Where to begin?

As I’ve written for some time now- The western allied Kurdish militias, US and Israel mostly, have gotten a free pass and very positive promotion. Often presented as egalitarian and democratic, in both the main stream and alternative media. Quite a successful PR battle has been waged to their benefit– This presentation of them is very different than the reality. They’ve been enlisted as the ground troops in Iran- This news broke yesterday. My readers, if you’ve been paying attention, all knew this was coming.

Iran has been striking northern Iraq (the kurdish region PKK and Barzani) the last few days- Because, frankly, Iran has the intel on what’s going on there in and among the US bases and have been trying to get ahead of it.

Word tonight is that there is movement across the border.

1st- https://archive.ph/H1t0b

Phone calls with Trump and the US/Israel working to weaken Iran.

The plan seems to envision these groups acting as ground forces operating inside Iran’s Kurdish region, known among Kurds as Rojhelat. These reports gained further credibility following a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Mustafa Hijri, the head of a coalition of Iranian Kurdish opposition parties formed in late February. The call elevated the status and visibility of the Kurds in Iran in an unprecedented manner, as Hijri appears to have been the only leader of an Iranian opposition group to have held a direct conversation with Trump during the conflict.

Alongside these developments, the U.S.-Israeli air campaign has intensified strikes against regime targets across Iranian Kurdistan. The scope of these strikes suggests they are strategically devised to dismantle the totality of the regime’s security architecture in the Kurdish region, including installations belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), regular army (Artesh), border guard commands, intelligence centers, and even police stations. The apparent objective is to weaken the regime’s capacity to resist should a popular uprising occur or should Kurdish opposition forces move into Iranian territory from neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan

2nd- https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-888881

Hundreds of Kurdish fighters have begun ground activity inside Iran from areas near the Iraqi border, Israeli and American officials confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, in a development that could open an additional front against Tehran as regional tensions continue to escalate.

The Kurdish forces operating along the Iran-Iraq border are considered one of the most prominent armed opposition groups confronting the regime in Tehran. The organizations involved are Iranian Kurdish groups that maintain thousands of fighters, most of whom operate from territory in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq along the frontier with Iran.

3rd-https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-888811

According to Kurdish sources, these forces have been preparing in recent days to participate in ground operations in western Iran with the aim of pressuring Iranian security forces and dispersing them across multiple arenas.

These fighters will not originate entirely from Iran. Most will come in from Iraq. Some freshly transported from Syria. Rebranded to SDF. I’m referencing PKK and their allied militias such PJAK in Iran. Bottom line is they are all PKK- Same ideology and criminality

4th- Netanyahu addresses nation: Time for Persians, Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Baloch and Ahwazi to create free Iran

The time has come for all segments of the Iranian people — Persians, Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Baloch and Ahwazi — to cast off the yoke of tyranny and create a free and peace-seeking Iran,” the Israeli prime minister said.

There are many Azeris in Iran. They were some of the earliest refugees when Armenia invaded Nagorno Karabakh decades ago. Not sure if they would participate.

5thThe Iranian Intelligence Ministry said on Thursday that it attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq to prevent them from advancing.

As part of its retaliatory operations in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran’s forces have been attacking Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish groups, which have received foreign backing in the past and have participated in deadly violence against security forces, during the 2022 Mahsa Amini riots and the latest Mossad-backed unrest in January.
The ministry added that Tehran was coordinating with “noble Kurds” to thwart US-Israeli plans.

An Iranian military statement said Kurdish groups in Iraqi Kurdistan were targeted with three missiles on Tuesday. At least one was killed and three others were injured.

6th- Sky News- Kurdish fighters desperate to fight battle

False Flags- It seems the attack on Saudi oil fields was not the only false flag attack It’s looking very likely the attack on the British base in Cyprus may have originated with Israel

7th- Cyprus-mail

Asked if he believed the UK had acted with sufficient urgency to protect the people living in and around the British bases, Kouros said that “at this stage the most important thing is to strengthen our capacity to defend ourselves from these new technology threats.”

“We have ourselves technologies capable to stop ballistic missile threats, but on the drones we need more and already we have the presence of Greek forces on the island, four aircraft arrived, all of them with abilities to combat drones. The French are coming, so the least we expect is the British to also be present since we are not only defending Cypriots on the island,” he said.

“It was obvious that the drone attack after midnight on Sunday was a success because it hit a target. So, they need to augment their capabilities and capacities, at least. I am not going to tell them how to do this, it is not my job.”

Kouros said that from the start he made Cyprus’ case clear to his interlocutors in London.

The claim is the drone came from Lebanon– which doesn’t strike me as credible. Why would they? Not launched from Iran– resembled Iranian design– I’m thinking Israel would have the most to gain from launching an attack such as this on Cyprus.

8th-Kyivpost

In a statement released Wednesday, the MoD said the “Shahed-like” drone that targeted the base was not launched from Iranian territory, although it resembled Iranian-designed loitering munitions used widely by Tehran’s allies in the region.

Another likely false flag this time in Azerbaijan- remember Bibi called for Azeris to join the fight- So, which country in the region benefits from all these false flags?

9th- Iran denies its drones hit airport in Azerbaijan’s exclave as war widens

10th– Report: Pentagon told Iran war could last through September

Much longer than initially claimed

11th- Not all attacks coming from Iran- Prominent Saudi Arabian editor

Lots of reading- Take it all in and you’ll be smarter than the average bear!!

A new legislative initiative in the U.S. Congress seeks to institutionalize America’s interest in promoting the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC), with a particular emphasis on the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Titled “Law for the Eastern Mediterranean as a Strategic Gateway,” the bill, introduced by Illinois Congressman Brad Schneider, directs U.S. attention toward critical infrastructures in IMEC member countries, such as Greece, Cyprus, Israel, and Egypt, to strengthen connectivity.

In this context, the legislation:

• Specifically highlights the importance of certain energy projects, including the Great Sea Interconnector, the Greece-Egypt GREGY electricity link, the Greece-Bulgaria pipeline, and new liquefied natural gas terminals, which will facilitate IMEC’s implementation.
• Calls for the U.S. Secretary of State to explore the possibility of expanding bilateral research and development programs, currently applied to Israel, to other regional countries.
• Urges the U.S. Secretary of State to support multilateral regional cooperation frameworks, emphasizing the “3+1” scheme and the CYCLOPS center in Cyprus, presented as an example of regional collaboration.
• Encourages strengthening Israel’s diplomatic and economic ties with neighboring countries to promote regional integration.

Finally, the new legislation mandates annual reports to Congress on progress in multilateral initiatives and the completion of defense and energy projects.

https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2025/05/07/israel-announces-plans-to-seize-gaza-land-resource-grab-ethnic-cleansing/

This resource control/grab has been long in the works- As I’d written about in 2017 at my old site. Moved here in April 2025. The US is formalizing their plans through Congressional mandates


https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2025/04/03/1st-flashback-2017-greece-israel-stars-aligned-italy-cyprus-to-discuss-east-mediterranean-pipeline/

There are massive gas fields in the Mediterranean-

While Presidents and parties may change, long term goals remain

There are massive gas fields in the Mediterranean- A very large one of the coast of Gaza- Of course Israel claims it as their own. There are also gas fields off the coast of Lebanon- Israel also claims that as their own.

We can understand that the Greater Israel expansion is a land and resource grab. Fully backed by the US.

Part of this plan is to cut Turkey out of the picture as well as Russia. Hence the Gene Sharp type protests in Turkey. Calculated in an attempt to delegitimize Turkey leadership. Also to interfere in Black Sea shipping by forcing Turkey’s hand despite the Montreaux Accord. If Israel, Cyprus and Greece can succeed with their planned pipeline- they will be the providers of gas to Europe, thereby rendering Russia unnecessary as a resource provider. It’s a big plan, that’s been in the works for a while now– Birth pangs. We are witnessing this in real time, as the plan, long in the process of being carried out, proceeds or advances.

original url

https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2017/01/greece-israel-stars-aligned-italy.html

 Government representatives from Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Israel plan to meet in February to discuss a natural gas pipeline from the east Mediterranean fields to Greece and Italy, according to a report in Globes, a business daily.

Israel energy minister Yuval Steinitz has already met Enel CEO Francesco Starace (pictured below) to discuss possible gas deals with the Italian power generator as production in northern Europe is declining. Enel also buys gas from Algeria.

An EU-sponsored survey last year found the 2,000-km pipeline would cost $5.7bn. The project will connect the Israeli Leviathan gas field, the offshore Cypriot Aphrodite gas field and possibly other gas fields to buyers in southern Europe.

A map on the European Commision's website shows a line starting east of Cyprus and running to Crete and from there up the west coast of mainland Greece to the Adriatic and then to Italy.

Map accessible via the wayback

https://wayback.archive-it.org/12090/20171219234014/https://ec.europa.eu/inea/en/connecting-europe-facility/cef-energy/projects-by-country/multi-country/7.3.1-0025-elcy-s-m-15

 The pipeline would have a 12bn m³/yr capacity and the idea is for the project to be built by private-sector companies without public funding (lie, the public funds the wars that make the areas usable..), although with the moral support of the European Union.

There is always public funding for big oil. What the heck does everyone think the carbon tax is really about?

Gas experts, however, are not convinced that the project can be achieved. An Israeli expert who was asked about the project's feasibility said the chances were zero as the project cost calculations were far too low and the project is just a PR stunt.

I’ve read this elsewhere also- unsure of the actual reserves- high, high costs. But there is all that public funding (debt enslavement) to help keep costs down- for big oil

Russian oil major Rosneft has also talked about piping gas from Egypt to Europe, an idea unlikely to meet with the same degree of support from the European Commission given the strong position Russia already holds in gas supplies. Egypt's own gas demand is also growing.

EU

 A key part of ensuring secure and affordable (?) supplies of energy to Europeans involves diversifying supply routes. This includes identifying and building new routes that decrease the dependence of EU countries on a single supplier of natural gas and other energy resources.

Israel sees ‘stars aligned’ for new gas pipeline to Europe- The Guardian via The Cypriot Puzzle

From 2014:

Israel and Cyprus have launched a new push for EU funds to build a pipeline that could bring about 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of their natural gas to Europe annually, and ease the continent’s energy security anxieties. 

But Palestinians are warning that without a broader resolution of regional disputes, the pipeline risks becoming a source of conflict.

The Cyprus-centred project could be the world’s longest pipeline if built, stretching up to 1,530km, and passing through depths of up to 3,000m.

The Israeli energy minister, Silvan Shalom, raised the issue at a ministerial conference in Rome last week and held talks on the margins with the EU’s vice president for energy union, Maros Sefkovic, Israeli sources say. 

Israel, Greece and Cyprus expect a formal meeting with Sefkovic to discuss ways of actualising the project, on the fringes of an EU energy ministers’ summit on 9 December.

“The three countries involved intend to raise this issue [on the 9th] as it involves funding from the commission,” an EU diplomat said. Israel, as a non-EU member, will depend on its partner countries’ powers of persuasion. 

With energy diversification and security both rising up Europe’s political agenda, “it looks like the stars have aligned in one position now and that might be good for our timing,” Guy Feldman, an advisor to Shalom told the Guardian. 

But the Palestinian Authority cautioned the EU against signing any contract until territorial gas disputes with neighbouring countries such as Lebanon were resolved.
“The objective of energy security starts with a clear cut boundary of all the gas fields,” said the PA’s energy minister, Omar Kettaneh. “Otherwise instead of being a source of security the pipeline will be a source of conflict.” 

In 2010, the US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that the Levant Basin, could hold more than 3,455bcm of gas, which is comparable to Iraq’s reserves.

But until now, political instability has hindered its exploitation, with Israeli and Cypriot claims to overlapping gas fields contested by Lebanon and Turkey, respectively.
In 2012, Israel, Cyprus and Greece signed a deal to promote exports of their gas to the EU through an eastern Mediterranean corridor. 

The planned offshore pipeline, which diplomats say could transport between 8-15bcm of natural gas annually, has already been selected for “project of common interest” status by the EU. This potentially gives it access to a €5.85bn fund, and preferential treatment from multilateral banks.

Clearly you can see the why of the conflict Israel has opted to engage in with Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

When you read the 2nd repost- You’ll notice that Russia was left out of these talks although Russia has strong connections to Cyprus.

 What has been billed as the last chance for Greek and Turkish Cypriots to reunite the island nation appears to be tantalizingly within reach -- but it might not get there without a nod from Russia. 

  Now, Greece, Turkey and the U.K., which has bases in Cyprus, are the guarantor states of a military status quo. Along with the leaders of the two Cypriot states, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker took part in the talks in Geneva this week. After breaking down on Thursday, the talks are scheduled to pick up next week at a lower level.


 Russia offered to attend but it wasn't invited; there's no formal reason for that. Yet there are plenty of informal ones for Moscow's interest in the Cyprus process. Though Russia has officially voiced support for a settlement, the final deal -- depending on which way it sways -- could hurt its many interests in the region.

About 40,000 Russians live on the island, which has a population of 800,000. They own real estate and businesses in both the Greek-run and Turkish-run areas. Thanks to its history as an offshore haven for post-Soviet money, tiny Cyprus is officially the biggest source of foreign direct investment in Russia. According to the Russian central bank, in the second quarter of 2016 (the latest for which data are available), it accounted for $2.8 billion in investment, more than twice as much as the next country. 

They are also a major source of tourist revenue for Cyprus. According to the Cyprus government, 525,000 Russians visited the island in 2015; only Britain provides more tourists. 

In short, Cyprus is an important place for Russia and Russians. 

But reunification would only benefit Moscow under certain conditions.

Russia seeks to weaken and divide the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but a settlement could strengthen it by resolving a longstanding conflict between Greece and Turkey -- members both . It could also mean an end to Russia's military foothold in the region, gained in 2015 when Cyprus opened its ports to Russian warships taking part in anti-piracy and anti-terrorist operations. The U.K. has criticized the move. Russia hasn't used the official agreement to help its military action in Syria, but it appears to have used Cyprus ports to smuggle jet fuel to Syria despite an EU

 President Vladimir Putin is also seeking to forge an energy partnership with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sell gas to southern Europe, but reunification threatens to clear the way for a competing one. Big natural gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean and a warming of relations between Israel and Turkey made the construction of a pipeline carrying Israeli gas to Turkey a possibility (misleading) -- though the Greek government of Cyprus has linked the pipeline to reunification.

Bear in mind I’ve written numerous reports concerning the remaking of the region- Birth Pangs. This is a part of that process.

BrusselsSignals

The Eastern Mediterranean is at a crossroads, and the EastMed Pipeline – linking Greece, Cyprus, and Israel in a defiant energy pact – stands as a promise and a test. This isn’t just a pipeline. It is a battle cry for sovereignty, a chance to redraw the energy and geopolitical map, and a slap to the face of timidity.

The United States, under a newly emboldened administration, is dangling the prospect of reviving this 1.900-kilometre lifeline, a project that could pump 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually into Europe’s veins. Yet it is courage, not just cash, that will decide if it lives or dies. Greece, Cyprus, and Israel must force it through, and Europe must wake up to why it matters.

The Greece-Cyprus-Israel alliance is forged in adversity. (Wow that’s heroic) Greece offers its strategic spine. Cyprus, unbowed by Turkish threats, brings its gas-rich waters. Israel, a warrior-state, endows it with Leviathan’s bounty. Together, they are a middle finger to Ankara’s neo-Ottoman delusions and Moscow’s energy stranglehold.

The EastMed Pipeline is a means to break Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, side-line Turkey’s tantrums and make Greece the EU’s southern energy hub. This must happen, because the alternative is servitude.

In 2020, Athens, Nicosia, and Jerusalem signed the deal, backed by the EU as a Project of Common Interest.

Worse, Greece’s own government – led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, poster boy of spineless liberalism – abandoned ship. Where was the fight? Where was the roar of a nation that respects its millennia of history? Instead of challenging Erdogan’s gunboats, Mitsotakis mumbled platitudes about green agendas and “dialogue”, letting a €6 billion dream rot. Turkey won and Greece retreated. Shameful.

Now the US offers a second chance and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Europe is shivering through energy crises. Russia and Ukraine alike turn the gas tap into a weapon and LNG tankers from Qatar or America can’t fully plug the gap.

Freedom for who? Control of what country? Denial of access? It’s fuel all absurd rhetoric aside

Yet it must happen, because the cost of failure is existential. Without the EastMed, Europe stays an energy hostage, Turkey’s blackmail intensifies and Greece fades into irrelevance.

This pipeline redraws the map. It bypasses Ankara’s coastline, isolates its aggression, and forges a Greece-Cyprus-Israel axis that could pull Egypt and others into a bloc strong enough to resist Erdogan. Greece becomes a gateway, not a doormat. Cyprus thrives, not just survives. Israel’s gas fuels a continent. This is geopolitical muscle Europe and America cannot afford to pass on.

The clock is ticking. EastMed could be operational by 2030, but only if the will outmuscles the whining. Technical hurdles? Solve them. Costs? Pay them. Turkey? Face it with ships and sanctions, not handshakes.

Europe needs this gas, America needs this win, and Greece needs this historic comeback. The Greece-Cyprus-Israel triad has the vision. Now it demands the guts. Let’s not mince words: if EastMed dies again, it will not be fate, but failure. And history will not forgive the faint-hearted.

It’s like the hero’s journey. It’s mythical. It’s heroic. It’s a quest for greatness. That kind of talk makes me so leery. It’s excessively loaded with emotional appeals.

https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2019/12/pt-1-meddling-outsiders-and.html

As yours truly stated at that time..

Part of the remake the region agenda includes the creation of a Usrael proxy terror  state, Rojova, which necessitates the theft of and further ethnic cleansing of still more Syrian territory in order to connect Rojova to this, vital for it’s survival, waterway.  The sea in the centre of the world. The sea that connects three continents.   
There have been previous reports here discussing massive resources the conflicting neighbours and outsiders are attempting to take control of. The resources in the Mediterranean are a large, no they are a huge factor in the Israeli/Palestine ‘conflict’ We’ll look at that fact , albeit briefly. As we also consider reports in the 5 eyes alt and msm painting Turkey as the ‘bad guy’ or sole problem in the region. Is that realistic? No way in hell.

Turkey has legitimate interests in the Mediterranean, since they border that sea… with an expansive coastline. To say they have no interests only serves the US/Israel and EU/NATO nations that have been and continue to do their most dastardly deeds in order to reshape the region into something more suitable to their interests and their interests alone.This reshape excludes Turkey in it’s present day form, Syria (until they can get Rojova to the Med) Lebanon, Russia which needs the Mediterranean as a warm water port and Iran. Those that are massaging perception in an empire friendly way have to be serving that remake agenda. There is simply no other reason for the nonsense I see being passed off as “analysis” about the happenings around the Mediterranean.

The link below is non viable as it goes back into my censored blog. At some point in time the info will be moved here.

Gas Heats the Eastern Mediterranean

Competition for security and energy is at the center of recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.

 Egypt and Israel, once the standard-bearers of the Israel-Arab conflict, have established a broad and cooperative energy and security relationship centering around the mutually beneficial exploitation and transport of commercially significant quantities of offshore natural gas.

Hmm, did that news get much coverage? Just wondering? At the time that report was published here my observation went like this..

Egypt and Israel’s buddying up explains why dictator el Sisi get’s a free pass in the media. And is promoted (as anti Islamist) by disinfo agents on line

“Turkey and Lebanon are notably absent from this new club. “

 Oh, gee that’s so “odd” Turkey and Lebanon absent from this new club despite having coastline in the Mediterranean.

