Stephen Lendman

False flags are an American tradition. They go way back. The Boston bombings appear the latest. - Notable earlier false flags or incidents approximating them include:

■ In 1845, America lawlessly annexed Texas. It was Mexican territory. President James Polk deployed US troops. A future president led them. General Zachary Taylor paraded them along the disputed border. In May 1846, Polk told cabinet officials that if Mexican forces retaliated, he'd ask Congress to declare war. He wanted it whether or not Mexico attacked. After an incident occurred, Polk told Congress: "Mexico has passed the boundary of the US and shed American blood on American soil." The Mexican War followed. Half of Mexico was annexed. Included were California, Utah, Nevada, as well as parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming and Colorado. The Rio Grande became the Texas-Mexico border.

■ In 1898, Cubans neared freeing themselves from Spanish colonial rule. US President William McKinley promised to respect its sovereignty. In January 1898, the USS Maine entered Havana harbor. Allegedly it was to protect US Consul Fitzhugh Lee and other American citizens. On February 15, a huge explosion sank the Maine. Doing so killed 266 crew members. The Spanish-American war followed. At the time, publisher William Randolph Hearst hyped the big lie. He claimed Spain sunk the Maine. An internal coal bunker explosion caused it. Notably Hearst told his Havana illustrator: "You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war." Big lies launch them. Doing so enlists public support. America became Cuba's colonial power. The Philippines, Guam, Samoa, Hawaii, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Canal Zone, Puerto Rico and other territories were annexed.

Daniel Denvir

If you thought you knew all there was to know about the Vietnam War, you were wrong. For example: ever heard of the "Mere Gook Rule," a code of conduct the US military came up with in order to make it easier for soldiers to murder Vietnamese civilians without feeling too bad about it? ("It's only a mere gook you're killing!")

Well, few people knew about this bit of history either until author Nick Turse discovered it in secret US military archives, which he used as the primary sources for his new(ish) book, Kill Everything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam. The book is based on Turse's discovery of theretofore secret internal military investigations of US-perpetrated atrocities alongside extensive reporting in Vietnam and among American veterans, and it reminds us that the most significant fact about the Vietnam War is its most overlooked: massive and devastating Vietnamese civilian suffering.

The debate over the US's war in Vietnam continues to hang over this country's most recent and techno-futuristic imperial adventures. Nick's book makes for timely if extraordinarily painful reading, and I sat down with him recently to talk about the ongoing relevance of Vietnam, massacres, and secretly photocopying whole US government archives.

VICE: Your book documents how the American war in Vietnam was a fight systemically waged against the civilian population. How does this account that you documented differ from the Vietnam war as it's popularly remembered in the United States today?

Nick Turse: We have 30,000 books in print on the Vietnam War, and most of them deal with the American experience. They focus on American soldiers, on strategy, tactics, generals, or diplomacy out of Washington and the war managers there. But I didn't see any that really attempted to tell the complete story of what I came to see as the signature aspect of the conflict, which was Vietnamese civilian suffering. Millions of Vietnamese were killed, wounded, or made refugees by deliberate US policies, like the almost unrestrained bombing and artillery shelling across wide swaths of the countryside. That is, deliberate policies dictated at the highest levels of the US military. But any discussion of Vietnamese civilian suffering is condensed down to a couple pages or paragraphs on the massacre at My Lai.

Bill Van Auken

Obama does not care to ponder what underlies the bloody events from Tucson, to Aurora, to Newtown to Boston. Any serious examination going beyond incomprehensible “evil” would inevitably involve an indictment of himself, his government and the social order over which he presides.

Three days after the bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 170 at the Boston Marathon, President Barack Obama flew to Boston to deliver a speech at an interfaith service for the victims and survivors.

This marks the fifth time that Obama has delivered such an address following mass killings, beginning with Fort Hood, Texas in November of 2009 and including Tucson, Arizona in January 2011, Aurora, Colorado in July 2012 and Newtown, Connecticut last December.

The corporate media, which has cynically dubbed Obama the “consoler-in-chief,” hailed his latest speech as “inspiring,” “powerful” and “moving.” It was all they wanted to hear and in no way conflicted with their efforts to frame the events in Boston within the reactionary narrative of the “war on terrorism,” turning them into another justification for war abroad and attacks on democratic rights at home.

In reality, it was painfully evident that Obama was working off of a template, engaged in a national ritual that is utterly routine, banal and insincere. Almost invariably, he begins these speeches by invoking “scripture.”

Stephen Lendman

Canadian psychiatrist Robert Hare analyzes psychopathic behavior. He does so clinically. He believes about 1% of the general population is insane. So are 10% of Wall Street employees. Hare states:

"There is a class of individuals who have been around forever and who are found in every race, culture, society and walk of life." "Everybody has met these people, been deceived and manipulated by them, and forced to live with or repair the damage they have wrought." "These often charming - but always deadly - individuals have a clinical name: psychopaths." "Their hallmark is a stunning lack of conscience; their game is self-gratification at the other person’s expense. Many spend time in prison, but many do not. All take far more than they give." "The most obvious expressions of psychopathy - but not the only ones - involve the flagrant violation of society’s rules." "Not surprisingly, many psychopaths are criminals, but many others manage to remain out of prison, using their charm and chameleon-like coloration to cut a wide swathe through society, leaving a wake of ruined lives behind them." "(I)f we can't spot them, we are doomed to be their victims, both as individuals and as a society."

Alex Lantier

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he and President Barack
Obama are wary of intervening in Syria just as U.S. forces are
trying to withdraw from 12 years of war in Afghanistan...

“We saw their humanitarian intervention in Iraq, in Libya, and now we see it in Syria.” - Bashar al-Assad

In testimony before the US Senate Armed Forces Committee on Wednesday, top US defense officials announced that they are deploying 200 troops of the 1st Armored Division to Jordan. They will establish headquarters near the Syrian-Jordanian border and plan for a rapid build-up, involving 20,000 or more US troops, awaiting orders from the White House to invade Syria.

A US invasion force would reportedly include Special Forces troops and regular units preparing for operations inside Syria, as well as air defense units guarding against possible retaliatory Syrian air strikes on Jordan.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Senate committee that these deployments are part of “robust military planning for a range of contingencies,” carried out by the United States and its European and Middle Eastern allies.

At the same time, Washington is carrying out an international diplomatic offensive setting the stage for war with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The topic of US military operations against Syria will reportedly be on the agenda of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s discussions in Turkey this weekend, of General Martin Dempsey’s talks with Chinese officials next week, and of Hagel’s upcoming talks with military officials in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.

As US officials admitted, invading Syria would likely involve the United States in a regional war throughout the Middle East. Hagel said that a US intervention in Syria “could have the unintended consequence of bringing the United States into a broader regional conflict or proxy war.” He noted that this “could embroil the US in a significant, lengthy, and uncertain military commitment.”

Pepe Escobar

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (L), Emir of Qatar, key backer
of Syrian opposition, shakes hands with United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon before their meeting on September 25 dur-
ing the General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York.

[Article originally published on Sep. 28, 2012]

Make no mistake - the Emir of Qatar is on a roll

What an entrance at the UN General Assembly in New York; Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani called for an Arab coalition of the willing-style invasion of Syria, no less. [1]

In the words of the Emir, "It is better for the Arab countries themselves to interfere out of their national, humanitarian, political and military duties, and to do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria." He stressed Arab countries had a "military duty" to invade.

What he means by "Arab countries" is the petromonarchies of the Gulf Counter-Revolution Club (GCC), previously known as Gulf Cooperation Council - with implicit help from Turkey, with which the GCC has a wide-ranging strategic agreement. Every shisha house in the Middle East knows that Doha, Riyadh and Ankara have been weaponizing/financing/providing logistical help to the various strands of the armed Syrian opposition engaged in regime change.

The Emir even quoted a "similar precedent" for an invasion, when "Arab forces intervened in Lebanon" in the 1970s. By the way, during a great deal of the 1970s the Emir himself was engaged in more mundane interventions, such as letting his hair down alongside other Gulf royals in select Club Med destinations.

So is the Emir now preaching an Arab version of the R2P ("responsibility to protect") doctrine advanced by The Three Graces of Humanitarian Intervention (Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and Samantha Power)?

This is certainly bound to go down well in Washington - not to mention Ankara and even Paris, considering French president Francois Hollande has just called for UN protection of "liberated zones" in Syria.

Stephen Lendman

On April 17, major media reported Obama and Senator Roger Wicker (R. MI) receiving letters containing suspicious substances. Both letters had similar markings. A separate report said Senator Richard Shelby (R. AL) received a suspicious package. Parts of Senate office buildings were cleared. FBI testing continues. Initial evaluations confirmed ricin. A subsequent statement reported "inconsistent results." Further analysis is being conducted. Ricin is poisonous if inhaled, injected or ingested. It's deadliest if inhaled. It's potentially lethal. It's not contagious. There's no antidote.

Around midday April 17, the FBI's National Press Office headlined "FBI Response to Reports of Suspicious Letters Received at Mail Facilities," saying:

"A second letter containing a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin was received at an offsite mail screening facility." "The envelope, addressed to the President, was immediately quarantined by US Secret Service personnel, and a coordinated investigation with the FBI was initiated." "It is important to note that operations at the White House have not been affected as a result of the investigation." "Additionally, filters at a second government mail screening facility preliminarily tested positive for ricin this morning. Mail from that facility is being tested." "Any time suspicious powder is located in a mail facility, field tests are conducted. The field and other preliminary tests can produce inconsistent results." " Any time field tests indicate the possibility of a biological agent, the material is sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis." "Only a full analysis performed at an accredited laboratory can determine the presence of a biological agent such as ricin. Those tests are currently being conducted and generally take 24 to 48 hours." "The investigation into these letters remains ongoing, and more letters may still be received. There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston."

Investigations remain ongoing. Senator Claire McCaskill (D. MO) said police have a suspect. "The person that is a suspect writes a lot of letters to members," she said. Reports now say an arrest was made. Another one contradicted it. Perhaps one is imminent.

Adnan Al-Daini

How does one assess the cuts to the welfare safety net? Let us, for the sake of argument, put aside whether cutting the deficit should be the priority in the depths of a recession. The argument of the government seems to be (a) we must make work pay and (b) there is no alternative.

Making work pay could be achieved by a number of actions: raising the minimum wage for example, restoring the 10p tax band at the bottom to be paid for by restoring the 50p tax band, and introducing a higher band at the top. It is not right that the method chosen to make it appear that work pays is to cut the welfare safety net to the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

Over 10 years up to 2012 executive pay trebled despite the double dip recession and the economic crash of 2008, with the average pay of chief executives of Britain's top companies at £4.8m, equivalent to 148 times the average wage. It is this skewed system of rewards that is keeping wages low, with taxpayers having to supplement the income of the working poor for them to survive. These in-work benefits, together with pension, constitute a substantial share of the welfare bill.

The in-work benefits are tantamount to a taxpayer's subsidy to enable those at the top of the income pyramid to receive such inflated salaries. How wrong can that be? The taxation system should be used to try and narrow the income and wealth gap between the very rich and the rest of society. Certainly there is a strong case for that.

Julie Hyland & Chris Marsden

Adjectives to describe yesterday’s funeral of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher are not hard to find: nauseating, obscene, provocative.

She was, after all, the most hated political figure in recent British history—an admirer of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile and the racist apartheid regime in South Africa, who wrought destruction on working class communities throughout the UK.

Thatcher was given a state funeral in all but name, so that there could be no scrutiny of its total costs, estimated at £10 million—the most expensive ever staged.

The ceremony was so militaristic that some compared the scene in London, with armed police stationed every few hundred yards, to a coup. Her coffin set off from St. Clement Danes, the Central Church of the Royal Air Force and site of the statute to “Bomber” Harris—the architect of the fire-bombing of German cities in the Second World War. Mounted on a horse-drawn gun-carriage, draped in the union flag, it was accompanied by 700 armed forces personnel to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

There was more of the political sycophancy demonstrated in the specially recalled parliament last week, with Big Ben silenced for the duration of the funeral and parliament suspended to allow MPs to attend.

The Queen was present for the first time at the funeral of a former prime minister since Winston Churchill’s in 1965. Unlike then, however, Thatcher will not lay in state, precisely because she is so widely despised.

Chris Floyd

All condolences are due to the victims of the Boston bombing and their families ― and to all those victimized by violence around the world today.

This includes the 37 people killed in bomb attacks across Iraq, a commonplace occurrence since American invaders destroyed the country and deliberately sowed bloody sectarian strife there.

And the families of the 20 people killed by a bombing Sunday in Somalia, a country whose fragile peace was shattered by an American-backed foreign invasion, which included American bombings, American renditions and American death squads sowing ― what else? ― bloody sectarian strife.

And the captives in Guantánamo Bay being beaten and brutalized by a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who is keeping dozens of men cleared for release even by the twisted, draconian "rules" of the gulag itself ― while he continues to kill people around the world ― without charges, trial, evidence, defense or warning ― by his own unchallengeable, merciless diktat.

Stephen Lendman

On April 14, Venezuelans elected Nicolas Maduro president. He won fair and square. It's official. A nationally televised Monday ceremony announced it.

Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles cried foul. He called Maduro "illegitimate." He refuses to recognize election results. He demands a recount. He wants "every vote" counted.

National Electoral Council (CNE) president Tibisay Lucena responded.

A manual recount of all votes isn't needed to confirm accuracy, she said. Proper auditing checks were implemented. It's routine. They're done before, during and post-elections. Over half the Sunday vote total was checked. She called doing so "a statistical proportion that in any part of the world (would be) considered excessive." Fourteen audits were conducted. They assure a free, open and fair process.

America takes no precautionary steps. Corporate-controlled electronic voting machines choose winners and losers. People have no say. They get the best democracy money can buy. Venezuelans get the real thing.

Jim Gibney

[Article originally published on May 15, 2009]

Two personalities from opposite ends of the political spectrum, who helped shape their respective worlds and are inextricably linked through decisions they took over 30 years ago had anniversaries last week.

Tuesday past marked the 28th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Bobby Sands MP. Bobby died on the 66th day of his hunger strike. During it he was elected by 30,497 people in Fermanagh and South Tyrone to the British parliament, though that parliament meant little to them.

Monday past marked the 30th anniversary of the election of Margaret Thatcher as British prime minister.

The decision by Bobby Sands and others to go on hunger strike was provoked by the decision, of first a British Labour government, then upheld by Thatcher’s government, to try to criminalise the republican struggle by withdrawing political status from political prisoners.

The legacy of the hunger strikers and that of Thatcher could not be of greater historical contrast.

As Thatcher took office on the steps of 10 Downing Street she quoted St Francis of Assisi: “Where there is discord may we bring harmony. Where there is error may we bring truth. Where there is doubt may we bring faith. And where there is despair may we bring hope.” Within a short period of time the consequences for the people of Ireland and Britain of Thatcher’s rule was, ‘discord’, ‘error’, ‘doubt’ and ‘despair’.

To this day across nationalist Ireland no other British political figure, with the exception of Oliver Cromwell, provokes such feelings of anger and hostility as Margaret Thatcher.

George Galloway

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stands in a British tank
during a visit to British forces in Fallingbostel, about 120 kilometres
south of Hamburg, Germany, on Sept. 17, 1986. (Associated Press)

The old saw that one shouldn’t speak ill of the recently dead cannot possibly apply to controversial figures in public life. It certainly didn’t apply to President Hugo Chavez who predeceased Margaret Thatcher amidst a blizzard of abuse.

The main reason it must not preclude entering the lists amidst a wave of hagiographic sycophantic tosh of the kind that has engulfed Britain these last hours is that otherwise the hagiographers will have the field to themselves.

Every controversial divisive deadly thing that Thatcher did will be placed in soft focus, bathed in a rose-coloured light, and provide a first draft of history that will be, simply, wrong.

As is now well-known, I refused to do that today on the demise of a wicked woman who tore apart what remained good about my country, and set an agenda which has been followed, more or less, by all of her successors. I certainly wasn’t prepared to leave the obituaries to those who profited from her rule or those who have aped her ever since.

So here is my own memory of Thatcher and what she did in her time on this earth.

Wayne Madsen

A sticker saying "No Thanks" is posted on a controversial pla-
card that was used by supporters of Switzerland's campaign to
ban minarets. (Photo: Associated Press / Der Spiegel)

Europe’s anti-austerity popular revolt is not benefitting the political parties of the authentic left that should be reaping electoral support from disaffected workers, pensioners, and students. Instead, the parties of the far-right, which are in lockstep with the corporate-fascist goals of multinational banks and corporations, are gaining in strength. The parties of the far right stand to upend Europe’s bourgeois supranational infrastructures in favor of a group of nationalist governments that will continue to take their orders from the international mega-corporations and banks that have always been more favorably disposed toward fascist regimes than democratic conservative or even bourgeois socialist governments.

It is ironic that many nations are drifting toward fascism as a result of severe austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, in the case of Europe, the European Central Bank. The corporate-owned media provides fascist parties like Jobbik in Hungary and Golden Dawn in Greece with massive coverage while actual left-progressive parties like SYRIZA in Greece receive minimal coverage. In fact, SYRIZA’s leader, Alexis Tsipras, was criticized by much of the corporate media for attending the funeral of Venezuela’s socialist president Hugo Chavez. While the corporate media expresses doubt that Tsipras could ever become a Greek Chavez -- a leftist leader willing to kick out NATO once and for all and move Greece into a progressive socialist camp where the ultra-wealthy are forced to give back what they have stolen from the Greek people -- the fascist Golden Dawn is given more of a chance of achieving political power. And that would be fine for the tax-avoiding Greek billionaires who have hidden their wealth abroad while Greek workers, pensioners, the disabled, and students have been forced into penury by the dictates from the bankers in Frankfurt, London, Brussels, and Washington.

Barry Grey

A critical attitude and avoiding falling prey to media manipulation is useful...

The explosion of two bombs Monday afternoon at the Boston Marathon has been accompanied by a rush to judgment by the media, in which claims of a broad new terror attack are being made without any factual substantiation.

The bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon in the heart of the city's downtown area. According to media reports, at least three people were killed and 144 wounded, including 15 with critical injuries. Witnesses on the scene and at hospitals have reported that the injuries include amputated lower limbs.

The explosions took place within about 20 seconds of one another and 50-100 yards apart, while thousands of marathoners were still running and many thousands of spectators were lined up along the route. The blasts shattered storefront windows, sending shards of glass and other debris into the crowd.

No individual or organization has as yet claimed responsibility for this brutal and criminal act.

Alexander Vorontsov

A peaceful co-existence with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea does not figure in America's plans. Rather, they are looking to eliminate the state.

Tensions are rising on the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang has decided to close the industrial complex in Kaesong, which is a joint enterprise zone with South Korea, and has suggested that foreign embassies evacuate the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for reasons of safety. Most significant in this series of steps has been the decision of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party, held in March 2013, regarding legal confirmation of North Korea's nuclear status and the decision of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea «On further strengthening the status of a country in possession of nuclear weapons for the purposes of self-defence».

The majority of media, while painting a vivid picture of North Korea's militancy, is not trying to understand the reasons why the conflict on Korean soil is currently escalating so dramatically. When they do try, they usually name Pyongyang as the instigator of all the troubles, stressing that it was North Korea's third nuclear test that triggered the «nightmare».

Consequently, a pressing need has arisen to examine the real, underlying causes of what is commonly referred to as «the Korean problem».

In short, the initial cause is the unresolved outcome of the Korean War (1950-1953). This year marks 60 years since the end of the war and a peace agreement between its participants has still not been signed Only one Armistice Agreement exists (possibly on paper only these days), so a temporary cessation of hostilities, in other words. More importantly, there are no diplomatic relations between the main warring parties, the USA and North Korea.

Pepe Escobar

Paris - And now some breaking news coming from the Islamic Emirate of Syriastan. This program is brought to you by the NATOGCC corporation. Please also tune in for a word from our individual sponsors, the United States government, Britain, France, Turkey, the House of Saud and the Emir of Qatar.

It all started early this week, with a proclamation by the elusive leader of al-Qaeda Central, Ayman "The Doctor" al-Zawahiri, hidden somewhere in the Pakistani tribal areas; how come Double O Bama with his license to kill (list) and prime drone fleet cannot find him?

Al-Zawahiri called for all the Islamist brigades in the Jihad Inc business fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to found an Islamic emirate, the passport du jour leading to an Islamic caliphate.

Two days later, the Islamic State of Iraq - for all practical purposes al-Qaeda in Iraq - announced, via a video starring its leader Abu Bakr al-Husseini al-Qurashi al-Baghdadi, a mergers and acquisition spectacular; from now on, it would be united with the Syrian jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra, and be referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

But then, the next day, the head of Jabhat al-Nusra, the shady Abu Muhammad al-Joulani, said that yes, we do pledge our allegiance to al-Qaeda Sheikh, Doctor al-Zawahiri, but there has been no M&A business [Mergers & Acquisitions - Ed.] whatsoever with al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Puzzled infidels from Washington to Beijing may be entitled to believe this is straight from Monty Python - but it's actually deadly serious; especially as the House of Saud, the Emir of Qatar, the neo-Ottoman Erdogan in Turkey and King Playstation from Jordan - vastly supported by Washington - continue to weaponize the Syrian "rebels" to Kingdom Come. And one of the top beneficiaries of this weaponizing orgy has been - who else - the M&A gang now known as the Islamic State of the Iraq and Levant.

John W. Whitehead

“There’s a tremendous push where if the kid’s behavior is thought to be quote-unquote abnormal — if they’re not sitting quietly at their desk — that’s pathological, instead of just childhood.” — Dr. Jerome Groopman, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control, a staggering 6.4 million American children between the ages of 4 and 17 have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), whose key symptoms are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity—characteristics that most would consider typically childish behavior. High school boys, an age group particularly prone to childish antics and drifting attention spans, are particularly prone to being labeled as ADHD, with one out of every five high school boys diagnosed with the disorder.

Presently, we’re at an all-time high of eleven percent of all school-aged children in America who have been classified as mentally ill. Why? Because they “suffer” from several of the following symptoms: they are distracted, fidget, lose things, daydream, talk nonstop, touch everything in sight, have trouble sitting still during dinner, are constantly in motion, are impatient, interrupt conversations, show their emotions without restraint, act without regard for consequences, and have difficulty waiting their turn.

The list reads like a description of me as a child. In fact, it sounds like just about every child I’ve ever known, none of whom are mentally ill. Unfortunately, society today is far less tolerant of childish behavior—hence, the growing popularity of the ADHD label, which has become the “go-to diagnosis” for children that don’t fit the psycho-therapeutic public school mold of quiet, docile and conformist.

Mind you, there is no clinical test for ADHD. Rather, this so-called mental illness falls into the “I’ll know it if I see it” category, where doctors are left to make highly subjective determinations based on their own observation, as well as interviews and questionnaires with a child’s teachers and parents. Particular emphasis is reportedly given to what school officials have to say about the child’s behavior.

Alex Lantier

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the South Korean capital, Seoul, yesterday on the first leg of a three-nation East Asian tour dominated by escalating US threats against North Korea over its nuclear program. Kerry arrives for talks today in China and is traveling on to Japan tomorrow.

In Seoul, Kerry reiterated that the United States and its allies will not tolerate any nuclear program in North Korea, which is thought to currently have a few crude nuclear bombs. He said, “We are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. The rhetoric that we’re hearing from North Korea is simply unacceptable by any standard.”

Kerry did not spell out how Washington plans to halt North Korea’s nuclear program and force the North Korean regime in Pyongyang to give up the weapons it has developed.

Over the last several weeks, however, Washington has signaled its readiness for nuclear war. It has repeatedly flown nuclear-capable B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers to the Korean peninsula for military exercises. At the same time, it has deployed additional missile batteries and warships to the region.

Kerry ominously implied that in case of conflict, the United States would respond with overwhelming force against North Korea, which is utterly outclassed militarily. He said, “Kim Jong-un needs to understand, as he probably does, what the outcome of the conflict would be.”

Kerry also warned against North Korea carrying out missile tests, as Pyongyang had said it might do on April 10. The deadline passed without Pyongyang launching a missile, however.

William Blum

So, the United States and its Western partners have banned Iranian TV from North America and in various European countries. Did you hear about that? Probably not if you’re not on the mailing list of PressTV, the 24-hour English-Language Iranian news channel. According to PressTV:

The Iranian film channel, iFilm, as well as Iranian radio stations, have also been banned from sensitive Western eyes and ears, all such media having been removed in February from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform serving the United States and Canada.

In December the Spanish satellite company, Hispasat, terminated the broadcast of the Iranian Spanish-language channel Hispan TV. Hispasat is partly owned by Eutelsat, whose French-Israeli CEO is blamed for the recent wave of attacks on Iranian media in Europe.

The American Jewish Committee has welcomed these developments. AJC Executive Director David Harris has acknowledged that the committee had for months been engaged in discussions with the Spaniards over taking Iranian channels off the air. [1]

A careful search of the Lexis-Nexis data base of international media reveals that not one English-language print newspaper, broadcast station, or news agency in the world has reported on the PressTV news story since it appeared February 8. One Internet newspaper, Digital Journal, ran the story on February 10.

The United States, Canada, Spain, and France are thus amongst those countries proudly celebrating their commitment to the time-honored concept of freedom of speech. Other nations of “The Free World” cannot be far behind as Washington continues to turn the screws of Iranian sanctions still tighter.