Media Cover-ups and Fragmentation over Gaza Policy

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-civil-war-erupts-over-gaza-as-gop-rep-says-starve-away/

In some respects it seems like the situation in Gaza is getting less and less coverage even while the situation remains acute, with at least dozens dying every day, killed by bullets, bombs, starvation, or other forms of deprivation. The media is derelict and refuses to properly cover the story nor the fact that Israel has killed over two hundred journalists, and is clearly unwilling for anyone to do on the ground reporting.

Noboa Inaugurated and Ecuador's Future in the Age of Trump

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/24/ecuadors-daniel-noboa-sworn-in-for-full-term-promising-a-crackdown-on-gangs

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/ecuador-president-blackwater-alliance

Ecuador had been part of the so-called Pink Tide of Latin American nations that had turned turned to Left-wing governments during the George Bush era. The term of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) came to symbolize this era for Ecuador. After Correa departed office, his party continued holding power but the shift was underway. By 2021 a conservative (and pro-Washington) president was in power but his tenure was marked by controversy, corruption, and ultimately collapse.

Erik Prince and Trump's Deportation Shortfall

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/erik-prince-trump-immigration-enforcement

I suppose this article got little attention in Christian circles because few would find it newsworthy. They support Trump's anti-immigrant agenda and the fact that so-called Christians like Erik Prince would want to promote and profit from it - is not worth talking about. Undoubtedly most of them would do the same if they had the means to do so.

Europe's Secrets and a Festering Problem in Syria

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/opinion/the-brief-europes-guantanamo/

Syria has been out of everyone's mind for a number of years and as such the public has forgotten about these prisoners - tens of thousands of ISIS members and affiliates still held in prison camps. The article is absolutely correct in pointing out that the Turkish backed militias could lead the Kurds to abandon these camps and thousands of these Salafist fighters could be once more on the loose.

Israel, Death Squads, and Colombia

https://consortiumnews.com/2024/05/13/the-secret-history-of-israels-role-in-genocide-in-colombia/

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/6/12/chiquita_funding_death_squads_in_colombia

I post this must-read article because I believe it's important for Christians to have a better understanding of what has happened in Colombia and the role of US policy, the US military - and the outsourced role Israel often plays at the behest of Washington.

BP and Right-wing Paramilitaries in Colombia

https://declassifieduk.org/bps-financing-of-colombias-murderous-military/

The documents referenced here merely confirm what was already known – both governments and corporations were involved in the financing and arming of Right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia.

A Ukraine Miscellany XIX: Stalemate

When this subject was last addressed at the beginning of June, the spring offensive was just getting under way. Two months later it has fizzled and even Western media seems incapable of spinning the story.

The Wagner Group, Africa, and Western Media

Russia's Wagner Group has been in the news a lot lately. It's painted as the ultimate evil – indeed all mercenary groups fall under that label. And interestingly many of the charges levied at Wagner could also be brought against organisations such as Blackwater (or whatever name it goes by these days), as well as DynCorp, Aegis, Paladin, and many others. Western media is particularly determined to paint Wagner with the darkest of hues and I don't doubt they're a nasty bunch. Whether some have prison records or not makes little difference. There are myriad American soldiers and veterans that are criminals whether or not they've ever been convicted by a court of law.

Prince Under Investigation

https://theintercept.com/2021/10/30/fbi-libya-erik-prince-weapons-trafficking/

Erik Prince is once more in the news. His star has faded somewhat, especially when compared to his days of fame and notoriety during the Bush and Trump administrations. And yet he hasn't gone away.

Belarus Drowning in Intrigue

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/tens-thousands-rally-belarus-pre-election-crackdown-200731074941570.html

In Belarus, there's a pending presidential election due to take place on 9 August 2020. To no one's real surprise the candidate posing a viable threat to Alexander Lukashenko (who has been president since 1994) has been arrested. Sergei Tikhanovsky, a dissident blogger turned presidential candidate was arrested and charged with collaborating with Russian mercenaries in order to foment unrest. It's a pretty sensational story.

Obscuring Western Support for Haftar

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/western-mercenaries-arrived-libya-support-haftar-report-200516160022383.html

This report has obvious connections to the Wagner-Blackwater story run by The Intercept. It only furthers the point I've been making that there are significant sectors within the US that are keen to support Haftar.

