[2003] War and Empire: The Truth That Rockford Couldn’t Bear to Hear

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This is the Rockford College graduation speech Chris Hedges tried to give on May 17, 2003, before being drowned out by shouts and boos and fog horns. A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, he is author of the highly recommended War Is the Force That Gives Us Meaning.

War and Empire: The Truth That Rockford Couldn’t Bear to Hear

I saw this video months ago, but recently came across the text on Antiwar.com while searching for something else. He calls Putin a dictator, but Russia was fighting U.S.-backed terrorists in Chechnya at the time (see after the cut). The reason why the speech interested me is that Rockford isn’t far from where I grew up.

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Japan’s new justice minister admits ties with Unification Church [CIA] + More

New Japanese Justice Minister Hideki Makihara admitted Tuesday that he and his secretary have attended events related to the Unification Church a total of 37 times.

Japan’s new justice minister admits ties with Unification Church

Related:

24 junior ministers had Unification Church ties

Twenty-four of the 54 state ministers and parliamentary vice ministers in Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet had ties to the religious group Unification Church, according to an analysis by The Asahi Shimbun.

‘Asian Nato’ calls, Taiwan moves: should Beijing worry as Japan’s Ishiba gets going?

Wikipedia:

Hideki Makihara (牧原 秀樹, Makihara Hideki, born 1971) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Tokyo he attended the University of Tokyo and law school at Georgetown University in the United States. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 2005.

Spies Like Us: The Spooks of Georgetown

From Georgetown to Langley: The controversial connection between a prestigious university and the CIA

If you have ever wondered, “where do America’s spies come from?” the answer is quite possibly the Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) at Georgetown University. It is only a modestly-seized institution, yet the school provides the backbone for the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, State Department, and other organs of the national security state.

C.I.A. Spent Millions to Support Japanese Right in 50’s and 60’s

As the C.I.A. supported the Liberal Democrats, it undermined their opponents. It infiltrated the Japan Socialist Party, which it suspected was receiving secret financial support from Moscow, and placed agents in youth groups, student groups and labor groups, former C.I.A. officers said.

An Unholy Alliance: How the Unification Church Penetrated Japan’s Ruling Liberal Democratic Party

Why Is Arab Media Silent About the Uyghur Separatists Supporting “Israel”?

We no longer hear much about the Uyghur issue, which Arab and international media outlets often promoted as a narrative to tarnish the reputation of the Chinese government and pressure it. This issue has always been framed through the lens of “generality” implying that “China is persecuting Muslims within its borders,” which is certainly not true, since the Uyghurs are not the only Muslim ethnic group in China; there are ten Muslim ethnicities in China.

Why Is Arab Media Silent About the Uyghur Separatists Supporting “Israel”?

Reviving ISIS: A US weapon against the Resistance Axis, by The Cradle’s Iraq Correspondent

The U.S. has never hesitated to use those it calls terrorists as a means for its own ends. From The Cradle’s Iraq Correspondent at thecradle.co:

Is it a coincidence that the world’s foremost terror organization is being revived just as the US struggles under a multi-front assault on its hegemony in West Asia? More curiously, both ISIS and Washington’s targets are exactly the same.

Reviving ISIS: A US weapon against the Resistance Axis, by The Cradle’s Iraq Correspondent

H/T: Der Friedensstifter