Daily Archives: July 18, 2021

07/18/21

The Downing of TWA Flight 800: 25 Years Ago Today

By: Roger Aronoff | CCNS

July 17 marks the 25th anniversary of the downing of TWA Flight 800, in which 230 people were killed when the Boeing 747 blew up off the coast of Long Island, New York just 12 minutes into a flight from New York to Paris. Last week in Ashburn, Va., not far from the nation’s capital, the reconstructed fuselage of the plane was set to be scrapped, as if to wipe that memory from the nation’s memory bank.

Earlier this month James Kallstrom died. He was the FBI’s headman in New York, and he led the FBI’s criminal investigation into the explosion that brought the plane down. I was set to meet with Kallstrom, along with my correspondent Reid Collins while working on a documentary on the subject in 2001, but less than an hour before our scheduled meeting, he called me to reschedule, which never came about.

This was a story that I was intimately involved with, having participated in the investigations into the cause of the disaster, and having written and produced a documentary laying out the case at the time for the three leading theories as to what brought the plane down: a naval exercise gone wrong; a terrorist attack on the plane; or a mechanical and electrical failure, which is the official version of what happened.

On July 2nd, 2013, I saw the reconstructed fuselage of TWA Flight 800 at a press briefing put on by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), shortly after the wreckage was brought to the NTSB Academy in Ashburn, about 45 minutes outside of D.C.

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07/18/21

What Is China Doing?

By: Pete Hoekstra | CCNS

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus make a visit to the institute in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on February 3, 2021. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

  • What does China want the narrative to be? The ideal outcome would be that the virus originated outside of China. Failing that, an acceptable outcome would be, as highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, that the virus “that killed millions of people and shattered the global economy” would be “among the world’s most consequential mysteries.”
  • There is one outcome that would be unacceptable to the CCP: China will do almost anything to keep the U.S. from concluding that the virus was developed in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The CCP is already taking steps to encourage the U.S. to reach “the right” judgment, and it appears to have people in the West, including in the U.S., who are willingly supporting those efforts.
  • The Lancet has again come out with an unjustified dismissal of the lab leak theory, couched in support for the G7’s call for a new COVID origins study, led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • Nothing could be better for China than having The Lancet as the messenger, lending scientific credibility to what the CCP wants the world to believe.
  • The July 5 publication of the letter in The Lancet is a strong signal that the CCP has launched an active disinformation campaign. The CCP will continue to spare no effort in ensuring that the COVID-19 virus appears to have originated somewhere other than China….

On May 26, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that he had asked the U.S. intelligence community to redouble its efforts to determine the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The U.S. findings are expected in about 90 days. So now we know what the Biden administration is doing, but what will the Chinese government, or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), do? In light of China’s obfuscation so far, it is absurd to imagine that it will be cooperating with the U.S. investigation. Neither will it be sitting idly by waiting to learn of the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions. Instead, the CCP will be doing everything it can to shape the report and ensure that the findings will be released in a context saturated by Chinese propaganda.

What does China want the narrative to be? The ideal outcome would be that the virus originated outside of China. Failing that, an acceptable outcome would be, as highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, that the virus “that killed millions of people and shattered the global economy” would be “among the world’s most consequential mysteries.”

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07/18/21

8M Phone Calls And 1M Doors Knocked, Minorities Targeted; Leader Vows To Make America Ungovernable

By: Trevor Loudon | Counterpunch

We’re in a communist revolution here in the USA – and 95% of the public is completely in the dark. The mainstream media will never call out communists – no matter how blatant they are. That’s why our country is being turned upside down and hardly anybody seems to know why.

Well, Trevor Loudon does. After 40 years of studying communism, Trevor knows a revolution when he sees one. And he knows how to fight back.

Subscribe to “CounterPunch.” Tell all your friends. We have one last chance to save America – and the world and no time to waste!

#TrevorLoudon #Revolution #Communism

07/18/21

How China Sees It

By: Pete Hoekstra | CCNS

  • The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has much to lose, both domestically and internationally, if the truth comes out. A muddled debate about the origins of the virus serves China just fine. Evading accountability — and suffering no little negative fallout — for unleashing a pandemic on the world that killed millions of people is not a bad outcome. And the economic results may even be better for China than for the rest of the world, thereby strengthening the CCP further.
  • And now, in response to China’s obfuscation, the international community seems unable to go beyond the empty threat of calling for the World Health Organization (WHO) to follow up its original investigation, which was abysmal, with another probe.
  • For the West to maintain the WHO as the agency of record is embarrassing. It was a puppet of China the first time around and will be again.
  • China has been soundly condemned by the U.S. and others for practicing genocide against the Uyghurs. No consequences. China has been cheating ever since it was invited to join the World Trade Organization in 2001. No consequences. See a pattern? If you don’t, you can bet that the Chinese do. They expect that spreading misinformation and hiding the facts about the pandemic will lead to the same fate. No consequences.

It seems that the European Union and the United States are now calling for a renewed investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. They are “urging” China to cooperate fully and provide “complete access.” Them’s fightin’ words! The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must be quaking in its boots — especially after President Joe Biden’s national security advisor stated that the consequences of not cooperating would be international “isolation.” This half-hearted approach will not get the job done. It’s long past the time to get serious with China, and we all know it.

Why will this “powerful” unified initiative by the U.S. and its allies fail? From the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, China has been totally uncooperative. It has evaded accountability and responsibility for its actions. It has gone beyond just hiding the facts and conducted a massive disinformation campaign. This strategy has been successful. Regardless of increasing doubts about the origin of the virus, there is no reason for China to change its cover-up strategy and reverse course. Why mess with success?

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