#warprofiteers — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #warprofiteers, aggregated by home.social.
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Krystal and Saagar discuss Palantir pushing for a US military draft. #AlexKarp #arrogance #hubris #opportunism #TechBros #fascists #liars #WarProfiteers #thieves #racists youtube.com/watch?v=O_UH...
Palantir PUSHES NATIONAL DRAFT -
Krystal and Saagar discuss Palantir pushing for a US military draft. #AlexKarp #arrogance #hubris #opportunism #TechBros #fascists #liars #WarProfiteers #thieves #racists youtube.com/watch?v=O_UH...
Palantir PUSHES NATIONAL DRAFT -
Krystal and Saagar discuss Palantir pushing for a US military draft. #AlexKarp #arrogance #hubris #opportunism #TechBros #fascists #liars #WarProfiteers #thieves #racists youtube.com/watch?v=O_UH...
Palantir PUSHES NATIONAL DRAFT -
Krystal and Saagar discuss Palantir pushing for a US military draft. #AlexKarp #arrogance #hubris #opportunism #TechBros #fascists #liars #WarProfiteers #thieves #racists youtube.com/watch?v=O_UH...
Palantir PUSHES NATIONAL DRAFT -
Krystal and Saagar discuss Palantir pushing for a US military draft. #AlexKarp #arrogance #hubris #opportunism #TechBros #fascists #liars #WarProfiteers #thieves #racists youtube.com/watch?v=O_UH...
Palantir PUSHES NATIONAL DRAFT -
"The single largest institutional emitter on planet Earth is the global military-industrial complex and nobody is permitted to mention it at a climate summit because the same countries that drop the bombs hold the seats." #australia #unitednations #climateemergency #globalwarming #fossilfuels #militaryindustrialcomplex #warprofiteers #warpigs
https://substack.com/home/post/p-194872251 -
Ooopsies! #WhiteHouse accidentally releases video of #TrumpSucks saying the truth about #war's priority
"In a closed door speech the White House apparently accidently published and then deleted (but not before it was downloaded and reshared), #DonaldTrump declared the inability of the federal government to provide for things like #daycare when his priority is #military strength, not the #welfare of the American public. Senator Chris Van Hollen joins to discuss."
#USPol #KillThePoor #WarOnIran #TrumpsWar #WarCrimes #WarProfiteers #WorldPol
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Company backed by #Trump sons looks to sell #drone #interceptors to #GulfStates being attacked by #Iran
By BERNARD CONDON
Updated 6:56 PM EDT, April 2, 2026NEW YORK (AP) — "A drone maker backed by President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons is trying to sell to Gulf countries while they are under attack by Iran and dependent on the U.S. military led by their father.
"The sales drive by Florida-based #Powerus – which announced a deal last month to bring aboard #EricTrump and #DonaldTrumpJr. – positions the company to potentially benefit from a war that their father began.
" 'These countries are under enormous pressure to buy from the sons of the president so he will do what they want,' said Richard Painter, a former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. 'This is going to be the first family of a president to make a lot of money off war — a war he didn’t get the consent of Congress for.' "
#USPol #TrumpCrimeFamily #WarCrimes #WarProfiteers #TrumpSucks #Shakedown #Mobsters #EndlessWar #IllegalWars
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Techno-Autocracy
Entering a Golden Age for War Profiteers
(2025) Trump's Washington Breathes New Life into the Military-Industrial Complex
https://portside.org/2025-08-02/entering-golden-age-war-profiteers#Capitalism #militaryIndustrialComplex #Oligarchs #Palantir #Plutocrats #Trumpocracy #WarProfiteers
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Techno-Autocracy
Entering a Golden Age for War Profiteers
(2025) Trump's Washington Breathes New Life into the Military-Industrial Complex
https://portside.org/2025-08-02/entering-golden-age-war-profiteers#Capitalism #militaryIndustrialComplex #Oligarchs #Palantir #Plutocrats #Trumpocracy #WarProfiteers
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Techno-Autocracy
Entering a Golden Age for War Profiteers
(2025) Trump's Washington Breathes New Life into the Military-Industrial Complex
https://portside.org/2025-08-02/entering-golden-age-war-profiteers#Capitalism #militaryIndustrialComplex #Oligarchs #Palantir #Plutocrats #Trumpocracy #WarProfiteers
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Techno-Autocracy
Entering a Golden Age for War Profiteers
(2025) Trump's Washington Breathes New Life into the Military-Industrial Complex
https://portside.org/2025-08-02/entering-golden-age-war-profiteers#Capitalism #militaryIndustrialComplex #Oligarchs #Palantir #Plutocrats #Trumpocracy #WarProfiteers
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My first lines of resistance have always been non-violent actions. We're at the point & I'm nearing age of increased #CivilianResistance against growing global #fascism & ongoing #CrimesAgainstHumanity with #impunity. I'm not dying on my knees. I'm not going out without a hard fight. I'm unwilling to submit to corrupt colonial governments of any stripes. I'm willing to die, if needed, to fight for freedoms for all peoples, globally.
