Paul Craig Roberts: Putin Chews Out G8, Merkel Supports Him — A Must Read!

Below is a translation from As-Safir, a Lebanese newspaper, July 6, 2013, by Arabic-English translator Eric Mueller. As the translator was not present at the Group of Eight meeting, he cannot vouch for the accuracy of the report, only for the accuracy of the translation. The report by Dawud Rimal does reflect Putin’s no-nonsense manner …

Neal Rauhauser: Turkey – Iran – Saudi Arabia in Conflict

Today’s Tripolar Power Struggle A few days ago I came across a map as part of research intended to expand the current Shia/Sunni labels applied to the Syrian conflict into the regional actors that fuel it. Egypt was given a prominent role that likely dated back to thinking about the United Arab Republic, formed early on …

NIGHTWATCH: Pakistan to Execute Musharraf? Saudi Nuts Over Syria? US & Saudi Arabia Primary Spnsors of Destabilization in Africa?

Pakistan: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday named former president Pervez Musharraf as the prime suspect in the December 2007 assassination of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The head of the FIA’s Joint Investigation Team, Deputy Director Khalid Rasool, told the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court that Musharraf “hatched” a criminal conspiracy to cause a breach in …

Chuck Spinney: Imperial Idiocy Wrecks Middle East (Fruits of Treason) — End of Sykes-Picot Betrayal, Five Inter-Mixed Conflicts, Return of the Tribes

Patrick Cockburn has written a very important essay on Syria in the London Review of Books (attached below).  The essay is aptly titled but has only a few oblique, albeit important, references to Sykes – Picot Agreement, a document some readers may not familiar with.  Let’s begin with a little background. The Sykes-Picot agreement (it …

Neal Rauhauser: Syrian Refugees in All Directions, Destabilizing Region

Post-Assad Syria: Turkey’s Perspective I just finished reading the Bipartisan Policy Center‘s paper U.S. – Turkish Cooperation Towards A Post Assad Syria. I knew I had been missing nuance but I did not realize how much complexity there was in the relationship between the two countries. First, Syria has been spilling refugees all over the region. …

NIGHTWATCH: Syria Escalates — WWIII Kick-Off?

Syria: Reports from Aleppo indicate fighting continues and the opposition has lost ground in outlying areas. The reports also indicate the main government offensive push has not yet begun. North Korea-Syria: According to South Korean press, on 14 June, a “well-informed diplomatic source” said that “North Korea has dispatched chemical weapon technicians to Syria since …

Marcus Aurelius: UK Cuts Military, Lacks Ability to Reconfigure – Huge Opportunity for NATO NNEC

Is this the future of America in the world — racing pell-mell after the UK using essentially the same strategy that the Brits say we condemn? If You Want To Be Obama’s Lieutenant, PM, You’ll Need Soldiers By Camilla Cavendish London Sunday Times, June 16, 2013, Pg. 21 On Friday the sonorous boom of the …