On Cancel Culture – it does not exist – it is called accountability.

On Cancel Culture. It does not exist – it’s called accountability. 

If you are one of those jerks who feels that being a racist and/or being an idiot, like self-proclaimed contrarians, is okay – well then, you do have a right to say what you want.  But you also should be prepared for being held accountable for what you’ve said. If you create a toxic work place, for example, you should be fired. It is simple, really. Of course it is imperfect, but the rule is very simple – treat people properly, with respect (dare I say, even kindness). You don’t have to be a dick. 

Accountability is largely absent within our society – injustices occur daily and we are at an inflection point where justice appears to be on the verge of total collapse. Case in point, all of Trump’s felon associates – most of whom have escaped genuine justice. The most notable is Trump himself, who has never been held accountable in his life. Multiple bankruptcies, lots of money received from the Feds, Trump is a real piece of the work who represents the worst of America and capitalism…

Let’s take a look at recently released animal rights activist Walter Bond who served 10 years for property damage. “I was arrested in 2010 for a string of arsons spanning Colorado and Utah which I did commit under the moniker ALF (Animal Liberation Front) ‘Lone Wolf’… I have never been allowed a visit in all my time in prison.” Shocking really, 10 years for property damage! (http://supportwalter.org)

Now let us take a look at a couple of other cases – Roger Stone was found guilty of seven felonies, including witness tampering and lying to federal investigators. His punishment was a paltry 40 months, the prosecutors assigned to the case sought 7-9 years, but even this light sentence was commuted by his beneficiaries and fellow crooks, Donald Trump and William Barr. Stone is also friendly with the Proud Boys and seemingly loves Putin, a conspiracy theorist and probably a racist. Never mind his crimes or lack of any moral compass - no justice here. But 10 years for Walter Bond for doing right by animals, motivated by his moral beliefs.

I’m not beating up on the morally-bankrupt Republican Toxic Party only – we can also find an example of failure to hold the powerful accountable in looking at Diane Feinstein, supposedly a Democrat and senator from California. Billions of dollars were awarded to her husband, Richard Blum (Perini Corp, URS), in military appropriations in an apparent conflict of interest by the sub-committee she served on for years and sometimes headed. 

During Feinstein’s service as a member of the United States Senate’s Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON), as reported by Peter Byrne and covered in Businesswire:

• From 1997 through the end of 2005, with Feinstein’s knowledge, her husband’s group held a majority interest in two defense contractors active in Iraq and U.S. military bases.

• While setting MILCON agendas, Feinstein supervised her own staff of military construction experts and lobbied Pentagon officials in public hearings.

• From 2001 to 2005, URS earned $792 million from military construction and environmental cleanup projects approved by MILCON; Perini secured $759 million from MILCON projects.

SF Gate reported on federal contracts worth potentially billions awarded to Blum’s company – in just the period of February through April 2003 - for troop mobilization, weapons systems training, and anti-terrorism efforts.

And so what happened when these unchecked conflicts of interest of committee member Feinstein were revealed? Not too much. Never mind her recent stock sales – after Congress was briefed but ahead of the American public being informed of the full extent anticipated from the arrival of Covid19 to the U.S. Again, no justice. Instead, Feinstein continues to wield power to the detriment of American citizens (including sponsoring the 2005 Patriot Act and the 2007 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, the basis for Bond’s ten-year sentence). 

Former opinionist Barri Weiss recently made a stink as she left her position with the NY Times, publishing a carefully-written resignation letter that described feeling bullied by left-wing colleagues and perceived restrictions on her right to free speech. The resignation letter she posted did not reference her own long-term attacks on viewpoints she disagreed with. In 2018, Glenn Greenwald wrote in The Intercept:

I’ve watched as Weiss has become celebrated in right-wing circles as some sort of paragon of free expression and academic freedom, and mourned by centrists as the tragic victim of online PC mob silencing campaigns (imagine being a columnist and editor at the New York Times — with full access to the most influential media platform in the world — and seeing yourself as the victim of silencing and censorship), even though her entire career is grounded in precisely the viewpoint suppression, vilification, and censorship campaigns she now depicts herself as loathing.

Never mind the rest of her ilk – the propagandists employed by Fox Fake News like Hannity and Carlson. If there is a cancel culture, how could they still be on the air?

