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Bulletins and News Discussion from March 10th to March 16th, 2025 - The New World Struggles To Be Born; Now Is The Time Of Proxy Wars - COTW: Myanmar

Image is from Wikipedia's article on the war..

I've wanted to cover Myanmar for a while now but haven't had the needed knowledge to write much more than "This situation really sucks." After doing a little reading on the situation, I feel even more confused. A decent analogy is the Syrian Civil War, at least while Assad was in power (though it's still pretty true today) - many different opposition groups, some co-operating with the United States, others not. The main government supported partially by an anti-American superpower, but who could live with that government collapsing if there are deals to be made with the group coming into power. A conflict kept going and exploited at least partially by the United States and other imperial core powers, though with plenty of genuine domestic animosity and desires for political independence.

Recently, the Myanmar government - the mainstream media uses "junta", which is probably accurate despite the connotations - has promised elections at the end of 2025. This doesn't seem likely to happen, and even if it did, how this would work in a country as war-torn as Myanmar is unclear. The government is losing territory and soldiers at a quick pace; they now hold only 21% of the country, though that 21% does at least comprise many of the cities. It's difficult to get a handle on the number of people affected because civil wars and insurgencies have been ongoing in some shape or form for decades, but we're talking at least millions displaced and thousands of civilians killed.

Here's a comment by @[email protected] from fairly recently that covers the situation in Myanmar:

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978 comments

  • I find it strange how the Western media keeps blaming Assad for whatever is happening in Syria, I imagine them seeing Bashar Al Assad, just like Gman from Half-Life, who goes around Syria generating neo-baathist rebels just to mess with the pro-Western government. Dude is probably sleeping in Moscow watching football matches all day and sending music to his wife.

  • AmeriKKKa has expelled the South African ambassador Ibrahim Rasool and declared him persona non grata - Voice of the Cape

    According to a media statement by the EFF, they completely agree with "the characterization given by ambassador Rasool that the American president is the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan". No one else has managed to successfully cause Trump's ego to flatline like he just watched Air Force One crash into the Trump Tower.

  • I've just checked what Zizek was up to nowadays

    I shouldn't have

    CW: SA

    (from the end of January)

    This romanticized notion of Russia is often combined with another leftist dogma: that NATO is the ultimate evil. According to this view, anyone in conflict with NATO must have something good or virtuous about them. By this logic, Ukraine is disqualified from support because it’s seen as merely fighting a “proxy war” on behalf of NATO.

    when I pointed out that treating Ukraine’s defense as a proxy war for NATO essentially insults Ukrainians, people don’t seem to grasp it. Ukrainians are being portrayed as if they could choose peace but instead decide to engage in a war that displaces a quarter of their population, just for the sake of a proxy war. But in reality, it’s a matter of their survival.

    So, as of mid-march, not a proxy war at all

    I once made this comparison: it’s like a woman, Ukraine in this case, being brutallyremovedd. In despair, she tries to do something — what would you do if you were in that situation? I can only imagine as a man, maybe you would scratch, try to hit his eyes, or do whatever you could to survive. And then the West’s response would be to say to this woman, "It’s too painful, don’t provoke him."

    I truly, deeply deplore this analogy, not that war is nice, but someone who has been writing about Marxist aesthetics should know better, should know that metaphors are ideological constructs, and explaining war with sexual assault is straight out of the trashcan of ideology

    For propagandistic purposes, sure, but this is just trash, and not worthy from a "marxist philosopher"

  • The U.S. has canceled financial support for opponents in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

    Republicans believe that the subsidies are not “aligned with the government's priorities”. The United States has canceled support programs for opposition activists, political prisoners and religious groups in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. A State Department analysis concluded that these programs were not aligned with the agencies' priorities and were not in the “national interest”.

    As a result, the opposition press in Cuba alone, called the “independent press”, lost a grant of 1.5 million dollars. A post on the White House Rapid Response account on X cited this as an example of the “ridiculous programs” that were cut. Only three of the 95 programs administered by the International Republican Institute (IRI) have not been canceled, but they are paused for 90 days until their evaluation is completed. These programs were funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The three that have been maintained are focused on supporting the Venezuelan opposition.

