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BRICS at 100 % power

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BRICS at 99 % power:

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In 2004 the ICJ issued an advisory opinion ruling that Israel’s Wall is illegal. The ruling was ignored by Israel and the world. One year later (to the day) the BDS movement was launched. The power of today’s ruling isn’t just about what the I J ruled but will lead to the growth of BDS.

I think this is the biggest impact the ruling will have, strengthening the BDS movement

Liberal historians are being weird again.

They correctly see certain facts (about the British intervention in the Russian Civil War):

There was plenty of reason to see the intervention as nasty – for starters, lack of clear war aims, atrocities on which the Allies turned a blind eye, half-hearted support of reactionaries followed by ignominious betrayal – but the real reason it was judged so harshly was that it failed. Nothing substantive was achieved, while, as the British commander of Allied forces in the north, Edmund Ironside, noted at the time of the British withdrawal from North Russia in the autumn of 1919, the cost was to incur ‘the everlasting enmity of both sides – the Whites for deserting them, and the Reds for opposing them’.

Exactly - it was hopeless and unnecessary.

Apart from getting rid of the Bolsheviks, the aims of the Western intervention were remarkably ill-defined. Sometimes it was to protect British interests and keep the Germans, Turks, Poles, or Japanese imperial or territorial ambitions in check; sometimes to support ‘democratic forces’ in Russia, notably the transient Czechs; and sometimes just to back up the (anti-democratic) Whites.

So the support of "democratic forces" was just posturing, in other words.

A national claim the Allies did not support, however, was the Ukrainian one, or rather, any of the various Ukrainian claims that were on offer.

the Allies essentially accepted the Poles’ argument that Ukrainian nationalism was German-inspired and incoherent, with little popular support. In Reid’s summation, although Ukrainians today ‘view the Allies’ failure to support them as a tragic missed opportunity’, ‘in truth the scoffers were probably right. Split, by the end of 1919, between two paper governments, one allied with the Poles against the Russians and the other the reverse, they did not have the leadership or unity to win power, even with outside military aid.’

Sounds about right

Reid’s encounter with widespread and virulent antisemitism – both as practised on the ground in Ukraine by Whites, Poles and Ukrainian nationalists, and as tacitly condoned by the Allies – was ‘one of the most jolting aspects of researching this book’. The first major pogroms of the Civil War were conducted in December 1918 by the Polish army after capturing Lviv from Ukrainian forces. The local British representative, setting a pattern that was often to be followed in subsequent months, ‘dismissed pogrom “rumours” as “grossly exaggerated”’. Antisemitism was a core component of White propaganda [..] Altogether, the pogroms of 1919 in Ukraine were on a scale ‘not seen since the Cossack rebellions of the 17th century’, but the Whites weren’t the only ones to blame: Symon Petilura’s and Nykyfor Hryhoriv’s Ukrainian forces, as well as Nestor Makhno’s anarchist ‘Greens’, were also heavily involved.

and so on and so on. But then.

Reid’s problem is that, recognising a degree of similarity in the two episodes of foreign involvement in war on Ukrainian territory, she holds diametrically opposed value judgments of them: the early 20th-century intervention on behalf of the Whites was pointless, but current Western support of Ukraine in a war started by the Russians is morally imperative and, in global political terms, necessary. Present-day Ukraine is a democratic or democratically aspiring country that ‘for all its faults ... really does deserve the world’s help’, she writes in the recent second edition of Borderland. ‘Betraying the country would be moral and strategic failure on a par with the crushed Hungarian Rising or Prague Spring – and with much less excuse.’

It is so weird that liberals have this fundamental premise that Western powers have both the moral superiority and the means to sort out conflicts in far away lands. How is this different from the early XXth century British conception of a benign civilizing Empire? What kind of mental gymnastics they need to perform so that their heads don't split from the cognitive dissonance? How come they don't see the similarities that the Western powers are willing to support any kind of reactionary force so long as it is in their geopolitical interest? That they didn't give a shit about pogroms, because the main concern was to own the ‘the blood-stained, Jew-led Bolsheviks’? That they are supporting Azov just to hinder Putler?

Perhaps the real takeaway from Reid’s history isn’t so much a lesson as a premonition: that not too far down the track, we could be witnessing a shamefaced withdrawal of Western support that leaves the Ukrainians – like the Russian Whites a century earlier – to sort out the mess with Moscow on their own.

