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The operation of the U.S. Dictatorship

Eric Zuesse
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 13:19 UTC
White House
A recent article in the Washington Post described how the current US tax-'reform' bill is being shaped; and it describes, basically (at least as far as tax-law changes are concerned), the operation of a US dictatorship by the super-rich.

First of all, however: there is no longer any realistic question as regards whether the US in recent decades has been a dictatorship, or instead a democracy. According to the only scientific analysis of the relevant data, that has been done in order to determine whether the US is a dictatorship or a democracy, the US is definitely a dictatorship that's perpetrated by the extremely richest, against the public-at-large; in other words: the US Government functions as an aristocracy, otherwise referred-to as an oligarchy, or a plutocracy, or a kleptocracy; but, in any case, and by whatever name, it's ruled by a tiny number of the extremely wealthiest and their agents, on behalf of those few super-rich, against the concerns and interests and needs of the public (everyone else). So: instead of being rule by the public (the "demos" is the Greek term for it), it's rule on behalf of a tiny dictatorial class, of extreme wealth - by whatever name we might happen to label this ruling class.
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USA

US Military spread through 50 African nations

Les Neuhaus
Observer
Fri, 01 Dec 2017 13:14 UTC
A US soldier (R) stands guard in Ethiopia
© JEAN CURRAN/AFP/Getty Images
A US soldier (R) stands guard as Ethiopian and Somali refugees disembark from the US Navy ship the USS Pearl Harbor.
The recent attacks by militants who killed four American commandos in Niger and detonated a truck bomb that left more than 350 civilians dead in Somalia - events that happened more than 3,000 miles from each other - remind us that terrorism is a real and constant threat that reaches the farthest corners of our planet.

Because of that, and certainly in the post-9/11 global context, the American military presence has increased exponentially abroad. The Pentagon now has troops in countries many average Americans never would've dreamed of sending our forces to two or three decades ago.
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Snakes in Suits

Tom Cotton as CIA director spells bad news for all

Mehdi Hasan
The Intercept
Thu, 30 Nov 2017 14:43 UTC
Tom Cotton
© Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., leaves a briefing on May 18, 2017.
Update: November 30, 2017
This story was updated to include the imminent possibility of Cotton's takeover of the CIA.

A reshuffling of President Trump's foreign policy apparatus, reported by The New York Times on Thursday, would see Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ushered out the door, to be replaced by current director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo.

That opening at the CIA would, in turn, be filled by Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas.


Comment: That would be unlikely since the State Department has no plans to remove Tillerson.


Is there a more dangerous member of Congress than Tom Cotton?

The hawkish Republican senator and former U.S. Army captain has never hidden his relentless obsession with confronting Iran. He has led the charge on Capitol Hill to dismantle the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic while constantly banging the drum for tougher sanctions and even airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. With apologies to Winston Churchill, Cotton wants "war-war" not "jaw-jaw" - and he seems to have won over the know-nothing president of the United States. Last week, President Donald Trump refused to certify to Congress that the Iran nuclear deal is in U.S. national interest and warned that U.S participation in that agreement could "be cancelled by me, as president, at any time."

You might call Cotton, who is now being touted as the next director of the CIA, the "Trump whisperer." In fact, according to the Weekly Standard, in a recent meeting with his top national security and foreign policy advisers, "having failed to receive the decertification option from his own team, Trump called Senator Tom Cotton and put him on speakerphone. The president asked Cotton to make the case for decertifying the Iran deal. Cotton took five minutes and walked Trump and his team through the case, emphasizing one point in particular: re-certifying the deal would be declaring that it was in the national security interests of the United States, something Cotton understood that Trump didn't believe."

Comment: This guy is bad news all around, so it's probably a good thing he's not worming his way into a CIA position...yet. More on Cotton:

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Bad Guys

Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya rips attempts by the US to destroy Syria


Russiafeed
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 10:22 UTC
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya
Vasily Nebenzya condemned Washington's efforts to partition the country in the wake of the defeat of ISIS

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations has accused the U.S.-led coalition in Syria of trying to partition the country by setting up local governing bodies in areas seized from the Islamic State extremist group, Russian news agencies reported.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on November 29 complained that the coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters that recently liberated Raqqa from IS was discussing setting up governing bodies and restoring the economy without the involvement of Russia's ally, the Syrian government, Russia's Interfax and RIA news agencies reported.
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Stop

US deployment of drones in Niger will not solve the problem of terrorism


RT
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 09:57 UTC
C-130 US Air Force plane
© Reuters
A C-130 US Air Force plane lands as Nigerien soldiers stand in formation during the Flintlock military exercise in Diffa, Niger
The Niger government's recent decision to allow American drones over its territory will accomplish little in the fight against terrorism, Africa analyst Lawrence K Freeman told RT, because it lacks a strategy that deals with the issues in the region.