    At a Senate hearing, Republicans argued that it makes no sense to maintain programs aimed at regime change in these countries if it doesn't happen. “My problem is that we can't say in Florida, 'I'm excited about the money we spend on foreign aid because something might happen. Let's see, the Castro regime still controls Cuba, Venezuela just stole another election and Ortega is getting stronger in Nicaragua,” said Senator Rick Scott.

  • An anti-american fever sweeps Canada over trumps threats, meanwhile to the south...

    Tens of thousands of Mexicans rally with president to celebrate US decision to delay tariffs

    how tf has Canada took more heat than Mexico this go around? I think Sheinbaum is the trump whisperer. I think she knows the "trump just agrees with whoever he talked with last" meme and is actually exploiting it (along with constantly massaging his ego in negotiations, I'm sure)

    In Trump’s statement announcing the delay, he didn’t point to any specific further concessions from Sheinbaum on either fentanyl or trade, even though there are some policy shifts he might reasonably have hoped to achieve, as we noted on Monday,” he wrote. “Sheinbaum’s midday post also did not point to any specific policy commitments beyond general continued cooperation on migration, fentanyl, and guns.”

    Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at a news conference Thursday that, in her call with Trump, she cited a graph from U.S. Customs and Border Protection showing a drop in fentanyl seizures, which she said Trump hadn't previously seen. "In February alone, the reduction in fentanyl seizures on the United States side of the border with Mexico was reduced by 41.5%. He didn’t know about this graph until I sent it to him, she said.

    "she had the best graph folks, you should have seen this brilliant graph. Much better than Justin's, much better than Biden."

    • how tf has Canada took more heat than Mexico this go around?

      Because México is actually deploying their national guard along the border, who are arresting cartel leaders, while the USA runs reconnaissance flights along the México border (even more aircraft have just headed to the USA from Italy for that). Even if these national guard operations are just for the press and PR and aren't actually doing much to the cartels, this pleases a personality like Trump. He can talk on Fox News about how "México is deploying their army against the cartel, very good". When you combine it with data about fentanyl getting into the the USA being lower and border crossings being down (even if it's misleading or cherry picked), that really makes Trump happy. So yes you're right, for now at least Sheinbaum has figured out how to deal with Trump and appease him.

  • Afghanistan will soon begin construction to complete a highway through the Wakhan Corridor that will connect the country with the Xinjiang Province of China

    Should the road be completed, and integrated into the Afghan highway system, China will have direct trading routes to Iran and the rest of the Middle East that bypasses Pakistan and Central Asia, areas where there have been a high risk of sabotage to the One Belt One Road Initiative.

    • Telegram

  • Trump on Settler Colonialism:

    "Denmark is really far away and really has nothing to do. What happened is a boat landed there 200 years ago or something and they say they have rights to it. I don't know if that's true. I don't think it is...."

  • The land area Israel now occupies in Syria is larger than the land it occupied in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon combined. The area is not fully under control of the IDF, but this area Israel has announced it will not allow any Syrian forces to deploy inside.

  • There is almost no fucking movement in the UK to oppose assisted dying and I am pulling my hair out what the fuck why is everyone so apathetic about this.

    I'm scared shitless about where this goes.

    It's going to be a eugenics program here in the UK just like it is in Canada. It's going to play out exactly the same fucking way. They will use it to kill the disabled and clear up the benefits system.

  • Them dems have done it and your average lib is more ready to radicalize than ever - they're actually actively radicalizing, we just need to direct it to revolutionary organizing.

  • https://xcancel.com/african_stream/status/1899747333723587019

    CHINA BUILDS HOSPITAL IN BURKINA FASO

    China and Burkina Faso are working hand in hand to build a brighter future. At least, that is the case with their collaboration on a teaching hospital on the outskirts of Bobo Dioulasso. The hospital, set to open in 2025, would be West Africa's largest.

    Karim Démé, president of the Focal Point of the People's Republic of China in Burkina Faso, initially proposed the project and contacted Chinese authorities to develop the idea. Chinese doctors will train Burkinabé physicians for the first three years, after which the Burkinabé people will run the hospital by 2028.

    As of 2020, Burkina Faso had 0.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people compared to the global average of 3.3 beds per 1,000 people.

  • A day of fury under milei's regime:

    AP: Argentine retirees and soccer fans clash with police during protests against austerity measures

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine retirees and fans of several soccer teams clashed with police Wednesday during a protest in front of Congress in the capital, Buenos Aires, against the economic policies implemented by the government of President Javier Milei.

    What started as a peaceful demonstration escalated into violent clashes as police deployed water cannons, tear gas, and pellets against stone-throwing protesters.

    For weeks, Buenos Aires retirees have held weekly protests demanding higher pensions, citing a precarious standard of living. While previous demonstrations involved minor incidents, including tear gas use against the elderly, Wednesday’s protest was unprecedented in scale.

    The government of far-right President Javier Milei, who has championed a policy of public spending cuts since coming to power a year and a half ago, had warned of restrictions on entry to stadiums for those who cause disorder.

    Police deployed shotguns and water hoses before the scheduled 5:00 p.m. protest.

    Clashes erupted when a large group of Boca Juniors soccer fans, waving flags and chanting in support of the retirees, arrived. Police formed a cordon to block their advance toward Congress.

    At the rear, a group of elderly protesters were pushed back by high-pressure water cannons fired by two tanks at the perimeter closest to the Legislative Assembly.

    In an unprecedented show of unity, fans from Boca Juniors, River Plate, and other Argentine soccer clubs joined pensioners who gather outside Congress every Wednesday to protest the government’s austerity measures.

    Surrounded by police, protesters chanted, “Don’t touch the elderly.” A man draped in the Argentine flag held a sign that read “Help me fight. You’ll be the next elderly person.”

    A resolution published Wednesday by Argentina’s Ministry of Security bans anyone who engages in violent behavior, disrupts security, traffic, or public order from entering soccer stadiums. This means that fans involved in Wednesday’s riots will be barred from attending their team’s games for a period set by the authorities.

    The repression today was really big, probably the worst since milei took power. It all began when a number of fans and Barras (Our equivalent to Hooligans or Ultras) of Chacarita Juniors, a second-division football team with roots on Anarcho-Communism, started to escort the elderly people who hold a demonstration each wednesday to protest against the regime's cuts on pensions. A week ago, they clashed with police. A call was made for all fans and Barras who wanted to join the struggle to attend the protest this wednesday, and so many did, including rival Barras like Boca Juniors and River Plate, Racing Club and Independiente and Chacarita Juniors and Atlanta, among many others. The idea was to escort and protect the elderly as they protested.

    However the police, as always, reacted with violence. Over a thousand police officers from all branches were deployed, from normal cops to Gendarmería (militarized police) and Airport Security. About 150 people were arrested, some of whom had nothing to do with the protest, the status of all detained people is unknown. One cameraman had his skull cracked open by a police tear gas shot, he's in very critical condition. An old lady was hit by a riot police and she hit her back of her head, she's also hospitalized. Many more suffered wounds due to rubber bullets fired by the pigs. A shitton of undercover cops joined the protest to agitate. One police officer curiously dropped his service fiream in the street as his line advanced, maybe to plant it for someone to pick it up and use against them. One cop sustained a firearm wound to his arm, not sure who fired, don't really care either, but I hope he dies soon anyways.

    Meanwhile a session in Congress was being held (Discussing, among other things, an investigation on milei's role in his crypto scam), but was called off after a number of pro-milei congressmen began to brawl with each other.

    Now it becomes completely apparent that we're not living under a democratic regime of any kind, not even the shit bourgeois "democracy". Milei's answer to pretty much all protests is to crush them with sheer force. I hope this sparks a bigger response, there's an urgent need for a nation-wide strike, we should have had one at least a year ago. Meanwhile, the economic situation is NOT improving, there are more and more people falling into homelesness, prices are still high and wages are very low. If you have your elderly people out in the streets fighting for better pensions you know you're in the shit as a country.

    To me there's one thing that is guaranteed: The future holds nothing but pain and misery. Milei's regime is at war with us, and is one of attrition, we'll see who lasts longer.

    oh and eternal suffering and death to "israel" and all zionists in the world including and not limited to javier milei.

  • Iconic comrade Leila Khaled has been hospitalized with an Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). Sending sincere prayers and good vibes to our heroic comrade.

  • 'We are holding slaves': "Israeli" soldier reveals systematic use of Palestinian 'human shields' in Gaza | The Cradle

    “In Gaza, human shields are used at least six times a day. If the Military Police want to do their job seriously, they should open at least 2,190 investigations. But the MP just want to pretend to the world that we're investigating ourselves, so they find a few scapegoats and pin everything on them,” the soldier stated, following nine months of combat in the strip.

    He explained that Palestinian civilians were forced to enter homes in Gaza to check for Hamas fighters or explosives and make sure it was safe for the soldiers to enter themselves. The soldiers refer to Palestinians forced to clear homes in this way as “Shawish” or “slaves.”

    Sometimes, Shawish are sent to houses simply to set fire to or blow up the house.

    c/news post here: https://hexbear.net/post/4474999

  • LMAO the motherfuckers folded again

    Edit: further context

    25 percent is still pretty significant I see this as an attempt to temper the markets(which will probably work) the markets thrive on reading headlines and investors engage in magical thinking all the time it’s always dumb money until material reality kicks in.

    At this point we should probably just wait for the supply chains to catch up and for this to actually impact Americans(which is definitely going to happen) for the markets to catch up.

  • I'm just going to comment on the leaked alleged "100 day US peace plan for Ukraine", because as events unfold, it is looking scarily accurate.

    The leak was published first by Ukrainian outlet Strana Today, and dismissed by Ukraine as "Russian disinformation". But for supposed disinformation, it's looking more and more like accurate information.

    So, according to the "schedule," Trump is said to be planning a phone call with Putin in late January or early February. In early February, he is planning to discuss the plan with Ukrainian authorities.

    This has already happened. Trump had a phone call with Putin and communicated with Ukraine.

    In February - the first half of March 2025, it is proposed to hold a meeting between Trump, Zelensky and Putin (a trilateral meeting or two bilateral meetings will be decided separately). The meeting should approve the main parameters of the peace plan, and then continue working on the agreement at the level of special representatives.

    This happened, in two separate bilateral meetings in Saudi Arabia, albeit with delegations, and not Trump, Putin and Zelensky personally.

    While negotiations are underway and hostilities continue, Trump does not block the sending of military aid to Ukraine.

    From April 20, 2025 (Easter, which this year all Christian denominations celebrate on the same day) it is proposed to declare a ceasefire along the entire front line. At the same time, all Ukrainian troops must be withdrawn from the Kursk region.

    We are here currently. A ceasefire across the entire frontline has been proposed. However, to help facilitate the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Kursk, the US had to pause the sending of military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine. Now that Ukrainian troops have been removed from Kursk so that the plan can move forward, the military aid and intelligence sharing will resume, as it has been reported.

    At the end of April 2025, the International Peace Conference should begin its work, which will record an agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on ending the war with the mediation of the United States, China, a number of countries in Europe and the Global South.

    I can see this happening. Zelensky is set to meet with the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, this month, so that's the " Global South" participation there.

    At the end of April, the exchange of prisoners will begin according to the formula "all for all".

    Explains Zelensky's comments on a prisoner exchange. No comments on the "children kidnapped by Russia" in this leak though.

    By May 9, the International Peace Conference is expected to issue a declaration on ending the war in Ukraine based on agreed parameters.

    After May 9, Ukraine is offered not to extend the martial law regime and mobilization.

    Presidential elections are held in Ukraine at the end of August, and parliamentary and local elections at the end of October.

    This explains Zelensky's panic, and the posturing of certain members of parliament. Zelensky could be out of the picture as soon as August.

    Now for the actual plan to end the war:

    The proposed parameters of the agreement to be concluded within the framework of the International Conference:

      1. Ukraine will not be a member of NATO and declares neutrality. The decision to ban Ukraine from joining the Alliance must be approved at the NATO summit.
      1. Ukraine will become a member of the EU by 2030. The EU undertakes obligations for the post-war reconstruction of the country.
      1. Ukraine does not reduce the size of the army. The United States is committed to continuing support for the modernization of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
      1. Ukraine refuses military and diplomatic attempts to return the occupied territories. But does not officially recognize the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over them.
      1. Some sanctions against the Russian Federation will be lifted immediately after the conclusion of a peace agreement. Some - over the course of three years, depending on Russia's compliance with the parameters of the agreement. All restrictions on the import of Russian energy resources to the EU will be lifted. But for a certain period of time, Europeans will be subject to a special duty, the proceeds of which will be used to restore Ukraine.
      1. Parties that advocate for the Russian language and peaceful coexistence with Russia must be allowed to participate in elections in Ukraine. All actions against the UOC and the Russian language must be stopped at the state level.
      1. The point about the European peacekeeping contingent after the end of military actions is highlighted as particularly problematic. On the one hand, Kyiv demands this as a guarantee of security. On the other hand, the Russian Federation is categorically against it. Separate consultations between all parties should be held on this point.

    There is already progress on point 1 and 4 (Hegseth - Ukraine cannot join NATO or take back the occupied territories). Zelensky also just made a comment on point 4, in line with not recognising Russian control over them, but carefully worded as far as not fighting back to take them anymore. The EU will likely be strong armed into point 2, 3 and 5. As for point 7, I could see peacekeepers from China and the Global South being used.

    To be honest I think Russia will accept such a deal, if territory in the four oblasts not currently under Russian control is up for negotiation, and there are conditions set on arms supplies to Ukraine over the 30 day ceasefire. The big obstacle is Kherson city, though I could see Russia allowing Ukraine to keep it, provided that they get the territory in the other three oblasts not currently under Russian control.

  • President Donald Trump has signed an executive order cutting funding to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which fully funds and oversees the global media outlets, Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA).

    • Telegram

  • The U.S. has carried out attacks targeting Ansarallah in Yemen in response to the group announcing it will once again close the shipping lanes to the Red Sea, due to Israel cutting off humanitarian aid into Gaza.

    • Telegram

  • So yesterday Starmer announced they're scrapping NHS England and the UK soft-left is basically eating it up with an optimistic "oh it was started by the tories so it was bad, this could possibly lead to even worse things".

    ...It's going to government for now but it won't stay there, the role it played will be fucking outsourced to some american ai company or some shit.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx29lrl826rt

    We're so fucking fucked. Beyond fucked. Our left is dumb as shit. They're naive credulous morons.

  • Interesting article attempting to understand why Mahmoud Khalil was chosen:
    https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2025/03/the-curious-case-of-mahmoud-khalil/

    The simple truth is that anybody working in good faith in the British Embassy in Lebanon can be no friend of the resistance to Israel. Everything the British Embassy do in Lebanon is intrinsically linked to the overriding goal of promoting the interests of Israel, particularly through weakening Hezbollah, and this is especially true when it comes to programmes into Syria running out of Beirut.

    So how did Khalil move from British government operative to Palestinian student activist?

    And then, why on earth did the Trump regime pick him for its first high-profile deportation?

    I can see three plausible explanations for Khalil’s behaviour:

    1. He was never pro-British but was infiltrating the Embassy for the Palestinians
    2. He was never pro-Palestinian but was infiltrating the protest movement for the British government
    3. He was not very political but was moved recently to activism by the genocide in Gaza

    Of these, option 3) seems to me the most plausible, though all are certainly possible.

    It would be a delicious irony if the Trump regime had arrested a British agent by accident, but this seems to me unlikely. I do not think MI6 would run a Palestinian agent in the USA without informing the CIA – although they may have done if there were a specific concern that the CIA would leak the identity.

    If Khalil were a British agent he could have been arrested for protection if there were concerns he had been “made”, or he could have been arrested because the Americans found out and were furious at not being informed. But I do not think these are the likely scenarios.

    It seems to me much more probable that a once-complacent Khalil changed his mind and became more – righteously – radical due to the genocide in Gaza.

    In which case the motive for choosing him as the target for arrest is very plain. Both the US and UK will be worried about revelations Khalil might make about support to jihadists in Syria from his time working on this in Lebanon. Whisking him into incommunicado detention, whilst maximum pressure is applied to persuade him to keep silent, is then an obvious move.

    It is important for freedom of speech and for the rights in general of immigrants in the USA that Mr Khalil is free. It is obviously profoundly important for him and his family. I do not want anything I have written to detract from that.

    But the puzzle of why such an extremely complicated target for the test case was chosen, when there exist far lower-hanging fruit, is one that needs to be considered. I hope I have offered some possible lines of thought you find useful.

978 comments