Friday, March 31, 2017

The hysteria

Have you read Justin Raimondo (ANTIWAR.COM) on the nonsense of Blame Russia?

Here's the start:


The “cyber-security” firm that everyone is depending on to make the case for Russia’s alleged “hacking” of the 2016 presidential election, CrowdStrike, has just retracted a key component of its analysis – but the “mainstream” media continues to chug along, ignoring any facts that contradict their preferred narrative.
As Voice of America – hardly an instrument of Russian propaganda! – reports:
“U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has revised and retracted statements it used to buttress claims of Russian hacking during last year’s American presidential election campaign. The shift followed a VOA report that the company misrepresented data published by an influential British think tank.”
This retraction pulls the rug out from under CrowdStrike’s identification of the hacking group that supposedly broke into the Democratic National Committee’s server. Last year, the company announced that “Fancy Bear” – the name they gave to the hackers – had used identical tools and methods to hack into software used by the Ukrainian military, an act they claimed led to the destruction of 80% of the Ukrainians’ howitzers in their war with rebel forces. Up until that point, CrowdStrike had merely “suspected” that the Russians were behind the DNC hack. However, given the Ukrainian “evidence,” combined with the assumption that the rebels are “Russian-backed,” CrowdStrike head honcho Dmitri Alpervovitch told the Washington Post: “Now we have high confidence it was a unit of the GRU,” i.e. Russian military intelligence.
Their retraction means that “high confidence” has been considerably lowered down to the level of a mere “suspicion.” Forced to backtrack in light of VOA’s definitive takedown, CrowdStrike’s whole case collapses. Despite dubbing the alleged hackers with the nom de guerre of “Fancy Bear” – as in the Russian bear – the evidence that supposedly identifies whoever broke into the DNC servers as GRU agents is virtually nonexistent. And the remaining “evidence” is hardly impressive. As cyber-security expert James Bamford pointed out:
“Last summer, cyber investigators plowing through the thousands of leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee uncovered a clue.
“A user named ‘Феликс Эдмундович’ modified one of the documents using settings in the Russian language. Translated, his name was Felix Edmundovich, a pseudonym referring to Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, the chief of the Soviet Union’s first secret-police organization, the Cheka.”
So why would the nefarious albeit highly skilled Russians leave this glaring clue – in Cyrillic, no less! — for all to see? Or was this “clue” deliberate misdirection on the part of the real hackers? The latter seems highly likely – not that the geniuses over at CrowdStrike would want to understand this. After all, they were paid by the Democratic National Committee, which used the incident to drum up a narrative that the evil Russians were trying to damage Hillary Clinton and elect Donald Trump. Follow the money, folks – and Alperovitch’s position with the Atlantic Council, an organization that is assiduously trying to launch another cold war with Moscow.


Hillary Clinton lost because Hillary Clinton is a loser.

It is as though she learned nothing from the 2008 run.

It was as though she thought we were all going to just hand her the nomination.

Why?

I have no idea why she felt so entitled.

But her loss is on her.

And her refusal to call out this hysteria about Russia goes a long way towards underscoring that she should not have been elected.



This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:

 
Friday, March 31, 2017.  Chaos and violence continues as Michael Gordon and THE NEW YORK TIMES sling their ass to work it for death merchants.


Judith Miller lost her job at THE NEW YORK TIMES over her Iraq War stenography.  Her frequent co-writer Michael Gordon kept his.

A reminder of the damage control the government stenographer can still perform appears on A6 of today's NEW YORK TIMES.

What is the big news?

The massacre of civilians in Mosul, apparently killed in a US air strike.

So the government rolls down the window at Gordo's street corner and guess who walks over?

The money shot?

"New ISIS Tactic: Gather Mosul's Civilians, Then Lure an Airstrike."

In other words?

Those hundreds of civilians killed?

They had it coming.

Shouldn't have gone out that late at night, shouldn't have worn those tight clothes, they were begging for it.


No where in the ravings of the aging prostitute do issues like international law appear.

Not once does he note that, even if his assertion is true, it doesn't not excuse dropping bombs on civilians.


Silly US government, they sent a disease ridden whore to do a clean up thinking the American people would believe Michael Gordon.

Gordo, of course, offers no dissenting view.

And, for the record, he has no eye witnesses.

Iraqis would be the one to talk to -- residents of Mosul.

But when has THE NEW YORK TIMES ever been interested in the Iraqi civilains?

When they sold the war?

When the re-sold it to keep it going?


Scott Creighton Retweeted The New York Times
yeah, so maybe you guys close up shop. I'm sure the people of Iraq wouldn't mind you scumbags
Scott Creighton added,
 
 


The Iraqi people are not numbers.

They live, they breathe, they dream just like anyone else.

Yet the paper of (mis)record has repeatedly rendered them invisible.

Gordo continues that long and disgraceful tradition today.

Not everyone is unable to speak to the victims.

