Cracks Appear in Mainstream Media’s ‘Perpetual War’ Machine

As historians know, events of great significance are sometimes put into motion by some seemingly irrelevant occurrence. This week’s shot across the bow of the mainstream media by one of its erstwhile members probably won’t trigger a stampede for the exits, but it did provide for a timely wake-up call.

Although probably no more harmless than the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings deep inside the Amazon rainforest, news that veteran journalist William M. Arkin severed relations with NBC over its relentless pro-war, anti-Trump narrative was exactly the message the omnipotent media kings needed to hear as attacks on alternative (i.e. conservative) voices have reached totalitarian proportions.

In a farewell letter to his colleagues, Arkin said he was “alarmed at how quick NBC is to mechanically argue the contrary, to be in favor of policies that just spell more conflict and more war.”

“We shouldn’t get out Syria,” he asked rhetorically, suggesting Trump’s particular brand of foreign policy has not been a total flop. “We shouldn’t go for the bold move of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula? Even on Russia … do we really yearn for the Cold War?”

https://southfront.org/cracks-appear-in-mainstream-medias-perpetual-war-machine/

As Trump Orders US Out of Afghanistan, Notorious CIA-Backed Units Will Remain

Politicians and pundits alike have roundly criticized Donald Trump for stating he will pull our troops out of Syria and cut US forces in Afghanistan by half. James Mattis immediately resigned as secretary of defense, writing in a letter to Trump, “you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.”

As the US military kills civilians in Syria and CIA-led Afghan forces continue to commit war crimes, it appears Trump is doing the right thing in pulling out military troops. But the CIA will remain and grow stronger after the US troops leave. “[A]s American military forces are set to draw down, the role of the Central Intelligence Agency is only likely to grow in importance,” according to The New York Times.

On December 31, The Times described a CIA-sponsored Afghan strike force that operates “unconstrained by battlefield rules designed to protect civilians, conducting night raids, torture and killings with near impunity.” In the article, journalist Mujib Mashal cites an October 2018 United Nations report that raised concern about “consistent, credible accounts of intentional destruction of civilian property, illegal detention and other abuses.”

Mashal reports that the abuses by the CIA “are actively pushing people toward the Taliban” and when few US military troops remain, “the [CIA-led] strike forces are increasingly the way that a large number of rural Afghans experience the American presence.” Indeed, Mohibullah, whose relative was killed when his home was attacked by a strike force, told The Times he saw “no difference between the CIA-sponsored force and the Islamic State if the result was to be attacked with no warning.”

More

https://truthout.org/articles/as-trump-orders-us-out-of-afghanistan-notorious-cia-backed-units-will-remain/

Jewish Businessman Found Guilty of Bribing NYPD Officers, Even Dressing as Santa to Hand Out Gifts

Jeremy Reichberg faces up to 65 years in prison after conviction in Manhattan court on Wednesday. His actions included hiring a prostitute to sleep with officers on a Las Vegas junket, paying for a free trip to Israel

NEW YORK – An Jewish-American Orthodox businessman was convicted in Manhattan on Wednesday on several counts of bribery, in a case that cast a shadow over City Hall and the New York Police Department

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-jewish-businessman-found-guilty-of-bribing-nypd-officers-1.6806577/.premium-jewish-businessman-found-guilty-of-bribing-nypd-officers-1.6806577

There’s a Toxic Weed Killer on the Menu in K-12 Schools Across the US

Many parents cheered about 10 years ago when Michelle Obama took on the important task of improving school meals. Of course, every child should have a healthy lunch and breakfast. Most of us have school cafeteria stories; I still remember the feeling of failure I had decades ago when I realized my daughters never had time to eat more than their dessert before joining the stampede for recess.

Ms. Obama’s work — and the work of many other concerned parents, teachers and staff — sparked significant improvements in school menus, some of which are now being undone by the current administration (allowing children to eat food with more salt and less whole grain). Schools must once again take another step forward.

If you haven’t met glyphosate (Roundup) yet, allow me to introduce you. Glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in the US. Its use has skyrocketed during the last 20 years because of the popularity of genetically-modified crops that are tolerant of this weed killer. Health concerns about glyphosate have also skyrocketed since 2015, when the World Health Organization evaluated its ability to cause cancer.

https://govtslaves.info/2019/01/06/theres-a-toxic-weed-killer-on-the-menu-in-k-12-schools-across-the-us/

Killings Continue in Tijuana — Mexican Cartel Gunmen Attack Police in Restaurant

A team of cartel hitmen opened fire on two Tijuana police officers inside a Chinese restaurant. The attack left one officer dead and a second officer and restaurant employee wounded this past Thursday.

The attack on the two municipal police officers occurred at approximately 10 pm in colonia Sánchez Taboada. aHitmen of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, (CJNG) armed with AK-47 type rifles carried out the attack, according to the Secretary of Public Security of Tijuana, Marco Antonio Sotomayor as reported by local media. The chief noted that the identity of the criminal group and their leaders were known to government authorities and vowed to hold them responsible.

Officials identified the policeman who lost his life as Officer Fidencio Figueroa Rodríguez and the wounded officer as Officer Omar Araujo. The restaurant employee was reportedly struck in the arm and is expected to recover.

Colonia Sánchez Taboada, where the attack occurred, is one of the violent sections of Tijuana which has a high concentration of street-level dealers moving methamphetamine for the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación. This section is south of the city center of Tijuana.

Breitbart Texas reported on the record-breaking murder rate that Tijuana endured during 2018. The city eclipsed 2500 murders and finished with 2508 for the year according to statistics compiled by the state attorney general’s office.

Information released by the state attorney general’s office revealed that approximately 85 percent of those killed are tied to the distribution of drugs or are daily users. The bloodshed is generally related to turf wars involving Cártel Tijuana Nueva Generación (CTNG)–aligned with El Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación–against the Sinaloa Cartel. In some areas, rival factions within the Sinaloa Cartel are fighting for control of the lucrative street-level markets and smuggling routes into the United States. The overwhelming number of those killed are low-level street dealers and users of methamphetamine being supplied by the major cartels which are entrenched in the city.

The drug-related killings in Tijuana have continued at an alarming report with a reported 11 homicides in less than a 24-hour period from earlier this week, from January 2 to the early morning hours of the 3rd. Of these 11, two cases involved the discovery of victims who had been beheaded, one case involved the discovery of a discarded human head and in another section of the city the discovery of a male victim’s corpse missing the head. In another case, an unidentified male victim believed to be approximately 70 to 75 years of age was discovered in a roadway murdered from multiple gunshots—investigators recovered at least 10 expended rifle round shell casings.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/01/06/killings-continue-in-tijuana-mexican-cartel-gunmen-attack-police-in-restaurant/

Leader of international child porn ring killed in prison fight

A man serving 40 years for running an online child-porn ring that ensnared over 100 young girls has died after what authorities believe to be a targeted stabbing attack by inmates at a Michigan prison.

Christian Maire, who led a group that enticed and blackmailed young girls to film themselves performing X-rated webcam shows, was fatally attacked by seven other inmates in the prison housing unit at Milan Federal Correctional Institution this week, Detroit News reports. He died several hours later after being taken to hospital. At least one of the inmates was armed with a makeshift “shiv.”

Michal Figura, another member of the ring they called the ‘Bored Group,’ was also injured. Two correctional staff were hurt trying to break up the fight. At least five other members of the Bored Group are also incarcerated at Milan. The prison has been placed on “limited operational status.”

Maire was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role as leader of an international child-porn ring in which he and his co-conspirators posed as adolescent boys on dating sites and convinced their victims to strip, perform sex acts, and even cut themselves live on webcam, sometimes blackmailing girls who were reluctant to comply with their demands. They also shared pornographic photos of children as young as infants. From 2012 until their arrest in 2017, they victimized over 100 teenage and pre-teen girls.

“He’s gonna get the hell beat out of him,” one of his victims predicted after his sentencing.

Calling the death “a horrible tragedy,” Maire’s lawyer said that “it seems something like this should have been able to be avoided.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/448170-child-porn-killed-prison/

THE PEOPLE DO NOT AGREE

Bolton: U.S. ‘Very Supportive’ of Israeli Strikes Against Iranian Targets in Syria

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said Sunday that the U.S. military withdrawal from northeastern Syria is conditioned on defeating the remnants of the Islamic State group, and on Turkey assuring the safety of Kurdish fighters allied with the United States.

Bolton, who traveled to Israel to reassure the U.S. ally of the Trump-ordered withdrawal, said there is no timetable for the pullout of American forces in northeastern Syria, but insisted it’s not an unlimited commitment.

“There are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal,” Bolton told reporters in Jerusalem. “The timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement.”

Those conditions, he said, included the defeat of remnants of IS in Syria, and protections for Kurdish militias who have fought alongside U.S. troops against the extremist group.

Bolton’s comments mark the first public confirmation that the drawdown has been slowed, as Trump faced widespread criticism from allies and the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for a policy that was to have been conducted within weeks.

Trump announced in mid-December that the U.S. will withdraw all of its 2,000 forces in Syria. Trump’s move has raised fears over clearing the way for a Turkish assault on Kurdish fighters in Syria who fought alongside American troops against IS extremists. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a terrorist group linked to an insurgency within its own borders.

Bolton, who is to travel on to Turkey on Monday, said the U.S. is insisting that its Kurdish allies in the fight against the Islamic State group are protected from any planned Turkish offensive. He is to deliver a warning to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week.

“We don’t think the Turks ought to undertake military action that’s not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States,” Bolton said. He said in meetings with Turkish counterparts, he will seek “to find out what their objectives and capabilities are and that remains uncertain.”

Trump has stated that he would not allow Turkey to kill the Kurds, Bolton said. “That’s what the president said, the ones that fought with us.”

Bolton said the U.S. has asked its Kurdish allies to “stand fast now” and refrain from seeking protection from Russia or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. “I think they know who their friends are,” he added, speaking of the Kurds.

He said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford would continue negotiations with his Turkish counterparts this week to seek protection for America’s Kurdish allies in Syria.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/01/06/bolton-u-s-very-supportive-of-israeli-strikes-against-iranian-targets-in-syria/

>>4628579

Are you posting to calm or re-direct the Israel exposure from yesterday???

Seems Bolton and Pompeo can't lick enough Israeli ass atm!