[Garowe] Senior US officials are weary of the conflict between Somalia and Æthiopia over access to the Red Sea, which has preoccupied Mogadishu for the last nine months after Addis Ababa made its occupation intentions public.
Æthiopia has signed a deal with Somaliland ...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells.... , a breakaway region of Somalia, which if implemented, would see it getting 20 kilometers of the Red Sea for construction of a military base and port in exchange for recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state.
The move has angered Somalia, which accuses Æthiopia of annexation plans and infringement of its territorial integrity and illusory sovereignty. Consequently, Somalia has signed a military agreement with Egypt, further worsening tensions in the Horn of Africa.
And U.S. officials and their Western allies worry Somalia is so preoccupied with its quarrel with Æthiopia that it has allowed al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... to regain territory and momentum it had lost. Before this conflict, the government of Somalia had declared total war against al-Shabaab bad boys.
Within two years, significant progress was recorded in central and southern regions, where the group lost traditional bases after military operations. Thousands of the gunnies were killed while others voluntarily surrendered to the government.
Further, the government of Somalia was able to identify various sources of al-Shabaab income, blocking quite much of what suffocated the group’s ability to operate. Such gains now risk suffering huge fate, following the emerging conflict in the region, officials in the State Department said.
Egypt—furious over a giant Grand Renaissance Dam Æthiopia built on the Blue Nile—has joined Somalia’s camp and last month delivered a shipload of artillery and antitank weapons to Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.
The U.S., which has 450 commandos and other defense personnel stationed in Somalia to advise local troops Danab fighting al-Shabaab and 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.... , is concerned that the entry of Egypt would further complicate the fight against al-Shabaab, Wallstreet Journal reports.
Somalia maintains that Egypt will take charge of the new mission dubbed the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Support and Stabilization Mission (AUSSOM) which is set to replace the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) within the next three months.
Æthiopia has traditionally helped in peacekeeping missions in Somalia and its troops are credited for the liberation of many strategic towns across the country. But Somalia says it is fed up with Æthiopia, insisting that it remains 'unwelcome' in the peacekeeping mission.
There is a divided option over Egypt's increasing involvement in Somalia's tussles with Æthiopia. Uganda, one of the countries whose support towards fighting al-Shabaab remains invaluable, questioned the intentions of Cairo, given its long absence from the Stabilization teams.
Somalia has reduced operations against al-Shabaab, with the US now saying the conflict with Æthiopia is partly to blame. For instance, the second phase of operations against al-Shabaab in southern regions was halted under unknown circumstances despite earlier plans.
The al-Shabaab has been waging attacks recently, targeting various military installations across Somalia. Over the weekend, the group targeted one of the bases under the command of the Æthiopian National Defense Forces.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had previously noted the negative impact of Æthiopia's desires to expand territory and exert influence in the Horn of Africa, admitting that such plans would trigger the resurgence of the al-Shabaab group, which had lost ground.
[KhaamaPress] British media reported on Monday that the UK government has decided to relocate hundreds of former Afghan commandos and their families who are eligible for resettlement. These individuals had previously been denied asylum by the former UK government.
The Sunday Times reported that around 500 members of the former Afghan special forces are eligible for resettlement in the UK, as they were on the British government’s payroll and effectively employed by them under British regulations.
According to the BBC, after the fall of the previous Afghan government, the asylum requests of about 2,000 former Afghan commandos, known as "Triple-S" units, were rejected for migration to the UK.
These units were formed, funded, and managed by the British government.
Luke Pollard, the parliamentary undersecretary at the British Ministry of Defence, told the House of Commons that a ministry review found that the UK government directly employed some of the Afghan commandos.
The previous Conservative government had told Parliament that the UK did not directly employ these forces. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Pollard confirmed on Monday that this information was incorrect. He said around 2,000 previously rejected asylum requests from Afghan commandos are now under reconsideration.
He added that 25% of the previously rejected applications have now been approved, and efforts are underway to relocate these individuals and their families to the UK.
Pollard also emphasized that the previous government did not reject the Afghan commandos’ requests out of ill intent but rather due to a lack of timely access to proper information and records about these forces.
However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Pollard clarified that the review of applications does not guarantee that all members of the Triple-S units will be eligible for resettlement, as some applications are still under review.
A joint investigation by The Independent, Lighthouse Reports, and Sky News revealed that dozens of former Afghan commandos who closely collaborated with British forces were tortured, and some were killed after the fall of Kabul.
The decision to reconsider asylum requests marks a significant shift in the UK government’s approach to Afghan commandos. While many have been approved for resettlement, the process remains complex, with some applications still under review.
The situation underscores the dire circumstances faced by these former allies and the urgent need for international assistance.
#2
I guess they were hoping they would all die first.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/16/2024 8:13 Comments ||
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#3
No muslim migration means nonto this, too
See how foreign wars contaminate everything?
Resettle in a Muslim country there are 56 to choose from, try indonesia or near-by Pakistan
[Breitbart] The socialist dictatorship of Venezuela has sent 14 tons of food, medicine, and other humanitarian aid to Lebanon as a gesture against Israel’s self-defense operations following the October 7, 2023, Hamas slaughter.
Very symbolic. How many would that feed for a week? For a month?
Venezuela under dictator Nicolás Maduro has vocally supported Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Iranian terror state against Israel, holding “anti-Zionist” rallies and accusing Israel of “genocide.” The alleged humanitarian aid package follows an expansion of Israeli self-defense activities in the past two months in Lebanon targeting the leaders of Hezbollah, who Maduro for decades has maintained close ties with.
Shipping 14 tons of humanitarian aid out of Venezuela became an eye-catching international display given the country’s status as one of the world’s most impoverished. Once Latin America’s wealthiest state, following the election of socialist tyrant Hugo Chávez in 1999, the oil-rich state deteriorated rapidly as socialists plundered its coffers, forced its most educated population into prison or exile, and neglected the upkeep of its top industries. Venezuela’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 73 percent in the past decade.
The collapse of Venezuela’s economy has led 8 million Venezuelans to flee the country – a migrant crisis comparable only to the war-torn states of Syria and Ukraine – and recent studies suggest over half of Venezuelans, at least, live in poverty. The Maduro regime stopped tracking poverty data in 2015, at a time of acute crisis in the country in which pervasive, involuntary weight loss became commonly referred to as the “Maduro diet.”
It is not clear at press time if the “aid” that Maduro sent to Lebanon came out of supplies initially reserved for Venezuelan citizens.
VTV, the state propaganda broadcaster, reported on Saturday that Maduro’s top diplomat, Yván Gil, had supervised the shipping of 14 tons of food, medicine, and other aid to Lebanon and Syria “for the populations attacked by Israeli Zionism.”
“As a gesture of solidarity and support towards the brotherly peoples, Venezuela remains firm in its commitment to back the Middle East nations in their struggle for peace and self-determination,” Gil said in a post on the communications application Telegram. Gil’s underling for Middle East issues, Tatiana Pugh, reportedly said that Venezuela’s aid was necessary to combat the “massacres” allegedly committed by Israel.
“Tons of food, medicine and basic necessities sent by the Bolivarian people and government have arrived in Damascus for the brothers and sisters of Lebanon affected by the bombardment of the terrorist state of Israel,” Gil proclaimed.
The approval of humanitarian aid in general is an abrupt shift for the Venezuelan dictatorship. At the peak of the humanitarian crisis in the country, some of Maduro’s top henchmen discouraged Venezuelans from accepting humanitarian aid from other countries, particularly the United States, falsely claiming it was poisoned.
“Something that should alarm us as a people is that the humanitarian aid comes contaminated and poisoned,” Maduro’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez scandalously claimed in 2019, as the administration of President Donald Trump shipped tons of food to the Colombian-Venezuelan border. “It is carcinogenic. Several scientific studies have proven that the … United States is looking to poison our people with chemicals. We could call them biological weapons.”
