Glenn Greenwald
March 31, 2025
March 31, 2025
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Most of Washington is focusing on a reckless communications snafu. The real crime is far worse. Jon Miltimore March 28, 2025 By now, most people have heard of ‘Signal Gate,’ a controversy that emerged when several high-ranking U.S. government officials used the encrypted messaging app Signal to discuss a military attack on Yemen on Sunday. It’s a bizarre and appalling story for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that it all began when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was accidentally invited to the chat, where operational details of the impending airstrikes—targets, weapons, and attack sequencing—were openly discussed. It’s bad, and critics are right that the debacle raises significant national security concerns. So far, most of the criticism has been directed at Secretary of War Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, who appears to be the person who inadvertently invited Goldberg to the chat. The Trump administration’s response so far has been lame but predictable: attack Goldberg and The Atlantic. Goldberg is a truly awful figure, one who dutifully reported the lies of the US intelligence apparatus for years, including during the Iraq War (see below).   But let’s be clear. Goldberg was not at fault here. Trump officials and the Pentagon were.
From what I’ve seen, intellectually honest people (those not consumed by tribal politics) recognize this. Continue reading on Substack.  Listen to a reading of this article by Tim Foley. I envy the Palestinians. Not for what they’re going through, obviously, but for what they have. Their supremely authentic culture, with its deep roots and ancient connection to the land.
One of the very, very few good things that the Gaza holocaust has brought into this world is a deluge of footage of Palestinians living their lives, interacting with each other and relating to their loved ones as they find ways to get by in this nightmare. Westerners like me have been quietly watching these video clips on our little screens in our homes, and watching the various films, documentaries and shows that have been made about Palestinian life over the years, and taking it all in. And it’s just so very moving. Palestinians are such amazingly beautiful people. How tender they are with each other. How real and organic their spirituality is. How deeply they love their culture in all its unique expressions. How profoundly intimate their connections with each other are, both between individuals and with their community as a whole. Read complete article on Substack.  With momentum for a strike on Iran building within the Trump White House, Goldberg was apparently summoned to move the neocon message. And he wound up with more access than he could handle. Atlantic Magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg has won the admiration of his Beltway peers for the conduct he displayed after being accidentally invited into a smoke-filled “bomb Yemen” Signal chat with Trump’s national security honchos and top advisors. “Props to Jeffrey Goldberg for his high standards as a professional journalist,” declared Ian Bremmer, the trans-Atlanticist foreign policy pundit on his Bank of America-sponsored GZero podcast. “When he realized the conversation was authentic he immediately left, informed the relevant senior official, and made the public aware without disclosing intelligence that could damage the United States.” But what exactly did Goldberg do to deserve such high praise? With a once in a lifetime opportunity to view and report on high level discussions on the US launching an illegal war on Yemen, Goldberg chose to avert his gaze and leave the scene as soon as he could, apparently because maintaining such unparalleled access would have compelled him to report on discussions that might have complicated a war being waged on behalf of the Israeli apartheid state to which he emigrated as a young man. Instead of exploiting his front row seat to the Trump admin’s war planning – a vantage point that would have yielded countless scoops and a bestselling book for any adversarial journalist – Goldberg bolted and dutifully informed the White House about the unfortunate situation.
From there, the story became a palace intrigue over an embarrassing failure of “opsec,” or operational security, and not one about the policy itself, which entails a gargantuan empire bombarding a poor, besieged country because it is controlled by a popular movement that is currently the only force on the planet taking up arms to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In the fourth paragraph of Goldberg’s Atlantic article about the principals’ Signal group, he strongly implied that he supports the war’s objectives, describing Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, as an “Iran-backed terrorist organization” which upholds a belief system that is (what else?) antisemitic. Given Goldberg’s admission that Waltz first reached out to him at least two days prior to mistakenly adding him to the Signal group, it appears the NSC director had been leaking to the Atlantic editor on behalf of the neocon faction in the Trump White House. And it seems clear why Waltz would have sought to cultivate Goldberg. Continue reading on thegrayzone.com.  The Middle East So the US is sending Carrier Strike Group One (CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson) to the Middle East, leaving CSG-5 (CVN-73 USS George Washington) to "hold the fort" in the western Pacific from the semi-safe environs of its quasi-permanent berth in Yokosuka, Japan. All the Washington does is sail back and forth between San Diego and Yokosuka every so often to give the impression it's doing something meaningful. Otherwise I've seen no indication for several years that it is anything more than a training and parade vessel. In any case, the Vinson is headed to the Arabian Sea, and perhaps points beyond. (That remains to be seen.) Meanwhile the deployment of CSG-8 (CVN-75 USS Trembling Puppy) has been extended, even as it remains bottled up in the northern reaches of the Red Sea, launching air strikes on Yemen from ~1000 km away, with USAF refueling tankers at the ready as needed. The Yemeni have launched a few modest packages of antiquated drones and antiship cruise missiles in the general direction of the Trembling Puppy – all of which have been relatively easy pickings for the cruiser and destroyers and combat air patrol. But, keep in mind, even though these old and slow Yemeni drones and missiles have little chance of scoring a hit from 1000 km away, the carrier strike group ships and planes still have to shoot at every one of them! So every Yemeni strike package of a couple dozen missiles will deplete CSG-8's munitions magazines by AT LEAST a corresponding number of air defense missiles, and quite possibly TWICE as many, according to standard practice of firing two interceptors at each threat. CSG-8’s magazine depth has already been substantially depleted over the course of the past two weeks — and remember, the US Navy cannot replenish its vertical launch systems at sea. And, of course, if military operations against Iran are the ultimate objective, then at some point the Trembling Puppy and its entourage are going to have to leave the cozy waters between Jeddah and the Gulf of Suez, and run the gauntlet of the Gate of Lamentation (Bab el-Mandeb).  The Gate of Lamentation (Bab el-Mandeb) Finish article on Substack.
I’ve been reading John Ketwig’s memoir “…and a hard rain fell: A GI’s true story of the War in Vietnam,” and it’s reminding me just how plain dumb, destructive, and duplicitous America’s wars have been since World War II. America’s wars are always dressed up with a necessary, even allegedly noble, cause. In Vietnam, we had to stop communism and all those dominoes from falling. In Iraq, it was about WMD and stopping Saddam Hussein, “the next Hitler.” In Afghanistan, it was about vengeance for 9/11, then creating democracy and even helping women. (How about helping women in America? Never mind.) Vietnam is nominally communist today—and a big trading partner of the U.S. and an ally of sorts against China. No dominoes fell. Iraq didn’t have WMD and Saddam wasn’t the next Hitler; he was merely a regional strongman and a former U.S. ally who got a little too big for his britches, especially for Israel. Afghanistan was a war in search of a clear mission and attainable goals. After twenty years of effort and roughly $2 trillion in expenditures, the U.S. replaced the Taliban with—the Taliban. (I heard Norman Finkelstein say this first.)  We’re always told versions of the same lie: We need to fight them over there so that we don’t have to fight them here. Communism had to be rolled back in Vietnam else commies would be landing in Manhattan. Iraq had to be pummeled and Saddam overthrown before WMD landed in Boston. Afghanistan had to be pacified and modernized before the Taliban enforced conservative Sharia law in Biloxi.
None of this was true. The United States would have been perfectly safe without committing any troops to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In fact, the U.S. would have been far better off if those wars had never been fought. Certainly Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan would have been far better off if they’d never become free-fire zones for American munitions (including the poisonous Agent Orange in Vietnam and, more recently, depleted uranium and other poisons in Iraq and Afghanistan). Read complete article in Substack. The CIA’s own in-house historian David Robarge concluded that director John A. McCone and Richard Helms engaged in a “benign coverup” that concealed important information from the Warren Commission. Jon Miltimore March 20, 2025  On Tuesday evening, the Trump administration released of thousands of pages of government documents concerning the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The move was prompted by an order by President Trump directing agencies to disclose their JFK files. So far, The New York Times notes, the release of the documents has offered “few revelations.” Whether that will change remains to be seen. One of the most prominent conspiracy theories in history is the idea that the CIA played a role in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. As Scott Sayare pointed out in a 2023 New York magazine article, the idea of CIA involvement was born almost immediately after the 6.5×52mm Carcano 160 gr copper-jacketed bullet tore through JFK’s skull on Nov. 22, 1963. The possibility of such a tie had been floated since almost the moment Kennedy was shot. The mutual detestation between Kennedy and the Agency, especially after the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, was widely known in Washington. It is a measure of the paranoia of the era, and also of the Agency’s reputation for lawlessness, that on the afternoon of his brother’s murder, Robert Kennedy summoned the director of the CIA to his home to ask “if they” — the CIA — “had killed my brother,” Kennedy later recalled. (The director, John McCone, said they had not.) Anyone who flirts with the idea that the US security state played a role in JFK’s death risks being branded a conspiracy theorist today, which is likely why so few talk about the possibility publicly—even though the president’s own brother and prominent world leaders had their suspicions.
Finish article on Substack.  You could be forgiven for being confused after David Lammy accidentally admitted Israel is breaking international law, only to be undermined by Downing Street and his own office.
The foreign secretary was questioned by anti-genocide lunatic Jeremy Corbyn and gave him a propaganda victory by telling an inaccurate truth. This was most embarrassing. The last thing we need is people with a conscience saying: “I told you so”. The Hamas-run Corbyn asked the foreign secretary to confirm that Israel’s blockade and continued bombardment of Gaza are violations of international law, and the foreign secretary…panicked. Lammy forgot the official line that Israel is, but isn’t, but maybe, possibly, could be doing things we might disapprove of, that maybe, possibly risk breaking international law if they’re not careful, but something, something, Hamas, rape, October 7th. It’s important that our ministers talk with such clarity, otherwise the public might think they’re accomplices in genocide. Just because Israel is illegally blocking aid into Gaza and cutting off the power in breach of international law does not mean Israel is breaching international law. This is a grey area because we don’t like the law being applied to Israel. The government is in a difficult position because Israel has kompromat and the arms manufacturers are making money and the International Criminal Court is weighing up arrest warrants. You think you could do a better job of striking a balance here? Lammy was at least sensible enough to explain Israel has a right to defend itself from civilians who have nothing to do with the conflict. As a qualified lawyer, Lammy finds he is easily confused by legal matters, a problem that happens to also afflict the prime minister. The pair agree that when Hamas breaks international law, civilians must be murdered in response, and when Israel breaks international law, sanctions must not be imposed in response. Consistency is important. Thanks to consistency from the UK, and support from the US, Israel was able to end the ceasefire with a bombing spree that killed two children every minute. Americans are delighted to pay for this because the only welfare queens they oppose are single mothers with hungry kids. Israel resumed its genocide because it has every right to defend itself from ceasefires. Just know it was Hamas who caused this by attacking Israel zero times. Israel was forced to act when it saw children on their own land in clear violation of the agreement that Israel had already broken 89 times. Israel decided Hamas could not go to parts of Gaza and when it saw Palestinians in those parts, it bombed them because it sees all Palestinians as Hamas, even toddlers. Ordinary Palestinians are not responsible for Hamas and Hamas is not responsible for them, but we’re gonna act like the reverse is true because how else would we justify this? Oh yeah, the hostages… The agreement was that Hamas would release the next 59 hostages during the second phase of the ceasefire, but Israel refused to move to the second phase until the hostages were released because it didn’t want them to be released. Let’s forget the Israeli delegation admitted on February 9th, it would not advance to the second phase of ceasefire talks. Let’s forget Israel planned to end the ceasefire one week before Hamas did whatever it is they’re accusing Hamas of doing this time. By the way, Israel is still holding over 9,000 Palestinian hostages which it does not plan to release at any stage. Why is Hamas like this? Just know the hostage situation is good for Netanyahu’s political survival because the last thing Israelis want is an end to genocide. Israel attacks Gaza during times of peace and times of war, and even during ceasefires, and sometimes Palestinians respond by killing on a smaller scale. This proves Israel is right to always be attacking Gaza. Did you know we’re still accusing Hamas of mass rape on October 7th? Well, you bloody well should because we remind you about it every 15 seconds! A UN report shows Israel is weaponising rape in the occupied territories, but if you talk about this, you’re abandoning Israel’s women. An Israeli government watchdog admits the IDF sexually abuses its own conscripts in huge numbers. You should stand in solidarity with the one-in-four Israelis who’ve been sexually abused by their own side, but only if you find a way to blame Hamas. Israel has every right to rape itself. Rape is the worst crime imaginable when we’re making evidence-free accusations against Palestinians, but when Israel’s figures show its own side raping, it’s misogyny to mention this. We do not amplify the truth about Israel under any circumstances. Thankfully, our ministers are on the right side of history which is why they prefer to talk about imaginary beheaded babies. Reassuringly, Liz Kendall said that while no one wants Palestinians to be slaughtered, a ceasefire would be wrong because Hamas might kill Israelis in much smaller numbers. Israeli lives are more valuable than Palestinian lives, therefore, the moral thing to do is kill large numbers of Palestinians. This is the type of reasoning you get when you elect someone who culls disabled people to balance the books. Labour’s other demon, Pat McFadden, said the government would use “every diplomatic lever” to restore the ceasefire in Gaza, apart from sanctioning Israel, or banning arms sales to Israel, or ending surveillance flights for Israel, or accusing Israel of breaking international law, or supporting the International Criminal Court’s action against Israel, or banning donations to politicians from the Israeli lobby. Apart from all of that, the British government plans to use every diplomatic lever possible… According to an NBC News poll, America is rooting for Ukraine but Trump prefers Russia. Seriously. That’s the gist of the headline. The intent of this poll wasn’t to analyze how Americans think about the Russia-Ukraine War or Trump or military strength. It was to control how they think by giving them only the most constrained choices. Let’s take a close look at the results and the NBC headline. According to NBC News: When asked where they believe Trump’s sympathies are, 49% choose Russia, 40% say they think Trump favors neither side, and 8% choose Ukraine. Another 3% say they are not sure. So, a majority of Americans, 51%, believe Trump is either carefully neutral on the war, a Ukraine supporter, or they don’t know. A minority (49%) believes he sympathizes with Russia. But the headline says Americans believe “Trump prefers Russia.”  The photo that accompanies the NBC article shows Trump lecturing Zelensky. Interestingly, I see no question about whether the Russia-Ukraine War should end after three long and bloody years so that lives are saved, or whether the U.S. should stop sending billions in weaponry to Ukraine with virtually no oversight as to where the weapons end up. Finish article on Bracing Views.
This was a talk I gave at the Sanctuary for Independent Media. Thank you to them for hosting me, and allowing my team to upload this talk I gave to The Chris Hedges Report. Visit their YouTube channel, where this originally aired, here.
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