TPLF preparing for third round of war – Ethiopian envoy
Related:
West behind continued fighting in northern Ethiopia: Scholar
Leaked document: T-TPLF’s wicked scheme to derail peace talks
Tag: food insecurity
US Says Sending Envoy To Ethiopia, Condemns Eritrea Return To War + More
US Says Sending Envoy To Ethiopia, Condemns Eritrea Return To War
Abiy [Ahmed] won the Nobel Peace Prize for his reconciliation with Eritrea but has fallen out of favor with the United States, a longtime Ethiopian ally which voiced revulsion over the violence in Tigray, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken of “ethnic cleansing.”
President Joe Biden’s administration as of January 1 booted Ethiopia out of a key trade agreement that allowed duty-free access, outraging segments of the growing Ethiopian-American community which said the United States was ceding influence to rival powers such as China.
Related:
US-backed TPLF resumes war in northern Ethiopia
Then, on August 2, the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer, US Chargé d’Affaires in Ethiopia Tracey Jacobson and the European Union (EU) envoy Annette Weber, along with other Western diplomats, paid a visit to Mekelle and met TPLF leaders. Soon after this visit, which was criticized by the Ethiopian government, the TPLF began mobilization for war.
Africa taken for ‘neo-colonial’ ride
By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram – Jul 26, 2022
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 26 2022 (IPS) – Like so many others, Africans have long been misled. Alleged progress under imperialism has long been used to legitimize exploitation. Meanwhile, Western colonial powers have been replaced by neo-colonial governments and international institutions serving their interests.
Africa taken for ‘neo-colonial’ ride
Why The West Is Easing Its Sanctions On Russia
While the EU remains determined to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, a shortage of energy and food is forcing the group to ease sanctions.
Why The West Is Easing Its Sanctions On Russia
Lavrov is on Blinken’s list of people to call
Lavrov is on Blinken’s list of people to call
Blinken also added a second topic he’d like to discuss with Lavrov —implementation of the recent “grain deal”. Washington played no role in negotiating the deal and is presumably hoping to make a lateral entry into the matrix now. Blinken claimed he is “seeing and hearing around the world a desperate need for food, a desperate need for prices to decrease. And if we can help through our direct diplomacy encourage the Russians to make good on the commitments they’ve made, that will help people around the world, and I’m determined to do it.”
Interestingly, in a veiled reference to the US, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavuсoglu stated Wednesday on broadcaster Tv100 that there were countries who “wanted to block” the grain deal between Russia and Turkey, who want the Ukraine conflict “to prolong”, as they think the longer Moscow’s special military operation continues, “the weaker Russia will be.”
…
Indeed, the war has spun out of US algorithm. As Hungarian PM Orban pointed out last week, anti-Russian sanctions “have not shaken Moscow,” but Europe has already lost four governments and is in an economic and political crisis.
…
The spectre of the collapse of EU economies is rattling the Biden Administration. A CNN report yesterday was titled US officials say ‘biggest fear’ has come true as Russia cuts gas supplies to Europe. It said the Biden administration “is working furiously behind the scenes to keep European allies united” as the blowback from the sanctions against Russia hits them and the “impact on Europe could boomerang back onto the US, spiking natural gas and electricity prices.”
The report quoted an unnamed US official saying Russia’s retaliation for western sanctions has put the West in “unchartered territory.” Suffice to say, Blinken’s call underscores the desperate urgency in Washington to open a line of communication to Moscow at the political level.
Is this the end of UNRWA?
In his April 2022 message to Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said the agency is “cash-strapped” and that it has become “almost customary” for the person in his position to “beg for help if we want the services to continue.”
Is this the end of UNRWA?
Biden officials worry their Russia sanctions were so powerful they also brought economic suffering to the US, report says
Corporate ‘Self-Sanctioning’ of Russia Has US Fearing Economic Blowback
But some Biden administration officials are now privately expressing concern that rather than dissuading the Kremlin as intended, the penalties are instead exacerbating inflation, worsening food insecurity and punishing ordinary Russians [they don’t care about the people, the true purpose of sanctions is to encourage people to overthrow their leader] more than Putin or his allies.
…
When the
invasion[special military operation] began, the Biden administration believed that if penalties exempted food and energy [what exemptions?!], the impact on inflation at home would be minimal. Since then, energy and food have become key drivers of the highest US inflation rates in 40 years, a huge political liability for President Joe Biden and the Democratic party heading into November’s mid-term elections [they only care about winning the midterms].…
There’s no sign that administration officials feel their sanctions policy was a mistake or that they want to dial back the pressure. If anything, officials have said a key US goal is to ensure Russia can’t do to other nations what it has done in Ukraine [then tell Puppet Zelensky to negotiate instead of flooding Ukraine with weapons!!].
…
The Biden administration
rejects[denies] any suggestion that sanctions are part of the problem, emphasizing that the US isn’t penalizing humanitarian goods or food, andputting[shifting] the blame on Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine, including by targeting shipping on the Black Sea [which is blocked with mines].…
About 1,000 companies have so far announced that they are curtailing operations in Russia, according to data collected by the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. That underscores one reason sanctions are so popular with policy makers: They essentially outsource US policy to the private sector [intentional and/or just being lazy?!], which makes it less surgical, less calibrated and less responsive to policy changes, said Smith, the former OFAC adviser.
This becomes important as all sides seek an end to the war [no, they don’t]. The lifting of sanctions can be dangled as an incentive to help bring about a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. But right now it’s hard even to offer that as a potential benefit of entering into negotiations because much of the pullout by American businesses has been self-inflicted [they screwed themselves]. Companies could face public blowback if they are seen as rushing back into the Russian market.
Headline stolen from:
Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation
Ukraine – The U.S. Is Moving Towards Escalation
The Pentagon is not ready for a war on China. Iran is too strong and would respond to an attack by launching its huge missile arsenal on Israel and U.S. allies in the Gulf. This leaves Syria*. It is unlikely by chance that the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. is coordinating Israeli airstrikes in that country:
Related:
*Report: Russia warns to strike US-allied militants in Syria’s al-Tanf region
Biden Hikes Medicare Prices And Funnels Profits to Private Insurers
The largest-ever Medicare premium increase will pad the pockets of insurance executives who donated millions to the president’s election campaign.
Biden Hikes Medicare Prices And Funnels Profits to Private Insurers
Related:
Medicare limits coverage of controversial Alzheimer’s drug to those in clinical trials
Biden’s Famine: US Robbery Depriving Syrians and Ukrainians of Wheat, Syrian Scholars Say
The US has expanded the smuggling of Syrian wheat from illegally occupied regions amid an unfolding food crisis, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia revealed on 25 May. Washington now plans to ship over 20 million tonnes of grain out of Ukraine also.
Biden’s Famine: US Robbery Depriving Syrians and Ukrainians of Wheat, Syrian Scholars Say
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.