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Jul 23, 2011

The moral and intellectual bankruptcy of a scholar: Dr. Christian Lindtner and Holocaust Revisionism

 

http://www.adelaideinstitute.org/HomePage28April2009/lindtner_graf_2011.htm

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Fun stuff to read, tell and watch:

Now FREE to watch all 91 minutes: "Defamation," from Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/3rvhdvc

Some of His Best Friends Are Jewish: The Saga of a Holocaust Revisionist By Nathaniel Popper. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3v6m88c

...an Israeli lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter, seeking $5 million in damages because his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" allegedly defamed Israel. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3pltqg2

"...when you have laws against questioning the Holocaust narrative, you are screaming at the other person to stop thinking!!!" ---Mike Santomauro. *Anthony Lawson's Holocaust Video "were the Germans so stupid"... Link: http://tinyurl.com/44nsrco

An anti-Semite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an anti-Semite.--Mike Santomauro. Link: http://tinyurl.com/42z9p8o

Start reading DEBATING THE HOLOCAUST in under a minute: http://tinyurl.com/3f8h874

Peace.

Mike Santomauro
Editorial Director
ReporterNotebook@gmail.com
Call anytime: 917-974-6367

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Gunmen kill Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran

 

http://news.yahoo.com/gunmen-kill-iranian-nuclear-scientist-tehran-160435540.html
 
Gunman killed yet another Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran.  This may be a Mossad/Israeli operation.
 

Gunmen kill Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Gunmen on motorcycles assassinated an Iranian nuclear physicist on Saturday, Iranian media reports said, in a killing that bore similarities to other slayings of scientists involved in the country's nuclear work in recent years.
The semi-official ISNA news agency identified the victim as Darioush Rezaei, a 35-year-old physics professor involved in Iran's nuclear program, and said he was shot dead in front of his home in Tehran. Iran's official IRNA news agency also reported the killing but had few details on the attack or the man's background.
Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been murdered in recent years in attacks that Iran has blamed on the U.S. and Israel, which both accuse Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability under the cover of its civilian atomic energy program. Iran denies the accusations and says its program has entirely peaceful aims.
The semi-official Mehr news agency also identified the victim of Saturday's attack as a professor of physics who was involved in the nuclear program and said he was assassinated in front of his house in Bani Hashem street in Tehran.
The wife of the scientist was wounded in the attack and rushed to a hospital for treatment, Mehr reported, quoting a police official.
Two attackers on motorbikes approached Rezaei's car as he was driving up to his home in northeast Tehran with his wife and young daughter, said the news websiteasriran.com.
The assailants fired five shots before fleeing, and Rezaei was hit in the neck and hand, asriran reported.
Despite U.N. and other sanctions, Iran has steadily moved ahead with its uranium enrichment work, the central aspect of its nuclear program and the process that is of deepest concern to the West because it can be used both to produce reactor fuel and material for nuclear warheads.
Iran insists it is only after reactor fuel, but the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency has accused Iran of stalling its investigation into the work for years.
Rezaei's expertise — neutron transport — lies at the heart of nuclear chain reactions in reactors and bombs.
In November, a pair of back-to-back bomb attacks in different parts of the capital killed one nuclear scientist and wounded another. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the U.S. and Israel.
In those attacks, assailants on motorcycles attached magnetized bombs to the cars of two scientists as they drove to work. They detonated seconds later.
The man who survived that attack, Fereidoun Abbasi, is on a list of figures suspected of links to secret nuclear activities in a 2007 U.N. sanctions resolution, which put a travel ban and asset freeze on those listed.
Abbasi has since been named one of Iran's vice presidents and head of its nuclear agency.
The scientist killed in that attack had the same area of expertise as Rezaei.
At least two other Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in recent years.
Iran's foreign minister said earlier this month that his country was ready to cooperate more closely with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency but only if it ends its investigation into allegations that Tehran has secretly worked on a nuclear weapons program — a condition rejected by the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Iran argues it has cooperated and answered all questions mandated by the plan governing the agency's probe.
 
