The Third Estate Sunday Review focuses on politics and culture. We're an online magazine. We don't play nice and we don't kiss butt. In the words of Tuesday Weld: "I do not ever want to be a huge star. Do you think I want a success? I refused "Bonnie and Clyde" because I was nursing at the time but also because deep down I knew that it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of "Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue" or whatever it was called. It reeked of success."
In case you missed it, US House Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced Saturday that she will be seeking the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination. Even before the official announcement, the media was attacking her.
One attack? The lie that Russia's working to get Tulsi elected.
And of course the point of these tawdry smear pieces isn’t to take down Tulsi (she’s not even really campaigning) it’s to send a message to Sanders and Warren that if they don’t take the Correct Line on Russia, perma-war in Syria etc they’ll suffer the same sleazy innuendo.
Holy shit, this NBC piece actually cites New Knowledge—who were just busted by NYTimes planting fake Russian bots on behalf of Democratic Party operatives—as experts who caught Russian bots working for Tulsi. These sleazebags aren’t even trying
This NBC News report is a total disgrace from top to bottom. It's a joke using the most minimal journalistic standards. But that's because NBC is in partnership with the Democratic Party (and intel community) to smear any Dem adversary, on the left or right, as a Kremlin tool:
"What’s particularly unethical about the NBC report is it touts New Knowledge as “the company the Senate used to track Russian activities in the 2016 election,” while concealing the fraud that this firm’s CEO just got caught perpetrating on behalf of the Democratic Party"
John Harwood on MSNBC this morning: "Anybody of these candidates, except maybe Tulsi Gabbard, you can see a realistic shot for them breaking through." Glad he decreed that ahead of time, before voters have a say. Media consensus is so blatantly dismissive of Tulsi, it's amazing
Just seen John Harwood on MSNBC saying 2020 was an open eace with everyone in with a chance - except Tulsi Gabbard! Liberals just can't hide their resentment for a progressive candidate
Roddy Keenan added,
Michael TraceyVerified account@mtracey
NBC News even promotes the GoFundMe of the internet sleuths who want people to crowdfund an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii so they can "investigate" Tulsi's ties to Assad and Russia. I mean, you gotta be kidding
Show this thread
And the print media -- such as it is -- joins in the attacks.
BREAKING NEWS: @VanityFair launched their 2nd hit piece @TulsiGabbard . Vanity Fair smeared a Veteran because she refused to rely on rumors about Syria so she actually went to Syria to investigate for herself. It's insanity. It's 2016 all over again only worse. #SaturdayThoughts
The media attacks on Tulsi should be a sign and indicator of just how much power and change a President Tulsi Gabbard could deliver.
As commander-in-chief, I will work to end the new cold war, nuclear arms race and slide into nuclear war. That is why the neocon/neolib warmongers will do anything to stop me.
Tulsi Gabbard added,
Tulsi GabbardVerified account@TulsiGabbard
@ggreenwald exposes that @NBC used journalistic fraud to discredit our campaign. But more important is their motive: “to smear any adversary of the establishment wing of the Democratic Party – whether on the left or the right – as a stooge or asset of the Kremlin.” https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1092060704226664448…
From yesterday's snapshot: The Iraqi government remains corrupt, remains unresponsive to the needs
of the people, continues to arrest protesters and reporters covering
protests (as events in Basra have demonstrated). And every year, they
train and retrain and then train again the Iraqi military in an effort
to get it up to speed. Of course, the Iraqi military repeatedly fails.
The western press repeatedly works overtime to lie about that. The
Iraqi military would not have 'won' Mosul without US war planes blindly
bombing Mosul -- a city full of civilians.
Andrew Tillet (Australia's FINANCIAL REVIEW) reported yesterday: Australian fighter jets were involved in an air strike believed to have killed up to 18 civilians while fighting Islamic State terrorists in Iraq - the highest casualty rate implicating Australian forces - Defence chiefs have revealed. But
the pilots have been cleared of wrongdoing, with the investigation
finding they had acted in accordance with their rules of engagement and
laws of armed conflict as part of desperate efforts to save the lives of
Iraqi soldiers during brutal urban combat to liberate West Mosul.
The
deaths have been attributed to a lack of solid intelligence on the
ground as Iraqi troops fought, with no time to properly assess whether
surrounding buildings were clear of civilians before bombs were dropped.
While I have no problem with the pilots being cleared of wrongdoing, I
do have a problem with those over the strikes and the policy of the
strikes being cleared of wrongdoing. Mosul is a highly populated city.
That was known. That was known before the US or any other government
started dropping bombs on Mosul to 'fight' ISIS. There were no
'precision' strikes. That's a lie used to lull the public into
stupidity so they won't object to what's really going on -- the
equivalent of carpet bombing schools, places of worship, homes, etc.
Responding to the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) admission that its
air strikes in Mosul, Iraq may have caused up to 18 civilian deaths in
2017, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research
Director, said:
“The Australian Defence Force’s latest admission
that its air strikes killed civilians during the battle for Mosul in
2017 is a step in the right direction. Once again, the Australian
government has proven more willing to take responsibility for causing
loss of civilian life than its coalition partners, including the UK, USA
and France.
“The matter must not end here, however. The ADF
should continue to lead by example by providing the further details
necessary to help an independent assessment of whether this attack and
its operations in Mosul complied with international humanitarian law. We
know that an Australian plane struck a target in West Mosul and
unintentionally killed up to 18 civilians in a nearby house. In order to
understand how this happened the ADF needs to disclose more
information, including the type of weapon used in the strike, the nature
of the target, what measures were taken to ensure that the target was a
military objective, whether other means or methods of attack that would
have minimized the risk to civilians were considered, and what was done
to collect information about the presence of civilians in the vicinity.
The ADF has taken a positive step by acknowledging that their attacks
resulted in civilian casualties. What they must do now is provide the
victims’ families with the best chance of achieving justice and
accountability. The way to do this is to release the further information
required.
“The ADF has taken a positive step by
acknowledging that their attacks resulted in civilian casualties. What
they must do now is provide the victims’ families with the best chance
of achieving justice and accountability. The way to do this is to
release the further information required.”
Background
The Coalition’s battle to wrest Mosul from the armed group calling
itself Islamic State (IS) began in October 2016 and ended in July 2017.
Throughout the campaign, and especially in its later stages in West
Mosul, the Coalition relied heavily upon air power, despite the presence
of civilians trapped in the city by IS. Amnesty International revealed
the effects of this upon the civilian population with its July 2017
report, At Any Cost: The Civilian Catastrophe in West Mosul, Iraq.
On
31 January 2019, the Australian Defence Force’s Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld
acknowledged that as many as 18 civilians were killed in an attack on a
target in West Mosul in which two Australian Super Hornet F-18 jets
were involved on 13 June 2017. This follows a previous ADF admission on
28 March 2018 that it killed two adults and injured two children in a
strike on Mosul that came to light following Amnesty International
investigations on the ground.
Will other governments come clean? Will the US government
specifically? Probably not. The US government is involved in countless
wars while currently working for war with Iran and Venezuela. Bombing
from war planes has always been less 'offensive' to the American
people. It's boots off the ground and, in an operation like Mosul,
there's little chance of American fatalities since a group like ISIS
(being a terrorist group and not the military of another country)
doesn't have a fleet of airplanes.
So they know they can blindly bomb an area for weeks, months, in Mosul's
case, years and the American people won't pour into the street or even
bat an eye due to being lied to that these are 'precision' strikes and
that the government of the United States has done 'everything possible
to minimize civilian casualties.'
No, they haven't.
They haven't done anything to minimize civilian casualties. As for
doing 'everything' to minimize, doing everything would include not
bombing civilian areas. But they did bomb civilian areas -- over and
over and over.
The US government will most likely never get honest about civilian
casualties. At some point in the near future (say, five years on down
the line), they'll offer an under-count of the civilians killed in the
Mosul bombings -- but only when they can claim some new technology has
come along to make the strikes even more 'precise.' They'll use that to
sell more strikes.
It's really outrageous how little the media cares about the bombs being
dropped. (And if the media doesn't cover it, the American people have a
hard time hearing about it.)
I think a lot of ppl agree that US shld withdraw from Afghanistan & Syria & Iraq.
Not in the way Trump wanted to do it. And ISIS is not defeated.
US can't just use ppl like the Kurds & their Arab & Christian allies & then let be slaughtered by Turkey.
US shld review Turkey.
1:49 AM - 1 Feb 2019
Oh, do shut up already! As for the Kurds and Arabs and Christians in Iraq? If they can't defend themselves, the US staying is not going to help them. Grow up.
That should be the motto today for: Grow up and get out.
Responding to the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) admission that its
air strikes in Mosul, Iraq may have caused up to 18 civilian deaths in
2017, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research
Director, said:
“The Australian Defence Force’s latest admission
that its air strikes killed civilians during the battle for Mosul in
2017 is a step in the right direction. Once again, the Australian
government has proven more willing to take responsibility for causing
loss of civilian life than its coalition partners, including the UK, USA
and France.
“The matter must not end here, however. The ADF
should continue to lead by example by providing the further details
necessary to help an independent assessment of whether this attack and
its operations in Mosul complied with international humanitarian law. We
know that an Australian plane struck a target in West Mosul and
unintentionally killed up to 18 civilians in a nearby house. In order to
understand how this happened the ADF needs to disclose more
information, including the type of weapon used in the strike, the nature
of the target, what measures were taken to ensure that the target was a
military objective, whether other means or methods of attack that would
have minimized the risk to civilians were considered, and what was done
to collect information about the presence of civilians in the vicinity.
The ADF has taken a positive step by acknowledging that their attacks
resulted in civilian casualties. What they must do now is provide the
victims’ families with the best chance of achieving justice and
accountability. The way to do this is to release the further information
required.
“The ADF has taken a positive step by
acknowledging that their attacks resulted in civilian casualties. What
they must do now is provide the victims’ families with the best chance
of achieving justice and accountability. The way to do this is to
release the further information required.”
Background
The Coalition’s battle to wrest Mosul from the armed group calling
itself Islamic State (IS) began in October 2016 and ended in July 2017.
Throughout the campaign, and especially in its later stages in West
Mosul, the Coalition relied heavily upon air power, despite the presence
of civilians trapped in the city by IS. Amnesty International revealed
the effects of this upon the civilian population with its July 2017
report, At Any Cost: The Civilian Catastrophe in West Mosul, Iraq.
On
31 January 2019, the Australian Defence Force’s Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld
acknowledged that as many as 18 civilians were killed in an attack on a
target in West Mosul in which two Australian Super Hornet F-18 jets
were involved on 13 June 2017. This follows a previous ADF admission on
28 March 2018 that it killed two adults and injured two children in a
strike on Mosul that came to light following Amnesty International
investigations on the ground.
Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, "Ava" started out this site as five students enrolled in journalism in NY. Now? We're still students. We're in CA. Journalism? The majority scoffs at the notion.
From the start, at the very start, C.I. of The Common Ills has helped with the writing here. C.I.'s part of our core six/gang. (C.I. and Ava write the TV commentaries by themselves.) So that's the six of us. We also credit Dallas as our link locator, soundboard and much more. We try to remember to thank him each week (don't always remember to note it here) but we'll note him in this. So this is a site by the gang/core six: Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I. (of The Common Ills).
