in December, Reuters reported, up from 3.363mn bpd in November." HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS adds,
"The average sale price in December was $52.8 per barrel, generating
around $6.1 billion in revenue, the statement [from the Ministry of Oil]
said."
In December, the oil trafficking generated "around $6.1 billion in
revenue." But with a population that is approximately 36 million
people, you have people living in poverty? In the land of widows and
orphans, you have people struggling to eat. Yet in one month alone,
they brought in $6.1 billion?
Where does the money go?
The corrupt officials and politicians get rich. Nouri al-Maliki, to
name but one, should be in prison alone for how his family became rich
while he was prime minister with Nouri Jr. having bachelor pads across
Europe (not just in England) and tons of sports cars. What did Nouri
Jr. (Ahmed al-Maliki)
ever do? Did he ever work an actual job? No, Daddy put him on the
payroll. And what a payroll it was for him to afford all that he now
has.
Corruption flourishes in Iraq. The US has selected puppets and let them
do anything in the hope that they would finally -- at last, for real
this time -- get the oil and gas law passed.
They have never been able to do so thus far.
And the US government turns the other way as the press is attacked in Iraq -- by the Iraqi government.
Remember when THE NEW YORK TIMES pulled a reporter after a gun was
pointed at him? And remember how, instead of making this front page
news, they buried it?
Remember when the 2012 protests resulted in the kidnapping and beating
of reporters -- reporters who were willing to go on the record? THE NEW
YORK TIMES mocked what happened while THE WASHINGTON POST and NPR
actually covered it.
It's happening again, the attacks on the reporters.
Iraqi SWAT forces arrest reporter covering protests in front of Basra Province government building. Initially, security forces tried to seize his equipment. When he resisted, he was arrested.
Iraqi SWAT forces arrest reporter covering protests in front of Basra Province government building. Initially, security forces tried to seize his equipment. When he resisted, he was arrested. iraq.liveuamap.com/en/2018/30-dec…
Iraqi SWAT forces arrest reporter covering protests in front of Basra Province government building. Initially, security forces tried to seize his equipment. When he resisted, he was arrested. mobp.as/6qN6n
Where is the outcry?
The attitude of the western press is: We all have to be silent and give a
chance for the latest US puppet to get his footing. They always have
an excuse for failing to cover what actually happened.
TIME magazine wants to pretend -- check out all the different covers for
that issue -- that they care about actual journalism and support
journalists in difficult situations. But TIME's not reported on it.
The Committee To Protect Journalists? Not a word. But didn't they send
Al Roker to Time Square for New Year's Eve? Great job, CPJ, you should
be proud of yourself for being a blithering idiot.
Meanwhile, they raise 'em dumb in the 'resistance.' Big surprise, as
they spread fear about Russia, they don't have the time to actually
learn anything -- thereby explaining this stupid Tweet.
Oh boy. Britain once held Basra during the Iraq invasion and it flourished.
Basra did not flourish under the British. What a stupid thing to say.
What an insane thing to say. Reality, the Brits were run out of Basra.
They were hidden away on a base for the last months and that base?
Dismantled by hand within 24 hours of their departure -- not by the
Brits, by the people of Basra. What a liar. But you have to be a liar
to be part of the 'resistance.' You have to pretend war is good and you
have to whore for corporatists Democrats because we must not criticize
them, right? We must bite our tongue for the good of the country.
Bulls**t.
The Brits were not in control in Basra. They fled their base in 2007
for the safety of the airport. Everyone criticized their action. The
American officials -- military and civilian -- were publicly stating
that the British had lost Basra before the British fled their base for
the airport.
Halliburton Company has signed two contracts with Eni
Iraq BV (Eni) to provide integrated drilling services at Eni’s Zubair
Oil Field in Southern Iraq.
Under the terms of contracts, Halliburton will mobilise four to six rigs to drill development wells over the next two years.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019. The new year is upon us and already Jake
Tapper's making clear that he's more obsessed with gossip (Donald
Trump's mean Tweet) than actual issues (such as Senator Elizabeth
Warren's major essay that is the opening salvo in her campaign to win
the Democratic Party's presidential nomination).
