The politicians and shills in the media who orchestrated 20 years of military debacles in the Middle East, and who seek a world dominated by U.S. power, must be held accountable for their crimes.
Chris, your deep dive analysis of the past 20 plus years of global military hegemony is accurate and so correct. I hope and pray that the many, read, listen to your words of reality, peace and survival. Thank you my friend.
Ukrainians are being similarly tortured, killed and impoverished by the mercenary far right interests in Ukraine, mendacious enough to impose this war on their country in service of US geopolitical maneuvering, not least of which, I read on another substack, is focused on consolidating farmland in the hands of a few large agribusiness conglomerates.
This is a great report. In its written version there is a link for the interview that Paul Jay, Sr. editor of TRNN, gave to Mr. Hedges on 2003 where he explains the reason why he preferred to resign to the NYT instead of letting them muzzle him to denounce the war on Iraq, and the cost of his sacrifice.
following I'm transcribing the part of this interview where Mr. Hedges explains the distinction between truth and news and I'm very happy and thankful that he chose to be the true-teller.
JAY: And just to get back to The Times, The Times has the credibility to do this kind of stuff up to the war in Iraq because they do allow a fair amount of fact-based reporting that actually is legitimate. So you kind of believe what The Times says.
HEDGES: Right. Well, every article they wrote which was a lie about weapons of mass destruction, you know, being part of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was technically fact-based. It was sourced, you know, senior intelligence officials say. I mean, it was double-checked with other intelligence officials. It was all within the rubric of American journalism, legitimate journalism. It just happened to be a lie.
JAY: And one could note, many people did know at the time.
HEDGES: Well, but those people we never spoke to, whether they were the French, whether–.
JAY: That’s my point. You can construct the verifiable stream, but you don’t talk to the people that threaten what you will say.
HEDGES: Right. And that is the difference between news and truth. And I think the really great reporters care about truth more than they do about news. They’re not the same thing.
You are amazing. In the mean time, in the popular yahoo site an announcement was posted that Iranians bombed Syria - just in time to stop a rising interest in moving out of Syria. They also just blocked once again opinions. It appears that something terrible is being prepared - as Ukraine is loosing the war
Chris, you are a master of the word; I read your text and hear your voice, I want to sit and read this article to everyone I know personally, or to a hundred at a time. I thank you for your eloquent truth, you're resounding experience, and the light you shine upon these dark times. I am but a simple hick of a farmer from the distant shores of Aotearoa/New Zealand, but know how far your words reach.
Continuing our discussion on this same Chris Hedges article,
Thank you for that moving poem. There is nothing to disagree with in that.
As to Christianity being just a Santa tale, we have a body of thought that came from Jesus, but some of us don’t hang out a stocking to take delivery of it. As Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. It seems to have been St Paul who made it macho to stumble from shipwreck to shipwreck telling the world about Jesus, and there are a lot of Paulines going about doing that and a offering a couple of hundred hours of exegetics with it, because with Paul, you get more to read. But I also used to question whether this did any good until, as a teenager, I was out and about with my mother and commented to her to that effect, as we watched a street preacher preaching the word in front of some tourists. She pointed out that Jesus said that “My word shall not return unto me void, but shall accomplish that for which it is intended”, and here we are with the same annoyance giving us a chance to discuss what was intended. Fortunately for us, we are no more immoral in the act itself of preaching than are the Jon Carvers of this world, and all the other religions of this world including agnostics and atheists are also in the position of trying to promote or impose their world view on us. People need a filter to screen out the signal from the noise. We all have to do this because of the huge noise we think may be emanating from a small area in Palestine. Whatever filter we pick, Christ’s teachings seem to pass through it undamaged. Clearly Jon and you have considered all these things, so I have to say, stop complaining; it’s an even playing field; or as Jon might put it: get it up you!
If you haven’t thought of the proper way to get rid of the Christianity which is bothering you, your only impossible option is to do what everybody else does about it: let the pogroms roll and see if your words have any better effect on slowing them down than did Christianity. As Christ also said, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man found in a field, and he went out and bought the whole field. You now need something of equal or greater value with which to buy the field back and get rid of the guy who’s running around rejoicing with his new field. What new wine would that be that you would want to pour into our old wine skins?
Your much-sought-after stardust will be here soon enough in the form of the owners coming back here to reclaim their vineyard. Don’t get on board with that either!
One of Chris best among hundreds of truly outstanding.
He is a pride and consciousness of United States.
Chris, your deep dive analysis of the past 20 plus years of global military hegemony is accurate and so correct. I hope and pray that the many, read, listen to your words of reality, peace and survival. Thank you my friend.
Ukrainians are being similarly tortured, killed and impoverished by the mercenary far right interests in Ukraine, mendacious enough to impose this war on their country in service of US geopolitical maneuvering, not least of which, I read on another substack, is focused on consolidating farmland in the hands of a few large agribusiness conglomerates.
This is a great report. In its written version there is a link for the interview that Paul Jay, Sr. editor of TRNN, gave to Mr. Hedges on 2003 where he explains the reason why he preferred to resign to the NYT instead of letting them muzzle him to denounce the war on Iraq, and the cost of his sacrifice.
following I'm transcribing the part of this interview where Mr. Hedges explains the distinction between truth and news and I'm very happy and thankful that he chose to be the true-teller.
JAY: And just to get back to The Times, The Times has the credibility to do this kind of stuff up to the war in Iraq because they do allow a fair amount of fact-based reporting that actually is legitimate. So you kind of believe what The Times says.
HEDGES: Right. Well, every article they wrote which was a lie about weapons of mass destruction, you know, being part of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was technically fact-based. It was sourced, you know, senior intelligence officials say. I mean, it was double-checked with other intelligence officials. It was all within the rubric of American journalism, legitimate journalism. It just happened to be a lie.
JAY: And one could note, many people did know at the time.
HEDGES: Well, but those people we never spoke to, whether they were the French, whether–.
JAY: That’s my point. You can construct the verifiable stream, but you don’t talk to the people that threaten what you will say.
HEDGES: Right. And that is the difference between news and truth. And I think the really great reporters care about truth more than they do about news. They’re not the same thing.
The Last Child of My Lai -- JEFFREY ST. CLAIR – Mar. 19, 2023
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/03/19/the-last-child-of-my-lai/
The My Lai Massacre, where American GIs murdered 502 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, occurred 55 years ago this week.
Very well done. Good insights.
You are amazing. In the mean time, in the popular yahoo site an announcement was posted that Iranians bombed Syria - just in time to stop a rising interest in moving out of Syria. They also just blocked once again opinions. It appears that something terrible is being prepared - as Ukraine is loosing the war
Chris, you are a master of the word; I read your text and hear your voice, I want to sit and read this article to everyone I know personally, or to a hundred at a time. I thank you for your eloquent truth, you're resounding experience, and the light you shine upon these dark times. I am but a simple hick of a farmer from the distant shores of Aotearoa/New Zealand, but know how far your words reach.
Hi, Julio,
Continuing our discussion on this same Chris Hedges article,
Thank you for that moving poem. There is nothing to disagree with in that.
As to Christianity being just a Santa tale, we have a body of thought that came from Jesus, but some of us don’t hang out a stocking to take delivery of it. As Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. It seems to have been St Paul who made it macho to stumble from shipwreck to shipwreck telling the world about Jesus, and there are a lot of Paulines going about doing that and a offering a couple of hundred hours of exegetics with it, because with Paul, you get more to read. But I also used to question whether this did any good until, as a teenager, I was out and about with my mother and commented to her to that effect, as we watched a street preacher preaching the word in front of some tourists. She pointed out that Jesus said that “My word shall not return unto me void, but shall accomplish that for which it is intended”, and here we are with the same annoyance giving us a chance to discuss what was intended. Fortunately for us, we are no more immoral in the act itself of preaching than are the Jon Carvers of this world, and all the other religions of this world including agnostics and atheists are also in the position of trying to promote or impose their world view on us. People need a filter to screen out the signal from the noise. We all have to do this because of the huge noise we think may be emanating from a small area in Palestine. Whatever filter we pick, Christ’s teachings seem to pass through it undamaged. Clearly Jon and you have considered all these things, so I have to say, stop complaining; it’s an even playing field; or as Jon might put it: get it up you!
If you haven’t thought of the proper way to get rid of the Christianity which is bothering you, your only impossible option is to do what everybody else does about it: let the pogroms roll and see if your words have any better effect on slowing them down than did Christianity. As Christ also said, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man found in a field, and he went out and bought the whole field. You now need something of equal or greater value with which to buy the field back and get rid of the guy who’s running around rejoicing with his new field. What new wine would that be that you would want to pour into our old wine skins?
Your much-sought-after stardust will be here soon enough in the form of the owners coming back here to reclaim their vineyard. Don’t get on board with that either!