Killing Soleimeni - The US Assassinates Leader In Fight Against ISIS, Pushes Everyone Closer To Wider War

Brandon Turbeville
The Organic Prepper
January 4, 2019

Editor’s note: Brandon is one of those writers who people either love or hate. I don’t always agree with his conclusions but I can never fault his research. I know him to be a good and ethical person.

However, he writes without republican or democrat bias and sometimes the US government doesn’t come up smelling like roses in his analyses. That is offensive to many people. I always welcome civil discussion in the comments. Your argument will hold far more weight if you come armed with facts, not emotions or ad hominem attacks. ~ Daisy

Yesterday morning, the world was alight with news that Qassim Soleimani was assassinated by a US drone last night outside the Baghdad airport. Here’s some information on the background of this conflict, what happened, and what we can expect.

Here's What Happened

This assassination was, according to Trump administration officials and hints by the President himself, approved and ordered by Donald Trump.In addition to Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (aka Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi) was also killed alongside six other people.

Soleimani was the Iranian commander of the Quds Force while Muhandis was the commander of Ketaib Hezbollah, a militia belonging to the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU).

Republicans have categorically supported the move and Democrats, despite the requisite criticism of Trump's "reckless mishandling" of the situation, also supported the move.

Although not the first time an American President has ordered an assassination, this is the first publicly acknowledged successful assassination of a high-level official. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper stated that the Pentagon had taken "decisive defensive action" against Soleimani and stated that the attack was made on the orders of the President. "The game has changed," Esper said.

Iran Has Promised Retaliation

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameinei has vowed revenge as have a number of Iranian generals and politicians, leaving many to wonder just how, when, and where the Iranian response will take place.

Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi condemned the assassination and added that the murder was a breach of the conditions under which the US military operates in Iraq and that Iraq would now have to re-evaluate its relationship with the United States. This essentially means that the Iraqi Parliament may vote to oust US troops from Iraq entirely. 

Syrian Girl On The Alex Jones Show - Is 2020 2003 All Over Again?

'7 Countries In 5 Years:" 2007 Wesley Clark Interview Reveals US Plan To Go To War With Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Somalia, And Sudan

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
May 23, 2018

After the scrapping of the Iran nuclear deal by the Trump administration, the re-imposition of sanctions against the Persian nation, and the threat to impose the “toughest sanctions in history,” the US gear up to destabilize or perhaps even go to war with Iran is becoming more and more visible by the day. A war of words between Iran and the United States is now ensuing with actual military aggression against Iran by Israel in Syria is promising to provide an even greater likelihood that the U.S. military and America’s busy intelligence community will soon be working even harder to ensure that Iran is no longer able to resist Atlanticist hegemony.

However, the plan to destroy Iran is nothing new as anyone who has been following the US war machine can easily attest to.

For those who are unaware as to the recent history of the American plan to destroy Iran in the same manner as Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq (and attempted against Syria), it is important to mention a 2007 interview with US General Wesley Clark who, during the course of a talk with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, revealed a Pentagon plan to destroy Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran. Clark revealed his shock and surprise at a plan to not only invade Iraq after 9/11 but also to invade seven countries within five years.

Wesley Clark, of course, was no conspiracy theorist. He's also not peace activist. Remember, he was a retired 4-star general and was the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO during the devastating 1999 war against Yugoslavia where he personally ordered attacks on civilian targets.

Clark's statements are yet more evidence that the plan to go to war with Iraq, Iran, Libya, and Syria is not some recent creation but a carefully constructed scheme thought out years ago and one that is proceeding according to plan.

Major Protests Erupt In Iraqi Kurdistan Over Corruption, Salaries, Iraq Gov't Warns KRG

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
December 22, 2017

Only a few months after a failed “independence referendum” which saw the Iraqi government reassert its control over the Kurdish areas, the KRG is doing what surprises absolutely no one who is familiar with the situation on the ground – it is launching a massive crackdown on protests and dissent.