On Thursday, Niger officials announced they would allow the Pentagon to operate armed drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), out of the country's capital, Niamey. The drones will be used to conduct strikes on terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and its affiliates that operate along the country's border with Mali. The move would allow the US military to significantly expand its reach in West Africa.

But Africa affairs analyst Lawrence K Freeman says that drone strikes alone will be unlikely to change the region's jihadist landscape, which is being driven by more than just a handful of key operatives.

Comment: See also: Niger approves deployment of armed US drones to operate in combat missions

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Chess

US withdraws UN global compact for migration as 'inconsistent' with sovereignty


RT
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 09:29 UTC
Immigrants
© Jorge Duenes / Reuters
Immigrants
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has announced Washington's withdrawal from the process to create a global compact aimed at facilitating international migration, as it goes against the American idea of sovereignty.

In a statement Saturday, Haley said that then-President Obama's decision to commit the US to the process by signing the non-binding New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016 had come at the expense of America's interest.

"The New York Declaration contains numerous provisions that are inconsistent with US immigration and refugee polices and the Trump Administration's immigration principles," she said in a written statement tweeted by the US mission to the UN.

Comment: Wake up Europe!

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Telephone

Kosachev: Talks between Flynn and Kislyak 'adds nothing to the "Russian conspiracy"'


TASS
Sun, 03 Dec 2017 00:18 UTC
Earlier on Friday former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with former Russian ambassador last December

Konstantin Kosachev
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS
The chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev
Conversation between former President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Russian ambassador in Washington Sergey Kislyak show rather an attempt by the American side to influence Moscow's position, and not Russian interference in the US affairs, according to Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev.

"What has Flynn admitted? Only that fact that he has not fully disclosed the details of his conversations with the then Russian ambassador to the United States Kislyak during the initial "interrogations"," Kosachev wrote on Facebook noting, "This adds nothing to the "Russian conspiracy" theory against the foundation of American democracy."
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Bizarro Earth

Trump: Flynn's actions lawful, but had to fire because he lied to VP and FBI


RT
Sat, 02 Dec 2017 18:15 UTC
Michael Flynn
© Joshua Roberts / Reuters
Michael Flynn
US President Donald Trump has defended the actions of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying they were "lawful." He added, however, that he fired Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI.

"I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!" Trump said in a tweet.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump also told reporters that his election campaign was not engaged in any collusion with Russia. He made his comment after Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about a phone call he had with the former Russian ambassador. At that time, Trump, however, did not give any definitive answer to the question of whether he would stand by his former adviser.

Comment: And they never will provide any solid evidence, because no such evidence exists: The Russian 'Hacking Scandal': A CNN and U.S. Deep State 'Nothing Burger'

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Snakes in Suits

Mueller's top FBI agent probing Clinton emails, Russian-collusion "removed" after anti-Trump texts found

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 02 Dec 2017 13:00 UTC
strzok

Peter Strzok
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's top FBI investigator into 'Russian meddling' and Clinton emails has been removed from the probe reportedly due to the discovery of anti-Trump text messages exchanged with a colleague (whom he happened to be having an extra-marital affair with).

FBI veteran, Peter Strzok, considered "one of the most experienced and trusted FBI counterintel investigators" according to the NYT, and who was tapped by Mueller to help lead the probe of Russian meddling in last year's presidential election, after helping lead the investigation into whether Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information on her private email account, has left Mueller's team.As ABC reported in August, when Strzok's departure was first noticed, this was the first known hitch in a secretive probe that, by all public accounts, is charging full steam ahead.
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Bad Guys

How Hillary Clinton helped destroy democracy in Honduras

Justin Raimondo
Antiwar
Fri, 01 Dec 2017 06:40 UTC
Hillary Clinton
US meddling supported the military junta, undermined civilian rule

Hillary Clinton's legacy at the State Department lives on - and it isn't pretty. Take a gander at the spectacle of slave auctions in Libya - a nation "liberated" by NATO at Hillary's instigation: remember "We came, we saw, he died"? Behold the blood-soaked ruins of Syria, where her regime-change plans caused the US to fund the very jihadists we're supposed to be fighting. Add to this the not-so-bright idea of Washington jumping on board the abortive "Arab Spring" bandwagon, and it all this adds up to the worst record of any Secretary of State in modern history.


Comment: The Libyan slave trade videos are fake news, however that doesn't change the fact that Hillary Clinton was instrumental in the brutal murder of Gaddafi which resulted in the effective destruction of Libya.


Less well-known than the above-mentioned disasters, however, is the key role she played in turning Honduras over to a murderous dictator who is now provoking yet another crisis in that long-suffering country - and sending thousands of refugees, including many unaccompanied minors, into Mexico and over our southern border.

Comment: Everywhere Hillary Clinton goes, death and destruction follow.

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