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China-led multipolarity has accelerated the decline of the American era, the war in Gaza may end it altogether.

By Mohamad Hasan Sweidan | The Cradle | January 24, 2024

What is unfolding today in West Asia — the Gaza war and its regional expansion — cannot be viewed separately from the international transformations that have grown in momentum over the past few years. Today, the transition to multipolarity is the underlying factor shaping the decisions and policies of most countries, particularly those of the great powers.

The timing of Israel’s devastating military assault on Gaza coincides with heightened US attention on its great power competition for Washington, this conflict has much wider geopolitical significance beyond West Asia. In this context, the US has assumed, and will continue to play, a pivotal role in Gaza and its environs, unlike its powerful peers in China and Russia.

According to statistics published by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, the US initiated 201 of the 248 armed conflicts that took place since the end of World War II, often engaging in these wars via US-led alliances and/or proxies.

For decades, Washington has led these conflicts by very ably forming, then leading, and directing broad alliances to achieve its political and military objectives. But that ability notably shifted in December 2023, signaling a sharp decline in this capability.

In response to Yemen’s Ansarallah-aligned armed forces’ Red Sea blockade of Israeli-linked vessels, the US Department of Defense announced the formation of “Operation Guardian of Prosperity … to uphold the foundational principle of freedom of navigation” in those waters, initially consisting of a coalition of ten countries, most of them insignificant partners.

Protecting Israel or maintaining maritime dominance?

The coalition proved shaky from the get-go, with only the US and Britain actively involved in military strikes on Yemen. The reluctance of key European countries France, Spain, and Italy to join the naval alliance indicated a growing skepticism among the US’s traditional partners — both western and West Asian — about Washington’s commitment and capability to defend its allies in any impactful way.

Interestingly, more than eight further countries reportedly joined the coalition, but demanded anonymity, given the potential political fallout from associating with Washington and Tel Aviv.

Crucially, the Pentagon’s stated purpose of securing navigation in the Red Sea does not align with the actual threat presented, revealing ulterior motives behind US actions. The Yemenis have repeatedly confirmed that they only intend to inhibit the passage of Israeli-owned or destined vessels — and that all other ships are free to pass.

In short, the US/UK-led coalition is acting as a naval arm for Israeli military forces, seeking specifically to ensure unimpeded access for ships heading to Israeli ports via the Bab al-Mandab Strait. That’s not a position many other states will get behind if they want to maintain freedom of transport for their own shipping vessels.

Ultimately, the American show of force in these waterways seeks to consolidate US naval dominance, which war-torn Yemen, West Asia’s poorest country, has contested.

As outlined in the National Security Strategy for 2022:

The US “will not allow foreign or regional powers to jeopardize freedom of navigation through the Middle East’s (West Asia) waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al Mandab, nor tolerate efforts by any country to dominate another — or the region — through military buildups, incursions, or threats.”

According to media reports following massive US airstrikes against Iraqi targets on 23 January, Iraqi resistance factions will now also follow Yemen’s suit by implementing a blockade of Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea.

Current events are spiraling out of Washington’s control as onlookers increasingly question the utility and competence of US naval leadership in the world’s important waterways. Equally, there is recognition that other formidable forces and states have emerged, challenging US control over key global straits. In the words of British politician and writer Walter Raleigh, “Who rules the seas rules the world.” Under Sanaa’s watch, the US no longer can claim rule over the Red Sea or even its adjacent waterways.

Great power competition amid the Gaza war 

The current scenario in West Asia, particularly post-Al-Aqsa Flood and the Gaza war that followed, coincides with a shift in Washington’s focus toward competition with China and its proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. As outlined in the US intelligence community’s annual threat assessment last year, this transition has already affected strategic goals, leading to a sharp decline in western support, especially from the US, for Ukraine. The Biden administration faced challenges in securing Congressional approval for a new aid package for Kiev, which directly competed for dollars against Tel Aviv’s military campaign in Gaza.

Despite assurances from western leaders during visits to Ukraine in October, their statements came without tangible material support, leaving President Volodymyr Zelensky in the proverbial dust. Quite unexpectedly, China has emerged as a potential peacemaker in this European conflict, with Kiev openly requesting Beijing’s involvement in mediation talks, and the US itself open to Chinese mediation to mitigate the escalation in West Asia.

The Chinese are well aware that there are no simple, face-saving exits for the US from the Gaza war it has championed and that the conflict’s metamorphosis into a regional one mires the US deeper into West Asia — and away from the Asia-Pacific.

Although China seeks to increase its presence in West Asia, it is very careful not to bog itself down in the region’s many issues. But Washington’s request that Beijing use its influence to sway Iran from conflict escalation makes clear that the US is no longer “the biggest power” in the region.

Why Israel opposes multipolarity

Following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, US financial and military support for Israel has reached a critical stage, presenting two options for Washington. The first involves imposing some control on Israeli actions, given that the war’s timing has been unfavorable to US strategic interests, particularly in a critical election year. The second option, favored by the Washington elite, is to continue its unwavering support to Tel Aviv, even at the risk of damage to its global image.

Sustained global outrage over the Gaza war, coupled with the landmark genocide case filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), shows that Washington’s ability to cover for Israel is diminishing rapidly. Again, this reflects the global shift in the balance of power toward multipolarity, which is marked by the widespread decline of American influence.

But the US support for the Gaza genocide has had dramatic domestic repercussions, too. Polls show a major shift in the attitudes of young Americans, especially university youth, who will make up the ranks of America’s future leaders.

A Harvard-Harris poll published on 17 January reveals that 46 percent of respondents aged 18-24 believe that Hamas’ actions on 7 October can be justified because of the injustice to which the Palestinians are subjected.  The same poll shows that 43 percent of the same group support Hamas in this war, and that 57 percent believe that Israel is carrying out massacres in Gaza. The most staggering poll result of all, though, has to be the one in December (conducted by the same pollsters) in which 51 percent of young Americans believe a final solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is for Israel to end and be given to Hamas and the Palestinians.

While Israel remains a direct US interest in West Asia, Washington’s commitment to Tel Aviv’s security has already become a growing burden and increasingly difficult to justify. As the region’s Axis of Resistance expands its battle with Israel on new, multiple frontlines, the US will need to reallocate ever-expanding resources and focus on matching its international rivals in further-flung geographies.

Ukraine was a test run compared to this Gaza war and the immense, direct toll it is taking on US alliances, domestic politics, and the American image globally. For Israel, this presents an existential crisis beyond measure, as Washington is forced to compete with other great powers, none of whom are ideologically driven to support Zionism as part of their foreign policies.

January 24, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lavrov debunks US claim on Ukraine talks

RT | January 23, 2024

Moscow has never closed the door to dialogue to end the Ukraine conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, reiterating that the country’s key goal remains stopping NATO’s unchecked expansion towards its borders.

In a rare interview with CBS News in New York, where he arrived to take part in UN meetings on Ukraine and the Middle East, Lavrov rejected a recent claim by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who alleged that Moscow has shown no “willingness… to engage, to negotiate in good faith” to end the conflict with Kiev.

“It’s not true,” Lavrov stressed, adding that Russia has always been ready to discuss “any serious proposal” that addresses the situation on the ground and the root causes of hostilities. Moscow is also willing to reach a solution “which would guarantee legitimate national interests of Russia and the Ukrainian people,” the diplomat stated.

Lavrov reiterated that Russia is prepared to listen to anyone interested in establishing “justice” in relations between Moscow and Kiev. He insisted, however, that this would require the West to stop its policy of “using Ukraine as an instrument of war against Russia.”

Lavrov recalled that Russia has long voiced concerns about NATO expansion. “The goal is very simple… we’ve been warning publicly since 2008… that NATO’s expansion against all promises [to Russia and the Soviet Union]… was going too far,” he said.

At a 2008 summit in Bucharest, NATO leaders declared that Ukraine would eventually become part of the alliance, sparking a backlash from Russia, which has traditionally viewed the US-led military bloc’s expansion towards its borders as an existential threat.

In December 2021, weeks before the start of the Ukraine conflict, Moscow submitted a draft of security guarantees to the US and NATO, demanding that the West ban Kiev’s accession to the bloc and retreat to its borders as of 1997. The overture, however, was rebuffed.

Officials from Moscow and Kiev said the two sides were close to reaching a peace deal early in the Ukraine conflict, with a key Russian demand being that the neighboring country recommit to neutral status and abandon its NATO ambitions. According to numerous reports, the process was derailed by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who convinced Ukraine to continue fighting.

January 23, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

DC Think Tank: House Could Kill Ukraine Aid Bill

By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 23.01.2024

House Republicans could block a hefty Ukraine aid package even if a bipartisan border security and immigration deal is passed, suggests the latest report by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Republican and Democratic senators have engaged in a series of negotiations regarding President Joe Biden’s proposed $100 billion package for Ukraine. Senate leaders, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have expressed optimism about the bipartisan Ukraine aid-border security agreement’s prospects.

Last year, the multi-billion package for Ukraine, as well as aid for Israel and the island of Taiwan, became stuck in the US Congress after the GOP deemed the border security issue to be an absolute priority.

According to Blaise Malley, a reporter for Responsible Statecraft and a former associate editor at The National Interest, it is uncertain whether the House of Representatives would align with the upper chamber’s position, despite the bipartisan agreement on border issues being on the horizon.

Malley referred to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s firm stance with regard to the implementation of sweeping migration reforms and his concerns about Ukraine aid oversight and Kiev’s strategy.

“We need the questions answered about the strategy, about the endgame and about the accountability for the precious treasure of the American people,” Johnson told journalists after a January 17 meeting with President Biden and other congressional leaders at the White House. The House speaker also stressed that the border issue should still come first. Rep. Johnson has a record of consistently voting against Ukraine aid in the past.

A GOP conference on Ukraine aid is due to be held on January 24 following the request by a group of Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Malley noted, adding that support for further bankrolling Ukraine is beginning to steadily wither among House Republicans.

What’s more, some GOP lawmakers even threatened to introduce a “motion to vacate” against the incumbent House speaker, if he allows another package of Ukraine aid to pass.

“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tells me ‘I would introduce the motion to vacate myself’ if Speaker Johnson passes funding to Ukraine,” Axios congressional reporter Andrew Solender tweeted on January 17.

Last October, the so-called Freedom Caucus forced then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to step down after Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida forced the vote on the “motion to vacate.”

According to Malley, Speaker Johnson is unlikely to go against the Freedom Caucus for many reasons, one of which is that it may upend his relations with leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

But that is not all: the multi-billion aid bill, which also includes at least $10 billion for Israel, has come under scrutiny from some Democratic congressmen who are seeking to obligate Tel Aviv to observe human rights in its war against Gaza. Since the conflict started, 25,105 Palestinians have been killed in the region, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The RS reporter pointed out that 18 Senators on January 19 announced their support for an amendment to the national security supplemental that would require “that the weapons received by any country under this bill are used in accordance with US law, international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.”

“The path to passing this legislation is filled with roadblocks and question marks,” Malley wrote. “Biden has implored Congress to approve his proposal as soon as possible, but even as incremental progress is made, final passage still appears to be a ways away.”

January 23, 2024 Posted by | War Crimes | | Leave a comment

Belgium to Allocate $663Mln to Ukraine From Profits Made From Russia Frozen Assets – Reports

Sputnik – 23.01.2024

BRUSSELS – Belgium will allocate 611 million euros ($663 million) to help Ukraine in 2024 from the profits received from the frozen assets of Russia, La Libre newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder.

The funding will be provided from the interests on the accounts of Russia’s frozen assets in the country, the newspaper reported.

Last year the US proposed G7 working groups to look at possible ways to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. The EU, and the UK have stressed that the money received via the confiscation would not be easily accessible and would also be insufficient to cover Ukraine’s reconstruction needs. Besides, the countries have noted that the confiscation of Russian assets should not occur to the detriment of providing financial support to Kiev in 2024.

Moscow has maintained that any attempt to confiscate its frozen assets would violate international law. The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed the freezing of Russian assets as theft.

“Those who are trying to initiate this, and those who will implement it, must understand that Russia will never leave those who did this alone. And it will constantly exercise its right to a legal battle, internationally, nationally or otherwise. And this, of course, will have — both Europeans and Americans understand this very well — it will have legal consequences for those who initiated and implemented it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said commenting on the issue.

Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin dubbed the West’s asset seizure an “unseemly business,” and stressed that “stealing other people’s assets has never brought anyone good”.

January 23, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , | Leave a comment

The U.S. Steals Syrian Oil, and the Kurds Sell It to Israel at a Discount in Erbil

By Steven Sahiounie | Strategic Culture Foundation | January 22, 2024

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRG) claimed responsibility for missile attacks on an Israeli “spy headquarters.” Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee and four of his family members were killed in the attack on their home on January 16 near the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR).

Dizayee was the owner of the Falcon Group, which is a business involved in oil and gas, agriculture and security. The IRG claimed its missiles targeted a “Mossad headquarters”.

“No U.S. facilities were impacted. We’re not tracking damage to infrastructure or injuries at this time,” a U.S. official said in response to the recent attack.

Prime Minister of the IKR, Masrour Barzani, condemned the IRG attacks on Erbil.

The Oil business in Erbil

The oil business is thriving in IKR, and the Falcon Group was part of it. Kurdish oil has been exported to Israel, Italy, France and Greece through a secretive trade depending on pre-pay deals.

Israel buys much of its oil from Erbil, and Israel depends on the heavily discounted crude, making it a key customer. The oil is discounted to Israel because it is free, as the source is the stolen Syrian oil. 40% of Israel’s oil supplies were from IKR in the first three months of 2023, which doubled the amount in 2022.

Israel received its first substantial seaborne crude oil shipment from the IKR in 2014, which is the same time the U.S. occupation forces arrived in Syria. Israel was reportedly importing as much as three-quarters of its crude oil needs from the IKR by mid-2015.

Israeli refineries and oil companies imported almost $1 billion worth of Kurdish oil between May and August of 2023, according to shipping data, trading sources and satellite tanker tracking, which represents about 77 % of average Israeli demand, which runs at roughly 240,000 barrels per day. More than a third of all of the northern Iraqi exports, which are shipped from Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, went to Israel over the period.

According to anonymous sources, it was a Mossad agent who first traveled to Erbil to negotiate the deal to buy oil from IKR, which was facilitated by U.S. officials.

The U.S. Consulate in Erbil

The new U.S. Consulate General building in Erbil, near the attack carried out by Iran, is the biggest consulate complex built by the U.S. Embassies and Consulates are under the U.S. State Department, but the consulate in Erbil has a connection to the U.S. Department of Defense, demonstrating the strategic importance of the region for Washington, with a U.S. military base also in IKR.

Irvin Hicks, Jr., the U.S. Consul General in Erbil, stated in January 2023, that the new 800-million-dollar consulate building is a clear statement that the “United States of America is not going anywhere.”

The U.S. first opened a diplomatic office in Erbil in February 2007, and later upgraded to a consulate general in 2011, the same year the U.S.-NATO attack on Syria began for regime change, under the Obama-Biden administration.

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was built in 2009 and is its biggest mission compound in the world at a cost of $750 million. Iraqi Kurdistan and the Iraqi central government in Baghdad operate separately, as the Kurds are a semi-autonomous region.

Erbil has 30 consulates, six honorary consulates, and six foreign trade offices, with the Japanese consulate the latest to open on Jan. 11.

“Opening more than 30 consulates is not normal,” Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Hossein Rajabi criticized. Most of these consulates are used for espionage activities.”

Iran views the foreign offices as having the potential to carry out plans aimed at destabilizing the security of Iran, by hosting Iranian separatist groups and bases aligned with Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

The Iraqi response to the Genocide in Gaza

“On October 20, 2023, the Department ordered the departure of eligible family members and non-emergency U.S. government personnel from U.S. Embassy Baghdad and U.S. Consulate General Erbil due to increased security threats against U.S. government personnel and interests,” according to the State Department’s Iraq travel advisory.

Iraqis have taken to the streets to protest the U.S. complicity in the genocide being committed in Gaza by Israel. U.S. President Joe Biden has defied the American values of human rights and international law by continuing to send weapons to Israel to promote the wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian civilians of Gaza, even in the face of international criticism which has lowered the image of America as a beacon of freedom to a joke.

Protests have taken place outside of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and military groups which are under the central government of Iraq have fired rockets and armed drones at U.S. troops based in Anbar and near Erbil multiple times. Baghdad does not recognize Israel; however, the IKR are aligned with the U.S., and sell the stolen oil from Syria to the prime U.S. ally, Israel.

The U.S. invaded and destroyed Iraq in 2003, and occupied the country for years until a withdrawal. When ISIS reared its ugly head, the Baghdad government requested U.S. troops to come to help in the fight against ISIS, which saw its defeat at the hands of Iraq, Syria, Russia, and the U.S. The Iraqi parliament ordered the U.S. troops to leave after the defeat of ISIS in 2017, but the Department of Defense refused. The Prime Minister of Iraq has recently ordered the U.S. troops to leave immediately following the U.S. assassination of Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari in Baghdad on January 4, an Iraqi military commander who was instrumental in the defeat of ISIS.

The PKK in Syria and Erbil

The PKK aligned SDF in north east Syria is U.S. supported. The U.S. military in Syria are occupying the largest oil field in Syria, which prevents the Damascus government from using the oil to provide electricity to the Syrian people, who suffer with just 3 hours of electricity per day.

In December 2023, 44-tanker convoy carrying oil stolen from Syria traveled clandestinely to U.S. bases near Erbil. Just days before, U.S. forces took 95 tankers of oil and a truckload of stolen Syrian wheat to IKR. The Syrian wheat fields are also in the area the U.S. troops occupy and the area is controlled by Kurds who are aligned with the IKR.

Farhan Jamil Abdullah, head of the Syrian Oil Company, said in July that as a result of the U.S. sanctions and military occupation in Syria, oil production has decreased to 15,000 barrels per day from 385,000 barrels before 2011.

Firas Hassan Kaddour, the Syrian Oil Minister, said in July that the losses of the energy sector in Syria are close to 100 billion U.S. dollars.

The main oil field of Al Omar and Conoco in Syria are producing oil which is shipped in tankers by the U.S. Army and refined at Kar Oil Refinery in Erbil.

The U.S. sponsors the SDF militia in Syria which is dominated by the YPG. The YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK, a group recognized by Turkey, as well as the U.S. and the EU, as a terrorist organization, who have killed more than 40,000 persons over decades.

Turkey has condemned the U.S. alliance with the SDF and YPG, and considers the U.S. is financing terrorism.

The commander of the SDF is General Mazloum Kobani, who is also a member of the PKK. His real name is Ferhat Abdi Sahin, is one of Turkey’s most wanted terrorists. Kobani was chosen by the U.S. as their military ally and it is at Kobani’s command that the stolen Syrian oil is loaded into tankers.

Erdogan has demanded for years that the U.S. must stop supporting the SDF, YPG, and to stop encouraging the Kurds to establish an independent homeland in north east Syria on the border with Turkey, which is a NATO member, and ally of the U.S., housing an American military base there.

January 22, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Faced with looming defeat in Ukraine, NATO wants WW3 to prevent it

By Drago Bosnic | January 22, 2024

Lasting nearly half a century, the (First) Cold War brought the world to the edge of a new abyss, one that would’ve made WW2 look like a bloodless skirmish in comparison. Despite not starting it, in order to prevent the total destruction of the world, Russia initiated its end. It willingly dismantled the Warsaw Pact and the USSR, renouncing immense power, a historically unprecedented move no other superpower in history ever made. And how did the political West see it? Merely as a sign of supposed “weakness”. Not only did the US-led belligerent power pole proclaim victory in the ideological struggle (Moscow renounced communism), but it also wanted a total defeat for Russia and its people. In the 30+ years, everything the United States and its vassals and satellite states did was in line with this goal. The world’s most aggressive military alliance expanded approximately 1000 km to the east.

It should be noted that this was done despite clear promises “not to move an inch” toward Russian borders. Even many Western politicians, experts and pundits expressed concern and protested NATO’s eastward expansion, warning that this would inevitably force Moscow to respond. However, leaked information suggests this is precisely what the political West wanted, as evidenced by revelations published by WikiLeaks. How do we know this is true? Well, its founder is suffering a horrible fate for publishing the secret data. And yet, despite the world knowing all this, NATO is determined not only to continue its aggression, but is also openly escalating it. Namely, on January 18, Dutch 4-star Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, publicly stated that the belligerent thalassocractic alliance is preparing for war with Russia and that people in Europe should do so as well.

Bauer is one of the highest-ranking NATO officials and his announcement should be taken extremely seriously. Although he assessed that the coming conflict would happen in the next 20 years, the moves that the belligerent alliance is making indicate that such a conflict could come at any point. Following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Bauer told reporters that Western governments should start preparing for war with Russia, including by training civilians how to act when it starts.

“We have to realize it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we are preparing for a conflict with Russia. […] But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role,” he said, adding: “It starts there. The realization that not everything is plannable and not everything is going to be hunky dory in the next 20 years.”

Apart from demanding everyone in Europe to get ready for war with a nuclear-armed superpower, Bauer pointed out the example of Sweden, a de facto NATO member for decades at this point. Namely, he praised Stockholm for enforcing ludicrous and pompously announced measures for a mythical Russian invasion, an eventuality that’s effectively beyond any real possibility. However, the Scandinavian country needs to justify its unpopular NATO membership somehow, so it’s putting up this laughable “show of force”.

“We need to be readier across the whole spectrum. You have to have a system in place to find more people if it comes to war, whether it does or not. Then you talk mobilization, reservists or conscription,” he said, adding: “You need to be able to fall back on an industrial base that is able to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to be able to continue a conflict if you are in it.”

In line with Bauer’s announcement, NATO is to launch a massive military exercise, dubbed Steadfast Defender 2024. Scheduled to begin on January 31, it will include at least 90,000 troops, making it NATO’s largest military exercise since the end of the (First) Cold War. It should be noted that the belligerent alliance officially restarted the conflict in 2022, after decades of its crawling aggression pushed Russia to respond in Ukraine. This was done after numerous US-orchestrated destabilization projects in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere, all of which were aimed against Moscow. NATO itself is merely an extension of America’s strategy of the so-called “full spectrum dominance” and the same goes for the European Union which has repeatedly proven its subservience to US interests. To accomplish its strategic goals, Washington DC is ready to support all sorts of extremist ideologies and individuals.

Worse yet, in an attempt to defeat Russia, it has shown willingness to use banned weapons such as biological (including deadly pathogens) and AI-powered. The latter are particularly important as Americans are increasingly uninterested to serve in the US military, especially as the belligerent thalassocracy is adopting an extremist ultra-liberal ideology that’s simply repulsive to anyone remotely sane. America’s decline is unstoppable at this point, so its political elites are pushing the entire world into yet another abyss, one that it would likely never get out of. Washington DC’s virtually simultaneous aggression against several global and regional powers is making it nearly impossible to prevent such a horrible scenario. This includes pushing the world into a commodities crisis, which can also be interpreted as “preparing everyone” for war, as Bauer already stated. This is an important segment of America’s global strategy.

US actions in the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America also indicate other countries will be targeted, including China, Iran and Venezuela. However, with its unrivaled strategic arsenal, new hypersonic weapons, as well as resurgent conventional military power, precisely Russia is NATO’s top rival. Unable to fight Moscow directly, the US-led belligerent alliance is using proxies and creating new ones to enforce its so-called “containment” strategy against the Kremlin. This includes the reactivation of the old members of its WWII-era geopolitical (and increasingly ideological) predecessor. Fully aware it can’t take the Eurasian giant head-on, to this end, the political West is stoking Russophobia everywhere it can, as it needs to create enemies on Russian borders. It’s important to note that the warmongers in Washington DC don’t care about the destructive consequences for Europe.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.

January 22, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Russophobia | , , | Leave a comment

Why a US Army Division was Overrun in 1944

Tales of the American Empire | January 18, 2024

Despite the chaos of losing the war, the Germans managed to secretly gather several divisions for a massive attack called the 1944 Ardennes Offensive. They launched this offensive after Allied Generals openly stated the war would be over in a month.

The Germans chose a weak point in the Allied line. The forested Ardennes was considered easy to defend so was manned by new units like the US Army’s 106th Division. It mostly consisted of green draftees and young officers with just 90-days of training and no combat experience. Soldiers of the 106th Division were pummeled by a massive artillery barrage as numerous German tanks appeared and attacked.

The division had no supporting tanks and just a few anti-tank guns. Terrified American officers took action by fleeing in jeeps as two regiments were quickly surrounded while the third managed to retreat. With no supplies or ability to fight tanks, most of the 106th Division surrendered after putting up a fight for three days.

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Related Tale: “The Bloody 1944 Crusade in Europe”; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU4w5…

“The Largest US Surrender in Europe in WW2”; The Intel Report; YouTube; November 4, 2022; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_dKm…

“Tough Stand of the Golden Lions”; Nathan Prefer; Warfare History Network; October 2022; https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/art…

Related Tale: “Roosevelt’s War to Unite the World”; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRnrl…

January 22, 2024 Posted by | Timeless or most popular, Video | | Leave a comment

Lawmakers Push Funding to Replace Weapons Used in Yemen

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | January 21, 2024

As the White House has started an open-ended and unauthorized war in Yemen, some members of Congress are pushing for legislation that would provide funding to replace the munitions dropped on the Middle East’s poorest nation.

Politico reports, “As American warships burn through expensive missiles against Houthi targets in the Red Sea and Yemen, lawmakers, lobbyists, and the Navy are angling to use a multibillion-dollar national security supplemental to replenish the military’s inventory of munitions.”

In November, the Houthis announced that Yemeni forces would target Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea until Tel Aviv ends its military campaign in Gaza. Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden, without consulting Congress, authorized strikes on the Houthis.

In response, the Houthis began targeting American-linked shipping transiting the region. The White House is ordering attacks on Yemen nearly every day. However, the White House claims it is not at war with Yemen, and it does not need Congressional authorization for the operations.

Biden’s war in Yemen could drag on for some time. US officials told the Washington Post the administration has “no end date” and “little exit strategy” for its military operations in Yemen. President Biden has admitted that the strikes are not deterring the Houthi attacks.

Additionally, the US operations against Yemen are expensive. Washington has combated drone and missile attacks from Yemen on ships in the Red Sea by using expensive interceptors to down the inexpensive Houthi munitions. The White House has largely relied on ship-fired Tomahawks to hit targets in Yemen. Some lawmakers worry the operations against the Houthis will impact Wasington’s ability to dominate the globe.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said fighting in Yemen means Congress needs to add further spending for munitions to a supplemental military funding package. “As I’ve warned for weeks, using million-dollar missiles to defend against thousand-dollar drones strains an already insufficient inventory of long-range capabilities,” he added. “The supplemental is our chance to expand our capacity to meet the national security challenges we face.”

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) argued that additional missiles are needed to confront China. “We’re looking — one of the parts of the supplemental is to make sure we have the rounds we need, whether it’s [the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile] or possibly things like [the] Tomahawk that we have for the Western Pacific.” He continues, “And that is a capability we would need if we ever got in a conflict with China.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said “a big plus up” in munitions funding is imperative for Tomahawks, Naval Strike Missiles, and Harpoons. He also explained that the weapons are needed for global dominance. “And those kinds of weapons systems are critical everywhere, Taiwan in particular,” the Senator said.

Politico notes that Pentagon officials and lobbyists for arms makers are also pushing for increased funding for munitions production in a supplemental defense spending bill.

January 21, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , | Leave a comment

Nasrallah: October 7 foreshadows the Liberation of all Palestine

RESISTANCE NEWS | JANUARY 19, 2024

Speech by Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, on January 3, 2024, on the commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the assassinations of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis:

[…] I now come to the third part of my remarks, devoted to Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood”. This operation was launched on October 7 by our brothers from the Izz al-Dine al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ armed wing), and our brothers from Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian factions joined them. The causes which led to this operation were recalled by the leaders of our brothers of Hamas, (Islamic) Jihad and other factions of the Resistance, and I myself spoke about it in detail in a previous speech, namely everything concerning the oppression of the Palestinian people for 75 years, the issue of the prisoners oppressed and persecuted in Zionist prisons, the attacks and threats against the Al-Aqsa mosque, the dangers of deportation of Palestinians from the West Bank, the state of continued siege against Gaza and the desire to push for an internal struggle, the ultimate goal of which was, as we now see, the deportation of the inhabitants of Gaza, but via internal struggles and economic and social strangulation. The causes and objectives of the Al-Aqsa Flood were therefore clear and well known.

On October 8, Hezbollah entered battle on the northern border of occupied Palestine, which is the southern border of Lebanon, in a front line more than 100 kilometers long. Then, our brothers from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq also entered the battle by striking the bases of the US occupation in Iraq and Syria, and with direct strikes against the usurping entity with drones, against Eilat and other targets. Then our brothers in Yemen also entered the scene, with drone and missile strikes against the usurping entity, and with the qualitative, huge, grandiose and greatly influential initiative that is the challenge in the Red Sea. In every sense of the word, (banning Israeli and Israel-bound ships to navigate) is truly a courageous, wise, epic and effective action, to the highest degree.

The course of events is well known to you, and therefore I am not going to repeat things that you follow regularly, every day and every hour. What has been happening for 3 months and to this day is on the one hand a scene of sacrifices, martyrs, wounded, houses destroyed, families massively displaced inside Gaza, in the West Bank to a certain extent, and even in the south of Lebanon: it is the scene of the price to pay, of the dangers incurred. But alongside this scene, we have on the other hand the scene of endurance, determination, steadfastness, courage, combat, resistance, challenges, considerable losses inflicted on the enemy, an indomitable character and refusal to surrender. And the first example, the first frontline and the most grandiose is of course Gaza. And the rest of the Axis of Resistance is at its image.

