The Chris Hedges Report Pocast with Iranian filmmaker Taghi Amirani on his documentary Coup 53 about the CIA coup that overthrew the democratic government in Iran seventy years ago this week.
The Chris Hedges Report Pocast with Iranian filmmaker Taghi Amirani on his documentary Coup 53 about the CIA coup that overthrew the democratic government in Iran seventy years ago this week.
There are no adequate words to express the repugnancy of the actions taken against Mossadegh, against Iran’s sovereignty!!They are beyond infuriating, scurrilous or reprehensible! And no one cares, either; They always get away “scott free”!!!)
I beg your pardon, but since when has the CIA been synonymous with being the U.S.? When, also, has the CIA ever been held accountable for anything it does; which includes having to "deny" or confirm anything it has ever "orchestrated" (which may or may not have included strategic triangulation near a grassy knoll in Dallas Texas on November 22, 1963)?
My point? Are you just feigning surprise, Feral Finster, that we aren't demanding Hedges cover every potential CIA operation in its history while discussing a new film documentary release on these particular events in Iran?.... or do you always just like to unnecessarily change the subject to something you think you know so much about?
WW11 confusing points? What or who do you think the CIA works for? US "interests" are code for corporate interests. Feral Finster agrees with Chris, he is not criticizing or demanding. As for holding the CIA "accountable" prying the lid off of Orwell's Memory Hole is a major step. Chris and Chomsky can switch back and forth from their founding in WW11 to this day. The CIA is tied to one simple theme "US Hegemony that profit the US power elite robber barons. Bush senior who was CIA head before joining the Reagan John Birch McCarthy Neo Con cabal came from that very caste. Filthy rich from the Bush and wife Barbara Pierce dynasties. .1%ers all the way! Do you remember the line from Butch Cassidy "I work for EH Harriman" a Rail tycoon robber baron? Words Preston Bush lived by!
I don't know what you would be confused about. Let me spoon feed it, to you, again. The U.S. did not orchestrate the coup of Ukrainian control in 2104 through the diplomatic channels of The President, the State Dept. or the U.N. That would, officially, represent "the U.S.". They may have done it through the CIA-- which is a clandestine and rouge government entity (which I believe JFK sought to dismantle before fatefully passing the grassy knoll referenced above) and is not synonymous with being the U.S.. (for all the likely reasons you point out). So I took issue with Feral Finster referring to the CIA and the U.S. as one and the same. I still do.
Further, Finster IS demanding that Hedges recognize other CIA operations by specifically taking it upon himself to point CIA backed coups in Chile and Ukraine. Why do that if one is not demanding Hedges recognize a perceived abject omission? I believe Hedges does NOT do that because it is irrelevant to the point of the original blog post. Finster's comments act as if: Hey, aren't you all surprised Chris and his guest director aren't recognizing the CIA pattern elsewhere?--because it's so obvious....and let me give you a few, choice examples! His effort is totally besides the point. A sentiment that can be, btw, applied similarly to your retort.
Even spoon fed your logic evades me. Finster did no such thing and was just pointing out other truths Chris and most everyone here agrees with, except you an Pita. The CIA is America.
"The U.S. did not orchestrate the coup of Ukrainian control in 2104 through the diplomatic channels of The President, the State Dept. or the U.N. That would, officially, represent "the U.S.". They may have done it through the CIA..."
Is this a joke? Are you not familiar with how Obama gave Biden the Ukraine Portfolio, or how employees of the US DoS and members of Congress were in Ukraine handing out cookies and picking the new post-Maidan coup leadership? There's even a leaked intercepted phone conversation between Vicky "Fuck the EU" Nuland and Ambassador Jeffrey Pyatt.
Of course "The US" engineered the coup in Ukraine, as in the Executive Branch (including DoS and the US Embassy) and the Legislative Branch. Now, for a fact the CIA had been operating there for quite some time (including through their cutout organization NED) - likely pre-dating the fall of the USSR, but there's absolutely nothing controversial about saying that the US orchestrated the Maidan coup (possibly with CIA involvement, but not a CIA led operation, per se) if you've actually kept up with history.
This is just one of many stories covered by Consortium News in real-time as it happened.
The only joke is your ignorance. Apparently you need to familiarize yourself with the definition of "coup".
You should also read your own sources. The Consortium News link you reference didn't contain the word coup with reference to Ukraine and the US DoS ONE SINGLE TIME. Why? Because that would be untrue and a condition ripe for libel charges. Sure they dance around the idea with innuendos and safe opinions saying such things as
1. "helped organize" support for protests...
2. "undertook provactive project in "contributing to" the overthrow of the Ukrainian elected government.
However, never did the US DoS orchestrate a coup in Ukraine, anymore than the US DoS orchestrated a coup in Venezuela with Juan Guido. Get your facts straight!...because you seem to be getting carried away with your own propaganda. No doubt that it appears U.S government officials have been bought by hegemonic powers, but their not as stupid as to have crossed the illegal line of officially orchestrating coups in foreign countries. At least not yet.
LOL. You're truly resistant to facts, aren't you. Sorry to break it to you as you appear not to understand American law, but it's nowhere near as easy here to charge people or organizations with libel. Perhaps you're British.
The first one is a relatively long article. Something tells me it's probably too much for your word-search-attention-span.
But I'll give you a little hint: Both of those articles (2 among MANY at that site) go into detail about the nature of the COUP. And very few references to the CIA, if only to tie them to the National Endowment for Democracy. LOL
Oh and BTW you were wrong. In the first link I provided (previous comment), the following paragraph can be found:
"In an intercepted phone call, Nuland was caught telling U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt that her preference to replace Yanukovych was Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whom she called “Yats.” After the Feb. 22 coup, Yatsenyuk emerged as the new prime minister with the neo-Nazis gaining control of four ministries, including the office of national security headed by neo-Nazi Andriy Parubiy. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Ukraine, Through the US ‘Looking Glass’.”]"
Do you know who Victoria Nuland worked for? That's right - the US State Department. Along with Ambassador Pyatt. Hence the US State Department directly participated in a coup - to include choosing the post-coup leader that they wanted to assume power (which he did - temporarily).
