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"In the last few days Israel has assassinated leaders in multiple neighboring nations, assassinated multiple journalists, deliberately destroyed a water facility in Gaza during a polio outbreak, and had riots defending the right of IDF soldiers to rape Palestinian prisoners. Clearly the sort of country we should all want to send our sons and daughters to go fight and die for."

-- Caitlin Johnstone

News and Opinion

Israel Sure Looks Like It Wants To Prevent Peace And Start A New War

Israel has been on another assassination spree, killing Hamas political leader Ismael Haniyeh on Wednesday with an airstrike while he was in Tehran for the swearing in of the new Iranian president. Israel also claims to have killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike on Beirut on Tuesday evening.

Iran and Lebanon will now have to decide how to respond to these incendiary aggressions. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised “harsh punishment” for the strike on Iranian soil, appearing to place the attack on the same level as Israel’s assassination of Iranian officials in Damascus this past April which drew a massive drone and missile retaliation from Iran.

“The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations — harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator,” reads an official statement from an Iranian government Twitter account.

According to Barak Ravid of Axios, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that “Israel does not seek war” but “the IDF remains prepared to respond to any attack by Hezbollah,” which is the sort of victim-LARPing only an Israeli official could perform after two straight high-profile assassination strikes.

Conventional wisdom is that Israel would prefer to avoid a major new war while its forces remain tied up in Gaza, but it certainly isn’t acting like a nation that’s trying to avoid a new war. Or like a nation that’s trying to wrap things up in Gaza, for that matter.

Some interesting commentary on this still-unfolding story:

“Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” tweeted the Prime Minister of Qatar, where Haniyeh had been living prior to his assassination.

“So Israel murders Hamas political leader and key negotiator, Ismael Haniyeh, and wants us to believe it is serious about negotiating a ceasefire?” tweeted Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin. “And it kills him at the inauguration of Iran’s new president Pezeshkian, who campaigned for better relations with the West. Instead of a ceasefire and a regional de-escalation, Netanyahu is gunning for a full-scale regional war.”

“Saying they want a ceasefire and then assassinating the guy they’d negotiate it with is a pretty clear sign of how serious Israel is about diplomacy,” tweeted Ajam Media Collective’s Alex Shams.

“Killing Haniyeh in Tehran immediately after bombing Beirut like… are they willfully instigating a regional war they’re absolutely not prepared to fight or once again radically failing to anticipate the possible consequences of their actions? Either way they are suicidally stupid,” tweeted Christa Peterson.

“There is a secret third option: they know they can’t fight this war but they can make it bad enough that Americans have to,” tweeted Matthew Petti in response.

After all the thunderous applause Netanyahu received for his deceitful genocide apologia speech before Congress last week, this does not at all seem like an unreasonable expectation. We’ve seen nothing from Washington these last ten months to suggest that it would leave Israel to defend itself should a series of escalations lead to a major war with Lebanon and/or Iran. 

We shall see, I suppose.

Jordan in last-ditch effort to prevent Iran retaliating for Haniyeh killing

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, has made a rare visit to Iran in a last-ditch effort to persuade it to hold back from attacking Israel in response to the assassination of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week.

The western ally with a large Palestinian population is facing a tough balancing act as it faces domestic calls to break off relations with Tel Aviv and to stop protecting it after shooting down Iranian missiles aimed at Israel earlier this year.

The visit looks doomed to fail given that Iran insisted on Sunday that there was no room for compromise and that it would make a decisive response to the assassination. In a meeting with Safadi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the assassination of Haniyeh was a “major mistake by the Zionist regime [Israel] that will not go unanswered”, Iranian state TV reported.

The US has said it will defend Israel in the event of an Iranian attack and has moved warships and fighter jets to the region. “We are doing everything possible to make sure that this situation does not boil over,” White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told the broadcaster ABC on Sunday.

Safadi condemned the assassination of Haniyeh last Wednesday, calling it “a heinous crime and an escalatory step that constitutes a violation of international law and humanitarian law, and an infringement on state sovereignty. We reject it entirely. We demand effective action to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza, to halt such illegal Israeli measures, and to prevent crimes against the Palestinian people, in order to protect the entire region from the consequences of a regional war that would have a devastating impact on everyone,” he said.

Neocons closer than ever to war with Iran

Netanyahu has pushed the US to go to war with Iran for more than 15 years. The last four American presidents have faced pressure from Israel to go to war with Iran.

Israel's dramatic escalation is completely compatible with its past efforts to drag the US into another war. pic.twitter.com/jQh6EN4uPB— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) August 3, 2024

Alastair Crooke : Willful Western Blindness Over Israel

Mass Media Goons Are Still Reporting That Biden Is Getting Tough On Netanyahu

Another day, another Axios article falsely asserting that President Biden is really getting tough on Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a write-up titled “Biden warns Netanyahu against escalation as risk of regional war grows,” Barak Ravid reports that while Biden has pledged to support Israel against any strikes from Iran in retaliation for its insanely escalatory assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, he also told Netanyahu that he “expects no more escalation from the Israeli side” from here on out.

“President Biden privately demanded in a ‘tough’ call Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stop escalating tensions in the region and move immediately toward a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal,” writes Ravid, citing two US officials who as usual remain unnamed.

“At the end of the meeting with Netanyahu in the Oval office last Thursday, Biden became emotional, raised his voice and told Netanyahu he needs to reach a Gaza deal as soon as possible, three Israeli officials with knowledge of the meeting told Axios,” Ravid reports.

Ravid writes:

“One U.S. official said Biden complained to Netanyahu that the two had just spoken last week in the Oval Office about securing the hostage deal, but instead Netanyahu went ahead with the assassination in Tehran.

“Biden then told Netanyahu the U.S. will help Israel defeat an Iranian attack, but after that he expects no more escalation from the Israeli side and immediate movement toward a hostage deal, the U.S. official said.”

Sure, sure. This time Biden really means it when he draws a firm line with Israel, unlike all those other times when this administration has continued to back Israel’s psychopathic actions unconditionally since October 7.

It's the umpteenth installment of "Biden is secretly mad at Bibi": he became emotional! He raised his voice! Can't imagine anyone takes these self-serving leaks seriously. Least of all Netanyahu, who has ignored Biden with impunity for ten months https://t.co/FrKdIZPapA— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) August 3, 2024

Commentators on US foreign policy are less than impressed with this report.

“It’s the umpteenth installment of ‘Biden is secretly mad at Bibi’: he became emotional! He raised his voice!” tweeted The Economist’s Gregg Carlstrom. “Can’t imagine anyone takes these self-serving leaks seriously. Least of all Netanyahu, who has ignored Biden with impunity for ten months”

“Biden reportedly told Netanyahu he’ll help defeat an Iranian attack, but expects no more escalation from Israel, warning Netanyahu that he shouldn’t count on the US to bail him out again,” tweeted Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi, adding, “Fine, but given Biden’s record, why should Netanyahu believe him?”

Barak Ravid has made an entire career out of writing up these anonymously sourced White House press releases about how badass and un-genocidal the president is and packaging them as real news stories. Here are some of the headlines from Ravid’s reporting since October:

Biden “running out” of patience with Bibi as Gaza war hits 100 days

Scoop: Biden in “frustrating” call told Bibi to solve Palestinian tax revenue issue

Biden’s ultimatum to Bibi: Change Gaza policy or we will

White House temperature is “very high” ahead of Biden-Bibi call

“We won’t support you”: Inside Biden’s ultimatum to Bibi

Israel and U.S. deeply divided in meeting on key Rafah operation issues

Biden and Bibi “red lines” for Rafah put them on a collision course

Biden-Bibi clash escalates as U.S. accused of undermining Israeli government

Biden and Netanyahu hold first call in a month amid public split

Biden breaks with Netanyahu but sticks with Israel

Biden on hot mic: Told Bibi we needed “come to Jesus” meeting on Gaza

Biden, in rare criticism, warns Netanyahu that Israel risks losing global support

Biden, in rare criticism of Bibi, says pause in Gaza fighting should have come sooner

Scoop: Blinken warns Israeli officials global pressure will grow longer war goes on

Israeli minister lambasted at White House about Gaza and war strategy

Scoop: Biden tells Bibi he’s not in it for a year of war in Gaza

Blinken unloads on Bibi: “You need a coherent plan” or face disaster in Gaza

Scoop: White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

Netanyahu irked by “critical” Harris comments

This is just one guy, from just one outlet. These “Biden is very upset with Netanyahu and wants him to be different” reports have been coming out throughout the US media since the early weeks of this ongoing mass atrocity, all of which are flatly contradicted by the White House taking zero meaningful action this entire time to rein in Israel’s demented genocidal aggressions.

And to be clear, none of this is actually news. “Anonymous sources say X, Y and Z about how the president’s feelings are feeling” is not a news story. These reports serve no purpose other than to create distance in the eyes of the American public between the genocidal monster Benjamin Netanyahu and the president who is unconditionally supporting his genocidal atrocities in every way possible. They are PR spin and nothing more, which would be surprising to anyone who still believes the mainstream western press exist to report the news instead of promulgate propaganda for the advancement of the information interests of the western empire.

All they’re doing here is trying to wash this administration’s hands of the horrors that are being inflicted in the middle east with the direct facilitation of this administration. Don’t let them. All the monstrous actions being perpetrated by Israel today are just as much the fault of the US government as they are of Israel itself. This is who they are. Make them own it.

US Troops FLOOD Middle East As Iran War Looms

Gaza: airstrikes on schools and a hospital kill 30 amid ‘heated’ US-Israeli talks

Israeli airstrikes hit two schools and a hospital complex in Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 30 people, amid reports of heated disagreements between US and Israeli leaders about a possible ceasefire deal. Inside Israel, a Palestinian stabbed two people to death in a city near Tel Aviv, adding to tensions as the country braces for Iran’s response to the assassinations of key allies this week. ...

The US has promised to defend Israel, ordering an aircraft carrier to sail to the region and moving other military assets into position. Despite that solidarity in the face of a potential Iranian attack, the US president, Joe Biden, has been open about concerns that the killing of Haniyeh will complicate efforts to stop the fighting in Gaza, which is key to regional de-escalation.

He had a “heated conversation” this week with Netanyahu, who was forced to deny that he was an obstacle to a ceasefire and hostage release deal, the New York Times has reported, quoting a senior US official. That was just the latest confrontation between two increasingly uneasy allies. Biden reportedly told the Israeli leader to “stop bullshitting me” when they discussed the return of hostages at an in-person meeting at the White House late last month.

“Biden realised that Netanyahu was lying to him about the hostages,” the Haaretz newspaper quoted a senior administration official as saying. Biden’s reported scepticism about Netanyahu’s commitment to the return of Israeli hostages puts him on the same page as Israel’s defence chiefs. They believe the country’s leader is not interested a ceasefire deal even though they consider a workable proposal to be on the table, Israeli media reported this week.

I’m so sick of the Biden admin acting like they’re trying to deescalate while they support a genocide in Gaza, send more weapons to the Middle East, and arm the man who’s actively trying to blow it up. https://t.co/5jFaVOhjVA pic.twitter.com/mjpn0b7GJf— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) August 4, 2024

Craig Murray: The Israeli Nihilist State

It is no longer possible to categorise the nihilistic violence of the Israeli state. It appears to have no objective other than violence and an urge for desolation. In 24 hours Israel has murdered the man with whom it would need to negotiate hostage release in the short term and political settlement in the long term, and a key figure in its most dangerous potential military enemy which has refrained from full-on war. In doing so it has violated the territory, indeed the capitals, of two crucial regional states.

Israel has also taken a policy decision that the mass rape of detainees by soldiers — and, somewhat strangely, homosexual rape in particular — is acceptable in war and not to be punished.

Ironically Israel has also underlined its genocidal intent in Gaza by proving that it has the technical ability to carry out targeted attacks, and that the flattening of entire cities with 2,000lb bombs and the massacre of tens of thousands of innocents has been a policy choice. ...

For me it is now axiomatic that there is no two state solution and that apartheid Israel must be completely dismantled as an entity. I believe that more and more people around the entire globe believe that now.

Anya Parampil : The CIA and Venezuela

Arundhati Roy: India Must Stop Arming Israel or 'Forever Be Linked to Genocide'

Acclaimed Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy this week joined prominent jurists, diplomats, artists, and others in urging their government to stop selling weapons to Israel, which they called "abominable" and "a serious violation of India's obligations under international law and our Constitution."

Speaking Thursday at an event organized by the Press Club of India, Roy—winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for her debut novel The God of Small Things—said that Indians must "at least show that we do not support that murder in Gaza, we do not support our government's support of that."

"What is happening in Gaza, it is not just the murder… of tens of thousands of women and children," she continued. "It is the bombing of hospitals, the destruction of universities… the attempt to erase the very memory people have of that place. It is a genocide like no other because it's taking place on live TV."

"India used to be a country that supported the people of Palestine in their struggle for freedom," Roy noted. "Everywhere, even in the United States… people are standing up against their government's support for [Israel]. But we are not standing up… and that is such a shame."

"We must stand up. We must refuse," she asserted. "We will not support the export of weapons of any kind."

"The Indian government is complicit in the genocide that Israel is conducting in Gaza," Roy added. "It is our responsibility to show that as people of India, we refuse to be complicit in that, even if our government wishes to continue with what it does. We want these weapons exports to stop immediately."

Roy is one of more than two dozen former Indian Supreme Court justices and other judges, foreign service officers, academics, artists, activists, and others who on Wednesday sent a letter to Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to halt the licensing of arms sales to Israel, whose military forces have killed or wounded more than 140,000 Palestinians while obliterating and starving Gaza.

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has clearly ruled that Israel is in violation of obligations under the Genocide Convention and further that Israel is in illegal occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory," the letter states. "In light of these rulings, any supply of military material to Israel would amount to a violation of India's obligations under international humanitarian law and the mandate of Article 21 read with Article 51(c) of the Constitution of India."

Among the weapons India has sent to Israel are Hermes 900 unmanned aerial drones, which are co-manufactured with Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. The letter notes that the drones "have been extensively used in the Israeli Defense Forces' military campaign in Gaza."

"Several [United Nations] experts have warned that the transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel may constitute serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian laws, and risk state complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide, reiterating their demand to stop transfers immediately," the letter's signer wrote.

"In short, the grant of licenses and approvals for export of military material to Israel, coupled with reports of such exports by Indian companies, constitutes a serious violation of India's obligations under international law and our own Constitution," the letter stresses.

"International law aside, we consider such exports to be morally objectionable, indeed abominable," the signatories added. "We demand, therefore, that India should immediately suspend its collaboration in the delivery of military material to Israel. Further, India must immediately make every effort to ensure that weapons already delivered to Israel are not used to contribute to acts of genocide or violations of international humanitarian law."

The letter came ahead of planned nationwide protests by Indian leftists on Saturday calling for an end to arms sales and "all forms of complicity with Israel's illegal occupation and genocide."

Larry Johnson : Will US F-16s Help Ukraine?

Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16s, says Zelenskiy

Ukrainian pilots have started flying F-16s, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighter jets more than 29 months since Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine’s president announced the use of F-16s, which Kyiv has long lobbied for, as he met military pilots at an airbase flanked by two of the jets, with two more flying overhead.

“F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our guys who are mastering these jets and have already started using them for our country,” Zelenskiy said at a location that authorities asked reporters not to disclose for security reasons.

The arrival of the jets is a milestone for Ukraine after many months of waiting, though it remains unclear how many are available and how much of an impact they will have in enhancing air defences and on the battlefield.

Russia has been targeting bases that may house them and has vowed to shoot them down.

Justice Neil Gorsuch: Americans are ‘getting whacked’ by too many laws

US supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch has said ordinary Americans are “getting whacked” by too many laws and regulations in a new book that underscores his skepticism of federal agencies and the power they wield.

“Too little law and we’re not safe, and our liberties aren’t protected,” Gorsuch told the Associated Press in an interview in his supreme court office. “But too much law and you actually impair those same things.”

Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law is being published Tuesday by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Gorsuch has received a $500,000 advance for the book, according to his annual financial disclosure reports.

In the interview, Gorsuch refused to be drawn into discussions about term limits or an enforceable code of ethics for the justices, both recently proposed by Joe Biden at a time of diminished public trust in the court.

Kentucky’s governor clears schedule for Harris VP announcement, stoking speculation

Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, canceled a planned appearance in the western part of his state on Friday with no official explanation, intensifying speculation over whether Kamala Harris might choose him as her running mate.

Beshear’s schedule change is far from a guarantee that Harris will select him considering that Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, another name on the shortlist of potential running-mates, also canceled a fundraising trip planned for this weekend amid reports that Harris was interviewing a number of vice-presidential candidate contenders over the weekend.

Shapiro is widely viewed as a frontrunner in the veepstakes, as Democrats hope he could help deliver the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, but Beshear’s supporters insist he is best positioned to sway independent voters in the presidential race. According to a recent Morning Consult survey, Beshear has the highest approval rating of any Democratic governor in the country, with 67% of Kentuckians holding a favorable impression of him.

Beshear’s popularity is all the more astounding given the political leanings of his state. In 2020, Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden by 26 points in Kentucky, and no Democratic presidential candidate has carried the state since 1996.

Despite those significant hurdles, Beshear won re-election to a second term last year by five points, besting the then Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron. The victory came four years after Beshear defeated a deeply unpopular Republican incumbent, Matt Bevin, by just 0.4 points. The surprise victory was made possible in part because of Beshear’s high name recognition, as his father, Steve Beshear, served as Kentucky’s governor for two terms.

Does AIPAC control Kamala?

Utah’s Great Salt Lake rings climate alarm bells over release of 4.1m tons of carbon dioxide

For years, scientists and environmental leaders have been raising alarm that the Great Salt Lake is headed toward a catastrophic decline. Now, new research points to the lake’s desiccating shores also becoming an increasingly significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have calculated that dried out portions of the lakebed released about 4.1m tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in 2020, based on samples collected over seven months that year.

Their study, published last month in the journal One Earth, suggests that the Great Salt Lake – which is the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere – and other shrinking saline lakes across the world could become major contributors of climate-warming emissions. The research also adds to a dire list of environmental consequences brought on by the lake’s precipitous decline.

Last year, environmental and community groups sued Utah officials over failures to save the famous lake from irreversible collapse. In recent decades, as more and more water has been diverted away from the lake to irrigate farmland, feed industry and water lawns, a report last year estimated that the lake had lost 73% of its water and 60% of its surface area. Its decline was accelerated by global heating and a mega-drought in the US south-west.

The declining lake has exposed a dusty lakebed laced with arsenic, mercury, lead and other toxic substances that threaten to increase rates of respiratory conditions, heart and lung disease and cancers. As its volume shrinks, the lake is also becoming saltier and uninhabitable to native flies and brine shrimp. Eventually, scientists have warned that it may be unable to support the 10 million migratory birds and wildlife that frequent it.

“I think the impacts on air quality, the impacts on migratory birds and other wildlife are maybe more pressing, locally,” said Soren Brothers, a climate change curator at Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum, who led the study. “But especially at a time when we are all trying to find ways to reduce our carbon footprint, as Salt Lake City is working to reduce emissions, this desiccating lake is adding some of that back.”

EXPLOSIVE COVERUP In East Palestine, Flint

Antarctic temperatures rise 10C above average in near record heatwave

Ground temperatures across great swathes of the ice sheets of Antarctica have soared an average of 10C above normal over the past month, in what has been described as a near record heatwave. While temperatures remain below zero on the polar land mass, which is shrouded in darkness at this time of year, the depths of southern hemisphere winter, temperatures have reportedly reached 28C above expectations on some days.

The globe has experienced 12 months of record warmth, with temperatures consistently exceeding the 1.5C rise above preindustrial levels that has been touted as the limit to avoiding the worst of climate breakdown.

Michael Dukes, the director of forecasting at MetDesk, said that while individual daily high temperatures were surprising, far more significant was the average rise over the month. Climate scientists’ models have long predicted that the most significant effects of anthropogenic climate change would be on polar regions, “and this is a great example of that”, he said.

“Usually you can’t just look at one month for a climate trend but it is right in line with what models predict,” Dukes added. “In Antarctica generally that kind of warming in the winter and continuing in to summer months can lead to collapsing of the ice sheets.”

Cooler weather helps fire crews corral a third of California’s largest blaze of year

Fire crews battling California’s largest wildfire this year have corralled a third of the blaze aided in part by cooler weather, but a return of triple-digit temperatures could allow it to grow, fire officials said Sunday.

Cooler temperatures and increased humidity gave firefighters “a great opportunity to make some good advances” on the fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills, said Chris Vestal, a spokesperson for the California department of forestry and fire protection.

The Park fire has scorched 627 sq miles (1,623 sq km) since igniting 24 July when authorities said a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico and then fled. The blaze was 30% contained as of Sunday.

The huge fire has scorched an area bigger than the city of Los Angeles, which covers about 503 sq miles (1,302 sq km). It continues to burn through rugged, inaccessible and steep terrain with dense vegetation.

The fire’s push northward has brought it toward the rugged lava rock landscape surrounding Lassen Volcanic national park, which has been closed because of the threat. The inhospitable terrain remains one of the biggest challenges for firefighters.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Israel Is Never “Defending Itself”, And The US Is Never “Defending Israel”

Promoting Peace And Stability In The Middle East By Unconditionally Backing Its Worst Aggressor

“Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”

Middle East a Tinderbox After Assassinations

Trigger happy Israel and its thirst for revenge

Patrick Lawrence: The Murder of Ismail Haniyeh

UN Finds ‘Appalling Acts’ of Torture Against Palestinians

Palestinian detainee allegedly raped in Sde Teiman returned to Israeli facility

The Grayzone caused ‘biggest PR fiasco in history’ for US govt regime change arm, leaked emails reveal

The lawless mining gangs targeting the Amazon’s precious green energy minerals

A wolf’s killing shocked Canada. Then his image appeared on a hunting site

The frogs may be gone, but life goes on: how I regained my faith in gardening for wildlife

US Media is WAY too excited for WAR in Middle East

NASDAQ, S&P PLUMMET; Recession Fears MOUNTING?

VIOLENT Protests ERUPT Across The UK After Dance School MURDERS; Suspect IDENTIFIED

Starmer's Orwellian warning to Britain

A Little Night Music

Blind Willie McTell - Travelin' Blues

Blind Willie McTell - I Got To Cross The River Jordan

Blind Willie McTell - Searching The Desert For The Blues

Blind Willie McTell - Georgia Rag

Blind Willie McTell - Dying Crapshooters Blues

Blind Willie McTell - Mama Taint Long Fo' Day

Blind Willie McTell - Atlanta Strut

Blind Willie McTell - Statesboro Blues

The Band - Blind Willie McTell