ISTANBUL — American proxies are now at war with each other in Syria. Officials with Syrian rebel battalions that receive covert backing from one arm of the U.S. government told BuzzFeed News that they recently began fighting rival rebels supported by another arm of the U.S. government. The infighting between American proxies is the latest setback for the Obama administration’s …
Vijay Prashad – There’s a Major Unfolding Humanitarian Tragedy in Yemen
In a month, the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen will be a year old. Strategic gains have been few. The fractured chessboard of Yemeni politics is as complex today as it was on the day the Saudis began to bomb – 26 March 2015. Why did the Saudis and their allies start to bomb Yemen? There was no clear casus belli. …
Alternative Visions – The Billionaires Behind The US Presidential Election – 02.19.16
In today’s show host, Jack Rasmus , focuses on who is providing the big money behind US presidential candidates—Rubio, Cruz, Bush, Clinton, and Trump. The names of the big right wing donors behind the Republicans candidates are noted, where they’ve made their billions and how much they’ve contributed. How the Clinton’s have amassed more than $110 million in assets since 2001, including more than $100million in speaking fees. Hillary’s billionaire contributors. The legal corruption of the US election system is explained, including ‘dark money’ from 501 (c) groups that hide their contributors. (see his blog, jackrasmus.com, for a more detailed analysis of ‘billionaires behind the US election’). Jack then digresses to comment on the recent death this past week of the right wing ideologue, Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia, whose legacy includes advancing the corruption of the US electoral system from Citizens United case to restricting voting rights, and limits on civil liberties of minorities. At the ‘top of the show’ Jack reviews the major economic developments of the past week, including actions by central banks in the Eurozone, Japan and China; prospects for a ‘deal’ on global oil prices between Russia and Saudi Arabia; and the negotiations in Brussels in progress between the UK’s prime minister, David Cameron, and the European Union on the coming June 2016 UK election to decide whether to ‘exit’ the EU or not. Jack concludes the show with a review of his late 2015 predictions of the ‘fault lines’ in the global financial system in China, Europe, Emerging Markets, and the US, which now appear to be emerging as predicted. (see his blog, jackrasmus.com, for a free chapter from his book, ‘Systemic Fragility in the Global Economy’, on why China will likely be the locus of the next financial crisis).
Paul Craig Roberts – The Neoconservatives Are Brewing A Wider War In Syria
While you are enjoying your Sunday, the insane neoconservatives who control Western foreign policy and their Turkish and Saudi Arabian vassals might be preparing the end of the world. Any person who relies on Western media has no accurate idea of what is happening in Syria. I will provide a brief summary and then send you to two detailed accounts. …
Russia Warns of ‘World War’ as Saudi Plans Syria Intervention
Saudi Arabia’s decision to send troops to Syria is “final” and “irreversible,” Saudi military spokesman Ahmed Al-Assiri told reporters Thursday evening as he confirmed earlier comments about sending troops to the country. But Russia has warned the move could mark the beginning of a new “world war.” Assiri added that Riyadh is “ready” and will fight with the United States-led coalition to …
JOSHUA KRAUSE – SYRIAN ENDGAME: SAUDI ARABIA AND TURKEY POISED TO INVADE?
As we speak, the most decisive battle in the Syrian Civil War is being waged, and it’s a make or break moment for the Assad regime, and for Putin. Forces allied with the Syrian Army such as Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, have surrounded Aleppo, a hotly contested rebel stronghold and previously the largest city in the country. Thousands of civilians …
Tom Engelhardt – Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda
Here’s my twenty-first-century rule of thumb about this country: if you have to say it over and over, it probably ain’t so. Which is why I’d think twice every time we’re told how “exceptional” or “indispensable” the United States is. For someone like me who can still remember a moment when Americans assumed that was so, but no sitting president, …
Pepe Escobar – Why the ‘Sultan of Chaos’ is freaking out
Picture sleepless nights at ‘Sultan’ Erdogan’s palace in Ankara. Imagine him livid when he learns the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), backed by Russian air power, started a preemptive Battle of Aleppo – through the Bayirbucak region – cutting off Ankara’s top weaponizing corridor and Jihadi highway. Who controls this corridor will control the final outcome of the war in Syria. …
Lawrence Davidson – The Dangerous Ideology of Religion
pre-set forms of thinking that shape people’s worldviews and, supposedly, help to order and simplify reality. While this supposition is always flawed to one extent or another, ideologies can be very seductive. In part this is because they free their adherents from the hard work of critical thinking. Thus, they are often held onto tenaciously. Because ideologies distort reality, they are …
You Won’t Believe What Former US Ambassador Robert S. Ford Said About al-Qaeda’s Syrian Allies
Robert Ford was US Ambassador to Syria when the revolt against Syrian president Assad was launched. He not only was a chief architect of regime change in Syria, but actively worked with rebels to aid their overthrow of the Syrian government. Ford assured us that those taking up arms to overthrow the Syrian government were simply moderates and democrats seeking …