Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council	American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council	American Muslim Foundation	Home Front				20031001
American Muslim Council	American Muslim Council	American Muslim Foundation	Home Front				20031001

Iraq

$73 million in development projects approved for newly-declared Halabja province

2025-05-27

Keeping an eye on our friends, the Kurds.

[Rudaw] The Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers on Sunday granted approval for nine major development projects in Halabja province, valued at approximately 96.65 billion Iraqi dinars ($73.3 million), including the construction of a free trade zone, multiple infrastructure upgrades, and a new provincial building.

The decision followed a meeting between Halabja Governor Nuxsha Nasih and Omed Sabah, head of the Council of Ministers’ Presidency Office.

Commenting on the decision on her Facebook page, Nasih described the projects as “necessary” to “better serve citizens.”

The projects include several road projects worth around 50.9 billion Iraqi dinars ($38.8 million), a combined road and sewerage project worth 14.4 billion Iraqi dinars ($10.9 million), and a memorial construction project budgeted at $16.3 million.

An additional 10 billion dinars ($7.6 million) was allocated to support border departments, including bulldozers, loaders, trucks, excavators, road rollers, water tankers, shovels, bobcats, graders, and trailers.

In April, Iraq’s parliament officially recognized Halabja as the country’s 19th province and the Kurdistan Region’s fourth, passing a long-awaited bill during a session attended by 178 of the 329 lawmakers.

The Iraqi Council of Ministers had initially approved Halabja’s status change in December 2013, separating it from Sulaimani province, but political disputes delayed the formalization for over a decade.

Halabja stands out as a potent symbol of Kurdish resilience. On March 16, 1988, near the end of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, the forces of toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein bombed Halabja with chemical weapons. The gruesome attack claimed the lives of at least 5,000 people - mostly women and children - and injured thousands more. Of note, the Halabja chemical attack was part of the Baath regime’s broader Anfal campaign in which more than 182,000 Kurds were killed.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Soviet Army in Nazi Germany: On the facts of violation of the regime on the line of contact with the allied troops

2025-05-26

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Text taken from a post in the Russian/Soviet history site istmat.org

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] Document signed by Zhukov on violations on the line of contact with the Allied troops in Germany. The other side of the "spirit of the Elbe".

ORDER OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE GROUP OF SOVIET OCCUPATION FORCES IN GERMANY.
AUGUST 29, 1945 No. 090 POTSDAM
On the facts of violations of the regime on the line of contact with the Allied troops and the unworthy behavior of a number of officers in the performance of their official duties.

Recently, numerous cases of violation of military discipline and border regulations on the line of contact with the Allied forces have reached threatening proportions.

Servicemen and especially officers cross the border without permission, meet and establish contact with English and American soldiers and officers on Allied territory. They organize joint drinks with them, take photographs, conduct official conversations, and also travel around the cities of Western Germany and France, visit theaters, museums, brothels, and as a result of laxness and chatter, divulge military secrets.

On July 22 of this year, the assistant chief of the intelligence department of the 27th Guards Division headquarters, Captain Ivanov, together with the commander of the 3rd battalion of the 76th Guards Regiment, Major Chernousov, while checking the security service, entered into a conversation with an American sentry and demanded that he call American officers for negotiations.

Captain Ivanov, together with a sentry, went to the American outpost, brought back four officers and 20 liters of wine and organized a drinking party with the Americans right at the border. The head of the medical service of the 27th Guards Rifle Division, Major of the Medical Service Katalkin, the senior doctor of the 76th Guards Rifle Regiment, Captain Satanovsky and Major Chernousov also took part in the drinking party.

Having drunk the brought wine, the drunken company went to continue drinking in a restaurant.

In the evening, a film was shown to the American officers at the location of the 7th Rifle Division of the 76th Guards Rifle Regiment.

During the drinking party, the officers held conversations regarding the numbering and deployment areas of the units. Captain Ivanov willingly answered the questions of the American officers.

On July 23 of this year, Captain Ivanov and Major of the Medical Service Katalkin with the driver Butovsky traveled in a passenger car to the side of the American troops, where they again met with American officers. Subsequently, the driver Butovsky deserted from his unit.

The commander of the 1st battalion of the 712th Rifle Regiment of the 139th Rifle Division (47th army), Major Slepnikov, and his deputy for political affairs, Captain Lagutsky, repeatedly sent their orderlies to the side of the allied forces for alcoholic beverages.

On July 5 and 7 of this year, the outpost chief of the 1281st Rifle Regiment of the 60th rifle division (47th army), Lieutenant Atayev, and on July 29, the deputy battalion commander of the 316th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 102nd Guards Rifle Division (2nd Infantry Division), Lieutenant Yankovchuk, went without permission to the British side, from where they brought alcoholic beverages and other things.

Privates Moguyev (286th Rifle Regiment of the 90th Rifle Division), Kolobanov, Zaikov (316th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 102nd Guards Rifle Division), trying to desert, went over to the side of the British troops, changed into civilian clothes and drank for several days. The deserters were detained. Officers and privates of the allied armies are also going over to our side, taking advantage of the assistance of our military personnel.

On July 14 of this year, four American soldiers detained at the border presented a pass for the right to cross the line of contact, issued by the deputy commander of the 3rd battalion of the 712th Regiment, Captain Lushin.