In the light of these two scenes, there are (concrete) results. Sometimes we get lost in such or such detail, but in this section of my speech, I want to step back and look at the situation in general. When we see the scale of the results obtained, their importance and the considerable nature of the accomplishments achieved so far, and when we add to this what can be achieved subsequently, we become fully aware of the fact that this operation was necessary and bore fruit, and we accept more willingly and with satisfaction the scale of the sacrifices made, whether in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Iran and on all terrains and battlefields of (the Axis of) Resistance.

Allow me to quickly and succinctly cite the various achievements already obtained, even if each of them deserves to be devoted to an hour-long presentation, but we will only point them out briefly. And in truth, these are not my own statements, as I have only compiled some of them, and not all, because time does not allow me to mention everything. What I am going to tell you is what the Israelis themselves say, whether they are generals, former or current officials, analysts, experts and strategists from America or the Arab-Muslim world, and certain statements by Imam Khamenei, and many elites in the (Arab-Muslim) Community and in the world.

What I want to show you are some of the results that all this blood and sacrifice has achieved so far, results that will have a great influence on the future of Palestine, of the Palestinian cause, Lebanon and the entire region, but in particular Palestine and Lebanon, and generally for the entire Middle East.

I will list the points one by one quickly.

1/ The return of the Palestinian cause to the forefront and with force, after it had been almost forgotten and erased, which once again imposes the search for a solution everywhere in the world. This is why they come back to talk to us about the two-state solution, etc. Because before the Al-Aqsa Flood, the Palestinian cause was on the verge of being forgotten by everyone, except the Resistance (Axis) movements, with their stances, the annual commemorations of Al-Quds Day, etc.

2/ The failed Israeli calculations which counted on the fatigue of the Palestinians, their despair and the abandonment of their cause. The Al-Aqsa Flood demonstrated that these people, whose Resistance took the initiative to launch this operation, and which was followed by the endurance, determination and sacrifices of all the people of Gaza, all of this demonstrated that this Israeli calculation could not be more erroneous and illusory. The idea that the Palestinians will get tired, abandon their territories and forget their cause, and that the new generation, which is that of the Internet and social networks, will turn the page, is over. It was ended in the West Bank, by the Intifadas and the martyrdom operations, but the Al-Aqsa Flood came to deal it the fatal blow and bury it definitively. Today, Israel has clearly understood that it is facing a people who can never forget his land, his history, his present, his future and his holy places, and Israel’s elites express this with regret. Israel is mortified in the face of this ineradicable people after 75 years, and despite 75 years of repression, torture, imprisonment, deportation, refugee camps, and severe and very difficult living conditions.

3/ The increase in the level of support for the Resistance and the choice of the Resistance within the Palestinian people and the entire Arab-Muslim Community, despite the massacres and the attempts of some people to blame the massacres in Gaza on the victims, on the worthy men, on  the Resistance (Hamas) shamefully deemed responsible of Israel’s actions, and to exonerate the criminal, the bloodthirsty assassin, namely Israel. And it also has a huge influence on the future of the Palestinian cause. After everything that happened in Palestine, they thought that this annihilation of the Gaza Strip, these mass murders and these massacres would make the Palestinians regret having launched the October 7 operation, and that the people of Gaza would abandon the Resistance and turn against Hamas, Islamic Jihad, other factions and fighters, but polls clearly show that the level of support for the Resistance, the Resistance movements and in particular Hamas, which is most blamed in the Al-Aqsa Flood and its consequences, has never been higher in the history of Palestine, the Palestinian people and the Resistance movements in Palestine. This has a considerable influence on the future of this struggle.

4/ The decline of Israel and its image in the eyes of the whole world, despite all the efforts made over the last 20 years by the American and Western media, unfortunately assisted in this by part of the official Arab media which have also worked to beautify the image of Israel, and to present it as a state of law, a democratic state respectful of human rights. With Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and what followed, and what is happening today on all frontlines, Israel’s decline is total, whether in terms of morality, humanity or respect for the rule of law. Today, in the eyes of the whole world, Israel is a murderer of children, a murderer of women, a destroyer of homes, guilty of deportation of populations, expelling them from their homes, their neighborhoods and their land, a starver of peoples, a terrible oppressor and a terrorist for civilians, author of the greatest mass extermination of the century. The image of Israel is broken into a thousand pieces and will not recover. And this will also have a great influence on the conflict and on the equations of struggle in our region.

O my brothers and sisters, recently, polls have been published in the United States, questioning American youth, these American people who do not follow our media, and are fed from birth to death by the American media which are controlled by Zionists or groups that support Zionism. But in the face of the atrocious carnage taking place in Gaza, we see the influence of the blood of children, of women and of the enormous oppression inflicted on Palestinians, and the benefits of social networks, which they designed to destroy Islam, our values and the Resistance, but the spell has turned against the sorcerer, and we see the story of Pharaoh and the sorcerers (defeated by) Moses (and giving allegiance to him) repeating itself again. Faced with the current situation, more than 50% of American youth support not only the idea of granting their rights to the Palestinians, but they support the dismantling of the State of Israel and the attribution of all the (historical) land of Palestine to the Palestinian people. How could such a change have happened (without the Al-Aqsa Flood)? Who could have imagined such an upheaval in US public opinion? Of course, we must continue to act on it and develop it further, and this will have enormous and considerable influences in the United States.

5/ What happened during these 3 months dealt a fatal blow to the path of normalization (of the relations of Arab countries with Israel), which aimed to envelop the Palestinian people (with normalizing countries), to make Israel a normal country and to make us forget Palestine.

6/ It has become clear to the world… In Lebanon, we continually hear this refrain about (the necessary) respect for the international community and international resolutions. The United States regularly lectures us on international resolutions, and will continue to do so, as do the Europeans and the West [reminding us in particular of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for the disarmament of the Lebanese militias, which targets Hezbollah], as well as certain Americanized and Westernized Lebanese, accusing us of being the only ones who don’t respect the resolutions of the international community and international law. The Al-Aqsa Flood has established more clearly than ever before the eyes of the whole world, although it is not something new, the identity of those who truly defy the will of the international community. What is the international community? When all 193 countries in the world, including large, important and powerful countries, demand a complete ceasefire in Gaza, except for only 10 countries, namely the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom and others, and Israel trashes this resolution and couldn’t care less about it, who really respects the will of the international community and the UN resolutions? How many UN resolutions has Israel respected so far? From the first resolution (taken on the subject of occupied Palestine) to this day, until resolution 1701 (voted in 2006), as one of the leaders of a UN body devoted to human rights said, only during the last two months, the usurping entity has trampled on all existing international laws & resolutions. Israel spared nothing. And of course, the United States stands with Israel in brazenly disregarding and confiscating the will of the international community.

7/ If we consider Israel directly, let’s look at the very important results that have been achieved, and in light of which we must develop our stance. Israel’s strategic deterrence was shattered, even as they pinned their hopes on it and worked to restore it. Let us remember all the speeches made before the Al-Aqsa Flood, and all the debate about Israel’s deterrence capacity. The (regular) attacks against Gaza aimed to restore this deterrence. The power of Israel is a power of dissuasion, that is, it frightens and terrorizes neighboring countries and their peoples, in order to keep them at bay, to push them to surrender, to concessions, to submission, to renunciation of their rights and abandonment (of Palestine and other occupied territories). This is the history of Israel, which rests entirely on this deterrent force. It is a power of terror and intimidation, and that is its only strength. This deterrent capacity began to erode in 2000 (with the Liberation of South Lebanon), then again in 2005 (with the Liberation of Gaza), and further with Lebanon’s divine victory in 2006. And after 2006, they declared that they must restore this deterrence capability. But after the Al-Aqsa Flood, whether in Gaza, or after the opening of the front in Lebanon and elsewhere, especially in Yemen, this Israeli deterrence capacity collapsed. Why is it collapsing?

When Hamas and other Resistance factions launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, they were in no way deterred, frightened or terrorized. They knew very well the consequences of their actions, and anticipated Israel’s (murderous) reaction, but the cause deserved this level of initiative, and they were in no way deterred. When the Lebanese Resistance opened a front on October 8, it was in no way deterred, and indeed has never been deterred by Israel in its entire history; and today, Hezbollah is even bolder, and more ready than ever for confrontation and initiative. When Yemen took the initiative (attacking Israeli territory with missile and drone strikes and targeting its economic interests in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea), it was neither frightened nor deterred. Yemen gave no consideration to Israel. And in this regard, even the US deterrence capacity is greatly eroding. The Israeli deterrence capacity was not sufficient, and they called for help the US deterrence capacity, with its aircraft carriers, but even the US deterrence capacity was not enough, neither in the face of the Iraqi Resistance (which strikes US bases in Iraq and Syria and targets in Israel on a daily basis), nor the Lebanese Resistance (which has caused thousands of occupation soldiers to be killed and wounded since October 8), nor the men of God in Yemen (which are ready to enter into open war against the United States and its allies), nor anyone. And that is why American aircraft carriers are starting to leave the region, without having achieved any results. Thus, Israel’s strategic deterrence capacity is eroding, breaking and collapsing.

8/ The end of the (myth of the) superiority of Israeli intelligence. We have always been told, wrongly so, about the omniscience of Israel, its capacity to know everything, but this is not true. The Al-Aqsa Flood clearly demonstrated this.

9/ After the 2006 war, Israel launched the Winograd Commission, investigative committees and numerous studies, and reconsidered many of its strategies and postulates, correcting and amending its flaws, but since I don’t have time to address the subject in detail, I will only recall a sentence that they declared, namely that from now on, if Israel enters the war, it must be done on the basis of a “quick, clear, decisive and unequivocal victory”. This is what Ehud Barak and all the defense ministers and chiefs of staff who came after him said. Well, after 3 months, if we only talk about Gaza, there is no victory in sight, and even less a decisive, rapid, clear and unequivocal victory. Worse still, there is no one within the Zionist entity who claims to see any prospect of victory in Gaza. With their operation last night, they are trying to present an image of victory in the treacherous assassination of Sheikh Salah (al-Arouri in Beirut). But on the battlefield of Gaza, where is the quick, clear, decisive and final victory?

10/ The failure of the air force to achieve victory, even in a narrow area like the Gaza Strip. Of course, this is very important for us in Hezbollah, and for everyone who will think about national defense strategies.

11/ This is the most important and dangerous point (for Israel) regarding the results of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and everything that is happening in the adjacent axes and battlefields: the absence of trust of the people of the Zionist entity in the Israeli army, security services and political leaders. This goes to the heart, the very foundations of Israel’s existence and perpetuation. Today there are people who… I don’t want to use inappropriate terms, but I hope that their capacity of understanding will understand this idea. When some people hear Hamas, our brothers in Islamic Jihad or other leaders of the Palestinian Resistance factions declare that the Al-Aqsa Flood truly lays the foundation for the demise of the State of Israel and places this entity on the road to extinction, they laugh and mock these predictions, because they lack lucidity. But fundamentally, and I will read you a text which shows this, if Israel loses security, it cannot survive. Its people, its inhabitants will not stay there, because their link with the land is a false, artificial, hypocritical link, which has absolutely no authentic basis. You all know that in the original project of the Zionist movement, at the time of (Theodore) Herzl, 4 countries were envisaged to bring together the Jews: Argentina, Uganda, a European country and Palestine, which was just one choice among others. It was the British who brought them to Palestine.

In all the countries of the region, which are authentic countries, when for example a civil war breaks out in Lebanon for 30 years, Lebanon and the Lebanese people remain. When disaster and world war strike Syria, Syria and the Syrian people remain. When Iraq suffers siege and wars, Iraq and its people remain. The same goes for Yemen and other countries. But when it comes to Israel, things are very different. Israel is an artificial entity. Israel is a patchwork people, made from scratch out of people gathered from all corners of the world. Every Israeli has a dual nationality, and their suitcases are always ready (to flee Palestine in case of danger). The Israeli connection with the lands of Palestine is based on security, and on the idea that it is “the land flowing with milk and honey” (Torah). When the milk and honey stop flowing and they lose security, it’s over! Why did I talk about a liberation of Palestine in stages? The scene that we can already glimpse for the future of Israel is these Zionists who pack up and leave, via airports, ports, borders, crossing points. This is the scene that will (inevitably) happen.

Al-Aqsa Flood powerfully laid, or completed, the foundations of this scene. Do you want proof? Alright. I will read to you a statement from the current Israeli Minister of War, [Yoav] Galant. Many Israelis say the same thing, but I will relate his words to you. He declared: “Without the achievement of the announced objectives of the war…”, namely the liquidation of Hamas, the release of prisoners alive and without negotiation, these are the announced objectives, and security, political or administrative control over the strip of Gaza, which is one of the unannounced objectives, “Without the achievement of the announced objectives of the war, we will be in a situation where the problem will be that the (Israeli) citizens will not be willing to live…” not only around Gaza, not just in the North, on the border with Lebanon. Galant says the problem will not only be those displaced from the area around Gaza, and the border with Lebanon, but that “(Israeli) citizens will not be willing to live in this country.” Why is that? “Because we don’t know how to protect them.” What does that mean ? He states that if Israel does not achieve the aims of the war, they will have lost the fundamental pillar on which the survival of the State of Israel rests. And I declare to him that with the grace of God, you will not be able to achieve the objectives of the war. You will not be able to achieve the objectives of the war.

The Al-Aqsa Flood also ended the myth of Palestine as the world’s only safe haven for Jews. The conception of Zionism is that Jews were not safe anywhere in the world except in occupied Palestine, in the Israeli entity. The Al-Aqsa Flood and what is happening on all fronts, yes, what is happening on all fronts, even though the main battlefield is Gaza, what is happening in Gaza first and foremost, and also in the West Bank, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and the region has shaken this foundation, and will collapse the concept and idea of safe haven on which the emigration of millions of Jews (to Palestine) was based. And the reverse migration began. Reverse migration has already begun. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have left occupied Palestine (since October 7), most of them elites, wealthy people, etc.

12/ The image of Israel’s power has been shattered. This Israel which presents itself to such or such Arab country that I will not name, promising that it will protect and defend them, will send them its air force and its Iron Dome, that it represents security, infallible intelligence services and advanced technologies, this image of a powerful and capable Israel has collapsed. And Israel is now in a position of needing to be defended. So imagine what Israel’s situation would be if the Americans and their aircraft carriers had not come to the Mediterranean. Israel needed such intervention from the United States from the very first days.

13/ The extent of direct losses at more than one level, to an unprecedented degree (in the history of the Zionist entity). Human losses, killed, injured and disabled: the figures communicated by Israel are much lower than reality. On our Lebanese front, in the north of occupied Palestine, Israel does not recognize any killed or wounded, but they number in the thousands. I will talk about it in detail in my speech scheduled for this Friday (January 5), with the grace of God. The (very large) number of vehicles and tanks whose destruction is announced every day (by the Resistance factions), the psychological situation…

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reports that as a result of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and its aftermath, so far, 300,000 new people have requested psychiatric care. 300,000 people requested psychiatric care! Will they stay here (in occupied Palestine)? That’s very unlikely! There are dangers, fear, worry, there is no security, and a difficult psychological situation. Do you want to live in peace? Let those who have a US passport return to the United States, let the British return to Great Britain, the French to France, etc. This is the only future available to you, O Israelis. And the land of Palestine, from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea, belongs only and exclusively to the noble, fighting, enduring and patient Palestinian people, and to no one else!

Israel therefore has a (very worrying) psychological situation, reverse migration, hundreds of thousands of displaced people, even if they conceal the real figures. A few days ago they declared that in the north (on the Lebanese border) there were only 60 to 70,000 displaced people, in order to diminish the importance of this front, but Netanyahu made a slip of the tongue one day and said there were 100,000. And a few days ago, a US newspaper reported Israeli officials saying there were 230,000 displaced people in the north of occupied Palestine. All these displaced people represent a burden for the enemy government (which had to rehouse them, provide for their needs, etc.). Not to mention the economy, which has been slowing down or even is at a standstill for 3 months: there is no tourism, no agriculture, no industry. And what is Israel without an economy? The cost amounts to tens of billions of dollars, and US aid will not succeed in filling this financial gap. Of course, in this regard, the action of our brothers in Yemen in the Red Sea has a huge influence on the Israeli economy.

14/ The Israeli’s unability and failure to achieve even the slightest of its objectives. Israel has not achieved the slightest of its (military) objectives (announced in Gaza). Do not imagine that if today the United States is asking Israel to withdraw from the cities (of Gaza), it is out of fear for (the lives of) the Palestinians: it is for the Israelis that they fear! It is possible that our brothers in the Palestinian Resistance ardently wish that the Israeli (soldiers) remain where they are, in the cities, to continue to eliminate them morning and evening, by the destruction of their tanks and vehicles, sniper operations, direct targeting, etc. Israel has not achieved any goals. They were unable to free any prisoners alive. They have not been able until now, and will never be able to impose their political will on the Gaza Strip, nor on the future form of the administration of Gaza.

15/ Another very important result obtained which will accelerate the death of this entity is the (unprecedented) scale of internal divisions. Just wait until the war stops. All (Israeli political and military leaders) without exception, even within the same party, hold a dagger hidden behind their back, and as soon as the war ends, and the questions, demands, commissions of inquiry and trials begin, we will see which Israel will emerge from the Al-Aqsa Flood (they are united today because it is wartime, but as soon as it is over, everyone will tear each other apart).

16/ The fact that the United States has been unmasked in the eyes of the whole world. After the neo-conservatives and the atrocious massacres perpetrated (by the Bush administration) in Afghanistan and Iraq, they gave us Obama, a Black man whose father was called Hussein, with African and Muslim roots, and whatnot. They have thus worked to restore their image in the Arab-Muslim world. And this deception worked to a certain extent. Then came the sedition of the Arab Spring, the sedition of ISIS – it was the Americans who created ISIS and they then presented themselves as the protectors of the Iraqi people against ISIS – and therefore tried to improve their image. One of the most important results of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is that it shattered the image of the United States, exposing it to its most abject realities. The most abject realities of the United States have been revealed (to the whole world, and to the Arab-Muslim world in particular). Because today, those who kill in Gaza are the United States, US decisions, US policies, US missiles and US shells. Those who are preventing the end of the war against Gaza are the United States.

Those who veto the UN Security Council are the United States. And the brazenness of the United States has reached the point where its spokespersons claim that Israel does not deliberately target civilians. 22,000 civilian martyrs, the vast majority of them women and children, but Israel does not deliberately target civilians, this is a mistake my dear friends, it is only “collateral damage”. Israel does not deliberately kill civilians or journalists. It clearly appears that it is the United States which is outside the international community, international law, international resolutions, human rights and humanist and humanitarian values (and which opposes them and constantly flout).

17/ And the last point that I submit to you before arriving at the last part of my speech, which will not be long, is that in what is happening in Gaza, there is a lesson for all of us: it is clearly established that international institutions, international organizations, the international community and international law are incapable of protecting any people whatsoever. They are incapable of protecting anyone. Remember this lesson, O Lebanese! There are still people in our country who, until today, despite 22,000 martyrs in Gaza, nearly 60,000 wounded, (despite this mass massacre which is taking place) under the helpless eyes of the international community, there are still those in Lebanon who tell Hezbollah to disarm, because the international community and international resolutions would be enough to protect Lebanon (in the event of an Israeli aggression). I’m sorry to say it, but it’s no longer a question of divergent points of view, where everyone has their own perspective and everyone’s opinions should be respected. Not at all. These people are blindly stubborn. The hearts, eyes and lucidity (of these people) are completely blind. “Truly it is not their eyes that are blind but their hearts which are in their breasts. » (Quran, 22, 46) Is this not the undeniable truth today?

What does this experience teach us? And here I enter the last part of my remarks. This experience teaches that if we are weak, the world will not give us any credit, will not protect us, will not defend us and will not even shed a tear over our fate! Even tears, we will be deprived of them! What protects us is our strength, our courage, our grip, our weapons, our missiles and our presence on the battlefield! If we are strong, we can make the world respect us! Despite the severe blockade strangling Gaza, despite the enormous oppression inflicted on Gaza, if Gaza had fallen in the first days, everything would be over, and no one in the world would have mourned it. It is the enormous moral force, and the limited material force of the Gaza Resistance, of the people of Gaza, of the men, women and children of Gaza, which are a form of force, which were able to impose themselves on the world. This is why the whole world is changing its mind, reconsidering things, looking for solutions. Why? Because there is a show of strength in Gaza, despite the unspeakable oppression (suffered by its people).

All these results, which are only some of the achievements of the Al-Aqsa Flood, for there are still many others, and still others to come, I assure you that what happened since October 7 until today, and what will happen subsequently, has weakened Israel, shaken the whole entity, and shaken its very foundations and pillars. And yes, as our Palestinian brothers rightly say, all this has placed Israel on the path to annihilation, and all of us will witness with our own eyes the disappearance of the usurping entity, with the grace of God! And (when it happens), no one will be able to protect it. No one will be able to defend it. As for the Arab thrones (normalizing countries and allies of Israel), let them start by protecting themselves (because they are also shaking). […]

Source: Al-Manar

Translation: Resistance News

January 21, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Fall of the West

By Mikhail Gamandiy-Egorov | New Eastern Outlook | 21.01.2024 

A number of prominent voices, now including those in the West, are beginning to openly say that not only has the time of Western minority dominance over world affairs come to an end, but that the Western system as a whole is collapsing, with all its consequences. All this confirms the thesis that the future system of international relations implies not only the final establishment of a multipolar world order, but also a post-Western international order.

Emmanuel Todd, a well-known French historian, sociologist, social anthropologist, writer and journalist, who once predicted the collapse of the USSR in 1976, said in a recent interview for Le Figaro that today we are witnessing the final fall of the West. Naturally, the French daily expressed the hope that this prediction, based on the analysis and a number of factors voiced by Todd, will not come true, but the main thing is that this message is already being heard in the West itself, including among very recognised experts such as Emmanuel Todd.

