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Bad Guys

Why the Saudi-led 'Golden Victory' siege of Yemen's Hodeida is taking so long


RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 15:48 UTC
Houthis
© Reuters / Abduljabbar ZeyadHouthi fighters in Hodeida, Yemen
Saudi ground forces are too weak to stand up to the Houthis in Yemen, and their allies and proxies all have their own goals in mind - making the capture of the key port of Hodeida a strategic snarl, experts say.

The coalition offensive on Hodeida - a key port and a lifeline for Houthis and civilians alike - is codenamed 'Operation Golden Victory'. Rather telling, considering the vast amounts of money Saudi Arabia bundles into its military. Ironic, too: it would seem that with such massively superior military resources, the coalition should have stamped the Houthi rebels down within days.

Instead, the operation has been dragging on for months. It started in mid-June, then was paused until September for peace talks. Those eventually collapsed, and the fighting resumed. Now, coalition-backed ground forces are moving inside the city after a tense 11-day battle at the approaches. There are running battles in the streets and local hospitals are overflowing with civilians and militants alike; just one day of fighting claimed some 150 lives.

We asked several Middle East experts how, despite the enormous differences in military resources, the battle for Hodeida has become such a mess.
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Document

New report says UK government developing 'killer robot' drones though it says it isn't


RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 08:47 UTC
Taranis drone
© YouTube / BAE Systems
The British government has been secretly funding research with a view to developing autonomous 'killer robot' drones, despite making public statements to the contrary, an anti-drone campaign group has claimed.

Drone Wars UK claims that the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is funding research for weapons systems which could make life-or-death decisions without any human input.

In an unsettling new report, the group highlighted the Taranis drone, developed over a decade by BAE Systems and the UK Ministry of Defence. The Taranis can fly, plot its own routes and locate targets autonomously - and has cost a cool £200 million so far.

The year-long study by Drone Wars UK also uncovered multiple similar research and development programs that they say are being funded by the British MoD, despite public denials of any plans to develop the deadly machines.

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Bad Guys

Trump's Iran policy: What's 'normal' about starving innocent civilians?

Ron Paul
Ron Paul Institute
Mon, 12 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
Trump Iran sanctions
It's not often that US Government officials are honest when they talk about our foreign policy. The unprovoked 2003 attack on Iraq was called a "liberation." The 2011 US-led destruction of Libya was a "humanitarian intervention." And so on.

So, in a way, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was refreshingly honest last week when, speaking about newly-imposed US sanctions, he told the BBC that the Iranian leadership "has to make a decision that they want their people to eat." It was an honest admission that new US sanctions are designed to starve Iranians unless the Iranian leadership accepts US demands.

His statement also reveals the lengths to which the neocons are willing to go to get their "regime change" in Iran. Just like then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said it was "worth it" that half a million Iraqi children died because of our sanctions on that country, Pompeo is letting us know that a few million dead Iranians is also "worth it" if the government in Tehran can be overthrown.

The US Secretary of State has demanded that Iran "act like a normal country" or the US would continue its pressure until Iran's economy crumbles. How twisted is US foreign policy that Washington considers it "normal" to impose sanctions specifically designed to make life miserable - or worse - for civilians!

Comment: Ron Paul's last statement is true on many levels - Pompeo and his ilk aren't normal, they are psychopaths. Only those lacking a conscience and any shred of empathy glibly rationalize the brutal and totally unnecessary murder of thousands to achieve their goals.

War crimes: Economic sanctions are essentially medieval sieges designed to starve target populations

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Candle

With all First World War veterans dead - the 11th of November has become a macabre event glorifying militarism

Adam Garrie
Eurasia Future
Sat, 10 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
WWI centenary Paris
© Reuters / Ludovic Marin
Of all the modern wars that have claimed millions of lives, the First World War was the most tragic as its origins were in futility, its outcomes were universally negative and its veterans experienced a perfect storm of modern weaponry combined with comparatively primitive medical care. Thus, those who died often experienced painful deaths while those who lived often lived with deep physical and psychological wounds for the rest of their lives - the likes of which those who are not veterans could scarcely imagine.

The new political maps of Europe, western Eurasia and the Arab that were carelessly drawn during and after the First World War were not only the proximate cause of the Second World War but remain the underlying cause of multiple contemporary conflicts including those in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, the Israel-Palestine conflict and even the war in Yemen. As the root causes of all of these conflicts were the artificial divides of the Arab world among the imperialists of Britain and France, the victory of the Anglo-French Entente is hardly a cause for celebration - certainly no more than the rise of Hitler or the present bloodbaths on Russia's historic western frontier which equally were and remain a direct result of how the First World War was ended.

And yet speaking personally, when First World War veterans from any side of the War were still alive, the end of the First World War was a cause for reflection and an incredibly sombre and important occasion. The 11th of November was once a day to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of futility, having done so without being offered a say in the matter. The fault of the First World War lies not among the soldiers but among poor leadership on all sides that sent a generation to an early grave while haunting those who survived.

Comment: See also:

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Brick Wall

'Scapegoat framed by US & Mexico': El Chapo's lawyer claims real drug lord walks free & bribes govts


RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 13:29 UTC
Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman
© Handout via REUTERS
Drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman had been framed by corrupt US and Mexican officials who let his chief lieutenant remain at large to lead the Sinaloa cartel instead, his defense claimed, at the start of the high-profile trial.

Guzman was made a 'scapegoat' by a corrupt Mexican government in an American drug war, so that the true head of the drug empire, Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, can escape justice, defense attorney for the narcotics baron claimed in his opening statement in Federal District Court in Brooklyn.

"[Zambada] has been allowed to operate for the last 55 years because he pays for it," Jeffrey Lichtman told the court in an unexpected start of the hearing. "He bribes the current president of Mexico and for good measure, the previous one as well."
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No Entry

Political Deadlock: Swedish Parliament rejects center-right PM candidate


RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 11:34 UTC
Ulf Kristersson
Sweden's Riksdag has voted against Ulf Kristersson's candidacy for prime minister, after his center-right allies refused to create a future coalition that would rely on support from the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

The previously expected result leaves Sweden without a permanent government two months after the election, an unprecedented political stalemate in the country's democratic history.

The Sweden Democrats backed Kristersson's Moderates, but he received the support of only 154 deputies, short of the 175 majority needed. The 195 that voted against included the center-left, green and socialist parties, and the Liberal and Center parties, who campaigned together with Kristersson ahead of September's election.

Comment: Foreign Policy reports more on the political stalemate:
"We essentially have three blocs, and nobody wants to work with one of the other blocs," noted Sven Otto Littorin, a Moderate politician who served as employment minister until 2010. "Now it's down to who blinks first." Getting somebody to blink is the task of the parliamentary speaker, Andreas Norlen, who has already spent more than two months in talks with the party leaders. First, he asked Kristersson to form a government. After a valiant effort, Kristersson failed to achieve the modest goal of proposing a government that would not be opposed by a parliamentary majority. [...]

A snap election faces another, more practical, hurdle: "With the exception of the Sweden Democrats and the Center Party, none of the parties have any money left for another election campaign, and they don't have the energy for one either," the former Moderate Party minister Littorin pointed out.

Yet not even the most skilled speaker of the parliament can change the fact that Swedes are deeply divided about the direction their country should take at a moment when the far-right is on the rise. "We have arrived at the point that other European countries have already reached," Dahlberg said. "The question is, should we do like the Danes and govern with their support, or like the Germans and isolate them? Either way, we have to swallow a bitter pill."


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Handcuffs

More Melbourne terror: Three men found guilty of plotting Christmas Day attacks

Adam Cooper & Erin Pearson
The Age
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 10:48 UTC
melbourne terror plot
© Jeff HayesAlly Ackbars Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullah Chaarani and Hamza Abbas in court
Three Melbourne men have been found guilty of plotting a Christmas terror attack at major city landmarks in a jihad-inspired plan to inflict mass carnage.

It can now be revealed Ahmed Mohamed, 26, Abdullah Chaarani, 28, and Hamza Abbas, 23, were on November 2 found guilty of conspiring to plan or prepare for a terrorist act, after a Supreme Court jury deliberated for six days.


Comment: It apparently wasn't cut-and-dried.


The guilty verdicts, which came at the end of a long trial, followed an earlier guilty plea by the fourth member and ringleader of the would-be terror group, Ibrahim Abbas, 24, Hamza's brother.

The verdicts were suppressed from when they were announced, following an application by lawyers for two of the men. Justice Christopher Beale later ruled the verdicts should be reported, however defence lawyers challenged the judge's decision at the Court of Appeal. The reasons behind the suppression cannot be reported.

Comment: They were likely all used as 'instruments'.

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Megaphone

Afghan-led peace process facilitated by Russia exposes billion dollar failure of US in the region

Salman Rafi Sheikh
Near Eastern Outlook
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 12:00 UTC
moscow
On November 9, 2018, Russia hosted the first round of Moscow initiative to resolve the Afghan conundrum, signifying its ever increasing interest in the country that has evolved, over the last 17 years, from a hot-bed of conflict between the US and the Taliban, including Al-Qaeda, to a strategic stalemate between the US and the Taliban, witnessing also the discreet rise of the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K) in Afghanistan, threatening the entire Central Asia and Russia with its tendency to reach beyond the land it comes to inhabit. The rising threat of IS-K explains why Russia has become active in initiating a peace process to achieve its settlement, but for the Western officials, Russian initiative is only an attempt on its part to make things 'complicated' for a peace process that must be 'Afghan-led & Afghan owned.' This is not only ironic given that the West, specifically the US, has failed to end the war in the 17 years, but also factually wrong since Moscow initiative doesn't contradict the idea of an 'Afghan-led' peace process.

As such, while the Moscow initiative deepens Russian role in Afghanistan - and there is nothing wrong with deepening ties with one's neighbouring country - it does also compliment the concept of 'Afghan-led' peace process in important ways. In other words, contrary to Western projections, the Moscow initiative is nothing about pushing the US/the West out of the game. First of all, the nature of the summit held itself signifies how it was centred on the idea of 'Afghan-led' peace process. For instance, the Afghan High Peace Council, which attended the event, reiterated in its statement that the purpose of the summit was only to discuss "the subject of direct talks with the Taliban and [they] asked them [Taliban] to choose the place and the starting time." Clearly, this is an Afghan peace council talking to an Afghan militant group, Taliban, asking them to initiate dialogue. Moscow seems only to fit as a facilitator rather than a dictator of peace terms.

Comment: It's very telling that those countries who have suffered US 'liberation' turn to Russia for assistance in ending the bloodshed and rebuilding:

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Eye 1

Merkel joins Macron in call for European army - There's just the small issue of NATO treaties


RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 09:43 UTC
trump merkel macron
© ReutersTrump, Merkel and Macron at the 100th anniversary commemoration of the Armistice, in Paris
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a "real, true" European army to be created, just days after French President Emmanuel Macron did the same - and received backlash from Donald Trump for doing so.

"We should work on a vision of one day establishing a real European army," Merkel said during an address to MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Monday.

That statement was an apparent nod of support to Macron, who last week said that Europe has to "protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia, and even the United States of America." Europe cannot do so, he said, "unless we decide to have a true European army."

Comment: Merkel is on her way out, Macron's popularity is tanking, and, what with the mass migration crisis and the bungled monetary union, the current bureaucrats in the EU have proven themselves incapable. However, cooperation on many issues within the EU makes sense because it gives countries more sway on the international stage, including defying the belligerent US.

See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Mr. Potato

PM May calls in MPs as Brexit deal "agreed"...except a 'few outstanding issues'


RT
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 16:41 UTC
Theresa May
© REUTERS/Henry NichollsBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May
Prime Minister Theresa May is to chair a special cabinet meeting, Wednesday, after a draft deal was reportedly agreed between UK and EU negotiators following intensive talks in Brussels.

According to an unnamed cabinet source, cited in the BBC, the text has been agreed upon at a technical level.


Cabinet ministers are, on Tuesday evening, having one-on-one meetings with the PM as she attempts to win their backing for the deal. Ministers will reportedly be allowed to see the key papers on the deal, but not allowed to take them home.

Comment: Brexit has proven itself a farce from the very beginning, and so the closing scenes promise to be just as tragic: Brexit Has Exposed The Rotten Foundations of Britain's Political System

See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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