veteranstoday--2020-08-19--VT Science: Debunking explosive properties of Ammonium Nitrate

The video demonstrates how ammonium nitrate functions , totally debunking every single claim made by the MSM and right wing conspiracy media in defense of the nation responsible for the nuclear terror attack in Beirut .
This video , and the many like it along with every single chemistry text book proves Beirut was attacked with a nuclear weapon as claimed by , of all people , Donald Trump .
Exploding fertilizer is “ anti-science.
” As we will prove beyond any question , ammonium nitrate is a possible component in making an explosive and is in itself not explosive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ science Google/Wikipedia claim is that Beirut blew up because ammonium nitrate allegedly stored there mixed with water , despite no evidence of this whatsoever as it doesn ’ t rain there , and exploded .
Explosions are exothermic reactions .
The truth would be the opposite .
When you add ammonium nitrate to water , it acts as a refrigerant and can be used in fire extinguishers .
Someone please call Google and tell them they made a horrible mistake promoting dozens of fake science articles involving explosives that may end up killing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bonds packed tightly together .
When it comes into contact with water , the polar water molecules interfere with those ions and eventually make them disperse .
It takes energy to do this , which is absorbed from the surroundings and makes the solution cold .
While some heat is produced when the ammonium nitrate ions interact with the water molecules ( i.e.
, an exothermic reaction ) , it is a lot less than what is needed for the water molecules to disperse the strong ionic bonds of the ammonium nitrate , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reaction , or one that absorbs energy from its surroundings .
It ’ s for this reason that solid ammonium nitrate is used in commercial cold packs , which are really just a mixture of ammonium nitrate and water .
If you hurt yourself , you can mix the contents of the bag together and place it on the injured part of your body .
The endothermic reaction of the mixture of ammonium nitrate and water removes heat from the part of the body , “ freezing ” the painful area .
While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its listing of Ammonium Nitrate from “ high explosive ” to this : Ammonium nitrate has the chemical formula NH₄NO₃ .
Produced as small porous pellets , or “ prills ” , it ’ s one of the world ’ s most widely used fertilisers .
It is also the main component in many types of mining explosives , where it ’ s mixed with fuel oil and detonated by an explosive charge .
Aug 5 , 2020 Whenever fertilizer explodes by itself , it was something else and someone is lying .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ happened on August 19 at 10:38 New York Time ( 1038/H ) This is why : Some simple truths .
After the nuclear attack in Beirut , science is now out the window and ammonium nitrate is now a high explosive .
Let ’ s look at gunpowder .
It works the same way .
Instead of ammonium nitrate , to aid as a catalyst supplying oxygen in a closed environment to sustain a chemical reaction/explosion , you use potassium nitrate or bird crap .
To that , you add charcoal and sulphur @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acid , to which you add sulfuric acid and glycerin which is a hydrocarbon/sugar/fat made from lard .
( like FO in ANFO ) Are we understanding now ?
In TNT , toulene , a form of gasoline ( in a way ) is nitrated , separated and then re-nitrated and added to a foaming sulfuric acid called oleum .
The first “ T ” refers to a third nitration process which creates a compound that frees nitric oxides which make things blow up really good .
We aren ’ t going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapon but it is no more explosive than any single component of TNT or nitroglycerin or why your birdcage doesn ’ t blow your house up when you fail to clean up the bottom of the cage .
CONFEDERATE BAT GUANO KILN , NEW BRAUNFELS .
The Texas Hill Country ’ s abundant caves with their significant bat populations furnished an important resource for the Confederacy during the Civil War .
Bat guano ’ s high nitrate content provided a key ingredient for the production of gunpowder , and by 1863 a shortage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Union blockade , prompted the South to seek alternative means of securing various supplies .
The Nitre and Mining Bureau of the Confederacy authorized local industrialists to mine bat guano from area caves in order to extract saltpeter .
The Thomas Anderson mill in northwest Travis County , for example , was designated the Travis Powder Company in 1863 and obtained guano from area caves to extract saltpeter and mix it with sulfur and charcoal ( produced by burning cedar trees ) to manufacture gunpowder .
A similar operation occurred near Concan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its resident bat population fueled that region ’ s saltpeter industry .
Miners utilized mule-drawn railcars to transport the guano .
By summer 1863 the Nitre and Mining Bureau , Western District , Texas , authorized William Seekatz and Associates to operate a guano kiln in New Braunfels in South Central Texas .
Capt .
William Seekatz , one of the pioneers of New Braunfels , along with citizens Ed Braden , Ed Dreiss , Jack Marshall , and Joe Ney , constructed a limestone oven near the headwaters of the Comal River @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung stated that the men were waiting for the Confederate government to supply kettles for operations to begin .
Guano was mined and hauled from Brehmer ’ s Cave , some three miles west of the oven as well as from a cave in the Cibolo area .
From the guano , the kiln produced an output of 100 pounds of pure saltpeter daily .
According to the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung on April 29 , 1864 , 100 pounds of guano were needed to produce four pounds of saltpeter—requiring the shoveling of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fill the quota of 100 pounds of saltpeter crystals .
Regular production continued presumably until the end of the war .
In 1938 Frank P. Seekatz , the son of William Seekatz , erected a granite marker to commemorate the operations that had begun seventy-five years earlier .
The marker stands by the remnants of the guano kiln in present-day Landa Park .

By Gordon Duff
The video demonstrates how ammonium nitrate functions, totally debunking every single claim made by the MSM and right wing conspiracy media in defense of the nation responsible for the nuclear terror attack in Beirut.
How strange is the world? Remember Epstein? As a high school dropout, he was given a job as a “math professor” at the Dalton School, working for Don Barr, former OSS, and father of William Barr, who worked for the CIA from 71 to 73. But back to our story.
What is key to understand is that many people in power are not who they seem but rather “walk in’s” or “cuckoo’s.” Remember when the hoax began that the Bush family was really Nazi’s named “Schiff.?” Then we did real research in the Library of Congress, the records of all Ohio newspapers looking for the birth or other records, sports, graduations and such for Prescott Bush. Nothing. He was born at Yale, all grown up and left on the door step of the powerful Harriman family.
The real “Schiffs” are the powerful Rothschild bankers who came to America, starting with Jacob Schiff whose daughter married Paul Warburg, another Frankfurt/Rothschild banker who founded the Federal Reserve, the Rothschild banks that run America.
We believe the Protocols of the Elders of Zion was fabricated as cover for the Schiff-Warburg operation that began, initially, the Russo-Japanese War and later World War I.
It wasn’t Jews hiding in a basement, it was the world’s banking system run through cutouts, the Harrimans, Rockefellers, Duponds and John Pierpont Morgan. Back to the cuckoo’s…
The Trumps? The “Drumpffs? or some other fable? Turns out, they look very much like an offshoot of the Lehmann’s, also of Frankfurt. Mayer (named after Mayer Amschel Rothschild) and Emanuel Lehman along with “Henry” ran what we are told was a “general store” that supplied gold prospectors heading to California. Another part of that family ran operations in San Francisco and later in the Yukon, human traffickers and pimps, yes, another family from Frankfurt. Later they took over human trafficking operations in New York and the son went into first the casino business and then politics. They stopped calling themselves “Lehmann.”
Back to Beirut.
The Beirut attack and the media frenzy to cover up an Israeli nuclear bombing of a major city in broad daylight is, not just perhaps, the most blatant insult against mankind of our era. Other than missile videos which are blocked on any and all outlets but can be sent via email still, there is the issue of the Israeli air attack, the F 16s that the media claim were never there. Want proof? Let’s begin. Seven years ago (and 70 pounds), I explained what I could of who runs the world to security officials of Middle Eastern nations. At the table, Dr. Najem, Syrian Ministry of Justice, behind me, Mike Harris, next to me my translator and Colonel Hanke. Filming by Jim Dean.
Saudi cash silenced Lebanon, whose people were crushed and bought, lock stock and barrel, the world’s media, long under the control of organized crime. With Cronkite and Murrow dead and forgotten, failed bloggers, pedophiles, petty thieves and failed mama’s boys churn out, on demand, the daily talking points of the Rothschild Khazarian Mafia.
Back in 2019, the FBI asked VT to make a video outlining the methods used to cite foreign influence, generally hostile intelligence agencies, on media in the US. The result is a classified 6 hour production filmed in the presidential suite of a major hotel.
At one time, the glue that bound alternative media together was its nearly universal support of key human rights issues:
Palestinian rights
racial equality
equality for women
access to health care
environmental issues
freedom of press
opposition to globalism
anti-colonialism
However, since 2016, 98% (actual number) of alternative media outlets have embraced corporate funded neo-fascism and white supremacism. They have aligned themselves with nuclear power, the weapons lobby, the Israel lobby, Christian Zionism, global warming denialism and anti-science.
Each of these subject areas are close to the hearts of globalists, in whose pockets alternative media platforms clearly belong and most always have.
Though no admissions were made by US authorities involved, a key area of this effort was finding what “red line” issues were.
It had become clear that the most virulent Trump haters, such as CNN, the news outlet that cut the missile frames out of the Beirut attack and claimed others had added them, existed to legitimize the comic Trump family of grifters, bunglers and mumblers.
Past that, methods were established for the following analytical directions (and others that are classified):
Identifying fake “activist/journalists” by lack of temperament and background
Identifying “red line” stories where unexpected changes in policy indicate foreign intervention in editorial policy
Deep background on writers/authors whose travel and funding betray intelligence training schools and meetings with handlers (always in person)
Identifying fake funding sources such as male enhancement products or cancer cures
Identify “clusters” of op-ed writers used to provide cover for critical disinformation pieces
Identify patters in subject matter between certain MSM publication and alternative media on issues involving orchestration of suspicious “militia” type group whose funding, often though crypto currency betrays potentially threatening nation state origins
Identify patterns of unusually public attacks and criticism, such as social media bans orchestrated to build following
Identify pundits and media “stars” whose personal history reveals certain repugnant moral issues or patterns of financial fraud such as to indicate both a proclivity for treason and a hidden hatred of their own audience
These are some of those that can be shared, others betray investigative methods that may actually aid in real national security for the United States, assuming any government organization is capable of doing this. (which is possible despite seeming unlikely)
Where the most damaging red line evidence exists, the nuclear attacks on 9/11 and the Beirut explosion (there are others), identifying alternative media outlets that carry everything but these scientifically documented stories means we have identified a broad swath of fake alternative media that includes virtually all platforms. A few video originals from Lebanon are posted here (link likely to be censored).
With hoax after hoax, ‘EmailGate, Pizzagate, Jade Helm, Hunter Biden’s laptop being shared by right wing corporate media clearly under KM control and former left wing media pundits now clearly under the same KM control….
And to our original story on fertilizer and magic:
This video, and the many like it along with every single chemistry text book proves Beirut was attacked with a nuclear weapon as claimed by, of all people, Donald Trump.
Exploding fertilizer is “anti-science.” As we will prove beyond any question, ammonium nitrate is a possible component in making an explosive and is in itself not explosive whatsoever.
The new and crazy fake science Google/Wikipedia claim is that Beirut blew up because ammonium nitrate allegedly stored there mixed with water, despite no evidence of this whatsoever as it doesn’t rain there, and exploded. Explosions are exothermic reactions.
The truth would be the opposite. When you add ammonium nitrate to water, it acts as a refrigerant and can be used in fire extinguishers.
Someone please call Google and tell them they made a horrible mistake promoting dozens of fake science articles involving explosives that may end up killing people.
“Adding Ammonium Nitrate to Water
Ammonium nitrate consists of ionic bonds packed tightly together. When it comes into contact with water, the polar water molecules interfere with those ions and eventually make them disperse. It takes energy to do this, which is absorbed from the surroundings and makes the solution cold.
While some heat is produced when the ammonium nitrate ions interact with the water molecules (i.e., an exothermic reaction), it is a lot less than what is needed for the water molecules to disperse the strong ionic bonds of the ammonium nitrate, so the overall process is an endothermic reaction, or one that absorbs energy from its surroundings.
It’s for this reason that solid ammonium nitrate is used in commercial cold packs, which are really just a mixture of ammonium nitrate and water. If you hurt yourself, you can mix the contents of the bag together and place it on the injured part of your body. The endothermic reaction of the mixture of ammonium nitrate and water removes heat from the part of the body, “freezing” the painful area.
While this article was written, Google changed its listing of Ammonium Nitrate from “high explosive” to this:
Ammonium nitrate has the chemical formula NH₄NO₃. Produced as small porous pellets, or “prills”, it’s one of the world’s most widely used fertilisers. It is also the main component in many types of mining explosives, where it’s mixed with fuel oil and detonated by an explosive charge. Aug 5, 2020
Whenever fertilizer explodes by itself, it was something else and someone is lying.
This change, despite the date, happened on August 19 at 10:38 New York Time (1038/H)
This is why:
Some simple truths. After the nuclear attack in Beirut, science is now out the window and ammonium nitrate is now a high explosive.
Let’s look at gunpowder. It works the same way. Instead of ammonium nitrate, to aid as a catalyst supplying oxygen in a closed environment to sustain a chemical reaction/explosion, you use potassium nitrate or bird crap.
To that, you add charcoal and sulphur.
In nitroglycerin, you use nitric acid, to which you add sulfuric acid and glycerin which is a hydrocarbon/sugar/fat made from lard. (like FO in ANFO) Are we understanding now?
In TNT, toulene, a form of gasoline (in a way) is nitrated, separated and then re-nitrated and added to a foaming sulfuric acid called oleum. The first “T” refers to a third nitration process which creates a compound that frees nitric oxides which make things blow up really good.
We aren’t going to explain how to build an ammonium nitrate weapon but it is no more explosive than any single component of TNT or nitroglycerin or why your birdcage doesn’t blow your house up when you fail to clean up the bottom of the cage.
CONFEDERATE BAT GUANO KILN, NEW BRAUNFELS. The Texas Hill Country’s abundant caves with their significant bat populations furnished an important resource for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Bat guano’s high nitrate content provided a key ingredient for the production of gunpowder, and by 1863 a shortage of munitions and other goods precipitated by the Union blockade, prompted the South to seek alternative means of securing various supplies.
The Nitre and Mining Bureau of the Confederacy authorized local industrialists to mine bat guano from area caves in order to extract saltpeter. The Thomas Anderson mill in northwest Travis County, for example, was designated the Travis Powder Company in 1863 and obtained guano from area caves to extract saltpeter and mix it with sulfur and charcoal (produced by burning cedar trees) to manufacture gunpowder.
A similar operation occurred near Concan in Uvalde County where a cave and its resident bat population fueled that region’s saltpeter industry. Miners utilized mule-drawn railcars to transport the guano.
By summer 1863 the Nitre and Mining Bureau, Western District, Texas, authorized William Seekatz and Associates to operate a guano kiln in New Braunfels in South Central Texas. Capt. William Seekatz, one of the pioneers of New Braunfels, along with citizens Ed Braden, Ed Dreiss, Jack Marshall, and Joe Ney, constructed a limestone oven near the headwaters of the Comal River.
On July 17, 1863, the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung stated that the men were waiting for the Confederate government to supply kettles for operations to begin.
Guano was mined and hauled from Brehmer’s Cave, some three miles west of the oven as well as from a cave in the Cibolo area. From the guano, the kiln produced an output of 100 pounds of pure saltpeter daily.
According to the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung on April 29, 1864, 100 pounds of guano were needed to produce four pounds of saltpeter—requiring the shoveling of 2,500 pounds of bat guano a day to fill the quota of 100 pounds of saltpeter crystals. Regular production continued presumably until the end of the war.
In 1938 Frank P. Seekatz, the son of William Seekatz, erected a granite marker to commemorate the operations that had begun seventy-five years earlier. The marker stands by the remnants of the guano kiln in present-day Landa Park.


veteranstoday--2020-08-19--Senate Intel Report, Vol. 5: Trump lied, Manafort spied, Democracy nearly died

VT : Kirschner is a 30 year prosecutor with JAG and the DC criminal court systems , who cuts through the political crap of the Senate ’ s highly redacted findings and applies real criminal law .
[ Editor ’ s Note : This is a huge blow to Trump , as the report is from the Republican controlled Senate Intel Committee .
Trump can not puff this away with a Tweet .
Donald can try to distract attention from it with his usual diversion tactics , but the countdown has begun to November 3rd , where voters are going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We already had the Postal Service back off its ‘ reform ’ agenda , so as “ not to conflict with the election ” due to the huge public outrage .
It was a stupid move by Trump and his handlers to attempt the stunt .
Expect more bloopers as we go forward .
This Post Office rigging scandal oozes with felony level conspiracy , and a large number of former prosecutors are sharpening their knives to go after all involved in this attack on the vote , to discourage anyone in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Glenn has developed an excellent delivery style of the key points in these complex legal cases to help laypersons understand what is going on better , so they can be more informed voters on November 3rd .
That said , the biggest threat to our elections is the ongoing long term threat from the Israeli Lobby and its intelligence apparatus .
They have openly influenced US elections by compromising large segments of our political class and leaders in the evangelical community .
No one else in our history has compromised our democracy and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is hardwired into our system .
Our entire law enforcement and Intelligence apparatus have stood down on this threat , considering it something above their pay grade to deal with .
The challenge that faces us now is that , while there is a increasing focus on Trump having been compromised , we have to weave in a new thread challenging the standdown on Israeli operations .
Whatever the Russians may have done pales in significance to what Israeli offensive Intel operations have done .
Shame on all those who took the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowed this to happen under the cheap smokescreen of Israel being an important ally , arguably the offensive intel coup of the century… Jim W. Dean ] Jim 's Editor ’ s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal Jim 's work includes research , field trips , Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more .
Thanks for helping .
Click to donate > > The Senate Intelligence Committee just released Vol .
5 of the report of its investigation into Russian interference – and Trump Campaign complicity – in our 2016 elections .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the top line conclusions : • Paul Manafort coordinated ( ok , conspired ) with a Russian Intelligence Officer to facilitate Russia ’ s interference in our elections ; • Trump lied when he told Mueller in written answers that he had no memory of talking with Roger Stone about Wikileaks ; and , • Vladimir Putin personally ordered the Russian efforts to hack the DNC computers and leak the information to hurt Clinton ’ s campaign .
Barr may try to mischaracterize the committee ’ s findings , and Trump may start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a witch hunt .
Those claims will ring hollow given that this is a report issued by a Republican majority Senate committee .

