https://www.nationandstate.com/2021/09/15/milley-responds-claims-usurping-presidential-power-to-give-enemy-advance-notice-just-part-of-regular-communications/
Milley Responds, Claims Usurping Presidential Power To Give Enemy Advance Notice Just Part Of ‘Regular Communications’ Update (1245ET): As the backlash from Woodward’s expose of General Milley’s apparently treasonous actions grows, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has issued a damage control statement (h/t @JoshRogin) (emphasis ours) The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs regularly communicates…
Deep State
‘Treason If True’: Trump Lashes Out At Gen Milley Over Claims Of China Dealings “Behind The President’s Back”
https://www.nationandstate.com/2021/09/14/treason-if-true-trump-lashes-out-at-gen-milley-over-claims-of-china-dealings-behind-the-presidents-back/
‘Treason If True’: Trump Lashes Out At Gen Milley Over Claims Of China Dealings “Behind The President’s Back” Update (1906ET): President Trump has responded to claims that Milley had a back-channel with his Chinese counterparts and would warn them of any impending attacks. “If the story of “Dumbass” General Mark Milley…is true, then I assume…
“Who Cuts Off – President’s Microphone?” – Senator Risch Grills Blinken During Senate Testimony – Blinken Lies and Says Americans Are Making This Up (VIDEO) — The Gateway Pundit | Truth2Freedom’s Blog
Biden traveled to Boise, Idaho on Monday as part of his visit to the western part of the US.
Joe Biden went off-script at the end of the briefing so the White House cut the feed. This was just the latest time that the White House cut off Joe Biden to save him from himself.
On Tuesday Secretary of State Tony Blinken spoke before the US Senate following the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan and the arming of the Taliban terrorists.
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ranking Republican Senator Jim Risch presses Secretary of State Antony Blinken on who at the White House cuts off the president’s microphone when they don’t want him to continue speaking.
Senator Jim Risch: Who in the White House has the authority to press the button and cut off the president’s speaking ability? Who is that person?
Tony Blinken: I think anyone who knows the president including members of this committee knows that he speaks very clearly and very deliberately for himself. No one else does.
Sen. Risch: Are you saying that there is no one in the White House who can cut him off because yesterday that happened and it happened a number of times before that. It’s been widely reported…
Blinken: There is no such person, again the president speaks for himself.
Sen. Risch: So are you unaware that this is actually happening?… So this didn’t happen yesterday or on other occasions when the media showed the American people that his sentence was cut off in midsentence?
Tony Blinken went on to say there is no such person. Then he denied that it has ever happened as the senator suggested. Tony Blinken is a liar – just like the rest of them.
Via CSPAN:
Watchdog slams media over Fauci coverage as report appears to show NIH funded gain-of-function research | Truth2Freedom’s Blog
…
A conservative media watchdog has accused corporate media outlets of engaging in censorship by failing to cover the release of documents confirming that the U.S. government did fund gain-of-function research at a virology lab in China despite multiple assertions to the contrary.
“Americans Are Tired Of All The Lies” – General Mike Flynn Warns Nation Being Overtaken By Small, Powerful Group Of Marxists
https://www.nationandstate.com/2021/09/12/americans-are-tired-of-all-the-lies-general-mike-flynn-warns-nation-being-overtaken-by-small-powerful-group-of-marxists/
“Americans Are Tired Of All The Lies” – General Mike Flynn Warns Nation Being Overtaken By Small, Powerful Group Of Marxists Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com, Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who was head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), thinks evil communists are out to destroy America and your freedom. General Flynn explains, “Transitioning to all […]
Deep State Rising | Andelino’s Weblog
https://andelino.wordpress.com/2021/09/08/deep-state-rising/
Since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, a large amount of classified information has leaked from the government to the press. The majority of this information from anonymous and barely anonymous sources has been designed to discredit, damage and end his presidency.
Meanwhile, intelligence agencies have withheld intelligence reports from the president, and former spy chiefs have denounced the president as inexperienced, unstable and unethical. Federal agents have raided the office of the president’s personal attorney. Bureaucrats have found ways to obstruct, slow down, openly challenge or simply ignore the president’s instructions. When President Trump has publicly criticized and fired officials for such behavior, news commentators have accused him of dismantling a pillar of American government.
The vague complexities and “plausible deniability’s”inside the labyrinth of the federal government are confusing enough. But these scandals, investigations, accusations and lies within the government are absolutely bewildering to many. But it all comes down to one definite, disturbing fact: “The federal government is at war with itself.”
