mintpressnews--2020-03-24--From Hong Kong to Chile in 8 Days With COVID-19 on My Tail

Santiago ( 21st Century Wire ) — Imagine that you are in Hong Kong , in a city where “ you are actually not supposed to be ” , in the first place .
You are ready to go home , to South America .
But just two days before your departure , via Seoul and Amsterdam , your first Sky Team carrier , Korean Air , unceremoniously decides to cancel all flights from the territory .
Several Korean religious freaks , apparently , are to blame .
Just reading that , I knew I may get royally screwed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and South Koreans are notorious for their political and religious extremism .
But that was not all .
The report continued : Korean Air , which was supposed to fly its glorious new Boeing 747-8 from Hong Kong to Incheon ( Seoul international airport ) , has been carving its service , first reducing it to Boeing 777s , then to Airbus 330s , and in the end , cancelling all of its flights 3 days before my departure .
To secure my monstrously long commute , I spent most of my Sky @ @ @ @ @ @ @ class set of tickets .
There was a reason for it : I could not see .
Well , I could hardly see , at all .
Before Hong Kong , I had worked in Kalimantan , in the Indonesian part of Borneo , on an island which has been totally plundered by greed , corruption and the ineptness of the Javanese neo-colonialists .
An island where the present administration of President Joko Widodo ( known as “ Jokowi ” ) , is planning to build and move the new capital city , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million population sized urban area of Jakarta which is “ sinking ” , ridden with countless urban slums , lack of sanitation and safe drinking water .
Writing a book about this monumental insanity , I continued investigating .
And In a process I got attacked , as almost anyone who visits Borneo does , by various and vicious parasites .
My guts got infected by something terrible , and then my eyes .
I flew between Balikpapan and Pontianak on Lion Air ’ s Boeing 737 ( yes , that Lion Air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ planes , ever since the beginning of its operation ) .
I have no idea whether my eyes got attacked there , on board , or in some filthy ditch near the palm oil plantations , where they are cutting down what is left of the tropical forest .
Wherever it was , it did get infected .
First the left eye .
It was like a white foam .
I could only see extremely abstract contours , as if between me and the world , there was a thick , white blanket @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I am not only a writer and a philosopher , but I am also a filmmaker and photographer .
Doing what I do and not seeing almost anything is , you know , quite terrifying .
Before flying to Hong Kong , where I have been covering the riots ignited and financed by the West , I stopped over in Bangkok and went to an eye clinic , but the doctors there only cared about the payment .
They had no clue what was happening to my eye .
Then , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my flight , my right eye also got attacked .
At night , as I lay awake in my hotel room , I suddenly recalled how on board the Garuda Indonesia , between Pontianak and Jakarta , at least four people were coughing , loudly and desperately .
Nobody was checking them .
The Indonesian government had suggested that people pray , to avoid the outbreak of the coronavirus .
“ What else , ” I thought .
“ Am I also going to get the coronavirus ?
” I refused to succumb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I knew that Korean Air was determined to ruin me .
While Air France ( my Sky Team carrier ) and KLM were offering re-routing and compensation to their passengers stranded in Asia , Korean Air showed a clear and vulgar indifference .
It did nothing to help .
It never even replied to my queries .
I was also aware of the fact that I may have to travel , at least for 7 days , through various detours , and without seeing almost anything .
Also , with twisted guts and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backside because of the tremendous stress .
Was it worse than being in Syrian Idlib , in Afghanistan , or near Mosul after it had been taken over by ISIS ?
In a way , it was .
Being blind , chased by the new coronavirus type , with airports closing one after another , and with the prices of airline tickets going sky-high , everything seemed to be demeaning , depressing and unsettling .
Strangely enough , I felt no fear of the COVID-19 .
I kept discussing the new type of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ WhatsApp , until my eyes totally let go and collapsed .
I had to make it through , to Santiago de Chile , which happened to be on the total opposite side of the world .
Western doctors that I knew , were sending long and useless advice which mainly repeated “ go see a doctor ” idiocy .
I told them I was in Hong Kong , which had been experiencing a near total lockdown .
I told them that I had already been to a Thai eye doctor who had absolutely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I realized that I could not rely on those that I am fighting against !
I needed comrades to help me .
My family contacted a Syrian lady doctor , an expert in infectious diseases , and a sister of my friend in Damascus .
I sent photo-images of my eyes .
She saw , asked for symptoms and prescribed some powerful oral antibiotics and drops .
I managed to convince a Hong Kong pharmacist to sell the medicine over the counter : I said it was a matter of life and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China saved me .
People were guided by intuition , not by rigid rules .
My nearest and dearest began helping me to re-route .
It took days .
It was horrible .
Airlines , from Korean Air to Cathay Pacific , began to cover their backs ; trying to squeeze every penny from those who were still able and willing to fly .
Some one-way economy tickets for 2 hours flights shot up to 1,600 US dollars .
Business class on certain routes became miraculously cheaper .
As long as one could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could look at a screen .
To avoid quarantining , and to get out of Hong Kong , the easiest way was to fly in the totally opposite direction than where I was heading : to Bangkok , on Emirates .
A few business class tickets were still available , but at $ 600 , on a route where they used to cost under $ 400 .
It was one of the last available ways out of the almost locked out city .
I grabbed a seat on the Airbus 380-800 .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kong Airport .
I could hardly see anything .
There were hardly any seats to rest on in the departure hall .
My backpack was almost 20kg heavy , with a professional camera , computer and mobile phones .
I have no idea how I managed to get to my plane .
With my damaged eyes , I could still see those huge numbers indicating gates .
I collapsed into my seat .
The super-jumbo took off , Southeast ; away from where I was trying to fly .
I was some 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Santiago was bleeding , too !
Its eyes were damaged .
People were fighting against the fascist regime imposed on them by Washington , and by the multinational corporations , in 1973 .
Like my own , their eyes were inflamed ; some , over 300 individuals , even lost their eyes , as they were shot at by the police .
On board my flight to Bangkok , I was not sure whether I was going to be able to return home , alive .
But I was going , through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they even let me in ?
The first step .
They did .
Miraculously .
I must have looked like shit , but an unfriendly , insulting border police officer slammed a stamp into my passport , fingerprinted me , photographed me , and in the end , let me go .
That was it .
Hong Kong does not stamp passports .
Officially , my journey would begin in Thailand .
I had only 9 hours on the ground .
The airport was eerily empty .
People looked like streetwalkers , wearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I went home to my place by the river , without even opening my luggage , I collapsed into my bed , but could not sleep the entire night .
Tugboats were pulling ghost-like barges , 31 floors below .
I could not see the barges , only contours .
This was my first day into the journey .
In the morning , very early , I somehow managed to return to the airport , and rechecked my luggage all the way to Suriname , as that was the only airport in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get to free ( using my air miles ) business class tickets , at least from Seoul .
Instead of re-routing or compensating me , Korean Air which had brutally canceled my tickets from Hong Kong , was now charging me something absolutely ridiculous , to get from Bangkok to Seoul , where I was to catch a KLM flight to Amsterdam and many hours later , to Paramaribo .
Thai fingerprinting and photographing again .
The taking the shoes off , precisely as the U.S. masters have ordered .
The saturated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ superiority complexes , followed by an old , dirty , 777-300 Korean Air aircraft .
I crashed into its unmaintained seat .
Just glanced at the food ( inedible-looking , cheap version of bibimba ) , and slept all the way to Seoul .
Coronavirus , greed , extreme capitalism , rudeness : everything accumulated into this monstrous journey .
Taking off from Hong Kong and later Bangkok , I experienced almost absolute blindness .
Then , the Damascus-prescribed antibiotics began to kick in .
They were terrible , but I was warned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white fog , or total exhaustion , a collapsed body , but clearer sight .
I opted for sight .
I landed in Seoul , like a zombie , heavy rucksack on my back , wobbly , almost desperate .
My luggage was automatically transferred all the way to Paramaribo , using the Sky Team system .
But this was South Korea .
At the transfer desk I was refused boarding passes : “ Go through security , then go to Sky Team Lounge and wait 8 hours for your flight .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gate , ” I was told .
At the security check , they could not read English , or understand what was written on my E-tickets .
3 times I was humiliated , going back and forth between the transfer desk and security checkpoint .
The staff were clearly enjoying the game , perhaps waiting for when I would finally collapse .
The transfer desk person refused to walk with me to the security check .
Security people were stubbornly refusing to read English .
This was precisely one of those moments when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You think : “ Your body will let go !
You will collapse , at any moment .
Collapse and die.
” All this , just because you have been putting your life on the line , for some poor , devastated , enormous tropical island .
Just because some South Korean religious freaks went bananas .
Just because of human indifference and racism .
Just because , just because… The brave new world .
The creepiness of a capitalist , right-wing trash universe .
I made it to the lounge , eventually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Everything was shut down .
The lounge was empty ; almost nothing to eat there .
The coronavirus scare .
At this point , all I wanted to do was to sleep .
I found a transit hotel and paid an exorbitant price for only a few hours of rest .
I collapsed .
I cursed capitalism , greed , and humanity ’ s collapse .
I knew that as I was entering the disturbing world of dreams , or should I say nightmares , the People ’ s Republic of China , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for our human race , against all the odds , against the monstrous propaganda originating from the West .
I had no right to kick the bucket in some bloody transit hotel room at the Incheon Airport .
China , Cuba , Russia , Venezuela needed me .
I saluted my comrades , the old fashioned way , and fell asleep .
The Korean Air clerk at the gate had no idea where Paramaribo was , or where Suriname is located .
He was moonlighting for KLM , but was wearing a Korean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I thought about Korean Air .
Before that , he had not liked me for flying to “ some Paramaribo ” , but after that he started to hate me , openly .
The fact that I am a platinum member of his alliance meant nothing .
He began treating me as if I was the coronavirus incarnated .
By then , I could hardly see him .
My legs were about to collapse , at any moment .
But I was not going to show weakness .
He began : “ Where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ So , where is your visa ?
” “ You have to show it to me.
” “ It is in front of you.
” Korean Air had stolen my money by cancelling flights and by refusing to re-route me .
Now , it was ruining my health .
But , there was zero remorse coming from the staff .
Eventually , a supervisor came and began abusing me , too .
I told her directly to her face : “ You should learn from North Korean people how to treat visitors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She began threatening me .
I pulled out five press cards : “ Do you want to arrest me for expressing my opinion ?
” She started to look hesitant .
I demanded her name card .
She said she does not have one .
Bullshit : in north Asia everybody has one .
“ Are you a security agent or an airline staff ?
” I asked her , point-blank .
I knew that in South Korea , it was the same thing .
Finally , she gave me my boarding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which was full of hate .
This legendary racist horror , South Korean -style then disappeared .
I saw , the way she humiliated herself , bowing and kissing the asses of her fellow , South Korean , citizens .
I was welcomed on board by an outraged flight hostess who was originally from Suriname : “ She did not even know that my country exists , did she ?
” She patted me on the shoulder .
While Seoul was terrified of the coronavirus , the Europeans looked totally indifferent to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3rd , 2020 .
After the more than 11 hours flight from Seoul to Amsterdam , Schiphol airport appeared to be totally relaxed .
Even passengers from Seoul to Amsterdam looked undisturbed .
No masks , no panic .
Snoring contently , into the air .
777-200ER landed very early , at around 5 am .
I went through security , and located the Sky Team Lounge .
It was stuffed with excellent food , but it happened to be totally empty .
I found a comfortable chair and fell asleep , almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lounge was full ; literally packed .
After being used to masks being worn all over North and Southeast Asia , what hit me was the absolute lack of any face protectors at the major Dutch airport .
People were drinking , eating tons , talking .
There was no sense of any emergency .
European and North American daily newspapers , in all languages , were full of the coronavirus headlines .
Those freely distributed in the lounge , were only attacking China , totally and bizarrely avoiding the absolute lack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Italian daily papers , at that time at least , showed no signs of concern .
Not far from me , a group of Italian travelers was chatting , embracing , kissing , drinking prosecco and coffee for breakfast , and calling home on their mobile phones .
There was only one lax coronavirus checkpoint , upon arrival from South Korea , at the time one of the hardest hit countries in the world .
In retrospect , this was all totally bizarre and irresponsible .
Was the Western medical system so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even ordered , to behave in such a manner ?
Waiting for my flight to Paramaribo , I called my 84-year old mom , who has been living in Germany , where she is married .
“ They feed us with such crap , ” she told me , in Russian .
“ I mean , that stuff that they tell us through the mass media .
I don ’ t believe anything they say or write , ” she concluded .
“ All this is not going to end well.
” And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Sky , a majestic old Boeing 747-400 took off on time , towards Suriname .
Both KLM and British Airways were still flying these beautiful planes , although there were rumors that KLM will retire most of them in 2021 .
This was the last flight of the captain .
He was leaving KLM .
The flight hostesses were urging all the passengers to write something short , something personal .
There was supposed to be a great celebration , a great party , in Paramaribo .
By then , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eyes cleared , almost totally .
But the monstrous antibiotics and chronic exhaustion , doubled my body down .
Chile appeared to be far , far away .
Again , no masks , no precautions .
The 747 was going southwest , full of passengers , with zero medical safeguards .
The plane landed , and it was sprayed with water by a fire engine , to celebrate the last flight of the captain .
No jetways : passengers had to climb down off the enormous aircraft .
Those who couldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a lift , and by a bus .
But the lift and other vehicles were quickly engaged by the celebrations of the captain ’ s retirement .
Countless Surinamese passengers who were returning from Holland , after being treated in European hospitals , were waiting in the lift and the bus , abandoned by the ground staff .
No one to measure their temperature .
Nobody to even ask what kind of medical conditions they were suffering from .
By then , I had turned into a zombie .
I somehow managed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shack defined as an airport .
I almost collapsed .
I asked for help , but was told by a local staff member : “ If you feel sick , go get medical help ” .
Later , the hotel manager told me that this is the “ usual treatment people get here ” .
I somehow got stabilized , by getting my hands on a luggage trolley .
The universe was spinning around me .
My pre-paid taxi did not wait for me .
The hotel was some 50 kilometers from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ went to the airport police .
Instead of helping me , they began a rude scrutiny , clearly trying to extract some bribe .
“ I feel very sick , ” I said .
They couldn ’ t care less .
No questions asked about what had made me sick .
Was it the coronavirus ?
By then it was already called COVID-19 , and it was on my tail , chasing me as I was circling the globe .
I filmed the Suriname River and the rainforest of Suriname , to show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been terribly damaged , but Borneo has been ruined , endlessly and some say , irreversibly .
I only had one full day .
I had to work fast .
My Indian driver had to hold me up while I was working , otherwise I ’ d collapse .
On the 5th March , I returned to the airport , ready to fly to Belem , Brazil .
Further humiliation , overcharging , insults .
I wanted to get out .
And never return .
One day I will write about those repulsive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now .
A 90 minutes flight , and everything fully changed .
Even under the fascist government of Bolsonaro , Brazilians were kind and caring .
Shortly after the plane door opened in Belem , I was put into a wheelchair and zipped through immigration and other formalities .
There was no overcharging , no humiliation and no dramas .
Brazil was what it always has been : a great country with dire problems .
But a great country , nevertheless .
The next day I flew from Belem to Rio de Janeiro @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no masks .
Once or twice my temperature was checked .
That is all .
In Belem , all the Amazon riverfront cafes were kept open .
In Rio , while waiting for my flight to Chile , I went to the legendary and packed Vinicius bosanova club , and to the totally packed Caso de Chuva cultural center , where Tom Veloso was singing the songs of Gilberto Gil .
Absolutely no precautions , no masks , people squeezed like sardines .
The evening of March 8th .
A day later , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South America began catching up with turbo-capitalist games .
Chilean LATAM , when I asked for an extra legroom seat , suggested that I pay $ 1,500 , for 4 hours on board a small Airbus 320 plane .
Naturally , I refused .
Santiago airport took the coronavirus seriously .
There were several checkups .
End of the games .
This is when strange things began to happen .
Two days after I landed in Santiago de Chile , South America moved from inactivity to hyperactivity .
One country after another began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Chile .
Santiago began resembling a ghost town .
Entire regions of Chile began to close down .
I needed to recover , quickly , and to travel to Venezuela and Cuba , but it was becoming thoroughly impossible .
I arrived , I survived , but right away , I was grounded .
From one extreme , to another .
In South America and the West .
When confronted with the terrible medical emergency , China reacted like a Communist country , which it is .
It mobilized in the name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the battle .
It acted rationally and responsibly .
It never performed a total lockdown .
Without thinking twice , it sacrificed its economic interests , putting the people first .
It has won the battle ; beating the virus back .
Almost no new cases now .
The hospitals constructed to treat the coronavirus are closing down .
Doctors and other medical staff are celebrating .
Cuba is near to developing a vaccine for the new coronavirus .
China and Cuba are cooperating .
China is sending airplanes with help to Italy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meantime , people in certain Western countries are being told that over 80 % of their citizens will get infected , and that hundreds of thousands , even millions , will die !
Why the hell , really ?
Some nations , from Italy to Chile ( where I am right now ) , are locking up everything : entire countries , entire regions , everything .
At the height of the crises , Beijing was open , and so was Shanghai and almost all other major cities .
Flights were arriving and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ success !
Just look at the Western nations , at Southeast Asia , or at South America ; people are petrified .
Control of the population is much more brutal than anything that has ever been implemented in China .
And what do they tell the Italians , French , Brits and North Americans ?
That they will be dying like flies !
Even now , when this essay is being written , more Italian people have died , than the Chinese .
That is , on a per capita basis , about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ West , things are getting worse and worse .
And , until now , it is not yet clear , who brought the epidemy to Wuhan , to begin with .
Many believe that it was the U.S. military .
Still , China never stopped behaving like an internationalist country !
During my more than 20,000 kilometers long journey , I have seen a frightened , divided planet .
And then , I saw a great Chinese victory , and a Cuban victory .
I read how Cuba has rescued 600 people stuck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Braemar , belonging to one of its tormentors .
I witnessed panic in extreme right-wing countries like Chile .
I was ready to drive south , to Araucaria , to speak to the discriminated against Mapuche indigenous people ( according to Word they do not exist , as I am given red error sign ) , but precisely that area got hermetically sealed , closed down , one day before my planned 900-kilometer journey , and a month before the planned constitutional referendum .
In the West , and allied countries , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I am almost certain the Bolivian elections will be ‘ postponed ’ , “ because of the coronavirus ” , to prevent socialist MAS from regaining power .
