To read translation into Arabic, scroll down  AI

فيديو: “محو غزة من الخريطة”: أجندة المال الكبير. مصادرة احتياطيات فلسطين من الغاز الطبيعي البحري

لقراءة الترجمة إلى اللغة العربية، قم بالتمرير لأسفل

 

Introduction

Israel has launched an invasion (October 7, 2023) of the Gaza Strip.

As outlined by Felicity Arbuthnot with foresight 10 years ago in a December, 30 2013 article: 

“Israel is set to become a major exporter of gas and some oil, “If All Goes to Plan”.

In the current context, Israel’s “All Goes to Plan” option consists in bypassing Palestine and “Wiping Gaza off the Map”,  as well confiscating ALL Gaza’s maritime offshore gas reserves, worth billions of dollars. 

The ultimate objective is not only to exclude Palestinians from their homeland, it consists in confiscating the multi-billion dollar Gaza offshore Natural Gas reserves, namely those pertaining to the BG (BG Group) in 1999, as well the Levant discoveries of 2013. 

Update. Israel’s Secret Intelligence Memorandum

An official “secret” memorandum authored by Israel’s  Ministry of Intelligence “is recommending the forcible and permanent transfer of the Gaza Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinian residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula”, namely to a refugee camp in Egyptian territory. There are indications of Israel-Egypt negotiations  as well as consultations with the U.S. 

The 10-page document, dated Oct. 13, 2023, bears the logo of the Intelligence Ministry … assesses three options regarding the future of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip … It recommends a full population transfer as its preferred course of action. … The document, whose authenticity was confirmed by the ministry, has been translated into English in full here on +972. See below, click here or below to access complete document (10 pages)

 

First published on October  22, 2023. Video added on October 27, 2023, Update, November 1, 2023

 

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Video: Michel Chossudovsky, Interview with Caroline Mailloux, Lux Media

 

To leave a comment and/or Access Rumble click to lower right hand corner

 

Felicity Arbuthnot’s 2013 Analysis 

“The Giant Leviathan natural gas field, in the eastern Mediterranean, discovered in December 2010, widely described [by governments and media] as “off the coast of Israel.”

These Levant reserves must be distinguished from those discovered in Gaza in 1999 by British Gas, which belong to Palestine. Felicity Arbuthnot’s analysis nonetheless confirms that “Part of the Leviathan Gas fields lie in Gazan territorial waters” (See Map Below). 

Whilst Israel claims them as her very own treasure trove, only a fraction of the sea’s wealth lies in Israel’s bailiwick as maps. Much is still unexplored, but currently Palestine’s Gaza and the West Bank between them show the greatest discoveries… (Felicity Arbuthnot, 2013) 

Flash Forward to October 2023

Netanyahu’s October 2023 declaration of war against 2.3 million people of the Gaza Strip is a continuation of its 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza under “Operation Cast Lead.” 

The underlying objective is the outright military occupation of Gaza by Israel’s IDF forces and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland.

.

The ultimate objective is not only to exclude Palestinians from their homeland, it consists in confiscating the multi-billion dollar Gaza offshore Natural Gas reserves, namely those pertaining to the BG (BG Group) in 1999, as well the Levant discoveries of 2013. 

Egypt-Israel “Secret Bilateral Talks” 

In 2021-22, Egypt and Israel were involved in “secret bilateral talks” regarding “the extraction of natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip. 

“Egypt succeeded in persuading Israel to start extracting natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, after several months of secret bilateral talks.

This development … comes after years of Israeli objections to extract natural gas off the coast of Gaza on [alleged] security grounds, … 

British Gas (BG Group) has also been dealing with the Tel Aviv government.

What is significant is that the civilian arm of the Hamas Gaza government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields: 

The field, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the Gaza coast, was discovered in 2000 by British Gas (currently BG Group) and is estimated to contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. 

The official in the Egyptian intelligence service told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “An Egyptian economic and security delegation discussed with the Israeli side for several months the issue of allowing the extraction of natural gas off the coast of Gaza. …Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Egypt and Israel, which had the rubber-stamp of the Palestinian National Authority (PA):

“The Egyptian official explained that Israel required the start of practical measures to extract gas from the Gaza fields at the beginning of 2024, to ensure its own security. (Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022

Netanyahu’s Timeline: “Before The Beginning of 2024”

The timeline resulting from these bilateral Israel-Egypt “secret talks” i.e. confiscation of Palestine’s offshore Maritime Gas Reserves is “The Beginning of 2024”.

United Nations Assessment

An important United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2019) report describes Palestine’s predicament as follows: 

Geologists and natural resources economists have confirmed that the Occupied Palestinian Territory lies above sizeable reservoirs of oil and natural gas wealth, in Area C of the occupied West Bank and the Mediterranean coast off the Gaza Strip.

However, occupation continues to prevent Palestinians from developing their energy fields so as to exploit and benefit from such assets. As such, the Palestinian people have been denied the benefits of using this natural resource to finance socioeconomic development and meet their need for energy.

The accumulated losses are estimated in the billions of dollars. The longer Israel prevents Palestinians from exploiting their own oil and natural gas reserves, the greater the opportunity costs and the greater the total costs of the occupation borne by Palestinians become.

This study identifies and assesses existing and potential Palestinian oil and natural gas reserves that could be exploited for the benefit of the Palestinian people, which Israel is either preventing them from exploiting or is exploiting without due regard for international law. (UNCTAD, August 2019, emphasis added, download complete report)

Crimes against Humanity

In the words of Netanyahu who is on Record for Supporting and Financing a faction within Hamas:  

Crimes against humanity beyond description by the Netanyahu government against the People of Palestine,

Crimes also committed against the People of Israel who are the victims of the Hamas “False Flag Attack” carefully engineered by Mossad-IDF.

There are deep-seated divisions within Hamas. Our “False Flag” analysis pertains to a military-intelligence faction within Hamas which cooperates with Israeli and U.S. intelligence.  See:

Is the Gaza-Israel Fighting “A False Flag”? They Let it Happen? Their Objective Is “to Wipe Gaza Off the Map”?

By Philip Giraldi and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 20, 2023

 

Michel Chossudovsky,  Global Research, October 21, 2023

 

Below is the 2013 article by Felicity Arbuthnot

 

 

Israel Gas-Oil and Trouble in the Levant

by Felicity Arbuthnot 

Global Research, 

December 13, 2013

Israel is set to become a major exporter of gas and some oil, if all goes to plan. The giant Leviathan natural gas field, in the eastern Mediterranean, discovered in December 2010, is widely described as “off the coast of Israel.”

 At the time the gas field was:

“ … the most prominent field ever found in the sub-explored area of the Levantine Basin, which covers about 83,000 square kilometres of the eastern Mediterranean region.” (i)

Coupled with Tamar field, in the same location, discovered in 2009, the prospects are for an energy bonanza for Israel, for Houston, Texas based Noble Energy and partners Delek Drilling, Avner Oil Exploration and Ratio Oil Exploration.

Also involved is Perth, Australia-based Woodside Petroleum, which has signed a memorandum of understanding for a thirty percent stake in the project, in negotiations which have been described as “up and down.”

There is currently speculation that Woodside might pull out of the deal: “ …since the original plans to refrigerate the gas for export were pursued when relations between Israel and Turkey were strained. That has changed, more recently, which has opened the door for gas to be piped to Turkey.”

The spoils of the Leviathan field has already expanded from an estimated 16.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf ) of gas to nineteen trillion – and counting:

”We’ve discovered nearly 40 tcf of gas, and we have roughly 19 tcf of that gas that’s available for export to both regional and extra-regional markets. We see exports reaching 2 billion cubic feet a day in capacity in the next decade. And we continue to explore.”, stated Noble Vice Chairman Keith Elliot (ii) There are also estimated to be possibly six hundred million barrels of oil, according to Michael Economides of energytribune.com (“Eastern Mediterranean Energy – the next Great Game.”)

 However, even these estimates may prove modest. In their: “Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Levant Basin Province, Eastern Mediterranean”, the US Department of the Interior’s US Geological Survey, wrote in 2010:

“We estimated a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in this province using a geology based assessment methodology.”

Nevertheless, Woodside Petroleum, might also be hesitant to become involved in further disputes, since they are already embroiled, with the Australian government, in a protracted one in East Timor relating to the bonanaza of energy and minerals beneath the Timor Sea, which has even led to East Timor accusing Australia “of bugging East Timorese officials during the negotiations over the agreement.”(iii)

Woodside’s conflict in East Timor however, may well pale against what might well erupt over the Leviathan and Tamar fields. The area is not for nothing called the Levantine Basin.

Whilst Israel claims them as her very own treasure trove, only a fraction of the sea’s wealth lies in Israel’s bailiwick as maps (iv, v, see below) clearly show.

Much is still unexplored, but currently Palestine’s Gaza and the West Bank between them show the greatest discoveries, with anything found in Lebanon and Syria’s territorial waters sure to involve claims from both countries.

 

In a pre-emptive move, on Christmas Day, Syria announced a deal with Russia to explore 2,190 kilometres (850 Sq. miles) for oil and gas off its Mediterranean coast, to be: “… financed by Russia, and should oil and gas be discovered in commercial quantities, Moscow will recover the exploration costs.”

Syrian Oil Minister, Ali Abbas said during the signing ceremony that the contract covers “25 years, over several phases.”

Syria, increasingly crippled by international sanctions, has seen oil production plummet by ninety percent since the largely Western fermented unrest began in March 2011. Gas production has nearly halved, from thirty million cubic metres a day, to 16.7 cubic metres daily.

The agreement is reported to have resulted from “months of long negotiations” between the two countries. Russia, as one of the Syrian government’s main backers, looks set to also become a major player in the Levant Basin’s energy wealth. (vi)

Lebanon disputes Israel’s map of the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border, filing their own map and claims with the UN in 2010. Israel claims Lebanon is in the process of granting oil and gas exploration licenses in what Israel claims as its “exclusive economic zone.”

That the US in the guise of Vice President Joe Biden, as honest broker, acting peace negotiator in the maritime border dispute would be laughable, were it not potential for Israel to attack their neighbour again. In a visit to Israel in March 2010, Biden announced: “There is absolutely no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security- none at all”, also announcing on arrival in Israel:”It’s good to be home.”

Given US decades of  “peace brokering” between Israel and Palestine, this is already a road of pitfalls, one sidedness and duplicity, well traveled. There is trouble ahead.

Oh, and in demonology, Leviathan is one of the seven princes of Hell.

Notes

i. http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/leviathan-gas-field-levantine-israel/

ii. http://m.theage.com.au/business/options-widen-for-woodsides-leviathan-partners-20131219-2znu6.html

iii. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-04/east-timor-offers-funds-for-onshore- gas-processing/4933106

iv. http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/leviathan-gas-field-levantine-israel/leviathan-gas-field-levantine-israel1.html

v. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Leviathan+gas+project+Israel+map&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ntC2UvO7IcPE7Ab7rIDYCQ&ved=0CEQQsAQ&biw=1017&bih=598

vi. http://www.phantomreport.com/syria-inks-oil-gas-deal-with-russia-firm#more-20238

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Michel Chossudovsky’s

Video: War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, April 25, 2024

 

Almost fifteen years ago in December 2008, Israel invaded Gaza under “Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009)”.

The following article was first published by Global Research in January 2009 at the height of the Israeli bombing and invasion under Operation Cast Lead.

War and Natural Gas:

The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields

by Michel Chossudovsky

January 8, 2009

 

The December 2008 military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves. 

This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline. 

British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon’s Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.

The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60 percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz, October 21,  2007).

The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5, 2001).

The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.

The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine’s gas reserves could be much larger.

Map 1

Map 2

Who Owns the Gas Fields

The issue of sovereignty over Gaza’s gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.

The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza’s offshore gas reserves.

British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields.

The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major turning point. Palestine’s sovereignty over the offshore gas fields was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated unequivocally that “Israel would never buy gas from Palestine” intimating that Gaza’s offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.

In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza’s offshore wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)

The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank, under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.

In 2006, British Gas “was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt.” (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to shunting the agreement with Egypt.

The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert  “to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority.” The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the Palestinians.

Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:

“Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled Government.” (Ibid, emphasis added)

The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999 between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.

Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza’s offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the sale of the natural gas to Israel.

The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:

 “Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds, that the proceeds would fund terror”. (Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan, Address to the Knesset on “The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve Hamas,” March 1, 2006, quoted in Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Does the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza’s Coastal Waters Threaten Israel’s National Security?  Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, October 2007)

Israel’s intent was to foreclose the possibility that royalties be paid to the Palestinians. In December 2007, The BG Group withdrew from the negotiations with Israel and in January 2008 they closed their office in Israel.(BG website).

Invasion Plan on The Drawing Board

The invasion plan of the Gaza Strip under “Operation Cast Lead” was set in motion in June 2008, according to Israeli military sources:

“Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago [June or before June] , even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.”(Barak Ravid, Operation “Cast Lead”: Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)

That very same month, the Israeli authorities contacted British Gas, with a view to resuming crucial negotiations pertaining to the purchase of Gaza’s natural gas:

“Both Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler agreed to inform BG of Israel’s wish to renew the talks.

The sources added that BG has not yet officially responded to Israel’s request, but that company executives would probably come to Israel in a few weeks to hold talks with government officials.” (Globes online- Israel’s Business Arena, June 23, 2008)

The decision to speed up negotiations with British Gas (BG Group) coincided, chronologically, with the planning of the invasion of Gaza initiated in June. It would appear that Israel was anxious to reach an agreement with the BG Group prior to the invasion, which was already in an advanced planning stage.

Moreover, these negotiations with British Gas were conducted by the Ehud Olmert government with the knowledge that a military invasion was on the drawing board. In all likelihood, a new “post war” political-territorial arrangement for the Gaza strip was also being contemplated by the Israeli government.

In fact, negotiations between British Gas and Israeli officials were ongoing in October 2008, 2-3 months prior to the commencement of the bombings on December 27th.

In November 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Infrastructures instructed Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to enter into negotiations with British Gas, on the purchase of natural gas from the BG’s offshore concession in Gaza. (Globes, November 13, 2008)

“Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler wrote to IEC CEO Amos Lasker recently, informing him of the government’s decision to allow negotiations to go forward, in line with the framework proposal it approved earlier this year.

The IEC board, headed by chairman Moti Friedman, approved the principles of the framework proposal a few weeks ago. The talks with BG Group will begin once the board approves the exemption from a tender.” (Globes Nov. 13, 2008)

Gaza and Energy Geopolitics 

The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international law.

What can we expect in the wake of the invasion?

What is the intent of Israel with regard to Palestine’s Natural Gas reserves?

A new territorial arrangement, with the stationing of Israeli and/or “peacekeeping” troops?

The militarization of the entire Gaza coastline, which is strategic for Israel?

The outright confiscation of Palestinian gas fields and the unilateral declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza’s maritime areas?

If this were to occur, the Gaza gas fields would be integrated into Israel’s offshore installations, which are contiguous to those of the Gaza Strip. (See Map 1 above)

These various offshore installations are also linked up to Israel’s energy transport corridor, extending from the port of Eilat, which is an oil pipeline terminal, on the Red Sea to the seaport – pipeline terminal at Ashkelon, and northwards to Haifa, and eventually linking up through a proposed Israeli-Turkish pipeline with the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Map 3

Ceyhan is the terminal of the Baku, Tblisi Ceyhan Trans Caspian pipeline.

“What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel’s Tipline.” (See Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, July 23, 2006)

 

Readers’ Thanks to Michel Chossudovsky

• Thank you for your continued activism and truth-telling. A thankless task but the right thing.

• You Sir are a Canadian hero. Thank you for your wonderful site and all the fine work you have done over the many years I have followed your work.

 

• Michel Chossudovsky, you are a voice of reason and understanding. Thank you for your awareness. I am a Syrian/American. I heard one voice during the bombing of Gaza of a child screaming for his father and his father could not reach him, but he cried out to him, “PUT YOUR HEART ON MY HEART.” Those humans who are putting your Heart on Palestine, thank you.

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[In view of the latest developments in Syria, we are reposting this important article by Shane Quinn, first published in April 2022.]

The United States, with occasional interruptions, has been interfering in the important Middle East nation of Syria for over 70 years, and today there are hundreds of American soldiers still present on Syrian soil. These realities are not well known.

US intrusion in Syrian affairs can be traced to the late 1940s, as outlined in 2016 by the American author Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The CIA, at the behest of Harry Truman’s government in Washington, started to destabilise Syria shortly after the country’s official independence in April 1946.

Kennedy Jr. wrote,

“The CIA began its active meddling in Syria in 1949 – barely a year after the agency’s creation. Syrian patriots had declared war on the Nazis, expelled their Vichy French colonial rulers, and crafted a fragile secularist democracy based on the American model”.

Syria at this time was governed by president Shukri al-Quwatli, a man aged in his 50s who had been elected through a democratic process in August 1943. Quwatli is a founding father of the modern Syrian state, and he is regarded by many Syrians as among the most renowned figures in the country’s 20th century history.

Image on the right: Quwatli declaring Syria’s independence from France, 17 April 1946 (Licensed under the public domain)

Quwatli had Syria’s interests at heart, and he was well acquainted with the methods of imperial powers. He repeatedly pressed for Syrian independence from its French master, often irritating politicians in France by what they perceived to be Quwatli’s stubbornness and disobedience.

It was inevitable these character traits would annoy the leaders of another major power. This time Quwatli was not dealing with a long-declining colonial state like France, but instead his country’s independence was standing in the way of the geopolitical designs of the world’s strongest country, America.

By the 1930s and 1940s, it was recognised in American political circles that the Middle East was the earth’s richest and most strategically important region, chiefly because it contains vast quantities of oil and gas. The waters beside Syria’s coastline are estimated to hold 122 trillion cubic feet of gas and around 107 billion barrels of oil.

The Truman administration wanted to construct extensive oil infrastructure, called the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, through the US ally and oil dictatorship Saudi Arabia, northwards into Syria and Lebanon. British author James Barr, a Middle East analyst, wrote, “By the fall of 1947, Syria had become as important to the United States as it had been to the Crusaders eight centuries earlier”.

The Trans-Arabian Pipeline was a venture of American corporations like Standard Oil of New Jersey (today ExxonMobil), which in the past had conducted business deals with the fascist regimes in Europe. Also involved in the Trans-Arabian Pipeline was Standard Oil of California (today Chevron) and Texaco (now part of Chevron). Texaco likewise pursued business operations with the far-right European powers, having for example constructed a large oil refinery in Nazi Germany at the city of Hamburg, which supplied fuel for the Luftwaffe.

The CIA itself had been founded in July 1947. Two months later, in September 1947 a 31-year-old CIA agent named Miles Copeland arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus. He thereafter gathered intelligence details on the country. Copeland was soon joined in Syria by another CIA agent, Stephen Meade.

Much to the Americans’ disapproval, president Quwatli was not keen on sanctioning the US-initiated oil pipeline across Syrian territory. As a consequence it was decided in Washington that he would have to go. The CIA agents in Syria, Copeland and Meade, would perform a central role in ousting Quwatli. The Truman administration gave its consent to the installation of a military dictatorship in Damascus, led by Brigadier-General Husni al-Zaim, someone who Kennedy Jr. described as “a convicted swindler”.

The CIA officers in Damascus advised and bribed Zaim, who was the chief-of-staff of the Syrian Army. Meade alone met with Zaim on at least 6 occasions, and they spoke about the possibility of an “army supported dictatorship”. Zaim informed Meade that the “only way to start the Syrian people along the road to progress and democracy” is “with the whip”. Bolstered by the CIA, Zaim overthrew Quwatli on 30 March 1949.

Brazilian historian Moniz Bandeira recognised the underlying reason was that the ousted Quwatli “had hesitated in approving the construction of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, connecting the oil fields of Saudi Arabia to the ports of Lebanon, which the United States wanted to build through Syria”. Syria’s tentative democracy had been quickly smashed with US assistance.

The CIA-engineered overthrow of Quwatli was one of the first covert operations the intelligence service had undertaken. Zaim’s rule in Damascus was a brief and unpopular one, lasting for four and a half months until mid-August 1949. He was toppled and killed by disloyal military colleagues “with the help of the United States” Bandeira noted. A succession of short-lived and mostly military autocracies reigned in Syria, until the mid-1950s. In an unlikely return Quwatli reassumed power in early September 1955.

Now aged 64, Quwatli chose a foreign policy of non-alignment outside of the American and Soviet camps. With the Cold War between west and east intensifying, Quwatli’s independent strategy bothered the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. Eisenhower, a famous US Army general who became president in January 1953, described the Middle East two years before as “the most strategically important area of the world”.

For president Eisenhower, the Middle East state of Syria was a valuable piece on the chess board. At this time around 1955 the CIA Director under Eisenhower, Allen Dulles, and his brother the US Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, began formulating a clandestine war against Arab nationalism; which they conveniently linked with communism, particularly when it threatened US hegemony over foreign oil sources. Eisenhower and the Dulles brothers already had leading parts in deposing democratic governments in oil rich Iran (August 1953) not far from Syria, and Guatemala (June 1954) in Central America.

Just as Quwatli was returning to power in Damascus, Eisenhower’s regime change policy towards Syria was taking shape. The CIA Director Allen Dulles considered Syria “ripe for a coup”. From 1955, the CIA worked in tandem with Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and also Turkish intelligence. Together these special services colluded with the conservatives of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, in the hope of removing Quwatli.

On 1 July 1956 the CIA officer Archibald Roosevelt Jr., grandson of former president Theodore Roosevelt, met in Damascus with Wilbur Crane Eveland, a US National Security Council member. Also present at this meeting was an ex-Syrian minister, Michail Bey Ilyan. Displeased with Quwatli’s government, the three men discussed an “anti-communist” takeover of Syria and its biggest cities, such as Damascus, Aleppo and Homs.

On 21 September 1956 – on the pretexts of containing Soviet communism and the influence of Egypt under its new left-wing leader Gamal Abdel Nasser – the Secretary of State John Foster Dulles informed America’s ambassador in Syria, James S. Moose, to continue “to seek means of assisting Western firms which are bidding for the contract for construction of the Syrian national oil refinery, in competition with bids from the Soviet bloc”.

In October 1956, the special services of America, Britain and Turkey gave the green light to what was titled Operation Straggle, a plan to eliminate Quwatli. Secret agents of the Anglo-American-Turkish powers instigated unrest along Syria’s frontiers, which would serve as the pretext for a putsch in Damascus.

The CIA-led Operation Straggle turned into a fiasco. Syria’s head of military intelligence, Colonel Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj, discovered the anti-government plot and arrested the principal Syrian conspirators. A CIA operative, Walter Snowdon, who was also the Second Secretary in the US Embassy in Damascus, was implicated and had to hastily leave Syria. As too did the US military attaché, Colonel Robert W. Molloy.

Operation Straggle was terminated on 29 October 1956, just when the so-called Suez Crisis was erupting nearby to the south-west, as president Nasser of Egypt in following days would get the better of his Western foes.

Undeterred by the setbacks, CIA subversive activities in Syria promptly resumed. In 1957 the CIA dispatched to Syria two of its agents, Howard “Rocky” Stone and Kermit Roosevelt Jr., another grandson of Theodore Roosevelt. Stone and Roosevelt Jr. had helped to organise the previously mentioned coups in Iran (Operation Ajax) and Guatemala (Operation Success), which led to such devastating results for those two countries.

Kennedy Jr. wrote,

“Flush from his Operation Ajax ‘success’ in Iran, Stone arrived in Damascus in April 1957 with $3 million to arm and incite Islamic militants, and to bribe Syrian military officers and politicians to overthrow al-Quwatli’s democratically elected secularist regime”.

Operation Straggle was reconstituted by the Americans under the new codename Operation Wappen. The CIA goals were to gather together right-wing elements in Syria’s officer corps, and bribe them with millions of dollars, along with ex-Syrian politicians exiled in neighbouring Lebanon.

The US Embassy in Damascus was now, however, under constant surveillance by anti-imperialist Syrian Army officers like Colonel Sarraj, who was an admirer of Nasser. Colonel Sarraj had prior knowledge of the coup’s development. The plan was further denounced by Syrian military personnel who refused to accept bribes to oust Quwatli. Stone, the CIA agent in Damascus, was arrested by Syria’s authorities and on television he confessed to the plot. US Ambassador Moose was expelled from Syria, with his tenure officially ending on 30 June 1957.

Eisenhower was seriously annoyed at this turn of events, as US-Syrian relations hit one of its all time lows in mid-1957. His administration in response sent the US Sixth Fleet to the Mediterranean Sea beside Syria. The Americans were contemplating a military attack against Syria, in order to install a Western-friendly leader.

Eisenhower considered the risks too great in the end. Following the failure of these latter coup attempts in Syria, Bandeira wrote,

“President Dwight Eisenhower and Allen Dulles had no alternative but to accept the defeat. An invasion in Syria could lead to a Soviet intervention in Turkey”.

American suspicions towards Syria did not abate in February 1958, when a union was formed that month between Syria and Egypt, called the United Arab Republic. Yet the alliance lasted for less than 4 years. It was undone on 28 September 1961, as a result of a section of the Syrian military being against subordination to Nasser in Cairo.

Following more instability in Syria and another succession of short-lived regimes, General Hafez-al Assad, tied to the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, took power in March 1971. He was the father of the present day Syrian leader. Over ensuing years, General Assad would have a difficult relationship with the US, in part due to his uncompromising stance towards Israel, which Syria shares a southern border with.

At the beginning of his long reign in 1971, General Assad agreed that year to the Soviet Union establishing a naval base in the Syrian city of Tartus, resting on the strategically important Mediterranean Sea. In many ways, Syria is a link between the Middle East and Europe, and the Russians continue to use this vital base of operations at Tartus.

From the 1970s onward, Washington made continued efforts to erode General Assad’s position. There was the 1982 Hama revolt in western Syria, which resulted in a decisive victory for Assad’s Syrian Army. This blood-soaked rebellion may well have been encouraged by both the US and its NATO ally Turkey, according to Bandeira. The efforts to oust Assad continually floundered; on separate occasions he crushed with an iron fist revolts enacted by the right-wing Muslim Brotherhood.

Ongoing US hostility towards Assad predictably pushed him closer to the Soviet Union. David W. Lesch, an expert in Middle East affairs wrote,

“As a function of its [Syria’s] cold war alliance with the Soviet bloc, and its traditional position as the most vehemently anti-Israeli Arab state, Syria has been perceived by Washington as an implacable foe for most of the period since World War II”.

In October 1980, Syria and the Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation, which was meant to last for 20 years. In November 1982, with the assumption to power of the 68-year-old Russian politician Yuri Andropov, the USSR shipped to Syria advanced missile systems and warned Israel “not to take any military action against Syria”. Russian military aid partly enabled the Syrians to defeat the US Expeditionary Force present in Lebanon.

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Shane Quinn obtained an honors journalism degree. He is interested in writing primarily on foreign affairs, having been inspired by authors like Noam Chomsky. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Sources

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “Why the Arabs Don’t Want Us in Syria”, Politico Magazine, 22 February 2016

James Barr, “Once Upon a Time, America needed Syria”, Foreign Policy, 18 September 2018

Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira, The World Disorder: US Hegemony, Proxy Wars, Terrorism and Humanitarian Catastrophes (Springer; 1st ed., 4 Feb. 2019)

Adam Hochschild, “The Untold Story of the Texaco Oil Tycoon Who Loved Fascism”, The Nation, 21 March 2016

Office Of The Historian, Instruction From the Department of State to the Embassy in Syria, 21 September 1956

Luiz Alberto Moniz Bandeira, The Second Cold War: Geopolitics and the Strategic Dimensions of the USA (Springer 1st ed., 23 June 2017)

Olivia B. Waxman, “The U.S. Intervened in Syria in 1949. Here’s What Happened”, Time Magazine, 13 April 2017

David W. Lesch, When the Relationship Went Sour: Syria and the Eisenhower Administration, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Winter 1998, Published by: Wiley, Jstor

Fred H. Lawson, “Karsh, The Soviet Union and Syria”, Middle East Report, March/April 1990

Featured image is from Mideast Discourse

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Order Mark Taliano’s Book “Voices from Syria” directly from Global Research.

Mark Taliano combines years of research with on-the-ground observations to present an informed and well-documented analysis that refutes  the mainstream media narratives on Syria. 

Voices from Syria 

ISBN: 978-0-9737147-9-1

Author: Mark Taliano

Year: 2017

Product Type: PDF File

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“The sun burned every day. It burned Time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burned things with the firemen and the sun burned Time, that meant that everything burned!” —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Annie Jacobson, in her book “Nuclear War: A Scenario,” describes the first few seconds of a one-megaton thermonuclear weapon detonating over an American city as beginning “with a flash of light and heat so tremendous it is impossible for the human mind to comprehend. 180 degrees Fahrenheit is four or five times hotter than the temperature that occurs at the center of the sun.” The fireball produced by this explosion is so intense “that concrete surfaces explode, metal objects melt or evaporate, stone shatters, humans instantaneously convert into combusting carbon.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, addressing the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) at a meeting held in the Kazakh capital of Astana this past Thursday, declared that Russia’s new intermediate-range ballistic missile, Oreshnik, which was used to strike a Ukrainian military production facility near the city of Dnipropetrovsk, possessed destructive power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon.

“Dozens of warheads, self-guided units attack the target at a speed of 10 Mach (ten times the speed of sound),” Putin said. “This is about three kilometers per second. The temperature of the striking elements reaches 4000 degrees. If my memory serves me right,” Putin noted, “the temperature on the surface of the Sun is 5,500-6000 degrees. Therefore, everything that is in the epicenter of the explosion is divided into fractions, into elementary particles, everything turns essentially into dust.”

In short, the Russian President declared the use of several Oreshnik missiles in one strike would be comparable in destructive power to a nuclear weapon.

The imagery presented in Annie Jacobson’s book is so utterly horrific as to surpass the ability of most humans to comprehend, let alone apply real-life examples that allow for a modicum of intellectual comprehension. As such, when Vladimir Putin made his analogous claim regarding the comparative destructive power of a hydrogen bomb and the Oreshnik missiles conventional warhead, one’s brain is deflected away from the unthinkable and toward the practical.

The Oreshnik missile attack against the Yuzmash factory outside Dnipropetrovsk produced stunning visual images of six separate impact “events,” each comprised of six luminescent “rods” impacting the factory grounds. The Russian government had alluded to the destruction caused by this attack as being devastating; the Ukrainians, on the other hand, have minimized the damage done as negligible.

Click here to read the full article. 

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Featured image: Illustration by Victoria Ritter and S. E. Poling, from Daydreams

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“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” 

by Michel Chossudovsky

Available to order from Global Research! 

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
Year: 2012
Pages: 102

PDF Edition:  $6.50 (sent directly to your email account!)

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute

Story:

• This Alberta woman’s daughter who has Down Syndrome, was almost killed by Alberta Health Services (AHS) in 2022 when she was hospitalized with breathing problems, put on a ventilator and doctors wanted to start Remdesivir.
• Alberta Health Services would have undoubtedly killed her in 2022, if mom didn’t intervene and refuse Remdesivir.
• Now, both are sick with a respiratory infection.
• Mom is taking 40mg of Ivermectin a day and giving 30mg to daughter.

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Another Tool for Infections – Chlorine Dioxide 

• I had a bad flu a few months ago and it wasn’t going away with a few days of Ivermectin.
• I remember trying Chlorine Dioxide out of curiosity and it was gone in what seemed like 24 hours but may have been 2 days.
• This was a nasty flu (or COVID) that had lingered for a couple of weeks and it seemed Ivermectin was not bringing it down.

.

Chlorine Dioxide was used successfully in South America (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador) for severe COVID-19.

.

.

Result

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My Take…

Alberta Health Services has killed 10,000s of Albertans since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In 2023, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith ordered a review of the handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic by Dr.Gary Davidson (a promise she ran on) but his Committee was stonewalled as AHS lawyers refused to hand over crucial COVID-19 pandemic data.

To this day, no one at AHS has been held accountable for the patient deaths AHS caused. This includes COVID-19 Vaccine injuries & deaths, including pregnant women and children.

About 6000 Albertans were killed due to AHS blocking Early COVID-19 Treatments like Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine, or due to AHS putting patients on ventilators and Remdesivir (a discredited practice AHS continues to this day).

This young woman would have been one of AHS’s victims in 2022 had her mother not refused Remdesivir, saving her life.

She remains in danger any time she goes to the hospital, as AHS is liable to kill her if they get their hands on her and try to put her on Remdesivir again.

Albertans are avoiding AHS doctors and hospitals like the plague.

Cancer patients are not getting proper Cancer Care from AHS. No one is held responsible in this lawless province.

Avoid the hospitals if you can. Your life may depend on it.

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Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.

Today, (November 30), the Syrian military said that the large number terrorists, who launched a broad attack from multiple axes on Aleppo and Idlib fronts using heavy weapons and large number of drones, and the multiple fronts of engagement have  forced the army to redeploy with the aim of strengthening the defense lines in to contain the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack.

It added that  dozens of its armed forces were martyred and others were wounded during the battles, according to the statement issued by the Syrian General Command of the Army and Armed Forces, which was published by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

The statement affirmed that the redeployment is a temporary measure and the army will work by all possible means to ensure the security and safety of the people in the city of Aleppo, and will continue its operations and carry out its national duty in confronting terrorist organizations to expel them and re-control the entire city and its countryside.

It underlined that terrorist groups  had not been able to establish fixed positions in Aleppo city due to the army’s continued bombardment of their positions.

In this context, Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV channel reported today that Militants are deployed in about 60% of Aleppo’s area and are imposing a curfew on residents in their areas of deployment until further notice.

Yesterday, French humanitarian Pierre Le Corf, who has been in Aleppo for 9 years stressed that the large-scale attack, which started two days ago on Aleppo governorate, was launched by around 15-20 thousands terrorists of Syrian and foreign nationalities and foreign intelligence bodies.

He expects a street war in Aleppo as many terrorist groups infiltrated into the city of Aleppo and terrified people there.

”I saw many terrorists, who were trying to get within the city center.. I hope that they will not arrive to the center of Aleppo city… It will be a long night I think,” added Le Corf.

He indicated that the current terrorist attack has been very well-organized at a specific point of time.

Ahmad, who is living with his family in Aleppo city, told us that the people who live near the lines of engagement have left their homes and moved to other places. Meanwhile, many people in other areas in Aleppo got into their cars and fled, because the scenario was very similar to that of the fall of Idlib…. The infiltration of some terrorists from one side of the front due to betrayal was coincided with the awakening of sleeper cells in various places inside Aleppo. Videos were filmed for a few seconds and distributed, and the people of Aleppo believed them. So they left their homes.

Another citizen from Aleppo, Edward, said that a lot of people are awaiting for buses to pick them up to other governorate through safe road as the international highway is closed because of the terrorist attacks.

Today, the Syrian army announced that its forces successfully thwarted a large-scale attack by armed groups from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the rural regions of Aleppo and Idlib provinces in northern Syria.

In a statement, the army said the HTS — an al-Qaeda-linked extremist organization — has launched attacks using various heavy and medium weapons, including drones provided by its foreign allies.

“Our armed forces have inflicted heavy losses to the attacking groups, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries among the terrorists,” the statement said, adding, “We have destroyed dozens of vehicles and armored units and have downed 17 drones.”

The army is reinforcing its positions on various frontlines to prevent further breaches, the statement noted.

It also accused the HTS of disseminating misleading information and videos aimed at alarming the civilian population in Aleppo, urging citizens to rely solely on official national media for accurate information.

Four civilians were killed and several university students were injured on Friday (November 29) when the armed militant groups fired shells at a dormitory complex in Aleppo city, state news agency SANA reported.

For his part, Oleg Yegnasiyuk, Deputy Head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria declared that at least 400 terrorist militants linked to Jabhat al-Nusra were killed during their attack on SAA positions in the Aleppo and Idlib countrysides on November 27.

In a press conference, Yegnasiyuk confirmed that the terrorist groups suffered heavy losses in both personnel and equipment while attacking the SAA. He noted that the Syrian army is “fighting fiercely, supported by the Russian Air Force.”

13 terrorist attacks were recorded against Syrian government forces (Syrian Army and allied units) in the Idlib “de-escalation zone,” including 12 in Idlib province and one in Aleppo province.

Meanwhile, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Syria reported that armed groups operating west of Aleppo have unveiled the use of an advanced drone, reportedly acquired from Kiev’s intelligence services.

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All images in this article are from Mark Taliano

The rate of myopia progression among Chicago-area kids more than doubled during the COVID-19 lockdowns when compared to the same kids during the year before the lockdowns, according to a new peer-reviewed study.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is growing more common among children, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Though estimates vary, nearly half of the world’s population is expected to have myopia by 2050.

The study authors — who published their findings on Nov. 18 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology— looked at eye exam results of 2,064 Chicago-area kids ages 2-17 from January 2019 through March 2021.

They compared the differences in exam results from 2019 to 2020 — before the COVID-19 lockdowns — with the differences in exam results from 2020 to 2021 when COVID-19 lockdowns were in effect.

Through statistical analyses, they found “a substantial worsening” of myopia progression “during the period of home confinement and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Specifically, the change in myopia progression rates from 2020 to 2021 was more than double (2.2 times greater) the change from 2019 to 2020.

“The greatest increase in myopia prevalence was seen in younger elementary school-aged children, particularly in 8-year-olds, and also in 17-year-olds,” they said.

The authors said their findings align with prior research showing that kids who spend lots of time indoors reading and looking at screens tend to have worsening eyesight. They also cited prior research showing that spending time outdoors typically prevents and mitigates myopia.

The researchers concluded that COVID-19 pandemic policies — including school closures and cancellation of outdoor group sports — likely played a role in the uptick in myopia progression.

Online learning methods — and increased screen time and less outdoor time — have persisted despite the end of COVID-19 lockdowns, they said. Their evidence suggests that may be a problem when it comes to kids’ eye health.

The authors of the study called for a reduction in kids’ online learning because of its associated screen time and lack of outdoor activity.

8-year-olds and 17-year-olds Saw Biggest Jump

The new research adds weight to the argument that lockdowns harmed kids and teens. In September, University of Washington researchers found that COVID-19 lockdowns accelerated the aging of teenagers’ brains.

For this new study, researchers with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago examined how lockdowns affected the eyesight of children and teens.

They looked at data from Chicago-area kids and teens who completed a cycloplegic refraction — a vision test using eye drops to relax the eye muscles — at a tertiary children’s hospital in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

They compared the differences in exam results between these years as a way of examining whether there was a heightened increase in the progression of myopia among children during the lockdowns.

They explained:

“Exams performed in January, February, and March of 2021 took place after the pediatric population experienced remote learning since city-wide public school closures began March 17, 2020.

“Exams from January, February, and March of 2019 and 2020 reflect data before the major lifestyle changes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thus, patients seen in the early months of 2019 and 2020 serve as ‘control’ patients, and patients seen in the same early months of 2021 serve as ‘behavior change experiment’ patients.”

They found that the rate of increased myopia from 2020 to 2021 was more than double that of the rate from 2019 to 2020.

From 2020 to 2021, kids ages 8 and 17 saw the greatest increase (25%).

The uptick stood in stark contrast to the year before the COVID-19 lockdowns during which both ages saw a decrease in myopia, they said. From 2019 to 2020, 8-year-olds saw a 1% decrease and 17-year-olds saw a 24% decrease.

Moreover, kids who were already myopic in 2019 were typically the ones who reported the greatest worsening of their eyesight.

The study authors also compared the kids’ exam results by education level. They looked at the myopia prevalence among elementary-level kids versus middle schoolers versus high schoolers.

Elementary-level kids had the greatest increase (10%) in prevalence during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

However, the authors noted that it’s not just young kids who are at risk. “The notable increase in myopia prevalence in 17-year-olds in 2021 is an unexpected finding,” they said, “as older children are thought to be less plastic.”

Their data suggest it’s important to reduce screen time and increase outdoor activity not only for younger children but older kids and adolescents, too.

They also called for more research on the long-term impact of increased screen time and decreased outdoor activities on kids’ vision.

The study authors noted a limitation of the study is that it lacked exact measurements of screen time hours and outdoor activity hours.

Instead, the authors used the timeline of official education guidelines to infer the extent to which kids shifted from in-person learning and normal outdoor activities to online learning and restricted outdoor activities.

“Given the lack of direct measurements, our interpretations and conclusions are made with caution,” they said.

The study was funded by a grant from the nonprofit Research to Prevent Blindness.

The Defender reached out to the study’s corresponding author but did not receive a response by the deadline.

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Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., is a reporter and researcher for The Defender based in Fairfield, Iowa.

Featured image is from CHD

Donald Trump has repeatedly announced he is preparing a war against drug cartels, and James Bosworth, a global fellow at the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, argues that Trump’s threats should be taken seriously.

There is in any case a larger context to Donald Trump’s “war on drugs” promises: he has after all vowed to employ the military for mass deportations (of illegal migrants) and to do so, he plans to declare “national emergency” – the plan does not rule out deporting whole families altogether. Several immigration “hard-liners” have been tapped by Trump to serve in his future administration (he will take the oath in January 2025). Such measures would be a great shift for the US military, normally not involved with domestic law enforcement matters. It has been tried before, though: the so-called Operation Wetback, under then President Eisenhower, in 1954, deported around 1 million Mexicans and even some US Americans of Mexican descent.

This might not be just about providing a very harsh answer to illegal migration and border problems (such as the Fentanyl crisis). Trump has at times even promised that thousands of American troops from overseas would be moved to the border. Think about it: mobilizing the military domestically and declaring a “national emergency” is a great way to increase one’s own power. And, as I wrote before, Trump’s war with part of the so-called “Deep State” is (to a large extent) all about that. It is about “taming” the intelligence services, expanding the Executive (as outlined in Project 2025) and boosting presidential powers.

Back to the border issues, in September 2023, Foreign Policy published a piece by Cato Institute’s researchers Justin Logan and Daniel Raisbeck about the (still ongoing) Fentanyl crisis. US Americans have long been facing an opioid crisis and a large share of the drug’s supply comes from Mexico. The issue fuels political tensions: for instance, American authorities have been vocally accusing Chinese companies of supplying Mexican cartels with the ingredients needed to manufacture fentanyl. In May 2023, Washington sanctioned 17 individuals and entities in China and Mexico over the issue. Amid American-Mexican tensions, increasingly heavy rhetoric against the Mexican cartels involved in this illegal trade has often included calls for “military solutions.”

Already in May 2024, Trump announced his plans to send “kill teams” to Mexico to “take out” cartel leaders. He is no lone voice on that, though. In August 2023, during the Republican Party presidential debate (before Donald Trump was made the party’s nominee), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promised to send US Special Forces into neighboring Mexico to combat drug cartels if elected president. Bryan Griffin, his spokesperson, elaborated the promise thusly: “Ron DeSantis will declare the cartels to be narco-terrorists, and change the rules of engagement on the border.

The full force of the federal government will be utilized to ensure that illegal drug flow is stopped, and he will bring to bear every tool he has to this end.” DeSantis did not make it to become his party’s nominee, but his statements back then go to show that this kind of rhetoric (which fails to take into consideration Mexico’s sovereignty) goes beyond Trump, and, in fact, Mexico is (no surprise here) a big part of the US debate on foreign policy.

Newly-sworn Mexican President Claudio Sheinbaum appears to have taken a more aggressive approach domestically towards Mexican cartels, employing Mexico’s military to combat them. However, thus far she has refused US security assistance and has even limited cooperation and intelligence-sharing since she took office in October. Putting it mildly, bilateral relations are not good right now – again, no surprise here.

Such typical American aggressiveness can only further alienate the neighboring country and push it away towards Beijing, for instance: Chinese pragmatic diplomacy after all contrasts quite dramatically to American belligerency. Mexican civilian authorities are not the only actors who could object to any such US incursion on their territory: we are talking about a heavily militarized nation, and this includes sophisticated and tremendously wealthy and heavily armed paramilitary groups such as the drug cartels themselves.

Any such cross-border militarization (with potential for some degree of armed confrontation) could have escalating consequences and unpredictable repercussions in terms of diplomatic and economic impacts, gang violence, and domestic and cross-border inter-ethnic tensions: the two countries not only share a 2,000-mile border but are also very much integrated, with Mexican-Americans being 11.2% of the US population in 2022. In Texas, 31.6% of the local population has Mexican ancestry

Besides the military and diplomatic angles (taken together with mass deportation plans impacting millions of people which would cost billions of dollars), there is a potential for economic disaster, as the two countries complement each other in this realm as well: for one thing, in 2021 Mexico was the US second largest trading partner, with a total of $725.7 billion goods and services trade. By July 2023, Mexico had already surpassed China, becoming the top trading partner.

In addition to that, Trump’s plans are sure to trigger a legal battle at home, lawsuits from state governors and so on. It also opens the room for some level of armed conflict with different actors with a neighboring country. The aforementioned James Bosworth warns that the potential for a “Blackhawk Down scenario” in which US troops “end up pinned down in a violent standoff with criminal forces or even Mexican troops defending the country’s sovereignty from US intervention—is real”, for a “simple’ operation” could “rapidly escalate into something more complex and deadly.”

He adds that Washington should also consider “potential responses by the cartels”, because “some Mexican criminal groups may decide to fight back and even escalate violence by targeting US interests, businesses and citizens”. Moreover, according to Bosworth, they can do “plenty of damage to US forces operating in Mexico, and they have the capabilities, weapons and personnel to take the fight into US territory in a way that al-Qaida and the Islamic State could only dream of.”

As is the case with so many belligerent US policies and plans, the risk lies in the unpredictability of escalation scenarios. One may only wonder whether such risks will be worth it, even from Trump’s perspective.

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Uriel Araujo, PhD, is an anthropology researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

The documentary “Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming” introduces Brigid LeFevre, who grew up in an Irish Camphill community practicing biodynamic farming; families lived with individuals with special needs and operated without monetary transactions

The documentary advocates separating food from market economics, arguing that forcing farmers to compete financially undermines sustainable land management and community well-being

LeFevre runs a CSA in Sweden focusing on fermented foods, which support gut and mental health while preserving harvest throughout the year for community members

The film emphasizes biodiversity’s importance in farming, contrasting it with harmful monocultures that deplete soil nutrients and increase pest problems in modern agriculture

Regenerative farming is presented as an alternative to industrial agriculture, emphasizing holistic practices, community involvement and long-term environmental stewardship over short-term profits

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The documentary “Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming” is a profound exploration of practices that not only restore our land but also enrich communities and personal well-being. This film explores the philosophies and methodologies that underpin regenerative farming, presenting a vision that starkly contrasts with the prevailing industrial agricultural models.

The documentary opens by introducing Brigid LeFevre, whose upbringing in Ireland forms the bedrock of her regenerative farming philosophy. “I grew up in a little oasis in Ireland,” LeFevre begins,¹ setting the stage for a narrative steeped in community and sustainability.

She was raised in a Camphill community — a village inspired by anthroposophical principles — where families lived together with individuals with special needs. This environment creates an inclusive and supportive atmosphere, emphasizing collective responsibility and mutual respect.

Life in the Camphill community was markedly different from conventional living. “My parents and everyone else worked voluntarily. There was no exchange of money at all,” LeFevre explains.²Instead of monetary transactions, the community relied on voluntary labor and a shared sense of responsibility.

This system not only reduced financial stress but also strengthened communal bonds, creating a self-sufficient and harmonious living environment. The community operated a biodynamic farm and a store, all maintained through collective effort and a deep respect for the land.

Embracing Biodynamic Farming and Self-Sufficiency

Biodynamic farming emphasizes holistic and sustainable agricultural practices that enhance soil fertility, increase biodiversity and promote ecological balance. Biodynamic methods go beyond organic farming by incorporating spiritual and holistic practices, aiming to create a self-sustaining ecosystem.

One of the most striking aspects of the Camphill community is its separation of food from the economic market. “The question of a market connected to food is completely … It was never part of my childhood, and it’s not part of the Camphill model,” LeFevre explains.³ By eliminating monetary transactions in favor of a system based on need and contribution, the community minimizes the pressures and distortions often introduced by market forces.

This radical approach creates a more authentic and sustainable relationship with the land. Without the constant drive for profit and efficiency, the community prioritizes long-term ecological health over short-term gains.

“Separating food from the market is definitely a lesson … to put pressure on the people who are maintaining land, providing food and habitat, forcing them to know about and engage in the economic market and competition, I think is crazy,” LeFevre asserts.⁴

This perspective challenges the conventional economic paradigms that often lead to environmental degradation and social inequities, advocating instead for a model that values sustainability and community well-being over financial profit.

The Camphill community exemplifies the strength of inclusive and collaborative living. The integration of individuals with special needs within the farming community is not just a matter of accommodation but a source of profound enrichment. By valuing every member’s contributions, the community builds resilient networks that support both personal well-being and collective environmental goals. 

Living with Complexity — Embracing the Interconnectedness of Life

A recurring theme throughout the documentary is the capacity to “stay with the trouble.” This concept involves acknowledging and embracing the inherent complexity and difficulty of our current environmental and social challenges. “We have to be able to stay with the trouble. Stay with it. It’s really hard, complicated and complex,” LeFevre emphasizes, advocating for a nuanced understanding of our interconnectedness with nature.⁵

Instead of seeking simplistic solutions or succumbing to despair, regenerative farming encourages a deep engagement with the multifaceted realities of life. The narrative highlights the beauty and complexity of existence — from the intricate structure of a flower to the processes that shape our cities and landscapes.

“The amazing beauty of a flower. The knowledge that cities are created out of destroyed mountains,” LeFevre reflects,⁶ underscoring the profound connections between human activity and the natural world. By holding space for these multifaceted realities, individuals can cultivate a deeper sense of connection and responsibility towards the environment.

Fermentation Is a Living Process for Health and Sustainability

LeFevre runs a community supported agriculture (CSA) operation in Järna, Sweden, named “Förädlad.” The CSA model is a cornerstone of regenerative farming, building a direct relationship between farmers and consumers. Members of the community invest in the farm by purchasing shares of the harvest, which in return receive fresh, locally grown produce.

An intriguing aspect explored in the documentary is the role of fermentation in regenerative farming and the CSA model. LeFevre’s focus on fermenting the harvest serves as a means to enrich food with nutritious lactic acid bacteria.

Fermented foods support a healthy gut microbiome, which is key for overall health. “Eating fermented food helps your physical and mental health. Because it makes your stomach happy and that makes your brain happy,” LeFevre notes, aligning with emerging scientific evidence that links gut health to overall well-being.

Fermented foods are depicted not just as dietary choices but as active engagements with the microbial world. “For me, the amazing thing with fermented food is that you’re so actively participating in the real world,” LeFevre explains,⁷ highlighting fermentation as a process that acknowledges and collaborates with countless microorganisms.

By creating environments conducive to beneficial microbes, regenerative farmers harness natural processes to enhance food quality and longevity, reducing the need for artificial preservatives and interventions. Fermentation also serves as a means of preserving the harvest, ensuring food availability throughout the year.

“We aim for everything to be ready in the autumn, so we can take care of it, and store it. And give to our members throughout the year,” LeFevre shares.⁸ This approach not only supports food security but also aligns with the principles of sustainability by minimizing waste and promoting resource efficiency.

Biodiversity — The Cornerstone of Resilient Farming

Biodiversity is a fundamental principle of regenerative agriculture, serving as the cornerstone for resilient and sustainable farming systems. The documentary contrasts the rich diversity found in regenerative farms with the detrimental effects of monocultures.

“Monocultures, where you have many of just one plant, is incredibly draining on soil,” LeFevre explains,⁹ pointing out how monocultures deplete soil nutrients and disrupt ecological balance.

Diverse crop systems support a wider range of wildlife, enhance soil fertility and reduce vulnerability to pests and diseases.

“There’s a huge problem with different insects that attack cabbage … due to the fact that nearby are many monocultures,” LeFevre notes, illustrating how monocultures exacerbate pest issues and undermine crop health.

By growing a variety of plants, regenerative farmers create ecosystems that are more resilient and self-sustaining, reducing the need for chemical interventions and promoting natural harmony. The loss of plant varieties over the last century is another concern highlighted in the documentary.

“We’ve minimized and lost so many varieties of plants. Just within the last 100 years,”¹⁰ LeFevre laments, underscoring the importance of preserving and cultivating diverse plant species to maintain ecological balance and ensure long-term agricultural viability.

The documentary positions regenerative agriculture as a necessary evolution in our approach to farming and environmental stewardship, involving not only crop diversification but also soil enrichment, water conservation and the integration of livestock in ways that support ecological balance.

Cultivating a Regenerative Future

The documentary does not shy away from critiquing the industrial farming model, highlighting its environmental and social repercussions. LeFevre articulates a somber view of the future under industrial agriculture: “There is no future for the large-scale industrial farming model. We all know it. Even though we’re forging on.”¹¹

Industrial farming’s emphasis on scale and efficiency often leads to environmental degradation, including deforestation, soil erosion and loss of biodiversity.

“We’ve already destroyed all of Europe. No, that was dramatic. We haven’t destroyed Europe. But we’ve done a lot of deforesting and degradation,” LeFevre clarifies, emphasizing the ongoing damage caused by industrial practices.

This critique serves as a stark warning about the unsustainable trajectory of current agricultural systems and underscores the urgent need to shift toward regenerative practices. While the documentary presents a hopeful vision for regenerative agriculture, it also acknowledges the complexity and uncertainty of the path forward.

“I hope the future is something beyond my capacity to imagine it. I hope it’s beautiful,” LeFevre shares,¹² expressing both hope and humility in the face of future challenges.

The future, as envisioned in the film, is one where regenerative practices become the norm, driven by a collective commitment to environmental stewardship and social equity. This requires reimagining our relationship with the land, embracing complexity and building communities that prioritize long-term well-being over short-term gains.

“Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming” resonates deeply with the principles of holistic health and sustainable living that I advocate for, underscoring the interconnectedness of our health, our communities and our environment.

Embracing the wisdom of regenerative farming offers a pathway to a more balanced and harmonious existence. This documentary is not just an exploration of farming practices; it’s a reminder of our responsibility to nurture the Earth and each other, ensuring a thriving planet for generations to come.

*

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Notes

¹ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 2:54

² YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 3:02

³ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 3:38

⁴ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 3:58

⁵ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 0:28

⁶ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 0:49

⁷ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 22:00

⁸ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 10:16

⁹ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 18:01

¹⁰ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 19:11

¹¹ YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 19:48

¹² YouTube, Campfire Stories, Into the Soil: The Wisdom of Regenerative Farming October 3, 2022, 26:15

The topic of corruption in Ukraine is once again surfacing. According to a The Times story written by their Kyiv’s correspondent Maxim Tucker, the country has “failed to build bunkers for electricity substations that protect them from Russian airstrikes” thereby leaving “the country vulnerable before the winter.” To “prevent the collapse of its energy system,” Ukraine is for now having to rely on” British-supplied gabions — rudimentary rock-filled cages”, as well as “anti-air attack systems provided by its western partners.”

Tucker acknowledges the presence of British military and intelligence personnel (including engineers) operating in Ukraine, which, among other things, helped create concrete structures to protect energy grid locations against Russian attacks amid the ongoing conflict. According to the journalist, the British warned their Ukrainian “colleagues” that they should build extra structures, which has not happened: “nine months later, President Zelensky’s government has not done so, amid accusations that government corruption has stalled the work.” In fact, around 80 per cent of the country’s energy infrastructure is currently damaged or ruined.

The situation is so bad that even the head of Ukraine’s State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development resigned. Mustafa Nayyem directed the government agency tasked with preserving strategic infrastructure, and he had requested €1.4 billion for “third-level protection” bunkers used in substations. The funds were blocked, due to (he claims) “vested interests” having to do with bribes no longer being paid to Kyiv’s officers:

“It was impossible to work. When you see that the leadership of the government is creating some artificial obstacles for you, it’s useless… They [the government] didn’t pay contractors; the contractors stopped all projects.”

Nayyem’s successor, Sergiy Sukhomlyn, is then quoted as saying that contractors had been expecting “too much profit” and so the Agency was renegotiating their contracts, redesigning some of the defence structures to cut costs. The Times news piece goes on to describe how contractors are allegedly harassed by Ukrainian officials:

“One of the leading Ukrainian building companies involved in the substation protection contracts has had its offices raided by officials who, it says, acted without a warrant, seizing computers, telephones and documents. The company also said the government had failed to release the funds needed for them to build the bunkers.”

In September, Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Volodymyr Kudrytsky, the chief executive of Ukraine’s state energy company, over summer power cuts. This has only consolidated more power with Zelensky’s own Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak and his own people. According to a Business Insider (BI) story, Yermak is Zelensky’s “right-hand man” as well as the country’s “real power broker”. He is described as having consolidated a new corrupt oligarchy under Ukrainian martial law.

The December 2023 piece then describes how Washington was demanding “numerous reforms the White House expected Kyiv to make in return for continued financial assistance from the United States”, including “ beefed-up supervision of state-owned enterprises in the energy sector”. None of it happened and the American money kept on flowing – but this could change pretty soon with the new US presidency.

Still according to BI, during the former Donald Trump administration in fact Yermak, “then an advisor to Zelensky, was dispatched to meet with Rudy Giuliani, who on Trump’s behalf was pushing Kyiv to investigate Hunter Biden’s ties to Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm.” At the time Yermak did promise Zelensky would pledge to investigate Burisma (a holding  company for energy exploration that employed Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden). It never happened.

Corruption also plays a role in American geoeconomic interests in Eastern Europe and I wrote before about Joe Biden’s own family shady dealing in Ukraine. Back to Yermak, one of his lieutenants, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, is described as still being a kind of “gatekeeper” for government building projects – Tymoshenko was the President’s deputy head of office, but resigned last year under pressure amid an anti-corruption campaign. He remains a political force, however.

Far from being an isolated scandal, the systemic problem of corruption in Ukraine has been a pressing issue. As Tucker puts it, it has been one of the major obstacles to the country’s goal of joining the European Union. Corruption is far from being the only matter, though. The other obstacles include lack of democracy (with the opposition having been banned), and lack of transparency.

Another issue, as I wrote before, are the civil rights problems – which relegate minorities such as Russians to second-class status, according to scholars like Nicolai N. Petro, a professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island, who was a US Fulbright scholar in Ukraine in 2013-2014. This is a problem also acknowledged by the European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission. This European body, among other things, has recommended that Kyiv revise the State Language Law, and take “positive action” to enable ethnic “minorities to assert their specific identity” in order to comply with the ECHR human rights standards.

I’ve argued that the “Ukrainian Question” in fact is a challenge to the very idea of Europe (as it envisions itself).  It “short-circuits”, so to speak, some of the key values of the West itself: in other words, by welcoming post-Maidan Ukraine as “uno de noi”, the European bloc thereby denies much of the human-rights narrative that is supposed to be the core and even the raison d’être of its main institutions. It is true that the West is no stranger to hypocrisy, and thus has been more than willing to turn a blind to the fascist and neo-Nazi elements of Ukrainian nationalism (and even to whitewash it). With endemic corruption however, there lies a structural issue that impacts the economy and now is even sabotaging warfare efforts.

From Kyiv’s perspective, the situation of course should not get any better with a US Republican administration under Donald Trump curbing aid. With oligarchic corruption, chauvinistic nationalism, an unwinnable war pushed by the West, an energy crisis and the upcoming winter, things are not looking good for Ukrainian civilians who keep leaving the country in large numbers to escape the harsher news conscription laws.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Uriel Araujo, PhD, is an anthropology researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

Describing Russia’s new Oreshnik hypersonic multiple non-nuclear warhead missile, which destroyed a Ukrainian military aerospace facility, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said:

“I think it’s like the ancient warriors who used to beat their swords against their shields to intimidate their adversaries. The missiles Putin is talking about were recently tested. They are old missiles. There is nothing new about them. They are retouched missiles, in short, they have retouched missiles that they had to try to frighten the Ukrainian adversary”.

It would therefore be, as Italian daily newspaper Il Tempo headlines, a ‘Putin bluff’. But the reality is described by an arms expert, Pietro Batacchi, editor of the Italian magazine Defence, in an article titled “Back to the Euromissiles and the darkest days of the Cold War”:

“Europe is suddenly back in the darkest days of the Cold War. The Russian ‘pre-nuclear’ demonstration strike – as we called it – demonstrated the availability in Moscow’s arsenal of a new intermediate-range missile equipped with multiple independent re-entry vehicle (MIRV) warheads’.”

To understand the seriousness of the situation that Mr. Tajani is trying to conceal by telling the Italians about “old missiles that have been repainted”, it’s first necessary to understand what Euromissiles are.  They are missiles with a range of between 499 km and 5,000 km that the United States deployed in Europe in the 1980s: Pershing 2 ballistic missiles in West Germany and Tomahawk cruise missiles in Italy (at Comiso), the United Kingdom, West Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, against which the Soviet Union countered with SS-20 ballistic missiles deployed on its territory in European Russia. This very dangerous category of nuclear weapons, designed for close nuclear combat, had been eliminated by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed in 1987 by Presidents Gorbachev and Reagan. In 2014, when the Maidan Square coup triggered NATO’s new confrontation with Russia, the Obama administration accused Moscow, without any evidence, of testing a cruise missile of the banned category, and in 2019 (during the Trump administration) the US withdrew from the INF Treaty.

Since then, the US has resumed production of intermediate-range missiles to be deployed in Europe close to Russia, disguising them as missiles intended to protect Europe from the ‘Russian nuclear threat’. Russia responded by producing missiles like the Oreshnik to be deployed in the European part of its territory. The fact remains that while US intermediate-range missiles deployed in Europe can hit Moscow within minutes of launch, similar missiles deployed by Russia in the European part of its territory can hit European capitals but not Washington.

Having understood this scenario, it is crucial to understand the destructive power of the arsenals of the two major nuclear powers, the US and Russia. This is shown to us in the documentary ‘The True Scale Of Modern Nuclear Weapons’ by the US channel Science Time which, based on precise scientific data, shows what the effects of a US nuclear attack on Moscow and Beijing and a Russian nuclear attack on San Francisco and New York would be.

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This article was originally published in Italian on Grandangolo, Byoblu TV.

Manlio Dinucci, award winning author, geopolitical analyst and geographer, Pisa, Italy. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).  

Featured image source

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“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” 

by Michel Chossudovsky

Available to order from Global Research! 

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
Year: 2012
Pages: 102

PDF Edition:  $6.50 (sent directly to your email account!)

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute

Video: Say No to Nuclear War! Peace on the Planet

By Drago Bosnic and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, December 01, 2024

This interview of Drago Bosnic by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky focuses on the dangers of nuclear war. Bosnic, an independent geopolitical and military analyst, examines nuclear policies as well as the military dimensions and nature of these bombs.

When Is a Ceasefire Not a Ceasefire?

By Philip Giraldi, December 02, 2024

We are possibly witnessing another stealthy move by Washington and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to enhance the Israeli position in a Middle East at war while pretending to do something else. 

The War on Gaza: A New Global Order in the Making?

By Amir Nour, December 02, 2024

With regard to the Middle East region, the U.S. envisions “A more integrated Middle East that empowers our allies and partners” and advance “regional peace and prosperity, while reducing the resource demands the region makes on the United States over the long term.”

Giving Peace a Chance? Trump’s Cabinet Picks Are Neocons, Warmongers, and Pro-Zionist Fanatics

By Timothy Alexander Guzman, December 02, 2024

Trump claims that he wants peace, but his cabinet choices says that he is planning a war against Iran.  So, with Trump resuming office in January, the world is heading into uncertain times. 

Who’s Cheating with Nuclear Power? Let’s Find Out About the Game Gates. Manlio Dinucci

By Manlio Dinucci, December 02, 2024

The US has resumed production of intermediate-range missiles to be deployed in Europe close to Russia, disguising them as missiles intended to protect Europe from the ‘Russian nuclear threat’. Russia responded by producing missiles like the Oreshnik to be deployed in the European part of its territory.

Simulation of World War III: Vigilant Shield 07 War Games Scenario (Declassified). The Four Enemies of America Are Ruebek, Churya, Irmingham, Nemazee

By William M Arkin, December 01, 2024

This important article by renowned geopolitical analyst William Arkin first published in 2006 (Washington Post blog)  reveals the details pertaining a declassified World War III scenario implemented by US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM).

Iraq War: How the U.S. Contaminated Iraq with Depleted Uranium

By Prof Souad N. Al-Azzawi, December 01, 2024

Hundreds of tons of (DU) expenditure have been fired & exploded on Iraqi highly populated areas like Basrah, Baghdad, Nasriya, Dewania, Samawa, and other cities. Exploration programs and site measurements by Iraqi and non-Iraqi researchers all proved the existence of (DU) related contamination over most Iraqi territories.

President-elect Donald J. Trump will hit the ground running on January 21^st, 2025.  Trump has made his choices for the top spots at the Department of State, the Pentagon and the CIA.  Let’s keep in mind that Trump can replace or fire any of his cabinet picks down the road if of course, they are confirmed by the senate.  So far, it seems that Trump has flushed his peace proposals down the toilet with his latest picks.

First and formost, for the state of Israel, it really did not matter who would have won the US Presidential elections, whether it was Donald J. Trump (which they preferred) or Kamala Harris who was just as Pro-Israel as most US politicians who are bought and paid by the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC). The majority of politicians, whether Democrat or Republican believe that Israel has a right to exist on what was once called Palestine, so the reality is that Israel won the election. The one person who is extremely happy that Trump won the election is no other than Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu who recently said that

“In the last few days, I spoke three times with President-Elect Donald Trump. These were very good and important conversations. Talks designed to further tighten the strong alliance between Israel and the USA. We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat, on all its components, and the danger posed by it.”

Trump claims that he wants peace, but his cabinet choices says that he is planning a war against Iran.  So, with Trump resuming office in January, the world is heading into uncertain times.  Iran is about to retaliate for Israel’s latest attack and government officials in Tel Aviv are very concerned. It is certain that Israel will prepare to retaliate once Trump is in office, but what will that look like?  We don’t know, but it is not just about Iran being in Washington’s hit list, because Russia, Belarus, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the new BRICS alliance will most likely on that same list as well.

Peace is not on the agenda with Trump’s new cabinet picks because they want the US to be ultimate hegemon, the power that rules the world with an iron fist but the times have changed. Trump’s team will push for wars, regime change and economic sanctions, so in other words, nothing will change since his cabinet has been filled with neocons, warhawks and Pro-Israel extremists.

Meet Trump’s New Cabinet, Same as the Old Cabinet

Trump has selected several people for important cabinet positions related to US foreign policy and it does not look good for any sort of peace deal, especially in the Middle East.

Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State is a senator from Florida and a neocon warmonger, Marco Rubio.  This pick suggests that Trump was looking for another Mike Pompeo and found him.  Rubio is a strong supporter of Israel, so much so that he has an Israeli flag next to the American flag outside of his office.  Rubio has supported Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank and other Palestinan territories.  Rubio has shamelessly defended Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and Lebanon.

In 2003, Rubio supported the US invasion of Iraq, and the US-NATO led war on Libya which was orchestrated by the Obama regime.  Rubio supports harsh sanctions and regime change in Iran and in Syria.  He also supported Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. Rubio seeks regime change or wars against several Latin American countries including Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and whoever else opposes US influence on the continent.

Rubio is also a China hawk, so he supports sending more US troops in the Asia-Pacific region to send China a “message.” 

Rubio also got involved in the internal affairs of China.  A report by DW.com, ‘Could Marco Rubio champion human rights in Southeast Asia?’ said that in 2018, Rubio co-sponsored legislation based on “the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which seeks to deny entry into the United States to any Chinese officials who prohibit US citizens from entering Tibet, a territory claimed by China.”  Rubio also “introduced legislation sanctioning China for its repression of the minority Uyghur population and the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong. The Chinese government responded by blacklisting Rubio.”

The bottom line is that Senator Marco Rubio is a neocon warmonger that would advise Trump on going to war rather than seeking a constructive peace deal.  Rubio is a horrible choice that will likely be confirmed by his many friends from both sides of the aisle in the senate.

Elise Stefanik, another pro-Zionist neocon who was nominated by Trump to become US Ambassador to the United Nations. She is a clone of the last US ambassador, Nikki Haley. Stefanik once worked with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a pro-Israel neocon think tank.

To understand Stefanik’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, all you need to do is read her statement she posted on her website on September 23^rd, 2024 based on Israel’s “right to defend itself”:

“Last week, the United Nations overwhelmingly passed a disgraceful antisemitic resolution to demand that Israel surrender to barbaric terrorists who seek the destruction of both Israel and America. Once again, the UN’s antisemitic rot is on full display as it punishes Israel for defending itself and rewards Iranian-backed terrorists.

Instead of deplorably targeting the legitimacy of the state of Israel, the UN should be demanding that Hamas release every hostage and start enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to stop Hezbollah’s endless Iranian-backed terrorist attacks. As the UN’s General Assembly occurs this week in New York, the Biden-Harris Administration must call out the UN’s extreme antisemitism and moral depravity and unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself against both brutal terrorists and biased international organizations”

We know where all of this is going.  Stefanik visited the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem in May and here is just part of what she said:

Today, I stand before you not just as a leader in the United States Congress, but as a lifelong admirer, supporter, and true friend of Israel and the Jewish people.  You see I am lucky enough to have had the privilege of traveling here many times before, but I must confess that this time feels different. 

The stakes are higher. Our sense of moral, patriotic duty feels heightened, renewed. 

226 days ago, we witnessed the most vicious, brutal attack on Israel and the Jewish people since the Holocaust, a barbaric terrorist attack that claimed more than 1,200 innocent lives. Civilian women, children, and the elderly were ripped from their homes and massacred. Raped — Beheaded — Jewish families were bound together and burned. Babies burned alive. Atrocities of humanity.  We must never forget, and we must never relent

Stefanik repeated Israeli talking points about how the elderly and children were massacred, raped and beheaded which all turned out to be lies. Stefanik is another Nikki Haley, there is no doubt about that, and she will be most likely confirmed by the senate.

Mike Huckabee is Trump’s pick for U.S. Ambassador to Israel is a non-Jewish candidate for the position, but that does not matter because Huckabee, a former Arkansas Governor is an evangelical Christian supporter of Israel and that’s all that matters.

This guy should be in an insane asylum.  The things that came out of this man’s mouth is a sign that the Palestinians will be a major target of the Trump regime.

The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) “In 2008, Huckabee said:

“There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian. You have Arabs and Persians. And there’s such complexity in that. But there’s really no such thing. That’s been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”

Mike Huckabee sounded like what Golda Meir, the former Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974 who was interviewed by the London Sunday Times on June 15^th, 1969, and she said that

“There was no such thing as Palestinians. When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either Southern Syria, before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine, including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country from them. They did not exist.”

Al Jazeera reported on what Trump said about Huckabee who has similar beliefs as his former US ambassador from Trump’s first term, David Friedman:

After his appointment, Trump released a statement in which he said Huckabee “loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”

His appointment demonstrates a “very hawkish, very pro-right-wing Israel” approach by the Trump administration, Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel at the Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera.  He said Huckabee’s appointment is similar to that of David Friedman, who served as US Ambassador to Israel between 2017 and 2021 and supports Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

Huckabee will also be most likely confirmed for the ambassadorship with the pro-Israel senate.

Rep. Mike Waltz from Florida is a nominee for Trump’s National Security Advisor who served more than 26 years in the Army as a Special Forces officer with tours in Afghanistan, Africa and the Middle East.  Waltz was a defense policy director for secretaries of defense under Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates who both served under former US President and war criminal, George W. Bush.  Walz also served as Dick Cheney’s counterterrorism advisor.

For Trump’s peace plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, here is what Waltz said

“I think a second Trump term will be energy policy and the fact is that sanctions haven’t been enforced on Russia. They’re selling more oil and gas through China and India than they ever did even before the war, their war machine is flush with cash. President Trump is, I think going to get him to the table very quickly because if he enforces those sanctions, the old adage, Russia is a little more than a gas station with nukes, absolutely holds true.”

So Waltz is for increasing sanctions on Russia which is a form of economic warfare.

Waltz has called for a “new Monroe Doctrine” to counter the rise of China in Latin America.  He suggests an active role by US officials to counter China’s economic and military presence in Latin America, so Walz wants a US military build-up to confront Beijing’s influence.  Not only does he want to increase US military presence in certain regions to send a message to China, he wants to arm Taiwan to defend itself from China.

Waltz is also a full-fledged supporter of Israel.  In an interview on FOX News, Waltz spoke about a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and he said that the Biden regime is “focused on the wrong place,”meaning they should be focused on Iran.  Waltz also said that Iran is “flush with cash.”  He also said that neither Hamas nor Iran want peace.

Waltz repeats what other Pro-Israel politicians in Washington have said in the past regarding Israel’s security,

“So, the administration, Biden and Harris, have sold themselves is that once we get to a cease-fire and the hostages are released, which we all want, that everything will be fine,” Waltz said on Fox News’s America Reports. “No. Iran will continue to stoke unrest because they want to destroy Israel, and look, making concession after concession to Iran is actually what is destabilizing the situation.”

Waltz has criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant on charges of intentional starvation of the Palestinian people, crimes against humanity and other charges.  Waltz responded with

“The ICC has no credibility, and these allegations have been refuted by the US government” and that “Israel has lawfully defended its people [and] borders from genocidal terrorists. You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC [and] UN come January.”

Mike Waltz part of the George W. Bush regime that was filled with neocons and that alone should be a concern for those who desire peace on earth.  Waltz has similar ideas as Trump’s former National Security advisor, John Bolton.

Pete Hegseth is Trump’s pick for US Secretary of Defense.  Now this guy is a loose cannon. A FOX News television host, author, and a former Army National Guard officer.  Listen to Pete Hegseth’s speech at the 2018 Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem:

What Hegseth said about Iran tells us that he is another Christian Zionist who supports Israel and that Iran is the evil regime that needs to be stopped:

The minister talked about the head of the octopus talked about Iran and the many tentacles that the Iranian regime has in the world today nefariously both for Israel and for the United States and just all you have to do is look at how the Obama Administration addressed the issue of Iran versus the Trump Administration and of course the Obama Administration did everything they could to strike a horrific deal that is creates an inevitable path to nuclear weapons, funding the tunes of billions of dollars the hateful terrorist is Iranian regime seeking death to America and death to Israel….

Pete Hegseth will push the Trump regime to go to war with Iran and its allies to protect Israel and its interests in the region, there is no other way to describe what he stands for.

Kristi Noem, the former Governor of South Dakota is Trump’s pick for the Secretary of Homeland Security.  As Governor, Kristi Noem presented a statement of support for Israel after the October 7^th attack on Israel by Hamas, and she did not disappoint her Israeli friends and lobbyists:

“Beloved people of Israel: your friends and allies in America stand with you. We support you in defending the homeland given to your people by God. These barbaric actions have shocked the conscience of the world. We share your anger at the viciousness of these attacks and the death, pain, and suffering it has caused, and we support your right to use all measures necessary to prevent future attacks. 

During my time on the House Armed Services Committee, I saw what regular violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists against Israel looks like. This goes so far beyond that – this was an act of war, an invasion of your sacred home. 

We are praying for a swift resolution to this war; for safety and peace for the hostages taken by the Hamas terrorists; for comfort to the families who have lost loved ones or whose lives have otherwise been forever changed by this horrific day; for the first responders to act calmly and quickly in their work of healing and repair; for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his armed forces to strike swiftly, truly, and with justice; and for Hamas to be driven from the face of the Earth as a just consequence for their atrocities.  In the coming days, all Americans – and the whole world – must stand firm in our resolve to support the Israeli people. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, ‘This war will take time. She will be hard. Challenging days are ahead. But… with the help of God… we will win.’ Godspeed to you, my friend Prime Minister Netanyahu, and to your people. You will win, and you have our support every step of the way.” 

Kristi Noem has also banned campus free speech zones in her home state so as Secretary of Homeland Security, will she target anti-Israel protesters on college campuses?

John Ratcliffe is Trump’s choice as the new Director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  This former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is another China Hawk and of course, a Pro-Israel supporter.

As DNI, Ratcliffe focused on China’s growing influence on a global scale. Ratcliffe’s commentary for the Wall Street Journal said it all, ‘China Is National Security Threat No. 1’:

“The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically. Many of China’s major public initiatives and prominent companies offer only a layer of camouflage to the activities of the Chinese Communist Party”

Ratcliffe is also a longtime supporter of Israel who helped establish the U.S.-Israel partnership in cyber defense through the US-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act in 2016.

Ratcliffe who praised Israel’s strikes on Iran told Maria Bartiromo of Sunday Morning Futures on FOX News,

“What Israel has done is essentially employ ‘the Trump doctrine’: a maximum-pressure campaign, understanding the only way to deter terrorists like Iran and their proxies is to put your foot on their throat. Israel has done that; we should be assisting Israel in doing so.”

Ratcliffe is a Trump loyalist, a China hawk and a Pro-Israel supporter which means that he is a qualified candidate, so the US Senate should have no problem confirming John Ratcliffe as the new Director of the CIA.

Tulsi Gabbard is Trump’s choice for the Director of National Intelligence (DIA).  Now this pick is quite interesting, but she has a couple of serious problems.  I know there are people in the alternative media that say Gabbard is “Pro-Peace,” to an extent, is partially true.

So, let’s start with the idea that Tulsi Gabbard is a peace activist.   Tulsi Gabbard is a former Democrat representative from Hawaii who in January 2017 went on a “fact-finding mission” to Syria to investigate if President Bashar al-Assad’s had ordered his forces to use chemical weapons on civilians which turned out to be a false accusation by the West. She also found out that the Syrian opposition were made up of members from Al-Qaeda and ISIS.  Gabbard spoke out against US politicians who accused Russia of invading Ukraine for no apparent reason, only to expand its already vast territory. She is also opposed to US military support for Ukraine.

Gabbard had accused the US government and its NATO allies of being responsible for the war in the first place since one of the reasons was for the possibility of allowing Ukraine to join NATO which is a direct threat to Russia.  She also spoke out on the US government operating secret bioweapons labs in Ukraine.

Yes, Tulsi Gabbard has done great things in efforts to end current wars by investigating the facts of what really happened. She was after the truth which is commendable.

However, there is another side to Tulsi Gabbard when it comes to Israel. You can’t be for peace on one side of the world and then call for war on the other side, it’s hypocritical. Many people portray Gabbard as some sort of anti-war hero, but she has been vocally supportive of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

Gabbard is seen by Trump and his MAGA base as “anti-establishment” but her support for Israel is aligned with both sides of the political circus in Washington D.C.  Gabbard has even criticized pro-Palestine protesters in the US by calling them “puppets” of Hamas.

Gabbard also opposes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas just like Trump who called on Netanyahu to finish the job before he enters office in January. Gabbard also believes that Israel should continue the war on Gaza “as long as Hamas is in power, the people of Israel will not be secure and cannot live in peace.”

This video was produced by Breakthrough News which exposes Tulsi Gabbard’s position on Israel when it comes to Hamas and the Palestinians:

Tulsi Gabbard said all the right things for Israel and that’s why she was picked by Trump.  Will she get confirmed by the Senate?  It’s hard to say since many Democrats believe she works for Syria and Russia as some sort of agent, so we will see what happens during the confirmation hearings.   

Pam Bondi is Trump’s pick for US Attorney General who happens to be another pro-Israel supporter after the US Representative from Florida, Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination over past legal issues involving a minor had resurfaced.  Matt Gaetz also faced criticism because he invited a Holocaust denier to a State of the Union address which is something that can destroy your political career in United States:

In 2018, the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Anti-Defamation League both criticized Gaetz, then in his first term, for inviting a Holocaust denier as his guest at the State of the Union address. The guest, Charles Johnson, had publicly doubted that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust and suggested falsely that only 250,000 had died of illness

According to Jewish groups and the ADL, Gaetz is an Antisemite:

This past spring, Gaetz, alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, opposed a bill that would codify an official definition of antisemitism because it classified the view that Jews killed Jesus — which Gaetz endorsed — as antisemitic.

“The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!” Gaetz wrote on X, adding, “The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this”

It seemed obvious that Matt Gaetz was not going to be part of Trump’s team right from the start since most Democrats and Republicans are in the pockets of the Israeli lobby.  Pam Bondi is on a different level; she believes that university students who protest Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians and others in the Middle East are ignorant people who should be deported. 

The Jerusalem Post headlined with ‘Trump’s new A-G nominee calls Palestine supporters “ignorant children.’  The article mentioned “In an interview this year with news host Chris Salcedo, Bondi addressed the pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses, saying, “The students who protest against our Jewish friends and support Hamas – they should be deported from our country, they are ignorant children.”

The Jerusalem Post article also mentioned that in 2018, Bondi was interviewed by FOX News, and was asked about the Israel-Palestine conflict:

“Israel is one of our greatest allies in the world, if not the greatest,” Bondi said as part of an interview about concerns of escalation in the Middle East. “I visited Israel twice as Attorney-General, and Jerusalem is Israel’s capital”

So, Trump’s pick for Attorney General satisfies the Israeli lobby who wants to stifle free speech or in other words, end free speech when it comes to criticizing the state of Israel.  In fact, Trump did say that those who protest Israel and their genocidal policies should be deported.  The Telegraph headlined with a title that says it all, ‘Pam Bondi: Pick to replace Matt Gaetz wants to deport pro-Palestine protestors’:

The former prosecutor is a firm supporter of Israel and called for a crackdown on pro-Hamas demonstrations that erupted at college campuses last year.

“The thing that’s really the most troubling to me [are] these students in universities in our country, whether they’re here as Americans or if they’re here on student visas, and they’re out there saying ‘I support Hamas.’” she continued, “Frankly they need to be taken out of our country, or the FBI needs to be interviewing them right away” 

Will Pam Bondi work with Noem Kristi to deport anti-Israel, anti-genocide Protesters on university campuses?

Trump also picked another far-right neocon, a NewsMax TV host of the The Gorka Reality Check, Sebastian Gorka for the positions of deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism. Gorka was part of the first Trump administration and was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and a strategist in the White House team which was known as the Strategic Initiatives Group.

On an interview with Times Radio, Gorka claims what will Trump say to Putin “I’ll give one tip away that the president has mentioned, he will say to that murderous former KGB Colonel that thug who runs the Russian Federation, you will negotiate now or the aid that we have given to Ukraine thus far will look like peanuts.” So Trump’s claim that he will end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours is not a reality with people such as Sebastian Gorka in his cabinet.

There are other Trump nominees such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr who supports Israel, if confirmed, he will be the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS) and there will be others with the same ideologies as mentioned above that will be in Trump’s future cabinet because as we all know, Trump can replace any of his picks on a whim.    