These splits between official arms of the US government like the State Department and parallel policies run out of Langley or the Pentagon are not without precedent.

Blackwater and Wagner

https://theintercept.com/2020/04/13/erik-prince-russia-mercenary-wagner-libya-mozambique/

Prince, a hero to many American Evangelicals is an evil figure to some and certainly a living scandal to Christians who root their faith in the New Testament. Regardless of what one thinks of him, he remains an important if controversial figure.

ISIS Scatters to the Four Winds... And to Central Asia

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seventeen-die-in-Islamic-State-attack-on-border-checkpoint-48474.html

This has long been the fear, that in the aftermath of its Syrian defeat and the death of its leader, the surviving elements of ISIS would return to their home countries and bring their violent forms of Salafism with them. Al Qaeda it would seem is on the wane and the more extreme, apocalyptic and (despite its attempted caliphate) even de-centralised forms of Salafi violence represented by ISIS are growing in popularity. The same frustrations that are driving people on to the streets across much of the world are in the Islamic context driving some youth into radicalism.

Apartheid Mercenaries: The West and Africa

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/20/south-africa-weird-sinister-apartheid-mercenary-saimr-keith-maxwell

Was Dag Hammarskjöld assassinated in 1961? His DC-6 went down over Northern Rhodesia under suspicious circumstances and his death proved convenient to some who opposed his mission.

It's been a longstanding question and yet to some there's little question at all. There's a long history of South African, Rhodesian, Francophone and Portuguese African mercenary figures directly or loosely connected to the military and intelligence agencies of their respected 'fatherlands', whether Belgium, France, Portugal, the UK or the United States.

Russians Murdered in the CAR

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-filmmakers-killed-in-africa-were-investigating-mercenaries-close-to-the-kremlin/2018/08/01/8dac1c8c-9589-11e8-818b-e9b7348cd87d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1a921da290e6

The Anti-Russia machine churns on but unlike most of the mainstream coverage, this story is actually interesting. The UN approved a deal for Russia to sell arms to the military of the Central African Republic. Of course this is spoken of in negative terms by Western mouthpieces like the Washington Post. Without a hint of irony or shame Western media outlets have in light of this story pointed to Moscow as fueling conflicts and warmongering.

Plan Mexico, Condor B and a Series of Long Dirty Wars

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/08/22/the-u-s-is-fanning-the-flames-of-violence-in-mexico/

The author provides a well done and quite readable narrative regarding the drug war in Mexico which began in 2006. He provides many links, including not a few to diplomatic cables provided by Wikileaks.

Buried Secrets of the Balkan Wars

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-appoints-19-judges-for-the-new-kosovo-court-02-07-2017

Not a few will be watching these Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) trials for clues and indications of US Deep State involvement. Numerous military contractors as well as indication of intelligence services involvement have been identified as working within Croatia and Kosovo before and during the 1995 and 1999 wars that were the death of Yugoslavia.

The Labyrinth of Drugs and Weapons Smuggling: The Balkans, Latin America and the Strategy of Tension

https://theintercept.com/2016/11/30/did-the-dea-nab-an-international-weapons-dealer-or-a-cia-asset-hung-out-to-dry/?comments=1#comments

Due to the inconclusive nature of the story I'm not sure why The Intercept chose to publish it. Perhaps it's for the same reasons that I'm passing it on. It provides an opportunity to expose readers to the confusing mess and double-dealing that's going on in government agencies and in the back alleys. I think we all know these things go on, but sometimes it's helpful to read something like this that fleshes it out a bit.

Manchurian Candidates, Keystone Cops or Something Else?

G4S is one of many companies that is heavily linked with the US-intelligence apparatus and the Corporatocracy. Conspiracists will wonder if Orlando shooter Mateen isn't some kind of Manchurian Candidate. Of course it is rather suspicious when one considers his background and the fact that he was well known to authorities. This pattern is repeating as we have seen more or less the same thing with regard to the recent terror attacks in Europe.

The Fallujah Deception

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/toxic-legacy-of-us-assault-on-fallujah-worse-than-hiroshima-2034065.html

http://morallowground.com/2012/04/04/on-this-day-2004-us-forces-launch-operation-vigilant-resolve-first-battle-of-fallujah/

I was watching a clip tonight on a mainstream media website that attempted to provide an explanation as to 'Why Fallujah Matters'.