Opinion International Geopolitics
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RussellEbertHandball
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I think since all the dictators saw Gadaffi get bashed to death they all have tried to avoid a repeat of it.
It spooked Putin to try and become President again as he feared that would happen to him as pay back once his 4 year term as Prime Minister ended the following year in 2012.
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- Mar 1, 2014
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Oh, the irony of it all...
The world's biggest capitalist acting as a go between the world's biggest capitalist economy and the word's most powerful communist regime.
www.abc.net.au
I am not sure who I dislike the most Donald Trump or Elon Musk.
The world's biggest capitalist acting as a go between the world's biggest capitalist economy and the word's most powerful communist regime.
Elon Musk set to be go-between between Trump and China
As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, Elon Musk and Tesla look likely to benefit from influential ties to both the US president and the Chinese government.
www.abc.net.au
I am not sure who I dislike the most Donald Trump or Elon Musk.
- Mar 1, 2014
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Re Trump and Musk, apparently both of them were at the re-opening of the Notre Dame cathedral and a comment was made in the news service I saw that the Donald is carrying on like he is already the current president, which given his obviously ginormous ego was no great surprise!Oh, the irony of it all...
The world's biggest capitalist acting as a go between the world's biggest capitalist economy and the word's most powerful communist regime.
Elon Musk set to be go-between between Trump and China
As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, Elon Musk and Tesla look likely to benefit from influential ties to both the US president and the Chinese government.
I am not sure who I dislike the most Donald Trump or Elon Musk.
Interesting footage from the same news segment re Prince William shaking hands with Trump and then after `possibly' realising it may not be a good look doing a fairly good impersonation of the Michael Jackson moonwalk backwards for about 5 metres, but the orange horror was having none of that and just kept zooming in for a `look at me' photo opportunity.
And what about the juvenile schoolyard handshake competition with Macron?
Reminds me of Mark Latham's cringe handshake with John Howard many years ago.
Latham was a disaster (since manifestly proven), but that handshake thing was a monumental beat up.
A 'beat up' that many say cost Latham the election - especially amongst women voters.
Not sure about that but it was a dipstick act done deliberately in front of the a dozen cameras in the Sydney ABC studios on the final day of the very close 2004 election campaign. Just plain dumb.
It gave that gave a good indication of the judgement and character of the man - and added to the string of negativity about his bullying nature and previous assault allegations. Australia dodged a bullet with him losing - the US was not so lucky with their dipstick.
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Ford Fairlane
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You can actually see the fear in the Queen's eyes meeting with the Assads. She could be in a room with Fred and Rosemary West.
www.abc.net.au
'The devil and his wife' ruled Syria with fear, drugs and murder
Like so many dictators before them, the Assads somehow believed they would be immune to the forces of history. And like so many dictators before them, their dreams of dynasty have seemingly ended in ruin.
www.abc.net.au
You can actually see the fear in the Queen's eyes meeting with the Assads. She could be in a room with Fred and Rosemary West.
'The devil and his wife' ruled Syria with fear, drugs and murder
Like so many dictators before them, the Assads somehow believed they would be immune to the forces of history. And like so many dictators before them, their dreams of dynasty have seemingly ended in ruin.
Putin has given the poor waifs a new home...
Kremlin refuses to confirm if Assad is in Russia as Syrian rebels free thousands of prisoners — as it happened
There have been large celebrations after Syrian rebels ousted the country's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
www.abc.net.au
Jesus Assad gone and Hinkley still here...
Schulzenfest
TheBrownDog
Have we tried a bloody rebellion at Alberton? Might be the only way to get rid of him.
Schulzenfest
TheBrownDog
Sack Hinkley chat now even filtering through to the International Geopolitics thread, you love to see it.
- Oct 8, 2004
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Hundreds are waiting outside of Sednaya prison for news about their loved ones. The rebels found multiple under ground levels and have been unable to break past the 2nd one. Rescue operations still underway, they are debating on asking the international community for help to save thousands trapped.
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Putin has given the poor waifs a new home...
Kremlin refuses to confirm if Assad is in Russia as Syrian rebels free thousands of prisoners — as it happened
There have been large celebrations after Syrian rebels ousted the country's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Putin's granting asylum to Assad will have done him no favours with the Syrian Rebels. If he wanted to maintain access to Russia's existing strategic installations such as the warm water port at Tartus in Syria this is unlikely to do it.
Or Donald and Melania Trump. Or his latest partner, Elon Musk.
Take it with a grain of salt like anything Russia says, but apparently Tass were saying that Russia assisted the rebels in the overthrow!
Sunshine81
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Assad has an Alawite (Shia) background and had links with Iran (Shia). I don't know that HTS (Sunni) will want to have anything to do with the Iranians and therefore Hezbollah.
But as you say there will be a power struggle. Particularly with the Kurds in the north if Turkey see this as a green light to attack them.
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I think you would need a 20kg bag of salt to give any credibility to Russian state news. They are the people who tell the world that NATO is responsible for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
If the Western Powers are smart, which is also debatable, they will start to woo the Syrian rebels real quick. A few things they might do-
- Drop the 'terrorist organisation' classification on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The former head of British Intelligence has already called for this. If things do not work out it should be a simple matter to reinstate the classification.
- Use the US and British influence on the UN Security Council to propose a resolution that the UN also drops the terrorist classification. Get in before the Russians do.
- Drop the 'terrorist' tag on the Syrian Rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani and the 10M reward for information leading to his capture. True, twenty years ago this guy was a devout jihadist but he has shown signs of reform and has even taken to using his birth name Ahmed al- Shaara in recent press releases. It is very hard to negotiate with a person who has a reward on his head.
- Get a diplomatic delegation together meet with HTS, the Kurds and whoever and offer assistance in rebuilding Syria. It sounds like they could use some specialist help to get into Assad's high security prison.
The longer the West waits the more chance that the Russians, Iranians or even the Chinese will be into it.
Or herself
- Mar 1, 2014
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You can actually see the fear in the Queen's eyes meeting with the Assads. She could be in a room with Fred and Rosemary West.
'The devil and his wife' ruled Syria with fear, drugs and murder
Like so many dictators before them, the Assads somehow believed they would be immune to the forces of history. And like so many dictators before them, their dreams of dynasty have seemingly ended in ruin.
Assad's wife Asma is British born and her gracious Majesty was probably have a quiet chat with one of her subjects.
Asma was born of Syrian parents in London where her father was a Harley Street specialist. She lived in West Acton and graduated from King's College with a first in Computer Science.
Despite numerous calls for her to be stripped of her British citizenship Asma al-Assad is still a British National and as such she would not have to claim asylum in Britain. Doubtless if she did return to Britain she would face intense questioning about her involvement in the Assad regime. As of 2023 the Assad's still owned property in London.
Maybe she was asking Her Majesty for a Royal Pardon or is it only in the US that the Head of State can pardon anyone for anything?
They're gonna chuck Mangione...
- Mar 1, 2014
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Well It hasn't taken the Israelis long. Overnight they conducted air strikes on Syrian airbases. Thus Netanyahu opens the door for Hamas and Hezbollah to stir up sympathy among the Syrian population. Netanyahu does not seem to realise that Hamas is more than a bunch of individuals it is an ideology and Israel's aggression feeds that ideology. For every Hamas terrorist that the Israelis have killed in fourteen months of air strikes in Gaza they have probably converted countless young Gazans into Hamas sympathisers. In some respects I can understand the Israeli logic as they are probably highly suspicious of a regime lead by a former jihadist and feel they need to get in first but a shoot first and ask questions later policy is likely to fuel Hezbollah and Hamas and is hardly conducive to long term stability.
Back in October 2023 Israel had the sympathy of the Western world as they were clearly the victims of a blatant act of terrorism. In the subsequent months Netanyahu has not been able to free the hostages, nor has he totally eliminated Hamas but he has killed close to 40,000 civilians. Far from being the victim Netanyahu now finds himself charged with war crimes while fighting his neighbours and trying to keep the peace on the home front.
I used to have a good deal of admiration for the Israelis. Back in the days of Entebbe and Munich they were well organised, Mossad was a first rate intelligence organisation and they had the abilty to get in and the job done quickly and efficiently. These days Israeli intelligence borders on inept. Netanyahu is too busy trying to save his own political skin to answer the questions that many Israelis are asking. Exactly how was Hamas able to construct a tunnel network that rivals the London Underground in size right under Israeli noses? How were they able to ship arms and munitions into Gaza? What was Mossad doing in the days leading up to October 7th?
Of the three main contenders, Putin, Trump and Netanyahu it is hard to know who is in front in the stupidity stakes. I am not Jewish nor am I an Arab and I have no sympathy for Hamas or Hezbollah but I have gone off the Israelis.
Back in October 2023 Israel had the sympathy of the Western world as they were clearly the victims of a blatant act of terrorism. In the subsequent months Netanyahu has not been able to free the hostages, nor has he totally eliminated Hamas but he has killed close to 40,000 civilians. Far from being the victim Netanyahu now finds himself charged with war crimes while fighting his neighbours and trying to keep the peace on the home front.
I used to have a good deal of admiration for the Israelis. Back in the days of Entebbe and Munich they were well organised, Mossad was a first rate intelligence organisation and they had the abilty to get in and the job done quickly and efficiently. These days Israeli intelligence borders on inept. Netanyahu is too busy trying to save his own political skin to answer the questions that many Israelis are asking. Exactly how was Hamas able to construct a tunnel network that rivals the London Underground in size right under Israeli noses? How were they able to ship arms and munitions into Gaza? What was Mossad doing in the days leading up to October 7th?
Of the three main contenders, Putin, Trump and Netanyahu it is hard to know who is in front in the stupidity stakes. I am not Jewish nor am I an Arab and I have no sympathy for Hamas or Hezbollah but I have gone off the Israelis.
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