week 39, 2017

I decided that I should stop waiting for the time to write and publish a big blog piece because that time never comes...
Instead, I should simply write a few words each week, even if I don't have much time for research in order to find the best sources to make my point. Maybe that will lower the quality of my posts, but now I want to do it more as a record of my thoughts about the state of the world peace and the propaganda I see daily...
So, what am I thinking after week 39?
My biggest concern remains the USA - it goes crazier and drags Europe, and the rest of the World with itself. The hypocrisy and the propaganda to justify the wrongdoings of the West have no limits...
Let's look at the North Korea issue. We hear the demands that it abandons its nuclear program, we hear that Kim Jong-un is irrational, that N. Korea's nuclear and missile tests are provocations, etc. This all maybe true, but what if it all is in reaction to the American actions. As usual, the Western media does not tell us much about the history or circumstances that led to the "illegal", or "irrational" actions. So, please go to the trustworthy Consortiumnews.com and read about the Korean history, which may help you understand that "suicidal dictatorship" [1, 2]. The second of the two articles is especially important because it gives the policy options and analyzes them.
Even if we accept the propaganda that N. Korea is the worst dictatorship in the world, shouldn't we stop for a minute and ask ourselves: Why is it irrational to get WMD, if the evidence shows that the only way for a country to survive American efforts for "regime change" is to have WMD?
Every "dictator" that agreed to give up their pursuit of WMD got killed, and his country destroyed.
Is it irrational to fear a country that you are technically at war with, that has bombed you until its pilots complained that "there are no targets left", that is sanctioning you, and threatening you with "fire and fury like the world has never seen before"?
Let's not forget that this blog is also about propaganda. Today's media giants are instruments of propaganda, and the "Don't Be Evil" Google is showing us how it is done, but I will try to write more about that another time...
In relation to today's topic, I made a Google search for "Korean war casualties" and here is a snapshot of the result:

Do you notice something? You don't see North Koreans in the first page of search results although most of the human casualties were North Koreans. I guess for Google, or for the sources they rely on, North Koreans are not humans...
Anyway, after some digging, I found various numbers and it turns out that North Korea lost between 20% and 30% of its population! Here is a quote from General Curtis LeMay, as quoted in [Richard Rhodes, “The General and World War III,” The New Yorker, June 19, 1995, p. 53]:

“After destroying North Korea’s 78 cities and thousands of her villages, and killing countless numbers of her civilians, [General] LeMay remarked, “Over a period of three years or so we killed off – what – twenty percent of the population.”

In order to comprehend what North Korea suffered, consider that during World War II the UK lost 0.94% of its population, France lost 1.35%, China lost 1.89% and the US lost 0.32%.
I know that my American friends find it difficult to believe that their nation can be seen as doing something evil, but that is probably because in every country the school history books are written to make the students in that nation feel good. If Americans could somehow comprehend what their leaders, secret services, and army, are doing to the rest of the world, they may not be so proud of their nation. Unfortunately, they are easily led to believe all kind of falsehoods in order to justify whatever their leaders want to do and make them feel good about it.
I mentioned Americans, but we, the Europeans are just as guilty, if not even more so. The reason is, because we can stand up to the American crazy policies. We, as their allies, can say "no" without fear of being destroyed, but we don't do it... We support them instead...
So, when we look at the facts (not the spin by the MSM) it should not be surprising that the North Koreans can be a little paranoid by their fear of a Goliath that they are technically at war with, but more importantly, we should understand that it is not irrational to seek a weapon that can deter that Goliath, i.e. the development of their own WMD.
This is not just the opinion of an amateur like me, this is also the opinion of six former high-level experienced U.S. government officials. You may have heard at least the names of the William Perry and George Shultz. They wrote that "Kim Jong Un is not irrational and highly values preserving his regime... Talking is not a reward or a concession to Pyongyang and should not be construed as signaling acceptance of a nuclear-armed North Korea. It is a necessary step to establishing communication to avoid a nuclear catastrophe. The key danger today is not that North Korea would launch a surprise nuclear attack. Instead the primary danger is a miscalculation or mistake that could lead to war.”
Unfortunately, we have US administration that is highly irrational and pushes the World on the path to destruction. Note that I am not saying Trump! The media makes a lot of noise about Trump, but he is just a clown. The problem is the "deep state", but almost all "progressives" in USA are now so busy getting rid of Trump that they support all war-mongers and that same "deep state" that keeps Trump on a leash.
The US democracy is a mirage. People vote, leaders and faces change, but the policy remains the same...
My few words for this week became quite a lot. So, it is time to stop.

