Lily Pad Roll: The Last Chapter–Persian Paradigm by Gaither Stewart

by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
June 25, 2017

Lily Pads is a name given to a new and more flexible type of US military base abroad, among the some 1000 US foreign military bases, covering the Earth, but for the most part surrounding Russia and China. Many are near Iran. I gave this title to Lily Pad Roll, the second volume of the Europe Trilogy (The Trojan Spy, Lily Pad Roll, Time of Exile), political novels published by Punto Press, New York. This novel was published in 2012 and is available on Amazon both in print format and Kindle book. The story develops around a young American soldier and communications genius, Elmer Redway, a forerunner of Manning, stationed at an American military base in Bulgaria who finds such astounding secrets of US military crimes that he divulges them to WikiLeaks and elsewhere. When he is discovered he deserts and begins an underground existence in Europe. He is aided by Karl Heinz, a wealthy German journalist (the book’s second major character). The two are together in Berlin when the invasion of Iran gets underway. Though my invasion of Iran is invented, it is quite plausible and could happen this way. Were I to give a title to this chapter, I would most likely call it, Persian Paradigm.

Self-Defense Is No Defense for US Acts of War in Syria by Finian Cunningham

Image by Alec Perkins via Flickr

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation
June 20, 2017

The shooting down of a Syrian fighter jet by US forces this week comes on the back of several aggressive actions by American military on the ground. Taken together the US actions mark an alarming escalation of intervention in the Syrian war – to the point where the Americans can be said to be now openly at war against Syria.

John Pilger: There Is No Evidence + Vanessa Beeley: Depleted Uranium and White Phosphorus Used in Syria

Image by Alec Perkins via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with John Pilger

vanessa beeley on Jun 19, 2017

He has been defying the Establishment gatekeepers and telling us the truth about what’s really going on in the world for over 50 years. He has covered wars around the world from Vietnam to Iraq, and is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. For many, John Pilger is the journalists’ journalist, and he came into the Sputnik studio to give us his thoughts on the state of the press today.

Untrump the World — It Won’t Self-Impeach and The Unifying Force of War Abolition by David Swanson

Image by Ben W via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, June 17, 2017
June 19, 2017

Remarks at United National Antiwar Coalition in Richmond, Virginia, June 17, 2017

Did you hear about Trump calling up the mayor of Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay and telling him that, contrary to all appearances, his island is not sinking? I want to focus on one element of this story, namely that the guy believed what he was told, rather than what he saw.

Mosul’s “Liberation”: Another Fallujah, Dresden or Hiroshima? by Felicity Arbuthnot

Image by Stephen Melkisethian via Flickr

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
June 1, 2017

“In the United States today, the Declaration of Independence hangs on schoolroom walls, but foreign policy follows Machiavelli.” — Howard Zinn, 1922-2010

When the US, UK and their fellow destroyers of nations embarked, in October last year, on erasing Iraq’s ancient Mosul in order to save it, did they reflect on the enormity of the cost to humanity and history of their actions now and that of their genocidal, illegal invasion and fourteen year occupation – and counting? (Not forgetting the bombing of the country 1991-2003.) There was a quasi pull out in 2009, but a reported 16,000 mercenaries remained in the US Embassy compound.

Russia Calls House Bill an “Act of War.” Will the Senate Block H.R. 1644? by Gar Smith

Image by r2hox via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Republished with permission from David Swanson at World Beyond War

by Gar Smith
World Beyond War, May 29, 2017
May 30, 2017

Top Russian officials are concerned that a bill passed by the US Congress will do more than increase sanctions on North Korea. Moscow claims H.R. 1644 violates its sovereignty and constitutes an “act of war.”

War Is A Racket By Major General Smedley Butler

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Dandelion Salad
Originally published January 16, 2011

numoleen on March 11, 2009

War is a Racket by Smedley Butler is a famous speech denouncing the military industrial complex. This anti-war speech by two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient exposes war profits that benefit few at the expense of many. Throughout his distinguished career in the Marines, Smedley Darlington Butler demonstrated that true patriotism does not mean blind allegiance to government policies with which one does not agree. To Hell with war.

David Swanson: U.S. Increases Nuclear Energy Spending as It Fights Global Weapons Ban

Image by Matthias Lambrecht via Flickr

with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
May 27, 2017

TheRealNews on May 25, 2017

David Swanson of World Beyond War says the Trump administration is increasing nuclear energy spending while seeking to thwart a landmark global campaign for a UN treaty banning the possession and use of nuclear weapons.

Strutting Fascism And Swaggering Militarism By Gaither Stewart

Image by Henrik Ström via Flickr

by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
Originally posted June 12, 2008
May 20, 2017

“We work for the moral and traditional values which Socialists neglect and despise….”

–Benito Mussolini

It’s their strutting. That detestable image of the strutting that links them, the strutting and prancing Fascists and their swaggering and parading military cousins, up front for their conveniently concealed corporatist controllers. A strutting and swaggering couple they are, Fascism and the entrenched class of war. Their distorted visions of gallantry and nation come so naturally to both. The spick and span generals, employers of mercenaries and killers, chin in, chest out, and their majors and their colonels (especially the generals in the offices and the majors in the tents), thick chests covered with ribbons and medals and rows of multicolored decorations—awarded for killing. And the political Fascists! Defiant chins thrust forward, hard fists clinched, swaggering and prancing and strutting across the stages of piazzas nations and continents—in support of the killing.

Trump’s Tomahawks, Double Standards – Using Chemical and Radioactive Weapons for Profit? by Felicity Arbuthnot

Image by Michael Fleshman via Flickr

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
May 16, 2017

“Two centuries ago, a former European colony decided to catch up with Europe. It succeeded so well that the United States of America became a monster, in which the taints, the sickness and the inhumanity of Europe have grown to appalling dimensions.” — Frantz Fanon, 1961 (1925-1961)

Britain’s Corbyn Bravely Makes the Case for Socialism by Finian Cunningham + Corbyn on Labour’s Defence and Foreign Policy Priorities

Image by Chris Beckett via Flickr

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation
May 15, 2017

As Britons go to a general election next month, the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn has set out its manifesto offering the electorate a clear choice for socialism.

Julia Ward Howe: Mother’s Day Proclamation

Image by codepinkphoenix via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Originally posted May 8, 2016

Happy Mother’s Day

Pearlsbefore Swine on May 24, 2012

This is perhaps the most heart-felt video I have ever put together. The second “Iraq War” was in full swing and George W. Bush was refusing to meet with Cindy Sheehan to justify sending her son Casey off to fight in a war built on false assumptions.

Donald Trump and Theresa May: Partners in Planning Armageddon? by Felicity Arbuthnot + Wilkerson: Trump “Needs a Good War” and Pence is Waiting in the Wings to Lead It

Image by Ben Salter via Flickr

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
May 13, 2017

For the love of God, for the love of your children and of the civilization to which you belong, cease this madness. You are mortal men. You are capable of error. You have no right to hold in your hands – there is no one wise enough and strong enough to hold in his hands – destructive power sufficient to put an end to civilized life on a great portion of our planet.

— George F. Kennan, Boston Globe, March 18, 2005

The Losing Warfare State by Ralph Nader

Image by Koppenbadger via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
May 11, 2017

The USA is still bogged down in Afghanistan (the 16 year-old occupation is the longest in American history) and in Iraq (since the unconstitutional, illegal invasion of the country 14 years ago).

Impeach Trump for the Right Reasons by David Swanson

Image by Elvert Barnes via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
May 10, 2017

The Constitution suddenly seems to have bestirred itself and declared itself, through its many Washington spokespeople, to be in crisis.

I’m sorry, interjects the world, but what the hell took you so long?