#DO NOT JUSTIFY YOUR WAR CRIMES OR CHEMICAL WARFARE

[i-am-q]

Receptors Being Blocked by Kompany for me, Addie Keating

READ THIS ENTIRE POST AND COMPREHEND IT TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT, OR CEASE AND DESIST.

Progressives: we have reasons to believe The Way are playing you all to a degree that you believe you have a right to control a living human’s biochemical pathways.

*note: similar to dopamine binding receptors, cannabinoids bind to endogenous endocannabinoid receptors in a manner similar to the way that methamphetamine mimics endogenous dopamine molecules. There are no known (edit: insert enzymes) that exclusively bind “drug” molecules. All enzymes and structural proteins in the body serve vital functions. Exploratory research on this accepted postulate will be conducted computationally, the in vitro, followed by the methods laid out by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration. Human experimentation on a non consenting subject are illegal and grounds for immediate arrest.

HIPPA LAW STATES THAT I HAVE A RIGHT TO MEDICAL PRIVACY, EVEN AS A PUBLIC CITIZEN

I HAVE NEVER CONSENTED TO HALLUCINOGENIC OR STIMULANT BASED RESEARCH. ALL RECEPTOR BINDING INTERACTION STUDIES (ie. Marcus theory, overdose prevention, etc.) CONDUCTED BY “G’s Students” HERE IN AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD ARE FINISHED AS OF 4:13 PM (Eastern Standard Time), February 17th, 2025. PLEASE SEE MY POST ABOUT APPLYING FOR A POSITION WITH MARK SMITH, GENETICIST IF INTERESTED IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN VITRO OR WITH A NEW SUBJECT. I, ADDIE RACHEL KEATING-ZAID—aka ADDIE RACHEL KEATING ZAID, Addy Zaid, Abbie Zacker, Addy Keating, Rachel Keating, Addie Zaid, Addie Keating, or any other “alias” tied to the aforementioned social security number—DO NOT CONSENT TO EXPERIMENTATIONS OR RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON MY BIOPHYSICAL MATTER (brain, muscular framework, metabolic pathways, structural proteins, antibody formation, hormonal production, or anything mind, body, or “soul” altering). All fixed potentials supplied through any physical waveform to an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) battery with IP addresses pingable inside my body (Her body, Addie Rachel Keating-Zaid) are illegal unless, I, Addie Rachel Keating-Zaid have outlined a specific method on i_am_q.tumblr.com.

Prioritized Receptors to Prevent Heart Failure, Brain Damage, or Loss of Consciousness (Self-Defined as an inability to perceive my surroundings exactly as the cameras depict them):

5-HT(2A): blocking excess psilocybin (non consensual study)

HST-1: blocking excess Lysergic acid dimethylamide (non consensual drugging)

Kappa-Gamma: blocking excess fentanyl (consensual study up until the aforementioned date and time stamp) will be pulsed open in accordance with the method developed by my former orthopedic surgeon in which the pharmacophore is released upon pain receptors activation mentally (see his method).

GABA-1 & 2: blocking excess alprazolam and unknown benzodiazepines (non consensual drugging) will be pulsed at a steady state nightly, 2200 -0600 EST until built up pharmacophore has been fully metabolized)

ALL AFOREMENTIONED METHODS CAN BE PERFORMED WITHOUT EXTERNAL INTERVENTION BY THE INSTRUMENT TRAINED BY ADDIE KEATING.

RECEPTORS AND PATHWAYS THAT SHOULD NEVER BE BLOCKED FOR LIFE THREATENING REASONS:

-The “tau flap protein” designed to flush neurotoxins from the brain during deep sleep which opens naturally (will complement Kappa gamma and GABA 1 & 2 receptor methods) (literature will be posted in comments later)

-Catecholamine binding receptors (ie. dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, etc.)

-Glycolysis and glyconeogenesis related enzymes

-Endocannabinoid (ie. Arachidonic acid and anandamide synthesis and subsequent metabolites) related receptors

ALL METHODS REPORTED ARE NOT FOR PROFIT AND WERE DONATED TO ME BY LILLY AND FRIENDS, INDEPENDENT RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY A CURRENT STUDENT AT WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY (NO RELATION TO THE UNIVERSITY), AND FRIENDS INTERESTED IN SAVING MY LIFE AS A VICTIM OF SEVERE BREACH OF CLASSIFIED RESEARCH.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Most of the takes I’ve seen about Caitlyn’s Jinx-hunting strike team and their bit of light chemical warfare tend to focus on either justifying or condemning Caitlyn’s actions as if the characters are on some kind of morality points leaderboard, which makes even less sense than usual in the Everybody Does Terrible Things show. Litigating whether Caitlyn did a limited police action intended to minimize harm or a war crime is not only kind of pointless, but imo not really the intended function of this story element at all.

The point of this story element in the overall arc of S2 is that you can’t expect to do just a little bit of state violence and then stop. It’s the beginning of Caitlyn’s slide into her dictator era—using her power both as an enforcer and as a Kiramman to get the revenge she has fixated on in her grief.

(A lot of discussion of this sequence of events slides right over what to me is by far the most horrifying detail—which is that it seems like the plans for a major public works project in Zaun are proprietary to one single rich family in Piltover. Why? Because the Council couldn’t care less whether people in the Undercity were dying of Fantasy Pollution Consumption. Which left any mitigation up to the benevolence of private charity from wealthy Piltover families. And as we learn very early on by watching how Jayce is treated, Kiramman charity comes with conditions attached, and can be indistinguishable from control.)

Of course Caitlyn sees her plan as the lesser evil; as a limited and proportionate response that will be less destructive than a full police occupation of the Undercity. But the problem with a limited and proportionate response intended to only target Bad Guys is that it rarely stays that way. Because people will react to repression in ways that are often used to justify more repression.

And we see that it is a VERY short slide from the strike team into tactics that do broadly target civilians for things that in our world we would call protected political speech—things like dyeing your hair a symbolic color or standing around in a square listening to someone give a speech. We go from the strike team to checkpoints, mass arrests, and violent interrogations in like. One episode. Which anyone familiar with the dynamics of state violence in the real world could tell you was exactly what was gonna fucking happen.

(The scene with the cops harassing people at the checkpoint into Piltover is very sharp imo because it shows quite accurately that whatever the stated purpose of a police checkpoint is, the actual effect of a checkpoint is to force interactions between civilians and police, and if police are looking for reasons to target people they will find them.)

So on one level, this storyline is not really about Caitlyn’s personal moral compass at all. It’s about how the logic of state violence tends to drive escalating cycles of conflict.

But also…we’re not supposed to just be okay with a bit of light chemical warfare either! I think the show is pretty unambiguous about that! The whole sequence with Caitlyn’s strike team using the Gray is supposed to be a warning that things are going nowhere good! There’s a reason why the scene in the abandoned arcade, where Jinx learns Vi has become an enforcer, is set up to mirror the scene of child Powder and Vi hiding from enforcers in the same location in S1. We are shown that scene from Jinx’s POV in a way that invites us to sympathize with her. Caitlyn and Vi look like monsters, stalking through the fog in their enforcer gas masks, because they are doing something monstrous.

[thyglere]

A very long analysis on Caitlyn if you care to read:

Act 1 of season 2 of arcane just dropped on our collective brains like one of Jinx's bombs and just about everyone is losing their minds over it.

I've seen it happen especially over Caitlyn's actions which is... understandable.

What miffed me, however, is how the discourse has strayed to absolutes: Caitlyn is either absolute and irredeemably evil or completely justified in her actions.

Neither is true, of course, arcane is not interested in that sort of thing.

Caitlyn begins the act on the worst low of her life, her mother is dead over an attack that happened some feet away from her, its perpetrator on the other side of her gun some moments before it. Her father appears almost catatonic, incapable to see anything in front of him, he doesn’t offer Caitlyn true comfort, just more responsibility.

Caitlyn has never dealt with loss her whole life, she had the privilege of living in a rich estate, with a whole family and no need ever unmet. Now she is offered empty platitudes that do not quench her growing guilt and rage. We can see Jinx dominating her head, and what begins with the belief that Jinx, and only Jinx, is a monster quickly changes after the attack on the memorial.

Before it was easy to hate only one, Caitlyn knew her name and knew her face, but now she doesn't- too many people, too many faces, and she will probably never know any of her names, just a indeterminate mob of people that act like monsters and even look like monsters. They are easy to dehumanize and, in Caitlyn's head, the actions of the few are turning into the image of the all.

In episode 2 and 3 Caitlyn and her strike force steamroll over Zaun, weaponizing the Grey and extorting information with force- Caitlyn wants Jinx and she will get Jinx as fast as she can physically get. We can empathize with her loss, with her grief and rage, with her guilt and the trauma that came with seeing Jinx do what she did.

But if you want to argue empathy then it has to work both ways. The people of Zaun are not complicit in any of it, and I've seen people arguing that "the people they went after are criminals anyway!", "they are using the Grey tactically!", and "It is justified!". No, no, and no, the deployment of a chemical weapon and overwhelming police brutally are never justifiable, the leveraging of chemical weapons against human beings is a literal war crime, and while the montage is aesthetically breathtaking, the way Caitlyn's face is rendered against the backdrop of Jinx's wanted posters is very indicative of the nature of what she is doing.

Because what she is doing is not just going after Jinx, she is tormenting and terrifying the people of Zaun. Imagine that you worked at a clinic or healing center and suddenly people started flooding in because of chemical warfare near of your neighborhood; imagine if you heard that cops have started to gass people were you live; imagine that the air you breath was becoming contaminated, because chemical weapons cannot be tactically deployed, they spread and in the underground they will stay there.

When we read news about police brutality, when we see body footage of the use of excessive force and twitchy trigger fingers, our reaction is not sympathy for the traumatized or "stressed" cop- it's the understanding that this person should not hold the power they have, they shouldn't have a gun or a way to indiscriminately beat or arrest people.

We didn't emphasize with the actions of the enforcers in act 1 of season 1, they weren’t justifiable, and its mirror image also isn't.

This culminates in what happens in the fight with Jinx, and the behavior that Caitlyn displays. Caitlyn can rationalize her actions to herself, that she "had the shot" and that she "wouldn’t miss", neither are true. Caitlyn is a great shot, but she is not a "perfect" shot, no one is. Earlier in the fight she blew Jinx's finger off, and, if anything, that proves it all the more- it didn’t incapacitate Jinx, didn't stop her (that was Vi), and the place were Caitlyn wants to desperately put a bullet in is Jinx's skull. She can't guarantee that she wouldn't miss with all the flailing about that Jinx and Isha were doing, that is simply an impossibility. This refusal to see the harm she can do, that she is doing, either to poor Vi or the people that she thoroughly vilifying in her pursuit of revenge is truly what sets Caitlyn as a new antagonistic force.

Now Caitlyn has all the power in her hands and the devil on her shoulder, the next arc will probably be her descent until it all comes crashing around her. Because Caitlyn will be redeemed, I'm absolutely confident about that. There will come a moment of revelation that she will think: "What am I doing? What have I done?"

Perhaps then we will see the reforming agent that Caitlyn wanted to be inside the enforcers, someone that wanted to truly and genuinely help people, to see the humanity in everyone, not as an idealist, but as a more well-rounded person that understands the circumstances of life and what strife all go though. Not as someone that sees us-versus-them, not as someone that sees good versus evil, not as a cop that bashes through people's lives with government endorsed brutality, not as a cop that doesn't see the fault in her twitchy trigger finger and has no problem leveraging a chemical weapon against civilians.

Because, right now, Caitlyn is just acting like a cop, and all cops are bastards.

[azureflight]

Morality of War: The Concept of War Crimes on Azeroth

TL,DR; A similar concept to our world's international humanitarian law exist on Azeroth and it defines war crimes, crimes against the very essence of sentient beings and crimes against Azeroth herself. Both the Horde and the Alliance accepted these rules and the judgement made based on them as legitimate.

Furthermore, law of war existed in our world for as long as civilization existed and even if we may find the older versions lacking or cruel, the idea of proper conducts of warfare is well engraved within human history.

When it comes to the matters of warfare, discussions often take a turn towards what is an acceptable, proper or honorable way of waging war and whether an act constitutes a war crime or not. In the particular instances where these arguments happen aboutWorld of Warcraft, there are intertwining sentiments filling up the debates: The belief that the concept of rules or laws of war did not exist in older times and the belief that even though we have them in real world, they do not have them on Azeroth. However, both of these assumptions are wrong, not only because in our world the rules of war has a history almost as old as war itself, but also because Azeroth has its own codified laws and courts dedicated to them.

For our world, rules attempting to limiting the most devastating effects of war existed pretty much as far as civilization existed: Many religious texts like Torah and Quran include specific rules about how to conduct warfare. Literary epics and romances like Mahabharata and Tale of Danishmend talk about what should and shouldn't be done in war as a matter of justice and honor. From ancient Greeks to medieval Roman Catholic Church (The peace and truce of God), there were always institutions, rules and declarations about what is the proper way to wage war and constant attempts to both spread and enforce these rules. Some of these rules may seem barbaric to us today, or inefficient at best, however, what cannot be disputed is the fact that they existed. And with them exist the very idea that there is an acceptable and an unacceptable way to fight wars that goes pretty much as far back as war itself.

With these in mind, we can turn our attention towards Azeroth: A fictional world of magic. Different and similar to our world in a wide variety of aspects, the most common assumption about this world is that since it is a magical world depicting some pseudo-medievalesque aesthetics, it must not have the concept of war crimes or crimes against sentient beings. This assumption has its roots in the misconception that war crimes and rules of war did not exist in the pre-industrial world. However, just like how our world always had some form of these laws , Azeroth too has its own version:

In the 2014 novel War Crimes by Christie Golden, we have the former Warchief of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream, put on a trial in Pandaria for committing war crimes, crimes against the very essence of the sentient beings of Azeroth and crimes against Azeroth herself.

“Garrosh Hellscream. You have been charged with war crimes, and crimes against the very essence of sentient beings of Azeroth, as well as crimes against Azeroth itself. You are also charged for all acts committed in your name, or by those with whom you have allied.”

Chapter 5

Before this trial, Garrosh is already found and declared guilty of all charges and the trial is about determining what his punishment will be. It is basically a sentencing hearing.

His guilt is beyond question, but we will hold a fair and open trial to determine his fate, one that both Horde and Alliance will conduct, with the possibility of a reduced sentence—perhaps even liberty.

The August Celestials do not disagree that Garrosh Hellscream is guilty of terrible, grievous acts. I repeat—that he committed crimes is not in dispute. What must be decided now, however, is the manner in which these crimes are to be addressed. It is not that he must be accountable. It is how. And the only way to do this is through a trial. In this way, you, Horde and Alliance both, and any other voices who have aught to say will have a chance to be heard.

The Defender will argue for a more merciful sentence. The Accuser, of course, will argue for a more stringent one.

Chapter 2

During the trial, we also hear what exactly Garrosh is considered to be his crimes, and thus we are given a list of some things that are considered war crimes, crimes against sentient being and crimes against the world:

Genocide. Murder. Forcible transfer of population. Enforced disappearance of individuals...

Enslavement. The abduction of children. Torture. The killing of prisoners. Forced pregnancy...

The wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages not justified by military or civilian necessity.

Chapter 5

Both the Horde and the Alliance participates in the trial and accepts its legitimacy, thus declaring the proceedings and the laws of the Pandaria court as internationally binding for both of them.

With these in mind, we have a framework of what constitutes war crimes/crimes against humanity/sentient beings on Azeroth. And it has quite a lot of similarities to our world's international humanitarian law, as well as some differences:

In our world, mistreatment of prisoners of war and civilians are considered war crimes and Azeroth also maintains these principles.

Genocide, ethnic cleansing, rape and other forms of sexual violence are considered crimes against humanity in our world and as of 2008 U.N. Security Council Resolution 1820, they are also considered war crimes. Azeroth defines these acts as crimes against the very essence of sentient beings.

Use of biological and chemical weapons are prohibited in our world. However, despite both the Horde and the Alliance leadership repeatedly expressing their displeasure and disagreement of their use, there doesn't seem to be any rules limiting the use of a specific weapon type, or at least this is not a type of crime Garrosh is convicted of.

In our world, three of the principles used to determine lawful conduct of warfare are distinction, military necessity and proportionality. In short, these terms mean warring parties must distinguish between combatants and civilians, military actions should be directed against military targets, attacks must be done with the intent of helping the military defeat the enemy and harm caused to civilians and civilian property must be proportional and not excessive compared to the direct and concrete military advantage anticipated.

With the charge of "The wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages not justified by military or civilian necessity.", War Crimes shows that these same three principles also apply to Azeroth.

In our world, "planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of wars of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing" is considered a crime against peace. However, no such charges were leveled against Garrosh. We can claim he was simply not found guilty of it, but the more likely reason is that the concept doesn't exist on Azeroth, despite the fact that many times Horde and Alliance blamed each other for starting wars.

In our world, acts of war crimes also follow the legal doctrine of command responsibility, which asserts a hierarchical responsibility for the actions of one's subordinates. By declaring that Garrosh is also charged for all acts committed in his name or by his allies, Azeroth too shows that they have a similar legal frame on this regard.

All in all we can conclude that Azeroth has its own version of international humanitarian law, and governs how warfare is conducted. Rules regarding the limits of the use of force, treatments of civilian populations and civilian property is well within its scope and even if it doesn't have the exact same rules and principles as we do in our world, there is definitely a similar concept which we can judge the actions of those participating in war.

TL,DR; A similar concept to our world's international humanitarian law exist on Azeroth and it defines war crimes, crimes against the very essence of sentient beings and crimes against Azeroth herself. Both the Horde and the Alliance accepted these rules and the judgement made based on them as legitimate.

Furthermore, law of war existed in our world for as long as civilization existed and even if we may find the older versions lacking or cruel, the idea of proper conducts of warfare is well engraved within human history.

Sources: Tides of War, War Crimes, Pages of "War crime, Law of war, International humanitarian law, Crimes against peace, Distinction (law), Proportionality (law), Military Necessity, Legitimate military target, Command responsibility" on wikipedia, Protocol I of Geneva Conventions, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 and related wikipedia pages.

[fapangel]

Hi, that's a mighty wall of text, and very informative, thank you. A couple of issues which seem to me to undermine the point that you're trying to make. One, that sarin gas is difficult to manufacture doesn't seem to be a strong argument against a hypothetical 'deep state' false flag - one would assume such an entity would have the resources necessary to produce it. (1/3)

Two, while chemical weapons may produce an immediate tactical benefit, the fact that using them is a massive strategic mistake on Assad’s part is quite obvious - there is no more effective way to ensure the active, continuous presence of America and her allies in Syria than the use of CW. Unless one thinks Assad wants America to stick around longterm for some reason, or he is stupid enough to trade dead children for airstrikes 1/1, the thought that it wasn’t him is quite natural. (2/3)

Three, your tone of outrage seems inappropriate considering that the American government has conducted false flag operations in the past - Gulf of Tonkin and Project Ajax are two of the better known examples. It’s not ‘America would never!’, it’s ‘It wasn’t America this time, and here’s why.’ Thanks again for taking the time to put this together. (3/3)

I can answer these in order.

1.) At the moment most people - like Sargon, specifically - are suggesting that either no attack occurred at all, or any attack was launched by rebels gassing themselves, and the media and “deep state” are lying about it extensively to form a casus belli to war. People who suggest that we created Sarin just to drop it on civilians in Damascus to create a causus belli are so far around the fucking bend that Alex Fucking Jones would be worried in their company, as Alex Jones doesn’t actually believe any of the shit he says. It’s not hard to find a casus belli to take out Assad; the civil war has driven a massive immigration wave of refugees into Europe, further destabilizing Western societies (a situation Putin has deliberately and gleefully exacerbated) and Assad’s heinous war crimes against his own people are beyond the pale. To suggest that the United States needs to engage in elaborate conspiracy to justify intervention is a fantasy. We’ve outright killed people for much less. 

2.) Like hell it is. To date, Assad’s use of chemical weapons has cost him some older warplanes (by no means his entire fleet, or his most effective aircraft) and most recently… his CW capability itself. In over SEVEN YEARS of more or less regularly conducted chemical weapon attacks, he has suffered very little damage to his conventional warfighting capabilities. Also, he knows damn well that the United States does not want to stay in the country, and moreover, they don’t want to depose him, either, as the power vacuum will simply be filled by Iran and Russia might take extreme measures to keep their strategic gains (a military port in the Med.) In my own pre-strike analysis I predicted the US would target non-military governmental targets and important infrastructure or resources to punish Assad for using chemical weapons, to discourage others from doing the same, but that they’d have to carefully calibrate it not to weaken Assad too much. 

Instead, the US focused purely on taking out the chemical weapons themselves; which was a rather weaker statement but a much safer option from the power-balance perspective; making it clear that the US doesn’t give a shit about Assad killing his civilians with shells or machine guns, but only about keeping the WMD genie in the bottle so it doesn’t impact US interests in the future in other parts of the world. 

And you are telling me - after TWO military strikes by the US that actively focused on deterring or preventing chemical weapon attacks by Assad, without changing the strategic balance on the ground - that Assad would never have used CW? Losing chemical weapons capacity itself equals a wash, and if you weigh 20% of the SAAF’s oldest, least-capable airframes against the repeated battlefield gains he’s made by using CW, Assad has gained FAR more than he’s lost by using Chemical Weapons. 

Assad knows damn well that US and allied presence isn’t going to change one way or another no matter what he does, because even if “America” leaves; the Kurds certainly aren’t. Assad knows this because Trump stated his strategy bluntly during the Presidential debates and again the day after he was sworn in as President:

“If we kept the oil, you probably wouldn’t have ISIS because that’s where they made their money in the first place, so we should have kept the oil, but, OK, maybe we’ll have another chance,” he said.

The Kurds are currently sitting along the Euphrates river, where they control a good portion of Syria’s oil fields. By Trump’s own long-standing statements it is squarely in America’s strategic interests that the Kurds stay there - especially after the Iranian-puppeted Iraqi government drove the Kurds out of oil-rich Kirkuk. It is far preferable for that oil money to stabilize a de-facto Kurdistan than to be up for grabs by jihadists or Iranian jihadist proxies (which at this point, includes Syria.) The United States was never going to pack up and make the Kurds give that all back to Syria before Assad’s latest gas attack. It is clearly and demonstrably Trump’s long-standing policy. 

So, in short, if Assad would “never use gas” because of all the horrible consequences, where are the FUCKING consequences? Because he has suffered very, very little. And there’s no shortage of people making that observation. 

3.) “False flag” operations in the past were justified by the need to prevail in an existential conflict with a nuclear-armed Soviet Union, and current “commentators” see the Syrian situation through the same lens - witness Sargon of Akkad specifically mentioning Syria’s status as a “Russian ally.” However, the Russians are nowhere near as powerful as the Soviet Union was, militarily, diplomatically or economically, as Putin’s penchant for “hybrid warfare” and opportunistic shit-stirring demonstrates. 

We’ve returned to an era of “great powers conflict” but Russia is not the Soviet Union and the old Cold War era strategies are both ineffective and demonstrably not US policy. The Gulf of Tonkin incident is laughably overblown, as involvement in Vietnam was essentially an extension of our involvement in Korea - a policy of keeping Communism from spreading to new countries. The US had the demonstrated interest, the incident was just the PR excuse. Much the same could be said of the Iraq war - WMD was simply the casus belli; the Bush Administration was pursuing a much grander strategy involving nation-building in the Middle East. 

In Trump’s case, interventionism and foreign entanglement is anathema to the man and everything he’s ever advocated (witness his insistence on “keeping the oil” and even that mostly with Kurdish allies and not US troops) and the only evidence for his administration wanting “regime change” anyone can point to is by invoking ~the Deep State~ and left-wing outlets crowing about the statements of people who’ve since been fired out of a cannon by the Administration. Paying lip service to the idea of ousting Assad does not equal a fucking policy of regime change, especially as Assad and Assad’s regime are not the same thing. Assad’s Alawite sect is Assad’s regime, not Assad. (Americans, being members of the first nation really founded on a secular government, tend to forget that in most of the world for most of its history, politics and religion have been one and the same thing.) That Assad himself will have to step down from power to satisfy any lasting political settlement to divide Syria is not a great surprise; he’s presided over horrific amounts of bloodshed, slaughter, and brutality against his own civilians. But that simply means he’ll be replaced by another high-ranking member of his own government, another general, another strongman. 

In conclusion; these pro-Syrian conspiracy theories stem from an almost complete ignorance of the situation in Syria. In fact, they are calibrated to appeal specifically to those ignorant; ordinary folk with no in-depth knowledge of the military or politics, who simply fear a repeat of Iraq. The narratives are short, sweet, easy to remember and repeat, play on existing fears and fit what very limited information the average guy on the street is likely to know about a confusing conflict in a far-off land. In short it is classic propaganda, and you needn’t look further than RT.com and Sputnuk to see who fucking packaged it. 

[youarenotthewalrus]

I’ve been seeing more crappy anti-imperialist politics on my dash recently. Is it because of the Fourth? Who knows. Anyway let’s go:

American propaganda works so well that we still have people out here thinking it was totally fine and justified that the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese civilians, killing well over 100,000 innocent people.

American propaganda works so well that some people disagree with me on the relative utility of a military action with large numbers of civilian casualties! Brainwashed fools!

It works so well that, even though the United States is the only country to ever use a nuclear bomb in warfare, people think that the United States is still the only qualified entity to invade other countries in order to stop them from having nuclear weapons.

You do realize that the last time the US used a nuclear weapon was 72 years ago, right? Everyone involved in that decision is dead. This is like saying Britain isn’t qualified to take action against regimes stockpiling chemical weapons because it used them in WWI.

It works so well that you can read all about every war crime committed by the United States all around the world, with little to no government censorship, and that STILL doesn’t make people rise up in anger.

It takes a lot to make people rise up in anger. Like, this isn’t the result of some elaborate propaganda campaign, this is a result of people not really giving a shit about bad things happening to people in far off foreign countries. If anything, this is the result of a lack of propaganda; you want people to get mad about US war crimes, you need to work to make people aware. There’s a lot of information out there, and people won’t seek out what they don’t care about and don’t think to look for.

It works so well that you can read accounts of the CIA or FBI literally trying to brainwash Americans into total subservience and people STILL won’t resist.

This is straight-up conspiracy theory nonsense which is presumably based on a misinterpretation of MKUltra, which was about finding more effective means to torture, interrogate, and brainwash enemy agents, not to brainwash the American public, who, spoiler alert, are generally pretty complacent. They’re not “resisting” because MKUltra was in the ‘60s and nobody buys your narrative except people who consider Infowars a credible news source.

Americans put the Soviets to shame in how effective their propaganda is. It’s not even close.

So let’s review. Your basis for the incredible effectiveness of the brainwashing power of the Amerikkkan Empire is:

People aren’t angry about innocent people being killed in a war 70 years ago

People don’t think that using a nuke 70 years ago is reason to think we are unqualified to go to war with Iran

People don’t care about US war crimes

People don’t care about (wildly sensationalized takes on) unethical secret experiments conducted 50 years ago

1) is stupid because the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was, to reiterate, over 70 years ago. Of course people don’t care. Why should they? What could they possibly do about it?

2) is stupid because, again, 70 years ago, and there are much better reasons to oppose invading Iran.

3) is a genuine concern, but is the product of apathy and lack of effectiveness of the anti-war faction rather than ingenious propaganda.

4) is, again, decades old and half of your complaint is people not believing in conspiracy theories.

In conclusion, American propaganda isn’t particularly effective, people just don’t agree with you.

[themachiavellianpig]

The Walking Dead, Episode 5: Never Meet Your Heroes

Episode 5 of The Walking Dead, and we spend a little longer in Hilltop, plus see what freedom looks like after a decade spent in an Alexandrian basement. This episode is divided into four or so minor plot lines, all of which build nicely on what has come before and points towards some interesting future developments, but the rapid cutting between different plotlines does make some scenes feel far too brief before the audience is snatched away to check in with another group.

As always, full review and spoilers below. Turns out I have quite a lot to say this week, make of that what you will. 

The plotline which I was most looking forward to after last week’s episode was Negan’s, a sentence which I am very surprised to find myself writing but I suppose that’s the joy of Season 10. The trailer for this episode had shown Negan working with a young man who, it was strongly implied, had something to do with his escape, but that turns out not to be the case; Negan refuses to tell his new friend how he got out of the cell, which leaves me nearly hoping for a dramatic reveal later in the season of just which Alexandrian decided to let the monster out of his cell. (My money’s on Carol, because why the heck not). 

As we follow Negan and Brandon, one of the creepier characters we’ve met for a while, we get a fascinating window into how the Negan Mythos has developed during his incarceration. The way in which stories morph over time is something we’re all familiar and, given the reluctance of the Grimes family to discuss the Saviour War in any great detail, it’s not at all surprising that some people believe that Negan did actually force Rick to cut off Carl’s arm, or that Negan was the one to kill Carl during the war. 

I’m not even all that surprised that Negan would be disturbed by such rumours; he has always been a man who likes to think of himself as principled, and he was always fond of Carl, in his own way. We see more of this “good-guy Negan” when he encounters a woman and her son, Milo; he saves them from a small pack of Walkers and plans to get them safely to Hilltop, along with an actually quite sweet scene in which Negan tries to explain what airplane rides were like to young Milo, who is far too young to have ever experienced such things for himself. 

Of course, we can’t actually has an ongoing plot-line in which Negan just helps people out, so the show thoughtfully provides us with the character of Brandon, whose father was a Saviour and who seems to have brought up on stories of the “good old days” under the rule of Negan. His intensity is disturbing from the very beginning and just gets steadily worse as he offers Negan a new Lucille, his old jacket, and then tries to bond with Negan over rating walkers on hotness and taking advantage of the weak. 

The final ‘twist’ in Brandon’s arc - that he killed a defenceless woman and child to ‘prove’ himself a true Saviour - was broadcast as clearly as most major sporting events, but it was still fairly impactful, if only for the way in which Negan totally lost it. With Brandon beaten to death, Negan takes up Lucille 2.0 and the iconic leather jacket and saunters boldly into Whisperer territory, where he makes a heck of a racket before being smacked down by Beta - and that’s one fight I dearly hope we see the rest of in our next episode. 

The Walking Dead has been playing around with the question of Negan’s redemption for a season and a half now, but I’m really holding out for them not to waste our time with a “Negan’s joining the Whisperers, honest!” plotline. The Whisperers means and aims have nothing in common with the rules which Negan used to value so highly - siding with them would make no sense. 

Trying to lull them into a false sense of security and then beating them all to death, however? That would make plenty of sense. Negan’s supposed principles have never been incompatible with gratuitous violence.

(Gruesome Kill of the Week also goes to Negan for his frankly unnecessary use of barbed wire to slice a Walker skull in half.) 

Meanwhile, back at Hilltop, Ezekiel has a dramatic cough and a tragic keepsake, both obvious signposts for someone not long for this world, and Ezekiel knows it as well. His reveal of likely thyroid cancer to Saddiq comes with the quiet melancholy of a man who knew that the treatment which had saved two generations of his family from the same disease was no longer an option for him. His decision not to tell Carol anything, even when Saddiq sets up a private radio chat between the two, is just the kind of deliberate miscommunication that really grinds my gears in a survival situation. 

The diagnosis of a terminal illness comes with its own practical considerations in the world of The Walking Dead; should Ezekiel die in his sleep and reanimate quickly, he would potentially pose a massive risk to his community. We’ve seen this before (the illness in the prison, back in season 3), and Ezekiel’s reluctance to tell anyone the truth of his condition is potentially a selfish act, trading his own comfort and desires for the safety of others. 

Hilltop has more than just a ticking time-bomb to worry about, though, as supplies have been going missing, and Kelly’s been lost on a hunting trip. We return to the issue of Kelly’s declining hearing, first pointed out to us in the first episode of the season, along with all the complications of trying to adapt to such changes in the Land of the Dead. Her hearing fading out at just the wrong moment means that she doesn’t hear just how loud the noise of the injured boar is - or the approach of the walkers drawn in by the noise. 

Kelly is tracked down by Daryl and Connie, who’s adorable budding relationship continues to be adorable, let’s be honest here. Daryl’s still working on his ability to sign, but for a character who could in the past go entire episodes without speaking at all, he’s really keen to be able to communicate with Connie. Through a mixture of sign, speaking loudly and clearly and just writing some stuff down, he manages to tell a funny story about his own sibling. The relationship between Daryl and Connie has been built up enough that his decision at the end to help her keep a secret to protect Kelly feels understandable, even justified. 

The deteriorating relationship between Yumiko (who, sidenote, might be the new leader of Hilltop? I’m not clear, but everyone is very comfortable taking all the problems to her) and Magna is dealt a few more blows this week; between the revelation that Magna has been the one stealing supplies and the final, cruel reveal that Magna actually was guilty of the crime which Yumiko once got her cleared for all adds up to a couple on its last legs - which often leads to a sudden and gruesome death, which I would really like not happen here, at least not before we get a better explanation for why the hell Magna was stealing those supplies. Is she planning to leave? Does she want an emergency stash? How did she convince Kelly to help? 

FInally, we spend a little more time with the Whisperers, including some more hints that Alpha’s control over the Whisperers is not as absolute as she would like it to be, when her strategy of inflicting “tiny nicks” on the communities is challenged by a Whisperer who just wants to overrun them all. Hilariously, Alpha actually puts this idea to a vote - which receives absolutely zero support from the surrounding Whisperers, who are very good at reading a room - and then personally demonstrates the power of “tiny nicks” on the poor Whisperer in question before letting Beta slit his throat. 

Alpha’’s plan to destabilise the communities seems to be progressing on to chemical warfare, as we watch Gamma gut walkers and leave their entrails spilling out into a creek. These actions are also seen by Aaron, who temporarily goes back to being a Nice Guy long enough to offer Gamma a bandage for her injured hand and even tries to make some friendly conversation with her. 

This sort of fraternisation is, of course, immediately reported back to Alpha, who makes various vague comments about masks and Gamma’s need to wear a different one in order to connect with Aaron; given that Alpha can’t send a sleeper agent into Alexandria without risking the group finding out about Lydia’s continued survival, I assume that the plan will be to feed Aaron misinformation or to even try and pull information out of him via an apparently-wavering Whisperer. 

I have to admit, I really want to see more of the Whisperers actually interacting with other communities; the Cold War paranoia needs some sort of release, ideally before it drives our characters to do something intolerably stupid. 

Next week, it looks like we get to see Negan trying to make some friends, while Carol talks Daryl into a risky mission to deprive Alpha of a horde or two.  

Find previous Season 10 reviews here. 

[wikipress01]

Weapons Inspector Debunks Syrian Chemical Weapons Claim

A U.S. weapons inspector has debunked claims that Syria possesses chemical weapons, warning that Washington is about to hold out an assault on a sovereign nation based mostly on no onerous proof.  

William Scott Ritter Jr. was a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. He was one of many grounder-breakers in growing on-site inspection methods and methodologies.

Consortiumnews.com experiences: According to Ritter, within the following Flashpoints Radio interview with Dennis Bernstein performed on April 23rd, US, British and French claims that the Syrian Government used chemical weapons towards civilians final month look like completely bogus.

Dennis Bernstein:  You have been talking out just lately about the usage of chemical weapons in Syria. Could you define your case?

Scott Ritter: There are lots of similarities between the Syrian case and the Iraqi case.  Both international locations possess weapons of mass destruction. Syria had a really giant chemical weapons program.

In 2013 there was an incident in a suburb of Damascus known as Ghouta, the identical suburb the place the present controversy is going down.  The allegations have been that the Syrian authorities used sarin nerve agent towards the civilian inhabitants. The Syrian authorities denied that, however on account of that incident the worldwide group received collectively and compelled Syria into signing the Chemical Weapons Convention, declaring the totality of its chemical weapons holdings, and opening itself to be disarmed by inspections of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.  Russia was chosen to be the guarantor of Syria’s compliance. The backside line is that Syria had the weapons however was verified by 2016 as being in 100% compliance. The totality of Syria’s chemical weapons program was eradicated.

At the identical time that this disarmament course of was going down, Syria was being engulfed in a civil warfare which has resulted in a humanitarian disaster.  Over a half million folks have died. It is a warfare that pits the Syrian authorities towards quite a lot of anti-regime forces, lots of that are Islamic in nature: the Islamic State, Al Nusra, Al Qaeda.  Some of those Islamic factions have been within the neighborhood of Ghouta since 2012.

Earlier this yr, the Syrian authorities initiated an offensive to liberate that space of those factions.  It was very heavy combating, hundreds of civilians have been killed, with huge aerial bombardment. Government forces have been prevailing and by April 6 it regarded as if the militants have been making ready to give up.

Suddenly the allegations come out that there was this chemical weapons assault.  It wasn’t a huge chemical weapons assault, it was dropping one or two so-called “barrel bombs,” improvised units that contained chlorine gasoline canisters.  According to the militants, between 40 and 70 folks have been killed and as much as 500 folks have been made sick. The United States and different nations picked up on this, saying that this was proof optimistic that Syria has been mendacity about its chemical weapons program and that Russia has been behind Syria’s retention of chemical weapons.  This is the case the US made to launch its missile strike [on April 14].

There are lots of issues with this state of affairs.  Again, why would the Syrian authorities, in the meanwhile of victory, use a pinprick chemical assault with zero army worth?  It added nothing to the army marketing campaign and invited the wrath of the West at a crucial time, when the rebels have been begging for Western intervention.

Many, together with the Russian authorities, imagine that this was a staged occasion.  There has been no onerous proof put ahead by anybody that an assault happened.  Shortly after allegations of the assault got here out, the whole city of Douma was taken over by the Syrian Army whereas the rebels have been evacuated.

The locations that have been alleged to have been attacked have been inspected by Russian chemical weapons specialists, who discovered zero hint of any chemical substances weapons exercise.  The similar inspectors who oversaw the disarmament of Syria have been mobilized to return to Syria and do an investigation. They have been supposed to begin their work this previous weekend [April 21-22].  They arrived in Damascus the day after the missile strikes occurred however they nonetheless haven’t been out to the websites. The United States, France and Great Britain have all admitted that the one proof they’ve used to justify this assault have been the pictures and videotapes despatched to them by the insurgent forces.

I’ve nice concern concerning the United States finishing up an assault on a sovereign nation based mostly on no onerous proof.  The longer we wait, the longer it takes to get inspectors onto the positioning, the extra claims we’re going to get that the Russians have sanitized it.  I imagine that the very last thing the United States needed was inspectors to get on-site and perform a forensic investigation that may have discovered {that a} chemical assault didn’t in reality happen.

DB: It is type of like cleansing up a police crime scene earlier than you test for proof.

SR: The United States didn’t truly bomb the positioning that was attacked.  They bombed three different amenities. One was within the suburbs of Damascus, a serious metropolitan space.  The generals mentioned that they believed there have been portions of nerve agent there. So, in a constructing in a densely populated space the place we imagine nerve agent is saved, what can we do?  We blow it up! If there had in reality been nerve agent there, it will have resulted in lots of and even hundreds of deaths. That incontrovertible fact that no person died is the clearest proof but that there was no nerve agent there.  The United States is simply winging it, making it up.

One of the tragedies is that we will now not belief our army, our intelligence companies, our legislators.  They will manufacture no matter narrative they should justify an motion that they deem to be politically expedient.

DB: Isn’t it additionally the case that there have been issues with the allegations regarding Syria utilizing chemical weapons in 2013 after which once more in 2015?  I imagine The New York Times needed to retract their 2013 story.

SR: They put out a narrative about hundreds of individuals dying, claiming that it was positively executed by the Syrian authorities.   It turned out later that the variety of deaths was far decrease and that the weapons programs used have been in all probability within the possession of the rebels.  It was a case of the rebels staging a chemical assault with a purpose to get the world to intervene on their behalf.

An analogous state of affairs unfolded final yr when the Syrian authorities dropped two or three bombs on a village and instantly there have been experiences that there was sarin nerve agent and chlorine gasoline wafting by means of the village, killing scores of individuals.  Videotapes have been taken of useless and dying and struggling folks which prompted Trump to intervene. Inspectors by no means went to the positioning. Instead they relied upon proof collected by the rebels.

As a weapons inspector, I can inform you that chain of custody of any samples which might be for use within the investigation is an absolute.  You must be on the web site when it’s collected, it needs to be licensed to be in your possession till the laboratory. Any break within the chain of custody makes that proof ineffective for a reliable investigation.  So we now have proof collected by the rebels. They videotaped themselves finishing up the inspection, carrying coaching fits that may not have protected them in any respect from chemical weapons! Like virtually all the things having to do with these rebels, this was a staged occasion, an act of theater.

DB: Who has been supporting this specific group of rebels?

SR:  On the one hand, we now have the precise fighters, the Army of Islam, a Saudi-backed fundamentalist group who’re terribly brutal.  Embedded throughout the fighters are quite a lot of Western-trained and Western-funded NGOs such because the White Helmets and the Syrian-American Medical Society.  But their main focus isn’t rescue, within the case of the White Helmets, or medical care within the case of the Syrian-American Medical Society, however quite anti-regime propaganda.  Many of the experiences that got here out of Douma originated with these two NGO’s.

DB: You talked about “chain of custody.”  That’s what was most ridiculous about sending in inspectors.  The very first thing you’d wish to do is set up chain of custody and nail down the crime scene.

SR: I used to be a participant within the Gulf War and we spent the majority of that warfare conducting a large aerial marketing campaign towards Iraq.  I used to be one of many individuals who helped provide you with the goal checklist that was used to assault. Each goal needed to have a goal.

Let’s look what occurred in Syria [on April 14].  We bombed three targets, a analysis facility in Damascus and two bunker amenities in western Syria.  It was claimed that each one three targets have been concerned with a Syrian chemical weapons program. But the Syria weapons program was verified to be disarmed.  So what chemical weapons program are we speaking about? Then US officers mentioned that one in all these websites saved sarin nerve agent and chemical manufacturing gear.  That is a really particular assertion. Now, if Syria was verified to be disarmed final yr, with all this materials eradicated, what are they speaking about? What proof have they got that any of this materials exists?  They simply make it up.

If I had been a member of that inspections group, I might have been capable of inform you with 100% certainty what happened at that web site.  It wasn’t that way back that the allegations happened, there are excellent forensic methods that may be utilized. We would be capable of reverse engineer that web site and inform you precisely what occurred when.  Let’s say an inspection group had gone in and we discovered that there was sarin nerve agent. Now, the US authorities can say, there may be not presupposed to be any sarin nerve agent in Syria, subsequently we will state that the Syrians have a covert sarin nerve agent functionality.  But nonetheless you don’t know the place it’s, so now you must say we assess that it may be on this bunker.

We bombed empty buildings.  We didn’t degrade Syria’s chemical weapons functionality.  They removed it. We have been among the many nations that licensed that they’d been disarmed.  We simply created this phantom menace out of nothing in order that we may assault Syria and our president might be seen as being presidential, as being the commander in chief at a time when his credibility was being attacked on the house entrance.

DB: Amazing.  That helps make clear the state of affairs.  Of course, it additionally leaves us terrified as a result of we’re so distant from the reality.

SR: As an American citizen who occurs to be empowered with information about how weapons inspections work, how choices are made concerning warfare, I’m disillusioned past perception.

This isn’t the primary time we now have been lied to by the president.  But we now have been lied to by army officers who’re presupposed to be above that.  Three prime Marine Corps officers stood earlier than the American folks and instructed bald-faced lies about what was happening.  We have been lied to by Congress, who’re presupposed to be the folks’s representatives who present a test towards govt overreach.  And we now have been lied to by the company media, a bunch of paid mouthpieces who repeat what the federal government tells them with out query.

So Donald Trump can say there are chemical weapons in Syria, the generals parrot his phrases, the Congress nods its head dumbly, and the mass media repeats it over and over to the American public.

DB: Are you fearful that we would find yourself in a capturing warfare with Russia at this level?

SR: Every week in the past I used to be very fearful.  If I’m going to present kudos to Jim Mattis it will likely be as a result of he took the will of Trump and Bolton to create a serious disaster with Russia over the allegations of Syrian chemical weapons use and was capable of water that down into placing on a present for the American folks.  We warned the Russians prematurely, there have been no casualties, we blew up three empty buildings. We spent 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} of taxpayer cash and we received to pat ourselves on the again and inform all people how nice we’re. But we averted a useless confrontation with the Russians and I’m quite a bit calmer in the present day concerning the potential of a capturing warfare with Russia than I used to be per week in the past.

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