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, numerous Republican governors announced their support for the Texas government in the dispute. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis additionally committed to sending more resources after previously sending the Florida National Guard to reinforce the Texas government.

It's 9.30am and there are very serious things being said in British politics this morning.

Ministers on TV saying that conscription is a real possibility and that Britons face a "call up" if we go to war with Russia, with the implied point they're making being that they are expecting that outcome eventually.

This being picked up obviously by all the major outlets. https://archive.is/TCWGD

If they want officer fragging they're going to get it because honestly I don't fucking think anyone is down with this.

https://news.sky.com/video/theres-a-1939-feel-to-the-world-right-now-former-minister-warns-of-possibility-of-conscription-13055178

BREAKING: The Biden Junta has imposed a Energy Blockade on the Rouge Petro State of Texas!

Can't wait to frag my officer when I get conscripted into a state militia called something like "Abbott's Anti-Woke Warriors".

Getting pre-emptively mad at the ICJ as a coping mechanism

Im a huge supporter of nothing ever happens^TM^ tbh, there’s a 0% chance anything serious goes down between texas and the federal government.

The Guardian: The Houthis are not a group that can be bombed into extinction – here’s why

By Amal Saad, lecturer in politics and international relations at Cardiff University. The article is posted below in whole.

The war launched by the “axis of resistance” against Israel and the US marks the first time in history that a coalition of non-state actors has collectively come to the defence of another non-state actor, namely Hamas. Spearheaded by Iran, the axis includes Syrian militias, the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) and Yemen’s Houthis or, to give them their official name, Ansar Allah. For the past three months, the latter three have taken the initiative, launching attacks on Israeli and US targets in support of their Palestinian allies.

But rather than acknowledge these groups as having motives and interests of their own, the US, UK and Israel continue to reduce them to a transnational network of Iranian proxies whom they believe can be threatened and bombed into submission, a point made clear by yet another wave of overnight airstrikes. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the underlying dynamics within the axis and of the unshakeable unity of its members, all of which could make western powers’ intervention in the region even more costly.

Unlike traditional western coalitions, which are created ad hoc by like-minded states to fight a common threat without any long-term commitments, the axis of resistance began as an enduring alliance that developed into a wartime coalition. Since its inception, what bound the core members together was the mutual provision of military and political support to confront Israel. While Iran furnished Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian groups with longstanding military and financial assistance, Syria offered its territory as a secure supply route for Hezbollah and as a safe refuge for Hamas’s leaders. For its part, Hezbollah provided technical and military training to Hamas, including bomb and tunnel-making expertise, and along with Iran, smuggled weapon-manufacturing technology to the West Bank and Gaza.

In 2013 the axis formed its first wartime coalition, in support of the Syrian state. Hezbollah officially intervened in that war and persuaded Iran to deploy its Revolutionary Guards to Syria, while the newly formed PMU followed suit, further expanding the axis. Alongside the coalition’s role in Syria, Iran and Hezbollah directly intervened in Iraq in 2014 to assist the PMU in fighting Islamic State. The final addition to the axis were the Houthis, who received military and political assistance from Iran and, according to some reports, military training from Hezbollah, in their war with a Saudi-led coalition that started in 2015.

What makes the axis such a cohesive and durable alliance is its deep-seated ideological pillars and shared strategic objectives. All its actors subscribe to an anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist agenda, with the Palestinian cause as the focal point. Today, it shares two common aims: to force Israel into an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, and to expel US troops from Iraq and Syria. In pursuing these aims, the non-state actors in this alliance are acting in accordance with their own political beliefs and strategic interests rather than following Iranian diktat. While Iran has offered material support to the non-state actors within the axis, such assistance has not translated into the kind of exercise of power that characterises sponsor-proxy relationships. This view is shared by the US intelligence official Brian Katz, who has argued that Iran’s non-state allies “are no longer simply Iranian proxies. Rather, they have become a collection of ideologically aligned, militarily interdependent, mature political-military actors committed to mutual defence”. In essence, the nature of this alliance is organic and symbiotic, as opposed to transactional and hierarchical.

This was most recently demonstrated by Hamas’s surprise 7 October attack on Israel of which, according to Israeli and US accounts, Iran had no foreknowledge. Having said that, there does appear to have been a pre-planned “forward defence” strategy whereby Hezbollah, the Houthis and PMU groups would take the offensive and initiate strikes against Israel and the US should Hamas require such assistance. This strategy is being executed today by means of tactical military coordination, which is reportedly occurring within several joint operations’ rooms in various capitals across the region. Within this strategy, Hezbollah assumes the role of battle management whereby it directs, plans and coordinates military operations across the different conflict theatres. Three battle arenas outside Gaza are being fought in sync: Hezbollah’s moderate-intensity war with Israel, the PMU’s attacks on US and Israeli targets in Syria, Iraq and Israel itself, and the Houthis’ attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea and occasional strikes on Israel. All fronts are synchronised to pause when the fighting in Gaza is suspended, as demonstrated by the temporary truce in Gaza in late November.

An alliance characterised by such a high level of coordination, reflecting a unity of purpose and vision requires the US and its allies to radically alter their approach to this conflict. The assumption that “sustained” military action against these actors will break their will to continue fighting is as misguided as it is dangerous. On the contrary, military solutions that expand the scope of the conflict will only invite more coordinated responses from across the axis. Western leaders would do well to reflect on the reality that they are not merely trying to protect shipping routes, but are waging an unwinnable war on an ideologically united and tenacious alliance of powerful non-state actors.

The US and UK strikes on Yemen have only increased the prospects of a full-blown regional war, given that the Houthis have now threatened to widen the scope of their campaign to include “all US and UK interests” in the region. Yet the Lebanese-Israeli front remains the most flammable, considering that Israel is champing at the bit for a war with Hezbollah. As the latter is the most powerful non-state actor in the axis of resistance, if not the world, such a war would be the most far-reaching and mutually destructive. Nothing short of a ceasefire in Gaza can prevent the region from turning into a powder keg.

There was an "Against Antisemitism" march in the UK on Sunday. The organisers appear to have used the police to forcibly exclude Jewish groups critical of Israel.

The incendiary banners that couldn't be allowed? One read Fight Facism, Antisemitism, Racism and another read We stand against antisemitism and we stand for a ceasefire now.

Non-Jewish right supporters of Israel's genocide were freely allowed to join.

The organisers response has just been to say "No we didn't" despite the evidence on video in the linked tweets and several different police sources telling them exactly that. The organisers refuse to comment further.

Evidence number 7648367 that these are just pro-Israel marches and organisations.

Officially confirming that the Republican primaries were a gigantic waste of time for everybody involved, Trump has massively beat everybody else in Iowa, and will very obviously be the Republican candidate for 2024

I hope that he milks the remaining primary season by doing the apprentice for a vp search

How do you talk to this voter

https://twitter.com/umichvoter/status/1749199308610556129

https://nitter.net/umichvoter/status/1749199308610556129?

"Oh, you don't want to vote for Joe Biden because of his support for Israel. Well, have you considered how much worse Trump will be for Gaza? Right now, Joe Biden is helping Israel tie Palestinians to train tracks, but he's telling Bibi that the trains have to go the speed limit when they run over the Palestinians, plus a small number of the train workers must get 4 sick days a year. Under Trump, the trains would be going dangerously over the speed limit and those small number of train workers wouldn't be getting 4 sick days. Have you thought about that, hmm?!"

Biden legit never changed Trumps policies on ICE, yet hogs and some of the worst state governments are going insane.

Hani Mahmoud reports on Israel bombing a United Nations school that was being used as an evacuation centre, and as people panicked & left the school they were attacked by low level Israeli attack drones.

Jesus christ, Israel is just a matrioska of crimes against humanity

https://nitter.net/SaulStaniforth/status/1750054537048543571#m

Don't get your hopes up. Texas said it would TEXIT the USA back in the 2010s and nothing fucking happened.

Breaking: Yemen strikes US military cargo ship in Gulf of Aden: twitter / nitter

Update: US sources dispute this claim.

Reports/rumors from the Twitter news aggregators:

• Ansarallah fought a two-hour battle in the sea yesterday, forcing two US cargo ships to withdraw despite being protected by US destroyers. Apparently Ansarallah managed to strike a US warship directly.
• Iraqi resistance announces that they are escalating their strikes on Israel, now hitting Israeli ports in order to further strengthen the blockade. Eliat and Ashkelon are already out of service due to Ansarallah and Gaza respectively; apparently there was just a very recent strike on Ashdod.
• Hezbollah has hit another Iron Dome battery in northern Israel with drones.
• And, of course, some rumors that the US is considering a withdrawal from Syria, though I don't know how much stock to currently put in those rumors.

GOP senators seethe as Trump blows up delicate immigration compromise

The article doesn’t explicitly say what the GOP is giving up in exchange for everything they want on the border, but you have to assume it’s about money for Ukraine. The Cassandras on Hexbear will be proven right yet again, Biden will do anything to waste tens of billions more on Ukraine.

Very, very critical support to Trump for trying to blow this up.

The situation in Yemen is driving me fucking insane. Like why isn't "tell israel to stop" an option here? Why are liberals of the mindset that the Yemenis are not trustworthy? What the fuck?

It's being reported that Israel blew up their own tank with an air strike so that Israeli militants wouldn't be captured. Hannibal directive.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/22/israels-war-on-gaza-live-bombing-all-around-hospital-in-khan-younis

Another day, another diplomatic BANGER from our favorite president:

Javier Milei called Petro a “murderous communist” and caused a diplomatic crisis with Colombia

In an interview, the president criticized his Colombian counterpart and said that “he is sinking” his country; Bogotá called its ambassador in Argentina for consultations

One of the things that I learned thanks to this community is the idea that every accusation is a confession, as "Israel" taught us. milei claims Petro is "sinking his country" (??) while he's literally destroying the economy because muh anarchocapitalism, muh sister (whom he fucks) and muh deregulation. Pure projection.

BOGOTÁ.- Colombia called its ambassador in Argentina for consultations this Friday after President Javier Milei described his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, as a “murderous communist” in an interview with journalist Patricia Janiot.

Not sure who that journalist even is. He appears on very random telegram channels to be interviewed by absolute unknowns in channels called "LA PELUCA MILEI" or shit like that. He spoke in one of these channels after the 24th strike where he was clearly sedated lmao.

”The government of Colombia strongly rejects this statement, which attacks the honor of the president (...). President Milei's words ignore and violate the deep ties of friendship, understanding and cooperation," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Milei said that Petro “is sinking Colombia,” to a question asked by Colombian journalist Angela Patricia Janiot, in the program “¿Qué pasó con lo que pasó?”

The Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alvaro Leyva, expressed “his most energetic protest against the disrespectful and irresponsible statements” of the Argentine president. "As a result of the circumstances created by the words of the President of Argentina, the Government of Colombia immediately calls Ambassador Camilo Romero, representative of Colombia in that country, for consultations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. For its part, the Argentine Foreign Ministry did not comment on the matter when consulted by LA NACION.

Ambassador Romero, for his part, wrote on his X account: “Milei is a hypocrite. While today he asks our government for approval for his new ambassador in Colombia, he calls the president a murderer.”

The diplomat, who must return to Colombia following instructions from his government, added: "We can think differently, but the region and the historical brotherhood of our peoples must be above differences." He also recalled that Milei “had already attacked Lula in Brazil and even Pope Francis.”

During the campaign, Milei had already said that he would not meet with “communist” rulers. “I would not meet with Lula da Silva. He is corrupt and that is why he was imprisoned and he is a communist,” the president said last November when asked about what his foreign policy and relations with Brazil would be like if he became president.

On social networks, Petro often has discussions with the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, and is critical of the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, whose country declared him persona “non grata.”

Bad relations

Relations between Colombia and Argentina have been deteriorating since Milei came to power. The libertarian economist exchanged several messages with the first leftist president in the history of Colombia. Last year, still as a candidate, he stated on a Colombian radio station that “a socialist is trash” and “human excrement.”

Petro, who in his youth belonged to a guerrilla who signed peace, compared him on his social networks to Adolf Hitler for that comment.

Then, when Milei won the November elections by defeating the Peronist candidate, Sergio Massa, he declared that it was a “sad moment for Latin America.” Once installed in power, the leader of La Libertad Avanza clashed with the entire left in the region that had been a traditional ally of the Kirchners.

n the interview with Janiot he also referred to the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, as “someone who has the wrong ideas.”. In addition, he said of former president of the United States Donald Trump that he is “one of the leaders of freedom against global socialism,” and of the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, he maintained that he was “someone who, despite adversity, “he managed to carry out his government program.”

Original article in Spanish

What a time to be alive. What a clown. What have we done to deserve this? Was it Maradona's handball goal? Was it Evita and Perón?