[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed... 's President Captain Ibrahim Traore accused French President Emmanuel Macron of insulting all Africans in his recent speech, criticizing some countries' ''ingratitude'' towards La Belle France.
The French president criticized alleged French military interventions against armed movements in the Sahel, stating that ingratitude is a disease that cannot be transmitted to humans.
''He insulted all Africans. (—) This is how this gentleman sees Africa, sees Africans. We are not human in his eyes,'' reacted Captain Traore, during a New Year's ceremony.
Relations between La Belle France and Burkina Faso continued to deteriorate since the 36-year-old captain took power by force following a coup in September 2022.
As one of the Sahelian countries, along with Mali and Niger, Burkina Faso ordered the departure of French forces from its soil in 2023.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2025 01:28 ||
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#1
Insulting all of Africa? Dude, have you seen Africa lately? It's a bit of a mess. A lot of possibilities, but it is definitely a fixer-upper.
Nailing down his legacy before he’s voted out of office?
[IsraelTimes] Starmer is eager to remake relations with a host of capitals, from Beijing to Brussels, and anxious to seal deals to boost Britain’s ailing economy
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i met Tuesday with his UK counterpart Keir Starmer, securing a £12.3 billion ($15 billion) trade and investment package during a UK visit hailed as a "new era" in ties.
The Iraqi leader’s trip to London, during which he also met King Chuck ...King of England, Scotland, Ireland -- at least part of it -- Wales, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, and places like that. The first King Chuck had his head chopped off, the second one was Good Time Charlie. The third once wanted to be a tampon and thinks we'll all be extinct within the next seven years... III, focused on security, migration, and infrastructure, with the two leaders agreeing on a strategic "defense relationship" to deepen cooperation.
It comes more than 20 years after Britannia took part in the US-led invasion, which left the country reeling from conflict for years.
Starmer — who entered Downing Street in July — is eager to reset ties with a host of capitals, from Beijing to Brussels, and anxious to seal any deals to boost Britannia’s ailing economy.
"The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the vision of a prosperous, sovereign Iraq through a new partnership focused on trade and investment," a UK-Iraq joint statement said after Tuesday’s meeting.
"The prime ministers signed a landmark Partnership & Cooperation Agreement (PCA), a wide-ranging treaty on trade and strategic cooperation and agreed on a trade package worth up to £12.3 billion," it added.
That is more than 10 times the total value of UK-Iraq bilateral trade last year.
It contained UK-led mega infrastructure projects such as removing mines across Iraq left after decades of war and unrest, water and sewerage improvements and desalination in areas such as southern Basra as well as interconnecting the Iraqi and Saudi power grids.
A desperate lack of fresh water due to drought, climate change, and frequent power blackouts, especially in the summer, have been major sources of discontent among the Iraqi population.
MIGRATION FOCUS
The three-day visit comes amid a complicated situation in the Middle East fueled by 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 between Israel and Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... , as well as a fragile ceasefire in Leb ...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.... between Israel and the Lebanese pro-Iranian terrorist organization Hezbollah.
Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... ’s move back into the White House next week, and expectations he will resume his hardline stance towards Iran, also loom large over the region’s geopolitics.
Oil-rich Iraq, which is an ally of 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... as well as a strategic partner for Washington, has for decades practiced a delicate balancing act, while also seeking to deepen its ties to wealthy Gulf countries.
Sudani — brought to power in 2022 by a coalition of pro-Iran parties — met Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> as recently as last week.
Starmer and Sudani also agreed on the principles for the return of Iraqi irregular migrants colonists in the UK and discussed the next practical steps, the joint statement said.
Coinciding with Sudani’s visit, Britannia’s National Crime Agency announced the arrest of three men suspected of smuggling migrants colonists from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) to Britannia, in a "ground-breaking" joint operation.
Involving the Kurdistan Region Security Council and Kurdistan Region Security Agency, those detained are allegedly linked to a smuggling network run by a UK-based controllerincarcerated Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! for 17 years last November.
Migration — regular and irregular — is a key issue for Starmer, as he faces domestic pressure to curb arrivals.
The number of migrants colonists arriving in Britannia on small boats after crossing the English Channel soared to over 36,800 in 2024, according to official data.
At least 76 deaths were recorded, making it the deadliest year for migrants colonists, who are taking ever greater risks to evade Britannia’s border controls.
BORDER SECURITY
Both leaders "agreed that the increasingly global nature of organized immigration crime underscores the need to stop people smuggling gangs from putting so many lives at risk," their statement said.
"Strengthening the border security of our nations is a key part of this effort," it added.
The £12.3 billion package also included the reconstruction of the al-Qayyarah airbase.
Sudani likewise met with business leaders, including from oil giant BP, which recently announced long-term investment in Iraq.
Tuesday’s talks come as Sudani said his country was preparing for the end of the military presence in Iraq of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The United States maintains about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 more in Syria, seeking to prevent any resurgence of 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.... jihadist group. US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... ’s administration agreed with Iraq to end the coalition’s role by September 2025, but stopped short of a complete withdrawal of US forces, whose presence has been opposed by Iran-aligned gangs in Iraq.
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01/15/2025 00:00 ||
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The number of migrants granted asylum in Sweden dropped to the lowest level in 40 years in 2024, according to the country's government - the result of a decade-long crackdown on immigration.
Sweden stunned the world by taking in nearly 163,000 asylum seekers during the 2015 migrant crisis - the highest number per capita of any EU country.
But following a dramatic policy reversal, just 6,250 asylum-related residence permits were granted in the Scandinavian country last year, according to Migration Minister Johan Forssell, who cited fresh statistics from the Migration Agency. That figure does not include Ukrainians, who have been granted temporary protection throughout the European Union.
The number of people who applied for asylum in Sweden in 2024 was 9,645, the lowest since 1996 and down by 42 percent since 2022.
The huge influx of migrants in 2015 onwards made it impossible to effectively integrate all of the new arrivals, Mr Forssell has now said, with insufficient housing, schools and work opportunities. This prompted successive left and right-wing governments to tighten rules around asylum, with the most hardline immigration policies coming in following the landmark 2022 election. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's centre-right minority government, propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, brought in a sweeping package of reforms.
Recent measures introduced to reduce migration include the granting of only temporary residence permits to asylum seekers, tighter family reunification requirements, and raising income requirements for work visas for non-EU citizens. The current government has also announced plans to offer immigrants $34,000 to leave the country, and to make it easier to expel migrants for substance abuse, association with criminal groups or statements threatening 'Swedish values'.
