Interesting Articles: 2024 late January
ICJ & USS Liberty (out of the blue), some journalist war stories, a chill from the past, a sprinkling of hope and hopping aboard the history train
[A few frames from the first interesting “article”, the most recent CN Live! broadcast.]
Published: 2024-01-30
From Ceasefire to Bosnia and then onwards to the 6-Day War
CN Live!'s discussion of the ICJ ruling against Israel included 3 guests with a legal background, one of whom, Prof. Francis A Boyle, had experience of arguing successfully, twice, before the same court for the same purpose under the same law. Those judgments were issued in 1993 against Yugoslavia to protect the rights of Bosnians using the Genocide Convention which is the legal basis for the dispute between South Africa and Israel.
Western media obsession with 'ceasefire' is its spin to slant the narrative to any possible advantage of the losers of the judgment, the Zionist political leadership of Israel. Mr Boyle explains to CN Live!'s audience why it is that the ICJ could not possibly have issued the 'ceasefire' about which the West's media are clamoring.
He begins by describing the nature of the court and the laws on which they base their judgments:
They are highly technical and positivistic. So, Hamas was not a party to this litigation. So, there was no way they could issue an order to Hamas for a ceasefire. It could not happen. They could issue a ceasefire against Israel, but that would be completely imbalanced. So what they did here was the next best thing.
They could issue this order against the Israeli military saying that you have to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the Palestinians set forth in article 1 of that provisional measures of protection.
That is exactly what they did. They went as far as they could. I commend them for this.
[Joe Lauria introduces Prof. Boyle at offset 00:32:57. The quote above is delivered during Boyle's initial response.]
To continue on a theme already raised in earlier articles, Mr. McGovern makes room, again, to comment on the risk he sees of an Israeli false flag event. He asks Francis how he sees this, and to my utter surprise Francis not only agreed but then raised the issue of the attempted sinking with all hands of the USS Liberty by Israel during the 6 day war. Prof. Boyle continued by stating that he has served as legal counsel for some of the survivors. He remains disappointed that they may all come to their graves before appropriate redress is achieved. He continued, and declard that he believes that some members of the US administration of the time were guilty of treason!
Needless to say, this episode of CN Live! commands one's attention.
ICJ RULES ON ISRAEL - with Mercouris, Murray, Boyle & McGovern - CNLive! S6E1, Lauria and Vos interview their guests, Consortium News, 2024-01-27
Keeping History Alive
M. K. Bhadrakumar reminds us of an horrific, historic event and draws connections with our time. It is a plea to understand and know history so that we are not condemned to repeat it.
I would add to Bhadrakumar's article by reminding those who read it that the current president of the Russian Federation lost a brother in the event which he uses to begin his essay and warning. As Scott Ritter reminded Judging Freedom's audience on the episode before the publication of this article, the Russian people know their history very well.
An Anniversary the West Would Rather Forget, M. K. Bhadrakumar, Consortium News, 2024-01-26
Journalists
Caitlin returns us to the tragic topic of the US' proxy imprisonment of our age's most awarded journalist, Julian Assange, the man who revolutionized journalism via the provision of a secure, anonymous document delivery mechanism which could be used by whistleblowers. The purpose all along of the Wikileaks project was to create a repository of historical truth containing the source documents of the empire or anyone else pursuing policies of repression.
Caitlin connects Assange's persecution with the continuous Israeli murder of journalists currently occurring in Gaza.
I wish to remind the readership that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have for a decade been, and continue to, routinely, systematically target journalists in Donestsk. Please keep this in mind as you read about Assange, and Gaza.
One incident in Donetsk comes to mind. Reliable internet connectivity is essential for a journalist, and in Donestsk there was one hotel at which this was available. Naturally, it was full of journalists. It was also far removed from any target of military value. It was shelled and missiled by Ukraine on numerous occasions. I recall Canadian journalist Eva K. Bartlett publishing live footage taken in the hotel as the attack occurred, hours afterwards.
I am personally glad not to have seen the bodily carnage which she and other journalists like Patrick Lancanster have when close to the front lines or reporting on markets or other civilian targets deliberately struck by Ukraine during the conflict, to say nothing of the suffering caused by the internationally banned used to 'petal' cluster mines by Ukraine in civilian areas. Of course, Bartlett had seen much of this close to a decade before, in Gaza, which actually is the name of her publishing site: ingaza.wordpress.com
The War On Journalism In Belmarsh, The War On Journalism In Gaza, Caitlin Johnston, Caitlin's Newsletter, 2024-01-26
Gutsy Women: Eva Bartlett, Gerrish interviews Eva Bartlett, UK Column, 2024-01-02
The Evolving Narrative about the Ukrainian Proxy-War
Although this Escobar piece is now "old", published Friday the week before last, it is classic Escobar. The edges of the geopolitical tectonic plates are clearly described as are the directions of their collision.
The Ukraine Charade Revisited, Pepe Escobar, Unz Review, 2024-01-19
Alex Christoforou alerted some of the alt media readership to an interesting take on a collection of seemingly only partially connected recent events. 'Elenskiy's "Greater Ukraine" narrative sets up an Operation Gladio style guerrilla war which intel agencies love. This was covered at this newsletter with a new style of article, which seems to have been well received. It explored the idea Christoforou described based on further research.
Y&J: The CIA to Take Over Project Ukraine, YesXorNo, 2023-01-26
On The Duran both Christoforou and Mercouris discuss the animosity between the president and the head of the armed forces, along with other parties in Ukraine. This is the background to the potential shift in project management for the failed proxy war.
Palace intrigue in Ukraine, Christoforou and Mercouris, The Duran, 2024-01-22
Hope in Donbas
To provide some relief from the weight of the above topics, John Helmer provides us with an insight into how the Russia Federation is approaching the reconstruction of the Donbas. Contained within the article are notes of the anger and frustration of the local people toward Russia for their continued exposure to shelling by Ukraine. The report is warts and all. It does, however, describe a view to a future free of the suffering of war.
UP SWING – THE PLAN FOR REVIVING DONETSK, John Helmer, Dances with Wolves, 2024-01-24
Hop on the History Train with Horton
In this opinion piece for Antiwar Scott Horton brings his knowledge of history to the fore to provide us with a context for the current nightmare in which the US military finds itself in Iraq.
US Troops in Iraq Are a Tripwire for War With Iran, Scott Horton, Antiwar, 2024-01-23
As Horton rapidly rattled off a hyper-summary of the complexity behind the current conflicts in southwest Asia in a recent Judging Freedom episode, while Napolitano desperately tried to shut him up Horton declared that Gareth Porter had written "the book" on one aspect of the history he was summarizing. While a skilled interviewer and writer, and founder of the Libertarian Institute and its offshoot Antiwar, Horton first and foremost, is a student of history.
We join him in his interest in the events discussed in his interviews, and benefit from the breadth of topics which his guests bring. With the exception of Blumenthal, who many would know about and have perhaps listened to recently based on his detailed understanding of Israeli politics, the other three interviewees may be less familiar. Again, one could except Greenwald, but the topic is a return to the Snowden archives about which little has been heard for some time.
Of particular interest was Tim Shorrock, which rang my bells from years back. He is another veteran journalist who dug very deeply into a few topics, one of them being North Korea, which naturally is the topic which Horton wishes to discuss with him.
Which is to say, Horton has with him in each of these four interviews an expert on the topic at hand. Horton is interviewing them to improve his own knowledge of history, while we get to take along for the ride.
1/18/24 Tim Shorrock on the Dangerous and Avoidable Escalations with North Korea, Horton interviews Shorrock, The Scott Horton Show, 2024-01-20
1/18/24 Glenn Greenwald on the Legacy of the Edward Snowden Leaks, Horton interviews Greenwald, The Scott Horton Show, 2024-01-20
1/18/24 Gareth Porter on the War in Gaza, Horton interviews Porter, The Scott Horton Show, 2024-01-20
1/18/24 Max Blumenthal on the Lies Getting Gazans and Israeli Hostages Killed, Horton interviews Blumenthal, The Scott Horton Show, 2024-01-20
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Sources
In situ.
Culture
Roger Waters - The Gunner's Dream
Copyleft: CC0
So much information! I am grateful for your wide breadth of content and context.