Dissident Veteran For Peace

I have no illusions about the quadrennial American presidential election circus. The mainstream media and the major parties are very effective in marginalizing the voices of any candidates that even mildly name or challenge the military-industrial-(propaganda) complex. In the highly unlikely event that a principled peace candidate was elected s/he would be resisted, hamstrung, and/or assassinated.

Nevertheless, the circus does provide a small opening to speak against the war machine and expose the bankruptcy of American media/politics-as-usual. In that spirit I offer the following three presidential campaign videos, which are unlike anything you'll ever see from a "respectable" establishment candidate.

The first two are from 2020 campaigns. The third video is actually a very timely debate video from Ron Paul's 2012 campaign on the subject of Iran. Click on the post labels for Gabbard and Paul to see other videos or posts.

If you care about trying to make peace and war part of the 2020 presidential campaign discussion and can afford it then please consider making a donation to the Mike Gravel and Tulsi Gabbard campaigns.

Labels: Democrats, Iran, media, Mike Gravel, politics, Republicans, Ron Paul, Tulsi Gabbard, United States, video, voting, War

Japan's Kyodo News is reporting that the Japanese government is casting doubt on U.S. claims that Iran was behind an attack last Thursday on the Kokuka Courageous, a Japanese-owned ship, near the Straits of Hormuz. I could not find the story on the Kyodo site but UPI and Japan Today are both running it.

UPI reports:

Japan is asking for more evidence from the United States Iran was responsible for attacks against two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman ...

The request for proof comes after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tehran is responsible for the attacks that forced the crew of the ships to be rescued and their cargoes unloaded.

The statements from Pompeo are "not convincing," a Japanese government source said Sunday, according to Kyodo News.

Japan Today reports:

A source close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "These are not definite proof that it's Iran."

"Even if it's the United States that makes the assertion, we cannot simply say we believe it," he said.

If having expertise sophisticated enough to conduct the attack could be a reason to conclude that the attacker was Iran, "That would apply to the United States and Israel as well," said a source at the Foreign Ministry.

Curiously, UPI omitted the reference to the U.S. and Israel as having the capability to carry about the attack. Moreover, at this time it appears that UPI is the only American outlet to carry the story about high-level Japanese doubts.

Meanwhile, concerning the Norwegian-owned tanker Front Altair, Norway Today notes: "No country has supported the allegations of the Trump administration, except the British government." The U.S.-based News from Norway cites "a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs" writing: "[Kjetil] Selvik also points, however, to Iran's arch-enemy, Saudi Arabia, which is closedly [sic] allied with Trump."

I've seen the U.S. government's supposed video evidence of Iranian involvement in the attacks. It appears to be drone footage. To call it inconclusive would be an understatement.

Even a stopped clock is correct twice-a-day, it is said. IMO, Ben Garrison epitomizes this adage—he misses the mark more often than not but when you're right, you're right. And Garrison's cartoon below is pretty close to the mark. However, Garrison features an atomic symbol on a mullah's head dress and he writes: "They [Iran] continue to work on nuclear weapons. Forget about nuclear power—they have plenty of oil for their electricity."

Garrison apparently doesn't know, believe, or care that last week the IAEA issued ("derestricted") a report indicating that Iran was still in compliance with the flawed JCPOA—meaning it is not now (if, indeed, it ever was) developing nuclear weapons—even though the U.S. has walked away from the agreement. Meanwhile, Israel, which "is not a party to any of the major treaties governing WMD nonproliferation, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)", has 80-90 undeclared nuclear warheads, according to the SIPRI Yearbook 2019.

Garrison also apparently doesn't understand that oil and gas are Iran's major export commodities, i.e. the key source of foreign revenues used to buy goods and services Iran does not produce domestically. It makes sense that Iran, like other oil export dependent countries, would a consider a nuclear powered electricity generating capacity if, on balance, it increased net export revenues.

The U.S. developed its nuclear power industry despite having an abundant supply of coal for electrical generation. Personally, I think nuclear fission is a Pandora's box that should never have been opened but I can understand the short-sighted appeal of nuclear power generation even if it has never lived up to its promise in terms of costs, non-proliferation, and safety.

Labels: Ben Garrison, Iran, Israel, Japan, Neoconservatives, Norway, nuclear weapons, United States, War

The USS Liberty (AGTR-5) is the US Navy's "most highly decorated ship ... for a single action."* The content in the image below appeared on the web site of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the US House of Representatives until it was removed sometime before July 21, 2011. (click on the image to enlarge it):


The removal of the USS Liberty entry coincides with the takeover of the intelligence committee from Democrats by Mike Rogers (R-MI) and his fellow Republicans, including Michele Bachmann, as a consequence of the 2010 mid-term elections. The "On This Day" feature was apparently discontinued altogether during the same time period. In any case, over the years Rogers has carried a lot of water for Israel (see e.g. here and here).

* Source: Wells, Anthony R. A Tale Of Two Navies: Geopolitics, Technology, and Strategy in the United States Navy and the Royal Navy, 1960-2015. (Naval Inst. Pr., 2017) p. 82.

Labels: Israel, military, United States, USS Liberty, War

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