G-7 leaders promise peace, then back war

  

   By Reginald Johnson

     

    Commentary

   

   During the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, world leaders laid wreaths at the Hiroshima Memorial, which commemorates the atomic bombing in 1945 at the end of World War II.

  The American bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 of that year, together with the bombing of Nagasaki three days later, killed over 200,000 innocent civilians. The savage attacks constituted the worst war crimes in history.

  It was the first and only time --- so far ---that nuclear weapons have been used. The bombings ushered in the nuclear arms race and left the world’s population living in a permanent state of fear of potential nuclear annihilation.

  “Here we remember the terrible cost of war,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. “And we are reminded of our duty to preserve peace.”

 What hypocrisy.

 The G-7 leaders, mostly from western countries, were not remembering “the terrible cost of war,” and they certainly weren’t heeding any “duty to preserve peace.”

  Instead, this cabal of warmakers spent most of the summit discussing ways to help Ukraine “win” its war with Russia. European leaders talked about what further sanctions they would apply against Russia to strangle the Russian economy and undermine the stability of the Russian government.

  The group also heard President Biden announce that he had agreed to have US military personnel train Ukrainian pilots on how to fly F-16 fighter jets. While Biden said that the US was not itself going to provide the planes, some of its European allies would agree to do that.

  So this means that Ukraine will get an advanced fighter jet in the war against Russia and ramps up an already intense conflict.

  The Ukraine-Russia War, underway for 15 months, has already left 300,000 dead or wounded and forced millions of refugees to flee the country. With Russia nuclear-armed and the US and its NATO allies also nuclear-armed, there’s the possibility that the war could turn nuclear.

 By allowing F-16s to be used by the Ukrainian armed forces, Biden reversed his earlier pledge saying that he would not do this because such a step meant the warplanes could be used to hit targets deep inside Russia and thus was potentially a dangerous escalation in the war.

The memorial in Hiroshima, Japan commemorating the thousands of innocent people killed when the US dropped an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945 

  According to the New York Times, this is the latest promise that Biden has broken regarding giving advanced weaponry to Ukraine, including HIMARS rocket launchers, Patriot air defense missile systems and Abrams tanks.

  “In each case, the president at first refused, only to change his mind under pressure from European allies,” the Times reported in its May 20 addition.

  Revelations by a military whistleblower in April also disclosed that the US has dispatched a small number of US combat personnel to Ukraine despite pledges by Biden previously that he would never do that because it could touch off  “World War III.”

  According to the Times, the allied leaders at the G-7 summit issued a joint statement in which they said they were committed to “continuing our security assistance to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s aggression tailoring our support to Ukraine’s needs.” The report added that the group vowed to provide “financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

  So there you have the commitment to “peace” by the G-7 leaders. They are pledged to advance war and little else.

  It is galling that this group of leaders would dare to meet in Hiroshima, Japan, a sacred place, and insist they were promoting peace with their aggressive Ukraine war policy --- which could lead to a nuclear war wiping out the human race.

 The Orwellian claim that more war will create peace must be rejected. It is encouraging that protests took place outside the G-7 summit. Protests around the world need to spread until this misbegotten war ends and a nuclear catastrophe --- which would dwarf what happened in Hiroshima --- is averted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was Tucker Carlson fired over Ukraine?

  By Reginald Johnson

   Commentary

 

   There’s been a lot of opinions offered about what triggered the firing last month of top-rated cable TV host Tucker Carlson by FOX.

  Many speculated that the Murdoch family that owns FOX were angry over a number of things, including comments Carlson made about possible election fraud in the 2020 election, the sexual discrimination complaint against Carlson, and the talk show host’s controversial show questioning the official narrative concerning the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

 But few people have brought up the possibility that Carlson’s criticism of US involvement in Ukraine --- and specifically an editorial Carlson gave during his last broadcast on April 21 accusing the US of running bio warfare labs in Ukraine might have been his undoing.

  One person who has raised this, ironically, is an anchor with a Murdoch-owned operation in Australia, Sky News Australia.

  Andrew Bolt of Sky News said it was his “suspicion” that Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan Murdoch --- who he claimed fired Carlson --- was furious over Carlson’s claim that the United States was maintaining bio-labs “in a primitive country like Ukraine as well as sensitive nuclear technology.”

   Bolt commented “many of his viewers would’ve taken that to imply that the US is helping Ukraine with biological, secret biological, weapons research, even nuclear weapons.” Bolt said “that is crap, but it’s dangerous crap.”

  Bolt noted that Lachlan Murdoch had previously visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and had what he termed “warm conversations and that Murdoch had donated to a fund for journalists.”

  It also should be noted that Lachlan’s father Rupert also had visited visited with Zelensky and apparently was on good terms with the Ukrainian president.

  So it is quite possible that Zelensky put pressure on the Murdochs to do something about Tucker Carlson since Carlson was the only mainstream news commentator who has, since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict with Russia, criticized the US support for the war.  He maintained that aid to Ukraine was not in America’s strategic interest and warned that continued aid might lead to a direct confrontation with Russia.

  Since he left FOX, Carlson has not spoken about the reasons for his firing. He is still under contract with FOX and the contractual terms likely prohibit him from making any comments.

 It is interesting to note that while many of Carlson’s shows are still available on the FOX News website the commentary Carlson gave on April 21 concerning the bio labs is gone. I have searched everywhere for it, including on You Tube, and I can't find it.

  It is also a troubling fact that the Murdochs apparently have this friendly relationship with the leader of a country that the United States is so deeply involved in, a nation which is at war with a nuclear armed power. That kind of cozy relationship certainly has to send a message to everybody in the FOX News organization that they better not be critical of Ukraine or the US aid for the war effort.

  We won’t know the real reasons for Carlson’s dismissal until the former talk show host is willing to go public and speak about it. It’s possible that could happen sooner rather than later because there are some rumors now that Carlson is talking about breaking his contract with FOX and starting some sort of independent media operation with mega-billionaire Elon Musk.

  One other interesting point is that since Carlson left any questioning of US support for Ukraine has been dropped at FOX.

   Like the other cable channels and news outlets, including newspapers like the New York Times, FOX reports the Ukraine War in a one-sided manner. Ukraine is portrayed as an innocent party in the war against Russia, a small country attacked by a brutal aggressor without any provocation. US aid is seen as vital and a “moral imperative.”

  But the media narrative leaves out the long lead-up to the war and the many provocations against Russia, including the US-instigated right-wing coup in Ukraine in 2014, leading to the establishment of a virulently anti-Russian regime in Kiev whose leaders included a number of neo-Nazis; the construction of many NATO bases in recent years close to Russia in Romania and Poland; the willful breaking of the Minsk peace agreement by the Ukrainian government, with the silent backing of the United States; the delivery of tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine by the US; and the massing of Ukrainian Army troops in eastern Ukraine just prior to the Russian invasion in February of last year.

 

Former lawmaker blasts approval for housing at the former Testo's restaurant

    

By Reginald Johnson

 

 BRIDGEPORT REPORT     

     BRIDGEPORT --- City officials have given the green light for the development of a high density housing complex at the site of the former Testo’s restaurant on Madison Avenue and a former North End political leader is furious that there was no public hearing on the matter.

 Zoning officials gave an administrative approval to the project which will entail the construction of 177 residential units at the corner of Madison and Westfield Avenue in the heart of the North End, an area which is dominated by single-family homes. Under the new master plan and zoning regulations a public hearing was not required, officials said.

  And that’s what has Chris Caruso, a former state representative and city council member, up in arms.

  “When you think about it, to put a 177-unit complex with underground parking and the public hasn’t been able to speak on traffic, noise, density or any of those issues, it’s wrong. I believe in a public hearing. If the people are for it, by all means come out and speak in favor of it or if you’re against it come out and speak against.  But to take away that constitutional right of a public hearing to me is just an abomination,” Caruso said.

City officials have approved the construction of 177 housing units at the site of the former Testo's Restaurant, 1775 Madison Avenue. (Reginald Johnson photo)

    Caruso said he planned to speak at the public forum prior to Monday’s City Council meeting and ask that the council demand that the planning and zoning commission place a moratorium on the new master plan and regulations until there’s been a closer review of their impact. Caruso said that he would pressure Mayor Joseph P. Ganim to call for a moratorium as well.

  Additionally, the former legislator said he would call on the mayor to ask the city attorney “to investigate a statute or local law to see if we can change this development in the sense of holding a public hearing. I think the absence of a public hearing is unconscionable.”

 Testo's Ristorante, a landmark in the North End, was closed at the end of last year. The long-time owner and proprietor was Mario Testa, who ran the Democratic Town Committe for years and is a close ally of Ganim. The restaurant, which also had a catering hall, hosted many town committee meetings and election parties.

 Paul Boucher, the city zoning director, did not return a call for comment. The two city council members who represent the 133rd council district, which includes 1775 Madison Avenue --- Jeanette Herron and Aikeem Boyd --- also could not be reached.

 Caruso said he will not let up in his fight.

 "I'm going to pursue this. If they don't want us to have a public hearing, there will be a hearing in Bridgeport, because I will organize one and bring everyone out. This is something that needs to be fought," he said.