Trump's so-called 'Board of Peace'

“Will you walk into my parlour?” said a spider to a fly;
“‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to shew when you are there.”
“Oh no, no!” said the little fly, “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”

— Mary Howitt (1828)

Sovereignista

Watching the new circus around the Trump Board of Peace with its price tag of a cool one Billion Bucks for permanent membership, let’s figure it out.  First from Dmitry Peskov a day or two ago:  He said that Putin received his invitation, but Russia will ask for clarification.  Around 60 countries received invitations.

So, Mr Lavrov played the fly, in this old children’s rhyme and noted in his recent news conference:  Russia received Trump’s ‘Charter of the Board of Peace’ — Russian FM Lavrov

It states that the Board will not only deal with Gaza, but with tasks AROUND THE WORLD.  From other countries and press,  Gaza was hardly mentioned in the Charter.  One of our commentators said that the Board of Peace is in reality the Board of Fleece and this Board of Peace is beginning to be known as The Board of Scam.

So what is the objective of this Board of Peace?  There may be more than one, and it certainly is not a simple binary calculus.  Ask yourself what Trump and his administration want to accomplish.

The Great Political Capture

1. They want to grow the empire with the US firmly seated on the Global Kingly Chair.

2. They want their concept, their idea of peace, i.e., peace through strength, to prevail.  We lost peace and democracy and inherited peace through strength.  It is the same, only rebranded in the form of a Department of War, to amplify the fear factor. 

3. They want to kill, break and take, to their own heart’s content and the rest of the world must pay for it.  (But of course, the Pax Judaica must be alive and well in this scheme). 

4. They want their dollar back as reserve currency, which is their only power. 

The Board of Peace is designed to meet US objectives just as they stand.

The structure of empirical vassalage has changed.  This phenomenon is the central axis of American colonialism: to maintain control without the need for formal colonies, except when they do perceive a need.  The United States does not seek to govern directly but to ensure  near-total economic subordination under the facade of political independence. The result is a modern vassalage system, in which the allies are but interchangeable pieces on an imperial chessboard.  Those who trust and expect a certain loyalty from their ‘Daddy’, the US, invariably end up dead or regime changed.   A long list can be made right through Africa and Latin America of these dead loyalists.  The maxim 'Being an enemy of America is dangerous, but being a friend is fatal' should be listed as an essential guideline for any nation that aspires to maintain its sovereignty. Because behind the alliance’s rhetoric, cooperation, and collective security hides a repetitive pattern: America uses its allies as geopolitical instruments, strengthens them while they are useful, and abandons them — or even destroys them — when they no longer serve or become a hindrance.

• So, the Board of Peace wants to override the UN.
• It wants to override the UNSC, even more than its ability to veto.
• It wants to deal with the G20 as it wishes,
• It wants to lose the G7 as it is worthless.
• And then, referring to those sixty-six UN initiatives that it is walking out of, it wants to be released of its obligations with a smile.  Bear in mind that this is somewhat of a repudiation of debt, as the US owes dues on all of these.  The countries where the US decided that visas will not be given, those will be the ones that will then be plundered first.  The ones that do not sign, and there will be many of them, become the new self-defined enemy.  It is always the other guy’s fault and that other guy chose to be the enemy, will be the story that is spun.
• Most of what it wishes to do is to kill BRICS, but more than that, kill multi-polarity and multilateralism.
• It wants to break this world into three areas of power, itself, Russia and China.  This will be for temporary show only as it wants its dollar back.  It wants to use Russia and China and after a period of romance, treat these two civilizations exactly the same as European vassals.

The ‘Our Hemisphere’ references are temporary.  It is only a starting point.  Europe remains in vassalage and their current resistance is that of a 2-year old in the throes of the terrible twos.   It is only a threat and as Mr. Putin said, they will wiggle like puppies and then gather around their master.  I wonder what China actually thinks if one after the other European country that pretends to threaten the empire with a pivot to China?.  We may have more information today, but two days ago, it was cold:

RIA Novosti: U.S. President Donald Trump announced the establishment of the Gaza Board of Peace and invited world leaders to join the body. What’s China’s stance on the initiative? Has China been invited to join the Board of Peace? (Similar questions from Bloomberg, AFP, and PTI)

Guo Jiakun: China has received the United States’ invitation.  (Icecold silence in the room).

The Power Vacuum

The post World War system is collapsing driven by the west as well as the process of multi-polarity.  It is a debate on where the greatest influence appears, but this is not the focus of this short writing.  The UN has shown itself to be completely ineffective and as usual, this in-effectivity is their fault, not the fault of the US and Europe who made it ineffective by design.  Israel operates with impunity, revealing deep flaws in the post-1940s system.

What does a raider of others do when there is a power vacuum?  It goes out raiding.  And this is what we see with Iran, with Venezuela, with Greenland, with all the other areas slated to be raided.

There is one solution and that is to stop the raids by instituting a law-based order with teeth.

The raiders do not want that.

The civilizational countries do want that.

Mr Lavrov in his recent speech uses the Peace Board as an example, when he says that even the raiders (the US) understand that they need a group of countries to work together.  This is a clear example that a multi-polar world is needed, whether the Peace Board is legitimate or not and whether the US wants to make the new rules or not.

Europe and the vassalage disguised as an alliance

We can work to resist the raiders, or we can go to war.

It is clear that Russia and China do not prefer a war.  Recently a speech by Nikolai Patrushev, Russian head of security said that we have about 10 years to change the risk of war.

The Board of Peace is a mechanism to enhance the political control of the US over the rest of the world.  It is old recolonization sour wine marketed in new bottles.  Nothing has changed and it is a new cloak only.  It is a further destruction of any Palestinian identity in our world, a new identity genocide.  It is an attempt to take over all legal norms.  It is an attempt at naked control.  It will be the last one.  If you take a look at who signed, there are few surprises:

▪️ 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
▪️ 🇶🇦 Qatar
▪️ 🇦🇪 UAE
▪️ 🇦🇷 Argentina
▪️ 🇵🇾 Paraguay
▪️ 🇦🇲 Armenia
▪️ 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
▪️ 🇧🇭 Bahrain
▪️ 🇧🇬 Bulgaria
▪️ 🇭🇺 Hungary
▪️ 🇮🇩 Indonesia
▪️ 🇯🇴 Jordan
▪️ 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
▪️ 🇽🇰 Kosovo
▪️ 🇲🇦 Morocco
▪️ 🇲🇳 Mongolia
▪️ 🇵🇰 Pakistan
▪️ 🇵🇾 Paraguay
▪️ 🇹🇷 Turkey
▪️ 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan

What is supposed to be a Gaza peace plan is in deed a raid. 

‘The war in Gaza is REALLY coming to an END. We have 59 countries that are involved’, says Trump. (**Bear in mind he overstates routinely. There is no war in Gaza and if it takes 59 countries to stop a genocide I don’t believe that the purpose here is anything else but a further raid on Palestine and a free pass for Netanyahu and a real estate development project for Kushner). Jared Kushner urges people not to 'escalate' on Gaza and stop criticizing 'Israel or Israelis', as well as Turkey and Qatar. But he does not urge that food and medical necessities enter the strip.

Jared Kushner just pitched his shiny ‘New Gaza’ vision at the Board of Peace meeting in Davos — futuristic skyscrapers and all. So that’s why they let tens of thousands get slaughtered? For prime real estate redevelopment? 'Look at this beautiful piece of property — what it could become for so many people', Trump said following the signing of the ‘Board of Peace’ charter at Davos.

We wait for the dust to settle to further analyze this Rules-Based-International-Order in its new Kingly Cloak made up of pixie dust, false representation copious lies, enrichment raids, banditry, piratical killings and unbridled greed.  We’ve seen this story before.  Do not be romanced by a new cloak.  Nothing has changed.  The world-system conceived by American elites does not forgive autonomy, but does not reward submission either because their real goal is not to have friends, but vassals. These vassals have no rights but have obligations and, when they fail, they are dismissed. 

Iran attack watch: Protest at RAF/US air base Fairford in the UK

People traveled from far and wide to join this protest at RAF Fairford, home of the 501st Combat Support Wing of the US Air Force. We came together to oppose recent actions in Venezuela, Iran and Greenland. 

RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. 

While being an RAF station, Fairford hosts US Air Force personnel.

Since 2019, the base has played host to a Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady detachment from the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. It is the USAF's only European airfield for heavy bombers and routinely supports Bomber Task Force operations.

Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for US Air Force B-52s during the 2003 Iraq War, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the first Gulf War in 1991. 

Recent open-source intelligence highlights increased activity involving 29 C-17 military transport aircraft and 12 refueling tankers of various types had flown into the Middle East region in recent days.

In a show of force, US B-52 bombers have conducted flyovers across the Middle East, signaling 'deterrence' to Iran amid rising nuclear tensions. Departing from Fairford, the bombers executed patrols over allied nations, showcasing interoperability with regional partners.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued the most direct threat yet against the US, warning the Islamic Republic would be “firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack.”  

My film about Jeju Island

In 2012 Mayor Kang from Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea invited the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space to hold our annual meeting there.

We eagerly agreed and many of our members from around the world attended. Several of us got arrested for crawling under the razor wire to get on the rocky coastline that was being dynamited and prepared to be covered in cement for Navy base docks.

Before I left to go to Jeju my friend Vietnam vet Eric Herter handed me his camera, gave me a quick tutorial on it, and suggested I get as much film as possible. Once I got back I went thru all the film and picked the bits to put into the documentary.

Eric filmed me telling the Jeju story and then plugged the film bits in where they fit. He worked hard to make it all flow.

The whole film has been sitting in some obscure place on the Internet since then which was not very accessible, but our friend Will Griffin recently loaded it onto YouTube so we could more easily share it.

I think it came out good and its a very moving story for sure. I am proud of the Global Network's participation in this most heart rendering fight that continues every day. 

People should know more about the determined resistance to the naval base on Jeju Island and throughout South Korea. The people there are on the front lines of any U.S. war aimed at China, North Korea and Russia. 

Bruce

What South Korean leader's China visit signals for Asia's future

CGTN

President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Jae Myung has made a high-profile visit to China, the first by a ROK leader since 2017. Beijing says the trip advances the China–ROK strategic cooperative partnership, while Lee has called the restoration of ties his government's "greatest accomplishment" so far. 

For decades, Seoul has balanced U.S. security alignment with deep economic ties to China. Since taking office last June, Lee has begun questioning that long-standing formula, and this China visit suggests the rethink has gone further. 

What does this signal for the future of China–ROK relations, and what lessons does it hold for countries navigating intensifying great-power competition? Watch for an in-depth breakdown.

Guests of this edition are Robert Kelly, professor of Political Science with Pusan National University; K.J. Noh, journalist, geopolitical analyst and author, laureate of Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism; and Rong Ying, senior research fellow at China Institute of International Studies.

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K. J. Noh writes:

The fact is, South Koreans have no inherent animosity towards the Chinese.  

There are 3 key issues of [supposed] contention: 

1. Covid--China released Covid on Korea 2. 

2. Elections--China interfered in Korean elections 

3. The Chinese are threatening Korea (and enabling North Korea).

All three are absolute nonsense.  

This is US propaganda that is mindlessly intoned by the US-quisling Korean far right (CPAC Korea), which is then multiplied by select Korean influencers, who are being algorithmically boosted by US social media companies (esp. Youtube).  

It's a top down information/influence campaign. Of course, it also draws on knee-jerk racist sentiments about foreigners damaging the country and economy, the go-to fascistic cope trope as conditions worsen economically under capitalist contradictions. 

Lastly, I alluded to President Lee's visit to Shanghai (but was not able to discuss it for lack of time).  What I wanted to say is that visiting Shanghai for many Koreans is like visiting Yanan (the birthplace of the CPC).  This is where the flame of Korean sovereignty and freedom was kept alive. 

President Lee's visit to Shanghai was a very deliberate move to remind Koreans of China's historic support of Korea at its darkest hour--the moment when a 4,000 year old civilization was in danger of being snuffed out. This is an important message especially for young people.

The #1 terrorist state

The “war on terror” began over a century ago in colonial India and Ireland, where resistance was criminalised and entire populations were surveilled, detained, and brutalised.

Those same tactics were later imported to the UK, rebranded, and used against Black and Muslim communities. 

Rivkah Brown explains how counter-terrorism has always been a colonial project, and still is.

US Ambassador to the UN justifies seizure of Greenland.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz justifies seizure of Greenland.

‘We have to secure the US’.

Claims China and Russia ‘threaten’ the Arctic.

Denmark has ‘zero heavy ice breakers, no navy’ and are ‘not contributing to the Golden Dome, space or other types of missile defense we have to have’.

Washington lies about everything..... 

Of course Russia is the largest nation on the planet with the biggest border with the Arctic. Why does Trump think the Moscow wants to take Greenland as well?

M.L.K. 1967 speech opposing the U.S. war on Vietnam

Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. against the "triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism" in 1967.

Audio.

This speech was released by Black Forum records, a subsidiary of Motown, and went on to win a Grammy for the Best Spoken Word Recording.

This sermon one of the key reasons MLK was killed by the FBI and CIA.

Preparing South Korea as a “Launching Pad” for a U.S.-Led War in East Asia.

 South Korea is being more deeply integrated into U.S.-led regional war planning that extends beyond peninsula defense.

Korea Update

Is South Korea Being Prepared as a “Launching Pad” for a U.S.-Led War in East Asia?
My answer is: Yes.
Here are the reasons why.

Last week, during a closed-door discussion themed “Korea as Strategic Key Terrain During Competition, Crisis, and Conflict,” held as part of the Honolulu Defense Forum, General Xavier Brunson, Commander of U.S. Forces Korea and the ROK–U.S. Combined Forces Command, highlighted the “centrality” of South Korea in U.S. security strategy in the Indo-Pacific.

Korea, according to Brunson, is “the only United States force assigned to the Asian continent inside the First Island Chain.”

He reportedly added that if all U.S. and ROK forces and planning remain tied only to the Korean Peninsula, enemies will see Korea as predictable and limited. The ROK–U.S. alliance then loses strategic flexibility and the ability to influence events in Northeast Asia beyond Korea.

“When we moor ourselves to the peninsula, when that mythology is allowed to continue to exist, what we do is present fewer dilemmas to the adversaries of the region… We show ourselves to be less able and less capable of projecting power from the peninsula.”

The problem is that the current Korean government under President Lee Jae Myung, who prefers a balancing act” (China–Korea–Japan cooperation), is not enthusiastic about Korea being involved in a U.S.-led war.

Brunson is working around the clock on propaganda, as a geopolitical analytical points out:

“He [Brunson,] has to pressure, bully, and persuade Koreans to sacrifice themselves in support of U.S. attempts to destroy China. If Ukrainians can die for America, why not Koreans?”

Case in point: on January 12, on the sidelines of the forum, the USFK commander held bilateral talks with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Gen. Romeo Brawner, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to discuss regional security issues.

The two sides reportedly reaffirmed the importance of strengthening Japan–U.S.–ROK defense cooperation for “peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” language commonly used to justify U.S. and Japanese regional aggression focused on China.

Why did the commander of the ROK–U.S. Combined Forces—who bears primary responsibility for the defense of the Korean Peninsula—meet Japan’s defense minister at all without ROK?

Japan, as part of the U.S.–Japan alliance, has no formal connection to the operational control structure of the ROK–U.S. Combined Forces Command. In this context, Brunson’s actions can reasonably be seen as distorting the chain of command.

Answer?: Indeed, the two are—behind South Korea’s back—synchronizing their militarism.

General Brunson has previously described South Korea as “a fixed aircraft carrier between China and Japan” and has openly called for the ROK military to play a larger role beyond the Korean Peninsula, advocating expanded “strategic flexibility” for U.S. Forces Korea. Meanwhile, Japan has intensified military activity near Taiwan and has even committed to possible intervention in a Taiwan contingency.

What progressive experts say about Brunson:

As far as Brunson, the U.S. commander of occupation forces in South Korea, is concerned, South Korea is viewed through the “tactical concept of the ROK as a ‘launching pad’ for U.S. forces attacking other nations.”

“[South Korea] ‘ought’ to be a launching pad for the U.S. military to attack any nation (specifically now, China) in the Asia-Pacific, thereby embroiling South Korea in its war of aggression. South Koreans should have no say in the matter. Indeed, they should be supporting any U.S. acts of violence in Asia.”

Of course, the idea of using Korea as a “launching pad” is not new—Japan did it first:

“Seized as a ‘launching pad’ for Japan’s invasion of the Chinese mainland, Jeju [in South Korea] was a stopover in the Imperial Army’s infamous march to Nanjing in 1937. In the 1930s, Jeju people were conscripted to build Altteureu Airfield, a key refueling site for Japanese forces. Some died in the process. Yet even as they too were victims, Jeju islanders have repeatedly apologized to the people of Nanjing for their role in facilitating Imperial Japan’s atrocities.” — Christine Hong

And there is the Vietnam War. During the U.S. war in Vietnam, South Korea served as a launching pad–providing troops and official US military logistics system and facilities.

My second question: “Will the government in Seoul be strong enough to resist the U.S., reclaim sovereignty, and avoid this fate?”

My answer is: No.

Take, for instance, the latest development that provides further evidence: permanent combined commands and growing pressure. Recently, the Combined Ground Component Command (CGCC), which integrates the command and control of South Korean and U.S. ground forces, has been permanently institutionalized and began full-scale operations last month.

Previously activated only during wartime, the CGCC now operates in peacetime as well—a development seen as bringing the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) one step closer.

Permanent component commands are now in place for the ground forces, navy, air force, and Marine Corps, with two additional permanent commands—Special Operations and Military Intelligence Support—also being pursued. The Ministry of National Defense describes these steps as progress toward a “conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON).”

However, embedding combined command structures into the peacetime force posture further entrenches alliance-dependent command practices and reduces space for independent ROK military decision-making, raising concerns that OPCON transfer may become largely symbolic—in other words, more U.S. forces embedded in the Korean military.

With permanent institutionalization, some U.S. personnel are now assigned to the Combined Battle Staff even in peacetime, working alongside their ROK counterparts. Both sides now operate from the same offices during peacetime. Starting with the upcoming Freedom Shield (FS) ROK–U.S. combined exercise in March, the CGCC will jointly plan operations and conduct training together.

To sum up: What does that mean?

• Embedding joint planning at the component command level may de facto align ROK forces more closely with U.S. regional strategies, even if OPCON is officially “transferred”—a point implicit in both official reporting and external expert warnings.

• Together, these developments indicate that South Korea is being more deeply integrated into U.S.-led regional war planning that extends beyond peninsula defense. This trend raises serious concerns about growing pressure on South Korea to participate in potential Taiwan-related conflicts and about the erosion of autonomous defense decision-making under the expanding trilateral military framework. 

• Under the pretext of “modernizing the ROK–U.S. alliance,” defense spending is rising steeply, the decision has been made to introduce nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and South Korea has agreed to expand the scope of joint ROK–U.S. military operations beyond the peninsula. 

• South Korea’s core assets—key manufacturing industries and hundreds of billions of dollars in capital—are being siphoned off to the United States. 

• The country’s fate is reduced to that of a pawn on a battlefield chessboard, decided unilaterally by Washington.

South Korea is being prepared as a “launching pad” for a U.S.-led war in East Asia, and the government in Seoul is not strong enough to resist the U.S., reclaim sovereignty, and avoid this fate.

~ Simone Chun is a researcher and activist focusing on inter-Korean relations and U.S. foreign policy in the Korean Peninsula. She has served as an assistant professor at Suffolk University, a lecturer at Northeast University and an associate in research at Harvard University’s Korea Institute.