[IsraelTimes] Controversial event at prestigious UK university results in 278 votes in favor, 59 votes against; Arab Israeli speaker removed after he calls audience ‘terrorist supporters’
A controversial debate held by the Oxford Union that discussed whether Israel is an "apartheid state responsible for genocide" devolved into a yelling match between speakers and attendees on Thursday. The event took place under tight security, as protesters demonstrated outside the building.
After the debate, the union voted on the proposition, "This House Believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide," with 278 votes in favor and 59 votes against.
The Oxford Union is a student society located in Oxford, England, and is made up almost entirely of students at the prestigious Oxford University, widely regarded as one of the best institutes for higher education in the world.
Thursday’s debate featured several prominent speakers on both sides of the topic, including pro-Israel advocates Natasha Hausdorff, a British lawyer, Jonathan Sacerdoti, a British journalist who covers the UK and Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... for i24 News, as well as Arab Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad, and former Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... member-turned Israeli spy Mosab Hassan Yusef.
Arguing against Israel were US political scientist and anti-Israel activist Norman Finkelstein, Israeli-American activist and author Miko Peled, Paleostinian-American author Susan Abulhawa, and Mohammed El-Kurd, a Paleostinian writer and poet.
According to Oxford University’s student newspaper, Cherwell, the debate featured intense heckling and argument, with one audience member calling Sacerdoti a "sick motherfucker" and a "genocidal maniac" while the journalist was giving his position.
Cherwell reported that Peled said during the debate, "What happened on October 7th was not terrorism — these were acts of heroism of a people who were oppressed," and called for a Paleostinian state "from the river to the sea."
The ongoing war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, which saw some 3,000 gunnies burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
For her part, Abulhawa told the crowd that she "came to speak directly to Zionists: we let you into our homes when your own countries turned you away. You killed and robbed and burned and looted our lives, you carved out our hearts."
The Paleostinian poet El-Kurd argued that Zionism is "irredeemable and indefensible," and said that if the union voted in favor of calling Israel an apartheid state committing genocide, "it means that this body is catching up to the moral clarity of the global majority. It is about time and about 70 years too late."
Speaking against the proposition, meanwhile, Haddad was kicked out of the chamber for lack of decorum after calling the audience "terrorist supporters" when they booed him during his argument. As he was escorted out, the Arab-Israeli activist put on a shirt with the face of slain Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> with the caption, "Your terrorist is dead."
Pro-Israel speaker Hausdorff called the debate a "dark moment in the Oxford Union’s history," and said that the accusation of genocide against Israel is a "slur being alleged against the real victims of genocide in this case."
Yusef, the disowned eldest son of the co-founder of Hamas who has become a pro-Israel activist, reportedly told the crowd, "Paleostinians are the most pathetic people on planet Earth," and insisted that Paleostinians are "a false identity"
At the end of the debate, the union voted in favor of the resolution 278 to 59, officially labeling Israel as apartheid and genocidal.
The union has a track record of contentious debates on Israel. In 1962, for instance, it debated whether "The Creation of the State of Israel is One of the Mistakes of the Century." Decades later, the students were still debating whether, as a 2008 motion put it, "This house believes that the State of Israel has a right to exist."
Over the years, union members have also overwhelmingly backed motions accusing Israel’s supporters of "stifling Western debate."
But anti-Israel activists haven’t had it their way on every occasion. In 2015, for instance, the US lawyer Alan Dershowitz won a debate on whether the BDS movement against Israel was wrong.
Two years before that, the union rejected a motion that argued Israel is "a force for good in the Middle East," although pro-Israel students delighted in the narrowness of their defeat, suggesting that "to get nearly 40 percent support for Israel at a British university in this day and age is a triumph."
#3
Let me see if I understand the underlying Oxford Ivy League logic here?
They say an ISLAMIC faith terrorist group and its regional followers.
All SWORN to the elimination of ANY faith other than ISLAM are the victims.
Because the terrorists and their supporters got their asses handed to them for kidnapping, raping and murdering women and yes even raping children under 12 on a regular basis. A faith promised an afterlife of sleeping with a ## of temporary virgins for raping and murdering women and children of any other faith?
But the Oxford Union votes overwhelmingly (82+%) that those defending themselves from terrorists are to blame and are genocidal?
NOTE: Given the fact, just attending Oxford costs over $75k a year. It is clear the Oxford Union has 278 Uber-Rich $$ Dumbass Elite Liberals, in a bad need of a 1am wake-up call.
#4
The King and Country Debate was a debate on 9 February 1933 at the Oxford Union Society. The motion presented, "That this House will under no circumstances fight for its King and country", passed with 275 votes for the motion and 153 against it. The motion would later be named the Oxford Oath or the Oxford Pledge.
It became one of the most controversial topics held within the Union, driving debate between the older and younger generations about patriotism and pacifism, and whether this motion would actually help or hurt war prevention efforts.
Winston Churchill claimed that the Oxford Oath affected certain decisions made by Adolf Hitler during the World War II. American pacifists would take their own version of the pledge, and several anti-war strikes would take place with the pledge as the main drive.
Posted by: Albert Pelosi3459 ||
11/30/2024 3:48 Comments ||
Top||
#5
There is no longer an England worthy of the name.
[FoxNews] 'Over the past year, we have repeatedly warned of the dangerous consequences of Jew-hate going unchecked,' group says
The latest targets of antisemitic attacks spreading through Western Europe were Jewish teens and children in the United Kingdom. On Thursday, two buses carrying students from a London Jewish school were attacked at a bus stop by a swarm of around ten teens from a nearby school who wielded large rocks, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
Four teens boarded one of the double-decker buses and went to the second level, where they began to swear at students and give them the middle finger. One 12-year-old student, who professed he was "scared" by the attack, described how the teens "were swearing at us, saying ‘F--- Israel, nobody likes you. F--- off, you bitches. They were filming us like they were enjoying it. There were lots of people in the street and nobody tried to stop them," the student told The Jewish Chronicle.
After the four teens got off the bus, they began to throw heavy rocks at the buses. An 11-year-old student recalled, "I don’t know where they got the rocks from – maybe they had them in their bags. None of us knew what to do." She reported that some students ran off the bus, but she remained aboard. "They were swearing at us and filming us," she explained. "We don’t know what they are going to do with that video or why they did what they did."
"This incident did not take place in a vacuum," a spokesperson from the British organization Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital. "Over the past year, we have repeatedly warned of the dangerous consequences of Jew-hate going unchecked."
Citing the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s findings that "69% of British Jews are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism in public," the spokesperson explained that "the simple truth is that our streets are no longer safe for British Jews and their children. . . . It is time for arrests and those who break the law must face consequences."
Antisemitism has seen a startling rise in the UK in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks. Citing CST statistics, the BBC reported that 1,978 antisemitic incidents occurred during the first six months of 2024, up from 964 during the same period in 2023. The number may be higher, as the Metropolitan Police’s data reporting was obstructed for three months due to technical difficulties.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has recorded the emotional toll of the past year for British Jews. According to their research, "42% of British Jews considered leaving Britain" over the last two years on account of antisemitism. The number rose to 85% when considering antisemitism in politics. The organization also found that only "26% of British Jews think the Crown Prosecution Service does enough to protect the Jewish community."
Thursday’s school bus attack follows another startling act of violence. On Nov. 25, a man on an East London balcony launched glass bottles at a group of Jewish teenage girls walking to a rehearsal, the Jewish Chronicle reported. One of the Jewish teenagers was hospitalized with "serious but non-life changing head injuries." The incident is being investigated as a "potential antisemitic crime." The spokesperson from the Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital that the victim was "visibly Jewish."
In 2023, 4,103 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the UK, with more than half of them, 2,140, occurring in London.
Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism previously called London "the most antisemitic city," on account of the "atmosphere created by Hamas supporters."
[LI] German security services fear Islamic terror attacks at this year’s Christmas markets across the country. On Thursday, Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser urged "great vigilance" during the Christmas celebrations in public.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency (BfV) warned that Islamic terrorist groups could target Christmas markets because they represent "Christian values" and are seen as an "embodiment of Western culture and way of life," Germany’s public broadcaster DW TV reports.
In recent years, Christmas season in Germany has been marred by Jihadist terror threats. Last year, German police arrested two Islamic State-linked suspects for plotting to bomb a Christmas market in the city of Leverkusen. In 2016, an illegal Muslim migrant drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48.
