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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Trump says sending ‘armed soldiers’ to US-Mexico border
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
UN reports reduction in civilian casualties in Afghanistan in first quarter of 2019
[KhaamaPress] The United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has reported a 23 percent reduction in civilian casualties during the first quarter of 2019, citing a reduction in suicide kabooms and harsh winter conditions as the likely causes of reduced civilian casualties.

According to a report released by UNAMA, the mission documented 1,773 civilian casualties (581 deaths and 1,192 injured), including 582 child casualties (150 deaths and 432 injured) from 1st January to 31st of March.

The report further added "UNAMA is very concerned by the continued targeting of civilians and increase in civilian casualties from the use of non-suicide IEDs by Anti-Government Elements, as well as significant increases in civilian casualties from aerial and search operations, which drove an overall increase in civilian casualties by Pro-Government Forces. Civilian deaths attributed to Pro-Government Forces surpassed those attributed to Anti-Government Elements during the first quarter of 2019."

"Ground engagements were the leading cause of civilian casualties, causing approximately one third of the total. A single mortar attack incident by ISIS/Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Khorasan Province (ISKP) on 7 March 2019 in Kabul caused approximately one-fifth of all civilian casualties from ground engagements (see below)," the report added.

According to UNAMA, the use of IEDs was the second leading cause of civilian casualties. Contrary to 2017 and 2018 trends, the majority of IED civilian casualties were caused by nonsuicide IEDs rather than suicide IEDs.

UANAMA also added that aerial operations were the leading cause of civilian deaths and the third leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by assassinations and explosive remnants of war. Civilians living in Kabul, Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
, Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
, Faryab and Kunduz provinces were most affected (in that order).

The attributed 963 civilian casualties (227 deaths and 736 injured) to anti-government armed elements, 608 civilian casualties (305 deaths and 303 injured) to pro-government forces, 228 civilian casualties (145 deaths and 83 injured) to pro-government forces Arclight airstrikes, and 219 civilian casualties (140 deaths and 79 injured) to airstrikes conducted by foreign forces.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Trump indicated in phone call with Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar last wk that US supported assault on Tripoli to depose UN-backed govt
[TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  The UN trashed Tripoli.
Posted by: newc || 04/25/2019 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Why are we even involved? What do we win? Why is this worth our blood and treasure?
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 04/25/2019 1:23 Comments || Top||

#3  The external influence may make it untenable if they keep making Tripoli a Construct.
Posted by: newc || 04/25/2019 2:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Moslem Brotherhood and all the others
Posted by: newc || 04/25/2019 2:23 Comments || Top||

#5  No blood or treasure involved, our people were evacuated by speed boats.

Our leadership needs to cultivate capable allies around the world or the world will turn into a total shthole and their refugees will pour across our borders and unfortunately vote Democrat.
Posted by: Ebbavirt Clunk4147 || 04/25/2019 6:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Can't trust anything back by the UN. Forget democracy in Libya. It's not going to happen. The best hope is a strongman who can impose enough order to stop the human trafficking from Libya to Europe.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/25/2019 11:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Abu,

I couldn't agree more.

A strong leader with the resources to eliminate the militias is absolutely necessary.

You don't kill the leadership and then abandon a geopolitically significant country to the Moslem Brotherhood.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 04/25/2019 13:54 Comments || Top||

#8  You don't kill the leadership and then abandon a geopolitically significant country to the Moslem Brotherhood.

Which is exactly what Obama, Clinton, and McCain attempted. Succeeded in Egypt, albeit temporarily.

-Puts on foil hat-
Well, I don't think Egypt was abandoned To MoBro. I think in a bid to gain power/influence and put pressure on Israel, agents of the Obama doctrine worked with the MoBro to knock Mubarak out of power. Some NGOs were so obvious about it, the military had them arrested and expelled. After Morsi was installed, the movement could spread east to Syria/Jordan and west through Libya/Algeria to create a vast bloc in a key geopolitical location.

Efforts to expand into Syria stalled with what I think was an unexpected defense of Assad both locally and foreign, Russia specifically. Westward they went with the tomahawk chop on Daffy but didn't seem to really get much past the east Libyan border and stalled. Meanwhile, they man in Cairo Morsi starts acting the MoBro fool and threatens with with everyone from Israel to Ethiopia. The Egyptian army, worried whether this is actually fight words gets sick of his shit, removes Morsi, and installs Sisi. Meanwhile, under McCain's figurehead locals receive money, arms, training, and form ISIS.

Some Jordanian pilots get burned alive, and Hussein loses his shit and vows a whomping, then suddenly loses interest - I think Team Obama threatened Jordan with some sort of reprisals, as T.O. was still playing the overthrow Assad card. There was no real coalition willing to tackle both Syria and Russia (perhaps Iranian troops are showing up in noticeable numbers by now) so we have the great chemical weapons tragedy. UK and France were totes on board and the US was right there with McCain just banging that drum until it was so ludicrous on its head that maybe a vote to go to war with Russia needs to happen.

I think what happened there was a Bay of Pigs, where T.O. had armed and trained troops for a big push to topple Assad and install a MoBro government, the chemical weapons was a cover for NATO air cover and missile strikes and Russia said Nah Bro, first we didn't do that, and second come get some and find out. So some of T.O.s troops attacked without air cover and the others joined expedition ISIS.

Jordan would be hard pressed to not at least go along with the new Jew-Hate Bloc and Economic Transit Point. Suddenly Israel is hard pressed from all sides, T.O. agents successfully tilt the elections away from Bibi and boom, Israel under Obama's thumb with a Peace in our Time government.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/25/2019 18:24 Comments || Top||

#9  good guesses
Posted by: Frank G || 04/25/2019 20:12 Comments || Top||

#10  That’s really distressing, swksvolFF. Because it all sounds like Team Obama thinking.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 20:57 Comments || Top||

#11  I just think that forcing Israel to accept a Paleo State is one of those Golden Apples which Obama would have loved to pluck and place on the mantel, and I cannot think of any better ploy than this move.

I point to three different major events which derailed the ploy: The installation of Morsi, the Last Stand at Kobani, and John Kerry's "The only way to avoid war is if Assad gets rid of all of his chemical weapons" which I think he got a phone call five minutes later stating "Sold! moving right now."

To be fair, I cannot quite square the subsequent uranium laundering scheme to Iran via Russia other than trying to negotiate the price from a position of strength; that is, get a better price. Maybe the mutual interest of putting pressure on Israel. Maybe T.O.'s Israel election meddling, well documented, "A vote for Bibi is a vote for Iran to obtain nukes."

I don't think the gambit would have necessarily worked like T.O. would have liked, as the MoBro didn't get politically strong west of Egypt, and once a future ISIS couldn't keep their islam in their pants with the Rape of the Yzidis, which was not really being covered until that gal got in front of the Iraqi Parliament and the flagrant executions of prisoners and the destruction of Palmyra.

What ever control T.O. thought they had evaporated with Sisi and those events; basically "You don't tell us what to do!"

Also maybe in there, is the missing footage of the final moments of Daffy. If half as bad as talking about or imagined, there would be no 'moral authority' to establish said victors into government.

Well, my shave and a hair cut, for what it is worth.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/25/2019 23:09 Comments || Top||


Leader of outlawed Algeria Islamist party dies in exile
[AlAhram] The founder of an outlawed Algerian opposition party that pushed for the creation of an Islamic state died Wednesday in 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...
where he was living in exile, his close ally told AFP.

Abassi Madani died at the age of 88 "in a Doha hospital after a long illness", said Ali Belhadj, adding that family members had informed him of the death.

Madani, who had lived in Qatar since 2003, founded the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) with Belhadj in 1989.

He called for armed struggle in 1992 after Algeria's military scrapped the country's first multi-party legislative elections.

The FIS had been on track to win an absolute majority in the polls and the ensuing violence plunged the country into a decade of civil war that left 200,000 dead, according to official figures.

Madani "wanted to be buried in Algeria, but I don't know if it will be possible", Belhadj added.

The former head of FIS's armed wing Madani Mezrag confirmed Madani's death, telling AFP he too had been informed by family members.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
US grants exemptions to new sanctions on Iran's elite military force
Pompeo said the sanctions "shall not apply to any ministry, department, agency, division, or other group or subgroup within any foreign government" unless that entity is covered by existing US sanctions.

In the second notice, he said the sanctions won't apply "to any business, organization, or group, whether public or private, solely based on its provision of material support to any foreign government sub-entity that has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization."

And thus door jihad supplyline is wide open or Hillary is still taking bribes

Iran has, however, vowed to use its decades of experience with US bans and go around the new ones.
Posted by: Woodrow || 04/25/2019 07:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


India-Pakistan
Capital’s polio vaccination drive suffers after Peshawar incident
[DAWN] Parents in the capital’s rural and urban areas refused to vaccinate their children against polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
on Tuesday, the first day of a polio vaccination campaign, after the incident 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 Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
a day prior.

Hundreds of children were rushed to hospitals in Peshawar complaining of abdominal pain and nausea allegedly after being vaccinated on Monday. Most were released, and doctors at Lady Reading Hospital ‐ which received 300 or so children ‐ said whatever was impacting the children appeared to be psychological.

