Little to no intelligence at the top of the U.S. media and government

By Martin Love

NORTH CAROLINA - The tippy top of the U.S. journalism food chain is arguably The New York Times, and the best known “journalists” at the Times are probably the names most readers have seen for decades such as columnist Thomas Friedman. Friedman, and some of his colleagues at this strongly Zionist oriented newspaper (allegedly the paper of record whatever that means exactly when it is supposed to mean the most accurate and honest, but it has never been so) are well paid writers (or maybe shills) who consider themselves “intellectuals” of a sort, except that they are not very bright and are propagandists for the most part.

Friedman recently came out and defended the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and said he would do it all again. He defended the invasion and subsequent battles that killed probably two million or maybe three million people (very low-ball estimates are about one million) and maimed millions more, and the suffering goes on in Iraq from depleted uranium, wrecked clean water sources, destroyed infrastructure, ruined lives…you can name ANY horror and Iraqis have seen it over the past 30 years.

One thing hard to fathom is WHY the U.S. has any credibility in Iraq (it has none in Syria or Iran and is losing it in Jordan and even Egypt) and WHY the U.S, has not been kicked out of Iraq and diplomatic relations severed. In fact, the problem in the Arab or the Muslim world is, as it has long been, disunity and pandering to the West, especially the U.S., for gratuities and faux “protection” of one sort or another. But what is especially galling in Friedman’s attitude is his condescension to towards the Muslim world generally.

Friedman, and he’s worth focusing on because his views reflect the views of many others in positions to influence policy in Western countries, has written that on 9/11 the U.S. got hit with all the “distilled pathologies” of the Arab/Muslim world and if this culture does not open itself to religious and gender pluralism, it is going to die and “Israel is going to be surrounded by complete and utter chaos”. This is worth parsing:

It is not yet been established who was behind 9/11. The CIA and the Mossad probably did have a role and knew what was coming before 9/11 arrived, and the official U.S. 9/11 investigation report is a joke that explains none of the anomalies at the scene of the crime – lower Manhattan, particularly the collapse of the towers and Building 11. So whose “pathologies” is Friedman addressing? And it is fair to say that the Zionists have ALWAYS benefitted from chaos in surrounding countries. Zionists literally thrive on Arab and Muslim disunity, and are terrified of Muslims and Christians speaking with one voice.

The countries that WERE destroyed or nearly destroyed by the U.S and its allies, if they still exist as functioning polities, do not have the surfeit of the pathologies Friedman cites most often: a lack of gender pluralism and a lack of religious freedom. In fact, the U.S. has supported and funded and armed the MOST reactionary, illiberal, anti-social religious nutcases the world has ever witnessed: this includes ISIS, the Saudis, an-Nusra (al-Qaeda) and others. And it has underwritten exactly the kind of chaos (faudhaa) that Friedman falsely claims to abhor.  The U.S. has also twisted the arms of OPCW to falsify reports that Basher Assad used chemical weapons on his own citizens, this to justify attacking Syria by the U.S. and allies. But let’s carry this further.

Which countries are the least “democratic” and oppressed in the Middle East? Certainly not Iraq as it was even under Saddam Hussain – the Ba’athists were secular even if free elections were frowned upon to support Saddam. Same with Syria under the Assads, where women, aside from constraints that may be imposed by their families, are little different than women in the U.S. And same with the Libya that was (before Hillary Clinton directed the destruction of that country (once the most prosperous in Africa) with Obama, and bragged about Qaddafi’s horrible murder by bayonet. Yeah, the countries WITH the “pathologies” that Friedman cites are precisely the most oppressive and least “democratic” in the Middle East and the closest U.S. allies: Israel and Saudi Arabia primarily, but also Egypt under Sisi.

Friedman supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq because he claimed the establishment of a democratic Arab state in the Mideast would force other countries to modernize and liberalize. Nope. This did not happen. U.S. allies, cited above, became LESS liberal and less ideologically “modern” even while Syria has struggled to avoid being destroyed by terrorists funded and armed by the U.S., the West and the Saudis. Friedman was and even today is either lying or incompetent and ought not be writing for any media or have any kind of public platform.

Iran has long been demonized for its alleged lack of religious and social freedom, but which largely Muslim country with Muslim religious leaders in power allows the same degree of religious and social freedom as the Islamic Republic? Not the Saudis for sure. And which country has the second largest Jewish community in the Middle East? Iran. Iran is certainly a unique country, and it does have some internal points of contention that eventually might be addressed by all of Iran’s citizens in a climate where it is not being attacked by outsiders. But the Islamic Republic is not and should not fall apart because of the U.S. threat and hostility and sanctions. The mere fact that the Trump Administration has supported the MEK (a terrorist group labeled as such by the U.S. in the past) or even anyone related to the Pahlavi (puppets) tells one all that’s needed to know about the idiocy of U.S. thinking.

Virtually all the world, aside from the U.S. warmongers and resource rapists and the backward Saudis and the Zionists, literally BEGS that Iran remain steadfast and get through this difficult time intact and strong of spirit. Iran is a country that is going to emerge as a world leader in some respects if only the world can become truly “multi-polar” and dispense with the destructive hegemonic pretensions of the U.S.