Mr Forssell, who has overseen the crackdown since he took up his office in September 2022, told reporters: 'While the number of asylum seekers is historically low, the number being granted asylum is also low.
'Today, three out of four people seeking asylum in Sweden are not considered to have sufficient grounds to be granted residency. They are therefore not refugees, and they must return home,' he said.
Mr Forssell noted that Sweden's low levels stood out, with the number of asylum seekers in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland topping one million last year, nearing the level seen during the 2015 migrant crisis. He said Sweden would need to continue to keep its numbers down in the coming years.
Forssell told The Times earlier this month: 'We are implementing what we describe as a paradigm shift in Swedish migration policy, and we are doing this with a very outspoken agenda that we want to limit the number of people seeking asylum here in Sweden'.
He explained that the move does not mean that the country does not like migrants, or understand the situation they face, but because it is 'impossible' to manage the task of integration when there is such a huge influx each year.
'What happened during the refugee crisis was that all these very nice words, all this open-heart policy, met a very tough reality,' Mr Forssell added.
I’m shocked they’re willing not only to admit it, but to act so decisively.
Sweden once considered itself to be a 'humanitarian superpower', a haven for the war-weary and persecuted, but over the years it has struggled to integrate many of its newcomers.
Even after the 2015 migration wave, Sweden held onto its open-hearted ideals, but as gang-related gun violence and bombings soared, critics warned that the country was being stretched to breaking point.
In 2023, Sweden had by far the EU's highest rate of per capita
…missing words here: maybe gun deaths or murders…
and by December 2024, 40 people had been shot dead in the country - a chilling number for a European country of only 10 million people.
These figures represented a 35 per cent decrease compared to 2022, the most lethal year of the gang wars, when 63 people were shot dead.
Police said gangs have begun using social media platforms as 'digital marketplaces' to openly recruit children, some as young as 11, to commit murders and bombings across the Nordic region. Inexperienced teenagers, seen as expendable by the gangs, are easier for police to catch than those ordering the shootings.
Still, 72 per cent of deadly shootings were solved in 2023, compared to just 29 per cent in 2022, helped in part by surging camera surveillance. Police said they aimed to employ 2,500 cameras and drones this year, a five-fold increase from five years ago.
The radical right-wing Sweden Democrats capitalised on this discontent, gaining ground by highlighting problems linked to immigration.
Scandinavian neighbours began issuing warnings about 'Swedish conditions,' alarmed by the spillover of gang violence into their own borders.
Even the traditionally centre-left Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson conceded at the time that Sweden didn't need more 'Somalitowns' or 'Little Italies'.
Things changed with the 2022 election, with reforms coming thick and fast after the Moderates formed a government by striking a deal with the Sweden Democrats, giving the conservative party significant influence over crime and immigration policies. Family reunifications have been tightened, residency permits are more easily revoked, and asylum rights have been slashed to the bare minimum allowed under EU law. Immigrants who do not qualify for residency are being urged to return home, with some placed under electronic surveillance or confined to special centres.
Sweden's immigration policy has undergone a seismic shift, abandoning its once open-handed approach in favour of stricter rules and a focus on control. The government is now steering away from traditional asylum status and pushing more migrants into the weaker 'subsidiary protection' category. This status, unlike full asylum, requires renewal every 13 months and only extends beyond three years for those who can prove they are financially independent.
Mr Forssell has made no apologies for the hardline approach, and speaking candidly, he revealed that the goal is to return to a pre-1970s immigration model, prioritising skilled 'guest workers' and limiting asylum to only those with indisputable claims.
'We're going back to basics,' he explained, adding that restricting family reunification has already delivered results.
The minister also wants to introduce mandatory language and integration tests for anyone seeking Swedish citizenship. While most European nations adopted such measures years ago, Sweden's reluctance to follow suit was once a badge of pride, but now, even Forssell dismisses the previous policy as absurd. He blasted the ability of becoming a Swedish citizen if an individual can not speak the language or known little to nothing about the country as 'stupid'.
Sweden's shift is also reflected in its refugee demographics. Syrians, who made up a third of the 2015 wave, now dominate Sweden's refugee population, numbering 111,000. Many of them are expected to return home as the Assad regime stabilises, but Mr Forssell estimates that some 100,000 undocumented immigrants remain in Sweden, forming what he calls a 'shadow society.'
This shadow society represents one of Sweden's toughest challenges. These undocumented individuals, many with no right to stay, exist on the margins, out of reach of the state's systems but still within its borders. Mr Forssell is determined to crack down, especially on those who have committed crimes yet managed to avoid deportation due to legal loopholes.
Currently, even convicted criminals who can't be deported are allowed to remain in Sweden, receiving benefits and holding jobs. The minister called this 'completely unacceptable' and vowed to end it, defiantly stating that if an individual is not granted asylum, then they must return home. In the past, Sweden's leniency allowed undocumented immigrants to reapply for asylum after four years of living in the shadows, a policy Forssell says led to tragic consequences.
It's a stark turnaround for a nation once celebrated as a haven for refugees. A decade ago, when Forssell served as a migration spokesman, foreign observers would marvel at Sweden's utopian image. The minister said Sweden was once recognised as a country where everything worked perfectly before it erupted into chaos.
But now, nations are asking Sweden how they flipped the situation so quickly, becoming a role model in handling a seemingly out-of-control immigration crisis. And although Sweden may no longer be the superpower of its humanitarian heyday, under Forssell's leadership, it has carved out a new identity - one that prioritises control, integration, and a no-nonsense approach to immigration.
[IsraelTimes] Pete Hegseth makes remark during fiery Senate hearing in which Democrats grill him on sexual misconduct claims, past remarks against women serving in combat
US President-elect Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... ’s contentious nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was grilled Tuesday by politicians about past controversies he has been embroiled in, while expressing support for Israel killing all remaining members of Paleostinian terror group Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... in the 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... Speaking at his confirmation hearing before the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee, Hegseth said: "I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas."
Notably, Israel’s current war aims do not extend to killing every last member of Hamas, and Israeli officials have told The Times of Israel that even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged as much. Doing so would have Israel bogged down in Gaza indefinitely, given that the terror group is constantly recruiting new fighters.
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... said Tuesday that Hamas has recruited as many fighters as it has lost during the war.
"I’m a Christian and I robustly support the State of Israel and its existential defense," Hegseth told the Congressional committee when asked if he considers himself a "Christian Zionist."
He charged that the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror onslaught against Israel was the direct result of President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run.... ’s 2021 withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, which he also blamed for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There is no evidence linking either world event to Afghanistan or the Taliban ...Arabic for students... , which now governs the country. But he said the withdrawal, which was widely criticized, was a public failure of American leadership.
"What was unleashed because of what happened in Afghanistan? The October 7 attacks, an invasion into Ukraine," he said in response to questioning from GOP Senator Jim Banks of Indiana, who’d asked about Afghanistan but not about Israel or Ukraine. Hegseth continued, "The world recognized weakness for what it was."
At a few points in the hearing, discussion turned to one of Hegseth’s many tattoos: a Jerusalem cross of the kind commonly used during the Crusades. During questioning, Hegseth claimed he had "volunteered to guard the inauguration of Joe Biden but was denied the opportunity to serve because I was identified as an Death Eater by my own unit for a Christian tattoo." He later clarified that he was referring to his chest tattoo of the Jerusalem cross.
The cross is one of multiple Crusades-inspired tattoos on Hegseth, who also has a Hebrew variant of Jesus’ name; experts on religious extremism have said they believe the tattoos to be a sign that the nominee is aligned with Christian nationalism, a movement which seeks to apply Christian law to the United States.
Hegseth, though, dismissed the idea that the tattoo in question was Death Eater.
"It’s called the Jerusalem cross. It’s a historic Christian symbol," he said when asked about it by Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. Hegseth went on to claim that the symbol had also appeared on the funeral program of former U.S. President Jimmy Malaise Carter
...only the second worst president ever. Now the third worst, after Obama and Biden... , which was held at the Washington National Cathedral.
The answer seemed to satisfy Cramer, who used his follow-up to attack the critics of Hegseth’s tattoo.
"You, Mr. Hegseth, are not an Death Eater," the senator said. "The people who would deny you your expression of faith are the Death Eaters. They’re the racists. They’re the bigots. You’re the one who is protecting their right to be one."
Like members of many previous administrations, Hegseth said his top priority would be shifting the US military priorities away from the Middle East and toward China.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct and lacking experience leading large organizations, was grilled by Democratic members of the committee over his opposition to efforts to promote diversity in the military and to women serving in combat, but he was largely defended by Republicans.
Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
...Machine non-entity selected to become the successor to Hillary Clinton as Senatrix-for-Life from Noo Yawk. She is running for the Dem presidential nomination in 2020. She has no observable principles, will apparently say anything to anyone, and seemingly lacks any personality of her own.... slammed Hegseth’s past comments as "so hurtful to the men and women who are currently serving in the US military, harmful to morale, harmful to good order and discipline."
Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, stuck to his opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, saying they are "dividing troops inside formations, causing commanders to walk on eggshells, not putting meritocracy first."
But he sought to soften past remarks on women serving in combat — something he stated as recently as November 2024 that he opposed.
"I respect every single female service member that has put on the uniform past and present. My critiques... recently and in the past, and from personal experience, have been instances where I’ve seen standards lowered," Hegseth told politicians.
"Women will have access to ground combat roles... given the standards remain high," the 44-year-old said.
US Senate Republicans are keen for Trump’s national security nominees to be confirmed quickly and Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... may agree to fast-track some. But they are determined to throw up roadblocks in front of candidates they see as unfit.
Hegseth has also come under fire for concerns about his past personal conduct, as well as his ability to lead the Pentagon — a massive bureaucracy that employs more than three million people.
Senator Jack Reed, the committee’s ranking Democrat, put it bluntly: "Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job."
"We must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you. A variety of sources — including your own writings — implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues," Reed said.
Asked by Republican Senator Roger Wicker ...junior United States Senator from Mississippi, a member of the Republican Party. In December 2007 he was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to fill the seat vacated by Trent Lott, winning reelection the next year. A lawyer by training, he was previously a Congressman, and before that a state senator... , the committee chair, about allegations Hegseth has faced, the nominee claimed there was a "coordinated smear campaign" against him.
"I’m not a perfect person, but redemption is real," Hegseth said, later asserting he was "falsely accused" of sexual assault.
He can only afford three Republican rejections and still be confirmed, should every Democrat and independent vote against him.
But he has maintained Trump’s support while the excoriating headlines have multiplied, and Senate Republicans appear open to hearing him out.
Former Democratic congresswoman-turned-Trumpist Tulsi Gabbard, who was tapped for director of national intelligence, is another candidate whose lack of qualifications and experience have raised alarm bells, as have her attitudes toward US adversaries.
Gabbard met Syria’s then-president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... in 2017, and declared him "not the enemy." She has also voiced sympathy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Some pressure on the nominees is expected from both sides of the aisle, especially for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, and an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist.
But US senator and foreign policy hawk Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... of Florida, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, is a sure bet with bipartisan support, and will likely be confirmed before Trump takes office on January 20.
Rubio gets his hearing Wednesday, along with homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, and CIA pick John Ratcliffe, who has been confirmed by the Senate before, as director of national intelligence.
Some of the most potentially fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... hearings are yet to be scheduled, including for Kennedy and Kash Patel, a conspiracy theorist who is Trump’s nominee to run the FBI.
#4
‘I support Israel killing every last member of Hamas’
Plus, anyone found to be a $$$$$ supporter of HAMAS, should be stripped of their wealth and imprisoned under the same conditions HAMAS is still using with its hostages.
Maybe have a few San Fran recruited soldiers guarding them for an added helping of Karma.
[GEO.TV] Army Chief General Asim Munir has said that the root cause of differences between Pakistain and Afghanistan is cross-border terrorism including the presence of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan... Pakistain's (TTP) safe havens in the neighbouring country.
''Our policy is only Pakistain,'' the army chief stated in a meeting with the leaders belonging to different political parties in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire... The army chief also assured the representatives of different political parties that no grand operation was being planned in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, saying that only intelligence-based operations (IBO) were being conducted against the murderous Moslems.
Calling Afghanistan brotherly and Islamic country, the army chief said Pakistain has always sought cordial ties with the neighbouring country.
''The only difference with Afghanistan is the presence of Fitna al-Khawarij [TTP murderous Moslems] in Afghanistan and the spread of terrorism in Pakistain from across the border, and it will remain so until they [Taliban rulers] resolve this matter,'' the army chief remarked.
''Is spreading chaos not a sin in the eyes of Allah?,'' the army chief remarked.
The army chief highlighted the importance of state saying: ''If there is state, there is politics. God Forbid, if there is no state, there is nothing at all.''
COAS Munir called for standing against terrorism without discrimination and prejudice.
''The situation will improve if we move together,'' he said, adding that humans are prone to committing mistakes but not learning from the blunders is even a bigger fault.
[IsraelTimes] Karim Khan submits response to appeals against warrants, dismisses claim International Criminal Court does not have jurisdiction over Israelis.
[IsraelTimes] Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says that comments earlier today by Nawaf Salam, the newly appointed prime minister of Lebanon, who served as the president of the International Court of Justice, prove that the ICJ is biased against Israel and its decisions must be invalidated.
“The president of the ICJ, just appointed prime minister of Lebanon, has called Israel an enemy,” says Sa’ar. “This is the president of a court presiding over a case related to Israel — someone who is supposed to remain impartial and neutral. Yet, he refers to Israel as an enemy.”
In his first speech as premier earlier today, Salam — referring to Israel — said he would work to “impose the complete withdrawal of the enemy from the last occupied inch of our land.”
“How can such a person be expected to judge Israel fairly?” asks Sa’ar. “President Salam’s decisions regarding Israel must be disqualified immediately. Otherwise, they might as well take the ‘J’ out of the ICJ.”
Salam, who resigned from the court today, began his role as ICJ president in February 2024 and has served as a member since 2018. He has been presiding over South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide, and took part in rulings, including, in January 2024, saying there is “plausibility” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and in July 2024 calling Israel’s presence in the West Bank “illegal.”
[IsraelTimes] Thousands attend Tel Aviv demonstration in eager anticipation of Hamas’s response to proposal, while hundreds in Jerusalem fume at government over ‘surrender’ to terror group.
Details at the link, for those interested. As far as I can tell, the agreement is ever-receding, like cold fusion. But maybe I’ll be wrong — at any rate, it didn’t happen as promised yesterday. This is what they got instead:
[IsraelTimes] Israel and Hamas agreed in principle to a hostage deal on Monday night and have since been working in Doha to finalize the details regarding implementation of the agreement, two Arab officials tell The Times of Israel.
One of the main issues that has yet to be finalized is the exact parameters of the IDF’s withdrawal from Gaza, and the mediators are still waiting for a map from Israel laying this out, the Arab officials say.
The two officials speculate that a deal will be announced on Wednesday or Thursday in the form of a joint statement from the US, Qatar and Egypt, who have been mediating between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Israel had accepted the hostage deal, while Hamas had yet to do the same.
On Monday, two officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that US President-elect Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff held a “tense” meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Saturday during which he leaned on the premier to make the compromises necessary to secure an agreement.
One of the Arab officials speaking to The Times of Israel on Tuesday says Witkoff managed to move Netanyahu more in that one meeting than the Biden administration had in countless conversations over the past year.
[GEO.TV] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed international security forces and temporary UN leadership to stabilise post-war Gaza where he warned that Hamas has recruited as many fighters as it has lost.
With talks in Qatar closing in on a ceasefire to the devastating 15-month war and days before he leaves office, Blinken laid out his long-awaited roadmap for post-war Gaza and warned that it required Israel accepting a path to a Palestinian state.
In line with his calls since the start of the war, Blinken said that Gaza should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority -- which now holds shaky, partial control of the West Bank and has been repeatedly undermined by Israel.
Acknowledging the limitations of the Palestinian Authority, Blinken said an unstated number of countries have offered to send troops and police to post-war Gaza.
He said that the "interim security mission" would include both foreign forces and "vetted Palestinian personnel."
"We believe that the Palestinian Authority should invite international partners to help establish and run an interim administration with responsibility for key civil sectors in Gaza, like banking, water, energy, health," Blinken said.
In a lengthy address at the Atlantic Council that touched on many aspects of the war and the broader state of the Middle East, Blinken offered extended criticism of Israel’s war strategy, particularly its refusal to devise a plan to replace the Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... terror group, which, he contended, has recruited as many fighters as it has lost in the 15-month war.
Blinken said the outgoing administration would hand over its proposed roadmap to President-elect Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... ’s team to pick up, if a ceasefire deal is reached, as Israel and Hamas appeared to be on the brink of such an agreement.
Blinken said he envisions the Paleostinian Authority inviting international partners to help establish and run an interim administration responsible for key civil sectors in Gaza, such as banking, water, energy, health, and civil coordination with Israel.
He said the international community would provide funding, technical support, and oversight to this interim administration in Gaza, without elaborating on who exactly would fund the enterprise.
He said the interim panel would be assembled through consultation with communities in Gaza and should include representatives from the Strip along with representatives from the PA.
The committee would work closely with a senior UN official appointed to oversee the international Gaza reconstruction effort. The temporary committee would be replaced by a reformed PA "as soon as it’s feasible."
An interim security mission would be made up of troops from US-allied countries, along with vetted Paleostinian personnel. It would be in charge of securing humanitarian aid along with border security and smuggling prevention, Blinken said.
He revealed that some US allies have already expressed their willingness to contribute security forces to the interim mission, but that they have conditioned this support on Israel agreeing to allow the West Bank and Gaza to be reunited under a reformed PA, as part of a pathway to a two-state solution — something Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.
Blinken said his plan also envisions the US establishing a new initiative to train, equip, and vet a PA-led security force for Gaza, which would gradually take over the interim security mission.
These various frameworks for Gaza’s governance, reconstruction, and security would be enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution.
Blinken’s speech was a subject of controversy within the Biden administration, with some arguing that it would be exploited by Netanyahu for political gain. Others maintained that it could even harm the hostage negotiations. Another US official told The Times of Israel that the decision to unveil the plan in this manner decreases the likelihood that it will be adopted by the incoming Trump administration, which largely wants to avoid continuing initiatives from the outgoing team.
Turning to the current negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, Blinken said American, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i, and Egyptian mediators submitted a final hostage deal proposal to Israel and Hamas on Sunday, hinting that the terror group has not given an answer.
"The ball is now in Hamas’s court. If Hamas accepts, the deal is ready to be concluded and implemented," he said, indicating that Israel has already accepted — something even Netanyahu’s office has not confirmed.
"I believe we will get a ceasefire," he added in his speech. "Whether we get there in the remaining days of our administration, or after January 20, the deal will follow closely the terms of the agreement that President Biden put forward last May and that our administration rallied the world behind."
ANTI-ISRAEL HECKLING
Blinken’s speech was interrupted three times in its first 15 minutes by anti-Israel protesters who accused him of facilitating "genocide."
"You will forever be known as Bloody Blinken, secretary of genocide," the first protester shouted before being led out of the event.
"You’re a brutal war criminal," screeched a second protester, five minutes later.
Blinken remained calm, telling one heckler, "I respect your views. Please allow me to share mine," before resuming his remarks.
Blinken said US officials had debated "vigorously" the Biden administration’s response to the war, a reference to a slew of resignations by officials in his State Department who criticized the policy to continue providing arms and diplomatic cover to Israel.
Amy resignations for the policy of abusing Israel? I don’t recall reading about it.
Others felt Washington held Israel back from inflicting greater damage on 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, he said.
"It is crucial to ask questions like these, which will be studied for years to come," he said. "I wish I could stand here today and tell you with certainty that we got every decision right. I cannot."
Rest easy — you got every decision wrong.
RECIPE FOR ’PERPETUAL WAR’
Blinken criticized Israel’s war strategy, saying Netanyahu’s refusal to advance a viable alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza, such as the PA, led the IDF to repeatedly return to places in the Strip it had previously cleared of Hamas fighters who then managed to return.
That’s certainly one view. The other is that the Biden administration’s insistence that Israel fight with both hands tied behind its back allowed Hamas to regroup and return.
“We’ve long made the point to the Israeli government that Hamas cannot be defeated by a military campaign alone, that without a clear alternative, a post-conflict plan, and a credible political horizon for the Palestinians, Hamas, or something just as abhorrent and dangerous, will grow back,” Blinken said.
Yes, you did. But that’s not how the World War II was prosecuted, nor the Cold War against the Soviet empire. Possibly your stepfather spoke of it, during his lectures on his experiences during the Holocaust — there are videos on the internet for you to consult, should your memory fail.
“That’s exactly what’s happened in northern Gaza since October 7. Each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back, Hamas militants regroup and reemerge because there’s nothing else to fill the void,” he said.
“Indeed, we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost,” Blinken revealed. “That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war.”
The new recruits lack the experience and skill of those who died. But really, the way war works one must keep killing the enemy until either he gives up or ceases to exist.
“Israel has pursued its military campaign past the point of destroying Hamas’s military capacity and killing the leaders responsible for October 7, convinced that unrelenting military pressure was required to get Hamas to accept a ceasefire and hostage deal on Israel’s terms,” he said.
Patently false, since Hamas has niot accepted a ceasefire and hostage deal on Israel’s terms,despite all the claims that they are about to do so.
He added that Hamas has “cynically weaponized the suffering of Palestinians,” and pointed to a Wall Street Journal report that purported to reveal a message that the late Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar sent to mediators, in which he called the death of Palestinian civilians “necessary sacrifices” and argued that the more innocent Palestinians were killed, the more Hamas would benefit.
Blinken panned both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority for some of their policies over the past several years.
How balanced of him.
“Israelis must abandon the myth that they can carry out de facto annexation [of the West Bank] without cost and consequence to Israel’s democracy, to its standing and to its security,” Blinken contended.
Yeah, yeah.
“Israel is expanding official settlements and nationalizing land at a faster clip than any time in the last decade, while turning a blind eye to unprecedented growth in illegal outposts. Violent attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians have reached record levels,” he lamented.
There has to be a cost for not making peace. Like Hamas, the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly refused to sign a peace treaty, or even a formal ceasefire. Past experience is that Israel gave up land for peace, so it ought not matter that Israel is improving properties will become Palestinian when they finally give up their intended war of intended annihilation.
Blinken said Israel’s refusal to allow the Palestinian Authority to gain a foothold in Gaza and to accept a time-bound, conditions-based approach for Palestinian statehood has prevented other international actors from accepting Israel’s call to help rebuild Gaza.
*shrug* The PA couldn’t hold Gaza last time. In the meantime they’ve become weaker, so it’s even more likely they wouldn’t be able to hold it now.
He acknowledged that some in Israel argue that heeding those requests would amount to a reward for Hamas. However, Blinken argued that Hamas is opposed to the two-state solution for which the international community has advocated, and which it sought to quash with the October 7 onslaught.
Yes, but Israelis no longer believe that a two-state solution is possible, as the PA has shown no interest in governing the little statelet in the West Bank beyond stripping it to line the pockets of the leadership. Had the PA leadersshown themselves capable instead of bloodthirsty and venal, it would be different.
“Israel’s government has systematically undermined the capacity and legitimacy of the only viable alternative to Hamas — the Palestinian Authority,” Blinken said, pointing to Israel’s withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues that belong to the PA.
Not viable.
“Israelis must decide what relationship they want with the Palestinians. That cannot be the illusion that Palestinians will accept being a non-people without national rights. Seven million Israeli Jews and some 5 million Palestinians are rooted in the same land. Neither is going anywhere,” he said.
If there were five million Palestinians, possibly that might be true. But there might be as many as 3.5 million, and of them the 1+ million actual (versus imaginary) Gazans pretty much all want to move abroad.
As for the PA, Blinken said it “repeatedly failed to undertake long-overdue reforms,” including ones to rein in corruption, decrease bloated bureaucracy, and alter its welfare program to cease payments to security prisoners based on the severity of their attack against Israelis.
Indeed.
He also blasted the PA for refusing to consistently and unequivocally condemn Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, saying it “only entrenched doubts among Israelis that the two communities can ever live side by side in peace.”
True. Clearly you ae not blind, Secretary Blinken. Does it therefore follow that you’re stupid?
Reflecting on the dangerous ripple effects of the war in Gaza, Blinken noted that “the more people suffer, the less they feel empathy for the suffering of those on the other side.
“Throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds, large majorities believe that October 7 didn’t happen — or if it did, that it was a legitimate attack on Israel’s military,” he said of the terror group’s 2023 onslaught that started the war, in which some 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage, amid widespread and widely documented atrocities against civilians, including attacks on hundreds of families in their homes and on a music festival.
“In Israel, there is almost no reporting on the conditions in Gaza and what people there endure every day,” Blinken continued.
That’s a blatant lie, Mr. almost-former Secretary. Most undiplomatic.
“This dehumanization is one of the greatest tragedies of the conflict.”
You have it backwards. It is you that is dehumanizing the Israelis, along with just about all the Biden-Harris administration. And it’s not a tragedy — it’s a disgrace.
