Time to chuck the U.S. from the UN - into the long grass. They poison everything they touch. They’ve made a farce of democracy by vetoing votes of 150 to 1, regularly. They committed thousands of war crimes in Nam, but not one American did hard time for them. Since then it has been a relentless series of crimes and war crimes. The only difference between the U.S. and the Visigoths has been the level of sanctimony.
Thank you again to Chris Hedges for the comprehensive picture of context.
Particularly appreciated:
-The point regarding the true situation in Venezuela (the mass demonstrations of support for the Chavismo movement).
-That of the perpetuation of failed imperial misadventures, e.g. Iraq, as a result of the lack of accountability for the those responsible for those debacles. Or even a general acknowledgement of the failure of those projects.
-The point made with respect to the current lack of international/global mechanisms to restrain the ambitions of powerful (rogue) states, similar to the scenarios at the times prior to WWl and WWll.
In many ways, what we are witnessing is clearly a breakdown of the global social order that has been in place, similar to the conditions prior to those wars (which are in large continuations of the same conflicts and struggles).
Regarding the parallel with the global context at the onset of WWl: events at that time took on a life of their own. There were those on all sided who rattled swords and pounded shields, but the overwhelming consensus of must historical views was that when war actually broke out, and particularly when it ran on for years in an unprecedented scale of deaths and devastation, all nations were collectively surprised.
Hopefully a similar scenario won't be played out in the current day.
But, as with climate change, there seems to be a collective disconnect with the potential dangers posed by what is going on.
-The mention of Iran and the fact that those living in Latin America are much more aware of the role of U.S. Yanqui imperialism (via the CIA) in their history than are Americans. I had Iranian friends at the time of the Iranian revolution ousting the Shah. It was a small early education. As I watched what was going on, in general confusion, they would smile and gently explain an event "Oh, Bill, it is the C.I.A." and told me the history of the CIA’s involvement, such as the training of support the SAVAK under the Shah. One of them who had a relative who was held and tortured by SAVAK, and another relative who was subsequently prosecuted by the Iranian regime under the Ayatollah simply because he had designed a library under the regime of the Shah.
-The various pawns and other casualties of Imperial ambitions and wars.
-"When they go wrong, they go terribly wrong":
Yes, Iran is decidedly NOT Venezuela, Syria or Hezbollah. Yes, those in the imperial positions of power seem temperamentally incapable of gaining the perspectives they should be getting from the outcomes over the past decades.
A blindness born of hubris and a cultish reinforcement of a vision of reality that shows disturbing incongruence with the actual global situation, with potential fraught consequences.
Particularly in the view of the recent actions' effect on China and Russia, and the history of tariffs and other continuous affronts to the world order and insults to other nations: the recent policies of the U.S. really do seem almost designed towards hastening it's demise.
-VERY tangentially: George Galloway reminds me of a Scots, contemporary Jimmy Breslin.
Time to chuck the U.S. from the UN - into the long grass. They poison everything they touch. They’ve made a farce of democracy by vetoing votes of 150 to 1, regularly. They committed thousands of war crimes in Nam, but not one American did hard time for them. Since then it has been a relentless series of crimes and war crimes. The only difference between the U.S. and the Visigoths has been the level of sanctimony.
Thank you again to Chris Hedges for the comprehensive picture of context.
Particularly appreciated:
-The point regarding the true situation in Venezuela (the mass demonstrations of support for the Chavismo movement).
-That of the perpetuation of failed imperial misadventures, e.g. Iraq, as a result of the lack of accountability for the those responsible for those debacles. Or even a general acknowledgement of the failure of those projects.
-The point made with respect to the current lack of international/global mechanisms to restrain the ambitions of powerful (rogue) states, similar to the scenarios at the times prior to WWl and WWll.
In many ways, what we are witnessing is clearly a breakdown of the global social order that has been in place, similar to the conditions prior to those wars (which are in large continuations of the same conflicts and struggles).
Regarding the parallel with the global context at the onset of WWl: events at that time took on a life of their own. There were those on all sided who rattled swords and pounded shields, but the overwhelming consensus of must historical views was that when war actually broke out, and particularly when it ran on for years in an unprecedented scale of deaths and devastation, all nations were collectively surprised.
Hopefully a similar scenario won't be played out in the current day.
But, as with climate change, there seems to be a collective disconnect with the potential dangers posed by what is going on.
-The mention of Iran and the fact that those living in Latin America are much more aware of the role of U.S. Yanqui imperialism (via the CIA) in their history than are Americans. I had Iranian friends at the time of the Iranian revolution ousting the Shah. It was a small early education. As I watched what was going on, in general confusion, they would smile and gently explain an event "Oh, Bill, it is the C.I.A." and told me the history of the CIA’s involvement, such as the training of support the SAVAK under the Shah. One of them who had a relative who was held and tortured by SAVAK, and another relative who was subsequently prosecuted by the Iranian regime under the Ayatollah simply because he had designed a library under the regime of the Shah.
-The various pawns and other casualties of Imperial ambitions and wars.
-"When they go wrong, they go terribly wrong":
Yes, Iran is decidedly NOT Venezuela, Syria or Hezbollah. Yes, those in the imperial positions of power seem temperamentally incapable of gaining the perspectives they should be getting from the outcomes over the past decades.
A blindness born of hubris and a cultish reinforcement of a vision of reality that shows disturbing incongruence with the actual global situation, with potential fraught consequences.
Particularly in the view of the recent actions' effect on China and Russia, and the history of tariffs and other continuous affronts to the world order and insults to other nations: the recent policies of the U.S. really do seem almost designed towards hastening it's demise.
-VERY tangentially: George Galloway reminds me of a Scots, contemporary Jimmy Breslin.