The Himalayas in and around Darjeeling and Kalimpong and down to Siliguri are in turmoil, several protesters have been killed and many police and protesters injured. Government offices have been set ablaze and police cars burnt. In its demand for a separate Gorkhaland, the main political party, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), has organized mass marches …
Continue reading India: Why an Autonomous Gorkhaland is Best Way Forward
We walked in a single file. Not because it was tactically sound. It wasn’t -- at least according to standard infantry doctrine. Patrolling southern Afghanistan in column formation limited maneuverability, made it difficult to mass fire, and exposed us to enfilading machine-gun bursts. Still, in 2011, in the Pashmul District of Kandahar Province, single file …
Continue reading Tread Carefully: The Folly of the Next Afghan “Surge”
The U.S. is giving up its hopeless position at the Syrian-Iraq border crossing near al-Tanf in south east Syria. The U.S. military had earlier bombed Syrian forces when they came near that position but it then found itself outmaneuvered, cut off from the north and enclosed in a useless area. Al-Tanf is in the blue …
Continue reading U.S. Retreats From Al-Tanf – Gives Up On Occupying South East Syria
Russia speaks with a unified voice while America is becoming a land of confusion. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has called America’s bluff in naming two possible locations in northwest Idlib Governorate where a possible chemical weapons false flag attack could occur. She named Saraqib and Ariha as two probable locations where terrorists could …
Continue reading Zakharova: Russia Aware of Possible Locations for False Flag Attack
It won’t be much of a surprise for those who closely follow geopolitical news that the number of people who think positively about the United States has significantly since the day Donald Trump took office. This assessment has recently been published by a Washington-based non-governmental organization that studies public opinion – the Pew Research Center. …
Continue reading Would Yet Another False Flag Attack Allow the US to Go All In Against Syria?
China and Russia have already ditched the US dollar in their vast energy trade. Now China is leveraging Saudi Arabia to also abandon the greenback for oil sales. No wonder, it seems, that US policies are increasingly lashing out. US global power depends on its presumed economic prowess and military force. With its economy in long-term decline, …
As widely anticipated, tensions between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are slowly corroding the unity of Washington’s allies in the Middle East In a series of almost unprecedented events among Washington's regional allies, the crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar seems to worsen by the day. The long-awaited list of demands presented to Doha by Riyadh seem …
Continue reading Saudi Arabia is Weakening US Influence in the Middle East
US surveillance planes have intensified flights off the coast of Syria after Washington accused Damascus of plotting a chemical attack. Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush is en route to the Israeli port of Haifa. Enthusiasts monitoring air traffic in the region have logged the flights of three types of US spy …
Continue reading Spy Planes & Aircraft Carrier: US Boosts Presence Off Syria Amid WMD Accusations
To one watching the advance of Chinese science and technology, or to me anyway, several things stand out. First, the headlong pace. Second, the amount of it that appears aimed at making China independent of the West technologically and getting the United States off Beijing’s back. Third, the apparent calculated focus. It looks like intelligent …
