[This column was written for the Unz Review]
The COVID19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is, by any measure, an immense planetary crisis which will probably change the world we live in forever.  Still, there are other issues which are maybe not quite as dramatic and important, but which deserve not to be forgotten.  Here are some of those

The grand betrayal of Tulsi Gabbard:

it was pretty clear to most observers that Tulsi Gabbard, being the only real “peace candidate” would never be allowed to get the nomination, nevermind make it into the White House.  It was also clear that Tulsi, for all her very real qualities, simply did not have what it takes to take on “The Swamp”.  Still, in spite of this all, her candidacy and campaign were like a huge pitcher of cool water in the middle of an immense and dry desert.  Her uniqueness amongst all the candidate is what make her betrayal even more painful for those who respected or even supported her.  Once it became clear that she would never get the nomination, not only did she not run as an independent (something which Hillary seems to fear a lot), she endorse Uncle Joe, the clearly senile, totally corrupt and generally repugnant frontman for the Clinton gang.  This endorsement of Biden is something which she did not have to do, but she did it.
When the DNC stole the nomination from Sanders, he did not lead a protest or run as an independent, he endorsed Hillary.  I always considered him a fraud for this (and many other) reason.  Now Tulsi Gabbard is doing the same thing, which probably is a good indicator that the Democratic Party is evil and corrupt to the core, which is hardly big news, but which is dramatically confirmed by Gabbard profoundly immoral decision.  Why do I say that?  because Biden is the ultimate “anti-Gabbard”, she should have endorsed either Bernie, or even Trump, but instead she endorse a morally corrupt warmonger, a total pawn for the MIC.
At the end of the day, she mostly betrayed herself, and that is the saddest aspect of this debacle.

The AngloZionist Empire – as clueless as ever

I have forced myself to listen to the daily COVID19 briefings from the White House and I have to say that Trump’s constant flag-waving and self-worshiping is almost physically painful to watch.  The worst parts of these briefings are when Trump, or Pompeo, speak about the US “leadership” as if the entire planet was desperately expecting the USA to help.  It does not.  In fact, most of the planet is disgusted by US action, be it the denial of vitally needed meds to countries like Iran or Venezuela, to the attempts are buying off German vaccines, to the mantric repetition about how great the US private sector is and how Amazon and Walmart will help us weather this crisis.

The truth is that this worldwide pandemic will allow us all to compare how different political systems, countries and cultures have reacted to the threat.  In a year or so, we shall all know whether free-market capitalism and libertarianism compare with social-democracies, socialist and even communist countries fared when their population needed protection and assistance.
True, other countries have responded with truly amazing incompetence (including several EU countries), so the inability to protect its citizens is not a purely US problem, it really affects all the countries currently subjugated by the Empire.
Finally, it appears that the China-bashing strategic PSYOP has largely failed.  Most fake-news about China were quickly and rapidly debunked, and even the legacy corporate ziomedia could not completely obfuscate the fact that China is, so far, the only country on our planet which defeated COVID19.
Will there be an “ideological lessons learned” once the crisis subsides?  I sure hope so!
For the time being, the Empire does what it always does, it plans to deny even more civil rights to its own people which has true patriots like Ron Paul extremely worried.  What else is new?
Capitalism with a human face?
Nope, that sure ain’t gonna happen this time around.

Serbia betrayed by Europe (again!) while Russia provides vital aid to Serbia and Italy

Serbia has been betrayed by the Europeans, again.  This time around, the Europeans did not bomb Serbian civilians, they simply refused to sell the meds needed to respond to the crisis.  President Aleksandar Vucic has now officially declared that the EU solidarity “exists only on paper“.  He then openly appealed for China to help, and help China did – the Chinese send aircraft filled with much needed medical equipment and doctors.  Then Russia followed suit and sent 10 heavy transporters fill with gear and specialists.
Even more amazing (and appalling) is the fact that the Empire does not even help its own subjects – in Italy, it was Russia again which organized a major air bridge (over 15 heavy transporters!) and now we see Russian Army units deployed in northern Italy to help the struggling Italians.  Check out these short videos reports by the Russian military.  You don’t need to understand Russian to see the size of the air-bridge the Russian Aerospace Forces have established or to how grateful the Italian officials are!



Also, check the excellent article by Andrei Martyanov about this “Russian invasion of Italy“.
I have to say that the Serbs have been fantastically naive to trust the very same people who bombed them, in total illegality, for 78 days, murdering scores of innocent civilians (including those murdered in the TV tour).  For example, the Serbs could have considered how the EU has been lying to Turkey, for decades.  But no, the Serbian elites now seem to think that they will be able to fill their pockets with lucrative contracts with the EU.
Hopefully, what these events have demonstrated shall not be forgotten when the next elections take place in Serbia.
That also goes for Italy.
And, finally,

The situation in northern Syria and Iraq

The situation in northern Syria and Iraq had developed pretty much as expected.  So far, the Turks have been unable to re-take full control of the M4 highway.  As a result of that failure, the joint Russian-Turkish patrols have not been able to move along the full length of the highway as spelled out in the agreement between Russia and Turkey.  Clearly, Turkey lacks either the will, or the capability, or both, to remove the Takfiri forces from the M4 highway.  So far, the Russians and Syrians have very kindly agreed to wait a little longer, but the recent visit of Russian Defense Minister Shoigu to Damascus clearly shows that big decisions are being worked on:
As for Iraq, the various Shia militias are doing exactly what everybody had predicted, they are executing limited but very disruptive strikes against US forces in Iraq.  Here is a good infographic by the Institute for the Study of War which sums it up very nicely:
What we have hear is a small trickle of attacks which do not yield any major victory to the Iraqi forces, but which over time will tremendously demoralize US forces.  Finally, such “death by a thousand cuts” strategy also will severely limit the operational capabilities of the US forces in Iraq: when you are mostly busy protecting yourself, you have less time to murder locals.
Still, sooner or later the Shias will have to step up their attacks because forcing the occupation forces to hunker down and actually kick them out of your country are two very different propositions.  These small strikes are very useful, not only because they demoralize the enemy, but because by forcing him to stay inside fortified “secure” areas only makes them better targets for a bigger missile strike.
This is a very sound strategy against which the US forces have no good option, other than throwing in the towel and leaving, which they will have to do anyway (exact that they call it “declare victory and leave”, but its the exact same thing).
The Saker