But is that all Biden is banking on?
Dan Patrick was right about one thing, though. The majority of Americans, ruling class or not, do want Trump to disappear. Forever, and that’s a long, long time.
Source: Tin Pot Dictators and Tin Foil Hats – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Wars the US waged in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan following September 11, 2001 caused at least 4.5 million deaths and displaced 38 to 60 million people, with 7.6 million children starving today, according to studies by Brown University.
“We’re pumping all this money into Plan Colombia, and meanwhile, we’re hemorrhaging soldiers who go and turn mercenary so they make lots more money in Iraq.”
Source: Colombian Mercenaries and the Assassination of Haiti’s Jovenel Moïse
At the same time, Republican governors in states from Texas and Mississippi to Alabama and West Virginia have been loosening or eliminating COVID-19 restrictions in response to declining COVID-19 numbers. Earlier this month Walensky urged policymakers to be mindful that Americans would not be truly safe until as many people are vaccinated as possible, adding that the rise of variants could “complete lose” the gains made so far in defeating the pandemic.
COVID-19 cases rise as states ease restrictions; CDC director warns of “impending doom” | Salon.com
America now has its own Green Zone in downtown Washington, D.C., where the Mall is closed, the city is locked down, and protective fencing has gone up around the Capitol. You only need a Green Zone, a safe small space completely under the control of the government, if the rest of the country is a Red Zone.
America now has its own Green Zone, as Trumpian Fascism erects Racist Red Zone
Yet another Global virus hit 144 different countries (ODT)
via What Are US Forces Doing Abroad? We Don’t Necessarily Know. | The Nation
And all of this followed a string of black eyes for elite troops in recent years, including allegations of massacres, unjustified killings, murder, prisoner abuse, child rape, child sexual abuse, mutilations, and other crimes, as well as drug trafficking and the theft of government property by Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, Air Force special operators, and Marine Raiders.
Despite this startling record of malfeasance, SOCOM’s Comprehensive Review came to an unstartling conclusion. The review team (whose members were almost exclusively connected to the Special Operations community) largely absolved the command and its commandos of responsibility for much of anything. The team claimed that special operators had only been involved in “several” incidents of misconduct and unethical behavior instead of a laundry list of criminality.
America’s Commandos Deployed to 141 Countries | The Smirking Chimp
During the first six months of 2019 alone, U.S. Africa Command tracked seven reports of American and allied attacks in Somalia that allegedly killed or wounded at least 18 civilians, according to internal AFRICOM documents obtained by The Intercept. But the U.S. does not acknowledge killing or wounding a single civilian in Somalia last year, according to AFRICOM spokesperson John Manley.
via U.S. Military Is Undercounting Civilian Casualties in Somalia
The US have a history of false flags and have used them to start conflicts more so than any modern day nation we know. (ODT)
The statement did not specify how the video and images were obtained, but said a US military aircraft and the USS Bainbridge were in the area following the attacks, with the US warship rescuing sailors from one of the tankers after responding to a distress call.
Such imagery is often difficult to declassify and its release appeared to show US efforts to convince the international community of Iran’s culpability in Thursday’s attacks.
Japanese ship’s owners say reports of mine attack ‘false’
The United States strongly opposes discontinuing support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s war and will remain engaged in efforts to combat Iranian influence and Islamist militancy in the Arab state, a State Department official said.
Key points:The US last month halted refuelling of aircraft from the coalition, blamed for air strikes that have killed thousands of civilians in Yemen
Peace talks are underway to address what is largely seen in the region as a proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran
The country is near one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers
The United States is now at war in six countries in the broader Middle East: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia. There will come a day when the American people understand the massive cost in lives and treasure. The day of reckoning will come sooner than the Trump administration thinks.
It has been 15 years since OIF, and there – in Iraq and Syria – US servicemen remain, wedged between Saudi-backed Sunni Islamists, and Iranian-backed Shia militiamen. Some 4500 American soldiers have already died, with upwards of 30,000 more wounded. And, like a bad sitcom, the US military still spends most of its time fighting spin-off wars (Syria, Iraq 2.0, ISIS, Yemen) of the original Iraq disaster. That ill-fated farce of an invasion either created the conditions, or exacerbated the existing tensions, which inform today’s regional wars.
With that kind of money, say progressives, “we could be ending homelessness, making universal preschool and higher ed available to all, and repairing roads and bridges.”
by
Jessica Corbett, staff writer
The FBI says it is investigating this week’s California shooting as an act of terrorism.
olddogthoughts 