We never volunteered to be war refugees. We never volunteered to be displaced, multiple times. We never wanted to be involuntary guinea pigs for #Warmongering #WarProfiteers who used us as living guinea pigs for their untested #WeaponsOfMassDestruction.
Again - the war heroes you plan to celebrate, next month, are some of the same Western war criminals who got away with mass murderers of our peoples. I shall NOT forgive. You should NOT worship war criminals & agents of #BIPOC #EthnicCleansing.
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#TheDefenceForcesAttack !!!....
Så använde Thailand Jas Gripen i strid mot Kambodja - Ekot | Sveriges Radio https://share.google/QQ8hhFCJ879yoM4fa
#democracy vs #warprofiteers -
#JudgementDay for the #MerchantsofDeath
Our tribunal, seeking to hold the #WarProfiteers to account, represents the yearning of millions of people who mean to stop the depravity of invasion, occupation, killing and repression so that we can properly get about the work of human survival and the restoration of our planet.
Nick Mottern
Jan 12, 2025"On January 15, 2025, five days before the inauguration of a U.S. president who threatens to rain down hell on the Palestinian people, and more war to the world, the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal will release its final report on how #LockheedMartin, #Boeing, #RTX / #Raytheon and #drone-maker #GeneralAtomics have delivered hell to millions across the globe since 9/11.
"The Tribunal’s 35 evidentiary episodes explain how these four defendant corporations have been essential enablers of the U.S. colonial campaign of murder, extortion and thievery since 9/11, epitomized in the horrific crescendo of violence that is already being rained down on the #Palestinian people. This grossly illegal war campaign—without equal in U.S. history in its geographic scope and length—is largely dependent on the products of the tribunal’s four defendant corporations.
"The tribunal episodes explain how the U.S. campaign since 9/11 flows directly from the post-World War II decisions by U.S. Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, U.S. businessmen and their congressional allies to try to pick up the reins of colonial control around the world that were being dropped by war-ruined European nations.
"The U.S. leaders were, of course, acting from their racist cultural and business roots, extending back deep into slavery and the #genocide against the first inhabitants of the continent, atrocities on which the U.S. was founded. They set us on the bloody path on which we find ourselves today.
"For these industrialists and their political enablers, siding with liberation movements anywhere in the world meant less #profits for U.S. #corporations. Thus, #ColonialLiberation must be officially described as a 'communist' threat to be dealt with through direct and #ProxyKilling, #repression, #torture, and terror.
"We hope that we are effective representatives of those calling for justice and repair from the hideous war work of the Merchants of Death and the United States government since 9/11.
"A permanent military industry was needed to enable this mafia-style scheme of international exploitation. Tribunal video episodes describe ways in which the U.S. public has been manipulated to support this military industrial system, to their great economic, spiritual and intellectual disadvantage as the U.S. economy and the wealth of its #oligarchs, like #ElonMusk, has become more and more dependent on war and intimidation.
"After World War I, even the Senate and Congress condemned gross war profiteering. Challenges to weapon manufacturers profiteering continued during World War II, though greatly diminished by war propaganda. Congressional support for weapons makers surged in the post-World War II years, so much so that 'defense' stocks have become sacred elements of college and university endowment funds, pension funds and private portfolios.
"The immensity of this dependency on war stocks breached the surface of public awareness in the spring of 2024 as students in support of Palestinian life and liberation demanded that their schools disclose and divest their stock in weapons makers.
"Students at Smith College occupied the school’s administration building for 14 days, calling on an institution that had divested from apartheid South Africa-connected stock to drop its holdings in L3 Harris and other war stock. The school’s board of trustees refused, calling the school’s holdings ”negligible”. Then in the fall, Smith administrators, and their colleagues nationwide moved, deplorably, to suppress students’ free speech.
"Wealth-driven weapons makers who must be protected by the so-called educators, and are revered in the business world, are the successors to those weapons makers in early 20th Century war-grieving America, who were often depicted as #overconsumptive, sleezy, #MoneyGrubbing vultures, feeding on the corpses and misery of the war dead and afflicted.
"Now, we have reached a point in which James Taiclet, the president, chair and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation, the largest weapons maker in the world, whose F-35s, F-16s and Hellfire missiles have been slaughtering Palestinians wholesale, can be a valued member of the board of directors of #MassGeneralBrigham, the largest hospital system in Massachusetts, serving 2.6 million patients a year.
"Intervening in this surging, greed-driven, incredibly lethal mess, the Tribunal rapporteurs and an international panel of 10 jurors, offer 13 recommendations for action by the public and by government officials to pull the profit out from under war and to provide reparations for the vast harm visited on millions of people by the Merchants of Death and the U.S. government since 9/11.
"More specifically, we tribunal coordinators want to work with prosecutors around the world to bring the #CEOs of the defendant corporations to justice for having enabled, since the October 2001 invasion of #Afghanistan, #WarCrimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
"We want to work with student and other movements to end private and public investment in weapons production.
"We must note that in our investigation, we repeatedly called on the defendant corporations to respond, in one instance getting arrested in the process. The four defendant corporations ignored us. We repeatedly asked members of Congress to answer our questions about their involvement with weapons makers. They ignored us.
"The work of the Tribunal was made possible by the volunteer and the extremely low paid work of more than 40 people—students, filmmakers, artists, journalists, and others who joined us at various times over nearly three years to complete our video evidentiary episodes and report.
"Those involved represent millions of people who mean to stop the depravity of invasion, occupation, killing and repression, everywhere, so that we can properly get about the work of human survival and the restoration of our planet.
"In this, we hope that the Tribunal recommendations will be among the guide stars that will help us chart our course, shining above the hurricane of greed and viciousness now ravaging the U.S and the world.
"We hope that we are effective representatives of those calling for justice and repair from the hideous war work of the Merchants of Death and the United States government since 9/11, of those calling to the world from their graves, from their hospital beds, from their poverty and dislocation and their relentless battles against racism in their places of refuge.
"Note: You may register [at the link below] for the January 15, 2025, (9 a.m. Eastern time), tribunal report release press conference. The 35 evidentiary video episodes appear on the Rumble platform and can be easily accessed at MerchantsofDeath.org, as can our Tribunal Study Guide and our podcast – Merchants of Death Radio.
Source:
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/merchants-of-death-tribunalTo register:
https://actionnetwork.org/events/press-conference-tribunal?clear_id=true
#WarCriminals #EndlessWar #Genocide #NoWar -
Kamal Sharaf is an #artist and #satirist in #Yemen. He wields #art as a weapon.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/25/715240/art-weapon-which-artist-fights-for-oppressed-yemeni-cartoonistHe's been targeted for his #political artworks.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/5/28/yemen-to-cartoonist-we-can-squash-you/#POCactivists #ColonialResistance #ArtActivism #ActivistArt #ProtestArt #ArtThatSpeaksVolumes #RevolutionaryArt #MiddleEast #geopolitics #USrael #IsraelIsATerroristState #USAFundsGenocide #USAFundsTerrorists #USFundedGenocide #ArtistsAgainstGenocide #GlobalSouth #USwarmongers #WarProfiteers #cartoon #ICC #ICJ #HumanRights
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Kamal Sharaf is an #artist and #satirist in #Yemen. He wields #art as a weapon.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/25/715240/art-weapon-which-artist-fights-for-oppressed-yemeni-cartoonistHe's been targeted for his #political artworks.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/5/28/yemen-to-cartoonist-we-can-squash-you/#POCactivists #ColonialResistance #ArtActivism #ActivistArt #ProtestArt #ArtThatSpeaksVolumes #RevolutionaryArt #MiddleEast #geopolitics #USrael #IsraelIsATerroristState #USAFundsGenocide #USAFundsTerrorists #USFundedGenocide #ArtistsAgainstGenocide #GlobalSouth #USwarmongers #WarProfiteers #cartoon #ICC #ICJ #HumanRights