In reality, Maduro’s “aid” to his people is the food often contaminated and unsafe to eat. The regime feeds its poor – and manipulates their behavior – through an aid distribution system known as the “Local Committees for Supply and Production” (CLAP, by its Spanish-language initials). CLAP boxes are highly subsidized packages often containing cooking oil, rice, flour, and other food basics. While starving Venezuelan citizens often compete for the regime’s favor to get priority access to the boxes, they have for years been known to contain rotten food, including insect-laden rice, expired sardine cans, and other unsafe items.
Gil did not specify if the food sent to Lebanon came from Maduro’s CLAP box supply.
The United Nations recently estimated that over 80 percent of Venezuelans currently live in poverty, and over half – 53 percent – live in extreme poverty, unable to afford a basic monthly supply of food. A study by Venezuela’s Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) in March found similarly that over half of Venezuelans lived in poverty in 2023, and about half lived in “multidimensional poverty,” including lack of access to health and education.
The move to express “solidarity” with Lebanese Hezbollah, the target of the Israeli operation, follows decades of attempts by Chávez and, later, Maduro to forge close ties to the jihadist terror organization. In 2015, Spanish journalist Emili Blasco revealed that Chávez sent Maduro, then Venezuela’s foreign minister, to Damascus, Syria, in 2007 to meet with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and discuss “drug trafficking, money laundering, [and] the distribution of arms and issuing of passports … to terrorists.” The distribution of authentic Venezuelan passports to Hezbollah terrorists with no clear ties to Venezuela was reportedly administered through a Hezbollah terrorist known as Ghazi Nasr al Din.
By 2017, a former official in Venezuela’s passport distribution office revealed that the country had issued at least 10,000 passports to Syrian, Iranian, and other Middle Eastern nationals who did not appear to in any way qualify for a Venezuelan passport. It is unclear how many of these were members of Hezbollah or any other Iran-backed jihadist terrorist organization.
Sure, but it was a nice little fundraiser for a country that was then already well on its way to bankruptcy.
Germany “will not be ashamed” to assist Israel in attacking terrorists, announced the Foreign Minister in the Berlin Parliament. Germany will continue to send weapons to Israel. pic.twitter.com/WuXqyhr3ai
We’re getting very mixed messages. Yes, Germany will continue sending weapons, but they’re slow-walking deliveries because they’re concerned that Israel is committing war crimes, and anyway the weapons they aren’t sending are still in development and aren’t yet being produced — so how much is real and how much is propagandizing by one side or the other?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2024 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[KhaamaPress] According to findings from Politico, Spiegel, and other media outlets, Afghan and Syrian refugees in Ottoman Turkish deportation centers have been subjected to abuse and mistreatment. Just preparing them for the Islamic Love and Tenderness™ they'll receive back home
These reports indicate that while the centers were funded by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , European officials have ignored the poor conditions within them.
The media findings reveal that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... , using resources and equipment provided by the European Union, has deported hundreds of thousands of Afghan and Syrian refugees.
At least €213 million from the EU budget was spent to construct and renovate 30 deportation centers in Turkey. Refugees in these centers face overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, abuse, and torture.
Many Afghan and Syrian refugees are reportedly forced, often violent mostly peacefully, to sign documents for their "voluntary" return.
Refugees have reported being beaten and held in freezing rooms for up to 12 hours. They also claim that Ottoman Turkish authorities have ignored their basic human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... Investigations show that these refugees have little to no access to legal counsel or contact with their families.
Despite widespread evidence of human rights violations in Ottoman Turkish deportation centers, senior European Union officials have repeatedly overlooked these issues.
The situation for Afghan refugees in Turkey is dire, with reports of torture, harassment, and serious human rights abuses adding to their struggles.
Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, these refugees face an uncertain future, lacking proper protection and enduring harsh treatment in Ottoman Turkish detention facilities.
[IsraelTimes] The Arab American Political Action Committee says it will not endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, citing what it calls their “blind support” for Israel.
The November 5 election will mark the first time AAPAC has chosen not to endorse a candidate since the group’s 1998 inception. It usually endorses Democrats.
“Both candidates have endorsed genocide in Gaza and war in Lebanon,” AAPAC says in a statement. “We simply cannot give our votes to either Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump, who blindly support the criminal Israeli government.”