Heartbreaking: speaks with survivors of the attacks that left dozens dead and others injured
 
 






Meanwhile, THE ARMY TIMES reports, "About 600 soldiers from the 1st Armored Division will deploy later this year to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army announced Wednesday.  Of those, about 400 soldiers belong to the 1st Armored Division headquarters at Fort Bliss, Texas. They are scheduled to deploy this summer to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve."  Corey Dickstein (STARS & STRIPES) adds, "Both deployments are rotations of regular troops replacing units currently deployed, according to the Army. Therefore, they do not represent an increase in American forces in either country, an Army spokesman said."  On the topic of troops, W.J. Hennigan (LOS ANGELES TIMES) reports:

Even as the U.S. military takes on a greater role in the warfare in Iraq and Syria, the Trump administration has stopped disclosing significant information about the size and nature of the U.S. commitment, including the number of U.S. troops deployed in either country.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon quietly dispatched 400 Marines to northern Syria to operate artillery in support of Syrian militias that are cooperating in the fight against Islamic State, according to U.S. officials. That was the first use of U.S. Marines in that country since its long civil war began.
In Iraq, nearly 300 Army paratroopers were deployed recently to help the Iraqi military in their six-month assault on the city of Mosul, according to U.S. officials.




It's day 165 of The Mosul Slog.

How's that working out?


map update. Green= completely liberated. Orange= frontline clashes. White= control
 
 






That's a visual showing the Islamic State still controls a great deal of land.

Still controls it 165 days after the operation to 'liberate' Mosul started.


And how's that 'liberation' going?



: IOM urgently requires $76.3 million, of which $28.83 million is desperately needed 2 care 4 IDPs in next 12wks.
 
 





UN chief urges greater solidarity with displaced: via
 
 
In N Iraq, calls for greater support for all those displaced by the fighting in Mosul.
 
 
 



IRAQ: Displace Iraqi Families from Western Mosul.
 
 






Doesn't look like liberation, does it?


Doesn't sound like it either as described by Molly Hennessy-Fiske (LOS ANGELES TIMES):


They camp on muddy corners, beside an abandoned mosque and in the rain-soaked ruins of a soccer stadium — families displaced by ongoing fighting in Mosul are filling emergency camps in this smaller city about 20 miles south.
Disabled boys arrived in wheelchairs one day last week, and elderly men limped in on metal braces and canes.





The following community sites -- plus Cindy Sheehan, THE GUARDIAN, Jody Watley and DISSIDENT VOICE -- updated:


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    Thursday, March 30, 2017

    2 videos to catch

    Have you seen this?





    I found it very interesting.

    As I did this video.





    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:

     
    Thursday, March 30, 2017.  Chaos and violence continues, the UN Secretary-General visits Iraq, a War Hawk flutters and frets that the US military in Iraq might be drawndown or -- gasp! -- withdrawn, and much more.


    AP reports 15 people are dead and another forty-five injured as a result of a Baghdad suicide truck bombing last night.


    As the violence continues, the United Nations Secretary-General arrived in Iraq.


    Just arrived in Iraq to focus on the dire humanitarian situation on the ground. Protection of civilians must be the absolute priority.






    He arrives as Iraq is in the midst of a major refugee crisis:

    UN News Centre: How is UNHCR handling the large displacement resulting from the current crisis in Iraq?


    António Guterres: We immediately started by supporting the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in northern Iraq, providing tents, blankets and other relief items for the first response for the people that were coming. Now, with our other UN colleagues and NGOs, [we are] working with the KRG in a more organised way in reception centres, in the camps that are being established, and supporting families all over the region. We are doing our best so they get the assistance they are entitled to and that the necessary protection mechanisms are put in place. Of course, the situation is more complex in and around Baghdad, where there is an environment of high insecurity. But we have kept a small team in Baghdad in order to be able to do everything we can to support the people that are suffering so much.

    UN News Centre: What is the biggest challenge at the moment?


    António Guterres: I think the big challenge is the fighting itself. We are facing an enormous risk in Iraq for the stability of the country and obviously there is no humanitarian solution for this problem; the solution is always political. We humanitarians can do no more than to support people in distress. What we need is to stop the dramatic situations that are now proliferating all over the world.


    Oh, wait.

    That's Guterres speaking in 2014.

    Amazing how little has changed.

    But that's part of the story as well -- even if it's not being reported on -- don't worry, we'll get to it.


    For now, PRESS TV notes, "Guterres is scheduled to meet top Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi before heading to Arbil, the capital of the country’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region." AFP adds, "After his arrival in Baghdad, Guterres met President Fuad Masum, parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi and Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari."


    Guterres arrives on day 164 of The Mosul Slog.

    For American audiences, AP tries to reset the time clock (it doesn't do the same for foreign audiences).  Rather interesting -- apparently, they think American news consumers can't handle the truth and are also so dumb that they won't notice that the clock's being reset.

    It's 164 days.


    And look at the concerned Paul D. Shinkman of US NEWS & WORLD REPORTS -- and apparently PROPAGANDA as well:


    The Trump administration has indicated it plans to largely abdicate a U.S. role in Iraq's political future, despite the certainty that driving the Islamic State group from its remaining stronghold in Mosul – months, if not weeks, away – starts the clock on a dangerous new era for a country on the verge of fracturing along rival warring factions.

    The prospect of a reduced U.S. role leaves a vacuum in crafting a long-term political solution to reassemble Iraq. Chief among the concerns is that the country's religious and ethnic populations – minority Sunni Muslims who felt victimized by the central government in Baghdad and now fear retribution, ethnic Kurds certain to seek independence for their semiautonomous region, and a majority Shiite population thought to be under the sway of Iran – will turn on each other without a common enemy to unite their efforts.


    According to Shinkman, grab the Greek worry beads, Donald Trump is going to "abdicate" -- oh, no.

    Here's the thing, Shinkman's a damn liar.

    There have been people concerned about the political situation in Iraq.

    I know because -- check the archives -- I'm one of them.

    We have laid out the roots for this conflict for years now.

    We have talked about the need for diplomacy.

    We have gone over and over how delivering F-16s with no demand of political reconciliation within Iraq was stupidity.

    We've talked about the diplomatic toolbox.

    We've rightly called Barack Obama out for bombing Iraq since August 2014 and sending even more US troops into the country without offering a diplomatic surge because, if ISIS ever is gone, something else will quickly replace it.

    For over two years, Barack did nothing.

    Secretary of State John Kerry thought he was Secretary of Defense and spent too much time playing general to do his job.

    This is all appalling but it's even more appalling when you grasp that June 19, 2014, Barack himself said the only answer was a political solution.

    But the US refused to use the diplomatic toolbox to create such a solution.

    Now comes Paul Shinkman suddenly concerned.

    He's not concerned.

    Paul is part of the war think tank Center for a New American Security -- an affiliation that should preclude him from being presented as anything other than biased -- every column he writes should have a disclaimer at the top.

    For those who don't know that organization, it was cofounded by Michele Flournoy -- a woman so addicted to war and violence that even Barack wouldn't appoint her Secretary of Defense though everyone thought she had a lock on the job at one point.  (She only made it up to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.)

    War boy Paul suddenly raises the political issue and he's doing it because he wants the military angle in Iraq.  He's lying to justify further war.

    Today, Speaker of Parliament Salim al-Jubouri has declared to the UN Secretary-General that Iraq needs a Marshall Plan to rebuild.

    Such a plan would cost millions -- probably billions.

    There's your maneuver.

    You insist upon meaningful changes as a condition on funding.

    I'm assuming this would be done at the UN level.


    European countries -- France most visibly -- have long mocked Barack for his no-strings approach to diplomacy with Iraq.

    European countries would be on board with this.

    This is a tool that can be used.

    That Paul Shinkman doesn't note these type of tools is because he doesn't care about a political solution within Iraq.

    He's only tossing that out now because he's afraid that the US will 'walk away' militarily from Iraq and human filth like Paul can't stand for any war to end.


    XINHUA notes:

    The UN chief's visit came as the Iraqi security forces are fighting to dislodge the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants from their last major stronghold in Mosul.
    The troops have been fighting street by street and house by house to recapture the Mosul's old city center, but they were slowed by the heavy resistance of IS militants and the presence of some 500,000 people living in the old houses with narrow alleys.

       The fierce battles in the western side of Mosul caused heavy casualties among civilians who were either caught by cross-fire or by airstrikes and shelling.


    The British newspaper "theguardian":The International coalition has launched "5000"bombs on the neighborhoods in...








    RT reports:


    The debris of destroyed houses, schools and hospitals have turned Iraq’s second largest city into an urban graveyard after the US-led coalition and Iraqi government forces launched the offensive in October to liberate the city.
    With explosions and gunfire heard in the distance, RT's crew saw US-led coalition jets heading to and from Mosul every 5–10 minutes on Tuesday night. They also witnessed an Iraqi helicopter launching missiles at IS targets on Wednesday and heard chilling stories of how Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists continue to use civilians as human shields during airstrikes.
    But instead of organizing humanitarian corridors for civilian to leave the city, the Iraqi government, as noted in the Amnesty International report earlier this week, has been urging Mosul residents to stay inside. Unfortunately for many of them, the perceived safety of their homes became their graves, as Iraqi and US forces continue to target their houses.
    “When we were in our home, it was hit by a shell. We went to my parent’s house, and it was hit by a rocket. Wherever we went, we’d be bombed. I heard an airstrike destroyed our home,” one woman with a child told RT.



    That's the reality of 'liberation' for Mosul.


    As it was for Falluja and Ramadi before.

    That's The Mosul Slog.



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