20 Years ago, Today, the United States Government and Allied Illegally Invaded Iraq

20 Years ago, Today, the United States Government and Allied Illegally Invaded Iraq

    Sunday, March 19, 2023   No comments

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrives in the UAE on a surprise official visit, and meets his Emirati counterpart, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrives in the UAE on a surprise official visit, and meets his Emirati counterpart, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

    Sunday, March 19, 2023   No comments

Today, Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in the UAE on an official visit, where he met his Emirati counterpart, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Syrian presidency stated, in a statement, that President al-Assad arrived "this afternoon in the United Arab Emirates on an official visit, during which he is accompanied by First Lady Asma al-Assad."

She added, "He was received upon his arrival at the presidential airport in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates," noting that they went to the Al-Watan Palace in the capital, Abu Dhabi, to start the talks.

In turn, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed said, "We held constructive talks with the Syrian president to support and develop brotherly relations for the benefit of the two countries."

"We are working to strengthen cooperation and coordination with Damascus on issues that serve stability and development," Mohammed bin Zayed added.

The delegation of the accompanying Syrian president included Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Samer Khalil, Minister of Presidential Affairs Mansour Azzam, Minister of Information Boutros Hallaq, Assistant Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan, and Chargé d'Affaires of the Syrian Embassy in Abu Dhabi Ghassan Abbas.

It is noteworthy that the Emirati Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, visited the Syrian capital, Damascus, on the 12th of last February, in the first visit by a prominent foreign official, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck the north of the country on the 6th of the same month.

China, Iran, Russia hold joint naval drills in Gulf of Oman

China, Iran, Russia hold joint naval drills in Gulf of Oman

    Saturday, March 18, 2023   No comments

Media review: China's GT, reported today about the navies of China, Iran and Russia holding a joint maritime exercise starting Wednesday in a move to enhance cooperation as well as to safeguard maritime security and regional peace.

Based on the consensus reached by the armed forces of China, Iran and Russia, the navies of the three countries will be holding the Security Belt-2023 joint maritime military exercise from Wednesday to Sunday in the Gulf of Oman, China's Ministry of National Defense (MOD) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Security Belt-2023 joint naval drill is a development of the two joint naval drills among China, Iran and Russia held in 2019 and 2022, with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy dispatching the guided missile destroyer Nanning to the exercise, mainly participating in training courses including aerial search, maritime rescue and maritime march past, reads the MOD statement.

  This video of the drills was released by the Russian military today:

  

Chechen Republic President explains why his troops are fighting in Ukraine

Chechen Republic President explains why his troops are fighting in Ukraine

    Friday, March 17, 2023   No comments

The President of the Chechen Republic has sent troops to Ukraine since the start of the military operation there. He offered many reasons for doing so—from protecting the Russian federation (fatherland), to fighting evil. With the increased number of Chechen and central Asian Muslims joining the “International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine”, the foreign armed group founded by order of the president of Ukraine, the leader of the Muslim republic found it necessary to justify his decision to send troops to fight for Russia to Muslims inside and outside Chechenia. In his most recent statement, Kadyrov showed a video that allegedly show Ukrainian government fighters burning the Quran, to recall the event of burning the Quran in Europe. He captioned the video with the following statement:

Turkey's ruling party considers Assad's conditions to meet Erdogan "inappropriate"

Turkey's ruling party considers Assad's conditions to meet Erdogan "inappropriate"

    Friday, March 17, 2023   No comments

A member of the Central Decision and Implementation Authority of the Turkish "Justice and Development" Party, Orhan Miri Oglu, confirmed today, Friday, that Damascus' conditions regarding negotiations between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are "inappropriate" to normalize relations between the two countries, pointing to the possibility of holding a meeting between them after the elections. Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for May 14.

"Al-Assad demands Turkey to withdraw from Syrian territory as a condition for normalizing relations with Turkey. It is not permissible to raise the ceiling of demands in diplomatic relations with the start of the talks if the negotiating parties intend to reconcile, understand and find a solution to the differences," Merioglu said in an interview with "Sputnik" agency.

