Stoking The Fires In The Middle East (Is Saudi Arabia Bullying Qatar?)

Once again the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf area is boiling as usual and several countries are involved in the proxy wars going on in the region. The Syrian civil war has been dragging on for about six years with no signs of an end to the conflict. Thousands of innocent civilians both women and children have been killed as a result of the various factions inability to resolve their differences. Then to add more fuel to the tension in the Middle East and the Gulf region, the Saudis, Emiratis, Egyptians and Bahrainis are accusing Qatar of sponsoring terrorism in the region. Most of the trumped up charges against Qatar are either demonstrably thin, false or totally fake.

Are the Americans not aware they asked the Qataris to open an office for the Taliban in Doha so as to facilitate peace talks? Qatar has also been accused of supporting some of the rebel groups in Syria, but a number of the Gulf States are equally guilty of this. Qatar is also being accused of allowing Hamas a political presence in the capital, Doha. Qatar is also being accused of punching above her weight, that’s politically. The last accusation is that, Qatar has been financing the Aljazeera News network and providing platforms for persons and groups hostile to the US and Israel, and at the same time hosting the biggest US military base in the region. All these allegations being leveled against Qatar are the most ridiculous allegations being leveled against another sovereign country by a group of so called spotless countries. The most interesting thing about this whole saga is that, these allegations surfaced just after the visit of the US President, Donald John Trump to the region. I hope you are reading some meanings into this. Was he bribed by the Saudis with the billions of dollars which were exchanged for arms and military hardware? Who does not know that Saudi Arabia is one of the worst abusers of human rights in the Middle East and the world? The world is mute about that, and have even allowed the Saudis to chair the Human Rights Council at the United Nations.

The whole world knows that the Egyptians clandestinely supported Hamas, but Israel did nothing to counter that. Saudi Arabia has also been supporting so called moderate opposition elements in the Syrian civil war and have also been conducting a series of bombings in Yemen against the Houthi rebels and this has led to the death of many innocent civilians with women and children being the worst affected. As usual, the Qataris have refused to kowtow to the demands of the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. Turkey has deployed thousands of troops and military hardware in Qatar to shore up the confidence and the strength of the Qataris. The Iranians are also sending food supplies and military hardware to support Doha. The Qataris have been given an ultimatum to stop supporting terrorists, to shut down the AlJazeera News network, close down the Turkish military base and other demands from Saudi Arabia and her allies made up of Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE. We all know that it is just a matter of time for the Russians and the Chinese to jump in. Saudi Arabia and her allies should not think of attacking Qatar, because they will forever regret doing that. There is too much hypocrisy being perpetuated in the region. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.”  

The Syrian Conundrum

Syria was a very peaceful country with a lively population a decade ago. Damascus, the capital city used to be one of the oldest cities in the world. In fact Syria had one of the World Heritage Sites at Palmyra with well preserved historical artifacts. All of a sudden this peaceful and lively country was thrown into a never ending confusion with some citizens calling for the stepping down of the President, Bashir Al-Assad. These protests started six years ago which later turned into a full blown civil war which has been raging on ever since. More than half a million people have lost their lives in this never ending conflict. At first all seemed to be going well for the so called moderate rebels who were being sponsored by their western friends through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman with military hardware and money. Since Russia saw it as very strategic to support Assad due to her interests, the Syrian government started gaining the upper hand with the help of the Russian military and air support.

The Assad regime had to deal with rebel factions and ISIS on several fronts and this stretched his army thin, so Russian support was so welcoming and this helped the Syrian government to push the so called moderate rebels out of their controlled territory. Russia also joined the fight against ISIS in Syria and used her military base at Latakia in Syria as a launch pad for airstrikes against the terrorist organization. In 2013 the Syrian government was accused of allegedly using chemical weapons on its citizens, but Assad’s regime denied this accusation. Russia and the US then called for a destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. These two powers had representatives on the ground to supervise and ensure that Syria’s chemical weapons were destroyed.

Fast forward to April, 2017, the Syrian government is suspected to have launched a chemical attack in Khan Shekoun in the Idlib Province killing many children. The Syrian government comes out to deny this accusation and they accept the fact that they launched an airstrike against a rebel warehouse with no knowledge of chemical weapons in it. The western biased media decide to blame the Assad government for the deaths. In the early hours of 7^th April, 2017, the US launches a barrage of cruise missiles, more than 50 missiles against a Syrian airbase near Homs. Before they did that they contacted the Russians to make sure no Russian was caught in the strike. Several questions need to be answered.

Why will Assad gas his own people? Knowing very well that the international community will never forgive him for such an act, why will he do that? Is it true that the sarin gas that was the cause of the deaths of these innocent children was shipped from Libya to the Syrian rebels with the tacit approval of a former US Secretary of State? Why will the UN Security Council allow the US to take a unilateral decision to launch strikes on Syria? Is it not a breach of international law? Why was the US and her allies quick to blame Assad for the gas attack hours after it happened? Why didn’t they allow independent investigators to do their work?

The world must tread cautiously in relation to the Syrian civil war, because the exit of Assad will burn the Middle East. Isis and the various factions in the Syrian conflict will resort to fighting each other once Assad is kicked out and another Iraq and Libya will rear its ugly head in the region. The Syrian people should be allowed to choose their own leaders. There should be no meddling from any other foreign power. Syria needs peace and a political solution should be found as soon as possible to end the suffering of the Syrian people.

The Quest For Peace In Syria (When The Eagle and The Bear Agree)

The world witnessed a rare moment in the last few days. This was when the US and Russia agreed on a ceasefire and peace plan for Syria. This plan is supposed to gradually bring an end to the Syrian Civil War that has claimed so many lives. The whole world watched with much anticipation as the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavarov and the US Secretary of State, John Kerry met to agree on a peace plan for Syria. I had a feeling those who always prayed and hoped that these two super powers will fail again to agree on a peace plan for Syria.

It is a known fact that the Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad is being backed by the Kremlin likewise the various rebel movements notably the Free Syrian Army is also being backed by Washington. Both super powers are fighting a proxy war in Syria. But certain rebel groups such as the Al Nusra Front which is an affiliate of Al Qaeeda have to be forced to accept the ceasefire plan. In the plan the rebels have been granted the right of self defence if attacked by the Syrian Government. With ISIS also lurking around in Syria, I hope this plan will bring the various forces together to fight them and push them out of Syria. The world is watching as the two super powers have taken a bold step to ensure that they find a political solution to the Syrian Civil War. President Bashar Al Assad will definitely listen to the Russians as they have been his main backbone throughout the civil war. If not for the involvement of the Russians with their airstrikes on rebel targets, the Syrian President would have been long gone. The future of Syria is to be determined in the next few days if the ceasefire is to hold and that is if all the warring factions implement their parts in the agreement. So much blood has been spilt, women and children have borne the brunt of the carnage going on in Syria. Their attempt to flee the conflict too is being hampered by most of the countries bordering Syria refusing them entry. This has created a humanitarian crisis in the Middle East as Syria’s neighbors can’t take any more refugees with Europe being the worst affected.

The ceasefire holds for now, Bashar Al Assad has been emboldened but the opposition is wary and observing this latest initiative with caution and will be seriously monitoring the next moves of the other parties or factions involved in the civil war. Lets all hope the Eagle and the Bear continue to agree on major issues in this world. This will go a long way to reduce the tension between these two super powers in the international arena as they are both jostling to overpower each other in terms of diplomacy, intelligence and military capabilities. Don’t forget to #PrayForSyria and all the conflict zones all over the world.

Who Killed Boris Nemtsov?

Once again another Russian opposition leader has been assassinated right near the Kremlin and the whole world is very furious with this callous and cowardly act. The question I will like to ask is 'who sanctioned this assassination or who ordered the hit on Boris Nemtsov?' The Kremlin has come out to condemn this act and has promised to conduct a thorough investigation into it and also bring the culprits to book. This assassination bears the hallmarks of a Cold War hit.

Did some over zealous Kremlin official do this without the knowledge of President Vladimir Putin just to shut Nemtsov up once and for all? Or judging from how the hit was carried out, the victim was followed to the point where four bullets were pumped into his chest. Who was the Ukrainian lady he was walking with on that day and why was she there? Was this assassination carried out just to make President Putin look evil in the eyes of the international community if what is alleged to be going on in the Ukraine as being reported by some of the Western media houses? Also, what will President Putin gain by assassinating his fiercest critic whiles his approval ratings are at an all time high?

