Hi there, !
Today Fri 01/14/2022 Thu 01/13/2022 Wed 01/12/2022 Tue 01/11/2022 Mon 01/10/2022 Sun 01/09/2022 Sat 01/08/2022 Archives
Rantburg
531707 articles and 1856000 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 62 articles and 187 comments as of 15:15.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
FBI Refuses To Say How Many Informants Were Involved In Jan. 6 Violence
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
22 23:26 NN2N1 [3] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 12:08 Frank G [2] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
0 [2] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 21:03 Woodrow []
5 07:33 Deacon Blues []
12 23:09 NN2N1 [1]
0 [1]
0 []
0 []
0 [1]
0 []
0 [1]
0 []
0 [1]
0 [3]
0 []
0 []
9 15:15 M. Murcek [1]
0 [1]
Page 3: Non-WoT
7 13:22 Pancho Crolutch7887 [2]
17 19:25 Merrick Ferret []
6 23:55 Huparong Cloluper8853 [2]
6 14:54 Merrick Ferret [1]
0 [1]
11 10:22 Dron66046 [1]
12 22:41 Phavimble Phauci2922 [1]
0 [1]
6 17:20 swksvolFF [1]
3 23:30 NN2N1 [2]
0 [2]
2 22:12 Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 [3]
2 07:11 Too Old To Work [1]
5 13:47 swksvolFF []
5 14:21 Merrick Ferret [2]
0 [2]
Page 4: Opinion
8 16:24 ruprecht []
1 13:29 swksvolFF []
4 23:50 Huparong Cloluper8853 []
3 12:24 trailing wife []
10 21:01 Woodrow []
3 07:25 Frank G []
4 11:59 Besoeker [1]
Page 6: Politix
1 19:49 SteveS [3]
3 13:56 Merrick Ferret [2]
0 []
1 09:01 DarthVader [1]
1 13:13 Procopius2k [1]
0 []
2 12:27 M. Murcek []
1 07:33 Whiskey Mike [2]
13 21:45 Phavimble Phauci2922 [1]
Afghanistan
Taliban official meets son of 'lion of Panjshir' in Iran
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Taliban
...Arabic for students...
’s foreign minister said Monday he held talks in Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
on the weekend with Ahmad Massoud, son of the late legendary Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, and guaranteed his security if he returned home.
If he believes promises from the follower of the Father of Lies, he’s a fool.
Massoud’s Panjshir Valley forces provided the last resistance in September to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, weeks after government troops capitulated.

In a video posted Monday by state media on Twitter, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said he also met Ismail Khan, a Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
province warlord who surrendered to the Taliban and left the country.

The Taliban had announced Muttaqi’s departure to Tehran for talks with Iranian officials but made no mention of any plans to meet exiled leaders.

"We met commander Ismail Khan and Ahmad Massoud, and other Afghans in Iran, and assured them that anyone can come to Afghanistan and live without any concerns," Muttaqi said in the video.

"It’s home to all, and we do not create insecurity or other problems for anyone. Everyone can come freely and live."

The Panjshir Valley is famed for being the site of resistance to Soviet forces in the 1980s and the Taliban in the late 1990s, during their first stint in power.

Its most revered figure is Ahmad Shah Massoud, known as the "Lion of Panjshir," who was assassinated in 2001 by al-Qaeda two days before the 9/11 attacks.

His son has since picked up the mantle, and there have been reports of him organizing a resistance with other exiled Afghan leaders.

The Massoud-led National Resistance® Front has repeatedly denounced the Taliban -- calling it an "illegitimate government" -- but does not appear to have made any physical attacks.

Afghanistan’s former president Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, ex-president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. When Biden abandoned the country left with a helicopter, four cars, and part of the national treasury...
fled the country with many brass hats as the Taliban closed in on Kabul, but several other prominent leaders remained -- including ex-head of state Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
...A product, and probably the sole product, of the Southern Alliance...
The Taliban promised a general amnesty to all opponents and critics after taking over, but rights organizations say at least 100 people associated with the former regime have been killed since then.
See? Don’t trust ‘em.
A prominent Afghan university professor and open critic of the Taliban was arrested in Kabul on the weekend after repeatedly speaking out on television against the country’s new rulers.

