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Military affairs.

us foreign policy: a look behind the mask

7/29/2020

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This question shows that some Westerners think US foreign policy has deteriorated in recent decades, having once been strong and vibrant. That is an illusion and I will try to dispel it in the following. Let me just say that there is a constant pattern in US foreign and military policy that has not changed since about the 50s.

US foreign policy is unique, for example, as follows:

In terms of defence, the priority is not on defence of the homeland at all but on defence of foreign states that are of little or no benefit to the American people.
This is illustrated by the US foreign policies of the 60s and 70s. During the 6-Days War of 1967, the US supported Israel, at least diplomatically, adopting the narrative that the Israeli attack on Egypt, Syria and Jordan was defensive even though the Israelis actually bombed the respective airports on the ground before any planes could take off in self-defence.

This reflexive US support for Israel kindled the righteous ire of the Arab world and triggered an oil crisis in the 70s with the oil exporting Arab countries imposing an embargo that increased oil prices several fold. Nixon and Kissinger found a way out that killed two birds with one stone, solving the monetary crisis triggered when Nixon took the US off the gold standard and buying the friendship of the Gulf States. Nixon and Kissinger met with Saudi king Faisal and made an agreement whereby the Saudis would settle their oil trade ONLY in USD and also keep their cash reserves ONLY in US dollars, thereby propping up the value of the US dollar and creating the petrodollar, which exists to this day but is now threatened by the Fed’s profligate printing press. In exchange, the US agreed to use its military not just for the purpose of defending the American people, as mandated in the Constitution, but also to defend a country in which the US grassroots had no intrinsic interest whatsoever. Thus it created a world in which nothing is real any more, where monetary value is created by political and military means instead of real-world manufacturing or a gold standard to which the US had agreed with the rest of the world – a tenuous system that can be ruined by a profound crisis of the COVID type.

Now the US had always supported Israel unconditionally since its founding in 1948, for the reasons enumerated at the below-linked Quora page: https://www.quora.com/Which-of-the-USAs-global-interventions-were-purely-well-motivated/answer/Vince-Dhimos
Thus, since the signing of the petrodollar agreement with King Faisal, US foreign policy prioritized not the interests of the American people but the security of two foreign countries, ie, Saudi Arabia and Israel, that had no intrinsic interest in the security and well-being of the American people.

None of these reasons are, of course, related to the defence of the US homeland. This makes the US unique among nations but makes it vulnerable, forcing it to fight wars that are not its own and also to concoct and disseminate fake rationales for these wars to placate the US public. It’s a recipe for instability.

Thus another common feature of US foreign policy has, at least since WW II, been to enunciate one policy while actively pursuing another completely different one. And in turn, this feature owes in part to the fact that, as stated above, the US is no longer focused on its own interests but for political reasons, must pretend for the sake of the voters, that its unjustified wars are justified and somehow supposedly make the US public more secure. To do this, it has fabricated an endless litany of pretexts, such as the famous narrative of the supposed weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This need to constantly lie to its people puts the Establishment in a precarious position with the voters, to say the least. For example, Trump’s dangerous provocation of Iran is based on a commitment to Israel, whose corrupt officials are pressuring the US to attack Iran, but to make the policy seem justified, the White House, State Department and Congress were obliged to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a “terrorist organization.” This is beyond absurd since that group and related Iran-supported militias have adopted the principal mission of fighting ISIS and al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, and they have done an admirable job so far. The US Establishment’s sleight of hand in convincing the US public that a country dedicated to fighting terror is in fact a terrorist itself has been a grand achievement worthy of an Emmy for best fiction film.  Only the US Elites in government and media could have performed this role so brazenly, if not convincingly, and only a supremely gullible audience could have bought the narrative. The propaganda ministry under Goebbels never came close to this achievement.

Another example of the US fighting wars on a false basis was, I think, the concocted rationale of preventing the “spread of communism.”

This sleight of hand was not noticed by many observers during the 50s and 60s, when the US political elites managed to con the world into thinking that there really was a “red menace,” ie a threat that communism could spread all around the globe.

The credibility crisis arose when President Richard Nixon, the president who arguably presented himself as the most anti-communist of all, and who even went to the extent of breaking the law to oppose an activist he considered a far left opponent of his war, did an about face after the “anti-communist” Vietnam war was over and immediately initiated diplomatic relations with communist China. And the Elites did not strongly oppose this. This is strong evidence that the Washington elites were never sincere when they warned of the “red menace.” They clearly had something else in mind. But the public slumbered on, imagining the Washington elites were keeping them secure.

So what was the Washington elites’ real motive in massacring 6 million mostly civilians in Korea and then Vietnam?

Though the true motivation is not clear, we know that Washington has never stopped going to war on the flimsiest of excuses, so I suspect that whatever their motives were in the 50s and 60s they are the same as they are today.
​
Listed below are the US Elites’ underlying motives for war that we can be reasonable sure of:
1—the desire to keep feeding what Eisenhower called the military industrial complex. I posted at Quora a detailed analysis showing that the US Establishment wants to send vast amounts of money to its cronies in the arms industry, in part to provide meaningless employment for the masses. In the video linked at the below linked post, renowned aircraft designer Pierre Sprey says in response to a question. “The point is to spend money. This is the mission of the airplane [F-35]. It is for Congress to send money to Lockheed. This is the true mission of the aircraft."
 
https://www.quora.com/Vladimir-Putin-continuously-tells-or-conveys-to-the-Russian-people-that-he-wants-to-challenge-America-militarily-Do-Russians-think-they-can-win-such-confrontation/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
2—A constant anti-Russian (Russophobic) component in Western psychology that has existed since the 1800s. This was reinforced throughout the early 20th Century and beyond by the Scofield Reference Bible, which predicts that Russia will attack Israel (The Holocaust had not yet happened and Scofield wrote, in 1909, that Russia – not Germany, mind you – was the most anti-Jewish country in the world (he apparently didn’t know that Spain had banished its entire Jewish population!). Therefore, in his mind, the Biblical prediction relating to Israel’s enemies Gog and Magog must have referred to Russia – which was, absurdly, the country whose army would later liberate Auschwitz). Millions of US Evangelicals believed Scofield was divinely inspired and thus believed implicitly that Russia was Satanic and had to be destroyed by “Christian” America. (More recent archeological findings show that God and Magog were located in what is now Turkey, nowhere near Russia). This anti-Russian sentiment in the heartland, spreading to Washington, might explain why Nixon in the 1970s might have been willing to open up relations with communist China – despite the apparent anti-communist leanings of the US elites, partly in the hopes that a trade agreement with China could drive a wedge between China and Russia. Now, as we enter the third decade of the 21st Century, as the rapprochement between Russia and China tightens, the elites finally see that this was an unfounded pipedream and they suddenly want to destroy China for not fulfilling their dream – even though China had never even remotely agreed fulfil anyone’s dreams but its own!
 
3--The psychopathic drive to prove US superiority over everyone else and to bring the world under the control of the US hegemon. This was the mentality that brought the world Deutschland über Alles. (I am not a psychologist so I will not try to explain it).
 
Thus, the US pretended to be defending the world against communism but the real rationale for the Korean and Vietnam wars was probably one or more of the above motivations.
 
And with the passing of time, this same political schizophrenia – with Washington sending one message to the people about its intentions but actively and consistently pursuing roughly the opposite policy in its day to day reality – was manifested again in the US policy toward the Middle East and Afghanistan. Thus we heard the loud voices of US rhetoric proclaiming a “War on Terror” for public consumption, but anyone who closely examined what the US military was doing in Iraq and Syria saw that the US elites were actually siding with the terrorists. There are many examples, but let’s look at the most conspicuous ones:
1—I had posted a while back a detailed analysis of how the US-led West created ISIS. It is linked here: https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-sources-for-American-involvement-in-the-Middle-East-since-9-11-It-s-for-a-paper/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
2--Obama declared he was fighting a “War on Terror,” but this was clearly a lie because, while the US Air Force deployed in Iraq and environs had plenty of A-10 Warthogs loaded with all kinds of ordnance, the world was soon treated to those famous videos of ISIS militants in white Toyota trucks with machine guns mounted on their beds, rolling over the desert from Iraq to Syria in broad daylight, where they presented ideal targets for the Warthogs, Obama failed to order his air force to attack them. Though no one seems to realize it, this dereliction of duty was in fact the most grievous war crime against humanity in the “War on Terror” because it allowed ISIS to mingle with ordinary citizens in cities like Aleppo and Raqqa, where the US and Russia were obliged to fire missiles into highly populated areas to fight them. Obama set us all up. This was the prime example of declaring one policy and pursuing a completely different, almost opposite, one. The real policy was in fact outright support for terror. The Obama-Biden administration would repeat this deceit in Libya, leaving that country in its current state of chaos and civil war. All the while pretending to be fighting a “War on Terror.”
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SERIOUSLY, SOMEONE ACTUALLY ASKED AT QUORA: SHOULD CHINA DESTROY ITS NUKES?

7/26/2020

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Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
https://www.quora.com/When-will-China-agree-for-nuclear-disarmament-and-destroy-its-existing-nuclear-stockpiles-and-sign-the-nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
When will China agree for nuclear disarmament and destroy its existing nuclear stockpiles and sign the nuclear non proliferation treaty?
 
Vince Dhimos Geopolitical Analyst at New Silk Strategies (2016–present)
 
I am assuming that this querier is an aficionado of Western news sources and thinks US politicians are honest and moral and never lie about China to get votes.
 
Let’s start with the US and its nuclear stockpile. According to this site Nuclear weapons of the United States - Wikipedia
 
“As of 2019, the U.S. has an inventory of 6,185 nuclear warheads; of these, 2,385 are retired and awaiting dismantlement and 3,800 are part of the U.S. stockpile.” [my highlighting]
 
Then let’s move on to the universally accepted rationale for building and stockpiling nuclear weapons:
 
The rationale for this is called MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction. This is not as wicked as it sounds. It is based on the theory that if 2 countries that are at odds with each other each have about the same number of nukes, then neither one will likely launch a pre-emptive strike on the other because that other would respond in kind and both countries would be smoked. So, crazy as it sounds, if a country that harbours hostility toward you has nukes, it is beneficial for world peace if you have at least enough nukes to blow that country away in the off chance that it attacks you with its nukes.
 
Now let’s look at what the US is asking of China. The whole issue was raised by the US when Russia brought up the topic of a new START treaty, ie, a treaty on arms limitations of the kind that the US and the USSR signed in 1991, and the US said “wait a minute. Even if we sign an agreement with you, what about China? It has nukes too and we want all three of our signatures on the deal.” Russia and China both responded that it was not yet necessary to include China in the treaty because China doesn’t have anywhere near the number of nukes as either of us. So let’s see how many China has.
 
According to this site: Fact Sheet: China's Nuclear Arsenal - Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, it has about 320 nukes.
 
Well, that is enough nukes to worry about. If China sent one of these to each of 320 US cities and military bases, it could be messy, to say the least.
 
But at any rate, China has come up with a really clever and creative response, namely: Ok, when the US reduces its stockpile to the same size as ours, we will talk.
 
That’s where we’re at at this point in time.
 
But it looks like there are some who think China should mothball ALL of its nukes before coming to the bargaining table. Seriously, what do you suppose its chances are of doing something that STUPID?
 
That would, of course, render the MAD rationale null and void. And it might tempt some of the US’s numerous psychopathic Neocon politicians to launch a pre-emptive strike on China.
 
Of course, there are some Americans who think that China is a danger to world peace.
 
But let me remind you that it was not China that went to Dresden and slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent civilians by firebombing them and roasting them like chestnuts. And it was not China that invaded Nagasaki and Hiroshima and snuffed out over 200,000 lives, Nor was it China that went into North Korea in the 50s and slaughtered 3 MILLION mostly civilians from the air. And it was not China that went to Vietnam and slaughtered 3 MILLION mostly civilians from the air. Nor was it China that invaded Iraq and killed an estimated 3 MILLION mostly civilians from the air (that figure is disputed but it certainly was well over a million innocent lives snuffed out!) In fact, neither China nor Russia ever came close to committing that kind of atrocities! It was the US that committed all of these horrendous crimes!
 
So if you were a person from the planet Zog instead of an American from Appalachia or Nebraska or wherever, and you had never heard of the US or of China, and had never heard a US politician speak, and you were asked which country should disarm, the one that had made a habit of slaughtering people wholesale or the country that had never staged a bombing raid on anyone, what do you suppose you’d say?
 
Here is my advice: Let’s be fair, shall we?

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RUSSIAN BASES COMING TO AMERICA'S BACK YARD SOON

7/21/2020

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In the following is our translation of a commentary from zen.yandex.ru.
 
As we see below, Russia is planning on building military bases in Cuba and Venezuela. Although the author doesn’t mention it, all Russian naval bases host ships loaded with the latest hypersonic missiles with ranges that, if located in the Western hemisphere, can reach deep into the US and strike American bases there. And of course, there is no preventing Russia from loading nuclear war heads. Unfair you say? Well, the US has long been preparing to do to Russia just what Russia is doing in America’s back yard. You see, the Pentagon and NATO want nuclear armed missiles planted just outside the Russian borders, eg, in Poland and the Baltic states. So if the US feels uncomfortable about having nukes in its back yard, it needs to go to the negotiating table with Russia and work out a deal. Maybe we remove our nukes if you remove yours?
 
But so far, the US is acting as if it holds all the cards, even though it clearly doesn’t. When it can come down off its high horse and admit that it is not invulnerable and all-powerful, then things can be done to bring the world closer to peace. But until that happens, it can expect more bases and more nuclear-capable missiles next door. Unfortunately, that would mean growing up and entering the adult world. So far, Washington doesn’t seem ever to have thought of that.
 
 
BEGIN TRANSLATION
 
Evgeny Satanovsky explained why the United States is so worried about Russian naval bases in Cuba and Venezuela
 
This winter, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense reached agreements with their Cuban counterparts on the deployment of a Russian surface naval base on Freedom Island [Cuba].
 
Earlier it was agreed with the Venezuelan authorities that a base would be established on their country’s territory, where Russian submarines will be deployed.
 
This information greatly agitated Washington. The Pentagon and the State Department spoke out categorically against such bases. And they even promised that, if anything happened, they would strike the Russian ships. [This is why the US has lost all credibility. It keeps saying it will do drastic things that would be acts of war that could start a nuclear conflict, but everyone knows that it wouldn’t dare do them. It acts like a bull in a china closet because it has no plan and no strategy. Russia and China are clearly the only adults in the room, who avoid making empty threats].
 
In general, of course, it is clear why such a reaction ensued. But it's interesting to listen to an expert's opinion. And here is one. Yevgeny Yanovich Satanovsky spoke on the issue. Moreover, the political scientist drew attention to some interesting details.
 
Satanovsky noted that the United States has always regarded Latin America as its fiefdom. Even with Cuba, we managed to somehow negotiate [says the US]. And then Russia comes and spoils everything. Moreover, Latin America is known to be very close to the United States.
 
American departments believed that only the States could move their bases to Russia, and the Russian Federation could not do likewise [by moving their bases close to the US]. But they were wrong.
 
As a result, Satanovsky says that the main reason for the insanity of the State Department and the Pentagon is that America does not have the ability to somehow adequately respond to Russia regarding what is happening now. Powerless anger is the most unpleasant feeling. Hence the statements by the United States about pre-emptive strikes. [Trump has said he would strike Iran but he didn’t. He said he would block the Iranian ships sent to Venezuela, but he didn’t. It is clear to everyone that these threats are meaningless. But they are the only ammunition it’s got left. Each empty threat takes it one step closer to total impotence in foreign affairs. This perfectly illustrates why, in contrast to the Chinese and Russian systems, US “democracy” is useless for solving problems. It will just keep getting worse.]
 
Let them rage. America needs to feel that it speaks for its "sworn geopolitical partners."
 
END TRANSLATION
 
WAR NEWS
 
From Southfront. This news will surprise many readers because US "news" outlets almost never report on Israeli strikes on Syria. Nonetheless, they happen about once a week and kill both Syrians and Iranians. The UN recognizes the Syrian government as legal and sovereign, meaning that it has every right to invite Iranians to help protect it from enemies. The Iranian boots on the ground have done a splendid job of fighting ISIS in both Syria and Iraq, but the US, obedient lapdog of Israel, insists that Iran is an outlaw state and a terrorist. And people like you who read sites that tell the truth about Israeli strikes are also suspect. But in the long run, it doesn't matter. With Russia's help, the Arab world will hopefully become free of terror, Turkish meddling, US murder of heroes like Qassem Soleimani and sanctions. It's just a matter of time, patience, and faith.
 
ISRAEL RESPONDS WITH FORCE TO IRANIAN PLANS TO DEPLOY AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS TO SYRIA
 
DEAR FRIENDS. IF YOU LIKE THIS TYPE OF CONTENT, SUPPORT SOUTHFRONT WORK:
PayPal: southfront@list.ru, http://southfront.org/donate/ or via: https://www.patreon.com/southfront, BTC: 3Gbs4rjcVUtQd8p3CiFUCxPLZwRqurezRZ, BCH ABC: qpf2cphc5dkuclkqur7lhj2yuqq9pk3hmukle77vhq, ETH: 0x9f4cda013e354b8fc285bf4b9a60460cee7f7ea9

Late on July 20, the Israeli Air Force carried out a new wave of airstrikes on the southern countryside of the Syrian capital of Damascus. According to Syria’s state-run news agency SANA, Israeli warplanes launched missiles from the airspace over the Golan Heights at 21.48 local time. It claimed that a large portion of the missiles were shot down by the Syrian Air Defense Forces, but several hit their targets. At least 7 Syrian personnel were reportedly injured in the attack.

A day earlier, on July 19, Israeli warplanes and reconnaissance drones conducted extensive flights in Lebanese airspace, near the Syrian border. Apparently, these flights were conducted in the framework of the preparations for the July 20 attack.

In early July, the Iranian leadership publicly declared that it is going to contribute efforts to increase the Syrian air defense capabilities. Many observers, including Israeli ones, saw this statement as a signal of the possible supply of Iranian air defense systems to Syria. While the possibility of such supplies still remains in question, this was enough to provoke a further Israeli military action in Syria.

Syrian sources speculate that Israel also increased its sabotage activity in southern Syria. In the previous years of the conflict, the Israeli leadership already demonstrated that it’s ready to support any terrorist group that opposes Damascus. This approach extended to the situation when the Israeli military was turning a blind eye to the presence of ISIS terrorists in close proximity to Israeli positions on the Golan Heights.

At the same time, Israel reacted adversely to the Syrian anti-terrorism efforts in the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra. In the last few months, a series of assassinations and attacks targeted Syrian government forces in this area. Pro-government sources claim that these attacks became possible thanks to Israeli support to the remaining anti-government groups in the reigon.
Early on July 21, Idlib militants shelled positions of the Syrian Army near the village of Dadikh. Pro-militant sources claimed that the attack was a response to regular ceasefire violations by the Assad regime. Regular joint Russian-Turkish patrols along the M4 highway in southern Idlib seem to be not enough to stabilize the area. Furthermore, these patrols become targets of various attacks and provocations on a regular basis.

If the situation remains same in the future, a new open military confrontation in this part of Syria will become inevitable. At the same time, a political solution to the tensions is not possible as along as the region is in fact controlled by al-Qaeda-linked factions, first of all Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
​
In eastern Syria, the US-baked Syrian Democratic Forces continue their anti-ISIS raids in various desert villages. Pro-Kurdish sources claim that these raids allowed to decrease notably the ISIS activity on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. Nonetheless, the terrorist group still has a wide network of cells in this part of Syria. Thus, the resumption of ISIS attacks is just a matter of time.
 
 
 
 
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LIBYAN GNA GOVERNMENT LOST ITS LEGITMACY AS MANDATE EXPIRED

7/15/2020

1 Comment

 
Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-General-Haftars-more-fair-and-liberal-government-not-supported-internationally-as-the-government-of-record-in-Libya/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
Why is General Haftars more fair and liberal government not supported internationally as the government of record in Libya?
 
Vince Dhimos Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016–present)
 
Ever since Obama-Biden took out Ghaddafi and plunged the once most prosperous country in Africa into turmoil, foreign powers have had the most influence over the Libyan government, eclipsing the voice of the people.
 
Let’s consider some facts, some of which should alarm us.
 
Firstly, the previously UN-recognized government of Faez al-Serraj has lost its legitimacy since 2018, when its tentative mandate ran out.  Experts: Libya's Government of National Accord has lost legitimacy. The only real elected government is the parliament at Tobruk, which is totally opposed to Serraj’s GNA.
 
The GNA has been turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in his country, including black slavery and the importation of ISIS militants by Turkey to support the GNA. A GNA official actually admitted to Washington Post that Serraj has accepted the assistance of Syrian terrorists from ISIS and Al-Qaeda, imported from Syria by Turkey — which we also know has dangerous Islamist leanings, exemplified by Erdoğan’s above-mentioned importing of Syrian radicals into Libya and his conversion of the world heritage site Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, thereby slighting non-Muslim visitors. This should all be a HUGE red flag for anyone who is paying attention. Haftar has never been supported by terrorists and is in fact fighting them. Likewise, Egypt is concerned about the potential presence of terrorists at its borders and for this reason has engaged in the fight against the slavery-tolerating, terror-backed Serraj regime. Further, the Libyan parliament, essentially elected by the people (though some areas could not vote), though initially approving the GNA, later rejected it.
 
I have long been suspicious of the GNA because it is supported by the US Democratic party, which is the party responsible for the chaos in Libya. Democratic senators have asked Haftar and Russia to be sanctioned on the absurd basis that Russia is an alleged “adversary” of the US. But we need to remember that if it had not been for Russia’s entry into the Syrian war, ISIS would have pushed the Syrian army into the sea in 2015. The fact that the US was more interested in removing Assad than in removing ISIS at that time is an important indication that Serraj is being supported by parties with an interest in maintaining chaos in Libya. Further, as I have shown here: https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-sources-for-American-involvement-in-the-Middle-East-since-9-11-It-s-for-a-paper/answer/Vince-Dhimos, the US-led West was responsible for the rise of ISIS in the Middle East in the first place. Added to this is the fact that France, Sudan, UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt support Haftar, and at least UAE, Egypt and Russia consistently oppose radical Islamism. Further, Qatar and Turkey, which support a conservative Shariah law-based form of government, support Serraj. I have therefore concluded that, regardless of what secondary misgivings we might harbour against Haftar, support for him constitutes support for a secular, non-Islamist government of the kind that Libya enjoyed under Ghaddafi.
 
https://www.quora.com/Russia-entered-Syria-and-situations-gets-better-now-if-Russia-entering-Libya-Why-is-the-US-military-taking-it-as-a-threat-for-Europe/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
WAR NEWS
 
Egyptian military has begun preparations for major operations in Libya
Remember the Obama-Biden attack on Libya that plunged the country into chaos, terror and economic ruin. Now Egypt is poised to set things straight and it is hard to imagine that US-Libya ties will ever be restored.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/egyptian-military-began-preparations-for-major-operation-in-libya-expert/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
 
Russian air force unleashes massive attack against jihadists in Latakia
Latakia is home to Russia’s Hmeimim air base, which is constantly being attacked by jihadist drones. The Russians always manage to swat them down with their superior air defences, including electronic warfare means. The Russians suspect that the US and Israel are behind some of the attacks.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-air-force-unleashes-massive-attack-against-jihadists-in-latakia/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
 
New Quds Force [Iranian] commander threatens US-Israel. Difficult days have not yet come.
Israel has always counted on the US to fight for it, but US power in the Middle East and North Africa is declining, and worse, polls taken among young Arabs show that the US is no longer trusted. Russia is the non-Arab country that they trust the most.  America must expect major changes and must accept that this trend will continue indefinitely. Libya is a perfect example, where Russia-ally Egypt has stepped up to protect the people from the Turkish invasion. The Egyptian armed forces, backed up by Russian weapons, are superior to US ally Turkey’s. In addition, Erdoğan is losing political ground at home. The US had the chance to denounce Turkey’s actions but took the easy road and did nothing. Now it is a bit late...
 
