Saturday 28 March 2020

Tough times need vanguard parties – are ‘social media users’ the West’s?


Tough times need vanguard parties – are ‘social media users’ the West’s?by Ramin Mazaheri exclusive for The Saker log
So when did you become an epidemiologist? You seem quite willing to shame anyone not sterilising every square inch of every square inch.
And when did you become an economist? “The economy is not important now” must have been a pretty unusual PhD thesis.
We have likely all heard of “internet tough guys” – people who make bold claims or threats online, yet would flee at the sight of conflict – but who knew social media had so many people qualified to tell entire nations what to do regarding Corona?
How much of the Corona crisis has been caused by social media virtue-signallers, hypochondriacs, communications degree-holding intellectuals, helicopter Dads, bossy cows, and sheep who generally follow whatever the herd, management or pop stars tell them to do? That’s an interesting question: would we all be in lockdown prior to the internet and Facebook?
A practical follow-up question is: which nations have leadership which are perhaps even steered by social media, and which nations have leaders who can steer the national boat through choppy waters?
As socialists know and accept, a vanguard party is essential precisely because there are so many choppy waters in life. Choppy waters are doubled for socialist-inspired countries due to imposed wars, sanctions, blockades and endless cold war.
Capitalists and libertarians once again use Orwell against us – the same old, facile “some pigs are more equal than others” of Animal Farm – conflating totalitarianism with socialism, even though the two have entirely different ends and means.
Despite their absurd claims, the vanguard party concept is not anti-democratic. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel had truly universal support from every Cuban (in Cuba) I asked because he rose level by level by repeatedly showing his competence as a civil servant. The same goes for Xi of China (as I will soon remind). Nobody expected a low-ranking cleric like Khamenei to take over for Khomeini, but he has repeatedly showed his competence and abilities; go tell the tens of millions shouting “Khamenei rahbar” (Khamenei the leader) that socialist-inspired democracy, with both direct and indirect, hasn’t worked out well. In post-1917 countries one rises to the 1% via actual competence, and not just by buying elections, as in the West.
Conversely, Hillary Clinton married the governor of Arkansas, who became president, and then America was stuck with her. Emmanuel Macron did… I don’t even know how he got so far so fast, and I really don’t want to know what went on behind closed doors with him.
Regardless, are some pigs more equal than others, to pose their question?
Certainly, what you won’t hear from such socialist detractors is that China’s President Xi spent years doing hard rural work during the days of the Cultural Revolution, and then teaching illiterate farmers how to read during his Cultural Revolution nights. Now, I suppose it is technically a possibility: none of that was earnestly heartfelt on Xi’s part, and he is secretly amassing a personal fortune because the recesses of his heart are nothing but pure bitterness and hate for the socialist ideal of equality which he was forced to display and teach; he has also spent decades duping everyone in China that he is a competent public servant; Xi has zero warm sentiment for those rural citizens he worked with, and wants only revenge; any moment now Xi will launch a surprise attack of totalitarianism designed solely for his personal benefit and revenge.
These are the very real – yet ALWAYS unsaid – logical extensions of Western arguments made against vanguard parties in general, as well as against Xi. Westerners insist that socialist vanguard parties are corrupt not just at the core but all the way to the periphery.
Another unsaid logical extension is that no vanguard parties informally exist in the West. If, however, there are, it is because such people have risen to the 1% solely on merit. Xi’s supposed “merit”, is not merit at all… unlike theirs. Don’t push Westerners to explain these points – they have no answers.
Much of this applies to Iran as well – their system is based on the idea of the “guardianship of the Islamic jurist”. “Down with those opposed to the guardianship of the Islamic jurist” is always included in the “down withs”, and even before “down with the MKO, England, the US and Israel”. The vanguard party in Iran is obviously the clergy; I have written extensively and objectively about how I believe this is being bureaucratically formalised into the “Basij”, and I have discussed how the structure of the Basij has been clearly modelled on the Chinese Communist Party.
How can that be, Ramin, when Communists are atheists? Firstly, they are not. Maybe Marx was, but to hell with him on this point. Cuba is full of Catholics, but even more prevalent are those who practice Santeria; Vietnam has always constitutionally protected religion; Confucianism and Taoism, it is rarely recognised, are two sides of the same East Asian cosmological coin, and China’s intolerance on this point is being remedied. The USSR never reconciled religion and socialism, and this is a huge reason explaining why they are no more; a reason as big as Krushchevian corruption and capitalist-roading.
However, the structural and political similarities between the Basij and the CCP arise not from cosmological agreement but from the natural similarities of two countries who have had post-1917, socialist-inspired revolutions. The similarities are not “coincidental” at all, though those who misunderstand and reject socialism would surely explain away my comparisons with such sweeping, facile, pseudo-explanations. I’m not sure that you can have a vanguard party without the structures, policies and protections – as well as many of the aims and demands – which are greatly dissimilar from the CCP and the Basij? Few examples exist, sadly, for me to study and compare. Never say never, I suppose.
The idea of a formalised vanguard party – as in Iranian Islamic Socialism and other forms of socialism – does not mean totalitarianism. I suppose it could, but why can it not also mean elite governance performance? Why must we look only at the negative aspects, and not the positive? What are we – capitalist-imperialists?
The Corona crisis is not going to validate the support of formal, socialist-inspired vanguard parties in China, Iran, Cuba and elsewhere – they need no validation among their people; their bones are made.
What it will certainly do is discredit the Western model of “non-vanguardism”, “hidden-vanguardism”, “technocratic vanguardism”, “1%er-vanguardism” or whatever else you want to term their bankocratic, aristocratic, bourgeois oligarchies which govern.
The incredible spanner Western politicians have suicidally thrown into their economies will prove this: they have none of the unity, foresight, determination and especially the political modernity of countries like China and Iran, yet they are adopting similar Corona responses. It simply can’t be done without causing Great Depressions in the Lost Decade II-embarking Eurozone for certain, and also for the US economy, which disastrously combines a finance & service & consumer-based economy with non-Trumpian evangelism for self-harming globalisation.
It will take great pain, but this is what humans often require to make serious change, sadly. It will split apart families, but that is what civil war does.
I don’t know which nation will be the first to see their lower class starting to attack their neoliberal/neoliberal-client systems – and attacking as well the reactionary selfishness of the “first responders” whom they are repeatedly told to adulate – but they will all reach the same place as China and Iran: who is in charge? Who is the vanguard party to lead and staff the bureaucracy, which organises and decides on the logistics, and who needs to spread the night soil so we all can eat?
All workers are valid and equal, of course, but a vanguard party is needed to run a government. The alleged path goes capitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism – the idea that no vanguard parties are needed is anarchism, and Cubans will also correct you when you call them communist: they know they are not that far. The amount of self-empowerment espoused in anarchism may not even be possible on a billions-level? These are questions for a later date….
Allow me to disqualify myself from the vanguard party: I have been passed up for management over and over (of course everyone claims this), so maybe they are right? I am used to being a powerless cog in a machine, and I quite like it now!
The people who deserve to be in vanguard parties are those who evince both the capability for selflessness as well as the capability for superior political thought. After all, some have capabilities for great artistic thought, or great engineering thought, or have great social skills – political policy certainly requires input from all sectors and classes but their bureaucrats do need to have a masterful grasp of modern political ideology, as well as a grasp of what not to do: i.e., the ideologies held by the enemies of modern political ideologies. These qualifications are evinced by people like Xi, Khamenei, Diaz-Canel and France’s Yellow Vests.
The roar that the Yellow Vests will make when France’s lockdown in over… that’s another article.
I don’t think you can find a journalist writing in any Western language who has stood shoulder to shoulder with them more often, and I can promise France: put the Yellow Vests in charge and you’ll have exceptional national governance immediately. Unlike the Iranian clergy, Chinese commies and Cuban socialist-Santeriaists, the Yellow Vests’ actual support is hard to gauge: polls constantly showed over 50% support, yet the Animal Rights Party won 2.2% in the 2019 European Parliament elections, double the Yellow Vests parties combined.
Who is the vanguard party in the US? That I cannot say – I do not think one is apparent. I think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and their few public comrades are interesting given the limitations of the US political context, but they are still far from what’s necessary now, and especially far from what will be necessary given the trajectory of Great Depression 2.
The times make the man, as they say.
The West’s vanguard parties seem intent on making times as difficult for the lower classes as they possibly can. Time well spent would be turning of Western MSM, as well as social media, and reflecting on who you think should really be in charge.
Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. He is the author of the books ‘I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China’ and the upcoming ‘Socialism’s Ignored Success: Iranian Islamic Socialism’.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

أيقونة فلسطين… نموذجاً!


هي ملاذ للتأمُّل في هذه المحنة الصعبة والحجر المنزلي…
هي فتاة جميلة مضيئة ومدرج الغزل وعين الأمل وحلوة الطلّة، متدلّية الظفائر، واثقة البقاء والعطاء…
هي أساس التقويم لطبيعة الخلق الأولى وحكاية النصر الطالع من ثغر حمامة السلام القدسيّة والغصن الناقل لرسائل النسيم والشوق، الشاهدة على غزل صبيّ وعشق فتاة…
هي قوت الأرض وروح الجسد ووقود للمصابيح التي أنارت طرقات المقاومين بل هي مقاومة بحدّ ذاتها والمقاومه الثابتة لأنها القوية الجبارة الصامدة التي لا تهرم أبداً فتظلّ تعطي وكأنها في أوْج شبابها؛ وكم من مرة عاندتها العواصف لكنها ما اهتزّت وكلما حاولوا اقتلاعها تكسرّت فؤوسهم…


كيف لا تكون أيقونة فلسطين وهي التي تحمّلت هجوم الصهاينة عليها لمرات ومرات وتحمّلت المجازر بحقها من أجل تقطيع شرايينها وبقيت تناضل ورفضت الموت الا واقفة!
إنها شجرة الزيتون لنهرع إليها في حقولنا وأمام منازلنا، لترفع من معنوياتنا ونلتمس منها الأمان ونقاوم مثلما قاومت…

شاهد: أكبر شجرة زيتون معمرة في العالم‎ - YouTube

 فهي التي عانت من أخطر الحروب الإبادية وما زالت تعاني الاقتلاع من قِبَل دولة احتلالية جيشاً ومستعمرين؛ لكنها! ما زالت تقاوم… وكلّ ما مرّ مناضل بجانبها يردّد المثل الشعبي «والزيت نور على نور».


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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Recognizing and Resisting the Hasbara Pandemic

March 27, 2020 Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

Robert Levinson, former FBI agent.

Steady media reports on the rising number of the novel Coronavirus infections and its human toll have contributed to a global psychology of fear where entire populations are succumbing their free will to those in positions of authority, elected and otherwise.   But while we try to keep ourselves safe during this pandemic, a deadlier and more destructive virus creeping in the shadows for years is also reaching its peak.  The virus is called hasbara or better understood as propaganda.
Lest you think it is not contagious or deadly, think Iraq.  The Iraq war alone cost the American taxpayers trillions of Dollars but the Iraqi population bore the brunt of the pain and suffering from America’s sanctioned terror attack and invasion with over one million souls lost and counting.  Just like COVID-19 which may be dismissed as a cold, the hasbara virus may be taken for the truth – and therein lies the threat.  As we surrender our will to the officials so that we can survive this pandemic, the spinners have upped their hasbara in order to coax us into embracing their terrorism, their wars, and their genocide.
Abandon your will, if you must, but not your common sense. As someone who has studied propaganda for fifteen years, I have never seen it so prevalent and so dangerous at a time when we are distracted by a viral disease.  Having allowed the hasbara virus to spread and go undetected for such a long time, we’ve lost all ability to recognize it. The spinners know this and are taking full advantage of it. Let me give you two examples from the last 24 hours alone.
First one is a heartwarming ‘news item’ – even benign.


How can the picture of this cute dog not touch your heart? More so when you read on that his owner is in quarantine in Mexico with the coronavirus.  His chips cravings prompt him to tie a note to the dog, send him to the store with a $20 bill and instructions to the shopkeeper to give the dog a bag of “Cheetos”.   Now didn’t that give you the warm fuzzies?  The story is shared over and over and the ‘news reporter’ gets a kudos from his boss for writing this sweet story which would no doubt increase circulation.  I loved it.
But then I had to ask myself why a man in Mexico would tie a 20 Dollar bill to his dog and not Pesos.  That is a lot of Mexican Pesos, and no change was returned.  I mean where would the poor dog keep the change, a lot of change, in Mexican Pesos.
I shared the story with many friends, some of whom included university professors.  None noted the oddness of the Dollar bill.    Even when I asked if they noted something strange about the story, they did not point to it until I told them.  The story was heartwarming and the incident was something they all wanted to accept – a feel good story.   Nothing else was noted.  We want to believe a story that appeals to our sense of reality, our values, no matter how unrealistic.
On the opposite side is the news story about a former FBI agent Robert Levinson.  Levinson disappeared in 2007 and the United States had accused Iran of holding him hostage.  Iran has no information about him.  Yesterday, out of nowhere, various hasbara outlets cited Levinson’s family releasing a statement citing that they recently received information from US officials that led them to conclude that “our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody.”
Iran denied having held him in custody and the news of his death was news to them.  Why was this unbelievable?  After all, I have no way of knowing who is lying, the US or Iran.  Though one certainly may question the timing of this report.
But it was not just the timing that was odd.  It was the orange prison uniform.  Orange prison uniform is easy to process for Americans, and the West.  Images of prisoners wearing orange jumpsuit in Guantanamo are embedded in our minds.  More disturbing still are the images of prisoners captured by ISIS and wearing orange jumpsuits as they are being executed.   I always wondered where did ISIS get all the orange jumpsuits their prisoner wore.  But that is beside the point.  In Iran, prisoners do not wear orange.  The uniforms are different shades of blue depending on their status. Ordinary prisoners wear the striped while political prisoners the plain blue uniforms.

hasbara
Prison uniforms in Iran.

Aside from the wrong color uniform, I was struck by Levinson’s appearance as portrayed in Western media.  It was hard to process the tanned face which contrasted so sharply with his pale hands.   It didn’t make sense.  It is not clear to me as to why America would choose this moment to stage this death. I can only imagine that it is to present an image of a ruthless Iran in order to justify its terrorism by way of sanctions at a time when Iran, like the rest of the world, is fighting this pandemic.    But even the lies will not hide the shameless stain of America’s cruel madness. Hence, we must resist and fight the propaganda.
For decades, we have been victims of propaganda to the point that we are no longer aware of it.  In spite of it, we have not managed to build an immunity to the lies.  Quite the opposite — we have become more vulnerable as our resistance erodes with every shot of hasbara.  But we are not broken – not yet.  It can only affect us if left undetected.  Like COVID-19, the hasbara virus goes undetected until it’s tested for and discovered.  We must therefore learn to test for, detect, and reject it.  We can do this by refusing to abandon our critical thinking.  Pleasant or not, we cannot allow our underlying bias guide us and use commonsense. Don’t let the hasbara virus infect you — it is deadlier than you can imagine.
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich is an independent researcher and writer with a focus on US foreign policy.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

