Headlines:
Biden Forms New AUKUS Alliance with Britain and Australia
The West Turns to Crushing Afghanistan Economically
France Recalls Ambassadors to US, Australia over Sub Deal
Pakistan PM says He Has Started Dialogue with Taliban over Inclusivity
China Ought to Reduce US Treasury Holdings to Allay Risks

Biden Forms New AUKUS Alliance with Britain and Australia

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison jointly announced through a joint virtual session the creation of a new alliance of their three countries, which they have named ‘AUKUS’ and whose first project will be the provision of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia but, according to the joint statement issued, will “foster deeper integration of security and defense-related science, technology, industrial bases, and supply chains” and in particular “significantly deepen cooperation on a range of security and defense capabilities”; all this in service of a resolve to “to deepen diplomatic, security, and defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region”. Even though it was not mentioned, it is clear that the alliance is directed against China. Regarding the announcement, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, “The nuclear submarine cooperation between the US, the UK and Australia has seriously undermined regional peace and stability, intensified the arms race and undermined international non-proliferation efforts.”

France has also reacted negatively to the announcement. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said, “This brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr Trump used to do. I am angry and bitter. This isn’t done between allies. It’s really a stab in the back.” Australia’s decision to build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet is resulting in the cancellation of a giant $40 billion French submarine deal agreed in 2016 that France had at the time described as the deal of the century. France was not even informed beforehand and only heard through rumours in the Australian media that its deal was about to be torn up live on TV. However, more than the deal itself, France is angry about being excluded from discussions of a new alliance. France’s 2016 deal was intended to symbolise a wider Australian-French alliance in the Indo-Pacific extending to weapons intelligence and communications. France later recalled its ambassador from the US for first time in its history, as well as its ambassador in Australia. France did not recall its ambassador to Britain but Reuters reported a French diplomatic source saying angrily, “The UK accompanied this operation opportunistically. We do not need to consult in Paris with our ambassador to know what to think and what conclusions to draw from it.”

The alliance marks a great achievement for Britain. According to the UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, it was Australia that approached the UK in March seeking a submarine deal after concluding it wished to abandon the French deal after a secret year-long study. It seems that the British realised that they could use this opportunity to achieve a major re-alignment in its foreign policy. In March, Boris Johnson stated in parliament that Britain will “engage more deeply in the Indo-Pacific”. Furthermore, America has been promoting the ‘Quad’ alliance that includes Japan, India and Australia along with America. This arrangement is very much against the British strategy for India and Australia, and only became possible because of the arrival of pro-American governments in both countries.

And for the Biden administration, the AUKUS announcement, and the Quad meeting later this month represent initiatives that accord fully with its strategic priorities at this time, which is to fully secure America from the threat of a rising China projecting its power into the Pacific Ocean that America considers to be its own private waters. It is this high priority that led Biden to withdraw from Afghanistan and is leading him to reduce American commitments in the Middle East.

It is incumbent upon the aware within the Muslim Ummah that they closely follow the tensions and conflicts between the world’s great powers, and recognise that these provide the political space for the re-emergence of their state on the international arena. With Allah’s permission, the re-established righteous Islamic Khilafah State on the method of the Prophethood shall, almost from its inception, join the ranks of the great powers on account of its vast size, population, resources, position and Islamic ideology. The Islamic Khilafah State had, for a thousand years, reigned as global superpower, bringing peace, harmony and prosperity to the entire world, with armed conflicts remaining generally limited and well-contained. If unchecked, the deep rivalry and competition between the world’s great powers and their incessant fuelling of conflict and confrontation can only lead to further tragedy for all of humanity.

The West Turns to Crushing Afghanistan Economically

After failing to control the Taliban through military force, the West has turned to apply economic pressure. The American-backed Kabul regime was already near bankrupt through serious mismanagement and internal conflict, while its incompetent head, President Ghani, would academically dream up scheme after scheme, lacking any skill for actual implementation. The Americans spent over $2 trillion on their Afghanistan war, but the bulk of that was simply payments between the American government and the American private sector that involved cash transfers within the borders of the United States. Of the money that actually reached Afghanistan, much of it was drained out through corruption leaving little for the running of the government. On top of this, the US Federal Reserve has frozen whatever Afghan foreign exchange reserves it presently holds, amounting to $7 billion, while the IMF has also frozen Afghanistan’s access to IMF resources. International donors, such as Germany and the World Bank, have also suspended whatever disbursements they were making. Meanwhile, the West is typically portraying itself as humanitarian and supportive, with a UN appeal this week resulting in $1 billion in international aid pledges, whose disbursement the West can more carefully control, instead of allowing the Afghanistan government to have access to its own resources. The real solution to Afghanistan’s problems is not the so-called international community dominated by the West but the rulers of Muslim countries, who possess vast wealth and resources but spend it only in accordance with what the West permits them. With Allah’s permission, the Muslim Ummah shall soon overthrow this entire agent ruling class and establish instead the Khilafah State that shall unify all Muslim lands, liberate all Muslim occupied territories, implement the Islamic sharia, restore the Islamic way of life and carry the light of Islam to the entire world.

France Recalls Ambassadors to US, Australia over Sub Deal

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday evening that France is immediately recalling its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia in a backlash over a submarine deal.  Le Drian said in a statement that the decision, on request from President Emmanuel Macron, “is justified by the exceptional seriousness of the announcements” made by Australia and the United States. He said the cancellation by Australia of a big contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear-powered subs built with US technology is “unacceptable behavior.” Earlier on Friday, a top French diplomat spoke of a “crisis” in relations with the US after Paris learned, just before the public announcement, that Australia was scrapping a big purchase of French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear subs built with U.S. technology. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday evening that France is immediately recalling its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia in a backlash over a submarine deal. Le Drian said in a statement that the decision, on request from President Emmanuel Macron, “is justified by the exceptional seriousness of the announcements” made by Australia and the United States. He said the cancellation by Australia of a big contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear-powered subs built with US technology is “unacceptable behavior.” Earlier on Friday, a top French diplomat spoke of a “crisis” in relations with the US after Paris learned, just before the public announcement, that Australia was scrapping a big purchase of French conventional submarines in favor of nuclear subs built with U.S. technology. [Khaleej Times]

The West often portrays itself as a united entity, but in practice they are deeply divided. Commercial interests driven by Capitalism will always divide the West, and they will routinely abandon their ideals to pursue their own selfish interests.

Pakistan PM says He Has Started Dialogue with Taliban over Inclusivity

Pakistan’s prime minister says he has initiated a dialogue with the Taliban to encourage them to form an inclusive government that would ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region. Imran Khan tweeted on Saturday that he took the initiative after his meetings this week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, with leaders of countries neighbouring Afghanistan. Last week the Taliban announced an all-male interim government that included no women or members of Afghanistan’s minorities, contrary to their earlier pledges on inclusivity. They have also since moved to curb women’s rights, harking back to when they were in power in the 1990s. Khan said he had had detailed discussions with the Tajik president, Emomali Rahmon, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s meeting in Dushanbe. The economic and security group is made up of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. “After meetings in Dushanbe with leaders of Afghanistan’s neighbours and especially a lengthy discussion with Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, I have initiated a dialogue with the Taliban for an inclusive Afghan govt to include Tajiks, Hazaras & Uzbeks,” Khan said in the tweet. “After 40 years of conflict, this inclusivity will ensure peace and a stable Afghanistan, which is in the interest not only of Afghanistan but the region as well.” Khan did not say what form his dialogue would take or elaborate on his plans.

Inclusivity is a ruse the West uses to create constitutional divisions to futile sectarian conflicts. One only has to look at Iraq and Lebanon to the fruits of inclusivity. Meanwhile, the West is closed to inclusivity. Both America and the UK have ostracized blacks to the point they are not properly represented in all walks of like.

China Ought to Reduce US Treasury Holdings to Allay Risks

A week ago, Chinese and US leaders held a phone call that injected some positive sentiment into what have otherwise been rapidly deteriorating China-US relations.  Nevertheless, the US government seems to continue to provoke China on some issues related to China’s national security, including Taiwan Island and the South China Sea. Since Washington is bent on poisoning the important bilateral relationship, Beijing should try to warn the politicians in the US that there will be a price to pay if they gamble to trample on China’s national security. Right before Washington requested the phone call on September 10, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the US government was in danger of running out of cash in October, unless the US Congress raises the country’s federal debt ceiling. The head of the US Treasury Department is talking about a possible default on its debt by the world’s only superpower and the biggest economy. The implications of such a scenario for the global economy can hardly be overstated, as Yellen tried to convey in a reported letter to US lawmakers. “A delay that calls into question the federal government’s ability to meet all its obligations would likely cause irreparable damage to the US economy and global financial markets,” Yellen reportedly wrote. While Yellen’s blunt warning may have been primarily aimed at pressuring US lawmakers into taking action, things are not looking so sanguine. The US Congress, which is possibly among the most dysfunctional government bodies in the world that hasn’t got anything meaningful done in years if not decades, is once again engulfed in partisan fighting, as Democrats and Republicans continue their impasse over America’s long-term debt. This headline from The New York Times should sum up the bizarre and profound ineptness and dereliction of responsibility at the US Congress: “As [GOP] digs in on debt ceiling, Democrats try shaming McConnell.” Let that sink in. The US government is facing default on their financial obligations and the fallback strategy of the US Democratic Party, which is in charge of both the White House and Congress, is to shame Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, into backing down from trying to stop efforts to raise the debt ceiling. McConnel has made it clear that Republicans would not “facilitate another reckless, partisan taxing and spending spree.” In any case, China and other major US Treasury bond holders should seriously consider trimming down their holdings given mounting market risks. China has already been cutting back its holdings in recent months, trimming its holdings for a fourth consecutive month in June to the lowest level since October 2020, according to US official data. In the face of the growing risks, China should stay the course. [Source: Global Times]

China has been reducing US dollars for quite some time now. However, what is required from Beijing is a more daring approach the nuclear option of dumping all of the US dollars onto the international market.