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Wednesday 25 November 2015

The Guns of November

AFP Photo

Here is my piece for Quadrant Online on the downing of the Russian SU-24 warplane: http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2015/11/guns-november/

Tuesday 24 November 2015

This is another way to fight the Islamic State


Courtesy of the New York Times

See this inspiring story in the New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/a-dream-of-utopia-in-hell.html?_r=0

Where Kadyrov goes, there eventually goes Putin

Chechnya's self-proclaimed monarch has accused Turkey's Erdogan of "treachery":  http://tass.ru/en/politics/838916

Vladimir Putin and Ramzan Kadyrov

Reading this article from the Guardian, you get the feeling that it is not so much a matter of the "king" of Chechnya imitating Putin but the other way around: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/23/putins-closest-ally-and-his-biggest-liability
You might check out this report from last year as well: http://www.voanews.com/content/chechens-fighting-in-ukraine-could-erode-support-for-separatists/1926283.html

Monday 23 November 2015

Sunday 22 November 2015

The subtle military genius of Vladimir Putin?

Courtesy of Debka File: 


Here is a report on Vladimir Putin's military intervention in the Syrian civil war, which at the moment (allegedly) involves not so much liberating Raqqa (200,000) as razing it: http://www.debka.com/article/25032/Massive-Russian-blanket-air-bombardment-is-flattening-Raqqa
Here is a tacit corroboration of the story: http://www.raqqa-sl.com/en/?p=1554

Friday 20 November 2015

Jewish people officially welcomed back to the KRG

Kurdish Jews celebrate a wedding in Jerusalem (2013)

Here is a lovely, uplifting story: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/11/iraq-jews-return-kurdistan-representation-office.html#

Come the liberation of Jarabulus!

Jarabulus, on the western banks of the river Euphrates, remains under the control of the Islamic State (and Turkish acquiescence)  

Turkey's objection to the liberation of Jarabulus must be brushed aside: http://www.worldcrunch.com/opinion-analysis/turkey-s-opportunism-using-paris-attack-to-undermine-kurds/c7s20123/
Here is the wikipedia entry on the town of Jarabulus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarabulus

Friday 13 November 2015

O when shall we awaken?


My condolences to the people of France. I wonder how long before the world stops saying "We are all French now" and the apologists begin talking about French colonialism or French Islamophobia as the root cause of Friday's atrocities. In March I wrote this this article on the War of Freedom in the light of the Charlie Hebdo massacres. It is, tragically, even more relevant today than it was then: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2015/03/long-war-war-freedom/         

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Proletarian socialists and libertarian-conservatives of the world unite!

Contra bohemian socialists and Islamo-fascists


Am I returning to my Marxian roots or has the world gone pear-shaped in the aftermath of the Cold War and the rise and rise of Jihad International? Either way, I find myself in total accord with this proletarian leftist critique of the November 1 Turkish parliamentary elections: http://socialistworker.org/2015/11/04/turkeys-ruling-party-regains-its-grip.  It is not so different from supposedly libertarian-conservative analysis: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-03/mccann-turkeys-secular-experiment-in-modernity-is-under-threat/6907416