Basics of International Relations

I usually complain about the naivety of majority of Western citizens because they easily believe even the most ridiculous "justifications" given to us by politicians or the MSM. In my discussions on politics, I often use moral arguments against the Western policy, its unfairness and hypocrisy. So, when I watched this lecture by Prof. Mearsheimer (one of my favorite sources of information and analysis on international politics), I thought that I should avoid the moral arguments and rely only on logic.
Anyway, the lecture does not change my view that the anti-Russia hysteria and propaganda are dangerous and unfair. But the lecture shows that the current policy is also illogical, stupid, even idiotic, as Prof. Mearsheimer says...

The New Allegations Against Syria Using Chemical Weapons

We had it before: red lines against the use of chemical weapons, certainty that the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is responsible, and calls to punish him, or at least remove him from power, as if peace and democracy will flourish when we remove him...
Just like with many other issues before, we don't need evidence, we have to believe what the USA or other Western leaders are telling us. Even if there is no logic in any of the allegations, the Western mean-stream media (MSM) does an excellent job in convincing us that what they tell us is the truth. No matter how many times we have been lied to by, e.g CIA or pundits with obvious agenda and history of lies, we have to believe them because "they know", or they "have seen the evidence".
I am tired of arguing on issue after issue, in conversation after conversation, that we need evidence and we need proof before making judgments or rush into actions. I am tired of asking where the USA/Western actions lead us?
The hold of the MSM on the public opinion is so strong, that whenever I try to give another perspective, I find myself looking like a "conspiracy theorist" or an idiot. No matter how uninformed the other person is, or how well informed I feel on any issue, the reality is that the propaganda does its job - people form an opinion and accept the MSM "logic". Whatever argument or perspective I try to give, people fall in line behind the Western policies, and do not realize how all reasons for defending "our (Western) side" are loosing their meaning when we commit evil or illegal acts, such as wars...
OK, enough complaining. For those who can read, I will give a few links on the most recent use of chemical weapons in Syria. A good place to start is this article, which gives some historical background, summarizes the theories about the incident, and discusses the logic behind them. And here is an article that questions the legality of USA's rush into action. Isn't that the job of the MSM to ask these questions? Instead of asking these questions, the MSM proclaimed that Trump just became president after firing the 59 Tomahawks into Syria!
Why peace activist and anyone who questions the system and those in power have to go to the alternative media? What was the purpose of a free media? Why is the Western MSM so uniform on foreign policy issues? Why aren't we disturbed that the MSM acts as a propaganda outlet for those in power - justifying their illegal actions, instead of questioning them? Why is the European media so much in sink with the USA media giants? Why is Swedish media presenting so one-sided picture of the Syrian conflict, relying on information from the "moderate rebels", and ignoring or disbelieving the only Scandinavian peace activist that went to Syria?
When we listen to the Western MSM, pundits, or politicians, they often point to the the 2013 use of chemical weapons as the previous incident in which Obama showed weakness because he did not enforce his "red line". I have not met anyone, who knew that this incident was later proven to be a "false flag attack", i.e. an incident committed by the so-called "moderate rebels" on civilians in their territory in order to blame Assad and get the West involved in the conflict. Back then, the MSM did precisely what it does now - blamed Assad without proof, relying on people that wanted regime change in Syria for decades, and they repeated it so many times that it is the accepted "fact" nowadays. Back then, I relied on alternative, but reliable sources, like this one, and was saying to everyone that the truth might be different, but how can people believe me and disbelieve their favorite newspaper or TV news show?
Am I a "conspiracy theorist" for relying on alternative media? Yes, a lot of the alternative media promotes conspiracy theories, but that's why we have brains - to think and process the information we get. That's why I trust Consortiumnew.com instead of PropOrNot.
Can anyone read the sources I cite and call me a "conspiracy theorist"? How can any reasonable person read the articles I give above, compare them to any "analysis" or "report" on the same issues in the Western MSM and tell me that I rely on "fake news" websites, "conspiracy theories", or "Russian propaganda". I actually wonder how can any sane person continue to rely on the MSM after reading any of my sources? The articles I suggest are examples of serious journalism, or professional analysis, relying of facts, and presenting various points of view. The MSM on the other hand, are full of propaganda and bias. I wonder, how can people continue to rely on NYT, WaPo, and the rest, after being lied so many times?
For those who have the stomach for "Russian propaganda", here is Chris Hedges interview on RT, with Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton, who publish on Alternet - a site I've never heard before, but which we should follow, if we don't want to be blinded by the MSM.
I don't know what more to say. I am trying to read less news because I want to preserve my sanity, but whenever I go to the news, I keep my critical attitude because I have no doubt that we are living in very dangerous times and we are subjected to propaganda beyond anything I've seen during the Communist era.

Remembering Saddam Hussein

The CIA analyst, John Nixon, who interrogated Saddam Hussein has written a book about the ex-Iraqi dictator. Most of us do not have time to read books, especially about irrelevant dead dictators, but I strongly recommend watching the interview with this man whose job in CIA was to study and analyze Saddam (the 2nd part of the interview is here).
It is worth remembering how the MSM portrayed Saddam before, during, and after the invasion of Iraq. According to our free Western media, Saddam (just like Milošević and Gaddafi) was an evil dictator, who was torturing and killing his own people. He even gassed his own people (just like Bashar al-Assad more recently), and he was compared to Hitler (just like Vladimir Putin and all of the previously mentioned "evil dictators").
Remember everything you heard or read about Saddam and listen to the guy whose job was to analyze Saddam, and who interrogated him until he was executed. That should help you understand and interpret the current news, if you haven't yet realize that the goal of the MSM is not to inform you, but to brainwash you. Every time you hear about a new "Hitler", or any "evidence" against that new "Hitler", you should remember Saddam and... be skeptical!
If anyone could somehow strip all the spin and propaganda from the numerous articles and "news" about these "evil dictators", it should be obvious that these dictators do not come even close to the worst dictatorships in the world (e.g. Saudi Arabia), which happen to be friendly with USA, and therefore, cannot be criticized. If there is anything common for these three Middle Eastern dictators, it is that they were secular, in the case of the two dead ones, socialist leaders, who despite their efforts did not manage to (always) please the USA and ended up as "enemies" of the Empire.
I am not saying that Saddam, Gaddafi, and al-Assad, were/are not dictators. Yes, they were/are dictators, but they were/are not the worst ones, and therefore, we should not rush to remove them. Even if we ignore all the lies and manipulations designed to fool us that Iraq, Libya, and Syria were supporting or harboring terrorist, let's ask ourselves how can a criminal act, such as war (in fact, war is "the supreme international crime", according to Article 39 of the United Nations Charter), can be used to correct the crimes of a dictator? How can a crime be corrected by committing the supreme crime?
What the "regime change" adventures in Iraq, Libya, and Siria, did achieve? We destroyed three peaceful, secular, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic countries and turned them into failed states that are now breeding grounds for terrorists. Congratulations!

The Hysteria About the "Russian Hack"

The Western media has gone mad in the last few months on the issue of the so-called "Russian hacking". They are constantly presenting the "Russian hacking" as a fact, as if there is no doubt that the Russians did it. One cannot escape the conclusion that the Western media follows Goebbels's motto that "if you tell the same lie enough times, people will believe it; and the bigger the lie, the better."
Whenever one tries to see the logic in the Western media, it comes down to convincing us that "Russians did it because the US government institutions said so". We are asked to believe these institutions, who have been manipulating us for decades to accept various wars and other crimes as "just and necessary". We must believe the MSM, but we should not believe the so-called "fake news", even if they come from sources that have proven to be correct.
The blaming of Russia, or its President Putin, was a convenient way to avoid the discussion on the real scandal, which was the way the "establishment" stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders. We have information published by WikiLeaks, the truthfulness of which nobody disputes, and instead of discussing that, we are forced to discuss the "Russian hack" and whether that was "an act of war". Can you comprehend what is happening: we have a real, proven, scandalous problem in the US political system, but instead of that, we have to discuss a "problem" that does not have any factual basis!?!?
This is insulting to me and I cannot understand how can so many intelligent people accept this insult to their intelligence?
I don't have the time and the energy to go through all arguments and facts. You can find plenty of that in independent or opposing media:

• Robert Parry's latest article in Consortiumnews.com
• US Intelligence Veterans Disputing the Russia Hacking Claims 
• Pulizer prize winner Glenn Greenwald writes in The Intercept or watch his interviews on DemocracyNow on 2017-01-05 (starting at 33'40'') and 2017-01-06 (starting at 14'10'')
• And if you dare to listen to the "enemy propaganda", here is what they said on 4th, 6th, and 9th of January. 

Where should I stand when I hear more common sense coming from the "enemy"?

An American friend tells me that I am biased. That there are many good and decent people working in the MSM. Sure, most of these journalist were not born evil or manipulative, but their careers depend on whether their positions are aligned with the editorial policy. When a journalist works in NYT, WaPo, or any other MSM outlet, s/he must follow that policy or risk their career. Of course, that applies to the Russian, Chinese, German, or Swedish journalist working in their respective medias. Yes, they all do propaganda - that's their job, but we have to use our critical thinking before deciding what to believe. 

In recent years, on many war-an-peace issues, I am given the choice to believe the uniform "Russia/Putin-is-responsible-for-all-evil-in-this-world" point of view, promoted by the MSM, which has been shown to be wrong or deceptive in the past. On the other hand I have independent media, like WikiLeaks, Consortiumnews.com, The Intercept, DemocracyNow and others that have never let me down. Who should I believe?

Am I biased, if my independent sources that give me fact-based point of view, appear to be in agreement with the "Russian propaganda"?

List of documentaries

There are plenty of good documentaries that can open the eyes of everyone. Surely, I have not seen all of them and I am open to suggestions to add to this list anything that helps us see through the manipulations and propaganda that we are subjected to. Whenever, I see a documentary (old or new) that is worth adding to this list, I will do it.

• The Coming War on China - this is a must see documentary by John Pilger, an Australian journalist, based in UK, who shows who threatens the peace and stability in the World. The documentary was released in December 2016. You can watch it here. A good question for all of us is why are we so misinformed after reading or watching the free Western media? Pilger tried to answer this question already 10 years ago. 
• Inequality for All -  is a 2013 documentary film directed by Jacob Kornbluth. It examines the widening income inequality in the United States. The film is presented by Robert Reich - an American economist, author and professor, who was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. I watched on Netflix and you can do the same if you want a better quality.
• Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret - is a 2014 documentary film produced and directed by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. The film explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment, and investigates the policies of environmental organizations on this issue. At the time I watched it, it was available on Netflix. 

Is Putin the villain we are told he is?

I am sick and tired from the anti-Putin (and anti-Russian) propaganda conducted by our “free” Western media. This propaganda is so massive that it is almost impossible to find people in my circle of friends and colleagues who are not convinced that Putin is an evil dictator, who endangers the World peace! People are so convinced by this propaganda that I am afraid to contradict them.

Here is in short what I think of Putin: apart from Mikhail Gorbachev, Putin is the most modern, and in terms of values and actions – the most pro-Western, Russian leader in the last century! It maybe even in the entire Russian history, but I am not so familiar with the tsarist history (before 1917 Russia was a monarchy).

Every time I dare to express my opinion in front of other people, it is in reaction to some nasty remark against Russia or its President. I usually ask how do they reached their opinions about Putin? Is it just accepting what every influential politician and journalist is telling them, or is it because they have evidence that Putin is the villain they say he is? I usually tell them that years ago I started to doubt what I was hearing/reading about Putin because it sounded not well-founded and contradicted what was said about Putin in earlier years. For a long time, I would fact-check every anti-Putin article that I came across with, and in each occasion, I found that there was no evidence for the accusations or Putin’s words were taken out of context. After doing this for a long time (probably about a year) I made up my mind, i.e. I decided that it was all a propaganda, and I stopped wasting my time – whenever I read something about Putin, I knew that the truth was most likely the opposite…

So far, nobody, absolutely no one, has shown me anti-Putin article based on reliable sources and proven facts. Almost all anti-Putin articles are written by propagandists, or journalists – not by serious scholars or experts on Russia or Russian politics. Unfortunately, by now there is so much dirt and misinformation created by the leading Western media, that every new publication can refer to any number of previously published rubbish. There is so much of it, that the propaganda has become the accepted truth. No wonder people cannot believe me. How can I possibly know more than the editors of New York Times, BBC, or Dagens Nyheter?!

I do not know Putin as a person. He maybe a villain, but before I accept this I would like to see a proof. So far I have not seen any. It is much easier to judge Putin as a president, because his words and actions can be seen by anyone. I dare say that I have read/listened a lot of Putin’s words, as well as his actions. And on that front too, my judgement is largely positive. In my opinion he is more modest, straightforward, and trustworthy than any of the big names on the Western political arena! Unfortunately, this too is difficult to see, because the actions of President Putin are not visible to most people in the West – what they see is the caricature of Putin that is given to them by the Western media.

For those of you, willing to question the prevailing wisdom in our “free” and “democratic” world, here are a few trustworthy sources on Putin and Russia:

• An article by a true journalist Robert Parry: The Existential Madness of Putin-Bashing
• An article by Natylie Baldwin: Russia’s Very Different Reality
• A book by the British scholar Richard Sakwa: Putin: Russia's Choice
• An audio discussion with the greatest American expert on Russia - Stephen F. Cohen:  The Imperative of De-Demonizing Vladimir Putin
• And Oliver Stone's The Putin Interviews (the link is from the Swedish SVT Play and most likely will not work from outside Sweden)