Open Thread 2019-67

News & views ...

Lessons To Learn From The Coup In Bolivia

The coup in Bolivia is devastating for the majority of the people in that country. Are their lessons to be learnt from it? Andrea Lobo writes at WSWS: Bolivian president Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party was...

Hong Kong - "Marginal Violence" Fails To Win More Protest Support

After nearly six months of violent "prot...

The MoA Week In Review - Open Thread 2019-66

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama: November 4 - British Government Disinformation Shop Lost Charity Status - Continues In New Format There are other government funded organization in Britain which, like the Integrity Initiative, write and tweet against the...

Grand Ayatollah Sistani Warns Against U.S. Coup Plot In Iraq

Protests in Lebanon and Iraq were caused by internal problems but are manipulated by external forces. Today an Iraqi leader exposed those forces which might well bring that problem to an end. Lebanon will still have to suffer through more...

Open Thread 2019-65

News & views ...

As 'Maximum Pressure' Fails To Move Iran Dirty Tricks Become More Likely

What's up with Jared Kushner's great Middle East peace plan? It seems to be as much alive as that famous parrot. The other big Middle East project the Trump administration launched intended to achieve a new nuclear deal with Iran....

Turkey's Continued Care For ISIS Will End Badly

Eight and a half years ago when the war on Syria began, Turkey played the most important role. Weapons were smuggled from Libya through Turkey to be delivered to 'Syrian rebels'. Over the years tens of thousands of foreign Jihadis...

A Timeline Of Joe Biden's Intervention Against The Prosecutor General Of Ukraine

This is a working thread intended to be updated when new details come to light. The Washington Post provided a timeline of the 2015/206 intervention by then-Vice President Joe Biden against the then-General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Viktor Shokin. Shokin was...

British Government Disinformation Shop Lost Charity Status - Continues In New Format

At the end of last year some enterprising 'anonymous' person released papers of the British Integrity Initiative. As we reported at that time: The British government financed Integrity Initiative is tasked with spreading anti-Russian propaganda and thereby with influencing the...

The MoA Week In Review - Open Thread 2019-64

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama were fewer than usual as your host was a bit under the weather. October 28 - Endorsing The Deep State Endangers Democracy October 30 - Who Is Supposed To Define U.S. Foreign Policy...

Impeachment Theater

Ukrainegate is the new Russiagate. The 'whistleblower complaint' is the new 'dirty dossier'. The 'former' MI6 spy Christopher Steele wrote the dossier. The current CIA spy Eric Ciaramella wrote the 'complaint': Federal documents reveal that the 33-year-old Ciaramella, a registered...

Open Thread 2019-63

News & views ...

Who Is Supposed To Define U.S. Foreign Policy - Hint: It Is Not The Borg

The New York Times continues to lie about Joe Biden's involvement in the Ukraine and about Ukrainian involvement in the U.S. election. Today it also lied about a fact in relation to Lieutenant Colonel Vindman who was yesterday questioned by...

Why Lebanon And Iraq Are At The Brink Of Further Strife

Today the Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri resigned after -at times- violent protests. In Iraq the gadfly cleric Moqtada Sadr joined protesters after previous protests in Iraq also led to violence. In both countries at least some protesters demand...

Endorsing The Deep State Endangers Democracy

Since Donald Trump was elected president the New York Times' understanding of the 'Deep State' evolved from a total denial of its existence towards a full endorsement of its anti-democratic operations. February 16, 2017 - As Leaks Multiply, Fears of...

The MoA Week In Review - Open Thread 2019-62

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama: October 21 - 737 MAX Produces More Bad News For Boeing Related: Final report on the Lion Air flight JT610 (pdf) - KNKT Boeing Shaped a Law to Its Liking. Weeks Later, a...

Biden's Intervention In Ukraine And Ukraine's 2016 Election Meddling Are Matters of Fact

Several mainstream media have made claims that Joe Biden's intervention in the Ukraine and the Ukrainian interference in the U.S. election are "conspiracy theories" and "debunked". The public record proves them wrong. By ignoring or even contradicting the facts the...

Russiagate Probe Has Some Ambiguous News

Here is a news wording that I, as a non-native English speaker, can easily understand. Justice Dept. Is Said to Open Criminal Inquiry Into Its Own Russia Investigation Justice Department officials have shifted an administrative review of the Russia investigation...

Syria - The Kurds Want To Play On Both Sides

When President Trump ignored bad advice he enabled progress in Syria. Unfortunately Trump is back at listening to the bad advice some State Department people are giving him: President Donald Trump says he wants to “end endless wars.” But the...

Open Thread 2019-61

For all the stuff your host doesn't manage to blog about ...

When Trump Ignored Bad Advice He Enabled Progress In Syria

When bureaucrats and officials, also known as the Borg, contradict the foreign policy of the president they inevitably create chaos. We yesterday explained how that happens: Since Donald Trump became president many of his subordinates have tried to subvert his...

When U.S. Officials Ignore The President The Outcome Is Chaos

Since Donald Trump became president many of his subordinates have tried to subvert his policies. Instead of implementing Trump's idea and preferences they have tried to implement their own. Some have done so because they believed that it is the...

737 MAX Produces More Bad News For Boeing

The financial markets have finally woken up to Boeing's criminal behavior around the certification of the 737 MAX: Boeing shares were falling in premarket trading Monday after analysts from at least two firms cut their ratings and price targets in...

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2019-60

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama: October 14 - Syrian Government Regains Control Over Country's Northeastern Parts October 16 - How The Win-Win-Win-Win Plan For Syria's Northeast Succeeds October 18 - Media And Pundits Misread The 'Everyone Wins' Plan...

New York Times Fakes The Record About Arming The Syrian Rebels

History as faked by the New York Times: Kurds’ Sense of Betrayal Compounded by Empowerment of Unsavory Rivals Ben Hubbard, David D. Kirkpatrick, NYT 18. Oct 2019 Now, [..] the sense of betrayal among the Kurds [..] is matched only...

The Democratic Party Should Suspend Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton has gone mad: Hillary Clinton appeared to suggest that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is the “favorite of the Russians” to win the 2020 presidential election and is being groomed by Moscow to run as a third-party candidate against...

Media And Pundits Misread The 'Everyone Wins' Plan For Syria

The U.S. media get yesterday's talks between U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan all wrong. Those talks were just a show to soothe the criticism against President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops...

North Korea Announces Something Important But Does Not Say What It Is

The Korean Central News Agency reports: Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Ascends Mt Paektu on Horseback bigger - more pictures ... He, atop Mt Paektu on the horseback, recollected with deep emotion the road of arduous struggle he covered for...

How The Win-Win-Win-Win Plan For Syria's Northeast Succeeds

The Syrian and Russian operations in the northeast of Syria are going well. bigger Russian troops prevented attempts by Turkish supported Jihadis to attack Manbij. Russian and Syrian units have now also entered Ayn al-Arab/Kobani. Syrian government troops took control...

Syrian Government Regains Control Over Country's Northeastern Parts

Eight days ago U.S. President Donald Trump gave a green light for another Turkish invasion of Syria. We explained why that move made it inevitable for the Kurds to submit to Damascus and to let the Syrian Arab Army back...

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2019-59

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama: October 7 - Syria - Trump Gives A Green Light For Another Turkish Invasion October 9 - Syria - Turkey Again Invades Related: U.S. troops are withdrawing from north Syria. Turkish sponsored "rebel"...

Boeing's New Problems Reach Beyond The 737 MAX

Two weeks ago the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) released a 13 pages long recommendation (pdf) resulting from its investigation into the 737 MAX incidents. Since we dicussed that damning report more bad news for Boeing has come out. Boeing's...

Trump Brings Troops Back Home To Saudi Arabia

Monday: Want to bring back US forces engaged in endless wars: Trump "We want to bring our troops back home. It''s been many many years. It''s been decades, in many cases. We want to bring our troops back home. I...

