Philip Giraldi

An interesting article in The New York Times, “Israel’s Antimissile System Attracts Potential Buyers,” somewhat deflates the widespread praise for the performance of Israel’s Iron Dome batteries in the recent fighting with Gaza. Israel claims that Iron Dome was 85 percent effective, but the numbers deserve some examination. All the claims for the effectiveness of the system are derived from the Israeli government, which would very much like to sell Iron Dome to other countries. South Korea, whose capital Seoul is close to the North Korean border, has been identified as a possible buyer.

The 85 percent effective number means that the missiles launched by Iron Dome either destroyed or deflected incoming missiles 85 percent of the time, but a Ministry of Defense account on November 21st demonstrates otherwise: 1,382 rockets fired from Gaza struck Israel, with another 389 intercepted by Iron Dome. Other estimates indicate that 70 percent of Gazan missiles and rockets landed in Israel without being intercepted, which might suggest that the Israeli government is cooking the books to make the system appear more effective than it is both to intimidate the Palestinians and to encourage foreign sales.

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Namavaran Network Corporation

Iman Soleimani interviewed Stephen Lendman for NNC News. US foreign policy, its phony war on terror, its human rights record, imperial wars, belligerent diplomacy, and anti-Iranian agenda were discussed.

Namavaran Network Corporation: Can we call the dominant pattern of US foreign policy realistic?

Stephen Lendman: Longstanding US foreign policy seeks unchallenged global dominance. Perhaps US leaders call that realistic.

It's barbaric, hugely destructive, and lawless. Ultimately it won't work. America's decline and fall accelerates. One day, humanity may go down with it. US strategy includes toppling independent governments. It want's subservient pro-Western puppet ones replacing them. Post-9/11, every country America attacked was independent. So are Syria, Iran, and others on Washington's target list. Lots remain to feed America's rage to fight. When other methods fail, war is the bottom line option of choice. Throughout world history, nations that adopted this strategy failed. Overreach and overspending toppled them. America is no different. Nor is Israel. Living by the sword assures one day perishing by it.

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Palestine Telegraph

As economic collapse approaches, the only question is whether it will remain in slow motion or take a dramatic turn for the worse. If we’re lucky it will remain in slow motion to give people and communities enough time to prepare as much as possible.

We only need to look at the chaos that occurred during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy where hardly anyone was prepared for weeks without power, and they even had some forewarning. Unfortunately most people are still blind to the coming economic storm. They’re frogs in slowly simmering water getting ready to boil.

It’s one thing to prep for yourself, but if the economic collapse is sustained for a long period of time, it will take a tribe to survive as comfortably as possible. The bigger your extended survival group the easier it will be, and if you can encourage your greater community to move more toward self-reliance the better off you all will be.

If you’re a prepper who understands the severity of the coming events, now is the time to get your community involved. You don’t have to convince everyone the sky is falling, only the importance of more self-sufficiency just in case there is an unforeseen emergency.

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