Tag: Religious Right

The Republican Strategy: Lie, Distract, Repeat (Pound the Table, if Necessary)

Yesterday, I posted an explanation of Step One in the Republican strategy for defending Donald Trump — LIE.

Lie through your teeth, boldly. Spread falsehoods and misinformation whenever possible. Twist the words of your opponent. Or, better yet, put words never spoken into his mouth.

After all, who will know the difference? The majority of viewers don’t pay close enough attention to spot the lies when they occur. Many are so highly partisan that they will believe anything spouted by a member of their “team” and never bother to investigate it for themselves.

To illustrate this point, yesterday’s post focused  on one of Trump’s defense attorneys, self-professed evangelical, Jay Sekulow.

Unfortunately, Sekulow shows himself to be far too comfortable with lying

Jay Sekulow

for anyone claiming to follow Jesus of Nazareth, as illustrated by only one of  the many possible video clips available online.

But lying is only step one.

The Second Step is distraction.

Distraction is easily accomplished by changing the subject or going on a tangent (often an emotional tangent) about seemingly related, but materially irrelevant, information.

Since this is the Republican’s only “defense” option, you will see this step on display any time a Trump defender speaks about the case against the president.

So, let’s return to Sekulow and watch his mastery, not only of the art of deception, but also of distraction.

Pay attention to Sekulow’s arguments. Let’s review. He insists that:

  • The aid to Ukraine was eventually released
  • Trump’s aid to Ukraine was superior to President Obama’s
  • Ukraine defensive capabilities were not affected by the delay
  • Obama temporarily withheld aid to Egypt
  • Trump also withheld aid from other countries
  • He concludes by asking for the whistle-blower

The obvious question is: What bearing does ANY of this have on rebutting the impeachment charge accusing Trump of offering a quid pro quo for his own personal benefit?

The answer is — NONE. But Sekulow is trusting we won’t notice.

However, a careful listener will observe:

  • No one has denied that the aid was eventually released. The accusation is that it was only released after Trump’s scheme had been revealed publicly. So, what’s the  point?
  • Obama’s aid packages have nothing to with anything in this conversation. This is mere deflection. He is hoping we are like the dog suddenly distracted by the squirrel.
  • Ukraine’s defensive ability is irrelevant to the point at issue. (Personally, I don’t buy the Democrats’ emphasis on how the aid delay posed a threat to US “national security.” This is political establishment balderdash.)
  • So what if Obama once withheld aid from Egypt? Foreign aid is regularly conditional, with government sanctioned conditions built in. Trump’s aid delay was not approved by anyone outside the Oval Office. Again, what’s the  point?
  • So, Trump also withheld aid from other countries. And…?? Notice that Sekulow has nothing to say about whether those delays were matters of official US policy or more instances of Trump’s personal quid pro quos. Perhaps more investigations should begin…
  • Concluding with an off-handed remark about the whistle-blower is an instance of throwing red meat to the masses. After the extensive testimony presented by multiple witnesses to the House committees, and the Democrats many requests for witnesses to appear before the Senate, the whistle-blower has become almost irrelevant.

Notice what Sekulow has accomplished with this speech.

He speaks forcefully with confidence, like a good attorney should. He gives the appearance of having command of contrary evidence, demonstrating the president’s innocence. The image is compelling.

BUT when you listen closely at what Sekulow says and think about it, you see that it has all been a grand parlor trick. Nothing he talks about has direct bearing on the facts in evidence. Sekulow’s “facts” fail to undermine the Democrats’ presentation of the evidence because his facts (which may well be entirely true!) are not relevant to the actual charges brought against the president.

The goal of such distraction is to confuse the audience, just as magicians do with their dramatic antics.

Sekulow, like every other Trump defender, is tossing dust into our eyes and hoping we won’t notice as he picks our pockets.

A meaningful defense would be able to take the same body of evidence gathered by the House committees, now being presented to the Senate, and provide a superior, more cogent, comprehensive explanation of the behavior demonstrated by that evidence to have actually taken place.

