The East Timor Genocide and Carter's Whitewashed Legacy

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/10/jimmy_carter_indonesia_east_timor_genocide 

The American support for Indonesia's genocide in East Timor is usually associated with Ford and Kissinger. The invasion famously began the day after Air Force One left Jakarta in December 1975. The Americans were fully aware of what Suharto was planning and many would go further and point to evidence suggesting the US encouraged the invasion. East Timor like Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea were Portuguese colonies up for grabs with the collapse of the dictatorship in the so-called Carnation Revolution of 1975.

The Unnoticed Tragedy

https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Abandoned-with-their-children:-the-agony-of-Sri-Lankan-widows-of-the-long-war-58416.html

https://baptistnews.com/article/people-are-dying-in-africa-but-the-world-doesnt-notice/

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/1/13/european_migrant_crisis_rescue_volunteers_trial

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/7/12/dead_calm

Over the past decade, tens of thousands of refugees have died attempting to get to Europe. Many are war widows and orphans attempting to escape impossible situations. They're coming from as far away as Afghanistan and Sub-Saharan Africa. Many have fled the wars in places like Libya and Syria.

Humanitarian Imperialism and Sudan

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/13/sudan

The war in Sudan is tragic and like all Africa stories in the West, it gets little attention or traction. To most people the wars in Africa are just repeating loops of video showing fighters in pick-up trucks with AK-47's and suffering women and children in refugee camps. The politics are beyond most people's ability to understand - and they're not going to take the time to look into them. And while Western leaders speak out, levelling condemnations and offering aid - nothing much seems to change.

Coveting Serbia's Lithium

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3274031/thousands-protest-lithium-mining-serbia-officials-call-it-coup-plot?module=top_story&pgtype=subsection

This author and many others have been writing for years about the tug-of-war in Serbia. The Atlanticist plan in the 1990's was to break up Serb-dominated Yugoslavia and bring all the pieces into the EU and NATO orbit. This largely succeeded except with Serbia itself which remains outside the bloc and friendly to its historical ally in Moscow.

Niger Turns Against Washington and Yellow Cake 2.0

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68590531

Niger it seems has grown weary of Washington's presence in West Africa. Having ousted the French in 2023, the situation with both Paris and Washington remains tenuous. Tchiani remains in control and yet he faces hard questions concerning the economy of his country. From Niger's ties to the franc to its close uranium-related trade ties with France, it's hard to imagine that Paris will simply let Niger go. The junta leaders will be looking over the shoulder to say the least.

New Information Regarding the 2004 Coup in Haiti

https://thegrayzone.com/2024/03/01/secret-cable-cia-haiti-coup/

See also: https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-dominionist-evangelical-distortion-of.html

This piece from The Grayzone is timely as we see the US is poised to insert itself once again into the politics of Haiti. This time the US is attempting to utilize a proxy and has put a great deal of pressure on Kenya to take the lead in peacekeeping. Why? Because the US public does not want to see American soldiers on the ground in Haiti - at least not in significant numbers.

Ethiopia's Foray into Somaliland

Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed has generated a great deal of frustration within Washington. He waged war on Tigray and the ethno-political faction long supported by Washington. He has by some estimations moved Ethiopia closer to China. And as of 1 January 2024, Addis Ababa has now moved into the sphere of BRICS.

Humanitarian Border Patrols and Buffers for Fortress Europe

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/22/eu-to-start-releasing-money-to-tunisia-under-migration-pact

This is but one in a series of incidents regarding deals with European authorities and African states. Couched in humanitarian terms, the real goal is to curb immigration. The Europeans and Americans both have realized that it's cheaper and better (in terms of optics) to prevent the migrants from actually arriving on European shores. If they can create and pay for a buffer that will block these streams of human beings fleeing war, poverty, overpopulation, and in some cases a collapsing climate, they can feel good about what they're doing – because they don't have to look at it or get their hands dirty as it were.

Welcome to Age of BRICS+

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-66525474

The world is changing, a new order is forming. This has been in the air for sometime but a milestone was passed on 1 January 2024 with the expansion of BRICS.

Another French Defeat and Growing Uncertainty in North Africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66907517

This story is already falling out of the news cycle especially with all the other things happening in the Middle East.

After the July coup in Niger there was a great deal of focus on the country and the new ruling junta. The signs were bad (from a Western perspective) when Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland made a trip to Niger and was effectively rebuffed.

The Threats to Schengen have not Dissipated

https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2023/09/12/france-to-boost-police-presence-on-italian-border_b3f54da7-e108-4316-a3c3-be379a53865e.html

During the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, it looked as if the Schengen Treaty (which provides open internal borders within the EU) was ready to collapse. The EU weathered the storm, but there are still tensions – and in some cases these tensions are fueled by external considerations.

The Context of the Niger Coup

Coups in Africa are by some estimates far from unusual. There have been many in recent years and while often mentioned, the news coverage in the West is minimal. Africa does not generate a great deal of interest to Western audiences and for many it's impossibly complicated and they are unable to follow the stories or contextualize them.

Dividing Nigeria to Protect Christians

Recently I've heard rumblings from within the Christian community that US foreign policy should support (or foster) the break-up (or division) of Nigeria in order to protect the persecuted Christians that live there. They want a new state carved out for the Christian community to protect them from the various Islamic threats.

The Ethics of Cobalt

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

Listening to this sad and disturbing but already well documented story of Cobalt mining in the Congo, I found myself frustrated on multiple levels.

The Wagner Group, Africa, and Western Media

Russia's Wagner Group has been in the news a lot lately. It's painted as the ultimate evil – indeed all mercenary groups fall under that label. And interestingly many of the charges levied at Wagner could also be brought against organisations such as Blackwater (or whatever name it goes by these days), as well as DynCorp, Aegis, Paladin, and many others. Western media is particularly determined to paint Wagner with the darkest of hues and I don't doubt they're a nasty bunch. Whether some have prison records or not makes little difference. There are myriad American soldiers and veterans that are criminals whether or not they've ever been convicted by a court of law.

A Ukraine Miscellany XVI: Covering up Ukrainian Corruption and the Black Market Boom

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2022/12/9/russia-ukraine-live-news-west-is-exploiting-ukraine-putin

https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/short_news/weapons-sent-to-ukraine-may-have-ended-up-in-finnish-underground/

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/africa/other/russia-ukraine-war-weapons-coming-into-lake-chad-buhari/ar-AA14IU3y

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/weapons-delivered-to-ukraine-beginning-to-filter-to-africa:

As is often the case, the real story is found in the lack of media coverage. With a few paltry exceptions, Western media continues to ignore reports of weapons bound for Ukraine ending up elsewhere.

A Ukraine Miscellany (IX): The Global Context and the Shadow of World War (Part II)

One has to be blind to not see that the world is at the very least creeping toward a global war scenario. And the pace is intensifying.

The Death of Madeleine Albright (1937-2022)

Universally praised by the Western Establishment and viewed as a vigilant defender of the weak in the face of authoritarian regimes, the narrative concerning Madeleine Albright is little more than a packaged lie.

Ethiopia and the Growing Danger of Proxy War in East Africa

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/chinas-support-ethiopian-government-complicates-ties-egypt

After several vicious rounds of advance and retreat, it would seem the Tigray War may be stabilising. At present there is a cease fire and we can hope that it holds. Everyone is tired of fighting and both sides have suffered considerably – not to mention the vast number of civilians who have been brutalised.

While there's a ceasefire, the situation is by no means resolved. The Tigray region is basically (at this point) autonomous and they've proven that they can hold their own against the Abiy government in Addis Ababa – which is now a government in crisis.

US Support for the TPLF

https://jeffpearce.medium.com/ethiopia-the-wests-diplomats-meet-in-secret-to-decide-how-to-help-the-tplf-cb87f2d30777

Pearce's article and reporting in general is obviously hostile to the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The point here is neither to vindicate the ruling Abiy government or to defend or demonise the Tigray leadership. What's salient is the fact that the leaked Zoom video demonstrates a point that I and others have been trying to make – that despite official proclamations of support for Abiy in the past, or neutrality in the present conflict, the West and the US specifically support Tigray goals and their restoration to power in Addis Ababa.