Headline News 08/09/2018

Headlines:

• Trump’s Economic War against China explains why the US Establishment Tolerates him

 

Mattis continues Tradition of ‘Surprise Visits’ to Tenuously US Occupied Afghanistan

 

America shows Russia who’s boss in Syria

Details:

Trump’s Economic War against China explains why the US Establishment tolerates him

In the midst of yet more revelations of the chaotic Trump White House, US President Donald Trump has warned of new tariffs against China; according to the Guardian:

A package of tariffs worth $200bn is close to being imposed on Chinese imports to the US and Trump’s latest suggested round – which would be worth $267bn – would sharply escalate Trump’s trade war with China.

Many economists and investors are concerned the spat will derail the global economy. China has threatened retaliation, which could include action against US companies operating there.

Trump, who has demanded that Beijing make major changes in economic, trade and technology policy, told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was “being strong on China because I have to be”.

“The $200bn we are talking about could take place very soon depending on what happens with them. To a certain extent it’s going to be up to China,” Trump said. “And I hate to say this, but behind that is another $267bn ready to go on short notice if I want. That totally changes the equation.”

It is not only China but Trump is initiating bold breakthrough moves in all major US foreign policy issues, such as Europe, Russia, NAFTA as well key US priorities in the Muslim world, particularly Syria.

All American administrations face internal conflict over the disconnection between their actions and America’s stated values. The reason for this is that Western values are what they call ‘idealistic’, which means that they are incorrectly defined and so do not agree with the reality of human nature. It is impossible to take ‘Freedom of speech’, for example, literally; there are numerous situations in which it is ethically, morally and legally wrong to say whatever one wishes. American politicians recognise this, and so act in accordance with national interests and not stated American values. Trump is only a more extreme version of this, necessitated by the seriousness of the crises that America faces today. America’s true ideology is secular materialistic Capitalism and its real foreign policy is global imperialism. Freedom and democracy are just philosophical fantasies, incapable of practical implementation but included to mask the true ugliness of Western tyranny.

Islam is the true Deen, revealed by the Creator of man, and fully in accordance with human nature. With Allah’s permission, the world will soon see in the re-established Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) on the method of the Prophet (saw) a state where there exists no contradiction between the lofty values of Islam and the actions of its politicians and rulers.

Mattis continues Tradition of ‘Surprise Visits’ to Tenuously US occupied Afghanistan

Highlighting America’s fragile hold on Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis made yet another ‘surprise visit’ to Afghanistan, as has become routine not only for him but for all senior US officials. According to the Washington Post:

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made a surprise visit to Kabul on Friday and held talks with Afghan government leaders on a peace process with Taliban insurgents and the country’s spiraling violence.

Arriving in a capital gripped by security jitters and political uncertainty ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for next month, Mattis met with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, the presidential palace said. Also among the topics, it said, were Afghanistan’s relations with neighboring Pakistan, which Kabul has long accused of harboring militants who carry out attacks on Afghan and U.S. troops.

Joining Mattis was Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Their visit to Afghanistan lasted a little more than six hours and included a meeting with Army Gen. Austin S. Miller, who took over as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in the country Sunday.

Earlier this week, Dunford traveled to Islamabad with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an effort to “reset the relationship” with Pakistan’s new government after a period of sharp disagreements.

Washington has suspended at least $900 million in military aid to Pakistan this year, accusing it of failing to rein in militants on its soil and pressure their leaders to accept face-to-face talks with the Afghan government.

Despite American complaints, the only reason that for the continued US occupation of Afghanistan is the full cooperation it has received from the Pakistan military since the time of Musharraf. The never-ending complaints are only because America wants Pakistan to undertake even greater sacrifices to stabilise the US occupation and its ridiculously weak puppet Kabul regime, whose authority barely extends to just the major Afghan cities and their interconnecting links. Meanwhile, the Pakistani military command wants appreciation from America for its ongoing service to them, while at the same time it wants the mujahideen on the ground to trust Pakistani support for their jihad.

The truth is that Pakistan does not support the Afghan jihad but is only trying to cultivate ‘assets’ while building credibility with the Americans by keeping the mujahideen short of victory. It is unfortunately an old dirty game that the Pakistani military leadership learned well in Kashmir, exploiting the uprising there for narrow institutional interests by turning the support tap on and off at will. If nuclear-armed Pakistan were truly sincere to the noble Afghan mujahideen then America wouldn’t even exist in Afghanistan in the first place.

America shows Russia who’s boss in Syria

Western media are reporting US marines carrying out a live ammunition ‘exercise’ in south-eastern Syria; according to the Washington Post:

U.S. Marines conducted a live-fire aerial assault exercise in southern Syria on Friday designed to warn Russian and other military forces to stay away from an American base there.

The exercise, involving a company-size unit, came amid rising U.S.-Russia tensions across the Syrian battlespace. The Trump administration has warned both Russia and the Syrian government against a planned offensive in Idlib province in northwest Syria, the largest remaining pocket of rebel fighters who have tried, and failed, over the past seven years to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

In support of the Idlib operation, Russia has deployed a significant naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, with weaponry capable of reaching across Syria.

The Marine exercise took place near the U.S. garrison at Tanf, along the Syrian-Iraqi border near Jordan, around which the Americans have long declared a 35-mile deconfliction zone off-limits to others. It followed a Russian notification, and U.S. rejection, of a plan to enter the zone to pursue “terrorists.”

It is in fact America that has assembled the array of foreign powers in Syria and has been controlling the sequence of all events there. But from time to time, one or other of these powers thinks to challenge the humiliating limits imposed upon it by their master. And from time to time, America needs to carry out actions to bring them back into line.

In truth, America does not fear any of these powers but it fears the Muslim Ummah. It has learnt bitterly and painfully for the first time in its history that the Muslim mujahideen are undefeatable. Unlike the European and Asian powers, America had never directly faced mujahideen in war. And just two military engagements, in Iraq and Afghanistan, were enough to convince the Americans never to deploy force against Muslim mujahideen again. This is the reason that America, the world’s solitary superpower, fights in Syria through the armies of others, as before it the British Empire learnt to do.

With Allah’s permission, the Muslim Ummah will rise to support their mujahideen by establishing the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) State on the method of the Prophet (saw) that will implement Islam and carry its light to the world, liberating all Muslim lands from foreign control and occupation.