Paphits ..... once again Happy New Year
It is actually snowing at the moment(1130hrs) here in Limassol ..... well, just outside in the foot hills (400m)! 
But even the Murdoch Empire who own FOX News is certainly free unless Murdoch Himself decides to interfere which he has the power to do obviously.
Exactly! What Murdoch says is law within his Empire, cross his red line and you are looking for a new job. The independent sites I follow have no editorial input to the articles they publish. I read what interests me, follow the links the author adds (
something that is not possible with the MSM), then read similar articles and come to my own conclusions. Because I have no vested interest (
other than a remote humanitarian one) in what is going on in this world and no definitely no direct influence, I tend to see my views on say Syria and Ukraine, in a way that reflects that absence of personal benefit as to the outcome.
Yes, the reply was simplistic but graphic!
A couple of things I have learned over the years about our US cousins is that are not very ‘
Worldly’, their knowledge of history and geography outside the borders of the USA is minimal. They are not dumb but see things only from the viewpoint of an American. This reflects in the attitude often expressed by their leaders and promulgated through the MSM which is owned by just half a dozen very rich, very powerful and thus politically influential ‘Murdochs’! So ‘
The MSM Management’ controls what the American people read or see on TV.
Another thing I learned is that the US
NEVER does anything unless it is to the benefit of the USA! Whether that interest is geopolitical, military or economic, there is always a pay back. I worked on a large project in Saudi (
Circa $1.3bn) for the Worlds largest privately owned construction company. To get the contract the Company raised the capital for the job from the US banks and of course the ‘
loan’ was in US Petrodollars with a low interest rate. Too good to turn down?
Think about that; the US banks made the loan by creating the dollars out of thin air as a book keeping entry, simply a debt repayable by the Saudi’s. The company bought all the equipment and construction materials from international companies that were mostly US conglomerates. So they paid for it with the dollars the banks created for nothing. Then the Saudis had to pay it all back in US Dollars. How did they get those dollars ? By selling their resources (Oil) to International US owned oil companies .......... in Petro Dollars!
The whole deal cost the US nothing in real terms but in return the US got $1.3bn worth of oil.
I find it very difficult to get this concept of money accepted ........ but it
IS how the system works as the $US is the World’s main reserve currency. What they are actually doing is to produce dollars from thin air and then export the resulting inflation. The problem will come when the $US is edged out of the pole position and all these dollars flood back to the US! The Chinese saw this coming some years ago and now own vast swathes of the US property and industrial interests and all bought with the dollars the US has been creating in vast numbers since the end of WWII.
If you really do believe that the US troops are in Australia for the benefit of the Australian people you are looking at the situation through rose coloured spectacles! There will be payback at some time and the Aussies will find it very difficult to get rid of them. The US is in Australia to protect its interests in SE Asia ..... part of the US Pivot to Asia.
I agree with your comments on nuclear disarmament, at least most of them. We continually hear from the US that they do not want to be the Worlds ‘
policeman’. Fair enough, so why not create a real international police force from all the countries in the United Nations and move them in to replace the US Forces in the 1000+ ‘
police stations’ they have around the world? The US would only agree to that if it is the US that is in command, or were in a position to control events so that it worked for US interests against all others and that will never happen.
So what is needed is a strengthened UN under the control of someone with the strength of character to run the show as an independent World Secretary General, under the combined democratic opinion of all the nations ...... just to have one Nation that believes it is ‘
exceptional’ and every other Nation dances to its tune, is not the answer.
Pie in the sky ? Yes because it will never happen, they will turn the Earth into a glass ashtray before any common sense prevails.
Oh geez RH. The Iranian Military has enough firepower to be a real big nuisance. They are not merely a Defence Force but a pretty dam solid regional power.
They may have the fire power because if they didn’t they would end up like Palestine, but they have not used their might against another country for a couple of centuries. The Israeli’s were able to take Palestine because the Palestinians had no Military to respond to the Israeli aggression. The Iranians are in the same situation and the only reason Israel has not attacked them is because they
ARE powerful enough to retaliate. The Iranians also know that the Israeli’s would use nuclear weapons if it were not for the fear of retaliation and the condemnation of the rest of the World. The existential danger to world peace is not Iran ...... it is Zionist’s in Israel.
But Hammas and Hesbollah are not sovereign. They are terrorist organisations who attack Israel. Israel's presence is quite often as a result of these attacks.
They are both just as much defence forces as the IDF! It is the US/Israel that designated them terrorists ...... the same US that now regards many Muslim ‘
terrorist’ organisations as allies. Thankfully the Russians regard them
ALL as terrorists and since they decided to intervene we have seen them rolled back in Syria.
Israel is the illegal occupying force of Palestine just like the Turkish forces in Cyprus. The only difference I can see is that the Turks stopped in 1974 whereas the Israeli’s have continues to swallow up more and more Palestinian land. The Palestinians particularly, have the right to self defence and most of the killing and destruction comes from the Israeli’s ..... not the Palestinians.
Do you realize that Gaza (
the Worlds largest ever concentration camp) is about the same size as Limassol? Yet the population is around 1.9 million ............... over twice the population of Cyprus, all squeezed into an area the size of Limassol. Is it any wonder that any attacks by Hamas/Hezbollah come from civilian occupied areas? And the UN does nothing! Why? Because the US vetoed the idea of a UN Protection Force, just like exists in Cyprus, on the say so of Israel! IMO: The capital city of the US is Tel Aviv not Washington until the people of the USA take control of their country again, nothing will change!
I support a NO FLY ZONE in Syria, merely to prevent anyone from attacking rebel groups such as the FSA
.
That would be a declaration of war and would put the US and Russia both on a head-to-head war footing. The thought of that evil woman in the Whitehouse is the stuff of nightmares. She is a mental case and somebody should bump her off or at least get her certified and locked away, before she gets the whole Planet into a final war which nobody will win!
BTW: Once again Assad has the right to attack the FSA ............ they are an army comprised of SAA mutineers and terrorists recruited from around the Muslim world, which is why I believe the Syrians, even the Sunnis could well vote for Assad to remain in power but with limited authority and a democratic and representative Parliament. The thought, even to Sunnis, of an Islamic caliphate must be terrifying and that WILL happen if Assad is deposed without a clear and viable replacement. Look at Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya ..... that is what happens when you exercise regime change with military force without thinking it through .......... or maybe they just didn’t give a shit as long as US interests were preserved?
