Tony Blair: The world is on the verge of geopolitical changes; the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end

Tony Blair: The world is on the verge of geopolitical changes; the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end

    Sunday, July 17, 2022   No comments

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, pointed out that the world is on the verge of geopolitical changes, pointing out that the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end, and is moving towards multipolarity.

"The biggest geopolitical changes of this century will be provoked by China, not Russia," Blair said, in a lecture at a symposium organized by the British-American "Ditchley" Foundation.

He added that "the world will become, at least, bipolar, or perhaps multipolar, and we are approaching the end of Western hegemony in politics and economics."

He continued, "For the first time in modern history, the East can be on an equal footing with the West."

He added that China "is the second superpower in the world, and its economic potential and degree of participation in the global economy is higher than that of Russia."

He believed that "China has caught up with the United States in many technological fields, and is threatening to overtake the United States."

He pointed out that "the Chinese leadership is behaving more and more aggressively, and does not hide that it treats the West with contempt and is getting close to Russia, and it wants to solve the Taiwan problem at last."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that China will try to take Taiwan by force any time soon, however, we can no longer base our policy on the certainty that it won't," Blair said. China in the near future.

He described the differences in the positions of the Group of Twenty countries on the Ukrainian issue as a warning to the West, calling for building relations with China on the basis of the principle of strength and participation.

He called on the West to "increase military spending and remain strong enough to resist China in any future scenario, while maintaining relations with Beijing, acting in a pragmatic rather than aggressive manner, and demonstrating a willingness to mutual respect."

The former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, had confirmed, earlier, that the global geopolitical situation "will witness changes after the end of the war in Ukraine. It is natural that the interests of Russia and China will not be identical on all issues."

French President Emmanuel Macron also emphasized that the world is no longer bipolar, but rather multipolar.

Media Review: The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis

Media Review: The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis

    Monday, June 27, 2022   No comments

With the Russian military operation in Ukraine entering its fifth month, voices against American policies began to rise, especially as the sanctions policy it imposed directly affected European countries and gave counterproductive effects that Washington has not succeeded in avoiding so far.

In a speech adapted into an article with the title, the Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis, University of Chicago political science professor John J. Mearsheimer has described the war in Ukraine as a multidimensional disaster, likely to get worse in the near future. "When a war is successful, no one cares much about its causes, but when its outcome is catastrophic, understanding how it happened becomes very important. Everyone would like to know how this horrific situation was reached," he said.

Mearsheimer believes that, "With regard to the Ukrainian war, the United States is primarily responsible for causing this crisis. This does not mean that Putin started the war and that he is responsible for Russia's conduct in the war. Nor does this mean denying that America's allies bear some responsibility, but they are to a large extent They are following Washington's example for Ukraine."

This came in a lecture delivered by Mearsheimer at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy, last week, in which he spoke in detail about the causes and repercussions of the war in Ukraine, and was published by the American National Interest magazine. It can be argued that the United States has pushed policies toward Ukraine that Putin and other Russian leaders consider an existential threat, especially America's obsession with including Ukraine into NATO and making it a Western fortress on the Russian border. The Biden administration had no willingness to end this threat diplomatically, and recommitted in 2021 to bring Ukraine into NATO. Putin responded by invading Ukraine on February 24.

In Mearsheimer's words, the Biden administration's response to the outbreak of war was to increase pressure on Russia. Washington and its Western allies are resolutely committed to defeating Russia in Ukraine and using comprehensive sanctions to significantly weaken Russian power. And the United States is not seriously interested in finding a diplomatic solution to the war, which means that the war could last months, if not years.

There is no doubt that Ukraine, which has already suffered seriously, will suffer more damage during the war. There is a risk of an escalation of the war, with NATO likely to be drawn into the fight and the possible use of nuclear weapons. It can be said that we live in perilous times.

The war is likely to have catastrophic repercussions. For example, there is reason to believe that the war will lead to a global food crisis, with the death of many millions of people. World Bank President David Malpass said that if the Ukraine war continued, we would face a global food crisis that would be a "humanitarian catastrophe".

In addition, the relations between Russia and the West have been so poisoned that it will take many years to repair. At the same time, this intense hostility will fuel instability around the world, especially in Europe. Some would say that there is one thing that is positive: relations between the countries of the West have improved significantly due to the Ukraine war.

This may be true for now, but there are cracks deep beneath the surface. For example, relations between Eastern European countries and Western European countries are likely to deteriorate as the war continues because their interests and views on the war are not the same.

To be sure, the war has already mainly damaged the global economy, and this situation is likely to get worse with time.

At the conclusion of his lecture, Mearsheimer said that the current war in Ukraine is clearly a colossal catastrophe, which will cause everyone around the world to search for its causes. Those who believe in facts and logic will quickly discover that the United States and its allies are primarily responsible for this devastation. It was inevitable that the decision issued in April 2008 to annex Ukraine and Georgia to NATO would lead to war with Russia.

Quotes:

I have witnessed this phenomenon twice in my lifetime—first with the Vietnam war and second with the Iraq war. In both cases, Americans wanted to know how their country could have miscalculated so badly. Given that the United States and its NATO allies played a crucial role in the events that led to the Ukraine war—and are now playing a central role in the conduct of that war—it is appropriate to evaluate the West’s responsibility for this calamity.