The Russian Gov’t is basically holding an American hostage. A retired Marine. Who works for an automotive components supplier. Who served two tours in Iraq. Why isn’t Trump doing anything about this? Oh, because he’s on the Russian Govt’s side, not USA. What will he give Putin?
According to a piece out on Wednesday by The Daily Beast, one of these new anti-Trump PACs, the Democratic Coalition Against Trump,
has been sinking its donors’ money into consultants and its own legal
expenses rather than tangible action to fight back against the
president.
As the site reports, the group
brought in half a million dollars last year, $130,000 of which was paid
to the Bulldog Finance Group—a consulting firm run by political
operative Scott Dworkin, who is also a senior adviser at the Democratic
Coalition. More than half of the money raised by the Democratic
Coalition last year was funneled to its employees or their consulting
firms. In 2016, the numbers were even worse: “Dworkin and other staff
members received more than 90% of all of the Democratic Coalition’s
expenditures, either personally or through a consulting company.”
(Dworkin’s Twitter handle is literally @funder.)
Dworkin’s PAC scam isn’t some sort of new invention—such groups proliferated among conservatives who
exploited the backlash against Obama for their own profit.
Unfortunately, the grift is bipartisan and will endure until the laws
that lightly police these organizations are tightened.
So what's Scammy Dworkin Tweeting about now?
A Canadian citizen of British parents who apparently acquired American
citizenship at some point. Is he a spy? A US government spy? A
corporate spy?
Who knows.
Despite Scammy Dworkin's hysterical Tweet both Congress and the State Dept are aware of the arrest.
The State Dept, noting privacy concerns, have declared that they are working on the issue of consular access.
Scammy showed no concern over Maria Butina's arrest or imprisonment here
in the US. But he and others are sure eager to tie Maria into the
arrest of Mr. Multi-citizenship.
Professional Liar Samantha Vinograd is among the people pimping the
hypothesis (presented as fact) that this man was arrested because of
Maria Butina.
That would be the Samantha who works for Goldman Sachs when not
delivering 'commentary' on CNN. Because that's what a 'good' American
does, right?
Back in the day, she had to hide in the shadows. Why? She's also
Jewish -- a fact Barack worked hard to conceal when he put over Iraq
during his presidency. Why? Iraqis already feel that they have been
controlled and manipulated by the government of Israel. The revelation
that Saint Barack had installed some Jewish person over supervising
their country might have been the last straw for the US occupation.
Having done nothing that improved life for the Iraqi people, Big Money
Samantha shows up to tell us what she knows must be taking place. Does
she still have a security clearance? If she does, her statements are in
violation and she needs to have her clearance pulled.
The Iraqi people continue to suffer while 'helpers' like Samantha grow rich with Goldman Sachs.
It's a real shame that there were no women in Barack's administration who could have addressed this never-ending issue.
If only the National Security Council had a woman over Iraq -- Oh,
wait. They did. We were just talking about Samantha Vinograd. She did
nothing to help Iraqi women. Oh, and wasn't there a Secretary of
State?
No, not John Kerry. If John tries to run for the Democratic Party
nomination, we'll float what he doesn't want anyone to remember -- his
infamous cranky meltdown where he declared that women's rights didn't
matter and he had more to focus on. He had that meltdown not in the 70s
or 80s or even 90s. He had that public meltdown while he was
Secretary of State. Retire from public life, John, no one needs you.
No, we're talking about Hillary Clinton. What did she do to stop female
genital mutilation? The problem existed before she was Secretary of
State. And she has repeatedly presented herself as the defender of
women's rights. So what did Hillary do?
Hint: Nothing.
The US government has never cared about the well being of the Iraqi
people. After 15 years of war and occupation, if you're still not
grasping that, you really need some sort of remedial instructor to
assist you before you next try to speak in the public square.
Retired four-star Admiral William McRaven, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014 (which included the OBL mission), just issued the following statement to CNN in response to POTUS attacking GEN McChrystal on twitter:
1/4
2/4
“Stan McChrystal is one of the great generals of this generation and the finest officer I ever served with. He is a deep strategic thinker, tactically brilliant, with unparalleled personal courage. His leadership of special operations forces in Iraq and Afghanistan...
