Tucker Carlson Reveals What Shocked Him While Making 9/11 Docuseries
Glenn Greenwald | September 24, 2025
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Malaysian army ready to join possible peacekeeping force in Gaza, says army chief
MEMO | September 25, 2025
Malaysian Army Chief Gen. Muhammad Hafizuddeain on Thursday said that his force is ready to join a possible peacekeeping force in Gaza, according to state-run media, Anadolu reports.
Speaking to reporters at the closing ceremony of the 14th Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference, he said that the Malaysian forces have experience in peacekeeping and are ready to join any mission, including a possible deployment to Gaza, Palestine, if asked to do so, Bernama News reported.
“We have been involved in peacekeeping operations since 1960, starting in Congo, and then in Somalia, Bosnia and Cambodia,” he said.
However, Hafizuddeain noted that any participation would depend on the government’s decision, as well as an evaluation of the mission’s effectiveness and safety.
His statement came after Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Tuesday that his country is ready to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers in Gaza.
Addressing the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Prabowo said: “If and when the Security Council and this Assembly decide,” Indonesia is ready to dispatch 20,000 or “even more” soldiers to “help secure peace in Gaza or elsewhere in Palestine as part of a united multilateral force — so that peace in both Palestine and Israel, can become real, not just envisioned.”
The Israeli army has killed more than 65,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.
Greece is aiding Netanyahu regime’s genocidal project: Former Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis
MEMO | September 25, 2025
Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has accused Athens of “violating International Law to aid and abet the Netanyahu government’s genocidal project” after a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla was attacked by drones off southern Crete, Anadolu reports.
Varoufakis, a prominent author, opposition politician, and commentator, said on X that he had spoken to the crew of the Family, the main vessel of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was struck on the night of Sept. 23 by “a swarm of drones with explosives and CS (tear) gas.”
The flotilla, he said, had requested urgent help from the Greek Coast Guard to repair damage and provide protection while sailing through Greece’s Search and Rescue area.
“Remarkably, nauseatingly to be precise, the Greek Coastguard turned both requests down!” he said.
“Such is the determination of the Greek government to aid and abet Israel’s genocide in Gaza and, more generally, its ethnic cleansing of Palestine, that the Greek authorities took the step of refusing assistance that the Law of the Sea obliges them to provide.”
According to Varoufakis, the refusal highlights how “readily, in a bid to satisfy (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu, the Greek government has forfeited not only its responsibilities but also its sovereignty.”
Under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he added, “a long process by which Greece has become a satellite of the last Apartheid State is now complete,” referring to Israel’s policies of discriminating against and oppressing Palestinians.
He also pointed to wider evidence of complicity. On the night of the flotilla attack, Varoufakis claimed, a Beechcraft King Air 350 spy plane took off from the US Air Force base at Souda in northwestern Crete and flew south.
The aircraft, he said, belongs to the US leasing company Metrea Special Aerospace ISR and had previously been used to monitor Gaza from a British base in the Greek Cypriot Administration.
“One thing is clear from all of the above,” Varoufakis added.
“Through a mixture of omission and commission, the Greek government is violating International Law to aid and abet the Netanyahu government. Our party, MeRA25, will fight this government on the streets, in the workplaces, across a country – Greece – which refuses to be counted as complicit with Israel’s genocide.”
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave all but uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.
Washington escalates pressure on Iraq to ‘detach from Iran’: Report
The Cradle | September 24, 2025
The US has escalated its pressure on Iraq to “disengage from Iran” in recent weeks, senior Iraqi officials were cited as saying by Al-Araby al-Jadeed on 24 September.
“These measures go beyond the issue of armed factions and their advanced weaponry, and include reforms to the judiciary and financial sectors to ensure greater independence from the influence of groups allied with Iran,” the sources said.
One official said Washington has also demanded legal action against leaders of Iraqi resistance groups.
No specific names were given, yet Washington has sanctions imposed on a number of resistance leaders, including Qais al-Khazali of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement.
The pressure includes “the banking sector, where public and private banks have been subjected to a US oversight mechanism aimed at preventing Iran from exploiting the Iraqi financial system.”
