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		<title>Caitlin Johnstone: I hope the US loses and the empire collapses</title>
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					<description><![CDATA[COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone I don’t mind admitting that I hope the US and Israel suffer a crushing, devastating defeat in Iran. I hope this war collapses the entire US empire. My only loyalty is to humanity, and being on Team Human in today’s world means being against the US empire and against Israel. I ... <a title="Caitlin Johnstone: I hope the US loses and the empire collapses" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/16/caitlin-johnstone-i-hope-the-us-loses-and-the-empire-collapses/" aria-label="Read more about Caitlin Johnstone: I hope the US loses and the empire collapses">Read more</a>]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>COMMENTARY:</strong> <em>By Caitlin Johnstone</em></p>
<p>I don’t mind admitting that I hope the US and Israel suffer a crushing, devastating defeat in Iran.</p>
<p>I hope this war collapses the entire US empire. My only loyalty is to humanity, and being on Team Human in today’s world means being against the US empire and against Israel.</p>
<p>I hope the empire falls. I hope the apartheid state of Israel is dismantled.</p>
<p>I hope humanity is able to pry the steering wheel from the fingers of the ghouls who currently rule our world, so that we can create a healthy planet and a harmonious future together.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IRWiRVo2k4I?si=5stsfjBheIukF7c9" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe><br /><em>I hope the US loses and other notes              Video: Caitlin Johnstone</em></p>
<p>YouTube <a href="https://me.mashable.com/tech/69641/youtube-bans-pro-iran-channel-that-mocked-donald-trump-using-viral-lego-videos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow">has banned</a> the channel that’s been creating <a href="https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/2042307162265784680" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow">viral AI Lego music videos</a> criticising the US war on Iran. The Google-owned platform claims the Lego videos somehow constituted “violent content”, but we all know it was to facilitate the US propaganda effort by shutting down effective propaganda for the other side.</p>
<p>Silicon Valley is a crucial arm of US imperial control.</p>
<p>It chooses to advance the interests of the empire at every significant juncture. It’s a branch of imperial soft power in the same way the military is a branch of imperial hard power.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" readability="11.579831932773">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">🎶 Iran-linked accounts are circulating a new LEGO-style propaganda video portraying U.S. and Israeli leaders as corrupt elites tied to the “Epstein files,” part of a broader online campaign aimed at undermining support for the war.</p>
<p>The animation depicts President Donald Trump… <a href="https://t.co/PdjcJGrjuy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/PdjcJGrjuy</a></p>
<p>— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/DropSiteNews/status/2042307162265784680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">April 9, 2026</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>❖</p>
<p>The US and Israel have so normalised the assassination of national leaders that the mainstream press now discuss it as a standard military tactic. The other day <em>The Washington Post</em> ran <a href="https://archive.is/FrooT" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow">an article by Marc Thiessen</a> arguing that the US should “carry out a final barrage of leadership strikes, eliminating the Iranian officials who had been spared for the purpose of negotiations”.</p>
<p>“Iran’s leaders must be made to understand that their lives literally depend on reaching a negotiated settlement to Trump’s liking. If they refuse to do so, they will be killed,” Thiessen writes.</p>
<p>At some point one of America’s enemies is going to assassinate a US official and my replies are going to be full of shrieking, outraged Americans acting like I’m the bad guy when I say Washington had it coming.</p>
<p>❖</p>
<p>Even if the US wasn’t directly responsible for the Strait of Hormuz situation, it would still be the last country on earth with any business whining about it. They’re openly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/22/cubas-power-grid-collapses-in-third-nationwide-blackout-amid-us-oil-blockade" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow">imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba</a> while complaining that nobody should be allowed to block shipping lanes, for Christ’s sake.</p>
<p>❖</p>
<p>The Democratic National Committee <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5823840-dnc-aipac-resolution-fails/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow">voted to reject</a> a resolution denouncing the influence of AIPAC in US politics. <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-us-israel-disconnect-polling-politics-and-the-palestinians/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" rel="nofollow">Eighty percent of Democrats</a> have a negative view of Israel today. The DNC’s main function is to keep the Democratic Party and its representation on the ballot from reflecting the will of the public.</p>
<p>❖</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" readability="3.6164383561644">
<p dir="ltr" lang="zxx" xml:lang="zxx"><a href="https://t.co/K0kNiJYbKs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/K0kNiJYbKs</a></p>
<p>— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) <a href="https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/2044032825117258107?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">April 14, 2026</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dear Trump supporters, send me all of your money. I have a plan to make America great again. I will end all the wars and drain the swamp. Don’t worry if it looks like I’m not doing any of those things, I’m playing 4d chess, trust the plan. Send me your life savings right now.</p>
<p>❖</p>
<p>It’s important not to let them pin this all on Trump, in the same way it’s important not to let them pin Israel’s crimes on Netanyahu. Everything we are seeing with this disastrous Iran war is the product of the entire power structure which gave rise to it, not one guy’s dopey decisions.</p>
<p>The warmongers in the DC swamp have been pushing war with Iran for decades. Trump is just the guy who was chosen by Zionist oligarchs and bloodthirsty empire managers to carry out the deed. He happens to be the face on the operation, but if it wasn’t him it would have been someone else.</p>
<p>American warmongering insanity didn’t start with Trump, and it isn’t going to end with him either. Don’t direct your rage merely at the fleeting puppets who come and go from the imperial stage as the US murder machine trudges onward. Direct it at the empire itself.</p>
<p><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Caitlin Johnstone</em></a> <em>is an Australian independent journalist and poet. Her articles include <a href="https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/the-un-torture-report-on-assange-is-an-indictment-of-our-entire-society-bc7b0a7130a6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The UN Torture Report On Assange Is An Indictment Of Our Entire Society</a>. She publishes a website and <a href="https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Caitlin’s Newsletter</a>. This article is republished with permission.</em></p>
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<p>Article by <a href="https://www.asiapacificreport.nz/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AsiaPacificReport.nz</a></p>
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