A group of distinguished writers and scholars recently lamented the stifling of free speech (https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/ ). Some of the signatories are notably guilty of their own suppression of opposing viewpoints – yet they have the luxury of doing so from their privileged position as established writers.  Ironic. It’s as if they view the audacity of criticizing their arguments as an attack on society at large.  While the internet has enabled too many trolls, to paint a broad brush against all critics of your values and arguments as a threat “cancelling” you, is disingenuous at best. 

How to debate when the other party does not care to engage in good faith? If no matter how much talking is done – at every turn they don’t care, dispute facts. and deny science (for example), and will never yield? What then is the point? We are not talking about international relations – we are talking about American discourse or the lack thereof. How do you debate a fanatic?

Accountability of those in power is the most important tool in a democracy (and Republics, for those seeing the USA as such). We need to hold people, especially those in positions of influence, accountable for what they say and advocate. That is the only way to actually ensure freedom of speech and debate and Justice.

No Justice – No Peace. 

PS On the other hand, Norman Finkelstein did get academically destroyed by Jeffrey Epstein’s defense attorney Alan Dershowitz after Norman exposed plagiarism in Dershowitz’s book The Case for Israel - there is a lot of stink coming out of Harvard - see this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dershowitz–Finkelstein_affair . So some good people do get the ax because they have integrity - let’s not forget them during this hysteria brought forth by the right-wing extremists. But that’s another story.

On Iran - Is Iran a better strategic partner than Saudi Arabia? Yes! To what extent has Iran been a destabilising force in the Middle East since 1989?

The death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 heralded a new era of politics in Iran.[1] One less grounded in its revolutionary fervor. Yet, Iran is seen as a destabilizing force in the Middle East by the United States and its regional allies Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States because, they argue, it seeks to export its revolution through the overthrow of Arab oil monarchies, its support of international terrorism, its anti-Israeli rhetoric and stance, and, lastly, its desire to acquire nuclear technology. Iran sees its actions as defensive for its own security and to redress the balance of power against the destabilizing forces of the United States, its allies and Sunni extremists. Iran’s grand strategy is more nuanced than acknowledged by its opponents. 

Iran’s foreign policy is rooted not only in its revolution but firmly in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) when it was opportunistically invaded by Saddam Hussein. Iran views the support given by the United States and Saudi Arabia to Iraq as a permanent mark on their relationships.[2] Saudi Arabia financed the Iraqi military while the United States provided intelligence which was also used in deadly chemical attacks on Iranian troops without condemnation from the international community. The United States actively engaged Iran ensuring the uninterrupted flow of oil, but it also resulted in the downing of an Iranian civilian airliner. By the end of the war, and its million dead, Iran was strategically isolated as the United States permanently allied with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.[3] Iran viewed the United States as a potential existential threat until the rise of the Islamic State in the aftermath of the 2003 American invasion of Iraq.[4] Iran sees itself fighting not a crusade, but occupation forces since 1979.[5]

            The collapse of the Soviet Union (1991), with the simultaneous rise of a hostile United States to unipolar power, meant Iran had to recover economically and militarily without foreign assistance. Its isolation led to self-sufficiency and an imperial design to secure oil trade routes for greater economic growth and power projection.[6] Therefore, Iran needed stability in the region for its own security. On its way, it has become a superpower despite efforts to contain and alter its political behavior.[7]

Iran stands accused of spreading its revolutionary ideals throughout the Shiite populations in the region, seeking to topple Sunni-controlled Arab oil monarchies. Shia Iran, under Ayatollah Khomeini, wanted to export its revolution and not just to Shiites throughout the Gulf states but also to the Palestinian cause and Hamas in 1987. An important message from Iran was that the oil-rich Arabs are self-indulgent, spoiled and weak whereas Iran expelled the Americans and beat back the powerful Iraqi army. 

