Headline News 06/03/2022

Headlines:

• • The Way West Sees the Ukraine Crisis Reveals its Underlying White Supremacy
• • Trump’s Praise of Putin, ‘America First’ View Tested by War
• • Khan after Putin Visit: Pakistan to Import Wheat, Gas from Russia

Details:

The Way West Sees the Ukraine Crisis Reveals its Underlying White Supremacy

What kind of people in war zones deserve sympathy and tears? And what makes one decide to condemn a war? In the ongoing Ukraine clashes, Westerners gave their answer: skin color. Since the Ukraine crisis started, there has been an outpouring of support for Ukrainians across the Western world. The US' CBS News senior correspondent in Kiev Charlie D'Agata said on February 25, "This isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European [...] city where you wouldn't expect that, or hope that it's going to happen." Then the next day, the BBC hosted David Sakvarelidze, Ukraine's former deputy general prosecutor, who said "It's very emotional for me because I see European people with blonde hair and blue eyes being killed every day," while the BBC anchor responded, "I understand and of course respect the emotion." And a commentator on France's BFM TV said, "We are in the 21st century, we are in a European city and we have cruise missile fire as though we were in Iraq or Afghanistan, can you imagine!" In the eyes of Westerners, wars shouldn't happen in a "relatively civilized" Europe which hosts people with blonde hair and blue eyes. Their logic is that people from "non-white" regions such as Iraq and Afghanistan deserve war, while wars launched by the US and its European allies shouldn't be stopped and criticized. The West's exploitation of the Ukraine crisis in the past few days has been more than all its talking about Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen in the past few years. The West's white supremacy and hypocrisy are fully exposed in accepting Ukraine refugees or what the Westerners call migrants. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov reportedly said, "These are not the refugees we are used to ... these people (Ukrainians) are Europeans [...] These people are intelligent, they are educated people." The implication is clear here: When someone talks about "people like us," it suggests that those who come from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Africa are not and that those non-European migrants are less intelligent, less educated and more dangerous. The EU estimates that up to 4 million Ukrainians may try to leave the country, and the bloc has already relaxed its rules on accepting them and said its member states will welcome them with "open arms." German Interior Minister Nancy Feaser called for "finding non-bureaucratic solutions to bring the people as quickly as possible to safety." One should remember how hard Europe tried to close its door to refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. If Europe wants to showcase a humanitarian response toward Ukrainians, how can it explain its cold shoulders to the others? [Source: Global Times]

The West is not only shooting itself in the foot but also is making it extremely clear that Western values only apply to “white people” – everyone else is uncivilized and cannon fodder for Western governments.

Trump’s Praise of Putin, ‘America First’ View Tested by War

From the earliest days of his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump aggressively challenged the pillars of Republican foreign policy that defined the party since World War II. He mocked John McCain’s capture during the Vietnam War, validated autocrats with his platitudes, questioned longtime military and security alliances and embraced an isolationist worldview. And to the horror of many GOP leaders at the time, it worked, resonating with voters who believed, in part, that a bipartisan establishment in Washington had brokered trade deals that hurt American workers and recklessly stumbled into so-called “forever wars.” But Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine is posing a serious test for Trump and his “America First” doctrine at a moment when he is eyeing another presidential run and using this year’s midterm elections to keep bending the GOP to his will. He’s largely alone in his sustained praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin as “smart,” an assessment he reiterated last week during speeches to donors and conservative activists. His often deferential vice president, Mike Pence, split with him on the issue late Friday. From the earliest days of his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump aggressively challenged the pillars of Republican foreign policy that defined the party since World War II. He mocked John McCain’s capture during the Vietnam War, validated autocrats with his platitudes, questioned longtime military and security alliances and embraced an isolationist worldview. And to the horror of many GOP leaders at the time, it worked, resonating with voters who believed, in part, that a bipartisan establishment in Washington had brokered trade deals that hurt American workers and recklessly stumbled into so-called “forever wars.” But Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine is posing a serious test for Trump and his “America First” doctrine at a moment when he is eyeing another presidential run and using this year’s midterm elections to keep bending the GOP to his will. He’s largely alone in his sustained praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin as “smart,” an assessment he reiterated last week during speeches to donors and conservative activists. His often deferential vice president, Mike Pence, split with him on the issue late Friday. That’s left Trump relatively isolated, defending his decision to label Putin as “smart” and criticizing the response from Biden and other Western leaders, even as he has denounced the invasion as “horrific” and a “very sad thing for the world.” “NATO has the money now, but they’re not doing the job they should be doing,” he said this week on Fox Business. “It’s almost like they’re staying away.” That has earned rebuke from some in his party. In a speech to GOP donors Friday night, Pence forcefully defended NATO and admonished those who have defended Putin as he, too, weighs a presidential run. “There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin,” he said, according to his prepared remarks. “There is only room for champions of freedom.” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News there “should be no confusion about Vladimir Putin. [Source: AP News]

