Our Friday News Analysis | What the World Reads Now!

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Republican VP US Sen. J.D. Vance at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. © Getty Images/Win McNamee

HomeWorld News
2 October 2024

Limits on free speech have become the biggest threat to the US democracy, Republican vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance claimed during a televised debate on Tuesday.

Donald Trump’s running mate for the November election faced off with his Democratic opponent, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on CBS News.

Vance claimed that “rather than debating and persuading fellow Americans,” Democratic nominee Kamala Harris “would like to censor people who engage in misinformation.”

“Harris is engaged in censorship on an industrial scale. She has done it over several issues. That’s a bigger threat to democracy than what Donald Trump said when he said protesters should peacefully protest on January 6.”

Vance was referring to the January 6, 2021, storming of the US Capitol building in Washington by Trump supporters following his election defeat. Trump, whose public statements are alleged to have incited the Capitol riots, faces four federal felony charges in the case. He is accused of acting unlawfully after the 2020 election by trying to overturn the result.

The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and denounced the case as an attempt to prevent him from returning to the White House. In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform in August, he called it “a direct assault on democracy” and a “resurrection of a dead witch hunt.”

In the TV debate, Vance argued: “I believe we do have a threat to democracy in this country. Unfortunately, it’s not the threat to democracy that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz want to discuss. It is the threat of censorship.”

He accused significant technology companies of “silencing their fellow citizens.”

In August, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said senior Biden administration officials had pressured Facebook to “censor” some Covid-19 content during the pandemic. He also admitted that Facebook suppressed a New York Post story about Hunter Biden after an FBI warning in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

“A president’s words matter. January 6 was not Facebook ads,” Walz responded on the issue of the January 2021 Capitol riots.

Waltz asked Vance directly if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance replied that Trump is “focused on the future.”

VIEW | ISRAEL HIDING DAMAGE TO AIRBASES IN IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACK? IDF CENSORS REPORTING ON MILITARY SITES

Iran claims more than 90 percent of missiles 'hit their target' in Israel.

Watch the Video here (4 minutes, 44 seconds)

Hindustan Times
3 October 2024

Israel has closed off several military zones after the Iranian missile attack on October 1. The Israeli administration has also barred the publication of reporting on where missiles hit the ground. This comes after Iran claimed that more than 90 percent of rockets 'hit their target' in Israel. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi also admitted "minor" damage from the Iranian attack.

Editor’s Note | In war, the truth becomes its first casualty.

What is the Side of the Story that is Not Yet Decisive? Edited by Abraham A. van Kempen.

‘I PLED GUILTY TO JOURNALISM’ – ASSANGE

The WikiLeaks founder has made his first public appearance since being released from a UK prison.

Julian Assange testifies before a PACE committee in Strasbourg, France, on October 1, 2024. © Johannes Simon / Getty Images

HomeWorld News
1 October 2024

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urged European lawmakers to act against rising “transnational repression” of journalism by great powers during an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday. It was his first public appearance since being released from prison in late June.

Assange spent years locked up at a high-security prison in the UK as he fought extradition to the US, which had accused him of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified information relating to national defense. In June, he struck a plea bargain with the US Justice Department, formally acknowledging some guilt and waiving the right to legal recourse through, for example, the European Court of Human Rights, in exchange for freedom.

”I want to be totally clear. I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today, after years of incarceration, because I pled guilty to journalism,” he told members of the PACE Legal Affairs Committee in Strasbourg.

Why is Julian Assange at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today and how is his readaptation to the world going? pic.twitter.com/LBGXRklNYq

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 1, 2024

In his testimony, Assange recounted his legal predicament and what he called a “campaign of retribution” by the CIA under Director Mike Pompeo during the Donald Trump presidency. According to media reports and other materials, the agency conducted an extensive surveillance campaign against the publisher, his family, and associates. It allegedly contemplated kidnapping or killing Assange while he was being protected by political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Assange said that while his personal story was harrowing, others in the same situation did not enjoy the same publicity and international support. He added that the world has dramatically worsened since he founded WikiLeaks.

”I see more impunity, secrecy, retaliation for telling the truth, and self-censorship,” he said. “It is hard not to draw a line from the US government’s prosecution of me – its crossing the Rubicon by internationally criminalizing journalism – to the chilled climate for freedom of expression that exists now.”

Assange claimed that the US successfully abused European legal proceedings to retaliate against a publisher and has been encouraged to use the same playbook again as other countries have.

”When powerful nations feel entitled to target individuals beyond their borders, those individuals do not stand a chance unless solid safeguards are in place and a state is willing to enforce them. Without them, no individual has a hope of defending themselves against the vast resources that a state aggressor can deploy,” he warned.

It’s up to European governments to ensure that “the freedom to speak and the freedom to publish the truth are not privileges enjoyed by a few but rights guaranteed to all,” he concluded.

MATT TAIBBI | MY SPEECH IN WASHINGTON: "RESCUE THE REPUBLIC"

Freedom of speech isn't just a legal right but a way of life. On its history

Matt Taibbi
Racket News
30 September 2024

This is every amateur speaker’s dream to follow Russell Brand. Thanks a lot, God!

I was once taught you should always open an important speech by referring to a shared experience.

So what do we all at “Rescue the Republic” have in common? Nothing!

In a pre-Trump universe, chimpanzees would be typing their fourth copy of Hamlet before RFK Jr., Robert Malone, Zuby, Tulsi Gabbard, Russell, Bret Weinstein, and I would organically get together for any reason, much less an event like this.

True, everyone speaking has been censored. The issues were all different, but everyone disagreed with “authoritative voices” about something.

Saying no is very American. From “Don’t Tread on Me!” to “Nuts” to “You Cannot Be Serious!” defiance is in our DNA.

Now, disagreement is seen as a threat and, according to John Kerry, must be “hammered out of existence.” The former Presidential candidate complained at a World Economic Forum meeting that “it’s really hard to govern” and “our First Amendment stands as a major block” to hammering out unhealthy choices.

He said this in the open! I told Tim Pool about this backstage, and he asked, “Was black ooze coming out of his mouth?”

Kerry added that it’s “tough to build consensus” and told Forum members they need to “win the right to govern” and “be free to implement change.”

What do they need to be free of? The First Amendment, yes, but more importantly, we—complainers. That’s our shared experience. We are obstacles to consensus.

Watch the Video here (2 minutes, 6 seconds)

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My name is Matt Taibbi. I’ve been a reporter for 35 years, covering everything from Pentagon accounting to securities fraud to drone warfare. A few years ago, my little son asked what I do. I said, “Daddy writes about things that are so horrible they’re interesting.”

Two years ago, Elon Musk invited me to look at internal correspondence on Twitter. This led to stories called the Twitter Files, whose central revelation was a broad government effort to suppress speech.

I was invited to discuss risks to the First Amendment but to spare the suspense, that battle was lost. State censorship is a fact in most of the West. In February, our European allies began observing the Digital Services Act, which requires Internet platforms to enforce the judgments of state-appointed content reviewers called “trusted flaggers.”

Everything we found in the Twitter Files fits in a sentence: an alphabet soup of enforcement agencies informally is already doing pretty much the same thing as Europe’s draconian new law.

Is it against the law when a White House official calls Facebook and asks to ban a journalist for writing that the COVID-19 vaccine “doesn’t stop infection or transmission”? I think hell yes. It certainly violates the spirit of the First Amendment, even if judges are found to say it keeps to the letter.

But this is post-9/11 America. Whether about surveillance or torture or habeas corpus or secret prisons, rendition, or any of a dozen other things, WE IGNORE LAWS. Institutional impunity is the chief characteristic of our current form of government.

We have concepts like “illegal but necessary”: the government may torture, but the public obviously can’t. The state may intercept phone calls, but you can’t. The state may search without warrants, assassinate, or snatch geolocations from your phones—any of a hundred things officially prohibited but allowed. This concept requires that officials have special permission to ignore laws.

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VIEW | JANTA KA REPORTER – BARBADOS PM’S EXTRAORDINARY ATTACK ON NETANYAHU FOR SELECTIVE USE OF BIBLE IN UN

Prime Minister Mia Motley came to speak immediately after Netanyahu and left no stone unturned in ridiculing Netanyahu’s selective use of the Bible to justify inhuman, brutal, malicious, and ruthless Israeli atrocities.

Watch the Video here (9 minutes, 0 seconds)

Janta Ka Reporter
27 September 2024

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Friday launched quite an extraordinary attack on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for his selective use of the Bible to justify atrocities against Palestinians and Lebanese.

VIEW | IRAN HITS ISRAEL WITH GUEST SCOTT RITTER

Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom

Watch the Video (26 minutes, 42 seconds)

Host Judge Andrew Napolitano
1 October 2024

@annewhyte5600
You won't hear the USA or the UK, etc., say that Iran has the right to self-defense.

@snapper69996666
Israel: How can someone Retaliate against us just because we attack them? I had never heard this logic before

@kyekyeeminah8734
Scott Ritter speaks so much sense that he'll never be allowed on Western media.

@ljupcemagdenovski5018
Iran hit Israel’s military base in Tel Aviv and Mosad headquarters.

@andinorth1507
Iran needed to respond; Israel thought they were invincible.

@AlyHammad-h2r
Palestinians, Lebanese, and Iranians have the Full Right to Defend themselves against Israel’s continuous aggression.

@unknownhuman7919
IRON DOME became IRAN DOME today.

@chefdeparty
Nearly 300,000 views in 8 hours! Crazy awesome numbers! Thank you, Judge and Scott!

@ChristinaGerlach
I would never have thought that I would root for the Islamic Republic of Iran, but here we are.

ANALYSIS | DON'T LET NASRALLAH'S ASSASSINATION FOOL YOU – NETANYAHU'S GOVERNMENT IS STILL RUINING ISRAEL

While Israel's collective elation over the assassination of Hezbollah chief Nasrallah is fitting, we cannot become confused or complacent: The catastrophic likes of Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben-Gvir are still in charge.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben-Gvir at the Knesset. Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg

By Yossi Verter
Haaretz | Israel News

29 September 2024

For 25 years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been searching for his everlasting "legacy," as he puts it. In the end, it was the Israel Air Force that gave it to him—the same Air Force that Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi told to go to hell when referring to the squadron of volunteers who took down Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. The same Air Force that Netanyahu said didn't need two or three squadrons but rather a government.

What government? Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for example, after 21 months at the Finance Ministry, has made the Israeli economy and reputation resemble a neighborhood in Gaza. How about Justice Minister Yariv Levin, whose efforts to kill Israel's independent judiciary throughout his 21 months at the Justice Ministry resemble Moody's announcement on Friday downgrading Israel's credit rating by two levels?

While an economic criminal sits in the Finance Ministry, a constitutional criminal in the Justice Ministry, and a national criminal in the Defense Ministry, above them sits a prime minister whose actions are tainted by extraneous political and personal considerations. Even the most successful assassination will not save him from the bitter fate rushing at him at full speed. All the glory in the world will not change the crooked ways of the man who is leading Israel.

• Before turning Lebanon into the next Gaza, these must be Israel's next steps.
• Nasrallah's heir may choose Hezbollah's survival over its war against Israel.
• Nasrallah's gamble failed, but Hezbollah is prepared for revenge attacks outside Israel.

The finance minister, who brought Israel's credit rating down to the level of Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, knows that he is untouchable and will get everything he asks for. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, focusing solely on his job and getting the highest scores over every other cabinet member, is in Netanyahu's crosshairs and is now on probation.

True, the collective joy we experienced over Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's assassination is fitting, but we must not get confused and complacent. This government comprises Netanyahu, Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the rest of the ruinous gang.

The pathetic attempt to spin Netanyahu's unnecessary trip to New York and the fun weekend he planned there into a "diversion" designed to conceal Israel's true intentions ahead of the assassination does not hold water. The facts oppose and contradict the narrative that Netanyahu's people have been trying to create since Friday. Netanyahu hemmed, hawed, and procrastinated over whether to approve Nasrallah's assassination – and in any event, did not want the "new regional order" operation to be carried out before his "Shabbat in Manhattan" operation finished up (to satisfy the whims of Sara Netanyahu). Were it not for the hollow and deceitful spin from his office after the assassination, the truth would only then have surprised us.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., Friday. Credit: Mike Segar/ REUTERS

Even before the report by Michael Hauser Tov in Haaretz, it was already clear that the trip was exactly what it was planned to be: a weekend of fun and self-aggrandizement. The footage of the Shabbat welcoming ritual at the hotel where his entourage was staying underscored this and sparked a slew of well-earned jokes online. Netanyahu prays for a "quiet Shabbat," Sara grumbles in response, "It was supposed to be different." Her husband was forced to add in response, "Okay, it is what it is."

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PM TO IRANIANS: ISRAEL STANDS WITH YOU, YOU’LL BE ‘FREE SOONER THAN PEOPLE THINK’

In a direct message to the people of the Islamic Republic, once the regime is gone, IRAN 'WILL THRIVE AS NEVER BEFORE' Netanyahu expresses hopes for peace and prosperity for both countries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a video message to the Iranian people on September 30, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO)

By TOI STAFF
Times of Israel
30 September 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare direct message to the Iranian people on Monday, saying Israel “stands with you” as it aggressively fights the Islamic Republic’s proxies across the region in response to their attacks on the Jewish state.

“Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza. Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war,” the premier said in an English-language video statement, which was also disseminated with Persian subtitles.

Saying Iran’s “puppets” were being eliminated, Netanyahu added there was “nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach. There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people.

“With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss,” he said. “The vast majority of Iranians know their regime doesn’t care a whit about them. If it did care or care about you, it would stop wasting billions of dollars on futile wars across the Middle East. It would start improving your lives.

“Imagine if all the vast money the regime wasted on nuclear weapons and foreign wars were invested in your children’s education, in improving your health care, in building your nation’s infrastructure, water, sewage, all the other things that you need. Imagine that.”

“When Iran is finally free — and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think – everything will be different,” he asserted. “Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish and the Persian, will finally be at peace. Our two countries, Israel and Iran, will be at peace.

“When that day comes, the terror network that the regime built in five continents will be bankrupt, dismantled. Iran will thrive as never before. Global investment, massive tourism, and brilliant technological innovation are based on the tremendous talents that exist inside Iran. Doesn’t that sound better than endless poverty, repression, and war?”

Netanyahu concluded by telling Iran not to “let a small group of fanatic theocrats crush your hopes and your dreams. You deserve better. Your children deserve better. The entire world deserves better. I know you don’t support the rapists and murderers of Hamas and Hezbollah, but your leaders do. You deserve more. The people of Iran should know — Israel stands with you. May we together know a future of prosperity and peace.”

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VIEW | COL. DOUGLAS MACGREGOR – IRAN HITS ISRAEL. WHAT’S NEXT?

Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom

Watch the Video (33 minutes, 45 seconds)

Host Judge Andrew Napolitano
2 October 2024

ANALYSIS | HERE’S WHY PUTIN DECIDED TO SEND A NUCLEAR MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON

The decision was long overdue and is a response to reckless aggression from Washington.

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin. © Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov

By Dmitry Suslov
HomeRussia & FSU
29 September 2024

Dmitry Suslov is a member of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, deputy director of World Economy and International Politics at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, and an expert in the Valdai Club.

Updating Russia’s nuclear doctrine is certainly not a spontaneous step. It is long overdue and linked to the fact that the current level of atomic deterrence has proven inadequate, especially given that it failed to prevent the West from waging a hybrid war against our country.

Until recently, the desire to inflict a strategic defeat on us was considered insane and impossible, given that Russia is a nuclear superpower. But it turns out that some people in the West take it seriously. That is why the current level of nuclear deterrence has proved inadequate in the face of the US-led bloc’s growing involvement in the conflict against Russia, which has already turned into discussions about strikes by Western long-range missiles deep into our territory.

In this regard, lowering the threshold for the use of atomic weapons and expanding the number of situations in which Moscow allows this step is long overdue. Just as the wording of the previous version of the doctrine, which stated that the use of nuclear weapons in a non-nuclear conflict was only possible in the event of a threat to Russia’s very existence as a state, was no longer in line with global realities. Now, this threshold has been lowered, and the use of nuclear weapons in a non-nuclear conflict is possible in the event of a critical threat to the country’s sovereignty.

I repeat: not the very existence of our state, but critical threats to its sovereignty.

Read more
Here’s what Putin meant by updating Russia’s nuclear doctrine

That is why the use of nuclear weapons is now permitted both against a non-nuclear state that commits aggression and against nuclear states that support it. This is a response to the proxy war being waged against us, which is becoming increasingly intense.

As for President Vladimir Putin’s public announcement of the changes, this is related to the discussion I mentioned earlier about the use of Western long-range missiles deep into our territory. Russia believes that this would mean a transition to direct warfare, and to get this message across, the president has decided to announce some changes and concrete manifestations of lowering the nuclear threshold here and now to show the West that the risks for it are increasing. And they need to understand that entering into a direct war against us would be much worse for them than the defeat of Ukraine on the battlefield.

As for the reactions of parties not involved in our conflict with the West, my personal experience of communicating with experts from such countries shows that China, despite its public stance on the inadmissibility of the use of nuclear weapons, the need for denuclearization and almost a ban on atomic bombs, understands the situation in which Russia finds itself. It also understands the need to strengthen deterrence, even though it professes the doctrine of no first use of nuclear weapons.

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ANALYSIS | THE WEST IS TRYING TO PRESSURE RUSSIA THROUGH IRAN, BUT IS IT POSSIBLE?

Here’s why the US and its allies are afraid of genuine military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attended his first press conference after taking office. On September 16, 2024, in Tehran, Iran. © Majid Saeedi / Getty Images

By Farhad Ibragimov
HomeWorld News
28 September 2024

Farhad Ibragimov is an expert lecturer at the Faculty of Economics of RUDN University and a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

Recently, the US and its European allies – including the UK, Germany, and France – once again accused Iran of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its military operation against Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNN initially published these claims. At first, the US State Department refrained from commenting, but Kyiv immediately threatened Tehran with “devastating consequences.”

A few days later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken officially accused Iran of escalating the Ukraine conflict, supposedly confirming the Western media’s claims. Following this, the State Department imposed sanctions on Iran Air, the country’s leading airline, for “operating in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy.” In response, European countries announced immediate measures to suspend bilateral air service agreements with Iran.

This is not the first time Iran’s leading airline has been sanctioned, so it is unlikely that Tehran will be intimidated by this announcement. However, it is evident that Western nations are once again delaying efforts to normalize relations with Iran despite regularly emphasizing the need to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the so-called “nuclear deal.”

A few days ago, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held his first press conference and said that since he had taken office, Iran had not supplied missiles to Russia. His predecessor, former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, also repeatedly denied transferring weapons to Moscow. Meanwhile, as the West continues to impose strict sanctions on Iran, it audaciously demands that Tehran join the international restrictions against Russia. The White House naively believes that Iran would be willing to sever ties with Russia in exchange for a slight easing of Western sanctions and would also risk worsening its relations with China.

In the past decade, Iran has strived to get the West to lift sanctions and reset relations, if not with the US, then at least with the EU. Russia played a crucial role in bringing Iran and the West to the negotiating table, an effort that culminated in the 2015 nuclear deal. However, the Iranian political establishment has never prioritized immediate economic gains over national interests and security concerns. It’s no coincidence that many Iranian officials feel more comfortable and secure about allying with Russia and China rather than with Europe, which is becoming less independent each year. At the same time, Iran heavily emphasizes self-reliance – a principle that allowed the country to preserve its identity and civilization for thousands of years. As a result, Iran is actively and independently developing its defense industry, which it considers essential for its survival, independence, and integrity.

There needs to be accurate and current data on weapons production in Iran, particularly its missile production capabilities. This information is classified, and even top military analysts can only make assumptions based on publicly available information, which Iran shares sparingly. Iranian weapons can also be seen at arms exhibitions, including ones held annually in Russia.

However, reports published by Western analysts in 2024 indicate that Iran possesses a military arsenal of cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of several hundred to several thousand kilometers. Iran’s missile program was established in close cooperation with China and North Korea, which significantly contributed to the development of Iran’s missile technologies. Pyongyang previously sold missiles to Tehran and, together with Beijing, provided comprehensive support for Iran’s missile development program. In the past 25 years, Iran has cultivated a skilled workforce and a reliable technological base, utilizing the expertise gained from North Korea and China.

Seeking to strengthen its influence in the region, Iran has focused on enhancing its military capabilities, particularly developing its military-industrial complex. The Iranian army encompasses nearly all weapons production areas, including aviation, artillery, armored vehicles, munitions, electronics, naval construction, and chemical warfare. However, the country prioritizes missile development over conventional arms manufacturing. Iran has about seven significant centers dedicated to missile technology research and production. They are overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which plays a crucial role in Iran’s military-industrial complex.

Iran’s missile forces, once part of the IRGC, now report directly to the Supreme Commander, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which highlights their growing importance. Coincidentally, Western nations and Iran’s opponents in the Middle East (particularly Israel) initially considered reports of Iran’s developing missile industry with skepticism and even mockery. With their characteristic bravado, Western media claimed that Iran was only capable of producing ‘rusty pans’ that would be destroyed in no time should Tehran dare to attack Israel. This sarcasm was rooted in the belief that Western sanctions and a lack of modern technologies would prevent Iran from acquiring advanced weapons for the next 100 years.

However, the West’s attitude changed over time. Iran’s nuclear program, initiated in the early 2000s, marked a turning point, prompting European leaders to recognize that the situation was much more severe than they had assumed. In recent decades, it has become clear that Iran possesses considerable military capabilities, mainly developed through its efforts and domestic technologies – a fact that particularly irritates Israel and the West.

Furthermore, amid escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas, Iran’s defense industry operates in almost wartime capacity, especially as Iran and Israel teeter on the brink of a direct war (note the unprecedented strikes against Israel from Iranian territory in April 2024 and the recent assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in central Tehran). Moreover, based on the latest reports from Lebanon and the recent mass explosions of pagers, it seems that Israel is not about to de-escalate the conflict and is raising the stakes.

Even though Israel has not claimed responsibility for these events or provided any comment, Tehran was quick to accuse it of terrorism. Ironically, just a day before the attacks in Lebanon, Iran’s president talked about peace and even referred to Americans as “brothers.” Nonetheless, this didn’t seem to deter Israel, which is determined to launch a large-scale ground operation against Hezbollah – Iran’s key asset in the region. As a result, Iran may have no choice but to respond decisively.

Returning to our original topic – the alleged supplies of weapons to Russia – we must examine the actions of Western countries and Iran in this regard. As we’ve said earlier, President Pezeshkian has clearly stated that Tehran does not supply weapons to Russia. Neither does it provide arms to its closest regional allies, such as Yemen’s Houthis. This was stated by Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who implied that sending Iranian weapons to Yemen would insult the Yemeni people, who are fully capable of defending themselves.

However, these statements have yet to satisfy the West. The very next day, after the US officially accused Iran of supplying missiles to Russia, US Secretary of State Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Kyiv. Throughout this time, Ukraine has been trying to get permission to use long-range Western weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. Washington noted that the US and UK's position on this matter changed following information that Iran had sent missiles to Russia.

Meanwhile, the UK, Germany, and France issued a joint statement labeling the delivery of Iranian missiles as “a direct threat to European security.”

All this raises a logical question: Is the exaggerated hysteria surrounding the imaginary Iranian missiles merely a “legitimate” excuse to permit Kyiv to strike deep into Russian territory? It is well known that among Western politicians, there are some staunch Russophobes who have been trying to convince their governments to permit Kyiv to target Russian territory officially. Meanwhile, they are fully aware of the potential consequences of such a reckless move – Moscow has sent a clear signal to both Washington and London, indicating that this is no time for jokes.

Blinken, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and other US and EU politicians have repeatedly warned Tehran against supplying weapons to Russia, implying that it would make Iran a participant in the Ukraine conflict. This makes us wonder – following their logic- why these officials deny their involvement in the conflict. Western arms supplies to Ukraine have continued without interruption for the past two and a half years, and regardless of what some may claim, without Western weapons and the financial support of the US and the EU, the Kyiv regime would fall within several weeks. Following this logic, if supplying the Russian side with weapons makes Tehran a party to the conflict, then what about Paris, London, Berlin, and others who supply Ukraine with weapons, thereby perpetuating the war?

Moreover, there is another sensitive issue: who can dictate to Iran and Russia whether they should pursue or terminate cooperation in the military-political sphere? Iran and Russia are independent states with a sovereign right to strengthen their relations in whatever they deem necessary. Moscow and Tehran are also preparing to sign a comprehensive partnership agreement. This agreement aims to initiate cooperation in the security field and solidify the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Consequently, neither the West nor any other party holds the authority to intervene or dictate how Russia and Iran should develop their relations in the field of defense. It’s important to note that while Iran does not supply arms to Russia, this does not imply that the Islamic Republic has no right to provide its weapons to any country, including Russia. If Moscow and Tehran decide to discuss this matter, they will do so without seeking permission from the White House or Brussels since these issues concern only the two countries.

No matter how much the West tries to intimidate or lure Iran with the promise of lifting sanctions, Tehran understands that there’s little hope for cooperation with the US or its allies soon. For Iran, weathering the storm and maintaining its reputation as a reliable partner is far more practical than waiting for the West to initiate a constructive and meaningful dialogue.

NATO RESPONDS TO PUTIN’S NUCLEAR DOCTRINE CHANGES

Outgoing bloc head Jens Stoltenberg has brushed off Moscow’s warnings.

File photo: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a news conference at the NATO summit in Washington, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. © AP Photo/Matt Rourke

HomeWorld News
30 September 2024

NATO is not worried about Russia’s recently announced updates to its nuclear doctrine, the outgoing secretary general of the US-led military bloc, Jens Stoltenberg, has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed new rules for the use of nuclear weapons last week, citing new threats from the West. The move has been widely understood as a message to the US and its allies about “red lines” in their proxy war in Ukraine.

NATO has not detected any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture “that requires any changes from our side,” Stoltenberg told Reuters on Monday, in his last interview from the NATO headquarters in Brussels. Former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte will replace him on Tuesday.

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NEW NATO CHIEF BACKS USING WESTERN WEAPONS TO STRIKE DEEP INTO RUSSIA

Secretary-General Mark Rutte says it’s up to individual bloc members to outline rules of engagement for Kiev.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on October 1, 2024. © Getty Images / Anadolu / Dursun Aydemir

HomeRussia & FSU
1 Oct, 2024 16:16

“Ultimately, it’s up to each ally to determine its support for Ukraine.
That’s not up to me.
This is for the individual allies in their relationship with Ukraine.”

NATO’s newly appointed Secretary General, former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has backed the idea of allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. 

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The new NATO chief, however, shifted responsibility from the bloc to its individual members, stating it was ultimately up to them to outline the rules of engagement for Kiev with regards to weapons systems they supply. 

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The statement met with a negative reaction from Russia. The head of the right-wing nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Leonid Slutsky, said the remarks clearly signaled that the change in NATO’s leadership would not entail any shifts in its aggressive stance.

“The new Secretary General has been described as a pragmatist, capable of compromise. But little depends on his personal qualities. And the first statements leave no doubt that the course towards general escalation and asserting the dominance of the ‘golden billion’ countries will continue,” Slutsky wrote in a Telegram post.

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MY MEETINGS WITH NASRALLAH

The assassinated Hezbollah chief had a vision for his country.

Young demonstrators in Basra, Iraq, on Sunday carry posters of Hassan Nasrallah after the Israeli attacks in Lebanon that killed the Hezbollah leader. / Photo by Haidar Mohammed Ali/Anadolu via Getty Images.

By Seymour Hersh
Substack.com
1 October 2024

I must confess that I liked Hassan Nasrallah. I had a few long meetings with him that began in the winter of 2003. It was a few months after the US invasion of Iraq, a response George W. Bush and Dick Cheney decided on two years earlier, in the aftermath of 9/11, even though Iraq was led by the secular Saddam Hussein who had no connection to Al Qaeda.
I was working for the New Yorker, and my beat was the war on terror.

…

Nasrallah was round and plump in his religious garb, and I asked him via an interpreter whether he saw himself as a terrorist or a freedom fighter in his constant border skirmishes with Israel. He said his military had attacked Israeli soldiers along the border and would do so again, if it came to a war. He surprised me by adding that if full rights and a meaningful peace agreement somehow could be worked out between the Israelis and Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, he would of course honor it. Cookies and tea were served, and he insisted that we partake, pushing the cookie platter toward me.

…

Nasrallah was amused by the idiocy of Washington sending diplomats and other officials to Iraq who knew little about the country and could speak no Arabic.

…

That report was published more than seventeen years ago. It is stunning today to consider how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has destroyed this fragile chance for a political realignment in the Middle East, especially because Iran is now led by a forward looking and moderate president who may soon be on Netanyahu’s hit list.

We will never know whether Nasrallah, who was born in Lebanon and told me more than once that he was determined to bring Hezbollah more into the political, economic and social of life of his country—would have been successful in doing so.

The way forward now, with mighty Israel on the attack on the ground and in the air, is dark and deadly.

Read more …

EDITORIAL | SMELLING LIKE A ROSE

JD came out smelling like a rose. The vice presidential candidate reminds me of Camelot—suave and debonair, slick and smooth. Remember the ‘60s, Kennedy versus Nixon? No contest! Mr. Trump’s hired hand, who has traversed from Appalachia through Yale to become the Junior Senator of Ohio, has not hurt Mr. Trump’s chances to regain the Presidency. Trump haters like Mr. Vance more than Ms. Harris.

… 

The world needs deterrence in the Middle East. Is BRICS+—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—willing, ready, and able to provide nuclear deterrence to save the day? After all, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Emirates are in the Middle East. They joined BRICS to safeguard themselves from Western hegemony. BRICS seeks to engender a global balance of power based on fairness and equitability. Should BRICS become NATO’s countervailing defense shield, none other than President Vladimir Putin might come out smelling like a rose. 

… 

Ironically, on Israeli television, Prime Minister Netanyahu promises the people of Iran a rose garden by unshackling the Iranians from the mullahs. Iranians will never forget that in 1979, the West installed the mullahs and infiltrated and financed the opposition to overthrow the Shah. Never again! I don’t know one Iranian who doesn’t want a regime change. Most loathe the mullahs. Just about all in Iran despise Netanyahu and the West even more. They will en masse reject any rose garden from Israel, especially one so thickened with thorns. 

… 

Also, we heard a hopeful speech at the United Nations last Friday. Of course, it wasn't Benjamin Netanyahu's address, a man whose superpower is to wipe out countries and dash hopes. It was the speech by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi:

               "The Israeli prime minister came here today and said that Israel is surrounded by those who want to destroy it, an enemy …"

               "We're here – members of a Muslim-Arab committee, mandated by 57 Arab and Muslim countries – and I can tell you here, very unequivocally, all of us are willing to, right now, guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation and allowing for the emergence of a Palestinian state."

Read more: ‘Jordan's Foreign Minister Told Israelis an Inconvenient Truth, “Ask any Israeli official what their plan for peace is – you'll get nothing,” Ayman Safadi said. One thing Israelis hate is Arabs who want peace,’ by Yoanna Gonan, Haaretz Israel,

… 

In fairness to the people of Israel, Netanyahu is nothing more than a puppet of the West. They say, “Jump.” Netanyahu jumps. They say, “Shoot.” Netanyahu shoots. The Middle East obstructs the Eurocentric interests, neo-colonialism veiled as globalism. The United States is their pit bull. 

… 

Finally, what do you think of Sy Hersh’s eulogy commemorating the premature death of Hassan Nasrallah, a person he liked? 

BUILDING THE BRIDGE! | A WAY TO GET TO KNOW THE OTHER AND ONE ANOTHER

Making a Difference – The Means, Methods, and Mechanism for Many to Move Mountains

Photo Credit: Abraham A. van Kempen, our home away from home on the Dead Sea

By Abraham A. van Kempen
Senior Editor
Updated 19 January 2024

Those who commit to 'healing our broken humanity' build intercultural bridges to learn to know and understand one another and others. Readers who thumb through the Building the Bridge (BTB) pages are not mindless sheep following other mindless sheep. They THINK. They want to be at the forefront of making a difference. They're in search of the bigger picture to expand their horizons. They don't need BTB or anyone else to confirm their biases.

Making a Difference – The Means, Methods, and Mechanism for Many to Move Mountains

Accurate knowledge promotes understanding, dispels prejudice, and awakens the desire to learn more. Words have an extraordinary power to bring people together, divide them, forge bonds of friendship, or provoke hostility. Modern technology offers unprecedented possibilities for good, fostering harmony and reconciliation. Yet its misuse can do untold harm, leading to misunderstanding, prejudice, and conflict.

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