“The Iraqi financial sector, both public and private, is now under near-total oversight by the US Treasury to ensure that Iran or its affiliates do not benefit from the Iraqi financial system. All financial transfers from Iraq abroad pass through intermediary banks in Jordan and the UAE, as part of current US oversight measures,” an Iraqi diplomat told the outlet.
“Dissolving armed groups” or integrating them into the state’s army is also on the list of US demands.
The Coordination Framework (CF), a political coalition of Shia parties aligned with and including several Iran-backed resistance factions, views the pressure as a potential green light for Israel to strike targets inside Iraq, according to the report.
Last week, the US officially designated four resistance groups as terrorist organizations: Al-Nujaba Movement, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya Movement, and Kataib al-Imam Ali.
The US State Department said it was part of Washington’s “maximum pressure on Iran.”
In recent months, the US has also been pressuring Baghdad on the issue of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) draft law.
The law was signed into legislation in 2016 and institutionalized the PMU, a coalition of armed factions, some of which previously fought ISIS and resisted the 2003 US invasion of the country. The law integrated the organization, formed in 2014, into Iraq’s military structure.
A new draft law was introduced earlier this year, aiming to replace the 2016 law and further institutionalize the PMU into the Iraqi state with comprehensive regulation, including a mandatory retirement age and clearer administrative structure.
The law would also transform the PMU into a fully independent security institution directly under the country’s prime minister.
Among the groups represented in the PMU are Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and the Al-Nujaba Movement – Iran-linked resistance factions involved in the attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria, which began after the start of the Gaza genocide and ended months later with the help of Iraqi government pressure.
The US has slammed the draft law, calling it the “institutionalization of Iranian influence” in Iraq.
Last year, the US launched heavy strikes on Kataib Hezbollah sites in Iraq in response to the killing of three soldiers in a drone strike on a US military base on the Syria–Jordan border.
Washington has reportedly threatened renewed attacks against Iraq if resistance factions linked to Iran are not disarmed.
Settler arson attack on vital West Bank agricultural hub is blow to Palestinian food security
International Solidarity Movement – Palestine | September 23, 2025
The Mishtil Al-Junaidy Al-Hadith plant nursery in Deir Sharaf, a major West Bank seed distributor and the heart of the region’s agriculture, was set on fire by illegal Israeli settlers on 8 September 2025, costing the owners over three million shekels and seriously damaging the already fragile Palestinian food system.
The footage captured by security cameras shows seven masked settlers descending on the nursery at 8pm to destroy the agricultural hub. Using diesel fuel, the settlers set fire to several buildings, stole supplies, and broke the windows of the main office, destroying seeds, computers, and most importantly, invaluable data centers holding information on agricultural practices in the region, which cannot be retrieved.
The fire department was informed immediately, but the Israeli authorities didn’t permit the firemen to reach the site for 45 minutes, which uninterrupted would only be a ten minute drive from the station in nearby Nablus. The attack was caught on camera, and the Israeli military, Shin Bet and Civil administration all arrived, but – just like past attacks – no updates on the investigation have been provided and no arrests have been made.

Sameer Al Junaidy, one of the four Al Junaidy brothers who owns and runs the nursery, says he doesn’t hire security because he would rather take damage to the property than put a Palestinian’s life at risk. Unarmed guards would be powerless against armed settlers, who regularly assault and murder local Palestinians.
The nursery is situated next to the illegal Shavei Shomron settlement, one of the West Bank’s first illegal settlements built in 1977 on land seized from Deir Sharaf and An-Naqura. Just before October 7, 2023, illegal settlers established an outpost on the other side of the nursery and have been intent on building a road that goes through it to connect them.
Since then, settlers have attacked the nursery at least five times. Recently, they set fire to bulldozers, a truck, and a forklift owned by the nursery. Settlers have also burned down olive trees, destroyed water pipes, and attacked Palestinians in neighboring communities. Footage from previous attacks that contains the assailants’ faces captured by Al Junaidy has been handed over to police, but no arrests were ever made.