Nevertheless, rumours circulated on social media about children falling ill and even dying after being vaccinated in Peshawar.

In Islamabad, polio workers and teams faced difficulties on the first day of the vaccination campaign, officials from the capital administration said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Parent's mass hysteria, much like the popular gendering trend.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/25/2019 10:57 Comments || Top||


Peshawar private schools decline students’ vaccination
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: The private schools and colleges of the bustling provincial capital on Tuesday refused to allow vaccinators to administer anti-polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
drops to students on campus citing the alleged adverse reaction by vaccination in a local school as the reason.

They urged the government to ensure the students’ vaccination at their homes to avoid any ’mishap’.

All Pakistain Private Schools Association, 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 Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, president Dr Zakir Shah and National Education Council president Nazar Hussain told news hounds at the Peshawar Press Club that they were shocked by the alleged vaccination reaction and considered it to be a very unfortunate happening.

Posted by: Fred || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Thousands of Iraqi families bear the burden of ISIS legacy
[Rudaw] When Ahmed Khalil ran out of work as a van driver in the Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
three years ago, he signed up with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group’s police force, believing the salary would help keep his struggling family afloat.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Germany inaugurates new Peshmerga Hospital in Erbil
Credit where due:
[Rudaw] A year and a half after construction began, Germany has officially handed over the new Peshmerga Hospital in Erbil to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in a ceremony attended by German and Kurdish officials.

"It is the most important project for Peshmerga soldiers," Sarbast Lazgin, deputy minister of Peshmerga, told assembled guests and journalists.

"On behalf of the KRG, Peshmerga Ministry, and Peshmerga soldiers, we are expressing gratitude to the nation and government of Germany for their continued support and assistance to the Peshmerga in the fight against the terrorist ISIS organization in the past four years," he added, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS).

Lazgin attributed changes in the "balance of power" during the fight against ISIS to the German military and its logistical support for the Peshmerga.

Colonel M. Schneider, Commander of German Forces in Iraq, told the ceremony that German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen will "follow developments at the Peshmerga Hospital and Kurdistan as a whole because both have always been of a special importance for her."

Von der Leyen has been instrumental to Berlin’s support for Peshmerga during and after the ISIS conflict. She visited the site on her fifth visit to the Kurdistan Region last year.

"We all know that the Peshmerga on our behalf and that of the world, fought very well against ISIS," said von der Leyen at the time.

Up to 150 German personnel are based at the international anti-ISIS Combined Joint Operations Command Center in Erbil, where they have worked with Iraqi and Kurdish commanders, in addition to Peshmerga units through the Kurdistan Training Coordination Center (KTTC).

The Region’s first dedicated Peshmerga military hospital took 14 months to build and was completed at the beginning of February. The facility will be used to treat members of the Kurdistan Region armed forces maimed in the ISIS war.

Lazgin called on other members of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition to "provide technical and financial support to finish the remaining unfinished parts of the Peshmerga Hospital so we can provide the best possible service to the maimed Peshmerga of the fight against ISIS."

The $4.8 million facility has 20 beds and is build across a 1,000 square-meter plot of land. The finishing touches ought to be complete by the end of the year.

"We are trying to gradually enhance the hospital’s capacity. It is a 20 bed hospital. It has two surgery halls," Dr. Rebin Zikhani, deputy manager of health affairs at the ministry, had earlier told Rudaw.

Some 772 Peshmerga maimed in the ISIS conflict have received treatment abroad to date.

More than 10,000 Peshmerga were maimed during the four-year war with ISIS and more than 1,800 killed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Leb Security Agency Issues Alert of Israeli Infiltration Attempt under ‘Tourist Trips’ Guise
[AnNahar] The General Security Directorate issued an alert urging vigilance from Israeli agents trying to enter Leb under the guise of "tourism excursions," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Israeli enemy is trying to enter Leb by recruiting its agents in delegations under the cover of "tourist trips", in order to use them for security purposes inside Leb," said the statement.

"The Directorate urges citizens, travel and tourism offices not to fall victim to individuals or companies claiming to organize various tourist trips to Leb, or promote them by email or through social networking sites, unless they have official offices," it added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have this mental image of a Merkeva with suitcases and a dog carrier tied on top...
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/25/2019 5:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Spy squirrels are so much easier to feed/supply
Posted by: Frank G || 04/25/2019 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Kinda like my Mexican cleaners.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/25/2019 15:26 Comments || Top||


Iran's Zarif warns U.S. of 'consequences' over oil sanctions, offer prisoner swap
[REUTERS] The United States must be prepared for consequences if it tries to stop Iran from selling oil and using the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned on Wednesday, while also offering to negotiate prisoner swaps with Washington.

The United States on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers, most of them in Asia, to continue importing limited volumes.

"We believe that Iran will continue to sell its oil. We will continue to find buyers for our oil and we will continue to use the Strait of Hormuz as a safe transit passage for the sale of our oil," Zarif told an event at the Asia Society in New York.

Reinforcing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s stance, Zarif warned: "If the United States takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that, then it should be prepared for the consequences." He did not give specifics.

Oil prices hit their highest level since November on Tuesday after Washington’s announcement.

When asked if the U.S. pressure campaign on Tehran was aimed at sparking further negotiations or regime change, Zarif said: "The B team wants regime change at the very least." He described the B Team as including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton.

Posted by: Fred || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  I believe the official response should be.. "Go fuck yourself"
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/25/2019 13:52 Comments || Top||


New Revolutionary Guards head shows Iran readying for conflict
[RT] Tehran’s appointment of a hardline new commander of its Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) could signal that Iran is preparing for conflict with the US, former Pentagon analyst Michael Maloof has told RT.

Brigadier General Hossein Salami, 58, will replace Mohammad Ali Jafari as the elite unit’s commander-in-chief, Iranian state media reported Sunday. Salami served as Jafari’s deputy since 2009 and began his career in the Guards in 1981. He is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War.

"Salami is more of a hardline person," Michael Maloof, former senior security policy analyst at the US Department of Defense, told RT. "He’s from the ’old guard,’ if you will."

Though Tehran has recently engaged in diplomacy to keep afloat the JCPOA nuclear deal after it was abandoned by the US, Salami’s appointment could represent a dramatic shift in Iranian policy, Maloof believes.

"It really suggests they’re going to double down on confronting the US," he said. "I think we’re about ready to enter a whole new phase of confrontation."
faster speedboats and more civilians killed by terrorists
I would expect it’s an indication from the Iranian leadership of a greater resistance, a greater standing-up to the Trump administration's sanctions, and an increasing likelihood for a confrontation.

Posted by: Fred || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  I prefer my "hard" Salami sliced....
Posted by: Snetch Henbane9141 || 04/25/2019 10:25 Comments || Top||

#2  "I think we’re about ready to enter a whole new phase of confrontation."

I've been ready for some time.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/25/2019 10:54 Comments || Top||


US grants major exemptions to new sanctions on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
They granted exemptions on oil purchases for a bit, too — which had the dual effect of allowing favoured nations time to find new sources and keeping the Iran sanctions in the news to magnify the effect. One hopes this is the same.
[IsraelTimes] The Trump administration is granting major exemptions to new US sanctions on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlines the exemptions in notices published in the Federal Register. A ban on travel to the US stemming from the designation of the Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization will not apply to officials of foreign governments or businesses that have dealings with the elite military unit or its subsidiaries.

The US designated the force as a terrorist organization earlier this month.

US law authorizes authorities to bar entry to the US by anyone found to have provided "material support" to a terrorist organization.

Pompeo says the waivers are in the interests of US national security, but they are likely to frustrate members of Congress who favor tough measures on Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Obviously the State Department is till trying to prop up Iran for Valjar
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 04/25/2019 13:51 Comments || Top||


Iran oil exports cut by 1.7mn bpd since May 2018: IEA
[Rudaw] Iran’s oil exports have been cut by 1.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) since May 2018 when the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In just the last month, Iran exported 300,000 fewer barrels per day (bpd) compared to March, falling to around 1.1 mb/d.

"Further tightening of sanctions on Iran will have an impact on its export capacity," the IEA, a watchdog for oil consuming countries, said in a statement Tuesday.

"Iranian shipments of crude and condensates are running around 1.1 million barrels a day (mb/d) in April, 300 000 barrels a day lower than March, and 1.7 mb/d lower than May 2018," it added.

Washington imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil sector ‐ the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s main source of revenue ‐ in November 2018 after withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The US initially granted seven major importers of Iranian crude a waiver period in which to wean off Iranian oil and find alternatives. On Monday, however, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced no further waivers would be authorized after May.

Oil prices jumped by around three percent in response to the news.

"Today I am announcing that we will no longer grant any exemptions. We are going to zero. Going to zero across the board," Pompeo told news hounds in Washington.

The Secretary of State estimated US sanctions have already denied Iran more than $10 billion.

Pompeo sought to reassure markets that the shortfall created by the loss of Iranian exports would be plugged and prices would remain stable. The loss of Iranian crude on the oil market is expected to be met by US oil supplies, which the IEA expects to grow by 1.6 mb/d this year.

The large global spare production capacity of 3.3 mb/d created by recent OPEC+ supply cuts is also expected to allow Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the United Arab Emirate (UAE) to absorb Iran’s market.

The suspension of waivers followed a US decision to list Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its extraterritorial Quds Force as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) alongside al-Qaeda, Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) and others.

The move is significant as, unlike these non-state terror groups, the IRGC is effectively a state entity. The elite guard, which answers only to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is also tightly bound up in Iran’s economy, including construction, oil and gas, and even missile technology.

The IRGC terror designation could have dire consequences for Iraq, whose armed forces have close ties with the Iranian Guards. Iraq also depends on Iranian energy exports to power homes and businesses, particularly in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where power blackouts last summer led to deadly rioting.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Terror Networks
US targets two men, three firms for helping Hezbollah avoid sanctions, revokes Lebanese visas
[AlAhram] The U.S. Treasury, moving to boost pressure on Hezbollah, imposed sanctions on Wednesday against two people and three firms that Washington accuses of being involved in schemes to help the armed Shi'ite group backed by Iran evade American sanctions.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was targeting Belgium-based Wael Bazzi because he acted on behalf of his father Mohammad Bazzi, a Hezbollah financier.

OFAC also took action against two Belgian companies and a British-based firm controlled by Bazzi.
According to The Times of Israel, the companies are Belgium-based Voltra Transcor Energy and OFFISCOOP NV, and United Kingdom-based BSQRD Limited.
In addition, the U.S. Treasury designated Leb-based Hassan Tabaja, who it said had acted on behalf of his brother Adham Tabajha, also a Hezbollah financier. The U.S. action freezes their assets and property and prevents U.S. citizens and businesses from dealing with them.

The two men and three businesses were targeted for sanctions under U.S. regulations aimed at suspected Lions of Islam or those who support them, the Treasury said in a statement. Hezbollah is considered a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

"Treasury is relentlessly pursuing Hezbollah's financial controllers by dismantling two of Hezbollah's most important financial networks," Treasury Undersecretary Sigal Mandelker said in a statement.

"By targeting Hassan Tabaja and Wael Bazzi and their European-based companies, this administration is continuing to disrupt all avenues of financial support relied upon by Hezbollah," he said.

The U.S. State Department earlier this week offered a reward of up to $10 million for information that could help disrupt Hezbollah's financing.

The move to boost pressure on the group comes at a time of growing U.S. concern about its role in the Lebanese government. Hezbollah's regional clout has expanded as it has sent fighters to Middle East conflicts, including the war in Syria, where it supported Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...


Washington Revokes Visas for Lebanese Figures over Iran, Syria Ties

[AnNahar] The United States Embassy in Leb has revoked the visas of several Lebanese figures with reported good relations with Iran and the Syrian government, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat said on Wednesday.

The daily said the measure has affected a Lebanese lawyer who was granted power of procuration by a Syrian businessman suspected of being linked to the Syrian regime, and another Lebanese businessmen preparing to go to Syria to discuss the establishment of companies there.

Political sources said the majority of the visas were annulled in a simple phone call the figures received from the US embassy in Beirut.
Posted by: Fred || 04/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2019-04-25
  Trump says sending ‘armed soldiers’ to US-Mexico border
Wed 2019-04-24
  Saudi Arabia beheads 37 for terrorism crimes, most of them minority Shiites
Tue 2019-04-23
  IS claims Sri Lanka blasts
Mon 2019-04-22
  Sri Lanka explosions, 24 arrested, 290+ dead, 8 kabooms
Sun 2019-04-21
  3 churches bombed at Easter services in Sri Lanka 262 Dead
Sat 2019-04-20
  Woman killed after shots fired during violent riots in Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Fri 2019-04-19
  Islamic State Declared A New Wilaya In Africa
Thu 2019-04-18
  German Police Arrest Man Suspected Of Recruiting ISIS Members To Syria
Wed 2019-04-17
  Houthis in Yemen introduced a new airburst ballistic missile that spreads 14,000 pieces of shrapnel over a large area
Tue 2019-04-16
  Violence and dozens of arson attacks in Copenhagen after anti-Islam politician throws Koran in migrant neighbourhood
Mon 2019-04-15
  Notre Dame Cathedral is burning
Sun 2019-04-14
  Taliban’s shadow governor for Helmand succumbs to injuries sustained in an airstrike
Sat 2019-04-13
  Algerian police fire water cannon at protesters
Fri 2019-04-12
  Sudan President al-Bashir officially arrested
Thu 2019-04-11
  Ecuador withdraws asylum from Julian Assange, arrested by UK police

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