…from Glenn Kirschner, Washington, DC
VT: Kirschner is a 30 year prosecutor with JAG and the DC criminal court systems, who cuts through the political crap of the Senate’s highly redacted findings and applies real criminal law.
[ Editor’s Note: This is a huge blow to Trump, as the report is from the Republican controlled Senate Intel Committee. Trump cannot puff this away with a Tweet.
Donald can try to distract attention from it with his usual diversion tactics, but the countdown has begun to November 3rd, where voters are going to remember what has been reported.
We already had the Postal Service back off its ‘reform’ agenda, so as “not to conflict with the election” due to the huge public outrage. It was a stupid move by Trump and his handlers to attempt the stunt. Expect more bloopers as we go forward.
This Post Office rigging scandal oozes with felony level conspiracy, and a large number of former prosecutors are sharpening their knives to go after all involved in this attack on the vote, to discourage anyone in the future from attempting the same scam.
Glenn has developed an excellent delivery style of the key points in these complex legal cases to help laypersons understand what is going on better, so they can be more informed voters on November 3rd.
Even Hillary and ex-CIA director James Woolsey backed letting the spy, Pollard go
That said, the biggest threat to our elections is the ongoing long term threat from the Israeli Lobby and its intelligence apparatus. They have openly influenced US elections by compromising large segments of our political class and leaders in the evangelical community.
No one else in our history has compromised our democracy and security more, to the point that it is hardwired into our system. Our entire law enforcement and Intelligence apparatus have stood down on this threat, considering it something above their pay grade to deal with.
The challenge that faces us now is that, while there is a increasing focus on Trump having been compromised, we have to weave in a new thread challenging the standdown on Israeli operations.
Whatever the Russians may have done pales in significance to what Israeli offensive Intel operations have done. Shame on all those who took the national security oath, but so willingly allowed this to happen under the cheap smokescreen of Israel being an important ally, arguably the offensive intel coup of the century… Jim W. Dean ]
Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal
Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >>
The Senate Intelligence Committee just released Vol. 5 of the report of its investigation into Russian interference – and Trump Campaign complicity – in our 2016 elections. It spans nearly 1000 pages but some of the top line conclusions:
Paul Manafort coordinated (ok, conspired) with a Russian Intelligence Officer to facilitate Russia’s interference in our elections; Trump lied when he told Mueller in written answers that he had no memory of talking with Roger Stone about Wikileaks; and, Vladimir Putin personally ordered the Russian efforts to hack the DNC computers and leak the information to hurt Clinton’s campaign.
Barr may try to mischaracterize the committee’s findings, and Trump may start screaming about how the Senate Committee was on a witch hunt. Those claims will ring hollow given that this is a report issued by a Republican majority Senate committee.


veteranstoday--2020-08-19--Lincoln Project: The GOP Mainstream’s War on Donald Trump

Today we begin our $ 1M digital effort , targeting soft Republicans and Independents with ads analytically proven to lower @ @ @ @ @ .
https : //t.co/2WWRmtEVNk We celebrated after WWII .
We mourned after 9/11 until we @ @ @ @ @ will not allow the weakest president in our nation ’ s history to crush this @ @ @ @ @ this enemy , too — and smile while doing it .
pic.twitter.com/PqVKV1scQs

We have a choice this November. It's a choice to vote for a man of character or a man without character. #AmericaOrTrump pic.twitter.com/HPSfGyrVdy
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veteranstoday--2020-08-19--NY Times: COVID Creating a Wave of Heart Disease

NY Times : SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes Covid-19 , was initially thought to primarily impact the lungs — SARS stands for “ severe acute respiratory syndrome.
” Now we know there is barely a part of the body this infection spares .
And emerging data show that some of the virus ’ s most potent damage is inflicted on the heart .
Further investigation revealed that he had a condition many are still struggling to understand : Covid-19-associated myocarditis .
Mr. Rodriguez won ’ t be playing baseball this season .
Myocarditis means inflammation of the heart muscle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it , but for others it can have serious implications .
And Mr. Rodriguez isn ’ t the only athlete to suffer from it : Multiple college football players have possibly developed myocarditis from Covid-19 , putting the entire college football landscape in jeopardy .
I recently treated one Covid-19 patient in his early 50s .
He had been in perfect shape with no history of serious illness .
When the fevers and body aches started , he locked himself in his room .
But instead of getting better , his condition deteriorated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his legs .
When he came to the hospital unable to catch a breath , it wasn ’ t his lungs that had pushed him to the brink — it was his heart .
Now we are evaluating him to see if he needs a heart transplant .
An intriguing new study from Germany offers a glimpse into how SARS-CoV-2 affects the heart .
Researchers studied 100 individuals , with a median age of just 49 , who had recovered from Covid-19 .
Most were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms .
read @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Covid-19 Is Creating a Wave of Heart Disease https : //t.co/VWSrvpf7KG — Robert M Califf ( @ califf001 ) August 19 , 2020

Emerging data show that some of the coronavirus’s most potent damage is inflicted on the heart.
NY Times: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, was initially thought to primarily impact the lungs — SARS stands for “severe acute respiratory syndrome.” Now we know there is barely a part of the body this infection spares. And emerging data show that some of the virus’s most potent damage is inflicted on the heart.
Further investigation revealed that he had a condition many are still struggling to understand: Covid-19-associated myocarditis. Mr. Rodriguez won’t be playing baseball this season.
Myocarditis means inflammation of the heart muscle. Some patients are never bothered by it, but for others it can have serious implications. And Mr. Rodriguez isn’t the only athlete to suffer from it: Multiple college football players have possibly developed myocarditis from Covid-19, putting the entire college football landscape in jeopardy.
I recently treated one Covid-19 patient in his early 50s. He had been in perfect shape with no history of serious illness. When the fevers and body aches started, he locked himself in his room. But instead of getting better, his condition deteriorated and he eventually accumulated gallons of fluid in his legs. When he came to the hospital unable to catch a breath, it wasn’t his lungs that had pushed him to the brink — it was his heart. Now we are evaluating him to see if he needs a heart transplant.
An intriguing new study from Germany offers a glimpse into how SARS-CoV-2 affects the heart. Researchers studied 100 individuals, with a median age of just 49, who had recovered from Covid-19. Most were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. read more… Important message from FDA and NIH. Covid-19 Is Creating a Wave of Heart Disease https://t.co/VWSrvpf7KG — Robert M Califf (@califf001) August 19, 2020
Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator. She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues. Carol’s Archives 2009-2013


veteranstoday--2020-08-19--Breaking: FDA Halts Use of Blood Plasma in COVID Treatment

WASHINGTON ( New York Times ) — Last week , just as the Food and Drug Administration was preparing to issue an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a Covid-19 treatment , a group of top federal health officials including Dr. Francis S. Collins and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci intervened , arguing that emerging data on the treatment was too weak , according to two senior administration officials .
The authorization is on hold for now as more data is reviewed , according to H. Clifford Lane , the clinical director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issued in the near future , he said .
Donated by people who have survived the disease , antibody-rich plasma is considered safe .
President Trump has hailed it as a “ beautiful ingredient ” in the veins of people who have survived Covid-19 .
But clinical trials have not proved whether plasma can help people fighting the coronavirus .
Several top health officials — led by Dr. Collins , the director of the National Institutes of Health ; Dr. Fauci , the government ’ s top infectious disease expert ; and Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hold off , citing recent data from the country ’ s largest plasma study , run by the Mayo Clinic .
They thought the study ’ s data to date was not strong enough to warrant an emergency approval .
“ The three of us are pretty aligned on the importance of robust data through randomized control trials , and that a pandemic does not change that , ” Dr. Lane said in an interview on Tuesday .

WASHINGTON (New York Times) — Last week, just as the Food and Drug Administration was preparing to issue an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a Covid-19 treatment, a group of top federal health officials including Dr. Francis S. Collins and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci intervened, arguing that emerging data on the treatment was too weak, according to two senior administration officials.
NEW from @noahweiland @SharonLNYT @sherifink — FDA was set to do an emergency approval of blood plasma last week — until Collins, Fauci, and Lane intervened, citing weak data: https://t.co/Opm0UZAGYH — Virginia Hughes (@virginiahughes) August 19, 2020
The authorization is on hold for now as more data is reviewed, according to H. Clifford Lane, the clinical director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. An emergency approval could still be issued in the near future, he said.
The FDA's emergency authorization for blood plasma as a COVID-19 treatment has been put on hold after top federal health officials warned that evidence for the effectiveness of the treatment was too weak, according to a reporthttps://t.co/32VpUZS9dV — The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 19, 2020
Donated by people who have survived the disease, antibody-rich plasma is considered safe. President Trump has hailed it as a “beautiful ingredient” in the veins of people who have survived Covid-19.
But clinical trials have not proved whether plasma can help people fighting the coronavirus. Several top health officials — led by Dr. Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert; and Dr. Lane — urged their colleagues last week to hold off, citing recent data from the country’s largest plasma study, run by the Mayo Clinic. They thought the study’s data to date was not strong enough to warrant an emergency approval. Important message from FDA and NIH. Covid-19 Is Creating a Wave of Heart Disease https://t.co/VWSrvpf7KG — Robert M Califf (@califf001) August 19, 2020 FDA halts emergency approval of COVID-19 blood plasma treatment https://t.co/5RyXtJIp7F via @nypost THIS SHOWS TRUMP'S FDA A LITTLE TO APPROVAL HAPPY !!! I WILL NOT TRUST THEM !!!!! — michael f cunningham (@michaelf1222) August 19, 2020 “The three of us are pretty aligned on the importance of robust data through randomized control trials, and that a pandemic does not change that,” Dr. Lane said in an interview on Tuesday.
Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator. She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues. Carol’s Archives 2009-2013


veteranstoday--2020-08-20--Exclusive: Secret German Report: Israel Setting up New State with Kurds in Northern Syria Aided by C

Exclusive: Secret German Report: Israel Setting up New State with Kurds in Northern Syria Aided by CIA, Assassinations and Death Camps

VT : The report below is an intercept from Germany ’ s Federal Intelligence Service , translated by Arabic .
There is no editing or alterations .
This is “ Eyes Only/Q ” Russian intelligence was given this report last night .
The question , we know Trump is compromised , seemingly by Russia but we believe , something we are considered “ the experts on worldwide ” by an international criminal conspiracy that also either controls or hinders the Russian government as well .
Universally Trump is seen as a puppet of organized crime by every national intelligence service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an extremely dangerous and secret report was revealed during the past few hours by the Federal Intelligence Service .
* * German ( Bundesnachrichtendienst ) , BND .
* German intelligence sources revealed * the circumstances of the killing of some of the sheikhs of the Syrian Arab tribes , the last of whom was Sheikh Mutashar Al-Hafil , one of the most prominent sheikhs in Deir Ezzor , and Sheikh Muhammad Al-Huwaidi , one of the most prominent sheikhs of Al-Afadala in Raqqa .
That there is a list of a number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dignitaries and leaders , especially from the Bakara clan , Al-Nasser , Al-Sabkha , Jabour , and Bedouins , who will be liquidated according to a black list worked on by * the Zionist Mossad * in coordination with * the American Central Intelligence Agency * * and the US Central Forces * and by using some Kurdish agents in the Al-Jazeera region With the knowledge of some * senior Qasd militia officials * * And between the report * The ultimate goal of the liquidation operations is to get rid of all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that are influencing now or in the future on some of the decisions that will be taken in the region through * the administration of the Zionist Kurdish autonomy * especially with regard to oil _ the separation of the Kurds with Kurdish Zionist autonomy as it is .
In northern Iraq and other * proposed educational curricula * and what is related * to the Islamic religion * on the subject * the constitution of the region * , and some matters related * to women * , and that the presence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and will not agree on many of the matters agreed upon by the terrorist Mazloum Abdi in His visit in 2019 and his meeting with the terrorist US President Trump .
To think carefully and carefully about the reactions that have been issued and will be issued by the people of the region and directing them to cross-cutting accusations of the Qasd militia , # Turkey , # and other ISIS militias and the so-called military , and he indicated that the chaos in the accusations and the angry and even armed reactions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , especially militias .
The Qasd and the tribesmen , * But after several days of tension and the inability of the Syrian government to turn the tide of tension or seize the opportunity to move the tribes against the militia of the SDF , the only winner in the result and after the calm and negotiations is the administration of the Zionist Kurdish autonomy for northern and eastern Syria , according to the report .
* To the very important meeting between * terrorist Mazloum Abdi and US President ’ s terrorist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meeting with * the terrorist , commander of the Central Forces in North and East Syria , the terrorist MacKenzie * a few months ago in northern Syria , and to * the phone call between Trump and Abdi – * Monday , October 14 , 2019 10:55 pm GMT , which was revealed by * terrorist Mike Pence , US Vice President * , and in which the envoy confirmed * terrorist Jeffrey * On the ability of the International Zionist-American Coalition to dismiss the assassinations to a * party affiliated with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of being responsible for the assassination , through * witnesses imprisoned by the Qasd militia or the American Zionist coalition * , which gives * the Qasd militias * more empowerment The land * and incitement to refuse to cooperate with the Damascus government and to not welcome the return to the motherland .
* Until the Arab sheikhs rejected the Zionist Kurdish education curricula , it is the starting point for the liquidation and assassination of the most prominent figures , and the leadership of the Qasd militia should receive the sheikhs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the blood flow of people for revenge and fulfill their demands as much as possible * until the liquidation of the most prominent clan sheikhs * and then * showing artificial sheikhs and weak dignitaries consumed by fear for Their lives and interests * and then * they will not * object to any future decisions related to oil , the future of the region , its Kurdish Zionist secession and its occupation of American Zionists .
* * This report did not mention the names of those targeted in the blacklist .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ period has presented a personal influential in the people and has clear positions on the future of the region , especially in the north and east of Deir Ezzor , then Hasaka and then Raqqa , which it indicated that there are no sheikhs in it who have an influential weight in the future The region is like the rest of the island .
* The report confirmed * Until every * prominent opponent of the Syrian oil investment deal a few days ago by the American company “ Delta Crescent Energy ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ saying : ” The agreement took more time than expected due to some , and they will be held accountable as part of its implementation .
right Now ” .
The report went on .
On the issue of Syrian oil and Obama ’ s decision in 2012 , “ A decision issued by the terrorist US President Donald Trump on October 6 stipulated that a number of occupied American forces remain to protect Syrian oil and prevent ISIS members from benefiting from the hundreds of wells scattered in The desert @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , * In addition to * fields in the Syrian Jazeera , * Where the occupying American forces prevent their Russian counterparts from Access to it , not to mention the Syrian government forces and their allies , who are near the Euphrates River in eastern Syria .
* According to the author of the report * That the US presidential decision removed * the legal and political barrier * In front of * the US Treasury and the OFAC office * to bypass the penal code imposed on Syrian oil , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of American oil companies have submitted applications to obtain investment in the areas controlled by the “ SDF ” militias , the company “ Delta Crescent Energy ” * which She has experience in the fields of the region .
That the zinatized Kurds will work for the demographic change of the region , change its features , sell its Arab antiquities , deport some Arab residents from one region to another , settle the Kurds , and acquire real estate and land from the Arabs , and prevent those who leave outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their property if they do not return to it in an urgent way and by an American Zionist decision * and the explanation of the report * At length , the SDF militia will not give up an inch to the Syrian state now , and likewise , the issue of the three dams on the Euphrates is a red line .

VT: The report below is an intercept from Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, translated by Arabic. There is no editing or alterations. This is “Eyes Only/Q” Russian intelligence was given this report last night.
The question, we know Trump is compromised, seemingly by Russia but we believe, something we are considered “the experts on worldwide” by an international criminal conspiracy that also either controls or hinders the Russian government as well.
Universally Trump is seen as a puppet of organized crime by every national intelligence service.
* For information in Germany, an extremely dangerous and secret report was revealed during the past few hours by the Federal Intelligence Service. * * German (Bundesnachrichtendienst), BND.
* _ Wer steht * * hinter der Ermordung arabischer Scheichs? *
* German intelligence sources revealed * the circumstances of the killing of some of the sheikhs of the Syrian Arab tribes, the last of whom was Sheikh Mutashar Al-Hafil, one of the most prominent sheikhs in Deir Ezzor, and Sheikh Muhammad Al-Huwaidi, one of the most prominent sheikhs of Al-Afadala in Raqqa.
* And the report *
That there is a list of a number of influential and active Arab sheikhs, dignitaries and leaders, especially from the Bakara clan, Al-Nasser, Al-Sabkha, Jabour, and Bedouins, who will be liquidated according to a blacklist worked on by * the Zionist Mossad * in coordination with * the American Central Intelligence Agency * * and the US Central Forces * and by using some Kurdish agents in the Al-Jazeera region With the knowledge of some * senior Qasd militia officials *
* And between the report *
The ultimate goal of the liquidation operations is to get rid of all social and national symbols in the region that are influencing now or in the future on some of the decisions that will be taken in the region through * the administration of the Zionist Kurdish autonomy * especially with regard to oil _ the separation of the Kurds with Kurdish Zionist autonomy as it is. In northern Iraq and other
* proposed educational curricula * and what is related * to the Islamic religion * on the subject * the constitution of the region *, and some matters related * to women *, and that the presence of these people may hinder the matter and will not agree on many of the matters agreed upon by the terrorist Mazloum Abdi in His visit in 2019 and his meeting with the terrorist US President Trump.
* Called the report *
To think carefully and carefully about the reactions that have been issued and will be issued by the people of the region and directing them to cross-cutting accusations of the Qasd militia, # Turkey, # and other ISIS militias and the so-called military, and he indicated that the chaos in the accusations and the angry and even armed reactions may result in deaths on all sides, especially militias. The Qasd and the tribesmen,
* But after several days of tension and the inability of the Syrian government to turn the tide of tension or seize the opportunity to move the tribes against the militia of the SDF, the only winner in the result and after the calm and negotiations is the administration of the Zionist Kurdish autonomy for northern and eastern Syria, according to the report. *
* The report indicated *
To the very important meeting between * terrorist Mazloum Abdi and US President’s terrorist envoy Geoffrey * as well as his meeting with * the terrorist, commander of the Central Forces in North and East Syria, the terrorist MacKenzie * a few months ago in northern Syria, and to * the phone call between Trump and Abdi – * Monday, October 14, 2019, 10:55 pm GMT, which was revealed by * terrorist Mike Pence, US Vice President *, and in which the envoy confirmed * terrorist Jeffrey *
On the ability of the International Zionist-American Coalition to dismiss the assassinations to a * party affiliated with the Syrian intelligence * and accuse it of being responsible for the assassination, through * witnesses imprisoned by the Qasd militia or the American Zionist coalition *, which gives * the Qasd militias * more empowerment The land * and incitement to refuse to cooperate with the Damascus government and to not welcome the return to the motherland. *
* The report indicated *
Until the Arab sheikhs rejected the Zionist Kurdish education curricula, it is the starting point for the liquidation and assassination of the most prominent figures, and the leadership of the Qasd militia should receive the sheikhs and dignitaries and absorb their anger and the blood flow of people for revenge and fulfil their demands as much as possible * until the liquidation of the most prominent clan sheikhs * and then * showing artificial sheikhs and weak dignitaries consumed by fear for Their lives and interests * and then * they will not * object to any future decisions related to oil, the future of the region, its Kurdish Zionist secession and its occupation of American Zionists. *
* This report did not mention the names of those targeted in the blacklist. * However, it indicated that each period has presented a personal influential in the people and has clear positions on the future of the region, especially in the north and east of Deir Ezzor, then Hasaka and then Raqqa, which is indicated that there are no sheikhs in it who have an influential weight in the future The region is like the rest of the island. * The report confirmed *
Until every * prominent opponent of the Syrian oil investment deal a few days ago by the American company “Delta Crescent Energy” * will be held accountable for that, “saying:” The agreement took more time than expected due to some, and they will be held accountable as part of its implementation. right now”.
The report went on.
On the issue of Syrian oil and Obama’s decision in 2012, “A decision issued by the terrorist US President Donald Trump on October 6 stipulated that a number of occupied American forces remain to protect Syrian oil and prevent ISIS members from benefiting from the hundreds of wells scattered in The desert of the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, * In addition to * fields in the Syrian Jazeera, *
Where the occupying American forces prevent their Russian counterparts from
Access to it, not to mention the Syrian government forces and their allies, who are near the Euphrates River in eastern Syria.
* According to the author of the report *
That the US presidential decision removed * the legal and political barrier *
In front of * the US Treasury and the OFAC office * to bypass the penal code imposed on Syrian oil, and that despite the fact that a number of American oil companies have submitted applications to obtain investment in the areas controlled by the “SDF” militias, the company “Delta Crescent Energy” * which She has experience in the fields of the region.
* Finally the report alerted *
That the sanitized Kurds will work for the demographic change of the region, change its features, sell its Arab antiquities, deport some Arab residents from one region to another, settle the Kurds, and acquire real estate and land from the Arabs, and prevent those who leave outside the island’s lands from disposing of their property if they do not return to it in an urgent way and by an American Zionist decision * and the explanation of the report * At length, the SDF militia will not give up an inch to the Syrian state now, and likewise, the issue of the three dams on the Euphrates is a red line.
Addendum
Royal Geographical Society map in the U.S. Library of Congress


veteranstoday--2020-08-20--Lebanon: Pearl on the New Silk Road or Zone of Dark Age Chaos

Many voices have been quick to enter the chorus of commentators hypothesizing the manifold possible causes of the devastating explosions which occurred on the afternoon of August 4 in Beirut which has led to mass anarchy and the surprising resignation of the government on August 11th .
While I have no great novel contribution to offer in that growing array of hypotheses ( which are slowly turning into noise ) , I would like to share an insight which addresses a too-often-overlooked aspect of the role of Lebanon in the Great Game .
Before proceeding , it is useful to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certainty : 1 ) The official narrative of a chance mishap of Turkish fireworks instigating the detonation of the 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate which had been sitting at the Port of Beirut for six years is entirely unbelievable .
2 ) This event should not considered in any way separated from the anomalously large pattern of explosions and arson which have spread across the Arab and African worlds in recent weeks .
3 ) This pattern of chaos must itself be seen in the context of the clash between two systems : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one side and the New Silk Road-led multipolar alliance on the other .
The Middle East has been labelled the “ geopolitical pivot ” of the world island by devout adherents to the Hobbesian worldview of Halford Mackinder such as Zbigniew Brzezinski , Henry Kissinger and Bernard Lewis .
Today it is understood that whomever can either stabilize or destabilize this region can control the levers for the “ world island ” ( Africa , Europe , and Eurasia ) … and as Mackinder once said “ who controls the world island , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Lebanon , the role that this region plays as “ Pearl on the New Silk Road ” , and intersection of all major civilizations of the globe , has shaped global policy considerations in Washington , London and Israel for the past several years .
The destructive events underway Lebanon can not be separated from the breathtaking spread of Belt and Road projects across Iraq , Iran , Syria and other Arab nations .
In the weeks surrounding the Lebanon disaster , Iran found herself the target of a vicious sequence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning with the June 26 explosion at the Khojir Missile production complex , the June 30 explosion at a medical clinic killing 19 , a July 2 explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility which set Iran ’ s centrifuge production schedule back by months and the July 15 fires at the Bushehr Aluminum plant .
Additionally , and the UAE experienced its own anomalous fires which ravaged one of the most important markets in Dubai ( luckily empty due to Covid-19 ) on August 5 .
If any of these anomalies were taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be blamed as culprit .
However when one takes them all together and recognizes the revolutionary BRI-connected agreements currently being finalized between both China and Russia with Iran does one get a solid idea of the deeper causality underlying these apparently separate situations of chaos .
Iran and the New Silk Road The fact is that the long awaited $ 400 billion China-Iran economic and security pact which is in its final stages of negotiation includes not only important oil for infrastructure agreements which will extend advanced rail and new energy grids to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important military/security partnership which will dramatically transform the “ rules of the game ” in the middle east for generations .
Elements of this pact include not only defense and intelligence sharing infrastructure , but also also bolster China ’ s new digital currency the e-RMB which will circumvent western controls on trade .
Meanwhile Russia ’ s announced extension of the 20 year security/economic partnership agreement first signed in 2001 by Presidents Rouhani and Putin will certainly be finalized in the coming months .
Iran has also made it ’ s interests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well known and all geopoliticians understand well that this system which is spreading fast across all of Eurasia from Turkey to South Korea renders America ’ s F-35s and THAAD missile systems impotent and obsolete .
If the China-Russia-Iran triangle can be firmly established , then not only does America ’ s sanctions regime policy disintegrate , but a vital platform of Middle Eastern development will be established to better spearhead the growth of transport and advanced development corridors from China to the east ( and Africa ) along the New Silk Road @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has taken great strides towards implementation as part of middle east reconstruction funded by Iran and ultimately connecting to Syria ’ s Lattakia Port as a hub to the Mediterranean and a 32km Shalamcheh-Bashra railway is in an advanced phase of development with Iran ’ s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Ahmad stating : “ Iran ’ s railway system is linked to railways of central Asia , China and Russia and if the 32 km Shalamcheh-Basra railway will be constructed , Iraq can transfer goods and passengers to Russia and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 32 km rail line would be phase one , the 2nd phase is scheduled to be a 1545 km rail and highway to the Syrian Port .
The Iran-Iraq-Syria regional participation in the broader New Silk Road is incredibly important , especially since Iraq signed a September 2019 Memorandum of Understanding to join the BRI under a new infrastructure-for-oil program .
This plan involves China ’ s reconstruction of the war-torn region under a multiphase program of hard infrastructure ( rail , roads , energy and water projects ) , and soft infrastructure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Similarly , China has made it intention to bring real reconstruction programs to Syria are also well known and President Bashar Al Assad ’ s long overdue Four Seas Strategy first announced in 2004 ( and sabotaged with the Arab Spring ) is finally coming back on line .
President Assad had won 7 countries over to sign onto it ’ s construction by 2010 and entailed connecting all four major water systems ( Mediterranean , Caspian , Black Sea , and Persian Gulf ) together via rail and infrastructure corridors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regional modernization .
Assad had said of the project in 2009 “ once we link these four seas , we become the unavoidable intersection of the whole world in investment , transport and more.
” A fuller video of this important project can be viewed here : Lebanon : Pearl of the New Silk Road Lebanon ’ s participation in this long-awaited process should be obvious to all , sharing as it does a major border with Syria , hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees and also a vital port to the Mediterranean making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Connecting this emerging zone of development to Africa where the Belt and Road has emerged as a leading force of change and hope in recent years , Lebanon finds itself among the most strategic keystones .
Designs for rail connecting Lebanon ’ s Port of Tripoli through Jordan and thence through Egypt would be create a new positive field of prosperity which could dramatically change the rules of the Middle East and Africa forever .
On June 17 , 2020 the Chinese Embassy publicized an offer to extend BRI projects to Lebanon featuring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the north with Tripoli through Beirut to Naquora in the south .
China ’ s National Machinery IMP/EXP Corporation also offered the construction of three new power plants of 700 MW each , a new national energy grid and port modernization .
The Embassy ’ s press release stated : “ The Chinese side is ready to carry out practical cooperation actively with the Lebanese side on the basis of equality and mutual benefit in the framework of joint work to build the Belt and Road… China is committed to cooperation with other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies , the leading role of the market , and the catalytic role of government and commercial operation .
Chinees companies continue to follow with interest the opportunities of cooperation in infrastructure and other fields in Lebanon.
” These offers were applauded by Hassan Nasrallah ( leader of Lebanon ’ s Hezbollah and partner in the coalition government ) who had been an outspoken advocate of Lebanon ’ s participation in the BRI for years .
Nasrallah has also advocated liberating Lebanon from the IMF whose structural adjustments and conditionality-laden investments have resulted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exploding to over 170 % of its GDP with nothing to show for it .
It is noteworthy that the same day China made its offers known publicly , Washington imposed the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act to punish all who wish to trade with Syria which itself has not only further crushed Syria ’ s cries for economic reconstruction , but had taken direct aim at Lebanon which sees 90 % of Syrian goods flow through its borders to the Mediterranean .
When Chinese delegations first made their vision for the BRI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 2019 where the Arab Highway from Beirut to Damascus and rail to China was floated , western stooge Saad Al Hariri said no , preferring instead to sign onto a $ 10 billion IMF plan .
Over a year later , not one iota of infrastructure was built .
Secretary of State Pompeo played a major role at keeping Lebanon from “ going east ” as Nasrallah and even President Aoun had desired when he stated in a March 2019 press conference “ Lebanon and the Lebanese people face a choice : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proud nation or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hezbollah to dictate your future.
” Pompeo ’ s obsessive drive to eliminate Hezbollah and especially the influence of Nasrallah in Lebanon has less to do with any perceived threat Israel claims to its existence and everything with Hezbollah and Iran ’ s embrace of China ’ s Belt and Road Initiative .
When Chinese offers were renewed in June 2020 , Pompeo ’ s stooge David Schenker ( Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs ) gave a June 23 interview @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organization that seeks reform , but rather one that lives on corruption ” .
Schenker warned Lebanon from falling into the “ China Trap ” and said that Nasrallah ’ s demands that Lebanon “ look east ” was “ shocking ” .
Without going into a lengthy refutation of the “ China debt trap ” argument ( which is really just the effect of western imperialists projecting their own dirty practices onto China ’ s BRI ) , it is sufficient to say that it is a 100 % myth .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which are numerically similar to American investments demonstrates that the difference is found entirely in QUALITY as China uniquely invests in real construction , manufacturing and even African banking which are verboten by all imperialists who only wish to use Africa as a looting ground for cheap resources and cheaper labor .
Speaking to this issue , and the hope for Lebanon more broadly the BRIX Sweden ’ s Hussein Askary stated : “ It is becoming obvious that a tiny country like Lebanon , but fully sovereign and independent can break the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to follow the path of progress , national sovereignty and international cooperation according to the win-win model offered by China .
This does not mean cutting all bridges to the west .
It is necessary to keep those that are in the true interest of Lebanon and its people .
If the U.S. and Europe wish to change their policies and join China in offering Lebanon power , transport , water and agro-industrial investments , the Lebanese people and leadership would take them with open arms ” .
The author gave a recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reached at [ email protected ]

Many voices have been quick to enter the chorus of commentators hypothesizing the manifold possible causes of the devastating explosions which occurred on the afternoon of August 4 in Beirut which has led to mass anarchy and the surprising resignation of the government on August 11th.
While I have no great novel contribution to offer in that growing array of hypotheses (which are slowly turning into noise), I would like to share an insight which addresses a too-often-overlooked aspect of the role of Lebanon in the Great Game. Before proceeding, it is useful to hold in the mind several points of certainty:
1) The official narrative of a chance mishap of Turkish fireworks instigating the detonation of the 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate which had been sitting at the Port of Beirut for six years is entirely unbelievable.
2) This event should not be considered in any way separated from the anomalously large pattern of explosions and arson which have spread across the Arab and African worlds in recent weeks.
3) This pattern of chaos must itself be seen in the context of the clash between two systems: The collapsing NATO unipolar alliance on the one side and the New Silk Road-led multipolar alliance on the other.
The Matter of Causality
The Middle East has been labelled the “geopolitical pivot” of the world island by devout adherents to the Hobbesian worldview of Halford Mackinder such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger and Bernard Lewis. Today it is understood that whomever can either stabilize or destabilize this region can control the levers for the “world island” (Africa, Europe, and Eurasia)… and as Mackinder once said “who controls the world island, controls the world.”
In the case of Lebanon, the role that this region plays as “Pearl on the New Silk Road”, and intersection of all major civilizations of the globe, has shaped global policy considerations in Washington, London and Israel for the past several years. The destructive events underway Lebanon cannot be separated from the breathtaking spread of Belt and Road projects across Iraq, Iran, Syria and other Arab nations.
More than Coincidence
In the weeks surrounding the Lebanon disaster, Iran found herself the target of a vicious sequence of attacks as arson and explosions were unleashed beginning with the June 26 explosion at the Khojir Missile production complex, the June 30 explosion at a medical clinic killing 19, a July 2 explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility which set Iran’s centrifuge production schedule back by months and the July 15 fires at the Bushehr Aluminum plant. Additionally, and the UAE experienced its own anomalous fires which ravaged one of the most important markets in Dubai (luckily empty due to Covid-19) on August 5.
If any of these anomalies were taken individually, “chance” could always be blamed as culprit. However when one takes them all together and recognizes the revolutionary BRI-connected agreements currently being finalized between both China and Russia with Iran does one get a solid idea of the deeper causality underlying these apparently separate situations of chaos.
Iran and the New Silk Road
The fact is that the long awaited $400 billion China-Iran economic and security pact which is in its final stages of negotiation includes not only important oil for infrastructure agreements which will extend advanced rail and new energy grids to Iran. This program also includes an important military/security partnership which will dramatically transform the “rules of the game” in the middle east for generations. Elements of this pact include not only defense and intelligence sharing infrastructure, but also also bolster China’s new digital currency the e-RMB which will circumvent western controls on trade.
Meanwhile Russia’s announced extension of the 20 year security/economic partnership agreement first signed in 2001 by Presidents Rouhani and Putin will certainly be finalized in the coming months. Iran has also made it’s interests in acquiring Russia’s S400 system well known and all geopoliticians understand well that this system which is spreading fast across all of Eurasia from Turkey to South Korea renders America’s F-35s and THAAD missile systems impotent and obsolete.
If the China-Russia-Iran triangle can be firmly established, then not only does America’s sanctions regime policy disintegrate, but a vital platform of Middle Eastern development will be established to better spearhead the growth of transport and advanced development corridors from China to the east (and Africa) along the New Silk Road. Since November 2018 an Iran-Iraq-Syria railway has taken great strides towards implementation as part of middle east reconstruction funded by Iran and ultimately connecting to Syria’s Lattakia Port as a hub to the Mediterranean and a 32km Shalamcheh-Bashra railway is in an advanced phase of development with Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Ahmad stating:
“Iran’s railway system is linked to railways of central Asia, China and Russia and if the 32 km Shalamcheh-Basra railway will be constructed, Iraq can transfer goods and passengers to Russia and China and vice versa.”
While the 32 km rail line would be phase one, the 2nd phase is scheduled to be a 1545 km rail and highway to the Syrian Port.
The Iran-Iraq-Syria regional participation in the broader New Silk Road is incredibly important, especially since Iraq signed a September 2019 Memorandum of Understanding to join the BRI under a new infrastructure-for-oil program. This plan involves China’s reconstruction of the war-torn region under a multiphase program of hard infrastructure (rail, roads, energy and water projects), and soft infrastructure (hospitals, schools and cultural centers).
Similarly, China has made it intention to bring real reconstruction programs to Syria are also well known and President Bashar Al Assad’s long overdue Four Seas Strategy first announced in 2004 (and sabotaged with the Arab Spring) is finally coming back on line. President Assad had won 7 countries over to sign onto it’s construction by 2010 and entailed connecting all four major water systems (Mediterranean, Caspian, Black Sea, and Persian Gulf) together via rail and infrastructure corridors as a driver for win-win cooperation and regional modernization. Assad had said of the project in 2009 “once we link these four seas, we become the unavoidable intersection of the whole world in investment, transport and more.”
A fuller video of this important project can be viewed here:
Lebanon: Pearl of the New Silk Road
Lebanon’s participation in this long-awaited process should be obvious to all, sharing as it does a major border with Syria, hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees and also a vital port to the Mediterranean making it a keystone of east-west development. Connecting this emerging zone of development to Africa where the Belt and Road has emerged as a leading force of change and hope in recent years, Lebanon finds itself among the most strategic keystones.
Designs for rail connecting Lebanon’s Port of Tripoli through Jordan and thence through Egypt would be create a new positive field of prosperity which could dramatically change the rules of the Middle East and Africa forever.
On June 17, 2020 the Chinese Embassy publicized an offer to extend BRI projects to Lebanon featuring a modern railway connecting coastal cities in the north with Tripoli through Beirut to Naquora in the south. China’s National Machinery IMP/EXP Corporation also offered the construction of three new power plants of 700 MW each, a new national energy grid and port modernization. The Embassy’s press release stated: “The Chinese side is ready to carry out practical cooperation actively with the Lebanese side on the basis of equality and mutual benefit in the framework of joint work to build the Belt and Road… China is committed to cooperation with other nations mainly through the role of its companies, the leading role of the market, and the catalytic role of government and commercial operation. Chinees companies continue to follow with interest the opportunities of cooperation in infrastructure and other fields in Lebanon.”
These offers were applauded by Hassan Nasrallah (leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and partner in the coalition government) who had been an outspoken advocate of Lebanon’s participation in the BRI for years. Nasrallah has also advocated liberating Lebanon from the IMF whose structural adjustments and conditionality-laden investments have resulted in the small country’s debt exploding to over 170% of its GDP with nothing to show for it.
It is noteworthy that the same day China made its offers known publicly, Washington imposed the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act to punish all who wish to trade with Syria which itself has not only further crushed Syria’s cries for economic reconstruction, but had taken direct aim at Lebanon which sees 90% of Syrian goods flow through its borders to the Mediterranean.
When Chinese delegations first made their vision for the BRI’s extension to Lebanon known in March 2019 where the Arab Highway from Beirut to Damascus and rail to China was floated, western stooge Saad Al Hariri said no, preferring instead to sign onto a $10 billion IMF plan. Over a year later, not one iota of infrastructure was built. Secretary of State Pompeo played a major role at keeping Lebanon from “going east” as Nasrallah and even President Aoun had desired when he stated in a March 2019 press conference “Lebanon and the Lebanese people face a choice: bravely move forward as an independent and proud nation or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hezbollah to dictate your future.”
Pompeo’s obsessive drive to eliminate Hezbollah and especially the influence of Nasrallah in Lebanon has less to do with any perceived threat Israel claims to its existence and everything with Hezbollah and Iran’s embrace of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
When Chinese offers were renewed in June 2020, Pompeo’s stooge David Schenker (Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs) gave a June 23 interview stating that Hezbollah “is not an organization that seeks reform, but rather one that lives on corruption”. Schenker warned Lebanon from falling into the “China Trap” and said that Nasrallah’s demands that Lebanon “look east” was “shocking”.
Without going into a lengthy refutation of the “China debt trap” argument (which is really just the effect of western imperialists projecting their own dirty practices onto China’s BRI), it is sufficient to say that it is a 100% myth. A summary overview of Chinese investments in Africa which are numerically similar to American investments demonstrates that the difference is found entirely in QUALITY as China uniquely invests in real construction, manufacturing and even African banking which are verboten by all imperialists who only wish to use Africa as a looting ground for cheap resources and cheaper labor.
Speaking to this issue, and the hope for Lebanon more broadly the BRIX Sweden’s Hussein Askary stated:
“It is becoming obvious that a tiny country like Lebanon, but fully sovereign and independent can break the back of a global empire by opting to follow the path of progress, national sovereignty and international cooperation according to the win-win model offered by China. This does not mean cutting all bridges to the west. It is necessary to keep those that are in the true interest of Lebanon and its people. If the U.S. and Europe wish to change their policies and join China in offering Lebanon power, transport, water and agro-industrial investments, the Lebanese people and leadership would take them with open arms”.
The author gave a recent interview on this topic and can be reached at matt.ehret@tutamail.com


veteranstoday--2020-08-20--130 Degrees Recorded in Death Valley: Whew!

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus , Ohio and received her diploma as a registered @ @ @ @ @ Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature @ @ @ @ @ of Toledo , College of Nursing , and received a Master ’ s of Nursing @ @ @ @ @ has traveled extensively , is a photographer , and writes on medical issues .
Carol @ @ @ @ @ Katherine , and Stephen – two daughters-in-law ; Suzy and Katie – two granddaughters ; @ @ @ @ @ – and one grandson , Alexander Paul .
She also shares her life with husband @ @ @ @ @ , and two rescue pups .

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.
She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.


veteranstoday--2020-08-20--NEO – Turkey’s Mediterranean confrontational policy

by Phil Butler , … with New Eastern Outlook , Moscow , …and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences , a research institution for the study of the countries and cultures of Asia and North Africa .
[ Editor ’ s Note : Trump and Erdogan are both twisting dangerously in the wind politically .
The Donald ’ s tactic of acting in a threatening manner and then flipping to “ Let ’ s make a deal ” has worn thin in the US and abroad .
Just ask North Korea ’ s Kim Jon-un @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give up their dogs to provide dinner table protein .
It reminds me of how the US military in Vietnam , for budget reasons , did the same with our war dogs there .
It was cheaper to sell them off to locals for dinner and save the transportation costs home .
Erdogan has followed in Trump ’ s shoes by copying his ‘ bull in a china closet ’ routine as a way to play king of the hill and demand concessions .
Erdogan is overextended in fighting the Kurds on two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Libya .
He is vulnerable , and you can bet your booties that more than Libya , Syria and Greece would like to see him taken down a notch .
If the military had not been gutted after the coup , Erdo would have been toast , which he knew , so he struck first .
He has Russia over the barrel now with the gas pipeline investment , owing Moscow for the S-400s bought on credit , the second Balkans pipeline stalled due to lack of demand , the Belarus flank now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Russian forces fighting in Syria and Libya .
This is the kind of situation where big mistakes are made that make the situation worse , and where the last refuge for semi-petty tyrants is often war …Jim W. Dean ] Jim 's Editor ’ s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal Jim 's work includes research , field trips , Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more .
Thanks for helping .
Click to donate > > September 2nd , 2019 , Turkey ’ s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lays claim to roughly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been dubbed “ Turkey ’ s Blue Homeland.
” In November the Turkish president went a step further in an appeal to the United Nations for Exclusive Economic Zones in the Eastern Mediterranean .
He ended that month with a deal with Libya ’ s Fayez al-Sarraj that essentially struck Crete island off the world map .
Most experts agree the Turkish president is maneuvering for some kind of deal , but just what kind ?
Late last year , the Turkish leader had his emissaries express Turkey ’ s intentions to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gas in Greek waters as part of the Turkey-GNA deal .
On 20th January 2020 , Erdogan challenged the rights of Crete , Greece ’ s biggest island , on whether or not continental shelf rights apply .
In his next move , Erdogan signaled the Turkish Petroleum Corporation ( TPAO ) to apply to the Turkish Ministry of Energy for exploration permits on the Greek continental shelf , just 6 miles off Crete , Karpathos , and Rhodes .
Here on Crete , the people speak of war now .
These Cretans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but history has shown they are not to be trifled with .
The storekeeper and the baker across the street from our office discuss that Greece needs to sink a few Turkish ships to get Erdogan to reset his thinking .
My friend Stellios says , “ Erdogan needs money , this is what is behind his aggressiveness.
” Then , like most Cretans these days , his intuition reaches to American President Donald Trump .
The baker Akis says intuitively ; “ Trump isn ’ t helping because he and Erdogan are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And there you have it , the Heraklion taxi driver has a better view of geo-policy than most European Commission officials .
A few weeks ago President Erdogan proudly announced the transformation of Istanbul ’ s Byzantine masterpiece Hagia Sophia into a mosque .
Key critics say Turkey has embarked on a territorial and cultural war now , and few disagree .
Two days ago Turkey established a new base in the area of Jabal Al-Akrad near the northern city of Latakia in Syria in the latest escalation in violation of the Turkish-Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conflict there .
This week Greece ’ s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave thanks to French President Emmanuel Macron for boosting the French naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean in support of the Greeks .
The Turkish energy exploration ship Oruc Reis is reportedly skirting Greek waters sporting a flotilla of Turkish naval escorts , which has taken the situation to a new level .
Greece ’ s Mitsotakis was cited by AP saying : “ We will never be the ones to escalate the situation .
Yet , self-restraint is only one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will … go unanswered .
We have demonstrated that we will respond , if necessary .
And we will do so again if it is required.
” Greek warships and planes are now shadowing the Turkish squadron sailing the seas in between Cyprus and Crete .
Meanwhile , the Trump administration seems to be “ betting ” on a different bid for the outcome of the dispute .
The Financial Times reported , interestingly , that President Macron ’ s support is “ stoking Turkey tensions ” , given that FT is considered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world , this means big energy and shares are boiling behind the Greece/Turkey divide .
The news outlet also put not one , but five reporters on their story .
For a media analyst , this means there ’ s something huge behind all this .
And standing in front is billionaire President Donald Trump , who the Greeks say is the most pro-Turkey president ever .
The situation is so bad that Greece has stooped to asking Israel to lobby Trump for assistance in the matter .
Most Greeks see a redux @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US secretly backed Turkey in the Cyprus affair .
For those unfamiliar , one day before a second invasion wave of Turkish forces on Cyprus in 1974 , Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told President Gerald Ford : “ There is no American reason why the Turks ‘ should not have one-third of Cyprus .
We will make a statement today that will get the New York Times off our back , but we should not twist their arm.
” This betrayal of Greece despite the Greeks having been an ally of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only made known because the Hellenic American Leadership Council ( HALC ) published the National Security Adviser ’ s Memoranda of Conversation Collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library on their blog .
At the time Kissinger portrayed the Turks as nationalistic landgrabbers who would only negotiate once they seized what they wanted .
The former Secretary of State under Nixon and Ford then said that Turkey was more important to the United States than Greece because of the former ’ s potential to “ create another Qadhafi.
” The difference today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charge who is far worse than the deposed Libyan strongman .
Now back to the real cause for Turkey ’ s emboldened moves .
Simon Tisdall at the Guardian said back in October that : “ Erdogan abuses his position .
He harms his country .
And , He is still in office not because he is popular but because of the fear he instills and the power he crudely wields.
” The author also said that the Syria incursion by Turkey is a disaster the Turkish leader can not outrun .
According @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Kurds hint at NATO and American partnerships are desert mirages now .
And this is why Erdogan is emboldened .
Either he ’ s self-assured Trump and NATO won ’ t act on his ruthless expansionism , or someone has assured him .
I believe the Trump administration has passed him a “ thumbs up ” for shaking up things in the eastern Mediterannean .
And The Guardian editor was discussing Erdogan before COVID-19 played havoc on economies .
Now , Trump , Erdogan , and a laundry list of world leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ belts to stay the staggering masses .
While every other economy on Earth is smacked down over the pandemic , the Turkish leader insists Turkey ’ s economy is not just okay , it ’ s “ soaring ” to new heights .
The reality is the opposite .
Here ’ s what Chris Miller , the Eurasia director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute had to say about Erdogan ’ s covering up of the true Turkish economic situation : “ Turkey has so far succeeded in covering its budget deficit in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to anyone , generating a false sense of stability , but the method can not serve as more than a temporary cover-up of a looming disaster.
” Most other experts agree , which takes us back to our local Crete taxi driver , butcher , baker , or olive tree wood candlestick maker .
The Turkish leader needs an economic windfall or a war , or he ’ s going to be ousted .
The recent decline in the lira against the dollar is a key indicator that Miller ’ s assessment is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cheap loans from the US and others to float the economy , but now those loans are coming due .
It seems clear the Turkish president is aiming to negotiate forgiveness , a better deal , or to instigate a war that will render normal detente and banking null and void .
Erdogan and Trump need money , to be sure .
Phil Butler , is a policy investigator and analyst , a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe , he ’ s an author of the recent bestseller “ Putin ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He writes exclusively for the online magazine “ New Eastern Outlook .
”

by Phil Butler, … with New Eastern Outlook, Moscow, …and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a research institution for the study of the countries and cultures of Asia and North Africa.
[ Editor’s Note: Trump and Erdogan are both twisting dangerously in the wind politically. The Donald’s tactic of acting in a threatening manner and then flipping to “Let’s make a deal” has worn thin in the US and abroad.
Just ask North Korea’s Kim Jon-un. He recently asked his people to give up their dogs to provide dinner table protein.
It reminds me of how the US military in Vietnam, for budget reasons, did the same with our war dogs there. It was cheaper to sell them off to locals for dinner and save the transportation costs home.
Erdogan has followed in Trump’s shoes by copying his ‘bull in a china closet’ routine as a way to play king of the hill and demand concessions. Erdogan is overextended in fighting the Kurds on two flanks, with occupations inside Syria and Libya.
He is vulnerable, and you can bet your booties that more than Libya, Syria, and Greece would like to see him taken down a notch. If the military had not been gutted after the coup, Erdo would have been toast, which he knew, so he struck first.
He has Russia over the barrel now with the gas pipeline investment, owing Moscow for the S-400s bought on credit, the second Balkans pipeline stalled due to lack of demand, the Belarus flank now in NATO’s crosshairs, and Russian forces fighting in Syria and Libya.
This is the kind of situation where big mistakes are made that make the situation worse, and where the last refuge for semi-petty tyrants is often war …Jim W. Dean ]
Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal
Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >>
– First published … August 20, 2020 –
September 2nd, 2019, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lays claim to roughly half of the Aegean Sea in what has been dubbed “Turkey’s Blue Homeland.” In November the Turkish president went a step further in an appeal to the United Nations for Exclusive Economic Zones in the Eastern Mediterranean.
He ended that month with a deal with Libya’s Fayez al-Sarraj that essentially struck Crete island off the world map. Most experts agree the Turkish president is maneuvering for some kind of deal, but just what kind?
Late last year, the Turkish leader had his emissaries express Turkey’s intentions to start awarding licenses to drill for natural gas in Greek waters as part of the Turkey-GNA deal.
On 20th January 2020, Erdogan challenged the rights of Crete, Greece’s biggest island, on whether or not continental shelf rights apply. In his next move, Erdogan signaled the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) to apply to the Turkish Ministry of Energy for exploration permits on the Greek continental shelf, just 6 miles off Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes.
Here on Crete, the people speak of war now. These Cretans are very friendly and peaceful people, but history has shown they are not to be trifled with. The storekeeper and the baker across the street from our office discuss that Greece needs to sink a few Turkish ships to get Erdogan to reset his thinking.
My friend Stellios says, “Erdogan needs money, this is what is behind his aggressiveness.” Then, like most Cretans these days, his intuition reaches to American President Donald Trump. The baker Akis says intuitively; “Trump isn’t helping because he and Erdogan are friends out for the same gain.” And there you have it, the Heraklion taxi driver has a better view of geo-policy than most European Commission officials.
A few weeks ago President Erdogan proudly announced the transformation of Istanbul’s Byzantine masterpiece Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Key critics say Turkey has embarked on a territorial and cultural war now, and few disagree.
Two days ago Turkey established a new base in the area of Jabal Al-Akrad near the northern city of Latakia in Syria in the latest escalation in violation of the Turkish-Russian agreement that was aimed at resolving the conflict there.
This week Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave thanks to French President Emmanuel Macron for boosting the French naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean in support of the Greeks.
The Turkish energy exploration ship Oruc Reis is reportedly skirting Greek waters sporting a flotilla of Turkish naval escorts, which has taken the situation to a new level. Greece’s Mitsotakis was cited by AP saying:
“We will never be the ones to escalate the situation. Yet, self-restraint is only one aspect of our power. No provocation will … go unanswered. We have demonstrated that we will respond, if necessary. And we will do so again if it is required.”
Greek warships and planes are now shadowing the Turkish squadron sailing the seas in between Cyprus and Crete. Meanwhile, the Trump administration seems to be “betting” on a different bid for the outcome of the dispute.
The Financial Times reported, interestingly, that President Macron’s support is “stoking Turkey tensions”, given that FT is considered the most important business read in the world, this means big energy and shares are boiling behind the Greece/Turkey divide.
The news outlet also put not one, but five reporters on their story. For a media analyst, this means there’s something huge behind all this. And standing in front is billionaire President Donald Trump, who the Greeks say is the most pro-Turkey president ever.
The situation is so bad that Greece has stooped to asking Israel to lobby Trump for assistance in the matter. Most Greeks see a redux of the 1974 Henry Kissinger betrayal where the US secretly backed Turkey in the Cyprus affair. For those unfamiliar, one day before a second invasion wave of Turkish forces on Cyprus in 1974, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told President Gerald Ford:
“There is no American reason why the Turks ‘should not have one-third of Cyprus. We will make a statement today that will get the New York Times off our back, but we should not twist their arm.”
This betrayal of Greece despite the Greeks having been an ally of the United States in every war was only made known because the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) published the National Security Adviser’s Memoranda of Conversation Collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library on their blog.
At the time Kissinger portrayed the Turks as nationalistic landgrabbers who would only negotiate once they seized what they wanted.
The former Secretary of State under Nixon and Ford then said that Turkey was more important to the United States than Greece because of the former’s potential to “create another Qadhafi.” The difference today is that Turkey already has someone in charge who is far worse than the deposed Libyan strongman. Now back to the real cause for Turkey’s emboldened moves.
Simon Tisdall at the Guardian said back in October that:
“Erdogan abuses his position. He harms his country. And, He is still in office not because he is popular but because of the fear he instills and the power he crudely wields.”
The author also said that the Syria incursion by Turkey is a disaster the Turkish leader cannot outrun. According to Tisdall, the Erdogan-Trump betrayal of the Kurds hint at NATO and American partnerships are desert mirages now. And this is why Erdogan is emboldened. Either he’s self-assured Trump and NATO won’t act on his ruthless expansionism, or someone has assured him.
I believe the Trump administration has passed him a “thumbs up” for shaking up things in the eastern Mediterannean. And The Guardian editor was discussing Erdogan before COVID-19 played havoc on economies. Now, Trump, Erdogan, and a laundry list of world leaders need a “win” under their belts to stay the staggering masses.
While every other economy on Earth is smacked down over the pandemic, the Turkish leader insists Turkey’s economy is not just okay, it’s “soaring” to new heights. The reality is the opposite. Here’s what Chris Miller, the Eurasia director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute had to say about Erdogan’s covering up of the true Turkish economic situation:
“Turkey has so far succeeded in covering its budget deficit in a way that it is not visible to anyone, generating a false sense of stability, but the method cannot serve as more than a temporary cover-up of a looming disaster.”
Most other experts agree, which takes us back to our local Crete taxi driver, butcher, baker, or olive tree wood candlestick maker. The Turkish leader needs an economic windfall or a war, or he’s going to be ousted. The recent decline in the lira against the dollar is a key indicator that Miller’s assessment is correct.
Turkey has taken advantage of cheap loans from the US and others to float the economy, but now those loans are coming due. It seems clear the Turkish president is aiming to negotiate forgiveness, a better deal, or to instigate a war that will render normal detente and banking null and void. Erdogan and Trump need money, to be sure.
Phil Butler is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, he’s an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books. He writes exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”