 


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Fun stuff to read, tell and watch:

Now FREE to watch all 91 minutes: "Defamation," from Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/3rvhdvc

Some of His Best Friends Are Jewish: The Saga of a Holocaust Revisionist By Nathaniel Popper. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3v6m88c

...an Israeli lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter, seeking $5 million in damages because his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" allegedly defamed Israel. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3pltqg2

"...when you have laws against questioning the Holocaust narrative, you are screaming at the other person to stop thinking!!!" ---Mike Santomauro. *Anthony Lawson's Holocaust Video "were the Germans so stupid"... Link: http://tinyurl.com/44nsrco

An anti-Semite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an anti-Semite.--Mike Santomauro. Link: http://tinyurl.com/42z9p8o

Start reading DEBATING THE HOLOCAUST in under a minute: http://tinyurl.com/3f8h874

Peace.

Mike Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367




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Australia - Rupert Murdoch ashamed of his Jewish origins

 

http://www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk/news/100711/australia___rupert_murdochs_jewish_origins.aspx

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Fun stuff to read, tell and watch:

Now FREE to watch all 91 minutes: "Defamation," from Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/3rvhdvc

Some of His Best Friends Are Jewish: The Saga of a Holocaust Revisionist By Nathaniel Popper. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3v6m88c

...an Israeli lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter, seeking $5 million in damages because his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" allegedly defamed Israel. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3pltqg2

"...when you have laws against questioning the Holocaust narrative, you are screaming at the other person to stop thinking!!!" ---Mike Santomauro. *Anthony Lawson's Holocaust Video "were the Germans so stupid"... Link: http://tinyurl.com/44nsrco

An anti-Semite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an anti-Semite.--Mike Santomauro. Link: http://tinyurl.com/42z9p8o

Start reading DEBATING THE HOLOCAUST in under a minute: http://tinyurl.com/3f8h874

Peace.

Mike Santomauro
Editorial Director
ReporterNotebook@gmail.com
Call anytime: 917-974-6367

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Notification of action taken on your YouTube video

 

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Fredrick Toben" <toben@toben.biz>
Date: July 23, 2011 7:47:55 PM EDT
To: "'Michael'" <reporternotebook@gmail.com>
Subject: FW: Notification of action taken on your YouTube video

A news clip video disabled – how's that!

 

From: YouTube Service [mailto:service@youtube.com]
Sent: None
To: toben@toben.biz
Subject: Notification of action taken on your YouTube video

 

YouTube

Help Centre | email options | report spam

Regarding your account: FredrickToben

The YouTube Community has flagged one or more of your videos as inappropriate. Once a video is flagged, it is reviewed by the YouTube Team against our Community Guidelines. Upon review, we have determined that the following video(s) contain content in violation of these guidelines, and have been disabled:

Rudolf Hess grave secretly desecrated and remains destroyed

YouTube blocks content where necessary to comply with local laws in certain countries. Check your videos to make sure that they comply with your own country's laws, to prevent videos from being blocked in the future.

For more information on YouTube's Community Guidelines and how they are enforced, please visit the help center http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=92486.

Yours sincerely,
The YouTube Team

© 2011 YouTube, LLC
901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066

 

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The media is lying when it calls Breivik a "nationalist," right-winger," ...

 


The media falsely portrayed the radical leftist Jared Laughner, who is Jewish, as a "extreme right-winger" and "anti-Semite." They portrayed the militant self-described "anti-racist," bisexual, cross dressing Columbine killers (one of whom was Jewish) as "right-wingers" and "neo-Nazis." So it was predictable that the media would have a field day with Anders Breivik.

The media is lying when it calls Breivik a "nationalist," right-winger," "fundamentalist Christian," "white supremecist," "white nationalist," and of course "neo-Nazi." None of these are even close to being accurate. The media is even using a facebook profile that was made AFTER the killers name was released and is an obvious fake.

The staff at cofcc.org has compiled the facts. Breivik was actually the Norwegian equivalent of an American "neo-con." On his favorite website he even denounced the excellent Flemish party Vlaams Belang as "racist," and anti-gay.

Breivik said all "cultural conservatives," including the English Defense League and the American TEA Party movement, need to adopt three things to be at is "level." The three attributes that Breivik said they need to adopt is being "anti-racist," "pro-gay," and "pro-Israel." Sounds a lot like a Rudy Guiliani or Billy Kristol neo-conservative.

Click here to see all the facts, and help spread the truth.



Note: Anyone who donates $5 or more online during the month July will be getting an advanced *.pdf copy of the next issue of the Citizen Informer newspaper.

We have several new features on the CofCC website. We have started a new forum. Click here to access the forum. It only takes a few second to join.

We have also put interactive social media buttons for digg, reddit, and twitter on our single post pages on the website. We are also sending all our posts out on twitter now. Click here to follow CofCC.org on twitter.

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Fun stuff to read, tell and watch:

Now FREE to watch all 91 minutes: "Defamation," from Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/3rvhdvc

Some of His Best Friends Are Jewish: The Saga of a Holocaust Revisionist By Nathaniel Popper. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3v6m88c

...an Israeli lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter, seeking $5 million in damages because his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" allegedly defamed Israel. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3pltqg2

"...when you have laws against questioning the Holocaust narrative, you are screaming at the other person to stop thinking!!!" ---Mike Santomauro. *Anthony Lawson's Holocaust Video "were the Germans so stupid"... Link: http://tinyurl.com/44nsrco

An anti-Semite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an anti-Semite.--Mike Santomauro. Link: http://tinyurl.com/42z9p8o

Start reading DEBATING THE HOLOCAUST in under a minute: http://tinyurl.com/3f8h874

Peace.

Mike Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367




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MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

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1. The Great Games-book review by Gilad Atzmon

 


1. The Great Games-book review by Gilad Atzmon

Postmodern Imperialism: Geopolitics and the Great Games

Eric Walberg on Post-Modern Imperialism

The Great Games

By GILAD ATZMON

http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon07222011.html

Though the number of critical voices concerning Israel, Zionism and Jewish power is growing steadily, a clear distinction can be made on the one hand between contributors who operate within the discourse and are politically oriented, and others who transcend themselves above and beyond any given political paradigm.

The former category refers to writers and scholars who operate 'within the box,' accepting the restrictive measures of a given political and intellectual discourse. A thinker who operates within such a framework would initially identify the boundaries of the discourse, and then shape his or her ideas to fit in accordingly. The latter category refers to a far more challenging intellectual attempt: it includes those very few who operate within a post-political realm, those who defy the dictatorship of 'political-correctness', or any given 'party-line'. It relates to those minds that think 'out of the box'. And it is actually those who, like artists, plant the seeds of a possible conceptual and consciousness shift.

Sadly enough, the Western anti Zionist, anti Israeli, and Palestinian solidarity discourse is far from being saturated by great intellectually and spiritually enlightening texts: For very many years the discourse has failed to address the most crucial questions regarding the local and global success of Zionism and Israel. For far too many years now, very few have dared to question the role of Jewish lobbying and the obvious continuum between the Jewish State, Jewish culture, Jewish religion, and ideology. Many years of Left hegemony at the heart of the Palestinian solidarity discourse is part of the problem, but this fact can be easily explained and even justified.

Click to read more ...



+++



Fun stuff to read, tell and watch:

Now FREE to watch all 91 minutes: "Defamation," from Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/3rvhdvc

Some of His Best Friends Are Jewish: The Saga of a Holocaust Revisionist By Nathaniel Popper. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3v6m88c

...an Israeli lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter, seeking $5 million in damages because his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" allegedly defamed Israel. Link: http://tinyurl.com/3pltqg2

"...when you have laws against questioning the Holocaust narrative, you are screaming at the other person to stop thinking!!!" ---Mike Santomauro. *Anthony Lawson's Holocaust Video "were the Germans so stupid"... Link: http://tinyurl.com/44nsrco

An anti-Semite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an anti-Semite.--Mike Santomauro. Link: http://tinyurl.com/42z9p8o

Start reading DEBATING THE HOLOCAUST in under a minute: http://tinyurl.com/3f8h874

Peace.

Mike Santomauro
Editorial Director
Call anytime: 917-974-6367




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Current Campaigns

 

Current Campaigns

Stop taxpayer funds to Bachmann's anti-gay clinic.

A recent investigation exposed that a counseling clinic owned by Michele Bachmann and her husband practices discriminatory and medically unsound ex-gay therapy, and has received over $137,000 in federal Medicaid funds. Take action to stop public funds from supporting Bachmann's anti-gay clinic.

Tell House Republicans: It's crazy to cut Medicare and Social Security.

Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare and they're willing to drive our economy into another recession to do it. Tell House Republicans: It's time to pass a clean bill to raise the debt ceiling and get on with the task of governing.

Tell Congress: Investigate News Corporation!

Rupert Murdoch's recently shut-down British paper News of the World may have tried to hack the phones of American 9/11 victims. Congress must investigate the US activities of Murdoch's News Corp. - which also owns FOX News and the Wall Street Journal.

Tell President Obama: Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

We can't be silent and allow President Obama to cave to Republicans, and put some of the most important and successful programs in our country on the chopping block.

Tell the DOJ: Hold Massey executives accountable!

Not only did Massey Energy's disregard for safety cause the death of 29 coal miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine last April, but Massey management may have hidden known hazards from mine safety officials. The Justice Department must investigate, and hold Massey executives accountable.

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If Obama truly wanted to help Medicare, he would lift the ban on medicare negotiating 40% to 60% discounts on prescription drugs.

 

Q: The national debt is at $14 trillion. Doesn't Obama have to do something decisive now?

A: If you assume that reducing the national debt is the primary challenge facing the nation, yes. But why do we have out of control spending? Social Security pays for itself. If Obama truly wanted to help Medicare, he would lift the ban on medicare negotiating 40% to 60% discounts on prescription drugs.

If the president wanted to cut the budget now,everything would be on the table. He would cut military spending and end the wars. He would demand an end to outsourcing and the multilevel scheme to give away the jobs of the citizens of the United States. He won't even consider and discuss these high yield options. Without any doubt, the president would never have allowed the Bush tax cuts to carry forward, if he wanted new revenue from those who could pay. He is not serious about lowering the national debt.

----- Original Message -----
To: 1TPU
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 7:56 PM
Subject: TruePatriotsUnite Rocks! Question: Why did President Obama put Social Security and Medicare on the table in the budget negotiations when 80% of the people oppose cuts to these programs?

 

Question: Why did President Obama put Social Security and Medicare on the table in the budget negotiations when 80% of the people oppose cuts to these programs?

Answer: The president is not in office to represent those people. He was selected, funded and carried over the finish line by corporate America. Look at the appointment of Wall Streeter Timothy Geithner, the bailouts, and the failure to prosecute any of the crooks who caused the current recession. He's serving the people who put him in office. Those people don't need Social Security and Medicare.

Q: Doesn't the president need to worry about reelection? Why would he risk that by going against such a large majority?

A: President Obama has no personal or financial risk if he loses his job.. He has a tidy lifetime pension and will, no doubt, be on plenty of corporate boards, not to mention the opportunities for huge speaking fees. There is less political risk than you might think. The only Republican presidential candidate who might be other than certifiable is the largely unknown John Huntsman, former governor of Utah and Obama's ambassador to China. The rest would do much more harm to seniors than Obama concessions this time around (if they materialize) and people know that.

Q: The national debt is at $14 trillion. Doesn't Obama have to do something decisive now?

A: If you assume that reducing the national debt is the primary challenge facing the nation, yes. But why do we have out of control spending? Social Security pays for itself. If Obama truly wanted to help Medicare, he would lift the ban on medicare negotiating 40% to 60% discounts on prescription drugs.

If the president wanted to cut the budget now,everything would be on the table. He would cut military spending and end the wars. He would demand an end to outsourcing and the multilevel scheme to give away the jobs of the citizens of the United States. He won't even consider and discuss these high yield options. Without any doubt, the president would never have allowed the Bush tax cuts to carry forward, if he wanted new revenue from those who could pay. He is not serious about lowering the national debt.

Q: Isn't Obama forced to negotiate some budget cuts due to the Republican threat to vote against raising the national debt ceiling?

A: Failing to raise the debt ceiling is pure insanity. The good faith and credit of the United States would be shattered. The AAA credit rating would drop, everything that the government does would be more expensive, causing even more debt. In addition, the impact on the US and world economy would be catastrophic, like a global tsunami. This is well known. Only the delusional believe otherwise.

Q: So why isn't the false drama between Republicans and Democrats made clear?

A: The corporate media has no interest in debunking this false drama. Their owners benefit greatly from this sort of contrived crisis. The drama by no-drama Obama and the shrill voices on the right in are in complete alignment with the very big money interests. Those interests can force cuts in Social Security and Medicare (already begun with cuts to the employee payroll rax). They can protect the Bush administration's tax breaks, a major factor in the deficit. They can sneak in all sorts of legislative and regulatory changes while the focus is on this false drama. This is a time honored technique. For example, the real threats from the 9/11 attacks were never addressed. Instead, the turmoil after the attack became the pretext for war against Iraq invasion and opened the door for huge increases in military spending. They do this whenever they have an opportunity.

Q: Aren't you saying that the president doesn't care about the typical citizen struggling through this serious recession and those who have lost their jobs, homes, and futures

A: Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. The president might call it "shared sacrifice" or some other corny term. But, in fact, he is willing to to see people thrown out of their homes with few if any resources, denied medical care, and stay jobless for months and years. His first term in office has demonstrated that in the clearest terms.

This president will never do a single thing to oppose the the agenda of the ruling financial elite unless, of course, members of the ruling elite tell him to oppose something meaningless just for the sake of appearances.

Q: So there is no hope?

A: There hasn't been much hope for a long time. There will never be any change as long as just about everybody in elective office and much of the judiciary remain in office. You can't get there from here as long as they control the political scene for their patrons, The Money Party..

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New Essay by Petras - Puppets in Revolt - please confirm receipt of essay

 

Puppets in Revolt:  Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the United States

James Petras

Introduction

            Empires are built through the promotion and backing of local collaborators who act at the behest of imperial rulers.  They are rewarded with the outward symbols of authority and financial handouts, even as it is understood that they hold their position only at the tolerance of their imperial superiors.  Imperial collaborators are referred to by the occupied people and the colonial resistance as “puppets” or “traitors”; by western journalists and critics as “clients”; by the imperial scribes and officials as “loyal allies” as long as they remain obedient to their sponsors and paymaster.

            Puppet rulers have a long and ignoble history during the 20th century.  Subsequent to US invasions in Central America and the Caribbean a whole string of bloody puppet dictators were put in power to implement policies favorable to US corporations and banks and to back US regional dominance. Duvalier (father and son) in Haiti, Trujillo in the Dominion Republic, Batista in Cuba, Somoza (father and son) in Nicaragua and a host of other tyrants served to safeguard imperial military and economic interests, while plundering the economies and ruling with an iron fist.

            Rule via puppets is characteristic of most empires.  The British excelled in propping up tribal chiefs as tax collectors, backing Indian royalty to muster sepoys to serve under British generals.  The French cultivated francophone African elite to provide cannon fodder for its imperial wars in Europe and Africa.  “Late” imperial countries like Japan set up puppet regimes in Manchura and Germany promoted the Vichy puppets in occupied France and the Quisling regime in Norway.

Post-Colonial Rule:  Nationalists and Neo-Colonial Puppets

            Powerful national liberation, anti-colonial movements following World War II, challenged European and US imperial dominance in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  Faced with the enormous costs of reconstruction in Europe and Japan and domestic mass movements opposed to continuing colonial wars, the US and Europe sought to retain their economic holdings, military bases via ‘political collaborators’.  They would assume administrative, military and political responsibilities, forging new links between the formally independent country and their old and new imperial masters.  The economic and military institutional continuities between colonial and post-colonial regimes were defined as ‘neo-colonialism’. 

            Foreign aid gave birth to and enriched an ‘indigenous’ kleptocratic bourgeoisie which provided a fig leaf to imperial resource extraction.  Military aid, training missions and overseas scholarships trained a new generation of military and civilian bureaucrats inculcated with imperial-centered ‘world views’ and loyalties.  The military-police-administrative apparatus was perceived by imperial rulers as the best guarantor of the emerging order, given the fragility of neo-colonial rulership, their narrow base of appeal and the demands of the masses for substantive socio-economic structural changes to accompany political independence.

            The post-colonial period was riven with long term large-scale anti-imperial social revolutions (China, Indo-China), military coups (throughout the three continents), international civil wars (Korea) and mostly successful nationalist-populist transformations (Iraq, India, Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, etc.).  The latter became the bases for the non-aligned movements. Outright ‘colonial settler regimes’ (South Africa, Israel/Palestine, Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe) were the exception.  Complex “associations”, depending on the specific power relations between empire and local elites, generally increased income, trade and investments for the decolonized newly independent countries. Independence created an internal dynamic based on large scale state intervention and a mixed economy.

            The post-colonial period of radical nationalist and socialist uprisings, lasted less than a decade in most of the three continents.  By the end of the 1970’s, imperial backed coups overthrew national-populist and socialist regimes in the Congo, Algeria, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and in numerous other countries.  The newly independent radical regimes in the former Portuguese colonies, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and the nationalist regimes and movements in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Latin America were severely weakened by the collapse of the USSR and China’s conversion to capitalism.  The US appeared as the sole ‘superpower’ without a military and economic counterweight.  US and European military and economic empire builders saw an opportunity to exploit natural resources, expropriate thousands of public enterprises, build a network of military bases and recruit new mercenary armies to extend imperial dominance.

            The question arose as to the form the new US empire would take:  the means through which the remaining nationalist rulers would be ousted.  Equally important: with the demise of the USSR and China/Indo-China’s conversion to capitalism, what ideology or even ‘argument’ would serve to justify the powerful thrust of post-colonial, empire building?

 

 

Washington’s New World Order:  Colonial Revivalism and Contemporary Puppetry:

            Western imperialism’s recovery from the defeats during the national independence struggles (1945-1970’s) included the massive rebuilding of a new imperial order.  With the collapse of the USSR, the incorporation of Eastern Europe as imperial satellites and the subsequent conversion of radical nationalists (Angola, Mozambique etc.) to kleptocrat free marketers, a powerful thrust was given to White House visions of unlimited dominance, based on projections of uncontested unilateral military power.

            The spread of ‘free market ideology’ between 1980 – 2000, based on the ascendancy of neo-liberal rulers throughout Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and a large swathe of Asia opened the door for unprecedented pillage, privatizations (mostly the same thing) and the concentration of wealth.  Corresponding to the pillage and the concentration of a unipolar military power, a group of ultra-militarists, so-called neo-conservatives ideologue, deeply imbued with the Israeli colonial mentality entered into the strategic decision-making positions in Washington, with tremendous leverage in European spheres of power – especially in England.

            History went into reverse.  The 1990’s were inaugurated with colonial style wars, launched against Iraq and Yugoslavia, leading to the break-up of states and the imposition of puppet regimes in (Northern Iraq) ‘Kurdistan’, Kosova, Montenegro and Macedonia (former Yugoslavia).  Military success, quick and low cost victories, confirmed and hardened the beliefs of the neo-conservative and neo-liberal ideologues that empire building was the inevitable wave of the future.  Only an appropriate political trigger was necessary to mobilize the financial and human resources to pursue the new military driven empire.

            The events of 9/11/2001 were thoroughly exploited to launch sequential wars of colonial conquest.  In the name of a “word wide military crusade against terrorism”, plans were made, massive funds were allocated and a mass media propaganda blitz was launched, to justify a series of colonial wars.

            The new imperial order began with the invasion of Afghanistan (2001) and the overthrow of the Taliban Islamic-nationalist regime, (which never had anything to do with 9/11).  Afghanistan was occupied by the US – NATO – mercenary armies but not conquered.  The US invasion and occupation of Iraq led to the regroupment of Islamic, nationalist and trade union anti-colonial forces and prolonged armed and civil resistance movements.

