The Trump administration is reacting to the pandemic
stress by lashing out at perceived internal and external enemies. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo is leading the external onslaught.
UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres has called for an "immediate global
ceasefire" to focus on fighting Covid-19. He has appealed for the
"waiving of sanctions that can undermine countries' capacity to respond to
the pandemic."
But Washington
is not listening.
Requests
from Venezuela and Iran for emergency IMF loans to buy medical supplies were
blocked by U.S. interventions.
Just a month
ago Pompeo announced an increase of sanctions against Iran. The
sanctions block money transfers. They make it impossible for Iran to import the
medical equipment it urgently needs to counter the epidemic.
While the
U.S. renewed the sanction waiver which allows Iraq to import electricity and
gas from Iran the waiver is now limited to only 30 days. One third of
Iraq's electricity depends on those imports from Iran and, if the waiver is not
renewed, its hospitals will go dark just when the epidemic will reach its
zenith.
Parts of the
Trump administration are even pressing for a wider war against alleged
Iranian proxy forces in Iraq:
The Pentagon has ordered military commanders to plan for an
escalation of American combat in Iraq, issuing a directive last week to prepare
a campaign to destroy an Iranian-backed militia group that has threatened more
attacks against American troops.
But the
United States’ top commander in Iraq has warned that such a campaign could be
bloody and counterproductive and risks war with Iran.
...
Some top officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Robert C. O’Brien, the national security adviser, have been pushing for aggressive new action against Iran and its proxy forces — and see an opportunity to try to destroy Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq as leaders in Iran are distracted by the pandemic crisis in their country.
...
Some top officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Robert C. O’Brien, the national security adviser, have been pushing for aggressive new action against Iran and its proxy forces — and see an opportunity to try to destroy Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq as leaders in Iran are distracted by the pandemic crisis in their country.
Military
leaders, including Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been wary of a sharp military
escalation, warning it could further destabilize the Middle East at a time when
President Trump has said he hopes to reduce the number of American troops in
the region.
The plan is
lunatic. One can not "destroy" Kataib Hezbollah and other Iraqi Shia
groups which Iran helped to build during the war against ISIS. These groups are
part of political parties with deep roots in the Iraqi society.
France,
Italy and the Czech Republic have started to withdraw from Iraq. Denmark is
also leaving and the UK is removing 50% of its force. There are less than 5,000
U.S. soldiers in Iraq and a war on Kataib Hezbollah could mobilize hundreds of
thousands of Iraqis to fight against the U.S. occupation. Such a war would also
involve Iran and the U.S. would certainly lose it.
The U.S. has
currently two aircraft carrier groups in the Arab
sea to threaten Iran. But those ships are of no use right now. They are 'cruise
ships with guns'. Nuclear powered five billion dollar petri dishes for novel
coronavirus outbreaks. Two U.S. carrier groups in the Pacific are already out of action because they have larger
outbreaks on board. It is only a question of time until the other carriers
follow.
It is not
only Iraq and Iran the U.S. is aiming at. The U.S. State Department cut its contributions to health care in
Yemen just in time of the highest need:
Officials with the United States Agency for International
Development said the decision to halt funding, reported earlier by The
Washington Post, included exceptions for “critical, lifesaving activities,
including treatment of malnutrition as well as water, sanitation and hygiene
programs aimed at keeping people healthy and staving off disease.”
But
humanitarian officials said the agency’s exceptions did not provide for
continued funding of basic health care programs, which are heavily reliant on
foreign aid, and did not seem to take into account what might occur when the
coronavirus begins to spread.
Not happy
with only messing up the Middle East the State Department also renewed its
assault on Venezuela. On Thursday the Justice Department announced charges of 'Narco-Terrorism, Corruption,
Drug Trafficking and Other Crimes' against President Nicolas Maduro and 14
former or current officials. It put up a $15 million reward for Maduro's
arrest.
It alleges
that Maduro worked with Columbian cartels to smuggle cocaine through Venezuela.
But here is
a map of smuggling routes from U.S. ally Columbia where most of the cocaine is
produced. It was shown during a Congress hearing. Whatever
is smuggled through Venezuela is a tiny share compared to the huge stream that
comes through the Pacific.
Whoever
wrote and signed of the indictment also made a huge mistake. The charges
included Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, a former General in the Venezuelan
armed forces, and put a $10 million reward on his head.
Alcalá
Cordones is no friend of Maduro. He retired in 2013 when Maduro was elected
after Hugo Chávez had died. Alcalá Cordones fled to Colombia from where he
supported the U.S. chosen clown Juan Guaidó as self proclaimed president of
Venezuela.
After the
Justice Department indictment against him he came out and revealed that he was involved in coup
plans in support of Juan Guaidó:
Alcalá is
implicated in a recent plot to attack the Maduro government. On March 24, Colombian
authorities seized a truck full of
weapons and military equipment, including 26 assault rifles, worth
$500,000. Venezuelan intelligence services linked the weapons to three camps in
Colombia where paramilitary groups of Venezuelan deserters and U.S.
mercenaries are training to carry out attacks against
Venezuela. According to Venezuela’s Communication Minister Jorge Rodríguez,
these groups were planning to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to attack
military units and plant bombs. He also linked the groups to Alcalá.
These
allegations proved to be correct, as Alcalá, in a video he posted online hours
after the indictments, admitted that the weapons were under his command. He
further admitted that the weapons were purchased with
funds given to him by Juan Guaidó, with whom he allegedly signed a
contract. Additionally, Alcala claimed that the operation was planned by
U.S. advisors, with whom he supposedly met at least seven times. Aclalá also
alleged that Leopoldo López, the founder of Guaidó’s party Voluntad Popular who
was sprung from house arrest during Guaidó’s April 30 attempted
insurrection, had full knowledge of the terror plot.
As a result
of these videos, Venezuela’s Attorney General has opened an investigation into
Juan Guaidó for an attempted coup.
The U.S.
blew it by accusing the one man that was willing to help its chosen clown and
by not informing him before the indictment came out. That man then freaked out
and blew the whistle. This is now threatening the whole opposition plan the U.S.
concocted with Guaidó and the men behind him.
On Friday
Alcalá Cordones decided it was unsafe for him to stay in Colombia. He 'called up' the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and gave himself up. He was extradited to New York and will now
become a 'witness' against Maduro who he has publicly opposed in the first
place.
This chaos
was certainly created by Elliott Abrams, the neoconservative
U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela. Abrams has a talent for messing
things up.
U.S. foreign policy during the crisis has been
abysmal. The U.S. angered China, the biggest producer of urgently needed masks
and drugs, by calling the virus "Wuhan virus" or "Chinese
virus", a practice that stopped only after a phone call between Trump and
Xi Jinping. It angered Germany when it tried to buy exclusive rights for a
potential vaccine that is being developed there. Requests for support by
multiple European allies were left unanswered while China and Russia mobilized
to help over 80 countries. Meanwhile Pompeo chastised Italy for accepting Cuban
drugs and doctors.
There will be a large cost to pay for this when
the pandemic is over. The U.S. has exposed itself as unreliable ally, as war
mongering moron that does not shrink from damaging its own best interest and as
incapable of helping its own citizens.
China on the other hand has defeated the epidemic
at home and now helps defeating it wherever it can. This is going to be its
century.