Qatar-Saudi Catfight Unveils "Western" Terrorist Propaganda Outlets
The spat between Saudi Arabia and Qatar gives us some amusing entertainment. Both countries spent billions to arm and supply tens of thousands of brutal Takfiris to fight the Syrian government and people. They also spent millions to buy this or that "western" think-tank and/or writer. Now that the two Wahhabi dictatorships are fighting each other they spill the beans over each others nefarious deeds. Various "western" think-tanks and media, who avidly supported al-Qaeda, ISIS and other criminals in Syria, are the well deserved collateral casualties in this fight.
Here is one example:
Bilal Abdul Kareem Verified account @BilalKareem
Piece I filmed w/CNN (Undercover in Syria) won Overseas Press Club & Peabody awards but CNN "forgot" to mention me. But I'm smiling!
4:24 PM - 16 Jun 2017
Bilal Abdul Kareem 2 hrs
Piece I filmed w/CNN (Undercover in Syria) won the prestigious Overseas Press Club & Peabody awards but CNN "forgot" to mention me. High respects to CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward for mentioning me even if CNN didn't! Alhamdo lilaah I got another award from some good hearted Syrians that's worth more than those put together. Check it out!
Max Blumenthal Verified account @MaxBlumenthal
In Saudi media, "independent journalist" @BilalKareem is ID'ed as having joined Al Qaeda's Syrian franchise in 2012
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/...
5:37 AM - 11 Jun 2017
Al Arabiya, Huda Al-Salih - June 7 2017 - Al-Nusra religious leader, prominent ISIS supporter defend Qatar
On October 29, 2014, the Brookings Doha Institute has organized a panel to discuss future of jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. The session included all of Richard Barrett, first vice president for Soufan group, Charles Lister, visiting fellow at the institute, in addition to one of the fighters from Nusra and one of its media arms, the American Bilal Abdul Kareem, who latter appeared in pictures of him with [Al-Qaeda ideologue] Muhaysini.In the panel, Abdulkareem said “forming the Islamic state is the jihadists’ desire.”
What’s interesting here is that Abdulkareem had traveled to Doha for the panel from the Syrian city of Aleppo. He went to Doha although he joined al-Nusra in 2012.
Abdulkareem is described as the extremists’ publicist and his interviews with foreign and Arab fighters in Syria and members of al-Qaeda were always broadcast on Al-Jazeera television channel.
Abdulkareem, who once said that joining the fighting in Syria is a religious duty and the Syrian fighters are the “first line of defense” in fighting Shiites, was named the most influential figure on December 17, 2016, by Al-Jazeera’s program News Race as he won 53 percent of the votes.
The Saudi paper Al-Arabiya identifies Kareem as Qatar supported Al-Qaeda member. Smearing Qatar is now the favorite Saudi past time. That Kareem is al-Qaeda member is not news to anyone who reads beyond CNN and other main stream outlets. Just watch his interview (vid) with the al-Qaeda in Syria chief ideologue Muhaysini and you know what he is about.
Richard Barrett and especially Charles Lister were his discussion partners - all agreed that "Assad must go" and make room for the al-Qaeda "rebels". Lister and Barrett are long known to be (well paid) propagandists for the Jihadis. Brooking Institute with its Qatar paid Doha outlet wrote the U.S. strategy for overthrowing (with the help of Jihadis) the Syrian and Iranian governments: WHICH PATH TO PERSIA? Options for a New American - Strategy toward Iran (pdf).
CNN produced the propaganda piece for the "Syrian rebels" aka al-Qaeda with the help of al-Qaeda's Bilal Abdul Kareem and with Clarissa Ward staring in an al-Qaeda bridal - or a sack. Her sympathies are with the terrorists.
Clarissa Ward spoke at a UN Security Council meeting about Aleppo. She spewed - not astonishingly - pure anti-Syrian propaganda.
The costume show won awards. But CNN never mentioned the help it got from the terrorist organization and its media frontman Bilal Abdul Kareem. Are they ashamed or do their managers fear to be put into jail for evidently supporting a terrorist organization?
Those are several cakes flying into many deserving faces.
Various think tanks are currently coming out on this or that side of the Qatar-Saudi Arabia spat. Here we have the Zionist propaganda shop Washington Institute blaming Qatar for financing al-Nusra/al-Qaeda in Syria. (Israel is currently allied with Saudi Arabia.) Unmentioned of course is the CIA's role of distributing the money from Qatar and Saudi Arabia in cash or in form of weapons and ammo, the Turkish role as transit and safe haven country for the Jihadis and Israel's own support, with artillery, airstrikes and medical services, for al-Qaeda in the Golan heights. The Saudi financing of the Islamic State, claimed by several U.S. officials (vid) and in Wikileaks documents<(A>, it not mentioned at all.
But more such dirt will come out in the coming days and weeks as Qatar and Saudi Arabia will continue to accuse each other of supporting terrorism. They don't even have to do it themselves. Several "think tanks" in Washington and London have long sold out to them. Here is a cheatsheet on which "western" think tank is financed by which side of the GCC spat. It helps to evaluate the various op-eds written in this or that Gulf-money financed propaganda office.
The Qatar-Saudi crisis will likely be with us for some time. As longer it takes as better for Syria. And as worse by the day for all of those propagandist in Washington and London who sold out to these states and the terrorists they support by writing damaging stuff about Syria. Their dirty laundry will be hung high in the streets.
Posted by b on June 16, 2017 at 20:45 UTC | Permalink
You are right that the current Saudi-Qatari spat will reveal a lot about what has been happening.
Posted by: Laguerre | Jun 16 2017 21:07 utc | 2
I'd love to see Charles Lister's logrolling if things heat up to the point where his Qatar paymasters are forced to make nice with Iran. Then there's the issue of the CENTCOM base in Qatar.....
Posted by: Thirdeye | Jun 16 2017 21:28 utc | 3
Unfortunately, the unveiling of various terrorist propagandists will not make the US news in any shape or form... Only those who pay close attention will notice the above stories at all.
Posted by: WorldBLee | Jun 16 2017 21:46 utc | 5
That's fine, but all the "dirty laundry" will not be seen by the still orthodox-neoliberal media consuming majority. If you can't hide it don't mention it - and that works still pretty well.
Posted by: Pnyx | Jun 16 2017 23:07 utc | 8
I agree that this is all very funny, but something very explosive could come out of this ME food fight.
What am I talking about?
I'm talking about someone on the inside who can confirm that 9-11 was part of a government plot.
Get your popcorn, guys.
Posted by: plantman | Jun 16 2017 23:15 utc | 9
... "dirty laundry" will not be seen by the still orthodox-neoliberal media ... Pnyx | Jun 16, 2017 7:07:03 PM | 8
True, they would rather dwell on terrible repressions in Russia where demonstrators can get ... three weeks of jail. And in nearby Poland they are threaten with three years. While the actual jailing seems less frequent, other aspects are more disturbing, IMHO, than in Russia. However, Al Jazeera probably intensified the production of dirty laundry, for example about Yemen, and they have pretty good journalism -- stories are well written, illustrated, and with videos if you want to watch and listen.
Which let me think about one aspect of both Yemen war and KSA-Qatar brouhaha. A while ago there were elections in Yemen and a party supportive of Hadi got most votes. However, this party is viewed as a branch of Muslim Brotherhood, and there were scant sign of Sunnis of northern Yemen supporting the invasion (I actually did not read about any). For decades KSA was funneling money to the leaders of Yemeni tribes that they view sympathetic, i.e. the Sunni tribes, but apparently the division between northern and southern Arabs (in the Arabian peninsula) is much deeper than any religious difference between the sects. Yemeni Sunnis are just a bit less hostile to KSA and UAE than Shia Zaidites, after all those years of being bribed. The south-north division of the Arabian peninsula was already noted by Roman cartographers, and persists till today. Note that southern country of Oman steers very clear of any alliance with KSA. Yemen war is bloody and totally doomed enterprise, and the best our establishment can do is to ignore it to the largest extend possible, and to resort to glib locutions like "internationally recognized government of Yemen". The importance of that phrase is that no one tries to promote "democratically elected government of Yemen"
Of course, Qatar is not implicated in atrocities there, can easily get some influence if GCC war is lost (because of Islah party), unlike the situation in Syria.
But they have some less dramatic dirty laundry on Libya. There UAE and Egypt support armed opponents of the "internationally recognized government". Which is supported by Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and the West.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 16 2017 23:56 utc | 10
on a related note, i see Turkey’s religious affairs head slams Gulf countries’ decision to add Qatar-based Egyptian Islamic theologian al-Qaradawi to terror list... meanwhile, a 1 minute interview / video here of Yusuf al-Qaradawi: Killing Of Apostates Is Essential for Islam to survive..
i suppose this explains more on the turkey - qatar relationship... headchopper cult unites under the banner of saving islam?? too bad someone can't save islam from itself, if this is what islam amounts to.. nothing like putting a religion in the hands of religious nut jobs..
Posted by: james | Jun 17 2017 0:11 utc | 11
nothing like putting a religion in the hands of religious nut jobs..
Posted by: james | Jun 16, 2017 8:11:41 PM | 11
I started to thing about a strife between the Filberts and The House of Kashew, Pecans supporting Pistachio uprising against Nutty Walnut Republic etc.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 17 2017 0:21 utc | 12
@9:
"I'm talking about someone on the inside who can confirm that 9-11 was part of a government plot."
What government? The Saudi government?
We already knew that.
Posted by: bernard | Jun 17 2017 0:56 utc | 13
Unmentioned of course is
1. the CIA's role of distributing the money from Qatar in cash or in form of weapons and ammo,
2. the Turkish role as transit and safe haven country for the Jihadis and
3. Israel's own support, with artillery and medical services, for al-Qaeda in the Golan heights.
4. The Saudi financing of the Islamic State, claimed by several U.S. officials in various Wikileaks documents, is not mentioned at all.
but they all will be now. maybe even some of the folks in the usa will hear about same. whether it will make any difference or not remains to be seen ... the 'strategy' of late has been to 'embrace and extend' the 'dark side'. americans seem wed to the 'long war' ... something to do with the jobs of those not working at mikey d's depending on war ... to fix that is not even on the radar screen, see the discussion of bernie sanders elsewhere. not even the 'socialist savior' can divorce himself from what is the fundamental problem.
wasn't it mussolini who is said to have said that fascism is the fusion of the corporate and governmental spheres? someone linked to an article from 2015 from nafeez ahmed yesterday, the title does not say it all - How the CIA made Google ... it's across the board, or around the triangle ... 'intelligence', corporate vendors, policy 'makers' ... those are the people whose income is seen to be 'on the line' and who are therefore supporting the 'long war' ... the never-ending war, according to their impossible calculations.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 17 2017 1:55 utc | 14
james @ 11 said:"if this is what islam amounts to.. nothing like putting a religion in the hands of religious nut jobs.."
I can assure you, Islam amounts to more than the version shown to the world at times, only when the "nut jobs" make their own perverted interpretation of the Koran.
Unfortunately, the corporate empire cultivates these "nut jobs" and sends them to do their dirty work to destabilize countries that refuse to bend to their will..
Posted by: ben | Jun 17 2017 4:04 utc | 15
"Dirty laundry hung high in the streets." Ugh - I'm taking the Metro.
b, please keep 'em coming, as they air for the world to see. I'm truly grateful that you have the stomach to parse all this untruth, and then to bear witness for the cosmic record.
And I do think it does go on the record somewhere, somehow. It's important, what you write and what we discuss. It makes a difference that doesn't show up in the instant-gratification metrics of television time. But it's a difference even so, just like the wearing effect of water on stone - over time, the stone never stood a chance.
The monopoly of the MSM and the institutions is broken, although their replacements are not clearly seen yet, and maybe never will be. Maybe there is no monopoly on the narrative anymore.
But from time to time a temporary consensus appears, a meme takes hold, a force or personality appears and gives rise to an argument or an ethical credo or a cultural manifesto - and all the groundwork laid beforehand by articles such as yours every day, and some of the agreements and understandings made by us and between us here in these threads, all this take on its true value as having gone before, and having helped to pave the way for the perfect language for the time.
I can't prove any of this. But if I keep saying it, over time the stone doesn't stand a chance.
Posted by: Grieved | Jun 17 2017 4:38 utc | 16
The pic shows that she spoke from Maarat al Numan courthouse.
There have been demos everyday in the last weeks of ppl who decided to expel the AQ and other djihadists sympathizers after they finally understood they were fooled.
Composed mainly of Beduins, the ppl of Maarat were lured as early as May 2011 (it does not cost much to have a Beduin do something for you, they live on a very little money 'as a way of life') and started to make videos burning Syrian flags to say how bad their condition was (which in fact, compared to Beduins all over the Arab world, was pretty good, considering that their harsh customs does not let much space for improvement).
Posted by: Mina | Jun 17 2017 8:50 utc | 17
Turkey Tries to Calm Saudi Arabia Down as the Latter Prepares a List of Grievances Against Qatar
During his visit in London, Al Jubeir said Saudi Arabia is working with Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt to prepare a list of complaints and documented violations and then submit it to Qatar, adding he expects a positive response from Doha and that the latter will eventually realize its mistakes and will cease all forms of support for terrorism.
i imagine that qatar is preparing its own little list on ksa, bahrain, the uae, and egypt to present at the same time?
they're like the dirty old men in raincoats, and nothing else, in back alleys 'downtown'.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 17 2017 9:23 utc | 18
With the US's latest arms sales to Qatar it certainly seems like someone is stirring the pot to increase receipts!
Turkish AKP are now openly stating that Turkey might be next, while calling the embargo 'unislamic' (- rich coming from terror-state turkey!)
Agree with others here that the two fighting it out is a well-deserved turn of events.
Whether it will extinguish the fire in the middle east or nourish it is yet to be seen.
Posted by: AtaBrit | Jun 17 2017 9:56 utc | 19
@19, 'With the US's latest arms sales to Qatar it certainly seems like someone is stirring the pot to increase receipts!'
the dirtiest old main in a raincoat has descended from world power to protection-racket-artiste.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 17 2017 10:08 utc | 20
In the replies to Blumenthal's tweet see Bilal mention fellow CIA spook Lindsay Snell.
Posted by: Guest | Jun 17 2017 10:14 utc | 21
@jfl | 18
Çavusoğlu looked completely clueless during a press interview either just after or just before that meeting - not sure. He has one hell of a job trying to hang onto both Qatar and Saudi ties!
Good to see them coming unstuck, at last! :-)
At the same time AKP is desperately looking for more scapegoats domestically for all the illegal activity that it has engaged in over the last few years. Is it trying to prove that Turkey's Muslim Brotherhood actually denounces violence and terrorism as Tillerson heavily implied it should, while naming both Bahrain and Turkey as being goverments infiltrated by MB?
Difficult to know what to think.
Posted by: AtaBrit | Jun 17 2017 10:30 utc | 22
@22, '1. the CIA's role of distributing the money from Qatar [, ksa, uae, ...] in cash or in form of weapons and ammo'
yeah, turkey's role is diverting ... but we need to keep our eyes on the prime mover, number 1, above. none of this would have gone down ... afghanistan, iraq, libya, syria, ukraine, yemen ... none of it ... if it hadn't been for number one. and number one is the engine behind it all still.
u-s-a! u-s-a! we're number one! we're number one!
Posted by: jfl | Jun 17 2017 10:56 utc | 23
This 'spat' is typical psychological scapegoating and blame gaming among allies when their defeat is looming. The only card left to play by the western plutocrats is the Kurdish desire for nationhood which goes against the desires of the local nations. Turkey is not amused. Look to see Iraq, possibly with Syrian and Iranian help, to push back against the Israeli supported Iraqi Kurdish enclave in Iraq when the time is right.
There once were 2 terrorist loving states
one loved Al-Queda, another ISIS
they came to blows by him who said "once again, let us make America great"
and promptly ripped the GCC into pieces
"Both countries spent billions to arm and supply tens of thousands of brutal Takfiris to fight the Syrian government and people."
Not quite true. The great majority of fighters are of Saudi Wahabbist inclination, indoctrinated by Saudi 'clerics.' And how did the weapons arriving in Qatar get to Syria? Some were probably transferred directly to al Ubeid airbase for direct air-drop by the ISIS/Kurd airforce. The great majority would go overland through ... tada ...Saudi Arabia (then Iraq/Jordan). Qatar, Jordan and Turkey are bit players/patsies. The organ grinders are the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Anonymous | Jun 17 2017 14:03 utc | 26
CNN and some its journalists are now exposed as sponsors of terrorism. What is the US government going to do about it?
Of course, our esteemed Senator John McCain has his picture taken colluding with terrorists.
Posted by: fastfreddy | Jun 17 2017 14:32 utc | 27
These conflicts and wars are being organized by the London/Paris bankers (Rothschild-Zionists). And they will pay the highest price. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, London, Paris, Israel, ?
Posted by: Thucydides | Jun 17 2017 14:33 utc | 28
I wasn't able to open the link to the "cheatsheet". Angry Arab posted a video of a Saudi-Qatari brawl yesterday:
angryarab.blogspot.com/2017/06/brotherly-qatari-and-saudi-members-of.html
Posted by: Edward | Jun 17 2017 14:44 utc | 29
Anyone else having cognitive dissonance over this 'spat'?
- KSA and Qatar both supported the anti-Assad jihadisWhen you see Bernie, Hillary, and Trump effortlessly spouting BS, you start to question everything.- KSA and Qatar are both whabbi;
- KSA previously supported Muslim Brotherhood;
- Muslim brotherhood supports sharia law and jihad;
- MB's democracy agenda? MB is chiefly supported by Qatar (monarchy) and Turkey (dictatorship).
More here: Saudi-Qatar: Gambit du Roi
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jun 17 2017 14:58 utc | 30
Brotherly Qatari and Saudi members of the GCC engage in a fist fight today
https://youtu.be/u17sHeqswf4
Posted by: okie farmer | Jun 17 2017 15:01 utc | 31
Turkey has fallen in yet another trap set by the USA to weaken Erdogan.
Turkey has no more 'neighbors' friends, no more European friends, little american sympathy, and now it is about to loose his rich Gulf friends.
Erdogan's foreign policy is close to total disaster.
The AKP success came from the economical reforms stimulated by the EU promises of adhesion and to the smart and peaceful influence of Gulen in Turkey's institutions and foreign policy.
Now Gulen and his allies are enemies. Turkey has gradually become a rogue state controlled exclusively by a megalomaniac man blinded by religion and money.
After the Syria quagmire, the Qatar-Saudi conflict and its impact on Turkey's economy, may turn to be fatal to Erdogan ruling.
Posted by: virgile | Jun 17 2017 15:04 utc | 32
@12 piotr... it would be better if it was that!
@ 15 ben.. yes, i agree... maybe later, they put them on the terrorist list..
@22 atabrit.. things seem to be coming unglued in turkey at present.. chp leader taking a 450 km walk to ankara is only part of it.
@25 metamars.. might explain the allegiance of the usa presently in not going after al nusra - in fact supporting al nusra..
@27 fastfreddy.. that all gets pushed under the carpet.. it's getting pretty busy under the usa's carpet..
@31 okie.. i can't tell who is who..
@32 virgile.. yes.. things are not right in turkey at present.. trouble on the way as i see it..
Posted by: james | Jun 17 2017 16:21 utc | 33
Although unlikely, it would be amusing if support for Qatar led to an improvement in the Iran/Turkey relationship.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 17 2017 19:00 utc | 34
Folks, if you like what b is doing - digging deep and providing a forum, please consider his request for some funds: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/05/-poor-poet-in-a-squeeze-.html
Posted by: daffyDuct | Jun 17 2017 19:29 utc | 35
Trump paid off, bribed, KSA to stop terrorism, by selling arms to them, plus investment into KSA, idk the details — KSA accepted and will obey.
—-remake with some diffs. of Roosevelt + Ibn Saud. Two pix I like:
From the KSA pov, Wahabi crazies being all stiched up around the globe doin’ the terrorist gig (plus the proxies, the poor from other places) with suicidal fanfare, rushing about, is useful….now…how? Terrorists, not doing well these days, ppl are fed up w. that BS..
When powerful forces (US..) will support you by selling you bigly blast-power, to decimate, heh, poor starving peasants in Yemen?
The temptation then to pick a scapegoat who ‘supports terrorism’ is just too great, some piddling islet / group / org. has to be targetted, gotta make a show, don’t cha know? Fight the ‘terra’ away from home.
Qatar, with its creation of Al-Jaz, showing it is far too big for its mini-boots, a traditional smirking upstart, strutting about with impunity, with a great gas bounty, all gung-ho with the Muslim Bros, intl’ acclaim, investments galore etc., splashing moolah about, more welcomed than KSA (e.g. in France, as position of women, etc.) - heh. What better target?
Posted by: Noirette | Jun 17 2017 20:06 utc | 36
Digusting Saudi kingdom rats.
Saudi coastguard kills Iranian fisherman in Persian Gulf
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2017/06/17/525623/Iran-Saudi-Arabia-fisherman-Persian-Gulf-coast-guard-Majid-AqaBabaei
Saudi Arabia, Israel to establish economic relations for first time: Report
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2017/06/17/525619/Saudi-Arabia-Israel-Palestine-economic-ties-Times-Iran
Posted by: Anon | Jun 17 2017 21:17 utc | 37
@james | 33 + virgile | 32
Kiliçdaroğlu is a joke, isn't he? He's been called Ghandi in disparagimg fashion for years and what is his latest course of action in response to Ennis's imprisonment? - a blody walk! You couldn't make the rubbish up.
But while the focus is on him, senior poeple from the civil service current and retired have been arrested in the last few days (in addition to the ongoing 'operations' here that are constatly hoovering up 'opposition' in the name of fighting terrorism.)
There is paranoia about both the domestic and near abroad - current news reports are focusing on the hundreds of lorry-loads of arms and ammo having been sent to Syrian Kurds in the last month. If the volumes are true then there is reason to be concerned.
Egypt is piling pressure on Turkey saying that it should sign up to the embargo on Qatar, Saudi is basically brushing aside anything being said by Erdogan in respect to the Qatar crisis probably because it understands that Turkey could gain significant influence regionally if allowed to succeed in resolving the spat ...
Very tricky situation even for auch an extremely capable politician as Erdogan ...
Temd to agree with you, Virgile, that this is indeed a trap for Turkey - "fall in line or prepare yourselves" seems to be the message. But nor sure how far it will go. Saudi has massive investments in certain key industries in Turkey - Saudi money fuelled the early and mid years of AKPs rise to date, and it was very generous!
@BRF | 24 don't know enough to comment other than say what an interesting point you make ... And an optimistic one at that.
Posted by: AtaBrit | Jun 17 2017 22:23 utc | 38
Although unlikely, it would be amusing if support for Qatar led to an improvement in the Iran/Turkey relationship.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 17, 2017 3:00:24 PM | 34
I agree Turkey is having its problems, but the Russian pipeline is moving along and managed by Russia; Syria, Iraq and Iranian gas could all become clients of the pipeline, generating significant revenue and jobs for Turkey as its hub. Far better that Turkey looks to Russia with its sane international policies than to the the US's EU puppet.
Posted by: frances | Jun 17 2017 23:44 utc | 39
@36 noirette, 'Trump paid off, bribed, KSA to stop terrorism ... KSA accepted and will obey'
but it was ksa who ponied up the $100 billion, so far. i wonder if i could 'bribe' them too, i need the dough. i can't see them walking away from al-CIA-duh, either. although the intramural warfare in syria between different 'brands' of jihadis may be due to their allowances being cut off by the dsa? it may be due to the ksa's boys attacking the qatari's boys, as well ... and none of them seem short of bullets, or tows ...
@32 virgile,
i do see turkey on a lose-lose course here if erdogan continues to try to keep in the good graces of both wahabi powers in the gcc, or at least that might be "someone's" intention? ... erdogan would do better cutting his loses and going with one or the other. if he betrays qatar ... he will have openly betrayed qatar, an 'ally' ... and if he sticks with qatar the saudis won't 'like' him anymore.
if it were me i'd go with qatar ... and the iranians. it seems to me that 'after' iran, turkey will be next in the ksa's [, usaofa's, israel's] sights ... or so they dream.
and the saudis are nothing but pampered rich boys - with the support of israel and the usofa ... and those two do not have the interests of the saudi royals at heart. who does? don't wanna be too close to the saudis when the feelings of israel and the usofa 'change' concerning the continued reign of those presently in power in riyadh.
i think it's not so much turkey as the ksa being set up by the usofa ... and israel.
the usofa is the one coming off as 'inscrutable' and unreliable as a result of all this ...
Posted by: jfl | Jun 17 2017 23:58 utc | 40
This looks like a game changer.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201706181054734556-china-iran-navy-drills/
The joint drills of the Chinese Navy and the Iranian Fleet are kicking off on Sunday, Mehr news agency reported.
The Chinese Navy Fleet set to participate in the war games comprises the Chang Chun guided-missile destroyer, the Chao Hu replenishment ship, the Jin Zhou frigate and a helicopter.
The Chinese ships arrived at a Iranian port on Thursday.
Posted by: Peter AU | Jun 18 2017 6:09 utc | 41
The premise:
.
Monetary policy is an exceptionally blunt tool. Reliable but blunt.
Collateral damage is the necessary outcome that, as a compounding dynamic, eventually becomes the catalyst for the final denouement.
This monetary system is predicated on one unilateral owner of the medium of exchange. The owner of the medium of exchange has no other obligation than to perpetually increase the monetary base and credit in circulation. The economy is booming? Increase credit in circulation. The economy is in a depression? Increase money and credit in circulation; just do it in spades.
The political construct is merely the enabler, the pusher, that ensures that ever greater quantities of money and credit are pushed into the economy.
In this regard, electoral politics is a manna for the owner of the medium of exchange. Electoral politics arithmetically ensures that hard choices are never made thus ever greater quantities of money and credit are expended perpetually.
Eventually, however, hard choices have to be imposed.
For as long as ownership of the medium of exchange is not disputed, the owner of the medium of exchange has absolutely no interest in what happens within the system. Whether left or right leaning politicians are voted into office, whether social security and healthcare are expanded to include everyone or not, whether corporations are declared to be legal persons or not, whether a president delegates the authority to declare war to his generals or not, the owner of the currency will expand the monetary base and credit in circulation to satisfy the demands of politics.
.
The conclusion:
.
Since government never balances the books, as greater quantities of money and credit are pushed into the economy, the fiscal burden for all increases. At some point, the fiscal burden goes parabolic.
This is the mechanism via which title to assets is passed from the many into the hands of the owner of the medium of exchange and the entities that gravitate around it.
.
Why is this relevant to the thread we are discussing?
.
The developed world today is looking at combined debt and unfunded liabilities of anywhere between $400Trillion to $700Trillion depending on who is counting and how they are counting.
This, in a global economy barely worth $80Trillion nominally
As comparison, 1 Billion seconds is 31 years. But 1 Trillion seconds is equivalent to over 31 THOUSAND years
How do we solve a $400Trillion problem in the next 30 years with an economy that is nominally plodding at $80 Trillion?
Arithmetically speaking, we can either operate on the demand side of the equation or we can operate on the supply side of the equation.
Regardless of what is done, it will require coercion.
Representing the minority of the world population, the developed world suffers from declining productivity and has the single greatest demand on this $400 Trillion.
Representing the majority of the world population, Asian emerging markets are becoming increasingly productive.
.
The solution:
.
Balancing the equation will require a lot more instability both in the developed world and overseas
In the developed world, demand will have to be extinguished
In emerging markets, productivity will have to be obliterated
This will continue till someone will successfully challenge this economic system that revolves around one unilateral owner of the medium of exchange
Along the way, policies will appear aberrant, irrational, counterproductive or counterintuitive. Collateral will precipitate chaos and bloodshed far and wide.
But for the owner of the medium of exchange, this is pure, high octane, fuel for astronomical profits and transfer of wealth
g
Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 18 2017 7:49 utc | 42
One final point.
The developed world is today sporting a debt to GDP ratio of well over 100%
Russia today is sporting a debt to GDP ratio of less than 15%
Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 18 2017 7:56 utc | 43
wow...intersting devolpment... so now no one wants to be stuck with the dirty laundry.
I think the best devolpment would be that saudi has to go(meaning they get blamed for all and thus have to take the consequences)... and russia/us together insure's Israel's security (but make them stop antagonizing everybody and stop there shananigans). Russia/US gets credit for this will help their "egos" as superpower. And we all could finally get some peace in the middle east. ..woulb be nice devolpment...not perfect but a good start.
Great article b!
Posted by: Paul | Jun 18 2017 11:18 utc | 44
@42
debts that cannot be paid will not be paid. michael hudson, and everyone else with an ounce of sense.
these great numbers are fictions. it's all bad debt. it will go up in smoke. an new arrangement will be built on top of the ashes.
will it be better or worse?
Posted by: jfl | Jun 18 2017 11:37 utc | 45
jfl at 40. … but it was ksa who ponied up the $100 billion, so far. i wonder if i could 'bribe' them too, i need the dough.
Yes John that is true, but it is traditional to offer ‘a bribe’ (favors etc.) in return for ‘x money, favors’ etc. Each party figures out what they can / want to, pay, for what return. Trump managed with his ‘deal’ (see his The Art of the Deal) to legitimise KSA, re-affirm the KSA-US alliance, offer KSA fire-power (if for yuge payment, evidencing bigly trust), maintain US-milit-indus. thus jobs in the US (as he says), and work towards legitimising, making official, the Isr-KSA alliance or cooperation or whatever it will be called.
The more I think about it, his speech in Ryad, which struck me as extraordinary while listening as I scrubbed the kitchen, is to be re-visited. He sounded tired.
Posted by: Noirette | Jun 18 2017 14:07 utc | 46
Noirette @ 46 -- Yes! Trump did sound tired, almost as if he'd taken a sleeping pill and then got up before the recommended 8 hours of sleep.... But, when he's being kept to programmed talking points that are not his own, or written to sound like his campaign speeches, he sounds, well, like an automaton speaking.
Maybe he gets bored and just can't play act?
Posted by: jawbone | Jun 18 2017 14:35 utc | 47
"The Chinese Navy Fleet set to participate in the war games comprises the Chang Chun guided-missile destroyer, the Chao Hu replenishment ship, the Jin Zhou frigate and a helicopter.
The Chinese ships arrived at a Iranian port on Thursday."
All too typical, and it explains why the navies are least prepared for confrontations that are most frequent. What to do if crossing the route of a much bigger commercial ship turns into a game of chicken? Although the "replenishment ship" could play the role of a commercial freighter. Or how to deal with smaller civilian craft? Once there were civilian guests on board of an American submarine and they were shown how the submarine can quickly come to the surface, demolishing a Japanese fishing boat in the process. Submarines have to have very sturdy shell to withstand underwater pressure so they fare pretty well in such encounters, even when they hit undersea mountains (when such a mountain sneakily evades American sea charts).
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 18 2017 23:08 utc | 48
@32 virgile.. yes.. things are not right in turkey at present.. trouble on the way as i see it..
Posted by: james | Jun 17, 2017 12:21:32 PM | 33
A recent data point. An acquaintance from a Central Asian republic prepares for returning home after post-graduate studies in USA. Suddenly, there is a trouble. He finished a high school that was teaching Turkish as a foreign language, and many of his colleagues got jobs in Turkey. Now it happens that the school was run by a "bad organization" so those colleagues in Turkey got arrested. In the same time, the president of his country, as a friendly gesture to Erdogan, is copying some of those repression, and the college that gave him the job offer is rumored that it will close. At least it is not as bad as in Azerbaijan that slavishly copies Turkish repressions.
This is of course a tip of the iceberg, Turkey is quite f..d up for a duration.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 18 2017 23:25 utc | 49
@46 noirette
yes, i'm sure you're right about the protocal of bribes ... but as you point out, all the ksa got was the speech of a tired, old fraud; an incitement to work in the old fraud's favor; a pat on the behind as it was sent along the path of destruction for the gcc, and of its own pretensions to leading same. i read the text of the speech ... i just cannot bring myself to listen to that tired old fraud delivering it. i haven't voluntarily listened to or watched psotus speeches since reagan's turn as mascot. if the point is that the rump is in way over his head and exhausted ... that's quite apparent all along his waterline. the reagan was completely detached from 'reality', and so tireless. the rump is too deeply in debt to be able to afford such detachment.
the idea of the ksa 'gving up' on terrorism seems like the idea of the cia giving up on terrorism ... that's what they do, in both cases, and is way ahead of whatever is in second place by a long shot. i think israel must be very pleased with the way things are working out for its pets, the usofa and the ksa. and both may even think they're 'in charge'.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 18 2017 23:47 utc | 50
Jfl @ 45
Indeed that is true.
What remains to sort out are the expectations of millions of Americans and Europeans.
Extinguishing demand is not merely an administrative process.
Obliterating productivity is not merely an administrative process.
If we take the current low ball estimate of $400 Trillion, which is growing at vertiginous rates by the way, we can extrapolate how much demand needs to be extinguished.
This needs to happen in the next 20 years.
A bon entendeur, salut!
Posted by: guidoamm | Jun 19 2017 4:19 utc | 51
Israel secretly aiding Syria militants: Wall Street Journal
Israel has been providing Takfiri terrorists in Syria’s Golan Heights with a steady flow of funds and medical supplies as part of Tel Aviv’s involvement in the bloody conflict, the Wall Street Journal reports.
that means that the ksa & uae are going to boycott all things israeli ... right?
Israel, Saudi Arabia Are Reportedly Negotiating Economic Ties
Saudi Arabia and Israel are negotiating the establishment of economic ties, The Times reported on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia’s trade talks with Israel carry huge risks
i guess it's like a supertanker ... or a container ship ... any little vessel gets in the way is in trouble. big ship doesn't even stop, just keeps on going.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 19 2017 8:29 utc | 52
“Leaders” Of Syrian Kurds Continue Sending Warm Messages To Saudi Arabia, Blaming Iran
it certainly looks as though the usofa has substituted the kurds as their proxies in syria. making a show of throwing al-cia-duh under the bus. hoping the kurds will prove more 'sympathetic' to the world's peoples than the saudi terrorist isis or al-cia-duh.
i think instead they will have just served to drag the kurds all the way into the hell-hole they're in themselves. allying with the usofa is like allying with the third reich ... not much sympathy available from those who've been ground in the new american century's meatgrinder.
Posted by: jfl | Jun 20 2017 12:16 utc | 53
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Posted by: braeckmans | Jul 5 2017 20:04 utc | 54
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indeed! twas why i was so happy to hear of the spat among terrorist supporters... more to come, i am sure.. thanks b! excellent..
Posted by: james | Jun 16 2017 21:02 utc | 1