[FoxNews] Mexican drug cartels have outfitted dozens of tunnels with rail and cart systems to whisk drugs beneath the U.S. border, posing a major challenge for the Trump administration as it works to curb the flow of illegal narcotics into the country.
The U.S. Drug and Enforcement Agency (DEA) reports that most illicit drugs in the U.S. are smuggled via vehicles at southern border entry points, but some enter through cross-border tunnels and subterranean passageways. Been a bunch in Otay Mesa/San Diego Sector with all the warehouses serving cross-border trade
President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to stop the flow of illegal drugs in the U.S., introducing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 107,941 people in the U.S. died from a drug-involved overdose in 2022.
Former DEA Senior Special Agent Michael Brown, who is the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, told Fox News Digital that the agency blows up the drug trafficking tunnels to make them impassable.
Brown said DEA and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) personnel must intensify their investigations into underground tunnels to discover "cover-ups" of the tunnels' U.S. exits.
"Cover-ups" are seemingly normal storefronts or warehouses used to hide tunnel entrances and exits.
"They (the cartels) move hundreds of kilos out and build a warehouse over the tunnel and call it Joe's Pizza shop or Jose's mechanic shop," Brown said. "It's hard to identify that in Eagle Pass or Brownsville [in Texas]."
The former DEA agent said that if properly managed, federal authorities can identify sources to reveal the tunnels' locations and possible U.S. connections.
Brown said he doesn't believe the U.S. would go to the same length as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did when destroying the tunnels.
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the IDF set its sights on dismantling the terrorist group's web of tunnels. In one instance, the IDF said they pumped water into the tunnels and flooded them.
"The U.S. would never blow up a school under any circumstances," he said. "But if we had a 9/11 every day like Israel, I think American attitudes would change."
Seismic sources may be used to investigate shallow subsoil structure, for engineering site characterization, or to study deeper structures, either in the search for petroleum and mineral deposits, or to map subsurface faults or for other scientific investigations.
[ALESTIKLAL.NET] Amid the escalating crisis between the so-called "Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance" and Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... 's Presidential Leadership Council (the highest body of the internationally recognized government), questions have arisen about the nature of the tribal formation and the influence it wields on the ground in Yemen.
The Alliance comprises the majority of Hadhramaut's tribes, a governorate in eastern Yemen that covers 36 percent of the country's territory. It consists of 28 districts, with its capital and largest city being al Mukalla.
The governorate is bordered by Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... to the north, the Arabian Sea to the south, the governorates of Marib and al-Jawf to the northwest, and al-Mahra and Shabwa to the east and west.
The Root of the Crisis
The current problem between the two parties lies in the decision by the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance to halt the supply of crude oil to Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen's internationally recognized government, in order to sustain electricity services.
Since February 3, 2025, the security committee affiliated with the Alliance has stopped the flow of crude oil to Aden, in an attempt to pressure the Presidential Leadership Council to implement a plan for normalizing the situation in Hadhramaut, which was announced by the council on January 7, 2025.
The Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance ignored a plea made by the General Corporation for Electricity in Aden on February 1, requesting continued fuel supply to ensure electricity service.
The plea warned that the city would face a "catastrophic situation that cannot be avoided" and that all vital services would be halted.
On January 7, the Presidential Leadership Council approved what it called the "Normalization Plan for Hadhramaut," aimed at addressing what it described as the "legitimate demands" of the region's residents and their political and social components.
The plan was approved after tensions rose in the governorate, with the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance declaring that some of its positions near the western city of al Mukalla were targeted by artillery in the context of a military campaign.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the second military region (affiliated with the legitimate government) denied conducting any attacks or military campaigns.
The presidential statement outlined the allocation of revenues from crude oil sales stored in the Dhabba and al-Masila terminals to build two new power stations in both the coastal and valley regions of Hadhramaut.
It also aimed to support efforts to unify and mobilize the region's people, strengthen their equitable partnership with the state, and address any future political entitlements.
The plan also included provisions to "integrate the people of Hadhramaut into the armed forces and security services according to the law and established recruitment standards," as well as the establishment of a general hospital in al-Hadba (Ghayl Bin Yamin) funded by diesel revenues from the state-owned PetroMasila company.
The statement also vowed to investigate the corruption allegations levied against PetroMasila—the government-run company responsible for the main oil production sector in Hadhramaut.
In the days leading up to the presidential statement, a campaign was launched against PetroMasila in response to allegations of corrupt practices.
Furthermore, the statement affirmed the need for "all local and central revenues to be managed in support of the governorate's development and reconstruction in line with a joint development plan with the government and regional and international donors."
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... it stressed that these actions required "the local authority and all Hadhrami components to welcome the agreed-upon decisions and end protest movements" (referring to the armed militias of the Tribal Alliance), paving the way for comprehensive reforms that would restore the governorate's status as a driver of development, stability, and peace.
The armed security committees of the Alliance have since taken control of the entrances and exits of the Wadi Hadhramaut (Hadhramaut Valley)region, including the movement of oil tankers.
On January 11, 2025, the Alliance allowed the provision of crude oil to Aden's presidential power station for a period of two weeks, which was then extended by another week until early February.
While the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance initially welcomed the Presidential Leadership Council's initiative and allowed crude oil to flow for Aden's electricity, it emphasized that "self-governance is the best option to fulfill the aspirations of the region's people in managing their affairs, free from centralization and exclusion."
The Alliance also demanded clear, transparent guarantees to build citizens' trust in the plan's credibility, asserting that the failure to meet these demands by the Presidential Leadership Council had reignited the crisis, with the deadline having passed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2025 02:10 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11138 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Eli Feldstein, a former employee of the press department of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office who was taken into custody in November 2024, risks becoming a defendant in a new high-profile case. This time, Feldstein is accused of secretly helping Qatar.
Although the evidence base for the new case is somewhat shaky in places, it could cause far more damage to the prime minister's reputation than the situation with controlled leaks to the press from high offices.
PART-TIME FRIEND
As a press officer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, Feldstein spent several years combining government work with private practice, providing political consulting and branding services.
Qatar was also among his clients.
In particular, in the interests of Doha, Israeli consultants led by Feldstein developed a reputational protection strategy in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. And later, they helped partially regain the positions of Qatari brands in the Gulf market, lost as a result of the diplomatic crisis of 2017-2021.
It is noteworthy that with the beginning of the conflict with Hamas, Feldstein, using his official position, actively broadcast to the journalist pool the idea of Qatar’s “exceptional role” in resolving the crisis in Gaza.
And he did this so successfully that at some point the Israeli press itself began to put Qatar in the foreground, emphasizing its decisive contribution to the negotiations, compared to Egypt and Jordan.
Doha, for its part, only further multiplied positive news items, using for these purposes the capabilities of its own “pocket” media holding “Al Jazeera”.
However, the contract had to be hastily terminated in the fall of 2024, immediately after Feldstein’s arrest by Israeli security forces.
"EMPTY SPECULATION"
The first appearance of the "Qatar dossier" in the Israeli press raised questions rather than outrage.
Moreover, Feldstein, like the two other defendants in the “Qatar dossier” – Yonatan Urich (creative director of the Likud party’s campaign headquarters) and Srulik Einhorn (former Likud press secretary, adviser to the prime minister) – was active in international work and consulted not only Qatar, but also other potential partners of Israel in the Middle East and beyond.
If they had not used confidential materials from the Prime Minister's office for these purposes, such work could well have become part of the "backroom diplomacy" of the Jewish state.
However, the Hamas factor has made its own adjustments to the perception of the situation.
It quickly became clear that Qatar’s status as an “equidistant force” in the dialogue between Hamas and Israel was not just a coincidence and was “greatly exaggerated.” For example, Doha’s decision not to put pressure on Hamas’s “political office” was presented as “an act of flexibility and diplomacy.”
Also, by a strange coincidence, the scandal surrounding the Hamas training camps in the Syrian region of Afrin, in the construction of which Qatari contractors were allegedly involved, was very quickly hushed up.
A series of such coincidences only strengthened the conviction of the prosecution's supporters that the figures in the "Qatar dossier" helped Doha to nip international scandals "in the bud" until the very end, using documents from the prime minister's office for these purposes, among other things. Especially since all three could theoretically have used the corresponding access.
And although Feldstein’s lawyers call such conclusions “empty speculation,” the accused are still unable to explain how Qatar managed to respond to unpredictable crisis situations with minimal image losses.
An additional touch to the case is the fact that Urich and Einhorn are simultaneously suspects in the case of intimidation of official Shlomo Filber. The latter was allegedly forced to withdraw testimony about Netanyahu's corrupt ties after "many days of psychological pressure" from Likud functionaries.
DID THE PRIME MINISTER KNOW EVERYTHING?
At first glance, the emergence of the “Qatar dossier” in the case of leaks from the Prime Minister’s Office does not bring any significant revelations. The arguments about the use of confidential documents in advising Qatar are very shaky and have no evidentiary basis.
In search of confirmation, the prosecution partially even relies on statements from “anonymous journalists” who previously worked with Feldstein.
Moreover, the consolidation of the two cases into one is a logical step, especially since the key figures in both cases are the same, and most of the charges can be reduced to one - abuse of office.
However, the long-term impact of the “Qatar dossier” on international politics should not be underestimated.
It gives Netanyahu's opponents a good and, more importantly, long-lasting trump card. The opposition has effectively gained the opportunity to say that the "strong Hamas", which Israeli troops have been unable to completely destroy in a year and a half of military action, was nurtured with the direct participation of the prime minister's close associates.
More broadly, there may have been “criminal negligence,” since Qatar’s consultants were aware of the risks of leaking information from Doha to Hamas officials and went ahead with the dangerous deal anyway. And what’s more, Netanyahu himself was aware of the risks and was likely aware of the actions of his spokesman and his partners.
This formulation of the question already allows us to “throw a bridge” to the convening of a special commission to investigate the reasons for the unpreparedness of Israeli structures for a Hamas attack, the establishment of which Netanyahu has successfully torpedoed time and again.
And the "Qatari dossier" in this case may become an argument against the prime minister. Especially considering that the long-awaited exchange of hostages did not bring relief to Israeli society.
On the contrary, the Israelis saw hundreds of new fighters on the ruins of Gaza, ready to continue the confrontation if necessary. And the very idea that the first person of the state could be involved in strengthening Hamas, even if only very indirectly, is capable of provoking a new round of political crisis in Israel.
Especially when Netanyahu is studiously keeping quiet.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The leader of the Shiite movement Ansar Allah (Houthis) ruling in northern Yemen, Abdel Malik al-Houthi, said that strikes on Israeli territory could be resumed if the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon ends. His words were quoted on the movement's Telegram channel. That is to say, missiles and drones aimed in the general direction of Israel, relying on Allah to ensure — or not, as the case may be — the actual impact. Almost all have landed in the sea or been shot down, the total number that actually arrived since 10/2023 being in the single digits. Allah’s opinion in the matter is clear.