#6
Aren’t in Gaza, aren’t alive, are physically wrecked after over a year of torment and torture… And Hamas has no idea because their un-assassinated emirs are abroad; the now-dead local leadership shared out the booty so widely after 10/7 — like Boko Haram and ISIS back in their heyday — they don’t even know who they gave hostages and bodies to, let alone which one is now where, so can’t exert pressure on hard boys to return the trophies they’re so enjoying having.
[GEO.TV] Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday of encouraging terrorism and inciting violence against Israel, saying that its policies were standing in the way of achieving peace.
"For this, we must see a deep and real change among Palestinians. Unfortunately, we are not seeing it today," he said at a news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Rome.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2025 00:00 ||
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[GEO.TV] Israeli will not compromise on security and will intervene if it sees a threat from 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... in the future, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday as a ceasefire deal with the Paleostinian group Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... appeared to be close to being agreed.
"And if we will see terrorism in the Gaza Strip at any point in the future, we will do the same thing we are doing in Judea and Samaria," he told a presser in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
Saar employed a term widely used in Israel for the occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops regularly conduct raids against Paleostinian groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2025 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] National Security Council says man’s phone infected with hacking malware by someone who contacted him on Telegram, posing as employee of Al Arabiya outlet’s Persian-language site
Iranian proxies attempted to lure an Israeli businessman to Dubai under the pretext of an interview, the Israeli National Security Council revealed on Tuesday, warning citizens to be on high alert for such attempts.
In a statement, the NSC warned that Iranian elements are targeting Israelis online and trying to convince them to attend meetings abroad at which they will be targeted.
Recently, the NSC said, an Israeli businessman was contacted on Telegram by someone posing as an employee of the Persian-language version of the Al Arabiya news outlet. The Israeli man received a request to fly to Dubai for a meeting in order to take part in an interview about "the Iranian regime."
Becoming suspicious, the businessman alerted the NSC, which discovered that the contact had infected his cellphone with malware to hack into his phone.
The NSC warned Israelis against sharing information with unknown contacts online and not disclosing personal details or travel plans with any potential business or academic partners without verifying their identities. Israelis were urged to be vigilant and to contact the Foreign Ministry or NSC about any suspicious activity.
In November, an Israeli-Moldovan Chabad emissary based in the United Arab Emirates — Rabbi Zvi Kogan — was kidnapped and murdered by three Uzbeki citizens who Israel believes were recruited by Iran.
Last month, Iranian-Israeli journalist Babak Itzhaki said he was the target of a plot by Iranian paramilitary forces to lure him to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... and then smuggle him into Iran.
In recent months, Israel has also uncovered a significant number of plots of Iranian proxies recruiting Israelis online to carry out espionage against Israeli figures and facilities.
Since September 2024, Israeli authorities have announced arrests in many cases involving individuals or cells suspected of spying or plotting attacks on behalf of Iran. In some, Tehran tried to trick Israelis online into carrying out missions on its behalf. In other cases, individuals are alleged to have knowingly operated on Tehran’s behalf for money.
[Rudaw] The United States last month engaged directly with a designated terrorist group in Syria in a significant policy shift, a move explained by senior US official Nikolas Granger during an interview with Rudaw on Monday.
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), formerly an al-Qaeda affiliate, led a coalition of forces in a swift and unexpected offensive that toppled Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's regime last month.
HTS, under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a US-designated terrorist, capitalized on the weakened state of Assad's forces, which were demoralized and lacked support from their traditional allies like Russia and Iran. This transformed Sharaa from a terrorist to a liberator in the eyes of many.
Granger, the Syria Regional Platform Director at the US Department of State, laid out the rationale behind his country’s engagement with HTS and Sharaa, the acting president of Syria. In December, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf visited Damascus, announcing the removal of a $10 million bounty on Sharaa’s head after meeting him.
"From our perspective, it didn't make sense to have a bounty hanging over his head when in fact we were engaging with him in a diplomatic dialogue," said Granger, adding that the move does not alter his status as an "specially designated global terrorist" under Executive Order 13224, but it opens a channel for communication to influence the political landscape in Syria.
"The terrorist designation against HTS stays in place, and any decision on that designation will be a separate process," he said in response to a question on whether the US is considering removing HTS from its list of foreign terrorist organizations.
HUMANITARIAN AND ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES
Earlier this month, the US Department of Treasury temporarily eased sanctions on Syria in a decision called General License 24.
"The general license we issued last week was meant to provide immediate relief to the Syrian people," Granger said, noting that the license facilitates the provision of essential services like electricity, water, and sanitation, ensuring that sanctions do not impede these critical areas.
"There are huge needs across the economy in Syria," he stressed.
The general license is set for 6 months, allowing the US to monitor the situation on the ground and assess the impact of its policy shift.
SUPPORT FOR INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE
Granger underscored Washington’s stance on the political transition in Syria, saying "we believe that all Syrians - Kurds, Arabs, whatever their identity - but all Syrians have a role to play in Syria's political and social life."
He emphasized the expectation for the interim authorities to follow through on commitments to inclusivity and representation.
"We have made it clear our expectation to the interim authorities and we will continue to be monitoring the situation very carefully throughout Syria to ensure that there is accountability for any attacks that happen," he added.
ROLE OF THE SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES (SDF)
Granger also addressed the future of the SDF, a key ally 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), and said that Washington’s alliance with the Kurdish-led force is valued.
"We continue to value our partnership with the SDF, addressing threats by ISIS, guarding detention facilities, and securing camps in northeast Syria," he said.
"This is something that will be important for the future Syrian state to be responsible for. It's important that the SDF and the interim authorities engage in serious dialogue on what the future for Syria looks like for all actors on the ground, ensuring they can work together to fight against ISIS.
Granger encouraged the Syrian authorities and SDF to engage in dialogue on the future of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious country.
"It's important that the SDF and the interim authorities engage in serious dialogue on what the future for Syria looks like for all actors on the ground, ensuring they can work together to fight against ISIS," he stated.
He expressed cautious optimism about the future of Syria.
"We will continue to engage with the Syrian people, offer our support as they chart the course forward, and engage with the interim authorities to make clear our expectations that they will follow through on their words with concrete action."
[NAHARNET] Higher Islamic Shiite Council leader Sheikh Ali al-Khatib on Tuesday called for ''consolidating national unity and building the state upon citizenship and equality among citizens,'' during a meeting in Baabda with President Joseph Aoun.
''Had there been illusory illusory sovereignty and a strong state that defends its people's dignity, we would not have needed all this debate about the issue of weapons, which are not sacred to us. What is sacred is the country's unity and the people's dignity, security and stability,'' Khatib added.
''What we want, like the rest of the Lebanese, is stability and the absence of sectarian conflicts and quota sharing in the state, which is the root of decay,'' the Shiite leader said.
He added that Shiites have never had and will not have in the future a ''private political project in the region.''
''These were political accusations aimed at creating political alignments,'' he said.
''We have great hope in you and high confidence in your performance,'' Khatib added, addressing President Aoun.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2025 01:23 ||
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#1
In Gulf War 1 (Bush Sr) Motorola was given beautiful ancient and scared swords by the various Arabic countries involved in the war. They were kept for display in the Schaumburg IL-03 building. When Motorola was broken up the swords disappeared. If somebody wants some valuable gem encrusted sacred swords... why just trace them down and steal them.
[NAHARNET] Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ....Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005.... has responded to the remarks that MP Mohammad Raad voiced Monday at the Baabda Palace, saying there was no ''exclusion'' in the designation of Nawaf Salam as premier.
''Where was the exclusion? It is known that the PM post belongs to the Sunnis in Leb ...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?... and the two candidates for the post were from this sect and the MPs names their candidates without any pressures. The word exclusion can be said when a certain sect interferes in a post belonging to another sect,'' Geagea explained in an interview on al-Arabiya's al-Hadath channel.
''The structure of the Lebanese state reflects a consensus process, but it is not necessary to tackle every issue through consensus. What Raad said about coexistence is also out of context, seeing as exclusion can be true if PM-designate Nawaf Salam decides to form the new government without the Shiite sect,'' Geagea added.
Stressing that the unwritten 1943 National Pact stipulates the representation of the Christian and Moslem religious communities and not every sect belonging to them, the LF leader noted that Salam's designation would have violated the National Pact had no Moslem MP voted for him.
''The president and the premier must ask Hezbollah about the fate of its arms, to see if they want to send them to Iran, sell them or hand them over to the Lebanese Army, and then a new phase would begin, which would be in the interest of all Lebanese, specifically Hezbollah's environment, seeing as there can be no leniency with these arms,'' Geagea went on to say.
As for the deliberations that led to Salam's nomination, Geagea said the so-called Change MPs were behind the selection.
''We secured the votes of 35 MPs for MP (Fouad) Makhzoumi, whereas some Change MPs secured 17 votes for Nawaf Salam and refused to vote for Makhzoumi. In the face of that situation and for the sake of Lebanon, we chose to endorse Judge Salam, and had it not been for this move, (caretaker PM Najib) Mikati would have become premier anew,'' Geagea explained.
Noting that recovering the money of depositors is one of the priorities of the Lebanese Forces, Geagea said the first topic that he will discuss with the new premier will be the case of the Beirut port explosion and ''the need to resume investigations with all due transparency.''
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2025 01:22 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Over 100 kids killed or injured in last month, UNICEF reports, as explosives litter country after almost 14 years of civil war; tens of millions of dollars needed to clear them
More than 100 children were killed or maimed in Syria last month alone after setting off mines and other unwent kaboom! ordnance littering the country after nearly 14 years of civil war, the UN said Tuesday.
The United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... children’s agency UNICEF warned that Syria’s girls and boys "continue to suffer the brutal impact of unwent kaboom! ordnance at an alarming rate."
Such ordnance, dubbed UXOs, are explosive weapons such as bombs, shells, grenades, landmines and cluster munitions, that did not explode when they were deployed and remain a risk, sometimes for decades.
In December alone, as Syria was rocked by dramatic political upheaval following the sudden ousting of strongman Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... , UNICEF said it received reports of 116 children killed or injured by UXOs.
That is "an average of nearly four per day," UNICEF communications manager for emergencies Ricardo Pires told news hounds in Geneva, speaking via videolink from Damascus, adding that "this is believed to be an underestimate."
"Across Syria, children face this lurking, often invisible, and extremely deadly threat."
Nearly 14 years of brutal civil war, which killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions, has left an estimated 324,000 pieces of unwent kaboom! ordnance scattered across Syria, Pires said.
"Over the past nine years, at least 422,000 incidents involving UXOs were reported in 14 governorates across the country," he said, adding that half of those were "estimated to have ended in tragic child casualties."
He warned that the danger had been worsened with renewed displacement since Islamist-led rebels last November 27 launched the offensive that would overthrow Assad just 11 days later.
Since then, he pointed out, "over a quarter of a million children were forced to flee their homes due to escalating conflict."
"For these children, and those trying to return to their original areas, the peril of UXO is constant and unavoidable," he said.
UNICEF stressed the need to dramatically scale up explosive clearance.
"It is imperative that immediate investment takes place to ensure the ground is safe and clear of explosives," Pires said, warning that some five million children currently live in contaminated areas.
"It’s the main cause of child casualties in Syria right now," he warned. "Every step they take carries the risk of an unimaginable tragedy."
UNICEF front manJames Elder said an investment of only a few tens of millions of dollars would be enough to make a huge difference.
It "would save thousands of lives and will be an absolutely imperative part if Syria is to again become a middle income country," he told news hounds. "It’s a very cheap price that needs to be paid."
#1
Rusty nails, chicken pox, and UXOs - the hazards of childhood. From a mathy point of view, as long as you are producing children faster than the unexploded ordnance accumulates, the problem eventually solves itself.
[IsraelTimes] Zarif claims Tehran ‘managed to detect’ bombs, doesn’t specify when incident occurred or mention Natanz; Blinken hints at opposition to Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities
Mohammad Javad Zarif ...former Persian foreign minister, Mouthpiece of Mullahs, good friend of John Kerry and similar exemplars of Merkin values... , who was foreign minister when 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 world powers agreed to the 2015 nuclear deal and is now vice president for strategic affairs, alleged in a recent interview that Israel once planted explosives in Iranian centrifuge equipment, according to a translation of his remarks by Iran International.
"Our colleagues had purchased a centrifuge platform for the Atomic Energy Organization, and it was discovered that explosives had been embedded inside it, which they managed to detect," the opposition outlet on Tuesday quoted Zarif as telling the Hozour program.
Zarif also decried sanctions on Iran, blaming them for forcing Tehran to turn to intermediaries — opening up vulnerabilities in the supply chain that Israel can take advantage of.
"Instead of being able to order equipment directly from the manufacturer, sanctions force you to rely on multiple intermediaries for such purchases," he said. "If the Zionist regime infiltrates even one of the intermediaries, they can do anything and embed anything they want, which is exactly what happened."
"The issue with the pagers in Leb ...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... turned out to be a multi-year process, meticulously orchestrated by the Zionists," he noted, referring to the blasts in September directed against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
Zarif did not specify in the interview when or where the alleged incident with the centrifuges occurred.
An interesting point…
In 2021, former Mosssd ...... chief Yossi Cohen intimated that Israel blew up an underground Iranian centrifuge facility at Natanz, in a kaboom that was allegedly caused by bombs planted within equipment there.
"It doesn’t look like it used to look," Cohen said in an interview at the time regarding the subterranean "cellar" at Natanz, where "the centrifuges used to spin."
Investigative news hound Ilana Dayan, who interviewed Cohen for Channel 12’s "Uvda" program, noted that two major blasts at Natanz were attributed in foreign reports to the Mossad during that past year, saying "a huge quantity of explosives" were built into a marble platform used to balance the centrifuges.
"The man who was responsible for these explosions, it becomes clear, made sure to supply to the Iranians the marble foundation on which the centrifuges are placed," Dayan said. "As they install this foundation within the Natanz facility, they have no idea that it already includes a huge quantity of explosives."
WILL IRAN ’SIMPLY REBUILD’ NUCLEAR PROGRAM IF ATTACKED?
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... meanwhile publicly hinted at his opposition to an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, when pressed during an interview Monday with MSNBC why Israel should not take out Iran’s nuclear program once and for all now that Tehran has been significantly weakened.
"You have to look at what would be enduring and what would make sure that the program doesn’t come back. So one of the things you have to assess is: If that were to happen, would Iran simply rebuild and rebuild even deeper underground in a place that would be even harder to get to?" Blinken responded.
Blinken repeated his recent acknowledgement that Iran has accumulated enough fissile material necessary for a nuclear weapon and could upgrade material to bomb-grade quality within a week or so. However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... actually developing a weapon would take far longer, he stressed.
"Iran is going to be faced with decisions of its own of how it wants to move forward, but I think the incoming administration would have an opportunity precisely because Iran’s on its back feet — the — it’s suffering economically in a terrible way," he said. "Its people are disputing so much of what the regime has done, particularly in meddling in the affairs of other countries throughout the region."
"This is a moment of opportunity, and maybe a moment of opportunity to resolve in an enduring way the nuclear challenge posed by Iran, but also the actions that Iran takes throughout the region," Blinken added.
Blinken’s comments came as White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said again on Tuesday that Iran was at its weakest point since the country’s 1979 revolution and its weakness was a concern as it may push the country to rethink its nuclear weapons posture, a concern that US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The very model of probity.... has also voiced.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/15/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
Now, why wouldn't any of the other governments of the world, want such a Radical Islamic Terrorist driven culture. A culture with 2,000+ years of history of invading, raping, enslaving and killing even children.
From having a few nukes? (end snide remark)
But the MSM, Liberals, and Democrats still villainize Israel for taking steps to stop it? Is their anti-Semitic hate & $$$$$ making agenda so deep, that it has made them blind to the fact, they are on the Islamic Hit List also?
I guess that kinda also brings up the question.
Why did the Obama Admin (LSD's) do the 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal?
Why did the O'Biden coup and Obama Admin (LSD's) refuse to help the Iranians people, that are raising up against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and Ayatollah in massive numbers?
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/15/2025 8:48 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The idiots don't seem to understand that the energy stored in a spinning disk is huge. In early hard disks (1950s to say 1975) where you had the 12" to 20" diameter drives when one failed you could kill people even outside the computer room as shards blew out from the spinning disk breaking up.
#4
The formula for the energy in a spinning disk (rotational kinetic energy) is: KE = (1/2) * I * ω², where "KE" is the kinetic energy, "I" is the moment of inertia of the disk, and "ω" is its angular velocity.
#5
Islam is only about 1300 years old, NN2N1. Their depredations led to the end of the Dark Age in Europe, driving all those advanced Byzantine Empire types west (and north into Spain from North Africa).
#6
Why did the Obama Admin (LSD's) do the 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal?
So that their beloved Iran would get nukes in a timely manner, providing what they saw as a kinder inevitable Muslim overlord than the jihadis supported by Saudi Arabia, et al would do. The Obama administration worked hard to guide the decline, as Jimmy Carter had done in his turn, and all the British governments for generations except Margaret Thatcher, and Angela Merkel by opening Germany to Syrian refugees.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The events in Syria, where a change of power took place, were largely caused by the temptation of the previous leadership to “change nothing.” This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on January 14.
"Almost 10 years, probably. From the moment when, at the request of the [former] President of the Syrian Arab Republic [Bashar al-Assad], we sent our contingent there. From the moment when we created the Astana format with the Turks and the Iranians, in which a number of Arab countries participated, there was still a slowdown in the political process. And, probably, there was a temptation to "change nothing," the minister said at a press conference dedicated to the results of Russian diplomacy in 2024.
He stressed that the Russian authorities understood that this was the wrong position. Lavrov specified that Moscow was pushing Damascus to resume the work of the Constitutional Committee of Syria, created earlier on the initiative of the Russian Federation. According to him, the Syrian leadership did not demonstrate a desire to restore the activities of this body.
The Foreign Minister also stressed that Russia is not leaving the Middle East. The Minister added that the issue is not being discussed.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 8, Bashar al-Assad resigned as president and left Syria, ordering a peaceful transfer of power. He and his family arrived in Russia, where they were granted asylum.
In late December, Lavrov noted that Assad had failed to cope with social problems in his country, including due to the destructive actions of the United States, which occupied the resource-rich northeast of Syria. The minister specified that social tension in the Arab Republic was facilitated by the strangulation of its economy by external forces.
On January 8, 2025, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya noted that Moscow intends to continue to provide Damascus with various assistance after the change of power in Syria, including humanitarian aid. He added that this includes humanitarian aid, restoration of destroyed social infrastructure facilities, and creation of a material base for the return of Syrian refugees.
Russia has supported the Syrian government led by Assad in its fight against terrorist forces for several years. Moscow has pledged to provide support as long as the Syrian state itself is conducting military operations, noted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Back in 2015, he emphasized that “we are not going to be more Syrian than the Syrians themselves.”
Posted by: badanov ||
01/15/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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