IRAQ - Ezzat al-Douri Killing

Why It Doesn’t Matter if Iraq’s Ezzat al-Douri Was Killed (Video) Posted on Apr 18, 2015 By Juan Cole http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_it_doesnt_matter_if_iraqs_ezzat_al-douri_was_killed_video_20150418 SUMMARY Ezzat al-Douri = first high Baath Party official to turn to a religious group as a power base strategy common after 2003 US invasion Baath Party was founded by Christians & was militantly secular often persecuting religious groups & parties al-Douri = patron of Naqshbandi Sufi order in Mosul Sufism = mystical part Sunni tradition diff to Wahhabi-influenced Salafi al-Douri said to be behind “Men of the Naqshbandi” effective fighters against US + Shia in North Iraq Mosul Iraq Naqshbandis = one of groups that allied itself w. ISIL vs Shiite army ISIL stabbed Naqshbandis in the back Iraq Mosul ISIL Salafism offshoot screwed over new allies by arresting leading Naqshbandi figures & ex-Baathist ones USA method of eliminating heads of militant orgs has not worked on Taliban or in Iraq; partly b/c clan-led republics Iraq Taliban Leader elimination ineffective b/c when one leader is killed, his cousin just steps in Iraq Taliban Other reason eliminating leaders not effective: religion Religious charisma transferable (according to article) That Ezzat al-Douri may have been killed is not important He was old [& interchangeable {by sound of article}] Iraq by destroying the Baath govt of Iraq, Bush admin made vacuum of power & culture filld by religious forms of resistance Iraq Iraqi Sunnis were among more secular people in Middle East author says: desperation drove them to religious revolt. Really enjoyed this article. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party political party founded in Syria Al-Ba'ath or Ba'ath meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection" ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arabism, Arab socialist and anti-imperialist interests. Ba'athism calls for unification of the Arab world into a single state. [Wikipedia]

UK Foreign Office Fail - Slain Ukraine Journalists

Origin:  LeDahu

VIDEO: Wikileaks reveals Sony & US State Dept. mutual effort aimed at ISIS, Russia

Wikileaks reveals Sony & US State Dept. mutual effort aimed at ISIS, Russia SOURCE:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EMSkkT9mPVM Close ties between Sony & US State Dept exposed. WikiLeaks Sony archive belongs in public domain because:  archive shows inner workings of an influential multinational corporation; it is newsworthy & at centre of geopolitical conflict. That %$#$ Harf US State Dept spokesperson referring to 'a very high level of Russian propaganda' to 'hide' what Russia is doing in Ukraine ... errr, ... never mind the CIA coup in Ukraine and what the imperialist US is doing in Ukraine (and all over the WORLD) - including decades long dissemination of poison: US propaganda - makes me want to puke all over the keyboard. US State Dept attitude, as conveyed by Harf, summed up by reporter: US government in talks with entertainment giants to promote US foreign policy can be summarised in two words:  so what. Richard Stengel is not the first US official to put Russia and ISIL in one list of 'challenges'.  FAIR USE COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. That's Obama in Brisbane, Australia, vilifying Russia (by linking Russia to the 'fight' against ISIL, America's terrorist proxy in the Middle East) and calling on the 'international community' (but, really, his corporate serving allies), sounding off about the 'fight to destroy the terrorist group ISIL and opposing Russia's aggression against Ukraine," in the same breath. Thus Obama smears and vilifies Russia, while writing off the ethnic-Russian people of what is now eastern Ukraine (historically a territory of the Russian Empire), dismissing their legitimate struggle for their very lives and for independence from US installed and backed Ukraine fascists that have attacked these civilians with US and European Union backing and blessing. Support for Obama's aggression against the people of eastern Europe is a stain on every government and people that has supported this US aggression, and the insatiable American political-corporate-military drive for domination and exploitation of Europe. Yet this imperialist aggressor paints the Russians as a 'threat'; which is the standard tactic for this lying, despicable, imperialist invader. Check this out: FAIR USE COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. FAIR USE COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. The US imperialist is aiming to invest millions in 'countering' what it calls Russia's drive to reclaim lost territories.  Never mind the US drive to claim territories on Russia's doorstep, eh?  And this from the hypocrite US government that declared the Monroe Doctrine, basically claiming control of North America and South America (entire continents, Hello????), functioning as a declaration of US hegemony (see Chomsky). Note that this is a priority over countering ISIL propaganda.  Of course it is; ISIL serves their purpose in the Middle East. What is of utmost priority to the US, is US propaganda funding to sell US incursions into eastern Europe. Note also, that propaganda funding amount referred to above is trifling, compared to the US Broadcasting Board of Governors' annual US taxpayer funded propaganda budget: SOURCE - http://bbgwatch.com/bbgwatch/ FAIR USE COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. The 2014 Broadcasting Board of Governors budget was:  $733 million Loosely quoting Richard Becker, Answer Coalition: This is a revival of the cold war, particularly in the field of culture (see book:  The Culture of Cold War).  USA - for decades - used reporters, film companies, radio broadcasting - all different forms of communication & culture to promote the cold war against the Soviet Union, and now they are doing the same.  It has never stopped, really. The Broadcasting Board of Governors has funded anti Cuba propaganda by paying journalists & creating radio & TV stations (spending 100s of millions of dollars over the years), so the notion that has been presented by the US State Dept. spokesperson (ie Harf above) that this isn't something that the US government engages in or that it's up to the entertainment company is COMPLETELY FALSE. This is a COLLABORATIVE effort and IT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES, and now it has been revived in a big way against Russia as well as against others. US propaganda can be produced for the State Dept by Hollywood as follows:  TV shows, movies, music video ... list goes on and on; Sony (and they're not the only ones approached) is an extremely large corporation and have many means by which to propagate a narrative that shows them as a bastion of democracy, while whoever they're targeting is portrayed in the worst possible way. Presenter:  [If we look at the WikiLeaks Sony archive revelation] ... it shows us a case of private companies becoming an arm of US interests ... Richard Becker: These entertainment corporations are huge capitalist corporations and they have a government that is very much on their side along with other big corporations, so there's nothing really new about this.  But after the end of WWII (70 years ago), this collaboration was exponentially intensified to turn the big media - newspapers, movies, TV, radio etc - into ARMS OF THE GOVERNMENT and, in effect, they serve that purpose as arms of the government. [Cooperation between movie companies, the US government and the US military] has been going on for a very long time ... most people are hearing about that for the first time, but in reality the Pentagon and the military - again, going back to the time of WWII - have collaborated with the film studios and TV production and other forms of media, when they were doing programming that the military / the Pentagon felt was helpful to the US wars around the world.  That's been going on a long time and it's good that at least some of the population here is finding out about this. [Segment concludes] LOOK-UPS RICHARD STENGEL FAIR USE COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. "Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs" must mean under secretary for propaganda. Politico reported: At the State Department, Stengel will find himself in the company of other veteran journalists. Last week, as first reported by The Huffington Post, the White House announced that Douglas Frantz, late of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, has been named the State Department’s assistant secretary for public affairs. Glen Johnson, formerly The Boston’s Globe’s political editor, took a position as a senior state department advisor earlier this year. Source:  http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/richard-stengel-leaving-time-state-department-96732.html So judging by the US State Dept. appointments from the commercial sector, there's also a cross-over between corporate journalism and the US State Dept. RICHARD BECKER Richard Becker West Coast Coordinator at ANSWER Coalition     San Francisco Bay Area     Political Organization [linkedin] Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a U.S. foreign policy regarding European countries in 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression, requiring U.S. intervention. Criticism Critics of the Monroe Doctrine, such as Noam Chomsky, argue that in practice the Monroe Doctrine has functioned as a declaration of hegemony and a right of unilateral intervention over the Americas  ... [wikipedia] MORE ON US PROPAGANDA USA 'MINISTRY OF TRUTH' 'Freedom News Network' House Measure to Change Voice of America’s Mission Is Drawing Intense Debate By RON NIXON   MAY 20, 2014 EXTRACTS WASHINGTON — A bill to overhaul Voice of America has prompted an intense debate among supporters of the legislation who say it will better enable the broadcast news service to counter Russian disinformation and opponents who say it will turn the service into an American propaganda tool. The legislation, which recently passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with bipartisan support, would make changes to the mission of the government-financed Voice of America that its sponsors say would more clearly define its role in support of the United States. Specifically, the bill revises the language of Voice of America’s mission to explicitly state that the outlet has a role in supporting American “public diplomacy” and the policies of the government. Walter Isaacson, a former chairman of the Board of Governors as well as a former chairman and chief executive of CNN, said that the legislation was a response to changing times and that Voice of America should have a dual mission to clearly present American policy as well as provide objective news.  LMAO!!! Inside Voice of America, the legislation has created widespread fear among staff members who have long considered themselves professional journalists rather than spokesmen for government policy. During a recent staff meeting, journalists angrily voiced their concerns to managers. One journalist said the broadcast network could see a mass exodus if the legislation passed. Dan Robinson, who worked at the service for more than two decades before retiring this year, said the legislation would create additional problems if passed into law: It could endanger the lives of journalists and broadcasters who work abroad. “So do foreign governments now start seeing journalists from V.O.A. as agents of U.S. policy rather than as journalists?” he said. “That’s a real concern.” But Helle C. Dale, a senior fellow for public diplomacy at the Heritage Foundation, who supports changes to overhaul Voice of America and other international broadcasting, said such claims were absurd. “It’s not like people don’t already know,” she said. “It’s completely funded by the U.S. government, and it’s called the Voice of America. How does this legislation change this reality?” In addition to Voice of America, the federal government runs Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. Under the legislation, those broadcast outlets would be reorganized into a single organization called the Freedom News Network. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/us/politics/house-measure-to-change-voice-of-americas-mission-is-drawing-intense-debate.html  Director of Voice of America Is Planning to Step Down By RON NIXON   APRIL 7, 2015 EXTRACTS  WASHINGTON — David Ensor, who as director of the Voice of America has presided over significant growth in the news agency’s audience despite budget cuts, announced Tuesday that he was stepping down. According to survey data prepared for the board, the Voice of America’s international radio, television and online audience has reached 172 million people a week, an increase of 49 million during Mr. Ensor’s tenure. Mr. Ensor, 64, a former reporter for NPR, ABC News and CNN, was the director of communications and public diplomacy at the United States Embassy in Afghanistan before joining the Voice of America. The House passed a bill last year saying that the Voice of America should support American “public diplomacy” and policies. The move set off a revolt among staff members, who said the change would affect their editorial independence. The Senate did not take up the measure. It is expected to be introduced again in the House. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/director-ofvoice-of-america-is-planning-to-step-down.html?_r=0  CONCLUSION The entire entertainment industry & corporate media, as well as the US state funded media, is a propaganda arm of the US government ... EDIT - LOL, I WRITE BADLY ... SO MELODRAMATIC MELODRAMA IN PICTURES IS AT LEAST FUNNY BAD WRITING IS ... BORING YAAAAWN!

Abby Martin on Hillary Clinton's Form - 2016: A Recipe for Endless War

Hillary Clinton 2016:  A Recipe for Endless War Source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fO-jQFKyeeI  FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin Thought this was a cool catch-up on Hillary Clinton's form, as she's launched into the US 2016 electoral campaigning. Enjoy.  LOL

USA & UKRAINE Propaganda vs Reality

USA & UKRAINE PROPAGANDA   FAIR USE - COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Propaganda Devotees FAIR USE - COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Among the devotees: US Consulate General Frankfurt, Germany, tweeting: Daniel Baer US  Ambassador to the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe. Anatoliy Oskoma, Ukraine, Singer Former Deputy Zhovtnevogo of regional council of Odessa US Mission to OSCE  US Mission to the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - Vienna, Austria Hey, notice anything in common here ... like, er ...  USA?  LOL VS REALITY FAIR USE - COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.  Nadezhda Savchenko  (aka Nadiya) Charged in Russia:  under Article 105 of the Criminal Code (Murder) Rossiya TV journalist Igor Kornelyuk & sound engineer Anton Voloshin  Targeted & deliberately killed by mortar attack near Luhansk - 17 June 2014 Read further at: http://rt.com/news/166648-russian-journalists-killed-ukraine/ PS ... Notice how these Ukraine & US officials aren't tweeting concern about the wholesale execution of political opponents of the US puppet president, Poroshenko.  CIA's probably behind the elimination of political opponents; that's been their speciality around the world for decades. Criminals - the lot of them.

HUMOUR - Oleksii Makeiev, Propaganda Director US-Puppet Ukraine MFA - Can't Handle the Truth

Oleksii Makeiev Political Director MFA US-Puppet Ukraine E  D  I  T FAIR USE - COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. EDIT Removed this guy's twitter pic, as I'm starting to feel too mean posting it here for laughs. BLOCKED BY Ministry of Truth CIA-installed Ukraine Propagandist ... & DELIGHTED ;) * * * Oleksii Makeiev CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH FAIR USE - COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. LMAO ... as there's no direct tweets to this propagandist, one must assume he prowls the internet for references to himself ... & can't handle the TRUTH. Asshole. Mmmwwaaaahhahahahahah!

WikiLeaks - Sony Archive & Public Interest

WikiLeaks Release: US Recruits Hollywood to Boost 'Anti-Russian Messaging' 23:06 17.04.2015(updated 04:09 18.04.2015) Get short URL The latest documents released by Wikileaks reveal some uncomfortable – yet unsurprising – truths about the relationship between Hollywood and the US Government. In its propaganda efforts against Russia, the US State Department may have pressured Sony – and some of the biggest stars – into cooperating. The latest Wikileaks release includes thousands of documents which reveal ties between the White House and Sony pictures. It’s taking journalists a long time to comb through the weeds, but some troubling details are emerging. As Wikileaks notes, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton is also on the board of trustees for the RAND Corporation, a research arm of the US military. According to emails, the State Department may have taken advantage of Lynton’s dual positions to further its own propaganda aims. "As you could see, we have plenty of challenges in countering ISIL narratives in the Middle East and Russian narratives in central and eastern Europe," an email to Lynton from Richard Stengel, US State Department undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, reads. "Following up on our conversation, I’d love to convene a group of media executives who can help us think about better ways to respond to both of these large challenges." "This is a conversation about ideas, about content and production, about commercial possibilities," Stengel adds. "I promise you it will be interesting, fun, and rewarding." "Who are folks I can or should see in NY re anti-Russian messaging — and also anti-ISIL messaging?" he asks Lynton in another email. While comparing a sovereign nation to a terrorist group may be nothing new for US officials, such blatant evidence of Washington’s propaganda war is newsworthy. In response, Lynton provided a list full of other Hollywood executives who would presumably also be cooperative. This included senior level management from Turner Broadcasting and Walt Disney International. Other emails suggest that Lynton was also asked to pressure Hollywood celebrities into promoting foreign policy objectives of the Obama administration. "We have already started to think through ways your superstars could potentially help amplify some of the great work US Embassy Paris is doing," wrote a staffer on behalf of the US ambassador to France. "We’d love to include Sony names in events here, either as guests or performers, and would love the opportunity to leverage their popularity to promote the President’s priorities and agenda overseas." Celebrities suggested by Lynton include George Clooney, Kerry Washington, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as major filmmakers like David Fincher and Steven Spielberg. "Would also include Natalie Portman as she has just done a movie in Israel and is very involved there," one email read. But Sony’s ties with the government extend even beyond the State Department emails. Documents reveal that Lynton also had contact with the president, having dinner with the Obamas. Wikileaks also revealed an email from Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, which detailed his concerns with a perceived Russian threat. "Putin is little more than a schoolyard bully, so if he refuses to back down, we must bring Europe in as part of an aggressive solution," Schumer wrote to Amy Pascal, a senior executive with Sony. "Sanctions have already hurt him, and the threats of expelling Russia from the World Trade Organization and forbidding it from hosting the next World Cup give us a strong hand." Of course, the knowledge of close coordination between Hollywood and the US government is nothing new. As David Sirota points out in his book, Back to Our Future, a conflict of interest has existed for years. "The Pentagon – and it’s very open about this – the Pentagon will line edit screenwriters scripts that are about the military if those screenwriters and the studios want to have access to be able to photograph planes, or tanks, or aircraft carriers," Sirota said during an interview with RT. Giving the example of 1986’s Top Gun, Sirota notes that the "filmmakers of that movie submitted their script to Pentagon editors, for the Pentagon to line edit it to make sure it was perfectly mimicking what the Pentagon wanted it to say." War correspondent Keith Harmon Snow echoed these sentiments in relation to the film Act of Valor. "We have at it as a psychological operation against the American public," Snow told RT. "That means this is not Hollywood, it’s total propaganda by and for the Pentagon using Hollywood as the face…" Still, during a State Department briefing on Friday, spokesperson Marie Harf noted that Sony Pictures is only the tip of the iceberg. "We have a dialogue with companies, with social media companies, about the challenges as we see them and what we are doing to counter that kind of propaganda," she said. "We are having this conversation not just with social media companies, but other people who have public platforms, and that could be entertainment organizations." http://sputniknews.com/us/20150417/1021045330.html?utm_source=t.co%2Fp0b8RkEe22&utm_medium=short_url&utm_content=efG&utm_campaign=URL_shortening COMMENT This pretty much sums up why the WikiLeaks Sony archive is (and should be) in the public domain. The article demonstrates how Hollywood collaborates with the US government to feed the public Orwellian propaganda, to sell the US corporate & military agenda.  WIKILEAKS MSM DETRACTOR    MURDOCH PRESS WikiLeaks detractors such as the Murdoch press (above) presumably stand by and defend Hollywood (& media) collaboration with the US government, in a USG orchestrated Hollywood propaganda merger, that's probably spent decade upon decade deviously manipulating an unsuspecting and receptive public, in pursuit of shaping public attitudes and, thereby, manufacturing public 'consent' to their puppet masters' agenda. PS  ... What's the point of a 'free press' if the 'free press' just supports the status quo?