The operation mimics what happened in Manbij when Erdogan threatened annihilation by his jihadi FSA and ex Al Qaeda mercenaries and when joint US patrols warded off the threat with the Kurdish YPG/YPJ section of the SDF withdrawing from the local military council.
Only this time Turkish troops will be directly involved and historic evidence implies they will never leave, imposing Turkification, ethnic cleansing, strict islamic law and female subjugation.
Turkish propaganda also claims, as they did in Afrin, that ”Syrian refugees” will be relocated in the Invasion Patrols ‘Safe Zone’. The SDF welcomes the return of former residents but the reality is that hundreds of thousands of Turkish financed rightwing ‘rebels’ from all over Syria are being forced out of Idlib and need ”relocating”.
(The over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey (actually a smaller minority in a population of 81 million than the IDP’s hosted in Rojava and formerly Afrin) are being cruelly exploited as virtual black slave labour while being subsidised with billions of euros by the EU taxpayer with blatant blackmail threats to ” flood Europe” with them.)
The SDF coalition of militias, of Rojava/Autonomous Administration(AA) though 70,000 strong, are facing a giant 639,551.[8] strong modern NATO army , led by an openly fascist, racist, misogynist and mass murdering expansionist regime, as being illustrated daily in Afrin, which could roll over them in days.
The troops of the ”Turkish Hitler”will be protected by the USA which has the biggest military in history, financed by ‘infinite debt’ and by forcing the world to buy US dollars to trade
The hope in Rojava is that allowing the Turkish/US patrols could hold back Erdogan’s lust for blood and conquest, at least for the present. But previous Turkish ”operations” in Afrin, Jarablus, Aziz, Al Bab, Iblid, Hatay and even in Iraq and Cyprus have all become permanent invasions, with rapid Turkification, currently expelling hundreds of thousands in Afrin.
Daily reports show rampant pillaging, kidnap, rape and mass murder of Kurdish locals in Afrin, where Turkey was let loose by Russia in a dirty arms and gas pipeline deal.
Erdogan has already taken over Afrin, Al Bab, Azaz, Jarablus and much of Idlib and has openly boasted he will conquer all lands once held by the Ottoman Empire … At home he has gained nearly total dictatorial control, /destroyed Kurdish areas killing thousands and ordered the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of people on suspicion.
Erdogan has repeatedly vowed to recapture all lands once held by the Ottoman Empire, so all Syria ‘belongs to Turkey’ and promised to settle Turks and Arab refugees in Rojava, expel the local Kurdish population and end the unique democratic revolution which has united all races and creeds and freed women in the Rojava Revolution from centuries of serfdom, as illustrated in Kobane, and many Kurdish towns.
More and more people are realizing that irreversible Climate change is happening now. This coincides with the far right takeover of the Brazilian State, hitching it to the insane policies of greed and destruction of the US Regime. But the militarist and misogynist Brazilian right is not yet all powerful. We can still exert pressure in many ways, perhaps in Europe by supporting threats to cancel the upcoming EU/Mercosur trade agreement if the Brazilian regime continues its policies and its campaign to destroy the Amazon Rainforest, which belongs to nobody and us all.
Amazon burning: Brazil reports record surge in forest fires
Brazilian Amazon beset by 9,500 new forest fires since Thursday, prompting fresh scrutiny of President Bolsonaro’s environmental stewardship.
Fires raging in Brazil‘s Amazon rainforest have hit a record high number this year, according to new data from the country’s space research agency, as concerns grow over President Jair Bolsonaro‘s management of the environment.
People are deliberately starting fires in the #AmazonRainforest to illegally deforest indigenous land for cattle ranching
Pataxó woman: “These assholes came in and burned down [our reservation]… I want all of the media here to see this” pic.twitter.com/uGFp7RItHK
Nearly 73,000 fires were recorded between January and August, compared with 39,759 in all of 2018, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said on Monday. The surge marks an 83 percent increase over the same period last year and is the highest since INPE records began in 2013.
