Craig Murray - The End of Pluralism in the Middle East

by Craig Murray
Republished from craigmurray.org.uk

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 imposition of Salafism across the Eastern Arab world.

This also spells the end for Lebanon and Syria’s Christian communities, as witness the tearing down of all Christmas decorations, the smashing of all alcohol and the forced imposition of the veil on women in Aleppo now.

Yesterday US Warthog air-to-ground jets attacked and severely depleted reinforcements which were, at the invitation of the Syrian government, en route to Syria from Iraq. Constant, daily Israeli airstrikes on Syria’s military infrastructure for months have been a major factor in the demoralisation and reduced capacity of the Syrian government’s Syrian Arab Army, which has simply evaporated in Aleppo and Hama.

It is very difficult to see the tide turning in Syria. The Russians now have either to massively reinforce their Syrian bases with ground troops or to evacuate them. Faced with the exigencies of Ukraine, they may do the latter, and it is reported that the Russian navy has already set sail from Tartus.

The speed of collapse of Syria has taken everybody by surprise. If the situation does not stabilise, Damascus could be besieged and ISIS back on the hills above the Bekaa valley within a week, given the speed of their advance and the short distances involved.

Cont. reading: Craig Murray - The End of Pluralism in the Middle East

U.S. Has Stopped Ukrainian ATACMS Strikes On Russia

As further ATACMS strikes on Russia seem to have stopped this timeline is of interest.

November 18:

U.S. allows Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles against targets within Russia:

The reversal of policy, nearly 1,000 days since Russia started its full-scale invasion on Ukraine, comes largely in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean troops to supplement its forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv, a U.S. official and a source familiar with the decision told Reuters.

[Note: There is no evidence that any North Korean troops were deployed by Russia anywhere near Ukraine.]

November 19 and November 20/21:

Ukraine hits an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk Oblast, far from any relevant frontline, as well as military facilities in Russia's Kursk oblast:

On November 19, six ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles produced by the United States, and on November 21, during a combined missile assault involving British Storm Shadow systems and HIMARS systems produced by the US, attacked military facilities inside the Russian Federation in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
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The fire at the ammunition depot in the Bryansk Region, caused by the debris of ATACMS missiles, was extinguished without casualties or significant damage. In the Kursk Region, the attack targeted one of the command posts of our group North. Regrettably, the attack and the subsequent air defence battle resulted in casualties, both fatalities and injuries, among the perimeter security units and servicing staff.

November 21:

Russia fires a new missile with hypersonic kinetic warheads at a military industrial complex in Dnipro:

Cont. reading: U.S. Has Stopped Ukrainian ATACMS Strikes On Russia

Palestine Open Thread 2024-292

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This currently makes the rounds:

A Giant of Journalism Gets Half its Budget From the U.S. Government - Ryan Grim / Drop Site News, Dec 2 2024

OCCRP works with dozens of major newspapers to collaboratively publish the kinds of scoops you’re well aware of, such as the Panama Papers or the Pandora Papers. What we can reveal today is that the single largest funder of OCCRP is the U.S. State Department.

Duh ...

Selective Leaks Of The #PanamaPapers Create Huge Blackmail Potential - Moon of Alabama, Apr 4 2016

A real leak of data from a law firm in Panama would be very interesting. Many rich people and/or politicians hide money in shell companies that such firms in Panama provide. But the current heavily promoted "leak" of such data to several NATO supporting news organization and a US government financed "Non Government Organization" is just a lame attempt to smear some people the U.S. empire dislikes. It also creates a huge blackmail opportunity by NOT publishing certain data in return for this or that desired favor.
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A year ago someone provided tons of data from Mossak Fonseca to a German newpaper, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The Munich daily is politically on the center right and staunchly pro NATO. It cooperates with the Guardian, the BBC, Le Monde, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and some other news organization who are all known supporters of the establishment.
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The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is part of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) which is financed by the U.S. government through USAID.

The "leak" is of data selected by U.S. friendly organization out of a database, likely obtained by U.S. secret services, which can be assumed to include much dirt about "western" persons and organizations.

...

South Korea - Majority Wins As President's Putsch Fails

The attempted coup by the president of South Korea against the majority in the National Assembly has failed.

The quick reaction of the leadership of the Democratic Party, which holds the majority, has saved the day.

There was a struggle over the budget which the president's minority government had lost.

In a furious reaction President Yoon Suk Yeol and his defense minister and school buddy Kim Yong-hyun decided to declare martial law. Remarkably the prime minister of the president's government was not informed about the step:

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was completely unaware of President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration. This was because Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, a former upperclassman of President Yoon in high school, bypassed the prime minister and communicated directly with the president.

Additionally, elite military units, specifically the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade, were deployed to the National Assembly, signaling an aggressive move to suppress political opposition.

A source said, "This martial law action appears orchestrated by the 'Chungam faction,' with (Defense) Minister Kim directly coordinating with President Yoon." The "Chungam faction" refers to those who graduated from Chungam High School in Seoul.

Following the president's emergency briefing and martial law declaration, the military established the Martial Law Command within the Ministry of National Defense compound, appointing Army Chief of Staff Park An-su as the commander.

Diplomatic sources noted that despite the defense minister's recommendation for martial law, no cabinet meeting was convened, leaving the prime minister and his staff uninformed.

Opposition parties suspect that direct communication channels between the military and police were activated during the martial law declaration process.

They believe that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was engaged directly, bypassing the National Police Agency, to control access to the National Assembly.

Under martial law the National Assembly was to be suspended. Strikes were declared illegal and the media would come under censorship.

But immediately after the president announced martial law the leader of the Democratic Party in the National Assembly called for a meeting in the parliament.

At the same time the military and police were sent to block any assembly member from entering the National Assembly.

The parliamentarians won the race.

Just 150 minutes after the presidential announcement 191 of the 300 members of the National Assembly voted to immediately end the martial law status. Troops and police entered the parliament but the vote against martial law had already taken place.

Unions announced to go on strike and people came out into the street to protest the president's step. Yoon's senior aids offered to resign en masse. There was no sensible way left for him but to concede:

Cont. reading: South Korea - Majority Wins As President's Putsch Fails

South Korea - President Launches Putsch Against Parliament

I have yet to understand today's 'coup' in South Korea.

Last night the elected president declared martial law. Law makers are currently barred from entering the parliament.

Could someone knowledgeable about South Korea please explain this to me?

The president of South Korea is the head of state and the head of the government. He is directly elected for a five year term:

The current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor general and member of the conservative People Power Party, assumed office on 10 May 2022, after defeating the Democratic Party's nominee Lee Jae-myung with a narrow 48.5% plurality in the 2022 South Korean presidential election.

The president chooses a prime minister to run the daily government business.

The National Assembly is the unicameral legislature of South Korea. Since 2020 the majority in the parliament is held by the Democratic Party. In this year's parliament election it gathered some 175 of the 300 seats while the president's People Power Party only holds 108 seats.

During cohabitation, whenever an executive government is led by a different party than the legislature, there are always conflicts about priorities. These often plays out during the budget process.

This is exactly what happened in South Korea:

Rival parties wrangled Tuesday over next year's budget bill as the ruling People Power Party (PPP) insisted on keeping the government's proposal, while the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) demanded a revision to increase the issuance of local currency vouchers.

Local currency vouchers seem to be a form of credit designed to help small merchants and the self-employed:

The current bill proposed by the majority DP puts next year's budget at 677.4 trillion won (US$485.3 billion), down 4.1 trillion won from the government's initial proposal, following cuts in the government's reserve fund and the special activity expenses of the presidential office's secretariat and national security office, as well as those of the prosecution, the state audit agency and the police.

"Without an apology from the Democratic Party and the withdrawal of the budget bill that was passed unilaterally, we will not agree to any kind of talks," PPP floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho told reporters.

"If the DP wants to talk about increasing the budget (to issue more) local currency vouchers, they should have negotiated with us before passing it unilaterally," he said.

The Democratic Party has a majority in the National Assembly. It has reduced the government's proposed budget by 0.6% because the governing party rejected an increase by 0.3% that would have helped the majority party's constituency.

To me that looks like a very minor kerfuffle.

But if that is the issue why is the president, who's approval rating is below 20%, now using extraordinary powers to solve it?

South Korea president declares emergency martial law - CNN, Dec 3 2024

Cont. reading: South Korea - President Launches Putsch Against Parliament

Mirror Action - China To Block 'Dual Use' Exports To U.S. War Mongers

During its Ukrainian proxy war on Russia the Biden administration and its minions have pushed China for allegedly providing support to  Russia. This year it even started to sanction Chinese companies for allegedly providing 'dual-use items' to Russian businesses.

• Ukraine war: Biden tells China's Xi of 'consequences' if Beijing gives Russia material support for invasion - Sky News, March 18 2022
• Blinken says China helping fuel Russian threat to Ukraine - BBC, Apr 26 2024
• U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Chinese Companies for Aiding Russia’s War Effort - New York Times, May 1 2024
• China should pay for propping up Putin's war - Nato chief - BBC, June 17 2024
• Germany’s Baerbock urges China not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine - Anadolu, Dec 2 2024

The sanctions game though can be reversed. China has several quasi monopoly positions which it can use to hit back.

In (probably) a reply to Baerbock's latest intervention, it just started to use these (machine translation):

Announcement of the Ministry of Commerce No. 46 of 2024 on strengthening export controls on Related Dual-use items to the United States - mofcom.cn, Dec 3 2024

Cont. reading: Mirror Action - China To Block 'Dual Use' Exports To U.S. War Mongers

Why Did Joe Biden Pardon His Son?

Which of Joe Biden's crimes did Hunter Biden threaten to reveal to thereby extort his father into pardoning him?

Biden Pardons Son
President Joe Biden had earlier pledged not to take clemency on Hunter.

President Joe Biden gave his son, Hunter Biden, a full and unconditional pardon Sunday night. 

The younger Biden had been found guilty on three felony charges in June in a federal case surrounding his acquisition and possession of a firearm, and pleaded guilty (..) to federal tax evasion charges in September.
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Prior to the pardon, Hunter was facing up to 25 years in prison on firearms charges and up to 17 years in prison on tax charges.

Biden had earlier pledged not to pardon his son. “I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He is one of the brightest, most decent men I know,” the president stated in June, after his son’s conviction in his federal gun trial. “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”

Just asking ...

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