Southfront This week, the Syrian Army, Liwa al-Quds and the National Defense Forces have conducted a series of anti-ISIS raids in the Homs-Deir Ezzor desert. The intensification of the anti-ISIS efforts followed an ISIS attack near Ghabagheb, on the Damascus-Deir Ezzor highway. On May 17, ISIS terrorists set up a fake checkpoint and killed several civilians and soldiers there. On May 18, the NDF and Liwa al-Quds sent reinforcements to
by Pepe Escobar – posted with permission The key takeaways of the Two Sessions of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing are already in the public domain. In a nutshell: no GDP target for 2020; a budget deficit of at least 3.6% of GDP; one trillion yuan in special treasury bonds; corporate fees/taxes cut by 2.5 trillion yuan; a defense budget rise of a modest 6.6%; and governments at all levels committed to “tighten their
Eric Zuesse for the Saker Blog Do the American people gain more than we lose from supporting (and from having billions of our tax-dollars each year donated to) the apartheid and racistly Jewish Israel against the Palestinians — the descendants of the Arabs who prior to Israel’s creation were the vast majority of that land’s population? The argument that Israel is pro-American is so blatantly false as to be ludicrous,
By Fábio Reis Vianna for the Saker Blog When Admiral Cheng Ho ordered the retreat of his naval fleet around the year 1424, he left, in the words of the anthropologist Abu-Lughod, “a huge power vacuum”. The first great Chinese expansionist project, started during the Ming Dynasty, was prematurely interrupted there. After impressive naval expeditions that reached territories as far away as the Indian Ocean and the coast of Africa,
by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker Blog Iran is a rigid patriarchy, and that is something which is immediately accepted as true by everyone, except for many Iranian women and men. While the sociopolitical role of father-led ideas is of especial interest when it comes to Iran, the sociopolitical role of mother-led ideas in US culture is something which is far less discussed. This disinterest is surprising, because the US
Southfront In the second half of April and early May, the Syrian province of Idlib became the epicenter of a military political drama developing between Turkish forces and their al-Qaeda-linked allies. The escalated tensions even led to a military incident on the M4 highway, near the town of Nayrab, when the Turkish Army and militant groups directly controlled by Ankara clashed with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its supporters. At least
by Chris Faure for the Saker Blog On Monday and Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) held their 73rd Word Health Assembly (WHA) virtually and online, with the objective to discuss the Covid-19 virus. The WHO is represented by most countries in the world. Although none of us are particularly fond of these huge UN based organizations, we as a world need co-ordination, especially for those issues that cross borders.
Southfront This week, massive Turkish military support has finally allowed the Government of National Accord to achieve some breakthrough in the battle against the Libyan National Army (LNA). On May 18, GNA forces and members of Turkish-backed militant groups from Syria supported by Turkish special forces and unmanned combat aerial vehicles captured the Watiya Air Base in the northwestern part of the country. LNA troops urgently retreated from it after
by Pepe Escobar – posted with permission Chinese General Qiao Liang argues, ‘If we have to dance with the wolves, we should not dance to the rhythm of the United States’ In 1999, Qiao Liang, then a senior air force colonel in the People’s Liberation Army, and Wang Xiangsui, another senior colonel, caused a tremendous uproar with the publication of Unrestricted Warfare: China’s Master Plan to Destroy America. Unrestricted Warfare was essentially
Southfront About 2 dozen Turkish-backed militants have been killed or wounded in a recent series of clashes in northern Syria. 14 of them were reportedly killed in a failed attack on positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near Kubrlik overnight on May 17 and up to 10 were killed or injured in clashes near Hazwan on May 15. Reacting to its own failures, Turkish-backed forces carried out a
by Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan for the Saker Blog Washington Post published a book review titled “Think we have military primacy over China? Think again” on the book “The Kill Chain” authored Mr. Chris Brose on 13 May 2020, which has exposed the American Defense capabilities. The Author is a well-versed defense analyst and close to Pentagon. He has a deep insight of American defense capabilities. After World War
by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker Blog Isn’t it interesting that nobody at all has used the phrase “QE 5” – the fifth round of Quantitative Easing – to describe the 2020 bailouts? I found just a single, brief use of it, from three months ago. That’s because – look around yourself – we are in the thick of it right now. Once it finally stops and we can add
https://a4s8y4u2.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/video/IMR_15_05_2020_ENG_3Mbps.mp4 Syrian Army Suffers Casualties In Daraa. Militants Attack Russian-Turkish Patrol The security situation has been escalating in southern Syria. Over the past 24 hours, at least 3 pro-government fighters and a civilian have been killed in attacks by gunmen in al-Musayfrah and Saida-al-Taebah. The attacks followed the March 14 and March 13 protests that erupted in the town of Tafas and in the southern part of Daraa’s city center,
The Valdai Discussion Club released the report Staying Sane in a Crumbling world. This was a followup from their report of 2 years ago titled “Living in a Crumbling World” In the Living in a Crumbling wold report, they suggested that multilateral cooperation is on the decline and crisis of international institutions leads to increasing anarchy with each state left to rely on itself to solve the problems of survival.
By Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker Blog (Hey hey, my new book is out today! Socialism’s Ignored Success: Iranian Islamic Socialism. Buy a copy for yourself and 50 of your closest friends and Iranophobic/Islamophobic/socialism-phobic enemies.) On May 14 France’s nurses held a protest march in Paris despite ongoing fears about coronavirus — so are they no longer rightly-guided heroes but far-right neo-fascists now? For several months we’ve been banging pots
By Pepe Escobar – crossposted with Strategic Culture Foundation Italian master thinker Giorgio Agamben has been on the – controversial – forefront examining what new paradigm may be emerging out of our current pandemic distress. He recently called attention to an extraordinary book published seven years ago that already laid it all out. In Tempetes Microbiennes, Patrick Zylberman, a professor of History of Health in Paris, detailed the complex process through
Gary Littlejohn for the Saker Blog It was very interesting to see Mr. Ramin Mazaheri’s reply on 30th April to my comments on his original article: ZeroHedge, a response to Mr. Littlejohn & the future of dollar dominance In addition, as a contribution on a related issue, namely German government bailouts of German corporations, there is now the article by the respected historian Eric Zuesse on 6 May: German Government
Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker Blog Among capitalist economists stagflation is the worst possible outcome, excepting a Great Depression. They even admit they cannot explain it (especially Keynesians), or rather they choose not to – this is why the word has barely been broached during this very depressing coronavirus era. In exactly the same vein, the West’s intellectuals claim they cannot explain the causes of World War I (as I