"Top Secret" Russian Unit That "Destabilizes Europe" Is A Well Known Small Arms Training Base

Two days ago the New York Times published a sensational story about alleged Russian fiendishness. It was headlined: Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say. According to the story unit 29155 of the Russian military intelligence...

Syria - Turkey Again Invades

So it begins: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that a Turkish military operation into Syria has started. Erdogan said on his official Twitter account Wednesday that the operation, named “Peace Spring,” has begun. He said the operation aims...

Syria - Trump Gives A Green Light For Another Turkish Invasion

This morning U.S. President Donald Trump has a little surprise for the Kurds in Syria: Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey by telephone. Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation...

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2019-58

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama: September 30 - Senior Twitter Executive Joined British Army Troll Brigade Related: Elite UK military unit secretly trained by leftist regime-change advocate Gilbert Achcar and other academics - Ben Norton, Grayzone October 1...

The U.S. Led Coup Attempt In Iraq May Further Weaken That Country

The current unrest in Iraq began a week ago after a prominent general was removed from his post: Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi was the great Iraqi military hero of the war against Isis, leading the assault on Mosul which...

How An Ever Sanctioning Superpower Is Losing Its Status

The Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke yesterday at the yearly Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi. A video with English translations and excerpts of the transcript are here. With regards to the global system Putin made an interesting historic comparison:...

When Ukraine's Prosecutor Came After His Son's Sponsor Joe Biden Sprang Into Action

There are some serious questions around the Biden family involvement in the Ukraine that the media have not picked up on. The first regards the ownership of the company which hired Joe Biden's son Hunter for an exorbitant amount of...

Open Thread 2019-57

News & views ...

China's Anniversary Parade Reveals New Weapons That Will Influence U.S. Strategies

The People's Republic of China held a great parade (3h video, shorter version with comments) to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding. Some interesting new weapons were on display that are of strategic significance. China has, like Russia and...

Senior Twitter Executive Joined British Army Troll Brigade

Ian Cobain has written about the long history of British involvement in torture. He is now investigating British involvement in media manipulation. Here is a significant find of his: The senior Twitter executive with editorial responsibility for the Middle East...

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2019-56

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama: September 23 - Book Review: The (Real) Revolution In Military Affairs Related: A long way: Russian military reform – Part 3 - Offiziere.ch September 24 - Court Reopens Parliament For Further (Useless?) Brexit...

Saudi Arabia - Another Defeat In Yemen - King's Bodyguard Killed

Something curious is happening in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. For the second time in a month the Yemeni forces aligned with the Houthi surrounded and captured brigade size forces of Saudi soldiers and mercenaries. The Houthi media report that 2,400...

Boeing Failed To Consider Pilot Workload When It Designed and Tested The 737 MAX

The U.S. investigators of the 737 MAX incidents released their first recommendations for required changes on Boeing's best selling airplane. Their analysis of the accident causes confirms our earlier take. A recent New York Times Magazine piece by one William...

On The Motives Behind Whistleblower-gate

The recent impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump is the second attempt by the CIA and the Democratic establishment to sabotage Trump's presidency. The first attempt was the 'Russiagate' conspiracy theory which falsely claimed that Trump colluded with the Russian...

Note To Journos - When Pompeo Doubles Down On A Lie He Does Not "Confirm" It

Some people can't think but tweet anyway: bigger The Israeli 'journalist' isn't the only one who fell for Pompeo's nonsense. MSN - US confirms Syria's Assad used chemical weapons in May: Pompeo Yahoo - US Intel Confirms Syria Committed Chemical...

Trump Pushed Ukraine's President To Investigate Issues Of U.S. Public Interest

The misguided 'impeachment inquiry" develops with the declassification and publication of the whistleblower complaint (pdf) that underlies the case. It alleges what was publicly known even before the phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian President Zelensky was published. During...