One might argue that Putin was lying about his motives, that he was attempting to disguise his imperial ambitions. As it turns out, I have written a book about lying in international politics—Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics—and it is clear to me that Putin was not lying. For starters, one of my principal findings is that leaders do not lie much to each other; they lie more often to their own publics. Regarding Putin, whatever one thinks of him, he does not have a history of lying to other leaders. Although some assert that he frequently lies and cannot be trusted, there is little evidence of him lying to foreign audiences. Moreover, he has publicly spelled out his thinking about Ukraine on numerous occasions over the past two years and he has consistently emphasized that his principal concern is Ukraine’s relations with the West, especially NATO. He has never once hinted that he wants to make Ukraine part of Russia. If this behavior is all part of a giant deception campaign, it would be without precedent in recorded history.

How is the war in Ukraine being fought?

How is the war in Ukraine being fought?

    Saturday, June 25, 2022   No comments

To understand why the conflict in Ukraine will drag on for years, not months, a look at the tactics used in battles by both sides could help.

Over the past 8 years, Ukrainian forces in the east have worked continuously to establish fighting positions and defensive positions against the forces fighting for autonomy in the east. With Russia now directly involved, on the ground, those tactical measures are falling apart.

Russian forces are using modern technologies to dismantle these military positions. To do that, they are turning to highly mobile units to move quickly, eliminate the threat, and move on to the next target. 

These methods have been used in Syria, and Russia’s experience in that war is being used to fight this war. 

This means that the war will go on for years.

As Russian forces make rapid advances, encircling large enclaves, many Ukrainian fighters surrender

As Russian forces make rapid advances, encircling large enclaves, many Ukrainian fighters surrender

    Friday, June 24, 2022   No comments

The captured fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spoke about the low staffing of the units, the poor provision of the group that ended up in the "Mountain boiler", the flight of the commanders and the lack of communication with them. They call captivity the only chance to stay alive and call on their colleagues for this.

Ukrainian soldiers: “...Our only way to stay alive is to lay down our arms. We were in full view, and if we hadn’t laid down our arms, we would have died.”

 

Video posted on Russia's MoD video showing Ukrainian POWs

      

  Other videos recorded by Ukrainian soldiers:

The challenges of building national, regional and global secirity systems

The challenges of building national, regional and global secirity systems

    Tuesday, June 21, 2022   No comments

Erdogan vows a decisive response and a Greek general threatens to bomb Istanbul .. The "Aegean" crisis raises the tension between Ankara and Athens to its most dangerous stage

Tensions are escalating between the two NATO allies, Turkey and Greece, after Ankara accused Athens of arming 12 islands in the Aegean Sea near Turkish territory, in addition to the chronic dispute over the file of natural gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

The tension reached the point where the retired Greek general, Yiannis Egolfopoulos, threatened to bomb the vital bridges of Istanbul, which was met with Turkish criticism, most notably by the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahçeli, who said, “It seems that the Greeks forgot the fate of their ancestors who were buried at the bottom of a sea Aegean.”

The escalation reached its climax after the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accused Turkey of destabilizing the island of Cyprus in front of members of the US Congress recently, and demanded Washington not to sell Ankara F-16 fighters.

Erdogan: decisive response

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to him, during his participation in the "Efes 2022" military maneuvers, that his country is serious about responding decisively to Greece, and that the latter should realize its borders and abide by them.

As a result of these statements, the military clash became the talk of the street and the media on both sides.

Military option

In light of the escalation of statements, the retired Turkish general, Erdogan Karagosh, said that a war between Turkey and Greece was inevitable, calling for the need to strengthen the strength of the Turkish Air Force.

“We have to get new F-16 fighters by any means, and maintain the ones we have,” Qaragosh said, in an interview with one of the private Turkish channels, according to the Al-Jazeera report.

He added that Turkey has no problem with its land and naval forces, "but we must strengthen the strength of our air force, because in the event of any military conflict between the two countries, the air force will resolve the situation, and in the event that we do not obtain new fighters, the balance will tip in favor of Greece." .

In turn, the Turkish expert in military and security affairs, Mateh Yarar, ruled out the outbreak of any direct military clash between the two countries, indicating that Athens relies in its verbal escalation on the West's support for it, and that it will not be able to engage in a military confrontation against Turkey, given "the disparity in the balance of power between the two sides." ”

Yarar pointed out - in a statement to the Turkish newspaper Milliyet - that Ankara calls on Greece to abide by the Lausanne agreements in 1923 and Paris in 1947, which stipulate keeping the mentioned islands demilitarized, referring to Athens' pledge before the major powers at the time to abide by this condition.

sovereign right

On the other hand, the Greek political analyst, Taki Barbarakis, said in an interview with the Turkish "Khabar Turk" channel, that talk about the possibility of a military clash between Ankara and Athens has increased recently among Greek politicians and even among the general public.

He pointed out that there is great popular support for the Greek government regarding the issue of arming the Aegean islands, and that public opinion in Greece believes that arming the islands is a sovereign right of Athens stemming from the Charter of the United Nations.

According to the Greek analyst, Athens relies on arming the Aegean islands on Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which provides for the “right of self-defense”; Her government has repeatedly announced that it has taken this step in order to counter any potential threat from Turkey. She pointed out that the "Aegean Sea" army, which Turkey formed outside the NATO command, has a landing fleet on the coasts near the islands.

