At the end of the day, our two allies in the Middle East continue to drag us into more trouble in the region. Much like us, the “rulers” in the Middle East are scared of losing their power. In our case, it’s the fear of losing money. In their case it’s the fear of losing their religious power. Most westerners just can’t grasp the concept of the mutual hatred between Shia, Sunnis, Wahabism, and Persians. But it’s real and it is the root of the problems in the region.
They will do what it takes to protect their interests. We don’t have to indulge them. …
This is older news that you may have missed. The “bookkeeper” of Al Qaeda opened up with all sorts of interesting revelations at his trial. Most of his revelations never made the media because they revealed funding sources that were our “allies”.
In light of the recent problems in Saudi Arabia, this is a very good repost to open up people’s eyes.…
The swamp’s war on us continues. This will get uglier as we get closer to the Alabama election. Just as they misread the anger of the masses that voted for Trump, they misread the reactions of the people of Alabama. Alabama voters have known Judge Moore for decades. They repeatedly voted him into various offices. They aren’t stupid, and see these attacks for exactly what they are.
Now that the swamp has declared war, they can’t back off. They will continue to find new allegations, right up to election day.
Sadly for them, in their haste to find more allegations, the prep work isn’t very good. Too many mistakes.
The author of the attached article is a lawyer who is actually analyzing what’s going on from a skeptical and objective standpoint. Today’s analysis is a must read. …
The other day we reported on the Department of Defense’s study dubbed the “Estimated Cost to Each Taxpayer for the Wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.” The DoD places the total authorized war spending on those conflicts between 2001 and 2018 at $1.5 trillion. They claimed $250 million a day for the wars.
Of course the DoD ignored the trillions in conflict-linked spending appropriated mainly through the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, State, Defense, and Veteran Affairs.
A new study conducted by Brown University shows that the costs are almost four times what the Pentagon shared with us. They also came to conclusion that their higher numbers are probably too low.
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As costs go ever higher and higher for medical care in the US, medical tourism has become a big business. There are lots of world class clinics in the Caribbean catering to westerners, where for a much reduced cost people can get world class medical care.
Iran is trying to boost their medical tourism. Other than increasing cash flow to the country, it’s a great opportunity to show westerners that Iran isn’t all evil.
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“Xinhua gushes about "powerful positive energy" after US president showed he is capable of making all the right diplomatic noises”
I’m not sure how this comes out. There are many in the Trump administration that want huge trade wars with China. There are many who want to have China as a military adversary.
I do know that it can’t hurt for two of the three most powerful countries to meet and get to know each other. With all of the troubles in the world, we could learn a lot about how to conduct foreign policy from China.
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The middle east has more intrigue than most places. Folks that should be enemies sometimes aren’t. Folks that should be allies sometimes aren’t.
The three big players for many decades have been Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Other countries in the region have always been played by these three. Despite these three being enemies, all of them are smart enough to make temporary alliances in order to go after the one.
It looks like Israel and Saudi Arabia are continuing the alliance they made to eliminate Syria. This time the target is Iran. And we’re falling for it again.
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Whatever their plans, the stakeholders in the Middle East must remember that clever plans to remake the Middle East have hitherto been remarkable for their inability to anticipate countermoves by opposing forces.
Tension is increasing all across the Middle East and the United States is again falling into a trap set up by its so-called allies to act against its own interests by getting deeply involved in what might turn out to be an escalating conflict. The recent victories by the Syrian Army and its Russian allies, which suggest that the active phase of the Syrian civil war will soon be drawing to a close, means that the perennial unrest in the region will be shifting gears and possibly leading to new conflict in areas that have until now been quiet. The lack of any real American policy for the region will enable the Saudis and Israelis, who have hegemonistic dreams of their own, to manipulate a casus belli, quite likely starting in Lebanon, where Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri recently resigned his office and fled to Saudi Arabia, claiming that he was fearing for his life due to his resistance to Iran’s influence over his country.…
When veteran North Korea watchers turn their attention to a young man named Kim Han-sol, these days his real identity is no longer much in question.
Their overriding concerns are “where is he?” and “who is hiding him?” Is he with the Chinese, the South Koreans or the Americans? Or is he the well-guarded guest of a North Korean defector group?
Han-sol is the 22-year-old son of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who was assassinated in Malaysia earlier this year in a plot involving suspected agents from Pyongyang.
He is also the grandson of former North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il. This qualifies him as the last surviving male of so-called “Baekdu” descent — the direct bloodline running from North Korean state founder Kim Il-sung.
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38 North is one of the more respected organizations devoted to analysis about North Korea. This is some powerful analysis here. Understanding the Asian mind takes years and years of experience and maybe can never be completely accomplished by westerners.
North Korea may be so convinced that its strategic position vs. the US has changed for the better that it might be willing to step back from the brink of nuclear war and settle for “practical equilibrium” with the US.
Robert Carlin, a veteran Korea analyst writing for website 38 North, says that since two successful ICBM launches last July, Pyongyang may have come to the heady conclusion that it has reached the “final stage” in bolstering the nuclear force.…
