2019 in Retrospect

Rising from a deep sleep into the first morning of 2020, I was greeted with the news that the Iraqis in Baghdad was in the midst of storming the US embassy. This included infantile and sword rattling rhetoric from president Trump, (Twitter) blaming Iran for this “act of war” against the US. If you have been following my BLOG for any amount of time, know my views on war in general, and particularly, the US Empire's “incursions” into South America and the Middle East over the last 50 years. All these wars has been justified by jingoistic blathering, and American exceptionalism, pushing war in the name of saving “democracy” or freeing the people of said countries, from left-wing dictatorships. The real reasons for these incursions can be distilled into a few words: power, money, economic hegemony, minerals and oil – ensuring the Petrol Dollar remains the dominate currency in world affairs. Humanitarian pursuits or threats to US national security, as the neocon warmonger political class claim, are simply all lies. Anything the military industrial complex tells you about a foreign nation, by way of the MSM, and the need for war, is false.

A case in point for these lies, is The Washington Post publication of the Afghanistan Papers, including the Wikileaks release of the OPCW emails. See my blog: https://sychronicity1.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-msm-are-silent-afghanistan-papers.html which goes into detail about the machinations of government and its “watchdog agencies” in its pursuit of war and the continued lies to ensure a popular-citizen consent. Despite this news, many people are silent, and are in a propaganda bubble created by the MSM,thus any truth outside that closed sphere is either ignored or argued with more unsustainable propaganda. The phenomenon of apathetic or propagandised people on the topic of war, smacked me hard in 2019. I feel either these people simply do not care anymore, are sucked into the war propaganda bubble or do not have time to even think about it, as merely surviving on a day to day bases is priority. Nevertheless, the military industrial complex appears now to be unstoppable, pushing war and regime change around the globe.

A few months ago, Bolivia experienced a coup t' taut, a socialist government whose economy that had been successful, brutally taken over by a US/CIA backed right wing regime. See my blog: https://sychronicity1.blogspot.com/2019/11/bolivia-coup-and-msm-lie-again.html for details. The reasons for this coup are obvious, as Bolivia refuse to cooperate with US corporations in regards to their natural resources, in Bolivia;s case, it's Lithium. Earlier in the year, another US backed coup t' taut was attempted in Argentina. This move against the socialist based Mudoro government failed, as the government military refused to be bought. See my blog: https://sychronicity1.blogspot.com/2019/01/comment-us-pushes-for-regime-change-in.html

for a more specific analysis on the topic.

In fairness, I commented mostly on geopolitical wars and regime change attempts by the US around the planet. Rather than bore you again on these topics, the rise of neoliberal governments and fascism is another phenomenon that has continued to gain steam around the planet. This is no more surprising, than the huge lose of the Labour government to the right wing Tories in Great Britain.

Most people on the left wing believed that the Corbyn government would be a shoe-in, however, as said, this was a brutal loss for labour. Many of us scratched our heads in disbelief. How could this happen? When following British politics, one cannot read an article without reading about BREXIT. Because of the neoliberal policies of the European Union, the working classes of England lost many jobs in the manufacturing industry. The vote for BREXIT meant a opportunity for the working class to re-claim their jobs, or so it was proposed. According to many media pundits, it was Corbyn's waffling on the subject, hinting at another referendum. This pushed the right of the Labour party to vote Tory. This was indeed a contributing factor, though it was the right wing unrelenting smears of the Labour leader that caused his demise. These smears included antisemitic accusations and connections to the Russian government. This is on all levels quite absurd. Following the US conservatives and the neoliberals, accusations of Russian connections and antisemitism is common and also ridiculous. Jeremy Corbyn, in my opinion, did not face these shameless smears head-on, and as a result paid the price.

Closer to home, in Australia, the conservatives party also won the general election by a landslide. This was due also to relentless smears that Labour was going to take away all Australia's manufacturing jobs. This, of course, was not true in the slightest. In fact, the conservative party spent over 30 million in advertising, paid for by Australia's biggest coal baron, (A huge amount by Australian standards) pushed that Labour would close down all the coal mines, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs – also untrue. That said, the public bought the lie, and Labour lost. Now we are stuck with a coal-loving, Christian cultist, a man that does not have a clue about leading a country: A PM more skilful at backroom deals than understanding the needs of the Australian people. Australia is now in the middle of a National Emergency due to devastating bush fires across the eastern states, and his response has been lacking in empathy and monetarily – Scott Morrison is also a climate change denier, and so it goes.

