Hello everybody!
Something like a ‘supplement’ for today - and then in reaction to multiple questions.
Apparently, there’s really a war raging almost ‘everywhere’…. ‘at least around Europe’: so much so, this week, it was really hard to follow all the developments in different conflicts.
Now, perhaps I’m the wrong person to ask: even if ‘apparently ignoring the mass’ of them, I am paying attention about a dozen of conflicts raging around the World right now. However, the mass of wars…or other sorts of ‘conflicts’ in question is going on for years… indeed: decades and centuries, already. Thus, for me, this is ‘nothing new’.
But, yes, I can understand that those of you not usually doing this, are ‘slowly getting nervous’.
…..and also that there are impressions like those expressed in cartoons of this kind:
Thus, and perhaps in attempt to ‘prevent panic’, here a ‘brief overview’ of most important developments in different conflicts around the globe, ‘the last week or so’, plus few tips of what and where to follow…
***
Europe
The Russian war of aggression on- and extermination of Ukraine is not only fought in Ukraine. It’s fought in form of sabotage actions well outside the country, too. For example, over the last two years, we’ve seen hundreds ‘spontaneous smoking accidents’ all over Russia. That many of these are anything else than spontaneous is becoming obvious from the Ukrainian HUR (national security agency) meanwhile openly admitting its involvement in acts of sabotage inside the Russian Federation.
More recently, we’ve seen similar ‘accidents’ in Germany, and then in France, where parts of railway systems were severely disturbed. We’ve also seen attacks on undersea communication cables and different factories, as well as assassination attempts (some successful, others not).
As usually, our super-competent politicians are largely ignoring this.
Why?
The problem here in the West is that our oligarchy is still not feeling ‘at war with Pudding’: on the contrary, much of our oligarchy would not only prefer returning to ‘business as usual’, but actually it’s longing to convert our democracies/pluralism into similar dictatorships like Pudding has established in Russia, or Netanyahu is about to establish in Israel. And this oligarchy is selecting and bribing our politicians, plus controlling the media. That’s why we have such like Musk, Thiel etc. supporting Trump, just for example. That’s also why our media remains hopelessly unable of ‘kicking & waking up’ the public regarding what kind of threats are we all facing (regardless if in the EU or the USA), or how misguided and full of double standard is the foreign policy of nearly all of our governments.
Now, thanks whomever, Pudding is not really keen to provoke NATO. Or, even if: he’s not keen to wake up the Western public through directl aggression. Thus, I do hope GRU/FSB-activities of this kind might remain limited - and are not going to cause any kind of loss of life.
***
Middle East
In other cases, our (Western) oligarchy - and thus the politicians it’s bribing - are ‘imprisoned’ in the same incompetence like that with ‘do something and donate F-16s to Ukraine, quickly’. See: ‘we’re guilty for the Holocaust, and Israel is the Happy End of the Holocaust, thus we must support Israel no matter what is it doing (or at least look the other way when it’s misbehaving), or where….’.
Correspondingly, when Zionist fanatics are openly waging a war of extermination against native Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the West is explaining this away with all the possible reasons, and happy to look away - while continuing to wholeheartedly support Israel. While, any kind of critique of Israel = ‘anti-Semitism’ and/or ‘support of terrorism’.
….and when the Zionist fanatics start attacking their own state?
‘Haven’t heard of that, thus it didn’t happen’….
WTF cares?
With ‘unexpectedly’ absurd results.
a) Up to 85% of Zionists (Jews or Christians) - plus entire nations of Zionsim-supporting countries abord - claim they’re not religious. Or at least followers of other religions. However, they are also convinced ‘God gave them/Zionists the Holy Land’, and thus they have the right on it, and the native population not…
….especially so because the mass of people in question is ‘1000% certain’, all the Palestinians are ‘Muslims’, even when at least 10% are (still) Christians…
b) The mass of Zionist fanatics in Israel is refusing to serve in the Israel Defence Force (IDF). Or, if agreeing to do so, insistent on serving in, actually, para-military units commanded by their rabis. Means: (theoretically) ‘sober’ Israelis must defend them, regardless what kind of problems are Zionist extremists causing - for Israel, first and foremost, but for the ‘West’, too… (where that with ‘West’ is meanwhile including all of ‘East Europe’, which, to make things better, is even more supportive of Zionism than the ‘old West’…)….
c) What a surprise then, when the IDF arrested a gang of its own troops ‘suspected’ to have tortured Palestinian ‘detainees’ (see Palestinians hijacked and detained by the Israeli military authorities without any kind of legal prosecution), the base where these were held imprisoned came under attack of Zionist fanatics….
Now, it seems that for many of foreigners this appears as ‘something new’. For weirdos like me: it is not. For many ex-Israelis: even less so - because they know: there is nothing a ‘true and faithful Zionist’ hates as much as other Jews. First and foremost.
(…what a surprise then, even Charles de Gaulle was surprised when David Ben Gurion began teaching him about ‘true Jews… from Europe’ and ‘those other, worthless Jews brought in from the Middle East’, back in 1960 or so…)
Thus, the only news is that this is now - regularly - becoming public: nowadays, such ‘incidents’ are discussed by at least a part of the Israeli media. No, no: not by the Western media, of course. Just like congresses of dozens of thousands of Jews in the USA who are opposing Zionism, our media continues excelling in systemic ignorance of reality.
Therefore - and that’s valid for both the USA and the EU - any critique of Israel (by Jews or not), remains 1000% certain to be declared ‘anti-Semitism’ - especially so in Germany and Austria, where journos who love declaring themselves for ‘Jews’ even if they are none, then go blocking activities of Jewish artists and journalists critical of Zionism, declare them for ‘Gefährder’ etc…
….and that’s ‘just one’ form of ‘news’ from the Middle East this week…. or the last two weeks.
The other is/are what is that Israel - meanwhile run by a government declared ‘right-wing extremist’ even by the German magazine Der Spiegel, owned by one of largest investors in real estate in the Israel-occupied West Bank - doing all over the Middle East.
As first, in reaction to Houthis sending yet another attack-UAV to hit Tel Aviv, Israel launched an air strike over 2,000 kilometres (plus) to savage the port of Hodeida.
…By side that this is just another ‘nice illustration for endless success’ of the US and the EU operations against the Houthis, earlier this year. Becasue… well, after that endless success, how comes Israel is still finding anything worth striking there, in Yemen… But, in the case of the Israeli air strike - which didn’t destroy ‘just some POL dump’, but the mass of cranes used to unload bigger ships in the port of Hodeida - this was reported in the West as a matter of fact, and… well, ‘fine with the West’. At most, there are reports that the Israeli air strike was supported by the Royal Air Force….
For comparison: when the same port was bombed by the Saudi- and allied air forces during the war in Yemen of 2015-2023, there was a public outcry in the West, including accusations in style of ‘this is causing a famine and represents a genocide’.
But, never mind…
As next, on 30-31 July, the peace-loving Israel, the government of which spoiled both of latest initiatives for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip through adding additional demands once the cease-fire was already negotiated,
a) launched an air strike against a building in the Dahiya District of Beirut. This killed the Chief-of-Staff Hezbollah, Fouad Shukr (aka Abu Mohsen) - together with a military advisor of the IRGC, Major Milad Bedi, and two little kids.
According to the same government of Israel, this was a retaliation for a missile strike by Hezbollah on the settlement of Majdal Shams, on the (Israel-occupied) Golan Heights, on 27 July, in which 12 (mostly kids) were killed.
Actually, Hezbollah promptly denied any kind of involvement on that strike. And, alone gauging by the Israeli-Hezbollah relations of the last, say, 20 years, it is so that Hezbollah is only targeting Israeli civilians if the IDF first hits Lebanese civilians. And, in this case, there was no reason for the Hezbollah to target the Israeli civilians…
But, who cares…? And why should any of glorious Western fact-finders trust Hezbollah enough to go and cross-check who actually hit Majdal Shams?
Unimportant…
b) …around the same time, Israel assassinated Ismael Haniyeh, chief of Hamas, and that in a ‘safe house’ in northern Tehran, while this was visiting Iran to participate in festivities surrounding the inauguration of a new president (together with dignitaries from 110 other states, BTW).
Arguably, official Israel said ‘no comment’ in reaction to questions about its involvement in Haniyeh’s assassination, but ‘everybody knows who did it’ - and not only ‘half of Israel’, but also all the possible Israel-fans in the West (and elsehwere) are celebrating.
‘Mossad has shown it to them - those terrorists - again’…
Ironically, next to nobody is considering the fact that not one of Israel-launched ‘decapitation operations’ of the last 100 years was anything like ‘successful’ - in terms of collapsing some organisation through killing its leadership. Actually: all were nothing but counterproductive. Every time the Israelis killed another ‘leader’, ‘chief’, ‘director’, ‘commander’ or whatever, the character in question was replaced by somebody more skilled. What a surprise then, when people like the ex-Director of Mossad, Efraim Halevy, commented about another earlier operation of that kind (assassination of Hezbollah-chief Imad Mughniyeh by a car-bomb in Damascus, about 10 years ago), he concluded it with observation that, ‘…it was regrettable. Look who replaced him…’ (means: Hassan Nasrallah, who is not only more skilled, more extremist than Mughniyeh, but also tighter-controlled by Tehran)…
But, why should anybody listen? Netanyahu and his gang of right-wing extremists and fanatics, plus all of their supporters in the West - all know better…
…and so, we’re now back to where we were in March-April this year: Tehran has already announced a retaliation. Just, this time, with support from Qatar, Turkey… possibly also few other local governments. Probably becasue Trump’s ‘Abraham Treaties’ were so immensely successful in preventing another war in the Middle East, eh?
Indeed, both the IRGC and the Hezbollah are near-certain to strike back. The Hezbollah so much so, it already warned the UN-peacekeepers in Lebanon, the UNIFIL, that it’s going to strike back upon Israel, ‘even if this would lead to a full-scale war’ - which, by pure and distilled accident, of course, is precisely what Netanyahu & Co not only want, but need, because they know: the moment this war (i.e. the current ‘round’ of mass-murdering Palestinians in the Gaza Stripi) is over - their government is over, too. Plus, while everybody is ‘distracted’ by the showdown between Israel and IRGC/Hezbollah, Israel, i.e. the same IDF that’s attacked by Zionist extremists, can continue mass-murdering Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: has killed only some 200 or so the last three days…
…which is simply not worth your attention, right?
Thinking of it: there’s nothing better to cause this kind of a fuck-up - but systemic ignorance of factors leading to it. Isn’t it?
***
Syria
OK… now, while this was going on in- and ‘immediately around’ Israel (as far as ‘Yemen is around Israel’), the USA and IRGC continued their ‘usual exchange of compliments’ in form of rocket attacks on US facilities in Iraq and Syria, and IRGC-facilities in Iraq and Syria.
And then… perhaps to add a cup to the cake, eh (?) - the glorious Ukrainian SBU announced to have ‘heavily pounded a Russian base at Kweres’ (Air Base), in Syria, too.
Now, the Kweres AB is an old training facility of (what once used to be) the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF). The SyAAF as such is meanwhile little else but a flying militia, staffed by mass-murderers. But, that’s unimportant because - at least according all the possible Pudding-linked right-wing populists in the EU - the ‘war in Syria is long since over’.
Point is: Kweres was used as a forward operating base for Russian UAVs, and might have some sort of presence, either in form of a guard unit of the VSRF, or the Wagner PMC, too.
Moreover, for Ukrainians to run this kind of an operation in this part of Syria - well, that required at least a tacit approval of Turkey.
Why that?
Oh, that’s not important.
Well, we can be 1000% certain that the Trio Fantasticus in the White House wouldn’t let the SBU deploy its troops and attack UAVs via the US bases in Syria. Whether those in the Tanf area (on the border to Iraq), or those in the area controlled by the PKK/PYD/YPG-conglomerate. The former, because the Trio Fantasticus is ah-so-super-sensitive about ‘not provoking Pudding’ (read: appeasing him), and the latter because the ‘best US ally against the IS’ - the ‘Kurdish’ PKK - is fiercely pro-Russian and anti-Ukraine.
Nevermind.
Erdo is an enemy of Israel, and of Armenia… and thus the West.. and Turkey should get kicked out of NATO…
It’s also my own problem if I simply do not see the point of the SBU doing this against Kweres. WTF there? And WTF alerting the Russians in Syria about the presence of the Ukrainian special force’s presence - without actually hitting where it could seriously hurt Moscow (and the VKS): the Hmeimim AB (which still has a presence of some 15-20 VKS aircraft)…?
Me and my questions…
***
Sudan
But then… those who are reading this blog since longer know very well: I’ve been told I do not understand how foreign relations work. Especially not how diplomacy works.
Therefore, this is a cold matter of fact.
….and so, the SBU continues its operations in support of the military junta in Khartoum.
For details about how successful is that operation… and how ‘well’ is that conflict developing, cannot but refer you to the gents from the Sudan War Monitor. Their work is really fantastic, and they can inform you far better than I could.
Just, please, while at that, be so kind and pay attention at the fact that the very same military junta of Sudan that’s supported by the Ukrainian SBU, is meanwhile doing its best to re-establish (once ‘cordial’) relations to certain country named the Islamic Republic of Iran…
***
Mali
Ah yes… and there was lots of celebrations in the Western social media when, earlier this week, the Touareg in Mali - allied with the local ‘branch’ of the IS - smashed a task force of the Wagner PMC, plus some of Malian Army (as far as the latter didn’t flee before it was too late). Because the Touareg were clever enough to put up a flag of Ukraine in one of their social-media appearances: this was so much welcomed, that everybody promptly forgot about the fact that the same Touareg-IS-coalition was fighting the Western military alliance for some 15 years… (until the French grew fed-up and quit, followed by USA, Germans and others). Foremost because the West wouldn’t let the Touareg get their own country…
‘Anyway’… one of most complete reconstructions of the battle in question is available on the Sahel OSINT blog, in Spanish (which, I hope, shouldn’t be a problem in the times of automatic translators being installed in all of your browsers). I couldn’t offer anything better.
Sufficient to say: even the Russian social media is meanwhile something like ‘confirming’ the death of around 80 mercenaries. The only thing uncertain is whether this is including Anton Lotos (commander of Wagner PMC during the battle of Bakhmut), and/or Sergei Shevchenko (another notable commander of the Wagner), or not…
Bottom line:
Touareg fighting the West-supported government of Mali = not good.
…but, Touareg fighting the Russian-supported military junta of Mali = good.
Hm… could somebody, please help me and explain why am I associating this with the (usual) factor of ‘Western double standards’…?
***
Myanmar
‘Last but not least’…. the (‘Civil’) war in Myanmar… is another big war ‘worth’ your attention. Yes, sure, fought ‘in a place about which nobody cares about’, but: having its effects not only for developments in the country, but well around and outside it.
Here I cannot but recommend following the Asia Sentinel: the blog is run by people with lots of experience and terrific insights - so also in the Myanmar junta meanwhile being on the best way of losing this war.
The same is valid for all those interested into the stand-off in the South China Sea - ‘of relevance’ because, between others, prompted by our glorious oligarchy, different of European governments think they can ‘defend democracy’ by sending the literal, ‘last few’ warships of their navies to that area..
…or the US-PRC-stand-off, where certain dickheads in the USA (but in the EU, too) are so ‘sure’ is going to ‘work’, they are presenting it as an important part of their political programs, although it’s meanwhile 1000% certain the ‘decoupling’ (of the USA/West from the PRC economy) is not, not, and not working… regardless of all the Western threats, and ‘not even’ at the time the PRC is supplying ever more ‘lethal’ aid for Pudding’s invasion of Ukraine… or at least letting North Korea do that…
Ah yes….and another interesting piece of news one can find on that blog is a nice study about how one of ‘most important non-NATO allies’ of the USA (and one of biggest supporters of international jihadism) - Pakistan - is proving completely unable to reform itself even when demanded to do so by the actual superpower granting its survival: the PRC.
***
So, that’s about the ‘most important’ developments around the World, ‘right now’. Actually: very little news, and nothing special. The World keeps on turning, and the greed-driven humanity continues excelling at self-destruction.
Nothing special to see, really…
….don’t worry, we’re going to survive all of this…
….provided we _all_ ever decide to start reforming our electoral behaviour and thus our governance…
Would be good if you could make a further dissection of "the ‘Kurdish’ PKK - is fiercely pro-Russian and anti-Ukraine." or point towards any other good write-ups? Thanks.
Pretty much 100% agreement from this direction. Pakistan is a bugbear of mine. Our "ally" in the region who were responsible, via the semi-deniable ISI, A.Q. Khan network, of selling nuclear weapons technology to the Norks. - in exchange for improved missile tech. How this (almost unique) example of nuclear weapons proliferation never seems to come up in Western political dialog beats me. Of course our ruling oligarchy doesn't want to wake up our population from their deep sleep and dreams of owning an iPhone16.n. Watching mainstream news in UK is a sickening experience for reasons too numerous to mention - if pretty obvious to anyone half-awake who does.