Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Without the State, Who’d Drag Us Into Other People’s Wars?

This article was posted shortly before the International Court of Justice ruled provisionally that Israel’s Gaza military operation can plausibly be described as acts outlawed by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The ICJ ordered Israel to take all actions possible to prevent the acts forbidden by the convention. But the court did not order a ceasefire. A full ruling will come later. The complaint against Israel had been filed by the Republic of South Africa.

What’s more off-putting than seeing U.S. government officials and their spokesmen trying to wriggle out of embarrassing questions about American support for Israel’s continuing atrocities against the people of the Gaza Strip? That’s the location of just the latest conflict into which we Americans have been dragged by our caring rulers without our consent. The previous one, in Ukraine, is still going on, though largely forgotten. Isn’t the state a wonderful thing?

Theoretically, it’s illegal for the U.S. government to give weapons to governments that will use them to violate people’s rights. But that is exactly what the U.S. government has done for Israel over many decades. Hence the U.S. government’s bobbing and weaving over Israel’s unambiguous war crimes. Our “public servants” have to evade. What else can they do? They can’t acknowledge that Israel’s policy is to systematically kill, maim, and starve large numbers of innocent noncombatants and to destroy their homes and society. Still, those officials can’t deny it outright either because, given what we mere citizens can easily learn from a variety of credible sources online, they would look like the know-nothing damn fools they are. So they subtly acknowledge the crimes by politely suggesting that Israel try not to kill so many noncombatants, even as they insist Israel’s army remains the most moral army in the world. (Here is a video summary of the horrors that the U.S. government is abetting in Gaza.)

Why should Americans be forced to underwrite this nightmare for Gazans or other foreign conflicts? It certainly doesn’t protect Americans — on the contrary. (See 9/11.) What makes it worse is that the forced assistance is crucial to the aggression. Israel could not continue to destroy Gaza if the U.S. government stopped sending ammunition, population-annihilating bombs, and spare parts. We Americans make the massive war crimes possible.

And it could get worse by bringing more direct U.S. intervention. The U.S. government is bombing Yemen — without a congressional declaration of war. (Not that it would make the bombing better.) The U.S. military is also striking Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq because they have hit U.S. forces. But why are U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq? Why is Iran a player in Iraq? Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.

Even though we haven’t consented to any of this — individually, I mean, not by majority vote — it’s a shameful mark on the country. No doubt, some aggrieved people, who perhaps have lost children and parents in the onslaught, want vengeance. Like Osama bin Laden, they think the American people control U.S. foreign policy. Who can blame them for thinking that? American rulers, by bragging about democracy, say that all the time. It’s absurd, but that fallacy is not confined to jihadists. American and Israeli politicians annihilate people for acts they did not commit or consent to.

This all adds up to a strong indictment against government per se. What other organization can steal our money and use it to help destroy other societies in our name without consent? Embroiling us in foreign conflicts is one of the government’s tools, with many benefits to the political class and its clients. Although people with bad intentions will be attracted to that power, interventionism will be tragically misguided even when well-intended, as perhaps it often is. The interventionists can never really know what they are doing. Unintended consequences will abound, and optimistic predictions will quickly turn sour. No constitution could permanently curb, much less abolish that power because every constitution will have to be interpreted. Who do you think will do the interpreting?

What can conscientious objectors do? Stopping traffic at rush hour doesn’t work. Closing down railway terminals and sitting in at government offices are no better. Your meager one vote is impotent. In the short term, I see no way out. Over the long term? Try to convince enough people that we can’t afford government either monetarily or morally.

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of The Libertarian Institute and a contributing editor at Antiwar.com. He is the former senior editor at the Cato Institute and Institute for Humane Studies; former editor of The Freeman, published by the Foundation for Economic Education; and former vice president at the Future of Freedom Foundation. His latest books are Coming to Palestine and What Social Animals Owe to Each Other.

Pentagon Admits It Has No Evidence Iran Was Behind Drone Attack That Killed 3 US Troops in Jordan

Regardless, the Pentagon says Iran 'bears responsibility'

The Pentagon on Monday said Iran “bears responsibility” for the drone attack in northeastern Jordan that killed three US troops but admitted it has no evidence that Iran was directly involved.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the responsibility fell on Iran due to its support for Iraqi Shia militias the US believes carried out the attack.

