Learning From Pearl Harbor,
Mattis on Our Way of War (2014 article republished now, due to relevance)
With the neocons discredited, no other strategy has replaced theirs except to “win” and come home. This is not unusual in our history. In past wars American “strategy” has usually been to return to the status quo ante, the prewar situation. Washington violates nearly all of Sun Tzu’s dictums for success.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mattis said, “we will probably look back on the invasion of Iraq as a mistake — as a strategic mistake.”
From July 3, 2015, This is what desperately needs to be reset, the "Endless War" strategy:
On Wednesday, the Pentagon released its 2015 National Military Strategy, a 24-page blueprint for ruling the world through military force. While the language in the report is subtler and less incendiary than similar documents in the past, the determination to unilaterally pursue US interests through extreme violence remains the cornerstone of the new strategy. Readers will not find even a hint of remorse in the NMS for the vast destruction and loss of life the US caused in countries that posed not the slightest threat to US national security.
"Donald Trump has laid out a military policy which he says is aimed at ending “intervention and chaos” overseas. He promised to build up the “depleted” military, but said it would be done with prevention in mind, rather than aggression." (That would be less-worse...)
Pepe Escobar broadens the historical context of the Trump-Reset, which is approaching. "Trump is a Leninist."
"The Masters of the Universe" don't care. They want results, however results may be gotten.
Money and Power for the "Masters" are the results. Those who fail will be replaced (recently Clinton, but Bannon, Trump and Mattis are just there to perform their duties...) Negotiating Global-Alliance-Restructuring is Trump's job.
When "Fake News" leads to war. (Hey, there might even be MORE instances of this. This could pose a threat to democracy some day.)
Said Rep. Clare Boothe Luce, FDR “lied us into war because he did not have the political courage to lead us into it.”
“I have in my possession a secret map, made in Germany by Hitler’s government—by the planners of the New World Order,” FDR told the nation in his Navy Day radio address of October 27, 1941. “It is a map of South America as Hitler proposes to reorganize it. The geographical experts of Berlin, however, have ruthlessly obliterated all the existing boundary lines … bringing the whole continent under their domination,” said Roosevelt. “This map makes clear the Nazi design not only against South America but against the United States as well.”
Forgiveness Ceremony at Standing Rock: Veterans ask forgiveness for historical actions against Native Americans in sincere and meaningful ceremony.
("Our veteran", Jake is central in this photo, next to the lady in the red shirt, wearing ammo-vest and beard.)
From: Mrs. Veteran Jake: When I spoke to Jake today, his voice was so clear, so steady and so peaceful. He is deeply moved by what has happened over these last few days. This morning, the Elder Council lead a ceremony to thank the veterans. After the ceremony, he said "Wes formally apologized to the elder council for our nations military past against native peoples...in our own offering."
(Oh, but of course...) The Arabic-language al-Hadas news website quoted unnamed informed sources as saying on Tuesday that the negotiations are meant to help US spies, including an intelligence officer involved in battle arrangement for the terrorists and an informant named Balal Abdel Karim, leave the Aleppo city.
Israel Shamir, an expert in Middle Eastern affairs, told Radio Sputnik that reports from newspapers loyal to militants occupying Eastern Aleppo indicate they are preparing to surrender to government forces. “Right now in Aleppo there is a kind of situation in which is very hard to try and predict anything. But there is a feeling that those fighting in East Aleppo have begun to understand that they won’t succeed. Over the last two days reports have begun to appear in media outlets which support the rebels, saying ‘this is not the end, we are losing Aleppo but it’s not that bad, we will fight in other places.’ They are kind of consoling messages. This is, in principle, a sign that they are ready to surrender Aleppo.”
It was never "accidental": The summary report on an investigation into US and allied air strikes on Syrian government troops has revealed irregularities in decision-making consistent with a deliberate targeting of Syrian forces.
We're not hearing much about this from "humanitarian" western press, are we?
“Of course, it was precision fire. It confirmed the fact that the militants who shelled [the Russian Defense Ministry mobile hospital in Aleppo] had the exact coordinates,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Angela Merkel's "Open Door" immigration policy is now swinging-the-other-way, as she announces plans to deport ("repatriate") 100,000 of the unscreened refugees.
There will be no special-Brexit-deal for The City of London financial district.
Naked Capitalism is one of the very best financial news sites, which takes a broad view of what affects global economy. I get a lot of links from Naked Capitalism. The site is listed in the Propornot list of 200 Russian propaganda sites, featured recently by The Washington Post. Naked Capitalism is beginning legal proceedings against this "defamation".
Israel continues to prevent Palestinian women from going anywhere that they can be successfully treated for breast cancer.
“I don’t want to die,” she said. “I want to see my baby grow up to be a lovely young man.”
Several thousand snow geese have died after a snowstorm forced large flocks to take refuge in the acidic, metal-laden waters of an old open pit mine in Montana.
Mark Thompson, environmental affairs manager for mine company Montana Resources, said witnesses described the pit as like “700 acres of white birds” on 28 November.
“I can’t underscore enough how many birds were in the Butte area that night,” Thompson said. “Numbers beyond anything we’ve ever experienced in our 21 years of monitoring by several orders of magnitude.”
"Strip mined" farmland, played-out soil, devoid of organic matter and life, can be built up with both by 3 years of careful management with perennial grasses and managed grazing of cattle. (After 3 years, there is not really additional benefit or carbon sequestration, so no-till agriculture, or other use could be made of the much-restored topsoil.)
Swords-to-Plowshares
