Olle Bengtsson

Utmärkte Aaron Good ger under rubriken ‘The Wars of the Epstein Class’ och med en bild med texten The Mafia State en historisk överblick av det amerikanska djupstatliga systemet i samtal med Pascal Lottaz på Neutrality Studies. Större delen av hans framställning är mycket klar, men när han kommer fram till andra hälften av 60-talet blir den plötsligt komplex, och det kan därför finnas anledning att lyssna igenom denna sista del två gånger; den är inte mindre viktig.

“Crime in the united states is not a bug, it’s a feature. That explains actually a lot also about its illegal foreign policies. The US as a political entity is deeply intertwined with crime syndicates and explicitly illegal acts under international and local law. Epstein was not at all an exception. These shady dealers are part and parcel of how US politics works. Luckily, there are great academics who work on the hidden power structures. One of them is with me today. Dr. Aaron Good, author of American Exception: Empire and the Deep State.”

Aaron Good: American Exception

Vem kontrollerar USA:s Mellanösternpolitik?

By Caitlin Johnstone

Westerners are about to start paying a lot more attention to the war in Iran as massive US-Israeli escalations point to a coming energy crisis set to impact the whole world.

Israel has bombed the world’s largest natural gas field in southwestern Iran, reportedly in coordination with the United States. Now that a major red line for Tehran has been crossed, retaliatory strikes have already begun pummeling the energy infrastructure of US allies in the region, with Qatar reporting that its primary gas facility has sustained “significant damage” from an attack after Iran issued evacuation warnings for energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Fuel prices are already surging. If middle eastern energy infrastructure starts taking extensive damage on top of the already hugely significant Iranian blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, this war could end up affecting virtually every corner of human civilization in one way or another.

Westerners are largely apathetic about US military explosives landing on populations on other continents. But once it starts having a direct impact on their personal bank accounts, you can expect them to get a lot more interested in US foreign policy.

This war has been a bit odd for me because as an anti-imperialist peacemonger I’m not yet entirely sure what my role is in my commentary here.

Normally I’d be begging westerners to care about another horrific act by the US war machine, but as things stand it looks like westerners are going to be forced to care about this one whether they want to or not.

Normally I’d be writing furiously about how people should not support this war, but the war has exceptionally low public support already.

Normally I’d be trying to help everyone open their eyes and recognize the US warmongers for the psychopaths that they are, but the Trumpanyahu administration is openly waging an unprovoked war of aggression while constantly thumping its chest and boasting about how it’s showing the Iranians “no quarter, no mercy” and saying it can kill whoever it wants with impunity.

Normally I’d be writing about how the mass media are churning out war propaganda to manufacture consent for more US military butchery, but the mass media keep putting out stories about how the US government is lying about a war that should never have happened while Trump administration figures have public tantrums about how the media isn’t churning out war propaganda for them.

President Trump is on social media babbling about how news outlets “should be brought up on Charges for treason” for not reporting on an embarrassing story about a US aircraft carrier fire the way he wants, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave one of his fire-and-brimstone podium sermons bitching about how “an actual patriotic press” would be framing this war in a more positive light.

Do you see what I mean? What am I supposed to do with this? Where does that leave dissident fringesters like myself? All I can do is clear my throat and sheepishly go “Uh, yeah, I uh… agree with CNN.”

With Ukraine the mass media fell all over themselves to hide the west’s role in provoking the conflict, framing Putin as an evil maniacal Hitler figure who just spontaneously flipped out and invaded a country on Russia’s border because he hates freedom. With Gaza the western press gave nonstop narrative cover to Israel’s genocidal atrocities, constantly dragging public attention into an endless conversation about antisemitism and Jewish feelings whenever opposition to the slaughter got too hot.

That’s just not happening with Iran. It’s the first US war I’ve ever seen where a big chunk of the imperial power structure just refuses to get on board. The media’s not playing along, US allies are telling Trump to get stuffed when he asks for military assistance with the Strait of Hormuz, and the public’s not buying the lies.

This is a frightening time to be alive  –  but you can’t say we’re in a period of stasis. Things are moving faster and faster. They might get a whole lot worse. They might get a whole lot better. They might get a whole lot worse and then get a whole lot better. But it seems a safe bet that the situation won’t remain the same.

Texter av Catelina Johnstone

Ett utdrag från avdelningen för Politics-kategorin på Contents-sidan, alltså sidan med klickbara rubriker på inlägg med mitt eget skrivande, och liksom där med de senaste först eller högst upp:

Grönheten, konservatismen och högern

Iran: Alla vet redan allt

Dissident-MAGA

Epstein och vår tids centrala politiska insikt

Paleokonservatismens slut?

Krig och upprustning: De konservativas svar

Iran och kommunisterna

Om protesterna i Iran

På vad jag i brist på bättre namn kallar References-sidan finns till skillnad från Contents-sidan klickbara rubriker på inlägg med annat innehåll; tanken med termen “references” är att det där handlar om typ källor och annat material som underbygger och illustrerar min argumentation i de egna texterna och som jag i dem hänvisar och länkar till. Men termens dålighet blir uppenbar i synnerhet i beaktande av den huvuddel av konstkategorin med dess underavdelningar som hamnar där, och vars innehåll går långt utöver detta.

Mitt eget skrivande återfinns dock ofta även i inläggen på References-sidan. Det handlar då endast om jämförelsevis korta kommentarer till det andra innehåll som där är det huvudsakliga. Men ibland säger även dessa kommentarer väsentliga egna saker, t.o.m. i en utsträckning som gör att det kunnat vara litet svårt att avgöra på vilken av dessa sidor, Contents eller References, som deras rubriker bör listas.

I ett utdrag, utlagt på sin kanal Invent the Future, ur ett avsnitt av Jason Smiths The Bridge to China Podcast, beskriver Martinez det val han anser är nödvändigt för Europa att göra:

“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent visit to Beijing is part of an emerging diplomatic pattern: in recent weeks China has hosted a succession of Western leaders – Canada’s Mark Carney, Ireland’s Micheál Martin, Finland’s Petteri Orpo and Germany’s Friedrich Merz.

After nearly a decade in which Britain aligned itself almost entirely with Washington’s strategy of containment and decoupling, often at the cost of its own economic interests, the Starmer visit signals a reassessment. China is Britain’s fourth-largest trading partner and an indispensable node in global supply chains for green technology, electric vehicles and advanced manufacturing. For a post-Brexit Britain still searching for its economic role, the notion that growth is achievable while excluding serious engagement with China is simply implausible.

The broader context is Washington’s deepening estrangement from its own allies. Trump’s tariff threats, his hostility to European strategic autonomy and his territorial designs on Greenland have made the sustainability of unconditional Atlanticism increasingly difficult to defend. China, meanwhile, has consistently offered what the US no longer reliably provides: adherence to international law, respect for sovereignty, and mutually beneficial cooperation.

The ‘decoupling’ consensus is collapsing under the weight of economic reality, and even Washington’s closest allies now acknowledge it. What these visits ultimately reflect is the growing pains of a multipolar world: as the old Cold War alignment fractures, countries like Britain face a fundamental choice between clinging to US hegemony or adapting to the world that is actually emerging.

Full interview on ‪@thebridgetoChina‬ here: Why Does the West Fear China?”