Latest articles
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Beijing is turbo-charging its infrastructure connectivity across the region and the Caribbean A sharp, geoeconomic shift took place last month in Santiago, Chile at the second ministerial meeting of a forum grouping China and the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, told his audience that the world’s second-largest economy and
by LeDahu for the Saker Blog Unprecedented show of power projection by the US Navy with 2 Arleigh Burke class DDGs now deployed in the Black Sea. The USS ‘Carney’ (DDG 64), on 17 February joined the USS ‘Ross’ (DDG 71) in the Black Sea “to conduct maritime security operations.” LINK #USSCarney🇺🇸 transited #Bosphorus🇹🇷 to join #USSRoss for routine maritime security operations IAW int'l law. C6F Commander VADM Grady
This comment was chosen by moderator HS from the post “Syrian War Report – February 13, 2018: Israel Deploys New Anti-Missile Systems Near Syria”. The moderator felt the comment was exceptionally informative. Comment by Auslander Our world is slowly, actually in the last month not so slowly, approaching the active continuation of the war that started in 1914. While there have been interludes of relative ‘peace’, read the main antagonists
https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-february-16-2018-turkish-forces-capture-large-area-in-afrin/ On February 15, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) achieved a major breakthrough in their battle against Kurdish YPG/YPJ forces in the area of Afrin. The TAF and the FSA captured the villages of Karri, Sharbanli, Kamrash, Shadia, Khara Suluq, Jaqla Tahtani, Durakili and Diwan al-Fawqani. The YPG counter-attacked in Sirinjak and Duraqli but failed to achieve any progress. Pro-Turkish sources say that over
2018/02/16 19:00:01 Welcome 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
[This analysis was written for the Unz Review] Events in Syria have recently clearly taken a turn for the worse and there is an increasing amount of evidence that the Russian task force in Syria is being targeted by a systematic campaign of “harassing attacks”. First, there was the (relatively successful) drone and mortar attack on the Russian Aerospace base in Khmeimin. Then there was the shooting down of a
Dear friends, Here is the latest installment of my quarterly conversations with Catherine Austin Fitts. This time the topic was The Emerging Multipolar World with The Saker – Neocons & the War Lobby. You can download the interview here: https://solari.com/audio/sr20180208_Saker_Free.mp3 I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did! Cheers, The Saker
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog The Iranian Revolution turned 39 on February 11. It’s about time to get married! At least that’s what people tell me – I recently turned 40. “Married to the revolution” is indeed a good description for Iranian society at 39…but the fullness of Iran’s marital bliss is a 100% domestic issue – after all, nobody knows what goes on behind a couple’s closed
by Scott Humor for the Saker Blog WHO WAS ARRESTED AND WHY It all started on February 5, 2018, with the simultaneous arrests of four high profile government officials in Mahachkala. The formal charges against them included theft of federal funds earmarked for the republic’s social services. What is most remarkable is how brazen these people were at first. They even tried to intimidate the arresting officers asking them: “Do
I will keep this one short. You all have read all the nonsense about 100 to 600 Russians killed in the recent US air strike in Syria. According to these rumors (typical PSYOP stuff, by the way) the “hundreds” of Russians were private military contractors (PMCs). Well, for one thing, PMC rarely operated in the hundreds to begin with (5-20 people is much more common). But nevermind that. Turns that
https://southfront.org/u-s-strikes-and-scores-of-killed-russian-fighters-in-syria/ Mainstream media outlets and social media are full of reports that on February 7th hundreds of Russian private military contractors (PMCs) died in US-led coalition airstrikes on pro-government forces in the province of Deir Ezzor. Various sources provide different numbers, but one of the most popular versions is that between 100 and 600 PMCs were killed. So, what is going on? On February 8, the US-led coalition released a
https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-february-13-2018-israel-deploys-new-anti-missile-systems-near-syria/ Clashes were reported between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and local militants, mostly Hayat Tahrir al-Sham members, in the Rastan pocket on February 12 and February 13. SAA units allegedly entered the area of Maqsam al-Humrat and took control of most of it. Pro-government sources speculated that these clashes indicate an upcoming large-scale operation in the area. While the Rastan pocket remains a point of instability, it is unlikely
2018/02/13 07:30:02Welcome 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
https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-february-12-2018-new-round-of-syrian-israeli-escalation-f-16i-shootdown/ On February 10, the Syrian Air Defense Forces (SADF) shot down an F-16I fighter jet of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) during Israeli airstrikes on targets near Damascus and the T4 Airbase. According to the Israeli side, an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle violated Israeli airspace at 4:15 local time. The UAV was intercepted near Beit Shean by an IAF attack helicopter. At 5:34 IAF warplanes carried out airstrikes on
by J. P. Maher For the Saker Blog Over my head the woodland wall rises; The ousel sings to me. …The woodland birds shake out their glee for me. Irish monk A.D. 800 ca. Translator Robin Flower. 1947 The bird called ousel here is now known in English as the blackbird. Its sweet song is briefly heard in the first few minutes of the film “The Sound of Music”.
Churchill one said: “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried every thing else”. In the same style, the new idea of Donald Trump with his Kremlin list will not bring about the millionaire rebellion but, on the contrary, will lead to the consolidation of the elites and return of their money to Russia. The process has already started.. Video translated and
This comment was chosen by The Saker from the post “Moveable Feast Cafe 2018/02/09 … Open Thread” Saker comment was “This is hilarious!!!” . Posted by Larchmonter445 From MOA commenter: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/02/syria-is-war-with-israel-imminent.html#c6a00d8341c640e53ef01bb09f20af0970d “Israeli Knesset calling for an emergency meeting to discuss a bill that would officially designate the Soviet era SAM S-125 AD system as “Anti-semitic”. Netanyahu compared the S-125 AD system that downed an Israel F-16 to Hitler and urged
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog It seems that every time a chapter in the war on Syria comes to an end, a new factor surfaces. Just like the 1975-1989 civil war in Lebanon before it, and which started off with a clash between the PLO and the Lebanese rightwing Phalangist militia and then ended up with an Israeli invasion and its aftermath, the war on Syria is now
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Beijing’s strategic priority is to prevent ETIM fighters exiled in Afghanistan crossing the Wakhan Corridor to carry out operations in Xinjiang The latest plot twist in the endless historical saga of Afghanistan as a graveyard of empires has thrown up an intriguing new chapter. For the past two months, Beijing and Kabul have been discussing the possibility
