Category Archives: Iran

UPDATED (2/3/023) Ukraine Chronology & Commentary: Ignorant Mike Pence Pitches War Forevermore For Ukraine, Under The Defunct, Cold War Reagan Doctrine

America, Argument, Communism, Democracy, Donald Trump, Elections, Foreign Policy, Iran, Republicans, Russia

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Another good reason to disqualify one more jingoist from office: Mike Pence is still working from the defunct, cold-war based Reagan doctrine

Mike Ponce tells Bret Baier, lightweight Fox News neoconservative host, that it is imperative the “United States and the new Republican majority continue to provide the Ukrainian people with the support they need to defend themselves.”

In other words, enable war forevermore for Ukraine, so its slimy leader, Zelensky, can continue to play his biggest role yet and is exempt from his duty to do diplomacy. (READ “It’s biblical, Zelensky: a leader who fails to haggle for the lives of his people is a failed leader.”)

Ponce spoke about the latest allegation against Russia, namely that of dropping ordnance on Poland, a NATO member. He spouted forth about an Article 5 obligation to go to war for Poland, and then further waffled in his best faux ponderous, presidential manner, that Russia ought to be “transparent” during the investigation into the origin of the bomb that fell on “Ukraine” (sic: it fell on Poland, Ponce). This, when the US is stoking the conflict as vociferously as Zelensky is.

“I’ve gone toe-to-toe with Putin,” bragged Ponce. He followed up with the cretin’s commonplace cliche: “Putin understands only strength.” Other than that Trump deployed the worst people during his term—Ponce stands as a reminder to Deplorables that he and Trump provided lethal arms to Ukraine.

Likely a liar, Pence blames Biden for restricting billions in military aid to Ukraine to “blankets and boxed meals.” Only he could truly support Ukraine in the style to which this little tinpot destination has become accustomed, argued Ponce, striking his best “I’m-presidential” pose possible.

We are informed that Pence and wife Karen visited Ukraine … blah blah blah, and he is thus in the position to advise that it is imperative that the USA continue to pump this great Democracy with funds to defend its great democracy.

Of course, the defending-democracy premise is one Tucker Carlson uses in his case against helping Ukraine. Carlson claims Ukraine is not a democracy, hence deserves no defense. Both Pence and Tucker use democracy to justify opposing policies: Democracy as a premise for or against war is wrong.

These discrepancies only expose the impoverished neoconservative nature of a foreign policy based on the US’s obligations to act in furtherance of democracy across the world.

“If you are willing to fight communists in your country; we’ll provide you the means”: Mike Pence says this is the Reagan doctrine to which he subscribes.

Right there is another good reason to disqualify one more American jingoist from office. Putin’s Russia is not communist; it is a traditionalist, reactionary, Russian Orthodox favoring authoritarian state. Pence is still working from the defunct, cold-war based Reagan doctrine.

This man, Pence, holds a neoconservative foreign policy and believes his duty is to Ukraine, not the people of the US, deplorables in particular, whose freedoms are curtailed stateside.

UPDATE (11/21/022): The impoverished neoconservative foreign policy habit-of-mind ingrained in Mike Pence is on display in other characters with whom Trump surrounded himself. Some of these made an appearance at the recent Republican Jewish Coalition conference.

Beware of Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley.

What has been said here about Mr. Ponce easily applies to “Mike Pompeo, Trump’s hand-picked secretary of State and CIA director” and Nikki Haley, Trump’s U.N. ambassador, who is threatening to win the next presidency. She also bragged that “she’s ‘never lost an election and [is] not going to start now.’”

Both Pompeo and Haley are known for their robotic sloganeering against Bashar al-Assad’s more enlightened Alawite regime—Syria’s Christians simply love him—Putin’s Russian Orthodox traditionalist rule, and the impoverished Iran.

If I hear Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — “Trump’s most formidable potential rival right now” — agitating against the long-suffering people of Iran; I’m done voting GOP.

This axis of evil, Israel and America, are aligned against the Christian-Shia-Alawite alliance. This axis has formed a protective perimeter around Sunni rebel holdouts, who are not the good guys. As I wrote in “Lies About Putin, Syria & The Alawite (Iranian) Alliance,”

Under Putin’s protection, the more civilized Alawite minority (read higher IQ), which has governed Syria since 1966, is in charge again. Duly, reports the anti-Assad Economist, “Government departments are functioning. … electricity and water supplies are more reliable than in much of the Middle East. Officials predict that next year’s natural-gas production will surpass pre-war levels. The railway from Damascus to Aleppo might resume operations this summer. The National Museum in Damascus, which locked up its prized antiquities for protection, is preparing to reopen to the public.” …
… Infested as it is by globalist ideologues, the permanent establishment of American foreign policy refuses to consider regional, religious, local, even tribal, dynamics in the Middle East. In particular, that the “good” guys in Syria—a relative term—are not the Islamist “rebels,” with whom the [neoconservatives are] forever frolicking; but the secular Alawites, who are allied with Shia Iran against the onslaught of the Sunni fundamentalist majority.

… the endangered Alawite minority formed an alliance with the Iranian Shia, also a minority among the Ummah. Now, civilized and secular Syrians want their country back. In fact, many Syrian “Sunnis prefer Mr. Assad’s secular rule to that of Islamist rebels.”

Mercer on Ukraine:

1. Neocons, Neolibs And NATO Inch Us Closer To Nuclear War With Russia, 01/29/2022: https://www.ilanamercer.com/2022/01/neocons-neolibs-nato-inch-us-closer-nuclear-war-russia/
2. Uncle Sam Still King Of All Invaders: Ukraine, Realpolitik And The West’s Failure: March 3, 2022 https://www.ilanamercer.com/2022/03/uncle-sam-still-king-invaders-ukraine-realpolitik-wests-failure/
3. True Story: Russia Finds WMD In Ukraine! March 10, 2022 https://www.ilanamercer.com/2022/03/true-story-russia-finds-wmd-ukraine/
4. It’s Biblical, Zelensky: A Leader Who Fails To Haggle For The Lives Of His People Has Failed https://www.ilanamercer.com/2022/03/biblical-zelensky-leader-fails-haggle-lives-people-failed/
5. U.S. Cancels Countries, Kills Ancient, Civilizing Concept Of Neutrality April 7, 2022 https://www.ilanamercer.com/2022/04/u-s-cancels-countries-kills-ancient-civilizing-concept-neutrality/
6. Ukraine’s Azov Battalion: Nazis Or Just Nationalists? May 12, 2022 https://www.ilanamercer.com/2022/05/ukraines-azov-battalion-nazis-or-just-nationalists/
7. “The D-Bomb, Realpolitik, Zelensky’s Self-Serving ‘Heroics’ & What ‘Mixed-Race’ Really Means” December 22, 2022 https://www.ilanamercer.com/2022/12/the-d-bomb-realpolitik-zelenskys-self-serving-heroics-what-mixed-race-really-means/
8. “Oh, What Wonderful Wars: The West’s Lying Warlords,” March 10, 2023

Mercer “Hard Truth” Video Podcasts on Ukraine. Please Subscribe:

https://rumble.com/c/HardTruthPodcast
https://rumble.com/vx058f-true-story-russia-finds-wmd-in-ukrainehtml
https://rumble.com/vw897h-russia-to-us-on-ukraine-pot.-kettle.-black..html
https://rumble.com/vtea18-neocons-neolibs-and-nato-inch-us-closer-to-nuclear-war-with-russia.html
“Ukraine’s Azov Brigade: Nazis Or Just Nationalists?”
“The US Plan To Bleed Russia Dry”
“Steamrolled By The Abrams: Republican Cretins Swallow Classified-Doc Bait”
“Oh What Wonderful Wars: The West’s Lying Warlords”

 

Sigh. Tucker Bashes Biden For The Two Things He’s Doing Right: Iran And Yemen

Foreign Policy, Iran, Middle East, Neoconservatism, Paleoconservatism, Political Philosophy, Republicans, The Establishment, War

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Tucker Carlson does splendid work from his mainstream perch, but because of his philosophical limitations and many blind-spots—the kind that had him join the neoconerie in killing Iraq, in the first place; the kind that saw him laud the murder of Iranian major general Qassim Soleimani; the kind that has him bash The South; and call on Canadian truckers to prove a negative, namely, that they aren’t racists; the kind that whined, whined, whined non-stop about Harvey Weinstein, in effect talking-up the MeToo fraud—he stumbles all the time. All the time. Without fail.

Thus did I urge ideological caution on a good friend who got carried away in giving too much street cred to Tucker, and, by extension, enthusing about a Tucker-endorsed Iranian warmonger, Sohrab Ahmari, who has reinvented himself and now peddles retread banalities (or stuff the Old Right—myself included—had espoused decades ago). At best, Ahmari, this ex-agitator for war in Iran, is an unoriginal second hander.

Today (4/12/022), Tucker played a piss-poor satirical skit—just plain bad—of Biden and Harris  being lampooned in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis, explained Tucker, are angry with the awful Biden Administration over Iran and the war in Yemen. I imagine Biden is perceived by the Saudis—and ConOink—to be insufficiently belligerent about destroying Iran, a longtime mission the Saudis share with the neocons. As is Biden considered to be unhelpful to the Saudis in his impetus (albeit weak) to end Saudi Arabia’s protracted war on an impoverished Yemen.

Both these Biden positions, as limp as they are, are better than the positions adopted by ConInc and, yes, Trump. The Saudi war on Yemen is a scandal.

Likewise the unchanging agitation against Iran.

MORE CONTEXT on regional Sunni-Shia squabbles: “Lies About Putin, Syria & The Alawite Alliance“

UPDATED (3/23/022): Tucker Carlson’s Producers Rewarding Retread Reformed Neocon Tools Like Sohrab Ahmari

Argument, Foreign Policy, Iran, Iraq, Media, Neoconservatism, Old Right, Paleoconservatism, Paleolibertarianism, Political Philosophy, War

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On the one hand, Tucker Carlson and his oft-worthy guests make the case that America’s catastrophic institutional rot (MY EXTENSIVELY DEVELOPED TERM, no theirs) is a consequence of there being no adverse consequences attached to being dead-wrong all the time.

On the other hand, the show has a tendency to reward reformed neocons such as newcomer Sohrab Ahmari, who peddles retread banalities (or stuff the Old Right—myself included—had espoused decades ago, and from the get-go, in the case of the Globe and Mail commentary below: September 19, 2002).

Rewarding conveniently reformed, politically pleasing mediocrities makes the practitioner part of the institutional rot.

“PUNDITS, HEAL THYSELVES!” (Ilana Mercer, May 29, 2004) spoke to this repulsive specter:

… So why are insightful commentators whose observations have predictive power generally barred from the national discourse, while false neoconservative prophets are called back for encores?

I got to thinking about the neoconservative talking twits. They’ve been wrong all along about the invasion of Iraq. They’ve consistently dished out dollops of ahistoric, unintuitive, and reckless verbiage. Yet they’ve retained their status as philosopher-kings.
Thomas Friedman, Christopher Hitchens (undeniably a writer of considerable flair and originality), George Will and Tucker Carlson (both of whom seem to have conveniently recanted at the eleventh hour), Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, Mark Steyn, Max Boot, John Podhoretz, Andrew Sullivan – they all grabbed the administration’s bluff and ran with it. Like the good Trotskyites many of them were, once they tasted blood, they writhed like sharks. Compounding their scent-impaired bloodhound act was their utter ignorance of geopolitical realities – they insisted our soldiers would be greeted with blooms and bonbons and that an Iraqi democracy would rise from the torrid sands of Mesopotamia.
Their innumerable errors and flagrant hubris did not prevent the neoconservatives from managing to marginalize their competitors on the Right: the intrepid Pat Buchanan and his American Conservative; the quixotic Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. of LewRockwell.com, and Antiwar.com. (Plus this column, of course). Unfortunately for America, there hasn’t been a horror in Iraq that these prescients did not foretell well in advance.

….the opportunity costs associated with consumption of toxic punditry are low or non-existent.

If you didn’t have the cerebral wherewithal to be against the war on Iraq in 2002, you don’t have anything original to contribute on foreign policy and anti-war or Just War thinking now.

Younger offenders can be found agitating against Iran, or scribbling inanities for the War Street Journal and other neoconservative outlets such as Commentary, the Weekly Standard, and Foreign Policy, where Sohrab Ahmari would put out irredeemable and unforgivable content such as “The Costs of Containment.”

It’s one thing to have made a mistake as Tucker Carlson had done regarding the Iraq war of aggression. Carlson apologized profusely and humbly about his Iraq error. Moreover, Carlson had never been the consummate philosophical neocon; which Sohrab Ahmari is. According to the Militarist Monitor,

“the neocons’ favorite Iranian,” Sohrab Ahmari has been a vocal advocate of U.S.-imposed regime change in his native Iran, which he left as a teenager. Rosenberg likened Ahmari to Ahmed Chalabi, the formerly exiled Iraqi politician who curried favor with U.S. neoconservatives ahead of the Iraq War and lent an Iraqi name to the list of those supporting the U.S. invasion.[3]

I’ve watched the likes of Sohrab Ahmari work their magic in the malfunctioning media for decades. I also understand fully that Tucker Carlson has a producer, for he himself cannot research each such well-promoted phony who is resurrecting a career on the solid anti-war arguments of the dissident Old, paleolibertarian and paleoconservative Right.

* Image: Truth-teller on Twitter.

And in defense of The Tuck against mediocrity Claire Lehmann, who generated the non sequitur below: Tucker Carlson doesn’t support the Russian invasion! From the fact he argues unpopular truths–it doesn’t follow that Tucker is not a populist. Most immutable truth is unpopular. Popularity does not equal populism. This woman can’t even define the terms of debate.