"We reaffirm our position in support of the Palestinian people, keeping our hand on the trigger, and we will be present if the Israeli enemy returns to escalation against the Gaza Strip," he said.
The Houthi leader clarified that the movement is also monitoring the situation in Lebanon and will continue to provide support to the local population and the militia.
Speaking about US President Donald Trump's plans to evict Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and turn it into an international resort under Washington's control, al-Houthi called them irrational and said there was no point in responding to such a proposal.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, an agreement on a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip was reached on January 15. It is to be implemented in three stages. The first is the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza and the release of 33 hostages by Hamas. The second is the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners and a permanent ceasefire. The third stage involves the exchange of bodies of the dead. Then, reconstruction work will begin in the Gaza Strip under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
To be fair, they didn’t just say it quietly among themselves in a language no one else understood. They reared up on their hind legs and said it on video to an Israeli man after admiring his beautiful eyes..
[IsraelTimes] Two nurses in a Sydney hospital have been suspended from work for threatening to kill Jewish patients and refusing to treat them in a video on TikTok, triggering an investigation by police, authorities say.
The video was shared by a TikTok user named Max Veifer and shows him talking to a man and woman wearing medical scrubs. They were identified in media reports as Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh.
“I’m so upset that you’re Israeli … eventually you’re going to get killed and go to (hell),” Nadir said after Veifer mentioned he is from Israel in their video chat.
When asked why he would be killed, Abu Lebdeh said: “It’s Palestine’s country, not your country” and used a torrent of obscenity. Abu Lebdeh said she would not treat any Jewish patients and instead kill them. Nadir, with a threatening gesture, said he had already sent many “Israeli dog[s],” who visited the hospital, to hell.
New South Wales state Health Minister Ryan Park says the nurses have been “stood down immediately,” pending an investigation.
“Obviously, the investigative process now takes place. I do not want to leave a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think that they will ever work for New South Wales Health again,” Park tells reporters during a press conference with NSW Health Secretary, Susan Pearce.
A MUST SHARE: An Australian doctor, and a medical professional by his side, claim they have kiIIed Israeli patients — and will continue to do so.
They gleefully confess to murder. Then wish death upon the Israeli talking to them.
Due process investigation. Bankstown hospital’s preliminary investigation did not find evidence of bad behaviour — the nurses could have been talking smack to scare the Jooo, though that should also be a fireable offense. Even Australia’s anti-Israel prime minister was forced to get up on his hind legs to condemn their vicious idiocy, which he cannot have enjoyed after having had to repeatedly condemn attacks on local Jews.
The nurses will no doubt end up in a hospital with Lebanese/immigrant clientele, or possibly take their skills and go back home.
#7
I'm all for sending them both home. In my opinion, Australia is becoming Commiestralia. Where are the Diggers of old.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/12/2025 15:49 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Skidmark’s Fox News link reports the two have been referred for criminal investigation, possibly under the new antisemitism law that just passed.
Hot Air informs us that Mr. Nadir, who wants to become a doctor, is a refugee from Afghanistan who arrived at the age of twelve and has only been an Australian citizen for four years.
They also have video from another phone chat by the very Israeli Mr. Veifer, who apparently makes a habit of this kind of thing, speaking with two sweet young ladies in Lebanon who claim to be good people but love Nasrallah. They showed a photo of him on their cell phone, so he suggested they call him. They didn’t think it was funny.
[DM] A controversial bid to break up 'ghettos' of 'non-Western' immigrant communities in Denmark is set to be challenged in the European Union's top court after residents accused the government of arbitrary and racial discrimination.
Twelve residents from Mjolnerparken, a neighbourhood of Copenhagen affected by the programme, are suing the government over its policy, intended to encourage integration by allowing the eviction of residents in so-called 'ghettos'.
“Back off, guys. We conquered these few blocks fair and square, and now it is forever part of the Ummah. If you didn’t want to be conquered, you shouldn’t have invited us.”
The case will be heard by the court tomorrow, with those affected receiving support from the Open Society Justice Initiative
…the international lawfare branch of the Soros Open Society Foundations since 2003…
and two UN special rapporteurs. The process is expected to last three to four months.
Susheela Math, senior managing litigation officer at the international NGO deemed the 'non-Western' label a 'racialised categorisation' based on 'generalisations, assumptions and stereotypes'.
Controversially, the legislation has focused on so-called 'parallel societies' housing large 'non-Western' demographics, but also targets communities with low income, education and employment.
Residents say a success in court could set precedent to overturn efforts to break up 'similar neighbourhoods' across the country.
The sweeping package of laws stands to affect Danish citizens who moved to such communities as children, as well as settled residents from rich nations including Britain, per the Times.
The government has floated selling, redeveloping or demolishing homes in low income areas for several years, aiming to reduce the number of non-profit flats in the 'hard ghetto' of Mjolnerparken to less than 40 per cent of the total housing stock by 2030.
Minorities argue that the government is treating them as second-class citizens and the law is to be challenged in the European Court of Justice.
But the sweeping package of laws continues to receive support from cross-party MPs who urge something be done to force integration.
Majken Felle, an ethnic Dane and schoolteacher, is among those who stands to be evicted from her apartment because of the drive.
She is among the 12 residents of Mjolnerparken fighting the legislation. In an opinion piece penned last year, she insisted the attack on the neighbourhood not only unfairly represented the community, but would affect her 'ethnic-Danish neighbours who moved here in the eighties'.
'Our community knows that it is the government which is living in a parallel universe, and it is their discriminatory behaviour that is ripping apart Denmark’s social fabric,' she wrote.
Eight out of 10 people in Mjolnerparken are deemed 'non-Western', with people from non-EU countries in the Balkans and Eastern Europe also falling into that category.
The 'non-Western' delineation excludes those whose families originate from places like the United States, Canada and Australia.
Successive Danish governments have backed the move since 2010, when it started compiling lists of housing estates marred by high levels of crime or non-Western residents.
The architect of the tough legislation, former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen warned that the so-called ghettos could 'reach out their tentacles onto the streets' by spreading violence, and that because of ghettos, 'cracks have appeared on the map of Denmark.'
While the language changed, under accusation of racism, residents say they remain subjected to a 'government-smeared smear campaign', and that some have already 'left or lost their homes' as 'victims of discriminatory law and creeping gentrification'.
The areas are typically those with social housing projects marked out - according to government figures - by low income, low school attendance, and low employment.
The plan is to reform them either by moving out residents and redeveloping the projects, or by demolishing some areas altogether.
Kaare Dybvad, the Social Democrat Minister for Immigration and Integration of Denmark, said previously that the existence of such estates risks undermining support for the welfare state.
When people lack solidarity with groups who have not integrated into Danish society, 'then it's very easy to be annoyed about paying 45 per cent in taxes,' he said, as reported by the Economist.
The policy change is an admission of failure on the part of the government, who encouraged guest workers recruited by Danish companies in the 1960s and 70s, as well as refugees arriving in the 1980s, to the neighbourhoods.
While the government insists that tenants affected will receive help to move into public housing in non-'ghetto' developments in the same city, residents have since described the voluntary flight of neighbours 'under pressure and uncertainty'.
With support from legal experts, residents in the so-called 'hard ghetto' of Mjolnerparken hope to set precedent that will help those in similar neighbourhoods.
'A ruling in our favour would also have wider resonance for similar neighbourhoods across Denmark whose cases are currently on hold awaiting this decision,' Felle said last year.
Notably, the policy has influence beyond Denmark. Neighbouring Sweden has shown interest in Denmark's approach as a template for domestic policy, and in 2018 the Dutch governing party suggested adopting similar laws in the Netherlands.
Both face pressure from parties on the hard right to resolve perceived integration issues in migrant communities.
Senator Mitchell McConnell only dissenting Republican vote.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] The Senate voted to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the country's top U.S. intelligence official despite some lawmakers sounding the alarm over her past actions.
Gabbard was considered one of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominees when he named her his pick for Director of National Intelligence.
The Senate voted 52 - 48 to confirm Gabbard to become the next DNI. Notably, the longtime former Republican leader Mitch McConnell
…the old turtle stands shakily athwart The Donald’s world, vainly screeching “STOP!” The poor man chose to stay in office long enough to go from the most powerful man there to the least…
voted against Gabbard's appointment to the role. He was the lone Republican 'no' vote on her confirmation.
Democrats slammed her judgement leading up to her Senate confirmation and raised doubts over her ability to keep information safe.
'Every single Democrat, I am really proud to say, will oppose this awful nomination, because we simply cannot, in good conscience, trust our most classified secrets to someone who echoes Russian propaganda and falls for conspiracy theories,' Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,
…he stands firmly athwart his world, vainly ditto…
proclaimed on the floor just before Gabbard's confirmation vote.
Schumer went on to note how Gabbard 'has said things like the Ukraine invasion was caused by the United States, not by Putin' and denied former Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad's 'use of chemical weapons despite all of the intelligence.'
Though Gabbard has countered those remarks, saying Putin is to blame for beginning the Ukraine-Russia war and admitting Assad committed heinous acts.
They also questioned whether allies would share intelligence with the U.S. if she were put in charge of the 18 agencies and organizations that make up the intelligence community.
McConnell, who sided with every Democrat to vote against Gabbard, released a scathing statement explaining his vote against her confirmation.
'The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is a key participant in the process that informs every major national security decision the President makes,' the Kentucky Republican wrote. 'The ODNI wields significant authority over how the intelligence community allocates its resources, conducts its collection and analysis, and manages the classification and declassification of our nation’s most sensitive secrets.'
'In my assessment, Tulsi Gabbard failed to demonstrate that she is prepared to assume this tremendous national trust,' McConnell shared.
Did his brain pause to reboot in the middle of that sentence?
The final vote came after Gabbard, a former Democratic lawmaker and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve,
…so she knew all their secrets even before her ascension…
had her nomination moved favorably out of the Senate Intelligence Committee along party lines last week.
Several Republican lawmakers who had expressed concerns with her past comments came around in the end and voted to advance her nomination.
But Gabbard's path to becoming U.S. chief intelligence officer faced a bumpy road before she squeaked through.
President Trump has made it clear to the Republicans in the Senate how he will respond to those who thwart him on this. He’s playing hardball this round.
On January 30, she was put under the microscope with a brutal grilling from Republican and Democratic senators in the Senate Intelligence Committee where she clashed with senators on both sides of the aisle.
Lawmakers took issue over whether she still believed Edward Snowden should receive a pardon after leaking highly classified information.
