Image is of a Quds Day march in Bandar Abbas, Iran.
It now seems likely that, very soon, the US and the Zionists will attempt to bomb Iran. Compared to the buildup to the Iraq War, the stated goals of such a move are being kept a little more generalized - some say the point is to overthrow the government for “humanitarian” purposes (others are more honest and want to partition Iran into a dozen powerless statelets). Some people instead say the point is to get rid of the ballistic missile program, which is synonymous with outright surrender, as no matter the deal, bombers would be en route within 10 minutes of the last batch being handed over.
Still others say that the goal is to destroy the Iranian nuclear program, which, as the thread title implies, is now in a bizarre propaganda superposition: it is apparently simultaneously true to the Trump administration that the US obliterated the nuclear facilities and set back Iran’s nuclear program years, if not decades, but also that Iran is mere days away from finishing a nuke and a new round of bombing is urgently required. This obviously casts newfound doubts on how effective US weapons even are at penetrating Iran’s underground facilities (though it doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t breach them, as Iran was almost certainly moving nuclear material out of Fordow and other sites in the days before the Twelve Day War). The sheer quantity of US anti-air defense equipment they’re shifting into position also casts doubts on whether Iran’s air defense was mostly destroyed during that conflict, as those who assert that the Zionists had total air supremacy over Iran seem to be implying.
I’m not a military guy, and so I have no novel insights on how such a war is likely to go, nor do I feel confident predicting either side’s victory. I’m looking at most of the same sources that you’re all looking at. Some confidently boast of the total destruction of Iran’s air defense within hours, allowing US planes to fly directly over Iranian cities and drop bombs en masse; others cast doubts on whether this will ever occur, and say that the US’s limited supply of Tomahawk missiles is the only major firepower they will be able to safely unleash. Some say this war will last mere days before state collapse; others say months, maybe even years. I have no idea.
I do at least feel somewhat bolstered by the fact that Russia and China finally appear to be pouring in meaningful information and matériel to help Iran this time around, though of course, one can still debate whether it’s enough. I feel like we are at the culmination of decades of war planning by both the US and Iran, and the result could have deep ramifications indeed.
Last week’s thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
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The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on the Zionists’ destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
Mirrors of Telegram channels that have been erased by Zionist censorship.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Labour and community movements win big with victory over Winnipeg anti-protest bylaw
The article
In a resounding win for all Winnipeggers, the combined force of popular movements and labour, of community organizers and concerned citizens, has defeated a controversial anti-protest bylaw within days of its first draft being made public.
On the morning of February 17, City Council’s Executive Policy Committee (EPC) was greeted by a raucous demonstration against Councillor Evan Duncan’s “Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure By-law” – a sweepingly undemocratic draft released only one week prior without any public consultation, education or explanatory material whatsoever. Inside the gallery, more than one hundred and twenty separate delegations spoke against this anti-democratic escalation. By the end of the day, the bylaw was scrapped.
Intending to “prohibit nuisance demonstrations and intimidation of persons at or in respect of vulnerable social infrastructure,” the bylaw proposed to create a one-hundred metre buffer around cemeteries, community and cultural centres, healthcare facilities, libraries, places of worship and all schools, with fines for violations ranging from $500 to $5000. This would place large swathes of Winnipeg – including all seats of government and constituency offices – off limits, essentially banning protest in more than a quarter of the city.
This attack on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the right to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly, doesn’t come out of the blue. Duncan’s failed draft borrows force from many such attempts at anti-protest legislation across the country, which have gained popularity against the backdrop of the Free Palestine movement and its massive mobilizations.
This isn’t the first attempt at criminalizing protest in Winnipeg’s recent history either. In 2021, Manitoba’s Conservative government attempted (and failed) to push through Bill 57, which was meant to protect “critical infrastructure” in the wake of the Indigenous-led #ShutDownCanada movement. These connections are well understood, and despite the pretense of concern for vulnerable persons, City Hall’s attack on democratic rights was instantly opposed as such by a chorus of Indigenous organizers, faith groups and labour councils.
In the face of this public outcry, Duncan visibly flailed and backtracked, withdrawing his support for the bylaw before the council vote had even begun. According to Duncan, the bylaw was never intended to ban protest but to protect “specified characteristics” of marginalized groups; but this was obviously not so. There are already laws against hate speech and violence on the books, and the proposed bylaw’s criteria for “intimidation” was hopelessly vague.
Duncan is a vocally provocative Zionist, and represents the very area of the city where Liberal MP Ben Carr had previously proposed “bubble zone” legislation to protect an appearance by Israeli Defence Force veterans who participated in the genocidal siege on Gaza. “In my opinion, they want a bylaw to keep Palestinians and their supporters off the streets of Winnipeg,” said Diane Zack, coordinator of the Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee. Many other delegations, including the Canadian Palestine Association of Manitoba, agreed.
Not only would the proposed bylaw have limited protest against war and genocide, but its expansive language would have stifled political action by labour. Clearly Duncan and others on the EPC meant to cleave labour from the social movements by adding an exemption for “lawful activities related to or pursuant to a labour dispute or collective bargaining.” But the bylaw would nonetheless have impacted secondary pickets and solidarity actions by unions, and City Council ought to have expected a fight here too. “Labour is united on our stance against this proposed by-law,” said Melissa Dvorak, President of the Winnipeg Labour Council, in a February 16 release by community organizers.
The defeat of this anti-popular and legally dubious bylaw is a clear win and should be celebrated as such. But when we fight, the forces of repression fight back. Though the draft will not appear before council, a petulant Duncan spoke of a future, refined version of the bylaw; while Mayor Scott Gillingham and others looked forward to the passage of Federal Bill C-9, which proposes new criminal offences to “protect access to religious, cultural and other specified places.”
The Canadian Labour Congress has already denounced this attack, which threatens any number of legal job actions. According to the CLC, Bill C-9 “opens the door to the criminalization of peaceful protest and collective action … This is a direct attack on organized labour and freedom of association.” At every level of government, politicians are experimenting with sweeping anti-protest legislation – using the language of accessibility to assert the rights of private property over the civil liberties of working people.
In Winnipeg, however, such an attempt failed. A glaringly unconstitutional proposal from a reactionary council, put forth without consultation, was crushed by quick movement and progressive opposition. And while a large group of organizers enlisted a breadth of opinion against the bylaw, the lesson is clear: The people united hold all power, and we should carry the strength gained from this local victory into the next battle.