Because of widespread nationalist and anti-Zionist influence within the existing Iraqi civilian, police and military apparatus, neo-conservative ideologues in Washington opted for the total dismantling of the state.  They attempted to refashion a colonial state based on sectarian leaders,  local tribal chiefdoms, foreign contractors and the appointment and ‘clearance’ of reliable exile politician as ‘presidential or ‘prime ministerial’ national fig leafs for the colonized state.

Pakistan was a special case of imperial penetration, military intervention and political manipulation, linking large scale military aid, bribes and corruption to establish a puppet regime.  The latter sanctioned sustained violations of sovereignty by US warplanes (“drones” and piloted), commando operations and the large scale mobilization of the Pakistan military for US counter-insurgency operations displacing millions of Pakistan ‘tribal’ peoples.

 

 

The Puppet Regime Imperative

             Contrary to US and EU propaganda, the invasions and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the military interventions in Pakistan were never popular.  They were actively and passively opposed by the vast majority of the population.  No sooner were the colonial civil officials imposed by force of arms and efforts began to administer the country then passive popular and sporadic armed resistance emerged.  The colonial officials were seen for what they were:  an alien, exploitative, presence.  Treasuries were looted, the entire economy was paralyzed, elementary services (water, electricity, sewage systems, etc.) did not function, and millions were uprooted.  The wars and occupations radically decimated the pre-colonial society and the colonial officials were hard pressed to create a replacement.

            Billions in military spending failed to create a civil service capable of governance.  The colonial rulers had severe problems locating willing collaborators with technical or administrative experience.  Those willing to serve lacked even a modicum of popular acceptance.

            The colonial conquest and occupation eventually settled on establishing a parallel collaborator regime which would be financed and subordinate to the imperial authorities.  Imperial strategists believed they would provide a political façade to ‘legitimate’ and negotiate with the occupation.  The enticement to collaborate was the billions of dollars channeled into the colonized state apparatus (and easily plundered through phony ‘reconstruction’ projects) to compensate for the risks of political assassination by nationalist resistance fighters.  At the pinnacle of the parallel regimes were the puppet rulers, each certified by the CIA for their loyalty, servility and willingness to sustain imperial supremacy over the occupied people.  They obeyed Washington’s demands to privatize public enterprises and supported Pentagon recruitment of a mercenary army under colonial command.

            Hamid Karzai was chosen as the puppet ruler in Afghanistan, based merely on his family ties with drug traffickers and compatibility with warlords and elders on the imperial payroll.  His isolation was highlighted by the fact that even the presidential guard was made up of US Marines.  In Iraq, US colonial officials in consultation with the White House and the CIA chose Nouri al Maliki as the “Prime Minister” based on his zealous “hands on” engagement in torturing resistance fighters suspected of attacking US occupation forces. 

            In Pakistan the US backed a convicted felon on the lam, Asif Ali Zardari as President.  He repeatedly demonstrated his accommodating spirit by approving large scale, long term US aerial and ground operations on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border.  Zardari emptied the Pakistani treasury and mobilized millions of soldiers to assault and displace frontier population centers sympathetic to the Afghan resistance.

Puppets in Action:  Between Imperial Subservience and Mass Isolation

            The three puppet regimes have provided a fig leaf for the imperial savaging of the colonized people of the countries they preside over. Nouri al Maliki has over the past 5 years, not only justified the US occupation but actively promoted the assassination and torture of thousands of anti-colonial activists and resistance fighters. He has sold billion dollar oil and gas concessions to overseas oil companies.  He has presided over the theft (‘disappearance’ or “unaccountable”) of billions of dollars in oil revenues and US foreign aid (squeezed from US tax payers).  Hamid Karzai, who has rarely ventured out of the presidential compound without his US Marine bodyguards, has been ineffective in gathering even token support except through his extended family.  His main prop was narco warlord brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, killed by his CIA certified Chief of Security.  Since Karzai’s domestic support is extremely narrow, his main functions include attending external donors meetings, issuing press statements and rubber stamping each increase (“surge”) in US troops.  The intensified use of Special Forces death squads and drone warplanes, inflicting high civilian casualties, has further enraged Afghans.  The entire civilian and military apparatus nominally under Karzai is unquestionably, penetrated by Taliban and other nationalist groups, making him totally dependent on the US troops and warlords and drug traffickers on the CIA payroll.

 

            The Pakistani puppet Arif Ali Zardari, despite strong resistance from sectors of the military and intelligence agencies, and despite 85% popular hostility to the US, has plunged the country into a series of sustained large scale military offenses against Islamist communities in the Northeast territories, displacing over 4 million refugees.   Under orders from the White House to escalate the war against Taliban sanctuaries and their Pakistan armed allies, Zardari has lost all credibility as a ‘national’ politician.  He has outraged nationalist loyalties by ‘covertly’ approving US gross violations of sovereignty by allowing US Special Forces to operate from Pakistan bases in their murderous operations against local Islamic militants.  The daily US drone bombing of civilians in villages, on highways and in markets has led to a near universal consensus of his puppet status.   While puppet rulers provide a useful façade for external propaganda purposes, their  effectiveness diminishes to zero domestically, as their subservience before the imperial slaughter of non-combatants increases.  The initial imperial propaganda ploy portraying the puppets as “associate” or “power-sharers” loses credibility as it becomes transparent that the puppet rulers are impotent to rectify imperial abuses.  This is especially the case with pervasive human rights violations and the destruction of the economy.  Foreign aid is widely perceived as nurturing widespread extortion, corruption and incompetent administration of basic services.

            As the domestic resistance grows and as the imperial countries ‘will’ to continue a decade long war and occupation wanes, the puppet rulers, feel intense pressure to make, at least, token expressions of ‘independence’.  The puppets begin to “talk back’ to the puppet-masters, attempting to play to the vast chorus of mass indignation over the most egregious occupation crimes against humanity.  The colonial occupation begins to sink, under the weight of one-billion-dollars-per-week expenditures from depleted treasuries. The token troop withdrawals signal the growing importance and dependence on a highly suspect ‘native’ mercenary force, causing the puppets increasingly to fear for loss of office and life.

            Puppet rulers begin to contemplate that it is time to probe the possibilities of making a deal with the resistance; time to voice popular indignation at civilian killings; time to praise the withdrawal of troops, but nothing consequential.  No abandoning the protection of the imperial Praetorian Guard or, ‘god forbid’, the latest tranche of foreign aid.  It’s an opportune time for Ali Zardari to criticize the US military intrusion, killing Bin Laden; time for Al Maliki to call on the US to “honor” its troop withdrawal in Iraq; time for Karzai to welcome the Afghan military takeover of a province of least resistance (Bamiyan).  Are the puppets in some sort of ‘revolt’ against the puppet master?  Washington apparently is annoyed:  $800 million in aid to Pakistan has been held up pending greater military and intelligence collaboration in scourging the countryside and cities in search of Islamic resistance fighters.  The Taliban assassination of Karzai’s brother and top political adviser Jan Mohamed Khan, important assets in buttering the puppet regime, signals that the puppet rulers’ occasional critical emotional ejaculations are not resonating with the Taliban “shadow government” which covers the nation and prepares a new military offensive.

            The puppet ‘revolts’ neither influence the colonial master nor attract the anti-colonial masses. They signal the demise of a US attempt at colonial revivalism.  It spells the end of the illusion of the neo-conservative and neo-liberal ideologists who fervently believed that US military power was capably of invading, occupying and ruling the Islamic world via shadow puppets projected over a mass of submissive peoples.  The colonial example of Israel, a narrow strip of arid coastline, remains an anomaly in a sea of independent Islamic and secular states.  Efforts by its US advocates to reproduce Israel’s relative consolidation through wars, occupations and puppet regimes has instead led to the bankruptcy of the US and the collapse of the colonial state.  Puppets will be in flight; troops are in retreat; flags will be lowered and a period of prolonged civil war is in the offering.  Can a democratic social revolution replace puppets and puppet masters? We in the United States live in a time of profound and deepening crises, in which rightwing extremism has penetrated the highest office and has seized the initiative for now but hopefully not forever.  The overseas colonial wars are coming to a close, are domestic wars on the horizon?

 

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