The delusion of Pax Americana

Azhar Azam

Opinion  25-Aug-2022

The U.S. Capitol is seen through a police barricade in 

Washington, DC, August 2, 2022. /CFP

Editor's note: Azhar Azam works in a private organization as a market and business analyst and writes about geopolitical issues and regional conflicts. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

There is a sharp division between Americans, who are deeply skeptic of the U.S. overseas intervention, and the country's political parties, which believe it is the right and in the interest of the U.S. to impose its will and wield power to stoke tensions between other countries for the restoration of Pax Americana (Latin for "American Peace") or the post-1945-international order of American global dominance.

Leaders in the U.S. remained in a state of denial as ambitious regional powers such as Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia challenged the unruly U.S.-led international order and China marched toward achieving the status of a great power at an "astonishing" pace.

The U.S. is as stubborn as it has been with some lawmakers believing the country can still stop China's rise by coercing allies to rupture ties with the world's second largest economy or shifting focus from Europe to Asia.

All the notions of the right, left and center – the U.S. should shy away from Russia to take on China and vice versa or handle both without starting new or losing existing wars – are utterly misplaced. The idea will turn out to be a farce as it fails to realize the U.S.-led world order has begun to crumble not because of outside threats but due to the U.S.'s imperialist policies abroad that ignored omnipresent internal challenges: political polarization, populism and social and economic problems.

Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are a handful of instances of how the U.S. blew up politically, militarily and economically weak countries in the name of freedom to herd them into the American system. The so-called U.S. international campaign for human rights is just an extension of its imperialist foreign policy, which uses human rights to further its neoliberal agenda.

More recently, the U.S. has devoted its concentration on creating new hotbeds of tensions the world over. Acting as a spearhead of America's imperialism, the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Congressional delegation visited China's Taiwan region. The trips, part of the global Pax Americana, signaled to reverse the 50-year old political settlement between the leaders of China and the U.S.

The provocations, designed on the Cold War pattern, risk to spark a conflict by supporting the "Taiwan independence." But such efforts cannot stop reunification of Taiwan into the Chinese mainland as China is a much stronger political, economic and military force whose stance on Taiwan is backed by more than 170 countries. The U.S., on the other hand, is on the decline and increasingly isolated for its double-standard, illegal and unilateral wars and interventionist policies on humanitarian grounds.

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has been using its military power to assert its world hegemony. It destabilized vast swathes of the Middle East and North Africa as well as South and Central Asia by frequent invasions, eventually abruptly ending its military campaigns and leaving the regions with tails in legs.

Deluded by the Cold War nostalgia, the U.S. President Joe Biden spun the Ukraine conflict into a battle of democracy versus autocracy and incited China through serial interferences in the Taiwan region. His promotion of democracy and "freedom" is another shot to revive the era of Pax Americana. Yet global publics don't condone this offensive posture concocting an imaginary threat to democracy from "autocracy," warning economic inequality is the biggest challenge for the survival of the Western form of governance.

U.S. President Joe Biden visits the Lockheed Martin's Pike County Operations facility, where Javelin anti-tank missiles are manufactured, in Troy, Alabama, May 3, 2022. /CFP


The hawkish U.S. mindset is encountering a strong resistance from several emerging countries across the continents where majorities don't want to cut ties with Russia on the Ukraine conflict. Given a large global support for China's view on the Taiwan region and Washington's implicit recognition of China's sovereignty over Taiwan, the U.S. Cold War mentality including forging military alliances like the Quad and the AUKUS and democratic bloc will not triumph.

Over the years, the U.S.-led international order has produced a "huge, unmanageable financial bubble" and deep inequalities and encroached on nations' territorial integrity. China doesn't need to "reshape" the system; America's own policies are leading the way for a more balanced, multipolar and symmetrical global order based on respect of national sovereignty and shared interests.

The trend is gathering momentum as regional economic powers, unwanted by the U.S.-led blocs, are considering joining inclusive regional and global organizations such as BRICS or Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Pax Americana is becoming even more elusive for it didn't adhere to international law and undermined peace and stability and multilateralism. As a result, the world is witnessing end of the unipolar and emergence of a multipolar order. The U.S. pursuit of hegemonizing the world and efforts to inflict its self-styled rule is solely responsible for the country's decline and potential sudden collapse.

In the age marked with intense global challenges of the 21st century and mutual interdependence, the 20th century strategy to contain China and reestablish a unipolar world order is inoperable and fatally flawed.

Today, not many countries will be tricked by Pax Americana, veiled in Washington's illusory campaign for democracy. Biden needs to understand changing global attitudes, emphasize internal weaknesses and review his aggressive policies to avert the looming American decline.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)

Okinawa gubernatorial race begins with U.S. base relocation in focus

Islands' strategic importance highlighted as risks in Taiwan Strait grow

The U.S. military's Futenma base in Ginowan, Okinawa, has been

 the target of complaints for decades.

 © Kyodo

August 25, 2022 

NAHA, Japan (Kyodo) -- Campaigning began for the Okinawa gubernatorial election on Thursday with candidates backed by the ruling and opposition parties set to clash over the contentious and long-running issue of the relocation of a key U.S. Marine Corps base within the southern island prefecture.

Reviving the all-important tourism industry is also a focus of the Sept. 11 election with the Okinawan economy having taken a heavy battering from travel restrictions put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.

The three candidates running in the election are incumbent Denny Tamaki, 62, backed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and smaller opposition parties; former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima, 58, backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition ally Komeito; and Mikio Shimoji, a 61-year-old former member of Japan's lower house.

The first major election since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet earlier this month could alter the course of the relocation plan. Tamaki, who is seeking a second four-year term, is opposed to the relocation of the Air Station Futenma from the densely populated Ginowan to the Henoko coastal area of Nago, preferring instead that it be moved outside of the prefecture completely.

"I will not let a new base be built in Henoko," Tamaki said in his first stump speech in Uruma. "I will do my utmost."

Sakima, who was defeated by Tamaki in the 2018 gubernatorial race, supports the base transfer.

"I will end the U.S. base issue and pave the way for the future. I will realize the return of (the land occupied by the base in) Futenma by 2030," Sakima said at a campaign launch gathering in Naha. Shimoji said in a YouTube video shot near the landfill site of Henoko that he will "change Okinawa," proposing to turn the base into an airport to be shared by commercial and military aircraft.

The central government maintains the current Futenma base relocation plan is the only solution that ensures deterrence under the Japan-U.S. alliance and removes the dangers posed by the base at the same time, while Okinawa wants the controversial air base moved outside the prefecture.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno reiterated the central government's position on the relocation plan, first agreed upon between Japan and the United States in 1996.

"We will continue to make full efforts to alleviate Okinawa's burden of hosting bases while striving to gain local understanding," he said in a regular news conference.

Okinawa still hosts the bulk of U.S. bases in the country over 50 years after it was returned to Japan from the postwar U.S. administration in 1972. The Japanese government places strategic importance on Okinawa due to its proximity to potential geopolitical flashpoints such as Taiwan, which has come under increasing pressure from a more aggressive China.

The Cabinet Office is set to request 279.8 billion yen ($2 billion) in the fiscal 2023 budget for Okinawan development, less than 299.8 billion yen for fiscal 2022, according to government sources and ruling bloc members.

Some lawmakers of the ruling camp had earlier suggested accepting a prefectural budget request for 300 billion yen or more would help Tamaki win the election. Sakima has called for increasing the budget to 350 billion or more.

Other issues at the forefront of voters' minds include Okinawa's per capita income remaining the lowest in Japan and the problem of child poverty in the prefecture.

Okinawa election kicks off with U.S. base project in the spotlight

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

August 25, 2022 

Kokusai-dori main street, a popular tourist spot in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, is mostly deserted on June 19 as the local tourism industry is hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.   (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

NAHA--Campaigning for the Okinawa gubernatorial election officially started on Aug. 25 with three candidates divided over a controversial plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the prefecture.

The three independents had filed their candidacy papers for the election as of 9 a.m. and will have a little over two weeks to make their case to voters.

Two key issues already at the forefront of the campaign are how to revive the local economy and how to deal with the central government’s project to build a new base off the Henoko district of Nago to take over the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan.

The election was called as the term of incumbent Denny Tamaki, 62, will end on Sept. 29.

Tamaki is seeking re-election with the backing of All Okinawa, a broad coalition of groups from progressives to conservatives, including business leaders, united under the banner of stopping the base relocation project.

He is also vowing to rebuild Okinawa’s economy and tackle child poverty.

Tamaki will face off against Mikio Shimoji, 61, a former Cabinet minister for postal service privatization, and Atsushi Sakima, 58, a former mayor of Ginowan, who lost to Tamaki in the previous gubernatorial race four years ago.

Shimoji, a former Diet member, is advocating for a partial modification of the U.S. base relocation plan. He has vowed to “resolve the issue” so that the prefecture can allocate more resources for “investment in children.”

On the other hand, Sakima, who is backed by the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, endorses the Futenma relocation project.