Turkish opposition

In parallel with the debate between Ankara and Athens, the Turkish opposition entered the line, accusing the ruling Justice and Development Party governments of neglecting the issue of the Aegean islands, and went on to consider that President Erdogan and his governments did not take the necessary measures in time, and that Greece intensified its arming of the islands after the arrival of Justice and Development to power in the country in 2002.

In this context, the former deputy of the opposition Republican People's Party, Mustafa Balbay, says that Greece has begun to intensify arming the islands near the Turkish shores since 2004, and has also settled civilians on these islands.

"Where were the justice and development governments at that time?" Balpay asked. Why did Erdogan’s governments not take deterrent measures at that time?”

In his opinion, President Erdogan's recent statements regarding Greece's arming of the Aegean islands are nothing but "media propaganda, in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections" scheduled for June 2023.

real occupation

Balpay sees Greece's arming the Aegean islands as a real occupation, especially with Athens also housing civilians on these islands, and called on President Erdogan to focus on the issue of "occupation" during his talks with the leaders of the countries concerned with this issue.

The former deputy called for taking more necessary measures and preparing for all possibilities, including the military option, indicating that in the event of any armed conflict, Turkey will not only face Greece, but will also face major global powers, led by the United States of America, which recently began establishing bases Large military in the Greek islands near Turkey.

NATO and Other Security Structures

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto expressed hope on Tuesday that progress will be made in the ongoing talks with Turkey on Helsinki's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Niinistö said during a press conference with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Mitsola, that "Finland continues talks with Turkey about joining NATO, and we hope to make progress in those negotiations."

"I think it will be difficult to reach an agreement before the Madrid [NATO summit]," he added.

The Finnish president indicated that he does not believe that his country's accession procedures to NATO can be completed by next September.

And the Finnish presidency announced yesterday that "a new round of negotiations conducted by Finland and Sweden with Turkey will be held in Brussels," against the backdrop of Ankara's objection to the two countries' request to join NATO.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin confirmed yesterday that the progress of Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO is linked to the steps that these two countries will take, in line with the words of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a few days ago.

Last Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that "Turkey will send a document to Sweden and Finland to form the basis for negotiating the two countries' accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)," adding during a press conference with the Foreign Ministers of Ireland and Norway in Ankara: "We must Reaching an understanding with Sweden and Finland on how to meet our demands."

Erdogan also stressed during the meeting of the parliamentary bloc of the "Justice and Development Party", Wednesday, that his country "will not change its position regarding the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO until they take clear and tangible steps towards combating terrorism." "We will not forgive any countries that support terrorist organizations that threaten Turkey," he added.

And last May, talks were held in Turkey between Turkish officials and delegations from Sweden and Finland. Sources told "Reuters" that "the talks made little progress in addressing the motives behind Ankara's objection to the two countries joining NATO."

Turkey, the conflict of NATO and the Collective Security Organization

Turkey has tended to sell arms to Central Asian countries, to perpetuate the idea that it is able to guarantee the defense capacity of countries that revolve in its ideological, social, economic and military orbit.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization cannot be seen as the only military bloc and force in the world. It is possible to rely on the assessment of the CSTO’s bloc as an almost parallel bloc, as it includes countries that enjoy an important military power, such as Russia, Belarus and Armenia, in addition to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan; Countries considered full members, some members as observers, and others as potential candidates, such as Iran.

At a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in the Armenian capital recently, the speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament indicated that the organization’s crisis response system and confronting escalating security challenges and threats constitutes an essential element of its activity, including the fight against international terrorism and extremism.

Also, he noted the need for Member States to deepen interaction to ensure a timely response, and stressed the need to focus the organization's efforts, not only on confronting challenges and security threats, but also on "eliminating the causes of their occurrence", and suggested the establishment of an entire military-political structure on the basis of a treaty organization. collective security.

The Russian Foreign Minister also noted that NATO countries are concerned about the growing importance of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and stressed the need for it to play the role of "a guarantor of balance in the Euro-Atlantic region" and the indivisibility of security.

On May 16, a meeting of the heads of state of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was held in Moscow, during which the Russian president indicated that “NATO expansion is artificial, and goes beyond its geographical objective,” in an attempt to influence other regions, and noted that the CSTO “plays a role extremely important in stabilizing the former Soviet Union,” which encourages other countries to “consider joining the CSTO, which has sufficient capabilities to respond to the challenges of NATO expansion.”

However, the "Western European flock" continues its attempts to counter the influence of the organization, by preoccupying its members with their security, as well as by turning Turkey, as the spearhead of NATO, into a lever for anti-Russian influence, through escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh. At the request of Brussels and Washington, Ankara tried to play an active role in resolving this conflict, by exploiting Moscow’s lukewarm intervention in its results, and tried to offer a trade-off for the military alliance of the countries of the region with it, in exchange for accepting its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

With the aim of enhancing its importance in the region, Turkey pumped its investments, sent preachers, opened centers for educational programs in the Central Asian region, and circulated the terms and concepts of "Uzbek Turks", "Tatar Turks" and "Kyrgyz Turks" in its media, and began talking about the "Turkish world" And it established the “Turkish Council”, in parallel with the intensification of its activity in spreading the ideas of Turkish nationalism, as it seeks to create a new and alternative ethnic national identity for the post-Soviet republics, and to replace the region’s original society with a new fake one under Turkish leadership.