3/4
“... unquestionably saved the lives of thousands of American and allied troops, as well as countless civilians. No general I know has given more in the service of this country."
4/4
Trump’s tweet this morning attacking McChrystal was in response to the general saying the president is dishonest and immoral:
Oh, Jake, you think you're running with the big boys but you're just standing there in a soggy diaper.
Where's your Tweet about the genital mutilation? Or about Iraq at all?
Instead you're wasting everyone's time over Stanley McCrystal? The
general Barack Obama fired? A detail you leave out in your Tweet as you
rush to defend this idiot. Just because Donald calls him out doesn't
mean you have to defend him. There's nothing worth defending.
Maybe you're trying to erase Michael Hastings? In his very short life,
Michael did journalism that mattered. You? Not so much, Jake, not so
much.
CNN is a joke and a number of people will be fired soon. Jake, you'd do
well to focus on actual journalism and actual news instead of joining
the Trump hysteria. Don't come crying to me if it's decided that you're
not really enhancing CNN's reputation. They want to get rid of Chris
but don't feel they can because of his brother. Jake, you don't have a
brother who's governor of New York so start focusing on news before it's
too late for you.
For those late to McCrystal, he's a horrid man. He lied about Pat
Tillman for propaganda reasons. There is no noble -- or even rational
-- bone in his body. He wanted more US troops in Afghanistan in 2009.
When he didn't get his way? He was insubordinate to the Commander in
Chief (Barack) and leaked to his friends in the press. He got his way
-- when he should have been fired -- but despite getting what he wanted,
his assessment was proven wrong -- the increase did not win the war.
McCrystal is a failure. And that's before we get to the part where
Stanley The Bitch McCrystal mocks Joe Biden and Barack Obama to a
reporter (Hastings). Talk about gross insubordination. He is no one to
praise. He refuted the civilian control over the military that is
basic to a democracy. He is no one to praise.
Instead of wasting our time on nonsense, Jake Tapper should be
addressing real news. US Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to be
president. She's considering a run for the Democratic Party's 2020
presidential nomination. As part of that consideration, she's contributed a major paper to COFR's FOREIGN AFFAIRS. We've noted it already this week but let's note what she says about war in the paper:
A foreign policy that works for
all Americans must also be driven by honest assessments of the full
costs and risks associated with going to war. All three of my brothers
served in the military, and I know our service members and their
families are smart, tough, and resourceful. But having a strong military
doesn’t mean we need to constantly use it. An effective deterrent also
means showing the good judgment to exercise appropriate restraint.
Over the past two decades, the
United States has been mired in a series of wars that have sapped its
strength. The human cost of these wars has been staggering: more than
6,900 killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, another 52,000 wounded, and many
more who live every day with the invisible scars of war. By financing
these conflicts while cutting taxes, the country has essentially charged
the costs of war to a collective credit card for future generations to
pay, diverting money that could have been invested in critical domestic
priorities. This burden will create a drag on the economy that will last
for generations.
The costs have been
extraordinarily high, but these wars have not succeeded even on their
own terms. We’ve “turned the corner” in Afghanistan so many times that
it seems we’re now going in circles. After years of constant war,
Afghanistan hardly resembles a functioning state, and both poppy
production and the Taliban are again on the rise. The invasion of Iraq
destabilized and fragmented the Middle East,
creating enormous suffering and precipitating the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of people. The region remains a tangled mess—the promise of
the Arab Spring crushed, Iran emboldened, Syria devastated, the Islamic
State (or ISIS) and its offshoots stubbornly resilient, and a massive
refugee crisis threatening to destabilize Europe. Neither military nor
civilian policymakers seem capable of defining success, but surely this
is not it.
A singular focus on
counterterrorism, meanwhile, has dangerously distorted U.S. policies.
Here at home, we have allowed an imperial presidency to stretch the
Constitution beyond recognition to justify the use of force, with little
oversight from Congress. The government has at times defended tactics,
such as torture, that are antithetical to American values. Washington
has partnered with countries that share neither its goals nor its
ideals. Counterterrorism efforts have
often undermined other foreign policy priorities, such as reinforcing
civilian governance, the rule of law, and human rights abroad. And in
some cases, as with U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s proxy war in Yemen,
U.S. policies risk generating even more extremism.
As a member of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, I have seen up close how 17 years of conflict have
degraded equipment, sapped forces’ readiness, and forced the
postponement of investment in critical military capabilities. It has
distracted Washington from growing dangers in other parts of the world: a
long-term struggle for power in Asia, a revanchist Russia that
threatens Europe, and looming unrest in the Western Hemisphere,
including a collapsing state in Venezuela that
threatens to disrupt its neighbors. Would-be rivals, for their part,
have watched and learned, and they are hard at work developing
technologies and tactics to leapfrog the United States, investing
heavily in such areas as robotics, cybersecurity, artificial
intelligence, synthetic biology, and quantum computing. China is making
massive bets in these and other areas in an effort to surpass the United
States as a global technological power. Whether the United States will
maintain its edge and harness these technologies for good remains an
open question.
It is the job of the U.S.
government to do what is necessary to protect Americans, but it is long
past time to start asking what truly makes the country safer—and what
does not. Military efforts alone will never fully succeed at ending
terrorism, because it is not possible to fight one’s way out of
extremism. Some challenges, such as cyberattacks and nuclear
proliferation, require much more than a strong military to combat. And
other dangers, such as climate change and the spread of infectious
diseases, cannot be solved through military action at all. The United
States will spend more than $700 billion on
defense in the 2018–19 fiscal year alone. That is more in real terms
than was spent under President Ronald Reagan during the Cold War and
more than all the rest of the country’s discretionary budget put
together. But even as Washington spends more and more, U.S. military
leaders point out that funding a muscular military without robust
diplomacy, economic statecraft, support for civil society, and
development assistance only hamstrings American national power and
undercuts any military gains.
As a candidate, Trump promised to
bring U.S. troops home. As president, he has sent more troops into
Afghanistan. On the campaign trail, Trump claimed he did not want to
police the world. As president, he has expanded the United States’
military footprint around the globe, from doubling the number of U.S.
air strikes in Somalia to establishing a drone base in Niger.
As a candidate, Trump promised to rebuild the military, but as
president, he has gutted the diplomatic corps on which the Pentagon
relies. He promised to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation, but
he has undermined a successful nuclear deal with Iran, has failed to
roll back the North Korean nuclear program, and seems intent on spurring
a new nuclear arms race with Russia.
These actions do not make
Americans safer. It’s time to seriously review the country’s military
commitments overseas, and that includes bringing U.S. troops home from
Afghanistan and Iraq. They have fought with honor, but additional
American blood spilled will not halt the violence or result in a
functioning democratic government in either place.
Sidebar: I especially like the turned corner remark -- since we've made
it here for over 10 years now. It's a bit like when I saw Alexandria's
Tweet responding to Claire McCaskill. As Keesha's long said of
this site, "This is a private conversation taking place in a public
sphere." So if Claire found my words worth using, more power to her.
But at some point, does Jake intend to explore what Elizabeth Warren's
advocating for? Does anyone? Because this qualifies as something that
matters.
McCrystal's itty-bitty feelings? They don't matter at all.
There are issues that actually matter and if the press could stop
obsessing over Donald Trump's insults, they might have time to actually
cover the news that matters. But gossip is so much cheaper to
manufacture, right, CNN?
The US military has issued a report, admitting killing additional civilians since it started its military campaign in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The report released on Sunday
shows that over 1,100 civilians were inadvertently killed in airstrikes
over the last four years, marking an increase of 15 people since
November.
War monitoring groups, however, estimate that the raids have killed thousands of civilians.
“The Coalition conducted a total
of 31,406 strikes between August 2014 and end of November 2018. During
this period, based on information available, CJTF-OIR assesses at least
1,139 civilians have been unintentionally killed by Coalition strikes
since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve,” said the report.
A new year. Before we get fully into it, check out these end of the year pieces by Stan, Ann and Rebecca:
