Author: M Barbu

A Comprehensive Review of the Effectiveness of US and EU Sanctions on Syria

Executive Summary

The subject of Western sanctions on Syria is a divisive one among analysts and policymakers interested in ending the misery of the country’s citizens. The division comes at a time when, more than ever, the country needs a comprehensive policy that ends the agony of most Syrians. This study assesses the effectiveness of the sanctions imposed on the regime of Bashar al-Assad by conducting a comprehensive review of their history, evaluating shortcomings in the current setup, and recommending ways to move forward.

Hezbollah chief Nasrallah says group could escalate its response to Israel

The leader of Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday that his group had chosen to respond to Israeli airstrikes on open land, but could escalate its actions in the future.

No strikes were reported on Saturday, and no casualties have been reported thus far.

On Friday, Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israeli forces, drawing retaliatory fire from Israel into south Lebanon. Both sides targeted open land, indicating that they did not wish to escalate the salvos further.

The final leaves of the Arab Spring have fallen

There is no doubt that the coup led by President Kais Saied in Tunisia has caused a major tremor in Arab societies yearning for freedom and democracy. They could smell the aroma of freedom from the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, the cradle of the Arab Spring. Tunisia gave them hope after the counter-revolutions in Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Libya ended regional optimism.

“Nach Afghanistan abzuschieben ist unmenschlich”

Die Lage in Afghanistan wird immer gefährlicher. Dorthin abzuschieben, ist unmenschlich – und zu glauben, die bisherige Flüchtlingspolitik einfach fortführen zu können, ohnehin ein Trugschluss.

Ist es moralisch und rechtlich vertretbar, Menschen in ein Kriegsgebiet abzuschieben? Nein. Ist Afghanistan ein Kriegsgebiet? Gestern haben die radikal-islamischen Taliban eine Residenz des Verteidigungsministers in Kabul angegriffen. 13 Menschen starben dabei.

Juris Lorencs: Viņi ir klāt! Kā rīkosies Latgales iedzīvotāji, ja migranti atradīs ceļu uz Eiropu caur Baltkrievijas robežu ar Latviju? 40

Juris Lorencs, “Latvijas Avīze”, AS “Latvijas Mediji”

Lai saprastu pašreiz Lietuvā notiekošās humānās katastrofas apmērus, pietiek ieskatīties jaunāko ziņu virsrakstos: “Nelegālie migranti no Baltkrievijas ierodas milzīgā skaitā”, “Viņi plūst nepārtraukti”, “Robežsargi strādā bez atpūtas”, “Drīz nebūs vietas, kur izmitināt migrantus”, “Rūdninku poligonā plānots izvietot 800 migrantus”, “Nav jaunu vietu, izņemot Rūdninkus”, “Uz Rūdninkiem nogādātas bruņumašīnas un ūdensmetēji”, “Rūdninkos nemieri, migrantus izdzenā ar ūdeni un asaru gāzi”.

How ‘blood mineral’ traders in Rwanda are helping fund Congo rebels – and undermining global supply chains

New evidence from a United Nations report and a high-profile investor arbitration case is casting a spotlight on Rwanda’s role in sophisticated smuggling networks that extract gold and coltan from Congolese conflict zones and funnel the strategically important minerals illicitly into the global supply chain for consumer products such as cellphones, computers and jewellery.

‘No possible life’ under Taliban rule: Afghan women fear murder, oppression after US withdrawal

KABUL – College professor Moqadasa Rasouli has many memories from when the Taliban ruled the majority of Afghanistan and enforced a strict interpretation of sharia or Islamic law.

These memories are invariably the stuff of nightmares.

Once, Rasouli witnessed a group of women being severely whipped for wearing flip-flops and nail polish. Another time, her 10-year-old neighbor was beaten for forgetting to put on a headscarf. When the Taliban found out Rasouli and other girls were secretly studying at a school, it was promptly closed down.

Negotiating out of Counterterrorism in the Sahel

Perhaps in an effort to signal an opening for negotiations, Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Sahel declared that French soil is not part of the conflict.

For the first time, an al-Qaeda affiliate publicly declared that the ongoing war with France does not include French soil.

The most active branches of al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State (IS) are currently in sub-Saharan Africa.

Afghanistan: bullied, bombed, betrayed

The corporate media was forced to admit the obvious by early July. Even before U.S. troops left Afghanistan, the reactionary Islamist Taliban that their invasion overthrew had retaken huge swaths of the country. After 20 years and over $2 trillion spent, Washington faced a massive failure with nothing to show for it but death and destruction.

What apologists for U.S. barbarism avoided at all costs was a tally of the devastation or the lies used to justify it. Corrupt collaboration government officials and their allies have looted the country. Not only the Taliban, but also al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh), are stronger than ever.