He was a bad man, or so they say...
I do not know if this Qassem Soleimani was a good or bad man, especially considering good and bad are relative terms to different parts of the world. Who the heck am I to judge?
What I do know is this, while VP Dumber was tweeting dumbass nonsense last Friday about how this Qassem Soleimani supposedly helped 11of the 12 hijackers (there were actually 19) transit Iran from Afghanistan, the US doesn't have one legal leg to stand on for being in Iraq over the last 17/18 years, in the first god damn place! Right?
I mean come on, shit, the lies that got this whole thing started have been obvious since day one. (The laws of physics don't change just because it's convenient.)
Gee if you invade a country, especially based on lies, and the population doesn't like you and gives you a bloody nose from time to time, don't go crying home to Mommie. Good heavens!
Every American killed since the illegal bombing of Afghanistan started in 2001, is on the US. Especially on every member of congress that voted on the unconstitutional legislation, AUMF, which gave GWB (and his successors) carte blanch to wage an illegal war on a “feeling”, all over the planet.
If Soleimani and or his forces killed American soldiers, well, they knew what they were in for by joining the military, especially after 9/11, and especially after learning that all the “justifications for war” were based on lies. It's on their commanders putting them in harms way because they didn't have the integrity to call out their chain of command on the bogus reason for the wars in the first place. And it's on themselves for not standing up to their chain of command as well.
Think for a moment, under our own constitution, not to mention the UN Charter, as well as international law, these so called wars, are wars of aggression, not pre-emptive defense.
Gee, by that stable super genius logic (Wiley Coyote anyone?) , I can go kill a cop, as a pre-emptive defense against that cop illegally killing unarmed citizens. And use as my defense, “he was a bad man”, “I saved lives!”, “Pre-emptive defense to prevent a crime” (killing unarmed suspects).
Gee, maybe if we hadn't committed major war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Iraq (and almost everywhere else...), fewer American lives would have been lost? Gee, maybe if we hadn't help overthrown their democratically elected prime minister in 1953, and then have to endure the brutality (CIA trained death squads) of the US supported Shaw of Iran for decades, things might be, just might be, a bit different today, no? But hey, oil profits...”Can't we take the oil?”
Here's some info about Soleiman:
From The GrayZone - Rania Khalek and Max Blumenthal discuss how the Trump administration's execution of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was a huge gift to ISIS and al-Qaeda. These military leaders defeated the so-called Islamic State, which was empowered by the US and its allies.
[video: https://youtu.be/vk7oZWnUVj4]
In summary, if it wasn't for Soleiman, the black flag of ISIS would be flying over numerous capitals in the ME. But hey, he was a bad man we're told by the “establishment”.
Comments
It is a bit ironic calling a general a murderer
Aren't they all? Our generals certainly are.
MSM will not admit his (nor Iran and Russia's) role in defeating ISIS (a Saudi creation in the first place). What an ill-informed populous we have.
The worst part to me is he was entrapped by a call from the US for negotiations.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/01/iraqi-parliament-expels-foreign-mi...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I thought
I saw something about that yesterday, but couldn't find it. (Dumbass me forgot to save the link). Thanks
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote
Absolutely
Blood on a truce flag. Pompeo and Bolton should stand trial in the Hague for war crimes.
Trump has finally succeeded in making me ashamed of America.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
It smells boltonish to me.
John Bolton congratulates those involved in 'decisive' airstrike that killed Iranian general
considering Bolton said this in September Bolton was fired after disagreeing with Trump on Iran: Report
especially now as Bolton just announced he is willing to testify in the Senate's impeachment trial, if he is subpoenaed to do so.
Makes me wonder who is the President, tDrump or Polton? Is that a cock fight?
Bush, Cheney and Rove didn't make you feel ashamed?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Don the Don.
The Iranians need to rewatch The Godfather.
Trump's nothing but a mafia thug at heart. Might as well have elected Al Capone.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
The Don(ald) will make an offer you can't refuse
[video:https://youtu.be/SeldwfOwuL8]
“How Donald Trump and Roy Cohn’s Ruthless
Symbiosis Changed America”
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Nutenyahoo is the bad guy here
tRump is only following orders from his masters, i.e. Adelson and company.
But as long as he profits from it he doesn't see himself as the puppet.
Anyone see the shadow of Epstein playing a part?
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Heh....
See my comment below with info on Epstein's death.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Who was it that said
"I don't believe in coincidence? Neither do I.
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
I figure Epstein has been given a face lift
and is hiding out somewhere in Israel. Ghislaine has joined him and they are enjoying the good life.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go9fVkbfW_0&feature=emb_logo]
Israel is a good place to emigrate for a convicted Jewish pedophile.
From Times of Israel:
Why wasn't Maxwell's passport cancelled?
She had been in the US for years and after Epstein's arrest she wasn't detained for some reason. Nor was she detained when he was first arrested and given that light sentence.'
Anyone think that the PTB didn't have a good reason to kill him? But it was after the big names dump came out. Surely there was enough info in those pages to start questioning a lot of people.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
I understand the names came out
in Epstein's phone books. We don't know where the descriptions of the crimes to go along with those names are.
We also don't know where Epstein's dead man switch is. He would be very foolish not to have one. Possibly it was uncovered during searches and destroyed? That would allow TPTB to kill him and also be a reason for Epstein to kill himself.
If the dead man switch is still active it would allow Epstein to obtain outside help to surreptitiously spring him out of jail. I understand he had some pretty powerful people behind him - Mossad for one. This agency, with the help of their counterparts in the US, would have little trouble accomplishing this. The key person here is Epstein's brother. He claimed the body. I wonder where he is right now? I understand he is now a multimillionaire.
The whole autopsy situation stinks to high heaven.
There was a records dump just before he was killed
The woman who was pictured with Andrew gave either the court or her lawyer many names. I'd have to search my essays to find what I'm talking about. IIRC it talked about the ranch in New Mexico where lots of the names had ties with.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
The Israeli's
gave us the coordinates to kill the fellow. Who's really the terrorist?
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Both.
My Irish citizenship is looking more and more appealing. Then again, no one on the planet would survive a nuclear holocaust. Not even those fuckers with "inverted high-rises" in New Zealand, who are only postponing their demise.
I wish Rising hadn't given thise guy a voice
According to Craig Murray, Qassem Soleimani wasn't responsible for most of the US troops deaths. That prize went to our Saudi ally who supports ISIS and Al Qaida as well as our other ally Israel and then of course the Great Obama admin along with all the goon societies included in our government. Lets stop repeating that this Guy was the biggest killer of troops. And then there's the story of him talking to the Saudis to reduce tensions after we killed lots of Iraqi troops. On Trump's recommendation. After we invaded Iraq and killed lots of Iraqis and ISIS rose up it was a direct threat to other countries in the region. People who have been invaded should have the right to defend their country dodn't you think? And Soleimani was helping them fight for their lives and to keep ISIS from attacking Iran.
Kyrstal hit back pretty well trying to debunk him, but Saagar seemed to just repeat talking points. Defense of Democracy is just another pro war think tank. Still wondering why they gave him a voice? (Defense of Democracies is a non-profit organization created in February 2008 to lobby the U.S. House of Representatives to approve the updated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed by the U.S. Senate.) In other words not our friends.
The Dude thinks that this act will get Iran to fold and come back to the bargaining table. Krystal was having none of it.
Also there were reports last night that Iranian Americans were being detained at the US Canadian border. Either held and questioned or made to return to Canada because there were no beds in detention centers. Barbara Lee tweeted about it, but I still don't know if it was just a rumor. BTW... Nancy is going to try to pass a war powers resolution in the house and Kaine in the Senate along with Bernie and Ro. Place your bets that this will pass.
unless Congress votes to authorize further military operations
Hmmm why did CBS release these photos in the midst of the Iran news? Graphic picts
Ricky Gervais hosted the golden globes last night and got in, "Epstein didn't kill himself." The audience went wild.
ETA link to the Iranian Americans.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
They're all killers.
In this respect Elizabeth Warren et al. are cherry-picking when they declaim Soleimani as a "bad man."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picking
Here's what Warren said:
So Trump, Obama, the Bushes, Clinton are responsible for how many deaths? If that's what you're trying to understand. Of course, the Iranians are cherry-picking too. Should we go to war over cherry-picking?
"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama
George Carlin on War
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
"I'm not a very good American ..."
"Because I like to form my own opinions."
I miss George.
Imminent threat you say?
Yeah maybe not so much. This comes back to whether he was setup by the neocons after his meeting with the Saudis.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
The entire operation in Iraq had been
finalized a month ago. The chain of command flowed from Netanyahu to Pompeo to Trump.
Ha, that's funny snoop
you had me going there for a minute.
As to the question as to whether trumpet is being set up by nutty yahoo and the bunch
the answer is probably yes. Soft putty that one. Knead and bake, you get a loaf
of stupid. Bread for the MIC. We are just the coals in the oven.
You know who Matt Duss is, yes?
He's Bernie's top foreign policy advisor.
Seems like they have decided to separate themselves from the rest of the field/party now. I kind of figured Bernie's game would be ratcheted up right after the holidays.
I see both the media of the right (Breitbart) and corporate centrists (MSM) going after Bernie incrasingly hard on his claim that the hit was an assassination (with Breitbart suggesting that Pelosi's letter "suggested" the same).
Someone please explain to us plebes
What gives the US military the right to bomb and assassinate people in foreign countries to begin with. It ain't our sandbox that some bully lives in. Precedence has been set with Bin Laden, Gaddhafi, and multiple leaders in other countries not our own. These acts fail the International treaties test that most countries abide by. Is this really in retaliation for 9/11 still in any thinking persons brain? No, this is US injustice writ large. Washington is asking for a nuke in our lap to justify killing off marketed enemies. How do we stop this monster? Ain't just trumpet or pentagon or alphabet soup agencies. We are about to be exterminated in the name of greed for a few bankers benefit.
Is anyone else perplexed by this? Please speak up if so.
Please don't ask forbidden questions like this
Next you will be asking why Obama was not impeached for ordering the assassination of American citizens, or why Brennan isn't in jail for ordering a break in to examine the computers of the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate CIA torture, or why Brennan and Clapper aren't in jail for lying to Congress, or why HRC is not in jail for crimes committed with respect to her private server, or why GW Bush was not impeached for lying us into war, or why Nancy Pelosi was not kicked out of office for willingly supporting the invasion of Iraq even though, from her on mouth, she new there were no WMD in Iraq, or what is the evidence that there were voting irregularities in the most recent election in Bolivia, or...., well you get the idea. These are not approved questions. No one asks them on television do they? Does anyone ask where in Donald Trump's famous phone conversation with Zelensky does he ask Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden? No. Clearly you have not been given the list of approved questions. Until you have been given the list, you should refrain from asking additional questions.
Gosh, am I ever sorry
Never got on that serve list of places where the human mind was allowed to roam.
Or ask questions about the reality we are being force fed.
Almost as well as you, have been trained to keep it between the lines.
Every now and again, just ask to verify if any have noticed
we've left the space capsule and are being drawn into a
gravity field that is going to be the cause of our destruction.
Mental fluidity matters.
Orbiting a black hole n/t
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
If you can sense that
orbiting a black hole thing
perhaps you would be so kind as to
clue us into what it is we should be seeing?
besides the black hole.
Maybe give a head's up
cause, for one, I would really like
a warning, or where not to look
when it all pops.
Thanks
yeah, yeah, JtC needs to ban QMS, pronto, capisce?
never, ever ask the right questions on C99p, that is just so 99percentishy.
I know you all need a snark tag now, because you all are such
lovablestupidos.smart pants.Nothing for Ungood. Bolton made me do that./s
thanks mimi
nothing for ungood, indeed
Understand your difficulty in parsing
the snarky ways
Was not chastised for asking the wrong question
so much as being educated as to why such a
question should be asked in the first place
it is a form of sarcasm meant to exemplify the
initial content
small change for Jtc
Cheers!
I guess you need a dictionary for snarkalism German to English
NOthing for Ungood. I think I should write in sign language from now on.
Have a beautiful new day. We need one, don't we?
Indeed.
Also, QMS' questions smell non-partisan to me. And we can't have that.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I'm not perplexed.
As a supporter of Tulsi Gabbard, I find her clearest statement to describe treason by our military industrial warlords to be, "The mission is unclear." It's not unclear. It's crystal clear.
Our military industrial cabal armed Hitler for the duration of WWII, under license by Franklin Roosevelt exempting them from the Trading With the Enemy Act. Allen Dulles was their lawyer and supported fascism before, during, and after the war. He supported fascist military groups in Ukraine from WWII onward. The CIA still supports them.
The military industrial power behind fascism is American. We, the American taxpayers, provide them with unlimited resources with which to oppose labor and individual rights throughout the world. Their frenzy of desperate moves to destroy any developments toward peace, nationalization of resources, or actual democracy are not new. They started in the 1930s and continue today to wreck havoc on working people and the planet. This desperation is not just about retaining power for wealth. It is also about retaining power to prevent their being brought to justice.
Holy fuck
you got it!
Tears in my eyes.
Thanks
Standard Oil was complicit
in bringing Hitler to power and then supplying the Nazis with both technology and oil in the hope that the Russians would be crushed in order they could regain the massive Baku oil fields in Caucasus.
The US was forced to invade Europe towards the end of the war to ensure Russia did not overrun Germany completely. By the time the US entered Europe, Germany was basically already defeated. Russia had already destroyed well over 80% of the Wehrmacht.
Rockefeller was an evil bastard
He and others in his class were big time eugenists too and that was one reason they supported Hitler. People think it can't happen here...it already has. Numerous times, but history has been whitewashed and it has been deleted from our history books. I've recently read some articles on it and was beyond appalled. Would WWI have happened if Adolf hadn't gotten so much support from people in the USA? But then we weren't the only ones supporting him were we? Lots of dead people and for what?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Have you read this?
How a Chase Bank Chairman Helped the Deposed Shah of Iran Enter the U.S.
Yep. Rockefeller was an evil bastard.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
The only way to stop this monster
is to cut off it's source of nourishment - the ubiquitous US$ as global (reserve) currency.
The US$ gained this superior position in global finances from two main causes. WWII decimated world production of goods and arms allowing America to fill this niche globally. A second factor was the US$ managed to force the world to purchase oil/gas, the largest traded commodity in the world, using US$.
Here's a historical record of how oil became the world's strategic commodity controlled to a great extent by America. It points directly to today's conflict in the ME.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TXG70xAnSU]
Distributed power generation by renewable's will eventually kill the beast but it won't go down without a fight.
Yup, all the world's important currencies
are turning away from the petrodollar.
Realizing it being a trap.
We will suffer the consequence of
hegemony. IMF will not bail us out.
Is it time for a national tax strike?
Six months ago I would have said "no," understanding that while Bezos and Zuck can get away with sheltering billions, we plebes could easily (and would readily) be harshly penalized for withholding a few thousands.
Today, I honestly have to wonder, what do we really have to lose?
One to five and/or a $100,00.00 fine?
They don't give tax holidays for the plebs.
The IRS can't catch everybody
I knew someone very, very well who never submitted a tax return for years and years and years. The IRS never bothered about him. (Of course, he would have gotten (small) refunds from them rather than owing them money, so that may have been part of it.)
There's an official threshold below which you don't have to file a tax return (unless you would get a refund or an Earned Income Credit, in which case you still don't have to but you ought to).
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Don't mess with the IRS
That was probably all of it. I used to work for a tax attorney who had worked his way through law school doing audits at the IRS. The IRS is not a problem you want. They don't actually give a shit if people file their returns, which is part of why the non-filing threshold exists, they don't want to process more paper/data than they have to, they just want their money. If they think you owe them, they'll come for you. They'll levy your accounts, put liens on your property, garnish your wages. They'll put fines AND penalties AND interest on top of whatever back taxes you owe. Plus you'll have to pay the tax attorney. It's not worth it.
Yup, happened to my brother
he never filed for years, worked off the books for awhile. His employer convinced him to file one year. They socked it to him, but bad. They estimated his back taxes at the present rate of income, went back all of those years and started multiplying. Back taxes were only about $20K, but the fines and interest were like $50K. Oops. He doesn't make much to begin with. That hurt. Big time. Working for the man.
Ouch
So sorry that happened. They may very well have caught up with him sooner or later anyways, but suddenly filing after not filing will definitely attract attention. If he'd seen a good tax lawyer beforehand he might have been able to negotiate a deal, sometimes they'll take a cut rate but you need a good negotiator who understands the process. And of course you still have to pay the tax attorney, ugh.
Our tax laws are well and truly forked in favor of the ownership class, which I didn't really appreciate until I had a handful of years of work in that tax attorney's office -- we did estates too so while the rich howl about it and try to scare everyone, the estate tax laws were still way too easy on dynastic wealth even before BushCo & Congress relaxed them even further. (We did not do corporate tax work, just individuals and estates, but I know it's even worse there.)
Knock - knock
Who's there?
The fed. We're your friends.
Whatchya want?
What you got.
Doubt he sought legal council. Not the most trusting soul.
Thanks for the advice Reverend Jane.
Trying to keep things in perspective is easier with friendly help.
I was a lucky one.
I was able to wait out the statute of limitations, 10 years, and they dropped all charges against me. I didn't pay any taxes on the stocks I cashed in 1996 and in 2013 I got square with the IRS on their "Fresh Start Program". There was much satisfaction hearing the IRS lady say "Oh, it appears these charges have been dropped because of the statute of limitations, you actually don't owe any taxes", fucking music to my ears....yeah buddy.
Of course that's about the only decent thing that's happened in the last decade. That and my truck still runs...
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote
Awesome
Always feels good to win one against Goliath. We had a client who chose an off-the-grid strategy and climbed down a hole somewhere out in the Rockies. We never knew exactly where he was, but we'd send these yearly updates to a PO Box about which charges were dropping off due to the statute of limitations. When I left the firm he still had something like another 7 years to hide out -- I always hoped he made it, heh.
May your truck run taxfree forever.
I still have
at least 4 months to go for my other truck, that got repossessed, to fall off my credit report. My house foreclosure dropped off last year.
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote
Very simple answer:
Might makes right. History is written by the victors.
updated
fright makes it right
either scare us to death
or blame it on mighty mouse.
The MIC made me do it!
Just ask Disney
Craig Murray answers your question
He talks about the Bethlehem doctrine
It was created by Israel of course.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Tks. Excellent report
I'm glad you read it
I thought it was an excellent eye opener. I'm seeing lots of people saying that Solimeini sp was responsible for lots of our troops deaths, but that came from our dear Saudi friends. And I'm betting some were from the 'moderate rebels' backed by the CIA.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Sadly, Might makes Right
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
According to Lawrence Wilkerson
VP Dumber's comments about the 11 hijackers was "laughable" and Wilkerson was in a position to know. Iran did help the US in fighting the Taliban until the "axis of evil" speech. You would at least think that VP Dumber would at least get the number of hijackers right. I guess President Dumb and VP Dumber don't even worry about plausibility. It is like they are ad-libbing in a bad movie. Actually it is more like they are ad-libbing in an elementary school play.
They have no need
at all to be actually credible. Their minions will swallow this lie whole along with the "killing of Americans" by Soleimani who was fighting an INVADING force of Americans but that is now lost to history, down the dustbin of people who even once used to KNOW that war was illegal from day one.
Today it keeps running through my head "We were there ILEGALLY!" like Ross in Friends saying over and over "We were on a break!" Dumb but there it is, a relentless loop playing over and over.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
yea, but
who funded ISIS to begin with?
They don't get their guns and armor
from the peaceful states of the ME
This is a war funded by US and Israel
interests and their proxies - Saudi and
oil multinationals.
As Vice President,
Biden said the following:
Yup and Obama just sat back and watched ISIS grow
cuz he wanted them to overthrow Assad. Even having them take control of the government wasn't a big deal to them.
And of course we know that the CIA armed and trained AQ to do the same thing. Rules don't mean jack to people who don't have to obey the laws.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Not to mention that Suleimani was instrumental
in the defeat of Isis and his death could result in an Isis resurgence (probably not but it is certainly helpful to Isis).