Al Junaidy says that the Israeli Civil Administration told him that they understand how important the center is to West Bank agriculture and communities but they said: “There are two policies on the ground”, and some in the Israeli government want to see the assailants go unpunished. The nursery is also adjacent to Kedumin, the settlement where Israeli far-right Finance Minister Benzamar Smotrich lives, which is in the same council of settlements as Shavei Shomron.
The attack is a devasting blow to an already precarious food system in the besieged territory, bound to raise costs for local farmers who buy their seeds through the company. The nursery produces 80% of the West Bank’s olive tree saplings and all of its almond tree saplings, two crops central to Palestinian food security.
The destruction of over forty years of data could have far reaching impacts on agriculture across the West Bank. The data which has been lost included detailed information on how to best cultivate their thousands of seeds, meaning without this data, farmers may not know the ideal way to cultivate the crops. It is also used by agricultural engineering students at universities across Palestine.
Assaults on the West Bank’s economy and food systems through attacks like this one on the Al Junaidy Nursery are just one tactic in the occupiers’ overall project to ethnically cleanse the territory of all of its Palestinian inhabitants by disconnecting them from their land, their traditions, and the resources they need to survive.
Dozens missing after Israeli strike levels residential building in central Gaza
MEMO | September 23, 2025
At least 60 Palestinians are missing after an Israeli airstrike flattened a residential building in central Gaza City on Monday, local sources reported. Residents of the building were inside when it was bombed without prior warning, according to eyewitnesses.
The strike took place near the Shawa Building in the Al-Samar area, which itself has been threatened with attack. Gaza has come under heavy Israeli bombardment since 11 August as part of the army’s ongoing military campaign to seize control of the city.
Eyewitnesses said efforts to recover those trapped under the rubble are severely hampered by the lack of rescue equipment. Videos shared by Palestinians on social media showed the building reduced to rubble.
In one video, a woman—whose name was withheld—said her brother and his family were among those missing. Another man, standing nearby in tears, was heard calling out for his daughter trapped beneath the debris.
‘Peace through diplomacy’ is an excuse for collaboration with the Israelis
By Robert Inlakesh | Al Mayadeen | September 23, 2025
Following what has been widely dubbed as the failure of a recent emergency Arab-Islamic Summit, following the Israeli attack in Doha, many Arab Nations and political actors continue to pursue the concept of “peace through diplomacy”. This is not only a failed strategy, but also disingenuous.
The recent emergency conference, convened as a supposed step towards imposing a price on the Israelis for violating Qatari sovereignty and striking Doha, in a failed assassination attempt against Hamas leaders, has largely been dubbed a failure. Immediately after the conclusion of this summit, the Zionists escalated their terror bombing of Gaza City, and Israeli media announced the beginning of their ground operation to occupy the area.
Similarly, following the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)’s adoption of the so-called “New York Declaration” on Palestinian Statehood, which is a combined Saudi-French initiative that is bringing about greater Western recognition of Palestine, the Israelis took it as a greenlight to escalate in the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government and a range of ministers have adopted a plan towards disarming Hezbollah. Lebanese Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, has also publicly stated his desire to normalise ties with the Zionist regime in a CNN interview, while claiming that diplomacy will be a sufficient response to force the Israelis to stop attacking his country.
Perhaps more embarrassingly, Syria’s ruler, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who is being widely mocked for his weak 50-second speech at the recent Arab-Islamic Summit, has now been offered a normalisation agreement by the Zionist regime, according to a report from Axios. This normalisation agreement is being sold as a “security deal”, yet has been compared to the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli normalisation accord.
In Syria, this so-called diplomatic approach will lead only to greater Israeli domination of the fractured nation. The Zionist entity demands that all of Syria south of Damascus be demilitarised, while it remains in the occupied Golan Heights, including the territory they just captured late last year. The Israelis were also revealed by Reuters to be funding around 3,000 militants in the Druze majority area of Suweida.
The Israeli demands in Syria are that they be allowed to have total air dominance and a corridor that would allow direct access to strike Iran, while the authorities in Damascus escalate their efforts to crack down on the Palestinian Resistance and prevent weapons transfers to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
As for the Lebanese government’s approach, the Israelis send their high-ranking officials to tour southern occupied Lebanon and forcefully assert that they will not leave the south of the country. They have carried out over 5,000 violations of the ceasefire agreement over the past year, continue to murder and abduct civilians, while the US-backed rulers in Beirut twiddle their thumbs and complain about Iran allegedly violating their sovereignty.
