Israeli Military Deploys Air Defenses to South, Claims Threats From Yemen

IDF has been warning of Iranian attacks from Yemen

Since Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in an apparent Israeli plot, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been warning of imminent Iranian attacks. One place Israel claims Iran could hit them from is Yemen.

According to The Times of Israel, the IDF deployed air defense batteries around the southern Israeli city of Eilat to face potential attacks from Yemen’s Houthis. The move happened around January 3rd, the one-year anniversary of the US assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Like the US, Israel conflates the Houthis with Iran. The Houthis are also a Zaydi Shia group, a different sect than the Twelver Shiism practiced by the mullahs in Iran, so the Houthis hold no allegiance to the ayatollahs.

While Iran openly supports the Houthis politically, it’s not really known how much military support, if any, Iran gives them. What is known is the full-throated military support the US and other Western powers give to the Saudi-led coalition in its war against the Houthis, despite the coalition’s pattern of targeting civilian infrastructure.

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia are often missing this crucial context. In The Times of Israel report, Houthi attacks inside Saudi Arabia were mentioned, but there was no mention of the US-backed Saudi-led war in Yemen that has been raging since 2015. Since the Houthis have their hands full fighting the Saudi coalition, it’s unlikely they would fire on Israel.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/01/07/israeli-military-deploys-air-defenses-to-south-claims-threats-from-yemen/

Neo-Slavery World Order: The Great Reset is Not Great and Not New

The Great Reset is just the latest installment of the grand agenda to completely reorder global society by the end of the 21st century. Prior to the Great Reset for instance, the United Nations (UN) Agenda 21 was adopted by 178 governments in Rio in 1992, taking the form of a “comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.”

Global, unelected special interests have a vision of what your future is going to look like, and these international networks of power ideally want you to blindly accept every aspect of your life being controlled by experts, with this system known as technocracy, or rule by experts (technicians).

Before we delve deeper into the insidious nature of the neo-slavery world order, a little context on the organization behind the reset is needed. It is the brainchild of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, led by Professor Klaus Schwab, the founder and Executive Chairman of the WEF, with other global organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the UN pushing this initiative.

You Will Own Nothing

Back in 2016, the WEF featured a ridiculous article written by Ida Auken, that described a system akin to neo-feudalism:

Welcome to the year 2030… I don’t own anything. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a house. I don’t own any appliances or any clothes.

A system where you, as an individual, do not own anything, is a system where everything you have can be taken away from you at a drop of a hat. It essentially describes a neo-feudal, or neo-slavery, system.

In feudal systems in medieval Europe (5th to 15th century approximately), the serfs, who were the lowest class of people in a hierarchical system, were slaves in many ways. Serfs were bound to land and the lords who owned the land, and had little-to-no rights. A serf could not marry, move somewhere else, or change occupation without permission from their lord. So, keep all this in mind when you hear about how supposedly great this reset is going to be.

The Great Reset Explained

Yet what exactly is the Great Reset? As Schwab explained in a WEF article in June of 2020:

To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a “Great Reset” of capitalism. There are many reasons to pursue a Great Reset, but the most urgent is COVID-19.

In other words, Schwab is calling for the complete reordering of life on this planet. From the chaos generated by the response of governments to Covid-19, Schwab wants to impose his, and the elite networks of power intertwined in the WEF, version of order. As he writes:

The COVID-19 crisis is affecting every facet of people’s lives in every corner of the world. But tragedy need not be its only legacy. On the contrary, the pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world to create a healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous future.

https://www.activistpost.com/2021/01/neo-slavery-world-order-the-great-reset-is-not-great-and-not-new.html

Nikki Haley Slams Trump: Actions ‘Will Be Judged Harshly By History’

Former U.N. ambassador also praises Trump foreign policy and calls her service 'the honor of a lifetime'

Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley delivered a harsh rebuke of President Donald Trump's words and actions since the November election, telling fellow Republicans on Thursday that his behavior since the November election "will be judged harshly by history."

