City after city have fallen from government to Taliban control but Afghanistan’s end-game is still unclear by Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted atAsia Times The ever-elusive Afghan “peace” process negotiations re-start this Wednesday in Doha via the extended troika – the US, Russia, China and Pakistan. The contrast with the accumulated facts on the ground could not be starker. In a coordinated blitzkrieg, the Taliban have subdued
Original link: http://middleeastobserver.net/nasrallah-suggests-lebanese-politicians-aiding-militants-in-syria-behind-nitrate-shipment-to-beirut-port/ Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah comments on the political exploitation and investigation findings of the Port of Beirut Disaster that took place one year ago in Lebanon’s capital.Source: Spot Shot (YouTube)Date: August 8, 2021 (Please help MEO keep producing independent translations for you by contributing a sustainable monthly amount https://www.patreon.com/MiddleEastObserver?fan_landing=true) Transcript: Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s Secretary General: And after a year has passed, they (i.e. Lebanese groups leading the anti-Hezbollah campaign
Dear friends (well, and foes), I have followed with absolute amazement what has just happened at the Unz Review. First, Ron posted an interview of himself being questioned by Mike Whitney. With its admittedly eye-catching title (authored by Mike Whitney, not Ron Unz!) “Are the Opponents of the Covid Injections “Anti-Vaxx Crackpots” it was clear that this interview would get a lot of reactions. But what happened then truly amazed
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66352 The event took place at the initiative of Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi. India holds the presidency of the UN Security Council in August 2021. * * * President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, my dear friend, Mr Modi, ladies and gentlemen, Let me thank you, Mr Prime Minister, for the fact that you, as someone who is currently holding the UN Security Council presidency, convened this Security Council meeting to discuss an important and sensitive topic, namely, modern challenges and threats in maritime security. Your
By Pepe Escobar and cross posted with insideover.com You don’t argue with the Tatmadaw – the Myanmar Armed Forces. It’s always their way, or the highway. Since the mid-20th century, the Chinese have come to understand it quite well. How Beijing approaches the Myanmar maze is conditioned by four variables: natural gas; water; the drug trade; and the fractious clashes between the Tatmadaw and a dizzying patchwork of over 135
2021/08/09 16:30:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of the issues of the day. The ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’ will have two new open threads each week. The Saker stated moderation policy will apply eg ‘no caps’, no obscenity … etc to all post. The Cafe is now open for
By Cynthia Chung for The Saker Blog “But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” “How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice. “You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.” – Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” We are living in a world where the degree
The Empire truly tried everything. First, Russia was accused of doping solely on the credibility of one man who had to flee Russia to avoid being jailed (for doping athletes, no joke! ). Of course, no actual evidence was provided. Then, in an amazing case of collective responsibility, ALL the Russian athletes were banned from not only displaying a Russian flag or hear the Russian national anthem. The Russians could
by Francis Lee for The Saker Blog Nomenclature Below – Men and Ideas 1. INTERACTIONISM/PHENOMENOLOGY Wilhem Dilthey (1833-1911) Edmund Husserl (1859-1958) Max Weber (1864-1920) Alfred Schutz (1899-1959) Heinrich Rickert (1863-1936) Karl Mannheim (1893-1947) 2. EXISTENTIALISM F.Nietzsche (1844-1900) Martin Heidegger (1899-1976) Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1985) 3. HUMANISTIC MARXISM Georgy Lukacs (1885-1971) Karl Korsch (1886-1961) 4. THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL Herbert Marcuse Walter Benjamin Theodor Adorno Max Horkheimer Erich Fromm Neo-Frankfurt Jurgen Harbermas PART
——- Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says the Islamic Republic will continue to support Palestine as the main issue of the Muslim world. “We have never had and will never have any doubt about this policy. In our view, Palestine has been and will be the first issue of the Muslim world,” Raeisi said in a Friday meeting with head of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas Ismail Haniyeh, who took part
Note by the Saker: considering the fact that the anti-COVID-Crusaders desperately want to peddle their theories on this blog (Ron Unz just got hit with over 1200 comments!!) I am not allowing comments under this (excellent) report by Mansoureh Tadjik. I apologize to Mansoureh and to all the sane readers: I am swamped with work, I am about to interview a very famous personality (in 2 weeks) and I have
The main news of the day is the Biden administration’s effort to sell 40 155mm M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems, 1,698 precision guidance kits for munitions, spares, training, ground stations and upgrades for previous generation of howitzers, to the island of Taiwan in a deal worth up to $750 million. China is, to say the least, livid. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230698.shtml Military Drills: US ‘large-scale’ military exercises cannot scare China, Russia The
[This column was written for the Unz Review] I have to begin this column by admitting that “Biden” (note: when in quotation marks, I refer to the “collective Biden”, not the clearly senile man) surprised me: it appears that my personal rule-of-thumb about US Presidents (each one is even worse than his predecessor) might not necessarily apply in “Biden’s” case. That is not to say that “Biden” won’t end up
2021/08/06 05:00:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of the issues of the day. The ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’ will have two new open threads each week. The Saker stated moderation policy will apply eg ‘no caps’, no obscenity … etc to all post. The Cafe is now open for
Recently, Ron Unz published a truly superb interview where Mike Whitney (a COVID-dissident) asks Ron Unz to clarify his views on both the pandemic and those who deny its origin/severity/danger. This interview is, by far, the best text on this topic I have ever come across. When I read it my conclusion was “Unz, game, set and match”. I STRONGLY urge those who still believe in the “plandemic” cum Big
by Pepe Escobar, posted with permission and first posted at Asia Times Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in as the 8th president of Iran this Thursday at the Majlis (Parliament), two days after being formally endorsed by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei. Representatives of the UN secretary-general; OPEC; the EU; the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU); the Inter-Islamic Union; and quite a few heads of state and Foreign Ministers
https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4834791 1. The goal of the 76-th session of the UN General Assembly (GA) is to reaffirm the central and coordinating role of the Organization in international affairs. Owing to its representativeness and universality, the UN is rightfully viewed as a unique platform for an equitable dialogue aimed at reaching compromise solutions with due regard to different opinions. Attempts to undermine the authority and legitimacy of the UN are, in
2021/08/02 17:30:01Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of the issues of the day. The ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’ will have two new open threads each week. The Saker stated moderation policy will apply eg ‘no caps’, no obscenity … etc to all post. The Cafe is now open for
By Francis Lee for the Saker Blog ‘The dependency thesis, like all good (and great) theories can be summed up in a single phrase: Modern ‘’underdevelopment’’ is not ‘’historical backwardness’’ the result of late and insufficient development; it is the product of capitalist development, which is polarizing by nature’. (Andre Gunder Frank -1996.) The leader of the UK Conservative Party, Mrs Thatcher, first came to power in the UK in
From Seyed Mohammad Marandi at https://english.almayadeen.net As Iran is literally depicted as illegitimate and derogatorily labeled a “regime,” these “experts” can inform their audiences without irony of the rising “menace” of Iran and the growing threat it poses to regional stability. Under US occupation Afghanistan has become the beating heart of global opium cultivation and distribution, but for Iran haters, just a whiff of unrest anywhere in the country is