What is currently taking place is a public humiliation ritual against the Arab leaders, who behave like battered wives who refuse to admit that their rich husbands are abusive narcissists.
The Zionist Entity has bombed Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Qatar, Tunisia, and Iran over the past two years. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly states that he pursues the so-called “Greater Israel” project, as he occupies more territory in Lebanon and Syria, threatening to annex the occupied West Bank and portions of Gaza too. The Israelis are even now threatening Egypt.
The leaders of the Arab and Islamic countries know all this, yet they continue to speak to their populations as if they are intellectually inferior to them and can’t figure out what is going on. The military spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, stated in his last speech that these Arabs and Muslims are the enemies of Gaza and will one day be held accountable. His condemnation didn’t come out of nowhere, as he asserted that the whole Muslim world has failed to even deliver food to the people of Gaza.
Last year, prior to his assassination in Beirut, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah warned the Arab leaders that their complicity will come back to bite them, that they too would fall victim to the Zionists they have been collaborating with, and that nobody will be spared.
Frontline leaders in the battle against the Zionist regime have warned the Arab nations of what is to come, yet all of them decided to ignore these calls. Now, the chickens have come home to roost.
Ex-CIA chief Petraeus hails former Al-Qaeda leader for ‘clear vision’ in Syria
The Cradle | September 23, 2025
Self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa engaged in a wide-ranging dialogue on 22 September with former CIA director David Petraeus as part of his visit to New York.
Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda commander, met Petraeus, who commanded troops in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, at the Concordia Summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. They discussed issues facing Syria, including reconstruction, governance, economic sanctions, and regional relations.
“We faced massive destruction over the past years, but we are focusing on economic development and building capabilities,” Sharaa stated.
“Syrians by nature are people of work and trade. So please lift the sanctions and see what we can do,” he added, referring to the 2019 US Caesar Act, which imposed crushing economic sanctions on Syria, impoverishing millions.
US President Donald Trump removed some sanctions earlier this year, but Congress must authorize their permanent removal.
Petraeus said that the conversation with the former Al-Qaeda in Iraq commander “has filled me with enormous hope.”
“Your vision is powerful and clear. Your demeanor is very impressive as well … We obviously hope for your success, Inshallah, because at the end of the day, your success is our success,” Petraeus added.
Though Sharaa was deemed a terrorist by the US State Department in 2012, the CIA covertly provided arms and funding to the Al-Qaeda affiliate he founded in Syria, then known as the Nusra Front.
According to journalist Seymour Hersh, Petraeus established a “rat line” between Libya and Syria to send weapons to the Nusra Front and other extremist groups seeking to topple the government of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
The CIA operation, known as Timber Sycamore, enjoyed a budget of over $1 billion per year. The operation finally allowed Sharaa to oust Assad and establish an extremist Islamic state over Syria in December.
According to former French intelligence officer and political analyst Thierry Meyssan, Petraeus continued to help fund Al-Qaeda groups, including ISIS, after he was forced to resign from the CIA in 2012 after a sex scandal.
Meyssan says that Petraeus joined the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), headed by Jewish billionaire Henry Kravis, which funded the Nusra Front and ISIS on behalf of the CIA in an off-the-books manner.
Addressing Israel’s war on Gaza, Sharaa dismissed speculation about Syria joining the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel.
He claimed the destruction of Gaza has made any broad normalization with Israel impossible, but said limited security arrangements could be considered.
Before Sharaa’s trip to New York, Syrian and Israeli officials were carrying out security talks that would allow Israel to maintain control of the strategic Mount Hermon, establish a no-fly zone over the south of the country, and prevent Syrian forces from entering a demilitarized zone in the south.
In a personal question, Petraeus asked how Sharaa manages the pressure of leading a country after years of conflict.
“I spent 25 of my 43 years in conflict and crisis, so I am used to hardship. Decisions that carry the destiny of a nation must be taken with calm and an open mind.”
Sharaa first traveled to Iraq to join Al-Qaeda after the 2003 invasion and was known for dispatching suicide bombers to kill civilians. He was allegedly arrested by US forces in 2005 and sent to the US prison at Camp Bucca.
After his release in 2009, he became the Emir of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in Mosul, before traveling to Syria to establish the Nusra Front in 2011 on the instructions of Islamic State (later ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
West’s grip slips with Saudi–Pakistan security deal
Riyadh’s pact with Islamabad redraws alliances, weakens Indian leverage, and hints at a new Muslim deterrence framework beyond western control.
By F.M. Shakil | The Cradle | September 23, 2025
On 17 September, Riyadh rolled out the rare royal purple carpet for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif – an honor previously reserved for global power players like US President Donald Trump.
Accompanying him on the trip was Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir. His presence highlighted that Riyadh values its defense pact with a nuclear power that, despite economic challenges, remains militarily strong.
Nuclear umbrella over Riyadh
The centerpiece of their visit was the signing of a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” (SMDA), which declares that an attack on either country will be considered an attack on both.
Described by a senior Saudi official to Reuters as covering “all military means,” the pact has triggered speculation that it includes a nuclear umbrella, which would be a game-changing development in the military balance of West Asia.
With 81 percent of Pakistan’s weapon imports coming from China, the agreement implicitly aligns Saudi Arabia with the Chinese military-industrial orbit, whether by design or default. The kingdom has long been reliant on US arms, training, and security guarantees.
The pact was signed just two days after an extraordinary joint session between the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was called, following the 9 September Israeli airstrikes on Qatar – a major non-NATO ally and Gulf neighbor – with no substantial response from Washington, reinforcing perceptions that western security commitments are both selective and expendable.
Mushahid Hussain Syed, a former information minister and chairman of Pakistan’s Senate Defense Committee, tells The Cradle that the US has pivoted away from Arab allies toward Tel Aviv, leaving the region disillusioned and increasingly leaning toward alternatives.
“The strategy of ‘Greater Israel,’ spearheaded by Netanyahu, has involved military actions against five more Muslim nations. Pakistan’s recent triumph against India has demonstrated its capacity to contest Israel’s significant ally, India, and establish itself as a strategic alternative for Gulf nations.”
Toward an Islamic NATO?
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani recently called for an Islamic military alliance, akin to NATO, in response to Israel’s airstrike on Doha. His proposal echoed Egypt’s earlier attempt to revive a joint Arab defense force under the 1950 treaty – an initiative blocked by Qatar and the UAE, reportedly under US pressure.
A similar proposal has also come from Islamabad when Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, urged Muslim countries to band together in a NATO-like military alliance in light of the Israeli aggression in Doha.
During an appearance on Geo TV last week, Asif drove home the point that a united Muslim military front is essential to tackle common security issues and fend off outside dangers. Asif invoked the wider role of the west in instigating instability in West Asia, emphasizing the intricate network of US support for Al-Qaeda and the CIA’s covert actions that led to Osama bin Laden’s relocation to Sudan or the regime change war in Syria.
Is nuclear deterrence a part of the Pact?
The nuclear dimension of the Riyadh–Islamabad pact remains opaque, but highly significant. While no official statement from either side confirms the presence of a nuclear component, Asif hinted that Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities could be shared with Saudi Arabia as part of the agreement.
Syed, however, clarifies to The Cradle that Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine is India-centric and that its deterrence posture is South Asia-specific and does not extend to the Persian Gulf.
“A novel security framework for the region appears to be taking shape, focusing on Global South nations such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, whereas the Indo-Israeli Axis, previously supported by the US, now finds itself significantly diminished.”
The defense agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, he says, represents a notable achievement for Pakistan, establishing it as a pivotal entity within the geopolitical framework of West Asia, particularly among Muslim countries.
“The agreement is shaped by three significant elements: the perceived neglect of Arab allies by the United States, Israel’s proactive maneuvers in areas such as Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, and Pakistan’s recent triumph over India in May.”
New Delhi, Tel Aviv on alert
Foreign media and analysts are already warning that the pact may have unintended consequences for India and Israel, despite claims that it targets neither. Others predict that this pact is really about Riyadh’s ambitions to counter Iran and Yemen’s Ansarallah-led government in the region.
Dr Abdul Rauf Iqbal, a senior research scholar at the Institute for Strategic Studies, Research and Analysis (ISSRA) at Islamabad’s National Defence University (NDU), tells The Cradle that New Delhi views the pact with unease as it formalizes Saudi–Pakistani security ties that could entangle Riyadh in South Asian rivalries, especially the India–Pakistan border tensions over Jammu and Kashmir:
“It represents a setback for Prime Minister Modi’s foreign policy, potentially leading to Saudi involvement in a prospective Indo–Pak conflict. Furthermore, future Saudi investments in Pakistan’s Gwadar port and economic corridors would challenge India’s regional influence and initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC).”
He adds that Saudi Arabia’s pivot toward Pakistan reflects a broader alignment of Muslim powers and could push Tel Aviv to recalibrate its war on Gaza. It also pressures Tel Aviv by placing Pakistan – a vocal opponent of Israeli expansionism – into West Asian affairs.
“This agreement is not meant to counterbalance Iran’s regional influence, but rather to promote the Saudi Iranian reconciliation, as Pakistan maintains friendly relations with both nations. By formalizing ties with nuclear-armed Pakistan, Riyadh secures a credible deterrent as US security guarantees weaken. While western think tanks view it as an effort to contain Iran, the Arab world emphasizes it as strengthening Gulf deterrence independently of Washington.”
Indian concerns also stem from fears that the pact’s NATO-style clause could complicate ongoing operations like Sindoor, which remains active in a limited capacity following the skirmish between the two nuclear powers in May, especially given that the Gulf states’ swift mediation to resolve the crisis reflects their own interests with India and makes any military action against it unlikely.
Secondly, India is strategically analyzing Pakistan’s nuclear capability, which could see a boost if Saudi Arabia, having no such capacity, begins channeling funds to share Pakistan’s nuclear assets.
A post-western Gulf order?
While Tel Aviv and New Delhi remain publicly silent, both capitals are undoubtedly scrutinizing the fallout. Israel’s failed assassination attempt on Hamas leaders in Qatar, and India’s pressure campaign along the Line of Control, suggest that the axis is nervous about the consequences of a Saudi–Pakistani alliance. Israeli media downplayed the Saudi–Pakistan defense deal, seeing it as a show of force after Riyadh failed to influence Trump or West Asian policy.
As Syed notes, “The traditional ‘Oil for Security’ framework, which once defined US relations with the Middle East [West Asia], now serves as a remnant of a bygone era. As Saudi economic power increasingly reinforces China’s backing of Pakistan, India may feel vulnerable and isolated.”
Mark Kinra, an Indian geopolitical analyst with a focus on Pakistan and Balochistan, tells The Cradle that this development holds particular significance for India. New Delhi, he argues, has sustained robust economic and diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia for many years, and the influx of Saudi investments in India continues to expand:
“India will be meticulously observing the progression of this agreement, particularly given that its specific terms are not publicly available. Any alteration in the regional security equilibrium may influence India’s strategic assessments, energy security, and diplomatic relations.”
As Washington’s selective security guarantees falter and Israel escalates unchecked, Persian Gulf states like Saudi Arabia are looking eastward for credible deterrents and strategic autonomy.
By aligning with nuclear-armed Pakistan, Riyadh is asserting greater independence from the western military order. It also signals the emergence of a multipolar Persian Gulf security architecture –one increasingly shaped by Global South coordination, not western diktats.
Canada keeps bankrolling Ukraine’s war crimes
By Eva Bartlett | RT | September 22, 2025
Following in the shameful footsteps of both Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney continues pledging support and money (which Canadians desperately need) to Ukraine, to prolong the proxy war against Russia.
Carney chose Ukrainian Independence Day to voice the Canadian government’s continued pledge to support Ukraine. As he landed in Kiev on August 24, Carney posted on X, “On this Ukrainian Independence Day, and at this critical moment in their nation’s history, Canada is stepping up our support and our efforts towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”
Later in the day he posted, “After three years at war, Ukrainians urgently need more military equipment. Canada is answering that call, providing $2 billion for drones, armoured vehicles, and other critical resources.” This latest pledge brings Canada’s expenditure on Ukraine since February 2022 to nearly $22 billion.
Further, he pledged to potentially send Canadian or allied soldiers, stating, “I would not exclude the presence of troops.”
Pause for a moment to examine the utter lack of logic behind these statements: For “peace” for Ukraine, Canada will support further war to ensure more Ukrainian men are ripped off the streets and forced to the front lines, where they will inevitably die in a battle they didn’t sign up for.
Like his European counterparts, Carney’s insistence on prolonging the war is in contrast to Russia’s position of finding a resolution.
I recently spoke with former Ambassador Charles Freeman, an American career diplomat for 30 years. Speaking of how the Trump administration, “began in office by perpetuating the blindness and deafness of the Biden administration to what the Russian side in this conflict has said from the very beginning,” he outlined the terms that Russia made clear in December 2021, “and from which it has basically not wavered.”
These include: “neutrality and no NATO membership for Ukraine; protections for the Russian speaking minorities in the former territories of Ukraine; and some broader discussion of European security architecture that reassures Russia that it will not be attacked by the West, and the West that it will not be attacked by Russia.”
It’s worth keeping in mind that Canada has been one of the main belligerents in Ukraine, funding and training Ukrainian troops for many years before the 2022 start of Russia’s military operation.
Canada’s training of Ukrainian troops included members of the notorious neo-Nazi terrorists of the Azov regiment. Former Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland proudly waved a Banderite flag in 2022. She was also proud of her dear grandfather, who was a chief Nazi propagandist.
In 2023, the Trudeau administration brought to speak in the Canadian parliament a Ukrainian Nazi, Yaroslav Hunka, who had been a voluntary member of the 1st Galician Division of the Waffen SS – well known for their mass slaughter of civilians.
Carney, in light of this, is merely keeping with the tradition of Ottawa’s support of extremism – including Nazism – in Ukraine (and in Canada). This support is not at all about protecting Ukrainian civilians.
Supporting Ukrainian war crimes
Canada’s continued support to Ukraine makes it complicit in the atrocities Ukraine commits. I myself have documented just some of Ukrainian war crimes in the Donbass, in 2019 and heavily throughout 2022.
These include deliberately shelling civilian areas (including with heavy-duty NATO weapons), slaughtering civilians in their homes, in markets, in the streets, in buses; peppering Donbass civilian areas with internationally prohibited PFM-1 “Petal” mines (since 2022, 184 civilians have been maimed by these, three of whom died of their injuries); and deliberately targeting medics and other emergency service rescuers.
Ukraine has also heavily shelled Belgorod and Kursk, targeting civilians, as well sending drones into Russian cities, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure.
Less detailed are Ukraine’s crimes against civilians in areas under Ukrainian control. These crimes – including rape, torture and point-blank assassination – come to light with the testimonies of terrorized civilians in regions liberated by Russia.
Bring the government spending home
The social media fervor of Ukrainian hashtags and flags has died down considerably since 2022. Now, you see more and more Canadians demanding their government stop fueling war and start spending money to take care of Canadians.
Carney’s campaign pledges included easing the cost of living in Canada, yet he has taken no concrete actions to do so. In the many understandably angry replies to Carney’s latest tweets about supporting Ukraine, Canadians are demanding accountability.
“Mark Carney stop pretending you’re fighting for “freedom and sovereignty.” You just signed off on $2 BILLION of Canadian money for Ukraine while Canadians can’t even afford rent, food, or heating,” reads one of numerous such replies. “Veterans are abandoned, fentanyl floods our streets, and families collapse under inflation. You stand on foreign soil preaching about democracy while selling out the very people you’re supposed to serve. That’s not leadership that’s betrayal. Canadians never voted for this. You don’t speak for us.”
Scroll through replies to Carney’s Kiev stunt and you’ll find Canadians opposed to the wasting of still more money needed in their home country.
The most glaring hypocrisy is that while Carney wrings his hands over Ukraine, he utterly ignores the ongoing Israeli starvation and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, supported by the Canadian government.
Eva Bartlett is a Canadian independent journalist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years).