On a personal level, earlier in the year had a near death experience, not the spiritual kind, but almost choking to death and spending time in the hospital. Otherwise, my life has been very quiet, reading, writing, music and films. My good mother turned 88 years of age this year, and she continues to amaze me for her stamina, her awareness of world affairs, and reading 4 novels a week.

My central concerns continue to be war, the climate crises, the heightened separation between the rich and poor; the rise of racism and hatred, and the mass shootings based on religion and hate. These obvious issues have been around a long time, but for me, appear to be rising. People ask me, why be concerned about issues you really can't do anything about? The honest answer is, I have no idea, but the care and passion remains, and I'll continue to write about them.

Here's to a peaceful 2020.

Jim Jarmusch - Broken Flowers - Review

This particular collaboration between auteur director Jim Jarmusch and Bill Murray seems to be a perfect mix of acting sensibilities and a director's artistic vision. Jarmusch is not known for main stream films though his contributions to the film community, really has brought something different and rare to the industry.

A good example is Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Oscar nominee, Forest Whitaker, (The Last King of Scotland) plays a somewhat reluctant assassin with an obsession with carrier pigeons. A very strange film but an interesting one, feeling compelled to unlock the film's message when, in fact, there might not be a message.

This is Jarmusch's style, emotion and visuals must carry the film, words, on the other hand are incidental.

The same could be said about Broken Flowers. Bill Murray's expressive eyes and revealing body language says more than his limited dialogue.

The plot is a simple one: rich, retired and lifeless man loses girlfriend and receives a (pink) letter telling the man that he has a 19 year old son. Feeling self pity over his present break-up with his girl friend, he becomes more lifeless, despite the fact that someone has reached out and stated he has a son. The emotional state of Apathy is a strange disease. Nothing in life matters and the strength to even move from the couch to the bedroom requires a tremendous amount of effort. (This is done extremely well in the opening scenes).

Enter his next door neighbour, Winston, (Jeffery Wright) an enthusiastic man in love with life, not only a father of six, working several jobs, but working on his first crime novel. Johnson's (Murray) only real friend, he coaxes Don to investigate the matter, thus he hits the road, visiting his old girlfriends, in search of his son. This is a great premise for any story whether short story, novel or film.

"Revisiting" films, plays and novels, is a well used premise for any protagonist to examine their life and make an honest assessment of their past and an opportunity to set their life `right' again. The list is enormous, Our Town, A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, etc. this territory has been well trodden.

Broken Flowers, however, does not follow the realist form of story telling, that is to say, a resolution and awakening from the main character. The Murray character, in most respects, is just as lonely and apathetic at the end of the story, but he at least, reaches for a possibility, (seeing a homeless boy) which was a far cry from his behaviour at the start. This character does transform, though not in a dramatic way, but somehow changes into a lesser form of apathy. 

The story ends and we wonder what will become of him...and the boy he meets?...will this man continue on this path or return to his lifeless existence...Jarmusch, like most great story tellers, leaves it up to us to decide, finishing the tale, leaving the audience to form their own conclusions.

Broken Flowers is one of Jarmusch's more accessible films though never created for the main stream perspective.

Broken Flowers is not a great film but a very good one.

Jim Jaramusch – Paterson – Review

Jim Jaramusch is an interesting filmmaker. His body of work and subject matter is diverse, as Dead Man, (1996) to Broken Flowers (2003). Paterson (2016) is different than all his past projects, and surprisingly unique, because it captures the subtleties of the human condition in subtle forms, revealing the beauty of simplicity, in the everyday.

Paterson (Adam Driver) is a bus driver living in Paterson, New Jersey. He lives with his wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), and their bull dog (Marvin) in a modest home, walking distance to the bus depot where Patterson works.

The film is a series of 7 vignettes, representing each day of the week. We see Paterson wake each morning with aid of his “magical watch”, (his wife's reference later in the film) rise, eats his cereal, and are introduced to the voice of Paterson, composing a poem for the day. These poems were originally written by Ron Padgett, closely echoing the cadence and form of the American Poet, William Carlos Williams. Deceptively simple, and deep in meaning, (like the film) William's poems captured the vastness of existence in a single line about a fruit, like a plum, or a broken shoelace on an old shoe. We see Paterson walk to work everyday, composing a love poem, exploring the particular, while representing a higher state of observations about life and love.

Throughout his day, Paterson overhears his passengers conversations; from the history of Anarchy in the city of Paterson, to a amusing exchange between two young men, and their close calls with meeting women, without truly committing or telling the whole truth. Also part of Paterson's routine is to walk Marvin after work, and stop off at his local pub, to have his one beer, and catch up on the cities latest gossip. Life's obvious banalities such as a long marriage, or love that is not reciprocated, turns out to be most everybody's experience in life at one time or another. Paterson returns home to sleep and the next day begins again.

Paterson's wife Laura is a lovable character with dreams of getting rich from her special cup cakes, and following her destiny to be a country singer. Laura loves her husbands poems and reminds him everyday how wonderful they truly are. Their relationship is sensitive and loving, as Paterson eats her 'creative' dinners, (without letting on) and supporting her dreams. The scene where she plays “Home on The Range”, her first learned song on the guitar is precious, and should have had more nods from the film community. Golshifteh Farahani is a wonderful actor.

Over the years after viewing Jaramusch's films, it is necessary to view them more than once, to discover the hidden gems, like Easter eggs, that only adds to the overall meaning of his films.

Certainly, I came away from the film feeling better about my life, a reminder that my life can be meaningful without the drama, without “making mountains out of molehills”, that merely to be here and now is enough to feel the miracle of existence.

If you ever once had a love for poetry, or once had to read it in school, perhaps, after seeing this film, you'll want to return to poetry. It's that kind of inspiring film.

It was for me.

The MSM are Silent: Afghanistan Papers & the OPCW Scandal

The biggest news over the last 2 weeks has been The Washington Post's, “Afghanistan Papers” and the Wikileaks drop of the OPCW emails, revealing how the top OPCW administration, covered up the truth regarding the Syrian chemical attack, thus provoking the US to retaliate with bombing. Aside from independent news sources and social media, the MSM is all but silent on both stories.

We have been fighting in Afghanistan for over 18 years, only to find out, that, from the Bush administration to the Trump administration, have all been telling the public blatant lies, half truths, and pushing ridiculous PR campaigns to ensure consent for the war.

Even at the start of the first invasion, military generals were at odds with each other, in terms of identifying the true enemy. A little time had passed, and finding Osama Bin Laden soon became a impossible task. Thus the enemy turned to the Taliban as the enemy, because their extremist Muslim views could not be tolerated by the US, the leader of democracy and human rights.

From that time, early 2000's, any Afghani male, above the age of 10, that looked like a terrorist, became a target. America's drone king, president Obama, created a “kill list”; a list of potential “terrorists” that the CIA deemed to be a threat to America's National Security. This turned out to be a deadly fiasco, the drone killings of farms, families and even weddings across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. This droning continues under CIA control, murdering innocents across Afghanistan, etc. What the “papers” tells us, is the entire war is based on lies. This begs the question, if the war is all based on lies, then why have the US and its allies been there for over 18 years?

The answer to this question is cynical, general, and for many, a cliché, yet, unbearably true.

Mainly, Afghanistan is a strategic geopolitical country for the ME and Russia. The country that rules Afghanistan, in terms of an old style war of soldiers, guns and bombs, is at an advantage. Secondly, the country is rich in minerals, including coal, oil, diamonds, quartz and lithium. And lastly, the extensive Poppy crops that have been profitable for the country for years. The US has acquired the majority of these Poppy farms, thus controlling a lucrative market.

Remember, Empire is corporate driven, and their bottom line is profit. Human life is secondary to profit, and thus we have corporate owned politicians pushing war propaganda to ensure winning the next election. This is what the Afghanistan Papers revealed , war-is- for- profit.

Our next “war” scandal is the revelation of the OPCW emails. The OPCW was first organised as a unbiased scientific entity, to prevent chemical warfare, or analyse a countries actions, and determine if chemical weapons have been deployed by a particular country. From the beginning, OPCW is a “scientific unbiased entity”, evidently free from political influence. In the case of the alleged chlorine chemical attacks in Syria, in turns out that this organisation was compromised by powerful political influences.

The emails reveal that the OPCW leaders ignored or heavily redacted their “scientists on the ground.” All of which stated that it was “highly unlikely” that any chemical attack had occurred at all. These redacted OPCW reports, only after Trump knee-jerked and bombed Syria for this “war crime” , came to light. And it's only now, thanks to Wikileaks, that we now know the initial, redacted, scientific reports ,was an effort to justify American aggression. In any journalists mind, worth their typewriters, this is a major story, revealing the crimes of Empire to continue destructive war for profit. Despite the world relevance of these facts, it is ignored by the main stream media.

As I have discussed so many times, the MSM are an integral part of the military industrial complex. Main stream media are paid to spread lies, and kill stories that reveal the truth.

The Afghanistan Papers should have been a huge story in news outlets around the planet. The OPCW scandal, certainly evidence that the government will do anything to justify perpetual war, is ignored. In fact a Newsweek journalist, resigned because he wanted to publish a story about the false chemical attacks, and the aggression by our military, but was turned down, and in memos and emails was personally attacked for even bringing up the idea for telling the truth. The Empire war machine and it's propaganda department are in full swing, killing stories, and creating falsehoods to feed perpetual war.

The fight for truth against war is a dangerous one. Julian Assange is in a high level prison, Belmarish, created to house rapists, terrorists and murderers... Julian simply revealed war crimes by the US and other countries around the planet. Max Blumenthal was jailed on false charges and whisked off to jail like a common criminal, for revealing that the US had violated International Law, in the usurpation by the US and their paid proxies, of the Venezuelan embassy. This was during the failed coup attempt by a US backed “rebels” against the democratically elected Mudoro Government.

Those opposed to war and corporate corruption, and their political cronies, *our politicians*, are in an information conflict, against the establishment and the Military Industrial Complex. The silence after the publication of the Afghanistan Papers, and the OPCW cover-up, that there was no chemical attack in Syria, speaks loud and clear:

Truth is on Trial.

On life After Death - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross - Review

After a death in the family, grieving, following an explosion of separation of all who were left, my focus went to the metaphysical and the spiritual. I went to many places and practices, a journey of personal and social discovery. It was only much later, when my childhood friend committed suicide, and my son's grandfather had been taken from cancer, that I discovered this tiny text. Doctor Kubler-Ross understands life, death and most of all, love. I gave away this book to a grieving woman after her husbands death. Some time later, this lovely woman came back to me, appearing bright and happy,thanking me for giving her the text... Perhaps this is an inappropriate time to speak about death, however, it's been on my mind lately, and I thought it perhaps, okay, to share this...as hope and love is what this holiday is all about...

Five Essays on Life, Death and Love.

This little book is a treasure.

Dr. Kubler-Ross is the author of "On Death and Dying", where she addresses the process of death and bereavement, offering coping skills for the parent, family member or child who have lost a loved one. In "On Life After Death", she discusses her twenty-five year research with the dying, illustrating what actually occurs to the person at the moment of death, taken from thousands of interviews with those that have had a near death experience, (NDE) concluding that this experience is virtually the same for everyone.

The book contains four essays on the subject. In the first essay she states her argument without hesitation, stating emphatically that after interviewing thousands of dying men, women and children, all told her virtually the same experience. They begin by having an out-of-the-body occurrence and a feeling of wholeness, and heightened awareness. These individuals reported "seeing" doctors, nurses and loved one's while they were clinically dead. She also goes onto explain that we are never alone when we begin to pass on, that there is always someone, a deceased family member, a guarding angel or guide to help us through this transition.

One of the more compelling stories Kubler-Ross conveys was the visitation from an old, deceased patient. The doctor was at a difficult time in her career, and she wanted to resign from her work with the dying. One day after delivering a seminar on the subject, she met her boss to resign when in the open elevator stood an old patient, Mrs. Schwartz. This individual was the first patient that Dr. Kubler-Ross interviewed for her studies on NDE, and had recently died. Mrs. Schwartz told her that she had "come back" for two reasons, first to thank the doctor for her help and also to persuade her to continue her work with the dying. As a scientist, Dr. Kubler-Ross did not want to believe she was speaking with a dead patient, and to prove to herself that this experience was indeed happening, the doctor put across to Mrs. Schwartz to write her a note, stating her request. Astonishingly, Dr. Kubler-Ross has this note in her possession to this day, and kept her promise to continue her work with the dying. As a scientist, writing about this experience and speaking about it to hundreds of people and colleagues, must have taken considerable courage.

Dr. Kubler-Ross is recognized as the world's foremost expert on the subject of death, the process of dying and the afterlife. These four astounding essays are written clearly and persuasively based on years of research on literally thousands of patients.

This is an important book. Dr. Kubler-Ross has conveyed a strong message of hope for all of us, concluding that the basic purpose of our lives is to learn, and most importantly, to love.

Craig Middleton

Why Trump's Impeachment is a Farce

The democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, announced last week at a news conference, when discussing Trump's impeachment proceedings said, “All roads lead to Putin.” This struck a visceral chord, because we know from the Mueller report, and the latest revelations from the Inspector General that, there was zero evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia and, the corruption of the FBI in its dealing with the FISA court, lying in order to spy on American citizens in relation to the Trump presidential campaign in 2016. Not only did the FBI, based on false reports, spy on the GOP campaign through wire taps, but used agents to wire themselves to catch Trump's team. This is an illegal spook operation to stop Trump from becoming President. It didn't work, yet a corrupt democratic party move ahead on Treason accusations, claiming that Trump colluded with Russia to stop $ for munitions to Ukraine, in order to get dirt of the corruption on Joe Biden, a democratic presidential hopeful in 2020. The democrats chose to narrow their impeachment on this collusion charade, rather than focus on Trump's many emolument clause violations, including illegal campaign contributions. And there's a reason for this.

If one has paid any attention, in just over two weeks, the government approved an extra $180 billion for the US Defence budget. This is more money than at the height of the Iraq war. Adding insult to injury, the bi-partisan government approved the continuation of the Patriot Act, If you do not remember the Patriot Act, it abolishes, for the most part, habeas corpus, and green lights unfettered surveillance on American citizens and the world. While the Mc-resistence attacks any anti-war activist as a Putin Puppet, and anyone who attempts to tell the truth about Syria, are called Assad apologists, the democrats have voted and fast-tracked right wing judges into the system. While the “resistance” screams for impeachment, billions of dollars in weapons of mass destruction has been sold to Saudi Arabia, currently committing genocide in the poorest country on the planet, Yemen. Lastly, the democratic party cannot impeach Trump on any of the real illegal issues, because they themselves are guilty of similar crimes.

The impeachment of Trump is a farce because its basic premise, treason, has already been proven to be false. While absolute war criminals like Bush 2, and the reptilian VP Cheney, made millions of dollars on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, respectively; including a torture campaign that is against the US Constitution and International law, were never impeached, and like today, the democrats were/are complicit in these crimes.

A few journalist (left wing pundits) has called Trump's impeachment as a mass *distraction*. From my view, this is absolutely the case. For if the democratic party truly wanted to remove the “Orange- Con man”, they would impeach him on financial irregularities, like making millions through his hotels. They would impeach him on campaign finance crimes, and blatantly lying to the US people regarding paying off a porn star during his campaign. This is not to mention firing up illegal wars in the middle east, sanctioning “enemies, and backing fascist coups in South America.

The US lost its position on the planet as a leader of democracy, when they caved to the money of corporations. These politicians have been bought, and that's why nothing of significance has changed for the better, for the common working citizen. Politicians are beholden to $ of corporations, and under the thumb of an un-elected bureaucracy, that many call the Deep State.

This impeachment at best is a distraction, and when getting into the weeds realise, its all based on lies and propaganda. And we the people, should know better.

Right Wing Propaganda is, well, Infantile

After watching the loss of labour in the UK's general election, substantiated my view on the power of relentless political smears, whether true or not, against one's opponent. The leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, was accused of being a Russian asset, right after announcing the leaked paper's of the Tory government colluding with the US government to do away with the NHS, and mover Britain's medical system towards the disastrous American model. Most of Fleet Street retaliated, not with the incredible disaster of destroying the NHS, but that the leaked proved that Jeremy Corbyn was a tool of Russian meddling with the elections. This, of, course, follows the US playbook, of blaming Russia for any counter issue against the establishment. The second smear campaign against Corbyn, was that he and his Labour party are antisemitic. Despite there being zero evidence of Russia collusion and antisemitism in the Party, the press continued this smear campaign, forcing the less politically informed, to move to the Right. The Tory win was not due entirely to this unrelenting smear of lies against labour, but it certainly was a major contributing factor.

In the US, now, following this apparently successful smear campaign of antisemitism against Jeremy Corbyn, certain right wing pundits in the United States has began their own antisemitic smear against Bernie Sanders. These accusations on any level is absurd. Sanders' parents escaped the attempted genocide of the Jewish people from the Nazis, to the US, as many Jews had. Our family, on my father's side, escaped to Australia under the same circumstances. To call me antisemitic is a lie and a disgusting accusation, that in any other time, I'd ignore. But it seems we are in a different political climate. So, we must oppose these smears head on, because learning the lessons of WWII, to ignore them, is to court disaster.

One can read my BLOG back in early 2018, to see that I believed the Russia meddling in the 2016 general presidential election, was a massive smear campaign against Trump. Please, don't get me wrong, I believe Trump is a liar and a tool of the Military Industrial Complex. Though I knew then, as I know now, this blaming Russia for the HRC defeat in 2016, had a two pronged purpose. One, to justify HRC's defeat and, two, to ramp up tensions with Russia, to justify a future war.

The right wing US democratic party has nothing to give the American people. That's why the conservatives only focus on Trump's bozo twitter feed, (impeachment) and not, more importantly, his massive movement of wealth to the 1%, and the ridiculous swell of funds for the military budget. The GOP and the corporate democrats, bribed by corporations, have nothing to offer the common working man. All they have is empty rhetoric, and “issues” of a cultural nature, such as Christmas, LBGTQ suppression, and the hate of so-called non religious citizens of the Empire.

When the establishment has nothing to offer the majority of working people, such as health care, free education, pulling our troops from illegal wars, fixing a deeply corrupt justice and prison system, all they can do is smear, lie, and spread ridiculous excuses for war, by calling you a socialist or an antisemite. It's absurd.

Aside from the obvious in Britain last week in the general election, calling Labour Russian assets and antisemitic, when HRC called Jill Stein and Tulsi Gabbard, Russian assets, I knew these establishment, war- loving- corporate shills had nothing to argue, but lies and personal smears.

The real problem is that people believe this rubbish, because it comes from authoritative sources, like the corporate MSM. People are certainly waking up to this absurdity, but not fast enough.

Opinion: Pro-War vs. Anti-War

Looking back at history, at least in the last 2500 years, nothing has really changed. Empire's do indeed rise and fall, some last longer than others, depending on the circumstance, even the weather has changed the course of history between empires. Our technology, particularly, over the last century, has evolved in sudden leaps and bounds. Our medical knowledge and treatment of illness has lowered the infant deaths, and people, generally live longer. We have the technology in agriculture to feed the world's population, but in the richest country in the world, the US., poverty and homelessness is growing in all the major cities. 

Most western countries around the planet are facing the same problems: poverty, homelessness, suicides and hunger. If we have advanced as a civilisation in food production, medicine and education, why is there so much suffering, so many poor, and world-wide poverty? The short answer is extreme ideology, antiquated religious beliefs, and a economic system that reward the privileged, and punishes the minority, and the disadvantaged . The central reason for a world suffering is the promotion and execution of war.

Rather than a analysis of the history of war, we must look at present time. Granted many of the same justifications for death and destruction are the same as the United States, as it was for the Roman Empire. These reasons are power and resources, leading to lurid wealth for the few. But my question is how and why war continues, building great economies, and the greater population, since WW1, has time and again, gone along with it. We should have learned after WWI, that it was a battle between the industrialists and royalty. The industrialists won that war, and the planet's royalty virtually disappeared. But in the end, nothing changed for the common working person. The blue bloods were cast aside, replaced by fat, cigar smoking bullies, using workers for their own greedy ends. To be sure, nothing has changed. The corporations' and their knowing and unknowing slaves, believed the American/Western dream, that a man could work hard, have a family and live a good life. For a small time period this was true. But the corporations became greedier, ignoring the worker, and hoarding all the profits. “But what can we do with the “plebs”, the mass amount of people we have used and discarded? How bout we build greater weapons, sell them to our allies, and engage in perpetual war?” America economically grew from WWII, and became wealthier, so let's continue this ruse, that war works.” And so it goes.

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The United States' imperialistic intentions and its many acquisitions since the 19th century: most students of history are aware of these early wars, starting with the Spanish American War, and shortly there after, the brutal conquering of the Philippines. These wars were justified with jingoistic rhetoric; at times rationalised in unadulterated propaganda to the American people, and then played down after the colony was established.

For war to continue, there must always be a common enemy. After WWII, with the instigation of NSA 68, the power for national security was given to a slew of un-elected autocrats, that Dwight D. Eisenhower described as the military industrial complex. This complex is a un-holy alliance between corporations, media, weapon manufactures, the entertainment industry, and bribed US politicians. Together, war is always linked to our so-called American values. What are these “American values?”

One can categorise these “values” under the 'banner head' of American Exceptionalism. It was the Reagan administration that brought American exceptionalism into the forefront of our minds. “The beacon of light on the hill”, represents: freedom, democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and a country that is run under the Rule of Law. An American citizen is sworn by way of the constitution, when elected to public office, to fight all enemies both foreign and domestic. To the American mind, the US leads the way, and is an example of these values. So much so, these values and ideals have been used to denigrate other countries, justifying regime change and war.

Aside from out-right false flag operations, (Vietnam, Syria) this ingrained superiority that Americans have had beaten into them since birth, has justified a moral high ground, and their expertise to recognise a common enemy that their allies, really, has only been more than willing, to go along and follow the US into war.

War is also justified by simple lies. Telling the people one thing, when the opposite is true.

The latest Washington Post revelations concerning the Afghanistan War is a prime example how our government lies and lies to us, and to countries to fool the people, in order to expand their oligarchical intentions, where always, money and profit is the bottom line.

War is a racket, designed to forward corporate interests. Afghanistan is a prime example. Why else would the American government and its military continue a 18 year old war, when there has been nothing gained? Thousands of lives have been lost, our young people, who come back, are mentally influenced to the extent that one in five commit suicide on a daily basis. The corporate interests appear obvious: minerals and the Poppy trade. This is a disgrace upon humanity.

The only reason for war is profit for the oligarchy, and anything else we are told is a blatant lie.

Since Obama, it seems the antiwar activists have gone into hiding. Obama was a smooth operator, who tempered down our antiwar sentiments, by and while destroying the middle class. People are more concerned about the welfare of their families, their health care and essentially keeping a roof over their heads, and as a result, in there minds, these foreign wars have become secondary.

The US war budget dwarfs the rest of the world. They spend more than the ten top ten democratic countries combined. This begs the question, why? Who is the enemy? Who has invaded us? The right-wing response is the battle against 'terrorism'. I'm sorry, this doesn't not hold up to close scrutiny anymore. Thousands upon thousands of people have been murdered since the declared war on terror began 18 years ago. For certain, if nothing else, this 'war on terror' as made the planet more dangerous than anytime before 2001.

While the oligarchy gives more money to the weapon manufactures, and the MSM continue to push war in unabashed warmonger fashion, people will continue to believe the lies.

That said, more people can see the elite lying to them. That there has been no benefits for them in this 'war on terror'. The only way to prevent more unnecessary wars is a grassroots movement, revealing the oligarchical lies.

War can never be justified, particularly, when the whole thing is a racket, a money-making exercise for the few.

Bob Woodward – Bush at War - Review

In 2004, during Iraq II, Bob Woodward published Bush at War. At the time, I was searching for reasons, other than the main stream narrative, why the US was pushing so hard in the middle east. This text gave me a few answers, but never the entire story. Yesterday the Washington Post published an expose' on Afghanistan, revealing a failed war, a war without direction, telling us that government and the military has been lying to us for many years. Indeed, 1 in 4 vets after a few tours of duty commit suicide. In a recent poll, over 60% of vets believe the US and its allies should pull out of Afghanistan completely. We should listen to them. I wrote this review in 2004, and believe it continues to be relevant today.

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Bob Woodward is an international media legend. The cause of his world renown was, of course, unearthing the Watergate scandal, leading to the eventual resignation of a president. Because of his long tenure at the Washington Post and reputation as a `pure' reporter, we expect great things from this man; at least reporting the facts in a bipartisan fashion. In Bush at War, he focuses on the Bush administrations response to 9/11 in the form of the invasion of Afghanistan, as many have deemed the "forgotten war".

Woodward reveals an administration, at times, hysterically, grasping at a way to attain some kind of retribution for 9/11. A war cabinet at odds with each other, all seeming to have their own agendas, and in the end, after Afghanistan was supposedly won; only a few al Qaeda terrorists were captured, (16 of the top 22 leaders were still at large, and the arch enemy, bin Laden, well hidden and laughing at us from his secret hideaway) though the oppressive Taliban was disbanded, ironically and sadly, Afghanistan still remains a potential haven for al Qaeda terrorists. (Many have mover to Syria)

One should not include this text as just another `Bush bashing' exercise, because the president is depicted as a passionate and determined leader, albeit inexperienced, hell-bent on bringing those responsible for 9'11 to justice.

Woodward skilfully puts the reader in the shoes of the president, and we feel his anger, frustration and one-eyed goal for retribution. The president's cabinet, however, are depicted as mostly floundering during the crises, fighting with one another, vying for power, in the pursuit of their own particular goals. The vice president is a crafty fellow, a smiling political assassin, so to speak, while Rumsfeld is depicted as your basic playground bully. There is a scene in the book where Rumsfeld pokes his finger with force into Woodward's chest during an interview, pushing the reporter off balance - this action speaks worlds. As an administrator, Rumsfeld is meticulous, arrogant and definitely not a team player, (my way or no way) and, to my mind, holds the majority of responsibility for the current mess in Afghanistan and the present "quagmire" situation we now have in Iraq. Technically, the buck stops with the president, though Rumsfeld has a lot to answer for...

Although not emphatically stated, Bush at War begs the question: did Afghanistan accomplish anything in terms of combating terrorism? Is the world a safer place as a result of many lives lost and literately millions of dollars spent on bribing the Afghani Northern Alliance? Well, the answer is in the results - and they speak for themselves.

This book  is by no means a revelation about this administration. One has only to look out the window, turn on the television or open a newspaper, to see where this administration is leading us. However I recommend this text as a close as possible `true' historical record of the Afghanistan `incursion', and how the military machine operates in war conditions.

Chalmers Johnson - The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic - Review..

One could call this text a scorching polemic concerning America's largely clandestine pursuit of economic and military world dominance. It is more a slap-in-the-face-wake-up-call to pull the reigns in on our current power hungry leaders, who are presently leading us into a black hole that will be all too difficult to escape from in the future.


Johnson outlines the United States' imperialistic intentions and its many acquisitions since the 19th century. Most students of history are aware of these early acquisitions, starting with the Spanish American War, and shortly there after, the brutal conquering of the Philippines. These wars were justified with jingoistic rhetoric; at times rationalized in unadulterated propaganda to the American people, and then played down after the colony was established. Johnson goes on to outline the proliferation of militarism throughout the 20th century, particularly since the establishment of NSC 68 after WW2. The problem however, as Johnson points out, is that militarism and the acquisition of foreign lands are becoming less and less justified with euphemistic rhetoric, and are now boldly rendered without the approval of international law and the United States constitution ' as if to say, ''we're going to do it any way, whether you like it or not, because if you disagree, we'll put you on the hit list as well.' In other words, we do it because we can, and you can't stop us. The evidence in this book, in most cases, is irrefutable, because the facts and actions speak for themselves.

A compelling example is the reasons given for the current conquering and occupation of Iraq. The Bush 2 administration defied the United Nations and most of its long-term allies and invaded Iraq, stating they knew best, because the regime had WMD and was ready to unleash them on the 'free' world. There are no weapons of mass destruction, and the administration was told this by expert authorities from the beginning. 

The new party line, then, was a necessary 'regime change' because Hussein was a ruthless dictator and was a potential danger to the region. Granted he was a ruthless dictator, and committed heinous crimes against humanity, but any informed person is aware that countries like Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which are current 'allies', and play a strategic role in the Middle East, have appalling human rights records and are ruled by quasi dictatorships. Why not impale our moral superiority on them as well? Were we lied to? Johnson writes,

'If so, then it seems that high government officials falsified pretext for the second Iraq war and committed a fraud against the Congress and the American people. In a constitutional republic, these are impeachable offences. The fact that such proceedings have not been mentioned is a further sign of the political decadence brought about by militarism and imperialism.' (P.306)


The trillions of dollars poured into the military-industrial complex in order to maintain close to eight hundred American bases strategically placed around the world cannot last forever. Money is pouring out of the country in the name of 'defence' and nothing of any significance is being done on the domestic front.
In other terms, as usual, the elites are benefiting, while the many are barely keeping up with their rents and paying for food. This is just one issue, but an important one.

In the last chapter of the book, Chalmers asks us to actually take back the reigns of power as the people, and stop the endless supply of money to the Pentagon and the secret intelligence agencies, turning the American economy from a war based one to a peace based economy, thus avoiding another possible 'blowback' like 9/11, and improving the common man's standard of living.

This is an important book and a necessary one to begin positive change away from war towards a lasting peace.