BLACK OPS / THE EMPIRE'S DARK SIDE

America's clandestine Black Operations (Black Ops) is now fully operational in 105 countries. After more than 10 years of American secret wars, night raids, detentions and assassinations, as well as massive surveillance and billions of wasted dollars ~ the blow back has been 36 new terror groups as well as one that was born during the illegal American invasion of Iraq, nurtured in an Iraqi Prison camp and is now known as the Islamic state of Iraq (ISIS) which just murdered in cold blood a Japanese reporter and Jordanian pilot and controls a huge swath of the Middle East and all under the nose of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC): Allen L Roland, Ph.D

 It’s the golden age of Black Ops and it shows no signs of slowing down. American Special Operations Forces are a vivid picture of a dark world of special operations that is being built right before our eyes but, like a stealth bomber, is seldom seen or actually understood by most Americans.

 

A black operation or black op is a covert operation by a government, a government agency, or a military organization. This can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it is clandestine, it has negative overtones, and it is not attributable to the organization carrying it out. The main difference between a black operation and one that is merely clandestine is that a black operation involves a significant degree of deception, to conceal who is behind it or to make it appear that some other entity is responsible such as "false flag" operations.

 Nick Turse, explains this massive secret global war in Truthout ;

 "During the fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2014, U.S. Special Operations forces (SOF) deployed to 133 countries ~ roughly 70% of the nations on the planet ~ according to Lieutenant Colonel Robert Bockholt, a public affairs officer with U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).  This capped a three-year span in which the country’s most elite forces were active in more than 150 different countries around the world, conducting missions ranging from kill/capture night raids to training exercises.  And this year could be a record-breaker.  Only a day before the failed raid that ended Luke Somers life ~ just 66 days into fiscal 2015 ~ America’s most elite troops had already set foot in 105 nations, approximately 80% of 2014’s total….. “The command is at its absolute zenith.  And it is indeed a golden age for special operations.”  Those were the words of Army General Joseph Votel III, a West Point graduate and Army Ranger, as he assumed command of SOCOM last August….. Votel now sits atop one of the major success stories of a post-9/11 military that has been mired in winless wars, intervention blowback, rampant criminal activity, repeated leaks of embarrassing secrets, and all manner of shocking scandals…..  "We need to continue to synchronize the deployment of SOF throughout the globe,” says Votel.“We all need to be synched up, coordinated, and prepared throughout the command.”….  Left out of sync are the American people who have consistently been kept in the dark about what America’s special operators are doing and where they’re doing it, not to mention the checkered results of, and blowback from, what they’ve done. ."  See Article ~

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28633-the-golden-age-of-black-ops-special-ops-missions-already-in-105-countries-in-2015

 In our fear driven world, Black Ops is a perfect reflection of the Empire's dark side except now the blowback is becoming too glaringly obvious to ignore ~ for example the recent hostage beheading of the courageous and caring Japanese reporter Kenji Goto and the inhuman burning alive of hostage Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh  .

 

You can see where this is all leading to as Jordan announces it will execute two ISIS prisoners within hours of the execution of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh who was burned alive while locked in a cage. 

Remember Shock and Awe and Bush's dubious Mission Accomplished during our illegal attack and destruction of Iraq in 2003 and now 12 years later we are in shock and awe of the pure brutality of their response to a decade of economic rape and destruction. It's called blowback and it's not going away any time soon.

 

The Empire is crumbling, Black Ops has revealed the Empire's dark side and absence of moral bearings while horrific blowback has revealed the tragic moral consequences of our continued illegal and immoral worldwide special operations.

 

“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

 

Allen L Roland, Ph.D
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/black-ops-empires-dark-side.html

 

Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at  allen@allenroland.com . Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also a featured columnist on Veterans Today and  guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

 

REMEMBERING AMERICA'S LOST CONSCIENCE / HOWARD ZINN 1922 - 2010

America's conscience died long before Howard Zinn passed away in 2010 ~ but his words and thoughts gnaw away at our collective soul and remind us that no Empire can long withstand the loss of its moral bearings: Allen L Roland

How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism? ~ Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn died of a heart attack at the age of 87 on January 27, 2010 but his words still reverberate within the catacombs of our national conscience reminding us that we are capable of greater things than dishonesty and lies, illegal wars and occupations, torture and rendition, targeted drone assassinations and predatory capitalism.

We are obviously made of better stuff and Howard Zinn knew that it all started with the truth  ~ “The challenge remains. On the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, the major media. On our side are the people of the world and a power greater than money or weapons: the truth.

Truth has a power of its own. Art has a power of its own. That age-old lesson – that everything we do matters – is the meaning of the people’s struggle here in the United States and everywhere. A poem can inspire a movement. A pamphlet can spark a revolution. Civil disobedience can arouse people and provoke us to think, when we organize with one another, when we get involved, when we stand up and speak out together, we can create a power no government can suppress. We live in a beautiful country. But people who have no respect for human life, freedom, or justice have taken it over. It is now up to all of us to take it back.”

― Howard Zinn, A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

Zinn sensed America's longing for a true change in moral values before the 2008 election and correctly saw Obama as a champion of the status quo and not an advocate for true change ~ “I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president — which means, in our time, a dangerous president — unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction … What matters most is not who is sitting in the White House, but "who is sitting in" -- and who is marching outside the White House, pushing for change.”

Zinn took no great pride in being a member of the so-called ' Greatest generation ' ~ “The Greatest Generation? They tell me I am a member of the greatest generation. That's because I saw combat duty as a bombardier in World War 2 . But I refuse to celebrate "the greatest generation" because in so doing we are celebrating courage and sacrifice in the cause of war. And we are miseducating the young to believe that military heroism is the noblest form of heroism, when it should be remembered only as the tragic accompaniment of horrendous policies driven by power and profit. The current infatuation with World War 2 prepares us ~ innocently on the part of some, deliberately on the part of others ~ for more war, more military adventures, more attempts to emulate the military heroes of the past.”

How do we achieve justice without war was Zinn's constant question and quest ~ as seen in this three minute YouTube video from You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehc3V1g5pm0&feature=related

But Zinn was always an advocate for patriotic dissent even in the face of globalization and an approaching new world order ~  “Today everybody is talking about the fact that we live in one world; because of globalization, we are all part of the same planet. They talk that way, but do they mean it? We should remind them that the words of the Declaration [of Independence] apply not only to people in this country, but also to people all over the world. People everywhere have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the government becomes destructive of that, then it is patriotic to dissent and to criticize - to do what we always praise and call heroic when we look upon the dissenters and critics in totalitarian countries who dare to speak out.”

― Howard Zinn, Artists in Times of War and Other Essays

Zinn was a strong advocate for the voice of the people and his writings continually reminded us of that deep connection ~ “The democratic principle, enunciated in the words of the Declaration of Independence, declared that government was secondary, that the people who established it were primary. Thus, the future of democracy depended on the people, and their growing consciousness of what was the decent way to relate to their fellow human beings all over the world.”

― Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present

Zinn was also a proud practitioner of civil disobedience versus civil obedience and felt that no great change could occur without it ~ “Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem … “Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide, and slavery - have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.”

Above all, Howard Zinn was a truth teller and firmly believed that human beings were neither sheep or machines and that the hope of mankind resided in their willingness to exercise their conscience, in the face of perceived injustice, and declare their independence ~ “But human beings are not machines, and however powerful the pressure to conform, they sometimes are so moved by what they see as injustice that they dare to declare their independence. In that historical possibility lies hope.”

― Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times

So the hope for a better America lies in resurrecting our lost conscience or in the words of Howard Zinn ~ “I wonder how the foreign policies of the United States would look if we wiped out the national boundaries of the world, at least in our minds, and thought of all children everywhere as our own… There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”

Amen!

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/remembering-americas-lost-conscience.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations  allen@allenroland.com

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website

allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

JOYEUX NOEL / A MUST SEE CHRISTMAS GIFT

This Christmas do yourself a favor and rent Joyeux Noel ~ a must see affirmation that all wars are civil wars because all men are our brothers. Now, more than ever, war has become a high powered tech game ~ but its victims are still human beings, who are murdered in political quarrels that were not of their own making: Allen L Roland

This movie is a "based on a true story" film, which takes place during WW1, on Dec.24th ~ where several groups of enemies (French, British, and Germans), while ensconced in trenches just yards away from each other, called a temporary truce and celebrated Xmas together and buried their dead comrades.

In this depiction a troop of Scots, French, and Germans sang, drank, play games, and celebrate a mass given by the priest in the group. All of this was done without approval from their superior officers and in each troop’s case; they are all punished by being sent to the harshest fighting conditions at the end. What really tugs at your heart is that they all look at each other and except for the language differences, realize that they are all the same. It is war that has made them enemies but if not for that they would all be friends !

And therein lies my point ~ We separate ourselves from our common humanity and connectedness through war and the only ones who seem to benefit are military contractors and the vast Military Industrial Complex.

As Michael Ignatieff wrote, New York Times, Jul. 28, 2002, "America's entire war on terror is an exercise in imperialism. This may come as a shock to Americans, who don't like to think of their country as an empire. But what else can you call America's legions of soldiers, spooks and special forces straddling the globe?"

But not all of the Generals and Admirals have bought into this military Imperialism ~ “ I hate it when they say, 'He gave his life for his country.' Nobody gives their life for anything. We steal the lives of these kids. We take it away from them. They don't die for the honor and glory of their country. We kill them." Admiral Gene LaRocque.

And not all of the soldiers either ~ "To those who have called me a coward I say that they are wrong, and that without knowing it, they are also right. They are wrong when they think that I left the war for fear of being killed. I admit that fear was there, but there was also the fear of killing innocent people, the fear of putting myself in a position where to survive means to kill, there was the fear of losing my soul in the process of saving my body, the fear of losing myself to my daughter, to the people who love me, to the man I used to be, the man I wanted to be. I was afraid of waking up one morning to realize my humanity had abandoned me." - Sgt. Camilo Mejia, who served one year in prison for refusing to return to fight in Iraq. He was released from prison Feb. 15, 2005.

And not all of our citizens either ~ for we need to demand to be heard and revolt against war if necessary " Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought! Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder! Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings! Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction! Be heroes in an army of construction! Helen Keller. - Source: Told to an audience at Carnegie Hall one year before the United States entered World War I. From 'Declarations of Independence' by Howard Zinn page 75

And that includes presidents ~ "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, and the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron." Dwight D Eisenhower

In this season of love ~ who else is seeing WAR for what it truly is? “In the beginning war looks and feels like love. But unlike love it gives nothing in return but an ever-deepening dependence, like all narcotics, on the road to self-destruction. It does not affirm but places upon us greater and greater demands. It destroys the outside world until it is hard to live outside war's grip. It takes a higher and higher dose to achieve any thrill. Finally, one ingests war only to remain numb." Chris Hedges War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

And here is a 13 minute video of Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg and Ray McGovern along with over 500 fellow anti-war veterans who chained themselves to a fence outside the White House last Friday during a driving snow storm to protest Obama’s continued occupation of Afghanistan. The mainstream media totally ignored this event ~ despite the fact that an ABC/Washington Post Poll found that 60% of Americans now feel that war has “not been worth it.” That’s a big increase from the 53% who said they opposed the war in July. Here’s the must see video ~ http://www.veteransforpeace.org/

And here are Chris Hedge’s comments on Monday after being arrested and held in a cold and damp Washington, DC jail ~ “The tears and grief, the halting asides, the catch in the throat, the sudden breaking off of a sentence, is the only language that describes war. This faltering language of pain and atonement, even shame, was carried like great, heavy boulders by these veterans as they tromped slowly through the snow from Lafayette Park to the White House fence. It was carried by them as they were handcuffed, dragged through the snow, photographed for arrest, and frog-marched into police vans. It was carried into the frigid holding cells of a Washington jail. If it was understood by the masters of war who build the big guns, who build the death planes, who build all the bombs and who hide behind walls and desks, this language would expose their masks and chasten their hollow, empty souls. This language, bereft of words, places its faith in physical acts of nonviolent resistance, in powerlessness and compassion, in truth. It believes that one day it will bring down the house of war.” http://www.truthdig.com/report/page2/bitter_memories_of_war_on_the_way_to_jail_20101220/

Last year the U.S. continued to beat the drums of war by reactivating the Fifth Fleet, giving it the ability to project considerable naval power throughout Latin America ~ thus increasing the scope of the Columbia military base agreement. A number of countries are rightfully getting nervous, especially those that the State Department considers “anti-US”: Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Paraguay, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. The term “unfriendly” could also include Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and even Brazil, which has helped lead a continent-wide independence movement against U.S. domination of the region.

Eva Golinger, winner of the International Award for Journalism in Mexico (2009) writes of the need for the same revolution in America ~ "The US has a rich history of revolution. There are many groups inside the US dedicated to building a better, more humanist system. Unity and a collective vision are essential aspects of building a strong movement capable of moving forward. Every nation has its moment in history. This is the time of Latin America. But there is great hope that the people of the US will soon unite with their brothers and sisters south of the border to bring down Empire and help build a true world community based on social and economic justice for all. " http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/25608

This Christmas, perhaps Nobel Peace Prize Laureate President Obama should heed the prophetic words of a former Peace Prize winner ~ "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." ~ Martin Luther King Jr

So this Christmas, let us celebrate love, universal brotherhood and connectedness while condemning war for what it truly is ~ a dark cancer of the soul which can only be eliminated through social cooperation and altruism, which are also the driving forces of evolution.

It was Rumi ( the poet of love ) who wrote ~ Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field, l'll meet you there ~

That field is not a battlefield ~ it is an energy field of love and soul consciousness ( the Unified Field ) which exists not only beyond time and space but also deepest within us all and whose principle property is the universal urge to unite.

We resist this urge at our peril ~ for love is the only force that gives us true meaning.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/joyeux-noel-must-see-christmas-gift.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

OBAMA STILL DOESN'T GET IT / HE FAILED TO LEAD

President Obama still doesn’t get that the 2010 mid-term elections were a referendum on him ~ and specifically his failure to deliver on the mandate of change that he promised in 2008. His progressive and Independent base fled the scene but he still doesn’t get that his spineless passivity has left him alone at the table still drinking his own kool aid: Allen L Roland

I’ve read all the postmortems on the midterm elections which was not a surprise to me ~ mainly because I’m one of the millions of Americans who voted for change in 2008 and saw Barack Obama as an agent of that change and was quickly disappointed by not only his cabinet selections but his reluctance to deliver on those promises he glibly offered before his election. As Ted Rall correctly writes ~” People are pissed. They hate the bailouts, but the bailouts aren’t the main point. More than anything else, the American people are angry that their government doesn’t even pretend to give a damn about them.”

Or as Marshall Ganz also correctly wrote in the LA Times ~ “ The nation was ready for transformational leadership, but the president gave us transactional leadership ( horse-trading, operating within the routine, maintaining, rather than changing the status quo). And, as is the case with leadership failures, much of the public's anger, disappointment and frustration has been turned on a leader who failed to lead.”

David Degraw , author of The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America, and his forthcoming book The Road Through 2012: Revolution or World War III offers an incisive analysis of the Mid Term election and how Obama got what he deserved ~ “ The Obama referendum came in and he got what he deserved. When you run on change and leave the same criminals in positions of power and don’t hold anyone accountable for obvious crimes, and allow them to continue to commit those crimes, you deserve to lose your power. This is what happens when you put Tim Geithner and Larry Summers in charge of the economy, and support Ben Bernanke for reconfirmation as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. This is what happens when you keep Robert Gates as your Secretary of Defense and General Petraeus in charge of your wars. This is what happens when you lie to protect the interests of BP over the American people. This is what happens when you bailout Wall Street and the health care industry and sell out everyone else. This is what happens when your rhetoric is the opposite of your actions. The past two years have clearly exposed Obama as a spineless corporate puppet and he deserves to be voted out in 2012.”

DeGraw goes on to define the real problem ~ “ Hopefully by 2012 the American public will finally understand that they must support Independent candidates and alternative political structures, and cannot vote for Democrats or Republicans, if they ever want to achieve the needed change. Both parties serve the same corporate masters. Yes, there are some differences between the two. The Democrats serve half of the top economic one percent, and the Republicans serve the other half. We have Neo-liberals to the left and Neo-cons to the right, leaving 99% of us without representation.”

The loss of both Russ Feingold and Alan Grayson, who led the fight against the corporate elite are outstanding examples of how the progressives have been run over by both parties ~ “Two politicians in Congress who actually fought for us against the Economic Elite just lost their reelection bids. Alan Grayson and Russ Feingold lost because record amounts of cash went to funding the candidates who ran against them. Even their own party’s leadership didn’t support their reelection efforts. The bottom line in this money rigged system is that you cannot run against the most powerful corporations and win. They will just pour unlimited funds into defeating you, and your own party will desert you. “

So what can we do? How can we defeat the corpocracy and return the Republic to the people?

DeGraw offers a bottom up approach that just might work if we can get beyond our own political cynicism ~ “ Yes, I sound extreme, but these are extreme times. I’m not going to sit quietly as our future is ripped out from under us. I will not let my family’s well being and our country’s fate be decided by short-sighted greed addicted forces that have looted the global economy and brought poverty, death and destruction throughout the world.

I see the path we are on and I intend to change it!

It is evident that the overwhelming majority of the population has become cynical and feels that it is useless to try to change things. If these people would just realize that they are the overwhelming majority and take action, we can change things. We have power in numbers. We are 99% of the population. If we organize on common ground and fight back, we will win!”

Click on common ground and see how we can all aggressively move on common sense political reforms.

We are the ones we have been waiting for!

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/obama-still-doesnt-get-it-he-failed-to.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Weblog: http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com
Website: www.allenroland.com
ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY