December 11th, 2023
As the year draws to a close, various conflicts around the world are getting more active and even my little bit of rural England has seen a couple of Palestinian flags on display in the high street.
I had an interesting conversation in London last week about the way the world is deteriorating with armed conflicts breaking out all over the place. In all the areas of conflict there are signs of involvement by the usual suspects but more intensively than before and at the risk of invoking conspiracy theories there seems to be a coordinated approach to all the actions.
The UK Government issued a D notice to the media:
The e-mail to the media was from the DSMA secretary, Brigadier Geoffrey Dodds.
Dodds states, “Reports have started to appear in some publications claiming that UK Special Forces have deployed to sensitive areas of the Middle East and then linking that deployment to hostage rescue/evacuation operations.
“May I take this opportunity to remind editors that publication of such information contravenes the DSMA notice code. I therefore advise that claims of such deployments should not be published nor broadcast without first seeking Defence and Security Media advice.”
He added, “This Notice aims to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of classified information about Special Forces and other MOD units engaged in security, intelligence and counter-terrorist operations, including their methods, techniques and activities.”
Source World Socialist web 30th October 2023.
It is thought that the SAS is on standby in Cyprus in case the hostage situation merits their intervention. I am sure that, if needed, they would be able to provide discrete advice.
Then there is the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where the fightback by Ukrainian forces has struggled due mainly to the Russian defence lines, the willingness of Putin to commit lots of troops and replace as necessary, and the reluctance of NATO members to provide sufficient and appropriate materiel for Ukraine to mount and sustain an offensive operation. Some have said that this is because the USA is reluctant for either side to achieve total victory. The USA would prefer Russia to be involved in a continuously economically debilitating conflict. One result would be a strengthening of NATO with the accession of Finland and Sweden with the ongoing threat from Russia being an incentive for European members to increase their contributions to NATO and take some of the funding load off America.
Much support has been given to Russia by Iran and North Korea, enabling Russia to keep up its supply of drones and ammunition.
Iran is increasingly involved in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. They are supplying Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as surrogates in Syria and Yemen. In Yemen, the rebel government in Sanaa linked to the Houthi movement is getting more active with the conflict with Saudi Arabia being extended to cover shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In the last week, three commercial ships and an American warship were attacked, with the warship downing missiles and drones.
Yesterday (10 December), a French frigate shot down two drones. This is thought to be an attempt to pressure Saudi Arabia to pressure the USA to pressure Israel to work towards halting the conflict in Gaza.
On the other hand, by keeping the Gaza conflict going, the Israelis are using reserves of weapons and ammunition and need replenishment from the USA. This is putting further demands on the USA military industry which will have short-term problems in ramping up output to meet the Israeli and Ukrainian needs. As mentioned earlier, Russia and Iran are getting closer and any actions such as the Gaza conflict and the Houthi’s attacks can only work in Russia’s favour if military materiel from the USA becomes a scarce resource globally.
If one adds in the growing tension in South America between Venezuela and Guyana then there are potentially even more demands on US materiel. Venezuela’s Maduro has been making bellicose demands on Guyana (an ex-British colony) with a view to taking over the oil-rich part of Guyana which borders Venezuela.
Brazil has already moved troops up to its border with Venezuela and the USA is providing support within Guyana, its Southern Command co-operating with the Guyanese government. Britain has voiced support for Guyana, and has a jungle training base in Belize. In 2019 the UK government held discussions with Guyana about opening a facility in Guyana. This is going to involve the USA and if conflict breaks out will be yet another demand on the military-industrial resources of the USA, and the UK. Given the close ties that Venezuela has with Russia and the fact that it has held talks about establishing a military base there, they could quite easily support Venezuela’s annexation of part of Guyana.
Coming full circle back to the Middle East and Ukraine, with the Russians trading with Iran and obtaining continuity of supply of armaments, it frees up Russia to supply, in conjunction with Iran, support to Venezuela. This in turn would increase pressure on the USA.
Finally, as a little bit of light relief, I read the following on the Stuff website (someone has to read it).
Former Labour Minister Steve Maharey stepped down as chair at ACC and Pharmac, and on Friday Waka Kotahi chair Paul Reynolds and board member Patrick Reynolds resigned.
They quit as the New Zealand Transport Agency became the first waka off the rank to change its primary name from Maori to te reo Pakeha.
Soon through the exit door will be Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt, whose term ends in January.
Source Stuff. Byline Vernon Small 9 Dec 2023
I was intrigued by the reference to Te Reo Pakeha. What on earth is that? I have always thought that Pakeha referred to white people so what language is common to them all? Is it German, French, Spanish or English? If Te Reo Pakeha is English then what does that make the French, Germans and Spanish etc? Are they Pakeha, and if not, what are they?
