Realizing that all the bosses’ choices are bad
Al Jazeera, 11/6–As the reality of another Trump presidency set off anger and sorrow from many Democratic commentators, at the Dearborn gathering organized by American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), there was a sense of indifference – if not vindication. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had ignored the community’s calls for reconsidering the unconditional US support for Israel. The vice president also continued to assert what she calls “Israel’s right to defend itself” despite the brutal atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon…Unlike Trump, Harris did not visit Dearborn, the de-facto seat of Arab American political and financial power, during her campaign…“We had Harris endorsed by neoconservatives like Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney, and she’s openly campaigning with them and talking about how great they are,” [said] Dearborn councilman Mustapha Hammoud…Speaking under a Harris campaign sign last week, former President Bill Clinton claimed that Hamas “forces” Israel to kill Palestinian civilians and suggested that Zionism predates Islam…Bottom line, many Arab Americans say they already survived four years of Trump while many of their relatives in Palestine and Lebanon did not survive the Biden-Harris presidency.
Haitian bosses struggle to find an effective dictator
Reuters, 11/10–Haiti will name entrepreneur and former senate candidate Alix Didier Fils-Aime to replace Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was tapped for the role in May, according to a transitional presidential council draft resolution seen by Reuters. The shakeup is the latest blow to political stability in the country, which has been wracked with worsening violence…Promised international support still lags and nearby nations have deported Haitian migrants back to the country…
Didier Fils-Aime is the son of well-known Haitian activist, Alix Fils-Aime, who was jailed under the regime of dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Conille, who also briefly led the country over a decade ago, has been prime minister for about six months. He was appointed to the role in May by Haiti's transition council to return to the role as the Caribbean nation works to restore stability. The transition council, named in April, was tasked with choosing a prime minister and wielding certain presidential powers until conditions are considered secure enough for a new election…In recent weeks, Conille embarked on trips abroad to the United Arab Emirates and Kenya to seek security assistance…
As Ukrainian missiles fly over Russia, nukes are now in range
Foreign Affairs, 11/5–Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it has put approximately 30 percent of its estimated 5,580 warheads in an untenably precarious position…the nuclear arsenals it has stored in its west—which are now within striking distance of Ukrainian missiles and drones and even Ukrainian troops—pose a dire risk…Ukraine has begun launching up to hundreds of drones daily at…Russian targets…Ukrainian drone assaults have already reached as far as Moscow…at least 14 Russian nuclear storage sites now fall within range of its drones…At least two of those sites are less than 100 miles from the Ukrainian border, well within striking range of the more damaging missiles Ukraine already possesses, and another five sites lie less than 200 miles from the border, close to or just beyond the range of the advanced Western-provided missiles that Ukraine is seeking permission to use against conventional targets in Russia…
Russian imperialists work to replace French in Africa
BBC, 11/11–Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered what he called "total support" for Africa, including in the struggle against terrorism and extremism. The speech was read out at a summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to his African counterparts. Several African governments have cut ties with traditional Western allies and are looking to Moscow for help in tackling frequent attacks by jihadists. During the summit, Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré said Russia was a more suitable international partner than the former colonial power, France.
It is a view shared by several of France’s former colonies - and was reiterated by Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, who contrasted the Kremlin's "sincere" partnership to the "neo-colonial" relationship of Western powers…
