Beijing has repeatedly called on the White House to end its illegal practices inside Syria; the nation was also among the first to send aid to Syria following last month’s earthquake
China has repeated calls for the US to end its illegal military occupation of Syria and stop looting the country’s resources, stressing that its continued presence has worsened Syria’s humanitarian crisis.
“We call on the United States to sincerely respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of other countries and to immediately stop its illegal military presence and marauding in Syria,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a news conference on 11 March.
“The United States has illegally intervened in military activities related to the Syrian crisis, which has led to the death of a large number of innocent civilians and a serious humanitarian disaster,” Mao added before calling on US officials to lift crushing economic sanctions on Syria.
Beijing’s call came just two days after US lawmakers voted against a War Powers Resolution that called for withdrawing troops from Syria.
Around 900 US troops are currently deployed in the Levantine nation, controlling nearly a third of the country and a large portion of its oil fields. Their deployment is illegal under international law as it was not approved by the government in Damascus.
This is not the first time Beijing has bashed Washington’s illegal presence in Syria. Back in January, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Syria’s energy crisis and humanitarian disaster are a result of the US and its proxy militias plundering its resources.
“US stationing troops in Syria is illegal. US smuggling oil and grain from Syria is illegal. US missile attacks against Syria are also illegal,” he said then.
A year ago, Chinese and Syrian officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) welcoming Damascus into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Launched nine years ago, the BRI is a mega-infrastructure project that seeks to bring capital and infrastructure to Global South countries while dramatically strengthening connectivity for commerce, finance, and culture.
China was among the first nations to send aid to Syria following last month’s devastating earthquake when aid deliveries from the west were being held up due to US sanctions.
After five months of negotiations, the Zionist-American-Saudi-Emirati aggression coalition is still looking for different kind of ways to impede steps that could possibly extend the armistice. This time, the Saudi aggression wants to open roads(in frontline zones) in exchange for paying the salaries of employees, opening the port of Hodeidah, and expanding the routes from Sanaa airport. However, Sanaa completely rejected this offer, as it links humanitarian files with military ones, stressing the need to separate the humanitarian file, for it is an entitlement to any progress towards any armistice.
An airstrike in Sanaʽa on 11 May 2015
The leader of the revolution, Sayyid Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, threatened during a speech last Friday to resume military operations, accusing the aggression coalition of prolonging the negotiations and evading the implementation of humanitarian entitlements, emphasizing the complications that stand in the way of negotiations.
Washington changed Riyadh’s position
The recent round of discussions would have yielded a comprehensive solution to the war on Yemen, according to a private source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sanaa, had it not been for the interventions of the United States of America through its ambassador to obstruct any signature by the party of the aggressive Saudi coalition, indicating that among the agreements that the parties would have concluded, were it not for the interventions Washington and its directions to the Saudi side, were total military withdrawal from Yemen and the direct payment of salaries to employees.
It was agreed to hand over the salaries of all employees, and Saudi Arabia gave verbal approval to Sanaa in this regard. However, the visit of the American envoy to the region changed Riyadh’s position later, as the latter has not yet responded to the proposal of Sanaa, which was submitted through the Omani mediator, that requires expediting the payment of salaries starting next March.
Three key points
Regarding the latest developments in the course of the negotiations taking place in Muscat, the leader of the revolution, Sayyid Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, revealed what is going on behind the scenes of the negotiations in Muscat, accusing the United States of America of deliberately impeding peace and seeking to hinder the efforts made by the Sultanate of Oman in order to reach an agreement that ends the suffering of the Yemeni people.
The leader of the revolution said, in his speech on the occasion of the anniversary of the martyr President Saleh al-Sammad, that the American side is working to obstruct the Omani efforts in three main points, the first of which is its attempt to distance the coalition from any obligations arising from any agreement, and to acquit Saudi Arabia of its direct role as the leader of the aggression against the people of Yemen. In addition, it refused to link the payment of state employees’ salaries to the proceeds of oil and gas sales. Also, they are trying to “transform the matter into a purely internal conflict” and “attempt to delay the expulsion of the occupying foreign forces.”
In the second point, Sayyid Al-Houthi explained that “the American is trying to turn the issue into a purely internal issue,” stressing that “this can never be accepted, and the issue cannot turn into a problem with small mercenaries who are nothing but recruits with the aggression coalition.” Stressing that: “The role of the one who presented himself since the beginning of the aggression as a leader of the war and an executor of offensive operations against our country cannot turn into a mere mediator.”
With regard to the third point, the Leader stated that “the Americans are playing their game on the issue of the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country and are trying to postpone this step indefinitely,” stressing that “we cannot accept the continuation of the occupation and the presence of foreign forces in our country, and this is a fundamental issue. for us.”
“We will continue with all options, with all efforts in all fields, to achieve complete freedom and complete independence, and to retain all parts of our country from every foreign occupation,” Sayyid Al-Houthi assured.
America obstructs the path of peace
Western media confirmed in its reports that America is obstructing the peace process in Yemen, as the American magazine “National Interest” revealed in a recently published report that the decision of the war powers in Yemen was withdrawn from voting in the Senate during the past month, noting that if the decision was passed, this would have ended the direct US military intervention in the Saudi war in Yemen.
According to the magazine, the withdrawal of the resolution came after President Joe promised Eden and his administration to veto the resolution if it was passed, which confirms Washington’s unwillingness to end the war, which expresses their desire for a return to military escalation.
Dangerously opportunistic approach
The Russian delegate, Dmitry Polyansky, to the Security Council, during a special session in mid-January held to discuss the situation in Yemen, said: “The international community must do everything in its power to restore peace to Yemen,” continuing to say: “Moscow maintains its relationship with the Sanaa authorities.”
The representative of Russia added that Western countries seek to plunder and export Yemeni oil and gas, and do not want to reach a comprehensive solution in Yemen, indicating that the goal of Westerners is not to reach a comprehensive solution in Yemen, but rather to export its “oil” to global markets. He said: Western countries practice opportunism by focusing on obtaining Yemeni oil and gas, and we consider this opportunistic Western approach very dangerous and harmful to sustainable peace in Yemen.
Dangerous plots and moves
Political analysts and observers confirmed that there is a clear duplicity of the Americans in Yemen, as their talk about peace contradicts their movements in reality. There is a continuous aggressive behavior and an influx of American forces in Bab al-Mandab and off the Yemeni coast, and the construction of military bases in the governorates of Hadramout and al-Mahra, in addition to the islands of Mayon and Socotra, adding: that there are conspiracies and dangerous movements by American-British plotters, in a new transformation of the conflict and with new methods in a clear dedication to the continuation of the aggression and siege on Yemen, all of Yemen, with American-Western intransigence and insistence in imposing a state of no peace and no war and tireless work in building occupation projects, and this is what is happening in reality , and without a clear horizon for a solution, blocking any moves or efforts that contribute to achieving peace.
Repeated attempts to escalate
They pointed out that Washington views peace in Yemen as a real danger threatening its colonial presence in the country, especially with the adherence of Sanaa, which succeeded in imposing its conditions and demands on the negotiating table, in controlling over all the details of the open confrontation with the forces of the Zionist-American-Saudi-Emirati coalition of aggression, in various fields.
Sanaa is able to overcome the plots
The American, British and all the countries of aggression in Yemen, realize their inability to confront Sanaa after their failure for the eighth year in a row to achieve any significant victory in the military field. Their fears lie not only in getting off Yemen, but also in what Sanaa represents today, of a great power capable of overturning the military equations in the region and influencing regional balances, which means that the Western colonial presence that dominates and invests the wealth of the neighborhood will not be safe.
In conclusion:
The American steps and attempts to obstruct the path of peace in Yemen are nothing but confirmation of what is certain, which is that the aggression against Yemen is an American aggression par excellence, and it served the agenda of America and Britain. Also, it should that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are only tools in this aggression that was announced from Washington.
Al-Houthi warns Saudi Arabia and accuses it of procrastinating… What is the fate of the negotiations? A debate between Yasser Al-Yamani and Nimr Al-Suhaimi
صنعاء | تواصِل الدبلوماسية العُمانية بذل المزيد من الجهود على طريق إزاحة العقبات التي لا تزال تحول دون إعلان تمديد الهدنة في اليمن، على رغم توصّل الرياض وصنعاء إلى تفاهم على فصْل الملفّ الإنساني عن الملفَّين العسكري والسياسي. وبالتوازي مع ذلك، يأتي إعلان وزارة الخارجية الأميركية عودة مبعوثها، تيم ليندركينغ، إلى المنطقة، ليثير الخشية من ضغط أميركي متجدّد في اتّجاه تكريس الوضع القائم، ومنع الإعلان عن اتّفاق نهائي. وفي هذا الإطار، لا تستبعد قيادات في صنعاء أن تضطرّ الرياض إلى التراجع عن التزاماتها والانقلاب على تفاهماتها مع «أنصار الله»، وخاصة أن المبعوث الأميركي سبق له أن تسبّب بإفشال اتّفاقات سابقة غير معلنة، أواخر تشرين الأول من العام الماضي، كما سبق لصنعاء أن اتّهمت واشنطن ولندن بإفشال جهود تمديد الهدنة.
وممّا يعزّز الأجواء التشاؤمية تلك، عودة الترتيبات العسكرية في المحافظات الخاضعة للتحالف السعودي – الإماراتي، وأحدثُها تشكيل ما يزيد على ثمانية ألوية عسكرية بقِوام أكثر من 20 ألف عنصر سلفي تحت مسمّى «درع الوطن»، ومنْحها صفة رسمية من قِبل رئيس «المجلس الرئاسي» رشاد العليمي، وكذلك رفض الحكومة الموالية لـ«التحالف» التراجع عن قراراتها الاقتصادية الأخيرة المتمثّلة في رفْع سعر الدولار الجمركي على الواردات التي تدْخل إلى ميناء عدن، والتي من شأنها مضاعفة معاناة اليمنيين. ويُضاف إلى ما تَقدّم، استمرار التصعيد العسكري السعودي ضدّ سكان القرى الحدودية مع جيزان في محافظة صعدة، وتأخّر الموافقة السعودية الرسمية على مطالب صنعاء المتّصلة بالملفّ الإنساني.
نفت قيادات في صنعاء توقّف المشاورات بين الأخيرة والرياض
مع ذلك، تؤكد مصادر دبلوماسية في الحكومة الموالية للتحالف، لـ«الأخبار»، استمرار الجهود الإقليمية والدولية لتذليل الخلافات، مستدركةً بأن تلك الجهود التي كانت حقّقت تقدّماً في مسار السلام، لا تزال من دون نتائج عملياتية حتى الآن، في وقت دعا فيه رئيس بعثة الاتحاد الأوروبي، جبرائيل فيناليس، وسفراء عدد من الدول الأوروبية، خلال زيارتهم أواخر الأسبوع الماضي لمدينة عدن، إلى دعم المساعي الهادفة إلى إحلال السلام. أمّا في صنعاء، ومع دخول الشهر الرابع منذ انتهاء الهدنة من دون إعلان تمديد جديد لها، ومرور نحو شهر على الحراك الدبلوماسي المكثّف الذي رفَع سقف التوقّعات الشعبية برفع الحصار عن مطار صنعاء وميناء الحديدة وصرف المرتّبات من دون استثناء، فقد نفى عضو الوفد المفاوض، حميد عاصم، الأنباء عن توقّف المشاورات بين صنعاء والرياض، منبّهاً في الوقت نفسه إلى أن «أنصار الله لا تملك المزيد من الخيارات في هذا الجانب، فإمّا السلام الشامل أو العودة إلى الحرب»، مؤكداً «رفْض صنعاء طلب الرياض بخصوص المنطقة العازلة على الحدود اليمنية السعودية بعرض 30 كلم». بدوره، توقّع وزير الدولة في حكومة الإنقاذ، عبد العزيز البكير، «انفراجة وشيكة» خلال الأيام القادمة، وقال، في تغريدة، إن هناك مؤشّرات إلى استجابة السعودية لمطالب «أنصار الله»، وهو ما سيتيح إعلان الاتفاق والشروع في تنفيذ بنوده.
ومع اقتراب انعقاد جلسة خاصة لمجلس الأمن لمناقشة مستجدّات الأوضاع في اليمن منتصف الشهر الجاري، حيث من المقرّر أن يقدّم المبعوث الأممي إحاطته الدورية بشأن الجهود الأخيرة لإحياء الهدنة وفقاً لجدول أعمال الجلسة الذي أُقرّ الأربعاء الماضي، أعلنت الولايات المتحدة بدء مبعوثها إلى اليمن جولة جديدة في المنطقة تشمل الإمارات وعُمان والسعودية، قائلةً إن ليندركينغ سيحثّ الأطراف كافة على تكثيف مشاركتهم مع الأمم المتحدة لإطلاق عملية سياسية يمنية – يمنية، يمكن أن تنهي الحرب بشكل دائم. وفي هذا الإطار، شدّد المبعوث الأميركي على ضرورة اغتنام أطراف الصراع فرصة التهدئة للبدء بهذه العملية، لافتاً، في كلمة بمناسبة مرور عامين على تعيينه، إلى أن الهدنة ساعدت على تهيئة الظروف لمفاوضات سلام شاملة.
كي على ضرورة اغتنام أطراف الصراع فرصة التهدئة للبدء بهذه العملية، لافتاً، في كلمة بمناسبة مرور عامين على تعيينه، إلى أن الهدنة ساعدت على تهيئة الظروف لمفاوضات سلام شاملة.
One day after the State Prosecutor Ghassan Oweidat issued a decisionwhich released all the detainees in the Beirut Port blast case and filed a lawsuit against the judicial investigator Tarek Al-Bitar due to his politicized performance, the MPs affilated with Kataeb, Lebanese Forces and NGOs stormed the office of the Justice Minister Henry Khoury.
MPs George Okais, Ghassan Hasbani, Nazih Matta, Saeed Asmar, Ghayath Yazbek, Razi Hajj, Elias Hankash, Nadim Gemayel, Ibrahim Mneimneh, Mark Daou, Michel Doueihy, Michel Mouawad, Douad Makhzoumi and Adib Abdel Maseeh, in addition to a group of lawyers, joined the meeting held at the office of Khoury.
The MPs claimed they wanted to protest against Oweidat’s decision, while they were actually voicing support to Bitar whose performance was affected by the US interventions.
During the meeting, MP Wadah Al-Sadek insulted and attacked Minister Khoury whose guards defended him. Accordingly, Sadek accused whom he attacked of assaulting him.
The Lebanese Forces MP Adib Abdul Maseeh described the Justice Minister’s guards as dogs.
The supporter of the MPs attacked the security forces off the Justice Ministry, removing the gate of the headquarters. Accordingly, a state of total chaos was witnessed outside the Ministry of Justice.
Moreover, army reinforcements had been deployed in vicinity of the Ministry of Justice while the Minister of Justice remains in his office.
It is worth noting that those political forces have always alleged that they support the state in Lebanon. However, they have always proved that their plots destroy the state in Lebanon.
Christopher Black In an article published here in November 2018, I referred to the statement of the UK representative of a UN organisation named the International, Impartial, Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011.
I will repeat that statement because it is relevant to the current situation in Syria. That person stated,
“We must demonstrate that those who have committed the most serious crimes of international concern can have no place to hide. There must be no impunity for the horrendous acts taking place on a daily basis in Syria. There must be justice for the victims.”
The UK representative said this without any sense of irony, without any sense of shame, for, of course, it is the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada and their gang who have committed war crimes, and crimes against humanity beyond number in Syria since they instigated the uprisings against the government of Syria, beginning in 2011, supported their allied terrorists groups to attack Syrian armed forces and civilians, and imposed their illegal sanctions on the people of Syria.
The history of the war against Syria by the US and UK, Israel and their allies is well-known, the cruel sanctions, the aerial bombings, the missile attacks, the assassinations, the torture, the illegal occupation of the Golan Heights by Israel with US support, and, finally, the US invasion of Syria that began in 2015 with US special forces raids into its territory on a number of occasions that year and 2016 and the formal entry of US forces on March 8, 2017. Their invasion has continued to this day.
During the summer of 2017 US forces laid waste the city of Raqqa, Their carpet bombing of the city, their heavy artillery strikes and use of white phosphorous shells, banned under international law, killed hundreds of civilians, and today Raqqa lies in ruins. Their terrorist allies laid waste Aleppo, Damascus and numerous other cities and towns and villages with a savagery as common to US trained groups, as it is to the US forces themselves.
The Americans gave all sorts of pretexts for this invasion, none of which were true and none of which gave them any legal basis for their aggression, for that is what their actions were; direct and brutal aggression against a sovereign nation in violation of the Nuremberg Principles established in 1946, in violation of the Kellog-Briand Pact of 1928, in which all these nations agreed not to attack any other nation, and in violation of the UN Charter, all of which the aggressor nations were subject to as part of international law and their own domestic law.
The invasion ordered by President Obama, making him a war criminal, expanded in scope until President Trump ordered American forces to be pulled out in 2019. But US forces still remain in occupation of the northeastern parts of Syria. Their exact number is not known but it is at least one thousand and probably higher than that as they continue to build bases controlling the important oil fields that provide much of Syria’s energy needs and cash for exports as well as areas of wheat production vital to the survival of the Syrian state and its people. The Americans continue to provide their usual pretexts for this, such as “fighting terrorism” “containing Russian influence in the Middle East, or supporting the Kurdish forces opposing both Syria and Turkey.
On January 10, 2023, in the magazine Defense One, William Roebuck, an American with the long title of Former Deputy Envoy for the Global Coalition against ISIS, repeated all these pretexts as justification for the American invasion but added, in calling for the invasion to continue,
“Our presence also blocks Russian consolidation of its military mission in Syria, undercutting one of the key sources of Moscow’s surprisingly resilient prestige in the region and hence lending support to our Ukraine policy efforts,”
thereby linking the US invasion and occupation of Syria to the US-NATO aggression against Russia in Ukraine.
Of course Mr. Roebuck could not cite any legal reasons or justifications as to why the US should be able to continue its occupation, because there are none, but as is common with all American and NATO governments and their officials, they could not care less about the law or morality.
The Syrian government states the situation clearly.
Om January 12, the Syrian Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Muhammad Hassan Qatana, affirmed that the exceptional circumstances that Syria is passing through because of the terrorist war, instigated by the United States, and unilateral coercive measures have badly affected achievements of many years of sustainable development and caused large losses.
On January 13, Syrian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister, Bassam Tu’ma, said that the US occupation of parts of the Syrian territory, including oil resources, and the illegal sanctions imposed by Washington on Syria, cause great suffering on the Syrian People.
These statements follow the August 22, 2022, report in Tass that,
“According to the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, U.S.-led entities illegally export up to 66,000 barrels of oil daily, representing 80% of the daily production of hydrocarbons. The scale of Washington’s oil theft has reached a peak. Because of this the humanitarian situation in the country remains difficult, millions of Syrians face energy, food and water shortages and are in need of basic necessities.”
“Russia and Syria strongly condemn the plundering of the natural resources. The US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces currently control most of Syria’s eastern and northeastern Al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces. The US military command has established nine military bases there since 2015. Damascus views the US military presence in Syria as an illegal occupation.”
On December 14, 2022, the Syrian government in a statement to the Security Council stated,
“Syria condemns the actions of the US occupation forces and demands an end to the illegal US military presence on its territory.
“Syria draws the attention of the international community to the systematic plundering of the natural resources of the Syrian people by the United States and associated paramilitary units,” the statement said.
“Damascus,” it said, “demands the return to the Syrian state of the captured oil and gas fields and the payment of compensation for the stolen resources.” The ministry’s statement provides data on the losses that Syria has suffered in recent years from the theft of its oil, gas and other minerals, as well as wheat. They are estimated by Syria at $19.8 billion. In addition, the bombing by the Air Force of the Western coalition caused the country damage worth $2.9 billion.”
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said “further silence of the UN Security Council on the aggressive policy of the United States and the violation of the principles of international law is unacceptable.”
“It’s impossible to ignore the suffering of Syrians as a result of the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, which have disastrous consequences for the daily lives of citizens and don’t allow them to receive the necessary services, fuel, household gas, electricity, especially in winter,” the statement said and concluded with,
“the blockade and coercive measures of the West against Syria are tantamount to war crimes, they increase the suffering of the people and slow down the process of post-war reconstruction.”
War crimes they are, yet, as the Syrians noted, nothing is said in the collective west in defence of Syria. Nothing is said about the crimes of the Americans and their allies, either by their governments, or their media. How can we expect them to since they are all complicit in these crimes?
Since the Americans will not leave unless forced to, it will take operations by the Syrian Army to drive out the invader, but that is complicated by the continuing incursions and occupation of parts of northern Syria by the Turks intent on ridding themselves of the Kurdish threat. Hopefully the on-going talks between Turkey and Syria with the participation of Russia will lead to a resolution of that issue so that Syria can, with the help of its allies, finally take action against the invading US forces.
All the while the US and its NATO allies along with their puppets in Kiev rant on about “Russian war crimes” in Ukraine and call for international tribunals.
Yet it is they who should face trial and punishment for the war crimes committed by them over the years, including the nuclear attacks on Japan in 1945 for which the Americans have never been brought to account, a crime which, as President Biden said on January 13, in a surreal meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, referring to the the use of nuclear weapons, is “a crime against all humanity.”
The world will not forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even if the Japanese government pretends to, nor the American and allied crimes and the millions of dead in Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and all the other crimes, too many to list here, that they have committed around the world to support their interests.
Who will try them? Who will bring them to justice? Only the future can provide the concrete answer, but the reckoning is coming, of that we can be sure.
The US administration is stepping up its pressures and aiming for more intervention in the Lebanese politics. The latest appeal by the US Senate Foreign Relation Committee Chairman Robert Menendez and member James Risch to impose sanctions against more members of the Lebanese political elite, more particularly many members of the Lebanese parliament for their alleged role in preventing the president election by leaving the session after its first meeting is another proof about Washington’s sinister and deep meddling in our country’s internal affairs.
Such measure, in case it was adapted by the US administration, will fuel the situation even more, and will not do the situation any good. It would rather exacerbate the tension and bring it into a new form of political confrontation among the different political groups. This would complicate the whole process and extend the stalemate thus making the situation even worse!
The Lebanese people, the real independent ones who really care for their country’s sovereignty and independence should condemn this move from the US administration in case it happened. Washington should understand very well that Lebanon is not a satellite country that revolves around its orbit, and it is not a state where it could easily dictate its will over the country and the state. This kind of hostile hegemonic performance will not be accepted at all by the Lebanese people.
Lebanon’s presidential election is a pure Lebanese affair. The members of the Lebanese parliament as representatives for their people are free and have the right to attend, be absent, vote or abstain from voting, or even attend one or two sessions during the election process. By doing, or not, they would be exercising their democratic role. The MPs are entitled to do this, especially that the opposite candidate is not an agreed upon person, rather, he is being considered by so many as a candidate of challenge and provocation. Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, and Hezbollah, with the support of many groups as well are fervently calling for dialogue to start where the different parties would make in-depth discussions to reach an agreement over an agreed upon candidate.
Hezbollah and its allies are working hard to help reach an agreement over an acceptable candidate among a wider circle of the Lebanese people. The group has been able to preserve Lebanon’s right in its oil and gas, a thing that Washington never accepted before in an utter and complete bias to the ‘Israeli’ occupation entity.
Hezbollah is keen to help get Lebanon out of its deep crisis that was made partly because of American siege and blockade which prevented Lebanon from receiving any help from other countries like Russia, Iran and China.
The US propaganda will not cover the truth, nor it can change the clear reality about the causes and reasons of the current dilemma.
If Washington only stops its aggression, Lebanon and the Lebanese people would be definitely fine. This is a fact that many know here in Lebanon and abroad. If Washington stops meddling, we would be on the road to find treatment and probably salvation.
Have the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran begun to regain the initiative in the “combined war” that was imposed on them? What is the horizon for the next stage in dealing with the emerging internal-external challenge?
When Leader of the Islamic Revolution His Eminence Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei indicated in a speech to a gathering of school students earlier this month that the enemy had a “plan” behind igniting the “combined war” currently targeting Iran, His Eminence was recalling the information contained in a joint statement of the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards on October 28. The statement included data, most notably:
The involvement of the CIA and the British, “Israeli” and Saudi intelligence in the disturbances within the “plan to destroy Iran”. The planning and practical implementation of the bulk of the riots was carried out by the Mossad.
Smuggling military and espionage equipment for subversive networks into Iran.
The CIA organized training courses for some of its Iranian agents, including “N.H.” who took the first photo of the late Mahsa Amini while she was in the hospital.
Setting American institutes for riots several months before they occurred, as they ordered their agents to abuse sanctities, burn the Holy Quran and mosques, and target security forces and clerics.
The decline of “protests” and the progress of assassinations
About two months after the outbreak of the protests, it can be said that their course is taking a downward turn based on several indicators. The first chapter of it, which is to stir people up and push them to the street, has exhausted its energy, even if it has not completely ended yet. Now it is mainly dependent on armed groups carrying out assassination attacks against security personnel. Over the past few days, these groups carried out attacks that led to the killing of security officers who were working to control the situation and interview some people on the street [in Mashhad, Isfahan, Kurdistan, Khuzestan, and Baluchistan]. It seems that the aim of these attacks is to escalate the situation again in the street by provoking the security forces to draw them into a reaction that sheds more blood.
The shootings took place in provinces where the activities of separatist armed groups are concentrated, such as Khuzestan, Baluchistan, Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan, and incidents took place in other regions [Isfahan, Tehran, Mashhad] to give the impression that all of Iran is a hotspot. However, the movements remain limited in comparison to the vastness of Iran, and the number of participants in each movement in the street is in the hundreds at best.
In a preliminary reading, it appears that the security services are acting according to a plan that takes into account the following objectives:
Luring: Detecting riot groups and their organizers by giving them an opportunity to go out in public, as what happened in the past weeks, when a large number of people were arrested based on what was captured from cameras, drones and information of informants on the ground.
Gaining public opinion: To allow people who were affected by the demands raised by the rioters to see the truth about these people through their practices and to reveal the fall of a large number of security personnel during the protests at the hands of armed and rioting groups. It is worth noting here that the climate in which these disturbances were born affected some of the political elites in the country who did not take a position on what was happening, which the Iranian president referred to as “a clouding of the minds of the elite”. This reveals a loophole similar to what happened in Lebanon after October 17, 2019, where some figured had been affected by the propaganda atmosphere on social media and foreign media. This imposes a tax on solution that has a greater political and security cost.
Reducing casualties among people during security measures on the ground to prevent the enemy from benefiting from any mistakes that might contribute to the siding of bewildered Iranians to the rioters against public order. This may lead to losses and sacrifices among the officers of the security forces, but this price remains small given the goal of not harming the largest number of people.
The Iranian security services were able to defuse the tension in some areas after opening dialogues with many social elites, as many people who were concerned about the safety of their regions and countries confirmed that the issue was not related to specific demands, but rather to dragging the country into an open confrontation with dangerous consequences.
In parallel, the security services are carrying out local operations to dismantle many cells responsible for killing people and security personnel and arresting their members, which is expected to lead to the dispersion of these groups and the scattering of their efforts and ability to communicate. And the security services show that they have accurate information about the people involved, based on technical tracking and relying on surveillance cameras and drones that play a role in monitoring movements on the ground.
In his speech to a delegation from the people of Isfahan a couple of days ago, Imam Khamenei drew attention to two points: the first is reassuring, in which he said that the current events will be accommodated and that “rioters and those behind them are too despicable to be able to harm the regime”. The second is that the people respond to these practices with greater awareness through massive participation in the funeral ceremonies of security personnel who are killed by the enemy. This last observation was tested and seen clearly in the funerals of martyrs who died in different provinces, and this would “turn the threat into an opportunity” to mobilize the people in the face of the enemy’s plans.
Direct US Intervention
Also, within the combined war, there are direct interventions led by the United States to add fuel to the fire and encourage the continuation of the unrest through:
Statements by American and European political leaders criticizing what they call “violations against protesters in Iran”, in an unbalanced view that reflects a strategy pursued to undermine the Islamic Republic’s government.
The mobilization of the media and the use of the capabilities of social media platforms in order to undermine Islamic values and transform the current problem into a position on the Islamic identity of Iranian society [the hijab, turban, flag of the Islamic Republic, pictures of martyrs, various religious symbols]. This malicious endeavor is being carried out by some idiots who see the West as their reference, and not the broad masses of the Iranian people who are proud of their religious values.
Imposing commercial sanctions on Iranian companies and others on Iranian media personalities, particularly on state television, which broadcasts video clips of confessions of those arrested in the assassination crimes.
Pressure through the United Nations General Assembly, where Western countries pushed for a session that voted to condemn Iran regarding alleged “violations” of human rights, noting that the number of countries that supported the resolution [78 votes] represents less than half of the number of countries that participated in the session [178 countries], where the rest preferred to abstain [69 countries], and a smaller number dared to refuse to condemn [31 countries]. This comes at a time when the US State Department exempted the Saudi Crown Prince from prosecution in a case brought before US courts in the case of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in exchange for US commercial interests.
Pressure through the United Nations Human Rights Council as well, as it will meet within days to vote on a project directed against Iran, after it was prepared in a text proposed by Western countries.
Pressure in the United Nations Women’s Committee “to get Iran out of the committee,” as US Vice President Kamala Harris pledged.
Pressure through the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] by holding a meeting condemning Iran for “not cooperating with the agency in the investigation of uranium enrichment activities”, without regard to the steps presented by Tehran in this context, including the signing of the Additional Cooperation Protocol. Washington hopes, in coordination with its partners, to bring Iran’s file to the Security Council, claiming that it poses a threat to international peace and security. This claim is not approved by several countries, including Russia and China, which indicates that the ultimate US goal is to defame Iran and harm its reputation and credibility in international forums, in preparation for its isolation, to prevent it from achieving great gains in the event that an agreement regarding the nuclear file was reached later.
Thus, the US administration proves that it uses the United Nations with all its bodies to implement its own agenda aimed at subjugating Iran and achieving what it failed to achieve in the Vienna meetings. It is concretely confirmed that the Biden and Trump administrations are two sides of the same coin, as the current administration completes the investment in what its predecessor began in terms of the strict blockade against the Islamic Republic.
There remains a final sign: Iranian media reported that Iran had informed Qatar that it would not respond during the period of the World Cup hosted by Doha to external parties that planned and organized interference in its internal affairs, in response to Qatar’s positive position of not cooperating with the efforts aimed at preventing the participation of Iran’s national team in the event. And if this is true – and it appears that it is according to some evidence – then this means that the authorities of the Islamic Republic will take advantage of the period of the Qatar World Cup in order to rearrange the internal security situation, after which it will devote itself to dealing with the sources of the external threat.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed on Friday that the United States of America is behind all the woes plaguing Lebanon, adding that the Resistance, in cooperation with the patriotic parties, has confronted the US curses.
Addressing Hezbollah ceremony marking Martyr’s Day, Sayyed Nasrallah responded to the remarks made the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Asis Affairs, Barbara Leaf, who had described Hezbollah as Lebanon’s curse.
Sayyed Nasrallah recalled that all the Israeli massacres and crimes against the Lebanese were committed under the patronage of the US administration, adding that the Israeli curse was made in USA.
The US administration is the curse that has plagued Lebanon, and Hezbollah, in cooperation with the Resistance factions, expelled it, Sayyed Nasrallah said.
The US greed made Washington destroy the Middle East countries, including Iraqi and Afghanistan, through wars and invasions, according to Sayyed Nasrallah who added that USA also sent dozens of thousand of takfiri terrorists to the region.
Hezbollah as well as the Lebanese people and army confronted the terrorist curse and overcame it, Sayyed Nasrallah recalled.
Hezbollah leader emphasized the US administration was beyond the chaos which spread in Lebanon in 2019, adding that the US officials confessed that they trained and prepared the NGOs in order to destabilize the Lebanese state.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the anarchy plot in 2019 failed to decompose the state, but that it managed to besiege Lebanon remotely.
Washington has prevented all the world countries from helping Lebanon, according to the Resistance Leader who added that the US officials have always warned the Lebanese officials against accepting donations.
Will the Lebanese officials accept the Russian power and wheat aids? Sayyed Nasrallah asked.
Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that the US administration has prevented the Lebanese officials from purchasing Iranian fuel oil, adding that it obliged Lebanon to reject an Iranian fuel donation as well.
Iran welcomed a Lebanese technical team that visited Tehran to coordinate the fuel donation and approved the required amount, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that the Islamic Republic intends to help Lebanon without asking for anything in return.
Regarding the maritime border demarcation, Sayyed Nasrallah affirmed that the US administration facilitated the indirect deal in order to shun a Middle East war and help the Zionist entity, not Lebanon.
USA knows the repercussions of a war between Hezbollah and ‘Israel’, so it accepted the demands of the Lebanese state, according to Sayyed Nasrallah, who added that Lebanon reached that indirect deal, thanks to the Resistance power and the international circumstances.
Who is preventing Lebanon from importing the Egyptian gas and Jordanian electric power? Sayyed Nasrallah asked.
Regionally, Sayyed Nasrallah said the US policy in the Middle East is even more detrimental, highlighting the Caesar Act used in order to starve Syria, adding that the Americans want to defeat Syria via siege after the failure of dozens of thousands of terrorists to reach this end.
Sayyed Nasrallah asked, “Who is responsible for all the regional woes, what is going on in Yemen and Iran ?”
Sayyed Nasrallah drew the attention of the audience to the fact that Iran has resolutely overcome the US-Israeli-Western conspiracy and even become more powerful.
Sayyed Nasrallah also noted that the US curse is beyond the Palestinian woe as well, highlighting the ongoing aggression of the Israeli enemy on the Palestinians.
Hezbollah Chief called on the Lebanese officials and political parties to confront the US policies, or that the US curse will lead Lebanon to destruction.
Sayyed Nasrallah: Hezbollah Wants New President in Lebanon to Be Courageous, Refrain from Backstabbing Resistance
Hezbollah Secretary General indicated that all the Lebanese political parties reject the presidential vacuum, adding, however, filling this vacuum must not be away from the required specifications.
Sayyed Nasrallah added that the Lebanese presidency is an important post which concerns all the Lebanese, not just the Christians or the Maronite, calling for more political efforts to reach an agreement in this regard.
Bilateral and trilateral meetings can replace the dialogue session, called for by House speaker Nabih Berri and rejected by some parties, according to Sayyed Nasrallah.
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah wants the new president must be able to protect the national strengths, led by the Resistance, noting that this is a strategic issue related to that national security.
Sayyed Nasrallah added that this Resistance is always under fire, noting that the US remarks confirm this notion and pointing out that the US scheme aims stirring sedition in Lebanon and provoking the Lebanese army to fight Hezbollah.
in light of the shameful US intervention in the Lebanese internal affairs, the Resistance and its supporters have the right, as a large segment of the Lebanese people, to say that they want a courageous president who reassures the resistance, Sayyed Nasrallah said.
Frankly speaking, we want a courageous president who does not shudder and get scared when the US embassy threatens him, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that the new president must not be a person who accepts to be bought and sold.
Sayyed Nasrallah recalled the experience of the two former Presidents Emile Lahoud and Michel Aoun who reassured the Resistance and refrained from backstabbing it, adding that all the military achievements of the resistance in 2000, 2006 and 2017 benefited from thus presidential support.
Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that Hezbollah does not need the new president to protect it, adding what is important is that the new president does not back stab the Resistance.
Sayyed Nasrallah clarified that President Aoun did not grant Hezbollah any extra influence on the Lebanese state, adding, had Hezbollah been able to rule the government, it would have approved the Iranian fuel donation.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the other presidential elections are also important, but that the basic requirement of the presidential candidate is reassuring the resistance.
US Midterm Elections
Hezbollah leader indicated that the US elections will not change the strategic policies of the United States based on launching wars, plundering fortunes, and supporting ‘Israel’.
All the US governments resort to different tactics, but preserve the same criminal principles, according to Sayyed Nasrallah who added that the United States is responsible for the Israeli crimes and massacres against the Lebanese, Palestinians and all the Arabs.
Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that, in face of the US schemes, the national unity in the region must be sustained in order to protect the resources and fortunes.
Israeli Knesset Elections
Hezbollah leader indicated that the result of the Knesset elections, whcih gave the Right Coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu, does not make any difference with respect to Lebanon.
Sayyed Nasrallah said, “All Israeli governments since that which was led by Ben-Gurion have been similar. Things will not change despite far-right coalition’s win.”
Lebanon will not be affected even if Netanyahu chooses insane figures to be in his government, thanks to the Resistance power, according to Sayyed Nasrallah, who added such a step will just deteriorate strife in the Zionist society.
Sayyed Nasrallah also indicated that Netanyahu will not be able to revoke the indirect maritime deal with Lebanon, adding that the Resistance power guarantees Lebanon’s rights in this regard.
Hezbollah Martyr’s Day
Sayyed Nasrallah started his speech by reciting Quranic verses which praise martyrdom, adding that the Resistance Party has chosen November 11 to mark Martyr’s Day because, in 1982, it witnessed the immense martyrdom operation carried out by martyr Ahmad Kassir against the Israeli enemy.
Martyr Kassir’s operation, which destroyed the Israeli military command headquarters in Tyre and killed over 100 Zionist soldiers and officers, immensely shocked the Zionist enemy, Sayyed Nasrallah said.
Sayyed Nasrallah said that martyr Kassir’s operation has been the most enormous in face of ‘Israel’ so far, hoping there will be more immense operations against the usurping entity.
His eminence underscored that the martyrs’ families played a vital role in their heavy sacrifices by guiding them to the battlefield, just as the case of Karbala.
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that preserving and appreciating the sacrifices of the martyrs and the families sustains our power, adding that Hezbollah is trying its best to retrieve bodies of martyrs missed in battlefields.
Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that Hezbollah has witnessed a phenomenon of having trans-generational martyrdom-grandfather, father, and son, adding that this confirms failure of soft warfare aimed at morally perverting “our young generation”.
In this regard, Sayyed Nasrallah cited the scene of the young Resistance fighters who display commitment and enthusiasm in the battlefield, adding that this has surprised the Israeli enemy in Lebanon and Palestine as well.
Sayyed Nasrallah also warned against the plot aimed spreading the moral degeneration enhanced by the telecommunication devices, calling on the families to look after their children.
Sayyed Nasrallah addressing the ceremony held in Beirut’s Dahiyeh, South Lebanon, Bekaa, and Mount Lebanon
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem blamed the United States for preventing Lebanon from importing the Jordanian electric power, Egyptian gas and Iranian fuel.
Addressing a mourning service in Beirut, Sheikh Qassem added that the national unity enables Lebanon to frustrate the US siege scheme.
“Maritime border demarcation affirms that US may succumb.”
His eminence also highlighted the US-EU involvement in obliging Lebanon to keep hosting the displaced Syrians and preventing the refugees themselves from returning to their country.
In continuation of the US intervention and siege policy in Lebanon, Washington portrayed a pessimistic image of the upcoming period Lebanese destiny.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, said the Lebanese will have to bear more pain before their country sees a new government.
Al-Akhbar newspaper also mentioned on Wednesday that US officials told the Lebanese caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati Washington rejected granting Beirut a sanction waiver in order to be able to import the Iranian fuel.
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Several indications lead to the conclusion that EUropeans at large — exceptions aside — should not be very bright. Or at least not brighter than anyone else as they claim to be. The fact is that – despite their undeniably copious amounts of individual and collective achievements – they have not yet been able to articulate a peacefull co-existence strategy amongst themselves and with third parties. Having failed at that implies that EUropeans are not really that bright, how could they be ? True enough, EUrope´s macro-economic and consumer society development has been ´successful´… but still under a highly unstable political co-existence. IMNSHO the main reason for such disqualifying historical flaw is that – contrary to their own self-image frequently preached sanctimoniously onto others – in political EUrope a “deal” is never a deal. It´s rather an expression of possible temporary abidance always subject to their own interpretation and circumstances yet un-defined. Basically, there is no valid contract, social or political or otherwise in EUrope. Humpty Dumptyness at its best. And the EU governance experiment made things worse with all the key decisions imposed by un-elected officials very clearly in the case of Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Poland, and Hungary. The argument could possibly be made that other societies today also struggle along equivalent lines, but then again this would swiftly confirm that EUropeans cannot be considered to be brighter than others… as they bloody insist they are.
EUropean ´superiority´ (not)
Dr. Josep Borrell is the EU´s topmost senior diplomat as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Recently joined by another un-elected official namely the EU Commission President Ursula von den Leyen both now roughly insist that EUrope´s problems stem from its addictiveness to excellent and cheap Russian energy and resources, to China´s humongous export markets and high productivity dependency, and to the military ´security´ that the US today supposedly renders to them. So, accordingly their solution for EUrope would be to (a) get itself up in arms yet again and (b) to double-down on the ‘battle of narratives´ which should be interpreted to be just some more effective EU propaganda. So from this perspective rather than being bright EUropeans would just appear to be aggressive, manipulative, and conceited… and not superior to anyone else. So why be so proud about it all ?.
the EU thorny garden
Objectively searching into the EUropean political soul it´s easy to find EUrope´s self-EUthanization vis-á-vis its sheer lack of any ´affectio societatis´. This makes EUrope an un-viable business associate to and for anyone, even amongst themselves in view of the current widespread infighting. But JB´s ´brightness´ does not stop there, now proclaiming that “the world needs Europe” and that EUrope is a “garden” and the rest a mere ”jungle” ready to encroach upon it… So at this rate it would be wise to copernically acknowledge that EUrope is not any “global super-power” and that God Almighty has not appointed the un-elected European Commission as the rule-maker for the rest of the world to follow. Furthermore, the “international community”(sic) is not headquartered at Davos or Brussels and 85% of planet Earth does not even wake up in the West every morning. Making that clear would focus EU politics better than complaining about “too many abstentions” in the UN votes regarding this conflict which EU officials fail to understand and accept.
During the past one hundred years (approx.) aided or not by its supposed “superiority” collective Europe fostered 7 major historical vintage TM® failures, namely (1) enthusiastically fostered World War I – the Great War – “the war to end all wars” amongst themselves + (2) cradled and fully developed Nazism + (3) instigated and deployed World War II + (4) allowed for the firm establishment of ruinous “King Dollar” by calmly and willingly accepting the 1971 US unilateral default on the Bretton Woods Agreement thus perpetuating until today a highly detrimental “exhorbitant privilege” for a thus fiat US dollar + (5) established the currently ticking Euro currency time bomb + (6) fully accepted and even participated with impunity in many dozens of US military unsolicited interventions worldwide as the sole un-elected “world cop” thru its 800+ military bases in 80 countries (7) in 2022 unilaterally provoked an unnecessary and stupid self-harming divorce from Russia which has led the world closer than ever to a nuclear war. Readers may have different opinion regarding the individual interpretation of related events but still all of the above are categorically accepted historical facts. And a society that lies so much – onto itself and third parties — cannot be too bright, can it ?
Forget any and all dreams about forging a Greater Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok. Russia tried it, worked very hard at it, and invested tons in such century-milestone project, to no avail. Fact #1: Russia focused on Greater Europe for 30 years. Fact #2: Russia failed miserably in such endeavor. Under deep ´political hypnosis´ — for want of a better term — EUropean leaders supported by complicit constituents ended up deploying their self-harming strategy. For starters, no Referendum on the NATO-imposed, suicidal “let´s divorce Russia” initiative was ever proposed even though many dozens referenda have been held in the EU´s recent past. It´s simple: there is no valid contract in the EU
Russophia was also firmly established as a national cross-border regional sport of sorts spear-headed by complicit Western MSM and loudly outspoken and highly payed for EU officials. Of course, if challenged, Russians have the advantage of becoming quite stubborn when circumstances so require it, so they insisted in the Greater Europe project success and strictly followed the required EUropean Market & Financial Rules. But, yet again, there was no contract compliance. So led by the G-7 leadership, the collective West just plain took effective advantage of Russia in every way it possibly could provoke … and so the Minsk Accords were conveniently extended, postponed… and duly forgotten despite being squarely – and deceitfully — brokered by both Germany and France. The EU´s supposed Ostpolitik was betrayed with every trace of ´affectio societatis´ absent thus DE-stabilising the area and using third parties as pawns. Because, of course, EUropean flagrant unilateralism dictates that there is no room for anything close to having willingness and interest to engage and relate constructively with high-quality business partners beyond the EU´s – and NATO´s — full control. So Russia finally got fed up sick and tired of the West´s lack of “agreement capability” and will thus fully pivot to thriving Eurasia. Meanwhile Europe will immolate itself thru its NATO-induced suicide with shamefull colonialistic sins hovering its soul for the last 500 years until today. Is any of this “bright” ?
NATO´s ´hypnotic´ spell
British Gral. Hastings Ismay — the first Secretary General of NATO — defined that the purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was “to keep Russians out, Americans in, and Germans down” which has since become the common way to describe its dynamics and goals. Ismay also proposed that NATO “must grow until the whole free world gets under one umbrella.” So EUrope today and per its own fault, in more than one way and through not-publicized non-sanctum mechanisms, is actually ruled and governed directly by the US. Accordingly, the inclusion of Russia in the Greater Europe project was to be boycotted to death – most specially its association with Germany — and it certainly was. The European leadership thus offered and deployed highly pro-active support to provoke the Ukraine conflict, be it “militarily, financially or politically” thus confirming yet again its direct and unequivocal commitment and participation. During 8 years the Ukraine Armed Forces were trained by NATO to meet NATO combat standards while the Eastern Russian-speaking areas were systematically intimidated and bombed . NATO members proudly admitted to constantly supply the UAF with heavy modern weapons, military advisers and intel.
To weaken Germany and simultaneously strengthen the US required pitting Russia against Germany in a mutually destructive conflict so that the two countries could not re-establish normal relations for decades to come. The collapse of the EUropean economy would come about by denying cheap Russian energy to Germany. Thus, trillions of dollars of European resources would supposedly relocate to the US jointly with their best and brightest. According to the Rand Report, the main obstacle to Europe´s plundering on a scale which rivaled the Jewish looting of Russia in the 1990s was “the growing independence of Germany” which followed Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit) which gave “Germany greater independence and decreased the US influence upon European governments.”
the EU ´bright´ new oil & gas markets
No matter how diced or sliced, under the planned nat-gas EU ´capped-price´ purchase policy Western markets would be missing access to some 50% (approx.) of the 2021 effectively traded and consumed natural gas volumes. Besides, serious doubts remain on (a) the technical quality of such new possible “capped” price nat-gas (b) its delivery terms and conditions and (c) the reliability of such type of possible nat-gas suppliers. But at any rate when EUrope soon necessarily runs out of all possible nat-gas vendors willing to comply with its new capped-price policy — which would never fulfill its physical needs — then Russia and others will be able to charge whatever they want for the remaining nat-gas which EUrope will require in order to function ASWKI. Unless, of course, the deliberate ruinous EUropean plan were exactly THAT …which is an ever larger possibility. High quality nat-gas is high quality nat-gas, markets are markets, and business is business. An equivalent “absurd” sourcing conundrum would also be triggered by the soon-coming EU ban on Russian sea-borne oil with serious refinability problems (diesel !!!) vis-á-vis the different quality and quantity of the replacements yet to be found and the un-vetted reliability of the yet non-existent suppliers. Tom Kloza, Global Head of Energy Analysis says “Without new inventory, by the end of November the wolf will be at the door. And it will look like a big ugly wolf if it’s a cold winter” Ref #9 http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/11/the-u-s-diesel-shortage-is-worsening.html
not-so-bright useful green idiots ?
The reference below describes the green parties in Europe “as being particularly easy to manipulate into running the errands of American imperialism. The prerequisite for Germany to fall into this trap is the dominant role of Green Parties and European ideologies. The German environmental movement is a highly dogmatic, if not fanatical, movement, which makes it quite easy to get them to ignore economic argument.”
On their part, the Russians — many still astonished by suicidal EUrope – seem to basically be thinking (approx.) …
“EUropeans, you didn´t have to love us or even be friends you know… but why hate us ? Always, systematically, by default. Why are you Russophobic ? We only wanted to continue being your vetted trade partners as repeatedly proven with flying colors for 30 years. So just what is wrong with you ? Why do you allow your leaders to lie to you, cheat and mislead you so much ? If you actually wished to scare us away consider it done, good job and good bye EUrope. Now, despite your fully un-necessary EUthanization of our relationship, we still welcome you to set up your investments as our business associates here in Russia. Just consider that your only gateway to the world´s next all-time winner anyway you dice it or slice it — namely Mackinder´s Eurasia — is by relocating to Russia with all our known advantages. Otherwise – per WEF logic — you will not have any worthwhile fuels or natural resources left ( just hyperinflation…and no markets ) and you will notbe happy”. So the remaining bright Germans – and other bright minds still in EUrope — would finally understand that 85% of the world´s population is not Western let alone part of today´s non-sensical NATO, fully “brain dead” per French President Emmanuel Macron. And once that the NS1 & NS2 sabotage perpetrators are proven and known, EUropean public opinion – most specially Germans – will see things very differently from today understanding how they have been mis-led into an entirely un-justified Russophobia.
EUropean RE-location
Development requires cheap and excellent all-around energy and natural resources which Germany and others do not have and that Russia has plenty of. It also requires markets with which to trade. So the alternatives are (a) “NATO out” which does not seem feasible right now, meaning “to revolt en masse against the NATO-imposed trade/financial sanctions against Russia, and force Berlin to repair NS1 and commission Nord Stream 2”…or… (b) relocate to the US, meaning total vassalization of the EUropean industrial burgeoisie a-la Werner von Braun…or… (c) relocate to Russia and be part of Eurasia´s new bright future, jointly with China & BRICS & SCO & Global South. Of course, sooner or later some of (b) will surely take place but chances are that (c) — per the assumed Russian offering proposed — will at least be the German predominant choice. Obviously, this would probably mean the sudden demise of the EUro and, soon after, of the US dollar ASWKI. The smarter part of the remaining EUrope would also follow the relocation of bright Germans to Russia. Unexpectedly, along these lines events may pick up unusual speed and EUrope as we know it today would cease to exist. And this would be the final evidence proving that EUropeans at large are not as bright as they think they are. They would all act differently if they were, with no room for cannibalism.
the Overton window
Bright Europeans do exist, but in EUropean politics they are very few and far between. So most today focus on (1) ruining Russia per NATO mandate to supposedly uphold ´democracy everywhere´ even corrupt kleptocracies… and while they are at it…(2) also saving planet Earth. Still, a handfull are finally understanding that this is too high a price to pay as EUropeans would not be willing to accept the MAGNITUDE and DEPTH of the hardships soon to come in what up until today was a flourishing consumer society with an enviable standard of living. Hypothetically, what some few political leaders were waiting and jockeying for was an Overton window large enough to get their heads in, their bets made, and their feet wet. The Overton window defines what is politically possible per the existing public opinion at a given point in time. So it is a very convenient tool to apply in view of the EU Commissariat Master Plan.
All members of the elected government of the German Federal Republic have necessarily taken an oath of office details of which are explicit below. That is the basis for the social and political contract between German leadership and their constituents. But apparently many / all have decided to conveniently dismiss such sworn obligations until the Overton window – Main Street´s hidden weapon — forces them to act accordingly, not before.
“ I swear that I will devote my energies to the well-being of the German people, increase their benefit,protect them from harm, uphold and defend the Basic Law and the laws of the Federation, perform my duties conscientiously and do justice to everyone. So help me God.” Not a single word is ever mentioned relating directly or indirectly to the EU, its governance impact, its interests and/or its goals.
the “most stupid” government in EUrope
Recently Sahra Wagenknecht has defined Germany’s government as the “most stupid” in EUrope for managing to embroil itself in a full-blown economic war with its top – and thus un-replaceable — energy supplier, namely Russia. Speaking at the Bundestag, the former co-chair of the party Die Linke (“The Left”) urged for an immediate end to the anti-Russian sanctions and also for the resignation of German Vice Chancellor and Minister of the Economy, the now infamous ´Herr Green´ Robert Habeck. While still describing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as a “crime” Wagenknecht insisted that the anti-Russian sanctions are “fatal” for Germany itself. She told her fellow Bundestag leaders in-their-face that “The biggest problem is your grandiose idea of launching an unprecedented economic war against our most important energy supplier. The idea that we are punishing Putin by impoverishing millions of families in Germany and destroying our industry while Gazprom is making record profits – how stupid is that?” she wondered out loud. So, an important German at an important German venue publically told many other important Germans how stupid they were. Not me, she did. “The promise of NATO membership did not help any. Militarily, this war cannot be won”. Of course, this has meant that some Left Party members now demand the expulsion of Sahra Wagenknecht for good.
Firms in the metal and chemical industries, among others, are trying to relocate to the US, The Wall Street Journal reports: “High energy costs drive companies away from EU”. This means obvious consequences only fools would not foresee: DEpression & UN-employment. German producers warn of food shortages. Die Welt now reports that “There are significant supply gaps in the daily food supply for people in Germany. The situation is “more than serious” an open letter from the industry said. “Companies now fear that production lines will soon come to a standstill and that refrigerated logistics centers for food distribution will be closed. Some are even preparing for possible insolvency.”
Manufacturers of both frozen and fresh products say they cannot cope with soaring energy costs. “The food industry is currently experiencing the worst crisis since the end of the Second World War… It’s a minute to twelve. Act now – otherwise the refrigerators and freezers of the German population will soon be empty” the letter urges. Germany, along with the broader EU, is facing a sharp rise in energy prices and a record inflation surge amid the intensifying anti-Russian sanctions and a policy of abandoning all possible Russian fuels. The situation could also soon lead to energy rationing and shortages, also meaning NO energy, NO fuels at ANY price, period. And forget LNG from whomever or wherever. Too little, too late, too cumbersome, too risky, way dirtier, and way too expensive. Germany needs Russian pipelined nat-gas for many good reasons that they cannot ignore and will necessarily live by soon.
The frozen food industry is particularly susceptible to energy supply problems, due to its strong reliance on electricity for freezers. The EU risks a ‘Wild West’ scenario says IEA head Fatih Birol warning that member states could possibly abandon solidarity to secure their own gas supplies. Many dozens of thousands of small and medium-size businesses (SMEs) in Italy can’t cope with soaring energy bills, ´Corriere della Sera´ reports. Italy is badly dependant on Russian pipelined nat-gas, no substitutes are possible in practice. Supposed “stored” reserves cannot be extracted from sub-surface unless Russian pipelines are also flowing thus allowing to add-on such stored reserves to the main flow. By themselves, underground nat-gas reserves can hardly be produced on surface and still with lots of negative impact.
Larger companies will also add to the un-employed. According to a recent survey, over 70% of Italians are having difficulty or are simply unable to pay their energy bills. SMEs represent 99% of all businesses in the 27-nation EU. SMEs employ around 100 million people, or two thirds of all employed and account for 53% of Europe’s GDP.
Nearly one in six people over 65 in Germany is at risk of poverty, meaning they have less than 60% of the median income at their disposal according to the Federal Statistical Office and published by the German media group Funke. Europe maybe could have articulated a far better and softer transition and slower pathway into “some” renewables under excellent quality and already available + pipeline delivered, cheap Russian nat-gas. But they chose otherwise and now Europe must pay the piper. And with only a fraction of the EU imploding generalized chaos will prevail.
True enough, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán led the pack weeks ago by saying “the approach has clearly failed — sanctions have backfired — and our car now has 4 four flat tires”. Just as a reminder, vehicles carry only one spare tire (maybe two) but never four and more to come… Now, also Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki proposes to lift sanctions on Russia by December at the latest. But the questions remains: beyond some optics, the audio and the visual… just where precisely is the ACTION ? Are these two Heads of State bright enough per the circumstances ? Or are they just better sounding than the overwhelming EUropean political mediocrity ? Oh, you say they aren´t allowed to do any more than that ? If that´s the established system then EUropeans were not very bright…
“Germany needs Russian gas” – says Michael Kretschmer, Saxony’s Minister-President. Okay, that´s a good starting point to acknowledge don´t you think ? A valid diagnosis is necessarily behind any reasonable therapy and at least in this case – besides being bloody obvious – it´s still reconforting to see that a spanking new “common denominator” is being put together by some in Germany. Herr Kretschmer added that the current exorbitant prices for the fuel are “ruining Germany’s industry”. Okay, sorry to hear that. So that means that Russian energy matters lots, correct ?
“Russian gas supplies are critical for Germany, and will remain so in the foreseeable future”. In an interview with Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe Michael Kretschmer also added: “We are already witnessing that we can’t do without Russian gas.” Hmmm….. But then Kretschmer went on to say that now Berlin should try to make sure that it keeps receiving Russian gas after the armed conflict is over. But would that be soon, please tell us ? Because saying that implies ignoring that the end of the armed conflict will most probably not be decided in the battlefield and just come about by a NATO-EU surrender. Why so you may ask ? Well precisely because NATO & the EU leadership provoked and sustained Russian gas to be cut off, so that can be reverted only by them, not the other way around. So whatever happens militarily in the battlefield does not actually matter that much any more unless it were 101% decisive. But many months have elapsed and it does not seem to be anywhere close to that, does it ? So finally EU politicians on their own will have to end this unnecessary war that they started simply because the Overton window for European public opinion will not stand it and they will have to admit they were dead wrong and plain go home, if not to jail.
Clare Daly is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and from the very beginning in March 2022 she has voted against its Resolutions on this matter basically considering them to be “a recipe for prolonging war with escalation”. She believes that “ignoring the role played by the US and NATO in destabilising the area for the past decade,using Ukraine as a pawn in its battles with Russia, only serves to prevent an understanding of the measures necessary to secure peace”. Per Clare Daly, the EP Resolutions “accelerate the provision of military equipment and weapons to Ukraine, strengthen NATO’s forward presence, increase defence spending…and strengthen the European pillar within NATO” while also ”opportunistically call for opening the European energy market to fracked American liquefied natural gas (LNG)…which is far more polluting and terribly far more expensive”. Clare Daly believes that ”there is no military solution to this crisis as the policy of flooding Ukraine with weapons will, at worst, lead to a permanent condition of conflict, as has happened in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, at best, a greater loss of life and destruction in Ukraine”. Furthermore, Clare Daly believes that the EP Resolutions on this topic do not sufficiently “take into account the impact of the war on workers,their working conditions, and the recognition of the hardship that this entails”.
Days ago Greta Thunberg at the London’s Royal Festival Hall left on record that there is no going “back to normal” as it would mean returning to the Global North climate crisis “system” i.e. “colonialism, imperialism, oppression, genocideand racist, oppressive extractionism”. So only the overthrow of “the whole capitalistic system” will suffice, says Greta. No explanation was given — or even a mild attempt made — to describe how the required transition could possibly be made to get from our current evil point A to future greatly-improved point B. Apparently, there’s no GDP growth — especially of the capitalist sort — without increasing carbon emissions. Supposedly the only solution to this state of emergency is “for rich countries to immediately abandon economic expansion as a social goal.” Full interview credit to Nicholas Harris at Ref #28 https://unherd.com/thepost/greta-thunberg-throws-her-lot-in-with-the-anti-capitalist-left/
entitlements & cakeism vs. the chicken and the egg & DE-globalization economics: FIRE vs real STUFF
If really interested in reducing greenhouse gas emissions mankind worldwide would need to drastically change its way of life in many important ways already very firmly considered by the collective mind-set as genuinely valid entitlements So, politically speaking such proposal is a non-starter waaaay outside any current Overton window we may come up with. In turn, we also can´t have our own cake and eat it too. So which will it be ? On top of it, let´s add that “All service industries (– including FIRE finances –) remain completely dependent on the raw materials and manufactured goods sectors to function… So DE-globalization will increasingly favor those who produce and control the STUFF which underpins everything else…(of course necessarily) leading to devastating closures of (almost all ?) energy and/or resource-intensive industrial operations in Europe due to high energy prices that make their products uncompetitive.” Ref #29 https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/East-vs-West-Stuff-vs-Finance.html . Full credit to Kurt Cobb via OilPrice.com.
While Imran Khan insists that there is an ongoing foreign-backed regime change conspiracy against his government, the no-confidence motion’s defeat and the dismissal of parliament have cast doubt on Pakistan’s entire constitution.
Analysts also predict that the development will aggravate Pakistan’s already tense relationship with the United States
Pakistan is currently experiencing a major political and constitutional crisis. On 3 April, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly threw out a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, which was projected to receive a majority of votes. The rationale given was the alleged presence of a foreign conspiracy to topple the elected government, of which the no-confidence motion was considered part.
Significantly, Pakistan’s political environment has shifted dramatically in recent months, with the two biggest opposition parties, the PML-N and the PPP, uniting against the government. It is, without a doubt, the most significant political challenge that the present government has faced in its more than half-term. In addition, the government faces a greater challenge from within its party. No Pakistani prime minister has ever served a full term, and Khan has faced the most serious challenge to his leadership since taking office in 2018.
Khan’s removal is being sought through a no-trust motion filed by opposition parties in the National Assembly. The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led the opposition, two traditionally feuding dynastic factions that dominated national politics for decades until Khan allied against them.
However, the plotted no-trust resolution against Pakistan Prime Minister was dismissed by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, and it was against Pakistan’s Constitution and laws. Therefore, the plot to destabilize the government has failed. The legislature has been dissolved, and elections will occur in 90 days.
Khan is accused of mismanaging Pakistan’s economic and foreign policies. Whereas, in his address to the nation, Khan categorically said that he would not resign and resist foreign meddling, rejecting his opponents’ accusations of misrule. He also stressed that he would emerge victoriously. He will not, under any circumstances, allow this conspiracy to succeed.
Whereas few observers believe it is anything more than a planned effort on the part of the prime minister to bolster the assumption of a foreign conspiracy against his government. Moreover, playing the nationalist card in times of crisis is a common populist strategy.
However, in Pakistan’s political history, no elected government has ever been toppled by a no-confidence vote. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has rejected calls from the opposition to resign, accusing the US of attempting to destabilize his government.
The US was accused of interfering in Pakistani affairs. The opposition parties were plotting with Washington to remove the government because Pakistan refused to support the US and Europe in global conflicts with Russia and China.
Khan cited the United States as the source of a “memo” that Khan claimed confirmed a “foreign conspiracy” sparked by his travel to Russia when President Vladimir Putin launched the special military operation in Ukraine. Foreign elements claimed to be enraged with Pakistan. If Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan loses a no-confidence vote, they will forgive Pakistan. However, if the referendum fails, Pakistan will suffer major consequences. The alleged conspiracy was intended to punish him for pursuing a Pakistani foreign policy independent of the United States.
Analysts also predict that the development will aggravate Pakistan’s already tense relationship with the United States. The developments will harm the US-Pakistan relationship. Relations haven’t been great in recent months; they’ve been unsure and uneasy but not disastrous. The disclosures, rhetoric, and accusations pushed into the public sphere in recent days will put things back.
While on the other side, it’s neither a fight between ‘good and evil’, as Prime Minister Imran Khan would have us think, nor a fight for democracy, as the combined opposition insists. The Prime Minister has used religious and nationalist slogans to rally his supporters and tackle the situation. He has attempted to rally his supporters by using religious slogans and portraying the power fight as a battle between “good and evil”.
Notably, PM Khan maintains that his life is in danger, but he is unconcerned and vows to fight for an independent and democratic Pakistan. Attempts are being made to change Pakistan’s government using foreign funds. While Analysts believe Khan is attempting to sway public opinion against the opposition by blaming the West. It was a first-of-its-kind assault on democracy and the constitution by a democratically elected government. If the acting speaker’s actions are upheld, any future administration will be free to deploy a made-up conspiracy to avoid a vote of no-confidence. They have subverted the country’s rule of law. As a result, Pakistan’s democracy has suffered a setback (DW, 2022).
Since the United States withdrew from Afghanistan last summer, the relationship between the two countries has been strained. The growing rapprochement between China and Pakistan also puts a pall over US policies toward the country.
The opposition’s no-confidence movement against Prime Minister Imran Khan was defeated, which might have major consequences for Pakistan’s democratic system. The no-confidence motion’s defeat and the dismissal of parliament have cast doubt on Pakistan’s entire constitution. On the other hand, Khan’s supporters and advisers are confident that their leader will not only survive the current constitutional crisis but will also win a majority in the next parliament.
The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
“To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.” — Henry Kissinger. The United States became one of the first nations to establish relations with Pakistan, just two months and six days after the independence of Pakistan through the partition of British India, on 20 October 1947. Since then, the relations kept on expanding in all fields, cooperation in Education, Science & Technology, Agriculture, Economy, Trade, Defense Investments, etc., were the major areas of collaboration. In spite of China being the largest importer and exporter of Pakistan’s market, the United States continues to be one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment in Pakistan and is Pakistan’s largest export market (till 2016).
The cooperation and collaboration in the defense domain were much prominent. Pakistan was a leading member of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) from its adoption in 1954–to 55 and allied itself with the United States during most of the Cold war. In 1971–72, Pakistan ended its alliance with the United States after the East-Pakistan war in which the US showed a cold shoulder despite having a defense treaty and obliged to support Pakistan, failed to assist Pakistan to fight against India. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the United States refused to provide any military support as against its pledge. This generated widespread anti-American feelings and emotions in Pakistan that the United States was no longer a reliable ally.
Pakistan remains a close ally with the US during cold-war era against the communism threat. Pakistan provided full support and military bases to the US and countered the expansion of communism. In the Afghan war against the former USSR invasion, Pakistan was a front-line state and fully cooperated with the US till the evacuation of the USSR’s troops from Afghanistan. Pakistan stood with the US during its war on terror and declared a non-NATO close ally.
Pakistan was serving and looking after the American interests in this region for almost seven decades. Although Pakistan is a small country with a poor economy, its geostrategic location, and commitment made it possible for the US to achieve its all strategic goals in this part of the world.
Pakistan played an instrumental role in bridging US-China relations. President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger took advantage of Pakistan’s close relationship with the People’s Republic of China to initiate secret contacts that resulted in Henry Kissinger’s secret visit to China in July 1971 after visiting Pakistan. The contacts resulted in the 1972 Nixon visit to China and the subsequent normalizing of relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. China always recognized and valued it, whereas the US overlooked it.
True, Pakistan was one of the largest beneficiaries of US AID too, but, most of the aid was dispersed among the ruling elite and US officials only. There was hardly any trickle-down impact on society. Only a few individuals were the beneficiary of this aid in Pakistan or in the US, the general public was deprived.
But, Pakistan has to pay a very heavy price for siding with the US. Only due to its support to the US in the Afghan war, we did sacrifice 80,000 precious human lives. The economic loss was estimated to be US Dollars 250 Billion. A huge setback to the social and economic growth of the country. Due to unrest, economic activities were halted, and society deteriorated. Extremism, Intolerance, Terrorism, Drugs, and Gun Culture were additional gifts for Pakistan. By design the society was radicalized, individuals and groups were funded, brainwashed, trained, armed, and exploited against the state.
The US penetrated into our society and understood the weaknesses of the society. They identified corrupt, disloyal, greedy, disgruntle, and destitute Pakistanis. They offered them money, visas, migrations, etc., and cultivated them to be utilized against the state. Today, there are many Pakistanis having US nationality, Green Card, Multiple Visa, etc., and serving American interests. Some of the ruling elite are keeping their wealth, either white or black money, in the US, keeping their families in the US, considering their future in the US. In fact, few of the ruling elite are more loyal to the US and yet serve Pakistan. Their stakes are with America, not with Pakistan.
The US has a history of intervening in the domestic affairs of Pakistan and kept on dictating, even, in small matters, of posting, transfer, promotions, and appointments of public servants in Pakistan. As a matter of fact, they install their own loyal in key posts in Pakistan, who are serving their agendas, instead of solving the domestic issues. Under the banner of democracy, they always imposed their agenda on Pakistan. Under the cover of friendship, they have cultivated a strong lobby in Pakistan to influence domestic politics.
Although the publicized documents show that the US has been involved more than seventy times in the change of regimes during the cold war. But, after the cold war, in the unipolar world, this frequency must have been increased many folds. The change of regimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Arab Spring, etc., are only a few examples known to the rest of the world. But, actual numbers of similar activities may be outnumbered.
However, the rise of China and the revival of Russia has created a counterbalance and the world has transformed into a multipolar once again. The major reason for the failure of the US in changing the regime in Syria was Russia. This phenomenon has checked America and made it clear that the US is not only a unique superpower.
The recent victims of American friendship are Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Both were close allies with the US and are punished for their friendship. Sri Lank was pressing smoothly and was a very stable country. But, the US intervention made it unstable and damaged the democratic and economic system of the country. It is passing through a civil war-like situation and the economy has been destroyed almost.
Pakistan is also facing a similar situation. Ex-Foreign Minister Mr. Shah Mehmood Qureishi, informed publically that the US was asking Pakistan to cancel the Mosco visit. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting with President Putin was not digested and was punished. Although the meeting was decided long ago and has nothing to do with the Ukraine issue, the US is linking it illogically. Pakistan was asked to roll-back China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and keep its distance from China. Although Pakistan always kept close relations with China as well as with the US during the cold war era. The US was a beneficiary of Pakistan’s close relations with China too.
Regarding, Pakistan’s stance on Ukraine, it was independent and motivated for reconciliation. But, the US was annoyed for abstaining from the UN. Although, many other countries also opposed or abstain during voting on the US-Backed resolution in the UN. Especially, India also abstained from the sane resolution. And violating sanctions. India is buying cheaper oil from Russia, procuring S-400 and etc., but US-Administration kept silent.
The irony is that the US does not want to be a friend of Pakistan, not it allows any other country to be friendly with Pakistan. To understand American mentality, the above-quoted saying of Henry Kissinger is a perfect example. The US might succeed in punishing Prime Minister Imran Khan, but, the narrative he has left among the youth of this nation will remain alive. Pakistan will not bow to any foreign power and will resist any pressure and coercion. The US has been exposed and lost its credibility as a sincere friend. The US is neither friend nor well-wisher of any country or nation. All countries and nations should learn from Pakistan’s experience. The UN is urged to intervene in stopping the interventions in the internal affairs of any sovereign state.
Author: Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization). (E-mail: awanzamir@yahoo.com).
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The Pakistani parliament has rejected a no-confidence vote that seeks to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying “foreign powers” are interfering in the country’s democratic process.
Qasim Khan Suri, National Assembly deputy speaker, dismissed the no-trust move against the prime minister on Sunday, terming it as “contradictory” to Article 5 of Pakistan’s Constitution.
Suri said that the motion was presented on March 8 and should be according to the law and the Constitution, stressing, “No foreign power shall be allowed to topple an elected government through a conspiracy.”
The president later dissolved the National Assembly on Khan’s advice.
“The President of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi, has approved the advice of the Prime Minister,” a statement from his office said, meaning fresh elections must be held within 90 days.
The opposition vowed to challenge the move in the country’s Supreme Court.
Khan’s fate is now in a state of limbo which would lead to fresh political instability in the country.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, head of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), promised a sit-in at the parliament. “We are also moving to the Supreme Court today,” he told reporters.
The opposition needs a simple majority of 50 percent plus one to topple the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government.
Khan needs 172 votes in the 342-seat house to foil the bid. Some defections in the PTI and cracks in his coalition partners have dented his chances to accumulate the 172 votes, needed to hold on to power.
