₦airaland Forum

PehaKaso:
I will definitely take the OP serious if ONLY he would publish any of the scores of articles written about "Nigeria's Oppression of Biafra & the Niger Delta."


Isreali & the Middle East affairs are not African issues, hence they should not not be given priority over Nigerian domestic issues.


PS; I know that OP is a Northern Muslim though.

This is Nairaland, a Nigerian forum for all sorts of discussions, and this is the foreign affairs segment where ANY foreign topic or issue of interest is discussed. Its not limited to African, not to mentioned, Nigerian issues only. So, please, take your Biafran mantra elsewhere. We have enough problem already. Maybe you may wanna visit South Sudan on a fact finding mission..


No offence meant.

Israel is a racist nation by ideology. Netanyahu made that very clear.

scully95:
To work or dine with the devil you need a very 'long spoon' and I like the way russia is dealing with the devil with both diplomacy and the use of force now the two combined is just nothing but the earlier 'long spoon'.

The devil will just continue to act devilish, just recently, the syrian army reported to have shut down f-16 jets violating its airspace and the idf denied... Just when a truce is taking place then the devil bites again.


That is just a clear definition of evil.

Well said.... Israel is one real problem that might jeopardize whatever peaceful process and coordination the US and Russia maybe working on. As the IDF target Hezbollah, who are fighting for Assad, continuous clashes will definitely escalate to a whole new level. But like you said, I like the way the Kremlin is handling the situation. That is, always ready to engage in any attempted peace process, but at the same time, striking targets when it becomes necessary. In other words, Russia is saying that, "if you want this matter to be resolved peacefully, our hands are on the negotiating table, but if you continue backstabbing and escalating the situation; you can bet we are more than able to walk that path as well."

I just hope this whole thing work out. But, honestly, I doubt it would.

bonechamberlain:
they have seen that trying to isolate or fight Russia would be a futile and hopeless adventure.

Trying to isolate a country with a history, a renoun industrialized economy, with eleven different time zones, is tantamount to trying to shield the earth's surface from the sun's glory. Its always going to be a monumental failure of unprecedented proportions.

Lucasbalo:
You never ceases to amaze me with your anti Americanism. There is nothing wrong with the two countries cooperating if something positive will come out of it. If you think Russian economy is First class, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell to you. Their economy is in shambles for obvious reasons, their defense budget and low oil prices and the Syrian intervention is not helping. That's why I am totally against American interventions in foreign affairs unless America is threatened.

I believe you can differentiate between realistic postulations and delusive apologetic stance? The likes of Brenan were part of the bunch that called Russia a third world nation, that have no say in certain foreign and geopolitical matters, and as such its interest MUST not be taking into consideration: but suddenly now, they are seeing the need to work with her. Question: if they knew this all along, while didn't they seek such pact and rapport at the early stage of such conflicts, which would have prevented such needless bloodshed and wanton destruction? Why trying to isolate her when you know you couldn't?

And that's just the primary reason a lot of people will continue to hate America....nothing else but for its warproned foreign policy and senseless military adventurism. Otherwise, nobody is against the both of them working together to achieve common goals. That should be everyone's prayers for the sake of our planet.

romme2u:
oh Appleyard of Jah, the hollande yogurt of france is thine for inheritance for your eyes have seen what only the gods at olympus could see and your brains have deciphered strange mysteries reserved for the sons of gods

For vladimir the son of putin has succeeded in wooing the beautiful bride of turkey which was betrothed to obama the son of hussein the son of barack who ruled US from 2008 to 2016 .

An so shall it be.....

Ehen! I thought they said Russia is a third world nation? How come now she is a power house, and not just that, but one the US must work with to solve certain issues? Is the CIA repenting or what? Just wondering.....

How karma must be a bad fowl. So, this man is still paying for all his sins? He said "Assad must go" and now, himself is gone., not just only as Prime minister, but also as MP. What goes around, always comes around...


Adieu Chameleon Cameron.

They should lead by example by first sacking themselves before thinking of meddling in matters and usurping authority that is strictly within the ambit of Executive powers. There are senators in the upper house of the Legislative Arm that do not even move a single motion for their entire tenure as law makers. They are less or more legislative spectators.

Pathetic.

Missy89:
Nigeria has a bigger economy than Denmark and Finland. Which country has a better infrastructure and quality of life?. I like how you use the word "readily fairly visible". You need to get out of wherever you are and visit the place you claim to know a lot about from the internet

Must I visit Russia before I can talk about glaring facts? Missy, this whole develop jargon of a thing is just an ideological perception, and is very subjective. Everybody knows that.

scully95:
Well, this is another opportunity to re-arm the crooks in Aleppo.. Russia should stop this vicious circle.. Aleppo siege may be broken again after this useless truce cos the u.S..

This will fail again but the good news is no matter what, the u.S is on the loosing side.. Once Aleppo is taken completely, it will allow saa and Russia to cut supply lines to raqqa and game is over.. This is why u.S is hell bent on truce again to prolong, re-arm the crooks.

The problem is, the ceasefire never even get implemented. So, I am not expecting much from it.

Missy89:
Military capability is NOT a key attribute. Norway, Switzerland and Canada have no strong military but they are developed countries. Location is not really that important either. Australia is an example and neither is population or leadership. There are less people in Belgium than India or Nigeria and I haven't heard about anything Norway is interested in leading.

Economy, Rule of law and strong government,infrastructure,quality of life are key however. What you listed are only useful if you want to measure geopolitical power. Two different things

I think you're contradicting yourself via the bolded with what Welzyj2 said.

Economy encompasses infrastructures and quality of life. Rule of Law is imbedded under a strong government. Aside the recent economic downturn in Russia oweing to the negative oil prices, the above mentioned factors are readily fairly visible in modern Russia.

The criteria that's most appropriate for measuring the development of a particular country, are subject to debate. Even the UN made this very clear. And there are a whole lot of such criteria that rightly put Russia as a developed nation.

Missy89:
[s][/s]

Russia has a lot of natural resources hence her GDP will be very high but the economy itself is not really dynamic. Even the Soviet union was not regarded as a developed country. Give it a rest. You should visit Russia and see for yourself. Once you cross the Ural mountains, The rest is shite. If you study the history of the country, you will know why it is almost impossible for it to be as developed as the west no matter how hard the leaders try. I remember talking about this before

Go back and read the history regarding when the terms "developed and developing nations" came into being. It was coined during the cold war era wherein the US and its allies were in strives with the USSR and its allies. The terms when used gives the US a warped sense of belief that some of their allies with communist tendencies and ideologies, are still developing: while on the other hand, it enabled the USSR to tag some of it allies that practice free market theories, as still developing, even when going against communist doctrines.
Again, it gave the US led west the yardstick to see the USSR led east as "2nd tier world", while they regarded themselves as " the first tier world." The rest of the planet are then known as "3rd world nations." It was just a matter of economic and political ideology.

But the whole truth is, the USSR and today's Russia was a developed nation way back from the old. What the west today see as developed, is strictly out of the same ideological perspective that was operating during the cold war era.

Have you ever wondered why today the World Bank decided to do away with the term " developing? The reason is: there is no much difference anymore between so-called developed and developing nations of the world today. And that's exactly why it has stopped using that term. And they are very correct.

Missy89:
Russia and china are developing countries. That is fact


Sup?

Nay! I won't say Russia is a developing country, neither is it altogether a developed one in all ramifications, as some would argue. It can better be said to be in between. A world of its own. Again, it is trite that the designation and classification of nations as developed and developing, varies from place to place, and from one organization to the other, depending on the criteria adopted. There are those who based their designations on the country's level of industrialization, technological advancement/innovations, level of economy by GDP and GNP, HDI, High income earning, and so on. There are no hard and fast rules for classification.

For instance, the UN criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), the per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living. Some organizations include HDI also as one of the indices.

The UN's list of 10 largest advanced economies.

In 2014, the ten largest advanced economies by GDP in both nominal and PPP terms were:
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. All of these are considered to be 'developed'.

World Bank classifies economies and there is a category of "high-income economies". Russia is present in that list.

Further facts on the Economic data of Russia from IMF:
GDP (PPP) = About $3.5t (6th position)
GDP (PPP) per capita = About $24100 (53rd position)
GDP (nominal) = About $1.18 t (15th position)
GDP (nominal) per capita = $8,184 (74th position)
HDI = 0.778 (High. 57th position)

Even if we are to go by PPP, Russia (not to mention China) would still be there. On strict economic bases like in GDP and GNP, Russia can be said to be 'developing'. Which ever angle one looks at it, Russia can't be said to be a developing country in toto.


Am cool... long time...

Lucasbalo:
You are bringing up the Crazy leader of Philippines who is killing his own people left and right. It's only a matter of time before Fillipinos turn their backs on him. You are supporting him because he calls Obama son of a bit:h in his native Tagalog when he was giving his speech in English. I guess you are a bonafide member of HAC. We shall see who is going to be the next line of attack for HAC members when Obama vacates the Presidency on January 20.

I believe you read my post very well. I am not supporting Duterte and his extra-judicial killing madness. I only referenced his comments as a generic indication of the increasingly air of resentment of the US by many nations, due to it's incurable interventionist disease and Foreign Policy enslavement to the MIC and the neocons.

CSTR2:
This is a truly ignorant statement even the most ardent anti- US fanatic will not utter.
China and Russia are merely developing countries trying to catch up. The US created the internet and have the biggest software and hard ware firms in the world and the best IT minds too.
70% of the advancement in Cyber technology in this world was made on US soil or in collaboration with america.

That the US created the internet therefore mean they are the king of cyber warfare, right? You even called Russia and China as merely developing countries to show your level of ignorance.. Do you even know how long this nations have been in the game? Stop being ignorant. Just go and read up the confession of top US military brass on Russia's EWs, particularly as it relate to the Ukraine.
That should be an eye opener.

There is always an advantage in every disadvantage.

Obama be like:

you damn Moscowvite! You exposed ISIS as my pet project during the annual UN General Meeting last year, and I was forced to shamefully CENSORED that speech of yours so that most of the American people that my CIA controlled Media have successfully zombified over time, will not get to know the truth and spark a revolution.

And as if that is not enough, you came from the blue after giving a one hour clear-the-air-notice to my military, and you started bombing my pet project ISIS, which I faithfully escorted from Libya and Iraq into Syria. How dare you!

You even have the audacity, the effrontery, and the temerity, to call them ISIS when I always call them Daesh.

To make matters worse, you dare destroyed my "murderate" rebels in Syria, making all my billions spent on training and arming them a waste of money and efforts. If only I knew before hand, I would have diverted such funds to help mitigate the sufferings of the over 50 millions of Americans that are living on food stamps today.
You bastard!

After making a mockery of me by thwarting all my efforts in Ukraine, the speed and stealthiness by which you took Crimea and the alienic capabilities you deployed and displayed on course Syria, further made my war planners and think-tanks institutions look stupid and incompetent, as they stare and behold the Bear in awe and disbelief; for such things can only happen in the movies, after years of self imposed delusive propaganda. You see what you are doing to us? You gaddamn son of a gun!

Now, am really getting pissed off. In a bid to undermine our Dollar, you got Iran to sell their oil for gold, and you are now swapping currencies with China, which is busy dumping US treasury bonds like mad; for which I had no option but to fabricate an anonymous buyer in Europe to mop them up. Despite all the sanctions I have placed on you as a counter measure to stifle your military resurgence and weaken you economically, still; your economy have adapted to the sanctions, and have even recorded some growth in other areas. And now, many nations on the sanctions side are about rebelling against me. Mad man!


I brought up NATO (Nationalized American Terrorist Organization) unto your doorsteps in the East in order to deter and scare you to fall in line of obedience like our puppets in the rest of Europe. We even went a step further by switching on the missile shield program in Romania. But instead of you to capitulate and acquiesce to our hegemonic commands, you countered by unveiling the Satan 2, the U-71, and a host of others of your alien-like fifth generational hypersonic missiles that renders our Aeges and THAAD defense systems useless. And to complicate matters for us, your drones are now escaping air to air missile fires, just as one did recently in Israel, by the aid of your damn magrav technology. Its by this you have rendered our bathroom fleet carriers to become sitting docks. And the French Navy further confirmed it when they used the same technology to sink the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier in a training exercise. Damn you Putin.


I, Obama and my European puppets said " Assad must go". But, you said he must stay, and its we that must go. Now, Cameron is gone - tossed out by brexit. Erdogan is now siding with you. Hollande Hollandier Milk President of France is now a confuse man, as he can no longer been seen fighting Assad who is fighting ISIS that is also killing French people in France. Merkel CDP is now losing elections in Germany due to her immigration policy that is now killing Germans, all fueled by her previous stance of Assad must go mantra. Now she can't say that anymore. All courtesy of the Russian engagement. You are now reaping us apart.

Inspite of all the lies, the frenzy and character assassination our controlled media covens carried out against you; you remain the ONLY President in Europe with an 80% approval rating. I Obama don't even have 50% among my own people. Not even with my fellow African Americans.

You damn Putin! Why have you chosen to be President during my time.? Why don't you let a nigga be?

Damn you Russians.

Chubhie:
The Chinese snubbed Obama by failing to accord him a red carpet reception given to other leaders.

The Chinese and Americans almost exchanged blows at the airport.

And the Philippines President doubled down on the ill treatment Obama received in his recent travels. The underlining fact is that, people and nations all over the world are increasingly getting fed up with America's imposing Foreign Policy highhandedness and geopolitical autocracy.

So you mean to say, he is a President ONLY in the prison? Just wondering.

It has always been the same pattern all along. The US causing confusion and chaos from one part of the earth to another.

pyyxxaro:
Beautiful Omotè

I tell you. No be just Omote only: na "ovwa woroworo" be that o~. aye ve ruvwu.

Zoharariel:
Under no circumstances is Amerika ever going to be able to dictate her terms to Russia by threatening her with nuclear annihilation.

With Russia & China now in a de facto military union, and with Erdogan graciously holding tightly to Amerika's balls - the game is about coming to an end for the Jew-nited State of Amerika & her head-chopping “moderate” terrorists in Syria.

I only hope the nuclear mushroom cloud won't pop-up in the Syrian horizon before the brainwashed Amerikan sheeple call their war-mongering rats in Washington to order, but whatever the case maybe, the logic of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) remains in effect.

I tell ya. More surprises and game changing moments ahead, soulja...

Talk about conflicting and then realigning interests. The fact is that, there are no permanent foes or friends in the game of geopolitics.

RUSSIA, SYRIA, AND TURKEY HAVE AGREED ON JOINT OPERATIONS IN SYRIA
01.09.2016
Syria
Valentin Vasilescu


If Russia wanted to, it could deploy three armored divisions to Syria within 72 hours and thereby permanently solve the problem of Islamist rebels. The US could do the same in its pursuit of removing Bashar al-Assad from power. Therefore, the two powers’ involvement in Syria and the fighting has been done mostly by proxies, while each of the two great powers tries to cheat the other. This balance was disturbed by the Turkish military intervention in Northern Syria. The intervention could have ruined the rules established between the US and Russia. However, things were clarified and there was an unexpected chance to rapidly conclude hostilities in Syria.

After August 24th, 2016, the date that the Turkish army launched the operation around the town Jarablus, several rounds of talks, the latest of which was in Baghdad, were held between Russian, Syrian, and Turkish officers on limiting and controlling Turkey’s actions. After the failed coup, Turkey is no longer the aggressive Turkey that downed the Russian Su-24 jet at the end of 2015. Therefore, Turkish sources say that a consensus on more points was achieved in the end in terms of limiting the Turkish “Euphrates Shield” operation to Northern Syria in accordance with Syrian interests. Russian army staff officers were accepted as “referees” to help control the planners of the Turkish Euphrates Shield operation.

The first point imposed on Turkey was a threshold in terms of forces deployed by the Turkish army in Syria, which is not to exceed 8,000 soldiers (two mechanized brigades, an artillery regiment, a battalion of special forces, a squadron of F-16, and a mixed one formed from helicopters, amphibious assault and transport vehicles).

The second agreed point was the area in Syria where the Turkish military may move to eliminate Islamic State fighters. This is a strip between the cities of Quarah Koubri and Jarablus (90 km) with a depth of 30 km from the Turkish-Syrian border. At the same time, Turkey has committed to not allow rebel FSA (Free Syrian Army) militants to act in this strip independently, without orders from Turkish army units.

Although the Syrian army intervened in defense of Kurdish YPG fighters surrounded by Islamist rebels in the Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo on August 21st, 2016, the YPG attacked the Syrian army in the city of al-Hasakah, conquering it. Therefore, also included in the second set of points is that the Turkish army has permission from the Syrian government to evacuate from the eastern bank of the Euphrates (even in battle) Kurdish rebels (YPG) who conquered the city of Manbij from the Islamic State with the help of US special forces. Russian S-400 missile systems will not bring down Turkish aircraft flying beyond the 90x30 km strip if they are acting against PKK terrorists.

The third point agreed upon means the withdrawal of most rebel groups controlled by the Turkish intelligence services in the battle zones around the city of Aleppo and in the Latakia governate. This maneuver will help the Syrian army achieve final victory in the battle for Aleppo.
Turkey pledges that when the offensive of Iranian volunteers and Syrian army to encircle and liquidate the Islamic State starts, then the Turks will execute a maneuver of forces and means together with the Syrian army. No matter what actions the Kurds will take against the Islamic State, Turkey will create a safety cordon along the Syrian-Turkish border to prevent the dispersal of Islamic State fighters to other countries.

End time Elves.

IJOBA2:
I REALLY DONT UNDERSTAND WHY YOU MUSLIMS ARE SO SCARED ABOUT TRUMP WINNING THE NOVEMBER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Because the Trumpster might send them to the desert they belong.

Chevalier:
2. Putin gives Washington a chance to pass on war (for a change)
After spending prodigious amounts of money, material and manpower fighting fundamentalists in the desert, some might be tempted to think the US would relish any opportunity to avoid another military misadventure. If you believed that, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s been occurring in the Middle East since 2002 with the US invasion of Afghanistan.
Future historians (that is, assuming there is a future where historians may ponder the past) may one day mark August 29, 2013 as the day when the American Empire first started showing signs of wear and tear. That was when UK Prime Minister David Cameron failed to secure approval in the House of Commons to join yet another US-led serial killing, this time in Syria, after President Bashar Assad purportedly crossed Obama’s whimsical “red line” and used chemical weapons against the Syrian opposition (an assertion that was never proven).
This placed the Obama administration in a bind, eventually leading to a ‘slip of the tongue’ by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who remarked that Syria could avoid an American blitzkrieg if it agreed to surrender its chemical weapons “within one week”. Infuriatingly for the US neocons, Putin successfully convinced Damascus to remove its chemical weapons with all due haste.
Predictably, however, US media and thinktankdom portrayed Putin’s eleventh-hour diplomacy, which delayed the obliteration of yet another Middle East state, as some sort of geopolitical ploy.
"It absolutely is a diplomatic win by Putin right now," Fiona Hill, director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, told CNN.
I was almost expecting Fiona to employ some sort of judo analogy next. Oh wait, she did.
"If we think about this as judo, which is of course Mr. Putin's favorite sport, this is just one set of moves," she said. "And right now, he's managed to get Obama off the mat, at least, and get the terms set down that play to his advantage."
Think about that. If that was the best press Putin could get when he helped America to avoid yet another military smash-up, chances are negligible that he would ever get positive reviews under normal circumstances. And therein, dear reader, lies the rub: America has come to the psychotic point in its foreign policy when avoiding military conflict is actually viewed as a setback.

So much on point. I couldn't have said it any better. The more powerful the nation, the more senseless it becomes until that power is solely dissipated by folly.

It is trite now that America is wired to fight wars and be destroyed by it.

I weep for America.

Chevalier:
Western media and thinktankdom have gone wildly off the rails regarding the Russian leader, blaming anything and everything on Vladimir Putin. The public has largely bought the raw propaganda wholesale and this is a tragedy for US-Russian relations.
A cursory glance at Putin’s track record should convince even the most jaded Russian observer that he has done everything possible to build solid relations with the United States. Yet not only has the Obama administration refused to meet Putin halfway, it characterizes the Russian leader as the global arch villain bar none.
So here’s a refresher course for anybody who’s ever dragged Putin’s name through the mud, serving up piping hot propa-garbage while helping to exasperate tensions between Russia and the US.
As Vladimir Nabokov once proclaimed before considering an entirely different subject, “Look at this tangle of thorns” .
1. Putin provides ‘extraordinary assistance’ to ‘War on Terror’
It is no secret that following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 against the US, Putin was the first global leader to telephone US President George W. Bush. And he didn't call collect. Moreover, the Russian leader offered more than just words of condolence. He pushed through a raft of legislation to assist the US in the fight against terrorism.
In his 2011 book, “Vladimir Putin and Russian Statecraft,” Allen C. Lynch documented Putin’s contributions to America’s endless ‘War on Terror’.
“In a bold decision… Putin made Russia the most important U.S. ally in the war against the Taliban,” Lynch wrote. “Among other things, he accelerated deliveries of weapons to the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan so that when the Alliance marched into Kabul it did so with Russian, not American, weapons and vehicles. He encouraged the governments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to allow American military bases on their territory.”
And here is my personal favorite: “He opened Russian airspace for American overflights to bases in Central Asia so that the US could conduct search and rescue operations for U.S. airmen (Please imagine the howl of pain that would echo across Washington if any US president allowed Russian military overflights across US territory into South America!).
Despite Putin’s extreme generosity bestowed upon the US military and intelligence apparatus, Washington proved Graham Greene’s adage “there is no such thing as gratitude in politics” by ratcheting up pressure against Russia for no good reason whatsoever.
According to Stephen Cohen, the US repaid Putin for his
“extraordinary assistance” by “further expanding NATO to Russia’s borders and by unilaterally withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, which Moscow regarded as the linchpin of its nuclear security.”
With friends like this who needs enemies?

I believe some mendacious folks like those unrepentant shenanigans we have here, will never admit the obvious that the MIC and the Luciferian elites that controls it, are the curtain raiser of the warmongering US Foreign Policy that seeks to, and have successfully made Russia a perpetual enemy, because "threat with Russia" is good for business. One of their own General even admitted this that enmity with Russia is good for business. That is, more funding and more money for the war hawks and the MIC. None care to recall the words of Highsinghower on this predatory evil.

Watching Alois Irlmaier's prophecy with bated breath...Rdogan and the Balkans on the other hand....

Prophecy made clearer by events.