MANAGING COVID19: CHINA VS THE US

Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
https://www.quora.com/The-US-had-much-more-time-to-prepare-for-Covid-19-than-China-and-yet-it-has-double-the-cases-in-a-population-that-is-only-25-of-China-Why/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
The US had much more time to prepare for Covid-19 than China and yet it has double the cases in a population that is only 25% of China. Why?
 
Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present)
 
I suspect this outcome has a lot to do with the fact that Trump devoted more time and effort to smearing China and boasting about his achievements, as well as downplaying the importance of the pandemic, than he did to finding solutions to it. For one thing, his remedies did not include a centralized response and allowed each state to deal with the pandemic in its own way. Some did a good job with the little equipment and supplies at their disposal, while others bungled their jobs.
 
Further, his sharp outright insults to China and its allies made it very difficult for him to accept aid from China. Politically, he could hardly go with hat in hand to the country he had smeared so mercilessly.
 
Worse, his record-breaking $2 trillion “coronavirus bailout,” while allotting a measly $150 billion to hospitals, does not provide a single penny for research aimed at finding a cure or vaccine for the COVID-19 infection! Not a red cent! Still worse, it provides no money whatsoever toward care for low-income and destitute COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization or other care services! Not a red cent! Thus, lacking funds for medical care, many will die and/or infect others. Here’s a breakdown of the $2T coronavirus bailout
 
This funding for research into cures and vaccines and for care and treatment of the pandemic-stricken patients is all part and parcel of the Chinese approach, which is the subject of endless caustic racist criticism in the US msm. Because it works perhaps?
 
In view of the above, how in heaven’s name could the disease not spread significantly more rapidly in the US than in the PRC?
 
This is not as much a reflection on the president as it is on US “democracy,” which as I have shown before, is non-existent:
 
Vince Dhimos's answer to Is China a bigger threat to the western democracy than Russia?


WAR NEWS (Yes, there are wars raging in the Middle East, but since the US is not winning, you woldn

http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2020-03/27/content_75865246.htm
 
Iraq assumes full control of military base in Nineveh province
 
Xinhua, March 27, 2020
 
BAGHDAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Thursday took over full control of al-Qayyara military base from the U.S.-led coalition forces in the northern province of Nineveh.
 
"The international coalition forces handed over the al-Qayyara base to Iraqi forces at the request of the Iraqi government after the end of their combat mission," the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
 
The military base is the second that Iraq has received from the international coalition forces within a week, according to the statement.
 
It said that Iraq will also take full control of other bases, including K1 in the country's northern province of Kirkuk, and the Habbaniyah base in the western province of Anbar, in addition to a coalition headquarters within the complex of Nineveh Operations Command.
 
The handover of al-Qayyara base confirms the ability of the Iraqi forces to maintain the security and sovereignty of Iraq from any attack, the statement added.
 
On Jan. 5, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq, just two days after a U.S. drone strike on a convoy at Baghdad airport, which killed Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolution Guards Corps.
 
Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support Iraqi forces in battles against the Islamic State (IS), mainly for training and advisory purposes.
 
The troops were part of the U.S.-led international coalition that has also been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.
 
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraq-to-play-serious-role-in-deescalating-conflict-between-us-and-iran-pm/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
 
Iraq to play serious role in deescalating conflict between US and Iran: PM
 
By News Desk -2020-03-29
 
BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:00 P.M.)- Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Adnan Al-Zurfi announced that his country will begin to play a serious role in alleviating the conflict between Tehran and Washington, and in removing Iraq and the region completely from its dangerous repercussions.
 
Zurfi tweeted on Sunday: “The increase in geopolitical tension in the region, especially the conflict between the United States and the neighbor, the Islamic Republic of Iran, has negative repercussions on the Iraqi political, economic and security situation.”
 
“Therefore, we will start playing a serious role in alleviating this conflict and removing Iraq and the region from its dangerous repercussions,” he continued.
 
In another tweet, he said, “Iran’s help in facing the Corona virus will contribute to preventing a humanitarian catastrophe that the Iranian people are suffering in a frightening way, and the international community should help them by lifting or easing the sanctions and providing medical treatments because of this health and security repercussions on Iraq, being the most extended and closely related neighbor to the Islamic Republic.”
 
Iraq has been at the forefront of this conflict between the U.S. and Iran, as both nations have used the country to launch attacks against each other.
 
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/446377/Analyst-calls-sanctions-on-Iran-a-moral-abomination
 
Analyst calls sanctions on Iran ‘a moral abomination’
Politics
March 29, 2020 - 22:4
 
TEHRAN - The Trump administration’s move to impose further sanctions against Iran at a time when the country is battling the new coronavirus pandemic is a “moral abomination,” an American political analyst said on Saturday.
 
Rodney Martin, the former congressional staffer based in Arizona, suggested the world leaders should ignore U.S. sanctions and form a “new economic cooperative” to counter the restrictive measures.
 
