@bconroy
Independent Investigative Journalist https://billconroy.pressfolios.com HouseofDeath.org TheGreatPretense.org * Comments ground rule: non sequitur ad hominem attacks are subject to deletion. Irony/humor excepted.
Trump can't even count on his friends. This likely means the Moscow hotel is a no-go.
MT
“I would like to reaffirm our unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends,” Putin said in a message to Khamenei, adding..“Russia has been and will remain a reliable partner” to Iran.
The drug war kingpin strategy (decapitating a leader) that has failed over and over, will fail us again, even if our military is involved. You cut the head off a hydra, you get another head that is often more intractable. In this interview, on a MAGA-friendly podcast, I discuss some better options.
Intel ignored.
WaPo
A classified report.. found..a large-scale assault on Iran..by the United States would be unlikely to oust the Islamic republic’s entrenched military..clerical establishment, as..Trump..raises the specter of an extended military campaign that officials say has “only just begun.”
"The Great Pretense isn’t just a history of failed policy; it’s a cautionary tale about power, secrecy, and the limits of intervention. It challenges readers to rethink everything they’ve been told about drug wars, national security, and the institutions we trust to protect us."
The war with Iran threatens to kill the geese that lay Trump's golden eggs. I wonder how these regimes view Trump's demand for unconditional surrender by Iran and the prospects of extending the hellscape forecast for the Mideast.
This is going sideways fast. It's fast becoming a proxy war quagmire. I wish it weren't so, but we stepped into a clearly marked quicksand marsh, air superiority aside. Buckle up...
WaPo
The targeting information has included the locations of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East..
Noem has to give up her flying penthouse, but Hegseth still has his ride.
Defend the 1st Amendment. It's 1st for a reason.
WaPo
"When government uses its most serious power, the power to take a life, the facts cannot remain hidden,” said state Rep. Ray Lopez.San Antonio.. “A young Texan lost his life, and the public was left without full clarity for nearly a year."
Hegseth talks air superiority as drones and missiles tear through the air. He may think the US is fighting a war against Iran. In reality, there are now multiple wars ablaze in the region. Extracting U.S. troops is a retreat. Boots on the ground is a quagmire. Airstrikes alone are wack-a-mole game.
Why US boots are now on the ground in Ecuador:
CP
[Trump] called a presidential summit in Miami with heads of state he considers his ideological and strategic allies.. for March 7. The goal is to form a regional [Latin American] bloc aligned with Washington.
www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/04/l...
The proof of what you say. He already is — Atlanta ballot seizure; the proposed Safe Act poll tax, partisan and racial redistricting/gerrymandering, ICE paramilitary thugs in the streets and more to come....
I suppose Trump can try to blame this on the Democrats. But I think we're now beyond the era of BS.
He broke it. He owns it.
And we all pay the price.
End the war now? No, I expect he'll double down. Regardless, Trump's ticket has been punched. He's riding a dying MAGA horse into the midterms.
Trump kicked a hornets nest.
WaPo
Inside the Pentagon, and among some members of the Trump administration, there was deepening concern Sunday that the Iran conflict could spiral out of control, said people familiar with the situation. "The mood here is intense and paranoid,” one person said.
Conflict zone expanding.
AP
..The conflict widened beyond the U.S., Israel and Iran. Iran-supported militant groups in Iraq and Lebanon claimed strikes on Israel and a U.S. base. Gulf states warned that they could retaliate against Iran after strikes that hit key sites and killed at least five..
Trump likes to decapitate nations and cartels: Iran, Venezuela, the Jalisco cartel. It's like mafia foreign policy. Do what I say or Hegseth will deal with you.. But cutting the head off a hydra isn't enough. It regenerates. See Greek myth. No worries.. Patel & Noem will protect us from blowback.
Staying true to form, Trump clutches new low. He didn't even put proper lipstick on this pig.
Cherry blossoms were out today. Spring is around the corner.
Whatever you think of Iran, it's a nation with an ancient history and a formidable military. And the ability to project terror. Look around the corner, and this war can be twisted by Trump to interfere with voting by invoking national security. He fails to see the streets now belong to the people.
As U.S. forces bomb Iran, Trump plots the Great Steal.
Guardián
Biden: "That’s why he’s trying to pull out more and more barriers – put them up. He’s trying to steal the election, because he knows he can’t win your vote, so he’s going to do everything he can to prevent you from wanting to vote.”
Support independent journalists. In this case, my journalism. A glimpse into the hidden history of the drug war. The book is released today. "The Great Pretense."
thegreatpretense.org
Trump is treating drug runners like terrorists to justify extrajudicial killings at sea.
Does that mean the executives of banks caught laundering drug money are terrorists, too, so he should now order drone strikes on their limousines?
I'd like a White House reporter to put that question to him.
Trump interfering with elections is the threat, not China.
WaPo
Pro-Trump activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a..draft executive order that claims China interfered in the 2020 election as a basis to..unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.
My takeaway from the State of the Union:
Crime and trauma porn washed over by a firehose of lies. And cheered on by despicable people applauding their own hypocrisy.
That's the way it is. But doesn't have to be.
The truth of the drug war -- as I see it anyway. We can't kill our way out of this mess.
thegreatpretense.org
In the past, such U.S. teams embed with Mexican forces. We assassinate a dragon, we get more dragons.
2/19 Lawmakers in Mexico have authorized the entry into their country of 19 members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team 2 for the purpose of training Mexican special forces.
www.borderreport.com/news/militar...
Advance copies are in the house! Arrived today.
Just finished the website for it too. The book is available online through Amazon of course, and through the publisher, TrineDay Press.
Thegreatpretense.org
The Great Pretense: A Tour Through the Boneyard of the CIA’ s War for Drug is part memoir and part exposé and thriller. It offers readers a journey into the dark heart of the CIA's "war for drugs” in Latin America and beyond, with all of its complexities and moral dilemmas.
Amazon:
a.co/d/0944QxWV
If your an organizer,filmmaker, podcaster, artist, musician, academic, journalist, student or any other talented individual interested in the dynamics of social movements, check out the application at the link below:
tinyurl.com/mubek9zt
Fund for Authentic Journalism:
fundforauthenticjournalism.org
This song by the Irish bard of the guitar, Christy Moore, captures the terror and of US nation-shaping violence in Latin America. In this case the dirty wars in Central America in the 1980s. The monsters we enable eventually create nightmares that haunt all of us.
youtu.be/DjGyjsSc6cE?...
Inflation comes in waves. Day one is long over. Buckle up. We're all about to be held up.