I am back home , but home is not a real home , anymore .
Home is now China , Cuba , Russia .
Countries which are fighting against the Western tyranny that is sacrificing millions of human lives .
The coronavirus is a barometer of the state of the world .
It shows which countries bring shame to the word “ humanity ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vltchek is a philosopher , novelist , filmmaker and investigative journalist .
He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries .
Five of his latest books are “ China Belt and Road Initiative ” , “ China and Ecological Civilization ” with John B. Cobb , Jr. , “ Revolutionary Optimism , Western Nihilism ” , the revolutionary novel “ Aurora ” and bestselling work of political non-fiction : “ Exposing Lies Of The Empire ” .
View his other books here .
Watch Rwanda Gambit , his ground-breaking documentary about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Noam Chomsky “ On Western Terrorism ” .
Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and Latin America , and continues to work around the world .
He can be reached through his website , his Twitter and his Patreon

Santiago (21st Century Wire) — Imagine that you are in Hong Kong, in a city where “you are actually not supposed to be”, in the first place. You are ready to go home, to South America. But just two days before your departure, via Seoul and Amsterdam, your first Sky Team carrier, Korean Air, unceremoniously decides to cancel all flights from the territory.
Several Korean religious freaks, apparently, are to blame.
On 22 February, 2020, Mail Online, reported:
More than half of all South Korea’s coronavirus cases are linked to a secretive ultra-religious cult whose leader believes he is immortal.”
Just reading that, I knew I may get royally screwed. Nothing good comes from ultra-religious fanatics, and South Koreans are notorious for their political and religious extremism.
But that was not all. The report continued:
There are further reports of outbreaks in the psychiatric unit of a hospital in Cheongdo county, infections in Busan, and on the island of Jeju.”
Korean Air, which was supposed to fly its glorious new Boeing 747-8 from Hong Kong to Incheon (Seoul international airport), has been carving its service, first reducing it to Boeing 777s, then to Airbus 330s, and in the end, cancelling all of its flights 3 days before my departure.
To secure my monstrously long commute, I spent most of my Sky Team miles, to secure a business class set of tickets.
There was a reason for it: I could not see. Well, I could hardly see, at all.
Before Hong Kong, I had worked in Kalimantan, in the Indonesian part of Borneo, on an island which has been totally plundered by greed, corruption and the ineptness of the Javanese neo-colonialists. An island where the present administration of President Joko Widodo (known as “Jokowi”), is planning to build and move the new capital city, abandoning the enormous, more than 20 million population sized urban area of Jakarta which is “sinking”, ridden with countless urban slums, lack of sanitation and safe drinking water.
Writing a book about this monumental insanity, I continued investigating. And In a process I got attacked, as almost anyone who visits Borneo does, by various and vicious parasites. My guts got infected by something terrible, and then my eyes. I flew between Balikpapan and Pontianak on Lion Air’s Boeing 737 (yes, that Lion Air, which keeps cramming and periodically crashing planes, ever since the beginning of its operation). I have no idea whether my eyes got attacked there, on board, or in some filthy ditch near the palm oil plantations, where they are cutting down what is left of the tropical forest.
Wherever it was, it did get infected. First the left eye. It was like a white foam. I could only see extremely abstract contours, as if between me and the world, there was a thick, white blanket. It was scary, very scary. I am not only a writer and a philosopher, but I am also a filmmaker and photographer. Doing what I do and not seeing almost anything is, you know, quite terrifying.
Before flying to Hong Kong, where I have been covering the riots ignited and financed by the West, I stopped over in Bangkok and went to an eye clinic, but the doctors there only cared about the payment. They had no clue what was happening to my eye.
Then, in Hong Kong, as Korean Air cancelled my flight, my right eye also got attacked.
At night, as I lay awake in my hotel room, I suddenly recalled how on board the Garuda Indonesia, between Pontianak and Jakarta, at least four people were coughing, loudly and desperately. Nobody was checking them. The Indonesian government had suggested that people pray, to avoid the outbreak of the coronavirus.
“What else,” I thought. “Am I also going to get the coronavirus?”
*
I refused to succumb to this horrible situation.
By then I knew that Korean Air was determined to ruin me. While Air France (my Sky Team carrier) and KLM were offering re-routing and compensation to their passengers stranded in Asia, Korean Air showed a clear and vulgar indifference. It did nothing to help. It never even replied to my queries.
I was also aware of the fact that I may have to travel, at least for 7 days, through various detours, and without seeing almost anything. Also, with twisted guts and a diabetic attack which had kicked my backside because of the tremendous stress.
Was it worse than being in Syrian Idlib, in Afghanistan, or near Mosul after it had been taken over by ISIS?
In a way, it was. Being blind, chased by the new coronavirus type, with airports closing one after another, and with the prices of airline tickets going sky-high, everything seemed to be demeaning, depressing and unsettling.
Strangely enough, I felt no fear of the COVID-19. I kept discussing the new type of coronavirus with my medical colleagues, through WhatsApp, until my eyes totally let go and collapsed.
I had to make it through, to Santiago de Chile, which happened to be on the total opposite side of the world.
Western doctors that I knew, were sending long and useless advice which mainly repeated “go see a doctor” idiocy. I told them I was in Hong Kong, which had been experiencing a near total lockdown. I told them that I had already been to a Thai eye doctor who had absolutely no clue about my condition.
Then, I realized that I could not rely on those that I am fighting against! I needed comrades to help me.
My family contacted a Syrian lady doctor, an expert in infectious diseases, and a sister of my friend in Damascus. I sent photo-images of my eyes. She saw, asked for symptoms and prescribed some powerful oral antibiotics and drops. I managed to convince a Hong Kong pharmacist to sell the medicine over the counter: I said it was a matter of life and death. She understood.
Syria and China saved me. People were guided by intuition, not by rigid rules.
I was going home.
My nearest and dearest began helping me to re-route. It took days. It was horrible.
Airlines, from Korean Air to Cathay Pacific, began to cover their backs; trying to squeeze every penny from those who were still able and willing to fly. Some one-way economy tickets for 2 hours flights shot up to 1,600 US dollars. Business class on certain routes became miraculously cheaper. As long as one could search, and as long as one could look at a screen.
To avoid quarantining, and to get out of Hong Kong, the easiest way was to fly in the totally opposite direction than where I was heading: to Bangkok, on Emirates. A few business class tickets were still available, but at $600, on a route where they used to cost under $400. It was one of the last available ways out of the almost locked out city.
I grabbed a seat on the Airbus 380-800. I somehow pulled through the totally empty Hong Kong Airport. I could hardly see anything. There were hardly any seats to rest on in the departure hall. My backpack was almost 20kg heavy, with a professional camera, computer and mobile phones.
I have no idea how I managed to get to my plane. With my damaged eyes, I could still see those huge numbers indicating gates. I collapsed into my seat. The super-jumbo took off, Southeast; away from where I was trying to fly. I was some 20 thousand kilometers away from Santiago de Chile.
Santiago was bleeding, too! Its eyes were damaged. People were fighting against the fascist regime imposed on them by Washington, and by the multinational corporations, in 1973. Like my own, their eyes were inflamed; some, over 300 individuals, even lost their eyes, as they were shot at by the police.
On board my flight to Bangkok, I was not sure whether I was going to be able to return home, alive.
But I was going, through the night, towards Bangkok. Would they even let me in? The first step.
*
They did. Miraculously. I must have looked like shit, but an unfriendly, insulting border police officer slammed a stamp into my passport, fingerprinted me, photographed me, and in the end, let me go.
That was it. Hong Kong does not stamp passports. Officially, my journey would begin in Thailand.
I had only 9 hours on the ground. The airport was eerily empty. People looked like streetwalkers, wearing masks, some even things resembling ski-glasses. I went home to my place by the river, without even opening my luggage, I collapsed into my bed, but could not sleep the entire night. Tugboats were pulling ghost-like barges, 31 floors below. I could not see the barges, only contours. This was my first day into the journey.
In the morning, very early, I somehow managed to return to the airport, and rechecked my luggage all the way to Suriname, as that was the only airport in South America, which I was able to get to free (using my air miles) business class tickets, at least from Seoul. Instead of re-routing or compensating me, Korean Air which had brutally canceled my tickets from Hong Kong, was now charging me something absolutely ridiculous, to get from Bangkok to Seoul, where I was to catch a KLM flight to Amsterdam and many hours later, to Paramaribo.
Thai fingerprinting and photographing again. The taking the shoes off, precisely as the U.S. masters have ordered. The saturated spite of the Thai officials suffering from superiority complexes, followed by an old, dirty, 777-300 Korean Air aircraft. I crashed into its unmaintained seat. Just glanced at the food (inedible-looking, cheap version of bibimba), and slept all the way to Seoul.
*
Coronavirus, greed, extreme capitalism, rudeness: everything accumulated into this monstrous journey.
Taking off from Hong Kong and later Bangkok, I experienced almost absolute blindness. Then, the Damascus-prescribed antibiotics began to kick in. They were terrible, but I was warned. Either or. Either blindness and white fog, or total exhaustion, a collapsed body, but clearer sight. I opted for sight.
I landed in Seoul, like a zombie, heavy rucksack on my back, wobbly, almost desperate.
My luggage was automatically transferred all the way to Paramaribo, using the Sky Team system.
But this was South Korea. At the transfer desk I was refused boarding passes: “Go through security, then go to Sky Team Lounge and wait 8 hours for your flight. They will give you boarding passes at the gate,” I was told.
At the security check, they could not read English, or understand what was written on my E-tickets. 3 times I was humiliated, going back and forth between the transfer desk and security checkpoint. The staff were clearly enjoying the game, perhaps waiting for when I would finally collapse. The transfer desk person refused to walk with me to the security check. Security people were stubbornly refusing to read English.
This was precisely one of those moments when one loses all hope in humanity. You think: “Your body will let go! You will collapse, at any moment. Collapse and die.” All this, just because you have been putting your life on the line, for some poor, devastated, enormous tropical island. Just because some South Korean religious freaks went bananas. Just because of human indifference and racism. Just because, just because… The brave new world. The creepiness of a capitalist, right-wing trash universe.
I made it to the lounge, eventually, moving through the empty airport. Everything was shut down. The lounge was empty; almost nothing to eat there. The coronavirus scare.
At this point, all I wanted to do was to sleep. I found a transit hotel and paid an exorbitant price for only a few hours of rest. I collapsed. I cursed capitalism, greed, and humanity’s collapse.
I knew that as I was entering the disturbing world of dreams, or should I say nightmares, the People’s Republic of China, as well as Cuba, were fighting for our human race, against all the odds, against the monstrous propaganda originating from the West.
I had no right to kick the bucket in some bloody transit hotel room at the Incheon Airport. China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela needed me. I saluted my comrades, the old fashioned way, and fell asleep.
*
The Korean Air clerk at the gate had no idea where Paramaribo was, or where Suriname is located. He was moonlighting for KLM, but was wearing a Korean Air uniform.
I told him what I thought about Korean Air. Before that, he had not liked me for flying to “some Paramaribo”, but after that he started to hate me, openly. The fact that I am a platinum member of his alliance meant nothing.
He began treating me as if I was the coronavirus incarnated.
By then, I could hardly see him. My legs were about to collapse, at any moment. But I was not going to show weakness.
He began: “Where is your visa to Suriname”?
“Here,” I replied.
“What is that?”
“My visa.”
“So, where is your visa?”
“My visa is here.”
“You have to show it to me.”
“It is in front of you.”
Korean Air had stolen my money by cancelling flights and by refusing to re-route me. Now, it was ruining my health. But, there was zero remorse coming from the staff.
Eventually, a supervisor came and began abusing me, too.
I told her directly to her face: “You should learn from North Korean people how to treat visitors!”
Her apparatchik essence kicked in. She began threatening me.
I pulled out five press cards: “Do you want to arrest me for expressing my opinion?”
She started to look hesitant. I demanded her name card. She said she does not have one. Bullshit: in north Asia everybody has one.
“Are you a security agent or an airline staff?” I asked her, point-blank. I knew that in South Korea, it was the same thing.
Finally, she gave me my boarding passes, together with a look, which was full of hate.
This legendary racist horror, South Korean -style then disappeared. I saw, the way she humiliated herself, bowing and kissing the asses of her fellow, South Korean, citizens.
I was welcomed on board by an outraged flight hostess who was originally from Suriname: “She did not even know that my country exists, did she?” She patted me on the shoulder.
*
While Seoul was terrified of the coronavirus, the Europeans looked totally indifferent to the possible danger.
That was on March 3rd, 2020.
After the more than 11 hours flight from Seoul to Amsterdam, Schiphol airport appeared to be totally relaxed.
Even passengers from Seoul to Amsterdam looked undisturbed. No masks, no panic. Snoring contently, into the air.
777-200ER landed very early, at around 5 am.
I went through security, and located the Sky Team Lounge. It was stuffed with excellent food, but it happened to be totally empty. I found a comfortable chair and fell asleep, almost immediately. When I woke up, the lounge was full; literally packed.
After being used to masks being worn all over North and Southeast Asia, what hit me was the absolute lack of any face protectors at the major Dutch airport.
People were drinking, eating tons, talking. There was no sense of any emergency.
European and North American daily newspapers, in all languages, were full of the coronavirus headlines. Those freely distributed in the lounge, were only attacking China, totally and bizarrely avoiding the absolute lack of preparedness in the West.
Even the Italian daily papers, at that time at least, showed no signs of concern.
Not far from me, a group of Italian travelers was chatting, embracing, kissing, drinking prosecco and coffee for breakfast, and calling home on their mobile phones.
There was only one lax coronavirus checkpoint, upon arrival from South Korea, at the time one of the hardest hit countries in the world.
In retrospect, this was all totally bizarre and irresponsible.
Was the Western medical system so unprepared? Or was it told, even ordered, to behave in such a manner?
Waiting for my flight to Paramaribo, I called my 84-year old mom, who has been living in Germany, where she is married.
“They feed us with such crap,” she told me, in Russian. “I mean, that stuff that they tell us through the mass media. I don’t believe anything they say or write,” she concluded. “All this is not going to end well.”
And she was absolutely right.
*
The Queen of the Sky, a majestic old Boeing 747-400 took off on time, towards Suriname. Both KLM and British Airways were still flying these beautiful planes, although there were rumors that KLM will retire most of them in 2021.
This was the last flight of the captain. He was leaving KLM. The flight hostesses were urging all the passengers to write something short, something personal. There was supposed to be a great celebration, a great party, in Paramaribo.
By then, I was almost losing my consciousness. My eyes cleared, almost totally. But the monstrous antibiotics and chronic exhaustion, doubled my body down. Chile appeared to be far, far away.
Again, no masks, no precautions. The 747 was going southwest, full of passengers, with zero medical safeguards.
The plane landed, and it was sprayed with water by a fire engine, to celebrate the last flight of the captain.
No jetways: passengers had to climb down off the enormous aircraft. Those who couldn’t were met by special vehicle, functioning as a lift, and by a bus.
But the lift and other vehicles were quickly engaged by the celebrations of the captain’s retirement. Countless Surinamese passengers who were returning from Holland, after being treated in European hospitals, were waiting in the lift and the bus, abandoned by the ground staff. No one to measure their temperature. Nobody to even ask what kind of medical conditions they were suffering from.
By then, I had turned into a zombie. I somehow managed to sail through the immigration of a shack defined as an airport.
I almost collapsed. I asked for help, but was told by a local staff member: “If you feel sick, go get medical help”. Later, the hotel manager told me that this is the “usual treatment people get here”.
I somehow got stabilized, by getting my hands on a luggage trolley. The universe was spinning around me.
My pre-paid taxi did not wait for me. The hotel was some 50 kilometers from the airport.
In the end, I went to the airport police. Instead of helping me, they began a rude scrutiny, clearly trying to extract some bribe.
“I feel very sick,” I said. They couldn’t care less.
No questions asked about what had made me sick. Was it the coronavirus? By then it was already called COVID-19, and it was on my tail, chasing me as I was circling the globe.
I filmed the Suriname River and the rainforest of Suriname, to show the contrast with Borneo.
Suriname has been terribly damaged, but Borneo has been ruined, endlessly and some say, irreversibly.
I only had one full day. I had to work fast. My Indian driver had to hold me up while I was working, otherwise I’d collapse.
On the 5th March, I returned to the airport, ready to fly to Belem, Brazil.
Further humiliation, overcharging, insults. I wanted to get out. And never return. One day I will write about those repulsive 48 hours in Suriname, but not now.
A 90 minutes flight, and everything fully changed. Even under the fascist government of Bolsonaro, Brazilians were kind and caring.
Shortly after the plane door opened in Belem, I was put into a wheelchair and zipped through immigration and other formalities. There was no overcharging, no humiliation and no dramas.
Brazil was what it always has been: a great country with dire problems. But a great country, nevertheless.
The next day I flew from Belem to Rio de Janeiro, via Brasilia.
Still, almost no masks. Once or twice my temperature was checked. That is all.
In Belem, all the Amazon riverfront cafes were kept open.
In Rio, while waiting for my flight to Chile, I went to the legendary and packed Vinicius bosanova club, and to the totally packed Caso de Chuva cultural center, where Tom Veloso was singing the songs of Gilberto Gil. Absolutely no precautions, no masks, people squeezed like sardines. The evening of March 8th.
A day later, on March 9th, the airlines in South America began catching up with turbo-capitalist games. Chilean LATAM, when I asked for an extra legroom seat, suggested that I pay $1,500, for 4 hours on board a small Airbus 320 plane. Naturally, I refused.
Santiago airport took the coronavirus seriously. There were several checkups. End of the games.
This is when strange things began to happen.
Two days after I landed in Santiago de Chile, South America moved from inactivity to hyperactivity.
One country after another began lock-ups; from Argentina to Peru, to Chile.
Santiago began resembling a ghost town. Entire regions of Chile began to close down.
I needed to recover, quickly, and to travel to Venezuela and Cuba, but it was becoming thoroughly impossible.
I arrived, I survived, but right away, I was grounded.
*
From one extreme, to another. In South America and the West.
When confronted with the terrible medical emergency, China reacted like a Communist country, which it is. It mobilized in the name of the people, and began fighting the battle. It acted rationally and responsibly. It never performed a total lockdown.
It demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm and discipline.
Without thinking twice, it sacrificed its economic interests, putting the people first.
It has won the battle; beating the virus back. Almost no new cases now. The hospitals constructed to treat the coronavirus are closing down. Doctors and other medical staff are celebrating.
Cuba is near to developing a vaccine for the new coronavirus.
China and Cuba are cooperating. China is sending airplanes with help to Italy, Spain and Serbia.
In the meantime, people in certain Western countries are being told that over 80% of their citizens will get infected, and that hundreds of thousands, even millions, will die!
Why?
Why the hell, really?
Some nations, from Italy to Chile (where I am right now), are locking up everything: entire countries, entire regions, everything.
At the height of the crises, Beijing was open, and so was Shanghai and almost all other major cities. Flights were arriving and departing. What confidence! What a success!
A clear victory of socialism over capitalism.
Just look at the Western nations, at Southeast Asia, or at South America; people are petrified. Control of the population is much more brutal than anything that has ever been implemented in China.
And what do they tell the Italians, French, Brits and North Americans? That they will be dying like flies! Even now, when this essay is being written, more Italian people have died, than the Chinese. That is, on a per capita basis, about 22 times more. And in the West, things are getting worse and worse.
And, until now, it is not yet clear, who brought the epidemy to Wuhan, to begin with. Many believe that it was the U.S. military. Still, China never stopped behaving like an internationalist country!
*
During my more than 20,000 kilometers long journey, I have seen a frightened, divided planet.
And then, I saw a great Chinese victory, and a Cuban victory.
I read how Cuba has rescued 600 people stuck on a cruise ship, the MS Braemar, belonging to one of its tormentors.
I witnessed panic in extreme right-wing countries like Chile. I was ready to drive south, to Araucaria, to speak to the discriminated against Mapuche indigenous people (according to Word they do not exist, as I am given red error sign), but precisely that area got hermetically sealed, closed down, one day before my planned 900-kilometer journey, and a month before the planned constitutional referendum.
In the West, and allied countries, the coronavirus has been used for political ends.
I am almost certain the Bolivian elections will be ‘postponed’, “because of the coronavirus”, to prevent socialist MAS from regaining power.
I am back home, but home is not a real home, anymore.
Home is now China, Cuba, Russia. Countries which are fighting against the Western tyranny that is sacrificing millions of human lives.
The coronavirus is a barometer of the state of the world.
It shows which countries bring shame to the word “humanity”, and which bring pride.
Feature photo | Andre Vltchek
Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Five of his latest books are “China Belt and Road Initiative”, “China and Ecological Civilization” with John B. Cobb, Jr., “Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism”, the revolutionary novel “Aurora” and bestselling work of political non-fiction: “Exposing Lies Of The Empire”. View his other books here. Watch Rwanda Gambit, his ground-breaking documentary about Rwanda and DR Congo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky “On Western Terrorism”. Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and Latin America, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website, his Twitter and his Patreon


mintpressnews--2020-03-24--The UK Hasn’t Bombed Iraq or Syria Since Last September. What Gives?

The UK ’ s involvement in the U.S.-led air war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria has slowly and quietly wound down over the last few months .
Official figures show that the UK hasn ’ t dropped a single bomb as part of this campaign since September last year .
However , where those bombs have caused significant civilian harm is still uncertain , even after some of these sites have been investigated .
According to the data , 4,215 bombs and missiles were launched from Reaper drones or RAF jets in Syria and Iraq over a five-year period @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lengthy timeframe in which they were deployed , the UK has only admitted to one civilian casualty in the entire conflict .
The UK ’ s account is directly contradicted by numerous sources , including its closest wartime ally , the United States .
The U.S.-led coalition has estimated that its airstrikes have caused 1,370 civilian casualties , and has distinctly stated it has credible evidence that civilian casualties have ensued in bombings involving RAF bombers .
The British Ministry of Defence ( MOD ) hasn ’ t actually visited a single @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allegations of civilian casualties .
Instead , the coalition relies heavily on aerial footage to determine if civilians have been killed , even while knowing that aerial footage would not be able to identify civilians buried beneath the rubble .
This has allowed the MOD to conclude that it has reviewed all of the available evidence but has “ seen nothing that indicates civilian casualties were caused.
” UK-induced civilian deaths : what we know so far There are at least three RAF airstrikes that have been tracked by Airwars , a UK @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war against ISIS , predominantly in Iraq and Syria .
One of the sites in Mosul , Iraq , was visited by the BBC in 2018 after it became aware civilian casualties were likely .
Following this investigation , the U.S. admitted that two civilians were “ unintentionally killed.
” In another site struck by British bombers in Raqqa , Syria , the U.S. military readily admitted that 12 civilians were “ unintentionally killed ” and six “ unintentionally injured ” as a result of the blast .
The UK has issued no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the leading arm of the coalition , the UK has remained adamant that the available evidence has not demonstrated civilian harm caused by its reaper drones or RAF jets .
The UK has insisted it wants “ hard proof ” which is an even greater standard of evidence than that of the United States .
“ While we ’ re not aware of specific UK cases beyond the four detailed [ including the UK ’ s one confirmed event ] , ” Chris Woods , director of Airwars told MintPressNews via email , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 100 potential UK civilian harm events in recent years .
While a proportion turned out not to be RAF strikes , we remain concerned about many possible further cases.
” The fact that UK bombers were active in Mosul speaks volumes as to how deep this deception runs .
While the U.S.-led coalition downplayed deaths in Mosul ( and often blamed them on ISIS ) , a special AP report found that during the U.S.-led mission , some 9,000 to 11,000 civilians had died , nearly ten times what had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of deaths found by AP was still relatively conservative , as it did not take into account the dead still buried underneath the rubble .
The elephant in the corporate media ’ s room The presence of U.S. , UK or any coalition troops , personnel , jets or drones in Syria ’ s sovereign territory is questionable at best , and outright illegal at worst .
How the UK legally justifies its military presence in a sovereign country is still unclear , but as far as Syria ’ s president is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government have invaded the country .
Leaked audio of then-secretary of state John Kerry confirmed the U.S. knew their presence in Syria was illegal , yet to this day nothing has been done to address this .
Speaking to Syrian opposition members at a meeting at the Dutch Mission to the UN , Kerry said : … And we don ’ t have the basis – our lawyers tell us – unless we have the U.N. Security Council Resolution , which the Russians can veto , and the Chinese , or unless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there , or unless we are invited in .
Russia is invited in by the legitimate regime – well it ’ s illegitimate in our mind – but by the regime .
And so they were invited in and we are not invited in .
We ’ re flying in airspace there where they can turn on the air defenses and we would have a very different scene .
The only reason they are letting us fly is because we are going after ISIL .
If we were going after Assad , those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take out all the air defenses , and we don ’ t have the legal justification , frankly , unless we stretch it way beyond the law.
” [ emphasis added ] Even if the U.S.-UK entry into Syria could be justified on legal grounds , the effects of this campaign were nothing short of criminal .
In mid-2018 , Amnesty International released a report which described the onslaught as a U.S.-led “ war of annihilation , ” having visited 42 coalition airstrikes sites across the city of Raqqa .
Most credible estimates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the U.S. left at least 80 percent of it uninhabitable .
One must also bear in mind that during this destruction , the U.S. cut a secret deal with “ hundreds ” of ISIS fighters and their families to leave Raqqa under the “ gaze of the US and British-led coalition and Kurdish-led forces who control the city.
” As explained to MintPressNews by anti-war campaigner David Swanson : Where to next for the UK military ?
With the continued , ongoing threat posed by COVID-19 , Brexit , and a public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appears to have enough on its internal plate in the meantime .
However , even under the leadership of David Cameron – a prime minister who believes his austerity measures were too soft – the UK still found the resources and funding needed to bomb Libya back tp the Stone Age in 2011 .
The UK will likely always find a reason to follow the U.S. into war depending on the geopolitical significance of the battle arena .
As public intellectual and MIT professor Noam Chomsky explained to MintPress via email “ Brexit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more of a US vassal than it has been recently.
” However , Chomsky noted that “ much is unpredictable in these deeply troubled times ” and indicated the UK did have a unique opportunity to take its fate into its own hands post-Brexit .
Swanson echoed Chomsky ’ s concern , advising that war under the leadership of Boris Johnson appears to be more , not less , likely .
“ There is a cardinal rule of corporate media , ” Swanson explained , “ Thou shalt not criticize a current racist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Thus , we see Boris being compared with Winston [ Churchill ] .
” The more likely scenario is that the UK will follow the recent U.S. doctrine of declaring the Indo-Pacific its “ priority theatre ” and winding down its wars in the Middle East and elsewhere on that basis .
At the end of 2018 , the UK announced it was establishing diplomatic representation in Lesotho , Swaziland , the Bahamas , Antigua and Barbuda , Grenada , St Vincent and the Grenadines , Samoa Tonga and Vanuatu .
With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Islands and Papua New Guinea ( PNG ) , the UK will likely have better reach than the U.S. in this region .
Earlier this year , the UK also opened its new mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) in Jakarta , Indonesia .
Further , the UK ’ s National Security Capability Review also noted that the “ Asia-Pacific region is likely to become more important to us in the years ahead ” , echoing a similar sentiment to that of the MOD ’ s Mobilising , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in December 2018 .
In 2018 , it quietly deployed warships to the region for the first time in five years .
The UK has also continued regular military exercises with Malaysian and Singaporean troops and maintains a military presence in Brunei and a logistics station in Singapore .
There are even talks that the UK will seek to build a new base in the region .
The fact that a royal navy warship was challenged in the South China Sea by the Chinese military should give one an idea of where this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of China in this region raises more challenges for the US-NATO establishment than Iraq and Syria will in the near future , we should expect the UK to divert more of its military resources and focus to this region in a bid to counter and confront China at every possible avenue .
Feature photo | Britain ’ s Queen Elizabeth II is escorted by Station Commander Group Captain James Beckpast during a visit to Royal Air Force Marham , east England , Feb. 3 , 2020 .
Richard Pohle | AP Darius Shahtahmasebi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analyst who focuses on US foreign policy in the Middle East , Asia and Pacific region .
He is fully qualified as a lawyer in two international jurisdictions .

The UK’s involvement in the U.S.-led air war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria has slowly and quietly wound down over the last few months. Official figures show that the UK hasn’t dropped a single bomb as part of this campaign since September last year.
However, where those bombs have caused significant civilian harm is still uncertain, even after some of these sites have been investigated. According to the data, 4,215 bombs and missiles were launched from Reaper drones or RAF jets in Syria and Iraq over a five-year period. Despite the number of munitions and the lengthy timeframe in which they were deployed, the UK has only admitted to one civilian casualty in the entire conflict.
The UK’s account is directly contradicted by numerous sources, including its closest wartime ally, the United States. The U.S.-led coalition has estimated that its airstrikes have caused 1,370 civilian casualties, and has distinctly stated it has credible evidence that civilian casualties have ensued in bombings involving RAF bombers.
The British Ministry of Defence (MOD) hasn’t actually visited a single site in Iraq or Syria to investigate allegations of civilian casualties. Instead, the coalition relies heavily on aerial footage to determine if civilians have been killed, even while knowing that aerial footage would not be able to identify civilians buried beneath the rubble. This has allowed the MOD to conclude that it has reviewed all of the available evidence but has “seen nothing that indicates civilian casualties were caused.”
UK-induced civilian deaths: what we know so far
There are at least three RAF airstrikes that have been tracked by Airwars, a UK based not-for-profit organization that tracks the air war against ISIS, predominantly in Iraq and Syria. One of the sites in Mosul, Iraq, was visited by the BBC in 2018 after it became aware civilian casualties were likely. Following this investigation, the U.S. admitted that two civilians were “unintentionally killed.”
In another site struck by British bombers in Raqqa, Syria, the U.S. military readily admitted that 12 civilians were “unintentionally killed” and six “unintentionally injured” as a result of the blast. The UK has issued no such admission.
Despite this confirmation from the leading arm of the coalition, the UK has remained adamant that the available evidence has not demonstrated civilian harm caused by its reaper drones or RAF jets. The UK has insisted it wants “hard proof” which is an even greater standard of evidence than that of the United States.
“While we’re not aware of specific UK cases beyond the four detailed [including the UK’s one confirmed event],” Chris Woods, director of Airwars told MintPressNews via email, “we’ve alerted MoD to more than 100 potential UK civilian harm events in recent years. While a proportion turned out not to be RAF strikes, we remain concerned about many possible further cases.”
Woods also added:
Our investigation shows the UK continues to clear itself of civilian deaths from RAF strikes – even where the US-led Coalition determines such events to be credible. In effect, the Ministry of Defence has set the investigative bar so high that it’s currently impossible for them to admit casualties. This systemic failing is a gross misjustice to those Iraqis and Syrians who have paid the ultimate price in the war against ISIS.”
The fact that UK bombers were active in Mosul speaks volumes as to how deep this deception runs. While the U.S.-led coalition downplayed deaths in Mosul (and often blamed them on ISIS), a special AP report found that during the U.S.-led mission, some 9,000 to 11,000 civilians had died, nearly ten times what had been previously reported in the media. The number of deaths found by AP was still relatively conservative, as it did not take into account the dead still buried underneath the rubble.
The elephant in the corporate media’s room
The presence of U.S., UK or any coalition troops, personnel, jets or drones in Syria’s sovereign territory is questionable at best, and outright illegal at worst. How the UK legally justifies its military presence in a sovereign country is still unclear, but as far as Syria’s president is concerned, all foreign troops uninvited by the government have invaded the country.
Leaked audio of then-secretary of state John Kerry confirmed the U.S. knew their presence in Syria was illegal, yet to this day nothing has been done to address this. Speaking to Syrian opposition members at a meeting at the Dutch Mission to the UN, Kerry said:
… And we don’t have the basis – our lawyers tell us – unless we have the U.N. Security Council Resolution, which the Russians can veto, and the Chinese, or unless we are under attack from the folks there, or unless we are invited in. Russia is invited in by the legitimate regime – well it’s illegitimate in our mind – but by the regime. And so they were invited in and we are not invited in. We’re flying in airspace there where they can turn on the air defenses and we would have a very different scene. The only reason they are letting us fly is because we are going after ISIL. If we were going after Assad, those air defenses, we would have to take out all the air defenses, and we don’t have the legal justification, frankly, unless we stretch it way beyond the law.” [emphasis added]
Even if the U.S.-UK entry into Syria could be justified on legal grounds, the effects of this campaign were nothing short of criminal. In mid-2018, Amnesty International released a report which described the onslaught as a U.S.-led “war of annihilation,” having visited 42 coalition airstrikes sites across the city of Raqqa.
Most credible estimates of the damage done to Raqqa indicate that the U.S. left at least 80 percent of it uninhabitable. One must also bear in mind that during this destruction, the U.S. cut a secret deal with “hundreds” of ISIS fighters and their families to leave Raqqa under the “gaze of the US and British-led coalition and Kurdish-led forces who control the city.”
As explained to MintPressNews by anti-war campaigner David Swanson:
The legalistic-ish justification for war on Syria has varied, never been clear, never been in the slightest convincing, but has focused on the war not really being a war. Of course it’s a violation of the UN Charter, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and the laws of Syria.”
Swanson added:
Only people dumbed down or beaten down enough to accept the notion that you can bomb a country and not kill civilians could accept that it’s legal to do so.”
Where to next for the UK military?
With the continued, ongoing threat posed by COVID-19, Brexit, and a public and social economic crisis, the UK appears to have enough on its internal plate in the meantime. However, even under the leadership of David Cameron – a prime minister who believes his austerity measures were too soft – the UK still found the resources and funding needed to bomb Libya back tp the Stone Age in 2011.
The UK will likely always find a reason to follow the U.S. into war depending on the geopolitical significance of the battle arena. As public intellectual and MIT professor Noam Chomsky explained to MintPress via email “Brexit very likely will turn Britain into even more of a US vassal than it has been recently.” However, Chomsky noted that “much is unpredictable in these deeply troubled times” and indicated the UK did have a unique opportunity to take its fate into its own hands post-Brexit.
Swanson echoed Chomsky’s concern, advising that war under the leadership of Boris Johnson appears to be more, not less, likely. “There is a cardinal rule of corporate media,” Swanson explained, “Thou shalt not criticize a current racist sociopathic buffoon without glorifying a past one. Thus, we see Boris being compared with Winston [Churchill].”
The more likely scenario is that the UK will follow the recent U.S. doctrine of declaring the Indo-Pacific its “priority theatre” and winding down its wars in the Middle East and elsewhere on that basis.
At the end of 2018, the UK announced it was establishing diplomatic representation in Lesotho, Swaziland, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa Tonga and Vanuatu. With its existing representation in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea (PNG), the UK will likely have better reach than the U.S. in this region.
Earlier this year, the UK also opened its new mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, Indonesia. Further, the UK’s National Security Capability Review also noted that the “Asia-Pacific region is likely to become more important to us in the years ahead”, echoing a similar sentiment to that of the MOD’s Mobilising, Modernising & Transforming Defence policy paper published in December 2018.
In 2018, it quietly deployed warships to the region for the first time in five years. The UK has also continued regular military exercises with Malaysian and Singaporean troops and maintains a military presence in Brunei and a logistics station in Singapore. There are even talks that the UK will seek to build a new base in the region.
The fact that a royal navy warship was challenged in the South China Sea by the Chinese military should give one an idea of where this is all headed.
As the rise of China in this region raises more challenges for the US-NATO establishment than Iraq and Syria will in the near future, we should expect the UK to divert more of its military resources and focus to this region in a bid to counter and confront China at every possible avenue.
Feature photo | Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is escorted by Station Commander Group Captain James Beckpast during a visit to Royal Air Force Marham, east England, Feb. 3, 2020. Richard Pohle | AP
Darius Shahtahmasebi is a New Zealand-based legal and political analyst who focuses on US foreign policy in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific region. He is fully qualified as a lawyer in two international jurisdictions.


mintpressnews--2020-03-24--Technology of Death: The Not-So-Shocking Report on Israeli Weapons Exports

The Middle East , battered by wars and adjoining humanitarian crises that have left millions of people stateless , hungry and diseased , is in urgent need of peace , security , and reconstruction .
Thanks to the US , Russian , French , Israeli and other weapons manufacturers , however , it is now the dumping ground for military hardware , an ominous sign for the years ahead .
Data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ( SIPRI ) on March 9 , paints a grim picture of the world , in general , and the Middle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the report , the demand for weapons in the warring region has increased by a whopping 61 percent between 2015 and 2019 .
The correlation between arms , war , and casualty count needs no elaborate algorithm to be deciphered , as facts on the ground amply demonstrate .
Syria remains the epicenter of conflict in the Middle East , with Libya , Yemen , Iraq , Palestine , and South Sudan trailing , but not far behind .
The top five merchants of death , according to SIPRI , are the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and China .
Interestingly , while US arms exports have increased exponentially by 76 % in the last five years , Russia ’ s arms exports fell by 18 % .
The US market is in constant expansion as it now includes 96 client countries , while Russia has , essentially , lost one of its most significant clients , India .
Ruled by a right-wing Hindu nationalist government , Delhi has found in Tel Aviv a more ideologically like-minded supplier .
The special ‘ friendship ’ between India ’ s Narendra @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has made India Israel ’ s largest weapons market .
In 2017 , Israel ’ s arms exports reached a record high of $ 9 billion dollars , following the signing of a $ 2 billion deal with India .
The contracts awarded to the Israel Aerospace Industries ( IAI ) were considered the “ single largest deal ever signed by the Israeli arms industry.
” With India becoming the largest importer of Israeli arms in the world , Israel is now a secondary party in the protracted conflict between India and Pakistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the abyss of a full-blown war in March 2019 .
Naturally , Israeli weapons , now featured prominently in India ’ s military arsenal , will play a major role in sustaining any future conflict .
According to the newly-released data , Israel is only second to South Korea in terms of the vast expansion of weapons exports , as Israel ’ s weapons manufacturing industry has experienced an unprecedented boom in recent years .
SIPRI puts that increase at 77 % .
Last year , the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , which is the cornerstone of Israel ’ s weapon manufacturing , testing and export , released a comprehensive plan aimed at the expansion of Israel ’ s global weapons market , with due focus on the US , Finland and India .
What makes Israeli weapons more attractive than others is the fact that they are not accompanied by any political price tag .
In other words , Israel is willing to sell weapons to any country , or even non-state actors , openly or secretly , regardless of how these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violates human rights or not .
In May 2019 , Amnesty International ’ s Israeli chapter released an in-depth report that examined Israel ’ s weapons export markets .
Contrary to the claim by Rachel Chen , head of the Israeli Defense Export Controls Agency , that “ we will carefully examine the state of human rights in each country before approving export licenses for selling them weapons , ” Israel is known for peddling its weapons to the world ’ s most notorious human rights violators .
The list includes Myanmar , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lanka .
A damning proof to the above claim is a statement made by Philippines President , Rodrigo Duterte , who is known for his dismal human rights record , on September 4 , 2018 , during his highly touted visit to Israel .
Duterte told Israeli President , Reuven Rivlin , that the Philippines “ would henceforth only buy weapons from Israel due to its lack of restrictions , ” ‘ Times of Israel ’ reported .
The US is “ a good friend , ” Duterte said , but like Germany @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certain “ limitations ” .
Considering that Washington provides Israel with over $ 3 billion worth of weapons annually that are used freely against occupied Palestinians and other Arab nations with no regard whatsoever for international or humanitarian law , one has to marvel at Duterte ’ s statement .
It is logical to assume that a country that sells weapons to civil war-torn and extremely impoverished South Sudan , has not an iota of regulations , let alone moral standards .
What is unique about the export of Israel ’ s weapons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rest of the world , is that they often appear in regions where people are most oppressed and vulnerable .
For example , Israeli companies have for years stood at the forefront of successive US administrations ’ war on undocumented immigrants .
Moreover , recent years have witnessed the infusion of brutal Israeli military tactics in many aspects of American society , including the militarization of American police , thousands of whom received training in Israel .
Similarly , in 2018 , Israeli war technology was incorporated to the European Union ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was awarded to the Israeli company Elbit , estimated at $ 68 million , to provide maritime unmanned aircraft system ( UAS ) services .
This technology , which relies on the Hermes 900 Maritime Patrol system , allows Frontex – the European Border and Coast Guard Agency – to intercept war refugees and migrants in their attempts to cross into safer European territories .
Interestingly , the EU has purchased from Israel the same deadly technology that the Israeli army has used against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip during Israel ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 2014 .
The latter fact represents the backbone of Israel ’ s marketing strategy .
Branding its military products as ‘ combat-proven ’ , Tel Aviv is able to obtain top dollar for its bloody technology , as it is able to demonstrate , using actual footage , how its armed drones , for example , can flatten whole Palestinian neighborhoods in seconds and return safely to their bases inside Israel .
SIPRI and Amnesty International are right in exposing Israel ’ s thriving weapons exports market while emphasizing the fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human rights violators .
But far greater focus should be placed on the fact that Israel is , itself , a notorious human rights violator that should be held accountable for its crimes against Palestinians , who are often used as guinea pigs in the testing stage of Israel ’ s technology of death .
Feature photo | An Indian boy examines an assault rifle manufactured by Israel Weapons Industries ( IWI ) at the 7th International Land and Naval Defence Systems Exhibition in New Delhi , India .
Mustafa Quraishi | AP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Editor of The Palestine Chronicle .
He is the author of five books .
His latest is “ These Chains Will Be Broken : Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons ” ( Clarity Press , Atlanta ) .
Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs ( CIGA ) , Istanbul Zaim University ( IZU ) .
His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

The Middle East, battered by wars and adjoining humanitarian crises that have left millions of people stateless, hungry and diseased, is in urgent need of peace, security, and reconstruction. Thanks to the US, Russian, French, Israeli and other weapons manufacturers, however, it is now the dumping ground for military hardware, an ominous sign for the years ahead.
Data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on March 9, paints a grim picture of the world, in general, and the Middle East, in particular. According to the report, the demand for weapons in the warring region has increased by a whopping 61 percent between 2015 and 2019.
The correlation between arms, war, and casualty count needs no elaborate algorithm to be deciphered, as facts on the ground amply demonstrate. Syria remains the epicenter of conflict in the Middle East, with Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, and South Sudan trailing, but not far behind.
The top five merchants of death, according to SIPRI, are the United States, Russia, France, Germany, and China. Interestingly, while US arms exports have increased exponentially by 76% in the last five years, Russia’s arms exports fell by 18%.
The US market is in constant expansion as it now includes 96 client countries, while Russia has, essentially, lost one of its most significant clients, India.
Ruled by a right-wing Hindu nationalist government, Delhi has found in Tel Aviv a more ideologically like-minded supplier. The special ‘friendship’ between India’s Narendra Modi and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu has made India Israel’s largest weapons market.
In 2017, Israel’s arms exports reached a record high of $9 billion dollars, following the signing of a $2 billion deal with India. The contracts awarded to the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) were considered the “single largest deal ever signed by the Israeli arms industry.”
With India becoming the largest importer of Israeli arms in the world, Israel is now a secondary party in the protracted conflict between India and Pakistan. The two nuclear-armed countries edged closer to the abyss of a full-blown war in March 2019. Naturally, Israeli weapons, now featured prominently in India’s military arsenal, will play a major role in sustaining any future conflict.
According to the newly-released data, Israel is only second to South Korea in terms of the vast expansion of weapons exports, as Israel’s weapons manufacturing industry has experienced an unprecedented boom in recent years. SIPRI puts that increase at 77%.
Last year, the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (SIBAT), which is the cornerstone of Israel’s weapon manufacturing, testing and export, released a comprehensive plan aimed at the expansion of Israel’s global weapons market, with due focus on the US, Finland and India.
What makes Israeli weapons more attractive than others is the fact that they are not accompanied by any political price tag. In other words, Israel is willing to sell weapons to any country, or even non-state actors, openly or secretly, regardless of how these weapons are used and whether their use violates human rights or not.
In May 2019, Amnesty International’s Israeli chapter released an in-depth report that examined Israel’s weapons export markets. Contrary to the claim by Rachel Chen, head of the Israeli Defense Export Controls Agency, that “we will carefully examine the state of human rights in each country before approving export licenses for selling them weapons,” Israel is known for peddling its weapons to the world’s most notorious human rights violators. The list includes Myanmar, Philippines, South Sudan, and Sri Lanka.
A damning proof to the above claim is a statement made by Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte, who is known for his dismal human rights record, on September 4, 2018, during his highly touted visit to Israel. Duterte told Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, that the Philippines “would henceforth only buy weapons from Israel due to its lack of restrictions,” ‘Times of Israel’ reported.
The US is “a good friend,” Duterte said, but like Germany and China, US weapons come with certain “limitations”.
Considering that Washington provides Israel with over $3 billion worth of weapons annually that are used freely against occupied Palestinians and other Arab nations with no regard whatsoever for international or humanitarian law, one has to marvel at Duterte’s statement.
It is logical to assume that a country that sells weapons to civil war-torn and extremely impoverished South Sudan, has not an iota of regulations, let alone moral standards.
What is unique about the export of Israel’s weapons and so-called ‘security technology’ to the rest of the world, is that they often appear in regions where people are most oppressed and vulnerable. For example, Israeli companies have for years stood at the forefront of successive US administrations’ war on undocumented immigrants.
Moreover, recent years have witnessed the infusion of brutal Israeli military tactics in many aspects of American society, including the militarization of American police, thousands of whom received training in Israel.
Similarly, in 2018, Israeli war technology was incorporated to the European Union’s security apparatus. One such contract was awarded to the Israeli company Elbit, estimated at $68 million, to provide maritime unmanned aircraft system (UAS) services. This technology, which relies on the Hermes 900 Maritime Patrol system, allows Frontex – the European Border and Coast Guard Agency – to intercept war refugees and migrants in their attempts to cross into safer European territories.
Interestingly, the EU has purchased from Israel the same deadly technology that the Israeli army has used against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip during Israel’s so-called ‘Protective Edge’ war of 2014.
The latter fact represents the backbone of Israel’s marketing strategy. Branding its military products as ‘combat-proven’, Tel Aviv is able to obtain top dollar for its bloody technology, as it is able to demonstrate, using actual footage, how its armed drones, for example, can flatten whole Palestinian neighborhoods in seconds and return safely to their bases inside Israel.
SIPRI and Amnesty International are right in exposing Israel’s thriving weapons exports market while emphasizing the fact that much of these weapons proliferate freely among human rights violators. But far greater focus should be placed on the fact that Israel is, itself, a notorious human rights violator that should be held accountable for its crimes against Palestinians, who are often used as guinea pigs in the testing stage of Israel’s technology of death.
Feature photo | An Indian boy examines an assault rifle manufactured by Israel Weapons Industries (IWI) at the 7th International Land and Naval Defence Systems Exhibition in New Delhi, India. Mustafa Quraishi | AP
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net


mintpressnews--2020-03-25--As Governments Struggle to Contain Coronavirus, Doctors Get Inventive

It doesn ’ t look like much .
In fact , it looks like garbage : a cheap plastic hose inserted into a metal box .
But Dr. Rhys Thomas ’ invention is worth its weight in gold – and it ’ s already saving lives .
Dr. Thomas , a senior consultant at Glangwili Hospital in Wales , has designed , prototyped and constructed a working ventilator in just three days – a machine of critical importance in fighting COVID–19 .
Ventilators help patients breathe , a crucial machine in the fight against the respiratory illness that has infected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are in critically short supply in many countries .
“ It is simple and robust and specifically designed to work against COVID virus in a contagious environment , ” said Dr. Thomas .
“ Although it won ’ t replace an ICU ventilator , the majority of patients won ’ t need intensive care if they are treated with this ventilator first.
” His invention has already been used to treat a patient in Wales who contracted the virus .
The patient is now on the road to recovery .
The machine can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensuring those inside breathe only clean air .
Dr. Thomas notes that its ease of use will release nurses for other duties .
A local engineering company that produced plastic fabrication equipment has been recruited and aims to make 100 per day at their factory .
Another British company that was working with anti-viral fabrics has rushed through the development of an antiviral snood ( a cross between a scarf and a hood ) .
It hopes to ramp up production to as much as a million per week , saving many for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mouth and nose and is thought to block the coronavirus completely .
Meanwhile , inventor Wyn Griffiths has designed a 3D-printed hygienic door handle , one that allows the user to open doors with their forearms , rather than their hands .
He has distributed the design online so anyone can download it freely .
After a slow response to the pandemic , the British government has sprung into action , recruiting 11,000 retired medical workers and 24,000 final year student nurses to aid the National Health Service ( NHS ) .
Last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the creation of an NHS “ volunteer army ” of a quarter-million people in England who would risk their lives to assist medical staff in delivering food and medicine , ferrying patients to and from the hospital , and phoning the isolated .
There was an overwhelming response , and it hit its target well within 24 hours .
But it is not just in the United Kingdom that human ingenuity is being mobilized against the coronavirus .
A group of doctors and engineers at the University of Minnesota are touting a newly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made for as little as $ 150 .
Going “ full-on MacGyver , ” according to anesthesiologist Dr. Stephen Richardson , he believes his team ’ s invention will “ give people a chance ” against the virus .
The group is looking for production partners , especially those in sheet metal fabrication , or who can make pressure relief valves or ball joint rod ends .
They believe they can make thousands per week .
In Italy and Spain , too , engineers have pioneered 3D-printed ventilators and put them into production @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Brooklyn ’ s craft distilleries have halted gin and whiskey production and moved into the hand sanitizer business .
“ I don ’ t think the future is too bright for gin right now , ” said Stephen DeAngelo , founder of Greenhook Ginsmiths .
“ This helps to keep my staff busy at this time , and we ’ re doing a lot of good for the hospitals as well.
” He already has two orders from hospitals , one for 2,500 gallons and another for 1,700 .
The hand sanitizer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for artisanal gin .
Meanwhile , the Vietnam Military Medical University has developed a cheap and extremely quick COVID–19 test kit .
Produced for between $ 17 and $ 26 per test and taking around two hours to generate a result , the producers say they are able to manufacture up to 10,000 per day and have already begun to export them , including to virus-struck Italy .
China and Cuba are also aiding Italy , both sending battalions of medical personnel , as well as crucial supplies .
In the midst of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people are realizing there is no individualized solution to the problem facing humanity .
Rather , we must work together to harness collective , collaborative power to defeat the virus .
As Carlos Armando Garcia Hernandez , a Cuban nurse traveling to Italy said , “ This is a global battle and we have to fight it together.
” Feature photo | Doctors don protective suits before entering a COVID-19 isolation room in the Koranyi National Institute of Pulmonology in Budapest , Hungary , March 25 , 2020 .
Zoltan Balogh | MTI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

It doesn’t look like much. In fact, it looks like garbage: a cheap plastic hose inserted into a metal box. But Dr. Rhys Thomas’ invention is worth its weight in gold – and it’s already saving lives. Dr. Thomas, a senior consultant at Glangwili Hospital in Wales, has designed, prototyped and constructed a working ventilator in just three days – a machine of critical importance in fighting COVID–19. Ventilators help patients breathe, a crucial machine in the fight against the respiratory illness that has infected at least 438,000 people worldwide. They are in critically short supply in many countries.
“It is simple and robust and specifically designed to work against COVID virus in a contagious environment,” said Dr. Thomas. “Although it won’t replace an ICU ventilator, the majority of patients won’t need intensive care if they are treated with this ventilator first.” His invention has already been used to treat a patient in Wales who contracted the virus. The patient is now on the road to recovery.
The machine can also clear rooms of viral particles, ensuring those inside breathe only clean air. Dr. Thomas notes that its ease of use will release nurses for other duties. A local engineering company that produced plastic fabrication equipment has been recruited and aims to make 100 per day at their factory.
Another British company that was working with anti-viral fabrics has rushed through the development of an antiviral snood (a cross between a scarf and a hood). It hopes to ramp up production to as much as a million per week, saving many for health workers. The snood covers the mouth and nose and is thought to block the coronavirus completely.
Meanwhile, inventor Wyn Griffiths has designed a 3D-printed hygienic door handle, one that allows the user to open doors with their forearms, rather than their hands. He has distributed the design online so anyone can download it freely.
After a slow response to the pandemic, the British government has sprung into action, recruiting 11,000 retired medical workers and 24,000 final year student nurses to aid the National Health Service (NHS). Last night Health Minister Matt Hancock called for the creation of an NHS “volunteer army” of a quarter-million people in England who would risk their lives to assist medical staff in delivering food and medicine, ferrying patients to and from the hospital, and phoning the isolated. There was an overwhelming response, and it hit its target well within 24 hours.
NEWS: Today we launch NHS Volunteers – we’re calling on those in good health to support our NHS across the country. Details: https://t.co/gUrlid1ud6 pic.twitter.com/vPbXuHaiNu — Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) March 24, 2020
But it is not just in the United Kingdom that human ingenuity is being mobilized against the coronavirus. A group of doctors and engineers at the University of Minnesota are touting a newly designed ventilator that they believe can be made for as little as $150. Going “full-on MacGyver,” according to anesthesiologist Dr. Stephen Richardson, he believes his team’s invention will “give people a chance” against the virus. The group is looking for production partners, especially those in sheet metal fabrication, or who can make pressure relief valves or ball joint rod ends. They believe they can make thousands per week. In Italy and Spain, too, engineers have pioneered 3D-printed ventilators and put them into production.
Hipsters are doing their part too. Brooklyn’s craft distilleries have halted gin and whiskey production and moved into the hand sanitizer business. “I don’t think the future is too bright for gin right now,” said Stephen DeAngelo, founder of Greenhook Ginsmiths. “This helps to keep my staff busy at this time, and we’re doing a lot of good for the hospitals as well.” He already has two orders from hospitals, one for 2,500 gallons and another for 1,700. The hand sanitizer comes in trendy glass bottles once intended for artisanal gin.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam Military Medical University has developed a cheap and extremely quick COVID–19 test kit. Produced for between $17 and $26 per test and taking around two hours to generate a result, the producers say they are able to manufacture up to 10,000 per day and have already begun to export them, including to virus-struck Italy.
China and Cuba are also aiding Italy, both sending battalions of medical personnel, as well as crucial supplies. In the midst of a global pandemic, increasing numbers of people are realizing there is no individualized solution to the problem facing humanity. Rather, we must work together to harness collective, collaborative power to defeat the virus. As Carlos Armando Garcia Hernandez, a Cuban nurse traveling to Italy said, “This is a global battle and we have to fight it together.”
Feature photo | Doctors don protective suits before entering a COVID-19 isolation room in the Koranyi National Institute of Pulmonology in Budapest, Hungary, March 25, 2020. Zoltan Balogh | MTI via AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.