I smell a serious conspiracy in Boris Nemtsov's assassination and I have a hunch some external hands are involved. Why was that location picked? Why did the lady he was with when questioned denied seeing the assassins? I also suspect this was done to whip up popular discontent and protests against  the Russian government. What also baffles me is that such murders remain unsolved as the killers always cover their tracks and mop up every shred of evidence that will lead to their capture. This means that the hit was carried out by professional assassins. The truth about Nemtsov's murder will surely come out one day.

The World In Crisis

As i sit down and write this piece, i realized how fast the year 2014 has gone by, and we are left with only four more days for the year to end and we will be ushering in the year 2015. A lot has happened on the international scene and for that matter the global arena with all sorts of power play going on. But the highlights of 2014 to me will be the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 with almost 239 passengers on board, Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Ukrainian crisis and the alleged shooting down of another Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine also killing almost 300 innocent passengers. The shooting of unarmed blacks in the US could also be something worth mentioning as protests are seriously going on in some of the US cities to bring to the fore the senseless killings. The US Senate also released the much dreaded CIA Torture Report and the world was taken aback by the details of the report with some people calling for the officials in charge of such gross human rights abuses to be brought to book, but hey, who cares? Its the US the so called bastion of Western Democracy and they do as they please, so we just shut up and watch as the report gathers dust on the shelves.

In my opinion, coupled with other major events that took place in the year 2014, like the imposition of sanctions on Russia by the EU and the US the world is seriously in crisis. The reduction of the price of crude oil  on the world market is having far more repercussions  than it was imagined. The economies of some of the major OPEC countries is suffering as a result of this reduction. The Russian currency, the Rouble is in a serious decline and Nigeria's Naira is facing the same problem as the government had to devalue the currency. The sanctions imposed on Russia is also affecting the EU countries badly and it seems they do not want to admit it.

the year 2015 will definitely be a challenging year and we must all avoid plunging the world into a major crisis. Dialogue must be used to settle conflicts, human rights of people must be respected and the hypocrisy must end on the international scene. The world is truly and really is in a crisis judging by what went on during the year 2014.

When Innocent People Loose Their Lives ( The Case of the Malaysian Airliner MH17)

The world is really becoming scary with each passing day. Planes with hundreds of passengers disappearing without trace and innocent lives being lost due to people's greed for power and the determination to ascend to the highest level of power. I just don't understand the tragedies that has befallen the people of Malaysia. Who would have thought they would have lost two jet liners with almost more than 500 passengers together with the crew members within a period not less than 5 months.

The first Malaysian Airliner MH370 got missing in flight together with 239 passengers and crew and the whole world still can't track the location of the plane. The second tragedy was the Malaysian Airliner MH17 which was allegedly shot down by only God knows who, over Eastern Ukraine closer to the Russian border. This plane had 298 passengers and crew. This flight was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia when it was allegedly shot down. Now the question is, who shot the plane down? This is where my conspiracy theory comes in.

Firstly, the region in question is a "No Fly Zone" as the Ukrainian Government Forces are battling rebels who are fighting for a separate country in Eastern Ukraine, and the region is a war zone. Were the air traffic controllers not  aware of this situation before allowing that flight path to be chosen? The moment the tragedy happened, the Ukrainian Government was quick to accuse the rebels of shooting down the jet liner. The rebels also have denied shooting down the plane. Now the weapon allegedly used in this act was the Buk Missile which was being used by the Ukrainian Military and was supplied by Russia. Now the natural thing to do is to blame Russia for this tragedy as the weapon allegedly used originated from Moscow, but the Ukrainian  Government must also bear in mind that these weapons were seized from their military installations in Eastern Ukraine when the rebels launched their offensive against the Kiev government.

It becomes more interesting as the West is still not happy with Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, so it could also be that lets create a situation whereby Russia will be accused of an atrocity, then lets pile up sanctions on Moscow, isolate her and make her feel powerless and also make her vulnerable to attacks from all fronts in Europe. But in all these, who suffers most? Its the innocent people who are the worst hit. Until the conclusion of investigations into what actually happened to the MH17, whether it was shot down or it was due to a mechanical fault, lets hold our horses and not jump to conclusions. For any hasty conclusion and irrational decisions taken due to this tragedy might further escalate tensions in the region and if care is not taken might lead to a Third World War. 

My condolences and sympathies goes out to the families of the innocent lives lost in this tragedy.

Whatever Happens In Ukraine...

Once again the world is seriously on tenterhooks as to what is happening in the Ukraine, Crimea to be precise. One side is talking about the illegality of what the other has done and the other side is also saying that they have the right to protect their interests if they feel threatened. First of all, how was the former Ukrainian President, Victor Yanukovych kicked out of office? Who engineered the whole crisis and currently who are the ones benefiting from the mess created?

 I presume the beneficiaries would be licking their lips by now as they have gotten what they wanted. But the former president agreed to most f the demands of the protesters and it suddenly took a dramatic twist as he had to flee for his life.  The Ukrainian  crisis seems to be a test case for the balance of  global power as some world powers such as the USA and her European Allies behave with impunity any time they feel their interests are threatened. They lied to the whole world about WMDs in Iraq , invasion of Afghanistan, Libya, the use of drones in Pakistan and other places where innocent civilians were killed. The UN just sat down and allowed all these atrocities to be committed without any condemnation. 

Whatever happens in the Crimean region of Ukraine would have far reaching consequences on the global economy and the world is not ready for another war that would distort the peace that is being enjoyed currently despite the pockets of conflicts going on in some parts of the world. Russian President, Vladimir Putin would not sit down for the West to have their way in Crimea. He would do everything to secure Russia's military bases in the Crimea. These bases must not fall into the hands of rogue elements who took part in the ouster of  Victor Yanukovych.

I have a hunch there is a well cooked out plan to isolate Russia and make her look vulnerable in the eyes of the western allies. This plan would definitely lead to serious repercussions on the whole world. The price of crude oil and other important commodities would shoot up and those of us in the developing countries will feel the full brunt. War must be avoided as much as possible and diplomacy must be employed to solve this crisis. As at the time of writing this post the Crimean Parliament had voted overwhelmingly to join Russia and had set a date for a referendum for the people to decide on the issue. I hope and pray the whole world will respect the outcome of the referendum because whatever happens in the Ukraine affects the whole world. The hypocrisy must end now as some of the powers take some bad decisions which their allies deem to be good and sees nothing wrong with them but when similar decisions are taken by Russia then, sanctions and other punitive measures must be applied.                                                                                             

The Road To Damascus

Once again, the US and Britain are deceiving the world into believing the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its people. We all know what happened in Iraq where no WMDs were found but the country was invaded. This is a tinderbox which will set the Middle East ablaze. The world is watching. Who helped Saddam Hussein to gas the Kurds and also who gave chemical weapons to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s?The war rhetoric by top government officials in the UK and US on Syria has gotten to a high level. Its just a matter of time for the military intervention by these two powers to happen just like what happened in Iraq. The world is waiting and watching when the strikes will start. What will Assad gain from gassing his own people? We all know of the consequences of the US and Britain helping the Syrian rebels to overthrow Assad. Iraq should be a reference point. No evidence of WMDs were found in Iraq yet she was invaded. What's in for the US and Britain if they launch strikes on Assad's regime? It seems Bashir Assad was targeted to be overthrown the moment he refused to help in disbanding the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.  I also have a hunch that  Saddam Hussein's WMDs are alleged to be hidden in Syria so the so called "Coalition Forces" are on the "Road to Damascus" to make sure they find it. But i also don't support Assad nor the Syrian rebels in the entrenched positions they have taken as dialogue would have been the best solution to the Syrian Civil War. Assad will surely go very soon either into exile or by an air strike from the "Coalition Forces" which will eventually terminate his stay on this earth. I also foresee the "Road to Damascus" to be a very tortuous and dangerous one. Russia has a military base in Syria and do you think they will just sit down and watch the US and UK have a field day? We all know that this evidence the UN investigators are looking for was cooked up by the US and their collaborators just to give Bashir Al Assad a bad name and hang him. Any major intervention in Syria would surely affect the whole of the Middle East. The war hawks in both the US and UK are surely planning every detail of their military strikes in Syria. Why would the US Department of Defence authorize the sale of cluster bombs worth $641 million to Saudi Arabia? The last time i checked cluster bombs have been banned by the UN and we know where these bombs are heading to as Saudi Arabia is being used as a proxy in the Syrian Civil War. The rebels would use these bombs and later present them as evidence against the Syrian government. The UN is still in its "toothless dog" mode as they always do not conduct thorough investigations before coming out with a decision. What happened to the first UN investigation that found out that the Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons some months back? As usual, that report has been swept under the carpet as if it never happened.  We now live in a world where rebels are now seen as legitimate governments because the ruling group in a country refused to kowtow to the whims and caprices of a world super power. I guess by now, the Iranians are watching this unfolding threat of military intervention closely. The "Road to Damascus" will surely not be a walk through the park. The oldest capital city in the world, Damascus with its historical sites now lie in ruins. Lets find a political solution to the Syrian Civil War and stop escalating the conflict. God help us all.

Emerging "Cold War" in the Middle East.

Once again the world is on the brink of a major conflict due to the inability of Iran and the Western powers to agree on the true picture and nature of the Iranian nuclear program. While the Iranians are saying that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, that is for the generation of electricity, the west, led by the US and Britain claim the Iranian government is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons so as to become a major nuclear power in the world. The Americans are just waiting for an opportunity to strike, as they are just preventing the Israelis from attacking the Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel has blamed Iran for a series of attacks on its diplomats in Thailand, India and other parts of the world. The Iranian government has vehemently denied these accusations. The Iranians have threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz if they are attacked by the west. The Americans then reacted by daring them, when they intentionally moved one of their battle ships through the water way. This was done twice in a matter of two weeks, just to show how powerful the Americans are. Then comes the Syrian uprising, where the Western powers have taken entrenched positions. They are asking the Syrian president to leave the seat of government and pave way for a new government. On the other side are the Russians and the Chinese who have made their intentions clear to the Americans and the British that they are not going to sit down idle and allow what happened in Libya to be repeated in Syria. They are in support of a dialogue or peaceful approach to the  Syrian crisis. This support by the Chinese and the Russians  for the embattled Syrian president has been termed as an emerging "Cold War" in the Middle East. Iran has also made her intentions clear not to allow the west to have their way in Syria by supporting the government against the rebels who are being supported by the west. Iran has also been hit by sanctions from the EU and the UN. These two situations if not  solved amicably will plunge the Middle East into a crisis as the major world powers have taken entrenched positions. When two elephants fight, its the grass that suffers. This proverb might come true because anything that happens in the Middle East will have far reaching consequences on the developing world. Thus, the British Foreign Minister, Douglas Hague's worst fears will be confirmed when the two sides come out clearly to show their true colors in the Middle East. The next few weeks will determine the emergence of the new "Cold War" in the Middle East. 

NATO and the BRICS on a Collission Course?

It seems a new world order is emerging and the traditional powers are feeling a bit jittery. It seems their worst fears are about to be confirmed. This new world power is made up of five industrialized countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and just recently South Africa was added (BRICS). These five countries have decided to come together to form a strong union to counter the western powers. The US is feeling so much peeved and she is trying to put in place measures to curb this emerging world power. These five countries have so much wealth in terms of oil and other mineral resources and were able to give the IMF a huge sum of money. BRICS is seriously moving into Africa to make sure that the African economies get favorable terms on the exploitation of their natural resources. This seems to be contrary to what the European Union and their American counterparts are doing in Africa. The American President Barack Obama was in Australia to sign a security agreement with them. In his own words, he said that it was to check the expansion of China in the South Pacific. He is asking the Australians to allow the US to build a military base on Australian territory. The US is afraid of its own shadow. NATO to would follow suit very soon. The BRICS wold not relent in their efforts to expand their economies. These old powers like NATO and the US should know that their time is about to end and a new force in the world would emerge to put a check on them. They should know that the BRICS have come to stay and the traditional powers must give way for them to operate. Right now the Americans and NATO have Iran on their radar. The crux of the matter is that, why cant Iran be allowed to produce its own nuclear weapons if the Americans have also been given the power to do so, Israel has nuclear weapons, why dont the UN tell them to stop and impose sanctions on them. Its an "Animal Farm" situation, two legs bad, four legs good. I have this feeling that if care is not taken, this Iranian nuclear issue would escalate into another full scale war, and i bet you the BRICS would not sit there idle and watch it happen. NATO must accept the fact that the world is fed up with their illegal invasion of countries in the name of protecting civilians. Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Iraq and just recently Libya where the Libyan leader was murdered in cold blood. Time will surely tell if NATO can continue with this behaviour, its time their bluff is called off and the BRICS is just the emerging power to do that.