Somaliland: Resident Ethiopian Communities Commemorate the 23rd Ginbot-20 victory Anniversary in Hargeisa

By: Amleset Abraar

HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) - Ethiopian community members residing in different parts of Somaliland, on Wednesday (May 28th) 2014, celebrated the 23rd anniversary of Ginbot-20 victory which marks the overthrow of the dictatorial and repressive Dergue military regime in Ethiopia. Jointly organized by the Ethiopian Consulate General office in Somaliland and the Ethiopian Community Association in Hargeisa, the 23rd anniversary was celebrated colorfully in the attendance of over four hundred members of Ethiopian communities residing in Hargeisa, Borama and other parts of Somaliland.

Participating in the event also included representatives from the Somaliland government: the Speaker of Parliament, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Aviation, representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation as well as other high level officials. The celebration detailed the overwhelming progresses so far made in Ethiopia following the demise of the brutal Dergue regime and the formation of a Federal Democratic system of governance.

In his opening statement, the head of the Ethiopian mission in Somaliland Brigadier General Berhe Tesfay noted the inspiring progresses made so far in Ethiopia in terms of building democratic system of governance based on equality of all nations, nationalities and peoples as well as on ensuring rapid and sustainable economic and social development. He said the fall of the military dictatorship in 1991, and the coming to power of a new Federal Government and the subsequent new Constitution has provided the foundation for a new democratic era in Ethiopia which ensures full respect to human and democratic rights including the equality of nations, nationalities and peoples, based on mutual understanding and respect.

Consular General of Ethiopia Brigadier General Berhe Tesfaye addressing the Ginbot 20 in Hargeisa

The General who expressed gratitude to those who have sacrificed themselves for the creation of the current improved Ethiopia also noted that their sacrifices has resulted in the creation of policies and strategies that continue to lift the country and its people out of poverty. Also to remain in the hearts and minds of the Ethiopian people is the gallant late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who was the main architect of Ethiopia's path towards democracy and development. His long-lasting and unique legacies have enabled the people of Ethiopia to stand in unison to defend the shared benefits of development and democracy.

General Berhe also pointed out that the Government's right mixes of policies and strategies being coupled with continuous structural improvements being taken to encourage stronger implementation capacity in all economic, political and social areas has enabled the people of Ethiopia to start enjoying the taste of democracy and development. Following the Ginbot-20 victory, he said, the Ethiopian Government being aware of the indispensability of having a skilled and knowledgeable workforce and pro-poor directions has devoted its effort on building productive citizens.

Particpants

These being compounded with the government's resolve in fighting any forms of rent-seeking, have enhanced the country's overall productive capacity in all areas for the past two decades and also laid the foundation for future rapid and sustained growth. Such an approach was among the factors which helped Ethiopia to register a double digit growth for the last ten years in row which he said has now make Ethiopia to be the 7th biggest economy in Africa and the 69th globally.

He further mentioned some major improvements being made in the areas of agriculture, industry, infrastructure, services including education and health as well as on building major public projects. On agriculture, the Government having the proper understanding of giving priority to enhancing the small holder farmers' production and productivity and them to medium and large scale farming respectively has devoted significant share of its annual budget to agricultural sector transformation. It has put in place continuous agricultural extension and transformation packages that have resulted in an over tripled compounded growth of annual agricultural production, from what it was around 50 million quintals some years ago to over 300 million to date and to nearly half a billion in the few of years to come.

Somaliland security chiefs at the Ginbot 20 commemorations in Hargeisa

This increased production, he said, has enabled the Government to build 400,000 metric tonnes of emergency food reserve with further plans of increasing the reserve to 3 million cubic tonnes at the end of 2015. This will make Ethiopia to be food sufficient whereby it will respond to any drought driven emergency food requirements by itself and without demanding support from donors. The improving agricultural production is also paving a conducive atmosphere to the Government's direction of transforming Ethiopia from agriculture-led economy to an industrial-led one and the progress so far is very rewarding. This could be evidenced by the lessening of the share of agriculture to the total GDP from 53% some 20 years ago to about 40% now. And this attests that the industrial sector is expanding rapidly and is contributing a significant share to the economy. This does mean that the productivity and volume of agriculture sector is also increasing in an amazing annual pace while its share to the economy is giving way to the industry. Currently, general Berhe said, micro and small enterprises as well as medium and large scale industries are tremendously expanding in every corners of Ethiopia, ushering another round of renaissance to come.

