I want to speak to you tonight about Ukraine – what has happened to it and why, how it is likely to emerge from the ordeal to which great power rivalry has subjected it; and what we can learn from this. I do so with some trepidation and a warning to this audience. My talk, like the conflict in Ukraine, is a long and complicated one. It contradicts propaganda that has been very convincing. My talk will offend anyone committed to the official narrative. The way the American media have dealt with the Ukraine war brings to mind a comment by Mark Twain: “The researches of many commentators have already thrown much darkness on this subject, and it is probable that, if they continue, we shall soon know nothing at all about it.”
Chas Freeman: The Many Lessons of the Ukraine War
Tag: territorial integrity
The Palestinians’ inalienable right to resist
In December 1982, following Israel’s devastating invasion of Lebanon six months earlier, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution A/RES/37/43 concerning the ‘[i]mportance of the universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination’. It endorsed, without qualification, ‘the inalienable right’ of the Palestinian people to ‘self-determination, national independence, territorial integrity, national unity and sovereignty without outside interference’, and reaffirmed the legitimacy of their struggle for those rights ‘by all available means, including armed struggle’. It also strongly condemned Israel’s ‘expansionist activities in the Middle East’ and ‘continual bombing of Palestinian civilians’, both said to ‘constitute a serious obstacle to the realization of the self-determination and independence of the Palestinian people’. In the four decades since then, Israel’s violence against the Palestinian people and its colonisation of their land has not ceased. Up to the present moment, all over historical Palestine, from the Gaza Strip to Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinians are still under that same occupation, subject to suffocating control over virtually every aspect of their lives – and the sadistic, unaccountable violence of the Zionist state.
The Palestinians’ inalienable right to resist
US seeks to ‘militarize’ Venezuela-Guyana disputed territory
The Venezuelan Foreign Minister says that the parliament recently passed a referendum protecting the sovereign territory from US encroachment, adding that the US is again trying to interfere in the 200-year-old dispute of Essequibo.
US seeks to ‘militarize’ Venezuela-Guyana disputed territory
Related:
Exxon Is The Biggest Winner In Guyana’s Epic Oil Boom
China and Venezuela to Establish ‘All-Weather Strategic Partnership’, Sign 31 Cooperation Agreements
The Venezuelan leader added that his country would continue to back China’s Belt and Road Initiative as well as the internationalization of the yuan, and is also willing to cooperate with Beijing in multilateral forums such as the BRICS group and the United Nations (UN).
Russia’s FM Lavrov Slams US Double Standards over Israel, Ukraine War
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.
Canada’s explosive claims against India put US in a pinch
Canada’s explosive claims against India put US in a pinch
The U.S. reportedly worked closely with Canada in investigating the apparent murder on its soil. President Biden has not publicly commented on the allegations, highlighting the tricky balancing act of standing by Canada without alienating India.
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The Washington Post reported earlier this week that several senior officials of Canada’s Five Eyes allies, of which the U.S. is a member, were informed of the allegations ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi. Nevertheless, no public comment was made by any senior leaders among the group’s members, which also include the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
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“The fact is that the Canadians have allowed some pretty dodgy people to use Canadian soil and to spread violent messages,” Dhume said.
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“Under Trudeau, the foreign policy choices have been subordinated to domestic diaspora politics, given the importance of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, which have been important liberal voters. Trudeau, who has a minority in [Canadian] parliament, is only in power because of the [New Democratic Party] led by Jagmeet Singh,” Dehejia told The Hill.
Singh is the first Sikh to lead a major federal party in Canada, and helped Trudeau form a minority government last year after the Liberals failed to win a majority in parliament.
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Reuters reported that an unnamed senior Canadian government source said Ottawa worked “very closely” with the United States on the intelligence assessment.
Related:
Read More »Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso sign mutual defence pact
Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso sign mutual defence pact
Mali has, in addition to fighting jihadists linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, seen a resumption of hostilities by predominantly Tuareg armed groups over the past week.
Related:
Mali peace deal under threat following increase in attacks by armed Tuareg groups
Read More »Xi, Assad announce China-Syria strategic partnership
Cooperation to help improve livelihood of Syrian people after turmoil
Xi, Assad announce China-Syria strategic partnership
Related:
Leaders of Syria and China announce strategic partnership as part of Asian Games diplomacy
Assad’s visit parallels in some ways that of Russian President Vladimir Putin last year for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
AP trying to draw parallels between Russia-Ukraine and China-Taiwan.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Khalistani terrorist at centre of India-Canada tussle?
Who is Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Canada-based pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen at the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city of Canada’s British Columbia province.
Born in Jalandhar, Punjab, Nijjar moved to Canada in 1997 and worked as a plumber. He was married and had two children. His wealth rose suddenly due to his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities. He joined the terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International and went on to establish his own group – Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
Nijjar was also associated with the separatist organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which is banned in India. He is accused of being proactively involved in recruiting, training, financing and operationalising pro-Khalistan terrorist modules for spreading terror in India.
The Khalistani terrorist was wanted in several cases, including a blast in 2007 that killed six people in Ludhiana. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet in 2022 against the KTF chief over a conspiracy to kill a Hindu priest in Jalandhar. A cash reward of Rs 10 lakhs was declared against Nijjar by the NIA.
Nijjar had been accused of killing Ripudaman Singh Malik, the man who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing case, in Surrey last year. He was designated as an ‘individual terrorist’ by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in July 2020.
India has repeatedly asked the Canadian authorities to take action against Nijjar for his alleged involvement in terrorist acts in Punjab. Last year the Punjab Police had sought the extradition of Nijjar on charges of reviving terrorism in the state.
‘India is behaving like a rogue state’: Dissident’s death drags Narendra Modi into global row
Nijjar was not a random target, but a prominent advocate for the creation of Khalistan, a Sikh ethno-religious state carved out of areas including India’s Punjab region.
The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials deem it a national security threat, but it has some support in the country’s northern regions, as well as among the sizeable Sikh diaspora in Canada and Britain.
Pakistan, India’s chief foe, is widely suspected of fanning the movement.
Related:
What is Khalistan separatist movement, how did the ideology travel from India to Canada?
New Zealand: Waking Up to a Disturbing Reality!
New Zealand was once the beacon of independent policymaking, but recent intel suggests a seismic shift towards the U.S-led AUKUS military alliance. New documents unearth a looming war shadow, with Wellington pushing Kiwis towards a volatile stand-off with China. What’s driving this dramatic pivot? Are we on the brink of the unimaginable?
New Zealand: Waking Up to a Disturbing Reality! via Geopolitical Trends, w/Dr. David Oualaalou
Sources:
Unease Over New Zealand Overtures to US in Pacific
The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
New Zealand says it will set China policy, not US-led Five Eyes
[12-2021] Biden assures Zelenskiy that NATO membership in Ukraine’s hands, Kyiv says
KYIV, Dec 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance was in its own hands, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said after the two leaders spoke on Thursday.
Biden assures Zelenskiy that NATO membership in Ukraine’s hands, Kyiv says
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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