The controversial speech of Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., on the floor of the House of Representatives shows how members can fuel rather than fight hysteria and panic. The incredible scene was played out as the very task force members who she referenced are trying to rebut some alarmist predictions and estimates. Much of the nation is sheltering in place. We get it. However, Rep. Stevens seems intent on elevating not the discussion but the volume of the national discourse.

What was most notable is that Stevens was not saying anything particularly new . . . just saying it louder. Indeed, the Democratic Majority Whip was trying to give her the added 30 seconds that she had asked, but she was yelling over his voice.

Everyone is supporting our health care workers and “taking the disease seriously.” As for “you will see darkness,” we could all use a bit more light from our elected officials. Once the yelling ended, Grandpa Abe Simpson seemed to have more a hold of himself in his prophesy scene.

The chair spoke for the entire nation in saying “The gentle lady from Michigan is out of order.”

Reprinted with permission from JonathanTurley.org. 

As governments all over the world enact and enforce unprecedented policies to deal with the pandemic, where do our rights stand? Are we abandoning our rights for security? Ron Paul Institute Director Daniel McAdams and Constitutional lawyer Robert Barnes join RT’s Crosstalk to debate:

The assault on our civil liberties is in overdrive. Habeas corpus is thrown out the window and the government is asking to be able to indefinitely detain Americans without charge or trial. Constitutional law attorney John Whitehead, President of the Rutherford Institute, joins today’s Liberty Report to discuss these threats…and to let us know what we can do about them! Watch today’s Liberty Report:

Now that the coronavirus scare has much of the country fearful and sheltered-in-place, there are more than a few special interests that are profiting massively from the “Emergency State” that has emerged. Crony capitalists, corporate criminals, Keynesians, big brother government advocates, previously unknown minor county officials…there is plenty of profit to go around. Don’t miss today’s Liberty Report:

While major military exercises have been cancelled in Europe due to coronavirus fears, the US has decided to continue with war games in the Middle East aimed at making war on Iran. On the home front, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is using the virus to fight a hybrid war on Iran and other US ‘enemies.’ Will kicking them while they’re down really work to our advantage? More sanctions on suffering countries? Watch today’s Liberty Report:

With nearly one-third of all Americans on government-enforced lockdown and the National Guard pouring into the streets, it’s a good time to take stock of the coronavirus scare and the real nature of the threat. What is our most important investment as the markets crash? Watch today’s Liberty Report:

As with everything else, the government is making the coronavirus outbreak much worse. Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the few original thinkers in the US House believes government should step out of the way and let the free market address demands for things like testing kits. Plus, Massie briefs the Liberty Report on the ongoing threat to our civil liberties posed by the PATRIOT Act as it has been temporarily renewed. Don’t miss today’s Liberty Report!

Neocons never like to allow a good crisis to go to waste. While Americans are increasingly threatened by authoritarian politicians if they dare leave their homes to protect against the spread of a virus that may end up being less deadly than the flu, the neocons are hard at work stirring up war on Iran. More sanctions, bombing “Iran-backed” militias in Iraq. And more. Panic is good for the war business. Don’t miss today’s Liberty Report:

After lowering the interest rate to zero and pumping trillions into the market, the Fed is finding that it has no tools to address the inevitable bursting of the bubble. They may try to blame the economic tsunami on coronavirus, but this crash has been in the works for some time. Mises Institute President Jeff Deist joins today’s Liberty Report:

As the Fed fires money bazookas at the markets to no avail, governors across the US are shutting down businesses and destroying livelihoods. This is government out of control – it is many times more dangerous than any coronavirus. Watch today’s Liberty Report:

Yesterday the US attacked five sites in Iraq and killed 3 Iraqi soldiers of the 19th Division, two policeman and a civilian. The strikes came after some 10+ rockets, fired by unknown people, had hit the joint base Camp Tali and had killed 2 US and one British soldiers.

Today the US received the revenge for its strikes.

The US Central Command had argued that the “defensive precision strike” against the five sites created deterrence i.e. they would prevent other attacks:

We believe that this is going to have an effect on deterring — on deterring future strikes of this nature. We’ve seen in the past what happens when you don’t respond. Now people know that we’re not going to — we’re not going to tolerate these direct attacks on American or coalition service members, and we’re willing and able to respond.

Even hawkish analysts find that the argument is nonsense.

The US claims that the group Kataib Hezbollah, part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and under command of the Iraqi government, fired the missiles. But the positions the US hit were not Kataib Hezbollah positions. US intelligence in Iraq is not up to date with regards to where Kataib Hezbollah units or those of the other 20+ PMU groups are stationed.