Great interview. I have been telling people about this coup since I started peeling the onion after 911. As in "Why do they hate us". At the time I had never heard of Chomsky but luckily enough his books led me to many other books and authors that reveal the skullduggery of capitalism and empire. Back then all of the evil in the world were caused by the the "official enemy". The Iran hostage taking and Canada's part in helping US diplomats (CIA). People wore "bomb Iran buttons" as in nuke Iran. Fast forward to 911, I donated money to NY Firefighters and hung a US flag on my fence outside my house, then started reading and found Chomsky, Fisk, Eric Margolis and Chris. Everything I thought I knew before was smashed. Chomsky's use of Orwell and 1984 made me re-read it. The first time in high school didn't do much for my naïve mind. Since then I have read it 3 or 4 times and have used quotes hundreds of time since. When the Bush/Chaney PNAC neo cons planned and invaded Afghanistan I gave whole hearted support. When they planned and invaded Iraq I tore the flag off my fence, stomped on it and threw it in the garbage! When I was disillusioned and firmly disgusted with US Hegemony, I began speaking out to my friends, their eyes would glaze over and immediately say I was a "Saddam Lover" or move to Iraq and a trader etc. Fast forward to today it amazes me with the same propaganda people are being fooled again. Unquestioning supporters of Israel, love the good ole days of Reagan with anti communist war hawks who still control the ignorant and promote willful ignorance at every turn. These confused proles turned to Trump and MAGA and here we are at the precipice of world wide fascism. The MSM is no more than a CIA mouthpiece, Israel apologist and corporate quisling. Thanks again Chris for opening my eyes and mind.
I also get glazed eyes from friends these days when discussing Julian Assange. “Who? Oh yeah, I think I heard on the news that he’s a war criminal. I don’t like that guy.” Jesus.
I agree Paul. It puts Orwell's quote about the Nuremberg war Crime trials into context. "it was the guilty convicting the guilty". The US "cleaned up" Abu Graib by banning cameras, completely ignoring the fact these torture techniques were out of Shin bet. "Just following orders" was no longer an excuse. Those speaking out about war crimes were heroic when directed against the enemy, on our own forbidden. Assange on the other hand speak truth to power and should get a Noble Peace prize! Obama and Bush are the real war criminals along with EVERY past and present US president. The MSM are no more than water carriers for US hegemony.
At the risk of this being an echo chamber, “Hell, Yes!” It is just that. These GD criminals pretend (and pull off!) some kind of ‘I’m Elliott Ness saving the world from bad guys’ routine and the general public just laps it up. Both sides of the aisle. There seems only a minority of us, shunned at gatherings when we bring it up, who see the utter bullshit for what it is. The Saudis chop up their journalists, the Israelis shoot journalists in the head.....the Americans lock them up to rot in maximum security prisons. Truth.
Very interesting interview. Will you let us know when the film can be seen by us? Maybe on Rumble or rt or something that can't be censored by the US.
What I understood was when Mossedegh decided to use Iran's oil for the people, the British asked Truman to interfere and he said no; then when Eisenhower became president and the British asked him, he said yes. The CIA hired thugs to rouse people in the streets to turn against Mossedegh, telling lies about him and spreading distrust. Mossedegh was wonderful, but to the rest of the world, the lies worked. I remember thinking, when the revolution came in 1979 and the people took back their country, "What took them so long?" I never felt the same way the rest of the US seemed to feel when the Iranians took 400+ people hostage and Reagan got them out, pretending to be a hero when Carter could have done that just as easily.
Just like now the US jumped right on the bandwagon (like fools) to support the crooked Zelensky and his corrupt country, spending billions that should be used for the welfare of the American people. The war was begun in February and was over, with a signed treaty, in April ,,, until the US told the stupid Boris Johnson to go the Ukraine and stop the peace. Our country never changes, does it? War is the way of life for US Americans who follow the Monroe Doctrine and want it to extend to the entire planet.
Oh, yes, watch how the vulture capitalists jump on Maui to grab it up and devour it.
What a stunning interview - the truth behind British Petroleum/MI-6/Kermit+CIA - Mossadegh's brutal overthrow ->Shah Pahlavi - The Ayatollah, etc. etc. Thanks.
The CIA operates in the black. No requirement to get congressional approval for any of their schemes. They answer only to the president and that could easily be disputed.
The CIA is unAmerican. They serve the crown, not the constitution. .
According to Gianni Russo in his autobiography “Hollywood Godfather”, when the Shah saw his end coming, the US mafia was hired to transport his millions from Iran to the Vatican bank.
Pita Contrarian, after multiple exchanges with closely-reasoned reviewers of her comment urging people who have paid to read Hedges or paid to dispute her view of how those people should move on from Hedges, ends with “Let the chips fall where they may”. This could be the new leitmotif for the fight spectator constituency of Hedges’ readers; you know, those who, Frankly, have been drinking the Lemonade.
If we want humanity to reach its true potential, all Secrecy worldwide must end. Humanity must unite in Oneness with the security of knowing that secrecy only builds distrust, and violence. All alphabet agencies like the CIA, NSA, FBI etc. which have been used against the people, innocent people in America and Worldwide, must be eliminated. Once humanity comes together, there naturally will be no need for such dark and nefarious agencies. We must commit our full resources to insuring a world free of secrecy.
Thanks, Robin, I am about to listen to that one. If you know how to send me a message directly, something I haven’t figured out on this site, it would be nice to tap into your thoughts on Chris Hedges and matters of mutual interest. I also have lived in Australia, albeit for only five years; I was distraught to be told that the family was leaving when I was 11.
If I have any point of difference of emphasis with Chris Hedges’ immaculate conception in my own view of the world, it’s maybe that I see society as riddled with conspiracy from the bunkers below the snakes in the wagon ruts all the way up into space, so that in an arrangement where we consent by acquiescence to having our archive withheld, making of the public a larger fractal of a person without a memory, (at least one that covers the previous thirty-year-to-never period of moratorium on publication of the archive, no “theory” of conspiracy is required. If Chris does agree with that, I have still heard him talk of conspiracy theorists in dismissive terms.
I am off to continue listing less irrelevant names than are currently in use in UK politics for a wholly to-be-reinvented British political party, my preferred so far being the Après Security, Agency Party. If only someone could do a Macron here, but no, you have to be a recalcitrant country gent emulating the lifestyle of the monarchy to have any gravitas in this country, and third parties don’t come through the middle. The middle has been hollowed out in favour of the Punch and Judy sides of the political stage, almost as in America.
Can you explain the connection you're making between the fires/death/destruction in Maui and your reference to a "hit" by the MIC? If so, any references for your statement of fact?
Also, who is Chris's "flock" (beyond a possible and predictable reference to a subscriber roster--which I wouldn't buy anyhow) and how, exactly, would he be responsible for keeping them "in line"?
PITA Contrarian: I don't know Chris Hedges from a bar of soap, as is sometimes said here in Australia. I somehow found and in part read his article https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/robert-f-kennedy-jr-the-israel-lobbys . I fully read his account of his hometown Mechanic Falls, Maine, regarding the systemic marginalization and oppression of American working class people: https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-forgotten-victims-of-americas and found it most engaging, to the point of finding the barber shop on Google street view, searching some more and looking for the remains of the mill and other factories, reading some more and chasing a link about a woman who in the 1950s rode with her dog, on two horses, a supposed 7000 miles from Maine to California.
I have only read the introduction to this interview and I know next to nothing about 20th century Iranian history - I did not know of this 1953 coup. While no account of tragic - especially criminally intentional - human affairs is likely to be crystalline in perfection, I would bet good money that the interview and the documentary being discussed are well worth listening to - and that they are probably pinnacles of achievement in these fields.
Reading your broad-brush condemnation of Chris Hedges reminded me of sliding on a dog turd when out for a healthy walk. I am reasonably sure this was not what you intended, but I suggest you try to understand the perspective of people who took exception to your statements, as I do.
If you are going to claim moral superiority over someone who is obviously intelligent, writes well and at length, and whom many folks regard highly, you had better do a proper job of it, with extensive examples of and arguments about whatever it is you object to. You didn't. When two people challenged you, your reply point 2 continued the same broad-brush, evidence free, pattern and your point 1 contained accusations that the fire in Maui was not a wildfire (bushfire, here in .au) but the result of some kind of plot including Northrop-Grumman directed energy weapons somehow being deployed, presumably by the U.S. government, to melt the alloy engine blocks of cars.
You cite two lines of evidence. Firstly a Rumble video which is private, so I could not view it. Secondly an in-your-face You Tube woman with a fake background going on about the WEF (who I agree are pretty much evil incarnate) and then about the letter 'b' which is like the digit '6' and how three of these in a row is "the mark of the beast". I tuned out. If you want other people to think you can reliably pass negative judgment on anyone who can write articles like the two I mentioned above, you will need to do a lot better than this.
Alloy engine blocks certainly can melt in bushfires. Try an aluminium can in an open fire. The directed energy beams https://www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/aoa-xinetics-applications-directed-energy/ are intended to briefly destroy distant targets. They don't have the sustained energy to melt engine blocks. What kind of presumably aerial vehicles were carrying such weapons and their power supplies sufficient to melt the metal hoods of those cars and then spend enough time melting the blocks? How did they fly when everything else was burning around them? Why has no-one got these vehicles on cell-phone videos?
I would be genuinely interested in how much caffeine, cannabis or illegal drugs you consume regularly, but that is your private matter and my curiosity is not as strong as my desire not to have anything to do with people whose attempts at clear thought are so unsuccessful as to produce the comments you wrote here.
When I tried to post this comment, I found that only paid subscribers can comment. I subscribed, in order to support Chris Hedges financially and with this comment. I don't promise to maintain the subscription since I cannot afford to do so for more than a very small subset of the Substacks I find valuable.
This means that you, PITA Contrarian, paid good money to Chris Hedges. This gave you the ability to strut your stuff in his space, which he surely maintains for the purpose of constructive discussion.
You won’t regret subscribing, Robin. I learned more about power and its expression in society from Chris Hedges in a year than I did at university and the forty years subsequent to it. It’s the lack of agency attainable by the dissident voice, be that in print or on the ballot, that becomes clear from his writing, as he illustrates here again in the denial of distribution to this film about the 1953 the coup against Mossadegh in Iran.
He even spent his money trying to attend Julian Assange’s wedding in a corridor of Belmarsh Prison in London, which by the attempt itself showed up how the British authorities regard the prison chapel as too sacred a place for a wedding and an ordained minister unworthy of attendance. He throws Assange’s daily journey into martyrdom into sharp relief. In the UK we hear little about Assange on main stream media now, but Chris Hedges is busting a gut to save him.
Thanks Roland. I had bookmarked and partly or fully read some of his work in the last year or so. I found several via Zerohedge. I just listened to one podcast I bookmarked earlier: https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-with-1f6 and this one. I found them so interesting.
Brilliant rebuttal of a naysayer obsessive. Here in Australia among the arguments of how and why the Maui fires are downed electricity power lines which have equally in the past been found responsible for some of this country's catastrophic bushfires (aka wildfires)! I've been regularly reading/listening to Chris Hedges for around a year now - there is frankly almost nothing with which I could in broad strokes disagree.
Hi PITA Contrarian, Thanks for your more specific critique:
"Hedges abandoned the working class with the MAR '20 lockdowns ...
"He refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports ... he threw the working class under the bus with COVID"
However, you provide no links, so I scrolled through the titles of his Substack articles to the first one on 2022-03-16 and didn't notice any about COVID-19. The Wikipedia page about him does not mention COVID-19.
He does not regard the vaccine mandates as particular serious compared to the effects of those acts. Asked what he thinks about the vaccines (they are not really vaccines, nor are they safe and effective by normal standards: https://nutritionmatters.substack.com/p/inadequate-25-hydroxyvitamin-d-levels), he replied:
"I'm vaccinated, but do you trust Moderna and Pfizer? These are companies which are making billions in profits off of this stuff."
He mentions Jimmy Dore having a strong adverse reaction to a Moderna injection, and how the manufacturers would suppress knowledge of such reactions.
"On the other hand, particularly with the emerging variants, I made a decision - my family did - we call got vaccinated. But I don't think the concern about long term effects [ill effects of the "vaccines"] is completely unwarranted.
"To dismiss them out of hand is to not understand the history of pharmaceutical industries that have long pushed out drugs that are highly profitable, but have side effects."
He then mentions Roundup (glyphosate herbicide), Monsanto (genetic engineered crops) and the tobacco industry.