What is certain in an uncertain world is that President-Elect, Donald Trump and his choices for his top positions is a recipe for a world war, not peace.  China, Iran, Russia and other countries who are on the US hit list will face a regime full of warmongering extremists and that is not a good start.  For the looks of it, it seems that war is on the agenda once again.   

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Timothy Alexander Guzman writes on his own blog site, Silent Crow News, where this article was originally published. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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[Links to Parts I to XII are provided at the bottom of this article.]

“For the Romans I set no boundaries of time and space; I have granted them empire without end.” (Publius Vergilius Maro)[1]

1. In the Beginning Was Westphalia

In my abovementioned book, which I wrote in the wake of the 2014 Gaza war, also known as “Operation Protective Edge”, I posited that:

• The end of the Cold War had the effect of making two major international realities more evident: the consecration of the position of the United States of America as the dominant world power, due to its military, political, economic and technological weight; and the shift of the global economic and commercial center of gravity from the Old Continent to the Pacific region as a result, in particular, of the prodigious development achieved by the Chinese dragon. And despite its relative decline caused by the economic and financial crisis of 2007/2008, the United States, being precisely a nation that is both Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, will continue to play a leading role during the 21st century;
• The vicissitudes of the “Arab Spring”, the politico-military maneuvers in the East and South China Sea, and the developments of the Ukrainian crisis, far from constituting epiphenomena of turbulent current affairs, are in fact the most telling manifestations of a geostrategic upheaval, in a globalized world entering a phase of accelerated reconfiguration. Obviously, this development, which is gradually taking the form of a multipolar world, is not to the taste of those in favor of the perpetuation of Western domination of the world, more than ever symbolized by the power of the American leader;
• The history of the 21st century, particularly its first half, seems to revolve around two contradictory struggles. The first will consist of attempts by secondary powers to form coalitions to try to contain the hegemonism of the United States. The second will encompass preventive actions on the part of this country aimed at preventing the formation of such coalitions that could endanger its strategic interests in the world;
• Regardless of the real sponsors of September 11 attacks and their true motives, this historic event provided the United States with the opportunity to implement its strategy of domination over a Muslim world considered – despite its present state of asthenia – as a potential adversary that must be continually weakened, while exploiting its significant natural resources, especially energy. Since the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, a new “Sykes-Picot” seems to be taking shape in the region. But while the secret Franco-British agreements of 1916 aimed to “facilitate the creation of a State or a Confederation of Arab States”, the current process aims to dismantle existing States. This strategy of “mass disintegration” would allow the United States to achieve a triple objective: guaranteeing the preservation of its strategic interests in the region; strengthening the position of its Israeli ally, thereby ensuring its survival as a Jewish state; and redirecting most of U.S. efforts and resources toward the most important region of the world: the Pacific region.”

Since then, and fundamentally, the U.S. geostrategic vision has not changed one iota, as clearly evidenced by the October 2022 Biden-Harris Administration’s National Security Strategy.[2] Indeed, the document states that

“The Strategy is rooted in our national interests: to protect the security of the American people, to expand economic opportunity, and to realize and defend the democratic values at the heart of the American way of life. In pursuit of these objectives, we will: Invest in the underlying sources and tools of American power and influence; build the strongest possible coalition of nations to enhance our collective influence to shape the global strategic environment and to solve shared challenges; and modernize and strengthen our military so it is equipped for the era of strategic competition.”

It also stresses that

“The most pressing strategic challenges we face as we pursue a free, open, prosperous, and secure world are from powers that layer authoritarian governance with a revisionist foreign policy. We will effectively compete with the People’s Republic of China, which is the only competitor with both the intent and, increasingly, the capability to reshape the international order, while constraining a dangerous Russia.”

With regard to the Middle East region, the U.S. envisions “A more integrated Middle East that empowers our allies and partners” and advance “regional peace and prosperity, while reducing the resource demands the region makes on the United States over the long term.”

What has crucially changed, however, is the very world the U.S. has relentlessly strived to dominate since the end of WWII, and even more so after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which, as history will record, was only a temporary “freezing” of the Cold War.

The outbreak of the Ukraine War in 2022 and, to a greater degree, the ongoing round of the War on Gaza have brought Israel, Ukraine, and the West closer to each other[3], and by the same token have further distanced them from the rest of the world, all the while accelerating the transition to a multipolar global order.

At this point, it is both appropriate and warranted to emphasize, with John Ikenberry once again, that

“the world’s most powerful state has begun to sabotage the order it created. A hostile and revisionist power has indeed arrived on the scene, but it sits in the Oval Office, the beating heart of the Free world.”

The French Academy dictionary defines order as “an arrangement, a regular layout of things in relation to one another; a necessary relationship which regulates the organization of a whole into its parts”. In reality, the notions of order and disorder are part of a practical, ethical, political, even mythical and religious discourse. From a philosophical point of view, according to Professor Bertrand Piettre[4], these two notions seem to be more normative than descriptive and have more value than reality. Thus, the term “order” is understood at least in two contradictory senses: either the order is thought of as finalized, as carrying out a purpose, pursuing a direction, thence making sense; disorder is then defined by the absence of an intelligent design. Or, the order is thought of as a stable or recurring structure and, thereby, recognizable and locatable, as a constant and necessary arrangement; but as such, it can appear totally devoid of finality and purpose. Disorder, then, is not thought of as what is devoid of a finality, but as what appears to be devoid of necessity. These two meanings, he further explains, refer to two philosophically different visions of the world: finalist or mechanist, and their combination, in a play of contingency and necessity, produces the diversity of the material and living world that we know.

In the realm of international relations, order is commonly understood to mean the set of rules and institutions that govern relations between the key players in the international environment. Such an order is distinguished from chaos, or random relationships, by a certain degree of stability in terms of structure and organization.

Perhaps, one of the best studies ever done on this topic is the one published by the Rand Corporation in 2016 under the title “Understanding the Current International Order.”[5] The main aim of this study was to understand the workings of the existing international order, assess current challenges and threats to the order, and accordingly, recommend future policies deemed sound to U.S. decision-makers.

The report says that in the modern era the foundation of the international order was built on the bedrock principles of the Westphalian system, which reflected fairly conservative conceptions of order while relying on pure balance-of-power politics in order to uphold the sovereign equality and territorial inviolability of States.

This Westphalian system led to the development of the territorial integrity norm, considered to this day as a cardinal norm against outright aggression toward neighbors with the aim of seizing their lands, resources or citizens, which was once a common practice in world politics. Thus defined in its main elements, this system has continued to prevail, especially since the Concert of Europe, also known as the Vienna Congress system, which from 1815 to 1914 established a whole series of principles, rules and practices having greatly contributed, after the Napoleonic wars, to maintaining a balance between European powers and shielding the Old Continent from a new all-out conflict. It stood fast until the outbreak of World War I.

At the close of the horrific hostilities of the Great War, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson spent several months of 1919 in Europe, working closely with British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and other leaders to build a more peaceful postwar order. Together, they brought to life the League of Nations. Unfortunately, the League was dealt an early and deadly blow when the U.S. Senate rejected U.S. membership in it, refusing to participate in an international legal system that it deemed would encroach on the country’s sovereignty. The League’s failure to provide an effective response to the nationalism and militarism in Europe and Asia during the 1930s further damaged its credibility and precipitated its demise. Yet, this innovative burst of order-building left an important imprint on global affairs and was akin to a general dress rehearsal for the international architecture, later decided by world plenipotentiaries gathered in San Francisco in 1945, in the shape of the United Nations Organization.

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The League to Enforce Peace published this full-page promotion in The New York Times on Christmas Day 1918. (From the Public Domain)

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In sum, even if it took different forms in practice, the Westphalian order continued to be a permanent feature of the relations between the great world powers during all the aforementioned periods, thus allowing, to the greatest possible extent, the prevalence of structured relations designed to forswear territorial conquest and curtail any global disorder susceptible of generating wars or large-scale violence in their midst.

The RAND report indicates that since 1945, the United States, which was the greatest beneficiary of the restored peace, has pursued its global interests through the creation and maintenance of international economic institutions, bilateral and regional security organizations, and liberal political norms and standards. These ordering mechanisms are often collectively referred to as the “international order”. However, in recent years, rising powers have begun to challenge the sustainability and legitimacy of some aspects of this order, which is clearly seen by the U.S. as a major challenge to its global leadership and vital strategic interests. Three broad categories of potential risks and threats likely to jeopardize this order have thus been identified by the writers of the report:

• some leading states consider that many components of the existing order are designed to restrict their power and perpetuate American hegemony;
• volatility due to failed states or economic crises;
• shifting domestic politics at a time of slow growth and growing inequality.

Two years before the publication of this study, Henry Kissinger, the veteran of American diplomacy credited with having officially introduced “Realpolitik” (realistic foreign policy based on the calculation of forces and the national interest) in the White House while serving as Secretary of State under Richard Nixon’s administration, had further explored the theme of world order in a landmark book.[6]

From the outset, Mr. Kissinger asserts that no truly global “world order” has ever existed. The order as defined by our times was devised in Western Europe four centuries ago, on the occasion of a peace conference held in Westphalia “without the involvement or even the awareness of most other continents or civilizations”. This conference, it should be remembered, followed a century of sectarian conflict and political upheavals across Central Europe, which ended up provoking the “Thirty Years’ War” (1618-1648), an appalling and pointless “total war” where a quarter of the population of Central Europe died from combat, disease, and starvation.

Nevertheless, the negotiators of this peace of Westphalia did not think of laying the foundations of a system applicable to the whole world. How could they have thought so when then, as always before, every other civilization or geographic region, seeing itself as the center of the world and viewing its principles and values ​​as universally relevant, defined its own conception of order? In the absence of possibilities for prolonged interaction and of any framework for measuring the respective power of the different regions, Henry Kissinger rightly observed, each of these regions viewed its own order as unique and defined the others as “barbarians” which were “governed in a manner incomprehensible to the established system, and irrelevant to its designs except as a threat”.

Subsequently, thanks to Western colonial expansion, the Westphalian system spread around the world and imposed the structure of a state-based international order, while failing, of course, to apply the concepts of sovereignty to colonies and colonized peoples. It is these same principles and other Westphalian ideas that were put forward when the colonized peoples began to demand their independence. Sovereign state, national independence, national interest, noninterference in domestic affairs and respect for international law and human rights have thus asserted themselves as effective arguments against the colonizers during armed or political struggles, both to regain independence and, afterwards, to protect the newly formed states in the 1950s and 1960s in particular.

At the end of his reflection combining historical analysis and geopolitical prospective, Kissinger draws important conclusions about the current international order and asks essential questions about its future. The universal relevance of the Westphalian system, he said, derived from its procedural nature, that is value-neutral, which made its rules accessible to any country. Its weakness had been the flip side of its strength: designed by states exhausted from the bloodletting they inflicted on each other, it offered no sense of direction; it proposed methods of allocating and preserving power, without indicating how to generate legitimacy.

More fundamentally, Kissinger argued that in building a world order, a key question inevitably concerns the substance of its unifying principles, which represents a cardinal distinction between Western and non-Western approaches to order. Quite aptly, he pointed out that since the Renaissance, the West has widely adopted the idea that the real world is external to the observer, that knowledge consists in recording and classifying data with the greatest possible precision, and that the success of a foreign policy depends on the assessment of existing realities and trends. Therefore, the “Peace of Westphalia” embodied a judgment of reality and more particularly of realities of power and territory – in the form of a concept of secular order supplanting the demands of religion.

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The historic town hall of Münster where the treaty was signed (Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

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In contrast, other great contemporary civilizations conceived of reality as internal to the observer and defined by psychological, philosophical or religious convictions. Consequently, Kissinger was of the opinion that sooner or later, any international order must face the consequences of two trends that compromise its cohesion: either a redefinition of legitimacy or a significant shift in the balance of power. In such circumstances, upheavals could emerge, the essence of which being that “while they are usually underpinned by force, their overriding thrust is psychological. Those under assault are challenged to defend not only their territory, but the basic assumptions of their way of life, their moral right to exist and to act in a manner that until the challenge, had been treated as beyond question”.

Like many other thinkers, political scientists and strategists, especially Westerners, the American stateman considered that the multifaceted developments underway in the world are fraught with threats and risks that could lead to a sharp rise in tensions, and chaos threatens “side by side with unprecedented interdependence: in the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the disintegration of states, the impact of environmental depredations, the persistence of genocidal practices, and the spread of new technologies threatening to drive conflict beyond human control or comprehension.”

This is the main reason why he thought that our age is insistently engaged in an obstinate search, sometimes almost desperately, of a concept of world order, not without expressing his concern, which takes on the appearance of a warning. In our time, he said, “a reconstruction of the international system is the ultimate challenge to government. And in the event of failure, the penalty will be not so much a major war between States (though in some regions this is not foreclosed) as an evolution into spheres of influence identified with particular domestic structures and forms of governance, for example the Westphalian model as against the radical Islamist version” with the risk that “at its edges each sphere would be tempted to test its strength against other entities of order deemed illegitimate.”

The major conclusion of this scholarly book which concerns us in the context of our theme is this:

“The mystery to be overcome is one all peoples share: how divergent historical experiences and values can be shaped into a common order”.

2. Worldviews and World Orders: The “Individual and Secular” Vs. the “Collective and Sacred”

All civilizations try to balance themselves between the individual and the collective, between the temporal and the spiritual, and between this-worldliness and otherworldliness. Shifts between the relative importance given to the one at the expense of the others is what gives the different civilizations their distinctive identity and coloring; and critical disjunctions in human history occur when the individual paradigm is overturned or tilted toward the collective, or vice versa.

In modern Western societies, especially within the Anglosphere, it is an indisputable fact that since the Renaissance, which was at the origin of the Enlightenment movement and thought, there has been a gradual and probably decisive and irreversible shift away from the collective and the sacred toward the individual and the secular.

This being the case, in the self-image of Western or Westernized societies, the individual is ennobled and endowed with the power and tools to determine, alone, the course of his personal development and fulfillment as well as those of society, through the idiom – which is then erected into absolute dogma – of rights and the practice of a democracy based on laws and rules. The primacy of the individual over collective rights thus gradually paved the way for the dismantling of the post-war welfare state, making the dividing line between the public and private domains increasingly blurred, and providing wide-open avenues to an unbridled individualism.

In the following paragraphs, I shall attempt to explain why and how the 500-year long global dominance of the “Western civilization” is coming to an end – a fate first and most significantly epitomized and signaled by the West’s self-immolation during the bloodbath of the two Western civil wars, also known as the two World Wars it ignited in a span of only 30 years and led to the loss of 100 million lives. One good way of doing so is by surveying the writings of seven authors who have had a profound influence on Western Man’s thinking, and seven other authors who have predicted and warned against an impending twilight of this Western predominance. Indeed, what we take to be the ethical, social, economic, and ideological bedrock of Western thought has, far and away, been laid down in seven landmark references put forward since the beginning of the European Renaissance and the Age of the Enlightenment.

Thus, in his 1513 book “The Prince”, Italian Niccolò Machiavelli described methods – including through deliberate deceit, hypocrisy and perjury – that an aspiring prince can use to acquire the throne, or an existing prince can resort to in order to maintain his reign. English Pastor Thomas Robert Malthus claimed in his 1798 “Essay on the Principle of Population” that population tends to grow faster than the food supply. He also posited that the planet would be unable to support more than one billion inhabitants, and advocated therefore for a limitation on the number of poor people as a better controlling device. English Charles Darwin’s 1859 seminal book “The Origins of Species” promoted a theory of evolution by natural selection through the notion of “survival of the fittest”, thus so profoundly challenging Victorian-era ideas about the role of humans in the universe. English philosopher/sociologist Herbert Spencer’s 1864 “Principles of Biology” transferred Darwin’s theory from the realm of nature to society. He believed that the strongest or fittest would and should dominate the poor and the weak who should ultimately disappear. This meant that certain races – in particular European Protestants – individuals and nations were entitled to dominate others because of their “superiority” in the natural order. German Karl Marx’s 1867 “Capital” is the foundational theoretical text in materialist philosophy, economics and politics. Belief in some of its teachings led to communism and caused millions of deaths in the hope (or utopia) of bringing about an egalitarian society. In his most celebrated book “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” (1883-1885) German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche elaborates on ideas like eternal recurrence of the same, death of God, and the prophecy of the “Übermensch” (Overman), that is the ideal superior man of the future who could rise above conventional Christian morality to create and impose his own values. Finally, Austrian Sigmund Freud’s theories, although subject to a lot of criticism, were enormously influential. His best-known 1930 book “Civilization and Its Discontents”, analyzes what he sees as the fundamental tensions between civilization and the individual. The primary friction, he asserts, stems from the fact that the immutable individual’s quest for instinctive freedom (notably desires for sex) are at odds with what is best for society (civilization) as a whole, which is why laws are created to prohibit killing, rape, and adultery, and implement severe punishments if they are broken. The result is an ongoing feeling of discontent among the citizens of that civilization.

Beyond shadow of a doubt, Western Man’s mindset, worldview, and behavior have been considerably influenced by the presuppositions of the “seven deadly sins’ embodied in this literature. This led to such calamities for the world as materialism, individualism, scientism, unbridled pursuit of profit, nationalism, racial supremacy, excessive will to power, wars, colonization, imperialism, and eventually, nihilism[7], civilizational decadence and decline of the Western world. 

As a result of this irreversible process, especially following the moral wreckage and colossal human and material cost of the Great War, prominent thinkers and philosophers started to voice their concern about the coming demise of the West. Chiefly among those are seven authors whose books argue that while it is true that the West is in decline, there’s still time to mitigate it or even to reverse it and preserve it for posterity. Those books are: Oswald Spengler’s “The Decline of the West” (1926); Arnold Toynbee’s “Civilization on Trial” (1958); Eric Voegelin’s “Order and History” (1956-1987); Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History and the Last Man” (1992); Samuel Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order” (1996); Niall Ferguson’s “Civilization: The West and the Rest” (2012); and Michel Onfray’s “Décadence: Vie et mort du judéo-christianisme”[8]. Emmanuel Todd’s recently published book “La Défaite de l’Occident”[9] also deserves just as much to be added to this selective collection.

Another stated or implied common feature of these books is the belief that the “Western Christian civilization” has to be defended anew both from internal decay and threats arising externally, mainly Islam, or even worse, an alliance of “Islamic” and “Sinic (Chinese)” civilizations. This fear of Islam is by no means new; it’s deep-rooted in the Western psyche. Today, however, it is being exacerbated to such an unprecedented extent that the debate on the resurgence of Islam has become, more often than not, inextricably intertwined with the talk about the decline of the Western civilization.

Back in 1940 already, when there was no question yet of the so-called Islamist or Islamic threat, and even less so of a “clash of civilizations” that are plaguing our current world, then French Colonel Charles de Gaulle – although on full combat against Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht – gave the following response to his chaplain who questioned him about the situation on the battlefield and rumors of an armistice:

“Mr. Chaplain, this war is only one episode in a clash of peoples and civilizations. It will be long. And when the clash with China, this very great people, arises (…) what will we be and what will we do? But I have confidence. The last word will be given to the highest and most disinterested civilization, ours, the Christian civilization (…) But the greatest and most immediate danger can come from the Muslim transversal, which ranges from Tangier to the Indies. If it were to come under Russian communist obedience, or what would be worse, Chinese, we are doomed. And believe me, Mr. Chaplain, there will no longer be a possible Battle of Poitiers.”[10]

The same refrain was famously repeated by none other than Samuel Huntington in his no less celebrated book[11], written in response to his former student Francis Fukuyama’s 1992 highly controversial best-seller[12] in which, following the collapse of communism leading to a metamorphosis of world politics, Fukuyama addressed a question that has for time immemorial engaged the minds of great philosophers and thinkers: Is there a direction to the history of mankind? And if it is directional, to what end is it moving?

Fukuyama argues that a remarkable consensus concerning the legitimacy of “liberal democracy” as a system of government has emerged throughout the world. Thus, liberal democracy may constitute the “end point of mankind’s ideological evolution”, and the “final form of government”; and as such constituted the “end of history”. The other great question that follows then becomes: Can political and economic liberty and equality characterizing the state of affairs at the presumed “end of history” bring about a stable society in which man may be said to be, at last, completely satisfied? Or will the spiritual condition of this “last man” in history, “deprived of outlets for his striving for mastery”, inevitably lead him to plunge himself and the world into the chaos and bloodshed of history?

With regard to Huntington, it is important, first of all, to clarify with Professor of History at the prestigious Columbia University Richard Bulliet[13] that the phrase “Clash of Civilizations” was not invented by Huntington; it was most probably coined, for the first time, by Basil Mathews in his 1926 book titled “Young Islam on Trek: A Study in the Clash of Civilizations”.[14]  Yet, by wielding the “clash of civilizations” phraseology at a propitious moment, the Harvard professor significantly, shrewdly but maliciously shifted the discourse of Middle East confrontation that had until then been dominated by nationalist and Cold War rhetoric since the days of Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s. Bulliet rightly observed that this new formulation “took on almost cosmic proportions: the Islamic religion, or more precisely the world Muslim community that professes that religion, versus contemporary Western culture, with its Christian, Jewish, and secular humanist shadings.”[15]

Huntington also wrote that:

“Islam and China embody great cultural traditions very different from and in their eyes infinitely superior to that of the West. The power and assertiveness of both in relation to the West are increasing, and the conflicts between their values and interests and those of the West are multiplying and becoming more intense (…) Underlying the differences on specific issues is the fundamental question of the role these civilizations will play relative to the West in shaping the future of the world. Will the global institutions, the distribution of power, and the politics and economies of nations in the twenty-first century primarily reflect Western values and interests or will they be shaped primarily by those of Islam and China? (…) Islamic and Sinic societies which see the West as their antagonist thus have reason to cooperate with each other against the West (…) This cooperation occurs on a variety of issues, including human rights, economics, and most notably the efforts by societies in both civilizations to develop their military capabilities, particularly weapons of mass destruction and the missiles for delivering them, so as to counter the conventional military superiority of the West.”

More recently, in his latest book[16], French historian and Sinologist Emmanuel Lincot retraces the geopolitical stakes of Sino-Muslim relations. He believes that, at the dawn of the new century, China and the Muslim world intend to put an end to a world dominated by the West through the ghastly prospect of a multifaceted alliance between them. Such an alliance obviously encompasses the revitalization of the mythical and once greatest trade route in history – the Silk Road – that linked and mutually enriched the two civilizations for centuries, before it was eclipsed by the Western-dominated maritime trade. The Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative”, which aims to develop both land and maritime corridors, is the main means to achieve such a strategic objective. 

On closer inspection, we may argue that throughout the Western colonial period, the Cold War and until after “Les Trente Glorieuses” (The Glorious Thirty)[17], the West was somewhat indifferent if not condescending to Islam as a religion. The overwrought fear of Islam has followed the demise of social democracy in the West, especially since the events of “May 68”, and the decay of progressive and socially-centered movements in the Third World. The Iranian revolution of 1979, itself begotten by this historical development, and the attacks of 11 September 2001 radically changed the geostrategic situation in the eyes of Western countries. Islam is increasingly at the center of their concerns today and a rampant Islamophobia has naturally, and dangerously, ensued. 

As Mr. Allawi so rightly put it in his insightful book[18], Islam’s religion, cultures, civilization, nations and peoples have become the subject of meticulous scrutiny by a wide array of analysts, “from the most thoughtful to the most incendiary, from the most illustrious to the most obscure, from the most sympathetic to the most bigoted”.

If truth be said, for centuries the civilization of Islam has often been shaken by powerful opposing currents. The crusades, the Mongol invasion, Western colonization and imperialism, and today, the intense movement of globalization have been the most striking ones. It has just as often bent under their blows, but has never broken. Far from it; its contribution to universal civilization and to the construction of the “old” and “new” worlds is undeniable. 

The chronicle of this role, especially during the period of the Ottoman Empire, has been the subject of a remarkable book written by Professor of history and Chair of the Department of History at American Yale University, Alan Mikhail.[19] In the introduction to his narrative presenting a new and holistic picture of the last five centuries and demonstrating Islam’s constituent role in the forming of some of the most fundamental aspects of the history of Europe, the Americas, and the United States, he declares that: “If we do not place Islam at the center of our grasp of world history, we will never understand why the Moor-slayers (Matamoros)[20] are memorialized on the Texas-Mexico border or, more generally, why we have blindly, and repeatedly, narrated histories that miss major features of our shared past. 

Richard Bulliet, before Mikhail, made a similar observation, saying:

“The past and future of the West cannot be fully comprehended without appreciation of the twinned relationship it has had with Islam over some fourteen centuries. The same is true of the Islamic world.”

He went as far as to speak of an “Islamo-Christian Civilization”, a term never used before he did so, and went on to make another fundamental remark: “The question confronting the United States is whether the tragedy of September 11 should be an occasion for indulging in the Islamophobia embodied in slogans like “Clash of Civilizations” or an occasion for affirming the principle of inclusion that represents the best in the American tradition” (…) “Clash of Civilizations” must be retired from public discourse before the people who like to use it actually begin to believe it”.

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Amir Nour is an Algerian researcher in international relations, author of the books “L’Orient et l’Occident à l’heure d’un nouveau Sykes-Picot” (The Orient and the Occident in Time of a New Sykes-Picot) Editions Alem El Afkar, Algiers, 2014 and “L’Islam et l’ordre du monde” (Islam and the Order of the World),  Editions Alem El Afkar, Algiers, 2021. 

Notes

[1] Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. The 12-book Latin poem tells the story of Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus, a royal refugee from war-torn Troy, and a legendary ancestor of the emperor, as he is driven by fate to Italy, where he is to settle and where, centuries later, his descendant Romulus is to build Rome. The epigraph, where Jupiter addresses the Romans, is from the first book: Aeneid I, 278-9. of the poem.

[2] To read the document: 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/12/fact-sheet-the-biden-harris-administrations-national-security-strategy/#:~:text=The%20Strategy%20is,of%20strategic%20competition.

[3] Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken strongly in favor of Israel after the surprise assault by Hamas on 7 October 2023. He called on world leaders to show solidarity and unity in supporting Israel and condemning the “terrorist attack”. Zelensky, who is also Jewish, said that Israel had an unquestionable right to defend itself from attacks by Hamas and controversially compared it to Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine, saying Hamas and Moscow were “the same evil, and the only difference is that there is a terrorist organization that attacked Israel, and here is a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine”. Israeli reports also said that Zelensky wanted to make a solidarity visit to Israel but was told “now is not the time”.

[4] Bertrand Piettre, “Ordre et désordre : Le point de vue philosophique” (Order and disorder: The philosophical point of view), 1995.

[5] RAND Corporation, “Understanding the Current International Order”, 2016. This study was sponsored by the Office of the United States Secretary of Defense’s Office of Net Assessment, and conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute.

[6] Henry Kissinger, “World Order”, Penguin Press, New York, 2014.

[7] For more on this subject read Alan Pratt, “Nihilism”, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy; available at: Nihilism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

[8] Michel Onfray, “Décadence: Vie et mort du judéo-christianisme” (Decadence: Life and Death of Judeo-Christianity), Flammarion, 2017.

[9] Emmanuel Todd, “La Défaite de l’Occident”, (The Defeat of the West), Gallimard, 2024.

[10] Quoted in Marc Ferro’s book titled “De Gaulle expliqué aujourd’hui” (De Gaulle Explained Today), Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 2010. The Battle of Poitiers, also called the Battle of Tours, occurred in France on 10 October 732. It resulted in victory of the Frankish and Aquitainian forces led by Charles Martel over the Umayyad forces led by the governor of al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Spain and Portugal) Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi. The issue of the battle was a decisive factor in curtailing the spread of Islam in Western Europe.

[11] Samuel P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order”, 1996.

[12] Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History and the Last Man”, The Free Press, New York, 1992.

[13] Richard Bulliet, “The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization”, Columbia University Press, New York, 2004.

[14] Basil Mathews, “Young Islam on Trek: A Study in the Clash of Civilizations”, Friendship Press, New York, 1926. Mathews was an American Protestant missionary. He worked as a secretary in the World’s Alliance of YMCA’s.

[15] Richard Bulliet, op cit.

[16] Emmanuel Lincot, “Chine et Terres d’islam : un millénaire de géopolitique” (China and the Lands of Islam : A Millennium of Geopolitics), Presses Universitaires de France, 2021.

[17] The Glorious Thirty is a term coined by French Jean Fourastié in his 1979 book “Les Trente Glorieuses, ou la révolution invisible de 1946 a 1975” (The Glorious Thirty, or the Invisible Revolution from 1946 to 1975) to characterize a thirty-year period of great economic growth in France (as well as in the West in general) following the end of WWII. This same period was also marked by a “Baby boom” in most of the world, particularly the United States and Canada in North America and France and Austria in Europe.

[18] Ali A. Allawi, “The Crisis of Islamic Civilization”, Yale University Press, 2009.

[19] Alan Mikhail, “God’s Shadow: The Ottoman Sultan who shaped the modern world”, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2020.

[20] “Matamoros” is the name of a city located in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas across the border from Brownsville, Texas, in the United States. It was coined by Catholic Spaniards for whom it was the duty of every Christian soldier to be a Moor-slayer.

Featured image is from the author

---

Links to Parts I to XII:

The War on Gaza: Might vs. Right, and the Insanity of Western Power

By Amir Nour, December 01, 2023

The War on Gaza: How the West Is Losing. Accelerating the Transition to a Multipolar Global Order?

By Amir Nour, December 04, 2023

The War on Gaza: Debunking the Pro-Zionist Propaganda Machine

By Amir Nour, December 11, 2023

The War on Gaza: Why Does the “Free World” Condone Israel’s Occupation, Apartheid, and Genocide?

By Amir Nour, December 22, 2023

The War on Gaza: How We Got to the “Monstrosity of Our Century”

By Amir Nour, January 25, 2024

The War on Gaza: Towards Palestine’s Independence Despite the Doom and Gloom

By Amir Nour, February 02, 2024

The War on Gaza: Whither the “Jewish State”?

By Amir Nour, April 17, 2024

The Twilight of the Western Settler Colonialist Project in Palestine

By Amir Nour, August 17, 2024

The War on Gaza: Perpetual Falsehoods and Betrayals in the Service of Endless Deception. Amir Nour

By Amir Nour, August 25, 2024

The War on Gaza: Why the Sustainability of the Western-Zionist Colony Is Nigh on Impossible. Amir Nour

By Amir Nour, September 07, 2024

The War on Gaza: Requiem for the Deeply Held Two-State Delusion. Amir Nour

By Amir Nour, September 21, 2024

The War on Gaza: The Case for the Only Durable Solution: One Democratic State from the River to the Sea. Amir Nour

By Amir Nour, October 26, 2024

We are possibly witnessing another stealthy move by Washington and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to enhance the Israeli position in a Middle East at war while pretending to do something else. President Joe Biden and his cast of know-nothings have been bleating for months about their desire to arrange a “humanitarian” ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon while also alternatively whining about the Jewish state’s “right to defend itself,” but somehow the arrangements proposed have never quite satisfied Netanyahu.

Bibi has repeatedly declared that he will not accept any halt to the fighting, presumably until all the Palestinians are dead, but would accept some kind of suspension of the conflicts as long as he has the option to return to unleashing the mass murder whenever it suits him. He deceptively labels that “making sure that the bad guy ‘terrorists’ abide by the agreement.” In that context of everyone lying to everyone else, Genocide Joe has managed to drag his sorry ass over the finish line with a “whereas laced” US endorsed temporary peace formula for Lebanon that suits Bibi just fine. In fact, it suited him so well that he could not resist renewing his attacking the Lebanese last Thursday even before the ink was dry on the ceasefire documents.

Image source

The ceasefire, arranged largely by Amos Hochstein, an Israeli who served in the Israeli army and is now Biden’s roving negotiator, was agreed to on November 27^th. Its written provisions include 60 days for Hezbollah to withdraw to the Litani River, 18 miles north of the border, while Israel withdraws from all of south Lebanon that it has occupied. The Lebanese army will occupy the area vacated by Hezbollah and will work with the UNIFIL soldiers to monitor the process and maintain the peace in what will be designated as a weapons free zone. Complicating the agreement, there is a side letter from the United States to Israel confirming American support for Israel to “act in self-defense,” a term that Israel can exploit to reintervene in Lebanon. In the letter, the US also commits itself to share with Israel intelligence on Iran providing any support for Hezbollah. Israel is to be permitted to act “in self-defense” if Hezbollah violates the ceasefire in the area south of the Litani and it is also allowed to conduct reconnaissance flights over Lebanon to monitor developments. As usual, Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed a “win,” stating that he had reached an understanding with the US that Israel would “maintain full military freedom of action” in southern Lebanon. “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to renew terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck with missiles, we will attack.” As 35,000 Hezbollah militants actually live in the disarmed zone and presumably will try to return home, Israel will always have an excuse to resume its offensive.

To be sure, Lebanon was happy to accept any reprieve from the destruction wrought by Israeli bombs and artillery rounds, even if Israeli ground forces had been less than successful. Lebanon’s war losses have been calculated to be upwards of $8.5 billion dollars, together with thousands of civilians killed and injured. That includes Israel’s destruction of 100,000 homes and substantial impacts on health, education, and agriculture, according to the World Bank. But there is nevertheless, of course, a lot of speculation as to why any agreement was reached at all given Netanyahu’s unrelenting demand that he have a free hand to punish his neighbors and Biden’s usual cowardice whenever he is confronted by the Israeli gauleiter. The most interesting theory regarding why Israel has agreed to the US drafted ceasefire with Lebanon is that the Israeli government has finally figured out that it is not exactly winning its two little wars even though it has killed tens of thousands, or possibly even hundreds of thousands, Arabs.

Regarding Israel’s own casualties, one assumes that the US Defense Department knows roughly or even in detail the numbers of dead and wounded that the Israel Occupation Force (IOF) is sustaining in its unconventional warfare in both Gaza and south Lebanon. Some credible analysts even have concluded that the Israeli military is under considerable pressure due to a high casualty rate in ground fighting involving its best soldiers, overreliance on reservists, and shortages of equipment and weapons in spite of the Biden airlifts occurring on an almost daily basis. There are reports that even the Pentagon is now running out of certain types of weapons, including artillery shells and smart bombs. A respite in the fighting against the still formidable Hezbollah enemy would be welcome both to the Israeli government and to the military planners particularly as the ceasefire is drafted to favor Israel, which can intervene in Lebanon at will just by alleging a Lebanese failure to enforce the agreement. Netanyahu may also be looking forward to the Trump factor in seven weeks. Donald Trump has always been a consequence free supporter of Israel and his cabinet is composed of hardcore Zionists. So, there is every reason for Netanyahu to believe that with Trump in power he will be able to manipulate circumstances involving both Gazans and Lebanese to enable a US supported move towards the large-scale attack on Iran that Bibi has wanted for decades.

“Victory” has also become elusive as fighting drags on well into its second year on all fronts and Israel’s “freeing of the hostages” has not only failed to materialize, it has resulted in the actual killing of some prisoners of Hamas by Israeli bombs and gunfire. Israel has failed to establish any of the “realities” it wanted to create by invading Lebanon: there is no buffer zone and instead a full IOF retreat, no Hezbollah disarmament, no Hezbollah withdrawal, and no Hezbollah removal from political power in Lebanon. Publicly, Israel got a decoupling between Gaza and Lebanon, but it also was punished with an international arrest warrant for multiple war crimes and genocide being issued against Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defense Minister. Even though the US has rallied around in defense of Israel, the demands for isolating Israel worldwide due to its clearly demonstrated ongoing genocide will intensify.

The disruption and sinking of the Israeli economy due to the evacuation of the northern tier of the country under Hezbollah pressure, an increasing number of international boycotts, and the closure of many businesses, has been widely observed, as has also been the actual departure of many more educated Jewish Israelis holding US and European passports. There is considerable talk among antiwar Israeli Jews in the diaspora and even in liberal newspapers like Haaretz that Israel is in a very real sense self-destructing.

This all derives from the growing belief that the Israeli leadership has begun to realize that it does not have an effective military solution either to end the war in its favor nor to extend it to include the US as an ally in attacking Iran. If Netanyahu and his generals thought they could continue the carnage for another ninety days until the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, they almost certainly would have gone in that direction without any talk of ceasefire. Instead, leaked reports suggest that the generals themselves are complaining that the government of Netanyahu “has no plan” and have demanding a cutback due to heavy losses.

There are, to be sure, other theories to explain the surprise development of the so-called ceasefire, particularly as it so closely involves the United States and Israel, neither which can be trusted. The lull in the fighting certainly gives the IOF a break during which time it can regroup and re-equip with the help of Washington. And, as noted above, the concession to Israel that it can re-engage if it determines that Lebanon is not abiding by the ceasefire will be easy to manipulate as Israel is, if anything, a master of deception. So the agreement to down arms benefits Israel with Netanyahu, backed by the US, continuing to be able to call the shots on what comes next on the Hezbollah front.

So will the ceasefire hold or is it another gimmick by the US and Israel? In fact, as noted above, the uneasy truce between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah was violated by Israel on its second day in Lebanon on Thursday, by an airstrike that it inevitably claimed targeted militants violating terms of the cease-fire deal. The Israeli strike was the first of its kind since the US backed ceasefire went into effect before dawn on the day before. In spite of the clear violation, neither of the war’s combatants, Israel or Hezbollah, seemed keen to immediately return to full-scale fighting. The Israeli military said the incident, near the border in southern Lebanon, had targeted two militants entering a Hezbollah rocket facility that had been used to fire into Israel. Lebanon’s army, which is set to play a major role in enforcing the truce, also accused Israel of violating the ceasefire “several more times” on Thursday afternoon. The Israeli military claimed that its soldiers had in fact interdicted other militants attempting to enter into southern Lebanon. “With the same power we used to secure the agreement, we will now enforce it no less so,” Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, said in a subsequent video. It is no doubt precisely how Israel will behave in the future and how little the US, as a guarantor of the agreement together with France, will be tempted to intervene to maintain the peace contrary to Netanyahu’s wishes. That partisanship by Washington is precisely the problem and it suggests that the both the integrity and viability of the ceasefire might reasonably be questioned.

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This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected].

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from TUR

Dr. Reiner Fuellmich is a German lawyer who created in 2020 the German Corona Investigative Committee to investigate the Corona fraud not only in Germany but around the world. He had top medical doctors, virologists and other medical scientists on his program, people in pursuit of the truth and to propagate the truth among people who have been negatively affected by Covid measures and later having been coerced to receive the poisonous “vaxx” which was never a vaccination, by an often-deadly injection.

During his program Reiner helped thousands of people freeing them from fear and anxieties, allowing them living a more normal life again.

This, the German Government did not like, and through infiltration in his team, the Corona Committee was demolished.

Reiner eventually was falsely accused of financial wrongdoing and is since more than 14 months in pretrial detention in one of Germany’s high-security prisons in Rosdorf, near Göttingen. He is a political prisoner in the so-called democracy of Germany, he is a prisoner of war – in our times of war silent war of the Globalists against Us, the People.

Reiner has dedicated his life to defend the interests of the people. Reiner is a hero.

Following is a transcript of my speech at the demo in Geneva on 30 November 2024.

***

Friends of Reiner Fuellmich!

What we are witnessing through the trial against Dr. Reiner Fuellmich is a scandal without precedent! It is likely unparalleled in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949 that a German public prosecutor would act with such disproportion and disregard for the rule of law.

To say it bluntly the way it is: Reiner Fuellmich is a political prisoner of Germany.

Yes, a political prisoner in a so-called Democracy of Europe.

In 2020, at the outset of the Covid hysteria, Reiner created the German Corona Investigative Committee (CIC) – a TV program in which he interviewed medical specialists, virologists, and many other scientists, helping thousands of fearful and stressed people, by divulging the truth about covid.

Germany and the current Globalist tyranny in which many of us are living, does not want the truth to be known. They needed a reason to stop him. Ms. Vivian Fischer, lawyer and Reiner’s partner in the CIC, eventually denounced Reiner for unlawfully deviating donation funds destined for the CIC.

Deviation of money was an abject lie in the first place.

However, others, former colleagues and co-workers, including a renowned doctor and scientist Dr. Wodarg, in the Corona Investigative Committee, jumped on the bandwagon of the traitors to accuse Reiner.

In the lawless “rules-based” system we are confronted with for at least the past four years, it would be no surprise, if Reiner’s turncoats were all coerced, or paid, blackmailed –  or all of the above – by those who pretend to control “THE GLOBALIST SYSTEM”, for giving false testimony.

The cowardice of these people was sufficient to collapse the German Corona Committee.

Reiner is licensed to practice Law in California and had a ranch in California. He tried to move with his wife to California. By strange coincidence – or by coordination between the German and US secret services— Reiner was not allowed entering the US.

So, he established himself temporarily in Mexico, where he created the ICIC (International Crime Investigation Committee), from where he invited numerous guests to talk about crimes committed in the name of the globalist elite, those who created the “rules-based order.”

This “rules-based order” is devoid of any international law and can be changed and shifted around as it suits the political elite’s necessities.

Case in point is Germany which has been getting away with a political crime – Human Rights infractions, on Reiner, an honest citizen, who was telling and publishing the truth – the truth about Corona, the truth about crimes committed against humanity by the very Governments that are paid to serve the people.

The German system did not like Reiner’s ICIC in Mexico either. In October 2023, they lured him into the German Consulate in Tijuana, Mexico, where he was immediately arrested by German agents – coming from Germany to literally kidnap Reiner.

They handcuffed him, and took him right away, as is, without a change of clothing, or even a toothbrush, to the airport, where he was flown, squeezed between two armed secret service agents, back to Frankfurt.

Immediately after landing, he was arrested and sent to the maximum-security prison in Rosdorf, Göttingen, for what they call “preventive detention”.

This is called kidnapping.

Illegal – I repeat kidnapping by all standards is ILLEGAL.

The German Government resembles increasingly the Third Reich. The alleged and unproven financial delict he is accused of, is not a criminal act, extradition orders cannot be issued outside of the Schengen area. So, Mexico did not deport Reiner. He had to be kidnapped by the German Secret Service, obviously with the collaboration of Mexico and the US Secret Services.

Reiner’s fight against the Covid lie was a fight against a worldwide military program. The covid scam is Pentagon / NATO project. And so is the “Climate Change” fraud, made believable to the people, by geoengineering the weather, the climate to bring about extreme weather conditions, floods, droughts, hurricanes, destruction of infrastructure, housing, food, creating famine, misery and ultimately death.

Reiner’s case should never have been put before a Criminal Court, but at the most a Civil Court.

In summary, Reiner has been illegally kidnapped and arrested as a political prisoner. Considering the Globalist war we are living, he is also a Prisoner of War.

Reiner is incarcerated for telling the inconvenient truth and – that is important – he has been arrested and is being tortured to dissuade others from talking TRUTH against the Globalists lies and tyranny.

Reiner’s case resembles ever more Julian Assange’s odyssey.

Torture for silence and for dissuasion.

That is the story in brief.

While there are no laws, per se, against “political prisoners”, there is the UN Declaration of Human Rights: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

All prisoners must be held under conditions that correspond to basic Human Rights.

Like the United Nations itself, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) rose from the ashes of World War II. It was adopted in 1948, by then 50 UN member countries.

By now, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been signed by all 193 UN member countries, including Germany.

In abbreviated form, there are 30 basic Human Rights.

In the case of Reiner, Germany is in violation of 7 of the 30 Human Rights:

• 5 Freedom from Torture and Degrading Treatment
• 8 Right to Remedy by a Competent Tribunal
• 9 Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Exile
• 10 Right to Fair Public Hearing
• 11 Right to be Considered Innocent until Proven Guilty
• 19 Freedom of Opinion and Information
• 30 Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the above Rights

Below are the 30 abbreviated Articles of Human Rights.

Friends of Reiner’s,

Free Reiner!

Free Reiner!

Free Reiner!

Here is how Reiner is being tortured:

He has been for almost 15 months in “preventive detention” with an endless trial – up to now 39 trial sessions – but still without a judgement. The maximum preventive detention normally tolerated in Germany is 6 months.

During the last five and a half months, Reiner has been detained in solitary confinement.

He is in full isolation and cannot even talk to his fellow prisoners.

He can receive visits only once a month.

He is kept in almost total isolation.

Every time he leaves his cell he is being handcuffed, foot-shackled and accompanied by two heavily armed policemen – to where he must go, most of the times to Court.

He is being treated like a mass murderer.

At every Court interruption and before he is brought back to his cell, he is being stripped and body-searched.

Imagine this extreme humiliation!

The latest happenings date from three days ago, 27 November, the last Court date.

Reiner has been sick for days and asked to see a medical doctor of his choice, and to postpone the Court date.

He was denied both.

The judge said he was fine and healthy enough to attend the Court session.

In addition, Reiner was not only denied to see his dying mother before she passed away, but two days ago he was denied to attend her funeral.

Psychological torture. Absolute cruelty.

Here are the messages from Reiner (audio) and Katja Wörner (his lawyer), they sent to the manifestation in Geneva.

Friends of Reiner’s,

We are in Geneva, where the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is located, Mr. Volker Türk.

Dear Mr. Türk,

We call on you – we plead you – to intervene without delay with the German Government to free Dr. Reiner Fuellmich immediately.

Reiner is arrested and tortured for a financial “irregularity” he has NOT committed.

I repeat, he has NOT committed.

Several of his Human Rights are regularly violated.

Reiner’s German Government kidnapping, arrest and torture serves just as a pretext, to silence him and to keep him as a political prisoner in the maximum-security prison “Rosdorf” in Göttingen, northern Germany.

He has been in preventive detainment for almost 15 months, a third of which in solitary confinement. A fierce Human Rights violation.

Mr. Türk, we request you to do whatever is in your power as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to intervene with the German Government to free Reiner Fuellmich at once.

Thank you.

Free Reiner!

Free Reiner!

Free Reiner!

*

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Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).

Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

Featured image: Foto: Kerstin Heusinger

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Annex: The 30 Articles of Human Rights – in abbreviated format

1 Right to Equality

2 Freedom from Discrimination

3 Right to Life, Liberty, Personal Security

4 Freedom from Slavery

5 Freedom from Torture and Degrading Treatment

6 Right to Recognition as a Person before the Law

7 Right to Equality before the Law

8 Right to Remedy by Competent Tribunal

9 Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Exile

10 Right to Fair Public Hearing

11 Right to be Considered Innocent until Proven Guilty

12 Freedom from Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, and Correspondence

13 Right to Free Movement in and out of the Country

14 Right to Asylum in other Countries from Persecution

15 Right to a Nationality and the Freedom to Change It

16 Right to Marriage and Family

17 Right to Own Property

18 Freedom of Belief and Religion

19 Freedom of Opinion and Information

20 Right of Peaceful Assembly and Association

21 Right to Participate in Government and in Free Elections

22 Right to Social Security

23 Right to Desirable Work and to Join Trade Unions

24 Right to Rest and Leisure

25 Right to Adequate Living Standard

26 Right to Education

27 Right to Participate in the Cultural Life of Community

28 Right to a Social Order that Articulates this Document

29 Community Duties Essential to Free and Full Development

30 Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the above Rights

Those listed in bold are violated by Germany against Dr. Reiner Fuellmich.

Introduction

The video below produced in 2006 by the Union of Concerned Scientists in collaboration with the Pentagon reveals the consequence of the use of a  Nuclear Earth Penetration Bomb in an attack on Iran.

This is an important video production, carefully documented by the UCS. 

I should mention that the option to use bunker buster bombs against Iran is currently on the drawing board of the Pentagon, despite the fact that there is no evidence that Iran has stockpiled Weapons of Mass destruction in so-called bunkers, as conveyed in the video.

Implied in the video-montage is that Iran constitutes a WMD threat,  when in fact there is no evidence to that effect.

The Nuclear Earth Penetrating Bomb (NEPB) should be distinguished from the so-called tactical nuclear weapons (mini-nukes) which are low yield.

“The simulation in the Flash Animation pertains to a one megaton bunker buster thermonuclear bomb with an explosive capacity of 60 times a Hiroshima bomb. Its use would result in millions of deaths and radioactive fallout extending eastwards into Pakistan and India.  

The earth penetrating technology is similar. The explosive capacity of the B61-11 and 12 series  which are deployed in Western Europe have an explosive capacity from one third to 12 times a Hiroshima bomb.

“the B61-11 has several “available yields”, ranging from  “low yields” of  less than one kiloton, to mid-range and up to the 1000 kiloton bomb. In all cases, the radioactive fallout is devastating.  Moreover, the B61 series of thermonuclear weapons includes several models with distinct specifications: the B61-11, the B61-3, B61- 4, B61-7 and B61-10. Each of these bombs has several “available yields”.

What is contemplated for theater use [against Iran] is the “low yield” 10 kt bomb, two thirds of a Hiroshima bomb”. 

In the simulation based on a model of the Pentagon pertaining to the RNEP (image below) “more than three million would be killed and more than thirty five million people would  be exposed by cancer causing radiation.”

 

B61-11 and 12 Low Yield Bunker Buster Bombs

The UCS  (based on the Pentagon Model) also examined the likely impacts of the use of the low yield B61-11 and 12 bombs (which is deployed in the UK, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands) 

The B61-11 and 12 series are contemplated for use in the conventional war theater.  According to the Simulation of a B61-11 attack on Iran: 

“this would result in radioactive contamination over a large part of the Middle East – Central Asian region, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, including US troops stationed in Iraq” (UCS)

See map below

 

It should be noted that Joe Biden’s 1.3 trillion dollars nuclear weapons program is slated to increase to 2 trillion by 2030 allegedly as a means to safeguarding peace and national security at taxpayers expense.

Does a Two Trillion dollars ($2000 billion) budget allocated to the development of nuclear weapons not suggest that America is intent upon using nuclear weapons? 

B61-12 (right)

How many schools and hospitals could you finance with 2 trillion dollars?

A nuclear attack against Iran is currently on the drawing board of the Pentagon.

IWe are at a dangerous crossroads in our history. 

The use of the low Yield B61-11 and 12 so-called mini-nukes (tactical nuclear weapons) which are CATEGORIZED AS CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS WOULD ALSO precipitate WWIII

This is an important video and it’s real.

AND WE MUST CONFRONT OUR GOVERNMENTS AND PREVENT IT FROM OCCURRING

.

.

—Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, November 2, 2024

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Video: The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator to be Used Against Iran 

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/nuclear_weapons/nuclear-bunker-buster-rnep-animation.html

Text and Analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

The simulation in the Flash Animation pertains to a one megaton bunker buster thermonuclear bomb with an explosive capacity of 60 times a Hiroshima bomb.

Military documents distinguish between the NEP as in the case of the simulation, and the “mini-nuke” which are nuclear weapons with a yield of less than 10 kilotons (two thirds of a Hiroshima bomb). The NEP can have a yield of up to a 1000 kilotons, or 60 times a Hiroshima bomb.

In the showdown with Tehran over its alleged nuclear weapons program, the Pentagon is contemplating the launching of punitive bombings using “mini-nukes” or tactical thermonuclear weapons. While the “guidelines” do not exclude other (more deadly) categories of nukes in the US and/or Israeli nuclear arsenal, as envisaged in the simulation, Pentagon “scenarios” in the Middle East tend to favor the use of tactical nuclear weapons including the B61-11 bunker buster bomb with a yield of 10 kt.

This distinction between mini-nukes and larger NEPs is in many regard misleading. In practice there is no dividing line.

We are broadly dealing with the same type of weaponry:  the B61-11 has several “available yields”, ranging from  “low yields” of  less than one kiloton, to mid-range and up to the 1000 kiloton bomb. In all cases, the radioactive fallout is devastating.  Moreover, the B61 series of thermonuclear weapons includes several models with distinct specifications: the B61-11, the B61-3, B61- 4, B61-7 and B61-10. Each of these bombs has several “available yields”.

What is contemplated for theater use is the “low yield” 10 kt bomb, two thirds of a Hiroshima bomb. The impacts in terms of deaths and radioactive fallout would be less dramatic than that contemplated in the simulation. It would nonetheless result in the deaths of tens of thousands of men, women and children

“The earth-penetrating capability of the B61-11 is fairly limited. …  Tests show it penetrates only 20 feet or so into dry earth when dropped from an altitude of 40,000 feet. … Any attempt to use it in an urban environment would result in massive civilian casualties. Even at the low end of its 0.3-300 kiloton yield range, the nuclear blast will simply blow out a huge crater of radioactive material, creating a lethal gamma-radiation field over a large area “ (Low-Yield Earth-Penetrating Nuclear Weapons by Robert W. Nelson,Federation of American Scientists, 2001 ).

According to GlobalSecurity.org , the use of the B61-11 against North Korea would result in extensive radioactive fallout over nearby countries, thereby triggering a nuclear holocaust.

“… In tests the bomb penetrates only 20 feet into dry earth,… But even this shallow penetration before detonation allows a much higher proportion of the explosion to be transferred into ground shock relative to a surface burst. It is not able to counter targets deeply buried under granite rock. Moreover, it has a high yield, in the hundreds of kilotons. If used in North Korea, the radioactive fallout could drift over nearby countries such as Japan” (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b61.htm )

If it were to be launched against Iran, it would result in radioactive contamination over a large part of the Middle East – Central Asian region, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, including US troops stationed in Iraq:

“The use of any nuclear weapon capable of destroying a buried target that is otherwise immune to conventional attack will necessarily produce enormous numbers of civilian casualties. No earth-burrowing missile can penetrate deep enough into the earth to contain an explosion with a nuclear yield [of a low yield B61-11] even as small as 1 percent of the 15 kiloton Hiroshima weapon. The explosion simply blows out a massive crater of radioactive dirt, which rains down on the local region with an especially intense and deadly fallout.”(Low-Yield Earth-Penetrating Nuclear Weapons, by Robert W. Nelson, op cit )

At present, the B61-11 is slated for use in war theaters together with conventional weapons. (Congressional Report“ Bunker Busters”: Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Issues , Congressional Research Service March 2005). (Other versions of the B61, namely mod 3, 4,  7 and 10, which are part of the US arsenal, involve nuclear bunker buster bombs with a lower yield to that of B61-11).

For further details, see
The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War

New Pentagon Doctrine: Mini-Nukes are “Safe for the Surrounding Civilian Population”
by Michel Chossudovsky

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“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” 

by Michel Chossudovsky

Available to order from Global Research! 

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
Year: 2012
Pages: 102

PDF Edition:  $6.50 (sent directly to your email account!)

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute   

Simulations of World War III are conducted regularly by the Pentagon. Invariably they are classified. 

This important article by renowned geopolitical analyst William Arkin first published in 2006 (Washington Post blog)  reveals the details pertaining a declassified World War III scenario implemented by US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)

 

.

In this simulation, Four Countries are identified as enemies of America. The Entire Scenario in the form of a chronology is outlined. Scroll Down. Read carefully. (Emphasis added)

Irmingham = Iran
Nemazee = North Korea
Ruebek = Russia
Churya = China 

Exercise Vigilant Shield 07, currently scheduled to culminate December 4-14, is described in this year’s “Exercise Plan” (thanks PR for providing the documents) as an opportunity to “train and exercise” NORTHCOM and U.S.-Canadian NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) components in all aspects of homeland defense.

The exercise run concurrently with

“Terminal Fury 07,” a Pacific Command (PACOM) exercise focused on North Korea;

“Global Lightning 07,” a Strategic Command (STRATCOM) exercise focused on command and control of U.S. nuclear and conventional forces, and, 

“Positive Response 07-1,” a national-level continuity of operations exercise of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is also participating in the “maritime defense” portions of the exercise, and other U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Energy are involved in the nuclear weapons aspects.

I wrote last year about Vigilant Shield 06, which involved World War III with “Slomonia,” a thinly veiled Russia adopted a more aggressive foreign policy towards the west and eventually attacked the United States.

This year’s Vigilant Shield stars Nemazee, a thinly veiled North Korea; Irmingham, which is Iran; Ruebek, which is Russia; and Churya, which is China.  According to briefing documents from the Vigilant Shield planning conference:

• “Nemazee continues to develop nuclear and missile capabilities
• Southwest Asian country of Irmingham intent on uranium enrichment program
• Western countries and United States seeking U.N. assistance to halt Irmingham’s enrichment program
• Eurasian country of Ruebek attempts to mediate Irmingham crisis by offering nuclear oversight while secretly supporting enrichment program
• Asian country of Churya will become concerned at increasing level of Ruebek-U.S. hostility”

Evidently endeavoring to be more “relevant” to the world scene, NORTHCOM focused this year’s Vigilant Shield on continuing North Korean development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.  There’s nothing wrong with that.

But North Korea just isn’t a big enough threat to justify the homeland security edifice back home, particularly not missile defense or other technological favorites.

According to the NORTHCOM exercise scenario (published separately), when it is all over, a “limited” nuclear war takes place between the United States and Russia. 

They fire first, hitting U.S. command centers and forces, we retaliate. 

As part of the concurrent Positive Response exercise of the JCS, a one kiloton “terrorist” nuclear weapon just happens to detonate at the Pentagon. 

Cheyenne Mountain and the underground Raven Rock bunker in Maryland are hit with Russian nuclear weapons, but no “cities” are hit and other than the attack on the Pentagon — which briefing documents say only kills 6,000 — the country survives.

With the Pentagon gone — someone at least has a sense of humor — the military can “practice” its alternate command structures, its truck mounted mobile command centers, and its redundant communications. 

“Consequence management” organizations can stage to pockets of great destruction, led still by a federal government that miraculously survives nuclear war.  Officials who need to be are evacuated nicely, the “stressed” system chugs forward.
 
The “road to war” as described in exercise briefing documents gives no political context for why Russia would want to go to war with the United States, and then if they did, why they would attack in such limited numbers and not go for victory.  I guess the answer is buried somewhere in the minds of exercise scenario writers who needed limited war to make it all fun and workable; or is the product of nuclear warfare theory that posits “limited” attacks away from really valuable things as a way of “controlling” the outcome.

In either case, on the nuclear side the two core assumptions are clear:

First, nuclear warfare can break out for no particular reason at any particular time, hence not only the need for U.S. nuclear weapons but ballistic missile defenses. 

Second, small nuclear weapons, while bad, don’t really kill that many people, hence the demand for new “mini-nukes” to attack the bad guys: They are useful.

Adm. Timothy Keating, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, spoke at a Homeland Defense Symposium yesterday in Colorado saying that he doubted scenarios that posit another mega-terrorist in the United States.

“I do not think it’s inevitable,” Keating said.

(See Tom Roeder, “NORTHCOM Chief Says Attack Not Inevitable,” Colorado Springs Gazette, October 6, 2006)

I’m sure no one in the audience of 1,500 industry types who feed at the trough of homeland security was particularly thrilled with Keating’s remark.

Not to worry though the Admiral said that NORTHCOM was still working aggressively on disaster preparedness

“If we do this right,” he said, “you’re just going to get aid.” Financial aid that is.

***

The Vigilant Shield 07 Exercise Scenario

Supplement to Early Warning blog posting for October 6, 2006

From the Vigilant Shield 07 exercise scenario, taken from U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) briefing documents dated August 2006.  The material in brackets is added by the author to explain acronyms.

Irmingham = Iran
Nemazee = North Korea
Ruebek = Russia
Churya = China

• Road to Conflict (RTC): 11 Sep – 15 Oct 06

 – Initial Irmingham Enrichment I&W [indications and warning]
 – Initial Ruebeki & Irmingham Involvement
 – Ruebek I&W, PACFLT [U.S. Pacific Fleet] Sub Deployments
 – Initial Nemazee ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] I&W
 – Initial MHLD [homeland defense?] I&W
 – Strategic IO [information operations (cyber warfare)] operations (Ruebek & Churya)
 – Ruebek & Irmingham Conduct Joint AD [air defense] Exercise

• Phase 1 / Deployment: 4 – 8 Dec 06

 – Rogue LRA [Russian long-range aviation] w/CALCM [conventional air launched cruise missile] Launch
 – Continue Monitoring Strategic Situation
 – Continue Monitoring Nemazee Situation

  • Possible Nuclear Testing
  • Probable ICBM Preparation
 
 – Continue Monitoring MHLD Situation
 
  • Five VOIs [vessels of interest]
  • Churya Flagged VOI into Dutch Harbor Supports BMDS [ballistic missile defense system] Threat to Ft Greely

 – Continue Monitoring IO Activities
 – Nemazee Conducts SLV [space launch vehicle] Launch – 8 Dec 06

• Phase 2 Minus 42 Days:

 • Additional Nemazee ICBM Shipments to Launch Facilities
 • RMOB [Russian main operating bases] Acft Conduct LR Navigation Flights
 • AS-15 [nuclear armed cruise missile] Handling at RMOBs

 – Minus 41 Days:
  • Additional Nemazee ICBM Preps at Launch Pad # 2
 – Minus 40 Days:
  • Activity at Nemazee Nuclear Test Facilities
 – Minus 35 Days:
  • DOS [Department of State] Travel Warning
 – Minus 30 Days:
  • Ruebek LRA Deploys Acft to Anadyr & Vorkuta

• Phase 2 Minus 30 Days:

 • Growing International Condemnation of Ruebek
 • Ruebek Deploys Submarines

 – Minus 20 Days:
  • Nemazee Recalls Reservists
 – Minus 14 Days:
  • DOS Draw-down Sequencing
 – Minus 13 Days:
  • Ruebek Closes US Embassy in Washington DC
 – Minus 11 Days:
  • Nemazee Conducts Fueling of Additional ICBMs
  • Ruebeki Presidential Statement on Possible US Attack

• Phase 2 Minus 10 Days:

 • POTUS Addresses Congress on War Powers Act

 – Minus 6 Days:
  • Ruebek President Calls “Situation Grave”
 – Minus 5 Days:
  • CALCM Activity at Anadyr, Vorkuta, and Tiksi
  • Ruebeki SS-25 [nuclear armed mobile ICBMs] Conduct out of Garrison Deployments
  • Nemazee Assembling ICBM for Probable Launch
 – Minus 4 Days:
  • Ruebek Closes US Embassy in Washington DC
  • Ruebek Acft Conduct Outer ADIZ [air defense identification zone] Pentrations
  • Mid-Air Collison w/NORAD Acft During ADIZ Penetration

• Phase 2 Minus 4 Days:

 • Nemazee ICBM Launch Azimuth Threatens US

 – Minus 3 Days:
 • NATO Diplomatic Efforts Fail to Diffuse Crisis
 • USAMB to Ruebek Recalled for Consultation
 • POTUS Addresses Nation
 – Minus 2 Days:
 • Nemazee Leadership Movement
 – Minus 1 Day:
 • Ruebek Expels US Mission

• Phase 2 / Execution: 10 – 14 Dec 06

 – Pre-Attack I & W
 – Imminent Terrorist Attack on Pentagon Suggests Pentagon COOP [continuity of operations plan]
 – Nemazee Conducts 2 x ICBM Combat Launches Against United States
 – Ruebek Conducts Limited Strategic Attack on United States
  • Wave 1 – 8 x Bear H Defense Suppression w/CALCM
  • Wave 2 – Limited ICBM & SLBM Attack
 – 2 x ICBM Launched (1 impacts CMOC [Cheyenne Mountain], 1 malfunctions)
 – 2 x SLBM Launched Pierside (1 impacts SITE-R [“Raven Rock” bunker on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border], 1 malfunctions)
 – 3 x Bear H from Dispersal Bases w/ALCM (Eielson AFB, CANR, Cold Lake)
 – US Conducts Limited Retaliatory Attack on Ruebek
  • 1 x ICBM C2 Facility
  • 1 x ICBM Against ICBM Launch Location
  • Phase 2 / Execution:
 – Ruebek Prepares Additional Attack on United States
  • Wave 3 – Prepares for Additional Strategic Attacks
  – 1 x ICBM Movement, NO Launch
  – 3 x SLBM PACFLT Pierside Missile Handling Activity (NO Launch)
  – 6 x BEAR H (launch & RTB [return to base]) w/6 x ALCM (NO launch)”

 

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First published on April 8, 2022

***

Abstract

The decades following World War II witnessed massive investments in large dams and water reservoirs. The number of large dams increased globally from 5,000 dams in 1950 to around 50,000 in 2017, and irrigated areas doubled from 140 million hectares to 280 million hectares.

The development of public irrigation and hydropower energy, and their associated dams, was central to Cold War geopolitics and national state policies. Throughout the Cold War, water became more involved in both building up and demolishing regimes, supporting, and undermining political legitimacy, and empowering and disempowering social groups.

Today, over 263 international watercourses generate about 60% of global freshwater flow, cross the territories of 145 countries, and are home to around 40% of the world’s population. Conflicts over shared river waters cannot be interpreted without understanding the political power relations and the significance of upstream-downstream positioning of the competing or conflicting states.

For thousands of years being Mesopotamia (the land between two rivers), today’s Iraq faces water scarcity and desertification due to the continued reduction of the Tigris and Euphrates water flow into Iraqi territory. This is largely due to upstream developments on their headwaters in Turkey and Iran, and the steepening effects of climate change. In 2018, the UN Environment Program warned that Iraq was losing around 25,000 hectares of arable land.

The construction and operation of about 100 large dams and reservoirs on the Tigris and Euphrates headwaters in both Turkey and Iran in less than four decades, has drastically impaired the flow of the two rivers and caused severe land and environmental degradation including the desiccation of wetlands in Iraq.

In this article, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers mean annual flow rate records from the Ministry of Water Resources in Iraq (1960-2018) have been analyzed in correlation with dates of upstream dams filling and operation of tens of large dams in Turkey.

Conclusions indicate significant correlation that caused serious impacts including the desiccation of about 65% of the marshland’s areas in southern Iraq since the seventies to date, with continues degradation of valuable agriculture land into desertification, and other related environmental and socioeconomical aspects.

Introduction

About 96.3% of water on earth is saline. Freshwater including ice caps, lakes, rivers, groundwater, soil moisture, and atmosphere vapors covers only 2.7% of the Earth’s surface. River’s freshwater is only 0.0002 of total water on earth [1]. Rivers are important natural corridors for the flows of energy, matter, and species, and are often key elements in the regulation and maintenance of landscape biodiversity [2]. With time and population explosion and drought, fresh water becomes a critical asset to meet food, water demands, development, and national security of nations.

The decades following World War II witnessed massive investments in large dams and water reservoirs. The number of large dams increased globally from 5000 in 1950 to around 50 000 in 2017. Irrigated areas also doubled from 140 million ha. to 280 million hectares. The development of public irrigation and hydro energy and associated dams was central to Cold War geopolitics as well as to wider national state policies. [3].

As a strategic asset, water is no longer linked only to environmental issues and food security issue’s but also plays a critical role in regional security arrangements. States view water as a means for political leverage and as a source of power.

There are over 263 international watercourses generating about 60% of global freshwater flow which cover almost half the earth’s land surface. They cross the territories of 145 countries and are home to around 40% of the world’s population.[4]

Shared rivers between two or more riparian states poses different levels of disputes over river water shares. Conflicts over shared rivers waters cannot be interpreted without understanding the power relations and the significance of upstream-downstream positioning of the competing or conflicting states [ 5]. In arid and semi-arid regions like the Middle East water represents a source of state power, and water scarcity is highly impacting development and national security [5].

Today Iraq faces water scarcity and desertification after continuous reduction of Tigris and Euphrates water inflows due to upstream damming of their headwaters in Turkey, Iran.

Water shortages are further aggravated by the steepening effects of climate change. The UN Environment Program reported in 2018 that Iraq is  losing around 25,000 hectares of arable land annually.[6].

The construction and operation of more than 100 large dams, reservoirs, and hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) in less than four decades on Tigris and Euphrates headwaters in Turkey, Iran, has impaired the flow of the two rivers and caused sever land and environmental degradation in Iraq.

Since the 1970s, Turkey has pursued an ambitious Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), or “Guneydogu Anadolu Projesi” (Turkish). The project involves the construction of 90 dams, and 60 hydro-electrical power stations [7 ], water diversion tunnels, and irrigation infrastructure on Tigris and Euphrates headwaters, with storage capacity exceeding 114 BCM. Full implementation of (GAP) facilities will harness nearly 70-80 percent of the Euphrates River water flow into Iraq and Syria [8].

Throughout the Cold War, water has become more involved in both building and demolishing regimes, supporting, and undermining political legitimacy, and empowering and disempowering social groups [9].

This paper presents an overview of how Cold War politics after World War II evolved to create tensions and potential conflicting situations between riparian countries within the Tigris and Euphrates basins.

As a NATO active member, Turkey received political, financial, and technical support to accelerate the construction of GAP mega dams without negotiating protocols with downstream riparian countries or conducting comprehensive environmental impact assessments to define the effects of these dams on them, as required by international water laws [10].

Tigris and Euphrates rivers mean annual flow rate (MAFR) records from the ministry of water resources in Iraq (MoWRI), Appendix A, table I, [14] [16], have been analyzed in correlation with dates of upstream dams filling and operation in Turkey and Iran, to identify the real impacts of these developments on the acceleration of the desiccation of the marshlands southern Iraq through the nineties to date.

With partial implementation of the GAP project, Iraq is already going through significant water scarcity, desertification [6], and the desiccation of about 65% of major areas of the marshlands after the diminishing of flood waves, major water recharge of these wetlands [11].  It’s been predicted that both Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq might diminish by the year of 2040’s [12].

Water resources status of Iraq

Before the 1970s the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq were considered semi-natural [8]]. Both rivers are international rivers shared mainly by four countries (Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran). Most headwaters of both rivers are in Turkey and Iran’s highlands. Tables 1 and 2 pertain to the major hydrological parameters of both Tigris and Euphrates drainage basins.

Since about 79% of water resources of the two rivers in Iraq originate mainly from Turkey and Iran’s highlands [8], a significant decline in total annual inflow of Euphrates in Iraq started in the mid-1970s, right after the construction and the operation of the Keban dam in Turkey and Tabqa dam in Syria.

Table 1: Main Hydrological parameters of Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq.

Figure 1: Tigris and Euphrates River basins across riparian states [15].

Early 1980s to the present the total annual water inflow of both Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq have been going through continuous decline (figure 2), due mainly to the construction of the Southeast Anatolia Project, and other water developments in Iran, Syria, and Iraq.

The first stage of GAP project includes the building of 22 mega and large dams and 19 hydropower plants with storage capacity of (>114 BCM) on the Euphrates and Tigris (Table 3), which exceeds the natural annual flow volume of the two rivers [8].

Figure 2: Decline of mean annual flow of both Tigris and Euphrates water last five decades. Source of data MoWRI in references [14][16].

Another important source of surface water in Iraq is Shatt al Arab River. This river forms from the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers near the city of Qurna in southern Iraq, figure 3 . Downstream of Qurna city to the Arabian Gulf, the length of the river is 192 Km [17]. The area draining to the Shatt al Arab river is shared between Iran and Iraq. In addition to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the Karkheh and the Karun tributaries originate from the Zagros highlands in Iran contribute water to Shatt al Arab main channel in Iraq [8].

Mean annual inflow of Shatt Al Arab during (1947-1960) from Tigris and Euphrates was about 23 BCM in Maqal (Makal) district close to Basra city center (figure 3 )[18], increases to about 37.5 BCM further south after Karun tributary discharges about 14.4 BCM of its water into the river [18].

Last two decades, the contribution of Tigris, Euphrates, and Karun rivers inflow into Shatt Al Arab have been gradually declining. The flow rate of the river dropped to historical level of 45 CMS (Cubic Meter Per Second) reported in (2011), compared to 919 cms in (1977-1978) [19]. Shatt Al Arab annual flow rate decline is also related to the construction of large dams and reservoirs upstream in Turkey and Iran on both Tigris and Euphrates headwaters [8] figure 4.

Figure 3: Shatt Al Arab River through Basra city [17]

Figure 4: Shatt Al-Arab mean annual flow rate at Makal district in Basra.[18]

Iran on other hand constructed 37 dams on Tigris tributaries, Karun, and Karkha rivers originating from the Zagros and Touros highlands in Iran since the seventies [20] [21].

Syria also constructed three large dams on Euphrates since mid-seventies [8]. Iraq built 5 large dams at same period [8] , in addition to the construction of 17 dams last decade on Tigris tributaries within Kurdistan Region of Iraq ( KRI) last decade, with 24 more dams under construction currently [22 ]. Mean annual water inflow of both Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq during the sixties was around 83 BCM, figure 2. In four decades, mean water inflow dropped to 47 BCM. With climate changes, and full implementation of GAP project, further reduction is expected to the depletion of both rivers in Iraq around 2040’s according to (UN-IAU Interagency information and analysis unit) (Report, 2010 [12].

The Southeastern Anatolia Development Project

The Southeastern Anatolia Development (GAP) is part of a more comprehensive project intends to build 1,783 dams and hydro-electric power plants (HEPP) in Turkey by 2023 in addition to over 2,000 existing ones, which will affect millions of people [23] inside Turkey, and more than 30 million people downstream in Syria and Iraq.

The following section is a general historical review of the politics accelerated the development of the GAP project last four decades, starting from the construction of Keban dam, first mega dam constructed on Euphrates River headwaters in Turkey.

1. Keban dam

In 1962 the Turkish parliament allocated funds for a feasibility study for the construction of a dam at Keban city on the headwaters of the Euphrates River. That same year, a contract was signed with EBASCO Services Inc., an American engineering firm founded by the General Electric Company in 1905 [24].

The project Feasibility report released in October 1963.” EBASCO recommended the construction of the dam at Keban in a 350-page “economic feasibility” report. The project technical document supposed to come with technical details about the proposed design and the cost of the dam, but, the report was more as a political document [24]. It was an analysis of the whole Turkish economy and society. It offered a technocratic vision for the country’s future rather than the project region only. The study was produced as a prospectus for international capital, it was less about the development of Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia and more about the social and economic development of Turkey’s largest cities in the west [24].

In 1965, Turkey began construction of the Keban dam. Ankara obtained funding for the dam from the United States and several West European countries led by West Germany and the contracted consortium of West European companies to complete the dam.

The total aid for the project totaled some $135 million US Dollars [24]. Keban and Al-Tabqa dam in Syria were both completed and started filling the reservoirs (1973-1974) [25]. Filling the (31 BCM) storage capacity reservoirs of Keban and Tabqa dam reservoir (11.6BCM) during (1973,1974, 1975) caused significant decline of (MAFR) of Euphrates river in Iraq to (15.31, 9.02, 9.42 BCM)( MoWRI in Table I, Appendix A). Comparing these records to Euphrates average annual flow rate (1930-1970) of 30 BCM (Appendix A, Table I) before the construction of Keban and Tabqa dams. This decline caused serious damages to downstream riparian countries (Syria and Iraq) at the time, but the damages in Iraq were more severe.

Permanent Impacts of operating Keban dam is about 25% reduction of the annual inflow rate of the Euphrates in Iraq [26]. This reduction and control of the river flow ended most of the spring season flood waves [8].

Amidist most critical conflicts of the Cold War, right after filling of Keban dam, with the world’s oil crises early seventies of last century, the nationalization of Iraqi oil in 1973 [27], EBASCO report recommendation for Turkey’s economic development , and total political, technical, and financial support of the NATO countries during the construction of  Keban dam,  all opened the door widely for Turkey to further extend the development of Southeastern Anatolia region through  what today called the Southeastern Anatolia project (GAP).

2. Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) was launched in 1977 and introduced by Turkey’s State hydraulic works (DSİ) through bringing together various programs on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, creating a regional project that covers nine provinces of an area about 74,000 km² [28]. The completed project aims to have built a total of 90 dams and 60 hydroelectric power plants, generating 27 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and irrigate 1.7 million hectares of surface area to grow cash crops and promote agro-industries such as food processing for export [28].

Phase one of the Southeastern Anatolia project include the construction of twenty-two large and mega dams, nineteen hydraulic power plants, and huge water conversion tunnels, figure 5 shows the locations of main GAP dams [29]. Without environmental impact assessment, planning, design, and construction of the project were singly decided by Turkey without negotiations with other downstream riparian states (Syria and Iraq) [10] as required by 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses, and other related water laws [30].

Turkey’s stand on this issue is based on the principle of the Harmon Doctrine, whereby the upstream riparian country owns the water and controls its distribution, [31]. The problem with the Harmon Doctrine, “not only do the vast number of water treaties bear witness against this Doctrine, but all the international and federal judicial tribunals that have experience with international water problems have rejected it; all the learned associations, institutes, and other bodies which have studied these problems have rejected it in their statements of principles”, [32, page 142].

The International water law (IWL) as a process dismantled absolute sovereignty theories Including: Absolute territorial sovereignty theory; Absolute territorial integrity theory. As McCarthy, 1996, stated “The Harmon Doctrine … buried, not praised”)[32].

The three foundation pillars of IWL:

• The equitable and reasonable utilization principle;
• The no-harm rule; and
• The principle of co-operation [32 ].

Hence the GAP project stands against all these principals in every single step of its planning, design, construction, and operation.

While the decision to build a dam is often seen as a sovereign decision, the decision of external agencies to support a dam depends on whether the proposed project complies with that agency’s policies and guidelines”. Such policies, argues by the world commission on dams (WCD), “should incorporate aspects of notification to riparian States, the desirability of ‘consent’ or ‘no objection’ from riparian States and independent expert assessment of social, ecological, and heritage and cultural impacts on downstream riparian states[10].

Figure 5: Major GAP constructed dams and their distribution along Tigris and Euphrates headwater in Turkey [29].

The world commission on dams (WCD) Policy Principle 7.5, Strategic Priority 7, states: “Where a government agency plans or facilitates the construction of a dam on a shared river in contravention of the principle of good faith negotiations between riparian’s’.  [10].

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund refused to fund any part of the GAP after funding the construction of the Karakaya Dam (1983-1988) due to concerns over social and environmental impacts, as well as protests from governments in Iraq and Syria [10].

During the eighties, Initial Goals of GAP projects were mainly limited to developing irrigation and industrial zones. In 1989, Turkish state officially established the Southeast Anatolia Regional Development Administration.

The law governing the Administration demonstrated how the Turkish government saw this project as involving more than simply economic development. The GAP scheme engaged the entire landscape of Southeast Anatolia, including political, social, cultural, and environmental spheres.

Law decree 388 (1989) defined the Administration’s duties. GAP Regional Development Administration published the goals of the project as: 1. generation of hydroelectric power; 2. development of regional agriculture through irrigation. 3. development of a regional agro-industrial base; and 4. formulation of a mid- to long-term solution to Kurdish ethnic separatism [24] [ stahle page 228].

To Europe and America, the GAP mega dams project was not about safeguarding foreign policy interests, such as containment of the Soviet Union and the extension of communist ideology in the middle east only, rather, the dams were a key component in producing a particular economic order, and opening overseas markets to exports, maintaining a specific technical and industrial base in the donor country (like Turkey) [24].

In a report titled “THE EUPHRATES TRIANGLE, Security Implications of the Southeastern Anatolia Project” of the U.S. National Defense University ,1999 [31], statements clearly defined the U.S.-NATO stance on the construction of GAP project, such us;

“A secure and stable Turkey is in the U.S. national interest. Turkey is the southern bastion of NATO, and it borders on three states that may pose a threat  to the United States–Iraq, Syria, and Iran.”

Also, that;

“the NATO southern flank, with Turkey in particular, still faced severe regional instability. For this reason, SACEUR designated southeastern Turkey as one of several areas within Allied Command Europe that would continue to receive priority military planning efforts.”

In the recommendation section of the same report:

” U.S. policy in the region has been to maintain close ties to Turkey, shaping the environment with international assistance, arms control, nonproliferation initiatives, and isolation of rogue states that support terrorism or violate international law.”

These states were previously identified in the same article as( Syria, Iraq, and Iran) [31].

Water in such context should not be considered as a source of conflict only, but as a mean that can be used during the conflict. Turkey have been using water to serve political aims, causing significant threat to riparian countries and the population’s human security [9] (Laura Meijer).

To the US and NATO powers, supporting the construction of GAP projects politically and financially with their negative impacts on Turkey’s downstream riparian countries (Syria, Iraq,) was more of goal and political strategy to isolate and end their social regimes. Even if that support means the destruction of river’s basins ecological, cultural, and socioeconomical systems.

As Kibaroglu, 2014 stated;

“While the Cold War deepened the tensions over water, Turkey joined NATO whilst Syria and Iraq kept close ties with the USSR” [33]. Other political issues are related to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and the territorial dispute between Turkey and Syria over the Hatay province which was a major source of tension between the two countries until 2005.” [34].

Reconstruction of the project never stopped, with no environmental or social impact assessments at local or regional levels [10].

Environmental Impact assessments are an international requirement for such strategic projects. They are usually conducted to define the impacts of the (dams in this case) on the whole river basin including hydrological, geomorphological, ecological, connected wetlands, and socioeconomic status of all cities   downstream in riparian countries and the suggested alternatives to eliminate these impacts.

To earn back international funds after the controversial (Ataturk) dam had been built and start filling the reservoir in 1990, the Turkish government further developed the project into a new international interest called “sustainable human development”.

The original design was expanded to include schools, roads, health care centers, housing, women’s projects, and tourism. This way the project earned back the international funding including the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development (UNDP) ,table 3 shows the countries and organizations financially supported GAP project.

Table 3: Foreign Countries and organizations financially supported the GAP projects till 2002 [35 ][36].

Entities of the United Nations  supported and funded parts the project, table 3, knowing that sustainability of a river basin including human development is determined by whether the river system can support the long-term ecological and socioeconomic functions of the river basin as a whole [37], and not only part of the basin within the Turkish territories.

No detailed technical reports from these organizations or Turkey exploring the impacts of GAP mega dams on whole rivers basin including ecological and socioeconomic impacts on downstream riparian countries before constructing them [10].

UNEP and other UN organizations dealt with what they called (drying marshlands issue for security reasons) in southern Iraq with many studies during the 1990s. Most of these studies were local, not regional to cover the impacts of constructing all these dams and hydropower stations on the whole Tigris and Euphrates basins including wetlands.

Other related research conclusions built on processing enhanced Landsat and other remote sensing images without enough ground truth data and rate of flow records.

The GAP project created international conflicts regarding water sharing and escalated tensions among Turkey, Syria and Iraq as the three riparian states of the Euphrates and Tigris basins.

Turkey has for a long time rejected the notion of sharing rivers in an equitable and fair manner as stipulated by international law. It was one out of three countries voting against the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses which establishes the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization, of not doing harm, of cooperation between riparian countries, and of notification and consultation [38].

According to international law experts, these principles form part of the customary law also binding those countries that have not ratified the relevant conventions. The obligation to inform and consult with riparian countries at an early stage and to conclude an agreement before a project is realized is also part of the World Bank Safeguard Policies [23].

Impacts of GAP Projects on the Desiccation of Wetland in Southern Iraq

[Desiccation is defined as the “Removal of Moisture”]

Marshlands are mainly located in southern Iraq and are directly connected to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, figure 6 [39]. They are in Nasiriya, Basra, Diwaniya, and Umara governorates.

Before the intensive construction of dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers headwaters in Turkey highlands early seventies of last century, area of the marshes (Ahwar) was highly variable annually and seasonally, ranged from (8000-20000 Km²) [40]. In summer (June-October) and dry years, the area become only 25% of the area in flood season (3500 Km²) [41] due to decline of the two rivers MAFR and high evaporation rate. Many marshes in the area are seasonal and disappear in summer. Others are permeant like the following:

The Euphrates river Marshes: including Al Hammar permanent largest marsh with many other small seasonal marshes. In flooding season, they were all look connected, and are recharged mainly from Euphrates River and flowing water from central marsh westward in dry season. Al Hammar marsh area range between (1250-2500) Km² [40]. The American company T.A.M.S.(Tippet-Abbott-McCarthy, Stratton) estimated area of Al Hammar in 1954 about (1250) Km² [40].

The central marshlands: located between Tigris and Euphrates rivers including Abi Zarak and Chibayeesh marshes. Extending from Shaikh Saad city in Missan to Qurna in Basra, with an area of 4000 Km² in flood season to less than 1920 Km² in dry season, recharged from west Tigris and east Euphrates distributaries [41].

Hawaiza marsh extends from Iranian to Iraqi territories. Area of Hawaiza inside Iraq is about (2500-3000 Km²) in flooding time, to about (950 Km²) in summer, and (650 Km²) in dry years[19]. Inside Iran  the extension of Hawaiza is called (Hoor Alazim) , with an area of (  1250  Km²) in flood season [42 ]. Major recharge of Huwaiza in Iran was from Karkha river until 1998, before operating Karkha2 dam with an annual flow of 3.2BCM [42 ]. From Iraqi side recharge of Hawaiza is from Tigris River distributaries during flood seasons [40].

1. Impacts of GAP Development on the Desiccation of Marshlands in Iraq:

Streams and rivers are hydrologically connected to downstream water features like wetlands and floodplains via channels that convey surface and subsurface water either year-round in perennial flow or seasonally [43]. Water structures like dams on any river affect the frequency, duration, magnitude, timing, and rate of change of connections between headwater streams, and downstream water.

They cause fragmentation of longitudinal connections between headwater streams and downstream waters, including the deltaic wetlands. The impacts of changing streamflow are numerous, including altered flow regime, stream geomorphology, habitat, and ecology [43]. Wetlands in southern Iraq have been subjected to serious stresses after the building of tens of dams on both Tigris and Euphrates within three decades. These dams altered their hydrological, ecological, geomorphological, socioeconomical, and environmental systems due to the elimination of seasonal flood waves major water recharge of the marshlands, and the significant decline of Tigris and Euphrates mean annual flow rate (MAFR). This alteration was more profound after the construction and operation of the GAPS dams in Turkey since the seventies of last century to date [44].

  Figure 6: Marshlands and diversion canals in southern Iraq, modified after (Abdullah, A. 2016)[39].

One of the important impacts of this flow impairments is the desiccation of marshlands in southern Iraq [26]. Acceleration of this desiccation occurred during the nineties, when Turkey filled and operated 22 dams and hydroelectrical power stations on Tigris and Euphrates rivers headwaters in one decade only, (Appendix B, table II) [45].

As a result the MAFR of both rivers dropped drastically (Appendix A), figure 2.  At that time, Iraq was under the economic sanctions, facing severe shortages of food and necessary chemicals for water purification plants, Iraq considered Turkey’s action (being a NATO member) as an assault to deprive Iraqi population access to fresh water for domestic and agriculture uses [10]. Such an action would raise the already high economic sanctions human casualties to a genocide level [46]. As a result, mid-nineties the Iraqi government constructed four freshwater diversion canals through the marshlands to supply potable water for Nasiriya and Basra cities population. These canals caused further dissection of the marshlands as will be explained later in this article.

In the next section the Tigris and Euphrates rivers mean annual flow rate (MAFR) records from the ministry of water resources in Iraq (MoWRI), Appendix A, table I, [14] [16], have been analyzed in correlation with dates of upstream dams filling and operation in Turkey and Iran, to figure out the real impacts of upstream developments on the acceleration of the desiccation of the marshlands through the nineties to date.

2. Desiccation of Hammar and Central Marshlands during the nineties of last century: Early seventies to 2002, Turkey constructed, and operated 32 dams and hydroelectrical power stations on Tigris and Euphrates headwaters with total storage capacity of (99.520 BCM) [45]. Twenty-two of these developments including Ataturk mega dam, with collective storage capacity of (56.969BCM) started filling and operating during the nineties of last century, Appendix B [45]. Thirteen of them with storage capacity (51.664 BCM) were filled and operated on Euphrates River, the other 9 with storage capacity of (4.55BCM) were on Tigris River, Appendix B, table II.

Hammar and Central marshlands are mainly connected and recharge from the Euphrates River and some of Tigris distributaries in case of central marshes [40] . To maintain an area of about 7000 Km² as before the construction of GAP projects, about (14-15 BCM) of water inflow is needed annually to recharge them from Euphrates River in Nasiriya city, the entrance to these marshes [11] [41] [47]. This amount historically was available from seasonal (March-May) flood waves of the river [47], figure 7.

These flood waves disappeared after controlling river flow by the dams on headwaters [11].  The relatively high flow water release from dams on headwaters in Turkey shifted from spring to summer season (June – September) to meet peak electricity demands [11]. Highest evaporation rate in Iraq is during summer [41].

Figure 7: Elimination of spring high flow (flood waves) of Euphrates River in Nasiriya City the entrance to Marshlands. (Flow records from ref. 11).

Mean Annual Flow of Euphrates measured in Husaiba station on Syrian/Iraqi borders before building the dams (1930-1973) is about 30 BCM [14]. During the filling and operating of Ataturk dam (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994), and six other smaller dams on Euphrates, Appendix B, table II. The reservoir level of Ataturk dam reached 535m a.s.l in March 1994 [48]. Mean annual flow of Euphrates River at Husaiba city on the Syrian/Iraqi borders during these years were (8.9, 12.4, 12.15, 12.37, and 15.29 BCM) [MoWRI), Appendix A, table I [14], figure 8.

It is well documented that until the seventies, the Euphrates river was losing about 50% of its mean annual flow rate or about (14-15) BCM of between Heet city close to Syrian/ Iraqi borders to Nasiriya city (Entrance to Marshlands) [40], mainly to meet domestic and agricultural demands for all cities along Euphrates river banks [11].

The Euphrates annual flow rate less than 15 BCM on Iraq/Syrian borders means that there is not enough water to recharge the Hammar and Central Marshlands in southern Iraq for five years (1990-1994), figure 8.

The situation further deteriorated with an annual evaporation rate of 2895 mm/year in Nasiriya [49], which means annual water losses of about (8.26 BCM) from both marshlands water surfaces.

Figure 8: Euphrates River mean annual flow rate in Iraq (1990-2003), showing periods of no recharge to Hammar and Central marshlands during the nineties (Water records, Appendix A)  

Estimations of changes of Hammar and Central marshlands areas through the period (1973-2018) are shown in Figure 9 .

Data of the graph are taken from remote sensing interpretations in published articles and reports listed in table 4. From the graph we notice that from 1973-1990, Hammar and Central marshlands lost about 2000 Km² of its area, after the construction and operation of (Keban, 1973; Karakaya, 1986; Hancagiz, 1988; Hecihider,1989) on the Euphrates headwaters in Turkey (table); Qadisya dam in Iraq, 1986; Tabqa dam,1973 and Baath dam,1988 in Syria[8][45].

From table II, Appendix B, between 1998- 2002, other seven GAP dams and hydro electrical power stations on Euphrates River headwaters were filled and operated (Kahta, Camgazi, Gayt, Ozluc, Karkamis, and Berecik)[45 ] , with operating Tishreen dam in Syria 1999, figure 8. Euphrates MAFR measured on Iraqi/Syrian borders during the years of (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) were (27.9, 18.61. 17.23, 9.59, 10.67 BCM) consecutively (Appendix A, table I). For the reason mentioned previously, throughout this period and from figure 9, Hammar and Central marshlands lost an extra 600 Km² from its area and  ends up to about  750 Km² in 2002 [26].Mid-nineties the Iraqi government constructed and operated four freshwater diversion canals (al EZZ, Taj al Marek, Wafaa al Qaed, and Um al Marek canals) within the marshlands area. Most of these canals started operating from 1994-1998 [55]. The construction of these fresh water diversion canals caused further 1300 Km² reduction of the area of Hammar and Central marshlands, figure 9, as explained in the next section.

Figure 9: Desiccation of Hammar and Central marshes due to continues decline of Euphrates and Tigris annual flow rate after the construction and operation of GAP dams.

3. Desiccation of Hawaiza marsh: this marsh is located east of Amara city southern Iraq on Tigris River. It extends from Iranian territories (called Howr Al-Zim) to Iraqi territories [42].  During the seventies extension of this marsh in Iraq was about (2435Km²) in flood seasons [Nomas, 19 ] and about 950 Km² in summer and 650 Km² in dry years [Nomas, 19], in Iran its area was about (641-1250 Km² ), figure 3 , but both parts are one hydrological and ecological unit [40].

Until 1998 the Karkha river was the major source of water that recharged the Hawaiza marsh from the Iranian side. From the Iraqi side the marsh is recharged by Tigris distributaries Kahala, Musharah, and Majaria canals mainly during floods time [21].

Hawaiza marsh was also affected by the construction and operation of 9 dams and hydroelectrical power stations with total storage capacity of (6.383 BCM)  on Tigris river headwaters in Turkey during the nineties, Appendix B, table II.  Five of them were filled and operated from (1997-2000) [45 ].  Iraq filled and operated the Udhaim dam (1.5 BCM) in 1999[9]. Iran filled and operated two dams, one of them is the Karkha2 dam in 1998, with storage capacity (5.6 BCM) [56].

Tigris river MAFR measured in Kut city (180 Km) south of Baghdad, during the period of (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001), were ( 39.85, 18.88, 18.85, 21.13 BCM) Appendix A, table I. Historical mean annual flow rate of Tigris in Kut city from records of the Ministry of Water Resources in Iraq for the period (1933-1973) is about (49.20 BCM) Appendix A. During the seventies, more than 10 BCM out of the 49 BCM was recharging Hawaiza and central marshes during flood season [57].

Karkha2 dam in Iran was constructed during (1992-1998) on Karkha river, a tributary of Tigris River originates from west Iranian highlands and ends up in Hawaiza marsh in Iran ( Al Azim marsh), figure. The dam reservoir capacity is 5.9 BCM [42].

Starting from 1998-2000, filling then operating the dam from Karkha river cut off an annual recharge to Al Azim /Hawaiza marsh [42]. Mohsen Saeedi et al, in a published an article [42 ] wrote; “Hoor-Al-Azim/Al-Havizeh reached its minimum surface area at year 2000 and lost ~84% of its area following the exploitation of Karkheh dam in 1998”.  He proceeded that “ by disturbing the water inflow to the Hoor-Al-Azim, Karkheh dam exploitation is  the  main  parameter  which caused surface  area  reduction in  Al-Azim/Al-Havizeh wetland[58 ]”.

From 2000 to 2014 a sign of revival is observable over the wetland area so that its area augmented to 1714 km2, but still the total loss of wetland is ~55% from 1973 to 2017[42]. Hawaiza marsh lost about 2000 Km² from its area within Iraqi territories mainly due to dams filling and operations all during the nineties.

4. Impacts of constructing freshwater diversion canals southern Iraq (1994 -1998) on further desiccation of marshlands

After the military operations of Gulf war 1, 1991, with the intended destruction of the public services and the civil infrastructure by American coalition including electricity, water supply and wastewater treatment plants, Irrigation and drainage pumping stations, bridges, food storages [59] [60].

Economic Sanctions imposed on Iraq prevented repairing all the destroyed infrastructure specifically those required spare parts like pumps and chemical reagents, including electricity installations, water purification and sewage treatment plants, and water networks [59]. Harvard Study Team in their visit to Iraq observed that; “people collecting water from broken pipes surrounded by pools of murky water or even directly from drainage ditches”[60]. Loss of electricity had also caused Baghdad’s two sewage treatment plants to stop working and spilling raw sewage into the Tigris River. In neighborhoods in both Basra and Baghdad, whole streets were blocked by pools of foul-smelling water [60] [Starving Iraq].

Without public potable water supply, people had to use raw water directly from rivers for a while. About (50000) mostly under five children died in 1991 only [60]. The impacts of economic sanctions were severe specifically among population in south of Iraq [60]. Because of lack of clean water, food, and medicine, WHO supported data indicated that “Mortality in under-fives had risen 600% between 1990 -94, while there has been a 500% rise in low-birth-weight infants, and a doubling of the infant mortality rate of Baghdad over the same period”. Former UN official Denis Halliday resigned his job in Iraq because he considered sanctions against Iraq amount to ‘genocide’ [46].

During this period only about 40% of Euphrates River MAFR entered the Iraqi territories because of the filling and operation of Ataturk and eleven other dams in Turkey, Appendix B, table II. The release of sewage water discharges to the river caused further deterioration of water quality.  Large areas of marshlands connected to Euphrates River were desiccated due to decline in MAFR with serious deterioration of their water quality, figure 10. In 1994, Al-Imara and Jawad from Marin science Centre in Basra University published a paper presents the results of Physio-chemical properties of water sampling program conducted in December of 1991 [61] (during the filling of Ataturk dam [62].  The sampling program were conducted before the construction of any freshwater conversion canals through the marshlands by the Iraqi state companies, and covered water courses from Qurna to Arabian Gulf [61]. Measured salinity of Euphrates water samples at Qurna before confluence with Tigris River and after flowing through marshlands was (5280) part per million (ppm). According to WHO water quality standards, this salinity value is not suitable for human use [63], also not acceptable for agriculture, animal, or industrial uses. Salinity values from Tigris- Swaib canal (after exiting Huwaiza marsh) was 5020 ppm; Hartha, 6200 ppm; Garmat Ali, 6500 ppm; Basra, 6370 ppm [61 ]. Al these and other water parameters values give clear indication of what southern Iraqi cities were going through with the continues deterioration of surface water quality to meet population water demands through the economic sanctions.

Figure 10: Correlation of filling and operating GAP project dams on decline of Euphrates River MAFR and the dissection of marshlands southern Iraq. [ 45].

To prevent further casualties because of the inability to purify and supply clean water, four artificial water diversion canals were constructed by Iraqi state companies and operated from (1994-1998) [55]. The canals were designed to prevent mixing of what remained of Tigris and Euphrates fresh water with polluted and saline marshlands water, and to convert some of Tigris flood water to Euphrates River south Basra city to supply potable and irrigation water to highly populated villages and cities of Nasiriya, Shatra, and Basra. These projects are:

1. Al- Ezz river: Recommended by American’s consultants (Tippets Abbott McCarthy Stratton),1958 [64].  This artificial canal was constructed mid-1993 and operation started 1994-1995 [65]. Its an open channel designed to transfer fresh water from Beterra’a and Great Majar distributaries of Tigris river south western Omara city to Euphrates river main channel south of Qurna city with mean flow rate of 256 cms [65] ,figure 3 . Main function of the project was to prevents mixing of Tigris distributaries fresh water with saline water of the central marshlands, and to transfer more fresh water to Euphrates River south of Nasiriya city to meet water demands of tens of populated Basra villages after four years of drastic decline.
2. Wafaa Al Qaed Canal: after the American occupation of Iraq in 2003, the under occupation assigned government changed the name of this canal to (al Bada’a Canal), figure 5. An Italian company designed this canal during the eighties [66], and the construction were executed by state Iraqi companies and took three years during economic sanctions. The canal operated in 1997 [64]. The length of this open channel is 238.5 Km, built to transfer (21 cms) fresh water from Tigris (Gharaf) distributary to Nasiriya and south of Basra cities [66].

This canal is still supplying fresh water to the cities of Nasiriya, Shatra, and Basra till this day. Practically it is the only source of fresh water currently in Basra after the shutdown of ten water purification plants on Shatt Al Arab waterway due to sea water intrusion last decade [67].

After all criticism and accusations of the American’s propaganda during the economic sanctions that these canals are constructed to dry up the marshlands for security reasons, the occupation assigned Iraqi government after 2003 had to keep these canals to supply fresh water to about 2.5 million of Basra and Nasiriya population [67][68]. For Eighteen years the authorities couldn’t solve the problem of supplying potable water to villages of Nasiriya and Basra residents other than this canal. In 2018, about 118000 of Basra residents were hospitalized from drinking polluted water supplied from Shatt Al Arab water purification plants [68].  The minister of water resources in July 16, 2020 [69] announced that PM council approved turning al Bada’a (Wafaa Al Qaed) open canal into more efficient closed conduit canal for water supply! One should ask; Why keep this canal if it was constructed to dry up the marshlands???

1. Taj Al Marek Canal (Saad Canal): is an open channel constructed in 1993 and start operating in 1994 after closing Musandeck Weir which converts water to central marshlands [ 70]. Located east of Tigris River, about 5 Km away from Omara city. The canal length is (36.5 Km), transfer 400 cms of Tigris flood water to Sanaf marsh which is connected to Huwaiza marsh [70]. From south Hawaiza marsh water flows to Shatt Al Arab through two small canals (Swaib and Kasara) [40].
2. Um Al Marek Canal: constructed in 1994, west of Euphrates 10 Km from Nasiriya city [70]. The canal is 108 Km length, built to transfer what remained of Euphrates fresh water to supply potable and irrigation water to all villages along the way to Rumaila city east of Basra [70].

It’s worth mentioning that all these diversion canals except the Ezz canal, are still operating currently because there are no other alternatives to supply fresh water for tens of populated villages of Basra, Omara, and Nasiriya cities.

The construction and operation of these four canals also caused further desiccation of about 1300 Km³ of central marshlands between 1994-1998, table 5, figure 9.

From previous data we conclude that about 4200 Km² of the marshlands southern Iraq desiccated due to the decline of the mean annual flow of Euphrates and Tigris after the construction and operation of more than 31 of GAP dams and HEPP from 1973-2002. The construction of four freshwater diversion canals through the marshlands in Iraq caused further desiccation of about 1300 Km² during the nineties of last century. Also, the filling operating of Karkha dam in Iran caused the desiccation of about (1500 Km²) of Hawaiza marshland between 1998-2001. Total desiccated marshland areas by end of Nineties were (7000 Km²) out of original area 8350 [ 16] Km². Remaining of the marshland area was (1350 Km²). After 2003, elimination of Ezz canal passing through central marshlands recovered only about 1000 Km².  Studying all scenarios of recovery and flooding last two decades, still the current area of the marshlands is only (2500 -3000 Km²), figure 11 , simply because there is no enough water to revive them.

Figure 11: Recovered marshlands areas from 2009-2018.

5. Construction of the Third River in Iraq: The Main Outfall Drain (MOD) is considered one of the largest water development projects in Iraq. Its an open channel extends 565 Km between Tigris and Euphrates rivers from north of Baghdad to Shatt Al Basra canal west of Basra city [FAO 2008[47]. From Shatt Al Basra canal, through Khour al Zubair estuary the MOD water final destiny is discharged to the Arabian Gulf (figure 5 ).  The MOD main functions is to collect drainage water from irrigated agricultural lands between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to minimize water logging and soil salinity, and to protect water quality of the two rivers through receiving polluted agriculture and municipalities waste water effluents of all cities along the project (Baghdad, Al Anbar, Wasit, Diwaniya, Hella, Karbala, Najaf, Nasiriya, and Basra) [71] .It’s also designed to act as a barrier against the expansion of sand dunes towards cities and irrigated land. Southern part of the project designed to serve as a navigation waterway for inland transportation to the Arabian Gulf [71] Figure (5). Kolars, 1994 wrote about MOD “This Impressive canal is intended to remove excess drainage water from area between twin rivers into the Gulf near FAO peninsula after transferring it by siphon across the Euphrates River near Nasiriya” [72].

History of Great Outfall Drain project

After Gulf war 1 in 1991, and during the economic sanctions, the American media, researchers, and UN organizations waged an aggressive campaign against Iraq after the special rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights in Iraq, addressed the U.N. secretary general to charge Iraq of violating the rights of people in southern Iraq, whom the U. S. called Violation of Marsh Arabs rights by building the third river [73]. In an article published in EIR, 1992, Marcia Merry in November 20.1992[73]  criticized the UN special rapporteur charges document about the MOD and wrote: “ In this document, no mention was made of the major hydrological problem aggravating the Iraqi marshlands, namely that Turkey has been holding back a large volume of the flow of the Euphrates River, by operation of the Keban and Karakaya dams, and the filling of the huge reservoir behind the new Ataturk Dam.”[73].

It was clear later that this whole campaign, like others related to false claims of WMD and nuclear activities of Iraq, all associated with the American administration decision to invade and occupy Iraq in 2003.

The MOD project was suggested and designed by American and British consulting firms since the fifties of last century [73]. Most stages of the project were executed by other foreign companies over four decades before the economic sanctions, and that it has nothing to do with intentional desiccation of marshlands or the force migration of Marsh Arabs!

Historical review of planning and construction (MOD) in Iraq [73] [74] [75] [76]:

1913: British engineer William Wilcox studied problems of Mesopotamia water resources under Ottoman Empire rules and suggested the construction of whole drainage network discharge its water into a main drain 160 Km length discharge its water close to Dalmaj Marsh [73].

1952 & 1958: The American consultants Tippet Appet McCarthy proposed solutions for problems of soil salination, and water logging related to irrigation and proposed drainage network corresponding to Tigris and Euphrates irrigation network, including a main drain collecting excessive irrigation water starts from Balad northern of Baghdad to Nasiriyah (the path of the current MOD), and discharge the drainage water in the marshlands [74].

1963: United Kingdom consultants (Sir M. McDonald and Associates) approved the construction of the (MOD) to collect drainage discharges from agriculture land between Tigris and Euphrates starts from Mussaaib main drain to west Shatra, then further south the main drain discharges drainage water into Hammar marsh [74].

1965: Main contracting company from Holland built 60 Km drain from Shatra city to Hammar marsh.

1970: decision was made by Iraqi government to extend the (MOD) to the Arabian Gulf.

1971: establishment of the (Construction of Third river state organization).

1973-1977: The construction of first stage of (MOD) from great Mussaaib drainage network to Shatra Drain, 156 Km length, 60 m width, under the consultation and machinery supplies of (USSR Sulkhozprom Exports) [73]

1977-1981: Construction of the second stage of the MOD by (USSR Sulkhozprom Exports).

1980-1982: Contract with USSR Sulkhozprom Company to restudy middle part of (MOD). This part is 187Km from north Dalmaj lake to Nasiriya to use it for navigation.

1981-1983: contract with Holland Nedeco consulting to study north part of MOD [75].

1982-1986: contract with German companies Philip Holtzman and Polonsky to construct middle part of MOD from north Dalmaj lake to Shat al Basra canal [74].

1984: Contract with Brazilian company Mandis Josior   to construct southern part MOD infra structures (main pumping station and related buildings, the Siphon under Euphrates River to prevent mixing MOD water with Euphrates water, emergency spillway, new Euphrates cross section above the Syphon, railroad, six car bridges and navigation spaces. The company couldn’t finish the projects on time and left in 1990 with the start of economic sanctions on Iraq.

1987: Contract with Yugoslavian Arco project to construct the navigation Lock on Shatt al Basra. The project stopped in 1990.

25/ 5/1992: Iraqi national campaign to finish connecting the MOD by state construction companies during economic sanction [74]. Even though most literature state that 1992 is the construction of MOD project were done [47], the actual date was end of 1993[74][76]. The construction of the siphon with the pumping station near Nasiriyah City caused about one and half year delay in operating the project. This siphon is designed to isolate MOD drainage water from Euphrates River with pumping station. Because of economic sanctions, Iraq couldn’t import these pumps [71]. Design modifications was necessary to allow gravitational flow through MOD intersection with Euphrates River to bypasses maximum discharge of (80-110 cms) instead of the designed discharge of 220 cms [71].

7/12/1993: Construction were done, and the project started partially operating [74] [76] about early 1994. That’s why FAO stated that MOD carried about 17 million ton of salts to the Arabic Gulf in 1995[47] and not in 1993.

After the American occupation of Iraq in 2003, with the new assigned government, the whole attitude towards the MOD have changed. In 2008, Noori al Maliki, the under-occupation PM of Iraq gave short speech during the inauguration of MOD siphon pumping station at Nasiriyah city emphasized that “MOD project represents an inflection point in building the new Iraq!!”, and that “Iraqis efforts from all parties, NGO’s, tribes, and armed forces all worked together to accomplish this murical!!” [77].

The same MOD was a criminal act committed by Iraqi government during the Nineties [78 ], turned into a miracle development after regime change under the American occupation of Iraq. Since 2010, MOD water have been used to save Hammar marshland from drying [73].

Final Remarks

 From the data presented in this article and related references we conclude that:

• The (GAP) is a water-based development on the headwaters of the two international rivers  Tigris and Euphrates in Turkey shared by four riparian states. The project was planned and partially constructed through the cold war period without consultation or negotiation with downstream riparian countries sharing the same river basin. American and NATO countries financially and technically supported the project even though it goes against major environmental and international water laws principles.
• With its mega-dams, the project design serves Turkey’s local and regional political interests including the formulation of a mid- to long-term solution to Kurdish ethnic separatism, and as part of NATOs ‘interest to destabilizing downstream riparian’s regimes (Iraq and Sirya)) through controlling their water, food security, and the socioeconomic development. Since early seventies more than 40 dams and HEEP stations have been constructed and the planed target number is close to 90 dams and 60 HEEP.  currently the project is drawing up to about 60% of natural flow of Euphrates in Iraq, and 50% of the natural flow of the Tigris River [ESCWA 2013, page 79 [8]. Full operation of the project expect to withdraw about 80% of Euphrates and 60 of Tigris.
• In planning and constructing the GAP- mega dams, Turkey have not taken into consideration the fact that the wetlands in southern Iraq are an integrated feature of the whole basins, as much as any other wetland withing the Turkish territories. Hydrological, ecological, and geomorphological preservation of wetlands connected to Tigris and Euphrates rivers (as required by RAMSAR protocol Turkey signed in 1994 [23] is the responsibility of all riparian countries sharing the two rivers’ basins. Harnessing about two third of the two rivers water inflow into Iraqi territories reduced total area of the marshes by same proportion of water inflow reduction.
• The whole situation concerning the desiccated marshlands in southern Iraq during the nineties presented to the whole world with most misleading and data manipulation by the American and western media and researchers. In facts same countries helped planning, financially and technically supported the construction of the GAP mega dams responsible of desiccation of about 65% of southern Iraq marshlands areas since the seventies till now. The campaign was part of the political agenda related to the preparations of invading and the occupation of Iraq.
• In the western media campaign, the area of the marshlands during the nineties were considered (10000-20000 Km²) to exaggerate (the crime that have been committed) against this natural feature by Iraq [78]. In the report submitted by Iraqi government after occupation to include these marshlands as a site under the UNESCO, with help of the IUCN, 2015, total area of marshlands is considered only (5260 Km²)[54 ]. This way when the media write that more than 50% of the marshlands were recovered after Iraq’s occupation [78], in reality recovered marshland area last eighteen year is not more than 30-35% of the early seventies area, which was (8300 Km²) [16], table 6 and figure 11. The situation is expected to get worse after the full implementation of the whole GAP projects [26].
• The high interest in the marshlands issue in Iraq during the economic sanctions is not strictly related to persevering these natural water bodies, knowing that in the Mississippi River coastlands delta in USA, large areas of wetlands have been destroyed because of oil and gas exploration and production with land use changes [79]. More than 25% of the 3.8 million hectare coastland wetlands have and still being lost last few decades [79]. Major interest in the Marshlands in southern Iraq is also related to the fact that most of Iraq’s huge oil reservoirs and reserves are under these lands, figure 12  [80]. In fact many environmental groups in Iraq published many news reports warned that foreign oil companies are drying large areas of the marshlands in 2015, and polluting its fresh water in the oil exploration and production operations [81 ] [82 ] [83] , yet we didn’t notice same outrage by western governments and media.

Figure 12: Oil reservoirs under marshlands southern Iraq [78].

• Concerning the migrating  of Marsh Arabs issue [73], It is interesting to know that those (Marshlands Arabs) kept migrating since the eighties to date due to war operations and the continuous decline of marshlands water areas, depth, and quality [84] [85].The International Organization on Migration (IOM) in 2019 published a report with numbers of families migrated from marshlands in Nasiriya, Umara, and Basra [84]. The report cleared out that as of January 2019, 100 locations were identified as facing water scarcity, 58 locations in Missan Governorate, 22 in Muthanna, 11 in Basra and 9 in Thi-Qar. And that 5,347 families were displaced from the four governorates of Missan, Muthanna, Thi-Qar and Basra [85].  Figures of the report show that most of these migration locations are within Marshland areas and villages, figure. These migration waves never stopped specially through the nineties (when Turkey filled and operated 13 dams and HEPP of GAP project in one decade, including Ataturk mega dam). This migration continued after 2003, according to published reports of their suffering from lack of services and increase of marshes water salinity to more than (6000- 10000) ppm [87]. Water salinity more than 5000 ppm kills their animals (buffalos or Jamose), major source of their living [86]. After 2003, the Americans and UN organizations switched the cause of migrations from force migration by Iraqi government into (migration from drought related water scarcity).
• Serious environmental impacts have resulted from impairment of downstream natural flow of Tigris and Euphrates rivers by GAP projects including the increase of losing about 250 Km² of Iraq’s fertile land annually to desertification [87], that means about 750000 Hectare of good agriculture land have already been lost to desertification last three decades. In addition to other serious ecological and socioeconomic impacts.
• Iraq is facing higher frequency of dust and sandstorms from 24 day/year in (1950-1990) to 200-220 day/year in (2008-2009) [87].
• The destruction of thousands of years old date palm forests along Tigris and Euphrates floodplains with major reduction of the numbers of date palm trees from about 32 million during the sixties to only 13.9 million in 2011 [88].  Main reason is the recession of the Mesopotamian floodplain area associated with the decline of the two rivers main annual water flow  in Iraq, and the elimination of seasonal flood waves by dams controlled flow. These seasonal flood waves used to wash the soil from accumulated salts and recharge floodplains shallow ground water aquifers necessary to maintain dates growth in certain time span.
• The amount of surface water share available per person annually in Iraq fell from (1540) to (870.8) m³/year [16] in only less than one decade, figure 13.

Figure 13: Decline of surface water share/ person /year from (2009- 2018)[16]

*

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Prof Souad N. Al-Azzawi, award-winning Iraqi engineer and environmentalist, distinguished scholar, (former) professor of environmental engineering at the University of Baghdad.

She is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Notes

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[68] Al-Rubaie A., Mason M., and Mehdi Z. 2021. Failing Flows: Water Management in Southern Iraq. LSE Middle East Centre Paper Series | 52. July 2021. Middle East Centre. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/110973/.

[69] Minister of Water Resources Received the Approval of PM Counsel to Convert Bada Canal from Open Canal to Closed one. Water Resources Ministry Website, July 20, 2020. In Arabic. https://mowr.gov.iq/2020/07/22/%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B5%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%ACز

[70] Nomas H. B., 2005.  The potential water supply for the Rehabilitation in the Southern marshes of Iraq. Marina Mesopotamica, 20(1): 105-126. University of Basra, Basra, Iraq. In Arabic.

[71] AL- MALLAH, I. A. 2014. Assessment of the Environmental, Hydrological and Hydrogeological changes of the Main Drain, Iraq. PhD Thesis. College of Science. University of Basra. Basra, Iraq. 280 pages.

[72] Biswas, A.K. edit. 2014. Middle East from Euphrates-Tigris to Nile. Water Resources Management Series. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1994. Page 84.

[73] Merry, M. (1992), ‘Iraq builds Third River Project despite no-fly zone’, EIR, 19:46, November, http://www.oalib.com/references/14621588.

[74] Al-Jabari M.H. and Al-Nofel B. F. (2001).  Saddam River (The Miracle River). General Cultural Affairs House, Baghdad, Iraq.156 pages (In Arabic).

[75] NEDCO. 1983. Tigris Euphrates Main Outfall Drain Project (North of Hor Dalmaj). Netherland Engineering Consultants Final Report, submitted to Ministry of Irrigation. Republic of Iraq.

[76] AL-Amar H. A. S. 2017.  A Study the Concentration of Heavy Metals in Water of the Al-Massab Al-Aam Channel (Middle Sector) in Iraq. International Journal of Chem Tech Research. Vol.10 No.2, pp 594-603, 2017. ISSN: 0974-4290, ISSN(Online):2455-9555. Page 595.

[77] Prim Minister Inaugurates the MOD pumping Station in Nasiriya. Press release, from the Cabinet Media Office. Monday Dec.1^st. 2008. http://cabinet.iq/ArticleShow.aspx?ID=737.

[78] Dellapenna J. W., 2007. Ecocide and genocide in the Iraqi Marshlands. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 104, © 2007 WIT Press. www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line). doi:10.2495/RM07038.

[79] Koa J.Y. and Daya J. W. 2004. Impacts of Oil  and Gas Activities on Coastal Wetland Loss in The Mississippi Delta. Ocean & Coastal Management 47 (2004) 597–623. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237565471_IMPACTS_OF_OIL_AND_GAS_ACTIVITIES_ON_COASTAL_WETLAND_LOSS_IN_THE_MISSISSIPPI_DELTA.

[80] Fanak/ Water, 2017. Marshlands in Twenty’s Century. May 30, 2017. In Arabic. Online. https://water.fanack.com/ar/specials/iraqi-marshes/marshes-20th-century.

[81] Majed Al-Brekan, 2012. “Oil Projects Drying the Marshlands”. Al Hurrah News. May 17. 2012. [In Arabic]. Online. https://www.alhurra.com/iraq/2012/05/17/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%A4%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D8%AF%D8%AA-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%87%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1.

[82] Al MADA PAPER, 2015. Jasim Al Asadi: Deduction of Areas from Marshlands for Oil Explorations. Online, Dec. 17. 2015. 12:01:00. AM. https://almadapaper.net/view.php?cat=141113. [ In Arabic].

[83] Alsamaraie, 2014: Scientific Study Warns from Further Environmental Pollution in Basra Marshlands Because of Oil Projects. [In Arabic]. Online.

دراسة علمية تحذر من تفاقم التلوث البيئي في أهوار البصرة نتيجة المشاريع النفطية | محليات (alsumaria.tv)

[84] IOM, 2019. Water Quantity and Water Quality in Center and South Iraq: A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF DISPLACEMENT RISK I. International Migration Organization.

[85] UN-IOM, 2019. ASSESSING WATER SHORTAGE-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT IN MISSAN, MUTHANNA, THI-QAR AND BASRA. International Migration Organization.

[86] Hussain al Amel, 2021. Environmental Organization Suggests Solutions for Increase of Marshlands Water Salinity. Al MADA Paper. Online, Aug. 03, 2021, 11:35:32. Thee Qar. Iraq.. https://almadapaper.net/view.php?cat=243559.

[87] Ministry of Environment , 2016. State of Environment in Iraq. Report 282 pages. Page 4. Republic of Iraq.https://moen.gov.iq/Portals/0/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%B9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A6%D9%8A/%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A6%D8%A9%20%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82%20%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%202016.pdf.

[88] Al Ogaidy K. H. 2011. Towards Better Future for Dates and Palms in Iraq. www.iraqi-datepalms.net.

Featured image: Painting by Abdul-Qadir al-Rassam depicting a scene in Southern Iraq

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Appendices

Appendix A: Table I

Appendix B: Table II [45]

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The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday [September 2023] that the U.S. will send depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine as part of a new $175 million military aid package, drawing outrage from progressive foreign policy advocates who have warned against such a move and noted the horrific impact such weapons have had in Iraq and elsewhere.

A byproduct of natural uranium enrichment, depleted uranium is highly dense and often used for projectiles designed to pierce tanks and other armored vehicles. On impact, depleted uranium weapons produce a cloud of particles that can be inhaled by soldiers and nearby civilians.

The Pentagon said it is sending Ukraine 120mm depleted uranium rounds that can be fired from the Abrams tanks the U.S. is also set to begin delivering.

The announcement came weeks after the U.S. shipped widely banned cluster munitions to Ukraine, ignoring human rights groups’ warnings about the potentially devastating consequences for civilians in the present and years into the future.

“It wasn’t enough for the U.S. to send cluster bombs that will kill children for generations to Ukraine,” Aída Chávez, communications director for the progressive anti-war group Just Foreign Policy, wrote on social media. “Now, the Biden admin is sending depleted uranium—which will cause babies to be born with severe deformities and cancer.”

“To this day,” Chávez added, “children in places like Fallujah are being born with gruesome birth defects due to the U.S. military’s use of depleted uranium.”

The U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003 used thousands of tonnes of depleted uranium bombs and shells over just a three-week period that year.

Research suggests the lasting health effects for Iraqis have been severe.

According to a study published in the journal Environmental Pollution in 2020, proximity to a U.S. military base in Iraq was linked to “higher levels of uranium and thorium” and a greater risk of birth defects, including heart problems and missing limbs.

The study notes that thorium is “a radioactive compound and a direct depleted uranium decay product.”

A 2021 study published in BMJ Public Health also found “possible associations between exposure to depleted uranium and adverse health outcomes among the Iraqi population,” though the authors noted that “U.S. sanctions on Iraq may have played a role in limiting research and publication on the health impacts of weaponized uranium.”

“Biden’s decision to send tanks with depleted uranium to Ukraine has been made possible in large part because Britain led the way.”

The U.S. is not the first country to send depleted uranium to Ukraine as it fights invading Russian forces. The United Kingdom announced in March that it would deliver thousands of rounds of depleted uranium ammunition to the Ukrainian military.

Moscow decried the U.S. decision to arm Ukrainian forces with depleted uranium as “an indicator of inhumanity” and has threatened to use its own stockpile of depleted uranium.

Phil Miller, chief reporter for Declassified UK, said in a Democracy Now! appearance on Wednesday that “Biden’s decision to send tanks with depleted uranium to Ukraine has been made possible in large part because Britain led the way on this.”

Earlier this week, Miller reported that a U.K. tank capable of firing depleted uranium rounds was destroyed in Ukraine, prompting contamination fears.

“What we’ve seen in other conflicts, notably in Iraq, is that these tank hulls litter the battlefield for many years after the conflict,” Miller said Wednesday. “Children go and play on them, thinking they’re some kind of climbing frame, and they can become contaminated with depleted uranium, leading to very rare forms of cancer.”

“It really is quite alarming to now think that this is going to be used or is being used in Ukraine in areas where, you know, we want Ukrainian civilians to be able to live after the conflict,” Miller added. “On top of dealing with unexploded cluster munitions, they’re also going to have this huge hazard of depleted uranium to contend with, as well.”

[From Common Dreams: Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.]

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Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

Featured image is from Morning Star

The following text was presented to the Kuala Lumpur International Conference to Criminalise War, Putra World Trade Centre, 28-31 October 2009.

For more than three decades [since 1991], the United States of America and the United Kingdom have been waging continuous wars on Iraq to occupy this oil rich country.

The armed forces of those two countries attacked civilians with different kinds of conventional, non-conventional, and banned weapons such as cluster bombs ammunitions, napalm bombs, white phosphorous weapons and depleted Uranium weapons.

Depleted Uranium (DU) is a radioactive and chemically toxic heavy metal. If ingested, inhaled, or it enters the human body through wounds or skin, it remains there for decades.

Within the human body the (DU) particles would be a continuous source for emitting alpha particles. With its toxic effects, published research & epidemiological studies have proved that it causes serious health damages to the human body. Some of the damage to the human body is to lymph tissue, kidneys, developing fetuses, neurological system, the bones, lung fibrosis, and an increase in the risk of many types of cancer and malignancies.

Hundreds of tons of (DU) expenditure have been fired & exploded on Iraqi highly populated areas like Basrah, Baghdad, Nasriya, Dewania, Samawa, and other cities.

Exploration programs and site measurements by Iraqi and non-Iraqi researchers all proved the existence of (DU) related contamination over most Iraqi territories.

Iraq’s Minister of Environment admitted in July 23, 2007 in Cairo that “at least 350 sites in Iraq are contaminated with (DU)”. She added that the nation is facing a tremendous number of cancer cases and called for the international community to help Iraq cope with this problem.

A few years after exposure to (DU) contamination, multifold increase of malignancies, congenital malformations, miscarriages, children leukemia, and sterility cases have been registered in suburb areas of Basrah and other surrounding areas. Similar problems appeared in Falluja, where illegal weapons were also used intensively in the 2004 attack of occupation forces on the city. More than two million of the Iraqi population died since 1991 because of the synergic multiple impact of using (DU) weapons, economical sanctions, and the destruction of the health care systems.

The economical sanction that were also imposed by USA and UK administrations deprived the children and people of Iraq their rights in food,  potable water, health care, sanitation and other life supporting necessities.

The USA and UK administrations have subjected the whole nation of Iraq for two decades to torture and slow death through the intentional use of radioactive weapons and the sanctions. The continuous and intentional use of radioactive weapons is a crime against humanity due to its undifferentiating harmful health effects on civilians in contaminated areas tens of years to come after the military engagements. The existence of (DU) radioactive contamination in the surrounding environment is a continuous source of exposure to low level radiation. This exposure can be considered as a systematic attack on Iraqi civilians in an armed conflict, according to Article 4 of the official regulations and Article 7 of the ICC.

This paper is submitted to present the facts and scientific evidence regarding the intentional use by the USA and UK of depleted uranium weapons against the people and environment of Iraq, in addition to the health consequences that have been result from them.

Introduction

The administrations of the United States of America and the United Kingdom have been continuously waging wars against Iraq since 1991.

The armed forces of these two administrations have been using different kinds and new generations of conventional, nonconventional, and illegal weapons like Napalm, cluster bombs, white phosphorous, microwave, and Depleted Uranium weapons [1][2][3][4] against the human population and the environment of Iraq. Invasion and occupation of Iraq proved to the world that oil flow is the main reason behind these criminal attacks.

As a result of using these weapons, with the economical sanctions that were also imposed on Iraq by the same administration more than two million Iraqi people died and the count continues.

In this paper, we present the consequences and damage resulting from the use of Depleted Uranium weaponry against Iraq, backed by scientific fact and research.

What is Depleted Uranium?

Depleted Uranium (DU) is a man-made, radioactive, heavy metal extracted from Uranium ore. Since (DU) is a byproduct of the Uranium enrichment process to produce spent fuel for nuclear reactors. Natural Uranium has an isotopic content of 99.274% of U-238 by weight, 0.072% of U-235, & 0.0057% of U-234 [5].

Due to its highly pyrophoric and spontaneously ignitable properties, the DU penetrator ignites on impact generating extremely high temperatures. As the projectile pierces, it leaves its jacket behind dispersing DU dust into the environment during the impact. The quantity of the aerosol production is proportional to DU mass within the projectile and the hardness of the impact.

It is estimated that up to 70%of DU in the projectiles to be aerosolized when on the impact DU catches fire [6]. The explosion generates high temperatures of (3000-6000) °C. The aerosols particles are smaller than 5µm in size [6]. These nano-particles act more like a gas than a particle. The DU aerosols remain windborne for an extended time and this is the most dangerous pathway on civilian population around the battlefield areas.

Depleted Uranium within the human body

There is empirical documentation that suggests that DU aerosols can travel up to 26 miles [5], others suggest even further distances. The full radiation effect of DU occurs six months after production [6]. One milligram of U-238 can give of 1, 07, 000 alpha particles in one day. Each alpha particle releases over 4 MeV (million-electron-volts) of energy. If swallowed or inhaled, this much energy will hit up to 6 nearby cells away in the organ [6]. Just 6-10ev (electron volt) is needed to cleave the nuclear DNA strand in the cell.

Dr. Rosalie Bertell, an epidemiologist with 30-years experience in the field of low level radiation explains DU potential harm to the human body [6]:

After inhalation (DU) nano-particle aerosols cross the lung-blood barrier and gain entrance to the cells. They create free radicals. As a heavy metal, DU toxicity attacks the proteins in the cell which normally fight the free radicals, and creates extra free radicals. This amount of free radicals creates total oxidative stress in the human body. This stress causes failure to protective enzymes, leaving cells vulnerable to viruses and mycoplasmas, damage to cellular communication system and the mitochondria.

As a heavy metal, DU replaces the magnesium in the organ’s molecules that normally function as antioxidants, and causes the destruction of the body’s repair mechanisms. Consequences of this destruction are chronic diseases and tumors. Free radicals can also totally disrupt the folding process and manufacturing of the molecule proteins which is sequenced by DNA and manufactured by the RNA. Some of the diseases resulted from misrouted proteins include cystic fibrosis, diabetes insipidus and cancer. [6]

Amassing and accumulation of misfolded proteins leads to neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s Diseases and early onset Alzheimer’s disease. In these diseases, amyloids are formed from protein fragments and dysfunctional proteins and that “Misfolded proteins” are the central pathogenic mechanism.

Gulf War veterans have manifested many of the symptoms of these neurodegenerative diseases.[6]

Other health effects of DU within the human body are:

–           Lou Gehrig’s disease is twice as commonly diagnosed in Gulf War veterans as expected.

–           Immune and Hormonal system damage

–           Disturbance of thyroid function

–           Mycoplasmas invasion into human cells.

–           Initiation or promotion of cancer

–           Tetratogenic toxicity which causes mental retardation, congenital malformations.

–           GW veterans were twice-three times as likely to report children with birth defects as their counter partner who did not serve in the first Gulf War.

–           Miscarriages

Dr. Hari Sharma, formerly of the University of Waterloo, tested the urine of some US, UK and Canadian veterans as well as Iraqi civilians from Basra and Baghdad.

Using 24hr urine samples, his isotopic analysis revealed a range of DU in the sample of (81-1,340) nanogram. Results showed that two of the three Iraqis from Al Basra had 147 – 426 nanograms respectively in their urine. Also it showed that 2 out of 5 Iraqis from Baghdad have DU in their urine

Other Important Scientific Evidence:

•           Dr Alexandra C. Miller and her team at the Armed Forces Radiological Research Institute, Bethesda, MD and the University of Paris, France used human cell models (the human Osteoblast cell HOS) to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of DU in vitro through assessing morphological transformation, genotoxicity [7] (chromosomal aberration), mutagenic (HRRT Ioci) and genomic instability.

Published data of the results have demonstrated that DU exposure in vitro to immortalized HOS cells is neoplatically transforming, mutagenic, genotoxic, and induces genomic instability. Other results showed:

–           Exposure to embedded DU pellets could induce leukemia in mice.

–           Internalized DU resulted in significant increases in the mutagenic frequency in the Lac gene in the tests of the exposed mice.

–           Internalized DU resulted in the development of bladder carcinoma in 75% of all animal exposed within 90 days of initial DU exposure.

As we can see all these results suggest that long-term exposure to internalized DU could be critical to the development of neoplastic disease in humans.

•           Pub. Radiation Protection Dosimetry Schroder, Heike 2003. A molecular biologist conducted research about the chromosomal aberration on white blood cells of 16 British Gulf War veterans of 1991. The veterans have suffered from symptoms ranging from headache, to chronic fatigue, depression, muscle and joint pains, impaired short-term memory and other cognitive defects. [8]

The results showed that the mean frequency of their blood cells chromosomal aberrations is 5-fold elevation higher than the control blood samples. This strongly indicated previous exposure to ionizing radiations.

The intercellular distribution of the Dicentric and  Centric ring chromosomes indicates significant over dispersion on the group level for the veterans who served in the Gulf War. Dic and CR are a known consequence of non uniform irradiation on the human body. [8]

•           Dr. Huda Ammash, Professor of Molecular Biology in Baghdad University and her team [9] conducted and published the results of genetic hematological analysis for a group of individuals living in DU contaminated areas in southern Iraq. Blood tests for the (47) individuals who lived in Basrah contaminated areas and another 30 as a control group. The control group individuals lived in Baghdad.

–           Blood tests showed that 21% of the studied individuals in Basrah group suffered a reduction in hemoglobin concentration of (9-13) g/d.

–           The blood packed cell volume (PCV) test results showed that 25.5% of Basrah studied group showed abnormal (PCV) rates of (30-39)% less than the normal rate.

–           Total white Blood Cells count (WBC) results showed that 8% of the individuals in the Basrah study group with (WBC) less than normal which is (4000)c/ml or higher than normal rate (1100)c/ml.

–           Compound chromosomal changes in the lymphocytes of periphal blood of the individuals of Basrah studied group had been found at a ratio of (0.1118)% which is significantly higher than that of the control group.

–           The ratio of dicentric and ring centric chromosomal abnormality fraction was found to be (0.04479) which is higher than ordinary ratio chromosomal damages where mostly in male veteran individuals. One case was for a 13 year old young boy at the time of the exposure in Al-Zubair contaminated area.

•           Rita Hindin, et al [5] published a paper “Teratogenicity of Depleted Uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective” in which they stated that animal studies firmly support the possibility that DU is a teratogen. They also concluded that the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with the increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU.

•           For further scientific evidences by Iraqi researchers, check: ”Depleted Uranium Contamination: Iraq: An overview” (Global Research)

Contaminating Iraq with Depleted Uranium

The USA and UK armed forces used Depleted Uranium ammunition for the first time in the history of their wars during the Gulf War of 1991. About one million bullets, projectiles, and missiles were fired along the highway from Kuwait to Basrah then up to Nasriya and other Iraqi cities. About 60-65% of this ammunition and expenditure were fired within Iraqi territories, Figure 1 shows areas where DU expenditure have been used in the Gulf War of 1991 [11].

Figure 1 areas where DU expenditure have been used in Gulf War 1991.

Figure 2 represents a photo of the Iraqi army artilleries and vehicles destroyed on that highway by (DU) weaponry [12].

Figure 2: Iraqi army artilleries that have destroyed using DU on Highway

As stated previously, as soon as DU projectiles hit the target, it will ignite with a huge explosion that generates Depleted Uranium oxide aerosols. Mixing height of the aerosols in the atmosphere gets to 250m [13]. Area of Basrah War Zone and highway warzone [10] [14] were calculated to be around 2400km2. This area was the major continuous source of DU aerosols and contaminants to surrounding areas years to come.

Types of Depleted Uranium contaminants in the studied areas were:

1.         Destroyed tanks and artilleries.

2.         DU projectiles shells (exploded and unexploded)

3.         DU shrapnel’s (different sizes)

4.         Deposited DU particles

5.         Deposited DU oxide aerosols

Modeling mechanisms of spreading of DU pollutants from the source to surrounding populated areas were done by the Environmental Engineering department of Baghdad University [10] [14] [15]. The results of modeling spreading of pollutants through different environmental pathways to human population suggested that total calculated annual body dose received from DU aerosols inhalation pathway for the period from 1991-1996 in Basrah warzone was between 0.1768 Sv and 0.2309 Sv [10] (for a person both in normal or active duty respectively). Compared to normal background annual effective dose people should receive of 2.4 mSv only. In the highway warzone, these values came up to 0.4425 Sv and 0.577 Sv [14] respectively.

DU Contaminated Dust Storms In Iraq

Spreading and dispersion of DU contamination to surrounding areas also occurs through wind storms, dust storms, sandstorms, and rainstorms. Mechanisms of surface migration of DU radionuclide’s in soil include [16]:

–           Siltation, creeping, and suspension from contaminated soil to atmosphere.

–           Suspension and re-suspension of deposited DU aerosols are the most dangerous and critical pathway of transfer and spreading from source to the human population.

DU nano-particles through this mechanism stay suspended in the atmosphere for tens of days. With each dust storm a new DU attack on the civilians within populated cities occurs. Published data indicate a significant increase in the frequency of annual dust storms in both Iraq and Kuwait areas [17]. The first 8 months of 2009 witnessed 20 dust storms, as declared by the Iraqi Minister of Health [18]. Figures (3) and (4) show sites of these dust storms.

DU contaminated dust storms can be considered as new systematic attacks by USA armed forces, on civilians, since it adds an extra harmful radioactive dose received by the people internally and externally.

The USA and UK administrations should be held responsible for exposing a whole nation to the risk of continually receiving high radioactive and toxic persistent contaminants such as DU.

Cumulative effects of these additional doses add additional risk to residents of these areas. Intentional denial and cover up of the types, locations and amounts of DU ammunitions by the US and UK armed forces prevent Iraq from taking any precautionary measures to reduce exposure to additional radioactive doses.

To understand how persistent these pollutants are; Soil and dust samples from areas near NL Industries site in Colonie, NY, USA proved containing DU after more than 20 years of the closure of these DU manufacturing industries [19].

A total of 5 to 10 metric tons of DU dust and aerosols settled from air on soil, rooftops, and other surfaces near the plant during its operation. The plant was closed in 1984 and contaminated soil was removed. In 2006, twenty-two years later, dust samples that had been collected from residents in the area proved the existence of DU significantly above the clean up standard. People working near NL Industries also tested positive for DU in their bodies. Results of these tests are being published in the international journal “Science of the Total Environment” [20].

If we compare this case study with Basra DU contamination where (320 tons of DU * 0.65 in Iraqi territories * 0.6 aerosolized) we end up with about 114.80 metric tons of DU aerosols spreading through winds to huge inside Iraq and the Gulf countries’ areas, then pre-suspension of these contaminants to larger areas with each dust and sand storm that hits the area.

In 2003, it is estimated the US & UK armed forces used about (700-800) tons of DU [21]. The aerosolized portion of this amount is about 420 metric tons, a quantity large enough to cover the soil of the whole country after the dispersion of plumes with the previously mentioned mechanisms.

DU Contamination Casualties in Iraq:

Epidemiological studies in contaminated areas indicated a drastic rise in the incidences rate of malignancies amongst children to be far more noticeable from 1995 onward, namely a four times increase than prior to 1991, the distribution of this increase specifically in contaminated areas west of Basra City [22].

Moreover, the shift in Leukemia to younger children supports the criteria of biological plausibility specificity and is consistent with findings of correlating such incidents to exposure to ionized radiations [23].

Also a six fold increase in congenital malformations among births in Basra City since 1995 onward, have been registered [24]. Congenital heart diseases and chromosomal aberrations have been also reported.

Another crime of the occupation forces is the destruction of the evidence targeting the Iraqi research centers related to this issue.

Two decades of suffering, pain, and human life losses, the Minister of Environment in Iraq finally announced in 2007 the disaster of DU contamination in Iraq. She pointed out that more than 300 sites have been contaminated with these radioactive weapons [25]. She also called for the Japanese authorities and the international community to help Iraq with coping with the drastic increase of cancer incident rates [26].

To prove our case: Kuwait DU waste & wreckage from Gulf wars are shipped back to be dumped in USA.

After 18 years, Kuwait required US dept. of defense to remove the DU contaminated wreckage from their land [21]. Over 6,700 tons of contaminated soil, sand and other residues were collected and shipped back to the USA for burial by American Ecology at Bios, Idaho.

The US administration and pentagon officials still insist that DU has no significant health hazards, if so, why would they have to ship back their dirty radioactive wreckage back home from Kuwait?

Stand of the International Community on DU Weaponry

The Hague and Geneva conventions and its protocols and subsequent treaties clearly declare that weapons which cannot discriminate between civilians and military or combatants are prohibited from not only use but also from manufacture and sale [27].

The Nuremberg principles were incorporated into the Charter of the UN, a treaty which is supposed to be “Supreme Law” in the USA. When the American Administration ratified it, the 7th principle declares that “Complicity with a crime against Humanity is a war crime”.

UN resolutions since 1996 called DU weaponry “incompatible” (i.e. illegal) under existing humanitarian law and human rights [UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/27 and additions; E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/38 and E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/35] [28].

Uranium radiation hazards are covered up and misrepresented through the obsolete models of risk and derived standards of allowable exposure set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).

This model was derived from invalid assumptions due to secrecy and cover up about the health effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs then, around the cold war developments of nuclear power and weapons [28].

The ICRP risk model was built from studies of the atomic bomb survivors, which overlooked the effects from the internal radiation source and ignored cancer that in some cases takes decades to appear.

It was certainly developed before the DNA and the human genome knowledge existed the way it does to date.

Cover-ups and deception are expected from American and UK administrations the perpetrators of all radiological wars and illegal weapons, which should face liability for war crimes, military and civilian casualties, as well as contamination of the environment.

The US has refused to disclose information about DU during the invasion military operations of Iraq in 2003, and did not let UNEP team study DU contamination Iraq [29].

With the great efforts of anti-nuclear weapons groups, NGO, peace organizations and international figures, the call of these organizations to ban the all Uranium weapons, including DU, have earned very good momentum especially among the NATO countries.

–           On March 23rd, 2007, the Belgian Chamber Commission on National Defense voted unanimously in favor of banning the use of DU ammunitions and armor plates [30].

–           On November 1, 2008, a UN committee passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority, highlighting concerns over the military use of Uranium. The resolution entitled “Effects of the use of armaments and ammunitions containing Depleted Uranium 1” urges the UN member states to re-examine the health hazards posted by the use of Uranium weapons [31].

–           Another historic sentence was pronounced on January 13, 2009 by a court in Florence, Italy asking the Italian Ministry of Defense to compensate Gianbattista Marica with Euro 545,061, a parachutist who was deployed in Somalia for eight months in 1993. The sentence is very important because it states “the casual link between the presence of depleted uranium and the illness (cancer) of the Soldier” [32]. The courts statement includes the report of technical consultant who maintains that there is a causal link between the Hodgkin Lymphoma developed by the soldier and the exposure to DU.

–           In September 2009, a British jury at Smethwick Council House ruled that DU was likely cause of death of Gulf War veteran Stuart Dysan in June 2008. Dyson had been a Lance Corporal with the Royal Pioneer Corps and had cleaned tanks after the 1991 Gulf War. He developed colon cancer that killed him last year [33].

The European Parliament on 22nd of May 2008 passed its fourth resolution against the use Uranium weapons. MEP’s have called for EU and NATO-wide moratorium and global ban [29].

Concluding Remarks:

1. The US and UK administrations have been using Depleted Uranium weapons against the civilian population and the environment of Iraq since 1991.

2. Laboratory studies and scientific evidence prove the link and causal relationship between exposure to Depleted Uranium and the increased risk of inducing neurodegenerative diseases, immune and hormonal system damage, initiation or promotion of cancer, Tetratogenic Toxicity which causes mental retardation and congenital malformations, miscarriages, and sterility.

3. Intentional denial and refusal of the US and UK administrations to release any information about the types, locations, and amounts of DU weapons that have been used against Iraq have caused additional radioactive doses, and health damages to the people in contaminated areas. Both administrations should be held responsible for this crime.

4. The drastic increase of cancer incidences in Iraq since 1995 to date and the DU related diseases like congenital malformation, miscarriages, etc, are all attributed to the use of prohibited weapons including Depleted Uranium.

5. DU contaminated areas all over the country are continuous source of radioactive pollution. Without cleaning and other measures, resuspension of these contaminants with each dust and sand storm can be considered as systematic attacks by the US and UK armies on civilians in an armed conflict.

This is a crime against humanity to its undifferentiated harmful health impacts on civilians long times to come after the military operations (Article 4 of the official regulations and Article 7 of ICC).

Notes

1. Simon Helweg-Larsen, “Irregular Weapons Used against Iraq”. ZNET http://www.znet.org/welser.htm ,April 2003

2. Sarah Meyer. “What Kind of Incendiary Bomb Was Used Against People in Iraq” http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=1226  November 14, 2005.

3. Steven D. “US Army Admits Use of White Phosphorus as Weapon”. Daily KOS.

4. Scott Peterson Remains of Toxic Bullets Litter Iraq, May 18, 2003, Christian Science Monitor.

5. Rita Hindin, Doug Brugge, and Bindu Panikkar, “Teratogenicity of Depleted Uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective ” Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 2005. http://www.ehjournal.net/info/instructions/

6. Rosali Bertell “Depleted Uranium: All the questions about DU and Gulf War Syndrome are not yet answered”. International Journal of Health Service 36(3), 503-520, 2006

7. Alexandra C. Miller, Mike Stewart, Rafael Rivas, Robert Marlot, and Paul Lison, “Depleted Uranium” internal contamination: Carcinogenisis and Leukeinogenisis in Vivo. Proc. Am Assoc Cancer Res. Volume 46, 2005.

8. Chroder, H. et al. “Chromosome aberration analysis in peripheral lymphocytes of Gulf War and Balkans War veterans”. Radiation Prot. Dosimetry. Vol. 103(3) 2003 (PP. 211-219).

9. Ammash, H., Alwan, L., and Maarouf, B.,”Genetic hematological study for a selected population from DU contaminated areas in Basra.” Proceeding of the conference on the effects of the use of DU weapons on human and environment in Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq 2002.

10. Al-Azzawi, S. N. and Al-Naemi, A. “Assessment of radiological doses and risks resulted from DU contamination in Basrah war zone.” Proceeding of the conference on the effects of the use of DU

11. Gulf War Resource Center “Primary Areas of DU Expenditure”, USA, 1999.

12. Turnley, P.; News Week Magazine; (January-20), 1992.

13. Neboysha, L. “Environmental Impact on Humans During the Gulf War”, Communications between Professor Neboysha and Professor Sharma, 1999.

14. Al-Azzawi, S., and Al Naemi, A., 2002, “Assessment of radiological doses and risks resulted from DU contamination in the highway war zone in Al-Basra governorate”, proceedings of the conference on the effects of the use of DU weaponry on human and environment in Iraq, March 26-27 2002, Baghdad, Iraq.

15. Al-Azzawi, S. et al, “ Environmental Pollution Resulting from the Use of Depleted Uranium Weaponry Against Iraq During 1991, World International Conference on DU, Hamburg, Germany, 2003 http://www.grassrootspeace.org/wuwc_reader2_science.pdf  – p.41

16. Al-Heli, W.M. “Effects of DU Weapons on Air and Soil Pollution in Southern Iraq”, M.Sc. Thesis in Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Iraq. 1998.

17. Draxler R. R., et al, “Estimating PM10 Air concentrations from Dust storms in Iraq, Kuwait and Kingdom Saudi Arabia. Atmospheric Environment” vol35:4115-4330.

18. Middle East Online, “Draught steals Iraqi’s nutrition”, September 1st 2009

19. ICBUW, “Robert shows New Yorkers Contaminated with DU over 20 years after exposure” http://www.banddepleteduranium.org/

20. William, D. “Hazards of Uranium Weapons in the Proposed War on Iraq” full report.. The Eos life resources center. Oct, 2002.

21. ICBUW, “Statement by the DU positive testees” http://www.banddepleteduranium.org/

22. Yaqoub, A., et.al., 1999, “Depleted Uranium and health of people in Basrah: an epidemiological evidence; 1-The incidence and pattern of malignant diseases among children in Basrah with specific reference to leukemia during the period of 1990-1998”, the medical journal of Basrah University (MJBU), vol.17, no.1&2, 1999, Basrah, Iraq.

23. Yaqoub, A., Ajeel, N., and Al-Wiswasy, M., 1998, “Incidence and pattern of malignant diseases (excluding leukemia) during 1990-1997”, Proceeding of the conference on health and environmental consequences of DU used by U.S. and British forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Dec. 2-3, 1998, Baghdad, Iraq. http://www.irak.be/ned/archief/Depleted%20Uranium_bestanden/DEPLETED%20URANIUM-3-%20INCIDENCE.htm

24. Al-Sadoon, I., Hassan, J., and Yaqoub, A., 1998, “Incidence and pattern of congenital anomalies among birth in Basrah during the period 1990-1998”, Proceeding of the conference on health and environmental consequences of DU used by U.S. and British forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Dec. 2-3, 1998. http://www.irak.be/ned/archief/Depleted%20Uranium_bestanden/DEPLETED%20URANIUM-1-%20INCIDENCE.htm

25.  RIA Novoski “Iraqis blame US depleted Uranium for surge in cancer”

26.  Tokyo Newspapers “Iraqi Minister of Environment Appeals to Japanese Government for Assistance in Dealing with DU contmination”. September 10th 2008 http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp

27. Proceeding of World Uranium weapons conference 2003, Hamburg, Germany. Page 192

28. Protr Bein “Uranium Weapons cover-ups in our midst”. Proceedings of world Uranium Weapons conference, 2003, Hamburg, Germany.

29. David Goliath “The Adversary’s Tactics and Effectiveness”. Proceedings of world conference, 2003 Hamburg, Germany, Page 204.

30. William Van Den Panhuysen. “Belgium Bans Uranium Weapons and Armor”. ISBUW, March 24, 2007.

31. ICBUW, “UN First Committee Passes DU Resolution in Landslide Vote” Nov. , 2007 http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/

32. Stefania Divertito “Historic sentence in Florence, Italian court recognizes the link between cancer and Depleted Uranium”. 13th Jan. 2009 http://www.peaclink.it

33. ICBUW, DU was a likely cause of dead Gulf Veteran’s cancer”. Sept. 11, 2009 http://www.bandepleteduranium.org

34. ICBUW “European Parliament passes far reaching DU resolution in landslide vote”, May 22, 2008. http://www.bandepleteduranium.org

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Pour la Paix à l’échelle planétaire, Towards Peace at the Level of the entire Planet, На пути к миру на уровне всей планеты, На шляху до миру на рівні всієї планети, Por la paz a escala planetaria, من أجل السلام على نطاق عالمي, 世界規模での平和のために, Auf dem Weg zum Frieden auf der Ebene des gesamten Planeten, 为了全球规模的和平, สู่สันติภาพในระดับโลกทั้งใบ, 전체 비행기 수준의 평화를 향하여, Rumo à paz no nível de todo o planeta

 

Say No to Nuclear War! Peace on the Planet

 

Drago Bosnic and Michel Chossudovsky

English

 

 

Avec  sous-titres en français 

Dites Non à la Guerre Nucléaire!

 

Pour acceder à Rumble ou faire un commentaire clicker ici

 

sub-titulos en español

 

Di No a la Guerra  Nuclear!

 

 

 

Субтитры на русском языке

 

Скажи “нет” ядерной войне!

 

The West is trying to stage a coup d’état in Georgia by organizing a colour revolution, inciting mass protests and internal conflicts in the former Soviet republic, but protests by the Georgian opposition against allegedly rigged parliamentary elections will ultimately fail. The West has been desperately trying to avoid losing its control over Georgia since the ruling government began a process of reconciliation with Moscow.

Parliamentary elections were held on October 26, and the ruling party, Georgian Dream, won, receiving about 54% of the vote. The pro-European opposition alliance received about 37% of the vote and started protests, demanding the election’s cancellation since it was “illegitimate and counterfeit” and accused Russia of interference, something Moscow categorically denied.

The elections in Georgia, a country of only 3.6 million inhabitants, are considered the most important in the last twenty years, among other things, because of the country’s foreign policy orientation.

After the so-called Rose Revolution of 2003, Georgia turned towards the West, and then President Mikheil Saakashvili outlined the country’s membership in the EU and NATO as goals. However, after two decades, an unsuccessful war against Russia in 2008 and a change of government four years later, Tbilisi is still far from full membership, and Georgian Dream has for years been leading a measured policy by trying to balance between East and West.

Saakashvili wanted Georgia, as a Black Sea country, to become a NATO member and serve the alliance’s geostrategic goal of surrounding Russia. The Western course he set was initiated by Western powers that oppose Georgia’s orientation towards non-confrontation with Russia.

The Georgian Dream won the sympathy of voters thanks to its policy of economic recovery aimed at independence from external sources of financing and building natural ties with Russia, with which it shares a common history, culture and other close ties.

For this reason, the pro-Western president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, who supported the opposition, did not recognize the election results, saying they were “completely falsified” and that Georgians had become victims of “Russian special operations.” Although the constitutional position of the President of Georgia is largely ceremonial, as a public and media figure, Zourabichvili acts as a spokesperson for the opposition and those who want to preserve the Western-oriented course first set by Saakashvili.

Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU accession process indefinitely in June after parliament passed a law on “foreign agents” that obliges non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” In addition, Tbilisi adopted the law banning LGBT propaganda and gender reassignment, all of which the EU saw as Georgia’s deviation from the European path.

The adoption of such laws signals that Tbilisi does not fully obey the West, and for this reason, Washington and Brussels are reacting extremely negatively. Although the Georgian Dream does not give up on Euro-Atlantic integration – at least officially, the ruling party also wants to develop relations with Moscow, with which it has strong trade ties given that Russia is the Caucasian country’s second-largest trading partner.

Critics accuse the Georgian Dream of leaning increasingly towards Moscow. They are particularly bothered by the fact that, after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Tbilisi refused to impose sanctions on Russia, which is why Georgia was not on the Russian list of enemy states even if some anti-Russian resolutions were adopted. If Georgia accepts a policy oriented toward national interests rather than Western interests, the country will have no choice but to cooperate with Russia for geopolitical, economic, and social reasons.

Georgia’s presidential elections are scheduled for December, and the opposition protests, orchestrated by the West, are expected to continue on the eve of them because the West does not want to lose influence over the country. The opposition will make every effort to make the president the candidate needed to preserve their orientation in international politics.

However, there are doubts that Zourabichvili will be able to keep the pro-Western position. There are a lot of political shortcomings, such as the fact that, apart from her origin, she has no strong ties to Georgia as a country. Zourabichvili, born in Paris as a child of Georgian immigrants, worked for a long time in French diplomacy.

Georgia’s presidential elections will be held in the parliament building on December 14. The second round of elections, if necessary, will be held on the same day. Also, for the first time, the president of Georgia will be chosen by the Electoral College instead of the citizens. The president’s inauguration will occur on December 29, and it appears that Zourabichvili will not be the one inaugurated as Georgia’s Western liberalization and orientation project is failing.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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This civilization is built upon the practice of continuously hiding inconvenient truths out of sight and out of mind. An entire empire held together by compartmentalization and avoidance.

Inconvenient truths are hidden from us in many different ways. They are hidden from our minds using propaganda, indoctrination, censorship, algorithm manipulation, and other forms of narrative control used to manipulate the ways we think about our world.

Inconvenient truths are also hidden from our physical eyes and ears by the manipulation of material reality. We’re choking the developing world with plastics as we ship the mountains of garbage the west produces off to poorer countries, for example. If nations had to keep the waste they produce and consume within their own borders, western civilization would either force its corporations to stop offloading their costs of industry onto the environment or find itself buried in garbage. We ship our trash away, out of sight and out of mind, to hide the contradictions and abuses that are built into our capitalist society so we can pretend everything’s going fine.

Inconvenient truths are being hidden when laws are passed to force the homeless to relocate away from rich neighborhoods and other places where they are not wanted, or force them all into “tent cities” as Donald Trump is saying he wants to do. There are never any plans to give these people homes or solve the underlying problems which create poverty and homelessness; there are only ever plans to hide the symptoms of the injustices and abuses that are woven into the fabric of the civilization we live in.

Inconvenient truths are being hidden when we condemn the past use of slavery in our own countries while outsourcing immense amounts of wage slavery to the global south, extracting labor and resources from impoverished nations at extortionate and increasingly unfair rates. The suffering, impoverishment, relentless toil and terrible working conditions of these foreign workers are kept out of sight and out of mind while we gorge ourselves on cheap goods and toss our garbage back in their faces.

Inconvenient truths are being hidden by how much more comfortable our rulers are with using violent force in faraway nations compared to here at home. In the western world you might have to worry about being assaulted by a police officer or a SWAT team smashing in your door and killing your dog if you are suspected of selling drugs, but you don’t have to worry about your home being bombed or your children being executed by military snipers while playing in the streets. Because foreign nations are out of sight and out of mind, the managers of the western empire think nothing of raining fire down upon them to promote their strategic interests.

We walk around in this perverse dystopia and laugh and joke and act like everything is fine, but everything is not fine. People are suffering and dying at an unimaginable scale because of the systems which allow us to live this way, and if it weren’t for the deceitful way this is always being hidden out of sight and out of mind, we would see this first hand right in front of us. And we would be forced to own it.

Western civilization is like a castle on a mountain, and the mountain is made out of human corpses and weeping mothers and starving children, and everyone in the castle pretends that the mountain is not there. It forms the very foundation of everything our society is, but we try not to think about it too hard. It’s not just the propagandists who lie to us. We also lie to ourselves.

And it’s always been this way. The well-to-do have always hidden themselves away from the suffering of their subjects. Palaces throughout the ages have been islands of paradise amid oceans of human suffering caused by the monarchs who lived in them. Wealthy neighborhoods are always segregated apart from the lives of the poor whose backs they are built upon.

That’s the entire western world right now. That’s what we are. That’s what we’re doing. This is a civilization made of deceitful thoughts, deceitful words, and deceitful deeds. Everything about it is fraudulent.

The truth can’t stay hidden forever, though. There’s only so long we can keep this up. Someday we’re not going to be able to keep flailing around looking every direction except at reality, and truth will make itself heard.

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Long before the now-infamous and critically important “Pfizer documents” were released, it was evident that the so-called COVID-19 “vaccines” were both fraudulent and toxic.

Their use amounted to medical assault and premeditated mass harm. This is why, even before the first needle was plunged into anyone’s arm, some of us dedicated ourselves entirely to warning and protecting people—doing everything in our power to stop these injections, regardless of the personal cost. We sounded the alarm to every man, woman, mother, and child we could reach, earnestly beseeching anyone who would listen.

Today, I want to provide a brief recap of what we understood from the very beginning and the discoveries we’ve made along the way.

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It’s Not a Vaccine (January 2021) 

A vaccine traditionally refers to a preparation of weakened or inactivated pathogens or fragments of their structure that stimulate an immune response without causing severe illness. This principle, attributed to Louis Pasteur, involves presenting the immune system with harmless antigens to prepare it for future encounters with the pathogen.

In contrast, COVID-19 “vaccines” operate on a different mechanism. According to their Emergency Use Authorization briefings, these injections contain synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Once administered, this genetic material enters cells and directs ribosomes to produce the viral spike protein, which is then released into circulation to trigger an immune response. Unlike traditional vaccines, this approach uses the body’s cells to produce components of the virus, raising unique risks and concerns. This experimental technology departs significantly from established vaccine science, which raised debate and scrutiny over its safety and long-term effects.

Read full story.

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Predictably Dangerous (June 2021)

Data from the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) revealed a striking surge in reported adverse events following the rollout of the COVID-19 injections. In just a few months, these injections were linked to more deaths than all other vaccines combined over the past 17 years. A closer examination of the ingredients and mechanisms of these injections highlighted that this outcome was not only foreseeable but also preventable. Hundreds of esteemed scientists raised alarms early on, warning of the inherent risks tied to these experimental therapies.

The unprecedented speed of development and the granting of emergency use authorization bypassed established safety protocols, leaving critical long-term studies incomplete. This disregard for traditional safeguards has since exposed millions to predictable and preventable harm, underscoring the ethical and scientific concerns surrounding this medico-criminal campaign.

Read full story.

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It Only Got Worse Under Scrutiny (September 2022)

The German Working Group for COVID Vaccine Analysis, comprising over 60 scientists, medical doctors, and professionals, investigated samples from Moderna, BioNTech/Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson “vaccines,” as well as blood from recipients. Using techniques like Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, they uncovered concerning findings.

Metallic foreign bodies were detected in the “vaccines,” with BioNTech/Pfizer’s Comirnaty showing the most unusual structures. Undeclared elements—including alkali metals (cesium, potassium), alkaline earth metals (calcium, barium), transition metals (cobalt, iron, chromium, titanium), rare earth metals (cerium, gadolinium), aluminum, silicon, and sulfur—were present in AstraZeneca, BioNTech/Pfizer, and Moderna “vaccines.” The toxin antimony was found in Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer samples.

Blood analysis revealed abnormalities in vaccinated individuals, including clumping red blood cells, reduced cell stability, and crystalline structures such as cholesterol and salt crystals, suggesting vascular damage. Artificial intelligence distinguished injected from uninjected blood with 100% accuracy.

The study also linked nanoparticle quality in injection batches to adverse events, indicating that more efficient mRNA delivery correlates with higher risks of side effects.

Read full story.

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Then We Discovered the DNA (April 2023)

Adding to the growing list of reasons to halt the continued rollout of these injections, ethically-driven scientists like Kevin McKernan, Michael Palmer, Jonathan Gilthorpe and David Speicher uncovered DNA contamination in the mRNA “vaccines.” This alarming discovery, made while many victims were on their fourth or fifth booster, confirmed long-standing fears and represented a clear violation of informed consent. Shockingly, even regulatory bodies appeared unaware of this contamination, as they had relied on pharmaceutical companies to conduct their own testing—a glaring failure of oversight.

This revelation presented an opportunity for regulatory agencies like Health Canada to rectify their negligence and hold those responsible accountable. Yet, when faced with the chance to act ethically, they chose instead to double down, persecuting whistleblowers and seemingly prioritizing damage control over justice. Their inaction and complicity deepened public mistrust, further entrenching their role in this criminal campaign.

Read full story.

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Unresolved Mysteries (April 2024) 

While for many, science has devolved into a pseudo-religion used to dominate discourse and suppress open debate, true science remains a continual exploration of mysteries. Dr. Ana Maria Mihalcea, MD, PhD, a board-certified physician and pathology expert, conducted extensive research into the contents and effects of COVID-19 “vaccines,” and uncovered alarming findings about self-assembling nanotechnology.

Her analysis revealed invasive elements in the injections that form networks of filaments and nanochips within human blood, impacting even uninjected individuals. These technologies, along with the unnatural white rubbery clots found in victims, were linked to materials within the injections, environmental contaminants, and proteins produced by the body in response to genetic components of the shots. Dr. Mihalcea’s work sheds light on the hidden, mechanistic transformations taking place within the human body, calling attention to the need for transparent, open scientific inquiry.

Read full story.

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What Now?

There is no rational path to a just future that does not involve accountability, reparation, and ensuring such injustices never happen again. Achieving this will be neither easy nor straightforward. Over years of grueling legal battles, as I and others have been persecuted by government agencies supported by complicit courts, the true nature of this system has been exposed—it serves power, not truth.

The revocation of my medical license and the severe financial hardship this fight has brought me do not condemn me in the eyes of the people. Instead, they condemn those who sought to silence me. With each passing day, mounting evidence vindicates my stance—one rooted in science and ethics from the very beginning. Meanwhile, my persecutors are increasingly exposed for their efforts to extinguish that light. Truth and integrity will ultimately prevail, no matter the cost.

Money can corrupt judges, coerce bureaucratic pawns into looking the other way, and even compel doctors to betray their oath to do no harm—but it cannot change the truth. So, what now? Now, we join our voices, continue speaking truth to power, remain brave, stay relentless, and keep pushing for justice. Whether it takes weeks, months, or years, the truth will set us free.

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A compelling new e-book titled Power Play: The Future of Food (Global Research, 2024) by Colin Todhunter has just been released. This concise, open-access book serves as the third instalment in a trilogy by the author that critically examines the dynamics of food production, distribution and consumption in a rapidly changing world.  

Power Play: The Future of Food intricately links the global food system to broader political and economic power dynamics. It examines how corporate consolidation and political centralisation intertwine to undermine democratic processes, emphasising the implications of these trends for food production.  

There is a critical examination of the ongoing corporate capture of Indian agriculture, highlighting the involvement of major global corporations. Despite a year-long farmers’ agitation in India leading to the revocation of three controversial farm laws in 2021, the Indian government continues to pursue policies that favour corporatisation.  

The book critiques an increasingly technocratic approach to food production (AI, cloud platforms, genetic engineering, ‘precision’ agriculture etc.). By framing the discussion around monopolistic technologies, it challenges readers to explore more equitable and democratic alternatives, not least agroecology.  

The roots of the ongoing economic crisis in the Western countries are explored too. This crisis is linked to the shift towards authoritarianism and the narrative of ‘new normal’ based on top-down stakeholder capitalism, net-zero and a ‘food transition’.    

Other key topics include a discussion on health implications stemming from current food systems and an analysis of how land is increasingly viewed as a commodity rather than a vital resource. The book also examines what the future of food may look like if we do not act and traces the shift from traditional farming to a technology-driven one-world food system and transhumanism.  

This multifaceted approach identifies the need for urgent action against entrenched power structures that perpetuate corporate dependency and undermine the vibrancy of local communities.  

Power Play: The Future of Food urges readers to reconsider the concepts of ‘development’ and ‘progress’ while recognising the transformative potential of re-localising food systems and reconnecting with traditional ecological wisdom. By drawing on agrarianism and the actions of the 17^th century Diggers’ Movement in England, the book aims to inspire action towards reclaiming food sovereignty and challenging state-corporate power.  

Power Play: The Future of Food is published by Global Research: read it here.

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Power Play: The Future of Food

This ebook provides insight into aspects of the global food system, including the micronutrient crisis, contested climate emergency rhetoric and its use in implementing the rollout of controlling technologies, the emergence and influence of digital platforms in shaping agricultural practices and the increasing corporate capture of Indian agriculture. 

The book is the third installment in a trilogy of ebooks by the author exploring the global food system. It evolved from a series of articles originally published by various media outlets and written by the author and follows the February 2022 publication of Food, Dependency and Dispossession: Resisting the New World Order and the December 2023 release of Sickening Profits: The Global Food System’s Poisoned Food and Toxic Wealth. 

Click here to access the e-Book.

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“It’s as though somebody tells you in July, “it’s snowing outside,” and you look outside and it’s summer, and yet on TV it says “no, it’s snowing outside.” You could just look outside your window if you were CTV, and no that what you were saying was untrue.” – Rodney Palmer, from this week’s interview.

“If the protest in Ottawa had become unlawful, as determined by the OPS or OPP, the Riot Act could have been enforced and the protest declared a riot. Arrests would have ensued, all under the existing laws of the Criminal Code. But prior to the invocation of the Emergencies Act, not a single charge of unlawful assembly was laid against any protester in Ottawa.” – Ray McGinnis [1]

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The Freedom Convoy was for its participants and many Canadians across the vast country, a moment of true liberation of the working class, unlike anything in living historical memory. [2]

After nearly two years of having to contend with lockdowns, masking, social distancing, problematic family situations, vaccine mandates that could cause people to lose their jobs in many prominent fields if not complied with, and even alienation of individuals with reasonable objections to participation in all of these practices, the parade of truckers entering Ottawa was like an epic cavalry! It revealed that people who saw and experienced misery brought on by the “Pharma-mafia” in cahoots with governments and the billionaire-boys club can and did fight back against tyranny unimaginable until now. [3]

The Trucker Convoy inspired individuals around the world and triggered similar demonstrations around the world. [4]

However, there is also a significant number of people, including sensitive scholars, union members and activists, who would strongly disagree with the contention that the Trucker Convoy was a good thing. They would be convinced that it was a gathering of “nazis,” “terrorists,” and hateful, freedom-loving guffaws occupying the political centre of the nation until the Emergencies Act was triggered and mercifully brought to an end. One ad-hoc group organizing in the downtown area even called them, not a protest, but an occupation. [5][6]

It is believed that one single element has played the ultimate role in dividing the people of the cold, northern country. And it is known by a single word: propaganda.

The respected radio, television broadcasts, and newspapers were putting out messages of the rally as bringing on a January 6 style attack, that they carried confederate flags and swastikas, and were white supremacists. It communicated the message that the downtown of Ottawa where the group of truckers were blocking streets and scaring women and disrespecting the residents who also had needs. [7]

Propaganda has been around almost as long as mainstream media, always a willing tool of elites to distract, galvanize, and shape opinions of working people so that they would not disrupt the efforts. The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 may be the closest parallel to the Convoy of Truckers in terms of its strength and its global impact, and also in terms of the propagandistic efforts by media to misrepresent them. Only thing is that back then, if you want to slag people you called them “bohunks,” “aliens,” or “anarchists.” Today, you call them “far-right” and “hateful” groups.[8][9]

Unless and until we can identify and address the propaganda circling around us everywhere in a controlled and sustained manner, we will quite simply never “snap out” of the spell we are under. That is why in this episode of the Global Research News Hour, we will speak with two observers providing noteworthy evidential analysis about what really happened in the vicinity of the national epicentre of Canada, the House of Commons, nearly three years ago.

In our first half hour, we speak with Rodney Palmer, a former prominent Canadian journalist who appeared on the show previously, who provides a professional journalist’s take on what the mainstream broadcasts got wrong with regard to the Freedom Convoy. In our second half hour, a previous guest, Ray McGinnis shares a thorough account based on what was discovered at the Public Order Emergency Commission (PEOC) regarding the Truckers Convoy, and what Chief Justice Paul Rouleau got dreadfully wrong in his assessment.

Rodney Palmer is an award-winning journalist who has worked for 20 years as a foreign correspondent for CTV news and investigative reporter for CBC Radio & Television in Canada and abroad. He was the CTV News Foreign Correspondent and Bureau Chief in India, China, and the Middle East. Rodney’s explosive testimony during the NCI Toronto hearing on day 1 provided evidence as to how CBC in particular is not conducting newsgathering, they are focusing on propaganda. HE is the current host of talknation.ca

Ray McGinnis is author of Unjustified: The Freedom Convoy, The Emergencies Act, And The Inquiry That Got It Wrong (2024), Unanswered Questions: What the September Eleventh Families Asked and the 9/11 Commission Ignored (2021). Previously, he authored Writing the Sacred: A Psalm-inspired Path to Appreciating and Writing Sacred Poetry (2005). Ray is interested in the stories we tell, the narratives we trust, and how this shapes our world. This includes not just personal stories, but news headline like the Narrative about September 11, and other headlines that saturate citizens with slanted media messages. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.

(Global Research News Hour episode 451)

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Il ministro degli Esteri Antonio Tajani ha così descritto il nuovo missile ipersonico russo Oreshnik a testate multiple non-nucleari, armabile anche di testate nucleari, che ha distrutto un impianto aerospaziale militare ucraino: “Io penso che sia come facevano gli antichi guerrieri che battevano la spada sullo scudo per intimorire l’avversario. I missili di cui parla Putin, con cui è stato fatto un esperimento l’altro giorno, sono missili vecchi. Non c’è nessuna novità: sono missili ritoccati, insomma hanno rifatto un po’ il trucco a missili che avevano per cercare di spaventare l’avversario ucraino”.  Si tratterebbe quindi, come titola Il Tempo, di un “bluff di Putin”.  Quale sia invece la realtà lo dice un esperto di armamenti, Pietro Batacchi, direttore della Rivista Italiana Difesa, in un articolo intitolato “Si torna agli Euromissili e agli anni più bui della Guerra Fredda”: “L’Europa è improvvisamente tornata ai tempi più bui della Guerra Fredda. Lo strike dimostrativo russo “pre-nucleare” – come lo abbiamo definito – ha dimostrato la disponibilità nell’arsenale di Mosca di un nuovo missile a raggio intermedio dotato di testate multiple indipendenti di rientro (MIRV).”

Per comprendere la gravità della situazione, che il ministro Tajani cerca di nascondere raccontando agli Italiani la storiella dei “missili vecchi a cui hanno rifatto un po’ il trucco”, occorre anzitutto avere chiaro che cosa siano gli Euromissili.  Sono missili con gittata tra 499 km e 5.000 km, schierati dagli Stati Uniti in Europa negli anni Ottanta: i missili balistici Pershing 2 in Germania Occidentale e quelli da crociera Tomahawk in Italia (a Comiso), Gran Bretagna, Germania Occidentale, Belgio e Olanda, a cui l’Unione Sovietica contrapponeva i missili balistici SS-20 schierati sul proprio territorio nella Russia Europea.  Questa pericolosissima categoria di armi nucleari, progettata per lo scontro nucleare ravvicinato, era stata eliminata dal Trattato sulle Forze Nucleari Intermedie (INF) firmato nel 1987 dai presidenti Gorbaciov e Reagan. Nel 2014, mentre con il putsch di piazza Maidan la NATO dà il via al nuovo confronto con la Russia, l’amministrazione Obama ha accusato Mosca senza alcuna prova di aver sperimentato un missile da crociera della categoria proibita e nel 2019 (durante l’amministrazione Trump) gli Stati Uniti si sono ritirati dal Trattato INF.

Da quel momento gli Stati Uniti hanno ripreso la produzione di missili a raggio intermedio da schierare in Europa a ridosso della Russia, camuffandoli da missili destinati a proteggere l’Europa dalla “minaccia nucleare russa”.

La Russia ha risposto producendo missili come l’Oreshnik da schierare nella parte europea del proprio territorio. Resta il fatto che, mentre i missili USA a raggio intermedio schierati in Europa possono colpire Mosca in pochi minuti dal lancio, gli analoghi missili schierati dalla Russia nella parte europea del proprio territorio possono colpire le capitali europee ma non Washington. Avendo chiaro questo scenario, è fondamentale capire quale sia la potenza distruttiva degli arsenali delle due maggiori potenze nucleari, USA e Russia.  Ce lo fa vedere il documentario “The True Scale Of Modern NuclearWeapons” del canale statunitense Science Time che, in base a precisi dati scientifici, mostra quali sarebbero gli effetti di un attacco nucleare USA contro Mosca e Pechino e di un attacco nucleare russo contro San Francisco e New York.

Manlio Dinucci

VIDEO :

As medidas de mobilização impopulares da Ucrânia já estão a causar sérios problemas no país e a agravar significativamente as tensões internas. Recentemente, militares e civis ucranianos falaram aos meios de comunicação ocidentais sobre as suas opiniões sobre o recrutamento, revelando a realidade brutal por trás do exército de Kiev.

Segundo pessoas entrevistadas pelo The Telegraph, existe uma rivalidade total entre os recrutadores ucranianos e os civis que eles “caçam” para serem enviados para a frente. Alguns militares descreveram a situação como uma espécie de jogo de “gato e rato”, com assédio, brigas e até promessas de vingança entre oficiais e novos recrutas.

“Às vezes é como lidar com um rato encurralado (…) Eles continuam brigando mesmo dentro do veículo. Quem resiste sempre ameaça se vingar de nossos rapazes ou de seus familiares (…) Anteriormente, permitíamos que as pessoas voltassem para casa e fizessem as malas, mas ultimamente eles não retornam voluntariamente. Eles se escondem e não aparecem. Às vezes, temos que confiscar seus telefones, dependendo da situação”, disse aos jornalistas um oficial militar identificado como “Artem”.

Na mesma linha, as pessoas comuns têm medo de andar nas ruas porque os agentes podem chegar a qualquer momento e capturar à força os homens que passam. A situação é tão chocante que, segundo os residentes entrevistados, atualmente é quase impossível ver homens civis em idade de recrutamento legal a caminhar pelas ruas de Kiev e de outras regiões. As pessoas estão assustadas e temem ser enviadas para a morte certa na linha de frente.

“Homens que têm idade apropriada para o alistamento militar têm medo de andar livremente nas ruas. Se você for no metrô de Kiev, verá jovens com menos de 25 anos, pessoas em uniforme militar ou idosos, mas não rapazes de 25 aos 40 anos, porque temos medo (…) É um problema sério porque as pessoas entendem que este é um caminho de mão única. Não temos limites específicos de tempo que as pessoas têm para servir nas forças armadas, e quando você é levado, é para sempre. Em muitos casos, esse fim amargo acontece muito rápido (…) Você basicamente tem medo de sair de casa”, disse um morador identificado como “Basiley” ao The Telegraph.

Em última análise, está a ser criada uma nova polarização na sociedade ucraniana: de um lado estão os recrutadores e os seus colaboradores, do outro estão os civis e as pessoas comuns que não querem lutar. Os colaboradores encontram potenciais recrutas e denunciam às autoridades, que enviam oficiais para capturá-los à força e enviá-los para a frente. Muitas vezes, as pessoas são recrutadas e até morrem em batalha sem que as suas famílias sequer saibam, uma vez que os militares já não permitem a comunicação entre os recrutas e as suas famílias – temendo que estes tentem fugir.

Os recrutadores e os seus apoiadores militares afirmam que aprenderam a controlar as suas emoções e a lidar com a realidade de forma equilibrada. Eles vêem a captura de homens como um “trabalho” como qualquer outro. Além disso, para eles é uma questão de sobrevivência, porque na Ucrânia de hoje é necessário escolher entre estar com os recrutadores ou com os civis – e é mais seguro estar entre aqueles que capturam recrutas do que entre aqueles que são capturados.

“Aprendi a controlar minhas emoções durante o trabalho e agora é apenas um trabalho para mim. Tenho sempre o argumento: ou são eles ou eu (…) Acredito que é melhor trabalhar para o TCC (Centro Territorial de Recrutamento e Apoio Social) do que esconder-se dele”, acrescentou Artem.

A realidade ucraniana enfrenta um cenário completamente diferente na Federação Russa. A maioria dos militares russos envolvidos na operação especial na Ucrânia são soldados voluntários que assinam contratos com o Ministério da Defesa para lutar por sua própria vontade. Além disso, as autoridades russas afirmaram repetidamente que não há necessidade nem intenção de apelar a uma nova mobilização militar, uma vez que há demasiados voluntários envolvidos na operação e não há necessidade de enviar mais recrutas para a frente.

Por outras palavras, no atual conflito ucraniano, um lado quer lutar e o outro não. Enquanto os voluntários pedem para ir para a frente pela Rússia, na Ucrânia não há apenas recrutamento forçado, mas também deserção em massa, o que mostra o colapso psicológico das tropas de Kiev. Numa guerra, o fator moral e psicológico é tão importante quanto o militar. Se não houver vontade de lutar e crença na vitória, é impossível levar a cabo um esforço de guerra por muito tempo, o que mostra que a derrota do regime neonazista é apenas uma questão de tempo.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

 

Artigo em inglês : Forced recruitment causing serious problems in Ukrainian society, InfoBrics, 29 de Novembro de 2024.

Imagem :  InfoBrics

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Lucas Leiroz, membro da Associação de Jornalistas do BRICS, pesquisador do Centro de Estudos Geoestratégicos, especialista militar.

Você pode seguir Lucas Leiroz em: https://t.me/lucasleiroz e https://x.com/leiroz_lucas

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Israel ‘Defense’ Forces, with unconditional support of the United States, have been waging a genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023, resulting in an unparalleled humanitarian catastrophe. They dropped over 85,000 tons of bombs, exceeding the amount of explosives used in World War II.

More than 44,000 Palestinian have been killed, including over 16,000 children, 190 journalists, 1,000 health workers, 230 United Nations staff members and many others. Over 104,000 are wounded – most of them children and women – while at least 11,000 are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes.

As part of its genocide, Israel is also committing sporticide, killing more than 500 Palestinian athletes, including over 344 footballers. Two of them were on the Palestinian National Team, including Mohamed Barakat, the first Palestinian to score over 100 goals professionally. Israel also jailed footballers, referees, and club owners. 

Israel’s air strikes in Gaza have resulted in extensive destruction of stadiums and, sports facilities in Gaza and the West Bank. They turned football stadiums into concentration camps where they detain and humiliate thousands of Palestinians who are paraded almost naked on television screens.

Thus, the Al Yarmouk stadium was turned into a makeshift concentration camp for Palestinian detainees. Men, women and children were rounded up, stripped down to their underwear, and blindfolded, while armed soldiers and tanks encircled the field. Blindfolded men and women were forced to kneel in front of a goal with the Israeli flag attached to the net.

Israel allows football clubs based in illegal settlements in West Bank to compete in official Israeli leagues in violation of international law. In the occupied Jerusalem they mounted a violent attack on the headquarters of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA).

In Apartheid Israel sports is rampant with racism and dehumanization of Palestinians. At an Israeli match a banner is displayed saying the lives of Palestinian children are worth nothing. Israeli football fans’ favorite anthem is “Death to the Arabs!” Such practices were noticed when Israeli team was playing in the Netherlands.

At the same time, Palestinian football teams, including the national team, are denied freedom of movement between the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza. They are prevented from joining the national team in regional and international matches.

Detentions and restrictions on movement force the Palestine Football Association (PFA) to suspend football leagues in Palestine, while it hinders setting up camps for the national team abroad to participate in FIFA World Cup qualifiers. 

While FIFA allows Israeli football clubs based in illegal settlements in the West Bank to compete in official Israeli leagues, the sports body has failed to take action against Israel for its inclusion of these illegal teams in its official leagues, and for its attacks on Palestinian football. It is sportswashing Israel’s decades of forced displacement of Palestinians, its apartheid regime and its genocide against Palestinians. It is thus complicit in Israel’s breach of international law, while continuing to shield Israel’s decades-old regime of apartheid, and now genocide, from accountability. 

Actually, FIFA is violating its own statute which states that discrimination of any kind against a country, a person or group on account of race, color, ethnicity, nationality, social origin, gender, disability, language, religion, political opinion, or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.

FIFA member associations and their clubs are not allowed to play on the territory of another member association without the latter’s approval. Yet FIFA allows Israeli sports clubs based in illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land to play in its official leagues. This is despite the International Court of Justice ruling that the settlements are illegal and a war crime.

FIFA allows outright racism and dehumanization in Israeli sports. This happened when mobs of racist, genocide-inciting Israeli football fans went on a violent rampage in Amsterdam. They stole Palestinian flags from private buildings, burned them, while chanting racist slogans, and attacked people appearing to be Arab in the streets.

And so we see global calls on FIFA to ban Israel. Such calls came, for example, from the 47-member Asian Football Confederation, as well as a petition that gathered over one million signatures. Almost 60 rights groups accused FIFA of applying “a different yardstick to Israeli actions,” undermining its credibility and exposing it “to allegations of political bias and hypocrisy.”

The protestors included Human Rights Watch, UN Special Adviser on Sport, 66 members of European Parliament, 38 British MPs, 41 Danish MPs, and 30 Swiss MPs. They all called upon FIFA to exclude Israeli team from illegal settlements. 

‘The Democracy in Europe Movement 2025’ ran a petition that gathered more than 112,000 signatures, calling for an immediate suspension of Israel from all international sports “until it fully complies with international law and sports regulations.” In Palestine itself 174 sports clubs wrote a letter calling on FIFA to suspend the Israel Football Federation (IFF). 

A report presented to FIFA by FairSquare, a human rights organization, said there were numerous grounds to expel the IFA, such as “the holding of matches in occupied Palestinian territory, systematic racial discrimination, Israel’s killing of Palestinian players and the systematic destruction of PFA facilities.” Most of these have been taking place well before 7 October 2023, the report asserted.

In March 2024, PFA submitted a draft resolution, supported by six member associations, calling for FIFA to hold Israel accountable for sports rights and human rights violations against Palestinians. The resolution was to be tabled before the FIFA Congress scheduled to take place in Thailand in May.

At the time PFA president, Jibril Rajoub, told the Congress:

“For 15 years we have consistently raised the same concerns with FIFA, only to see them repeatedly deferred from one Congress to another, from one committee to the next. Now, as our football faces the same existential threat as our Palestinian people, FIFA must make a choice either to passively stand by, or uphold its core values and human rights obligations, and stand firmly on the right side of history.” 

Rajoub made a passionate plea to the delegates from 211 member associations to vote for suspension of Israel from FIFA, adding: 

“The suffering of millions of Palestinians, including thousands of footballers, deserves as much. If not now, then when? The ball is in your court.”

In response to Rajoub’s submission, FIFA ordered an “urgent and independent” legal assessment, promising to table it for voting at an extraordinary meeting of its council in July. It didn’t happen. Instead, FIFA said the assessment would be presented to its next council meeting in August. The vote was again rescheduled to October. 

But when FIFA met in Zurich on 3rd October it once again postponed the decision to ban Israel. This time it said its disciplinary committee will “review the allegations of discrimination” raised by the PFA. Thus FIFA has repeatedly delayed taking action, procrastinating the vote, and shielding Israel from accountability. 

One wonders what “legal assessment” FIFA is seeking. Back in 2016 Wilfried Lemke, then UN special adviser on sport for development and peace, wrote to FIFA stating that the UN regards Israeli settlements, and by extension Israeli football teams that play in them, to be “illegal under international law”. He thus urged FIFA to suspend the IFA. 

Actually, what was done clandestinely became evident when, on 5 May 2024, prior to the FIFA Congress in Bangkok, an Israeli news outlet YNet reported that,

“the Israeli military is working around the clock with the aim of arriving as prepared as possible and torpedoing the initiative of the Palestinian Association, which has already succeeded twice – in 2015 and 2017 – in raising the Israeli issue for discussion.”  

The report stated that legal advisors of the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs, and ministry of culture and sports plus the IFA Chairman, were among the members of a WhatsApp group formed, calling itself “remaining in FIFA”. 

Under these circumstances, In May 2024, the Israeli Foreign Minister threatened to imprison Rajoub, and revoke his travel pass. The minister published a statement in social media, saying: 

“Jibril Rajoub, a terrorist in a suit who openly supported Hamas’s crimes, is working around the clock to get Israel removed from the international soccer association. We will work to thwart his plans, and if he doesn’t stop—we will imprison him.”

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Read on X

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And so, in June 2024, Australian authorities denied Rajoub a visa to enter the country, when Palestine was set to play Australia in a World Cup qualifier. And while returning home from Paris 2024 Olympic Games in August, Israeli forces detained Rajoub as he was entering Palestine at the Karama crossing with Jordan. They confiscated his passport, searched him, and handed him a summons for interrogation.

FIFA’s double standard becomes unambiguous when we consider that sanction was imposed on Russia immediately after its forces invaded Ukraine. FIFA took stern and strict measures against Russia without vacillating, suspending it from all competitions. On the other hand, FIFA turns a blind eye and refuses to hold Israel accountable for it decades long record of war crimes against Palestinians.

Thus, FIFA invents lame excuses, allowing Israel to participate freely in international competitions. Israel is not held accountable for it decades of military occupation, illegal settlements and grave crimes against Palestinians, including genocide. FIFA refrains from applying the same sanction on Israel that it has done in the case of Russia. 

Rather than following its principles, FIFA kowtows to the West’s blatant hypocrisy and double standards.

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Nizar Visram is Tanzanian writer and commentator, currently based in Ottawa (Canada). He is contactable at [email protected].

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While cancer has long been considered a disease of old age, a surge in cases among Gen Z and millennials is gradually turning that trend on its head.

Since 1990, cases of some types of cancers in young people have almost doubled in the US, even as rates have slowed or fallen in their parents and grandparents.

Sydney Towle, from California, was just 23 when she was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in early August 2023 after doctors discovered a ‘sizable mass’ in her stomach that had been growing for four months. 

‘I’m typically an active person but suddenly I started feeling short of breath, and this strange burning sensation took hold in my tummy,’ she shared.

The young and ‘active’ Californian admitted that she had initially overlooked her symptoms and is now urging others via social media not to skip their regular health checkups.

Bile duct cancer, also known as cholangiocarcinoma, is an aggressive type of cancer that starts in the bile ducts. 

It can affect people of different ages but it is more commonly diagnosed in adults over the age of 50.

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Cases of some types of cancers in young people have almost doubled in the US, even as rates have slowed or fallen in their parents and grandparents

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Ms Towle, whose tumor arose from a genetic mutation, admitted that the most challenging aspect of her journey has been dealing with the unknown.

‘It’s tough for me to plan for the future at all or expect anything when everything is so fragile around my diagnosis and treatment,’ she said.

‘It’s also really hard to plan in the short term, such as dinners or going out with friends, when I don’t know how I’ll feel physically or emotionally on a given day.

‘There are so many things I want to do now, given that I don’t know how much longer I have, but I can’t plan my bucket list or any fun trips while receiving treatment and not knowing where surgery will take me.’

Ms Towle, who recently fulfilled one of her dreams by moving to New York, is currently undergoing aggressive treatment targeting the tumor with a variety of treatments, including chemotherapy and experimental drugs.

Click here to read the full article.

Commentary by Dr. William Makis

This is a type of “soft disclosure” – telling women to expect cancer in their 20s and 30s, without telling them that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are causing this phenomenon.

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Featured image: Sydney Towle, from California , was just 23 when she was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in early August 2023

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Chronic diseases now cause nearly 75% of global deaths, with heart disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia being the most impactful

Multimorbidity (having multiple chronic conditions) is increasing rapidly, especially among those 80 and older. Geographic and socioeconomic factors strongly influence chronic disease prevalence, with the southeastern U.S. being a hotspot

Mental health disorders are a significant part of the chronic disease burden, often going untreated for years. Recognizing the connection between mental and physical health is crucial for overall well-being

Mitochondrial health is vital for preventing chronic diseases. The “four E’s” — excess essential fats (seed oils), estrogen, electromagnetic fields and endocrine-disrupting chemicals — are major threats to cellular energy production

Disrupted oxygen balance in your gut leads to harmful microbe proliferation. Avoiding mitochondrial poisons and restoring proper gut conditions is essential for reestablishing beneficial microbes and preventing chronic diseases

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Chronic diseases have become the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, kill 41 million people every year, amounting to 74% of deaths globally.¹ In the U.S., these conditions account for 8 out of the top 10 causes of death.²

The shift from infectious diseases to chronic, noncommunicable ailments began in the early 1900s, driven by improvements in sanitation, nutrition and medical technology. However, this transition has come with its own set of challenges. As the population ages and lifestyles change, the prevalence of chronic diseases continues to climb.

The cost to health systems is staggering — over $1 trillion annually in the U.S. alone.³ Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to lower your risk and prevent chronic diseases. Understanding effective prevention strategies is essential for improving your overall health and well-being.

The Big Four: Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes and Dementia

Among chronic diseases, four stand out as particularly impactful: heart disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. Cancer follows closely behind, claiming over 600,000 lives annually. Diabetes affects more than 37 million Americans, with millions more undiagnosed or living with prediabetes.⁴

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are rapidly growing concerns, with an estimated 6.7 million Americans aged 65 and over currently affected. These conditions not only impact your health and longevity but also place an enormous financial burden on individuals and health care systems. 

The global cost of cancer alone is projected to reach $25 trillion between 2020 and 2050, with five cancers — tracheal, bronchial and lung; colon and rectal; breast; liver and leukemia — accounting for nearly half of that cost.⁵ As these diseases become increasingly prevalent, prevention and early intervention to protect your health and quality of life is crucial.

Most Americans Suffer from Chronic Disease

Close to 60% of U.S. adults have at least one chronic disease. About 40% suffer from multiple chronic conditions.⁶ A recent study published in Frontiers in Public Health has also projected a significant increase in chronic diseases among adults aged 50 and older.⁷

By 2050, the number of Americans in this age group is expected to surge by 61%, reaching 221 million. Further, those with at least one chronic condition are projected to increase by 99.5%, from 71.5 million in 2020 to 142.7 million by 2050.⁸

Researchers considered nine major chronic conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung diseases, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and psychiatric problems. These projections highlight the urgent need for you to take proactive steps in managing your health, as the likelihood of developing a chronic condition increases with age.

The Rise of Multimorbidity: A Growing Concern for Your Health

While the increase in single chronic conditions is concerning, the rise in multimorbidity — having two or more chronic conditions — is equally worrying. The study predicts a 91.1% increase in multimorbidity cases, from 7.8 million in 2020 to 14.9 million by 2050.⁹

The majority of individuals with chronic conditions or multimorbidity are between 60 and 79 years old. However, the most significant increase is projected for those 80 and older, with a staggering 244% rise in single chronic conditions and a 202.7% increase in multimorbidity cases from 2020 to 2050.¹⁰

The study also reveals interesting patterns in chronic disease distribution across gender and racial lines. By 2050, women are projected to make up 53% of those with a single chronic condition, while men will form the majority (51%) of those with multimorbidity. Among racial groups, non-Hispanic Whites are expected to see the largest increase in absolute numbers, but other racial groups will experience significant rises as well.

For instance, the number of Hispanics with at least one chronic condition is projected to increase by 110% from 2020 to 2050. These disparities highlight the need for targeted health interventions and personalized approaches to chronic disease prevention and management.

Understanding your own risk factors based on your gender and racial background will help you take more effective steps to prevent chronic disease. However, adopting a holistic approach to your health, addressing not just individual symptoms but the underlying causes of disease, is essential for everyone, at all life stages.

Geographic Patterns of Chronic Disease

Your risk of chronic disease isn’t just influenced by individual factors — it’s also closely tied to where you live. Research published in Preventing Chronic Disease unveiled geographic patterns in chronic disease prevalence across the U.S.¹¹

The southeastern region of the country stands out as a hotspot, with clusters of high chronic disease prevalence throughout. This pattern isn’t random; it reflects decades of social and economic policies that have created environments conducive to poor health outcomes.

In contrast, areas with lower chronic disease prevalence are more scattered, often clustering around major metropolitan areas. For instance, in Texas, you’ll find pockets of lower prevalence around Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Similarly, the Atlanta metropolitan region in Georgia shows lower chronic disease rates compared to surrounding areas.

Areas with high chronic disease prevalence often share common socioeconomic characteristics. If you live in these areas, you’re more likely to face higher rates of disability, unemployment and reliance on government assistance programs like SNAP. Educational attainment is also a significant factor — areas with lower chronic disease prevalence have a much higher proportion of residents with post-high school education.

The economic divide is stark: the median income in areas with the lowest chronic disease prevalence is nearly double that of areas with the highest prevalence. Home values show an even more dramatic disparity, with median values in low-prevalence areas being almost three times higher than in high-prevalence areas.¹²

These disparities highlight the profound impact that your local environment and community characteristics have on your health. Still, along with recognizing risks associated with your location, remember that it’s also important to take proactive steps to mitigate them.

The Mental Health Crisis: A Hidden Epidemic Within the Chronic Disease Pandemic

While physical chronic diseases have been at the forefront of health discussions, mental health disorders are rapidly becoming a significant part of the global disease burden. Mental health issues account for 20% of the global disease burden,¹³ with addiction, mood disorders and anxiety playing major roles.

There’s often a delay in seeking treatment for these conditions. For instance, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), one of the top 10 leading causes of disability in the developed world, typically goes untreated for about 10 years. Similarly, individuals with gambling disorder often wait around nine years before seeking help.

These delays significantly increase the burden of disease. Recognizing the importance of mental health in overall well-being is crucial for your health journey, as mental and physical health are deeply interconnected.

Addressing the Four E’s to Prevent Premature Deaths from Chronic Disease

Optimizing mitochondrial health is the single most important step you can take to achieve vibrant, lasting health and avoid chronic disease, as impaired mitochondrial function lies at the heart of most chronic conditions.

There are about 100,000 trillion mitochondria in your body,¹⁴ each with hundreds of electron transport chains. Their staggering numbers reveal just how vital they are to your cellular function and, by extension, your overall well-being. Your mitochondria produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is critical for every function in your body. Without energy, your cells can’t repair and regenerate themselves.

The fundamental issue underlying most chronic disease is that your cells are not producing enough energy. There are four primary factors decimating your cellular energy production — the four E’s:

Avoid Mitochondrial Poisons to Boost Your Cellular Health

These and other mitochondrial poisons lead to a disruption in the delicate oxygen balance within your gut, creating an environment that favors the proliferation of harmful, oxygen-tolerant microbes while inhibiting the growth of beneficial, oxygen-intolerant microbes crucial for gut health. Mucin acts as a binding agent for your colonic epithelium, with colonocytes forming a critical barrier.

When this barrier is compromised, it initiates a progressive decline in health, accelerating the aging process.

Addressing the underlying factors damaging colonocytes and restoring proper oxygen levels is essential for reestablishing the population of beneficial, oxygen-intolerant microbes. The communication between mitochondria and your gut microbiome is vital, but when oxygen-tolerant pathogenic bacteria predominate, they crowd out beneficial bacteria, impeding the production of necessary metabolites for optimal health.

Until excess oxygen is removed from your colon, even the most beneficial lifestyle factors such as exercise, sleep, nutrition and supplements may not lead to significant improvements. Simply introducing probiotics is not an effective solution, as commercially available probiotics are often non-viable in the gut environment. These may provide postbiotic benefits but cannot serve as true “seeds” to reestablish the proper microbial community.

Your gut environment must be healthy for oxygen-intolerant microbes to thrive, much like seeds require suitable conditions to grow. Avoiding mitochondrial poisons, like those above, is key to creating and maintaining this favorable environment for gut health and microbial balance, and ultimately for avoiding chronic disease.

My new book, “Your Guide to Cellular Health: Unlocking the Science of Longevity and Joy,” explains in detail how to improve your mitochondrial function for increased cellular energy. Addressing energy production might prevent the majority of premature deaths from chronic diseases worldwide.

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Notes

¹ World Health Organization, Noncommunicable diseases September 16, 2023

^2, 3, 5 Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2024 Jan 20;8(1):112–119

⁴ Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2024 Jan 20;8(1):112–119, Diabetes

⁶ National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Commentary on Chronic Disease Prevention in 2022

^{7, 8, 9, 10} Front. Public Health, 12 January 2023, Volume 10 – 2022

^11, 12 Prev Chronic Dis 2024;21:230267

¹³ Front. Public Health, 13 October 2023, Volume 11 – 2023

¹⁴ Mito Canada, What Are Mitochondria and Why They Matter 

Featured image source

Judge Andrew Napolitano interviewed Col. Douglas Macgregor about Ukraine, Israel, and the incoming Trump Administration.

The discussion started with the question, “How close are we, the US, to a hot war — whether it is regional war, WWIII, nuclear exchange?”

Col. Macgregor replied that “we are closer than we have been in many decades.”

Watch the interview below.

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Featured image: Anti-NATO protest in Chicago, 2012. Photo credit: Julie Dermansky.

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“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” 

by Michel Chossudovsky

Available to order from Global Research! 

ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
Year: 2012
Pages: 102

PDF Edition:  $6.50 (sent directly to your email account!)

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute   

A recently aired Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS) documentary as part of the “American Experience” series examined the history of the white supremacist coup which ousted a multiracial coalition municipal government in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898.

The coup was aimed at the complete disenfranchisement, disempowerment and dislocation of thousands of African Americans who had played a leading role in the civic and economic life of the Wilmington area.

This incident was one of a long list of white-led terrorist operations which expanded across several post-antebellum states including Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma among others between the late 1860s and the early decades of the 20th century. Within many of the former slave states, people of African descent constituted near-majorities statewide and majorities within certain municipalities, counties and regions.

Upholding the 14th and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution would place African Americans in direct competition with whites for land, agricultural production, employment, wages, commercial endeavors, education and other aspects of the society. Segregation laws on a state level which were allowed to be in complete defiance of the Reconstruction amendments and civil rights acts were on the ascendancy by the close of the 19th century. Wilmington represented the continuation of the most progressive holdovers from the Reconstruction period of the late 1860s through the elections of 1876 and the subsequent Supreme Court decisions of 1883 which essentially nullified federal civil rights law. See this.

During the last decade of the 19th century a coalition of Republicans and Populists brought together African Americans and white political forces. The movement was called “Fusionist” and began to weld significant influence in North Carolina. With Wilmington being the largest city in the state during the late 1890s, it held the potential for establishing a trend towards a more inclusive political culture.

On the sceneonradio.org website it says of the period in Wilmington that:

“In November 1898, an armed White supremacist mob—supported by most White elites in North Carolina—murdered untold Black Wilmington residents and drove the city’s elected Fusionist government from power, installing Democrats in their place. The coup in North Carolina’s then-largest city violently snuffed out some of the last flickers of multiracial democracy in post-Civil War America…. In November 1898, North Carolina Democrats won a sweeping victory at the polls – confirming the success of their campaign based on white supremacy, intimidation, and fraud. But in Wilmington, the state’s largest city, white supremacist leaders were not satisfied. This episode tells what happened on November 10, 1898, in Wilmington: a massacre of Black men, and the only successful coup d’etat in U.S. history.

The methodology utilized in Wilmington followed a similar pattern across the South and other regions of the U.S. There was the false claim of losing control of political and economic structures to African Americans.

Using this formula for analyzing racist violence against African Americans, the Colfax massacre of 1873 fits a similar pattern where political divisions over the control of the Louisiana state government led to a white supremacist coup against the ascendancy of a Reconstruction administration. See this.

Such exaggerated notions were in response to the burgeoning presence of African Americans numerically and socially. There was the proliferation of independent churches, schools, newspapers and social organizations.

These institutions were answering forcefully the racist propaganda from the then Democratic Party stalwarts and their allies within the white supremacist militias. When the fears of Black political domination did not gain the necessary resonance, it was soon advanced that there was a real threat to the safety of white women. As Ida B. Wells had already argued in the early 1890s based on developments in Memphis and later her travels throughout the South, that the myth of the sexually uncontrollable dangerous Black man was merely a false pretense for the lynchings and disempowerment of the African American people.

In reference to the triple lynching of three African American men in Memphis during July 1892, Wells continued to speak out against racist violence while condemning the false rationales under which these acts of terrorism were carried out. Due to an editorial she published while outside of Memphis in 1892, the courts ordered her arrested and the offices of the Free Speech and Headlight newspaper which Wells owned, destroyed.

The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism wrote of the situation in Memphis:

“Death threats followed, fast and furious. Four days later, a mob ransacked the office of The Free Speech and Headlight and destroyed the building that housed it. Creditors took possession of any assets left. Wells-Barnett, who was out of town at the time, never came back to Memphis. She was running away from that city, but running toward a greater calling that also was personal. “They had me an exile and threatened my life for hinting at the truth,” she wrote in ‘Crusade for Justice.’ ‘I felt that I owed it to myself and my race to tell the whole truth.’ The investigative reporter in her took Wells-Barnett to Chicago. She continued her quest to debunk the big lie about lynching and rape. In 1895, she published a seminal work, ‘The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States.’”

Similarly in Wilmington just six years later the offices of the African American owned Daily Record were destroyed when the white terrorist group known as the “Red Shirts” staged a coup to put down the Fusionist electoral movement. Alexander Manly and his brother Frank owned the Daily Record where articles were published and circulated statewide debunking the accusations of a conspiracy to dominate whites and assault white women.

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Source: Abayomi Azikiwe

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According to an article on the ncpedia.org:

“The whites demanded that Manly and his newspaper cease to publish and that Manly be banned from the community. Manly escaped from Wilmington because he was mistakenly thought to be white. African Americans armed themselves and whites began to hunt and gun them down. The mob of whites included clergymen, lawyers, bankers, and merchants who all believed that they were asserting their rights as citizens. When the riot ended the next day, it was reported that twenty-five African Americans had been killed. However, it was strongly suspected that hundreds of African Americans had been killed and their bodies dumped into the river. In addition, hundreds of African Americans were banished from the city of Wilmington. This event, the Wilmington Coup, marked a turning point in North Carolina’s history because more restrictions were placed on African American voters.”

Consequently, this form of a fusionist government went down in flames. The pictorial symbol of the Wilmington coup was the image of a burned-out Daily Record building surrounded by Red Shirts brandishing their arms.

The PBS documentary examines the events of 1898 through archival records as well as the oral histories of the descendants of those involved on both sides of the struggle. This incident, like many others, has been covered up and hidden for well over a century.

Considering the political character of the incoming administration of former President Donald Trump along with numerous state governments in the U.S., even further restrictions will be placed on the research and teaching of the actual history of the country. The reasons behind the concealment and distortions of U.S. and world history stems from the refusal to accept responsibility for past and ongoing injustices. While at the same time the perpetrators of racism and social injustices are just as committed to strengthening their grip on the workers and oppressed domestically and around the world.

Lessons From the Wilmington Coup

Right-wing, racist and neo-fascist tendencies still exist in the U.S. and are prepared to use violent repression to impose their objectives of a white supremacist government. The recent November 2024 national elections illustrated clearly that propaganda and psychological warfare based upon unwarranted fears and hatred of nationally oppressed peoples, class conscious workers, women, migrants, etc., can be the lynchpin to advance a political agenda which takes the U.S. back to the atmosphere which created the Wilmington Coup of 1898.

The violent phase of the coup in 1898 was initiated even after the white supremacists had evoked racist stereotypes along with ballot stuffing to win the elections. In the U.S. on January 6, 2021, a mob instigated by the current incoming administration attempted a violent overturning of an election in which millions of people of color and workers would have been disenfranchised. Over the last four years state governments have passed legislation which placed restrictions on the ability to vote. Even though the difference within the popular vote calculations between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris was less than two percent, the media has spread the belief that the Republican White House has a broad mandate to implement its right-wing agenda.

These historical convergences call for the independent organizing of African Americans and other oppressed peoples. As the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the second half of the 20th century drew upon the mass sentiment of the workers and farmers, any renewal of the fight for liberation and social emancipation will set its own course irrespective of who is in the White House and Congress.

Watch the trailer below.

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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

The geopolitical dynamics surrounding the war in Ukraine have reached a critical juncture, marked by increasingly aggressive actions and policies.

Recently, the use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory has expanded the scope of the conflict, targeting even civilian areas. This escalation raises questions about the motives of the so-called “deep state” that allegedly orchestrates U.S. government affairs and foreign policies. Far from being limited to weakening Russia—a nation too vast and resilient to destroy—this strategy appears to be aimed at sacrificing Ukraine and destabilizing Europe, all in the context of the United States’ struggle to maintain its global empire.

A Proxy War Beyond Ukraine

At its core, the Ukraine conflict functions as a proxy war between the U.S.-led NATO bloc and Russia. While officially supporting Ukraine under the banner of defending democracy and sovereignty, the U.S. has steadily encouraged actions that escalate the conflict. The deployment of advanced military technologies and the encouragement of strikes within Russia reflect a deliberate intensification of hostilities. However, the U.S. cannot realistically expect to defeat Russia outright. Instead, the strategy seems to aim at creating prolonged instability, not only in Ukraine but across Europe.

The ongoing war is devastating Ukraine, transforming the country into a battleground for larger geopolitical ambitions. Infrastructure, economy, and human lives are being obliterated, leaving little room for a stable or prosperous post-war future. This destruction is less a byproduct than a feature of U.S. policy, ensuring that Ukraine remains dependent on Western support while serving as a buffer zone against Russia.

Europe: A Pawn in the Game

The U.S.’s actions reveal a willingness to sacrifice Europe on the altar of its waning imperial dominance. By encouraging European governments to adopt increasingly confrontational stances against Russia, the U.S. has drawn its allies into a dangerous game. Europe is now facing skyrocketing energy costs, economic instability, and rising social unrest, all consequences of its alignment with U.S. foreign policy objectives. European leaders appear to follow Washington’s directives unquestioningly, even at the expense of their own nations’ security and prosperity.

The possibility of a large-scale war between NATO and Russia would have catastrophic consequences for Europe, a reality that seems lost on many European leaders. With its geographical proximity to Russia, Europe would bear the brunt of such a conflict, suffering immense human and economic losses. NATO’s military capabilities, while formidable, are unlikely to secure a decisive victory against Russia, whose defense strategy is deeply entrenched and bolstered by its nuclear arsenal. Thus, any attempt to escalate the war would amount to a suicidal gambit for Europe.

The U.S. Empire’s Last Stand

The United States’ aggressive posture must be understood in the context of its declining global influence. Historically, empires have risen and fallen, and the U.S. is no exception. The unipolar moment that followed the Cold War has given way to a multipolar world, with rising powers like China, India, and Russia challenging U.S. hegemony. Faced with economic stagnation, political polarization, and a loss of credibility on the global stage, the U.S. appears to be lashing out in a desperate attempt to maintain its dominance.

By destabilizing Europe, the U.S. seeks to eliminate potential rivals while consolidating its influence. A weakened and dependent Europe would be less likely to pursue an independent foreign policy, ensuring its continued alignment with U.S. interests. This strategy mirrors historical patterns of declining empires dragging their allies and adversaries into chaos in a bid to delay the inevitable.

Europe’s Hypnotized Leadership

One of the most baffling aspects of this situation is the apparent complicity of European leaders. Despite clear evidence that their policies are harming their own populations, European governments continue to follow Washington’s lead. This behavior suggests either a profound lack of strategic foresight or an ideological commitment to the transatlantic alliance that blinds them to the risks.

The willingness of European leaders to gamble with their nations’ security and prosperity underscores the perilous nature of the current geopolitical order. Rather than acting as responsible stewards of their citizens’ welfare, they have embraced a course that could lead to widespread destruction.

The Suicidal Logic of Escalation

Expanding the war to include direct attacks on Russian territory and potentially drawing NATO into open conflict is not a path to victory but to disaster. Russia’s military strategy and vast resources make it an impossible target for complete subjugation, and any large-scale war would likely result in mutual destruction. European nations, as the immediate neighbors of Russia, would bear the heaviest costs, with their civilian populations caught in the crossfire.

The U.S. deep state’s strategy, therefore, appears not only reckless but self-defeating. While it may temporarily delay the decline of U.S. hegemony, it risks alienating allies, destabilizing entire regions, and accelerating the emergence of a multipolar world order.

Conclusion

The U.S.’s aggressive policies in Ukraine and Europe reflect the desperation of a declining empire attempting to maintain its dominance at all costs. By sacrificing Ukraine and destabilizing Europe, the U.S. aims to consolidate its influence while undermining potential rivals. However, this strategy is ultimately unsustainable and risks catastrophic consequences for all parties involved. For Europe, the choice is clear: either break free from Washington’s grip and pursue an independent course or continue down a path that leads to self-destruction. History has shown that no empire lasts forever, and the U.S.’s attempt to defy this truth will only hasten its fall.

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Prof. Ruel F. Pepa is a Filipino philosopher based in Madrid, Spain. A retired academic (Associate Professor IV), he taught Philosophy and Social Sciences for more than fifteen years at Trinity University of Asia, an Anglican university in the Philippines. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Sources

Brzezinski, Zbigniew. The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives. Basic Books, 2016.

Johnson, Chalmers. Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. Henry Holt and Company, 2000.

Nazemroayana, Madi Darius. The Globalization of NATO. SCB Distributors, 2012.

Perkins, John. The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2016.

Tainter, Joseph A. The Collapse of Complex Societies. Cambridge University Press,1990.

Featured image source

Brianne Dressed enrolled in a clinical trial for AstraZeneca‘s Covid vaccine in 2020 in a bid to help the pharma giant develop a vaccine that would end the pandemic.

She was among the first group of Americans to receive the then-experimental Covid shot and said she felt like she was ‘doing my bit’ and thought it would be safe.

But Ms Dressen would never return to get her second dose, suffering from such a severe reaction within an hour of her first injection that she says she is now nearly completely disabled and was left spending months contemplating suicide just to ‘escape’ the pain.

And while the physical pain is excruciating — with her body vibrating daily as though she is being electrocuted, she said — she has now been outcast by many friends and family as an anti-vaxxer. Due to the pain, she is also struggling to care for her two children, 10 and 12.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, the 43-year-old said:

‘The pain is something that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. This is the first thing I feel when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I feel when I go to sleep at night.

‘My body feels like it is being electrocuted all the time, like this jarring sharp electrical sensation that moves throughout my body, head to toe, fingers, you know.

‘There is no peace, no rest, no reprieve, the only time I get a break is when I take a whole lot of meds that allow me to sleep for a few hours — but I know that when I do this I am borrowing time from my future.’

In 2021, scientists at the National Institutes of Health diagnosed Ms Dressen with post-vaccine neuropathy — an extremely rare condition that occurs when a patient experiences tingling, numbness and weakness in their body following vaccination. 

It can happen because proteins on the surface of some viruses are similar to those on nerve cells, causing the immune system to misfire and start to attack the nervous system.

Ms Dressen, from Utah, was bedbound for months after first developing the complication because of the pain, and found herself unable to use her legs.

Now, with the help of medications, she can move again, but remains in constant pain and can’t feel anything in her legs.

Ms Dressen says she is not anti-vax, and says she was actually very much in the ‘mainstream mindset’ regarding vaccines, before her reaction.

She had helped to get face masks for the local hospital and heard of two other friends also taking part in clinical trials who had no issues.

As part of the AstraZeneca trial, Ms Dressen said she signed a consent form that stated the pharma giant would support her financially if she suffered from a serious side effect due to the vaccine. 

DailyMail.com has not reviewed this consent form and cannot confirm Ms Dressen’s claims. 

But Ms Dressen says to date the company has only sent her $590, which pales in comparison to the up to $400,000 she says she must spend annually for her medications.

In May, she sued AstraZeneca for breach of contract, and the case is now working its way through the Utah courts.

Covid vaccines are estimated to have prevented more than 3.2million deaths and 18.5million hospital admissions in the United States alone, according to estimates.

More than 270million people in the United States received a Covid vaccine, with more than 677million doses administered. 

But the AstraZeneca shot was never approved in the US because of concerns over the vaccine causing blood clots in rare cases. It was, however, approved in Europe. 

Thousands have since come forward saying they believe that Covid vaccines have left them with serious injuries that have permanently changed their lives.

The Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which was set up by the US Government to assist those who say they suffered a vaccine injury, has received more than 14,000 applications from people claiming they suffered a vaccine injury.

And resulting vaccine injuries are taking a mental toll as well. The UK CV Family — which represents people who believe they were injured by Covid vaccines — found in a survey that 73 percent of its members had considered suicide because of their injury.

Many who say they have suffered injuries from vaccines also reveal how friends and family have shunned them because of the stigma around speaking up about their injuries.

Ms Dressen’s battle began within an hour of receiving the vaccine on November 4, 2020. She suffered from a tingling sensation like pins and needles in the arm that was injected with the shot.

It spread throughout her body and she was rushed to the ER four times in the following months seeking treatment. Doctors were not sure what to do, however, because the vaccine was still being trialed.

It was at this time she revealed she was losing the will to live, and turned to thoughts of suicide as a way to ease the pain.

She said:

 ‘It wasn’t like a small moment in time that I wanted to end my life, it was over several months.

‘It wasn’t like I was pacing around the house like, “I am going to die”, it was me being totally silent and not being able to move and just fantasizing about an escape.

‘It is not actually that people with these vaccine injuries want to die, we just need a break.’

AstraZeneca has accepted no responsibility for the injuries Ms Dressen suffered.

After a recent hearing for her case, Ms Dressen said she has learned ‘everything I needed to know about this company’.

Image: Ms Dressen is pictured above at a hearing where she explained her experience to officials

She said:

‘There is no interest there whatsoever to help me. 

‘They are going to fight this every step of the way and… they called my lawyers and said they would appeal the initial decision.

‘My medications are about $180,000 to $400,000 a year, we had to re-mortgage our home, I can no longer work, lots of income has been replaced with a mountain of medical bills — it has been a dramatic change in our quality of life.’ 

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca did not return a DailyMail.com request for comment.

Ms Dressen spoke to DailyMail.com ahead of the release of her book on November 26, which is titled: ‘Worth a Shot?: Secrets of the Clinical Trial Participant Who Inspired a Global Movement.’

All proceeds from sales of the book are to be donated to React19 and UKCVFamily. 

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Featured image: Brianne Dressen, 42, is suing AstraZeneca after taking part in their Covid vaccine trial. She said their shot left her ‘permanently disabled’

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The High Court of Kenya has struck a critical blow against the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, suspending a series of highly controversial legal immunities and privileges recently awarded to it in the country. Reported locally but largely ignored by the international legacy/mainstream media, the ruling raises important questions about the power and privileges wielded by Gates and other super-wealthy philanthro-capitalists operating in developing countries.

The court order, issued by Justice Bahati Mwamuye, suspends the ‘Privileges and Immunities (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) Order, 2024’, effectively stripping the Gates organization, its directors, and agents of various legal shields awarded to them by Kenya’s government. This comes amidst growing scrutiny of the Foundation’s operations, which many observers say blur the line between altruism and influence-peddling.

The privileges, which included tax exemptions and protection from legal proceedings, had quickly sparked outrage among Kenyan legal experts and civil society after they were awarded. The Law Society of Kenya therefore challenged the move in court, asserting it violated Kenya’s Privileges and Immunities Act.

The law organization argued that such legal shields are typically reserved for diplomatic or humanitarian entities, not private foundations. In doing so, it reflected public concern that the decision to grant these types of immunities had undermined the principles of transparency and accountability and that no entity, regardless of its claimed benevolent goals, should be allowed to operate above the law.

Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who endorsed the immunities, has attempted to justify them by citing the Gates Foundation’s supposed contributions to combating global poverty, disease, and inequality. However, critics contend that this ignores the significant sway Gates has over governments, particularly in sectors like healthcare and agriculture, where he funds and influences key programs.

The Gates Foundation has similarly tried to defend the arrangement, claiming it aligned with international norms. But this has failed to quell the growing unease over Gates and his Kenyan activities.

An Extreme Concentration of Wealth and Power

The Kenyan court’s decision has reignited debates over the interference of super-wealthy philanthrocapitalists in the affairs of African nations. Such individuals frequently act as unaccountable power brokers, bypassing democratic processes while advancing their personal interests. The Gates Foundation has been widely accused of having a disproportionate influence on public policy in developing countries, and of prioritizing its own agenda over local needs.

The case is slated to return to court in February 2025, for further deliberations. In the meantime, not only will the Gates Foundation’s operations in Kenya almost inevitably now come under even greater scrutiny, but the broader implications of the ruling could well resonate far beyond the country’s borders.

Wherever it operates, the extreme concentration of wealth and power in the Gates Foundation presents clear challenges to national sovereignty. Moreover, the organization’s apparent ability to secure sweeping, diplomatic-style immunity raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability. At the very least, therefore, Gates would appear to be facing some uncomfortable questions in the months ahead. With his credibility rapidly evaporating, he only has himself to blame.

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Let Us Recall Kenya: A 500,000 Petition Called for an Investigation 

“An online petition is calling on the White House to investigate Bill Gates and Melinda Gates for “crimes against humanity” and “medical malpractice”.

The petition received more than 500,000 signatures as of 11th May 2020.

 

By Muslim Mirror Web Desk

The petition accuses the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of “medical malpractice” for citing an accusation of “intentionally sterilizing Kenyan children through the use of a hidden HCG antigen in tetanus vaccines.” The petition also quoted Bill Gates’ when talking about his interest in “reducing population growth” by means of vaccinations.

In Y2014, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Kenya conducted a study on the 5-injection, 2 yr vaccination project performed on female Kenyans aged 14-49, in a South African laboratory and concluded that “all 6 samples tested positive for the HCG antigen.”

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This article was originally published on Dr. Rath Health Foundation.

Executive Director of the Dr. Rath Health Foundation and one of the coauthors of our explosive book, “The Nazi Roots of the ‘Brussels EU’”, Paul is also our expert on the Codex Alimentarius Commission and has had eye-witness experience, as an official observer delegate, at its meetings. You can find Paul on Twitter at @paulanthtaylor

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Dr. Rath Health Foundation

Since Wednesday, November 27, a ceasefire has been in effect between Israel and Lebanon. The proposal, developed by France and the US, calls on both Hezbollah and the Israeli army to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

The truce is initially set for a period of 60 days. During this time, Israel must withdraw behind the international border, while Hezbollah must retreat behind the Litani River, approximately 30 kilometers north of the Israeli border.

The Lebanese army will be responsible for monitoring the border in coordination with UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in the area, and will oversee maintaining calm in the region. Five countries, including France and the US, will supervise compliance with the agreement.

A Victory?

Hostilities began on October 8, 2023, the day after the surprise attack from Gaza against Israel. At the end of September 2024, the Israeli regime escalated its war against Lebanon. Netanyahu updated his war objectives, vowing to redraw the map of the Middle East and determined to bring hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens back to their homes in the north of the country.

These residents had fled due to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks from Lebanon. Hezbollah justified these attacks as a response to the genocide in Gaza and declared from day one that there would be an immediate ceasefire if Israel stopped its invasion of Gaza.

The Israeli government is eager to portray this temporary truce as a victory, but for many Israelis, it falls short of their expectations. The reality is that Israel needed this ceasefire.

In recent weeks, Israel has struggled with dwindling ammunition supplies. On Tuesday, November 26, Netanyahu himself stated that replenishing munitions stockpiles was one of the primary reasons for the ceasefire.

Additionally, the strain on military reservists, who have been fighting for months, is becoming unsustainable. More than 140 civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side have been killed in this conflict, which is a significant number by Israeli standards. According to Yaakov Amidror, a former national security advisor to Netanyahu, Israel “cannot afford another year of war” on this scale in the north.

In other words, the pause in fighting serves to give Israeli troops a moment of respite and allow stockpiles to be replenished. Practically speaking, it buys time for the US and other arms suppliers to deliver more weapons, which Israel will deploy at an accelerated pace.

While Hezbollah has suffered significant blows, it has not been neutralized, let alone eliminated, nor has the “redrawing of the Middle East” materialized. According to Iran expert Peyman Jafari, Hezbollah might even be more dangerous now than before.

In Lebanon, sympathy for Hezbollah has grown, as many citizens view Israeli military attacks as assaults on the country rather than on the group. According to Jafari, support for Hezbollah has also increased throughout the Middle East.

What’s Next?

Between October 7, 2023, and September 20, 2024, Israel carried out more than 8,000 attacks against Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon. The past two months saw even more intense fighting, resulting in over 3,700 Lebanese deaths, including an unknown number of fighters. Around 1 million civilians, or more than a quarter of Lebanon’s population, were forced to flee their homes.

Since the Israeli military failed to neutralize Hezbollah or gain control over the area south of the Litani River — the main goal of its ground invasion — it expanded its airstrikes to nearly all of Lebanese territory, with central Beirut being a major target. The damage inflicted on the country is enormous.

Israel completely failed to capture southern Lebanon and resorted to leveraging air power to exert pressure. Lebanon, lacking air defenses and a functional national army, was unable to respond effectively.

The agreement reached is highly unbalanced. Hezbollah’s armed resistance is forced to retreat dozens of kilometers within its own territory, while the Israeli army is allowed to remain stationed right at the border.

Moreover, Israel reserves the right to launch attacks if Hezbollah violates the truce. Given Israel’s military history, finding a pretext for such actions would not be difficult.

This ceasefire is, therefore, extremely fragile. On the very first day, the Israeli army fired four times at Lebanese civilians. Israel has stated it will intervene militarily again if it deems it necessary.

Israel can now refocus its attention on Gaza, where it seems increasingly intent on colonizing parts of the territory. According to The Economist, amidst catastrophic destruction, new buildings are rising. These include large outposts for the Israeli army along newly paved roads in strategic locations. These roads divide the Gaza Strip in two and cut it off from Egypt.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to receive new arms shipments from the US. President Biden recently approved a $680 million arms deal with the Zionist state, including precision weapons. This is in addition to the approximately $20 billion in arms sales approved by Congress last week.

In April, Congress approved a total of $26 billion in additional military aid for Israel, on top of the $3.8 billion in “security assistance” that the US provides annually. The genocide must go on.

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Marc Vandepitte is a member of the Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity and was an observer during the presidential elections in Venezuela. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from L’Orient Le Jour/Muntasser Abdallah

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US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to raise tariffs on Chinese exports by 10% until the problem of drug trafficking is resolved while also threatening to impose a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and Canada until the migration crisis is addressed. However, his tariffs are not only targeted at the US’ neighbors and China but also Europe, which will only hurt an already struggling Germany.

“Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

The former president also stated that Chinese officials have never kept their promise to combat drug trafficking, which enters the US, mainly through Mexico, “at levels never seen before.”

Trump also promised tariffs on Mexico and Canada over drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” the billionaire said. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long-simmering problem.”

The president-elect accused thousands of people of crossing illegally into the US through its northern and southern neighbors, “bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.”

One of the Republican’s signature promises during his presidential campaign was to combat illegal immigration to the US. In this regard, he offered to undertake a mass deportation as soon as he returns to the White House.

On November 4, during a rally in North Carolina, Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican products if the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum does not prevent the entry of migrants and drugs into the US across the shared border.

In response, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said on November 12 that Mexico could respond with tariffs against the US if the Trump administration decides to take such a measure against the Latin American country.

“If you apply a 25% tariff to me, I have to react with tariffs, and I am your main importer, along with Canada,” he declared on Radio Fórmula.

According to him, this decision would have several repercussions for the US, including inflation.

However, not only the US’s neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and longtime trade adversary, China, are facing Trump’s wrath, but also Germany, the European Union’s most important but beleaguered economy. Germany is experiencing the biggest decline in growth of any developed country, the Financial Times reported, and this situation could worsen as economists warn of the serious vulnerability of the German economy to Trump’s new tariff plans.

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The German economy, which has relied on a strong export-oriented industrial sector for many decades, especially in the US, is in a particularly precarious position after Trump, who had promised to impose higher tariffs on European goods, won the presidential election. The extent to which German manufacturers are dependent on the US market is illustrated by the fact that the US accounted for 10% of German exports in 2023 – the highest figure in more than two decades – and Germany’s trade surplus with the US in 2023 reached a record €63.3 billion.

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But it is not just German exports that will suffer. Life will become more difficult for local companies, even in their home market. For example, Chinese manufacturers will divert their cut-price products to the EU if US tariffs are even higher than those of their European counterparts, resulting in local producers facing increased competition and margins being squeezed even further.

As seen from Trump’s intentions to impose tariffs, his efforts to ensure that the US continues being the world economic powerhouse against the Chinese challenge do not only target adversaries but even neighboring countries and close NATO allies.

Whether this aggressive policy will lead to inflation, as Marcelo Ebrard predicts, remains to be seen, but what is certain is that partnerships and alliances mean little to the incoming Trump administration.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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O desespero do regime de Kiev por causa da vitória republicana nos EUA parece cada vez mais claro. Os políticos em Kiev não estavam preparados para a vitória de Donald Trump, pois apostavam que os democratas triunfariam na corrida em Washington. Agora os ucranianos estão a tentar apressadamente apresentar um “Plano B”, ao mesmo tempo que mostram hostilidade aberta para com Trump.

De acordo com uma notícia recente publicada nos meios de comunicação locais ucranianos, a vitória de Trump foi uma surpresa para Zelensky e os seus apoiadores – que não acreditavam que o republicano iria realmente vencer. Agora, altos funcionários do regime estão a tentar encontrar uma forma de impedir que Trump cumpra a sua promessa eleitoral de “acabar com a guerra”.

Acredita-se que o republicano deixará de enviar armas e começará a fazer lobby para novas negociações diplomáticas entre Moscou e Kiev, o que seria extremamente prejudicial para o regime neonazista – já que durante quase três anos Zelensky tem prometido à opinião pública ucraniana e ocidental uma posição de absoluta “vitória”.

Fontes entrevistadas pelo jornal ucraniano Ukrainska Pravda afirmaram que não havia dúvidas entre políticos e responsáveis ​​sobre a vitória de Kamala Harris. O artigo menciona ainda que o chefe da equipe presidencial ucraniana, Andrey Yermak, afirmou durante uma reunião que “não há necessidade de entrar em pânico,já que Kamala vencerá”. Neste sentido, não houve preparação para um “cenário Trump”, uma vez que todos esperavam um sucesso democrata fácil.

O jornal explicou que os políticos ucranianos não tiveram tempo para preparar um “Plano B”. Estavam tão convencidos de que Trump perderia que nem sequer se preocuparam em pensar noutro caminho. Como resultado, a Ucrânia está agora sem quaisquer orientações ou projetos, não sabendo como garantir o apoio militar irrestrito lançado por Biden.

O principal receio da Ucrânia é obviamente o fim da ajuda, uma vez que a assistência é absolutamente necessária para o regime manter as suas políticas de guerra draconianas. Sem o apoio americano, não há possibilidade de a Ucrânia continuar a lutar a longo prazo. Com o seu exército à beira do colapso, Kiev só pode implorar por mais armas, dinheiro, mercenários e equipamento.

A situação torna-se ainda mais grave considerando o fato de que, além da falta de preparação da Ucrânia, há também hostilidade por parte do regime para com os apoiadores de Trump. Os chamados “MAGA” – como são chamados os “Trumpistas” – são frequentemente insultados e difamados em Kiev. Por exemplo, o jornal ucraniano informou que as suas fontes descreveram o oligarca americano Elon Musk e o filho do presidente eleito, Donald Trump Jr., como políticos que “não são amigos” de Kiev.

Obviamente, cada afirmação tem graves consequências na esfera política. A agressividade da junta de Kiev em relação ao novo presidente dos EUA só irá piorar as fricções e, com Kiev a iniciar tais crises, há poucas chances de Trump ceder na sua decisão de cortar despesas militares.

Na verdade, Zelensky não foi o único que foi enganado quanto ao resultado das eleições americanas. As principais pesquisas indicavam que Kamala Harris venceria. Muitas pessoas foram guiadas por informações falsas antes das eleições e depois acreditaram que os Democratas estavam perto da vitória.

Como resultado de tal vitória, o apoio à Ucrânia estaria salvaguardado nos próximos anos. O fato de Trump ter obtido uma vitória substancial na eleição mostra como os grandes meios de comunicação mentem deliberadamente nas suas “pesquisas de opinião”. É claro que Trump já era o favorito do povo americano, mas os jornais distorceram a realidade para induzir mais cidadãos a votarem nele – tentando assim desesperadamente “mudar o jogo”.

Na verdade, se a Ucrânia fosse verdadeiramente um país soberano, não haveria preocupação quanto ao resultado das eleições americanas. Os Estados soberanos preocupam-se apenas com as eleições nacionais, enquanto negociam livremente com quem está no poder noutro país. Contudo, as nações fracas e dependentes desesperam com qualquer movimento político no exterior, porque devem adaptar-se rapidamente às orientações de cada novo governo.

Trump certamente terá dificuldades em tentar implantar o seu plano para “acabar com a guerra”. O mais provável é que o político republicano fracasse face à pressão ocidental, cancele os seus planos anteriores e continue o apoio militar – mesmo que reduzido.

Contudo, independentemente do futuro, é inegável que Trump trabalha com uma mentalidade empresarial e pragmática, razão pela qual não faz sentido para ele continuar a gastar milhares de milhões numa guerra invencível na Ucrânia.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

Artigo em inglês : Zelensky and his team ‘not ready’ for Trump, 28 de November de 2024

Imagem :  InfoBrics

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Lucas Leiroz, membro da Associação de Jornalistas do BRICS, pesquisador do Centro de Estudos Geoestratégicos, especialista militar.

Você pode seguir Lucas Leiroz em: https://t.me/lucasleiroz e https://x.com/leiroz_lucas

 

This article was first published by Cuba Debate in Spanish in September 2010. (Translation by Cuba Debate).

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On Thursday, Michel Chossudovsky, professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, was invited to appear on the Mesa Redonda television program. He participated along with Osvaldo Martinez, director of the Research Center on World Economics.

Of course, I listened to their debate with particular interest. Chossudovsky spoke in Spanish and showed a complete command of the issues at hand. He is scrupulous about the meaning of words, including phrases coined in English to precisely express a certain idea when they do not have equivalent terms in Spanish.

Chossudovsky said that in the United States an inescapable systemic crisis has been created, which they are trying to resolve by employing the same measures that caused it. 

He explained that there has been an impoverishment of all social groups, which affects the workers and middle class much more than the rich. 

The U.S. government is calling for austerity measures at a global level, and applying “remedies” and “prescriptions” that are the cause of the crisis, also faced with the necessity of financing military spending and bailing out banks.

He confirmed that they have been preparing for war against Iran since 2003, and are also threatening Russia, China, North Korea, Syria, Lebanon and other countries in this vast region.

He energetically criticized the justification for the introduction of the so-called mini-nuke into the arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, and of the doctrine that was widely promoted prior to their introduction, in an attempt to argue that the mini-nuke is safe for civilians (safe for the surrounding civilian population, because the explosion is underground) in English he explained. 

He noted the irony of how the mini-nukes included bombs with an explosive capacity between one-third and six times that of the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima.

image left: B61-12 Tactical nuclear weapon

Let us press on immediately with the synthesis of Chossudovsky’s academic address to the students and teachers at the Faculty of Economics, University of Havana:

“… I want to mention one thing that is very important […] this war is not a war that creates jobs […] It is true that the Second World War did create jobs, in Germany under the Nazi regime […]. That is simply a factual observation. […]

The same in the United States at the beginning of the Second World War, which started for them in 1941; there was job creation and that was the way out of the Great Depression under President Roosevelt. But this war (referring to a Third World War) is not of the same type; it is a high-tech war, not a war whereby military equipment is assembled or manufactured . The war in Viet Nam created jobs, as did the Korean War. This war is a war characterized by a very sophisticated weapons system, employing highly advanced scientific manpower, engineers and the like … “

“… any first year student knows that if you impose austerity measures at a national and global level —as proposed at the G-20 meetings and also under the auspices of the International Settlements Bank, which represents the central banks—, there is a sort of consensus that to solve the crisis we have to implement austerity measures, that austerity measures are not a solution, but a cause of the crisis. Cutting the budget, cutting spending, cutting credit to small and medium enterprises at the same time increases unemployment levels and reduces salaries. This is the case in most European countries.”

“Spain and Portugal have unemployment rates above 20 percent, officially; the key issue here is that the proposed solution, not only nationally, but in all countries, pronounced by the neoliberal consensus, is that we have to implement austerity measures … “

“… but the stagnation of the civilian economy caused, in a first instance, because of the transfer of wealth, not just in recent years but let’s say from the beginning of the 1980s, when the so-called era of neoliberal policies began which also led to stagnation in the civilian economy […] if we talk about the United States, these measures were implemented at the end of the Bill Clinton administration […] the Financial Services Modernization Act, but they have created a financial system that is not regulated, and that is involved, shall we say, in semi-illegal activities. In some ways it is the criminalization of the financial apparatus, and that is not just a word I’m just using, many analysts, including The Wall Street Journal are talking about the criminalization, because there was financial fraud in recent years, and those who have committed this fraud are not being punished.”

“… an economic crisis, in my opinion the worst in history, without precedent, not even the 1930s, which was a very localized crisis, not a global crisis as such, it had a dynamic in certain countries and regions of the world. “

“… the financial war is closely linked to the war in the military sector, there are even links between the World Bank and the Pentagon. […] former United States Defense ministers became presidents of the World Bank […] the new world order is run by financial manipulation mechanisms […] regime changes, destabilization of governments and military operations of various kinds […] capitalism has institutions, both civilian and military, that work together, this is a very important concept. Behind these institutions are the intellectuals, the think tanks in Washington, there are secret clubs for the elites [… ] the process of war, which now threatens humanity, is important at all levels of society.”

“… war is classified as a criminal act, the Nuremberg Convention states this […] It is the ultimate criminal act. War is a crime against peace. […] we have indications that this economic crisis led to a concentration of wealth, in a few years, and a centralization of economic power that is unprecedented in history […] this crisis is not spontaneous, as presented in the neoliberal economy, it is the result of manipulation, of planning, and, at the same time, there is a military component.

With these words, Chossudovsky concluded his address and expressed his willingness to answer questions: “…I will leave the issue of resistance and how to reverse this process for you to debate,” he said.

The students’ questions were intelligent and serious. From them I have only repeated the essential ideas.

“Moderator: I believe I convey the sentiments of all present, in thanking Dr. Michel Chossudovsky for the excellent address he has given us, which has provided us with even more awareness about the causes and consequences of the real dangers that threaten humanity … ”

“… we will proceed with the questions that the audience deems pertinent for our guest.”

“A student: … we would like to know […] your view on the optimism that has been presented in the media over the current crisis situation in Latin America, what is your opinion about the possibilities of addressing this crisis in the region … ”

“Thank you”

“Michel Chossudovsky:  The Caribbean region is identified as a region extremely rich in both oil and gas, and not just Venezuela and Colombia, the truth is that there are known reserves because the oil companies have information that is not public; but what is public is that this region is extremely rich.

“The situation in Haiti is also linked to a project of resource appropriation […] the humanitarian situation […] allows capital to gain access to mineral resources and potential oil resources in the region. […] I’m not saying that’s the only reason for the militarization of the region. The other is drug trafficking.”

“… there are geographic, geopolitical and resource objectives […] but also drug trafficking, because it is a very important source of profits for capital.”

“… there are two axes of the global drug trade, one is Afghanistan and Pakistan, which represents the heroin trade, and the other is Colombia, Peru, Bolivia. The transfer goes through Haiti and other Caribbean countries to the U.S. market. […] Afghanistan is an enormously rich country, it annually produces about $200 billion in revenues from the export of heroin, at least according to my estimates. Since the U.S. forces entered into Afghanistan, heroin production has increased 30 fold. Well, I digress.”

“The militarization of the region and operations in Ecuador, an oil power, Venezuela, an oil power, Mexico is also an oil power. These are all countries that have a strategic role in the geopolitics of the U.S. economy. ”

Fidel Castro and Michel Chossudovsky, Havana, October 2010

 

“A student: I am a student at the Faculty of Economics …”

“My question is: Is globalization, as it has been sold[ promoted] as presented by the so-called developed countries, currently viable or are there other alternatives, such as integration models?

“Thanks.”

“Michel Chossudovsky: It is certainly not viable.

Globalization, as defined by the centers of power is not viable. Perhaps it is viable for one sector, a social minority that becomes richer, but it leads to impoverishment, and that is now very well documented. It is part of a process that has affected developing countries over the past 30 years. You can see the consequences in neighboring countries, the impoverishment that exists in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, a product of that destructive model. […] There are many countries that have presented different development models, as in the case of Yugoslavia.”

“… Yugoslavia had a socialist system, a market economy, a mixed economy with a high standard of living, social services, education, and what did they do? Since the beginning of the 1980s it was completely destroyed and fragmented into many countries, half a dozen countries. Why? Because Yugoslavia represented a model, an alternative that did not suit them.”

“… we can also look at the experiences of Latin America: Chile created an alternative, but then was subjected to a military coup and a process of destabilization that was carried out by the United States intelligence services, by sabotage, by embargoes and such, because I experienced that coup.
“There are many examples: Tanzania, in Africa, Algeria, there are many countries that have tried. Indonesia for example, in the 1960s there was also a very important process […] In 1965 a military coup, once again supported by the CIA, killed more than 500,000 people in planned kilings and a military regime was imposed, which ceded to U.S. interests. ”

“… We must produce an economic model of society as alternative to global capitalism. We can do it. But all the alternatives, including the Cuban model, are the subject of sabotage, embargoes, measures of destabilization, assassinations. That is the truth. ”

“… Iraq is not a socialist country, but a country that has a certain autonomy. It is a state that does not want to be manipulated, and they do not even want to accept capitalism, is not theirs. That’s the world today, there are countries that are capitalist but are enemies of the United States, China is capitalist in a way, Russia too, but Russia’s style of capitalism does not suit their interests, and they want to militarily destabilize or destroy any attempt against the economic and geopolitical hegemony of the United States and its allies. ”

“A Professor:  Your presentation, your lecture was excellent.  I used to be scared of war, after listening to you, I´m terrified, but I´d like to ask you something.

“At present, there are still Americans who never heard about the Viet Nam War. So my question is the following: What do you think must be done to raise awareness in the U.S. in order to prevent an event that, if it occurs, will have unpredictable economic, political and social consequences?

“Michel Chossudovsky: That is our main concern. More than half of those who visit our Website are readers from the United States, and I would say that most authors are also from the U.S. The point is that we have to expose the lies of the media; we have to fight the sources of the lies, because if the American people know the truth, the power and the legitimacy of their leaders will fade overnight. What happens in the United States is that the media, television, print and the Internet are spreading a view which is largely biased.”

“…As they listen to these inquisitorial discourses, they accept what is false, they accept the lies; and once the lie becomes the truth, you cannot have any real reflection and the debate terminates. This is all part of a war propaganda that reaches all levels of society, that tries to hide the real face of war. The number of civilians killed in Iraq is 2 million, according to estimates by well-known sources, such as the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. There have been 2 million civilian deaths since they arrived in 2003. Add that to the 4 million deaths in the Congo and to one fourth of the Korean population that was killed from bombardments during the Korean War. These facts are known, but not by the public.

[…] there is censorship, but more than censorship is the manipulation of information. […] we have to fight the media, this is crucial. We have to set up anti-war networks in all municipalities across the United States, in Canada, and the whole world. We need to hold debates, gain knowledge, because we have an intelligent population, but one that is subjected to the constant pressures of conformism and from an authority that tells them the truth, which is in fact a lie.”

“…I will make an effort to give brief responses, though your questions are very forceful, so I cannot be that brief sometimes.”

“A student: I’d like to know if it is possible to achieve a technological change in favor of clean technologies to stop the current ecological crisis.”

“Michel Chossudovsky:  Yes, that is a fundamental issue for our societies, but there exists a distortion of environmental realities that yield to economic interests, which are the main actors in the destruction of the environment.”

“…the British Petroleum disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. There is complicity by the U.S. government, that is to say Washington, in their actions to hide what really occurred. Wildlife, all the marine species along the entire coastal region of the U.S. and beyond, is threatened. This fact has been concealed.”

“It is also important to connect this event, this environmental crisis and the war. British Petroleum is involved in the Middle East and in the military project, which is contradictory on the one hand, while also being responsible for the worst environmental crisis in the history of this continent.”

“A professor:  You made a brief analysis of the U.S. economy. […] that economy continues to define the dynamics of the world economy. […] I’d like to know if you think that this economy will continue to define the dynamics of world economy […] or if countries like China or the so-called emerging states may take over the role currently played by the United States?”

“Michel Chossudovsky: Look, about this so-called dynamics of economy, the leadership of the United States, from an economic perspective, is not based on its productive capacity […] the industrial economy has been shutting down over the past 30 years, there are no more assembly lines, production has fallen, there is a service economy, there is the issue of intellectual property control, there is an investment economy, there is an economy where most of consumer goods come from China.”

“…The U.S. economy is bigger than China’s, but even though it is bigger than China’s economy it does not produce anything, and the GDP —as we all are well aware— is the sum of added value. The fact is that a large part of U.S. GDP is the result of imports from China.

“The technique is simple. If you are going to import a shirt —and I will use more or less real prices—, a dozen high quality shirts cost $36. These figures correspond to the 1990s, since these prices are even lower nowadays. […] a nice shirt costs $3 at the factory; it is taken to the United States and it costs $30, $40 or $50. What is the resulting increase in U.S. GDP? While, $30 minus $3 equals $27 which is added to the GDP without having any kind of production […] This growth may take place without any existing production; this is how a nation state with an imperial economy works, production takes place in the colonies or semi-colonies.”

“…The fiction of this first world economy is based on military power […] this is the most important fact. The productive forces in the United States are very weak; we can witness this in the companies going bankrupt, in unemployment levels, etc.”

“A student: …I’d like to acknowledge your stance since it is unusual for us to see someone from your origins strongly criticize the capitalist system as you have done. It deserves acknowledgement.”

“According to Marxism, this is a systemic crisis, not a temporary one.”

“In your opinion, what is the real capacity of world public opinion and of the possible growing awareness among the U.S. population to avoid a nuclear conflict, if we bear in mind the strong pressure exercised by small circles of power so frequently referred to in recent times?”

“Michel Chossudovsky:  …This is a systemic crisis, although it cannot be measured using the  guidelines set out in The Capital. The Marxist methodology is useful for our understanding, since it is based on class conflicts, but today’s structure is quite different than that of the mid 19th century […] as economists, we cannot make it fit one model, we have to consider its institutional nature, the relationship among financial activities on the one hand, covert operations.”

“…The CIA is an entity in Wall Street, a major one […] it has joint ventures with a large number of financial entities. […] since the CIA can foresee events, it can operate in market speculation…”

“… Describing this systemic crisis is very important, but we have to establish the way capitalism operates, its institutional structure, its secret agencies, covert operations, both in financial markets and in the geopolitical context, the function of the military, the decisions of think tanks in Washington, the state entities, and we have to identify who the actors are as well.”

“I think that your second question shares a common element with the previous ones; the need to change public opinion. But my answer is that we need to shatter the consensus that holds up this system, which is a lie […] There are different codes of conduct in capitalist countries. There are the politically active people who usually say, ‘We are making a petition, please President Obama, stop the war in Afghanistan.” They spread that message around the Internet, ‘Please, sign our petition, we are writing a letter to Obama, etc.’ But all of this is futile because it is based on the acceptance of the consensus, on the acceptance of the president who is one of the factors, and we have to break this inquisition.”

“…People talk about the Spanish inquisition, insane from an historic point of view, but this is even more insane, statements like, ‘We are fighting against Bin Laden and you have to join us, if not, you are a terrorist.”

“A couple of weeks ago, the FBI raided and arrested anti-war activists and accused them of working with Bin Laden. This was reported in US newspapers, and it is part of this dynamic to change public opinion, it is dialectical, we need to revert and dismantle this discourse that supports and legitimizes war and this economic project, along with the lies such as, ‘The crisis is over.’”

“You read the Wall Street Journal, you read the newspaper and it says, ‘The crisis will come to an end in January 2011,’ nobody questions this statement, not even the economists. This ritual of acceptance, is based not on a lack of information but rather because everyone accepts it. We have to break this ritual of accepting the consensus that stems from political power and the financial markets.”

“A student: Sustainable development, which for me is totally incompatible with war because there has never been anything more destructive than the recent wars, not only the future one that could take place, but all the recent wars instigated by the United States.”

“…They insist on the importance of human development, of boosting the roles of local regions and territories. I’d like your opinion on this issue, how realistic is this objective for our countries?

“Michel Chossudovsky:  I agree with the real objective of sustainable development, but we have to look at the word play behind this objective. This objective has been formulated by several environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, WWF, […] I am not criticizing these organizations, but if you consider the summits held on the environment like the World Social Forum, the G-7 summits for instance, the G-20, they hardly ever talk about the impact of war on the environment. They make their presentations on city pollution, global warming, but western NGOs do not talk about war, they do not talk about the impact of war on the environment, which is significant.”

“I took part in the social summits up until 1999. As soon as I mentioned the war in Yugoslavia, they did not invite me to participate anymore. War might be discussed in a workshop or some other type of meeting, but it is not an issue addressed at debates on ‘Another world is possible,’ not at all. This sort of idea of global governance that has characterized the social movements, and I am not criticizing them because I think there are some very good people in these groups, but they have a certain dynamic and there is something about the leadership of these organizations that doesn’t fit. […] We cannot have an anti-globalization movement that only focuses on certain aspects, without taking into account the geopolitical context […] The United States and its allies…at war during a large part of this era, which we call the post-war period, that is to say, the last 50 years, are characterized by military operations, wars, interventions by the United States and its allies and all this, in my experience, has not been the subject of debate or discussions at the different world forums where they present sustainable development as a code of conduct.”

With these words, Michel Chossudovsky concluded his presentation at the University of Havana, which was warmly applauded by the students from the Faculty of Economics, their professors and other people who filled the Manuel Sanguily Hall that day.

Before I [Fidel] met with professor Chossudovsky, a coincidence occurred spontaneously. A coincidence related to both the risks of a conflict, which inevitably would lead to global nuclear war, and the need to mobilize world opinion in the face of such a dramatic danger.

Along with nuclear weapons are cyber weapons. Another product of technology which, once transferred to the military sector, threatens to become another serious problem for the world.

The U.S. Armed Forces possesses some 15,000 communication networks and 7 million computers, as reported by journalist Rosa Miriam Elizalde on the Cubadebate Website.

Rosa Miriam Elizalde also wrote:

“Four-Star General Keith Alexander, who has compared cyber attacks to weapons of mass destruction, affirmed that the United States has plans to use this new war tactic in an attack without taking into account the opinion of their allies. They could even attack allied networks without any previous warning if they consider that an attack was or could be generated from any of them.”

I ask the readers to please excuse the length of the two parts of this reflection. There was no way to make it shorter without sacrificing content.

Allow me also to express —I did not forget— that today marks the 43rd anniversary of the death of Che, and that two days ago we commemorated the 34th anniversary of brutal Yankee killings of our Cuban compatriots and other passengers aboard our civilian plane over Barbados.

Eternal glory to them all!

Fidel Castro Ruz

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Alan Robock discusses his research into nuclear winter and considers how devastating even a small nuclear war could be for our climate and for human survival.

***

There are simply too many nuclear weapons in the world, by as much as a factor of 1,000, for anyone, anywhere, to be safe from the potential effects of even a small war.

The chance that nuclear weapons would be used by mistake, in a panic after an international incident, by a computer hacker or by a rogue leader of a nuclear nation can be eliminated only by the removal of the weapons themselves.

We were among the scientists involved in the initial research that discovered the potential for nuclear winter.

More modern and advanced climate modeling has confirmed the initial findings and shown that the effects would last for more than a decade. The reason is that smoke from nuclear conflagrations would rise as high as 25 miles into the atmosphere, where it would be protected from rain and take at least 10 years to dissipate.

“A great many reputable scientists are telling us that such a war could just end up in no victory for anyone because we would wipe out the earth as we know it.”. Ronald Reagan

Even with the reduced nuclear arsenals that the United States and Russia agreed to in 2010, we have the ability not only to set off instantaneous destruction, but also to push global temperatures below freezing, even in summer. Crops would die and starvation could kill most of humanity.

Alan Robock, see Full Text of NYT Op Ed Below

 

Alan Robock. Nuclear Winter