The Consul General who noted the construction of over 36 thousand new schools and over 30 new universities across the country in the last ten years also said that the Government has so far made the national primary and secondary school access coverage to reach over 95%, and about 22 million school-age Ethiopians have access to education currently. The Universities' admission capacity has grown to about 50,000 per year and all the universities are hosting a total of half a million students at a time now. This marks a skyrocketing leap as compared to the less than 3000 capacity of all universities twenty years back. The 50,000 ones joining university every year constitutes 20% of the total students and the rest 80% (over 200,000) are being made to attend vocational trainings every year.

 Ethiopian Developmet is fast paced

On health, the General said, the government has so far achieved its target of making health facilities available to rural areas in every 5 kilometers radius. It has built about 20,000 new health centers and over 200 hospitals in short period of time with over 38,000 trained health professionals being assigned to serve the sector. The construction of additional 3,200 health centers and 825 rural hospitals is also in full swing and would be completed within few years. This enabled the country's total health coverage to reach over 90% now.

He also explained the Government's commitment to maximize the road and railway interconnectivity within the country and across the region with Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia. He said the country's road coverage has grown fourfold to about 90,000 kilometers now compared to what was to be less than 20,000 kilometers 20 years ago. The Government is has plans to increase the road coverage to130, 000 kilometers in the next few years with an outlay of USD 9 billion. The General also referred to implementation of the Government's plan to finalize over 5,000 kilometers of railways in the next few years in eight selected corridors. These include the Addis Ababa-Djibouti, the Addis Ababa-Kenya, the Addis Ababa-Sudan, the Addis Ababa-South Sudan, the Addis Ababa-Bedele, the Addis Ababa-Woldiya and Mekelle and the Tadjoura railway projects.

On huge public sector projects, General Berhe noted the Government's desire to see such huge projects being undertaken by the Ethiopian private sector. But it has taken the initiative to build such big projects by itself until a strong private sector capable of undertaking multi-billion dollar projects could come to the scene. The government is therefore undertaking many mega projects including the USD 5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with the capacity to generate 6,000 MW of electric power. This coupled with the Gilgel-Gibe dams and wind power turbines will help to ensure the Governments target of increasing Ethiopia's power generating capacity to 10,000 MW in the next few years.

The Government is also building 10 new sugar factories which will start production at the end of 2015. This being coupled with the renovated existing three sugar factories will make Ethiopia to ensure sugar self-sufficiency and will eventually enable the country to be among the top-ten sugar exporting countries in the world. Similarly, the government is also building five fertilizer factories with a total outlay of USD 3 billion. These factories would be completed by the end of 2017 with a total capacity of producing over 1.5 million tones of fertilizer per annum. This will not only help to save the hundreds of millions of dollars annual expenditure for fertilizer imports but also reinforces efforts aimed to transform the agriculture sector. What's more encouraging is the government's successful approach of making the mega project's metal and engineering works to be undertaken by Ethiopia's Metal and engineering Corporation (METEC). This not only helped to save expenditure but also to create knowledge and skill assets at home.

Ethiopian Coffee and foods was in plenty supplly at the Ginbot 20 in hargeisa

In his concluding remarks, General Berhe calls for the renewal of commitment to enhance the country's development and pave the way for a conducive approach to an eventual transition into an industrial-dominated economy and middle income status within a decade. It underlined the renewal of commitment to encourage the creation of as many businesses and strong private-public-partnerships as possible through appropriate intervention and facilitation of healthy and competitive interactions. He called on all the Ethiopian communities in Somaliland and elsewhere for renewed determination to fight rent-seeking and other illegal activities that might try to counter the country's efforts at ensuring rapid and sustainable economic growth and building a nation of good governance and democracy.

Representatives of the Ethiopian community associations in Hargeisa and Borama on their part made their own remarks. Deputy Chairperson of the Ethiopian Community Association in Hargeisa, Ato Abebe Hailemariam, expressed the association's satisfaction over the overwhelming progresses being made in Ethiopia in terms of development and democratization. He also expressed the members' determination to do everything possible to support the Government's effort of ensuring Ethiopia's renaissance. Chairperson of the Ethiopian Community Association in Borama, Ato Ahmed Nuh, on his part noted the improvements being made in Ethiopia in ensuring democratic governance and equality of all nations, nationalities and peoples.

