#Blinken speech

[xtruss]

Arab World Sees Crackdown on RT as Admission of Role Russian Media Plays 'Conveying Truth to People'

— Ilya Tsukanov | Saturday September 14, 2024

© Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov

The State Department has leveled fresh accusations against RT, claiming the Russian broadcaster is linked to Russian intel and engaged in a global influence operation. Journalists from the Arab World told Sputnik about the real reasons for the crackdown.

"You've asked questions for months and months about the Global South, and why there's not more support for Ukraine in this part of the Middle East or that part of Latin America or this part of Africa," US State Department Global Engagement Center director James Rubin told reporters at a briefing in Washington on Friday as the US government rolled out fresh allegations and restrictions against the Russian foreign language broadcaster.

"One of the reasons why so much of the world has not been as fully supportive of Ukraine as you would think they would be...is because of the broad scope and reach of RT, where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions if not billions of people around the world," Rubin said, complaining about Russian media's global reach and ability to get alternative viewpoints across.

Secretary of State Blinken, President Biden and other officials will be "talking" with counterparts "in Latin America, in Africa, in Asia and are going to be working with their colleagues to try to show all of those countries that...to broadcast, with no restriction of control, RT and allow them free access to their countries," and "has had a deleterious effect on the views of the rest of the world about a war that should be an open-and-shut case," Rubin added.

'Shocking' Hypocrisy and Duplicitousness

“These events clearly show that the world has once again been deceived by [US] claims of supporting a free media. Blinken leading the campaign against RT is more shocking than it is surprising, especially since the US is making these accusations against a channel expressing the views of many people around the world, not just in Russia,” Palestinian-British Journalist Abdel Bari Atwan told Sputnik.

“The US has a regime closer to a dictatorship than a democracy, and the campaign against RT contradicts Washington’s false claims that it seeks different opinions and democracy, which Americans no longer have,” Atwan suggested.

The Biden administration is “projecting onto RT its own favorite method of using the media for insidious purposes,” Ibrahim Awad, vice president of Lebanon’s National Media Council, told Sputnik.

It’s stunning “that the foreign minister of a superpower has become involved in such a matter, but on the other hand, the US’s deceptive position and attempts to sit on two chairs at once is not surprising,” Awad said.

US Sanctions on Russian Media Reveal Fear, Insecurity of Dying Empire – Ex-CIA Analyst! Former US State Department official and retired CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson spoke with Sputnik about the new sanctions against Russian media announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken Friday.

“Freedom of speech in America is under assault,” said Johnson as the Biden administration announced its latest punitive measures against Rossiya Segodnya, the parent company of RT and Sputnik. “I'm waiting to see if they're going to come down and sanction me, for example, for daring to appear on RT and offer commentary. I'm not compensated for that in any form or fashion.”

“The only thing that can kill free speech is this kind of persecution,” said the former CIA analyst.

— Ex-US Defense Department Analyst Karen Kwiatkowski:

“This really is divorced from reality.”

“They are creating news and media coverage of something that very much fits into their narrative, which is an anti-Russian narrative which is related to the campaign.”

What this reflects is just… one more symptom of a dying empire where they have to go out and attack others.”

“The only thing that can kill free speech is this kind of persecution,” said the former CIA analyst.

“It's irrational. And again, I think it's a symptom of a weakness on the part of the United States. Weakness and fear. That's where this originates… the United States is acknowledging that what it can't handle is the truth.”

“We are not allowed to speak freely about American foreign policy,” Kwiatkowski warned. “We see it in terms of the demonstrations across the country in support of Gaza, trying to end that genocide. We are not allowed in this country to criticize the American neoconservative foreign policy. That is a done deal. We do not have freedom of speech in that area at all.”

Zombie ‘Russiagate’ Conspiracy Persists as US Stokes Fear, Hatred of Moscow! — John Miles

The narrative has proven to be a useful tool as the United States supports economic, diplomatic, and military aggression against Russia.

“Russiagate continues to survive like a science fiction monster, resilient to bullets,” writes former CIA analyst Ray McGovern in a piece on the website Consortium News, noting the longevity and usefulness of the conspiracy in continuing to stoke hostility towards Moscow among the American public.

The notion that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election or played a role in hacking leaked Democratic Party emails has persisted even after sworn testimony from the cyber security firm CrowdStrike confirmed the lack of evidence for the claim.

“The mainstream media has been incredibly adept at suppressing all this stuff,” McGovern noted on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Wednesday. “No matter what we write in Consortium News or other outlets – it's on antiwar.com now, too – or however much you and I share this information, we're fighting an uphill battle.”

“Why is this important? Just to remind folks who might not reflect on this, Russia has been demonized to the point where Donald Trump has been blamed on the Russians – think what you will of that,” he continued.

“And all kinds of other things have been blamed on the Russians to the point where if these not very emotionally stable people in the White House decide to go after the Russians in Ukraine or even get involved against the Russians in Syria or elsewhere in the Middle East, most of the American people say, ‘oh yeah, those damn Russians, didn't they give us Donald Trump?’”

The ingrained hostility towards Russia from the American public – and from Democratic Party supporters, in particular – has served as a useful tool in justifying continued US involvement in Ukraine’s proxy war against the country.

Former CIA head James Clapper, who presided over the agency’s illegal surveillance of the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 election, has been instrumental in perpetuating the narrative. Clapper has made his distrust of Moscow clear, appearing to suggest nefarious qualities are somehow hardcoded into the DNA of Russian people.

“[Clapper claimed] the historical practices of the Russians [make them] almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical Russian technique,” McGovern recalled, calling him a “Russophobe extraordinaire.”

“I Was The CIA Director… We Lied, We Cheated, We Stole,” Declared Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo During a Candid Moment In 2019. “We Had Entire Training Courses.”

A gene for dishonesty has yet to be found. But if one exists, Pompeo’s comment suggests it is most likely to predominate among CIA officials like Clapper, who have been responsible for the overthrow of dozens of world leaders and the deaths of millions of civilians.

Truth Hurts

Nasser Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Union of Journalists, says Washington’s assault on RT is an “admission of the role the channel plays in conveying the truth to people.”

The US elite “only wants one version of the world – their version, which entails falsification, lies and propaganda, and they don’t want the world to see the truth, hence the attempts to restrict all free media spreading truth and justice,” Bakr said.

Algerian professor of media studies Hakim Bugrara says the US regularly “undermines the humanitarian and democratic values it claims to defend” when someone falls outside its orbit.

“Washington does not accept the existence of strong media contradicting its position, and the Americans are particularly worried about Russian media, which has enormous reach and distribution, despite all attempts to interfere with its broadcasts.” Russian journalists have broken through the information blockade with their content and diversity of opinions, and most importantly, offered the world “a different perspective on current events and their underlying causes,” Bugrara said.

US Recognizes Russian Media Play Important Role in Reporting Truth - Experts

On September 4, the United States imposed sanctions against the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik, and Ruptly. The new measures also affected Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group.

Commenting on the US accusations against RT, political scientist and international relations expert Ruhollah Modabber told Sputnik that the US recognizes that Russian media, especially RT and Sputnik, play an important role in reporting the truth and countering false Western propaganda.

"People around the world turn to Russian media for the truth. RT and Sputnik have attracted a large audience. Western information sources fail at the same time as they try to show another reality through censorship. The Russian media have once again defeated the hegemony of the US and Europe in the information space", Ruhollah Modabber said.

The US wants to achieve information "censorship" against Russia because it has "failed" in Ukraine, Chilean political scientist Ingrid Urgelles, PhD told Sputnik, commenting on Washington's introduction of new sanctions against Russian media.

"This is another of the many attempts by the US to censor platforms that broadcast a point of view that differs from the imperialist agenda they promote. In this case, it is the conflict in Ukraine, and because the US lost, it also lost [global] support. That is why they are resorting to such extraordinary measures to blame the media, which is quite absurd, because it is not just about RT, but about the form in which people receive information," Ingrid Urgelles said.

In her opinion, RT as a media outlet has "always shown the other side of the coin and criticized US colonialism in different parts of the world."

The editor-in-chief of Russia's Rossiya Segodnya international media group and the RT broadcaster, Margarita Simonyan, said on Friday that she felt she had made a difference with her work, commenting on the new US sanctions.

"The US Department of State says RT is one of the reasons why Ukraine does not have larger support in other countries. I haven't lived my life in vain. Seriously," Simonyan wrote on Telegram.

RT Editor-in-Chief Cites Channel's Success as Key Factor Behind US Sanctions! © Sputnik/Evgeny Biyatov/Go to the mediabank

VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) - The editor-in-chief of Russia’s Rossiya Segodnya* international media group and the RT broadcaster, Margarita Simonyan, called RT's success as one of two reasons for US sanctions against Russian media, along with the elections in the United States.

"Why did they do it now? For two reasons — firstly, the projects turned out to be incredibly successful: our audience has grown very significantly compared to what it was when we broadcast openly. Last year alone, our English-language projects had almost 14 billion views. This hurts them. This is more than our closest competitors BBC and CNN," Simonyan said on the air of Rossiya 1 broadcaster.

"Plus they have elections — this is a scenario they have already worked out: as soon as there are elections, they need to quickly distract everyone with Russia," she added.

Simonyan recalled earlier that after the start of the Russian special operation, a number of Western countries supporting Ukraine had restricted the work of the TV channel and media group, including revoking licenses.

"In these countries and, in particular, in the US, we began to work, how can I say, underground. Guerrilla warfare is a well-known, familiar, and beloved business for any person born in the Soviet Union, and raised on Soviet textbooks, and educated in a Soviet school. We organized a number of 'guerrilla' projects," the journalist said.

She also emphasized that the audience in other countries had even increased.

"In addition to what we, of course, have left, broadcasting has been strengthened in those countries that allow us to do this. This is Latin America, this is the Arab world, we have grown very well in Africa," Simonyan said.

On September 4, the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against Simonyan and her deputies Anton Anisimov and Elizaveta Brodskaia. Deputy Director of the RT English-Language Information Broadcasting Andrey Kiyashko, RT’s Digital Media Projects Manager Konstantin Kalashnikov and a number of other employees of the broadcaster were also added to the sanctions list.

The US State Department, in a parallel move, tightened the operating conditions for Rossiya Segodnya and its subsidiaries, designating them as "foreign missions." Under the Foreign Missions Act, they will be required to notify the department of all personnel working in the United States and disclose all real estate they own.

US authorities also announced restrictions on the issuance of visas to individuals they allege are "acting on behalf of Kremlin-supported media organizations." However, the Department of State refused to disclose the names of those subject to the new visa restrictions. Commenting on the new sanctions, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed the measures did not target any particular individual Russian journalists, but rather the employees of the targeted companies who were involved in "covert activities."

Meanwhile, US authorities have charged Kalashnikov and another RT employee, Elena Afanasyeva, with money laundering conspiracy and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

*Rossiya Segodnya is the parent media group of Sputnik News.

[rodaportal]

Viktor Orbán’s Call for Ceasefire: Global Context

Join us as we explore Viktor Orbán’s urgent call for a ceasefire and peace talks in the midst of the Ukraine conflict. 🌍✌️ Featuring powerful insights from global leaders like Ursula von der Leyen, Antony Blinken, Jens Stoltenberg, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin, this video dives deep into the complexities of achieving global peace. Don't miss this critical discussion!

Watch now 👉 Viktor Orbán’s Call for Ceasefire: Global Context

📌 Highlights: 🔹 Viktor Orbán on the urgency of peace 🔹 Ursula von der Leyen on independence and freedom 🔹 Antony Blinken’s support for Ukraine 🔹 Jens Stoltenberg on NATO’s strength 🔹 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s perspectives

[allthegeopolitics]

Pro-Israel advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over sanctions issued against individuals involved in settler violence in the occupied West Bank.  The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas, are composed of two NGOs, Texans for Israel and the Israeli nonprofit, Regavim, as well as two dual US-Israeli citizens who live in the West Bank. The defendants named in the lawsuit include the US Department of Treasury; US Department of State; Department of Homeland Security; Office of Foreign Assets Control; Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; and their department chiefs, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. In February this year, Biden filed an executive order allowing federal agencies to impose financial sanctions and visa restrictions against individuals who attack or intimidate Palestinians and destroy or dispossess Palestinians of their property.

Continue Reading.

[mariacallous]

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Azerbaijan may be preparing for military aggression against his country as the term "Western Azerbaijan," has become increasingly popular in public discourse in Azerbaijan.

During a Nov. 18 speech at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Yerevan, Pashinyan claimed Azerbaijan media, schools, and universities had started calling Armenia this way, warning the rhetoric could signal Baku's desire to start an offensive military operation.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned a select group of lawmakers that Azerbaijan might be planning to invade Armenia in the coming weeks, Politico reported on Oct. 13.

Officials familiar with the discussion told Politico that Blinken spoke about the possibility of an invasion in a conference call on Oct. 3.

The call addressed officials' questions about the U.S. response to Azerbaijan's September offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the call, Blinken reportedly told lawmakers that the State Department will not renew an established agreement that permits the U.S. to offer Azerbaijan military aid. The agreement has been renewed every year since 2002 but lapsed in June.

In the same conversation, Blinken warned that Azerbaijan may invade southern Armenia.

Of particular concern is the southern region of Syunik, which Azerbaijan calls the Zangezur Corridor and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly referred to as "Western Azerbaijan."

In mid-September, the Azerbaijani military launched a lightning offensive against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, an unrecognized Armenian state within the territory of Azerbaijan. Local authorities eventually surrendered in a ceasefire mediated by Russia.

A formal decree was later signed, dissolving all official institutions of the breakaway state from Jan. 1, 2024. Following Azerbaijan's victory, around 100,000 people have left Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia.

[eretzyisrael]

by Adam Kredo

A Washington, D.C., rabbi is suing two pro-Palestinian agitators for assaulting him last month during a prayer session outside of the Israeli embassy, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, an Orthodox rabbinic leader at the Yeshivas Elimelech Jewish school, says he was hosting a small prayer group outside the Israeli embassy in late March when two pro-Palestinian protesters began blaring sirens and bullhorns, interrupting the session and ultimately causing damage to Herzfeld’s hearing.

Herzfeld is charging the two protesters—named as Hazami Barmada and Atafeh Rokhvand—with "assault, battery, outrage, and other violations" as a result of their actions. Herzfeld claims he "suffered acute acoustic trauma and other harm" following the incident, which the filing dubs a hate crime. Both Barmada and Rokhvand are identified in the suit as the leaders of ongoing demonstrations outside Israel’s Washington embassy and in front of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s private residence.

The case comes amid a flurry of clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators across the country, where violence has repeatedly broken out. Herzfeld’s case highlights the aggressive tactics being used by some protesters as they seek to disrupt pro-Israel gatherings and foment unrest.

Herzfeld and his group were praying for the Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas, as well as for the innocent Gaza Strip residents caught in the violence, when "they were surrounded" by the alleged "pro-Hamas protesters" who were sporting "earplugs or sound-canceling headphones—and who were already encamped in front of the embassy," according to the suit.

The sound equipment deployed by the pro-Palestinian demonstrators was "intended to prevent any speech or other support for Israel," the suit charges. When the group continued its prayer session, the protesters allegedly "increased the volume of the siren-like sound being generated by the bullhorns, sirens and loudspeakers to levels that are far in excess of those allowed by District of Columbia law."

Security staff from the Israeli embassy ultimately had to bring Herzfeld and his group into the building to prevent the situation from spiraling further out of control.

"The effort to drown out Rabbi Herzfeld’s prayers persisted for several minutes, without abatement," the suit states. "As Rabbi Herzfeld and his group tried to pray, the sound level increased as Rabbi Herzfeld tried to make himself heard over the din."

The rabbi is seeking an unspecified amount in damages and a court injunction to stop the two protest leaders "from harassing, obstructing, or interfering with Rabbi Herzfeld’s activities, including his leading of prayer, protests, or other lawful activities."

[stupittmoran]

Top 10 headlines the media didn't tell you this week, Repost & Follow for more

Thomas Massie has introduced a bill to abolish the Fed.

Andy Ogles calls Trump trial a joke.

Peru classifies trans people as “mentally ill”

Slovakia PM shot after rejecting the WHO Global Pandemic Accord and aid for Ukraine.

CNN to host presidential Trump Biden debate, no audience will be present.

Ashley Biden confirms authenticity of diary.

President Biden invokes Executive Privilege blocking release of recordings of mishandling of Classified Documents.

Elon Musk wins Australia court dispute over free speech.

Democrats vote AGAINST bill to detain, deport any iIIegal immigrant who assaults a police officer.

Video goes viral of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken playing guitar in a bar in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Why won't they allow an audit of billions being sent to Ukraine?

If you appreciate this Top 10 recap, remember to Repost and FoIIow me for another week in a clown world 🤡🌎

TaraBull

@TaraBull808

[good-old-gossip]

U.S.A.'s Favorite Dictator is SUPPRESSING ANTI-ISRAELI SPEECH in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has reportedly launched a crackdown on citizens who express views critical of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza online.

The claims in a Bloomberg report on Wednesday come as US officials suggested talks are underway for a Saudi-Israel normalisation deal.

According to the report, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, the detentions include an executive who works for a company involved in Vision 2030, the flagship economic project spearheaded by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Sources familiar with the matter said that the person was arrested in connection with expressing “incendiary” views on the current Israel-Gaza conflict.

A second detainee is a media personality who Bloomberg reports had said that “Israel should never be forgiven”, and another is someone who called for a boycott of US fast food restaurants in the kingdom.

MEE has contacted the Saudi foreign ministry for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. In 2020 and 2021, Israel reached US-brokered normalisation agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

Since then, there has been persistent speculation about a similar deal with Saudi Arabia, a key US ally.

In January, Prince Khalid bin Bandar, the Saudi ambassador in London, said that a normalisation deal was “close” but the kingdom paused US-brokered talks after the deadly attack on Israel on 7 October by Hamas-led fighters.

The Saudi foreign ministry said in February that no normalisation will take place without a ceasefire and progress toward Palestinian statehood.

However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that Washington and Riyadh have engaged in intensive diplomacy over the past month to reach the normalisation deal.

“The work that Saudi Arabia, the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion,” he said on Sunday.

Crackdowns on free speech, particularly the detention of people for social media posts, has been a common practice since Bin Salman became crown prince in 2017. The kingdom does not disclose the number of those detained, and does not prosecute them within the normal judiciary.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

AKIVA VAN KONINGSVELD

Slightly more than three in four Palestinians have a positive view of Hamas in the wake of its Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, according to a survey by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) research firm.

The Ramallah-based institute polled 668 Palestinian adults in the southern Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7. (The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points, AWRAD said.)

The Palestinian poll—the first of its kind since the Oct. 7 attacks—found that 48.2% of respondents characterize Hamas’s role as “very positive,” while 27.8% view Hamas as “somewhat positive.” Almost 80% regard the role of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades “military” wing as positive.

The Al-Qassam Brigades killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and wounded thousands in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. In addition, terrorists took some 240 people hostage.

When asked whether they supported or opposed Hamas’s actions on Oct. 7, 59.3% of the Palestinians surveyed said they “extremely” supported the attacks and 15.7% said they “somewhat” supported the murderous spree.

Only 12.7% expressed disapproval with 10.9% saying they neither supported nor opposed the attack.

Almost all (98%) of the respondents said the slaughter made them feel “prouder of their identity as Palestinians,” with an equal percentage saying they would “never forget and never forgive” the Jewish state for its ongoing military operation against Hamas.

Three-quarters said that they expect the Israel-Hamas war to end in a Palestinian victory.

In response to the question “What would you like as a preferred government after the war is finished in Gaza Strip,” 72% said they favor a “national unity government” that includes Hamas and Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction.

Approximately 8.5% said they favor a government controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

In addition, more than 98% of Palestinians surveyed by AWRAD hold negative views of the United States.

On Nov. 8, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Gaza must be handed over to the P.A. following hostilities. The solution “must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority,” stated Blinken.

During an Oct. 18 visit to Tel Aviv, U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a speech in which he claimed that “Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”

AWRAD said that “the poll’s sample includes all socioeconomic groups, ensuring equal representation of adult men and women, and is proportionately distributed across the West Bank and Gaza.”

[melhindips]

Day 357

🇱🇧 Health Ministry estimates Beirut death toll to rise to 300, has so far only confirmed 6 killed, 90 wounded as medical staff report that bodies evaporated from intensity of bombs

🇱🇧 Israel again bombs Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut 7 times in past hour

🇱🇧 25+ people confirmed killed by IOF today. Likely severe undercount

🟡 Hezbollah launches rocket barrages at occupied Safad, Tiberias, and colonies in Galilee & Haifa area. Strikes sites in Safad. Also claims targeting Tel Aviv, Ashkelon

🇺🇸 Calls for Secretary of State Blinken to resign after evidence emerged of him dismissing reports that Israel blocked US aid to Gaza & lied to Congress saying the US didn’t assess it

🇵🇸 North Gaza: IOF kills 4 people in Jabalia home incl. 2 kids. IOF bombed home on Hamid Street killing & injuring many people. 1+ killed in IOF attack on Gaza City St

🇵🇸 At least 1 killed, others wounded, in IOF strike on displacement camp in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital (central)

🇺🇳 UN delegates walk out in protest of Netanyahu speech as he vows to continue war & shows map showing West Bank, Gaza as part of Israel

🪖 Israel to recruit African asylum seekers to fill 10,000 soldier shortage, in exchange for residency

🇸🇾 UN: 30,000+ crossed into Syria from Lebanon in 72 hours

🌾 Israel destroys food storage facility in Qalqilya (West Bank)

🇵🇸 West Bank raids: IOF fire tear gas, sound bombs at Bethlehem residents & protestors in Nablus, injuring 1+. Also opened fire at people in Hebron

[progressive-politico]

Reasons not to vote for Joe Biden

-Nordstream pipeline bomber. Biggest eco terrorist in human history

-Approved of the willow project

-Broke the rail strike

-Gave federal contracts to union busters

-Sent Covid-19 relief money to the police

-Funded ICE to record levels. 6 billion more than Trump

-Illegally pressuring social media companies to crack down on free speech

-Fighting proxy war with Russia by sending weapons to nazis in Ukraine

-Stealing BILLIONS from Afghanistan, starving their people

-Absolutely unhinged China policy

-Sent weapons to Taiwan

-sent nuclear submarines to Australia

-Hunter Biden pay the play corruption

-Hiring Neera Tanden as White House Domestic Policy Advised

-Hiring Antony Blinken

-Hiring Lloyd Austin from Raytheon as Defense Secretary

-full fledged support to the genocidal state of Israel

-pushing the privatization of water

-Insulting Maui response

-said he would veto medicare for all

-Kamala Harris could become president

If This Doesn't Convince You Here Are A few more

-stole Iranian and Syrian oil

-escalated Cuban embargo

-Actively trying to kill Julian Assange

-Bombed Somalia

-cut SNAP benefits

-Hired notorious war criminal Elliot Abrams

-Hired Victoria Nuland as Deputy Secretary of State

[tomorrowusa]

Sweden officially joined NATO on Thursday. It had been neutral since 1814.

One of Putin's pretexts for his illegal invasion of Ukraine was to prevent NATO expansion. What the invasion really did was to cause NATO to become reinvigorated and expanded.

With Finland and Sweden joining NATO, the land border between Russia and NATO has doubled in length. And the Baltic is now a Sea of NATO with Russia holding only a couple of relatively short strips of coastline near Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg. This represents a spectacular strategic failure for Putin.

Sweden on Thursday formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Sweden's "instrument of accession" to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department. "This is a historic moment for Sweden. It's historic for alliance. It's history for the transatlantic relationship," Blinken said. "Our NATO alliance is now stronger, larger than it's ever been." Kristersson wrote in a social media post that "we are therefore a safer country." Later Thursday. Kristersson will visit the White House and then be a guest of honor at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address to Congress.

Ukraine will eventually join NATO but it probably won't happen while active hostilities continue. Expect to hear Sweden mentioned at the State of the Union address.

Biden, in his speech to Congress, is expected to cite Sweden's accession to NATO as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin's intent to divide and weaken the alliance has failed as a direct result of the Ukraine invasion. And, the Democratic president is expected to use Sweden's decision to join to step up calls for reluctant Republicans to approved stalled military assistance to Ukraine as the war enters its third year. Biden and his NATO counterparts have vowed that Ukraine will join one day, too.

Russian imperialism of the past 300 years has caused its neighbors to seek more protection against it. Few people in Eastern Europe have fond memories of being Russian or Soviet colonies. With Putin acting like a хуйло for the past 20 years, the only safe option is NATO membership.

[mariacallous]

Georgia’s president accuses Russia of election meddling and urges the West to back protests

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s president on Monday urged the West to support opposition protests of the official results of a weekend parliamentary election in which the governing party was declared victorious amid voting irregularities and allegations of Russian meddling.

President Salome Zourabichvili, who refused to recognize the official results, told The Associated Press that the South Caucasus nation has fallen victim to Russian pressure aimed at derailing Georgia’s plans to join the European Union.

“We’ve seen that Russian propaganda was directly used,” said Zourabichvili, a fierce critic of Georgian Dream, the governing party. She said the government has been “working hand-in-hand with Russia,” and “probably” received help from Moscow’s security services.

EU Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said Monday that Georgian Dream’s election campaign was “directly inspired” by Russian propaganda and there were “unprecedented levels of disinformation.”

On Sunday, Zourabichvili stood alongside opposition leaders and urged Georgians to join a rally on the main street of the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday night to protest what she called a “total falsification, a total stealing of your votes.”

The Central Election Commission said the Georgian Dream party received 54.8% of Saturday’s votes with almost all ballots counted. The party — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — has become increasingly authoritarian in the past year, adopting laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

Protest is the only way Georgians can “express that their votes have been stolen, that their future has been stolen,” she told AP in an interview.

She said she hopes the U.S. and EU back the demonstrations.

“We need to have the firm support of our European partners, of our American partners,” Zourabichvili said, adding that it was in the interests of “a powerful Europe” to be present in the Caucasus and for the region to be stable.

Asked if she wants sanctions imposed on Georgian officials, Zourabichvili told AP that it’s up to Western leaders but that “certainly time has not come to to renew relations with authorities that are not legitimate at this point.”

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Georgia’s political leaders to “respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, address deficiencies in the electoral process, and move Georgia toward its Euro-Atlantic future.”

Massrali said the EU expects the Central Election Commission and other authorities “to swiftly, transparently and independently investigate and adjudicate electoral irregularities and allegations.”

The Kremlin has rejected the accusations of interference.

“We aren’t meddling in Georgia’s internal affairs, and we have no intention of meddling,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He countered that it was the West that had tried to influence the vote.

Asked about Zourabichvili’s call for the Georgians to join protests, he described it as an attempt to destabilize the country.

Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili, a member of Georgian Dream, accused the president of creating “a coup scenario” that goes “against the constitutional order and democratic elections.”

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely because of a Russian-style “foreign influence law” passed in June. Many Georgians viewed Saturday’s vote as a pivotal referendum on the opportunity to join the EU.

The election campaign in the nation of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, was marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign. European observers said the election took place in a “divisive” environment marked by intimidation and instances of vote-buying, double voting and physical violence.

During the campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric ... promoted Russian misinformation, manipulations, and conspiracy theories,” said Antonio López-Istúriz White, head of the European Parliament monitoring delegation.

Election observers said instances of intimidation and other violations were particularly noticeable in rural areas.

Georgian Dream scored its highest share of the vote — almost 90% — in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia. In the capital it received no more than 44% in any district.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of Georgian Dream, described his party’s success as “impressive and obvious,” and that “any attempts to talk about election manipulation ... are doomed to failure.”

Initial figures suggested voter turnout was the highest since Georgian Dream was first elected in 2012. The party has vowed to continue pushing toward EU accession but also wants to “reset” ties with Georgia’s former imperial master, Russia. In 2008, Georgia fought and lost a brief war with Russia, which then recognized the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions and bolstered its military presence there.

European Council President Charles Michel urged Georgian officials to “swiftly, transparently and independently investigate” the electoral irregularities and said Georgian Dream should demonstrate its “firm commitment” to the EU.

Hungary’s Victor Orbán was the first foreign leader to congratulate Georgian Dream and will visit Georgia on Monday and Tuesday.

Zourabichvili said he was a “special friend” of Georgian Dream and dismissed his visit as a “political play.”

Orban does not have “any mandate from the EU Council” to visit Georgia, Massrali said on behalf of the EU.

[eretzyisrael]

By Lazar Berman

Speaking nearly two weeks after the US election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly criticized the Biden administration’s judgment and policies at major junctions in Israel’s ongoing war against Iran and its proxies.

“The US had reservations and suggested that we not enter Gaza,” said Netanyahu in the Knesset plenum on Monday. “It had reservations about entering Gaza City, Khan Younis, and, most critically, strongly opposed entry into Rafah.”

Administration officials had publicly urged Israel to calibrate its Rafah offensive to minimize civilian harm.

“President Biden told me that if we go in, we will be alone,” Netanyahu said. “He also said that he would stop shipments of important weapons to us. And so he did. A few days later, [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken appeared and repeated the same things and I told him — we will fight with our nails.”

The US withheld a single shipment of 2,000-lb bombs, allowing all other weapon transfers to continue.

Netanyahu also criticized US positions after Iran’s drone and missile attacks on Israel: “Again, we were told by our friend that there is no need to respond. And I said that sitting and not reacting is not acceptable, and we responded.”

‘Specific component’ in Iran nuke program hit

The prime minister said that the Israeli response last month took out air defense batteries and “inflicted real damage on Iran’s ballistic missile production capability,” as well as targeting its nuclear program.

“It’s not a secret, it has been published,” Netanyahu said. “There is a specific component in their nuclear program that was hit in this attack.”

However, Netanyahu added that Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon has not been blocked. “We’ve delayed it… but it has progressed” over the past few years, he said. Iran has “advanced its enrichment; it still has a long way to go in other areas.” The imperative to stop Iran’s march to the bomb “is on us,” he said.

Israel’s April strike on Iran, Netanyahu said, took out one of four Russian-supplied S-300 surface-to-air missile defense batteries around Tehran. In October, Israel destroyed the remaining three batteries and caused serious damage to Iran’s ballistic missile production capabilities and its ability to produce solid fuel, which is used in long-range ballistic missiles.

Last week, the Axios news site revealed that Israel destroyed an active nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin during last month’s attack on Iran.

[arctic-hands]

Logically I knew the U.S. was never going to do anything meaningful about Shireen Abu Akleh's murder despite her being an American citizen–hell, the U.S. didn't even do anything meaningful about Rachel Corrie's murder by the IDF, and she was a white American–but it's still infuriating. I saw footage of protesters calling out Blinken as he spoke about the importance of press freedom–two hours into the speech and he never mentioned Abu Akleh.