Larry C. Johnson
Sonar 21

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation closed its 26th heads-of-state summit in Bishkek on September 1 with a joint statement — the Bishkek Declaration — timed to the bloc’s 25th anniversary and signed by the leaders of all ten member states: Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and the host, Kyrgyzstan. It is a long anniversary text, adopted alongside some 28 other outcome documents and amendments to the SCO Charter, and its language on the war in Iran is unambiguous. But the single most consequential fact about the declaration is not what it says. It is whose signature sits on it. Narendra Modi’s India — a Quad member, a US strategic partner, and a country the same declaration implicitly defends against Washington’s tariffs — put its name to a text condemning American and Israeli military action, mourning a dead Iranian supreme leader, and rejecting the sanctions architecture the United States has built. That signature is the story.

What the declaration says

On the war, the SCO condemned the military strikes on Iranian territory that it said caused numerous civilian casualties and significant damage to Iran’s economy, characterizing those strikes as violations of international law and the UN Charter that created serious risks to international peace and security. It expressed condolences on the death of Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei — killed earlier in the war — reaffirmed support for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and called for the conflict to be resolved solely through political and diplomatic means. It extended the point to Gaza, calling a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian question the only path to stability in the region.

Larry C. Johnson
Sonar 21

Let me explain why Russia’s blockade is a lethal blow to Ukraine. Ukraine is, in economic terms, a country that lives or dies by roughly two hundred nautical miles of contested water off its southern coast. Strip away the front-line maps and the aid debates, and the hard truth of Ukraine’s war economy is this: its ability to earn foreign currency, feed its budget, and keep its farms and steel mills solvent runs almost entirely through a short string of Black Sea ports around Odesa. Russia understands this better than most of Ukraine’s Western backers, which is why the summer of 2026 has seen Moscow attempt to do by fire what it declined to do by fleet in 2022 — close the ports, and choke the economy behind them.

Why the ports matter | Ukraine’s Black Sea maritime corridors carry approximately 90 percent of the country’s agricultural exports and the lion’s share of its mining and metallurgical output — iron ore, steel, and the rest of the heavy, low-margin bulk commodities that a landlocked rail network cannot move at competitive cost. More than 60 percent of Ukraine’s total exports, by value, and a large share of its critical import chains pass through the cluster of deep-water ports known collectively as “Greater Odesa”: Odesa itself, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi (formerly Yuzhny). Agriculture alone accounts for around 60 percent of the country’s export revenue, and the overwhelming majority of that grain and oilseed tonnage goes out by sea. Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter and a leading supplier of sunflower oil; those titles are functions of these berths.

Larry C. Johnson
Sonar21

According to an article [archive.today] published in the British newspaper, The Guardian, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a $1 million dollars the year he left office from a man who had a strong financial incentive to keep the war going in Ukraine. According to The Guardian:

The documents proving Johnson’s shady connections to Harborne were hacked (aka purloined) by Distributed Denial of Secrets and can be found here. According to the documents, the relationship between Johnson and Harborne has quite a history.

Christopher Harborne (also known as Chakrit Sakunkrit in Thailand) is a Thai-based British businessman, technology investor, and major political donor. He is the largest single shareholder in QinetiQ, a UK defense firm supplying drones and robotics to Ukraine, and holds stakes in cryptocurrency ventures like Digifinex (parent of Bitfinex and Tether).

His relationship with Boris Johnson, former UK Prime Minister (2019–2022), is primarily that of a financial backer and personal associate, marked by a record £1 million donation and close collaboration post-Johnson’s resignation. This has fueled speculation about influence-peddling, especially regarding Ukraine policy, amid leaked Boris Files documents.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Israel launched unprecedented strikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets early Friday morning. The situation is fluid: The answers will determine the course of this crisis.

This followed the latest US-Iranian nuclear talks stalling, continued speculation that Iran is secretly building nukes, and growing Israeli anxiety with the situation. From the looks of it, Israel decapitated the Iranian Armed Forces and the IRGC, yet Iran still vowed to retaliate. The situation is fluid, but as of Friday morning Moscow time, there are five questions whose answers will determine the course of this crisis:

1. To What Extent Did The US Assist Israel?

Trump publicly distanced himself from Israel’s rapid lead-up to these unprecedented strikes, which followed his reported rift with Bibi, but Iranian policymakers have long believed that the US and Israel are iron-clad allies that always work together. Their assessment of the extent to which the US assisted Israel in these strikes will therefore determine the scope and scale of their retaliation. If they conclude that the US played a role, then American military assets in the region and elsewhere might be targeted.

Ray McGovern
Antiwar

Is the U.S. Army stooping to Mafia-style tactics in seeking to imprison 23-year-old Private Bradley Manning for the rest of his life, essentially making him an example for other U.S. soldiers who might be tempted to put conscience and commitment to truth ahead of military discipline and going by the book?

If the Mafia comparison strikes you as a tad over the top, perhaps a seven-year trip down memory lane may prove instructive. Remember what happened after the U.S. Army learned of the obscene and brutal treatment of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in early 2004?

Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba led the first (and only honest) investigation of the scandal. In May 2004, he completed a report that sharply criticized the Army and the higher-ups in the Bush administration for creating the conditions that permitted the mistreatment to occur.

When the report leaked to the press, Taguba found himself treated like a disloyal capo who had talked out of school about the Family business.

Rather than thank Taguba for upholding the honor of the U.S. Army, the Bush administration singled out this hard-working, low-key general for retribution and forced retirement.