The former South Carolina governor left the administration two years ago as one of a handful of top Trump officials who had managed to criticize the president without provoking a public denunciation from the tweeter-in-chief. Her remarks will reveal whether she can continue to do so.

"President Trump has not always chosen the right words," Haley said at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting taking place on an island off Jacksonville, Fla. "He was wrong with his words in Charlottesville, and I told him so at the time. He was badly wrong with his words yesterday. And it wasn’t just his words. His actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history."

Haley, who is considered a likely 2024 presidential contender, struck a balance between criticism of the president's actions and a full repudiation of his tenure. Calling Wednesday's violence "un-American," she nonetheless vowed to "defend the achievements of the past four years" and referred to her service in the Trump administration as "the honor of a lifetime."

She went on to praise the administration's approach to foreign policy and the president personally for taking a clear-eyed view of China. "President Trump was our first commander in chief to see China for what it really is—the greatest global threat facing America. He held China accountable for its unfair trade, its theft of our secrets, and its egregious human rights record," she said. "The United States now sees China with open eyes, and we have Donald Trump to thank for that."

Republican losses in both Georgia Senate runoffs and Wednesday's assault on the Capitol have upended the GOP's annual winter meeting, with Trump himself joining by cell phone at one point and some calling for the resignation of party chairwoman and Trump ally Ronna McDaniel.

Haley's remarks follow criticisms from other top Republicans and Trump allies, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), who slammed the president on Wednesday for misleading his own supporters in his claims about the November election, and offer a window into how Trump allies are starting to grapple with a future in which Trump is still present but less powerful. Haley homed in on three issues that have little to do with the man who has dominated the news for the past four years: out-of-control government spending; socialism, which Haley argued has gone "mainstream in America"; and the rise of a so-called woke mob that threatens some of the country's fundamental liberties.

"They’ve demonstrated that they’ll ‘cancel' anyone who gets in their way," Haley said. "They want to shout down and shut up anyone who disagrees with them. They want to take control of the classroom, the boardroom, the media green room, and even the dining room table."

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/nikki-haley-slams-trump-actions-will-be-judged-harshly-by-history/

BLM activist inside Capitol claims he was 'documenting' riots, once said 'burn it all down'

John Sullivan has previously called for 'revolution' and to 'rip Trump' out of his office

An anti-Trump activist who once said he wanted to "rip" the president out of office entered the Capitol Building Wednesday alongside a mob of pro-Trump protesters, but he said he was just there to "document" it.

"There’s this narrative going around right now that Antifa was the people there causing the riots, causing the tension, they were the only people breaking into the Capitol, and I wanted to be able to tell a part of history and show that that was anything but the case," John Sullivan, the founder of Utah-based Insurgence USA, told Fox News Thursday.

Insurgence USA describes itself as "the revolution." It began protesting racial injustice in policing last year following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

In August 2020 remarks to a small crowd at a Washington, D.C., intersection, Sullivan pointed to the nearby White House and unleashed a torrent of violent rhetoric. "We … about to burn this s— down," he said. "We gotta … rip Trump right out of that office right there," he continued, adding, "We ain't about … waiting until the next election." He then led the crowd in a chant of, "It's time for revolution."

Video of his remarks, which include graphic language, can be found here.

Sullivan told Fox News he didn’t notice other left-wing activists inside the building. But he added that he couldn’t know for sure without speaking to everyone individually.

"As far as being able to understand who is in the crowd, based on being around protests a lot … I didn’t see any people who were originally at BLM protests," he said.

Sullivan says he was standing near Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt when she was shot and killed in the Capitol, and video appears to show him on the scene.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/anti-trump-activist-entered-capitol-wednesday

New DHS Report Paints Picture of Biden’s Immigration Challenges

Lax immigration enforcement under Biden could bring about a new border crisis

New data from the Department of Homeland Security capture the changing face of illegal immigration, revealing dramatic shifts that will shape President-elect Joe Biden's hopes for comprehensive immigration reform.

The report from the Office of Immigration Statistics captures a transition as the share of lone adults, particularly from Mexico, declined, replaced by children and adults traveling with them from the "northern triangle" countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. That change in turn has led to a dramatic decline in the number of individuals reported, as members of the latter group rely on more accommodative legal protections to remain in the country far longer than the former.

The report also shows that individuals who were not detained after apprehension are much more likely to still be in the country. That's a sign, acting deputy homeland security director Ken Cuccinelli wrote, that "catch and release" policies do not work.

That such policies, including an expansion of the use of "alternatives to detention," are top of the Biden immigration agenda augurs poorly for the incoming president. The challenges that changing migration patterns posed to the Obama and Trump administrations are unlikely to go away under Biden, teeing up yet another border crisis and ensuing political meltdown.

The report combines data from myriad sources to track the "lifecycle" of would-be entrants apprehended over the past five years at the southwestern border, providing information on the immigration status of some 3.5 million apprehensions. Its coverage bookends two major migrant crises: a surge of unaccompanied minors in 2014, and a much larger surge of both families and unaccompanied kids in late 2018 and early 2019.

These two crises are part of the changing face of migration. Whereas in the period of 2000 to 2004, 97 percent of all those apprehended were Mexicans—many of them lone adults seeking work—by 2019 that share had dropped to just 24 percent. By contrast, arrivals from the "northern triangle" countries rose from 44 percent of apprehensions in 2014 to 64 percent in 2019, amid the second crisis. Many of these individuals were children, often quite young, and adults traveling with them, claiming to be their family members.

Those demographic differences strongly determine what happens to an individual after he or she is apprehended. Single adults are quickly deported, with 78 percent of those apprehended over the preceding five years repatriated by Q2 2020. But family arrivals and children are not—just 32 percent of the latter, and only 11 percent of the former, had their cases resolved as of Q2 2020.

Such migration is likely to rise under Biden, who has promised to substantially reduce immigration enforcement and intends to pursue an amnesty, both of which could incentivize further arrivals. Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that apprehensions at the border rose year-on-year in the immediate lead-up to and aftermath of Biden's election, which may indicate a rising tide of migrants eager to take advantage of a more lax immigration regime.

Those arrivals will enjoy the same preexisting immigration challenges that the Center for Immigration Studies' Andrew Arthur identified as driving the low number of deportations for families and children. "Loopholes" in federal immigration law incentivize the bringing of children from noncontiguous countries and delay almost indefinitely their immigration court process.

https://freebeacon.com/policy/new-dhs-report-paints-picture-of-bidens-immigration-challenges/

Black Lives Matter boomerang: How media flipped script on violent protests after Capitol riot

After a year of equivocation on destructive BLM riots, journalists appear to reverse position.

The violent, deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday has prompted numerous media players to apparently flip the script on violent protests, brushing aside standards that they established last summer when much of the country was gripped by Black Lives Matter-led violence and rioting in major American cities.

Wednesday's riot, in which an unarmed woman was shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer, was spun off from a massive "Stop the Steal" rally organized by supporters of President Donald Trump in protest of congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 election win. A large group of attendees from that march eventually stormed the steps of the U.S. Capitol, pushing back a police barricade.

A smaller but still sizable portion of that group made its way inside, breaking windows and driving lawmakers into evacuation while effectively seizing control of portions of the Capitol for a period of time.

While there, protesters dangled from ledges in the Senate chambers, occupied and trashed the offices of various elected officials, stole and/or defaced property, and clashed with police. In many cases law enforcement had their weapons drawn and pointed at protesters. Ashli Babbit, a 35-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran and Trump supporter from Ocean Beach, Calif. was shot in the neck and was later pronounced dead.

Media drops rationalization of violence in favor of condemnation

The violent intrusion into the Capitol was met with near-universal condemnation worldwide, including by virtually every media outlet, broadcaster and commentator.

Yet the language on display from much of the media yesterday was a sharp departure from rhetoric deployed by journalists last summer at the height of the Black Lives Matter-led riots and violence that gripped the country intermittently for several months.