Turkey has also tended to sell arms to Central Asian countries, to perpetuate the idea that it is able to guarantee the defense capacity of countries that revolve in its ideological, social, economic and military orbit. Thus, it is trying to open the way towards Erdogan's project known as the "Great Turan" to restore the lands of the Ottoman Empire, by focusing on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, to create a unified army for the Turan project, with the aim of extricating these countries and withdrawing them from the Collective Security Organization, and weakening the Eurasian Union militarily and economically.

As in the past, in order to create a permanent and constant threat to Russia, Britain created the Ottoman Empire. Today, both London and Washington are using Turkey as a member of NATO to confront Russia, especially in the Central Asian region, by proposing Erdogan the idea of ​​"the Great Turan", which is supposed to be able to bring about a radical change in the international balance of power.

For these purposes, the Westerners bear the filth of dealing with the Turkish president and his government, and suffer to see an “Asian NATO” under the Turkish leadership. The hostility of the Russian state makes them unable to determine the interests of their peoples, and unable to guarantee the Turkish-Erdogan fulfillment of their plans, amid the Turks’ dissatisfaction with their presence in NATO. In light of the mutual distrust between the two parties.

In the midst of this atmosphere, we are hearing some of Ankara’s Atlantic allies talking about the need to exclude it from the alliance, and they are closely following its positive contacts with Russia, which contributes to pushing Turkey to abandon its historical anti-Russian role, with the Turkish President’s assertion and his recent statements about Turkey’s unwillingness To participate in the anti-Russian sanctions policy imposed by Washington.

Message to US: China not hesitate to start war

Message to US: China not hesitate to start war

    Friday, June 17, 2022   No comments

Officials reported that China's defense minister warned his US counterpart Friday that if Taiwan declares independence, Beijing will "not hesitate to start a war."

Wu Qian, the spokesperson of the Information Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, quoted defense minister Wei Fenghe saying  "If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost," during a meeting with Lloyd Austin. 

The meeting is Austin and Wei's first since they spoke on the phone on April 20, which was the first such call since the Biden administration took office.

According to the Chinese defense ministry, the Chinese minister also promised to "smash to smithereens any 'Taiwan independence' plot and resolutely uphold the unification of the motherland."

He stressed that "Taiwan is China's Taiwan... Using Taiwan to contain China will never prevail."

Austin told Fenghe during the talks that Beijing must "refrain from further destabilizing actions toward Taiwan", the US Department of Defense said.  

In related news, China on Friday formally launched its third aircraft carrier during a ceremony marking the landing of the ship at a shipyard in Shanghai, CCTV reported.

Putin: Energy and food problems are the result of the West's wrong policies; All objectives of the Russian military operation in Ukraine will be achieved

Putin: Energy and food problems are the result of the West's wrong policies; All objectives of the Russian military operation in Ukraine will be achieved

    Friday, June 17, 2022   No comments

 Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed today, Friday, that "the world is diverse and one framework cannot be imposed on everyone from one center," adding: "The world is no longer the same as before."

In his speech at the Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that "the United States of America announced that it had won the Cold War and considered itself descended from heaven."

He recalled what he said in Davos a year and a half ago that the "unipolar world has ended" and that there are strenuous attempts to try to restore it, noting that "it is no longer possible to ignore the interests of the new centers of power in the world."

"Outdated geopolitical illusions have undermined confidence in global currencies," Putin said.

The West expected the ruble to collapse, but what happened was the opposite

The Russian president pointed out that "the West's measures to destroy the Russian economy failed and did not bear fruit," explaining that "the reaction of the Russian people came against what the West wanted, as we have increased strength and cohesion."

Putin stressed that "the Russian financial system is stable," noting that "the West expected the ruble to collapse and reach 200 against the dollar, but what happened was the opposite and their expectations were not fulfilled."

"The goal of the sanctions was to bring down the Russian economy, but they did not succeed because the Russian economic sector worked efficiently," he said.

"The Russian people are a strong people who will deal with any problem, and this is evidenced by the thousand-year history of our country," Putin said.

He added that "European politicians have harmed their countries' economies," noting that "the consequences of sanctions imposed on Russia will be $400 billion on European economies."

He stressed that "sanctions can be imposed on any country, including European countries and any European companies."

The European Union has completely lost its sovereignty

During his speech, Putin saw that "the European Union has completely lost its sovereignty, is subject to external dictates, and implements everything that is dictated to it," noting that "inflation growth in some eurozone countries has now exceeded the level of 20%."

Considering that "the world has reached this situation as a result of the activities carried out by the seven major industrialized countries at the level of economy and politics."

There is a danger that Ukrainian wheat will go to finance arms deals

"The Russian military operation in Ukraine was an excuse to hold Russia responsible for all the mistakes," the Russian president said, stressing that "the special military operation in Donbas has nothing to do with the situation in Europe."

He pointed out that "the United States was at the forefront of exporters in the global market, but the US role has now changed."

Putin pointed out that "the West deliberately created a food crisis by buying foodstuffs in world markets above its actual needs," adding that "the United States was the main supplier of many food commodities, and today it has become an importer rather than an exporter."

