truthout--2020-11-16--US-Backed Moroccan Military Breaks Three-Decade Ceasefire in Western Sahara

A nearly three-decade-old ceasefire has ended in occupied Western Sahara — what many consider to be Africa ’ s last colony .
Fighting has broken out in several areas between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front , the Sahrawi liberation movement seeking independence , after the Moroccan military broke into a no-go buffer zone in southern Western Sahara .
For the past three weeks , Sahrawi civilian protesters had blocked a Morocco-built road in the area that Sahrawis consider to be illegal .
The peaceful blockade backed up traffic for miles and cut off trade between Morocco and Mauritania @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says it is now mobilizing thousands of volunteers to join for the fight for independence .
“ We have not seen fighting like this in Western Sahara since 1991 , ” says Jacob Mundy , associate professor of peace and conflict studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Colgate University .
“ We ’ ve seen tensions on the rise , but to have open warfare like this is very significant.
” AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in occupied Western Sahara .
Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community .
Western Sahara is widely considered to be Africa ’ s last colony .
Over the weekend , fighting broke out in several areas between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front , the Sahrawi liberation movement seeking independence .
Meanwhile , Morocco has intensified its repression in occupied Western Sahara , raiding the homes of independence activists , cracking down on protests .
Moroccan military drones were reportedly spotted in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ended Friday after the Moroccan military broke into a no-go buffer zone in southern Western Sahara and exchanged fire with the Polisario Front .
For the past three weeks , Sahrawi civilian protesters had blocked a Morocco-built road in the area that Sahrawis consider to be illegal .
The peaceful blockade backed up traffic for miles and cut off trade between Morocco and Mauritania to the south .
The Moroccan military entered the buffer zone on Friday morning to disperse the civilians , who were evacuated to safety by the Polisario Front .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Major General Andrew Rohling met in Morocco with the commander of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces Southern Zone , which includes occupied Western Sahara .
At the United Nations , a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned against further violations of the ceasefire .
AMY GOODMAN : The Polisario Front says hundreds of Sahrawi volunteers have signed up and left for the front over the weekend from Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria .
Sidi Omar , the Polisario Front ’ s representative to the United Nations , said , quote , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open war , ” unquote .
In the streets of Laayoune , the largest city in Western Sahara , Sahrawi protesters took to the streets in a nighttime demonstration for independence .
AMY GOODMAN : Sahrawis also demonstrated over the weekend in other cities , including occupied Dakhla .
AMY GOODMAN : Protests in solidarity with Sahrawi independence also occurred over the weekend in Spain and in New Zealand , where activists with Extinction Rebellion and other groups protested at a fertilizer company which buys phosphate from occupied Western Sahara .
In a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor Jacob Mundy at Colgate University about the end of the ceasefire , but first let ’ s take a look at the roots of the crisis .
In 2016 , Democracy Now !
broke the media blockade imposed by Morocco and reported from inside occupied Western Sahara .
We were the first international news team to report from the occupied territory in years .
This is an excerpt from our documentary , Four Days in Western Sahara : Africa ’ s Last Colony .
AMY GOODMAN : Western Sahara , where peaceful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beaten in the streets .
Thousands have been tortured , imprisoned , killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation .
SULTANA KHAYA : [ translated ] He jabbed right at my eye with his baton .
I was yelling at him , “ Hey , you Moroccan !
You pulled out my eye !
” AMY GOODMAN : Where natural resources are plundered , from phosphates to fish .
HMAD HAMMAD : [ translated ] I say that our damnation comes from the natural resources we have here .
If it wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Morocco never would have invaded Western Sahara .
AMY GOODMAN : Where a massive wall divides a people , the Sahrawi , the native population , denied a vote for self-determination .
ELGHALIA DJIMI : [ translated ] If we don ’ t speak out , especially us , as victims who have suffered all of this , if we don ’ t speak out and defend our cause , this problem will remain .
AMY GOODMAN : Western Sahara — the center of a four-decades-long struggle for independence from Morocco , its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community .
The story of Western Sahara is one of colonialism , plunder and resistance .
It ’ s also a story rarely told in the international media .
And it ’ s here in Western Sahara where the scholar Noam Chomsky says the Arab Spring first began in late 2010 , before the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt .
NOAM CHOMSKY : The Moroccan forces came in , destroyed tent cities , a lot of killed and wounded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spread .
AMY GOODMAN : But the struggle in Western Sahara dates back much longer .
For nearly a century , Western Sahara was colonized by Spain .
But the Spanish occupation ended in 1975 , setting off a regional fight .
On October 31st , 1975 , both Morocco from the north and Mauritania from the south invaded Western Sahara as Spain withdrew .
Days after Moroccan troops invaded , King Hassan II ordered hundreds of thousands of Moroccan citizens to enter Western Sahara in what became known as the Green March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years later , but Morocco has remained to this day .
Just days after the Moroccan invasion , Secretary of State Henry Kissinger privately told President Gerald Ford he hoped for a , quote , “ rigged UN vote ” at the Security Council to confirm Morocco ’ s claim over Western Sahara .
About half of the Sahrawi population fled the invasion to neighboring Algeria , where they settled in refugee camps in the middle of the desert .
The Moroccan invasion set off a 16-year-long war with the Sahrawi liberation movement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s army , with the help of U.S. military aid , drove the Polisario to Western Sahara ’ s Eastern Desert .
Morocco then created the world ’ s longest minefield and built the second-longest wall on Earth , with the help of U.S. weapons companies Northrop and Westinghouse .
The nearly 1,700-mile wall divides Sahrawis who remain under occupation from those who fled into exile .
The Moroccan government began decades of torture , disappearances , killings and repression against pro-independence Sahrawis living in the occupied territory .
In 1991 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sahrawis a referendum on self-determination , organized by its peacekeeping mission known as MINURSO .
Since then , Morocco has blocked attempts to organize the vote , and the U.N. Security Council has refused to implement its own referendum plan or allow MINURSO to monitor the human rights situation in the territory .
Today , no country recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara , one of the most inaccessible places in the world .
And the international media has largely ignored the occupation , in part because Morocco has routinely blocked journalists from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 , Democracy Now !
successfully broke the news blockade .
We were in Marrakech , Morocco , for the United Nations Climate Change Conference .
With U.N. credentials and U.S. passports , we decided to take a chance and attempt to do what no foreign television crew has done in years : report from Africa ’ s last colony .
AMY GOODMAN : An excerpt from Democracy Now !
’ s documentary , Four Days in Western Sahara : Africa ’ s Last Colony .
Special thanks to Mike Burke , John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You can watch the full documentary at democracynow.org .
On Friday , a nearly three-decade-old ceasefire has ended in occupied Western Sahara after Morocco launched a military operation .
We ’ re now joined by Jacob Mundy , associate professor of peace and conflict studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Colgate University .
He co-authored the book Western Sahara : War , Nationalism , and Conflict Irresolution .
Professor Mundy , it ’ s great to have you on Democracy Now !
We just went deep dive into the history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sahara , Africa ’ s last colony , because so few people understand what ’ s happening there .
But this critical moment that took place last week when Morocco violated the no buffer zone , explain the significance of breaking this 29-year ceasefire .
JACOB MUNDY : Yeah , we haven ’ t seen fighting like this in Western Sahara since 1991 .
There have been periods where , due to increasing tensions and the lack of progress toward self-determination , we ’ ve seen tensions on the rise , but to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ significant .
The civilians that were blockading the road , being really the only paved road that connects West Africa to Europe , was a significant tactical victory by Polisario , and clearly it aggravated Morocco enough that they launched a military incursion .
And Morocco has said explicitly that this was a military operation .
So , what we have is Moroccan forces crossing into a restricted area that ’ s technically under Polisario sovereignty , so this is a clear violation of the ceasefire .
And we ’ ve heard nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : So , explain what the stakes are right now .
And also , what do you understand is U.S. involvement ?
We saw this tweet from Saharawi Voice : “ On the same day the Moroccan army launched its operation in Guerguerat yesterday , US Army Maj. Gen. Andrew Rohling was meeting with Moroccan Gen. Belkhir El Farouk , who ’ s in charge of the Moroccan army ’ s operations in Western Sahara.
” JACOB MUNDY : Well , the significance is that if this spirals out of control , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war between Morocco and Polisario forces .
