Billy Bob's Blowback Roundtable
THE WORLD THROUGH AN INDEPENDENT LEFT LENS

Netanyahu's New West Asia War

Billy Bob

Streamed live on Aug 2, 2024
8/2/2024 Episode 101 of Blowback: Exposing Imperial Decline with special guests Chris Black and Dust James.

PLUS: World News Roundup

EURASIA TILTING AWAY
BANDERA 404
- 404: Ukraine will introduce 'action plan for peace' by end of November - Elensky communique ( Kyiv 'Independent' ) 
┝ Patience, Support and Diplomatic pressure needed ( by US and EU ) for a 'just peace'
┝ 'International unity will add pressure and show Moscow that there is no chance'
- 404: 'I know we will win – and how' - Ukraine’s top general on turning the tables against Russia - Syrsky ( Guardian UK ) 
┕ There is a plan to take Crimea but it's top secret.. We basically need more men, hopefully Ukrainians abroad.
- 404: Russia 'adapting tactics' advances in Donetsk - takes more land - Ukraine depleted - turmoil in US election ( WaPo ) 
- 404: Ukraine helped Mali rebel attack kill dozens of Wagner fighters - key role in ambush by 1,000 'Tuaregs' ( Times UK )
- 404: Ukraine's plan to survive Trump - survive and resist for 5-8 months - Trump will see 'Putin can't be trusted' ( TIME ) 
- 404: Ukraine’s top diplomat signals readiness to negotiate with Russia - Kuleba - Wang Yi 3 hour meeting ( SCMP CN ) 
- 404: Zaluzhny - now ambassador to UK - in first address - wants to turn his country into a weapons testing lab ( RT RU ) 
- 404: US combat vehicles keep Russians at bay - for how long? - 300 Bradley IFVs wrecked, Trump more? ( Times UK ) 
- 404: Ukrainian Brigade Collapses - and now hundreds of soldiers are surrounded near Progres - David Axe ( Forbes )
- 404: Ukraine will have a just peace or none at all - better position for offensive next year - Editorial Board ( FT UK ) 
- 404: Gains in terrain for Russia's army - Ukrainians are less and less able to counteract, morale crumbles ( FAZ DE ) 
- 404: Russia punches through weakened frontlines in eastern Ukraine - probing and breakthrough operations ( NYT ) 
- 404: F-16 fighter jets arrive in Ukraine but may not tip advantage against Russia - ' will arrive within weeks' ( WaPo ) 
- 404: Ukraine has suffered 700,000 irretrievable losses in the SVO - Major General Apti Alaudinov ( Rossiya 1 TV ) 
- 404: Peace agreement with Russia would be a 'deal with the devil' - top Ukrainian adviser Podolyak ( Euronews ) 
- 404: Fitch downgrades Ukraine further into default zone over $20 billion debt agreement - 'C' rating ( Reuters ) 
- 404: Plan to send Azeri gas to Europe may simply disguise Russian fuel - Kiev 'experts' examine ( FT UK )

EUROPE HATES HUNGARY
- EUK: Poland tells Hungary to 'join a union with Putin' in diplomatic row - leave EU and NATO - Deputy FM ( Euronews ) 
- EUK: Hungary embraces China loan financing after €1B deal - Chinese financing will be widespread ( Bloomberg ) 
- EUK: Orbán spoke at the annual Tusványos summer University in Hungarian part of Romania ( various ) 
┝ Russia stands to gain as 'irrational' West loses power - hyper rational, remarkable economy ( Reuters / CNN ) 
┝ Nord Stream act of terrorism was carried out under US leadership against German property ( Ukro Pravda ) 
┝ The European Union is on the path to 'self-destruction' - world is Asia-oriented - Orbán ( Guardian UK ) 
┕ EU will have to admit defeat and bear responsibility for supporting war in Ukraine - Orbán ( TASS RU ) 

ITALIA REACHES OUT
- EUK: Italy’s Meloni on mission to mend ties with Xi ahead of US vote - in Beijing after leaving BRI last year ( Bloomberg ) 
- EUK: Italy's Meloni pledges to 'relaunch' relations with China - on five-day state visit - signed 3-year 'action plan' ( FT UK ) 
- EUK: Italy restores diplomatic relations with Syria - returns ambassador after decade-long absence ( Euronews ) 

- EUK: Thousands rally in various Serbian towns to protest against EU lithium excavation deal ( Euractiv ) 

ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE
- USC: National debt hits $35 trillion - US stares down fiscal reckoning - debt to GDP 'scary levels' ( Washington Examiner )
- USC: US home insurers suffer worst loss this century - citing natural disasters, inflation and 'population growth' ( FT UK ) 
- USC: Pentagon finds another $2 billion of accounting errors for Ukraine aid - used wrong values to tabulate ( Reuters )
- USC: US consumers show signs of flagging, companies and analysts warn - spending lowest in eight months ( FT UK )
- USC: $1 Trillion rout his NASDAQ 100 over AI jitters in worst day since 2022 - lost $10t value in selloff ( Bloomberg ) 
- USC: US Carmakers chasing an EV future get tripped up by 'choppy present' - Ford, GM, Tesla stocks fall ( WSJ ) 
- USC: Undocumented immigrants will boost economy, lower deficit - Congressional Budget Office ( The Hill ) 
- USC: Yellen says $3T of fresh capital is needed annually to fight climate change - in Brazil ( Politico US ) 
- USC: No return date for NASA astronauts amid problems with Boeing Starliner capsule ( Guardian UK ) 
- USC: McDonald's sales fall worldwide for first time in four years as cost of living bites ( Guardian UK ) 

- EUK: Around 10m British pensioners will lose their winter fuel payments under new plans - chancellor Reeves ( BBC UK ) 
- EUK: EU diplomats ordered to cancel parties after 'budget crunch' - overspending triggers expense crackdown ( FT UK ) 
- EUK: Tories have left UK with 'unforgivable' £22 billion black hole in budget - Chancellor Rachel Reeves ( Times UK ) 
- EUK: Scholz is failing to engineer 'liftoff' for German economy - no meaningful growth casts shadow ( Bloomberg ) 
- EUK: More than half of Britons feel poorer than they did five years ago - Censuswide survey ( Bloomberg ) 
- EUK: The UK is 'broke and broken' - Starmer's office prepares to tackle shortfall in public finances ( AP ) 
- EUK: UK drops out of top ten manufacturing nations for first time -from 8th to 12th place ( Times UK ) 
┕ 7 Mexico, 8 Russia, 9 Italy, 10 France, 11 'Taiwan', 12 UK
- EUK: China's made-in-Europe EVs pose new threat to region's carmakers ( Bloomberg )
┝ BYD, Chery, Geely open new factories in Hungary, Spain, Türkiye and Poland
┕ New quarterly losses : Renault 35% decline, Ford 18%, Nissan 73%, Stellantis 48%!

- ASO: Japanese automaker Nissan lowers its profit forecast amid incentive, inventory woes - 73% profit loss ( WaPo ) 
- ASO: Critical AUKUS contract doubles in price and now a year late - $9.6m / 114% increase ( Canberra Times AU ) 

- RUC: Russia's 'surprising' consumer spending boom - sharp rise in real wages and consumption ( FT UK ) 

MILITARY / DIPLOMATIC 
- USC: Canada, China pledge to mend relations - FMs met in Beijing - Tibet, Taiwan, Uyghurs 'internal affairs' ( CBC CA ) 
- USC: How the US and allies can convince more citizens to serve - we need more men - Editorial board! ( Bloomberg )
- USC: The entire West makes just one fifth-generation fighter - The F-35 - and it’s in crisis - delays, price ( Telegraph UK ) 
- USC: US risks losing in event of multiple conflicts with adversaries - National Defense Strategy report ( Sputnik RU ) 
- USC: Blinken warned China’s top diplomat Wang Yi that Kamala Harris 'cares about rules-based order' ( WaPo ) 

- EUK: The EU sends €1.5B frozen assets to Ukraine - Switzerland opts out - will not follow - law, obligations ( Swissinfo ) 
- EUK: Germany's legal bogeyman is 'hampering EU response to Putin' - shared EU debt = Eurobonds ( Bloomberg ) 
- EUK: Rampant sanctions busting is overwhelming EU front-line states - Latvian FM Baiba Braže ( Politico EU ) 
- EUK: European defense is in need of big financial boost - Swedish Saab chief Micael Johansson ( FT UK ) 
- EUK: Why Britain’s F-35s could be consigned to the scrap heap - programme is too costly ( Telegraph UK ) 

- ASO: US told Philippines it made 'missteps' in secret anti-vax propaganda effort - drag China into a quagmire ( Reuters ) 
- ASO: Making Asia grimace again? Idea of Trump 2.0 White house fuels regional unease - for the enslaved ( SCMP CN ) 
- ASO: US forces Japan to be upgraded to 'warfighting command' - new four-star US commander ( Defense One ) 
- ASO: Blinken chides Beijing's 'escalating actions' at sea, concerned over Taiwan - ASEAN Summit ( Reuters ) 
- ASO: US launches military command in Tokyo 'to counter China' - forces will be overseen from new HQ ( WSJ ) 
- ASO: Blinken meets Wang Yi, US and China 'air global differences' - on sixth meeting since last year ( AP ) 

- RUC: PLA holds intensive foreign military interactions across three continents - Europe, Asia, Africa ( Global Times CN )
- RUC: Russia celebrated Navy Day in St Petersburg - with international flotilla of 200 - China, Algeria, India ( TASS RU ) 
- RUC: Putin on Russian patrol flights near Alaska - a response to increased US activity close to Russia ( RT RU ) 
- RUC: Segrei Lavrov arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on previous unannounced official visit ( TASS RU ) 
┕ Malaysia sent official letter of application to join BRICS - PM Anwar Ibrahim ( TASS RU  ) 
- RUC: Russian navy starts major drills involving most of its fleet - Pacific, Arctic, Caspian, Baltic ( Reuters ) 
- RUC: India and China agree to work urgently to achieve withdrawal of troops from disputed border ( AP )
- RUC: Putin warns the United States of Cold War-style missile crisis - response to Germany ( Reuters ) 
- RUC: Attack on Christian church foiled in Islamic Russian region - Kaspiysk, Dagestan - FSB ( RT RU ) 

WEST ASIA MIGHT EXPLODE

ATTACK ON THE GOLAN
- WEA: A projectile fell on a football field, in Majdal Shams, Israel-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, killing 12 children 
┝ Hezbollah 'firmly denied' claims that they were responsible - official statement
┝ The Druze initiative said Israeli Iron Dome interceptor missiles fell on them - 'happens every day' - Ghalib Saif
┝ The Druze in this occupied area are Arabs loyal to Syria and the resistance, certainly not the occupation
┝ The funeral goers rejected Israeli ministers presence, including Smotrich - videos
┝ They also heckled PM Netanyahu going to the town - sent a letter to the Knesset to 'stay away'
┝ 'Get out of here, murderer! You came here to dance on the blood of our children!'
┝ Israel blamed Hezbollah - claimed it was an 'Iran-made Falaq 1 missile'
┝ Israel has refused an official inquiry into the Majdal Shams explosion.
┕ The IDF vowed they - Hezbollah - will 'pay a heavy price' - DM Gallant

CURRENT AFTERMATH
- USC: Netanyahu’s US visit revealed 'no workable plan' for peace - Biden 'day after' strategy remains pipe dream ( WaPo ) 
- USC: Don't bomb Beirut - US leads push to 'rein in' Israel's response - five people with knowledge ( Reuters - Euractiv ) 
- USC: Washington gives Netanyahu 'full backing' to expand war on Lebanon - insider tells Israeli channel 14 ( Cradle ) 
- USC: US and Middle-East diplomats scramble to head off Israel-Hezbollah war after rocket attack ( WSJ )
- USC: US does not want escalation after Golan Heights rocket attack - Blinken in Tokyo ( Reuters )

- EUK: Britain delays decision on banning arms exports to Israel for weeks - expected 'total ban' suspended ( Times UK ) 
- EUK: Türkiye should be kicked out of NATO after threatening Israel with war - Belgian PM Geert Wilders ( Ynet ) 
- EUK: Church of England bishop calls Israel an apartheid state - Rachel Treweek ( Telegraph UK ) 
- EUK: EU top diplomat urges end to 'madness' after Gaza school strike - Borrell ( Euractiv ) 

- WEA: Extremist Israeli Finance Minister minister called for assassination of Hezbollah's Nasrallah - Smotrich ( IRNA IR ) 
- WEA: Israel launched retaliatory strikes 'deep inside' Lebanon - claim 'weapons and military infrastructure' ( Politico EU ) 
- WEA: FM Bezalel Smotrich urged NATO to expel Türkiye after Erdogan threatened to invade Israel ( Times of Israel ) 
- WEA: Lebanon warned Israel that an attack on Beirut would lead to 'regional war'  - Foreign Ministry ( Telegraph UK ) 
- WEA: 'I can’t justify this military operation any more' -  the IDF reservists refusing to return to Gaza ( Guardian UK ) 
- WEA: Israeli education minister threatens 'all-out war' with Hezbollah after Golan Heights attack ( Guardian UK ) 
- WEA: Iran warned of serious consequences for any Israeli strike on Lebanon - President Pezeshkian ( Reuters ) 
- WEA: UNHRC finds Israel 'and Hamas' guilty of war crimes - extermination, murder, using starvation ( CNN ) 
- WEA: Erdogan warned that Türkiye may enter Israel - just like it entered Karabakh and Libya ( TASS RU )
- WEA: An Israeli airstrike hits a school sheltering people in Gaza, killing at least 30 including children ( AP ) 
- WEA: Israel orders more evacuations - deadly strike on Khan Younnis school kills at least 30 ( WaPo ) 
- WEA: Israeli FM threatens Erdogan with Saddam Hussein’s fate - Israel Katz ( Mehr IR )

THE AMERICAS

VENEZUELA DECIDES
- LAT: Venezuela 'strongman' Nicolas Maduro reelected as president - election authorities ( CNN ) 
┝ All Western headlines are about a 'shock' win for an 'autocrat' with election interference.
┝ Attack on electoral system that slowed vote count came from North Macedonia - Attorney General Tarek Saab
┝ 'protestors' / thugs have set hospitals, and the Calabozo USP HQ on fire after elections.
┝ Nicholas Maduro, when casting his ballot : 'Viva Palestine Libre!' 
┝ María Corina Machado : 'Venezuela's struggle is Israel's struggle' - sent letters to US and Israel to invade
┝ María Corina Machado : 'We will move the Venezuelan embassy to Jerusalem if we win'
┝ Argentina will not recognize Maduro - Milei 'hopes the Armed Forces will 'defend democracy' - statement
┝ Elon Musk - for some reason - was extremely upset with the election results.
┝ Blinken has 'serious concerns' about election representing the 'will of the people' - statement
┝ Venezuela withdraws diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Dom-Rep, Uruguay
┝ Mexico - belatedly - recognized the election results as fair and open, after confirmation.
┕ Putin, Lukashenko, Iran, Bolivia and China congratulated Maduro on his re-election as president

DEMOCRACY IN USA
- USC: Democrats bet America is ready to elect a black woman president - Gender and race will be central to campaign ( WSJ ) 
- USC: Kamala Harris and the dangers of the 'Glass Cliff' - women of color cleaning up mess after white men ( Intercept ) 
- USC: Kamala Harris has 'quickly pivoted' to convincing Arab American voters of her leadership - on Gaza policy ( AP ) 
- USC: Kamala Harris raises $200m in first week of presidential campaign - overcoming Biden 'slowdown' ( FT UK )