He revealed that "Russia is interested in exporting 50 million tons of wheat, a priority for needy countries in the countries of the Middle East and Africa," explaining that "the West is pursuing the same old policy of plunder and imperialism, but in a new way."

He added, "Democratic procedures, elections in Europe sometimes look at what's going on there, what forces come to power. It all seems like a screen [to camouflage], because political parties are alike, like twins, superseding each other. However, the The essence of this does not change, the real interests of citizens, national business are being pushed more and more into the backyard, to the fringes.”

He stressed that Russia does not obstruct food exports from Ukraine and that it is not the one who planted mines in the ports, and said in this context, "We will secure the transportation of grain from the ports, but the Ukrainian side should secure the ports from what they planted of sea mines."

Putin warned that "there is a danger that Ukrainian wheat will go to finance arms deals."

Putin: All objectives of the Russian military operation will be achieved

Putin said that "the reason for the energy crisis in Europe lies in the wrong policy of the European Union and the unjustified dependence on alternative energy," stressing that "there was no escape from the decision to launch military currency, as the Donbas residents were subjected to abuse by the Western-backed Ukrainian regime."

Putin added that "all the objectives of the Russian military operation will be achieved," adding that "our soldiers are defending the homeland, the people and human values, and they are resisting extraneous values ​​and moral decay."

He pointed out that "sovereignty in the 21st century is indivisible."

He denounced Western actions, saying: "The West has always been generous in raising the level of hostility against Russia and creating a poisonous atmosphere of Russophobia."

Putin: Russia will not be isolated

Putin pointed out that "the change in the Russian economy and its ability to confront sanctions is what we have made over the past years," noting that "the structure of Western sanctions was based on a false belief that Russia is not a self-sufficient economy."

"The sanctions provide us with a great opportunity and impetus to move forward with regard to technological independence," he said, adding that "Russia will not undergo the process of isolation that the hostile countries thought we would submit to."

He added that "Russia will deal with leaders who want to deal with it, who are able to distinguish between the interests of their countries and foreign dictates."

Putin predicted that "the current situation in Europe will lead to an escalation of radicalism in the future to change the ruling elites," adding that "everyone working with Russia is under unprecedented pressure from the United States and the European Union."

More Chechen fighters are heading for the Donbass region, Ukraine

More Chechen fighters are heading for the Donbass region, Ukraine

    Thursday, May 19, 2022   No comments

More Chechen fighters are flying out of Grozny Akhmat-Khadzhi Kadyrov International Airport heading for the Donbass region, Ukraine.

These are recent graduates of the Russian University of Special Forces in Gudermes.

Chairman of the Parliament of the Chechen Republic Magomed Daudov and Minister of the Interior for the Chechen Republic Ruslan Alkhanov offered parting words.  

.........................

Esper's diary: Trump relied on fabricated and misleading information to target Soleimani

Esper's diary: Trump relied on fabricated and misleading information to target Soleimani

    Tuesday, May 10, 2022   No comments

Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in his memoirs, asserts that "Trump greatly exaggerates his statements, and often makes unreliable and fabricated statements."

Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed that he "opposed" former US President Donald Trump's decision to target the commander of the Quds Force, the martyr Qassem Soleimani, after Trump claimed "Soleimani was involved in targeting 4 US diplomatic missions."

Esper's newly released memoirs, titled "A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Defense Secretary During Difficult Times", stated that "the daily intelligence briefings, which he reviewed, did not include any evidence to support the theory of accusing Soleimani of an attack on American embassies," adding that "Trump Adopt a pattern of behavior based on lying.

"Trump greatly exaggerates his statements, often making unreliable and fabricated statements," Esper wrote in his memoirs.

Esper was directly attacked by President Trump, who accused him of dishonesty, and was subsequently dismissed from office in November 2020.

Earlier, Esper revealed, in his memoirs, that Trump suggested shooting demonstrators who demanded racial justice, when the demonstrations approached the White House.

Redacted quotes in a new book by former US defence secretary Mark Esper suggest that former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on US President Donald Trump to take direct military action against Iran's nuclear programme. 

In the book, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, Esper notes that Trump seemed firm in his commitment not to enter a war with Iran, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday.

He writes: "The president often had others in the room, and foreign leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him [REDACTED]."

Esper wrote that Milley told him that Robert O'Brien, Trump's national security adviser, had called to say that "the president wanted to strike a senior military officer who was operating outside of Iran".

"But why now? What was new? Was there an imminent threat? What about gathering the national security team to discuss this?

"Milley said he was 'stunned' by the call, and he sensed that O'Brien 'put the president up to this,' trying to create news that would help Trump's re-election."

Putin: Any country or party interfering with what is happening in Ukraine would make Russia "respond harshly"

Putin: Any country or party interfering with what is happening in Ukraine would make Russia "respond harshly"

    Wednesday, April 27, 2022   No comments

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned any country or party against interfering with what is happening in Ukraine, and stressed that his country would "respond harshly."

This came during Putin's speech before a session of the Council of Legislators of the Russian Federal Assembly, which was held in Petersburg.

"If an outside party tries to interfere in the Ukrainian events, it should know that our strikes will be lightning," he said.

He added that in the event of any threat to Moscow, "it will use means that none of its opponents yet possesses," without further clarification.

In this context, Putin considered that the West has turned neighboring Ukraine into an "enemy country of Russia," and continued, "Ukraine has simply become a consumable item in the war against Russia."

During his speech, Putin reiterated that all the objectives of the planned military operation in Ukraine "will be achieved without a doubt," stressing that it will guarantee the security of Donbass, Crimea and the whole of Russia in the future.

On February 24, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine, followed by international rejection and severe economic and financial sanctions against Moscow, which stipulate to end its operation that Kyiv abandon plans to join military entities and adhere to complete neutrality, which the latter considers an "interference in its sovereignty."

Russia draws new rules of engagement: British weapons making their way Ukraine, if used to attack targets in Russia, will be responded to by attacks on "decision-making positions in Kyiv"

Russia draws new rules of engagement: British weapons making their way Ukraine, if used to attack targets in Russia, will be responded to by attacks on "decision-making positions in Kyiv"

    Tuesday, April 26, 2022   No comments

After the statements of the British Deputy Defense Minister, that there would be no problem if the weapons supplied by Britain to Ukraine were used to "hit targets inside Russian territory", Moscow responded.

Russia draws new rules of engagement: British weapons making their way Ukraine, if used to attack targets in Russia, will be responded to by attacks on "decision-making positions in Kyiv"

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that it will respond by striking decision-making positions in Kyiv, if the latter uses British weapons provided to it to strike targets inside Russian territory.

"We want to stress that London's direct provocation with such measures, if implemented, will immediately lead to an appropriate response on our part," the ministry said in a statement.

"There will be no problem if the weapons supplied by Britain to Ukraine are used to strike targets inside Russian territory," Hebei said earlier.

"As we previously warned, the Russian armed forces are on standby around the clock to launch long-range and precisely targeted strikes against decision-making centers in Kyiv," the Russian statement added.

"In the event of a response and strikes on the Ukrainian decision-making headquarters in Kyiv, advisers and citizens of one of the Western countries will not pose a problem to Russia," the statement continued, using a phrase Hebe said in his statements.

Two weeks ago, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, during his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv, that his country would provide a new package of financial and military aid, noting that this aid "is a testament to Britain's commitment to Ukraine's struggle against Russia."

In a related context, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect the "NATO" alliance against Russia, noting that "some missiles are under water, and the British Navy is ready to launch nuclear weapons if necessary... Russia should not forget that." 

China signs the security agreement with the Solomon Islands, drawing criticism from the US and Australia

China signs the security agreement with the Solomon Islands, drawing criticism from the US and Australia

    Tuesday, April 19, 2022   No comments

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday, that Beijing and the Solomon Islands signed a joint security cooperation agreement.

The official Chinese CGTN network quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin as saying that "officials from China and the Solomon Islands signed a framework agreement for bilateral security cooperation."

"The security cooperation framework signed by China and Solomon Islands does not target any third party, and does not conflict with the existing bilateral or multilateral security cooperation mechanisms of the Solomon Islands," the Chinese newspaper, Global Times, quoted the Chinese foreign minister as saying.

On the other hand, the United States expressed its concern over China's conclusion of a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, to which a delegation of senior American diplomats went, in an effort to "thwart Beijing's expansion" in this strategic region.

"Despite the statements of the Solomon Islands government, the broad nature of the security agreement leaves the door open for the People's Republic of China to deploy military forces in the Solomon Islands," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

In turn, Australia asked the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavarre, not to sign the security agreement with China.

Two days ago, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirmed that "Australia will continue to cooperate with the Solomon Islands on security issues."

The Chinese government respended to US criticism by asking: "Why does the US bother to visit an island country where its embassy has been shut down for 29 years? To care about the country's development status or try to achieve other purposes?" 

The timing and the rhetoric signal that China is using current events to emphacize Western states' double standard by connecting the issues of the Solomon Islands, Taiwan, and Ukraine. The Chinese leaders seem unconvinced of the need to speak against Russia's war in Ukraine because of the utility of Putin's justification of his operation in Ukraine to China's security concerns related to US and EU support to Taiwan and US and Australia's objection to an agreement with the Solomon Islands: If Ukraine has the right to join NATO,  Solomon Islands, too, should have the right to enter into security agreement with China.

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

China send a fleet of Y-20 transport planes loaded with missiles to Serbia

    Sunday, April 10, 2022   No comments

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.

The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.

The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.

“The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.”

Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their demonstration of force.”

read more from the AP story...

China's major English language online outlet said this about the event:

A fleet of six Y-20 cargo planes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force was reportedly spotted in Serbia on Saturday, with observers saying on Sunday that it could be the largest overseas operation by the Chinese domestically developed large transport plane yet, displaying the country's strategic transport capabilities.

Citing commercial flight trackers, US news website thedrive.com reported on Saturday that the six Y-20 aircraft were first spotted heading west in Turkish airspace late Friday night, and later local residents took photos of the Y-20s, which allegedly landed in Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade, Serbia. The aircraft later flew over the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey again on their way back to China.

China has not made an official announcement about the mission as of press time, but the Global Times learned that the Y-20s indeed have carried out such a flight.

Read GT story here...

Analysts have already connected this event to the war in Ukraine.

As the Ukraine war rages on, Serbia is feeling the heat because of its ties with Russia. While in the U.N. General Assembly, Serbia voted in favor of the resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supporting Ukrainian territorial integrity, Belgrade avoided imposing economic sanctions against Russia.

