Controversies [Voltaire Network]

Controversies

Controversial articles, opinions, authors’ views which are not necessarily endorsed by the Voltaire Network editorial board.

1651 articles

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"The art of War"

The "Lion, eager" to tear Syria to pieces

by Manlio Dinucci

Rome (Italy) | 19 June 2013
When Italian President Giorgio Napolitano met HM King Abdullah II last year in Jordan he expressed "the high regard with which Italy observes how the Hashemite dynasty has always pursued its desire for peace and its moderate line."
It is surely in this spirit that Italy is participating in the "Eager Lion" exercise in progress June 9-20 in Jordan under U.S. command. Nineteen countries are taking part, united by a "common purpose to strengthen regional security and stability."
A stability (...)

"The art of war"

Obama fears the east wind

by Manlio Dinucci

Rome (Italy) | 7 June 2013
President Obama is about to receive his Chinese counterpart. But this summit will take place in an atmosphere that is both friendly and fearful: Washington does not know how to control the development of the Chinese panda whose influence is now global.

"The art of war"

The Nobel Peace Laureat’s killer drones

by Manlio Dinucci

Rome (Italy) | 3 June 2013
The X-47B drone, the size of an F/A-18 is operated from an aircraft carrier.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama is going all out, but neither he nor any other President of the United States can promise the total defeat of terror, because "We will never erase the evil that lies in the hearts of some human beings." He announced this in his speech on the "comprehensive counterterrorism strategy."
Despite the setbacks suffered by Al Qaeda and its affiliates, "the threat today is more (...)

Will there soon be a referendum on freedom of expression in Switzerland?

by Matthias Erne

Zurich (Switzerland) | 23 May 2013
Zurichois lawyer Matthias Erne responds to the controversy that swirled around the views expressed by a celebrated military journalist, Peter Forster. The latter openly took issue with the Federal Council’s questioning of Swiss neutrality. Can a journalist working for the state express a personal opinion against the government that employs him? And on whose initiative can Switzerland’s neutrality be called into question: the Federal Council’s or that of the Swiss people?

Israeli attack on Syria is a provocation against Russia

by Guennadi Ziouganov

Moscow (Russia) | 15 May 2013
In a statement from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov reviews the Israeli attack against Damascus in light of the 1980 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the USSR and Syria. He calls for the delivery of defensive weapons and not just the fulfillment of current defensive arms contracts.

« The Art of War »

Rome – special « peace » forces

by Manlio Dinucci

Rome (Italy) | 14 May 2013
The new Italian national coalition government eagerly began its reinforced collaboration with Washington. Emma Bonino, the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, met with her US counterpart, John Kerry, to polish the details. As Manlio Dinucci explains, it will be based on the military activity of the Special Forces, mainly in the Middel East.

You Are The Hope

by Paul Craig Roberts

8 May 2013
A plea issued to his readers by one of the most authoritative voices in the United States, as he sees his country hurtling towards a Gestapo police state.

The archetype of the phony, pro-war "progressive"

by Glen Ford

New York (United States) | 7 May 2013
Hard right Republican Senator John McCain and Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota state Democratic Party affiliate, both support no-fly zones over Syria. That’s because, as BAR executive editor observes, when it comes to U.S. imperial policy, there is not one iota of difference between the pro-war Left and the Right, who march in symbiotic lockstep.

Images of the war in Syria

30 April 2013
A documentary made by the team of Russia 24 channel correspondents in Syria.
To activate the subtitles in English, click on the icon CC at the bottom right of the screen.

The Nato-Aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999

by Milica Radojkovic-Hänsel

28 April 2013
Was Serbia attacked in 1999? To answer that question, Milica-Hänsel Radojkovic draws on period documents (including Willy Wimmer’s letter to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder). He highlights the unacceptability of the Rambouillet proposals, designed to justify a war that had already started.

"Before our very eyes"

Syria in Boston

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 25 April 2013
What has Syria got to do with the Boston bombing? Nothing at first glance, yet this event - and the clamor it has sparked - provides the key explanation for the Kerry-Lavrov plan deadlock. If nothing is happening in Syria, it is because Washington and Moscow have run into unforeseen difficulties, including the Chechen imbroglio.

Kristallnacht in Venezuela

by Romain Migus

Caracas (Venezuela) | 23 April 2013
The Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has unleashed a wave of attacks in the wake of his defeat. Each "soft" coup begins with a wave of violence. It is however uncertain whether he will be able to achieve his goal.

"Before our very eyes"

The Treaty on Arms Trade: supreme law of capitalism

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 7 April 2013
When the British courts became aware of the kickbacks linked to the Al-Yamamah mega arms contracts, Tony Blair tried to hush up the affair by any means. Ultimately, leaks prevented from hiding any longer that hundreds of millions of pounds had been diverted to finance international terrorism. To save the reputation of the defense industry Tony Blair volunteered to write his own version of a draft treaty on the arms trade, which the UN has recently adopted after seven years of negotiations. Thierry Meyssan deciphers the final version of this deplorable document.

"Before our very eyes"

Syria seen from Russia

by Thierry Meyssan

Moscow (Russia) | 31 March 2013
In Moscow, the pro-western intelligentsia see the war in Syria as a distant conflict in which the Kremlin has aligned the country with the wrong side to maintain a useless naval base in Tartus.
Conversely, Putin sees the war as an episode of a conflict which, by virtue of the "Brzezinski doctrine", has pitted since 1978 the Western-Islamist grand coalition against the USSR and then Russia. For the Kremlin, there is no doubt that the jihadists, who learned the ropes in the Middle East, will (...)

"Before our very eyes"

The Cypriot Pawn

by Thierry Meyssan

Moscow (Russia) | 25 March 2013
Washington was quick to use the financial crisis in Cyprus to implement a strategy for capturing capital described three weeks ago in these columns . With the help of the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, US comprador Christine Lagarde, the American leadership challenged the inviolability of private property in the European Union and attempted to confiscate a tenth of bank deposits, supposedly to bail out the Cypriot national bank affected by the Greek crisis.
It (...)

"Before our very eyes"

John Kerry’s murky game

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 10 March 2013
While the Syrian Arab army has lost Rakka, leaving de facto a northern part of the country under Turkish control, the United States has been sending contradictory signals. Have they have chosen to continue the war by proxy or are they gearing up to impose on their allies the peace agreement they have negotiated with the Russians?

Call for peace in Syria

3 March 2013
For almost 2 years western media and governments have been leveling a flurry of accusations against the legal and legitimate head of the Syrian state, against his government and against Syria’s military. They try to pass the victim off as the culprit, as they did in Libya and in other free and independent countries. Indeed armed groups some more organized than others, some coming from abroad are spreading terror in Syria. It is therefore normal for the legitimate regime of Syria to send in (...)

"Before our very eyes"

The NATO Economy, the solution to the U.S. crisis

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 3 March 2013
New Secretary of State John Kerry’s first contacts were not devoted to the Asia pivot (transfer of U.S. forces to the Far East) or the partition plan for the Middle East, but to the creation of a NATO economy, without arousing the slightest concern in Europe. However, should it be implemented quickly, this project would solve the economic crisis in the United States at the expense of Europeans.

Why Israel should think twice before attaching Lebanon

by Hassan Nasrallah

Beirut (Lebanon) | 24 February 2013
In a speech made on the 16 of February 2013 in Beirut to the honor of Hezbollah martyrs, sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has responded to those who believe they could attach Lebanon during the Syrian crisis.

"Before our very eyes"

A popular anti-guerrilla force

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 24 February 2013
In guerrilla warfare, the victory belongs to those who have the support of the population. This is why Syria has recently formed popular militias to hold back the Contras supported by the West and the Gulf monarchies. In three months, the result is spectacular: the areas where local militias are already operating have been stabilized.

"Before our very eyes"

Ahmadinejad, the Unsinkable

by Thierry Meyssan

Tehran (Iran) | 21 February 2013
Iranian democracy is thriving. Divisions in 2009 are now obsolete to the point that President Obama has admitted publicly that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been elected at the time by a majority of his citizens. The green movement that had united the urban bourgeoisie and part of youth did not last long. As of now, Washington no longer hopes for the overthrow of the regime, but for its division. The U.S. would like to profit from the current crisis between the religious current of the Larijani clan and the nationalist current of the Ahmadinejad family.

Argentina’s President slams Israel Lobby

18 February 2013
Last week, the foreign ministers of Argentina and Iran signed an agreement to establish a joint Truth Commission to investigate the 1994 bombing at the Jewish Community Center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires and 1992 bombing at Israeli Embassy building . This has infuriated the Zionist regime and the Jewish lobbyists in the US, Canada and several European countries.
The Israeli propagandists have called Argentina’s Jewish foreign minister Hector Timmerman “a self-hating Jew” and have blamed (...)

"Before our very eyes"

In Washington, no one is responsible for the Syrian fiasco

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 11 February 2013
As she bowed out, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended her record in an interview granted to the New York Times . Incidentally, “off the record”, she shared a few secrets with journalists who slipped them into a separate article .
Concerned with keeping her options open for the presidential election of 2016, she sought to shift the blame for failure in Syria to President Barack Obama. After two years of secret war, the armed groups charged with justifying a NATO intervention (...)

"No, war is not what France is all about"

by Dominique de Villepin

Paris (France) | 10 February 2013
Mali, a friendly country, collapses. Jihadists advance towards the south, the situation is urgent.
But let’s not give in to the reflex of war for the sake of war. The unanimity of those wanting to go to war, the apparent haste, déjà vu arguments of the "war against terrorism" concern me. This is not France. Let us learn from the decade of lost wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya.
These wars have never built a strong and democratic state. Instead, they promote separatism, failed states, the iron (...)

"Before our very eyes"

John Kerry enters the stage

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 4 February 2013
Hillary Clinton’s departure was carefully orchestrated to preserve her chances of becoming the Democratic Party’s candidate for the next presidential election. The former first lady still contemplates returning to the White House and all the bets are on for a spectacular duel in 2016 between the two political dynasties, with Jeb Bush (GWB’s elder brother) as the other contestant.
Be that as it may, Clinton’s first headed for the Council on Foreign Relations where she presented her report to (...)

"Before our very eyes"

Hollande is afraid of his armies

by Thierry Meyssan

Damascus (Syria) | 28 January 2013
Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande use the French armies to pander to private or foreign interests. They sent men to their death to plunder Ivory Coast cocoa, Libya’s gold reserves, Syria’s gas, and Mali’s uranium. The trust has been broken between the military chiefs and the soldiers who joined the army to defend the homeland.

Egypt: Did Morsi Hijack Democracy?

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

Ottawa (Canada) | 25 January 2013
Officially, the new Egyptian Islamist-backed constitution was adopted by a national referendum with nearly two-thirds support. Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya’s statistical breakdown of the results shows that victory amidst a low-turnout is a travesty of the democratic process. This applies as much to Egypt as to those Western countries where minorities make decisions for the majority of the population under the cloak of democracy.

"The Art of War"

The strategy of tension

by Manlio Dinucci

Rome (Italy) | 24 January 2013
It is too obvious that Western economic interests in Mali are not enough to explain France’s intervention there. Similarly, it is clear that islamism is not enough to explain vast terrorist action conducted simultaneously at an Algerian gas site. For Manlio Dinucci, this cocktail contains the classic ingredients of the strategy of tension. The target is Algeria, Mali is the rear base for the attack, and the islamists are a pretext for intervention.

The Bundeswehr, an "Army in Action"

Less war in the new year?

by Karl Müller

22 January 2013
Once there was a German Chancellor who said: “Peace is not everything, but without peace everything is nothing.” That was about 40 years ago, however it is still true, but meets with no response in today’s German policy. An editorial of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 18 December 2012 gives evidence of that by blatantly failing to mention what the Germans have gained through their own efforts after the end of the Second World War.
And you might ask yourself: How is it possible that in a (...)

Once derided, Gaddafi’s warnings about jihadists now used to justify Mali intervention

by Stephen Gowans

21 January 2013
Always on hand when needed, cameleontic jihadists serve as enemies in Mali, friends in Syria, and air force in Libya.

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