He continued, "Al-Assad's start to set preconditions for talks with Turkey gives the latter the right to demand that Damascus stop supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces."

He added, "The possibility of a meeting between Erdogan and Assad before the Turkish elections is very low. As for their meeting after the elections, it will become clear according to the results and balances of the elections."

Yesterday, Thursday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said from Russia that "there is no disagreement between the Syrian and Turkish peoples, and the problem lies in the private ambitions of Turkish politicians."

Commenting on the possibility of meeting Erdogan, al-Assad affirmed that the priority is in "the withdrawal of illegal foreign forces, i.e. Turkish and American," noting that "Erdogan's priority is the elections and nothing else. As for Syria, the priority is the withdrawal and restoration of sovereignty."

And the Syrian president added that if the conditions are met, "there is no specific date for Erdogan's meeting, it may be today or tomorrow, and the timing is not a problem."

Last November, Erdogan hinted at the possibility of reconsidering relations with Damascus after the 2023 elections in Turkey, saying: "We can reconsider our relations with the countries with which we face problems, after the elections."

Likewise, the Turkish president said that he is "ready to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when the time comes," and he confirmed earlier that "low-level talks with the Syrian side are still on the way."

The Garden of Prosperity Today

The Garden of Prosperity Today

    Thursday, March 16, 2023   No comments

Scenes not from the jungle; from the garden of prosperity; Paris today:

After striking a security deal that opened the door to political normalization between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Shamkhani eyes security upgrades with UAE

After striking a security deal that opened the door to political normalization between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Shamkhani eyes security upgrades with UAE

    Thursday, March 16, 2023   No comments

The UAE National Security Adviser, also self-described as the architect of UAE national security, Tahnoon Bin Zayed, confirmed during the reception of the Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, in the UAE, on Thursday, that cooperation with "strong Iran" is very important for the UAE. 

Tahnoun bin Zayed said, as quoted by the official Iranian news agency IRNA, that "cooperation and friendship with the great and powerful country of Iran is very important and one of the priorities."

The Emirati adviser added that "the development of fraternal relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran is one of the priorities of the United Arab Emirates", stressing that "the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia is a building block in the expansion of peace, stability and sustainable security in the region".

He continued: "I hope that Admiral Shamkhani's visit will be a turning point in the relations between the two countries and the development of cooperation between them", adding that cooperation and friendship with Iran is one of the priorities of the Emirates.

For my part, the Secretary of the Supreme Council of National Security of Iran considered this trip to the Emirates "a useful start for the two countries to enter a new stage" in political, economic and security relations.

Shamkhani said that "cooperation and rapprochement should be replaced by enmity and distance" in order to overcome the challenges that cannot be sustained in the interest of the countries of the region.

Earlier today, Shamkhani asserted, before leaving Tehran for Abu Dhabi, that "Tehran's goal in neighboring diplomacy is to create a strong region".

And at the end of 2021, the Minister of National Security of the UAE visited the Iranian capital, Tehran, and met with Shamkhani, in response to the latter's invitation.

A few days ago, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced their agreement to resume diplomatic relations and open embassies between the two countries within two months.

Shamkhani also met the president of UAE, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

   

Saudi Arabia will stop oil supplies to countries that set a price ceiling on its oil

Saudi Arabia will stop oil supplies to countries that set a price ceiling on its oil

    Thursday, March 16, 2023   No comments

In another guesture in support of Russia and dismiss of EU actions, Saudi Arabia announced that it will stop oil supplies to countries that set a price ceiling on its oil

This was stated by the Minister of Energy of the Kingdom, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

In his view, price ceilings set for a country or a group of countries, for oil or any other commodity, will lead to individual or collective responses with serious consequences.

"So if there is a price cap on Saudi oil exports, we will not sell oil to any country that imposes a price cap on our supplies, and we will cut oil production, and I would not be surprised if others do the same," he said. the minister said.

The Saudi Energy Minister, Abdulaziz bin Salman, and the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak, confirmed during their meeting in Riyadh, today, Thursday, their countries’ commitment to the decision taken by “OPEC +” to reduce oil production by two million barrels per day until the end of 2023.