"I have those concerns. I don't dismiss them. On the other hand, given the lethality of this pandemic [he was 66 or so] and now this Delta variant is supposed to be more lethal, these things can mutate in various ways. They can mutate to become [I think he said "less lethal", but there is an audio glitch].
"Its a difficult question I guess. Do you force people to get the vaccine?"
The video fades to red, but his facial expression makes me think that he strongly doubts that such a mandate is reasonable.
Without further research I can't be sure what Chris Hedges thought or did about the disastrous pandemic response. Please provide actual links and quotes. I can't spend a lot of time searching for things which you allude to.
The above video gives me the impression that he was critical of the pandemic response to a degree much greater than the mainstream body of (to a significant degree, on average, though not totally) left-leaning people who cheered on the mandates, lockdowns, school closures and masking requirements.
Why are you wasting time on a theory that the Maui fire is a government conspiracy when it is perfectly explicable by a very dry area (rain shadow from Mauna Kahalawai), when there is urgent need of attention on the suppression of early treatment for COVID-19 and especially the continued cluelessness among most doctors and virtually all immunologists, virologists, vaccinologists about the fact that without proper vitamin D3 supplementation (1/8th milligram a day = 5000 IU for 70 kg 154 lb body weight without obesity) most people have half or less of the circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D their immune systems need to function properly? If this sounds too simple to be true, please read the research for yourself: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/ .
Likewise the current situation of most virologists denying that SARS-CoV-2 is the work of virologists' genetically engineering? Their zoonotic transfer hypothesis, supported by the woke left, the mainstream media, the pharma companies and all governments, including the Chinese and U.S. governments who funded and conducted the research which lead to its creation, is a foundational myth in the whole push for the public to trust the so-called experts, including by getting an annual COVID-19 "vaccine" injection. See the evidence linked to and discussed from: https://nutritionmatters.substack.com/p/the-origins-of-sars-cov-2 .
I don't accept the judgement of so-called experts on anything. Maybe Chris Hedges really did throw the working class under a bus with COVID. I would need to find, or be shown, specific evidence that he did. The assertion of someone who really believes exotic weaponry was used to melt engine blocks on Maui is not enough for me to go looking for evidence of this, which, if true, you would be able to easily provide.
1. I asked you to explain the connection. You reply by directing me to a You Tube video of someone else explaining it*. That tells me you don't know or understand your own statements of alleged fact; which appear to be nothing more than parroting of delusional opinion/ banter/ hear-say (take your pick). All are Pathetic.
2. Presenting historical perspectives" is keeping people in line?? By that logic, I suppose you believe all history professors and authors are simply orating and writing to keep people in line. Sorry; not seeing the connection between education and conformity. Another pathetic conclusion on your part.
Conclusion: If anyone should be worried about reputational degradation, it should be yourself.
* Don't worry folks, I wouldn't waste my time clicking on useless links. I'd advise you not to either.
You stated that the Military Industrial Complex committed "heinous crimes" in Maui with regard to recent fires. You stated that as a fact-- with no evidence to support it-- only a flippant reference to hear say from You Tube. IMO, you have no right to make such a statement; certainly not without the likelihood of being challenged on it.
If you had qualified your statement as opinion, then I would have just ignored it. In the future, I suggest you think about the difference between stating fact vs. opinion--and how it may affect others. I believe much more positive, productive, and informative dialogue would ensue.
I disagree with you and agree with the other commenters who question your take on Chris. One can't understand the present unless one understands the past. I, for one, find anything on Iran fascinating. I was there not long ago and have great affection for the Iranian people. The history I know is expanded with more details from this interview which I appreciate.
PITA Contra - speak for yourself - YOU have have grown tired, etc. So go and annoy another thread, please. Or are you paid to snipe and undermine with your obsessive nonsense?
Okay, I see you have a point which worries you like crazy. But Chris is not the Messiah. He has a myriad of irons-in-the-fire - all eminently worthy causes - and he's no longer the golden-haired boy of formerly serious syndicated publications. Cut him some slack...and good wishes to you, too, PITA.
Wait, wut? Is this something to do with the ridiculous "directed energy weapons" supposedly starting the Lahaina fires?
The only heinous crimes were terrible mis-management of the eucalyptus trees and tall non-native grasses that were dried out due to lack of rain, failure of the electrical utility to implement adequate safety provisions, failure of leadership to sound sirens and evacuate the public in time, and 60+ mph winds fanning the flames in a densely constructed 'historic' (i.e., mostly wood construction) district that was already very prone to such fires - ala the Great Chicago Fire of last century.
Furthermore, I saw your reference to the California fires including Paradise. The conspiracies have already been debunked; and I guess you're talking about the "Plandemic" type videos where they say there's something totally impossible about cars flipping over and stuff like that. Sorry, not EVERYTHING is an "MIC" conspiracy.
SO WHAT? I'll tell you what: Provide a workable theory of how these fires were actually started and spread if you're claiming "MIC" involvement. Is that really too much to ask, given that it was you who broached the topic to begin with?
So it's me condescending while you YELL AT ME in all caps (more than once)? I'm condescending for politely asking you to provide a plausible scenario when you brought it up to begin with? IMO it's condescending to expect people to follow YouTube (and other) video links which could simply be an attempt to drive up clicks so they can monetize their account. Maybe I'd be more likely to click on it if you could actually at least try to explain what your theory is first rather than drop a bomb like that and expect everyone to just blindly follow.
There are no adequate words to express the repugnancy of the actions taken against Mossadegh, against Iran’s sovereignty!!They are beyond infuriating, scurrilous or reprehensible! And no one cares, either; They always get away “scott free”!!!)
n.b. like the 1973 coup in Chile, for decades the CIA denied that it orchestrated the coup in iran.
For that matter, the US continues to deny its participation in the 2014 coup in Ukraine, even though its fingerprints are all over that coup as well.
I beg your pardon, but since when has the CIA been synonymous with being the U.S.? When, also, has the CIA ever been held accountable for anything it does; which includes having to "deny" or confirm anything it has ever "orchestrated" (which may or may not have included strategic triangulation near a grassy knoll in Dallas Texas on November 22, 1963)?
