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Taliban appoints hardline government of war criminals, seeks absolute control, China Russia unimpressed


RT
Thu, 09 Sep 2021 21:17 UTC
taliban
© Wikipedia
Abdul Haq Wasiq (L), Norullah Noori, Mohammad Fazl, Khairullah Khairkhwa.
Four former Guantanamo inmates, released as part of a swap for court-martialed soldier Bowe Bergdahl, have been named as high-ranking acting ministers in the Taliban's new Afghan government.

On Tuesday, the Taliban announced its first interim government for the war-torn nation, which is now under the group's control. However, many of those named in the government are known to the US and its allies, but not for good reasons. Four of those announced as ministers were previous inmates at the US high-security facility in Guantanamo Bay.

All four were traded for captured soldier Bowe Bergdahl in 2014 by the administration of former US President Barack Obama. The fifth Taliban member swapped for Bergdahl has been a prominent figure since the militant group's takeover of Afghanistan but does not feature in the interim government.

As reported by Afghanistan's ToloNews on Tuesday, Abdul Haq Wasiq is now acting director of intelligence; Mullah Noorullah Noori is acting minister of borders and tribal affairs; Mullah Mohammad Fazil is deputy defense minister; and Mullah Khairullah Khairkhah has been named acting minister of information and culture.

All four, who were deemed dangerous hardliners by the US government, took part in direct talks with Washington in Doha last year. Information and US defense documents made available by WikiLeaks and other organizations demonstrate why the US was so concerned by these individuals.

Comment: It's not just woke Washington that is unimpressed. Alexander Mercouris describes how both China and Russia have expressed their polite disappointment in the make-up of the allegedly "interim" government:



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Stock Down

US warns it could DEFAULT on debts, Putin aide says Washington's massive 'stimulus' spending to blame for global wave of inflation


RT
Thu, 09 Sep 2021 09:10 UTC
cash
© Unsplash / Alexander Schimmeck
By racking up trillions of dollars in debt and injecting huge sums of cash into the country's economy, America has contributed to rising prices and lower spending power across the world, a top Russian government official has said.

Maxim Oreshkin, an advisor to President Vladimir Putin, told the Moscow Financial Forum on Wednesday that Russia had been forced to increase public spending, but to a lesser extent.

"The economic policy response to the crisis has to match the size of the economic problem," Oreshkin said. "When you're in the deepest recession since WWII, you need to come up with answers the same size."

Comment: In recent news: the House just approved another $24 billion for the Pentagon and its oversight of "astonishing fraud", and the wealthiest in the US continue to avoid their taxes, with a modest estimate given at $160 billion a year. Unsurprisingly, some of the other major world economies have been divesting themselves of dollars for years now and instead they've been stocking up on assets such as gold, amidst a flurry of mutually beneficial deals between willing countries, which are not only useful now, but they may also help them ride out the eventual, controlled collapse of the US system:

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Network

Here's the chilling reality of what daily life might look like under a social-credit system in a so-called democracy

Rachel Marsden
RT
Thu, 09 Sep 2021 19:59 UTC
qr code
© Bertha WANG / AFP
Government issued QR-code health passes could represent the first step to implementing a Chinese-style social-credit system. Imagining how this might actually work shows its potential for truly frightening consequences.

The Covid-19 crisis has given governments worldwide a golden opportunity to roll out a new system of control over their citizens under the guise of protecting their health. Although it's now clear that Covid jabs don't prevent contamination or transmission, they have provided our democracies with the perfect pretext to introduce state-issued QR codes to access aspects of daily life which our overlords apparently deem "non-essential" - including certain means of transport, food services, or health and fitness venues.

At first, we were told that these passes would be a temporary measure. But now, leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron have admitted that they may persist longer than initially announced. Similarly, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged $1 billion for a whole new system of pass management and coordination between Canadian provinces if he's re-elected on September 20.

If the public willingly accepts having to show papers wherever they go, what incentive do governments have to rescind this new tool? Imagine the uses that it could have in suppressing the kind of financial and ideological independence that risks posing a threat to the system which enabled these globalist bootlickers to come to power in the first place.

Comment: It's a brave new world order. You'll own nothing, and you'll be happy. You'll eat bugs, and you'll be happy. You'll do what you're told, and you'll be happy.

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Dollar

China welcomes 'end of anarchy' with Taliban's interim Afghan gov't, pledges US$31 million in aid

Tom Grundy
Hong Kong Free Press
Wed, 08 Sep 2021 13:54 UTC
Chinese/Afghans
© file/China Government
The Chinese and the Afghans
China said Wednesday it welcomed the end of "three weeks of anarchy" in Afghanistan with the establishment of a new interim government in Kabul, pledging US$31 million (HK$251 million) in immediate aid as it urged the Taliban to restore order.

The Islamist group seized control of Afghanistan as US troops withdrew last month and have set up a new administration that started work Wednesday. Despite previous promises that their rule would be inclusive, the government is drawn exclusively from loyalist ranks with established hardliners in all key posts and no women.

China has been scathing about the American withdrawal, which it criticised as ill-planned and hasty. On Wednesday it said the new government would help bring stability.

Comment: Eyes are on China as it commits to furthering relations with the Taliban:
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Beijing respects Afghanistan's "sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity" in the wake of the formation of the Taliban's new government.

Speaking at a regular press conference on Wednesday, Wang Wenbin was asked by reporters about Beijing's response to the Taliban's establishment of a government.

The spokesperson said Beijing supports the Afghan people to "independently choose a development path in line with their own national conditions" without interference in the country's internal affairs.

Wang also added that the formation of an interim government was necessary to restore domestic order and post-war reconstruction after over three weeks of "anarchy" following the Taliban's takeover that saw the then-President Ashraf Ghani flee the country. Wang also expressed hope that war-wracked Afghanistan can build a "broad and inclusive political structure" that is capable of moderate and stable domestic and foreign policy.

Wang's remarks came shortly after the Taliban's Tuesday announcement that it had named key government officials. Several of the newly appointed ministers are on a UN Security Council sanctions list, while Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani is considered an international terrorist by US authorities and is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $5 million reward for his capture.

Several nations and institutions worldwide have taken tougher stances on Taliban leadership. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab remarked last Friday that the UK will not recognize the Taliban government, but stressed that it was time to work with the group to discuss issues such as safe evacuations, and "face up to the new reality in Afghanistan".

China, on the other hand, was dubbed as the Taliban's "main partner" by the group's spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica last week, praising Beijing's plans to invest in Afghanistan.


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Pirates

CIA veteran: Al-Qaeda will rebuild within Afghanistan, seek to attack US again

Matthew Barakat
The Times of Israel
Tue, 07 Sep 2021 11:49 UTC
ObamaBrennanMorell
© Getty Images/Alex Wong
Barack Obama • John Brennan • Mike Morell
The CIA man who briefed former US president George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, and later Barack Obama on the intelligence that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden said Tuesday that he's convinced the Taliban will invite al-Qaeda to rebuild in Afghanistan. Michael Morell, who twice served as acting CIA director, said:
"There is no doubt in my mind. I believe that the Taliban will give safe haven to al-Qaeda, and I believe it will be al-Qaeda's intention to again build its capability so that they can attack us here at home."
Morell spoke at an online forum sponsored by the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which is holding multiple panels this week to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Counterterrorism efforts fall into a pattern, Morell said, in which their capabilities can be easily degraded by a focused effort, but easily rebuilt when that focus fades. He pointed to the time in 2002 and 2003 when the US shifted its focus to Iraq, which he said led to a resurgent al-Qaeda prompting attacks in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005 and elsewhere.

"When our focus got shifted to Iraq al-Qaeda started bouncing back," Morell said.


Comment: Well, wasn't that convenient. The 'focus shift trick' is the intelligence industry's version of 'look there not here'.


Comment: And...Morell has a bridge to sell you in London. al-Qaeda is a US proxy as is the Taliban.

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Megaphone

Biden heckled about Afghanistan when touring NJ flood damage, told to 'leave no American behind'

Nicholas Ballasy
Just the News
Tue, 07 Sep 2021 04:05 UTC
Biden/Protesters
© Flipboard
US President Biden heckled by protesters on his tour of Ida damage.
President Biden on Tuesday while touring the recent New Jersey flood damage was heckled about the United States' chaotic, deadly departure from the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

"Leave no American behind," a resident yelled as Biden walked through a neighborhood with Democratic lawmakers and spoke with homeowners in Manville, several days after the remnants of Hurricane Ida spawned record rain and flooding, destroying homes and killing at least 23 people.

"You leave Americans behind. He will leave you behind," another resident said to Biden and his security detail. "You guys protecting him. He will leave you guys behind."

He shouted the name of a man killed during his military service in 2011. "He lost his life for what?" the man said.

A woman also yelled as Biden and the group of lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone and Sen. Cory Booker, walked through the neighborhood.

"You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. This is a Republic, not China. It's sad that America has come to this. Despicable," she said. Biden didn't respond to those shouting.


Comment: On today's forecast: Biden's 'second wind':
President Joe Biden stumbled through parts of his Tuesday briefing on Hurricane Ida, leaving the definition of a tornado unclear.

As he visited New York and New Jersey to observe the damage caused in recent days by Hurricane Ida, he discussed the impact of the storm, as well as other devastating weather incidents around the nation and how they relate to climate change. Biden said at a press conference in New Jersey:
"We've got to make sure that we don't leave any community behind, and it's all across the country."
Biden began to describe damage from tornadoes to communities in the middle of the country.
"The members of Congress know, from their colleagues in Congress that, uh, you know, the, looks like a tornado, they don't call them that anymore, that hit the crops and wetlands in the middle of the country, in Iowa and Nevada. It's just across the board."
He discussed how the administration could help build back communities following the damage from the hurricane.
"One of the things that today I'm going to ask you about ... is about how we're going to build back, and we're going to build back realizing what the status of the climate is now, what the trajectory of it is going to be, and we can no longer, we all know, we can't just build back to what it was before."
The administration requested $24 billion for aid related to the aftermath of Ida and other natural disasters. Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure plan is pending in Congress.


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Attention

Western 'regime-change' experts thought Belarus would buckle but in reality Lukashenko's KGB state is more brutal than imagined

Tarik Cyril Amar
RT
Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:17 UTC
Znak/ Kolesnikova
© Sputnik/Viktor Tolochko
Maxim Znak and Maria Kolesnikova
Two of Belarus' most prominent opposition activists campaigning against the rule of authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko have now been sentenced to lengthy prison terms: Maria Kolesnikova to 11 years and Maxim Znak to 10.

Kolesnikova, a highly trained musician as well as a political activist, is one of the three women who together challenged Lukashenko in last August's election. She also helped lead calls for a new vote, after it took place amid opposition and international claims of fraud, sparking an undeniably brutal crackdown afterwards. Kolesnikova was the only one of the trio who remained in the country, the others having fled.

Znak is a lawyer who has worked with the opposition for many years. Both are members of the Coordination Council, set up by anti-Lukashenko factions in an effort to oust him.

The pair share common ground in that they have contributed to keeping the protests non-violent, despite the government's recourse to political deportation and detention as well as widespread abuse. That much has been confirmed in a recent report by the UN Human Rights Council, which concluded that, in the face of peaceful demonstrations, "the authorities responded with unjustified, disproportionate, and often arbitrary force."
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Dollars

French intelligence knew cement giant Lafarge paid MILLIONS to ISIS & capitalized on its ties with terrorists - leaked papers


RT
Wed, 08 Sep 2021 12:37 UTC
cement company
© AFP/Franck Fife
French cement giant Lafarge, charged with "crimes against humanity" over paying Islamic State to keep its Syrian plant running, had been informing the country's spy agencies about its ties with terrorists, leaked papers revealed.

According to a batch of official French documents obtained by Turkish Anadolu news agency, Lafarge representatives have held multiple meetings with domestic, foreign and military intelligence services during the Syrian conflict. The French spy agencies were accused of having used the company's relationship with Islamic State (IS, Daesh, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other militant groups to keep up to date with the events on the ground in Syria. They also refrained from warning the cement maker that its ties with terrorists were a crime, according to the agency.
Lafarge is blamed for paying almost €13 million ($15.3 million) to IS and other armed groups to make sure its plant in northern Syria remained operational after the fighting in the country erupted in 2011. Rights groups, which brought claims against the company, alleged that this money had been used to facilitate the movement of staff and goods through terrorist checkpoints. Lafarge reportedly also purchased oil and raw materials from the militants, while supplying them with cement that they used to build fortifications and underground tunnels.
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Question

Taliban 2.0: What can be expected?

Pepe Escobar
thesaker.is
Thu, 09 Sep 2021 17:41 UTC
taliban government Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund
© Associated Press
Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, was appointed Afghanistan's acting Prime Minister on September 7, 2021
A wiser, better-traveled and social media-savvy Taliban will strive to avoid the many dire mistakes of its 1996-2001 rule

The announcement by Taliban spokesman Zahibullah Mujahid in Kabul of the acting cabinet ministers in the new caretaker government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan already produced a big bang: it managed to enrage both woke NATOstan and the US Deep State.

This is an all-male, overwhelmingly Pashtun (there's one Uzbek and one Tajik) cabinet essentially rewarding the Taliban old guard. All 33 appointees are Taliban members.
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Eye 2

Australians shocked after NSW health officer says post-lockdown Sydney will be a 'new world order'


RT
Thu, 09 Sep 2021 17:12 UTC
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant australia covid
© Nine News
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant
Dr. Kerry Chant, the Chief Health Officer of New South Wales, sent social media into a frenzy on Thursday, after she referred to a post-lockdown "new world order" during a Covid-19 press conference.

After State Premier Gladys Berejiklian had unveiled her administration's plan for Greater Sydney's path to freedom out of lockdown, Dr. Chant revealed the new vaccine requirements for workers and customers when the city reopens.

Both parties at reopened businesses would have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Dr. Chant announced, and workplaces would "have some system of checking that." But it was her next comment that really stirred up a storm.

Comment: Observation would yield the idea that while the citizens of Israel is being used to test out the extremes of vaccination protocols, Australia and New Zealand are labs for gaming the limits of societal controls that can be imposed. New World Order indeed.





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