Journalist: “Each War Is Preceded By A Big Media Lie

By Sophie McAdam

Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya…and maybe Syria, too? This investigative journalist points out some important similarities.

Michel Collon is a Belgian author, journalist, and historian whose outspoken stance on Western imperialism and propaganda is comparable to former marine Ken O’Keefe or Irish reporter Gearoid O’Colmain (both of who have had much to say on these matters in the wake of the Paris attacks).

In this televised debate from French TV, Collon slams mainstream media lies and Western foreignpolicy in an intelligent rant against the blatant hypocrisy of the USA, France and their allies. This debate took place in 2011 just before the invasion of Libya, and as such the focus is whether or not the West should get involved. However, every single point Collon makes could be applied toSyria– and not only that, but Collon’s words also serve as a warning for what we can expect if the West invades Iran in future.

Collon says:

“I think it would be prudent to remember that each war is preceded with a big media lie. When the USA attacked Vietnam they said it was because two Vietnamese warships attacked their fleet; this was false. When we attacked Iraq, it was because they had weapons of mass destruction, that they were accomplices of Al Qaeda. This was false. When we attacked Afghanistan, it was because they were responsible for 9/11. This was false.There is a media lie for each war. After, we know it’s false, but the damage is already done.”

Collon’s points back up recent claims made by a German journalist that all mainstream news is controlled.

He continues: “We’re told that Gaddafi is shooting at civilians; we’ve yet to see evidence”(watching the video with hindsight reminds us that we never did). He points out Gaddafi offended Israel and the West by supporting Palestine, and by nationalizing Libya’s oil, which made him an enemy of EXXON, Total and BP. Collon also correctly states that Egypt and Tunisia’s governments were once supported by the USA. But the White House feared that if the two countries kept growing, along with Libya they would cause a geopolitical nightmare for Israel…so both leaders (Ben Ali and Mubarak) were ousted during the Arab Spring. 

“What is the criteria, according to Europe and the USA, to distinguish the good Arab {countries] from the bad?” Collon asks, attacking the fickleness and double standards of the West. He goes on to suggests a few. Are the ‘good’ Arab countries those which hold democratic elections? Palestine just did that, Collon points out, yet the voter’s choice (Hamas won 56%) was disregarded. The PalestinianPresident won just 2%, but he was supported by the West. Is he a good Arab or a bad Arab, Collon asks?

“Well, surely he’s bad for not recognizing democracy. But no, according to the West he’s good. And those we bombed were the Palestinians because they didn’t vote well.” He goes on to list Saudia Arabian crimes, largely ignored by the West because the country does as it is told. “The good Arab, in the end, is the Arab who kneels, gives his oil to the USA, and this same guy will be able to treat womenas slaves, commit torture and terrorism, and he will never be punished by Sarkozy (former President of France] and Obama,” Collon tells the panel.

Do you agree or disagree?

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Drone Pilots Finally State the Obvious – Blowing Up Innocent People is Creating “Terrorists”

"We cannot sit silently by and witness tragedies like the attacks in Paris, knowing the devastating effects the drone program has overseas and at home."

We killed them in their sleep. That was cowardly murder.’ – Brandon Bryant former USAF drone pilot.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, government officials and MSM talking heads are hauling out the same old propaganda and fear rhetoric. They “hate our freedom,” they hate western civilization, the Muslim religion demands the murder of all non-believers. This manufactured rage then manifests itself on the most defenseless—the refugees of war—who in tragic irony seek help from those who drove the cause of their suffering.

As The Free Thought Project wrote earlier, decades of Western meddling in the Middle East has killed countless innocent people and created a million Osama Bin Ladens. Those who watch their loved ones die by foreign bombs and bullets find it difficult to turn the other cheek.

This week, a group of former drone operators gave a press conference, where they described the horrific “targeted strikes” that fuel hatred and bring easy recruitment to ISIS. Last week’s terror attacks compelled the veterans to speak out, as they believe that ISIS is fueled in part by the indiscriminate drone assassinations.

Michael Haas, Cian Westmoreland, and Stephen Lewis are former senior airmen in the U.S. Armed Forces. Joined by former Staff Sgt. Brandon Bryant, they have all conducted kill missions in Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They represent the largest collection of drone whistleblowers to date.

“We kill four and create 10 [militants],” Bryant went on to say. “If you kill someone’s father, uncle or brother who had nothing to do with anything, their families are going to want revenge.”

Since 9/11, the U.S. military has exponentially increased the use of unmanned drones to carry out targeted killings in many countries, under Bush and Obama. Details have emerged on how the drone program relies on unreliable intelligence and kills far more innocent people than it does intended targets.

Haas, who also served as a flight instructor, described the “bloodlust” and indifference to the act of killing children and non-combatants. He also said that some operators would frequently be intoxicated during missions so they could “bend that reality and try to picture yourself not being there.” Members of the drone program refer to children as “fun-size terrorists” or “TITs (terrorists in training),” and say they are “cutting the grass before it grows too long.”

The courageous former drone operators—risking prosecution, threats of violence and “warnings” of danger from the FBI—wrote an open letter to President Obama and CIA director John Brenna in the attempt to inject truth into the whirlwind of senseless rhetoric.

The open letter states that the drone program has “fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to Guantánamo Bay,” and the killing of civilians is one of the most “devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.”

Westmoreland said, “In the short term they’re good at killing people, but in the long term they’re not effective. There are 15-year-olds growing up who have not lived a day without drones overhead, but you also have expats who are watching what’s going on in their home countries and seeing regularly the violations that are happening there, and that is something that could radicalize them.”

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Day After Warning Russia About Civilian Casualties, US Bombs Afghan Hospital

Up to 20 civilians were killed by U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan early Saturday morning that hit a hospital in Kunduz. According to reports, another 37 people have been injured and many more remain unaccounted for. The hospital is operated by a French affiliate of Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières (MFS), and was the only functioning health facility in the area.

According to The Guardian, “The hospital was hit during an aerial bombardment on Saturday morning in the besieged city of Kunduz, destroying a large portion of the facility. An MSF source told the Guardian that up to 20 Afghan members of staff and patients were killed and dozens more injured. They said the death toll could rise further. Among the killed were nine MSF staff and seven patients from the intensive care unit, including three children.”

“I was inside my office. Around 2am, the plane started bombing the main building of MSF. It lasted one and a half hours. After 3:30am, I came out from my office and saw all of the hospital was on fire,” said an MSF staff member who wished to remain anonymous. He continued, “We couldn’t save our doctors, our nurses, our cleaners, our friends. They burned inside the hospital. We couldn’t save our brothers and friends.”

MSF posted a tweet claiming that U.S., Afghan, and Taliban forces were all aware of the location of the hospital and were assured it would not be targeted. However, even after alerting U.S. forces the hospital was being bombed, the shelling continued for an additional 30 minutes.

The city of Kunduz is the site of a renewed battle between U.S.-backed Afghan security forces and the Taliban. The U.S. government claims the war in Afghanistan is over and that the country is transitioning into a democracy. The truth is that Afghanistan is in just as poor shape as it was before the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban. In fact, some conditions are worse now than they were before the U.S. installed a Western-friendly government.

Last week, we learned U.S. Marines were instructed to allow Afghan security forces and U.S.-backed Afghan militias to molest children. One Marine broke rank to stop a pedophile and was later forced into retirement for not following orders. And, production of opium — nearly eradicated by the Taliban — is now at record levels under the new regime.

The bombing comes at a critical time for U.S. foreign policy hawks, including President Obama, who in recent days has been criticizing Russia for initiating a bombing campaign of its own in Syria, in support of the Syrian government. While Russia maintains it is targeting terrorists in Syria, Western media reports flooded the airwaves the day Russia’s bombing started with reports of civilian casualties.

This hospital bombing is sure to complicate the West’s rhetoric against Russian aggression — considering their main talking point is concern over civilian and non-terrorist deaths at the hands of Russia in Syria. As news of the United States’ bombing of this hospital spreads, it leaves little room for criticism of Russian airstrikes.

Corporate media reports were quick to condemn Russian aggression, and rightly so; however, they have been utterly silent regarding U.S. collateral damage in recent months. While the United States and its allies continue indiscriminate airstrikes in at least seven countries, the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led incursion into Yemen has taken the lives of 500 children since March. In fact, the U.S. War on Terror has taken the lives of an estimated four million Muslims since 2001, many of whom were women and children.

It’s long past time for the U.S. public and media to oppose the innocent killing of civilians, whether the crimes are committed by Russia or their own government.

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Short Animation Explains Economics, War, Poverty And Terrorism…In Under 2 Minutes

They want you to think it's complicated, but it's really very simple...

This excellent short film from activist Wesley PP Hall does a fantastic job of simplifying concepts that our leaders and mainstream media would prefer us to dismiss as confusing or complex. The voiceover is provided by John Perkins, who wrote the book ‘Confessions of an Economic Hitman’, a shocking expose of international corruption.

The producer combines Perkins’s powerful words with great visuals to successfully link a whole range of topics together in an easy-to-understand (and hard-hitting) way. Perkins speaks openly about how the global banking system works, and how it is directly linked to other issues, such as war and increased terrorism.

In a nutshell, Perkins explains how developing countries are targeted for their resources, then offered loans. The money doesn’t go to the people, of course, it goes to corporations who build infrastructure under the pretense of aid, usually destroying the environment in the process. Later, the masses- who never received anything beneficial from the loans in the first place- are expected to foot the bill. When the country’s debt is too large to pay back, bribery is used:”Sell us your oil at a low price, sell us a pound of flesh…let us build a military base here, that kind of thing,” Perkins explains.

Then, he says, “where we fail, the jackals go in to overthrow or assassinate the leaders. Where the jackals fail- as they did in Iraq– then we send in the military.” Perkins concludes that this sick pattern of disposing of (often democratically elected) politicians in order to gain control of a country‘s resources is a key contributing factor to terrorism, and it causes “an unsafe, unjust, unsustainable and very very dangerous world.”

Ever wondered why the world is in such a mess? Watch this and everything will suddenly fall into place. The full hour-long video interview with John Perkins can be seen here.

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