[IsraelTimes] Western and regional sources say Tehran has hosted multiple rounds of talks between Moscow and Yemeni terror group to discuss potential transfer of more precise Yakhont missiles
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has brokered ongoing secret talks between Russia and Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... rebels to transfer anti-ship missiles to the terror group, three Western and regional sources said, a development that highlights Tehran’s deepening ties to Moscow.
Seven sources said that Russia has yet to decide to transfer the Yakhont missiles — also known as P-800 Oniks — which experts said would allow the terror group to more accurately strike commercial vessels in the Red Sea and increase the threat to the US and European warships defending them.
The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Russia was considering sending the missiles. Iran’s role as an intermediary has not been previously reported.
The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial Red Sea shipping channels since November, in what they say is a sign of solidarity with Paleostinians amid Israel’s war against Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an 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... following Hamas’s devastating assault on October 7. They have sunk at least two vessels and seized another, disrupting global maritime trade by forcing shipping firms to divert cargos and, according to industry sources, driven up insurance costs for ships plying the Red Sea.
In response, the United States and Britannia have struck Houthi positions but have failed to stop the group’s attacks.
Two regional officials aware of the talks said that the Houthis and Russians met in Tehran at least twice this year and that the talks to provide dozens of the missiles, which have a range of about 300 kilometers (186 miles), were ongoing with further Tehran meetings expected in coming weeks.
Russia has previously supplied the Yakhont missile to Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... One of the sources said the talks started under Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
"Russia is negotiating with the Houthis for the transfer of Yakhont supersonic anti-ship missiles," said a Western intelligence source. "The Iranians are brokering the talks but do not want to have their signature over it."
Neither Iran’s UN mission nor the Russian Defense Ministry responded to requests for comment.
"We have no knowledge of what you have mentioned," said Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the official front man for Yemen’s Houthis.
A senior US official declined to name the specific systems that could be transferred, but confirmed that Russia has been discussing supplying missiles to the Houthis, calling the development "very worrisome."
A US Defense Department official said any efforts to bolster the Houthis’ capabilities would "undermine the shared international interest in global freedom of navigation and stability in the Red Sea and broader Middle East."
Russia and Iran have been nurturing closer military ties amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Tehran has allegedly transferred ballistic missiles to Moscow for use against Ukraine, the United States said earlier this month.
One motivation for Moscow to arm the Houthis, three sources said, is the possibility that Western states could decide to allow Ukraine to use their weapons to strike farther into Russian territory.
The senior US official said the Russia-Houthi talks "seem to be related to our posture in Ukraine and what we’re willing or not willing to do" regarding Kyiv’s requests for the lifting of restrictions on its use of long-range US-supplied weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... warned in June that Moscow could send advanced long-range weapons — similar to those the United States and its allies give Ukraine — to the West’s adversaries around the world.
The Yakhont is considered one of the world’s most advanced anti-ship missiles, designed to skim the sea’s surface to avoid detection at more than twice the speed of sound, making it difficult to intercept.
Fabian Hinz, an expert on ballistic missiles with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that the transfer of Yakhont missiles by Russia to the Houthis would be a "game changer" for regional security.
"The P-800 is a far more capable system than the anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles the Houthis have used so far," said Hinz.
Not only could the Houthis fire them at US, British and other warships that have been protecting commercial vessels in the Red Sea from Houthi drone and missile attacks, but they can be used as land-attack weapons that 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 Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... would see as a threat, Hinz said.
The senior US official said that a delegation of US officials discussed the Russia-Houthi negotiations with their Saudi counterparts during a visit to Saudi Arabia this summer, and that Washington has raised the issue with Moscow.
The Saudis have also conveyed their concerns directly to the Russians, three sources told Rooters. The Saudi government did not respond to a request for comment.
Hinz said Russia would need to help with the technical aspects of a missile delivery, including how to transfer and make them operational without the United States detecting and destroying the weapons. The Houthis would also need training on the system.
The senior US official warned of dire consequences if the transfer takes place.
"The Saudis are alarmed. We are alarmed, and other regional partners are alarmed," the official said. "The Houthis are already creating enough damage in the Red Sea, and this would enable them to do more."
If a disbelieving woman who is married has been captured in war, she becomes permissible for the Muslims after one menstrual cycle has passed, which serves to establish that she is not pregnant.
says Sheikh Mohamed Ali in a speech at the Al-Furqan Islamic Centre in Manchester,… pic.twitter.com/5pewO442eB
[IsraelTimes] Police say they have launched a ‘preliminary investigation’ into claims a Norwegian-founded Bulgaria-based company was involved in sale of devices
Norway’s security police (PST) have begun a preliminary investigation into reports that a Norwegian-owned company was linked to the sale of pagers to Hezbollah that went kaboom! last week, a police lawyer told Rooters.
Over a two-day period last week, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives blew up in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , killing at least 39 people and wounding thousands. The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
It is not clear how and when the pagers were weaponized so they could be remotely detonated. Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria are already investigating possible links in the supply chain.
"PST has initiated a preliminary investigation to determine whether there are reasons for starting a [full] investigation on the basis of allegations in the media that a Norwegian-owned company may have been involved in the dissemination of pagers to Hezbollah," PST lawyer Haris Hrenovica said in a text message to Rooters.
Earlier he told Norwegian news agency NTB that the police had no specific suspicions at this time.
Bulgarian authorities said last week they were investigating Sofia-based company Norta Global Ltd after a Hungarian media report that it was involved in facilitating the sale of the pagers.
The company was founded in 2022 by Norwegian citizen Rinson Jose, 39, according to Bulgaria’s corporate registry. He signed the company’s articles of association at the Bulgarian consulate in Oslo, the documents reviewed by Rooters showed.
Jose declined to comment on the pagers when reached by phone last Wednesday and hung up when asked about the Bulgarian business. He did not return repeated calls and text messages.
When Rooters tried to call him on Tuesday this week, the call was directed to an answering service.
Jose’s Linkedin profile shows he has been employed by DN Media Group since February 2020. DN Media Group said he worked in the sales department and that he left for a conference in Boston on Sept. 17.
He last contacted his colleagues by email on Sept. 18, according to Norwegian media. His employer told Rooters it had not been able to reach him since.
Rooters has found no evidence linking Norta Global to the DN Media Group.
A white dudes for Harris-style brew company in Wisconsin has launched a line of Antifa, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz beers to try to increase Democrat voter turnout.
#2
He won't send them pallets of cash, so there's that.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/26/2024 6:54 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Oh, come ON. What an obvious false flag.
Iran isn't our enemy.
Our enemy is the DC swamp.
Iran is Israel's enemy.
I've had quite enough being someone else's fool and fighting other people's battles.
AMERICA FIRST!
[IsraelTimes] Israel won’t be allowed to participate as a competing nation in the 2025 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), a prestigious international competition for high school students, in the first such decision by a global tournament organizer.
The IOI General Assembly voted by a two-thirds majority to "sanction Israel for its role" in the ongoing "humanitarian crisis in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an 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... caused by the ongoing conflict," according to a Tuesday announcement by the IOI.
"Beginning in 2025, Israel will not be recognized as a participating delegation at IOI, but four contestants from Israel may still participate under the IOI flag," the statement said.
In the 2024 competition, held in Alexandria, Egypt, four Israeli students participated remotely due to security concerns and won three gold medals and a bronze. The Israeli team placed second overall out of 94 participating countries and more than 350 student competitors.
Today, the Education Ministry says that Israeli students competing in the olympiad under the IOI flag is "not going to happen."
"The Israeli team will carry the Israeli flag proudly on the way to many more victories and international achievements... The ministry is examining, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, decisive measures on the issue," the statement says.
#1
I can understand the IOI's concern. Think of the shame of losing to Untermenschen and the damage that would cause to the self-esteem of young idiots.
[IsraelTimes] Ben Gvir threatens to withdraw his party from coalition if PM agrees to proposal by US, France and other nations for a 21-day lull to negotiate an end to fighting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office swiftly denied as false a report Thursday morning that claimed officials expected a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah within hours.
The United States, European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , and other allies including several Arab states had issued a joint call for a 21-day halt in the fighting in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , where a months-long border conflict has spiked in recent days, with Hezbollah bombarding Israel’s north and the Israel Defense Forces hitting the Iran-backed group’s infrastructure, much of which is embedded in civilian areas.
Headlines in various Hebrew media promised an imminent ceasefire based on a single report by Britain’s Sky News, which quoted unnamed US administration officials as saying they “expect” a three-week pause to be implemented “in the coming hours” in line with the joint call issued by the US, France, and several allies.
"This is an American-French proposal that the prime minister hasn’t even responded to," the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The statement also cast as "opposite from the truth" a Channel 12 report that Netanyahu had ordered the IDF to tone down strikes in Lebanon, saying the premier has empowered the army to keep striking with "full force," and that the fighting in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an 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... will continue until all the war goals are reached.
Rocket fire from Lebanon continued during the day as Israeli warplanes pounded Hezbollah targets.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz backed up Netanyahu, asserting that "there will be no ceasefire in the north."
"We will continue to fight the Hezbollah terror group with full force until victory and the return of residents of the north to their homes safely," added Katz, who is standing in for Netanyahu during the latter’s US trip but who doesn’t appear to have authority to make operational decisions on the prosecution of the war.
Israel has made a priority of securing its northern border and enabling the return of some 70,000 residents displaced by near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah, which began attacking after Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ’s devastating October 7, 2023, onslaught, in solidarity with the Gaza terror group.
Headlines in various Hebrew media promised an imminent ceasefire based on a single report by Britannia’s Sky News, which quoted unnamed US administration officials as saying they "expect" a three-week pause to be implemented "in the coming hours" in line with the joint call issued by the US, La Belle France, and several allies. The lull was to be used for negotiations aimed at reaching a more permanent ceasefire.
Previous reports had quoted Israeli officials as saying the chances for a ceasefire were very slim, while others cited US officials as saying only that a decision from Israel and Lebanon on the ceasefire proposal was expected "within hours" — not that such a ceasefire would immediately come into effect.
The proposal was issued from the sidelines of the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... General Assembly, which is underway in New York.
Israel’s envoy to the UN and Lebanon’s prime minister, who is attending the assembly, had both welcomed the proposal.
The Sky report, and the joint statement from the plan’s architects calling for a lull in the fighting — a step vehemently opposed by Netanyahu’s voter base and his far-right coalition partners — set off a flurry of responses from Israeli political figures.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatened to withdraw his far-right Otzma Yehudit party from Netanyahu’s government if he agrees to a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Following a meeting with politicians from his party, Ben Gvir warned the prime minister that acceding to a temporary deal would cause him to cease cooperating with the rest of the coalition and "if the temporary ceasefire becomes permanent we will resign from the government."
"The most basic and understandable thing is that when your enemy is on his knees, you do not allow him to recover, but work to defeat him," Ben Gvir said, claiming that to pause the fighting "conveys weakness, endangers the security of your citizens, and proves that you do not intend to win."
He continued, "If the temporary ceasefire becomes permanent...all the Otzma Yehudit ministers and MKs will resign from the government and the coalition."
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also declared he opposed the ceasefire proposal, insisting that continuing the war against Hezbollah was the only way forward.
"The campaign in the north should end with a single result: crushing Hezbollah and eliminating its ability to harm the residents of the north," Smotrich said on social media platform X. "The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows it has suffered and reorganize itself to continue the war after 21 days."
Culture Minister Miki Zohar of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party said he hoped what he termed the "reports" were untrue, adding that agreeing to a ceasefire would constitute "a serious error that endangers Israel’s major security achievements in recent days."
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that Israel should partially accept the joint US-French call for an immediate truce but only for seven days and not 21, in order to keep Hezbollah from regrouping.
"The State of Israel should announce this morning that it accepts the Biden-Macron ceasefire proposal, but only for seven days so as not to allow Hezbollah to restore its command and control systems," he tweeted. "We will not accept any proposal that does not include removing Hezbollah from our northern border.
"Any proposal that is put forward must allow the residents of the north to immediately return safely to their homes and lead to the renewal of negotiations for a hostage deal" with Hamas, he continued.
Lapid’s statement came a day after he received a security briefing from Netanyahu.
