The war on Iran feels eerily familiar – from justifications that hold no water to the uncritical reporting in the media. Chris Hedges joins us to unpack the unsettling parallels with the 2003 Iraq War
YES it works, because THE PEOPLE do not do anything about it (Mr Hedges is talking about GENERAL STRIKES for years as a means for REAL CHANGE!) - our lives are much to cushy and cosy, so NOBODY WANTS TO RISK ANYTHING (but I am sure sooner or later it will bite us!)
As CH said, it's not so surprising that they use the same playbook because it works, its surprising it still works after it has been exposed (after the fact) so often to be a complete fraud.
We need lots and lots of vocal opposition to this war. Like some of the other recent wars, this one was done entirely by what amounts to presidential decree. Once again, the Constitution was trashed. It of course states that only Congress can take us to war. Presidential tyranny needs to be challenged. There was great support for this after the ten year Vietnam War debacle. We got the War Powers Act, but it was not invoked. What good is an act on the books that limits presidential war making powers when it is never followed? By his unilateral action Trump illegally overrides Congressional prerogative. Very bad precedent. Very dangerous.
What am I missing? The United States went into a sovereign country and blew up its nuclear installations. While I "get" that Iran is a hostile nation that the West does not want to have nuclear weapons, by what authority did the U.S. take out three of Irah's nuclear installations? The U.S. in effect was a proxy aggressor for Israel. Is my thinking on this incorrect?
Vince, having worked in Iran during the revolution, my view is that Iran is not a hostile nation, except to being placed under sanctions for 45 years all because some hothead students decided to parade a blindfolded American through a hostile crowd. They didn’t kill those people. Even then, Ayatollah Khomeini paid for my parents’ house. Generally, Iranians are cultured, measured and respectful people, unlike Trump who is remaking his failed parade in the bunker bombing entirely as a work of showmanship. Everything Trump does is an infantile expression of his twisted need to be a big hitter to impress the spirit of his remorseless fascist father.
We in Scotland will also pay for his psychopathology at least in higher petrol prices, if our government’s elective war with Putin doesn’t get us killed first. Who knows what militarism the UK government is putting on our credit card, but I’d hate to see the US credit card and fuel bill for 7 Qty bomber flights to Iran with 12 Qty bunker busters and sundry cruise missiles.
Will the Israelis get credit against US resupply of the “hundreds” of
Iron Dome missiles they’ve fired at $3 Million USD a piece, I wonder? They can get a taste or perhaps a smell of their own medicine in a Gaza when the Iranian rockets blow up one of THEIR hospitals.
Same right down to the silliness of claiming the people of the country du jour will totally welcome the U.S. as liberators. Why sure! Bombs and blood are a foretaste of democracy.
The neocons are certain what they want is the same as reality; they mistake their own menu for the meal. As proven repeatedly, it's a recipe for disaster.
Neocretins. The only thing Vince t probably "missed" is the long history of imperialist and colonialist brutality. For which Chris's new book, or pankaj mishra's latest will help. .... Otherwise I have two suggestions: one is listen to comedians like Sammi Obeid as an antidote to bitterness. The other is to do whatever the fork you can: demonstrations, unions, letters to the editor etc. Otherwise "the movement" , the mass strike-- whatever your flavor of transformative-- is just the Messiah we passively wait for. She will probably come too late (!)
One of the main, perhaps only, Trump’s objectives is creation of ever-Greater Israel. He never hid that….
The only filter for Trump's administration members was and is —a total dedication to Zionism and Great Israel, therefore to the US genocide of Palestinians. Hence the unconstitutional and unprecedented “antisemitism” terror and censorship in the US.
Always remember that when Benjamin Netanyahu Mileikowsky visits US he often stays at the estate of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka (Trump) Kushner. And that Trump is demanding that all corruption charges against war criminal Mileikowsky-Netanyahu be dropped.
Also remember, Israel sterilized Ethiopian Jewish immigrant women… - for purity of Ashkenazi blood == racism
Duh, the intelligence was cooked, like the supposed intelligence used as a pretext to attack Iran.
What does anyone propose to do about it? Truth and lies are of interest to sociopaths, solely to the extent that they can be weaponized.
They keep using the same playbook because it works.
YES it works, because THE PEOPLE do not do anything about it (Mr Hedges is talking about GENERAL STRIKES for years as a means for REAL CHANGE!) - our lives are much to cushy and cosy, so NOBODY WANTS TO RISK ANYTHING (but I am sure sooner or later it will bite us!)
As CH said, it's not so surprising that they use the same playbook because it works, its surprising it still works after it has been exposed (after the fact) so often to be a complete fraud.
We need lots and lots of vocal opposition to this war. Like some of the other recent wars, this one was done entirely by what amounts to presidential decree. Once again, the Constitution was trashed. It of course states that only Congress can take us to war. Presidential tyranny needs to be challenged. There was great support for this after the ten year Vietnam War debacle. We got the War Powers Act, but it was not invoked. What good is an act on the books that limits presidential war making powers when it is never followed? By his unilateral action Trump illegally overrides Congressional prerogative. Very bad precedent. Very dangerous.
What am I missing? The United States went into a sovereign country and blew up its nuclear installations. While I "get" that Iran is a hostile nation that the West does not want to have nuclear weapons, by what authority did the U.S. take out three of Irah's nuclear installations? The U.S. in effect was a proxy aggressor for Israel. Is my thinking on this incorrect?
Vince, having worked in Iran during the revolution, my view is that Iran is not a hostile nation, except to being placed under sanctions for 45 years all because some hothead students decided to parade a blindfolded American through a hostile crowd. They didn’t kill those people. Even then, Ayatollah Khomeini paid for my parents’ house. Generally, Iranians are cultured, measured and respectful people, unlike Trump who is remaking his failed parade in the bunker bombing entirely as a work of showmanship. Everything Trump does is an infantile expression of his twisted need to be a big hitter to impress the spirit of his remorseless fascist father.
We in Scotland will also pay for his psychopathology at least in higher petrol prices, if our government’s elective war with Putin doesn’t get us killed first. Who knows what militarism the UK government is putting on our credit card, but I’d hate to see the US credit card and fuel bill for 7 Qty bomber flights to Iran with 12 Qty bunker busters and sundry cruise missiles.
Will the Israelis get credit against US resupply of the “hundreds” of
Iron Dome missiles they’ve fired at $3 Million USD a piece, I wonder? They can get a taste or perhaps a smell of their own medicine in a Gaza when the Iranian rockets blow up one of THEIR hospitals.
The "intelligence" wasn't baked to a delicate crunch.
It was deep fried to a crackly crunch.
Same right down to the silliness of claiming the people of the country du jour will totally welcome the U.S. as liberators. Why sure! Bombs and blood are a foretaste of democracy.
The neocons are certain what they want is the same as reality; they mistake their own menu for the meal. As proven repeatedly, it's a recipe for disaster.
Neocretins. The only thing Vince t probably "missed" is the long history of imperialist and colonialist brutality. For which Chris's new book, or pankaj mishra's latest will help. .... Otherwise I have two suggestions: one is listen to comedians like Sammi Obeid as an antidote to bitterness. The other is to do whatever the fork you can: demonstrations, unions, letters to the editor etc. Otherwise "the movement" , the mass strike-- whatever your flavor of transformative-- is just the Messiah we passively wait for. She will probably come too late (!)
Thank you.
Chris, your moral clarity is unquestionable. But here’s the thing:
Norman Solomon laid this all out in War Made Easy. You’ve done it for decades. And yet, the war machine rolls on—repackaged, resold, re-clicked.
At what point do we stop reporting the fire and start performing an autopsy on the failure of revolt itself?
Because if the answer to every war is still “revolt”, but the revolt never arrives—maybe the formula is broken.
And maybe, just maybe, repeating the imperative becomes less about transformation… and more about echo.
I say this not in cynicism, but in grief—and in offering something that might actually work.
If you’re truly still interested in big ideas and not just the sound of your own principled thunder… hit me up.
One of the main, perhaps only, Trump’s objectives is creation of ever-Greater Israel. He never hid that….
The only filter for Trump's administration members was and is —a total dedication to Zionism and Great Israel, therefore to the US genocide of Palestinians. Hence the unconstitutional and unprecedented “antisemitism” terror and censorship in the US.
Always remember that when Benjamin Netanyahu Mileikowsky visits US he often stays at the estate of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka (Trump) Kushner. And that Trump is demanding that all corruption charges against war criminal Mileikowsky-Netanyahu be dropped.
Also remember, Israel sterilized Ethiopian Jewish immigrant women… - for purity of Ashkenazi blood == racism