August 2010

Hegel and Pavlov Go to Wimbledon

Hegel and Pavlov Go to Wimbledon: or watching tennis and the gentle art of brainwashing.

Ray McGovern has written a follow-up, "A Neocon Preps US for War with Iran" to his piece that I commented on in my previous post. This, too, is artfully contrived and instructive, I think, as a window into the world of mass mind control or social engineering.

Social engineering (otherwise known as brainwashing or mind control) relies on two major techniques as far as I can tell: learning through association (made famous by Pavlov - and his dogs) and restricting the “field of view'. In other words, controlling the apparent options to choose from with one, at least, presented as the 'good' option (made famous by the followers of Hegel and known as the Hegelian Dialectic). This later technique is recognised as the double bind when no options are presented as 'good'.

In all cases control is the key and using the victims own mind and nature against her or him. If these techniques can be applied whilst associated with pain or, failing that, fear, then so much the better as they will not only bypass the critical thinking faculties of the victims but will be embedded deeper into the psyche because of the thought's association with physical body memory and sensations.

It is our nature, for instance to learn by associating two events close in time. This is known as correlation. Often the two events have a causative link such as touching a stove and experiencing a burning sensation. But correlation is not always the same as causation and this can be used against the mind.

So back to Mr McGovern. He has used these same techniques to 'mess' with our minds. McGovern sets out apparently to demolish Jeffrey Goldberg. This journalistic contest is over the presumed imminent military attack on Iran. It can be seen that McGovern and Goldberg are both engaging in a little Hegelian Dialectic here; together they are providing both sides of some of the aspects of the argument and are thereby 'restricting the view'. McGovern is playing tennis with Goldberg and engaging the audience with point, counter point and keeping the audience from looking past the field of play. The topic is framed in terms of local Middle-East politics with the US as an almost innocent bystander rather than in global terms and the US as the major belligerent and threat to world peace.

The US government is portrayed as being almost benign now that Bush and the neocons such as James Woolsey and those horrid CIA analysts responsible for the 'bad intel' justifying the Iraq War are no longer on the scene. Poor Obama is left with this legacy, though, and is working against the interests of Israel. We know this because McGovern tells us that Goldberg has said Obama is unpopular in Israel. So all this means that all you Democrat voters out there can continue to have faith in the system. No need to look elsewhere.

McGovern uses word association to correlate two dissimilar events. He quotes Woolsey using the word 'blockbuster' in connection with an obvious lie and then McGovern uses this same word, blockbuster, to cast doubt by association on Iraq's guilt in connection with the gassing of Kurds in Halabja i.e. that it, too, is a lie and suggesting Iran was to blame instead.

So, from Pavlov and 'association', we go back to Hegel and his dialectic and our tennis analogy. McGovern is co-operating with Goldberg to put on a spectacle and distracting us from the bigger picture. Wimbledon is not staged each year to determine the best tennis player in the world. That is not the “WHY” of it. When we expand our view, we can see it is staged by financiers and promoters to make money and perhaps aggrandise themselves. Same here with Middle East wars!

But before we move on to this larger arena, let's have a brief look at what McGovern is trying to do within this Middle East context. If you read his article with the above in mind, I believe you will see he is trying to put these following ideas in to peoples heads -

1. that Iran was responsible for gassing the Kurds during the Iraq/Iran War (started by Iraq at the urging of the US).
2. that Iran will therefore be open to using chemical warfare in the future.
3. that Iran was, indeed, working on a nuclear weapon technology in the past prior to 2003.
4. that, therefore, it could well do so again in the future.
5. that these two indicators of Iranian thinking and motivation justify Israel's attitude to Iran.
6. that Goldberg's assertions regarding Iran have merit because McGovern does not contest them but merely restates them and thus giving them more 'airtime'.
7. that a valid and overarching reason for not engaging Iran in war is fear that the US might not win (never mind all the innocent lives lost and destroyed – and for what?!)
8. I could go on!!

Goldberg and McGovern are playing a game that parties to the 'Two Party Political System” play all over the Western “democratic” world. It is a controlled contest to 'restrict the view' and provide a limited options menu to 'choose' from or vote for. The political 'Hegelian Dialectic', keeping the ball in play but within prescribed boundaries to distract us and condition us through fear.

So what's the wider view here? It is of an increasingly turbulent and violent world and the principal perpetrators of this violence are the Pentagon (together with Ray McGovern's CIA), NATO and Israel. The Pentagon has superseded the government of the US and NATO has superseded the United Nations. These two military bodies, together with Israel are ultimately controlled by bankers (through such bodies as CFR -where the Generals are members-, Chatham House and Bilderbergers) and therefore they can be reasonably seen to be carrying out their agenda. And that agenda is world dominion by any and all means. The obstacles to this complete domination, I believe, are (in descending order) China, a resurgent Russia, Iran and an equally resurgent Latin America focussed around ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas). The Principal members of ALBA are Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. Honduras was a member until the US sponsored coup there and Haiti was an 'observer' and recipient of aid from ALBA until the US invasion there, too. El Salvador has begged off joining since the Honduran coup.

A pattern can be seen regarding the Pentagon led hostilities world wide. Military intervention is swift against the weakest members of this 'Axis of the Unwilling' which is typical bullying behaviour. And threats and prolonged intimidation are used against those that can defend themselves in the hope of eroding their capacity and will to fight over time by exhausting them through psychological stress. (WP's chess analogy is very useful here in understanding this 'war of nerves').

The US/NATO is engaged in a long and lengthy process of encircling both China and Russia to choke them politically and economically and it is far from complete. So I don't think they are by any means ready to launch WW3 yet. Besides, Europe is still dependant on Russian oil and gas. Hence, the pressure on getting the uneconomic Nabucco pipeline into operation.

Therefore, with all this in mind, I do not think that a military attack on Iran (which would very likely involve Russia, at least) is imminent. However, the drive for world domination continues and I think a military attack is far more likely against Nicaragua instead. All the noise (including McGovern's writings) and sabre rattling at Iran is serving the double purpose of not only exhausting everybody's psychological strength but also distracting everybody away from the Caribbean. The US is right now in the process of extending it's military control down through Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to South America and, of course, Venezuela. The US Air Force now has unrestricted access to Mexican air space, for instance.

The most likely excuse for the military intervention in Nicaragua (if it eventuates) will be the “War on Drugs”. It must be remembered that the Pentagon controls the growing and distribution world wide at one stage or another of 90% of the worlds heroin. So the heroin that is coming into the United States and is the reason for the drug wars in Mexico with all it's appalling carnage, is ultimately being provided and controlled by the US military. My estimate is that it is being transported from Afghanistan to Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan and from there to Costa Rica where C130 Hercules are a common sight at it's two major airports. There it is likely handed on to criminal/terrorist gangs with political cover to make its bloody way north through Central America and Mexico and into the US causing social destabilisation and political corruption all the way and laying the ground work for military intervention. The US Navy recently moved its Gulf of Mexico fleet to Costa Rica.

Heroin can be seen as a weapon of war. Indeed, Russia, China, Iran and now even Costa Rica have huge and growing drug problems and the attendant social destruction and political weakening. This heroin comes from Afghanistan courtesy of the US Armed Forces who are ever ready to apply their violent solutions to the violence and destruction they deliberately create in the first place.

Again, heroin is being used as a weapon of war and, ultimately, as a tool for world dominion. Of course, legalising heroin use would undo all this! Though, economic and social justice would largely eliminate the need for it. But then, economic and social injustice is the whole point, isn't it?

For background reading, I can recommend Mike Whitney's, “Is the CIA behind Mexico's Bloody Drug War?” (Read “Pentagon/CIA” for “CIA” to get my understanding of it all)
And here are three articles, all from Rick Rozoff-
"Twenty Years After End of The Cold War: Pentagon's Buildup I Latin America"

"Central Asia: U.S. Military Buildup On Chinese, Iranian And Russian Borders"

And for confirmation of Israel's Air defence being in US/NATO's hands and therefore giving the lie to Israel's ability to start a war with Iran on it's own, see-
"Israel: Forging NATO Missile Shield, Rehearsing War With Iran"

War by Memorandum

Recently, Kenny's Sideshow posted an article on various warnings of an impending unilateral military strike against Iran by Israel. Featured was an article entitled "MEMORANDUM FOR: The President written by Ray McGovern and Phillip Giraldi, both former CIA officers, and a video interview of Michel Chossudovsky being questioned on the concerns raised by the McGovern/Giraldi article. I believe this article is disinformation and Chossudovsky in his interview provides the key to start the unlocking process. (This interview is also featured at Twelfth Bough) That key is the fact that the military command structures of Israel, NATO and the US are all integrated.

This should not come as a surprise if one thinks about the possiblity (likelyhood) of war with Iran escalating into WW3. It is what you would expect because the US and NATO would want to be able to operate on a co-ordinated world-wide basis. So a number of things flow on from this fact.
It is actually impossible for Israel to start a war without-

1. Any hope of doing it without forewarning the US
2. Any hope of continuing it by themselves
3. Any hope of having co-ordinated defence of Israel ready for implementation because they have acted outside prearranged plans
4. Any hope of being included in on going and future planning as they are now a wildcard actor

McGovern and Giraldi would be fully conversant with all this. Yet, they behave as if-

1. It is of no importance (untrue)
2. Obama and the Joint Chiefs of Staff would not be aware of this (untrue)
3. The public readership is largely unaware of this (probably true)

So who is the intended audience here? Obviously the public and that is so often the case with these “open letters”. It's a rhetorical device and, though it is reasonably open itself, it never-the-less works to deceive at more subtle levels. It tends to frame the readers understanding of the apparent target of the letter's perceptions and power regarding the issue; in this case, Obama and his position and power as 'Supreme Commander' and that this undeclared war on Iran is a part of a whole.

I believe the purpose of the letter is to place the following ideas in the minds of the public-

1. That Israel can, and likely will, act alone to start the war with Iran (which it can't)
2. That the US will be obligated, indeed, 'left with no choice' but to enter the war and 'finish it' (which it isn't)
3. That Israel will be completely to blame (which it won't be)
4. That Obama is the ultimate controlling figure here. (which he isn't)
5. That there is no higher co-ordinating power than the political leaders of these two respective countries and that there isn't another agenda (which, inductively, there obviously is on both points)
6. That there is no agenda for world dominion and that it has not been in play for some years now (which is also obviously the case on both points)
7. That this can all be stopped by writing to your local congressman or congresswoman. (which won't do shit)
8. That Israel is the most dangerous of the the three belligerents. (which it isn't) The other two, of course, being NATO and the US.
9. Paint US leaders, past and present, as being repeatedly duped by Israeli leaders and not having their own agenda or more to the point, not having their own marching orders as have the various Israeli leaders over the decades (which, again inductively, they clearly have)
10. Nuclear power is the issue and not oil or oil sales in $US

I have not included the article from McGovern and Giraldi as i was originally intending. I was going to inject my comments into it pointing out the multiple inaccuracies but decided it would fast become tedious and these inaccuracies would likely be obvious now (if not before!) if I have made good my points above.

The question has been raised before and I think it is worth considering again, “Is there any such thing as an ex-CIA agent?”
And given their various oaths of secrecy and loyalty, how is it that the members of VIPS (listed below) can run with the 'opposition' on the net in apparent direct opposition to the interests of government on 'National Security matters' for so long?

Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

Phil Giraldi, directorate of operations, CIA (20 years)
Larry Johnson, directorate of intelligence, CIA; Department of State, Department of Defense consultant (24 years)
W. Patrick Lang, colonel, USA, Special Forces (ret.); Senior Executive Service: defense intelligence officer for Middle East/South Asia; director of HUMINT Collection, Defense Intelligence Agency (30 years)
Ray McGovern, U.S. Army intelligence officer; directorate of intelligence, CIA (30 years)
Coleen Rowley, special agent and Minneapolis division counsel, FBI (24 years)
Ann Wright, colonel, U.S. Army Reserve (ret.), (29 years); Foreign Service officer, Department of State (16 years)

At the end of that great Irish film, "The Commitments", the main character looks in the mirror (as I am figuratively doing, now) and asks himself, "But, what does it all mean, Jimmy?"

He then answers himself, "I'm fooked if I know"!

I have listed lots of things I think the authors are trying to do with the article but the big question is "Why go to the trouble and why now?" Unless, of course, they really mean to . . . . No. . . They wouldn't would they?
Folks, your thoughts would be welcome.

Here is the link to the article, "MEMORANDUM FOR: The President" again.

newjesustimes's picture

End War

Open Thread - anybody out there, what's on your mind?
if only we could, let's end all war tonight.