Martin made the remarks during a phone interview with Press TV when asked to comment on Russia’s call for the urgent lifting of U.S. sanctions against Iran as the bans have led to the flare-up of the deadly virus in the country.
 
The U.S Treasury imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran on Thursday, targeting construction and maritime sectors.
 
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Friday that the “unprecedented political and economic pressure” on Iran allowed the outbreak to take hold in the country as Tehran is unable to buy medicine and medical equipment due to Washington’s campaign of “maximum pressure” on the Islamic Republic.
 
“Russia is correct to seek an end to U.S. sanctions on Iran,” Martin said.
 
“Quite frankly, there should be no sanctions to any country, be it Iran, Venezuela or for that matter Russia during this worldwide pandemic, particularly with regard to Iran who has been just absolutely hit very hard… and [is] now suffering both from economic terrorism by the West and this horrific pandemic.”
 
Martin added, “The sanctions must end and there should be quick condemnation throughout the world to the fact that Iran continues to suffer both economic sanctions wherein they cannot purchase medical supplies and medical equipment.”
 
Iran is hit worst by the coronavirus in the Middle East. It just comes after Italy and Spain in Europe. As of Sunday, Covid-19 has killed over 2,600 Iranians and infected about 39,000.
 
“This is a moral abomination on the part of the United States and should be condemned, and if the United States refuses to heed the moral calls to remove economic sanctions as it is caving in to the wishes of its neocon and Zionist masters, then the world is going to have to come together — both European leaders, leaders in Moscow, leaders in India, leaders in China, and they are going to collectively ignore the U.S. sanctions and come together as a new economic cooperative,” the political analyst underlined.
 
According to Press TV, the coronavirus outbreak has prompted various international leaders, figures and groups to call for Washington to suspend its sanctions against Iran as well as several other countries.
 
Earlier this week, eight countries sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warning about the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on the international anti-coronavirus efforts.
 
U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – JCPOA - in May 2018, restored the previous sanctions and added new ones. It has even introduced a total ban on Iran’s oil export to strangulate the Iranian economy.
 
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered the White House to lift the sanctions it has illegally re-imposed on humanitarian supplies to Iran.
 
In a post on his Twitter account on Sunday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on the world to “stop obeying immoral and illegal U.S. sanctions” on Iran.
 
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/saudi-coalition-targets-irgc-advisers-in-yemen/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
 
Saudi Coalition targets IRGC advisers in Yemen
By News Desk -2020-03-30
Syria
BEIRUT, LEBANON (8:00 P.M) – Colonel Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the Arab Coalition forces, said that the coalition carried out a specific operation to neutralize and destroy military targets belonging to the Ansarallah forces in Yemen.
 
Al-Maliki said in a statement, published on the website of the official Saudi Press Agency, that it “follows the statement issued by the joint coalition forces command regarding the terrorist Houthi militia’s attacks against civilians, including citizens and residents, on the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday evening.”
 
He continued that the operations of Ansarallah “express the brutality of this terrorist militia and those behind it with its grave violations of international humanitarian law, especially in light of the global health situation to confront the coronavirus (Covid-19) and an extension of the responsibility towards protecting citizens and residents on the territory of the Kingdom.”
 
The coalition spokesman claimed that their forces attacked the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) experts that are currently deployed to Yemen.
 
“The targets that were destroyed included the advanced sites of the terrorist militia, such as storing, assembling, and installing ballistic missiles and drones, and the whereabouts of experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and armories, and military targets were distributed in a number of governorates in areas controlled by the terrorist militia, including one in Al-Hodeidah.
 
He added that “preventive measures were taken to protect civilians after the Houthi militia took residential neighborhoods as military headquarters and took civilians as human shields.”
 
 
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-israel-conduct-military-exercise-with-f-35-jets/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
US, Israel conduct military exercise with F-35 jets
US propaganda has it that Israel needs to be protected against Iran, but Iran has never attacked Israel, while Israel routinely attacks Iranian installations that are legally located, by invitation, in Syria. Meanwhile, the Israeli fighter jets that launch these missiles that kill Iranians and Syrians both, are invading Lebanese air space. They are illegal invaders.
Yet the US supports the Israeli invaders wholeheartedly.
As stated above, this injustice is due in large part to the unconditional support given by the US and especially Evangelicals, not only to modern Israel but also to its war crimes and genocidal policies against Palestinians.
It is due to a misreading of the Bible by about 80% of Evangelical churches. Anyone who wants to obey the commandment to love ones neighbour as oneself and who therefore cares about the lives of people in the Middle East must start with the churches and educate Christians as to what Zionism really is. You can start with this: http://www.newsilkstrategies.com/international-relations/christian-zionism-has-taken-the-world-to-the-brink-of-war-but-has-no-basis-in-scripture
 
#5
 
It is hard to believe that even ONE Westerner would continue to read US-controlled Western news. I just now did a Google search and could not find a single mention of this US pullout described in the article just below. In fact, it was first reported not in English but in Arabic at the Russian Sputnik site.
 