With its partnership with Russia under duress, Serbian ties with Beijing appear carefree in comparison. Indeed, the war in Ukraine provides Serbia with an opportunity to continue and boost the policy, which was already unfolding even before the war, of replacing Russia with China as Serbia’s primary non-Western partner. This policy is even more appealing as Serbia is about to undergo an electoral cycle in April 2022, making China a perfect instrument of domestic promotion for the Serbian leadership.

 

Meet the nuke the U.S. keeps in Europe, just waiting to not be used

Meet the nuke the U.S. keeps in Europe, just waiting to not be used

    Tuesday, March 29, 2022   No comments

Media review: 

Near steep vineyards of riesling grapes, in an underground vault at an air force base in western Germany, sits an American nuclear bomb. More than one of them, actually. Each bomb is about the length of two refrigerators laid down end to end and as heavy as the average adult male musk ox. The bombs are slender and pointy and a little more than a foot wide.

Experts estimate that there are about 100 such bombs stored among five NATO countries, ready to be loaded on jets and dropped by the United States and its allies - old-school style, parachute and all - toward an enemy target. One version of this bomb can carry the explosive equivalent of 11 Hiroshimas.

source: 

... countinue reading the original article

After SoS, Blinken appeared to geenlight Poland sending fighter jets to Ukraine, the Pentagon clarifies: ‘No Decisions Made’

After SoS, Blinken appeared to geenlight Poland sending fighter jets to Ukraine, the Pentagon clarifies: ‘No Decisions Made’

    Tuesday, March 08, 2022   No comments

The Ukrainian government asked Western nations to supply them fighter jets or impose no-fly-zone over Ukraine. US state department appeared to support the idea of Poland providing such military support. Russia responded saying that any such move by a European nation will make them directly involved in the conflict and Russia will respond accordingly. Once that threat was issued and when Poland felt the lack of support should Russia respond, the Polish government commented on it sending fighter jets to Ukraine: "Fake News".

 On Monday, the Pentagon downplayed the chances of Poland sending Ukraine Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said such a plan would get a “green light” from the US.

Blinken said that the US was in discussions with Poland to replenish Warsaw’s fleet with US-made jets if it transfers the MiG-29s to Ukraine. But as recently as Sunday, Polish officials have characterized the idea of Poland sending warplanes to Ukraine as “fake news.”

When asked about the comments from Polish officials, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, “no decisions have been made,” and that the decision was ultimately up to Poland.

“This will be a sovereign decision for a nation-state to make. Whether it’s Poland or anybody else, that should they want to provide aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force, that’s a sovereign decision that they can make,” he said.

read more...

China seeks clarification from the United States on military biological activities

China seeks clarification from the United States on military biological activities

    Tuesday, March 08, 2022   No comments

US urged to clarify biomilitary activities, accept multilateral inspections as Ukraine found to have 30 biolabs

China has urged the US to make full clarification of its biological militarization activities at home and abroad and accept multilateral inspections, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, following media reports that revealed a network of about 30 biological laboratories were formed in Ukraine at the request of the US.

The US' biological laboratories in Ukraine have aroused great concern, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in remarks during a press conference. Zhao cited media reports as saying that the biological laboratories store large quantities of dangerous viruses, and Russia has found during its military operations that the US is using these facilities for biomilitary projects.

 read article...

Full text and summary of the 25-year China-Iran deal covering Trade and Military Collaboration

Full text and summary of the 25-year China-Iran deal covering Trade and Military Collaboration

    Friday, July 17, 2020   No comments

Media review: Iran replaces its nuclear deal with the P5+1 with one with China

China and Iran are reported to have quietly drafted a comprehensive military and trade partnership. The deal would make way for about $400 billion worth of Chinese investments into Iran’s key sectors, such as energy and infrastructure, over the next 25 years.

The deal:

An 18-page draft of the proposed agreement, the Persian version of it available at the end of this summary,
talks about expanding Chinese presence in Iran’s “banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects”. In return, Iran is to provide regular and “heavily discounted” supply of oil to China for 25 years.

In the strategic realm, the proposed draft talks about deepening military cooperation, with “joint training and exercises”, “joint research and weapons development”, and intelligence sharing.

This deepening military cooperation would be intended to fight the “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes”.

The deal is reported to have been first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his 2016 visit to Tehran, and the proposed draft was approved by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif over the last couple of weeks.

These moves come at a time when the Iranian economy has been crippled by sweeping US sanctions, which have ensured that any company in the world that deals with Iran would be cut off from the global financial system.

The deal has not been presented to the Iranian parliament yet, and Beijing is still to disclose the terms of the deal, though Iranian officials have publicly acknowledged that there is a “pending agreement with China”.

What does it entail?
The opening sentence of the proposed draft says: “Two ancient Asian cultures, two partners in the sectors of trade, economy, politics, culture and security with a similar outlook and many mutual bilateral and multilateral interests will consider one another strategic partners.”

There are nearly 100 projects cited in the document that would have Chinese investments, and are expected to be a part of Xi’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to extend China’s strategic influence across Eurasia.

These 100 projects include “airports, high-speed railways and subways”, effectively touching the lives of most Iranian citizens.

“China would (also) develop free-trade zones in Maku, in northwestern Iran; in Abadan, where the Shatt al-Arab river flows into the Persian Gulf, and on the gulf island Qeshm,” notes the NYT report.

The draft agreement also talks about China building infrastructure for 5G telecommunications network in Iran. This would see Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei — a company that has come under severe US sanctions and been banned by many countries across the world such as the United Kingdom and Australia — enter the Iranian market.

Chinese global positioning system BeiDou is also proposed to assist Iran’s cyber authorities in regulating what is shared in the country’s cyberspace, potentially paving the way for Iran to develop a China-like “great firewall”.

US ‘pushed’ Iran into China’s arms
Since coming to power in 2017, US President Donald Trump has withdrawn from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which froze the country’s nuclear programme, and enforced comprehensive sanctions on Iran, devastating its economy. Now “Tehran’s desperation has pushed it into the arms of China”, remarks the NYT report.

“Iran and China both view this deal as a strategic partnership in not just expanding their own interests but confronting the US. It is the first of its kind for Iran, keen on having a world power as an ally,” said Ali Gholizadeh, who works at University of Science and Technology of China in Beijing.

Until now, Iran used to seek European cooperation for trade and investment, but it has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with it.

“The draft agreement with Iran shows that unlike most countries, China feels it is in a position to defy the United States, powerful enough to withstand American penalties, as it has in the trade war waged by President Trump,” said the NYT report.

The US State Department spokesperson said the US would continue to “impose costs on Chinese companies that aid Iran”.

Middle East geopolitics

For decades now, the US forces have dominated the Middle East’s security paradigm, but this agreement could now provide China with a foothold in the region, according to unnamed US officials in the NYT report.

Analysts contend that when China develops strategic ports in various countries, there is a possibility that it might militarise them at some point.

In the proposed draft, China plans to build several ports in Iran, one of them at Jask, just outside the Gulf of Hormuz, which is the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

The Gulf of Hormuz is among the nine key maritime chokepoints across the world. All of these chokepoints are controlled by the US, which many security analysts believe is a marker of US strategic hegemony over the world.

Now, a Chinese port at Jask “would give the Chinese a strategic vantage point on the waters through which much of the world’s oil transits. The passage is of critical strategic importance to the United States, whose Navy’s Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain in the gulf,” the NYT report states.

____________

Unverified copy of the Agreement Between Iran and China:

Who armed ISIS? A three year study provides some answers

Who armed ISIS? A three year study provides some answers

    Thursday, December 14, 2017   No comments

Supplies of materiel, including advanced light weapons systems the U.S. military, from foreign parties — notably the United States and Saudi Arabia, ended up in the hands of ISIS fighters.

This report is the result of more than three years of field investigation into Islamic State supply chains. It presents an analysis of more than 40,000 items recovered from the group between 2014 and 2017. These items encompass weapons, ammunition, and the traceable components and chemical precursors used by the group to manufacture improvised explosive devices.

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what will China do if the U.S. or North Korea launch first strike?

what will China do if the U.S. or North Korea launch first strike?

    Friday, August 11, 2017   No comments

ISR comment: While the U.S. and North Korea increased their threats to one another, China moved to make its position clear. Although the views of this news outlet are not direct official government declarations, reports nonetheless represent China's inclination made public before issuing policy statements. The Global Times outlined China's position as follows:
 

Beijing is not able to persuade Washington or Pyongyang to back down at this time. It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardize China's interests, China will respond with a firm hand.

China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral. If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.

Saudi Arabia signals a shift in its policy, advises the Syrian opposition faction it supports to come up with new strategy guided by the fact that Assad will be in power for the foreseeable future

Saudi Arabia signals a shift in its policy, advises the Syrian opposition faction it supports to come up with new strategy guided by the fact that Assad will be in power for the foreseeable future

    Sunday, August 06, 2017   No comments

In an interview on Almayadeen, a member of the Syrian Opposition faction supported by Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Asrawi, the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir has advised the group to rethink their political strategy to factor in the possibility that the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, will remain in power. Jubeir signaled that the new Saudi position is guided by the idea that the future of Assad, like that of Syria, is entirely in the "hands of Syrians, not the Saudis."

 Al Asrawi said that Al Jubeir assured them that that Supreme Council of Saudi Arabia supports any efforts, aimed at finding a political solution in Syria, a solution wherein Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity remain intact. 

  

According to Asrawi, Al Jubeir said that the international community's approach to fight terrorism in the wake of terrorist act that devastated the French capital city of Paris, is not right and has led to the killing of dozens of people.

Hours after the interview was aired, the Saudi Foreign Ministry released a statement claiming that the information is inaccurate and stressing that there is no change of policy: Saudi Arabia does not see a future Syria with Assad in charge.

   

This new development is reflective of the new reality in which the Syrian government and its allies are gaining more ground while opposition forces are engaged in infighting and looking for way out of a war they now know cannot be won.

Some rebel groups decided to move from Syria's eastern country side to Kurdish control areas and form a new army they want to call Syria's liberation army. Others refused to move and formed a second coalition that will continue fighting the government. Meanwhile, Islamists in Idlib continue to fight each other. The Syrian army and its allies are closing in on ISIL's stronghold, Deir Ez zor.

Syrian troops are advancing towards Deir Ez Zour from the northwest and southeast.