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One reason the GCC Arabs are not in a rush to support Palestinians is their economies are dependent upon being on America's side. Their 'assets' like US Bonds, real estate, Stock investments, yachts, chateaus, foreign exchange reserves... everything in the West could be confiscated within days. Look at what's happening to the $300 BBBBillion worth of Russian Assets! Imagine your own assets being used to finance a war against you!! The West acts illegally as a pack of wolves: Group of 7! The same fate awaits China if China gets into a vulnerable spot.
Imagine what kind of trade/commercial concessions can be obtained using such blackmails? Israel is a violent blackmail over the Middle Eastern countries while the financial tools are other forms of the blackmail.
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U.S. and Europe Eye Russian Assets to Aid Ukraine as Funding Dries Up
Despite legal reservations, policymakers are weighing the consequences of using $300 billion in Russian assets to help Kyiv’s war effort.www.nytimes.com
The Biden administration is quietly signaling new support for seizing more than $300 billion in Russian central bank assets stashed in Western nations, and has begun urgent discussions with allies about using the funds to aid Ukraine’s war effort at a moment when financial support is waning, according to senior American and European officials.
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But the administration, in coordination with the Group of 7 industrial nations, has begun taking another look at whether it can use its existing authorities or if it should seek congressional action to use the funds. Support for such legislation has been building in Congress, giving the Biden administration optimism that it could be granted the necessary authority.
The talks among finance ministers, central bankers, diplomats and lawyers have intensified in recent weeks, officials said, with the Biden administration pressing Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan to come up with a strategy by Feb. 24, the second anniversary of the invasion.
They are an obstacle to peace in the middle east unfortunately. Dare I say it, the Chinese IMO are better mediators, however currently they are not assertive on the international stage.It most definitely is, but they won't get any praise for it.
The United States is doing something. It is forming an obstacle to a permanent cease-fire.
Well, you now, people in the IndoPak Subcontinent are very emotional and religious. But I also think Pakistan doesn't gain much by recognizing Israel and Pakistan loses its moral standing by recognizing Israel when there injustice against the Palestinians. Some 'Causes' are worth supporting even if they appear to be losing 'Causes': The Muslims of the Subcontinent supported the dying Ottoman Empire / Turkey and for that there remains a strong bond between the two nations even after a century. However, in case of the GCC Arab countries, their economic interests, at least short term, are not to $iss off Washington.National interests over religious sentiments or the other way around? The key difference between the Arabs and Pakistanis over this sensitive issue.
Gazans and Hezbollah are also 'Arabs'. GCC Arabs, per my understanding, are indeed looking for another major power to ally with but they can't risk their investments in the West until that happens. There is absolutely no respect and love between the ruling class of GCC and the West--it is business and protecting assets. But then America's foreign policy being hijacked by the Israel Lobby is absolutely going to rush the rupture between the GCC and the West--that point is underscored by the mostly-anonymous 400 US Officials' letter to the Biden administration in last few weeks.Would GCC oil and gas revenue be impacted if they took some sort of action? Absolutely. Should the GCC Arab nations take action? It would be the moral thing to do. Not doing anything makes the Arabs look weak and immoral. To give an example, it is like a bully hitting your brother everyday at school and you looking the other way.
Well, you now, people in the IndoPak Subcontinent are very emotional and religious. But I also think Pakistan doesn't gain much by recognizing Israel and Pakistan loses its moral standing by recognizing Israel when there injustice against the Palestinians. Some 'Causes' are worth supporting even if they appear to be losing 'Causes': The Muslims of the Subcontinent supported the dying Ottoman Empire / Turkey and for that there remains a strong bond between the two nations even after a century. However, in case of the GCC Arab countries, their economic interests, at least short term, are not to $iss off Washington.
Gazans and Hezbollah are also 'Arabs'. GCC Arabs, per my understanding, are indeed looking for another major power to ally with but they can't risk their investments in the West until that happens. There is absolutely no respect and love between the ruling class of GCC and the West--it is business and protecting assets. But then America's foreign policy being hijacked by the Israel Lobby is absolutely going to rush the rupture between the GCC and the West--that point is underscored by the mostly-anonymous 400 US Officials' letter to the Biden administration in last few weeks.
I have to add some caveats to this. Hezbollah repelled a limited ground invasion by Israel into mostly the Lebanese countryside and villages of the south because Israel was not prepared for the battle and didn't commit many troops (10,000 initially, rising to 30,000 by the final days). By contrast, Israel has sent 40,000 soldiers into the comparatively tiny Gaza Strip, with close to half a million soldiers mobilised across both fronts.Correct.
And the blueprint to defeat Israel was already laid out in 2006 by Hezbollah: The northern 3rd of Israel was paralyzed for a long time then--too much cost to Israel's economy.
Unfortunately it is much harder than you assume to defeat any country. Israel is effectively a large military base, everyone has military training and is armed (to a very high standard). And of course they have unlimited funding and arms from their friends in Europe and the USA. Those same friends have bribed and divided Israel's neighbours into becoming effective allies of Israel, limiting the threat vectors to Israel.It is not that hard to defeat Israel. I have said it many times that Israel's narrow geography, pampered dual citizenships, and extreme aversion to taking casualties make Israel very vulnerable to asymmetrical warfare.
I have to add some caveats to this. Hezbollah repelled a limited ground invasion by Israel into mostly the Lebanese countryside and villages of the south because Israel was not prepared for the battle and didn't commit many troops (10,000 initially, rising to 30,000 by the final days). By contrast, Israel has sent 40,000 soldiers into the comparatively tiny Gaza Strip, with close to half a million soldiers mobilised across both fronts.
Was repelling a limited Israeli invasion of south Lebanon a victory for Hezbollah? Yes. But does it set the blueprint for how to defeat Israel? No.
Unfortunately it is much harder than you assume to defeat any country. Israel is effectively a large military base, everyone has military training and is armed (to a very high standard). And of course they have unlimited funding and arms from their friends in Europe and the USA. Those same friends have bribed and divided Israel's neighbours into becoming effective allies of Israel, limiting the threat vectors to Israel.
Israelis admit the Golani brigade lost 25% of its personnel and equipment in Gaza, and the experts state to withdraw a brigade from a war, they must at least lost 40% of its capacity.
And yet not a peep out of them, at least nothing meaningful. If the Arabs don't speak up for their fellow Arabs, non-Arabs and others in far off lands cannot be expected to do much either.
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