Hezbollah is barred by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 from maintaining a military presence south of the Litani River. The Shiite terror group has blatantly violated that resolution and, since October 8, has regularly launched attacks on Israel from near the border.
It began its attacks a day after the war with Hamas erupted with a devastating cross-border terror onslaught in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 people were taken as hostages to Gaza.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 22 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 512 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 88 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.
Lebanese officials say some 600 people in the country have been killed in Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s over the past few days, without differentiating between civilians and combatants. Lebanon’s foreign minister said the number of displaced Lebanese had soared to nearly 500,000 since Israel ramped up its military campaign.
[IsraelTimes] Atlantic story on first days of war says US intel discredited suspicions of Hezbollah infiltration, averting strike; claims MBS told Blinken he doesn’t care about Palestinian issue
In the opening days of the war, the US frantically tried to reach senior Israeli officials huddled to plan a major strike on Hezbollah to tell them they were not acting rationally and relying on bad intelligence, according to a US report Wednesday.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan eventually managed to pass a dictated note to Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer warning him against launching a preemptive strike against Hezbollah on October 11, according to the Atlantic, which provided further revelations on the 90-minute panic in Israel that evening over a suspected invasion by the Iran-backed terror group.
Without providing sources, The Atlantic reported that top Biden administration officials were persuading the government to avoid launching a preemptive strike on Hezbollah when Dermer informed Sullivan that Hezbollah paragliders had flown across the border — similar to Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... ’s October 7 massacre days earlier — and fired shots at a funeral.
Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings... more than 2 million Israelis were sent to shelters over false sirens in northern communities warning of drone attacks on the evening of October 11. Fears were fueled by media reports that 15-20 drones from Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... supposedly crossed into Israeli territory.
The cabinet was poised to approve a preemptive strike on Hezbollah, but the claims of a Hezbollah infiltration could not be backed by the CIA or the US military, The Atlantic reported.
Sullivan failed to directly get a hold of Dermer, who was locked in the cabinet meeting. Instead, he dictated a short note to the minister through his chief of staff, which was said to read: "You’re not making rational decisions. You’re acting in the fog of war on the basis of bad intelligence."
With Israel still reeling from Hamas hard boyz storming across 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 an 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... border that Saturday and massacring at least 1,200 Israelis in border towns, the prospect of a similarly murderous mass invasion by Hezbollah along the northern border sparked panic in a country on edge.
Israeli fighter jets were already in the air when US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. You're a lyin' dog-faced pony soldier... managed to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down at the last minute, according to a Wall Street Journal report in December.
The Atlantic reported that Dermer informed Sullivan that the cabinet had called off the attack 45 minutes after receiving the note, thereby potentially avoiding all-out war with Hezbollah days after October 7.
’Do I care personally about the Paleostinian issue? I don’t’
The Atlantic also shared quotes from a January 8 meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm... and Saudi 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... , who expressed interest in normalization with Israel on the condition that Jerusalem would commit to allowing the establishment of a Paleostinian state. A Saudi official described The Atlantic’s account of the conversation as "incorrect."
MBS reportedly also told Blinken during the meeting in 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 Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... he would not need the Israelis to commit to a total halt on counterterrorism raids in Gaza in exchange for a normalization deal.
"They can come back in six months, a year, but not on the back end of my signing something like this," he said, according to the report.
"Seventy percent of my population is younger than me," the de-facto Saudi ruler reportedly said. "For most of them, they never really knew much about the Paleostinian issue. And so they’re being introduced to it for the first time through this conflict. It’s a huge problem. Do I care personally about the Paleostinian issue? I don’t, but my people do, so I need to make sure this is meaningful."
Israel’s commitment to advancing a Paleostinian state is considered a key sticking point with the current right-wing Israeli government, which has repeatedly rejected the possibility of such a move, especially in the wake of the October 7 attack, saying that doing so would be tantamount to rewarding terrorism.
After the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war following the terror group’s deadly October 7 onslaught, Saudi Arabia largely put on ice US-backed plans for the kingdom to normalize ties with Israel, two sources familiar with Riyadh’s thinking said earlier this year.
