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HEALTH workers killed in the Gaza war have included 55 highly qualified specialists who were seeking to create a healthcare system for a Palestinian state, Reuters found. With each specialist killed, Gaza lost a network of knowledge that will take years to rebuild.

Dr Sireen Al-Attar was on WhatsApp day and night, communicating with colleagues and pregnant women in the Gaza Strip to make childbirth safer, fellow doctors said. Her work was part of a campaign that began long before the Israel-Hamas war.

The doctor was sleeping in a bed on Oct. 11 with two of her three daughters. Hamas had attacked Israel four days earlier. Anticipating Israeli reprisals, Al-Attar and her three children had left Gaza City to stay with her parents in Bureij, a refugee camp, where they hoped they’d be safer.

There were 21 relatives under one roof. Al-Attar’s eldest daughter, Reema, had a mattress on the floor. Before going to sleep, “the last thing I told her was, ‘I love you, mom,'” Reema, now 14, told Reuters.

They slept between bombardments. Then the house was hit. Reema woke beneath a cupboard, choking in dust. “I started yelling ‘Help, help, Mother, anyone, help, people!'”

No reply came from the bed. Al-Attar was dead, killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Reema’s 6-year-old sister was seriously injured.

Al-Attar, 39, was one of at least 490 Gazan healthcare workers killed since Israel swore to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its cross-border assault on Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s health ministry. She was a specialist doctor, one of a vanguard improving public health for Gaza’s fast-growing population before the war, whose deaths have done its health service grave harm.

Operating under an Israeli blockade after Hamas seized control in 2007, the health service in Gaza was fraught with difficulties, including deep-rooted factionalism over who ran Gaza and waves of conflict with Israel. But in some fields the health service had made advances, thanks to investment and support from abroad and the persistence of doctors like Al-Attar, according to a Reuters review of data from the Palestinian health ministry and global aid agencies, and interviews with more than two dozen Gazan and foreign doctors.

One example: Data from the Gaza health ministry shows the enclave’s maternal mortality rate had dropped to 17.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 from 23.4 in 2010, the earliest year for which Gaza-specific data is available. For context, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that in 2020, the most recent year available, 41 out of 100,000 women in Jordan died during or soon after giving birth. In Egypt that number was 17; in Israel, three.

There is no independent mechanism to verify the Hamas-run government’s data, which is recognized by the U.N. and used by international health agencies in the same way as government data from other countries. To verify the number of specialist doctors killed and assess the impact of their deaths, Reuters spoke to 10 Gazan doctors in the enclave or abroad, 14 foreign doctors who helped train the specialists, and 10 of their relatives and friends.

Between 2006, when Hamas won power in Gaza, and 2022, Gaza’s population jumped by 49% to 2.2 million, health ministry data shows. In that time, the number of general practitioners more than doubled to 1,913, as did the ranks of specialists, to 1,565.

That was helped by an influx of foreign support, including from doctors in Israel. A Reuters tally of public records and inquiries to U.N. officials show at least $2 billion was allocated to healthcare in Gaza over that time by the Gazan ministry of health and U.N. aid agencies alone.

Specialist doctors like Al-Attar were part of a strategic effort by Hamas to build a self-sufficient health system for Gaza, from burn care to cancer diagnosis and kidney treatment, Gaza’s first health minister told Reuters.

In the current war, 55 specialist doctors in Gaza have been killed, according to information from the ministry of health, as well as relatives, colleagues and friends. Reuters could not independently verify the circumstances of their deaths.

That works out at nearly 4% of Gazan specialists. In some specialties with small cadres of doctors, the losses are stark. The enclave had just three kidney specialists before the war – one has been killed and the other fled abroad, Reuters learned.

Hamas and its allies have long argued that Israel has a goal of destroying its health system, an allegation Israel’s military denies.

Reuters found that seven of the 55 specialists were killed in hospitals. As many as 23 were killed when they were away from work. Reuters couldn’t find clear information on where the remainder died.

With each specialist killed, Gaza has lost a network of knowledge and human connections, blows more enduring than those borne by most of the area’s 35 hospitals since Oct. 7, the doctors and experts said. The killing of even one doctor could cripple the services they led where specialists were few.

Reuters chronicled the struggle of Al-Attar and two other specialist doctors in Gaza to train and work under the Israeli embargo of the enclave, and examined how they helped improve healthcare there.

“It’s a massive loss,” said Dr Deborah Harrington, a British obstetrician who helped instruct Al-Attar and others. “The healthcare system can ill afford to lose these experts.” Rebuilding the system, Harrington said, “is going to go into decades.”

Hamas did not respond to a request for comment.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not comment on the deaths of the doctors named in this story. But it said in a statement to Reuters that the IDF has “overwhelming and irrefutable” evidence that Hamas used hospitals and medical infrastructure as cover for “terror purposes.”

Throughout the war, the Israeli army has released what it says is evidence Hamas made military use of medical facilities, including weapons it said it seized in hospitals, a video of the interrogation of a detained hospital director and a tunnel near Al Shifa hospital that the IDF says was a command post for Hamas fighters. Hamas denies these claims.

“The IDF is not interested in medical staff vis-a-vis their roles as medical professionals, but due to their potential involvement in Hamas terror,” it said, speaking generally.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the competing claims made by both sides about the involvement of Gaza’s health system in the current conflict.

More than 36,000 Palestinians and nearly 1,500 Israelis have been killed since Oct. 7, Gazan and Israeli tallies show. Israel says around 120 people abducted during Hamas’s attack are still being held hostage in Gaza.

“NEW GENERATION OF PROFESSIONALS”

Around 80% of the Palestinians living in Gaza are refugees who were expelled or fled their homes during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation, and their descendants. Al-Attar’s story parallels that of Gaza’s healthcare system amid isolation, war and intra-Palestinian political strife.

Born in 1984, she started medical school in 2002, when Gaza depended for advanced medical treatment on hospitals in Israel and other nearby states. At that time the enclave had fewer than 30 beds in special care units, according to a 2012 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Hamas, a militant Islamist group whose founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel, secured control of Gaza in 2007 after bloody post-election fighting with Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah in the West Bank. The takeover resulted in two de facto governments in Ramallah and Gaza, each with ministries of health.

Gaza’s health services were isolated from the Ramallah ministry, which began restricting funds to the enclave. Israel closed Gaza’s borders with Egypt’s help, curtailed people’s movements and access to medical supplies, and started responding to Hamas attacks with military campaigns.

The Palestinian Authority had health clinics reserved for its employees or security personnel, most of them Fatah members, the CSIS report said; Hamas aimed to retool these in Gaza to recruit and retain its own loyalists.

Dr Basem Naim, the first health minister under Hamas rule, confirmed he replaced medical leaders but said that before Hamas came to power, “a lot of good doctors and nurses were denied a job in the Ministry of Health … because they were affiliated to other political groups other than Fatah.” Hamas’ goal was to professionalize the service, he said. It began seeking specialist training to create what he called a “new generation of professionals” for a health system to support a Palestinian state.

Naim, in office until 2012, now acts as a Hamas spokesman from Doha, Qatar. Abed Doleh, a spokesperson for Fatah, denied allegations its members received preferential treatment and said it made healthcare available to all Palestinians. The Ramallah ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

In his first year, Naim said, the ministry paid $110 million to hospitals in Israel, Egypt and Jordan for the treatment of Palestinians. But Hamas wanted to invest in its own doctors instead.

In 2008, medical student Al-Attar graduated from the Gaza branch of Al-Quds University with top grades. That won her the enclave’s only scholarship for specialty training in obstetrics and gynecology – in Amman, Jordan. She was one of about 140 doctors whom Naim said the Gaza ministry sent for training there.

“We fought with all of our force and all our capabilities to get some of the young, freshly graduated doctors outside the country, to get a very professional training,” said Naim, himself a surgeon.

Pregnant with Reema as she prepared to take up the scholarship, Al-Attar had direct experience of the Israeli blockade. She needed to give birth in Jordan or delay her studies while waiting for permits to travel with the child, her husband, Dr Wajdy Jarbou, told Reuters.

Al-Attar had difficulty getting out. In April 2010, she made it to a hospital in Jordan less than 24 hours before Reema was born, Jarbou said.

She had left a system running under a siege mentality. Isolated by Israel and Fatah, Hamas was expanding informal social networks to tighten its grip on Gaza, smuggling goods from Egypt through tunnels, fostering charities, imposing taxes on the population and seeking aid from abroad.

“UNEXPECTED SUPPORT”

By 2022, Gaza had 3,412 hospital beds, almost a 70% increase from 2009, the earliest year for which health ministry data is available. That amounted to nearly 15.5 beds per 10,000 people – more than in Egypt, Jordan and Syria, but about half the Israeli total, according to the latest WHO data.