The Saudi Press Agency, "SPA", stated that bin Salman and Novak discussed the conditions of the global oil market, and the efforts of the "OPEC +" group aimed at "enhancing market stability and balance."

The two sides affirmed their countries' commitment to the decision taken by the "OPEC +" group, last October, to reduce production by two million barrels per day until the end of 2023, and the continuation of cooperation between the two countries, within the framework of the group, to enhance the stability and balance of the global market.

A few days ago, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Energy Affairs, Jose Fernandez, called on oil-producing countries, including the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), to "increase the quantities of crude supplied in the markets."

And in early October 2022, “OPEC +” decided to reduce its production by two million barrels per day, at a level that it has not changed since then.

It is noteworthy that the American "The Intercept" website had previously stated, quoting informed Saudi sources, that Riyadh had pressured to cut oil production twice more than what Russian President Vladimir Putin had requested.

On October 14, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House, John Kirby, said that "more than one member" of "OPEC +", without specifying them, disagreed about the size of the cut, but Saudi Arabia forced them to agree to it.

 

US Senator Roger Marshall: "The greatest long-term threat the United States faces is our national debt"

US Senator Roger Marshall: "The greatest long-term threat the United States faces is our national debt"

    Thursday, March 16, 2023   No comments

A statement that was true for almost all previous empires, is now discovered to apply to the US: "The greatest long-term threat the United States faces is our national debt". That is the conclusion of a US Senator Roger Marshall.

"I’m often asked what's the greatest threat our nation faces and I'm here to tell you [that] it's not Russia. It's not China. It's not North Korea. It's not Iran. And no, I love the environment, it's not climate change.  The greatest long-term threat the United States faces is our national debt of $31 trillion and growing," Marshall told the US Senate Budget Committee.

Reportedly, according to Marshall, President Joe Biden has spent more than any other president in US history during his first 20 months in office.

He adds that energy prices have risen by more than 37%, home heating fuel by more than 52%, electricity prices by more than 23%, gasoline by more than 45%, and groceries by more than 19% during the Biden administration.

 

Lessons from history support this point of view: almost all major empires collapsed under the weight of crushing debt, not due to outside military threats.

   

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: will not meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unless Turkey withdraws its forces from northern Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: will not meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unless Turkey withdraws its forces from northern Syria

    Thursday, March 16, 2023   No comments

Hours after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced that he will not meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unless Turkey withdraws its forces from northern Syria, Turkish officials called off a low level meeting among representives of the four states, Iran, Russia, Turkiye, and Syria. 

The Syrian president announced that he will not meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unless Turkey withdraws its forces from northern Syria.

Assad said that "(any assembly) is related to reaching the stage of Turkey's formation, in which it is clearly and without any ambiguity ready for the complete withdrawal from Syrian territory".

The Syrian president added that Turkey has "stopped supporting terrorism", referring to the militant groups that control the northern regions of Syria, some of which receive training and support from Turkey.

Assad added: "This is the only situation in which there can be a meeting between Erdoğan and Erdoğan."

He added questioningly: "Other than that, what is the value of the meeting if it does not achieve final results for the war in Syria?"

A source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the meeting of deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria, which was scheduled for this week, has been postponed to a date yet to be determined.

And the source said that the meeting was postponed "for technical reasons", I don't know the details.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had mentioned last week that the deputy foreign ministers of the four countries will meet this week in Moscow before scheduled talks between the foreign ministers at a later date in order to resolve the crisis in Syria.

Cavishoglu said, after meeting Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian last week, that Iran expressed its desire to join the talks between Turkey, Syria and Russia, and that Turkey agreed to it.

In this context, the Turkish Anatolia Agency pointed out that the meeting of deputy ministers would be held on March 15 and 16.

Turkey has troops in Syria and continues to supports and/or supplies armed groups controlled the northwest of Syria and a strip in the north, the rest of the territories outside the government control remain under the US and Kurdish forces; as the map below shows.