by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Four weeks on, the street protestors in Lebanon are not showing any signs of relenting; and neither is the government. An activist has been killed by a Lebanese Army bullet during an attempt to close the southern coastal highway that links Beirut with Saida. This incident occurred almost 24 hours after a televised interview of President Aoun in which he said that, if
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, Lebanon looked like it had totally lost its independence and ability of self-determination. Later on, and with Israeli boots still on Lebanese ground, the Lebanese government was coerced to reach the 17th of May (1983) peace accord with Israel; and which was in reality tantamount to terms of surrender. By then, the underground resistance,
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Hezbollah is facing a new challenge, and this time it is not a military one, but rather political. Perhaps few countries need peaceful “popular revolutions” more than Lebanon does. In my simplistic way of thinking, Lebanon should actually be on the top of the list; followed by the USA. Corruption in Lebanon is endemic. Its politicians are in reality the heirs of dynasties
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Is the attack on ARAMCO the first of a long war or is it game-over already? It seems like the latter and in more ways than one, the war between Iran and Saudi Arabia has ended before it even started. One single solitary Houthi attack on Aramco has sent Saudi oil exports tumbling down by half; not to mention a 20% hike on
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Abou Omar, a close friend of mine, is one whom I have so much in common. Not only he was my boss many moons ago, but we were both brought up in political families that endorsed and advocated the unity and integrity of Syria. When I caught up with him recently after many years, I was not surprised that our thoughts had many
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog A year or two ago, I would have never imagined that I would be writing an article with this title, at least not this soon; but things change. If anything, my previous articles about ISIS which I wrote back between 2014 and 2017 were very alarming and predicted the worst, but again, things change, and back then there were many reasons to feel
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Every time I write about how low the West has stooped, even make predictions as to how much further it is prepared to slump, I find that my wildest imaginations are surpassed in no time at all. The arrest of Julian Assange and the foray of charges he is suddenly facing is now reaching a point that should only be seen as a
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog As the American military build-up continues around the Strait of Hormuz, and as a potential American-Iranian war looms, many analysts are convinced that war is imminent. I beg to differ. Ever since the “War on Syria” started, I kept reiterating that America would never launch a full-on attack on Syria, and for very good reasons, and not long ago, I finally felt compelled
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog The tragic news of terrorism in New Zealand highlights the failure of Western governments in dealing with it. In its policy of denial of addressing ISIS-like activities in the West, Western governments have inadvertently given ultra-right wing elitist Fascists the green light to take the law in their own hands to “avenge” the terrorism of Salafist/Wahhabi/Jihadi terrorists on innocent Westerners thereby driving them
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Just before Trump announced that American troops are to leave Syria “immediately”, many compatriots, friends and analysts were wondering what could be the next event that might change the course of future events in northern and eastern Syria. The first reaction to the news of Trump ordering his troops to leave Syria took many by surprise. That said, we have to wait and
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Subtle news sources coming on the grapevine allude to impending Middle East fresh peace talks. The end of the “War on Syria” will bring serious and realistic opportunities for Russian-sponsored peace talks, and there are direct and indirect hints and leaks made by certain officials here and there, hints and leaks which will become overt and obvious in the near future, culminating into
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog BRICS is the acronym of the “alliance” that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In reality, and with all due respect to Brazil and South Africa, BRICS is about RIC. With Russia, India and China, in any order, there lies the future of Eurasia; the virtually unchartered quarter that houses over one third of the entire world population; a huge chunk
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Ever since Saudi Arabia signed its agreement with American President Roosevelt in February 1945, it never ever considered, or even contemplated to be outside the American sphere of influence and protection. In my previous article https://10.16.86.131/the-price-of-bin-salmans-head/ I elaborated on some of the personal issues that define the nature of the relationship that Saudi royals have with American lawmakers as men, not as politicians,
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog With the ever-changing and escalating aftermath of the Khashoggi disappearance episode, there remain many fixed marks that are interesting to identify. But before we do, we must stop and briefly look at the official American, Turkish and Saudi stands on this issue. The Americans are best seen to be playing yoyo with their Saudi “friends”. One moment they seem to be totally abandoning
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog In this insane historical era in which we currently live, events, their causes and consequences do not necessarily follow this particular logical sequence of reporting and analyzing; and we have to get used to much worse. To this effect, a week ago, it was almost impossible to work out who “killed” Khashoggi and why even though the financial and political and consequences were
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog As the observers and analysts of events in the Middle East were busy looking at the aftermath of the downing of the IL-20 and the deployment of the S-300 in Syria, a great new danger is now looming. President Assad issued a legislative decree (Decree No 16) and which is intended to reform the ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments). The “Awqaf” is a
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog The economic rise of China is perhaps the best example that challenges the basic foundations of the “science” of economics and demonstrates the invalidity of many of its theories. In the previous article (http://10.16.86.131/the-fallacy-of-western-economics-slavery-in-disguise/), I expressed my views about how the West used the principles of economics as a means to impose on the rest of the world a new era of slavery.
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog Economics is not a science. Economics cannot be expressed in mere reproducible and predictable mathematical terms as in the case of physics. Physics and mathematics are subjects and manifestations of the Universal Law (Logos in Greek), whilst economics is a human-made system that is based on greed and fear. The father of economics Adam Smith in his famous book “The Wealth of Nations”,
by Ghassan and Intibah’s Kadi for The Saker Blog Or is it the Battle for Idlib? And whose battle? And who is fighting who? And where? The only thing that is clear about this seemingly upcoming battle is the fact that Idlib has been “used” as a sink hole and dumping ground for all anti-government/anti-Syria terrorists. Such a status quo cannot last. Ever since the battle of Al-Qusayr and the
by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker blog Over the last few years, and since the “War on Syria” started, we have heard many pro-Syria enthusiasts raving about how wonderful Syria was before the war. Some of them, mainly Westerners who had never been to Syria before the war, were invariably heard making statements about “perfect” Syria, how everyone lived peacefully and in harmony and in a law-abiding manner. Whilst some
