Only if American government, its military apparatus, & its people can understand this ...
Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Sunday, September 13, 2015
My rant on Refugee crisis (first one)
Public, nowadays, has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).
This week's topic is Refugee crisis. Everyone is talking about it. Everyone is feeling "so sad." Why?
Where was this sadness when Israel killed children in Gaza last year?
Where was this sadness a few months back when Rohingya Muslims were dying in boats near the East Asian countries' seashores? (btw, is that issue resolved ... does anyone care anymore?)
Where was this sadness when US & its allies were bombing "children" in Iraq?
Where was this sadness when Afghanistan was getting bombed by NATO forces (which include all these Western countries) & small children were being killed there?
Why is Canada selling 15-billion Cdn $$$ of armoured trucks to Saudi Arabia, which will most likely be used against innocent Yemenis & its own public, esp. when Canada is supposed to be such a "kind" & "compassionate" country?
Weren't UK, France, Italy, & American forces were bombing indiscriminately Libyans a couple years back? Do you really think no kids must've died in those bombings?
(FYI, these refugees are not only from Syria, but from several war-torn countries; Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, & even Palestine).
This week's topic is Refugee crisis. Everyone is talking about it. Everyone is feeling "so sad." Why?
Where was this sadness when Israel killed children in Gaza last year?
Where was this sadness a few months back when Rohingya Muslims were dying in boats near the East Asian countries' seashores? (btw, is that issue resolved ... does anyone care anymore?)
Where was this sadness when US & its allies were bombing "children" in Iraq?
Where was this sadness when Afghanistan was getting bombed by NATO forces (which include all these Western countries) & small children were being killed there?
Why is Canada selling 15-billion Cdn $$$ of armoured trucks to Saudi Arabia, which will most likely be used against innocent Yemenis & its own public, esp. when Canada is supposed to be such a "kind" & "compassionate" country?
Weren't UK, France, Italy, & American forces were bombing indiscriminately Libyans a couple years back? Do you really think no kids must've died in those bombings?
(FYI, these refugees are not only from Syria, but from several war-torn countries; Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, & even Palestine).
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Better the dictator you condemn than the insurgents you can't control
A good piece. Take an action after thinking it through. Otherwise, you create a mess for yourself & others. But, who will heed this warning? No one. For elections purposes, military actions will always be taken way before anyone will ever even think of starting a dialogue among opposing parties to resolve the situation.
On top of not thinking before acting (which is the lesson we adults teach to our children & then not follow them ourselves) & creating a mess for everyone else & ourselves in the Western countries, the military actions also killed & destroyed the lives of thousands of people in those lands & displaced millions. Who is going to be held accountable for that?
In corporate world, from CEO down to a lowly clerk, anyone who takes one wrong step with dire consequences (even though, that mistake might not of such a huge consequence as killing thousands or displacing millions) is severely reprimanded right away, either in the form of a demotion or being fired. But, in the politics of the West, nothing happens. Elections are won as usual & billions more are spent, as usual, on military hardware.
After all, who cares if a few Libyans, Iraqis, Yemenis, Afghanis, Syrians, Egyptians etc. are being killed or losing their families, homes, & livelihoods. It's not happening to me. Right?
(Just in case, if you didn't get it, it was sarcasm & a rhetoric question).
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President Obama, already musing on failures during his second term, has said he regrets that the U.S. joined a coalition to intervene in Libya in 2011, ousting President Muammar Gaddafi, without an adequate plan for the post-Gaddafi society. “I think we [and] our European partners underestimated the need to come in full force if you’re going to do this.”
It’s curious that Obama & his allies had not ordered a plan for the new Libya: They had the example of the Iraq invasion in 2003. The war was won quickly but the post-war haunts us still, in part because the war effort was not paralleled with a vigorous peace effort.
President George W. Bush’s speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003 – “the United States & its allies have prevailed” – was echoed by then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s chuckle to a reporter when hearing of Gaddafi’s death, “We came, we saw, he died.” Both thought the loosening of Western military force on dictators had settled the matter: Both lived to know otherwise.
... The vacuum created by the fall of the tyrant yielded not democrats (or not enough), but old feuds, hatreds, divisions -- &, above all, the militants of jihadism resurgent, al Qaeda, Islamic State & others.
As in Iraq, Libya has known no stability since the toppling of its tyrant, Gaddafi. The first elected prime minister, Mustafa Abu Shagour, was out in a month: In 4 years, the country has had 7 prime ministers. Armed Islamist groups are allowed to flourish -- there is no reliable army to keep them down -- & now control slices of the state. A jihadist government chased the elected administration out of the capital, Tripoli, & rules there: The internationally recognized government huddles in the eastern port city of Tobruk -- which older Europeans remember as the site of one of the great battles of World War Two, the first sign that the fortunes of war might turn against the Nazis.
An estimated 10,000 are reckoned, conservatively, to have died in the chaos of Gaddafi’s fall. One of these was the US Ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, killed in an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi in September 2012.
The message has hit home: Better the dictator you can condemn than the insurgents you cannot control (& may hate you more).
Shorn of any military option, the only hope is to bring the opposing parties to some kind of talks. ... Yet so full of hate & bitterness against each other are the warring groups, so convinced of their own virtue & the others’ vices, that any agreement would seem elusive -- &, if reached, fragile.
An Arab capital is now under jihadist control; it is also in the country closest to the borders of the EU. For two decades, we have been warned that “failed states” are a large threat to Western security: It is vividly clear that the warning was right.
On top of not thinking before acting (which is the lesson we adults teach to our children & then not follow them ourselves) & creating a mess for everyone else & ourselves in the Western countries, the military actions also killed & destroyed the lives of thousands of people in those lands & displaced millions. Who is going to be held accountable for that?
In corporate world, from CEO down to a lowly clerk, anyone who takes one wrong step with dire consequences (even though, that mistake might not of such a huge consequence as killing thousands or displacing millions) is severely reprimanded right away, either in the form of a demotion or being fired. But, in the politics of the West, nothing happens. Elections are won as usual & billions more are spent, as usual, on military hardware.
After all, who cares if a few Libyans, Iraqis, Yemenis, Afghanis, Syrians, Egyptians etc. are being killed or losing their families, homes, & livelihoods. It's not happening to me. Right?
(Just in case, if you didn't get it, it was sarcasm & a rhetoric question).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Obama, already musing on failures during his second term, has said he regrets that the U.S. joined a coalition to intervene in Libya in 2011, ousting President Muammar Gaddafi, without an adequate plan for the post-Gaddafi society. “I think we [and] our European partners underestimated the need to come in full force if you’re going to do this.”
It’s curious that Obama & his allies had not ordered a plan for the new Libya: They had the example of the Iraq invasion in 2003. The war was won quickly but the post-war haunts us still, in part because the war effort was not paralleled with a vigorous peace effort.
President George W. Bush’s speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003 – “the United States & its allies have prevailed” – was echoed by then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s chuckle to a reporter when hearing of Gaddafi’s death, “We came, we saw, he died.” Both thought the loosening of Western military force on dictators had settled the matter: Both lived to know otherwise.
... The vacuum created by the fall of the tyrant yielded not democrats (or not enough), but old feuds, hatreds, divisions -- &, above all, the militants of jihadism resurgent, al Qaeda, Islamic State & others.
As in Iraq, Libya has known no stability since the toppling of its tyrant, Gaddafi. The first elected prime minister, Mustafa Abu Shagour, was out in a month: In 4 years, the country has had 7 prime ministers. Armed Islamist groups are allowed to flourish -- there is no reliable army to keep them down -- & now control slices of the state. A jihadist government chased the elected administration out of the capital, Tripoli, & rules there: The internationally recognized government huddles in the eastern port city of Tobruk -- which older Europeans remember as the site of one of the great battles of World War Two, the first sign that the fortunes of war might turn against the Nazis.
An estimated 10,000 are reckoned, conservatively, to have died in the chaos of Gaddafi’s fall. One of these was the US Ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, killed in an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi in September 2012.
The message has hit home: Better the dictator you can condemn than the insurgents you cannot control (& may hate you more).
Shorn of any military option, the only hope is to bring the opposing parties to some kind of talks. ... Yet so full of hate & bitterness against each other are the warring groups, so convinced of their own virtue & the others’ vices, that any agreement would seem elusive -- &, if reached, fragile.
An Arab capital is now under jihadist control; it is also in the country closest to the borders of the EU. For two decades, we have been warned that “failed states” are a large threat to Western security: It is vividly clear that the warning was right.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Global drug market approaching scale of $4 Trillion oil & gas industry
Thanks to US & its allies' activities in further destabilizing sensitive areas of the world, not only we have groups now, conducting physical violence, we also have a booming drugs trade. What did US & NATO achieve in Afghanistan when Taliban are back there & apparently, 80% of heroin is being produced there? What did US achieve with its covert war tactics against Colombia & Nicaragua where, apparently, 100% of cocaine being produced there?
It seems to me that all those billions of $$$, which the world was led to believe that that money would be spent on war & reconstruction efforts, went into pockets of defense department's top generals & contractors.
Ironically, the losers are American general public because they are increasingly turning into drug addicts because of lack of spending on welfare, healthcare, education, infrastructure, job creation etc. Sort of like a double whammy for the general American public.
Adding further insults to injuries is that not only criminal organizations are earning trillions of $$$ through their drugs trade, but they also help fuel more crime, e.g. due to a lack of jobs & increasingly expensive post-secondary education, youths turn towards dealing drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, arms smuggling, & terrorism etc. to make a living. Authorities can't turn them towards non-criminal activities, since those activities don't provide the kind of lifestyle criminal activities do.
So, essentially, all those wars US & its allies initiated in foreign lands are, & will, increasingly raise their ugly heads in North America & Western Europe. And rich business & political elites, who are the ones starting, & profiting, from the wars will not feel the effects but the poor general public will be adversely affected by those crimes.
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The dark underworld of drug trafficking will soon be bigger than the world’s $3.7 trillion oil & gas market, & is already bigger than the global auto industry, the director of Russia’s drug control agency said.
“We see that drug trade is a significant part of the global economy. Unfortunately we have to state today that the drug traffic market is bigger than the automotive industry & its volume is approaching that of the oil & gas sector,” Viktor Ivanov said during a ministry meeting with BRICS countries to discuss the war on drugs.
Ivanov singled out Afghanistan & South America as major drug production hubs, noting that more than 80% of heroin is produced in Afghanistan & 100% of cocaine in South America, by his estimates.
“Unfortunately, production has once again started to increase in the so-called Golden Triangle of Thailand, Myanmar & Laos,” said Ivanov.
Before, Ivanov estimated that underground drug dealers in the informal sector inject $1 trillion into the global financial system per annum. Many of these drug revenues end up being funneled to criminal organizations, & often terrorism.
Sales of autos in the US alone was $1.1 trillion in 2014. Revenues from the top 10 car retailers already surpassed $1 trillion in revenue, not even counting some of the smaller players like Kia, Chrysler, Renault or Mazda. The global oil& gas market in 2015 will see more than $4 trillion in revenue, according to IBIS World’s Global Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Market Research Report released in March 2015.
It is difficult to precisely quantify the exact figure of the illegal drug market, as most transactions are kept off the books due to their illicit nature.
It seems to me that all those billions of $$$, which the world was led to believe that that money would be spent on war & reconstruction efforts, went into pockets of defense department's top generals & contractors.
Ironically, the losers are American general public because they are increasingly turning into drug addicts because of lack of spending on welfare, healthcare, education, infrastructure, job creation etc. Sort of like a double whammy for the general American public.
Adding further insults to injuries is that not only criminal organizations are earning trillions of $$$ through their drugs trade, but they also help fuel more crime, e.g. due to a lack of jobs & increasingly expensive post-secondary education, youths turn towards dealing drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, arms smuggling, & terrorism etc. to make a living. Authorities can't turn them towards non-criminal activities, since those activities don't provide the kind of lifestyle criminal activities do.
So, essentially, all those wars US & its allies initiated in foreign lands are, & will, increasingly raise their ugly heads in North America & Western Europe. And rich business & political elites, who are the ones starting, & profiting, from the wars will not feel the effects but the poor general public will be adversely affected by those crimes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The dark underworld of drug trafficking will soon be bigger than the world’s $3.7 trillion oil & gas market, & is already bigger than the global auto industry, the director of Russia’s drug control agency said.
“We see that drug trade is a significant part of the global economy. Unfortunately we have to state today that the drug traffic market is bigger than the automotive industry & its volume is approaching that of the oil & gas sector,” Viktor Ivanov said during a ministry meeting with BRICS countries to discuss the war on drugs.
Ivanov singled out Afghanistan & South America as major drug production hubs, noting that more than 80% of heroin is produced in Afghanistan & 100% of cocaine in South America, by his estimates.
“Unfortunately, production has once again started to increase in the so-called Golden Triangle of Thailand, Myanmar & Laos,” said Ivanov.
Before, Ivanov estimated that underground drug dealers in the informal sector inject $1 trillion into the global financial system per annum. Many of these drug revenues end up being funneled to criminal organizations, & often terrorism.
Sales of autos in the US alone was $1.1 trillion in 2014. Revenues from the top 10 car retailers already surpassed $1 trillion in revenue, not even counting some of the smaller players like Kia, Chrysler, Renault or Mazda. The global oil& gas market in 2015 will see more than $4 trillion in revenue, according to IBIS World’s Global Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Market Research Report released in March 2015.
It is difficult to precisely quantify the exact figure of the illegal drug market, as most transactions are kept off the books due to their illicit nature.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
ISIS generating $1 Billion USD from drugs trafficking
What a coincidence:
1. US & its allies invade Afghanistan. Poppy production increase several folds.
2. US & UK invade Iraq. ISIS comes into being.
But, hey, apparently, both these invasions were a resounding success for US & its allies.
* Who cares if those 2 countries were turned into rubble?
* Who cares if Afghanis & Iraqis are displaced, internally & externally, as refugees?
* Who cares if their neighbouring countries (Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan etc) are housing those refugees, at their own costs?
* Who cares if all these drugs are financing terrorists?
* Who cares if all these drugs are destroying the lives of Europeans & North Americans? ... perhaps, it's karma for destroying those 2 countries.
1. US & its allies invade Afghanistan. Poppy production increase several folds.
2. US & UK invade Iraq. ISIS comes into being.
But, hey, apparently, both these invasions were a resounding success for US & its allies.
* Who cares if those 2 countries were turned into rubble?
* Who cares if Afghanis & Iraqis are displaced, internally & externally, as refugees?
* Who cares if their neighbouring countries (Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan etc) are housing those refugees, at their own costs?
* Who cares if all these drugs are financing terrorists?
* Who cares if all these drugs are destroying the lives of Europeans & North Americans? ... perhaps, it's karma for destroying those 2 countries.
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Drug money is a massive source of profit for ISIS, who makes up to $1 billion annually from sales throughout its conquered lands, according to the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN).
"The area of poppy plantations is growing. This year, I think, we’ll hear news about a record-high poppy harvest, therefore a high yield of opium & heroin. So this issue should be raised not only in Moscow, but also in the UN in general, because this is a threat not only to our country, but also European security. Over the past 5 years the Balkan route has been split - heroin traffic now also goes through Iraqi territory," TASS quotes FSKN head Viktor Ivanov as saying.
"According to our estimates, IS makes up to $1 billion annually on Afghan heroin trafficked through its territory," he added. The FSKN in November said that the sale of Afghan heroin in Europe could generate upwards of $50 billion for the militants.
What’s more, over half of Europe’s heroin now comes from the IS, according to Ivanov.
Indeed, drug money has been high on the IS’s list of profit generators, together with oil & conquest.
A recent report by the Financial Action Task Force talked of how the IS has been branching out into all manner of finance-generating activities, though it is the reliance on oil that makes them a truly unique terrorist group, unlike others before it.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Interactive Infographic tracks growth of world's WMDs over 70 years
Isn't it ironic that the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) are armed to the hilt with nuclear weapons? Is it a mere coincidence that largest suppliers of weapons around the world are also these same 5 permanent members of UNSC? (not in this article)
It's like the cops are not only armed to the hilt themselves with latest arms & ammunition but they also sell them to the public. Would you ever accept that if it were to happen in North America or Europe or, in fact, anywhere around the world? No, because it would be highly irresponsible of the police force. Then, are the leaders of all 5 permanent members of UNSC stupid?
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There are currently more than 16,300 nuclear weapons in the world – enough to kill everyone on the planet 100 times over.
... the US, UK, Russia, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, & North Korea. Between them, these nations possess 10,000 nuclear warheads, 4,100 of which are active.
The latest infographic uses data from the 'Nuclear Notebook', which since 1987 has tracked the number & type of the world's nuclear arsenals.
'I don't think people truly understand just how many of these weapons there are in the world,' said Rachel Bronson, executive director of the Bulletin, who publishes the notebook.
'The interactive is a way to see, immediately, who has nuclear weapons & when they got them, & how those numbers relate to each other. It is a startling experience, looking at those comparisons.' Russia & the US have most nuclear weapons, followed by the UK & France, according to the graphic.
Data for the US on the interactive map has been compiled using declassified documents from the US government, many of which were obtained using Freedom of Information requests. They combined this with figures from congressional hearings, specialty magazines, & confidential sources.
'Creating estimates for other nuclear-armed states can be more challenging because not all provide as much information as the US,' the authors write. For instance, Britain & France have published some information about their arsenals, but much is still unavailable.
For Russia & the remaining nuclear-armed, estimates rely on information from Western intelligence organisations, expert studies, news media reports, & satellite imagery.
Since the U.S unleashed the first nuclear bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki back in 1945 there have been a staggering 2056 nuclear tests recorded worldwide.
It took almost a year until the next substantial tests took place but by the mid-50s & 60s, nuclear experiments were being recorded across the globe on almost a monthly basis.
The threat of nuclear war that once hung over the world has eased since the Cold War amid sharp reductions in warheads but Russia & the US ... retain massively destructive nuclear arsenals.
Earlier this month, NATO officials said Russia's nuclear strategy appears to point to a lowering of the threshold for using nuclear weapons in any conflict.
Meanwhile, a separate report found that North Korea is poised to expand its nuclear program over the next 5 years & in a worst case scenario could possess 100 atomic arms by 2020.
It's like the cops are not only armed to the hilt themselves with latest arms & ammunition but they also sell them to the public. Would you ever accept that if it were to happen in North America or Europe or, in fact, anywhere around the world? No, because it would be highly irresponsible of the police force. Then, are the leaders of all 5 permanent members of UNSC stupid?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are currently more than 16,300 nuclear weapons in the world – enough to kill everyone on the planet 100 times over.
... the US, UK, Russia, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, & North Korea. Between them, these nations possess 10,000 nuclear warheads, 4,100 of which are active.
The latest infographic uses data from the 'Nuclear Notebook', which since 1987 has tracked the number & type of the world's nuclear arsenals.
'I don't think people truly understand just how many of these weapons there are in the world,' said Rachel Bronson, executive director of the Bulletin, who publishes the notebook.
'The interactive is a way to see, immediately, who has nuclear weapons & when they got them, & how those numbers relate to each other. It is a startling experience, looking at those comparisons.' Russia & the US have most nuclear weapons, followed by the UK & France, according to the graphic.
Data for the US on the interactive map has been compiled using declassified documents from the US government, many of which were obtained using Freedom of Information requests. They combined this with figures from congressional hearings, specialty magazines, & confidential sources.
'Creating estimates for other nuclear-armed states can be more challenging because not all provide as much information as the US,' the authors write. For instance, Britain & France have published some information about their arsenals, but much is still unavailable.
For Russia & the remaining nuclear-armed, estimates rely on information from Western intelligence organisations, expert studies, news media reports, & satellite imagery.
Since the U.S unleashed the first nuclear bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki back in 1945 there have been a staggering 2056 nuclear tests recorded worldwide.
It took almost a year until the next substantial tests took place but by the mid-50s & 60s, nuclear experiments were being recorded across the globe on almost a monthly basis.
The threat of nuclear war that once hung over the world has eased since the Cold War amid sharp reductions in warheads but Russia & the US ... retain massively destructive nuclear arsenals.
Earlier this month, NATO officials said Russia's nuclear strategy appears to point to a lowering of the threshold for using nuclear weapons in any conflict.
Meanwhile, a separate report found that North Korea is poised to expand its nuclear program over the next 5 years & in a worst case scenario could possess 100 atomic arms by 2020.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Lords of War ... in West
This article reminded me of one of my most fav movies: "Lord of War". Damn, it was a good movie but it only earned $73M (budget: $42M) ... but I digress ...
How can there be any peace in this world when all powerful, developed, "civilized", & guardians of UN & NATO, are armed to the teeth themselves, & support their defense industries through tax $$$ (people don't get healthcare, food, education in US, UK, EU, but there are millions available for state subsidies for these companies). Ironically, North Korea also uses its state funds to build more weapons instead of feeding its own people.
People are being laid off all over the place because economies are in recession for almost 7 years now, but ironically, these companies like Raytheon, Cobham, Thales etc. are enjoying significant growth in their businesses all over the world. Ironically enough, not only they are principal job creators in the West but they also are at the forefront of technological innovation.
Regardless of what some groups are doing in Middle East & Africa or what is right or wrong in their eyes or the world, but at least, in the West or "civilized" parts of the world, all of us humans know, for a fact, that wars & conflicts are bread & butter of these huge defense companies. Then, why will they ever, with the help of their respective governments, pursue or help spread peace in this world? Thanks to media, we are all being programmed to hate dictators & certain groups in Middle East & Africa, but we completely ignore pointing fingers at these billion-$$$ harbingers of death & destruction, & their activities are much more widespread & destructive than those dictators & groups.
How can there be any peace in this world when all powerful, developed, "civilized", & guardians of UN & NATO, are armed to the teeth themselves, & support their defense industries through tax $$$ (people don't get healthcare, food, education in US, UK, EU, but there are millions available for state subsidies for these companies). Ironically, North Korea also uses its state funds to build more weapons instead of feeding its own people.
People are being laid off all over the place because economies are in recession for almost 7 years now, but ironically, these companies like Raytheon, Cobham, Thales etc. are enjoying significant growth in their businesses all over the world. Ironically enough, not only they are principal job creators in the West but they also are at the forefront of technological innovation.
Regardless of what some groups are doing in Middle East & Africa or what is right or wrong in their eyes or the world, but at least, in the West or "civilized" parts of the world, all of us humans know, for a fact, that wars & conflicts are bread & butter of these huge defense companies. Then, why will they ever, with the help of their respective governments, pursue or help spread peace in this world? Thanks to media, we are all being programmed to hate dictators & certain groups in Middle East & Africa, but we completely ignore pointing fingers at these billion-$$$ harbingers of death & destruction, & their activities are much more widespread & destructive than those dictators & groups.
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