Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

ISIS claims first attack on Syrian government forces since Assad’s fall

2025-05-31

[IsraelTimes] Terror group says bomb targeted ‘vehicle of the apostate regime’ in southern province Sweida last week, leaving 7 soldiers dead or wounded; also hit US-backed Free Syrian Army

The Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group has grabbed credit for two attacks in southern Syria, including one on government forces that an opposition war monitor described as the first on the Syrian army to be carried out by the jihadists since the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
’s regime in December.

In two separate statements issued late Thursday, ISIS said that in the first attack, a bomb exploded targeting a "vehicle of the apostate regime," leaving seven soldiers dead or maimed.

It said the attack occurred "last Thursday," or May 22, in the al-Safa area in the desert of the southern province of Sweida, a Druze-majority area that borders Jordan.

ISIS said that the second attack occurred this week in a nearby area during which a bomb targeted members of the US-backed Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
, claiming that it killed one fighter and maimed three.

There was no comment from the government on the claim of the attack and a spokesperson for the Free Syrian Army didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, of unclear funding, said that the attack on government forces killed one civilian and maimed three soldiers, describing it as the first such attack to be claimed by ISIS against Syrian forces since the fall of the 54-year Assad family’s rule.

The man killed was accompanying the Syrian government forces in the desert area, according to the Observatory.

Islamic State, which once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq, is opposed to the new authority in Damascus led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once the head of al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria and fought battles against ISIS.

Over the past several months, ISIS has grabbed credit for attacks against the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast.

ISIS was defeated in Syria in March 2019 when SDF fighters captured the last sliver of land that the turbans controlled. Since then, its sleeper cells have carried out deadly attacks, mainly in eastern and northeast Syria.

In January, state media reported that intelligence officials in Syria’s post-Assad government thwarted a plan by ISIS to set off a bomb at a Shiite Moslem shrine south of Damascus.

This week, Syrian authorities said they arrested members of an Islamic State cell near Damascus, accusing them of preparing attacks.

Another government operation in the northern city of Aleppo this month saw the death of one security forces officer and three ISIS members.

During a meeting with al-Sharaa in Riyadh this month, US President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
called on him to help the US prevent the resurgence of ISIS, according to the White House.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said in a statement after the meeting that Trump urged Sharaa to diplomatically recognize Israel and "tell all foreign hard boyz to leave Syria."

Trump also said that Washington would work on lifting crippling economic sanctions imposed on Damascus since the days of Assad, and the US has begun to roll them back.

On Thursday, the long-shuttered US ambassador’s residence in Damascus was re-opened, and US Ambassador to ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
Tom Barrack — who has been appointed special envoy to Syria — proposed a "non-aggression agreement" between Israel and Syria.

Rooters reported earlier this week that Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have, in recent weeks, held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region.

Link

Europe

Macron: ‘We’ll kill our credibility if we abandon Gaza,’ grant Israel ‘a free pass’; Katz: Recognition of Paleo State will be met with Israeli settlements on the ground

2025-05-31

So much for his pious proclamations about protecting France’s Jews, or Israel’s. No doubt he is more afraid of France’s Moslem colonists.

[IsraelTimes] French President Emmanuel Macron further hits out at Israel over the war with Hamas in Gaza, amid an escalating war of words between Jerusalem and Paris.

“If we abandon Gaza, if we consider there is a free pass for Israel, even if we do condemn the terrorist attacks, we will kill our credibility,” Macron tells a top defense forum in Singapore, adding: “And this is why we do reject double standard.

Israel accuses France’s Macron of ‘crusade against the Jewish state’
[IsraelTimes] After France’s president says European countries should adopt a tougher stance against Israel if it doesn’t change its humanitarian aid policies in Gaza, Israel accuses Emmanuel Macron of embarking on a “crusade against the Jewish state.”

The reference to a crusade is a loaded charge. French knights and religious leaders played a leading role in the medieval religious wars launched by European Christians — widely referred to as the Franks — primarily to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule. Jews in France, German-speaking territories and the Land of Israel were targeted by Crusaders in bouts of extreme violence.

Jews still read agonizing poems from the period on Tisha B’Av, their national day of mourning.

“The facts do not interest Macron,” says the Foreign Ministry in a post on X. “There is no humanitarian blockade. That is a blatant lie. Israel is currently facilitating the entry of aid to Gaza through two parallel efforts.”

The Foreign Ministry points to the entry of almost 900 aid trucks into Gaza this week, and the debut of the Gaza Humanitarian Fund distribution sites, which have delivered over two million meals in four days, according to its own account. Aid deliveries to Gaza resumed last week after Israel barred goods from entering the enclave on March 2.

“Instead of applying pressure on the jihadist terrorists, Macron wants to reward them with a Palestinian state,” says the Foreign Ministry. “No doubt its national day will be October 7.”

Macron said earlier today that recognition of a Palestinian state, with conditions, is “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity.”

France is considering recognizing a Palestinian state ahead of a United Nations conference, which France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting between June 17-20, to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel’s security.

“It is against Israel — under attack on multiple fronts in an attempt to destroy it — that Macron seeks to impose sanctions,” continues the Foreign Ministry.

“Hamas, for its part, has already praised Macron’s statements. Hamas knows why.”

At old-new settlement, Katz lashes out at Macron: Recognition of Palestinian state ‘on paper’ will be met with settlements ‘on the ground’
[IsraelTimes] On a visit to the site of the Sa-Nur settlement, Defense Minister Israel Katz hits out at French President Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier today that the recognition of a Palestinian state, with conditions, is a “moral duty.”

Katz’s visit to the West Bank comes after the Israeli government approved the construction of 22 new settlements, including the reestablishment of Sa-Nur, which was evacuated in 2005 alongside Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

Lauding the government’s decision as a “historic moment” for the settler movement, Katz says it also serves as a “clear message to Macron and his friends.”

“They will recognize a Palestinian state on paper — and we will build the Jewish-Israeli state on the ground. The paper will be thrown in the trash can of history and the State of Israel will flourish and prosper,” Katz declares.

“Do not threaten us with sanctions because you will not bring us to our knees. The State of Israel will not bow its head in the face of threats,” the defense minister says. “We are a people with a long and glorious history. We will stand tall and continue to lead the State of Israel on a safe and strong path, until victory.”

Katz is accompanied on his visit by Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, Civil Administration chief Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, and Defense Ministry military secretary Brig. Gen. Guy Markizeno.

He says that his connection to Sa-Nur is a personal one, as he served there as a paratrooper during his military service and later “fought against uprooting the settlement as part of the disengagement plan.”

“I promised then that we would return and today we have returned here, with the decision to re-establish the settlement, along with the establishment of 21 additional new settlements in Judea and Samaria,” says Katz, referring to the West Bank by its Biblical name.

“This is a historic moment for settlement in Judea and Samaria, which will bolster it as Israel’s protective wall, and will also strengthen security in this region,” he says of the new settlements.

And, he says, it is a “crushing response” to the terror organizations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this region of the country.”

Link

Home Front: Politix

SCOTUS Allows Trump Administration to Revoke Legal Status for 500K Illegal Aliens

2025-05-31

[The Daily Signal] The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to revoke temporary protected status for 500,000 illegal aliens living in the U.S.

In a 7-2 ruling on Friday, the justices lifted a lower court’s order that barred the Trump administration from deporting illegal aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who entered the U.S. under the Biden administration parole program.

The court’s decision comes in response to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s efforts to end the Biden-era parole policy that allowed migrants from the four countries to fly directly into the U.S. and be transported into the interior of the county.

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing DHS to "terminate all categorical parole programs," including the "processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans."

In March, the Department of Homeland Security issued a notice announcing the official termination of the program, effective on April 24, but a federal judge blocked DHS from revoking legal status for the illegal aliens in the U.S. under the parole program.

Link

Fifth Column

Just Another Anti-Trump

2025-05-30

[GatewayPundit] Anti-Trump Defense IT Specialist Arrested For Attempting to Provide Classified Information to Foreign Government Because He Did Not “Agree or Align with the Values of This Administration”

An anti-Trump IT specialist the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was arrested on Thursday for attempting to provide classified national defense information to a foreign government.

According to the DOJ, Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia, was arrested on Thursday in northern Virginia, and will make his initial court appearance in the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday.

Per the Justice Department:

According to court documents, Laatsch became a civilian employee of the DIA in 2019, where he works with the Insider Threat Division and holds a Top Secret security clearance. In March 2025, the FBI commenced an operation after receiving a tip that an individual — now known to be Laatsch — offered to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government. In that email, the sender wrote that he did not “agree or align with the values of this administration” and was therefore “willing to share classified information” that he had access to, including “completed intelligence products, some unprocessed intelligence, and other assorted classified documentation.”

After receiving confirmation that the thumb drive had been received, on May 7, Laatsch allegedly sent a message to the FBI agent, which indicated Laatsch was seeking something from the foreign government in return for continuing to provide classified information. The next day, Laatsch specified that he was interested in “citizenship for your country” because he did not “expect[] things here to improve in the long term.” Although he said he was “not opposed to other compensation,” he was not in a position where he needed to seek “material compensation.”

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Nearly 200 IDPs repatriated from Rojava camp to Deir ez-Zorp

2025-05-30

[Rudaw] The Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Thursday announced that nearly 200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hasaka province returned to their homes in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor. The move comes amid growing efforts to facilitate the return of all displaced individuals to their hometowns.

"This is the eighth batch evacuated by the Areesha camp administration, comprising 46 families, totaling 193 individuals," read a statement from the Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES).

The DAANES said the move is part of a decision to facilitate the return of displaced persons "wishing to voluntarily return to their areas of origin." The Kurdish administration carried out the evacuation in coordination with the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the statement added.

The administration said it plans to continue facilitating more evacuations.

In late April, the UNHCR reported that an estimated 214,000 IDPs live in informal sites across northeast Syria, including Areesha. The report noted that returnees have expressed concerns about unwent kaboom! mines in Deir ez-Zor, which has made many hesitant to go back.

Last week, the pro-DAANES North Press Agency reported that 52 families, totaling 274 people, had left the camp
.
In March, the Hawar News Agency (ANHA), affiliated with the Kurdish authorities, reported that 80 families - a total of 470 individuals - left the camp. ANHA cited camp director Salwa Jajo as saying that Areesha holds around 2,700 families, mostly from Deir ez-Zor.

While it is unclear how many IDPs the camp holds presently, a 2017 UN report stated that between 11,000 and 13,000 IDPs from Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa had taken refuge in the camp.

A 2022 report by the REACH humanitarian organization detailed the living conditions and access to basic necessities at Areesha camp.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Four Palestinians die in storming of Gaza UN food warehouse; IDF was not in area

2025-05-30

[IsraelTimes] At least 2 said killed by gunshots at site in Deir Al-Balah, Hamas denies firing; Israel-backed aid group claims terror group falsely reporting injuries at its hubs

Hundreds of Paleostinians stormed a United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
food warehouse in central 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...
on Wednesday, shouting and shoving each other and ripping off pieces of the building to get inside, the UN said. Paleostinian hospital officials said four people died in the chaos, two of them shot.

Israel accused the Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
terror group of opening fire. There were no Israeli troops in or near the area of the UN’s World Food Program warehouse at the time, and the IDF is not operating in Deir al-Balah.

"Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir al-Balah, Central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution," the UN’s World Food Program said in a statement on X.

"Initial reports indicate two people died and several were maimed in the tragic incident," the WFP said, adding that it was still confirming details.

The WFP said "humanitarian needs have spiraled out of control" after Israel’s long blockade of supplies entering Gaza, which began in early March to pressure the Paleostinian terror group Hamas into releasing hostages and agreeing to a truce.

Officials at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said two people were fatally crushed in the crowd and two others died of gunshot wounds.

Eyewitness video independently verified by Rooters showed large crowds of people pushing into the warehouse and removing bags and boxes, as gunfire can be heard.

Hamas, in a statement, denied that it had opened fire or that it operated the warehouse.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video of the scene inside the warehouse during the looting, and accused Hamas of opening fire to protect stores that it was keeping from Gazooks.

The incident comes as the independent Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating an aid mechanism that would largely bypass the UN and keep supplies away from Hamas.

The previous day, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said that at least one Paleostinian had been killed and 48 others maimed when a crowd was fired upon while overrunning a new GHF aid-distribution site.

The Israeli military, which guards the site from a distance, said it fired only warning shots to control the looting. The foundation said its military contractors guarding the site did not open fire.

The GHF claimed Wednesday that the casualty figures claimed by Hamas about the Tuesday looting were false and spread by the terror group to hamper the new aid operation.

GHF said only two people have been injured at its compounds since it began operating in Gaza on Monday. "To-date two Gazooks have required medical care that was delivered on-site — one relating to dehydration and another who was injured by others seeking aid," said a GHF statement.

Among the false reports the GHF said Hamas was spreading was that the aid organization halted operations due to gunfire at one of its sites earlier Wednesday.

The GHF further said it had successfully opened its second aid distribution center on Wednesday in southern Gaza.

’THREATS, INTIMIDATION’
At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon accused the UN of deliberately undermining the new US and Israel-backed aid mechanism in the Gaza Strip through corrupt means.

Claiming that he has acquired new "shocking information," Danon told the council that the UN "is using threats, intimidation and retaliation against NGOs that choose to participate in the new humanitarian mechanism."

He asserted that a number of "major international NGOs" had been punished by the UN after indicating that they would take part in the new aid initiative and would "ignore the UN’s calls for a boycott."

"The UN’s response was brutal. It was Mafia-like," the envoy said. "Without any discussion, without a due process, the UN removed those NGOs from the shared aid database," a central system for tracking aid deliveries into Gaza established through a UN General Assembly resolution.

Danon, in his speech, did not provide any evidence or the names of the NGOs he alleges were targeted.

Upon request for further information to back the envoy’s claims, Danon’s office told The Times of Israel that it is aware of a certain number of NGOs that the UN worked to prevent from cooperating with the aid plan, but that this information can only be provided by the UN directly.

The UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stephane Dujarric, front man for UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
, reiterated the world body’s opposition to coordinating with GHF.

"We will not participate in operations that do not meet our humanitarian principles," Dujarric told AFP.

He said the UN was doing all it could to send aid, adding that since last week, 800 truckloads had been approved by Israel, but fewer than 500 made it into Gaza.

The new GHF aid initiative became operational this week, partially replacing the UN-led framework that had previously managed humanitarian assistance in Gaza, following Israel’s decision to lift a nearly three-month aid blockade on the strip.

Israel says it helped establish the new aid mechanism to prevent Hamas from siphoning off supplies, but UN agencies say they have mechanisms for this purpose while delivering aid to all parts of the territory. The GHF has drawn heavy criticism from the UN and various international actors, who argue it falls short of addressing the dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

The GHF says it has established four hubs, two of which have begun operating in the now mostly uninhabited Rafah. It said around eight truckloads of aid were distributed at the hubs on Wednesday without incident.

About 600 trucks entered Gaza every day during the ceasefire earlier this year.

The Paleostinian ambassador to the UN broke down as he alleged that 1,300 children have been killed and 4,000 maimed since the latest temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in March, and spoke of mothers seen "embracing their motionless bodies, caressing their hair, talking to them, apologizing to them."

Such drama. Such bathos.

Gaza casualty figures, which come from Hamas-controlled authorities, cannot be verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

More than half the Security Council called for the 15-member body to act on Gaza. Slovenia’s UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar said some members are working on a draft resolution to demand unimpeded aid access.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 53,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 Lions of Islam inside Israel on October 7.

COGAT says 76 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza today
[IsraelTimes] The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announces that 76 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip today.

Israel resumed aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause since March 2.

Since then, 952 trucks of aid have entered the Strip.

Some of the truckloads have been taken to the new aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The contents of many of the trucks are still awaiting collection on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing.

COGAT says the aid delivery comes “following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon.”

Today’s trucks include flour and food, COGAT says.

The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it distributed 18 trucks of aid today after opening third site
[IsraelTimes] The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it opened up a third aid distribution site today in the Strip.

The third site is located in the central Gaza’s Bureij, adjacent to the IDF’s Netzarim corridor. It joins two sites that began operating earlier this week in Rafah. An additional site in Rafah is slated to open in the coming days. GHF has faced criticism due to the lack of access for tens of thousands of residents still located in north Gaza, but it says that it plans to open additional sites — including in the northern Strip — in the coming weeks.

GHF says it distributed 17,280 boxes of aid at all three of its sites today.

Each box is meant to provide three meals a deal, for roughly four days, for a family of roughly five people.

The total number of trucks unloaded at the three GHF sites today was just 18, though. The UN has said 600 trucks of aid need to be distributed each day in order to properly feed the Strip’s roughly two million people.

About those dead babies:

How Culpable Is the UN in the Gaza War?

[AmericanRefugeesSubstack] You don’t have to look too far below the surface to see how the United Nations, primarily through its branch UNRWA but also en masse, has been—and unfortunately still is— a major enabler of the Gaza War.

The war might not have started and certainly wouldn’t have lasted as long without Hamas having been aided and abetted by the international organization that has an anti-Israel obsession. UN Watch reported last December “UN Condemns Israel 17 Times, Rest of World Combined 6 Times”. (Do I have to go over the many countries were starvation is rampant from Somalia to Congo to—ironically—Yemen that the UN almost completely ignores?)_ A reasonable person could classify this pervasive anti-Israel bias as a mass psychological illness, if not outright evil.

The accusation of evil might seem excessive, but much of the death and destruction in Gaza can be laid at the feet of the supposedly peaceful UN.

Their nefarious role in the Gaza War has been illuminated recently as the US and Israel, through the offices of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), are currently changing the method of food distribution in Gaza that was formerly monopolized by Hamas. A fair amount of predictable mayhem has ensued inthe form of food stampedes, but basically the terms of feeding Gaza have been altered for the better. (These stampedes are going both ways, with Gazan mobs having broken into Hamas’ storage warehouses as well.)

This is a tremendous blow to Hamas because they have used food distribution to maintain iron control of the Strip while profiting from their monopoly financially as to power their war machine, acquiring weapons, paying their terror troops and so forth. Anyone who disobeyed faced brutal consequences.

Amit Segal in his timely daily reports underscores the importance of what is happening.

“… [W]hy was yesterday so significant? Well, Hamas warned Gazans to stay away from the aid distribution complex. Nevertheless, they ignored Hamas’ warnings, with many Gazans trampling their way through a Hamas checkpoint that tried to prevent the food’s distribution.

“In other words, despite Hamas’ threats, a mass influx of aid is coming into Gaza that Hamas does not benefit from. Not only did Palestinians openly defy Hamas in order to receive these packages, but for the first time in nearly 20 years, Gazans are receiving their sustenance without having to rely on the terror group.

“If this continues—and if the level of such aid increases—Hamas’ rule will be in jeopardy.”

Good news, no, not only for Gazans but for all those who seek peace after 600 days of unrelenting violence. Who could oppose it?

Well, not surprisingly, our friends at the United Nations. Seemingly irate about this intrusion into their province, they have accused the new approach and those involved of not being “impartial” and of “weaponizing” food distribution.

Bu it couldn’t be more obvious these are the very things they—the UN themselves— have consistently aided Hamas in doing. It would be laughable fodder for the Babylon Bee were it not so disgusting in its extreme disregard for reality. This is hypocrisy taken to the nth power.

This is the same UN whose “humanitarian chief” as recently as a week ago accused Israel of imminently murdering 14,000 infants. From JNS:

“The United Nations and the BBC on Wednesday corrected a dramatic claim that 14,000 infants in the Gaza Strip faced death within 48 hours, clarifying that the figure actually refers to children at risk of severe malnutrition over the course of a full year.

“U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher made the claim on BBC Radio 4‘s “Today” program, saying: ‘There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them.’ The comment was quickly picked up by national media outlets, cited in U.K. parliamentary debates and referenced in international diplomatic discussions.”

This is evil propaganda that not even Hamas itself could duplicate.

By now the role of UNRWA in aiding Hamas in so many ways, including helping hide their munitions, missiles and launchers, command and control centers and so forth under hospitals and schools—all against international law— has been detailed ad infinitum.

With friends like the UN, who needs Al Jazeera?

Link

China-Japan-Koreas

China's latest mission eyes deep-space discoveries

2025-05-30

[GEO.TV] China has launched a new space probe to collect samples from an asteroid and bring them back to Earth for study, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

This is the country's first mission of this kind.

Beijing has ploughed billions of pounds into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the country's "space dream".

It has built a space station orbiting the Earth and plans to run a crewed mission to the Moon this decade ahead of establishing a permanent base there.

A Long March-3B rocket carrying the Tianwen-2 probe blasted off from the Xichang launch site in southwestern Sichuan province "in the early hours of Thursday", Xinhua said.

"Shan Zhongde, head of the China National Space Administration, stated that the Tianwen-2 mission represents a significant step in China's new journey of interplanetary exploration," the news agency reported.

Tianwen-2 is tasked with collecting samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3, and exploring the comet 311P, according to the country's space agency.

Discovered by scientists in Hawaii in 2016, the asteroid is roughly 40 to 100 metres (130—330 feet) in diameter and orbits relatively close to Earth.

It is a "living fossil" consisting of ancient materials that can help scientists understand how the early solar system formed, Xinhua reported this week.

The comet, meanwhile, orbits between Mars and Jupiter and is alluring to researchers because it exhibits some features more commonly associated with asteroids.

The Tianwen-2 mission is expected to last around a decade.

China's space programme is the third to put humans in orbit — after the United States and the Soviet Union — and has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Greta Thunberg to visit Gaza with activists

2025-05-30

[GEO.TV] Climate campaigner Greta "Pippi" Thunberg
...an autistic sixteen year old Swedish expert on climate change, though I guess she's older now...
and other activists will set sail Sunday for 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...
on a humanitarian ship aimed at protesting Israel's war on the territory, a French-Paleostinian politician said.

Enjoy your cruise, my dear, because it will never debark passengers in Israel .

The trip is organised by the Freedom Flotilla, a coalition of groups opposed to the blockade on humanitarian aid

for Gaza that Israel imposed on March 2 and has only recently begun lifting.

Rima Hassan, a European Parliament member also taking part in the trip, said the operation had "several aims: to condemn the humanitarian blockade and ongoing genocide, the impunity granted to the state of Israel and raise international awareness."

Hassan, an outspoken figure for French left-wing party LFI, has caused controversy in the past with her statements on the Middle East.

She was due to visit the occupied Paleostinian territories in February with a European Parliament delegation, but said she was refused entry to Israel.

Thunberg, who rose to fame organising teen climate protests in her native Sweden, was due to travel to Gaza on a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship earlier this month, but it was damaged en route.

There have been so many. Only the first two, I think, even came close.

Activists said they suspected an Israeli dronezap was responsible.

Or Israeli scuba divers, or possibly just poor maintenance…

"To guarantee our security, and also the success of our mission, we need maximum mobilisation by the public for this initiative," Hassan said on social media.

Old moral panics never have the same excitement. Face it Hassey, baby — you're boring.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Shell from Syria wounds citizen in Akkar town

2025-05-30

[NAHARNET] A Shilka-type shell fired from Syria landed in the Akkar town of al-Dawseh, wounding a Lebanese man, Leb

...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
's National News Agency reported on Thursday, without elaborating on who might have fired it.

The defense ministers of Lebanon and Syria signed an agreement in Jeddah in late March "to address security and military threats" along the countries' common border. The accord came after frontier festivities earlier in March left 10 people dead. Those festivities pitted Syrian authorities against Hezbollah-allied Lebanese clans.

Border tensions flared earlier in March after Syria's new authorities accused Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them. The Iran-backed group, which had been an ally of toppled Syrian president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
, denied involvement.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met in Damascus in mid-April with Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, accompanied by a Lebanese ministerial delegation comprising the ministers of foreign affairs, defense and interior.

It is the first trip to Damascus by a senior Lebanese official since a new government was formed in Beirut in February, two months after an Islamist-led alliance ousted longtime Syrian ruler Bashir al-Assad.

This visit is "key to correcting the course of ties between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect," a Lebanese official said.

Beirut and Damascus have been seeking to improve ties since the overthrow of Assad, whose family dynasty commanded a decades-long tutelage over Lebanon and is accused of assassinating numerous Lebanese officials who expressed opposition to its rule.

Salam's talks in Damascus tackled controlling and demarcating the porous, 330-kilometer shared border, as well as combating smuggling.

In December, Sharaa said his country would not negatively interfere in Lebanon and would respect its neighbor's illusory sovereignty.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Defense considers terrorism case against two Dagestan residents falsified

2025-05-30

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Dagestan natives Abas Saidov and Zamur Tagirov were sentenced to 19 years in prison for creating a terrorist group. The witnesses whose testimony was used to build the case said they gave it under pressure. The defense appealed the verdict.

A message that the case against Dagestani residents Abas Saidov and Zamur Tagirov was based on testimony obtained through pressure and torture of the detainees was received in the feedback bot of the "Caucasian Knot" in Telegram. "The lawyers of the convicted are seeking a review of the case," the message says.

Residents of Dagestan Abas Saidov and Zamur Tagirov were convicted on March 26, 2025 under articles on the creation of a terrorist community (part 1 of article 205.4), incitement and recruitment into a terrorist community (part 1 of article 205.1), organization of an illegal armed formation (part 1 of article 208) and illegal arms trafficking (part 4 of article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), reported lawyer Abdulla Gaziev, representing the interests of Zamur Tagirov.

During the investigation and trial, Tagirov stated that he had been tortured, but during the debate they completely denied guilt.

"They were sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment each. On June 2, they will have been in prison for three years and four months. During the investigation and trial, Tagirov stated that he had been tortured, but during the debate they completely denied their guilt," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

At the same time, according to the lawyer, during the preliminary investigation Tagirov was forced to partially admit guilt; according to him, his client was misled by the lawyers who initially defended him. "But at the court hearing he refused this. The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don added part 2 of article 205, note 4. That is, participation in the same . This is illegal. The court has no right to add, only to subtract articles of the charge," Gaziyev explained.

He also reported that Saidov was born in 2001, Tagirov was born in 2003. "Both worked before their arrest. Abbas, I think, worked in a cafe. They don't have wives or children," Gaziyev noted.

The testimony of two girls confirmed the prosecution's version.

"They claim that they had previously known each other, that they had told them during conversations that they had created some kind of organization. The criminal case against them [the girls] for failure to report a terrorist crime was closed," Gaziyev said.

Currently, the girls are refusing to testify and asking law enforcement agencies to sort out the situation and hold the security forces accountable, Gaziyev said.

The "Caucasian Knot" has copies of statements sent on May 16 to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the FSB, the Prosecutor General's Office and the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner about violations of their rights and threats from security forces to obtain the "necessary" testimony.

The whole conversation came down to us giving testimony that Tagirov and Saidov created a terrorist community on the territory of Dagestan, which I first heard about from an operative officer.

In particular, Isabella Israfilova reported that security forces intimidated her and her sister Asiyat Batyrova with physical violence.

"The whole conversation came down to us giving testimony that Tagirov and Saidov created a terrorist community on the territory of Dagestan, which I first heard about from an operative officer <...>. In exchange, as was said, neither we nor our relatives will suffer physically," Israfilova said.

According to her, she was “rudely told that she would not be held accountable for a particularly serious crime.”

"Caucasian Knot" was unable to contact Asiyat Batyrova and Izabella Israfilova. The girls did not have lawyers.

THEY BEAT US: IN THE FACE, IN THE HEAD, IN THE GROIN - ESPECIALLY HARD.
Another witness in the Saidov and Tagirov case, Ingushetia native Adam Maloroev, stated that he and another witness in the case were tortured in a security agency department in Ingushetia in order to obtain the desired testimony. "They kept us under torture for several days. I was wearing a sack, I couldn't see anything. My hands were tied behind my back, my legs were taped to the legs of a chair. They beat us: in the face, in the head, in the groin - especially hard. They beat us so hard that blood came out of my mouth. They forced me to incriminate myself: to say that I was interested in the war in Syria or Chechnya,

…implying ISIS? Al Qaeda?

ISIS has been a problem with their recruiting from the southern Russian and CIS republics for years.

Noted with thanks.

that I was going to go to jihad, that I knew these guys. They connected electricity to me - they attached wires to my ears, hit me with a stun gun below the waist and on my body. They kept the electricity on until I "confessed" what they needed," follows from a video that Tumso Abdurakhmanov published on his Telegram channel.

Maloroev said that he left Russia to avoid testifying against Tagirov and Saidov.

On the website of the Southern District Court, in the case file of Tagirov (the name of the second defendant is hidden), it is indicated that the lawyers of both defendants have appealed the verdict. The prosecution has until May 30 to file objections to the appeals.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

'The Shadow of Al-Nemr': Prominent Iranian Ayatollah Arrested in Saudi Arabia, deported as Tehran disavows remarks

2025-05-30

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] Iran-Saudi détente has come under attack after prominent Shiite cleric and TV presenter Gholamreza Qasimiyan was arrested by Saudi authorities while on the Hajj pilgrimage.

The reason for his arrest was his criticism of the “two-faced reforms” in Saudi Arabia, a country that in recent years has sought to become the “Switzerland of the Middle East.”

Given Kasimian's influence on his flock (both in Iran and in neighboring countries), the arrest of a preacher of this caliber cannot go unnoticed by official Tehran.

However, judging by the latest statements, Iranian officials are more concerned about the fate of relations with Riyadh than about supporting their compatriot.

SHADOW HAWK
In Iran, Qasimiyan is considered a fairly important figure. Despite his relatively young age (52), he is part of the inner circle of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and has protégés in the government and security forces.

His connections are especially strong in the national parliament, where one of his friendly figures is the speaker himself, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Kasimiyan holds conservative views in the spirit of the teachings of the first leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ruhollah Khomeini, and vehemently rejects the concept of a “liberal Iran,” considering freedom of morals the first step towards the collapse of the country.

The theologian was among those who for a long time torpedoed the reform of the Iranian “morality police” (Gasht-i-Ershad), and later supported the street protests of conservatives.

Although Kasimiyan has until recently tried not to publicly go against the course of the country's top leadership and has not criticized the rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, he has remained the unofficial ideologist of the most conservative (albeit small) part of the Iranian elite. The one that continues to see Riyadh as an "American-Israeli servant" and a potential enemy.

EPHEMERAL LIBERALISM
Kasimiyan fell into the hands of Saudi law enforcement immediately after he recorded a video during the pilgrimage criticizing the country's authorities.

In an address to his flock, the theologian obstructed the current “corrupt” course of Saudi Arabia and called on his compatriots “not to trust the diplomatic tricks” of their Arabian neighbor.

At first glance, the attacks are motivated by the preacher's ultra-conservative views and his dissatisfaction with the fact that the traditionalist kingdom has made a serious drift over the past decade towards expanding internal freedoms, aiming to become a "Middle Eastern Switzerland" - with gambling, specific types of tourism and an active nightlife.

For a long time, Kasimian frightened his compatriots with such “decomposition”.