Were Morocco to chase Polisario forces all the way into Algeria , then you could see a third party enter , which is Algeria , which is also on high alert right now and very , very concerned about this in terms of what it does for security across the Sahara region , which we ’ ve seen in recent years has been a zone that ’ s seen a lot of conflict and terrorism and unfortunate things like that .
The connections between the Moroccan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in recent years , largely due to Morocco ’ s cooperation with the construction of AFRICOM as the U.S. military command in Africa .
Morocco hosts one of the largest training exercises organized by AFRICOM .
It ’ s called the African Lion annual exercise , where countries from all over Africa participate .
And it ’ s usually held — provocatively , I think — in southern Morocco not too far from Western Sahara .
So , it certainly is not good optics that Morocco chose to launch this military incursion in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same day that military commanders were in Morocco preparing for their annual African Lion exercise .
AMY GOODMAN : And can you talk about what happened when the United States was pushing for Arab nations to recognize Israel — you know , UAE , among others , Jared Kushner making a massive weapons deal with UAE ?
And then we heard that Morocco would be one of the countries that would do this , as well .
Now , in 2019 , in the Trump administration , major weapons sales to Morocco , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would also recognize Israel , perhaps in exchange for U.S. recognizing de facto Morocco ’ s occupation , de facto occupation of , annexation of Western Sahara .
JACOB MUNDY : Yeah , we ’ ve heard this reported in several locations .
It hasn ’ t happened yet , thankfully .
The State Department has actually , in some ways , been , historically , as an institution , one of the more sober voices when it comes to these efforts within various U.S. administrations to push for recognition of Moroccan sovereignty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the W. Bush administration with Elliott Abrams seeking to get U.S. recognition , and the State Department poured cold water over it .
And recently the State Department has said that this isn ’ t on the table , in terms of Morocco recognizing Israel in exchange for U.S. recognition over its sovereignty over Western Sahara .
So , the bigger picture , though , is that , yes , Morocco is using arms purchases as a way of signaling its allegiance to U.S. interests in the region .
Not having had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far , having really bet on Clinton winning the elections in 2016 , Morocco has had to find other ways to try to communicate to the White House its interest in strengthening their partnership , and so one of the ways they did this was through massive arm purchases , that Morocco in 2019 eclipsed Egypt as the number one arms purchaser for U.S. weaponry .
And that ’ s their way of signaling to an administration that ’ s been quite aggressive in terms of pushing U.S. weapons abroad , and Morocco @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so as to improve relations with the Trump administration .
AMY GOODMAN : In 2019 , something like $ 1 billion the U.S. sold in missiles and other weaponry to Morocco .
What do you think it will take for another ceasefire right now , Professor Mundy ?
What can the United Nations do ?
One of the leaders of the Sahrawi people , Aminatou Haidar , many of these activists are in Laayoune — they are essentially , virtually , under house arrest , being monitored nonstop — has appealed to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South Africa is now on the Security Council , that has long been an ally of the Sahrawi people .
JACOB MUNDY : Well , it will take a major diplomatic initiative from the U.N .
The Sahrawis are generally very tired of the empty promises of the Security Council and the U.N. Secretariat .
The previous personal envoy who led the negotiations between Morocco and Polisario left in 2019 and hasn ’ t been replaced in over a year and a half .
And that just shows you that the Security Council @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And it ’ s drifted back into open warfare .
So , it ’ s difficult to say what it will take to pull Polisario back .
The Sahrawis , especially those who lived in exile since 1975 , about 180,000 of them in the refugee camps in Tindouf , are incredibly frustrated .
They ’ ve been frustrated for decades .
They almost returned to war in 2001 .
And hundreds of Sahrawis from the diaspora voluntarily returned to Algeria unprompted to join the fight .
So you can imagine , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , how many Sahrawis are really willing to go to war .
And there ’ s really no reason for them to respect the words of the U.N. , because the U.N. has been on the ground since 1991 promising a referendum and has done nothing to push forward with that .
AMY GOODMAN : And when you talk about Tindouf , Tindouf in Algeria , where so many Sahrawis are living in refugee camps for years , now it ’ s from these refugee camps that young men , hundreds of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this buffer zone to fight ?
JACOB MUNDY : Exactly .
There ’ s a large youth population in the refugee camps , especially young men .
There ’ s not a lot of economic activities , opportunities for them .
Military service is required .
And the reserves are being called up .
Polisario already has advance placements inside what they call the liberated territories , the about a fifth of Western Sahara that ’ s under their control .
And they ’ ve already mobilized attacks against Moroccan positions along the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troops are heading to the area to reinforce them and to continue the fight .
Morocco is pretending like nothing ’ s happening in its media — not surprising .
They fairly were caught very unprepared , and some positions were easily overrun by Polisario forces .
AMY GOODMAN : I wanted to go back , to give a little more history to what is happening here , to Democracy Now !
’ s documentary , _Four Days in Western Sahara : Africa ’ s Last Colony_ .
While we were in Western @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broke up an independence protest led by Sahrawi women .
This was not unusual .
We traveled to meet with the women shortly after the protest ended .
AMY GOODMAN : So , that ’ s an excerpt from from our Democracy Now !
documentary , and we ’ re going to post the whole thing at democracynow.org , Four Days in Western Sahara : Africa ’ s Last Colony .
Professor Jacob Mundy , as we wrap up here , if you can talk — I mean , the women we talked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who had just been beaten very badly — Aminatou Haidar was not there , but Mina and Aminatou , they are under house siege right now in Laayoune .
Elghalia Djimi ran the Human Rights Center .
Sultana Khaya had her eye poked out by Moroccan police 10 years before , and she was being beaten once again .
Where do you see this resistance going at this time ?
And could you see this becoming an outright major confrontation ?
And what chance does the Polisario have when it comes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diplomatically ?
JACOB MUNDY : Yeah , those are good questions .
The concern is , and we ’ re seeing evidence , that Morocco is using this new context as a pretext to crack down on Sahrawi civil society .
We ’ re actually at the 10-year anniversary of the events that — in the documentary , you noted that Noam Chomsky called the protest at Gdeim Izik the first uprising of the Arab uprisings of 2011 .
We ’ re also at the anniversary of the accords whereby Madrid agreed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Morocco in 1975 .
So it ’ s a very strange situation we ’ re in right now with these anniversaries .
And the significance is that Sahrawi civil society has been under incredible pressure by Morocco since 2010 , since the uprising then , and we haven ’ t seen anything significant in terms of popular manifestations .
So , the blockade at Guerguerat was one of the most significant acts of civil disobedience we ’ ve seen from Sahrawis in about a decade .
And it was significant enough to trigger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn triggered a Polisario response that has now led to war .
Now , Polisario , it will be very difficult for them to regain territory inside the occupied Western Sahara , but they can do significant damage to Moroccan forces along the defensive barrier , where most of Morocco ’ s thousands , tens of thousands of troops are positioned .
And so , what we ’ ll see is whether or not this turns into a war of attrition or if it ’ s just kind of a tit-for-tat exchange and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.N. will come in and make the usual promises .
And hopefully , out of this , we can get something more meaningful in terms of a peace process and something that can actually lead to self-determination .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , Jacob Mundy , I want to thank you for being with us , associate professor of peace and conflict studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Colgate University , co-author of the book called Western Sahara : War , Nationalism , and Conflict Irresolution .
When we come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s how long an African American man in North Carolina was held for a crime he did not commit .
He recently got out of jail and voted for the first time .
Stay with us .

The Polisario Front says it is now mobilizing thousands of volunteers to join the fight for independence.
A nearly three-decade-old ceasefire has ended in occupied Western Sahara — what many consider to be Africa’s last colony. Fighting has broken out in several areas between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi liberation movement seeking independence, after the Moroccan military broke into a no-go buffer zone in southern Western Sahara. For the past three weeks, Sahrawi civilian protesters had blocked a Morocco-built road in the area that Sahrawis consider to be illegal. The peaceful blockade backed up traffic for miles and cut off trade between Morocco and Mauritania to the south. The Polisario Front says it is now mobilizing thousands of volunteers to join for the fight for independence. “We have not seen fighting like this in Western Sahara since 1991,” says Jacob Mundy, associate professor of peace and conflict studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Colgate University. “We’ve seen tensions on the rise, but to have open warfare like this is very significant.”