Satellite images spotted more than 9,500 new forest fires since Thursday alone, mostly in the Amazon basin, home to the world’s largest tropical forest and seen as vital to slowing the pace of global warming.
From August 9 to 13, the First March of Indigenous Women of Brazil was carried out, with the slogan “Territory: our body, our spirit”. This march then joined the 6th country women’s March of the Margaridas, and the Tsunami of Education in defense of the education system. The Indigenous Women’s March joined the mobilization in Brasília
Maria Anecy Martins arrived in Brasília this week with glowing eyes to join the 2019 ‘Daisies’ (=Margaridas) March. The 45-year-old small farmer is one of the 100,000 peasant women who joined the 2-day event .
The sixth edition of the ‘Daisies’ March took place in Brasília on Aug. 13 and 14. The name of the event, originally Marcha das Margaridas, pays tribute to Margarida Maria Alves, a union leader in the northeastern state of Paraíba who fought for rural workers’ rights and was murdered by contract killers hired by big landowners in 1983.
Meanwhile, in New York during the trial against two Proud Boys, one who was video taped giving a fascist salute during the beating of anti-racist and antifascist protesters last year and was also photographed in court doing the same, it has been revealed that the DA went to great lengths to gather information on counter-protesters after the violent far-Right attack. According to the Daily Beast:
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office admitted it demanded Google hand over account information for all devices used in parts of the Upper East Side. They didn’t do this to find the Proud Boys; they did it to find Antifa members.
Reverse search warrants have been used in other parts of the country, but this is the first time one was disclosed in New York. Unlike a traditional warrant, where law enforcement officials request information on a specific phone or individual, reverse warrants allow law enforcement to target an entire neighborhood. Police and prosecutors create a “geofence”—a map area—and demand information on anyone standing in the zone. This flips the logic of search warrants on its head. Rather than telling service providers the name or phone number of a suspect, reverse search warrants start with the location and work backwards.
note: we are against the religious/fascist Jewish state, but NOT Jewish people!
Scores Arrested During ‘Jews Against ICE’ Protest at Manhattan Amazon Store
At least 40 protesters who took part in a “Jews Against ICE” protest at an Amazon Books store along 34th Street in Manhattan were arrested by police on Sunday, August 11, coinciding with the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av.
Hundreds of protesters took over the streets near Minnesota’s Federal ICE building
This footage, livestreamed for the Jews for Racial and Economic Justice organization by author and activist Abby Stein, shows the scene at the store where more than 1,000 demonstrators spoke out against detention centers in the United States, made speeches, sang songs and held banners with slogans including “Never again means never again,” drawing a comparison between the events of the Holocaust and the current immigration situation in the US.
5003 ViewsAugust 09, 2019 24 Comments by Peter Koenig for The Saker blog
Imagine just for a moment, the World would stand up in unison, sick and tired of the aggressive killer arrogance of the United States and her vassals – and their joint war-force called NATO – and this World, our World, what’s left of it when you deduct Washington and its Brussels allies, would at once block every shipment of everything destined for the ports of the United States of America; every sea port, airport and road port. Hermetically. Nothing would enter. Nothing, no food, no medicine, no electronics, no cars – no nothing. And nothing could leave. No exports, no petrol, no grains, no meat, no pharmaceuticals and foremost, no weapons. Nothing.
And now, take your mind a step further – and imagine the same – exactly the same, a total and full blockage of Israel – nothing would enter, no food, no fuel, no medication, no machinery and especially no weapons – and nothing would leave; a full and total blockage.
This would of course be totally illegal; illegal and unacceptable, by any international law, by the standards of the UN Charter, by the Human Rights Laws and Directives – by any ethical values of human morals. Wouldn’t it? – Yet, this is exactly what these countries are doing, have been doing for decades, sanctioning to strangle and murder entire populations into death or submission. The US with Cuba; Israel with Palestine. And the coercion and strangulation go on, unabated.