On the other hand, the picture created by the Saudi authorities is still far from reality. Clubs and casinos in the country are located next to "houses of correction" under the control of the morality police, and the theological community controls the contours of both domestic and foreign policy. "Liberal" Saudi Arabia is still ephemeral.

It is precisely this dualism that Kasimiyan emphasized, suggesting that the Arabs are similarly deceiving other countries (and especially Iran) on the diplomatic track.

Of course, he had criticized the Saudis before, but this time the theologian crossed the line - he staged a political action during the pilgrimage, thereby insulting the royal house. Riyadh considered it unacceptable to ignore his attacks.

COURSE ON CRITICISM
Despite the fact that Kasimian was arrested on Monday, the information was not made public for a long time until Shiites, concerned about the disappearance of the preacher, themselves raised the alarm and achieved coverage of the topic in regional media.

However, the royal court continued to remain silent. Comments from the Foreign and Interior Ministries were extremely general. They emphasized that the Saudi side had not yet brought any charges, and that the detention of a public figure "has no political overtones."

The reaction of the Iranian authorities, who were apparently taken by surprise by the news of the arrest of a high-ranking cleric, was much more varied. Representatives of various ministries and departments of the country sometimes expressed conflicting assessments.

For example, the head of the delegation of Iranian pilgrims, Seyed Abdul-Fatah Navab, noted that it is not worth projecting the statements of the arrested ayatollah onto all of Iran, since his position “reflects personal views.”

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref made similar points, adding that the “unfortunate incident” does not harm Saudi-Iranian relations.

Other Iranian officials have gone further and proposed extraditing Kasimian to Iran to face charges under national law.

However, there were also those in high offices who supported the arrested man.

For example, Iranian judicial official Asghar Jahangir called the arrest “unjustified and illegal,” calling on “relevant authorities to look into the matter.” Several members of parliament and senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also called for pressure on Riyadh.

However, the more time passes since the arrest, the quieter the voices of the "ultra-conservative party" become. Many - including the all-powerful speaker Ghalibaf - prefer not to comment on what is happening at all. At the official level, the course towards criticizing Kasimian confidently outweighs.

The head of the ideological and political department of Khamenei's office, Ali Saeedi, put an end to the story : he characterized his compatriot's statements as "damaging to Iran's reputation" and emphasized their "detachment from reality." By doing so, he de facto expressed not only his own position, but also that of Iran's highest authorities.

Official Tehran's attempt to distance itself from the controversial theologian is not without foundation. Kasimiyan's voice is listened to not only by Iranian ultra-conservatives, but also by Saudi Shiites, whose share in the kingdom is, according to various estimates, between 10 and 15%.

Previously, this minority has repeatedly acted as the "engine" of protests and anti-government demonstrations, which has formed a firm conviction among the Saudi authorities that local Shiites are almost entirely agents of Tehran. The Iranian establishment does not want to support this thesis.

RELATIONSHIP CHECK
The Qasimiyan affair is a good test of the strength of the new Saudi-Iranian relations. If the parties can resolve the conflict in a legal framework and without mutual recriminations, this will have a more convincing effect on the populations of both countries than numerous exhortations and bravura speeches by officials.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have had a hard time overcoming the consequences of the “small cold war” that began in 2016 after the Saudis executed influential Shiite cleric Nemr al-Nemr, and are unlikely to want to return to the confrontation phase.

Moreover, the resumption of confrontation will hit the image of both powers and weaken their ties with China, which has made considerable efforts to reconcile its Middle Eastern counterparts.

The investigation is being conducted in a "gentlemanly manner." Thus, after the incident with Qasimiyan, Saudi Arabia suspended "until further notice" the issuance of visas for Iranian participants in the Hajj, but Tehran chose not to respond to this attack.

As a sign of gratitude, Riyadh did not emphasize the arrested preacher’s closeness to the highest authorities: not a single Saudi publication wrote about the connections between Qasimiyan and Khamenei, and not a single blogger spoke about them.

There is a high probability that the parties will avoid direct accusations against each other until the very end, so that the “shadow of al-Nemr” does not hang over them even more.

Iranian cleric deported from Saudi as Tehran disavows his fiery remarks

[Rudaw] Senior Iranian holy man Gholamreza Qassemian has been deported to 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...
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...
after he had reportedly been arrested by Saudi authorities during the ongoing Hajj season. The holy man was detained shortly after posting a now-viral controversial video sharply criticizing the alleged commercialization of the kingdom’s holy sites.

Qassemian on Thursday shared a picture of himself seemingly aboard a plane, addressing his followers with a message: "With your prayers and follow-up, and the diligent follow-up of the Iranian Consulate in Saudi Arabia, I was released from prison and am returning to my beloved homeland via Dubai."

According to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, Qassemian was arrested in Medina by Saudi police a day after "recording a short video in the Prophet’s Mosque (Masjid al-Nabawi)," which quickly circulated on social media platforms.

In the controversial video Qassemian is heard harshly criticizing what he called the commercialization of Saudi holy sites.

"The merchants and exploiters of the Qibla [Kaaba - the most sacred site in Islam] have provided ideal conditions - casinos, centers of prostitution, and vulgar concerts are all in place," the holy man stated.

Notably, Iranian officials were quick to distance themselves from Qassemian’s remarks.

In a veiled response to the incident, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday dismissed attempts to undermine Tehran’s ties with Saudi Arabia and disrupt "Moslem unity."

"Iran in no uncertain terms condemns any attempt to harm Moslem unity," Araghchi emphasized on X, adding that Tehran is "determined to not allow anyone to sabotage relations with our brotherly neighbors, including the progressive path of Iran and Saudi Arabia."

Qassemian’s case comes at a time when Saudi-Iranian relations are advancing with caution.

The two countries agreed to restore diplomatic ties under a landmark China-brokered accord in March 2023, ending a seven-year rupture. Relations had broken down in 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad in response to Riyadh’s execution of Shiite dissident holy man Nimr al-Nimr.

Between 2021 and 2023, senior Iranian and Saudi holy mans and security officials held a series of talks in Baghdad (five rounds) and Oman (five rounds), culminating in the March 2023 agreement to reopen embassies and implement cooperation accords.

Since the election of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in July 2024, bilateral relations have notably strengthened.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians...
and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists...
were among the first leaders to congratulate Pezeshkian on his victory, expressing a desire to deepen ties. In a major diplomatic milestone, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman visited Tehran in April 2025 - the highest-level Saudi visit to Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution - to discuss regional security and economic cooperation.

Pezeshkian has repeatedly emphasized that a core pillar of his foreign policy is to "build bridges" across the Middle East and beyond, advocating for regional integration and dialogue, especially with Gulf Arab states, ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
, and Central Asian nations.

Tehran’s prompt disavowal of Qassemian’s inflammatory comments highlights the pragmatic approach Pezeshkian’s administration appears to be taking as it seeks to stabilize ties with its neighbors.

Link

-Land of the Free

New evidence could blow open the Oklahoma City bombing case

2025-05-30

[Blaze] The Justice Department must act. Release the tapes. Let the American people decide for themselves what really happened the morning of April 19, 1995.

For years, the FBI denied that key evidence existed in the Oklahoma City bombing. But court documents, leaked files, and eyewitness accounts suggest a darker truth buried beneath the official story.

President Bill Clinton visited a church in Oklahoma City on April 19 to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1995 bombing that resulted in the deaths of 168 people. In his remarks, Clinton said we “owe” it to the victims to “do better” in honor of their sacrifice. But just like three decades ago, commemorating the bombing still requires airbrushing a mountain of contradictory evidence.

This is a test of whether the Trump administration will honor its promises on transparency.

Clinton’s Justice Department owed the nation the full truth about the bombing. Instead, it spun a cover story that both distorted the past and endangered the future, leaving the American people exposed to new threats.

Among the most striking but forgotten facts surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing is the mystery of “John Doe 2,” a man 24 eyewitnesses claimed to have seen in the Ryder truck with Timothy McVeigh. The FBI now insists he never existed.

After the bombing, the media abandoned its role as a watchdog and became, in too many cases, an enabler of the official narrative of lone-wolf terror. It professed that the FBI acted swiftly and heroically, the Justice Department delivered justice, and President Clinton led the country through its pain with grace and resolve.

Fortunately, not everyone gave up on the truth. Today’s most relentless truth-seekers are anonymous digital investigators and citizen journalists, armed with Freedom of Information Act filings, archived footage, and a hunger to uncover what the gatekeepers tried to hide.

I’ve been part of one such effort for almost two decades. Working alongside attorney Jesse Trentadue, I’ve investigated the likely connection between the Oklahoma City bombing and the horrific 1995 death of Jesse’s brother, Kenneth, in federal custody. Jesse’s FOIA lawsuits unearthed shocking documents about the FBI’s concealed activities — clues that led us deeper into the bureau’s involvement than we could have imagined.

Then, a former FBI undercover operative came forward. What he revealed gave us a key piece of the puzzle. And yet for all we’ve uncovered, the vaults of secrecy remain shut.

Which brings us to a critical moment. On March 26, Trentadue submitted a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging the release of a decade-old sealed deposition from that very whistleblower. The contents of that deposition could expose the true scope of PATCON — the FBI’s sweeping 1990s operation to infiltrate alleged right-wing extremist groups — and potentially tie it directly to the Oklahoma City bombing.

This is a test of whether the Trump administration will honor its promises of transparency. Very few are aware that the Oklahoma City bombing was caught on camera. We know this not just from speculative claims but from on-the-record sources — contemporaneous media reports, corroborating federal files, and sworn FBI testimony. The footage exists. It’s a documented fact. Yet the tapes remain hidden. Authorities only released video of the aftermath.

For over a decade, the FBI fought Trentadue in court to keep the video out of public view. The footage may prove conclusively that McVeigh was not acting alone. If made public, the tapes could shatter the myth of lone-wolf domestic terror. They could implicate associates of McVeigh who were never charged.

Further, the videos could show that 168 Americans were murdered not just by a madman but by a preventable failure of federal surveillance — or worse, by a deliberate cover-up. This cover story has allowed neo-Nazi terrorists to slip through the cracks, denied justice to the victims, and kept the American public in the dark for far too long.

That’s why the Justice Department must act. Release the tapes. Unseal the deposition. Let the American people decide for themselves what really happened. We stand at the threshold of a new era in open-source journalism. If the Trump Justice Department delivers on its promise to unmask secrets, it could mark the rebirth of investigative integrity in America.

As Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) wryly observed earlier this year, “Sounds to me like we need to get some new conspiracy theories, because all the old ones turned out to be true.”

Link

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