says Julius Malema, the leader of the far left “Economic Freedom Fighters”.
The South African extremist also claimed 'violence' will be needed to topple 'white supremacy' in South Africa and calls for land expropriation. pic.twitter.com/RkQ4xmOxf9
#2
Now, priority political refugee status for White South African farmers would seem to be great idea for the new Rubio State Department. Brave people who are facing racism and actual ethnic cleansing threats. And amazingly, they bring English, knowledge, skills and abilities, and are culturally compatible with Western Culture.
[IsraelTimes] Erin Molan does not share reasons for her dismissal or plans for the future but says she won’t stop defending Israel in its war against Hamas.
[IsraelTimes] Sweden’s government says it is launching a project to chart the different types of racism in society and assess the level of Swedes’ intolerance towards minorities.
Presenting the government’s plan, Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg says she wants to focus in particular on the scope of the phenomenon in schools.
“Racism and discrimination affect Afro-Swedish students at school… young Roma don’t dare speak out about their identity, and the (indigenous minority) Sami are victims of hate crimes,” the minister tells a press conference.
“Teachers say they hear students uttering verbal insults against people because of their skin color, their religion or their ethnic origin,” Health and Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed says at the same press conference. “It’s deeply worrying.”
The government therefore plans to map the scope of racism in Sweden, focusing primarily on racism against Muslims, Jews, black people, Roma and Sami.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7, 2023, attack, has also led to increased racism in Sweden, the ministers say.
“We see Jewish students whose lockers in school are marked with swastikas, we see young Muslims facing hatred and threats on social media,” Brandberg says.
According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (BRA), 2,695 hate crimes were reported to police in 2022, of which 53 percent were of a racist or xenophobic nature.
[FreeBeacon] Biden administration officials have claimed credit this week for the ongoing collapse of the Iranian axis, seeking to recast their role in a series of Israeli victories that they worked to thwart.
Hours after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria on Sunday, President Joe Biden touted "the unflagging support of the United States" for Israel’s war against "Iran and its proxies," Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Biden noted that Israel had weakened the coalition of tyrants and terrorists in the region to a point where it became "impossible ... for them to prop up the Assad regime."
"Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East," the president boasted in remarks at the White House. "Through this combination of support for our partners, sanctions [on the Assad regime], and diplomacy and targeted military force when necessary, we now see new opportunities opening up for the people of Syria and for the entire region."
The Biden administration has overseen crucial U.S. military and diplomatic support for Israel during the past 14 months of the war. But from the outset, Biden and his aides have also pressed Israel to reach accommodation with its enemies—criticizing, threatening, and punishing the U.S. ally in the name of regional deescalation. By early this year, before Israel had militarily defeated Hamas or seriously retaliated against Hezbollah or Iran, Biden was already publicly calling for an end to the fighting.
"Biden tried to prevent us from winning this war in every way he could," Gadi Taub, a historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a cohost of the Israel Update podcast told the Washington Free Beacon. "Now that we’re winning in defiance of him, he’s pretending that he was with us all along."
On Oct. 9, 2023, two days after Hamas started the war with a surprise invasion of southern Israel, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged leaders of the devastated region to "stand firm because we are going to change the Middle East." The following week, Biden flew to Tel Aviv and—even as he embraced Netanyahu and affirmed U.S. support for Israel—sought to contain Israel’s military response.
"President Biden and his top aides have been urging Israeli leaders against carrying out any major strike against Hezbollah, the powerful militia in Lebanon, that could draw it into the Israel-Hamas war, American and Israeli officials say," the New York Times reported at the time. "U.S. officials believe Israel would struggle in a two-front war and that such a conflict could draw in both the United States and Iran, the militia’s main supporter."
According to the Times, the Biden administration aimed to preempt "an Israeli overreaction to Hezbollah rocket attacks," which forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents from the north of the country, and "harsh Israeli tactics in an expected ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza that would compel Hezbollah to enter the war" in solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group.
"The response in the Gaza Strip has been over the top"
Netanyahu recalled in an address to the Knesset last month that the Biden administration had been against every major Israeli military advance in Gaza, starting with troops going into the strip at the end of last October.
"The United States had reservations, and proposed that we not enter with ground forces. It took issue with the entry into Gaza City and into Khan Younis, and first and foremost it was strongly opposed to the entry into Rafah," Netanyahu said, naming Gazan cities that saw decisive Israeli battles with Hamas.
In December 2023, less than seven weeks into the war, the Biden administration demanded that Israel wind down major military operations in Gaza. Speaking at the White House in February, Biden called for a permanent "pause" in the war, saying "the conduct of the response ... in the Gaza Strip has been over the top."
In May, as Israeli troops carried out initial raids in Rafah, Hamas’s main hub for smuggling weapons and other supplies into Gaza, Biden declared a partial weapons embargo on Israel meant to halt the operation. "There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, and it's gotta stop," he said in an interview with CNN.
Later that month, Biden presented a proposal for a "permanent end to hostilities "and regional peace deal. He said his administration had for "the past several months" been "relentlessly focused" on bringing a "durable end to the war."
In September, shortly after the conclusion of the Rafah campaign, the Israeli military assessed that Hamas had been militarily defeated in Gaza.
"I am comfortable with them stopping"
Meanwhile, the Biden administration stepped up efforts to head off Israel’s counteroffensive against Hezbollah.
Asked by a reporter in late September if he was aware of and comfortable with Israel’s plans for a ground incursion into Lebanon, Biden replied, "I am more aware than you might know, and I am comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now."
In October, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the Biden administration opposed Israel’s intensified airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, which had recently killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
"There are specific strikes that it would be appropriate for Israel to carry out," Miller told reporters, "But when it comes to the scope and nature of the bombing campaign that we saw in Beirut for the past few weeks, it's something that we made clear to the government of Israel we had concerns with and we were opposed to."
Last month, according to Hebrew media reports, slowdowns in U.S. weapons deliveries hampered Israel’s war effort in Lebanon and Gaza. Current and former Israeli officials confirmed the reports to the Free Beacon.
Israel nonetheless wiped out most of Hezbollah’s formidable weapons arsenal, terrorist infrastructure, and leadership before agreeing to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon late last month.
"Take the win"
Iran directly entered the war for the first time in April, launching more than 300 missiles and drones at the Israel. Biden emphasized that Israel had intercepted nearly all the incoming projectiles with the help of a U.S.-led regional coalition, and urged Netanyahu not to respond.
"Take the win," Biden reportedly advised.
Iran attacked again in October, firing more than 180 missiles at the Jewish state. Biden this time acknowledged Israel’s "right to respond." But he said "they should respond proportionally" and avoid hitting Iranian nuclear facilities. A week later, a U.S. intelligence leak exposed potential Israeli plans for retaliation.
After a mostly symbolic response to the first Iranian attack, Israel hit back in October with a wave of airstrikes that crippled Iran’s missile production and air defenses, as well as a secret nuclear weapons research facility.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/15/2024 08:50 ||
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[11132 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
[NYPOST] President-elect Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... promised to expel migrants colonists to their country of origin by military force — and refused to ''do business'' with those countries if they refuse to take them in.
''I'll get them into every country, or we won't do business with those countries,'' Trump, 78, said in a lengthy interview with Time magazine published Thursday after being honored as the outlet's 2024 ''Person of the Year.''
''I want them out, and the countries have got to take them back, and if they don't take them back, we won't do business with those countries, and we will tariff those countries very substantially,'' he added.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a Time magazine Person of the
''When they send products in, they will have substantial tariffs, and it's going to make it very hard for them to do business with us.''
Border security and illegal immigration will be a top priority for the incoming president, as Trump has already promised with the help of his ''border czar'' Tom Homan to undertake the largest deportation operation in US history.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2024 00:55 ||
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[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
#1
With the fact I support Trump a vast majority of the time aside.
But we also need to remember, Trump is business savvy, and usually tosses out the demands which far exceed his real goals, thus allowing negotiation to what he actually wants.
But I am sure many can also understand why many countries do not want their Criminal Gangs, Perverts and etc back, that came here for easier targets, returned.
There is also a bigger picture to think about.
The USA can't grow enough to feed itself and some of the business conducted with these South Of The Border nations is critical (Food, OIL, NAFTA stuff) to the USA economy. Want to give up that cup of coffee or chocolate?
PLUS!
Given the Smartphone Generation's lack of and no desire to engage in Manual Labor skills.
Why not, let those NON-Citizens doing the jobs no US Citizens wants to do, stay on a 1-year Worker Visa. Renewable as long they have a clean record and support themselves.
Like it was before.
I am all for jailing, then returning those caught committing crimes to their country.
But not before they serve their mandatory time in a US Prison. Note: They'd make good Roadside Cleanup chain-gangs.
ALSO, WE NEED TO:
* Eliminate the Instant Birthright of citizenship to those here ILLEGALLY.
* Cut off of Federal $$$$$$ to any state refusing to assist in identifying or harboring Illegals.
* Require a mandatory 5-year sentence if & when caught re-entering the USA again, after deportation.
* Address charging offending nations, the costs involved of dealing with their massive dump of criminals and mouths to feed, on the US Taxpayers.
[IsraelTimes] The Hamas-run health ministry’s death toll for the Gaza war appears to include some 5,000 Palestinians who in fact died of natural causes, including cancer patients who later appeared on a list of those receiving continued medical care, according to a new report by a British think tank.
The Henry Jackson Society also found that most of the reported fatalities were men between the ages of 15-45, with many of their ages’ lowered by a year in an apparent effort to make it seem that more minors are being killed, the Telegraph said in a report on the research.
The think tank says the toll also includes Gazans killed by terrorists’ errant rocket or while food aid is being distributed, including in the latter case of a 17-year-old who was reportedly shot dead by Hamas last December while waiting to get food for his family.
[NBCNEWS] Pressure from President-elect Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... was a major factor in Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... relenting on two key issues during cease-fire and hostage-release talks with Israel, a senior administration official told NBC News on Friday.
New hope for an agreement had senior Biden administration officials fanning out across the Middle East this week with the goal of closing on a critical pact by the end of 2024.
According to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, Hamas has now agreed to Israeli forces staying in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip temporarily after fighting ends and to provide a complete list of hostages, including Americans, who will be released. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the concessions Hamas was prepared to make.
''There is a confidence we have not seen since May when the president [Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Old, boring, a plagiarist, fond of hair sniffing and grabbing the protruding parts of women, and not whatcha call brilliant.... ] presented his proposal,'' the Biden administration official told NBC News, acknowledging that Trump's warning that he wants to see a deal before he takes office was ''a big factor'' in recent concessions.
Not everybody shared this optimism.
''We are not there yet,'' another U.S. official warned.
Negotiators were ''closer'' but ''we've been close before so I'm very cautious.''
The Oval Office has only one occupant at a time and Trump won't take over until Jan. 20, but Biden has appeared deferential to letting his successor get involved in negotiations and has not pushed back on his efforts to be engaged in talks.
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas' political wing, told NBC News that he was not aware that the group had recently made concessions during negotiations.
This month, Trump wrote on Truth Social: ''Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violent mostly peacefully, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire world, in the Middle East — but it's all talk, and no action!''
''If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity,'' he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2024 01:02 ||
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[11129 views]
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On the other side in the middle of a war. They’ve been protesting one thing or another, paid and trained by Progressive billionaires — and the US State Department, when a Democrat is in the White House — since the turn of the millennium. Thank goodness the opposition is finally repudiating this selfish temper tantrum.
[IsraelTimes] Lador argues refusal is ‘legitimate tool’ against attempts to turn Israel into a ‘dictatorship’; president, PM, lawmakers decry rhetoric
Dictatorship. If it were one, Mr. Lador would be cowering quietly in a corner of a prison like Syria’s Sedaynah, losing his ability to speak and think, instead of freely pontificating in a public conference full of noisily small-minded idiots.
Former state attorney Moshe Lador encouraged Israeli Air Force pilots on Saturday to stop volunteering for reserve duty if the government revives its highly contentious judicial overhaul, as Justice Minister Yariv Levin has declared he wishes to do.
Speaking at a current affairs event in Beersheba on Saturday, Lador said that refusing to volunteer for service was a "legitimate tool" to stop the government from turning Israel "from a democracy into a dictatorship."
"Pilots who have completed their compulsory service and now serve on a voluntary basis are not only allowed, but in my opinion, are obligated to say, ’If that’s the country you’re striving for, and are going to create through force and bullying, and are going to be the dictators of, I won’t enter the cockpit and fly this plane because I don’t have to,'" he said.
He added that he didn’t see such a refusal to serve "as political interference at all," but as a legitimate method of stalling an "entirely wrong" process.
Lador was a vocal opponent of the radical reform agenda that sought to shift power away from the courts and attorney general and dilute the judiciary’s role as a check on government power. Levin’s planned overhaul led to massive social and political turmoil, with mass protests held across the country for much of 2023, until war erupted in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... with the October 7 massacre.
At the height of the 2023 protests, hundreds of reservists signed declarations that they would no longer show up for volunteer reserve duty in protest of the government advancing its plans to curtail the judiciary.
Most of them caved following the 10/7 Hamas massacre, realizing there’s no time for Labour Socialist temper tantrums when the country’s existence is at stake. Four of the rest are now up on charges for peeling off from an anti-Netanyahu protest to apply their military skills shooting rockets at Bibi’s private home in the middle of the night. They could have done much worse than just put out an eye with those things, and they had the skills to know it. Condemnations from across the political spectrum follow:
Lador’s comments sparked angry condemnations from both the coalition and the opposition, as well as from IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, who said that the IDF "must remain outside any political controversy," especially during the current fraught period for Israeli national security.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Lador’s words deserved condemnation "from all ends of the political spectrum." Advocating for refusal during wartime "crosses a red line that endangers democracy and undermines our future," Netanyahu asserted. He called on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to "take immediate action against this dangerous phenomenon," indicating he sought legal action against Lador.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel also called to probe Lador. Communications Minister Shlomo Khari, for his part, asserted that Lador "wants to bring another October 7 upon us" and suggested he should be arrested and questioned to set an example.
Defense Minister Israel Katz argued that Lador’s rhetoric "harms the security of the state" and that refusal to serve "cannot be accepted under any circumstances."
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, formerly a harsh critic of the government’s handling of the war and of the judicial overhaul agenda, decried Lador’s comments, calling them "irresponsible" and deserving of "unequivocal condemnation."
"Saying such things would have been reckless even before October 7," he wrote on X, panning Lador for being "willing to gamble on the very existence of the state."
Across the aisle, former IDF chief of staff and ex-defense minister Benny Gantz, who now heads the opposition’s National Unity party, argued that threatening refusal "takes us back to October 6" and that such behavior ought to remain "out of bounds."
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also weighed in, saying that "refusal in IDF service is never legitimate."
President Isaac Herzog also issued a sharp rebuke, and warned that while democracy protects the right to protest and free speech, calling for refusal to serve "is out of bounds."
"Anyone who says otherwise harms the security of the State of Israel," he said, appealing to stay away from "the divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... and dangerous discourse that preceded October 7."
In recent weeks, as Levin has called for a revival of the contentious legislation frozen by the protests and the war against Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... , Herzog has expressed deep concern over a number of bills that he said would "touch [Israel’s] democratic foundations."
He had previously described Levin’s plans as a danger to Israeli democracy.
The issue of the planned reforms flared up again on Thursday when the High Court of Justice ordered Levin to hold a vote in the Judicial Selection Committee to appoint a new president of the Supreme Court, which he has been refusing to do for over a year due to his desire to appoint a conservative to the position — a move for which he lacks the votes.
Legislation involving changes to the makeup of the committee, which would have given the government deciding power on the panel, was perhaps the most radical and controversial part of Levin’s overhaul agenda, which even he later conceded would have undermined the separation of powers.
Levin reacted furiously to the court’s order on Thursday, accusing the justices of Israel’s top court of turning themselves into "dictatorial rulers" who "trample on the choice of the people." He said it was now critical to decide "once and for all" whether or not to restrain the judiciary.
[PJMedia] Diversity is our strength and all that, but what the multicultural ethos has really done to the United States and the countries of Western Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... is fill them with large numbers of people who hold radically different values from those that the native population generally holds. If this isn’t a recipe for conflict, what is? A Moslemholy man in Kansas City recently illustrated one potential source of that conflict, unintentionally supplying a warning about the dangers of mass migration without assimilation.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported that in a recent Friday sermon he preached at the Kansas City Islamic Center, the imam Muhammad Tarife told the congregants: "My dear respected brothers, know that you were created in this world in a nation that should be a leading nation. Allah says in the Qur’an: ’You are a nation that was brought to people. You are the best nation. Why? Because you call for that which is good. You encourage others to do good.’"
Tarife was referring to this Qur’an passage: "You are the best of people that has been raised up for mankind. You command what is right and forbid what is wrong, and you believe in Allah." (Qur’an 3:110) While the Qur’an calls Moslems "the best of people," it calls non-Moslems "the most vile of created beings" (98:6). Also, Moslems are "the best of people" because they "command what is right and forbid what is wrong." This is the basis for the widespread assumption among many Moslemmigrants colonists in the West that they need have no respect for the laws of the vile unbelievers, and need adhere only to the law of Allah. This does not exactly make for mutual respect and peaceful coexistence, as the skyrocketing crime rates in Europe attest.
After this succinct statement of non-assimilation, Tarife continued: "Oh, Allah, annihilate the criminal Zionists — those of whom are Zionists and those who are not. Oh, Allah, count them, kill them one by one, and do not spare a single one of them, for they are no match for You. Oh, Allah, allow us torment them with our own hands, humiliate them, grant us victory over them, and heal the hearts of the believers."
As if that weren’t bad enough in itself, Tarife also prays: "Oh, Allah, annihilate the criminal Zionists — those of whom are Zionists and those who are not." This apparently means that he wants Allah to annihilate the leftist Jews who are not Zionists along with the Zionists.
Tarife’s prayer that Allah would kill the Zionists one by one is all too common. In late November, a Moslem entered a Montreal Jewish business and screamed "We’re gonna kill you one by one." Just weeks ago, the Paleostinian Authority Supreme Shari’ah Court Director Alaa Dweikat prayed: "Strike the aggressive Zionists. O Allah, kill them one by one and count them one by one, and do not leave [even] one."
In August 2024 came this report: ’Paleostinian’ jihadis heed Sharia judge’s call regarding the Jews, to ’kill them one by one.’ In Louisiana in June 2024, a holy man prayed: "Oh Allah, annihilate the Jews and the Chris...Oh Allah, count them, kill them one by one." In Vienna in February 2024, a Moslemholy man prayed for the Jews, "O Allah, kill them all and leave none of them alive." In Montreal in late October 2023, a Moslemholy man called on Allah to "kill the enemies of the people of Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... and to spare none of them."
This is not a newly minted prayer fad. In Berlin in July 2014, a holy man prayed: "Oh Allah, destroy the Zionist Jews...Count them and kill them to the very last one...Make them suffer terribly." A Quebec imam prayed in 2014: "O Allah, destroy the accursed Jews...O Allah, kill them one by one." And in Australia in July 2013: "Oh Allah, count the Buddhists and the Hindus one by one. Oh Allah, count them and kill them to the very last one."
Examples of this kind could be multiplied endlessly. What other religion has common and frequently repeated prayers calling upon the deity to kill the perceived enemies of the faithful, one by one?
Even worse, the Qur’an tells Moslems: "Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, and he will lay them low and give you victory over them, and he will heal the hearts of people who are believers. And he will remove the anger of their hearts." (9:14-15). If Allah punishes the unbelievers by the hands of the believers, Tarife’s prayer that Allah would kill the Zionists could conceivably be understood as a direct call to violence.
Will authorities in Kansas City treat it as such? Of course not. That would be "Islamophobic." We can only hope that no one in Tarife’s congregation will decide to "remove the anger" from his heart by allowing Allah to use him to punish his enemies.
[NAHARNET] A severely hobbled Hezbollah was in no position to help defend former Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, a longtime ally, from the lightning-fast insurgency that toppled him. With Assad gone, the Death Eater group based in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... is even weaker.
Hezbollah was dealt a major blow during 14 months of war with Israel. The toppling of Assad, who had strong ties to Iran, has now crippled its ability to bounce back by cutting off a vital weapons-smuggling route through Syria.
Hezbollah officials are deeply concerned but defiant.
"What is happening in Syria is a major, dangerous and new change, and to know why this happened needs evaluation," Hassan Fadlallah, a Lebanese politician who represents Hezbollah's political wing, said during a speech at a funeral for bully boyz killed by Israel. "Whatever is happening in Syria, despite its dangers, will not weaken us."
Analysts say the diminishment of Hezbollah will have big consequences for Lebanon, where for decades it has been a major political player — and for Iran, which has relied on the group as one of several proxy forces projecting power across the Middle East. It is also a game-changer for Israel, whose nemesis on its northern border is now at its most vulnerable point in decades.
TIES TO SYRIA INFLUENCED THE RISE AND FALL OF HEZBOLLAH'S POWER
The Assad dynasty, which ruled Syria for half a century with an iron fist, played a crucial role in empowering Hezbollah, which was founded in the early 1980s by Iranian advisers who came through Syria. In addition to being a conduit for Iranian weapons, Syria also was a place where Hezbollah trained fighters and manufactured its own weapons.
As Hezbollah grew more powerful, it became a force Assad could rely on for protection in times of crisis. Hezbollah sent thousands of fighters to bolster Assad's forces when a civil war broke out in 2011.
As bandidos krazed killers swept across Syria in early December and took the city of Homs — a stone's throw from a Syrian border town where Hezbollah had a presence — many expected the bully boyz to put up a fierce fight. After all, they did just that in 2013, preventing Assad's opponents from advancing into Damascus.
This time, Hezbollah was in disarray. Many of its brass hats, including longtime leader Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , were killed in Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s. And months of Israeli bombardment destroyed much of its military infrastructure. With Syria's key international allies, Russia and Iran, on the sidelines, Hezbollah withdrew, and Assad was ousted quickly.
"The fall of the regime marks the end of Iran's arms in Syria and Lebanon," said Lt. Col. Fares al-Bayoush, a Syrian army defector who fought in the civil war against Assad's forces and Hezbollah until 2017, when he moved to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... .
LEBANON BEGINS TO GRAPPLE WITH HEZBOLLAH'S 'NEW REALITY'
In Lebanon, the sapping of Hezbollah's strength has given the army the opportunity to reassert control it had ceded, especially along its southern border. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the Death Eater group and Israel states that Hezbollah should have no armed presence along that border and it has led to growing calls within Lebanon for the group's disarmament.
"To Hezbollah, it's game over," Samir Geagea ....Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005.... , who leads the Christian Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... Party, said in a statement on Sunday, hours after bandidos krazed killers took Damascus. "Sit with the Lebanese military to end your status as an gang, and transform yourselves into a political party."
But Hezbollah's longtime sway in the political arena in Lebanon also faces a major challenge.
Many in Lebanon are angry with the group. Critics say Hezbollah violated its promise to use its weapons only to defend Lebanon when it began firing rockets into Israel last year, the day after Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... attacked Israel.
Nearly than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon during the war with Israel, according to the country's health ministry. Entire towns and villages where Hezbollah members and supporters lived have been flattened. More than 1 million people have been displaced, and the country's economy — which was in bad shape before the war — is in a deep hole.
"With the (Syrian) regime gone, Hezbollah in Lebanon faces an entirely new reality," said Firas Maksad, of the Middle East Institute.
Maksad said many Lebanese leaders have yet to grasp the magnitude of the change that has taken place. Even some onetime allies of Hezbollah in parliament have begun distancing themselves from the group.
Jebran Bassil, a politician who represents the Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... , Lebanon's other major Christian party, said Hezbollah's loss of a weapons pipeline from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... could help Lebanon extract itself from regional conflict.
"Hezbollah should focus on internal affairs and not the wider region," Bassil, a former ally of Hezbollah, said.
It may have no choice but to narrow its ambitions. With the fall of Assad, Iran has lost control of a corridor of land that stretched through Iraq and Syria all the way to the Mediterranean, and which gave it an unimpeded route to supply Hezbollah.
"They can maybe fly in some things and smuggle some things, but that's not gonna be on the same scale, not even close," said Aron Lund, a Syria expert with Century International, a New York-based think tank.
For Israel, breaking Iran's regional network has been a major goal, though it is wary over Islamic bully boyz among the bandidos krazed killers who toppled Assad. Israel on Sunday moved troops into a demilitarized buffer zone with Syria by the Israel-held Golan Heights in what it called a temporary security measure.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Assad's fall a "historic day," saying it was "the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad's main supporters."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2024 02:41 ||
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#1
Every Arab country needs long, bloody, and - most important - destructive civil war.
#2
the fate of Hezbollah is tied to whether it can keeping bullying and extorting money from the Shai civilian population
I think Hezbollah will be stymied for a time on this. But they may regain the initiative if Lebanon doesn't firm up real national control. I wouldn't give good odds on that.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/15/2024 13:08 Comments ||
Top||
[NAHARNET] Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... said on Saturday that Syria's new rulers, who ousted the Lebanese gang's ally Bashir al-Assad, should not recognize neighboring Israel or establish ties with it.
"We hope that this new party in power will see Israel as an enemy and not normalize relations with it," Qassem said in a televised speech, his first public remarks since Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad following an offensive launched on November 27, the same day that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2024 02:38 ||
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#1
"We hope that this new party in power will see Israel as an enemy and not normalize relations with it," Qassem said in a televised speech,
"...Following which he shouted, "Curly-toed slippers, don't fail me NOW!", and headed for the deepest hole he could find."
[IsraelTimes] In interview with The Guardian, HTS’s Abu Hassan al-Hamwi says group unified factions, overhauled military forces and developed modern doctrine when planning devastating offensive
The Syrian rebels that toppled Bashir al-Assad’s dictatorial regime began planning their shock offensive a year ago, according to the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... ’s military wing, Abu Hassan al-Hamwi.
In an interview with The Guardian, al-Hamwi said that HTS, the Islamist group that led the rebel overthrow of Assad, had been developing a disciplined military doctrine for the past five years and had been communicating with other rebel groups to coordinate their assault on Assad’s forces.
"After the last campaign [August 2019], during which we lost significant territory, all revolutionary factions realized the critical danger — the fundamental problem was the absence of unified leadership and control over battle," he said, adding that,"We studied the enemy thoroughly, analyzing their tactics, both day and night, and used these insights to develop our own forces."
According to al-Hamwi, HTS had contacted other rebel groups last year to for a unified rebel "war room," and began planning their assault.
Al-Hamwi said that the group knew that Aleppo had to be the first domino to fall in order to topple Assad, so his forces concentrated resources and planning on taking over Syria’s second largest city.
"We had a conviction, supported by historical precedent, that ’Damascus cannot fall until Aleppo falls.’ The strength of the Syrian revolution was concentrated in the north, and we believed that once Aleppo was liberated, we could move southward toward Damascus," al-Hamwi said.
The group also set out to fundamentally change their military forces, overhauling their doctrine from jihadist krazed killer group to a disciplined modern fighting force.
Al-Hamwi told The Guardian that HTS created a new drone unit in 2019 to combat Assad’s superior weaponry, recruiting engineers and scientists to produce drones locally.
"We unified their knowledge and set clear objectives: we needed reconnaissance drones, attack drones and suicide drones, with a focus on range and endurance," he said.
This drone program developed a new style of attack drone called the Shahin, or falcon, which deployed deadly effectiveness in their lightning offensive, disabling much of the Syrian army’s mobile artillery systems, allowing HTS forces to advance into regime strongholds.
The rebel assault accomplished in two weeks what 13 years of brutal civil war could not, succeeding in taking down Assad and freeing Syria from over five decades of Assad family rule.
HTS, which is rooted in al-Qaeda’s Syria branch but in recent years sought to moderate its image, has pledged to form a transitional government that respects all of Syria’s ethnic groups and political factions, and that his group will hand over control to a civilian regime in March 2025.
While al-Hamwi, gave the credit for the success of the offensive to planning, analysts have said that much of their gains were made possible by the severely weakened state of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, which had sent forces to prop up Assad in the past.
This time, Hezbollah was in disarray. Many of its brass hats, including longtime leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , were killed in Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s. And months of Israeli strikes destroyed much of its military infrastructure. With Syria’s key international allies, Russia and Iran, on the sidelines, Hezbollah withdrew, and Assad was ousted quickly.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.COM.LB] Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that Syria is facing a ''difficult test'' from terrorist groups and foreign aggression, but says free elections can help the country overcome its challenges.
In an opinion piece published in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, Araghchi highlighted the threats posed by terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as the ''aggressions and military interventions'' of Israel and the United States.
''Today, Syria faces a difficult test. The threat posed by the movements of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and Daesh has heightened regional concerns, raising fears that the terrorists may turn Syria into their safe haven,'' Araghchi wrote.
The Iranian minister also condemned the ''barbaric crimes'' and ''encroachment'' of the Israeli regime on Syrian territory, saying the actions were aimed at ''the destruction of Syria's social foundations, scientific assets, economic infrastructure, and defensive capabilities.''
Araghchi was critical of regional countries that have expressed ''regret and concern'' over the situation, calling their words ''the most meaningless'' in the face of ongoing atrocities.
To address the crisis, Araghchi proposed ''free elections'' as a solution, stating that ''the way out of the current impasse and to keep the flag of independence aloft and uphold the pride and dignity of the Syrian nation is to preserve cohesion and foster a spirit of coexistence among the people through free elections.''
The Iranian foreign minister emphasized that ''respect for the people's votes is realized through free and fair elections that reflect the will of the Syrian nation and lead to the formation of a political system representing all segments of society.''
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2024 01:25 ||
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[11139 views]
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.COM.LB] Hezbollah Secretary General, Sheikh Naeem Qassem, affirmed that supporting Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... is both a noble and essential duty, not only for the group but for the entire Arab and Moslem world, stressing that when others failed to fulfill their responsibilities, the Zionists escalated their aggression, emboldening their tyranny.
In a televised speech via al-Manar, Sheikh Qassem noted that Hezbollah had expected an Israeli attack on Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , though the timing was unknown. He emphasized that the aggression, which began before Operation al-Aqsa Flood and continued afterward, was unrelated to Gaza's support. The Israeli attack, he explained, was part of their expansionist agenda, aiming to eliminate any resistance that stands in the way of their regional ambitions.
''During this war, the Israeli occupation forces claimed the lives of key Hezbollah leaders, including the late martyr Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... Hasan Nasrallah, along with several other commanders and fighters. They also breached communication networks and detonated pagers and telecom lines, at a great cost in terms of lives and suffering. However,
the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... despite these operations, the enemy failed to achieve its objectives, instead resorting to barbaric attacks on civilians, villages, homes, and innocent children and women,'' Sheikh Naim explained.
Sheikh Qassem emphasized that the Israeli enemy's crimes were aimed at breaking the resistance, but despite immense sacrifices, they failed.
''Israeli crimes are not achievements; Hezbollah's resistance successfully thwarted the enemy's efforts to destroy and crush it,'' he asserted.
He highlighted that the enemy had repeatedly stated its intent to eliminate Hezbollah, but the resistance fighters halted their advances.
''Hezbollah's missiles struck deep into Israeli territory, inflicting significant damage and displacing nearly 200,000 settlers. The resistance killed hundreds of Israeli soldiers, maimed many more, and caused extensive economic and social damage across the occupied territories,'' his eminence explained.
Sheikh Qassem praised the resilience of the people who made tremendous sacrifices to protect the resistance, referring to them as ''brave heroes'' who viewed resistance as their sole and vital option in this struggle.
''Thank God, we achieved a true divine victory in this confrontation. The Israeli enemy recognized that its path to defeating Hezbollah's resistance is blocked, prompting it to seek a ceasefire agreement.''
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2024 01:22 ||
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[GEO.TV] Paleostinians have been returning to the Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus, according to Al Jazeera.
Built as a refugee camp for Paleostinians in 1957, Yarmouk grew into a bustling suburb of some 1.2 million people including 160,000 Paleostinians, according to the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees, UNRWA before Syria's war.
Those numbers have dwindled to just 8,160 Paleostinian refugees, as the al-Assad regime heavily bombarded the suburb after rebel fighters were based there.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2024 01:15 ||
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[IsraelTimes] In first comment on Jewish state since fall of Assad regime, Sharaa says Syria will seek stability after long civil war, hints at ‘diplomatic solutions’ to avert regional escalation
The leader of the Syrian Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) who spearheaded the overthrow of the Bashir al-Assad regime, spoke Saturday about Israel for the first time since taking over the country in an interview with the Syrian TV news channel.
Ahmad al-Sharaa, who is better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, said that Israel has "no more excuses" to carry out Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Syria, and that recent IDF attacks on Syrian soil have crossed red lines and threaten an unjustified escalation in the region.
Earlier in the week, Israel launched a major operation to destroy the Syrian military’s strategic military capabilities, including chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented... sites, missiles, air defenses, air force and navy targets, in a bid to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile elements.
In a move that has drawn some international condemnation, Israel also entered a United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... -patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights just hours after the rebels, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, took Damascus. Israel has said it will not become involved in the conflict in Syria and that its seizure of the buffer zone established in 1974 was a defensive move and a temporary one until it can guarantee security along the frontier.
The rebel leader called on the international community to assume its responsibility to avoid an escalation and guarantee the respect of Syrian illusory sovereignty. Without directly mentioning Israel, he further spoke of "diplomatic solutions" as the only way to ensure security and stability and as a preferable option to "ill-considered military adventures."
In a video message to the new regime taking shape in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the IDF bombed military strategic capabilities left by the Syrian military of the ousted Assad regime "so that they won’t fall into the hands of the jihadists."
He added that Israel was ready to establish relations with the new rulers but won’t hesitate to attack if they threaten the Jewish state or allow Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... to reestablish itself in Syria.
The Assad regime was an ally of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, and a part of the latter’s so-called Axis of Resistance® against Israel.
"We have no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Syria," the premier said, "but we certainly do intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security."
In his interview on Saturday, the new leader in Damascus appeared to indirectly respond to Israeli concerns and provide reassurance. Sharaa said that Syria is exhausted by years of civil war and that at this stage it will not be dragged into conflicts that may lead to further destruction, with reconstruction and stability the main priorities.
The rebel commander added that the Iranian entrenchment in Syria had posed a great danger to Syria itself, to neighboring countries and the Gulf, and said: "We were able to end the Iranian presence in Syria, but we are not enemies of the Iranian people."
Over the course of a wide-ranging interview, Sharaa mentioned some of the issues that his new government will soon need to address in managing post-war Syria. He stressed the importance of abandoning the "revolutionary mentality" that propelled the rebels, and the need to establish modern institutions, guarantee the rule of law and respect the rights of all Syrians.
Sharaa delivered a scathing critique of the corrupt Assad regime, saying that it managed Syria like a "farm," extracting and appropriating its resources to enrich itself. He added that in the upcoming period, documents will be published to prove the extent of the regime’s "enormous theft."
He highlighted that the lightning victory of the rebels over the regime, toppled in just 11 days, proved the effectiveness of their planning and training. The rebels "took control of large cities without anyone being displaced," he said. However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... he did not conceal the fact that relations between the various rebel groups have been marked by internal conflicts, factionalism and foreign meddling.
He also mentioned the limited Russian air campaign against the rebels in the days prior to Assad’s overthrow and said it raised fears of a repeat of the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... scenario. With regard to future relations with Moscow, he said that the regime change offers an opportunity to re-evaluate ties in a way that serves common interests.
The previous regime came into power in 1970, when Bashar’s father Hafez al-Assad seized power in a bloodless coup. Bashir al-Assad had been president since his father’s death in 2000.
Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations and have formally been in a perpetual state of war since Israel declared independence in 1948.
Syria was one of a number of Arab countries that attacked the newly born Jewish state, and despite an armistice agreement signed in 1949 that demarcated a border between the two countries, Syria has never formally recognized Israel’s existence.
Syria also attacked during the 1967 Six Day War, before the IDF pounded Syrian forces and seized the Golan Heights, which Israel later annexed unilaterally. Syria attacked again in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War and was pushed back after a major advance into the Golan, after which the 1974 disengagement agreement was signed between the states, marking the demilitarized zones on the Israel-Syrian border.
[IsraelTimes] Moscow says it will maintain presence at two main Syrian bases; attitude of new regime toward Russian presence is still unclear
Russia is pulling back its military from the front lines in northern Syria and from posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases in the country after the fall of President Bashir al-Assad, four Syrian officials told Rooters.
The ousting of Assad, who along with his late father, former President Hafez al-Assad, had forged a close alliance with Moscow, has thrown the future of Russia’s bases — the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and the Tartus naval facility — into question.
Satellite footage from Friday showed what appeared to be at least two Antonov AN-124s, among the world’s largest cargo planes, at the Hmeimim base with their nose cones open, apparently preparing to load up.
At least one cargo plane flew out on Saturday for Libya, a Syrian security official stationed outside the facility said.
Syrian military and security sources in contact with the Russians told Rooters that Moscow was pulling back its forces from the front lines and withdrawing some heavy equipment and senior Syrian officers.
But the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said Russia was not pulling out of its two main bases and currently had no intention of doing so.
Some equipment is being shipped back to Moscow, as are senior officers from Assad’s military, but the aim at this stage is to regroup and redeploy as dictated by developments on the ground, a senior Syrian army officer in touch with the Russian military told Rooters.
A senior rebel official close to the new interim administration told Rooters the issue of the Russian military presence in Syria and past agreements between the Assad government and Moscow were not under discussion.
"It is a matter for future talks, and the Syrian people will have the final say," the official said, adding that Moscow had set up communication channels.
"Our forces are also now in close vicinity of the Russian bases in Latakia," he added without elaborating.
The Kremlin has said Russia is in discussions with the new rulers of Syria over the bases. Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Rooters reporting.
A Russian source who spoke on condition of anonymity said discussions with the new rulers of Syria were ongoing and Russia was not withdrawing from its bases.
Rooters was unable to immediately ascertain how Syrian rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa — better known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani — saw the long-term future of the Russian bases.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... , whose 2015 intervention in the Syrian civil war helped prop up Assad when the West was calling for him to be toppled, granted Assad asylum in Russia after Moscow helped him flee on Sunday.
Moscow has backed Syria since early in the Cold War and recognized its independence in 1944 as Damascus sought to throw off French colonial rule. The West long regarded Syria as a Soviet satellite.
The bases in Syria are an integral part of Russia’s global military presence: the Tartus naval base is Russia’s only Mediterranean repair and resupply hub, with Hmeimim a major staging post for military and mercenary activity in Africa.
Russia also has eavesdropping posts in Syria, which were run alongside Syrian signals stations, according to Syrian military and Western intelligence sources.
The Tartus facility dates from 1971, and after Russia intervened in the civil war to help Assad, Moscow was in 2017 granted a free-of-charge 49-year lease.
Yoruk Isik, a geopolitical analyst based in Istanbul who runs the Bosphorus Observer, said that Russia was probably sending cargo planes out of Syria via the Caucasus and then on to the Al Khadim airbase in Libya.
On the highway linking the Hmeimim air base to the base in Tartus, a Russian convoy of infantry fighting vehicles and logistics vehicles could be seen driving toward the air base, a Rooters journalist said.
The convoy had stopped due to a malfunction in one of its vehicles, with soldiers standing by the vehicles and working to repair the issue.
"Whether it’s Russian, Iranian or the previous government who was oppressing us and denying us our rights... we don’t want any intervention from Russia, Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... or any other foreign intervention," Ali Halloum, who is from Latakia and lives in Jablah, told Rooters.
At Hmeimim, Rooters saw Russian soldiers walking around the base as normal and jets in the hangars.
Satellite imagery taken on December 9 by Planet Labs showed at least three vessels in Russia’s Mediterranean fleet — two guided missile frigates and an oiler — moored around 13 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of Tartus.
[NYTimes] In the days since the abrupt and unexpected obliteration of Iran as a dominant presence in Syria, the government has faced a fierce public backlash over the billions of dollars spent and the Iranian blood shed to back the Assad regime.
The criticism has come from unexpected corners, including conservatives, and is flowing freely on television channels and talk shows, and in social media posts and virtual town halls attended by thousands of Iranians. It also appears on the front pages of newspapers every day.
One former lawmaker, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, said in a social media post that Iranians should rejoice at the fall of Iran's longstanding ally, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. "No one will be able to waste Iran's dollars for maintaining a spider web any more," he said.
Why? Because they are subjects, not citizens, and all that they think is theirs actually belongs to the Ummah as represented by the Mad Mullah government. To protest that is to protest how Allah decreed the world to work — are you prepared to argue with Allah, O heretic?
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/15/2024 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
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#1
Well, actually it didn't all, but it was easier to tell you that while it was being stolen.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
12/15/2024 9:11 Comments ||
Top||
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Turkish Armed Forces will begin shooting down Israeli Air Force planes if they help the Syrian Kurds with missile strikes. This is reported by the Yeni Şafak publication.
An interesting thought. Shooting at is easy. Hitting the designated target takes different skills, and IAF F-16s and F-35s streaking overhead are nothing like fleeing Syrian Arab Army or charging SDF technical Toyotas.
“If Israel decides to take such actions, our air defense systems and fighters are ready to destroy them,” the publication says.
S-300s and S-400s? Perhaps Turkish soldiers wield those better than Syrian soldiers do, so in theory that could work against Israeli warplanes. But if the Turkish army spokesman is talking about aerial dogfights, that’s an entirely different question.
According to the publication's sources, the Kurds asked the IDF to help them confront the pro-Turkish forces, after which Turkey made it clear to Israel that it "will not tolerate such interference."
Has Israel ever got involved militarily with the Kurds? I don’t recall such a thing, though that might just be my porous memory.
The publication claims that orders to destroy the planes had already been given to the General Staff of the Turkish army.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 13, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who arrived in Ankara, said that Turkey supports the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity.
…except those strips of Syria that Turkey has already taken over, displacing the native Kurds in order to disable them and also provide housing for Turkey’s refugee and Turkic dependents.
Erdogan added that Turkey will defend its national interests if there is a threat from the Syrian opposition. In addition, he promised to take measures against all terrorist organizations.
…except for the terrorist orgs on the payroll of Turkey’s so-called Syrian National Army, anyway.
Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev noted on December 12 that he doubts the possibility of preserving the unity of Syria after the departure of the administration of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He also recalled that Russia had seriously helped the republic's authorities for a long time, as it understood the negative consequences of its collapse. The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council named mistakes in governing the country as the reason for the fall of the government.
Russia has been helping the Syrian government fight terrorist organizations for many years. Moscow has pledged to help as long as the Syrian army continues to fight. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out back in 2015 that Russians would not be “greater Syrians than the Syrians themselves” in resolving the internal issues of this republic.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/15/2024 00:00 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The new leadership of Syria needs to carefully analyze the current situation in the country before making political decisions. This was stated on December 14 by the leader of the armed Syrian opposition Ahmed al-Sharaa (known by the nickname Abu Muhammad al-Julani ).
In an interview with SyriaTV, he noted that at the moment, Syria needs to move from "revolutionary actions" to state building, so the country needs to create state and legal institutions. In addition, the leader of the armed Syrian opposition called for guarantees of rights and justice for all citizens of Syria. At the same time, he stated that the Syrian Defense Ministry is going to disband all groups operating in the country.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 14, al-Sharaa stated that the new authorities of the republic are giving Russia the opportunity to reconsider relations with the Syrian people. He added that Damascus does not intend to enter into conflict with Israel.
On December 8, Bashar al-Assad resigned as president of Syria amid an offensive by the armed opposition. He and his family arrived in Russia, where they were granted asylum.
On December 11, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, called for proceeding from the realities that have developed in Syria. He emphasized that Russia at one time helped the republic cope with terrorists and move towards stabilizing the situation. After that, the Syrian authorities under Assad's leadership were themselves engaged in developing the country.
The leader of the armed Syrian opposition, Ahmed al-Sharaa (known by the nickname Abu Mohammed al-Julani), said on December 14 that he was ready to run for president if asked.
"I will run for president of the Syrian Republic if citizens or people around me ask me to," he told Al Araby TV.
Al-Sharaa also promised to disband all armed groups in the country. He said that there would be no weapons in Syria that would remain outside state control.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, earlier on December 14, al-Sharaa stated that the new authorities of the republic are giving Russia the opportunity to reconsider relations with the Syrian people. He added that Damascus does not intend to enter into conflict with Israel.
On December 8, Bashar al-Assad resigned as president of Syria amid an offensive by the armed opposition. He and his family arrived in Russia, where they were granted asylum.
On December 11, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, called for proceeding from the realities that have developed in Syria. He emphasized that Russia at one time helped the republic cope with terrorists and move towards stabilizing the situation. After that, the Syrian authorities under Assad's leadership were themselves engaged in developing the country.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/15/2024 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
...Arabic term meaning 
...
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.COM.LB] Hezbollah Secretary General, Sheikh Naeem Qassem, affirmed that supporting 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
