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.”  

President Donald J. Trump: Making America Great Again?

Every American president tries his very best to leave a legacy before exiting the White House. This legacy could be either positive or negative depending on where you stand. Most former American presidents left legacies of helping to destabilize one country or the other. Examples of such countries are Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Iraq and currently Syria. When they are campaigning to be elected as president of the U.S.A., they always spell out their policies especially their foreign policy. This makes the whole world know the kind of administration they will have to deal with after the elections and one of them eventually emerges as the winner.

President Donald Trump is no exception to the above, in fact he made the whole world know that his administration’s foreign policy will be guided by the mantra “I will make America great again”. This he said he will do by not meddling in the affairs of other countries militarily. That is, he will allow countries to solve their own problems and will not help any of the factions. He said he will also make sure more jobs were created in America for American citizens to benefit. Thus, making sure that American companies who have factories in China and other countries will relocate back to America and provide jobs for the American people. These and other numerous measures President Donald Trump promised to undertake during the campaign period so as to make America great again.

But what have we seen since he assumed the reins of power? Is he on the path of making America great again or making more enemies for America? Is he also on the path of creating more tension in the Middle East and also on the Korean Peninsula? He launched a barrage of cruise missiles against the Syrian government for an alleged sarin gas attack in the Idlib province which killed many children. Will that make America great again? He also sent attack navy ships together with an aircraft carrier to be stationed in the Korean Peninsula, just to warn or deter North Korea from undertaking any new missile tests. This was a show of force and might, and he vowed to deal with the North Korean problem once and for all. And he promised to take military action against North Korea should they do anything to threaten South Korea or any of their allies in the region. North Korea responded that they were prepared for war and they will not hesitate to strike back decisively should the U.S. provoke them. Will this make America great again? Or is Trump trying to diffuse the pressure mounting on his administration as investigations are being conducted on his alleged ties with the Russians and they meddling in the U.S. elections of 2016, thus helping him defeat Hillary Clinton?  Has he also drained the swamp as he promised? Or are the neocons and the warmongers feeding him with wrong intelligence contrary to his foreign policy? Will America be great again under President Donald Trump? Is he really on the path of making America great again?

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.

South Africa: When The Rainbow Loses Its Colors

Is Africa a united continent? Are we serious about being each other’s keeper in Africa? Why should we fight amongst ourselves to the extent of killing each other? February 21^st, 2017 will go down in the history of the African continent as one of the saddest days for Mother Africa. This was a day when some black South Africans decided to attack other nationals in their country. Most of those attacked were Nigerians and other African nationals. Their shops and businesses were vandalized and burnt to the ground. Some of these foreign nationals also lost their lives as a result of these attacks.

Whiles the police moved in to protect the lives and properties of these foreign nationals, the attackers fought running street battles with them. They were complaining about not getting jobs as a result of these foreign nationals taking over jobs that were meant for them. But in my humble opinion and from my readings, these same South African citizens are not ready and willing to take up some of these so called menial jobs which the foreigners have taken up.  The South African government should condemn these xenophobic attacks and put in place measures to curb future occurrences of this nature. My question is, why is it that most black South Africans are still under economic apartheid? Why have they not been empowered economically? Why do they look down on certain menial jobs but when other nationals take up these jobs, they turn around to attack them? Should the ANC government be blamed for these acts of lawlessness being perpetuated by some black South African citizens? Meanwhile, I have not heard the African Union condemn these xenophobic attacks.

Ghana’s Parliament condemned the xenophobic attacks in South Africa and measures have been put in place to safeguard the lives and properties of Ghanaian citizens living and working in South Africa. When the attacks do not stop, I think we should boycott South African products and businesses in Ghana. This will put pressure on their government to act swiftly and curb the xenophobic attacks. Have they forgotten so soon when almost all the African countries came together to help them fight against the apartheid system? What if we also retaliated as it was reported that some Nigerians wanted to vandalize some MTN offices in Nigeria? One thing we should know is that Africans need each other to survive no matter the situation. I am sure the western world would be looking at South Africa with glee and their sensational media houses will have a field day giving 24 hour updates on the situation in South Africa. They always want to project bad news from Africa to the rest of the world. It’s time we proved them wrong. South Africans should be ready to coexist peacefully with Africans from other countries as they are in their country to do legitimate business and also pay taxes to help develop the country. United we stand, divided we fall. Africa must unite.

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.