TRANSCRIPT This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
A nearly three-decade-old ceasefire has ended in occupied Western Sahara. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Western Sahara is widely considered to be Africa’s last colony. Over the weekend, fighting broke out in several areas between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi liberation movement seeking independence. Meanwhile, Morocco has intensified its repression in occupied Western Sahara, raiding the homes of independence activists, cracking down on protests. Moroccan military drones were reportedly spotted in the city of Dakhla.
The ceasefire ended Friday after the Moroccan military broke into a no-go buffer zone in southern Western Sahara and exchanged fire with the Polisario Front. For the past three weeks, Sahrawi civilian protesters had blocked a Morocco-built road in the area that Sahrawis consider to be illegal. The peaceful blockade backed up traffic for miles and cut off trade between Morocco and Mauritania to the south. The Moroccan military entered the buffer zone on Friday morning to disperse the civilians, who were evacuated to safety by the Polisario Front. Morocco took military action just hours after U.S. Major General Andrew Rohling met in Morocco with the commander of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces Southern Zone, which includes occupied Western Sahara. At the United Nations, a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned against further violations of the ceasefire.
STÉPHANE DUJARRIC: The secretary-general remains committed to doing his utmost to avoid the collapse of the ceasefire that has been in place since 6 September, 1991. And he is determined to do everything possible to remove all obstacles to the resumption of the political process.
AMY GOODMAN: The Polisario Front says hundreds of Sahrawi volunteers have signed up and left for the front over the weekend from Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria. Sidi Omar, the Polisario Front’s representative to the United Nations, said, quote, “For us, it is an open war,” unquote. In the streets of Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara, Sahrawi protesters took to the streets in a nighttime demonstration for independence.
PROTESTERS: [chanting]
AMY GOODMAN: Sahrawis also demonstrated over the weekend in other cities, including occupied Dakhla.
PROTESTERS: [chanting]
AMY GOODMAN: Protests in solidarity with Sahrawi independence also occurred over the weekend in Spain and in New Zealand, where activists with Extinction Rebellion and other groups protested at a fertilizer company which buys phosphate from occupied Western Sahara.
In a moment, we’ll speak to professor Jacob Mundy at Colgate University about the end of the ceasefire, but first let’s take a look at the roots of the crisis. In 2016, Democracy Now! broke the media blockade imposed by Morocco and reported from inside occupied Western Sahara. We were the first international news team to report from the occupied territory in years. This is an excerpt from our documentary, Four Days in Western Sahara: Africa’s Last Colony.
AMY GOODMAN: Western Sahara, where peaceful protesters, led by women, are beaten in the streets. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. SULTANA KHAYA: [translated] He jabbed right at my eye with his baton. I was yelling at him, “Hey, you Moroccan! You pulled out my eye!” AMY GOODMAN: Where natural resources are plundered, from phosphates to fish. HMAD HAMMAD: [translated] I say that our damnation comes from the natural resources we have here. If it wasn’t for these natural resources, Morocco never would have invaded Western Sahara. AMY GOODMAN: Where a massive wall divides a people, the Sahrawi, the native population, denied a vote for self-determination. ELGHALIA DJIMI: [translated] If we don’t speak out, especially us, as victims who have suffered all of this, if we don’t speak out and defend our cause, this problem will remain. AMY GOODMAN: Western Sahara — the center of a four-decades-long struggle for independence from Morocco, its neighbor to the north. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. The story of Western Sahara is one of colonialism, plunder and resistance. It’s also a story rarely told in the international media. And it’s here in Western Sahara where the scholar Noam Chomsky says the Arab Spring first began in late 2010, before the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. NOAM CHOMSKY: The Moroccan forces came in, destroyed tent cities, a lot of killed and wounded and so on. And then it spread. AMY GOODMAN: But the struggle in Western Sahara dates back much longer. For nearly a century, Western Sahara was colonized by Spain. But the Spanish occupation ended in 1975, setting off a regional fight. On October 31st, 1975, both Morocco from the north and Mauritania from the south invaded Western Sahara as Spain withdrew. Days after Moroccan troops invaded, King Hassan II ordered hundreds of thousands of Moroccan citizens to enter Western Sahara in what became known as the Green March. Mauritania would withdraw less than four years later, but Morocco has remained to this day. Just days after the Moroccan invasion, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger privately told President Gerald Ford he hoped for a, quote, “rigged UN vote” at the Security Council to confirm Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara. About half of the Sahrawi population fled the invasion to neighboring Algeria, where they settled in refugee camps in the middle of the desert. The Moroccan invasion set off a 16-year-long war with the Sahrawi liberation movement known as the Polisario Front. Morocco’s army, with the help of U.S. military aid, drove the Polisario to Western Sahara’s Eastern Desert. Morocco then created the world’s longest minefield and built the second-longest wall on Earth, with the help of U.S. weapons companies Northrop and Westinghouse. The nearly 1,700-mile wall divides Sahrawis who remain under occupation from those who fled into exile. The Moroccan government began decades of torture, disappearances, killings and repression against pro-independence Sahrawis living in the occupied territory. In 1991, the U.N. sponsored a ceasefire and promised Sahrawis a referendum on self-determination, organized by its peacekeeping mission known as MINURSO. Since then, Morocco has blocked attempts to organize the vote, and the U.N. Security Council has refused to implement its own referendum plan or allow MINURSO to monitor the human rights situation in the territory. Today, no country recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, one of the most inaccessible places in the world. And the international media has largely ignored the occupation, in part because Morocco has routinely blocked journalists from entering Western Sahara. But in late 2016,Democracy Now! successfully broke the news blockade. We were in Marrakech, Morocco, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. With U.N. credentials and U.S. passports, we decided to take a chance and attempt to do what no foreign television crew has done in years: report from Africa’s last colony.
AMY GOODMAN: An excerpt from Democracy Now!’s documentary, Four Days in Western Sahara: Africa’s Last Colony. Special thanks to Mike Burke, John Hamilton, Denis Moynihan and Laura Gottesdiener. You can watch the full documentary at democracynow.org.
On Friday, a nearly three-decade-old ceasefire has ended in occupied Western Sahara after Morocco launched a military operation.
We’re now joined by Jacob Mundy, associate professor of peace and conflict studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Colgate University. He co-authored the book Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution.
Professor Mundy, it’s great to have you on Democracy Now! We just went deep dive into the history of what’s happening in Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony, because so few people understand what’s happening there. But this critical moment that took place last week when Morocco violated the no buffer zone, explain the significance of breaking this 29-year ceasefire.
JACOB MUNDY: Yeah, we haven’t seen fighting like this in Western Sahara since 1991. There have been periods where, due to increasing tensions and the lack of progress toward self-determination, we’ve seen tensions on the rise, but to have open warfare like this is very significant.
The civilians that were blockading the road, being really the only paved road that connects West Africa to Europe, was a significant tactical victory by Polisario, and clearly it aggravated Morocco enough that they launched a military incursion. And Morocco has said explicitly that this was a military operation. So, what we have is Moroccan forces crossing into a restricted area that’s technically under Polisario sovereignty, so this is a clear violation of the ceasefire. And we’ve heard nothing from the Security Council.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain what the stakes are right now. And also, what do you understand is U.S. involvement? We saw this tweet from Saharawi Voice: “On the same day the Moroccan army launched its operation in Guerguerat yesterday, US Army Maj. Gen. Andrew Rohling was meeting with Moroccan Gen. Belkhir El Farouk, who’s in charge of the Moroccan army’s operations in Western Sahara.”
JACOB MUNDY: Well, the significance is that if this spirals out of control, you could see a very, very significant war between Morocco and Polisario forces. Were Morocco to chase Polisario forces all the way into Algeria, then you could see a third party enter, which is Algeria, which is also on high alert right now and very, very concerned about this in terms of what it does for security across the Sahara region, which we’ve seen in recent years has been a zone that’s seen a lot of conflict and terrorism and unfortunate things like that.
The connections between the Moroccan military and the U.S. military have grown in recent years, largely due to Morocco’s cooperation with the construction of AFRICOM as the U.S. military command in Africa. Morocco hosts one of the largest training exercises organized by AFRICOM. It’s called the African Lion annual exercise, where countries from all over Africa participate. And it’s usually held — provocatively, I think — in southern Morocco not too far from Western Sahara. So, it certainly is not good optics that Morocco chose to launch this military incursion in violation of the U.N. ceasefire on the same day that military commanders were in Morocco preparing for their annual African Lion exercise.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about what happened when the United States was pushing for Arab nations to recognize Israel — you know, UAE, among others, Jared Kushner making a massive weapons deal with UAE? And then we heard that Morocco would be one of the countries that would do this, as well. Now, in 2019, in the Trump administration, major weapons sales to Morocco, and then we heard that perhaps Morocco would also recognize Israel, perhaps in exchange for U.S. recognizing de facto Morocco’s occupation, de facto occupation of, annexation of Western Sahara.
JACOB MUNDY: Yeah, we’ve heard this reported in several locations. It hasn’t happened yet, thankfully. The State Department has actually, in some ways, been, historically, as an institution, one of the more sober voices when it comes to these efforts within various U.S. administrations to push for recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. We saw this in the W. Bush administration with Elliott Abrams seeking to get U.S. recognition, and the State Department poured cold water over it. And recently the State Department has said that this isn’t on the table, in terms of Morocco recognizing Israel in exchange for U.S. recognition over its sovereignty over Western Sahara.
So, the bigger picture, though, is that, yes, Morocco is using arms purchases as a way of signaling its allegiance to U.S. interests in the region. Not having had good relations with the Trump administration so far, having really bet on Clinton winning the elections in 2016, Morocco has had to find other ways to try to communicate to the White House its interest in strengthening their partnership, and so one of the ways they did this was through massive arm purchases, that Morocco in 2019 eclipsed Egypt as the number one arms purchaser for U.S. weaponry. And that’s their way of signaling to an administration that’s been quite aggressive in terms of pushing U.S. weapons abroad, and Morocco has tried to get on that train so as to improve relations with the Trump administration.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2019, something like $1 billion the U.S. sold in missiles and other weaponry to Morocco. What do you think it will take for another ceasefire right now, Professor Mundy? What can the United Nations do? One of the leaders of the Sahrawi people, Aminatou Haidar, many of these activists are in Laayoune — they are essentially, virtually, under house arrest, being monitored nonstop — has appealed to the U.N. Security Council. And significantly, South Africa is now on the Security Council, that has long been an ally of the Sahrawi people.
JACOB MUNDY: Well, it will take a major diplomatic initiative from the U.N. The Sahrawis are generally very tired of the empty promises of the Security Council and the U.N. Secretariat. The previous personal envoy who led the negotiations between Morocco and Polisario left in 2019 and hasn’t been replaced in over a year and a half. And that just shows you that the Security Council is willing to let this issue drift. And it’s drifted back into open warfare.
So, it’s difficult to say what it will take to pull Polisario back. The Sahrawis, especially those who lived in exile since 1975, about 180,000 of them in the refugee camps in Tindouf, are incredibly frustrated. They’ve been frustrated for decades. They almost returned to war in 2001. And hundreds of Sahrawis from the diaspora voluntarily returned to Algeria unprompted to join the fight. So you can imagine, what, you know, 20 years later, how many Sahrawis are really willing to go to war. And there’s really no reason for them to respect the words of the U.N., because the U.N. has been on the ground since 1991 promising a referendum and has done nothing to push forward with that.
AMY GOODMAN: And when you talk about Tindouf, Tindouf in Algeria, where so many Sahrawis are living in refugee camps for years, now it’s from these refugee camps that young men, hundreds of them, are leaving to go to this buffer zone to fight?
JACOB MUNDY: Exactly. There’s a large youth population in the refugee camps, especially young men. There’s not a lot of economic activities, opportunities for them. Military service is required. And the reserves are being called up. Polisario already has advance placements inside what they call the liberated territories, the about a fifth of Western Sahara that’s under their control. And they’ve already mobilized attacks against Moroccan positions along the separation wall inside Western Sahara. More troops are heading to the area to reinforce them and to continue the fight. Morocco is pretending like nothing’s happening in its media — not surprising. They fairly were caught very unprepared, and some positions were easily overrun by Polisario forces.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go back, to give a little more history to what is happening here, to Democracy Now!’s documentary, _Four Days in Western Sahara: Africa’s Last Colony_. While we were in Western Sahara in 2016, Moroccan authorities violently broke up an independence protest led by Sahrawi women. This was not unusual. We traveled to meet with the women shortly after the protest ended.
AMY GOODMAN: Inside, we find a number of women tending to an activist named Aziza Biza, who’s retching and vomiting from her injuries. AMY GOODMAN: Should she go to a hospital? JAMAL: She said she can’t go to a hospital, because they will not admit her, and she’s also too scared to go there. AMY GOODMAN: The activists have recorded video of their protest — and the subsequent beatings by Moroccan forces — on cellphones and camcorders. What our cameras couldn’t capture, citizen journalists’ could. We begin downloading their footage, as activist Mina Bali describes what happened. MINABALI: [translated] Because of your presence here, we wanted to have a protest and show you how things are here — and how we are treated. It’s been about two years since any journalists have accessed the territory. We came chanting slogans, making peace signs with our fingers, as usual. And then they intervened against us in the street. They were a large group. They pushed us into a narrow street. They took me. One of them grabbed my hair, and he started beating me. He wounded me here, under my nose. He grabbed my breast and continued beating me against the wall. Aziza was with me, and he struck her in the kidney and hit her head against the wall. And then she fell on the ground at my feet. And Ghalia Yimani was being dragged there. And Sultana Khaya. AMY GOODMAN: I’m going to go with the women to see their bruises. They’re going to show me. And then we’ll see what we can show the camera. AMY GOODMAN: We follow Sultana Khaya into a small bedroom. She pulls back her melhfa — her traditional Sahrawi robe — and shows me fresh bruises on her leg, both arms and on her breast. AMY GOODMAN: Sultana, describe what happened to you? SULTANA KHAYA: [translated] All of us were participating as Sahrawis in the peaceful demonstrations for our right to self-determination. I was trying to gather my sisters for the protest at 5:00. And the whole area was besieged. They were insulting us, beating us, dragging us and using violence, to let us know that we weren’t going to be able to protest. They tried to single us out, and pushed us into narrow streets where they could beat us without anyone observing. What you saw today is nothing compared to what we’ve witnessed, over and over, since 1975. But the news never gets out. As Sahrawi women, we’re not backing off until we get our final victory and liberate our homeland. The beatings will not deter us from continuing the fight. And even if we die, it will be a sacrifice, so that our sons and future generations can live in the freedom that we’ve been denied.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s an excerpt from from our Democracy Now! documentary, and we’re going to post the whole thing at democracynow.org, Four Days in Western Sahara: Africa’s Last Colony. Professor Jacob Mundy, as we wrap up here, if you can talk — I mean, the women we talked to — for example, Mina Bali, who had just been beaten very badly — Aminatou Haidar was not there, but Mina and Aminatou, they are under house siege right now in Laayoune. Elghalia Djimi ran the Human Rights Center. Sultana Khaya had her eye poked out by Moroccan police 10 years before, and she was being beaten once again. Where do you see this resistance going at this time? And could you see this becoming an outright major confrontation? And what chance does the Polisario have when it comes to military competition as opposed to solving this diplomatically?
JACOB MUNDY: Yeah, those are good questions. The concern is, and we’re seeing evidence, that Morocco is using this new context as a pretext to crack down on Sahrawi civil society. We’re actually at the 10-year anniversary of the events that — in the documentary, you noted that Noam Chomsky called the protest at Gdeim Izik the first uprising of the Arab uprisings of 2011. We’re also at the anniversary of the accords whereby Madrid agreed to hand over Western Sahara to Mauritania and Morocco in 1975. So it’s a very strange situation we’re in right now with these anniversaries.
And the significance is that Sahrawi civil society has been under incredible pressure by Morocco since 2010, since the uprising then, and we haven’t seen anything significant in terms of popular manifestations. So, the blockade at Guerguerat was one of the most significant acts of civil disobedience we’ve seen from Sahrawis in about a decade. And it was significant enough to trigger a Moroccan military incursion, that in turn triggered a Polisario response that has now led to war.
Now, Polisario, it will be very difficult for them to regain territory inside the occupied Western Sahara, but they can do significant damage to Moroccan forces along the defensive barrier, where most of Morocco’s thousands, tens of thousands of troops are positioned. And so, what we’ll see is whether or not this turns into a war of attrition or if it’s just kind of a tit-for-tat exchange and then, hopefully, cooler heads from the U.N. will come in and make the usual promises. And hopefully, out of this, we can get something more meaningful in terms of a peace process and something that can actually lead to self-determination.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Jacob Mundy, I want to thank you for being with us, associate professor of peace and conflict studies and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Colgate University, co-author of the book called Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution.
When we come back, 44 years. That’s how long an African American man in North Carolina was held for a crime he did not commit. He recently got out of jail and voted for the first time. Stay with us.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-11-16--Mitch McConnell Is Sacrificing the Entire Economy to Impede Biden Administration

Unless something truly extraordinary intervenes , we are on the cusp of what could become the bleakest winter in living memory .
There are 166 days standing between us and a time when most of the country will be back into something akin to warm weather .
The remainder of November , followed by December , January , February , March and April , almost 24 weeks of the long , cold dark and the menace of COVID-19 , will be the collective fate of much of the country .
“ In earlier surges , infections were concentrated in cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or populous states like Florida and Texas , ” reports the Wall Street Journal .
“ Many of the outbreaks then were linked to travelers returning from overseas or so-called superspreading events such as conferences , weddings and rallies .
Now , it is everywhere .
People are becoming infected not just at big gatherings , but when they let their guard down , such as by not wearing a mask , while going about their daily routines or in smaller social settings that they thought of as safe — often among their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID pandemic is worse right now than it has ever been , worse by huge and horrifying numbers .
Fewer people have been dying because the medical professionals who began this fight wearing trash bags ( because … Trump ) have , in the intervening months , amassed a compendium of battlefield knowledge they lacked in March .
The death counts are back to over 1,000 a day now , however , and with nearly 200,000 new infections expected each day in the next few weeks , the morgues may be lined with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ towns around the country soon enough .
Doctors are quitting , as are some nurses — the titanium backbone of this discombobulated national health care “ system.
” Many health care professionals are getting sick as this surge overwhelms hospitals again — and again , this is only the beginning of winter .
Even doctors in private practice , far from the mayhem of the emergency room , are hanging up their spurs .
We all know why we ’ re here .
We ’ re here , in large part , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minimized this crisis from the beginning , and in the howling center of this new crescendo , cares only to tweet “ I WON THE ELECTION !
” from the depths of his own midnight .
We are here because of people like Donald Trump ’ s favorite COVID “ expert , ” Scott Atlas , who pushes the slow genocide of “ herd immunity ” while telling states like Michigan to “ rise up ” against necessary health strictures .
The fact that basic precautions have been recast as an affront to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of responsibility are choosing to grandstand on this brazen lie with lives on the line , is how countries collapse from within .
We are here because Trump ’ s zoo of captive Midwest officials and those who follow them continue to fall over themselves trying to outdo the deadly folly of the other , even as those states suffer the hardest hit from this latest spike… and it is a spike , my friends .
By most interpretations , including that of national COVID expert Anthony Fauci , this is still the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ended , because people like those Midwest officials won ’ t allow it to , because Trump .
And we are here because a large portion of the country has been hypnotized by this rogue-duck president and his ersatz promises of greatness .
Too many people squat within their cozy information bubble , listening to the bombastic lies from Fox News and reading the bleakest conspiracy gibberish at Breitbart .
Too many people think they ’ re heroes because the radio tells them they ’ re patriots for not wearing a mask .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ ve pushed us all over a cliff .
This is allegedly a nation of rugged individualists .
Well , rugged individualists should take responsibility for themselves and their actions .
When this thing is over — and it will be , someday — a few million people are going to have to walk on a road of bones before confronting the face they see in the mirror .
I envy them not .
At this juncture , however , the only person perhaps as worthy of purest loathing as Trump is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mitch McConnell .
“ If Donald Trump is the Devil waiting at that moonlit crossroads to tune our guitar at the cost of our souls , ” I wrote almost two years ago , “ Mitch McConnell drove him there and paid for the gas.
” Millions of people remain out of work today .
The effect of the first and only stimulus package McConnell allowed for a vote has all but dissipated .
Those unemployed millions face the termination of their unemployment insurance at the end of the year , just when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When this COVID spike reaches its apex , the country may well be forced into another full shutdown .
If McConnell and the Senate do not pass a robust aid package , the economic cost will be unimaginable .
Restaurants currently praying for the snow to hold off so their lifeline of outside seating can continue may well be broomed off the sidewalk when the hammer falls , and thousands of other businesses that can not operate without customers will disappear .
The answer for this is not to pretend it isn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the altar of can ’ t-stop capitalism .
The answer is for McConnell to allow a large stimulus package to the floor for a vote , one that protects essential workers at places like grocery stores who will be risking their lives so Mitch can have strawberries with his breakfast .
The answer is to offer financial protections to the sectors of the populace , including both individuals and businesses , that have been most brutally affected by the pandemic .
McConnell can do this , and he can do it today .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress has officially begun , and there isn ’ t a blessed thing on Earth keeping Mitch McConnell from helping his country… except Mitch McConnell , who needs to keep the GOP base fired up so the Georgia runoffs break his way , which means coddling the crossfire hurricane in the Oval Office , which means perpetuating all the fictions that sustain this administration , which means no stimulus , because obviously we don ’ t need one , right ?
Besides , trashing the economy before January 20 will mean Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the neck before they get through the door , and that ’ s what matters to Mitch .
That ’ s all that matters .

We are on the cusp of what could potentially become the worst winter in living memory.
Unless something truly extraordinary intervenes, we are on the cusp of what could become the bleakest winter in living memory. There are 166 days standing between us and a time when most of the country will be back into something akin to warm weather. The remainder of November, followed by December, January, February, March and April, almost 24 weeks of the long, cold dark and the menace of COVID-19, will be the collective fate of much of the country.
“In earlier surges, infections were concentrated in cities such as New York and Chicago, or populous states like Florida and Texas,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Many of the outbreaks then were linked to travelers returning from overseas or so-called superspreading events such as conferences, weddings and rallies. Now, it is everywhere. People are becoming infected not just at big gatherings, but when they let their guard down, such as by not wearing a mask, while going about their daily routines or in smaller social settings that they thought of as safe — often among their own families or trusted friends.”
The COVID pandemic is worse right now than it has ever been, worse by huge and horrifying numbers. Fewer people have been dying because the medical professionals who began this fight wearing trash bags (because … Trump) have, in the intervening months, amassed a compendium of battlefield knowledge they lacked in March. The death counts are back to over 1,000 a day now, however, and with nearly 200,000 new infections expected each day in the next few weeks, the morgues may be lined with refrigeration trucks in big cities and small towns around the country soon enough.
Doctors are quitting, as are some nurses — the titanium backbone of this discombobulated national health care “system.” Many health care professionals are getting sick as this surge overwhelms hospitals again — and again, this is only the beginning of winter. Even doctors in private practice, far from the mayhem of the emergency room, are hanging up their spurs.
We all know why we’re here.
We’re here, in large part, because of a “president” who has minimized this crisis from the beginning, and in the howling center of this new crescendo, cares only to tweet “I WON THE ELECTION!” from the depths of his own midnight.
We are here because of people like Donald Trump’s favorite COVID “expert,” Scott Atlas, who pushes the slow genocide of “herd immunity” while telling states like Michigan to “rise up” against necessary health strictures. The fact that basic precautions have been recast as an affront to liberty, and that people in positions of responsibility are choosing to grandstand on this brazen lie with lives on the line, is how countries collapse from within.
We are here because Trump’s zoo of captive Midwest officials and those who follow them continue to fall over themselves trying to outdo the deadly folly of the other, even as those states suffer the hardest hit from this latest spike… and it is a spike, my friends. By most interpretations, including that of national COVID expert Anthony Fauci, this is still the first wave; it arrived and never ended, because people like those Midwest officials won’t allow it to, because Trump.
And we are here because a large portion of the country has been hypnotized by this rogue-duck president and his ersatz promises of greatness. Too many people squat within their cozy information bubble, listening to the bombastic lies from Fox News and reading the bleakest conspiracy gibberish at Breitbart. Too many people think they’re heroes because the radio tells them they’re patriots for not wearing a mask. Pushing back may feel empowering, until you’ve pushed us all over a cliff.
This is allegedly a nation of rugged individualists. Well, rugged individualists should take responsibility for themselves and their actions. When this thing is over — and it will be, someday — a few million people are going to have to walk on a road of bones before confronting the face they see in the mirror. I envy them not.
When this COVID spike reaches its apex, the country will almost certainly be forced into another full shutdown. If McConnell and the Senate do not pass a robust aid package, the economic cost will be unimaginable.
At this juncture, however, the only person perhaps as worthy of purest loathing as Trump is his chief enabler, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “If Donald Trump is the Devil waiting at that moonlit crossroads to tune our guitar at the cost of our souls,” I wrote almost two years ago, “Mitch McConnell drove him there and paid for the gas.”
Millions of people remain out of work today. The effect of the first and only stimulus package McConnell allowed for a vote has all but dissipated. Those unemployed millions face the termination of their unemployment insurance at the end of the year, just when the eviction moratorium is set to expire.
When this COVID spike reaches its apex, the country may well be forced into another full shutdown. If McConnell and the Senate do not pass a robust aid package, the economic cost will be unimaginable. Restaurants currently praying for the snow to hold off so their lifeline of outside seating can continue may well be broomed off the sidewalk when the hammer falls, and thousands of other businesses that cannot operate without customers will disappear.
The answer for this is not to pretend it isn’t happening and stack corpses before the altar of can’t-stop capitalism. The answer is for McConnell to allow a large stimulus package to the floor for a vote, one that protects essential workers at places like grocery stores who will be risking their lives so Mitch can have strawberries with his breakfast. The answer is to offer financial protections to the sectors of the populace, including both individuals and businesses, that have been most brutally affected by the pandemic.
McConnell can do this, and he can do it today. The “lame duck” session of Congress has officially begun, and there isn’t a blessed thing on Earth keeping Mitch McConnell from helping his country… except Mitch McConnell, who needs to keep the GOP base fired up so the Georgia runoffs break his way, which means coddling the crossfire hurricane in the Oval Office, which means perpetuating all the fictions that sustain this administration, which means no stimulus, because obviously we don’t need one, right?
Besides, trashing the economy before January 20 will mean Joe Biden’s administration will be buried to the neck before they get through the door, and that’s what matters to Mitch. That’s all that matters.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-16--Some GOP Governors and Senators Are Simply Dismissing New COVID Surge

Last summer , Gov .
Kristi Noem of South Dakota welcomed bikers from across the country to the annual rally in the town of Sturgis .
Hundreds of thousands showed up and they partied like there was no tomorrow .
Noem , a rising Republican star , didn ’ t cancel the state fair and refused to issue much guidance on how to avoid spreading COVID-19 .
As the state ’ s caseload rose quickly throughout the fall , Noem spent $ 5 million of federal COVID relief money creating ads to encourage tourism .
She has rejected all advice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear that she will defy any mandates coming from the new administration as well .
She says she leaves it up to her people to do what ’ s best for their families because she values freedom .
Apparently , she believes these people should have the freedom to infect innocent bystanders as well .
Tomorrow has arrived .
The state is now considered to be one of the worst COVID hotspots in the world and hospitals are in a desperate situation .
Over the weekend a South Dakota nurse wrote this disturbing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ night off from the hospital .
As I ’ m on my couch with my dog I can ’ t help but think of the Covid patients the last few days .
The ones that stick out are those who still don ’ t believe the virus is real .
The ones who scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is going to ruin the USA .
All while gasping for breath on 100 % Vapotherm .
They tell you there must be another reason they are sick .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you have to wear all that “ stuff ” because they don ’ t have COViD because it ’ s not real .
Yes .
This really happens .
I ’ m sure it does .
Here are some Americans who simply refuse to take the threat seriously , even when a family member has succumbed to the virus : Noem is already being mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2024 or beyond , which makes sense .
She is one of Donald Trump ’ s natural heirs , even using his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , telling lawmakers recently that “ in South Dakota , we didn ’ t take a one-size-fits-all approach and the results have been incredible.
” Incredible yes .
Incredibly horrific .
What she ’ s done to her state , Trump and the Republican Party are doing to the entire country .
The winter surge that all the scientists predicted is upon us and it ’ s very bad .
The president and his administration are obsessively trying to convince their voters that the election was stolen from them ( which is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t even pretending to be interested in the rapidly spreading pandemic .
Republican officials are missing in action on everything , with senators even refusing to appear on the Sunday morning shows in case they might be asked to explain why their president and their party are tilting at electoral windmills while refrigerator trucks are being commandeered in some states because the morgues are all full .
Well , there are some who are happy to continue to spread reckless disinformation : The Washington Post reported that despite official protestations to the contrary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portrait of chaos , with senior advisers enabling some of Trump ’ s most questionable instincts on the pandemic.
” As an example they point to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows ’ apparent belief that “ one of the main ways the virus is spread is through waiters touching the cups of different people at restaurants.
” ( As I have pointed out earlier , Meadows is not the sharpest tool in the shed . )
And they ’ re doing this as the White House itself may be the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been the site of two super-spreader events that sickened numerous members of the staff , Republican officials , Trump family members and even the president himself .
More than 130 Secret Service members are reportedly in quarantine due to Trump ’ s reckless campaign travel .
And according to the Post , the health agencies have not been allowed to cooperate with the Biden transition team amid a worsening public health crisis .
They no longer even ask for health expert advice before they plan events anymore .
Much of this is reportedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ responsible for persuading Trump not to bother pretending to care about the virus anymore and who brought on the most pernicious “ adviser ” of all , Dr. Scott Atlas , a radiologist from the conservative Hoover Institute and a regular on Fox News .
There is no one more responsible for spreading a crude “ herd immunity ” theory without understanding that it can only happen without a mass loss of life when combined with a vaccine and mitigation strategies over time .
Atlas is still at it .
After Michigan Gov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to try to contain the rapid spread of the virus in her state on Sunday night , Atlas tweeted , “ The only way this stops is if people rise up .
You get what you accept .
# FreedomMatters # StepUp ” He was highly indignant when it was suggested that he should not incite violence in a state where armed militia members were recently arrested for plotting to kidnap and execute the governor over COVID restrictions .
Numbers are climbing exponentially .
The U.S. has reported 11 million total COVID cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 10 million just a week ago .
One in 400 people have tested positive since then .
With the lax attitude found among roughly half the population , hospitalization and death rates are going to start climbing quickly as well .
Ed Yong of The Atlantic tweeted out a chilling reminder for the country : He continued with a reminder not to forget about the long-haulers .
“ A lot of the 1.5 million Americans who were infected this month — many young & prev healthy — will still be sick well into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are allowing COVID-positive health care workers to continue working .
They have no choice .
There is a shortage , and unlike in the spring when health care workers came from all over the country to help out in the Northeast , the whole country is affected this time and they can ’ t be spared .
In fact , while federal and state governments have been playing games and we ’ ve all been distracted by the Trump show , those front-line workers have been going to work every single day , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly disease .
The burn-out rate is growing rapidly as well .
As Yong writes in this article : “ The most precious resource the U.S. health-care system has in the struggle against COVID-19 isn ’ t some miracle drug .
It ’ s the expertise of its health-care workers — and they are exhausted.
” There is no help on the way .
The federal government is paralyzed because the president is even less competent than he was before he lost the election and most Republican governors have more or less washed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ else is struggling along on their own .
We are in for a rough few months .

Last summer, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota welcomed bikers from across the country to the annual rally in the town of Sturgis. Hundreds of thousands showed up and they partied like there was no tomorrow. Noem, a rising Republican star, didn’t cancel the state fair and refused to issue much guidance on how to avoid spreading COVID-19. As the state’s caseload rose quickly throughout the fall, Noem spent $5 million of federal COVID relief money creating ads to encourage tourism.
She has rejected all advice from the CDC and has made it clear that she will defy any mandates coming from the new administration as well. She says she leaves it up to her people to do what’s best for their families because she values freedom. Apparently, she believes these people should have the freedom to infect innocent bystanders as well.
Tomorrow has arrived. The state is now considered to be one of the worst COVID hotspots in the world and hospitals are in a desperate situation. Over the weekend a South Dakota nurse wrote this disturbing dispatch on Twitter:
I have a night off from the hospital. As I’m on my couch with my dog I can’t help but think of the Covid patients the last few days. The ones that stick out are those who still don’t believe the virus is real. The ones who scream at you for a magic medicine and that Joe Biden is going to ruin the USA. All while gasping for breath on 100% Vapotherm. They tell you there must be another reason they are sick. They call you names and ask why you have to wear all that “stuff” because they don’t have COViD because it’s not real. Yes. This really happens. Related Story News | Prisons & Policing Report Finds Over 100 Rebellions in Jails and Prisons Over COVID Conditions Demands for baseline safety measures by incarcerated people have been met with brutal repression and punishment. Truthout
I’m sure it does. Here are some Americans who simply refuse to take the threat seriously, even when a family member has succumbed to the virus:
“Can the masks really defend a microbe coming through the weaving of the fiber? I kinda doubt it.” – for heaven’s sake why would ABC give airtime to this painfully misguided view? We already understand there are lots of ignorant Trump supporters out there! pic.twitter.com/iRorDHzZkA — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 15, 2020
Noem is already being mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2024 or beyond, which makes sense. She is one of Donald Trump’s natural heirs, even using his patented lies and happy-talk approach to the virus, telling lawmakers recently that “in South Dakota, we didn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach and the results have been incredible.” Incredible yes. Incredibly horrific.
