بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Headline News 24/02/2016
Headlines:
- Saudi Arabia to become the second largest arms importer in the world
- Germany’s Xenophobia
- US-Russia Unite against Syrian Rebels
Details:
Saudi Arabia to become the second largest arms importer in the world
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that imports of arms by Middle Eastern states including Saudi Arabia increased by 61% whilst those of European states decreased by 41% over the same period. Saudi Arabia continues to maintain its relationships with other nations on the basis of importing arms and as a result has become the second biggest arms importer after India. SIPRI raised their concerns concerning this movement of arms by saying: “a coalition of Arab states is putting mainly US and European sourced advanced arms into use in Yemen,” referring to the humanitarian crisis present in Yemen. This shows that despite holding such advanced equipment, Saudi Arabia continues to make things worse when it can easily solve them. It has bombed Yemen to the ground, watched Syria fall apart for the last 5 years and finds itself at loggerheads with the Iranian regime to win influence in the region. All of this demonstrates a lack of political foresight from Saudi Arabia and reiterates the point that having a lucrative economic system and a well-equipped army does not equal the solving of complex political solutions as they are still subject to the influence of their colonial masters.
Germany’s Xenophobia
In the early hours of Sunday 21st February morning a fire broke out in Bautzen Germany, destroying the roof of a former hotel, which was soon to be converted into a migrant shelter. Onlookers not only cheered but attempted to prevent firefighters from putting out the blaze. Anti-immigrant protests and violence is on the increase in Germany, just a few days ago in Clausnitz, a migrant bus was prevented from entering, just one of many incidents in the past few months to surface. It is no wonder the police are treating the incident as an arson attack. Reports have also appeared that police in the Brandenburg region are investigating the distribution of anti-migrant leaflets urging "absolute resistance" against "foreigner invasion." The leaflets also gave instructions on how to create firebombs and explosives, with the mainstream media outlets trying to deflect blame from the German population onto neo-Nazis. It is very clear that Merkel's pro-immigration policy is at odds with the German people, not only that but it is evident that the people hate migrants and not just the right wing as is evident from the statement of the regional police in Saxony, stating that there are too few police officers to keep the protestors at bay. It looks likely that anti-migrant protests will continue to increase, with violence against migrants also increasing.
US-Russia Unite against Syrian Rebels
The US and Russia have confirmed they have agreed to a ceasefire in Syria to begin on Saturday 27 Feb. The secular rebel groups already insisted the deal can’t possibly work as currently constructed. The ceasefire excludes both ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, and the rebels see the exclusion of Nusra as a big problem. This is because nearly every rebel group works with Nusra and they are mixed in with all the other rebels in many territories, and it’s not really possible even for the rebels to tell what territory is rebel-held and what territory is Nusra-held. All of this means the attacks on ISIS really mean continued attacks on the rebellion.