Behind the Great Western Firewall Is the Ugly Truth (Revised & expanded edition)

DISPATCH FROM BEIJING | JEFF BROWN | 44 Days Radio Sinoland

The Great Western Firewall vs. the Great Firewall of China: different methodologies, identical results. (www.guardian.co.uk)

The term “The Great Western Firewall” refers to the US-led and largely created Western disinformation system, aka the “free press,” the Machinery of Lies, the Ministry of Truth (Orwell), and other descriptors for what is without a doubt the most powerful, effective and hypocritical instrument for mass manipulation ever built, at the service of the world’s ruling elites, with headquarters in Washington. In response to this awesome capability used by US imperialism to sell its agenda and influence countless media outlets around the globe, a phenomenon aptly defined as manifestation of “soft power”, opponents of US hegemony such as Russia and China have been forced to set up their own “firewalls” to protect their population from the corrosive effects of American propaganda.

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A truth untold is a lie. A fact hidden is censorship. – Jeff J. Brown, 44 Days Radio Sinoland

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his is a plea to everyone reading, that we Westerners had better wake up before it’s too late. If we don’t, we are going to continue to have many repetitions of Ukraine, Serbia, Georgia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Libya, Mali and the list goes on, non-stop, since the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. That was when the West’s elites perceived a genuine global threat to the status quo of capitalism and their dominion over Earth’s resources. Now with the world being more multipolar than ever, we come to China and Russia. As Western Empire’s decline accelerates, in desperation, America is trying to take down these two colossal civilizations. This, even as Russia and China work openly and secretly to interlock their cooperation and resistance. It is clear they are creating a unified front in the face of Western bellicosity. Yes, the United States is delusional and megalomaniac, but it’s frightening to know that if carried to its logical conclusion, it will mean the end of humanity as we know it.

A big part of this plea to my readers is for Westerners to quit using the mainstream media and to start seeking out alternative news sources, as frustratingly fractured as they are, and to invest a modicum of time to do some research and investigation along the way. A good place to start would be all the hyperlinks below and then take advantage of the list of resources at the end of this article. The other plea is to come to terms with just how evil and corrupt our Western governments and capital are, in spite of what we learned in school text books. All of our lives and future absolutely depend on it. You will see what I mean after reading this.

An author friend of mine sent me a hyperlink about Hillary Clinton and her possible political downfall. This is due to America’s decision to destroy Libya, using France and the UK as proxies. It was also a major slap in the face to China and Russia, who did not veto the US led, 2011 UN Security Council vote for a “no fly” zone over Libya. “No fly” as in bombs away, baby, much like Slim Pickens’ Major Kong riding bronco in Dr. Strangelove. We know how this flagrant disregard for international law is playing out. Under the guise of “humanitarian” wars, the West pushes its fatuous, well-worn R2P (so called “Responsibility to Protect”), to overthrow, or at least control, resource rich governments. In reality, R2P really means the West’s “Right to Plunder”.

According to this article series, Hillary apparently went over the heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA to push through the bloody regime change. I replied to my friend that given Americans’ predilection to cheer on their government’s slaughter and maiming of millions of dark skinned, mostly Muslims, across the planet (not to mention, by current Kiev proxies, thousands of fair skinned Ukrainians as well), then surely this macho orchestration of Kaddafi’s murder might actually help her win the White House. I then said that even if Queen Clinton is not the Democratic candidate, her replacement will just be another Wall Street-Anglozionist-Russophobe one percenter, so what difference does it make? Think Joe Biden or John Kerry. His closing comment was that I was probably right, but “he despises Bill and Hillary Clinton with a passion”.

Evolution

That got me to pondering how much my thinking has evolved and grown in the last 4.5 years of living in China. As recently as 2010, I thought Bill and Hillary were good leaders and capable politicians. I voted for Clinton twice and Obama the first time. By 2012, I futilely wrote in the Green Party presidential candidate on my Oklahoma ballot, as my awareness of the truth was growing. But I still thought that Hillary would make a great president. Not anymore. Being a dual national, that same year, I also voted for François Hollande, thinking that he, as a so called Socialist, would be different than Mini-Me Nicolas “W.” Sarkozy. Wrong again and if I have to, I’ll write in a name on my ballot for France’s elections in 2017.

“The alternative media is [still] too diffuse, too fractured and ultimately only constitutes feeble background noise, attenuated over time…”

A long time ago, I had a girlfriend who had been savagely raped at a young age. She kept a loaded pistol in her purse 24/7, even taking it to the bathroom, and slept with it under her pillow. She was paranoid and trusting of nobody, even in our intimate relationship. Can’t say that I blame her. And she reminds me of China, Vietnam, Cuba and all rest of the 80% of the people of the world, who have been and continue to be savagely raped during 500 years of Western colonialism. Like my old friend, I can empathize with their paranoia and lack of trust.

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n any case, the West can be just has heavy handed at censorship as these more criticized countries. Westerners who criticize Baba Beijing for setting up thousands of social media accounts to help control the official government narrative don’t realize that their governments spend billions doing exactly the same thing. If you think all those thousands of comment trolls who haunt mainstream and alternative websites across the planet work for free, think again.

I have learned over the last 4.5 years that my friend’s mainstream acceptance can sometimes come at a cost. They replied to another email I had sent. My original email contained a link for an article that explained the background history of this very same Communist country that my friend wrote about. The revelations in this article that I sent were written by a non-establishment journalist who researches FOIA released documents, testimonies, court documents, interviews, etc., and has contacts in the dark, dank netherworld of spydom. I was very surprised to get back a reply from my writer friend, saying that this investigative journalist is, “a nut case conspiracy theorist”. I wanted to reply to this riposte that I wasn’t sure who was sending it, the friend I’ve known for 30 years, or the one who wrote the article for that high powered, establishment newspaper. I joked to myself saying maybe they wrote it, knowing that the NSA and America’s 15 other spy agencies would store a copy for future reference.

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Alvin Toffler said,

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Being outside of the West for the last 4.5 years has afforded me the opportunity to leave the Matrix and its iron-fisted control of the Washington-London-Paris consensus. As a born scientist, I am in a never ending quest for the truth, as uncomfortable as it may be to discover. All my research has allowed me the luxury of unlearning and relearning humanity’s ancient and modern history, up to our resulting current events. I am not sure, if I were still living in the West, if I could have broken my brainwashed chains and set myself free from the bondage of its suffocating conventional narrative.

I worked in the corporate world for 25 years before becoming a teacher. Like almost all of us, I felt compelled to spout “the imperial party line” of the West’s tightly scripted version of history and current events. In fact, until 2010, I still believed much of it was true. Conformity is society’s most powerful control mechanism. Those who don’t go along to get along can pay a very heavy price. Just ask Malcolm X, JFK, RFK, MLK, Oscar Romero, Gandhi, Ché Guevara, the four American nuns raped and killed in El Salvador, Jesus Christ and millions of other (less) well known martyrs, whose lives were and still are being cut short, or imprisoned, beaten, raped, tortured, bankrupted, ostracized, or made stateless or jobless. Just in the last week alone are the cases of Sami Al-Arian, Barrett Brown and Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s Guantánamo Diary, which brilliantly leaves in line after line of blacked out text – pages and pages of censored truth. Makes you proud to be an American, doesn’t it? There are many multitudes like them who are ignored by the mainstream media. And we know that if they are not “objectively” reported on in the New York Times, Washington Post or on CNN and Fox, then they don’t exist and they don’t matter.

