Oriental Review

US, Israeli and Saudi-funded Terrorists Destabilizing Syria Now Under Fire in Lebanon

by Tony CARTALUCCI

According to a 2007 New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh, “The Redirection,” the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia had been assembling a region-wide army of extremist-mercenaries to battle Hezbollah in Lebanon, destabilize and overthrow Syria, and create a united front against Iran. The forces recruited for this effort would come from the ranks of the [...]

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We Want War, And We Want It Now

By Pepe ESCOBAR (Brazil)

With friends like these … It all had to do with that Friends of Syria (fools for war?) meeting in Istanbul. Picture Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal – who seems to have a knack for sending US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton into rapture – feverishly arguing that the House of Saud, those paragons of [...]

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The Arab World: From Nationalism to Tribalism

By Vitaly BILAN (Ukraine)

The “parade of autonomies” we are currently witnessing in the Arab world, primarily in Iraq and Libya, is an indicator of the crisis the region’s nation-states are undergoing. Unlike Europe, however, it is less a consequence of integrationist trends than an indicator of the Greater Middle East’s archaism, its return to tribalism. Farewell to the [...]

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Mali Coup a New Step towards Global Resources Grab

By Alexander MEZYAEV (Russia)

A coup erupted in Mali, a landlocked West African country, on March 22. The presidential palace, a number of the country’s state institutions, and the premises of the national broadcaster were seized by a mutinous group led by Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, and at the moment, authority in Mali announcedly rests with an improvised “National [...]

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The Dangerous Mess In Syria Grows Murkier

By Eric MARGOLIS (USA)

Syria’s murky, multi-level conflict continues to grow worse. So does public confusion here in the west as the US, British and some European media keep depicting Syria’s civil war as a simple passion play pitting the evil Asad regime in Damascus against mostly unarmed democratic protestors. We saw this same one-dimensional, deceptive reporting recently in [...]

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Syria: Way to Peace

By Boris DOLGOV (Russia)

On March 21, 2012 the UN Security Council unanimously (all 15 members) approved a statement on Syria that is to facilitate the crisis solution. The statement is a six point proposal emphasizing a ceasefire by both sides, a pull back of Syrian army from populated areas, the continuation of UN intermediary mission headed by Kofi [...]

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Cyrenaica and the Scuffle for Libyan Heritage

By Vitaly BILAN (Ukraine)

A failing state The decision by the so-called “Congress of the People of Cyrenaica” held near Benghazi to establish a unified federal region of Barq has again attracted the attention of the media to Libya. Of course, the main reason for this decision by the Cyrenaicans was the desire to take charge of the two [...]

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Turkish Solitaire

By Vladimir EVSEEV (Russia)

After Syrian security forces liberated first the area west of Homs and then the area northwest of Idlib, it became obvious that now only a foreign invasion can overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. And Damascus is doing its best to exploit its advantage as quickly as possible: It got a new constitution approved by referendum, proclaimed [...]

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Libya: Revolutionary Brigades and the UN

By Alexander MEZYAEV (Russia)

For the first time the UN Security Council viewed the results of the Mission in Libya operation after it was established in September last year. The report of UN Secretary General was submitted for the Council’s consideration to convince its members that the prolongation of the Mission’s activities was necessary. That’s what was done. The [...]

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War, Pipelineistan-style

By Pepe ESCOBAR (Brasil)

United States Secretary of State Hillary “We came, we saw, he died” Clinton’s message to Pakistan was stark; try to go ahead with the IP (Iran-Pakistan) gas pipeline, and we’re going to take you out financially. Islamabad, its economy in tatters, living in power-cut land, and desperate for energy, tried to argue. Pakistan’s top official [...]

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John McCain Beats the Drum of War

By Andrei AKULOV (Russia)

On March 5 Republican Senator John McCain urged the United States to launch airstrikes against Syria to force the government out of power. The Senator called for military intervention without further delay. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 and the GOP’s senior member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. should start [...]

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The Arab World: In Search of “Subjectivity”

By Vitaly BILAN (Ukraine)

The greater irritation shown by the countries that currently are the Arab world’s chief “integrators” — Saudi Arabia and Qatar — during and after the “Group of Friends of Syria” conference in Tunisia points to growing problems in the Wahhabi integration project that stretches from the Atlantic to Iran. In essence, the “subjectivity” of the [...]

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