Difficult as it is for westerners to hear, we don’t need a stronger West, we need a weaker one. Harder still, Trump is teaching us that the very concept of 'the West' is an illusion
Great article. Despite being an American, I strongly condemn the administration's actions. While I acknowledge that Maduro’s regime is defined by corruption, hyperinflation, and human rights abuses, these internal failures do not grant the United States the legal or moral authority to breach sovereignty and kidnap a head of state.
It sets a dangerous precedent. With three years remaining in Trump's term as president, I am deeply concerned that the United States' hegemonic control over global finance and our unmatched military power will allow Trump to operate with total impunity. Your article has lead me to a belief I have never allowed myself to consider. My country is too powerful and we have been wildly irresponsible with the power we have. If this were a just and fair world, there would be a way to hold us accountable.
Funny we are so altruistic and want to get rid of all the bad 'hombres' but only the ones with resources we want, that refuse to bow or are in desperate need of a leader who will do as they are told by the mighty US. There are alot of 'bad men' surprisingly we don't feel the urge to take out! Humanitarian crisis we don't care about or worse actively fund and support! Memories are short, there hasn't been one country the US has gone in to 'save' that is better off now. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, Nicaragua and on and on....Where were we in Rwanda, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Bosnia
The worst is the ignorance of people that do not understand what this means for world order. If you are against the illegal and immoral actions you are obviously pro-maduro, pro a dictator, a communist, a Marxist, a socialist a leftie...make up your mind! The protestors in Brooklyn held banners with slogans against US intervention and breaking the law. Against their tax dollars yet again used to further US oil access and geo-political power. How about using it in the US to fix the problems there; healthcare, education, gun violence, opioid pandemic, not Pro-anyone!
The Sky news attack on Corbyn also serves another purpose - strangling the faltering "Your Party" in its cradle. The reporting on it and the seemingly "natural" divisions in its ranks have already neutered it. A party that claims to be entirely driven by its membership is ripe for infiltration if not already broken.
So I wonder why the UK Green Party has had such a relatively free ride. Is it because it is seen as inevitably marginsl? Or is it because it will be relied upon to echo the "green" politics of the German Greens once they were allowed access to the coalition there? The sinecure given to Baerbock at the UN seems to indicate how its leadership could be rewarded for compliance. With all other "left" options either marginalised or stigmatized, the British publc seem to be left with only one "alternative" choice in ReformUK - surprise, surprise!
Actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan postulated that “Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong”; however, who can know what may have historically come to fruition had the U.S. remained the sole possessor of atomic weaponry?
It seems the U.S. nevertheless expects the international community to accept that an American presidency would never initiate a nuclear-weapons exchange. But how can that be known for sure, especially with morally/ethically corrupt U.S. foreign-policy and war-mongering history?
After U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur as commander of the forces warring with North Korea — for the latter’s remarks about using many atomic bombs to promptly end the war — Americans’ approval-rating of the president dropped to 23 percent.
It was a record-breaking low, even lower than the worst approval-rating points of the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
Had it not been for the formidable international pressure on Truman (and perhaps his personal morality) to relieve MacArthur as commander, Truman may have eventually succumbed to domestic political pressure to allow MacArthur’s command to continue.
"The issue isn’t whether Maduro was a good or bad leader of Venezuela – the matter the western establishment media wants us concentrating on. It is how do we put the US back in the box before it is too late for humanity."
Spot on Jonathan, that is entirely the crux of the matter. 💯 Thank you for another excellent article.
An interesting take here from Brian Berletic - the US has always been 'do what I say or i will murder you' like the British and Romans before them, they can only be dealt with with resolution and power. Only time will tell if the rest of the world has it in them to stand up to the bully but because of the exponential 'advance of technology, whoever's order dominates when we reach a certain technological tipping point will cement their global order in place perpetually.'
Unlike Jonathan, Brian has a complete blind spot when it comes to anthropogenic climate change but we could add that when certain planetary tipping points are reached those in best shape and who are blockading others will have the one and only chance of surviving.
When certain planetary tipping points are reached.....runaway greenhouse gases will take us back to hot house earth. Humans didn't live there. Nor did any mammals....its an extinction curve that will spare no one.
And most of us would rather play wargames in our mind and in our comments...rather than stare this ugly reality in the face. Fossil Fuels and Fools are the enemy.........not putin, not maduro, not even trump. I put them in small case to illustrate how utterly epiphenomena the lot of them are.
I’m not convinced of the theory of ‘runaway greenhouse gases’, if emissions stopped and we stayed at 2 or 3 degrees above pre-industrial and if forests were replanted to begin cooling- 8 billion couldn’t be supported but it’s likely that some humans could survive (unfortunately).
So far, we may have a chance. Not if we continue on our current path however..........once the tipping point is past, CO2 will continue in the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of years.
Large scale life as we know it, won't survive hot house earth. The science isn't hard, just unforgiving.
If only Starmer had your courage and clarity. He is a frightened little rabbit, terrified of a world outside his limited understanding. Europe is no better. The western world is in an abusive relationship with a mad bully of a partner, and they are so intimidated by his threats and violence that they are meekly accepting an unbearable situation. Unfortunately, there is no decent humanitarian agency to rescue us all from this aggression, and citizens the world over are suffering, and will suffer, from Trump and his grandiose megalomania until he is unseated by his own electorate. That is, if the dictator will accept the result of a free and fair election.
All correct about shrinking Starmer but unfortunately this doesn't end if Trump is unseated- the mad bully is the US based interests in fossil fuels, animal ag, pharma, finance, media, AI and arms; right/left politics is just the theatre they use to keep the the masses amused.
Brilliant synopsis as usual Jonathan, will share to show the realities....WE ARE ALL BEING CONNED BY OUR POLITICIANS.
Did you see the facial injuries Maduros wife sustained somehow whilst in custody. She looks like she has been badly beaten when she went to court. Not surprising seeing as how ICE in the US are killing and beating people up whenever it suits them.
The U.S. has been dishing out the same stern lesson for as long as any of us can remember. Quite recently, when Germany showed a modest reluctance to expand the war in Ukraine, the country had its supply of natural gas cut off via an unexplained terrorist attack. Germany quickly fell into line, registered no objection to the sabotage of its economy, began purchasing American liquid natural gas at steeper prices, and is today obediently preparing for a general war in Europe. And that's how Washington is prepared to treat a "friend".
Chris Hedges has just posted an interview on U.S. control of the global narcotics racket, featuring investigative reporter Maureen Tkacik. It's well worth the time of anybody seeking an honest assessment of the Trump administration's claims against President Maduro. They're going after him because he doesn't participate in their operations. Of course, there are broader reasons for the attack, but it still comes down to profit and control, whether of cocaine, oil, or financial resources.
Thanks for this information.......I'm not surprised. America can do what it likes covertly, put out a few distracting lies about 'the other side' and get away with sabotaging anything and anyone it likes.........
As we little people panic, its far easier to join the American crusade than recognize the monsters we're marching with. But try telling that to the partisans in these new hot wars springing up all over the planet.
JONATHAN I've been following your journalism since I stumbled across a brilliant piece you did on "THE POWER" a fair few years ago now, somebody forwarded it onto a social media channel.
I thought that you nailed it, that it was brilliantly written although, avoiding the power structure but rather it to be more of a bi product of human nature.
I'm not sure if that is your personal belief, or if you were simply avoiding any ridiculous accusations of being a "conspiracy theorist" which would be completely understandable.
It is so difficult to know the truth anymore amongst the constant false flags and psyop's.
You may very well be almost, if not completely accurate on Trump.
Could I boldly suggest.
Amongst my own research (basically on "The power") I have recently come across a channel called Promethean Updates. These two are coming up with some very interesting comment and for me, at least at the moment, I feel like many pieces are falling into the puzzle.
