Last week Trump and Putin met in Alaska and talked for almost three hours.
So what did these two imperialist warlords talk about for three hours in their meeting in Alaska?
If you guessed an agreement to let the US drill for oil on Russian territory, you would be right.
Nothing should surprise us, afterall imperialism is first and foremost an economic system. Sometime enemies and rivals are sometimes fremenies and partners…
…..Scientists and environmental groups have voiced concern that the Sakhalin-I oil and gas project in the Russian Far East, operated by an ExxonMobil subsidiary Exxon Neftegas, threatens the critically endangered western gray whale population.[17][18] Approximately 130 western gray whales remain, of which only 30-35 are reproductive females. These whales only feed during the summer and autumn, in feeding grounds which happen to lie adjacent to Sakhalin-I project onshore and offshore facilities and associated activities along the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island.[19]….
…..ExxonMobil has responded that since 1997 the company has invested over $40 million to the western whale monitoring program.[24]In June 2018 the Sakhalin Environment Watch reported a huge die off of Pacific herring fish at the River Kadylaniy near Sakhalin’s pipeline outlet.[25] Low oxygen concentrations, related to oil production work has been suggested as the culprit.[26]….
But hey, who cares about the environment or the climate or even aggression committed by one or the other partner against a third party, if there is money to be made.
…..Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that enables foreign investors, including US. ExxonMobil, to reclaim its stake in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, Reuters reported….
….The decree was signed on the same day Putin met with the US President Donald Trump in Alaska for a summit focused on investment and business cooperation, as well as discussions aimed at advancing peace in Ukraine. According to the decree, foreign shareholders can only recover their stakes if they actively support efforts to lift Western sanctions on Russia. In addition, they are required to secure contracts for essential foreign-made equipment and transfer funds into Sakhalin-1 project accounts…..
This deal exposes the true nature of US imperialism, and imperialism generally. Russia’s war in Ukraine not a big deal for Trump, genocide in Gaza supported by the US not a problem for Putin.
Pat O’Dea is an activist and a Unionist.
As usual, like with his support for the ISIS takeover of Syria, Pat just totally ignores how the Putin government- unlike any Western regime- has been a strong supporter of the Palestinians and their allies.
https://gulfif.org/russian-support-for-yemens-houthi-movement/
https://jamestown.org/program/russias-increases-ties-with-irans-axis-of-resistance/
How much aid does Russia give to Palestine or those in Yemen? The answer is little.
Syria did provide Russia with a seaport.
Russia finds Iran’s supply of drones useful, it also wants to sell nuclear reactors to Iran.
Israel’s use to Russia is obvious, if Israel can have land beyond its borders – with American support, why not Russia? And if Russia can have parts of Ukraine, why not covet Greenland for the USA?
The Islamic State, aka al Qaeda in Iraq, occupied NE Syria during the Syrian civil war – which they were not part of. This is why they attacked into north Iraq and occupied northern Iraq for a time.
The forces opposed to the Damascus regime included al Qaeda in Syria (the two al Qaeda groups were about as close as the two Baath parties of Syria and Iraq). A Syrian and Iraqi thing.
No one supported the Islamic Sates takeover of Syria, the group concerned was not even trying, they wanted Iraq.
As for the al Qaeda in Syria, they were part of a wider group. They ended up as part of al Nusra – which produced the current President of Syria.
“This was always a US-led proxy war against Syria using US-backed terrorist organizations including/especially al-Nusra/HTS and the self-proclaimed Islamic State”
“Continuity of Agenda: Trump Administration White-Washes Bush-Obama-Biden-backed Al-Qaeda in Syria ” – https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2025/06/continuity-of-agenda-trump.html
“Privatizing Syria: US Plans to Sell Off a Nation’s Wealth After Assad ” – https://mintpressnews.cn/privatizing-syria-us-plans-to-sell-off-a-nations-wealth-after-assad/288843/
“From ‘Terrorist’ to ‘Freedom Fighter’: How the West Rebranded Al-Qaeda’s Jolani as Syria’s ‘Woke’ New Leader” – https://www.mintpressnews.com/from-terrorist-to-freedom-fighter-how-the-west-rebranded-al-qaedas-jolani-as-syrias-woke-new-leader/288820/
“This was always a US-led proxy war against Syria using US-backed terrorist organizations including/especially al-Nusra/HTS and the self-proclaimed Islamic State”
Where is this quote from?
The US was at war with Islamic State, in both Iraq and Syria.
Its in the first piece. IS, like most other so-called terrorist organizations in the Middle East are just tools of imperialism….one of many tools used to exert imperialist control over the Middle East.
No.
The PNAC did not hide their agenda, and al Qaeda was quite prepared for an Islamist vs western backed regime war for the ME.
After all the Mujahadeen, then Taleban ended up ruling Afghanistan in the 1990’s
The sentient observer would note Al Qaeda provoked the US invasion of Iraq (9/11 changed the environment to allow the invasion of Iraq) so they could seek to form Islamic State in the northern Sunni Arab areas.
When the Americans tried to turn their regime change in Iraq into an Arab spring in Syria, Al Qaeda tried to take advantage of that as well during that civil war.
Presuming that other players were part of some imperial plan is simplistic.
Its all in there in my first comment, SPC. What these terrorist organizations are all about – funded by the US to help advance imperialist policy – the fall out, of which, we are seeing now…a decimated Syria. If this is all too simplistic for you, then I am sure you’ll be able bring more than your own perceptions to this issue.
Your first link only mentioned Islamic State once and the PBS link given says nothing about any US funding for Islamic State.
The quote being
“the Trump administration repeatedly and eagerly launched military strikes across Syria and carried out attacks on Syria’s ally Iran including the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani who at the time was in fact waging a regional war against US-backed terrorist organizations including/especially al-Nusra/HTS and the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” (ISIS) as even US government-funded media PBS admitted at the time.
“The “Islamic State” is Neither Islamic nor a State ” – https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-islamic-state-is-neither-islamic.html
“Terrorist Organizations are Empire’s Modern Mercenaries “, taken from “Keeping the Myth and the Islamic State Alive ” – https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2017/03/keeping-myth-and-islamic-state-alive.html
“US War on Islamic State Designed to Fail ” – https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2017/02/us-war-on-islamic-state-designed-to-fail.html
New defensive positions.
Its further evidence of how imperialism foments, controls, then uses terrorist groups to advance their goals. Syria is wrecked, the Middle East even more vulnerable to imperialist takeover aims, goals achieved. Contained within the above links are further links to actual imperialist plans….yes they do plan, It is all a very horrid state of affairs. Unfortunately, imperialist meddling, goals, are not limited to just the Middle East.
Islamic State was an al Qaeda plan
Al Qaeda in Syria became part of the civil war there (the US did not intend for the future President to come out of al Nusra)
1.The US attacks in Syria were on Islamic State positions
2.It’s remaining presence there is to protect the Kurds from Turks (the Kurds have a prison with IS prisoners in them).
3. at the moment the remnant of IS do not control territory but still operate (al Qaeda has rebranded as branches of the now invisible Islamic “State”
What happens is not the plan of the imperial power, they are just complicit, or inept in varying degrees.
The terrorist threat is now greater than before the regime change in Baghdad.
The long planned for overthrow of the Syrian goverment has been achieved with all the parties you have mentioned here, playing a role in helping to achieve this imperialist goal – as outlined in all the above links. The people of Syria now face precarious times thanks to the former ISIS commander the West has chosen to lead Syria. The terrorist threat, thanks to imperialism, is indeed now far greater than it ever was before.
Further information:
“Syria: It’s Not a Civil War and it Never Was ” – https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2015/12/syria-its-not-civil-war-and-it-never-was.html
“US is Offering False Hope to Syria’s Kurds” – https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2016/03/us-is-offering-false-hope-to-syrias.html
The current President of Syria was not installed by the West.
He was recognised, after his forces took Damascus.
And he was never a member of Islamic State (al Qaeda in Iraq), but al Nusra (out of al Qaeda in Syria).
He, Al-Sharaa, merged al-Nusra with other organizations to form Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in 2017.
PS He does have a link to al Qaeda in Iraq, being trained there in the post 2003 resistance. He was imprisoned by Americans 2006-2011. And then released by the Iraqi government to join the civil war in Syria (where he was immediately recruited to lead al Qaeda there).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_al-Sharaa
Each and every terrorist entity you have mentioned here receives funding and training by us, the West.
Bottom line being, again, the use of these terrorist forces, in this case led by Al-Sharaa, formally al-Jolani to help achieve the imperialist goal of the overthrow of the Syrian govt. Goal achieved, leaving the people of Syria in despair and the Middle East even more vulnerable to imperialist aims, greater Israel being a standout aim.
The many links above provide a far richer story to the rough outlines I have given here.
When did the USA ever fund al Qaeda in Iraq or Islamic State?
Its all in the links. Minor point in a way relative to the bigger picture – fact – that they are all tools of imperialism. Again, sad state of affairs for the people of Syria and the Middle East, but that’s imperialism for you, people just do not matter to those running the empire.
The Far right instinctively know which side to support without being told. The ACT party instinctively know to support Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
In Mo’s case he instinctively supports the Assad Fascists and the Russian imperialists.
And he is not alone.
Why the US Far Right Loves Bashar al-Assad
Ideological affinities and a long intellectual history lie behind the curious reverence for the Syrian dictator among fascists and white nationalists….
https://newlinesmag.com/argument/why-the-us-far-right-loves-bashar-al-assad/
Why do Italian fascists adore Syria’s Bashar al-Assad?
From Italy to the US, the far right throws support behind the Syrian government as it is accused of war crimes…..
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/2/14/why-do-italian-fascists-adore-syrias-bashar-al-assad
Why Nazis from Charlottesville to Europe love Bashar al-Assad
Comment: Assad’s message of him holding back hordes of enemies and killing ‘undesirables’ falls on receptive ears in the US’ fascist, white supremacist circles, writes James Snell.
https://www.newarab.com/opinion/why-nazis-love-bashar-al-assad
Why the Far Right and White Supremacists are Fans of Putin
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1368701896910549
The actions of the Russian imperialists are just as disgusting as the British or American imperialists.
When did the Israelis get the idea that they could smash cities to the ground and get away with it?
Before Gaza there was Homs
And before Homs there was Grozny
Looking at the video footage of these three smashed civilian centres you cannot tell the difference between them.
From the Guardian;
Drone footage of Homs in western Syria shows the devastation four years of war has wrought. The footage taken by Russia Works shows nearly every building has been destroyed. Homs, the third largest city in Syria, was dubbed the “capital of the revolution” in 2011 and recaptured by government forces in 2014
Devastation of Homs
Video source: RussiaWorks.Ru
Thu 4 Feb 2016 14.41 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/feb/04/drone-footage-homs-syria-utter-devastation-video
From Google:
The destruction of Grozny refers to the devastating siege and assault by Russian forces in 1999–2000, during the Second Chechen War, resulting in the near-total destruction of the Chechen capital. The battle involved heavy bombing and artillery, leading to extensive damage to the city’s infrastructure and a high number of civilian casualties. In 2003, the United Nations declared Grozny the most destroyed city on Earth.
Devastation of Grozny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcK9Mami3H8
Devastation of Gaza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMc0_Oyb4RM