[IsraelTimes] Paragon’s Graphite phone-hacking software targets data backed up to the cloud; is deployed by government bodies in the US and Israel; firm is backed by former premier Ehud Barak
[JPost] "Quit calling us out for our disgusting behaviour"
Irish President Michael D. Higgins said that Israeli accusations of deep-rooted Irish antisemitism were "deep slander" and accused Israel of seeking to build settlements in Egypt in statements to the press on Tuesday.
How utterly stupid. Egypt never revoked the law passed back in the 1950s making it illegal for Jewish males over the age of 18 to live in the country, which is why the historically vigorous Jewish community there that dates back to 650 BC (almost a century before the fall of the First Temple) is now reduced to under twenty elderly females — three in Cairo and the rest in Alexandria. What use would it be to Israel to have settlements there without any men?
Higgins's statements come after the Israeli Foreign Ministry closed the embassy in Ireland because of "actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel."
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in a Sunday statement that went with the announcement that he believes these actions delegitimized and demonized the Jewish state. "Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel," he said.
Higgins told Irish media on Tuesday that he was deeply concerned about Sa'ar's accusations, and felt as if they were intended to harm Ireland.
Why would Israel bother? Ireland has absolutely nothing that Israel wants or needs, beyond a sentimental connection for the thousands of Irish Jews who settled in Israel in the 1950s.
"I take it as very serious business to actually brand a people,
“…but I’m going to do it anyway, because they’re icky Jooooooos…”
because in fact they disagree with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who's in breach of so many bits of international law and has breached the sovereignty of three of his neighbors in relation to Lebanon, Syria... and would in fact to have a settlement in Egypt," Higgins said to Irish media, as seen in a video from RTE News on X/Twitter.
In a new English-language statement, Sa’ar says: “Once an antisemitic liar — always an antisemitic liar,” going on to defend Israel’s actions on all three fronts.
“From Lebanese territory, Israel’s sovereignty was breached for over a year,” he says. “For no reason and unprovoked, Hezbollah joined Hamas on October 8th [2023] and since then fired tens of thousands of missiles, rockets and drones at Israeli citizens and communities. Israel did what any country would — it defended itself against a brutal aggressor.”
On Syria, Sa’ar says: “While Assad’s regime disintegrated, armed groups entered the buffer zone and attacked UNDOF forces, in violation of the Disengagement Agreement from 1974. Israel temporarily entered a few limited points to prevent the threat of radical Islamists against its citizens and communities. Israel will not wait for another [onslaught nresembling what Hamas did on] October 7th [2023] on any of its borders.”
And regarding the Egypt settlement claim, he says: “Higgins invented the claim that Israel seeks to form settlements there. In the context of our peace agreement with Egypt, Israel withdrew from a huge area — all of the Sinai desert, and uprooted all of its communities there. This peace agreement has been maintained since 1979.”
Concluding his combative statement, Sa’ar brings up Ireland’s failure to join the Allies in fighting Nazi Germany in World War II.
“Let us not forget that Ireland was at best neutral during World War II. At that time, the free world was fighting Hitler’s axis while Ireland sat on the side and did nothing.”
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/18/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#2
So were all the numerous news reports about Irish leaders speaking out against Israel, lies?
Or is it because Ireland, which many Irish leaders sided with Hitler against the UK in WWII, also misjudged this political word game, and now need to crawl out from under the facts by xfering blame?
#6
“Deep slander” I was unaware that there was a slander gradient.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/18/2024 12:35 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The so called "Irish" these days piss me off. Most of their government isn't Irish. And they've been the sulky teenage for the past 3 centuries. It's they grew up. Or maybe they need Grandpa Buff to re-landscape them so they can start over.
#8
Even though I am of Irish descent (several generations ago so not a strong bond), I fully support Israel’s decision. The Irish government is repugnant. They should be shunned. And they are actively destroying their country with massive immigration. So screw em.
#9
I assume the cheat system put in place to get Ireland to join the EU was also used to stack their government with EU Autocrats and WEF Globalists. Smash the ethno-states and all that.
[Rudaw] The United States on Monday backed The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... member, but not the most reliable... in going after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) while reaffirming support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS).
"We understand Turkiye’s legitimate right to go after a designated terrorist organization which the United States continues — considers a terrorist organization as well," US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing on Monday.
"We have designated the PKK and we respect their [Turkey’s] right to go after that organization," he added.
Miller also indirectly urged Turkey to refrain from launching an operation against Kurdish forces in Syria. Ankara considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.
"We have made clear to all of the parties that we have engaged on this issue, that it is — Syria is in such a fragile state right now that we don’t want to see any party take an action to pursue their own unilateral interests over the broader interests of the Syrian people; that this is a time to increase stability, not to further devolve into sectarian fighting," Miller said.
"The SDF does incredibly important work to — in the counter-ISIS coalition, a coalition of which Turkiye of course is a member," he added.
This comes amid reports of Turkey preparing to launch an operation into Rojava.
The SDF on Monday announced that US-led mediation efforts to reach a "permanent truce" with Turkey over Manbij city had fallen off, accusing the latter of evasion to accept key points for reaching an agreement.
"The US-led mediation efforts to declare a permanent truce in the Manbij and Kobani regions were unsuccessful due to Turkey's approach in dealing with the mediation efforts and its evasion to accept key points," SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said on X.
The points, according to Shami, included "the transfer of remaining Manbij Military Council fighters and civilians wishing to move to safer areas within north and eastern Syria, as well as the resolution of the issue concerning the transfer of Suleiman Shah's remains to their former location."
Turkey-backed opposition militia groups launched an offensive against the SDF in the northwestern region of Shahba late last month, controlling it days later. They also took over Manbij city earlier this week which Kurdish fighters had liberated from the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2016.
The development comes amid historic changes in Syria as a coalition of militia groups led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) ousted Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... last week.
The Syrian National Army (SNA), a Turkey-backed militia group, has said that their attempt to take Manbij is part of the code-named Operation Dawn of Freedom, which was launched late last month in Tal Rifaat, forcing the SDF-linked fighters to withdraw from the town.
[NYPOST] A bill that would choke off funding for terror-supporting nonprofits has stalled in Congress — amid the lies of its potential targets.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, HR 9495, passed the House last month.
Critics have labeled the legislation a ''nonprofit killer,'' intentionally misleading both the public and politicians about its specifics in an effort to derail it.
One of its loudest opponents is the Council on American-Islamic Relations ... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ... , which has painted the legislation as ''nefarious'' and warned it will do catastrophic harm to charities. CAIR claims the bill strips nonprofits of due process.
In reality, the legislation's due process safeguards, including formal notifications, response periods and judicial reviews, are designed to prevent arbitrary or unjust actions against innocent charities.
HR 9495 would allow the secretary of the treasury to designate organizations as ''terrorist-supporting'' if they knowingly provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations — and to strip such groups of their valuable tax-exempt status.
[Rudaw] Iraq’s interior ministry on Monday denied that Maher al-Assad, the brother of ousted Syrian President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... , is in the country.
The latest report we have, from four days ago, quotes Rami Abdurrhaman, who does the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as claiming Mr. al Assad had arrived in Russia.
"The news on social media about the presence of Maher al-Assad, the brother of former Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, inside Iraqi territory is false," Miqdad Miri, the spokesperson for the Iraqi interior ministry told state media.
Several outlets on Monday reported that Maher al-Assad fled Syria and now resides in Iraq, particularly in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province, claiming that he is hosted by Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani.
Kurdistan Region authorities have not commented on the matter.
On Saturday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which govern northeast Syria (Rojava), denied rumors of allowing Maher al-Assad’s passage through its territory into Iraq. The SDF called the claim "completely false and comes in the context of incitement against our forces and people in northern and eastern Syria."
The SDF enjoys good relations with the PUK.
The Assad family fled Syria after a lightning rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) brought down the Syrian regime, ending over 50 years of Baathist rule.
Following the fall of Damascus, Russian forces evacuated Assad, and his family from Syria and granted them asylum in Moscow.
In his first message after the collapse of the regime, Assad said on Monday that his departure from the country was not planned and that Russia had arranged his evacuation to Moscow, from a military base in Latakia, where he was overseeing the operations.
Assad said in his message that the country has fallen "in the hands of terrorists."
Presumably the would-be killers were ISIS or ISIS-inspired.
[Rudaw] Iraqi security forces foiled two liquidation attempts targeting Pope Francis
...Argentine liberation theologist, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was elected pope in 2013. Rather than setting up shop in Avignon, where he belongs, the first Jesuit Pope chose to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse instead of the papal apartments. That was to show how humble he is. He is big on climate change, against consumerism, and in favor of throwing a blanket over homosexual activity within the clergy. He's not real sure about the Resurrection, about Christ's divinity, and a few other things that would have gotten him burned at the stake a few hundred years ago, but he's hot for a certain South American Earth Mother Goddess... during his historic trip to the country three years ago, the pontiff says in his forthcoming biography as reported by the Italian media on Tuesday.
In the book, set to be released next month, the pope describes warnings from British intelligence about the plots, including one involving "a woman packed with explosives, a young kamikaze, was heading to djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... to blow herself up during the papal visit," and another where "a van had also set off at full speed with the same intent," as detailed in an excerpt published by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
The incidents occurred in Mosul, the former stronghold where the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) declared its caliphate in 2014, leaving the city devastated after its defeat in 2017.
In March 2021, Pope Francis made a historic visit to Iraq, becoming the first pontiff to visit the country. The trip included stops in Baghdad, Mosul, and Najaf, where he met Iraq's highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The pope concluded his visit by holding a Holy Mass in Erbil, delivering messages of peace and coexistence.
In Mosul, the Pope held prayers for victims of ISIS and visited other significant Christian sites in the city.
"One of the world’s oldest cities," Vatican News cited the pontiff as saying, "Overflowing with history and traditions, which had seen different civilizations come and go and was a symbol of peaceful coexistence of diverse cultures in one country - Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Turks, Christians, Syriacs - appeared to my eyes as a field of rubble after three years of occupation by the Islamic State, which had chosen it as its stronghold."
Iraqi authorities have not commented on the two liquidation attempts.
[IsraelTimes] In heated meeting, woman recounts harassment in captivity, urges far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to agree to end war; he flatly refuses, denies responsibility for Oct. 7, says war must go on indefinitely
[IsraelTimes] Syrian caretaker Prime Minister Mohammad al-Bashir tells Al Jazeera TV that Syria has very low foreign currency reserves.
Current and former Syrian officials have told Reuters that the dollar reserves have been nearly depleted because Bashar al-Assad’s government increasingly used them to fund food, fuel and its war effort.
The central bank’s foreign exchange reserves amount to just around $200 million in cash, one of the sources tells Reuters, while another says the US dollar reserves are “in the hundreds of millions.”
[IsraelTimes] ‘We really haven’t seen anything quite like this since the Nazis,’ says top prosecutor after visit to mass grave; says more than 100,000 people disappeared, tortured to death
An international war crimes prosecutor said on Tuesday that evidence emerging from mass grave sites in Syria has exposed a state-run "machinery of death" under toppled leader Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... , and he estimated that more than 100,000 people were tortured and murdered since 2013.
Speaking after visiting two mass grave sites in the towns of Qutayfah and Najha near Damascus, former US war crimes ambassador on the lam Stephen Rapp told Rooters: "We certainly have more than 100,000 people that were disappeared into and tortured to death in this machine.
"I don’t have much doubt about those kinds of numbers, given what we’ve seen in these mass graves."
"When you talk about this kind of organized killing by the state and its organs, we really haven’t seen anything quite like this since the Nazis," said Rapp, who led prosecutions at the Rwanda and Sierra Leone war crimes tribunals.
"From the secret police who disappeared people from their streets and homes, to the jailers and interrogators who starved and tortured them to death, to the truck drivers and bulldozer drivers who hid their bodies, thousands of people were working in this system of killing," Rapp said.
Syrian residents living near a former military base, where one of the sites was located, and a cemetery, used to hide bodies from detention sites, described seeing a steady stream of refrigeration trucks delivering bodies, which were dumped into long trenches that had been dug with bulldozers.
In Qutayfah, people declined to speak on camera or use their names for fear of the retribution, saying they were not yet sure the area was safe after Assad’s fall.
"This is the place of horrors," one said on Tuesday.
Inside a site enclosed with cement walls, three children played near a Russian-made military satellite vehicle. The soil was flat and levelled, with straight long marks where the bodies were buried.
Satellite imagery analyzed by Rooters showed large-scale digging began at the location between 2012 and 2014 and continued up until 2022. Multiple satellite images taken by Maxar during that time showed a digger and large trenches visible at the site, along with three or four large trucks.
Omar Hujeirati, a former anti-Assad protest leader who lives near the Najha cemetery, said he suspected that several of his missing family members may be in the grave.
He believes at least some of those taken, including two sons and four brothers, were detained for protesting against Assad’s government.
"That was my sin, what made them take my family," he said, a long, exposed trench behind him where the bodies were apparently buried.
He said those responsible must be held accountable in a clear judicial process or people would take matters into their own hands.
"We want our rights, according to Syrian law, and not by some behind-the-scenes process. These massacres and slaughterhouses of death are unacceptable to anyone with humanity," he said. "We want reputable organizations to come so this isn’t covered up."
[IsraelTimes] IAEA’s Grossi cautions negotiators hoping for another pact will need to formulate fresh technical guidelines conforming to ‘new reality’ of Iran becoming a nuclear threshold state
The UN’s top atomic regulator said this week that there was little point in trying to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, with 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... already practically a nuclear threshold state.
That will make President Barack Obama and his team happy that at least they accomplished one of the goals of his presidency.
The comments by ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi in Italia on Monday underlined growing frustration by the UN monitor toward Iran, which has blown past stockpile limits set by the landmark pact and spurned inspections since Washington abandoned the deal in 2018.
Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran was only permitted to enrich uranium to 3.68 percent purity, a level consistent with civilian uses of nuclear technology that Iran claims are its only pursuit, capping its stockpile at 300 kilograms.
But the thing was designed to stymie any attempt to enforce it, had Iran ever intended to abide by it. And the entire world shrieked in disbelieving anger when Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu stood in front of the UN General Assembly and revealed exactly what Iran had been hiding from the IAEA in terms of their nuclear bomb development program. And thereafter only Israel’s assassination program and the Bibi-George W. Bush computer sabotage group slowed development as much as it has, while the world continued to pooh-pooh Israel’s existential concerns.
But according to an IAEA report handed to member states and leaked to the press earlier this month, Iran has begun dramatically expanding its production of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade levels, collecting enough material for several bombs already.
"The philosophy of the original accord with Iran can be used, but that agreement is no longer useful," Grossi told Italian news agency ANSA on the sidelines of a meeting at the foreign ministry in Rome.
It never was useful. It never was intended to be, written as it was by a team more interested in managing the decline to a world ruled by “moderate” Islamists instead of “radical” Islamists.
He added that Iran had "developed much stronger capabilities" regarding various aspects of its nuclear program.
"It has uranium at 60% — 90% is military grade — and is thus practically at the same level as nuclear-armed states," Grossi said.
Sealed in 2015 following years of tightrope negotiations between Iran and the US, UK, Germany, La Belle France, China and Russia, the JCPOA was hailed by its boosters as a watershed opportunity to curb Iran’s rogue nuclear activities, with world powers agreeing to lift sanctions that had crippled the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s economy.
The fools did indeed hail it.
According to the IAEA at the time, before the accord, Iran had amassed just over 200 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20% purity, and around 10,000 kilograms of low-enriched uranium at levels of 5% purity or lower.
Under the deal, Iran was forced to reduce its stockpile by some 98%, and shut down over half of its centrifuges, according to officials.
But the accord was pilloried by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who alleged that Tehran had hoodwinked the world and was continuing to covertly pursue a nuclear weapon to be used against Israel.
Not just alleged, but proved using Iran’s own documentation stolen from Iran’s own archive warehouse.
With other US allies in the Gulf also suspicious of dealing with Iran, then-president Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... pulled Washington out of the accord in 2018, and failed to deliver on a promise to renegotiate a better deal.
No deal was already an improvement, as American hands were no longer tied in terms of retaliation.
Attempts by US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass.... ’s administration to negotiate an American return to the pact fell apart in mid-2023, and Trump’s impending return to the White House has punctured hopes for reviving the deal.
The hope was false. Not that it mattered, given that Iran had never abided by the original Obama deal, and would have continued not abiding by anything “successfully” negotiated.
Iran has steadily ramped up enrichment activity since the US left the deal and reimposed sanctions, rolling out advanced new centrifuges and issuing warnings that it could speed up the process even further.
In a report in early December, the Office of the United States Director of National Intelligence warned that "Iran now has enough fissile material to make more than a dozen nuclear weapons," but said it had not yet decided to break out to a bomb.
Iran is not thought to have begun work needed to build and deploy a nuclear weapon, a move which, if detected, would likely invite a harsh Western response. But the sheer size of its stockpile and the fact that 60% purity is just a short technical step away from the 90% needed for a bomb, have served to heighten tensions, with Israel rumored to be mulling military action aimed at destroying key nuclear sites.
In its report earlier this month, the IAEA warned that Tehran likely had enough material to build four bombs. Grossi said at the time that Iran was set to begin producing 60%-enriched uranium at eight or more times the current rate.
He told ANSA Monday that given Iran’s "new reality," the international community would need to rethink the technical steps of a denuclearization agreement with Tehran.
"We must reformulate the agreement," Grossi said. "This is a complex process whereby the European countries and the US, Russia, and China will have to sit at the table with [the IAEA] to define a system that serves the new Iranian reality."
Negotiators gotta negotiate, I suppose, no matter how pointless or self-destructive.
The UK, La Belle France, and Germany have already expressed hopes of convening talks with Iran before October 2025, when some parts of the deal are set to expire, including its endorsement from the UN Security Council.
They clearly still want to surrender to Iran, for some unfathomable reason.
Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and says both its space program and nuclear activities are for purely civilian purposes. However,
ars longa, vita brevis... US intelligence agencies and the IAEA say Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003, and continued to develop its nuclear program beyond civilian necessity. Israel contends that the Islamic Theocratic Republic never truly abandoned its nuclear weapons program.
Q.E.D.
Iran is committed to Israel’s destruction. Over the past year, it has twice fired massive barrages of missiles at Israel, which has vowed to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Israel has struck key Iranian military facilities in retaliation for both attacks, which came in the context of a multifront war opened by Iranian terror proxies on the Jewish state.
On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that Israeli strikes in October had severely curtailed Iran’s ability to produce ballistic missiles, which Israel fears could be used to carry a nuclear warhead.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/18/2024 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11145 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Given the missile defense that Israel now has and assuming further improvements, any Iran nuke missile would likely be shot down outside the borders of Israel. Thus it would land and contaminate Jordan or Iraq or Syria.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/18/2024 13:54 Comments ||
Top||
[Rudaw] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday said it is ready to propose the establishment of a buffer zone in Kobane city after a US-brokered ceasefire with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... was extended for a few days.
"Reaffirming our unwavering commitment to achieving a comprehensive ceasefire across Syria, we announce our readiness to propose the establishment of a demilitarized zone in the city of Kobani, with the redistribution of security forces under US supervision and presence," SDF chief Mazloum Abdi said in a post on X.
"This initiative aims to address Ottoman Turkish security concerns and ensure the long-term stability of the region," he added.
While rebels, led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS), had joined forces to topple Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... ’s regime late last month, Turkey-backed opposition militia groups launched an offensive against the SDF in the northwestern region of Shahba, controlling it days later. They also took over Manbij city earlier this week which Kurdish fighters had liberated from ISIS in 2016.
Most parts of the country have seen a rare stability in recent days, except for Kurdish-held areas where a coalition of militia groups, who call themselves the Syrian National Army (SNA),
…the ragtag paramilitary made up of Turkic jihadis and Moslem Brotherhood types plus ISIS remnants seeking refuge after the fall of the caliphate, united under the command of the Turkish army to control the territory of Turkey’s intrusion across the Syrian border and attack nearby Kurds whenever convenient…
have intensified their attacks.
The US brokered a four-day ceasefire between the SDF and Turkey last week.
US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told news hounds on Tuesday that the ceasefire has been extended.
"It is extended through the end of the week, and we will obviously look to see that ceasefire extended as far as possible in the future. It came about through our ongoing diplomatic work with the SDF and with the government of Turkey," he said, adding that the initial agreement was brokered through their "diplomatic engagements" last week.
[IsraelTimes] US officials are concerned Turkey may be planning to invade Syrian territory held by Kurdish forces, citing a troop buildup near the border, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Turkey backs Islamist Sunnis that have led the rebel forces that ousted Bashar al-Assad, but views Kurdish groups and the Syrian Democratic Forces, which control northeast Syria, as an extension of the banned PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) that has fought a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.
“If Turkey proceeds with its invasion, the consequences will be catastrophic,” one Kurdish official tells The Journal.
[IsraelTimes] Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of the Islamist group that toppled Bashar al-Assad in Syria, said Monday that Syria will not be used as a launchpad for attacks against Israel and that he is committed to the 1974 agreement that established a demilitarized zone in Syrian territory as a buffer between the two countries...
Speaking to foreign journalists, the Islamist leader said his nascent government intends to overhaul Syria’s constitution and institutions, but said it will take time, and that the country is not yet ready for elections due to remaining disorder, some 13 years after civil war broke out amid the 2011 Arab Spring.
"People have big ambitions, but today we must think realistically, because Syria has many problems, and they won't be solved with a magic wand," Julani said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "It needs patience."
He also emphasized the need for unity in a country home to different ethnic minority groups and religions, while speaking to members of the country's Druze community, which makes up about 3 percent of Syria's prewar population.
Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in place of his nom de guerre, fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion.
He later set up the al-Qaeda subsidiary in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, which for a period was allied with the Islamic State terror group.
However, Jolani later broke with and fought against both jihadist organizations and eventually rebranded Al-Nusra as the Islamist HTS.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/18/2024 00:00 ||
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[11156 views]
Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)
#1
"Jolani later broke with and fought against both jihadist organizations and eventually rebranded Al-Nusra as the Islamist HTS."
By golly he is reformed. Praise Jesus.
I think Al-Nusra was sponsored by Obama's CIA. And they rebranded to HTS when Erdogan's Turkey started their sponsorship of the group.
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.
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
Leveler of Latakia...
...46th president of the U.S. 
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