Media reports said there was a heavy police and paramilitary presence on the streets of the capital Islamabad on Sunday, with shipping containers used to block off roads. Police were seen detaining three supporters of Khan’s ruling PTI party outside parliament.
Khan on Saturday accused the United States of being behind a parliament debate on the no-confidence motion, saying the move is an attempt at regime change backed by Washington.
The Pakistani premier had earlier accused an unnamed “foreign power” – in a clear reference to the United States – of funding a “conspiracy” to topple his democratically-elected government.
If Khan had lost on Sunday, he would have been the first prime minister to be removed through a vote of no confidence.
The cricketer-turned-politician has been accused by the opposition of mishandling the economy and foreign policy since coming to power in 2018.
His embattled government has been banking on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release a 6 billion-dollar rescue package, but the move has been obstructed by the US.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan rallies his countrymen against a US-backed plot to unseat his democratically elected government.Photo Credit: The Cradle
After a humiliating defeat in Afghanistan and loss of credibility over Ukraine, the era of US unipolarity seems to be entering its terminal phase, marked by lashing out ferociously in all directions. The most recent of these offensives occurred last week when the government of Pakistan alleged that Washington was trying to engineer regime change in Islamabad.
This time the US was caught red handed. The claim was not made via a leak or a fringe observer, but by the prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, himself. While the US State Department has denied any involvement, the political drama has only just begun.
Emerging from a crucial meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbors, China’s top diplomat took a public whack at Washington’s behavior. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China will not allow the US to drag smaller nations into conflict and sharply rebuked the ‘US Cold War mentality.’ Beijing is determined not to allow the US to steal Pakistan from its inner circle of vital Asian partners that today include Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, and others.
On Wednesday, when a coalition partner of the governing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) announced its seven members would switch to the opposition, Khan essentially lost his majority in the National Assembly, consisting of 342 parliamentarians. More than a dozen of his party members also threatened to cross the political aisle.
But the Pakistani opposition had mistakenly believed that as soon as they showed their required numerical majority in the parliament, the prime minister would either step down or resign. But that is not what appears to be happening.
Instead, in the next 24 hours, the voting will begin in parliament to count the actual numbers. Many analysts see this as the end of the Khan government in Pakistan; others believe the prime minister’s hold on power will be consolidated and the opposition and their foreign underwriters will suffer a permanent blow.
If the courts entertain the government’s petition to look into the foreign meddling and bribery cases, then Khan may have more time to develop a full court reaction. In just a few days, Khan has already displayed a modest demonstration of his street power. The mood and sentiment across the social media spectrum, as of now, is lopsidedly in favor of the prime minister. Large segments of the public has loudly rallied around him as the spokesman of their aspirations, while opposition party leaders are being characterized as corrupt individuals who want to topple an elected government.
The country’s main opposition parties are the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), both dynastic groups that ruled for decades until Khan came along with his campaign promises to root out the rampant corruption and cronyism that has plagued Pakistani politics for years.
The letter
Millions of Pakistanis poured out to see PM Khan speak on 27 March, when he alleged that “foreign powers are engineering a regime change in Pakistan.” Waving a letter drawn from his coat pocket, Khan threatened to reveal direct, written threats to Pakistan and himself.
Top cabinet members [Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives] Asad Umar and [Minister of Information] Fawad Chaudhry held a joint press conference where they revealed further details of this controversial letter. Khan then invited several members of his cabinet, media and the Pakistani security community to view the document first hand.
Government opponents dismissed Khan’s allegations outright, amidst an enormous amount of hubris and posturing soon to follow. Pakistani opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif (an aspirant for the prime minister position) proclaimed that he will jump ship and join Imran Khan if the letter is real and the PM was speaking truthfully. Similarly, prominent anti-establishment TV anchor Saleem Safi said that if the letter were real, he would retire from his position and drop out of media altogether.
But within hours, a mysterious petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) with the Chief Justice Islamabad Athar Minallah issuing a legal opinion that Imran Khan may not share this letter in public because of his secrecy oath. Such a swift ruling could not have come from Pakistan’s highest judicial authority about a fake letter, surely?
The next day, the country’s National Security Committee (NSC) convened for a meeting. In attendance were Pakistan’s prime minister, the army chief, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and naval chiefs, the National Security Advisor (NSA), and several other important officials.
Opposition members boycotted the meeting, but participants took a unanimous decision to reprimand the United States for its actions and ensure that Pakistan would not allow US authorities off the hook so easily. Subsequently, the Foreign Office called the acting US ambassador and reprimanded him – none of which could have conceivably been done on the pretext of a false letter.
What’s in the letter?
According to statements made by Khan during the NSC meeting, senior officials from the US State Department (believed to be an Undersecretary of State) sent the letter on 7 March via Asad Majeed Khan, the Pakistani ambassador in Washington.
The document reportedly states that there will be a no-confidence motion (NCM) against the prime minister soon, that Khan should know that it is coming and that he should not resist the NCM but go down with it. If he tries to resist it, the letter allegedly continues, Khan and Pakistan will face horrible consequences.
The letter mentions the NCM about eight times. The next day, on 8 March, a no-confidence vote was indeed announced. According to Khan, he has security agency information on how the illegal buying and selling of votes took place among Pakistan’s parliamentarians during this time. Then, on 9 March, the nation’s military leadership declared itself ‘neutral’ between the opposition parties and the prime minister.
Khan criticized the military for taking a neutral stance, saying a vital institution of the state should not show “neutrality” to those openly and willfully being used as tools of regime change, orchestrated by the adversaries of Pakistan. But after Foreign Minister Shah Qureshi’s return from Beijing, the military now appears to be favoring Khan’s position. It seems that either a phone call or a message must have come directly from Beijing.
Consequences of US involvement
If the foreign meddling case is a priori to the no-confidence motion, then it is possible that Khan will have legal relief and those accused of collaborating, aiding and assisting an external regime-change conspiracy will be indicted. This would include opposition political party members and Pakistani media personalities who have purportedly been traipsing to and from the US embassy in the days, weeks and months preceding the motion – now set for a seat-gripping vote on Sunday. If this can be proven in a court of law, many opposition leaders may end up behind bars.
According to Pakistan’s highest national security office and judging from the IHC notice, it appears clear that the letter was legitimate and the US is guilty of meddling in Pakistan’s internal affairs. But this is not 2001 when former Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, capitulated to the Americans upon receiving a single phone call. Today’s Pakistan has a stronger self-identity after two decades of grueling and unrecognized sacrifices for Washington’s unsuccessful war on terror. Equally, they now also understand that the US is a declining power.
Most Pakistanis do not care about US sanctions any longer, especially as they watch other nations circumvent them with new allies. The public mood and sentiment is to dismiss sanctions threats, recognizing that there will be consequences from the Pakistani side which could lead to the expulsion of American diktats from the Af-Pak-Iran region.
During his 1 April interview on national television (PTV), Imran Khan exhorted the Pakistani nation to reject the alliance of corrupt parties and western-backed media. He believed that the west’s next step will be to take his life. Pakistan’s information minister had said the same only a day earlier.
If Khan didn’t have the ability to rally the street, they could have spared him, but his current popularity and obstinate resistance to US bullying tactics make him a prime target for assassination. Most Pakistanis have long considered the killing of leaders such as Liaquat Ali Khan, Z.A. Bhutto, Zia al Haq and Benazir Bhutto to be the work of US intelligence. To those citizens, any perceived threat to PM Imran Khan’s life is a real and imminent danger. Very rapidly, the security around him has been reshuffled and new measures have been taken to provide him with extra protection.
Khan’s narrative about US interference has gained heavy momentum in the past week. The storyline is one of two sides butting heads at a critical juncture in the country’s history: on one side, an Indo-US alliance, corrupt Pakistani opposition parties, the country’s corporate media, and a handful of western-styled liberals. On the other side, a legally elected, popular and feisty prime minister, supported by the Russo-China alliance and an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis.
With those odds, it may be politically and legally impossible for Pakistan’s military to maintain its ostensible posture of neutrality no matter how much US pressure comes at it. Time may be on Khan’s side.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
Pakistani PM Imran Khan ‘accidentally’ named the United States as the culprit when he claimed “a foreign country I can’t name” was eager to see him removed from his post via a no-confidence vote.
“America has – oh, not America but a foreign country I can’t name” sent the leader the message in an effort to meddle in his country’s politics, Khan said in a televised address on Thursday, after a no-confidence vote against him was rescheduled.
Khan received a briefing letter from the Pakistani ambassador to the US that included a recording of a senior official from Washington implying the relationship between the two countries would improve in Khan’s absence, local media reported on Thursday.
“They say that ‘our anger will vanish if Imran Khan loses this no-confidence vote’,” Khan said, describing the contents of the letter.
Soon after, Pakistan’s foreign office summoned the acting US charge d’affaires to lodge a strong protest over Washington’s meddling in the internal affairs of the country.
Pakistani media, citing diplomatic sources, said on Thursday that the senior US diplomat was handed over the protest note for the language used by an American official during a formal communication regarding a no-confidence motion in Pakistan’s parliament aimed at ousting Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The English-language Dawn newspaper said the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, had in a meeting with Pakistan’s envoy Asad Majeed warned that there could be implications if Khan survived the opposition’s no-confidence motion on April 3rd.
A Pakistani foreign office official confirmed that a “demarche” was handed over to the acting US envoy in Islamabad, adding that Washington was told that the use of such undiplomatic language was unacceptable.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price insisted there was “no truth” to the allegations, claiming that Washington was “closely following developments in Pakistan” but that it “respect[ed] and support[ed] Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law.”
It’s not the first time Khan has accused Washington of meddling in the country’s internal affairs and trying to influence its policy decisions. He broached the issue at a Sunday rally where he sought to draw on supporters’ energy as his political opposition has attempted to oust him and reminded his supporters during Thursday’s broadcast that Pakistan had gotten nothing from supporting the US’ war on “terror” except a lot more terrorists and drone bombings.
Khan has refused to bow to American pressure and condemn Russia for sending troops into Ukraine, arguing Pakistan had nothing to gain by such a move. However, this has made him a target for the US and its allies, who are already upset that neighboring India has also refused to join their sanctions campaign against Moscow.
When it comes to the Ukraine crisis, US citizens are stressing: “We don’t have a dog in the fight.”
The crisis in Ukraine is raising considerable anxiety and rising global uncertainty. It appears that neither war nor heavy economic penalties would bring a sustainable solution to the current situation, which extends beyond Russia and Ukraine. The only way out is through diplomacy. That possibility was squandered when the US and NATO, in response to Russia’s concerns, limited NATO’s eastward expansion.
However, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The special military operation will strive to “denazify” Russia’s sovereign neighbor, its mission is to protect citizens who have been bullied and subjected to genocide for the past eight years. And to do this, Russia will work to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.
Even as President Joe Biden imposes more sanctions and promises a greater response that could draw retaliation from Moscow, there is little interest among Americans for a US involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. President Joe Biden has been criticized by a faction of the Republican Party for opposing Putin’s plans for Ukraine, with some even suggesting that Russia has the right to invade.
As history has shown, economic sanctions would only harm innocent civilians, particularly women and children. The rising oil costs owing to the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the economic sanctions the West has imposed on Russia are affecting the entire world, particularly the poor nation-states.
With the general public’s memories of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and subsequent Taliban takeover still fresh, much of the worry on both the right and left is centered on the US avoiding military involvement in Europe. Members of the House Freedom Caucus have indeed been particularly loud in their opposition to US intervention in Ukraine, and stressed that “In the Ukraine conflict, we don’t have a dog in the fight”. There should not be a single American soldier killed there. There should not be a single American bullet fired there.
Significantly, Ukraine has no legitimate reason to be a member of NATO, and NATO, as a Cold War relic, may have no present purpose or goal. Getting involved in a military crisis is not in the best interests of the United States.
Similarly, many Americans prefer that the US stay out of the crisis, the escalating violence, and political ramifications are already hitting their budgets. As traders reacted to geopolitical tensions, the price of oil, which has been climbing for the past year, hit an eight-year high this week. According to experts, if US lawmakers pass another round of sanctions, gas prices will certainly rise considerably more.
Moreover, the restriction on wheat or metals, on the other hand, might push the worst spell of inflation in decades even higher. Consumers in the United States will pay more for gasoline and other necessities as commodity prices rise, leaving less money for discretionary expenditure. As costly as another European conflict would be inhuman and economic terms, the financial strain would fall disproportionately on the lower and middle classes in the United States.
Furthermore, the US economic growth could be cut by 1% as a result of tougher sanctions on Russia. Stock market turbulence can also have a psychological impact, undermining consumer confidence and reducing expenditure, thus, slowing down US economic growth. Sanctions implemented by the United States and other countries may worsen inflation in the United States, and stock prices in the United States have collapsed already.
Consumer pricing and consumer confidence in the United States are likely to be affected by the sanctions. Gas prices in the United States have reached new highs, and Biden warned that they will go up even more.
Notably, the issue of “who are they?” lies at the heart of much of the doubt about America’s intervention in Ukraine. Who are they to lecture about national sovereignty and international law when they have a significant history of invasions and interventions? Who are they to set themselves up as paragons of freedom and human rights, given the record of slavery and discrimination, their foreign record of supporting sympathetic tyrants, and the continued injustices of American life? People on the left frequently pose such concerns. Only about one out of every three Americans can locate Ukraine on a map of Europe.
Biden’s presidency is already on the verge of collapsing. His approval rating has dropped to 41%. His grip on the White House is already tightening. Therefore, Presidents in such dire trouble have a history of suffering crushing defeats in midterm elections during their first term.
The US and Europe have already become major victims of the crisis, both economically and geopolitically, and the worsening of the conflict could spell disaster for the continent and the world. Europe, as the continent that saw two previous World Wars erupt, must demonstrate greater foresight and courage in stepping up its efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
Two weeks into the Ukraine conflict, the Atlantic alliance is already fraying. Europe, which helped destroy much of West Asia, is now the battlefield for the Last American War.
During the second US-led war on Iraq in 2003 and its resulting invasion and occupation, I wrote an article in the British daily, The Observer, commissioned by its editor-in-chief, entitled ‘America is an expert in destruction not construction.’ That title proved to be dismally accurate as US warplanes bombed all Iraqi infrastructure facilities from water and electricity stations to bridges, and killed more than a million Iraqis, according to the international medical journal Lancet.
Joe Biden said he would target Russia when he became US president. But, his war with Russia will have mainly European casualties.Photo Credit: The Cradle
Nearly 20 years later, the article springs to mind again as I follow the developments of the Ukrainian war, the associated military and diplomatic posturing of global stakeholders, and the potential ignition of a nuclear war that could lead to catastrophic consequences for the world – starting with Europe.
Battlefield: Europe
It is Europe, after all, which will be the main theater of a nuclear clash unless current mediation efforts bear fruit. And any ‘political solution’ of the conflict spells victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country, as Moscow will not accept anything short of a complete purging of NATO’s strategic depth in Ukraine.
It was the United States that instigated and ignited this war, and Ukraine and its good people were merely victims of US President Joe Biden’s declaration upon entering the White House that Russia is the number one enemy of the United States, followed by China. He simply made Ukraine the “poisoned bait” to draw the Russians into a long war of attrition that could sap their economy and cause sedition from within.
The US-European threat of “sanctions from hell” was a double plan: these would either deter Putin from invading Ukraine, or provoke him into doing exactly that. The former would be paraded as a Russian defeat, and the latter would be used to financially bankrupt the Russian state, turn its citizens against their government, and isolate Moscow.
But, about two weeks after the first Russian tank entered Ukrainian territory, the naivety of the western plan was fully exposed. Not only did it incorrectly assess the speed at which Moscow might achieve its aims, but it thoroughly underestimated Russia’s ability to counter western punishments with its own.
The western plan has instead triggered a backlash of monumental proportions, whose first line of victims will be residents of both Europe and the United States.
Ukraine, the flint to start a fire
As the dust settled, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky began to show signs of shock and hysteria, lashing out at NATO’s “weakness,” amassing battalions of right-wing neo-Nazis to replace deserting Ukrainian army soldiers, and putting out a global call for foreign fighters to come to Ukraine and fight the Russians.
Zelensky has by now realized that NATO was only prepared to stand by his side and provoke his anti-Moscow rants until the Russian armored vehicles rolled in. He discovered quickly that he was abandoned by all, especially the United States, whose representative to the United Nations said yesterday that it would not send a single soldier or plane to Ukraine.
As oil prices skyrocketed to around US $130 per barrel this week, European countries, including Germany, Bulgaria, and France have said that they cannot manage without Russian oil and gas imports. Those words are the first tangible indication of a crack in the Atlantic alliance, and should be expected to extend to the NATO alliance as the fissures grow.
Europe ostensibly derives its strength from the power of its economy, and the so-called “common values” of the waning liberal order premised on democracy, human rights and social justice. Now, these elements are being eroded one by one as censorship, authoritarianism and war-profiteering take hold within western governance.
The masks have dropped. Those “values” are instead being rapidly replaced by overt racist sensibilities, favoring the “blond-haired and blue-eyed” citizen over all others, and mobilizing neo-Nazi and extremist movements to maintain the western “rules-based order.”
Economy is power: the western alliance collapse
The economic prosperity, security and stability enjoyed by the west since the end of the Second World War will be the first victim of this confrontation taking shape in Ukraine, and it looks near certain that financial collapse, political chaos and intra-state geographic fragmentation may ensue.
The decades of punishing sanctions imposed by the United States as an alternative to direct military intervention in North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela have not achieved their goals. They have not caused the ‘regime-change’ that was intended, and it is highly unlikely that the current sanctions on Russia, if imposed (so far, Russian oil and gas flow is paid for through the SWIFT financial system) in whole or in part, will prove an exception.
Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister in charge of energy, warned late Monday of “catastrophic” consequences for world oil and gas markets if the US implements its threats to impose a ban on energy exports from his country.
These actions, he predicted, would result in a ten-fold rise in the price per cubic meter of natural gas and an unprecedented US $300 dollars per barrel for oil. Novak further threatened that Moscow would retaliate by halting gas supplies to Europe through their Nord Stream 1 pipeline, especially if Germany continues to suspend its Nord Stream 2 counterpart in response to US pressure and if Washington imposes a ban on Russian oil.
Nord Stream 1 currently operates at 100 percent and pumps nearly 60 billion cubic meters per year to Europe.
The United States destroyed Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Libya, and has not participated in the reconstruction of any of its destruction.
But the victim now will be Europe, which, while able to bully those weaker states, will not be able to do so with a much bigger, stronger global power like Russia, led by a shrewd geopolitical strategist like Vladimir Putin.
Europe is now lending its territories to this last American war. It is facing a nuclear power that is allied with other nuclear states like China, North Korea and, potentially, India. This time, the magic may be turned on the magician, and the destruction on the USA.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed on Tuesday that trusting the promises of the US administration is matter of foolishness, urging the Lebanese officials to emancipate themselves from the US hegemony.
Addressing Hezbollah Wounded Fighter Day ceremony, Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that the US pressures on the Lebanese officials are preventing them from approving an agreement with a Russian oil firm.
Sayyed Nasrallah narrated that a Russian oil firm offered to build a refinery and provide the crude oil without costing the Lebanese government to pay fresh dollars, adding that the firm accepts the Lebanese national pound to be paid in return.
“The firm offered to refine 160,000 barrels of oil, or 200,000 barrels, through the large refinery. This would cover the Lebanese it needs. Lebanon would export oil derivatives, and the company sells the state in Lebanese pounds.”
His eminence clarified that such an agreement would enable Lebanon to cope with its power crisis and gasoline shortage, adding that the US embassy in Beirut has prevented the Lebanese officials from concluding the deal in order to avoid witnessing quarrels and brawls at gas stations.
Were Hezbollah ruling Lebanon, this agreement would have been concluded one year and a half ago, Sayyed Nasrallah confirmed.
In this regard, Sayyed Nasrallah urged Lebanese president and council of ministers to approve the agreement with the Russian firm, saying, “If you want to please USA, you must know that their demands are limitless.”
If you start submitting to the US dictates, you will not be able to stop, Sayyed Naasrallah addressed the Lebanese officials.
Sayyed Nasrallah called on the Lebanese officials to keep committed to freedom, independence, national interest and patriotism, adding that Lebanon has never benefited from the US false promises.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the US State Department has not yet provided Egypt and Jordan with any official waiver in order to allow the gas and power transaction to Lebanon to occur, adding that US ambassador to Lebanon power pledge was a mere false promise.
Sayyed Nasrallah called on the Lebanese officials to show the Americans that Lebanon can have several economic choices, in order to push them to make concessions or give alternatives, adding that Hezbollah accepts that oil firms invest in Lebanon oil sector if they manage to end the crisis.
Tell the Americans that the Lebanese are not their slaves in order to preserve the national sovereignty, Sayyed Nasrallah addressed the Lebanese officials.
Providing another evidence that Hezbollah does not control the state in Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the Lebanese official condemnation of Russian operation in Ukraine.
Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that Lebanon should have refrained from voting for the UN denunciation of the Russian operation in Ukraine, adding that the Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement which denounced the Russian operation was drafted by the US embassy in Beirut.
Sayyed Nasrallah wondered how the neutrality proponents in Lebanon refrained from rejecting the Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement which involves Lebanon in a dispute with a great country, Russia.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that all the neutrality calls on Lebanon were aimed at averting assuming the responsibilities towards the Palestinian cause, Syria, and Yemen in order to please the US administration.
“Hezbollah rejects neutrality, but why have neutrality proponents abandoned their principle in the case of the Ukrainian war?” Sayyed Nasrallah asked.
Hezbollah Secretary General underscored the US administration’s betrayal of the Ukrainian President, adding that Volodymyr Zelensky’s disappointment about the West’s unkept promises of support in face of Russia is reflected in his readiness to compromise.
Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that trusting United States of America is matter of foolishness, stupidity, and ignorance, highlighting the moral fall of the West as reflected by the racial discrimination among the refugees in Ukraine.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that US officials accuse Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine and disregard the American massacres in numerous countries, highlighting also the European crimes in Africa, the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Saudi aggression on Yemen.
Sayyed Nasrallah added that the International community laments days-long siege on Ukrainian cities and disregards the Israeli blockade on Gaza as well as the Saudi blockade on Yemen.
Sayyed Nasrallah also noted that the international community resorted to silence about the US-fabricated suicide bombers’ crime of attacking a mosque in Pakistan last week.
His eminence also recalled how the US warplanes raided weddings in Afghanistan and claimed that the targets are military camps, highlighting the double-standards policy admitted by Washington.
In this regard, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the moral fall of the West reflected by the racial discrimination among the refugees in Ukraine.
Hezbollah Secretary General had first congratulated the faithful Muslims on the inception of Rajab Month, during which believers are supposed to prepare themselves spiritually to welcome the Holy Month of Ramadan, and the birthday of Imam Hussein (P), Al-Abbas bin Ali (P), Imam Ali bin Hussein (P).
Sayyed Nasrallah started his speech with a focus on the occasion of the Wounded Fighter Day,which falls on the birthday of Al-Abbas, the brother of third Shia Imam Hussein Bin Ali (P), highly appreciating their sacrifices for the sake of the nation.
We congregate here to express our pride of your sacrifices, struggle, steadfastness and patience, Sayyed Nasrallah said, highlighting the contribution of the wounded Resistance fighters to the victories and their repercussion on the whole national security and stability.
Sayyed Nasrallah underscored gratitude to the wounded Resistance fighters in the epoch of ungratefulness, hinting at those who forget the sacrifices of the wounded for the sake of the whole nation.
Sayyed Nasrallah also said that Imam Abbas, the role-model of the wounded Resistance fighters, was the patron who did not avert his responsibilities despite his injuries, adding that Imam Jaafar Al-Sadek (P) underscored Al-Abbas concentration on insight and firm faith.
In this regard, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the importance of insight which enables the person to know more about the conditions of his country and the whole region.
The ceremony was started with a recital of a number of Holy Coranic verses before one of the wounded Resistance fighters reiterated allegiance to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 