The longest embargo – illegal, inhuman and outright criminal – Washington imposed on Cuba – 60 years. Because Cuba has chosen socialism as her form of state and government. Cuba survived and will never give in to the tyrant of the north.
Now the US is expanding her palette of killing by impunity to dominate and subjugate nation after nation which they do not consider bending sufficiently to the dictate of their masters. Venezuela has been targeted for two decades, ever since former President Hugo Chavez was democratically elected in 1998; and Iran, ever since the US-imposed Shah was deposed in 1979 – exactly 40 years ago – by Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Both Venezuela and Iran are rich in natural resources, especially hydrocarbons but also in gold, rare earths and other precious metals and stones.
8 August 2019 — Global Research: ..The Trump regime exceeds the worst of its predecessors. Based on the trend since the 1980s, whatever leadership succeeds it is likely to be even more contemptuous of world peace, equity and justice.Abandoning the JCPOA and INF Treaty, waging war on China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and other nations by other means, entirely discarding the rule of law, fostering destabilization worldwide, substituting brute force for diplomacy, along with its rage for global dominance ups the stakes for possible nuclear war against one or more nations…
Contrary to what one would like to imagine, international world bodies, like the United Nations and her sister and associated organizations remain just about silent. When a high-level official utters some benign criticism of the US or Israel – it flairs up for a moment in the ‘news’, then it disappears again, as if it never happened. And indeed, nothing happens. They – the US and Israel – go on with their crimes in impunity.
The latest is an open declaration of economic warfare by Washington, a total embargo on Venezuela; the embargo is now being turned into a naval blockade. Similar steps are to be taken for Iran. That literally means that no merchandise – no matter how vital for survival, like food and medication, is allowed into Venezuela. Three days ago, the US seized, totally illegally, a cargo ship attempting to deliver food and medication to Venezuela – in the Panama Canal, territory which the US does not own or control anymore.
The ship was carrying soy cakes, from which Venezuela was to produce food. Never mind, that the cargoes are fully paid for by Venezuela. And this seems to be just the beginning. Vessels leaving Venezuela with petrol deliveries to client countries are also targeted for blockage, thus confiscating, or rather stealing, Venezuela’s main source of income on which she intends to survive and feed and provide health care for her people. This, in addition to the more than 130 billion dollars total Venezuelan assets confiscated – stolen – by the US worldwide .
Venezuelan commune movements march in support of the Constituent Assembly (photo by AVN)
And nobody says beep. Almost. Yes, there are some collective protests by countries in solidarity – like key members of the Sao Paulo Forum, as well as more than 60 members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM – total 120 members) that have become especially active in recent years in defense of Venezuela within the United Nations. Protests and protest declarations also take place by ALBA members, a Latin American trade alliance (ALBA – Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, 11 members [Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Ecuador, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Grenada and the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis]).
But most interesting are the hypocrites, those who write and scream that Venezuelans are starving to death, that the Maduro government neglects its people – yet these accusers-in-falsehood – let the US and her vassals strangle Venezuela and steal her foreign assets, including foreign reserves and gold, food and medical imports – they are saying zilch, nada, nothing. Just watching.
To top it all off, the Human Rights Commissioner, Madame Michelle Bachelet, Hypocrite-in-chief, who recently visited Venezuela, at the invitation of President Nicolas Maduro, on a Human Rights mission, and who delivered a devastating report about Venezuela’s HR, full of lies, half-truths and outright omissions, not mentioning with one word the US inspired coup attempts, the US-funded opposition and its bloody atrocities on the Chavista population, and the strangulating and starving by the US and US-dictated European sanctions – Madame Bachelet now came forward condemning the naval blockade.
Great. But she did not stand up against the deadly embargo by the US and the European Union. – What credibility remains for the Human Rights Commission? – The world can see it – it’s all bought, coerced into submission, like so many other UN agencies by the Murderers Inc.
If we are not careful, they are soon going to rule the globe. Thanks god, for Russia and China – which are also subjects of US-EU sanctioning and targeted for take-over. But they are a tiny little bit too big and too strong for this sort of games by the decaying US empire and her obedient rats on the sinking ship.
