by Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich The long anticipated UN inspectors report confirmed the use of chemical weapons on August 21, 2013 in the Ghouta area of Damascus. The investigators report provided “clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent Sarin were used”. Warmongers were quick to pounce on the use of rockets as evidence that the Assad government was responsible. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergie Lavrov was quick to
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. H. L. Mencken Yesterday, Masoud posted a comment which I think deserves a separate post as an answer. Here is the comment in full: The answer to the mystery of why the resolution seems so lopsided is simple: Russia is simply doing what it always does. I don’t believe Russia is interested in the primacy of
Before I begin this third installment of our collective analysis of the Kerry-Lavrov agreement I would ask everybody who has not already done so to first visit the blog of Alexander Mercouris and check out his excellent analysis of this agreement here: http://mercouris.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/the-lavrov-kerry-agreement/. Since Alexander’s reply to my initial analysis is the longest one I will also begin by replying to what he wrote. I will then turn to the
I want to begin this post by sincerely thanking everybody who has contributed comments to the topic of the recent Kerry-Lavrov agreement. This is an important moment in the Syrian conflict and, I would even argue, possibly a crucial moment in US-Russian relations, and to have differences of opinion on this issue is not only normal, it is inevitable. One way or another, this agreement will have momentous consequences because
Note: having read the actual full text of this agreement (thanks Robert!!) I have to say that it is even worse than what I feared. I simply do not have the time to lay out my arguments before tomorrow evening. That is also when I will reply to the numerous and interesting comments disagreeing with my view. BTW – I sincerely thank you all for your comments, it is precisely
So Kerry and Lavrov did end up hammering out a deal on Syria. I won’t go into the specifics here, but I want to focus on what is the single most important issue at stake: the risk of US aggression against Syria. And here, the picture is murky at best.First the BBC had a headline saying “US to drop military threat“. But then in another article posted just a few
That is interesting. The US appears to have accepted Putin’s “Russian Gambit”, Kerry and Lavrov are reported to be immersed in complex technical discussions, the risks of war seem to be averted, and yet the Russian Navy is continuing to strengthen its task force off the Syrian coast. According to Russian sources the following ships are being sent to reinforce the task force: Large amphibious assault ship Nikolai Filchenkov Guard
A week ago, one commentator – Fernando – asked me whether I considered the Serbs a defeated people to which I answered that, at least for the time being, yes, I saw them as totally defeated, though I was sure of their eventual re-emergence. And now, I see this absolutely incredible headline from the BBC: Ex-IMF head Strauss-Kahn to advise Serbian government For a while, this left me speechless. Yes,
Two more excellent analyses from the Asia Times Online: one from Pepe Escobar about China (“China stitches up the (SCO) Silk Rd“) and one from M K Bhadrakumar about Russia (“Putin eyes Obama’s Iran file“). Frankly this tag-team of Escobar & Bhadrakumar is so good that I recommend that everybody check out what they write on a daily basis. They area light-years ahead of the competition.Cheers,The Saker
I have finally found the time to sit down and reply to a question asked by Carrie under my recent post about Obama’s choices. Carrie asked: Could we have another less ‘sexist’, less ‘macho’ term than “sissy”, do you think? For the female readers that contribute to your page view stats, the term smacks of ‘boys with toys (sigh)’. For me, term detracts from the mostly excellent content. As soon
Take a look at this warning on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: This is what this text says: PRESS RELEASE Warning for Russian citizens traveling abroad 02/09/2013 In recent years, the number of cases of detention of Russian citizens in various parts of the world at the request of U.S. law enforcement agencies for the purpose of extradition and prosecution in the United States have become
RT reports: The head of the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee says Russia should reconsider its cooperation with coalition forces in Afghanistan and provide Iran with defensive weapons if US authorities go ahead with their plan of military interference in Syria. “The US administration is ready, albeit with numerous stipulations, to study the Russian proposal of transferring the Syrian chemical weapons potential under international control. If these diplomatic efforts yield results,
First, yet another great piece by By M K Bhadrakumar in which he outlines the sequence of Kerry gaffes this week in an article entitled “Kerry becomes first war casualty“. I highly recommend it – great read! Makes me wonder: what is “wrong” with the Asia Times?! How can a corporate newspaper publish such top notch authors like M K Bhadrakumar and Pepe Escobar?! Well, whatever the reason, may they
Dear friends,Guess what I just found out – today the “Vineyard” as reached half a million page views! See for yourself: This is maybe not quite on par with google.com, youtube.com or cnn.com, but for the very modest blog of one lone guy its pretty good, no? And keep in mind that I make no money at all of this blog, that I have a job and a family to
We are living through some amazing days, a historical moment really, and so much has happened in the last 10 days or so that it is probably too early to give it a full assessment. As provisional “in the heat of the moment” assessments go, Pepe Escobar, of course, did the best job so far and I highly recommend his recent article “Russian chess move stalls US actions as Al-Qaeda
According to the BBC, Obama has decided that the Russian proposal was “a possible Syria resolution”. Of course, Obama will wrap this is all sorts of caveats, expressions of distrust, threats and warnings, but the bottom line is this: it appears that the momentum for an attack is now fully lost.If you ask me, Putin and/or Lavrov deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for averting this attack (even if another one
Sorry – only in Russian and Arabic. If/when I get the transcript, I will post it here.
The BBC is reporting this:Syria crisis: Russia urges Assad to give up chemical weapons Russia has asked Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under “international control” in a bid to avoid US military strikes, and then have them destroyed. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the offer was made during talks with his Syrian counterpart, and he hoped for a quick response from Damascus. (…) When asked at a news
Russian and Iranian sources are reporting that Iranian President Rohani will meet his Russian and Chinese counterparts during the upcoming meeting of the SCO which will take place in Kyrgyzstan at the end of the week. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the situation in Syria.
