The “October Surprise”: Throwing History Off Course

The “October surprise” worked its way into the political jargon in 1980 to describe the Carter administration’s efforts to obtain the release of 52 American hostages in Iran. President Jimmy Carter didn’t know, however, that his opponent’s campaign was planning its own “October surprise”—to elect Ronald Reagan by ensuring that the hostages would be held until after the election.

The “October Surprise”: Throwing History Off Course

Red Scared: Revising history at the Victims of Communism Museum

“THERE IS NO WAY he is a victim of communism,” my partner quips, pointing to a photo of the late Pope John Paul II. We are near the end of our visit to the new Victims of Communism Museum, standing in an elevator-size lobby with photographs of “victims” screen-printed all over the walls. Among the many victims and honorees: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the Dalai Lama, Romanian writer Herta Müller, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong, and Hungarian neofascist Viktor Orbán.

Red Scared: Revising history at the Victims of Communism Museum (archived)

US Ambassador To China: “We’re The Leader” Of The Indo-Pacific

A recent US Chamber of Commerce InSTEP program hosted three empire managers to talk about Washington’s top three enemies, with the US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns discussing the PRC, the odious Victoria Nuland discussing Russia, and the US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides talking about Iran.

US Ambassador To China: “We’re The Leader” Of The Indo-Pacific

Related:

The Nazi roots of the ‘Indo-Pacific strategy’

The CIA in Angola

The American military industrial complex was stunned and embarrassed by the rapid fall of its puppet government in Saigon in 1975. The CIA faced budget cuts and sought a new conflict to justify its size and spending. Portugal had just freed its colonies so there were power struggles in nations such as Angola. The American public was not told that the CIA had begun shipping arms to Angola and hiring mercenaries to fight there. Once news reports about CIA involvement appeared, the effort was spun as a fight against evil communists.

The CIA in Angola via Tales of the American Empire

What is happening in Kosovo?

We reproduce below with thanks an article published by the Anti-Imperialist Front regarding the serious unrest that has lately erupted in the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo between ethnic Serbians in the north and the puppet Kosovan authorities.

What is happening in Kosovo?

Video via Anti Imperialist Front TV

Related:

The Rambouillet text, which called on Serbia to admit NATO troops throughout Yugoslavia, was a provocation, an excuse to start bombing. Rambouillet is not a document that an angelic Serb could have accepted. It was a terrible diplomatic document that should never have been presented in that form. – Henry Kissinger

Rambouillet Agreement

Capitalism’s Court Jester: Slavoj Žižek

One of the most prominent intellectuals in the contemporary world was named to the list of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers” in Foreign Policy magazine in 2012. He shares this distinction with the likes of Dick Cheney, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Mossad director Meir Dagan. The theorist’s best idea—according to this well-known publication that is a virtual arm of the U.S. State Department—is that “the big revolution the left is waiting for will never come.”

Capitalism’s Court Jester: Slavoj Žižek

Related:

Upcoming: Gabriel Rockhill | Why Slavoj Žižek is Capitalism’s Court Jester (YouTube)

The Rational Destruction of Yugoslavia