#5
there are a fair number of pro Israel Arab Christians and even Arab Muslims in the the USA but they are intimidated because the other side is vicious
also a very large number of anti Mullah muslims in the USA, perhaps over 400k in the Los Angeles area, where they sometimes call themselves Tehrangeles
They are also intimidated because the regime has kidnapped and/or killed a few of them
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
10/16/2024 15:27 Comments ||
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[WashingtonFreeBeacon] Samidoun, an arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, props up anti-Israel campus activism.
The U.S. Department of Treasury, in a joint action with the Canadian government, sanctioned the Samidoun Paleostinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and one of its leaders for providing material support to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP), a terrorist organization that participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... terrorist attack. The move likely spells trouble for Samidoun's U.S. collaborators, which include student activists and a major left-wing activist network, experts told the Washington Free Beacon.
The sanctions, unveiled on Tuesday, describe Samidoun as "a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP) terrorist organization." They mark the most severe action to date against the group, cutting off its ability to fundraise across North America.
All U.S. citizens are now barred from doing business with Samidoun, and the group must forfeit any properties held in the country. That could prove costly for the U.S. activist groups that have embraced it.
Samidoun, for example, has maintained a strong relationship with anti-Israel student groups, most notably Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which invited Samidoun to teach a March lecture on "Paleostinian resistance" and the "fight for liberation." During the event, Samidoun leaders Charlotte Kates and her husband, Khaled Barakat, explicitly endorsed terrorism against Jews. The United States also slapped sanctions on Barakat for engaging in "fundraising and recruitment" efforts for the PFLP's "terrorist activity against Israel."
Samidoun, as a legal subsidiary of the left-wing nonprofit Alliance for Global Justice, is also part of an American dark money network funded by progressive billionaires, the Free Beacon reported last year. Liberal dark money behemoths such as the New Venture Fund, the Tides Center, and the Tides Foundation gave the alliance more than $9 million in 2021.
The new sanctions leveled against Samidoun should put those groups on notice, said Anne Herzberg, a human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... lawyer and NGO Monitor legal adviser.
"Despite the well-known PFLP connections and its activities, Samidoun was embraced by universities, faculty, student groups, and activist organizations," Herzberg told the Free Beacon. "As such, it is possible these groups and individuals may also bear liability for material support for terrorism."
"They are certainly on notice going forward that any cooperation with Samidoun or its leader Khaled Barakat could lead to serious sanctions and criminal penalties."
Samidoun and the Alliance for Global Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
The PFLP, a notorious terrorist organization known for hijacking and opening fire on commercial airplanes in the late 1960s and early '70s, "uses Samidoun to maintain fundraising operations in both Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and North America," according to the Treasury Department, which maintains that Samidoun is effectively controlled by the terror group and acts as its proxy in countries where the PFLP is banned.
"Samidoun serves as a front for the group in countries where the PFLP is declared a terrorist organization," according to the designation published by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. "While the organization ostensibly supports Paleostinian prisoners and their family members, in practice Samidoun provides financial support to the sanctioned PFLP."
The United States also applied fresh sanctions on Barakat, a Canadian citizen and PFLP member who serves as part of the terror group’s foreign leadership. In Canada, Samidoun is now designated as a "terrorist entity" under the country’s criminal code, which also prohibits it from engaging in fundraising activity.
One senior U.S. official briefed on the matter said further action is likely to disrupt Samidoun’s funding networks and cut off the PFLP’s access to cash.
"We will continue to track and target them—and it doesn’t end with today’s announcement," said the official, who spoke on background to discuss future punitive measures. "We will target their funding sources and international financial channels to ensure they are blocked from accessing their blood stained money. Creating a sham charity to whitewash palling around with Death Eaters like the PFLP will not save you from being designated by the United States and our allies."
Samidoun has long backed anti-Israel activism at Columbia, regularly promoting student protests and statements online. Students at Columbia have displayed pro-PFLP Samidoun signs and recently joined a violent mostly peaceful protest on the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7 that featured a Samidoun flag with the caption "Long live Oct. 7th." Both Columbia Students for Justice in Paleostine and Samidoun endorsed the march.
Asked whether Columbia would take any steps to prevent Samidoun from affiliating with its students, a spokeswoman pointed the Free Beacon to a Wednesday statement from interim president Katrina Armstrong saying that "calls for violence have no place at Columbia." Asked whether Columbia would take action against Samidoun-affiliated students, the spokeswoman did not respond.
The organization has supported similar activism on other college campuses, frequently advertising protests online and encouraging participants to "escalate," including at the University of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, George Washington University, the City University of New York, and the City College of New York.
Samidoun’s protest materials have been spotted at Princeton University, New York University, and Rutgers University.
The PFLP, which has also taken part in the fight against Israel in Gaza, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US in October 1997 and October 2001, respectively.
#2
Precise really doesn't work in convincing people to alter their behavior. Bombing the *&^% out of Germany and Japan turned two countries with a long history of militarism into the least nations seeking solutions by conflict.
[IsraelTimes] An advance team of US military personnel and initial components necessary to operate the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) arrived in Israel yesterday, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder says in a statement.
Additional US military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel over the coming days, Ryder says.
The air defense battery will be fully operational capable in the near future, but an exact timeline will not be discussed due to security concerns, Ryder adds.
“The deployment of the THAAD battery to Israel underscores the United States’ commitment to the defense of Israel and to defend Americans in Israel from any ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” he says.
#2
I've seen comments on "X" that unless Israel waits until after the US election to hit back at Iran then Biden will not give them support. That's why US help is only slowly flowing in, Hezb is being dealt with a bit first and all the rest of the strange jazz we have been seeing.
[IsraelTimes] After Oct. 7, Iranians shifted focus from US and UAE, as half their assaults in war’s first 9 months targeted Israeli firms; Tehran also ran social media influence campaigns
Israel has become the top target of Iranian cyber attacks since the start of the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war last year, while Tehran had focused primarily on the United States before the conflict, Microsoft said Tuesday.
"Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... war, 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... surged its cyber, influence, and cyber-enabled influence operations against Israel," Microsoft said in an annual report, referring to the massive Hamas attack on Israel that opened the conflict.
"From October 7, 2023, to July 2024, nearly half of the Iranian operations Microsoft observed targeted Israeli companies," said the Microsoft Digital Defense Report.
From July to October 2023, only 10 percent of Iranian cyber attacks had targeted Israel, while 35% aimed at American entities and 20% at the United Arab Emirates, according to the US software giant.
Since the war started, Iran has launched numerous social media operations with the aim of destabilizing Israel.
"Within two days of Hamas’s attack on Israel, Iran stood up several new influence operations," Microsoft said.
An account called "Tears of War" impersonated Israeli activists critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of a crisis over scores of hostages taken by Hamas, according to the report.
An account called "KarMa," created by an Iranian intelligence unit, claimed to represent Israelis calling for Netanyahu’s resignation.
Iran also began impersonating partners after the war started, Microsoft said.
Iranian services created a Telegram account using the logo of the military wing of Hamas to spread false messages about the hostages in Gaza and threaten Israelis, Microsoft said. It was not clear if Iran acted with Hamas’s consent, it added.
"Iranian groups also expanded their cyber-enabled influence operations beyond Israel, with a focus on undermining international political, military, and economic support for Israel’s military operations," the report said.
In June, Israel’s cyber defense chief Gaby Portnoy warned that Iranian cyber aggression is "an international problem, not only an Israeli one, and therefore the solution needs to be international."
Portnoy called for a joint international front not only in defense, but also for building a deterrence, and "charging together a price from Iran for the world damage they cause."
The following month, the Israel Defense Forces reported that its cloud computing network had faced over three billion attacks since the war started.
Last month, several digital security experts told The Times of Israel that even if a ceasefire is reached in the war, Iranian cyber attacks will likely continue.
The fighting in Gaza has also brought the yearslong shadow war between Israel and Iran onto the open battlefield. Iran has launched two barrages of rockets directly at Israel as it battles against Iran’s proxy, the Hezbollah terror group in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... . The day after the Hamas attack, Hezbollah began attacking along Israel’s northern border.
[IsraelTimes] Firms including Elbit, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries will compete to produce effective technology to detect, intercept drones
Since the world’s nations are trying to persuade each other to cut Israel off from weapons, Israel is turning to domestic production. The world’s nations may yet realize that driving The Innovation Nation to innovate in their sandboxes may not have been the brightest idea for their own domestic producers. Who now remembers the impact on the invading Arab armies of the Davidka and other little Israeli toys?
The government has turned to the defense industry to bolster the military’s ability to intercept aerial drones launched by Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... or by its proxy terror groups, including Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s Hezbollah.
The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it had launched a competition among eight large and small companies.
"After analyzing the trial results, the Defense Ministry will select several technologies to enter an accelerated development and production process. This aims to deploy new operational capabilities within months," it said.
In addition to missiles, rockets and an array of other arms, Iran, Hezbollah and others have used drones in attacks on Israel, a weapon that has proven tough to counter.
On Sunday, a Hezbollah drone struck the Israel Defense Forces’ Golani Brigade training base near Binyamina, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens, after it eluded Israeli air defense radars.
The unmanned aerial vehicle, laden with explosives, evaded Israel’s multilayered air-defense system and slammed into a mess hall at a military training camp deep inside Israel.
Over the past year of drone and rocket attacks from Iran-supported terrorist organizations in Lebanon, 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... and Iraq, several drones have succeeded in hitting targets before they could be detected.
Last week, two soldiers were killed when a drone from Iraq hit a base in the Golan Heights, and another drone hit a retirement home with no injuries.
Drones were also used to kick off Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... ’s mass invasion and onslaught of October 7, 2023, successfully disabling electronic monitoring systems along the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... border.
"The UAV threat is a multi-arena threat originating from Iran, which supplies UAVs to Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, and even launches them itself," said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
"We must concentrate the national effort... to produce operational solutions quickly."
The ministry’s director general, Eyal Zamir, said it had already invested hundreds of millions of shekels in such capabilities.
Those participating include Israel’s top defense firms — Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries.
Over the years, Israel has built up its aerial defense array to provide broad protection against short-range rocket fire and medium- and long-range missiles, although experts caution that it is not airtight. While the system has taken down drones repeatedly, many have penetrated Israel’s airspace and sidestepped its defenses, in some cases with deadly results.
Drones are harder to detect than rockets or missiles because they fly slowly and often include plastic components, having a weaker thermal footprint with radar systems than powerful rockets and missiles. The trajectory is also harder to track. Drones can have roundabout flight paths, can come from any direction, fly lower to the ground and — because they are much smaller than rockets — can be mistaken for birds.
[IsraelTimes] Experts warn air defenses could be ‘stretched’ if Iran reacts to anticipated Israeli retaliatory strike against it, or if Hezbollah goes all out
Israel is encountering a potential shortage of rocket and missile interceptors in its air defense array amid the yearlong war in Gaza and Lebanon, and as it prepares for a possible escalating conflict with Iran, according to a British report Tuesday.
Citing experts and former military officials, the Financial Times said that Washington is assisting the Jewish state in addressing the matter, in particular through its promise to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system (THAAD), but Jerusalem could increasingly find itself needing to decide which targets it wants to prioritize defending.
“Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” Dana Stroul, an ex-US defense official, said. “If Iran responds to an Israel attack, and Hezbollah joins in too, Israel’s air defenses will be stretched.”
She added that supplies were not unlimited and that Washington could not keep up its ongoing supply of both Ukraine and Israel at the same pace.
Boaz Levy, CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries, which produces missile interceptors, added: “Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations.”
Israel’s multi-layered system includes the Iron Dome, used to shoot down short-range missiles; David’s Sling, used to intercept medium-range missiles; and the Arrow system, which is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles.
Since Hamas sparked the ongoing war with its October 7 onslaught last year, over 20,000 rockets and missiles have been fired at Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, according to military figures, with air defenses successfully downing the bulk of the projectiles that were headed to populated areas.
Israel has warded off two Iranian missile attacks — one in April and another, more intense one in October when the Islamic Republic fired 180 ballistic missiles at the country — with the help of the US and its regional allies. Israel has vowed to respond to the October attack in a time and manner of its choosing, which may spark an even more aggressive reaction by Tehran and its proxies.
[IsraelTimes] Letter from Blinken and Austin lists series of demands, including allowing 350 trucks daily into Strip, ensuring north Gaza isn’t ‘isolated’; deadline falls days after US election
How about first emptying the Hamas warehouses, stuffed to the rafters with stolen aid, that they have been selling to the starving residents for hundreds of millions of dollars? But no, the Harris-Biden administration prefers to posture before the Jew-hating contingent of the voting public and hinder in every way Israel’s ability to defend herself from those who would again and again water the land with Jewish blood until there are none left to bleed.
The White House has warned Israel it has one month to implement significant improvements to the humanitarian situation in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... or jeopardize the continued supply of US weapons, noting that humanitarian assistance entering the Strip has plummeted in recent months.
In a Sunday letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, obtained by The Times of Israel on Tuesday, 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 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lamented that the past several months have seen a significant deterioration in the amount of aid entering Gaza.
The top US officials said such developments call into question Israel’s commitment to not restrict the entry of aid into Gaza and that it is using US weapons in line with international law.
That written commitment was provided last March in order to ensure Israel’s compliance with a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by Biden in February. The memo applies to all recipients of US security assistance.
The letter was sent just weeks before the November 5 US presidential election; but its November 13 deadline would ostensibly mitigate some of the political fallout, given that US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The man who made Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter look competent, if only by comparison.... will be a lame duck when deciding whether Israel has taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the NSM.
An Israeli official in Washington later told The Times of Israel that Jerusalem was reviewing the latter. "Israel takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts," the official said.
While Israel implemented a series of provisions to improve the flow of aid into Gaza after promising to do so in the spring, "the amount of aid delivered has [since] dropped by more than 50 percent," Blinken and Austin wrote, adding that the amount of aid that entered Gaza in September was the lowest of any month during the past year.
"To reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory and consistent with its assurances to us, Israel must — starting now and within 30 days — act on the following concrete measures," they wrote.
"Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for US policy under NSM-20 and relevant US law," the letter stated.
The February NSM required recipients of US security aid to provide assurances that they would not use it to violate human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... or restrict humanitarian aid in areas where US weapons are being used.
Failure to adhere to the memo’s terms would place the administration in violation of US law, thereby jeopardizing continued offensive weapon shipments to the country in question.
The memo did not single out any specific country but was issued amid increasing calls by progressive politicians in the US to condition aid to Israel due to concerns over its military operations in Gaza. Those were triggered by the October 7 attacks in which Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... -led forces of Evil murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251.
The memo also required Blinken to periodically update Congress on aid recipients’ adherence to its terms.
Last May, Blinken provided Congress with the first of such updates, informing politicians that it was reasonable to assess that Israel had used some US-supplied weapons in a manner that was inconsistent with international law. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the secretary of state noted that Israel’s assurances that it would comply with the memo were "credible" and that there was not yet sufficient proof that Israel had violated those commitments.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed the letter during a briefing later Tuesday but said it was a private correspondence that Washington hadn’t planned to publicize, hinting that Israeli officials were behind its release.
The demands from Blinken and Austin focused on three categories: Increasing the supply of humanitarian aid by the start of winter; facilitating the aid delivery route through Jordan; and ending the "isolation" of northern Gaza.
Regarding the first category, the pair of Biden cabinet members said Israel must enable the entry of at least 350 aid trucks into Gaza each day through all four major crossings controlled by the IDF.
Blinken and Austin also urged implementing "adequate" pauses in the IDF’s fighting to enable humanitarian operations and allow Paleostinians in the Mawasi coastal humanitarian zone to move inland before the winter. They noted that "multiple evacuation orders have forced 1.7 million people" to seek refuge in the area.
Regarding aid from Jordan, the US urged reinstating a minimum of 50 to 100 commercial trucks per day, after the number fell significantly in recent months.
As for northern Gaza, the pair of Biden aides urged Israel to clarify that there is no government policy to forcibly evacuate civilians from this part of the Strip and ensure that aid groups have continued access to the area.
Earlier this month, the IDF issued evacuation orders for the northern city of Jabaliya and surrounding areas, as it works to prevent the resurgence of Hamas. The operations have alarmed humanitarian agencies and governments abroad who fear Israel is adopting a policy recommended by several former Israeli generals, which calls for north Gaza to be cleared of civilians and for remaining combatants to be put under siege until they surrender.
Israel has denied trying to implement this policy. It also rejects accusations of hampering aid supplies.
COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, posted on social media over the weekend that there are currently five bakeries producing 1.3 million pita breads per day in northern Gaza.
Toward the end of the letter, Blinken and Austin expressed their concern over legislation recently advanced in the Knesset aimed at barring the UNRWA relief agency for Paleostinian refugees and their descendants from operating in Israel.
The pair said they recognize Israel’s concerns over some UNRWA members’ ties to Hamas and involvement in the October 7 onslaught, and that Hamas is "misusing" the UN organization’s facilities.
However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the "enactment of such restrictions would devastate the Gaza humanitarian response at this critical moment and deny vital educational and social services to tens of thousands of Paleostinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which could have implications under relevant US law and policy."
As part of a law passed earlier this year, the US is barred from funding UNRWA until March 2025, though the White House said last month that it backs the restoration of that aid "with appropriate safeguards."
The pair also noted reports of abuse against Paleostinian detainees and urged to allow them to be visited by the International Committee of the Red Thingy.
Blinken and Austin ended the letter by stressing the need for establishing a new channel through which the US and Israel can discuss "civilian harm incidents."
"Our engagements to date have not produced the necessary outcomes. We ask that the initial virtual meeting of this channel be held by the end of October," the pair wrote.
The month after the memorandum was issued earlier this year, the US deemed Israel to be in compliance with its criteria.
Last week, Miller said at a press briefing that the idea had always been for "ongoing assessment" and that though the administration has not concluded that Israel is blocking the delivery of aid, "it is urgent that they [Israel] correct the situation and allow humanitarian aid to get in."
However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... US officials have more recently sounded the alarm over the growing humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza, amid reports from the UN’s World Food Programme a few days ago that no assistance had entered that part of the Strip in nearly two weeks. Limited aid has since been renewed.
During a call Sunday between Gallant and Austin, the US defense secretary "raised the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed that steps must be taken to address it," according to a Pentagon readout.
The same day, US Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris It is time for us to do what we have been doing. And that time is every day called on Israel to do more to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza.
"Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected," she tweeted from her VP account on X.
Responding to the letter from Blinken and Austin, the pro-Israel AIPAC lobby group slammed the Biden administration for warning US military assistance could be limited if Israel doesn’t implement its demands.
"Threatening to cut off American support for Israel as it confronts 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... and its proxies on seven fronts weakens our ally, undermines American interests, and sends a dangerous message to our common enemies about US support for our democratic allies," AIPAC wrote on X, asserting that Israel has taken steps to address the crisis under difficult conditions.
The ongoing war has already previously upset military aid to Israel. Since earlier this year, the Biden administration has withheld the delivery of a shipment to heavy bombs to Israel over concerns they would be used in densely populated areas.
Israel subsequently tailored its operations to account for the administration’s concerns of mass civilian casualties and the two allies worked to patch up their differences.
Asked about the letter that the Biden administration sent to Israel earlier this week in which it warned that continued US security assistance will be at risk if Jerusalem doesn’t address the Gaza humanitarian crisis in 30 days, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre stresses that the message is similar to one that Washington sent in April, which Israel responded to constructively.
She reiterates at a press briefing that the timing of the letter had to do with the major drop in aid over the past several months.
From more Israel Times liveblog posts — because Rantburg’s code only allows one kink per comment: And then they told the UN Security Council they’re just ensuring Israel doesn’t have a policy of starving north Gaza. Because while President Biden looooooves Israel (he does, you guys — stop laughing!), he thinks Bibi Netanyahu and those surrounding him are all the kinds of untrustworthy evil.
“The Government of Israel has said that this is not their policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off, and we will be watching to see that Israel’s actions on the ground match this statement,” American Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said today.
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.
...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells....
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...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...