Similarly, the European Union – despots as they have been for hundreds of years as colonialists in Africa, Asia and Latin America – and continue in a modern colonial role through economic control of much of Africa – this very EU, has been sanctioning Venezuela for years on the orders of Washington, naturally, who else? – Now they condemn the naval blockade, but continue their routine sanctions regime.
According to a study carried out by the Washington DC based Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), under guidance of Mark Weisbrot, CEPR co-director and Jeffrey Sachs, economics professor, Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York, US and EU sanctions have cost some 40,000 Venezuelan lives. This mainly since August 2017, when Washington escalated its unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela and her state oil company, PDVSA, cutting them off international financial markets.
Yes, the world would have plenty of reasons to stand up and dish out similar naval and air blockades against the US and Israel. Just as a teaser to begin with, and if that doesn’t send a strong enough wake-up message, perhaps such embargoes should be considered on a longer-term indefinite scale. It’s illegal. But we are living in a world where international laws don’t count – where laws are made, as we go, by the self-declared hegemon, the US of A, and her symbiotic Middle East ally, Israel. – So, why not nudging the legal, moral and ethical order back into balance?
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21st Century; TeleSUR; The Saker Blog, the New Eastern Outlook (NEO); and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance. Peter Koenig is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.
– Many of us voted Brexit for sheer bloody-mindedness. We can’t stand the entrenched class privilege and institutional repression of the Great British mindset. -The Brexit disaster could conceivably spark a centuries long overdue revolution from the bottom up, – Or more likely usher in deprivation and a worsening petty populist fascism- .
I felt frustrated over the past three years at what appeared to me to be the shallow and Westminster-obsessed coverage of the Brexit saga by the media. Here was a crisis like no other in recent British history that was shaking the bedrock of society and government alike, but the reporting and commentary on it were over-focused on party politics and the process of Britain leaving the EU, and not on the reasons it was doing so.
Why were the divisions so deep and the debate, often the polite word for a shouting match, so angry and uncompromising? What did people really believe about Brexit and why did they defend their beliefs with almost religious fervour? Is it true – in the words of the former head of MI6, Sir John Sawyer – that Britain is having “a nervous breakdown” and, if so, why?
Brexit can be compared to an earthquake in which pent up forces are suddenly released, tearing open new fault lines and energising old ones such as inequality, de-industrialisation, globalisation, imperial retreat, immigration and austerity. All these have always had the capacity to provoke crises, but they had not previously done so on anything like the scale that many had forecast. …..continues below
Context: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were started in 2015 to expand the Rojava Revolution by inviting male and female militias of all races and religions to join in expanding and defending the struggle.
Turkey again makes daily threats to eliminate the70,000 strong force, financing and supplying ISIS remnants,as well asHTS Al Qaeda, Islamic militias andinfiltrating terrorist gangs, while Assad forces conspire with tribal leaders to foment resistance. The SDF still has ‘protection’ by none less than a small force of the USA military, for their own imperialist reasons, though Trump still plans to pull out.
Press reports suggest Erdogan may take advantage of the truce in the Turkish supplied Idlib war to invade Rojava (AA) on the pretext of creating a 32km ”safe zone” which would include the main Kurdish cities, in a dirty deal with the US.
In preparation for a planned Turkish military operation east of Euphrates, the media campaign to create Arab–Kurdish strife continues through creation of more fake videos
”Media fabrications by the Turkey-loyal [ie mercenary] groups continue spreading videos showing men dressed as members of the Syria Democratic Forces torturing and beating citizens, in order to create Arab–Kurdish strife in the east Euphrates area and northeast of Aleppo”.
”The latest of these is a video showing members dressed as SDF, speaking in Kurdish, and torturing an Arab family, who they beat, insult, and do immoral acts to. Also the video shows a car belonging to Asayish [SDF security] with SDF flag next to it, which was met with angry reactions on social media.
The Free 