At the time, many reporters, commentators and news organizations took pains to contextualize, rationalize and in some cases soften their coverage of those riots. Nearly 20 people died in the civil unrest in its first two weeks, which caused billions of dollars in damage to businesses, homes and other property, turning some urban centers into fiery wastelands and sending business owners scrambling to fortify their shops against destruction.

In early June, CNN host Chris Cuomo argued at the time that protesters should not be expected to be "polite and peaceful" during their demonstrations.

"[P]lease, show me where it says protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful," he said at the time. "Because I can show you that outraged citizens are what made the country what she is and led to any major milestone. To be honest, this is not a tranquil time."

In the midst of Wednesday's Capitol riot, Cuomo appeared to have sharply changed his tune. "Those who stoked these flames must be remembered. They fed lies and moved people to exactly what we are seeing," he wrote on Twitter.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/media/black-lives-matter-boomerang-how-media-flipped-script-violent-protests-after

False flag attack STAGED to complete the steal

The false flag raid on the Capitol Building yesterday, led by Antifa and BLM operatives dressed as Trump supporters, set the stage to justify the final betrayal of America as Dems and Republicans voted to install Joe Biden as president, even after irrefutable proof of widespread election rigging and fraud across the swing states.

Now, the left-wing media, Big Tech and lawmakers are pushing the narrative that Trump incited terrorism, that all Trump supporters are violent insurrectionists and that President Biden must invoke the Insurrection Act to “purge” all Trump supporters from the nation. One ABC News director is even calling for a “cleansing” of the nation by eliminating / executing all Trump supporters.

The Left is using the “storming” false flag event to whitewash all evidence of election fraud. Somehow, since people pretending to be MAGA supporters stormed the building, now the massive evidence of Biden’s overwhelming fraud and cheating no longer matters. The Left is once again pretending to occupy the moral high ground, even as they operate as criminals and scumbags.

In today’s Situation Update, we provide more details on the false flag attack and what it means for Trump’s remaining (shrinking) options.

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Notably, the only reason Sen. Schumer and others are calling to immediately remove Trump from office under the 25th Amendment is because they know he is about to move against them and carry out what attorney Lin Wood describes as “mass arrests” of traitors.

“Many traitors will be arrested & jailed over the next several days,” Wood posted on Parler in the early morning hours. “President Donald J. Trump will serve 4 more years!!!”

https://www.dcclothesline.com/2021/01/08/situation-update-false-flag-attack-staged-to-complete-the-steal/

(((THEY))) ARE AFTER US

A guide to the hate symbols and signs on display at the US Capitol riots

From ‘Q’ to boogaloo: An abundance of emblems and slogans representing conspiracies and far-right militias seen in the crowd of Trump supporters

Qanon 1972 jacket (Spencer Platt/Getty Images via JTA)

JTA — The sweatshirt, spotted amid the mob that stormed the US Capitol, seemed designed to provoke fear.

“Camp Auschwitz,” it read, along with the message “Work brings freedom” — a rough translation of the message that greeted Jewish prisoners at the infamous Nazi concentration camp.

The back of the shirt said “Staff.”

A photo of the man wearing the sweatshirt was just one of the images of hateful symbols that have circulated from the mob, whose violence led to five deaths and wreaked havoc on Congress. Confederate flags and nooses were among the overt hate signs that the insurrection brought into the Capitol.

A rioter today wore a hoodie that says Camp Auschwitz on it. When Jewish people tell you they fear for their life, start believing them. pic.twitter.com/ejj5a1Ev2z

— Olivia Fletcher (@livfletcher_) January 6, 2021

Other slogans — on flags, clothing or signs — were code for a gamut of conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies. Here’s what you need to know about them and the far-right movements they represent.

QAnon slogans

More

https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-guide-to-the-hate-symbols-and-signs-on-display-at-the-us-capitol-riots/

Ex-White House aide says Trump should 'seriously consider' resigning

Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah said Friday that President Trump should “seriously consider” resigning and acknowledged that he lied to the American public about the 2020 election.

Farah, who resigned from her position in December, during an interview on CNN accused Trump of carrying out a “stunt” in claiming falsely that he won the election and said that she left her position following the election because she did not want to be involved in peddling lies to the public.

Farah also admitted that she would feel safer if Trump, who has less than two weeks left in his term, resigned from office.

“I think it’s something that he should seriously consider. I don’t think that when you’ve got just a number of days left there’s any need to carry on the kind of charade of an impeachment, the people’s house needs to get back to work,” Farah said, disagreeing with lawmakers considering impeaching Trump a second time.

“We need to get aid to tens of millions of Americans. But listen, I think that Vice President Pence has stepped in as the real leader, getting the National Guard during this crisis that unfolded,” Farah said.

The remarks represented a notable rebuke of Trump by a top White House official just more than a month after she left the administration. Farah had been relatively silent on Trump’s election claims until this week.

.@JohnBerman: "Will you say that … Donald J. Trump lied to the American people?"

Former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah: “He did, on the election … We knew that it was a stunt to carry this on for days longer.”https://t.co/bhtQcFQydj pic.twitter.com/lxzR9vM6wg

— New Day (@NewDay) January 8, 2021

On Wednesday, she implored Trump to condemn his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol after he urged them to “fight” and repeated his false claims about winning the election. Trump at first called the rioters “special” and only condemned the violence in a video message Thursday evening after he came under enormous pressure to do so.

During her interview Friday, Farah defended the actions of Pence, for whom she served as a spokeswoman at the beginning of the administration, calling him a man of “conviction” and “integrity” for following the Constitution and presiding over Congress as it certified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the early hours of Thursday morning despite public pressure from Trump to overturn the results.

Farah announced her resignation on Dec. 3, but at the time she did not raise concerns publicly about Trump’s rhetoric disputing Biden’s election win.

Instead, she described it as an “honor of a lifetime” to serve in the Trump administration, touting its foreign and domestic policy priorities. She did not mention Trump in her statement and said she was leaving to pursue new opportunities.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/533314-ex-white-house-aide-says-trump-should-seriously-consider-resigning

America’s Color Revolution

The Establishment has imposed a color revolution on the American people. Ekaterina Blinova is a journalist who reognized that a color revolution has occurred in America under the guise of a presidential election. https://sputniknews.com/us/202011221081242712-politburo-are-dems-striving-to-win-it-all–turn-us-political-landscape-into-one-party-system/

The Establishment used the Democrats for their purpose, because Trump was in office under the Republican banner. Trump, of course, is a populist, but there is no party that represents the people, so Trump ran as a Republican.

The leftwing, or the fraud that passes for one, thinks it is now in the money. This is a naive expectation. The Establishment is in charge, and there will be no leftist agendas unless they serve the Establishment. If Antifa and BLM cut up, their funding will be cut off, and the presstitutes will be sicced on them.

Biden and Kamala are mere figureheads put in office by a stolen election. Any agenda they think that they have is irrelevant. Here is the Establishment’s agenda:

First: Prevent any political organization of the “Trump Deplorables.” Any who attempt to form a real opposition party will be made an example of. In America it is child’s play to frame up anyone. We saw the show in Russiagate, and Trump will now be exhausted with endless frameups as the Establishment pursues him into oblivion. If the President of the United States can be so easily framed up, an unknown political organizer in the red states can be disposed of at will.

Second: Increase the demonization of white people and the destruction of their confidence. White Americans are still a majority and, therefore, a potential political force. Their demonization is already institutionalized in the educational system, in the New York Times’ propagandistic “1619 Project,” and in the “racial sensitivity” training that all white employes of US corporations, governments, and US military have to take. Trump ordered a halt to the anti-white indoctrination sessions in the Federal government and US military, but the new regime will quickly reinstate the required indoctrinated as a sop to deluded blacks, feminists, and leftwingers.

Third: The Second Amendment will be overturned or bypassed. Trump supporters will be disarmed in order to more easily terrorize them and prevent them from protecting their property and persons if the Establishment believes it is efficacious to unleash armed anti-white militias on them in order to bring them into line. White self-defense will be more or less criminalized.

Fourth: The Establishment will increase its fomenting of racial and gender conflict in order to keep Americans too divided to resist its increasingly odious control measures, whether they be the use of Covid to suppress freedom of movement and association, charges of being a foreign agent in order to suppress free speech as in the Assange case, or round up and internment of Trump Americans trying to organize a political party that represents the people instead of the Establishment.

Fifth: Citizenship for the millions of illegal aliens and open borders in order to reduce the white population to an isolated minority.

MORE

https://thesaker.is/americas-color-revolution/

COUP BEFORE DECLAS?

Air Force Brass Order Removal of All Offensive, Non-Inclusive Patches, Mottos and Emblems

Commanders have until Feb. 21 to review their units' emblems, morale patches, mottos, nicknames, coins and other heraldry and insignia and remove any that are racist, sexist or derogatory, the Air Force announced Tuesday.

Starting at the squadron level and moving up, commanders must abolish symbols that are derogatory "to any race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, age or disability status to ensure an inclusive and professional environment," according to a memo from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett and Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, head of the Space Force.

"It is critical for the Department of the Air Force to embody an environment of dignity, respect and inclusivity for all airmen and guardians," the memo states, according to a service release. "Our core values demand we hold ourselves to high standards and maintain a culture of respect and trust in our chain of command."

Air Force Instruction 84-105, last updated in 2019, directs units on how to best recognize their organizational lineage, honors and heraldry. Commanders should consult the AFI which emphasizes that symbols and language should be original, "in good taste and non-controversial" and their local historian, the release states.

Disparaging language and symbolism "ostracizes our teammates, undermining unit cohesion and impeding our mission readiness and success," according to the memo. "Our diversity of experience, culture, demographics and perspectives is a force multiplier and essential to our success in this dynamic global environment. … We must ensure all our airmen and guardians are valued and respected."

It was not immediately clear whether the latest memo applies to personal call signs – typically given to fighter pilots. In 2019, the Navy created a new process for approving and reviewing pilots' call signs after two Black aviators at an F/A-18 Hornet training squadron in Virginia filed complaints alleging racial bias in the unit.

The Air Force has had its own issues with call signs: A female airman was given an inappropriate call sign by fellow airmen during a drinking game in 2018, which came to light as officials looked into accounts of a separate threatening incident at the 47th Flying Training Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas.

Last year, the Air Force announced it had removed all "male-only references" in its official song, known as "Wild Blue Yonder," which is traditionally sung before service events. In September, the service encouraged airmen to submit ideas for improvements to uniforms, appearance standards, badges and patches, and even jewelry. Both efforts are aimed at creating a more inclusive culture among the ranks.

The memo on symbols comes the same week as the service's latest initiative to track lesser disciplinary actions by demographic to ensure impartiality.

The service said Wednesday that it will collect data on how airmen and Space Force guardians who receive administrative counseling, admonishments or reprimands are treated, including a comparison based on rank, age, gender, race and ethnicity.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/01/08/air-force-brass-order-removal-of-all-offensive-non-inclusive-patches-mottos-and-emblems.html

Coup Bid in Washington and America’s Bankrupt Moral Authority

The mayhem in Washington this week is the manifestation of America’s political putrefaction.

The spectacle of a riotous mob invading the U.S. Congressional building this week with the aim of violently overturning the presidential election has shocked the world. It is a moment of truth about America’s bankrupt claims of “exceptionalism” and “moral authority”.

Lawmakers were in the process of certifying the November election of Democrat candidate Joe Biden when thousands of supporters of incumbent President Donald Trump stormed the iconic Capitol legislature forcing police officers to flee and politicians to shelter in secure chambers.

It took several hours before reinforcements from the National Guard managed to restore order by evicting the seething crowds. Five people were killed in the melee, one from police gunshot wounds, the other a police officer who later died from injuries. Windows were smashed, public property was trashed and private offices were vandalized. Several police officers were injured and dozens of protesters arrested.

Many Americans and observers around the world were shocked by the scenes of lawlessness and depravity. The seat of U.S. government was sacked – albeit temporarily – by a baying mob. All the more perplexing was the fact that the brazen act of sedition had been incited by a sitting president. Only minutes before the rampage, Trump had fired up angry crowds to “save” American democracy by forcing lawmakers to overturn the election result. (He later denounced the violence with his trademark cynical duplicity.)

Since the November 3 presidential election, Trump and his supporters have defiantly refused to accept the result of both the popular vote and the Electoral College, which decisively nominated Biden as the clear winner. Trump and his ilk have persisted with unsubstantiated and outlandish claims of systematic election fraud. The sowing of doubt in American democracy by the president led to the chaotic scenes this week in Washington when Congress was attacked by furious mobs who believe in the nefarious nonsense that the election was stolen.

Part of the problem is the dearth in popular trust of U.S. institutions, in particular the news media, as well as the bitter and burgeoning political polarization across American society. If major news media declare Biden the winner and Trump the loser, then the opposite must be true for many people.

It is true that U.S. corporate media have lost credibility over many years from the prevalent lies they have told concerning false pretexts for foreign wars, and, in the past four years, regarding the whole baseless “Russiagate” scandal embroiling Trump. Nevertheless, America at large seems to have become mired in conspiratorial thinking that is bordering on mass delusional, preventing normal cognitive function and rationale dialogue based on any consensus around objective reality.

We are, though, in unprecedented and unchartered political territory when American politicians and media are condemning “insurrection” and an “assault on democracy”.

It is a phenomenal inflection point when world leaders are deploring events in the United States this week as a repudiation of the rule of law and democratic principle.

A telling headline in The Washington Post read: “The end of the road for American exceptionalism”.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2021/01/08/coup-bid-in-washington-and-americas-bankrupt-moral-authority/

Russian Private Military Contractors Spotted Guarding CAR Prime Minister

Russian private military contractors have been spotted guarding the Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (CAR) – Firmin Ngrébada.

Videos posted on social media on January 8 showed Russian PMCs escorting PM Ngrébada, who was on a tour in the capital Bangui to inspect the implementation of the curfew declared a day earlier.

President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who was re-elected for a second term last month, ordered a nationwide curfew out of fear from new military escalation by rebel groups.

Russian military specialists and PMCs has been present in the CAR for a while now. Last month, Russia deployed 300 more military instructors to the African country amid the increase of the rebels’ pressure.

The Russian military has been training CAR army personnel at the request of the government. PMCs are, however, protecting senior officials and are reportedly being engaged in clashes with rebels.

According to recent reports, on the night of December 31 to January 1 government forces repelled a large attack by rebels thanks to Russian “instructors”.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR said the rebels have not progressed for ten days, with the exception of Bangassou, 750 km east of Bangui. The situation may escalate again soon, however.

https://southfront.org/russian-private-military-contractors-spotted-guarding-car-prime-minister-videos/

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Revealed Underground Missile Base Near Persian Gulf

On January 8, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled an underground missile base located on the Persian Gulf coast, in the province of Hormozgan.

IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami and the guards’ Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri attended the unveiling ceremony.

A video of the new base shows dozens of Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missiles, including the Nasir and the Noor, as well as several missile launchers. Some of the launchers had been disguised as civilian trucks. The base was apparently built to store anti-ship weapons for the IRGC Navy.

In a speech, Maj. Gen. Salami said Iran’s logic in “defending the territorial integrity, the independence of the country, and the achievements of the Islamic Revolution is strengthening.”

“What you see today is one of several IRGC Naval Strategic Missile facilities,” the IRGC Commander-in-Chief said.

Salami added that Iran’s long-range missiles have a pinpoint precision with a high destructive power and they are capable of resisting electronic warfare.

In the last few years, Iran boosted its military capabilities in the face of political, economic and military pressure from the US. Washington’s pressure is meant to force Tehran to give up its nuclear program, missile capabilities and regional influence.

Earlier this week, the Iranian military held a joint large-scale drone drill, which was seen as a message to the US and its allies in the Middle East, especially Israel.

https://southfront.org/iranian-revolutionary-guards-revealed-underground-missile-base-near-persian-gulf-video/