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The Neo-Ottoman Empire
Darrell Castle tries to make sense of the Syrian Civil War which has been raging sometimes hot and sometimes cold for many years.
Transcription / Notes:
THE NEO-OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 13th day of December in the year of our Lord 2024. I will be talking about the Syrian Civil War which has been raging sometimes hot and sometimes cold for many years. It’s very difficult to make sense out of something that makes no sense, but I will try to do so.
This is the Christmas season here in the Castle household and therefore it is the last Friday that I will be able to bring the Castle Report this year. I will join you again, God willing, on Friday, January 3, 2025. Enjoy the holidays with those you love and by all means celebrate Christmas.
The title of this report indicates that I am taking the position that Turkey won the Syrian Civil War because the fall and removal of strong man Bashar al Assad paves the way for strong man Recep Tayyip Erdogan to emerge and reap the benefits of the demise of the Assad family’s hold over Syria which has lasted for some 60 years. Erdogan came to power in Turkey in 2014 and my position is that he imagines himself to be the return of Suleiman the Magnificent who ruled the Ottoman Empire in the 1500’s when it was at the peak of its power. The Ottoman Empire served as the connection between the Middle east and Europe for some 600 years.
The Ottoman Empire, sometimes referred to as the Turkish Empire, ruled the Middle East until it was defeated and dissolved with the British and American victory in World War l. The destruction of the Ottoman Empire led to the power vacuum that has existed, at least to some degree, until today. Great Britain created the nations of the Middle east after its victory by simply drawing lines on the sand and making a map with those lines as separate countries which were really just a collection of Nomadic Tribes. I believe Erdogan came to power in Turkey with a dream of returning his country to the greatness it once had and he is currently going about the business of rebuilding the Ottoman Empire under Turkish control.
His rebuilding uses overt war as we have recently seen, but it also operates through diplomacy and even subterfuge which he used to gain acceptance into NATO. Yes, that’s right, this Muslim country of Turkey, whose culture, religion, and way of life is completely averse to those of the West is a full-fledged NATO member. A close member of Erdogan’s inner circle of advisors recently said in a public interview that the goal of the Erdogan administration is the destruction of Western Civilization. The NATO alliance should remove Turkey because of that, but the problem is that the NATO charter has no provision for involuntarily removing a member or kicking someone out.
A majority of NATO members may want Turkey out but the alliance is pretty woke right now and must think this is a woke world, so they try to read the tea leaves and apparently that requires more fear of being labeled Islamophobic than it does having an enemy nation in its midst. Erdogan, in the meantime, apparently seeks to Islamize Europe through Muslim immigration. He has, in essence, held Europe hostage and demanded money to prevent refugees from traveling upward from Syria through Turkey into Europe. The Europeans have paid the ransom in the past but right now one out of every 20 Syrians in the world resides in Germany thanks to Erdogan and the policies of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.
I could go on with this Neo-Ottoman story all day but to sum it up a little he is putting together a collection of Sunni nations in opposition to the Shiites that have ruled Syria in the past by way of Iran and to some extent Iraq. This is a coalition against Iran in other words, which brings me to how this played out in the war. I imagine that right now the leaders in Iran are feeling regret that they allowed their p...
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Tainted Legacy?
Darrell Castle talks about the decision of President Joe Biden to issue a blanket, all-encompassing pardon for his son Hunter despite repeatedly promising he would not do so.
Transcription / Notes
TAINTED LEGACY?
Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6th of December in the year of our Lord 2024. I will be talking about the decision of President Joe Biden to issue a blanket, all-encompassing pardon for his son Hunter. The pardon covers all acts known and unknown including the crimes for which he was convicted and the crimes for which he pled guilty as well as any crimes from murder to treason which are currently unproven but which may have occurred between January 1st 2014 and December 1st 2024.
So, the pardon is now a done deal. The most surprising thing about it is that it was not surprising and many, including me, thought the president was lying when he repeatedly said he would never pardon his son. Hunter was convicted of crimes and pled guilty to others but none of those addressed what might be in that laptop portrayed to us by the media as Russian disinformation. It doesn’t matter anymore does it? There is no longer a reason to wonder if the laptop contained any secrets about influence peddling by Hunter’s father, the big guy. Whether or not that last statement is completely true or whether there is wiggle room to some extent is up to congress.
The President said repeatedly that he would not pardon his son but in true Biden fashion, he did. Pardons reside with presidents and governors who are supposed to use them to correct an injustice, but sometimes they are used for other purposes such as rewarding a political donor or to avoid hostile testimony from the one pardoned. That brings me to why this is up to congress to some extent at least. If congress wanted to conduct hearings into influence peddling by then former president Biden it could call Hunter to testify.
If a person is questioned under oath about something that could possibly implicate him in a crime he can always take shelter under the 5th Amendment. In that event he would respond to the question by saying I decline to answer on the grounds that my answer might tend to incriminate me or he could simply say I plead the 5th. He could then not be held in contempt for not answering the question but if he had been previously pardoned the 5th amendment protection would no longer be available to him.
Since he has been pardoned in such a blanket all-encompassing pardon, Hunter would no longer be subject to criminal charges so fear of self-incrimination would no longer be valid. If he were, for example, asked if he shared any of the proceeds from his influence peddling, his bribery, etc. with his father, the big guy, and he refused to answer he could be held in contempt and sent to jail. If he lied, under oath, and his statement was later proven to be a lie, then he could be prosecuted for perjury, which is a felony. Congress could, therefore, make things hard for President Biden but I doubt that would ever happen.
Hunter was convicted of a felony and pled guilty to other felonies, but he was pardoned before he served a day of any possible sentence. We are told that this is merely an example of a father looking after the welfare of his son. I would argue that it is more an example of a father looking after himself and anyone else involved in his corruption of the various agencies of the federal government but in any case I imagine there are many sons sitting in prison who would be free if their fathers had been able to issue a ten-year-get-out of-jail free pass to them for any crime, even treason.
Biden, of course, couldn’t do one honest thing and say look I know I said repeatedly that I would not pardon him, but I saw my only living son facing prison and I just could not let that happen. Even that statement would have been another lie, but not as embarrassingly bad as the one he told.
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Only 60 Days to Destroy the World
Darrell Castle talks about the decision of President Biden to authorize Ukraine to fire U.S. made ATACMS missles deep into Russia putting The United States and NATO on a path of nuclear confrontation with Russia.
Transcription / Notes
ONLY 60 DAYS LEFT TO DESTROY THE WORLD
Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday, the 22nd day of November in the year of our Lord 2024. I will be talking about the decision of President Biden or whatever cabal that runs this country, to authorize Ukraine to fire U.S. made ATACMS missiles deep into Russia. With only about 60 days left to serve the President has to work fast to get the United States into a nuclear confrontation with Russia. That will be his legacy I predict.
Please remember that next week is Thanksgiving week so no Castle Report. I plan to spend some time with family just catching up and giving thanks for another year and I hope you will do something similar as well.
I will start by giving you a quote from Dennis Kucinich who Had the best take on this decision:
“When President Biden approved the use of supersonic Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike Russia, he placed in jeopardy the national security of the United States, the safety of our troops abroad and violated the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8 which provides that only Congress can declare war.”
“Biden has made a decision to insert the U.S. into an unambiguous, escalatory phase, using the territory of Ukraine to attack Russia directly with missiles which can reach 190 miles deep. This is an illegal act by the President which puts our nation on a path to war with Russia. The American people voted for Trump to end the wars. Biden apparently wants to end the world. Trump is listening to the American people. Biden is listening to NATO’s malignant agenda.”
Yes, apparently President Biden has decided, or someone decided for him, that the best memory the American people could have of his time in office should be that he started World War lll. I don’t see any way to view this other than a direct attack by the U.S. on Russia. I hoped and prayed that I would live my life without experiencing war between two armed to the teeth nuclear powers so I suppose we are left with holding our breath for 60 days and praying for the forbearance of Vladimir Putin.
This is reminiscent of the last time the U.S. and Russia stood toe to toe with nuclear war as a distinct possibility. In October of 1962 Russia placed offensive missiles just 90 miles from the U.S. border. The world was on a path of nuclear annihilation absent the wisdom of John Kennedy and the forbearance of Nikita Khrushchev. He could have launched those missiles and Kennedy could have refused any accommodation to Russia but cooler heads prevailed and Kennedy’s legacy was assured. It’s difficult to think of Kennedy without remembering those dark days.
What a difference 62 years makes. In 1962 the world was literally living in terror hoping and praying that no nuclear missile would land in our cities. We dug shelters and put blankets over our windows to protect us from flying glass. Now the American media hardly even notices that the U.S. is using American missiles for direct attacks into Russia, thinking, I suppose, that it can be done without consequences.
Trump made peace one of the primary facets of his campaign and subsequent election but Biden seems willing to do anything including provoke nuclear war to subvert the efforts of his opponent from achieving peace. Congress could and should act, but I doubt that it will do so for its own reasons but its failure is a glimpse into how far we have fallen. No President has the right to unilaterally order a missile attack against another country using only executive authority. It invites and begs for a retaliatory strike against the U.S. and/or its foreign assets. It should be and it is an impeachable offense,