These American soldiers were in our unit, where they drank alcoholic beverages together with Captain Lushin and Lieutenant Kapustinsky. On July 16, the aforementioned soldiers, already in a Willis, heading "to visit" Captain Lushin, were again detained at the border. Captain Lushin, who arrived at the place of detention, ordered the release of the detainees at gunpoint. As it turned out, Lushin received two cans of gasoline from the American soldiers, 20 liters each.

On July 23, an American car with three unknown persons detained at the border was released by the senior officer of the post, Junior Sergeant Andreyev (712th Rifle Regiment of the 47th Army), and Andreyev received a bottle of vodka for this.

Individual servicemen of our troops, sent by the command to the zone of occupation of the allied forces with special assignments, without any need for it, travel around the cities of other foreign countries, where they meet, talk and take pictures with servicemen of these countries.

On July 13 of this year, officers of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army - Major Simonyan and translator Altaeva, sent to the city of MUNICH to accompany pilots of the 14th Squadron of the 9th Air Fleet of the American army, organized a meeting with American officers and "traveled" with them for a long time in the zone of their occupation.

On July 28, Simonyan, Altaeva and driver Pavlov were again sent on an assignment to the city of FRANKFURT am MAIN, and the deputy. chief of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army - Lieutenant Colonel Matusov to the area of the city of MUNICH.

On July 29, Matusov traveled from MUNICH to FRANKFURT am MAIN without permission, where he met with Simonyan. That same day, all of the above-mentioned individuals, on their own initiative, left for PARIS, and also visited many other cities in France and Germany, where they visited theaters, museums, brothels, and interacted with foreign servicemen. While in PARIS, Matusov and Simonyan exchanged occupation marks for francs at banks, for which they purchased various items for personal use.

A number of servicemen, while guarding the western border of the Soviet occupation zone, illegally allowed Germans to cross to our side, as well as to the side of the allied forces.

On July 28, at the 2nd battalion of the 951st Rifle Regiment of the 265th Rifle Division (3rd Infantry Division), sentry sergeant Mamedov allowed 15 Germans to cross the contact line, having received from them a bribe of 5 watches.

On August 5 and 8, the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 151st Guards Regiment of the 52nd Guards Division (3rd Infantry Division) — Lieutenant Kulakov and the sergeant major of the same company Arshinov allowed 4 Germans to cross to the Allied side and back.

Lieutenant Kulakov and sergeant major Arshinov were tried by the Military Tribunal. Sergeant Mamedov was sentenced to 2.5 years in a labor camp.

The listed facts testify to the lack of discipline on the border of the Soviet occupation zone and are the result of low demands and weak control of superiors over subordinates and direct violation of official duty on the part of a number of military personnel and officers, mainly.

I ORDER:

1. Army commanders, commanders of formations and units to establish a strict border regime and categorically prohibit unauthorized meetings and communications of military personnel of all categories with military personnel of the allied armies, both on the territory of our zone and on the territory of the allied occupation zone.

2. Official meetings to resolve official issues, as well as business trips with special assignments to the territory of the allies, are to be carried out only with the permission of the Military Council of the Group.

3. Servicemen of all categories shall be removed from their posts and brought to trial by a Military Tribunal for dissoluteness, unauthorized crossing into territory occupied by the allies, communication with servicemen of the allied armies, illegal issuance of passes for crossing into our territory and into the territory of the allies, and violation of their official duties while guarding the border.

4. For violation of their official duties and unworthy behavior in the performance of their official duties, the assistant chief of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the 27th Guards Rifle Division, Captain Ivanov, shall be removed from his post and brought to trial by a Military Tribunal.

Privates of the 286th Rifle Regiment of the 90th Rifle Division, the 316th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 102nd Guards Rifle Division, shall be brought to trial by a Military Tribunal as deserters.

To remove from office - the commander of the 3rd battalion of the 76th Guards Rifle Regiment, Major Chernousov,

The head of the medical service of the 27th Guards Rifle Division, and

The commander of the 102nd Guards Rifle Division, Major Ivanov.

Major Katalkin, deputy. commander of the 3rd rifle battalion of the 712th Rifle Regiment,

Captain Lushin, head of the 2nd section of the reconnaissance department of the 8th Guards.

Major Simonyan, senior doctor of the 76th Guards Rifle Regiment -

Captain Satanovsky, company commander of the 1281st Rifle Regiment -

Lieutenant Atayev, deputy. battalion commander of the 316th Guards Rifle Regiment

Lieutenant Yankovchuk and appoint all with a demotion of 1 - 2 categories.

Junior sergeant Andreev (712th Rifle Regiment 47th Army) - demote to private.
Ouch!
Commander of the 1st rifle battalion of the 712th Rifle Regiment - Major Slepkov, deputy, commander of the 1st rifle battalion of the 712th Rifle Regiment

Captain Lagutsky, commander of the medium 712th Rifle Regiment -

Lieutenant Kapustinsky and an interpreter of the reconnaissance department of the headquarters of the 8th Guards. A - To Altayev, the army commanders, to punish by their authority and report to me.

The order is to be announced in front of the formation to the entire officer corps up to and including the platoon commander. The sergeants and privates are to explain the essence of the order.

Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Zhukov

Member of the Military Council of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany Lieutenant General Telegin

Chief of Staff of the Group Colonel General Malinin

Archives of the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. F. 1227. Op. 1. D. 41. L. 415-416ob

And so, along with the wine fumes, the notorious "spirit of the Elbe" gradually evaporated.

By the way, I found something interesting here It turns out that they punished not only for rape, but even for the simple fact of cohabitation with German women in the territory controlled by Germany.

Guards Senior Lieutenant Stepanov was dismissed from the ranks of the Red Army for the revealed facts of cohabitation with German women, drunkenness and looting as morally corrupt. And several other officers along with him.

The order on them was read out in all units of the Red Army group in Germany.

Link

Home Front: Politix

US National Security Council staff fired en masse, including Mideast, Israel, Iran chiefs

2025-05-26

Goodness. Somebody must have been awfully naughty.

[IsraelTimes] The top US National Security Council (NSC) officials for the Middle East, Israel and Iran
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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
were among many dozens of officials dismissed from their roles as part of a major overhaul of the White House body by Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
’s administration, a source familiar with the matter confirms to The Times of Israel.

NSC Middle East and North Africa senior director Eric Trager and NSC Israel and Iran director Merav Ceren were among those pushed out on Friday, May 23, as part of a purge aimed at significantly downsizing the NSC staff, the source says, confirming reporting in the Axios news site and Jewish Insider.

The move is expected to elevate the importance of the State Department and Pentagon in advising Trump on important foreign policy moves. But, ultimately, Trump relies on his own instincts above all else when making decisions.

There were roughly 395 people working at the NSC, including about 180 support staff, according to one official. A large chunk of those being ousted are policy or subject-matter experts seconded from other government agencies. They will be given an opportunity to return to their home agencies if they want.

Many of the political appointees will also be given positions elsewhere in the administration, the official said.

The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult during the early going of Trump’s second go-around in the White House.

Trump previously ousted National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, weeks after he fired several NSC officials on the day after the influential far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty. Loomer has in the past spread 9/11 conspiracy theories and promoted QAnon, an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory centered on the belief that Trump is fighting the "deep state," and she took credit for the ouster of the NSC officials that she argued were disloyal.

Trager and Ceren were both hired by Waltz.

Link

Great White North

Israel issues security warning for Jews and Israelis in Canada

2025-05-26

[IsraelTimes] The National Security Council (NSC) has issued a Level 2 travel warning for Canada, urging Israelis living in or visiting the country to take increased precautions. The NSC advises people to avoid wearing visible displays of Israeli or Jewish identity, such as symbols or flags, and to remain highly alert in public spaces.

The warning comes as anti-Israel protests are scheduled for today in cities like Toronto and Waterloo, with authorities noting a sharp escalation in rhetoric and threats surrounding these protests, the NSC says.

The advisory follows a rise in threats and attacks targeting Israeli and Jewish communities over the past 18 months, including shootings, Molotov cocktail attacks, and direct threats against Jewish institutions and individuals, the NSC notes.

Those attending public events are advised to follow instructions from local police and security services and avoid confrontations with demonstrators.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Fulani Herdsmen Must Vacate Farmlands – Benue Monarchs Declare After Emergency Meeting

2025-05-26

[SaharaReporters] The Idoma Area Traditional Council of Benue State has called on the state government to direct Fulani
Fulani herdsman herding

... a peculiarly brutal tribe of Moslem herdsmen infesting Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and probably other places that are light on law and order and heavy on tribal identity...
herdsmen to vacate all farmlands in the state.

The council made this demand in a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting to discuss security concerns, land use, and peacebuilding in Idoma.

"We urge the government to prevail on the Fulani herdsmen to vacate all farmlands in Benue State," the council said.

"The continuous occupation of our farmlands by these herdsmen is a recipe for disaster and has led to the loss of lives and property."

The monarchs also called on the government to review its land policies to promote equitable access to land resources for both farming and herding activities.

"There is a need for a comprehensive review of land policies to ensure that both farmers and herders have access to land resources," the council stated.

The council further demanded that the government prioritise the enforcement of laws against illegal arms, criminal activities, and unauthorised land use, with offenders facing prosecution.

"We urge the government to prioritise the enforcement of laws against illegal arms, criminal activities, and unauthorised land use," the communiqué read.

"We also demand that the government provide rehabilitation, counseling, and support services to communities and individuals affected by violence and displacement. The government should also deploy additional security personnel to vulnerable areas and conduct conflict resolution training to deter future violence," the council added.

The monarchs' demand comes amid ongoing conflicts between farmers and herdsmen in the region, with some communities experiencing attacks and displacement.

The council's call for the herdsmen to vacate farmlands is seen as a bid to prevent further festivities and ensure peace in the area.

Link

Home Front: Politix

New York City Faces the Threat of an Antisemitic Mayor

2025-05-25

[Hot Air] The surest way to trigger the collapse of New York City is to elect an antisemitic mayor.

Throughout history, rising antisemitism is a bellwether of societal ruin: When attacks on Jews are tolerated or encouraged, the dissolution of everyone's rights and the abandonment of basic freedoms follow.

See the Spanish Inquisition, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union for examples.

It could happen here. Electing a Jew-hating mayor who turns a blind eye to antisemitic crime will drive out huge numbers of city residents -- including some of its wealthiest -- erode the real estate market, hollow out cultural institutions and lead to moral implosion.

Everyone who can leave, Jews and non-Jews alike, will flee.

Being Jewish in NYC is already getting uncomfortable.

We see swastikas scrawled on walls and desks in some public schools, students elsewhere casually referring to high performers in math as "the Jew table," a Queens community garden posting a ban on Zionists, a 13-year-old Jewish boy slapped in the face while riding his bike through his neighborhood -- such incidents are no longer shocking.

The most dangerous wolf in sheep's clothing: Zohran Mamdani,

…like Ilhan Omar he is the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidate. The red diaper baby of ethnic Indian immigrant academics (Columbi U, natch) parrots all the usual anti-Jew/Israel shibboleths while insisting he is also a Shiite Moslem, suggesting an important Iran connection…

a state assemblyman currently polling second in the Democratic primary behind former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Never forget what he did to the old folks during Covid, though he most assuredly has…

Mamdani is making the rounds at Jewish events. He's attended at least seven public and private meetings and meals with Jewish leaders in the last month.

On Friday he posted an official campaign video proclaiming himself a defender of the Jewish people, promising an "800% increase" in city spending to "combat antisemitism."

"In this election, we're seeing ... the pain of Jewish New Yorkers being weaponized as a talking point," he moaned.

Don't fall for his new guise: Mamdani has backed the odious Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement,

…a soft jihad project by the PLO (remember them?) against Israel when the wars and intifadas failed that taken up with glee by Progressive “thinkers” around the world who love to claim that Jew-hate is a phenomenon only of the Right…

calls Israel's actions against Gaza "genocide," and recently refused to cosponsor two Assembly resolutions to condemn the Holocaust and recognize the state of Israel.

His campaign claims are just not credible.

"Mamdani has been fanning the flames of antisemitism, and now he wants us to believe he's the firefighter," warns David Greenfield of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a major Jewish charity.

The New York Times calls Mamdani's stance on Jews and Israel "nuanced." Nonsense: He's a morally bankrupt Jew-hater.

Meanwhile, Cuomo is betting big on Jewish voters, relying on a track record of supporting Israel and promoting its business ties with New York, as well as signing an anti-BDS bill in 2016.

But his outreach appears to be inch-deep: After leaving the governor's office in shame, Cuomo launched the group Never Again NOW! at the tony Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton, promising a lecture series and a paid media campaign to combat anti-Jewish hate.

But nothing followed -- and not even the website has been updated.

Was it merely a convenient way for a disgraced former governor to reconnect with the donor class? Probably.

Maybe Mayor Eric Adams'

…thrust out by the ones who brung ‘im for daring to complain about the harms caused by the couple ten thousand illegals bussed to his city from Texas and Florida when the Biden-Harris Politburo were letting in millions, he has solidly turned to the pro-Israel /Jewish, anti-illegal, law-and-order voters he first appealed to before pivoting to the Defund The Police branch of the Democrats. He handles rotational dizziness well…

newly announced Office to Combat Antisemitism will produce real results.

Adams, who is not competing in the June 24 primary, hopes to appear on November's general election ballot as an independent candidate on two lines -- including one called "EndAntiSemitism."

It's outright pandering, but there's no question Adams has been a staunch ally of the Jewish community and a backer of Israel's military campaign against Hamas.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

3 Arab-Israelis indicted for smuggling drugs and cigarettes into Gaza via drones

2025-05-25

From a week ago

[IsraelTimes] Police say smuggling is a security threat since drones could fall into Hamas’s hands; Danish authorities nab man for selling drones to terror group to be used in attack

State prosecutors on Monday filed an indictment against three Arab Israelis, after they were arrested by security forces on suspicion of smuggling drugs into 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 via drone.

Police officers, Shin Bet agents and IDF soldiers arrested the three Negev residents — Muhammad Sarahin, Sharif Abu-Gardud, and Younes Abu-Gardud — in April.

They were accused of carrying out multiple drug and cigarette smuggling operations from Israel to Gaza, leaving the drones in the enclave.

Police said the smuggling posed a "direct threat to national security" given the worry that the drones, which can carry loads of dozens of kilograms, could fall into the hands of Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
Officers requested to extend their detention until the end of legal proceedings.

The three defendants "were involved in exporting dangerous drugs by drone to the Gaza Strip during wartime, while fully aware that the entity controlling Gaza is the Hamas terror group, which would be able to use the drones that the defendants brought to Gaza for terrorist activities," state prosecutor Assaf Bar Yosef said.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that cigarettes were regularly smuggled into war-torn Gaza via humanitarian aid

trucks, having been placed there by UN and Israeli accomplices. Once past inspection and inside Gaza, the aid trucks were targeted by both smugglers retrieving their goods and other criminals hoping to get to them first, drawn by the contraband’s sky-high prices.

Following the outbreak of the war with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack— when some 5,000 murderous Moslems invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages— Israel limited imports into Gaza to essential goods, a category that does not include cigarettes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the resumption of "basic" aid to the Strip on Monday, after a two-month ban following the collapse of a ceasefire-hostage release deal.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia...
a 28-year-old man was remanded in jug in Denmark on Monday on suspicion of purchasing drones to be used in a Hamas "terrorist attack," Danish intelligence said.

Flemming Drejer, head of operations at Denmark’s PET intelligence service, said in a statement that the service believed that "this individual purchased drones intended for use by Hamas in a terrorist attack at an unknown location in Denmark or abroad."

Appearing before a court on Monday, the man was remanded in jug until June 11.

PET said the case has links to both Hamas and criminal gangs in Denmark, and is related to a number of arrests made in December 2023 as part of an operation to prevent a suspected planned "terrorist attack."

Six people were ordered detained at the time, four in absentia, among them the 28-year-old man, who Danish media reports said was a prominent figure in organized crime in Copenhagen. According to public broadcaster DR, the suspect had been extradited from Leb
...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?...
over a separate double murder case.

Terror groups have intensified efforts since October 2023 to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites in Europe.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Trump sanctions are ‘full-frontal assault' on organized crime at the border, expert says

2025-05-24

[FoxNews] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department is 'working toward the total elimination of cartels to make America safe again'

The Trump Treasury Department's new sanctions are a "full-frontal assault" on one of the deadliest southern border cartels, a local border official told Fox News Digital.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two high-ranking Cartel del Noreste (CDN) members, Mexican nationals Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma and Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda, Wednesday.

CDN was one of eight cartels and transnational criminal groups labeled "foreign terrorist organizations" by the Department of State Feb. 20.

Under new sanctions announced this week, all property and interest in properties belonging to De Anda and Gonzalez that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked.

While announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department is "working toward the total elimination of cartels to make America safe again" and that the Trump administration "will hold these terrorists accountable for their criminal activities and abhorrent acts of violence."

"CDN and its leaders have carried out a violent campaign of intimidation, kidnapping and terrorism, threatening communities on both sides of our southern border," said Bessent. "We will continue to cut off the cartels’ ability to obtain the drugs, money and guns that enable their violent activities."

Paul Perez, who leads the National Border Patrol Council chapter in the South Texas Rio Grande Valley, told Fox News Digital even though the Trump administration’s border crackdown has dramatically reduced illegal crossings, the cartels, including CDN, continue to present a threat to the lives and safety of American citizens living on the border.

"The threat of cartels is still there," Perez said in an interview with Fox News Digital. He noted that "the thing about the cartels is that they're very sophisticated," explaining they have begun using advanced technology like drones to carry out their operations.

"They're not the street gang-level managers," he said. "They've got a lot of people on their side that have been in this industry for a long time. They know how to get their products moving. They know how to get their product across."

In Mexico, Perez said, the cartels control the border and "act with impunity all along the border," while the Mexican police and military are unable to stop them.

He said cartel gunfights along the border often lead to cartel members fleeing north into the U.S., where "they're going to do everything they can to get away and get back. And if that means harming American citizens, then they're going to do that."

When it comes to CDN, Perez said "they engage in grotesque conduct," such as beheadings and kidnappings and "will harm anybody that gets in their way" regardless of whether they are American or otherwise.

"What I can tell you about the Noreste cartel, they're no different than any other cartels out there, the Sinaloa cartel. They're all deadly cartels. They all traffic in fentanyl. They all traffic in drugs. They are trafficking people," he explained.

By targeting CDN’s leadership, Perez said the Trump administration is effectively weakening the cartel by creating a power vacuum that will cause infighting that will further sap the organization’s strength.

"The cartels are definitely going to feel it," he said. "So, it's a full-frontal assault from the United States.

"That's the protection that we're bringing to the border that we weren't able to bring under President Biden," he added.

"President Trump, on the campaign trail, and since he's been in office, has repeatedly said he's going to do everything he can to protect the United States, to protect its citizens and make sure that there's nobody around that can do harm to our country. And he's doing that. He's taking on the cartels. He's not afraid of them.

"We want to decimate the cartel activity that's going on in the United States. So, he's done what he said he was going to. We support that 100%."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Trump orders huge purge at crucial agency [NSC] that's pivotal for Americans' safety

2025-05-24

Hostile takeover stuff. Deep State intelligence folks played politics for years — now the swamp is being drained, as promised.

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Donald Trump is ordering a major overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size by over 100 staffers in the wake of the 'SignalGate' scandal.

The move will see the ouster of some political appointees and return many career government employees back to their home agencies.

The number of staff at the NSC is expected to be significantly reduced, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter.

CNN reported over 100 employees are going to be given a pink slip in the mass reshuffle.

The shakeup is just the latest shoe to drop at the NSC, which is being made over after the ouster early this month of Mike Waltz over the SignalGate scandal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as national security adviser since the ouster of Waltz, who was nominated to serve as Trump's UN ambassador.

The move is expected to elevate the importance of the State Department and Pentagon in advising Trump on important foreign policy decisions.

The NSC, created during the Truman administration, is an arm of the White House tasked with advising and assisting the president on national security and foreign policy and coordinating among various government agencies.

Trump was frustrated in his first term by political appointees and advisers who he felt gummed up his 'America First' agenda.

There were roughly 395 people working at the NSC, including about 180 support staff, according to one official.

About 90 to 95 of those being ousted are policy or subject matter experts seconded from other government agencies. They will be given an opportunity to return to their home agencies.

Not much of a punishment, unless they’re no longer wanted in their old place under its new management.

Many of the political appointees will also be given positions elsewhere in the administration.

Biden political appointees???

The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult during the early going of Trump´s second go-around in the White House.

Waltz was ousted weeks after Trump fired several NSC officials, just a day after the influential far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.

Loomer told journalist Tara Palmeri earlier this month that she had sounded the alarm about Waltz's anti-Trump past and claimed he hadn't vetted his staff to weed out liberals.

Waltz has been a lightning rod for controversy in the still-nascent second Trump administration. He has been to blame for accidentally leaking military plans to the press via an unfortunate Signal group chat.

And the White House, days into the administration, sidelined about 160 NSC aides, sending them home while the administration reviewed staffing and tried to align it with Trump´s agenda.

The aides were career government employees, commonly referred to as detailees.

This latest shakeup amounts to a 'liquidation' of NSC staffing with both career government detailees on assignment to the NSC being sent back to their home agencies and several political appointees being pushed out of their positions, according to the person familiar with the decision.

It wasn´t just Loomer who viewed Waltz suspiciously. He was viewed with a measure of skepticism by some in the MAGA world who saw the former Army Green Beret and three-term congressman as too tied to Washington's foreign policy establishment.

On Russia, Waltz shared Trump´s concerns about the high price tag of extensive U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

But Waltz also advocated for further diplomatically isolating President Vladimir Putin - a position that was out of step with Trump, who has viewed the Russian leader, at moments, with admiration for his cunning in dealings with Trump´s predecessors.

His more hawkish rhetoric on Iran and China, including U.S. policy toward Taiwan, seemed increasingly out of step with Trump.

Before getting rid of Waltz, the president fired several members of his National Security Council team. The individuals fired were Brian Walsh, Thomas Boodry and David Feith.

The president - setting aside belligerent rhetoric about taking over Greenland from Denmark - has tilted more toward military restraint and diplomacy in facing some of the United States' most challenging issues with adversaries.

Link

Fifth Column

Day 3: Feds charge Capital Jewish Museum killer with murder

2025-05-24

See Day 2 here, Day 1 here. See also here.

The US Justice Department said Elias Rodriguez, 31, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, as well as other charges, including the murder of foreign officials.

An affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of the criminal complaint said that as police escorted Rodriguez from the building, he shouted, “Free Palestine.”

The document said police reviewed security footage showing Rodriguez walking past the victims outside the museum, then turning, pulling a firearm from his waistband, and shooting them in the back.

After the victims fell to the ground, he approached them and fired several more times, as Milgrim attempted to crawl away from him. Milgrim then sat up while Rodriguez reloaded, and he shot her again, the video shows, according to the affidavit.

Investigators recovered 21 empty shell cases and a 9mm handgun from the scene that matched a firearm Rodriguez purchased in Illinois in 2020. He flew from Chicago to Virginia with the firearm in his checked baggage, the affidavit said. He had declared the firearm for the flight.

Rodriguez later told detectives that he admired Aaron Bushnell, an anti-Israel activist who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy last year in protest, calling Bushnell a “martyr.” Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago, also said he had bought a ticket to the event at the museum three hours before it started.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, and is being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, said the attacker was inside the event before the attack.

“He milled around inside the event. We still don’t know exactly what he said, but he said enough that they removed him,” Leiter said at a press briefing at the scene of the attack. “He went outside, waited for embassy workers to come out, and shot them.”

Three others escaped the shooting unharmed, Leiter said.

At his first appearance in court on Thursday, the suspect waived his right to a detention hearing, and a preliminary hearing in the case was set for June 18.

Rodriguez said little during the proceeding except to answer, “I do” to questions from a federal magistrate judge about whether he understood his rights.

FBI agents were seen at his apartment in Chicago on Thursday, where law enforcement blocked off the street.

‘He never should have made it inside that building’: Security lapses in DC museum killings
[IsraelTimes] Head of local Jewish community relations council calls to ‘extend the perimeter around our institutions,’ notes finite resources limit extent to which possible targets can be hardened

On Wednesday night, three armed security officers stood guard as the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington held its annual meeting in the nation’s capital. On the agenda: discussions about the various ways antisemitic rhetoric can lead to violence.

Hours later, JCRC CEO Ron Halber said, he found out about the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staff at the Capital Jewish Museum. It was a nightmare come to life.

“It’s just godawful. There’s no other way to describe it. It was a horrific, antisemitic, anti-Israel, violent attack,” Halber told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Thursday. “For years I’ve said in Washington, we’re lucky we’ve never had anything” of this magnitude attacking the Jewish community. “That record came to an end last night.”

In the attack’s aftermath, Jewish community professionals including Halber are refocusing, again, on how to protect their institutions from threats. The shooting has also raised urgent questions: What went wrong? And what needs to change?

“Why they failed tonight we obviously have to figure out,” Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said in an interview with JTA hours after the shooting, regarding security.

He added later, “The risks have continued to rise as antisemitism has risen and as anti-Israel behavior in America has risen and our security teams have worked so hard to keep up with that. They obviously didn’t succeed tonight but we will not stop until we’ve ensured the security of our community.”

The timeline of the attack is relatively clear and, to security analysts, troubling: According to reports, the attacker shot his victims, the couple Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, on the street outside the museum as the event, organized by the American Jewish Committee, was winding down.

He then walked inside the museum, where an eyewitness said organizers offered him water and he remained for around 10 minutes until police arrived and he confessed to the shooting. Both elements of the incident — that the attacker was able to reach his victims outside the event and then proceed inside for an extended period of time — indicate missteps, according to security professionals.

“What concerned me as a seasoned law enforcement official is in all the work and the efforts that we put into training civilians, his behavior was almost literally screaming that there’s an issue here,” said Paul Goldenberg, the former head of the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide. Goldenberg said that in a widely circulated video of the suspect entering the building, he appeared nervous and disheveled, with jerky movements.

Goldenberg says in the future, rank-and-file attendees need to be aware of those signs — and act on them by alerting someone.

“The second he walked in after the shooting there should have been a plan,” added Goldenberg, who is now the chief policy adviser and head of global policing at Rutgers University’s Miller Center on Policing. “If we know that he just shot individuals outside, whatever security was in place, he never should have made it inside that building.”

Neither the AJC nor the museum immediately responded to JTA queries about who was responsible for security on Wednesday night. But by Thursday afternoon, five of the leading Jewish groups that focus on security put out a series of security recommendations for future events.

The recommendations focus principally on expanding the security perimeter of events; withholding the details of events and vetting attendees; and coordinating with law enforcement or hiring security guards.

The AJC had done at least some of that: The invitation said the location would be “shared upon registration.”

“The Jewish community is already among the most hardened targets in the country,” Oren Segal, who oversees the ADL’s Center on Extremism, told JTA prior to the recommendations being publicized. “Bulletproof glass and metal detectors is the norm. And the question is, how broad does the perimeter need to be for the Jews to feel secure?”

Leading up to the event, the museum was broadly conscious of threats. The day before the shooting, it had announced a new security grant from the local DC government — one that Halber said the JCRC had helped arrange — in connection to a new exhibit on LGBTQ Jews.

The $30,000 grant was meant to help the museum cover the costs of security guards both at the front desk and roaming around the museum “to make sure that everybody is safe and that we are prepared in the event of an emergency,” executive director Beatrice Gurwitz told local news at the time. She added that the grant “also helps our staff prepare.”

Washington shooting suspect was anti-Israel activist, railed against Seattle’s ‘whitening’
[IsraelTimes] Elias Rodriguez, 31, had ‘Tikkun Olam means FREE PALESTINE’ sign in home window, was linked to Party for Socialism and Liberation; apparent manifesto called to ‘bring the war home’

Long. Key associations mentioned:

Signs in window: “Proud Union Home,” “Justice for Wadea”

Jewish Voice for Peace (founded by Hamas BDS activist Hatem Bazian, while its social media managers live in Lebanon and a large chunk of its funding comes from the Soros Open Society Foundations)

Party for Socialism and Liberation - Chicago

ANSWER Chicago (formerly known as International A.N.S.W.E.R.)

Yesterday we learnt that Mr. Rodriguez‘s father, Eric Rodriguez, was an activist for veteran’s and federal workers’ rights, for which he was honoured by Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), who brought him to see President Trump’s joint speech to Congress in March. This report adds that he had served in the Army National Guard, which sent him to Iraq.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah seeks boost in Lebanon vote as disarmament calls grow

2025-05-24

[IsraelTimes] Though the terror group was badly weakened by the war with Israel, popular support among Lebanese Shi’ites remains strong

Amid the rubble left by Israeli bombardment of south Leb
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
, campaign posters urge support for Hezbollah in elections on Saturday as the group aims to show it retains political clout despite the pounding it took in last year’s war.

For Hezbollah, the local vote is more important than ever, coinciding with mounting calls for its disarmament and continued Israeli ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s, and as many of its Shi’ite Moslem constituents still suffer the repercussions of the conflict.

Three rounds of voting already held this month have gone well for the Iran-backed terror group. In the south, many races won’t be contested, handing Hezbollah and its allies early wins.

"We will vote with blood," said Ali Tabaja, 21, indicating loyalty to Hezbollah. He’ll be voting in the city of Nabatieh rather than his village of Adaisseh because it has been destroyed.

"It’s a desert," he said.

The south’s rubble-strewn landscape reflects the devastating impact of the war, which began when Hezbollah began launching regular attacks on Israel in October 2023 in support of Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
following the latter terror group’s devastating attack on southern Israel.

After nearly a year of war, Israel launched a major offensive against the organization. Hezbollah emerged as a shadow of its former self, with its leaders and thousands of its fighters killed, its influence over the Lebanese state greatly diminished, and its Lebanese opponents gaining sway.

In a measure of how far the tables have turned, the new government has declared it aims to establish a state monopoly on arms, meaning Hezbollah should disarm.

Against this backdrop, the election results so far indicate "the war didn’t achieve the objective of downgrading Hezbollah’s popularity in the community," said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center, a think tank. "On the contrary, many Shia now feel their fate is tied to Hezbollah’s fate.

Hezbollah’s election performance "really matters," Hage Ali added. "It shows they still represent the great majority of Shi’ites and underlines the reality that any attempt by other Lebanese to disarm them by force would risk being seen as a move against the community and jeopardize civil peace."

Hezbollah’s arms have long been a source of division in Lebanon, sparking a brief civil conflict in 2008. Critics say Hezbollah has unilaterally involved Lebanon in wider Middle East conflicts.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called for dialogue with Hezbollah over a national defense strategy, implying discussion of its weaponry, but talks have yet to begin.

Wednesday saw the Lebanese and Paleostinian Authority presidents agree that Paleostinian factions won’t use Lebanon as a launchpad for any attacks against Israel, and to remove weapons that aren’t under the authority of the Lebanese state.

Foreign Minister Youssef Raji, a Hezbollah opponent, has said that Lebanon has been told there will be no reconstruction aid from foreign donors until the state establishes a monopoly on arms.

Hezbollah, in turn, has put the onus on the government over reconstruction and accuses it of failing to take steps on that front, despite promises that the government is committed to it.

A US State Department spokesperson said that while Washington was engaged in supporting sustainable reconstruction in Lebanon, "this cannot happen without Hezbollah laying down their arms."

"We have also made clear that transparency and economic reform are the only path to greater investment and economic recovery for the country," the spokesperson said in response to a Rooters query.

Hezbollah claims its weapons are now gone from the south, but links any discussion of its remaining arsenal to Israel’s withdrawal from five positions it still holds, and an end to Israeli strikes.

Israel says Hezbollah still has combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers in the south, calling this "blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon." It says the five positions are necessary to defend northern Israel from the threat of Hezbollah, which had planned an October 7-style attack on northern communities.

A French diplomatic source said reconstruction would not materialize if Israel continues striking and the Lebanese government does not act fast enough on disarmament.

Donors also want Beirut to enact economic reforms.

Hashem Haidar, head of the government’s Council for the South, said the state lacks the funds to rebuild, but cited progress in rubble removal. Lebanon needs $11 billion for reconstruction and recovery, the World Bank estimates.

In Nabatieh, a pile of rubble marks the spot where 71-year-old Khalil Tarhini’s store once stood. It was one of dozens destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Nabatieh’s central market.

He has received no compensation and sees little point in voting. Expressing a sense of abandonment, he said: "The state did not stand by us."

The situation was very different in 2006, after a previous Hezbollah-Israel war. Aid flowed 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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and Gulf Arab states.

Hezbollah says it has aided 400,000 people, paying for rent, furniture, and renovations. But the funds at its disposal appear well short of 2006, recipients say.

Hezbollah says state authorities have obstructed funds arriving from Iran, though Tehran is also more financially strapped than two decades ago due to tougher US sanctions and the reimposition of a "maximum pressure" policy by Washington.

As for Gulf states, their spending on Lebanon dried up as Hezbollah became embroiled in regional conflicts and, echoing the US, they declared it a terrorist group in 2016. 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...
has echoed the Lebanese government’s position of calling for a state monopoly of arms.

Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah said it was up to the government to secure reconstruction funding and that it was failing to take "serious steps" to get the process on track.

He warned that the issue risked deepening divisions in Lebanon if unaddressed. "How can one part of the nation be stable while another is in pain?" he said, referring to Shi’ites in the south and other areas, including Beirut’s Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs, hard hit by Israel.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Demolition of the mosque in Leninaul brings the issue of the Aukhovsky district to the forefront

2025-05-24

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The Chechen mosque in Leninaul was demolished in violation of the order of the Mufti of Dagestan, the issue will be resolved with the participation of theologians from the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District, stated the Mufti of Chechnya Salakh Mezhiyev, announcing a discussion of the restoration of the Aukhovsky District.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", in Leninaul, Kazbekovsky District, Dagestan, despite agreements with the authorities, a Chechen mosque built in the 19th century was demolished, village residents stated in a video message. The plot of land in Leninaul, where, according to representatives of the Chechen community, the 19th century mosque was located, was sold at auction to a representative of the Avar community, who transferred it for the construction of a mosque.

The authorities did not find any documents in the archives about the ownership of this plot of land by the Chechens, the administration of the Kazbekovsky District stated. The Muftiate and the Council of Chechens of Dagestan agreed to resolve the issue of demolishing the mosque in Leninaul according to Sharia law. Islamic scholars called the demand to build a mosque on the site of the demolished one not a norm of Islam, but simply a local tradition.

There are many unclear points in the story of the demolition of the mosque in Leninaul, but the decision to demolish it was hasty and provoked interethnic tensions, commentators pointed out, drawing attention to the lack of reaction to the statement of the Chechen Accidents by the Chechen authorities.

The Mufti of Chechnya, head of the Coordination Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus (CCMC) Salakh Mezhiev, stated that those who demolished the mosque in Leninaul disobeyed the Mufti of Dagestan.

"Before this happened, on May 6, we sent our delegation, our representatives to the Mufti of Dagestan. They reported that such a question was at issue, to which the Mufti of Dagestan quite rightly, clearly and distinctly said that this was unacceptable," he said in a video published on the KCMSC Telegram channel.

But the mosque was demolished. "The people who did this disobeyed, first of all, the Mufti of Dagestan. After that, we sent our delegation again, and the Mufti of Dagestan, of course, expressed his dissatisfaction with what happened. We agreed that after the Hajj we would sit down and discuss this at the level of theologians," the publication from May 23 says.

He noted that the Dagestani side had called for this investigation. Therefore, this incident will be resolved according to Islamic norms with the participation of theologians from other republics of the North Caucasus.

This has been a sore point for many years. Upon returning from exile after Stalin's repressions, Chechens are unable to move into their homes

"There will be two questions. Firstly, to what extent does the demolition of the mosque comply with the norms of Islam, what happened, and what should we do next. The second question is a sore point for many years. Upon returning from exile after Stalin's repressions, Chechens cannot move into their homes. As the chairman of the Coordination Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus Federal District, I would like to note that this trial will not only be between theologians of Dagestan and Chechnya. Other theologians from all spiritual administrations of the North Caucasus will also be present there," the mufti emphasized.

The Aukhovsky district, where the Chechens-Akkintsy lived compactly, was liquidated in 1944 after Stalin's deportation of the Chechens and Ingush. In the northwestern part of the district's territory, the Novolaksky District was formed, this part was populated by Laks from the mountainous part of Dagestan, and the southeastern part of the district was transferred to the neighboring Kazbekovsky District together with the villages of Yurt-Aukh and Aktash-Aukh and populated by Avars from the neighboring village. Thirteen years later, in 1957, the Akkin Chechens, like the rest of the deported Vainakh peoples, were allowed to return to their historical homeland.

Link

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