Canada’s role in the postmodern imperial world is as a poster child for promoting formal electoral democracy—at home and abroad. Internationally, instead of offering peacekeeping troops to the UN, as in days of yore, and promoting grassroots development in the third world, it takes orders directly from its US-Euro masters, helping them invade countries if necessary to set up the mechanisms for elections, and ignoring for the most part the real problems that the poor of the world face. It uses its foreign diplomatic service not to promote peace and social justice, but to support the needs of Canadian corporations abroad and facilitate their quest for profits. Continue reading →
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the decision by the Bush-Cheney administration to invade the country of Iraq and initiate what can be called a war of choice. This is a good time to briefly look back at this unsavory historical episode. Continue reading →
The government of Pakistan claims that there are “red lines” which drones and ground soldiers dare not cross (US urged not to cross ‘red line’ in Fata). This is another lie. In reality, US drones (and possibly “private contractors”) cross those lines every day. Just another day in the multi-faceted psychological war games, that are fought-out in FATA every day. Continue reading →
The timing of the Israeli air raid early on January 30 on a Syrian target, that has yet to be identified, coincided with hard to refute indications that the “regime change” in Syria by force, both by foreign military intervention and by internal armed rebellion, has failed, driving the Syrian opposition in exile to opt unwillingly for “negotiations” with the ruling regime, with the blessing of the U.S., EU and Arab League, concluding, in the words of a Deutsche Welle report on this February 2, that “nearly two years since the revolt began, (Syrian President Bashar Al-) Assad is still sitting comfortably in the presidential chair.” Continue reading →
The British security firm G4S is set to rake in massive profits thanks to crises in Mali, Libya and Algeria. Recognized as the world’s biggest security firm, the group’s brand plummeted during the London Olympics last year due to its failure to satisfy conditions of a government contract. But with growing unrest in North and West Africa, G4S is expected to make a speedy recovery. Continue reading →
Thinking ahead is one thing. Preemptive thinking is paranoia run wild. Continue reading →
I should have known better. Both Jim Fetzer and Kevin Barrett claimed, on the Internet, that Sandy Hook was a false-flag op. Yet, out of some naive urge that Americans couldn’t be that cruel (mea culpa), I tried to give a more reasonable explanation of what Jeff Prager had questioned and written in an article posted on Barrett’s Truth Jihad Radio, mainly that Chief Medical Examiner D. Wayne Carver II, MD, of Connecticut, acted and answered strangely in a press conference flanked by Connecticut State Police. Continue reading →
A reductionist discourse is one that selectively tailors its reading of subject matters in such a way as to only yield desired outcomes, leaving little or no room for other inquiries, no matter how appropriate or relevant. The so-called Arab Spring, although now far removed from its initial meanings and aspirations, has become just that: a breeding ground for choosy narratives solely aimed at advancing political agendas which are deeply entrenched with regional and international involvement. Continue reading →
In his inaugural address on January 21, U.S. President Barak Obama made the historic announcement that “a decade of war is ending” and declared his country’s determination to “show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully,” but his message will remain words that have yet to be translated into deeds and has yet to reach some of the U.S.’s closest allies in the Middle East who are still beating the drums of war, like Israel against Iran and Qatar against Syria. Continue reading →
If you’re one of those who equate the worlds of Washington and Hollywood—the standard joke: “Politics is show business for ugly people”—then a presidential inauguration is the Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmy Awards combined, right down to the parties, balls, extravagant wardrobes and goody bags stuffed with swag. Continue reading →
The military-dominated politics pushed by Hafiz Saeed are identical to those of the actual “Taliban,” who were nice enough to provide America with a convenient excuse to wage experimental techno-warfare in Afghanistan (SEE: Rightwing alliance is revived; Pushing Pakistan’s Buttons–or Shit Rolls Downhill). Continue reading →
The US Code defines terrorism as a crime that appears to be intended to (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping. Continue reading →
What does a Palestinian farmer who is living in a village tucked in between the secluded West Bank hills, a prisoner on hunger strike in an Israeli jail and a Palestinian refugee roaming the Middle East for shelter all have in common? They are all characters in one single, authentic, solid and cohesive narrative. The problem however, is that Western media and academia barely reflect that reality or intentionally distort it, disarticulate it and when necessary, defame its characters. Continue reading →
“Respect Existence or Expect Resistance,” chant native Canadians as a showdown 11 January looms with Prime Minister Harper. Continue reading →
The United States is risking a disastrous renewal of war in the Caucasus between Armenians and Azeris over the breakaway Armenian-populated Republic of Mountainous Karabagh (RMK, or Artsakh in ancient Armenian). Continue reading →
France is insisting on ‘rapid’ military intervention in Mali. Its unmanned drones have reportedly been scouring the desert of the troubled West African nation—although it claims that the drones are seeking the whereabouts of six French hostages believed to be held by Al-Qaeda. Continue reading →
