It has become embarrassing to be an American. Our country has had four war criminal presidents in succession. Clinton twice launched military attacks on Serbia, ordering NATO to bomb the former Yugoslavia twice, both in 1995 and in 1999, so that gives Bill two war crimes. George W. Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and attacked provinces of Pakistan and Yemen from the air. That comes to four war crimes for Bush. Obama used NATO to destroy Libya and sent mercenaries to destroy Syria, thereby commiting two war crimes. Trump attacked Syria with US forces, thereby becoming a war criminal early in his regime.

To the extent that the UN participated in these war crimes along with Washington's European, Canadian and Australian vassals, all are guilty of war crimes. Perhaps the UN itself should be arraigned before the War Crimes Tribunal along with the EU, US, Australia and Canada.

Quite a record. Western Civilization, if civilization it is, is the greatest committer of war crimes in human history.

Thus far in his first three months in office, the Trump presidency has been a resounding failure. The hyped promise of an Obamacare replacement promoted and led by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was a crushing blow. Trump's travel ban on 7 Muslim nations has been followed by defiant federal judges. Last week Trump's unconstitutional missile strike against a Syrian airport resurrected the "Assad must go" mantra (in total contradiction to his stated position just days earlier). Trump's promise to partner with a Putin ally to "eradicate" ISIS terrorists was yet another boldface campaign lie. Instead in an overt attempt to pander to his critics and to send a grandstanding message to China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong-un that "you shouldn't mess with Trump the tough guy," our president is recklessly willing to endanger the entire planet risking World War III.

Throughout his 80 day debacle as our president, Trump has been surrounded by a minefield of leftist Democrat moles representing the very establishment swamp he promised to drain, subversive, compromised GOP party faithful as neocon Judases, a gluttony of globalist Goldman Sachs bankster gangsters and military complex war generals. From day 1 this motley crew's been at war with each other, viciously backstabbing and competing for Trump's ear and influence, and leading him asunder. President Trump's innermost, trusted circle exudes a highly toxic culture of subterfuge, treachery, conflict, deceit, paranoia and mistrust.

While US officials have upped their death count from the Afghan MOAB drop to 94, Indian authorities are claiming that at least 500 Pakistani nationals (who had been protecting the ISIS operatives in this area) were killed in the US bombing in Nangarhar province.

One India reports that the area that was targeted was controlled by the Islamic State and protected by the Pakistan army, sources say.

The operation that was jointly coordinated by the 201 Selab Corps of the Afghanistan army targeted the caves and tunnels that were used as hiding places by the IS. It is now clear that the Pakistan army was backing these IS operatives in Afghanistan, official sources also confirmed.

Indian agencies who are coordinating with counterparts in Afghanistan have learned that there are no civilians living in the area. There were a large number of stooges of the Inter-Services intelligence who have been protecting the IS operatives in this area. The US action comes at a time when there was a huge build-up of IS forces in Afghanistan.

Indian agencies say that the Pakistan army and the ISI were nurturing these operatives. The entire area that was bombed was under the control of the ISI officials backing the IS, sources also said. The impact of the bomb was so huge that it blew up at least 500 Pakistanis and an equal number of IS operatives.

The federal government collected record amounts of both individual income taxes and payroll taxes through the first six months of fiscal 2017 (Oct. 1, 2016 through the end of March), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement.

Through March, the federal government collected approximately $695,391,000,000 in individual income taxes. That is about $7,387,280,000 more than the $688,003,720,000 in individual income taxes (in constant 2017 dollars) that the federal government collected in the first six months of fiscal 2016.

The federal government also collected $547,491,000,000 in Social Security and other payroll taxes during the first six months of fiscal 2017. That is about $2,731,820,000 more than the $544,491,000,000 in Social Security and other payroll taxes (in constant 2017 dollars) that the government collected in the first six months of fiscal 2016.

As The Trump administration is flexing its military muscle, having stood up to Syria and its ally Russia, and while it's now relishing in the news it has dropped the nation's largest most-powerful non-nuclear bomb on a cave complex in Eastern Afghanistan, one critic was quick to point out one little-known fact. Wikileaks tweeted a simple but true statement concerning the origin of the cave complex the Americans are so proud to have reportedly destroyed. "Those tunnels the U.S is bombing in Afghanistan? They were built by the CIA," Wikileaks tweeted.

The battle between the CIA and WikiLeaks is intensifying. CIA Director Mike Pompeo used his first major public remarks on Thursday to skewer WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service" willing to work with Russia and other foreign actors to promote their interests.

He blasted Julian Assange as a "fraud" interested in his own fame, seeking to undermine efforts by the WikiLeaks founder to be viewed as a legitimate ally of civil libertarians. "It is time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is, a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia," Pompeo said. "Assange is a narcissist who has created nothing of value," the former Republican congressman charged. "He relies on the dirty work of others to make himself famous. He is a fraud—a coward hiding behind a screen."


WikiLeaks was quick to respond, sending out a series of messages on Twitter claiming that Pompeo vowed to "silence" the organization over its purported disclosures of CIA hacking tools and using his remarks to promote an op-ed written by Assange in the Washington Post. In the op-ed, Assange wrote that WikiLeaks had the same mission as news outlets such as the Post and The New York Times.

The organization also mocked Pompeo by sending out a since-deleted tweet he wrote last July, when the former Kansas lawmaker cited stolen Democratic National Committee emails released by WikiLeaks as proof that the presidential nomination had been "fixed" for Hillary Clinton.

Pompeo's speech was a wide departure from President Trump's praise of WikiLeaks on the campaign trail. Trump and his administration have taken a much more hostile approach to WikiLeaks since taking office.

On Thursday, during the visit of Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki to Beijing, China said it was a "terrible injustice" that Palestine still does not have its own independent state.

During a press conference with Maliki, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaffirmed Beijing's support for a Palestinian state based on borders that existed before the Six-Day War in 1967, with a capital in East Jerusalem. Wang said, "Seventy years later, what we see is that our Palestinian brothers have yet to establish an independent state with full sovereignty ... This is unfair, and this terrible injustice must be addressed, and it cannot continue," according to German media outlet DPA.

The pre-1967 borders have been called "indefensible" by Israel, though former US President Barack Obama and others have voiced their support for those demarcations.

Wang also said that Beijing supports the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which seeks to normalize relations between Arab states and Israel and calls for Israel to be recognized as a state on the condition that Tel Aviv helps facilitate the creation of a Palestinian state by ceding its territorial control to the pre-war borders.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday he does not view recent U.S. missile strikes on ally Syria as a message for Iran, which he called a "powerful country" that the U.S. cannot harm. The controversial former president made the remarks to The Associated Press on Saturday in his office in northern Tehran, three days after he stunned Iranians by registering to run for president again. His surprise candidacy must still be approved by authorities but has already upended a race that was widely expected to be won by incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani.

Ahmadinejad dismissed suggestions that the U.S. strike on Syria might also be a warning for his country. "I do not think it has a message for Iran. Iran is a powerful country and people like Mr. Trump or the United States administration cannot hurt Iran," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration earlier this year announced it was putting Iran "on notice" in part over its ballistic missile tests, and last week pounded a Syrian air base with cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack. Iran is the main regional backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is involved militarily on the ground in that country's civil war.

Ahmadinejad struck a mostly conciliatory tone during the interview, taking care to not stir up controversy that could alienate voters or clerical authorities. He avoided repeating inflammatory statements that made him infamous in the West, such as those predicting Israel's demise or questioning the scale of the Holocaust. He dodged questions about issues such as Iran's missile program and the possible reaction by the U.S. and Israel to another Ahmadinejad presidency.

Like all candidates, the 60-year-old must be vetted and approved by a powerful constitutional watchdog known as the Guardian Council before he can ultimately run. It will announce its list of approved candidates by April 27. The council, which is made up of clerics and Islamic jurists, normally disqualifies dissidents, women, and many reformists.

Ahmadinejad said the strike on Syria could have happened even if Hillary Clinton had won the U.S. election. He added that the decision to attack Syria was made by people behind the scenes in the U.S., strongly implying that the U.S. presidency is decided behind closed doors. "Those who are the directors must give the role (of president) to a person who can pull it off best. A woman cannot put up a good war face," he said. "A man can do that better. They need to come up with a figure and say he is very dangerous."

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have issued a joint BRICS statement condemning military action in Syria that has not been authorized by the United Nations. The statement also calls for respect of international law, territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Some highlights from the statement:

BRICS Special Envoys on Middle East expressed their concern about internal crises that have emerged in a number of states in the region in recent years. They firmly advocated that these crises should be resolved in accordance with the international law and UN Charter, without resorting to force or external interference and through establishing broad national dialogue with due respect for independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the countries of the region. The participants emphasized the legitimacy of the aspirations of the peoples of the region to enjoy full political and social freedoms and for respect to human rights.

They strongly condemned recent several attacks, against some BRICS countries, including that in the Russian Federation. BRICS members stand for consolidating international efforts to combat the global threat of terrorism. They stressed that counter-terrorism measures should be undertaken on the firm basis of international law under the aegis of the UN and its Security Council.

In the course of the meeting, the role of the UN Security Council as the international body bearing the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security was underlined. It was also stressed that military interventions that have not been authorized by the Security Council are incompatible with the UN Charter and unacceptable.

BRICS Special Envoys expressed their deep concern with regard to the continuing violence in Syria, deterioration of humanitarian situation and growing threat of international terrorism and extremism in that country.

The participants confirmed their strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and the need for a peaceful solution, led by the Syrians, to the conflict. They supported all efforts towards a political and diplomatic solution in Syria through talks based on Resolution 2254 of the United Nations Security Council. They welcomed the three rounds of talks held in Astana and the outcome of fifth round of talks in Geneva. They acknowledged that Astana talks paved the way for resumption of Geneva talks. They expressed resolve for renewed and committed efforts to find a political and diplomatic solution in Syria. In this regard, the efforts of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General Staffan de Mistura aimed at resumption of Geneva process were welcomed. The efforts of BRICS countries in providing humanitarian aid to Syria were welcomed. They called for continuing humanitarian assistance to Syria by BRICS countries and collaborating in the reconstruction of Syria.

While strongly condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, they called upon all Syrians to join hands in the face of this dangerous threat and urged the international community to strictly abide by all the obligations pursuant to various relevant UNSC resolutions.

All too often, the American citizens and the rest of the world at large put so much faith in mainstream media that they are led into dangerous and deadly situations — based entirely on lies. One glaring and extremely relevant instance is how the corporate media became a parroting organization for the lies leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised," then-president George Bush asserted in a public address on March 17, 2003. "This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people."

Bush's assertions were questioned by not only human rights experts, but by U.N. weapons inspectors and countless others — so shortly after the U.S. invaded the sovereign nation, the New York Times took up the slack to fill in the appropriate casus belli.

Now, more than a decade after hundreds of thousands of innocent people were slaughtered in the conflict created by the United State, the world knows — there were never any weapons of mass destruction.