They also raised concerns over her comments blaming NATO when Russia invaded Ukraine and with her 2017 meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Even heading into last week's committee vote, Gabbard's confirmation was not assured as Senator Todd Young refused to say which way he planned to vote on her nomination up until the final hours.
During her confirmation hearing, he appeared irritated that Gabbard would not call Edward Snowden a traitor.
In the end, Young voted yes on Gabbard after receiving additional assurance from her, coordinating with Vice President JD Vance and even having a brief phone call with President Donald Trump. Young described the call with the president as 'very positive' and said Trump told him to 'vote his conscience.'
Two other senators also indicated they would vote for the nominee after not indicating which way they were leaning ahead of the committee vote along party lines. Senator James Lankford, R-Okla., said he was a yes on Gabbard after speaking with her directly. Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, released a lengthy statement before she moved to advance Gabbard out of committee. Collins said Gabbard addressed her concerns regarding her views of Snowden, and she looked forward to working with her.
On Monday, as the full Senate took a procedural vote to advance her nomination, Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced he would trust Trump's decision to choose Gabbard as his point person on foreign intelligence.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also noted she continues to have concerns about Gabbard's past positions but supported her.
'I appreciate her commitment to rein in the outsized scope of the agency, while still enabling the ODNI to continue its essential function in upholding national security,' Murkowski wrote.
Gabbard made it through the the procedural hurdle on Monday evening with the vote coming down along party lines.
In the end, the committee voted favorably for her nine to eight clearing the path for what was once considered one of Trump's toughest nominees to be confirmed.
Her confirmation indicates that every one of Trump's Cabinet level nominees will be approved by Republicans in the Senate even if a few GOP members vote against them along the way.
Gabbard served as a Democratic lawmaker from Hawaii from 2013 until 2021. She previously served in the state legislature and deployed to Iraq in 2004 with the Hawaii Army National Guard.
She ran as a Democrat in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary where she had a loyal group of supporters but never broke out as a top candidate.
Gabbard left the Democratic party to become an Independent in 2022 before joining the Republican party last year.
At the time, there was talk of her even serving as Trump’s running mate before he settled on Vance last July. Gabbard endorsed Trump for president the following month.
#1
Washington - CNN
The Senate voted Wednesday, to confirm former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
The vote was 52-48 mostly along party lines, though Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined Democrats in opposing the confirmation.
Gabbard, one of President Donald Trump’s more controversial picks, faced concerns from several Republican senators over her lack of support for Ukraine; her shifting position on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Section 702, a key surveillance and security tool; her 2017 meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; and her past support for Edward Snowden.
However, key swing Republican senators, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana ultimately decided to back her confirmation.
On Monday night, Murkowski acknowledged in a statement that she still had "concerns about certain positions (Gabbard) has previously taken," but added that Gabbard "brings independent thinking and necessary oversight to her new role."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended Gabbard’s nomination in a speech on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, in which he highlighted her military service and focused on her promise to "right-size" the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "I am glad that Ms. Gabbard plans to focus on identifying and eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies to restore the office to what it was originally designed to be," he said.
#2
Gabbard has the look in her eye of someone who has not a $hit left to give.
I wish her well, and hope that she doesn't get so absorbed in playing whack-a-mole that she can't move the job forward.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/12/2025 14:26 Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Inna Vernikov, a Jewish Republican, says she quit the New York City Council’s women’s caucus due to its rhetoric on Israeli women held hostage by Hamas.
“I left the women’s caucus because I refuse to be part of a caucus that cannot come together to condemn the rape, murder and captivity of Jewish women without adding ‘context,'” Vernikov says in a video posted to X.
The City Council is New York City’s governing body. Vernikov, an outspoken supporter of Israel, represents part of south Brooklyn.
“We watched the footage of these young, 20-year-old Jewish girls get released from Hamas captivity and we watched this image of them being absolutely terrified,” Vernikov says. “The women’s caucus of the New York City Council, made up of 30 plus women, cannot come out and make a simple statement condemning the terrorists without adding context.”
The women’s caucus includes both supporters of Israel, such as Jewish co-chair Julie Menin, and harsh critics, like the far-left Shahana Hanif. The caucus does not appear to have made any recent statements related to international affairs.
Menin and caucus member Lynn Schulman criticized Vernikov in a joint statement.
“As was explained to Councilmember Vernikov, members decided to put out their own personal statements, given that some of us had actually visited with hostage families in Israel, which we felt was more personal and powerful,” Menin and Schulman told The New York Post. “It is unfortunate that the council member is seeking to politicize the lives of the hostages.”
Menin, Schulman and Vernikov are all part of the council’s five-member Jewish Caucus.
The New York City Council has 51 members who are overwhelmingly Democrats. Vernikov is an outlier as a Republican supporter of US President Donald Trump.
[IsraelTimes] The Dutch parliament withdraws an invitation to the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese.
Albanese has a history of antisemitic remarks and has caused repeated controversy for her anti-Israel vitriol.
The Dutch political party SGP says Albanese’s invitation to address lawmakers has been withdrawn. Albanese was scheduled to speak with members of parliament on Thursday.
Hillel Neuer, the director of UN Watch, a pro-Israel group that campaigned against Albanese’s visit, says the decision is made by the Dutch government’s foreign affairs committee.
Albanese, an Italian, is on a tour of northern Europe for a series of talks on international law and the Palestinians, she said last week.
[IsraelTimes] The family of Hamas hostage Omri Miran, 46, says it received a sign of life from him, via a hostage recently released from Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Brothers Boaz and Nadav Miran say that the returned hostage told them he had been held with Omri until July 2024, and at that time he seemed to be physically fine. The two note, however, that his situation may have since deteriorated in the seven months that have passed.
Miran was taken captive on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, by terrorists who drove him across the border in his own car. His wife Lishay Miran was left behind with their two daughters, Roni, 2, and Alma, 6 months.
[IsraelTimes] Several Palestinian officials denounce Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s decree ending the controversial “pay-to-slay” policy that conditioned welfare payments to Palestinian security prisoners on the length of their sentences in Israeli jails, in addition to providing stipends to the families of terrorists killed while carrying out attacks.
The decree, issued yesterday and expected to affect tens of thousands of people, states that families of prisoners and slain attackers who require welfare assistance will be eligible for stipends based solely on financial need, as is the case with other Palestinians.
Qadura Fares, head of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority’s committee overseeing prisoner affairs, calls for the decree’s immediate withdrawal, warning that it will impact “approximately 35,000 to 40,000” families.
He adds that such a significant decision should have been discussed at all levels of the Palestinian political leadership, arguing that “allowances for prisoners have always been a point of consensus” among Palestinian factions.
Also present at the press conference is Hilmi al-Araj, head of the Center for the Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights, who calls for the decree to be “rescinded as though it never existed,” condemning both “its timing and its content, as the prisoners are on the verge of freedom.”
Araj is referring to the ongoing ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, under which almost 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for hostages held in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The Hamas terror group has condemned Abbas’s decision and called for its “immediate reversal.” >
[IsraelTimes] Appearing to justify a potential IDF resumption of fighting in Gaza, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Israel cannot allow Hamas to use the ongoing ceasefire to reconstitute.
“Part of the challenge here is that Hamas continues to use networks to smuggle in weaponry and aid for themselves to reconstitute themselves,” Rubio says during an interview with NewsNation.
“Israel can’t allow that to happen. You can’t allow Hamas to use the ceasefire to rebuild itself and recover strength,” he continues. “It’s a ceasefire, but it’s not a stupid ceasefire.”
Hamas in recent days threatened not to release the next three hostages set to be freed Saturday, claiming Israel has violated the ceasefire by restricting the flow of aid, an assertion rejected by Jerusalem.
Asked about the Hamas claim, Rubio responds, “You can’t believe anything Hamas says.”
In a separate interview with Fox News, Rubio says Hamas is “breaking the deal,” without elaborating.
He says US President Donald Trump lost patience after seeing the emaciated condition of the hostages released by Hamas last weekend. “He’s tired of waiting for one, two, three people at a time. It’s time for all of them to come home,” Rubio maintains.
“If these guys don’t go through with their deal on Saturday, then I think we’re back to where we were a few months ago, where Hamas is going to be eliminated and the Israelis are going to go in and take care of that problem,” he says. It’s unclear how long that would take, though, given that Hamas has managed to repeatedly fill vacuums created by IDF operations.
Rubio says Washington is open to hearing alternative plans from Arab allies who oppose Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza.
“If people don’t like the Trump plan for Gaza — right now it’s the only plan. It’s now incumbent upon the Arab countries… if they think they’ve got a better plan, we need to hear it,” the secretary says, reiterating a point made by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz last week.
“They want to play tough guy, but we’ll see how tough they are,” Trump says.
“Hamas is bullies. The weakest people are bullies,” he adds.
Cost of rebuilding Gaza will be at least $53 billion, UN estimates
[IsraelTimes] More than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the “humanitarian catastrophe” that has gripped the territory after some 15 months of war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, including $20 billion in the first three years, according to a United Nations estimate released today.
“While it has not been possible in the current environment to fully assess the totality of needs that will be required in Gaza, the interim assessment offers an early indication of the enormous scale of recovery and reconstruction needs in the Gaza Strip,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a report.
[IsraelTimes] While PM’s statement does not explicitly call for all captives to be returned by week’s end, as Trump has demanded, an unnamed senior official later says Israel wants ‘all of them’
The ceasefire will be over and Israel will resume "intense fighting" in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with 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... if Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... doesn’t release "our hostages" by midday Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement Tuesday evening, after a four-hour security cabinet meeting.
"If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated," he declared.
The premier said that the security cabinet "welcomed [US President Donald] Trump’s demand for the release of our hostages by Saturday noon, and we all also welcomed the president’s revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza."
The meeting came a day after Hamas said it would delay Saturday’s hostage release until further notice due to what it claimed were "Israeli violations" of the truce.
Later on Tuesday evening, Hamas issued a statement claiming it was "committed to the ceasefire agreement that the (Israeli) occupation also committed to," and asserting that Israel was "the party that did not abide by its commitments and is responsible for any complications or delays." However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt... it did not say that it would release three hostages on Saturday as required by the deal.
On Monday, Trump called for all hostages to be released by the terror group by Saturday, but Netanyahu’s statement only called for Hamas to return "our hostages" without explicitly demanding the release of all 76 remaining hostages by the president’s deadline.
Before and after the prime minister’s video statement, Israeli officials made several contradictory and conflicting messages about the number of hostages that Israel is demanding be released by Saturday.
First, an Israeli official said that the security cabinet "unanimously" backed Trump’s call for hostages to be released Saturday, in carefully worded Hebrew comments that stopped short of a complete endorsement of the US president’s position, and notably did not refer to "all" hostages.
"All cabinet members expressed support for US President Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... ’s demand for the release of our hostages by noon on Shabbat," the key sentence specified.
Next, an Israeli official said that Jerusalem would not move forward with the hostage release-ceasefire deal unless Hamas released "all nine hostages... in the coming days." There are 17 hostages still set to return during the current first phase of the ceasefire, nine of whom are believed to be alive.
"Hamas violated the agreement," this official said, "and therefore there will not be progress in continuing to carry out the agreement or in negotiations on the second stage without the return of our hostages."
About 15 minutes after Netanyahu had released his video statement, an Israeli official told the Ynet news site that the security cabinet "partially adopted" Trump’s demands. "We are relying on the US president’s ultimatum and we want to see how Hamas reacts," the official said.
"Since we didn’t violate the agreement, but rather Hamas did, there is justification for our side violating the agreement. Israel is saying: ’Hold me back.’ We want to see how Hamas responds to this," this official said. "There’s a reason Netanyahu didn’t give a number" of hostages to be released by Saturday in his statement, said the official.
Finally, however, about an hour after Netanyahu’s had issued his video statement, a bigwig said that Israel is demanding that "all of them" be released by Hamas.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cabinet are sticking to US President Trump’s message about the release of hostages," this official said. "That is, that all of them will go out on Shabbat."
At the same time, even this bigwig did not use the actual phrase "all the hostages," potentially leaving room, at a stretch, for an interpretation according to which Israel is demanding all the three hostages slated to be released on Saturday, or all the nine living hostages to be released in the first phase.
The numerous statements from Netanyahu and the unnamed Israeli officials came after, earlier in the day, Channel 12 reported that Israel would continue to adhere to the ceasefire deal with Hamas if the terror group released the sixth group of hostages on Saturday in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
SECURITY CHIEFS: DON’T STOP THE HOSTAGE RELEASES
On Tuesday evening, Channel 12 reported that Israeli security chiefs have told the politicianship that Israel needs to try to see phase one of the Gaza deal through to its end, and get out as many hostages as possible.
"We need to show restraint right now, to completely finish phase one," the TV report quoted an unnamed security source as saying. "We must not cut off the dynamic of the hostage releases. The framework is working. The mediators are guaranteeing the agreement and there’s no real reason to stop the sequence right now."
The report also quoted an unnamed military source, adding: "We have very significant offensive tools and are giving [the politicianship] all the options. One has to understand how things develop and take President Trump’s ultimatum and leverage it effectively to secure the release of as many hostages as possible.
"If there is no progress that gets the deal back on track, decisions must be made," the source added. "Hamas is being faced with the massive scale of destruction [in Gaza], is counting the dead and publishing the list of its dead commanders."
"As regards the burly young men in the crisply ironed uniforms at the hostage release ceremonies," the military source sneered, "it’s likely that these are operatives who were too scared to get entangled with IDF troops, and hid out in humanitarian zones until the ceasefire started. And we will know how to go back and hit them."
Tuesday’s security cabinet meeting, which was called to discuss Israel’s response to the Hamas announcement that it would freeze future hostage releases until further notice, stretched for four hours. An Israeli official described the Hamas announcement as a decision by the terror group "to breach the deal."
The meeting was "thorough and in-depth," according to the official.
The statement added that the security cabinet "unanimously" supports Trump’s "revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza," referring to the president’s stated post-war plans for "voluntary" but permanent relocation of the entirety of the Strip’s population outside of the enclave.
Hamas said on Tuesday that Trump’s threat to "let hell break out" on Gaza if all hostages are not returned by Saturday "has no value and further complicates matters."
"Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri ...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest... told AFP, referring to the hostages.
The terror group justified its decision to freeze the hostage releases by alleging Israeli violations of the deal, claiming falsely that the military has obstructed displaced Paleostinians’ return to the northern Strip, and asserting that Israel has prevented the flow of some humanitarian aid items, such as trailers for temporary shelter, into the enclave.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement, reached last month, halted some 15 months of fighting triggered by the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, when Hamas-led holy warriors killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The deal requires Hamas to release all its hostages, Israel to release thousands of Paleostinian security prisoners — including hundreds serving life sentences — and a halt to fighting in the Strip, followed by negotiations for a "sustainable calm" and IDF withdrawal from the enclave.
Negotiations on the agreement’s second phase — to include the return of the remaining 59 hostages, the release of many more Paleostinian security prisoners, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire — were meant to begin last week.
However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt... after the premier’s visit to the US, Hamas’s decision to halt the hostage releases, Trump’s ultimatum and Netanyahu’s video statement on Tuesday vowing to continue fighting in Gaza if hostages are not released on Saturday has put the entire deal — not just its second phase — on the verge of collapse.
In line with these developments, the Israeli military announced Tuesday that it is "extensively" bolstering its forces in the Southern Command, calling up reservists and approving battle plans for the Gaza Strip in the event that the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas collapses.
[IsraelTimes] Families of the hostages and their supporters are blocking the Route 1 highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not jeopardize the hostage release deal.
Dozens of people hold up a sign reading “Abandoning the hostages is a war crime” and set off yellow flares as they block the road near the Hemed intersection.
In a statement ahead of the cabinet meeting set for this evening, they demand that Netanyahu “stop undermining the agreement and send a [negotiating] team to Doha that has a full mandate to negotiate the second phase, that will lead to the release of all the remaining hostages in one go.”
They’re right to be afraid, though it’s a bit late to start taking precautions like switching over to pagers.