(Today we also learn of a planned $400 billion Iran-China deal, which promises to enable Iran to by-pass sanctions and sell its oil, and also to help defend Iran from US-Israeli encroachment. The US is furious but has no plan.)
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/new-quds-force-commander-threatens-us-israel-the-difficult-days-have-not-come-yet/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
 
Saudis losing Yemen war, Riyadh regime may collapse
The US not only did nothing, it helped Saudi out earlier with free refueling of its war planes. The consequence: by “helping” Saudi kill innocents, it set up its allies for a possible collapse. The lesson:  A superpower can do immoral things for a while and no one can stop it. But eventually, the piper must be paid. It is not just immoral, it invariably boomerangs on the perpetrator.
https://southfront.org/saudi-regime-is-balancing-on-brink-of-collapse/
 
China, Iran deal eyes a future decoupled from US
This is the fruits of Trump’s dissolution of the Iran deal and, at about the same time, his senseless poorly thought-out trade war. While he thought he was helping keep Israel more secure by pulling out of the JCPOA, he made things a LOT worse. Now, if the plan goes through, Iran will be safely in China’s corner and its defences against Israel and the US will be much stronger. It didn’t have to be this way. This is all thanks to the US habit of focusing solely on politics and almost never on problem solving. US “democracy” doesn’t solve problems, it creates them.
And, need I say it, voting for Biden won’t change much. Foolishness is bipartisan.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/china-iran-deal-eyes-a-future-decoupled-from-us/
 
Rafale jets bomb GNA’s Turkish-backed jihadist air base. Egypt or France?
Turkey is outgunned and would be wise to just pack up and leave Libya. But Erdoğan is a proud man and his pride could come at a cost.
https://eurasiantimes.com/rafale-jets-dodge-all-radars-air-defence-systems-bombs-turkish-facilities-in-libya/
 
Libya: Decisive battle for Sirte to be witnessed in coming hours
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/decisive-battle-for-sirte-will-be-witnessed-in-coming-hours-lna/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies

This is it, folks. If indeed this is the decisive battle, it will decide pretty much the fate of the Middle East-North Africa region for a long time to come. People who like terrorism and black slavery (like some US Democratic senators) will be rooting for the illegitimate prime minister Faez Serraj, whose mandate ran out in 2018 and who is usurping central power at the expense of the Libyan people. People who hope for a free Libya will be rooting for Khalifa Haftar, who is backed by Russia, Egypt, France, UAE and Sudan. Egypt has stepped up as the boots on the ground and pilots in the air while UAE – and possibly Saudi as well – is providing funding. France has also said it might send air support if things get critical. There are reports of Russian Wagner mercenaries but these are unconfirmed rumours. On the other side are some ragtag fighters of the GNA plus mostly Turkish-backed militants, mostly jihadists who got whipped in Syria’s Idlib. Turkey is paying these losers good money but they have little other incentive to fight in a foreign land where they seem to have no future. So far of the first batch of about 15,000 Syrian jihadists sent to Libya, about 5,000 returned home discouraged. You can find further news in the days to come at Al-Masdar, Southfront, TASS and Asiatimes. You may occasionally find something of interest at RT or Sputnik. This election season is a time of trick or fake news in the US, and when it comes to foreign wars that the US is not fighting or winning, you probably will not find much of interest in US or other Western outlets, which mostly just blot out what they don't want you to know. US "democracy" depends heavily on an ignorant populace to do the will of the elites.
 
https://southfront.org/turkish-proxies-in-syria-went-out-of-control/

Turkish proxies in Syria went berserk.
Well, this is what happens when you rely on terrorists to do your dirty work for you.

https://tass.com/world/1178141

Jihadis captured in Syria were trained, armed by the US.

https://parstoday.com/en/news/iran-i123876-iran_china_deal_to_ditch_dollar_bypass_us_sanctions_leader%E2%80%99s_advisor
​

Iran China deal to ditch dollar, bypass sanctions.
 
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IRAQI RESISTANCE BLOWS UP US CONVOY TO BAGHDAD. MSM TOTALLY IGNORE IT

7/11/2020

2 Comments

 
With introduction by Vince Dhimos.
 
Our sincerest thanks to Southfront for the report below and please don’t underestimate the importance of this event in Iraq, which signals a long-smouldering discontent that is bubbling up not out of some political plot from a secretive imaginary Deep State but from the pent up resentment of the Middle Eastern populace at large. It’s not about Iraq. It’s not even regional. It’s about a powder keg of discontent at a tribe on the other side of the world that has long trampled on people just trying to get along and existing in an increasingly impossible situation.
 
Please check out the videos of the burning convoy and especially the one on General Qassem Soleimani, which shows what a hero he was to both the Iranians and the Iraqis as well as to many many people in the Middle East who have had their countries and leaders destroyed by the aerial bombs and economic sanctions of the Washington Empire over the last two decades. The killing of this great anti-terror fighter may have helped Trump garner a few votes from low-information voters who swallowed the lie of a “killer of Americans,” but it made the US presence in Iraq even more resented than it was before that crime and it was an important turning point that makes it almost impossible for the US forces to stay in Iraq. It was only after this murder that the Iraqi parliament finally voted to oust the American troops from Iraq, and when they refused to go, brought on an Iranian retaliatory ballistic missile attack on a military base hosting US troops in Iraq. Only a skeleton force of scared US troops remains in Iraq after this brazen and cowardly assassination by a government that ignores all the signals of discontent from the Middle East as it plods forward with its senseless policies devoid of any meaningful strategy or coherent plan for peace in the region. The US media are totally cowed by the political Establishment in Washington, and refuse to cover this and other all-important stories of the Iraqi resistance – or more accurately, the Middle Eastern resistance. Yes, it’s a thing. There are obvious parallels with the last days of the Soviet Union here, the only difference being that the Russian people at that time were keenly aware and sick to death of the lies and obfuscation in the Soviet press and were hungry for knowledge about the outside world, whereas the US public at this time in July 2020 is almost totally asleep and with its mesmerized indifference is setting itself up for a series of shocking surprises as the Fed continues to print trillion after trillion in a vain attempt to stave off the inevitable and the slumbering populace looks to inept politicians to save them from none other than themselves and their cultivated ignorance of a surrounding world as it closes in on them. Never has an election meant so little to so many. I write these words with a heavy heart.
 
https://southfront.org/iraqi-resistance-forces-blew-up-us-logistic-convoy-near-baghdad-videos/
 
IRAQI RESISTANCE FORCES BLEW UP US LOGISTIC CONVOY NEAR BAGHDAD (VIDEOS)
 
2020, 7-11
 
On July 11 evening, a US logistic convoy was blown up on the road between Samawah and Diwaniyah, south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. At least 3 vehicles of the convoy were reportedly destroyed or damaged by gunmen that attacked the convoy.
 
There have been no reports about casualties following the attack. US logistical convoys in Iraq are often supported or even operated by private contractors. So, the Pentagon may try to ignore the incident pretending that nothing has happened.
 
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Nonetheless, Iraqi sources say that the attack was conducted by one of anti-US Iraqi resistance groups. Multiple such groups appeared following the US drone strike on Baghdad International Airport in early January 2020. The drone strike killed the deputy commander of the Iraqi Armed Forces’ Popular Mobilization Forces and the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

MORE ON THE TOPIC

Turkey Has 37 ‘Military Points’ In Northern Iraq (Map Update)

Vince Dhimos posted at the forum:

Vince Dhimos 
​
"...the Pentagon may try to ignore the incident pretending that nothing has happened."
These words were prescient. I was unable to find any mention of this incident in any news site anywhere! It is unbelievable that ANYONE would bother reading any Western "news" sites. It is amazing the lengths to which the Washington-controlled msm will go to avoid saying anything that might affect the November elections. The fact that the Democrats also avoid mentioning this indicates that they are on board with Trump's policy and that these warlike policies will be continued no matter who gets elected. How can they dare speak of "democracy" in the US when so much depends on the almost complete ignorance of the public?
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WHY TURKEY WILL NEVER BE KICKED OUT OF NATO

7/10/2020

2 Comments

 
 Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
https://www.quora.com/With-Turkeys-foreign-policy-increasingly-aligned-against-NATO-and-its-member-states-interests-should-Turkeys-NATO-membership-be-revoked/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
With Turkey's foreign policy increasingly aligned against NATO and its member states' interests, should Turkey's NATO membership be revoked?
 
Vince Dhimos Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016–present)
 
It’s complicated. The US has two policies: the one it publicly proclaims (eg, “war on terror”), and it’s hidden agenda, which you can easily figure out if you watch its actions in the Middle East closely enough. The public policy and the hidden agenda are opposites. And please note: we are not talking about a so-called "Deep State" policy and a Trump policy here because Trump's policies are in line with the Deep State, though his acolytes haven't all figured that out yet. Yes, it is true that there is a certain anti-Trump segment in the Deep State -- which should just be called the Establishment -- but the elites behind the curtain are not really opposed to or by Trump at the deepest levels. If there was a meaningful difference between Trump and the Establishment elites, the US would no longer be in Syria or Afghanistan, the Fed would not be distributing freshly minted unbacked dollars to its cronies in Big Business, and there would be no sanctions on innocent civilians in Venezuela or Iran. US bullying is the old threadbare policy, nothing new and nothing great again.
 
Turkey is aligned with the US’s hidden agenda to create chaos in the Middle East (according to the Yinon Plan "Greater Israel": The Zionist Plan for the Middle East - Global Research) and to oppose Russia (because Russia consistently seeks stability, not chaos).
 
But it is further complicated by the fact that the US supports the Kurds while Turkey fights them and by the fact that Turkey is vehemently anti-Israel. Interestingly, both Turkey and Israel serve as vital US proxies, doing its dirty work. (US-Kurd relations explained here).
 
Turkey also supports the Serraj government (GNA) in Libya, which pretends to be secular but turns a blind eye to black slavery and allows Turkey to import ISIS militants to Libya. The US Establishment cabal has nothing against these evils but must placate the public by pretending to oppose them. (US Democrats support Turkey and terrorists by demanding Russia stop fighting the terrorist-backed GNA. Details here).
 
Serraj is opposed by France, UAE, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russia. France has refused to participate in the latest NATO naval exercise because of an alleged attack on a French ship by Turkey.
 
If you are concerned about what mischief Erdoğan may perpetrate next, you may be encouraged to note that Turkey’s ex PM expects Erdoğan’s party to collapse as it is losing power among the Turkish elites, as reported here, and also among the Turkish grassroots.
 
WAR NEWS
 
Our translation from Russian of an article from avia.pro with a foreword and notes [in brackets] by Vince Dhimos.
https://avia.pro/news/izrail-rassmatrivaet-vozmozhnost-puska-raket-po-aviabaze-hmeymim
 
Israel considers launching missiles at Khmeimim airbase
 
Israel intends to attack the vicinity of the Khmeimim air base using drones.
 
Aware of their impunity and inaction of the S-400 Triumph systems, Israel may again try to strike at the outskirts of the Russian military base Khmeimim, using its unmanned aerial vehicles for this. The goal of the Israeli military will not be the Russian military, but the pro-Iranian forces, however, one of the key points could be a test of the Russian S-400 Triumph air defence systems, since a missile launched towards the air base will become a threat to which Russian air defence will have to respond 100%.
 
According to experts, so far the Russian air defence systems, to put it mildly, have not been able to establish themselves in Syria, due to the numerous unexpected attacks of the Israeli Air Force and the actual presence of Israeli fighters in Syrian airspace. Nevertheless, it is obvious that Israel wants to act in Syria much more aggressively; however, the declared characteristics of the Russian complexes could become a very serious obstacle, which was the reason for the assumption that Israeli drones could try to strike at Iran’s forces located near the air base "Hmeimim,” but on condition that the missiles launched will have to fly directly over the military airfield to force the Russian military to use the S-400 air defence systems.
 
However, analysts call this assumption ridiculous.
 
“The S-400 is not designed to fight drones and small missiles. If Israel really decides to take such a step, then, obviously, we will be using short-range air defence systems, such as a Tor or Buk. It is also important to understand that any threat to the Russian military may be punishable for Israel and therefore Tel Aviv should be very careful,” said an Avia.pro specialist.
 
https://www.intellinews.com/nato-nerves-on-edge-as-france-pulls-out-of-sea-operation-in-major-row-with-turkey-over-libya-186727/?source=russia
 
Nato nerves on edge as France pulls out of sea operation in major row with Turkey over Libya
 
By bne IntelIiNews July 2, 2020
France has temporarily pulled out of a Nato security operation amid its major row with Turkey over Ankara’s alleged violation of an arms embargo against Libya.
The French defence ministry on July 2 said France had suspended its participation in Operation Sea Guardian. The move also comes after Turkish ships allegedly targeted a French warship in the Mediterranean. Turkey has strongly refuted the claim and a Nato investigation into it was inconclusive. France, meanwhile, has been calling on EU countries to hold urgent talks on the bloc’s future relations with Turkey.
It is clear that Paris is unhappy at the foothold Turkey has gained in Libya by militarily supporting the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) against the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of General Khalifa Haftar in the Libyan Civil War. As bne IntelliNews has reported, there are fears that the outcome of the conflict could leave both Turkish and Russian military bases in Libya staring across the Mediterranean at France, Italy and other European states. Turkey has recruited militia fighters in the Syrian Civil War whom it has transported to Libya to fight on the side of the GNA, causing French President Emmanuel Macron this week to accuse Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of massively importing jihadists into the country in a “criminal” intervention by “a country that claims to be a Nato member”.
Migrant transit point
Oil-rich nation Libya is a key transit point for migrants heading to Europe from Africa. France and other EU nations are already deeply unhappy at how Turkey has in recent months encouraged Syrian migrants it is hosting to attempt to enter the bloc by crossing its border with Greece.
French relations with Turkey are also strained over Turkey's drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, some of which is said to infringe the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus.
Tensions between Paris and Ankara reared up on June 10 when French frigate Courbet moved to inspect a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship, the Cirkin, off the coast of Libya, to check if it was smuggling arms in contravention of a UN ban.
The French ship was participating in Nato's Operation Sea Guardian, the objectives of which include maintaining freedom of navigation and conducting a "maritime counter-terrorism" role.
French defence forces claimed that in response Turkish ships escorting the Cirkin, which Turkey said was carrying medical supplies, acted aggressively, even targeted the Courbet with their weapons systems three times. Turkey denies the French allegation, saying the interaction was friendly.
Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on July 1 asked France to apologise for its allegations about the Courbet. Ankara has accused France of supporting the LNA in the Syria conflict. The LNA is also backed by Russian mercenaries and Russia appears to have flown fighter planes, stripped of their markings, to one of its desert air bases in response to GNA gains assisted by Turkish drones. Cavusoglu said France has been "destructive" in the North African nation. He also accused it of trying "to increase Russia's presence in Libya".
“Doesn’t make sense”
After France suspended its role in Operation Sea Guardian, a French official told Reuters: "It doesn't make sense to keep our assets... with allies who do not respect the embargo."
Turkey has also upset Nato allies with its actions in Syria and purchase of Russian S-400 air defence missile systems viewed as a threat by the US and the military alliance to the performance data of the US F-35 fighter. The US has refused to deliver F-35s to Turkey as a result.
There is also the danger that tensions between Turkey and neighbouring Greece could reach fever pitch over migrants, drilling rights and longstanding issues over territorial claims.
Turkey will not give up on its role in Libya easily. Its economy remains fragile and short of revenues. Erdogan, under political pressure at home and wont to whip up nationalist support with military adventurism, would clearly like to use his Libya leverage to secure some hydrocarbon rights—Turkey is almost entirely reliant on energy imports—while there is also the prospect of earning tens of billions of dollars from post-war reconstruction in the country and recovering big sums Turkey claims Libya still owes from previous contracting work carried out prior to the nation becoming embroiled in its conflict.
On July 1, it was reported that a Turkish business delegation was set to visit Libya within two weeks to assess how Turkey’s companies and banks can help rebuild the war-torn country and secure its energy needs.
 
Turkey wants to control northern Syria
https://southfront.org/turkish-proxies-create-chaos/
 
Egypt to challenge Turkey, Israel with strongest navy in the region
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/egypt-intends-to-challenge-turkey-israel-as-strongest-navy-in-mediterranean-with-new-missile-system-expert/
 
Venezuela shoots down US pane invading its airspace
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/venezuelan-warplanes-shoot-down-unknown-aircraft-with-us-registration-umber/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
 
Russian military helps return water to 1 million people after Turkish-backed forces shut it off
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-military-helps-return-water-to-1-million-people-after-turkish-backed-forces-shut-it-off/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies

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RUSSIAN WEAPONS THWART US AMBITIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THE MEDITERRANEAN AND ELSEWHERE

7/6/2020

1 Comment

 
The following 3 reports are our translations from avia.pro (links are given below) with comments and notes [in brackets]. These reports (containing information essentially unavailable in US msm) provide a bit of relief for those Westerners who understand the precariousness of the US position in view of the reckless prattle of Biden and Trump this campaign season. The bottom line is that, while Biden is talking like a tough guy, he has nothing to back him up, although the average voter is blissfully unaware of the US’s vulnerability against China and Russia. So the gullible public on both sides of the aisle will, as usual, cheer for their party in the full confidence that the good ole USA can beat any comer with its hands tied behind its back, provided their man is sitting in the White House.
 
https://avia.pro/news/rossiyskie-bastiony-v-livii-otrezali-put-amerikanskim-avianoscam-v-chyornoe-more
 
The Russian mobile coastal defence system "Bastion" has cut off American aircraft carriers from access to the Black Sea
 
The appearance on Libyan territory of the Russian mobile coastal Bastion missile systems is why American aircraft carriers are unlikely to appear in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea with any provocative actions against Russia. One such complex allows us to control a sea area of 100 thousand square kilometres, and considering media reports on the transfer of three such complexes to Libya, Russia will be able to control a sea area of ​​several hundred thousand square kilometres, and in addition, the “Bastions” Can also be placed on the coast of Syria.
 
“Military representatives of Egypt and Russia said that Cairo asked Moscow to expedite the supply of coastal defence systems, in particular the Bastion, to the Libyan National Army [the LNA is the army opposing the UN-recognized “government” of Faez Serraj, who is turning a blind eye to black slavery and is allowing Turkey to import ISIS militants from Syria to Libya. US Democrats are supporting Serraj despite his tolerance of black slavery and despite the fact that the Democrats pay lip service to the BLM cause in the US]. Sources said that the Bastion system is capable of protecting the coast along a range of more than 600 km from potential landing of the enemy, since the complex can be deployed at military facilities in just five minutes,” reports AMN [Al Masdar News].
 
In Washington a week earlier it was announced that if Russia creates its new stronghold in Libya, then the North Atlantic Alliance [NATO] may begin to face very serious problems, since most of the Mediterranean Sea, and, consequently, access to the Persian Gulf and access to the Black Sea, will be controlled by Russia.
 
The Russian side does not officially comment on the delivery of Bastion coastal missile systems to Libya, although it is obvious that amid regular shipments of cargo and military transport planes from Syria to this North African country, Russia is extremely interested in partnerships, including militarily relationship with LNA. [Yes, provided the partner in question does not support terrorism, in contrast to the US, which supports Turkey despite Ankara’s partnership with ISIS and Al Qaeda rebrandings in Syria and Libya]
 
Read more at: https://avia.pro/news/rossiyskie-bastiony-v-livii-otrezali-put-amerikanskim-avianoscam-v-chyornoe-more
 
Same URL as above:
 
Russian super radar detected strike by unknown aircraft in Iran
 
The Russian Container radar has detected unknown aircraft that attacked Iran from the airspace of Azerbaijan.
 
The transfer by the Iranian military of the modernized Soviet S-75 air defence systems to the border with Azerbaijan, as well as the recent mysterious explosion at an Iranian military facility, led experts to conclude that these two events are related. The reason for this was the fact that it was from the airspace of Azerbaijan that attacks were earlier carried out on the Iranian military, and in the winter of this year a drone was launched from the territory of Azerbaijan, which took part in the murder of commander Qassem Soleimani. According to experts, assistance in identification was provided by the Russian container radar, which has an effective range that can detect air targets at distances of several thousand kilometres.
 
Iran has not officially confirmed that the explosion at a military nuclear facility occurred due to an attack by external forces. Nevertheless, taking into account the arguments of experts and the transfer of air defence systems to the least protected area, experts expressed the view that Azerbaijan could be responsible for that operation of, presumably, American or Israeli forces. At the moment, the timing of the deployment of anti-aircraft missile systems remains unknown, however. Analysts believe that Iran’s opponents may try to arrange a new provocation from the airspace of Azerbaijan, and this time Iran is ready to make a powerful response.
 
**
 
This next article from avia.pro was of particular interest in light of Joe Biden’s campaign statements about how much tougher he would be on Russia and China. It is obvious that Joe’s speech writers never checked up on the size and capabilities of these two de facto allies’ military arsenals. After reading the three articles presented here in translation I have to guess they haven’t a clue. If Biden actually does what he brags he will do, Americans had better regularly check out their windows for the sight of a mushroom cloud on the horizon in 2021!  The new Russian frigate mentioned in the following article could take out 16 cities, including one on the Potomac. And that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the damage that could be wrought on the rest of US assets by aircraft-borne nuclear capable missiles like the hypersonic Kinzhal.  If the Russians are attacked on their own turf, they have a hard-and-fast policy whereby they would then automatically launch a nuclear attack on their adversary. Given the size of their missile arsenal, it would make sense for them to simultaneously target every US base in the world plus every US aircraft carrier. It would also make sense to cut off the head of the snake by bombing the White House, Congress and the Pentagon. After that, the government would probably not convene again for a few days or weeks, with only the few surviving congress people who fell through the cracks meeting by Zoom – although the power plants and communications towers would no doubt be targeted as well, so the internet would be down almost everywhere. Yes, the US, what’s left of it, would also retaliate, but Russia has hosts of air defences like the new S-500 that can take out incoming missiles and aircraft from outer space, and a whole host of other systems scattered around Moscow and other cities and regions.
 
The good news is that the Pentagon ignores political rhetoric, has already boned up on all this and will almost certainly refuse any lame brained White House orders to strike Russian or Chinese targets in the first place, so it doesn’t matter how tough Biden may pretend to be, he won’t get past the generals. The truth of the matter is that Trump is not to blame for backing down to Iran, Venezuela and other targets during the last term. Russia backed down the US, as it will also do if tough guy Biden wins the next election.
 
https://avia.pro/news/rossiyskiy-flot-poluchit-moshchnyy-fregat-osnashchyonnyy-16-giperzvukovymi-raketami-cirkon-uzhe
 
The Russian navy will receive a powerful frigate equipped with 16 Zircon hypersonic missiles in a few days
 
The newest Russian frigate, armed with Zircon missiles, will take up combat duty in a few days.
 
Russia continues to increase the strength of its military fleet, and the appearance of the frigate Admiral Kasatonov armed with 16 Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles, which no other country in the world can boast, is the most brilliant confirmation of this.
 
“At present, the second frigate of this project, Admiral Kasatonov, is completing the tests. It is planned that this July he will be accepted into the Navy. I want to point out that the ships of this project confirm the tactical and technical characteristics incorporated in them by the designer and manufacturer. And as having a large modernization reserve, project 22350 will certainly receive further development, which will affect ship systems and weapons. There is no doubt that these frigates will strengthen the grouping of surface ships of the Navy in the far sea zone due to their tactical and technical characteristics,” the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defense reports referring to an interview with Admiral Nikolai Evmenov.
 
The Russian warship will indeed be equipped with all kinds of weapons, which are promising and will remain so for the next 10-15 years.
 
Read more at: https://avia.pro/news/rossiyskiy-flot-poluchit-moshchnyy-fregat-osnashchyonnyy-16-giperzvukovymi-raketami-cirkon-uzhe
​
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WHEN THE UN MEETS NATO IT'S A MARRIAGE MADE IN HELL

6/29/2020

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WHEN NATO MEETS THE UN IT’S A MARRIAGE MADE IN HELL
 
Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora.
 
COULD THE UN “BUY” OR “MERGE” WITH NATO?
 
Vince Dhimos Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016–present)
 
https://www.quora.com/Could-the-UN-buy-or-merge-with-NATO/answer/Vince-Dhimos
 
The UN’s stated raison d'être is the opposite of NATO’s.
 
