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Return of Cheney’s One Percent Doctrine
Just as happened before the Iraq War, those who want to bomb Iran are scaring the American people with made-up scenarios about grave dangers ahead, new warnings as ludicrous as the “mushroom cloud” tales that panicked the U.S. public a decade ago
A weak point in the psyches of many Americans is that they allow their imaginations to run wild about potential threats to their personal safety, no matter how implausible the dangers may be. Perhaps, this is a side effect from watching too many scary movies and violent TV shows.
But this vulnerability also may explain why the current war hysteria against Iran is reviving the sorts of fanciful threats to the United States last seen before the Iraq War. Since right-wing Israelis and their neocon allies are having trouble selling the U.S. public on a new preemptive war in the Middle East, they have again resorted to dreaming up hypothetical scenarios to scare easily frightened Americans.
Vice President Dick Cheney from a poster by Robbie Conal (robbieconal.com)
For instance, in a New York Times Magazine article on Jan. 29 by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman – which essentially laid out Israel’s case for attacking Iran – Moshe Ya’alon, Israel’s vice prime minister and minister of strategic affairs, is quoted as explaining the need to make Americans very afraid of Iran. Bergman wrote:
“It is, of course, important for Ya’alon to argue that this is not just an Israeli-Iranian dispute, but a threat to America’s well-being. ‘The Iranian regime will be several times more dangerous if it has a nuclear device in its hands,’ he went on. ‘One that it could bring into the United States. It is not for nothing that it is establishing bases for itself in Latin America and creating links with drug dealers on the U.S.-Mexican border.
“‘This is happening in order to smuggle ordnance into the United States for the carrying out of terror attacks. Imagine this regime getting nuclear weapons to the U.S.-Mexico border and managing to smuggle it into Texas, for example. This is not a far-fetched scenario.’”
But it is a far-fetched scenario. Indeed, there is zero intelligence to support this fear-mongering about such an Iranian plan. That the New York Times would publish such a provocative assertion without a countervailing pushback from serious U.S. intelligence analysts represents the kind of irresponsible journalism that the Times, the Washington Post and much of the mainstream U.S. news media displayed during the run-up to war with Iraq.
The fact is that U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded – and the Israeli Mossad apparently agrees – that Iran has NOT even decided to build a nuclear bomb, let alone that it would do something as nutty as give one to people outside its direct control to attack the United States, thus guaranteeing Iran’s own annihilation. [For more on the intelligence, see Consortiumnews.com’s “US/Israel: Iran NOT Building Nukes.”]
Bergman’s article, which covers nine pages, also manages to avoid any mention of the fact that Israel has a real – and undeclared – nuclear arsenal. The Times might have regarded this as a relevant point to include both to explain why Iran might feel it needs a nuclear deterrent and to put into context the actual strategic balance in the Middle East. Instead, the Times article poses the nuclear threat to the region as emanating entirely from Iran.
In a New York Times report on Friday, Ya’alon was back again, pushing the claim that Iran had been developing an intercontinental missile that could travel 6,000 miles and strike the United States. “That’s the Great Satan,” he said, using Iran’s epithet for the United States. “It was aimed at America, not at us.”
In response to that claim, even the Times felt obliged to add some factual counterweight, noting that “the assertions went far beyond what rocket experts have established about Iran’s missile capabilities, and American officials questioned its accuracy.” There is also the point that such a hypothetical missile attack on the United States would be detected immediately and ensure a devastating counterattack on Iran.
‘One Percent Doctrine’
But it should be clear what the game is. Israeli hardliners and American neocons want a return to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s “one percent doctrine,” as described by author Ron Suskind. That is, if there is even a one percent chance that a terrorist attack might be launched against the United States, it must be treated as a certainty, thus justifying any preemptive military action that U.S. officials deem warranted.
That was the mad-hatter policy that governed the U.S. run-up to the Iraq War, when even the most dubious – and dishonest – claims by self-interested Iraqi exiles and their neocon friends were treated as requiring a bloody invasion of a country then at peace.
In those days, not only was there a flood of disinformation from outside the U.S. government, there also was a readiness inside George W. Bush’s administration to channel those exaggerations and lies into a powerful torrent of propaganda aimed at the American people, still shaken from the barbarity of the 9/11 attacks.
So, the American people heard how Iraq might dispatch small remote-controlled planes to spray the United States with chemical or biological weapons, although Iraq was on the other side of the globe. The New York Times hyped bogus claims about aluminum tubes for nuclear centrifuges. Other news outlets spread false stories about Iraq seeking uranium from Niger and about supposed Iraqi links to al-Qaeda terrorists.
There was a stampede of one-upsmanship in the U.S. news media as everyone competed to land the latest big scoop about Iraq’s nefarious intentions and capabilities. Even experienced journalists were sucked in . In explaining one of these misguided articles, New York Times correspondent Chris Hedges told the Columbia Journalism Review that “We tried to vet the defectors and we didn’t get anything out of Washington that said, ‘these guys are full of shit.’”
Based in Paris, Hedges said he would get periodic calls from his editors asking that he check out defector stories originating from Ahmed Chalabi’s pro-invasion Iraqi National Congress. “I thought he was unreliable and corrupt, but just because someone is a sleazebag doesn’t mean he might not know something or that everything he says is wrong,” Hedges said. [For details, see Consortiumnews.com’s “Iran/Iraq ‘Defectors’ and Disinformation.”]
More Scary Talk
Even after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the eventual realization that the fear-mongering was based on falsehoods, President Bush kept up the scary talk with claims about Iraq as the “central front” in the “war on terror” and al-Qaeda building a “caliphate” stretching from Indonesia to Spain and thus threatening the United States.
Fear seemed to be the great motivator for getting the American people to line up behind actions that, on balance, often created greater dangers for the United States. Beyond the illegality and immorality of attacking other countries based on such fabrications, there was the practical issue of unintended consequences.
Which is the core logical fallacy of Cheney’s “one percent doctrine.” Overreacting to an extremely unlikely threat can create additional risks that also exceed the one percent threshold, which, in turn, require more violent responses, thus cascading outward until the country essentially destroys itself in pursuit of the illusion of perfect security.
The “one percent doctrine” is like the scene in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” as the lazy helper enchants a splintering broom to carry water for him but then cannot control the ensuing chaos of a disastrous flood.
The rational approach to national security is not running around screaming about imaginary dangers but evaluating the facts carefully and making judgments as to how the threats can be managed without making matters worse.
But Israel’s right-wing leadership and the American neocons apparently believe that the U.S. public is not inclined to rush off into another costly war if a realistic assessment prevails. Americans might be even less supportive if they understood that what Israel is actually after is a continued free hand to launch military campaigns against Palestinians in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon.
At more candid moments, that is what Israeli leaders actually indicate. For instance, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Bergman that the real worry was not that Iran would hurl a nuclear bomb at Israel but that a nuclear-armed Iran could offer some protection to the Palestinians and the Lebanese when Israel next decides it must inflict military punishment on them, as occurred in 2006 and 2008-2009.
“From our point of view,” Barak said, “a nuclear state offers an entirely different kind of protection to its proxies. Imagine if we enter another military confrontation with Hezbollah, which has over 50,000 rockets that threaten the whole area of Israel, including several thousand that can reach Tel Aviv. A nuclear Iran announces that an attack on Hezbollah is tantamount to an attack on Iran. We would not necessarily give up on it, but it would definitely restrict our range of operations.”
But Americans are not likely to favor getting dragged into another war so Israel can freely use its extraordinary military might to pummel lightly armed Arab militants and the surrounding civilian populations. For such a cause, would Americans be happy to see gas prices spike, the fragile economic recovery falter, the federal budget deficit swell, and more American soldiers be put in harm’s way?
Almost certainly not. So, the propaganda target again must be that weak point in the American psyche, that tendency to let the imagination run wild with movie-like scenarios of danger and violence.
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49 Comments so far
Show AllIt's clear that what the rank and file people want means absolutely nothing. Media everywhere in this country are providing all the graphic propaganda needed for us to see what's happening.
Look at online video purveyors (HULU, You Tube, etc.) and you will see the orgy of ads for video games of quasi humanoid animated characters in quasi interaction as their quasi minds are overridden by the not-at-all quasi obliteration and adrenalin pumped stampede and take-'em- out from behind the corner of a virtual wall..
There is no nature - only the mandate to destroy. The adolescent cycles of at least three generations are peaking with robo-drone "efficiency" and it is our challenge to engage the dismissal of efficacy of this militarization of an induced sub-'culture'. Essentially no different from extractive industry that demands the right by might to defraud and extract, particularly from the human gift and responsibility for stewardship.
This is part of what is being sold as the pride of being a warrior when it has nothing to do with the fact that a truly excellent warrior is one who does not compromise ethics or life, and engages first and foremost as a being within the totality of the creation - something the MIC has utterly destroyed in its economy of scarcity by gluttony. These are purveyors of trauma drama to first and foremost dehumanize in order to prevent any questions. Question and challenge!
Are you saying the only legitimate warrior is one that defends a society free from delusions, where all citizens upload their civic responsibility? How can a warrior be legitimate while defending a society driven by delusions? We think slavery is great, for example, so our cause is just, and splatting our "enemies" to defend ourselves, is righteous! Kapitalism is great! Our cause is just! Splat our enemies! Ticket to Heaven! I don't think so.