US Taking Iranian Scientists Hostage: Zarif

Source


ZARRIF

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on Washington to release innocent Iranian scientists jailed in horrific US facilities amid the pandemic of the new coronavirus.
“US has taken several Iranian scientists hostage—without charge or on spurious sanctions charges—& not releasing them; even when its OWN courts reject the absurd charges,” Zarif said in a post on his Twitter account on Friday.
Amid the pandemic, the US administration has even refused medical furlough for innocent Iranians jailed in horrific facilities, he added, Press TV reported.
He also attached to his tweet an image of an interview published by the British daily Guardian quoting an Iranian scientist detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as saying that the ICE’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak may kill him along with many other inmates.
The daily Guardian published an interview with Iranian materials science and engineering professor Sirous Asghari on Friday detailing the “inhumane” jail conditions at his ICE facility.
Asghari, which is being detained indefinitely by ICE despite being exonerated in a US sanctions trial last November, said that little is being done to protect inmates from the outbreak in his “filthy and overcrowded” detention center.
The United States has a long history of harassing Iranian and Iranian-Americans in the US, many of whom have been academics charged with violating US sanctions against Iran.
US President Donald Trump reinstated Washington’s sanctions on Iran in May 2018 after he unilaterally left the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and major world powers.
The sanctions also target much-need humanitarian aid from reaching the country despite an International Court of Justice ruling banning aid-related sanctions in 2018.
The Iranian foreign minister on Wednesday blasted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for keeping up a “third-rate propaganda” barrage against Tehran even at a time when the world is busy fighting a deadly coronavirus pandemic.
“Even a pandemic won’t stop @SecPompeo from spouting 3rd-rate propaganda,” Zarif tweeted after the top US diplomat claimed that the government of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani was “mishandling” the outbreak of the highly-contagious virus called COVID-19.
Source: Mehr News Agency
Related

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Western Media Focusses On Big Pharma’s Search for a Coronavirus Vaccine While Suppressing Coverage of High Dose Intravenus Vitamin C to Save Lives in China

By Dr. Leon Tressell
Global Research, March 27, 2020

Not a day passes without some hyped up media story of how big-pharma is racing to the rescue of humanity with its search for a coronavirus vaccine. There are over 40 companies now searching for a vaccine. Collectively they are spending huge sums of money supported by lavish amounts of tax payer cash. Estimates of how soon a vaccine can be produced vary wildly but most estimates agree that it is unlikely to happen this year. It goes without saying that the first to market with a usable vaccine stands to make billions of dollars.
The mainstream media, scientific and political establishments are completely under the spell of big pharma. Governments reassure the public that they’re doing everything in their power to protect them with a variety of measures. These range from mass lock downs and trillion dollar bailouts for big business to limited amounts of helicopter money for the citizens of wealthier countries.
Regardless of where you live if you have to go to hospital with symptoms of the coronavirus the key question facing you is: will you be able to leave walking out front door or will you end up being wheeled out the basement back door?
The mainstream media in cahoots with governments and the medical establishment are suppressing any news regarding the use of a cheap, safe and easy to produce treatment for coronavirus patients. Maybe its because this treatment is being used in Chinese hospitals to save lives. Let’s face it there has been no let up in Cold War 2.0 during the current pandemic.
Dr. Andrew W. Saul, Editor in chief of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service,sums up the Western big pharma approach nicely when he says:
“Medical orthodoxy obsessively focuses on searching for a vaccine and/or drug for coronavirus COVID-19). While they are looking for what would be fabulously profitable approaches, we have with vitamin C an existing, plausible, clinically demonstrated method to treat what coronavirus patients die from: severe acute respiratory syndrome, or pneumonia.’’
On 17 March a group of Chinese physicians held a video conference to discuss the use of high dose intravenous vitamin C for patients with moderate to severe cases of corona virus. The keynote speaker at this meeting was Dr. Enqian Mao, chief of the emergency medicine Department of Ruiijin hospital in Shanghai.
Dr Mao is also a senior member of the expert team at the Shanghai Public health Centre, where all coronavirus patients have been treated from the Shanghai area. Dr Mao was also a co-author of the medical protocol for the treatment of coronavirus that has been adopted by the Shanghai Medical Association and the government of Shanghai. This medical protocol also advocates the use of high-dose intravenous vitamin C for the treatment of mild, moderate and severe cases of the coronavirus.
Over the last decade Dr Mao has been using high-dose intravenous vitamin C (IVC) to treat patients with a variety of acute medical conditions ranging from pancreatitis and sepsis to surgical wound healing. When the coronavirus epidemic first broke out he and several other colleagues thought that high-dose intravenous C could be a potential treatment for patients presenting with the coronavirus. Their recommendation for the use of high-dose intravenous vitamin C as a treatment was adopted by the Shanghai expert team.
Dr. Richard Cheng, an American-Chinese doctor currently based in Shanghai has given a report of this meeting. He notes that:
“Dr. Mao stated that his group treated ~50 cases of moderate to severe cases of Covid-19 infection with high dose IVC. The IVC dosing was in the range of 10,000 mg – 20,000 mg a day for 7-10 days, with 10,000 mg for moderate cases and 20,000 for more severe cases, determined by pulmonary status (mostly the oxygenation index) and coagulation status. All patients who received IVC improved and there was no mortality. Compared to the average of a 30-day hospital stay for all Covid-19 patients, those patients who received high dose IVC had a hospital stay about 3-5 days shorter than the overall patients. Dr. Mao discussed one severe case in particular who was deteriorating rapidly. He gave a bolus of 50,000 mg IVC over a period of 4 hours. The patient’s pulmonary (oxygenation index) status stabilized and improved as the critical care team watched in real time. There were no side effects reported from any of the cases treated with high dose IVC. ‘’
Dr Cheng also reported that he had a separate meeting with Dr. Sheng Wang, Professor of critical medicine of Shanghai’s 10th Hospital, Tongji University College of medicine. At this meeting Professor Weng said that there were several important lessons to be learned from Shanghai’s experience treating patients with the coronavirus. The most important lesson was:
Early and high-dose IVC is quite helpful in helping Covid-19 patients. The data is still being finalized and the formal papers will be submitted for publication as soon as they are complete.’’
Professor Wang also stated that coronavirus patients displayed a high rate of hyper-coagulability, i.e. an abnormally increased tendency toward blood clotting, which is best treated with heparin.
He also stated that it was vitally important for front line medical professionals to, ‘wear protective clothing at the earliest opportunity for intubation and other emergency rescue measures.’ The American health authorities shouldtake notice of this considering that pictures of nurses in New York wearing black plastic refuse sacks have been appearing on social media.
Richard Chang has also noted that Professors Mao and Weng have stated that high-dose intravenous vitamin C is being used as a treatment for coronavirus patients in other hospitals around China.
Not surprisingly, reports of this cheap, safe treatment, that has been pioneered in China, have been being completely ignored by Western governments and the medical establishments that are beholden to the big pharmaapproach to the current pandemic.
Thankfully, there are doctors in the West who are not blinded by the close minded approach pursued by their governments and so called medical experts. Apparently, doctors at several hospitals in New York, which is the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in America, have started to use the pioneering treatments coming out of China.
Dr. Andrew G. Weber, a pulmonologist and critical-care specialist affiliated with two Northwell Health facilities on Long Island, has said that coronavirus patients admitted to intensive care immediately receive 1,500 mg of intravenous vitamin C. This dosage is then repeated 3-4 times a day.
According to Dr. Weber this treatment regime is based upon the experimental use of high-dose vitamin C in Shanghai’s hospitals. He told the New York Post:
“The patients who received vitamin C did significantly better than those who did not get vitamin C. It helps a tremendous amount, but it is not highlighted because it’s not a sexy drug.”
Apparently, high-dose intravenous vitamin C is been used in hospitals across New York. Sadly, its use appears to be patchy and is dependent upon the whims of individual doctors rather than being part of any systematic medical protocol.
As the global death toll soars higher we can only hope that more and more doctors will follow in the footsteps of their Chinese colleagues and have the courage to use a safe and cheap treatment that is totally at odds with the big pharma approach currently followed by the World Health Organisation and most governments. The current approach used by many Western Governments has been slow, clumsy and ill informed putting the interests of big business above saving the lives of ordinary people.
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Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.The original source of this article is Global ResearchCopyright © Dr. Leon Tressell, Global Research, 2020

