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What you need to know about the Iranian attack on Israel but will not find in your mainstream news provider

Missile Attack
© arise.tv
Iran's weekend massive drone, cruise missile and ballistic missile attack on Israel has now been covered in the global media, with the headlines announcing that 99% of the barrage was shot down by Israeli, U.S. and other friendly air defense systems. The question these media pose is what will be the Israeli response, as if that were a matter strictly to be decided by Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet.

In fairness, I note that The Financial Times has also published a front page article setting out what it considers to be the Iranian perspective on the attack, namely that it was successful insofar as it demonstrated their country is not shying away from direct military confrontation with Israel and is confidently prepared to prosecute a full scale war if it comes to that. See "We're crazier than you realize": Iran delivers its message with attack on Israel. Tehran believes calibrated missile and drone barrage is enough to restore deterrent and bolster image."

However, the Iranian position is much more nuanced and contains far greater threat not only to Israel but also to the entire United States presence in the region than the FT suggests. I say this on the basis of an analysis provided on last night's edition of the Vladimir Solovyov talk show on Russian state television by a regular panelist, Semyon Arkadievich Bagdasarov, who is a leading Russian specialist on the region.

For those who wish to see and hear Bagdasarov's 14 minutes on air in the original Russian, click on the link here (minutes: 27 - 41).

In what follows I offer a brief biographical sketch of Bagdasarov so that the seriousness of his remarks can be better appreciated. Then I will summarize what he said on air.

Vader

Best of the Web: The Gaza genocide as explicit policy: Michael Hudson names all names

gaza
The ruins of Gaza
In what can be considered the most crucial podcast of 2024 so far, Professor Michael Hudson - the author of seminal works such as Super-Imperialism and the recent The Collapse of Antiquity , among others - clinically lays down the essential background to understand the unthinkable: a 21st century genocide broadcast live 24/7 to the whole planet.

In an email exchange, Prof. Hudson detailed he's now essentially "spilling the beans" about how, "50 years ago when I worked at the Hudson Institute with Herman Kahn [the model for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove], Israeli Mossad members were being trained, including Uzi Arad. I made two international trips with him, and he outlined to me pretty much what has happened today. He became head of Mossad and is now Netanhayu's advisor."

Prof. Hudson shows how "the basic Gaza plan is how Kahn designed the Vietnam War's division into sectors, with canals cutting off each village, as the Israelis are doing to Palestinians. Also already at time, Kahn pinpointed Balochistan as the area to foment disruption in Iran and the rest of the region."

Bandaid

FISA exchanges real liberty for phantom security

johnson
© Win McNamee/Getty ImagesHouse Speaker Mike Johnson
House Speaker Mike Johnson betrayed liberty and the Constitution by making a full-court press to get a "clean" reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Act through the House.

Section 702 authorizes warrantless surveillance of foreign citizens. When the FISA Act was passed, surveillance state boosters promised that 702 warrantless surveillances would never be used against American citizens. However, intelligence agencies have used a loophole in 702, allowing them to subject to warrantless surveillance any American who communicated with a non-US citizen who was a 702 target. Intelligence agencies could then also conduct warrantless surveillance on any Americans who communicated with the new American target. This Section 702 loophole has been used so often to subject Americans to warrantless wiretapping that it has been referred to as the surveillance state's crown jewel.

Cruise Missle

Israel says Iran's missile and drone attack largely thwarted, with "very little damage" caused

3 shots
© Amir Cohen/ReutersAnti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel • Ashkelon, Israel
Air raid sirens and loud booms sounded across Israel Saturday evening after Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at the country in a retaliatory attack, but Israeli officials said the assault was almost entirely thwarted by air defense systems and with the help of the U.S. and Israel's other allies.

More than 300 missiles and drones were fired from Iran toward Israel, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. He said virtually all of the weapons were intercepted before entering Israeli territory and he reported only minor damage to one military base from the few ballistic missiles that did land in the country. Hagari confirmed that a 10-year-old girl had been "severely injured by shrapnel," but said "as far as we know, there are no additional casualties."
"The Iranian threat met the aerial and technological superiority of the IDF, along with a strong fighting coalition — which together intercepted the overwhelming majority of the threats. 99% of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted — a very significant strategic achievement."
The IDF said in a separate, earlier statement posted on social media there were some injuries from the Iranian-launched missiles, including at a military base in southern Israel, but the full statement released later by Hagari made no mention of casualties.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said very little damage was caused, in a statement early Sunday, lauding his own forces and Israel's American and other international partners for having "thwarted this attack in an impressive manner."

Comment: Iran: A test run to assess who, what and how. Israel: Display of force for self-confirmation


Brick Wall

Western demands for UN to discuss Iran attack are 'hypocrisy' - Moscow

Nebenzia
© Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty ImagesRussian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia
Failure to condemn the Israeli bombing of Tehran's consulate in Syria spurred the latest violence, Russia's ambassador has argued...

The UN Security Council helped give rise to Saturday's Iranian attack against Israel by hypocritically failing to take action over the illegal bombing that provoked the latest violence in the region, Russia's ambassador to the global body has claimed.

Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told members of the UN Security Council on Sunday:
"What happened on the night of April 14 did not happen in a vacuum. The steps undertaken by Iran became a reaction to the disgraceful inaction by this council."
At issue was the April 1 missile strike that killed seven Iranian military officers, including two senior commanders, at Tehran's consulate in Damascus. Western members of the Security Council stood in the way of rebuking Israel over the "egregious attack," despite the fact that it was a violation of international law on the inviolability of diplomatic installations, the Russian envoy said.

Comment: See also:
'Islamic world will celebrate the destruction of Israel': Is war inevitable between Tehran and West Jerusalem?


Light Saber

Rand Paul says brave Marine Lt. Colonel revealed that 15 US Agencies knew COVID-19 was created in lab in 2018

rand paul maria bartiromo
© Fox NewsSenator Rand Paul with Maria Bartiromo.
But they kept it secret from the American public

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who happens to be a US Senator and a Doctor of Ophthalmology, released a stunning report on Tuesday where he discovered that 15 different federal agencies knew that the Wuhan laboratory in China was trying to create a COVID-19 virus and they knew this since 2018.

Not one single official or employee in these 15 agencies revealed the truth to the American public during the pandemic. They should all be fired.

Rand Paul announced on Sunday that a brave Lt. Colonel in the Marines stepped forward with the information on the COVID origins. He was the only honest person in 15 agencies brave enough to expose the truth.

Comment: Rising also interviewed Sen. Paul on the matter:




Star of David

Busted: Israeli military "embellishes" video of Iranian attack

fake footage idf
Still image from the video the IDF is alleged to have inserted into their propaganda release on Iran's missile retaliation for Israel's bombing of Iran's embassy in Syria.
The IDF inserted old footage of a Russian Grad missile launch in what was supposed to be a compilation of this weekend's strikes

The Israeli military appears to have inserted seven-year-old footage of a Russian Grad launch into a purported compilation showing the Iranian missile and drone strikes launched against the Jewish state over the weekend.

The video, posted on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption "Israelis' reality in the last hours," has raised many eyebrows online.

Comment: The Alexes of The Duran provide a good analysis of the underlying factors:


So far it's all been a chest-beating show. And so far, everyone should be happy and drop it. As one political pundit put it:
The main target was one or two military/airbases in S. Israel. Ramona being one. At least one of those bases was hit with a few ballistic missiles with relatively small warheads.

That's about it. Most of the drones were probably without warheads, i.e. decoys.

Israel spent about $1 billion on AD missiles to shoot them down.

Iranians are happy "the Zionist regime got a smack"

Iranian govt. is happy that the people are happy.

Israelis are happy their air defense kept them safe.

Israeli govt. is happy it got more propaganda material and support from the world, especially the US in the form of more money.

American govt. is happy to distract Americans from the problems in the USA.

Everyone wins, even the Palestinians, because tonight was the first night in 6 months that Gaza wasn't bombed by Israel.
The question is, will the crazies in Israel recognize that in this instance, they are ahead? Probably not. Stay tuned . . . .


Eye 1

Jury selection begins in Trump hush-money trial

Trump
© Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFPFormer US President Donald Trump waves as he departs Trump Tower for Manhattan Criminal Court, to attend the first day of his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, in New York City on April 15, 2024.
Jury selection has begun for a trial at which former US President Donald Trump stands accused of falsifying records related to hush-money payments to a porn star during the 2016 election. Trump becomes the first former president to stand trial on criminal charges.

Twelve jurors, along with six alternates, will be chosen from among hundreds of New Yorkers. The judge in the case has released the extensive questionnaire that potential jurors will have to fill out.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Trump told reporters outside the courtroom, calling the trial "political persecution" and "an assault on America."

Comment: But will their plan to silence Trump work? It hasn't so far- Poll finds US Republicans trust Trump over the Pentagon


Clipboard

Poll finds US Republicans trust Trump over the Pentagon

trump atlanta supporters
© @TeamTrump/XTrump warmly greeting guests and workers at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A, April 10, 2024
The party's voters see the former president as a more reliable source of information about the Russia-Ukraine conflict

America's Republican voters believe former President Donald Trump is a more reliable source of information about the Russia-Ukraine conflict than either their government or the media, a new poll has shown.

The CBS News/YouGov survey, released on Sunday, found that 79% of Republicans trust Trump for information on the Ukraine crisis. That compares with 60% trust for the US military, 56% for conservative media outlets, 33% for "journalists in the war zone," and just 27% for the US State Department.

Comment: Ain't lookin' good for Creepy Joe. The Dems better have their rig machinery tuned up. It will probably have to run full steam if they hope to lever the corpse back into office.


Bullseye

Russia calls out 'embarrassing hypocrisy' of Western demand for UN to discuss Iran's retaliatory attack

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia
© Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty ImagesFailure to condemn the Israeli bombing of Tehran's consulate in Syria spurred the latest violence, Russia's ambassador has argued Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia
The UN Security Council helped give rise to Saturday's Iranian attack against Israel by hypocritically failing to take action over the illegal bombing that provoked the latest violence in the region, Russia's ambassador to the global body has claimed.

"What happened on the night of April 14 did not happen in a vacuum," Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told members of the UN Security Council on Sunday. "The steps undertaken by Iran became a reaction to the disgraceful inaction by this council."

At issue was the April 1 missile strike that killed seven Iranian military officers, including two senior commanders, at Tehran's consulate in Damascus. Western members of the Security Council stood in the way of rebuking Israel over the "egregious attack," despite the fact that it was a violation of international law on the inviolability of diplomatic installations, the Russian envoy said.

Comment: Surely this kind of thinking isn't good for one's brain:



Despite the above, Israelis continue to vote with their feet: