Tag: Linda Thomas-Greenfield

Washington Escalates Pressure Against Venezuela on the Essequibo Front

Ms. Cat

After the signing of the Argyle Declaration between Venezuela and Guyana on December 14, 2023, many events have occurred. Instead of reducing tensions as the agreement signed in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had intended, it seems that tensions have been rising steadily and silently.

Washington Escalates Pressure Against Venezuela on the Essequibo Front

Related:

Government and corporate funded CSIS: The Essequibo Pressure Cooker

2020 Guyanese Election & Venezuela-Guyana Border Dispute

Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will be targeted again for regime change by the CIA front, NED.

U.S. Pushes to Shape Israel’s Rafah Operation, Not Stop It + Washington sends Israel more city-busting bombs to level Rafah

Ms. Cat

U.S. Pushes to Shape Israel’s Rafah Operation, Not Stop It

Rafah has been at the center of a growing rift between Israeli and U.S. political leaders. Those tensions boiled over on Monday, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit to Washington by top aides to discuss U.S. concerns over the planned offensive on Rafah, where Hamas fighters are making a final stand. The tit-for-tat move was in response to the U.S. abstaining from a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire while also demanding the release of hostages.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, however, proceeded with his meetings at the White House and Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday, which had been previously scheduled. Gallant is part of Israel’s three-member war cabinet that includes Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, the prime minister’s chief political rival.

…

Both sides also agreed that the Hamas battalions in Rafah must be dislodged so that the militants cannot attempt a comeback or continue to smuggle weapons into the enclave, which are prerequisites for ending the war and paving the way for a new political authority in Gaza. And that means trying to find ways to work with Israel on its Rafah strategy, for lack of better options.

Related:

Washington sends Israel more city-busting bombs to level Rafah

Read More »

Gaza: Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire’ during Ramadan and it’s legally binding!

Ms. Cat

The UN Security Council on Monday passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and “the urgent need to expand the flow” of aid into Gaza. There were 14 votes in favour with the United States abstaining.

Gaza: Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire’ during Ramadan

Related:

Why Today’s UN Security Council Resolution Demanding an Immediate Ceasefire Is Legally Binding

In conclusion, the resolution is – despite statements to the contrary – legally binding and creates a legally binding request for an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan and a legally binding request to immediately release all hostages. The obvious elephant in the room is enforcement: who is to enforce the Security Council resolution in the current situation? It ultimately falls to the parties of the conflict to heed the Security Council’s call, and to the Council itself to enforce its requests. Given the experience of the past months, this is no cause for enthusiasm. Yet, the fact that the Council could agree on the text, after five vetoes on the matter, is, perhaps, a shred of hope.

Russia’s FM Lavrov Slams US Double Standards over Israel, Ukraine War

Ms. Cat

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov slammed US double standards over Syria’s Golan Heights and the Donbass region in Ukraine.

Russia’s FM Lavrov Slams US Double Standards over Israel, Ukraine War

Related:

Lavrov accuses U.S. of double standards over Golan Heights, Donbas

Secretary Antony J. Blinken with Wolf Blitzer of CNN’s The Situation Room

QUESTION: The Trump administration, as you know, also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria back in 1967. Will your administration, the Biden administration, continue to see the Golan Heights as part of Israel?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Look, leaving aside the legalities of that question, as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel’s security. As long as Assad is in power in Syria, as long as Iran is present in Syria, militia groups backed by Iran, the Assad regime itself – all of these pose a significant security threat to Israel, and as a practical matter, the control of the Golan in that situation I think remains of real importance to Israel’s security. Legal questions are something else. And over time, if the situation were to change in Syria, that’s something we’d look at. But we are nowhere near as that.

‘Why are we tempting nuclear annihilation?’ — Transcript of Max Blumenthal’s address UN Security Council

Ms. Cat

The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal addressed the UN Security Council on the role of US military aid to Ukraine in escalating the conflict with Russia and the real motives behind Washington’s support for Kiev’s proxy war.

‘Why are we tempting nuclear annihilation?’ Watch Max Blumenthal address UN Security Council

Previously:

All aboard the gravy train: an independent audit of US funding for Ukraine

The Tragedy of US Diplomacy Pushing for War, But Never Peace

Ms. Cat

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

In a brilliant op-ed published in the New York Times, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi explained how China, with help from Iraq, was able to mediate and resolve the deeply-rooted conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, whereas the United States was in no position to do so after siding with the Saudi kingdom against Iran for decades. The title of Parsi’s article, “The U.S. Is Not an Indispensable Peacemaker,” refers to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s use of the term “indispensable nation” to describe the U.S. role in the post-Cold War world.

The Tragedy of US Diplomacy Pushing for War, But Never Peace