The Digger

Here’s an excellent article contributed by Southern. Thank you, Southern. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Swallowing War Propaganda Cutting through bad arguments, distractions, and euphemisms to see murder for what it is. ·          Nathan J. Robinson filed 05 January 2020 in   INTERNATIONAL The Trump administration has assassinated Iran’s top military leader, Qassim Suleimani, and with the possibility of a serious escalation in violent conflict, it’s a good time to think about how propaganda works and train ourselves to avoid accidentally swallowing it. The Iraq War, the bloodiest and costliest U.S. foreign policy calamity of the 21 st  century, happened in part because the population of the United States was insufficiently cynical about its government and got caught up in a wave of nationalistic fervor. The same thing happened with World War I and the Vietnam War. Since a U.S./Iran war would be a disaster, it is vital that everyone make sure they do not accidental

Thanks to Saint Jimmy for recommending this article.  Is Iraq About To Become A Chinese Client State? By  Simon Watkins  - Jan 08, 2020, 6:00 PM CST Join Our Community Following the political and popular backlash in Iran over details of its plans to make the Islamic Republic effectively a client state through various multi-layered oil and gas deals, China has switched its attention for the moment to Iran’s close ally and neighbour, Iraq. Like Iran, Iraq has enormous and still relatively underdeveloped oil and gas reserves, it is an irreplaceable geographical stepping stone in China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ programme, and it is in need of major ongoing funding. China already has leverage over Iraq as the leading oil company (Rosneft) of its close geopolitical ally, Russia, already has effective control over the oil and gas infrastructure of the north Iraq semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, and Chinese companies operate on a number of fields in south Iraq. Last week saw ke

How our presidents became elected Kings By  Larry Kummer   10 January 2020 We can prevent the eternal reoccurrence of tyrants. Photo 10770928 © Desktopnotions – Dreamstime. I love US political news. Each side’s loyal journalists provide clear coverage of the misdeeds of their foes, but remain blind and amnesiac about the similar deeds of  their  politicians. Democrats and some Republicans express outrage at Trump’s assertion of a Monarch’s powers. For example, see Fred Kaplan’s “ Trump’s Contempt for Democracy Has Reached New Depths ” at Slate – “The president is defying the Constitution amid the crisis with Iran.” Kaplan, like the Democrats, forgets that  Obama did the same several times . Just as most Republicans forget that Bush Jr. lied to begin our war on Iraq. For decades Presidents have used lies to start wars, flouting the authority of Congress and the clear words of the Constitution. Trump is playing the usual script, and most conservatives (e.g., those at Nat