Getting pre-emptively mad at the ICJ as a coping mechanism

Biden legit never changed Trumps policies on ICE, yet hogs and some of the worst state governments are going insane.

Pelosi said that pro-Palestine protesters are "agents of Russia" like 24 hours ago. And the libs are already running with it. Amazing.

https://np.reddit.com/r/PoliticalHumor/comments/1adijub/nice_try_russia/

three yankoids confirmed to have gotten owned in a drone attack in Jordan

cracker news network

South Africa Joins the blockade movement against israel the US and UK. Says it is doing so to uphold the ICJ ruling that all parties must do their best to stop genocide.

archive.today • Where Is Hamas Getting Weapons? Increasingly, From Israel. - The New York Times

Israeli military and intelligence officials have concluded that a significant number of weapons used by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks and in the war in Gaza came from an unlikely source: the Israeli military itself. For years, analysts have pointed to underground smuggling routes to explain how Hamas stayed so heavily armed despite an Israeli military blockade of the Gaza Strip.

But recent intelligence has shown the extent to which Hamas has been able to build many of its rockets and anti-tank weaponry out of the thousands of munitions that failed to detonate when Israel lobbed them into Gaza, according to weapons experts and Israeli and Western intelligence officials. Hamas is also arming its fighters with weapons stolen from Israeli military bases.

[...]

[Hamas's] manufacturing abilities are now sophisticated enough to saw into the warheads of bombs weighing up to 2,000 pounds, to harvest the explosives and to repurpose them.

The top comment

So let me get this straight:

The Israelis apparently had ample intelligence warning of an impending Hamas attack a FULL YEAR prior to October 7 … and yet Netanyahu and his right wing cabinet chose to ignore those threats. Now according to this article, many of the weapons used in the attacks were from Israel themselves?

I’m sorry, I just don’t understand why Bibi Netanyahu continues to get a pass from Israel’s citizens to remain in power? He is an abject security failure and is steering his country towards less security and world isolation.

Don't get your hopes up. Texas said it would TEXIT the USA back in the 2010s and nothing fucking happened.

Re: the Texas border stuff: it's hard to imagine kicking off a civil war over what is literally a lie. That lie being that Biden is purposely letting in immigrants in to destroy the country; especially when the facts appear like he's been just as or more effective than Trump in deportations... so like who's going to die for that? Is there any precedent for a war starting without any material basis whatsoever? Unless there's some other angle that we don't know about- but its hard to see who would benefit at all from something like this getting violent...

Like at least Haliburton et al really benefited from the US starting the Iraq war on a lie. Ultimately this things gotta just fizzle out

I love ai generatated propaganda slop

In case anyone has any libs in their lives that are pro-palestine but still pro-ukraine they might be turned if reminded of this:

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/zelenskyy-wants-ukraine-to-be-a-big-israel-heres-a-road-map/

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/4/19/president-zelenskyy-one-israel-is-enough

I think revisiting what a "Big Israel" in Europe means is useful right now, in the context of everyone learning what Israel actually means in the Middle East, as a base for the projection of US power and control on the region.

This does not only include combatting Russia, but also includes controlling the various European states and the EU.

Europe is a theatre of operations to the US, just like every other theatre of operations. European countries have not realised that they do not hold a special status compared to other countries in the world in the eyes of US dominance, they are targets of the same control and operations as any other. Ukraine is intended to be to Europe what Israel is to the Middle East.

The British press has gone from their usual venom and propaganda to absolute fantasy over the ICJ rulings and fallout.

The completely unsourced, obviously bollocks UNRWA accusations are all it's talking about, including an almost 10 minute leading segment on BBC News this morning. Keep in mind this is after the BBC refused to show the South African prosecution while making an event out of live streaming and live coverage only of Israel's defense.

The Times put the first brief mention of the ICJ ruling on page 42. Lots of the tabloids tried to spin it as a win for Israel.

And even weirder, the entirety of The Telegraph's 'conflict' vertical is dedicated to an imaginary war they've entirely invented.

The original headline for that top 'story' with the tanks in London was It's 2034 and we are at war with Russia.

One thing that the ICJ ruling (and the subsequent response to it) is making me think about, is the logic of calling for a ceasefire is now beginning to impede on the logical conclusion of the iCJ's ruling. We have heard a refrain for a ceasefire, but if Israel is guilty of committing genocide, then under no pretext should the Palestinian resistance stop fighting, if anything, the moral response would be for other countries to invade or provide material support for the Palestinian resistance and for Israel to unconditionally surrender. Is it still a ceasefire if only one side stops?

Free Texas revolution of our times

Hezbollah hasn't stopped attacking israeli military bases and soldiers across the Lebanese-Palestinian border using rockets for almost two hours. Jan 26, 2024 · 10:10 PM UTC

"The HUGE Russian offensive is coming"!

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

In podcast news, the latest episode of the official podcast of chapo.chat, , on the result of the ICJ case is very good. Adam and Nima correctly point out that the icj in and of itself is not an institution that will directly change the conflict, but highlight its importance in lib world building and ideology anyway. if you are interested in owning libs with facts and logic then it is well with the 20 minutes.

Also, the latest episode of CTH is also good. Derek davison serves up a bunch of geopolitical veggies and makes the large adult sons clean their plates.

Evergrande is being liquidated. Not sure what it means yet, but it doesn't seem unexpected. Glad to see continued efforts to reign in property speculation anyways.

https://nitter.net/DrMelOB/status/1750863616507621533

ICJ orders provisional measures against Israel to stop acts of genocide, stop its military committing acts of genocide, prevent & punish acts of incitement to genocide, preserve evidence of genocide, provide aid to Gaza, report to the ICJ on its compliance.

Everything except the call for Israel's military operation to end was granted. This is a huge legal defeat for Israel, their whole case was basically thrown out.

Vote breakdown in the replies below

Every day I am thankful that the zionist devils have not used the phrase "hamaspital" to justify their bombing

The government of Uganda has put out a statement distancing it self from its ICJ judge who voted in line with Israel.

For people who can't read the tweet, it's a full page press release restating its condemnation of the Israeli operation, calling for an immediate end of Israeli operations and for humanitarian aid, and restating their opposition to any attempt to remove or resettle the Palestinian population. Then at the bottom it has a short paragraph saying the judges views are entirely their own and don't represent Uganda.

From the FT

The EU will sabotage Hungary’s economy if Budapest blocks fresh aid to Ukraine at a summit this week, under a confidential plan drawn up by Brussels that marks a significant escalation in the battle between the EU and its most pro-Russian member state.

In a document drawn up by EU officials and seen by the Financial Times, Brussels has outlined a strategy to explicitly target Hungary’s economic weaknesses, imperil its currency and drive a collapse in investor confidence in a bid to hurt “jobs and growth” if Budapest refuses to lift its veto against the aid to Kyiv.

https://archive.is/AiKLF

Comrades in Portland pressured the city council to sign a ceasefire resolution, and when they were ignored they shut down the meeting via disruption

Several Palestinian activists spoke via the council process and were ignored by all of the committee, not one word of response. Then some rando complained about bike lanes and the council pivoted to that and the spokesperson started ranting about bike lanes too. This was when the meeting was shut down by the protesters who shouted for ceasefire until everyone left and the meeting was ended.

Oh no, I live in the heart of the current Cool Zone

Asked about protests calling for ceasefire in Gaza, @SpeakerPelosi tells @DanaBashCNN: calling for ceasefire is “Putin's message". Some may be organic, “some are connected to Russia… financing should be investigated. I want to ask the FBI to investigate that”.

twitter

welp

There's a god damned INVASION of migrants at the border!

[camera pans across the rio]

[125 people sitting down]

Canada follows in their masters footsteps and suspends UNRWA support

Japan joins fascists in blindly following accusations by the genocidal Zionist fascists in withholding funds from UNRWA

Seems Kim isn't messing around. I know people have called me alarmist a few times for saying I think dprk is prepping for war but I stand by it, I think they really are.

https://news.sky.com/story/north-korea-reportedly-tears-down-monument-to-peace-and-reunification-with-south-korea-13055223

28 January 2024 Aeromexico passenger opens plane door and walks on wing

This is a bit vibes based, so take it as you will, but it does feel like behind closed doors the US/UK etc are rattled by the progress of the ICJ case.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think any of them actually think they'll ever have to stand in the Hague and answer for their crimes, but I think they have realised that they probably can't ratfuck the legal cases against them and that there's enough support globally for them to continue, including against specific individuals. And that is something that they can't tolerate as a propaganda loss and personal inconvienience.

They thought they could add the thinnest veneer of legal deniability as they otherwise materially and vocally supported an ongoing genocide. Like saying 'in Minecraft' but when you're already standing on a pile of bodies unloading an automatic weapon into more victims. I suspect the actual legal advice that, at least in the case of the UK has been reported to have been given but ignored for months, is perhaps finally getting through and causing some concern.

It won't stop them of course, quite the opposite. The premeditated smearing and defunding of the UNRWA if Israel lost this first ICJ case is about potentiallly liable Western politicians is about them trying to go from giving empty lip service to international law to stating that it is in fact wholly illegitimate and a tool of the percieved 'enemy' in exactly the same way Israel does.

More importantly perhaps, and a point I haven't seen made prominently or much at all, is that because the UNRWA is one of the only major independent organisations on the ground in Gaza, it's also able to provide statements and catalogue evidence of the genocide and myriad war crimes happening there. This is definely a move to try and starve Palestine into submission or extinction, but I'd argue it's also another (drastically escalated at least in terms of the US/UK political actions) to destroy evidence of their participation in genocide.

It follows a pattern Israel shutting down internet and cell communication in Gaza at the start of their assualt and seige, of deliberately targeting journalists and their families, of deliberately targeting UN/NGO buildings and staff, now blowing up empty and captured adminstrative buildings, medical centres, and universities where records and research is likely to be kept. Then you can throw in reports and video of things like stealing bodies and disrupting or destroying grave sites and cemeteries. All actions that you would undertake if you were actively trying to hide or destroy evidence of your genocide.

This attack on the UNRWA and UN, as well as ICJ and international legal system more generally, is the same thing for the political and legal sphere, taken by actors outside of Israel itself. It's a supercharged, all-in version of the months they spent trying to discredit and bury the offical Palestinian casualty data.

And again, I don't think the likes of Cameron or Sunak or Biden or Blinken or whoever actually thinks they might get tried at the Hague. But I think the reality that they can't just bluster past this has them freaked, and they'd rather accelerate going full mask-off for the sake of their ability to travel the world unimpeded and not spend the rest of their lives fending off lawsuits.

The Brazilian vice-president is posting memes on twitter portraying people who don't like Lula's government as soyjaks.

In my opinion, the spirit of international justice doesn't rest in a global institution or a court. International justice is personified by a Hamas fighter blowing up a Merkava tank, or a Yemeni missile flying towards an Israel-bound vessel, or a Hezbollah ATGM hitting an Israeli radar.

With that being said, we have a timely Simplicius article on the overall situation in the Middle East. If you've been on the bloomer side of the news megathread this whole time - AKA, my side - then you'll basically see all your opinions being said right back at you, which is quite nice. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the West has absolutely no idea how to salvage this abysmal situation and we are looking at the tangible breakdown of US hegemony in the Middle East in real time. It'll still take several months to play out, but we're past the point of uncertainty where it wasn't fully clear if the Resistance was strong enough to, well, resist. Those doubts have now been fully cast aside.

Iranian Axis Grinds Down US' Will as Israel Suffers Stunning Setbacks

I'm not quoting the full piece, just bits and pieces of it.

Firstly, to set the stage we turn to Israel, which appears to be concealing an operation that has gone off the rails, and is not yielding any of the expected results—and in fact has done little more than turn the world against them, creating a shockwave of anti-Israeli fervor that will steer sentiment for generations. As we now know, Israel has withdrawn many of its brigades from the north, citing ‘rest and rotation’ when in reality it appears to be ‘reconstitution’, as the brigades took major attritional losses. Now in the wake of that, the latest bombshell reports state that resistance fighters have re-infiltrated the entire north... even ISW admitted it...

All we can do is infer from a variety of objective observations, such as the distinct lack of any mass eliminations or captures of resistance fighters, which is very telling.

In the meantime, Israel has continued to press into Khan Younis in the south. But yesterday they suffered what was unanimously called the biggest ‘tragedy’ of the entire conflict thus far. During one of the IDF’s routine mining operations, consisting of rigging explosives on civilian buildings, resistance fighters were able to trigger a detonation with dozens of IDF still inside the building. This led to ~24 IDF killed in a single blast.

This is only a symbolic culmination of what appears to be turning into a fiasco. If I didn’t know any better, I would surmise that Israel’s operation is mirroring Ukraine’s doomed Khrynki assault: where an inability to admit grave miscalculation has led to a sunk cost fallacy induced comedy of errors. Israel obviously can’t pull out now to save face, so it almost leaves one with the impression they’re floundering around, secretly panicking internally as to what to do because they’ve reached the conclusion that ‘Hamas’ is an intractable shadow they cannot brute-force their way through.

Recall that just last month Kirby admitted that Hamas had not been attrited at all, and an Israeli reserve colonel gave a tearful account of piled up IDF bodies which seemed to imply that they are taking far heavier losses than they’re admitting to. There are increased reports from Israeli insiders that sound hopeless or give credence to theories about the operation being a failure. Now, on top of the releases of soldiers and withdrawals of brigades, Israel has reportedly offered an unprecedented two-month pause in the fighting.

There is more and more commotion within society, disagreement and in-fighting in the government over what direction to take. Earlier in the week the Knesset erupted with angry parents of hostages who are outraged at the government’s inability to get them back or negotiate their release... a slain IDF soldier’s brother reportedly tries to attack Benny Gantz at the soldier’s funeral... Such scenes are becoming increasingly common—society is really boiling over, while Israel steadily loses support even among its allies.

The UN and the world increasingly call for a two state solution, but Netanyahu has vocally rejected this as impossible. In fact, his Likudniks continue to call for outrageous relocations and forced ethnic cleansing of Palestinians; for instance, Israel reportedly briefed European ministers with a video proposing an artificial island for Palestinians off the coast of Gaza, which Israel tried to quickly downplay and shush after the negative reception...

Moving them all to Sinai? Failed. Moving them all around the world? Failed. Moving them to various African countries? Failed. Moving them to a new island? Maybe THIS one will work!

Now, at the worst possible time, Iran has decided to turn the screws on Israel, creating extremely unfavorable conditions by locking down the maritime chokepoints, as well as putting unprecedented pressure on Israel’s top ally of the US, militarily, all across the region. Even as of this writing, a new US-flagged ship, the Maersk Detroit, was said to be attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea, though US CENTCOM claims the three missiles were all repulsed. The US Navy has been relegated to a glorified escort, but since the al-Mandab strait has effectively become a warzone, it has nonetheless crippled commerce. Even the top pro-American analysts and commentators are appalled at the prestige loss the US is incurring as consequence.... the situation has gotten so bad that the US is forced to shame-facedly beg China to intervene in de-escalating Iran’s unleashed fury... US officials are looking for any possible vector that can buy them a breath or two of relief... With everything quickly going south, and the US finding itself increasingly drawn into a quicksand-like mire, there are now some shocking reports about what it could all entail.

...two days ago came a rumor that the US was considering talking its Kurdish allies in Syria into ‘working with Assad forces’ to combat ISIS.’ This immediately set off speculation that the US was getting ready to abandon Syria once and for all, and was looking for a way to securely fill the vacuum. Naturally, many scoffed at this, and refused to believe US would possibly withdraw from the region. But then came today’s Charles Lister-penned bombshell for FP: America Is Planning to Withdraw From Syria - and Create a Disaster. The shockwaves the article sent are still doing their laps through the world. As usual, it cites unnamed sources in the DOD and White House.

The Pentagon was quick to release a statement denying that such a thing is actually being planned. However, that means very little as they wouldn’t admit to discussing humiliatingly face-saving retreats of this sort anyway—not until the script-writers have hammered out the exact angle and narrative that will be used to stage-manage such a withdrawal. In short: they’ll need to find a way to spin it as some major victory for Biden. For those who may still be skeptical, there are additional adjacent reports which seem to at least imply something is afoot on this account. Most shocking of all are new reports that US is in discussions to end its occupation of Iraq entirely:

Reuters, citing sources: Initial talks between America and the government in Baghdad about ending the presence of coalition forces in Iraq against the backdrop of developments that took place as a result of the war in Gaza. The United States of America made the end of its presence a condition that it stop strikes by resistance factions on its bases in Iraq. The United States expressed its readiness to begin talks with the Iraqi government in a letter delivered by the United States Ambassador to Iraq, Alena Romanowski, to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Wednesday.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Alina L. Romanowski is reported to have delivered a memo today to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry regarding ‘preliminary steps’ to begin the withdrawal of US and Coalition Forces from the country. This comes amid public calls by members of the Iraqi government for US forces to depart the country due to the war in Israel and continued attacks by Iranian-backed forces.

The US claims these are long-planned talks and have nothing to do with the recent attacks, but that is clearly not the case. The Reuters article above provides one key line:

In doing so, the U.S. had dropped preconditions that attacks against it by Iran-backed Iraqi militant groups in Iraq first stop, three of the sources said.

You see, the US previously had preconditions for talks of ending its occupation; one of the conditions being that Iran-backed Iraqi groups first had to stop bombing US bases. But now, the US has apparently dropped this significant precondition, as per the Reuters report. That tells us that US is making concessions out of desperation.

Apparently Estonia has discovered a shocking secret: NATO has completely underestimated Russia's ability to produce munitions. The redditors analysis of this is sidesplittingly stupid: https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/19f67d5/nato_has_been_underestimating_russias_war_machine/

Brazil to Provide Aid to Poor Students to Finish High School

President Lula da Silva stated that investment in education will prevent many young people from ending up in organized crime.

On Friday, President Lula da Silva announced a program through which the Brazilian government will provide assistance of up to US$1,880 to low-income students completing the three years of high school.

The Brazilian leader stated that this investment in education would prevent many young people from ending up in organized crime, leading to a reduction in prison spending.

"What we are trying to do is to prevent the money we are currently allocating to education from being invested in prisons in the future to rehabilitate young people who lacked opportunities and fell into crime," Lula said.

The scholarship will benefit around 2.5 million youths aged 15 to 17 who, due to a lack of opportunities, "fall into drugs and become zombies in the streets, walking without any respect for society and without prospects."

The program involves opening a savings account for the students, with the government initially depositing US$41 when the student enrolls in each of the three years of high school.

Each year, the recipient will receive nine installments of US$41, provided they demonstrate an 80 percent attendance rate in classes. At the end of the cycle, they will receive US$203 for completing their studies and an additional US$41 if they take the university entrance exam.

Savings can only be withdrawn when the student completes each year of high school and fulfills all requirements. The government's goal is to encourage young people to stay in school and take the exam that could open doors to university.

Currently, 9 out of 100 students enrolled in the first year of high school drop out before completion. This means that there are approximately 480,000 Brazilians of high school age who left school, largely because they need to work to support their families.

"What we want is education that everyone has access to and that everyone stays in," said Education Minister Camilo Santana, who estimates that the program will require an annual investment of US$1.4 billion.

Israel Urges Disregarding the Hague Court's Decisions

“Decisions endangering the existence of the State of Israel should not be heard,” National Security Minister Ben-Gvirsaid.

On Friday, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir downplayed the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and called it "anti-Semitic."

"The decision of the anti-Semitic Hague Court demonstrates what was already known: this court does not seek justice but the persecution of the Jewish people," he said.

“Decisions that endanger the existence of the State of Israel should not be heard,” the far-right politician said.

"We must continue crushing the enemy until a total victory," Ben-Gvir stated after the ICJ ordered Israel to "take all measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza."

His statements come as the Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 25,900 since Oct. 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, in a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel "will continue to defend itself against Hamas," thus denying once again that the Israeli occupation forces' deadly offensive in Gaza is against Palestinian civilians.

The Zionist leader also rejected the charge of "genocide" leveled by South Africa as "not only false, it's outrageous."

Remember when Blinken did a photo op with the UNRWA well after Oct 7th and praised their "extraordinary lifesaving work"? Funny how their wasn't any intelligence or indication members of it were involved then.

Perhaps he should go back, ask around Gaza, get to the bottom of it? He's got some free time coming up soon when he's replaced. I'm sure nothing would happen to him.

Balkanusa

https://nitter.net/GregAbbott_TX/status/1750235544951349275

lmao

lol

lmaolmao

Nothing To See Here

So the court said that the illegal zionist entity can continue its war against KHamas but it has to stop doing the genocide. How on earth are you supposed to make a distinction between the two?

~~Some reports in Gaza that an Apache helicopter got downed by Hamas next to a university, there's probably going to be some actual news reporting on it soon.~~

/=
Not confirmed

Speaking of Apaches, it's insulting irony that a helicopter named after an indigenous group is currently being used to kill another indigenous group.

whoops, missile machine broke (archived)

RTX Slow to Deliver Missiles to Defend US Carriers From China

RTX Corp. has fallen behind schedule delivering the Navy’s top air defense missile that’s meant to counter China’s “aircraft carrier killer” weapons, prompting a key House defense spending committee to block the Pentagon’s request for another $3.2 billion contract. RTX has delivered about half of the 625 Standard Missile-6 missiles required under a five-year, $1 billion contract from 2019, according to the Defense Contract Management Agency. This year, the Pentagon wants to buy another 825 of the missiles in a five-year deal from RTX, which changed its name from Raytheon Technologies in 2023.

The agency said supply-chain delays that began during the Covid-19 pandemic haven’t been fully resolved. “The extent to which those delays and cost impacts were fully within Raytheon’s control is not entirely clear,” DCMA said in a statement to Blomberg News. There have been delays of motors manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne and issues with third-tier suppliers all with unique challenges that new owner L3Harris Inc. is working to correct.

The SM-6 Block I/IA model is seen capable of intercepting China’s DF-21D missile, which is designed to attack US aircraft carriers, according to a US defense official who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information. RTX in a statement said its “in direct and frequent dialogue with Pentagon officials as well as congressional defense oversight committees to mitigate the delivery impact caused in large part by delays in solid rocket motor manufacturing.” The company is working with the Pentagon and Navy to find alternate sources for the motors, it said. Still, Rep. Ken Calvert, the California Republican who chairs the House defense appropriations committee, remains unconvinced. His panel has so far declined to approve the Pentagon’s next SM—6 procurement request, although the Senate panel has done so. The entire defense appropriations bill remains stalled on Capitol Hill.

“I believe there’s value in multi-year procurement when it’s appropriate, which is why the fiscal 2024 bill authorizes most of the other multi-year contracts requested,” he said in a statement. “But everything we approve has to be justified and scrutinized, and the fact is the performance on the previous multi-year contract for the SM-6 gives us concern” because it’s behind schedule, he said. L3Harris said that in the five months since closing on its Aerojet acquisition “we have continued investing in facility expansions and more efficient manufacturing processes, which have already led to increases in capacity for some key programs.”

The Navy’s top readiness official, Fleet Forces Command head Admiral Daryl Caudle, surprised attendees last January at a surface warfare symposium when he scolded the industry on lax delivery performance. “I need SM-6 delivered on time. I need MK-48 torpedoes delivered on time,” he said. Asked for an update, Caudle’s office said the SM-6 has marginally improved deliveries though it’s “not back to the required schedule.” The statement said the Navy and the Pentagon have “taken significant steps over the past year in support of this effort.”

you know, maybe if you want your military equipment delivered on time, you shouldn't be reliant on the private sector for literally everything? critical support to the American capitalist class in their anti-imperialist struggle against their own country's military