As al-Masdar News reports,

Heavy protests against the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraqi Kurdistan have entered their fourth consecutive day, as hundreds of protesters have clashed with security units all over the region. 

The demonstrations, demanding the resignation of notoriously corrupt politicians in the Kurdish regional administration, have been met with fierce violence by KRG forces, resulting in several casualties on Tuesday. Extra reinforces were deployed to the city of Suleymaniyah on Wednesday to crack down on the protests. Over 20 officers of KRG political party and a town hall have been set ablaze according to reports. 

The protests broke out on Monday, out of frustration with the rapid deterioration of basic services in the region, all-pervasive corruption in the regional government and the lack of salary payment for public service workers, with some teachers and hospital workers complaining they haven’t been properly paid in years.

A Tale Of Two Cities: Mosul And Aleppo

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
October 26, 2016

Over the past few days, the Western corporate press has kicked into overdrive with reports of hospital bombings, dead civilians, and war crimes all blamed predictably on the secular government of Bashar al-Assad and Russia. According to Western governments and their media mouthpieces, Assad’s forces and the Russian Air Force have targeted civilian in order to . . . well . . . no one knows why they would logically target civilians or civilian hospitals. Still, the Western harpies – both media and “human rights NGOs” - continue to hammer the unsubstantiated claims and misinformation at the tops of their lungs that the SAA is dropping bombs on civilian medical facilities, civilian homes, “barrel bombing” innocent people, and all around being responsible for every single death in the Syrian war.

Particularly with the campaign to liberate East Aleppo, the Western media has gone into overdrive accusing Assad and Putin of every crime imaginable in order to gin up support for more aggressive and drastic tactics by the U.S. government to protect “civilians” (which really means terrorists) in the embattled part of the city. Never mind that America’s rebels have been shelling civilians for days in both Aleppo and Damascus. According to the U.S. State Department, only Assad kills people and all the people he kills are civilians.

Interestingly enough, the U.S. and its media sock puppets are portraying the battle for Aleppo as if battles for major cities can be won without death. For the mainstream media outlets, if anyone is killed in Aleppo during the course of the battle, it is the fault of Assad and Putin and all of the deaths – even those of terrorists – are unjustified murder.

But such a narrative provides us with a Tale of Two Cities indeed. For in Mosul, an attempt to liberate the city is welcomed and no amount of “collateral damage” seems to matter.

Brandon Turbeville On It's The Empire, Stupid

Brandon Turbeville
BrandonTurbeville.com
September 21, 2016

Brandon Turbeville as guest on It's The Empire, Stupid with Phillip Farruggio. Brandon and Phillip discuss the Syrian crisis, geopolitics, and the American elections as well as the absence of the American left in opposition to the war.



ACCESS THE PROGRAM AT THIS LINK 

Truth on the Tracks with Brandon Turbeville - July 26, 2016

Brandon Turbeville
BrandonTurbeville.com
UCY.TV
July 26, 2016

Truth on the Tracks with Brandon Turbeville - July 26, 2016

Brandon discusses the Munich Shooting, the beheading of a young Syrian boy, U.S. support for terrorist organizations, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Turkey.

ACCESS THE PROGRAM HERE

ACCESS THE TRUTH ON THE TRACKS ARCHIVE HERE

U.S. To Deploy 560 More Troops To Iraq

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
July 11, 2016

Years after Obama claimed he ended the war in Iraq, the United States is once again announcing the deployment of hundreds of U.S. military personnel to the embattled Middle Eastern country. This time, the U.S. is announcing the deployment of 560 troops to Northern Iraq for the purposes of “aiding” and “assisting” in the battle for Mosul.

After the hard fought liberation of the Qayara airbase by the Iraqi military, which is located about 50 miles from Mosul, the Department of Defense is allegedly deploying the troops so that they can provide “logistical” and “other” support for the battle for the ISIS-controlled city. In other words, to replace ISIS proxy control over Mosul with U.S. occupation, again. That is, if the re-re-re-conquering of Mosul is actually the goal and not merely the cover by which more American troops are being inserted into Iraq strategically for a coming operation against Syria and/or Russia in Syria.

The new troops will bring the official number of U.S. military soldiers operating in Iraq to about 4,647.

"With the retaking of Qayara West airfield, the Iraqi security forces have once again demonstrated a serious will to fight," Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said.

“The point of seizing that airfield is to be able to establish a logistics and air hub in the immediate vicinity of Mosul. So, there will be U.S. logistics support," he added in a statement to reporters.

Carter is now scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Army Lt. General Sean MacFarland, and Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi. MacFarland is the head of the U.S. coalition against the Islamic State.

New "CIA Officer Whistleblowing' Video Wreaks Of Disinfo

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
July 2, 2016

Making quite the circuit on the internet landscape is a new video purporting to show a former CIA agent speaking out against the manner in which the “war on terror” is prosecuted and portrayed to the American public. The video has been shared and discussed thousands of times particularly within the alternative media community as evidence that the “war on terror” is one big snowball of bad decisions and blowback.

The video, is a short clip of an interview conducted by AJ+ with Amaryllis Fox, a former CIA Clandestine Services Officer, who makes a number of claims during the three minute clip that range from the reasonable to the absurd. While many alternative media outlets have hailed Fox’s video as “brave” and Fox herself as a whistleblower, it would be wise to analyze her statements for what they are as opposed to praising them simply because they are being presented as “anti-establishment.”

Fox makes a surprising amount of claims for three minutes and she also manages to conflate issues, concepts, and people in a cleverly designed monologue that is clearly scripted for effect.

Fox begins by saying,

Mainstream Journalist Slams MSM Coverage Of Syrian Crisis: ‘Incomparably Worse’ Than Coverage Of Iraq War

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
May 2, 2016

John Rosenthal has been known as a critic of Western intervention in both Libya and Syria since the beginning of both of those crises. Yet, having made a successful career of writing for the Western mainstream Press and outlets such as the National Review, the Wall Street Journal Europe, and World Affairs, work has become slower and slower as his views on Anglo-American imperialism become more apparent.

Indeed, Rosenthal has found that mainstream outlets are much less likely to accept material criticizing imperialist measures and that they are virtually united in refusing to print material that does not paint the targets of Western imperialism in an unfairly bad light. While hesitancy to publish material critical of the governments for whom these outlets often speak has surely been a hallmark of the mainstream corporate press for some time, the noose of censorship and the tightening of the grip on information has become even stronger in recent years. Indeed, it is something that Rosenthal himself has been candid about in regard to his own career which he claims has been a victim of such censorship, a trend that he sees as growing with each crisis.

Rosenthal sat down for an interview with the BRICS Post recently and discussed a number of different topics, one of them being the state of the media and western media coverage of the crises in Syria and Libya. What he revealed was that, at least from a mainstream journalist’s point of view, the journalistic culture in 2016 and the policies of mainstream outlets is more wedded to the idea of pushing agendas and suppressing facts when it comes to geopolitics, international crises, and Anglo-American war aims than even during the period leading up to the Iraq war in 2003.

For instance, BRICS Post asked Rosenthal the question:

There has been much criticism in the past few years of how Western press have covered the Syrian civil war. 

Hillary Clinton: Changing Positions At Every Election

Image Source: Hypeline

Brandon Turbeville
Era Of Wisdom

BrandonTurbeville.com

February 7, 2016

As the tide of public opinion goes, so goes Hillary Clinton’s campaign rhetoric.

Note the term “campaign rhetoric” here since it is not Clinton’s true positions that change, it is only her words that ride the political wind.

If America is sick of war, Hillary is sick of war (except for the new one). If America is angry at banks, Hillary is angry at banks (except when she votes to bail them out). If Americans are beginning to question vaccine safety, Hillary questions their safety. If trendies are afraid of getting sick and there is a temporary false consensus that vaccines work, Hillary is pro vaccine. The list goes on and on.

Below are only a few points on which Hillary Clinton has made an about-face in regards to her alleged positions on the campaign trail.

Vaccines - In stark contrast to candidate Clinton in 2008 when questions over the safety and effectiveness of vaccines were coming to the political consciousness of the American people, Hillary has now become a vocal cheerleader of Big Pharma and vaccinations.

While her opinion is odious enough on its face, it is quite the change from the opinion she held as a candidate in 2008 when she stated that there was the possibility that vaccines were linked to autism.[1] In fact, she wrote in a campaign questionnaire that she was committed to finding out the causes of autism, including “possible environmental causes like vaccines.”[2]

Hillary Clinton’s War Record – 100% For Genocide

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
November 18, 2015

While Bernie Sanders may be tired of hearing about Hillary Clinton’s “damn emails,” the recent scandals that have resulted from her Capitol Hill hearings, combined with the virtually non-existent investigation into the State Department funding of terrorist organizations have gone only a short distance in demonstrating the lengths to which Hillary Clinton has acted as the supporter and executioner of warfare since the first day she assumed any national position in government.

In addition to her history regarding the Syrian and Libyan crises, it should never be forgotten that Hillary Clinton has supported virtually every military conflict launched during and since her husband’s own disastrous tenure as President.

Remember, in 2002-2003, Hillary Clinton not only supported the push for war in Iraq, she voted for the invasion. In fact, she was fervent in her support for the war, delivering impassioned speeches on the Senate floor in order to convince members of Congress who might have been on the fence, as well as the general American population and a handful of Democrats and liberals who valued her opinion on the topic, that war was the right choice. Indeed, Hillary’s speech promoting war in Iraq rivaled only George W. Bush who was campaigning night and day on American television.

Hillary stated on the floor of the Senate:

I believe the facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt. Saddam Hussein is a tyrant who has tortured and killed his own people, even his own family members, to maintain his iron grip on power. He used chemical weapons on Iraqi Kurds and on Iranians, killing over 20,000 people.[1]

Turkey's War On The Kurds, ISIS Air Force Flies Again

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
July 31, 2015

Shortly before calling a NATO meeting under the pretense of concerns over its security, Turkey launched a bombing campaign across the border into Syria allegedly against the ISIS forces that it has supported, trained, and facilitated since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.

Very soon after the bombing campaign was launched there came the announcement that Turkey and the United States had agreed to implement an “ISIL Free Zone” otherwise known as a “No Fly Zone” in northern Syria.

Prior to the formal announcement of the “ISIL-Free/No-Fly Zone,” it was known that Turkey had launched a simultaneous attack on Kurdish targets in Iraq. After the announcement, these attacks on Kurdish targets intensified to greatly overshadow anything purporting to be an attack on ISIS.

Thus, as Turkey whines about the threat ISIS poses to its security, fresh on the heels of a dubious ISIS bombing of a political demonstration, Turkey has demonstrated that the real targets of its bombing campaign is not ISIS at all, it is the Kurds.

Since the 1980s, Turkey has been locked in a political and sometimes bloody military struggle with the Kurds inside its own borders. Turkish Kurds have provided political, military, and demonstrative opposition to the power structure inside Turkey for some time – at times calling for more rights and at other times calling for autonomy and even outright independence.

Truth on the Tracks with Brandon Turbeville - July 20, 2015

Truth on the Tracks with Brandon Turbeville - July 20, 2015

Brandon discusses the violence at the SC State House, the Joel Robinson conviction ‪#‎FreeJoelRobinson‬, The Intelligence Connections to July 4th bomber and Tennesse Shooter, Lindsey Graham's Psychopathy, John McCain's Fake Beheading Videos, NATO territory used to supply ISIS, Breaking Up Iraq into three parts, and Kuwait DNA databases...

ACCESS THE PROGRAM HERE

ACCESS THE TRUTH ON THE TRACKS ARCHIVES HERE

Israelis, Saudis Considering Attack on Iran in Wake of Nuke Deal

Source

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
July 20, 2015 

I have argued from the very beginning of the US-Iran nuclear talks that the diplomacy taking place was nothing more than theatre to be used later in the rush to war as evidence that the US did “everything in its power” to avoid confrontation.

Considering the years of propaganda surrounding Iran and its nuclear program, it should be clear that the recent US-Iran nuclear deal was nothing more than a show. After all, the US/NATO imperialist machine has made its desire to wage war on the Persian nation explicit for some time. The only question is just how long this theatre will last before that goal is finally realized.

Considering the sizable reaction of warmongering and hysteria seeping from the mainstream Western press, the US Congress, Republicans, Conservatives, Israel, and Zionist supporters, the predictions that any deal with Iran will eventually be sabotaged, repealed, or violated, blamed on Iran, and ultimately used to initiate a military confrontation are clearly capable of coming true in the near future.

Granted, Obama supporters and Leftists across the country are hailing the deal as a wonderful display of the desire for world peace. But, for Obama supporters and Leftists, any act by Obama, even war, is considered a wonderful display of the desire for world peace. However, the Western and Western-allied press has erupted in panic and horror that the “solution” to the phantom Iranian nuclear problem was anything short of total war.

Lindsey Graham Wants 20,000 U.S. Troops In Iraq And Syria

Anthony Freda Art

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
July 9, 2015

It appears that – with few exceptions – the 2016 elections will be an exercise where candidates jockey for the title of biggest warmonger. Of course, that contest would have been won long ago if rhetoric and war psychosis were the only criteria.

SC Senator Lindsey Graham has indeed received a head start in the competition for his regular incitements to war, most vociferous support of foreign entanglements, and the most psychotic suggestions for US foreign policy.

Graham recently attempted to clinch the win by giving his “first major foreign policy speech” at the Atlantic Council “think tank” offices in Washington, D.C. Graham’s speech was designed to stand as a preview as to what he would do if elected President, a speech that shortly turned into a list of countries he would bomb, countries he would invade, and countries he would both bomb and invade.

Graham then went on to pronounce that he believed the U.S. should commit 20,000 troops to the Syria and Iraq regions in order to “fight ISIS,” the same terrorist organization that his friend John McCain helped organize, train, fund, and direct.

Graham wants to increase the number of U.S. “military advisers” on the ground in Iraq from 3,500 to 10,000 and to include “special forces.” He wants a similar number contributed on the ground in Syria.

Graham also laughably stated that Iran poses “the greatest existential threat to the world order” today and that, if the Iranians refused to knuckle under and accept the U.S. demands as opposed to a deal (which itself is an insult to a sovereign nation), he would commit the United States to yet another war.

Carving Out Kurdistan - The US/NATO Plan To Break Up Syria and Iraq

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
July 3, 2015

Over the last few months, Americans who pay attention to current events have been treated to a surprising barrage of praise coming from the mainstream media regarding the Kurdish fighters in Syria. The Kurds have been presented as true freedom fighters and an opposition that the US can justify supporting, at least at some level, against ISIS.

Much of this praise is well-deserved. Kurdish fighters have indeed fought bravely against ISIS, dealing blow after blow to the Western-backed terrorist group on a number of occasions. Indeed, the Kurds have fought so skillfully that the US was quick to steal credit for a high-profile operation that was actually conducted by Syrian and Iraqi Kurds – the rescue of trapped Yazidis on the top of Mt. Sinjar.

The resolve that Kurdish fighters showed in their fight against ISIS at Ayn al-Arab (aka Kobane) was extraordinary as was their understanding of the necessity for coordination and cooperation with the Syrian government with regards to issues containing mutual strategic self-interest for both parties.

The West, however, particularly NATO spear-headed by the United States has long had much a much different interest in the Kurdish fighters and their relationship to the region and the conflict currently raging there. Indeed, the Kurds have long acted as a force which the US has been able to harness to stir up destabilization in the Iraqi, Syrian, Turkish, and Iranian sphere. Such is the case now, as the US and NATO powers seek to use the Kurdish desire for an independent country – Kurdistan – as a destabilizing force against Syria, Iraq, and Iran and a galvanizing force for the Turks. Whether or not the Kurds will ever obtain such an independent state, however, remains to be seen.

US Intelligence Responds ''No Comment'' To Questions Of Support for ISIS

Anthony Freda Art

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
June 8, 2015

On May 25, I wrote an article entitled “DOD Admits Supporting ISIS, Buffer Zones In Syria,” where I detailed the importance of documents obtained by Judicial Watch via a lawsuit filed by the watchdog organization against the Defense Intelligence Agency revealing that the US government was not only well aware of the fact that al-Qaeda/AQI/ISIS made up the bulk of the so-called “opposition” in Syria but that the US supported these terrorist organizations in their drive to create an “Islamic State” in Syria and Iraq.

These documents were stunning in their open admission that the US government was knowingly supporting al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria and even more so in the admission that the US gov’t was supporting the creation of the Islamic State. But they were only stunning in the fact that they were released without the relevant portions being redacted. They were much less than surprising when one considers the fact that any informed observer was able to deduce the US policy long before the documents were ever released.

After all, every action the US took in terms of its policy toward AQI/ISIS resulted in strengthening the organization. Even more so, when one comes to understand the fact that the ISIS/AQI was entirely created by the United States and NATO to begin with, the story of what is happening in the Middle East becomes that much clearer. In other words, it was the open admission of support for ISIS – in un-redacted official form – was surprising. The actual support for ISIS, unfortunately, was not.

With growing reports in the alternative (but notable silence amongst the mainstream) press, it was almost inevitable that the corporate media or the intelligence apparatus would have to address what they surely deem publicly to be a “conspiracy theory.”

Middle East Turmoil Is Complete Theatre - War Is On The Horizon

Anthony Freda Art

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
June 3, 2015

Considering the years of propaganda surrounding Iran and its nuclear program, it was clear to any informed observer that the recent US-Iran nuclear deal was nothing more than theatre. After all, the US/NATO imperialist machine has made its desire to wage war on the Persian nation explicit for some time. The only question is just how long this theatre will last before that goal is finally realized.

While the Western press and corporate media outlets have taken to presenting the Iran nuclear deal as either a tragic capitulation to the deadly warmongering Iranians or a brilliant lunge for peace with the deadly warmongering Iranians, the premise of their presentations are exactly the same – that Iran is dangerous, wants war, and is doing whatever it can to acquire a nuclear weapon.

This is, of course, despite the fact that there is no evidence that Iran is attempting to gain a nuclear weapon or has any aggressive intent in the region. In fact, the US and Israeli intelligence organizations have both determined that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon nor is it attempting to acquire one. Indeed, it has been admitted by military industrial complex firm, The RAND Corporation, that Iran’s military capabilities were largely defensive, not offensive. Even further, not only was Iran well within its rights to do everything it was doing in regards to nuclear energy and technology, the agreement signed with the West was an extraordinary act of conciliation and cooperation. Indeed, Iran bent over backwards to appease the West in its imperialists aims.

Brandon Turbeville on The Kate Dalley Show with Kate Dalley and Dave Doddridge KZNU Utah - May 29, 2015 (FOX Affiliate)

Brandon Turbeville on Perspectives with Kate Dalley and Dave Doddridge KZNU Utah - May 29, 2015 (FOX Affiliate)

Brandon discusses the history and role of ISIS in Syria, Iraq, and the Middle East, terrorism, Geopolitics, the Iran nuclear deal and the question of the possibility of war with Iran and Russia.