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JFK averted one with the Bay of Pigs, at great personal cost.  Another with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But one that started in the 1950's then was escalated at the end of the 1970's may have been resurrected.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/04/trump-thought-war-with-iran-could-help-reelect-obama-what-about-him/

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14 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

JFK averted one with the Bay of Pigs, at great personal cost.  Another with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But one that started in the 1950's then was escalated at the end of the 1970's may have been resurrected.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/04/trump-thought-war-with-iran-could-help-reelect-obama-what-about-him/

https://www.bing.com/search?q=song+war&form=PRUSEN&mkt=en-us&httpsmsn=1&msnews=1&rec_search=1&refig=38df87783fc04207861817d5431834d7&sp=-1&ghc=1&pq=song+war&sc=8-8&qs=n&sk=&cvid=38df87783fc04207861817d5431834d7

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And the formula everlasting war is so simple, first you insert yourself into a conflict overseas which is religious, nationalist and cultural - none of which have anything to do with you.   Predictably, at least some of your armed force will be attacked as intruders.  Then you respond.  This allows your leadership to claim they need extra powers to protect our forces (not remove them of course, protect them) and that some sort of preemptive response is mandated.  They you get attacked some more and its on...   Works every time.

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How can this country afford another war? Just cancel/default on the national debt? 

Ron Paul, back in the Republican debates before the last election, is the only politician I've ever heard state the simple fact that we can't afford another war. And we know how well that went over with the other debaters. Crickets.

 

 

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From the editorial: Lawmakers had expected a public document that would clearly explain — to them and the American public — the reasons for the attack but received a classified one instead.

“The highly unusual decision to classify this document in its entirety compounds our many concerns, and suggests that the Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security,” said Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/opinion/editorials/trump-iran-threats-Suleimani.html

 

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David Talbot wrote on Facebook today:

As the sane world reacts with horror, disgust and fury to Trump's brazen assassination of Iran's widely popular military commander, Pentagon officials are rushing to cover their asses -- leaking to the New York Times that they were "stunned" by Trump's crazy decision to kill General Soleimani. So once again, we can only shudder at this rogue presidency which now asserts authority to commit acts of war in the world's most combustible region. But Trump has to be seen as only th...e latest U.S. president who believes he can operate freely above international law and order.

This is what President Obama fretted about while he was still in the White House -- that a future, volatile president could use the extraordinary, post-9/11 powers granted the commander-in-chief to go rogue whenever and wherever he (or she) wanted to. Obama, schooled in constitutional law, tried to establish some legal limits on the office of the president -- but it was a feeble effort and never stood a chance against Washington's all-powerful, bipartisan war lobby. And, of course, President Obama himself continued to use his unleashed powers to sharply escalate drone assassinations and to continue mucking about in the Middle East charnel house. Trump's insanely provocative drone strike against General Soleimani's motorcade is a natural extension of the U.S. mayhem-in-the-Middle East that worried Obama, but never stopped him from escalating these tactics.

And then there's Israel's Bibi Netanyahu. Trump clearly sees the chest-thumping, thuggish Israeli strongman as a role model. And though it hasn't been reported yet, I suspect that Trump was given secret encouragement by Netanyahu to strike at Iran's top leadership. Israel has devolved into a permanent war state. Yitzhak Rabin briefly tried to change Israel's course in a more peaceful direction, but the poisonous backlash to Rabin's diplomatic efforts -- encouraged by Netanyahu -- resulted in Rabin's 1995 assassination by a far-right, religious zealot. In America, we've seen Washington take this same dark path over the last 50-plus years, following the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr.

So now we have leaders like Trump in the U.S. and Netanyahu in Israel -- and yes, rigid ayatollahs in Tehran, instead of the peace-oriented, democratic Iranian government that the CIA overthrew in 1953, a coup that has trapped America and Iran in their never-ending nightmare ever since. "The past is never dead. It's not even past," as William Faulkner famously wrote.

America, whose leaders have the historical awareness of reality TV hosts, is doomed to keep repeating its dark past. And with each coup, invasion, assassination, etc, we slouch closer to the apocalypse.

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David Talbot wrote on Facebook today:

What a hugely important, timely and riveting documentary Taghi Amirani has made. "Coup 53" explains all the dark history about the toxic relationship between the U.S. and Iran -- a story that all Americans MUST learn asap. But despite its artful production -- the film was co-created by Hollywood legend Walter Murch and features powerful archival footage, current interviews, dramatic recreations (with the skilled participation of actor Ralph Fiennes) and espionage revelations... -- "Coup 53" is being blocked from audiences. This distribution blackout is not unlike the media disappearing act that my dark history of the CIA, "The Devil's Chessboard," received when it was published in 2015.

As filmmakers Amirani and Murch are learning, we have freedom of the press in America -- but only for those who own one. The powerful truth -- the kind that blows people's minds (and opens them up) -- is usually hidden.

But "Coup 53" is too essential a film to be censored. Spread the word about the film -- make sure it gets shown in your local theaters or on your local public TV stations. Resist Trump's war propaganda. Free "Coup 53."

Here are a few scheduled screenings that the filmmakers have managed to arrange in the next few weeks:

Screenings + Q&A with editor Walter Murch and director Taghi Amirani --

7,8,9 Jan at Palm Springs Film Festival https://www.psfilmfest.org/film-festiva…/film-finder/coup-53

9 Jan at 3pm Dolby Theater in San Francisco

10 Jan 6pm Roxie Theater in San Francisco https://www.roxie.com/ai1ec_event/coup-53/?instance_id=38501

28 Jan at Brown University with Stephen Kinzer joining the panel

30, 31 Jan + 1 Feb Gothenburg Film Festival

More US festival screenings to be announced soon

"remarkable"
"passionate and fearless"
"will enthrall documentary and history geeks"
"jaw dropping revelations"
“has the air of something that grew from an impudent home movie into a magnum opus"
Todd McCarthy - Hollywood Reporter

"spine tingling revelations"
Variety

"a work of art and a masterpiece of political intervention"
“a thriller that had me on the edge of my seat”
"beyond extraordinary"
Ariel Dorfman

"masterful storytelling makes this a taut and thrilling watch"
“captivating tour-de-force”
BFI London Film Festival

"this is material worthy of John le Carré”
Vancouver International Film Festival

"this is one of a handful of documentaries that
can truly make the argument for being seen in a cinema"
24fps UK

"a superb work of journalism and research"
Vancouver Observer

"an astonishing feat of film-making"
London Metro

“Nail-bitingly suspenseful, plays like a thriller
London Metro

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