The Weekly Watch
China in the Crosshairs?
In Trump's speech last Thursday he accuses China of election interference in 2020. He continued by saying the deep state was covering up China's breech of votes. "The cover-up of this colossal security breach is even more disturbing in light of the additional information showing that China engaged in other election related activities to undermine my first administration and our 2020 campaign...“the strategy included efforts to use Chinese contacts with big US companies to influence US business leaders to turn against the president of The United States of America.” ." But have no fear, we don't pull those sorts of stunts on China (and everyone else). So are we going from Russiagate to Chinagate? Sure seems so. Perhaps as OTC's meme yesterday suggests "another distraction for the Epsteinth time", this is just a distraction from the the Iran War and the coming economic catastrophe. Is this a way to invalidate the upcoming mid-term elections? Or, is the Don trying to set up yet another war with China? We know that is the ultimate goal of the Epstein class oligarchs.
Larry Johnson explains the Trump distraction, delusion, and madness.
Why is Trump Trying to Start a New War with China?
Not a single piece of evidence that China inserted votes or manipulated votes, yet many who watched Trump came away convinced that China is the enemy and must be dealt with harshly. What Trump did tonight is one of the most ghastly examples of propaganda designed to stir up enmity.
At a time when the US is utterly dependent on China for rare-earth minerals Trump decided it was a good time to insult them and threaten them. I had thought that Trump had reached the nadir when it comes to diplomacy… Color me wrong, he achieved a new low with this. I would not be surprised if China doubles-down on its support for Iran in order to ensure the US suffers a humiliating defeat.
Trump's Panic Is Backfiring… While China Quietly Wins
Einar Tangin (80 min) he covers Trump's China comments in the first 5-10 min
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Why Trump Restarted Economic Conflict
08:40 Political Pressures in Washington
18:20 America's Economic Dilemma
30:10 China's Long-Term Strategy
42:15 AI Is Transforming Global Commerce
54:30 Why the Global South Matters
1:05:00 The Future of International Trade
1:14:30 How AI Empowers Small Businesses
1:20:30 Final Thoughts
Topics include:
Trump's renewed economic and geopolitical escalation
The political pressures facing Washington
China's long-term economic strategy
The future of AI and digital trade
Why small businesses may become the biggest winners of AI
China's expanding role in the Global South
The decline of Western economic dominance
How AI is lowering barriers for international commerce
The next phase of globalization
The hot war is back in Iran. Danny gives a righteous rant...
Iran Wreaks HAVOC on US Forces. American Civil War Brewing | Col. Daniel Davis
(45 min) After three rounds of attack in less than two years, the US/Israeli war alliance is at the weakest point in decades. The damage the unsuccessful military campaign are doing to US power projection is enormous.
00:00 Iran Escalation and the Strait of Hormuz
14:00 Why the U.S.–Iran Agreement Failed
21:45 Nuclear Escalation and the Lack of an Exit Strategy
26:07 America’s Rapidly Depleting Missile Stockpiles
29:31 The Failure of America’s Post-Cold War Doctrine
34:19 What Could Finally Force U.S. Policy to Change?
39:38 Election Distrust and the Risk of Domestic Crackdowns
Larry and Pepe on their new channel Transition Protocol.
China's 72-HOUR Ultimatum to the US -Fix the Iran DEAL by Monday Or It's WAR
(36 min) In this emergency Friday briefing, Pepe Escobar, Larry Johnson and Zulfiqar Ali break down why Iran’s missiles have suddenly become accurate — the panel reports a shift from US GPS to China’s BeiDou satellite guidance — and why the next 72 hours may decide whether the Iran–US war stays regional or goes global. According to sources cited on the show, China has set a Monday deadline for Pakistan to restore the collapsed 14-point US–Iran MOU.
The panel also covers the Saudi strike on Sana’a’s runway that nearly downed an Iranian civilian flight, Iran’s signal that it may revise its nuclear doctrine and leave the NPT, the US strike on Iran’s Chabahar port, and Pakistan’s new red line. Several claims are developing and source-based; framing throughout reflects their verification status.
Transition Protocol is a serious, source-driven geopolitical analysis channel focused on evidence-based breakdowns of great-power rivalry, energy, and de-dollarization.
More from Larry...War Machine REACTIVATED: US Ground Invasion Prep As Missiles Run Low
(42 min) Desperate times call for desperate wars. As the US is failing to subdue Iran with missile strikes, the crazies in Washington are cooking up an even bigger screw-up: Ground invasion.
Larry C. Johnson joins Pascal to discuss the renewed US-Iran war, pressure on Gulf states, the Strait of Hormuz, and the risk of fuel shortages. They examine US missile and drone stocks, Iran’s military options, China’s role, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, possible ground operations, and Washington’s conflict with international law.
00:00:00 Introduction and renewed Iran war
00:07:24 Gulf strategy and Saudi Arabia’s Yemen move
00:13:31 Gulf states, US bases and China’s role
00:21:02 US drones and the limits of ground war
00:30:53 Missile stocks, fuel shortages and international law
Larry's recent article...
China’s Beidou Satellite System is a Game Changer in Iran’s War with the US
Pepe Escobar: Iran SMASHES Bahrain-Saudi Bridge, F-35 EMERGENCY as Trump GOES MAD
(59 min) Pepe Escobar discusses Trump's unthinkable escalation in the Iran war as Iran expands its missile & drone target back overnight.
The two Larry's are back with Nima
(74 min) US Bombs Key Bridges and Rail Lines Across Iran
Let's hear from Tehran...
(56 min) Marandi: Iranian Ballistic Missiles Strike U.S. Bases in Jordan, Massive Fires Reported
US Strikes Civilian Infrastructure in Iran
Iran reports multiple civilians were killed and injured by the US attacks
...
President Trump appears to be preparing for a more intense bombing campaign in Iran.
On Friday, Axios reported speaking with three US and Israeli officials who explained that the US was moving additional refueling aircraft to Israel. The US currently has about 60 refueling aircraft in Israel and plans to deploy several dozen more. Additionally, the sources said the President is considering a “massive offensive” against Iran.
Iran accuses US of ‘war crimes’ after attacks on civilian infrastructure
Attacks constituted ‘flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of international law,’ Iranian Foreign Ministry says
...the US attacks included strikes on a grain storage silo in the southwestern city of Hoveyzeh, a mineral water factory in Musian in western Iran, and a maritime control tower in Chabahar used to assist fishermen.
A US strike also hit near a children’s cancer hospital in the southwestern city of Ahvaz on Wednesday, which Tehran denounced as “barbaric.”
Let's hear from two excellent diplomats...
Chas Freeman
(52 min) Iran Targets Key Saudi-Bahrain Bridge After U.S. Attacks on it's infrastructures
Alastair Crooke: Iran OBLITERATES US Air Base & HIMARS, Trump's War IMPLODING
(67 min) Alastair Crooke discusses round 4 of war between the US and Iran as the two countries trade strikes. Iran has shown its strength with massive ballistic missile strikes against US bases form the UAE to Jordan, but the US is not relenting. What is really happening, and what comes next?
This was early last week. Iran's retaliatory strikes have continued to escalate. When will Iran strike Israel where so much US equipment is located including over half of US refueling aircraft.
This is looking more and more like a forever war. Chas says it is a war to the last missile, but it could continue after that...
Katz Tells Hegseth That Israel Won’t Withdraw From Gaza, Syria, or Lebanon
The conversation came a few days after Katz said that Israel won’t leave Gaza even if Hamas disarms and that it would establish three “Nahala outposts,” a type of Jewish settlement that starts as a community for IDF soldiers with the goal of turning it into a permanent civilian community.
‘Destroyed my whole life’: Lebanese families wiped out in Israeli attacks
“Amnesty International came to the conclusion that these three attacks should be investigated as war crimes because the Israeli military failed to take all the necessary precautions to protect civilians and failed to distinguish between military targets and civilian objects,” says Sahar Mandour, a Lebanon researcher for Amnesty International. “There was no apparent target, and there was no specific warning or an effective warning.”
The strikes took place in al-Thakana in Tyre, Arki village in Sidon district, and al-Rahbat neighbourhood in Nabatieh district. Amnesty International says it didn’t find evidence of any military objectives at the time of the attacks.
Hey, illegal wars and war crimes have become our stock and trade. Sadly the US has been losing soldiers in this senseless war of choice for Israel.
Trump Killed Those US Troops In Jordan
Those soldiers were killed in response to US airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in a stupid, evil war of aggression waged by a Zionist president to please his billionaire Israeli megadonor. Those US attacks destroyed a desalination plant, cutting off an essential water supply for thousands of Iranian civilians.
They did not die defending the United States. They did not die protecting the American people. They did not die for freedom, for democracy, or for any of the other bogus reasons you’ll see imperial spinmeisters saying they died for. They died for Israel, for the military-industrial complex, and for US imperial agendas of global domination. And for nothing else.
The Ukraine Proxy War
With the number and the ferocity of strikes in Western Asia, Ukraine has fallen out of the picture. None the less that war also rages on.
First let's hear from the Duran.
(20 min) Ukraine Protests Erupt, Drone Hype Man Out. Globalists Takeover Business
Russia continues it's relentless advance...
(43 min) Russia Traps Ukraine On Frontline With No Way Out w/ Stanislav Krapivnik
00:00 Intro and weather chat
01:25 Overview: Russian strikes on Kiev, Ukrainian strikes on Russia
02:22 Mystery drone hits Russian refinery 2,500km from Ukraine
03:24 Why Russia struggles to stop deep drone strikes
07:48 Could the refinery drone have launched from Kazakhstan?
10:14 Zelensky sends 420 drones at Moscow
13:17 The big question: what is Putin actually doing?
19:35 Is Putin playing chess, or falling for the West again?
23:38 Is "maximum restraint" really a strategy?
27:40 Kremlin hardliners vs. the pro-deal faction
28:13 Russia hits 37 Ukrainian fuel stations
28:40 Konstantinovka and Kupyansk fall to Russian forces
33:55 Azov's "Greater Ukraine" map threatens Poland
35:03 Oreshnik, Iskander missiles, and Geran drones pound Kiev
41:13 Life on the ground in Donbas as civilian drone strikes rise
I'm sorry about the focus on all our wars, but I find them the most compelling and shameful stories to cover.
(1.5 min)
Oh for the day
when the bombs stop falling.
When the humans stop biting
and stabbing each other
and spraying everything
with blood and oil.
When the men remove
their iron breastplates
and stand tender and vulnerable
in their original beauty.
When the women retrieve
their tongues
from the lead-lined jars
in the basement
and sing feral and free
beneath the streetlights.
When we release the eels
and arrows from our bellies
and stop bracing for the impact
of the fists of our fathers.
When we vomit out
the nattering humonculi
in our skulls
and live
in our natural serenity.
When we stop taking orders
from the bank boys
and money men
and join hands with the cousins
they trained us to snarl at.
When we turn the gunships
into gardens
and make the robots
work for us.
When we come together
as native terrestrials
against the freaks
with mechanical minds.
That will be the beginning.
That will be our birth day.
That will be the dawn
of a wild and wonderful
adventure.
Good morning.
I'll leave you with Caitlin's poem, and wish you a good day. I'll look forward to your insights in the comments below...
Comments
'greater wars'
.
what a ridiculous concept (and deadly).
Zion's 'greater Israel' against all of their regional neighbors.
Azov's 'greater Ukraine' project. And the US's general attempt
to dominate the world. The three musketeers strike again. It seems
they will run out of weapons before they wake-up?
More war solves nothing, only more destruction.
China knows the constructive path forward and it
does not involve bombing other countries.
As ugly as it is, it is important to at least understand
the stakes involved in this 'greater' mess.
Thanks for the watch!
Zionism is a social disease
speaking of dominating the world...
Check out Mel K below. She says this isn't a national conquest, but an international banking cartel above and beyond nations. Smedley told us long ago...all wars are bankers wars.
Hope all is well in your corner of the world. It is mid-summer here in Alabama. Got another 0.4" yesterday.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Been thinking sort of the same
We're in an oil and water economic situation. We're the water and the oil is those with wealth, power and influence. They can float along over us without much turbulence affecting them, while with us 99% every lurch in the economy shoves us around, for every break we get there is then a corresponding rise in cost somewhere else. There is no stability and every small crisis is an opportunity for the banksters and their investors to extract profit from us. War seems to be a great wealth extraction tool. We sacrifice, and sometimes die, and they win. They always win. Capitalism is a whip, a justification for not calling us serfs or slaves, but it seem that's the way they see us.
Lindsay and Trump and Globalist cartel...
Chas asks why Lindsay fought against Trump in his first term, but supported him in the second. He suggests they were united by the Epstein files. I found that an interesting hypothesis.
On another note, Mel K was on the Duran this morning...
Secret 1944-1954 Architecture That Still Rules Us Today w/ Mel K
(30 min)
00:00:00 Introduction and Mel K's new book
00:00:53 The key decade that shaped modern America
00:02:48 JFK's 1961 speech decoded
00:06:44 Dulles brothers seize power in 1953
00:07:37 Bretton Woods and the 1944 financial architecture
00:10:04 The 1947 Act creates the CIA and NSA
00:13:41 CIA secrecy and Cold War preparations
00:19:09 NATO's founding and hidden purpose
00:20:31 Taft and the isolationist pushback
00:24:40 The same playbook turned on America in 2016
I thought Mel put this story together well.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I find knowing the historical backstory helps me comprehend
what I see going on today. Mel K is compelling. It is interesting to hear that one of the conclusions of Bretton Woods was to abolish the BIS (Bank of International Settlements) If only.
I flew in and out of Dulles for over a year while working for IBM and Toshiba on a joint venture chip plant rehab located in Manassas, Virginia. For security and time to market reasons we were dealing with 'Iris' and 'Tulip' for quite awhile. Officially it was Dominion Semiconductor. All kinds of skullduggery went on: IBM signed a contract to share latest DRAM process technology with Toshiba out of Yokaichi, Japan. But those dirty birds actually gave them the technology from an earlier and therefore not up to date process.
How did we find this out? To design the communication infrastructure we needed to know the process machines and all automation in the new Fab 6 layouts. Well if we didn't see the newest of the new we understood IBM was playing fast and loose. Pretty darned hinky.
I was getting plant layout and technical specs slipped under my door at night. Japanese people were sincere. Our IBM 'uncles' were not.
What a time and place to be alive.
Manassas battlefield was quite a sight and was the first time I ever saw Fireflies. Saw the DC mall only on my last weekend there after 13 or 14 months work. No time for fun.
I want a new name for the airport.
My life has been long enough it has chapters: many are apparently unrelated but somehow are part of the composite.
Thanks for the great OT and the resources of people who are capable of helping the rest of us understand what is going on or might be going on.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Nice to "see" you...
I hope the heat has abated some in France. Are there still fires there like Canada?
It s hot here, but not as hot as other years...mid-90's have been the highs. Plus we've been getting rains fairly often.
I spent a fair amount of time in DC consulting with the Dept of Ed. We also used to play gigs there. One of my favorite dance halls Glen Echo is there.
I too would like to rename Dulles, and may as well thrown in Reagan too.
Again, I hope y'all are doing well. Take care friend!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hi LO, good to see you too.
France is a largely rural and in many places wooded country. Size is Washington and Oregon together without the six/hex points. It is smaller than Texas. 66 million people who are scraping by but not many have wealth. Simple games like Petanque (just got my weight appropriate set so I can play anywhere, for my birthday) are played with evident joy and fun.
The woodlands and planted monoculture forests are have reduced fires. Lots of firefighters were called out. They use at least two of the Canadaire(?) belly scoop airplanes to get water from reservoirs, lakes and rivers to dump on fires. The worst shock was the Fountainebleau Forêt. Not far south of Paris. The areas towards the Mediterranean have been the sites of blazes until recently. But all of France inspite of all the water this country is blessed with has been at risque of fire.
Meteo France Fire risk map
With the heat dome we had dust up from Africa. One of my best sources of air quality mapping is this site:
https://www.accuweather.com/en/fr/saint-maurice-les-chateauneuf/162852/a...
It shows air quality anywhere in the world. The US, especially Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois (Illi-nwah in French) look particularly bad.
It shows how close we are to other countries and continents here.
We seem to have a bit of a marine layer in today, and I'm sure it's helping. For us low humidity has saved many people from the wet bulb high humidity problem of not cooling from sweat.
The French are very conscious of each other and try not to disturb other people. Mon mari has been a long distance bicyclist and on road rider. He got hit from behind in 1988 on his road bike west of Portland. He was pretty badly hurt, but eventually mostly recovered.
The road bike clubs in Portland are keenly aware of how defensive and protective one must be on a bike. People often target riders, yell and swerve towards riders.
We have never seen purposeful behavior towards riders here. We really do share the road and slow to wait for space to pass safely. No yelling, no intimidation and very aware of distance. It is a safer place even though roads are much narrower and twisty.
This cultural attempt to not disrupt (pas deranger) someone else is everywhere here. Imagine our surprise when in the check out at our favorite fruit and vegetable store, Grand Frais, yesterday, there was a fracas in the next over line. Two guys really got into it: loud, really in each others' faces (very close). It made those around them very uncomfortable and many sought to intervene. It may have had something to do with one of them who had one item trying to get ahead of one who had many items.
Our line was designated for those who are disabled or faible to go in front of people like us with loaded carts. This episode went on for maybe ten minutes but eventually calmed down. We have never in all our time here seen or heard anything like it.
People are hot and tired and pretty much at the end of their ropes. But most strive to preserve the general order.
I've been meaning to ask you about your musical career: it seems you have been in professional settings and with bands we all might know. If you are willing to share, it would be most interesting.
Thanks for all your hard work and compilations. They add meaning to this crazy world.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Hope y'all weather...
out the challenging climate. Take care and be well. Check out your messages.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning Lookout, thanks for the WW and all the clips
and information.
Das Furore Drumpf was on Bullshit Social instructing Copngress to add Iran to Lindsey Graham's anti-Rus legislative brain fart, asserting that it is important and than Lindsey wanted it. China, of course, has already informed the US and the world that our unilateral sanctions are, in essence, illegal and that China will not abide by or comply with them. Should they be implemented, China will not only refuse to follow or abide by them, but will also retaliate, possibly cutting off all rare earth materials supply to the US.
This whole idea of controlling the behavior of all other states, entities and persons by way of unilateral sanctions backed up by piracy and bombs is not only unsupportable, but, in the long run, unsustainable and we have but to look at who its principal promoters and supporters are to gain an appreciation of how asinine it is, so let us hope that the bill does not pass.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Tariffs, sanctions, and piracy
Are not diplomacy. It is politics by bullying.
I think in the next 2-3 weeks we're going to start experiencing a little payback.
With a madman at the helm, surrounded by yes men, we're headed off a cliff.
Hope all is well on the home front. Take care of yourself!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Plus, most US citizens cannot afford more tariffs. n/t
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Exactly, el!
We will arrive at the point where imports will be useless because the 99% can't afford it. Tariffs do not impoverish countries. They impoverish consumers.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Excellent point!
It is always the working poor who pay the price of the enrichment of the oligarchs.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good afternoon, LO!
I had no projects lined up for the day, so combing through your WW is my project!
About election interference:
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Larry gave a good explaination...
That the US election interference is Domestic! ...
and I would agree with Massie, Zionists (he ought to know!)
Sorry no time stamps but it was less than 30 min in.
Hope y'all are doing well and staying dry.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It finally stopped raining.
We missed a flooded bridge by a mile. That's close!
By Wednesday, it will be 100 deg. Not fun.
Oh, well, it is what it is.
I will watch that video shortly, friend.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
We're getting a rain right now...
Over an inch in about an hour. I'm not complaining.
That video introduced me to Marty Sieff.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Not sure when this video was made but it is quite accurate
with regards to recent events.
erase and create history...
Sounds like 1984's ministry of truth. The lead character Winston Smith worked for them.
George Orwell's "1984" (1956) Drama/Sci-Fi | Edmond O'Brien, Michael Redgrave
(90 min) In a totalitarian future society, Winston Smith, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
One of my favorite books. This movie is okay. I think I like the Richard Burton version better, but like most movies - the book is better.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Unfortunately this is the reality that we live in!
Somewhat related.
I think they are under reporting US casualties...
The truth is the first victim in war. Thanks for the X posts and info!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I suspect that,
should we live long enough to see it, an actual audit would reveal that the deaths have been underreported by at least an order of magnitude, and probably 2 or 3 orders of magnitude.
But this is nothing new. Throughout the Cold War, we always announced our combat casualties as “training accidents”, wherever they occurred. That was easy, because officially there was no “combat” occurring.
Regrettably, the poor bastards that did not come home did not know that curious fact at the times of their demise: in the final analysis, getting dead militarily is getting dead militarily. The naval aviators lost with their aircraft after a cold cat shot, or the divers lost to saturation complications after living at pressure for months on end to tap the cables in the Sea of Okhotsk, or the army EOD specialists who rolled up on the wrong random rock pile anywhere in the sandbox: those have all been combat deaths. If the American people knew how many lives of our servicemen and servicewomen had just been wasted in this non-combat combat, we might have a different world.
But we do not, and we never will. Peace is not profitable. Nor is admitting that we have long been in the wrong: our media is structurally incapable of that, given that that would negatively impact their advertising revenue. And as long as poorly-educated people will voluntarily sign up to be cannon fodder, we will continue to train them to death. And to death again, because we have to train them to get dead the way they would get dead if there was actually a war on, amirite?
In the entire history of this county, we’ve been at peace for perhaps 12 years. Those have pretty much been lies as well, because (as has been said) we have always been at war with East Asia… As O’Brien, Orwell’s spokesman for the State, famously said:
We have always been at war. We always will be, until we are stopped.
I hope that folks will someday become willing to entertain the idea that Orwell, John Brunner, and many other dystopian authors were horribly, horribly over-optimistic. Soon, our Owners will happily let us sit in the dark with no power, no water, and no voice in what is to come.
Soon. Brink of starvation. Us. Nonfiction.
Not a fan.
To complete the thought, once again quoting O’Brien:
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
absolutely...
Caity gets it right...US troops are dying for Israel.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Obviously there are no shortage of double standards with regards
to coverage of events.
Ain't that the truth!
Hypocrisy on steroids...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I've studied topics like that
I've studied topics like that addressed by Ms. K most of my life, her books reminds me of books I've read in the past. The most similar is probably David Talbot's book Brothers about the JFK assassinations, and The Devils Chessboard about the Dulles. Then there is JFK and the Unspeakable by James Douglas, (a copy of this usually sits on Ray McGovern's bookshelf where you can see it in his interviews) and Newman's book, JFK and Vietnam: Deception, Intrigue, and the Struggle for Power.
Whatever underhanded dealing there was with the Nazis who escaped justice at the end of WWII, goes in spades for Japan. War criminals basically founded the LDP in Japan supported by the Cia, and their descendants have run it for decades. The same is true for the US replacement of the Japanese Empire after the Great Pacific War which it in turn took over and occupied the best it could.
K's point about the isolationism of Sen. Robert Taft, son of President Howard Taft, is interesting, because earlier Taft's father was instrumental in running the US colony of the Philippines, paralleling somewhat the MacArthur's family experience in the PI. The Taft who had been the Governor General of the PI laid the ground for WWII in the 1905 Taft-Katsura agreement. William Taft then went on to become president. Katsura was one of Teddy Roosevelt's buddies. Gen. MacArthur went on to rule a much greater Empire in the aftermath of WWII, that ended for him personally during the Korean conflict, when Truman fired him.
TWE Remembers: The Taft-Katsura Memorandum
German military plans to manipulate Ukraine go way back. Gehlen's biography is interesting. But it goes back to the early 20th century iirc, even before Gehlen.
I spent much of the morning watching a professor discuss AI strategies within the context of larger economic developments currently. Park Jeong-go is on three committees involved with so called 4th generation industrial development for South Korea. AI development, IT development center buildout in the Honam region of South Korea, and strategies for retaining economic sovereignty in lieu of being beholden to Google, X, and the rest. South Korea's current Prime Minister Han Seong-sook is one of the former founders and CEOs of naver.com, a major IT company there.
Prof. Park described how the US intends that its AI dominance would force or subordinate a large number of countries to remain on the dollar probably the stable coin to obtain AI access. He discussed how AI access for factory robots could force Korea to pay out to US AI companies, despite the superiority of its chip and industrial production in certain sectors. This would enable the US to extract rents in dollars from lower tiered economies all the way up to relatively advanced industrial powers otherwise not in a position say to opt out of certain US tech sectors, particularly AI because of inability to build out AI data facilities comparable to the US. This also implies not being able to go to a Chinese alternative because of national security concerns for those who need to retain a relationship economic and otherwise with the US.
So I get the anti-China aspect of these wars in Ukraine and the Persian Gulf as described by Einar. There is an aspect of desperation to the US AI buildout. The robot thing emphasized by Prof Park is a kind of reverse labor arbitrage. For example, if you're Hyundai with a competitive factory whether in the US or South Korea, the US will have rentier control over the management-production line. Ultimately most production line workers lose their jobs, and many engineers and managers do as well. So the instability will be tremendous. The rent extracted by US AI sector adversely impacts profitability for SK companies prospectively.
I could be way off base on this, but the wild madman in the white house theory, could merely reflect an AI approach to warfare that has already been set in motion. It's erratic appearance in a warfare context could just be something that people haven't adjusted to yet. One of problems here is that AI has inherently judgmental faults. In scenarios where loss of life and destruction are involved, or other scenarios it just hasn't "learned" yet, it's dangerous. The ethical and value learning just may not be part of its makeup by design, or the judgement call just wasn't anticipated yet. This is the problem of war planning, which doesn't look like a strong point at this stage.
When one says over a thousand or even just a hundred discreet targets were select for a particular phase of the war, I think the role of computer planning, execution coordination, logistics, assessment and adjustment is obvious. Then there is the consideration of policy, or strategy alternatives, abatement, pauses, restocking, etc. The long term outcome involves economic, military and policy considerations and planning worldwide. Why not use AI? Again, the fault modes. Deception is part of the program. In any case, I agree with Einar, whether my AI speculation is true or not, there is an over all world strategy going on, and it is directed ultimately against the major financial and industrial rival China.
I found this official NATO presentation at the link below which included descriptions of four different programs in its support for the Ukraine war. I note that the CAP part of it, involves rehab of seriously injured Ukranian military casualties. In the filming many of these wounded soldiers appear to have sustained amputations, or other serious injuries so I don't think they'll be returning to combat, but that's just a guess. In any case, I think because of allied pressure, South Korea will be contributing to this sort of effort, rather that the other combat, training, tactics, replenishment plans described in the rest of the video. I know this is a kind of propaganda film, but I needed to know what these programs were and how they were designed out of curiosity. South Korean analysts were worried about their country getting sucked into this system. The idea of being part of a world wide alliance led by the US is regarded as risky and not consistent with Korean values and national interest.
NATO’s support to Ukraine
It's about six and a half minutes.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Very interesting
and informative comment, soryang.
I never delved into post-WWII handling of Japanese affairs.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Kishi Nobusukae was the central figure.
(Source- JTBC News 8.6.20) Kishi Nobusuke, South Korea- Japan Cooperation Committee President (1963): "No person here thinks of this as a war of invasion." This is the revisionist mythology of Shoin school imperialists and advocates of the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Kishi an accused class A war criminal, was propelled to the position of prime minister in post war Japan by the US. He was Abe's maternal grandfather and patron.
I think this particular program among others on the same topic was produced by Son Seok-hee, a South Korean journalist who covered these topics extensively.
Abe's grandfather. Shinzo Abe and the former defense minister Kishi, (Abe’s brother), shared a grandfather, Kishi Nobusuke, who served as the steward of brutal economic exploitation of a conquered Manchuria in the thirties, and signed the Japanese declaration of war against the US. He was imprisoned as a war criminal after WWII, released and rehabilitated by the CIA, in order for him to help establish a new government and make Japan an avowed anti-communist ally of the US. He was one of the founders of the LDP and later became prime minister.
"In 1970, Kishi was awarded the top national award in diplomacy by South Korean dictator Park Chung Hee, the Distinguished Order of Diplomatic Service. Park was a former graduate of Japanese military schools and a former military officer and agent of the Japanese Imperial Army in Manchukuo."
This is from wikipedia on Yushio Kodama:
The other Class A war criminal in prison released with Nobusukae and Kodama, was Roichi Sasakawa. Sasakawa promoted legalized gambling in Japan after his release from prison as a Class A war criminal. He became extremely wealthy, and his foundation was the toast of the jet set in the US. Apart from being a known promoter of fascism along with Kodama in the thirties inside Japan, it is believed that he ran wartime criminal rackets inside China during the Pacific War. It's very difficult to find evidence of his activities. After the war and release from prison, he became a noted philanthropist. It's alleged he was close to Chiang Kai-shek, the KMT leader. Chiang himself was suspected to be involved in opium and weapons trafficking inside China colluding with the Kodama criminal organization during the war.
Taro Aso an heir to Aso mining is a leader of a major faction of the LDP to this day. The family business used allied PoWs and Korean slave labor in their mines during WWII. The conditions were brutal.
I learned of these people and their role promoted by the US and CIA after WWII to become the rulers of post war Japan mostly in South Korean media.
This is another mine that was a slave labor war crime site during WWII, that the UN foolishly approved for a UNESCO heritage site. The mine is notorious.
This is actually a difficult subject to document because history texts in the English language on the immediate post war period are hard to find. Authors Sterling and Peggy Seagrave complained of death threats when they wrote the book, Gold Warriors, America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold. Some reviews of the book, claim it is "controversial."
I think I cited The Brothers in above comment erroneously, I saw a reference to Stephen Kinzer's book The Brothers, which I read.
Thanks for your interest OtC.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Thanks again.
my family was largely engaged in the European theater, only 1 uncle participated in the Korean War. He came home from WWII to be a drunk. In the years he lived after the war, I never saw him sober.
He had fought in WWII while in the Army. He switched from Army to Navy for Korea.
Needless to say, I learned nothing first hand from him.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That's tragic OtC
I was very close to my uncle who was in the USMC during WWII and fought in the Pacific. Because I was familiar with how difficult that experience was for him, when I later found out another veteran who was the father of a friend, had not only fought in WWII but then later found himself again in combat in Korea, I couldn't imagine how anyone could go through that twice. That experience had an obvious negative influence on him and his family.
My uncle encouraged me to study history. I never forgot. Never again, is what I tried to imagine. Now in old age, I'm disappointed.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Seems my Uncle
was honorably discharged after WWII. He couldn't find a job while drunk, so enlisted in the Navy. Another Uncle retired after WWII, got into some gambling debt trouble in Vegas, then hid out by re-enlisting to avoid getting killed by the Mob, and saw no action in Korea, although he was in the Army. I never once saw him sober, either.
My own Dad struggled with booze for 25 years, but beat it.
None of my 5 uncles, nor my Dad, went unscathed. Back then, they never spoke about what they saw or what they did. In Viet Nam, and conflicts to this day, some soldier will brag in public about killing people, and buy you a drink if you think it is cool.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Interesting OTC
I worked on a lot of VA cases in DC at the appellate board for a couple of years anyway. So I've read a lot of first hand accounts of the wars. It was some time ago, so rarely, there would still be WWII or an isolated Korean war case. The overwhelming majority were Vietnam war cases.
A couple of those cases still bother me. One a disservice done to a Korean war vet, an NCO, who was actually a bona fide hero, who was later imprisoned for disobeying an order or simple assault or something like that and got an OTH, I got him an honorable characterization, and service connection for ptsd. The poor guy had been suffering for years, unjustly disgraced, with no community support. Another I didn't approve the claim, because the alleged stressor seemed more of a war crime, than actual combat, killing civilians. The board members agreed with me.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Don't we always embrace war criminals...
..it seems so. Operation paper clip was very evident in Huntsville AL less than two hours away.
War seem to be about exploiting countries to benefit the oligarchs...no matter how you slice it or dice it. Transferring wealth upward is the name of the game.
Thanks for your insightful comment, and hope all is going well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks LO!
I did watch a few of the videos you posted, and read your comments and those of others here of course. Thanks so much for the WW! Got carried away with my rant there.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Why do people play music?
This is one reason I do...
I sing my troubles away...
Here's my version...
The Delmore's are a big influence
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
This is pretty new
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981