No matter how hard the mainstream liberal medium tries to paper over dissension in the GOP, it is pretty clear that the party is divided within its ranks and also with the democrats on a myriad of foreign policy issues. This will only get worse and by the next US general election the world will be looking at a completely different country an increasingly inward looking country.

Khan after Putin Visit: Pakistan to Import Wheat, Gas from Russia

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced last week that his country will import about 2 million tons of wheat from Russia and buy natural gas as well under bilateral agreements the two sides signed last week during his official trip to Moscow. Khan pressed on with his two-day visit and met with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday, hours after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, with Western countries pushing to isolate the Russian leader for his actions. The Pakistani prime minister defended his trip and responded to critics in a televised speech to the nation, saying Pakistan's economic interests required him to do so. "We went there because we have to import 2 million tons of wheat from Russia. Secondly, we have signed agreements with them to import natural gas because Pakistan's own gas reserves are depleting," Khan said. "Inshallah (God willing), the time will tell that we have had great discussions," the Pakistani leader said, referring to his three-hour meeting with Putin. He shared no further details. Critics, however, are skeptical about Moscow-Islamabad economic collaboration, citing tougher international sanctions slapped on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Putin warmly received Khan at the Kremlin in front of cameras, shook hands and sat just next to the visitor for what Pakistani officials said were wide-ranging consultations on bilateral, regional and international issues. "The Prime Minister regretted the latest situation between Russia and Ukraine and said that Pakistan had hoped diplomacy could avert a military conflict," a post-meeting statement quoted Khan as telling Putin. Pakistani officials and Khan himself maintained that the Moscow visit was planned long before the Ukraine crisis erupted and was aimed solely at reviewing bilateral trade relations, including energy cooperation. Pakistani officials and Khan himself maintained that the Moscow visit was planned long before the Ukraine crisis erupted and was aimed solely at reviewing bilateral trade relations, including energy cooperation. Pakistan's frosty relations with the United States, analysts say, have pushed the South Asian nation closer to its giant neighbors China and Russia in recent years. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who accompanied Khan on the visit, said after the delegation returned to Pakistan that Washington had contacted Islamabad ahead of the Moscow trip."[U.S. officials] presented their position and we explained to them the purpose of the trip and went ahead with it," Qureshi told reporters when asked whether the U.S. was opposed to the visit. "I'm convinced after the visit that we did the right thing." Speaking on the eve of Khan's trip to Russia, a U.S. State Department spokesman, when asked about it, said Washington believed that Pakistan, like "every responsible" country, would voice objection to Putin's actions. But Pakistani leaders have avoided criticizing Russia's military intervention in Ukraine and stressed the need for seeking a negotiated settlement to the crisis. Islamabad also has developed close economic and military ties with Ukraine in recent years, with Pakistan being a major importer of Ukrainian wheat. Moscow has restored ties with Islamabad in recent years, however. The two countries routinely hold joint military exercises and are working to deepen energy cooperation to help Pakistan overcome shortages. Khan in his address Monday reiterated that Pakistan's decision to join the U.S.-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan was an outcome of "the wrong foreign policy" of his predecessors. "I maintained from day one that we should not have taken part [in the U.S.-led war]," he said, adding that Pakistan suffered 80,000 casualties because of an Islamist retaliation and incurred billions of dollars in economic losses. "The most embarrassing part was that a country was fighting in support of a country that was bombing it," Khan said, referring to U.S. drone strikes against suspected militant hideouts in Pakistani areas near the Afghan border. [Voice of America]

Putin is acutely aware that Pakistan has close relations with Taliban and the US can use this relationship to destabilize the Central Asian states. It would not be a surprise to learn later on that as part of the wheat and gas deal, Pakistan gave assurances that Taliban would not destabilize Central Asian republics.