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Russian Ambassador Slams U.S. & Europe Over Iran Sanctions at UN

Russia confirms circulating draft proposal aimed at preventing activation of ‘snapback’

Press TV – August 27, 2025

Russia has confirmed circulating a draft proposal at the UN Security Council aimed at averting activation of the so-called “snapback” mechanism that would restore the council’s sanctions against Iran.

The country’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanski made the remarks to reporters during a press conference on Tuesday.

“It (the proposal) is about extending Resolution 2231,” he said.

The resolution’s expected expiration in October would lead to reinstatement of the coercive measures.

The European trio of the UK, France, and Germany – the United States allies in a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world countries – has been trying hard to have the measures restored.

Polyanski, however, insisted, “Russia and China want to give more breathing space for diplomacy and provide some possibilities for an active quest for a diplomatic solution to this issue.”

He said Moscow and Beijing were doing so in their capacity as “as responsible members of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal’s official name. … Full article

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Video | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Borrell calls for European action in Gaza even though he did nothing as top diplomat

By Ahmed Adel | August 28, 2025

The former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, laments the inaction of Brussels in the face of the ongoing “massacre” in Gaza and warns that its growing “discredit” will ultimately disqualify the bloc from implementing policies to defend human rights. However, the former diplomat, like the government of his home country, Spain, has only spoken out in support of Gaza and not taken any concrete actions.

“Someone would have to take legal action to make the European institutions do what they should do, and since it seems they don’t want to do it, there’s something called the courts of justice to take the case of inaction there,” Josep Borrell told the media at the August 25 opening of the Quo Vadis Europa course, which he directed at the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) in Santander, northern Spain.

Borrell, who headed EU diplomacy from 2019 to 2024, admitted that Brussels is doing “literally nothing” about the massacres perpetrated by the Israeli army and the induced famine.

“They say yes, maybe they’re going to make a proposal to establish some kind of sanction, but then they don’t do it,” he said.

The former diplomat also denounced the EU’s failure to fulfill its political and administrative obligations under the founding treaty of the bloc.

Borrell’s statements came in a context dominated by the resignation two days earlier of the Dutch ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Education, and Health, along with four other secretaries of state, due to “resistance within the Cabinet” to taking action against Israel.

Led by Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, ministers from the center-right NSC party had decided to ban the import of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. However, the other two parties in the governing coalition, the liberal VVD and the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), believe the measure goes “too far.”

It also raises questions about why Borrell would make these statements during a summer school year and not utilize the influence and connections he supposedly has to lead a campaign to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. In fact, he should have made them during his term.

The first report by the UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, was released in March 2024, while Borrell concluded his term in November of that year. The report was titled “Anatomy of a Genocide,” in which she convincingly documented that a genocide was being committed in Gaza.

In 2024, a series of European committees and associations defending Palestine submitted a report to Brussels, requesting the termination of the association agreement with Israel. The report argued that Article 2 of the agreement, which pertains to respect for human rights, was being violated. In other words, Borrell was obviously aware of the situation he is now denouncing.

On the same day Borrell spoke, Israeli forces attacked the Nasser Hospital in Gaza with a double bombing, killing at least 14 people, including four journalists and several rescue workers. Spain immediately condemned the attack, calling it a “flagrant and unacceptable violation of international humanitarian law.”

In his message of condemnation on X, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated that the “war in Gaza” must end and that “Spain works every day to achieve this.”

The reaction is illustrative of the way the EU and its national governments conduct themselves – issuing condemnations and more condemnations on social media, but taking no action to impose sanctions on those responsible for the famine.

Borrell’s statements serve as a kind of facelift for the Spanish government, which is also distinguished by its tendency to issue statements but not take effective measures. In fact, the Hague Group meeting to take effective measures was held in Colombia in July. Spanish representatives were present, but they did not speak out.

It is also worth noting that, unlike the Dutch Cabinet ministers, no Spanish minister has considered resigning for similar reasons. Ministers from Sánchez’s governing partner, the Sumar coalition, did not even seriously threaten to leave the government, despite the arms sales contracts with Israel remaining in effect.

Meanwhile, Borrel’s words about the need for “judicial action” are at odds with reality. Legal initiatives are already underway. For starters, South Africa filed a complaint against Israel for genocide with the International Court of Justice. Spain is not an effective party to the complaint and is not undertaking many of the actions it could be taking. In this way, Madrid evidently behaves in the same way as Borrell, just using rhetoric but not taking any actual action.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Progressive Hypocrite, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Video confirms Israeli troops fired three tank shells at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital

The Cradle | August 28, 2025

New video shows that a double-tap attack carried out by Israeli forces on a hospital in Gaza involved three separate munitions, one in the first strike and two in the second, CNN reported on 28 August.

The 25 August attack on Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis in Gaza killed 22 people, including health workers, emergency response crews, and five journalists.

On the morning of the strike, Reuters journalist Hossam al-Masri was operating a live stream from an exterior stairwell on the top floor of the Nasser Hospital.

At 10:09 am, an Israeli munition targeted Masri, killing him and one other man.

Journalists and rescue workers rushed to the stairwell to look for survivors.

At 10:17 am, as rescue workers were carrying a body down the stairwell, a second and third Israeli strike, just milliseconds apart, targeted the stairwell, killing 20 more.

“One shell hits the staircase where first responders had gathered; a fraction of a second later, another explodes at almost the same spot,” CNN wrote, describing the video.

N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services, said the munitions were likely fired by two separate tanks at the same time.

“The impact of two projectiles at nearly the exact same moment suggests two tanks may have fired on the target simultaneously,” Jenzen-Jones told CNN. “It’s hard to read too much into that, but it suggests a more carefully coordinated attack, rather than a single vehicle firing at a ‘target of opportunity.’ Modern tank guns, supported by the sensors and systems of modern tanks, are very precise.”

“In gruesome video filmed after the second and third strikes, scores of bodies can be seen on the staircase on both the top floor and the floor below,” CNN added.

The five journalists killed were Reuters journalist Hossam al-Masri, Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammad Salama, Independent Arabia and AP journalist Maryam Abu Daqqa, and NBC journalist Muath Abu Taha.

Journalist Ahmad Abu Aziz later succumbed to his wounds, which were sustained in the same attack.

The fourth-floor balcony and staircase area of the Nasser Hospital was frequently used as a live camera position by Reuters, AP, and other international media outlets. Journalists also gathered in the stairwell to try to get cell service to upload their reports.

Israeli military spokespersons have repeatedly changed their story to deflect blame for the apparently deliberate killings at Nasser Medical Complex, the only hospital still operating in southern Gaza.

As international condemnation grew following the strike, the Israeli military claimed that Hamas was using a camera on the stairwell to monitor its troop movements, even though only the Reuters camera was present.

The military then claimed that six of the those killed were “terrorists” from Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

However, Sky News examined social media pages and obituaries for each of these six people and found that only one, Omar Abu Teim, had been a resistance fighter.

An Israeli security official speaking with CNN acknowledged that Israeli forces received authorization to strike the camera with a drone. The source said Israeli forces instead fired two tank shells, the first at the camera and the second at the crowd that gathered on the stairwell to help with rescue efforts.

“The shocking thing is why the Israeli air forces hit the journalists on the fourth floor. And when we sent our humanitarian staff to rescue them, they attacked them again,” stated Dr Mohammed Saqer, Director of Nursing at Nasser Hospital.

“What’s the point of this? Why do you insist on killing us? We are working in a humanitarian area, in a health facility. We should be protected according to international regulations and rules,” Saqer added.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN told the Security Council on Thursday that the Israeli military’s recent “double tap” strike on the Gaza hospital was “premeditated.”

“The second strike on Nasser hospital was a premeditated strike on medics and journalists who arrived at the scene after the first strike,” stated Riyad Mansour.

“While the world demands a permanent ceasefire, Israel continues its crimes. Where else is the killing of so many civilians and journalists tolerated?”

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Deception, Full Spectrum Dominance, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

UN rights experts rebuke ‘enforced disappearances’ at Gaza aid sites

Al Mayadeen | August 28, 2025

UN rights experts voiced alarm over reports of “enforced disappearances” of starving Palestinians seeking food at distribution sites run by the US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), calling on “Israel” to end the “heinous crime”.

In a joint statement, seven independent experts detailed having received reports that several individuals, including one child, had been “forcibly disappeared” after they had gone to aid distribution sites in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations itself, stated that “reports of enforced disappearances targeting starving civilians seeking their basic right to food is not only shocking, but amounts to torture,” adding, “Using food as a tool to conduct targeted and mass disappearances needs to end now.”

Israeli military directly involved in ‘forced disappearances’

According to a statement signed by the five members of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, along with Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on rights in the Palestinian territories, and her counterpart on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, “Israel’s” military was reportedly “directly involved in the enforced disappearances of people seeking aid.”

The statement further accused “Israel’s” military of violating international law by refusing to provide information on the fate and whereabouts of the individuals it had deprived of their liberty, adding that a “state agent’s failure to acknowledge a deprivation of liberty or a refusal to confirm a detention effectively constitutes an enforced disappearance.”

The UN human rights office reported last week that it had documented the killings of 1,857 Palestinians seeking aid since late May, a figure which includes 1,021 individuals killed near GHF sites. The experts warned that “the distribution points pose additional risks for devastated individuals of being forcibly disappeared” and urged Israeli authorities to “put an end to the heinous crime against an already vulnerable population.”

They demanded that the authorities “clarify the fate and whereabouts of disappeared persons and investigate the enforced disappearances thoroughly and impartially and punish perpetrators.”

UN staff pressure human rights chief to label war on Gaza a genocide

Meanwhile, hundreds of UN staff at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have asked their chief, Volker Turk, in a letter seen by Reuters, to explicitly describe the war in Gaza as an unfolding genocide.

The letter sent on Wednesday said the staff considers that the legal criteria for genocide in the Israeli war on Gaza, which has lasted nearly two years, have been met, citing the scale, scope, and nature of the violations documented there.

The letter, which was signed by the Staff Committee on behalf of over 500 employees, stated that “OHCHR has a strong legal and moral responsibility to denounce acts of genocide,” adding that “failing to denounce an unfolding genocide undermines the credibility of the UN and the human rights system itself.”

Turk, who has repeatedly condemned “Israel’s” actions in Gaza and warned of the increasing risk of atrocity crimes, said the letter raised important concerns.

“I know we all share a feeling of moral indignation at the horrors we are witnessing, as well as frustration in the face of the international community’s inability to bring this situation to an end,” Turk said in a response according to Reuters, calling on the employees to “remain united as an Office in the face of such adversity.”

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

How US-Israeli Regime Change in Iran Failed

By Kit Klarenberg | Global Delinquents |August 28, 2025

On July 29th, the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank that is enormously influential on Zionist entity ‘defence’ and security policy, published a document advocating for regime change in Iran, setting out potential methods by which Israel could achieve that malign end. In a bitter irony, much of the report’s contents not only attest to the implausibility of achieving such a goal, but lay bare how Benjamin Netanyahu’s calamitous ‘12 Day War’ has made this objective all the more unfeasible.

A flagrant deceit lies at the document’s core. Namely, “Israel did not set the overthrow of the regime in Iran as a goal in the war.” In reality, on June 15th Netanyahu menacingly declared the entity’s unprovoked attack on the Islamic Republic “could certainly” produce regime change. He claimed the government was “very weak”, and “80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out.” Such bold pronouncements were quickly silenced by an unprecedented and devastating missile barrage from Tehran, which Tel Aviv couldn’t repel.

Instead, INSS claims “some” military moves undertaken by the Zionist entity during the 12 Day War “were intended to undermine the foundations” of the Islamic Republic, and ignite mass public protests. However, the Institute admits “not only is there no evidence Israel’s actions advanced this goal, but at least some of them had the opposite effect.” The “clearest example” of this failure, per INSS, was Tel Aviv’s blitzkrieg of Evin prison on June 23rd – a “symbolic blow…intended to encourage public mobilization.”

As it was, scores of civilians, including prisoners and their family members, medical professionals, administrative staff, and lawyers were killed, which “aroused harsh criticism of Israel” even among “critics and opponents” of the Iranian government “inside and outside” the country, the Institute records. Western media and major rights groups condemned the action, with Amnesty International branding it a “serious violation of international humanitarian law” that “must be investigated as a war crime.”

Likewise, attacks on the headquarters of Iran’s internal security forces and IRGC branch Basij “had no noticeable effect and did not lead to eruption of public protests.” INSS suggests Israel’s reckless, indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure during the conflict also neutralised any prospect of citizens taking to streets even if they were at all inclined to do so, due to concerns they may be caught in crossfire. Moreover, Tel Aviv’s belligerence elicited an intense “anti-Israel wave” among the public.

The Institute observes how Iranians “exhibited a notable degree” of “rallying around the flag” during the 12 Day War – “a willingness to defend their homeland at a critical moment against an external enemy.” IINS laments how any and all traces of public dissent in the Islamic Republic “have almost completely disappeared”, in the conflict’s wake. Today, there is no “organized, structured opposition” within or without the country capable of mobilising protesters, let alone displacing the Islamic Republic’s popular government.

Instead, Tel Aviv’s wanton bellicosity has only increased fears among Iranians that foreign powers are seeking to incite and exploit “anarchy and civil war…to impose an alternative political order” on Tehran. It also represented “the most traumatic event for the Iranian public” since the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s. Millions of citizens, particularly younger generations external actors typically look to as regime change footsoldiers, “have now been exposed to the horrors” of “imposed” conflict – and are resultantly more united than ever against external threats.

‘Inadvertent Effects’

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic demonstrated a “high level of internal cohesion”, and “ability to recover relatively quickly” from the Zionist entity’s initial onslaught. INSS bemoans how “there is no indication…of a significant and immediate threat to the stability” of Tehran. On top of the government enjoying “considerable support” among Iran’s “security and law enforcement apparatuses,” Mossad-controlled internal networks that initially wreaked havoc upon the 12 Day War’s eruption have been systematically hunted down, and liquidated. It will be difficult if not impossible to reconstruct them.

Iranian rescue workers sift through rubble inside Evin prison following Israel’s attack

Despite all this, the Institute inexplicably declares regime change in Tehran remains “a possible solution” and “worthy goal” – not just for the Zionist entity, but “the region, and the West.” The report sets out four “different strategies for overthrowing” Iran’s government, each more fantastical than the last. INSS advocates “beheading the ruling leadership” – assassinating “senior regime officials, including the Supreme Leader, his inner hive, and the heads of the political and military leadership,” arguing it might “create a reality that could develop into political change.”

The Institute alternatively suggests “a covert campaign to promote regime change, led by military, security, and political elements in Iran,” to foment a violent palace coup. Another option is “encouraging, organizing, and supporting opposition organizations in exile and training them for a quick return to Iran and taking over the centers of governmental power.” Finally, “providing aid and support to ethno-linguistic minorities while encouraging separatist tendencies and internal divisions within Iran” is mooted.

However, INSS contrarily concedes every proposed route “could lead to the opposite results of strengthening the government’s cohesion in Tehran and ‘rallying the public around the flag’,” and should thus be avoided. For example, the few Iranian diaspora who applauded the Zionist entity aggression’s against their home country, if not supported all-out insurrection in Tehran – most prominently monarchists – repulsed domestic audiences. “Large segments of the Iranian public” thus perceive them as “having betrayed Iran in its time of need”:

“Although aligning with pro-Western and pro-Israel diaspora groups that push for revolutionary change may seem natural, such associations may, in fact, undermine the credibility of internal opposition and ultimately obstruct the desired outcome.”

Similarly, the Institute warns assassinating Ali Khamenei – “raised as a possibility during the war” – “would not necessarily result in regime change,” and probably backfire spectacularly. The Islamic Republic “would likely have little difficulty selecting a successor, who could prove to be more extreme or more capable,” and the Supreme Leader’s murder “may also have inadvertent effects, such as elevating him into a martyr.” This would strengthen the government, solidify public opinion against Tel Aviv, and “complicate efforts to destabilize the regime through popular protest.”

Moreover, as a state that prides itself on religious and ethnic diversity and inclusion, “encouraging separatist tendencies” in Iran is likewise judged an ill-omened approach. INSS observes “heightened public sensitivity to any perceived foreign attempts to promote ethnic fragmentation” locally. Efforts to do so by Israel or its Anglo-American puppetmasters would inevitably “be viewed as trying to fracture the country” and rebound, “uniting large segments of the Iranian public against Israel.”

‘Capacity Problems’

No doubt disappointingly from Tel Aviv’s perspective, INSS concludes toppling the Islamic Republic “depends mainly on factors beyond Israel’s control, and on a catalyst whose prediction is elusive and may never materialize.” Despite purportedly “impressive operational successes” in the 12 Day War, the conflict amply demonstrated Zionist entity military action cannot “promote political change processes in Iran.” More generally, “historical experience shows regime change through foreign intervention brings highly questionable results at best” in West Asia:

“The US has failed to achieve the desired results in the vast majority of cases in which it has promoted moves for regime change, and Israel itself has problematic experience in intervening in another country for regime change – both in the First Lebanon War and in the considerable effort to topple Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”

Elsewhere, it’s suggested Iran “could be dragged into a strategic arms race with Israel, further depleting its already strained economic resources and deepening civilian suffering.” However, INSS acknowledges an almost inevitable upshot would be Tehran seeking nuclear weapons capability, given such an arsenal “would serve as an existential insurance policy.” In any event, “Israel, too, faces limits on its military and economic capabilities” – which is quite an understatement. Yet again though, the Institute ultimately endorses “Israel’s decision to actively act toward regime change in Tehran.”

Evidently, from the perspective of Tel Aviv and its Western sponsors, the regime change coast isn’t clear in Tehran. It is therefore imperative Iranian authorities and the public alike remain ever-vigilant of foreign-borne threats, seen and unseen. Yet, the INSS report abundantly underlines how in the 12 Day War’s wake, the Zionist entity has no good options left available, only scope for triggering far worse consequences for itself. And the Institute considerably downplays the extent to which the conflict was a counterproductive catastrophe for Israel.

It’s been reported senior entity officials had been preparing for June 13th since March, seeking to strike before Iran “rebuilt its air defenses by the latter half of the year.” The underlying plan to militarily cripple Tehran and trigger a popular revolution was in turn purportedly “carefully laid months and years in advance,” having been specifically wargamed in conjunction with the Biden administration. Israel gave Tehran its best shot, failed in its each and every objective, and was left battered.

Tel Aviv’s grand scheme to crush the Islamic Republic employed an extraordinary amount of finite munitions, at astronomical cost. A former financial adviser to the ZOF’s chief of staff has estimated the abortive campaign’s first 48 hours alone cost $1.45 billion, with almost $1 billion spent on defensive measures alone. Government economists place the daily cost of military operations at $725 million. Haaretz calculates civilian and domestic financial damage could run to many billions. This, while the entity’s economy is already barely-functioning.

Furthermore, the entity was reportedly running hazardously low on missile interceptors within five days, despite the US being cognisant of “capacity problems” for months prior, and spending intervening months “augmenting Israel’s defenses with systems on the ground, at sea and in the air.” A July report from Zionist lobby group JINSA warned, “after burning through a large portion of their available interceptors,” Washington and Israel “both face an urgent need to replenish stockpiles and sharply increase production rates.”

Grave questions abound over the pair’s ability to do either. JINSA notes US THAAD interceptors provided 60% of the entity’s air defence, expending roughly 14% of Washington’s total THAAD stockpile in the process – which “at current production rates” will take three to eight years to replenish. Iran’s “large-scale missile campaign” moreover “revealed vulnerabilities in Israeli and US air defense systems, providing lessons that Iran or other US adversaries could exploit in the future.”

In sum, the Zionist entity is a beast encircled, reduced to lashing out through desperation, not strength. Its ability to flail against not merely Iran, but the wider Axis of Resistance, without further endangering its already precarious position is extremely limited, if not non-existent. Wholly dependent on foreign support at a time polls indicate it’s the most hated ‘country’ on Earth, Tel Aviv still presumes the capability to make the next move against its adversaries. INSS’ report strongly suggests this could be its very last.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Trump revives Gaza ‘Riviera’ plan in White House meeting with Blair and Kushner

MEMO | August 28, 2025

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has participated in a White House meeting led by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner to discuss Gaza’s future, a gathering that has raised alarm due to its exclusion of Palestinians and ties to a plan that many describe as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.

The meeting, described as a “large gathering” by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, reportedly focused on a post-war vision for Gaza that echoes Trump’s earlier calls to depopulate the besieged territory and transform it into a US-controlled “Riviera” on the Mediterranean. Witkoff framed the initiative as “well-meaning,” yet there is widespread concern over an initiative led by figures who back Gaza’s ethnic cleansing.

Blair’s presence at the meeting has drawn scrutiny given previous involvement of staff from his institute with a project widely linked to this so-called “Riviera Plan”. Earlier reporting by the Financial Times (FT) revealed that staff from Blair’s Institute for Global Change took part in discussions involving an economic development slide deck that envisioned a depopulated Gaza rebranded as a smart zone for luxury tourism and offshore development. Although the Blair Institute has stressed that it neither authored nor endorsed the plan, the participation of its staff has raised questions.

Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former Middle East adviser, has long been an advocate of such proposals. In February 2024, he remarked on the “value” of Gaza’s waterfront and publicly suggested Israel should “move the people out” and redevelop the territory. That statement closely mirrors Trump’s suggestion that the US could oversee the reconstruction of Gaza once its population is expelled.

Trump’s White House has been consulting Kushner for months on the future of Gaza and is reported to have collaborated with economists like Joseph Pelzman, who openly advocated for razing Gaza entirely and relocating its residents. The academic, speaking on an Israeli podcast, outlined a plan to dig up all infrastructure and “move [the locals] around,” suggesting Egypt—described as “bankrupt”—could be pressured into accepting the displaced population.

No Palestinian officials or representatives were present at the meeting. Nor were any Arab states reportedly invited, despite the meeting’s sweeping implications for regional stability. Instead, the attendees included Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The absence of Palestinian voices and the involvement of figures like Kushner, who has dismissed Palestinian statehood and backed Israeli settlement expansion, has intensified criticism.

For Blair, a former Quartet envoy to the Middle East, participation in such a meeting, alongside proponents of Gaza’s ethnic cleansing, is especially controversial. A source close to Blair told the FT that his attendance was driven by a desire to restart a political process and secure a two-state solution, claiming “it is absolutely not and never was about forcible displacement.”

The “Riviera” vision for Gaza has been condemned by Palestinian civil society, international legal scholars and numerous human rights organisations as a dangerous fantasy rooted in colonial logic. Turning a traumatised, war-ravaged land into a playground for foreign investors, while its indigenous population is exiled, has been likened to historical settler projects where violence, displacement and economic opportunism went hand in hand.

The meeting took place just as Israel prepares a fresh ground assault on Gaza City, and after Hamas accepted a ceasefire plan that Israel then rejected. In parallel, Trump officials have worked to block Palestinian statehood initiatives at the UN, pressuring allies including the UK, France and Australia to fall in line.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , | 1 Comment

The price of genocide: How US funding sustains an unraveling Israeli economy

By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | August 28, 2025

In an important step toward the economic isolation of Israel due to its genocide in Gaza, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has decided to divest from yet more Israeli companies.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the world’s largest, with total investments in Israel once estimated at $1.9 billion. The decision to divest was taken gradually but is consistent with the Norwegian government’s growing solidarity with Palestine and rising criticism of Israel.

Taking a leading role along with Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia, Norway has been a vocal European critic of the Israeli genocide and man-made famine in Gaza, actively contributing to the International Court of Justice’s investigation into the genocide, and formally recognising the state of Palestine in May 2024. This diplomatic and legal stance, coupled with its financial divestment, represents a coherent and escalating effort to hold Israel accountable for the ongoing extermination of Palestinians.

The Israeli economy was already in a state of freefall even before the genocide. The initial collapse was related to the deep political instability in the country, a result of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government’s attempt to co-opt the judicial system, thus compromising any semblance of “democracy” remaining in that country. This resulted in a significant lowering of investor confidence.

The war and genocide, beginning on 7 October 2023, only accelerated the crisis, pushing an already fragile economy to the brink. According to reports from the Israel Ministry of Finance, foreign direct investments in Israel fell by an estimated 28 per cent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Any supposed recovery in foreign investments, however, was deceptive. It was not the outcome of a global rallying to save Israel, but rather a consequence of a torrent of US funds pouring in to help Israel sustain both its economy and the genocide in Gaza, along with its other war fronts.

Israel’s Gross Domestic Product was estimated by the World Bank to be around $540 billion by the end of 2024. The war on Gaza has already taken a considerable bite out of Israel’s entire GDP. Estimates from Israel itself are complex, but all data points to the fact that the Israeli economy is suffering and will continue to suffer in the foreseeable future. Citing reports from the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance, the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist reported in January 2025 that the cost of the Israeli war on Gaza had already reached more than $67.5 billion. That figure represented the costs of the war up to the end of 2024.

Keeping in mind that the ongoing war costs continue to rise exponentially, and with other consequences of the war—including divestments from the Israeli market by Norway and other countries—future projections for the Israeli economy look very grim. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the Israeli economy, already in a constant state of contraction, shrunk by another 3.5 per cent in the period between April and June 2025.

This collapse is projected to continue, even with the unprecedented US financial backing of Tel Aviv. Indeed, without US help, the precarious Israeli economy would be in a much worse state. Though the US has always propped up Israel—with nearly $4 billion in aid annually—the US help for Israel in the last two years was the most generous and critical yet.

Israel is the recipient of $3.8 billion of US taxpayer money per year, according to the latest 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016. Equally, if not more valuable than this large sum are the loan guarantees, which allow Israel to borrow money at a much lower interest rate on the global market. The backing of the US has, therefore, enabled investors to view the Israeli market as a safe haven for their funds, often guaranteeing high returns. This applies to the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund as it did to numerous other entities and companies.

Now that Israel has become a bad brand, affiliated with unethical investments due to the genocide in Gaza and growing illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, the US, as Israel’s main benefactor, has stepped in to fill the gaps.

The US emergency supplemental appropriations act of April 2024 allocated a total of $26.4 billion for Israel. While much of the money was earmarked for defense expenditures, in reality, most of it will percolate into the Israeli economy. This amount, in addition to the annual military aid, allows the Israeli government to minimize spending on defense and allocate more money to keep the economy from shrinking at an even faster rate.

Additionally, it will free the Israeli military industry to continue producing new, sophisticated military technology that will ensure Israel’s continued competitiveness in the arms market.  The military-industrial complex, a significant part of the Israeli economy, is thus not only sustained but given a fresh impetus by American aid, ensuring the war machine continues to function with minimal financial disruption.

All of this should not diminish the importance of divestment from the Israeli financial system. On the contrary, it means that divestment efforts must increase significantly to balance out the US push to keep the Israeli economy from imploding.

Moreover, this should also make US citizens, who object to their government’s role in the genocide in Gaza, more aware of the extent of Washington’s collaboration to save Israel, even at the price of exterminating the Palestinians. Indeed, the flow of funds from the US is not a passive action; it is an active collaboration that directly enables the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

European economies and societies are broken

By Sonja van den Ende | Strategic Culture Foundation | August 28, 2025

In recent days, one alarming report after another has emerged about the European economies. The political elites and their mouthpieces, the mainstream media, can no longer ignore it. Things are not going well—and that is putting it mildly. The situation is bad and will get worse. This is something some of us had anticipated for quite some time, and alert economists have been saying and warning about.

Let’s start with one of the richest countries in Europe: the Netherlands. Although small in size, the wealth enjoyed by elites and, to some extent, citizens some twenty years ago was enormous. I would even venture to say that, in some respects, the Netherlands was richer than Switzerland.

But due to many factors—bad politics, and the emergence of countries like China and, to a certain extent, India and Russia, whose economies have become stronger and their citizens richer—the Netherlands is now on the verge of collapse, like almost all wealthy EU countries, or rather, Western countries.

Dutch politics has been unstable for years. There are simply too many parties, too many opinions, and too much division. While the older, established parties remain strong in terms of seat count, they cannot truly govern. Moreover, there is the “manufactured” housing crisis caused by the insane nitrogen policy, the refugee crisis that causes daily street violence and the murder of women and children, and then there are the agendas of the WEF and the UN that have to be pushed through due to the advancing artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy. It is a cocktail of unrest and division. Also, let us not forget the increasing criminality of the Moroccan mafia: the underworld has now penetrated into the upper world.

The new elections (the last one was in 2023) and the government, which did not take office until 2024, have been ineffective. The population is being misled and distracted by the supposed war Russia is planning to start. So, parties like the established Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) are devising new plans. This party, which is well in the lead, wants to introduce a “freedom tax” to increase the defense budget so they can wage “war” or defend themselves against the greatest threat: Russia.

Then we come to the worst, “sickest” kid in the class: Germany. The welfare state is “no longer financially viable,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a BlackRock man, in recent interviews. Of course, it is no longer financially viable—one does not have to be an economic whiz kid to see that, with so many migrants contributing little to nothing but receiving money from the state.

The country has been slowly spiraling toward the abyss since 2015, a process that can no longer be stopped; politicians and elites do not want to stop it. They talk a lot but essentially do nothing. The famous German car industry is ruined, the chemical industry is ruined, and with it, many suppliers.

The most foolish thing Germany could do economically was to stop buying Russian gas. Now they have a major problem: like the rest of Europe, they have to buy expensive LNG from the U.S. The costs are skyrocketing, to put it mildly.

Recently, after all the government’s lies and manipulation, the truth about how Germany, or rather its citizens, should survive the winter came to light. Many gas storage facilities in Germany are currently significantly emptier than in previous years. The Greens, who want to gradually phase out gas, are warning in the Bundestag about the consequences of a cold winter. The Greens’ policies have effectively ruined Germany, with incompetent politicians like Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck. Both have resigned and emigrated abroad, leaving behind a political and economic disaster in Germany.

That other major country in Europe, France, with a president (Macron) who thinks that France is still a great power like it was in the time of the Sun King—Louis XIV or Napoleon—is doing just as badly. According to media reports there, the economy is also struggling. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, French public debt stood at €3,345.4 billion, or 113.9% of GDP.

That the French are arrogant (not all of them, of course) is a well-known fact in Europe and perhaps beyond. But Macron is taking it too far. In a recent interview, Macron called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “predator, a monster at our gates.”

This comes after the disgusting display in Paris at the Olympic Games (in 2024), where satanic rituals mixed with religion were on display, which many countries and citizens expressed their horror about. Now he has the arrogance to make these public statements. If you thought Zelensky was stupid with his statements, Macron is his equal in this.

The countries I mentioned are, or rather were, the “running economic engines” of the EU, the economic heart of Europe, which actually paid for the poorer countries in the south, such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, and especially Greece, a country that went bankrupt in 2008.

Europeans all witnessed the misery in Greece: pensioners eating from garbage bins, entire shopping streets closed, poverty everywhere. Now we see it happening in the heart of the EU economy. Germany has become almost unlivable, especially in the major cities.

The same street scene: retirees who should actually be enjoying a well-earned rest collect plastic bottles for the deposit money, and now, if the government has its way, they will have to do a year of compulsory military service. Imagine this—you just do not want to imagine it…

Europe has lost its prosperity; its culture is being swallowed up by the many migrants who bring their own, and instead of assimilation, these cultures foreign to Europe now predominate. In their foolish attitude and, above all, the indoctrination of many years, politicians now believe they live in a “multicultural” entity. But this is not the case; integration has failed, and European citizens are paying the price for their inaction and for allowing this situation to escalate.

Politicians across Europe, especially in the Western EU countries I mentioned, are seeking a way out—to save their own skins, not so much for their people (in fact, the majority do not care about the people)—but to escape the financial malaise and the people’s anger. They have now resorted to the war agenda that followed the COVID-19 agenda (partly a social behavioral project), the war agenda that was implemented immediately after the launch of the Russian Special Military Operation (SMO).

The Eastern EU countries—Poland, which is currently experiencing the same problems as the Western EU countries: refugees and increased drug use—are the worst when it comes to Russophobia. I am referring specifically to the Baltic States: small but powerful in hatred, and above all, the countries with the most Nazi and fascist supporters. Nazism has never been eradicated there, just like in Western Ukraine.

With this hatred of Russia, they have infected all of Europe, thus playing into the hands of the political elites of Western Europe, who eagerly participate in demonizing Russians—even though some countries and their populations actually have nothing against Russians and have only now been forced by their governments to think, and even worse, hate, about Russia.

The European elites must now also consider the role they will play, now that it is painfully clear that the era of colonization and imperialism is nearly over. Because of this painful geopolitical and economic truth, they are now oppressing their own people, partly succeeding with the “new migrants” who fear for their residency and visas.

But the true indigenous European population is slowly but surely realizing that freedom of speech and press no longer exists, that their democratic rights have been taken away, and that life has become very difficult. This is leading to major conflicts, especially in the once so “free” Netherlands, where people could essentially say anything, even if it was inappropriate. Very turbulent times are ahead, and unfortunately, we are already seeing Europe collapse… just like the Roman Empire when it collapsed; things can happen quickly.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Economics, Full Spectrum Dominance, Militarism, Russophobia | , , , , | 1 Comment

EU using blackmail and slander to pressure Georgian politicians

By Lucas Leiroz | August 28, 2025

Apparently, the EU’s tactic of blackmailing its opponents is reaching even Euroskeptic leaders in countries outside the bloc. Recently, the mayor of Tbilisi publicly denounced the campaign of persecution waged by European authorities against his country’s officials, attempting to force them to comply with Brussels’ policies.

Kakha Kaladze, a former professional soccer player who now serves as mayor of Tbilisi, claimed that the EU launched a campaign of “lies, slander, and misinformation” against the legitimate government of Georgia, attempting to shift local policy toward an anti-Russian direction. Kaladze said that EU representatives used tactics such as blackmail and personal insults directed at members of the Georgian Prime Minister’s cabinet to try to coopt them into an anti-Russian initiative.

The mayor, a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, explained that the EU creates narratives against its opponents both within and outside the bloc, producing biased assessments based on lies and false information. These narratives are then used to undermine political opponents—both through blackmail and by spreading lies.

“Direct threats, blackmail and insults were directed to the prime minister’s office to launch a second front (…) Promises were made: ‘we will help, you will be provided with everything, with appropriate equipment,’ etc. (…) As soon as a political narrative is introduced by some European bureaucrats, an unfair assessment immediately occurs. In general, their assessments are based on lies, slander, and misinformation,” he said.

In the case of Georgia, the European bureaucrats’ intention was to prevent the country from following a sovereign path and respecting the interests of its own people. For years, Georgia has been harassed by Western powers to maintain a policy of automatic alignment with the EU. Furthermore, Kaladze says that the EU openly advocates for a reopening of military hostilities between Georgia and Russia.

Georgia, like several other countries in the post-Soviet space, has experienced violent battles in recent decades, including an armed conflict with the Russian Federation in 2008. At the time, Moscow intervened militarily to prevent Georgian forces from forcibly assimilating the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia—areas where the people had sovereignly decided to follow a different political path from that of Tbilisi. The war ended quickly after Russian forces neutralized the Georgian army and secured the breakaway republics’ right to self-determination.

Since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the EU has been trying to use its candidate countries to wage war with Russia, thus seeking to open a new front against Moscow. Just as Georgia is being harassed to resume hostilities against Russia, Moldova, another country seeking accession to the European bloc, is being induced to attack the separatist region of Transnistria, which also has a substantial pro-Russian population. Kaladze revealed that, in private conversations with Georgian politicians, European bureaucrats implied support for a possible reviving of the war against Russia.

Furthermore, the mayor explains that the EU accuses Georgia of renouncing so-called “democratic reforms.” Indeed, the country is no longer concerned with following European demands, but this doesn’t mean that some kind of authoritarianism is growing in Georgia, but rather that EU standards no longer matter to the local authorities and people. Since the approval of the Foreign Agents Law, which requires foreign NGOs to register in a special way and report to the Georgian government, the EU has simply lost control over its puppet institutions in the country, which is causing fury among Brussels bureaucrats.

Indeed, it’s not surprising that the EU is using these tactics against its adversaries in Georgian politics. Coopting Tbilisi into the Western anti-Russian coalition has become an obsession of European leaders. Fortunately, however, most of the Georgian parliament appears committed to defending national interests, resisting both international pressure and domestic sabotage agents.

As the EU fails to protect its interests abroad, the truth about European practices is beginning to emerge. Despite the EU’s propaganda as an organization defending democracy, human rights, and liberal values, the bloc has in fact become an alliance of authoritarian regimes, marked by irrational and bellicose policies, whose only common foundation is hatred of Russia and its allies.

Georgia has for many years followed this directive of automatic opposition to Russia and sought integration into the EU, but now the country has finally decided to take a different path, asserting the values ​​and interests of the local people.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Associations, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Corruption, Russophobia | , | Leave a comment

Hungary sues EU over frozen Russian assets sent to Ukraine

RT | August 28, 2025

Hungary has sued the EU over its decision to use frozen Russian assets to fund military aid for Ukraine, a move adopted despite Budapest’s opposition.

Western nations froze an estimated $300 billion in Russian assets after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 – some €200 billion of which is held by Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear. The funds have accrued billions in interest, and the West has explored ways to use the revenue to finance Ukraine.

The lawsuit challenges the European Council’s decision last year to channel military aid to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility (EPF), which reimburses countries that send weapons to Kiev.

Implemented in February, the measure directs 99.7% of interest generated from frozen Russian central bank assets to Ukraine, providing an estimated €3-5 billion ($3.5-5.8 billion) annually.

In a case first filed with the EU Court of Justice and later transferred to the General Court, Hungary is demanding to “annul the decision… on allocating funds to assistance measures for supplying military support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces” and to “order the defendants to cover the costs.”

Budapest contends that the EPF acted unlawfully by bypassing its veto, arguing that Hungary is not a “contributing member state.”

“As a result, the principle of equality between Member States and the principle of the democratic functioning of the European Union were infringed because a Member State was deprived, unjustifiably and without a legal basis, of its right to vote,” the filing says.

Hungary opposes the bloc’s unconditional support for Kiev and prefers peace talks to continued fighting. Budapest has repeatedly used its veto to block EU financial and military aid, including a disputed €50 billion package at the end of 2023. The standoff has pushed other EU members to seek ways to sidestep Budapest’s resistance.

Moscow has denounced the asset freeze as “robbery” and a breach of international law, warning it would backfire on the West. Senior Kremlin official Maksim Oreshkin said the freeze had already undermined trust in Western finance, while Russian President Vladimir Putin cautioned that seizing the assets would accelerate a global shift toward alternative payment systems.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Economics, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

The Oklahoma City Bombing: A Lesson in Government Lawlessness

By William L. Anderson • Ludwig von Mises Institute • August 14, 2025

[Blowback: The Untold Story of the FBI and the Oklahoma City Bombing by Margaret Roberts. (Bombardier Books, 2025; 399 pp.)]

On the morning of April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children at a day care center in the building, and injuring hundreds more. As the FBI website tells readers, a single ex-soldier named Timothy McVeigh acted alone, being motivated by anti-government sentiment that came in the aftermath of the Waco massacre two years earlier.

The FBI version, of course, is the official version and the one repeated in history books and in the New York Times. McVeigh was aided by Terry Nichols, who helped him build a large fertilizer bomb that they placed in a rented Ryder truck that was destroyed in the explosion. Michael Fortier gave McVeigh some logistic help, but no one else was involved, just the “lone wolf” McVeigh and a couple of friends.

Using the organization’s vast investigative resources, the FBI quickly solved the case in the style of a Dick Wolf production. McVeigh had already been arrested when an alert policeman 90 miles away from Oklahoma City saw his getaway car had no license plate, so the FBI was able to get their man in custody. The original investigation also had McVeigh accompanied by a man called John Doe #2 when he rented the Ryder truck in Kansas, but soon afterward, the FBI insisted there had been no JD2, that he was a figment of the imaginations of everyone who said they saw him with McVeigh.

We know the rest of the story. McVeigh was convicted in federal court and executed at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 2001. Nichols was convicted both in federal court and Oklahoma state court, but juries deadlocked on the death penalty, so he is serving a life sentence at the fed’s so-called supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Fortier, who provided valuable information to the FBI, pleaded to lesser charges and served a short prison sentence before he and his wife were whisked away in the government’s witness protection program. Case closed.

The FBI’s narrative was useful on two fronts. First, the organization was able to regain prestige after the disaster at Waco by supposedly solving this horrendous crime quickly. Second, by being able to frame the bombing as the result of anti-government rhetoric that had spread following Waco and the 1992 FBI killings at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, the Bill Clinton administration, the Democratic Party, and their allies in the legacy media were able to use the bombing to claim that Republicans and other critics of the administration were responsible for the mayhem.

But what if the FBI’s narrative is untrue and that several people were involved in the bombing, some of whom being either government informers or FBI agents who infiltrated right-wing paramilitary groups? Furthermore, what if federal agents lied about the existence of the so-called John Doe #2, and what if they lied about many other things tied to the bombing and subsequent investigation?

Margaret Roberts—the former news director of “America’s Most Wanted” and a celebrated journalist—has published a new book, Blowback, which successfully challenges the FBI and establishment media narratives about the case. Through interviews with people involved in the case and working with citizen journalists that didn’t buy the official line, Roberts has successfully presented alternative storylines that, frankly, are much more believable than what the FBI has given us, and presents her case in a book that is logical and easy to follow—no mean feat, given just how complicated the story really is.

Blowback involves two related events. The first, of course, is the Oklahoma City bombing. The second is the murder of Kenneth Trentadue in his cell at the Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center August 21, 1995—a death the FBI to this day insists was a suicide. Thanks to a dogged investigation by Kenneth’s brother, Jesse—a former collegiate track star and respected attorney living in Salt Lake City—the FBI’s narratives on Kenneth’s death and the Oklahoma City bombing were exposed as lies, although that investigation came at great cost to Jesse.

(I have corresponded with Jesse Trentadue for many years and was familiar with his investigation, but until I read Blowback, I had not realized just how extensive that investigation has been.)

In the FBI’s account of the bombing, the agency claims:

The bombing was quickly solved, but the investigation turned out to be one of the most exhaustive in FBI history.

No stone was left unturned to make sure every clue was found and all the culprits identified.

The first statement is partially untrue and the second is an outright falsehood. Not only did the FBI refuse to follow leads provided by eyewitness testimony, but the agency threatened law-abiding citizens with prison when their own investigations began to prove that the FBI was lying. Unfortunately, because federal prosecutors, federal judges, and FBI agents have worked together to rig the outcomes, most of the principals in the Oklahoma City bombing will never have to worry about being brought to justice.

As pointed out earlier, the book deals both with the bombing and the Trentadue murder and then ties them together. We begin with the Trentadue case.

Kenneth Trentadue—a military veteran who in earlier years robbed banks to help pay for a drug habit—was picked up near the Mexican border in August 1995, on a parole violation and sent to Oklahoma City. In calls to his wife and family, Trentadue seemed hopeful and told them he would be released soon. However, on August 21, officials called the family to tell them that Kenneth had hanged himself in his cell, and that the prison officials wanted to cremate his body.

Kenneth’s mother and brother, Jesse, insisted on the feds shipping the body to them so they could have a proper burial. When the body was examined at the funeral home in Southern California, however, they were shocked. Roberts writes:

…Kenneth’s wife, mother, and sister had the staff remove heavy makeup applied by the prison to Kenneth’s body. Underneath, they discovered bruises, his cracked skull, possible stun gun burns, and an incision indicating that someone had cut Kenneth’s throat. (p. 12)

None of this made sense at first to the Trentadues. Kenneth was scheduled to be released soon and his calls to family members had been upbeat. Furthermore, the sheer logistics of how he could have hung himself with the bedsheet defied laws of physics. Furthermore, why did he have injuries and an incision in his neck, and why (as they found out later) was his jail cell splattered in blood?

Only later—thanks to a tip from journalist J.D. Cash of the McCurtain Daily Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma—were they led to a possible explanation. Kenneth was seen as a near-dead ringer for the elusive JD2 right down to a tattoo that matched what the other alleged bomber had on his forearm. Had FBI investigators believed he was the second bomber, they certainly would have tried to get that information out of him through an “enhanced” interrogation at Oklahoma City. Instead, they allegedly killed him and then staged a fake suicide.

Whatever happened, Jesse Trentadue found that the FBI stonewalled him, and then FBI agents even met with federal prosecutors and other US Department of Justice officials to see if they could bring criminal charges of “obstruction of justice” against him, with one of those officials being then Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, who was in charge of the cover up of Kenneth Trentadue’s murder that was called the “Trentadue Mission” by the Department of Justice, and later would serve as President Barack Obama’s US Attorney General. The DOJ under Janet Reno would not only ignore (and then harass) Trentadue; it also gave similar treatment to Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who had seen the photos of Kenneth’s body and was demanding answers.

At least Hatch and Trentadue were able to create enough noise to have the DOJ go through the motions of an investigation of Kenneth’s death, but ultimately Holder made sure that there would be no indictment—and no US Senate investigation of the affair. Despite the physical impossibility that Kenneth managed to hang himself in a “suicide proof” cell after inflicting extensive physical trauma on himself, including slashing his own throat, the Holder directed grand jury conclusion was suicide.

(The Trentadue family later won a civil lawsuit in 2001 against the DOJ regarding Kenneth’s death, but the DOJ already has declared it never will pay a judgment to the family no matter what the courts have ruled.)

As Jesse investigated his brother’s death, he joined with others such as Cash to look closely into the FBI’s account of the Oklahoma City bombing and found that the government’s narrative was untrue. While the government and the legacy media insisted that their Timothy McVeigh “lone wolf” account was correct, Jesse and others found that the Clinton White House had been running a shadowy operation named PATCON (for “Patriot Conspiracy) to infiltrate the groups tied to the Christian Identity movement. Their investigation into PATCON would ultimately lead them to the Oklahoma City bombing itself.

Begun by the George H.W. Bush administration in 1991, PATCON supposedly was created to protect Americans from right-wing violence. However, PATCON soon would take on the characteristics of the FBI’s notorious COINTELPRO program of the 1960s and 70s to deal with threats from violent left-wing groups like the Weathermen, as well as the domestic spying programs against alleged Muslim extremists after the 9/11 attacks. As writers like James Bovard have noted, these infiltration programs have taken on a life of their own as those tied to the FBI would seek to enhance their importance by plotting many violent events that the programs allegedly were supposed to prevent.

Far from the Oklahoma City bombing being the work of the amateurish McVeigh and Nichols, Roberts describes in Blowback how she and others were able to trace McVeigh and his associates to the FBI-infiltrated groups that would provide support to him while he drifted into places like Elohim City in Oklahoma—a gathering place for disaffected people who had come to believe the US Government was corrupt and needed to be overthrown. In fact, as Roberts and others have documented, several FBI and ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) informants warned their handlers of the bombing plot or something similar, yet the feds did not act.

Not surprisingly, it seems that the FBI almost welcomed such attacks, as they legitimized the original purpose of PATCON and other programs. Writing about FBI informant John Matthews—who himself had contact with people who allegedly knew about the plans for the bombing—Roberts says:

As he [Matthews] and Jesse talked, Matthews revealed his disillusionment about PATCON. “It seems like the FBI was more interested in inciting violence than preventing it,” Matthews said. He had signed on believing his mission was to monitor the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups on the far-right fringe. However, Matthews came to believe that inciting violence was the fundamental mission of PATCON. (p. 322)

Roberts—following the lead of Trentadue and others—has raised an important question: If the Oklahoma City bombing was not a “lone wolf” operation but rather was tied to shadowy figures, including embedded FBI agents and confidential informers, was it simply a case of a plot that got out of hand? Were people on the inside supposed to put the brakes on the whole operation, but something went wrong?

These questions are not easily answered, and Roberts does not take the conspiratorial plunge to claim that Oklahoma City was somehow a neatly-packaged FBI inside operation. Indeed, there is no way to prove such an allegation and Roberts, Trentadue, and others who have investigated the bombing have not taken that step into the abyss.

However, one can truthfully say that no person benefitted more from the Oklahoma City bombing than President Clinton. Just five months before, he and the Democratic Party had suffered huge setbacks as the Republicans had captured the US House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years and took the Senate, as voters were driven in part by anger at well-publicized abuses by the federal government and especially the Clinton White House.

By tying the bombing to any criticism of the federal government and of Clinton himself, the president was able to channel public anger about the blast toward conservative government critics in general and elected Republicans in particular, and Clinton and the Democrats were able to reverse some of their political losses the next year, as voters returned Clinton to the White House. As the San Francisco Examiner reported:

…under the heading “How to use extremism as issue against Republicans,” [Clinton adviser Dick] Morris told Clinton that “direct accusations” of extremism wouldn’t work because the Republicans were not, in fact, extremists. Rather, Morris recommended what he called the “ricochet theory.” Clinton would “stimulate national concern over extremism and terror,” and then, “when issue is at top of national agenda, suspicion naturally gravitates to Republicans.”

James Bovard also wrote that, following the bombing, his books on government spending and abuses of citizens were interpreted as welcoming things like Oklahoma City, including a hostile review of Freedom in Chains by the Los Angeles Times, with the reviewer declaring:

In Bovard’s defensive and disingenuous discussion of the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, he reveals that he is aware of the possible consequences of his words.

Blowback will not be reviewed in publications like The New York Times Book Review or the New York Review of (Each Other’s) Books (or if they are reviewed in those publications, the reviews will be hostile), but it is a book that one should read if only to rediscover the hard truth that government agents at all levels will lie and probably get away with it. While one imagines that the usual suspects will dismiss this book as a collection of falsehoods and wild conspiracies, the truth is that Roberts has managed to chronicle not only a sorry chapter in the modern history of US governance, but also has highlighted the fact that there are still heroic citizens among us doing their duty even when those charged with protecting citizens and enforcing the rule of law refuse to do so.

August 28, 2025 Posted by | Book Review, Deception, False Flag Terrorism | , | Leave a comment