I urge all readers who really want to know the truth and not the sanitized feel-good reports from Western sources.  Go to Al Masdar and Southfront for this war and crisis news.
 
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/us-military-preparing-to-withdraw-from-oldest-base-in-iraq/
 
US military preparing to withdraw from oldest base in Iraq
 
By News Desk
 
2020-04-01
 
BEIRUT, LEBANON (6:00 P.M.) – The spokesman for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, Major General Tahsin al-Khafaj, revealed in an interview on Wednesday that the U.S. military is preparing to withdraw from one of the oldest bases inside the country.
 
In an interview with Sputnik Arabic, Al-Khafaji said that the Iraqi forces will receive the Habbaniyah Airbase, located between the cities of Fallujah and Al-Ramadi in western Iraq, from the American forces and the International Coalition next week, according to an organized schedule.
 
A source told Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV the same thing on Wednesday, leading many to believe that this airbase will be fully under the Iraqi military’s control by the end of next week.
 
It is worth noting that the Habbaniyah Air Force Base is considered one of the oldest installations in Iraq; it was established by the British Royal Air Force back to 1936, and after the departure of the British, it was transferred to the Iraqi Air Force.
 
The Habbaniyah Airbase is located in a city with the same name, between the cities of Fallujah and Al-Ramadi.
 
Idlib ceasefire to end in 24 hours as militants refuse to leave M-4 Highway
 
By
 News Desk
 -
2020-03-31
 
BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:20 A.M.) – The ceasefire that was established during the March 5th Moscow Agreement is nearing its end, as the militants refuse to leave the M-4 Highway (Aleppo-Latakia Highway).
According to a report from the Idlib front, the ceasefire that was established on March 5th will expire in the next 24 hours.
The Russian military had previously given their Turkish partners until March 12th to clear the militant-held areas along the M-4 Highway; however, this deadline was later extended to the end of March.
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has already been building up their forces along the Jabal Al-Zawiya front, but they have refrained from attempting to advance their positions.
It is not clear if the deadline for the ceasefire will be extended further, but, as of now, the agreement has yet to be fulfilled.
 
 
US hypocrisy on display as Pentagon orders US bases to stop divulging number of COVID19 cases in the military after 1,000 cases reported.
 
Just think, China was condemned in the US for failing to report the epidemic in timely fashion, but then President Trump declared the epidemic story a hoax. So now what is the Pentagon doing? Hushing up its own cases so the families back home can’t know how their boys and girls are doing in a world threatened with a pandemic.
 
Vince Dhimos
 
https://southfront.org/pentagon-confirms-over-1000-covid-19-cases-among-military-orders-bases-to-stop-public-reporting/
 
PENTAGON CONFIRMS OVER 1,000 COVID-19 CASES AMONG MILITARY, ORDERS BASES TO STOP PUBLIC REPORTING
 
Originally appeared at ZeroHedge
 
The Department of Defense (DoD) announced a grim milestone Monday — it’s total number of COVID-19 cases among US service members, civilian contractors, on-base civilian staff, and family dependents of troops has surpassed 1,000.
 
“Total DoD Cases (current, recovered and deaths) is 1,087,” according to DoD fact sheet released on Monday. The numbers are as follow:
 
Pentagon Confirms Over 1,000 COVID-19 Cases Among Military, Orders Bases To Stop Public Reporting.
 
The Pentagon said 569 service members have been infected, among these 26 hospitalizations, and 34 have recovered.
The remainder of total cases involve civilian contractors working on military bases and/or at the Pentagon, as well as dependents. This number is up significantly from Friday’s total DoD number of 600.
 
But it appears we are fast heading toward a near total reporting blockage in terms of DoD-wide cases, and specifically where they originate, and in what branches of the US armed services. As Stars & Stripes reports:
 
The Defense Department has ordered commanders at all of its installations worldwide to stop announcing publicly new coronavirus cases among their personnel, as the Pentagon said Monday that more than 1,000 U.S. military-linked people had been sickened by the virus.
 
The order issued by Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday is meant to protect operational security at the Defense Department’s global installations, Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement Monday. He said Defense Department leaders worried adversaries could exploit such information, especially if the data showed the outbreak impacted U.S. nuclear forces or other critical units.
 
This constitutes perhaps the clearest admission thus far throughout the crisis that the coronavirus pandemic is a serious threat to US defense readiness and national security.
 
 
Pentagon Confirms Over 1,000 COVID-19 Cases Among Military, Orders Bases To Stop Public Reporting
 
Currently at least two aircraft carriers are battling outbreaks in their midst – both are in the Pacific Ocean and likely have seen their operational readiness deeply compromised as commanders try to contain the spread, with the USS Theodore Roosevelt already being diverted to Guam days ago.
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