All photographs from Reuters, “Closing in on Mosul.” [1]

Most captions read something like: Shi’ite fighters fire artillery towards Islamic State militants during a battle with Islamic State militants on the outskirt of Tal Afar west of Mosul, Iraq. REUTERS/Photographer

Since titles & captions frame an image, here are a few of my own:

Business as usual, Iraqi ‘freedom fighters’ clown for the Western media during their ‘battle’ with ISIS  REUTERS/Stringer

Iraqi special forces stupidity REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

War trenches as refugee encampments REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

The Road Warrior: Part 2016 REUTERS/Stringer

The ‘good guys’ fire their payload REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

No more parents  REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

Inhumanity   REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

Civilians targeted  REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Tigris ‘River Raid’ (Activision 1982/Pentagon 2016), courtesy of Stratfor/Airbus/Handout via REUTERS

Post ‘Election 2016’ notes: The Democratic party is a dead letter, now chloroforming the masses while handing the reins of power to fascism.  Bernie Sanders as party head proves the complete bankruptcy of liberalism. Protests will continue to spread and their militancy will increase.  Revolutionary activism needs to focus on bringing as many of these energized (yet demoralized) elements from the collapsed left into the politics of socialism.

On the right, the ruling class is divided on Donald Trump due to his egocentricity & unpredictable temperament. There are powerful deep-state figures who highly disprove of him, and predictably Trump doesn’t respect them either. That’s the focal point for a split on the right. Trotsky would define the incoming Trump administration as Bonapartist, due to its instability. That needs to be the Marxist theoretical basis for all revolutionary strategy in preparation for a permanent socialist revolution.

…………..><><><><><><…………..