Yemen – Balance of forces at the outset of the military conflict – March 27, 2015
1.
And then there is Yemen where a rag-tag coalition – hardly worth the name – of Saudi-paid mercenaries is trying unsuccessfully to crush a rebellion and democratic movement (inaccurately referred to as a Houthi-ethnic revolt) in order to restore “their man,” Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, to power. Riyadh has failed miserably in this effort, and this is probably the main reason why it is limping back to the negotiating table in Geneva.
There is precious little news about developments in Yemen (1) in the U.S. press, where, since March of this year, a U.S. supported, Saudi-led military assault continues unabated and generally under-reported against that country, this despite the fact that a major U.S. supported war continues to devastate the country. Unless using Democracy Now! ,Truthdig, or Foreign Policy In Focus as main news sources, it is unlikely that people within the United States even know there is a war going on, to say nothing of the whys and hows, or where Yemen is even located.
Peace talks between warring factions in Yemen that collapsed a month ago, are scheduled to resume in a couple of days in Switzerland. They will coincide with a week’s cease-fire between the warring parties more than likely to be put in place at the same time. As a part of the cease-fire, Saudi Arabia has agreed to temporarily suspend its bombing campaign. While statistics vary as to casualty rates (with sources friendly to the Saudis claiming 2500 dead, an Australian source gives a much larger, 6000 figure) often missing from the picture is that war has already created 200,000 refugees, people who have fled the fighting which has engulfed the whole essentially nation. In the political vacuum created by the war, Al Qaeda has strengthened is position in the country’s southern regions. Read more…
Palestinian Youth
(Note: Today, December 11, 2015 in a few hours, there will be a demonstration at the site of The CELL, in downtown Denver just across from the art museum, a museum supposedly dedicated to fighting terrorism, but one which in fact promotes unending Middle East (and elsewhere) war against the Third World…in the name of course of fighting terrorism. An awful place.
Syria: The Downed Russian Jet Fighter: Challenging The Accepted Narrative: Part One
Russian map of ISIS oil transit routes – They all lead through Turkey
Syria: The Downed Russian Jet Fighter: Challenging The Accepted Narrative: Part One
By Ibrahim Kazerooni and Rob Prince
1
A few days ago the western media broadcasted a report – with something approaching glee and pomposity – how a U.S. made Turkish Air Force jet shut down a Russian SU-24 fighter jet in “self-defense.” The widely distributed – and generally accepted -official narratives used to support this position went as follows:
The incident occurred very near to the Turkish border with Syria, in Turkish territory, close to where Turkey’s Hatay and Syria’s Latakia Province meet in a region of wooded, mountainous terrain. According to the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France, Hatay province was part of Syria in the original French mandate but was annexed by Turkish President Ataturk in 1939. Syria has never relinquished its claim to the province. At its widest point the province is approximately only 35 miles wide.
The Turks claim that the two Su-24s approached the southernmost tip of Turkey, crossed over into Turkish territory and were warned via radio to change course ten times over a period of approximately five minutes. According to what can now be considered the official Turkish account, the two Russian fighters, flying at an altitude of 19,000 feet, are alleged to have violated Turkish airspace for a total of seventeen seconds at a depth of 1.15 miles and 1.36 miles, respectively, at approximately 09.24 am local time. The first aircraft was described to have turned south back into Syrian territory, but the second aircraft was alleged to have stayed in Turkey’s airspace and was ultimately fired on by at least one of two Turkish F-16s flying Combat Air Patrol (CAP) in the area. The plane crashed deep inside Syrian territory.
The early reports of the incident were based entirely on Turkish sources without corroboration from any source, nor further verification. This should have been enough of a warning sign that something was amiss with the reporting. Still, the narrative was immediately embraced by the media in the United States, Western Europe as if it were nothing short of gospel. But a careful review of even the Turkish reporting suggests that the narrative was full of holes, at the very least inaccurate, at most, an outright fabrication. Read more…
The Train Wreck: US Middle East Policy: The Syrian Example – 1- Some General Comments –
While it is true that Syrian refugees are – along with Afghans, Malians, Somalis and others flooding Europe, in fact most of the refugees of the Syrian crisis are in the surrounding countries. Photo Credit: Le Monde Diplomatique. While the map is in French, it is not that hard to understand.
First of a series…
Things are moving fast in Syria, on the ground there is a whole new constellation of forces. “balance of forces”, taking place. As it emerges, the possibilities of a political solution increase, this despite all of the tensions and violence unfolding. There is no military solution to the Syria crisis, but for various reasons of self-interest the different parties that can pressure the military forces on the ground to come to the negotiating table – including the United States – are not yet ready and willing to do so. Still..
- In Vienna there is the beginning of what looks to be a positive yet tedious process – itself could be considered almost criminal given the suffering on the ground on all sides within Syria, the exploding refugee crisis – not just in Europe where it has gained worldwide attention but in the surrounding countries as well – in fact there are far more Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey than in Europe, despite the mounting crisis there.
- Refugee populations by the way, for those who have forgotten, are by their very nature radicalized communities – they have nothing to lose and generally no one cares about their fate or hardly and so they are essentially forced to take matters into their own hands be they the Palestinians of 1948, the Iraqis post 2003, or the Syrian of today. Put another way, what happened to the Palestinians with the creation of Israel in 1948, happened as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, but the latter was on a much larger scale and now the Syrian events of the civil war with all the proxy elements involved is even bigger than that. Blame takes place on many levels – regional and national.
- The United States has let Israel get away with Occupation and expansionism. Western Allies – pretty much all of them – have been a group of two-bit thugs, and medieval tyrants – no example of this is better than Saudi Arabia, but there are many others (Mubarek, Ben Ali, etc) who have ruled corruptly and repressively. While progressive in some ways, Arab nationalism – the Ba’athist variety and others – has sacrificed democracy for development – such was the case of both Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Assad’s Syria.
Notes: Syria Panel – First Universalist Church, Hampden and Colorado Blvd. Denver. November 1, 2015
As far as the eye can see: Syrian refugee camp in Jordan
1.
Yesterday (Sunday, November 1, 2015) I participated in a panel at the First Universalist Church, Hampden and Colorado Blvd. Denver, November 1, 2015 on the Syrian Crisis. Also participating were Charles Carlson of “We Hold These Truths,” Ron Forthofer of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Boulder, CO, and Obeid Kaifo, a local representative of the “Free Syria Movement.” In preparation for such events I pretty much always put together an outline of what it is I think needs saying. Given the rhythm of events and time allotted, rarely get to make many of the points listed. So it was the case yesterday. So I share them here on line in Section 3 of this piece. First I want to briefly describe the current situation concerning Syria and then yesterday’s event. It turned out to be a lively exchange before a good sized audience (some 50 people).
The day of the forum a number of new developments were unfolding both in and related to Syria, some of them hopeful, some not.
One event that gives a glimmer of hope that the crisis could finally be seriously addressed and a process for resolving it is taking place in Vienna. In light of the magnitude of the crisis there, combined with the unending flood of refugees to Europe, many from Syria, a new, more serious, round of negotiations concerning the Syrian conflict is underway in Vienna. My main point in the forum was to emphasize the existence of these negotiations and to call on the audience to support the process and demand that the Obama Administration play a positive role in their completion. Read more…
Musings – Gideon Levy, Arik Ascherman, Haftom Zarhum
Gideon Levy in Newburgh, NY – October 19, 2015
Disconnected images flashing through my mind “by the dawn’s early light” – the news that a rabbi, the head of Rabbis for Human Rights in the West Bank, Arik Ascherman, was stabbed by a masked settler there mingled with the venomous heckling against Gideon Levy in Greenburgh New York that I witnessed a week ago, and the hateful comments of the same shrill quartet against Jewish Voice for Peace. Then the distorted way that current tension – the selective reporting of the current increase in tension, violence between Israelis a Palestinians came to mind, with the deaths of 7 or 8 Israelis either shot or knifed to death Arabs amplified in the news – we see their suffering families – while the more than 50 Palestinians shot or otherwise killed by settlers and the IDF played down, hardly reported – we don’t see, or hardly see, their suffering families, nor many reports of the more than 500 Palestinian youth arrested since October 1. Read more…
Gideon Levy in Greenburgh, New York on October 19, 2015
____________________
Note: The article was also posted at Foreign Policy In Focus
____________________
The Mesugghinah Offensive
If you’ve never seen a group of meshugginah pro-Israeli zealots – as self-righteous as they are ignorant, frequently wrong but never in doubt – try to disrupt a peace event that includes two Palestinians and an Israeli opposed to the Occupation – then, you’ve really missed something.
Recently I had a chance to experience just that. A few days ago, on October 19, the local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and a local Westchester County peace group, WESPAC, sponsored a program with Israeli journalist, Gideon Levy, and Palestinian researcher Suhail Khalilieh. Aleen Masoud, a young Palestinian musician played music and also made some comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some old friends I was visiting, involved with WESPAC, were going and invited me along. The meeting was covered by Jewish blogger Phillip Weiss, of Mondoweiss, who wrote a fine story on it, complete with video footage.(1)
In all probability the global setting added fuel to the October 19th fire. After the Iran deal was finalized, with Congress unable to torpedo the deal, the two U.S. allies adamantly opposed to it were given what might be called generous consolation prizes. As if either country didn’t already have enough, two major arms sales were awarded, one to Saudi Arabia, the other to Israel. Beyond that, as an unofficial appendix to the Iran deal, Washington gave both a kind of green light to do locally what they were prevented from doing regionally: going to war against Iran. It all follows rather logically from what is called the Obama Doctrine, first articulated by the president in a 2014 speech at West Point. The Saudis intensified their unconscionable bombing of Yemen which they consider something of their unofficial West Bank. Unwilling to test the strength of Hizbellah in S. Lebanon for fear of the consequences and likewise not willing to test the will of Russian jet fighters over Syria, the Israelis, in turn, turned their wrath on the Palestinians, their weakest adversary. Read more…
Rouen Chronicles: Robert Merle 5: City of Wisdom and Blood
Montpellier circled
City of Wisdom and Blood
1.
The second volume of Robert Merle’s thirteen volume historical epoch in fictional form, City of Wisdom and Blood, has been translated from French into English and published last month (September, 2015) by Pushkin Press. It appeared about six months after the first volume, entitled in English The Brethren appeared. The third volume which deals with the St Bartholomew Day Massacre of late August, 1572 is already scheduled to publication in February, 2016. So volume after volume, the entire series, one of France’s most popular historical novel epochs, will soon be out in English. There are few better and more enjoyable ways of learning the twists and turns of 16th and 17th century French history than reading through the series.
Robert Merle came to writing historical novels rather late in his career, when he was already past the age of seventy. Prior to that, he had written on a number contemporary themes along with a few political biographies and a serious academic study of the life and writings of Oscar Wilde. I’ve read several of them (both in French in English) – Weekend à Zuydcoote, La Mort est Mon Metier, Day of the Dolphin, Ahmed Ben Bella among them. They – and the others he wrote – were thoughtful well written works but that attracted only a limited audience despite their social value. Read more…
The Iran Policy Oversight Act of 2015 – A Prescription for Fueling an Intensified Middle East Arms Race.
__________________
Also published at Foreign Policy In Focus
__________________.
1. The Iran Deal: What the Obama Administration giveth, Congress (tries to) taketh away?
In the aftermath of Congress’s failure to sabotage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the agreement negotiated between six countries, the EU and Iran to limit the Iranian nuclear energy program in return for lifting sanctions – the Obama Administration, along with its partners in the agreement have pushed ahead to implement it. But is this a case of “What the Obama Administration giveth, the Congress taketh away? At the behest of neo-conservatives, AIPAC, Christians United For Israel, some in Congress, however, including some original Democratic supporters of JCPOA, are actively working to undermine the very same agreement.
Referred to as “AIPAC’s Plan B” by some, there are several threads to political sabotage effort.
• After endorsing the result of the P5+1 negotiations with Iran, Colorado’s Democratic Senator, Michael Bennet threw in his little caveat: along with Maryland’s U.S. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland (who came out square against the Iran agreement) he, is sponsoring legislation that The Cardin-Bennet proposal adds weight to this two-tract policy which might be entitled “Talking Peace While Still Planning For War” Still peddling the myth of the Iranian threat Cardin and Bennet called the “Iran Policy Oversight Act of 2015,” which Cardin insists is “consistent with the administration’s interpretation of the agreement,” to the contrary, it is meant to throw a major monkey wrench into implementing the Iran deal. In Iran’s eyes it amounts to negotiating for peace with Teheran while simultaneously strengthening Israel’s ability to unilaterally attack Iran. The bill exudes hostility towards both Iran and the Iranian leadership. As it is written, it comes through more as a something threatening war rather than an attempt towards the normalization of relations. As such, it will more than likely draw strong objections from the White House as well as its P5+1 partners and Iran. Read more…
Warsaw 44 – A Reminder
Scene from “Warsaw 44”
(Last year I took notes on a number of subjects, that because of my work schedule, I failed to develop into articles- and hope to now that I have more time. One of these was a movie I saw during last October’s Denver International Film Festival – “Warsaw 44.” The film’s main actor, young Józef Pawłowski was present in the downtown Denver theater. He discussed the film and his role after the showing had ended, a rare treat)
“Warsaw 44″
I just came out of watching the film “Warsaw 44″, a film about the Warsaw Uprising of August – October, 1944, a 63 day insurgency that ended in tragedy for the Polish resistance. Warsaw 1944, if you like, in many ways, is Gaza 2014. It took place at a time when Soviet troops, moving from the East where they had, since the Battle of Stalingrad, consistently push back the Nazi war machine towards Germany. Sitting next to me in the theater was a woman who had come down from Wyoming. Originally from Poland, her husband had fought in the uprising, survived, died a few years ago. Tears were streaming down her eyes most of the movie. Read more…
Colorado Refugee Patterns Over The Years – (the first in a Series)
Emily Griffith Technical College in downtown Denver – a hub for refugee education, training in Colorado
1. Colorado and the European Refugee Crisis
Recent news reports from the Obama Administration have announced that in part to help ease the European refugee crisis, that over the next few years the United States will increase the number of refugees authorized to enter the country, upping the number accepted annually from the current 70,000 levels to 100,000 by 2017. It is likely to include a national influx of Syrian refugees, as the number of those forced into refugee exile from that country now exceeds 4 million people. The number of Syrian refugees admitted to this country up until now is a paltry 2000, but the Obama Administration has announced that it will accept another 10,000 over the next few years.
Given the enormity of the overall refugee crisis affecting Europe, that besides Syrians, includes refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya – just to name a few of the places of origin – the increase in refugee numbers here in the USA is just a drop in the bucket. As for the great state of Colorado, it’s contribution to absorbing Syrian refugees up until now stands at a whopping fourteen, with all of two granted asylum in our state last year, although the civil war and overall crisis has been well underway for a long time. Read more…
Globeville Bound by Nancy Peters
Carmen, homeless woman, laying out the case for the homeless center in the Globeville neighborhood . (photo credit: Nancy Peters)
(Note: This piece appeared in the December, 2014 issue of Get Loud, one of Denver’s newspapers by and about homeless people. It details an October 13, 2014 meeting in Globeville [one of Denver’s poorer neighborhoods in the north of the city], where a group of local citizens in their majority opposed the opening of a homeless shelter – which, in fact, did open in January, 2015. It is written by Nancy Peters, like myself, a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa, with a long history of activism here in Colorado in the Peace and Social Justice Movements. She’s a classic example of what happens to many Peace Corps people, who come home to the United States and continue the kind of selfless work they did abroad. I know many others like her.
Besides the fact that it is well written, what struck me about this article – I asked Nancy if I might post it here and she agreed – is that to a striking degree, it parallels what transpired at the Scheitler Recreation Center this past week when a similar proposal to open an “overflow homeless center” was proposed to people living in the neighborhood of Inspiration Point in the northwest corner of Denver, the only difference being that there were no homeless people there to defend themselves, same arguments, same fears, same callousness. rjp)
Globeville Bound
by Nancy Peters
Despite vocal opposition from residents, a civic association leader, and a city council representative–and with no input from the women who will use it–the Denver Women’s Emergency Shelter will relocate to the north Denver neighborhood of Globeville by January 2015. The shelter, which is currently located at 14th Avenue and Elati Street in Denver and hosts about 60 women a night, will be able to accommodate 75-100 women at the new location–the Holy Rosary Church at 4688 Pearl Street. About $200,000 in renovations, paid for through a grant from the Denver Foundation, will be made to make this facility suitable for the purpose.
The shelter, to be called Holy Rosary Center for Women, will be run by Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Denver, through a contract with the city. Catholic Charities already manages a number of Denver area facilities serving people experiencing homelessness, including the Samaritan House. Read more…
Mike Kiley vs. Lisa Flores in Denver’s District 5 School Board Election
January, 1985. Entrance to Columbian School (40th and Federal, Denver) before it was renovated into a much worse, less functional building…From left to right: Abbie Prince, Molly Prince, Bethany Frisbee
Mike Kiley vs. Lisa Flores in the District 5 School Board Race…some thoughts – a result of a conversation with Russell T. at Common Grounds a couple of months ago that has always stuck with me.
Have known about this race for some time. Some friends, including a few here on Facebook have supported Kiley. On the other hand several of my former students, now in the neighborhood, are rather cool to Kiley (also Facebook friends) because although he is not particularly gung ho, he supports charter schools (which neither they nor me nor my friends who support Kiley have much interest in)…
Today Kiley made the rounds in the coffee shops, one of which I was sitting in, chatting with “a bunch of old guys” just as we happened to be talking about the school board election of which none of us knew much. Kiley who claims to have helped “turn around” Skinner Middle School, was accompanied by his campaign manager, CL Harmer and former city councilman, state senator, city auditor and failed mayoral candidate, Dennis Gallagher.
What concerns me about our neighborhood concerning education…two issues.. Read more…
The meeting tonight at the Scheitler Recreation Center about a possible homeless shelter near Inspiration Point, Denver
Newly elected Councilman from Denver’s District One, Rafael Espinoza, addressing the meeting.
(Note: this is a brief report on a meeting held tonight in Northwest Denver concerning the proposed renovation of a building in the “Inspiration Point” neighborhood, not far from where we live. We don’t live right in the neighborhood concerned, but within a mile of it….which doesn’t exactly make us foreigners. Overall there was great opposition to the proposed shelter and it was said with much emotion. Despite what I write below, criticisms of the process, I still support the proposal and hope that it can be salvaged.This is a copy of an email sent to a community list called “Next Door Skinner” to which I belong. rjp)
Went to the meeting… quite lively…
I attended, and made a couple of remarks which did not sit well with most people in the room, but that is not important. I said what I thought needed saying.
More importantly: A couple of things are clear to me thinking about what transpired that I want to share, and hopefully for people to consider. It (“it” = homelessness) affects all of us, all of us in District One and in the City…and discussions like this will be taking place in other neighborhoods too ( and have already). Read more…
Iraq, Iran And The End of Sanctions
Iraq-Iran Border
1.
For those who wonder why the Obama Administration was so intent on negotiating what is essentially a modest improvement in its relations with Iran, think Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. It might help. These words represent a failure in U.S. Middle East policy, and one that has led to both the continued devastation of the region, the rise of ISIS (and like groups), who ironically own their very existence and early rumblings both to the U.S.-led wars and to funding and training by U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey.
The road to wars has long been strewn with deception.
Thirteen years ago, a campaign orchestrated by the Bush Administration, claimed that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction” – a term which usually refers to chemical and biological weapons but can include others – to whip up support both in the United States and abroad, for a major military offensive against Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. This campaign filled with half-truths and outright fabrications was orchestrated from the highest levels of government that included the President, Vice-President (the active agent), two secretaries of state (Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice), a variety of toxic neoconservatives and a willing media. It worked, at least enough to build the popular support in this country necessary to go to war. Read more…
View from the Left Bank: Rob Prince's Blog 