The Biden administration’s recent statements on Israel’s aggression in Gaza may seem significant, but Israel policy shows no significant changes
May 13, 2024 by Peoples Dispatch
The Department of Defense submitted a report which stated that Israel’s use of US-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international law (Photo via IDFonline/X)
On May 12, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken uttered words some may have thought impossible for a US official to say during televised interviews: the United States believes that Israel should “get out of Gaza.” He declared that Israeli tactics in Gaza have meant “a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians,” but have failed to meaningfully fight Hamas.
On CBS’s Face the Nation, Blinken was asked about the US withholding bombs to Israel, to which he responded, “We believe two things. One, you have to have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven’t seen. Second, we also need to see a plan for what happens after this conflict in Gaza is over. And we still haven’t seen that because what are we seeing right now? We’re seeing parts of Gaza that Israel has cleared of Hamas, where Hamas is coming back, including in the north, including in Khan Younis.”
This marks some of the most scathing criticism that the US has provided against Israel. Thus far however, much like similar US critiques of Israel, very little has changed in terms of material policy.
On May 10, the Department of Defense submitted a report to Congress, which stated that Israel’s use of US-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international law.
“This report seems like the international version of ‘thoughts and prayers:’ admitting there’s a problem but not doing anything meaningful to prevent the further loss of lives,” said Amanda Klasing, National Director of Government Relations at Amnesty International USA. “Despite President Biden’s vague comments earlier this week, his administration today made its position loud and clear: it points fingers and takes swift action when an actor the US government considers an adversary violates international law, but treats the government of Israel as above the law, even while acknowledging the overwhelming evidence that Israeli forces are violating international law and killing Palestinian civilians with US origin weapons on US taxpayer dime.”
Although Biden did pause some weapons shipments to Israel last week over its plans of invasion in Rafah, the tens of thousands of Gazans slaughtered by Israeli forces did not stop the US from signing into law a USD 26 billion aid package to Israel last month.
“In turning a blind eye, the administration is allowing Israel to continue to do so without consequence. Israel’s routine violations have pushed half of Gaza’s population to the brink of famine,” said Abby Maxman, Oxfam America’s President & CEO. “With today’s report, the US will be complicit in even more death and suffering in Gaza.”
However, as Layan Fuleihan and L. Mohammed wrote last week, the US’s recent rhetorical shift against Israel does signify that “the US government does not support the operation in Rafah, and that they want a ceasefire to go through.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/05/13/ ... ional-law/
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After Military Failure, Israel Eyes US Mercenary Groups for Deployment in Gaza
MAY 14, 2024
By Musa Iqbal – May 13, 2024
After failing to meet any of its military goals in Gaza, Israel is now looking for an exit that will grant it the ability to control the besieged territory while pulling out its own forces.
Zionist media sources have revealed that a plan is being coordinated with the US to have American mercenary groups deployed in the Rafah crossing between occupied Palestine and Egypt.
Egypt itself is also included in these talks, treacherously opening the door to mercenary forces continuing the same war crimes on Palestinians as Israelis – with potentially more impunity.
Calling it a “security firm,” the Israeli newspaper Haaretz did not disclose which mercenary group is being roped in for the job. However, one thing is clear: there is nothing good that can come of this development. American mercenary groups have historically been responsible for some of the most egregious war crimes committed in military history.
For example, take the case of Blackwater – now known as “Academi” – likely rebranded since the very mention of the name “Blackwater” draws international disdain. Blackwater was deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq, where they committed numerous massacres and mass murders.
Investigations were conducted for their ruthless crimes, with rarely anyone held accountable.
Further, the mercenary group was even under investigation for weapons smuggling and the murder of an Iraqi vice-presidential guard in 2006 by a mercenary who was operating firearms while intoxicated.
The attractiveness of mercenary groups – be it Blackwater, Northbridge, Triple Canopy, or others – lies in the fact that they operate outside of the common rules of engagement and warfare.
International rules of engagement do not necessarily apply to private firms that excel in ultra-violence. A quick examination of the history of mercenary groups – particularly American – reveals an extremely dirty laundry list of war crimes.
And, when they are faced with calls for accountability, these groups are capable of silencing dissent through violence.
Notably in 2007, a Blackwater official – Daniel Carroll – threatened two US State Department employees, stating he could kill them at any moment and that no one would do anything since they are in Iraq.
Although some American mercenaries have indeed seen their day in court, many have been acquitted or given lenient punishment. For example, a former US president famously pardoned multiple Blackwater mercenaries after they were found guilty of massacring several Iraqi civilians).
The world has seen months of war crimes and outright genocide inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza. This devastation – perpetrated by the illegitimate regime of Israel – has not been stopped by global institutions whose very job is to prevent war crimes and injustices.
Now consider what private military contractors – in other words ‘mercenaries’ – can do and very likely get away with. These shadowy groups answer to no international standard.
Israel has threatened to enter Rafah multiple times in recent weeks – endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans – mainly children. They already have launched the aggression on the city.
Rafah is the final place of so-called “refuge” for Palestinians in Gaza. Internationally, governments have pressured the Zionist regime to practice restraint or to abandon the operation altogether and accept a ceasefire deal – which under certain conditions – the Hamas resistance movement is ready to accept.
Employing mercenaries removes the international pressure on Israel, which has had its image tarnished and is met with worldwide disgust and growing isolation.
Mercenary groups can be billed as “security forces” that are “meant to maintain peace” but that have historically never been their primary objective in foreign countries – they are always tasked to sow disorder and orchestrate mass massacres.
In addition, Zionist forces have simply been a colossal failure at confronting Palestinian resistance. Even now, Hamas and other resistance groups are confronting Zionist forces in areas where the Israeli regime declared Hamas no longer poses a threat.
Israel is unable to win against the united Palestinian resistance and has called on American mercenaries who have fought illegal wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and more to save them from more failure.
There is also the continued ethnic cleansing employed by the Tel Aviv regime. Israel, in coordination with Washington, is banking on a mercenary firm to complete dirty work that may be even too ravenously violent for the Zionist regime – massacring Palestinians until they are all dead or fleeing out.
Zionist media reports that the firm will only have “limited abilities” and details include the delivery of aid and resources to Palestinians.
But let us not forget the infamous “Flour massacre” where Zionist attack helicopters and soldiers opened fire on hundreds of starving Palestinians who reached an aid delivery truck.
Palestinian resistance forces have expectedly rejected this completely, stating they will not allow any foreign military to maintain control of their land. They are the masters of their own land and resources.
Unsurprisingly, the White House and the State Department have both rejected the claims that mercenary forces are being examined to be deployed into Gaza.
In an embattled election season, and Joe Biden being met with nationwide protests and disgust wherever he goes, admitting to employing seasoned war criminals to be deployed to Palestine would surely not score any political points. It could be suicidal.
However, one should assume these talks were being held long ago. Whenever imperialist regimes hit a brick wall, the common routine is to deploy mercenaries to complete what official state forces cannot.
It’s not just in Afghanistan, Iraq, and West and Central Asia, American mercenaries are found in Ukraine fighting against Russia as Ukrainian forces have come to a complete halt in significant advances.
Elsewhere, in Africa, American mercenaries appeared in Congo, of course protecting US economic interests in exploitable resources – both human and natural. These are just the ones that are on record.
Private forces do not have to disclose exactly where they operate.
No US official would champion the usage of these mercenaries if they do not have to. It is an admission of failure militarily and draws political blowback on the international stage.
Mercenary groups from the Mozart Group to Northbridge are commonly accepted as desperate means for conducting desperate measures.
Despite the violent threat of these seasoned war criminals entering Gaza, the very discussion of them being deployed reveals that Israel’s genocidal war is a complete failure and that they are looking for an exit strategy that will continue the status quo of war and bloodshed.
However, let it be known that no such exit exists. All roads lead to failure, humiliating faiure.
https://orinocotribune.com/after-milita ... t-in-gaza/
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Zionist Troops Have Killed More Than 630 Doctors in Gaza
Doctor attending to a little child in Gaza, May 2024 | Photo: X/ @DaniMayakovski
Published 14 May 2024
Among doctors and nurses, the health agency quantifies about 500 dead, while 138 womens has been killed too
On Tuesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that More than 630 employees of medical institutions in the Gaza Strip were killed by the Israeli army since the beginning of its aggression on October 7 last year.
Among doctors and nurses, the health agency quantifies about 500 dead, while 138 womens has been killed too.
The World Health Organization had reported more than 430 Israeli attacks on the health system in Gaza, including hospitals and ambulance workers. Also against refugee camps.
An example of this is the Nasser Hospital of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which was besieged for weeks by Israeli troops and left thousands of corpses in mass graves which have been discovered in recent weeks.
In the Rafah area, hospitals and health centres are under attack, not only militarily but also through the pooling of resources, which has led to the collapse of institutions.
This situation will also be worsened by the advance of the Zionist tanks and the invasion in general, which experts and world organizations will be a catastrophe in every way.
On the other hand, Israel has today committed several massacres against civilians, by land, sea and air.
According to the latest data published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the total number of victims during 220 days of Israeli aggression on Gaza increased to 35,34 dead and 78,755 injured.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Zio ... -0015.html
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Chris Hedges: Israel’s Willing Executioners
May 14, 2024
Hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to flee, once again, after more than half of Gaza’s population took sanctuary in the border town of Rafah. This is part of Israel’s sadistic playbook.
When You’re Smiling – by Mr. Fish.
By Chris Hedges
ScheerPost
Run, the Israelis demand, run for your lives. Run from Rafah the way you ran from Gaza City, the way you ran from Jabalia, the way you ran from Deir al-Balah, the way you ran from Beit Hanoun, the way you ran from Bani Suheila, the way you ran from Khan Yunis. Run or we will kill you.
We will drop 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs on your tent encampments. We will spray you with bullets from our machine-gun-equipped drones. We will pound you with artillery and tank shells. We will shoot you down with snipers.
We will decimate your tents, your refugee camps, your cities and towns, your homes, your schools, your hospitals and your water purification plants. We will rain death from the sky.
Run for your lives. Again and again and again. Pack up the pathetic few belongings you have left. Blankets. A couple of pots. Some clothes. We don’t care how exhausted you are, how hungry you are, how terrified you are, how sick you are, how old, or how young you are. Run. Run. Run.
And when you run in terror to one part of Gaza we will make you turn around and run to another. Trapped in a labyrinth of death. Back and forth. Up and down. Side to side. Six. Seven. Eight times. We toy with you like mice in a trap. Then we deport you so you can never return. Or we kill you.
Let the world denounce our genocide. What do we care? The billions in military aid flows unchecked from our American ally. The fighter jets. The artillery shells. The tanks. The bombs. An endless supply. We kill children by the thousands.
We kill women and the elderly by the thousands. The sick and injured, without medicine and hospitals, die. We poison the water. We cut off the food. We make you starve. We created this hell. We are the masters. Law. Duty. A code of conduct. They do not exist for us.
But first we toy with you. We humiliate you. We terrorize you. We revel in your fear. We are amused by your pathetic attempts to survive. You are not human. You are creatures. Untermensch.
We revel in our libido dominandi – our lust for domination. Look at our posts on social media. They have gone viral. One shows soldiers grinning in a Palestinian home with the owners tied up and blindfolded in the background. We loot. Rugs. Cosmetics. Motorbikes. Jewelry. Watches. Cash. Gold. Antiquities. We laugh at your misery. We cheer your death. We celebrate our religion, our nation, our identity, our superiority, by negating and erasing yours.
Depravity is moral. Atrocity is heroism. Genocide is redemption.
The Sadist’s World
Jean Améry, who was in the Belgian resistance during World War II and who was captured and tortured by the Gestapo in 1943, defines sadism “as the radical negation of the other, the simultaneous denial of both the social principle and the reality principle.
In the sadist’s world, torture, destruction and death are triumphant: and such a world clearly has no hope of survival. On the contrary, he desires to transcend the world, to achieve total sovereignty by negating fellow human beings – which he sees as representing a particular kind of ‘hell.’”
Back in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Netanya, Ramat Gan, Petah Tikva who are we? Dish washers and mechanics. Factory workers, tax collectors and taxi drivers. Garbage collectors and office workers. But in Gaza we are demigods.
We can kill a Palestinian who does not strip to his underwear, fall to his knees, beg for mercy with his hands bound behind his back. We can do this to children as young as 12 and men as old as 70.
There are no legal constraints. There is no moral code. There is only the intoxicating thrill of demanding greater and greater forms of submission and more and more abject forms of humiliation.
We may feel insignificant in Israel, but here, in Gaza, we are King Kong, a little tyrant on a little throne. We stride through the rubble of Gaza, surrounded by the might of industrial weapons, able to pulverize in an instant whole apartment blocks and neighborhoods, and say, like Vishnu, “now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
But we are not content simply with killing. We want the walking dead to pay homage to our divinity.
This is the game played in Gaza. It was the game played during the Dirty War in Argentina when the military junta “disappeared” 30,000 of its own citizens. The “disappeared” were subjected to torture – who cannot call what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza torture? – and humiliated before they were murdered. It is was the game played in the clandestine torture centers and prisons in El Salvador and Iraq. It is what characterized the war in Bosnia in the Serbian concentration camps.
This soul crushing disease runs through us like an electric current. It infects every crime in Gaza. It infects every word that comes out of our mouths. We, the victors, are glorious. The Palestinians are nothing. Vermin. They will be forgotten.
Israeli journalist Yinon Magal on the show “Hapatriotim” on Israel’s Channel 14, joked that Joe Biden’s red line was the killing of 30,000 Palestinians. The singer Kobi Peretz asked if that was the number of dead for a day. The audience erupted in applause and laughter.
We place “booby-trapped” cans resembling food tins in the rubble. Starving Palestinians are injured or killed when they open them. We broadcast the sounds of women screaming and babies crying from quadcopters to lure Palestinians out so we can shoot them. We announce food distribution points and use artillery and snipers to carry out massacres.
We are the orchestra in this dance of death.
In Joseph Conrad’s short story “An Outpost of Progress,” he writes of two white, European traders, Carlier and Kayerts. They are posted to a remote trading station in the Congo. The mission will spread European “civilization” to Africa.
But the boredom and lack of constraints swiftly turn the two men into beasts. They trade slaves for ivory. They get into a feud over dwindling food supplies. Kayerts shoots and kills his unarmed companion Carlier.
“They were two perfectly insignificant and incapable individuals,” Conrad writes of Kayerts and Carlier:
“…whose existence is only rendered possible through the high organization of civilized crowds. Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their surroundings. The courage, the composure, the confidence; the emotions and principles; every great and every insignificant thought belongs not to the individual but to the crowd; to the crowd that believes blindly in the irresistible force of its institutions and its morals, in the power of its police and of its opinion. But the contact with pure unmitigated savagery, with primitive nature and primitive man, brings sudden and profound trouble into the heart. To the sentiment of being alone of one’s kind, to the clear perception of the loneliness of one’s thoughts, of one’s sensations – to the negation of the habitual, which is safe, there is added the affirmation of the unusual, which is dangerous; a suggestion of things vague, uncontrollable, and repulsive, whose discomposing intrusion excites the imagination and tries the civilized nerves of the foolish and the wise alike.”
Rafah is the prize at the end of the road. Rafah is the great killing field where we will slaughter Palestinians on a scale unseen in this genocide. Watch us. It will be an orgy of blood and death. It will be of Biblical proportions. No one will stop us. We kill in paroxysms of excitement. We are gods.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/05/14/c ... cutioners/
Mr Hedges is doing fine work{but that crack about Serbia shows his education is incomplete), but Mr Fish, holy shit, is one ruthless sumbitch, a hypersonic missile of info war.
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Israeli troops lament return to north Gaza months after ‘dismantling’ Hamas
Israeli soldiers say they failed to ‘assess the scale’ of Hamas’ military infrastructure during the early stages of the war
News Desk
MAY 15, 2024
(Photo credit: AA)
Israeli troops say they are facing significant difficulty in battles with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza’s northern city of Jabalia, an area that Tel Aviv said months ago was “cleared” of Hamas fighters.
“Renewed operations in Jabalia and other parts of northern Gaza, like Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, point to two lessons learned: that the IDF failed to fully assess the scale of Hamas' military infrastructure in Gaza [during the first rounds of fighting in the city months earlier],” Haaretz newspaper reported on 14 May.
“When Israeli forces left the area, [Hamas] quickly reestablished itself in the vacuum created by the lack of a ‘day after’ strategy.”
Tel Aviv claimed in early January that all of Hamas’ battalions were dismantled in northern Gaza, including Jabalia. Several Israeli army brigades are now back in the north, with the army’s 98th division operating in Jabalia after being diverted there instead of Rafah, according to Haaretz.
“We are in a learning contest with Hamas. You can see they've changed tactics and are now focusing more on setting explosive devices in buildings,” the commander of the Israeli army’s 196th Battalion is cited as saying.
The fighters of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades and other groups like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) Quds Brigades have increasingly used the tactic of booby-trapping and detonating buildings with Israeli forces inside.
Traditional tactics, including RPG attacks on tanks and vehicles, sniping operations, and mortar attacks on troop concentrations, continue to be deployed. The Qassam Brigades released several videos over the past few days showcasing their operations against troops in Jabalia.
The Haaretz report notes that despite wide-scale operations across Jabalia months earlier, the resistance’s military capabilities remain intact. On 14 May, Israeli forces watched a barrage of rockets fly overhead, fired from nearby them in Jabalia northwards to Ashkelon.
“It's frustrating to see this, seven and a half months after the war began,” a commander of the 196th battalion says.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli soldiers fighting in Jabalia have all used a single word to describe their presence in the city: "Sisyphean.” The word refers to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who the gods punished by forcing him to roll a giant boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down each time he neared the top.
Reservists are also increasingly frustrated, as they are being deployed to combat areas with no knowledge of when they could return.
“We were told that, in principle, we're coming for a month, but the bottom line is that we're here with open-ended orders,” the Israeli outlet cites a reservist as saying, adding that some are not reporting for service.
https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-t ... ling-hamas
I am reminded of the Western knights, who would travel to the Baltic shore for a short season of hunting heathens with the Teutonic Knights. Not so easy this time...
US readies $1bn in bombs for Israel days after 'pausing' arms transfer
Israeli bombs are falling indiscriminately across all of Gaza as hundreds of thousands have been displaced from the southern city of Rafah
News Desk
MAY 15, 2024
(Photo credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP)
The government of US President Joe Biden has informed Congress that it is planning a $1 billion weapons transfer to Israel, congressional sources told CBS on 14 May.
Congress will have to approve the transfer, which was initially reported on by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
This is the first arms shipment to be announced by Washington since it paused a shipment of weapons to Israel over concerns with its plans in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.
The weapons package includes $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds. It remains unclear when the arms will be sent.
The news comes as Republican lawmakers have this week been planning to advance a bill to mandate the “prompt delivery” of offensive weapons to Israel. The White House said it would veto the bill, which has little chance of passing in the Democratically-controlled Senate.
Democrats are divided on the issue, and around two dozen have sent a letter to Biden saying they were “deeply concerned about the message” sent by the recent pausing of the arms shipment to Israel.
In response, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week: “We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the President’s ability to deploy US security assistance consistent with US foreign policy and national security objectives.”
She added that Washington plans to send “every last cent” of the supplemental package signed into legislation by Biden last month.
In March, Congress passed a $95 billion package of foreign aid that includes military assistance to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.
Israeli forces stormed and seized control of the Rafah border crossing on 7 May. Dozens of civilians, including children, have been killed as jets continue to heavily bombard the besieged city. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forcibly displaced, and the operation has severely disrupted efforts to send aid into the strip.
Washington has repeatedly warned Israel over the months against carrying out a full-scale attack on the city, which shelters over a million besieged Palestinians in dire living conditions.
Biden had said on 9 May his administration would not supply weapons for an expanded operation in Rafah.
On Monday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Washington will continue to provide Israel with military assistance in line with the aid package but added that the bomb shipment was paused earlier this month because “we do not believe they should be dropped in densely populated cities.”
Israeli airstrikes have pounded densely populated city indiscriminately since the start of the operation. Artillery shelling caused widespread destruction to homes and property on 15 May, according to WAFA news agency. The UN warned this week that an expanded operation in Rafah would be “catastrophic.”
In the past 24 hours, at least 82 Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli bombardment across Gaza.
https://thecradle.co/articles/us-readie ... s-transfer
(Tell me about that 'lesser evil' thing again...and I'll stomp yer ass.)
Israel launched eight attacks on aid groups since October: Report
Israel's army spokesman claimed one of the attacks was due to 'misidentification' despite clear communications on the aid group's location
News Desk
MAY 14, 2024
(Photo Credit: Anadolu)
Israeli forces have conducted at least eight airstrikes on aid workers and facilities in Gaza since October despite direct communication with the groups, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on 14 May.
“Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organizations before the strikes, which killed or injured at least 31 aid workers and those with them,” the report reads.
“The eight incidents reveal fundamental flaws with the so-called deconfliction system, meant to protect aid workers and allow them to safely deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” the HRW report continues.
Tweets by hrw
Multiple aid groups that have been victims of these Israeli airstrikes had been in communication with Israeli authorities about their locations and movements.
One of the more recent incidents happened in April when Israel launched multiple airstrikes against a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy, killing several of its staff, one Palestinian translator, and foreign aid workers from Australia, the UK, Poland, and a dual US-Canadian citizen.
“Israel’s killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers was shocking and should never have happened under international law,” associate crisis, conflict, and arms director at HRW, Belkis Wille, said. “Israel’s allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop.”
Herzi Halevi, chief of general staff of the Israeli army, called the attack on the WCK convoy a mistake, claiming “misidentification” and that it “was not carried out with the intention of harming [WCK] aid workers.”
However, WCK said that they had informed Israel about its staff location on a Gaza road often used by humanitarian groups.
In the eight attacks mapped by HRW, at least 15 people, including two children, were killed, and 16 others were injured.
The other seven attacks include strikes on the convoy of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in November, a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) guest house in December, an MSF shelter in January, an International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) guest house in January, a UNRWA convoy in February, another MSF guest house in February, and the home of an American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) employee in March.
UN numbers at the end of April show 253 aid workers have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October, 188 of whom were UNRWA personnel.
HRW called for an international group of experts to conduct a review of the “humanitarian deconfliction process.”
On Monday, Israeli forces shot and killed a foreign NGO worker and wounded another in an attack on a clearly-marked UN convoy in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah.
https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-la ... ber-report
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The US Empire Deliberately Stokes Hatred And Violence In The Middle East
Have you not seen how the US empire uses the radicalism caused by its military violence in the middle east to justify more military expansionism in the region, leading to more military violence?
Caitlin Johnstone
May 15, 2024
I sometimes see people expressing bafflement that the US would back a genocide in the middle east knowing that it will radicalize the region against them, mistakenly thinking this goes against US strategic goals.
And I always want to say to them, uh, have you been asleep the last quarter century? Have you not seen how the US empire uses the radicalism caused by its military violence in the middle east to justify more military expansionism in the region, leading to more military violence?
That’s what the so-called “war on terror” has been about since 9/11. The data unmistakably shows that US-led military interventionism in the middle east in the name of fighting “terrorism” actually leads more people to join US-designated terrorist organizations and commit more terrorist attacks, because nothing will radicalize you against the US and its allies like watching them murder and displace your loved ones right in front of you. But the interventionism continues anyway. Why? Because the resource-rich middle east is a crucial geostrategic region for planetary domination, and the US empire wants to have an expanded military presence there.
It’s actually a brilliant self-reinforcing scam. It works like this:
Step 1: Murder people in the middle east in the name of fighting “terrorism”.
Step 2: This causes people to hate you and your allies and to want to retaliate with violence.
Step 3: Designate these people “terrorists”.
Step 4: Send more war machinery to the region to go fight “terrorism”.
Step 5: Murder more people in the middle east in the name of fighting “terrorism”.
Do you see how this cycle would repeat over and over again, leading to more and more US military expansionism in the middle east? That’s exactly what we’ve been seeing, and it’s exactly what the US empire wants.
Why do you think the US empire spends so much energy propping up dictatorships throughout the middle east, despite claiming to support democracy? It’s so that they can impose their will on the region without any meaningful consequences in terms of geostrategic control. They can freely rain military explosives upon west Asia without losing allies and partners, and all that will happen is a bunch of radicalized hatred throughout the general public, which they desire anyway.
If the oil-rich nations in the middle east ever had democratic rule, their governments would quickly move away from their official and unofficial alliances and partnerships with the United States and Israel, and would in all likelihood form their own powerful bloc in support of their own interests. Because the empire helps suppress the will of the people in that region by installing and supporting dictators instead, the only recourse some people feel they have to see their will enacted in that direction is the non-state violence known as “terrorism”.
Someday there will be a large-scale violent attack on the US in retaliation for its genocide in Gaza, and the response from the US will with absolute certainty be more military expansionism in the middle east. This all suits the US empire managers perfectly fine. They want it, and they actively work to make it happen.
The US-centralized empire makes the world more hateful, more violent, more dangerous and more abusive. Humanity cannot know peace until this globe-dominating power structure has been cast into the dustbin of history.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/05 ... ddle-east/
FOOTAGE OF HEZBOLLAH'S FIRST AIRSTRIKE IN HISTORY