France and Britain have begun to circle Syria like vultures (my apologies to vultures, who politely wait for their prey to die). They plan to save Syria from chemical bombs—a surreal replay of Suez 1956, where France and Britain cooked up a pretext to invade Egypt with the US posing as the more restrained gang member, not to mention Iraq 2003, when they reversed their roles. Continue reading →
“In a moment of high theatre he dropped to his knees, placed his lips on the ground and kissed the land he has commanded by proxy.” This is how Robert Tait of the British Telegraph worded the moment Khaled Meshaal arrived in Gaza on Dec. 7. Continue reading →
The Wall Street Journal, which, since being acquired by Rupert Murdoch, has been heavy on right-wing propaganda and weak on news, has exposed a major program by the Obama administration to conduct a massive sweep of government and private databases to build up terrorist suspect computerized dossiers on millions of Americans. Continue reading →
Those like myself who believe the government utilizes weather-modification weapons to cause hurricanes, even earthquakes, disdain the title ‘conspiracy theorists,’ particularly those concerned about HAARP, the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program. which the European Union called a global concern and passed a resolution, as well, calling for more information on its health and environmental risks. In spite of these concerns, officials at HAARP insist the project is nothing more sinister than a radio science research facility, that is, until the military gets its hands on it. Continue reading →
From the Congress of Vienna of 1815 to the Congress of Berlin in 1878 to the “Allies” invasion of Russia in 1918 to the formation of what became the European Union in the 1950s, the great powers of Europe and the world have gotten together in grand meeting halls and on the field of battle to set the ground rules for imperialist exploitation of Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, to Christianize and ‘civilize’, to remake the maps, and to suppress revolutions and other threats to great-power hegemony. They have been deadly serious. Continue reading →
Palestine has become a “non-member state” at the United Nations as of Thursday. November 29, 2012.The draft of the UN resolution beckoning what many perceive as a historic moment passed with an overwhelming majority of General Assembly members: 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions. Continue reading →
In life, some phenomena cannot be explained by ordinary logic or technical language, let alone official discourses. How did Gaza manage to fight back with such ferocity and undying vigor in quelling the latest Israeli war, despite years of a bloody siege and one-sided war in 2008–9? It simply cannot be explained by the outmoded language of today’s media analysts. Notwithstanding, a new reality is about to emerge. Continue reading →
Hidden away somewhere within the labyrinth of the Pentagon there must be a top secret euphemism department engaged in the invention of the Orwellian surrogate words that have crept surreptitiously into the American English vocabulary and from there translated into many other languages. Continue reading →
Many key phrases have been presented to explain Israel’s latest military onslaught against Gaza, which left scores dead and wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is flexing his muscles in preparation for the Israeli general elections in January, suggested some. It is Israel’s way of testing the administration of Egyptian President Mahmoud Morsi, commented others. It was a stern message to Iran, instructed few. Or that Israel is simply assessing its ‘deterrence’ capabilities. And so on. Continue reading →
Europe is different, as we are often reminded. The general wisdom is unlike the United States’ unconditional support for Israel, European countries tend to be more balanced in their approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Their politicians are less receptive to being bought and sold by pro-Israeli lobbies. Their media is far more inclusive in their coverage—unlike the staunchly one-sided US mainstream media that, at times, are far more pro-Israel than Israeli media itself. While one must concede that no single country’s foreign policy is an exact carbon copy of another, there is little evidence that set the European Union (EU) apart as a platform of evenhandedness and political sensibility. Unlike the United States however, European bias is far more inconspicuous, and purposely so. Continue reading →
Four years after Barack Obama was elected on a platform of “change you can believe in,” he’s now promising America that the “best is yet to come.” However, on almost every front—fiscally, militarily, politically, socially—the country is in a state of disarray. Continue reading →
In a rare interview with Russia Today TV, President Bashar Assad vigorously clarified his stance on the current Syrian crisis created by the West and some regional states, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, and warned them of the apocalyptic consequences of any foreign intervention in Syria. Continue reading →
The US is screwed
SAN FRANCISCO—Yea, . . . it’s true. China stopped going to the US Treasury Bond Sales auction. As a result, the US changed their tune in a hurry in the South China Sea. Looks like there is a new sheriff in town and the US was thrown under the bus by China. As far as we know publicly, the Chinese did not even say a word. Continue reading →
WASHINGTON, DC—The United States and European Union are setting the stage for a Syrian invasion. Continue reading →
Editors representing many Asian newspapers stood in a perfect line. They were nervous and giddy at the prospect of meeting Li Changchun, China’s powerful member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee. Continue reading →
“Today, many Americans are asking—indeed I ask myself,” Hillary Clinton said, “how can this happen? How can this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated, and at times, how confounding the world can be.” Continue reading →
