When asked about Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen John Key said that “we understand why they are doing what they are doing” and said he wouldn’t “condemn” it.
Do you “understand” what’s happening in a Middle East where bombing another country is a regular occurrence?
Let’s start with Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen. What has it achieved? We know it has destroyed Yemen’s main airport, much of the country’s infrastructure, and killed many civilians. We also know that it has had little impact on its main military target, the Houthis, who control much of the country. It may well have made them more popular. The other main beneficiary of the bombing has been Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who have been left free to capture more territory in the south-east of the country. American planes used to bomb Al Qaeda in Yemen, but now Western media informs us that the main danger is the “Iranian-backed” Houthis. What the Houthis may or may not stand for is not reported – let me know if you ever find out. But being “Iranian-backed” is apparently a big no-no.
After all, America is still holding on to the “option” of bombing Iran, allegedly over a nuclear issue, and America’s close ally Israel is rearing to have a go.
But hold on a minute. Aren’t the Americans now supporting Shia militias in Iraq that are not just “Iranian-backed” but are actually “Iranian-led”. These militias captured Tikrit from Isis and are now trying to win back Ramadi.
There’s plenty of bombing going on in Iraq too. Those airforces having a go at Isis include the Iranian, American, French, Danish, Dutch, Australian, Canadian, Saudi, Emirati, Jordanian and Bahraini.
Has bombing Isis had much effect? No doubt many tanks and artillery pieces have been knocked out. But beyond that?? The damage to infrastructure and civilian deaths caused by the bombing is probably assisting Isis recruiting. It should also be noted that purposely targeting civilian infrastructure like oil refineries (which the US has admitted to) is a war crime. [Of course, this does not let the barbaric Isis forces off the hook. They are guilty of horrendous war crimes on a daily basis.]
Then we move to Syria, where for the last few years the Assad regime has been bombing its opponents. Some thought America should respond with its own air strikes, and this nearly happened when Assad was accused of using poison gas. Now America is bombing, not Assad but his strongest opponents, Isis and the other main jihadist force, al-Nusra. Now, when Isis captures the historic city of Palmyra and threatens to destroy the ancient ruins it is hard not to feel some sympathy for the defeated soldiers of the Syrian regime. But aren’t they baddies too? Weren’t we going to bomb them? Well, America’s ally Israel has been bombing Syria periodically , as well as bombing Lebanon and the Gaza strip. But to what result, other than the death of many people?
Israel’s other neighbour, Egypt, won’t be bombed because it is collaborating with Israel to keep the people of Gaza isolated from the outside world. Instead, Egypt did its own bombing, in Libya, after some Egyptians were executed by Isis forces. And as usual it was bombing to no good effect. Libya is a stunning example of the murderous stupidity of bombing campaigns. In 2011 thousands of Libyans were either killed or displaced as the bombs rained down from British, French and American warplanes. It didn’t bring about democracy but a fractured state where the strongest militias now rule and fight each other.
The pilots dropping the bombs never see the havoc they reap: the broken bodies, the broken buildings and the broken societies. Neither do the governments and commanders that sent them on their way.
It’s easy to bomb another country. It’s easy cause so much destruction. Surely, there are better ways.
Key is a U$ lackey. If the U$ nuked Iran he wouldn’t condemn it, he’s a total yes man cipher for U$ foreign policy.
Saudi and possibly in cahoots with Israel both part of the U$ empire have used cluster munitions in Yemen and possibly a tactical neutron bomb plus depleted uranium. These crimes are hidden as the World doesn’t even know where Yemen is.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=211770&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=31&s1=1
http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-led-coalition-accused-of-using-u-s-supplied-cluster-munitions-in-yemen-1430637102
That explosion mentioned in the first link was a bombed ammo dump.
When it comes to the matter of nuclear weapons and Saudi Arabia, they would perhaps most likely obtain such weapons from Pakistan, as they supported and are believed to have largely funded their nuclear program.
Better ways to do what? If the intention is to destabilise the region using proxy extremist groups to overthrow non-US compliant governments, gain access to resources, finance and distribute contracts to rebuild infrastructure and facilitate the huge arms sales required to keep the US MIC in business … then there is no better way. To have a country like New Zealand adding legitimacy helps the casual observer to respect the brand and will not be without reward … as Mr Key himself said in parliament … it means container loads of exports to the USA. It’s business … the currency is flesh and bone. NZ is a geopolitical mercenary.
who is playing who in this ‘divide and ruin’ GWOT ?
Lemme guess.
http://levantreport.com/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Pg.-291-Pgs.-287-293-JW-v-DOD-and-State-14-812-DOD-Release-2015-04-10-final-version11.pdf
“Qatar calls for the genocide of Alawites”
http://www.voltairenet.org/article187682.html
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULtNYSUqYHw)
Houthi are a Shia group which is why they are described as ” Iranian backed”.
Saudi Arabia is run by Sunni Extremists not a lot different from Daash with their prejudices it seems.
Good to bring the bombing in the Middle East into focus Keith. Your last sentence, however, “Surely there are better ways,” and the missing deeper context as to why these bombing campaigns have occurred, might leave readers thinking that there must be a less messy means for the NATO Alliance (an aggressive military combination, as you know) to do its job. NATO’s job is to destroy the capacity of insubordinate regimes, groups and mass populaces to pursue their own political-economic-cultural aspirations.
What’s needed is a steady finger of blame.
I know you know this Keith. I think it would be great if you are able to find the time to write a stonking piece that locates the Middle-East conflicts in a longer historical narrative of the ‘Deep State’. It’s vital that prominent grassroots voices for peace, such as yours, sharpen the investigative focus onto: groups like the Bilderbergers, the Council on Foreign Relations, and NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE); players such as Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, and Zbigniew Brzezinski; the oil cartels and the London & New York cartel banks and the weapons manufacturing cartels; and to covert terrorism programs such as Operation Gladio, Condor and Brzezinski’s arming and training of the Mujahadeen. Without such commentary, the linkages between theMujahideen, Al Qaeda, ISIS and NATO’s role in designing ‘wedges of war’ in the Middle East are lost in the online traffic.
It would also be beneficial to Daily Blog readers to cite sources from the GlobalResearch.ca website, RT.com and Washington’s Blog, since these places are excellent for news, current affairs and commentary.
To build a global counter-movement to the neocon-neoliberal-neocolonial project, ‘the left’ or grassroots groups, need a well-made model of peace binoculars. One lens to see the Deep State of ‘the West’ and how it has fomented its enemies, and the other lens to see the vision of a world without war, and what that would take. I’m going to work on the vision thing.
Origins of ISIS – Special Coverage RT-America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuYwc20zwxQ
Brzezinski And The Mujahideen 1979
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4lf0RT72iw
US history – “How Jimmy Carter & I Started the Mujahideen” – Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor 1977-1981 (Jan.1998)
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a13_1240427874#6290ycQfEApZt6Hi.99
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a13_1240427874
Excellent source references are in:
Missing in News-action: Confronting ‘Deep State’ Power Crimes
snoopman.net.nz/?p=1002
Excellent post.
You do know what RT.com is?
‘The channel is funded by the Kremlin, with an estimated budget of $230m per year, and services in English, German, Spanish and Arabic. RT claims to have a “global reach” of 700 million people, and says its video clips have received over 2bn views online, making it “YouTube’s leading news provider”.
The mantra of Margarita Simonyan, who heads RT, is: “There is no such thing as objective reporting.”’
“It is all too easy to show that RT’s coverage is rife with conspiracy theories and risible fabrications: one programme showed fake documents intended to prove that the US was guiding the Ukrainian government to ethnically cleanse Russian speakers from western Ukraine. Another RT report investigated whether the CIA had invented Ebola to use as a weapon against developing nations. ”
“Taken together, all these efforts constitute a kind of linguistic sabotage of the infrastructure of reason: if the very possibility of rational argument is submerged in a fog of uncertainty, there are no grounds for debate – and the public can be expected to decide that there is no point in trying to decide the winner, or even bothering to listen.”
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/apr/09/kremlin-hall-of-mirrors-military-information-psychology
The Southern Poverty Law Centre is also critical of Russia Today for it’s birther, 911 truther and Patriot coverage.:
‘Yet Russia Today is clearly serving the interests of those who promote the ideas that animate the burgeoning Patriot movement. The channel gets rave reviews on Patriot websites, including Jones’ Prison Planet Forum. “This is what mainstream news should be like,” one forum poster declared on May 7 — ironically overlooking that his ideal media outlet is heavily subsidized by and very likely beholden to a government. “Russia Today,” he said, “gets many kudos from me.”‘
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/fall/from-russia-with-love
If they are a bit lefty for you, how about the economist:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2010/07/russia_today_goes_mad
All news channels, state funded or not, have their defects. You may have heard of Fox News. Perhaps that is your favourite channel, although I sincerely hope not.
RT.com offers a Russian perspective that is vitally important to understand so that we may interact more fruitfully with that great nation, one that has probably seen off more invaders than any country, ever, and has a depth of history that dwarfs the shallow, and inevitably temporary, United States of America.
Its flagship programme, Crosstalk, is a wonderful source alternative commentary by some serious people. The fact that you may not like the message is no reason to switch off, just as I suffer through the likes of Bill O’Reilly so I can better know what the enemy is thinking.
Incidentally, the host of that programme, Peter Lavelle, assures us that he has never been approached to change his commentary either by the company management or the government. I see no reason to disbelieve him.
Compare that with the prime time news environment on our TV channels. John Campbell has been seen off, leaving us with the blathering idiots Henry and Hosking, both of whom, one feels, would readily turn around and bend over for our PM, if He so desired.
Finally, another great source of non-sycophantic world news is Democracy Now. The latest episode is an indepth and deeply interesting interview with Julian Assange.
The moral of my story is this: keep your options open, Don, and apply a skeptical mind to all news offerings, not just the ones whose central premises may upset your tidy, but illusory, world views.
What has RT got to do with do with all the bombing, slaughter and murder in the middle east Don ?
Iraq was a U.s.a invasion ….. which was so successful that we were all told it was “mission accomplished”…………
As others have said the mission seems to be to sell weapons and bombs ……
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