My point? Are you just feigning surprise, Feral Finster, that we aren't demanding Hedges cover every potential CIA operation in its history while discussing a new film documentary release on these particular events in Iran?.... or do you always just like to unnecessarily change the subject to something you think you know so much about?
WW11 confusing points? What or who do you think the CIA works for? US "interests" are code for corporate interests. Feral Finster agrees with Chris, he is not criticizing or demanding. As for holding the CIA "accountable" prying the lid off of Orwell's Memory Hole is a major step. Chris and Chomsky can switch back and forth from their founding in WW11 to this day. The CIA is tied to one simple theme "US Hegemony that profit the US power elite robber barons. Bush senior who was CIA head before joining the Reagan John Birch McCarthy Neo Con cabal came from that very caste. Filthy rich from the Bush and wife Barbara Pierce dynasties. .1%ers all the way! Do you remember the line from Butch Cassidy "I work for EH Harriman" a Rail tycoon robber baron? Words Preston Bush lived by!
I don't know what you would be confused about. Let me spoon feed it, to you, again. The U.S. did not orchestrate the coup of Ukrainian control in 2104 through the diplomatic channels of The President, the State Dept. or the U.N. That would, officially, represent "the U.S.". They may have done it through the CIA-- which is a clandestine and rouge government entity (which I believe JFK sought to dismantle before fatefully passing the grassy knoll referenced above) and is not synonymous with being the U.S.. (for all the likely reasons you point out). So I took issue with Feral Finster referring to the CIA and the U.S. as one and the same. I still do.
Further, Finster IS demanding that Hedges recognize other CIA operations by specifically taking it upon himself to point CIA backed coups in Chile and Ukraine. Why do that if one is not demanding Hedges recognize a perceived abject omission? I believe Hedges does NOT do that because it is irrelevant to the point of the original blog post. Finster's comments act as if: Hey, aren't you all surprised Chris and his guest director aren't recognizing the CIA pattern elsewhere?--because it's so obvious....and let me give you a few, choice examples! His effort is totally besides the point. A sentiment that can be, btw, applied similarly to your retort.
Even spoon fed your logic evades me. Finster did no such thing and was just pointing out other truths Chris and most everyone here agrees with, except you an Pita. The CIA is America.
"The U.S. did not orchestrate the coup of Ukrainian control in 2104 through the diplomatic channels of The President, the State Dept. or the U.N. That would, officially, represent "the U.S.". They may have done it through the CIA..."
Is this a joke? Are you not familiar with how Obama gave Biden the Ukraine Portfolio, or how employees of the US DoS and members of Congress were in Ukraine handing out cookies and picking the new post-Maidan coup leadership? There's even a leaked intercepted phone conversation between Vicky "Fuck the EU" Nuland and Ambassador Jeffrey Pyatt.
Of course "The US" engineered the coup in Ukraine, as in the Executive Branch (including DoS and the US Embassy) and the Legislative Branch. Now, for a fact the CIA had been operating there for quite some time (including through their cutout organization NED) - likely pre-dating the fall of the USSR, but there's absolutely nothing controversial about saying that the US orchestrated the Maidan coup (possibly with CIA involvement, but not a CIA led operation, per se) if you've actually kept up with history.
This is just one of many stories covered by Consortium News in real-time as it happened.
https://consortiumnews.com/2014/05/24/the-state-departments-ukraine-fiasco/
The only joke is your ignorance. Apparently you need to familiarize yourself with the definition of "coup".
You should also read your own sources. The Consortium News link you reference didn't contain the word coup with reference to Ukraine and the US DoS ONE SINGLE TIME. Why? Because that would be untrue and a condition ripe for libel charges. Sure they dance around the idea with innuendos and safe opinions saying such things as
1. "helped organize" support for protests...
2. "undertook provactive project in "contributing to" the overthrow of the Ukrainian elected government.
However, never did the US DoS orchestrate a coup in Ukraine, anymore than the US DoS orchestrated a coup in Venezuela with Juan Guido. Get your facts straight!...because you seem to be getting carried away with your own propaganda. No doubt that it appears U.S government officials have been bought by hegemonic powers, but their not as stupid as to have crossed the illegal line of officially orchestrating coups in foreign countries. At least not yet.
Who orchestrated the previous 4-5 coup attempts in Venezuela dating back to Chavez when Bush and Cheney were in the White House?
Ex. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/21/usa.venezuela
Are you saying that Guaido is a CIA asset? If so, offer up your proof.
LOL. You're truly resistant to facts, aren't you. Sorry to break it to you as you appear not to understand American law, but it's nowhere near as easy here to charge people or organizations with libel. Perhaps you're British.
Try doing a word search on this one then!
https://consortiumnews.com/2014/02/23/neocons-and-the-ukraine-coup/
Or this one.
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/12/29/evidence-of-us-backed-coup-in-kiev/ Note the use of the qualifier "Backed." As in the US BACKED a coup. Nobody said that "The US government went in and physically carried out a coup all on their own." LOL that would be called an invasion.
The first one is a relatively long article. Something tells me it's probably too much for your word-search-attention-span.
But I'll give you a little hint: Both of those articles (2 among MANY at that site) go into detail about the nature of the COUP. And very few references to the CIA, if only to tie them to the National Endowment for Democracy. LOL
Oh and BTW you were wrong. In the first link I provided (previous comment), the following paragraph can be found:
"In an intercepted phone call, Nuland was caught telling U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt that her preference to replace Yanukovych was Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whom she called “Yats.” After the Feb. 22 coup, Yatsenyuk emerged as the new prime minister with the neo-Nazis gaining control of four ministries, including the office of national security headed by neo-Nazi Andriy Parubiy. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Ukraine, Through the US ‘Looking Glass’.”]"
Do you know who Victoria Nuland worked for? That's right - the US State Department. Along with Ambassador Pyatt. Hence the US State Department directly participated in a coup - to include choosing the post-coup leader that they wanted to assume power (which he did - temporarily).