And THAT, my friends, is the one thing I have yet to hear a single Republican be able to do.

Instead, all we hear are more lies and distraction.

 

“The Lack of Integrity Among Republican Members is Stunning”

Marjorie Cohn is emeritus professor of law at Thomas Jefferson School of

(150320) — WASHINGTON D.C., March 20, 2015 (Xinhua) –Marjorie Cohn, professor of Thomas Jefferson School of Law .

Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild (an organization that once saved my legal bacon).

Today she was interviewed by The Real News and asked about her view of the ongoing Senate impeachment trial. Her legal insights are informative, helpful, and very troubling for those of us who are concerned about the permanent damage Trump’s presidency may create for America’s future.

At one point she marvels, “The lack of integrity among Republican members [of Congress] is stunning.”

I’m no lawyer, but she took the words right out of my mouth. The interview is 14 minutes long.

Lying and Perjury are Contrary to Sound Doctrine, 1 Timothy 1:10

In addition to its historical significance, the primary reason I decided to write a few posts about Trump’s impeachment trial is because of ongoing heavy investment of evangelical Christian energies into the president’s defense.

The overwhelming majority of white evangelicals continue to support Trump, regardless of his behavior. The majority of conservative Christians are equally (if not more) conservative in their politics. Which means that their major source of political information is Fox News.

I have no idea what percentage of American viewers are watching the Senate trial, or how many watched the witness testimony collected in the House committee hearings. But I suspect that few Americans watch the testimony and arguments live and in full.

Rather, public opinion is formed by the short clips and editorializing provided by favorite news stations. Again, for conservative Christians this source of information is gained overwhelming from Fox.

One of President Trumps defense lawyers is Jay Sekulow, an evangelical

Jay Sekulow

Christian and media darling of Fox News. He is Fox’s natural go-to guy for commentary on the Senate trial proceedings.

Sekulow is also the host, with his son, of a radio/television talk show broadcast on various Christian media outlets. I  listen to Sekulow’s program regularly.

There is nothing particularly “Christian” about it. Instead, Sekulow’s show serves as one more supposed news outlet, like Fox, that exists to repeat Republican  party talking-points.

Which is why I am saddened, but not surprised, to see Sekulow and others on Trump’s defense team stand up on the Senate floor and lie to the American people.

I cannot believe that they do not know exactly what they are doing. Deliberate lying is the only way to describe Sekulow’s behavior.

While all of Trump’s legislative supporters are doing it, Sekulow claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And THAT makes Sekulow’s lies especially abhorrent.

Lying is one thing, but lying deliberately in defense of a favored politician is inexcusable for anyone who claims to follow Jesus Christ.

I will mention only two examples to illustrate Mr. Sekulow’s problem:

First, Sekulow’s opening statement to the Senate repeated the Republican complaint that the president was denied due process during the House investigations, saying that Trump and his lawyers were shut out of the committee hearings. Watch Sekulow repeat this charge here (beginning at the 1:00 minute mark).

This is an oft repeated Republican lie.

This lie has been repeatedly rebutted by the Democratic impeachment managers. In fact, you can watch a news report below describing the Judicial Committee’s invitation to President Trump, asking him to attend their meetings in November, 2019.

I remember watching a segment of the House investigation where they explained that the president had been invited to tell his side of the story with his own lawyers present (calling Jay Sekulow!) so they could cross-examine witnesses!

Yet, Sekulow and others repeat this lie shamelessly. The fact is that Trump declined the invitation and instructed everyone in the Executive branch to ignore all Congressional subpoenas.

Second, Sekulow was interviewed yesterday about his upcoming strategy. He said that he intended to rebut the Democratic charge that the president had solicited Ukraine for a “quid pro quo;” that is, you scratch my back (by announcing an investigation into the Bidens) and I’ll scratch yours (by releasing the hold on the weapons that you want).

Sekulow strangely insisted that this charge is phony because the first article of impeachment never says anything about a quid pro quo. What Sekulow fails to mention, however, is that the article explains, in plain English, how the president’s request of Ukraine amounted to an actual quid pro quo.

Watch this clip with Jake Tapper exposing Sekulow’s lie by putting the actual article of impeachment on the screen explaining how Trump’s quid pro quo worked, without using the words themselves (beginning at 1:40).

These two examples are only the tip of the iceberg of egregious lies constructed by the Republicans and repeated on partisan “news” programs by lawyers, like Jay Sekulow, who are willing to deceive the public with a straight face.

I am sorry, but this is not the behavior of a Christian lawyer.

“It’s Like We Are Witnessing the Death of Democracy”

Yesterday, Democracy Now began their coverage of the Senate impeachment trial with a discussion of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s newly devised procedural rules for the trial’s conduct.

In short, these rules limit the trial to less than one week.  By comparison, Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial lasted for two months. Bill Clinton’s Senate trial took a full month.

In addition, McConnell’s rules for Donald Trump’s impeachment trial prohibits both the admission of relevant documents and the calling of witnesses to testify.

Journalists are also banned from the Senate during the “trial.”

Furthermore, the entire time permitted for each side to present their cases is restricted to three days (an expansion from the original limit of two days).

Think about this:

How many trials have you heard of where the judge ruled, before the trial began, that no documentary evidence or witness testimony will be allowed, all arguments must be finished in three days, no matter what, and all journalists are banned from the court room?

I’ll tell you — NONE, for the simple reason that what is happening now in the halls of Congress is not a trial.  It is a Republican orchestrated farce, as ANY fair-minded person has to admit.

Kristen Clarke

Amy Goodman’s 18 minute interview with Kristen Clarke and Rick Perlstein helps to place the current Senate travesty in historical context.

Ms. Clarke is a civil rights attorney and the Executive Director of The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Mr. Perlstein is

Rick Perlstein

an American historian and journalist who has written several books about Richard Nixon, including his impeachment investigation, and Ronald Reagan.

In my view, their insights into the farcical events now unfolding in the US Senate are ominous warnings about the twilight years of American democracy.

I Never Imagine I Would Miss Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater

Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell

As Trump’s impeachment trial approaches, Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, continues his draconian measures to prohibit any new evidence from being including in the Senate proceedings.

Unlike past impeachment trials, which have allowed additional witnesses to be called (in fact, during the Clinton impeachment Republicans insisted they be allowed to call new witnesses), McConnell is refusing to permit additional witnesses to testify before Congress.

He has good reason to fear for his president, but his actions only contribute further to his reputation as the most corrupt Republican majority leader in recent history.

John Bolton (Photo by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

John Bolton (former National Security Adviser who referred to Trump’s Ukrainian quid pro quo scheme a “drug deal” he wanted nothing to do with) and Lev Parnas (Rudy Guliani’s business associate who operated as Rudy’s “fixer” in coercing Ukrainian government officials to yield to Trump’s demands) have both said they are willing to testify if asked.

Rudy Giuliani has coffee with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, U.S. September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Aram Roston/File Photo – RC18E5EEDD00

Furthermore, a boatload of new documents have also been handed over to House investigators which not only confirm the previous House testimony against Trump, but adds new information as well.

For instance, copies of whatsapp messages reveal that one Robert F. Hyde, a Republican congressional candidate from

Former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch

Connecticut, had the US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch “under physical, and possibly electronic, surveillance.”

At one point, Hyde suggested that he could increase the pressure on Yovanovitch (who was working to end political corruption in the country) but it would require enlisting Ukrainian security forces — an obvious threat against the ambassador’s personal safety.

Here is an excerpt from an article in The Guardian explaining this section of the texts:

“In March 2019, Hyde wrote to Parnas, ‘Wow. Can’t believe Trumo [sic] hasn’t fired this bitch. I’ll get right in [sic] that.’

“The two men then exchanged a string of messages about the ambassador’s whereabouts.

“’She under heavy protection outside Kiev,’ Hyde wrote to Parnas, adding two days later: ‘They are moving her tomorrow.’

“’The guys over there asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them,’ wrote Hyde, who has posted pictures of himself with Trump and Giuliani on social media. ‘She’s talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off. She’s next to the embassy. Not in the embassy.’

“’They are willing to help if you/we would like a price,’ said Hyde.

“’Guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money … what I was told,’ Hyde wrote in another text, to which, Parnas responded: ‘LOL.’”

The State Department finally removed Yovanovitch from Ukraine because, she was told, they had information indicating her safety was at risk.

Hmmmmmm. I wonder who was threatening her safety?

Remember the reconstruction of Trump’s Oval Office call with the Ukrainian president? Remember when he told President Zelensky that Yovanovitch “was going to go through some things”?

What a coincidence…

Lev Parnas has obviously struck a deal since his recent arrest and is talking freely with reporters. Watch this interview by Anderson Cooper where Parnas not only implicates Trump but states that Trump was in regular communication with him and Giuliani being updated on everything the two were doing in Ukraine.

Parnas confirms what honest observers have always known: Donald Trump is a liar. More than that, he is a pathological liar, and he lied when he said he didn’t know Lev Parnas.

But, never mind, because Mitch McConnell is working overtime to prevent any of these documents and witnesses and from contributing to Trump’s impeachment trial.

Why muddy the waters with more evidence of the truth?

And this explains why I find myself surprisingly “nostalgic” for men like Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater (I can’t believe I just wrote this sentence).

On the eve of Nixon’s impeachment proceedings in 1974, Senator Barry Goldwater (a fire-breathing conservative if there ever was one) led a delegation of his fellow Republicans to meet with Nixon in the Oval Office.

These three Congressmen told Nixon that he had lost all Congressional support. There was no way he could survive an impeachment process. His presidency was over, one way or the other. The meeting came to be called the “Goldwater moment.”

President Nixon announced his resignation the next day.

Senator Goldwater, whose politics I abhorred, represents a very different

President Nixon resigns on national television

period in the evolution of the US Congress. His was an era where party loyalties were not always allowed to eclipse the evidence of White House criminality.

Goldwater reminds us that highly conservative, Republican politicians can maintain their personal integrity in times of political crisis. Politics need not always blind its players to the facts.

Sadly, these are qualities of personal character are sorely lacking in today’s players. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Jim Jordan and their partisan ilk are political barbarians — clever and crafty, no doubt; but bloody barbarians, nonetheless — when compared even to a Manichean madman like Barry Goldwater.

And what about Nixon?

Nixon’s decision to resign his presidency revealed that even “Tricky Dick” had some semblance of shame. He knew when to quit, when it was time to stop lying.

Tragically, today’s White House occupant has no sense of shame whatsoever. He is a malignant narcissist hard-wired to lie. Lying is Donald Trump’s raison d’être.

And the nation’s Congressional barbarians have grown corpulent feasting at the White House trough.

Even Nixon and Goldwater are rolling over in their graves.

Liars Beat the Drums of War. Part 3 — US Lies About Iran

Dan Kovalik is another person to whom I always pay attention.  He is a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, as well as an active labor and human rights attorney.

A peace activist and prolific author, his most recent book is The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran. I have read many of his articles and just ordered the book for myself.

The independent, investigative journalist, Abby Martin, recently interviewed Kovalik to get his perspective on the recent US assassination of Qassam Soleimani.

I strongly encourage you to watch this YouTube video of their conversation.

It is must see viewing for Americans who are in desperate need of a strong antidote to the barrage of Establishment propaganda shoveled out by every corporate news company in the USA.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Kovalik and Martin expose the long history of unprovoked American aggression against the Iranian people.

Beginning with the CIA coup that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected president in 1953, Kovalik shows how the US is continuing to lie about (1) Iran’s “quest” for nuclear weapons, (2) Iran’s fictional role as “the world’s largest exporter of state-sponsored terrorism”, and (3) Iran’s “continued attacks” against “innocent” Americans.

In 2013, the CIA publicly confessed its responsibility for the 1953 overthrow of the Iranian government, which we toppled in order to regain control (together with Great Britain) over Iran’s oil resources.

You can read the CIA confession and all the details  here in the National Security Archives.

Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

America continues its efforts to lie, cheat, and steal its way into controlling Iranian resources again.

And our  government, together with all its mindless, media minions, will continue to lie, lie, lie and then lie some more in its efforts to brainwash the public, bedazzling us into stupefied silence — or better yet, heart-felt. patriotic approval — when our bloodthirsty government finally unleashes the savage dogs of war.

DON’T FALL FOR IT!

Christians, you are citizens of the kingdom of God, first! Your membership in the American body politic is nothing compared with this spiritual truth. Your #1 loyalty is to the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth.

He is the Redeemer who calls us to embrace truth not lies, and peace,not war.

If you claim to be a follower of Jesus, then understand that in this moment  every Christian’s motto must be:

No War With Iran!

Liars Beat the Drums of War. Part 2 — The News Media and Establishment Propaganda

A key to successful propaganda is having the appearance of knowledge and authority while disseminating falsehoods and misrepresentations.

A key ingredient to the success of US corporate news broadcasts in their spreading of government-backed lies is their use of “expert” commentators. These talking-heads, periodically trotted out for their supposed expertise on a subject, are typically former members of the US military, the intelligence community, and political leaders waiting for their next government gig.

Invariably these professional commentators provide off-the-cuff “analysis” which, in one way or another, endorses the worldview necessary  for the expansion of American empire.

Whether that requires more bombing, another invasion, a tighter security apparatus, a larger military budget, you name it, these folks make a living by persuading the public that more American aggression is essential to peace and prosperity around the world.

We recently heard Donald Trump say that he bombed Qassam Soleimani, not to start a war, but to prevent a war.

Right.

Just as George W. Bush was forced to start a war in order to prevent the mythical mushroom cloud.

I am old enough to remember the Army’s justification of free-fire zones in the Vietnam war, where soldiers were free to kill anything on sight and destroy entire villages, by saying that “we had to destroy the village in order to save the village.”

Give me a break.

I wasn’t stupid enough to believe the propaganda then. And I’m not stupid enough to swallow it now.

What our TV news networks never disclose to us is that virtually ALL of these so-called expert commentators maintain profession relationships with the military-security-intelligence-industrial complex while working for the corporate news media.

After all, they have invested their entire professional lives into climbing the ladders of power inside the war rooms of the American empire. They are not about to give that up now.

Very few leopards ever change their spots, folks.

Lawrence Wilkerson is a rare breed.

So, it is not surprising that this class of propagandist is invariably are on the payroll of weapons manufacturers, military consulting firms, and surveillance companies, etc. Just as the execution of Gen. Soleimani sent the stock prices of Raytheon and other weapons manufacturers through the roof, so these talking-heads work to further enhance the financial and ideological investments that they have spent their entire lives helping to construct.

Below is a video report by The Intercept explaining only a few of these corrupt financial connections. Of course, none of the networks ever mention these connections to their viewers.

For instance, Fox News hired a retired general who naturally justifies US military strikes, but never mentions that he is a partner at SCP Partners, a venture capital fund that invests in defense contractors.

Similarly CBS hired another retired general who now works for Kohlberg Kravis Robers & Co., an investment firm with major holdings in  some of the largest US defense contractors.

These men and women do offer expert analysis. They are trying to sell us more snake oil at the very high cost of human lives around the globe.

“America Exists to Make War”

My regular readers will remember that I always value the insights of retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson. Col. Wilkerson was the Chief of Staff for Colin Powell when Powell was the Secretary of State under President George

Retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson

W. Bush.

Col. Wilkerson is also the only official from the Bush administration who has come clean about the consistent stream of lies we were fed by the Bush administration about the non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The CIA lied to him and General Powell.

Why in the world should anyone believe what US intelligence spokespeople are telling us today about Iranian General Qassem Soleimani or the Iranian

Soleimani’s burning body lies next to his car

government?

Since the catastrophic war in Iraq, which continues to this day, Col. Wilkerson has devoted himself to speaking out, working to ensure that there won’t be any more US wars based on lies.

Here he explains how the government lie-factory is again working overtime as it promotes war with Iran. As he says, “[American leaders] will lie, cheat, and steal to promote American empire.”

Watch the interview by journalist Amy Goodman discussing the current state of US/Iran relations with Col Wilkerson on the program Democracy Now.  It is 17 minutes long and well worth your time.

 

Liars Beat the Drums of War. Part 1

All governments lie.

That fact is a given and must be accepted by any adult who wants to understand politics and foreign relations in this world of ours.

For Christians who understand that their primary allegiance is to Jesus Christ, and that they are first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of God NOT their temporal country, embracing this truth need not be difficult.

Not only is the government of the United States not an exception to this rule, we in many ways we have perfected the practice of lying, deception and misinformation to a fine art — perhaps a crude, vulgar and vile norm would be a more accurate way to describe it.

The recent release of the Afghanistan Papers by the Washington Post is only one recent demonstration of this age-old truism about government lies. US military leaders, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, our intelligence services, and the vast majority of our elected politicians have all been lying to the American public about the 18 year long war in Afghanistan for….wait for it…the entire 18 years.

When interviewed behind closed doors, over 400 American leaders, both military and civilian, in nearly 700 separate interviews, confessed that the military has never had a coherent strategy for pursuing this wasteful war.  Nor did they have the slightest hope that the US could accomplish anything resembling “victory,” whatever that might look like.

In short, everyone admitted that no one in the US government had any idea what we were doing in Afghanistan.

Yet, when speaking in public we heard lie after lie after lie — “we are moving toward victory,” “our new strategy is working,” “we see light at the end of the tunnel.”

All the lies have been revealed in black and white.

Yet, not long after the publication of these Afghanistan Papers, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a press conference where he deliberately mischaracterized the information contained in these interviews and then glibly dismissed their significance out of hand.

Watch the oh-so noble general continue spinning more public lies in the video below:

The US corporate media perpetuates US government lies by repeating them mindlessly, without challenge or correction. Major developments that indict our government by uncovering the truth are conveniently ignored by the corporate press.

Truth remains unreported because real journalism is dead in this country. The American people may well be the most ideologically narrow, as well as the most thoroughly propagandized population in the “civilized” world.

Of course, the truth is also ignored by the bought-and-paid-for money grubbers in Washington DC whose silence indicts them, too, as co-conspirators in the deception of the American people.

How many major, investigative reports have you seen about the Afghanistan Papers on corporate news programs?

I have not seen any.

Has anyone heard even a hint about a possible Congressional investigation into the negligence, gross malfeasance and moral decay festering at the heart of our military-industrial-security complex laid bare for all to see by the Afghanistan Papers?

I haven’t.

We, the American public, including the Christian church, must share in this  corporate guilt.

We are a major portion of the gullible and/or disinterested public that conveniently believes the government lies, ignores contrary evidence, and cheers patriotically for the endless bloodshed unleashed by America’s selfish addiction to imperial power around the world.

We Are Watching Another Catastrophic Iraq War Plan 3.0: We’ve Seen All This Before

As usual the US corporate media continues to march in lockstep with the atrocious lies currently spewed by the Trump administration in the aftermath of killing the Iranian leader Qassem Suleimani.

In this regard, President Trump is not the deplorable outlier that liberal pundits pretend him to be.  Rather, Trump is the latest in a long line of terrorist presidents whose actions have polished America’s reputation as the world’s greatest perpetrator of state-sponsored terrorism.

No, that title  does not belong to Iran, as the American public is repeatedly told. It actually belongs to the good old US of A, hands down.

Two key players in this latest terrorist outrage, besides Trump himself, are Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of Defense Mike Pompeo.

Both men claim to be Christians, evangelicals in fact.

Both men continue to flourish in shameful careers that bring disrepute to the church of Jesus Christ.

Both men make a mockery of the gospel and reveal in living color that they abandoned the Lord Jesus long ago.

Pence and Pompeo are living examples the failed “seed sown among thorns” described by Jesus in his parable of the sower in Mark 4:7, 18-19:

Others, like seed sown among thorns hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

The arid, war-mongering, anti-Christian lifestyles of these men are openly revealed as they blatantly lie America into another tragic war of American aggression.

Craig Murray has written an important article detailing the inexcusable lies of Trump, Pence and Pompeo. Mr. Murray is a former British diplomat turned human rights advocate.

Craig Murray, former UK diplomat turned human rights advocat

I have posted an excerpt of his article below, but I encourage you to read the entire piece  here:

In one of the series of blatant lies the USA has told to justify the assassination of Soleimani, Mike Pompeo said that Soleimani was killed because he was planning “Imminent attacks” on US citizens. It is a careful choice of word. Pompeo is specifically referring to the Bethlehem Doctrine of Pre-Emptive Self Defence.

Developed by Daniel Bethlehem when Legal Adviser to first Netanyahu’s government and then Blair’s, the Bethlehem Doctrine is that states have a right of “pre-emptive self-defence” against “imminent” attack. That is something most people, and most international law experts and judges, would accept. Including me.

What very few people, and almost no international lawyers, accept is the key to the Bethlehem Doctrine – that here “Imminent” – the word used so carefully by Pompeo – does not need to have its normal meanings of either “soon” or “about to happen”. An attack may be deemed “imminent”, according to the Bethlehem Doctrine, even if you know no details of it or when it might occur. So you may be assassinated by a drone or bomb strike – and the doctrine was specifically developed to justify such strikes – because of “intelligence” you are engaged in a plot, when that intelligence neither says what the plot is nor when it might occur. Or even more tenuous, because there is intelligence you have engaged in a plot before, so it is reasonable to kill you in case you do so again.

I am not inventing the Bethlehem Doctrine. It has been the formal legal justification for drone strikes and targeted assassinations by the Israeli, US and UK governments for a decade. Here it is in academic paper form, published by Bethlehem after he left government service (the form in which it is adopted by the US, UK and Israeli Governments is classified information).

So when Pompeo says attacks by Soleimani were “imminent” he is not using the word in the normal sense in the English language. It is no use asking him what, where or when these “imminent” attacks were planned to be. He is referencing the Bethlehem Doctrine under which you can kill people on the basis of a feeling that they may have been about to do something.

The idea that killing an individual who you have received information is going to attack you, but you do not know when, where or how, can be justified as self-defence, has not gained widespread acceptance – or indeed virtually any acceptance – in legal circles outside the ranks of the most extreme devoted neo-conservatives and zionists…

…Let us now move on to the next lie, which is being widely repeated, this time originated by Donald Trump, that Soleimani was responsible for the “deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans”. This lie has been parroted by everybody, Republicans and Democrats alike…

..Those [Americans killed] were US troops killed in combat during an invasion. The Iraqi Shia militias – whether Iran backed or not – had every legal right to fight the US invasion. The idea that the killing of invading American troops was somehow illegal or illegitimate is risible. Plainly the US propaganda that Soleimani was “responsible for hundreds of American deaths” is intended, as part of the justification for his murder, to give the impression he was involved in terrorism, not legitimate combat against invading forces. The idea that the US has the right to execute those who fight it when it invades is an absolutely stinking abnegation of the laws of war…

The final, and perhaps silliest lie, is Vice President Mike Pence’s attempt to link Soleimani to 9/11. There is absolutely no link between Soleimani and 9/11, and the most strenuous efforts by the Bush regime to find evidence that would link either Iran or Iraq to 9/11 (and thus take the heat off their pals the al-Saud who were actually responsible) failed. Yes, it is true that some of the hijackers at one point transited Iran to Afghanistan. But there is zero evidence, as the 9/11 report specifically stated, that the Iranians knew what they were planning, or that Soleimani personally was involved.