He is spending much of his time addressing what he calls the “crisis” of the prefectural government’s administration. Sakima blames the prefecture’s ongoing confrontation with the central government for the sluggish local economy.

He is pledging to work to secure upwards of 350 billion yen ($2.56 billion) annually from national coffers for promoting Okinawa, by drawing on his close ties with the LDP-led administration.

Voting is scheduled for Sept. 11.

The Far-Right Crusade Against Human Sexuality

BY KENN ORPHAN 

 AUGUST 25, 2022

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Photo by Heather Mount

It has become impossible not to notice the trend. Whether it is banning the word “gay,” or banning books that contain topics related to human sexuality, or the Supreme Court decision to overturn a woman’s federal right to an abortion, the war on human sexuality and those who are sexually divergent is ramping up on multiple fronts. Even I’ve been a target of this war. Because of my outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ+ youth, I have been labeled a “groomer” by a few figures on the far right.

To be called a “groomer” in our society carries a specific weight. When the far right brands someone with this moniker it is intended to associate them with pedophiles and child abusers. A “groomer” in this context refers to a person who conditions and accustoms children to accept or normalize abuse or exploitation. The term comes from actual instances of child abuse, but recently it has been used against virtually anyone who is LGBTQ+ or an ally. And there has been an uptick in its use since the antigay legislation passed by far-right Florida governor Ron DeSantis. The intent is to terrify and silence those who dissent from a very narrow understanding of human sexuality. And this smear tactic has been employed against a wide spectrum of people, from teachers, to librarians, to healthcare providers, to drag queens.

Real child abuse is a serious and corrosive societal malady that needs to be addressed with empathy and well-funded structures of support and protection. Most of it occurs in the home by someone well known to the child. Much of it has been perpetrated by religious figures, such as priests or pastors. But this recent war on human sexuality has nothing to do with protecting children. In fact, thanks to conservative governance, many of the social supports for victims of abuse have been systematically cut and consistently underfunded or under-staffed. This has one reason: rigid social control.

There are many fronts in this war on human sexuality. Some are in the classroom, others are in the doctor’s office. Whether it is in the censoring of certain words or terms or in the legislation of transgender or women’s healthcare, the far-right is tapping into an old American angst related to ludicrous and impossible notions of purity and deviance. And the anti-porn crusade has appeared to capture that angst in an relatively easy way.

Ever since the dissemination of pornography in the modern era, there have been efforts to censor or ban it completely. Along with religious fundamentalists and evangelicals, there have also be several radical feminists, the late Andrea Dworkin being one, who sought the legal end to the production and distribution of porn. To those particular feminists, the objection was primarily due to the dehumanization and denigration of women rife within the industry. Their argument, although flawed in many ways, was understandable. Misogyny is rife in the porn industry because it is rife in society in general. But the bulk of the anti-porn crusade has been dominated by ultra-conservative evangelicals whose animus toward pornography is based solely on an extremely narrow understanding of human sexuality and its expression. And they wish to impose that worldview on everyone else in society, by any means necessary.

In a society which was founded on rigid social and religious doctrines and mores, this subject was bound to continually cause friction. And not only within religious circles. There are some who consider themselves “material realists” who reject any new understanding of our sexual diversity. But this has all too often become an excuse for bigotry, discrimination and cruelty. It is also a poor application and understanding of how science actually works. The more we discover about a certain thing, the more our understanding of what is “materially real” changes as a result. These “materialists” have often become unwitting allies to racists, anti-Semites and fascists.

A popular conspiracy theory in many white supremacist circles is that the porn industry is a Jewish plot to weaken white men and exploit white women through the normalization of interracial intercourse. The infamous white supremacist David Duke said that Jews “see pornography as a weapon of revenge for real or imagined European wrongs against Jews from the time of Romans to the modern day.” In addition to this, the anti-masturbation campaign, which is apparently a thing, is of a piece with the broader anti-porn crusade. And it, too, has links to white supremacy. In fact, sex panic among racists is no small thing. The Proud Boys, for instance, demand its members eliminate viewing porn completely and limit masturbating to once a month.

The current sex panic must be understood as a legacy of American puritanism. And the supposed protection of white women and children’s “purity” is at its core. There are many examples of how that legacy has played out over the centuries, from the Jim Crow demonization of Black men as “sexual brutes” to the persecution of homosexuals during the Red Scare. In 1977, beauty contest winner and orange juice spokesperson Anita Bryant came right out saying what it was about when she launched the “Save Our Children” campaign, which aimed at discriminating against LGBTQ+ people in housing and employment.

Today, the panic is most often reflected in chatrooms, Bible studies, camp meetings and political rallies. Many have been ensnared by the unhinged QAnon cult which elevates this all to another level of conspiratorial insanity, one where Satanic pedophile rings in the top echelons of the Democratic Party are trafficking children for abuse and to extract a “life-prolonging” chemical known as “adrenochrome.” But it has also become mainstream, with ultra-conservative pundits like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Candace Owens using their platforms to peddle odious and misleading tropes and stereotypes about queer people.

It cannot be understated that sexual minorities have bore the brunt of this puritanical cudgel. In connecting with other far-right fascists like Orban from Hungary, Bolsonaro from Brazil, or Putin in Russia, ultra-conservative evangelicals are hoping for wider global movement to purify and purge the world of everything and anyone they consider “sexually deviant or perverse.” It is the reason queer theory evokes such rage among them and galvanizes their animosity. And that brings me to the controversy over Maia Kobabe’s award winning book “Gender Queer.”

“Gender Queer” is an honest and intimate memoir by the author about the journey from adolescence to adulthood. It explores the complex feelings one has as they go through these often difficult periods, but from a queer perspective. Unsurprisingly, it has been cast as sexually explicit or even pornographic by ultra-conservatives because it contained some graphic imagery. It was never intended for young children, but for older teens and young adults who may be struggling with their identity and sexuality. None of this mattered. The rallying cry against the supposed “sexualization of children” has become a popular motto for censoring discussion of human sexual development. And instead of empowering young people with knowledge and agency over their own bodies, it is creating a culture of fear and repression that will undoubtedly lead to even more abuse, exploitation and self-harm.

As an adolescent and teenager, I know I would have appreciated Kobabe’s book as I was traversing those confusing times, especially since I grew up in a religiously conservative environment where human sexuality was seldom discussed. And queer sexuality never addressed at all. I knew I was different from the age of 7, and I wasn’t “groomed” or abused. I had loving parents. But my growth and development would have been so much easier if I had been given access to queer-affirming literature and adults who I could have been open and honest with.

And that is another reason why the smear of “groomer” is so loathsome and infuriating. Queer kids need adults with whom they can be comfortable with, now more than ever. But the current puritanical crusade is creating an atmosphere that will only alienate vulnerable youth from a society which is lurching backward to the dark ages every day. They deserve better. They deserve a safe, affirming and supportive culture provided by queer adults and their allies. The one which I never had.

Kenn Orphan is an artist, sociologist, radical nature lover and weary, but committed activist. He can be reached at kennorphan.com.

Timber Industry Puppets in Congress

BY MIKE GARRITY

COUNTERPUNCH 

AUGUST 25, 2022
 AUGUST 25, 2022

Image by Sarah Worth.

Just like clockwork, Montana’s junior senator, Steve Daines and representative Matt Rosendale, have repeated the timber industry propaganda on forest management at their recent Western Caucus roundtable in Bozeman, Montana. Americans, however, not only deserve better, they deserve the truth.

Rep. Rosendale, like Sen, Daines and Montana Governor Gianforte, has once again attempted to demonize conservation groups by facetiously claiming they get rich by suing the Forest Service.

As one of the organizations that frequently takes the Forest Service to court to make it follow the law like the rest of us, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies files lawsuits under the Equal Access to Justice Act. But it’s not to get rich, it’s to ensure that the Forest Service doesn’t merely serve the for-profit interests of the timber industry. It’s to make the agency use the best available science and to ensure that we have sustainable fish and wildlife habitat on our public lands.

The First Amendment not only guarantees freedom of speech, it also gives citizens the right to sue the federal government for very good reasons. If someone throws a brick through a window, the police enforce the law. But when the federal government breaks the law, citizens are often the only “enforcers” and they have to hire attorneys to represent them in court. The Equal Access to Justice Act ensures “payment of reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses to parties who prevail against the United States in a civil action.”

By far the vast majority of the Equal Access to Justice Act pay-outs go to Social Security disability and veterans’ disability claims, not conservation groups. So when Rosendale, Daines and Gianforte denigrate the Act, they are in essence telling veterans and disabled people they don’t have the right to take the government to court when it doesn’t follow the law.

When logging or other Forest Service proposals fail to protect our land, water quality, and native wildlife, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies takes part in the entire process as required by law. Before we can challenge the Forest Service, we have to comment on the project and file an administrative objection. If necessary, we will go to court to force the federal agencies to follow the law, but we do not get reimbursed for any of the pre-trial work – those costs are picked up 100% by our members.

If and when we prevail, only the legal fees of the attorneys who represent us get paid. The Alliance has no staff attorneys and does not get a penny. What payments our contract attorneys get is because the Forest Service is a serial lawbreaker, our claims are valid, and we win those court challenges about 80% of the time.

If successful plaintiffs could not recover attorneys’ fees, the government could simply drive litigation costs sky high to bankrupt citizens who bring forth valid grievances and only wealthy people could afford to challenge government decisions.

Daines and Rosendale also puppet timber industry false claims that logging prevents wildfires. The truth, however, is that most of the nation’s largest wildfires have burned through thinned areas and clear-cuts, as did the recent Dixie fire in northern California Fire and Bootleg Fire in Oregon. Research shows logging has little beneficial effect on wildfire spread and can actually increase fire severity.  For example, In November, over 200 scientists and ecologists, wrote to the President and Congress that logging reduces the cooling shade of the forest canopy and changes a forest’s microclimate to increase wildfire intensity.

It’s time to put aside the oft-repeated and reported myths that the Alliance for the Wild Rockies makes money off lawsuits – as well as the myth that logging prevents wildfires. Americans have a constitutional right to challenge illegal government actions and rest assured, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies will continue to do just that.  Please consider joining our fight to protect our public lands and helping CounterPunch exercise its first amendment rights.

Mike Garrity is the executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.

US official stresses 'need for accountability' in Al Jazeera journalist's death

US Dep. Sec. of State Sherman meets Israel's National Security Adviser Hulata, discussing global challenges, Iran, and Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh's death.

Israel National News
Aug 25, 2022, 8

Wendy Sherman

Reuters

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman on Wednesday met with Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata in Washington, D.C.

Spokesperson Ned Price said that during their meeting, the Deputy Secretary and the National Security Advisor "discussed the strength of the bilateral relationship and reflected on the success of the President’s recent trip to Israel."

"They also discussed shared global security challenges, including Iran, and the Deputy Secretary reiterated the Administration’s steadfast commitment to Israel’s security."

Price added that Sherman "underscored the importance of ensuring independent civil society organizations in the West Bank and Israel are able to continue their important work and emphasized the need for accountability in the tragic killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh."

"The Deputy Secretary reiterated the importance of Israelis and Palestinians enjoying equal measures of freedom, security, and prosperity, and reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to a two-state solution."

On Tuesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan hosted Hulata at the White House to consult on a broad range of global issues and issues of mutual concern.

The White House said in a statement that, "Sullivan underscored President Biden’s steadfast commitment to preserve and strengthen Israel’s capability to deter its enemies and to defend itself by itself against any threat or combination of threats, including from Iran and Iranian-backed proxies; and our commitment to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon."

India's top refiner to spend $25 bln for 2046 net-zero goal

CONTRIBUTOR
Nidhi Verma Reuters
PUBLISHED AUG 25, 2022

CREDIT: REUTERS/DANISH SIDDIQUI

Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, plans to invest more than $25 billion to achieve net-zero emissions from its operations by 2046, its chairman S. M. Vaidya said at an annual shareholders meeting on Thursday.

NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, the country's top refiner, plans to invest more than $25 billion to achieve net-zero emissions from its operations by 2046, its chairman S. M. Vaidya said at an annual shareholders meeting on Thursday. India, one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, is aiming to reach net-zero emissions for the country by 2070.

"The company is embarking on a decarbonisation journey that will be crucial not only for the company’s destiny but also for the planet," Vaidya said.

"On the 99th year of India’s independence (2046), Indian Oil will be operationally independent of emissions," he said.

IOC plans an investment of over 2 trillion rupees ($25 billion) to mitigate emissions to about 0.7 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by then.


Vaidya said IOC has prepared a roadmap to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions - that is, emissions produced from its crude refining operations and energy consumption.

Most of IOC's efforts will be targeted at decarbonising its refineries and petrochemical complexes, which account for 97% of its operations, he said

($1 = 79.8580 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Tom Hogue)

‘Blowback:’ UK, Libya & the Manchester Attack

Phil Miller introduces a film probing the role of British foreign policy in contributing to the atrocity.

Still from Declassified UK documentary “Blowback Blowback: The Road to Manchester.”

By Phil Miller
Declassified UK

August 25, 2022

The father of the youngest person to be killed in the Manchester Arena attack believes the government and MI5, the domestic military intelligence service, “have blood on their hands” for failing to prevent the suicide bombing.

Salman Abedi, a British man of Libyan heritage, murdered 22 people at a pop concert in May 2017. The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility.

Andrew Roussos, whose 8-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose died in the atrocity, says counter-terrorism police “should be embarrassed of themselves” over their monitoring of Abedi and his family.

Roussos also accuses the British authorities of “using them for their own gain” in a reference to how the Abedi family fought on the same side as NATO forces during the uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

He made the remarks in an interview for the documentary, Blowback: The Road to Manchester.


Bereaved father Andrew Roussos. (Phil Miller/DCUK)

Unlike other documentaries about the Manchester Arena attack, which tend to focus on failures by the emergency services in the hours before and after the bombing, Blowback examines the longer-term political causes of the tragedy.

Produced by myself and presented by Mark Curtis, the author of Secret Affairs: Britain’s Collusion With Radical Islam, the film traces the links between the bomber’s family and U.K. foreign policy towards Libya.

We investigate the claim made days after the attack by the Labour Party’s then leader, Jeremy Corbyn, that there were connections between terrorism at home and wars Britain had fought abroad – something that at the time was deemed controversial.

Watch Blowback: The Road to Manchester online now by joining Declassified UK

The U.K. Home Office allowed a wave of Libyan dissidents to settle in Manchester in the aftermath of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which the West blamed on Gaddafi’s regime.

Among these exiles was Salman Abedi’s father, Ramadan, who arrived in the city in 1993 having fought in Afghanistan on the same side as Osama Bin Laden.

Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, LIFG

Ramadan Abedi was a supporter of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a militant organisation associated with Al Qaeda.

Kenny MacAskill MP, who handled the Lockerbie file when he was Scotland’s justice secretary, tells the film, “Britain wasn’t acting against them because the focus was Gaddafi.”

Blowback explores the complex relationship between the LIFG and British intelligence, who initially supported the group in a plot to kill Gaddafi. After 9/11, MI6 switched sides and handed over the LIFG’s leadership to be tortured in Libya, as part of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “deal in the desert.”

The Arab Spring saw another dramatic policy shift, when former Prime Minister David Cameron allied with LIFG remnants to overthrow Gaddafi in 2011.

A lawyer for the Roussos family, Pete Weatherby QC, says Cameron’s government had “an incredibly stupid and naïve British colonial approach to my enemy’s enemy is my friend. So they completely blank out who they are backing.”

Among the LIFG veterans fighting alongside NATO was Ramadan Abedi, accompanied by his three teenage sons Ismail, Salman and Hashem.

Weatherby, who works at barristers’ chambers Garden Court North in Manchester, believes Salman Abedi “was radicalised by the people he was almost certainly knocking around with” in the 2011 conflict. “There was the experience of extreme violence and all that comes with it, death and injury,” he said.

The RAF gave air cover for Islamist militias, led by LIFG veterans, to take over Libya’s capital Tripoli. Hillary Clinton’s U.S. State Department then paid a militia linked to the Abedis, the February 17th Martyrs Brigade, to protect U.S. diplomats in post-war Libya.

Blowback

Islamists failed to win a majority at elections that were held in Libya after Gaddafi’s death. However, they refused to disarm their militias, sending the country into another round of civil war. The chaos provided fertile ground for Al Qaeda and the Islamic State terrorist group.

The Abedi family continued travelling between Britain and Libya during this civil war. The Royal Navy evacuated Salman and Hashem from Tripoli in 2014. Once back in Manchester, MI5 overlooked the Abedi brothers’ increasing links to IS.

Commenting on British policy towards young men going to fight in Libya, Andrew Roussos tells us: “I don’t understand the reasons why, when you do bring them back to this country and you do know what these people are involved in, not to have a close eye on them. That’s what I can’t swallow.”

Curtis traces the bomber’s movements in the years leading up to the attack. He navigates viewers through a wall of silence from MI5, the Home Office and even, at times, the official inquiry, to show how many opportunities there were to prevent the massacre.

MacAskill, who oversaw the U.K.’s second largest police force, draws a disturbing parallel between British state collusion with terrorist groups in Northern Ireland and their haphazard handling of the Abedi family. He comments: “The fact that Libyans would be allowed to come and go, some would be let in and out. None of that surprises me.”

The film, released last month, comes at a volatile time in Libya, where in early July protesters torched a parliament building. The country is split between two prime ministers.

One of them, Fathi Bashagha, recently told the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee: “More than a decade after the revolution that got rid of the Gaddafi regime…we are still in chaos.”

Bashagha claimed that his British-backed rival, Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh, is “sitting in Tripoli protected by a limited number of militias, some of which are believed to be linked to international terrorist groups.”

Read Declassified UK’s investigations into the Manchester bombing here.

Phil Miller is Declassified UK’s chief reporter. He is the author of Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away With War Crimes. Follow him on Twitter at @pmillerinfo

This article is from Declassified UK.

PAKISTAN
Imran Khan gets interim bail until Sept 1

Web Desk
AUGUST 25, 2022



On Thursday, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad approved an interim bail of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan.

An FIR was registered against him under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the Margalla police station for threatening the judge and other senior officers of the Islamabad Police during the rally.

However, Imran Khan appeared before the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad today and filed a petition for pre-arrest bail in a case of hurling threats at police officers and a lady judge.

The former premier adopted in his petition that the police registered an anti-terrorism case against him out of vengeance, demanding that the court accept his request for pre-arrest bail.

ATC Judge Raja Jawad conducted the hearing and approved Imran Khan’s interim bail until September 1. The court ordered the PTI chairman to submit a surety bond of Rs100,000.

Meanwhile, a large number of PTI workers gathered outside the ATC, and they chanted slogans in favour of Imran Khan and against the government.

Foolproof security arrangements have been ensured around and on the premises of the Judicial Complex as over 400 personnel deployed. All roads leading to the Judicial Complex have been closed, and no irrelevant person is allowed entry into it.

However, today was the last day of the protective bail given to Imran Khan by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

It also merits a mention here that the IHC had granted transit remand to Imran Khan in the case, ordering him to appear before the trial court within three days.

The IHC had given Imran Khan a transit remand in the case, requiring him to appear before the trial court within three days.

PAKISTAN
Self-Proclaimed Nationalism Of PTI

Raesa Fatima
AUGUST 25, 2022
OP-ED

“Had better relations with Trump than with Biden,” said Imran Khan in an interview with CNN. What do both Donald Trump and Imran Khan have in common? Since the EU referendum and Donald Trump’s election to the US presidency in 2016, scholars and commentators have spoken of the emergence of a ‘post-truth era’ or post-truth politics, defined as a break-down of ‘rational’ opinion in favour of emotion. Most potent examples of post-truth politics as a style available to individual politicians are instances in which outright lies about things that technically anyone could verify are used – albeit perhaps not always consciously – for various political purposes

towards both adversaries and one’s supporters Ex-prime minister Imran Khan built the narrative of an imported government when he was ousted by a coalition of thirteen parties in April 2022. Let’s dissect how many imported people Imran Khan hired in his cabinet or as his special assistants on various issues versus which people are serving in the same posts in the “imported” government, as Khan likes to call it. Starting with Sania Nishtar, who was SAPM on poverty alleviation and the Chairperson of the Ehsaas Programme, before assuming power in Khan’s government, had co-chaired WHO’s High-Level Commission on Non-communicable diseases along with the Presidents of Uruguay, Finland and Sri-lanka, member of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on the future of healthcare. She still co-chairs the US Academy of National Sciences, chairs the UN’s International Institute for Global Health’s International Advisory Board, and is a member of the International Advisory Board on Global Health of the German federal government. On the contrary, Shazia Atta Marri is the current federal minister for poverty alleviation. She has served in Pakistan all her life, mainly in Sindh.

The concept of ‘post-truth’ has been criticized for overpowering the long history of marginalization of minority groups from knowledge construction.

Secondly, Hafeez Sheikh in Khan’s government was his finance minister who had served in the World Bank before coming to Pakistan and came only to assume the power of a ministry. Irony! No? Moving forward, PTI had Malik Amin Aslam as the minister of state for the environment. Mr Aslam was also imported from outside Pakistan. He was working at the World Bank and UNO and also the vice-president of IUCN. Sherry Rehman has replaced him, and she has a history of serving in Pakistan representing the Pakistan People’s Party. In a recent development, Jamil Ahmed has assumed the position of governor of the State Bank. He has served in various positions at State Bank all his life, whereas the previous governor, Reza Baqir had been imported from abroad by PTI. He had been serving in various positions at the IMF. Similarly, the ministry of petroleum was held by Nadeem Babar in Khan’s government. He is the CEO of Oman Oil Company and vice-president at Cogen Technologies, Houston. His post has been held by Musaddiq Malik who was the federal minister for water and power in PML-N’s government. Zulfi Bukhari was SAPM on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, and Chairman of Pakistan Tourism Development in the self-proclaimed nationalist government. As most of us know, he is a business tycoon, who owns HPM developers and properties in the UK. Sajid Hussain has replaced him as federal minister of overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. Turi had previously served as a member of the National Assembly. Furthermore, many other people in Khan’s government were his special assistants i.e. Shahbaz Gill, Tania Aidrus, Moeed Yusuf, Tariq Mahmood ul Hassan, Shehzad Qasim, and Robert Laurent Grenier.

The irony is that all these people have spent their entire lives serving the “west” and go back to the “west” once the next government takes power and Pakistan stops serving their interests. The concept of ‘post-truth’ has been criticized for overpowering the long history of marginalization

of minority groups from knowledge construction. It also risks reproducing a public/private and a rational/emotional binary embedded within the Enlightenment separation of ‘mind’ and ‘body’ that underpinned the European colonial project and served to marginalize women, non-binary people, and minority groups. The contemporary political life in Pakistan and more specifically, the post-truth politics of Imran Khan seems to be on a certain kind of agenda, as explained above. He largely seems to believe that he is the only pious Muslim and links every political debate to religion which further tells that he is not a great believer in inclusivity. He refuses to accept his failure to make laudable changes in three years of his power. He only resorts to religious rhetoric to appeal to the masses, which also sadly excludes the Muslims of Hazara because he felt “blackmailed” by such marginalized communities. It is yet to see what his populist and post-truth rhetoric has for him in the store because the plight of Baloch people affected by floods, and a large number of the population bearing the brunt of inflation cannot suffice just by the hollowness of Khan’s words.

The writer is a staff member of Daily Times and can be reached at raesaf21@gmail.com

Meta, Twitter bust ‘deceptive’ pro-US influence campaign: report

Fake accounts promoted pro-Western narratives while trying to discredit China, Russia and Iran, researchers say.

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter disrupted pro-US covert influence operations that used “deceptive tactics” to shape opinion in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to internet researchers 

[File: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images]

Published On 25 Aug 2022

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter disrupted pro-United States covert influence operations that used “deceptive tactics” to shape opinion in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to a report by internet researchers.

Dozens of fake accounts promoted pro-Western narratives while trying to discredit countries including China, Russia and Iran over a nearly five-year period, according to the report released on Wednesday by Graphika Inc and the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO).

The most active campaign targeted Russian-speaking internet users in Central Asia, with much of the activity focused on criticising Russia over civilian deaths and other atrocities following its invasion of Ukraine, according to the study.

“These posts primarily focused on US support for central Asian countries and their people, presenting Washington as a reliable economic partner that would curb the region’s dependence on Russia,” the report said.

“Other posts argued that the US was the main guarantor of Central Asia’s sovereignty against Russia, frequently citing the war in Ukraine as evidence of the Kremlin’s ‘imperial’ ambitions.”

The Central Asia campaign, consisting of 12 Twitter accounts, 25 Facebook profiles and pages, and 10 Instagram accounts, also spread negative messaging about China’s treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang, where human rights activists say more than one million ethnic minority Muslims have been detained without trial.

“These accounts — a fake persona and sham media outlet — mainly focused on the genocide of Uighurs and Muslim minorities in ‘reeducation’ camps in Xinjiang,” the report said.

“Posts described alleged organ trafficking, forced labour, sexual crimes against Muslim women, and suspicious disappearances of ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang. The assets also posted about the Chinese Communist Party’s poor treatment of women in the country and often framed these stories around news about domestic violence.”

Other networks sought to exert influence in Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Limited reach

In some cases, the accounts shared news articles from Washington-funded media outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and links to websites run by the US military.

Graphika and SIO did not attribute the operations to a specific group or organisation, but Facebook parent company Meta and Twitter said the “presumptive” or known countries of origin for the activity were the US and the United Kingdom.

The tactics outlined in the report resemble many of the same strategies that US officials have accused Russia and China of using to sow divisions and discord in their country.

In the case of one account involved in the Central Asia campaign, a Facebook profile used a doctored photo of the Puerto Rican actress Valeria Menendez.

[Courtesy of Graphika Inc and Stanford Internet Observatory]

Other accounts and pages posed as media outlets, including a sham outlet called Vostochnaya Pravda that claimed to report “absolute facts” about Central Asia.

The propaganda effort came to light after Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and Twitter shared a collection of data with researchers after removing a number of accounts for “platform manipulation” and “inauthentic behaviour”.

The dataset shared with Graphika and SIO spanned 299,566 tweets sent by 146 accounts between March 2012 and February 2022.

The campaigns, however, had a questionable degree of success, according to the report, due to their limited reach.

“Importantly, the data also shows the limitations of using inauthentic tactics to generate engagement and build influence online,” the report said.

“The vast majority of posts and tweets we reviewed received no more than a handful of likes and retweets, and only 19 percent of covert assets we identified had more than 1,000 followers.”

Graphika and SIO said their findings appeared to be the first case of a covert pro-Western influence campaign being identified and disrupted by Twitter and Meta.

In February, Meta announced it had suspended about 40 fake pro-Russian accounts, groups and pages for disseminating propaganda about the war in Ukraine.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA