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Ecuadorian Foreign Minister: Latin America is the most unequal continent in the world


RT
Mon, 03 Oct 2016 17:03 UTC
Guillaume Long
© Ricardo Rojas/ReutersEcuadorian Foreign Minister Guillaume Long
Latin America is not necessarily the poorest continent in the world, but it is the most unequal and damage caused by neoliberalism is largely to blame, Guillaume Long the Foreign Minister of Ecuador told RT's Chris Hedges.

RT: Ten years ago we saw the rise in Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, etc. challenging free trade agreements, pushing through social programs, and so on. That was a moment of hope, when many thought that they have broken free from the chains of American imperialism and corporate power. Could you describe that moment, what they did?

Guillaume Long: We have to start from the terrible damage caused by neoliberalism in Latin America, particularly in 1980's and 1990's. Neoliberalism in the US is sometimes called deregulation. I think neoliberalism is more complete, because there is an ideological component of it. Neoliberalism was very harmful to Latin America. It started with [Augusto] Pinochet in the 1970's, and then in the 1980's democratization in Latin America was permitted, because the Cold War was won, but it was conditioned on economically towing the line of the neoliberal ideology, and it was terrible.

Neoliberalism, I would argue from my left-wing perspective, is bad in most contexts: it has been bad in Europe, in another parts of the world; it has kind of dismantled the welfare state. But in a context where you already have a weak state, where institutions are not really consolidated with a kind of strong feudal remnants, such as in Latin America, where you don't have a strong social contract with institutions, with modernity - neoliberalism just shatters any kind of social pact. And it meant more poverty, more inequality, huge wave of political instability.

Comment: You can read more of Chris Hedges' interview with Guillaume Long below:

Latin America: The empire strikes back

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Chess

Iraqi govt demands Turkey pull its occupying troops out of base near Mosul


RT
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:40 UTC
kurdistan
© Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Outraged by Ankara's decision to extend the stationing of its troops in northern Iraq, 30 kilometers from Mosul, Iraqi MPs have called on the government to review its relations with Turkey and lodge a complaint against the "occupation" with the UNSC.

On Tuesday, the majority of Iraqi legislators spoke out against the Turkish parliament's decision to prolong the stationing of about 150 Turkish soldiers and some 25 tanks at the Bashiqa military camp in Iraq's northern Nineveh Province, which is located at the forefront of the battle with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

In a written statement, the MPs decried the decision, appealing to the country's prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, to summon the Turkish ambassador and file a complaint with the United Nations Security Council that would designate Turkey's military contingent as an "occupying" force, according to Rudaw news agency.

On Saturday, the Turkish parliament green lighted the extension of the Turkish military's engagement in both Iraq and Syria.

Comment: As usual, Turkey's actions are somewhat inscrutable. Just what are they aiming at here? It's possible Iraqi Kurdistan will try to claim Mosul for itself once it is liberated from Daesh. And Erdogan is tight with Barzani. Regardless, Turkey continues to act like a bull in a china shop. Retired Turkish Brigadier General Haldun Solmaztürk:
Such behavior by Turkey flies in the face of international law and I find it hard to understand what Turkey is now doing in Iraq. What I also fail to understand is why Ankara has been relying on Iraqi Kurds in the upcoming operation in Mosul instead of coordinating its moves with Baghdad.


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Jet4

What, ANOTHER 'mistake'? US airstrike kills at least 20 Iraqi soldiers fighting ISIS


RT
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:59 UTC
warplane
© Reuters
An airstrike has left at least 20 pro-government tribal fighters dead near the Iraqi city of Mosul, a US defense official told AFP, while admitting that the strike had "most likely" been carried out by US-led coalition jets.

At least 20 pro-government militia members were killed on Wednesday in the Qayyara region just 60 kilometers from the key Iraqi city of Mosul, according to media reports. Local police have confirmed the attack, which happened around 1 am local time (22:00 GMT on Tuesday).

"This most likely was from a coalition air strike. Right now, we are still getting information,"a US senior defense official told AFP, adding that, while an investigation has been launched, it was presumed that the strike had been "what we unfortunately call a blue-on-green incident," meaning it was likely a mistake.

According to Canadian Brigadier-General David Anderson the US-led coalition and Iraqi military are currently investigating the incident near Mosul.

"We are aware of the alleged reports that coalition forces mistakenly fired on Sunni tribal fighters," Anderson said during a news briefing on Wednesday. "We are looking into this to determine the facts that surround the case," he added.

Comment: It's becoming pretty obvious that these attacks are not mistakes, but that the US military is actively protecting ISIS by bombing the forces fighting against it.

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Radar

Delusional bluster: US admiral sez 'Russia and China can't stop us from conducting military ops in their backyards'


RT
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:36 UTC
destroyer
© Impact Press Group / ReutersThe USS Truxtun, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, enters the Black Sea port of Varna
The US Navy is seemingly ready to conduct operations in areas regarded as no-go missile areas, said the US Chief of Naval Operations. Such defense missile zones can be found at Russia's and China's coastlines.

This was announced by Admiral John Richardson during remarks made at the US Naval Institute - CSIS Maritime Security Dialogue.

He said that from now on the US Navy is "scaling down" the term 'A2/AD' (anti-access/area denial) from its communications.

Earlier, these areas were viewed as "an impenetrable keep out zone that forces can only enter at extreme peril to their existence, let alone their mission," Richardson wrote in an article for the National Interest outlet.

"It's a term bandied about pretty freely and lacks the precise definition it probably would benefit from, and that ambiguity sends a variety of signals," he said on Tuesday.

"We'll no longer use the term A2/AD as a stand-alone acronym [sic] that can mean all things to all people or anything to anyone - we have to be better than that," Richardson said.

Comment: The American generals have apparently decided that if they just redefine the terms, then the rest of the world is theirs to do with as they please. It's almost as if they think that if they ignore something and don't look at it, it isn't there. It appears these generals have drunk Karl Rove's "reality-creator" kool aid:
The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."


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Stock Up

Ruble is best performing emerging market currency since OPEC deal in Algeria


RT
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 14:27 UTC
Ruble
© Alexandr Demyanchuk / Sputnik
The Russian currency is extending its gains on Wednesday, buoyed by rising oil prices. The ruble has outpaced the Argentinian peso, Hungarian forint, Taiwanese dollars and other emerging market currencies since OPEC agreed to cut production last week.

The ruble was trading at $62.46 against the dollar and around 70 against the euro as of 4:30pm MSK. Brent crude was trading a dollar higher at $51.86 per barrel while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate reached $49.68.

Comment: See also: Ruble at 11 month high fuels hedge fund interest

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Bad Guys

Indian army approves release of Kashmir strike amid rising Indo-Pakistani tensions


RT
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:02 UTC
Indian army soldiers
© Danish Ismail / ReutersIndian army soldiers.
India's armed forces have given carte blanche to the government to use the video footage of alleged "surgical strikes" carried out in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a report claims. It's feared the measure could aggravate Indo-Pakistani tensions.

Speaking off the record, top army officers told the Economic Times (ET) that the army wants India to release footage to answer all those claiming that the September 29 pre-dawn strikes had never occurred.

Some opposition politicians in India have also been asking for "proof" of the strikes.

Top government officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that the decision on whether to release the strike footage or not "will depend on the larger call on likely Pakistani response." The final decision rests with the Prime Minister's Office.

The army has "ample evidence" to show the cross-border strikes proved to be "highly effective," top army strategists told the newspaper, citing video footage and photographs, shot by ground troops and drones, that were deployed to monitor the operation, according to the ET.

Comment: It's worth noting that September attack on the Indian army base is suspected to have been done by members of Jaish-e-Mohammed. This is a terrorist group in Pakistan that has its roots in Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, which in turn is infiltrated and largely influenced by the CIA. The US has used tensions between India and Pakistan to its own advantage in trading arms to both sides. Ultimately, it seeks to maintain it's hegemony over South Asia and this is accomplished through manufacturing instability and tension. Both countries have long been pitted against each other and unfortunately neither has enough strength nor wherewithal to overcome the US' covert influence.

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Map

India-Pakistan fracture points: Balochistan is not Bangladesh

Peter Lee
Asia Times
Sat, 01 Oct 2016 17:08 UTC
bangladesh
Pakistan’s Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi signing the instrument of surrender in Dhaka on 16 Dec 1971, in the presence of India’s Lt. Gen. Aurora
Balochistan separatists have unsurprisingly responded to Indian PM Narendra Modi's "internationalization" of the issue of Pakistan human rights abuses in its province of Balochistan by imploring India to "do a Bangladesh" and assist in the separation of Balochistan from Pakistan.

Does Bangladesh provide a useful template for Indian intervention in Balochistan?

The basic outlines of the Bangladesh story are pretty simple.

In 1970, Pakistan ditched a program to maintain parity between (less populous but politically, militarily, and economically dominant) West Pakistan and East Pakistan and switched to a plain-vanilla direct election model for the national parliament. The Bengali-based and autonomy-leaning Awami League unexpectedly pretty much swept the East Pakistan races and was poised to control parliament and choose the prime minister of all of Pakistan.

Comment: Further reading:

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Caesar

Best of the Web: America's war-talk is all bluster, Putin has slammed it with a geopolitical judo swing

Finian Cunningham
Sputnik News
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:27 UTC
Obama and Putin
© AP Photo/Amanda VoisardIn this Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, photo, provided by the United Nations, US President Barack Obama, left, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin toast during a luncheon hosted during the 70th annual United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters.
With a swift, determined twist, Russian leader Vladimir Putin has wrong-footed his American adversary, pinning him to the ground over the Syrian crisis.

Writhing and flustered, the American opponent is protesting at being upended. First, in the form of a contorted media campaign smearing Russia's military operations as somehow criminal.

Second, the Americans are breathlessly claiming that Russia's "outrageous" support for Syrian state forces is scuppering peace efforts.

Third, the Americans have tried to intimidate Russia by cutting off diplomatic contact over Syria, which is a veiled attempt to threaten Russia militarily, either from direct US intervention in Syria or indirectly by upping supply of anti-aircraft missiles to the proxy terror groups.

Russia is having none of this American menacing. It has proceeded to ramp up the military offensive along with Syrian forces to defeat the Western-backed terror groups in their last redoubt in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. If the anti-government mercenaries are vanquished there, then the six-year foreign-fueled war for regime change in Syria is all but over.
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Magnify

MH17 'truth enforcers' throwing West's version of events onto deceived public

Neil Clark
RT
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:05 UTC
mh17 crash
© Maxim Zmeyev / ReutersA member of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry and a crane operator work at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014
The findings of a Dutch-led investigation, that MH17 was taken down from rebel-held territory by a BUK missile system from Russia, have been used as conclusive evidence that Russia was to blame for the appalling tragedy in which killed 298 people.

At first sight the report does seem fairly damning. It certainly would fit with a narrative that the ill-fated passenger plane was accidentally shot down by rebels, who then, realizing what they had done, wanted to get rid of the 'evidence' as soon as possible.

But nevertheless, I doubt if Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot or indeed any famous detective would be saying "case closed" at this juncture.

For starters, just how impartial and independent was the JIT investigation? Imagine a domestic homicide investigation in which one of the leading suspects was involved in putting together a report that pointed the finger of blame at someone else. That report wouldn't be taken too seriously would it? Yet the JIT team included prosecutors from Ukraine, whose national forces have been accused by Russia of being the guilty party.
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Jet3

Whose side is Turkey on? Turkish airstrike targets ISIS in Aleppo province, northwestern Syria


PressTV
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:17 UTC
US F/A-18F Super Hornet
© AFP
An airstrike by the US-led coalition purportedly targeting the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in Syria has killed at least 20 civilians and injured 40 others in a countryside in the northwestern city of Aleppo.

The fatalities were caused after warplanes bombed the majority Kurdish village of Thulthana in the northern province of Aleppo around midnight Tuesday, the official SANA news agency reported.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 19 civilians were killed, including three children, in the deadly attack.


Comment: One must always be careful when the media uses the Syrian Observatory's information:
What Western media editors conceal from the public however, is that the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights" is neither based in Syria nor is it an observer of what actually goes on there. It is essentially one man - Abdul Rahman, aka Rami Abdulrahman, aka Osama Suleiman - a three-term convicted criminal in Syria, based out of a small house in Coventry, England, and his 'team of four activists in Syria'.
See: Propaganda spin cycle: 'Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' is funded by US and UK governments


Some media outlets said Turkey's military, which is part of the coalition, had conducted airstrikes in the Syrian village, which is currently being held by Daesh.

Comment: That the source is SOHR immediately renders the casualty list suspect.

That they're targeting a majority Kurdish village suggests this the primary reason for the airstrike. Is it really ISIS the Turkish military targeted, or Kurdish fighters hoping to link up with their cousins across the Euphrates?

Did the Turks do this as part of Russia's efforts to clear Aleppo of terrorists?

Or did it do so as part of the US' efforts to provide air cover for its 'moderates'?

With the US and Russia now clearly foes in Syria, Turkey must decide whose side it is on...

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