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هل يرتكب ترامب حماقة شنّ غارات على إيران بعد أن قهره القائد “كوفيد التاسع عشر”…!؟




حملة صحافية أميركية معادية لإيران على قاعدة اختفاء شخص أميركي منذ سنوات…!
هل ستكون هذه القضية الشمّاعة التي ينوي ترامب ورهطه استخدامها ضدّ إيران لشنّ هجمات ضدّها؟ يتساءل مراقبون ومطلعون على خفايا الحرب السرية الأميركية ضدّ إيران، والذين يذهب بعضهم الى الاعتقاد بأنّ المناورات الأخيرة الأميركية الإماراتية والشائعات حول احتمال قيام واشنطن بتوجيه ضربات أميركية انتقامية ضدّ مراكز استراتيجية معينة في إيران تترافق مع تدبير انقلاب ضدّ العملية السياسية العراقية برمّتها قد تكونان في السياق نفسه!
الأمر يصعب تصديقه من حيث موازين القوى التي لا تسمح لترامب المنكسر المهزوم ذلك، لكن الطبيعة العدوانية والمقامرة للنظام الأميركي لا سيما في عهد ترامب قد تجعل ذلك احتمالاً وارداً!
فما هي طبيعة هذه الحملة اليكم التفاصيل:
1
ـ عندما تقوم مجلة “ذي ناشيونال انتِرِست” (The National Interest) الأميركيّة بنشر مقال مطوّل ومفصّل جداً، يوم 26/3/2020 بقلم الكاتب الأميركي ماتيو بيتي (Mathew Petti)، حول عميل سابق متقاعد لـ “أف بي أي” (FBI) الأميركي، اختفى بتاريخ 9/3/2007 أثناء وجوده في جزيرة كيش الإيرانية، فلا بدّ أن تكون هناك دوافع جدية لهذا الاهتمام المتجدّد بهذا الشخص، الذي يدعى روبرت ليفينسون (Robert Levinson).
2
ـ وعندما يصرّح وزير الخارجية الاميركي، مايك بومبيو، بتاريخ 10/3/2020، تعليقاً على الدعوات، التي تكرّرت من جانب جهات دولية، لرفع الحصار عن إيران، لمساعدتها او تمكينها من مواجهة وباء كورونا، بالقول: إنّ على كلّ دولة تريد تقديم مساعدة إنسانية لإيران أن تطالب النظام بالمعاملة بالمثل، ايّ تقديم لفتات إنسانية مقابلة كالإفراج عن العديد من المواطنين الأميركيين المحتجزين هناك دون وجه حق.
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ـ انضمام مستشار الأمن القومي للرئيس الأميركي، روبيرت أوبراين (Robert O’Brien) للجوقة، التي تعزف على وتر المفقود ليفينسون، يوم 26/3/2020 وإدلائه بتصريح يقول فيه إنّ ليفينسون ربما يكون قد مات منذ زمن بعيد، لهو مؤشر إضافي على أنّ هذا الاهتمام المفاجئ بموضوع هذا العميل السري، له أسباب تتخطى المجال الإنساني المحصّن بشكل كبير.
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ـ أما ما يعزز هذا الافتراض، بأنّ البيت الأبيض ووزارة الخارجية الأميركية يستخدمان هذه الورقة لشنّ حملة منسّقة ضدّ إيران، بهدف التمهيد لاتخاذ إجراءات معينة ضدّها، غير العقوبات الاقتصادية، نقول إنّ ما يعزز هذا الافتراض هو اهتمام الرئيس الأميركي شخصياً بهذا الموضوع، وتأييده تصريحات أوبراين، حول احتمال وفاة هذا العميل الأميركي المفقود، وذلك في تغريدة لترامب نشرت مساء الأربعاء 25/3/2020. وكذلك اهتمام بومبيو شخصياً بالموضوع وتصريحه المُشار إليه أعلاه بهذا الشأن. وهو ما يعطي الأمر دفعاً كبيراً ويعمل على تحويله الى قضية دولية، خاصة إذا ما أضاف المرء الى ذلك طرح الولايات المتحدة ادّعاء احتجاز إيران لخمسة مواطنين أميركيين (أربعة منهم من أصل إيراني) وربط ضرورة إطلاق سراحهم بانتشار كورونا في إيران.
5
ـ كما يجب التذكير بعودة مسؤول في الخارجية الأميركية، قبل أيّام، للادّعاء بأنّ إيران كانت قد وعدت الولايات المتحدة بالتعاون معها، للكشف عن مصير روبرت ليفينسون في وقت سابق، الأمر الذي نفاه الناطق السابق باسم الخارجية الإيرانية، بهرام قاسمي، بتاريخ 10/3/2018، وهو ما يدلّ على انّ الإدارة الأميركية تتحرّك بناءً على مخطط لاستثمار هذا الموضوع، ضدّ إيران، في أمر أكبر بكثير من القضايا الإنسانية او حتى الدعاية الإعلامية المضادة لإيران.
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ـ وهنا لا بدّ من التأكيد على أنّ الإدارة الأميركية لا تملك أيّ معلومات دقيقة، حول مصير هذا الشخص، وذلك لأنها (الإدارة) قد أبلغت صحيفة “نيويورك تايمز”، بتاريخ 25/3/2020، انّ استنتاجاتها تشير الى أنّ ليفينسون قد توفي قبل بعض الوقت (دون تحديد تاريخ معيّن). ايّ انّ الإدارة قد خلقت قضية، من خلال استنتاجاتها، المستندة الى طيف من المعلومات، بما في ذلك معلومات إيرانية تمّ اعتراضها من قبل وسائل الاعتراض (التجسّس) الأميركية.
بينما تؤكد وكالة “أسوشيتدبرس” الأميركية، حسب ما نقلته عنها مجلة “ذي انتريست” الأميركية، يوم الخميس 26/3/2020، بأنّ مصدر المعلومات، حول وفاة هذا الشخص، هو وزارة الخارجية الإيرانية…! الإدارة الأميركية تتقن الكذب، لكن على المعنيين الإيرانيين إجراء تحقيق جدي لديهم للتأكد من وجود عميل آخر يكون هو مَن سرّب من داخل إيران للإدارة الأميركية خبر وفاة ليفينسون بغضّ النظر عن صحة المعلومات من عدمها.
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ـ وفِي كلّ الأحوال فإنّ صحيفة “نيويورك تايمز” ووكالة أنباء “أسوشيتدبرس” تؤكدان أن الإدارة الأميركية قد أبلغت، قبل أسابيع، عائلة ليفينسون بوفاته في السجون الإيرانية. في الوقت الذي يؤكد فيه الناطق أو ناطق باسم الخارجية الأميركية، مورغانتو أورتاغوس (Morgan Ortagus)، تعليقاً على إعطاء الحكومة الأميركية إجازة من السجن، من ضمن 70 ألف سجين إيراني، لضابط سابق في سلاح البحرية الأميركية، يدعى ميخائيل وايت (Michael White)، قال اورتاغوس، بتاريخ 19/3/2020، انّ الولايات المتحدة تدعو إيران للإفراج الفوري عن جميع المواطنين الأميركيين المحتجزين في إيران وتدعوها أيضاً للوفاء بوعدها في التعاون، مع واشنطن، للكشف عن مصير ليفينسون.
لكن يبقى السؤال:
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ـ من هو روبرت ليفينسون؟
إنه ضابط سابق /متقاعد/ في مكتب التحقيقات الفدرالي الأميركي (FBI)، تمّ تجنيده من قبل مجموعة من المحللين، في وكالة الاستخبارات المركزية الأميركية، وفي كسر لقوانين هذه الوكالة، التي تمنع ذلك، حسب ما أوردته وكالة “أسوشيتدبرس” الأميركية، (تمنع قيام المحللين بتجنيد أشخاص من خارج الوكالة وتكليفهم بمهمات تجسّس)، وتمّ تكليفه بالسفر الى جزيرة كيش وجمع معلومات حول إيران لصالح الولايات المتحدة.
وعندما اختفى من الجزيرة بتاريخ 9/3/2007 رفضت وكالة المخابرات المركزية التطرق الى اختفائه وافتراض علاقة لها بالموضوع ولمدة أشهر عديدة. لكن الأمور تغيّرت عندما اكتشف الكونغرس الأميركي هذا الموضوع، حيث انفجرت إحدى أكبر فضائح المخابرات المركزية الأميركية، وذلك لأنّ الوكالة قد طردت ثلاثة محللين وعاقبت سبعة آخرين بعقوبات إدارية. كما دفعت لعائلة ليفينسون مبلغ مليونين ونصف مليون دولار مقابل ان لا تقوم العائلة بمقاضاة “سي أي آي”.
علماً انّ الرواية الرسمية الأميركية حول كلّ هذه القضية بقيت ثابتة ولم تتغيّر، رغم معرفة البيت الأبيض والخارجية الأميركية ومكتب التحقيقات الفيدرالي (FBI)، بعلاقات ليفينسون مع “سي أي آي”. تلك الرواية التي تقول إنّ هذا الشخص هو مواطن عادي سافر في رحلة عمل الى جزيرة كيش الإيرانية واختفى هناك!
إصرار ترامب على العودة الطبيعية للعمل الحكومي والمجتمعي في الولايات المتحدة الأميركية والسيطرة على وباء كورونا في أواسط نيسان/ أبريل كحدّ أقصى دفع بأصحاب الخيال الى الاعتقاد بانّ ترامب يحضر لضربات متتالية لإيران في الأسبوع الأول من نيسان/ أبريل، وذلك على غرار ضربة الـ “تي فور” في سورية، ليخرج من بعدها بطلاً قومياً بعد فشله في الحرب على كورونا او ما بات يسمّى بـ “القائد كوفيد التاسع عشر”…!
ولكن اذا ما فعلها ترامب فعلاً فيكون قد ارتكب غلطة العمر..
لأنّ من يبدأ الضربة الأولى في مثل موازين القوى الراهنة قد تكون هي ضربته الأخيرة والتي تخرجه من المسرح السياسي الى الأبد!
بعدنا طيبين قولوا الله.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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KURDISH MILITIAS START NEW DANGEROUS GAME IN NORTHERN SYRIA


An armed group named the Islamic Revenge Movement (IRM), hostile towards both Turkish forces and the Syrian Army announced its existence in northern Syria. In a video message released on March 20, the IRM claimed that in 2019 its members conducted 118 attacks killing 13 Turkish officers, 187 Turkish-backed militants and 24 pro-government fighters. The IRM also vowed to continue its fight against the “tyrant state” of Turkey and the “Assad regime” in 2020. The claims of the IRM are very questionable, as the group provided no evidence with which to confirm them.
Furthermore, pro-Kurdish sources were first to release the IRM video arguing that the group consisted of former al-Qaeda members. They also released the name of the supposed group leader:  “Abu Osama al-Shami.” Syrian opposition and pro-al-Qaeda sources called the group fake. According to them, the video is just a coverup for actions by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Both groups prefer to distance themselves from acts of direct aggression against the Syrian military and the Turkish Army in northern Syria. In the public sphere, the YPG plays a victim oppressed by the bloody Assad regime and Erdogan the Invader. In reality, it already has a special brand created to distance the group from attacks on Turkish troops and proxies in Afrin – the Afrin Liberation Forces. The Turkish-rooted PKK pretends that it has no bases and fighters in the region despite the fact that a large part of YPG commanders and members is linked with the PKK.
Iran reportedly increased its military presence in southern Damascus. According to pro-opposition sources, the Shiite-majority area of Set Zaynab was turned into a stronghold of pro-Iranian forces. Syrian government sources deny these reports.
On the evening of March 26, Israel shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of Hezbollah, which allegedly violated “Israeli airspace”. The photo released by the Israeli military allows to identify the UAV as a modified variant of the commercially-available Skywalker X8. Armed groups across the entire Middle East modify such drones for combat purposes installing on them submunitions as well as use such UAVs for reconnaissance.
In Iraq, the United States withdrew its forces from the al-Qayyarah Air Base and handed it over to the Iraqi military. A spokesman for the US-led coalition, Col. Myles B. Caggins III, said hundreds of coalition troops will “temporarily” evacuate the base as a protective measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. About 800 troops of the U.S.-led coalition were deployed at the airbase, which hosted approximately $1,7 million dollars worth of coalition equipment. The al-Qayyarah Air Base became the 2nd important military facility abandoned by US forces in March. The withdrawal of US troops from the previous one – al-Qaim – took place last week. These developments are being carried out under the pretext of the COVID-19 outbreak and the defeat of ISIS, but local sources link them with the increasing number of attacks on US forces across the country that the Pentagon cannot contain successfully without a large-scale military escalation.
Related News

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Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit: Statement on COVID-19

Source
March 26, 2020
Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit: Statement on COVID-19
By videoconference from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 26, 2020
The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness and vulnerabilities. The virus respects no borders. Combatting this pandemic calls for a transparent, robust, coordinated, large-scale and science-based global response in the spirit of solidarity. We are strongly committed to presenting a united front against this common threat.
We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life and the suffering faced by people around the world. Tackling the pandemic and its intertwined health, social and economic impacts is our absolute priority. We express our gratitude and support to all frontline health workers as we continue to fight the pandemic.
The G20 is committed to do whatever it takes to overcome the pandemic, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group (WBG), United Nations (UN), and other international organizations, working within their existing mandates. We are determined to spare no effort, both individually and collectively, to:
  • Protect lives.
  • Safeguard people’s jobs and incomes.
  • Restore confidence, preserve financial stability, revive growth and recover stronger.
  • Minimize disruptions to trade and global supply chains.
  • Provide help to all countries in need of assistance.
  • Coordinate on public health and financial measures.