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s I wrote in a Reflections in Sinoland column, it takes courage to leave the Matrix and seek the truth. For the multitudes who escape martyr status, sacrifices still often have to be made, both professional and personal. Rejection and ridicule by the vast majority, who is still ensconced in the mainstream propaganda bubble, are commonplace. It means being labeled a conspiracy theorist. In reality though, it is those in the Matrix who are the real conspiracy nuts, for trying to rationalize and justify the world they are selectively presented, in the suffocating cocoon of the GWF. Baba Beijing has its just as ruthless and controlling Great Firewall of China and the outcomes are identical. Only the methodology is different. The big difference is that most Chinese know their information is censored. [But in significant ways, the official Chinese narrative of the major topics of the age—however distorted— is far closer to the truth than the West’s version, which is a complete fabrication.] Most Westerners obediently believe they have “freedom of the press” and that censorship is everybody else’s problem. Sadly, Westerners are deluded, gullible and easily manipulated. But this has been true of all citizens of Empire, since the dawn of civilization.

It is hard to accept and very disillusioning to realize just how irredeemably corrupt and evil are the West’s supposedly democratic systems and the political and business leaders who own the process. All my thousands of hours of extensive research confirm this and nothing surprises me anymore. Especially that false flag operations are not the exception, but the banal norm of imperial national governments. They most certainly have been the weapon of choice since the first civilizations in Sumer, China, India and Africa, and they continue at a fast and furious pace in current events. This article lists many false flags that governments have admitted to, or were exposed by FOIA laws, while they last. False flags routinely change the course of human history. Let’s remember that Maidan in Ukraine was a classic false flag and since then, at least weekly, the West is launching one after another there, which has brought our planet to the threshold of World War III.

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]alse flags are ingrained in the DNA of Empire, to control and manipulate their subjects. Empire keeps on perpetrating false flags relentlessly, because they are so ruthlessly successful at achieving their aims. False flags brilliantly create mass fear and uncertainty among the people and justify the persecution of the group to be dehumanized for exploitation or destruction. The shock and awe of false flags allow governments and capital to herd the masses like sheeple, to induce them to gleefully go to war, commit genocide, accept economic servitude and environmentally destructive resource extraction, while willfully renouncing their free will to the tyranny of fascism and oligarchy, for “security and safety”. It’s been working like a charm since 5,000BC and will undoubtedly continue to work, because of all our embedded social memes for group survival and evolutionary genes for individual survival. At the end of the day, in spite of our “superior” intelligence, we as a species are not much better than a herd of gazelle or a colony of ants.

Unless we get smart and get involved, it brings me to a frightening conclusion: false flags will continue unabated, until they cause the demise of the human race. To put the challenge before us into perspective, here are a few recent cases, going back in time. Remember, like Sherlock Holmes, in order to crack a crime caper, it is only necessary to disprove one of the alibis. After that, the whole tissue of lies falls apart.
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Charlie Hebdo. The whole thing stinks to high heaven. Even my Parisian wife was raising her eyebrows: how could they get so many thousands of matching Je Suis Charlie t-shirts on people and color placards in their hands, for mass television exposure, immediately after the incident? A supposed terrorist just happened to “leave” their ID in the getaway car? This is as laughable as Satam Al-Suquami’s fake passport “found” in the molten rubble of the 9/11 Twin Towers, which the FBI then conveniently “lost”, when even the mainstream media had the temerity to question its validity. But it was enough to “identify” the supposed 9/11 perpetrators immediately after the supposed attack. Ditto Charlie Hebdo.

My extensive research shows that one of the key components of successful false flags is to imprint in the minds of the sheeple exactly who the perpetrators are, as soon as it happens, almost like embedding a social meme across the population. If the sheeple are given any time at all to think about it and to ask questions, then the false flag can easily fail. Thus, the 9/11 Nineteen, Lee Harvey Oswald , James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan, the “Communists” who burned down the Reichstag, the Spanish who “blew up” the USS Maine, the North Vietnamese who “attacked” the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, the supposed Boston bomber brothers Tsarnaev and on and on, were clearly and convincingly identified by the authorities within hours of the false flags. Surely, Nero loudly accused the Christians, as soon as his arsonists were setting fire to Rome, while sending out crisis actors to dramatize these followers’ perfidy. He not only got his grand palace, for which the Roman Senators were refusing to give the (now) burned neighborhoods’ land to build it, but Nero also got to kill thousands of Christians in the process. The hallmarks of a truly successful false flag.

“Who knows how long internet freedom and FOIA laws will stay on the books? Another 9/11-sized false flag is inevitable, at which point we can kiss goodbye the alternative media and a still relatively open internet…”

A few hours of research on Charlie Hebdo makes it glaringly apparent that the deep state was involved. The film footage of the police officer supposedly shot in the head at point blank, while lying on the sidewalk, was quickly extirpated by the mainstream media. With millions of views on YouTube in just two days, it was censored. In the West, our masters have learned that the alternative press is like low grade interference. It is too scattered and diffuse to cause critical mass. But when something like the censored Charlie Hebdo hoax assassination goes viral in a matter of hours, then it can become a threat to the official narrative, and often gets censored. On alternative websites, it’s still there. Break out the popcorn and beer, boys and girls, and watch crisis actors help dupe the world.

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The shooter supposedly blasts a bullet at point blank range into the cop’s head with a high powered machine gun, yet there is no blood and the “victim’s” head stays intact. Had he really been shot, his skull would have exploded like a gangrenous pumpkin. He wasn’t shot at all. So, a combat trained “terrorist” just happens to miss his target from centimeters away. Yet, all the mainstream media are lined up with their propaganda, saying a police officer was viciously assassinated by the so called terrorists, while lying helplessly wounded on the sidewalk. Later, a Star News reporter had a colossal slip of the tongue and stated that (fake) blood was put on the ground after the fact, which is obviously true. It goes on and on. The supposed hostage taker, Amedy Coulibaly, at a (surprise, surprise) Jewish grocery store, was obviously already handcuffed when he was practically pushed outside into a hail of fire. I wonder what his handler inside was telling him in his final moments? We’ll never know, because dead men don’t talk. Neither can his supposed Charlie Hebdo shooter partners, the Kouachi Brothers, who got cut to pieces the same day.

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The deep state’s patsy, Amedy Coulibaly, was already handcuffed, when he jumped into a hail of gunfire, from the conveniently Jewish grocery store, during Charlie Hebdo. (Image by Dolio Kezok, YouTube)

Speaking of important dead witnesses, there was a top cop, Helric Fredou (below), investigating the Charlie Hebdo hoax. Lemme see if I got this right. The day after the false flag, late in the night while he was writing his report, Mr. Fredou “commits suicide”. Whatever he was writing was surely destroyed on the spot. The biggest case of his life, one of the great cases of the decade and he offs himself? Yeah, sure. My research shows that deadly accidents, sudden fatal illnesses and inexplicable suicides happen inordinately often in false flags. Funny how it works out that way. This very important story was largely censored in the West.

There is another Charlie Hebdo story that the West highly censored, A third suspect, Hamyd Mourad, turned himself in, declaring that he had an unassailable alibi – he was in class at high school. Alternative media reported this faithfully, but I found only The Daily Telegraph which reported that Mourad had an alibi. The rest of the MSM Ministry of Truth omitted this key fact, leaving everyone with the impression that he turned himself in, because he was guilty:

• The Washington Post (January 7) “Charlie Hebdo suspect said to surrender; two others at large after Paris terror attack”
• Die Welt (Germany), “One suspect has turned himself in to police in connection with Wednesday’s massacre at the offices of Parisian satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo”
• ABC News (January 7), “Youngest suspect in Charlie Hebdo Attack turns himself in”
• CNN (January 8), “Citing sources, the Agence France Presse news agency reported that an 18-year- old suspect in the attack had surrendered to police”…

This is not coincidental. There is a concerted effort by the MSM to act as ventriloquist dummies on TV and marionettes in the newsroom, to do the bidding for the West’s elite owners. The MSM is riddled with CIA agents and “intelligence” NOCs (non-official covers) of all stripes, to help keep everybody singing in unison. A journalist with the courage to spill the beans has turned this truth into a best seller in Germany. Former CIA Director William Casey was just stating the obvious, when he went on record saying,

The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media.