#1
Think of all those Liberals that demanded OPEN BORDERS.
The DC Deep State and its MSM have been constantly telling us Islam is actually a PEACEFUL Religion.
My rebuttal has been from day one.
All it takes is 1 Islamic cleric to preach the Muhammad hatred of 1,400+ years ago and soon the usual "Death to _____" terrorist groups start up.
#2
An armed populace with the will AND THE HISTORY to fight back would put an immediate end to this nonsense. When you're weak, you're a target. Targets get attacked, especially by Islamists.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/30/2024 10:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Truly, Grom. If I recall correctly, that, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and the Koran are the biggest sellers in the Moslem world. Otherwise they aren’t big readers, which makes sense when one looks at their alphabet.
[Cradle] Israel is examining the launch of a "pilot program" that could see US private security firms replace the army in northern Gaza to "accompany food and medicine convoys" for Palestinians who remain in the devastated region, according to a report by Israeli daily Globes.
Among the top competitors for the multi-million dollar contract are Constellis, the direct successor to infamous mercenary company Blackwater, and Orbis, a little-known South Carolina company run by former generals that has worked with the Pentagon for 20 years.
Officials say the pilot program for north Gaza aims to "prevent Hamas or other gangs from taking over the aid trucks and free the IDF soldiers from the dangerous mission."
In recent weeks, Gaza's interior ministry established a new police force
..the Interior Ministry being a wholly owned subsidiary of Hamas…
to deal with groups of bandits and gangs that have been raiding humanitarian aid shipments and blackmailing international organizations in the southern Gaza Strip.
So Hamas police will protect the aid orgs and shipments from Hamas raids? Brilliant, Sherlock! How do you think of such things?
The UN has said these gangs are likely "benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence" or "protection" from the Israeli army.
A vile blood libel.
In October, a third US security firm — Global Delivery Company (GDC) — which describes itself as "Uber for warzones" — claimed to be working with another firm to create and manage "humanitarian bubbles" in Gaza.
GDC is run by Mordechai Kahane, an Israeli businessman who worked with Israeli intelligence during the war on Syria to arm extremist groups seeking to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
#2
Officials say the pilot program for north Gaza aims to "prevent Hamas or other gangs from taking over the aid trucks and free the IDF soldiers from the dangerous mission."
[IsraelTimes] Amid renewed efforts to end war, president-elect’s ally says he is ‘focused on the hostages issue, wants the killing to stop and the fighting to end’.
[ZeroHedge] A recent report in Bloomberg has collected and analyzed five years of satellite images monitoring the South China Sea off Malaysia to detail something which should come as no surprise: Iran and China's sanction-busting activity regarding Iranian oil exports has been going strong.
The working assumption of the report is that it is Washington's responsibility - and that of its global allies - to better monitor and enforce sanctions. Bloomberg is essentially calling on American Empire to better enforce its stranglehold on the Islamic Republic. But this is precisely what President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to do when he enters the Oval Office in January.
Trump's pledged 'maximum pressure' campaign on Iran is likely to have huge repercussions for Beijing as well, given as the world's biggest buyer of oil China would face a squeeze on its flow of cheap Iranian crude to its shores. Iranian crude has been estimated to make up about 13% of its supply imports.
Trump's national security advisor pick, Mike Walz, has pledged to stop or greatly reduce Iran's petroleum revenue, which the US says will have positive benefits for the Ukraine and Gaza wars from a US policy perspective.
He said the incoming administration will strongly engage China toward reducing its purchases of Iranian oil. But the aforementioned Bloomberg investigation shows that business is booming.
"Forty miles east of the Malaysian peninsula sits the world’s largest gathering point for dark fleet tankers. Aging ships, often operating under flags of convenience and without insurance, come here daily to transfer cargo away from prying eyes. It’s how billions of dollars of sanctioned Iranian oil finds its way to China annually — even though the country, officially, hasn’t imported a drop in more than two years," the report begins.
"A Bloomberg analysis of nearly five years of satellite images from the hotspot shows the vast size of the shadow industry that’s developed as the US has tightened its sanctions on Iran," the report continues.
"It’s impossible to gauge precisely how much oil is moving via this channel. But even making conservative assumptions about tanker size, the data suggest some 350 million barrels of oil changed hands in this hotspot in the first nine months of this year," Bloomberg speculates.
"Taking into account the average oil price for 2024 and the discount applied to sanctioned crude, that amounts to more than $20 billion. The true value is likely far higher."
One approach the Trump administration could take is to go after those Chinese companies involved in the 'illicit' trade through secondary sanctions:
For Tehran, in need of revenue and desperately short of willing buyers, the South China Sea gambit is a means of survival. For China, which isn’t bound by and doesn’t recognize US-imposed curbs on Iran, the gymnastics of this network of intermediaries and shell company-owned vessels offers a way for its small refineries to access cheap oil. It also conveniently shields key Chinese corporations from secondary sanctions. (The US can restrict or exclude entirely access to its financial system for any company or person found trading with Iran.)
The government of Malaysia appears to have been looking the other way as well:
The maritime hub is a direct threat to Western efforts to curb revenue going to Tehran, Moscow and Caracas and an illustration of why sanctions are so hard to enforce. US President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to increase pressure on Iran upon returning to office, but these extensive networks that move dark oil around the globe typically operate without the overt involvement of large entities. The situation was a source of frustration even for the current US administration, which called on Malaysia to do more to tackle gaps such as this one, with little success.
As for these failed "Western efforts" at enforcement, Washington, London, Brussels and Paris might just have to face up to the reality that they cannot control all trade which happens in the world. When they go 'imperial' against the Global South, these countries will push back harder, only finding better avenues and ways to navigate, to thwart and circumvent sanctions.
[IsraelTimes] Tehran says the move is a response to a resolution passed against it by the nuclear watchdog’s Board of Governors last week
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 informed the UN nuclear watchdog that it plans to install more than 6,000 extra uranium-enriching centrifuges at its enrichment plants and bring more of those already in place online, a confidential report by the watchdog said on Thursday.
The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency report seen by Rooters details what Iran meant when it said it would add thousands of centrifuges in response to a resolution against it that the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed last week at the request of Britannia, La Belle France, Germany and the United States.
More enrichment capacity means Iran can enrich uranium more quickly, potentially increasing the nuclear proliferation risk. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons but Western powers say there is no civil explanation for enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% that is weapons grade, which no other country has done without producing a nuclear bomb.
The only enrichment level specified for new centrifuges was 5% purity, far from the 60% Iran is already producing. The lower purity, particularly at its Fordow site, could be seen as a conciliatory move by Iran as it seeks common ground with European powers before the return of US President-elect Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... , though enrichment levels can be changed easily later.
Iran already has well over 10,000 centrifuges operating at two underground plants at Natanz and Fordow and an above-ground pilot plant at Natanz. The report outlined plans to install 32 more cascades, or clusters, of more than 160 machines each and a massive cascade of up to 1,152 advanced IR-6 machines.
At the same time, the number of cascades Iran plans to install vastly outnumbers those that are already installed and that Iran said it would now bring online by feeding them with uranium feedstock, which the IAEA verified it had yet to do.
"The Agency has determined and shared with Iran the changes required to the intensity of its inspection activities at FFEP (Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant) following the commissioning of the cascades," the report said, referring to Iran’s plan to bring eight recently installed IR-6 cascades there online.
Fordow is particularly closely watched because it is dug into a mountain and Iran is currently enriching to up to 60% there. The only other plant where it is doing that is the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz.
Just before last week’s quarterly meeting of the IAEA board, Iran offered to cap its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60%, but diplomats said it was conditional on the board not passing a resolution against Iran.
Although the IAEA verified Iran was slowing enrichment at that highest level and called it "a concrete step in the right direction," the board passed the resolution regardless, repeating a call on Iran to improve cooperation with the IAEA.
Thursday’s report said Iran had finished installing the last two cascades of IR-2m centrifuges in a batch of 18 at its vast underground Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz, and that it planned to bring all 18 online, though the IAEA verified on Nov. 26 that no uranium had been fed into them.
Iran also told the agency it intended to install 18 extra cascades of IR-4 centrifuges at that Natanz plant, each with 166 machines, the report said.
At the above-ground pilot plant at Natanz, Iran informed the IAEA it planned to take various steps that suggested it would increase the number of full, rather than small or intermediate, cascades there, which could produce more enriched uranium.
It also said it planned to install one cascade of up to 1,152 IR-6 centrifuges at that pilot plant, which could be the biggest cascade by far in Iran yet.
British and French intelligence chiefs on Friday expressed concern over Iran’s nuclear program, as European officials met with senior diplomats from Tehran for talks on the matter.
In a speech in Gay Paree, the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence chief said Iran’s nuclear ambitions pose a major global security threat, even after setbacks dealt to its terror group allies Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... and Hezbollah by Israel.
"Iran’s allied militias across the Middle East have suffered serious blows," said Secret Intelligence Service chief Richard Moore. "But the regime’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten all of us."
Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Don Smilzo looked for an avenue of escape. The only window opened a hundred feet above the moat. The nearest of the hired assassins hold a bloody axe.
The window was looking better all the time.... the head of La Belle France’s intelligence service said the risk of Iranian nuclear proliferation is a serious threat in the coming months and Britannia and La Belle France are working out strategies to prepare for such an event.
Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Don Smilzo looked for an avenue of escape. The only window opened a hundred feet above the moat. The nearest of the hired assassins hold a bloody axe.
The window was looking better all the time.... Iran, Britannia, La Belle France and Germany have agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue "in the near future," the German foreign ministry and the high-level diplomats representing La Belle France and Britannia and Iran said separately on X after Friday talks on Tehran’s nuclear program.
ETC’s gas centrifuge enrichment process uses a large number of rotating cylinders (like the Iranian setup) which are interconnected.
IF this is the vendor, then it seems the EU & USA have been selling the equipment to the Iranians to make it possible for them to nuke non-Islamic nations.
[IsraelTimes] Terror leader, whose predecessor Nasrallah was eliminated along with most other Hezbollah leaders in recent weeks, denies group was weakened, vows to implement ceasefire commitments
The head of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, pledged on Friday to coordinate closely with the Lebanese army on the ceasefire deal with Israel, which he said the terror group had agreed to “with heads held high.” Did he say that from a bunker in Tehran? I thought so
Qassem also declared that Hezbollah had achieved a “great victory” against Israel that “surpasses that of July 2006,” referring to the last time the terror group went to war against Israel.
“We won because we prevented the enemy from destroying Hezbollah… [and] from annihilating or weakening the resistance,” Qassem said.
It was Qassem’s first address since the ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday, more than a year after Hezbollah launched near-daily rocket and drone attacks on Israel. The terror group in Lebanon said its attacks were a show of support for Palestinians amid the war in the Gaza Strip sparked by the Hamas terror group’s devastating October 7, 2023, onslaught. The relentless attacks forced the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Qassem said Hezbollah had “approved the deal, with the resistance strong in the battlefield, and our heads held high with our right to defend [ourselves].”
The truce, brokered by the United States and France, includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah terrorists are to withdraw north of the Litani River, about 20 kilometers from the boundary between Israel and Lebanon, and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
“The resistance will be ready to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of Lebanon’s weakness along with our partners… first and foremost the army,” Qassem said in a televised speech.
See today’s posts, including this one here, here, here, and here.
by Dmitry Polyakov
[REGNUM] On the morning of November 27, the armed forces of the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, an organization banned in Russia), with the support of Syrian opposition formations, launched an offensive on the positions of government troops. The militants' operation was called "Containing Aggression," and its goal was to restore the borders of the Idlib de-escalation zone. To some extent, the event signifies the "defrosting" of the Syrian conflict.
For almost five years, the status quo was maintained in Syria. In March 2020, the last major operation, “Dawn over Idlib 2,” was completed.
As a result, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) established control over part of Idlib province, significantly reducing the de-escalation zone of the same name. After that, no territorial changes were observed, and clashes between militants and government forces were local in nature.
The current offensive is changing the military and political situation in northern Syria. In just one day, militants were able to cut off the M5 highway, which connects the north and south of the country. Fighting is already taking place within the city limits of Aleppo, which poses a threat to the "northern capital."
The offensive also expanded southeast of Idlib, reaching areas of Saraqib, a key city for controlling the M5 highway, which was only captured by government forces in 2020.
Interestingly, the militants' attack began just hours after a ceasefire was established between Lebanon and Israel. Given that HTS militants have been shelling government positions almost simultaneously with Israeli airstrikes over the past month, this has raised some questions about possible coordination between the parties in the current operation.
But most likely, the sequence of actions is explained by tactical considerations. Syrian militants took advantage of the moment when most of Hezbollah fighters are in southern Lebanon and cannot be quickly transferred to neighboring Syria. However, in essence, this aspect is secondary. The offensive, its pace and tactical successes are determined by two main factors.
THEY PREPARED THOROUGHLY
It is important to recall that the active phase of the armed conflict in Syria ended in 2018, when government forces occupied three de-escalation zones: Eastern Ghouta, northern Homs, and the Southern Zone in the provinces of Daraa and Suwayda. And after the last full-scale military operation ended in March 2020, the status quo was established in the country.
Due to the lack of military actions that somehow supported the combat capability of the Syrian army, its rapid decline began. This process was also influenced by the deep socio-economic crisis in the country, which negatively affected the overall condition of the troops.
Over the past five years, no action has been taken to improve the quality of the armed forces. The exercises did not practice modern methods of warfare that would be adequate to the conditions of the Syrian campaign.
A sign of the general decline was the deterioration of the security situation, especially in the central regions of Syria, where the Islamic State (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) has become active again.
The problem has become systemic, and it is precisely here that the reasons for the ineffective defense against the advancing forces in the current operation lie.
In Idlib, the situation was completely different.
Over the past five years, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has successfully centralized its presence in the region.
Most of the disparate formations were brought together under a single military command called Al-Fatah al-Mubin. Groups that did not want to integrate fell into disgrace.
In addition, the HTS militants have been constantly training, taking into account the realities of modern warfare. For example, in the current offensive, the militants are effectively using strike and FPV drones. All this has greatly contributed to the rapid pace of their offensive and tactical success.
It is noteworthy that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham announced the need for the operation several months ago, which was explained by internal reasons. Today, there is a high level of discontent among residents in Idlib with the actions of HTS and the Syrian Salvation Government controlled by it. The region has faced constant protests.
This is why a military operation could quell popular discontent and increase support for HTS. Most residents of the province share opposition views, so an attack on government positions could be welcomed by them.
THE TURKS COULDN'T HELP BUT KNOW
To fully understand the situation, it is important to say that today the north and northwest of Syria are divided into two zones. One of them is under the control of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) and the other is under the control of the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG). Both political bodies are opposition forces.
It is noteworthy that these zones are actually Turkish protectorates, where Turkish troops are present. Moreover, many opposition structures are financed by Ankara. For example, the "Syrian National Army" (SNA) has actually become a "proxy force" of Turkey. And its units are also participating in the current operation.
All this indicates that Ankara could not have been unaware of the militants' impending offensive. Especially since shortly before the start of the fighting, Turkey transferred short-range air defense systems to Idlib.
It is quite possible that the operation is an attempt to put pressure on Damascus by Ankara, especially in the matter of normalizing relations. Thus, the topic of restoring ties between the two countries has been raised for several years now. The process was initially launched at the end of 2022, but was completely stopped in the spring. An attempt was made to reboot the process this summer, but it was also unsuccessful.
The main obstacle to the talks is the hardline position of the Syrian government. As a precondition for normalization, Damascus demands that Ankara withdraw its troops from northern Syria.
The current militant offensive may be a demonstration that Turkey still plays a key role in the Syrian conflict. The military and political situation in the north and northwest of the country depends on it.
In addition, there is a possibility that Turkey will take advantage of the current situation and launch its fourth operation in the north-east of the SAR. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan first announced it in the spring of 2022, but it has not yet been carried out.
Ankara constantly talks about the need to unite all Turkish protectorates into a single security zone. This is precisely the stated goal of the future operation.
In the north of the Aleppo province, there is also an enclave of Kurdish autonomy with its center in Tel Rifaat, which creates problems for both Turkey itself and the pro-Turkish opposition. This direction may become the most likely for a potential operation. In addition, there are indirect signs confirming this version - in recent days, Ankara has been actively strengthening its group in the Afrin and Azaz regions.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