I'm still following them with an open mind, but if you could, if you are not aware of them already then please give them a fair go and hear what they have to say.
Be warned that they are Trump supporters, but my heart tells me they are not a Trump propaganda channel but that right or wrong they are absolutely genuine.
But, their channel COULD just be another red herring in this minefield of rabbit holes....
My apologies to anybody who may find them ridiculous.
Love and peace to you and all who read this and keep up the great work
Doesn’t it just rattle your chains when the interviewer uses diversion tactics that are so nonsensical it makes you want to scream….. “That Is Not the Point.” We are talking about international law. Let’s flip the script, shall we? Donald Trump’s approval ratings are in the high 30%. A lot of people have issues with his foreign policy, his lies, his arrogance, his arrest of protestors, his deportations, his militarization of cities in the USA, prices and broken promises and Lord, have mercy, the Epstein files. He is not a good person. Does that mean that it’s okay for another country to come in and abduct him according to “their” laws? Then parade him through the streets and lock him in jail? It’s about international law. And this guy wants to downgrade it to what somebody likes or doesn’t like on an interpersonal level.
I've stopped reading, or listening, the moment an ad hominem is cavalierly added to an analysis.........and added without any evidence whatsoever.
Then I go to the comments and say so. None of us little westerns know diddly much about Putin, or Maduro....apart from the little we read in western media.....
So falling for the demonization of anyone is a mug's game. We should call it out constantly, so that perhaps people can learn to stick with the issue and not deflect with the blame game. Under the rule of law, a person's ethical quotient is no excuse for murder.....or kidnapping.
Say it loud, and share it widely. This is the unvarnished truth, as far as my research, reading and continued ability to think for all the people can tell. And it is too seldom spoken in its entirety.
The truth is, America is not only a gangster state, as Chris Hedges recently pronounced, its an unregulated late stage capitalist gangster state........and its coming for all of us and for what we have.
Yes.....and what we do keep up with breaks our heart, too often. Just reading about the five year old trapped in a car with her dead relatives, begging that someone come and help her.......it was an Israeli bomb that answered her pleas..god forgive all of us who say and do nada.
Last evening American TV reported the cold blooded murder of a citizen of Minneapolis by ICE, trump's answer to brown shirts. It that kind of oppression continues we may see trump's domestic opposition quiet down. That's the undemocratic plan. Cow the electorate into shutting up.
Bullying has its own dynamics. Twenty some years ago I was working in California when I decried the fact that America, led at the time by George Bush the Lessor, bullied the whole world. A fellow worker, an immigrant from Guatemala replied, 'there will always be a bully and it may as well be us'.
Why on earth would we need a bully? What we need is for countries to be able to trade freely with whoever they want, whenever they want and do what's best for their own people.
America thinks it owns everyone & everything in the world. Used to be a thing called Diplomacy, that seems to be an ideal from the past.
Your immigrant friend probably left Guatemala because of some f*ckery the USA caused.
All this aggressiveness, sanctions & coups leads to MORE of the immigration that the USA, Europe etc are complaining about.
That's the spirit of America.....in a nutshell. Interesting to read recently in a Chris Hedges interview, that the CIA and Israel's Mossad engineered what Chris and his guest were calling "the genocide of indigenous Guatemalans"
Perhaps your co worker was a refugee from that and cowed into American subservience.
The way Jonathan Cook writes is always crystal clear and unforgettable.
Great article. Despite being an American, I strongly condemn the administration's actions. While I acknowledge that Maduro’s regime is defined by corruption, hyperinflation, and human rights abuses, these internal failures do not grant the United States the legal or moral authority to breach sovereignty and kidnap a head of state.
It sets a dangerous precedent. With three years remaining in Trump's term as president, I am deeply concerned that the United States' hegemonic control over global finance and our unmatched military power will allow Trump to operate with total impunity. Your article has lead me to a belief I have never allowed myself to consider. My country is too powerful and we have been wildly irresponsible with the power we have. If this were a just and fair world, there would be a way to hold us accountable.
Funny we are so altruistic and want to get rid of all the bad 'hombres' but only the ones with resources we want, that refuse to bow or are in desperate need of a leader who will do as they are told by the mighty US. There are alot of 'bad men' surprisingly we don't feel the urge to take out! Humanitarian crisis we don't care about or worse actively fund and support! Memories are short, there hasn't been one country the US has gone in to 'save' that is better off now. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, Nicaragua and on and on....Where were we in Rwanda, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Bosnia
The worst is the ignorance of people that do not understand what this means for world order. If you are against the illegal and immoral actions you are obviously pro-maduro, pro a dictator, a communist, a Marxist, a socialist a leftie...make up your mind! The protestors in Brooklyn held banners with slogans against US intervention and breaking the law. Against their tax dollars yet again used to further US oil access and geo-political power. How about using it in the US to fix the problems there; healthcare, education, gun violence, opioid pandemic, not Pro-anyone!
The Sky news attack on Corbyn also serves another purpose - strangling the faltering "Your Party" in its cradle. The reporting on it and the seemingly "natural" divisions in its ranks have already neutered it. A party that claims to be entirely driven by its membership is ripe for infiltration if not already broken.
So I wonder why the UK Green Party has had such a relatively free ride. Is it because it is seen as inevitably marginsl? Or is it because it will be relied upon to echo the "green" politics of the German Greens once they were allowed access to the coalition there? The sinecure given to Baerbock at the UN seems to indicate how its leadership could be rewarded for compliance. With all other "left" options either marginalised or stigmatized, the British publc seem to be left with only one "alternative" choice in ReformUK - surprise, surprise!
Actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan postulated that “Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong”; however, who can know what may have historically come to fruition had the U.S. remained the sole possessor of atomic weaponry?
It seems the U.S. nevertheless expects the international community to accept that an American presidency would never initiate a nuclear-weapons exchange. But how can that be known for sure, especially with morally/ethically corrupt U.S. foreign-policy and war-mongering history?
After U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur as commander of the forces warring with North Korea — for the latter’s remarks about using many atomic bombs to promptly end the war — Americans’ approval-rating of the president dropped to 23 percent.
It was a record-breaking low, even lower than the worst approval-rating points of the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
Had it not been for the formidable international pressure on Truman (and perhaps his personal morality) to relieve MacArthur as commander, Truman may have eventually succumbed to domestic political pressure to allow MacArthur’s command to continue.
"The issue isn’t whether Maduro was a good or bad leader of Venezuela – the matter the western establishment media wants us concentrating on. It is how do we put the US back in the box before it is too late for humanity."
Spot on Jonathan, that is entirely the crux of the matter. 💯 Thank you for another excellent article.
An interesting take here from Brian Berletic - the US has always been 'do what I say or i will murder you' like the British and Romans before them, they can only be dealt with with resolution and power. Only time will tell if the rest of the world has it in them to stand up to the bully but because of the exponential 'advance of technology, whoever's order dominates when we reach a certain technological tipping point will cement their global order in place perpetually.'
Unlike Jonathan, Brian has a complete blind spot when it comes to anthropogenic climate change but we could add that when certain planetary tipping points are reached those in best shape and who are blockading others will have the one and only chance of surviving.
When certain planetary tipping points are reached.....runaway greenhouse gases will take us back to hot house earth. Humans didn't live there. Nor did any mammals....its an extinction curve that will spare no one.
And most of us would rather play wargames in our mind and in our comments...rather than stare this ugly reality in the face. Fossil Fuels and Fools are the enemy.........not putin, not maduro, not even trump. I put them in small case to illustrate how utterly epiphenomena the lot of them are.
At least we can have the odd laugh, n'est-ce pas?
I’m not convinced of the theory of ‘runaway greenhouse gases’, if emissions stopped and we stayed at 2 or 3 degrees above pre-industrial and if forests were replanted to begin cooling- 8 billion couldn’t be supported but it’s likely that some humans could survive (unfortunately).
So far, we may have a chance. Not if we continue on our current path however..........once the tipping point is past, CO2 will continue in the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of years.
Large scale life as we know it, won't survive hot house earth. The science isn't hard, just unforgiving.
If only Starmer had your courage and clarity. He is a frightened little rabbit, terrified of a world outside his limited understanding. Europe is no better. The western world is in an abusive relationship with a mad bully of a partner, and they are so intimidated by his threats and violence that they are meekly accepting an unbearable situation. Unfortunately, there is no decent humanitarian agency to rescue us all from this aggression, and citizens the world over are suffering, and will suffer, from Trump and his grandiose megalomania until he is unseated by his own electorate. That is, if the dictator will accept the result of a free and fair election.
We've been on this path, and cheerleading it for the most part......for most of my life.
Beginning to see clearly where we are feels like progress to me.
All correct about shrinking Starmer but unfortunately this doesn't end if Trump is unseated- the mad bully is the US based interests in fossil fuels, animal ag, pharma, finance, media, AI and arms; right/left politics is just the theatre they use to keep the the masses amused.
Brilliant synopsis as usual Jonathan, will share to show the realities....WE ARE ALL BEING CONNED BY OUR POLITICIANS.
Did you see the facial injuries Maduros wife sustained somehow whilst in custody. She looks like she has been badly beaten when she went to court. Not surprising seeing as how ICE in the US are killing and beating people up whenever it suits them.
The U.S. has been dishing out the same stern lesson for as long as any of us can remember. Quite recently, when Germany showed a modest reluctance to expand the war in Ukraine, the country had its supply of natural gas cut off via an unexplained terrorist attack. Germany quickly fell into line, registered no objection to the sabotage of its economy, began purchasing American liquid natural gas at steeper prices, and is today obediently preparing for a general war in Europe. And that's how Washington is prepared to treat a "friend".
Chris Hedges has just posted an interview on U.S. control of the global narcotics racket, featuring investigative reporter Maureen Tkacik. It's well worth the time of anybody seeking an honest assessment of the Trump administration's claims against President Maduro. They're going after him because he doesn't participate in their operations. Of course, there are broader reasons for the attack, but it still comes down to profit and control, whether of cocaine, oil, or financial resources.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf9DJM_GlAM
Thanks for this information.......I'm not surprised. America can do what it likes covertly, put out a few distracting lies about 'the other side' and get away with sabotaging anything and anyone it likes.........
As we little people panic, its far easier to join the American crusade than recognize the monsters we're marching with. But try telling that to the partisans in these new hot wars springing up all over the planet.
JONATHAN I've been following your journalism since I stumbled across a brilliant piece you did on "THE POWER" a fair few years ago now, somebody forwarded it onto a social media channel.
I thought that you nailed it, that it was brilliantly written although, avoiding the power structure but rather it to be more of a bi product of human nature.
I'm not sure if that is your personal belief, or if you were simply avoiding any ridiculous accusations of being a "conspiracy theorist" which would be completely understandable.
It is so difficult to know the truth anymore amongst the constant false flags and psyop's.
You may very well be almost, if not completely accurate on Trump.
Could I boldly suggest.
Amongst my own research (basically on "The power") I have recently come across a channel called Promethean Updates. These two are coming up with some very interesting comment and for me, at least at the moment, I feel like many pieces are falling into the puzzle.
I'm still following them with an open mind, but if you could, if you are not aware of them already then please give them a fair go and hear what they have to say.
Be warned that they are Trump supporters, but my heart tells me they are not a Trump propaganda channel but that right or wrong they are absolutely genuine.
But, their channel COULD just be another red herring in this minefield of rabbit holes....
My apologies to anybody who may find them ridiculous.
Love and peace to you and all who read this and keep up the great work
Nice....we do need to make efforts to see all sides in this current world disorder. And its not easy.
Thank you Jonathan, another great post.
Well said Jonathan.
Brilliant. Thank you. Can everyone share widely so that the important piece isn't a 'voice in the wilderness'.
Doesn’t it just rattle your chains when the interviewer uses diversion tactics that are so nonsensical it makes you want to scream….. “That Is Not the Point.” We are talking about international law. Let’s flip the script, shall we? Donald Trump’s approval ratings are in the high 30%. A lot of people have issues with his foreign policy, his lies, his arrogance, his arrest of protestors, his deportations, his militarization of cities in the USA, prices and broken promises and Lord, have mercy, the Epstein files. He is not a good person. Does that mean that it’s okay for another country to come in and abduct him according to “their” laws? Then parade him through the streets and lock him in jail? It’s about international law. And this guy wants to downgrade it to what somebody likes or doesn’t like on an interpersonal level.
I've stopped reading, or listening, the moment an ad hominem is cavalierly added to an analysis.........and added without any evidence whatsoever.
Then I go to the comments and say so. None of us little westerns know diddly much about Putin, or Maduro....apart from the little we read in western media.....
So falling for the demonization of anyone is a mug's game. We should call it out constantly, so that perhaps people can learn to stick with the issue and not deflect with the blame game. Under the rule of law, a person's ethical quotient is no excuse for murder.....or kidnapping.
Say it loud, and share it widely. This is the unvarnished truth, as far as my research, reading and continued ability to think for all the people can tell. And it is too seldom spoken in its entirety.
The truth is, America is not only a gangster state, as Chris Hedges recently pronounced, its an unregulated late stage capitalist gangster state........and its coming for all of us and for what we have.
We pretend otherwise, at our peril.
Ingamarie, your comment reminded me to go and check out Chris Hedges' report.
Hard to keep up with everything these days is it not?
Yes.....and what we do keep up with breaks our heart, too often. Just reading about the five year old trapped in a car with her dead relatives, begging that someone come and help her.......it was an Israeli bomb that answered her pleas..god forgive all of us who say and do nada.
Last evening American TV reported the cold blooded murder of a citizen of Minneapolis by ICE, trump's answer to brown shirts. It that kind of oppression continues we may see trump's domestic opposition quiet down. That's the undemocratic plan. Cow the electorate into shutting up.
For sure.........totalitarianism is created through terror. And terror to be terror has to be random, everywhere and nowhere, at the same time.
Most of us aren't brave. Particularly when we've been implicated in the ideology of what turns out to be a killing machine..........from the start.
Americans are in for it, I'm afraid....but the bigger fight they put up, the safer we Canadians will be. In the short term
Terrific article.
It's hard to understand why America is determined to destroy itself and take the rest of the world with it?
Bullying has its own dynamics. Twenty some years ago I was working in California when I decried the fact that America, led at the time by George Bush the Lessor, bullied the whole world. A fellow worker, an immigrant from Guatemala replied, 'there will always be a bully and it may as well be us'.
Why on earth would we need a bully? What we need is for countries to be able to trade freely with whoever they want, whenever they want and do what's best for their own people.
America thinks it owns everyone & everything in the world. Used to be a thing called Diplomacy, that seems to be an ideal from the past.
Your immigrant friend probably left Guatemala because of some f*ckery the USA caused.
All this aggressiveness, sanctions & coups leads to MORE of the immigration that the USA, Europe etc are complaining about.
Agree on all points.
That's the spirit of America.....in a nutshell. Interesting to read recently in a Chris Hedges interview, that the CIA and Israel's Mossad engineered what Chris and his guest were calling "the genocide of indigenous Guatemalans"
Perhaps your co worker was a refugee from that and cowed into American subservience.
Not really. Money is an addiction........and the saying 'you can't serve God and Mammon" could be revised to 'you can't serve humanity and mammon'.
Or as a Canadian folk singer put it years ago: "The corporate catepillers come into our back yards/ and turn the world to pocket change."