Deep State Timeline. Bureaucrats in Washington are waging a civil war against the Trump administration. He said he wanted to “drain the swamp,” but the swamp is fighting back. Many commentators are saying that something called the “deep state” is trying to exert its control over the United States government to the point of forcing President Trump from office….
Australia Passes Sweeping Online Surveillance Bill Amid Privacy Concerns – Nwo Report
The Australian federal government last week passed a sweeping surveillance bill that would grant top law enforcement agencies the authority to take over social media accounts and hack the devices of individuals suspected of participating in serious online crime.
The Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identity and Disrupt) Bill 2020 passed both houses of federal parliament on Aug. 25, and introduces three new powers which Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews argues will assist law enforcement in keeping up with evolving technologies to protect Australians.
Specifically, the legislation grants the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) the power to modify or delete the data of suspected offenders, collect intelligence on criminal networks, and take control of suspected offenders’ online accounts.
Those who refuse to comply can face up to 10 years in prison.
In defending the legislation, Andrews cited an operation earlier this year that resulted in 290 arrests, saying that this “confirmed the persistent and ever evolving threat of transnational, serious and organised crime—and the reliance of these networks on the dark web and anonymising technology to conceal their offending.”
“In Operation Ironside, ingenuity and world-class capability gave our law enforcement an edge. This bill is just one more step the government is taking to ensure our agencies maintain that edge,” the minister said in a statement.
“Under our changes the AFP will have more tools to pursue organised crime gangs to keep drugs off our street and out of our community, and those who commit the most heinous crimes against children,” she added.
Passage of the bill however has been met with scrutiny, with some human rights activists saying it’s a “draconian” and “extreme” infringement on an individual’s right to privacy.
Earlier this year, Bill Rowlings, CEO of rights group Civil Liberties Australia, called for the measure to be scrapped.
“These are particularly draconian and particularly bad, so my message would be to throw these out, start again and get some proper consultation from the beginning,” he told SBS Newsin March.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has separately expressed concern that these powers may adversely impact the privacy of a large number of individuals, including individuals not suspected of involvement in criminal activity.
“Given the privacy impact of these law enforcement powers on a broad range of individuals and networks, they should be accompanied by appropriate privacy safeguards,” the OAIC said in March.
Upon passage of the bill, some legal bodies have also argued that the federal government ignored recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) on the implementation of critical safeguards.
According to Sky News, President of the Law Council Dr. Jacoba Brasch QC said that these powers “have the potential to cause significant loss, damage or disruption to lawful computer users who are not suspected of any wrongdoing.”
Senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, Kieran Pender, told the news outlet that given the “unprecedented” and “extraordinarily intrusive” nature of these powers, they should have been narrowed to what is strictly necessary and subject to robust safeguards.
“It is alarming that, instead of accepting the Committee’s recommendations and allowing time for scrutiny of subsequent amendments, the Morrison Government rushed these laws through Parliament in less than 24 hours,” he added.
The bill is now awaiting Royal Assent, the final step before it becomes law.
Always Another War | Aletho News
https://alethonews.com/2021/08/31/always-another-war/
America and Israel together against Iran
BY PHILIP GIRALDI • UNZ REVIEW • AUGUST 31, 2021
Afghanistan is not exactly history quite yet as there still will be a lot final adjustments on the ground as well as the usual Vietnam-syndrome war of words that inevitably follows on yet another American-engineered foreign catastrophe. But the recriminations will go nowhere as there is certainly enough mud to stick on both major political parties that make Washington their home, and neither wants to be embarrassed to such an extent that anyone will actually demand change.
Regarding Afghanistan itself, I often recall hearing from a CIA friend of mine who served as the last Chief of Station in Kabul in the 1970s before the start of the Mujaheddin insurgency against the Marxist-Leninist government that was then in place eventually forced the US Embassy to close. He remarked how liberated the city was, full of smartly dressed attractive women and well-turned-out men going about their business. Though there was considerable repression in rural areas, education was highly prized by the people in the cities while many aspects of fundamental Islam were made illegal.
All of that came to a crashing halt when the United States and Saudi Arabia supported the Mujaheddin and eventually created al-Qaeda in a bid to damage the Soviets, who had intervened in the country and were backers of the Kabul regime headed by Babrak Karmal. Zbigniew Brzezinski was the “brain” behind the plan, in part to do payback for the Soviet role in Vietnam and in part because Zbig apparently had difficultly in separating his attachment for Poland, at the time part of the Soviet empire, from his role as national security adviser for Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America.
To be sure, wars that are unsuccessful, like Vietnam and Afghanistan, do generate a certain blowback. It was regularly observed that the 1990-1 US-led Desert Storm operation followed by a victory parade down Fifth Avenue in New York City helped the United States recover from Vietnam fatigue. That meant that it would not hesitate to again use armed force to enforce its often touted “rules based international order,” best translated as US global hegemony.
Some might suggest that the best thing to do about Afghanistan is to learn from it. Hold senior officials and officers responsible for the egregious errors in judgement that led to disaster. But that will never happen as the top levels of the US government operate like a large social club where everyone protects everyone else. A Marine Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller who has called for accountability at senior levels has already been relieved of his command and is leaving the service, a warning from above to others who might be similarly inclined to be outspoken.
So, with all that in mind, the best was to make Afghanistan go away is to begin preparations for the next war. Since that is so, how lucky is President Joe Biden to have a visit at this very critical moment from Israel’s new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who presented the president with a “new strategic vision” for the Middle East. In preparation for the visit, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the prime minister’s visit “will strengthen the enduring partnership between the United States and Israel, reflect the deep ties between our governments and our people, and underscore the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security.” Psaki, who conflates the deep ties between the Democratic Party and its Jewish donors with a “partnership,” predictably said everything demanded of her, only stopping short of turning in her application to join the Israel Defense Force (IDF).
Bennett met on the day before the White House meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and also separately with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It is not known how many standing ovations were given to Bennett by the simpering US officials, but it is presumed that they were necessary as filler for the event because Austin and Milley in particular are notably inarticulate and poorly informed. The lumpish Austin did, however, echo Psaki in coming out with the usual message, telling Bennett that the Pentagon is absolutely “committed” to ensuring Israel can “defend itself” against the Iranians, that “The administration remains committed to Israel’s security and right to self-defense. That is unwavering, it is steadfast and it is ironclad.”
Bennett was engaged in delivering his timely message that the fall of Afghanistan has actually made everything in that part of Asia more dangerous, meaning that the US and Israel should prepare to fight Iran when it seeks to take advantage of the situation. More to the point, Bennett also made time to meet with the omnipotent Israel Lobby as represented by the head of its most powerful component, Executive Director Howard Kohr of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
The actual discussion with Biden and who-knows-who else in the room was also predictable, minus only that Biden did not feel compelled to go down on his knees as he did with visiting outgoing Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his chief of staff Rivka Ravitz in early July. Perpetual victim Israel was presented by Bennett as facing hostilities coming from its southern border where Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. Neither Bennett nor Biden mentioned the enormous advantage in military power that Israel already possesses, as was evident in the conflict that took place three months ago, an 11-day war that left 265 dead in Gaza, including many targeted children in apartment blocks, while only 13 died in Israel.
Bennett had two principal objectives. First, he was looking for a commitment from Biden not to re-engage with Iran in the nuclear proliferation treaty Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) unless it is greatly “improved” to include peripheral regional issues as well as eliminating any uranium enrichment. As Iran is prepared to accept the status quo ante and nothing more, Bennett knew perfectly well that his insistence on a broader agreement would be a game-breaker. And second, as a consequence of that expected commitment, he wanted assurances that the US will not withdraw its remaining forces from Iraq and Syria and would support Israel fully if it should choose to attack Iran.
Israel’s Ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan has also been pushing the White House to admit Israel to the so-called Visa Waiver Program, which would allow Israelis to travel freely to the United States without having to obtain a visa. The program usually requires reciprocity which would mean that Israel would in turn have to admit all American travelers, but the Jewish state insists on reserving the right to block Arab and Muslim Americans for no reason whatsoever. It is presumed that Bennett discussed the issue with Blinken.
On the other more important issues, Biden appears to have bought into at least some of what Bennett was selling. In comments made after their meeting, with the Israeli standing beside him, the US President said that “We’re putting diplomacy first and see where that takes us. But if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options.” Bennett was pleased by what he was hearing, elaborating on it, “I was happy to hear your clear words that Iran will never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon and that you emphasize that you will try the diplomatic route, but there’s other options if that doesn’t work out.” The other “options” include, of course, intensified covert action intelligence operations, assassinations and a hoped-for bombing attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and weapons sites. Attacking Iran will also have the benefit of demonstrating that Biden is a “tough” leader, surely a consideration at this point when his approval ratings are sinking.