Gaza was helped by governments and charities abroad including the European Union, Indonesia, Kuwait, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Nations.

No clear data is available on how much all have spent. The records Reuters was able to review add up to a minimum of $2.2 billion since 2006, including almost $740 million from the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF and population fund UNFPA.

The main aid provider in Gaza is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Its reports do not say how much of the $4 billion it has dedicated to Gaza was spent on health, but they do show this was at least $75 million. UNRWA didn’t respond to questions about its medical spending.

Reuters could not access all the Gaza health ministry’s spending records. According to its public reports, its total spending was $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2022.

“One paradoxical consequence of the siege is that actually the health sector has witnessed an expansion,” said Cambridge University social scientist Mona Jebril, who published a 138-page study of Gaza’s health system in 2021. She attributed the growth to a range of factors, saying a well-functioning healthcare system was essential for Hamas’s survival.

Physicians in Israel also helped. Jaffa-based nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) began working with Gaza’s health ministry in 2009, said its head, Guy Shalev.

From 2010 until the war started, PHRI sent Israeli specialist doctors of Palestinian origin to Gaza on regular trips to train doctors on advanced medical procedures.

The Israeli physicians received “unexpected support and welcome from the ministry” run by Hamas, Shalev told Reuters. “Our impression was they were super motivated, in terms of making it work even in these very impossible conditions, getting the public health system to operate properly and provide for the people.”

The Israeli organization’s main contact in Gaza’s health ministry was its director general, Dr Munir Al-Bursh. The ministry said Al-Bursh was injured in a Dec. 21 Israeli airstrike on his home in Jabalia in northern Gaza – a strike that killed his daughter.

Al-Bursh’s wife said he is still recovering and so was not available for comment.

“HELL WITH THE PROTOCOL”

In 2016, Al-Attar and her husband returned to Gaza to work for the health ministry. Ministry data shows its hospitals then handled two-thirds of surgeries in Gaza, performing 66,051 procedures – an increase of nearly 13% since 2010.

She joined a health ministry project to lower maternal mortality, passing on skills she learned in Jordan and training doctors – many male – how to diagnose lung embolism and deep vein thrombosis, which can be fatal.

“She was the youngest, and the new one,” said her colleague and friend Dr Sana Najjar.

Daily life was characterized by power outages, slow internet, political instability and cycles of conflict. The system lacked stable supplies and still needed to refer certain patients to hospitals in Israel and elsewhere.

“We couldn’t afford fuel for her to get to work,” said her husband, Dr Jarbou. “She was – and not just her … subjected to many crises like this.”

He had also received specialist training in Jordan, as a radiologist. But in 2020, like many doctors in Gaza, he moved abroad for a better salary. He spoke to Reuters from his home in Oman, where Reema and her sisters joined him after their mother’s death.

In 2017, Al-Attar joined a study across four of Gaza’s hospitals, co-writing a paper published in The Lancet in 2021. It found that hospitals where newborns were thoroughly dried, received immediate skin-to-skin contact and enjoyed early breastfeeding had improved outcomes.

But she became frustrated with the ministry’s bureaucracy, which she felt too often left pregnant women at risk. She believed hospital procedures were not flexible enough to allow swift intervention when needed and poor communication between hospital departments also hampered care, colleagues said.

“She was feeling resistance everywhere,” said her friend, Najjar. In 2020, she moved to a more reliably paid role at UNRWA, the UN aid agency. The Gaza health ministry did not respond to a request for comment on those points.

Across UNRWA’s 22 health centers, Al-Attar was one of just three obstetric specialists, said Najjar, a family health officer at UNRWA.

Najjar said Al-Attar supported her at a center she ran in the southern city of Khan Younis, using her knowledge and connections to intervene for women at risk. She would personally offer to see each patient and would follow up through messages and calls.

“She said, ‘Hell with the protocol, hell with the schedule, refer to me any case,'” said Najjar. Al-Attar would be assigned 25 cases but see up to 50, and stay late to see patients.

Al-Attar also helped with guidance on whether refugees should be referred by UNRWA for Cesarean section – a more lucrative procedure for hospitals and thus liable to overuse, said Najjar. Preventing such surgeries when unnecessary can reduce risk for mothers and babies, health officials say.

Al-Attar herself had help from abroad. She was working to develop multidisciplinary training, bringing in midwives and doctors of all levels, said consultant Harrington, who works at Oxford University Hospital. Harrington and others visited Gaza annually since 2016 to help with training, funded by charities including UK non-profit Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

“Sireen was making the care of women better,” she said. “And she had gotten other people on board.”

SKIN GRAFTS VIA SKYPE

Gaza’s population was growing, increasing demand for obstetrics specialists. But it also needed doctors specialized in injury.

During a 2008-2009 war, doctors faced wounds caused by Israeli smokescreen munitions containing white phosphorus – a material that ignites instantly on contact with oxygen, sticks to surfaces such as skin and clothing, and burns deep into the flesh. Israel said it used the chemical in accordance with international regulations.

Patients who had more than 20% of their total body area burned died for lack of specialist facilities and expertise, doctors said. In Europe and the U.S., patients with even 90% burns could be helped to survive.

So Gaza’s medics sought training in burns.

Dr Medhat Saidam had attended medical school in Kazakhstan and returned to Gaza in the early 2000s. Most Thursdays in 2012 and 2013, he was one of a group of six surgeons and four nurses who would join a 6 a.m. Skype call from a room in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

On the line from Britain, where it was 4 a.m., Syria-born plastic surgeon Dr Ali Ghanem would lead the students in hands-on simulations of skin grafts and other training.

It was part of a distance-learning program on burn care at Queen Mary University of London. The blockade made it impossible for Gazan medics to attend on site.

“The Gazan cohort was so eager, extremely thirsty,” Ghanem said. “They developed their skills and grew very, very fast.”

Saidam focused on burns, limb reconstruction, and cleft lip and palate. He went on to mentor colleagues at Al Shifa on burn management, “like the big brother or the father of everyone else in the plastic surgery department,” recalled Dr Hasan Eljaish, who worked with him for 15 years there.

Gaza had only five practicing plastic surgeons with the same experience and training, Eljaish said.

The enclave was training more. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) helped, running clinics across Gaza and a burn care program at Al Shifa. To handle such burns involves a combination of specialisms, said Emmanuel Massart, the head of Gaza operations for MSF’s Belgian arm.

By late 2023, an MSF limb reconstruction center at another hospital, Al Awda, was treating more than 100 patients, each over a period of several years, Massart said.

“You really, really struggle to find specialists that can do that,” he said.

On Oct. 13, plastic surgeon Saidam, who had three daughters and a son, was on call at Al Shifa but asked Eljaish to cover while he left to help his sister evacuate her home.

The following day, ambulance workers extracted his body from beneath the rubble of his home in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike around 1 a.m., his colleagues said.

Eljaish said he saw Saidam’s body brought into the Shifa morgue.

Before Saidam left the hospital, “last I remember, he was playing with my son Ali,” who was 2.

In April, another of the five main plastic surgeons, Ahmad al-Maqadma, was killed with his mother in an IDF raid on Al Shifa hospital, friends and colleagues said.

Three of the five remain.

3D-PRINTED SUPPLIES

The day Hamas attacked Israel, kidney specialist Dr Hammam Alloh contacted Dr Tarek Loubani, a Canada-based physician and medical director of the Glia Project, a group that makes medical devices for conflict zones.

Alloh, 36, was looking for help with equipment for dialysis machinery. He had been treating kidney patients in Gaza since 2020. When they spoke, Loubani said, Alloh recalled a previous war in 2014: He remembered patients had died because hospitals could not obtain equipment such as dialyzers, tubing, needles, cartridges and bags.

Alloh asked what equipment could be made in Gaza using 3D-printing, Loubani told Reuters. “Unfortunately, the answer was ‘not very much in the context of dialysis.'”

In 2007, when Israel’s blockade began, Gaza had no certified kidney experts, doctors said.

By October 2023, it had three, including Alloh. There were 1,061 patients on dialysis treatment at six hospitals, according to the WHO.

Since the war started, Israel and Egypt have granted permission for 153 of Gaza’s dialysis patients to continue treatment abroad, though not all have been able to leave, a WHO spokesperson told Reuters.

With much dialysis equipment destroyed or damaged in the fighting, 760 patients were being treated in two facilities as of April 25, the WHO spokesperson said. There they receive only partial care, which makes them prone to disease and worsens their condition, the spokesperson said.

The remainder have not been reporting for dialysis. It is possible that they are dead, he said.

Less than a month before the Hamas attack, Alloh attended a meeting to spearhead a program for Gazan doctors to receive specialist training in nephrology in Gaza instead of abroad.

A longer-term goal was to establish a kidney transplant program, three doctors familiar with the plans told Reuters. Transplants were preferable because the blockade made dialysis supplies unreliable.

Alloh was “really thinking huge, like, ‘We’re going to get nephrology to world-class levels,'” recalled Loubani.

But five weeks after the kidney doctor contacted Loubani, Alloh was killed in an airstrike on his in-laws’ house near Al Shifa Hospital, relatives and colleagues said.

Another kidney specialist left Gaza in January. Now, there is one.

8 June 2024

Source: astroawani.com

By FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE

Israel claims that the poorly worded 24 May ruling by the International Court of Justice gives it license to continue attacking Palestinians in Gaza, if it warns civilians to evacuate combat zones and move to safe ‘humanitarian zones’. But we have geolocated three recent strikes within areas Israel suggested were safe.

Before Israel bombed Tel al-Sultan, it told civilians to flee there for safety.

On 26 May, Israel bombed a tent camp for displaced civilians in Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah, killing at least 45 people, including children. The airstrike—and graphic videos that circulated on social media in the aftermath, showing dismembered, charred bodies—shocked survivors, who thought they were in an area Israel had declared safe. Outraged foreign officials expressed horror and denounced Israel’s bombing of a ‘camp inside a designated safe zone’.

In response, Israel’s military urged journalists to report that, ‘contrary to Hamas’ lies and misinformation’, the bombs were not dropped on tents inside the boundaries of the ‘Al-Mawasi Humanitarian Area’ that Israel had unilaterally declared on 6 May. That line, and an Israeli map of the ‘expanded humanitarian area’ Israel directed citizens of eastern Rafah to evacuate to on 6 May, which did not include Tel al-Sultan, featured prominently in news reports and graphics explaining where the strike had taken place.

But those news articles and graphics failed to make an important point: before 6 May, Israel’s military had published a different map of the ‘humanitarian zone’ around al-Mawasi that stretched further south and included the part of Tel al-Sultan where the tent camp was located. That map was published in infographics as part of a 6 December press release from Israel’s military, which accused Hamas of firing rockets ‘from al-Mawasi humanitarian zone’. The same Israeli press release also included an aerial photograph and precise coordinates for another alleged launch site near tents in Tel al-Sultan, just a few hundred metres from the site of the 26 May attack. That image featured a boundary for a discrete ‘humanitarian zone’, which has not been referenced or described in any other material published by the Israeli military during the current invasion of Gaza.

In a crucial way, Israel’s description that the previously defined humanitarian zone had been ‘expanded’ was misleading. While the 6 May area designated safe by Israel is larger than that included in the map published on 6 December, the ‘humanitarian zone’ has in fact been moved, without this being fully or clearly communicated to the civilians who would have relied upon that information for their safety. And importantly, the southern portion of the zone as it was defined in December was, without explanation, excluded on 6 May. That change, unacknowledged by the Israeli military, and largely unknown to the Palestinian population, meant that thousands of people sheltering in the Tel al-Sultan tent camp were no longer safe from attack, as they had been promised by Israel months earlier.

Satellite imagery shows an expansion of tents in areas within the newly excluded portion of the humanitarian area between 6 May and 26 May, underlining that the news of the boundary changes had not reached many Palestinian civilians fleeing west from Rafah ahead of the expected Israeli ground invasion.

What’s more, in the months before 6 May, Israel’s military repeatedly defined Tel al-Sultan as a ‘humanitarian zone’. When Abu Mohamed Abu Al-Sabaa, a 67-year-old survivor of the Israeli attack on the camp, spoke to the Palestinian journalist Mohamed El Saife the day after the strike, he was holding the Israeli leaflet that led him to seek safety there. The leaflet explicitly directed civilians to evacuate their homes in other parts of Gaza and go to ‘the humanitarian zone in Tel al-Sultan’ for their ‘safety’.

Our report Inhumane Zones, published on 20 May, repeated our earlier warnings that Israel has failed to publish consistent, clear information that is accessible to Palestinian civilians in any way that can credibly be called ‘humanitarian’. Another such instance occurred on 22 May, in this social media post by the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson.

On-screen text within the video attached to the post reads: ‘the safe zone was expanded from Deir al-Balah in the north, to blocks 2360, 2371, 2373 in the south’, following a ‘block’ system devised by the Israeli military, but not widely understood on the ground, where for many among Gaza’s civilian population, there are no means to figure out what ‘block’ they are in.

The 22 May social media post did not clarify whether these blocks were included or excluded. Indeed, the newly defined boundary appears to cut directly through those three blocks. Adding to the confusion, a bizarre decision by the Israeli military’s video graphics team made the information contained in the video significantly harder to reliably understand: while the video slowly expands the newly defined highlighted area, the remainder of the map retains its size, which makes it look like additional parts of southern Gaza have now been included in the safe area.

The Israeli military’s communication of ‘safe’ or ‘humanitarian’ zones in this way—relying on low-resolution maps and confusing motion graphics—is demonstrably ineffective and leaves civilians in harm’s way. This lack of clarity is part of a pattern since October 2023 of unclear, inconsistent, and contradictory information published by the Israeli military regarding so-called ‘safe zones’ and ‘evacuation orders’.

Attacks in grey zones and in the ‘expanded humanitarian zone’

We have also identified additional recent examples of attacks outside of designated ‘evacuation areas’, which have resulted in civilian loss of life, and of Israeli airstrikes occurring within the 6 May boundaries of the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.

A day before the Tel al-Sultan bombing, on 25 May, in Jabalia, the Israeli army attacked al-Nazla school where displaced people had taken refuge. Ten civilians were reportedly killed.

The school is located in Block 975, according to the Israeli evacuation grid system. On 11 May, the Israeli army had issued an evacuation order to large parts of Jabalia in north Gaza. However, Block 975 was outside the area ordered to evacuate.

A reporter for Al-Araby noted that the school was considered by those sheltering there to be in a ‘safe area’, since it was excluded from the zone ordered to evacuate.

According to the Al-Araby report, the school did not receive any warning calls or leaflets ordering evacuation before the strike, which killed five women and five children, the oldest of whom was 14.

Critically, our analysis of recent video evidence indicates that Israel is also conducting airstrikes in areas that are clearly within the most recently defined boundaries of the ‘expanded humanitarian area’, announced on 6 May. This video from 24 May clearly shows an Israeli missile landing well inside the boundaries of the area Israel has most recently encouraged civilians to shelter within.

We geolocated this airstrike west of Asdaa City in Khan Younis. The crater left by this attack is visible in a satellite image from 25 May 2024.

By Alex Lantier

Since the failure last year of the Ukrainian army’s “counteroffensive” against Russia, NATO countries have relentlessly escalated their war with Russia in Ukraine, authorizing the Kiev regime to launch missile strikes on Russia and pledging to send their own troops to Ukraine. An interview with top NATO officials published yesterday in Britain’s Daily Telegraph, titled “NATO land corridors could rush US troops to front line in event of European war,” highlights that NATO plans to escalate the war from Ukraine across Europe.

Examining the Telegraph article puts paid to arguments that NATO’s escalation against Russia aims to defend Ukraine’s borders or European democracy. NATO is preparing a continental war, sending hundreds of thousands of troops for operations along Russia’s entire western border, from Finland to the Balkans. Even if the implementation of NATO’s plans did not immediately trigger nuclear war, which is a very real danger, it would plunge Europe into mass slaughter on a scale unseen since World War II.

Lt. General Alexander Sollfrank, of NATO’s Logistics Command, told the Telegraph NATO plans to take over Europe’s port and ground transport infrastructure, in order to send US troops arriving in Europe’s Atlantic ports across the continent to Russia. In these transport corridors, which NATO expects would face devastating air attacks, local laws would be suspended.

The Telegraph published a diagram of planned “transport corridors” across Europe. Initial NATO plans call for US troops to land in Rotterdam or Hamburg, in northwestern Europe. However, they can also arrive at the western Italian ports of Genoa or La Spezia; in Athens; in the Norwegian port of Bergen; or in Turkish ports. NATO military officers would take over key road and rail infrastructure to send US troops across Europe to the Russian border. The Telegraph wrote:

“NATO is developing multiple ‘land corridors’ to rush US troops and armour to the front lines in the event of a major European ground war with Russia. American soldiers would land at one of five ports and be channelled along pre-planned logistical routes to confront a possible attack by Moscow, officials told The Telegraph. … But arrangements are also being made behind the scenes to expand the routes to other ports to ensure the ground line of communications cannot be severed by Moscow’s forces.

“In these corridors, national militaries will not be restricted by local regulation,” the Telegraph added, “and will be free to transport consignments without normal restrictions.”

These plans for military rule and war are the outcome of Ukraine war planning that has gone on for at least a year, behind the backs of the people. The Telegraph noted: “Logistical routes have become a key priority since NATO leaders agreed to prepare 300,000 troops to be kept in a state of high readiness to defend the alliance at a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, last year.”

Russia has thousands of high-precision ballistic missiles with nuclear or conventional warheads, and NATO expects its “land corridors” would be under relentless attack. “NATO only has 5 percent of the necessary air defences to cover its eastern flank,” the Telegraph stated. Indeed, Sollfrank told the Telegraph that the task of defending Europe’s major ports and transport hubs is all but hopeless.

“With regards to air defence, it’s always scarce. I cannot imagine a situation that you have enough air defence,” he said. “Observing and assessing the Russian war in Ukraine, we have observed Russia has attacked Ukraine’s logistics bases. That must lead to the conclusion that it is clear that huge logistics bases, as we know them from Afghanistan and Iraq, are no longer possible, because they will be attacked and destroyed very early on in a conflict situation.”

NATO therefore plans to disperse US troops across other, unidentified European ports, even before the main ports are destroyed. Given the likelihood that “NATO forces entering from the Netherlands are hit by Russian bombardment, or northern European ports are destroyed,” the Telegraph said, “arrangements are also being made behind the scenes to expand the routes to other ports to ensure the ground line of communications cannot be severed by Moscow’s forces.”

These lines in the Telegraph reveal the mood of criminal recklessness that is spreading over the entire political and media establishment in the NATO countries. The firebombing of Rotterdam by the Nazis and Hamburg by the British air force were horrific imperialist war crimes of World War II. Yet the Telegraph casually mentions these ports’ destruction, without asking the cost in lives, the catastrophic impact this would have on Europe’s economy—or, above all, what could be done to avert an escalation towards such an outcome.

But in response to the rapid fall of their global economic position, as well as explosive social anger at home, the NATO imperialist powers are pressing ahead. They are determined to inflict “strategic defeat” on Russia, force regime change in Moscow, and loot Russia’s vast reserves of oil, gas and other natural resources. Their support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, like their callous indifference to millions of preventable deaths of their own citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, is a warning that they will not be deterred by the danger of catastrophic loss of life.

Indeed, NATO itself confirmed that it is preparing to act on the plans outlined in the Telegraph, while reporting on its massive, recently-concluded “Steadfast Defender” war game. A May 31 press release from NATO headquarters in Mons, Belgium stated:

“Steadfast Defender was the first large-scale NATO exercise series where new regional defence plans, adopted at the Vilnius Summit, were put into action. More than 90,000 forces, more than 50 ships, more than 80 aircraft flying hundreds of sorties, and more than 1100 combat vehicles from all 32 NATO Allies were involved in the exercise. …
Part one was a maritime-focused live exercise that involved various headquarters rehearsing the strategic deployment of forces from North America to continental Europe. Part two was a multi-domain demonstration of NATO, national and multinational military capabilities across continental Europe.

A further indication that both NATO and the Kremlin expect NATO’s Vilnius plans to be acted upon is the recent surge in Russian submarine activity in the Atlantic. Were US troops to be ferried across the Atlantic for war with Russia, Russian attack submarines could be tasked with launching long-range guided missile strikes to destroy US troop transports before they arrive in Europe.

In April, NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe General Christopher Cavoli testified about Russian submarine activity to the US Congress: “Their patrols into the Atlantic and throughout the Atlantic are at a high level most of the time, at a higher level than we’ve seen in years.” Since then, there have been numerous reports that a dozen Russian attack submarines are patrolling the Atlantic.

The principal danger today is that broad masses of workers and youth are not fully aware of the gravity of the danger, and the urgent necessity of building an international anti-war movement in the working class. The ICFI explained in its recent statement, “Stop the US-NATO escalation toward nuclear war! Unite the international working class against imperialist war and genocide!”:

“28. There is only one way that the spiral toward disaster can be avoided, and that is through the intervention of the working class to force an end to this war. This demand must be combined with a struggle to end Israel’s genocidal onslaught against Gaza. …
29. The working class must use its power to stop this war, which is plummeting toward disaster. The mobilization of this power requires overcoming the gap between the advanced stage of the global political crisis and the present level of mass political consciousness. This solving of this historic problem requires the development of a Marxist-Trotskyist leadership and the revolutionary renewal of the international workers’ movement on the basis of socialist policies.

5 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Justice Markandey Katju

“ Yeh do din ka kya maajra ho gaya
Ki jangal ka jangal hara ho gaya “

The most important outcome of the results of the recent parliamentary elections in India is that the nightmare for Indian Muslims is over.

Muslims in India are about 200 million i.e. about 15% of India’s total population of about 1400 million ( of which about 80% are Hindus ).

Even before the right wing Hindu party,  the BJP, came to power in 2014 Muslims in India were often victimised, demonised, and discriminated against. But this was usually sporadic, often covert, and temporary, since the Congress and other secular parties kept it to some extent in check, with an eye on the large Muslim vote bank.

After the BJP came to power in 2014 such atrocities and oppression of Indian Muslims increased exponentially, and became overt, continuous, and virulent.

Lynching of Muslims ( on false allegations of eating and selling beef ), bulldozing their houses, beating them brutally for not saying ‘Jai Shri Ram’, arresting and incarcerating them in prison for several years on false and fabricated charges of being terrorists, gangsters, and molesters and seducers of Hindu women, became commonplace. Cow vigilantes had a field day, and Muslims were fair game.

Narendra Modi, the present Indian Prime Minister, had a prominent role in this.

He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001, and organized the massacre of 2000-3000 Muslims in that state in 2002.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/satyam-bruyat/page/4/?source=app&frmapp=yes

After becoming Prime Minister of India he regularly oppressed and organized atrocities on Muslims, not only to secure Hindu votes, but even more because it was part of his RSS mindset.

The RSS ( Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ) is a fascist Hindu organization which the British rulers of India created in 1925 as part of their divide and policy, and was the other side of the same coin as the Muslim League, both being British agents.

What is imbibed in all members of the RSS is hatred of Muslims. In his book ‘A Bunch of Thoughts’ ( which is compulsory reading for all RSS members ) a former RSS leader M.S. Golwalkar ( known as Guruji by RSS members) has spouted venom on Indian Muslims, calling them foreign invaders, looters, rapists, gangsters and terrorists,

Modi has obviously read all this, since he had joined the RSS at a very young age, and like all RSS members he has a pathological hatred of Muslims, as became evident throughout his 10: year term as Prime Minister in which in almost all his public statements he denigrated Muslims. Throughout his term of office Indian Muslims lived in fear and terror, like Jews in Nazi Germany.

State and educational institutions were sought to be ‘saffronised’, and science and education perverted

In his speeches during the recent parliamentary elections Modi again spouted venom against Muslims, calling them ghuspethiyas ( foreign infiltrators ) though the truth is that 95% Indian Muslims are descended from Hindu ancestors who for some reason converted to Islam, but were never foreigners, and the remaining 5% too were soon Indianised. His mention of mangal sutra, mutton, murga, mujra etc reveals his low culture

However, in my opinion dark days for Indian Muslims are over.

The results of the recent parliamentary elections show that that BJP has won only 240 seats in the 545 seat Lok Sabha, which is well short of the half way mark of 273. To form a government it will have to take the help of allies, particularly Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, and Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. But these two are reputed past masters in extracting concessions from big alliance partners and blackmail. They will surely demand lucrative portfolios like Finance Ministry, Commerce Ministry, etc where they can make a lot of money. They will also demand special status for their states, and that they should have a say in legislation

This being the situation,  even if Modi again becomes the Prime Minister it will not be the strong Modi with 56 inch chest whom we have known so far, but only a weak caricature and shadow of that figure.

He will certainly not be allowed to torment Muslims as he did in the last 10 years, firstly by his coalition partners, who do not wish to lose Muslim votes, and also by a resurgent opposition, the INDIA alliance

All Indian Muslims are breathing  free.

Justice Markandey Katju is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India

5 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Hiren Gohain

Several people phoned this morning to say that after a long time they had sound,undisturbed sleep.I had to reply that I too had the same feeling of deep relief.As though a dark pall of cloud had lifted from our mind showing clear and blue skies.A Muslim friend said that for some years past he had been wondering whether he really belonged to the country of his birth,the land where generations of his family lived and died.After the results he felt that it was indeed his country.Very much so.

The poll results have decidedly cleared the miasma of the Modi myth and magic.That some people have asked for his resignation is understandable. For he had been campaigning for months to the neglect of his minimum official duties,and practically in his own own name as an agent of God.It did not gel.Even his own seat  has been retained with a much reduced majority.The latest blunder had been the clumsy attempt to foment anti-Muslim phobia now that the clamour about ‘Vikash’ has met a blank wall of ennui.

The opposition has fought well,though one wished bickerings among members had died down much earlier.For the dismal results of Delhi may well be a fall-out of the ill-tempered barbs of Kejriwal and counters from Congress until practically the last minute.

One notices with pleasant surprise Rahul Gandhi’s patient and open-minded negotiations with various regional leaders for alliance and his skill in patching up rifts in it.The earlier obstinate and unrealistic demand for pre-eminence has given way to a seasoned acceptance of modest fellowship.During the press conference after the results the importance given to alliance and partnership in response to probing and teasing questions from the press revealed the same maturity.Incidentally this maturity was seen in his cameraderie with Akhilesh Yadav,which saw to a stunning collapse in BJP’s hitherto impregnable walls in UP.

Rahul declared in the press conference that the striking performance of the INDIA alliance stemmed from its stout defence of India’s constitution.The common people responded to the calamities of high prices of everything that makes life sustainable and the scorching unemployment.But in a way they had certainly voted for the Constitution,for it is the Constitution that compels the rulers to enable people to live a life of dignity,free from nagging want and demeaning poverty.The cash transfers under welfare schemes are welcome in conditions of severe drought of money,but a life of dependence as a beneficiary surely lacks dignity.Dictatorship and despotism in conditions like those in our country usually follow from a will to suppress such dignity.

The INDIA alliance too has any number of ‘beneficiary schemes’.But while that is necessary as palliative,it hardly meets the basic problem of neo-liberal economy.The latter allows business tycoons to store essential vegetables and staples of daily meals for unlimited periods in expectation of higher prices while their prices soar in open market.Or huge chunks of them may be exported while people starve as these become unaffordable at home.While one cannot think of just snapping out of it recklessly,there has got to be neasures to moderate its heat.

Rahul Gandhi quipped that the Adani-Modi nexus is proved by the rise and fall of the stock market with changing fortunes of Modi regime.Actually it is not Adani shares alone,but ALL shares that mimic the ascent and  decline of the Modi government’s fortunes.For it is basically a government tied up with big business houses.That is neoliberal state in a nutshell.It is geared to the monopolists relentless,maniacal and heartless pursuit of profit to the peril of life and livelihood of the common people, the culture of co-operation and human fellow-feeling as well as the natural environment of all life.

Modi’s speech accepting the results from Vajpeyee Bhavan bore the same characteristics of his histrionics and rhetoric.But the verve was lacking,the long-drawn periods forced and mechanical.He congratulated the people for upholding democracy.

It is ironic if a little frightening that one with patent dictatorial pretensions should proclaim such devotion to democracy.Whatever he means by it.But it IS a vast relief to find that the people have shaken off their stupor to reclaim their ownership of the government,something the preamble to our Constitution so compellingly articulate.

There are many people who think that the alarm about EVMs had been false and groundless. But with the ECI so oddly acting like an agency of the government in power and itself formed in such conditions of dubiousness, there was no guarantee that when everything else of value had been traduced they would not have tried to hack its programming.It was only the vigilance of the people including civil rights activists,IT experts,former bureaucrats,responsible lawyers and former judges,that appears to have deterred miscreants from mischief.

The courts have had their fair share of blame and public censure when they fell far short of expectations in this critical phase of our history.But to be really fair one has to concede that the SC at this crucial juncture acted several times to indirectly inject vigour into the flagging campaign for democracy,as when it swatted the blatant rigging of election of Chandigarh’s mayor,when it blew the whistle on the Electoral Bonds scam,or when it cut down to size Baba Ramdev,whose brazen impunity had left most people incredulous but helpless.

Yes, all of us have tried and done our bit for our beloved country and out cherished Constitution.The next steps must also be taken with a mixture of courage and circumspection.

Hiren Gohain is a political commentator

5 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Nilofar Suhrawardy

Notwithstanding the hype raised about the so-called “Modi-wave,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has failed to win the needed number of seats to form the government on its own strength. At the same time, in all probability, if this party’s campaign didn’t rest primarily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “image,” BJP may not have won even 240 seats. This certainly suggests that Modi’s strategies did succeed but hardly to his and his party’s satisfaction. Where did he err? And which factors weren’t considered by those assuming that he’d return for the third term with a thumping majority?

Clearly, the BJP and its supporters were over-confident about the impact of Modi-wave, which really carried little importance, as results suggest for majority of voters. Certainly, Modi did succeed in dominating media headlines at home and abroad on issues he viewed as important for electoral purposes. But even attention paid by him to his religious-card, particularly regarding the grandiose Hindu temple at Ayodhya, has carried little importance. His party failed to win even from the constituency (Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh), where the temple is situated. BJP has failed to win even 50% of seats from Uttar Pradesh, with the regional party- Samajwadi Party (SP) taking the lead here. In all probability, the voters saw through Modi’s “religious-show” at Ayodhya as his electoral propaganda and thus refused to be blinded by the same. Also, certain reports indicate that Ayodhya-show, paid little importance to grievances faced by people of the area. Undeniably, Modi went overboard in playing this card. Of course, he did gain attention but that rested primarily on manipulated agenda focusing on propagating his image as well as status. But a card of this nature can yield gains only for a limited period. It is likely to collapse if it fails to spell any gains for voters. This is what has apparently happened in Ayodhya and greater part of UP.

Besides, little importance was apparently paid to economic grievances of people at various levels. Younger generation of Indian voters appears to have given substantial significance to this fact. They are agitated by issues such as unemployment, increasing inflation, the hard reality of rich growing richer, poor-poorer and so forth. Modi’s rhetoric, weaving dreams, mattered little for them. With two terms as prime minister, in their opinion, he had been given ten years to fulfil his promises but he had failed them. It may be noted, the extensive display of religious-card by Modi carried little appeal for voters more concerned about their economic problems.

What has perhaps shocked BJP supporters most is that the party has performed dismally in the key state in Hindi-belt, that is UP. It is possible, if the opposition parties had not aligned and campaigned together on a fairly strong note, BJP may have performed better. Over-confidence, resting exclusively on Modi’s image appears to have failed BJP. In quite a few states, opposition parties’ alliance- INDIA-bloc and regional parties’ electoral fight was apparently guided by their campaign against Modi/BJP. Their primary aim was aggressively guided to be united to push Modi-led government out of power. Of course, the opposition parties have fallen short of their target. Yet, their least expected success has at least prevented BJP from securing the needed majority- winning 272 seats in 543-member Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament). Apart from UP, the anti-Modi strategy has also worked in limiting BJP’s success in southern India, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Punjab and several other parts.

Against this backdrop, what can be said regarding opinion polls as well as exit polls predicting a return of Modi with a strong majority? Frankly speaking, these can hardly be relied upon. With India home to numerous political parties and cultural diversities, it is practically impossible to secure a reliable opinion of any group for the political party they may support/oppose. Besides, there is no denying, voters don’t always give their actual opinion on who they support/oppose. Fear prevents quite a few from actually stating the truth about who they support and vote for. So even if these polls (opinion and exit) are actually genuine, there is no guarantee that they are really based on correct data.

In essence, Modi-wave never really existed but a hype about it was certainly promoted through manufactured “news” and manipulated strategies. Voters woke to this hard reality when confronted by their economic grievances not being resolved by BJP-rhetoric resting on Modi-wave. Besides, opposition parties’ decision to give a strong fight to BJP has played a key role in spelling an electoral setback for Modi. This includes the marches undertaken by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, his parties’ seat sharing deal with other parties of India-bloc, joint-campaigns and so-forth. Modi himself was forced to stop making fun of Rahul Gandhi during his election campaigns. Overall, with this being an era of communication-boom, even semi-literate and illiterate voters may be viewed as smart enough to understand political language of leaders in the electoral fray. This is strongly suggested by their viewing Modi’s Ayodhya-card as his electoral card and not religious. BJP’s dismal performance in UP further proves this. Simply speaking, when image/hype about a politician’s “wave” rests primarily on manufactured agenda, it cannot float for too long. It is bound to be pricked democratically and burst like a balloon as these election results indicate. There is nothing surprising about this. Clearly, Indian democracy and secularism is too strong to let such balloons- including communal – float for too long!

Nilofar Suhrawardy is a senior journalist and writer with specialization in communication studies and nuclear diplomacy.

5 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By John P. Ruehl

Despite some Western expectations of an imminent decline in Russian backing for the conflict in Ukraine, akin to the fading public support observed in recent Western conflicts, Russia’s civilians and soldiers exhibit an unwavering determination to sustain their support.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing for a two-day trip on May 15, 2024, and was greeted with a red-carpet welcome by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders pledged a “new era” for the Russia-China relationship, building on their “no limits partnership” struck just before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. As Putin’s first foreign trip since winning reelection in March, the visit showcased his and Russia’s enduring stature amid the war in Ukraine.

Despite Russia’s 2024 election being marked by systemic repression of serious alternative parties and candidates and decades of brazen statements about Russia’s “managed” democracy, Putin captured 87 percent of the vote from a record-high voter turnout. Even with some self-censorship and a slight drop in approval, the Russian public still largely backs the war, despite a largely static frontline, the severance of ties with Europe, declines in living standards, and the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers. The staggering number of casualties is mirrored in Ukraine, a nation that Putin and many Russians consider a brotherly nation and the mother culture of Russia.

In contrast, U.S. domestic support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began to decline markedly a couple of years after the conflicts began, and predictions of a collapse in Russian public support for the war emerged soon after it began. Yet although the costs of Russia’s war in Ukraine continue to escalate and it appears far from conclusion, several reasons have compelled Russian citizens to continue supporting the war and the President who initiated it.

Opposition to war in Russia faces unique challenges not encountered in the U.S., but convincing a population that war is unavoidable is essential for any government to sustain a war effort. The Kremlin has framed the nation’s military actions as a noble fight to save ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine from a fascist regime in Kyiv—a narrative that resonates with many Russians and the country’s history in World War II. Highlighting growing restrictions on the Russian language in Ukraine furthers this message, while Russia’s excuse that they were answering cries for help in Ukraine echoes their 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. Russian media also portrays their forces as minimizing civilian casualties, as Ukraine is accused of targeting civilians in Russia, and Ukraine’s failure to hold scheduled elections in 2024 has been used to question President Zelensky’s legitimacy.

By portraying Ukraine as the mother culture of Russia, Putin has cast the invasion through a historical and patriotic lens. The conflict is framed as an internal matter of reasserting Russian dominance over the ancestral homeland that birthed Russian language, religion, and political origins, against an illegitimate Ukrainian government that currently occupies the country. Russian nationalism can be rallied by invoking ethnic unity, territorial patrimony, and the need to rectify Ukraine’s separation from Moscow, making it easier to dismiss Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Russia has also deflected its violations of the UN Charter against non-aggression by depicting itself as an aggrieved party, forced into war by the U.S.-led West and its vassal states, sentiment reflected in national polls, and supported by notable figures like Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, who in January 2024 stated that Ukraine was under the complete control of Washington. On May 1, 2024, an exhibition of captured Western weapons, vehicles, and equipment since the start of the war opened in Moscow—much like Kyiv’s in May 2022 which showed captured Russian equipment. The Kremlin connects everything to the war—including the recent attack by ISIS in Moscow. In contrast, the American public increasingly began to believe that U.S. leaders had misled them into the War on Terror, particularly the War in Iraq, which it felt could have been avoided.

Russians’ support for the war has manifested as the culmination of decades of “patriotic mobilization” that has taken place since Putin’s first term. The cultivation of nationalist sentiment, pervasive across media, culture, and politics, has intensified significantly since the invasion. The Russian identity is increasingly intertwined with the existential need to protect Russians abroad, shield Russia from NATO, and bolster Russia’s status as a great power.

Preparing and instilling confidence in the Russian armed forces’ ability to sustain a major conflict has been ongoing for decades. Russian forces engaged in counterinsurgency operations in Russia’s restive region of Chechnya in the 2000s and supported a limited conflict in support of two restive regions in neighboring Georgia in 2008. Subsequently, Russian forces seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and supported a limited conflict in support of Ukraine’s restive border region with Russia. In 2015, they launched a major military operation to rescue Syrian President Assad in 2015. With relative success in Syria, the significant escalation of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine in 2022 did not come as a surprise. This contrasts with the perceived failures of Western military interventions in the 21st Century, causing domestic confidence in the U.S. military to decline as well as the scale of the military’s operations.

To alleviate domestic concern stemming from severing Russia’s historical connections with Europe, as well as distancing by other countries to comply with Western sanctions, Putin has embarked on a series of foreign trips to show Russia’s resiliency. Visits to Belarus and other former Soviet states in Central Asia and the Caucasus have helped stabilize its regional influence. Visits to Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have served to demonstrate Russia’s enduring influence in the Middle East, while Russia has also hosted dozens of foreign leaders from the Global South, as well as those of Hungary and Austria.

However, Russia’s ties with China form its most crucial bilateral relationship. Despite the power imbalance, Putin’s May visit to China reaffirmed Moscow’s strategic relationship with Beijing. Russia’s capacity to confront the U.S. and collaborate with other major powers offers reassurance that has erased much of the pain of the geopolitical decline that accompanied the Soviet collapse.

Moscow has also aimed to counter any moral superiority by the West in Ukraine by highlighting Washington’s and Kyiv’s support for Israel since October 7. Framing it as part of Russia’s confrontation with the West for a new multipolar world order, the Kremlin hopes to legitimize its policies and broaden Russia’s appeal to the Global South. Following the Nigerien government’s expulsion of U.S. troops in May 2024 and the invitation of Russian forces, images of Russian troops entering the same airbase where U.S. military personnel were stationed further underscored Russia’s assertive struggle with the West and wider geopolitical ambitions.

Furthermore, Russian citizens have been shielded from the economic repercussions of the war through subsidized fuel, food, and other essential resources. Russia’s substantial gold and foreign reserves have helped fund the war and prevented extended currency volatility, while the imposition of hefty penalties on foreign companies considering leaving Russia has deterred many Western firms from exiting or compelled them to pay significant costs.

Russia’s major economic partners, most importantly China and India, have helped maintain stability in Russia’s exports and imports. Western sanctions have also by design not crippled the Russian economy, as preventing Russian resources from reaching global markets would cause prices to spike.

Moreover, the Russian public has also been largely spared from devastation. Ukrainian attacks within Russia have mostly been limited to small flareups in border regions and attacks on energy and transport facilities, and Ukrainian forces are still restricted from using Western weapons. Sabotage attacks in Russia have also risen, but the situation is manageable.

In contrast to Ukrainian citizens, no Russian civilians have been forcefully committed to fight. The 2022 partial mobilization called up reservists, while recent changes to laws have meant Russia has been more easily able to offer generous contracts to annual conscripts soon after their training has concluded. Compared to the forced conscription videos in Ukraine, Russian media can claim it only uses volunteers and those already part of the armed forces.

Russian soldiers who are injured, as well as the families of Russian soldiers who died in service, receive substantial compensation. Though payment is often delayed, the modest backgrounds of most Russian soldiers mean that these funds can be life-changing. The use of prisoners in particularly perilous military operations has also shielded regular Russian soldiers, with Ukraine only considering this practice earlier this year.

Nevertheless, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed and hundreds of thousands more seriously wounded. This tests the casualties hypothesis, which states that the public’s willingness to remain engaged in a military intervention declines as casualties mount. The Soviet Union’s 10-year war in Afghanistan saw 15,000 Soviet troops killed and eventually helped lead to the downfall of the country, while the deeply unpopular Iraq War saw 4,500 U.S. soldier deaths and saw the Bush administration’s popularity decline considerably.

Undoubtedly, the Russian government distorts official casualty figures. Yet it is crucial to contextualize Russia’s losses in Ukraine within the context of recent history. The COVID-19 pandemic claimed more than 400,000 Russian lives, far surpassing the casualties in Ukraine.

Furthermore, the Russian public’s stomach in the face of such significant losses may be influenced by the large number of deaths of prominent Russians since the beginning of the war. Across Russian media, the war and its repercussions have shown that even the country’s most influential individuals can be killed and have their assets stripped, contributing to a sense of collective sacrifice amid the conflict.

Amid the chaos of the war, dozens of Russian oligarchs and political figures have been killed in suspicious circumstances both in Russia and overseas, in a public settling of scores, opportunism, and punishment from the Kremlin for disobedience. A day after Russian forces entered Ukraine, the body of Alexander Tyulyakov, a senior executive of Gazprom’s corporate security, was found hanging in his garage. Ravil Maganov, chairman of the board of Russia’s oil giant Lukoil, allegedly fell out of a Moscow hospital window in September 2022. In December, businessman Vladimir Bidenov died of heart problems at the Hotel Sai International in India—two days later his business associate and deputy in the Legislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast, Pavel Antov, fell out of a window at the same hotel.

While the deaths of oligarchs and politicians may offer some solace to ordinary Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine, there has also been a significant loss of high-ranking military officials. Some, like Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov, were also killed in suspicious circumstances. However, the necessity for high-ranking Russian military officials to remain near the frontlines, owing to a more top-down decision-making military structure and the risk of electronic eavesdropping by Ukrainian and Western advisors, contributes to their higher casualty rate.

Alongside hundreds of other high-profile deaths, Russia has confirmed that seven general officers had been killed in Ukraine by 2024, with Ukraine claiming more than 14 had been killed by early 2023. The last time a U.S. general was killed in combat was in 2014 when an Afghan serviceman opened fire on NATO personnel in Kabul; prior to that, no American general had lost their life in combat since the Vietnam War. With this backdrop of sacrifice and solidarity among Russian elites, Russia’s “rally-‘round-the-flag” effect may sustain itself longer than expected.

Russians appear to believe time and demographics are on their side. According to a March 2024 poll by Russia’s Levada Center, after decades of emigration, the share of Russians expressing a desire to move abroad hit a record low, partly in response to many of those wanting to leave having already done so. Nevertheless, Finion, a Moscow-based relocation firm, stated that 40 to 45 percent of Russians who fled abroad had since returned, driven by factors such as cracking down on remote work, visa issues, reduced fears of conscription, and a general desire to return.

And while tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have perished, along with thousands more ethnic Russians in occupied parts of Ukraine, millions of those living in those occupied territories have already been incorporated into the Russian Federation’s pre-existing 144 million citizens. Conversely, Ukraine, with 37 million people before the war, has faced a population exodus compounding already challenging demographics.

By early 2024, the prevailing sentiment was that Russia had gained a fragile upper hand. Victory, though potentially pyrrhic, appears increasingly likely, if loosely defined, in Russia. Yet, as the conflict drags on, sustained by a Russian economy increasingly geared toward the war, the pursuit of victory may wane as casualties and other costs mount. The Kremlin’s anxieties are now focused on Western nations, led by the UK, France, and Poland, allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons in Russia, which would further bring the war home to Russian civilians and internal infrastructure.

While projecting an image of composure to the public, tensions are unquestionably simmering in the Kremlin. Estimates regarding Russia’s capacity to sustain the war in its current state typically hover around two to three years. Yet unwavering support for Putin, coupled with the absence of viable alternatives, may extend his strong personal commitment to the war indefinitely. While Russia appears capable of and determined to continue the war, its uncertain future will continue to test the Russian public’s tacit enthusiasm for it.

Putin’s willingness to continue the war is seen as something to exploit in the West. Western policymakers have witnessed Russia increasingly commit its domestic resources to the conflict, as well as recently shift from calling it a “special military operation” to a war. Steadily increasing Ukraine’s technical capacity to fight a war of attrition will continue to wear down Russia’s Soviet arsenal and deployment of arms abroad, demonstrating the feebleness of Russia’s production and advanced weapons systems. By provoking a Russian defeat, it is hoped a second major convulsion across the former Soviet Union will further reduce Moscow’s geopolitical influence. Russia’s protracted military campaign and the West’s strategy of prolonging the conflict through escalation management will keep exacting a catastrophic toll on Ukrainian lives and infrastructure.

John P. Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C., and a world affairs correspondent for the Independent Media Institute.

4 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja

Leaders who could not Think as Normal Human Beings

Leaders who view humanity less than in equal human status are extremely naive about their own nature of being a human – lacking moral, spiritual and intellectual act of balancing the consciousness“ or engaged in competitive numbers games to elevate their own image in global power and influence over others. They use dynamics of absolutism and aggressive behavior to manipulate the weak and helpless people.

“Man (human being) was created by God in the best possible mould”,  explains the Divine narrative but human diversity is a natural phenomenon and its consequences are far beyond the conception of right and wrong or virtue and vice. People and nations strive to compete for triumph and glory implying varied methods of political power, media propaganda, psychological and other weapons of mass destruction. Ironically, human minds with normal consciousness would not pursue tyranny, aggressive behavior, killings and destruction of other nations, cultures and civilizations.It is the abnormal mind, political power, greed, and hatred and sometimes ethnic supremacy that makes them to act irrationally and abnormally worst than wild beasts.

The living Earth maintains 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen to support all forms of life and technology on this planet. We hold moral and spiritual solidarity as a foundation of the sanctity of life and unanimity of mankind. All human beings are composed of material and spiritual factors to flourish life. If they breathe oxygen and heart beats, God is there. Is there an individualistic psychological, moral and spiritual problem of balancing act with PM Netyanhu and President Joe Biden to act normally for an immediate  ceasefire and peace in Gaza? Both have unique characteristics to be analyzed and reflected for being indifferent to peace and supportive of war on Gaza and killings of almost 36,000 or more innocent people and some 15,000 children and women and reportedly some 14, 000 children and women still buried in various locations of Gaza. If Netanyahu claims  some morality-how treacherous it is used to bomb places of worship, hospitals and make the Gazan civilians starve for several months. Biden in a US Presidential election year and Netanyahu for his own political survival appear to be competing for glory and success by using wrong thinking, wrong methods and for the wrong reasons. Wars and bombing and destruction of mankind do not produce peace and societal harmony, be it in Israel, Palestine or the US.

Masses against War as Wars do not Produce Peace and Harmony

The voices of public consciousness echo across many continents to “ Stop the War in Gaza”,  “Let Palestinians Live”,  and stop the “Crimes against Humanity by America and Israel.”  No wonder who listens to these inner voices of humanity when unabated bombardments are destroying lives and human habitats without any accountability. The ICJ asking for a halt to the war and the ICC threat of the arrest warrants of Israeli leaders went unnoticed.

This weekend, Israeli media reported more than 120,000 citizens in Tel Aviv demanding removal of PM Netanyahu, the end of war on Gaza and safe return of 134 hostages. The center of sadistic gravity and vengeance is PM Netanyahu and his war cabinet and dynamic syntax to command the world is the White House.

Life itself is a trial to people and nations and imbued with a rational choice to be righteous or evil monger on this planet. Are there any lessons to be learned from formative history? Do human cultures and civilizations grow out of the maligned proclamations of rule of law, freedom, justice, cruelty, occupation and conquest of other lands? The Earth is a sacred trust to mankind and is a living organ floating in space by the Will of God andsustains all life and aggressors are warned by the Divine injunction:  “Say! Travel through the earth; And see what was the end of those who rejected Truth.” The emerging wars and destruction of Earth and human habitats across Gaza and beyond are blatant violations of that TRUST between Man and God and call for awakening of human conscience and soul: “Truly Man is to his Lord, ungrateful and that (fact) he bears witness (by his deeds.): 6-7: 100: The Qur’an).

Political Wickedness and Human Nature

Is wickedness part of human nature? Man by nature seems to be a ‘contentious’ being. A rational conflict analysis and search for peace involves listening and learning to divergent viewpoints and finding a common place of reasoning without agreeing or disagreeing to stop the warfare.This shows effective communication and enlightened leadership traits.Why do leaders become aggressive and act like egomaniacs? Simply put, they lack their own mind, intellect and sense of rational being and heavily rely on advisors to make decisions or they fear the unknown to be replaced or their inner weaknesses overwhelm their strengths to act irrationally in situations of crisis.

I asked this question to many distinguished international scholars including Robert Burrowes and Robert (Bob) Kohoeler to know and enlighten the knowledge-based curiosity. Often reason has its limits but knowledge knows no bound and global affairs are a shared enterprise. Professor Robert J. Burrowes and Anita (Australia),need no introduction as scholars and Coordinator of the “Global Non-Violence Peace Movement”:

“Often I wonder, why do people become aggressive and act in inhuman ways that conflict with the Nature of Things.”…. “One view is essentially the concept of “POWER” , late Prof Hans Margenthau was right , ‘absolute power corrupts all the people , all the time.’… Aggressive people THINK of their own EGO (self) being the power (political absolutism),without any accountability,  and that leads
them to commit all types of crimes against fellow human beings.

Robert and Anita Responded: You pose what are really ‘eternal’ questions. That is, you raise issues that have troubled humanity from the dawn of ‘civilization’ if not much earlier. ‘How do we communicate to such powerful people to make them THINK as normal human beings?’ Frankly, I do not believe it is possible to meaningfully communicate with such people which is why I spend no time trying to do so. The reason flows from my answer to another question you pose: ‘why do people become aggressive and act in inhuman ways that conflict with the Nature of Things.’ The second question you posed was one that fascinated me from a young age.  After some 30 years researching it, Anita and I went into seclusion in 1996 to undertake some deep emotional healing. It took 14 years but taught us a great deal.

Bob Koeheler – a Chicago-based well known journalist shared his stance (“A WORLD UNDER SPIRITUAL CONSTRUCTION”): I think the only answer is transcending war!! War begins with — and is not possible without – dehumanization. “These are human animals,” as Yoav Gallant said.

Israeli and American Collaborative Crimes against Humanity and ‘Genocide’

To glance ahead it seems that the Western world failed to see a dreadful tragic history in the making of the end of time and loss of ingenuity to understand the consequences of naive egoism of Israeli leadership making war as an instrument of territorial expansion in the Middle East. Human glory lives in the conception of good and righteousness, not in wickedness and genocidal plans. Rationally arguable conclusion to the war on Gaza was perceivable if there was a unified political-military challenge to the Israeli plans by the Arab-Muslim world. That landscape appears morally, intellectually and politically bankrupt as a scum floating on a torrent of naive puppets and discredited leaders. The American-Israeli collaborative war on Gaza and its immediate consequences made the Western world and all of its institutions shamefully redundant and void in the 21^st century global norms of civility, human rights, freedom, justice and safety of civilians – whereas crimes against humanity are captured in obscure impulses and indecision and deliberate inaction by the UNO and the Security Council. Mocking its Charter obligations, the UN Security Council failed to protect the civilians from terror of daily bombardments of hospitals and places of worship. Peter Koenig (“Gaza: US and the West Support Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity: Understanding the Never-Ending Conflict”, Global Research: 11/06/23), explains:Israel’s PM Netanyahu is a war criminal and should be held accountable for war crimes throughout his PM-ship of Israel, according to the 1945 / 1946 Nuremberg trials criteria. His crimes against humanity, against a defenseless Palestine are comparable to the Holocaust. https://www.globalresearch.ca/gaza-us-west-supports-israel-crimes-against-humanity/5745763

Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution and has spent several academic years across the Russian-Ukrainian and Central Asian regions knowing the people, diverse cultures of thinking and political governance and a keen interest in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. 12/2019.

4 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Marwan Asmar

North Israel is burning with more than 15 fires going on at the same time. The horizons of these northern areas are covered with flames and smoke. Gaza’s war had long filtered into these northern areas.

[https://twitter.com/GlobalAffairs96/status/1797728386581942688]

Set alight by Hezbollah rockets launched from southern Lebanon, some of which through drones, thousands of acres have been set alight.

The blazes have started to burn Sunday and continued all through Monday night, going into Tuesday morning with teams of Israeli firefighters battling the raging flames that are described as apocalyptic and never seen before.

[https://twitter.com/AryJeay/status/1797680892477087896]

Videoclips of the fires are trending on the X platform showing the extent of the raging flames. All video clips show the rage in the fires that see no end as long as rockets keep coming to the northern Galilee and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Some of the worst hit areas is the settlement of Kiryat Shmona where thousands of Israelis are fleeing their homes.  It is reported six firemen were injured trying to control the fires here. The settlement, situated in northeastern occupied Palestine, had a population of 24,000 settlers.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1797734847160389743]

Most of them had long been evacuated in the early months of the war on Gaza after 7 October, 2023 because of constant targeting by Hezbollah rockets.

Only 4000 remained but now and with the raging fires, these Israeli settlers are being evacuated quickly.

One blogger pointed out that 12 to 13 kilometers of the Galilee and Kiryat Shmona belt are burning despite the nine fire-fighting teams who are fighting round-the-clock to put the fires out. The fighting crews were later invreased to over 30 according to the Times of Israel.

The paper said the fires led to several major road in the Galilee area.

[https://twitter.com/SprinterFamily/status/1797724165002420514]

Israel’s Iron Dome is unable to deflect the incoming rockets from southern Lebanon as they are being launched in bundles and firemen are unable to put the fires out because of the wind changes.

Israeli extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says its is time for “all of Lebanon to burn” in response to the fires triggered by Hezbollah. He had long long been calling for the invasion of Lebanon and the destruction of Hezbollah in its entirety.

Dr Marwan Asmar writes from Amman, Joran, covering Middle Eastern affairs and he blogs at https://crossfirearabia.com.

4 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Prabhat Sharan

Behind the electoral din and cacophony of the corporate media drum beaters, a spectre in raiment of flames leaping out onto the skies, from the fields on fire continues to haunt the ruling powers.

Irrespective of the outcome of the election results, the peasantry-adivasi populace like the mythical bird Phoenix will continue to resurrect itself from its own ashes across the Indian sub-continent much to the discomfort of rulers.

The spark that set the hay on fire in the granaries of the country in 2020-21 was the passing of three contentious farm bills through clandestine corridors where parliamentary procedures for the past one decade, are used for cosmetic purposes to gloss over the practice of illiberal democracy.

After a long spell of blustering and bluffing, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was on its knees and for once found its empty rhetorical flourishes and damage control barbs boomeranging.

The veneer of BJP’s condescending intransigence and paper courage was in smithereens and fluttering like dry autumn leaves in the breath of old wizened farmers smiling with the chill of the cold wind and squinting eyes in the glassy blazing breeze of Delhi.

The bellicosity and contempt for people while pushing anti-people policies whetted and crafted out in the boardrooms of corporate and big business houses, vapourised in front of the rage and fury of farmers hailing from the granaries of the country.

Political parties in opposition although reduced to a deflated punching bag for the corporate media the ruling BJP led NDA was forced to withdraw its contentious bills.

This was the first of the salvo emerging out of the sharpening of class differences in a nation where for the past several decades identity politics replaced class based polity.

Interestingly, a bourgeoisie political party like Indian National Congress which had ushered in Thatcherite economic policies during early nineties, this time round rather than over focussing on identity politics made class-rooted issues connecting it with the agonies of subaltern and marginal population as its main campaigning plank.

This turnaround by a bourgeoisie political party primarily stemmed from witnessing the massive show of strength of peasantry class.

The peasantry class irrespective of the class and stratification that it is riddled with for the past several decades has been looking  into the eyes of an abyss from where the only exit was the door to death.

While the lines between propaganda and truth has gotten blurred in recent years thanks to the round-the-clock tom tomming by the corporate media concomitant with carpet bombing of twisted loaded messages purported as facts but designed to tap the deep seated biases, prejudices and fears of Reichian ‘Little Man,’ the peasantry class has somehow kept its voice of dissent and anger alive.

As tiller Kashinath Jobane, in the All India Kisan Sabha’s (AIKS) ‘Long March’ from Nashik to Mumbai in 2017 remarked: Yes. We are living a lie because it is on the mirage of hopes we are living. But even the city dwellers are also living the same lie”.

As former Nashik bureau chief of national daily Times of India and columnist Rakshit Sonawane commented “You cannot set the hay on fire if it is damp.  If it is dry then a single match can set the entire field on fire. This is what is happening in the rural area where farmers have become a dying breed because of the lop-sided policies of the government”.

Of course the privileged city dwellers are known for their indifference towards their fellow being sufferings but the carapace of neo-upper urban middle-class for once started seeing dents in their conscience despite their rationalisations and justifications for police excesses against the protestors.

And 2020-21 agitation was not the first time that the farmers had raised their voices against the anti-agrarian policies but what was in earlier regime a ‘push,’  during NDA rule this push turned into a ‘shove’.

Sinking reality of agrarian policies

Ironically most farmers in elections had voted heavily for BJP hoping that the promises doled out to them would be implemented.

With expectations high, the sinking of stark reality into one’s mind takes time but when such revelation does dawn, it comes as a “slap on the hopes.”

And the farm bills specifically plotted out to increase the stranglehold of the corporate and mega business houses over agriculture sector was the last straw. It has left the farming community in a room with no-exit with massive rise in the input costs.

Noted scholar, documentarist and cultural activist who has spent over four decades in country’s hinterlands studying agrarian issues while talking to this writer once commented that the situation facing the farming community in India, “is extremely complex involving a lot of factors including the politics of water.”

Elaborating on the issue of water politics, Nadkar pointed out that “Marathwada in Maharashtra is reportedly a drought-prone region but the aerated and carbonated and beer manufacturing companies have an endless supply of water while the agrarian community has to beg even for drinking water.”

However, water politics is just one of the symptoms plaguing the farming community. “The input cost has been increasing over the years and with over 40 per cent of farming community comprising small land holding owners, landless labourers, and tribals involved in share cropping or cultivating on lease land, the loan waiver will in no way benefit the cultivator. As per the Swaminathan Commission Report recommendations the MSP should 50 percent more than the actual input cost.

“Moreover, since early nineties there has been a tectonic shift by successive governments from agriculture to industrialization. From rural areas to urban areas. Not that the farmer earlier lived an idyllic life but today even a big landholding farmer is facing the sting of this paradigm shift. And alienation is high.”

Increase in agrarian protest after NDA

While it is true that hinterlands have always been witnessing agrarian protests and many a time even violent uprisings, the fact is that the farmland mass struggles have increased.

The corporate and mega business houses were tired of earlier Congress led UPA’s vacillation and snail-speed over the implementation of policies designed to increase their profits and hold over public goods and public land and thus helped BJP gain ascendancy.

But even if the ruling power manage to come out of this cauldron, the simmering subterranean rage would certainly keep on erupting and history shows, “Tyrants often fall because they do not know their limits.” (Paul Woodruff, Ethical Philosopher)

This is an updated article that was written on Dec7/2020 for a news portal. The article was removed after a couple of days.

Prabhat Sharan is a Senior Journalist with interest in social, human interest, working class, wild-life conservation, philosophical and literary studies.

4 June 2024

Source: countercurrents.org