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Kamal Sharaf is an #artist and #satirist in #Yemen. He wields #art as a weapon.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/25/715240/art-weapon-which-artist-fights-for-oppressed-yemeni-cartoonistHe's been targeted for his #political artworks.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/5/28/yemen-to-cartoonist-we-can-squash-you/#POCactivists #ColonialResistance #ArtActivism #ActivistArt #ProtestArt #ArtThatSpeaksVolumes #RevolutionaryArt #MiddleEast #geopolitics #USrael #IsraelIsATerroristState #USAFundsGenocide #USAFundsTerrorists #USFundedGenocide #ArtistsAgainstGenocide #GlobalSouth #USwarmongers #WarProfiteers #cartoon #ICC #ICJ #HumanRights
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Kamal Sharaf is an #artist and #satirist in #Yemen. He wields #art as a weapon.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/25/715240/art-weapon-which-artist-fights-for-oppressed-yemeni-cartoonistHe's been targeted for his #political artworks.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/5/28/yemen-to-cartoonist-we-can-squash-you/#POCactivists #ColonialResistance #ArtActivism #ActivistArt #ProtestArt #ArtThatSpeaksVolumes #RevolutionaryArt #MiddleEast #geopolitics #USrael #IsraelIsATerroristState #USAFundsGenocide #USAFundsTerrorists #USFundedGenocide #ArtistsAgainstGenocide #GlobalSouth #USwarmongers #WarProfiteers #cartoon #ICC #ICJ #HumanRights
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Kamal Sharaf is an #artist and #satirist in #Yemen. He wields #art as a weapon.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/25/715240/art-weapon-which-artist-fights-for-oppressed-yemeni-cartoonistHe's been targeted for his #political artworks.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/5/28/yemen-to-cartoonist-we-can-squash-you/#POCactivists #ColonialResistance #ArtActivism #ActivistArt #ProtestArt #ArtThatSpeaksVolumes #RevolutionaryArt #MiddleEast #geopolitics #USrael #IsraelIsATerroristState #USAFundsGenocide #USAFundsTerrorists #USFundedGenocide #ArtistsAgainstGenocide #GlobalSouth #USwarmongers #WarProfiteers #cartoon #ICC #ICJ #HumanRights
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@rchusid #FuckTheUSA
#USATerrorism #USAfundsGenocide #USAfundsTerrorism #USpol #geopolitics #warmongers #USAThreatToHumanity #AmericanTerrorism #USAGenociders #MassMurderers #GlobalDestabilization #perpetrators #EndlessWars #ProxyWars #Murica #USrael #ZionismIsACult #USveto #IsraelIsATerroristState #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #WarCriminals #PartnersInTerrorism #TerroristUSA -
@rchusid #FuckTheUSA
#USATerrorism #USAfundsGenocide #USAfundsTerrorism #USpol #geopolitics #warmongers #USAThreatToHumanity #AmericanTerrorism #USAGenociders #MassMurderers #GlobalDestabilization #perpetrators #EndlessWars #ProxyWars #Murica #USrael #ZionismIsACult #USveto #IsraelIsATerroristState #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #WarCriminals #PartnersInTerrorism #TerroristUSA -
@rchusid #FuckTheUSA
#USATerrorism #USAfundsGenocide #USAfundsTerrorism #USpol #geopolitics #warmongers #USAThreatToHumanity #AmericanTerrorism #USAGenociders #MassMurderers #GlobalDestabilization #perpetrators #EndlessWars #ProxyWars #Murica #USrael #ZionismIsACult #USveto #IsraelIsATerroristState #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #WarCriminals #PartnersInTerrorism #TerroristUSA -
@rchusid #FuckTheUSA
#USATerrorism #USAfundsGenocide #USAfundsTerrorism #USpol #geopolitics #warmongers #USAThreatToHumanity #AmericanTerrorism #USAGenociders #MassMurderers #GlobalDestabilization #perpetrators #EndlessWars #ProxyWars #Murica #USrael #ZionismIsACult #USveto #IsraelIsATerroristState #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #WarCriminals #PartnersInTerrorism #TerroristUSA -
@rchusid #FuckTheUSA
#USATerrorism #USAfundsGenocide #USAfundsTerrorism #USpol #geopolitics #warmongers #USAThreatToHumanity #AmericanTerrorism #USAGenociders #MassMurderers #GlobalDestabilization #perpetrators #EndlessWars #ProxyWars #Murica #USrael #ZionismIsACult #USveto #IsraelIsATerroristState #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #WarCriminals #PartnersInTerrorism #TerroristUSA -
#Arizona's Universities are Instruments of War
The United States provides more than 70% of the funds and weapons used for #WarCrimes and #genocide in #Palestine. Arizona universities are a backbone of the war industry.
by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Oct. 31, 2024
TUCSON, Arizona -- "When Arizona's largest universities slammed down on Palestine supporters, it was obvious they were hiding something. What they were hiding was the fact that they are thriving on war dollars.
"The most obvious is Raytheon Missiles located at the #UniversityOfArizona's Tech Park in Tucson. The less obvious are the millions in grants and contracts that both the University of Arizona and #ArizonaStateUniversity receive for technology, including cyber technology, artificial intelligence and robotics.
"While slamming down on #Palestinian support -- and shooting them with #RubberBullets in #Tucson and denying some graduation at #ASU in the #PhoenixValley -- both universities were heading up a national coalition of U.S. universities to support Israel, after the genocide was underway.
"Arizona State University in #Tempe, in the Phoenix Valley, has gone to the extreme to silence voices in support of Palestine. Besides forbidding pro-Palestine rallies, its harsh crackdown on encampments has resulted in 62 Palestine supporters now facing charges."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10/arizonas-universities-are-instruments.html#CeasefireNow #FreePalestine #WarProfiteers #WarIsBigBusiness #Raytheon #RaytheonKills #RTX #BloodMoney #Divest #WeaponsManufacturers #BibiIsAWarCriminal #IsraelWarCrimes #ReaderSupportedNews #SilencingDissent #Genocide
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I'm a #USinvasion of #Vietnam #WarSurvivor. I won't shut up about #Palestine. Me & my family understand the fear & terror felt. Palestinians have it worse than we did; and we lost many family members, relatives & friends & our family home during US bombings. We feel empathy & compassion for Palestinians under constant siege by #IsraeliTerrorists.
Many of us #CitizensOfTheWorld will #NeverForget this massacre & who helped fund it all.
#IsraelIsATerroristState & #USAFundsGenocide.
#geopolitics #WarCriminals #WarProfiteers #Warmongers #AsianMastodon #TootSEA
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I'm a #USinvasion of #Vietnam #WarSurvivor. I won't shut up about #Palestine. Me & my family understand the fear & terror felt. Palestinians have it worse than we did; and we lost many family members, relatives & friends & our family home during US bombings. We feel empathy & compassion for Palestinians under constant siege by #IsraeliTerrorists.
Many of us #CitizensOfTheWorld will #NeverForget this massacre & who helped fund it all.
#IsraelIsATerroristState & #USAFundsGenocide.
#geopolitics #WarCriminals #WarProfiteers #Warmongers #AsianMastodon #TootSEA
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I'm a #USinvasion of #Vietnam #WarSurvivor. I won't shut up about #Palestine. Me & my family understand the fear & terror felt. Palestinians have it worse than we did; and we lost many family members, relatives & friends & our family home during US bombings. We feel empathy & compassion for Palestinians under constant siege by #IsraeliTerrorists.
Many of us #CitizensOfTheWorld will #NeverForget this massacre & who helped fund it all.
#IsraelIsATerroristState & #USAFundsGenocide.
#geopolitics #WarCriminals #WarProfiteers #Warmongers #AsianMastodon #TootSEA
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I'm a #USinvasion of #Vietnam #WarSurvivor. I won't shut up about #Palestine. Me & my family understand the fear & terror felt. Palestinians have it worse than we did; and we lost many family members, relatives & friends & our family home during US bombings. We feel empathy & compassion for Palestinians under constant siege by #IsraeliTerrorists.
Many of us #CitizensOfTheWorld will #NeverForget this massacre & who helped fund it all.
#IsraelIsATerroristState & #USAFundsGenocide.
#geopolitics #WarCriminals #WarProfiteers #Warmongers #AsianMastodon #TootSEA
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I'm a #USinvasion of #Vietnam #WarSurvivor. I won't shut up about #Palestine. Me & my family understand the fear & terror felt. Palestinians have it worse than we did; and we lost many family members, relatives & friends & our family home during US bombings. We feel empathy & compassion for Palestinians under constant siege by #IsraeliTerrorists.
Many of us #CitizensOfTheWorld will #NeverForget this massacre & who helped fund it all.
#IsraelIsATerroristState & #USAFundsGenocide.
#geopolitics #WarCriminals #WarProfiteers #Warmongers #AsianMastodon #TootSEA
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Some of you are freaking the hell out about Haley autographing bombs. Who sent those fucking #bombs? When some of you haven't freaked out as hard over THOUSANDS of #MURDERED #PALESTINIANS.
GTFO with how you care about Palestinian lives when you're not even posting about them but blasting away at a bigot sellout chump - doing #bigot chump shit.
WTAF is wrong with you?!?
#FUCKtheUSA #warmongers #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #USAWarCrimes
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Some of you are freaking the hell out about Haley autographing bombs. Who sent those fucking #bombs? When some of you haven't freaked out as hard over THOUSANDS of #MURDERED #PALESTINIANS.
GTFO with how you care about Palestinian lives when you're not even posting about them but blasting away at a bigot sellout chump - doing #bigot chump shit.
WTAF is wrong with you?!?
#FUCKtheUSA #warmongers #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #USAWarCrimes
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Some of you are freaking the hell out about Haley autographing bombs. Who sent those fucking #bombs? When some of you haven't freaked out as hard over THOUSANDS of #MURDERED #PALESTINIANS.
GTFO with how you care about Palestinian lives when you're not even posting about them but blasting away at a bigot sellout chump - doing #bigot chump shit.
WTAF is wrong with you?!?
#FUCKtheUSA #warmongers #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #USAWarCrimes
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Some of you are freaking the hell out about Haley autographing bombs. Who sent those fucking #bombs? When some of you haven't freaked out as hard over THOUSANDS of #MURDERED #PALESTINIANS.
GTFO with how you care about Palestinian lives when you're not even posting about them but blasting away at a bigot sellout chump - doing #bigot chump shit.
WTAF is wrong with you?!?
#FUCKtheUSA #warmongers #WarProfiteers #CrimesAgainstHumanity #USAWarCrimes
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Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker
www.nytimes.com/2023/03/25/wor…
it's behind Paywall so here the text:
People who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front, with ready access to American weaponry.
March 25, 2023, 12:01 a.m. ET
A row of soldiers in fatigues lining a dirt road under a cloudy blue sky as one man faces them and touches equipment attached to someone’s chest.
Axel Vilhelmsen trained Ukrainian soldiers last year as part of the Mozart Group, which two former Marines established to help Ukraine. It disbanded after one founder sued the other, alleging theft and harassment.Laura Boushnak for The New York Times
By Justin Scheck and Thomas Gibbons-Neff
Justin Scheck, an international investigative reporter, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, the Ukraine correspondent, reported this article from Ukraine and around Europe.
They rushed to Ukraine by the thousands, many of them Americans who promised to bring military experience, money or supplies to the battleground of a righteous war. Hometown newspapers hailed their commitment, and donors backed them with millions of dollars.
Now, after a year of combat, many of these homespun groups of volunteers are fighting with themselves and undermining the war effort. Some have wasted money or stolen valor. Others have cloaked themselves in charity while also trying to profit off the war, records show.
One retired Marine lieutenant colonel from Virginia is the focus of a U.S. federal investigation into the potentially illegal export of military technology. A former Army soldier arrived in Ukraine only to turn traitor and defect to Russia. A Connecticut man who lied about his military service has posted live updates from the battlefield — including his exact location — and boasted about his easy access to American weaponry. A former construction worker is hatching a plan to use fake passports to smuggle in fighters from Pakistan and Iran.
And in one of the more curious entanglements, one of the largest volunteer groups is embroiled in a power struggle involving an Ohio man who falsely claimed to have been both a U.S. Marine and a LongHorn Steakhouse assistant manager. The dispute also involves a years-old incident on Australian reality TV.
Such characters have a place in Ukraine’s defense because of the arms-length role the United States has taken: The Biden administration sends weapons and money but not professional troops. That means people who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front — often with unchecked access to weapons and military equipment.
Many of the volunteers who hurried to Ukraine did so selflessly and acted with heroism. Some have lost their lives. Foreigners have rescued civilians, aided the wounded and fought ferociously alongside Ukrainians. Others raised money for crucial supplies.
But in Europe’s largest land war since 1945, the do-it-yourself approach does not discriminate between trained volunteers and those who lack the skills or discipline to assist effectively.
A man using binoculars to look out a window of a tall building as another, closer to the camera, holds a red light, in a heavily damaged bedroom with a crib and single bed.
Members of an experienced unit that included volunteers from the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia in Bakhmut in December. Foreigners have rescued civilians, aided the wounded, raised money and fought alongside Ukrainians.Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
The New York Times reviewed more than 100 pages of documents from inside volunteer groups and interviewed more than 30 volunteers, fighters, fund-raisers, donors and American and Ukrainian officials. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
The interviews and research reveal a series of deceptions, mistakes and squabbles that have hindered the volunteer drive that began after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called for help.
“Every friend of Ukraine who wants to join Ukraine in defending the country, please come over,” he said. “We will give you weapons.”
Thousands answered the call. Some joined military groups like the International Legion, which Ukraine formed for foreign fighters. Others took roles in support or fund-raising. With Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, under attack, there was little time for vetting arrivals. So people with problematic pasts, including checkered or fabricated military records, became entrenched in the Legion and a constellation of other volunteer groups.
Asked about these problems, the Ukrainian military did not address specific issues but did say it was on guard because Russian agents regularly tried to infiltrate volunteer groups. “We investigated such cases and handed them over to law enforcement agencies,” said Andriy Cherniak, a representative for Ukrainian military intelligence.'A Million Lies’
One of the best-known Americans on the battlefield is James Vasquez. Days after the invasion, Mr. Vasquez, a Connecticut home-improvement contractor, announced he was leaving for Ukraine. His local newspaper told the tale of a former U.S. Army staff sergeant who left behind his job and family and picked up a rifle and a rucksack on the front line.
Since then, he has posted battlefield videos online, at least once broadcasting his unit’s precise location to everyone, including the enemy. He used his story to solicit donations. “I was in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and I was in Iraq after 9/11,” Mr. Vasquez said in a fund-raising video. He added, “This is a whole different animal.”
Mr. Vasquez, in fact, was never deployed to Kuwait, Iraq or anywhere else, a Pentagon spokeswoman said. He specialized in fuel and electrical repairs. And he left the Army Reserve not as a sergeant as he claimed, but as a private first class, one of the Army’s lowest ranks.
The face of a man standing outside, wearing a helmet and sunglasses with straps across his shoulders, all in desert camouflage colors.
Still, Mr. Vasquez had easy access to weapons, including American rifles. Where did they come from? “I’m not exactly sure,” Mr. Vasquez said in a text message. The rifles, he added, were “brand-new, out of the box and we have plenty.” He also tweeted that he should not have to worry about international rules of war while in Ukraine.
He fought alongside Da Vinci’s Wolves, a Ukrainian far-right battalion, until this week, when The Times asked about his false military service claims. He immediately deactivated his Twitter account and said he might leave Ukraine because authorities discovered he was fighting without a required military contract.
Mr. Vasquez said he had been misrepresenting his military record for decades. He acknowledged being kicked out of the Army but would not talk publicly about why. “I had to tell a million lies to get ahead,” Mr. Vasquez said in an interview. “I didn’t realize it was going to come to this.”
#Politics #Ukraine #Russia #Mercenaries #UkraineWar #Lies #NATO #Iran #Afghanistan #Iraq #Syria #Pentagon #Smugglers #Warprofiteers -
The word '#fascism' gets bandied around a lot. At its core it's simple…
Fascism is the melding of govt and big business.
#google #amazon #cloudflare #facebook #lendlease #boeing #spacex #airlines #raytheon #LockheedMartin #refugeeProduction #warProfiteers #serco #organisedCrime #mafia
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The words '#fascism' gets bandied around a lot. At its core it's simple…
Fascism is the melding of govt and multinational corporations.
#google #amazon #cloudflare #facebook #lendlease #boeing #spacex #airlines #raytheon #LockheedMartin #refugeeProduction #warProfiteers #serco #organisedCrime #mafia
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The above #neoSlavery of #Filipino, #Mexican and #Indian people is not isolated to the #US but all #westernNations including #UK and #Australia.
#Corporations and the #centralBankers view the #thirdWorldisation via corrupt, #privatised #wars as opportunities to be #exploited.
They like producing #refugees.
#Prison for the #centralBankers, #lobbyists, #gentrifiers, #CEOs and #warProfiteers.
Planned #Degrowth now.
@witchescauldron @schestowitz @vjy @freedcreative @realcaseyrollins
