[ShabelleMedia] The commander of the Somali Army Ground Forces, Brigadier General Sahal Abdullahi "Gen. Khalid", has visited frontline positions in Teedaan area of central Somalia’s Hiran region, as government forces continue operations against al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... bad boys.
Sahal was accompanied by General Ahmed Issa Ahmed, commander of the Somali Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, as well as other senior military officers.
Colonel Ali Cagey, commander of the Somali Army’s 27th Division, welcomed the delegation at the frontline and briefed the commanders on the security situation and ongoing military operations against al-Shabaab, known locally as "Khawaarij".
During the visit, Sahal praised the soldiers for what he described as their sacrifice and bravery, and commended their vigilance against attacks and ambushes by bad boys.
He also praised the troops for their performance on the battlefield and urged them to maintain their readiness as military operations continue in the region.
The visit comes as Somali government forces conduct operations against al-Shabaab in several parts of Hiran, a region that has been a major focus of the government’s military campaign against the gang.
The Somali government, backed by local forces and international partners, has stepped up military operations against al-Shabaab in central and southern Somalia as it seeks to weaken the group’s territorial control and disrupt its operations.
Hiran has witnessed repeated fighting between government forces and al-Shabaab in recent years, with security operations focused on clearing bad boy positions and securing key communities and roads.
The army did not provide details on recent military engagements or casualties during the operations.
The visit by the ground forces commander was aimed at assessing the situation on the frontline and encouraging troops engaged in ongoing operations against the bad boys.
Keeping track of what Turkey has been getting up to in that part of the world.
[ShabelleMedia] Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre on Wednesday praised the growing strategic partnership between Somalia and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... , saying a relationship forged during one of Somalia’s darkest periods had evolved into broad cooperation spanning education, healthcare, infrastructure, security and trade.
Barre was speaking at a ceremony in Mogadishu marking 15 years since Turkey renewed and significantly deepened its diplomatic and humanitarian engagement with Somalia.
He recalled Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... ’s visit to Mogadishu on August 19, 2011, when Somalia was facing a devastating drought, famine and severe insecurity.
Erdogan, then Turkey’s prime minister, made the historic visit at a time when much of the international community was reluctant to travel to Somalia because of security concerns.
Barre said the visit sent a clear message that the Somali people were not alone and opened a new chapter in relations between the two countries.
"Somalia opened a new page with that message. Shortly afterwards, the relationship developed into a strategic partnership covering education, healthcare, infrastructure, security and trade," Barre said.
"Fifteen years later, relations between Somalia and Turkey have become a symbol of genuine friendship and strong cooperation, with our Ottoman Turkish brothers standing alongside the Somali people and government during difficult times," he added.
Barre said one of Turkey’s most significant investments in Somalia had been in human capital, with thousands of Somali students receiving education and training in Turkey before returning home as doctors, engineers, teachers and academics.
He described the development of Somali human resources as a lasting contribution to the country’s future, saying educated young people would play a central role in rebuilding state institutions and expanding the economy.
The prime minister also highlighted Somalia’s strategic geographical position, its extensive coastline and its predominantly young population as major assets that could attract investment and generate economic growth.
Somalia has one of Africa’s longest coastlines, along with significant fisheries and large areas of potentially arable land. Barre said the country also had opportunities in the energy sector that could be developed through greater investment and cooperation.
He said the government was working on plans to turn these resources and opportunities into production, employment and trade, with the aim of moving the Somalia-Turkey relationship into a partnership capable of generating shared prosperity.
The remarks came as Mogadishu seeks to deepen economic and strategic ties with Ankara beyond humanitarian assistance and development support.
Turkey has become one of Somalia’s key international partners over the past 15 years, with cooperation extending across humanitarian aid, education, healthcare, infrastructure, security and investment.
Barre said the two countries had built a relationship that had withstood Somalia’s difficult years and was now entering a new phase focused increasingly on economic opportunity and sustainable development.
He said Somalia was ready to use its natural resources, strategic location and young population to attract investment and create jobs, while strengthening cooperation with Turkey.
The prime minister described the partnership as an example of how long-term diplomatic ties can develop into broader economic and strategic cooperation, saying the next chapter should deliver tangible benefits for both countries and their people.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2026 08:00 ||
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[GaroweOnline] The withdrawal of Æthiopian troops from the strategic military base in Burhakaba has raised concerns about the ability of Somali forces to secure positions transferred by African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... troops as AUSSOM faces financial and logistical uncertainty.
AUSSOM handed over the Burhakaba forward operating base to the Somali National Army’s 60th Division on Aug. 8, with logistical assistance from the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Support Office in Somalia.
Æthiopian troops had occupied the base since 2014 while serving under successive African Union missions. Local reports said the contingent left the town shortly after the handover ceremony, although Æthiopian forces remain deployed at other locations in the Bay and Bakool regions.
Some of the information and assessments in this report were drawn from an analysis published by Horn Review, an Addis Ababa-based Æthiopian research and media organization.
Burhakaba lies on the important road connecting Mogadishu with Baidoa. Although government forces control the town, al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... maintains influence in parts of the surrounding countryside. That makes Burhakaba an important test of whether Somali forces can defend positions transferred by foreign troops.
The handover is part of a broader plan to transfer security responsibility to Somali institutions. However,
the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... it comes before questions over AUSSOM’s financing, logistical support and the preparedness of Somali forces have been resolved.
AUSSOM replaced the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia at the beginning of 2025. It was designed to support Somali forces while gradually transferring responsibility for the country’s security.
The United States informed the African Union in July that it would not support the continuation of U.N. logistical assistance to AUSSOM beyond Dec. 31. Washington did not oppose renewing the mission itself but said it would not support a resolution maintaining UNSOS logistical and operational assistance.
UNSOS provides AUSSOM with fuel, food, transportation, communications, medical evacuation and other essential services. The African Union has warned that the mission would struggle to operate at its current level without that support.
Countries contributing troops to AUSSOM called during a meeting in Kampala in late July for an orderly transition lasting between 18 and 24 months. They also appealed for predictable financing, but no fully funded alternative to UNSOS has been announced.
The financial uncertainty coincides with growing political and security tensions inside Somalia.
Recent fighting in Baidoa between federal troops and forces aligned with former South West state President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohammed Laftagareen resulted in deaths and injuries. al-Shabaab also carried out attacks during the same period, demonstrating how the group can exploit divisions between Somali authorities.
Disputes between the federal government and some federal member states over elections, constitutional changes and political power-sharing have weakened national security coordination. Without political cooperation, reinforcing transferred positions and organizing joint operations across administrative boundaries could become more difficult.
Al-Shabaab has previously exploited security gaps created by foreign troop withdrawals. The group frequently targets supply routes, surrounding settlements and smaller military positions in an effort to isolate forces stationed in major towns.
Somali troops defending Burhakaba could therefore face pressure around the town and along the roads connecting it with Baidoa and Mogadishu.
The 60th Division has experience fighting in Bay and Bakool. However,
the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... Somali forces do not always possess the heavy weapons, intelligence capabilities, air support and sustained logistics previously available to Æthiopian units.
Al-Shabaab continues to raise revenue, recruit fighters and adapt its tactics. Security analysts say the group has expanded its use of drones for surveillance.
Reports have also emerged about connections between al-Shabaab and Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets movement. Available information indicates contact and possible arms trading, but the extent of technical or operational cooperation has not been independently confirmed.
Æthiopia has long regarded al-Shabaab as a threat to its national security. Æthiopian forces operating in Bay, Bakool and areas near the border have helped restrict the group’s movement toward eastern Æthiopia.
A rapid or poorly coordinated withdrawal could compel Addis Ababa to reinforce its domestic border deployments. It could also increase the risk of cross-border attacks, population displacement and disruption to regional trade.
The future of Burhakaba will depend on more than the number of soldiers stationed at the former Æthiopian base. Somali authorities will need to protect supply routes, cooperate with local communities and provide intelligence, air support and reliable logistics. Political cooperation between the federal government and the federal member states will also be essential.
A carefully managed transfer could demonstrate that Somali forces are becoming capable of defending important positions. An accelerated and underfunded withdrawal, however, could give al-Shabaab an opportunity to isolate towns, recover territory and undermine Somalia’s security transition.
Burhakaba is therefore more than a military base transferred from one force to another. It represents the wider challenge facing Somalia and its partners as international funding declines, African Union troops reduce their presence and al-Shabaab searches for weaknesses in the emerging security order.
(Frente de Liberación de Azawad vía AP)
[SoufanCenter] BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT
Recent successes in hostage diplomacy in the Sahel, such as the release of Kevin Rideout, stand in stark contrast to the grim reality of Mali’s current security landscape.
Mali’s junta is deeply embattled, even as gold exports and Russian mercenaries continue to prop it up.
JNIM has established itself as one of Africa’s most successful insurgencies, raking in significant revenue streams, maintaining and governing territory, and launching terrorist attacks with impunity.
ISSP continues to expand its operational footprint and launch attacks at both security forces and civilian targets.
Last week, the Tuareg-led rebel group Front de libération de l’Azawad (FLA) released 82 Malian Armed Forces soldiers whom it had held captive. Many of the soldiers had been taken on April 25, 2026, when the group and its ally Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the Sahel, launched their spectacular joint offensive across Mali, leading to the recapture of the city of Kidal and further ratcheting up the pressure on Bamako. An additional 60 civilians taken hostage by JNIM were also liberated in Mali last week, an apparent sign of goodwill towards the villages from which they were taken. That same day, the Malian junta, following mediation efforts by Morocco, released the French intelligence agent it had held since August 2025. Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), which has been at war with JNIM since 2019 and is nestled in the tri-border area and the eastern Ménaka and Gao regions of Mali, released a U.S. citizen, Kevin Rideout, one of a handful of Western hostages it was holding.
Analysts have emphasized that these outcomes stem from distinct negotiation paths with different parties involved, including Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who reportedly played a central role behind the scenes, allegedly paying $12 million in ransom. These recent instances of successful hostage diplomacy in the Sahel stand in stark contrast to the grim reality of Mali’s current security landscape, which remains marked by major upheaval and violence.
The fuel blockade, launched in September 2025 by JNIM, is approaching its one-year anniversary. JNIM continues to demonstrate its strength by capturing and holding territory, while launching new attacks targeting the regime. Human rights abuses by all parties, including Mali’s junta and Russia’s Africa Corps, show the devastating extent of the civilian toll. And ISSP profits from diminished state capacity, counting roughly 2,000 fighters and growing operational capabilities.
Economically, Mali’s junta remains heavily reliant on gold, the country’s main export, which is primarily sourced from the South and West, where Africa’s third-largest gold deposit is located. But even this important, lucrative economic pillar is increasingly destabilized by JNIM, which also relies on extortion around the gold industry as an economic motor.
Rather than directly controlling gold mines, the group uses the routes gold takes to extort and tax, earning illicit proceeds from nearly every stage of the value chain. JNIM also engages in economic warfare and, during the April offensive, regained control over Intahaka, with the largest artisanal gold mine in northern Mali. While the junta remains in control of the industrial mines and continues to collect revenue from them, it must also pay major expenses to survive, including costly blockade workarounds such as army-escorted supply convoys and heavy monthly bills for the dubious help of Russian mercenaries. JNIM also benefits from ransom paid for hostages. Most notably, the UAE paid the group $50 million for the release of its citizens in 2025, which significantly helped fund its offensive.
[IsraelTimes] Saudi Arabia’s school textbooks have continued a years-long shift toward greater tolerance, coexistence and critical thinking, with the latest curriculum eliminating remaining examples of antisemitic content, according to a new report by the educational monitoring organization IMPACT-se.
The review examined 136 textbooks used in the 2025-26 school year and found continued reductions in extremist and discriminatory material, building on reforms documented in previous years.
The report said lessons increasingly promote dialogue and respect for different cultures and religious communities. Islamic Studies textbooks highlight examples of peaceful relations between the Prophet Muhammad and Jews, Christians and Arab tribes, while lessons on war prohibit harming noncombatants.
The curriculum has also further moderated its treatment of religious minorities, removing passages portraying Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians negatively. However, the report noted that the Holocaust remains absent from a Grade 9 Social Studies textbook.
References to Israel have become somewhat more neutral, including replacing the phrase “the Zionist enemy” with “the Israeli occupation.” Still, Israel does not appear by name on any maps reviewed, and textbooks continue to describe it as an occupying state.
The report also found expanded portrayals of women as contributors to Saudi society and the economy, reflecting the goals of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 modernization program.
“The overall trajectory is extremely encouraging and will inevitably contribute to greater regional stability and understanding,” says IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2026 08:00 ||
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#1
So their education system joined the 18th century?
[IsraelTimes] Such an assault would cement Iran-backed rebels’ control over one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and give Tehran a foothold in a second vital waterway in the Middle East
A Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i minister warned Tuesday that the country’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... rebels are plotting to seize land along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which would allow the group to further threaten the vital shipping artery.
Three Houthi military sources and a front man for Yemeni government forces bordering the waterway also told AFP the rebels are planning to advance.
Such an assault, if successful, would cement Houthi control over one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, which the Iran-backed rebels have disrupted with attacks on passing vessels since 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... war broke out after the Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... massacre in southern Israel in October 2023.
It would also extend the hold of Tehran and its allies to a second vital waterway in the Middle East after 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... closed the Strait of Hormuz in its war with the United States.
Greater Houthi control of Bab el-Mandeb would choke off oil exports from Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... , against which the rebels have announced a maritime blockade.
"The Houthi militia... is working to create the conditions for seizing control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by expanding its presence along the western coast and attempting to control strategic Yemeni islands in the Red Sea," Yemen’s information minister Muammar al-Eryani told AFP.
He said there had been a military buildup by the Houthis and that their plans had been illustrated by "repeated targeting of ports, docks, civilian infrastructure, ships, and government naval capabilities."
The Houthis currently do not control coastal areas directly on the strait, but they hold the key port city of Hodeida to the north and have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea.
In recent weeks, the rebels have launched their deadliest attacks in years on Yemeni government forces.
They have also begun targeting Yemen’s port city of Mokha, which lies close to Bab el-Mandeb, as well as military sites near the strait and government-controlled islands in the Red Sea.
Major-General Sadeq Duwaid, a front man for the government-affiliated National Resistance® Forces that control areas bordering the strait, told AFP that the rebels "are striving to secure a foothold in Bab el-Mandeb."
"Through their continued attacks on Mokha and its port, the Houthi militia seeks to establish a presence along the shores of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and transform the area into a situation resembling that of the Strait of Hormuz," he said.
Three Houthi military sources told AFP that the group was preparing to launch an operation to seize areas south of Hodeida.
They said around 2,000 fighters had been deployed to front lines along Yemen’s western coast in the provinces of Taiz and Hodeida, along with rocket launchers.
[IsraelTimes] A WhatsApp group chat used by activists of the UK’s far-left Green Party featured a member discussing “killing Zionists,” with others calling antisemitism “understandable” or characterizing British Jews as a “weapon” for Israel, according to The Times.
The UK publication reports that the chat, named Greens Against Imperialism, is used by members for organizing, and to discuss foreign policy. Sophus Magill, a Green Party local official, created the group, The Times reports.
The chat features several instances of anti-Israel rhetoric and speech denigrating Jews, according to The Times.
In one instance, when asked if he wants Israel “wiped off the map,” Magill responds, “Yes, I would like that.”
He added afterward, “Obviously I believe Isreali [sic] citizens who are not war criminals and who agree to peacefully coexist with Palestinians have a right to live in Palestine as everyone should have the right to live where ever they want in the world so long as they are not a threat to the safety of others.”
In another instance, a member called Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “part of a national liberation movement,” and said mass Iranian anti-regime protests in January, which were unarmed, were “instigated and armed by the Americans and the Zionists.”
In another exchange, someone wrote, “Its unfortunate but British Jews are a brilliant weapon for the israeli state to help with the use of antisemitism as a justification in the UK, one of they’re [sic] strong allies.”
Another person replied to that comment, “I suppose an extreme anti-zionist [position] could mean that you support killing Zionists,” which they called “wrong but not necessarily racist.”
That person added later that being “anti Jews, lumping all Jews in with the majority of Israeli Jews as Genociders,” is “wrong but understandable.”
A third person then wrote, “I can tell you if a state in the name of an ethnic group destroyed my village and killed my family, I might want to plough into a group of them too.”
The Greens’ leader, Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, is an outspoken opponent of Israel, and multiple Greens candidates have faced antisemitism allegations.
A Green Party spokesperson told The Times, “We do not comment on internal party forums or discussions on WhatsApp groups that are not official party group channels.”
[IsraelTimes] Several US government agencies are warning that unidentified hackers are trying to breach devices made by Siemens that are used to monitor and operate water facilities and other critical infrastructure systems, according to a cybersecurity advisory.
The warning comes amid widespread cyber incidents targeting local water systems in multiple states in recent weeks in attacks cybersecurity experts suspect are linked to Iran.
The advisory describes an “active threat” to all Siemens S7 Series programmable logic controllers across multiple critical infrastructure sectors, including manufacturing, energy, water and wastewater, chemical, food and agriculture facilities, according to the warning issued by the National Security Agency, FBI, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Depending on specific circumstances, compromises of these devices could lead to disruption of critical processes, safety incidents, downtime or equipment damage, compromise of sensitive data, compliance violations and cascading impacts across interconnected systems, the government warned.
Siemens does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the advisory, the hackers are using AI to dramatically reduce the technical expertise and time required to develop exploits that can successfully compromise the systems, the agencies said.
[IsraelTimes] Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson says she chose to wear Jewish symbol on behalf of Jewish children who cannot, amid surge in Swedish antisemitism; she’s subject to torrent of online hate afterwards
Sweden’s center-right Liberal Party leader, Minister of Education and Integration Simona Mohamsson, wore a Star of David during a televised debate earlier this week, saying she wanted to highlight the rising antisemitism in the country.
Speaking at a Monday night event ahead of Sweden’s national elections in September, Mohamsson explained her choice of Jewish symbol, saying "I wear the Star of David for the children who do not dare to in today’s Sweden," according to a translation of her remarks into English in New York’s The Sun newspaper.
Mohamsson comes from a Shia Moslem background. Her father is Paleostinian, born in Haifa, and her mother is Lebanese, although she herself does not identify as Moslem.
She also harshly criticized the socialist Left Party in Sweden for supporting incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! Paleostinians who killed Israelis in terrorist attacks, accusing them of "sending love letters to Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... and spreading fear on our streets."
She was referring to a letter sent by politician Ilona Szatmari Waldau to Ahmad al-Moghrabi, a senior commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, who is serving multiple life sentences for plotting terrorist attacks.
Szatmari Waldau later apologized in a post on her Facebook page, saying the campaign was in solidarity with Paleostinian prisoners and should have excluded anyone convicted of violence.
Following her televised appearance with the Star of David, Mohamsson was subject to waves of online hate, being accused of being "self-hating" and threatened with "may she burn," according to Sweden’s Aftonbladet daily.
Mohamsson and her party have repeatedly warned of rising antisemitism in Sweden, calling out both Islamists and the far-right, noting that it was spreading in Swedish schools.
"Antisemitism is spreading even in our schools. Teachers report difficulties in speaking plainly about the Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism, and that these topics are sometimes relativized or met with silence. This is a development we can never accept," she said in her role as education minister.
The European Commission published a report earlier this year showing that 73 percent of respondents in Sweden said antisemitism is a problem in the country.
Like many other countries, Sweden saw a sharp rise in antisemitism following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in southern Israel that sparked the war 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...
[SDUT] Pumping out the bilges Stars and Stripes, which is partly funded by the Defense Department, has recently been at the forefront of some of the reporting on conditions for sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The longtime publisher of Stars and Stripes has announced his retirement, ending a decades-long career with the military newspaper as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon moves to exert editorial control and eliminate what it asserts are "woke distractions."
Max D. Lederer Jr. announced his retirement, effective at the end of September, in a memo to staff on Tuesday, as well as in an interview with Stars and Stripes. In the memo, seen by The Associated Press, Lederer, the second full-time civilian in the position, wrote that it had "become clear that my philosophy of leadership, and my understanding of the value and mission of Stars and Stripes, differ in fundamental ways from the direction the leadership of the Department of Defense has for the organization."
Great self-awareness, dude. If only it didn’t sound like you think your civilian philosophy should override the leadership philosophy of the military organization that paid you.
The announcement comes less than four months after the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, ombudsman for the newspaper, whose job was to safeguard editorial independence. The news outlet is partly funded by the Defense Department, but has a legacy of independence from military and government leadership. "No one should be surprised that they’re kicking out the one person charged by Congress with protecting Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence," Smith wrote in a column.
Stars and Stripes has recently been at the forefront of some of the reporting on conditions for sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln and concerns for their mental health during the aircraft carrier’s long deployment — concerns that President Donald Trump has downplayed.
It’s part of larger, government-driven changes to the military publication
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lederer’s retirement, which comes seven months after the department announced in a social media post that it would essentially overhaul the newspaper to align with its current messaging.
Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, wrote on on X in January that the Pentagon "is returning Stars and Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters." He said the department will "refocus its content away from woke distractions."
"Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters," Parnell wrote. "It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints."
More broadly, the developments at Stars and Stripes come against a backdrop of increased efforts by Hegseth to control media coverage of the department.
Last year, officials attempted to impose restrictions on journalists working inside the Pentagon, which, in turn, led most news outlets to turn in their access badges and walk out.
Then this summer, the Pentagon took another step and declared its press office a classified space — instituting a policy that journalists must be accompanied by an escort on Pentagon grounds. That policy is being challenged in court. In mid-July, a panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the policy could stand, overturning a lower court decision.
In her April column titled "The Pentagon is trying to silence me," Smith, the former ombudsman, expressed concern over increasing restrictions on the media.
"For nearly a year, Pentagon leadership has placed more and more restrictions on the mainstream media," she wrote. "The New York Times sued and when the Defense/War Department lost in court, instead of following the judge’s ruling Secretary Hegseth and company pivoted, finding another way to restrict journalists."
Of Stars and Stripes, Smith wrote: "This newspaper has a long history of commitment to the military community and to journalistic values. Please don’t let it be controlled by Pentagon brass."
THE DEPARTING PUBLISHER OBJECTED TO CERTAIN CHANGES
Lederer was not made available for an interview with the AP. In the interview with Stars and Stripes, he said he did not feel the modernization efforts the Pentagon announced in March were appropriate, in particular a transitioning of print products to digital — a move he feared would limit accessibility for troops.
"I don’t feel that there’s a full recognition of the value of multiple platforms versus only a digital platform," Lederer was quoted as saying.
In another development, Stars and Stripes said it could not confirm an account that, in recent weeks, a new deputy had been installed by the Pentagon under Lederer without the publisher’s prior knowledge.
In a letter seen by the AP, Rufus Friday, the chair of Stars and Stripes’ advisory board of publishers, wrote to congressional leaders about the arrival of the new deputy, a development he said "threatens Stripes’s editorial independence."
Roughly half of Stars and Stripes’ budget comes from the Pentagon, and its staff members are considered Defense Department employees.
#3
Glad to see them go. I have loathed them for decades. Good riddance. Also, note that he is apparent buddies with AP, another organization I strongly dislike.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/20/2026 1:36 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I read the article "Correcting the Record...". Good article, well worth the read. I was infantry in RVN for two years with the 173rd. C-rations, and when we could get them, LRRPs. Twice we got hot turkey and all of the fixings. Heaven. Once we got hot Schlitz beer, one can per man, and were happy for it.
I am NOT complaining. We never went hungry. I preferred being in the field to being in the Rear. It was safer and less weird. The Rear (LZ Uplift for us usually) was where the riff-raff (I am being kind) were located, along with assorted officers who were not in the field for 'reasons'. Usually damned good reasons.
Back to food; never went hungry, and would not have traded places with the Navy guys due to the possible long swim potentials. We could duck. They could not. Ramble off.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/20/2026 2:07 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Some tough sledding with those "Sky Soldiers" Mike. The only unit in Vietnam to conduct a combat assault via static line parachute. Thank you for your soldiering Airborne !
#9
When I was in Korea 84-85 and in KSA in 95, S&S was honestly a delight. Good reporting from home, and actually doing investigative reporting on the military. It wasn't really until after 9/11 that they went sideways, and after 08 they got really bad; not much better than a supermarket tabloid.
[IsraelTimes] A record number of humanitarian workers were attacked last year, with Gaza accounting for over half of the 350 aid staffers killed, the United Nations says.
Sure, but the Gaza ones are double dipping, with their Hamas job being the primary one, so they’re legitimate war targets. Or they are human shields protecting Hamas fighters and sites, which according to the Geneva Conventions means if they become casualties in the process of attacking those they are protecting, it’s the fault of those hiding behind them. But good try at blaming Israel, guys.
Some 907 aid workers were killed, injured or kidnapped in 2025 versus 833 the year before, according to the Aid Worker Security Database, a platform funded by Canada and Australia that compiles major security incidents affecting aid workers.
Of those, 350 were killed, down slightly from a record 387 in 2024.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the level of violence is appalling and urges states to respect the rules of war and hold perpetrators accountable.
“Serving others has become more dangerous than ever,” he says, ahead of U.N. ceremonies planned for World Humanitarian Day with flags at half-staff in New York and Geneva in honor of those killed.
Gaza was by far the most deadly place for aid workers in 2025 with 186 humanitarian staffers killed there last year, the database showed, followed by Sudan. The UN Palestinian refugee agency has reported at least 393 staff killed there since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, 2023.
Israel has provided evidence of the refugee agency’s staffers taking part in the Hamas-led October 7 attack, in which some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed and 251 more kidnapped. It has claimed that the agency is riddled with members of Hamas and other terror groups, and has said it goes to great lengths to avoid harm to aid workers and civilians.
Bushra Khalidi, global humanitarian policy lead at Oxfam, calls for greater protections for aid workers, saying: “We’re witnessing an assault on humanitarian action itself.”
#2
Doesn't sound like the type of career to which I would aspire. Helping other people is very noble, of course, but you can't help anybody after you get yourself killed.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/20/2026 11:47 Comments ||
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[Rudaw] Iraq’s Khadamat Alliance on Tuesday rejected demands issued by Iran-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah for the disarmament of gangs, including the dissolution of the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmarga forces, denouncing the group’s position as a threat to stability and contrary to Iraq’s constitution.
Shibl al-Zayd, head of the Khadamat Alliance, framed the circulation of weapons outside state control, given the presence of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), as "a real threat to civil peace," warning "of real risks of using weapons in internal battles, especially with the absence and end of" American and other foreign military forces "against whom the weapons were directed," in response to remarks by security bigshot of Kata'ib Hezbollah Abu Mujahid al-Assaf regarding the latter’s disarmament.
He called on politicians to adopt and strengthen the law governing the PMF, an umbrella group representing a number of Iran-backed Shia paramilitary groups operating within Iraq, while maintaining its ideological character and ensuring that weapons are held by the state.
The disagreement comes as PM Ali al-Zaidi’s government seeks to consolidate weapons and security decisions under state authority, with September 30 set as the disarmament deadline, coinciding with the scheduled departure of US forces from Iraq.
Khadamat Alliance, which serves as a decisive political force within Iraq's ruling Shiite Coordination Framework, voiced their position after Assaf on Tuesday set three conditions for the group’s cooperation for disarmament.
The stipulations include the complete withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, including its airspace; the removal of US influence over Iraqi political and economic decisions; and the withdrawal of US forces from the Kurdistan Region and dissolution of the Peshmerga forces.
The dispute pits the government’s push to exercise illusory sovereignty and centralize control over weapons, against demands from powerful Iran-aligned factions demanding that disarmament be tied to the departure of foreign forces, going as far as to push for the removal of local Kurdistan Region security forces. Kata'ib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba have been among the factions opposing efforts to bring all weapons under direct state control.
[IsraelTimes] The Ministry of Construction and Housing has issued a tender to build 1,234 new housing units in the West Bank as part of the controversial E1 settlement expansion plan.
Bidding for the project — which both critics and proponents say will effectively divide the West Bank — will close on October 19, a week before the Knesset elections.
[IsraelTimes] The African nation of Burundi is actively discussing joining the International Stabilization Force meant to secure Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point postwar plan for the Strip, an official with knowledge of the matter tells The Times of Israel, confirming recent Hebrew media reports.
As part of a “pre-deployment site survey,” senior military officers from Burundi and Uganda – the latter of which announced earlier this month that it approved the deployment of troops to Gaza as part of the ISF – visited the southern Gazan city of Rafah amid preliminary discussions with the Israeli defense establishment about joining the force, the official adds, confirming a Channel 12 report.
Nonetheless, the defense establishment assesses that there will be no significant change or agreement concerning Gaza before the October 27 election in Israel, according to Channel 12.
“Against the backdrop of the political situation, we do not expect any progress toward an agreement in the Gaza Strip. No one will make a dramatic move in Gaza until the elections are over,” a security source tells Channel 12.
Hardening the country, house by house, until every blade of grass hides an Israeli marksman. Let us take a moment to remember that once upon a time Dr. Ruth, a war orphan recently arrived from Europe, was a sniper for Haganah.
[IsraelTimes] National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has extended gun license eligibility to nine small communities near Tel Aviv, his office announces, amid its push to expand civilian possession of firearms ahead of the upcoming Knesset election.
The decision applies to Kfar Chabad, Tzafria, Mishmar Hashiva, Zeitan, Nir Zvi, Hemed, Yagel, Ahiezer and Ganot. Kfar Chabad is home to about 7,000 people, Ganot is home to roughly 500 people and the other communities have about 1,000 residents each.
Residents of the nine communities may now apply for a firearm license in accordance with legal criteria, regardless of whether they served in the armed forces.
Ben Gvir, who has long touted his bid to put guns in the hands of civilians, said in the statement from his office, “My policy is clear: Guns in the right hands save lives.”
According to the statement, since Ben Gvir took office in late 2022, his office has designated 250 communities as eligible for firearms, 126 of them this year alone.
More than 280,000 people have received gun licenses following his push to expand eligibility, Ben Gvir’s office says.
Requests for gun permits surged in Israel following the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023.
The National Security Ministry granted temporary authority to Ben Gvir’s personal staff, Knesset employees and others to hand out gun licenses in the wake of the onslaught. Five people who previously worked in Ben Gvir’s office were subsequently investigated by police on suspicion that the ministry inappropriately issued licenses.
We’ll see things progress far enough that it ever gets spent…
[IsraelTimes] US President Donald Trump’s administration has told Congress it is sending more than $206 million for a proposed Gaza peacekeeping force, the first significant funding for Washington’s stalled plan to rebuild the devastated enclave.
In two July 30-dated notifications seen by Reuters, the State Department informed Congress it will provide $200 million for the International Stabilization Force’s (ISF) equipment, infrastructure, vehicles and operational costs. An additional $6 million would repurpose US armored vehicles to support the force.
The notifications, which were addressed to key appropriations and foreign affairs committees in Congress, have not been previously reported.
The funding is the first concrete US spending on the peacekeeping force and signals the administration’s determination to press ahead with Trump’s Gaza roadmap even as both Israel and Hamas have balked at conditions needed to advance the plan.
“The ISF will lead security operations, support comprehensive demilitarization, and enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and reconstruction material to Gaza,” one of the notifications says, while noting the final composition of the force was still being negotiated.
The administration has not said how much money will ultimately be needed to fund the force.
Trump set up a Board of Peace to oversee his ambitious plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza and rebuild the shattered territory. His plan envisioned that the peacekeeping force would deploy to Gaza to secure areas after Israeli forces withdraw and would train new Palestinian police forces, support aid deliveries and assist with Hamas’s disarmament.
While Hamas agreed to the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan on July 30, the effort has stalled amid Israel’s rejection of the plan.
Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner held meetings with Hamas officials on Sunday and Israeli leaders on Monday in Jerusalem but left without a breakthrough.
An official from the Board of Peace claims the last two weeks as a period of “significant advances” and says the board had sought additional funding pledges as a result.
The official says the funding was needed for the construction of a base for forces inside Gaza, among other reconstruction projects.
Member countries had initially pledged $17 billion for reconstruction efforts inside Gaza, but only a tiny fraction of the funds have been received.
[WashingtonFreeBeacon] ‘Dog Rape’ New York Times Columnist Delivers Another Dud as Harvard Prepares to Honor Him
Nicholas Kristof, the Israeli-dog-rape fantasizing New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... columnist whose father fought on the Nazi side in World War II and wrote a letter to the Times defending a Vichy war criminal, is back to his old tricks, with a new column that distorts reality about Judea and Samaria while also conceding that even getting rid of Prime Minister Netyanyahu won’t satisfy Kristof or other bitter critics of Israel.
The column comes as the dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, Jeremy Weinstein, is preparing to host Kristof on September 17 for what the Kennedy School calendar indicates is a reception and the Malcolm H. Weiner Lecture in International Political Economy. Kristof’s wife, Sheryl WuDunn, is vice chair of the executive committee of the Harvard Board of Overseers, one of the university’s two governing boards, and a 2018 Harvard Business School case study focused on the couple and "the power of writing to launch and sustain a movement."
The New York Times is not subject to the federal standards for antidiscrimination that universities are, notwithstanding that it runs a "school" at which boycott-Israel activist Zaina Arafat is a featured faculty member. Prime Minister Netanyahu, however, announced in May that he "instructed" his "legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof." And Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, earlier this month said he "ordered the Israeli Consulate in New York to cancel its subscription to The New York Times, a newspaper that consistently demonizes and delegitimizes the Jewish State and publishes false blood libels against the State of Israel." Akunis told the Washington Free Beacon that the trigger was a Times news article that, like the Kristof column, featured sources dedicated to Israel’s destruction making coordinated accusations of abuse, including one of rape, after being detained by Israel.
Whether Kristof’s column is legally actionable is a question for lawyers. What is certain is that it misleads readers about what the column calls "settler violence" in the West Bank, an area that includes Israeli residents and Arabs. The area was historically part of Israel and has recently been controlled by the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, the Kingdom of Jordan, and, since 1967, the modern state of Israel.
The column cites U.N. statistics that, as a recent report by Pesach Benson and Brett Goodman of The Press Service of Israel pointed out, lump self-defense killings of Death Eaters by Israelis in with "settler violence." As Benson and Goodman put it, "The database uses a broader definition than the phrase ’settler violence’ may suggest." For example, "Qalandiya Refugee Camp, May 11: OCHA reported that Israeli forces shot and killed a Paleostinian man, held his body, confiscated his car and fired live ammunition and tear gas, injuring three people. It also reported that Israeli forces entered a training center in the refugee camp, photographing and measuring the structure. However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... the Israeli Border Police said soldiers saw the man exit a vehicle and fire at them with an M-16 rifle equipped with a telescopic sight; security forces returned fire, killing him."
A June publication by Eugene Kontorovich and Avraham Shalev for the Kohelet Policy Forum found the U.N. group Kristof relied on uses a definition "so broad as to include cases in which Paleostinians were maimed or killed as a result of an attack they committed against Jews, as well as anti-terror operations by Israeli security forces." The incidents include alleged cases of Israelis "trespassing," "with no casualties or property damage." According to the Kohelet report, "Out of 1,704 incidents recorded in East Jerusalem, 1,361 involve Jews visiting the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, which Paleostinians believe they should not be allowed to access. 1,613 incidents in Judea and Samaria involve Israelis hiking or touring land Paleostinians claim Jews should be forbidden from." Kristof doesn’t mention that, offering only, lamely, that "the circumstances are often disputed."
The Kristof column makes it sound like the problem is "getting worse." He writes, "settler attacks causing damage or injury are at the highest level in two decades, with an average of five a day last year. That rose to six a day in the first half of this year, according to United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... figures."
What he does not level with readers about is that, even on the basis of the U.N.’s questionable figures, deaths and injuries of Paleostinians in the West Bank are down. Here are the statistics from the page that Kristof links to using the misleading language about "highest level in two decades." They show the injuries and fatalities both having declined.
One conclusion of the Kristof column is indeed inarguable: that even if Israeli voters replace Benjamin Netanyahu, Kristof and likeminded critics of Israel will not be satisfied. "I’m hoping that Netanyahu’s political end is coming," Kristof writes. "But even if that happens, let’s be honest: Gazooks will still suffer unconscionably, and the West Bank will remain oppressed and unequal."
Let’s be honest that that suffering results less from Israeli actions and more from Paleostinian terrorism, Islamist extremism, and refusal to accept the existence of Israel. One other statistic not in the Kristof column: a new Paleostinian poll indicating that 79 percent of those in the West Bank oppose Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... disarmament. "Opposition to Hamas disarming before a complete Israeli withdrawal stands at 62% 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 and 79% in the West Bank," the poll found. Thirty-two percent of the Paleostinians polled said they support armed struggle against "the occupation." Polling in unfree societies such as the Paleostinian Authority or the Hamas-controlled West Bank is notoriously unreliable, but even so, the idea that Israel can just withdraw from the West Bank the way it did from Gaza seems like a fantasy. Kristof will keep blaming Israel and American "complicity" and it will keep bringing him lots of honor and honoraria from Harvard.
#1
Uh, we don't really want to be waving around that "war criminal" stuff.
If we've learned anything it's that people who call others war criminals are just angry that those who fucked around found out.
Then they get sanctioned and their bank accounts closed.
[IsraelTimes] PM says message now conveyed ‘more clearly’ to Ankara; sources say Mossad chief discussed issue last week with Syrian FM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted on Wednesday that Israel had already warned The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... against any military activity in Syria before Israel bombed an airbase that Ankara had been eyeing, while sources told Rooters that the Mosssd ...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end... chief discussed the issue last week with the Syrian foreign minister.
Speaking in a podcast interview a day after Israel struck a military airbase in northwest Syria, Netanyahu said that Israel will not tolerate a Ottoman Turkish military buildup "that descends south because it threatens us."
Warning Turkey against such military activity in Syria, Netanyahu simply said "Don’t," in English.
"The message was conveyed but apparently they didn’t hear it, so we made sure they understood it more clearly," he added.
Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, the pilot and the copilot had both hit the silk.
Jack! Cynthia exclaimed. Do you know how to drive one of these things?
Jack wiped some of the blood from his knuckles.
No, he said. Do you?... three people familiar with the matter told Rooters on Wednesday that Mossad chief Roman Gofman held a phone call last week with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in which they discussed Turkey’s military presence in Syria.
The call, which the sources said took place on August 14, marks one of the highest-level contacts yet between Israel and the new Syrian government since the fall of former dictator Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... in December 2024.
Both Turkey and Syria reacted angrily to the Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!...
…Sultan Recep Tayip Erdogan the first, “the Much Beloved” is getting stroppy because his play to expand into Syria on his way to conquer the mistakenly and temporarily independent (or so he must believe, poor man) land of the Jews was spiked…
which Damascus said caused material damage but no casualties. The strike was also condemned by US Ambassador Tom Barrack, who called it an “unnecessary escalation.”
Condemning the strike, Syria’s foreign ministry said that it “has exercised restraint and worked to consolidate stability and avoid escalation.”
Despite tensions between the neighbors — in particular over the presence of Israeli troops in a southern Syria buffer zone — Israel and Syria’s new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks and have agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism.
But Israel has repeatedly raised the alarm about an entrenched Turkish presence in Syria, and in a statement Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office asserted that Turkish troops were allowed to deploy at the airbase, breaching an agreed-upon “status quo.”
Israel “repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security,” the statement added, and “Syria chose to ignore these warnings.”
While Turkey accused Israel of making baseless allegations, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the strikes came after “a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the airfield in recent days,” while several Syrian officials also confirmed to The Associated Press that the Turkish visit had recently taken place.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since the December 2024 toppling of Assad by Islamist forces led by former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa, who relies on support from Turkey and has received enthusiastic backing from US President Donald Trump. But this strike goes much further into Syria than the so-called security zone in southern Israel.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak accused Netanyahu on Wednesday of being “reckless and stupid” in escalating tensions with Turkey, alleging that the prime minister was attempting to “stir public anxiety” ahead of the upcoming national election.
“Turkey is not Iran or Assad’s Syria,” wrote Barak in a series of posts on X. “There is no strategic problem with Turkey that cannot be resolved, mitigated, or postponed over the long term through discreet contacts coordinated with the United States and its influence in Turkey and Syria. Netanyahu has completely gone off the rails.”
The former prime minister remembers a far different Turkey. Today’s Turkey eagerly hosts Hamas, which it aids and abets for its own, Byzantine purposes. More from the Times of Israel:
Turkey’s presidency said on X, without explicitly referring to any potential deployment plans, “Turkey will resolutely continue to cooperate with the Syrian Government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace, stability, and prosperity in Syria, and will never allow the destabilization of Syria.”
Two officials — who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly — said the Turkish delegation had visited the airbase in the northwestern province of Idlib Monday to review rehabilitation work underway at the facility. It was the first confirmation of a Turkish presence at the Abu Duhur base.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited troops in the Israel-held buffer zone in southern Syria Wednesday morning, and said Israel “will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along our borders.”
“We see what is happening and are monitoring the changes on the Syrian front. We must prepare for them accordingly,” he said, according to remarks provided by the IDF. “We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along our borders, and we will know how to use our power precisely where it is needed and when it is needed.”
The IDF chief added that the military “must prevent the development of terror threats, while at the same time preventing the emergence of a significant military threat along our borders.”
The Israeli strikes on Tuesday followed worsening security tensions between Israel and Turkey and increasingly sharp rhetoric between the two countries over Syria, where both countries’ militaries are active.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and has emerged as one of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s main allies, accuses Israel of trying to destabilize Syria and undermine its new administration, repeatedly calling for international pressure and measures on Israel to respect Syria’s territorial integrity.
Ankara has been training Syria’s army, helping it rebuild its state institutions and infrastructure, and providing military and diplomatic support.
Israel meanwhile has accused Turkey of trying to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate and of taking advantage of the fall of the Assad regime for its own ends.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2026 08:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Four commanders in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City yesterday, the military announces.
Palestinian media reported that the strike on a cafe near the city’s port killed six — including a child — and wounded 14, including an elderly woman.
The IDF says it was able to confirm that the strike killed four Nukhba Force commanders in Hamas’s Beit Lahia Battalion.
They are named as: Muhammad Hamdi Ahmed al-Masri, a company commander; Samad Samir Harb Abu Jabal, a platoon commander who invaded Israel during the October 7 onslaught; Muhammad Attar, a platoon commander; and Muhammad Fathi Hussein Nasser, also a platoon commander.
The military says the operatives were involved in advancing attacks on troops.
“The commanders’ activities posed a threat to IDF troops, and they were therefore eliminated in an aerial strike to remove the threat,” the army adds.
[IsraelTimes] Two Hamas tunnels, spanning in total some two kilometers (1.2 miles) underground, were recently sealed by combat engineers, the IDF announces.
The IDF says the tunnels were found in central and southern Gaza, amid efforts to clear the Israeli-held portion of the Strip of Hamas infrastructure.
The army says it used concrete to close off the tunnels. Sealing tunnels with concrete can be a cheaper and less risky alternative to blowing them up, although it takes longer to carry out.
שני תוואים תת-קרקעים נוספים נאטמו ברצועת עזה: פעילות כוחות החטיבה הדרומית ויחידת יהל"ם
“Not only did I have to give back my beautiful Jewish slave girl, but we’re living in a friggin tent and the IDF has my face on their Kill list. Screw Hamas!”
[IsraelTimes] A poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows a decline in support for Hamas, particularly among Palestinians in the West Bank.
The survey, conducted earlier this month, found that 42 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with Hamas’s performance during the war with Israel, down from 60% in the previous poll conducted in late October 2025.
In the West Bank, 45% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the terror group, a sharp drop from 66% who were happy with Hamas 10 months ago. In Gaza, the fall-off was slightly less pronounced, going from 51% in October to 38% in the more recent poll.
In the previous poll, conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Gaza ceasefire deal, 39% of respondents overall said Hamas had emerged victorious. Today, that figure has fallen to 20%, with another 15% saying Israel won and 60% maintaining that neither side emerged victorious.
In the West Bank, the proportion of respondents who believe Hamas won the war fell sharply, from 48% in October 2025 to 21% in August 2026.
Asked which Palestinian political faction they support, 24% of respondents said Fatah and an identical 24% said Hamas. In the last poll, 35% said they supported Hamas, while 24% backed Fatah.
That decline was also particularly pronounced in the West Bank, where support for Hamas fell from 32% in October 2025 to 18% in the latest poll.
Seventy-two percent of respondents said the terror group should not give up its weapons before a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, while 20% said it should.
Nearly 50% of respondents say they believe Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Palestinian legislative elections will be held at the end of November. Elections have not been held since 2006, with plans for a vote repeatedly called off for Abbas in the last two decades.
Were presidential elections held, imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti remains the most popular candidate, with 56% saying they would vote for him over Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya (26%) or Abbas (14%).
The poll, overseen by Khalil Shikaki, surveyed 830 Palestinians in the West Bank and 440 in the Gaza Strip between August 5 and 8. It carries a 3.5% margin of error.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The US Army is set to phase out its drone assault battalion in a shock 'back to basics' U-turn that critics are branding 'deeply regretful and dangerous.'
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the Army declared that it would be shifting its focus away from its battalion exploring drones and ground robots.
The move comes after the unit participated in a 'major exercise' in Germany in August and September, the outlet reported.
They are set to report their findings back to the Army for any future experimentation before the idea is shelved and the unit returns to 'core warfighting tasks as an airborne infantry battalion,' an Army official told the Journal.
General Christopher LaNeve, acting chief of staff of the Army, told the outlet that the strategy was part of a 'back to basics' shift.
Still cleaning out the nonsense absorbed during the Biden-Harris Politburo’s DEI push? Drones and robots can be slotted into place once the basics are consistently mastered again.
LaNeve replaced General Randy George who championed the robotic initiative, but was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in April. LaNeve had previously served as Hegseth's senior military assistant in the Pentagon, the New York Times reported.
The drone-assault battalion was brought on amid the war in Ukraine, where tactics using drones have proved a powerful force.
Mykhailo Fedorov, former Minister of Defense in Ukraine, championed their developing defense industry as a 'global epicenter for military technological innovation,' the New Voice of Ukraine reported.
#6
The daily mail, which never met a slander article from the Wall St Urinal it didn't like, is a writeup of misrepresentation and flat out lies.
Yes, the specialized battalions are being removed. They are being broken up and pushed down to the infantry battalions as an integrated part of the unit. Lessons from Ukraine showed that this capability embedded at the smaller unit worked a lot better.
So no U-turn, more of a redeployment into the actual units that will need them.
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s armed forces warn Gulf countries against assisting the US military, saying it would be tantamount to joining American military operations.
“We wish to warn that any assistance or facilitation provided to the aggressor US military amounts to participation in the US military operation,” armed forces chief of staff Ali Abdollahi says, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.
“It seems unlikely that such a large number of military aircraft, particularly refueling aircraft, could be present at regional bases without knowledge of host countries,” Abdollahi adds.
“The countries bordering the Persian Gulf, which have issued various statements saying they would not allow the United States to use their territory against Iran, should know that we are fully aware of the situation.”
[IsraelTimes] Iran has considered targeting US military sites or assets in Europe should fighting flare up again, the Financial Times reports, citing regime insiders.
According to the British news outlet, military assets in Bulgaria or Cyprus could be attacked, significantly expanding the reach of the regime’s retaliatory action, which has focused mainly on the Middle East until now. Both countries have military bases that have been available to US troops and equipment.
During the war that broke out on February 28, Iran managed to shoot a missile at the Diego Garcia air base some 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) away in the southern Indian Ocean, signaling its ability to fire at nearly anywhere in Europe, though analysts say the increased range would come at the cost of a smaller warhead, minimizing potential damage.
Israeli officials have repeatedly warned of the Iranian threat to Europe.
The regime insiders quoted in the report also raised the possibility of damaging fiber-optic cables running under the Strait of Hormuz, which could significantly impair telecommunications.
One is cited saying Iran would have “no limits” on its response should the US attack. “Should the US go too far, Iran will defend itself at any price, go beyond the region and hit Europe too,” they are quoted saying.
The second insider tells the paper that threatened US attacks on infrastructure would trigger the wider response, pointing to an attack on Jordan in which three US servicemembers were killed as proof of Tehran’s targeting capabilities.
“This was also a message to Europe: it can receive missiles, so it should know where it should stand in this war,” they are quoted saying. “A very big mistake, such as hitting our infrastructure, could make the war go beyond the region and reach Europe.”
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2026 08:00 ||
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#1
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi, UAE, Oman are US security partners and have to help us. Iran knows this. Qatar hosts CENTCOM forward HQ and Bahrain has Fifth Fleet HQ.
Our bases in Israel will be attacked too but we expect that. Unlike the others Israel is well capable of defending itself. Because we all know the best defense is a good offense. IDF will be in there right with us.
#2
America doesn’t have any bases in Israel — at the moment some of our Air Force stuff is temporarily turning around on Israeli bases. Only Israel has bases in Israel.
[RedState] Iran's regime fired two ballistic missiles toward shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates has had enough. Abu Dhabi responded by severing every trade, commercial, and financial transaction with the terror state, effective immediately.
Roughly $28 billion in annual commerce is now gone. The UAE was Iran's single largest source of imports, a lifeline the mullahs just torched with their own missiles.
UAE Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Afra Al Hameli made it official Wednesday. No end date. No conditions. Just a hard stop tied to Iran's escalating aggression.
"All trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been halted until further notice."
No exemptions. No timeline for resumption. Al Hameli also cited international law and the integrity of the global financial system, the kind of language that signals Abu Dhabi is done playing nice.
Neither missile hit land. The UAE said one went down inside its territorial waters and the other outside. Dubai residents first got a warning to find shelter, then an all-clear. Officials reported no injuries or damage.
The UAE Defense Ministry believes the missiles were targeting ships and warned that Emirati forces are at full readiness. Tehran would be wise to believe them.
Tehran, predictably, denied everything. Regime spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called the accusation "baseless" and accused the UAE of violating "the principle of good-neighborly relations." Rich, coming from a government that has spent months firing missiles and attacking tankers. Iran has also refused to claim responsibility for recent strikes on Emirati oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2026 04:20 ||
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#1
UAE took long enough to think it through.
Iran had already sent over 500 missiles and over 2000 drone to attack the UAE.
Slow learners.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/20/2026 13:18 Comments ||
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Aug 19, 2026
[North Press] Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said on Wednesday that Syria is one of several fronts where challenges facing Israel are changing, stressing the need to monitor developments there and prepare for them.
“We are operating on multiple fronts where the challenges are changing, and Syria is one of them,” Zamir said, according to Israeli media reports.
“We are monitoring what is happening in Syria and the ongoing changes, and we must prepare for them,” he added.
Zamir said Israel would not allow hostile forces to establish positions along its border.
“We know how to use force precisely when necessary and at the right time,” he said.
He also stressed the need to prevent a military threat from emerging along Israel’s border, saying that the Israeli military had established a security area and a buffer zone for that purpose.
Zamir’s remarks came as Israel continues to monitor developments in Syria and maintain military positions near the Syrian border. Israeli media reported that he conducted a military assessment focused on developments along the Syrian front.
Posted by: badanov ||
08/20/2026 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria/HTS
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.
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
[SDUT] 
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
