NEW US invasion? The ever-interfering US is planning again to “put boots on the ground” in Haiti, the poorest country in Latin America. US Coast guard gunboats are already being sent as part of “Homeland Security” of the US, although it may be asked how Haiti, a country of starving people with little water sanitation, is a security risk to the US, or is part of “homeland” requiring potentially thousands of soldiers.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry is being asked to step down by revolutionaries led by former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, who have blockaded the fuel terminal, demanding that leadership should deal with basic housing and water sources. Widely seen as a US puppet, Henry has asked the US to step in militarily, which the nationalist rebels are railing against. The US is choosing to speak with the Montana group it is endorsing.
Haiti was once the richest country in Latin America, started by slaves, until it was invaded and stripped by the French of its gold and through a massive charge, impoverishing the country. Haiti fought and paid for its freedom by ransom, and was then invaded later, and then intervened again by the US with 20,000 soldiers. Trump called it a shithole, not accounting for, or not caring what his country did to a formerly wealthy country. What constitutes “homeland” to the US has very wide definition, its laws are enforced militarily or through finance, when possible, worldwide … even sending the national guard to Africa, confiscating sovereign funds, making extraterritorial arrests, organizing assassinations and drone random killings, even as it preaches democratic processes.
The world nowadays is beginning to challenge this abusive imposition of military power worldwide. Even former allies are now questioning the interests being protected by the US; they appear not just primarily, but solely, for itself, rather than for the world freedom and equality that it preaches.
This last week alone, France’s prime minister Macron openly declared he would not necessarily fight the Russians, with whom he does not agree on Ukraine, but with whom he understands. Macron is creating an alternative organization to the European Union, so the European interests are not necessarily secondary to the US, and is already joined by over 40 countries including the UK. The Western media is not reporting this.
Italy’s new prime minister Georgia Meloni, the leader with most cojones in Europe, has on her own against other EU leaders who await Washington’s orders, arrived at an arrangement to start buying Russian energy again, and dared to speak out against the Brussels EU position that is rabidly anti-Russian, is self-defeating for European nations, and not considering mutuality of interest of different parties.
Saudi Arabia has publicly pooh-poohed President Biden’s threat to punish Saudi Arabia for aligning with OPEC, which lowered oil production by 2 million barrels a day, seen by the US as a slap and an alignment with Russia, despite strong pressures and courtship by US President Biden. Saudi is also considering the sale of oil in Russian rubles and Chinese yuan, instead of exclusively through the US dollar. The UAE and Qatar have also ignored the US request.
By this exclusivity Saudi used to give the US petrodollar in trading oil, Saudi holds the key to US dollar currency hegemonic status, draining the goods and labor of the rest of the world simply by printing, which benefit has caused the US to back off from offending the kingdom every time before. In return, the US sells arms and promises protection to the Saudi, but which Saudi now can also get from Russia, China and others.
President Viktor Orbán of Hungary continues to buy Russian oil and says Biden exacerbated situations with his superfluous comments, and actions of sending more weapons continuously.
German, French, Czech, Spanish and other European peoples are holding mass rallies now to ask their governments to leave NATO, lift sanctions on Russia, and work to improve the lives of their own people first rather than serve the US’ Ukraine or NATO interests. They generally are aware of, are blaming the US for interfering in their governments and prolonging an unnecessary war.
More and more fear and warn that continued non-negotiation, escalation is drawing the world closer to nuclear disaster.
Germany’s own “Iron Lady” Angela Merkel who after 16 years of deftly leading her country and the EU through peaceful growth amid different crises, ignoring US pressures by continuing in building the Nord Stream2 that would have built Germany again into a first tier world power, has come out last week finally to speak: Take Putin seriously, take mutual security into account. Instead, the Germans have a soft Scholz who lets an elderly, sometimes half aware President Biden cut in and answer for him, and even guarantee to cut off the Nord Stream, Scholz’s hose for oil.
Also resented, especially by the French, is the US inconsideration in selling natural gas three to four times higher than recent prices to Europe, obtaining record billions of US dollars more for the different US companies in just a few months, e.g., Exxon which earned more than $10 billion more in just one quarter.
World hunger because of lack of honor? Russia threatens to pull out of the grain deal because they allowed Ukraine to sell and deliver grain thru areas that are Russian-controlled, make and use the income, but allegedly NATO did not keep its end of the bargain to let Russia do the same. Majority of initial grain shipments went to the rich countries of NATO, only 2 out of 67 ship loads went to the poor countries.
Even in the US, people are getting tired of spending more than tens of billions to try to destroy Russia (not really to defend Ukraine, the more intelligent are aware), rather than to rebuild infrastructure, and while the US homeless population grows, education declines, people become more polarized.
It seems individual political and financial interests trumps collective interest or even world peace, and as is reputed, word of honor, or values for reciprocation are not honored in the West.
All the world’s wise diplomats, Kissinger, Mearsheimer, Merkel, Jeffrey Sachs, Carter, diplomats and intel leaders have warned for over a decade for the US and world to stop extending NATO, and to take Russia and Putin, who wished to join the world system and gave huge leeway in advance, seriously. The US has chosen to listen to a comedian, or the comedian Zelenskyy has chosen to listen to the US.
The world is hoping a comedy doesn’t become a tragedy, but some of the script writers have to be changed.
A similar version was published in Manila Times on October 16 2022. We welcome logical feedback and possibly working together with compatible frameworks. (idsicenter@gmail.com)
