Category: political

Sharri Markson is an Australian journalist who has done a remarkable job in her book “What really happened in Wuhan”. I am more than half way through this well researched book and it is infuriating to see the role that the National Institute of Health has played in bringing about Covid. The Institute along with Eco health and others were instrumental in funding gain of function research in China.

Anthony Fauci is not a hero. He is a villain. Fauci comes off as a pathological liar and fanatic. Fauci lied about masks in early 2020. He hid his own involvement with the Wuhan lab from the Trump administration when covid began to spread.

Some facts about the good Doctor,

1) In 2014, the Obama administration banned funding for gain of funding research because it considered it risky. Fauci, the true believer in 2012 had published an article saying a pandemic was worth risking in order to gain the knowledge that gain of function research would provide. This explains why in 2017 Fauci and the NIH resumed funding to the lab in Wuhan WITHOUT CONSULTING THE PRESIDENT OR ANY ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS.

Fauci also did not inform Secretary of Health Alex Azar. Fauci remained silent about his activities when the Trump administration was discussing how to respond to the spread of covid.

2) Fauci opposed stopping travel from China. Fauci has never had the interests of Americans or humanity in his policy formulations.

3) Fauci was outraged when the Trump administration forced Eco Health (another health organization) to stop funding the Wuhan lab.

4) Fauci stated as late as February 2020 that he did not believe the virus would become a pandemic.

This is the man the media and the Democratic Party revere.

There are more outrages involving Fauci’s colleagues and supporters but it would take too long to list them all. What is beyond dispute is that western scientists have been badly compromised by China. To be fair, there are many scientists mentioned in the book who for years were warning against gain of function research and they accurately predicted what would happen. The true believers in the scientific community ignored them.

It should be remembered that for four years Russia has been bashed repeatedly. The Durham report recently proved that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 elections. The media went after the Russians and ignored the China threat. Because Hillary losing the election was a greater tragedy than the pandemic.

The case is made for the Republican Party. The Biden administration resumed funding of the World Health Organization despite the fact that its director general is a Chinese asset. This organization did nothing to stop the spread of covid and its director general praised China repeatedly.

There is debate as to when the leak in Wuhan occurred. Some experts believe October or even August. It did not occur any later than November. The Chinese lied repeatedly and covered up. It was only in late January they admitted that covid could be spread person to person. It was on January 11 that the director general of WHO announced covid could not be spread person to person.

As it is. Five million people worldwide are dead. Covid remains a problem. Every country is divided because people refuse to be vaccinated. The moral failure of those scientists aligned with China is very clear.

There is a political aspect to this. Fauci and others were in effect conducting their own foreign policy by supporting the Wuhan lab. Neither President Trump nor Secretary of State Pompeo were aware of Fauci’s activities. Republicans in Congress might want to consider charging Fauci and others who colluded with China with treason.

Unfortunately, we have a President who is senile so there is no chance justice will be pursued any time soon. The Republicans however have time. They need to make the case against Fauci and the others who assisted the Chinese.

In an ideal world, there would be a Nuremberg style tribunal to put those scientists (Chinese and their western collaborators) on trial for crimes against humanity. We do not live in an ideal world however. Regardless, the Republicans should work to punish Fauci and others.

The Democrats want to defund the Police. The Republicans should demand defunding the NIH and other compromised scientific institutions. The disruption of life needs to be punished any way possible.

Presently reading “What Really Happened in Wuhan” by Australian journalist Sharri Markson. One fourth of the way through so far. Very compelling and infuriating.

The lab leak in Wuhan once rejected as the cause of the pandemic is most likely the reason for the world crisis. The leak may have occurred as early as October 2019 but no later than November 2019. From the very beginning the Chinese government lied and covered it up.

The world learned of the coronavirus in late December 2019 but the Chinese never conceded until late January that the virus could be spread from person to person. The World Health Organization was totally useless under the leadership of Dr. Tawdros, former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ethiopia who has a long time association with China. Dr. Tawdros accepted every claim put forward by the Chinese authorities and could not stop praising Beijing even as the Chinese Communist Party betrayed the entire world.

Anthony Fauci has turned out to be just as destructive. Fauci insisted as late as February 2020 that he did not believe the virus would lead to a pandemic. Fauci fiercely opposed (as did Dr. Tawdros) stopping all flights to and from China.

One of the Trump administrations advisors Peter Navarro (Director of Trade) understood the seriousness of the situation and urged President Trump to shut down travel from China. Unlike Fauci, Navarro provided Trump with good advice. Trump officials pushed the World Health Organization to go to Wuhan to investigate the source of the virus.

Twenty five scientists from different countries travelled to China. But at the last minute, China got Director Tawdros to agree to change plans. Only three scientists (none American) were permitted to visit Wuhan and for only forty eight hours which made it impossible for a real investigation to be conducted. The World Health Organization agreed to China’s demand that scientists should not look into the origins of the virus but should only look for a solution.

It remains a moral outrage that men who are complicit in the pandemic such as Dr. Tawdros and Anthony Fauci (and others) maintain their jobs. The Trump administration having been fully aware that the World Health Organization is an instrument of China’s Communist government stopped the annual American contribution of $400 million.

It makes sense that American taxpayers whose lives were disrupted should not be subsidizing this Communist influenced organization. Joe Biden resumed annual funding for the World Health Organization last January. Biden has also expressed confidence in Anthony Fauci.

Reports from the summer indicate that Fauci approved funding from the National Institute of Health for experiments involving aborted babies. Allegations have been made that the skulls of five month old aborted babies were attached to rats in some sort of experiment. In addition, Fauci is said to have funded experiments carried out in Tunisia on dogs whose heads were put in a cage and were devoured by flies and other insects.

A major problem today is that large numbers of people refuse to get vaccinated. The reality remains that Fauci and his colleagues at the National Institute of Health do not have the trust of many people. The same can be said about the World Health Organization.

The scientific community needs to get its act together. Fauci must go. Everyone associated with his activities must go. The World Health Organization must be purged of its Chinese supporters.

The good news is that Republican Senators such as Rand Paul of Kentucky have been making Fauci miserable. They are investigating the role of Fauci and the National Institute of Health in funding gain of funding research that was done at the notorious lab in Wuhan.

Incidentally, federal prosecutors have proved that the Russian collusion allegations in the 2016 elections were demonstrably false. Michael Sussman who is an ally of Hillary Clinton has been indicted having invented the lie that the Russians stole the elections for Trump.

Forget the Russians, China is the real threat. As is the Democratic Party.

At the present time, it appears the Greek speaking world has abandoned all its interests and is prepared to follow Patriarch Bartholomew to the disaster where he is leading us all. Greece presently faces serious threats from Turkey, as does Cyprus. Which Greek really believes that the most important interest of Hellenism lies with Patriarch Bartholomew and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America?

Since when did Patriarch Bartholomew’s insatiable hunger for power in Orthodoxy become a greater concern than the territorial integrity of both Greece and Cyprus? The situation is that Patriarch Bartholomew needs to retire from the Patriarchate or be deposed. Tragically, the primates of the Greek speaking Churches in Greece and Cyprus support Patriarch Bartholomew’s Ukrainian disaster.

This has put not only those two apostolic Churches in conflict with Russia it has also made relations between them and the rest of the Orthodox Churches very uneasy. The Greek speaking Churches need to dig themselves out of the hole they are in. This necessitates repudiating Patriarch Bartholomew and the Greek Archdiocese of America.

The Church of Greece has a flock of ten million. The Patriarchate’s flock has a few million scattered throughout the world. Most of its flock is in America. It is not right or natural that the Church of Greece should be bullied by either the power hungry Patriarch of Constantinople or the scandal tainted Greek Archdiocese of America.

The Church of Greece is the heart of the Hellenic Orthodox world. It traditionally has maintained communion and warm relations with the Russian and other Orthodox Churches. The Russian Church provided money and aid to Greeks during the economic crisis. It is utterly deplorable that the synod of Athens established communion with the fake clerics of Ukraine in order to curry favor with Patriarch Bartholomew.

The Church of Greece may need to depose Archbishop Ieronymos. He has proven to be weak. The two previous Archbishops of Athens Serapheim and Christodoulos clashed with Patriarch Bartholomew. It is unlikely that under their leadership the Church of Greece would have entered into communion with the fake clerics of Ukraine.

