IRAQ

EDITOR—Israel Genocide Tracker is an X account created in May that scans social media and gathers data on Israeli soldiers from previous posts they had published boasting about their actions in Gaza. It then creates a profile for each soldier, including personal information such as their name, age, family origin, and army unit. According to TRT, which cited Israel’s Channel 12 News, multiple soldiers have expressed concerns over the account. “I’m afraid they could Google my name and find it there,” one soldier told Channel 12.

EDITOR—That said, however, the “known unknown” still remains — namely, Iran’s retaliation to the Israeli attack on October 26. On November 2, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a video released by Iranian state media, promised “a crushing response” to Israeli attack. Conceivably, the period till January 20 when Trump is sworn in, is going to be critical. 

Meanwhile, this week witnessed that Iran and Saudi Arabia have given verve to their detente, which is now manifesting as Riyadh’s solidarity and open support for Iran in its growing confrontation with Israel.

KARL SANCHEZ—It is a wild story, and a juicy tale, and several Israeli media have been digging into it. But I have yet to find any media outside of Israel, except Seymour Hersh, which have touched on the latest issue.

There were suspicions from the very beginning that Israeli authorities had knowledge about the Hamas attack on October 7 2023 before it happened but had failed to raise the alarm. Claims were made, unfortunately without any evidence, that this was done not out of negligence, but on purpose.

We now can finally say that this was indeed the case. Israeli authorities, up to the prime minister, knew that the attack was coming, but rejected to raise the alarm to an appropriate level. They let the attack happen on purpose (LIHOP).

All that followed since was, from the very beginning, part of their long-term plans.

EDITOR—ERIC ZUESSE provides a thorough backdrop for the Trump policy choices, one worse than the next, all of them certifiable 100% swamp creatures, noxious imperial figures trading in fake patriotism that should have been retired a long time ago. ||| ACTIVE MEASURES editors examine some of the people already nominated and being considered for key posts in Trump’s cabinet. |||. THE GRAYZONE Max Blumenthal and Wyatt Reed discuss the shocking psy-op that ensued in Amsterdam, where Israeli football hooligans instigated violence, then played victims of a pogrom, then Anya Parampil joins to discuss Trump’s re-election and the sordid history of his top foreign policy picks. So we go from sneaky and utterly hypocritical liberal totalitarianism to batshit corrupt war hawks and fascistoid chauvinists. ||| RBN’s Nick Cruse comments on the pathetic choices hitherto made by Trump, confirming the man’s severe lack of historical depth and opportunism. ||| DUE DISSIDENCE team provides a rich discussion on the Trump incoming cabinet and what that portends for a nation batered by division, insoluble problems and stunning misleadership.

STANSFIELD SMITH—“Compatible left” was a term used by the CIA to describe those on the left it has deemed compatible with maintaining imperialist world rule. This left has dominated the US left since the end of World War II, in large part a result of government operations repressing the communist or anti-imperialist left. Historically, this compatible left that the CIA worked to cultivate rejects actually existing socialism and formed a “third camp” or “plague on both houses” left between capitalist and socialist countries. Providing a “respectable” alternative to the anti-imperialists, it used its progressive flavor to lure in radical youth, activists, workers, and intellectuals.

The CIA is correctly seen as a ruthless organization that overthrows democratic governments considered a threat to US domination. But this overlooks the CIA’s “gentler” work: underwriting and encouraging a compatible left, one which looks to the Democratic Party for political leadership. The CIA has secretly funded and managed a wide range of these groups and individuals.