Somaliland interior minister Ali Waranade addressing the Ethiopian Ginbot 20 in Hargeisa

He also appreciated the significant emphasis being given to Ethiopian communities residing abroad including in Somaliland which he said is enabling them for enhanced participation in their country's development and political affairs. Head of Investment Bureau of the Ethiopian Sumale Region, Ato Abdinasir Mahamed, who on his part noted that the region was ignored in previous eras, also detailed the tens of thousands of kilometers of road being constructed in the region following Ginbot-20 victory. He also noted that health facilities are being accessible to peoples in every corners of the region. He further appreciated the growing relations between the peoples of Ethiopia and Somaliland based on understanding and mutual respect. He also expressed his office's determination to do everything possible to encourage the participation of the Ethiopian Somali communities residing in Somaliland on investment opportunities being created in the Ethiopian Somali Region.

The Speaker of somaliland parliament Abdirahman Irro addressing the Ethiopian Ginbot 20 commemorations in Hargeisa

The Speaker of Somaliland's Parliament H.E. Mr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillah on his part appreciated the Ethiopian Government's progresses in improving the lives of its citizens. He particularly valued the inspiring progresses being made in the agriculture, education and health sectors. Somaliland's Minister of Interior, H.E. Mr. Ali Mohamed Waran Ade on his part expressed satisfaction over the improving overall relations that exist between Ethiopia and Somaliland since EPRDF came to power. He said the new system of democratic governance in Ethiopia and Somaliland helped to end the spirit of animosity between the peoples of the region which was more or less rampant in previous eras.

Somaliland and Ethiopian officials pose for a group photo after commemorations of the Ethiopian Ginbot 20 anniversaryu celebrations in Hargeisa

UN Security Council renews mission in Somalia

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council on Thursday extended a UN mission in Somalia for one more year in order to continue providing "good offices" in the country's peace and reconciliation process.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member Council commended the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) for its first 12 months of operation and decided to "extend UNSOM' s mandate for a period of 12 months."

According to the resolution, the mandate of UNSOM includes providing United Nations "good offices" functions in support of peace and reconciliation; providing advice on peace- and state- building; coordination of international donor support; government capacity building on human rights; and human rights monitoring and reporting.

The Security Council "stresses the importance it attaches to UNSOM working with the federal government of Somalia in supporting the government's stabilization efforts and coordinating international assistance, in particular in areas recovered from Al- Shabaab," said the resolution.

The Council also condemned "in the strongest terms" recent terrorist attacks perpetrated by Al-Shabaab in Somalia and the region, underlined the importance of holding perpetrators to account. and reiterated that terrorist attacks will not lessen its resolve to support the peace and reconciliation process in Somalia.

Expressing "deep concern" about the humanitarian situation as well as the reports of human rights violations in the country, the Council members also urged the Somali government to ensure that all perpetrators of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws are held accountable.

On May 2, 2013, the Security Council unanimously voted to establish a new UN Assistance Mission to be based in the national capital of Mogadishu. The mandate of this political mission began on June 3.

Somalia has been torn asunder by factional fighting since 1991 but has recently made progress towards stability. In 2012, new government institutions emerged as the country ended a transitional phase and will hold national elections in 2016.

Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida-linked Islamic militant group which was driven out of much of southern and central Somalia, has been launching terror attacks in the government-controlled areas.

UPDF names soldiers killed in Somalia

 

 

By Taddeo Bwambale
Burial arrangements are underway for the three Ugandan AMISOM peacekeepers killed during an attack on the Somali Parliament last Saturday.

Philip Baligeya (WO II), Albert Onzele (WO II) and Joseph Ochaya (Pte) were killed during a fierce fight in which 13 al-Shabaab militants were gunned down. The al-Qaeda-linked insurgents have since claimed responsibility for the attack.

The fighters, donning suicide vests entered the Somali Parliament building, shortly after detonating a car bomb near the main entrance, while parliament was in session.

Four Somali soldiers and a police officer were also killed during the joint response operation between AMISOM and Somali security forces that lasted for four hours.

All the MPs were safely evacuated. Only one suffered minor injuries. Three other injured Ugandan soldiers — Ronald Otim Kisa (Pte), Deo Dralu Asirafu (Pte) and Christopher Obwona (Lance Corporal), are in a stable condition at the AMISOM Level II Hospital in Mogadishu.

The spokesperson of Uganda’s AMISOM contingent, Maj. Deo Akiiki, Tuesday said the bodies of the UPDF soldiers were flown back home after a ceremony presided over by the deputy force commander in charge of operations and plans, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Muheesi.

He commended the soldiers for being brave and displaying a spirit of Pan-Africanism. Muheesi added: “They died for a noble cause; a call by their country and the people of Somalia.”

Burials are scheduled this week at the different ancestral homes of the fallen soldiers. PHOTO/PPU
 

Uganda is part the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia. PHOTO/AFP

Last week's attack on the Somali Parliament building was the latest of recent strikes by the al-Shabaab group. PHOTO/AFP

The function was attended by the acting contingent commander, Col. Emmy Mulindwa and senior UPDF officers. Muheesi said the death of the troops caused great grief to the UPDF family and all bereaved but vowed to “stay on course till Somalia is fully liberated”.

On Sunday, the commander of the Special Forces Command, Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, hailed the elite army unit for defeating those who attacked the parliament.

“Our boys who were part of the combined force that defeated the attackers did a great job,” said Muhoozi who has on several occasions been in combat in Somalia alongside other peacekeepers.

Burials are scheduled this week at the different ancestral homes of the deceased.

Baligeya was from Kaliro district; Ozelle from Nebbi district and Ochaya from Pader district.

China - Tanzania - Zambia by rail: A Chinese dream to possibly come true

 

Celebrating fifty years of cooperation and friendship between China and Tanzania, the Tanzania to Zambia Railway marks a landmark symbol of China and Africa relations.

Despite its low profile among other world-class railroads today, the Tanzania Zambia Railway is a miracle rail holding a symbol of solidarity between China and Africa in the areas of travel and overland transport.

The history of this railroad tells of the dream of the former British business magnate and politician, Cecil Rhodes, who dreamed of building a railway line from Cape Town in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt, to cut across the African continent from the southernmost tip to northern tip of this continent known for poor transport network.

Cecil Rhodes’ dream had come true through an old Edwardian Train snaking from the most tip of Africa in Cape Town in South Africa to Dar es Salaam, almost the center of Africa.

Covering 6,100 kilometers, the two-week tourist tailored epic journey from Cape to Dar es Salaam takes place every year through an old, vintage Edwardian Train snaking through the Southern to Eastern parts of Africa in tourist missions.

Operated by the Pretoria-based Rovos Rail, the vintage tourist train passes through tourist attractive sites in South Africa and Zimbabwe, then Zambia where it connects and rolls its luxury coaches through the Chinese constructed Tanzania and Zambia Railway line.

This miracle railway commonly known as TAZARA is among the longest and modern railroads in Africa with pure Chinese technology. The 1,067mm gauge railway covers a distance of 1,860 kilometers (1,160 miles) from Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean coast to Zambia’s Copper belt city of Kapiri-Mposhi.

TAZARA rail is a man-made wonder worth visiting. It cross and pass through awesome features including the 23 tunnels cutting through the Eastern Arc ranges in southern highlands of Tanzania and the Great Rift Valley rim. The longest tunnel covers 800 meters through rugged mountains.

These dark tunnels make the rail among most fascinating features any visitor could enjoy while snaking through 920 kilometers from Dar es Salaam to the Zambian border of Nakonde.

From Dar es Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi, the railway crosses or passes on over 300 bridges with stopovers in 147 stations.

It took 50,000 Chinese rail experts and engineers with other 60,000 Tanzanian and Zambia workers to lay down 330,000 tons of heavy steel rail. The workers moved 89 million cubic meters of earth and rock to complete the rail’s construction including the laying down of 2,225 concrete culverts.

China provided all building materials, equipment, medical and food supplies direct from Beijing to Dar es Salaam for the railroad workers. Ambulance vans were as well shipped from China to Tanzania for the sick and injured Chinese and African workers who braved the hostile African wilderness and landscapes.

Twelve Chinese surveyors walked on foot through rugged landscapes and wild places for nine months from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya in Southern Highlands about 900 kilometers to choose and align the railway's path.

On the course of its construction, 65 Chinese railway experts and engineers died.

It was 1970 when the first bar of a steel rail was laid down in Dar es Salaam to start the five-year tedious work to lay down the rail. In October 1975, the last bar of steel was laid at Kapiri-Mposhi in Zambia, to complete this hard but noble work of the construction of 1,860.5 kilometers of the railway, two years ahead of its completion.

Rovos Rail or the “Pride of Africa” luxurious train follow Cecil Rhodes trails from the Cape, passing through Southern Africa to Dar es Salaam and link its passengers to other parts of Africa through other railway networks in Eastern Africa.

It is an exciting, perhaps the only moment of life to ride through such a train pushed by steam engines and with old, wooden coaches dating back to late 1890s but modified into a five-star hotel with all facilities.

Rhodes' dream of a Cape to Cairo railway, has today progressed as far north as Dar es Salaam in the heart of Africa. China is currently looking at possible means to connect Africa by rail through its planned Ethiopia to Djibouti railway line with a total length of 753 kilometers.

With the completion of this railway line in North Africa, there will be a possibility to attract more travelers to travel from Cape Town to Cairo by train. Africa will own the longest railway line in the world. There will be a possibility for tourists to travel from Berlin or Paris to Cape Town after crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Through China and Africa economic relations, it is possible to connect the African continent from Cape to Cairo through Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt.

TAZARA railway remains a landmark symbol in honor the former Tanzanian and Zambian Presidents Julius Nyerere and Kenneth Kaunda and former Chinese leaders Mao Tse Tung. The dream of the Cape to Cairo Railway is not dead.

Why War Is Inevitable

There is no prospect of Islamists uniting in order to overthrow the West.

(image by NBC)

By Paul Craig Roberts 

Memorial Day is when we commemorate our war dead. Like the Fourth of July, Memorial Day is being turned into a celebration of war.

Those who lose family members and dear friends to war don't want the deaths to have been in vain. Consequently, wars become glorious deeds performed by noble soldiers fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. Patriotic speeches tell us how much we owe to those who gave their lives so that America could remain free.

The speeches are well-intentioned, but the speeches create a false reality that supports ever more wars. None of America's wars had anything to do with keeping America free. To the contrary, the wars swept away our civil liberties, making us unfree.

President Lincoln issued an executive order for the arrest and imprisonment of northern newspaper reporters and editors. He shut down 300 northern newspapers and held 14,000 political prisoners. Lincoln arrested war critic US Representative Clement Vallandigham from Ohio and exiled him to the Confederacy. President Woodrow Wilson used WWI to suppress free speech, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt used WWII to intern 120,000 US citizens of Japanese descent on the grounds that race made them suspect. Professor Samuel Walker concluded that President George W. Bush used the "war on terror" for an across the board assault on US civil liberty, making the Bush regime the greatest danger American liberty has ever faced.

Lincoln forever destroyed states' rights, but the suspension of habeas corpus and free speech that went hand in hand with America's three largest wars was lifted at war's end. However, President George W. Bush's repeal of the Constitution has been expanded by President Obama and codified by Congress and executive orders into law. Far from defending our liberties, our soldiers who died in "the war on terror" died so that the president can indefinitely detain US citizens without due process of law and murder US citizens on suspicion alone without any accountability to law or the Constitution.

The conclusion is unavoidable that America's wars have not protected our liberty but, instead, destroyed liberty. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, "A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny."

Southern secession did pose a threat to Washington's empire, but not to the American people. Neither the Germans of WWI vintage nor the Germans and Japanese of WWII vintage posed any threat to the US. As historians have made completely clear, Germany did not start WWI and did not go to war for the purpose of territorial expansion. Japan's ambitions were in Asia. Hitler did not want war with England and France. Hitler's territorial ambitions were mainly to restore German provinces stripped from Germany as WWI booty in violation of President Wilson's guarantees. Any other German ambitions were to the East. Neither country had any plans to invade the US. Japan attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbor hoping to remove an obstacle to its activities in Asia, not as a precursor to an invasion of America.

Certainly the countries ravaged by Bush and Obama in the 21st century -- Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen posed no military threat to the US. Indeed, these were wars used by a tyrannical executive branch to establish the basis of the Stasi State that now exists in the US.

The truth is hard to bear, but the facts are clear. America's wars have been fought in order to advance Washington's power, the profits of bankers and armaments industries, and the fortunes of US companies. Marine General Smedley Butler said, "I served in all commissioned ranks from a second Lieutenant to a Major General. And during that time, I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism."

It is more or less impossible to commemorate the war dead without glorifying them, and it is impossible to glorify them without glorifying their wars.

For the entirety of the 21st century the US has been at war, not war against massed armies or threats to American freedom, but wars against civilians, against women, children, and village elders, and wars against our own liberty. Elites with a vested interest in these wars tell us that the wars will have to go on for another 20 to 30 years before we defeat "the terrorist threat."

This, of course, is nonsense. There was no terrorist threat until Washington began trying to create terrorists by military attacks, justified by lies, on Muslim populations.

Washington succeeded with its war lies to the point that Washington's audacity and hubris have outgrown Washington's judgment.

By overthrowing the democratically elected government in Ukraine, Washington has brought the United States into confrontation with Russia. This is a confrontation that could end badly, perhaps for Washington and perhaps for the entire world.

If Gaddafi and Assad would not roll over for Washington, why does Washington think Russia will? Russia is not Libya or Syria. Washington is the bully who, having beat up the kindergarden kid, now thinks he can take on the college linebacker.

The Bush and Obama regimes have destroyed America's reputation with their incessant lies and violence against other peoples. The world sees Washington as the prime threat.

Worldwide polls consistently show that people around the world regard the US and Israel as the two countries that pose the greatest threat to peace. See here and here.

The countries that Washington's propaganda declares to be "rogue states" and the "axis of evil," such as Iran and North Korea, are far down the list when the peoples in the world are consulted. It could not be more clear that the world does not believe Washington's self-serving propaganda. The world sees the US and Israel as the rogue states.

The US and Israel are the only two countries in the world that are in the grip of ideologies. The US is in the grip of the Neoconservative ideology which has declared the US to be the "exceptional, indispensable country" chosen by history to exercise hegemony over all others. This ideology is buttressed by the Brzezinski and Wolfowitz doctrines that are the basis of US foreign policy.

The Israeli government is in the grip of the Zionist ideology that declares a "greater Israel" from the Nile to the Euphrates. Many Israelis themselves do not accept this ideology, but it is the ideology of the "settlers" and those who control the Israeli government.

Ideologies are important causes of war. Just as the Hitlerian ideology of German superiority is mirrored in the Neoconservative ideology of US superiority, the Communist ideology that the working class is superior to the capitalist class is mirrored in the Zionist ideology that Israelis are superior to Palestinians. Zionists have never heard of squatters' rights and claim that recent Jewish immigrants into Palestine -- invaders really -- have the right to land occupied by others for millenniums.

Washington's and Israel's doctrines of superiority over others do not sit very well with the "others." When Obama declared in a speech that Americans are the exceptional people, Russia's President Putin responded, "God created us all equal."

To the detriment of its population, the Israeli government has made endless enemies. Israel has effectively isolated itself in the world. Israel's continued existence depends entirely on the willingness and ability of Washington to protect Israel. This means that Israel's power is derivative of Washington's power.

Washington's power is a different story. As the only economy standing after WWII, the US dollar became the world money. This role for the dollar has given Washington financial hegemony over the world, the main source of Washington's power. As other countries rise, Washington's hegemony is imperiled.

To prevent other countries from rising, Washington invokes the Brzezinski and Wolfowitz doctrines. To be brief, the Brzezinski doctrine says that in order to remain the only superpower, Washington must control the Eurasian land mass. Brzezinski is willing for this to occur peacefully by suborning the Russian government into Washington's empire. "A loosely confederated Russia ... a decentralized Russia would be less susceptible to imperial mobilization." In other words, break up Russia into associations of semi-autonomous states whose politicians can be suborned by Washington's money.

Brzezinski propounded "a geo-strategy for Eurasia." In Brzezinski's strategy, China and "a confederated Russia" are part of a "transcontinental security framework," managed by Washington in order to perpetuate the role of the US as the world's only superpower.

I once asked my colleague, Brzezinski, that if everyone was allied with us, who were we organized against? My question surprised him, because I think that Brzezinski remains caught up in Cold War strategy even after the demise of the Soviet Union. In Cold War thinking it was important to have the upper hand or else be at risk of being eliminated as a player. The importance of prevailing became all consuming, and this consuming drive survived the Soviet collapse. Prevailing over others is the only foreign policy that Washington knows.

The mindset that America must prevail set the stage for the Neoconservatives and their 21st century wars, which, with Washington's overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine, has resulted in a crisis that has brought Washington into direct conflict with Russia.

I know the strategic institutes that serve Washington. I was the occupant of the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy, Center for Strategic and International Studies, for a dozen years. The idea is prevalent that Washington must prevail over Russia in Ukraine or Washington will lose prestige and its superpower status.

The idea of prevailing always leads to war once one power thinks it has prevailed.

The path to war is reinforced by the Wolfowitz Doctrine. Paul Wolfowitz, the neoconservative intellectual who formulated US military and foreign policy doctrine, wrote among many similar passages:

"Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere [China], that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power."

In the Wolfowitz Doctrine, any other strong country is defined as a threat and a power hostile to the US regardless of how willing that country is to get along with the US for mutual benefit.

The difference between Brzezinski and the Neoconservatives is that Brzezinski wants to suborn Russia and China by including them in the empire as important elements whose voices would be heard, If only for diplomatic reasons, whereas the Neoconservatives are prepared to rely on military force combined with internal subversion orchestrated with US financed NGOs and even terrorist organizations.

Neither the US nor Israel is embarrassed by their worldwide reputations as the two countries that pose the greatest threat. In fact, both countries are proud to be recognized as the greatest threats. The foreign policy of both countries is devoid of any diplomacy. US and Israeli foreign policy rests on violence alone. Washington tells countries to do as Washington says or be "bombed into the stone age." Israel declares all Palestinians, even women and children, to be "terrorists," and proceeds to shoot them down in the streets, claiming that Israel is merely protecting itself against terrorists. Israel, which does not recognize the existence of Palestine as a country, covers up its crimes with the claim that Palestinians do not accept the existence of Israel.

"We don't need no stinking diplomacy. We got power."

This is the attitude that guarantees war, and that is where the US is taking the world. The prime minister of Britain, the chancellor of Germany, and the president of France are Washington's enablers. They provide the cover for Washington. Instead of war crimes, Washington has "coalitions of the willing" and military invasions that bring "democracy and women's rights" to non-compliant countries.

China gets much the same treatment. A country with four times the US population but a smaller prison population, China is constantly criticized by Washington as an "authoritarian state." China is accused of human rights abuses while US police brutalize the US population.

The problem for humanity is that Russia and China are not Libya and Iraq. These two countries possess strategic nuclear weapons. Their land mass greatly exceeds that of the US. The US, which was unable to successfully occupy Baghdad or Afghanistan, has no prospect of prevailing against Russia and China in conventional warfare. Washington will push the nuclear button. What else can we expect from a government devoid of morality?

The world has never experienced rogue states comparable to Washington and Israel. Both governments are prepared to murder anyone and everyone. Look at the crisis that Washington has created in Ukraine and the dangers thereof. On May 23, 2014, Russia's President Putin spoke to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a three-day gathering of delegations from 62 countries and CEOs from 146 of the largest Western corporations.

Putin did not speak of the billions of dollars in trade deals that were being formalized. Instead Putin spoke of the crisis that Washington had brought to Russia, and he criticized Europe for being Washington's vassals for supporting Washington's propaganda against Russia and Washington's interference in vital Russian interests.

Putin was diplomatic in his language, but the message that powerful economic interests from the US and Europe received is that it will lead to trouble if Washington and European governments continue to ignore Russia's concerns and continue to act as if they can interfere in Russia's vital interests as if Russia did not exist.

The heads of these large corporations will carry this message back to Washington and European capitals. Putin made it clear that the lack of dialogue with Russia could lead to the West making the mistake of putting Ukraine in NATO and establishing missile bases on Russia's border with Ukraine. Putin has learned that Russia cannot rely on good will from the West, and Putin made it clear, short of issuing a threat, that Western military bases in Ukraine are unacceptable.

Washington will continue to ignore Russia. However, European capitals will

have to decide whether Washington is pushing them into conflict with Russia that is against European interests. Thus, Putin is testing European politicians to determine if there is sufficient intelligence and independence in Europe for a rapprochement.

If Washington in its overbearing arrogance and hubris forces Putin to write off the West, the Russian/Chinese strategic alliance, which is forming to counteract Washington's hostile policy of surrounding both countries with military bases, will harden into preparation for the inevitable war.

The survivors, if any, can thank the Neoconservatives, the Wolfowitz doctrine, and the Brzezinski strategy for the destruction of life on earth.

The American public contains a large number of misinformed people who think they know everything. These people have been programmed by US and Israeli propaganda to equate Islam with political ideology. They believe that Islam, a religion, is instead a militarist doctrine that calls for the overthrow of Western civilization, as if anything remains of Western civilization.

Many believe this propaganda even in the face of complete proof that the Sunnis and Shi'ites hate one another far more than they hate their Western oppressors and occupiers. The US has departed Iraq, but the carnage today is as high or higher than during the US invasion and occupation. The daily death tolls from the Sunni/Shi'ite conflict are extraordinary. A religion this disunited poses no threat to anyone except Islamists themselves. Washington successfully used Islamist disunity to overthrow Gaddafi, and is currently using Islamist disunity in an effort to overthrow the government of Syria. Islamists cannot even unite to defend themselves against Western aggression. There is no prospect of Islamists uniting in order to overthrow the West.

Even if Islam could do so, it would be pointless for Islam to overthrow the West. The West has overthrown itself. In the US the Constitution has been murdered by the Bush and Obama regimes. Nothing remains. As the US is the Constitution, what was once the United States no longer exists. A different entity has taken its place.

Europe died with the European Union, which requires the termination of sovereignty of all member countries. A few unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels have become superior to the wills of the French, German, British, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Greek, and Portuguese peoples.

Western civilization is a skeleton. It still stands, barely, but there is no life in it. The blood of liberty has departed. Western peoples look at their governments and see nothing but enemies. Why else has Washington militarized local police forces, equipping them as if they were occupying armies? Why else has Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, and even the Postal Service and Social Security Administration ordered billions of rounds of ammunition and even submachine guns? What is this taxpayer-paid-for arsenal for if not to suppress US citizens?

As the prominent trends forecaster Gerald Celente spells out in the current Trends Journal, "uprisings span four corners of the globe." Throughout Europe angry, desperate and outraged peoples march against EU financial policies that are driving the peoples into the ground. Despite all of Washington's efforts with its well funded fifth columns known as NGOs to destabilize Russia and China, both the Russian and Chinese governments have far more support from their people than do the US and Europe.

In the 20th century Russia and China learned what tyranny is, and they have rejected it.

In the US tyranny has entered under the guise of the "war on terror," a hoax used to scare the sheeple into abandoning their civil liberties, thus freeing Washington from accountability to law and permitting Washington to erect a militarist police state. Ever since WWII Washington has used its financial hegemony and the "Soviet threat," now converted into the "Russian threat," to absorb Europe into Washington's empire.

Putin is hoping that the interests of European countries will prevail over subservience to Washington. This is Putin's current bet. This is the reason Putin remains unprovoked by Washington's provocations in Ukraine.

If Europe fails Russia, Putin and China will prepare for the war that Washington's drive for hegemony makes inevitable.

Dr. Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan Administration. He was associate editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal, columnist for Business Week and the Scripps Howard News Service. He is a contributing editor to Gerald Celente's Trends Journal. He has had numerous university appointments. His book, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West is available here

Djibouti says couple that bombed restaurant were probably Somali

The Djibouti restaurant where the attack took place. Photo: @Horn_News/Twitter

At least two people have been killed after two blasts struck a busy restaurant in down town Djibouti, police said.

The blasts at La Chaumiere restaurant, popular with Western tourists, wounded 11 other people according to Reuters news agency. Members of the Armed Forces of Malta were said to have been near the same site of the attack on Saturday, while in transit to Somalia on an anti-piracy mission with Dutch colleagues.

An army spokesperson could not confirm whether the soldiers were at the same restaurant.

The French foreign ministry confirmed that several of its nationals were slightly wounded in the attack, and the Netherlands’ De Telegraaf reported that six Dutch soldiers who had been taking part in an anti-piracy mission were also lightly wounded.

 “It’s a criminal act. We have two people dead and 11 wounded. It was grenades,” Colonel Omar Hassan, head of police in Djibouti city, told Reuters.

Djibouti has the United States’ only military base in Africa, where drones are operated from. Earlier this month the US signed a $63m a year 10-year lease for the base known as Camp Lemonnier.

The tiny East African country has also contributed troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia. 

The former French colony’s port is also used by foreign navies protecting the Gulf of Aden’s shipping lanes, some of the busiest in the world, from Somali pirates.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted on Saturday saying that the 21 AFM personnel had been unharmed in the attack and safely transported to the Dutch frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provenciën. On Monday 19 May, the frigate joined EU naval force Somalia Operation Atalanta, where the naval force is conducting an anti-piracy mission.

In a statement on Twitter, Djibouti’s Finance Minister Ilyas M. Dawaleh said the country must “remain united in the face of such barbaric acts”.

Somali troops and AMISOM, comprising troops from Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Djibouti, drove al Shabaab out of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in 2011.

On Saturday, al Shabaab attacked the parliament in Somalia, killing at least 10 security officers.