Erdogan Wins Election, West Dismayed; Huge Rus Missile/Drone Strike Continues, Ukr Offensive Doubt Rus Attacks Continue

Erdogan Wins Election, West Dismayed; Huge Rus Missile/Drone Strike Continues, Ukr Offensive Doubt Rus Attacks Continue
Topic 860

John Mearsheimer on Putin’s Options on Ukraine

By Ray McGovern, May 24, 2023 When Professor John Mearsheimer spoke on “Where is the Ukraine War Going?” at the Committee for the Republic on May 22, I was able to ask the first question of the Q & A.

Washington’s obsession with crushing Russia has dismantled its Middle East agenda

Prioritizing efforts to weaken Moscow, Washington has let slip its grasp elsewhere and failed to wake up to the multipolar world it now finds itself in

Once the undisputed hegemonic power in the Middle East, thought to be indispensable for the security and success of a range of regional leaderships, the US has been fading into the background to the benefit of its adversaries.

As armed conflict erupted between NATO-backed Ukraine and Russia in February of 2022, the Joe Biden administration in Washington decided to throw its weight behind Kiev and focus on a project to bog down Moscow, while unleashing wave after wave of sanctions. Despite spending at least $75 billion dollars on assistance to Ukraine and making Russia the most sanctioned nation on earth, the US has failed to bring Moscow to its knees. In fact, one could say that it is the US that has been cut down to size in the global arena, especially in the Middle East, an area it once considered its own backyard.

As the months pass, blow after blow has been inflicted on US power in the Middle East. In direct opposition to Washington’s agenda, the Syrian Arab Republic was readmitted to the Arab League following a 12-year hiatus, paving the way to end the crisis in Syria, which the US seeks to prolong. China has also entered Middle East politics in a dramatic way, brokering an Iranian-Saudi rapprochement back in March, and this then spurred a wider normalization wave. Although the US attempted to play off the Saudi Arabia-Iran agreement as an acceptable and welcomed move, this has now clearly worked to collapse Washington’s long-term effort towards regional supremacy, which was based on feeding a proxy conflict between the two powers.

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The US grip on the Middle East slips, and peace breaks out

The failure of US sanctions

Western leaders publicly predicted that Russia’s economy would collapse under sanctions, a result which clearly has not materialized, with the IMF predicting the Russian economy will grow. Similarly, the US “maximum pressure” sanctions that were first introduced against Iran under the Trump administration, were expected to severely hinder the Islamic Republic’s ability to continue its developments in the defense field, but have failed to achieve those goals.

Russia is now exporting more oil than it did in 2021, as its relations with China, the primary global competitor to the US, have advanced. Gulf States have also repeatedly let the US down and refrained from yielding to pressure to cut oil production. There is also the example of Algeria, which has become Italy’s largest gas supplier and raked in over $50 billion dollars in oil and gas revenues during 2022 alone, even as it retains close relations with Moscow. And when it comes to the West’s ban on Russian gold bullion, the UAE, Türkiye and China have reportedly stepped in to fill the gap.

However, perhaps the worst blowback against Russia sanctions has been the nullification of previous limits to Moscow-Tehran economic relations. The two nations are already the most sanctioned on earth, so they need not worry about the potential consequences from their trade, which has encouraged further cooperation between them. Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed a deal to finance an Iranian railway line as part of a North-South Transport Corridor.

Failed propaganda

The Biden administration has employed hardline propaganda tactics in order to demonize Russia and lionize Ukraine. Although for some Western audiences the arguments set forth may have proven effective, in the global community and especially the Middle East, such rhetoric is tiresome and clearly hypocritical.

After having illegally invaded Iraq, inflicting around a million deaths, over a concoction of factually-challenged conspiracy theories about weapons of mass destruction, it comes off as laughable that the US is now claiming to oppose illegal invasions. Former Bush administration officials, such as Condolezza Rice, have even appeared on national television shows in the US to condemn illegal invasions of foreign countries. Even former US President George W. Bush seemingly condemned the “holy unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq…I mean of Ukraine” in a Freudian slip.

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CIA chief admits US ‘blindsided’ by Saudi-Iran deal – WSJ

The US has positioned itself now as being opposed to the illegal occupation of foreign territory, in addition to claiming it stands in principle against annexation. When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked by a CNN correspondent whether his government supported the annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights by Israel, he answered: “Look, leaving aside the legalities of that question, as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel’s security,” again demonstrating Washington’s double standards. Washington continues to maintain its recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, which not only defies international law, but also the majority opinion at the United Nations.

The faltering image of the US

From the perspective of Middle Eastern nations, the US is overcommitted to the conflict in Ukraine, even as they have refrained from taking a clear side and instead remained neutral for the most part. Neither the people nor the governments of these countries buy the platitudes espoused by US officials when it comes to Ukraine. The stark difference between the way Palestinians and Ukrainians are portrayed for the exact same actions are enough to make eyes roll.

Now that China is presenting opportunities for countless Middle East nations, especially in the economic sphere, the US has a real competitor. However, the US continues to operate as if the world has not undergone a dramatic shift and refuses to rein in its allies. Ukraine in some respect is getting the special treatment that Israel has enjoyed for years: unlimited aid with few or no questions asked. In the case of Israel, as its government proceeds with introducing controversial legal reforms, takes steps to change the status quo at the al-Aqsa Mosque and pursues hardline far-right policies against the Palestinian people, all coming at a cost to Washington itself, the Biden administration refuses to put it in its place. What Israel is currently doing is embarrassing its own Arab allies that recently normalized ties, even threatening to put a wedge in relations with the likes of neighboring Jordan.

It is this refusal to recalibrate that is not only costing the US its influence, but also evaporating the prize of bringing Israel and Saudi Arabia together, which has clearly been a foreign policy achievement goal dear to the Biden administration. Now that Riyadh and Tehran have restored relations, the excuse of combating Iran’s regional influence is gone for negotiating a Saudi-Israeli rapprochement. The refusal to punish Israel for its constant provocations also makes it more difficult for Saudi Arabia to normalize with an unrestrained Israeli government that continues to insult the Muslim world and invites popular Arab support for the Palestinian cause. If there is no change to the arrogant and out of touch approach of the US, which rules with an iron fist and a “my way or the highway” approach, it will be the US itself that is going to be taking a hike from the Middle East.

Victorious Erdogan promises to fulfill pledge to Putin

The Turkish president vowed to open a gas hub at the Russian leader’s request

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to complete a gas distribution hub to pipe Russian natural gas into Europe via Türkiye. Erdogan said that the project, first suggested by Russian President Vladimir Putin, will be built with Russian assistance.

“We will strengthen Türkiye’s position as an international hub even further,” Erdogan said in a speech on Monday. “Actually, Mr. Putin mentioned again the creation of the hub in the region of Thrace in Türkiye in his congratulatory message. We will do that together with them. There will be a hub in Thrace.”

Erdogan won a third term in office on Sunday, defeating rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a runoff election. In a congratulatory message to Erdogan, Putin praised the Turkish president’s “personal contribution to the strengthening of friendly Russian-Turkish relations,” and hailed the construction of Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant and the creation of the gas hub as two significant joint projects.

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Putin congratulates ‘dear friend’ Erdogan after Turkish election

Putin first proposed the gas hub in October, stating that Moscow could redirect gas transit from the two sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines to Türkiye, from where it could be used domestically and sold on to European consumers. The hub would be built in the Turkish region of Eastern Thrace, which already receives gas from Russia via the 930-kilometer TurkStream pipeline.

Erdogan welcomed the idea, and Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said in February that the hub could begin operating as soon as this year.

The plan has faced criticism in the West, with US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel urging European countries not to purchase Russian gas via Türkiye, and to “take steps to diversify their energy sources, to reduce energy reliance on Russia” instead. French President Emmanuel Macron claimed that the proposal “makes no sense,” given that the EU aims to wean itself off Russian energy.

Under Erdogan’s leadership, Türkiye is the only member of NATO that has not sanctioned Russia, and Ankara and Moscow have strengthened their trade and diplomatic links since the conflict in Ukraine began. Erdogan describes his foreign policy as “balanced,” and has sought to build Türkiye into a regional energy trading power and a middleman between producers in the east – such as Russia and Azerbaijan – and buyers in the West. 

Tech CEO issues warning to AI-defiers

Companies and individuals without AI expertise will perish, the Nvidia co-founder claims

Artificial Intelligence will transform the corporate landscape and change every single job, and those who fail to recognize this will be left behind, Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang has warned.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, the tech mogul stressed that both companies and individuals should adapt to the new wave of AI technologies or risk falling behind.

“Agile companies will take advantage of AI and boost their position. Companies less so will perish,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “While some worry that AI may take their jobs, someone who’s expert with AI will,” Huang told graduating students.

Unlike a number of his peers in the tech space, Huang does not seem to be concerned about the risks posed by the rise of AI technology or its potentially adverse effects. He argued that it will soon be used to boost the performance of workers in a wide range of industries and create new jobs that have never existed before, while also making some professions obsolete. He encouraged students to create something new in the AI age and fast, or risk being left behind.

“In 40 years, we created the PC, internet, mobile, cloud, and now the AI era. What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it like we did. Run, don’t walk,” he said. “Either you are running for food, or you are running from becoming food.”

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AI ‘could go quite wrong’ – ChatGPT inventor

However, despite the booming interest in AI spurred by the release of chatbots such as ChatGPT, several high-profile figures in the tech industry have warned about the potential dangers posed by the unregulated adoption of AI technology. 

Earlier this month, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which is responsible for the development of ChatGPT, testified before the US Congress that he was worried AI technology could go “quite wrong,” and urged lawmakers to establish regulations. 

In March, a group of around 1,000 tech industry leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, signed an open letter warning of the potential dangers of an unregulated AI arms race and urged Silicon Valley to take a six-month pause on further development.