See map here-

Turkey and Lebanon as well as Syria all have coastlines on the Mediterranean.

 March 2017: Greece/Cyprus Provocation as Pretext to Renounce Turkey ?

Moreover, Italy, Greece, Greek Cypriot and Israel had already agreed on the construction of a gas pipeline from newly discovered fields. The project — dubbed “East-Med” — will cost some $6 billion. An over 2,000-kilometer-long (1,243-mile-long) pipeline will channel offshore reserves in the Levantine basin to Greece and Italy.

The East-Med project could be interpreted as an effort to form a regional alliance between Greek Cypriot and Greece to confront Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.

Confronting Turkey? But Turkey is a NATO ally? Whaaat????

It’s been stated very clearly here and for some time now that NATO no longer sees Turkey as an ally- Since the 5/6 eyes  have other plans.. Remaking the region plans with the intent to weaken Turkey, substantially. Making Turkey an easily controllable piece in the great game. At this time Turkey’s leadership is not going along to get along. Turkey’s leadership has been acting in the interests of Turkey. Not in the interests of the US. Israel. NATO. And the displeasure has long been obvious.

Heralding the Rise of Russia- Arevordi has a great new piece. I’m working on reading it, but, do wish to include a bit of his opening paragraphs here. Arevordi’s piece covers the Armenian genocide issue- but he understands that Usrael has a problem with Turkey at this time. And it’s the leadership.
 And the very obvious Usrael problem with Turkey is why I’m highly suspicious of those writing obfuscating diatribes regarding Turkey and the situation in the Mediterranean sea and region. 

“ I want to again remind the reader that the Anglo-American-Jewish problem is exclusively with Turkey’s belligerent Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NOT with the country of Turkey itself”

 Mediterranean Resources and the Israeli Palestine Conflict

2009 more then 10 years ago: aha ! Palestinian natural gas coveted by Israel  in the Israeli/Gaza conflict (Lebanon covered here as well)

Gaza is a small strip of land on the Mediterranean Sea. Its territorial waters extend to about 35km off the coast. In 1999, the oil firm BG International discovered a huge deposit of natural gas 32km from the Gaza coast. The Gaza Marine gas field contains 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas valued at over $4 billion.   

 Hamas won the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006. This sparked off a bitter power struggle between Hamas and the pro-west Fatah. Ultimately, the Palestinian Authority split in 2007, with Hamas taking control of Gaza and Fatah taking control of West Bank. One of the first things that Hamas did after getting elected was to declare that the natural gas deal would have to be renegotiated.

Then began the Israeli blockade of Gaza……

Pretty sure there are other reports here covering the Israeli Palestine aspect, but, you can easily find more should you be so inclined.

From 2011: An Israeli Natural Gas Pipeline to Greece

“ Israel is considering a plan to build an underwater natural gas pipeline to Europe as a way to transport gas being drilled from offshore wells in the eastern Mediterranean. The plan, as reported August 30 in Globes, involves a pipeline that will run from the Tamar and Dalit gas fields, located off Israel’s northern coastline, and along the seabed to Greece.

    Israel’s northern neighbor, Lebanon, is challenging Israel’s claim of ownership in these gas fields and has brought the issue to the attention of the UN General Assembly.”

2017: Israel Turkey Pipeline Hangs on Cyprus (this agreement failed)

“Although Turkey constitutes Israel’s most commercially viable natural gas market, a failure in Geneva would lead Israel and the Republic of Cyprus government in south Cyprus, which controls the Aphrodite offshore gas field, to look for alternative ways to export natural gas to Europe. Both countries desperately need to secure a stable export market in order to finance the development of their gas industries. In this circumstance, Russia would have a strong strategic interest to incentivize Israel and the government in south Cyprus to export gas via Egypt in order to gain greater influence over non-Russian supply sources and routes to the EU natural gas market”

Again from 2017: censored work

In sum — and in comparison to 2017 — one will witness more eventful scenes in the eastern Mediterranean in 2018. The only actor that could mediate between Ankara and Nicosia is not Washington but Moscow, the new shining star of the Middle East.

As has already been stated this is a complex and competitive situation. And the Mediterranean has certainly become more eventful.  With multiple players on different sides having diverging interests. BUT, the US and Israel are doing their best to unify or rally servile nations and mindless automatons against Turkey, Libya, Iran, Russia, China and Lebanon in order to reshape the region in a manner that suits their interests. 

The US and company did let their vision go forth and haven’t tried to piece together clever diplomacy or any diplomacy for that matter. This is where we are now.

Consider this the back ground related to the attack on North Stream 1 and 2. An attack that points to US involvement. Likely not alone, but, definitely US leadership.

Some of my previous research/work is being moved to this, my new site. This series was published in 2019 at my big tech censored site and was published in 3 parts. There will also be a fourth repost included as well- The information should, hopefully, shed some light on American goals to keep Europe subjugated and dependent on their largesse.

original url

https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-mediterranean-sea-in-middle-of.html

Any links that are still viable will be included. Enjoy the read below:

The piece below gives us some very good background on the importance of and desire to control the Mediterranean. Have to do with the FACT it is bordered by three continents.  
 Yes, three continents converge on the shores of the Sea in the Middle of the Earth. AND it is resource rich- ripe for exploration.
 Making it a strategically important waterway. If you want to have a basic grasp, historically speaking, which sheds light on the present day jockeying for position in and around the Mediterranean- read below:

Hoover Institute

The Mediterranean Sea is today, as it has always been, a crossroads. The name itself testifies to that, as it means “the sea in the middle of the earth,” a Latin term reflecting an earlier Greek belief. We know better, or do we? From Syria to Libya and on the high seas, and with outside players including China, Iran, Russia, and the United States, the Mediterranean has re-emerged of late as a cockpit of conflict.

In an era of renewed Great Power competition, with a contrast between prosperity to the north and instability and poverty to the south and east, with revisionist powers present and with a clash of ideologies (Western secularism versus radical Islam) in the mix, the Mediterranean’s recent prominence is not surprising. The region was rarely completely at peace in the last century. Indeed, the Mediterranean is only returning to a role it has often played before, and for good reason. The Mediterranean is both a fault line of cultures in conflict and a geostrategic chokepoint.

Three continents meet around the Mediterranean: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Nowhere else on earth are three continents in such close proximity. Furthermore, the Mediterranean offers access to the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the Black Sea in the East, each through narrow waterways.

In the West lies the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa, while in the East the Hellespont, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus separate Europe and Asia by the thinnest of margins. Ever since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Mediterranean has also been connected to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea. Even in ancient times, a series of small canals connected the Nile River—and, thereby, the Mediterranean—to the Red Sea, but they were in no way as efficient or as navigable as the Suez Canal.

In historical terms, the Mediterranean has often been the crucible of conflict between East and West. Think, for example, of the battles of Salamis between Greeks and Persians in 480 BC or Cannae between Rome and Carthage in 216 BC or Lepanto between the Ottoman Turks and a Christian alliance in 1571. Since the Middle Ages the Mediterranean has represented an often-shifting border between two great conquering religions, each with a claim to universality, Christianity and Islam.
The Mediterranean is an enclosed sea, about 2.5 million square kilometers in area. Warm and relatively tideless, it is generally navigable, although not without some challenging winds and currents. The ancients avoided sailing the Mediterranean in the winter. Yet they knew that it served as a highway, as a medium of exchange and a path of invasion. Plato’s Socrates put the Mediterranean’s centrality succinctly when he said: “We live around the sea like frogs around a pond” (Plato, Phaedo 109B).

The Romans called the Mediterranean mare nostrum, “our sea,” and with good reason. They were the first people in recorded history to unify the Mediterranean and to govern all the lands surrounding it. The Romans all but wiped out piracy. Under their rule, there was no major naval battle on the Mediterranean between the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the Battle of Cape Bon in 468, with the exception of the Battle of the Hellespont in 324, for 350 to 500 years of peace.

Not only were the Romans the first people to unify the Mediterranean, they were the last. No other empire or hegemon has done the same since, although various powers, from the Arabs to NATO, have predominated in one period or another. That is surely a sign both of the competitors in the Mediterranean and of the challenge facing any one state to defeat all others in the region.

Historically, the Mediterranean has been a crossroads, and it remains so today. Currently the Mediterranean is bordered by 19 separate countries, including two sovereign islands (Cyprus and Malta) as well as Gaza and British territories (in Cyprus and Gibraltar). In another sign of a crossroads: although the Mediterranean comes under the U.S. European Command, it is bordered by countries in CENTCOM (U.S. Central Command) and U.S. Africa Command.

Trade has always been a part of Mediterranean life, from the so-called thalassocracy or “sea domination” of Bronze-Age Minoan Crete, to the reflections of ancient trading patterns in Homer’s Odyssey (the Mycenaean Greeks traded in Sicily and Southern Italy), to the grain fleet that sailed from Egypt to feed imperial Rome, to the Arab, Italian, and Jewish merchants of the Middle Ages, to today’s European Union, in which the states of the southern rim live in very uneasy economic coexistence with the rich northern states like France (itself partly Mediterranean) and Germany. The flip side of trading is piracy and raiding, a recurring phenomenon in the region from the Sea Peoples who threatened empires at the end of the Bronze Age, to the Barbary Pirates of the nineteenth century. For a time in the early twenty-first century, piracy was a problem off the Horn of Africa, threatening shipping that had come through the Suez Canal. An international task force has, in recent years, successfully suppressed the threat.
But there are other, less violent challenges to the economy. The economic success and political stability of the European Union, particularly in northern Europe, make it a migrant magnet. In 2015, a very busy year for migration, over one million arrived in Europe by sea. Others came via the land route. That year Germany alone accepted nearly a million migrants, mostly from Syria. The ensuing political controversy continues to shape German (and European) politics. But migration is nothing new in the Mediterranean. The Late Antique and medieval periods, for example, saw various Germanic, Slavic, and Turkic peoples—some refugees, some conquerors—move into Mediterranean realms.

Since 1945, decolonization—the retreat of empire—has been a major theme of Mediterranean history. Colonization and conquest, however, have been more common motifs in the region over the millennia, beginning with Iron-Age Greek and Phoenician colonies from the Black Sea to Spain’s Atlantic Coast. Then there were the great, conquering empires. Macedon (and its successor states), Carthage, and Rome all carved out territorial empires within the Mediterranean and, in the case of Macedon and Rome, for example, beyond it.

Some of the most impressive Mediterranean conquests, however, were made by outside invaders. In ancient times Assyria and Persia (both in the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods) expanded from southwestern Asia into the Levant and Egypt. In Late Antiquity Germanic peoples, most notably Goths and Vandals, crossed the Rhine and Danube, invaded the Roman Empire, and conquered such Mediterranean lands as Spain, Italy, and North Africa. In the Middle Ages the Arabs advanced from Arabia to conquer the Levant, North Africa, Spain, and Sicily, long governed parts of southern Italy and France, continually attacked Corsica and Sardinia, and even raided the Vatican. In modern times, Italy and France each acquired imperial positions in North Africa and in the Aegean and the Levant.

Hegemonic rather than territorial empires also have played a key role in Mediterranean history, as is only appropriate for a sea. Various states have sought bases to promote maritime trade and project naval power rather than lands to settle. In antiquity there was Athens; in the Middle Ages, Genoa and Venice; in more recent times, Britain’s Royal Navy and the United States and its NATO allies have each dominated the Mediterranean Sea, but not without challenges. In the World Wars, Germany and Italy competed with the Allies for control of the sea. Russia, which has long had Mediterranean ambitions, continues today to project power in the region, most notably in Syria, where it has both an air base and a naval facility. China has recently become a major investor in such places as Greece, Israel, Italy, and Turkey.

Iran represents a different kind of hegemonic power in today’s Mediterranean, working primarily through land forces and aviation rather than by sea. Iran has a strong presence in Syria and Lebanon, over a land bridge through Iraq. Its arc of influence extends eastward to Yemen, and further east into Central Asia. This marks the greatest extent of Iranian power since the Early Byzantine era.

And then there is Turkey. The Mediterranean is NATO’s southern flank and, in Turkey, it also includes NATO’s largest Old-World army. And Turkey is a restless ally under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, full of neo-Ottoman ambitions and eager to expand its influence. Turkey has proven a ripe target for the equally revisionist and immensely shrewd Vladimir Putin, who has successfully revived Russian power. Russia’s sale of its S-400 air defense missile system has put a dent in NATO’s armor, adding to U.S.-Turkish tensions involving the Kurds and Syria. The upshot advances Putin’s ambitions.

While northern and western Europe have been largely spared war since 1945 (with Ukraine a recent exception), the Mediterranean has suffered. Traveling around the basin clockwise, and staying relatively close to the sea, we have: the Yugoslav Wars, the Greek Civil War, the invasion of Cyprus, the Syrian Civil War, the Lebanese Civil War, the various Arab-Israeli wars, the Libyan Civil Wars, the Algerian War of Independence, and the Algerian Civil War.

In ancient times underground resources sometimes proved to be of strategic significance. Athens, for instance, financed the fleet that defeated the Persian Invasion of 480-479 B.C. with silver discovered in the mines south of the city. Carthage paid for Hannibal’s mercenaries with silver from the mines that it had conquered in Iberia.

More recently, large amounts of oil and gas have been discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean. Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, and Israel have established cooperation agreements, but other countries are trying to gain influence over these resources. China, Iran, Russia, and Turkey all want a share, and at least some have launched challenges for control.

The author appears unaware or is most probably being misleading by lumping in Turkey, Russia, China and Iran together presenting as “outsiders” who want a share of resources. Turkey is on the Mediterranean. (It’s like reading MoA- misleading)

In one regard, the Mediterranean might become less important, and that has to do with its role as a transportation hub. Today the key to shipping between Europe and East Asia, the Suez Canal in the future might be overshadowed by alternatives. One possibility is a sea-land transport route linking western Europe and South Asia and involving India, Iran, and Russia. Another is an Arctic Ocean shipping route, which may become commercially feasible because of global warming and ice melt. That route is two weeks faster than the current itinerary between East Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. So, if continued warning makes it feasible, it would mark a genuine change.

Yet that remains to be seen. For the foreseeable future, the Mediterranean will continue to be a restless route of commerce and conflict. Neither Athens nor Rome, Istanbul nor Jerusalem, Cairo nor Madrid might have the power they once did in ages past, but their destiny is not something that London or Berlin can safely ignore, not with Moscow, Teheran, Beijing, and Washington all taking part. The Mediterranean continues to be a central sea.

Barry Strauss teaches history and Classics at Cornell.

Greece is acting very, very confident and assured. One could characterize it as bravado. Their leadership believe the US is firmly behind it’s recent activities-

*An interesting podcast about 25 minutes in length- What’s triggered the latest tension between Greece and Turkey?

*Prime Minister of Greece Confident of US/EU Support Against Ankara

The US decision to fortify its military presence in Greece’s northern port city of Alexandroupolis and choosing Greece as its strategic partner and energy hub resulted in “provocative and hostile” remarks from Ankara.

Clearly Greece has been acting in a manner that would unavoidably result in some undoubtedly concerned remarks – I’m unsure that they were hostile..

In a similar vein, public broadcaster ERT quoted Deputy Education Minister Angelos Syrigos as saying that the US abandoned its decades-long neutrality between Athens and Ankara and explicitly supports the former.

Turkish military drones recorded the deployment of Greek armored vehicles on the islands of Midilli (Lesvos) and Sisam (Samos), which Ankara maintains is in violation of international law. The footage was released on Sunday.

Türkiye on Monday summoned the Greek ambassador and called for an end to violations on Aegean islands and restoring their non-military status.

In the note, the ministry stated that the deployment was another violation of Greece’s obligations under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris. These islands were required to be demilitarized under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and the 1947 Treaty of Paris, so any troops or weapons on the islands are strictly forbidden.

Including locking on to Turkish F-16’s on NATO duty

In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Milliyet, the retired lieutenant general of the Turkish Air Force, Erdoğan Karakuş, complained that the Greek pilots are now quite “provocative”.

As he said in an interview he gave to the newspaper, when the Greek aircraft lock the target, they send a message that says: “You are locked, you are on my target, I can fire my missile if I want…”.

According to Karakuş, the phenomenon has been more intense lately, which he attributes to the fact that Greek pilots train together with Israelis in Kalamata.

The latter seems to trouble the Turks for another reason. As Karakuş said, it is possible that the Greeks are being trained by the Israelis on the facts of the Six Day War, when the Israelis had destroyed the Egyptian planes on the ground within half an hour.

This possibility seems to be of great concern to the Turks, especially after the new data created over the Aegean by the presence of the Rafale and their ability to hit targets at long distances.

The Turks fear that the Israelis are training the Greeks to make an immediate first strike and destroy their planes while they are on the ground and at their bases.

The source of the latest tension is Greece militarizing Aegean Islands with US made military equipment and the blessing of the US.

Greece is deploying US-made military vehicles on two Aegean Islands, which Turkiye says breaches an agreement

*Kremlin says Turkish banks under ‘unprecedented’ U.S. pressure over Mir cards

*The last three Turkish banks decided to refuse to accept Mir cards, fearing sanctions

*Is the US besieging Russia or Türkiye?

*Finally…U.S. needs strategic off-ramp to end Russian war in Ukraine

How does this war end if Putin is determined to win? Should we not be at least considering acceptable terms for all parties to end the war? Understanding Putin’s thinking is vital. But, as the United States failed in the past to understand the adversary, is this recurring?

Clemenceau observed that “war is too important to be left to the generals.” In this case, is Ukraine too important to be left to Zelensky? The United States needs a strategy with an off-ramp to seek an end to the violence and the war. Until then, the United States does not have a strategy.

Or the US does have a strategy? And that is to allow/encourage this war not only to drag on, but to expand. That looks to me to be THE STRATEGY.

Sept 28/22-themanews.com

Earlier this month, the Biden administration lifted the three-and-a-half-decade-old ban on the sale of U.S. arms to the Republic of Cyprus. With the ban in place, America had tied one arm behind its back in the Eastern Mediterranean. The United States already arms Israel and Greece but, until now, had not extended a similar hand to Cyprus, a critical partner in deterring Russian and Turkish aggression.

The increasingly contested region hosts massive offshore energy discoveries and sits at the intersection of the chaotic European, Middle Eastern and African theaters. With the Biden administration making the important decision to remove the arms ban for one year, Washington can bolster this vital region’s stability by providing the Republic of Cyprus with much-needed American-made arms.

Congress restricted the sale of U.S. arms to Cyprus in 1987, hoping it would incentivize a diplomatic settlement to the island’s frozen conflict. Yet, Cyprus remains divided still. All that the arms ban accomplished was to push the Republic of Cyprus toward Russia while undermining its ability to promote stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. Last year, President Biden renewed a one-year limited waiver that President Trump first issued to allow the sale of non-lethal defense articles to Cyprus, a recognition both of Cyprus’s importance and the arms ban’s deleteriousness to U.S. interests.

The image included with this article is below. I’m hoping my readers recognize the woman? If you don’t this is “F*** the EU” Victoria Nuland and the Cypriot Foreign Minister

As the region becomes increasingly contested because of offshore natural gas discoveries and as an epicenter of global strategic competition, Cyprus is an important U.S. partner against Russia’s growing aggression and Turkey’s unreliable foreign policy. With America’s European partners looking to decrease their reliance on Russian energy, the development of natural gas routes through the Mediterranean is increasingly important.

The image of Victoria Nuland was included in this previous report: