COGNITIVE DISSONANCE NATION WIDE

You don’t have to fit in. It is fashionable now to take shots at Republicans and Trump, and avoid the Obamas and Clintons.
But remember this. In the 13 wars we’ve started over the last 30 years and the 14 billion dollars we’ve spent, and the hundreds of thousands of lives that have perished from this Earth, remember that it wasn’t one leader, but a system, both Republican and Democrat.
Call it what you will, the military, industrial, security, money, media complex. It’s a system that has been perpetuated under the guise that these are just wars justifiable in the name of our flag we fly so proudly over our lives.
Our country has become prosperous for many. But in the name of that wealth we cannot justify our system as a center for the world’s values, while we continue to create such wars and chaos in the world.
No need to go through the victims, but we know we’ve intervened in more than 100 countries, with invasions, regime change, economic chaos, or hybrid war – soft power – whatever you wanna call it, it’s war of some kind.
I’ve fought these people who practice war for most of my life. It’s a tiring game. And mostly you’ll get your ass kicked. With all the criticism and insults you’ll receive, and the flattery too, it’s important to remember, if you believe in what you’re saying and you can stay the course, you can make a difference.
I urge you to find a way to remain alone with yourself, listen to your silences, not always in a writer’s room. Try to find not what the crowd wants so you can be successful, but try instead to find the true inner meaning of your life here on earth, and never give up on your heart in your struggle for peace, decency, and telling the truth. 

Oliver Stone, Writers Guild Awards.

Australia did not bother to justify its direct involvement the worst war crimes of the 21st Century, the bombing and destruction of Mosul in Iraq.

Extremely frightened, utterly traumatised parents wept for their dead children.

The bodies of the holy warriors lay rotting on the ground. 

The machine which had been pumping out anti-Islamic State propaganda for the past three years was suddenly silent.

Mosul fell.

Australia was dropping millions of dollars of bombs a month on the wasteland of a city, had changed its own rules of engagement to comply with America's cavalier contempt for "collateral damage", people's lives, had passed more than 60 individual pieces of anti-terror legislation, had tried frantically to whip the nation into a state of fear over "the death cult", thereby abrogating yet more and more power to itself. But when the Australian backed Iraqi Army declared victory over Islamic State and the end of their caliphate, not a word.

It was not just the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his execrable Minister for Defence Marise Payne, it was the supplicant media and the brainwashed herd.

A story that was front page news around the world was barely news in Australia, and in the few outlets where it played, promptly disappeared in the 24-hour spin cycle of celebrity gossip and click bait.

The profession he had once been so fascinated by, so proud to be part of, was a dead skank rotting in the heat, bewildered, laid waste by group think.

Old Alex watched a cold winter sun set behind a line of suburban houses and the introduced trees blocking the view of the once sacred, magical lake, talked easily to a shift worker who had to be at work at 1 am.

And he thought of the line he had heard from one of the Watchers on the Watch, one of the many devout Muslims who were part of the security services.

"But they're the scum of society," he had said contemptuously, bewildered, or was it angry, at the way Old Alex would relax in the company of the tradies, carpenters, electricians, people who just got up and went to work and muddled through life as best they could. Sometimes outrageous. Sometimes damaged. Mostly just in a cycle of get up, go to work, relax with their mates, have "tea", and do it all again the next day.

"If you don't mind me saying, that's a very Islamic point of view," one of his offsiders said.

It had always struck Old Alex as one of the great ironies of the debate. 

The "extremist" Muslims the government so loved to demonise lived on the whole far more moral lives than most Australians. They did not smoke. They did not drink. They took no drugs. They took exceptionally good care of their children. They were faithful to their wives. They were highly educated, and were proud of the educational attainments of their women. They believed most fervently in God, in remaining pure for Allah, in improving themselves, in the power of redemption, in lifting up their brothers. They went regularly to the mosque. They prayed. They wanted to help others to find the path into the shining blessings of the sharia, the powerful virtues of living a pure, holy life, of gifting their souls to Allah.

Combine that with the military mindset of the agencies, those who regarded the "ice epidemic" as just a form of pesticide to rid the society of the flakes they did not want in any case, who held in contempt the frailty of others and did not understand the disorganised, happenstance nature of the citizenry. Those who did not make their beds in a rigid, military manner. Who objected to 24-hour surveillance. Who objected to gross intrusions into their private lives. Who liked to dabble in a little bout of recreational drug use on the odd occasion and saw nothing wrong with it, they were adults after all. Who were occasionally of loose sexual morals, if you wanted to call it that, casual sex, or who made frequent ribald jokes and had porn apps on their mobile phones and with great jollity shared the images, or who, in a sign of the times, used the internet and special sex focused Facebook groups to connect with each other.

This was, in these humble, inauspicious places, the deepest clash of the loose and the pure, the devout and the godless, the new Australia and the old, played out everywhere in these remnants of what had once been a hard drinking, communal, irreverent place.

"He's refusing to meld," said one of the technicians running mind maps, trying to calculate through their computer generated avatars how to control the flow of information. How to kill the country of old. How to subjugate everyone.

For the sake of the greater good.

THE BIGGER STORY:

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/2017/06/30/imam-of-mosuls-iconic-al-nuri-mosque-destroyed-by-isis-yearns-for-return-of-the-caliphate/

The imam of the ISIS-destroyed mosque in Mosul, where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivered his 2014 sermon declaring the re-establishment of the caliphate, says now that ISIS may have gone somewhat overboard —even though he yearns for the return of the caliphate.

This shocking admission, including his statements explaining why so many in Mosul supported ISIS, gives evidence that while Islamic State fighters may have been pushed out of the city, the ideological legacy of ISIS lives on.

The 845-year old Al-Nuri mosque, built by Ottoman governor Nureddin, with its iconic leaning Hadba minaret, was destroyed last week by ISIS and now lies in rubble.

The mosque's long time imam, Hamoud Omar Halil, spoke this week with TRT World:

Iraqi forces have been engaging in a final battle to seize Mosul from Daesh.

Up to 350 militants are estimated by the Iraqi military to be dug in in the Old City among civilians in wrecked houses and crumbling infrastructure. They are trying to slow the advance of Iraqi forces by laying booby traps and using suicide bombers and snipers.

Last week, the terror group blew up the Grand Al Nuri Mosque and its famous leaning minaret.

It was from that mosque that Daesh leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi declared the so-called caliphate in 2014.

Back then it was reported that the mosque's Imam was executed. But we can reveal he's alive and has been performing sermons under Daesh's rule.

In the video, Imam Halil details what happened the day that Al Baghdadi appeared at the mosque in 2014 and describes the enthusiasm with which ISIS was greeted:

On the day that Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi came to the mosque I was an imam there. I was surprised when a strange group came to the mosque. They said we have an Imam with us who will deliver the sermon, then they started removing everything inside the mosque, like Quran verses, clocks and fans.

We felt something important was going to happen.

We were optimistic, because we say in Islam under the caliphate everyone will live in safety and peace. In the beginning there was exhilaration and enthusiasm among people towards Daesh. But after a while the picture became clearer and restrictions were imposed on people who started to turn away from it.

Among their actions was bad treatment, underestimation of people's lives and souls, this was the only point that raised many question marks.

There are other things that we agreed on, that we hoped for, like cutting the hand of the thief, killing of the killer, stoning of the adulterer. Offenders and those who don't follow the laws should be punished; we have no problem with these things. The problem is the issue of people's lives.

The imam then addressed the destruction of the mosque and its historic "hunchback" minaret:

I feel very sad. It is a milestone of history and civilization. It is 800 years old and in one moment it was destroyed. It is a huge catastrophe; it is one of the most prominent names in Mosul. Some people might not known Mosul, but they know AlHadba minaret.

They might rebuilt it, but not like it was, so we say farewell to AlHadba minaret.

And then he explained the support for ISIS in Mosul and expressed hope for the re-establishment of the caliphate:

The reason we supported Daesh is because of the abuses of the army. People started looking for salvation regardless of what the alternative was. People were under a lot of pressure and thought this caliphate is for their safety and security and that is why people were enthusiastic.

If government abuses return, people will once again think of change regardless of what the alternative is Daesh or not Daesh.

We still hope that an Islamic caliphate will be established and we still repeat that, in order for every person to live in peace, Muslim and non-Muslim.

Yesterday, the Iraqi prime minister said the retaking of the al-Nuri mosque was a sign of the end of ISIS control of the region.

But the comments of Imam Halil indicate that the ideological support ISIS relied on during its three years of control in Mosul remains intact. And while the kinetic battle for Mosul might be won (for now), the battle for the hearts and minds continues on.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraqi-forces-committing-war-crimes-battle-mosul-hrw-157424408

Iraqi forces have been unlawfully killing boys and men fleeing Mosul as they enter the final phase of the fight against the Islamic State group, Human Rights Watch has said. 

Witnesses told HRW that they saw Iraqi forces beating unarmed men and boys attempting to escape the fighting over the past week, and that they had obtained information about the execution of unarmed men by Iraqi forces during the same time. 

Iraqi government forces attacked Islamic State's remaining redoubt in Mosul's Old City on Friday, a day after formally declaring the end of the insurgents' self-declared caliphate and the capture of the historic mosque that symbolized their power.

"As Iraqi forces are poised to retake the entire city of Mosul, allegations of unlawful killings and beatings significantly raise concerns for the civilians there who have been living under ISIS control," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. 

"Iraqi forces are promising liberation, but they need to find out what's happening now and stop any abuse."

One witness told HRW that members of the security forces boasted to him of executing unarmed men who were thought to be affiliated with IS, instead of detaining them. 

"I have heard of countless abuses and executions in this battle," one witness said. "But what's changed is that in this final phase fighters are no longer hiding what they are doing and are comfortable allowing us to witness the abuses first-hand."

Iraqi authorities say they are only days away from a victory over militants in their remaining redoubt in Mosul, though commanders of counter-terrorism units fighting their way through the narrow streets of the Old City say die-hard IS fighters are dug in among civilians and the battle ahead remains challenging.

Another witness said that earlier this week in a neighbourhood in west Mosul he saw two Iraqi counter-terrorism fighters stone the body of an alleged IS member, before posing for photos with the corpse, after having taken it down from an electric-power pole, where it had been strung up.  

"Reports of unlawful executions and beatings by Iraqi soldiers should be enough to raise concern among the highest ranks in Baghdad and among members of the international coalition combatting ISIS," Fakih said. 

"Iraqi officials should translate that concern into accountability for war crimes."