Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – December 08, 2024
By Tony Wikrent
Tim Harford [via The Big Picture 12-02-2024]
Reading
The first is that frozen conflicts are poison. When Russia and Hezbollah and Iran and some Syrian units were winning, rather than make an agreement for a frozen conflict, they should have pushed on. Leaving enemies in the country and the oil fields in US/Kurdish hands was foolish and fatal. Letting enemies flee to Turkey then be sent back was fatal.
The second is that either Russia or Iran should have just stationed some significant ground forces there permanently (Hezbollah is not a full state and doesn’t have the capacity.) Yes, it would be a bleeding ulcer, but the attrition would not be enough to matter. The entire advance could have been stopped by one good, properly equipped Iranian or Russian brigade with air and drone support. The Jihadis didn’t win because they were great fighters, they won because the Syrian army wouldn’t fight.
This assumes that the strategic value of Syria was sufficient: that it was worth the cost.
He appeared on Meet The Press this morning. I’m sure it’s the last thing many of you want to see. But here are a few highlights you should probably watch. I don’t know about you but I felt my energy and anger return at seeing that miscreant say that he’s going to deport American citizens and well … everything else. He’s feeling his oats and he clearly wants revenge. And he’s obviously is counting on his henchman and hencwoman Patel and Bondi to help him get it. There is simply no doubt about it. (By the way, I still have to use twitter for these because Blue Sky videos don’t render properly on this platform. Yet.)
A truly seismic change in the Middle East appears to be happening very fast. At its heart is a devil’s bargain – Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the Continue reading »
Well it looks like the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is on its way out, likely to be replaced by one or more US puppet regimes depending on whether the nation maintains its current borders or is carved up into separate states. The empire notches another win. I am not a military analyst, but Continue reading »
The US coalition’s mission against ISIS quickly transformed into a broader strategy to occupy parts of Syria, with the Al-Tanf base being crucial for securing influence and supporting Israeli interests amidst increasing local resistance. Republished from The Cradle, December 02, 2024 On 10 September 2014, the US announced the formation of an international coalition with the Continue reading »
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, having become a staple of the disruptive discourse that is so valued on Uncensored, joins Piers Morgan yet again for a one-to-one interview on the state of the world. The most shocking development over recent days has been the rapid advance of Syrian rebel troops and their capture of the City of Continue reading »
Mark Regev is “an Australian citizen and he’s advocating for genocide,” Uncle Robbie Thorpe explained last week. “It is really offensive and insulting for Aboriginal people to have an Australian citizen talking about starving people, lying and inciting people to join up with the IDF and commit these crimes on the other side of the Continue reading »
Much has been written in these pages about the AUKUS delusion: Of how it was haphazardly and secretly put together by Scott Morrison to wedge the then Labor Opposition, about the elasticity of its costings, the improbability of Australia ever acquiring any of the proposed submarines, the enormous cost of the project, the effectiveness of Continue reading »
For those living far away from the Middle East – for example, in countries like Australia – it seems that everyone has a strong view about the events occurring there. What’s more, everyone is convinced their view is the morally correct one. In all discussions, ethical-sounding language abounds: depending on the perspective, we might hear Continue reading »
Australia and the United States believe China is hegemonic. China uses a different approach to international engagement, and that means Australia fails to understand China’s appeal to the region and the global south. Increased tariffs on China and 100% tariffs on any country that backs any other currency to replace the US dollar. The Trump Continue reading »
WTF is he talking about? Huh??? He’s right that Assad has been deposed and that Russia and Iran basically said “we’re out” and let it happen. Other than that, this is the usual contradictory, puerile nonsense he spews when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s over in Paris acting like the president so he’s putting out statements like they are official US policy. They are not, at least not yet. He should just keep his mouth shut but he is incapable of that. BTW, the US has almost a thousand troops in Syria but whatever…
Celebrating a murder This story sent chills (TMZ): Internet sleuths believe they have found the jacket worn by the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson … and now it is morbidly flying off the shelves. On Reddit, a user speculated the suspect’s jacket was a Sherpa Lined Two Picket Hooded Trucker Jacket by Levi’s … sold at Macy’s for the retail price of $225. The jacket’s popularity has since spread like wildfire on the company’s website … where more than 6,000 people were viewing the jacket at the same time — and nearly 700 were sold in the past 48 hours, according to an item popularity tool on Macy’s site. The New York Times follows up (Gift link): A grainy image of his face drew comparisons to Hollywood heartthrobs. A jacket similar to the one he’s wearing on wanted posters is reportedly flying off the shelves. And the words written on the bullets he used to kill a man in cold blood on a sidewalk on Wednesday have become, for some people, a rallying cry.
This story is breaking … elsewhere Al Jazeera: Seems the Islamist rebels already have their solution. The autocrat is gone. What comes next is the question. ISIS? A Taliban? Al-Qaeda? More from Al Jazeera: Cars flooding into Syria after al-Assad’s ouster Nour Qormosh, reporting near Idlib, Syria We are here, by the N-5 Highway. Cars are moving on the highway with people returning to their homes in Syria for the first time in 14 years. The joy of the people is insurmountable. We’ve talked to the civilians here as they transport their belongings back into the country. Their joy is shared across the Syrian geography – from Idlib to Hama, Homs, Damascus, and Deraa. This is the most significant moment in the history of the Syrian revolution. The Guardian: Two senior Syrian officers told Reuters that Assad had fled Damascus, his destination unknown. The report could not be independently verified. The senior Emirati diplomat Anwar Gargash declined to say whether Assad was fleeing to the United Arab Emirates.
Why is printing money reckless, but issuing bonds prudent? Both rely on government-created money, yet bonds are respected while monetary financing is demonised. Is it logic—or just tradition—driving this narrative?
Seems the Syrian army just wouldn’t fight and its allies couldn’t prop it up this time, which given the speed of the advance makes sense. This is one of the most pathetic shows of bad army moral and corruption I’ve seen in my entire life. There weren’t enough troops willing and able to fight to even make a stand at the capital.
I don’t see how Hezbollah or Iran or even Russia could have saved Assad from an army this bad. The Syrian had to be able to at least slow the enemy down. Hezbollah and Russia no longer had significant numbers of ground forces in the country and couldn’t get enough there soon enough.
This is terrible for Lebanon, Palestine, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. Russia loses its Med port and airfield; Hezbollah its land route for supplies and Iran its easy ability to reach its allies.
I hope the new conquerors of Syria are more tolerant than I expect them to be.
Today Cliff Schecter and Hal Sparks talked about Kash Patel & how he could be the first possible leather daddy to head the FBI. The Steve Bannon plan is to overwhelm the media with Trump’s horrible nominees. What gets to the MSM, that makes them disqualified, isn’t the same as what makes it to late night comedy shows, or to Fox News, or RW social media. Part of what we can do with our audiences is to show how weird these people are. There are serious reasons these people are horrible, that would disqualify them to normal people like us. But we need to also point out stuff that the MAGAs have a hard time with, but we can’t reach their channels. If we tried they’d say, “I thought you were COOL WITH DEI, gays, and leather daddies!” So we put stuff out saying, “We’re cool them being gay or leather daddies, but we are not cool with their policies to destroy our national security, are you?” Frankly I don’t know which weird, corrupt, sick, incompetent or illegal activity of Trump’s nominees will knock them out of the process. But we need to find them and share them.
Yes, I know. That’s an oddly generic (some might even say silly) title for a post by someone who has been scribbling about film here for 18 years. Obviously, I love movies. That said, I am about to make a shameful confession (and please withhold your angry cards and letters until you’ve heard me out). Are you sitting down? Here goes: I haven’t stepped foot in a movie theater since January of 2020. There. I’ve said it, in front of God and all 7 of my regular readers. *sigh* I can still remember it, as if it were yesterday: It turns out that it is not just my imagination (running away with me). A quick Google search of “Seattle rain records” yields such cheery results as a January 29th CNN headline IT’S SUNLESS IN SEATTLE AS CITY WEATHERS ONE OF THE GLOOMIEST STRETCHES IN RECENT HISTORY and a Feb 1st Seattle P-I story slugged with SEATTLE BREAKS RECORD WITH RAIN ON 30 DAYS IN A MONTH. Good times! February was a bit better: 15 rainy days with 4.1 hours a day of average sunshine. But hey-I didn’t move to the Emerald City to be “happy”.
A MAN of integrity and love for the land, Frank Kennedy passed away at Mater Christi Aged Care on Monday 25 November, aged 80. A Requiem Mass was held at Our Lady of the Way Chapel at Marian Grove in Toormina, on Friday 29 November. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it...
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