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Syria after 13 years of U.S. state terrorism… what do you expect?

By Finian Cunningham | Strategic Culture Foundation | December 10, 2024

In less than 13 days, a coalition of U.S.-backed jihadist militant groups took over Syria. The offensive, which began on November 27, culminated in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hastily stepping down and fleeing to Russia. Assad and his wife were confirmed to be in Moscow by December 9.

Assad said he made his decision to preserve the peace in Syria. Russia said it was not involved in his decision-making.

The gloating by American and European politicians reflects the years of investment by the Western powers for regime change in Syria. An investment that seems to have paid off, finally.

It is misplaced to speculate that there may have been some kind of betrayal or “deal” by Assad and his allies in Russia and Iran to let the country go. Yes, the Syrian army and authorities capitulated in breath-taking short order. But it is callow to conjecture about a more devious move behind the scenes, such as Russia or Iran leaving its Syrian ally to the mercy of insurgents.

Syria was simply broken and exhausted by years of Western aggression and attrition. There was little that Russia or Iran could do to salvage an allied country.

The final collapse of Syria did not come after a 13-day blitzkrieg. It came after 13 years of non-stop state terrorism by the United States and its European NATO allies. The earlier phase of U.S.-sponsored proxy terrorism (2011 to 2020) was checked by the intervention of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. But the West’s proxies weren’t defeated definitively. In retrospect, that may be seen as a fateful strategic blunder.

The continuation of the proxy war after 2020 relied on the imposition of crippling economic and trade sanctions on Syria by the U.S. and the European Union. War by other means also involved the American and Turkish military forces illegally occupying Syrian territory in the north, east, and south, which enabled the theft of Syria’s oil and wheat exports. During Trump’s previous presidency, he openly bragged about “stealing Syria’s oil.”

So, from 2011, when the Obama administration targeted Syria for regime change, until the fall of Damascus at the weekend, the nation has endured a 13-year war of attrition. Even after the relative peace obtained due to Russia and Iran’s intervention from around 2020 onwards, Syrians have been starved of food, medicines and fuel. Over half its population suffered displacement from their homes. The Syrian economy was in ruins. Its currency had become worthless, adjusting for inflation by the hour. When the Western-backed insurgents launched their offensive on November 27 from the northern Idlib enclave, there was nothing left of the Syrian state to put up resistance. Aleppo, Hama, Homs and the capital fell like dominoes.

The main insurgent faction is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Mohammed al-Jawlani. HTS is an internationally proscribed terrorist organization that even the U.S. officially designates as an outlawed group. Its leader has a bounty of $10 million on his head offered by the State Department.

But in the shell game of U.S. proxy war, HTS and its leader are Washington’s assets. From 2011, the Americans and their NATO partners used Al Qaeda, ISIS, Jabhat al Nusra Front (later HTS) with ratlines of weapons and fighters from Libya, Turkey and all over the world to descend on Syria to inflict horrors. The Western media propagated the charade by cynically referring to the terrorist proxies as “moderate rebels.” The Pentagon-run military base at Al Tanf in southern Syria is said to be for training “moderate rebels” when, in reality, it is jihadist extremists who are weaponized.

Only last week before the final push on the Syria capital, Damascus, Al-Jawlani, the HTS commander, was given a primetime interview/platform by CNN, the U.S. news channel, to rehabilitate his image as a statesman-like leader instead of being a wanted terrorist. Al-Jawlani says the days when he and his organization were associates of ISIS and Al Qaeda are long gone. And CNN and other Western media do their best to make the claim sound plausible. Ah, such a happy ending!

It’s not clear at this early stage if Syria will now be plunged into sectarian bloodletting, reprisals, and murderous mayhem that characterized the earlier phase of U.S.-sponsored proxy war in Syria when Shia, Alawites, and Christians were beheaded for being “apostates and infidels.”

Ominously, the United States and Israel immediately started bombing the country, cynically claiming that they were trying to stabilize the situation.

The rapid events in Syria have taken aback the whole world. Who would have thought only two weeks ago that Assad would end up exiled in Moscow? The reaction of the U.S., Israel and other Western leaders is almost disbelief in what they see as their great luck.

Russia and Iran seem to have been genuinely blindsided. The NATO proxy war in Ukraine on Russia’s doorstep has no doubt taken a toll on Russian military resources. Iran is preoccupied with securing its own country from Israeli aggression.

American President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke excitedly about the new “opportunity” in Syria. Both claimed to have had a hand in the triumph of a terrorist insurgency. Netanyahu took credit for his genocidal war on Gaza and Lebanon for weakening Syria’s allies in Hezbollah and Iran.

Biden was even more shameless in spelling out how U.S. state terrorism destroyed Syria and paved the way for its takeover by terrorist proxies. He said: “Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East through a combination of support for our partners, sanctions, diplomacy [sic], and targeted military force.”

In Washington’s double-speak, “support for partners, sanctions and targeted military force” translates as sponsoring terrorists to traumatize a nation, economic warfare to grind it down, and illegal aggression to force final submission.

The destruction of Syria is another vast crime by the U.S.-led imperialist West.

December 10, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

With Assad gone, Israel looks to expand while rival NATO-backed groups will turn on each other

By Omar Ahmed | MEMO | December 10, 2024

While others spoke of the revival of the Syrian revolution as an inevitability, especially with the weakening of Syria and the erosion of its allies capabilities, Hezbollah in particular, others have for years warned of the dire consequences of the alternative, given the domination of the armed opposition by former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).

The ousting of long-time President Bashar Al-Assad marks the end of 61 years of Baathist rule, paving the way for an uncharted and volatile future. As a key member of the Axis of Resistance, the loss of the Syrian state which served as a supply route from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon is another major blow to the only regional alliance that has taken military action against Israel in support of the Palestinians.

On 27 November, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups led by HTS launched a surprise offensive against government forces in north-west Syria from their bastion of Idlib after years of deadlock. This coalition, which included Turkish-backed factions and other rebel groups, quickly gained momentum. Within days, key cities fell to the rebels, notably Aleppo, Hama and Homs, ultimately tightening the noose around Damascus, before that too fell.

The timing of this offensive appears to be anything but coincidental.

Shortly before the operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had issued stern warnings to Assad, accusing him of “playing with fire” by hosting Iranian and Hezbollah forces and his role in transferring arms to Lebanon. This sequence of events suggests that the opposition groups in Syria may have perceived an opportunity to strike; more sinisterly, it suggests a call to action. It is common knowledge that Israel has provided arms and funding to several Syrian rebel factions during the civil war.

Implying his own role in being behind the opposition offensive, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that, “The target, of course, is Damascus. The opposition’s march continues. Our wish is that this march in Syria continues without accidents.” This was reportedly after Assad’s refusal to “determine the future of Syria together” with him.

In the immediate aftermath of Assad’s downfall, Israel wasted no time and moved swiftly to “secure” its northern borders by invading Syrian territory for the first time in 50 years. On 8 December, Israeli forces occupied the demilitarised buffer zone in Syria’s already Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, seizing Mount Hermon. Netanyahu framed the further occupation as a necessary defensive measure to prevent hostile entities from establishing a presence near the settler-colonial state’s borders. Although claiming to be a temporary measure, there is nothing to say this won’t be the latest case of the occupation state pushing back its nominal borders.

According to Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, developments in Syria showed why “it is more important than ever to create a strong regional coalition, with Saudi Arabia and the countries of the Abraham Accords, to work together.” He added that, “The Iranian axis has weakened significantly, and Israel needs to strive for an overall political achievement.”

The lightning advances of opposition forces were facilitated by the weakened state of Assad’s traditional allies, notably Hezbollah and Russia, which is preoccupied with Ukraine. Hezbollah has been impacted severely by its cross-border exchanges of fire with Israel which erupted in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, and the subsequent Israeli invasion and bombing campaign in Lebanon. Having failed to achieve its stated objectives, Tel Aviv had to settle for a ceasefire, but the movement suffered significant losses, including the assassination of its Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, in September.

Nasrallah had long warned that if Syria were to fall, it would have major ramifications for Palestinian liberation. “If Syria falls, so will Palestine, the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem,” he said in 2013. “We will enter a very dark phase. If Syria falls at the hands of the Americans and the Israelis and the American representatives in the region, the ‘resistance’ will be isolated and Israel will enter Lebanon and force its laws upon it. Lebanon will return to the Israeli era.”

There is a very real threat that extremists in Lebanon may seek to instigate their own “uprising” now that Hezbollah is regrouping and recovering, without support from Damascus. “If Syria is lost, Palestine would be lost,” Nasrallah reiterated two years later.

As of now, neither HTS nor the transitional government have released a statement addressing the Israeli invasion and occupation of Syrian lands, nor how, if at all, they intend to support the Palestinian resistance. While congratulating the Syrian people, Hamas stopped short of mentioning any rebel faction specifically, but did stipulate that it hoped that post-Assad Syria would continue “its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people.”

How this will happen remains unclear.

Hezbollah, for its part, has issued a statement following the Israeli invasion of Syria: “This aggressive occupation of Syrian lands coincides with the ongoing Zionist military aggression against Lebanon, its daily violations, and its assaults on Gaza. These interconnected threats place the region’s peoples in imminent danger, underscoring the unity of their struggle and the necessity of rejecting and confronting this aggression.”

Meanwhile, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), composed primarily of Kurdish fighters, have seized the city of Deir Ez-Zor, expanding their control over significant portions of eastern Syria. The US maintains an illegal military presence at the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria, a strategic location near the borders of Iraq and Jordan and close to Israel.

The rapid collapse of the Syrian Arab Republic and the lack of significant resistance from the Syrian Arab Army have raised questions about a potential behind-the-scenes agreement. Analysts speculate that discussions involving Russia, Iran, Turkiye and possibly the US resulted in a tacit understanding that allowed for Assad’s ouster with minimal bloodshed. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s apparent prioritisation of a resolution in Ukraine over Assad’s survival adds weight to this theory. By trading influence in Syria for concessions in Eastern Europe, Putin may have decided that Assad was expendable in the broader calculus of Moscow’s foreign policy.

Suffice to say he and his family have since been granted asylum in the Russian capital.

Essentially, the Syrian state’s prolonged depletion, exacerbated by continued Israeli bombardments targeting infrastructure and military assets, left it ill-prepared to mount any substantial defence.

With their common enemy — the Assad government — now removed, longstanding tensions among various rebel factions are likely to resurface owing to the opposing agendas of their NATO-member backers. The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the US-backed SDF have historically had strained relations, primarily due to Ankara’s opposition to Kurdish autonomy near its borders. The power vacuum has heightened the risk of clashes between these groups, each vying for control over strategic territories. At the weekend, Turkish-backed Syrian fighters launched an offensive against Kurdish forces in the northern Manbij area.

While the loss of a nation-state in the Axis of Resistance represents a major blow, the broader network remains resilient. Hezbollah, although weakened, is expected to adopt a more defensive posture in the short term, focusing on rebuilding its arsenal and fortifying its positions. Yemeni and Iraqi factions, meanwhile, continue to carry out operations against Israeli targets, signalling their ongoing commitment to the cause. Without Iranian supplies going to Lebanon via Syria, though, Israel stands to make further strategic gains now that the rebels have laid out the groundwork.

Even as Syria’s role as a logistical and strategic hub diminishes, the resistance will have no choice but to adapt, relying on alternative routes and methods to sustain operations. Hezbollah will need to refocus on indigenous weapons development and rely heavily on the expertise of the IRGC — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — to recover its strength. However, this effort will face its own challenges under Donald Trump’s incoming presidency, with possible renewed sanctions and increased pressure on Iran aiming to curb its regional influence.

Assad failed to bring about serious reforms even after the respite provided by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah against the foreign-backed opposition. The army, low on morale and supplies, offered little to no resistance against the march to Damascus. With scenes of freed prisoners from the notorious Sednaya Prison, only the most unhinged could double down uncritically about support for Assad’s rule. After 13 years of war, the people want and deserve peace and stability.

However, as post-Gaddafi Libya and post-Saddam Iraq have shown, the collapse of totalitarian or authoritarian states often gives way to new conflicts and instability, with tribal, ethnic or sectarian tensions resurfacing. For now, Syria remains a fractured and weakened state, dominated by regional and global powers. It is far from being free.

December 10, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Wars for Israel | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli forces reach Damascus outskirts as chaos grips Syria

The Cradle | December 10, 2024

Israeli forces have continued to expand their occupation in Syria and are now around 20 kilometers from the capital, Damascus – coming as Tel Aviv is simultaneously waging a massive bombing campaign across the country.

The Israeli army reached the city of Qatana in the southern Damascus countryside on 10 December, according to Al Mayadeen and Reuters.