“In terms of attribution for the attack, we know this is an [Iran]-backed militia. It has the footprints of Kataib Hezbollah, but [we’re] not making a final assessment,” Singh said at a press conference. “Iran continues to arm and equip these groups to launch these attacks, and we will certainly hold them responsible.”

When asked if the US knew Iran and Iranian leaders were “actually behind this attack, as in planned, coordinated, or directed it,” Singh admitted the US had nothing to show that.

“We know that Iran certainly plays a role with these groups, they arm and equip and fund these groups. I don’t have more to share on — terms of an intelligence assessment on if leaders in Iran were directing this attack,” she said.

Singh was again asked about the claim that Iran was behind the attack and said the US just knows that “Iran funds these groups” and had nothing more to add. Later in the press conference, she said Iran “bears responsibility” for the killing of three American soldiers.

Also on Monday, The New York Times reported that US intelligence officials have no evidence Iran had advanced knowledge of the attack. “American intelligence officials say that while Iran provides weapons, funding and sometimes intelligence to its proxy groups, there is no evidence that it calls the shots — meaning it may not have known in advance about the attack in Jordan,” the report reads.

Iran has strongly denied it was behind the attack and said the resistance factions were targeting the US forces in the region due to its support for the Israeli slaughter in Gaza. Since mid-October, US bases in Iraq and Syria have come under attack about 160 times, and the US has never produced evidence to show Iran was directing the operations.

The comments from Singh came as President Biden is mulling what his response will be to the killing of the three American troops. He is under pressure from hawks in Congress to bomb Iran directly, and a previous report from the Times said that’s something the administration would consider in response to the death of US troops despite the risk of a full-blown war with Iran.

Genocide in Gaza as an Opportunity: What Ben-Gvir Wants in the West Bank

If what is currently happening in the occupied Palestinian West Bank took place before October 7, our attention would have been completely fixated on that region in Palestine.

The ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, however, has devalued the important, if not earth-shattering events underway in the West Bank, which is now a stage for the most violent Israeli military campaign since the Second Palestinian Uprising (2000-05).

As of the time of writing of this article, since October 7, more than 360 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, while thousands have been wounded and thousands more arrested.

These numbers exceed, by far, the total number of Palestinians killed in 2022, which was already designated by the United Nations as the most violent year on record since 2005.

But how are we to understand the logic behind the Israeli violence in the West Bank, considering that it is already under Israeli military occupation and the joint ‘security’ control of the Israeli army and the Palestinian Authority?

Moreover, if the Israelis are honest in their claim that their war in Gaza is not genocide against the Palestinian people but a war on Hamas, why are they attacking the West Bank with such ferocity, killing people from all different political and ideological backgrounds, and many civilians, including children as well?

The answer lies in the growing political power of the Jewish settlers.

Historically, there are two types of Israeli violence meted out routinely against Palestinians: violence carried out by the Israeli army, and another carried out by illegal Jewish settlers.

Palestinians fully understand that both phenomena are intrinsically linked. The settlers often attack Palestinians under the protection of the Israeli army, and the latter often launches violent raids on Palestinians for the sake of the illegal settlers.

In recent years, however, the relationship between these two violent entities began to change, thanks to the rise of the far right in Israel, which is situated mostly within illegal settlements, and their supporters inside Israel.

Therefore, it should not be a surprise that both far-right ministers in the extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, are themselves settlers.

As soon as Ben-Gvir claimed the role of the National Security Minister, he began promoting the idea of establishing a National Guard. After October 7, he managed, with direct support from Netanyahu’s government, to establish so-called civilian security teams.

Even Israeli officials, like Yair Lapid, have described Ben-Gvir’s new army as a “private militia”. And he is right.

Though Ben-Gvir is insisting that the war on Gaza must continue, his actual aim out of its continuation – aside from the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza population – is to use this rare opportunity to fulfill all the wishes of Israel’s political extremists, all at once.

Let us remember that Ben-Gvir came to power based on the lofty promises of annexing the West Bank, expanding settlements, seizing control of Palestinian holy sites in East Jerusalem, among other extremist ideas.

Al-Aqsa Mosque was a major target for Ben-Gvir and his followers, who believe that only by building a Third Temple on the ruins of Islam’s third holiest shrine would Israel be able to reclaim total control over the Holy Land.

Ben-Gvir’s bizarre political language could have been dismissed as the extremism of a fringe politician. Far from it. Currently, Ben-Gvir is arguably the most powerful politician in Israel, due to his ability, using six seats in the Knesset, to make or break Netanyahu’s coalition.

While Netanyahu is behaving largely out of desperation, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is fighting to redeem the tattered reputation of his army. Others, like War Council Minister, Benny Gantz, are walking a political fine line so as not to be perceived as the ones who have broken Israel’s fragile political unity during a most decisive war.

None of this applies to Ben-Gvir. The man, who sees himself as the political descendant of the likes of the notorious Meir Kahane, is a fervent advocate of a religious war.

And since religious wars can only be the outcome of chaotic social and political circumstances, he is keen to instigate these very events that could ultimately lead to this coveted war.

One of the prerequisites is unhinged violence, where people are killed based on the mere suspicion of being ‘terrorists’. For example, on January 18, Ben-Gvir told Israeli border police officers during a visit to a base in the West Bank, “You have complete backing from me”, urging them to shoot at every ‘terrorist’, even if they do not pose a threat.

Of course, Ben-Gvir perceives all Palestinians in the West Bank as potential terrorists, the same way that Israel’s ‘moderate’ President Isaac Herzog perceives all Gazans as “responsible” for Hamas’ actions. This essentially means that the Israeli army in the West Bank is expected to kill Palestinians there with the same impunity as those being killed in Gaza.

Even though security and intelligence officials in Israel have warned Netanyahu against launching another war front in the West Bank, the Israeli army has no other option but to fight that supposed ‘war’ anyway. Why?

The Israeli army is already seen by a large constituency in Israel as a failure for their inability to prevent or to respond successfully to the October 7 attacks, even after over 100 days of war in Gaza. To redeem their tarnished honor, they are happy to fight a less challenging ‘war’ against isolated and under-equipped Palestinian fighters in small parts of the West Bank.

Ben-Gvir is, of course, ready to manipulate all these elements in his favor. And he is getting precisely what he wants, expanding the war to the West Bank, ethnically cleansing Palestinians, torturing prisoners, demolishing homes, torching properties and all the rest.

Perhaps Ben-Gvir’s greatest achievement, so far, is his ability to create a perfect amalgamation between the political interests of the settlers, the government and its security apparatus.

His aim, however, is not merely stealing yet more Palestinian land, or expanding a few settlements. He wants a religious war, one which will ultimately lead to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, not just from Gaza but from the West Bank as well.

The war in Gaza is a perfect opportunity for these sinister goals to be achieved. For now, this genocidal war continues to create opportunities for religious Zionism to acquire new followers, and to lay deeper roots within Israel’s political establishment.

A sudden end to the war, however, could represent the marginalization of religious Zionism for years to come.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out. His other books include My Father was a Freedom Fighter and The Last Earth. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net.

US Military Projection in Latin America and the Caribbean Intensifies

Upon assuming the US presidency, Joe Biden asserted in his first major foreign policy address, “America is back!” For Latin America and the Caribbean, this has meant an “aggressive expansion” of the US military in the region.

In just the last year, US Marines and special forces landed in Peru in May 2023, brought in by the unelected rightwing government to address internal unrest. In October, the US got the UN Security Council to approve the military occupation of Haiti using proxy troops from Kenya. Also in October, the rightwing government of Ecuador resorted to deploying US troops to deal with their domestic insecurities. This month, Mexico and Peru joined the annual US naval exercises in mock war against China. And that just scratches the surface of US military engagement in the region.

Militarizing diplomacy

The Pentagon, along with the National Security Council and even the CIA, have taken on an increasingly pronounced role in diplomatic relations formerly the purview of the State Department. Former CIA agent and current US ambassador to Peru Lisa Kenna, for instance, was implicated in the overthrow of the elected leftist president there a year ago.

This drift in diplomatic function to the military became more pronounced with the appointment of Laura Richardson as head of the US Southern Command in October 2021. When asked about her interest in the region, she unapologetically admitted that the US seeks hegemony over the region and possession of its rich resources.

In January 2022, General Richardson signed a bilateral agreement with Honduras. She met with Brazilian and Colombian military brass last May. Previously, she had visited Argentina, Chile, Guyana, and Surinam. From August to September 2022, US and Colombian militaries conducted joint NATO exercises, while Richardson made a five-day visit to meet with the newly elected Colombian president. This week, she is meeting with the president of Ecuador, who declared his country is under a state of “internal armed conflict.”

Status of US military forces in the region

Washington is by far the largest source of military aid, supplies, and training in the region. The US has twelve military bases each in Panama and Puerto Rico, nine in Colombia, eight in Peru, three in Honduras, and two in Paraguay, along with military installations in Aruba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba (Guantanamo), and Peru.

In total, the US has 76 bases in the region as of 2018, plus numerous “unconfirmed operational bases.” All function as military centers as well as cyberwarfare posts. Among the problems associated with these bases are displacement of resources that otherwise would be used for social programs. These installations are notorious for their lack of transparency and accountability. In addition, they cause ecological damage with little or no provisions for environmental cleanup.

The US also has, in addition to bases, major military operations in Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Mexico. Colombia is a “global NATO partner” and Brazil is an “extra-NATO preferential ally.” The State Partnership Program of the US National Guard joins eighteen states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia in active partnerships with militaries in 24 regional countries.

Evolving US military mission

The post World War II mission of the US military has evolved: first, the fight against communism ending around 1991; then the “drug wars” continuing to the present; followed by the “war on terror” and combating transnational criminal networks of the early 2000s; and now great power competition.

Thus, US regional military strategy has pivoted from fighting communism, terrorism, and drugs to containing China and, to a lesser extent, Russia and even Iran. China is now the leading trading partner with South America and the second largest with the region as a whole, after the US. Some 21 or 31 regional countries have joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The Southern Command’s budget, which had declined in the 2010s, is now ballooning as the US gears up to confront China.

The Latin American “theater” is pitched by the Southern Command as a “nearby test bed” and “prime location for experimenting with and testing new technologies” to be used particularly against China. General Richardson warns that China is “a communist country that’s spreading its tentacles across the globe so far away from its homeland.”

The Southern Command has especially targeted Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua because of their friendly relations with China and Russia. Key to the command’s strategy is disrupting regional unity in the Americas.

Development of US military tactics

In the bad old days of 1898-1934, Washington simply and nakedly sent its troops to take over the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. In the post-World War II years, the US still overthrew governments not to its liking the old fashioned way in Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989. But for the most part, the US has developed more sophisticated means of asserting its control.

Proxy armies using mercenaries were deployed against Cuba in 1961 in the Bay of Pigs invasion and in Nicaragua in the 1981-1990 contra war– both unsuccessful.

Increasingly in the last 75 years or so, covert operations have been employed. The CIA was created in 1947. By 1954, the agency helped engineer the overthrow of Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz in what has become known as the first of many CIA coups in the Americas.

From 1975 to 1980, the US-coordinated Operation Condor installed military dictatorships in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the US sponsored “dirty wars” in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Then in 1991 and again in 2004, Washington backed coups in Haiti, followed by coups in Honduras in 2009 and Boliva in 2019.

The US also fomented numerous unsuccessful coup attempts against Venezuela, most notably in 2002, but continuing to the present. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro revealed that four assassination plots were made against him and other high-ranking officials in 2023; the CIA and the DEA were accused. The US has posted a $15M bounty on Maduro’s head. Nicaragua, too, has been targeted, including a major coup attempt in 2018. Cuba, as well, has noted a recent uptick of US terror attacks.

Expanding scope of military missions

Combatting forest fires and other climate-driven disasters have recently been incorporated into the expanding US military scope. The militarists are not so much concerned about the environment as they are about perturbances that can upset the existing political order.

In October 2022, Colombia invited US and NATO military forces into the Amazon on the pretext that they could be repurposed to protect the environment. These new ecological tasks are best understood not as non-military functions but as the militarization of environmentalism. These environmentally “woke” missions operate under such cover as the NATO Science for Peace and Security Program and even the UN Environmental Program, which cooperates with NATO.

So-called “humanitarian missions” have also been incorporated into the expanding military scope. Former head of the Southern Command, Admiral Craig S. Faller, described such missions as an important component in strengthening military ties with “partners” in the region. He boasted of 25 countries participating in the US military’s regional “warfighting-focused exercises” in 2021. By the next year, his successor General Richardson referenced 28 regional “like-minded democracies.”

Perhaps the prime non-traditional mission for the US military in the region is “counter-narcotics.” A US military Security Force Assistance Brigade was sent to Panama and Colombia last May to curb drug smuggling as well as migration. The US troops work with other US agencies already in the region, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security.

Hybrid warfare

In addition to the explicitly military exercises, described above, the US has increasingly employed “hybrid warfare” to try to maintain its dominance in an emerging multipolar geopolitical context. Unilateral coercive economic measures are now imposed on over a quarter of humanity. Also known as sanctions, these tactics can be just as deadly as bombs.

Sanctions on Venezuela – started by Obama, intensified by Trump, and seamlessly continued by Biden – have taken their toll: over 100,00 deaths, 22% of children under five stunted, and over 300,000 chronic disease patients without access to treatment. Despite the UN nearly unanimously condemning the US blockade of Cuba for its devastating effects on civilians and as a violation of the UN Charter, ever-tightening economic warfare has left the island in crisis. Washington is also escalating the hybrid war against Nicaragua.

Return to gunboat diplomacy

With the new year and with Washington’s blessings, a British warship cruised into waters contested between Venezuela and Britain’s former colony, Guyana. The disputed Essequibo territory between Venezuela and Guyana became an international flashpoint in December.

The US Southern Command announced joint air operations with Guyana. US boots are already reportedly on the ground in Guyana. What is in essence an oil company landgrab by ExxonMobil is disrupting regional unity and is a Trojan horse for US military interference.

Waters at the southern end of the continent are also troubled with US-NATO nuclear submarine exercises around the Malvinas and the Southern Ocean. The US Army is working on the Master Plan for the Navigability of the Paraguay River.

With the new presidency of devotedly pro-Yankee Javier Milei in Argentina a month ago, the US is again pushing to install new military bases in the strategic triple border region of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Milei has maintained strong support since taking office… as Argentines so far embrace austerity measures.” [emphasis added] The WSJ is referring to the financially secure elites who are not among the 40% below the poverty line in Argentina. The trade unions mounted a general strike on January 24.

In conclusion, the enduring extra-territorial protection of Yankee military power has always been for the purpose of controlling its southern neighbors, but has become more sophisticated and pervasive. In this two-hundred-first year of the Monroe Doctrine, Simón Bolívar’s words are ever more prescient: “The United States appears to be destined by providence to plague America with misery, in the name of freedom.”

Roger D. Harris is with the human rights organization Task Force on the Americas founded in 1985.

Monday, January 29, 2024

Smearing Ceasefire Protesters, Pelosi Combines Devotion to Israel With Cold-War Mania

Sometimes there’s a thin line between vile demagoguery and pure idiocy. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi straddled both during a Sunday appearance on CNN, when she smeared protesters who’ve been demanding a ceasefire to end Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian people in Gaza.

“The former House speaker said, without offering evidence, that she believed some protesters are connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin,” NPR reported.

“For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message,” Pelosi said. “Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia. And I say that having looked at this for a long time now.”

Like Congress as a whole, Pelosi refuses to acknowledge that so many Americans are protesting because the Israeli armed forces have been engaged in mass murder in Gaza for more than three and a half months. And an inconvenient truth is that polling shows a large majority of people in the United States favor a ceasefire.

Pelosi is hardly unusual on Capitol Hill. Bipartisan loyalty to Israel has been the political reflex, with few exceptions. But Pelosi is notably servile to Israel.

Shortly before starting her second stint as House speaker in January 2019, Pelosi was recorded on video at a forum sponsored by the Israeli American Council as she declared: “I have said to people when they ask me – if this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to our aid, I don’t even call it aid – our cooperation – with Israel. That’s fundamental to who we are.”

Such attitudes have fueled the massive flow of U.S. weaponry and other military aid to Israel, which has been greatly boosted since Israeli forces began methodically killing hundreds of civilians per day immediately after the Hamas attack on October 7.

“All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the U.S.,” retired IDF Major General Yitzhak Brick said in late November. He added: “Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.”

When Pelosi smears people who are expressing their moral objections to the continuing carnage financed by U.S. taxpayers, she is tacitly echoing what then-Vice President Joe Biden said in 2015 at the Annual Israeli Independence Day Celebration in Washington: “As many of you heard me say before, were there no Israel, America would have to invent one. We’d have to invent one because Ron [Dermer, Israel’s ambassador] is right, you protect our interests like we protect yours.”

The interlocking interests of powerful pro-Israel forces like AIPAC and overall U.S. foreign policy have led, most recently, to the extreme rhetorical and military support for Israel’s ongoing mass murder in Gaza from the Democrat in the White House and both parties in Congress. In this context, Pelosi’s channeling of tactics honed by the likes of Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn should not be too surprising. And Pelosi seemed to be channeling Richard Nixon when she told CNN that she wants the FBI to investigate the financing of ceasefire protesters.

But there’s also another key aspect of Pelosi’s nonsensical yet calculated smear effort. Biden’s poll numbers have kept dropping, most recently while so many Americans – especially those whose votes he’ll need this fall – find his support for the Gaza slaughter repugnant.

Grasping at straws, Pelosi evidently hopes for some political benefit by casting blame on Russia for how Biden’s deference to Israel has met with strong public opposition and erosion of support for re-election. Yes, her gambit is ridiculous – but at a time when the administration is revving up the cold war with Russia instead of genuinely seeking diplomatic solutions for the Ukraine war and the rampant nuclear arms race, Pelosi decided to throw down a handy demagogic gauntlet to tar ceasefire protesters.

Like President Biden and so many others in the political establishment, Nancy Pelosi cannot imagine breaking with the murderous Israeli government and pursuing a foreign policy of peace instead of nonstop U.S. efforts to dominate as much of the world as possible.

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of many books including War Made Easy. His latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, was published in 2023 by The New Press.

Nancy Pelosi’s New Adventures in McCarthyism

Over the weekend, noting the ongoing opposition to the far-right Israeli regime’s war on the civilians of Gaza, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged that:

…For them to call for a cease-fire is Putin’s message, Mr. Putin’s message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia. … I don’t think they’re plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.”

Got that? If you don’t approve of a cause to which thousands upon thousands of Americans have rallied over the past 3 months (including, Pelosi might be surprised to discover, thousands of American Jews) then, call the FBI.

The first thing to note is that Pelosi has been on the scene for far too long. As the editor Julius Krein has perceptively noted,

…America in its present state of decline increasingly resembles the late Soviet Union, but one of the most unsettling parallels is its unmistakable slide into gerontocracy…perhaps the pharma lobby is so successful because it is not only the biggest donor but probably the largest vendor to the assisted living facility that is Congress.”

Yet Pelosi’s new adventures in McCarthyism are not really all that new – indeed this latest smear is part of a years-long effort by Democratic politicians, federal law enforcement and their handmaidens in the media to marginalize, stigmatize and ultimately criminalize dissent.

The transformation of the Democratic Party to what it is today began slowly, almost imperceptibly, during the second Obama term when, having abandoned its opposition to Bush and Cheney’s ill-starred adventure in Mesopotamia, liberals began to rediscover the charms of war.

It was only a short step from there to the age of Russiagate during which Donald Trump’s facile and at times ill-considered campaign rhetoric was weaponized against him via a wholly unfounded effort spearheaded by the DNC; the law firm Perkins Coie; the smear merchants at Fusion GPS; along with then-current and former members of the US Justice Department and FBI which embarked upon a grotesque charade that lasted almost the entirety of Trump’s term in office.

It was during those years that Democrats, with all the alacrity and efficiency of Bolshevik firing squads, turned their attention to dissidents within their ranks. No dissenter from the orthodoxy was to escape with their careers or reputations intact.

To recall just one of many examples: In October 2019, as she was running for the Democratic nomination for president, US congresswoman and combat veteran Tulsi Gabbard was accused by former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton of being a Russian asset. In an interview with former Obama hatchet-man David Plouffe, Clinton accused the Russians of “grooming” Gabbard. Said Clinton, “She’s the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.”

Clinton’s spokesman later said that Clinton’s was “not some outlandish claim… this is reality.” What’s for sure is that it’s their reality.

In the end, Pelosi’s comments should be treated as an admission, as a statement of intent. They are just further proof (as if more was needed) that it is the Democrats who pose an authoritarian risk to this country that in many ways exceeds that which is often said to be posed by the Republican standard-bearer.

James W. Carden is a columnist and former adviser to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the U.S. Department of State. His articles and essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications including The Nation, The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, The Spectator, UnHerd, The National Interest, Quartz, The Los Angeles Times, and American Affairs.

DP World Gets 25-Year Lease Extension at Mozambique's Port of Maputo

Mozambique has approved an extra 25-year extension on the lease of the country’s main Port of Maputo to the operator consortium led by DP World and South Africa’s Grindrod Ltd. The group, which also includes Mozambique’s state-owned railway operator, is called Maputo Port Development Society (MPDC).

The port concession was initially scheduled to run until 2033 but will now expire in 2058 to allow further expansion of the port infrastructure, according to a statement by the Council of Ministers.

In line with this, the government also approved a $2 billion investment plan to cater for the port expansion. In the recent past, Maputo Port has seen an uptick in cargo handling, especially due to port and rail delays in neighboring South Africa.

During the last year, Maputo Port handled a record volume of 31 million tons of cargo, up more than 16 percent compared to 2022. Around 25 million tons constituted various ore exports, with a significant proportion coming from South Africa, where miners of chrome, coal and magnetite are choosing to use Maputo Port.

Under the new concession agreement, the capacity of the port is set to increase to 54 million tons per year by 2058, from the current 37 million tons. Priority will be in expanding Matola Coal Terminal next to Maputo, to 18 million tons per year, from 7.5 million tons. Extra storage area will also be created by reclaiming 15 hectares from the sea, according to the recent master plan of the port.

Meanwhile, the annual container handling capacity will increase fourfold to over a million units by 2058.

The government formally approved the expansion of the Maputo Port concession area back in 2022. This incorporated an additional area of 138 hectares, thereby expanding the port space from 140 to 278 hectares.

The extended port concession comes as another good news for the Dubai-based DP World, which has massively expanded its footprint within East African Ports. In October, DP World closed a deal with Tanzanian government, bagging a 30-year concession for the Port of Dar es Salaam.

Developer Breaks Ground on $3B Oil Port on Strait of Malacca

Construction of a mega port designed to compete with Singapore has commenced in neighboring Malaysia. Kuala Linggi International Port (KLIP) has broken ground for a $3.2 billion project that has the potential to reconfigure commercial shipping in the busy Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

KLIP, a private company, announced last week that the construction of the state-of-the-art port facility has started after eight years of planning. The massive project, which will be implemented in phases, is designed to transform Kuala Linggi into a global green industrial hub for energy, port and maritime services. The developers plan to focus on bunkering, oil storage and oil transfers, which are all high-demand activities for the area.

The new facility would compete with Singapore for a slice of traffic sailing on the busy Strait of Malacca, which sees about 120,000 ships pass through every year. KLIP contends that the strategic location places the port at the crossroads of major shipping routes.

“The groundbreaking ceremony is a historic milestone for KLIP, a significant step forward in our mission to become a world-class maritime hub. We are not just building a port; we are constructing a symbol of progress, collaboration and innovation in the maritime ecosystem that stimulates economic development and creates opportunities for future generations,” said Tan Sri Noor, KLIP Executive Chairman.

The massive project, which is largely funded by Chinese investors and is the brainchild of port operator T.A.G. Marine and developer Linggi Base, includes the construction of tank storage, a shipyard, heavy industry fabrication yard, hard standing cargo handling area, wharfs and warehousing facilities.

As part of the project implementation, KLIP revealed that China Harbour Engineering Co. will commence reclamation works after being awarded a contract worth $158 million. The amount is part of the $294 million the company intends to spend to develop a 620-acre artificial island off the coast. In the middle of last year, another Chinese company, China Communications Construction Company, was awarded a $174 million contract to carry out dredging works for the reclamation.

India and Seychelles Stop Latest Pirate Attacks in the Indian Ocean

Indian Navy reports it was able to free an Iranian fishing boat taken by pirates (Indian Navy)

Acts of piracy are on the rise in the Indian Ocean with reports over the past few days of multiple approaches by small boats on vessels operating in the region around Yemen and Somalia. The navies of India and Seychelles intervened to rescue two fishing boats while larger commercial vessels reported being able to defend against approaches from small boats. Investigations are still underway but at least several of the incidents are suspected to involve Somali pirates.

The Seychelles Navy informed officials in Sri Lanka that they rescued six fishermen aboard a deep sea trawler, Lorenzo Putha IV after Sri Lanka reported losing contact with the commercial ship. Sri Lanka’s fishing authority reported the vessel had departed on January 12, but on January 27 reported that all contact had been lost with the vessel.

The Sri Lanka Navy was coordinating with the regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers and notified the Combined Maritime Force based in Bahrain. They requested assistance to rescue the crew saying it was suspected that the vessel was taken by pirates.

The trawler had traveled approximately 1,160 nautical miles and was operating in the Arabian Sea. The Seychelles Defense Force is reporting that they located the trawler approximately 230 nautical miles off Mahe Island within the region of the Seychelles.

According to accounts provided to the Associated Press, the fishing boat was operating in a group of 30 Sri Lankan fishing boats. On Saturday, January 27, a small boat came alongside and fired shots to chase off the other fishing boats.

The Seychelles Coast Guard ship Topaz was able to intercept the missing trawler and reports that today, January 29, it was able to free the ship and its six crew. In addition, three pirates were taken into custody. The trawler Lorenzo Putha IV is being escorted to Port Victoria in the Seychelles.

The Indian Navy is also reporting that one of its vessels went to the aid of the Iranian fishing vessel Iman after receiving a distress call that the vessel had been boarded by pirates. Reports are that there were 17 crewmembers aboard the commercial fishing vessel who were being held by the pirates.

“INS Sumitra intercepted the vessel, acting in accordance with the established standard operating procedures to coerce the pirates for the safe release of the crew along with the boat,” the Indian Navy reported on its social media channels. The Indian Navy did not provide details about the location of the incident but said that the vessel had been checked and released. The Iranian fishing boat was proceeding for “onward transit.”

The assaults on the fishing boats came as the UK Maritime Trade Organizations was also warning on Saturday that a commercial ship had been approached while it was approximately 780 miles east of Hafun, Somalia in the Indian Ocean. The unidentified vessel reported that a small boat with four people armed with automatic weapons and a rocket-propelled grenade came within 300 meters. Armed security aboard the merchant ship returned fire from the pirates and were able to scare the pirates away. UKMTO says the small boat retreated and the vessel continued to its next port.

Another merchant vessel reported that it was approached on Sunday, January 28, while approximately 70 nautical miles northwest of Bossaso, Somalia. In that incident, there were five people in a small boat with a single engine that got within 400 meters. They said the pirates had AK47 rifles. Armed security on the commercial ship fired two warning shots and the small boat broke off the approach.

The Indian Navy appeared to have scared off Somali pirates at the beginning of the month when the bulker Lila Norfolk was boarded. An Indian Navy destroyer intercepted the bulker but when its elite team stormed the vessel, they found the pirates had escaped. The crew was rescued unharmed. Similarly, the U.S. Navy reported in November 2023 that it had rescued the tanker Central Park and captured the suspected Somali pirates as they were attempting to escape.

However, the Navibulgar bulker Ruen became the first vessel seized by Somali pirates in years. The vessel is still being held with its crew off the coast of Somalia after it was taken in mid-December.

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