(2021-08-30). Robert M. Gates: Poster Child for Bureaucratic Deceit. counterpunch.org From 2001 to 2015, the number of U.S. servicemen and women in Afghanistan exceeded 100,000, although four secretaries of defense (Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel) conceded privately that the war was not winnable and that no strategy would alter our glide path to defeat. In 2019, the last soldier to die in Afghanistan from Ft. Carson in Colorado was Sgt. Maj. James G. Sartor, who was on his seventh combat deployment in Afghanistan. All four of these secretaries presumably signed at least one deployment order for Sgt. Sartor, one of many victims of deceit as the Pentagon played Russian Roul…
(2021-08-30). Sweden Allegedly Sought to Bomb Afghanistan as Advertisement for Its Fighter Jets, WikiLeaks Reveals. sputniknews.com A sensational WikiLeaks disclosure has revealed that Sweden's Armed Forces wanted to use the Afghanistan war to advertise its Saab Gripen fighter jets across the world thanks to combat experience.
(2021-08-30). 'At 67 years old, all jobs are difficult': Workers Party of Belgium launches campaign against pension reform. peoplesdispatch.org The Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA) has initiated a campaign against the government's proposed pension reform. It has stated that these plans will systematically demolish pension rights in the country…
(2021-08-30). Organizing against militarism from Israel to Europe. roarmag.org 
Israeli soldier launches a skylark drone near the border to Gaza. Photo: By the end of 2020, a total of 82.4 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes according to the
(2021-08-30). Edgar Ramírez Blames Lack of Vaccines in Venezuela for Death of Relatives (Data). orinocotribune.com 
Edgar Ramírez, Venezuelan actor residing in the United States, has reported that several of his relatives in Venezuela died of COVID-19. He has blamed the Venezuelan government for the deaths, reporting that his relatives did not have access to COVID-19 vaccines. However, he did not mention that Venezuela's access to vaccines has been blocked and hampered due to international pressure coming directly from the United States and Europe. | "After excruciating agony, my Aunt Lucy died on Saturday," wrote Ramírez on his
(2021-08-30). US Leads the World in 7-Day Average of New Daily COVID Cases, Death Count. truthout.org 
The United States leads the world in coronavirus deaths per day, as well as daily new cases. Because of these troubling trends, the European Union (EU) determined this week that it would formally remove the U.S. from its safe travel list. | Around 1,504 deaths from coronavirus are being reported daily in the country, according to a seven-day average calculated by
(2021-08-30). France: Macron's "health pass" conceals policy of "herd immunity" wsws.org When the French daily Le Monde reported on the national defence council meeting held on July 21, it noted that President Emmanuel Macron had made a "sort of presidential veto" to the imposition of local lockdowns.
(2021-08-30). Who Wins Germany's Election Next Month? counterpunch.org Germany is not defined by two parties. It does not have Democrats vs. Republicans (USA), Labor vs. Tories (UK), or as some evil heretics might say, "Coke vs. Pepsi". Instead, several parties seek to govern after an election. This makes coalition building "after" an election crucial. Unlike in previous decades, coalition building will be the name of the game in about one month's time. The upcoming coalition comes at a time when Angela Merkel is ending her reign and will move into retirement.
(2021-08-30). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Breaking down the booster terminology for COVID-19 vaccines. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org COVID-19 vaccine boosters are being recommended eight months after a person's second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. "A vaccine booster dose is generally an additional dose above and beyond the primary series needed to achieve protective immunity," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "So the dose that was approved this past week would be better classified as an 'additional dose' for those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised." Dr….
(2021-08-30). How Amílcar Cabral Shaped Paulo Freire's Pedagogy. orinocotribune.com By Curry Malott — Aug 26, 2021 | Frantz Fanon's influence on Paulo Freire's thought is well known, but the Brazilian educator also drew considerably from Amílcar Cabral, the revolutionary intellectual from Guinea-Bissau. | This is a lightly edited excerpt from an article originally published by Amílcar L Cabral was born 12 September 1924 in Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau, one of Portugal's African colonies. He was murdered on 20 January 1973 by fascist Portuguese ass…
(2021-08-30). Far-Right Ideology Has Cemented Itself In Ukraine Under Zelensky. southfront.org 
"Democratic" torch march in KievZelensky is incapable or unwilling to deal with the Ukrainian Far-Right. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was believed to be a reformer and a liberal when he took over the presidency from Petro Poroshenko. The billionaire former president is part of the corrupt oligarchy who from 2014 relied on neo-Nazis to fight and kill Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens in Donbass (Eastern Ukraine). Zelensky, a comedian and actor before b…
(2021-08-30). Hedges: The Empire Does Not Forgive. scheerpost.com 
Original illustration by Mr. Fish. |
| By Chris Hedges / Original to ScheerPost | The Carthaginian general Hannibal, who came close to defeating the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War, committed suicide in 181 BC in exile as Roman soldiers closed in on his residence in the Bithynian village of Libyssa, now modern-day Turkey. It had been more than thirty years since he led his army across the alps and annihilated Roman legions at the Battle of Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae, considered one of the most brilliant tactical victories in warfare which centuries later inspired the plans of the German Army…
(2021-08-30). Oppose school reopenings in unsafe conditions in Turkey! wsws.org The Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education calls on educators, parents and students to oppose the reopening of schools for in-person education from September 6, as the Delta variant spreads rapidly and the pandemic is not under control.
(2021-08-29). Biden got 117,000 Afghans Out: Contrast that Time Trump Abruptly Withdrew Troops from Syria and refused to Help Kurdish Allies. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — Richard N. Ojeda, an Army vet and former West Virginia state representative tweeted out an observation that I would like to reinforce: I don't remember Donald Trump flying one Kurd to safety. He let Turkey slaughter them. They were our allies that served side by side with our troops. Where …
(2021-08-29). Russian Warplanes Attack Militant Positions In Greater Idlib For Tenth Day In Row (Photos). southfront.org 
FILE PHOTO: Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft before departing for its permanent base in Russia from Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. © Vadim Grishankin / Sputnik | For the tenth day in a row, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out a series of airstrikes on the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib. | The airstrikes, which took place in the morning of August 29, targeted the outskirts of the towns of al-Bara and Kansafra in the al-Zawiya Mount in the southern countryside of Idlib. Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay'
(2021-08-29). U.S. Preparing For Another Attack In Kabul, While European Allies Push UN To Protect Afghans. southfront.org 
Illustrative Image | The US Embassy in Afghanistan has asked American citizens to immediately leave the airport area in Kabul because of the security threat. The demand followed Biden's claim that another terrorist attack is expected at the airport in a coming day. | On August 28th, U.S. Embassy in Kabul released a security alert, asking U.S. citizens to leave the area near the Kabul airport and avoid all airport gates."Due to a specific, credible threat, all U.S. citizens in the vicinity of Kabul airport (HKIA), in…
(2021-08-29). Europe Seeks Solutions As It Grapples With Catastrophic Wildfires. popularresistance.org As wildfires ravage the Mediterranean region, many have asked if such blazes are an inescapable part of global warming or whether steps can be taken to reverse the trend. | A colossal heatwave, with temperatures hitting a record 48.8 degrees Celsius in Italy last week, has stoked the wildfires that have devastated swaths of land and killed dozens of people across southern Europe and North Africa, from Turkey, Greece and Italy to Morocco and Algeria. | "What's clear is that climate change will lead us to see [more of] such events," French President Emmanuel Macron said this week after traveling to the Saint-Tropez…
(2021-08-29). Turkish Military Received First Akıncı Combat Drones In Official Ceremony (Photos). southfront.org 
Akƒ±ncƒ± combat drone of Bayraktar at Teknofest, 17 September 2019, By Wikimedia user (CeeGee). | On August 29, Turkey's leading drone manufacturer Baykar handed over the first four Bayraktar Akƒ±ncƒ±s combat drones to the Turkish military. | The advanced drones entered service with the Turkish military in a ceremony held in the northwestern province of Tekirdaƒü and attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Baykar's Chief Technology…
(2021-08-29). Military Situation In Donetsk People's Republic On August 29, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | 1. UAF in Travnevoe shelled Dolomitnoe with 82-mm artillery | 2. UAF in Dyliivka shelled Gorlovka city with 82-mm artillery | 3. UAF in Shumy shelled Gorlovka with 122-mm artillery | 4. UAF in Avdeevka shelled Mineralnoe with grenade launchers | 5. UAF in Vodyanoe shelled Veseloe with 82-mm artillery | 6. UAF in Krasnogorovka shelled Staromikhailovka with 120-mm artillery | 7. DPR forces in Mineralnoe shelled UAF positions in Avdeevka with 120-mm artillery | 8.
(2021-08-29). Libya: 1951 Colonial Plan for Three Governing Divisions Moves Closer to Reality. libya360.wordpress.com Behind the declared aspirations for the establishment of the federal system is the agenda of parties, lobbies, warlords and individuals who see that their influence in their regional surroundings far exceeds their influence at the national level. December 24th will mark the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the United Kingdom of Libya. The situation…