Tel Aviv has denied moving past the now expanded UN-monitored buffer zone near Quneitra, which Israeli forces invaded on 8 December after the collapse of the deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government and the storming of Damascus by extremists.

Israeli jets continued destructive airstrikes early on Tuesday, hitting Syrian army facilities in Aleppo, Damascus, and the western port city of Latakia.

“The Israeli Navy carried out a large-scale operation last night to destroy the Syrian army fleet, where several ships belonging to the Syrian naval fleet were destroyed, which were carrying dozens of naval missiles, in the area of ​​the Bayda port and the Latakia port,” Israeli Army Radio reported on 10 December.

Over 250 Israeli airstrikes have targeted Syria since the fall of Damascus. Meanwhile, violence and instability have prevailed across post-Assad Syria.

According to reports on 10 December, Syrian chemist Dr Hamdi Ismail has been found killed inside his home.

Several executions of Syrian army soldiers have been reported since Damascus fell.

The new leadership in Damascus, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) commander Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has kept quiet about the Israeli occupation of southern Syria and the relentless attacks across the country.

HTS – formerly known as Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front – has been implicated in numerous atrocities, including kidnapping, public executions, indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, and other war crimes over the years.

The extremist organization appointed Mohammad Bashir as the new Syrian prime minister on 9 December.

Bashir was the prime minister of the HTS-led Salvation Government, which was formed in 2017 and ruled Syria’s northern province of Idlib – where HTS was based before the massive Turkish-backed assault against Syria that began late last month.

December 10, 2024 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

US backs Israeli invasion of Syria

RT | December 10, 2024

Washington has defended Israel’s military incursion into Syria, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stressing that the operation is in self-defense. At a press briefing on Monday, Miller claimed that the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) advance to the Syrian side of the Golan Heights was done to prevent Syrian-based militants from taking over the border areas and launching an offensive into Israel in the future.

Israeli troops moved into the demilitarized buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, after Syrian opposition forces seized Damascus and forced former President Bashar Assad to flee the country. On Monday, Israeli forces moved beyond the buffer zone and into Syria proper, with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz saying they intend to create a new “security area” there that would be clear of “heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructure.”

According to Miller, by abandoning its positions in the area around the buffer zone, the Syrian Army “potentially created a vacuum” that could be filled by terrorist organizations.

“That would threaten the state of Israel and would threaten civilians inside Israel. Every country has the right to take action against terrorist organizations,” Miller stated, adding that “ultimately, it’s important that there is security along that border,” which, according to him, the Israeli military can now ensure.

Miller noted, however, that Washington expects the Israeli occupation to be temporary.

“This is a temporary action that they have taken in response to actions by the Syrian military to withdraw from that area… We want to see the 1974 disengagement agreement upheld, and that includes the terms of the buffer zones, which includes Israel withdrawing to its previous positions,” he stated, referring to Israel’s 1974 agreement with Syria to establish a demilitarized strip in the Golan Heights.

Miller’s words run counter to remarks made earlier by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While West Jerusalem told the UN Security Council that its incursion into Syria is a “limited and temporary measure” at a press conference on Monday night, Netanyahu declared that “the Golan Heights will forever be an inseparable part of the state of Israel.” He previously argued that Israel’s disengagement agreement with Syria effectively “collapsed” once Syrian troops “abandoned their positions” in the buffer zone.

The UN has criticized Israel for the incursion, saying it violates the disengagement agreement and stressing that “there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation.” A number of Middle Eastern countries have also condemned Israel’s advance past the Golan Heights, accusing West Jerusalem of orchestrating an illegal land grab. In a statement on Monday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry slammed the move as “a blatant attack on Syria’s sovereignty and unity” and “a flagrant violation of international law.” Similar remarks were made by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

December 10, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli Finance Minister: Time to Seize Control of Gaza

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | December 9, 2024

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tel Aviv should exploit the downfall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and seize the Gaza Strip.

At a meeting of his Religious Zionist Party on Monday, Smotrich said, “We’ve seen in Syria how regime leaders flee like rats when they realize they’ve lost their grip on power. The same can be achieved in Gaza.” He continued. “We are close – we’ve already made tremendous strides there. Now, we must take the next step to secure a decisive and clear victory.”

“It is time to seize control of Gaza and strip Hamas of its civilian authority, cutting off its lifeline.” Smotrich added, “[We] must end the policy of containment and defense and shift to initiative and offense. We must dismantle terror hubs, strengthen Jewish settlements, and create facts on the ground that prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and remove this possibility from the agenda once and for all.”

Several top Israeli officials have openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza as well as building new Jewish settlements in the depopulated Strip. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party, recently said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is open to the idea of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Some Israeli officials see Donald Trump’s return to the White House as an opportunity to expand Israel’s borders, including Smotrich. “It is possible to create a situation where Gaza’s population in two years will be less than half its current size. Encouraging voluntary emigration is an opportunity that arises with the new administration,” he explained.

During his address to the Religious Zionism party, Smotrich went on to say that Israel should not agree to any ceasefire with Hamas and attempt to free hostages in Gaza with military force.

“Instead of discussing partial deals that leave many hostages behind, compromise the war’s achievements, and diminish the chance of victory, we must press forward. We must stop fearing our own shadows and do what is necessary,” he stated. “If we take these necessary steps, with God’s help, we will see the remaining Hamas leaders flee like rats, desperate to save themselves and their families. This will bring all the hostages home and remove the threat to Israel once and for all.”

Smotrich also said he has desires to expand Israel’s borders beyond Gaza, including the annexation of the West Bank. “The axis of evil’s ultimate hope is to establish a Palestinian state there as a base for the destruction of Israel,” he asserted. “Here, too, we must end the policy of containment and defense and shift to initiative and offense. We must dismantle terror hubs, strengthen Jewish settlements, and create facts on the ground that prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and remove this possibility from the agenda once and for all.”

Following Trump’s election, Smotrich noted that annexation of the West Bank is a possibility. This radical view is shared by Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel.

December 10, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia’s Demands in Peace Negotiations

Dmitri Polyanskiy, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen on the Duran
Glenn Diesen | December 7, 2024

We had a conversation with Dmitri Polyanskiy, the First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations. Polyanskiy shared the Russian perspective on recent escalations with NATO and the requirements for a peaceful settlement.

As Ukrainian frontlines are collapsing, the US can either escalate or start negotiations. The decision by the Biden administration to attack Russia with long-range ATACMS crossed Russia’s red lines, and the response was the Oreshnik missile. The Oreshnik missile was intended as a warning shot by not attaching a warhead. Russia demands an end to NATO expansion, territorial concessions, and restoring minority rights in Ukraine.

View video at Odysee

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Russophobia, Video | , , , | Leave a comment

The Real Scandal of Hunter‘s Pardon

By Ron Paul | December 9, 2024

Politicians and pundits spent much of last week commenting on President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter for lying on a federal gun purchase form, failing to pay taxes, and any other offenses he may have committed over the past decade. Much of the controversy is because President Biden repeatedly pledged that he would never pardon his son.

Some have also observed that the pardon’s timeline starts the year Hunter Biden joined the board of the Ukraine energy company Burisma. This has led to speculation that President Biden is trying to block any investigation into links between his son’s business dealings and President Biden’s Ukraine policy.

What has not been widely discussed is the fact that Hunter Biden may be the only American President Biden has pardoned for violating unconstitutional federal gun and drug laws.

Hunter Biden was convicted of lying on federal Form 4473. This is a form Americans must fill out to get federal government “permission” to purchase a firearm. Specifically, Hunter Biden gave a false answer to the question, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?”

The Second Amendment forbids the federal government from limiting the ability of any American to exercise his natural right to own a firearm. Furthermore, federal drug laws are themselves unconstitutional.

The Constitution only creates three federal crimes: treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. All other crimes are under the jurisdiction of state and local governments. So, the required use of this form is a constitutional violation of the rights of Hunter Biden and all other Americans who are subjected to it when they seek to obtain a gun.

Form 4473 warns Americans that “the use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.” Thus, someone could be prevented from exercising his Second Amendment right because of his activities that are perfectly legal in his state. This turns federalism on its head.

Hunter Biden was also convicted of, and pardoned for, tax evasion and the filing of fraudulent tax returns. It is hard for anyone who values liberty to get upset at those who violate the tax laws since the income tax is a form of theft by the government of people’s hard-earned income.

An outrage of Hunter Biden’s pardon is President Biden’s hypocrisy. When he served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1990s, then-Senator Biden played a major role in getting through Congress the Brady Law that created the federal gun purchase background check system that Hunter Biden was convicted of violating. Senator Biden also was a leading drug warrior who led the fight to pass the 1994 crime bill and was a champion of mandatory minimums and other infringements of civil liberties in the name of the war on drugs. President Biden also supported hiring more IRS agents to squeeze more money from taxpayers.