Great interview. I have been telling people about this coup since I started peeling the onion after 911. As in "Why do they hate us". At the time I had never heard of Chomsky but luckily enough his books led me to many other books and authors that reveal the skullduggery of capitalism and empire. Back then all of the evil in the world were caused by the the "official enemy". The Iran hostage taking and Canada's part in helping US diplomats (CIA). People wore "bomb Iran buttons" as in nuke Iran. Fast forward to 911, I donated money to NY Firefighters and hung a US flag on my fence outside my house, then started reading and found Chomsky, Fisk, Eric Margolis and Chris. Everything I thought I knew before was smashed. Chomsky's use of Orwell and 1984 made me re-read it. The first time in high school didn't do much for my naïve mind. Since then I have read it 3 or 4 times and have used quotes hundreds of time since. When the Bush/Chaney PNAC neo cons planned and invaded Afghanistan I gave whole hearted support. When they planned and invaded Iraq I tore the flag off my fence, stomped on it and threw it in the garbage! When I was disillusioned and firmly disgusted with US Hegemony, I began speaking out to my friends, their eyes would glaze over and immediately say I was a "Saddam Lover" or move to Iraq and a trader etc. Fast forward to today it amazes me with the same propaganda people are being fooled again. Unquestioning supporters of Israel, love the good ole days of Reagan with anti communist war hawks who still control the ignorant and promote willful ignorance at every turn. These confused proles turned to Trump and MAGA and here we are at the precipice of world wide fascism. The MSM is no more than a CIA mouthpiece, Israel apologist and corporate quisling. Thanks again Chris for opening my eyes and mind.
I also get glazed eyes from friends these days when discussing Julian Assange. “Who? Oh yeah, I think I heard on the news that he’s a war criminal. I don’t like that guy.” Jesus.
I agree Paul. It puts Orwell's quote about the Nuremberg war Crime trials into context. "it was the guilty convicting the guilty". The US "cleaned up" Abu Graib by banning cameras, completely ignoring the fact these torture techniques were out of Shin bet. "Just following orders" was no longer an excuse. Those speaking out about war crimes were heroic when directed against the enemy, on our own forbidden. Assange on the other hand speak truth to power and should get a Noble Peace prize! Obama and Bush are the real war criminals along with EVERY past and present US president. The MSM are no more than water carriers for US hegemony.
At the risk of this being an echo chamber, “Hell, Yes!” It is just that. These GD criminals pretend (and pull off!) some kind of ‘I’m Elliott Ness saving the world from bad guys’ routine and the general public just laps it up. Both sides of the aisle. There seems only a minority of us, shunned at gatherings when we bring it up, who see the utter bullshit for what it is. The Saudis chop up their journalists, the Israelis shoot journalists in the head.....the Americans lock them up to rot in maximum security prisons. Truth.
Seventy. Years ago this week.
Very interesting interview. Will you let us know when the film can be seen by us? Maybe on Rumble or rt or something that can't be censored by the US.
What I understood was when Mossedegh decided to use Iran's oil for the people, the British asked Truman to interfere and he said no; then when Eisenhower became president and the British asked him, he said yes. The CIA hired thugs to rouse people in the streets to turn against Mossedegh, telling lies about him and spreading distrust. Mossedegh was wonderful, but to the rest of the world, the lies worked. I remember thinking, when the revolution came in 1979 and the people took back their country, "What took them so long?" I never felt the same way the rest of the US seemed to feel when the Iranians took 400+ people hostage and Reagan got them out, pretending to be a hero when Carter could have done that just as easily.
Just like now the US jumped right on the bandwagon (like fools) to support the crooked Zelensky and his corrupt country, spending billions that should be used for the welfare of the American people. The war was begun in February and was over, with a signed treaty, in April ,,, until the US told the stupid Boris Johnson to go the Ukraine and stop the peace. Our country never changes, does it? War is the way of life for US Americans who follow the Monroe Doctrine and want it to extend to the entire planet.
Oh, yes, watch how the vulture capitalists jump on Maui to grab it up and devour it.
What a stunning interview - the truth behind British Petroleum/MI-6/Kermit+CIA - Mossadegh's brutal overthrow ->Shah Pahlavi - The Ayatollah, etc. etc. Thanks.
The CIA operates in the black. No requirement to get congressional approval for any of their schemes. They answer only to the president and that could easily be disputed.
The CIA is unAmerican. They serve the crown, not the constitution. .
According to Gianni Russo in his autobiography “Hollywood Godfather”, when the Shah saw his end coming, the US mafia was hired to transport his millions from Iran to the Vatican bank.
Brilliant!
Why pray tell are WW11 and Pita Contrarian arguing? They sound like two peas in a pod to me.
Pita Contrarian, after multiple exchanges with closely-reasoned reviewers of her comment urging people who have paid to read Hedges or paid to dispute her view of how those people should move on from Hedges, ends with “Let the chips fall where they may”. This could be the new leitmotif for the fight spectator constituency of Hedges’ readers; you know, those who, Frankly, have been drinking the Lemonade.
If we want humanity to reach its true potential, all Secrecy worldwide must end. Humanity must unite in Oneness with the security of knowing that secrecy only builds distrust, and violence. All alphabet agencies like the CIA, NSA, FBI etc. which have been used against the people, innocent people in America and Worldwide, must be eliminated. Once humanity comes together, there naturally will be no need for such dark and nefarious agencies. We must commit our full resources to insuring a world free of secrecy.
I made an error in my comment. The days the hostages were kept were 400 or so; the number of hostages was 60-70.
Is this a documentary new film? It looks like the same director already released a theatrical version in 2019.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1984135/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Thanks, Robin, I am about to listen to that one. If you know how to send me a message directly, something I haven’t figured out on this site, it would be nice to tap into your thoughts on Chris Hedges and matters of mutual interest. I also have lived in Australia, albeit for only five years; I was distraught to be told that the family was leaving when I was 11.
If I have any point of difference of emphasis with Chris Hedges’ immaculate conception in my own view of the world, it’s maybe that I see society as riddled with conspiracy from the bunkers below the snakes in the wagon ruts all the way up into space, so that in an arrangement where we consent by acquiescence to having our archive withheld, making of the public a larger fractal of a person without a memory, (at least one that covers the previous thirty-year-to-never period of moratorium on publication of the archive, no “theory” of conspiracy is required. If Chris does agree with that, I have still heard him talk of conspiracy theorists in dismissive terms.
I am off to continue listing less irrelevant names than are currently in use in UK politics for a wholly to-be-reinvented British political party, my preferred so far being the Après Security, Agency Party. If only someone could do a Macron here, but no, you have to be a recalcitrant country gent emulating the lifestyle of the monarchy to have any gravitas in this country, and third parties don’t come through the middle. The middle has been hollowed out in favour of the Punch and Judy sides of the political stage, almost as in America.
Can you explain the connection you're making between the fires/death/destruction in Maui and your reference to a "hit" by the MIC? If so, any references for your statement of fact?
Also, who is Chris's "flock" (beyond a possible and predictable reference to a subscriber roster--which I wouldn't buy anyhow) and how, exactly, would he be responsible for keeping them "in line"?
WWII asked the questions I have.
PITA Contrarian: I don't know Chris Hedges from a bar of soap, as is sometimes said here in Australia. I somehow found and in part read his article https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/robert-f-kennedy-jr-the-israel-lobbys . I fully read his account of his hometown Mechanic Falls, Maine, regarding the systemic marginalization and oppression of American working class people: https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-forgotten-victims-of-americas and found it most engaging, to the point of finding the barber shop on Google street view, searching some more and looking for the remains of the mill and other factories, reading some more and chasing a link about a woman who in the 1950s rode with her dog, on two horses, a supposed 7000 miles from Maine to California.
I have only read the introduction to this interview and I know next to nothing about 20th century Iranian history - I did not know of this 1953 coup. While no account of tragic - especially criminally intentional - human affairs is likely to be crystalline in perfection, I would bet good money that the interview and the documentary being discussed are well worth listening to - and that they are probably pinnacles of achievement in these fields.
Reading your broad-brush condemnation of Chris Hedges reminded me of sliding on a dog turd when out for a healthy walk. I am reasonably sure this was not what you intended, but I suggest you try to understand the perspective of people who took exception to your statements, as I do.
If you are going to claim moral superiority over someone who is obviously intelligent, writes well and at length, and whom many folks regard highly, you had better do a proper job of it, with extensive examples of and arguments about whatever it is you object to. You didn't. When two people challenged you, your reply point 2 continued the same broad-brush, evidence free, pattern and your point 1 contained accusations that the fire in Maui was not a wildfire (bushfire, here in .au) but the result of some kind of plot including Northrop-Grumman directed energy weapons somehow being deployed, presumably by the U.S. government, to melt the alloy engine blocks of cars.
You cite two lines of evidence. Firstly a Rumble video which is private, so I could not view it. Secondly an in-your-face You Tube woman with a fake background going on about the WEF (who I agree are pretty much evil incarnate) and then about the letter 'b' which is like the digit '6' and how three of these in a row is "the mark of the beast". I tuned out. If you want other people to think you can reliably pass negative judgment on anyone who can write articles like the two I mentioned above, you will need to do a lot better than this.
Alloy engine blocks certainly can melt in bushfires. Try an aluminium can in an open fire. The directed energy beams https://www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/aoa-xinetics-applications-directed-energy/ are intended to briefly destroy distant targets. They don't have the sustained energy to melt engine blocks. What kind of presumably aerial vehicles were carrying such weapons and their power supplies sufficient to melt the metal hoods of those cars and then spend enough time melting the blocks? How did they fly when everything else was burning around them? Why has no-one got these vehicles on cell-phone videos?
I would be genuinely interested in how much caffeine, cannabis or illegal drugs you consume regularly, but that is your private matter and my curiosity is not as strong as my desire not to have anything to do with people whose attempts at clear thought are so unsuccessful as to produce the comments you wrote here.
When I tried to post this comment, I found that only paid subscribers can comment. I subscribed, in order to support Chris Hedges financially and with this comment. I don't promise to maintain the subscription since I cannot afford to do so for more than a very small subset of the Substacks I find valuable.
This means that you, PITA Contrarian, paid good money to Chris Hedges. This gave you the ability to strut your stuff in his space, which he surely maintains for the purpose of constructive discussion.
You won’t regret subscribing, Robin. I learned more about power and its expression in society from Chris Hedges in a year than I did at university and the forty years subsequent to it. It’s the lack of agency attainable by the dissident voice, be that in print or on the ballot, that becomes clear from his writing, as he illustrates here again in the denial of distribution to this film about the 1953 the coup against Mossadegh in Iran.
He even spent his money trying to attend Julian Assange’s wedding in a corridor of Belmarsh Prison in London, which by the attempt itself showed up how the British authorities regard the prison chapel as too sacred a place for a wedding and an ordained minister unworthy of attendance. He throws Assange’s daily journey into martyrdom into sharp relief. In the UK we hear little about Assange on main stream media now, but Chris Hedges is busting a gut to save him.
Thanks Roland. I had bookmarked and partly or fully read some of his work in the last year or so. I found several via Zerohedge. I just listened to one podcast I bookmarked earlier: https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-with-1f6 and this one. I found them so interesting.
Brilliant rebuttal of a naysayer obsessive. Here in Australia among the arguments of how and why the Maui fires are downed electricity power lines which have equally in the past been found responsible for some of this country's catastrophic bushfires (aka wildfires)! I've been regularly reading/listening to Chris Hedges for around a year now - there is frankly almost nothing with which I could in broad strokes disagree.
Hi PITA Contrarian, Thanks for your more specific critique:
"Hedges abandoned the working class with the MAR '20 lockdowns ...
"He refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports ... he threw the working class under the bus with COVID"
However, you provide no links, so I scrolled through the titles of his Substack articles to the first one on 2022-03-16 and didn't notice any about COVID-19. The Wikipedia page about him does not mention COVID-19.
Using Google I found a 2021-09-20 interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ZGT8raQS8 with Matt Taibbi and Katie Halper in which, as best I can tell, he describes vaccine mandates as a logical progression of a much more serious erosion of civil liberties which occurred under the Obama administration under the George W. Bush the Authorization for Use of Military Force Act (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_for_Use_of_Military_Force_of_2001 2001-09-14) and Patriot Act (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act 2001-10-26).
He does not regard the vaccine mandates as particular serious compared to the effects of those acts. Asked what he thinks about the vaccines (they are not really vaccines, nor are they safe and effective by normal standards: https://nutritionmatters.substack.com/p/inadequate-25-hydroxyvitamin-d-levels), he replied:
"I'm vaccinated, but do you trust Moderna and Pfizer? These are companies which are making billions in profits off of this stuff."
He mentions Jimmy Dore having a strong adverse reaction to a Moderna injection, and how the manufacturers would suppress knowledge of such reactions.
"On the other hand, particularly with the emerging variants, I made a decision - my family did - we call got vaccinated. But I don't think the concern about long term effects [ill effects of the "vaccines"] is completely unwarranted.
"To dismiss them out of hand is to not understand the history of pharmaceutical industries that have long pushed out drugs that are highly profitable, but have side effects."
He then mentions Roundup (glyphosate herbicide), Monsanto (genetic engineered crops) and the tobacco industry.
"I have those concerns. I don't dismiss them. On the other hand, given the lethality of this pandemic [he was 66 or so] and now this Delta variant is supposed to be more lethal, these things can mutate in various ways. They can mutate to become [I think he said "less lethal", but there is an audio glitch].
"Its a difficult question I guess. Do you force people to get the vaccine?"
The video fades to red, but his facial expression makes me think that he strongly doubts that such a mandate is reasonable.
Without further research I can't be sure what Chris Hedges thought or did about the disastrous pandemic response. Please provide actual links and quotes. I can't spend a lot of time searching for things which you allude to.
The above video gives me the impression that he was critical of the pandemic response to a degree much greater than the mainstream body of (to a significant degree, on average, though not totally) left-leaning people who cheered on the mandates, lockdowns, school closures and masking requirements.
Why are you wasting time on a theory that the Maui fire is a government conspiracy when it is perfectly explicable by a very dry area (rain shadow from Mauna Kahalawai), when there is urgent need of attention on the suppression of early treatment for COVID-19 and especially the continued cluelessness among most doctors and virtually all immunologists, virologists, vaccinologists about the fact that without proper vitamin D3 supplementation (1/8th milligram a day = 5000 IU for 70 kg 154 lb body weight without obesity) most people have half or less of the circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D their immune systems need to function properly? If this sounds too simple to be true, please read the research for yourself: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/ .
Likewise the current situation of most virologists denying that SARS-CoV-2 is the work of virologists' genetically engineering? Their zoonotic transfer hypothesis, supported by the woke left, the mainstream media, the pharma companies and all governments, including the Chinese and U.S. governments who funded and conducted the research which lead to its creation, is a foundational myth in the whole push for the public to trust the so-called experts, including by getting an annual COVID-19 "vaccine" injection. See the evidence linked to and discussed from: https://nutritionmatters.substack.com/p/the-origins-of-sars-cov-2 .
I don't accept the judgement of so-called experts on anything. Maybe Chris Hedges really did throw the working class under a bus with COVID. I would need to find, or be shown, specific evidence that he did. The assertion of someone who really believes exotic weaponry was used to melt engine blocks on Maui is not enough for me to go looking for evidence of this, which, if true, you would be able to easily provide.
Here you go again! Blah blah - I detest Chris Hedges - blah blah Covid - blah blah.
1. I asked you to explain the connection. You reply by directing me to a You Tube video of someone else explaining it*. That tells me you don't know or understand your own statements of alleged fact; which appear to be nothing more than parroting of delusional opinion/ banter/ hear-say (take your pick). All are Pathetic.
2. Presenting historical perspectives" is keeping people in line?? By that logic, I suppose you believe all history professors and authors are simply orating and writing to keep people in line. Sorry; not seeing the connection between education and conformity. Another pathetic conclusion on your part.
Conclusion: If anyone should be worried about reputational degradation, it should be yourself.
* Don't worry folks, I wouldn't waste my time clicking on useless links. I'd advise you not to either.
You stated that the Military Industrial Complex committed "heinous crimes" in Maui with regard to recent fires. You stated that as a fact-- with no evidence to support it-- only a flippant reference to hear say from You Tube. IMO, you have no right to make such a statement; certainly not without the likelihood of being challenged on it.
If you had qualified your statement as opinion, then I would have just ignored it. In the future, I suggest you think about the difference between stating fact vs. opinion--and how it may affect others. I believe much more positive, productive, and informative dialogue would ensue.
I disagree with you and agree with the other commenters who question your take on Chris. One can't understand the present unless one understands the past. I, for one, find anything on Iran fascinating. I was there not long ago and have great affection for the Iranian people. The history I know is expanded with more details from this interview which I appreciate.
PITA Contra - speak for yourself - YOU have have grown tired, etc. So go and annoy another thread, please. Or are you paid to snipe and undermine with your obsessive nonsense?
Okay, I see you have a point which worries you like crazy. But Chris is not the Messiah. He has a myriad of irons-in-the-fire - all eminently worthy causes - and he's no longer the golden-haired boy of formerly serious syndicated publications. Cut him some slack...and good wishes to you, too, PITA.
Stop it PITA Contra - go away and read some other commentator, please!
Why do you listen to his podcasts and read his columns if you find them so repugnant? If I was you I would not waste my valuable time!
Wait, wut? Is this something to do with the ridiculous "directed energy weapons" supposedly starting the Lahaina fires?
The only heinous crimes were terrible mis-management of the eucalyptus trees and tall non-native grasses that were dried out due to lack of rain, failure of the electrical utility to implement adequate safety provisions, failure of leadership to sound sirens and evacuate the public in time, and 60+ mph winds fanning the flames in a densely constructed 'historic' (i.e., mostly wood construction) district that was already very prone to such fires - ala the Great Chicago Fire of last century.
Furthermore, I saw your reference to the California fires including Paradise. The conspiracies have already been debunked; and I guess you're talking about the "Plandemic" type videos where they say there's something totally impossible about cars flipping over and stuff like that. Sorry, not EVERYTHING is an "MIC" conspiracy.
SO WHAT? I'll tell you what: Provide a workable theory of how these fires were actually started and spread if you're claiming "MIC" involvement. Is that really too much to ask, given that it was you who broached the topic to begin with?
So it's me condescending while you YELL AT ME in all caps (more than once)? I'm condescending for politely asking you to provide a plausible scenario when you brought it up to begin with? IMO it's condescending to expect people to follow YouTube (and other) video links which could simply be an attempt to drive up clicks so they can monetize their account. Maybe I'd be more likely to click on it if you could actually at least try to explain what your theory is first rather than drop a bomb like that and expect everyone to just blindly follow.