Among the reasons voiced by the French figure for such a gloomy forecast for the Western world minority are the collapse of the Kiev-NATO summer counter-offensive against the Russian army, the failure of the state and a number of other NATO regimes to provide sufficient weapons, the US industrial deficit with the disclosure of the fictitious nature of the state GDP, insufficient training of specialists in the field of engineering, and a number of other factors. And actually, Emmanuel Todd’s latest book, due out this month, is called: “The Defeat of the West” (La Défaite de l’Occident).

In general, and in this edition, the French author reminds us of a number of other important factors: that despite the collapse of the USSR, the US itself has been in crisis since the 1980s, where the disappearance of Protestantism has led America from neoliberalism to nihilism. In Britain, from financialisation to loss of a sense of humour. The nullification of religion has led the European Union to suicide, although according to Todd – Germany is due for a revival. And that in 2016-2022 – Western nihilism merged with the nihilism of modern Ukraine, born from the decay of the Soviet system. Together – NATO and Ukraine face a stabilised Russia, a great power again, now conservative, reassuring to the rest of the world – which is unwilling to follow the West in its adventure.

Emmanuel Todd pays special attention to the rest of the world, the non-Western world, whose choices predetermined the outcome of the war. In this case, the French expert, of course, means the countries of the Global South, which either openly supported Russia’s actions and with it the modern multipolar world order, or at least took a neutral position, but again with an emphasis on interaction with Russia and China, and with the processes that are taking place in the world today.

In fact, it is of course interesting to hear a reasonable view from the West then, as this very collective West – the obvious world minority of mankind – in the person of its pseudo-elites has completely lost touch with the reality of modernity, and which by refusing the inclusive world long proposed by China, the multipolar world order, has only accelerated its own decline. But perhaps it was meant to happen.

After all, the descendants of the biggest criminals in the history of mankind, slave traders, colonialists, have long been doomed to failure due to their extreme arrogance and hypocrisy, their natural mendacity, confidence in their own “exclusivity” and impunity. But the time of reckoning has indeed come. And while even some countries from the non-Western world, long considered important allies of the West, have actively taken the course of adaptation to the modern era – the Western minority continues the course of suicide. In the case of the masters of the collective West – the Anglo-Saxons – it is towards maximum escalation.

But great civilisations and the world majority do not give in, no matter how hard the Anglo-Saxons try to plunge the world into complete chaos. Continuing to achieve their goals, strengthening the multipolar world, but at the same time maintaining strategic patience, in view of their responsibility for the future fate of mankind. In any case – the time of Western dominance is finally over. The multipolar world is not a prospect, but a reality. And what is to come is not just a multipolar world order, but a post-Western world in which the minority will have to adapt to the majority, but not vice versa.

As for Emmanuel Todd’s opinion that the position of the non-Western world predetermined the fate of Russia’s confrontation with the NATO bloc, of course, and firstly, it is worth recalling that historically, Russia has never lost to the West, especially when it came to preserving the country, no matter what criminal scum ruled the West in those times. And it has always made key contributions and sacrifices for the sake of overcoming the world evil. But the fact that the countries of the Global South have contributed, some more some less, together a very serious contribution to the processes that are taking place today, accelerating the defeat of the Western insolent minority, is indeed an indisputable fact.

Mikhail GAMANDIY-EGOROV, entrepreneur, political commentator, expert on Africa and the Middle East.

January 21, 2024 Posted by | Timeless or most popular | , , , | Leave a comment

Why Are Almost 40 Percent of US Nuclear Attack Subs Out of Service?

By Oleg Burunov – Sputnik – 21.01.2024

Eighteen fast attack submarines are being temporarily decommissioned for repairs, a move that is fraught with far-reaching consequences for the US, experts told Sputnik.

On January 21, 1954, the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, was launched at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut.

SIxty-nine years later, a congressional report has revealed that something has gone wrong with the US Navy’s nuclear-powered fast submarine fleet. Of the 49 multi-purpose attack submarines (SSNs) in the navy, 18 are currently out of service for repairs, per the report.

So how did this happen? Sputnik explores.

What’s in the Report?

As of 2023, at least 37% of the entire fleet of SSNs have been temporarily decommissioned for repairs, according to previously undisclosed navy data published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The report cited 18 SSNs that are either in depot maintenance or awaiting maintenance, known as idle. The number is significantly higher than the navy’s target of having a maximum of 20% of all fast attack subs undergoing maintenance at any one time and zero submarines sitting idle and waiting to begin repairs.

The maintenance backlog has “substantially reduced” the number of the SSNs operational at any given moment, reducing the “force’s capacity for meeting day-to-day mission demands and potentially putting increased operational pressure” on fast attack submarines that are in service, CRS naval analyst Ronald O’Rourke said in the report.

The Naval Sea Systems Command responded by blaming “planning, material availability, and shipyard execution.” The service has launched several initiatives to address these “primary maintenance delay” factors, the command added.

Which Subs Need Maintenance?

The inactive SSNs are not the nuclear ballistic missile Ohio-class submarines, “but fast attack boats, including the Seawolf-class, that can fire torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missile at vessels and land targets, and perform stealth missions such as surveillance,” Bloomberg earlier reported.

As for SSNs, it is the US Navy’s hull classification symbol for a nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarine.

‘Severe Blow to US Admirals’ Pride’

Taking almost 40 percent of US fast attack submarines out of service is “quite a big blow to the pride of American admirals and sailors,” Vasily Dandykin, a Russian veteran military analyst and retired Russian Navy captain 1st rank, told Sputnik.

The reasons why the 18 SSNs have been temporarily decommissioned should be discussed in light of the US’ self-declared victory in the Cold War, Dandykin insisted.

“After announcing this win, Americans turned a blind eye to maintenance­-related issues,” the analyst said, adding that “the delayed repairs shorten the lifespan of a submarine.”

When asked about the condition of the SSNs in service, the analyst pointed to a spate of problems with the maintenance and qualifications of crews, which he said resulted earlier in various navigational incidents.

Connecticut Sub Crash

One of the major incidents happened to the USS Connecticut in the South China Sea in October 2021.

A subsequent navy investigation into the crash of the Seawolf-class submarine into an underwater ridge in the sea found that the incident was “preventable” and that it followed navigation planning and risk management mistakes, as well as other errors.

The failures “fell far below US Navy standards,” and the incident left the fast attack submarine unable to operate “for an extended period of time” because of the damage, the probe pointed out. The Connecticut reportedly won’t be back in service until early 2026 at the soonest.

Another incident dates back to January 9, 2005, when one crewman died after the US nuclear submarine San Francisco ran aground off Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Twenty-three crewmen were injured in the incident.

In February 2001, the USS Greeneville’s rudder tore through the Japanese fishing boat Ehime Maru’s lower deck during a fast surface maneuver, sinking the vessel within minutes. Nine people aboard died, including students and instructors in commercial fishing.

Repercussions

Operational pressure on the SSNs that are still in service is almost sure to increase, which means that their life span may be reduced and the construction of more such submarines will be needed, Dandykin meanwhile went on to say. This will, in turn, lead to spending hefty sums from the US’ defense budget, he added.

He was echoed by Earl Rasmussen, a retired lieutenant colonel with over 20 years in the US Army, who told Sputnik that the fact that 18 SSNs are now out of service means that the US Navy will have to limit its operations in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and the South China Sea.

“Almost 40% of the SSNs being decommissioned will impact our capability to deploy our reach and to deploy the defensive capability,” Rasmussen pointed out. The US Navy is “below its optimal or even projected readiness capability,” the US expert concluded.

January 21, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | | Leave a comment

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