What she’s done to her state, Trump and the Republican Party are doing to the entire country. The winter surge that all the scientists predicted is upon us and it’s very bad. The president and his administration are obsessively trying to convince their voters that the election was stolen from them (which is a lie) so they aren’t even pretending to be interested in the rapidly spreading pandemic. Republican officials are missing in action on everything, with senators even refusing to appear on the Sunday morning shows in case they might be asked to explain why their president and their party are tilting at electoral windmills while refrigerator trucks are being commandeered in some states because the morgues are all full.
Well, there are some who are happy to continue to spread reckless disinformation:
Rand Paul: We have 11 million people in our country who have already had COVID. We should tell them to celebrate. We should tell them to throw away their masks, go to restaurants, and live again because these people are now immune(they are not immune) pic.twitter.com/Un2CQ1b5Tg — Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) November 13, 2020
The Washington Post reported that despite official protestations to the contrary, “many administration officials paint a portrait of chaos, with senior advisers enabling some of Trump’s most questionable instincts on the pandemic.” As an example they point to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ apparent belief that “one of the main ways the virus is spread is through waiters touching the cups of different people at restaurants.” (As I have pointed out earlier, Meadows is not the sharpest tool in the shed.)
And they’re doing this as the White House itself may be the most famous hotspot in the world, having been the site of two super-spreader events that sickened numerous members of the staff, Republican officials, Trump family members and even the president himself. More than 130 Secret Service members are reportedly in quarantine due to Trump’s reckless campaign travel.
And according to the Post, the health agencies have not been allowed to cooperate with the Biden transition team amid a worsening public health crisis. They no longer even ask for health expert advice before they plan events anymore.
Much of this is reportedly attributable to Jared Kushner, who was responsible for persuading Trump not to bother pretending to care about the virus anymore and who brought on the most pernicious “adviser” of all, Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist from the conservative Hoover Institute and a regular on Fox News. There is no one more responsible for spreading a crude “herd immunity” theory without understanding that it can only happen without a mass loss of life when combined with a vaccine and mitigation strategies over time.
Atlas is still at it. After Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced some new restrictions to try to contain the rapid spread of the virus in her state on Sunday night, Atlas tweeted, “The only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept. #FreedomMatters #StepUp” He was highly indignant when it was suggested that he should not incite violence in a state where armed militia members were recently arrested for plotting to kidnap and execute the governor over COVID restrictions.
Numbers are climbing exponentially. The U.S. has reported 11 million total COVID cases as of Sunday, and it was 10 million just a week ago. One in 400 people have tested positive since then. With the lax attitude found among roughly half the population, hospitalization and death rates are going to start climbing quickly as well.
Ed Yong of The Atlantic tweeted out a chilling reminder for the country:
In this story, I noted Iowa is already out of staffed beds. ICUs are at capacity. https://t.co/is2NGHdwRP Here are Iowa’s cases. The 12-day lag between cases & hospitalizations means people in the blue portion will be trying to enter those full ICUs over the next 2 weeks. HOW? pic.twitter.com/CG8hlzLQd3 — Ed Yong (@edyong209) November 15, 2020
Another way to think about these lags is that some of the people who are infected on Thanksgiving will enter the hospital in the middle of December, and the morgue around Christmas. pic.twitter.com/S9kqHW981l — Ed Yong (@edyong209) November 15, 2020
He continued with a reminder not to forget about the long-haulers. “A lot of the 1.5 million Americans who were infected this month — many young & prev healthy — will still be sick well into 2021.”
In North Dakota, officials are allowing COVID-positive health care workers to continue working. They have no choice. There is a shortage, and unlike in the spring when health care workers came from all over the country to help out in the Northeast, the whole country is affected this time and they can’t be spared. In fact, while federal and state governments have been playing games and we’ve all been distracted by the Trump show, those front-line workers have been going to work every single day, month after month, dealing with this deadly disease. The burn-out rate is growing rapidly as well.
As Yong writes in this article: “The most precious resource the U.S. health-care system has in the struggle against COVID-19 isn’t some miracle drug. It’s the expertise of its health-care workers — and they are exhausted.” There is no help on the way. The federal government is paralyzed because the president is even less competent than he was before he lost the election and most Republican governors have more or less washed their hands of the problem. Everyone else is struggling along on their own. We are in for a rough few months.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
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truthout--2020-11-16--Trump Obstructing Biden’s Transition May Hinder COVID Vaccine Rollout

The pharmaceutical company Moderna announced on Monday that its trial vaccine is 94.5 percent effective in reducing the spread of coronavirus , based on early results from an ongoing study of its effectiveness .
However , the Trump administration ’ s decision to block President-elect Joe Biden ’ s scientific advisers from accessing information on an eventual rollout for a coronavirus vaccination could threaten the next administration ’ s efforts to fight the pandemic , as President Donald Trump refuses to concede his loss in the 2020 election .
Moderna is the second company to announce what appears to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the vaccine may not be available until the spring due to further need for study .
Pfizer also released data on its version of a vaccine last week , stating that it has a 90 percent effectiveness in preventing the spread of the virus .
With news of both vaccines being effective , the White House is likely to begin developing plans for distributing vaccines across the country .
But because Trump did not win reelection , the Biden administration will be in charge of the majority of the rollout .
In spite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to coordinate with the president-elect ’ s transition team on plans for vaccine distribution , Biden ’ s health advisers are planning to meet with vaccine makers and other experts on how to execute the rollout when a vaccine is ready .
Coordination between the incoming and oncoming administrations will be necessary for a strong rollout , Biden ’ s Chief of Staff Ron Klain explained .
“ We now have the possibility…of a vaccine starting perhaps in December or January .
There are people at [ the Department of Health and Human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccine .
Our experts need to talk to those people as soon as possible so nothing drops in this change of power we ’ re going to have on January 20 , ” Klain said .
Anthony Fauci , a member of Trump ’ s coronavirus task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 , drew the same conclusions on Monday morning during an interview on NBC ’ s “ TODAY ” show .
“ I ’ ve served in six administrations , so I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and I know that transitions are very important to get a smooth , as I use the metaphor , essentially passing a baton without stopping running , ” Fauci explained .
“ You just want things to go very smoothly so hopefully we ’ ll see that soon .
Transitions are important.
” Having a smooth transition is important , Fauci added , because “ the virus is not going to stop and call a timeout while things change , the virus is just going to keep going.
” “ The vaccines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it approved as quickly as we possibly can , we want to get doses to people starting in December and then we want to really get the ball rolling as we get into January , February and March .
We want a smooth process with that , and the way you do that is by essentially having the two groups speak to each other and exchange information , ” he added .
The president on Monday morning continued to insist that he was the real winner of the presidential race earlier this month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loss that the election was stolen from him , without providing any substantial evidence to back his claims .
“ I won the Election , ” Trump tweeted on Monday .
Twitter included a disclaimer on his tweet which read , “ Official sources called this election differently .
”

“You just want things to go very smoothly” from one administration to the next, Anthony Fauci said on Monday.
The pharmaceutical company Moderna announced on Monday that its trial vaccine is 94.5 percent effective in reducing the spread of coronavirus, based on early results from an ongoing study of its effectiveness. However, the Trump administration’s decision to block President-elect Joe Biden’s scientific advisers from accessing information on an eventual rollout for a coronavirus vaccination could threaten the next administration’s efforts to fight the pandemic, as President Donald Trump refuses to concede his loss in the 2020 election.
Moderna is the second company to announce what appears to be an effective vaccine for COVID-19, though the vaccine may not be available until the spring due to further need for study. Pfizer also released data on its version of a vaccine last week, stating that it has a 90 percent effectiveness in preventing the spread of the virus.
With news of both vaccines being effective, the White House is likely to begin developing plans for distributing vaccines across the country. But because Trump did not win reelection, the Biden administration will be in charge of the majority of the rollout.
In spite of the Trump administration’s refusal to coordinate with the president-elect’s transition team on plans for vaccine distribution, Biden’s health advisers are planning to meet with vaccine makers and other experts on how to execute the rollout when a vaccine is ready. Coordination between the incoming and oncoming administrations will be necessary for a strong rollout, Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain explained.
“We now have the possibility…of a vaccine starting perhaps in December or January. There are people at [the Department of Health and Human Services] making plans to implement that vaccine. Our experts need to talk to those people as soon as possible so nothing drops in this change of power we’re going to have on January 20,” Klain said.
Anthony Fauci, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, drew the same conclusions on Monday morning during an interview on NBC’s “TODAY” show.
“I’ve served in six administrations, so I’ve seen a number of transitions, and I know that transitions are very important to get a smooth, as I use the metaphor, essentially passing a baton without stopping running,” Fauci explained. “You just want things to go very smoothly so hopefully we’ll see that soon. Transitions are important.”
Having a smooth transition is important, Fauci added, because “the virus is not going to stop and call a timeout while things change, the virus is just going to keep going.”
“The vaccines are effective, we want to get it approved as quickly as we possibly can, we want to get doses to people starting in December and then we want to really get the ball rolling as we get into January, February and March. We want a smooth process with that, and the way you do that is by essentially having the two groups speak to each other and exchange information,” he added.
The president on Monday morning continued to insist that he was the real winner of the presidential race earlier this month, and has wrongly alleged since his loss that the election was stolen from him, without providing any substantial evidence to back his claims.
“I won the Election,” Trump tweeted on Monday. Twitter included a disclaimer on his tweet which read, “Official sources called this election differently.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-11-16--McConnell Pushes to Pack Courts With Trump’s Judges While Neglecting Pandemic

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is under renewed fire from progressives for refusing to act on a pandemic relief package for struggling Americans while moving to advance more of President Donald Trump ’ s judicial nominees .
“ Today marks six months since the House passed the HEROES Act , but guess what McConnell is focused on this week : judges , ” Vanita Gupta , president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights , tweeted Sunday .
“ He ’ s lined up votes on SIX Trump judicial nominees ( for lifetime seats ) instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s his priority as the pandemic rages on , ” added Gupta .
Newsweek reported last week on the pending confirmations , noting that the president “ could still appoint a dozen or more judges during his final months in office ” — actions that would further the “ steady stream of judicial confirmations [ that ] has flowed through the Senate Floor under Trump ’ s presidency.
” “ Instead of focusing on helping Americans during this devastating public health crisis , Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) and Senate Republicans only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump judges , ” tweeted NARAL Pro-Choice America on Saturday .
As Law360 put it , “ Trump has reshaped the federal judiciary at a staggering rate.
” By the outlet ’ s count , Trump has already seen 53 of his picks for circuit judges and 164 district judges confirmed .
That tally is in addition to the confirmations of Trump ’ s three right-wing Supreme Court justices , with Amy Coney Barrett being the latest addition .
And with the judicial appointees being younger on average than the last several administrations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they ’ re poised to serve for decades to come , shaping American law and politics long after Trump leaves office , ” reported ProPublica .
McConnell has made no effort to hide his intention to advance the reshaping of the judiciary , including through the final days of the Trump administration — in contrast to his obstruction during the Obama administration .
“ We ’ re going to run through the tape .
We go through the end of the year , and so does the president , ” Mr. McConnell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re going to clean the plate , clean all the district judges off as well , ” he said .
Just last week , the GOP-controlled Senate continued to green-light the nominees with the Thursday 56-21 confirmation of Aileen Mercedes Cannon to be a district judge in the Southern District of Florida .
With six more Trump judicial nominees heading for confirmation this week , advocacy group People For the American Way ( PFAW ) urged Senate Democrats to take a stand .
In a letter sent Friday , the group wrote ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of supporting the nominees that the Republican majority is attempting to ram through at this late date , Democratic senators should use this opportunity to talk about the vital role federal courts play in protecting the rights and the health of the American people .
In this way , they can demonstrate a clean break with the Republican agenda , which has been to name judges who will put the interests of the powerful ahead of the rights of the rest of us in areas including corporate power , police violence , access @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights , and LGBTQ+ equality .
According to PFAW president Ben Jealous , Democratic inaction must simply not be an option .
“ It is literally sickening to see Mitch McConnell continue to indulge his partisan obsession with confirming far-right judges , instead of taking action on the Covid pandemic that continues to spin out of control , ” he said in a statement Friday .
“ It ’ s time for [ Democrats ] to speak out , forcefully , clearly , and insistently , against the judicial nominees of this lame-duck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ egregious , ” he added , “ but this group of nominees expected to be processed next week includes some of the worst-qualified and inexperienced we ’ ve seen to date.
” “ Democrats need to step up and say so by voting against these nominees and making the full force of their objections absolutely clear , ” said Jealous .

McConnell has made no effort to hide his intention to advance the reshaping of the judiciary.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is under renewed fire from progressives for refusing to act on a pandemic relief package for struggling Americans while moving to advance more of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.
“Today marks six months since the House passed the HEROES Act, but guess what McConnell is focused on this week: judges,” Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, tweeted Sunday.
“He’s lined up votes on SIX Trump judicial nominees (for lifetime seats) instead of passing meaningful Covid relief. That’s his priority as the pandemic rages on,” added Gupta.
Newsweek reported last week on the pending confirmations, noting that the president “could still appoint a dozen or more judges during his final months in office” — actions that would further the “steady stream of judicial confirmations [that] has flowed through the Senate Floor under Trump’s presidency.”
“Instead of focusing on helping Americans during this devastating public health crisis, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Republicans only care about confirming more anti-choice, anti-healthcare Trump judges,” tweeted NARAL Pro-Choice America on Saturday.
As Law360 put it, “Trump has reshaped the federal judiciary at a staggering rate.” By the outlet’s count, Trump has already seen 53 of his picks for circuit judges and 164 district judges confirmed. That tally is in addition to the confirmations of Trump’s three right-wing Supreme Court justices, with Amy Coney Barrett being the latest addition. And with the judicial appointees being younger on average than the last several administrations and “because these are lifetime appointments, they’re poised to serve for decades to come, shaping American law and politics long after Trump leaves office,” reported ProPublica.
McConnell has made no effort to hide his intention to advance the reshaping of the judiciary, including through the final days of the Trump administration — in contrast to his obstruction during the Obama administration.
“We’re going to run through the tape. We go through the end of the year, and so does the president,” Mr. McConnell said last month. “We’re going to clean the plate, clean all the district judges off as well,” he said.
Remember that Kathryn Mizelle – who may be confirmed next week to a LIFETIME federal judgeship – was rated NOT QUALIFIED, is only eight years out of law school, and has not tried a case since her admission to the bar. This is what McConnell is focused on instead of COVID relief. — Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) November 12, 2020
Just last week, the GOP-controlled Senate continued to green-light the nominees with the Thursday 56-21 confirmation of Aileen Mercedes Cannon to be a district judge in the Southern District of Florida.
With six more Trump judicial nominees heading for confirmation this week, advocacy group People For the American Way (PFAW) urged Senate Democrats to take a stand.
In a letter sent Friday, the group wrote (pdf), in part:
Instead of supporting the nominees that the Republican majority is attempting to ram through at this late date, Democratic senators should use this opportunity to talk about the vital role federal courts play in protecting the rights and the health of the American people. In this way, they can demonstrate a clean break with the Republican agenda, which has been to name judges who will put the interests of the powerful ahead of the rights of the rest of us in areas including corporate power, police violence, access to healthcare, racial justice, voting rights, and LGBTQ+ equality.
According to PFAW president Ben Jealous, Democratic inaction must simply not be an option.
“It is literally sickening to see Mitch McConnell continue to indulge his partisan obsession with confirming far-right judges, instead of taking action on the Covid pandemic that continues to spin out of control,” he said in a statement Friday.
“It’s time for [Democrats] to speak out, forcefully, clearly, and insistently, against the judicial nominees of this lame-duck president. Not only is the timing egregious,” he added, “but this group of nominees expected to be processed next week includes some of the worst-qualified and inexperienced we’ve seen to date.”
“Democrats need to step up and say so by voting against these nominees and making the full force of their objections absolutely clear,” said Jealous.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.