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“The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war.”

-- James Madison

News and Opinion

Biden Says The US “Does Not Seek Conflict In The Middle East” While Actively Dropping Bombs There

The Biden administration has begun its latest bombing campaign in the middle east, reportedly dropping over 125 munitions on more than 85 Iranian and Shia militia targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday.

The mainstream press have been falling all over themselves to describe the strikes as “retaliatory” in nature, framing it as a provoked response to a drone attack which killed three US troops at a base on the border of Jordan and Syria. Which is a bit odd, given that this supposed “retaliation” is being directed at a nation which the US government itself admits is not known to have been involved in said drone attack at all.

While US Central Command says the strikes targeted “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups,” the US has already openly admitted that it has no evidence Iran was behind the drone attack. On Monday Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh admitted that there was no information showing that Iran had actually ordered or orchestrated the attack, saying only that Iran “bears responsibility” for the strike because it has been supporting such groups in the region. This position was later confirmed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and by President Biden himself.

Asked by the press on Thursday how much Iran knew in advance about the drone attack by Iraqi militants, Austin said “we don’t know, but it really doesn’t matter because Iran sponsors these groups.”

Austin was almost telling the truth. Yes it’s true the US has no knowledge of any Iranian involvement in the deaths of those three US troops, and yes it is true that it doesn’t matter to the US whether it did or didn’t. But the real reason it “doesn’t matter” has nothing to do with Iran sponsoring militia groups which align with its interests. In reality, “it really doesn’t matter” whether Iran was behind the attack because Iran is the most powerful non-US-aligned state in the middle east, and for that reason the US has spent generations seizing every opportunity to harm and subvert it and its interests in the region. This is just one more opportunity for the US empire to do what it always does in the middle east.

It is a bit odd, then, that the US president announced the beginning of this new series of airstrikes with a statement which claims “The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.” Conflict in the middle east is what the US empire does. The entire US empire is held together by endless conflict, especially in resource-rich regions where strategic control is necessary to retain planetary hegemony. The US empire is conflict.

Saying the US does not seek conflict in the middle east is like saying the Kardashians do not seek attention. It’s like saying Jeff Bezos doesn’t seek money. It’s like saying the Hamburglar doesn’t seek hamburgers. It’s kind of their thing. To make such a ridiculous claim while actively raining military explosives upon the middle east, in “retaliation” for an attack which the people you’re bombing didn’t even commit, is just extra icing on the cake of ridiculousness.

From Gaza to Iraq to Syria to Iran to Yemen, conflict in the middle east is the US empire’s bread and butter. The most murderous power structure on the planet continually paints itself as a poor little victim of any backlash against its abuses and as an innocent passive witness to the suffering it orchestrates, but nobody who’s involved in that many acts of violence has ever been interested in peace.

Neocons will NOT be satisfied until White House strikes Iran

US unleashes military strikes in Iraq and Syria, targeting Iran

The United States launched on Friday night what officials billed as a weeks- or months-long campaign in the Middle East targeting Iran. US President Joe Biden sent nuclear-capable B-1B bombers from the Dyess Air Force Base in Texas to deliver over 125 munitions on 85 targets in seven locations throughout Iraq and Syria. The US claimed to have targeted military facilities used by “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.”

These strikes were illegal, taking place in defiance of the governments of Syria and Iraq, and carried out without congressional authorization or any attempt to gain the consent or approval of the American population. An Iraqi official condemned the strike in Iraq as “unacceptable” and “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” adding that it is “a threat that will drag Iraq and the region into unforeseen consequences.” Syrian state media outlets condemned the act of “American aggression.” ...

The United States claimed that the strikes were in response to the killing of three American service members in Jordan last week. Biden visited Dover Air Force Base in his home state of Delaware to witness the transfer of the soldiers’ remains. As he gave a terse three-paragraph statement, the bombers were already en route to their destination. In reality, the deaths of these soldiers were the outcome of the ongoing military occupation of the region and the massive military escalation undertaken over the past three months.

As it has provided funding, weapons, logistical support and political cover for Israel to carry out a campaign of genocide in Gaza, the US has flooded the region with warships, aircraft and soldiers, with the deliberate aim of provoking a wider conflict.

In announcing the attacks Friday, Biden declared, “The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.” Such statements, repeated ad nauseam day after day, are meaningless. Whether or not American imperialism “seeks” all-out war in the Middle East, it has been continuously bombing, starving and invading countries throughout the region for decades, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq that led to the deaths of over a million people. Clearly, the United States “seeks” the goal of this spiraling war, which is the reorganization of the Middle East as part of American imperialism’s effort to subjugate Russia and China.

Alastair Crooke: Washington’s Theater of the Absurd!

Imperial Asshole John Kirby needs to explain how it is that one de-escalates tensions by dropping bombs and killing people.

US Strikes in Iraq and Syria Kill About 40, Including Civilians

A massive US bombing campaign struck scores of targets in Iraq and Syria with over 100 bombs, leaving about 40 people dead, including civilians. President Joe Biden ordered the strikes as tensions in the Middle East are rapidly escalating. ...

On Saturday, Baghdad reported that 16 Iraqis, including civilians, were killed. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the Syria strikes had killed 23 militia fighters. The Syrian Defense Ministry said militants and civilians were killed without providing a figure. ...

National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said the strikes were aimed at de-escalating tension in the regions. However, The Islamic Resistance of Iraq conducted retaliatory strikes the next day against bases housing US soldiers.

'NO WIDER WAR': Biden BOMBS 3 Countries In 1 Day

The House of Non-Representatives wants to buy some genocide.

US House to vote next week on standalone $17.6bn bill for aid to Israel

The US House of Representatives plans to vote next week to advance $17.6bn in military aid to Israel without any accompanying spending cuts or assistance for Ukraine, according to Mike Johnson, the chamber’s speaker.

Johnson announced to his fellow House Republicans on Saturday that the vote would take place, while also criticizing a parallel move in the US Senate to pair funding for Israel in its military strikes in Gaza with aid for Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion. The Senate measure also aims to attach a raft of tough border and asylum measures favored by rightwingers to aid for Israel.

A compromise on these various aims had been sought by a bipartisan group in the Senate that hoped to find increasingly rare common ground between Republicans and Democrats. But Johnson, a hardline rightwing Republican from north-western Louisiana, has said the Senate package would not pass the House because it is not sufficiently tough on people trying to cross the US’s southern border with Mexico.

“Their leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation,” Johnson wrote of members of the US Senate in his letter to his House Republican colleagues. “Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package.”

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders furiously proposes futile actions:

To End 'Nightmare' in Gaza, Sanders Moves to Block Funding for Israeli Weapons

Calling on the United States to "end its complicity in the nightmare unfolding in Gaza," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday said he would introduce an amendment to remove more than $10 billion from the foreign aid supplemental requested by President Joe Biden.

The $10.1 billion has been proposed to pay for offensive weaponry funding for the Israeli government, which has killed at least 27,131 Palestinians in Gaza so far—including at least 11,500 children—and displaced 1.9 million.

"Twenty-seven thousand dead—two-thirds of them women and children," said the Vermont Independent. "Sixty-seven thousand wounded... 70% of housing units damaged or destroyed. And now, hundreds of thousands of children facing starvation."

"This is unacceptable," added Sanders. "The United States cannot be complicit in this humanitarian disaster. That is why I will be offering an amendment to the supplemental bill to ensure zero funding for the continuation of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's illegal, immoral war against the Palestinian people."

US, UK Launch Another Round of Heavy Strikes on Yemen

The US and the UK launched another round of joint missile strikes in Yemen on Saturday night as the situation in the Red Sea continues to escalate, and the Houthis show no sign of backing down.

US Central Command said strikes were launched against 13 targets in 36 locations in Houthi-controlled Yemen, where most of Yemen’s population lives. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea reported 48 strikes in multiple governorates, including Sanaa, Hodeidah, Taiz, al-Bayda, Hajjah, and Saada.

CENTCOM claimed the strikes hit “multiple underground storage facilities, command and control, missile systems, UAV storage and operations sites, radars, and helicopters.” The command said the bombing was supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

A few hours later, CENTCOM said it launched another strike against a Houthi anti-ship missile. On Sunday, the command said it launched two rounds of strikes against Houthi anti-ship missiles, bringing the total US rounds of bombings in Yemen to 18 since January 12.

Houthis may sabotage western internet cables in Red Sea, Yemen telecoms firms warn

Telecom firms linked to the UN-recognised Yemen government said on Sunday they fear Houthi rebels are planning to sabotage a network of submarine cables in the Red Sea critical to the functioning of the western internet, and to the transmission of financial data.

The warning came after a Houthi-linked Telegram channel published a map of the cables running along the bed of the Red Sea. The image was accompanied by a message: “There are maps of international cables connecting all regions of the world through the sea. It seems that Yemen is in a strategic location, as internet lines that connect entire continents – not only countries – pass near it.”

Yemen Telecom said it had made both diplomatic and legal efforts during the past few years to persuade global international telecom alliances not to have any dealings with the Houthis since it would provide a terrorist group with knowledge of how the submarine cables operated. It has been estimated that the Red Sea carries about 17% of the world’s internet traffic along fibre pipes. ...

Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdul Salam has said the Houthis are willing to use new tactics to stop the American-British aggression against Yemen.

He said, our “decision to support Gaza is firm and principled and will not be affected by any attack. Regarding Yemeni military capabilities, we would like to stress that they are not easy to destroy and have been rebuilt during years of harsh war. Instead of escalation and igniting a new front in the region, America and Britain should submit to international public opinion, which demands an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression, lift the siege on Gaza, and stop protecting Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people.”

CNN Staffers REVOLT Over 'PRO-ISRAEL' Slant Amounting to 'JOURNALISTIC MALPRACTICE

CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’

CNN is facing a backlash from its own staff over editorial policies they say have led to a regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the censoring of Palestinians perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza.

Journalists in CNN newsrooms in the US and overseas say broadcasts have been skewed by management edicts and a story-approval process that has resulted in highly partial coverage of the Hamas massacre on 7 October and Israel’s retaliatory attack on Gaza.

“The majority of news since the war began, regardless of how accurate the initial reporting, has been skewed by a systemic and institutional bias within the network toward Israel,” said one CNN staffer. “Ultimately, CNN’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war amounts to journalistic malpractice.”

According to accounts from six CNN staffers in multiple newsrooms, and more than a dozen internal memos and emails obtained by the Guardian, daily news decisions are shaped by a flow of directives from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta that have set strict guidelines on coverage.

They include tight restrictions on quoting Hamas and reporting other Palestinian perspectives while Israel government statements are taken at face value. In addition, every story on the conflict must be cleared by the Jerusalem bureau before broadcast or publication.

Israel's Use of Starvation as a Weapon of War Brings Gaza to the Brink of Famine

'JIHAD CAPITAL' Media Smears Dearborn Michigan

Dearborn ramps up police patrol after ‘bigoted’ WSJ op-ed

The mayor of Dearborn has ordered more police officers onto the streets, ramping up law enforcement presence across places of worship and major infrastructure points this weekend following an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal that called the Michigan city the “jihad capital” of the US. ...

The newspaper published the piece on Friday with the headline: Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital. Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud reacted sharply, calling the piece “bigoted” and “Islamophobic” in an online post.

Effective immediately - Dearborn police will ramp up its presence across all places of worship and major infrastructure points.

This is a direct result of the inflammatory @WSJ opinion piece that has led to an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online…

— Abdullah H. Hammoud (@AHammoudMI) February 3, 2024

Rights advocates from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) and the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee condemned the article in the financial newspaper, owned by the Murdoch family News Corp empire.

They criticized it as an anti-Arab and racist slant for suggesting the city’s residents, including religious leaders and politicians, supported Hamas and extremism.

“Reckless. Bigoted. Islamophobic”, Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud said about the WSJ piece written by Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.

US Senate releases draft bill to toughen border measures while securing aid to Ukraine and Israel

US senators on Sunday evening released the details of a highly anticipated $118bn package that pairs federal enforcement policy on the US-Mexico border with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and others, launching a long-shot effort to push the bill past sceptical, hard right House Republicans – whom Democrats accuse of politicizing immigration while being in thrall to Donald Trump.

The proposal is the best chance for Joe Biden to bolster dwindling US wartime aid for Ukraine – a major foreign policy goal that is shared by both the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, and top Republican, Mitch McConnell. The Senate was expected this week to hold a key test vote on the legislation, but it faces a wall of opposition from conservatives.

Joe Biden urged the US Congress to pass the legislation, for the sake of immigration reform and aid for US allies. ...

The bill would overhaul the asylum system at the border with faster and tougher enforcement, as well as give presidents new powers to immediately expel migrants if authorities deemed themselves overwhelmed with the number of undocumented people requesting asylum at the international boundary.

The tough new measures discussed among select senators for months include a new federal requirement to “shut down” the US-Mexico border if more than 5,000 undocumented people cross into the US daily and plans to swiftly throw out economic migrants.

Biden Calls Bibi 'A BAD F*CKING GUY' As Voters ABANDON Joe Over Israel Policy

Epstein Billionaire, ONLY FANS CEO Major AIPAC Donors

ExxonMobil blocks green activists’ attempt to seek strategy vote

ExxonMobil has quashed an attempt by a group of climate activists to seek a vote on the US oil company’s climate strategy at its annual shareholder meeting later this year. A Dutch green activist investor group, Follow This, has dropped its petition for Exxon shareholders to vote on whether the company should set emissions reduction targets after Exxon took legal action against the plans.

In a surprise move, the company filed a complaint at a US district court in Texas last month, which sought to prevent the activists from putting new climate targets to a vote at the company’s shareholder meeting in May. It was the first time Exxon had sought a legal route to block shareholder activists, and the move was understood to have been closely watched by US corporations and shareholders.

Mark van Baal, the founder of Follow This, said: “Given Exxon’s preference to fight a battle in court rather than allow shareholders the freedom of a vote at its annual meeting, we decided to withdraw the climate proposal. Now that we have withdrawn, the company has no reason to continue the lawsuit.”

Exxon argued that the Follow This proposal, which it put forward alongside Arjuna Capital, violated the SEC’s investor petition rules, which are designed to prevent shareholders being able to “micromanage” businesses’ decisions through proposals. The company said that Follow This and Arjuna were “driven by an extreme agenda” and that their proposals were “calculated to diminish the company’s existing business”.

How do you stop a glacier from melting? Simple – put up an underwater curtain

Scientists are working on an unusual plan to prevent Antarctic glaciers from melting. They want to build a set of giant underwater curtains in front of ice sheets to protect them from being eroded by warm sea water.

Ice in polar regions is now disappearing at record rates as global warming intensifies, and urgent action is needed to slow down this loss, the international group of ­scientists has warned.

Their proposed solution is the construction of a 100km-long curtain that would be moored to the bed of the Amundsen Sea. It would rise by about 200 metres from the ocean floor and would partially restrict the inflow of relatively warm water that laps at the bases of coastal Antarctic glaciers and undermines them.

The Seabed Curtain project, if implemented, would be one of the biggest geo-engineering programmes ever undertaken. “It would be a giant project – but then we face a gigantic problem,” glaciologist John Moore of Lapland University told the Observer last week.

Also of Interest

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

U.S. Ramps Up War Crimes After ICJ Rules Against Israel

However Bad You Think Israel Is, It’s Worse

Never Before Has The Empire Been So Exposed

‘Everything beautiful has been destroyed’: Palestinians mourn a city in tatters

Ukraine: Breakthrough on All Fronts Ahead of Schedule

Mary Kostakidis: Assange’s Very Life Is at Stake

The Real Reason Your Grocery Bill Is Still So High

After Losing Nearly 100 Relatives in Gaza, Palestinian American Doctor Refuses to Meet with Blinken

Trump Prosecutor ADMITS Affair In BLOW TO GA Case

Israeli Gov: Biden 'ANTISEMITIC' For Settler Sanctions

Neocon NY Times Columnist Compares Muslims To Insects!

A Little Night Music

Kokomo Arnold - Busy Bootin'

Kokomo Arnold - Grandpa Got Drunk

Kokomo Arnold - The Twelves

Kokomo Arnold - Shake That Thing

Kokomo Arnold - Rainy Night Blues

Kokomo Arnold - Milk Cow Blues

Kokomo Arnold - Bad Luck Blues

Kokomo Arnold - Rocky Road Blues

Gitfiddle Jim (Kokomo Arnold) - Paddlin' Blues