At around 2 am local time on Wednesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in an apparent attack by Israel. The attack came hours after an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. The United States denied foreknowledge of either attack and had previously warned Israel against striking Beirut.

The United States is either a party to the recent assassinations by Israel or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes there is no one behind the wheel in the White House freeing him to take any action without repercussions from the United States, veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Wednesday. 

The attacks could not "happen without the approval of the Americans unless Benjamin Netanyahu believes there is nobody in the White House,” Magnier explained. “Which most probably in some cases is the reality, because we don’t know who’s leading America today.”

After concerns over his mental acuity became too large to ignore, US President Joe Biden ended his campaign for reelection but said he planned to finish his current term in office. The President was silent for three days following that announcement then gave an 11-minute speech that appeared to not include any press. He has only made sporadic appearances since and has not taken questions from the media.

On Sunday, it was reported that US officials warned Israel against attacking Beirut, saying that it may be a “red line” for Hezbollah. A few days later, Israel not only struck southern Beirut but assassinated a guest of the Iranian government following President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration.

“It is obvious that Netanyahu wants a wider war. He wants to force the Americans to come in because America cannot leave Israel on its own because it’s part of its doctrine,” explained Magnier. “They have to support the Israelis by all means, even if they disagree with the way Benjamin Netanyahu is conducting the war.”

“Either [the Americans] cannot control Netanyahu and he’s doing whatever he wants and is dragging the US administration behind him, or, they know, and they are saying they don’t know,” explained Magnier, noting that either way they are complicit. “If they really don’t want the war, why do they continue supplying the Israelis with tens of thousands of [munitions]? Without this ammunition, Israel cannot go to war. So, there’s a big difference between what they are saying and what they are doing.”

While Iran showed extreme restraint after Israel bombed its consulate in Syria, Israel is giving them no choice but to respond.

“Today, we have Netanyahu cornering everybody – the Americans, the Iranians, the Syrians, the Lebanese, the Yemeni and the Iraqis – and saying ‘Come to the battlefield, I want a bigger war.’ That’s the message we understand.

“If they don’t respond, he’s going to continue hitting them. If they respond – this is what he wants – then they have to play in his field. So what is the solution? This is where everybody is stuck now. They have to respond.”

On Tuesday, the Iranian mission to the UN warned that its response will be “special operations.”

“The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations– harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator,” the mission wrote on X.

“This is going to be a very difficult 24 to 48 hours that the Middle East is going to [experience] and we're going to see the result very shortly," Magnier concluded.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240731/an-empty-white-house-gives-netanyahu-free-reign-1119587206.html

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If we are serious about changing the world, it is time for shock tactics. When facts do not do the job we need to shock people out of their apathy.

Jack Waterford has a good point that Trumpists will not listen to words or factchecks but will only be affected by feelings, emotions, moods and anger, so Kamala will have a hard job to cut through.

This reminds me of my many years working in health promotion where the focus was on working through opinion leaders using community development techniques, but this had to be adapted as social media became important, so different messages were used at the community level and at the population level. Most people will remember the Grim Reaper AIDS mass media campaign which hit people between the eyes, and the pictures of the Quit Smoking ads showing the last stages of the lives of people with diseases resulting from smoking nicotine cigarettes. These campaigns got attention and worked.

I believe it is time for scare tactics. We have been pussyfooting around for too long, asking people to believe the facts. Neither Governments, nor individuals, nor organisations who should know better, are taking the required action. Visual depictions of atrocities is what is now needed to shake people out of their apathy.

Regarding the Zionist Israeli War we could show photos of:

• The 9 year old girl in Gaza operated on by surgeons Sidhwa and Perimutter who was missing part of her femur, most of the flesh on one thigh, with her pelvic bones exposed due to severe cuts on her buttocks and, as they proceeded, maggots fell in chunks from her body.
• The nurse shot in the leg by the IDF when refusing to leave an anaesthetized patient, who after being operated on was dragged away by soldiers and held for 45 days strapped to a table. When dumped naked at the side of road he had metal sticking out of his infected leg and his right eye was hanging off his skull where he had been beaten.

Regarding Climate Change, we could show pictures of people having to leave their homes permanently due to droughts, floods, extreme heat etc. We would then need to show where and how they died when the enormity of the exodus overwhelmed the aid organisations, who could neither provide adequate food, clean water, shelter and healthcare or get them accepted by a safer country. There are many options for example Sudan, Yemen and Bangladesh – some in acute distress, others a time bomb waiting to happen.

Many of us try to be activists. We write articles in alternative media, sign submissions to people in power, demonstrate and peacefully protest, cry, but feel we are not making a difference. Shocks can be more effective than reason.

Governments do not have the courage to produce such advertisements nowadays, and some even have laws to prohibit showing pictures of atrocities which protects them from criticism. Australia will not publicly release the security report on climate change so as to avoid criticism. So we the people need to use social media directly, as there are ways around this government avoidance.

There are some billionaires and philanthropists who I believe can be persuaded to produce such messages. What is needed is people who have influence with these would-be funders/producers. Those with influence need to persuade them to shock people into action. If this does not work then crowdfunding to produce the ads will be the next option. One way or another we need to ensure people will not vote for populists but for would-be politicians who put people and the environment first and can drive real change in the world.

https://johnmenadue.com/time-to-message-people-between-the-eyes/

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Defense Department on Wednesday declined to comment on any potential US force posture changes in the Middle East after Iran's reported threat to carry out a retaliatory strike on Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh. 

Earlier, the New York Times, citing three Iranian officials, reported that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a direct strike on Israel in retaliation for Haniyeh's assassination. 

"We have nothing to provide regarding changes to force posture or comments made by Iran’s Supreme Leader," a Pentagon spokesperson said. 

Hamas confirmed that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli attack on his residence in Tehran after he took part in the inauguration of Iran's newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

John Kirby, who serves as the White House national security communications adviser, said in earlier comments that the United States does not believe an escalation in the Middle East is inevitable and sees no signs that it is imminent.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240731/dod-decline-comment-on-posture-changes-amid-report-iran-ordered-retaliatory-strike-on-israel-1119586954.html

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NO CHANGE IN "POSTURE"?...

"I say that because we also have news reports now coming in that the US and UK warships are headed into the Mediterranean. On one of the US ships is probably a Marine Expeditionary Unit," Johnson said.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRYBOAlAs_Y

Musk and his new-found love for Netanyahu. ‘Where leaders fall other leaders take their place.’ Stand up Venezuela. And the sordid tale of the BBC’s dirty little pervert

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.