But Saudi officials have continued to publicly and privately say since the start of the war that a normalization deal with Israel is still on its diplomatic agenda, while publicly pushing for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
MBS, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, said just weeks before the fighting broke out that Riyadh was getting closer to a deal, but talks were essentially frozen in the first months of the war.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it is calling up two reserve brigades to be deployed to northern Israel.
The military says the move, made following a fresh assessment, "will allow the continuation of the fighting effort against the Hezbollah terror organization, the protection of the citizens of the State of Israel, and the creation of the conditions for the safe return of the [displaced] residents of the north to their homes."
[GEO.TV] Israel's army chief told troops on Wednesday to be prepared for a "possible entry" into Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... as Israeli fighter jets bombarded Hezbollah targets across the border.
"You can hear the planes here; we are attacking all day. Both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry, but also to continue striking Hezbollah," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told a tank brigade, according to a statement issued by the military.
25 September 2024, 6:53 pm
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given a "green light" to talks with the US over a potential temporary halt in the stepped-up conflict with Hezbollah in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , which would enable negotiations for a ceasefire, according to an unsourced report by the Ynet news site.
The report says Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer are holding the talks with Washington, which is holding talks with Lebanon’s government and other official acting as intermediaries with Hezbollah.
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... is said to be involved in the talks, preferring to avoid an all-out war.
"We are nearing a fork in the road for decisions on where the war is going," an unnamed Israeli official is quoted as saying.
“We are grateful for all those who are making a sincere effort with diplomacy to avoid escalation, to avoid a full war,” Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon says, but adds that if talks failed: “We will use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims.”
Netanyahu, other Israel officials said to pour cold water on chances for pause in fighting
25 September 2024, 9:23 pm
[IsraelTimes] Israel officials are highly pessimistic that efforts for a temporary halt to fighting in Lebanon to facilitate ceasefire talks will work, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told ministers that any negotiations will only be held under fire, according to several reports.
Reports by The Wall Street Journal and Channel 12 news say the basic idea being negotiated is a halt of up to four weeks, during which negotiations would be held for a ceasefire in Lebanon and in Gaza. Channel 12 says Hamas would also announce it is holding fire, while IDF forces would remain in Gaza but not invade Lebanon. The network says talks would then focus on upgrading Security Council Resolution 1701 to better enforce a ceasefire and guarantee Hezbollah move away from the border.
However, Channel 13 news quotes an unnamed senior Israel official as saying there is “no feasibility for a settlement right now,” and that “Israel is prepared to hear suggestions, but the chances for an agreement are slim.”
The Ynet news site quotes an associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that in practice, “there are no negotiations,” and adding that the “red line for the prime minister and [Strategic Affairs] Minister [Ron] Dermer is pushing Hezbollah across the Litani [River].”
Ynet further reports, without citing sources, that Netanyahu told ministers in a security consultation that “any negotiations will only be held under fire; we are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force.”
[IsraelTomes] Gazan ministry sends truck carrying bodies back to border crossing, demands explanation of deaths; Israel does not comment on such cases
Israel on Wednesday reportedly returned the bodies of 88 Paleostinians killed in its military offensive in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an 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, which the territory’s Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... -run health ministry refused to bury unless Israel discloses details about who they are and where they were killed.
”We don’t want ‘em
You can have ‘em
They’re unknown to us”
The bodies were brought into Gaza in a container loaded on a truck through an Israeli-controlled crossing, but, according to Paleostinian officials, there was no information provided about the names or ages of the victims or the locations where they died.
From the attached list:
Body #1: Elderly male, no pants, head smashed in.
Body #2: toddler, female with red hair, no apparent cause of death.
Body #3: …
Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to receive them and bury them, urging the International Committee of the Red Thingy to seek details from Israel.
"The health ministry halted the procedures to receive the container (carrying the bodies) until the completion of the full data and information about those bodies so their relatives can identify them," the Gazook ministry said in a statement.
The head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said health ministry officials told the driver of the truck to bring the bodies back to the Israeli crossing from which he had arrived. The truck then left the hospital.
"They must act according to the international humanitarian law and in a way that preserves the dignity of the deaders and their families," Ismail al-Thawabta told Rooters.
The Red Thingy said it wasn’t involved in the transfer process.
"We reiterate that all families have the right to receive news about their loved ones and bury them respectfully and in line with their traditions," said a statement issued by the ICRC.
Tell that to Hamas, O Red Thingy spokesperson. They’re the ones who kidnapped and killed, and are now holding unnamed bodies for ransom. But you don’t care about dead Jooos and those who associated closely enough with them to be kidnapped on October 7th.
Under international humanitarian law, the bodies of those who have died during an armed conflict must be handled with dignity. The law requires that they be searched for, collected, and evacuated, which helps ensure that people do not go missing, the ICRC statement added.
Let us point out to the distinguished spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross that Israel is giving back the borrowed bodies without asking anything in return.
The Civil Emergency Service tasked with finding people missing under rubble, on roads, and in ruined buildings in Gaza says it has been notified of around 10,000 people missing during the nearly year-long Israeli assault on Gaza.
The military does not provide an explanation in such cases when bodies are returned to Gaza. However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... the military has announced when it has taken bodies from the Strip to try and identify if dead hostages are among them.
The war began on October 7 when Hamas-led Lions of Islam rampaged through southern communities, slaughtering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages to Gaza. Israel launched its military operation, which has stretched for over 11 months, aiming to eliminate Hamas and bring back those kidnapped.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 41,000 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 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 Lions of Islam inside Israel on October 7.
Israel’s corpse count in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 348.
#4
I'm sure Israel will cave. Cremation or burial at sea (ala; Osama Bin-Laden) might be distasteful for the Jews; but the bodies would be land buried in Israel if it ever achieved it's 1 State solution!
#5
the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry refused to bury unless Israel discloses details about who they are and where they were killed.
You need paperwork? Not a problem! This is the sort of thing that ChatGPT excels at creating. Sure, the output will be devoid of facts thanks to generative AI's ability to "hallucinate" (an industry term meaning "to make shit up"), but it is not like anyone is going to be fact-checking.
Actually, I am a bit surprised Hamass does not have a Tomb of the Unknown Martyr given their tendency to explode and the inherent difficulty of identifying bodies from their reconstituted pulverized parts.
[IsraelNationalNews] US Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) say the Biden Administration is continuing to delay the delivery of vital military equipment to Israel.
In a joint letter to President Joe Biden, the two senators wrote: "We write to strongly condemn your administration's continued delay in providing critical military equipment and weapons to our ally Israel in the midst of an existential war. Delays of equipment that Israel requires to win its multi-front war against Iranian-terrorist proxies, compounded by statements by Administration officials blaming Israel for escalation, undercut Israel's efforts to restore deterrence by emboldening the Iranian-backed terrorists."
They wrote that they have reason to believe the administration is currently delaying three types of military weapons or equipment and proceeded to elaborate: "MK-84 bombs: Israel requires these bombs to hit Hamas's deeply buried tunnels and other military infrastructure in Gaza. Hezbollah also has significant military infrastructure that Israel must destroy.
"Apache attack helicopters: Despite ongoing discussions between the United States and Israel, your administration has failed to fast-track and approve the sale of Apache attack helicopters. Israel requested these helicopters last December, recognizing the increased need given the war in Gaza. That need has only increased with Hezbollah's escalation in the north.
"Caterpillar D9 tractors: We recently learned you are holding up tractors that the IDF uses to clear improvised explosive devices (IEDs) ahead of its troops. Israel puts armor on these tractors and uses them to save the lives of scores of Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers and civilians."
Senators Cotton and McConnell concluded their letter: "Further delays will endanger Israeli lives, increase the likelihood that the conflict will escalate further, and harm American national security interests. It's far past time to transfer to Israel the capabilities it needs to win."
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
09/26/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
#1
Any surprises here?
The New National Socialist Democratic Party has openly supported PRO-HAMAS Terrorists.
What will be their version of the Goose Step be,
a marching twerk?
Hossein Bash, a top figure close to Nasrallah, responsible for Hezbollah’s finances and media management, has allegedly fled to Israel with all the organization’s maps and a significant sum of money.
[GEO.TV] US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday an all-out war was possible in the Middle East but there was also the possibility of a settlement in Israel's conflicts in Gaza and with Hezbollah. So there you have it, news you can use.
"An all-out war is possible, but I think there's also the opportunity - we're still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region," Biden said in an appearance on ABC's "The View."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11122 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
#1
And his "Team" is working on that "not inevitable" thingie.
[GEO.TV] The US military is not providing intelligence support to Israel for its operations in Lebanon, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. "We don't wanna get involved!"
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh also said no Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon appeared imminent, but referred reporters to Israel for questions about its operations and plans. "Because they're not telling us anything. They don't want their plans to leak to the Hezbullies."
Asked about whether the United States was supporting Israel's operations in Lebanon, including with intelligence support, Singh said: "No. No support." "No, no! Certainly not!"
"When it comes to Lebanon, the U.S. military has no involvement in Israel's operations," Singh said. "Really, we're pussies."
[IsraelTimes] Officials within the terror group say chain of command remains intact, and fighters are trained to operate even if it breaks down, pointing to underground arsenal, tunnel network
The explosion last week of thousands of Hezbollah’s communication devices across Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... put 1,500 fighters out of commission due to their injuries, with many having been blinded or had their hands blown off, a Hezbollah official told Rooters.
While that is a major blow, it represents a fraction of Hezbollah’s strength, which a report for the US Congress on Friday put at 40,000-50,000 fighters. The terror group’s leader, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , has said it has 100,000 fighters.
The blasts, which were widely blamed on Israel, were closely followed by IDF aerial assaults over the past week that have left the powerful Lebanese Shiite terror group and political party reeling.
Yet Hezbollah’s flexible chain of command, together with its extensive tunnel network and a vast arsenal of missiles and weapons it has bolstered over the past year, is helping it weather the unprecedented Israeli strikes, three sources familiar with the Lebanese group’s operations said.
On Friday, Israel killed the commander who founded and led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, Ibrahim Aqil. And since Monday, Lebanon’s deadliest day of violence in decades, the health ministry says more than 560 people, among them 50 children, have died in air barrages. The tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel said it targeted homes where Hezbollah emplaced rockets, missiles and other arms, having repeatedly called on residents to flee.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said on Sunday that Aqil’s death had shaken the organization. Israel says its strikes have also destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rockets and shells.
But two of the sources familiar with Hezbollah operations said the group swiftly appointed replacements for Aqil and other senior figures killed in Friday’s Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Nasrallah said in an August 1 speech that the group quickly fills gaps whenever a leader is killed.
Since October 8, when Hezbollah began firing at Israel in support of its ally Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an 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... , it has redeployed fighters to frontline areas in the south, including some from Syria, the three sources said.
It has also been bringing rockets into Lebanon at a fast pace, anticipating a drawn-out conflict, the sources said, adding that the group nevertheless sought to avoid all-out war.
Hezbollah’s main supporter and weapons supplier is Iran. The terror group is the most powerful faction in Tehran’s "Axis of Resistance®" of allied irregular forces across the Middle East. Many of its weapons are Iranian, Russian or Chinese models.
The sources, who all asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, did not provide details of the weapons or where they were bought.
Hezbollah’s media office did not reply to requests for comment for this story.
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, said that while Hezbollah operations had been disrupted by the past week’s attacks, the group’s networked organizational structure helped make it an extremely resilient force.
"This is the most formidable enemy Israel has ever faced on the battlefield, not because of numbers and tech but in terms of resilience."
POWERFUL MISSILES
Fighting has escalated this week. Israel killed another top Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, on Tuesday. For its part, Hezbollah has shown its capacity to continue operations, firing hundreds of rockets toward Israel in ever deeper attacks.
On Wednesday, warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defense systems, the Israeli military said. Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli intelligence base near Tel Aviv, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border.
The group has yet to say whether it has launched any of its most potent, precision-guided rockets, such as the Fateh-110, an Iranian-made ballistic missile with a range of 250-300 kilometers (341.75 miles). Hezbollah’s Fateh-110s have a 450- to 500-kilogram warhead, according to a 2018 paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Hezbollah’s rocket attacks are possible because the chain of command has kept functioning despite the group suffering a brief spell of disarray after the pagers and walkie-talkies detonated, one of the sources, a security bigshot, said.
The three sources said Hezbollah’s ability to communicate is underpinned by a dedicated, fixed-line telephone network — which it has described as critical to its communications and continues to work — as well as by other devices.
Many of its fighters were carrying older models of pagers, for example, that were unaffected by last week’s attack.
Rooters could not independently verify the information. Most injuries from the exploding pagers were in Beirut, far from the front.
Hezbollah stepped up the use of pagers after banning its fighters from using cellphones on the battlefield in February, in response to commanders being killed in strikes.
If the chain of command breaks, frontline fighters are trained to operate in small, independent clusters composed of a few villages near the border, capable of fighting Israeli forces for long periods, the senior source added.
That is precisely what happened in 2006, during the last war between Hezbollah and Israel, when the group’s fighters held out for weeks, some in frontline villages invaded by Israel.
Israel says it has escalated attacks in order to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities and make it safe for tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes near the Lebanon border, which they fled when Hezbollah began firing rockets on October 8.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has said it prefers to reach a negotiated agreement that would see Hezbollah withdraw from the border region but stands ready to continue its bombing campaign if Hezbollah refuses, and does not rule out any military options.
Hezbollah’s resilience means the fighting has raised fears of a protracted war that could suck in the US, Israel’s close ally, and Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... — especially if Israel launches, and gets bogged down in, a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
Israel’s military did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Monday of "irreversible" consequences of a full-blown war in the Middle East. A US State Department official said Washington disagreed with Israel’s strategy of escalation and sought to reduce tensions.
UNDERGROUND ARSENAL
In what two of the sources said was an indication of how well some of Hezbollah’s weapons are hidden, on Sunday rockets were launched from areas of southern Lebanon that had been targeted by Israel shortly before, the two sources said.
Hezbollah is believed to have an underground arsenal and last month published footage that appeared to show its fighters driving trucks with rocket launchers through tunnels. The sources did not specify if the rockets fired on Sunday were launched from underground.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday’s barrage had destroyed tens of thousands of Hezbollah rockets and munitions.
Israel’s military said long-range cruise missiles, rockets with warheads capable of carrying 100 kilograms of explosives, short-range rockets, and explosive UAVs were all struck on Monday.
Rooters could not independently verify the military claims.
Boaz Shapira, a researcher at Alma, an Israeli think tank that specializes in Hezbollah, said Israel had yet to target strategic sites such as long-range missiles and drone sites.
"I don’t think we are anywhere near finishing this," Shapira said.
Hezbollah’s arsenal is believed to comprise some 150,000 rockets, the US Congress report said. Krieg said its most powerful, long-range ballistic missiles were kept below ground.
Hezbollah has spent years building a tunnel network that by Israeli estimates extends for hundreds of miles. The Israeli military said Monday’s airstrikes hit Hezbollah missile launch sites hidden under homes in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has said it does not place military infrastructure near civilians. Hezbollah has issued no statement on the impact of Israel’s strikes since Monday.
TUNNELS
The group’s arsenal and tunnels have expanded since the 2006 war, especially precision guidance systems, leader Nasrallah has said. Hezbollah officials have said the group has used a small part of the arsenal in fighting over the past year.
Israeli officials have said Hezbollah’s military infrastructure is tightly meshed into the villages and communities of southern Lebanon, with ammunition and missile launcher pads stored in houses throughout the area. Israel has been pounding some of those villages for months to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities.
Confirmed details on the tunnel network remain scarce.
A 2021 report by Alma, the Israeli think tank, said Iran and North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... both helped build up the network of tunnels in the aftermath of the 2006 war.
Israel has already struggled to root out Hamas commanders and self-reliant fighting units from the tunnels crisscrossing Gaza.
"It is one of our biggest challenges in Gaza, and it is certainly something we could meet in Lebanon," said Carmit Valensi, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, a think-tank.
Krieg said that unlike Gaza, where most tunnels are manually dug into a sandy soil, the tunnels in Lebanon had been dug deep in mountain rock. "They are far less accessible than in Gaza and even less easy to destroy."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...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 Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
[GEO.TV] The US military is not providing intelligence support to Israel for its operations in Lebanon, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
