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polly7
polly7's Journal
polly7's Journal
September 21, 2015
Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/09/21/melting-permafrost-could-cost-world-economy-43-trillion-2100-study
Melting Permafrost Could Cost World Economy $43 Trillion by 2100: Study
Published on
Monday, September 21, 2015
byCommon Dreams
Doing nothing to slow the fast-warming Arctic carries an enormous economic price tag, warns new research
byJon Queally, staff writer
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Permafrost on the northeastern side of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, an island in the arctic region between Norway and the North Pole. (Photo: Olafur Ingolfsson)
The melting of the Earth's permafrost could unleash hundreds of billions of tons stored CO2 and methane by the end of this century, warned prominent researchers on Monday, with resulting economic costs that could reach $43 trillion in damages related to the runaway impacts of climate change.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Prof. Chris Hope of Cambridge University and Prof. Kevin Schaefer, from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, say their study shows that because the "Arctic is warming roughly twice as fast as the global average" and if current trends continue, the melting of huge sections of permafrost in the coming decades could result in hundreds of billions of ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) and billions of tons of methane (CH4) being released into the atmosphere.
Such an enormous increase of greenhouse gases would result in both economic and non-economic impacts, the researchers said. Computer models run by Hope and Schaefer found that melting permafrost would lead to higher chances of catastrophic and cascading events, such as the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets which would lead to increased flooding and more extreme weather around the world. Economic impacts cited included direct influence on the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries—such as the loss of agricultural output and the additional cost of coping with floods and heatwaves—while non-economic impacts included negative effects on human health and natural ecosystems.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Prof. Chris Hope of Cambridge University and Prof. Kevin Schaefer, from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, say their study shows that because the "Arctic is warming roughly twice as fast as the global average" and if current trends continue, the melting of huge sections of permafrost in the coming decades could result in hundreds of billions of ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) and billions of tons of methane (CH4) being released into the atmosphere.
Such an enormous increase of greenhouse gases would result in both economic and non-economic impacts, the researchers said. Computer models run by Hope and Schaefer found that melting permafrost would lead to higher chances of catastrophic and cascading events, such as the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets which would lead to increased flooding and more extreme weather around the world. Economic impacts cited included direct influence on the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries—such as the loss of agricultural output and the additional cost of coping with floods and heatwaves—while non-economic impacts included negative effects on human health and natural ecosystems.
In 2013, as Common Dreams reported, a separate team of researchers exploring the possible economic impacts of melting permafrost—sometimes described ominously as the "methane bomb"—could ultimately cost the global economy as much as $60 trillion.
Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/09/21/melting-permafrost-could-cost-world-economy-43-trillion-2100-study
September 21, 2015
Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/09/21/amid-runaway-warming-richest-nations-spend-200-billion-backing-fossil-fuels
Amid Runaway Warming, Richest Nations Spend $200 Billion Backing Fossil Fuels
Published on
Monday, September 21, 2015
byCommon Dreams
'The time is ripe for countries to demonstrate they are serious about combating climate change'
byLauren McCauley, staff writer
The OECD Inventory identified 800 separate spending programs and tax breaks used by governments in the 40 industrial or emerging economies that encourage oil, gas, and coal development. (Photo: Robert S. Donovan/cc/flickr)
In fact, according to a new report released on Monday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)—a global forum on economic policy—the world's richest nations spend roughly $160-200 billion each year supporting fossil fuel consumption and production.
"We’re totally schizophrenic," said Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the Paris-based organization. "We’re trying to reduce emissions, and we subsidize the consumption of fossil fuels. These policies are not obsolete, they’re dangerous legacies of a bygone era when pollution was viewed as a tolerable side effect of economic growth. They should be erased from the books."
Further, Gurría pointed out that governments "are spending almost twice as much money supporting fossil fuels as is needed to meet the climate-finance objectives set by the international community, which call for mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020."
The OECD Inventory identified 800 separate spending programs and tax breaks used by the governments of its 34 member countries, plus six key emerging economies—Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa—that encourage oil, gas, and coal development.
"We’re totally schizophrenic," said Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the Paris-based organization. "We’re trying to reduce emissions, and we subsidize the consumption of fossil fuels. These policies are not obsolete, they’re dangerous legacies of a bygone era when pollution was viewed as a tolerable side effect of economic growth. They should be erased from the books."
Further, Gurría pointed out that governments "are spending almost twice as much money supporting fossil fuels as is needed to meet the climate-finance objectives set by the international community, which call for mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020."
The OECD Inventory identified 800 separate spending programs and tax breaks used by the governments of its 34 member countries, plus six key emerging economies—Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa—that encourage oil, gas, and coal development.
Environmentalists, backed by statements made by the UN's own climate chief Christiana Figueres, agree that such pledges fall drastically short of what's needed to keep global warming beneath 2°C global warming target.
Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/09/21/amid-runaway-warming-richest-nations-spend-200-billion-backing-fossil-fuels
September 21, 2015
Full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/what-the-leaders-need-to-understand-about-canadas-shifting-economy/article26450995/
What the leaders need to understand about Canada’s shifting economy
JEFF RUBIN
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Sep. 21, 2015 9:37AM EDT
Last updated Monday, Sep. 21, 2015 11:43AM EDT
As Canadians are becoming all too aware, the spectre of a recession, no matter the definition, looms large during an election campaign. Despite such prominence, the recent debate made it abundantly clear that none of the candidates understands why the economy stopped growing in the first half of the year and they have even less of an idea of how to foster future growth.
The roots of Canada’s economic problems (and thus any solutions) won’t be found in infrastructure spending, fiscal management or corporate taxes. Instead, the next government will have to contemplate what to do about a huge misallocation of capital that’s arguably unprecedented in the country’s history. Canada has put far too many of its eggs in the wrong basket – gambling on the massive development of a high-cost oil resource the rest of the world doesn’t need or want. Not long ago considered by the Harper government to be the engine of economic growth, oil sands production is no longer commercially viable in today’s glutted oil market. Tomorrow’s emissions constraints will make that even more true.
Oil sands operators have already shelved billions in planned investment. Indeed, the oil sector’s rapid implosion in spending is the principle cause of the oil-inspired downturn that’s caused the much-discussed economic contraction we’ve seen so far this year. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the future of the two million barrels a day of oil sands production that currently exists. The billions spent on that output is already gone and the jobs that depend on it may follow shortly.
Oil sands operators have already shelved billions in planned investment. Indeed, the oil sector’s rapid implosion in spending is the principle cause of the oil-inspired downturn that’s caused the much-discussed economic contraction we’ve seen so far this year. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the future of the two million barrels a day of oil sands production that currently exists. The billions spent on that output is already gone and the jobs that depend on it may follow shortly.
It’s a reversal of fortune that’s already showing up in a broad array of fiscal and economic indicators from housing prices to provincial budget balances. Alberta, which until recently was accustomed to enjoying a string of multibillion dollar surpluses, is now facing a $6.5-billion deficit. In contrast, Ontario and Quebec, which saw deficits balloon, will see the clouds part and the sun begin to shine on their economies with a warmth that hasn’t been felt in years.
Whether the country’s shifting economic fortunes will end up being the deciding factor in next month’s election remains to be seen. Regardless of the outcome, however, it’s certain that the party forming the next government will end up presiding over a very different Canadian economy than the one the Harper regime spent the last decade trying to mould.
Whether the country’s shifting economic fortunes will end up being the deciding factor in next month’s election remains to be seen. Regardless of the outcome, however, it’s certain that the party forming the next government will end up presiding over a very different Canadian economy than the one the Harper regime spent the last decade trying to mould.
Full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/what-the-leaders-need-to-understand-about-canadas-shifting-economy/article26450995/
September 21, 2015
Full article: https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/burden-of-mass-incarceration-falls-heavily-on-families/
Burden of Mass Incarceration Falls Heavily on Families
With more than 2.4 million people incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons, the burden of mass incarceration falls on their families, many of whom are unable to pay off thousands of dollars in debt after paying court-related fees and other costs, according to a report published Monday.
The average family of an inmate incurs about $13,607 in debt for court-related costs, according to a report by the Ella Baker Center, Forward Together and Research Action Design, organizations that advocate for criminal justice and other social justice reforms. More than one-third of families go into debt to pay for phone calls and visits to keep in touch with a loved one behind bars, the study found.
Of the family members responsible for these costs, 83 percent were women, the report found. Many families surveyed for the study were struggling to pay for food or rent.
The average family of an inmate incurs about $13,607 in debt for court-related costs, according to a report by the Ella Baker Center, Forward Together and Research Action Design, organizations that advocate for criminal justice and other social justice reforms. More than one-third of families go into debt to pay for phone calls and visits to keep in touch with a loved one behind bars, the study found.
Of the family members responsible for these costs, 83 percent were women, the report found. Many families surveyed for the study were struggling to pay for food or rent.
Stories like hers illustrate a cycle of poverty created by mass incarceration: About 80 percent of incarcerated individuals are low-income, and nearly two-thirds of their family members are unable to meet their basic food and housing needs. At the time of the study, nearly one in five faced eviction, were denied housing or failed to qualify for public housing assistance.
“This study confirms what society has ignored for too long — that already vulnerable families and the women who sustain them are being plummeted into greater poverty, stress, and strain when their loved ones are incarcerated,” said Alicia Walters, a lead activist at Forward Together, an organization that helped conduct the study.
“This study confirms what society has ignored for too long — that already vulnerable families and the women who sustain them are being plummeted into greater poverty, stress, and strain when their loved ones are incarcerated,” said Alicia Walters, a lead activist at Forward Together, an organization that helped conduct the study.
Full article: https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/burden-of-mass-incarceration-falls-heavily-on-families/
September 21, 2015
https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/ten-reasons-to-oppose-the-saudi-monarchy/
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/
bbm
Back to the horrors in Yemen, which is being destroyed ....... by Saudi Arabia.
Ten Reasons to Oppose the Saudi Monarchy
3. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world, killing scores of people each year for a range of offenses including adultery, apostasy, drug use and sorcery. The government has conducted over 100 beheadings this year alone, often in public squares.
4. Saudi women are second-class citizens. The religious police enforce a policy of gender segregation and often harass women, using physical punishment to enforce a strict dress code. Women need the approval of a male guardian to marry, travel, enroll in a university, or obtain a passport and they’re prohibited from driving. According to interpretations of Sharia law, daughters generally receive half the inheritance awarded to their brothers, and the testimony of one man is equal to that of two women.
4. Saudi women are second-class citizens. The religious police enforce a policy of gender segregation and often harass women, using physical punishment to enforce a strict dress code. Women need the approval of a male guardian to marry, travel, enroll in a university, or obtain a passport and they’re prohibited from driving. According to interpretations of Sharia law, daughters generally receive half the inheritance awarded to their brothers, and the testimony of one man is equal to that of two women.
7. The country is built and runs thanks to foreigner laborers, but the more than six million foreign workers have virtually no legal protections. Coming from poor countries, many are lured to the kingdom under false pretenses and forced to endure dangerous working and living conditions. Female migrants employed in Saudi homes as domestic workers report regular physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
8. The Saudis are funding terrorism worldwide. A Wikileaks-revealed 2009 cable quotes then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying “Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide….More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar e-Tayyiba and other terrorist groups.” In Syria the Saudis are supporting the most extreme sectarian forces and the thousands of volunteers who rally to their call. And while the Saudi government condemns ISIS, many experts, including 9/11 Commission Report lead author Bob Graham, believe that ISIL is a product of Saudi ideals, Saudi money and Saudi organizational support.
9. The Saudis have used their massive military apparatus to invade neighboring countries and quash democratic uprisings. In 2011, the Saudi military (using US tanks) rolled into neighboring Bahrain and brutally crushed that nation’s budding pro-democracy movement. In 2015, the Saudis intervened in an internal conflict in Yemen, with a horrific bombing campaign (using American-made cluster munitions and F-15 fighter jets) that has killed and injured thousands of civilians. The conflict has created a severe humanitarian crisis affecting 80 percent of the Yemeni people.
8. The Saudis are funding terrorism worldwide. A Wikileaks-revealed 2009 cable quotes then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying “Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide….More needs to be done since Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar e-Tayyiba and other terrorist groups.” In Syria the Saudis are supporting the most extreme sectarian forces and the thousands of volunteers who rally to their call. And while the Saudi government condemns ISIS, many experts, including 9/11 Commission Report lead author Bob Graham, believe that ISIL is a product of Saudi ideals, Saudi money and Saudi organizational support.
9. The Saudis have used their massive military apparatus to invade neighboring countries and quash democratic uprisings. In 2011, the Saudi military (using US tanks) rolled into neighboring Bahrain and brutally crushed that nation’s budding pro-democracy movement. In 2015, the Saudis intervened in an internal conflict in Yemen, with a horrific bombing campaign (using American-made cluster munitions and F-15 fighter jets) that has killed and injured thousands of civilians. The conflict has created a severe humanitarian crisis affecting 80 percent of the Yemeni people.
https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/ten-reasons-to-oppose-the-saudi-monarchy/
Migrant workers’ rights
After granting foreign workers several months to regularize their status, the government launched a crackdown on irregular foreign migrants in November 2013, arresting, detaining and deporting hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. In March, the Interior Minister stated that the authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants in the preceding five months and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were summarily returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into severely overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards.
Cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment
The courts continued to impose sentences of flogging as punishment for many offences. Blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to a flogging of 1,000 lashes in addition to a prison sentence. Human rights defender Mikhlif bin Daham al-Shammari was sentenced to 200 lashes as well as a prison term.
In September, the authorities released Ruth Cosrojas, a Filipino domestic worker sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and 300 lashes after an unfair trial in October 2013 where she was convicted of organizing the sale of sex (quwada). She had received 150 lashes by the time of her release.
Death penalty
Courts continued to impose death sentences for a range of crimes, including some that did not involve violence, such as “sorcery”, adultery and drug offences, frequently after unfair trials. Some defendants, including foreign nationals facing murder charges, alleged that they had been tortured or otherwise coerced or misled into making false confessions in pre-trial detention.
The authorities carried out dozens of executions, many by public beheading. Those executed included both Saudi nationals and foreign migrants.
After granting foreign workers several months to regularize their status, the government launched a crackdown on irregular foreign migrants in November 2013, arresting, detaining and deporting hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. In March, the Interior Minister stated that the authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants in the preceding five months and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were summarily returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into severely overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards.
Cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment
The courts continued to impose sentences of flogging as punishment for many offences. Blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to a flogging of 1,000 lashes in addition to a prison sentence. Human rights defender Mikhlif bin Daham al-Shammari was sentenced to 200 lashes as well as a prison term.
In September, the authorities released Ruth Cosrojas, a Filipino domestic worker sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and 300 lashes after an unfair trial in October 2013 where she was convicted of organizing the sale of sex (quwada). She had received 150 lashes by the time of her release.
Death penalty
Courts continued to impose death sentences for a range of crimes, including some that did not involve violence, such as “sorcery”, adultery and drug offences, frequently after unfair trials. Some defendants, including foreign nationals facing murder charges, alleged that they had been tortured or otherwise coerced or misled into making false confessions in pre-trial detention.
The authorities carried out dozens of executions, many by public beheading. Those executed included both Saudi nationals and foreign migrants.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/
bbm
Back to the horrors in Yemen, which is being destroyed ....... by Saudi Arabia.
September 21, 2015
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Full review: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/kill-chain-the-rise-of-the-high-tech-assassins-by-andrew-cockburn-1.2324249
Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins, by Andrew Cockburn
Review by Ed O’Loughlin: Are drones the new wonder weapons, or an expensive and dangerous waste of time?[URL=
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These are important issues. But in Kill Chain: Drones and the Rise of High-Tech Assassins Andrew Cockburn doesn’t spend time on them. Instead he seeks to pre-empt the ethical debate by posing two seemingly pragmatic questions.
First, is assassination a useful policy? Second, does drone technology, along with its multibillion-dollar suites of surveillance and processing add-ons, and its growing thousands of support personnel, do what it says on the tin?
The ultimate trigger for the attack – which claimed 23 innocent lives, including those of two children under four – came when the travellers got out of their vehicles at dawn to pray. According to the Americans’ sketchy training, this proved that they were terrorists about to attack.
Compounding this inbuilt cultural ignorance are grave technological failings. The drones’ vaunted intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cameras – the “unblinking eye” of the American war effort – turn out to be so low in resolution and so narrow in focus that they are seldom able to tell people from bushes, let alone terrorists from civilians.
Sceptics compare it to watching Google Earth through a soda straw. Yet the delusion of God-like knowledge has captivated senior military and political figures in the US, allowing them to participate in operations from the comfort of their offices.
First, is assassination a useful policy? Second, does drone technology, along with its multibillion-dollar suites of surveillance and processing add-ons, and its growing thousands of support personnel, do what it says on the tin?
The book begins with a transcript of drone communications as a convoy of unarmed men, women and children drives through rural Afghanistan in the early morning. Watching from above, US-based drone operators wilfully misinterpret every innocent action as evidence that this is a group of armed men with belligerent intent.
The ultimate trigger for the attack – which claimed 23 innocent lives, including those of two children under four – came when the travellers got out of their vehicles at dawn to pray. According to the Americans’ sketchy training, this proved that they were terrorists about to attack.
Compounding this inbuilt cultural ignorance are grave technological failings. The drones’ vaunted intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cameras – the “unblinking eye” of the American war effort – turn out to be so low in resolution and so narrow in focus that they are seldom able to tell people from bushes, let alone terrorists from civilians.
Sceptics compare it to watching Google Earth through a soda straw. Yet the delusion of God-like knowledge has captivated senior military and political figures in the US, allowing them to participate in operations from the comfort of their offices.
Full review: http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/kill-chain-the-rise-of-the-high-tech-assassins-by-andrew-cockburn-1.2324249
September 21, 2015
By Mnar Muhawesh @mnarmuh | September 17, 2015
http://www.mintpressnews.com/not-the-nukes-what-israel-fears-most-about-an-economically-robust-iran/209630/
Not The Nukes: What Israel Fears Most About An Economically Robust Iran
Mnar Muhawesh speaks with geopolitical analyst Sharmine Narwani who was present in Geneva during the Iran talks about the deal as it’s written to help clear the clogged up airwaves media pundits and politicians have filled with special interest talking points not facts that have been funded by the Israeli and Saudi lobbies.By Mnar Muhawesh @mnarmuh | September 17, 2015
Despite each year since 1996 of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crying wolf that Iran is just a few months away from obtaining a bomb with no mention of course of Israel’s 80 nuclear warheads, Spy cables leaked earlier this year to the Guardian revealed that Israel’s very own intelligence agency, the Mossad, and the CIA both admitted that not only is Iran “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons” now, it wasn’t in the past, either.
Joining me to discuss the deal as it’s written is journalist and Middle East geopolitical analyst Sharmine Narwani, who attended the Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.
Unlike our politicians, she actually read all 160 pages of the deal, line by painstakingly negotiated line.
And she explains that all this fear mongering is just a red herring to prevent any boost to Iran’s economy because, you see, what the media won’t tell you is that Iran is on its way to becoming an economic and manufacturing superpower in the Middle East, which threatens none other than Israel and Saudi Arabia’s bought influence on U.S. politics and foreign relations.
Unlike our politicians, she actually read all 160 pages of the deal, line by painstakingly negotiated line.
And she explains that all this fear mongering is just a red herring to prevent any boost to Iran’s economy because, you see, what the media won’t tell you is that Iran is on its way to becoming an economic and manufacturing superpower in the Middle East, which threatens none other than Israel and Saudi Arabia’s bought influence on U.S. politics and foreign relations.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/not-the-nukes-what-israel-fears-most-about-an-economically-robust-iran/209630/
September 21, 2015
By Mnar Muhawesh @mnarmuh | September 9, 2015
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect recent Wikileaks revelations of US State Department leaks that show plans to destabilize Syria and overthrow the Syrian government as early as 2006. The leaks reveal that these plans were given to the US directly from the Israeli government and would be formalized through instigating civil strife and sectarianism through partnership with nations like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and even Egypt to break down the power structue in Syria to essentially to weaken Iran and Hezbolla. The leaks also reveal Israeli plans to use this crisis to expand it’s occupation of the Golan Heights for additional oil exploration and military expansion.
Note the purple line which traces the proposed Qatar-Turkey natural gas pipeline and note that all of the countries highlighted in red are part of a new coalition hastily put together after Turkey finally (in exchange for NATO’s acquiescence on Erdogan’s politically-motivated war with the PKK) agreed to allow the US to fly combat missions against ISIS targets from Incirlik. Now note which country along the purple line is not highlighted in red. That’s because Bashar al-Assad didn’t support the pipeline and now we’re seeing what happens when you’re a Mid-East strongman and you decide not to support something the US and Saudi Arabia want to get done. (Map: ZeroHedge.com)
Divide and conquer: A path to regime change: ( ........... read more.)
Refugee’s assist a fellow Refugee holding a boy as they are stuck between Macedonian riot police officers and refugees during a clash near the border train station of Idomeni, northern Greece, as they wait to be allowed by the Macedonian police to cross the border from Greece to Macedonia, Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. Macedonian special police forces have fired stun grenades to disperse thousands of refugees stuck on a no-man’s land with Greece, a day after Macedonia declared a state of emergency on its borders to deal with a massive influx of refugees heading north to Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
http://www.mintpressnews.com/migrant-crisis-syria-war-fueled-by-competing-gas-pipelines/209294/
Migrant Crisis & Syria War Fueled By Competing Gas Pipelines
Don’t let anyone fool you: Sectarian strife in Syria has been engineered to provide cover for a war for access to oil and gas, and the power and money that come along with it.By Mnar Muhawesh @mnarmuh | September 9, 2015
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect recent Wikileaks revelations of US State Department leaks that show plans to destabilize Syria and overthrow the Syrian government as early as 2006. The leaks reveal that these plans were given to the US directly from the Israeli government and would be formalized through instigating civil strife and sectarianism through partnership with nations like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and even Egypt to break down the power structue in Syria to essentially to weaken Iran and Hezbolla. The leaks also reveal Israeli plans to use this crisis to expand it’s occupation of the Golan Heights for additional oil exploration and military expansion.
While there’s certainly a conversation taking place about refugees — who they are, where they’re going, who’s helping them, and who isn’t — what’s absent is a discussion on how to prevent these wars from starting in the first place. Media outlets and political talking heads have found many opportunities to point fingers in the blame game, but not one media organization has accurately broken down what’s driving the chaos: control over gas, oil and resources.
Indeed, it’s worth asking: How did demonstrations held by “hundreds” of protesters demanding economic change in Syria four years ago devolve into a deadly sectarian civil war, fanning the flames of extremism haunting the world today and creating the world’s second largest refugee crisis?
Indeed, it’s worth asking: How did demonstrations held by “hundreds” of protesters demanding economic change in Syria four years ago devolve into a deadly sectarian civil war, fanning the flames of extremism haunting the world today and creating the world’s second largest refugee crisis?
This “civil war” is not about religion
Foreign meddling in Syria began several years before the Syrian revolt erupted. Wikieaks released leaked US State Department cables from 2006 revealing US plans to overthrow the Syrian government through instigating civil strife, and receiving these very orders straight from Tel Aviv. The leaks reveal the United State’s partnership with nations like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and even Egypt to use sectarianism to divide Syria through the Sunni and Shiite divide to destabilize the nation to weaken Iran and Hezbolla. Israel is also revealed to attempt to use this crisis to expand it’s occupation of the Golan Heights for additional oil exploration.
According to major media outlets like the BBC and the Associated Press, the demonstrations that supposedly swept Syria were comprised of only hundreds of people, but additional Wikileaks cables reveal CIA involvement on the ground in Syria to instigate these very demonstrations as early as March 2011.
Foreign meddling in Syria began several years before the Syrian revolt erupted. Wikieaks released leaked US State Department cables from 2006 revealing US plans to overthrow the Syrian government through instigating civil strife, and receiving these very orders straight from Tel Aviv. The leaks reveal the United State’s partnership with nations like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and even Egypt to use sectarianism to divide Syria through the Sunni and Shiite divide to destabilize the nation to weaken Iran and Hezbolla. Israel is also revealed to attempt to use this crisis to expand it’s occupation of the Golan Heights for additional oil exploration.
According to major media outlets like the BBC and the Associated Press, the demonstrations that supposedly swept Syria were comprised of only hundreds of people, but additional Wikileaks cables reveal CIA involvement on the ground in Syria to instigate these very demonstrations as early as March 2011.
But it’s important to note the timing: This coalition and meddling in Syria came about immediately on the heels of discussions of an Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline that was to be built between 2014 and 2016 from Iran’s giant South Pars field through Iraq and Syria. With a possible extension to Lebanon, it would eventually reach Europe, the target export market.
Perhaps the most accurate description of the current crisis over gas, oil and pipelines that is raging in Syria has been described by Dmitry Minin, writing for the Strategic Cultural Foundation in May 2013: ..........
Perhaps the most accurate description of the current crisis over gas, oil and pipelines that is raging in Syria has been described by Dmitry Minin, writing for the Strategic Cultural Foundation in May 2013: ..........
Note the purple line which traces the proposed Qatar-Turkey natural gas pipeline and note that all of the countries highlighted in red are part of a new coalition hastily put together after Turkey finally (in exchange for NATO’s acquiescence on Erdogan’s politically-motivated war with the PKK) agreed to allow the US to fly combat missions against ISIS targets from Incirlik. Now note which country along the purple line is not highlighted in red. That’s because Bashar al-Assad didn’t support the pipeline and now we’re seeing what happens when you’re a Mid-East strongman and you decide not to support something the US and Saudi Arabia want to get done. (Map: ZeroHedge.com)
Divide and conquer: A path to regime change: ( ........... read more.)
Refugee’s assist a fellow Refugee holding a boy as they are stuck between Macedonian riot police officers and refugees during a clash near the border train station of Idomeni, northern Greece, as they wait to be allowed by the Macedonian police to cross the border from Greece to Macedonia, Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. Macedonian special police forces have fired stun grenades to disperse thousands of refugees stuck on a no-man’s land with Greece, a day after Macedonia declared a state of emergency on its borders to deal with a massive influx of refugees heading north to Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
http://www.mintpressnews.com/migrant-crisis-syria-war-fueled-by-competing-gas-pipelines/209294/
September 21, 2015
By The Independent | September 21, 2015
Faisal bin Hassan Trad, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (left), presents his credentials to the Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office, Michael Møller( right) at Geneva. January 7th, 2014. Photo by Pierre Albouy
http://www.mintpressnews.com/fury-after-saudi-arabia-chosen-to-head-key-un-human-rights-panel/209729/
Fury After Saudi Arabia ‘Chosen To Head Key UN Human Rights Panel’
The Saudis’ bid emerged shortly after it posted a job advertisement for eight new executioners, to cope with what Amnesty International branded a “macabre spike” in the use of capital punishment, including beheadings, this year.By The Independent | September 21, 2015
Faisal bin Hassan Trad, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (left), presents his credentials to the Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office, Michael Møller( right) at Geneva. January 7th, 2014. Photo by Pierre Albouy
The United Nations has been criticised for handing Saudi Arabia a key human rights role – despite the country having “arguably the worst record in the world” on freedoms for women, minorities and dissidents.
Critics, including the wife of imprisoned pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to 1,000 lashes for blogging about free speech – labelled the appointment “scandalous”, saying it meant “oil trumps human rights”.
Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who is leading an international campaign to free her husband, said on Facebook that handing the role to Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was effectively “a green light to start flogging [him] again”
Critics, including the wife of imprisoned pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to 1,000 lashes for blogging about free speech – labelled the appointment “scandalous”, saying it meant “oil trumps human rights”.
Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who is leading an international campaign to free her husband, said on Facebook that handing the role to Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was effectively “a green light to start flogging [him] again”
It’s a sad comment on our world that oil continues to trump basic human rights principles.
http://www.mintpressnews.com/fury-after-saudi-arabia-chosen-to-head-key-un-human-rights-panel/209729/
September 20, 2015
By Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
Stop the War Coalition
Saturday, Sep 19, 2015
Journalism is most valuable when it is devoted to what is most difficult: namely, focusing on the bad acts of one’s own side.
The ongoing atrocities by Saudi Arabia and its “coalition partners” in Yemen reflect powerfully — and horribly — on both the US and UK.
Each time he’s confronted with questions about the war crimes committed by the side his own government arms and supports, Kawczynski ignores the topic and instead demands to know why the BBC isn’t focused instead on the bad acts of the Houthis, the rebel group the Saudis are fighting, which the Saudis (dubiously) claim is controlled by Iran.
Over and over, when O’Brien asks about the role the UK Government is playing in Saudi war crimes, Kawczynski tries to change the topic by demanding that the BBC instead talk about Iran and the Houthis: “You have an agenda at Newsnight and you don’t want anyone to dispute the way in which you are covering this war. You have an agenda against the Gulf States coalition. … Why haven’t you shown any coverage of the massacres … by the Houthi tribes?”
This superb interview by this BBC host is an excellent illustration of the virtues of adversarial journalism. Even more significantly, it demonstrates why journalism is most valuable when it is devoted to what is most difficult: namely, focusing on the bad acts of one’s own side, holding accountable those who wield power in one’s own country and those of its closest allies, challenging the orthodoxies most cherished and venerated by one’s own society.
The British MP who was interviewed by Newsnight, Daniel Kawczynski, is now threatening to sue the BBC and its producer, Ian Katz, over the interview. He’s particularly upset that after the interview, Katz posted the documents showing that Kawczynski received a “donation” from the Saudi Foreign Ministry to visit. As is so often the case, the most vocal tough-guy-warriors are such delicate flowers.
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_71627.shtml
Pathetic.
Humanitarian Crisis in War-Battered Yemen
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016122828
Yemen's Heritage, a Victim of War
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016124756
Saudi-led forces accused of cluster bombings in Yemen
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/cluster-bombs-yemen-150827155039946.html
Despite Global Ban, Saudi-Led Forces Kill Dozens in Yemen Using U.S.-Made Cluster Bombs
KENNETH ROTH: They’re devastating. They’re like standing on a land mine. They, at minimum, will rip off your limbs, and they very frequently are completely lethal.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to a video released by Human Rights Watch featuring interviews with victims of cluster munitions in Yemen.
AZIZ HADI MATIR HAYASH: [translated] We were together, and a rocket hit us. It exploded in the air, and cluster bombs, submunitions, fell out of it. Before we left the house with the sheep, two submunitions fell down while others spread all over the village. One exploded, and the other still remains. My cousins and I were wounded.
FATIMA IBRAHIM AL-MARZUQI: [translated] Three brothers were killed—two children and one adult. It hit us while we were sleeping, and we were all wounded, including my brothers. I can’t walk. My mother carries me. She gets me out, washes me, as well as my brother. My whole body is wounded. My dress was burned that night. My hands were burned, and my bones were broken.
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/9/1/despite_global_ban_saudi_led_forces
Yemen: U.N. Condemns U.S.-Backed Airstrikes on Port City of Hudaydah
In news from Yemen, the United Nations has condemned the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led airstrikes on the port city of Hudaydah. U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien called the strikes a violation of international law and warned they would worsen the humanitarian crisis. The port city has been a key area in the delivery of humanitarian aid, although the Saudi-led blockade has slowed the delivery of food and medical supplies. O’Brien spoke Wednesday.
Stephen O’Brien: "I was shocked by what I saw. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of the conflict. A shocking four out of five Yemenis require humanitarian assistance, and nearly 1.5 million people are internally displaced. More than 1,000 children have been killed or injured, and the number of young people recruited or used as fighters is increasing."
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/20/headlines#8206
The Human Carnage of Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen
27 August 2015, 17:57 UTC
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/08/the-human-carnage-of-saudi-arabias-war-in-yemen/
‘Stronger than Al-Qaeda’: ISIL poised to rise in southern Yemeni city
Analysis: In midst of security vacuum, Aden could see surge of activity by Islamic State fighters and supporters
September 17, 2015 5:00AM ET
by Iona Craig
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/17/embattled-yemen-aden-rise-islamic-state.html
What’s Really Driving The Saudi-Led Attacks On Yemen?
Oil.
By Catherine Shakdam | April 2, 2015
Full article: http://www.mintpressnews.com/whats-really-driving-the-saudi-led-attacks-on-yemen/203879/
Time for UN to Shift Mission in Yemen
by Nicola Nasser / September 28th, 2015
Full article: http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/09/time-for-un-to-shift-mission-in-yemen/
Yemen’s forgotten war (PART ONE) - BBC Newsnight
&annotation_id=49afb2ea-5d43-4451-975b-8d8b7a1dbe74&src_vid=Gi5z4M5dm4o&feature=cards
James O'Brien grills Daniel Kawczynski MP on Saudi arms sales - Newsnight
Masterclass on how to interview a politician trying to justify war crimesBy Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
Stop the War Coalition
Saturday, Sep 19, 2015
Journalism is most valuable when it is devoted to what is most difficult: namely, focusing on the bad acts of one’s own side.
The ongoing atrocities by Saudi Arabia and its “coalition partners” in Yemen reflect powerfully — and horribly — on both the US and UK.
Each time he’s confronted with questions about the war crimes committed by the side his own government arms and supports, Kawczynski ignores the topic and instead demands to know why the BBC isn’t focused instead on the bad acts of the Houthis, the rebel group the Saudis are fighting, which the Saudis (dubiously) claim is controlled by Iran.
Over and over, when O’Brien asks about the role the UK Government is playing in Saudi war crimes, Kawczynski tries to change the topic by demanding that the BBC instead talk about Iran and the Houthis: “You have an agenda at Newsnight and you don’t want anyone to dispute the way in which you are covering this war. You have an agenda against the Gulf States coalition. … Why haven’t you shown any coverage of the massacres … by the Houthi tribes?”
This superb interview by this BBC host is an excellent illustration of the virtues of adversarial journalism. Even more significantly, it demonstrates why journalism is most valuable when it is devoted to what is most difficult: namely, focusing on the bad acts of one’s own side, holding accountable those who wield power in one’s own country and those of its closest allies, challenging the orthodoxies most cherished and venerated by one’s own society.
The British MP who was interviewed by Newsnight, Daniel Kawczynski, is now threatening to sue the BBC and its producer, Ian Katz, over the interview. He’s particularly upset that after the interview, Katz posted the documents showing that Kawczynski received a “donation” from the Saudi Foreign Ministry to visit. As is so often the case, the most vocal tough-guy-warriors are such delicate flowers.
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_71627.shtml
Pathetic.
Humanitarian Crisis in War-Battered Yemen
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016122828
Yemen's Heritage, a Victim of War
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016124756
Saudi-led forces accused of cluster bombings in Yemen
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/cluster-bombs-yemen-150827155039946.html
Despite Global Ban, Saudi-Led Forces Kill Dozens in Yemen Using U.S.-Made Cluster Bombs
KENNETH ROTH: They’re devastating. They’re like standing on a land mine. They, at minimum, will rip off your limbs, and they very frequently are completely lethal.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to a video released by Human Rights Watch featuring interviews with victims of cluster munitions in Yemen.
AZIZ HADI MATIR HAYASH: [translated] We were together, and a rocket hit us. It exploded in the air, and cluster bombs, submunitions, fell out of it. Before we left the house with the sheep, two submunitions fell down while others spread all over the village. One exploded, and the other still remains. My cousins and I were wounded.
FATIMA IBRAHIM AL-MARZUQI: [translated] Three brothers were killed—two children and one adult. It hit us while we were sleeping, and we were all wounded, including my brothers. I can’t walk. My mother carries me. She gets me out, washes me, as well as my brother. My whole body is wounded. My dress was burned that night. My hands were burned, and my bones were broken.
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/9/1/despite_global_ban_saudi_led_forces
Yemen: U.N. Condemns U.S.-Backed Airstrikes on Port City of Hudaydah
In news from Yemen, the United Nations has condemned the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led airstrikes on the port city of Hudaydah. U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien called the strikes a violation of international law and warned they would worsen the humanitarian crisis. The port city has been a key area in the delivery of humanitarian aid, although the Saudi-led blockade has slowed the delivery of food and medical supplies. O’Brien spoke Wednesday.
Stephen O’Brien: "I was shocked by what I saw. The civilian population is bearing the brunt of the conflict. A shocking four out of five Yemenis require humanitarian assistance, and nearly 1.5 million people are internally displaced. More than 1,000 children have been killed or injured, and the number of young people recruited or used as fighters is increasing."
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/20/headlines#8206
The Human Carnage of Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen
27 August 2015, 17:57 UTC
The conflict has worsened an already dire humanitarian situation in the Middle East’s poorest country. Prior to the conflict, more than half of Yemen’s population was in need of some humanitarian assistance. That number has now increased to more than 80 percent, while a coalition-imposed blockade on commercial imports remains in place in much of the country and the ability of international aid agencies to deliver desperately needed supplies continues to be hindered by the conflict. The damage inflicted by a coalition airstrike last week on the port of the northwestern city of Hudaydah, the only point of entry for humanitarian aid to the north of the country, is only the latest example. The situation is poised to deteriorate further: The U.N. World Food Program warned last week of the possibility of famine in Yemen for millions, mostly women and children.
Bombs dropped by the Saudi-led air campaign have all too often landed on civilians, contributing to this humanitarian disaster. In the ruins of the Musaab bin Omar school, the meager possessions of the families who were sheltering there included a few children’s clothes, blankets, and cooking pots. I found no sign of any military activity that could have made the site a military target. But I did see the remains of the weapon used in the attack — a fin from a U.S.-designed MK80 general-purpose bomb, similar to those found at many other locations of coalition strikes.
This was far from the only instance where U.S. weapons killed Yemeni civilians. In the nearby village of Waht, another coalition airstrike killed 11 worshipers in a mosque two days earlier. There, too, bewildered survivors and families of the victims asked why they had been targeted.One of the two bombs dropped on the mosque failed to explode and was still mostly intact when I visited the site. It was a U.S.-manufactured MK82 general-purpose bomb, fitted with a fusing system also of U.S. manufacture. The 500-pound bomb was stamped “explosive bomb” and “tritonal” — the latter a designation indicating the type of explosive it contains.
Bombs dropped by the Saudi-led air campaign have all too often landed on civilians, contributing to this humanitarian disaster. In the ruins of the Musaab bin Omar school, the meager possessions of the families who were sheltering there included a few children’s clothes, blankets, and cooking pots. I found no sign of any military activity that could have made the site a military target. But I did see the remains of the weapon used in the attack — a fin from a U.S.-designed MK80 general-purpose bomb, similar to those found at many other locations of coalition strikes.
This was far from the only instance where U.S. weapons killed Yemeni civilians. In the nearby village of Waht, another coalition airstrike killed 11 worshipers in a mosque two days earlier. There, too, bewildered survivors and families of the victims asked why they had been targeted.One of the two bombs dropped on the mosque failed to explode and was still mostly intact when I visited the site. It was a U.S.-manufactured MK82 general-purpose bomb, fitted with a fusing system also of U.S. manufacture. The 500-pound bomb was stamped “explosive bomb” and “tritonal” — the latter a designation indicating the type of explosive it contains.
The poisonous legacy of these U.S.-made weapons will plague Yemen for years to come. In Inshur, a village near the northern city of Saada, I found a field full of U.S.-made BLU-97 cluster submunitions — small bombs the size of a soda can that are contained in cluster bombs. Many lie in the field, still unexploded and posing a high risk for unsuspecting local residents, farmers, and animal herders who may step on them or pick them up, unaware of the danger. In one of the city’s hospitals, I met a 13-year-old boy who stepped on one of the unexploded cluster bombs in Inshur, causing it to explode. It smashed several bones in his foot.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/08/the-human-carnage-of-saudi-arabias-war-in-yemen/
‘Stronger than Al-Qaeda’: ISIL poised to rise in southern Yemeni city
Analysis: In midst of security vacuum, Aden could see surge of activity by Islamic State fighters and supporters
September 17, 2015 5:00AM ET
by Iona Craig
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/17/embattled-yemen-aden-rise-islamic-state.html
What’s Really Driving The Saudi-Led Attacks On Yemen?
Oil.
By Catherine Shakdam | April 2, 2015
Sheikh Mabkout Nahshal, a tribal leader from the northern Yemen province of Hajjah, who in the space of four years saw his country teeter on the verge of civil war more times than he cares to admit, told MintPress that this war Riyadh is waging against the Houthis and, thus, against Yemen has nothing to do with Hadi, democracy or national security — or, at least not Yemen’s national security. It’s about oil and geopolitical maneuvering.
“Al Sauds have always viewed Yemen as a threat to their hegemony, both militarily and geostrategically. Ibn Saud actually told his sons that for Al Saud to survive in the region, Yemen would have to be tamed,” Nahshal said. “This war is about restoring control over a Saudi colony, this war is about putting Yemen’s freedom under lock and key.”
“Everything else, all these talks of sectarianism and democracy, legitimacy and national security, are shiny lies thrown out at the public to hide the truth.”
Indeed, nothing is ever really as it seems in Yemen. The country is a complicated maze of intermixing political interests, sectarian ambitions and geostrategic realities, where world powers are engaging in a bitter fight for control over oil access and resources.
“The new battleground of this Great Game world powers never stopped [playing], Yemen has become the region’s new frontline. What we see unfold in Yemen is the new oil rush, a bitter battle for control over the world oil route Bab al-Mandab. The fact that a nation finds itself caught in the middle of such ambitions is of no consequence to Al Saud,” Ahmed Mohamed Nasser Ahmed, a Yemeni political analyst and former member of Yemen’s National Issues and Transitional Justice Working Group at the National Dialogue Conference, told MintPress.
“Al Sauds have always viewed Yemen as a threat to their hegemony, both militarily and geostrategically. Ibn Saud actually told his sons that for Al Saud to survive in the region, Yemen would have to be tamed,” Nahshal said. “This war is about restoring control over a Saudi colony, this war is about putting Yemen’s freedom under lock and key.”
“Everything else, all these talks of sectarianism and democracy, legitimacy and national security, are shiny lies thrown out at the public to hide the truth.”
Indeed, nothing is ever really as it seems in Yemen. The country is a complicated maze of intermixing political interests, sectarian ambitions and geostrategic realities, where world powers are engaging in a bitter fight for control over oil access and resources.
“The new battleground of this Great Game world powers never stopped [playing], Yemen has become the region’s new frontline. What we see unfold in Yemen is the new oil rush, a bitter battle for control over the world oil route Bab al-Mandab. The fact that a nation finds itself caught in the middle of such ambitions is of no consequence to Al Saud,” Ahmed Mohamed Nasser Ahmed, a Yemeni political analyst and former member of Yemen’s National Issues and Transitional Justice Working Group at the National Dialogue Conference, told MintPress.
“The Saudis, with the blessing of the United States, have moved against Yemen to reclaim control over the very strategic and very crucial Bab al-Mandab. Should the Houthis, an ally of Iran, control the strait, then the peninsula would de facto fall under the sphere of influence of the Islamic Republic, and this is something the Saudis will never tolerate, at least not without a fight,” he continued.
Bab al-Mandab is one of the seven “choke points” in the worldwide delivery of oil. The Bab al-Mandab strait separates the Arabian Peninsula from East Africa and links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Most ships using the waterway have come from, or are going to, Egypt’s Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. This contributes about $5 billion a year to the Egyptian economy and gives the country a large degree of control over the world’s major oil route.
Bab al-Mandab is one of the seven “choke points” in the worldwide delivery of oil. The Bab al-Mandab strait separates the Arabian Peninsula from East Africa and links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Most ships using the waterway have come from, or are going to, Egypt’s Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. This contributes about $5 billion a year to the Egyptian economy and gives the country a large degree of control over the world’s major oil route.
Full article: http://www.mintpressnews.com/whats-really-driving-the-saudi-led-attacks-on-yemen/203879/
Time for UN to Shift Mission in Yemen
by Nicola Nasser / September 28th, 2015
Peace in Yemen will continue to be elusive unless the United Nations shifts its mission from sponsoring an inter-Yemeni dialogue to mediating ceasefire negotiations between the actual warring parties, namely Saudi Arabia & allies and the de facto representatives of Yemenis who are fighting to defend their country’s territorial integrity and independent free will, i.e., the Huthi-Saleh & allies.
The Saudi insistence on dictating a fait accompli on Yemen is undermining the UN efforts to bring about a political solution, which was made impossible by the Saudi – led war on Yemen.
The Saudi insistence on dictating a fait accompli on Yemen is undermining the UN efforts to bring about a political solution, which was made impossible by the Saudi – led war on Yemen.
Long history of Saudi military intervention
Long before there was an “Iran threat” or a “Shiite threat,” the Saudi ruling family never hesitated to interfere in Yemen militarily or otherwise whenever Yemenis showed signs of breaking away from Saudi hegemony towards a free will to determine their lives independently.
In the 1930s the Saudis engaged in a war on the Mutawakkilite Imamate of Yemen and succeeded in annexing the Yemeni provinces of Asir, Jizan and Najran to their kingdom, thus creating a border dispute that was not settled until 2000, but the current Saudi war on Yemen seems to reignite it.
Long before there was an “Iran threat” or a “Shiite threat,” the Saudi ruling family never hesitated to interfere in Yemen militarily or otherwise whenever Yemenis showed signs of breaking away from Saudi hegemony towards a free will to determine their lives independently.
In the 1930s the Saudis engaged in a war on the Mutawakkilite Imamate of Yemen and succeeded in annexing the Yemeni provinces of Asir, Jizan and Najran to their kingdom, thus creating a border dispute that was not settled until 2000, but the current Saudi war on Yemen seems to reignite it.
Full article: http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/09/time-for-un-to-shift-mission-in-yemen/
Yemen’s forgotten war (PART ONE) - BBC Newsnight
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