Recent
messages have reminded you and me both of the fact that our
leaders have a history of telling us big lies about starting wars
for their own selfish purposes. Though he has not started a war
yet, Trump has certainly been much more prolific with his lying than
almost anyone else so far. That does not bode well. How to oppose
Fox News? Well I'm trying. You could help.
------------------------------------------
1. "How Trump is
Preparing for War," by Robert Reich, March 26, 2018. Full
text:
"What’s worrying isn’t that Trump is now getting advice about policy
from fanatics like John Bolton and Lawrence Kudlow. Trump has never
cared about policy.
"The real worry is that – with Robert Mueller breathing down his
neck, and several special elections suggesting a giant “blue wave”
in November – Trump is getting ready to do whatever it takes to
maintain his power, even if that requires fanatical policies.
"Fox News is preparing for the same war, and has made a parallel
purge – removing Trump critics like George Will, Megyn Kelly, and
Rich Lowry, and installing Trump marketers like Laura Ingraham, Mark
Levin, and Sebastian Gorka.
"Trump is preparing for an epic war over the future of his
presidency. This has required purging naysayers from his Cabinet and
White House staff, and replacing them with bomb-throwing advocates
like Bolton and Kudlow.
"Fox News is preparing for the same war, and has made a parallel
purge – removing Trump critics like George Will, Megyn Kelly, and
Rich Lowry, and installing Trump marketers like Laura Ingraham, Mark
Levin, and Sebastian Gorka.
"Trump and Fox News are also approaching the war with the same
story.
"Some of it is by now familiar: Liberals have opened America to
hostile forces – unauthorized immigrants, Muslims, Chinese traders,
criminal gangs, drug dealers, government bureaucrats, coastal elites
(Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi), North Korea, Iran, and “political
correctness” in all its forms.
"Trump intends to protect America from these forces.
"The new twist to the story– requiring the recent purges and a
united front – is that these forces are conspiring with the FBI to
oust Trump from the presidency.
"The membrane separating Trump’s brain from Fox News has always been
thin, but in coming months it’s likely to disappear entirely.
"We all know Trump watches an inordinate amount of Fox News,
beginning in the wee hours with “Fox and Friends,” which provides
much of the fodder for his morning tweets.
"How can a television presidency be dangerous? Because it is solely
about marketing Trump. Its only goal is to win.
"Trump has made John Bolton his National Security Advisor not
because Bolton has valuable insights about foreign affairs, but
because Bolton – for years, an on-air fixture on Fox News – is a
showman who knows how to sell big lies and crazy ideas, and thereby
help Trump in the looming battles.
"As undersecretary of state for arms control in the Bush
administration Bolton did more than anyone else to market the lie
that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. During his year
and a half at the United Nations, Bolton was so outspokenly critical
of the organization that he gained the devotion of xenophobic
conservatives.
"It hasn’t hurt that Bolton has sucked up to Trump since then.
Describing Trump’s address last year to the United Nations, Bolton
swooned 'in the entire history of the United Nations, there has
never been a more straightforward criticism of the unacceptable
behavior of other member states.'
"Kudlow isn’t a Fox News pundit but he’s been the next best thing –
a rightwing CNBC contributor known for his sharp wit and
salesmanship.
"Several other cable news anchors and pundits are already in the
Trump administration or will soon be, providing additional
ammunition for Trump’s pending war.
"'He’s looking for people who are ready to be part of that
television White House,' says Kendall Phillips, a communication
studies professor at Syracuse University. 'This is the Fox
television presidency all the way up and down.'
"How can a television presidency be dangerous? Because it is solely
about marketing Trump. Its only goal is to win. It is unconstrained
by truth, reason, or the Constitution. It doesn’t give a fig about
the public.
"When the occupant of the White House and the sycophants surrounding
him are prepared to do and use anything – including trade wars with
China and possibly hot wars with North Korea and Iran – to win a
political war at home, nothing and no one is safe."
It seems more and more likely that Trump will have to do something
extreme to maintain his leadership, if he can do it at all. A CNN
poll today says that almost two-thirds" of Americans believe Stormy
Daniels and Karen McDougal. Twenty-one percent believe Trump's
denials. For whatever it's worth--it's mainly a legal issue--51
percent of Americans believe the women should be free to talk.
Perhaps a bigger problem than his marital infidelity is the efforts
of Trump's lawyers to shut these women up.
See also: "10
Reasons to Fear John Bolton," by Media Benjamin, Common
Dreams, March 27, 2018. I certainly did not know everything
that is in that.
love to you and your family,
Larry
sent 03/27/2018 Book review: "Everybody's Lying About Islam"
Below is an Amazon customer review of Everybody's Lying
About Islam, by Robert Morris (April 10, 2017).
------------------------------------------------
By the way, just a bit off topic perhaps, you know that whoever else may have been involved there were no Iraqis involved with the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, right? The Al-Qaeda group did not get to Iraq until the U.S. had already created a war between the Iraqi Sunnis and the Iraqi Shiites. Al-Qaeda was the group that the U.S. had been paying previously to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan under Osama bin Laden, who was a Saudi prince.
------------------------------------------------
Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars Islam: A Different View
ByDavid Lindsayon September 7, 2017
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
Robert Morris is an American lawyer who worked in Turkey, an Islamic country, for 5 years. Morris argues that the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims practice different versions of Islam. Most terrorists, including those responsible for the killings on 9/11 practice the extreme Saudi variety. Morris argues that every major terrorist attack, this century, has had a Saudi connection. This is something that Washington wants to keep hidden, for some reason. Morris claims that Saudi involvement is usually airbrushed out of the story by the mainstream media. Morris explains in this essay why Saudi Arabia, not Islam, is our real enemy. Morris claims that most of the analysis we read in newspapers about Islam and terrorism is worthless because it ignores Saudi Arabia. Morris's solution is to recognize the problem and cut our ties with the Saudis. American policy in the Middle East has often seemed confused and clueless since 9/11, but Morris believes he has found the source of our problems.
Using their oil wealth, the Saudis have tried to impose their version of Islam throughout the Muslim world. They have also received support from the US government. Morris argues that clerics in Saudi Arabia practice an extreme, fundamentalist version of Islam. He points out that while the Bible contains many barbaric laws, like those in Leviticus, most Christians tend to ignore the rules they don’t agree with. Few Christians today would advocate stoning to death someone who worked on the Sabbath or committed adultery. [emphasis added--LS] Saudi clerics still support a literal interpretation of the Koran, called Wahhabism. Many Muslim countries are poor and have welcomed Saudi money for schools and mosques. The BBC recently investigated the Saudi textbooks which are being used in British Muslim schools. The books created a stir because they were anti-Semitic, anti-Western, and advocated the killing of homosexuals. Morris claims that politicians like Rudy Giuliani, who tell us that the Saudis are helping in the war against radical Islam, are wrong.
Until relatively recently, Saudi Arabia was poor and medieval. Then, Standard Oil discovered oil in the 1930s. The US entered into partnership with the Saudis and provided protection in return for oil. Morris maintains that Saudi Arabia became an American protectorate. It has also kept our leaders sweet by buying lots of military equipment it did not need, and could not use. In May, President Trump signed a $110 billion arms deal in Riyadh. Unfortunately, the Saudis have also helped destabilize various Muslim countries. Wahhabis were active in the Algerian and Tajikistan civil wars and in Chechnya. They have also infiltrated Muslim communities throughout the world. Eventually, our friendship with the Saudis will turn into a toxic liability, but for now, not enough countries are complaining. Recently, the British also signed an arms deal with Riyadh.
In recent years the economic dynamic has changed. The US no longer needs Saudi oil. The US now exports oil and sets the price, as the swing supplier. The golden years of the Saudi oil industry are in the past. The days of $100 a barrel oil probably won’t return. The Saudis are quickly running through their cash pile. Bloomberg reported in April that Saudi cash reserves stood at just over $500 billion – having been $737 billion in 2014. The country could go bust in the 2030s. The country is also running out of oil. It wastes far too much generating electricity. It has a population of 33 million which is growing rapidly. These people are mostly unemployable in the modern world and rely on government handouts. The Saudis have created no new industries. Morris believes Saudi Arabia is finished and the House of Saud will eventually be overthrown. Morris argues that the Jihadis will inherit, and they are unlikely to be friendly towards the US given they are fed a diet of anti-Western propaganda. The Saudis will soon have little use as an ally and Morris wants us to pull the plug before the country falls apart.
Before 9/11, the Saudis funded the Taliban and Osama bin Laden was an intermediary. The US was supportive because in those days the Soviet Union was the main enemy. Not a lot of thought went into the Frankenstein’s monster that was being created. Morris argues that Wahhabism is destabilizing countries ranging from Russia to Mali. Morris reports that the population of Russia is now 14-20% Muslim. Unlike its European region where the population is dropping, Russia's Muslim population is growing rapidly. The US has been happy to let Saudi backed radicals sow dissension in Russia and other places. The Washington bureaucracy still seems to need the Russian menace to give it purpose. Putin has accused the US of cooperating with Jihadists. If there is a civil war in Russia, that won't be good for the West. The Jihadis will be on a roll. Lee Kuan Yew, whose Singapore, is next to Malaysia, a majority Muslim country, claimed that America's failure to win its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq helped empower the Islamists.
Trying to apply logic to what Washington has been up to since 9/11 is difficult. Morris believes that Washington still has a grudge against Iran and Russia. He also blames that old bogeyman the Military Industrial Complex, which always needs enemies to justify its existence. Traditional foes still have a useful role to play because there is less explaining to do. Assad became an enemy because he was too friendly with both Russia and Iran and had to be punished. Crushing Assad was considered helpful in the struggle against Putin, even if it meant a victory for the Jihadists. For Morris, the bottom line is that the US has been fighting the wrong wars and has picked the wrong horse in preferring Iran over Saudi Arabia.
An older generation of American diplomats has been confused and perplexed about American policy towards Russia and Iran, for some time. They have advised inclusion and bringing both in from the cold, but the policy has been to keep them at arm’s length and antagonize them. George Kennan, who advised Harry Truman and devised the strategy to contain the Soviet Union, complained in an op-ed in the New York Times in 1997 that Clinton risked turning Russia into an enemy. Two years later Putin was elected.
William Polk advised JFK and LBJ on the Middle East and worked closely with Kennedy during the Cuban missile crises. The neocons in the Bush administration wanted to invade Iran and Polk called them dangerous crackpots. He believed that Iran could be reasoned with. Robert Kaplan has pointed out that the Iranians were supportive of the US after 9/11 and wanted to improve relations. In Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance was Iranian backed. It was the Iranians who encouraged the Northern Alliance to support the US and fight the Taliban. Yet Iran received no credit or thanks when the Taliban was defeated. Instead Iran was inducted into Bush’s “axil of evil.” Kaplan believes the Iranians were hard done by, and the moderates in Iran who suggested helping the US looked stupid. This resulted in the election of the anti-American Ahmadinejad. Iran later began working with the Taliban in Afghanistan and worked towards building a nuclear bomb.
Bush blamed Saddam for 9/11 and did not mention the role of the Saudis. Morris believes that there was Saudi government involvement, but this has been hushed up. Iraq is a predominantly Shia country, like Iran. By getting rid of Saddam, who was a Sunni, Bush created an opening for Iran. We shot ourself in the foot if we thought that Iran was the main threat. Despite their expensive equipment, the Saudi military is hopeless, as they are currently proving in Yemen. They can’t stand up to Iran, or anybody else, on their own. Morris points out the Iranians have just re-elected a moderate in Rouhani. There is a chance for the US to start talking to Iran again. I found Morris’ essay very helpful, but it does not seem to have been reviewed in the mainstream press. The issues he raises need to be widely discussed. [emphasis added--LS]
Related: sent 3/20/2018 and 3/27/2018 Interview: Paul Bremer still thinks he was right; Matt Taibi "The Legacy of the Iraq War" [was (video 34min13sec) several more voices of experience Re: In Memoriam--the invasion of Iraq and since: "Fifteen Years Ago, America Destroyed My Country" +]
love to you and your family,
Larry
------------------------------------------------
By the way, just a bit off topic perhaps, you know that whoever else may have been involved there were no Iraqis involved with the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, right? The Al-Qaeda group did not get to Iraq until the U.S. had already created a war between the Iraqi Sunnis and the Iraqi Shiites. Al-Qaeda was the group that the U.S. had been paying previously to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan under Osama bin Laden, who was a Saudi prince.
------------------------------------------------
Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars Islam: A Different View
ByDavid Lindsayon September 7, 2017
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
Robert Morris is an American lawyer who worked in Turkey, an Islamic country, for 5 years. Morris argues that the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims practice different versions of Islam. Most terrorists, including those responsible for the killings on 9/11 practice the extreme Saudi variety. Morris argues that every major terrorist attack, this century, has had a Saudi connection. This is something that Washington wants to keep hidden, for some reason. Morris claims that Saudi involvement is usually airbrushed out of the story by the mainstream media. Morris explains in this essay why Saudi Arabia, not Islam, is our real enemy. Morris claims that most of the analysis we read in newspapers about Islam and terrorism is worthless because it ignores Saudi Arabia. Morris's solution is to recognize the problem and cut our ties with the Saudis. American policy in the Middle East has often seemed confused and clueless since 9/11, but Morris believes he has found the source of our problems.
Using their oil wealth, the Saudis have tried to impose their version of Islam throughout the Muslim world. They have also received support from the US government. Morris argues that clerics in Saudi Arabia practice an extreme, fundamentalist version of Islam. He points out that while the Bible contains many barbaric laws, like those in Leviticus, most Christians tend to ignore the rules they don’t agree with. Few Christians today would advocate stoning to death someone who worked on the Sabbath or committed adultery. [emphasis added--LS] Saudi clerics still support a literal interpretation of the Koran, called Wahhabism. Many Muslim countries are poor and have welcomed Saudi money for schools and mosques. The BBC recently investigated the Saudi textbooks which are being used in British Muslim schools. The books created a stir because they were anti-Semitic, anti-Western, and advocated the killing of homosexuals. Morris claims that politicians like Rudy Giuliani, who tell us that the Saudis are helping in the war against radical Islam, are wrong.
Until relatively recently, Saudi Arabia was poor and medieval. Then, Standard Oil discovered oil in the 1930s. The US entered into partnership with the Saudis and provided protection in return for oil. Morris maintains that Saudi Arabia became an American protectorate. It has also kept our leaders sweet by buying lots of military equipment it did not need, and could not use. In May, President Trump signed a $110 billion arms deal in Riyadh. Unfortunately, the Saudis have also helped destabilize various Muslim countries. Wahhabis were active in the Algerian and Tajikistan civil wars and in Chechnya. They have also infiltrated Muslim communities throughout the world. Eventually, our friendship with the Saudis will turn into a toxic liability, but for now, not enough countries are complaining. Recently, the British also signed an arms deal with Riyadh.
In recent years the economic dynamic has changed. The US no longer needs Saudi oil. The US now exports oil and sets the price, as the swing supplier. The golden years of the Saudi oil industry are in the past. The days of $100 a barrel oil probably won’t return. The Saudis are quickly running through their cash pile. Bloomberg reported in April that Saudi cash reserves stood at just over $500 billion – having been $737 billion in 2014. The country could go bust in the 2030s. The country is also running out of oil. It wastes far too much generating electricity. It has a population of 33 million which is growing rapidly. These people are mostly unemployable in the modern world and rely on government handouts. The Saudis have created no new industries. Morris believes Saudi Arabia is finished and the House of Saud will eventually be overthrown. Morris argues that the Jihadis will inherit, and they are unlikely to be friendly towards the US given they are fed a diet of anti-Western propaganda. The Saudis will soon have little use as an ally and Morris wants us to pull the plug before the country falls apart.
Before 9/11, the Saudis funded the Taliban and Osama bin Laden was an intermediary. The US was supportive because in those days the Soviet Union was the main enemy. Not a lot of thought went into the Frankenstein’s monster that was being created. Morris argues that Wahhabism is destabilizing countries ranging from Russia to Mali. Morris reports that the population of Russia is now 14-20% Muslim. Unlike its European region where the population is dropping, Russia's Muslim population is growing rapidly. The US has been happy to let Saudi backed radicals sow dissension in Russia and other places. The Washington bureaucracy still seems to need the Russian menace to give it purpose. Putin has accused the US of cooperating with Jihadists. If there is a civil war in Russia, that won't be good for the West. The Jihadis will be on a roll. Lee Kuan Yew, whose Singapore, is next to Malaysia, a majority Muslim country, claimed that America's failure to win its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq helped empower the Islamists.
Trying to apply logic to what Washington has been up to since 9/11 is difficult. Morris believes that Washington still has a grudge against Iran and Russia. He also blames that old bogeyman the Military Industrial Complex, which always needs enemies to justify its existence. Traditional foes still have a useful role to play because there is less explaining to do. Assad became an enemy because he was too friendly with both Russia and Iran and had to be punished. Crushing Assad was considered helpful in the struggle against Putin, even if it meant a victory for the Jihadists. For Morris, the bottom line is that the US has been fighting the wrong wars and has picked the wrong horse in preferring Iran over Saudi Arabia.
An older generation of American diplomats has been confused and perplexed about American policy towards Russia and Iran, for some time. They have advised inclusion and bringing both in from the cold, but the policy has been to keep them at arm’s length and antagonize them. George Kennan, who advised Harry Truman and devised the strategy to contain the Soviet Union, complained in an op-ed in the New York Times in 1997 that Clinton risked turning Russia into an enemy. Two years later Putin was elected.
William Polk advised JFK and LBJ on the Middle East and worked closely with Kennedy during the Cuban missile crises. The neocons in the Bush administration wanted to invade Iran and Polk called them dangerous crackpots. He believed that Iran could be reasoned with. Robert Kaplan has pointed out that the Iranians were supportive of the US after 9/11 and wanted to improve relations. In Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance was Iranian backed. It was the Iranians who encouraged the Northern Alliance to support the US and fight the Taliban. Yet Iran received no credit or thanks when the Taliban was defeated. Instead Iran was inducted into Bush’s “axil of evil.” Kaplan believes the Iranians were hard done by, and the moderates in Iran who suggested helping the US looked stupid. This resulted in the election of the anti-American Ahmadinejad. Iran later began working with the Taliban in Afghanistan and worked towards building a nuclear bomb.
Bush blamed Saddam for 9/11 and did not mention the role of the Saudis. Morris believes that there was Saudi government involvement, but this has been hushed up. Iraq is a predominantly Shia country, like Iran. By getting rid of Saddam, who was a Sunni, Bush created an opening for Iran. We shot ourself in the foot if we thought that Iran was the main threat. Despite their expensive equipment, the Saudi military is hopeless, as they are currently proving in Yemen. They can’t stand up to Iran, or anybody else, on their own. Morris points out the Iranians have just re-elected a moderate in Rouhani. There is a chance for the US to start talking to Iran again. I found Morris’ essay very helpful, but it does not seem to have been reviewed in the mainstream press. The issues he raises need to be widely discussed. [emphasis added--LS]
Related: sent 3/20/2018 and 3/27/2018 Interview: Paul Bremer still thinks he was right; Matt Taibi "The Legacy of the Iraq War" [was (video 34min13sec) several more voices of experience Re: In Memoriam--the invasion of Iraq and since: "Fifteen Years Ago, America Destroyed My Country" +]
love to you and your family,
Larry
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