Since the Isrealis are so sharp at colllecting intelligence regarding what threatens this country, it may be time to close down our intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA, etc.) and save a pretty penny.
Published on Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com)
________________________________________
"What Were Wars?" Don't Blame Other Animals For Human Violence
By Marc Bekoff
Created Jan 22 2012 - 7:29am
Human's long-time and rampant obsession with making war is well-known, as is some people's claims that because we are animals it's natural to behave in these violently destructive ways. John Horgan's recent book, The End of War, is a worthy read, in which it's made clear that war is a choice that some people make and is not part of who we (or other animals) are - it is not innate. Horgan argues, "I believe war will end for scientific reasons; I believe war will must end for moral reasons" (p. 19). Others agree with his general message (see also and).
Regardless of mounting scientific evidence that non-humans are predominantly cooperative, peaceful, and fair and on occasion display social justice (see also and), media hype portrays other animals as being far more violent and war-like than they really are. This includes a recent movie called "The Grey." Why is it that blood, rather than peace, sells?
I concluded an earlier essay as follows: "People who claim nonhuman animals are inherently aggressive and warlike are wrong. So, when they use information from animal studies to justify our own cruel, evil, and warlike behavior, they're not paying attention to what we really know about the social life of animals. Do animals fight with one another? Yes. Do they routinely engage in cruel, warlike behavior? Not at all. Numerous species display wild justice and carefully negotiate their social relationships so that fairness, cooperation, compassion, and empathy are quite common.
In another essay called "Quitting the hominid fight club Horgan concluded, "All told, since Jane Goodall began observing chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe National Park in 1960, researchers have directly observed 31 intergroup killings, of which 17 were infants.... researchers at a typical site directly observe one killing every seven years ... my criticism - and that of other critics I've cited - stems from science, not ideology." (the italics are mine)
Warlike animals are the rare exception, not the rule, and this must be factored into our own rationalizations and justifications for our seeming obsession with making war. War is a choice and non-human animals should not be blamed for our destructive inclinations.
When we say to someone, "Oh, you're behaving like an animal" it's actually a complement rather than an insult. We need to work for a science of peace and build a culture of empathy, and emphasize the postiive, prosocial (voluntary behavior to benefit another), side of the character of other animals and ourselves. It's truly who we and other animals are.
The quotation in the title of this essay, taken from Horgan's book (p. 182), should give us all hope for the future. Imagine the day when a child asks "What were wars?" This thought makes me sit back and smile, and it is indeed a possibility.
nice piece mr parry
for all of the liberals and progressives who defend - i guess on principle - the notion that israel is a somewhat innocent democratic country surrounded on all sides by insane terrorist arabs who would think nothing of burning their children to cinders just for a chance to kill a jew, any jew
a ton of propaganda has gone into that psyop and as a result most people believe it to be a simple fact about arabs
and that lie was propagated in the amerikan media
in israel the discourse about the arabs is disgustingly racist - reading the boards like this one here at cd on most israeli newspapers would show you this in about three posts
regular comments there would get your ip address zapped here on cd and for good reason
israel starts all the wars they fight (though they always say it was the arabs who started it)
here is moshe dayan, defense minster:
" I know how at least 80 percent of the clashes there started. In my opinion, more than 80 percent, but let's talk about 80 percent. It went this way: We would send a tractor to plough someplace where it wasn't possible to do anything, in the demilitarized area, and knew in advance that the Syrians would start to shoot. If they didn't shoot, we would tell the tractor to advance farther, until in the end the Syrians would get annoyed and shoot. And then we would use artillery and later the air force also, and that's how it was.
Also, later, he stated his regrets:
I made a mistake in allowing the Israel conquest of the Golan Heights. As defense minister I should have stopped it because the Syrians were not threatening us at the time"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Dayan#Six_Day_War_.281967.29
on palestine: "There is no more Palestine. Finished . "
ibid
"We have no solution, you shall continue to live like dogs, and whoever wishes may leave, and we will see where this process leads."
the zionists are akin to the neocons because they both see the way to the future as being one of war and war and more war
the big difference between the two war machines is that the israelis, for the most part, attack their neighbors while the us attacks small defenseless countries around the world
and its all in the name of security
the other obvious difference between the neocons and the israeli war commanders is that the israelis war commanders have served in their military whereas amerikan war mongers are to a man chickenshit chickenhawks who have never served in the military
people like cheney, rumsfeld, bush baby etc were busy with "other priorities" when it was time for their service
so in the propaganda of these war mongers we see lies twisted and presented as truth - goebbels would be proud
ed bernaise take a bow
as robert fisk pointed out in his peice the other day "An Attack on Tehran Would Be Madness. So Don't Rule It Out "
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/04-9
mad men doing mad things
its not only war the mad men are up to
let's see, add to the list: vaccines, fluoride in the drinking water, saccharine, gmo's, rockefeller medication, chem trails, homeland security, patriot act etc...
we have schools that destroy education (http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/), lawyers who destroy justice, and politicians who destroy society
we are far down the rabbit hole
as citizens we need to ask ourselves a simple question: do we want to sit back and watch the war machine attack iran - an attack that will see millions and millions of people killed, several countries destroyed and the world brought to ruin
and most amerikans, at this tender moment, want to know one thing: when does the superbowl start...
and that folks is called mind control
Parry begins his article by formulating a hypothesis concerning why USans are so susceptible to the irrational threats regularly concocted by our sociopathic right-wing think tanks and other demented ideologues (these days, essentially the still virulent neo-conservatives) and then disseminated by our compliant hysterical and hype-driven media. Here's that hypothesis:
"A weak point in the psyches of many Americans is that they allow their imaginations to run wild about potential threats to their personal safety, no matter how implausible the dangers may be. Perhaps, this is a side effect from watching too many scary movies and violent TV shows."
I am afraid it's more extensive than he makes out to be.
Americans are awash in a culture:
1) of violence: Hollywood movies, television shows, violent video games, extreme sports, football, hockey, gansta rap and the varieties of heavy metal, and so on;
2) of fear and insecurity: foreclosures, loss of work, fear of losing one's work, poor health, no health insurance, criminality ranging from petty theft to murder and rape, etc.;
3) of paranoia: a long history of frontier violence, endless wars and constant bellicosity, militarism; and
4) of hatred of the Other: racism, xenophobia, homophobia, hate groups of all sorts (neo-Nazis, white supremacists, religious cults, Hell's Angels, etc.)
Some of these overlap and I probably overlooked some factors.
Don't forget: a corporate media with a history of working hand-in-glove with the CIA to promulgate fearsome scenarios--under the guise of "journalism"--about the leaders of designated enemy countries. That has done a lot make people afraid. Oh, and false flag operations: VERY scary, and very effective in inducing greater trust in govt. and reflective support for militarism. The Fearful American is a manufactured outcome.
The most significant aspect of this article is that the author FAILS to point out the fact that Obama and Biden and the overwhelming majority of members of both corporate parties in congress are supporting what the author tries to connect to Bush and Cheney. Robert Parry seems to want us to think the "neocons" are a minority. This is rubbish.
Stop thinking in antiquated ways and wake up to the fact of the extent of our current corrupt, devious, warmongering perversity.
Cheney would make a great advertisement for the 1%. The above picture with maybe the caption: The bogeyman for the Koch Roach brothers!
For sure it's a 1% doctrine. The 1% decide to terrify the rest of us and now possess all the weapons they need to support their power--from sound blasters to drones, the spy industry and security checks. One has to wonder if they are also the investors behind many of the terrible video games along with the entertainment industry that glorifies egotism (self-interest above all), stupidity, violence and more.... Look at the games and apps that now even very young children have access to --on computers, smart phones and tablets --that open a world where (sane/responsible/ethically concerned) adults have no influence.
"One has to wonder if they are also the investors behind many of the terrible video games along with the entertainment industry that glorifies egotism (self-interest above all), stupidity, violence and more.... Look at the games and apps that now even very young children have access to --on computers, smart phones and tablets --that open a world where (sane/responsible/ethically concerned) adults have no influence."
Very good points, Janis. I have worried about this for some time especially when we understand that the time spent using a gameboy, iphone, phone apps, computer, etc., is time spent not learning about the complexities and randomness of the real world. In the old days, play was a fun way to come to grips with these complexities. What is going to happen to these kids who have lost time-sensitive opportunities to process and gain skills necessary to survive in the world?
Janis--good points. Of course, the 1% want to glorify violence. They got where they are through violence--for that is what the love of money really is, at heart, or what it inevitably entails, which is why in the Bible it is condemned as the "root of all evil." Since they got where they are through violence--any alternative to violence, such as an idea of power based on virtue, wisdom, and cooperation and nonviolence--is a threat to them. Because they can only maintain their control through violence. So I'm sure they are behind many of these video games that glorify violence, too. There is even one that involves US soldiers and simulates 'real' battlefield situations, glorifying "our brave men and women in uniform."
Yes, what we need is another "New Pearl Harbor" like 9/11 to get a majority of USAn's to support another preemptive war fr the benefit of the corpora-fascists and banksters.
In actuality, what we need to end the current cycle of fear-mongering is to debunk Cheney's 'wet dream' - the 'terrorist' attack on 9/11. If the actual facts about the creation of that event could be truly investigated and made known, most Americans would be more likely to stand up against the current drumbeat for attacking Iran, which is mainly to save the Zionists.
" If the actual facts about 911 could be investigated ". Looks like the cover-up of the inside job of 911 has been a success for the 1%.
Myth Busters have been told not to do any shows on 911 and even a progressive news program like Democracy Now! will not touch the subject of any alternative explanations. Question: If the official story is true, why is there a total media censorship of any other information, which there is a plethora of on the net? What do these progressive sites like Common Dreams and Democracy Now! fear?
One of the reasons the subject of alternative explanations is considered best left alone is that, in the absence of any serious fact-finding investigations, there is left only speculation, which ranges from plausible to far-fetched. The far-fetched speculations are then used by supporters of the official story to tar anyone who raises any questions, no matter how valid, as "kooks" , "loons", "wacky", "conspiracy theorists", "tin foil hat wearers", and so on. Theses monikers are what the progressive sites fear, as they may diminish all the rest of their work.
In light of this, it is interesting that the war-mongering faction has no such fear and feels free to peddle the craziest notions without ever being tagged as 'wacky" by the MSM. Here's a recent example, at hearings sponsored by Florida Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: "At a hearing Thursday of the House Foreign Affairs Committee focused on Iran’s dealings in Latin America, Norman Bailey of the conservative American Foreign Policy Council even charged that the Islamic Republic, through its allies Hezbollah, had constructed "numerous military camps inside Venezuela, as well as in South Lebanon, with the express purpose of training young Venezuelans to attack American targets." He also claimed Iran had "established missile bases in Venezuela," though adding that those reports were as of yet "unconfirmed."
"If the actual facts about the creation of that event could be truly investigated and made known, most Americans would be more likely to stand up against the current drumbeat for attacking Iran, which is mainly to save the Zionists."
My huge problem with this statement is that even without those facts, in fact even if the official story was true, Americans should have enough reasons to stand up against all the wars they're starting. If Americans cannot see the injustice unless it's on the scale of a 9/11 level attack committed on them by their own government, the world is completely fucked, because this would mean that Americans thought that killing a million people in Afghanistan and another million in Iraq was justified because of the actions of a few dozen terrorists who didn't even come from those countries. So completely fucked up I can't even find the words.
You should not need to prove that 9/11 was done by Bush. The crimes committed in your name are orders of magnitude larger than 9/11. Not even comparable. Getting stuck up on something that was committed against you as a prerequisite for considering the much larger crimes your country is committing even now and has been doing for a while already and of which 9/11 might have been (according to the official story) a direct consequence is COMPLETELY, UTTERLY FUCKED UP. Stop being so short sighted, self-obsessed and egoistic. There is a whole world around the USA that you keep fucking up, doing orders of magnitude more harm every fucking year than 9/11 and fucking Pearl Harbor combined. Deal with the crimes your own government is proven to have committed, not with the theoretical stuff.
I mean, there are loads of crimes America committed that we know a lot about. Shouldn't these have a much larger impact on the American conscience than anything 9/11 could ever mean? After all, you did these things to *others* and not to yourself, that in itself should be a thousand times worse, no? Do you have any fucking clue how self-centered and disgusting this obsession with 9/11 looks from the outside? Bubububu they targeted US! How the fuck could that be more important than PROVEN historical FACTS that the US targeted and killed millions of completely innocent people on the other side of the world? And you think that proving 9/11 was an inside job is the only way Americans will stand up to injustice committed in their name? Shit, you really have no faith at all in your country and in your countrymen.
From the very beginning when crimes Committed against the Natives and the blacks, to the Hawaiins and the Filipinos, from Cuba, Vietnam, Grenada and Panama, from the Honduras to Haiti and iran in 1953 to Iraq and Chile and Greece, the crimes and lies of the US Gocvernment have been exposed and.....
There was never a demand from the people as a whole for Justice.
It has always been and forever been..."That was in the past, let us look forward".
It has always been "The United States of America has nothing to apologize for".
Had they stood up for the injustices then and had they demanded those injustices be compensated for, then those injustices might not be going on today.
So just as ONE example. Where is the outrage of the citizens of the United States of America for the crimes committed in Vietnam and where is the demand for reparations to be paid for the destruction of that country and of the carpet bombing of Laos and Cambodia?
What was it..one guiy went to prison for My Lai and was pardoned? Why is Kissinger still a free man?
They deny they have nuclear weapons, imprison any of their citizens who tells the truth about it and claim they need nukes to defend against people throwing rocks and low level home made bombs at them for 50 years. Add up the victims of this 50 year or more 'conflict" - a few Israelis versus thousands of Palestinian civiliians, not counting the ones who died from 'economic sanctions'. I've watched this for almost 50 years and it's mostly one side throwing rocks while the other side is armed to the teeth with American weapons, crying about how poor and mistreated they are.
"Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Bergman that the real worry was not that Iran would hurl a nuclear bomb at Israel but that a nuclear-armed Iran could offer some protection to the Palestinians and the Lebanese when Israel next decides it must inflict military punishment on them, as occurred in 2006 and 2008-2009."
Israel clearly does not want peace. It want domination and control of the region and to steal more land.
And AIPAC has lobbied the US Congress for decades until, now, many (most?) of them believe the fairy tale about "poor little Israel." AIPAC also treats members of Congress to trips to Israel so they can see for themselves how "wonderful" it is. No one goes into Gaza, though, as it is not on the itinerary and is also not on the list of places the US will allow them to freely enter. Yesterday, the US jumped up and down in a fever over Russia and China vetoing a resolution against Syria because its government is killing civilians. But where was the US when Israel destroyed Beirut twice and added the 2007 all-out war to its crimes against Gaza's civilians?
the 1% chance of being killed seems a good chance for the 1% to make another killing.
"That the New York Times would publish such a provocative assertion without a countervailing pushback from serious U.S. intelligence analysts represents the kind of irresponsible journalism that the Times, the Washington Post and much of the mainstream U.S. news media displayed during the run-up to war with Iraq."
One of the functions of mainstream corporate media is to support the global agendas of major corporations, such as trans-national American oil corporations. And of course the MIC is along for the ride making obscene profits from illegal wars. The New Dork Times (and others) have zero credibility and have conspired to initiate international war crimes.
Goebbels would have been impressed by our corporate fascist media.
zephyr---
Israel does not deny that it has nuclear weapons; it just doesn't discuss it, leaving others to wonder.
This is sort of the opposite of what Saddam is said to have done prior to 2003: bluster about how many weapons he had, ostensibly as a deterrent to any Iranian "threat" to Iraq.
It seems that the prevailing MSM position is that Israel has about 200 nuclear weapons but Israel neither confirms nor denies. They may have only two or three, but seem okay letting the world believe they have 200. It's not their bluster, sort of like one of Rumsfeld's "known unknowns"! For example, is there any clear evidence that Israel has ever conducted a nuclear weapons test? (It is claimed by many that one sign of Iranian possession is that they would have to do a test: Proof of Concept and all.) The Cold War's Mutual Assured Destruction is being played out on a smaller scale (Israel/Pakistan, Pakistan/India, etc.). By the logic of MAD, Iran "must" want the bomb, in the eyes of the old Cold Warriors. -30-
Several years ago I was chatting with a couple from New Zealand in a little northern Arizona restaurant/lodge where I was working. They were very well informed about 9-11 and all the "mysterious" paradoxes and suspicious "facts," and I was excited to be able to talk to people who had very normal misgivings about the blatant lies they had been told.
After they left, I made some comment to one of my American co-workers about how well-informed the New Zealanders were. She immediately lambasted me for talking politics at work, said she wanted no part of it, and gave me the cold shoulder the rest of the day.
That was after the treatment I received at the hands of my co-workers in my previous job, who told me I was paranoid, delusional, disrespectful, gullible and so on because I believed 9-11 was a conspiracy of the MIC and quite likely the Mossad. I could cite 10 facts in a row, 10 good questions at least, and they would tell me I was being disrespectful to those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
And so it goes. Americans in general are the most poorly informed, spoiled rotten, ignorant of history and ignorant of the world people to have ever walked the Earth. The apologists for tyranny make me even sicker than the tyrants themselves. And then they try to wrap themselves in red, white and blue and salute the liars, thieves and tyrants as their wise and benevolent masters. I mean, a huge percentage of Americans consider FOX news the best source of information there is; what more can you say?
America has become the most militant, dangerous and deadly nation on the planet, waging more wars at one time than anyone else perhaps in history. I pledge no allegiance to this government, its wars or its lies. Anyone with a shred of decency and honor - and a shred of common sense - should be screaming bloody murder at these bastards, not paying taxes, not sending their children to war, and not putting up with their fellow citizens' sheeplike behavior.
Stand up now, or run like hell later. This is no joke, and the "easy times" to which Americans have grown so accustomed - even in horrendous economic times such as these - are soon to disappear forever. At that point, however, it may be too late to fight, and the sheeple who are confused now will be totally terrified and infinitely maleable then.
Fight now, or run like hell later; that's about your only two choices.
"I have the greatest admiration for your propaganda. Propaganda in the West is carried out by experts who have had the best training in the world -- in the field of advertizing -- and have mastered the techniques with exceptional proficiency ... Yours are subtle and persuasive; ours are crude and obvious ... I think that the fundamental difference between our worlds, with respect to propaganda, is quite simple. You tend to believe yours ... and we tend to disbelieve ours."
Soviet correspondent based five years in the U.S.
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945
"Remember the Maine!"
http://www.smplanet.com/imperialism/remember.html
http://www.spanamwar.com/maine.htm
"[Ronald] Reagan ... was most definitely a global empire builder, a servant of the corporatocracy... He would cater to the men who shuttled back and forth from corporate CEO offices to bank boards and into the halls of government. He would serve the men who appeared to serve him but who in fact ran the government - men like Vice President George H. W. Bush, Secretary of State George Shultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Richard Cheney, Richard Helms, and Robert McNamara. He would advocate what those men wanted: an America that controlled the world and all its resources, a world that answered to the commands of that America, a U.S. military that would enforce the rules as they were written by America, and an international trade and banking system that supported America as CEO of the global empire."
John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
On the subject of Reagan, don't forget;
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."
-- William Casey -- (head of CIA under Reagan)
As to why the NYT is such a rag:
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns anyone of any influence in the media."
-- William Colby -- (CIA head 1973 - 1976)
Colby, by the way, was sacked by Gerald Ford because he wouldn't lie to Congress and replaced with, you guessed it, Bush I.
I also agree that, even without a crime of such magnitude as 9-11, there is ample reason for Americans to fight back against the tyranny of their own government. But if a crime of the magnitude of 9-11 can be swept under the rug, then how easy to also sweep under a rug all the other lies used to support these wars?
Don't forget, the threat from "terrorism" is the main propaganda fuel used to justify American militancy. 9-11 and what it represents of a massive propaganda campaign against Americans and the entire world is perhaps the key lynchpin that allows the "masters" to conduct their reign of terror against the masses.
Pull out that lynchpin and a lot of the rest of the propaganda edifice falls down as well. So, respectfully, I disagree that continuing to press for the truth of 9-11 is not relevant to the ongoing fight to defeat tyranny. I do agree, however, that even without reference to that day and those lies, there is ample reason for Americans to fight the tyrants and all the harm they are doing to the world.
"I also agree that, even without a crime of such magnitude as 9-11, there is ample reason for Americans to fight back against the tyranny of their own government. But if a crime of the magnitude of 9-11 can be swept under the rug, then how easy to also sweep under a rug all the other lies used to support these wars?"
It should be a lot more difficult in a society that sometimes looks outside of itself, because the crimes are more obvious, have clear and simple proof, they are also orders of magnitude larger, often officially admitted to and sometimes even proven in court (like the Nicaraguan stuff). That's the entire point. The only difference is that they weren't committed AGAINST the US.
Also, I'm not saying that the 9/11 truth issue is "irrelevant" - just that it is not the cornerstone issue on which everything turns. In addition to this, if you think that this single issue will make the whole edifice fall, you are completely mistaken. You'd need absolutely incontrovertible evidence that cannot be ignored and explained away to achieve that. That is mostly impossible as far as I can see. I mean, you are talking about a propaganda system that has reasonable success in explaining away global warming or evolution ffs.
Thanks for this and your 3:16pm comment, wildraven.
I'm with you here, Raven. Keep in mind that this particular lie, and its leading to launching aggressive war abroad... meant tyranny at home. And so we can thank this dangerous, criminal masquerade for such wonders as the NDAA law, and the ugly of uglies, that our nation practices torture! It may call it something else, but we all know exactly what it is. In the same way bets became derivatives, and torture became enhanced interrogation, while the usurpation of law became little more than homage to a unitary executive, words are being tortured in support of programs that truly are antithetical to what this nation allegedly stands for. A lot of people got lost between the hype, the "old product," basic Bernays-style conditioning, and the anything but honest news relayed across the Captured media spectrum.
It's all insidious.
Eze: Great quotes!
When an empire collapses... it's wise to watch for falling debris.
tx SR
Well said, wildraven. And to Atomsk: the 9-11 Truth Movement is global, not US-centric. But I ditto everything wildraven said.
Before dismissing Cheney and his one percent doctrine, one should consider where it might be useful. Of course the scenarios regarding Iran are preposterous and outlandish, and the doctrine would not apply. But what about applying that doctrine to the Wall Street bankers? Isn't there at least a one percent chance that the bankers and their servants will impoverish us and our children and remove what little chance we or most the people in this nation have for a decent future? I suspect that any objective assessment would produce a figure much higher than one percent.
So what do we do to those bankers? I wonder whether Mr. Cheney has any suggestions.
Great point. You could add global warming, nuclear plants and weapons, industrial agriculture and quite a few other issues where this principle clearly should be followed.
Parry sez: "In a New York Times report on Friday, Ya’alon was back again, pushing the claim that Iran had been developing an intercontinental missile that could travel 6,000 miles and strike the United States. 'That’s the Great Satan,' he said, using Iran’s epithet for the United States. 'It was aimed at America, not at us.'"
***
That's the second reference I've seen to that Ya'ahoo quote on CD this week. Notice how he sez Iran "had been developing" a missile, then notes this theoretical, still-in-development weapon "WAS" (emphasis mine) pointed at the U.S. (in the past tense).
A real editor would tell this clown to peddle his paper elsewhere. The Times hasn't had such an employee for years.
The public in the US has heard the drumbeats of war for so long they no longer pay attention.
Would that that were true. But there's an ever growing segment of the population who's children's only hope of being included in polite society is military service. For this segment if military intervention is required or sought they will support the call for war. They will wave their flags and hold their funerals. They will not question. They come from generations who have been trained to blindly follow orders. They will revel in the bravery of battle, because the only other alternative is poverty.
There will always be some willing to go to war at the drop of a hat but I think the majority of people are tired of these endless wars. That's why the govt. is pushing the drones. They don't get the negative press about troop losses with the drones, just negative press - mostly overseas - about the civilians/women/children killed.
Iran has decided NOT to build a nuclear bomb because it is Un-Islamic.
WMD are only fit for godless Judeo-Christian Corporate war criminals.
Americans are the most cowardly people on the planet.
How dare you say that?!?!?
Why if you were standing here and saying that I'd...I'd.....I'd pretend I was Canadian.
"Imagine this regime getting nuclear weapons to the U.S.-Mexico border and managing to smuggle it into Texas, for example"
The first crime committed by Isreel/Merka is that of imperialism. The second crime committed by Isreel/Merka is masking their imperialism with red herrings, blaming their victims, or the most plausible element among their victims to blame. The third crime committed by Isreel/Merka is manipulating the citizens of their imperium to get them to fight for the "cause". It comes as no surprise that a criminal commits a series of crimes rather than a singular crime. So we see the victims are the people themselves, rank & file Iranians, Isreelis, and Merkans. Merkans, though, have a certain responsibility, because anyone with an obvious advantage has special responsibilities, and in the case of Merkans, the gargantuan size of their country, their military, and their appetites for energy/materials obligates Merkans with very very special responsibilities, to reign in their thug elites.
Failure to uphold responsibilities results in karmic boomerangs, such as the Financial Crisis of 2008, the Gulf Oil Spill, and 9/11. All indicators are that another financial crisis will happen again soon. And the Isreelis' paranoid idea of Iranians getting a terror box across the border is not too far-fetched, despite the Isreelis' criminal intentions. But instead of imploring Merkans to attack Iran, like the Isreelis, we suggest Merkans change their own behavior. We can start by depriving elite candidate of our votes, in both the ballot box, and in all of our exchange/association. We can vote for our local community representatives instead. People we know/trust. Get hip to the idea of rejecting thug Wizards from far-flung Emerald Cities. Do yourself a friggin favor.
The foreign policy establishment of both parties are completely dominated by zionists who are more loyal to Israel than to the United States. The American media is also completely colonized by Israel and when they decide to begin a campaign to turn the opposition of the majority of people into massive support for any war they can usually pull this off in a month or two. The New York Times and other zionist dominated media have already started. They understand that a big majority of Americans are not too bright and have an almost blind hatred of foreigners which is easy to exploit.
Voters take control!!
It is time for taxpaying voters to own our politicians instead of Koch industries and Wal-Mart.
Politicians will only talk about term limits as they do about campaign finance reform. It is up to the people to take the matter in our own hands.
The job growth rhetoric attached to tax breaks/incentives is bogus through and through.
Finance reform can happen by way of citizens voting down the big spenders. It's not hard to tell who the big spenders are. Vote them down and out.
WE do not need congress. WE need to do it all on our own. It is time for taxpaying voters to own our politicians.
Want term limits?
Go to the voting booth without fail and vote in the low spending candidates. Apply this to national,state and local elections.
'Ten feet tall Iranians!" "It can't happen here!" Well "watch this. . ." "Great scary music and '10 feet tall Iranians" coming to get us pure as the driven snow Amurkans." Damn! "Terrible!" "Just terrible!" Look they can "leap tall buildings, getting through all our air powr, all our nuclear weapons, and just ripping right through and snatching us out of our beds." Hey, "better get down to the fall out shelter real fast!" Scary movies like we've never seen before. Say has this material ever appeared on SCTV in Toronto? If not, it should have. Real academy award winning stuff!