The situation needs to end. The Church of Greece has leverage over the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Most of Constantinople’s flock is long gone. The Church of Greece occasionally sends priests and nuns to watch over the remaining Churches and shrines. Were the theological school of Halki to open, it is from Greece that new priests and bishops would arrive from.The Patriarchate needs the Church of Greece, not the other way around.

If the Church of Greece were to throw its weight around and show the Phanar and the Greek Archdiocese in America which is the real Greek Church, it would be doing Orthodoxy a service. The Church of Greece is the Hellenic Church because it is in the borders of Greece. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is in America and should become a part of the future American Orthodox Church.

There could be a future for the Church of Constantinople only in the event that its synod completely repudiates everything it has done in Ukraine over the past three horrific years. Repentance and apologies to the whole of of Orthodoxy are in order as well and a commitment to stay out of the border of other Churches would help.

Unfortunately, under Patriarch Bartholomew this will not happen. This is why the Bishops of Greece must step up and use their leverage to remove Patriarch Bartholomew. This may sound strange but the fact it that the Church of Greece is not really autocepalous. At best, it is an autonomous part of Constantinople. Ironically, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (the canonical Church) under Moscow has more freedom than the so called “autocephalous” Church of Greece has.

Since Constantinople meddles in Greece, the synod of Athens should turn the tables on Constantinople. The bishops of any local Church can depose their primate. Constantinople rules Greece then the Greek bishops have the right to depose Patriarch Bartholomew. The Synod of Athens could also send a message by challenging Constantinople’s omophorion in Crete, the islands, and Mount Athos.

The Synod of Athens has (and had in the past) options to resist Constantinople. Why they have not exercised these options is a mystery. Athens can do the right thing by using its leverage to stop Patriarch Bartholomew’s unending destruction.

The liberation of the Hellenic Church could begin. The Hellenic Orthodox Church is not the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Hellenic Orthodox Church is is the Church within the borders of Greece. The Orthodox Churches in America are the American Orthodox Church.

The first step toward peace and reconciliation in all Orthodoxy is to depose the Ecumenical Patriarch.

The European Union has threatened to withhold $950 billion for covid relief from Hungary because the democratically elected government in Budapest has passed laws forbidding gay and transgender propaganda from being taught to school children. This is demonstrative of the power of the LGBT movement which seeks to impose itself on other people’s children. The Hungarian government is entirely right to resist the unreasonable demands of the European Union.

Some are advocating that Roman Catholic Hungary (and Catholic Poland) should be expelled from the European Union. Over the short term, it might be painful for Budapest and Warsaw to go it alone. Over the long term however these countries will find that it is to their benefit to regain their independence and to ensure that their Christian heritage remains strong.

If only Greece had a leader like Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban. Back in 2000, Archbishop Christodoulos organized huge rallies to protest the demands of the European Union that religion be removed from identity cards. In the decades since, Greece has legalized gay marriage and accepted transgender identity.

The European Union should be abolished. Membership in this pagan union will lead to the spiritual devastation of all member nations and the destruction of their independence and sovereignty. Hopefully, Hungary and Poland will fight.

If the United States wants to be an empire, taking in refugees is the price to be paid. It should be kept in mind that Afghan refugees are human beings and President Joe Biden bears the responsibility for this particular humanitarian crisis but the interventionists in both political parties have more indirect responsibility because of their support for foreign wars. All political factions in the US are being enormously hypocritical here.

Greece was compelled to take in refugees from Syria despite the fact that Athens did not participated in any wars against Syria or any other country. Those who support the wars have the responsibility to take in the refugees. Western European countries supported the war in Syria to overthrow the Asaad government but refused to help Athens when the Greeks were having trouble with the huge number of refugees.

Pro war policies have led to the destruction of countries and societies. Afghanistan is rather complicated because of the fact that Kabul hosted Al Quada before, during, and after the 9/11 attacks. The wars in Iraq and Syria and the overthrow of the Libyan government in 2011 led to humanitarian crises and the flow of refugees. Regime change necessitates taking responsibility.

Talk radio which is a bastion of stupidity and racism (I remember a local talk show host making anti Greek remarks during the economic crisis in Greece) rejects the idea of accepting refugees for humanitarian reasons. The logical conclusion to all this is stop waging wars and creating the conditions that create refugees. Let’s keep in mind that their are hawks in both political parties pushing for a war with Iran and are also taking an aggressive line against Russia.

It is likely that the hawks in both political parties are not going to take the proper lessons that result from trying to be an empire. The refugee crisis will end when the US wars end. Syria is an example of Washington’s insane war making policies.

Syria was a secular country and was the last country in the Middle East where Christians were secure. America is not a Christian country but that is a topic for another time. The Asaad regime was an authoritarian one but one where regular people could at least have something of a normal life.

When the rebellion erupted a decade ago in Syria, the Obama administration (and the neocons) demanded an American intervention. One of the more controversial aspects of the Syrian war was the use of poison gas. The stupid in America and Europe were horrified about the use of poison gas. The reality is that wars produce crimes against humanity and atrocities by all sides.

Syria nearly became a failed state. The Russian determination to save the Assad regime is a credit to Russia. President Donald Trump’s cutting off the jihadist linked terrorists in Syria also deserves credit.

Patrick Buchanan wrote a great book back in 1999 entitled, “A Republic, Not an Empire”. The book deserves to be read by serious minded people. America was founded to be a Republic. As long as the liberals and neocons want America to be an Empire more refugees will be created.

If there is anything the Afghanistan situation should be teaching America, it is to avoid future wars. Unfortunately, the pro war elements in both parties and the think tanks have their eyes on Russia and Iran.

The Trump years were good for many reasons but chief among them from an Orthodox Christian standpoint was the fact that Trump wanted better relations with Russia. Unfortunately, the Democrats blocked his administration from working with the Russians in matters of common interest. The neocons are working overtime to promote hysteria in the aftermath of Biden’s stupidity.

Commentators on FOX News, talk radio, and neocon publications such as National Review have been warning about the evil Russians and the “fascist” Putin. The anti Russian hysteria that the Democrats carried for four years is being taken up by the neocons in the Republican Party. The Republicans were good for a while serving as an opposition to the Marxist lunatics in the Democratic Party.

While the Republicans are on target on cultural issues, the rising anti Russian and pro war sentiments are problematic and one has to wonder if the Republicans are reverting away from Trump’s policies to the Bush-Cheney policies. Time will tell, but from an Orthodox Christian standpoint Russophobia is a threat to all of Orthodoxy (Greece and Cyprus included).

The neocons were never entirely dislodged from the Republican Party. They even served in the Trump administration. Mike Pompeo, an otherwise good Secretary of State stuck his noise in Orthodox Church affairs by asking the Church of Greece to recognize the Ukrainian schismatic entity. Washington wants to ensure that Greece remains under Washington’s influence and wants Greece to be anti Russian.

“Ambassador” Geoffrey Pyatt contributed to the chaos with his own meddling in Orthodox Church affairs by backing Patriarch Bartholomew’s actions in recognizing a schismatic entity in Ukraine. The anti Russian policies of Washington are likely to make Washington tilt toward Turkey in the event of a Greek-Turkish war.

When the British Empire was anti Russian in previous centuries, London backed the Ottoman Empire. As long as NATO exists, Turkey will get preferential treatment over Greece. Athens appealed to NATO to restrain Turkey in its aggressive actions against Athens and Nicosia, and NATO refused to do so.

The lamentation from so many “conservatives” for the possible demise of the anti Orthodox NATO is sickening. NATO member Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and has never left. NATO bombed Serbia and took Kosovo from that Orthodox nation. NATO instigated the brief war that occurred in Ukraine 2014 by trying to absorb Ukraine and move to the Russian border.

Make no mistake about it, NATO is a threat to Orthodox countries. Good riddance to this nefarious alliance. And good riddance to the Russophobes of both political parties.

I am not now and have never been a supporter of Joe Biden. I loathe the Democratic Party. But I also happen to loathe the neoconservative warmongers who have found new life in the midst of the chaos of Afghanistan. The neoconservatives have been very carefully exploiting Afghanistan and will no doubt over the long term try to push American foreign policy into a renewed pro war direction.

Neocon Mark Levine in a diatribe regarding the events in Kabul brought up Vladimir Putin and called him a “fascist”. One of the major reasons for my contempt for the Democratic Party has been the anti Russian hysteria of the past five years. Levine sounds like Hillary Clinton who once compared Putin to Hitler. But then neocons by the dozens (if not Levine) supported Hillary’s candidacy for President in 2016.

Vladimir Putin was born in Leningrad in 1952. During the war, over one million Russians died from starvation during the Nazi siege of the city. Vladimir Putin’s brother died from starvation and two of his uncles were killed in defense of the city. The neocons who call Putin a fascist have conveniently ignored the the glorification in Ukraine of Nazi collaborators and the terror campaigns conducted by Neo-Nazi militias.

The Democrats and the neoconservatives have much in common starting with Russophobia. Other commentators in the media have been bringing up Ukraine and alleged Russian “aggression”. Let it not be forgotten that neoconservative warmongers Geoffrey Pyatt and Victoria Nuland were instrumental in overthrowing the democratic government of Ukraine in 2014. The Russians were not going to have NATO at their border and were not going to permit a stooge government to pursue anti Russian policies right next door.

It is very clear that President Biden has made a horrendous mistake by withdrawing troops all at once from Afghanistan. Joe Biden is clearly a very sick man who shot not have run for President. The man slurs his words and looks awful when he makes public appearances. He needs to step down or Congress should impeach him.

Now, as disastrous as the situation is regarding Afghanistan context is in order. Biden is being universally denounced as if his actions were worse than those of the Bush-Cheney administration which triggered the disastrous Iraq war. It was the neocon influenced Bush-Cheney regime that believed the rest of the world wanted to be like America. Neocons and liberals alike have no understanding of religion, culture, or nationalism.

The goal of going to war in Afghanistan was to smash Al Quada and to punish the Taliban for giving them sanctuary. That goal was achieved early on. It was the Bush administration that deserves blame for the unending war in Afghanistan. The Bush-Cheney government did not win the war in the seven plus years before leaving office and had no exit strategy and left the war for other administrations to conduct.

The Trump administration looks very good in comparison to both the Bush and Biden administrations. The Trump administration did what had to be done to smash ISIS which it properly considered a threat and sought friendly relations with Russia. The Trump administration (with difficulty) also resisted neoconservative demands to go to war with Iran.

The Trump administration correctly sought to withdraw from Afghanistan and was planning to leave in a manner that would have avoided the destruction and misery that the world is now witnessing. Let it be remembered that the liberal media greatly influenced the outcome of the 2020 elections. Liberal media outlets such as National Public Radio and Sixty Minutes openly said that they would not report on the scandals involving Hunter Biden.

The media downplayed early reports of the nursing home deaths of elderly people as a result of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s policies because they did not want Donald Trump to benefit politically in any way. The media has now turned on the sick and elderly Joe Biden who should not be President. The media and the Democrats downplayed concerns about Biden’s declining mental heath because they wanted Donald Trump out of the White House at all costs.

Joe Biden is a sick man and has now demonstrated that he is incapable of making good decisions. Compassion necessitates that he be removed from office immediately and that the media back off should he leave office. The media is largely responsible for his ascension to power and it is hypocritical for them now to pretend to be shocked by his inability to comprehend what is happening.

The main lesson to be learned is that nation building leads to disaster. The neocons would have us believe that all countries irrespective of religion, history, and national interests want to be like America. The neocons fellow travelers the liberals suffer from the same delusions. The war in Iraq, the overthrow of the Libyan government in 2011, the intervention in Ukraine, and the subsequent warmongering led to unnecessary human suffering.

The best way to avoid the horror show playing out in Afghanistan in the future is to avoid all unnecessary wars. I am reminded of the hysteria against Syria a few years ago. Liberals and neocons were outraged at atrocities occurring in Syria. A reality check is in order. Atrocities are perpetrated in wars.

War mongers and interventionists need to understand that if they wish to avoid atrocities and massacres they need to stop instigating wars and overthrowing governments that they do not like. It is possible that the Republican Party that Trump rescued is going to be reclaimed by the neocons. It that happens then the Republican Party will be just as evil as the Democratic Party is.

Neoconservatives have joined with liberals over the past several years to demonize Orthodox Russia. At present, the neocons and liberals are demonizing the Roman Catholic nation of Hungary. The Hungarian government has passed a law forbidding the teaching of gay and transgender propaganda to children. Normal people think this law is quite reasonable which affirms that neocons and liberals have estranged themselves from normal people.

Poland has also come under enormous international criticism. The EU has been bullying the Hungarians because of the law forbidding LGBT propaganda to children. The Russians started coming under attack after the women of “pussy riot” were properly jailed for desecrating the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow and after blocking the dissemination of gay propaganda in Russian schools.

The neoconservative Geoffrey Pyatt who did so much damage when he served as “Ambassador” to Ukraine is now the defacto Governor of Greece where he serves under the guise of being an Ambassador. Pyatt played a major role in fomenting the schism in Orthodoxy by meddling the affairs of the Greek Church. For the neocons, the Orthodox Church is just another institution to be influenced and controlled.

As the Democrats are pagans, the neoconservatives are atheists. All of them have wrought nothing but misery throughout the world from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan.

The question of withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan is quite complex. With the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban two historical events come to mind. First, the Turkish conquest of Smyrna in September 1922 which led to the final genocide and mass exterminations of the Greek and Armenian Christian populations of that city. As with the Taliban today, there was a sense of dread that preceded the Kemalist entry in Smyrna in 1922.

The second example that comes to mind is the rise of ISIS in 2014 when they took over Mosul and over one third of Iraq. The Iraqi army retreated before the armies of ISIS which would go on to take over one third of territory in Syria and would institute policies of genocide and would create slave markets that sold Yazidi women. Both the Turks and ISIS committed crimes against humanity.

The President made a decision on Afghanistan. Whether it was right or wrong is open to debate and interpretation. The major blame for the war in Afghanistan which has dragged on for twenty years lies with the Bush administration. Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld could not win the war in eight years and the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations inherited this war. Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld invaded Iraq in which they badly miscalculated what would happen.

One can not avoid being moved by the prospect of what might happen to the people of Afghanistan when American forces withdraw. As a Greek fully cognizant of what happened to the Greeks and the Armenians after the Turkish victories of 1922, I am sympathetic to the people who might be massacred following an American withdrawal. The situation is complicated by the fact that after twenty years, the Afghani government and military cannot stand on its own two feet.

The major failure of the Biden administration is not the decision to withdraw, but the manner in which it has chosen to withdraw. It has proceeded to withdraw without taking into consideration the horrors awaiting many innocent people when the Taliban takes over the whole country. The political decision to withdraw is the correct one. The indifference to the humanitarian crisis that is beginning to take shape is what may condemn the Biden administration’s legacy.

On the other hand, the neocons are expressing anger at the Biden administration and are prepared to blame Biden for the mess in Afghanistan. The neocons have never seen a war they did not like. Afghanistan, Iraq, and Crimea are the results of neo con warmongering.

Much evil resulted from the neocons invasion of Iraq. Inter religious bloodletting and civil war resulted from the Bush-Cheney war. The civil war led ultimately to genocide against Shiite Muslims and the subsequent rise of Mesopotamia in Iraq, an Al-Quada affiliate that was the forerunner of ISIS. From Iraq came the war in Syria and the greater tensions with Russia.

As a result of the war in Iraq, Greece and Europe were flooded with refugees that destabilized those societies with the rise of fascist extremist groups. Most of us agreed that the intervention in Afghanistan was justified on the grounds that the Taliban gave refuge to Al Quada which planned the 9/11 attacks from its soil. Al Quada was quickly destroyed. The desire of the Bush administration to pursue a policy of “nation building” has turned out to be madness.

It is the Bush administration that failed to win the war in Afghanistan and it is the neocons who bear the greatest responsibility for Afghanistan. The neocons live in a make believe world where the rest of the world desires to be westernized and to be like America and Europe. Such a view is based in fantasy and demonstrates that the neocons do not understand religion or nationalism.

Biden and his foreign policy team can be held responsible for the manner in which they have chosen to withdraw. The greater responsibility for losing the war lies with the criminal administration of Bush-Cheney. The neocons have not wasted any time in denouncing the Biden administration while totally ignoring their own responsibilities regarding Afghanistan and Iraq.

If at all possible, the Biden administration should seek to delay the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The goal now is what it should have been previously. Humanitarianism to prevent mass slaughter and a refugee crisis, and not nation building.

Neo con hysterics have been on the airwaves discussing the effectiveness of the Afghani military. This despite the fact that after twenty years, the Afghani military cannot stand alone against the Taliban. The victory of the Taliban is not the Biden administration’s fault.

There is also a good deal of hypocrisy from the neocons and others who are castigating the Biden administration. When the Trump administration (and I am a Trump supporter) abandoned the Syrian Kurds to their fate against the Turks there was no similar outrage compared to that in response to the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Ultimately, there were no good choices regarding Afghanistan. There is one moral lesson to take away from both Afghanistan and Iraq. Avoid unnecessary wars and give up the whole idea of nation building.

Former Secretary of Defense and war criminal Donald Rumsfeld died at the age of eighty eight years old. The policies carried out by Rumsfeld and the administration he served demonstrate what can happen when ideology based on utopian fantasies supplants reality. Rumsfeld served in the administration of George W. Bush, the worst President in American history.

Rumsfeld was brought on board by his friend and sociopathic Vice President Dick Cheney. Rumsfeld was allied with neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Douglas Feith. After the 9/11 attacks, Cheney and Rumsfeld pushed for an invasion of Iraq, despite the fact that Al Quada was being protected by the government of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Shared responsibility for the destruction of Iraq and the Middle East comes from former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell went before the United Nations to make a case for the invasion of Iraq based on false evidence that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction. Rumsfeld was one of a large number of villains in the Bush administration.

Like the neocons and the rest of the Bush foreign policy team, Rumsfeld was a utopian. The belief existed in the minds of Rumsfeld and the others that Iraq would become a democracy and a model for the Muslim world in the aftermath of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The reality that Iraq was a fractured society of three communities (Sunni, Shiite, Kurds) that despised one another was something that was never understood by the utopians of the Bush-Cheney foreign policy team.

Rumsfeld was instrumental in the adoption of the use of torture. The American system of justice does not permit torture on the grounds that the introduction of such methods could be a slippery slope on the road to dictatorship. Rumsfeld’s Department of Defense was instrumental in the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

If there was one episode that genuinely demonstrated how utterly deranged the officials of the Bush-Cheney administration were, it was the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal. Apparently, the administration believed that stripping Muslim men and forcing them to undergo humiliating treatment and sexual abuse while American women looked on with amusement was a good idea. The Bush administration’s obscene war is accurately symbolized by the pornographic pictures and videos that showed what had taken place at Abu Ghraib.

Middle Eastern experts understood the realities of Iraq. Iraq was an artificial state not easy held together because of the rivalry among the three major communities. Rumsfeld and his associates had no use for reality because ultimately the foreign policy elite in Washington have no understanding of religion or nationalism. George W. Bush may have been born again, but his administration was by no means Christian.

The Iraq war led to a horrific civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. The Iraqi President (a Shiite) encouraged attacks on the Sunni community. Soon the organization known as “Al Quada in Mesopotomia (the forerunner of Islamic State) came into being and began slaughtering Shiites and other opponents.

The Democratic Party had the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the Republican Party but did not do so. The Obama administration stupidly intervened in Libya and Syria. The Islamic State which was able to take over large parts of Iraq because of the invasion of 2003, also took over large parts of Syria.

For the last five years the Democratic Party has been promoting hatred against the Russians. Their fanaticism resembles the fanaticism represented by the likes of Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld and his fellow psychopath Dick Cheney did not understand Iraq. Likewise, the Democrats do not understand Russia.

It is because of the war mongering represented by the likes of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden that Donald Trump began to look good. Both Hillary and Joe incidentally voted in favor of the Iraq invasion in 2003. Both of them also have been provoking Russia.

The neoconservative war in Iraq and the subsequent intervention in Syria can be seen as modern versions of the Crusades. Nearly one thousand years ago, fanatical Europeans believed that invading Palestine and other areas of the Middle East and committing genocide against Muslims and Jews made them good Christians. Likewise, Republican and Democratic administrations today believe that instigating wars of aggression in the name of Democracy will somehow lead the Middle East to become democratic.

The Crusaders were deluded fanatics, and so are the war mongers in both political parties in America today. It was said under the Bush administration that better the war be waged in Iraq than in America. Except, there were further terrorist attacks in America. The bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013 and other attacks on American, British, French, Belgian, and German soil after the rise of the Islamic State.

The Iraq war was a humanitarian failure. From Iraq came Syria. From both wars came refugees who fled the horrors of war and genocide and flooded Europe. The Greek islands were flooded with refugees and migrants which led to the rise of the Neo Nazi Golden Dawn. Likewise, other extremist parties in Europe grew in strength from the events that emanated from the Iraq war.

The Bush-Cheney administration initially invited Russia to join in the Iraq invasion. The Russians wisely declined to participate which triggered the anger of the neoconservatives. Incidentally, the neoconservatives in 2016 began leaving the Republican Party for the Democratic Party. I will always remember being on the island of Rhodes reading an op-ed in the International New York Times by neocon Max Boot endorsing Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

Bill Krystal and other neocons such as Robert Kagan supported Hillary for President in 2016. The war mongers today are to be found in the Democratic Party. The Republican Party of Donald Trump for all its flaws (and Trump is a deeply flawed individual) is not the party of Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush.

Donald Rumsfeld’s legacy will be debated and discussed by historians and academics for many years. Some of us who are opposed to his notorious legacy have made our choice to support the other Donald in order to prevent the rise of further war mongers. The recent fall of Elizabeth Cheney who shares her father’s demented foreign policy views can be credited to the Republicans who continue to support Donald Trump.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands has openly threatened the sovereign country of Hungary by saying, “My goal is to bring Hungary to its knees on this issue.” The issue is that the Hungarian government has passed laws that prohibit television shows aimed at minors and children from espousing gay and transgender propaganda. The laws also prohibit LGBT propaganda from being taught in Hungarian schools. Because the government in Budapest passed such common sense laws, a wave of anti Hungarian hysteria has been spreading throughout the European Union.

The anti Hungarian hysteria may eventually reach the volume of anti Russian hysteria that has been under way throughout the west for several years now. Back in 2014, the Russian government banned schools from teaching LGBT propaganda to children. This effort by the Russians to protect Christian school children from adult material was certainly a contributing factor to the international hate campaign directed at the Russians.

The Hungarians are guilty of the same crime that the Russians are. They are Christians and want to protect their children from material that is not based in either science or biology, but propaganda. Prime Minister Mark Rutter of the Netherlands has said that Hungary must either leave the European Union or repeal the law. This is another example of what an utterly vile and useless institution the European Union is.

The Republic of Cyprus happens to be a member of the European Union. Turkey invaded Cyprus and has been occupying thirty seven percent of Cyprus since 1974. Turkey refuses to comply with EU law by recognizing Cyprus and Europe does nothing about it. Turkey has been threatening EU member Greece repeatedly and Europe does nothing. Turkish President Erdogan converted the miraculous Cathedral of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque and there has been no reaction from Europe. Turkey has threatened to flood Europe with millions of middle eastern refugees and nothing is done to take action against Turkey.

The European Union is a pathetic monstrosity. The term human rights has become a laughable idea. At a time when people were sane, human rights were about protecting individuals living in dictatorships from torture and murder at the hands of death squads. In this insane age, gay and transgender groups are said to have their human rights violated because governments and Church groups refuse to allow them to indoctrinate children.

The Hungarian government is right to protect its children. The Hungarian government should fight tooth and nail against this insidious and pagan entity called the European Union. Greece itself has been undergoing the process of secularization for decades now as a result of being part of this “European” entity. Gone are the days when the heroic Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens rallied hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Greeks to the streets to resist the anti Christian policies of the European Union and its stooge Costas Simitis.

The Church of Greece today (with the exception of a few honorable bishops and priests) is completely silent. When Prime Minister Tsipras in 2017 legalized gay marriage and transgender ideology in Greece, there was barely a protest by the bishops of Greece. Orthodox Greeks should be emulating the example of their Roman Catholic counterparts in Hungary and should be seeking to overturn the anti Christian laws that have been passed in recent years.

The idea that the European Union supports democratic principles is a lie. Sovereign countries should not have to abandon their Christian faith to accommodate the useless European bureaucracy. Sovereign countries should not be required to allow foreign powers to dictate to them what their children should be taught in schools and what should be shown to them on television.

The Hungarian struggle is a fight against internationalist dictatorship and secularism. Orthodox Christians have an interest in the victory of Hungary. If Hungary succumbs to pressure, all Orthodox countries that are members of the European Union will likewise fall.