There are many, many videos on the internet exposing the Charlie Hebdo false flag: Here is a French SWAT member opening machine gun fire into the backs of his comrades, obviously shooting blanks. Here’s another cop setting off an explosion in the middle of the swarm of cops surrounding him. Had it been a real stun grenade, everybody around him would have been floored by the percussion wave. You can compare all these videos to an “official” mainstream NBC video to see how the latter one has been expertly edited to excise all the incriminating evidence. Winston Smith in 1984’s Oceania would feel right at home in the West’s “newsrooms”, as history is cut, pasted and censored to the requisites of Big Brother. Just like my friend lambasted a Communist country for censorship, the West works tirelessly to control its past too.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNftNUqfRw4 (Not surprisingly, the Great Western Firewall has removed this incriminating example of censorship from Youtube). Knowing that this happens all the time, the Orwellian MSM flushing the truth down the Memory Hole, I made copies of all these movies. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Charlie-Hebdo-fake-march-www.yaoughtalearn.com_

The much ballyhooed world leaders’ “Million Man March”, in support of Charlie Hebdo, was straight out of North Korean Kim Jong-un’s playbook. Or rather, Kim probably gets his best PR ideas from behind the Great Western Firewall and its MSM propaganda machine. (Image by Ya Oughta Learn, YouTube)

This bogus photo of Benjamin Netanyahu was published around the world, proclaiming he was waving to the masses at the Charlie Hebdo Million Man March. He was waving to empty buildings. Give the clown a Raspberry Award (Image by telegraph.co.uk)
Apparently, in false flags, there is a psychological slip of the tongue, where crisis actors can’t help but smile or smirk when they get in front of the camera, for the joy of fooling the world. It’s called “duping delight” and this website has catalogued a bunch of them. Even the million man march in Paris, supposedly led by the defiant leaders of the “free world” was a hoax. Benjamin Netanyahu is waving to nobody. Who needs Kim Jong-un? Heck, he probably gets his best ideas from his Western counterparts. Nobody does censorship and propaganda better than Westerners do. After all, they’ve been writing the playbook for 500 years.

She is describing how she just learned about her Charlie Hebdo partner supposedly having his brains blown all over a Parisian sidewalk, the horror of it all, and she’s smiling. No tears, no shock, just a crisis actor’s duper’s delight smirk on her face, for fooling the whole world. (Image by bbc.com)

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s all false flags are used to manipulate the masses after the fact, it is happening in spades, thanks to Charlie Hebdo. France’s authorities and thus their mainstream media marionettes are already talking about how Charlie Hebdo is France’s 9/11 and the government will be passing a Patriot Act law, like the United States. Sayanora to Liberté, Fraternité, Egalité. You can kiss your Quiche Lorraine goodbye, mes chers. Say hello to indefinite imprisonment, black sites for torture and murder, SWAT teams and military weaponized police replacing cops on the beat, shooting first and asking questions later, while committing what used to be illegal search and seizure. My fellow French citizens, welcome to Angloland’s New World Order. Kafka was a fellow European, remember? It’s reality imitating art.

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It keeps on keeping on. Just Google “crisis actors Boston bombing” and you will see real actors pretending to be injured. The hoax double amputee, Jeff Bauman, is photoed after supposedly losing both legs, conscious and sitting up, with a phony tourniquet that is loose. The joke is on us. I’ve worked on major movie sets numerous times in France and China and all the photos and this video look like, well, a movie set. One lady has been interviewed on international TV for at least three different “terrorist acts”, and has apparently even been identified. There are many videos showingsimilar actors before and after the supposed bombing. Also, the private “security” contractors near where the supposed bombs went off, dressed identically like the two patsy Tsuravev brothers, replete with carbon copy, oversized backpacks is a nice touch. They were from a company owned and operated at the time by Chris Kyle, of American Assassin movie fame, who has mercifully been put out of his psychopathic misery.

Lemme see, you just had both of your legs blown off by a supposed Boston Marathon bomb, you are fully conscious, sitting up, not bathed in blood, vomit and feces, you still have good skin color, no loss of blood, no shock, and the farcical tourniquet on your leg has a gap in it big enough to run your fist through. Jeff Bauman and all the people around him are crisis actors. (Image by kaotic.com)

If you believe the official, Hollywood version of 9/11, you are saying on that day, the natural laws of physics, chemistry, gravity and matter were supernaturally suspended. You are insisting that Newton, Einstein, Bohr, Planck, Lavoisier, Mendeleev and all the foundations of science did not apply that morning in New York City and Washington, D.C. No, it was pure Harry Potter. You are claiming that for the first time ever, 815°C, burning jet fuel melted thousands of tons of steel, steel that has a melting point of 1,510°C. That’s more fantastic than alchemy. You are claiming that tens of thousands of massive, bolted, welded, riveted steel I-beams, girders, piers and supports just miraculously gave way, like hot butter, and collapsed at nearly the same rate as an object falling off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And not just the two 110 story Twin Towers, but WTC 7, which wasn’t hit by an airplane. Yet this massive, 52 story skyscraper (226m/743ft) went down in free fall in six seconds flat. If you had jumped off the top when WTC 7 began to collapse, you would have hit the ground at the same time as the top of its roof did.

Three buildings were brought down by controlled demolition on 9/11, not two. It is easy to see in this video where thermite explosives were set off vertically in sequence, to bring down WTC 7, all 52 stories of it, in six seconds flat. (Image by YouTube.com)

The most likely source of this rapid destruction is the material thermite, which is commonly used for the controlled demolition of steel buildings. Independent investigators also found pools and puddles of still molten steel, several days after the supposed terrorist attacks. Thermite can heat up hardened steel and keep it that hot for so long. Otherwise, the steel would have cooled off much quicker. The other possibility is micro-nuclear devices were used. Russian intelligence has apparently been discreetly releasing information showing it was Mossad of Israel that organized the controlled demolitions. This would explain why so many first responders were irradiated with beta wave energy. Either way, thermite or micro-nuclear devices, the three WTC skyscrapers were not brought down by 19 Arabs with box cutters.

Major General Albert Stubblebine III knows a false flag when he sees it. You will too, if you watch all the videos in this exposé. (Image by theeventchronicle.com)

Again, you have to suspend the natural laws of the Universe to swallow the guffaw, official story about the Pentagon being hit by a Boeing 757. This was a plane with a 38 meter wing span (124ft), still carrying 32,000 liters (8,600 gallons) of highly flammable jet fuel in its wings and two massive jet engines, along with its 47m long (155ft) fuselage, plowing into the outside of the building at several hundred kilometers/miles per hour. Miraculously, that 38m, fuel-filled wingspan supposedly left only a narrow, 19m gash in the Pentagon. Plane wreckage and debris just magically disappeared, no dead bodies, no luggage, no plane seats – it all just evaporated into thin air, like Bewitched. Just as damning, all those supposed 32,000 liters of burning jet fuel did not rage into a towering ball of inferno, for hours on end. Nope, all the contents of the offices right next to where the supposed 115 ton plane careened at flight speed into the Pentagon, were still sitting there. Desks, computers, file cabinets, chairs – even papers and documents were miraculously still sitting on tops of desks right where the fiery “crash” supposedly occurred. A security camera accidentally caught the explosion on film and that massive 757 jetliner never enters the picture, although it looks like possibly a missile on the right came in low for the strike, if it was not blown up from inside. That could explain the damage done. But a 757? No way. Where I grew up, in Oklahoma, we are fond of saying that you can’t stuff ten pounds of manure in a five pound bag. Well, you can’t slam a 38m wide jetliner into a 19m hole. A lesson in just how efficient the GWF’s censorship works, this CNN news report right after the supposed terrorist act stated the obvious, that there was no airplane. How many times was this aired? Once, never to be seen or heard again.

You have to suspend all the physical laws of the Universe – and your intelligence – to accept the hundreds of inconsistencies of the deep state’s 9/11 false flag caper, including airplane wings and engines full of fuel that did no damage. (Image by pinterest.com)

As far as the infamous heroes who fought those nasty “terrorists” on flight UA93, heck – even a major production Hollywood movie was made about the phantom plane crash – this local Fox affiliate news clip also only saw the light of public viewing one time, before it was cut and censored from the history books, by the Great Western Firewall. China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and the rest of the world can only smile in admiration for a Memory Hole job well done.

There you have it, from a helicopter flying over immediately after the fake crash of UA93, a 3-5 meter square hole , where a huge commercial jetliner supposedly crashed. This Fox affiliate footage saw the light of day one time, only to be lost to oblivion in the MSM Memory Hole. (Image by YouTube)

The supposed crash site of the heroic UA93 flight in rural Pennsylvania was nothing more that small hole about 3-5 meters squared (10-15 feet squared) and paper debris no bigger than a phone book strewn across the countryside. No plane fuselage, no wings, no jet engines, no dead bodies, no luggage, no flotsam from the supposed fiery crash. Three qualified people on the site right after the mythical crash said,

This crash was different. There was no wreckage, no bodies, and no noise. – Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller

I was looking for anything that said tail, wing, plane, metal. There was nothing. – Photographer Scott Spangler

I was amazed because it did not, in any way, shape, or form, look like a plane crash. – Patrick Madigan, commander of the Somerset barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police

And then there is just the absurd impossibility of the whole outrageous lie, to quote Paul Craig Roberts,

(In the most tightly controlled air space on Planet Earth)… According to the official story, a handful of Arabs, mainly Saudi Arabians, operating independently of any government and competent intelligence service, men without James Bond and V for Vendetta capabilities, outwitted not only the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency, but all 16 US intelligence agencies, along with all security agencies of America’s NATO allies and Israel’s Mossad. Not only did the entire intelligence forces of the Western world fail, but on the morning of the attack the entire apparatus of the National Security State simultaneously failed. Airport security failed four times in one hour. NORAD failed. Air Traffic Control failed. The US Air Force failed. The National Security Council failed. Dick Cheney failed. Absolutely nothing worked. The world’s only superpower was helpless at the humiliating mercy of a few undistinguished Arabs.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg of what a hoax the official 9/11 fantasy story really is. I have studied it for many countless hours, analyzing all the evidence. An outstanding, one hour-forty five minute documentary, Zero Hour, fills out the whole sordid saga. A very comprehensive, 5-hour documentary, The New Pearl Harbor, is excellent. On the 13th anniversary of 9/11, the Corbett Report names suspects as a platform for an eventual real, independent investigation. A brave, highly qualified group of 1,500 architects and engineers has come together, to make the public aware of the greatest false flag in modern times ever being pulled off. They all deserve our attention.

It all goes back to the murder of the JFK, by the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff doesn’t it? In fact, in their heart of hearts, Americans know the truth. Since the Warren Commission, in its annual Gallup poll, a majority of Americans believe the deep state killed Kennedy. A solid majority believe the same deep state was responsible for Martin Luther King’s murder. A solid plurality of Americans think there was a cover up about 9/11. This plurality will surely grow to a majority with the help of groups like AE911.

Our so called democracy is a hollow mirage.

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s not just Americans who recognize rotten fish when they smell it. My high school daughter was fascinated by all the evidence I showed her and my wife about Charlie Hebdo, so she agreed to watch Zero Hour. She not only watched it, but took it to school and gave it to her Theory of Knowledge teacher, who in turn showed it to the class. Hats off to the prof. They would surely have been fired had they done that in the United States. The shocking result: my daughter said all of the students already knew that 9/11 was perpetrated by the American government. And it is their sense of resignation to do anything about that I find so disturbing and shameful. My wife too was just as telling. After looking at all the evidence about Charlie Hebdo and glancing over at the TV screen and seeing millions of sheeple wearing their t-shirts and holding up their absurd Je Suis Charlie placards, she said, “OK, so what can you really do about it”? It is this feeling of helplessness that is so damning of the West’s state of affairs. Our so called democracy is a hollow mirage.
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This brings me to the crux of this article. In spite of our evolutionary tendencies to deny and block out unpleasant events, deep down, we know our governments and capital are committing very bloody and disastrous false flags. And it is our acquiescence to all these false flags that is giving the Princes of Power a carte blanche to drive the human race towards a dystopian, fascist future. After all, if our leaders can murder their own president and get away with a coup d’état in Dealy Plaza in broad daylight, they can bring down the 9/11 towers and will surely do much worse, confident of humanity’s powerlessness. And it makes the Iraqs, Ukraines and all the other false flags just that much easier for them to pull off.
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Until we rise up and protest openly against our leaders’ false flags, we will have no freedom in our future and probably no future at all. For our very survival, we must, in mass, get informed of the truth and stop saying, “No, it can’t be”, because it is. False flags is where it all starts and where the nightmare has to end. The Princes of Power are playing for keeps and it’s either us or them, now or never. Who knows how long internet freedom and FOIA laws will stay on the books? Another 9/11-sized false flag is inevitable, at which point we can kiss goodbye the alternative media and a still relatively open internet.

OK, I said it. I don’t think this article will be appearing in a mainstream newspaper any time soon. Such is life. But I can live with that.

Postscript

The United States just weighed in as having the 49th most free press in the world, behind Malta, Niger, Burkino Faso, El Salvador, Tonga, Chile and Botswana. You can rest assured this story will not see the light of day in the mainstream West. Stand tall, stand proud.

Alternative News, Information and Research Sources: Operation Get Smart

In 1807, Thomas Jefferson wrote,

Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.

Great advice to us all, two centuries later. The disinformation, propaganda and myth making have never stopped. So, quit flagellating yourself by wasting time accessing the mainstream media. You know they are marionettes for the One Percent, and that includes PBS, NPR and BBC. When I stopped, I felt like I got off bad drugs. My mind cleared and I could think objectively again. At the end of the day, whose voice has the most credibility: the world’s victimized 80% or the West’s aggressor 15% (20% if you throw in vassal Japan, South Korea and the other usual suspects)?

Instead, use that time to read the following books, as weapons of truth to combat Western Empire. All three are exhaustively researched and referenced. Like William Blake’s cleansed Doors of Perception, they literally changed my life:

• JFK and the Unspeakable, by James W. Douglass. This was the American deep state’s great first false flag, a coup d’état that changed the world for worse, much worse. Our slippery slope started here.
• NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe, by Daniele Ganser. A gripping, sordid account of how NATO has killed, assassinated, maimed and terrorized thousands of their own European citizens and leaders, while overthrowing a few more, and most assuredly still are.
• Killing Hope, by William Blum. It’s all here, a detailed dirty laundry list of the CIA’s endless coups, assassinations, psyops, (mainstream) propaganda, destabilization, running drugs, partnering with the Mafia, ad nauseam, across the four corners of the planet. The heart of the deep state.

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n the internet, only two “mainstream” Western sources are listed here. The Guardian can be good, but their bias against Russia since the 2014 Ukrainian junta has been servile abomination. If you want to really know what’s going on in the Middle East, its history and interrelationships, Robert Fisk at The Independent pushes his editors to the limit. My daily dose from A-Z is Greanville Post, RT, Saker, teleSUR. For several, like Paul Craig Roberts, American Conservative and ICH, I get email alerts. They all get looked at in cycles, over the weeks and months. I’m still looking for alternative Indian and Brazilian websites in English, and I’m committed to finding one in South Africa, to fully cover BRICS.

Al Jazeera English – Live US, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Sports, Weather & Business News
The American Conservative
Antiwar.com
China Daily Website – Connecting China Connecting the World
China | South China Morning Post
chomsky.info : The Noam Chomsky Website (his website is always outdated, but he’s all over the internet)
Chris Hedges, Columnist – Truthdig
ClubOrlov
http://www.commondreams.org/
https://consortiumnews.com/
CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Deena Stryker
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Fort Russ
Trends Monthly – Trends Research Institute
Fire Dog Lake (I contribute to this website)
http://www.4thmedia.org/
Globaltimes.cn | Latest China, world news and business stories, comments from the Global Times
Guardian | World news | The Guardian
Global Research
The Greanville Post • Vol. VIII (I write a monthly column here)
Hidden Harmonies China Blog | 中国博客探索和谐
 INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Russia & India Report: Top Stories
The Intercept
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/
The Journal | Articles & Archives | Life+Outdoors | Field Notes (great site for science, history, etc.)
MintPress News | Independent, non-partisan journalism
The Nation
New Eastern Outlook
Oped News (I contribute to this website)
Oriental Review | Open Dialogue Research Journal
Outlookindia.com
Paul Craig Roberts – Official Homepage
People’s Daily Online – Home Page
Asia Times Online :: the best of Pepe Escobar
Press TV
Réseau Voltaire (in French, the English version is below)
The Independent | Robert Fisk
RT
Russia Insider: politics and news
Sputnik international
teleSUR
This Modern World
TomDispatch
Truthout
The Vineyard of the Saker (I write a monthly column here)
Voltaire Network
Worldbulletin – News on Turkey, Middle East, Muslim World, Latest News, Culture&Islamic History Worldbulletin News
World Socialist Web Site – Marxist analysis, international working class struggles & the fight for socialism
Xinhua – English.news.cn
新华网_传播中国报道世界
 http://www.zerohedge.com/

While it is not strictly politics, to keep up on the latest in Science and Technology, I read ZME Science almost daily.

Want a fun, low cost honorary degree in Chinese Studies? Jeff’s book, 44 Days, will have you laughing while learning and becoming an expert on all things Middle Kingdom. If you live in China, buy it on the 44 Days website, clicking on either Print Book, Ebook or Color Ebook.

– See more at: http://44days.net/44-days-radio-sinoland-behind-the-great-western-firewall-is-the-ugly-truth/#sthash.NBdWw6Pn.dpuf

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Is Saudi Arabia Ditching the US for Russia?

Robert Berke (OilPrice.com)

Saudis talk about a “petroleum alliance”

There are reasons to believe Russia will start working closely with Saudis and OPEC to increase the oil price but don’t expect an entente across the board

This article originally appeared at OilPrice.com

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he news from the recent St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which took place from June 18 to 20, inspired a torrent of speculation on the future direction of energy prices.

But the real buzz at the conference was the unexpected but much publicized visit of the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, as an emissary of the King. The Prince, who is also his country’s Defense Minister, carried the royal message of a direct invitation to President Putin to visit the King, which was immediately accepted and reciprocated, with the Prince accepting on behalf of his father.

It would be news enough that the unusually high level delegation from a long-time ally and protectorate of the U.S., like Saudi Arabia, was visiting a Russian sponsored economic conference, in a country sanctioned by the U.S.

Some saw this well publicized meeting as the first sign of an emerging partnership between the two greatest global oil producers. If the warmth of the meeting was any evidence, it seems likely that Russia, a non-OPEC producer, might come a lot closer to the fold.

That could mean that, at the very least, Russia would have a voice in the cartel’s policy decisions on production. And if so, it would be a voice on the side of stable but rising prices.

The great Indian journalist, M.K. Bhadrakumar (MKB), may have been the first to point out that there was plenty of reasons for the Saudis and Russians to come closer together. Among these are the U.S.’ diminishing dependence on Middle Eastern energy, due to the momentous development of shale resources. There’s also the over-riding goal of the U.S. to pivot toward the East, where a huge economic transformation is unfolding, while reducing the U.S. role in the Middle East. It’s clear that the Saudis are going to have to make new friends.

MKB also makes the point that although the Saudis are wildly opposed to any form of U.S. entente with Iran, the clear-eyed Kremlin understands that there are many temptations for its erstwhile ally, Iran, to move much closer to the west.

Pepe Escobar of Asia Times saw the Prince’s visit as harboring the first glimmer of light in ending the current global oil trade war, in which the Saudis might turn down the spigot and lower production, enabling prices to rise:

“Facts on the ground included Russia and Saudi Arabia’s oil ministers discussing a broad cooperation agreement; the signing of six nuclear technology agreements; and the Supreme Imponderable; Putin and the deputy crown prince discussing oil prices. Could this be the end of the Saudi-led oil price war?”

Bullish oil traders thought they found some hope in the words of Ali al-Naimi, the famous and longtime President and CEO of the Saudi National Oil Company, Aramco, and current oil minister. Naimi publicly stated:

“I am optimistic about the future of the market in the coming months in terms of the continuing improvement and increasing global demand for oil as well as the low level of commercial inventories.”

This, the minister said, should lead to higher oil prices by year’s end.

Ali al-Naimi publicly praised the enhanced bilateral cooperation between Riyadh and Moscow, stating that, “[t]his, in turn, will lead to creating a petroleum alliance between the two countries for the benefit of the international oil market…”

This could be music to the ears of oil price bulls. But more skeptical minds were quick to clamp down excessive optimism. “Of course, we shouldn’t read into any new developments outside political frameworks, because I can hardly imagine that Saudi Arabia has decided to turn against its alliances—but it probably wants to get out of the narrow US corner and expand its options,” Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, wrote in a column after the summit.

At the meeting, the Saudis and Russians signed several memoranda of understanding including the development of nuclear power plants in the Kingdom, with the Saudis planning some 16+ plants

The two sides also plan on setting up working groups to study other possible energy joint ventures in Russia. Russia also agreed to the construction of railways and metro subways for the Saudis. Russia is also believed to have agreed to supply advanced military defense equipment to the Kingdom, despite the Saudis being long time arms customers of both the UK and U.S.

However there is quite a bit of doubt that the U.S. is ready to just step aside and be replaced by Russia as the Saudis’ main ally. Saudi Arabia and Russia are on opposite sides on a range of geopolitical issues, including Iran, Syria, and Yemen. These conflicts will likely put a limit on any potential entente.

Also, there is serious doubt as to whether it is so simple for the Saudis to raise oil prices. Flooding the markets with oil to crash prices only requires the Saudis to over-produce by some one and a half million barrels of oil per day, easily within their grasp, and something the Saudis can do on their own.

Bringing prices up is a different story, requiring global oil producers to comply in oil cutbacks.

At the same time, rising prices are a clear signal to global producers to increase production, worsening the current glut, so that any price increase may prove to be temporary.

And yet, the fact is prices have been rising since the first of the year, and many are convinced there is more to go. C. DeHaemmer, a well-known energy newsletter writer, is now predicting a price rise by WTI to a range of $73-$78, and a Brent range of $82-85, by years end. Not impossible, but long term, the issue becomes cloudier.

On a different matter, there was another surprise announcement at the forum, with India, a longtime U.S. ally, confirming that it will sign a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc including Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Russia and China have agreed on making the EEU a central part of the Chinese sponsored Silk Road, so by default, it would appear that India is moving towards joining the grand Chinese project.

As has become standard at the St. Petersburg Forum, a number of energy deals were signed, including a BP deal to buy a major stake in a Siberian oil field owned by Rosneft, a company suffering under international sanctions. BP, as a twenty percent stakeholder in Rosneft, says it is seeking to expand on its joint ventures with the Russian company

Another deal was signed with Gazprom to build a second pipeline under the Baltic, following the path of Nordstream to Germany, in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell, Germany’s E.ON, and Austria’s OMV. Apparently, Western Europe’s oil giants find Russian sanctions to be no hindrance in dealing with Russian energy companies.

After his onstage TV interview with Putin, Charlie Rose, the well-known TV celebrity, was asked why he had decided to become a moderator at the Forum. He said, “I believe it’s important to talk to people.”

In the meantime, the U.S. reporter, with camera man in tow, found nothing of interest to report at the conference.

SIMULPOST WITH RUSSIA INSIDER : http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/saudi-arabia-leaving-us-behind-russia/ri8442

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The shifting—and in some ways discombobulating—rapprochement between Russia and Saudi Arabia

Looking into the recent developments in Saudi Arabia: Is the monolith finally shaking?

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the Konstantin Palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, June 18, 2015. (Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

[box type=”bio”] Editor’s Log: The recent warming up of relations between the Russian Federation and the Saudis has raised many eyebrows across the globe, and discomfited many people on the left who had begun to regard Russia as an avatar of world progressive politics. For starters, as noted elsewhere, the Saudis, besides being a key petro-client of the West, and one of their best weapons customers, remain a firm accomplice of the Anglo-Americans and NATO in their depredations in the Middle East, and an objective ally of Israel, most recently serving as a willing cat’s paw in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and other conflict areas as far as Russia’s own underbelly and Asia—wherever their ignoble unlimited cash and fanaticism will reach. But apparently the Saudis—like all mafias— also have a healthy self-preservation instinct. The Yemen war may have had some effect on their sense of invulnerability, or the resolve of Washington’s military umbrella. Hedging their bets they may have decided to open a dialog with Moscow, perhaps in the hope that, by purchasing weapons—always a big ticket item, they might neutralize Russia as a provider of weapons or weaken her determination to support Assad and other players hostile to Washington’s and their own designs. Russia, for its part, may be showing Washington that if the latter is reckless enough to seek strategic assets in Russia’s own backyard, so can Moscow deepen its presence in America’s obsessive strategic possession, the Middle East. The KSA in that light may be a bargaining chip to throw against NATO’s still growing “circle of steel” around Russia. The situation is still shrouded in mystery and conjecture in terms of the deeper undercurrents. Below a series of reports and analyses that might throw some light on this developing story. Please do note the views expressed in this compilation, especially those by mainstream Arabs, such as Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, may not coincide entirely or at all with our own but are cogent and/or newsworthy enough to merit presentation. —PG[/box]

FILED BY THE SAKER

Why is Saudi Arabia going on a weapons shopping spree in Russia?

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]ussian media outlets are reporting that Saudi Arabia is negotiating a 2 billion dollars weapons deal with Russia which would include the sale of 150 helicopters (30 Mi-35 and 120 Mi-17), over 150 T-90C tanks, about 250 BMP-3 (infantry combat vehicle) armored vehicles and several dozens of anti-aircraft systems and complexes including the brand new S-400 Triumf missile system. In the meantime, Russia is also clearly delaying the sale of its S-300 missile system to Iran prompting some angry remarks from Iranian Chief of Staff of Iran’s Joint Armed Forces Hassan Firouzabad. Is this all a coincidence?

One needs to remember here that Saudi Arabia has often served as the USraelian Empire’s banker, providing money in support of US strategic objectives (the best examples of this are the war in Afghanistan and the US support for the Nicaraguan “Contras”). Why would Saudi Arabia, which has always relied almost exclusively on US made weapons systems, suddenly turn to Russia? Most definitely not because Russian weapons systems are better – which they undoubtedly are, by the way – as weapons purchases are almost never decided on the basis of technical capabilities. Three factors decide in such deals: the kickbacks given to the officials involved in the deal, the political pressures and allegiances of the countries involved and the offset agreements provided as an incentive by the parties (including, of course, even more kickbacks).

In this case, the US is as least as corrupt as Russia and can easily match any kickbacks, the political allegiances of the Saudis are clearly with the USA, and there is no way that Russia could offer better offset terms than the USA. Hence – the Saudi shopping spree, if confirmed and finalized, is definitely a reward for Russia’s reneging on the S-300 deal with Iran.

The Iranian military Chief of Staff Hassan Firouzabad is, of course, quite correct when he asks the key question: “Don’t Russian strategists realize Iran’s geopolitical importance to their security?“ While I am quite confident that Russian strategists understand this perfectly well, I am also inclined to believe that these strategists do not have the final say in Russian policymaking. Call it the almighty Dollar, or Ruble, or Riyal – the bottom line is that the Russian government appears to favor short-term economic interests over long-term national security objectives. If that is true, that is very bad news indeed.

—The Saker

Agreements between Saudi and Russia will affect the whole region

Arabic News Digest

June 22, 2015 Updated: June 22, 2015

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia minister of defence. At 29, the youngest in the world.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince and minister of defence Mohammed bin Salman at the international economic forum in St Petersburg last week was nothing short of historic.

As columnist Jamal Bnoun noted in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, the pair signed a number of bilateral agreements, including one for cooperation on a peaceful nuclear programme in Saudi Arabia.

The writer said: “The agreement between Saudi Atabia and Russia certainly opens a new window for joint cooperation, additional privileged relations and common interests. More importantly, it is an opportunity to thwart attempts to undermine security in the region.”

He said this diplomatic move could not have come at a better time for Russia, as it finds itself weighed down heavily by stringent economic sanctions. The Russian economy has been hard hit, especially by low oil prices and a currency collapse. This has prompted it to start talks with Iran over possible oil imports in exchange for wheat and other food products.

Russia realises the importance of having a significant and strong strategic partner in the Middle East, and to achieve this it is prepared to change some of its political stances.

Saudi diplomacy was on the money in terms of timing and choice, Bnoun said, and Prince Mohammed’s visit to Russia had reinstated the balance of power in the region.

“The Saudi kingdom is entitled to build a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes,” he said, noting that the country had established itself over the past decades as “a most influential Arab and global force”.

The writer added: “The choice of partner was significant. Russia is a great power with substantial international weight. It is one of the most important players in our region.”

The Moscow-Riyadh rapprochement is beneficial for both countries and for the Middle East, Bnoun said, because Iran and Israel could not be allowed to have unbridled influence on the region’s politics.

Russia stands to benefit enormously from the agreements which, in addition to improving its economy, will reinforce the Gulf nations’ trust in it. This would eventually lead to a change in its diplomatic and political positions vis-à-vis the specific issues of Syria, Iran and Yemen.

The Saudi columnist Abdulrahman Al Rashid wrote in the London-based daily Asharq Al Awsat that the most interesting thing about the Deputy Crown Prince’s visit to Russia was that it deviated from traditional practice.

It took place at a time when the United States and its European allies are boycotting Russia economically in the wake of the events in Ukraine.

“This time around, contrary to habit, the Saudi government decided to revive its trade relations with Moscow and sign agreements and deals in the vital sectors of gas, military and nuclear technology,” the writer said. “It is indeed a rare occasion when Riyadh sets on a course opposite to Washington’s.”

For the past 20 years the Saudis have supported the western decision to boycott Iran and stand up to it regionally, only to find out that Washington has stabbed them in the back and struck an agreement with the Tehran regime without consulting with them, the writer asserted.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Saudi Arabia has decided to turn against its positions and alliances, but that it is most probably looking to expand its options.

After all, Al Rashid concluded, Russia remains a great power and it is actively seeking to become a significant player in our region.

* Translation by Racha Makarem

RMakarem@thenational.ae

Is Saudi Arabia next? If so, that could very dangerous

Ikhwan leader

BY THE SAKER
Note: First filed on March 09, 2011

[dropcap]RT[/dropcap] TV has just announced that the Shia of Saudi Arabia have declared that this Friday will be a “day of rage”.

…

Considering that the US Empire will use absolutely all of its capabilities and resources to maintain its control on Saudi Arabia it is frightening to think of what could happen if Saudi Arabia blows up. Saudi Arabia is neither Egypt, nor Libya. The differences are substantial.

…

First, I suspect that the grip of the House of Saudi on the country they rule is far stronger that Mubarak’s. Furthermore, I cannot imagine that the Saudis would have the courage, intelligence, staying power and sophistication which the Egyptians have shown.

Second, the Saudi system of cronyism, patronage, tribalism and family connections is far more effective than the one implemented by Gaddafi (judging by how fast Libyan fat cats turned their coats and supported the rebellion in an amazing 180-degree turn).

Inkhwan, a uniquely Wahabi kind of terror squad: very primitive, totally ruthless and utterly brainwashed. The NG (currently 125’000 soldiers plus another 25’000 tribal thugs) is just the same Inkhwan, but with a modern polish on it, though it is still always commanded by a high ranking member of the royal family. This force is mobile and extremely well armed (courtesy of Uncle Sam). Interestingly, this force has no main battle tanks which, if needed, proves again that the only ‘enemy’ it is trained to fight (by Uncle Sam, of course) is the civilian population of the KSA.

…

Now consider this: if the Saudi regime throws the National Guard against the Shia of the Eastern Province then we can expect a bloodbath several orders of magnitude bigger than the relatively tame combats in Libya. Needless to say, nobody in the Hague will investigate anything, no UNSC sanctions will be adopted, no monies abroad seized, etc. So what will happen then?

…

Will it be possible for Iran to stand by while Shias are murdered by the 21-century version of the Inkhwan? I really don’t know.

…

Iran could very easily defeat the KSA, of course, in particular in the Shia areas of the country. Both the Saudi military and the NG are lousy military forces, in particular compared to the Iranian military or the Pasdaran. In case of military conflict the outcome would be preordained. The problem is that the Saudi Shia have the bad luck of living right on top of the KSA’s biggest oil reserves and there is absolutely no way, no way in hell, that the US Empire will ever allow Iran to control this territory.

…

In other words, the internal crisis in the KSA might well result in a US attack on Iran.

…

Nobody will be happier than I if one day the House of Saud falls and the Shia of the KSA recover their freedom from the Wahabi crazies, but I have to point out that unlike the events in Tunisia, Egypt or Libya, a crisis in the KSA would entail a far more dangerous situation which could very rapidly become internationalized.

…

—The Saker

PS: don’t take this to the bank, but as far as I know, the favorite fetish of crazed Wahabis (Chechnia, Bosnia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Algeria, etc.) for cutting the throats of their prisoners comes from a desire to be Ikhwan-like as the latter are the ones who started this fashion. I am not sure about that though, nor do I know where the Ikhwan got that idea.
…
Does anybody know if there any Koranic or “Sunnic” (is that English?) basis for throat-cutting?

Opinion: The Russians are coming to Saudi Arabia
Written by Abdulrahman Al-Rashed on Sunday, 21 Jun, 2015

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast week I attended a closed seminar organized by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in the US capital. It mainly focused the crises in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. The looming nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran dominated the discussion, since it represents an important political turning point. Some of the attendees asked about reactions towards this deal and its potential consequences, whether on the political or military fronts. Others anticipated that the deal will provoke several countries in the region, encouraging them to work on their own nuclear programs, with the aim being to “obtain what Iran got in its nuclear deal” with Western powers.

This explains the great interest in Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s visit to Russia last week. It is now clear that Saudi Arabia has decided to join the nuclear club, by signing a deal to build 16 nuclear reactors, at the same time giving Russia the biggest role in operating and overseeing those reactors. This does not necessarily mean that the Kingdom’s focus is on armament; at the same time, it is a clear sign that Riyadh has decided to enter the nuclear scene. Last month, the Saudi education minister signed off scholarships for 1,000 students to study energy technologies, including nuclear energy.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, travelled to Russia recently as the oil-rich kingdom and US ally tries to build bridges with President Vladimir Putin. The 30-year old deputy crown prince, who has led the kingdom’s air war in Yemen, met Pres. Putin on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum for talks that show how Moscow is searching for new approaches to the Syria conflict. (Simeon Kerr in Dubai and Kathrin Hille in Moscow.)
READ MORE OF THIS LINE OF OPINION BY CLICKING ON THE BAR BELOW

[learn_more] Russia has been a high-profile supporter of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which is locked in a bloody four-year civil war against rebel groups including jihadis such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis). Saudi Arabia is supporting secular and “moderate” Islamist rebels in the hope of unseating Mr Assad. Prince Salman’s visit comes as the US and Gulf states also seek to encourage Russia in support a political transition away from Mr Assad. Since King Salman ascended to the throne in January, Riyadh has refocused its efforts on checking its regional rival Iran, adopting a more interventionist approach including launching an aerial bombardment on Tehran-allied rebels in Yemen. In Syria, Saudi Arabia has sought to rebuild its frayed ties with Turkey and Qatar as a way of fostering co-operation among disparate rebel groups. Turkish-Qatari support for Islamist rebels in Syria has allowed Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate, to make gains against the Assad regime while the Saudis have supported secular fighters in the south of the country. Mark Katz, a politics professor at George Mason University in the US, said Riyadh’s argument was that “since Assad is going to fall anyway, it would be best if Russia worked with Saudi Arabia to improve the chances that a ‘moderate’ government will [replace his regime]”.

An Iranian diplomat in Moscow said Moscow was playing a dual game over Syria.

“Russia is trying to keep different tracks right now . . . [It is] supporting the Syrian government [and] trying to gain influence in opposition groups and getting ready for a future without Assad,” he said.

Although Russian weaponry remains vital to Mr Assad, Moscow has cut its presence in Syria substantially, pulling out about 100 military advisers.

Yet Russia is not ready to drop Mr Assad because the secular opposition is weak and Moscow remains resolutely opposed to Islamists, according to one former Russian diplomat.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

[/learn_more]

Regular article resumes here

Russia has been a high-profile supporter of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which is locked in a bloody four-year civil war against rebel groups including jihadis such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis). Saudi Arabia is supporting secular and “moderate” Islamist rebels in the hope of unseating Mr Assad.

Prince Salman’s visit comes as the US and Gulf states also seek to encourage Russia in support a political transition away from Mr Assad.

In my opinion, the most important feature of the Deputy Crown Prince’s visit was that it was not customary; it took place at a time when the United States and its European allies have decided to economically boycott Russia, sanctioning Moscow over events in Ukraine. This time, the Saudi government took an unusual step and decided to do the opposite: rekindle its relations with Moscow, grow business ties, and sign agreements and deals in vital fields such as gas and nuclear and military technologies. This is one of the rare times that Riyadh has taken an opposing line to Washington. But the reason is clear: the Saudis who supported the Western position to boycott Iran for 20 years have discovered that Washington betrayed them when it decided to collaborate with Tehran, without coming to an understanding with its partners who had joined the initial boycott.

Of course, we shouldn’t read into any new developments outside political frameworks, because I can hardly imagine that Saudi Arabia has decided to turn against its alliances—but it probably wants to get out of the narrow US corner and expand its options.

Russia has always been an important country. It has recently decided to become a more active key player in the region, at a time when the current US administration has chosen to significantly shrink its engagement, and adopt policies at odds with those of the Gulf states. The US supported Baghdad despite its sectarian policies, and left the Assad regime in Syria to commit the greatest tragedy in the history of the region: 250,000 deaths and the displacement of 10 million people. It seems that the negativity generated by Washington’s side, and the dangerous outcomes resulting from its policies, have made the Saudis think about expanding their choices and political investments across both East and West.

Although Saudi Arabia reinstated its relationship with Moscow nearly 14 years ago, it has remained limited. No important promises of cooperation had been implemented so far: Saudi Arabia did not buy Scud missiles as agreed, and Russia did not get anything out of the gas deals. However, today it appears that the Moscow–Riyadh road has become more active. Russia’s ambassador to Riyadh, Oleg Ozerov, has said that Russia has been granted an area of land to build the new headquarters of its embassy in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter. In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin reiterated his call to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz to visit Russia. President Putin has also received an invitation to visit Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia wants Russia, which is a key player in Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon, to be on its side. Russia plays an important role in the military balance with Iran, a task that will need intensive and constant efforts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

[box type=”bio”] Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is the general manager of Al-Arabiya television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly magazine Al-Majalla. He is also a senior columnist in the daily newspapers Al-Madina and Al-Bilad. He has a US post-graduate degree in mass communications, and has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs. He is currently based in Dubai.[/box]

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Saudi Arabia, Propaganda and Control

BINOY KAMPMARK

An Erratic and Dangerous State

The Saudis have spent fortunes on armaments. Though technically protected by the US military umbrella, their sense of paranoia forces them to waste money lavishly on advanced weapons—to the delight of Western arms merchants.

“The Saudi Cables lift the lid on an increasingly erratic and secretive dictatorship that has not only celebrated its 100^th beheading this year but which has also become a menace to its neighbours and itself.”– Julian Assange, Press statement, Jun 19, 2015

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t is fitting that a state such as Saudi Arabia, deeply influential and ultimately destabilising, should be the subject of the latest WikiLeaks exploits. The transparency site is currently in the process of releasing upwards of 500,000 cables, the first batch of which were released on Friday. At this writing, some 61,000 are available.

The usual questions have been asked. How were the documents obtained to begin with? A floated suggestion is that they were gathered from a cyber attack on the Saudi Foreign Ministry initiated by the Yemen Cyber Army. (Yemen has a genuine gripe here, being the subject of Saudi military attack and blockade.) “As a matter of policy,” claimed WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson to the Associated Press, “we’re not going to discuss the source of the material.”

The cables so far provide ample material on a range of media management tactics at work. Saudi interests are protected by their heavy influencing of representations about the Kingdom’s policies. Who, noted WikiLeaks, noticed that on Monday, the Kingdom was celebrating the beheading of its 100^th prisoner this year? “Even international media was relatively mute about this milestone compared to what it might have been if it had concerned a different country. How does a story like this go unnoticed?” (WikiLeaks, Jun 19).[1]

The reasons lie in a range of approaches dealing with monitoring and co-opting outlets in Arab media, cultivating other sources of influence. Techniques of “neutralisation” and “containment” are employed, limiting the range and scope of coverage and encouraging outlets to either cover events in certain ways or refrain from them altogether. “Containment” involves a more direct approach, one of conciliation towards Riyadh and hostility to perceived anti-Saudi interests.

An example of the neutralisation policy is evident in a cable taking note of the Saudi Kingdom’s concerns about attitudes in Morocco, where the paper in question, Today’s News of Morocco, notes how “a number of the Emirates of the Arabian Gulf do not look favourably on the experience of [that country’s] openness to the Arab Spring”.[2]

Another cable notes various items of payment to a range of publications in Indonesia, with amounts ranging from $US3,000 to $10,000. There is talk about renewing the involvement of the Ministry of Culture and Information via massive subscriptions to newspapers such as Kompas and the Jakarta Post.[3]

The technique of purchasing subscriptions effectively makes the publication in question an annex, with Riyadh becoming a de facto investor expecting appropriate returns by way of favourable coverage. As WikiLeaks notes, one document outlines subscriptions requiring renewal by January 1, 2010, covering publications in Damascus, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Amman, Kuwait and Nouakchott. “The Kingdom effectively buys reverse ‘shares’ in the media outlets, where cash ‘dividends’ flow the opposite way, from the shareholder to the media outlet. In return Saudi Arabia gets political ‘dividends’ – an obliging press.”[4]

When an obliging press cannot be obtained, other, more forward techniques are adopted. A Royal Decree of January 20, 2010 inspired the Saudi foreign minister to remove the Iranian Arabic service, Al-Alam, from Arabsat, the main Riyadh communications satellite operator. On failing to do so, efforts were made to limit the reach of the signal.

In the broader policy realm, there are documents covering Sunni suspicions of Shiite ambitions – the long held, intemperate rivalry between Riyadh and Teheran gets coverage, notably on the issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitious. Mistrust is bountiful. A 2012 note from the Saudi Arabian embassy in Teheran speaks of “flirting American messages” carried to Iran via an anonymous Turkish mediator (AP, Jun 19).[5]

Though confined illegally to the Ecuadorean embassy throigh teh complicity of Britain and Sweden

Though confined illegally to the Ecuadorean embassy thanks to the complicity of Britain and Sweden, de facto vassal states to Washington’s imperium, Assange’s organization still manages to fight back, and as the Saudi cables prove, retains the capacity to embarrass the empire.

Lurking in the documents is the overwhelming sense of anxiety at anything that might challenge the kingdom’s near totalitarian primacy. The regime churning events of the Arab Spring receive an unsurprising degree of concern, with a loss of authoritarian control, however briefly, in such states as Egypt. Public opinion, for instance, is treated as something that should be driven by a regime, rather than formed by the public. Strategies of funding were thereby hatched to combat such revolutionary tendencies in both Egypt and Tunisia.

For those trawling through the archives as they are, notes abound about regional power plays and a state terrified about prospects of reform from below. A Kingdom notorious for its secrecy is revealed in its range of operations, clandestine, extensive and expansive. The researcher and activist will no doubt be thrilled by this particular trove, even if its entire value will have to be appropriately assessed in due course.

Fittingly, the arrival of these documents comes a time when Julian Assange still remains in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. This period of detention, while legally perverse, has proven productive, and whatever might be said about the man, the material being provided continues to illuminate and startle. The transparency movement, in other words, continues to flutter.

[box] Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com

[1] https://wikileaks.org/saudi-cables/buying-silence

[2] https://www.wikileaks.org/saudi-cables/doc124688.html

[3] https://www.wikileaks.org/saudi-cables/doc118126.html

[4] https://wikileaks.org/saudi-cables/buying-silence

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/19/world/middleeast/ap-ml-wikileaks-saudi-cables.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0 [/box]

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What is $5 a month to support one of the greatest publications on the Left?

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Saudi Arabia, Propaganda and Control