After asking a military source in 19th Commando Division about the Al-Atheer facility and presence of “Iranian missiles”, the response I got was that KH withdrew from the site 7+ days ago and the unit took their place.

So yeah, the Mussayib site was under Iraq Army. pic.twitter.com/NBP8hCNLOb

— TØM CΛT (@TomtheBasedCat) March 14, 2020

British forces were supposed to join yesterday’s US strike but the Wall Street Journal reports that the Brits were called back by their government because the attribution of the original rockets strike to Kataib Hezbollah was shady and because there was no legal justification for the strikes.

The Iraqi government announced that it would protest at the United Nation about the US breach of its sovereignty. Ayatollah Sistani condemned the US attack and even the Iraq Joint Operational Command, which includes coordinating US officers, protested against the strikes.

The Iraqi parliament and government have told the US to leave Iraq. The Trump administration is not willing to do that. In consequence more US soldiers will have to die in Iraq.

That the “deterrence” strikes did not deter anything was proven today when another rocket salvo was fired at Camp Taji in broad daylight:

A hail of rockets landed on a military base housing US and other coalition troops north of Baghdad Saturday morning, wounding three coalition soldiers and two Iraqi soldiers.

The same base, Camp Taji, was the target of a rocket attack on Wednesday which killed three servicemen, including two Americans and one British.

The US in Iraq is not fighting some “Iran backed” groups but is an occupation force and therefore a legitimate target for Iraqi government forces:

‘We can’t forget that the PMF is a recognized entity within the Iraqi security forces; they aren’t isolated from the security forces and often are co-located on the same bases or use the same facilities,’ said Sajad Jiyad, a researcher and former managing director of the Bayan Center, a Baghdad-based think tank.

‘Now the (Iran-backed) groups who supported the initial strike in Taji, who were the most outspoken, feel obliged, authorized, maybe even legitimized to respond, ostensibly to protect Iraqi sovereignty but really to keep the pressure up on Americans,’ he added.

“There are no red lines anymore,” Jiyad said.

(I bet $10 that the “(Iran backed)” in that quote is not from Sajad Jiyad but was added by the NBC/AP writer or editor. Sajad Jihad often stresses that these groups do have motive and means to act on their own.)

(Added: Sajad Jihad has now confirmed to me that the politicizing words in the parenthesis are not from him but were added by the NBC/AP writers.)

The Iraqi police found the launch site from where today’s rocket volley was fired. Its pictures tell a lot about how this fight will go on until the US occupation forces leave Iraq.

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This is a fixed camouflaged position under a roof. It was probably built months if not years ago. The launcher cases where dug into the ground of some shed. They were already adjusted in the planned strike direction. To launch the rockets one had simply to clear the top of camouflage, pull up the rocket launcher from the front and set the height adjusting stick up. One man could do that within a few minutes. The electrical launch command would then come from remote by a wire or cellphone.

The setup of the position reminds one of similar positions the Lebanese Hizbullah has build in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The people who set up this launch position in Iraq seem to have received some training from experienced staff.

If there is this one well prepared positions aimed at Camp Taji how many others are there? Ten? One hundred? Or even a thousand? How many exist around other sites in Iraq where US troops are stationed?

Previous strikes had come from mobile platforms. That the resistance in Iraq now revealed one of its fixed camouflaged launch sites is intentional. It is a warning to the US to ponder about the above questions and potential consequences.

These secret launch sites are a real deterrence. In 2006 Israel attacked Hizbullah in Lebanon with the intend to disarm the group. But Hizbullah’s defenses were stubborn and hundreds of rockets were fired each day against Israeli positions. Israeli bombers then tried to find the launch sites but those where hidden and not detectable from the air. In the end it was Israel which had to file for peace. Since then its forces have not dared to again enter Lebanon.

The US in Iraq has no way to protect its troops from such unpredictable rocket volleys. It has no way deter or even win against the forces that are now working to evict it from Iraq as well as other places in the Middle East.

It should finally recognize that and leave.

Reprinted with permission from Moon of Alabama.

As the House further debates a resolution restricting President Trump’s power to make war on Iran, the House is rushing through a “coronavirus stimulus” bill pumping more billions into the pockets of the well-connected. Meanwhile, President Trump has announced that no flights from Europe can land in the US. How is that going to work? And where’s the authority? Don’t miss today’s Liberty Report: