If some other governments — say Russia, China or Iran — were even suspected of being responsible for Israel’s terror attacks on Lebanon, U.S. officials would be churning out denunciations.
White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby in October 2023. (White House, Oliver Contreras)
By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com.au
Listen to Tim Foley reading this article.
The death toll has risen to 12 from Israel’s terror attack in Lebanon on Tuesday which detonated explosive materials hidden in thousands of pagers.
Another 20 people were then killed in another attack on Wednesday with a second wave of explosions, this time using walkie talkies and home solar energy systems.
The total death toll now sits at 32. Two children and four healthcare workers are among the dead. Thousands have been injured.
As you would expect, Western empire managers are getting really squirmy about this.
White House spokesman John Kirby adamantly refused to answer any questions involving Israel’s responsibility for the attacks during a press conference on Wednesday, despite Israel being widely reported as the responsible party, with outlets including The New York Times citing U.S. officials as their source.
“I’m not gonna speak to the details of these incidents,” Kirby said repeatedly when questioned about Israel’s role and what the U.S. response will be.
It goes without saying that if a government like Russia, China or Iran were even suspected of being responsible for similar attacks, Kirby and his fellow podium people would be not just naming the suspected aggressor but fervently denouncing the attack as an act of terrorism.
Wow, Kirby answers nothing on Lebanon attacks.
Reporter: It’s been widely reported it is Israel but you still won’t say that, why
Kirby: I don’t have anything more to add on this
Reporter: Is this type of warfare acceptable
Kirby: I appreciate the question, I’m not gonna be… pic.twitter.com/ZgIq3SLotN
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) September 18, 2024
And it is here worth reminding readers that in 2017, a leaked State Department memo explained in plain language that it is standing U.S. policy to overlook the abuses of U.S. allies while denouncing the abuses of U.S. enemies in order to undermine enemies and show other countries the perks of being aligned with the United States.
The memo showed neoconservative empire manager Brian Hook, then director of policy planning at the State Department, teaching a previously uninitiated Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that for the U.S. government, “human rights” are only a weapon to be used for keeping other nations in line.
In a remarkable look into the cynical nature of imperial narrative management, Hook told Tillerson that it is U.S. policy to overlook human rights abuses committed by nations aligned with U.S. interests while exploiting and weaponizing them against nations who aren’t.
Hook, left, with Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. NATO ambassador, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in May 2019. (NATO, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
“In the case of U.S. allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines, the Administration is fully justified in emphasizing good relations for a variety of important reasons, including counter-terrorism, and in honestly facing up to the difficult tradeoffs with regard to human rights,” Hook explained in the memo.
“One useful guideline for a realistic and successful foreign policy is that allies should be treated differently — and better — than adversaries,” Hook wrote.
“We do not look to bolster America’s adversaries overseas; we look to pressure, compete with, and outmaneuver them. For this reason, we should consider human rights as an important issue in regard to U.S. relations with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. And this is not only because of moral concern for practices inside those countries. It is also because pressing those regimes on human rights is one way to impose costs, apply counter-pressure, and regain the initiative from them strategically.”
If this happened to an Israeli child it would be the only story on the news pic.twitter.com/2A5n3BIWiP
— Tim Barker (@_TimBarker) September 18, 2024
It’s tedious saying “If Group X did this Western politicians and pundits would condemn it but because Group Y did it they’re fine with it” over and over again, but it’s important to highlight these discrepancies because they show how we’re being deceived.
[See: Reminder: US Weaponizes ‘Human Rights’]
Westerners are indoctrinated from birth into believing they live in a society that is basically good with governments that, while imperfect, are still far superior to the tyrants and corrupt autocrats of the global south.
In reality the Western power structure centralized around the United States is the single most murderous and tyrannical force on earth by an extremely massive margin, but that obvious fact is always omitted from the indoctrination curriculum.
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By pointing out the glaring discrepancies between the way the Western political-media class responds to things like Israel turning electronic devices into thousands of bombs placed throughout civilian populations and the way they respond when other groups detonate explosives among civilians, you’re helping to punch holes in the veil of indoctrination they have cast over our collective understanding of the world.
The more you recognize that you only see your society as good and others as bad because of the way world events are framed by Western news media and politicians, the closer you get to having your, “Are we the baddies?” epiphany.
Western media are primarily responsible for the ability of Western politicians to commit war crimes and acts of terrorism unchecked pic.twitter.com/wA7E8dwJxy
— Tiberius (@ecomarxi) September 18, 2024
Hypocrisy and contradiction are not great moral evils in and of themselves, but they often run cover for great moral evils.
The fact that we are trained to think about the world by people who facilitate great evils perpetrated by their own side when they’d condemn identical evils committed by their enemies shows that they do not stand against evil, and are deeply evil themselves.
Recognizing the problems in our world is the first step to solving them. That’s what the propagandists and empire managers work to prevent us from doing, and that’s what we try to do by pointing out the glaring plot holes and inconsistencies in their narratives over and over again.
The correct thing to do when Western leaders talk about human rights or denounce abuses by enemy governments is to mock them and dismiss them.
They’re not saying anything true about their actual values and beliefs; if they were, there wouldn’t be so much hypocrisy in the way they denounce governments they don’t like for offenses they ignore and make excuses for in governments they do like.
They’re never saying what they’re saying to stop human rights abuses or make the world a better place, they’re only saying what they’re saying to undermine their enemies so that the Western empire can rule the world and be the only one administering abuse.
And the same is true of the mainstream Western press. You’ll see them completely ignore the abuses of U.S.-aligned governments while showing immense interest in alleged abuses by empire-targeted groups, often on very flimsy evidence.
Mock them and dismiss them when they act like they care about human rights abuses. They don’t care. They just want to make sure the abusive power structure they conduct propaganda for is the one in charge.
Caitlin Johnstone’s work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following her on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, YouTube, or throwing some money into her tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy her books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff she publishes is to subscribe to the mailing list at her website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything she publishes. For more info on who she is, where she stands and what she’s trying to do with her platform, click here. All works are co-authored with her American husband Tim Foley.
This article is from CaitlinJohnstone.com.au and re-published with permission.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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Thank you very much for this article, Caitlin.
If you were to read every one of my comments for the last few days here uou could see that I have made my views clear to anyone interested. I understand what you are saying and I agree with much of it. However!
I have not forgotten anything. You might remember that forever trumpers, too many of them fit the fascist profile.
Few who comment here for as long as I have been doing make their disgust , with a particular lack of respect, of U.S. Israeli policy as clear as I do. You don’t really believe the republican side of the isle is devoid of Zionists do you!
Nope! I buying what your selling. Go back and read my 9-19-24 @23;15 comment at Two men if allowed could decide humanities fate. I made myself clear. Nuff said.
This reply was directed to Drew Hunkins comment of 9-20-24 @12:59.
If the fumbling FBI and the Worthless CIA had been doing their damned jobs 911 might not have resulted in being such a tragedy. Hindsight sure as hell has little to do with this statement.
Question: Just how many dog damned “Professionals” does it take to secure our airways. Airways I might ad that have become increasingly more dangerous thanks to firing ATC professionals and allowing “BOEING, BOEING, Gone!” to self certify it’s own work.
Everyone needs to take a realist hard long look around at just what has happened in the last thirty or so years. I am not making any of this bull shit up! I could not!
In my strong opinion, as a direct result of their failures the rest of us got the dog damned Patriot Act shove down our throats.
And we fought two needless wars for decades, I might ad and to accomplish what?
And in the process once again expending one of the nations most precious resources, the some of the brightest and best of our youth, for No Gain. In the process the nation became hopelessly divided with America giving itself a black eye in the view of many countries around the world. My opinion and my belief. Now we see enlistments in the services way down.
Then with the war hawks in DC all primed for more blood they chose to go all in with Ukraine.
It’s time to change the cat litter in D.C. and throw out All the turds.
Thank you Caitlin for you dogged tenacity following these matters.
Thank You Caitlin
A statement from Joaquim de Almeida and reported by Tony Gosling said, ‘BREAKING: The hospital of the American University in Beirut, Lebanon reportedly took all pagers off its nurses and doctors about 10 days ago, and “replaced them due to technical issues”, according to employees.’
If true then America can’t say it wasn’t forewarned and took precautionary steps.
Spokespeople like Admiral Kirby never have to explain why so many countries and organisations are called adversaries by the perfect, peaceful, democratic USA and have to be destroyed.
There’s a trail of criminal activity leading to what happened in Lebanon. Is anyone going to hunt the criminals down?
It is (and has been) clear that Israel, with the support of the U.S. military industrial complex has been the major destabilizing force in the Middle East, and now is the 5,000 lb. gorilla in the middle of world’s living room. What goes around comes around.
The editor of the New York Post should face consequences.
Bad deeds get their answers. Soon all electronic devices will be banned in airports and places of public gathering. We all will be paying a price for the Lebanon’s massacre. We can thank the Israelis for it.
The Zionists would do the same to their opponents in the US. They own the media. They dominate intelligence. And Silicon Valley. Zionists don’t care whom they kill– whether Arab, or American, or even Jew.
And all those who support or stand with Israel.
I.e. we can thank the Zionists and all those who support or stand with Israel, as well as the Israelis themselves, for any price we will very likely be paying for the massacre in Lebanon.
‘Western Empire Managers’
Perfect description Caitlin in your as always eloquence to describe such heinous behaviour .
““I’m not gonna speak to the details of these incidents,” Kirby said repeatedly when questioned about Israel’s role and what the U.S. response will be.”
Why the hell not?!
Do your damn job!
Hard working American taxpayers foot the entire bill for all the creepy sadistic and demonic stuff the Israeli supremacists do.
It’s your duty to speak to the details of this!
Kirby is a total cipher. How did he get promoted to admiral?
Cipher indeed. Well put.
It is our duty to speak to our U.S. Senators about this. I dumped my craw in an Email to the senior Senator from Illinois earlier today.
These idiots in D.C. handling (?) U.S. foreign policy are friggin’ clueless to the mood of Americans right now.
They best get with the program. Americans all of us besides the forever trumper’s are sick and tired of the B.S. the forever trumpers are causing fear among us, are capable of doing great damage and need to be defeated.
A lot of “forever trumpers” are also sick and tired of the wasteful and superfluous wars the Washington-Zionist empire has been waging. Let’s not forget, it’s the Blinken-Sullivan-Klain clan that ramped up the dangerous provocations with Russia and it’s on their watches that Washington’s handed over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years to both the Russophobic Ukrainian fascists and the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.