February 17, 2018 – Astute News

February 17, 2018

Escalation in Syria – How Far Can the Russians be Pushed?

Events in Syria have recently clearly taken a turn for the worse and there is an increasing amount of evidence that the Russian task force in Syria is being targeted by a systematic campaign of “harassing attacks”. First, there was the (relatively successful) drone and mortar attack on the Russian Aerospace base in Khmeimin. Then there was the shooting down...

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February 17, 2018

Putin Prefers Aramco to Trump’s Sword Dance

In the slideshow that is Middle Eastern politics, the series of still images seldom add up to make an enduring narrative. And the probability is high that when an indelible image appears, it might go unnoticed – such as Russia and Saudi Arabia wrapping up huge energy deals on Wednesday underscoring a new narrative in regional and international security. The...

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February 17, 2018

Are America’s Hawks Any Good Against China’s Dragons?

The recent publication of the notorious “Kremlin list” that is to become the basis of yet another round of anti-Russian punitive measures planned by the White House, was empowered by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. This law proclaims Russia to be an official enemy of Washington, along with North Korea and Iran. However, various political figures in Washington are declaring...

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February 17, 2018

Exacerbation of Tensions in Syria: Who Stands to Gain?

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he would order airstrikes against Syria if the rumors that its government has used chemical weapons (CW) against civilians are confirmed. Never backed up with any solid evidence, such reports crop up from time to time in the Western media. In some cases the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has claimed that the...

Opinion Comment: 1

February 17, 2018

Tillerson in Turkey

Bilateral relations are the most strained in decades over numerous issues, most notably: • for the July 2016 coup attempt Erdogan blamed on exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen living in America; • Washington providing heavy weapons to Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria; and • its plan to establish a 30,000-strong largely Kurdish YPG border security force in northern Syria along Turkey’s...

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February 17, 2018

Netanyahu Is in Trouble, But Who will Replace Him?

It looks like the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long history of skirting corruption scandals may be running out of time. For decades, Netanyahu has been accused and investigated for various shady schemes. Twenty years ago, police even declared him so implicated that they recommended he be charged. But like the cat with nine lives, he’s escaped every entanglement. But...

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February 17, 2018

Ending the Reign of the Nuclear Monarchs

Once again, nuclear Armageddon is just a push of the proverbial button away. Donald Trump has reawakened Cold War fears over nuclear apocalypse, as the recent panic in Hawaii demonstrates. Meanwhile, not since Barry Goldwater has the mental health of a president been the source of so much debate. Every tweet, every unscripted wisecrack, every salacious leak is dissected and...

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February 17, 2018

As American as Apple Pie: Rape in a Culture that Looks the Other Way

Shortly before midnight on September 3, 1944, an African-American sharecropper named Recy Taylor was walking home from church with two companions in Abbeville, Alabama when the women noticed a green Chevy sedan drive past four times before finally rattling to a stop just a few feet ahead. Seven white men, armed with knives and guns, leapt from the car, accused...

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Daily Archive: February 17, 2018

Escalation in Syria – How Far Can the Russians be Pushed?

Putin Prefers Aramco to Trump’s Sword Dance

Are America’s Hawks Any Good Against China’s Dragons?

Exacerbation of Tensions in Syria: Who Stands to Gain?

Tillerson in Turkey

Netanyahu Is in Trouble, But Who will Replace Him?

Ending the Reign of the Nuclear Monarchs

As American as Apple Pie: Rape in a Culture that Looks the Other Way