[IsraelTimes] Terror group claims it is still committed to ceasefire a day after it said it was halting prisoner releases, blames Israel for ‘complications’ threatening deal
Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... has reportedly instructed senior figures in the terror group to stop using cell phones amid concerns that the fragile ceasefire with Israel could fall apart, bringing with it a return of Israel’s military offensive.
Sources in Hamas told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat outlet on Tuesday that the group’s military wing and big shotship have instructed all senior political and military figures to stop using their phones, as many had returned to using the devices after the ceasefire began last month.
According to the sources, several bigwigs have already stopped using their phones over fears of attempts by the IDF to track them via the devices and assassinate them.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement, reached last month, halted some 15 months of fighting triggered by the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, when Hamas-led hard boyz killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The deal requires Hamas to release hostages, Israel to release thousands of Paleostinian security prisoners — including hundreds serving life sentences — and halt the fighting in the Strip, followed by negotiations for a "sustainable calm" and an IDF withdrawal from the enclave.
Hamas declared that it is still dedicated to the ceasefire, though a day earlier it had vowed not to release the next group of hostages until further notice, alleging Israeli violations of the ceasefire, in an announcement that shook the truce, sparked war preparations by Israel and prompted US President 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... to declare that if the captives aren’t released by noon Saturday the ceasefire should be ended.
"Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement that the (Israeli) occupation also committed to," it said in a statement on Tuesday evening, adding that "we affirm that the occupation is the party that did not abide by its commitments and is responsible for any complications or delays."
The Israel Defense Forces, meanwhile, announced that it was "extensively" bolstering its forces in the Southern Command, calling up reservists and approving battle plans for 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... Strip in the event that the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas collapses.
The sources that spoke to Asharq al-Awsat also said that Hamas had recently uncovered spying equipment it claimed was found embedded in stones or ruins of buildings in Gaza. The equipment included cameras and listening devices that Hamas assessed as intended to identify bigwigs or hostages.
Hamas has broadened its sweeps to find such devices, which are being dismantled and examined to glean information, the sources said.
0Hamas is attempting its own monitoring operations to keep an eye on IDF movements in order to be ready to counter any incursions by special forces or other operations, the sources said.
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] President Donald Trump said that his plan to take over the Gaza strip is 'going to work out' alongside King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House.
However, Abdullah demurred when he was put on the spot about Trump's Middle Eastern Riviera plan, saying 'let's wait until the Egyptians' have a chance to respond when asked about the president's ideas.
Abdullah did commit to accepting 2,000 sick Palestinian children into Jordan.
Last night, Trump threatened to cut off aid to Jordan and Egypt if the countries don't accept Palestinians from Gaza.
[IsraelTimes] Washington official confirms Jerusalem asked for extension but says administration planning on keeping to February 18 date for IDF exit
The alternative being to wait a few days until Hezbollah acts up again, then go back in with guns blazing.
Israel asked the Trump administration on Monday for another extension to the deadline for the IDF withdrawal from southern 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.... , but won’t get it, a US official told The Times of Israel.
The response from Washington is that for now, it plans to stick to the February 18 deadline, said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday to discuss the matter.
US deputy Mideast envoy Morgan Ortagus traveled to Lebanon, and then Israel, over the weekend to survey the progress of the US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that ended the war that spiraled from border attacks by the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group. Ortagus told news hounds that the Trump administration views February 18 as a "firm date" for the completion of Israel’s withdrawal.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked US President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... to support a further extension of the IDF’s deployment in Lebanon, Channel 12 reported Monday.
According to the report, Israel is seeking to keep an IDF presence at five key border points to enable the maintenance of a buffer zone.
The report said that Israel has reiterated to the US its claim that the Lebanese Army is not effectively deployed in south Lebanon, as the terms of the ceasefire said it would, and is not preventing Hezbollah from reorganizing. Israel has warned that Hezbollah aims to return to the border area as soon as IDF troops depart.
The ceasefire inked by the Biden administration in late November was originally supposed to see an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon by late January. Two days before that deadline, Netanyahu said that Israel would not be withdrawing by that date, accusing Lebanon of not meeting its obligations under the agreement.
Hours before the deadline was set to expire, the US announced an extension until February 18, maintaining that the southern Lebanese army had yet to sufficiently deploy in lieu of the IDF to ensure that Hezbollah could not regain a foothold along Israel’s northern border. Both Israel and Lebanon agreed to the new date.
Under the terms of the original deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside UN peacekeepers as Israel withdrew over 60 days. Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel’s military says its forces have continued to uncover and seize Hezbollah weapons in prohibited areas and that the Lebanese army is not keeping its part of the deal.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is entitled to act against immediate threats posed by Hezbollah but must forward complaints about longer-term threats to an oversight committee composed of representatives from the US, La Belle France, Lebanon and the international observer force UNIFIL.
The November 27 deal ended two months of full-scale war that followed months of lower-intensity exchanges. Hezbollah began near-daily attacks on northern Israel one day after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by its Paleostinian ally Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... , which triggered 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... . Tens of thousands of Israeli residents of the north were displaced by the attacks, with rocket fire eventually spreading to the center of the country.
Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group’s leadership and killing its longtime chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon aimed at securing the border and enabling the return of displaced Israelis.
Israel insists that Hezbollah be kept away from the boundary between the two countries in order to make the region safe for its northern border residents.
Like this patron Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all avowedly seek the destruction of Israel.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
