CARTOON: As US Sends More Troops To Middle East, Uncle Sam Drops Truth Bomb On Soldiers...
With American aircraft carriers, thousands of troops and other military resources being moved to the Middle East, American service members need to understand their role in our manufactured war.
Cartoon by Mark Taylor / DeMOCKracy.ink
Journalist Max Kennard’s Truth Bomb: How Gaza Exposed The US Empire ‘like never before’
'“The state has been captured in many ways by the corporations and by finance. It's not working even when it's doing things in the state's name. It's actually working in corporate interest.”
[Editor’s Note: This entire interview is excellent, but Matt Kennard’s call out and challenge to citizen activists at the end (beginning at the 1-hour, 9-minute mark) is an essential message to hear. — Mark Taylor]
Real Talk / Middle East Eye (9/26/24)
‘They're not ready for the storm that's happening... The average Joe has Twitter and is seeing what's going on [in Gaza].’
On Real Talk, we sat down with investigative journalist Matt Kennard to discuss his latest book, The Racket. In this conversation, Kennard dives deep into US hegemony and foreign policy, especially in light of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.
He also unpacks the broader implications of US imperialism, the upcoming US elections, and why he believes Gaza has "exposed the US empire like never before".
[Editor’s Note: Kennard gives a salute to Gen. Smedley Butler whose book “War Is A Racket” was a source of inspiration for his work and should be read by anyone even thinking of joining the military. Butler exposes the brutal, bloody hypocrisy of military ’service’.— Mark Taylor]
Real Talk is a Middle East Eye interview show hosted by Mohamed Hashem that delves into the stories and experiences of a diverse range of guests.
1-hour, 14-minute video
“The system is going to be rebuilt. The question is who rebuilds it and I think that if progressive forces can coalesce around one party or one movement, we could bring all these different forces together and really take on this system, which is destroying the planet.” — Matt Kennard
Mark you have shared a question and a thought before that is important here. If a draft is imposed upon this generation will they be duped by Uncle Sam or will that be the spark of a true transformation (revolt against the military industrial complex)? If I remember correctly your belief is that this is the courageous generation that will say ‘No.’ Their ‘no’ is different than the Baby Boomer ‘no’. The BB ‘No’ was about a specific war. This generations ‘no’ is about violence and war in general. AND, they know they would just be used as tools to make money for the rich. I’m hoping the days of ignorance and blind agreement are over.
Anti-Vietnam War Protests 1964-1973
International Center on NonViolent Conflict
. . . three million people participated in demonstrations as part of the Moratorium on the War in October 1969 across the country and half a million protested in Washington, DC the following month. . . “
“. . . Students, government officials, labor unions, church groups and middle class families [had] increasingly opposed the war as it climaxed in 1968, forcing a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces. Anti-war activities, particularly large-scale resistance to military conscription, forced an end U.S. combat operations in Vietnam and a suspension of the draft by January 1973. . . .
https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/us-anti-vietnam-war-movement-1964-1973/