Iran’s support of Shia Hezbollah and Sunni Palestinian Hamas is a destabilizing factor. During the war with Iraq, Iran expanded into Lebanon and Syria by supporting Hezbollah in 1982 when for first time in the modern era an Arab city was destroyed by a foreign invader, Israel. By 2000, and again in 2006, Israel was forced to retreat and important lessons were learned by the Iranians - it transitioned from conventional warfighting to its ascendancy in asymmetric war. Iran’s military innovation is as crucial as the machinegun was to the Great War (1914-18).[8] Its experiences in Lebanon shaped Iran’s political and military strategy. Using proxy forces avoided direct confrontations and conventional wars which Iran would most likely lose against the superior forces of the United States and Israel. And Iran proved more adept at using proxies than its enemies.[9] Asymmetric warfare allowed Iran to spend far less. In 2006, Iran spent 2.5 percent of its gross domestic product compared to Saudi Arabia’s 10 percent.[10] None of this would have been possible without the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Although Iran has committed acts of terrorism in the 1980s and 1990s, it has successfully transitioned to asymmetric warfare. Some of Iran’s previous acts of terrorism were in response to the assassination of Hezbollah general secretary Abbas Moussawi by Israel in 1992, and the downing of an Iranian civilian airliner by the Americans during the Iran-Iraq War.[11] Robert Baer argues that by the 1990s Iran was less looking like an exporter of its revolution and more like a universal, all-encompassing anti-colonialist strategic partner. And that the attacks on civilians on September 11, 2001, made Osama bin Laden and Saudi Arabians look morally bankrupt and Iran was beginning to act and look more like a statesman.[12]

Iran is a threat to Israel because of its asymmetric warfare power and its rhetoric against Israel has enforced this threat but the rhetoric no worse than what Arab states have been saying since Israel’s founding in 1948. The anti-Iranian rhetoric is equally visceral. Iran’s support of Lebanese and Palestinian fighters destabilizes the security of Israel.

Iran’s drive for dual-purpose nuclear technology is considered another threat to regional stability. Since 1989, Iran’s push for this technology is also driven by Sunni Pakistan’s acquisition of nuclear weapons and Saddam’s quest and use of weapons of mass destruction. Nonetheless, Iran’s strategy does not rely on nuclear weapons as has been confirmed by the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which states that Iran did not restart its nuclear weapons program.[13] This did not stop Israel and the United States from exploring attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.[14] Israel, however, is an unmonitored nuclear power and a threat to Iran. In 2015, Iran and the United States signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the Iran nuclear deal – which, in 2017, the Trump Administration withdrew from, insisting on unrealistic demands.[15] Iran’s military strength and threat rests on a world-class asymmetrical warfighting ability, a pool of disaffected fighters throughout the region, and its strict anti-colonial message.[16]

In the 2000s, Iran exploited American missteps especially after the United States made its grave strategic mistakes by invading Iran’s neighbors, Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003). The invasions were a threat to the security of Iran.[17] The Americans did not help themselves by pursuing punishing policies with Iran since 1979 instead of seeking nuanced diplomatic relations.[18] This included funding of dissident Iranian groups, some of whom committed terrorist acts against Iranians, as the US sought regime change.[19] Iran ably exploited every misstep without resorting to direct military confrontations by supporting regional states and by engaging and organizing popular forces.[20] Iran is not an existential threat to the United States.[21] And yet, Iranian successes led the Commander of the United States Central Command to say, in 2017, that Iran is ‘the single greatest long-term threat to stability in this part of the world’.[22] In 2019, the United States named Iran’s military branch, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a terrorist organization.

Iran wants to control oil and gas trade routes. It has an understanding with Iraq, Syria, Kurdish-held areas as well as an oil partnership with Turkey.[23] This mutual understanding and Iran’s capability to shut down the Straits of Hormuz through military means make it a threat to the world’s oil supply. This threat was validated in the 2002 Millennium Challenge, an American wargame, which pitted a fictional commander of an unknown Middle Eastern country (Iran) against the newly-transformed network-centric American military. Using asymmetric warfare, it destroyed the attacking force.[24] Arguments have been made by senior American officers that there is no military solution in dealing with Iran because of its asymmetric counterstrike capabilities and its hardened underground bunker systems.[25] Iran has proven to be militarily successful, unlike its Arab neighbors, and its success must be attributed to its ascendancy in asymmetric warfare guided by a clear grand strategy.

Iran’s strategic ideological framework rests on the enhancement of its regional role and influence, and to safeguard the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty.[26] As such it will not accept another hostile Iraqi government. It repudiates a hostile unipolar United States which Tehran seeks to counterbalance with its biggest trading partner China.[27] Iran supposedly has desires to co-control of Islam’s holy sites of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia where Shiites are being discriminated against. [28] But this may no longer hold true as sectarian violence has spread throughout the region after the 2003 Iraqi invasion and the rise of al Qaeda in Iraq, and its offspring the Islamic State (IS), rebranded as the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS). Saudi Arabia’s support of Iraq during the war with Iran, and its desire to become the regional superpower, is a threat to Iran’s security. Iran has extended its influence since 1989 in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, the Gulf states and Gaza, in effect creating a buffer zone, but strategically Iran will not tolerate the dismantling of any country along religious lines as it creates instability. 

In 2015, Ian Dudgeon visited Iran and met with Iranian officials and think-tanks. He notes that Iran views the Islamic State, Israel, and Saudi Arabia along with the other Gulf States to be Iran’s greatest threats.[29]The US was not mentioned as Iran seeks to avoid any direct confrontation. Furthermore, it has no desire to annex any of its neighbors or near-neighbor territories. Instead, Iran worked successfully with its neighbors to combat extremist enemies and drug trafficking. It cooperates with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics, Russia, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Oman as well as other countries including the European Union, notably Turkey. [30] Iran has emerged from its isolation and saw it work directly with Russia and indirectly with the United States in their efforts to establish regional stability.[31]

The Islamic State is the single greatest threat to regional stability. Its goal is to create an extremist caliphate, to eradicate moderate Sunnis, and to wage war against Shiites. Most troubling is its ability to exploit any power vacuums created by military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria. The direct threat to Tehran is the Islamic State supporting, recruiting and radicalizing Iranian Sunnis as well as the one million refugees within Iran’s border. At its height, IS (ISIS) had the ability to control neighboring countries, thereby weakening Iranian influence. These actions were sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States of Qatar, UAE and Bahrain. The US and Turkey also provided material support to terrorist organizations including ISIS and various Syrian anti-Assad militias. Iran used its military and proxies effectively but the Tehran government recognizes the need to have moderate religious leaders involved in political solutions.[32]

Saudi Arabia and its allies have taken actions to secure their own regional position and to weaken Iran by funding Wahhabi extremists and other Sunni militias. Saudi Arabia and the United States stand accused by Iran of supporting terrorist attacks on its soldiers and civilians.[33] Furthermore, Dudgeon notes, Iran reiterates that it does not seek a sectarian war.[34] It accepts Wahhabism as Saudi Arabia’s state’s religion and believes the majority of followers and clerics do not support the extremist elements. But Iran wants the Saudi government to reign in and distance itself from Wahhabism. 

Iran witnessed Iraq implode into an insurgency and then a sectarian civil war. This was primarily caused by poor post-war planning which included the de-Ba’athification of the government and the army. Al Qaeda, and especially the Islamic state, exploited the chaos which threatened to engulf the entire region. Because Iraq is a neighboring country and the Iraqi population is 65 percent Shiites, Iran intervened and believed its involvement created stability and prevented extremist spill-over into Iran. Iranian military operations were in support of the elected Iraqi Shiite government and executed in conjunction with the Iraqi military. Iranian military planners also deconflicted with the United States military. Iranian officials argue that their military operations are consistent with that of the Americans – to defeat extremists and bring stability to Iraq and the region.[35]

Regional instability is the complex relationships involving Syria, Turkey, the Kurds throughout the region, as well as the interference by the United States and its allies. Syria has supported Iran since the 1979 revolution and this can be attributed to the minority Alawite-Shiite government of the Assads. Iran’s assistance was requested by the legitimate government during the civil war. The instability is a product of American and Turkish support of largely unknown opposition forces. Iran seeks to avoid more political chaos in Syria, as had previously happened in Iraq. A dissolution of the Assad government could also lead to new concerns about a Kurdish homeland potentially involving Iran’s significant Kurdish population nearing seven percent resulting in internal instability. The crisis in Syria requires a political solution and needs to involve the Syrian government, along with stakeholders such as Iran and Russia with its historical ties in the region and its desire to retain its only naval presence in the Mediterranean in Syria.[36]

 Viewed from 2019, Iran’s 2015 analysis of Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu seems grounded in realpolitik and not in revolutionary fervor.[37] It sees the Netanyahu government does not intend to resolve the Palestinian issue. Israel is not interested in any settlement involving the return to pre-1967 borders. That instead it will hold onto, and expand, all its settlements for territorial retention. Iran views Israel as a crucial destabilizing factor in the Middle East. The founding of Hamas and Hizbollah was in direct response to Israeli aggression in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. In 2015, Iran’s support for the democratically elected Hamas is minimal[38] and Hezbollah’s focus is on supporting Assad and defeating the Islamic State. Iran blames the US for its failure in the peace process. 

Other Iranian concerns include Israel’s behavior by Netanyahu addressing the United States Congress directly in violation of American protocol, involving himself in American elections, circumventing the White House and insulting President Barack Obama in the process.[39] The American approach in the Middle East favors Israel despite its aggression and possession of nuclear weapons. Iran, on the other hand, receives sanctions because of its nuclear program. Robert Pollack notes a seemingly more hysterical commentary then proper discussions when it comes to nuclear technology and Iran.[40]

By 2019, anti-Iranian rhetoric has reached a fever pitch.[41] Political agenda drives the polemics on Iran that it ‘implicitly or implicitly associated with terrorism and fanaticism.[42] Charges that Iran is anti-Semitic are incorrect according to government officials who point out that Iran has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel in the Middle East. Iran claims to accept Israel as a state but not on the territories it acquired during the 1967 Six-Day War. Iran’s policy is anti-Zionist, but it would recognize Israel. It supports a two-state solution with other regional partners. However, American participation is required.[43]

Iran needs to disassociate from its negative image as a terrorist sponsor and the troublesome anti-Israeli rhetoric of its former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). Iran wants to be seen as a responsible partner in creating a peaceful, stabilized region which is achieved by seeking the middle ground with moderate partners. Something that seems distant given President Donald’s Trump’s neoconservative policies of supporting Israel outside of accepted international rules and not honoring the nuclear agreement with Iran. 

The Arab-axis, its American and Israeli allies view Iran as aggressors seeking to impose its revolutionary ideals. Iran, they argue, supports terrorist organizations including the Houthis in Yemen. They are concerned with potential Iranian territorial expansion. The Arab monarchs worry about Iran’s meddling in their internal affairs especially its support of the anti-western Muslim Brotherhood.[44] Iran’s support for attacks on Israel is another Arab concern. They argue that such attacks offer Israel an excuse not to pursue settlement negotiations. The Arabs see Iran waging wars through the use of proxies which is reciprocal, although the Arab allies deny supporting extremists. However, both have extremists on their side. Iran as well as the Arab allies view the Islamic State as a fundamental threat to regional stability. Additionally, they seek a resolution to the conflict in Syria. The Sunni-Shiite divide, according to the Arab point of view, emerged after the 1979 Revolution and that moderating forces are required to mitigate the situation. In the meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is but a few months away from completing its first nuclear reactor with the support of the Trump administration.[45]

Since 1989 Iran’s strategy is no longer rooted in Khomeini’s revolutionary ideals but has transformed into a nuanced, long-term effort for security and hegemony. It has morphed from an exporter of terrorism and revolutionary fervor into a regional superpower whose involvement in regional and international affairs can be seen as intimidating as that of any powerful state.  Farideh Farhi’s conclusion is that ‘overall Iran remains committed to the state and nonstate alliances it has laboriously created in order to project power and protect itself’.[46] Iran is among the most stable countries in the Middle East.[47] Its influence has expanded with the focus remaining on the integrity of its state by securing regional stability and not just by its revolutionary zeal. Its power is felt throughout the Middle East.

Bibliography

BOOKS

Ansari, Ali M. 2006. Confronting Iran. New York: Basic Books.

Axworthy, Michael. 2017. Iran: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bacevich, Andrew J. 2016. America's War for the Greater Middle East. First edition ed. New York: Random House. 

Baer, Robert. 2008. The Devil we Know. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Burns, William J. 2019. The Back Channel. New York: Random House.

Crist, David. 2012. The Twilight War. New York: The Penguin Press.

Freedman, Lawrence. 2009. A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East. Paperback ed. ed. London: Phoenix.

Hirst, David. 2010. Beware of Small States. 2010: Nation Books.

Mearsheimer, John J. and Stephen M. Walt. 2008. The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. Toronto: Penguin Canada.

Parsi, Trita. 2008. Treacherous Alliance. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Phillips, Christopher. 2018. The Battle for Syria. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Pollack, Kenneth M. 2013. Unthinkable. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Shehadeh, Raja and Penny Johnson. 2016. Shifting Sands. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press.

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Chubin, Shahram. 2009. "Iran's Power in Context." Survival 51 (1): 165-190. doi:10.1080/00396330902749772. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396330902749772.

MULTIMEDIA

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Ayoob, Mohammed. "The Regional Factors Bringing Turkey and Iran Together." The Strategist., last modified Dec 12, accessed Apr 1, 2019, https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-regional-factors-bringing-turkey-and-iran-together/.

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———. 2002. "Wake-Up Call." The Guardian, Sep 6. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/06/usa.iraq.

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David Andrew Weinberg. 2012. "What Netanyahu's Meddling in US Election Means for Obama, Romney, and Diplomacy." The Christian Science Monitor, Sep 27. https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2012/0927/What-Netanyahu-s-meddling-in-US-election-means-for-Obama-Romney-and-diplomacy.

Dilleen, Connor. "America’s History of Covert Action in Iran: Is Tehran Right to be Paranoid?" The Strategist., last modified Sep 26, accessed Apr 2, 2019, https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/americas-history-of-covert-action-in-iran-is-tehran-right-to-be-paranoid/.

Dudgeon, Ian. 2015. Iran: Regional Threats and Shiite-Sunni Challenges. https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Iran-Regional-Threats-and-Shiite-Sunni-Challenges-Ian-Dudgeon-December-2015.pdf.

———. "Reviewing Australian Support for the Iran Nuclear Deal: Principles and Trust." The Strategist., last modified Dec 6, accessed Apr 5, 2019, https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/reviewing-australian-support-for-the-iran-nuclear-deal-principles-and-trust/.

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Kaplan, Rebcca, Miller, Jake, Amling, Alicia, Nolen, John and Portnoy, Steven. "5 Things to Know about Netanyahu's Speech to Congress." CBS News., last modified Mar 3, accessed Apr 2, 2019, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/five-things-netanyahu-speech-congress/.

Katzman, Kenneth. 2019. Iran: Internal Politics and U.S. Policy and Options. CRS Report: Congressional Research Service. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL32048.pdf.

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Noack, Rick. 2018. "China’s New Train Line to Iran Sends Message to Trump: We’ll Keep Trading Anyway." The Washington Post, May 11. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/05/11/chinas-new-train-line-to-iran-sends-message-to-trump-well-keep-trading-anyway/?utm_term=.8cd7d4f16646.

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[1] Phillips (2016) p.18

[2] PBS Frontline Bitter Rivals 1:19:00

[3] Farhi (2017) p.2

[4] Chubin (2009) p.1 

[5] Baer (2008) p.77

[6] Baer (2008) p.242

[7] Congressional Research Service  (March 6, 2019)

[8] Baer (2008) p.96

[9] Phillips (2016) p.166

[10] Baer (2008) p.100

[11] Boyd (March 19, 1992) 

[12] Baer (2008) p.202

[13] National Intelligence Estimate (October 31, 2007) 

[14] Cordesman (2012) p.4

[15] Dudgeon (2018) p.3 

[16] Baer (2008) p.111

[17] Hirst (2010) p.379

[18] Freedman (2008) p.511 for the American involvement in the Middle East and Burns (2019) p.285 

[19] Mearsheimer (2008) p.294

[20] Mousavian (2019) p.4 

[21] Tajbakhsh (2019) p.1

[22] Garamone (2017) 

[23] Ayoob (2018) p.1

[24] Finkel (2019) for an Israeli view on this exercise and the IDF’s recent failure in Lebanon and Borger (2002) article

[25] Hirst (2010) p.325 and Parsi (2007) p. 278

[26] Farhi (2017) pp.2-3

[27] Financial Tribune (2018) for China as trading partner and Noack (201) for rail development 

[28] Baer (2008) pp. 242-6

[29] Australian Institute of International Affairs (2017) on Dudgeon’s trip to Iran and Dudgeon (2015) p.2 

[30] Dudgeon (2015) p.2-3 

[31] Farhi (2017) p.3

[32] Dudgeon (2015) p.6

[33] Crist (2012) p.563 and Dilleen (2018) p.1 

[34] Dudgeon (2015) p.5

[35] See Cordesman (2012) and Dudgeon (2015) pp.6-7

[36] Dudgeon (2015) p.5

[37] Dudgeon (2015) pp.7-8

[38] Axworthy (2017) p.135

[39] Bacevich (2016) pp.352-3 and articles on US-Israeli discourse by Weiss (2018), Weinberg (2012), CBSNEWS (2015) and Pecquet (2012) 

[40] Pollack (2013) p.419

[41] Burchfield (2019) p.1 

[42] Ansari (2006) p.239

[43] Baer (2008) p.180, p.248

[44] Pargoo (2017) article

[45] Borger (2019) article

[46] Farhi (2017) p. 6 

[47] Shehadeh (2016) p.124

On Accountability - why law enforcement and the military need budget cuts and civilian oversight

I have written on modern special operations for nearly two decades. I know spec ops personnel including some high-speed Canadians. I also know a bunch of cops in the US and Canada. Most of them are prior-service. A few are my friends, others – I would not want them watering my plants, never mind having a dog. A weapon? Fuggedaboutit! Are you even serious?

There is an ever-increasing number of shitbags in spec ops (I cannot speak for the regular services) - I forget now who, but some SEAL’s book (Watson’s Point Man?) mentioned that elite units have the 10% shit factor – people who should not have made it, but somehow did.  I think that number has grown, notably because of the toxicity brought about by far-right extremists in politics and media (I am looking at you Fox Fake News). And Republicans and Libertarians (the latter isn’t even a proper political philosophy). It doesn’t help that Democrats are almost as bad, but at least they don’t tell women to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen and they don’t leave nooses hanging around or fly the traitor’s flag – the Stars and Bars.

Whatever happened to those SEALs flying a Trump flag on their Humvee? What about the murders committed by SEALs in the Forever Wars (The Intercept reported on this)? Or the murder of Green Beret SSG (Staff Sergeant) Logan Melgarby members of SEAL TEAM 6 and marines? Or the SEALs busted on drug trafficking and so on – just do some research and you will be shocked. 

This is not isolated to the US – Germany recently disbanded an entire company of its Navy SEALs (Kampfschwimmer) because of links to right wing extremism as well as the theft of war materiel. But the US has these problems on a far greater scale because we spent fortunes funding the the Pentagon, and with SOCOM (notably NAVSPECWAR) seemingly going rogue, and cops thinking they are warriors, it has become an overwhelming problem.... What must it be like in the regular services or police departments, given what we are seeing in SOCOM? White domestic terrorists are a real danger - not protesters. And no, ANTIFA is not a terrorist organization or even an organization. I am happy we have ANTIFA youth that is willing to take on shitbags on the streets. But I digress.

The Pentagon cannot account for 25% of its budget. And Congress is a willing accomplice in this – no doubt their buddies and families make fortunes off us taxpayers (Feinstein is just one of the many). And then there are the mercs – I cannot think of too many worse things that have happened in our military than the move to privatization.  I know a bunch of mercs as well – some I even like. Erik Prince, a former SEAL, is just one of many making fortunes and increasing his reach and power. All of it stinks of corruption and a complete loss of a moral compass. But that’s what you get without accountability. The budgets of police are astronomical. Cops committing with egregious conduct are suspended with pay – are you kidding me?

We have a problem.

The more you know about special ops, the more you see a lack of accountability because of weak leadership and a total lack of respect for legal and civilian authority. This has clearly been brought forward and enflamed by Trump. He is not a ‘law and order’ president - he is not presidential by any measure. Of course, not everything is his fault - his predecessors also allowed for the degeneration of the moral and ethical core of our fighting forces - extra-judicial murders of American citizens and suspected enemy personnel leading to innocent civilian deaths are part of this shocking decline of morality. Drone warfare leads to even greater moral decay and adds allies to the enemy. Never mind that Big Brother is actually watching us (thank you congress) and genuine patriots like Snowden get slammed.

And now we have militarized police, in camouflage uniforms and hiding their identities like cowards, abducting civilians clandestinely on the streets of Portland and who knows where else. You are not waging Hybrid Warfare on American streets – get a grip – you can and must disobey illegal orders. Are we in Russia or China? I know Trump loves Putin. There are a great many loud-mouths in his administration screeching all sorts of paeans – war songs about crushing, destroying, annihilating the evil leftist-socialist-seniors-communist-foreign-democrat-hippie-poor-minority destroyers of wonderful Rockwellian America as long as the Rockwellians make money for the few on top – I am reminded of the great Belgian artist Ensor work called Doctrinal Nourishment.

The murder of citizens by law enforcement is now being well documented. It too is the outcome of an underlying lack of respect certain police give to civilians. The entire “I am the law” bullshit (you are not Judge Dredd) and the false warrior ethos amongst cops is pathetic. You are not a warrior, you are there to protect and serve your fellow citizens – your neighbors. If you want to be a warrior, join the military – you can legally murder brown and black people overseas. Stop living in white enclaves like Simi Valley, CA, making 200K annually with OT, and then go to work elsewhere where people eke out a living at $10-15 an hour - if that - and you harass them because they are poor. Live in the neighborhoods you patrol – see what it is like to be poor. Over 100 million Americans do not have clean water and children are food insecure – think about that. Are you even serious? Police unions have contributed to the divide between the citizens and law enforcement by closing ranks against any kind of accountability or attempts at reform. As such they must be dismantled. Standards in recruitment, training and leadership must be low because of the way law enforcement conducts itself on our streets. What are they being taught? That we are the enemy – “us” versus “them”? Better to be tried by 12 than carried by six – and don’t worry, cops are never prosecuted anyway? 

As long as the military and law enforcement do not “police” themselves with proper accountability, civilians must step up by any means necessary? to redress the imbalance. Change comes from non-violent direct action they say, but what they forget is that change requires the threat of violence to move meaningful legislation ahead. The civil rights marches also featured the Black Panthers. Peace demonstrations during Vietnam also included violence – the National Guard infamously murdered students at Kent State. LGTBQ+ changes came about because of violence. Injustice means no peace. A lack of justice is moral bankruptcy. You know, like all the felons from the Trump administration, to name but a few crooks – the Democrats have theirs too.

Eventually it will be the civilians who will impose draconian changes that are necessary because neither law enforcement nor the military seeks to hold itself to a proper standard and accountability to the citizens they are supposed to serve. The military/law enforcement, the people and the government are intertwined – there is an interplay between the three components and you don’t need to know your Clausewitz to understand that. When the police and military or Congress become so corrupted by power that they threaten to destroy society, then society will inevitably destroy the military/police and the government. Read some history - and don’t buy it from Amazon if you don’t have to…

So clean your houses before it is done for you through the very painful way of cutting your budgets and firing and charging the worst offenders. Some of you soldiers, sailors, airmen and women, marines, and guards as well as law enforcement are contributing to the decline of America by your illegal and immoral actions. You are ruining it all, including for the men and women in uniform who actually do good work for us – it’s our society. 

Most of the people I know are good humans and professionals but there is an ever increasing number of shitbags. But I think that number has grown, notably so because of the toxic far right extremists in politics and media. The more you know about special ops the more you see a lack of accountability and a total lack of respect for legal authority. This has clearly been supported by Trump. He is not a law and order president - he is not presidential by any measure. Of course not everything is his fault - his predecessors also allowed for the degeneration of the moral and ethical core of our fighting forces - extra-judical murders of American citizens and SUSPECTED enemy personnel leading to innocent civilian deaths are part of this shocking decline of morality.

The Korean War June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953

Let us think about the horrors of war and let us remember the fallen including the 3 million civilian casualties. Let us also remember that it was in this war that the incredible members of the all-Black 2nd Airborne Ranger Company fought and conducted the first Ranger combat parachute assault in history..

The Korean War memorial in DC Source: MIr

Rangers of the 2nd Airborne Ranger Company enroute to Korea. Source: Wikipedia

Black Lives Matter

My life is more well-rounded knowing about these soldiers and other warriors of color… I’ll post a separate story about Pat Tadina whom I knew personally later - he was an interesting person to say the least.

Harlem Hellfighters of the Great War 1914-18 fighting for the French Army in US uniforms because of racist Americans - warriors, soldiers, the real deal. Hellfighters Led The Way! Source:Wikipedia

Company Sergeant Major Francis Pegahmagabow was a Canadian Shawanaga First Nations sniper extraordinaire and the most decorated Canadian during the Great War. Source: Wikipedia

Ranger Major Warren E. Allen company commander of the legendary all Black 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) during the Korean War.They conducted the first Ranger combat parachute assault in history. He earned the Silver Star and is a Ranger Hall of Fame Inductee. https://www.mirbahmanyar.com/korean-war

A warrior god - Patrick Tadina from Hawaii - nearly five straight years of LRP/LRRP/Ranger combat in Vietnam without losing a single man. He also served as a contractor in Iraq! Ranger Hall of Fame Inductee. https://www.mirbahmanyar.com/vietnam-war

Master Sergeant Raul Perez Benavidez, Green Beret. In case you don’t know what that little blue ribbon around his neck is - it’s the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam. A great American soldier. Source:Wikipedia

Master Sergeant Howard “Mad Max” Mullen. An awesome Grenada Raider and a Ranger Hall of Fame Inductee And he wrote a blurb for one of my books. https://www.mirbahmanyar.com/75th-rangers

Source: https://www.recoilweb.com/mad-max-mullen-selected-for-ranger-hall-of-fame-23929.html