Then-Senator Biden wrote large parts of the PATRIOT Act. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Biden also led the effort to pass the unconstitutional (and disastrous) “authorization for use of military force” against Iraq.

President Biden should spend his last month in office pardoning more Americans for violations of unconstitutional drug and gun laws. This would serve as a small gesture of atonement for a political career spent advocating policies destructive of peace, prosperity, and liberty.

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Progressive Hypocrite | , | Leave a comment

Georgia prevented Maidan-style coup – PM

RT | December 9, 2024

Georgia has prevented an attempted overthrow of the government orchestrated by foreign powers, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said. He compared the scenario allegedly prepared for the nation with the situation in Ukraine in 2014.

Speaking on Monday, Kobakhidze referred to the US-backed Maidan coup in Kiev a decade ago, which ousted Ukraine’s democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovich, and precipitated the current conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

“It took the [Georgian] Ministry of Internal Affairs exactly five days to neutralize the resource of violence of the radical opposition,” Kobakhidze said at a cabinet meeting, thanking the head of the ministry, Vakhtang Gomelauri, and police officers.

He added that the ministry had acted in accordance with standards “higher than the American and European ones.”

“This is how the attempt of Maidan in our country was stopped in exactly five days,” Kobakhidze concluded.

The Georgian capital, Tbilisi, has been rocked by anti-government and pro-EU rallies since late November, when Kobakhidze announced that the country would halt negotiations on potential accession to the bloc until 2028, citing “blackmail and manipulation” from EU officials. Brussels has since imposed personal sanctions against members of the Georgian government.

Protestors have repeatedly clashed with law enforcement, shot fireworks, and thrown Molotov cocktails at riot police, who have deployed tear gas and water cannons in an effort to disperse the demonstrators.

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Russophobia | , | Leave a comment

Romania makes dangerous step to prevent victory of anti-war presidential candidate

By Lucas Leiroz – December 9, 2024

Western narratives about “democracy” and “electoral transparency” seem to be mere rhetoric – conveniently used against enemies and ignored when Western countries violate such “rules”. Recently, Romania illegally and unjustifiably annulled the results of its presidential elections just to prevent an anti-EU candidate from winning. This case clearly shows how European countries are willing to take any kind of action to prevent political changes that favor multipolarity.

The Romanian Constitutional Court illegally interfered in the country’s electoral process by annulling the results of the first round of the presidential elections. Thus, independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who surprisingly won the race against his EU-backed opponents, was harmed for maintaining a critical stance of opposition against Romania’s alignment with the West.

Georgescu is accused of receiving Russian support in his electoral campaign. He is a well-known critic of NATO and the EU, and is absolutely against Romania’s involvement in the conflict with Russia. He promises to reverse the Romanian government’s aid measures to Ukraine, and maintains a strong position against the EU-sponsored “woke” cultural agenda. As a religious nationalist, he also wants to establish peaceful ties with Russia to pacify relations between the countries with Orthodox Christian majorities, which has made him particularly popular among the Romanian people, who remain largely Christian despite Western cultural pressure.

For this reason, Georgescu is called “pro-Russian” and his opponents invent unsubstantiated narratives against him, claiming that Moscow finances his political projects and his electoral campaign. Russian authorities have already spoken out on the case, denying any connection, but that was not enough to stop Romanian judges from nullifying his first-round election victory, labeling him a “foreign agent.”

Georgescu won nearly 23% of the vote in the first round. He was scheduled to face leftist-liberal candidate Elena Lasconi, who won 19% of the vote, in a runoff election. Instead of respecting the will of the people, the Constitutional Court, which is certainly controlled by pro-NATO and pro-EU judges, simply nullified the electoral process and set a new election day for a later date.

The right-wing candidate reacted to the decision by saying that the judges made a coup d’etat. According to him, democracy and the rule of law have been suspended in Romania, and there is no longer any respect for the country’s legal order. Georgescu described the Romanian judicial system as corrupt, strongly condemning the unfair accusations made against him.

“Essentially, this is a formalized coup d’etat. The rule of law is in an induced coma, and justice subordinated to political orders has practically lost its essence. It is no longer justice, it obeys the orders (…) The corrupt system in Romania showed its true face by making a pact with the devil,” he said.

In fact, no evidence has been provided to justify the claim that Georgescu is supported by Russia. If such support existed, it would certainly be easy to provide personal data to prove it, but nothing has been done, which indicates that the allegations are completely baseless. This shows that for the Romanian electoral legal system, a fair lawsuit is not important, and any maneuver to prevent a dissident candidate from coming to power is valid.

Even if Georgescu did receive support from Moscow, this should not be a problem, since it is common for candidates to be supported by foreign countries – as in Romania itself, where Georgescu’s opponents are largely supported by the EU. In a truly democratic system, all candidates should be free to make their own choices regarding international and diplomatic alliances. However, it seems that Romania is not really a democracy.

To prevent the rise of an anti-NATO political wave, the Atlantic alliance is encouraging the rise of authoritarian regimes in Europe. NATO knows that the war against Russia is unpopular and that ordinary citizens want support for Ukraine to end. Therefore, only dictatorships can sustain the alliance’s war efforts – which is why, for example, Macron recently banned the French parliament and now Romania has annulled its presidential elections.

It is important to emphasize that Romania is an important logistical hub for supporting Ukraine, in addition to exerting direct influence over Moldova, a NATO proxy country with an ethnic Romanian majority. Losing a presence in Romania would be negative for NATO and the EU, which explains their desperation to prevent Georgescu’s victory.

It remains to be seen how long Western countries will continue to be able to violate the will of their own people without suffering serious consequences and deep crises of legitimacy.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Russophobia | , , | Leave a comment

US Bill Would Reverse ATACMS Order

By Joe Lauria | Consortium News | December 7, 2024

Capitol Hill, Washington – A bill introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) would prohibit the U.S. from sending long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine to be fired into Russia.

As U.S. personnel and satellites are required to fire the missiles from Ukrainian territory, Moscow considers it a direct U.S. attack on Russia putting it in a state of war with the U.S. which could lead to nuclear conflict.

To remove the potential of nuclear war, the proposed legislation seeks to end ATACMS launches into Russia. The bill reads:

(a) Prohibition. —For the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending at the close of January 20, 2025, notwithstanding any other provision of law, during any period for which a state of conflict exists between Ukraine and the Russian Federation—

1) no Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) may be transferred to Ukraine; and

(2) U.S. Military Services or intelligence agencies may not provide support to Ukrainian units operating High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HMARS) platforms utilizing ATACMS munitions to strike outside of internationally recognized Ukrainian territorial borders—

(A) targeting intelligence support;

(B) mission planning support; and

(C) any other type of support.

Several members of Congress and their staff said they were taken off guard by President Joe Biden’s reversal of his previous decision not to allow the use of ATACMS to be fired into Russia from Ukraine.

The members and their staff made these remarks during meetings on Thursday on Capitol Hill with former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter and activists of Code Pink, led by Medea Benjamin.

Biden Breaks With Realists

Biden had twice before sided with the Pentagon to avoid direct war with Russia. In March 2022 he overruled his Secretary of State Antony Blinken to scotch plans for a NATO no-fly zone over Ukraine, which could have lead to direct conflict with Russia.

Biden opposed the no-fly zone, he said at the time, because “that’s called World War III, okay? Let’s get it straight here, guys. We will not fight the third world war in Ukraine.”

Then in September Biden deferred to the realists in the Pentagon to oppose long-range British Storm Shadow missiles from being fired by Ukraine deep into Russia out of fear it would also lead to a direct NATO-Russia military confrontation with all that that entails.

Putin warned at the time that because British soldiers on the ground in Ukraine would actually launch the British missiles into Russia with U.S. geostrategic support, it “will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.”

That was a clear warning that British and U.S. targets could be hit. Biden thus wisely backed off.

But after he was driven from the race and his party lost the White House last month, Biden suddenly switched gears allowing not only British, but also U.S. long-range ATACMS missiles to be fired into Russia. It’s not clear that the White House ever informed the Pentagon in advance.

Higgin’s bill was introduced as H.R. 10218 on Nov. 21, but none of the other House members that Ritter and Benjamin met with on Capitol Hill had heard of it. Nor was it reported in the mainstream media.

“We found that commonsense is actually alive and living here in the halls of Congress,” Ritter told Consortium News. “Members of Congress and their staffs understand the danger of nuclear war.  We found that there was a bill already written … that sought to achieve what we were trying to get them to do.”

Benjamin said: “We are excited to push this bill, which we just found out about. … It will not pass, but the idea is to get momentum for it so that message is coming out there that there are members of Congress who want to see this reversed and that in the next Congress, they will introduce it again with a lot more momentum.”

“To stop a nuclear war comes down to one issue,” Ritter said:

“The United States has to stop attacking Russian soil with American-made ATACMS missiles. Even though we use a Ukrainian cutout, it’s American provided, American targets and American intelligence. It’s the Americans attacking Russia. From the Russian perspective, the United States is at war with Russia … which has triggered their nuclear doctrine.”

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Kiev reveals terms of $20 billion US loan

RT | December 9, 2024

The Ukrainian government has approved the terms of a conditional agreement with the US Federal Financing Bank (FFB) for a 40-year loan of $20 billion which will be backed by profits from frozen Russian state assets.

It’s part of a broader $50 billion G7 loan deal, which includes a separate $20 billion EU commitment, and $10 billion to be split by G7 members Britain, Japan and Canada.

The money will be transferred to the Facilitation of Resources to Invest in Strengthening Ukraine Financial Intermediary Fund, established by the World Bank on October 10, “for the sake of the state,” a resolution issued by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers on Friday stated.

The transfer will be based on a Certificate Purchase Agreement between Ukraine, the FFB, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), along with a loan guarantee and repayment agreement between Ukraine and USAID.

Under the deal, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry will issue a certificate of indebtedness to the FFB, guaranteed by USAID, the government resolution said.

The loan, which has an annual interest rate of 1.3% plus the current average rate for one-year US Treasury bills, will be repaid using interest earned from immobilized Russian sovereign assets.

The US and its allies froze an estimated $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. In June, G7 members pledged a $50 billion loan for Kiev, with the frozen Russian assets to be used as collateral, to help Kiev buy weapons and rebuild damaged infrastructure. The agreement was finalized in October.

Moscow has repeatedly denounced the asset freeze as “theft” and argued that tapping into these funds would be illegal and set a dangerous precedent. The Russian Finance Ministry has warned that it will initiate retaliatory measures mirroring the West’s actions against resources of Western investors held in the country.

The latest move is part of the current US administration’s last-minute strategy to bolster Kiev’s war effort, which includes a new $725 million military aid package to Kiev and another round of sanctions against Russia. It comes as uncertainty grows over Washington’s commitments under the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump, particularly after US House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed President Joe Biden’s request to include $24 billion in additional aid to Ukraine in a government funding bill last week.

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Corruption | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli forces seize towns in Syria’s Quneitra, moving towards Dara’a

Press TV – December 9, 2024

Israeli forces have captured two towns in the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and are moving towards the neighboring Dara’a province, after militant groups took control of the Arab country.

Israeli troops seized the towns of Madinat al-Baath and Hader after they pushed into the buffer zone in the Quneitra area and launched artillery shelling in the strategic region.

According to Israeli media outlets, the incursion was launched following heavy shelling of surrounding areas.

Israeli army soldiers are now heading towards areas in Dara’a, located about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Damascus.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers had taken over a Syrian army outpost at the summit of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights.

Soldiers from Shaldag, the Israeli Air Force’s commando unit, captured the outpost “without encountering resistance,” according to Kan TV News.

The commander of the Israeli military’s Northern Command, Ori Gordin, and the commander of the Training Command, David Zini, also visited the summit, the broadcaster said.

The Syrian army reportedly left the post amid the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Israeli media also reported the entry of the regime’s tanks into Khan Arnabeh, which is to the northeast of Quneitra and five kilometers from the border of the occupied Golan.

The regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the decades-old agreement with Syria had collapsed, and he ordered Israeli forces to grab a buffer zone in the Golan Heights after Syrian soldiers had abandoned their positions.

The Israeli military also issued a warning, calling on residents of five towns in southern Syria to stay in their homes until further notice as it carried out dozens of air strikes against Syrian military bases, facilities and weapon depots.

These towns are Ofania, Quneitra, al-Hamidiyah, western al-Samadaniyah, and al-Qahtaniyah.

Armed groups, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants, announced on Sunday that they had fully captured the Syrian capital and confirmed reports of the fall of the Assad government.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

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