Fighting the Pandemic

We commit to take all necessary health measures and seek to ensure adequate financing to contain the pandemic and protect people, especially the most vulnerable. We will share timely and transparent information; exchange epidemiological and clinical data; share materials necessary for research and development; and strengthen health systems globally, including through supporting the full implementation of the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). We will expand manufacturing capacity to meet the increasing needs for medical supplies and ensure these are made widely available, at an affordable price, on an equitable basis, where they are most needed and as quickly as possible. We stress the importance of responsible communication to the public during this global health crisis. We task our Health Ministers to meet as needed to share national best practices and develop a set of G20 urgent actions on jointly combatting the pandemic by their ministerial meeting in April.
We fully support and commit to further strengthen the WHO’s mandate in coordinating the international fight against the pandemic, including the protection of front-line health workers, delivery of medical supplies, especially diagnostic tools, treatments, medicines, and vaccines. We acknowledge the necessity of urgent short-term actions to step up the global efforts to fight the COVID-19 crisis. We will quickly work together and with stakeholders to close the financing gap in the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. We further commit to provide immediate resources to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on a voluntary basis. We call upon all countries, international organizations, the private sector, philanthropies, and individuals to contribute to these efforts.
To safeguard the future, we commit to strengthen national, regional, and global capacities to respond to potential infectious disease outbreaks by substantially increasing our epidemic preparedness spending. This will enhance the protection of everyone, especially vulnerable groups that are disproportionately affected by infectious diseases. We further commit to work together to increase research and development funding for vaccines and medicines, leverage digital technologies, and strengthen scientific international cooperation. We will bolster our coordination, including with the private sector, towards rapid development, manufacturing and distribution of diagnostics, antiviral medicines, and vaccines, adhering to the objectives of efficacy, safety, equity, accessibility, and affordability.
We ask the WHO, in cooperation with relevant organizations, to assess gaps in pandemic preparedness and report to a joint meeting of Finance and Health Ministers in the coming months, with a view to establish a global initiative on pandemic preparedness and response. This initiative will capitalize on existing programs to align priorities in global preparedness and act as a universal, efficient, sustained funding and coordination platform to accelerate the development and delivery of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.

Safeguarding the Global Economy

We commit to do whatever it takes and to use all available policy tools to minimize the economic and social damage from the pandemic, restore global growth, maintain market stability, and strengthen resilience.
We are currently undertaking immediate and vigorous measures to support our economies; protect workers, businesses—especially micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises—and the sectors most affected; and shield the vulnerable through adequate social protection. We are injecting over $5 trillion into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic.
We will continue to conduct bold and large-scale fiscal support. Collective G20 action will amplify its impact, ensure coherence, and harness synergies. The magnitude and scope of this response will get the global economy back on its feet and set a strong basis for the protection of jobs and the recovery of growth. We ask our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to coordinate on a regular basis to develop a G20 action plan in response to COVID-19 and work closely with international organizations to swiftly deliver the appropriate international financial assistance.
We support the extraordinary measures taken by central banks consistent with their mandates. Central banks have acted to support the flow of credit to households and businesses, promote financial stability, and enhance liquidity in global markets. We welcome the extension of swap lines that our central banks have undertaken. We also support regulatory and supervisory measures taken to ensure that the financial system continues to support the economy and welcome the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) announced coordination of such measures.
We also welcome the steps taken by the IMF and the WBG to support countries in need using all instruments to the fullest extent as part of a coordinated global response and ask them to regularly update the G20 on the impacts of the pandemic, their response, and policy recommendations. We will continue to address risks of debt vulnerabilities in low-income countries due to the pandemic. We also ask the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to monitor the pandemic’s impact on employment.

Addressing International Trade Disruptions

Consistent with the needs of our citizens, we will work to ensure the flow of vital medical supplies, critical agricultural products, and other goods and services across borders, and work to resolve disruptions to the global supply chains, to support the health and well- being of all people.
We commit to continue working together to facilitate international trade and coordinate responses in ways that avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade. Emergency measures aimed at protecting health will be targeted, proportionate, transparent, and temporary. We task our Trade Ministers to assess the impact of the pandemic on trade.
We reiterate our goal to realize a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable trade and investment environment, and to keep our markets open.

Enhancing Global Cooperation

We will work swiftly and decisively with the front-line international organizations, notably the WHO, IMF, WBG, and multilateral and regional development banks to deploy a robust, coherent, coordinated, and rapid financial package and to address any gaps in their toolkit. We stand ready to strengthen the global financial safety nets. We call upon all these organizations to further step up coordination of their actions, including with the private sector, to support emerging and developing countries facing the health, economic, and social shocks of COVID-19.
We are gravely concerned with the serious risks posed to all countries, particularly developing and least developed countries, and notably in Africa and small island states, where health systems and economies may be less able to cope with the challenge, as well as the particular risk faced by refugees and displaced persons. We consider that consolidating Africa’s health defense is a key for the resilience of global health. We will strengthen capacity building and technical assistance, especially to at-risk communities. We stand ready to mobilize development and humanitarian financing.
We task our top relevant officials to coordinate closely in support of the global efforts to counter the pandemic’s impacts, including through proportionate border management measures in accordance with national regulations and to provide assistance where necessary to repatriate citizens.
We value the efforts to safeguard our people’s health through the postponement of major public events, in particular the decision by the International Olympic Committee to reschedule the Olympic Games to a date no later than summer 2021. We commend Japan’s determination to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 in their complete form as a symbol of human resilience.
We stand ready to react promptly and take any further action that may be required. We express our readiness to convene again as the situation requires. Global action, solidarity and international cooperation are more than ever necessary to address this pandemic. We are confident that, working closely together, we will overcome this. We will protect human life, restore global economic stability, and lay out solid foundations for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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