Biden warns Russia of a "disaster" if it invades Ukraine

Washington: US President Joe Biden warned, on Wednesday, that Russia will pay a heavy price if it invades Ukraine , including the human losses it will incur in addition to the damage to its economy.

"If they actually do what they can do with this military force that they have amassed at the border, it will be disastrous for Russia," Biden said during a press conference marking the one-year anniversary of his presidency.

"Our allies and partners are ready to incur high costs and inflict significant damage on Russia and its economy," he added.

The US president pointed out that it is likely that the Russians will be able to achieve victory in the end against the weak Ukrainian military forces, but the cost in terms of human losses for the Russians (…) will be high.”

However, Biden expressed his belief that the Russian president "remains unwilling to all-out war".

He considered that Russia's options are not good, as launching a war will lead to "serious economic consequences", from a loss of revenues from energy resources to facing severe sanctions.

Biden indicated that the sanctions will make it impossible for Russian banks to deal in the US dollar, the main commercial currency in the world, warning, "So the whole thing is not just an easy matter for Russia."

But he saw that Putin wanted to test the determination of the United States and NATO countries .

The US president said he is spending a lot of time trying to keep the alliance "on the same page" vis-à-vis Russia.

He added that Putin had to choose between "escalation or diplomacy," warning, "I think he will pay a heavy and heavy price if he does not think carefully now."

In addition, Biden declared that "the time has not yet come to abandon" negotiations with Iran aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

Biden said that "it is not yet time to abandon" negotiations with Iran, noting that "some progress is being made."

He added that the United States was "reading on the same page" with other countries regarding the Vienna negotiations.

The Washington Post: Zemmour's Islamophobicity should not blind us to Macron's problematic policies on Muslims

Journalist Rokaya Diallo said in an article for the "Washington Post" that the extreme right in France is a threat, but we should not ignore Emmanuel Macron's problematic policies. She said the far right has never been as strong in presidential campaigns as it is today. It is something that should frighten all who care about the future of rights and equality in France.

This should not depend on the ways in which the policies of the intrusive government have targeted Islam.

According to the latest poll, far-right candidates are expected to receive 30% of the vote in the first round of the elections. For the first time, candidates from the right will have the opportunity to participate in a second round in the April elections. One of them got wider attention. And former media commentator Eric Zemmour , who announced his participation in the elections at the end of November, was able to reserve a seat among the leaders of the candidates. And his speech wasThe anti-Muslim is attractive to a number of French voters, especially with his announcement of his party, which bears the military name "Restoration". Zemmour, who was convicted several times for inciting hate speech, expanded the space for hate during his campaign as he falsified history and provided a distorted account of France's role during the Holocaust.

Even other far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, distanced herself from Zemmour, saying she was concerned about her campaign being ridiculed due to his "very radical comments". She is fighting Islamic militancy, which is an ideology. It is an accommodation in seemingly rational rhetoric that the core of her party remains deeply white supremacist and anti-immigrant. Hence, Zemmour remains the most hideous candidate and makes any other candidate appear better than him.

Diallo sees the rhetoric from all of the candidates as cause for concern, but in the process no one seems interested in her approach.government on Islam. In past times, France has suffered from several horrific terrorist attacks committed by people in the name of Islam, and therefore the need to protect citizens has become dire. That is why the law that Macron’s government pushed against “separatism” was renamed “Reinforcement of the Principles of the Republic” as part of the problematic government laws. The law seemed timely and necessary to many. With the disclosure of its contents, which were adopted last year, human rights organizations expressed their protest. 

The law includes a new legal framework to monitor home education, and creates a “commitment to the republic” to which organizations seeking funding are bound. It also calls for monitoring of religious associations and allows for the dissolution of religious organizations and the closure of places of worship. Organizations including the Human Rights Council have criticized the disproportionate features and risks posed by the measures in the “partition text and security escalation” that will divide French society.and "casting a shadow of doubt on the Muslim people." 

The European Council described the law as “problematic in a number of features,” “targeting” and “stigmatizing” Muslims and “indirectly suggesting the link between the group and foreign terrorist threats.” The National Consultative Commission for Human Rights expressed its anger at the rush to write the text and determine “restrictions and penalties” against religious organizations and the infringement of fundamental freedoms by spreading “distrust.” Meanwhile, away from the principle of “laïcité” in 1905 that differentiated between religion and the state, the government became more and more intrusive in Islamic practices. A number of Islamic organizations have been dissolved or dismantled, one of them because it combats anti-Islamism and because it “sows Islamophobia in French society.” 

Another accused that she did not manage the comments section on social media well, and it was also resolved. Macron forced the French Council of the Muslim Faith to write a charter that would oversee the activities of imams. The document was published last year and represents an incredible infringement on freedom of expression and assembly. One of its articles states that “denunciation of so-called state-backed racism is defamation,” which prevents imams from criticizing institutionalized racism. With these policies, the French Republic abandons its alleged cosmopolitanism and treats Muslims as an immature group, or like children. Despite all this, Macron's government is being praised around the world. In December, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was a guest on Noah Trevor's "Daily Show". 

He was presented as a representative of the extreme right and held the fate and unity of France in his hands. It seemed as if his government did not support problematic policies. In the end, Zemmour's policies represent a real threat to France's democracy and fuel the most extreme forms of racism, and it is easy to take a stand against any of the candidates' policies without addressing the current reality in France.

The militarization of space, A frenetic global arms race outside the globe and the formation of a cosmic force

NATO has decided to extend its defense principles to the cosmic space, including the collective military response to a supposed attack from space on one of the Alliance countries. Which brings back to the surface the issue of the international race on the militarization of space.

On Monday, NATO published a document for "NATO's Comprehensive Space Policy", in which it acknowledges the extension of its defense principles to the cosmic space, and under which it becomes binding on a collective military response to any supposed attack targeting member states from outer space.

According to the agreement of the Allies at the Brussels Summit 2021 such attacks (from outer space) could lead to the application of Article V of the NATO Charter, and the decision in this regard will be taken by the North Atlantic Council on a case-by-case basis. Its consequences threaten prosperity, security, and stability at the national and Euro-Atlantic levels, and can be just as harmful to modern societies as traditional attacks.”

Article 5 of the Alliance Charter stipulates that an attack on one of its countries is considered an attack on all other members, and that the Allies are obliged to respond to it, including the use of military force. The latest document confirms that the Alliance intends to integrate the cosmic space, along with the cyber sphere, into the Alliance's collective security and defense system.

While the latest move brings to the surface the issue of the international race for the militarization of space, as world powers are rushing to develop their space defense arsenal, as well as creating special forces for this purpose.

The only space force

Among the most prominent developments in the armament of space in recent years, the United States established its space forces in 2019, to become the first country to establish a branch of its army specific to outer space.

According to the text of its founding law, the tasks entrusted to these forces are to freely carry out US military operations in, to and from outer space, as well as to carry out rapid and sustainable space military operations.

While the United States is not the only one that has units for these missions, and China, Russia, France, India, Canada and others have similar units, the difference lies in the fact that the Pentagon established a division that is independent from the other integrated with the Air Force.

Missiles to destroy satellites

Last November, Russia announced that it had successfully tested a surface-to-air missile system designed to destroy satellites. It said it "succeeded in destroying" Tselina-D "and denied that the scattering of its debris would cause any damage to other satellites or the International Space Station."

This experiment was criticized by Washington, considering it a threat to the safety of astronauts at the International Station. Washington also possesses weapons of this type, as it carried out its first successful experiments to destroy satellites in 2008, using the "RIM-161" missile.

While only two countries, in addition to Russia and America, possess this weapon, namely India and China. China tested its first satellite destruction operation in 2007 with a "FY-1C" missile, and in 2018, it carried out the process of destroying a satellite with an air-to-air missile launched from outside the atmosphere.

In March 2019, India successfully tested its first satellite-destroying missile, destroying a satellite at a low altitude with a surface-to-air missile. According to what the Indian government said at the time, the experiment targeted a satellite at a low altitude that did not exceed 300 km, to ensure that the resulting debris decomposed and returned to Earth within weeks, to ward off any risks it might cause to other equipment.