Want to end terrorism? Then stop Western Imperialism.

May 25, 2017
Written by: The AIM Network
59 Replies

By Christian Marx

Sadly, once again, yet another suicide bomber has acted his revenge on innocent people in Manchester. The predictable Nazi sock puppets are out on behalf of their corporate backers, screaming for more surveillance, greater military, and an increasing attack on the Muslim community at large. Same old crap, same old conservative hatred and spin.

The elephant in the room is Western Imperialism. It has completely decimated the Middle East, via bombing indiscriminately vast amounts of people, killing Iraqi children with drones, and deliberately poisoning their drinking water. Very few have benefited from the gross destruction in the Middle East. Iraqis haven’t, Syrians haven’t, Palestinians continue to be wiped off the face of the earth for the sick ideology of Zionism (corporate dollars hiding behind a nationalist/religious front).

Let me tell you who has benefitted … “people” such as Murdoch, Rothchild and Dick Cheney, via their Geanie Energy Company.

So it really comes as no surprise that all the Murdoch automatons are frantically trying to hide Murdoch’s Middle Eastern meddling and trying to put the blame on Muslims in general. The same old Nazi tactic. Use a minority as a scapegoat to protect the real criminals.

Let`s take a look at why Imperialism has created this hatred for the West. Yes, some disaffected radicals are using insane violence to target innocent people. How did it come to this? It all began after 9/11. When Iraq was first invaded, the people were decimated on a lie. The U.S government openly LIED to the world by claiming that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. This was the excuse they needed to topple Saddam. He was not playing ball with the U.S financiers, so they needed a pretext to overthrow him. Viola, “Weapons of mass destruction”.

This is the same nonsense being played out against Syria … a democratically elected government who is in conflict with U.S financial interests over gas pipelines. But oh no, the mainstream media continues to perpetuate the lies and half-truths that Assad is more evil man (than he probably is). The same garbage they used in order to rid us of Gadhafi, whose greatest crime was to drop the U.S dollar in favour of a new African currency.

The real evil emanates from Washington and the dozens of coups, assassinations and dirty wars they have fought over the past 70 years: Vietnam, Chile, Cuba, Al Salvador, Panama, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia … the list goes on.

Anyone remotely cognisant with foreign policy knows the majority of the information coming out of Western-backed media is complete garbage. Non-corporate owned, independent media is much closer to the truth. Unfortunately, Nan and Pop grew up during the cold war and have a hatred for anything remotely socialist. They were conditioned at the time to believe in the mass media and their own government. We also have the problem of those who are insecure and have a hatred of foreigners. Perhaps their own life is not going too well, they may have suffered a job loss (Neoliberalism) or they feel threatened by the prospect of equity (Conservative propaganda fed to them daily).

Ironically, many of their problems stem from conservative government policies … limited access to universal education, job losses, earning potential diminished, cuts to mental health services etc. Unfortunately, the very people that are destroying them via Neoliberalism are the same people who they trust. The only way the far-right can indoctrinate these unfortunate people is via fear. Ironically, terrorism is largely created by conservative foreign policy.

As revered academic, Noam Chomsky once said, “You can’t bomb your way to peace.” He is correct. Let’s put a hypothetical scenario forward. How would you as an Australian feel if the U.S decided that they want to take our resources and indiscriminately dropped bombs on your family and friends? Would you be angry? Is there a chance it would unhinge you and you may seek revenge?

Not only are the United States and by extension the Australian government killing innocent citizens and raping the national resources from Middle Eastern countries, the U.S are indirectly financing ISIS. (See more here).

So to recap, the conservative manifesto includes Neoliberal austerity, cutting healthcare and social services, demonizing minorities (while attacking and stealing their resources overseas), and financing all sorts of rebel groups linked to ISIS.

Conservatives then have the gall to blame an entire religion for the acts of some extremists who were damaged by the Imperialism of the U.S.A. … which they fully support.

The hypocrisy and deceit is breathtaking.

The author makes no justification for the absolute horror inflicted on Western citizens by these radical ISIS psychopaths. But, if the U.S stopped rampaging through dozens of countries like marauding thugs we would not be in the situation we have now. The fearful and the less-educated have got to start doing their homework. This isn’t about Islam: ultimately this is all about hatred and revenge for what the West has done to the Middle East. Before the first invasion of Iraq, these terrorist attacks on the West were far less frequent.

These disturbed individuals are using “Islam” as a tool to recruit disaffected youths, much like the U.S uses “Christianity” to go to war with foreign nations and recruit disaffected American youth to fight the rich man`s battles.

Make no mistake; violence will just lead to more violence. Kick a dog all its life and it will become a vicious beast and attack you back. If one wants to get to the root cause of these terrorist atrocities, then one must expose the elephant in the room. That elephant is Western Imperialism. To ignore this is to become complicit in state sanctioned, corporate murder, which makes you no better than a supporter of ISIS. Unplug from the matrix!

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Glenn KMay 25, 2017 at 5:59 pm

If you are an Iraqi citizen and under the age of 29, for your entire life the USA has been bombing your country. Think about that….every child, every teenager, every person in his/her twenties. Bombed by the USA and it’s allies. All. their. life.
Oh….and we wonder where the hate comes from. Duh oh….

FreethinkerMay 25, 2017 at 6:03 pm

Christian which hope we can have when one of the worse criminals to humanity in history, Kissinger received a Peace Noble price and at over 90 years old still going to the White House to give his inputs.
That man is glorify by the politicians in many countries and he should be sent long time ago to the courts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay for his organized crime against the population on those countries.
It would not surprise one bit if when he died that there will be speeches in our parliament by our politicians saying how good he was.
My only hope is that the greed within the imperial will bring them to a self destruction without the lost of innocent life.
I thing that the present proposed budget by Donald Trump government goes towards that.

Kevin BrewerMay 25, 2017 at 6:26 pm

Mr Marx, anyone who lived through the post-WWII period could cite many more occasions, but even they are too recent, than 9/11 as a cause of fractious relations between the Muslim world and the West. Bad relations between the Muslim world and the West go back many hundreds of years before that event, to the time of the Crusades and before that, perhaps to the victory of Charles Martel (Not for nothing Charles was called Charles The Hammer.) over Islamic invaders at Poitiers in 732. That victory was the beginning of the end of Muslim incursions into Europe, which ended in western Europe with the victories of Isabella and Ferdinand in Spain.

At the time of Vasco da Gama’s first trip to India 1497-9 the most prosperous people in the Indian Ocean region were Muslim. They controlled the enslavement of 10 million Africans into SE and SW Asia, they were the middle men in the prosperous trade from the East into the West, a trade that goes back to the early days of the rise of Rome and Greece. Trade came overland into the eastern Mediterranean and was then squabbled over by various nations, the Byzantines, Venetians, Genoans, etc., as to who would send it on to markets in northern and western Europe. Sugar, for instance, came via this method from its origin in West Papua to the rest of the world. da Gama’s arrival was the great disruption, and from that day the Muslim world declined and the West rose on the back of sea trade that enriched the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English, among others.

So any complaints you make about imperialism being the cause of terrorism don’t meet even the basic demand for evidence. You simply start too late.

Stephen BraileyMay 25, 2017 at 9:03 pm

Kevin…your potted history is about as relevant as a sieve is to transport water. Much like your psuedo argument. The author was talking about current events and the increase in terrorist attacks on Western nations due to imperialism. For me everything said while being obvious and much discussed eleswhere for a good while now is a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the hypocracy and psychopoathic nature of US foreign policy. Obviously that includes all of the, scared (gutless Labor politicians); the complicit (“security” forces) and the ugly (The LNP), Australian representatives who fawn and pander to the US of A. I have slowly watched the death of representative democracy and the notion of a fair go be washed away to be replaced by representation via a pampered elite (neo-fascists) and angry cynicism and materialism as the average man’s ethos. So Kevin, try to add to the body of knowledge instead of trying to be clever?!

paul walterMay 25, 2017 at 10:51 pm

Thanks Stephen Bailey.. Kevin, leave the preppie stuff home.

Than God for Trump’s National Lampoon Vacation, unintentional slapstick comedy, we should be grateful to the Addams Family for otherwise the ABC would have driven people nuts with its force-fed, 24/7 hysteria over Manchester.

Meanwhile in the USA, the attempt to foister an Abbott 2014 budget that will ruin millions of folk based macabre ideological fantasy is ignored for this other vaudeville.

The history of the mideast region for several centuries and since Sykes Picot in particular has been of one big war crime instigated by the West out of loathsome greed for resources and strategic routs culminating in the obsessive control of oil itself for and by a few.

Salafism didn’t incubate in a vacuum…time for the West to at last look at ITSELF!!

townsvilleblogMay 26, 2017 at 7:42 am

We either have to stop Western Imperialism or Islamic immigration one or the other, because Islamic terrorism is now all but world wide, with every intake of Islamists there are a tiny minority of extremists who go about punishing innocent people for the crimes that their elected officials commit. Half the people blown up or shot didn’t even vote for the conservative leader that has been elected, worst case the USA where only 43% of people actually voted, the majority of whom voted for trump, which leaves tens of millions whose major crime is not taking responsibility and voting. In Australia where voting is compulsory 50,000 Muslims came in under Labor some years ago and now the count of Muslims is 500,000.

JohnoMay 26, 2017 at 8:45 am

paul walter
Well put, I now purposefully ignore the 24/7 hysteria over terrorism. The poor rich gap is growing and the environment is getting crushed by our wanton greed. No hysteria over these issues.

paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 8:54 am

Thanks, johno.

Sick of the Chicken Little stuff and childish denialism. Pretending that reality doesn’t exist to the point of deliberately trying to obscure it doesn’t stop it from existing and pretending things are other than what they are just sets us up for a rude awakening…ALL of us, Murdoch, et al..

FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 9:03 am

Johno, the people that are relatively financially well (the ones that still using their credit card for their materialistic life style) do not care less for the poor-rich gap and do not want to talk about measures to reverse climate change because they can affect their standard of living.
Terrorism can cost their life, so it is more important.

Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 9:43 am

Greed, corruption and interference with other countries are not just the province of the West.

Look at Saudi Arabia. The Royal family are the richest family on earth while many of their citizens live in poverty. Despite an annual oil revenue of more than $200 billion, most Saudis lack adequate housing, healthcare, sanitation and education. 40 percent of Saudi youth between twenty and twenty-four are unemployed. Yet they spend hundreds of billions on weapons of war, happily provided by all and sundry including Russia, China, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and us as well as the US. They are bombing the crap out of Yemen. Iraq invaded Kuwait. Russia invaded the Ukraine. China are laying claim to disputed islands not to mention Nepal and Taiwan.

Sectarian violence and power struggles can’t be totally ignored either. There is enough evidence coming out of Syria that I think “evil” is an entirely appropriate description of Assad.

It’s easy just to blame the US. But it is also lazy.

bepsMay 26, 2017 at 10:08 am

This explains terrorism in western countries… i might surprise you but you should realise the entire world is not just about what you hear… terrorism is not only about ISIS… islamic terrorism kills also with the name of abu sayyaf, boko haram, hamas, muslim brotherhood, Lashkar-e-Taïba, etc, and they kills in countries like Phillipines, Egypt,Ivory Coast, Nigeria, India, etc Actually most of terrorist attacks do not happen in western countries, so how could you say stoping western imperialism will stop terrorism ?

Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 10:43 am

If you want to stop Rape, ban women.
If you want to stop Murder, ban victims.

Islam, what we are seeing here to-day, has only started in the last century or two…….what….?

Unbelievable,
Mark Needham

paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 10:43 am

Kaye Lee, there you go again with this only blaming it on the USA nonsense. You comment ignores the fact the the Saudis have only ever been stooges and proxies for the US, Britain and other European nations and that the Big Powers would never tolerate a democratic set up because it would threaten their control of oil and trade routes. Of course it is a tyranny when it is installed for the benefit of foreign interests with more power than it.

(scratches head) geez!

Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 11:07 am

Paul, I am not sure you can install a Royal family but you can certainly encourage and benefit from their corruption. Up until now, being King has been hereditary. In the future, Saudi kings will be chosen by a committee of Saudi princes. I am not ignoring anything. Your comment in no way negates my observations.

As beps points out, the vast majority of terrorist acts do not occur in Western countries. If we want to stop terrorism we need to look at all causes. I certainly agree with the majority of the article but there is more to the picture which should not be ignored if we are to help find solutions.

Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 11:11 am

“If you want to stop Rape, ban women.”

What an incredibly stupid thing to say

Michael TaylorMay 26, 2017 at 11:23 am

And what if a female child is born? Are they sacrificed to the gods? Within a few generations there will be no women, giving rapists no option but to rape other men.

So why don’t we ban men? After all, they are generally the rapists.

helvityniMay 26, 2017 at 11:36 am

Kaye, to me it sounds like an admission that men (some of them) don’t have any self control… 🙂

A bit like dogs perhaps:

When we had our hobby farm, we had a female Border Collie, whom our vet had deemed infertile. One day our real farmer neighbour’s kelpie broke a heavy chain and run fast over many a paddock,fences, gates and river to ‘rape’ our Bella, long chain still trailing behind.

Bella fell pregnant and had ONE beautiful Border Collie/Kelpie cross puppy; everyone was happy…We named him Max, but Miracle would have been more fitting….

Miriam EnglishMay 26, 2017 at 11:43 am

Christian, much of what you say is true, but your focus is too narrow. Kevin Brewer’s reply was exactly right. Kaye’s comment was too. And beps’ comment.

Terrorism is terrible, but on the scale of importance it must be remembered that it rates below people falling off furniture. The fears and anguish about terrorism are, to a large degree inflated by the mainstream media for sensationalism and quick dollars.

Also, you do great damage to your credibility when you blame Zionism — so beloved by anti-semitic conspiracy theorists as a large part of the evil behind the world.

Lastly, I should point out that probably most of the ills today are excused and largely promoted by two religions: Christianity and Islam — both deeply abhorrent religions that speak repeatedly of violence and killing.

If the West stopped meddling in Middle Eastern countries I doubt that it would impact terrorism by Islamic extremists much. They are often heavily oppressed by their own or neighboring governments, generally Islamic.

I’m not saying we should shrug and be okay with our governments bombing the shit out of other countries to steal their oil or other resources. I’m just saying things are not as simple as you think.

We should be setting a good example for the rest of the world, not helping screw it up.

guestMay 26, 2017 at 11:51 am

@beps,

you must know that the countries you mention as being attacked by Islam terrorists are also countries which have been colonies or protectorates of Western countries. As well, there are places in the world which have been affected by CIA intrusion into the local government for political and economic reasons. Look at the ring of weapons encircling China and the troops fronting Russia via western Europe.

@townsvilleblog
You like statistics? Clinton received more votes than Trump.

50, 000 immigrants in 5 years? At that rate it would take 10 years to fill up the MCG with immigrants.

@paul walter

“We should be thankful to the Addams Family for otherwise the ABC would have driven us nuts with its force-fed, 24/7 hysteria over Manchester.”

A little humor makes a nice distraction? Why pick on the ABC? The Murdoch media empire has been full of raging anti-Islam for years, 24/7. Remember Abbott’s “death cult”, Dutton’s Border Force, the use of the Navy to drag back boats in international waters and all the hysterical reporting blasting anyone Muslim here in Oz. Murdoch and his stable of scribblers are the authors of Chicken Little stories.

Keyser SozeMay 26, 2017 at 12:41 pm

The Manchester bombing as tragic and despicable as it was has all the signs of another false flag gladio style event. Time will reveal some startling facts which have already began to appear.
ISIS has claimed responsibility which nearly always occurs or at least some radical Muslim sect.

All these type of events real investigators traced back to Government Intelligence Agencies involving the usual suspects most notably the CIA, MI6 and Mossad and others.

9/11, the London Bombings, Madrid, Sandy Hook School, Aurora, Boston, Paris and most likely Bali. The list goes on. The mass media coverage of these events serve to create fear into the public, create a hatred of all things Muslim or for gun control which serves the cabal’s goals, to attack their own created and armed ISIS in Iraq and Syria when in fact they bomb the very people who are fighting ISIS with no regard to civilian casualties, it’s also used to defer public attention away from other events ( like elections) or damaging news items.

One crisis actor who was identified at the false flag Sandy Hook School shooting has also been identified as being in a state of panic at Manchester as well….. Strange indeed.

The Philipines has had a sudden outbreak of ISIS. This is what happens when you buck the system.
Anyone with a computer and a true understanding of past history knows that the so called war on terror is a created lie which serves their purpose to invade and create mayhem for their own goals.

The destruction of Iraq and Libya based on lies are prime examples. Syria is facing the same threat but the Syrian’s and Russians have rightly curtailed this latest act for regime change. If Syria falls then Iran is probably next.

To quote US General Wesley Clark who was told……
“This memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.”

According to the Daily Mail the Manchester Arena bomb had a sophisticated remote, cell-phone detonator. It could have been detonated by an asset of the security services, some distance away, which makes the theory of a suicide bomber strange indeed.

Salman Abedi has been described by neighbours and friends as a normal young man with no extremist views.
The bomb used in the attack is a ‘big and sophisticated bomb’ using materials not widely available in Britain.
News image of police leaving his house clearly displaying a bomb making manual for all the world to see is a classic example how they operate. Remember the undamaged Passports from MH-17 and 9/11?

Authorities told ABC News they found a kind of bomb-making workshop in Salman Abedi’s home and he had apparently stockpiled enough chemicals to make additional bombs.

However, according to the UK police, “no bomb making equipment was found at Abedi’s home”

Make no mistake the Zionist controlled media will play it for all it’s worth and the Politicians of this country will play their part whether through ignorance or fear.

Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 12:57 pm

Personally I think the conspiracy theorists are doing just as much harm as the terrorists – probably more.

Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 1:38 pm

Domestic Violence…ban Men.

It doesn’t matter what we say or do, nothing will stop bastards from plying their Trade.Don’t you see what I am trying to say. Of course saying ban Women to stop rape, is stupid, as is saying stop Islam, stop imperialism.
Case by case, as it happens, deal with it, according to our current community beliefs. As we deem, Right, at this point in time.
History, is to show us where we went wrong, not to show us how to do it, or not. ( No one listens anyhow)
Yeah, I know,
Mark Needham

Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 1:45 pm

Miriam EnglishMay 26, 2017 at 11:43 am
“They are often heavily oppressed by their own or neighboring governments, generally Islamic.”

Like all Humanity, we are oppressed by our partners ( domestic Violence) at school ( Bullying) at work ( sexual Harrassment) our State, other states ( vying for GST $$$$) Country versus country. We are Tribal, we all hate each other with a passion.
How many here, would like to give me an enema ( at 40 paces)with Curdled whatever, or clip me around the ear. ( Yes, I most probably do deserve it), but what makes you so squeaky clean?
Mean and Dirty,
Mark Needham

guestMay 26, 2017 at 1:52 pm

There have been at least two cases of terrorism being down-played this week. One person on Q&A suggested there was as much chance of being hurt by terrorism as there was of being hit by a falling refrigerator. A writer for the right-wing magazine Quadrant suggested that Q&A and the ABC should be bombed. Charming.

Another, on The Drum, said the same, comparing with car accidents. The hysterical response from Greg Sheridan was a spectacle to behold. He had mistaken who had spoken. But of course he must rage on loud and long because he is part of the Murdoch propaganda empire. And he supports that other world-wide empire, the Catholic Church, in competition with Islam.

Meanwhile, seizing the head-lines has been the Manchester tragedy and the mishandling of the Lindt disaster.

What do you think sells newspapers? Dog bites man or man bites dog?

FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 2:12 pm

I do not think that “collateral damage” like this: ” US admits Mosul airstrikes killed over 100 civilians during battle with Isis” help to stop terrorism.
The Jadidah attack accounted for about one-quarter of civilian casualties in the war against Isis, the US said. “Our condolences go out to all those that were affected,” Major General Joe Martin said. “The coalition takes every feasible measure to protect civilians from harm.”

I can image the reaction of the media and US allies if the other side with the help (or not) of Putin have made this “mistake”

Maeve CarneyMay 26, 2017 at 2:26 pm

The real “elephant in the room” is Islamic jihad. Woe betide any who dare to bring that up. It is so very much easier to put the blame on white imperialism that to admit the real problem. Maeve being called a racist, bigot, islamophobe in 3, 2, 1…

wamMay 26, 2017 at 2:29 pm

Let’s stop using ‘suicide bomber’ and call them murderers
Let the religious announce the god of the boble does not take murderers into heaven and they languish in the fires of hell.

guestMay 26, 2017 at 3:17 pm

Maeve,

we have seen the elephant in the room for a long time now. Not hard to recognise.

But what is hard for some people to see, including you, is that the West, with all its wonderful “values” and incredible invention, has been plundering the world now for at least 500 years and the down-pressed have been more than upset.

That is why the West is made afraid by China, not only by Islam jihadis. The West is afraid that China will act like the West and take over aspects of the world outside China – such as a new “Silk Road” to the West, economic interests in Africa, islands in the South China Sea, Chinese embassies on Pacific islands, influence over Western economies……

So, if not Western imperialism, what is upsetting the Islamic jihadis, in your opinion? Why are they attacking the West?

Christian MarxMay 26, 2017 at 3:54 pm

Miriam English, Zionism is a real problem. Do you not see the atrocities it commits daily in Palestine?

helvityniMay 26, 2017 at 4:05 pm

I know of no terrorist attacks on China.

helvityniMay 26, 2017 at 4:20 pm

WE are not all that peace-loving here either, fancy a Quadrant employee wanting bomb the ABC studios just because the audience and guests on Q&A are not all right-wingers….talk about home-grown terrorism, even the ever ‘cheerful’ Nick Cater did not know what to say…

Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 4:33 pm

guest May 26, 2017 at 3:17 pm
“Why are they attacking the West?”

They do not mind to whom they send to ‘heaven’. Most are their own. In particular their own. Look at the way women are treated, even by the Good Islamic people.
And, they need a reason…?

Have you ever read any parts of the Christian Bible or Islamic Koran?

Yes, but, but
Butter,
Mark Needham

paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:40 pm

Revealing take on the back ground involving Manchester.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/manchester-attack-as-mi6-blowback,10336

paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:43 pm

Christian, we never see what goes on in Palestine, period. The same as we do not see what a mess Mosul is. Media is very selective as to what comprises its narratives. Nothing about a bombing in Syria itself this week where 68 people died, three times as many as Manchester.

Funny, that…

paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:45 pm

Mark Needham, judging by the death toll in the mideast over the last generation, the yanks must be good Muslims.

paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:47 pm

So yes, Kaye Lee, I think the “conspiracy theorists” are doing a lot of harm. You look, I’ll point.

Miriam EnglishMay 26, 2017 at 5:12 pm

You keep that tinfoil hat tightly on, Keyser Soze, dearie.

Kevin BrewerMay 26, 2017 at 7:08 pm

I am not surprised, after reading the comments here, that things are as they are. If you want to play the historical card, you need a better deck than Mr Marx offers. The fact that Muslims talk about crusaders should give us a hint about how far back they are thinking. But even the Crusaders were late to the game. Charles the Hammer in 732AD, and Vasco da Gama had more to do with the situation in the Middle east, or SW Asia, or whatever you want to call it, than 9/11. Ultimately it is about power and money. Oil money, the Middle east discovered, wasn’t the golden road, because those who had the money were only sharing a bit of it, the rest was hidden in the same holes as the money our Western, and now Chinese and Russian oligarchs, hide theirs.

As some one mentioned China, my two bits worth is that at the time of da Gama to two biggest economic powers in the world were India and China. The West overtook them for 400 years, now look at what is happening. The West has discovered the way they turned lead into gold is a transferable technology, so now we see the re-rise of China and India. The only Western power capable of matching them economically is the EU, because it has the population, and the nous. Hence the aggressiveness of the US towards China. That aggressiveness is a mark of failure and weakness. Sorry guys, the American century lasted ten years, from 1945 to 1955, until Korea stalemated.

The problem for ISIS et al is that they think asymmetrical warfare, as it is called in DC, favours them, with their IEDs and ability to turn Muslims in the West into little jihadis. Russia learnt its lesson of Afghanistan and has turned to the Syrians themselves to take the fight, the US has in its turn helped reconstitute an Iraqi army that it stupidly disbanded when Iraq was stupidly controlled by Paul Bremner, and although they still believe in a tactical doctrine of standoff weapons and air power, some have realised it is boots on the ground that win wars. So ISIS et al’s version of asymmetric warfare is failing badly in Syria and Iraq, and with bombings in France, Belgium Turkey and Britain, ISIS et al is attempting to make continued warfare unpalatable. Given the past two centuries of warfare in Europe, that is a very long shot doctrine, and the last ISIS cadre will be dead long before Europe gives up. I am not so sure of the Americans, they haven’t a very good record of fighting long term warfare, having lost every war since WWII.

Matters NotMay 26, 2017 at 7:30 pm

The real “elephant in the room” is

Perhaps whatever you want it to be? Personally, I sees a whole herd of elephants in the room if you want to use that analogy.. Yes, those who want to espouse ‘jihad’, while giving it a particular meaning – one of many possibilities – are of great concern.

But perhaps my main concern is that it is only the one elephant that is being recognised. A rather limited view?

JohnoMay 26, 2017 at 7:52 pm

Maeve
Have you heard of climate change, I don’t think the Islamic jihadis have caused that my friend.

Michael TaylorMay 26, 2017 at 8:12 pm

I rather enjoyed Kevin’s comments. Some have rightly been critical of his comments when pointing out that we are talking about the ‘now’, but nonetheless, Kevin is also right. Before the ‘now’ there was the ‘then’. It’s not too dissimilar to the argument that WW1 didn’t end in 1918 like the history books tell us. Some war historians tell us it ended in 1945, when WW2 ended. If we never had WW1 then we would never have had WW2.

Some could also argue that the ‘wars’ between the Jews and the Arabs are not a recent wars either. They are just an extension of the same war that David and Goliath fought in.

FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 8:15 pm

Just on the news and are good IMO:
Court maintains block on Trump’s Muslim travel ban
US appeal court’s chief judge states revised ban ‘drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination’.

Michael TaylorMay 26, 2017 at 8:27 pm

The things you never read about in our mainstream media:

Listening to Philip Adams interviewing an ex-CIA guy the other night and he said that more Americans have been killed on American soil by home-grown hard right-wing or radical Christian terrorists than Muslim terrorists.

Search hard and you might find the article about the right-wing Christian bloke who was arrested in Florida a few days ago after a raid on his home found explosives and his plans for a terrorist attack. But like I said, search hard.

FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 8:59 pm

Michael, members of “The Army of God” have committed many atrocities specially in the anti abortion in USA and they have their own page in the internet.
James Charles Kopp is one of their heroes
01/29/1998: In Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A., an off-duty officer, Robert Sanderson, was killed by a bomb just after he arrived for work as a security guard at the Birmingham Abortion Clinic. He became the nation’s first fatality in an abortion clinic bombing. A nurse was also severely injured. In 2005 Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to this and three earlier bombing attacks in Atlanta and was sentenced to life in prison. The Army of God group claimed responsibility for the bombings in a letter to news agencies.

Easy to find it.

FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 9:07 pm

I forgot to add the international organization Sovereign Citizen
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2010/april/sovereigncitizens_041310/domestic-terrorism-the-sovereign-citizen-movement

Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 9:37 pm

There are so many things that affect the ‘now’. How can we make change? Certainly not with bombs. We need to help with educating girls and giving women more economic freedom and a greater political voice. We need to address inequality and unemployment. Lift people out of poverty and there will be less appetite for war.

I agree that greed and power are behind much of the evil in the world. We would do well to remember the words of Edmund Burke

“But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.”

RaisMay 27, 2017 at 1:47 am

Good article with one glaring inaccuracy. The Asad family’s regime heads a one-party state and is not democratically elected. Asad the elder, Hafez, had the blood of many of his people on his hands and people were hopeful that his British-educated son would liberalise the system of government when he came to power. That didn’t happen.

Jarrad DayMay 30, 2017 at 6:22 pm

Rais , firstly with respect , please read up on Syria’s political structure and even a brief history of the country you’ll find your comment is absolute rubbish. Syria was the most secular and inclusive of all Arab nations next to Lebanon . 2014 was the year of the last elections with 30 international observers present who over saw a multi representative party election . Yes his Ba’ath Alawi Party dominates , for obvious reasons but to say its undemocratic or its a regime is quite wrong. Just because your TV tells you that Assad is some monster and butcher doesn’t make it so.
Our western media propaganda and spin machine is absolutely incredible in its ability to convince reasonable and intelligent people to believe complete and utter absurdities . Judging by a lot of the comments I see hear today , the machine is very effective.
I mean the bullshit that is created and spread regarding Assad and Putin is effing breathtaking , yet so often its gobbled up and becomes part of the ongoing narrative.
Kaye Lee who is an excellent and well informed writer and poster on this site of which i enjoy reading , mentioned that Russia invaded Ukraine … HUH ?? I’m very surprised someone so well researched on Australian politics and Western politics actually believes this.
I’m sure your referring to the annexation of Crimea when you say this ? Which western media couldn’t have lied and misreported any more than it already had. The key omission in the west’s version was that the Russian govt and people of Crimea held an internationally recognized and observed democratic referendum of its citizens for Crimea to be taken back under the control and protection of Russia. Which was a unanimous yes vote seeing as though most of Crimea identifies as Russian , plus its home to a rather large Navy base enjoyed by the Russian Navy
The US , after it had funded and painstakingly over 5 years executed its regime change on the Ukraine , it was kinda annoyed that Putin was another step ahead of them in securing an extremely strategic bit of real estate. All facts , no this isn’t conspiracy theory either ,
When the US and its enormous war machine and its vile deep state intelligence community changes its hegemonic foreign policy , this madness will never end. The US must also come to terms with a multi-polar world with Russia and China having a seat at the table. The US empire dying a slow death and seems hellbent on taking the rest of us with it ..

Miriam EnglishMay 30, 2017 at 11:09 pm

Jarrad, a simple, honest question for you: how do you know you’re not being taken in by your sources?

We all know the Western media, and most especially that which is under the control of Murdoch, is slanted and has a disturbing tendency to present lies as truth, but some of the Western media do seem to stand apart from that and actually try to reach the truth.

We know the Russian media lie and distort the truth, just as Murdoch’s media do. The biggest difference is that there doesn’t seem to be any alternatives in Russia that stand apart from the propaganda and seek the truth. Journalists who attempt to do so are routinely assassinated.

So why would you think that Russian information is more reliable than Western information? At least in the West we have some diversity and some better chance at accuracy, even if it is difficult at times working out exactly what the truth is. In Russia they just get fed the State propaganda, which you are repeating. What chance does that have of being the unvarnished truth, do you think?

Jarrad DayMay 31, 2017 at 3:07 am

Hi Miriam , to answer your question I read several sources of media . With a major geopolitical event or apparent terror event I’ll read anywhere up to 20 different sources including local and relevant bloggers
Yes , this includes RT .. which if you took some time to watch it , is far more imformative than anything I’ve seen available from western corporate media , I agree that RT has its biases and they are quite obvious as you pointed out.
I am hardly blindly repeating Russian spin , my comments in my previous post are certified facts ..
What really worries me is that often quite well informed , rational people who question the offical or mainstream narratives served up to them , they’re often labelled conspiracy theorists and laughed at and / or discredited .. isolated from the group think
So often now days what was once labelled a conspiracy theory turns out to be quite the opposite ..
After I woke up and started to apply critical ananalisis to what I read and watch I often think how nice it would be to go back to being ignorant and blissfully unaware of what’s actually going on around me.. would be nice don’t you think ?

Miriam EnglishMay 31, 2017 at 10:16 am

Jarrad, unfortunately the idea that Russia didn’t invade the Ukraine, or that Assad is benign, or that Putin is unfairly criticised by his detractors… all these come only from Russian sources. It is no use reading mutliple sources if you only accept one, and especially if that one has a bad habit of distorting the truth.

Yes, the USA almost certainly was up to no good in the Ukraine, the Syrian elections were held (as far as can be told) freely and fairly, and Putin is not alone in being a dangerous thug, but removing the qualifiers from these things doesn’t help clarify things, it obstructs them.

That USA was doing some sneaky shit doesn’t give Russia license to invade. The Syrian elections could easily have been “managed” and still appear fair — authoritarians do this all the time and the Republicans in the USA, the LNP in Australia, and Conservatives in UK have been doing it — Trump, BREXIT, and Abbott are all symptoms. Assad doesn’t have clean hands. Putin is a deeply disturbing and dangerous criminal. He sends hit-men after journalists who speak against him in Russia, he has stolen billions from the Russian people, and he has his eyes firmly set on empire-building.

Most of what appears to be nutty conspiracy theory is, in fact, nutty conspiracy theory.

Jarrad DayMay 31, 2017 at 2:22 pm

Wow… well thank you for the advice , I’m very aware of what i read and its perspective , its the hand that guides and / or manipulates perspective I often find is where the truth lies or close enough to it anyway. Of course both sides of conflicts have their own versions of events and they’re own set of facts. Most of whats fed to us is generally theater anyway to ensure we’re kept amused.
But I would suggest you do a little more homework on Ukraine , Russia and the US State Departments involvement in Ukraine the last 5 years. Start with the name Victoria Nuland .
I’m very aware of what Putin is and what he’s been accused of doing. Take a good look at his accusers and their motivations behind such accusations and a very different picture appears. Look into all sides of this Russian dynamic including its history . It may become a little clearer of whats going on.
Accepting you have a confirmation bias is very difficult Miriam , but once you identify its existence you start to see things a bit differently.

Miriam EnglishMay 31, 2017 at 6:18 pm

Obviously you’re less aware of what Putin is than you think. Russia is one of the most dangerous places on Earth to be a journalist investigating your government. Last I looked more than 50 journalists and whistleblowers have been murdered for doing that in Russia. Have a look at Putin’s offshore bank accounts. He has stolen billions from his people.

I’m no fan of the USA, but even their repellent government has only imprisoned about 4 whistleblowers and journalists. A journalist was murdered while investigating the CIA’s connection with drugs, not political corruption, and about 3 others murdered while investigating local corruption. Though I’m half-expecting that moron Trump to start hiring contract killers to solve his problems the way Putin does.

I have no desire to live in USA, but if I had to choose between Russia and USA it would be the latter. The way I talk and write about idiotic crooked politicians I don’t think I’d have a great life expectancy in Russia.

Jarrad DayJune 1, 2017 at 7:11 am

Again Miriam , your scope on Russia and Putin is too narrow.
Yes it certainly is dangerous being a journo in Russia and especially Kiev.
There are scores of journos that have been killed . You’ll find very few , if any are attributed to Putin . Much of these deaths are attributed to Mafia figures being named and their ties with provincial govt officials and businessmen. Local govt level corruption is enormous in Russia. If Putin was killing all these journos that spoke out against him the US and UK intelligence would be all over it and screaming it 24/7 . But instead they are left to invent any kind of threat or absurdity they can to throw at him .. it’s laughable really
Please send me verified links of proof that show Putin has stolen billions , along with links that you have somehow had access too and seen his bank accounts .
By the way , the Obama administration , arrested , convicted and imprisoned more wistle blowers , journos and leakers than every other previous administration combined .. fact.. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/if-donald-trump-targets-journalists-thank-obama.html

Miriam EnglishJune 1, 2017 at 7:54 am

I don’t have much time today. I have a lot of writing to do that is way past due. I’ll find the reference to Putin’s wealth later. I just wanted to point out two things:

I never said I thought the USA administration ideal. I specifically said I would not like to live there. I certainly feel no need to defend them. Yes it is repellent and wrong that USA routinely imprisons whisleblowers. I can’t say it’s better to murder them like Putin does. Check out the fate of journalists critical of Putin like Anna Politkovskaya.

I draw your attention to the fact that you reflexively defend Russia by condemning USA. That indicates you have been deceived. Misdirection is the standard tactic used when flaws in propaganda are shown. I’m sure you’re not doing it intentionally. People absorb it without realising it and think they have good reason for doing it. That’s why it is so effective.

Kaye LeeJune 1, 2017 at 8:56 am

Hmmmm….

Holding a referendum under the scrutiny of an invading force of armed Russian soldiers may influence the result. There are many who question the result considering less than 60% of Crimea is ethnically Russian and about 12% belongs to the Muslim Tatar minority yet supposedly 97% of Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine. Putin himself is on record saying, after a late night meeting in February 2014, well before the referendum, “When we were parting, I said to my colleagues: we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia.” Four days after that February 2014 meeting, and still well before the referendum, unidentified soldiers took over the local parliament in Crimea.

From March 2015….”In a trailer shown Sunday for an upcoming documentary on state-run Rossiya-1 television called “Homeward bound”, Putin openly discusses Moscow’s controversial grabbing of Crimea a year ago.”

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed that he began to plan the annexation of Crimea in a secret meeting with security services the day Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president fled Kiev — and weeks before the peninsula held a self-determination referendum.”

As for Putin’s wealth and allegations of corruption, bringing that up gets you dead – see Boris Nemtsov.

Kaye LeeJune 1, 2017 at 10:16 am

As for Syria being democratic and inclusive, you may want to take a closer look at their constitution and new electoral laws.

…candidates must have “resided in the Syrian Arab Republic, permanently and continuously, for no less than ten years prior to applying for candidacy”. This strange provision aims to exclude members of the opposition to the Syrian regime from the electoral process, as most, if not all of them, reside abroad.

….candidates for the presidency must obtain a written endorsement of at least 35 of the People’s Assembly’s 250 members. This is a crippling condition within the context of the current Assembly, whose every member is loyal to the ruling regime. Indeed, it would be impossible for a candidate to obtain the support of 35 Assembly members without the regime’s consent.

The president is the head of the judiciary. He nominates and appoints the members of the courts.

“electoral publicity must not include anything contrary to public order and decency”. Vague and undefined, the expression “contrary to public order and decency” could be used against any given candidate, as deemed appropriate by the judiciary, which follows the executive, i.e., the regime in Syria.

http://legal-agenda.com/en/article.php?id=2999#

Miriam EnglishJune 3, 2017 at 5:51 pm

Jarrad Day, I still don’t have time to do this, and I know you won’t look at any of it, but what the hell… I said I’d give you some links…

A review of “Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?” by Karen Dawisha, professor of political science:

How He and His Cronies Stole Russia

The Guardian reveals links through the Panama Papers to some of Putin’s billions:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore

The Washington Post talks of estimates that Putin has stolen about $200 billion from Russia:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/20/is-vladimir-putin-hiding-a-200-billion-fortune-and-if-so-does-it-matter/

A half hour long documentary: In Search of Putin’s Money

Slate magazine on Putin’s strategy so far and what it means for the West:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/07/vladimir_putin_has_a_plan_for_destroying_the_west_and_it_looks_a_lot_like.html

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Glenn KMay 25, 2017 at 5:59 pm

If you are an Iraqi citizen and under the age of 29, for your entire life the USA has been bombing your country. Think about that….every child, every teenager, every person in his/her twenties. Bombed by the USA and it’s allies. All. their. life.
Oh….and we wonder where the hate comes from. Duh oh….
FreethinkerMay 25, 2017 at 6:03 pm

Christian which hope we can have when one of the worse criminals to humanity in history, Kissinger received a Peace Noble price and at over 90 years old still going to the White House to give his inputs.
That man is glorify by the politicians in many countries and he should be sent long time ago to the courts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay for his organized crime against the population on those countries.
It would not surprise one bit if when he died that there will be speeches in our parliament by our politicians saying how good he was.
My only hope is that the greed within the imperial will bring them to a self destruction without the lost of innocent life.
I thing that the present proposed budget by Donald Trump government goes towards that.
Kevin BrewerMay 25, 2017 at 6:26 pm

Mr Marx, anyone who lived through the post-WWII period could cite many more occasions, but even they are too recent, than 9/11 as a cause of fractious relations between the Muslim world and the West. Bad relations between the Muslim world and the West go back many hundreds of years before that event, to the time of the Crusades and before that, perhaps to the victory of Charles Martel (Not for nothing Charles was called Charles The Hammer.) over Islamic invaders at Poitiers in 732. That victory was the beginning of the end of Muslim incursions into Europe, which ended in western Europe with the victories of Isabella and Ferdinand in Spain.

At the time of Vasco da Gama’s first trip to India 1497-9 the most prosperous people in the Indian Ocean region were Muslim. They controlled the enslavement of 10 million Africans into SE and SW Asia, they were the middle men in the prosperous trade from the East into the West, a trade that goes back to the early days of the rise of Rome and Greece. Trade came overland into the eastern Mediterranean and was then squabbled over by various nations, the Byzantines, Venetians, Genoans, etc., as to who would send it on to markets in northern and western Europe. Sugar, for instance, came via this method from its origin in West Papua to the rest of the world. da Gama’s arrival was the great disruption, and from that day the Muslim world declined and the West rose on the back of sea trade that enriched the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English, among others.

So any complaints you make about imperialism being the cause of terrorism don’t meet even the basic demand for evidence. You simply start too late.
Stephen BraileyMay 25, 2017 at 9:03 pm

Kevin…your potted history is about as relevant as a sieve is to transport water. Much like your psuedo argument. The author was talking about current events and the increase in terrorist attacks on Western nations due to imperialism. For me everything said while being obvious and much discussed eleswhere for a good while now is a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the hypocracy and psychopoathic nature of US foreign policy. Obviously that includes all of the, scared (gutless Labor politicians); the complicit (“security” forces) and the ugly (The LNP), Australian representatives who fawn and pander to the US of A. I have slowly watched the death of representative democracy and the notion of a fair go be washed away to be replaced by representation via a pampered elite (neo-fascists) and angry cynicism and materialism as the average man’s ethos. So Kevin, try to add to the body of knowledge instead of trying to be clever?!
paul walterMay 25, 2017 at 10:51 pm

Thanks Stephen Bailey.. Kevin, leave the preppie stuff home.

Than God for Trump’s National Lampoon Vacation, unintentional slapstick comedy, we should be grateful to the Addams Family for otherwise the ABC would have driven people nuts with its force-fed, 24/7 hysteria over Manchester.

Meanwhile in the USA, the attempt to foister an Abbott 2014 budget that will ruin millions of folk based macabre ideological fantasy is ignored for this other vaudeville.

The history of the mideast region for several centuries and since Sykes Picot in particular has been of one big war crime instigated by the West out of loathsome greed for resources and strategic routs culminating in the obsessive control of oil itself for and by a few.

Salafism didn’t incubate in a vacuum…time for the West to at last look at ITSELF!!
townsvilleblogMay 26, 2017 at 7:42 am

We either have to stop Western Imperialism or Islamic immigration one or the other, because Islamic terrorism is now all but world wide, with every intake of Islamists there are a tiny minority of extremists who go about punishing innocent people for the crimes that their elected officials commit. Half the people blown up or shot didn’t even vote for the conservative leader that has been elected, worst case the USA where only 43% of people actually voted, the majority of whom voted for trump, which leaves tens of millions whose major crime is not taking responsibility and voting. In Australia where voting is compulsory 50,000 Muslims came in under Labor some years ago and now the count of Muslims is 500,000.
JohnoMay 26, 2017 at 8:45 am

paul walter
Well put, I now purposefully ignore the 24/7 hysteria over terrorism. The poor rich gap is growing and the environment is getting crushed by our wanton greed. No hysteria over these issues.
paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 8:54 am

Thanks, johno.

Sick of the Chicken Little stuff and childish denialism. Pretending that reality doesn’t exist to the point of deliberately trying to obscure it doesn’t stop it from existing and pretending things are other than what they are just sets us up for a rude awakening…ALL of us, Murdoch, et al..
FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 9:03 am

Johno, the people that are relatively financially well (the ones that still using their credit card for their materialistic life style) do not care less for the poor-rich gap and do not want to talk about measures to reverse climate change because they can affect their standard of living.
Terrorism can cost their life, so it is more important.
Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 9:43 am

Greed, corruption and interference with other countries are not just the province of the West.

Look at Saudi Arabia. The Royal family are the richest family on earth while many of their citizens live in poverty. Despite an annual oil revenue of more than $200 billion, most Saudis lack adequate housing, healthcare, sanitation and education. 40 percent of Saudi youth between twenty and twenty-four are unemployed. Yet they spend hundreds of billions on weapons of war, happily provided by all and sundry including Russia, China, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and us as well as the US. They are bombing the crap out of Yemen. Iraq invaded Kuwait. Russia invaded the Ukraine. China are laying claim to disputed islands not to mention Nepal and Taiwan.

Sectarian violence and power struggles can’t be totally ignored either. There is enough evidence coming out of Syria that I think “evil” is an entirely appropriate description of Assad.

It’s easy just to blame the US. But it is also lazy.
bepsMay 26, 2017 at 10:08 am

This explains terrorism in western countries… i might surprise you but you should realise the entire world is not just about what you hear… terrorism is not only about ISIS… islamic terrorism kills also with the name of abu sayyaf, boko haram, hamas, muslim brotherhood, Lashkar-e-Taïba, etc, and they kills in countries like Phillipines, Egypt,Ivory Coast, Nigeria, India, etc Actually most of terrorist attacks do not happen in western countries, so how could you say stoping western imperialism will stop terrorism ?
Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 10:43 am

If you want to stop Rape, ban women.
If you want to stop Murder, ban victims.

Islam, what we are seeing here to-day, has only started in the last century or two…….what….?

Unbelievable,
Mark Needham
paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 10:43 am

Kaye Lee, there you go again with this only blaming it on the USA nonsense. You comment ignores the fact the the Saudis have only ever been stooges and proxies for the US, Britain and other European nations and that the Big Powers would never tolerate a democratic set up because it would threaten their control of oil and trade routes. Of course it is a tyranny when it is installed for the benefit of foreign interests with more power than it.

(scratches head) geez!
Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 11:07 am

Paul, I am not sure you can install a Royal family but you can certainly encourage and benefit from their corruption. Up until now, being King has been hereditary. In the future, Saudi kings will be chosen by a committee of Saudi princes. I am not ignoring anything. Your comment in no way negates my observations.

As beps points out, the vast majority of terrorist acts do not occur in Western countries. If we want to stop terrorism we need to look at all causes. I certainly agree with the majority of the article but there is more to the picture which should not be ignored if we are to help find solutions.
Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 11:11 am

“If you want to stop Rape, ban women.”

What an incredibly stupid thing to say
Michael TaylorMay 26, 2017 at 11:23 am

And what if a female child is born? Are they sacrificed to the gods? Within a few generations there will be no women, giving rapists no option but to rape other men.

So why don’t we ban men? After all, they are generally the rapists.
helvityniMay 26, 2017 at 11:36 am

Kaye, to me it sounds like an admission that men (some of them) don’t have any self control… 🙂

A bit like dogs perhaps:

When we had our hobby farm, we had a female Border Collie, whom our vet had deemed infertile. One day our real farmer neighbour’s kelpie broke a heavy chain and run fast over many a paddock,fences, gates and river to ‘rape’ our Bella, long chain still trailing behind.

Bella fell pregnant and had ONE beautiful Border Collie/Kelpie cross puppy; everyone was happy…We named him Max, but Miracle would have been more fitting….
Miriam EnglishMay 26, 2017 at 11:43 am

Christian, much of what you say is true, but your focus is too narrow. Kevin Brewer’s reply was exactly right. Kaye’s comment was too. And beps’ comment.

Terrorism is terrible, but on the scale of importance it must be remembered that it rates below people falling off furniture. The fears and anguish about terrorism are, to a large degree inflated by the mainstream media for sensationalism and quick dollars.

Also, you do great damage to your credibility when you blame Zionism — so beloved by anti-semitic conspiracy theorists as a large part of the evil behind the world.

Lastly, I should point out that probably most of the ills today are excused and largely promoted by two religions: Christianity and Islam — both deeply abhorrent religions that speak repeatedly of violence and killing.

If the West stopped meddling in Middle Eastern countries I doubt that it would impact terrorism by Islamic extremists much. They are often heavily oppressed by their own or neighboring governments, generally Islamic.

I’m not saying we should shrug and be okay with our governments bombing the shit out of other countries to steal their oil or other resources. I’m just saying things are not as simple as you think.

We should be setting a good example for the rest of the world, not helping screw it up.
guestMay 26, 2017 at 11:51 am

@beps,

you must know that the countries you mention as being attacked by Islam terrorists are also countries which have been colonies or protectorates of Western countries. As well, there are places in the world which have been affected by CIA intrusion into the local government for political and economic reasons. Look at the ring of weapons encircling China and the troops fronting Russia via western Europe.

@townsvilleblog
You like statistics? Clinton received more votes than Trump.

50, 000 immigrants in 5 years? At that rate it would take 10 years to fill up the MCG with immigrants.

@paul walter

“We should be thankful to the Addams Family for otherwise the ABC would have driven us nuts with its force-fed, 24/7 hysteria over Manchester.”

A little humor makes a nice distraction? Why pick on the ABC? The Murdoch media empire has been full of raging anti-Islam for years, 24/7. Remember Abbott’s “death cult”, Dutton’s Border Force, the use of the Navy to drag back boats in international waters and all the hysterical reporting blasting anyone Muslim here in Oz. Murdoch and his stable of scribblers are the authors of Chicken Little stories.
Keyser SozeMay 26, 2017 at 12:41 pm

The Manchester bombing as tragic and despicable as it was has all the signs of another false flag gladio style event. Time will reveal some startling facts which have already began to appear.
ISIS has claimed responsibility which nearly always occurs or at least some radical Muslim sect.

All these type of events real investigators traced back to Government Intelligence Agencies involving the usual suspects most notably the CIA, MI6 and Mossad and others.

9/11, the London Bombings, Madrid, Sandy Hook School, Aurora, Boston, Paris and most likely Bali. The list goes on. The mass media coverage of these events serve to create fear into the public, create a hatred of all things Muslim or for gun control which serves the cabal’s goals, to attack their own created and armed ISIS in Iraq and Syria when in fact they bomb the very people who are fighting ISIS with no regard to civilian casualties, it’s also used to defer public attention away from other events ( like elections) or damaging news items.

One crisis actor who was identified at the false flag Sandy Hook School shooting has also been identified as being in a state of panic at Manchester as well….. Strange indeed.

The Philipines has had a sudden outbreak of ISIS. This is what happens when you buck the system.
Anyone with a computer and a true understanding of past history knows that the so called war on terror is a created lie which serves their purpose to invade and create mayhem for their own goals.

The destruction of Iraq and Libya based on lies are prime examples. Syria is facing the same threat but the Syrian’s and Russians have rightly curtailed this latest act for regime change. If Syria falls then Iran is probably next.

To quote US General Wesley Clark who was told……
“This memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.”

According to the Daily Mail the Manchester Arena bomb had a sophisticated remote, cell-phone detonator. It could have been detonated by an asset of the security services, some distance away, which makes the theory of a suicide bomber strange indeed.

Salman Abedi has been described by neighbours and friends as a normal young man with no extremist views.
The bomb used in the attack is a ‘big and sophisticated bomb’ using materials not widely available in Britain.
News image of police leaving his house clearly displaying a bomb making manual for all the world to see is a classic example how they operate. Remember the undamaged Passports from MH-17 and 9/11?

Authorities told ABC News they found a kind of bomb-making workshop in Salman Abedi’s home and he had apparently stockpiled enough chemicals to make additional bombs.

However, according to the UK police, “no bomb making equipment was found at Abedi’s home”

Make no mistake the Zionist controlled media will play it for all it’s worth and the Politicians of this country will play their part whether through ignorance or fear.
Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 12:57 pm

Personally I think the conspiracy theorists are doing just as much harm as the terrorists – probably more.
Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 1:38 pm

Domestic Violence…ban Men.

It doesn’t matter what we say or do, nothing will stop bastards from plying their Trade.Don’t you see what I am trying to say. Of course saying ban Women to stop rape, is stupid, as is saying stop Islam, stop imperialism.
Case by case, as it happens, deal with it, according to our current community beliefs. As we deem, Right, at this point in time.
History, is to show us where we went wrong, not to show us how to do it, or not. ( No one listens anyhow)
Yeah, I know,
Mark Needham
Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 1:45 pm

Miriam EnglishMay 26, 2017 at 11:43 am
“They are often heavily oppressed by their own or neighboring governments, generally Islamic.”

Like all Humanity, we are oppressed by our partners ( domestic Violence) at school ( Bullying) at work ( sexual Harrassment) our State, other states ( vying for GST $$$$) Country versus country. We are Tribal, we all hate each other with a passion.
How many here, would like to give me an enema ( at 40 paces)with Curdled whatever, or clip me around the ear. ( Yes, I most probably do deserve it), but what makes you so squeaky clean?
Mean and Dirty,
Mark Needham
guestMay 26, 2017 at 1:52 pm

There have been at least two cases of terrorism being down-played this week. One person on Q&A suggested there was as much chance of being hurt by terrorism as there was of being hit by a falling refrigerator. A writer for the right-wing magazine Quadrant suggested that Q&A and the ABC should be bombed. Charming.

Another, on The Drum, said the same, comparing with car accidents. The hysterical response from Greg Sheridan was a spectacle to behold. He had mistaken who had spoken. But of course he must rage on loud and long because he is part of the Murdoch propaganda empire. And he supports that other world-wide empire, the Catholic Church, in competition with Islam.

Meanwhile, seizing the head-lines has been the Manchester tragedy and the mishandling of the Lindt disaster.

What do you think sells newspapers? Dog bites man or man bites dog?
FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 2:12 pm

I do not think that “collateral damage” like this: ” US admits Mosul airstrikes killed over 100 civilians during battle with Isis” help to stop terrorism.
The Jadidah attack accounted for about one-quarter of civilian casualties in the war against Isis, the US said. “Our condolences go out to all those that were affected,” Major General Joe Martin said. “The coalition takes every feasible measure to protect civilians from harm.”

I can image the reaction of the media and US allies if the other side with the help (or not) of Putin have made this “mistake”
Maeve CarneyMay 26, 2017 at 2:26 pm

The real “elephant in the room” is Islamic jihad. Woe betide any who dare to bring that up. It is so very much easier to put the blame on white imperialism that to admit the real problem. Maeve being called a racist, bigot, islamophobe in 3, 2, 1…
wamMay 26, 2017 at 2:29 pm

Let’s stop using ‘suicide bomber’ and call them murderers
Let the religious announce the god of the boble does not take murderers into heaven and they languish in the fires of hell.
guestMay 26, 2017 at 3:17 pm

Maeve,

we have seen the elephant in the room for a long time now. Not hard to recognise.

But what is hard for some people to see, including you, is that the West, with all its wonderful “values” and incredible invention, has been plundering the world now for at least 500 years and the down-pressed have been more than upset.

That is why the West is made afraid by China, not only by Islam jihadis. The West is afraid that China will act like the West and take over aspects of the world outside China – such as a new “Silk Road” to the West, economic interests in Africa, islands in the South China Sea, Chinese embassies on Pacific islands, influence over Western economies……

So, if not Western imperialism, what is upsetting the Islamic jihadis, in your opinion? Why are they attacking the West?
Christian MarxMay 26, 2017 at 3:54 pm

Miriam English, Zionism is a real problem. Do you not see the atrocities it commits daily in Palestine?
helvityniMay 26, 2017 at 4:05 pm

I know of no terrorist attacks on China.
helvityniMay 26, 2017 at 4:20 pm

WE are not all that peace-loving here either, fancy a Quadrant employee wanting bomb the ABC studios just because the audience and guests on Q&A are not all right-wingers….talk about home-grown terrorism, even the ever ‘cheerful’ Nick Cater did not know what to say…
Mark NeedhamMay 26, 2017 at 4:33 pm

guest May 26, 2017 at 3:17 pm
“Why are they attacking the West?”

They do not mind to whom they send to ‘heaven’. Most are their own. In particular their own. Look at the way women are treated, even by the Good Islamic people.
And, they need a reason…?

Have you ever read any parts of the Christian Bible or Islamic Koran?

Yes, but, but
Butter,
Mark Needham
paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:40 pm

Revealing take on the back ground involving Manchester.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/manchester-attack-as-mi6-blowback,10336
paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:43 pm

Christian, we never see what goes on in Palestine, period. The same as we do not see what a mess Mosul is. Media is very selective as to what comprises its narratives. Nothing about a bombing in Syria itself this week where 68 people died, three times as many as Manchester.

Funny, that…
paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:45 pm

Mark Needham, judging by the death toll in the mideast over the last generation, the yanks must be good Muslims.
paul walterMay 26, 2017 at 4:47 pm

So yes, Kaye Lee, I think the “conspiracy theorists” are doing a lot of harm. You look, I’ll point.
Miriam EnglishMay 26, 2017 at 5:12 pm

You keep that tinfoil hat tightly on, Keyser Soze, dearie.
Kevin BrewerMay 26, 2017 at 7:08 pm

I am not surprised, after reading the comments here, that things are as they are. If you want to play the historical card, you need a better deck than Mr Marx offers. The fact that Muslims talk about crusaders should give us a hint about how far back they are thinking. But even the Crusaders were late to the game. Charles the Hammer in 732AD, and Vasco da Gama had more to do with the situation in the Middle east, or SW Asia, or whatever you want to call it, than 9/11. Ultimately it is about power and money. Oil money, the Middle east discovered, wasn’t the golden road, because those who had the money were only sharing a bit of it, the rest was hidden in the same holes as the money our Western, and now Chinese and Russian oligarchs, hide theirs.

As some one mentioned China, my two bits worth is that at the time of da Gama to two biggest economic powers in the world were India and China. The West overtook them for 400 years, now look at what is happening. The West has discovered the way they turned lead into gold is a transferable technology, so now we see the re-rise of China and India. The only Western power capable of matching them economically is the EU, because it has the population, and the nous. Hence the aggressiveness of the US towards China. That aggressiveness is a mark of failure and weakness. Sorry guys, the American century lasted ten years, from 1945 to 1955, until Korea stalemated.

The problem for ISIS et al is that they think asymmetrical warfare, as it is called in DC, favours them, with their IEDs and ability to turn Muslims in the West into little jihadis. Russia learnt its lesson of Afghanistan and has turned to the Syrians themselves to take the fight, the US has in its turn helped reconstitute an Iraqi army that it stupidly disbanded when Iraq was stupidly controlled by Paul Bremner, and although they still believe in a tactical doctrine of standoff weapons and air power, some have realised it is boots on the ground that win wars. So ISIS et al’s version of asymmetric warfare is failing badly in Syria and Iraq, and with bombings in France, Belgium Turkey and Britain, ISIS et al is attempting to make continued warfare unpalatable. Given the past two centuries of warfare in Europe, that is a very long shot doctrine, and the last ISIS cadre will be dead long before Europe gives up. I am not so sure of the Americans, they haven’t a very good record of fighting long term warfare, having lost every war since WWII.
Matters NotMay 26, 2017 at 7:30 pm

The real “elephant in the room” is

Perhaps whatever you want it to be? Personally, I sees a whole herd of elephants in the room if you want to use that analogy.. Yes, those who want to espouse ‘jihad’, while giving it a particular meaning – one of many possibilities – are of great concern.

But perhaps my main concern is that it is only the one elephant that is being recognised. A rather limited view?
JohnoMay 26, 2017 at 7:52 pm

Maeve
Have you heard of climate change, I don’t think the Islamic jihadis have caused that my friend.
Michael TaylorMay 26, 2017 at 8:12 pm

I rather enjoyed Kevin’s comments. Some have rightly been critical of his comments when pointing out that we are talking about the ‘now’, but nonetheless, Kevin is also right. Before the ‘now’ there was the ‘then’. It’s not too dissimilar to the argument that WW1 didn’t end in 1918 like the history books tell us. Some war historians tell us it ended in 1945, when WW2 ended. If we never had WW1 then we would never have had WW2.

Some could also argue that the ‘wars’ between the Jews and the Arabs are not a recent wars either. They are just an extension of the same war that David and Goliath fought in.
FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 8:15 pm

Just on the news and are good IMO:
Court maintains block on Trump’s Muslim travel ban
US appeal court’s chief judge states revised ban ‘drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination’.
Michael TaylorMay 26, 2017 at 8:27 pm

The things you never read about in our mainstream media:

Listening to Philip Adams interviewing an ex-CIA guy the other night and he said that more Americans have been killed on American soil by home-grown hard right-wing or radical Christian terrorists than Muslim terrorists.

Search hard and you might find the article about the right-wing Christian bloke who was arrested in Florida a few days ago after a raid on his home found explosives and his plans for a terrorist attack. But like I said, search hard.
FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 8:59 pm

Michael, members of “The Army of God” have committed many atrocities specially in the anti abortion in USA and they have their own page in the internet.
James Charles Kopp is one of their heroes
01/29/1998: In Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A., an off-duty officer, Robert Sanderson, was killed by a bomb just after he arrived for work as a security guard at the Birmingham Abortion Clinic. He became the nation’s first fatality in an abortion clinic bombing. A nurse was also severely injured. In 2005 Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to this and three earlier bombing attacks in Atlanta and was sentenced to life in prison. The Army of God group claimed responsibility for the bombings in a letter to news agencies.

Easy to find it.
FreethinkerMay 26, 2017 at 9:07 pm

I forgot to add the international organization Sovereign Citizen
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2010/april/sovereigncitizens_041310/domestic-terrorism-the-sovereign-citizen-movement
Kaye LeeMay 26, 2017 at 9:37 pm

There are so many things that affect the ‘now’. How can we make change? Certainly not with bombs. We need to help with educating girls and giving women more economic freedom and a greater political voice. We need to address inequality and unemployment. Lift people out of poverty and there will be less appetite for war.

I agree that greed and power are behind much of the evil in the world. We would do well to remember the words of Edmund Burke

“But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.”
RaisMay 27, 2017 at 1:47 am

Good article with one glaring inaccuracy. The Asad family’s regime heads a one-party state and is not democratically elected. Asad the elder, Hafez, had the blood of many of his people on his hands and people were hopeful that his British-educated son would liberalise the system of government when he came to power. That didn’t happen.
Jarrad DayMay 30, 2017 at 6:22 pm

Rais , firstly with respect , please read up on Syria’s political structure and even a brief history of the country you’ll find your comment is absolute rubbish. Syria was the most secular and inclusive of all Arab nations next to Lebanon . 2014 was the year of the last elections with 30 international observers present who over saw a multi representative party election . Yes his Ba’ath Alawi Party dominates , for obvious reasons but to say its undemocratic or its a regime is quite wrong. Just because your TV tells you that Assad is some monster and butcher doesn’t make it so.
Our western media propaganda and spin machine is absolutely incredible in its ability to convince reasonable and intelligent people to believe complete and utter absurdities . Judging by a lot of the comments I see hear today , the machine is very effective.
I mean the bullshit that is created and spread regarding Assad and Putin is effing breathtaking , yet so often its gobbled up and becomes part of the ongoing narrative.
Kaye Lee who is an excellent and well informed writer and poster on this site of which i enjoy reading , mentioned that Russia invaded Ukraine … HUH ?? I’m very surprised someone so well researched on Australian politics and Western politics actually believes this.
I’m sure your referring to the annexation of Crimea when you say this ? Which western media couldn’t have lied and misreported any more than it already had. The key omission in the west’s version was that the Russian govt and people of Crimea held an internationally recognized and observed democratic referendum of its citizens for Crimea to be taken back under the control and protection of Russia. Which was a unanimous yes vote seeing as though most of Crimea identifies as Russian , plus its home to a rather large Navy base enjoyed by the Russian Navy
The US , after it had funded and painstakingly over 5 years executed its regime change on the Ukraine , it was kinda annoyed that Putin was another step ahead of them in securing an extremely strategic bit of real estate. All facts , no this isn’t conspiracy theory either ,
When the US and its enormous war machine and its vile deep state intelligence community changes its hegemonic foreign policy , this madness will never end. The US must also come to terms with a multi-polar world with Russia and China having a seat at the table. The US empire dying a slow death and seems hellbent on taking the rest of us with it ..
Miriam EnglishMay 30, 2017 at 11:09 pm

Jarrad, a simple, honest question for you: how do you know you’re not being taken in by your sources?

We all know the Western media, and most especially that which is under the control of Murdoch, is slanted and has a disturbing tendency to present lies as truth, but some of the Western media do seem to stand apart from that and actually try to reach the truth.

We know the Russian media lie and distort the truth, just as Murdoch’s media do. The biggest difference is that there doesn’t seem to be any alternatives in Russia that stand apart from the propaganda and seek the truth. Journalists who attempt to do so are routinely assassinated.

So why would you think that Russian information is more reliable than Western information? At least in the West we have some diversity and some better chance at accuracy, even if it is difficult at times working out exactly what the truth is. In Russia they just get fed the State propaganda, which you are repeating. What chance does that have of being the unvarnished truth, do you think?
Jarrad DayMay 31, 2017 at 3:07 am

Hi Miriam , to answer your question I read several sources of media . With a major geopolitical event or apparent terror event I’ll read anywhere up to 20 different sources including local and relevant bloggers
Yes , this includes RT .. which if you took some time to watch it , is far more imformative than anything I’ve seen available from western corporate media , I agree that RT has its biases and they are quite obvious as you pointed out.
I am hardly blindly repeating Russian spin , my comments in my previous post are certified facts ..
What really worries me is that often quite well informed , rational people who question the offical or mainstream narratives served up to them , they’re often labelled conspiracy theorists and laughed at and / or discredited .. isolated from the group think
So often now days what was once labelled a conspiracy theory turns out to be quite the opposite ..
After I woke up and started to apply critical ananalisis to what I read and watch I often think how nice it would be to go back to being ignorant and blissfully unaware of what’s actually going on around me.. would be nice don’t you think ?
Miriam EnglishMay 31, 2017 at 10:16 am

Jarrad, unfortunately the idea that Russia didn’t invade the Ukraine, or that Assad is benign, or that Putin is unfairly criticised by his detractors… all these come only from Russian sources. It is no use reading mutliple sources if you only accept one, and especially if that one has a bad habit of distorting the truth.

Yes, the USA almost certainly was up to no good in the Ukraine, the Syrian elections were held (as far as can be told) freely and fairly, and Putin is not alone in being a dangerous thug, but removing the qualifiers from these things doesn’t help clarify things, it obstructs them.

That USA was doing some sneaky shit doesn’t give Russia license to invade. The Syrian elections could easily have been “managed” and still appear fair — authoritarians do this all the time and the Republicans in the USA, the LNP in Australia, and Conservatives in UK have been doing it — Trump, BREXIT, and Abbott are all symptoms. Assad doesn’t have clean hands. Putin is a deeply disturbing and dangerous criminal. He sends hit-men after journalists who speak against him in Russia, he has stolen billions from the Russian people, and he has his eyes firmly set on empire-building.

Most of what appears to be nutty conspiracy theory is, in fact, nutty conspiracy theory.
Jarrad DayMay 31, 2017 at 2:22 pm

Wow… well thank you for the advice , I’m very aware of what i read and its perspective , its the hand that guides and / or manipulates perspective I often find is where the truth lies or close enough to it anyway. Of course both sides of conflicts have their own versions of events and they’re own set of facts. Most of whats fed to us is generally theater anyway to ensure we’re kept amused.
But I would suggest you do a little more homework on Ukraine , Russia and the US State Departments involvement in Ukraine the last 5 years. Start with the name Victoria Nuland .
I’m very aware of what Putin is and what he’s been accused of doing. Take a good look at his accusers and their motivations behind such accusations and a very different picture appears. Look into all sides of this Russian dynamic including its history . It may become a little clearer of whats going on.
Accepting you have a confirmation bias is very difficult Miriam , but once you identify its existence you start to see things a bit differently.
Miriam EnglishMay 31, 2017 at 6:18 pm

Obviously you’re less aware of what Putin is than you think. Russia is one of the most dangerous places on Earth to be a journalist investigating your government. Last I looked more than 50 journalists and whistleblowers have been murdered for doing that in Russia. Have a look at Putin’s offshore bank accounts. He has stolen billions from his people.

I’m no fan of the USA, but even their repellent government has only imprisoned about 4 whistleblowers and journalists. A journalist was murdered while investigating the CIA’s connection with drugs, not political corruption, and about 3 others murdered while investigating local corruption. Though I’m half-expecting that moron Trump to start hiring contract killers to solve his problems the way Putin does.

I have no desire to live in USA, but if I had to choose between Russia and USA it would be the latter. The way I talk and write about idiotic crooked politicians I don’t think I’d have a great life expectancy in Russia.
Jarrad DayJune 1, 2017 at 7:11 am

Again Miriam , your scope on Russia and Putin is too narrow.
Yes it certainly is dangerous being a journo in Russia and especially Kiev.
There are scores of journos that have been killed . You’ll find very few , if any are attributed to Putin . Much of these deaths are attributed to Mafia figures being named and their ties with provincial govt officials and businessmen. Local govt level corruption is enormous in Russia. If Putin was killing all these journos that spoke out against him the US and UK intelligence would be all over it and screaming it 24/7 . But instead they are left to invent any kind of threat or absurdity they can to throw at him .. it’s laughable really
Please send me verified links of proof that show Putin has stolen billions , along with links that you have somehow had access too and seen his bank accounts .
By the way , the Obama administration , arrested , convicted and imprisoned more wistle blowers , journos and leakers than every other previous administration combined .. fact.. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/sunday/if-donald-trump-targets-journalists-thank-obama.html
Miriam EnglishJune 1, 2017 at 7:54 am

I don’t have much time today. I have a lot of writing to do that is way past due. I’ll find the reference to Putin’s wealth later. I just wanted to point out two things:

I never said I thought the USA administration ideal. I specifically said I would not like to live there. I certainly feel no need to defend them. Yes it is repellent and wrong that USA routinely imprisons whisleblowers. I can’t say it’s better to murder them like Putin does. Check out the fate of journalists critical of Putin like Anna Politkovskaya.

I draw your attention to the fact that you reflexively defend Russia by condemning USA. That indicates you have been deceived. Misdirection is the standard tactic used when flaws in propaganda are shown. I’m sure you’re not doing it intentionally. People absorb it without realising it and think they have good reason for doing it. That’s why it is so effective.
Kaye LeeJune 1, 2017 at 8:56 am

Hmmmm….

Holding a referendum under the scrutiny of an invading force of armed Russian soldiers may influence the result. There are many who question the result considering less than 60% of Crimea is ethnically Russian and about 12% belongs to the Muslim Tatar minority yet supposedly 97% of Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine. Putin himself is on record saying, after a late night meeting in February 2014, well before the referendum, “When we were parting, I said to my colleagues: we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia.” Four days after that February 2014 meeting, and still well before the referendum, unidentified soldiers took over the local parliament in Crimea.

From March 2015….”In a trailer shown Sunday for an upcoming documentary on state-run Rossiya-1 television called “Homeward bound”, Putin openly discusses Moscow’s controversial grabbing of Crimea a year ago.”

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed that he began to plan the annexation of Crimea in a secret meeting with security services the day Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president fled Kiev — and weeks before the peninsula held a self-determination referendum.”

As for Putin’s wealth and allegations of corruption, bringing that up gets you dead – see Boris Nemtsov.
Kaye LeeJune 1, 2017 at 10:16 am

As for Syria being democratic and inclusive, you may want to take a closer look at their constitution and new electoral laws.

…candidates must have “resided in the Syrian Arab Republic, permanently and continuously, for no less than ten years prior to applying for candidacy”. This strange provision aims to exclude members of the opposition to the Syrian regime from the electoral process, as most, if not all of them, reside abroad.

….candidates for the presidency must obtain a written endorsement of at least 35 of the People’s Assembly’s 250 members. This is a crippling condition within the context of the current Assembly, whose every member is loyal to the ruling regime. Indeed, it would be impossible for a candidate to obtain the support of 35 Assembly members without the regime’s consent.

The president is the head of the judiciary. He nominates and appoints the members of the courts.

“electoral publicity must not include anything contrary to public order and decency”. Vague and undefined, the expression “contrary to public order and decency” could be used against any given candidate, as deemed appropriate by the judiciary, which follows the executive, i.e., the regime in Syria.

http://legal-agenda.com/en/article.php?id=2999#
Miriam EnglishJune 3, 2017 at 5:51 pm

Jarrad Day, I still don’t have time to do this, and I know you won’t look at any of it, but what the hell… I said I’d give you some links…

A review of “Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?” by Karen Dawisha, professor of political science:

How He and His Cronies Stole Russia

The Guardian reveals links through the Panama Papers to some of Putin’s billions:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore

The Washington Post talks of estimates that Putin has stolen about $200 billion from Russia:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/20/is-vladimir-putin-hiding-a-200-billion-fortune-and-if-so-does-it-matter/

A half hour long documentary: In Search of Putin’s Money

Slate magazine on Putin’s strategy so far and what it means for the West:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/07/vladimir_putin_has_a_plan_for_destroying_the_west_and_it_looks_a_lot_like.html
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