PDF-Version: selected 12.02.2020
Selected articles (January 12, 2020)
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1a)
Upcoming Events for Julian Assange
https://defend.wikileaks.org/events/
1b)
International journalist statement in defence of Julian Assange
The European Federation of Journalits calls on journalists and people in journalism-related roles to sign the international journalist statement in defence of Julian Assange.
January 2, 2020
The arbitrary detention of Julian Assange set a dangerous precedent for journalists
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2)
DEFENDER-Europe 20
https://www.eur.army.mil/DefenderEurope/
“Exercise DEFENDER-Europe 20 is the deployment of a division-size combat-credible force from the United States to Europe, the drawing of equipment and the movement of personnel and equipment across the theater to various training areas.
U.S.-based equipment will leave from ports in four states and arrive in six European countries. This will require the support of tens of thousands of service members and civilians in multiple nations.
U.S. service members will then spread out across the region to establish intermediate staging bases with multinational forces and participate in various annual exercises.
These U.S. and European exercises are regularly conducted and not part of DEFENDER-Europe 20, but rather „linked“ through a shared exercise scenario, coordinated mission command, mutual sustainment and common communication environment.
DEFENDER-Europe 20 is the largest deployment of U.S.-based forces to Europe for an exercise in the more than 25 years. […]”
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3)
They’re Our Agents of Change
By Alison Broinowski
October 6, 2019
https://ahtribune.com/culture-media/3548-agents-of-change.html
“Drip by drip, seeping out like the melting glaciers, are facts about the secret war for hearts and minds in the social media age. Every nation that can is doing it, and lying about it. […]”
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4a)
Iranian Armed Forces Say They Inadvertently Shot Down The Ukrainian Plane
Moon of Alabama
January 11, 2020
The Iranian Armed Forces General Staff admitted that its air defenses inadvertently shot down the Ukrainian flight PS 752 shortly after it took off on January 8 in Tehran.
4b)
IRGC Releases Details of Accidental Downing of Ukrainian Plane (full text)
By IFP Editorial Staff
January 11, 2020
https://ifpnews.com/irgc-releases-details-of-accidental-downing-of-ukrainian-plane
„Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Amir-Ali Hajizadeh has, in a press conference, outlined the details of an “unintentional” downing of the Ukrainian passenger plane, which crashed in Tehran Wednesday. […] What follows is the full text of his remarks at the press conference […]“
4c)
Iran Ukraine Crash – A Propaganda Wet Dream
By David Macilwain
January 12, 2020
https://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/iran/3802-iran-ukraine-crash.html
„[…] At the time of writing nothing is certain except ‘cui bono’. The same Western powers who cooperated to start this war on Iran by killing Hashd al Shabi soldiers at the key Islamic State border crossing near Al Qaim, and then assassinating Soleimani as he came to Baghdad following their funerals, are now the “beneficiaries” of the Ukraine air disaster. The sympathy for Soleimani expressed by millions of Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians and others around the world, and support for the fight of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard against the Imperial barbarian invaders has now been turned on its head, at least in the Western media and amongst NATO leaders.
Overnight the IRGC has become – in the Western public mind – exactly what the US and Israel were claiming it was – as the reason to assassinate its leader, thanks to the actions of one allegedly “panicked” missile battery operator. It is a propaganda wet dream for Bellingcat and associates, who are now just a little too self-satisfied with a turn of events that supposedly took them by surprise – like the early riser who managed to film the missile hitting the plane – something that eluded the many stunned onlookers in Donbass when MH17 was shot from the sky.
Already those agents are stirring up protests, in Iraq and in Tehran, while failing to report the worldwide protests against war on Iran. They even seem to have forgotten what happened just a month ago, when Jeremy Corbyn’s threat to lead the UK away from America’s endless wars saw him wiped from the political map; this weekend he is leading anti-war protests in London, while the Five Eyes get into gear for this “war of choice”.“
4d)
10 Ways Trump’s Actions Against Iran Hurt Americans, the Region, and the World
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies
January 10, 2020
„[…] Trump’s blunders have placed us back on the path to a truly catastrophic war, with barricades of lies blocking every off-ramp. The Korean, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have cost millions of lives, left the U.S.’s international moral authority in the gutter and exposed it as a warlike and dangerous imperial power in the eyes of much of the world. If we fail to haul our deluded leaders back from the brink, an American war on Iran may mark the ignominious end of our country’s imperial moment and seal our country’s place among the ranks of failed aggressors whom the world remembers primarily as the villains of human history.
Alternatively, we, the American people, can rise up to overcome the power of the military-industrial complex and take charge of our country’s destiny. The anti-war demonstrations that are taking place around the country are a positive manifestation of public sentiment. This is a critical moment for the people of this nation to rise up in a very visible, bold and determined groundswell to stop the madman in the White House and demand, in one loud voice: NO. MORE. WAR.“
4e)
Iraq – Why Doesn’t the US Move Out Despite the Iraqi Parliament’s Decision?