The prime minister also surfaced another proposal for all his interlocutors, including Biden. He wants to upgrade his fleet of F-15 fighter bombers to give his military planners more options if there should be a war with Iran. The US produced F-35 is the primary fighter for IDF, but the older F-15 can carry significantly more weaponry and bomb load.
Bennett has asked Washington to provide an advance on its annual $3.8 billion military assistance package to pay for the improvements. In other words, Israel wants to start a war and have the United States pay for it, possibly in addition to actually doing much of the fighting.
Israel has, in fact, been warning that a war is coming for quite some time, a message that was delivered yet again in a timely fashion as Bennett winged his way to Washington for his meetings. As the prime minister was landing in the US, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi held a press conference in which he advised that the Israeli military advancing its “operational plans” against Iran. He observed that the country’s new military budget had funds earmarked specifically to improve IDF capabilities against Iran. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz also warned on the same day that “The State of Israel has the means to act and will not hesitate to do so. I do not rule out the possibility that Israel will have to take action in the future in order to prevent a nuclear Iran.”
So, the new Israeli premier has laid down the gauntlet and, for the moment, Joe Biden has only tentatively moved to pick it up even if he has in a sense pledged total support for Israel no matter what the Jewish state decides to do. The Israel Lobby meanwhile will be working hard to bring Joe totally into line. And to be sure Biden will have to reckon with the fact that there is a new player in town in the form of a bunch of progressive Democrats who are not in love with Israel, backed up by shrinking public support for Israeli actions resulting from the recent slaughter in Gaza. Nevertheless, a weakened and disoriented Biden will have only limited ability to stand up to an increasingly assertive Israel and its powerful lobby.
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is https://councilforthenationalinterest.org address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org
Preview to Answering The Big Question, How Do We Fix This Mess? | Centinel2012
Comment by tonytran2015:
Hoover… directed the bureau into secret and illegal domestic
surveillance spurred on by his conservative patriotism and paranoia. His nefarious tactics had been suspected for decades by government
officials, but presidents from Truman to Nixon
seemed unable to fire him due to his popularity and the potentially high political cost. In 1975, the Church Committee… conducted a full investigation
of COINTELPRO’s operations and concluded that many of the agency’s
tactics were illegal and, in many, cases unconstitutional.
https://www.biography.com/law-figure/j-edgar-hoover
https://centinel2012.com/2021/08/30/preview-to-answering-the-big-question-how-do-we-fix-this-mess/
A Fourth Branch of Government was quietly created, and technology allowed the tentacles of the system to touch us. That’s the root of it, and if we take the time to understand how the Fourth Branch originated, questions about this perpetual angst start to make sense…
…The Intelligence Branch functions much like the State Dept, through a unique set of public-private partnerships that support it. Big Tech industry collaboration with intelligence operatives is part of that functioning; almost like an NGO. However, the process is much more important than most think. In this problematic perspective of a corrupt system of government, the process is the flaw – not the outcome.…
… Many people say that congress is the solution to eliminating the fourth and superseding branch of government, The Intelligence Branch. This is an exercise in futility because the legislative branch, specifically the SSCI, facilitated the creation of the Intelligence Branch. The SSCI cannot put the genie they created back in the bottle without admitting they too are corrupt; and the background story of their corruption is way too intense to be exposed now.
Every member of the SSCI is compromised in some controlling manner. Those Senators who disliked the control over them; specifically disliked because the risk of sunlight was tenuous and, well, possible; have either left completely or stepped down from the committee. None of the SSCI members past or present would ever contemplate saying openly what their tenure involved….
The Biden strikes back! | The Tactical Hermit
https://hcsblogdotorg.wordpress.com/2021/08/28/the-biden-strikes-back/
Yep.
13 dead US service members because that 50 year political deadbeat can’t think his way out of a paper bag. You lost for the US. We did not leave in a position of power. We slinked away with our tail between our legs leaving countless people behind
You Mr. Biden are the worst that America has to offer. You are a pretender, a cheat and a thief; but worst of all, a coward. You can’t take any responsibility for the disaster that you and your fishnet wearing woke Generals caused. You hid along with your staff after these men lost their lives. Private citizens and other countries are…
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