The UN was originally founded to keep peace in the world. It could be doing a reasonably good job if it were not for the US throwing its wrench in the spokes, but at least that is its assigned mission.
 
NATO, however, was founded for the purpose of containing the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union, it became clear to keen observers that containing the Soviets was not really the role at all because NATO grew and came closer to the Russian borders, even though the US had promised Russia during the difficult breakup period that it would not expand NATO any further. It broke that promise almost right from the start, suggesting that the US and its allies were the REAL aggressors, and not Russia. But for years, the US and its NATO Doberman pincher managed to deceive a delightfully gullible Europe into believing that Russia was the aggressor. As I showed here https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-country-like-Russia-which-GDP-based-on-totally-natural-reserves-low-technology-screw-up-population-meddle-in-the-affair-of-other-countries-Moldova-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Syria-or-say-other-Shouldnt-Western/answer/Vince-Dhimos, Russia was never the real aggressor. The REAL aggressor was always the US.
 
But your question raises an important point:
 
There have been several occasions when the ostensibly peace making UN played the warmongering role of NATO. That is, the roles of these two bodies overlapped, disgracefully, and each time under extreme pressure from the US.
 
The first such example was the Kosovo War, where the UN initially refused to approve the bombing of Serbia but failed to approve a draft resolution tabled by Russia, India and Belorus to end the bombing of Serbia. Thus the UN failed its mission and 4000 mostly civilians were slaughtered in aerial bombing in Serbia on the flimsy pretext that their leader had supposedly abused the Albanian Kosovars, whom Serbia prooflessly accused of terrorism. According to the German-language site German Foreign Policy https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/news/detail/8317/ the current PM of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, has recently been charged with war crimes including drug and arms trafficking, contract murder and possibly organ trafficking (while the US news outlets are replete with unproven allegations of Chinese organ trafficking, this news from Kosovo goes unreported!). The UN could have nipped this in the bud by allowing Serbia to clamp down on these crimes, but the US stood in the way, pretending that the Serbs, who were trying to keep law and order, were the terrorists and the Kosovars their innocent victims. Now, years later, we know that the Serbian law enforcement people were dealing with terror and atrocities, not innocent victims.
 
Another instance of interference with justice was when the UN imposed a no-fly zone over Libya in 2011 (U.N. council approves no-fly zone over Libya). Without this no-fly zone, Libya today would still be a sovereign and stable state, the most prosperous state in Africa, as it was before Ghaddafi, who had tried to keep a lid on terror, was brutally murdered with the aid of the monstrous NATO forces. Libya is now a failed state overrun by terrorists and host to black slavery! This is another example of what happens when a so-called peace making organization teams up with a murderous warmonger.
 
The Iraq War is another similar example of how the UN got involved in ways that led to unintended consequences and contributed to a bellicose situation. The US was again the perpetrator, insisting at the UN that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and even presenting contrived evidence. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found, as we now know. The UN also imposed harsh sanctions on the Iraqi people starting after the first Iraq war, which only served to infuriate the Iraqis and cause resentment that steeled their resolve to fight the US rather than give in. Incredibly, the sanctions were not lifted until 7 years after Saddam’s fall, a particularly inhumane and senseless action on the part of the UN. In their aggregate, the UN’s actions were unnecessarily cruel, fostered resentment among the Iraqis and contributed to radicalization that led to the creation of ISIS.
 
Finally, the UN has again caved to pressure from the US to recognize a terror-supporting regime in Libya, where Turkey is importing ISIS militias with the blessings of this UN-recognized government in Tripoli (as the Tripoli government admitted to the Washington Post). I gave details here: https://www.quora.com/Do-you-support-Black-Lives-Matter-1/answer/Vince-Dhimos.
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EGYPT’S AL-SISI JUST POPPED ERDOĞAN’S BUBBLE IN LIBYA

6/22/2020

1 Comment

 
Vince Dhimos
 
As you probably know by now, our mission is to fill in as many blanks as possible left by Western news sources, and today is particularly critical as the Western msm have failed spectacularly to report on important events in the Libyan conflict, notably the recent Russian victories over the Turkish-backed Islamists and GNA troops, and the more-recent entry of Egypt into the conflict. This deliberate lack of coverage is perhaps the most serious dereliction of duty ever perpetrated by the Western msm because the turning point of the Libyan war signals a tectonic plate shift from West to East in terms of global influence.
 
By way of background, the UN- and US-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) represents not so much the will of the Libyan people but rather the will of Western states in the US-led UN, which lent a false legitimacy to the GNA. For example, the GCA, ie, General National Congress, which exists at the pleasure of the GNA, is top-heavy with Islamists because all old Ghaddafi supporters are banned from the government. Since Ghaddafi was a moderate leader who had banned Islamists as terrorists, this left Libya in the hands of essentially radical elements who do not represent the will of Libyans as a whole. This is why Haftar and his Russian and Egyptian allies (as well as France, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others) oppose the GNA. Yet it is not surprising that the West would sympathize with the terrorist-supporting GNA because it was the Obama regime that toppled Ghaddafi at the request of the radicals in 2011. (A thoroughly researched analysis from Nena exposes the whole sordid Western and Israeli involvement in Middle Eastern terrorism, and we see its continuation in Libya today).
 
I first found a report at the Russian-language site avia.pro that Egypt is flying missions in Libya in support of Haftar and the Russians. I then checked to see how many US news outlets were reporting on this. I found exactly NONE. That is unbelievable and inexcusable, but nonetheless understandable. After all, the purpose of US news outlets is to present mostly, or even exclusively, news that makes the US look powerful and “great again.” Any objective reporting from the Libyan front will expose the US Establishment – on both sides of the aisle – for the deceitful toothless and spineless blob that it is in reality. After all, the US has nose-dived economically following the rampant quantitative easing sprees (printing of unbacked trillions of dollars), unprecedented jobless numbers and the drowning stock market resulting from the COVID pandemic.
 
The following is an excerpt from the English-language site bulgarianmilitary.com:
 
“It should be clarified that if Egypt does intervene in hostilities on the territory of neighbouring Libya, then neither Turkey nor the Turkish jihadists will have a chance to hold out for at least a week...”
 
Well, since Egypt is now intervening, we need no longer speculate. Erdoğan’s gamble sure looks like it is failing. And since first Turkish blood has been drawn, his political chances are dimming. The Turks are already fed up with Turkey’s military involvement in Syria and Libya. If you wish, you can call this Putin’s “meddling” in Turkish elections.
 
With regard to the Western coverage of the Libyan conflict, as noted above, there is ZERO Western coverage these days, and the conflict has turned in favour of Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar’s opposition forces fighting the terror-supporting Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which repeatedly reminds the world that it is recognized by the UN and the US, although this reminder ignores the fact that the GNA is suspiciously tolerant of the black slavery that reared its head after the Obama regime/NATO invaded Libya in 2011. The UN paved the way for this senseless invasion by declaring a no-fly zone that precluded any protection for Ghaddafi, who was declared a mass murderer by the jihadists that the US/UN sided with, without, of course, asking for proof of such mass killings. If Russia had had then the air power and prestige it enjoys today just 9 years later, Ghaddafi would have survived and Libya would be the prosperous terror-free country it was then.
 
And yet, as we showed here, the US position has not changed an iota since then and still leans toward terror in Libya, and as we showed here, the Democrats who plunged Libya into chaos are upset with Russia for intervening, using the threadbare excuse that they are Russians (they always were) and are “America’s adversary,” again without a stitch of evidence that this is indeed so. And this is odd because in supporting the GNA these Democrats are in fact tacitly supporting black slavery – even as they shriek that black lives matter when these lives are American – African blacks don’t vote in the US.
 
The good news is that, whilst Erdoğan was having a gay old time gaining ground for Turkish troops and jihadists imported from Syria and for the GNA, at the expense of Haftar, a powerful series of Russian air attacks brought Erdoğan back to earth and prompted him to beg for talks with Haftar – which he had refused to do while he was winning. Our report and commentary are here.
 
Folks, what we are witnessing now throughout the Middle East is nothing short of a new Russian revolution, this time in geopolitics. At this point, given the Russian military clout, it seems as if Russia has no interest in who gets elected in the US November elections. (Perhaps that’s why the sneaky Democrat manipulators are shrieking about Chinese meddling now). Whilst many Americans believe it was Trump who kept the US out of war with Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and others, it was in fact a fear of Russian power that stayed the hand of the Pentagon, for example, when Russian Tupolevs landed in Venezuela or when Russia held joint drills with China and Iran in the Gulf. If a Democrat is elected president in November, he can be expected to push for a Libyan outcome favourable to the Washington warmongering cabal. But it won’t matter. Russia, together with its powerful ally Egypt, clearly has the upper hand. And as we see from the reports posted below, Egypt, with its crack air force, is now heavily involved. According to the latest reports, Egyptian F-16s are already flying missions against the Turkish-backed GNA troops and their terrorist allies (the Syrian Turkish-backed ISIS and Al-Qaeda militants that got whacked in the Syrian conflict. They never learn). And let me remind you that Egypt has ordered 20 new Su-35s from Russia in case the going gets rough next year. (The Su-35 outperforms the overpriced F-35 in all metrics).
 
If Erdoğan loses the wars, he will almost certainly lose the next election and make a lot of Turks very happy.

Perhaps some Western readers will be wondering: If the Turks are fed up with Erdoğan's wars, wouldn't the Russians also be sick of Putin's wars?

Good question, but here's the difference:

1--Russia wins its wars, fighting mostly from the air and staying a safe distance from the guns on the ground.

 
2--And because it wins, Russian weapons are extremely popular and selling like hot cakes, even despite the US sanctions, which serve to make them even more popular thanks to the hard-te-get factor. This helps the Russian economy.

3--Unlike Erdoğan's wars, Putin's wars make sense. The former are fought in defence of Islamists, but the Turks have been secularized for over a century thanks to the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who served as president of Turkey from 1923-1938 and turned his country into a Western-style democracy. Erdoğan looks anachronistic to many of them, especially to many in the big cities. They don't understand why their president wants to create Islamic republics throughout the Middle East, and most Arabs don't want this. By contrast, Putin's people have never been exposed to a pro-Islamist leader and even Russian Muslims don't want to support Islamism. The Russians generally understand that radicalism abroad can percolate into their country. They also know that the US and the US-led Western Establishment are anti-Russian and that the Western foreign policy generally supports Islamism, even terrorism. So they are pretty much behind Putin and want Russia to win the hearts and minds of the Middle East. Polls among young Arabs show that Russia is the non-Arab country that these people trust the most, while a majority see the US as an enemy. By defeating Islamism in the Middle East, Russia is also defeating the corrupted US influence.

The avia.pro source I cited above:

https://avia.pro/news/egipetskie-f-16-nachali-nanosit-udary-po-tureckim-voennym-v-livii
 
Turkish-backed Libyan forces consider Egypt's statement as a declaration of war (it won't matter)
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkish-backed-libyan-forces-consider-egypts-statement-as-declaration-of-war/?utm_medium=ppc&utm_source=push&utm_campaign=push%notificationss&utm_content=varies
 
Today's story of the Egyptian F-16s hitting Turkish backed targets in Libya
https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2020/06/22/egyptian-f-16-fighter-jet-invaded-liyan-airspace-source/
1 Comment

RUSSIAN MIGS GET THE UPPER HAND IN LIBYA, ERDOĞAN EATS CROW

6/20/2020

2 Comments

 
Things are getting very interesting in Libya. First let’s recall what Caliph Erdoğan the Great was saying in February, according to Address Libya:
 
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he refuses negotiations with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, after meeting with Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Tripoli-based ‘National Accord’ government in Istanbul. Al-Sarraj earlier announced the suspension of GNA’s participation in the 5+5 military negotiations with LNA [the opposition forces of Khalifa Haftar in Libya] in Geneva.
 
In press statements, Erdoğan said his country will continue to hold the meetings with al-Sarraj, and Turkey will also continue ‘supporting GNA’s armed groups in Tripoli.’”
 
Remember we wrote that the US wants terrorists to stay in Libya. After all, the US – notably the Obama regime – helped Libyan jihadis kill Ghaddafi, plunging the country into chaos and civil war and impoverishing the country that had once been the most prosperous in Africa. We also reported that the GNA admitted to WaPo to cooperating with ISIS militants imported by Turkey to Libya. It mirrored the consequences of Obama’s regime change coup in Kiev, which plunged that country into civil war and made Ukraine the poorest country in Europe according to IMF statistics. But it’s not just the Democrats. Trump’s sanctions and occupation forces in Syria are keeping that country poor. Likewise Iran and Venezuela are held in poverty by these sanctions and by the US ban on rebuilding Syria.
 
So what gives with Erdoğan, begging for talks with Haftar? He must have forgotten to consult with Czar Putin before making his grandiose statement in February.
 
He forgot that Russia is the czar of the skies, even in Libya. The destruction of large portions of the Libyan GNA and Turkish forces was reported a while back, when it was still unclear who had done all this damage from the air – since no aircraft were spotted in the vicinity of the attacks – and the article I saw then mentioned that the MiG-29 must have been the origin of the devastation because this unique fighter-bomber has the ability to launch missiles from great distances and pinpoint its targets with high precision. The US military also suspected the Russian aircraft was involved. Of course, the Russians know that, although they are defending Libya against terrorists and abuses such as black slavery, Democratic US lawmakers are eyeing sanctions against them not for this defensive role but for being Russian – they base their opposition on CAATSA, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which specifies that Russia is an adversary, but without explaining why (they never explain this because the real motive for calling Russia an adversary is to prop up the decrepit NATO alliance that forces Washington’s will on Europe and foists overpriced US arms on European defence agencies).
 
Note that Russia was allowing Erdoğan to chalk up some major victories over Haftar’s forces over a period of weeks and it looked like Haftar might lose it all. But after all, it takes time to move air assets from Russia to Libya without attracting too much attention. Initially, Russia sent the MiGs to its Hmeimim base in Syria’s Latakia, pretending they were for the Syrian forces. But then some mysterious missiles started landing in Libya on the Turkish troops and their terrorist pals from Syria – where Russia and the Syrian Arab Army had defeated them initially, much to Erdoğan’s chagrin. Even then they had been acting as Turkish proxies but were no match for the missiles from “America’s adversaries.” Some people are slow learners, but Russia is a patient teacher.
 
Which brings us to our translation of a report from the Russian aviation site avia.pro, a frequently cited source of war news not available in the state-owned Western press. Notes [in brackets] and this foreword are by Vince Dhimos.
 
BEGIN TRANSLATION
 
Russian MiG-29s and Su-24s have been thrashing Turkish army for a week - Erdogan demands negotiations in Libya
 
6-20-2020
 
The incursion of MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 bombers in Libya resulted in the defeat of the Turkish army.
 
After a large number of mysterious MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 front-line bombers, which, according to the West, are Russian military aircraft, appeared at a Libyan military airbase, the Turkish army and militants began to suffer one large-scale defeat after another in this North African country. After several military convoys belonging to the forces of the [terrorist-friendly, slavery-tolerant] Government of National Accord, as well as Turkish forces consisting of terrorists who arrived from Syria, and the Turkish army, were destroyed, Erdoğan quite unexpectedly announced the need for negotiations with the Libyan National Army [Haftar’s opposition forces] or an immediate ceasefire.
 
According to sources, the MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 bombers were spotted delivering large-scale attacks throughout the territory, which is controlled by Turkish troops and militants, while at the moment the “Russian” affiliation of these aircraft is not officially confirmed [Can you blame the Russians if they don’t want more sanctions slapped on them for opposing the terror-supporting GNA?]. However, the use of the latter turned out to be so effective that Turkey suddenly considered holding negotiations, as became known two days earlier during the visit of Turkish representatives to Libya.
 
It should be clarified that earlier MiG-29 fighters were seen behind the rout of at least three large military convoys - because of the electronic warfare equipment used, the combat aircraft were not even noticed, showing the superiority of the LNA’s strength, at least in the air.
Read more at: https://avia.pro/news/rossiyskie-mig-29-i-su-24-razbili-tureckuyu-armiyu-za-nedelyu-erdogan-potreboval-peregovorov-v
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