By Peter Koenig
January 10, 2010
https://thesaker.is/iraq-why-doesnt-the-us-move-out-despite-the-iraqi-parliaments-decision/
„Why doesn’t the U.S. respect the decision made by the Iraqi Parliament and move out of Iraqi territory? – The short answer is, because the US doesn’t respect anybody’s – any country’s – decision or sovereignty, as long as it doesn’t meet their objectives. […]“
„[…] Other than controlling the rich and highly strategic territory of the Middle-East as an important step towards world hegemony, the US continuous presence in the region also has to do with profits for the war industry and with the price and control of hydrocarbons, especially gas. […]“
„[… ] Already in the US the war industry and related industries and services make up for about half of the country’s GDP. The US economy without war is unthinkable. Therefore, the Middle-East is a perfect eternal battle ground – a sine qua non for the west. War is addictive. The western economy is already addicted to it. But most people haven’t realized that – yet. Revolving and renewed conflicts and wars is a must. Imagine, if the US were to leave the Middle-East, PEACE might break out. This is not admissible. Soon, your job my depend on war – if you live in the west.[…]“
4f)
Dangerous and Delusional… Trump Rants With Lies After Iran Strikes
Editorial
January 10, 2020
„President Trump’s White House press statement on Wednesday following retaliatory Iranian airstrikes on U.S. bases in Iraq was packed more than usual with lies and irrational claims. […]“
„[…] It has to be said too that the concern goes way beyond the foibles of just one individual – Donald J Trump. It is much bigger, and more serious than that. It concerns the unhinged mentality of the entire U.S. government in its irremediable, belligerent view towards Iran and indeed towards the rest of the world.“
4g)
Will the last US soldier out of the Gulf please turn off the lights?
Tehran wasn’t looking to kill on Tuesday night. It was sending a message to its Gulf Arab neighbours instead
By David Hearst
January 10, 2020
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/will-last-us-soldier-out-gulf-please-turn-lights
„[…] The attacks also bring to life the idea of new regional security architecture which could be created as the US military winds down its combat presence in the Gulf. Iran has suggested its Hormuz Peace Endeavour (HOPE), but there are other versions of the same idea, such as the Russian and Chinese versions.
This week, at a conference of diplomats arranged by the Iranian foreign ministry in Tehran, HOPE got a surprisingly enthusiastic reception from senior officials from Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan and China. Even western diplomats present did not write it off.
As Zarif himself has repeatedly said in conferences like this in Doha and Rome over the last few months, no one state in the region should be fooled into thinking it can buy its own security. Security of one state can only be obtained by the security of its neighbour. […]“
4h)
Trump Deceived to Assassinate General Soleimani; Analyst
(Interview with Najah Mohammed Ali, London based analyst of Iraqi nationality)
By Mostafa Afzalzadeh
January 12, 2020
https://siasateparsi.ir/en/news/2642
„[…] I just spoke with General Soleimani a few days before his martyrdom, and he told me that they are focused on Idlib. He was not after increasing the tensions but rather he was seeking peace and stability in Iraq. He told me they had some kind of understandings with the Americans in Muscat. And it seems that the Americans broke their promises. […]“
„[…] Qatar and Oman were intermediaries between Iran and the United States. It was agreed that the US officials accept the influence of Iran in Iraq and Lebanon and on the other hand, some efforts are made to settle the Yemen situation. Of course, Iran stressed that neither Ansarullah nor Hezbollah are not its not forces to take orders from Iran but will do its best that a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Ansarullah is sealed. So, I can say that some political solutions for the crisis of the region wason the agenda. […]“
4i)
General Soleimani’s Network of Revenge
By Wayne Madsen
January 11, 2020
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/01/11/general-soleimanis-network-of-revenge/#
„[… ] Soleimani’s strategy to militarily bloody the nose of the United States through the implementation of global asymmetric warfare, even after his death, will be as important a lesson for U.S. military planners as was the concept of revolutionary warfare employed against the United States in Southeast Asia by Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap. The strategies of Soleimani and Giap are based on versatility, adaptability, and reliance on the element of surprise by weaker military forces against those of global superpowers. Giap brought virtual surrender to the U.S. and its Indochina allies and, if history is a guide, Soleimani’s doctrine of a relying on a massive proxy attack network to defend Iran will bring an end to American dominance in the Middle East.[…]“
4j)
STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEMOCRATIC LAWYERS CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF GENERAL SOLEIMANI AS AN ILLEGAL ACT OF AGGRESSION
January 5, 2020
IADL condemns US assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani as an illegal act of aggression
„[… ] IADL strongly condemns the assassination of General Soleimani as well as all threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran, its people, its leadership and its cultural heritage.
IADL also condemns the outrageous threats by US President Trump to attack 52 targets in Iran, including cultural sites of deep importance to Iranian culture. Such an action would without a doubt constitute a war crime.
IADL calls on the international community to view the attack on General Soleimani through the prism of international law, and to roundly condemn it as an illegal act of aggression, a crime against peace, and a crime of aggression under UN General Assembly Resolution 3314.
IADL calls on the United Nations Security Council to immediately address the issue and take all necessary measures to put an end to all US aggressions and interferences in the Middle East and to maintain peace and security in the region.
IADL calls on all UN member states not to provide any political or logistical support for US acts of aggression or war crimes against Iran or any other country.“
4k)
Comparing U.S. and Iran Military Might
By Andrew Hanna
January 8, 2020
https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2020/jan/08/comparing-us-and-iran-military-might
4l)
America Has A Samson Problem
Our confrontation with Iran is part of a larger overconfidence in our military to solve all the world’s problems.
By Andrew J. Bacevich
JANUARY 10, 2020
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/america-has-a-samson-problem/
“[…] The larger problem to which Trump calls our attention is the militarism that pervades the American political class—the conviction that accumulating and putting to use military power expresses the essence of so-called American global leadership. That notion is dead wrong and has been the source of endless mischief.
Congress is considering measures that will constrain Trump from any further use of force targeting Iran, hoping thereby to avoid an all-out war. This is all to the good. But the larger requirement is for our political establishment generally to wean itself off of its infatuation with military power. Only then can we restore a measure of self-restraint to America’s national security policy. […]“
Amir Mortasawi (alias Afsane Bahar) (امیر مرتضوی (افسانه بهار 