*I apologise for the Daily Mail link in advance. It's a
tabloid style paper with a lot of smut. Sadly the tabloids do (at times) serve
a real purpose in that they're willing to publish what is considered 'fringe'
by the mainstream. Former ambassador Murray's own story is rather interesting.
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/us-denied-entry-craig-murray
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/us-denied-entry-craig-murray
There is clearly a divide at present within Establishment and
even within the GOP Establishment over priorities. One faction wants to pursue
the Anti-Russia and Iran policy as well as a larger Middle Eastern struggle, while
another group of which Trump seems to be a part of, wishes to reinvigorate the
Pivot to Asia policy of the Obama administration. Although it must be said many
aspects of the project were initiated under George Bush.
Trump's position with regard to the Pivot strategy is further
compounded by his Nativist economic stance. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
was a key aspect of the strategy, an economic alliance meant to exclude China
and reduce its influence in the region. The TPP is now clearly dead and its
collapse has worked against US interests as many potential 'partners' are now
gravitating toward China.
The Trump response (rhetorical thus far) is one of escalation
and militaristic brinksmanship. He wishes to create a crisis, push the line and
back Beijing up against a wall. I doubt his goal is war but some kind of
agreement that will be a feather in his cap that he can sell to the American
public. He wants Beijing to lose face so he can claim a victory, that he 'stood
up' to the bullies in Beijing.
Beijing is certainly weighing all of this and soberly trying
to reckon with what is coming in 2017. If Trump (or Beijing) prove intransigent
or intractable the situation could quickly become very dangerous.
And yet it is clear that within the GOP and certainly the DNC
there is a much larger faction that wishes to pursue and escalate the
Anti-Russia policy which the United States has prosecuted for the last
twenty-five years. The push to blame Russia for intervening in the US election
serves multiple purposes.
It's an occasion to solidify NATO, boost US military
spending, increase the powers of the security state, censor the Internet, pursue
US imperial policies within Eurasia and expand the phony War on Terror.
Both Establishment camps are pernicious and dangerous and yet
it's clear the Western Media is bought and paid for and will do nothing to
inform the public of the issues or the questions at hand.
Classifying the DNC breach as a leak changes the narrative
and turns the focus onto the DNC, the Clintons and the nature of the US
political system. And it's not just the Democrats who stand to lose. The emails
reveal several facets of the Deep State and how it works. Other questions will
be raised regarding the 'leaker' and that's also a question no one wants to
pursue. The Russia ploy is convenient, plausible and simultaneously solves many
problems.
https://theintercept.com/2016/12/31/russia-hysteria-infects-washpost-again-false-story-about-hacking-u-s-electric-grid/
ReplyDeleteGreenwald provides some good follow-up and in particular the nonesense about the electric grid hack in Vermont. This story is still being perpetuated by the MSM.
There are also some helpful links near the bottom of the article to a piece by Taibbi and an Atlantic article. I agree with Greenwald's assessment of the latter.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/11/trust-but-dont-verify-us-intelligence-agencies-and-the-new-cold-war/
ReplyDeleteNot only is Clapper a proven liar, but his lies which by rights should have led to prosecution were something of the final straw for Edward Snowden. But that point is not something you're likely to hear much about in the Western Media.
I must say it really does feel like 2002 all over again. The stories about WMD slogged on day after day, this argument and that argument etc...
But for those who had been following the story since the 1990s, we knew the narrative was false. The provided facts were often false or containing hints of truth were distorted to fit the false narrative. By the dawn of 2003 the war drums reached fever pitch. While there were huge protests and demonstrations I sure didn't feel the opposition in the USA. I felt like if I spoke out against the Iraq narrative I was going to get punched in the mouth. I had people threaten me online etc...
But in the end, all of us who said that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Blair etc... were lying and that the Iraq invasion was not only wrong but would be disastrous.
Well, it brings me no pleasure to say we were right.
This Russian Cold War II campaign stinketh and I am not swayed. Now our media makes a big deal because Tillerson refused to call Putin a 'war criminal'.
There are war criminals in the US senate. McCain certainly qualifies as does probably every US president going back for more than a century.
A crude analogy:
Britney Spears is certainly a slut but I'm sorry I'm not going to listen to Madonna take the high ground and attack her lack of virtue. It would be absurd.
This is the best article yet that explains the technicalities of the case, the nature of the eveidence, its inconclusiveness... and once again the utter weakness of the US government case and its agenda driven conclusions
ReplyDeletehttp://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/13/did-the-russians-really-hack-the-dnc/
And with regard to the next chapter of Trump/Russia 'scandal'... these articles demand a read:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/13/farewell-obummer-hello-golden-showers/
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/11/the-deep-state-goes-to-war-with-president-elect-using-unverified-claims-as-dems-cheer/
I must say The Intercept is interesting because there's obviously a split even within their ranks. They're publishing articles that grant credibility with the Mainstream's narrative regarding Russian hacking even while Greenwald continues to question the story.
CounterPunch's spectrum is fairly wide as well. Like Greenwald and they have been equally critical of Obama. This is not the supposed Leftish perspective of the Mainstream which really isn't properly defined as Left at all.
Democracy Now which generally speaking IS Leftish in its politics continues to cover the Syrian War and the Trump-Russia stories from the perspective of the DNC but I will grant this, in their reporting they are starting to give more voice to both sides. They've had Stephen Cohen on a couple of times to counter the Russia narrative. Scahill of the Intercept (who I personally find pretty obnoxious) is formerly connected to Amy Goodman and Democracy Now. This has opened the doors to Glenn Greenwald and I think his shows with Amy Goodman have broadened her horizons a little bit and they're starting to question the standard Left interpretation of these events surrounding Clinton, Trump, Syria and Russia.
I think Greenwald's Deep State Goes to War article probably gives the best indication as to what is in the wind. I have a 'feeling' that however this story ends, whether it's in six months or four years... we're at yet another turning point. Our political system and culture will not emerge from this unchanged or unscathed. These events collectively mark a sea change, a transformative moment. As to the spectrum and pervasiveness of this change... it's too soon to tell just what it will all mean.
Now with Golden Showers... oh brother, you just can't even watch any news with your kids in the room anymore. It's like we're in Rome under Caligula, Nero and Commodus. Well, not quite but we're getting there.