The hardline Islamists have swiftly cracked down on dissent, forcefully dispersing women’s rights protests and briefly detaining several Afghan journalists.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban/IEA

#1  Hope they checked the tech equipment
Posted by: Frank G || 01/11/2022 12:08 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Kazakhstan: This is a conspiracy of internal and external forces
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[ColonelCassad] The head of the State Council of Kazakhstan, Yerlan Karin, said that what happened in early January in Kazakhstan was the result of a conspiracy of internal and external forces. In fact, he outlined the contours of the official version of the events of January 2-10, so far without names and actors.

Actually, he confirmed the obvious things connected with the fact that behind the screen of "gas protests" a completely different game was developing associated with the struggle of the Kazakh clans, to which various external forces joined or tried to join at certain stages.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Syria's Assad regime on trial in Europe
[Rudaw] A growing number of cases are being brought in Europe, and especially Germany, against loyalists of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
's regime on accusations of state-sponsored torture.

In the latest case, a court in the German city of Koblenz is set on Thursday to rule on the case of former Syrian intelligence agent, Anwar Raslan, who is accused of crimes against humanity, for which prosecutors are demanding a life sentence.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iran's ‘long terrorist arm’ in Germany ousted from Islamic group board
[Jpost] The Hamburg Shura Council is an association of Muslim organizations.

A controversial Islamic organization has removed Iran’s Hamburg Center
...more formally Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH)...
from its Shura executive board after German intelligence sources revealed that the Iranian entity in the city-state supports the late Qasem Soleimani, who was a designated terrorist according to US and EU law.

The Hamburg Shura Council is an association of Muslim organizations.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Government Corruption
FBI Refuses To Say How Many Informants Were Involved In Jan. 6 Violence
{Federalist, via Rantingly] The FBI refused to answer questions about its possible provocative involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots during a Tuesday hearing.
The FBI refused to answer questions about the agency’s possible provocative involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots during a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill.

"How many FBI agents or confidential informants actively participated in the events of Jan. 6?" Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz asked the Executive Assistant Director for the FBI’s National Security Branch Jill Sanborn.

"I can’t go into the specifics of sources and methods," Sanborn said.

"Did any FBI agents or confidential informants actively participate in the events of Jan. 6, yes or no?" Cruz pressed.

"I can’t answer that," Sanborn said, despite The New York Times revealing in September the presence of federal agents within the crowd that stormed the Capitol. Earlier this month, Newsweek revealed in a blockbuster story the presence of secret commandos with "shoot-to-kill" authority.

"Did any FBI agents or confidential informants commit crimes of violence on Jan. 6?" Cruz followed up.

"I can’t answer that," Sanborn repeated.

"Did any FBI agents or FBI informants actively encourage and incite crimes of violence on Jan. 6?" Cruz asked.

"I can’t answer that," Sanborn said for a third time.

Cruz went on to ask the agency executive about Ray Epps, a suspect captured on tape encouraging people to enter the Capitol who disappeared without explanation from the FBI’s Capitol Violence Most Wanted List last summer, according to an October report from Revolver.

"Who is Ray Epps?" Cruz asked.

Sanborn said she was "aware of the individual" but lacked "specific background."

"Well, there are a lot of people who are understandably very concerned about Mr. Epps," Cruz said, highlighting Epps’s encouragement of Trump supporters to "get into the Capitol." "This was strange behavior, so strange that the crowd began chanting ’Fed, fed, fed, fed, fed.’ ... Ms. Sanborn, was Ray Epps a fed?"

"I can’t answer that question," Sanborn said.

After outlining Epps’s mysterious disappearance from the agency’s Most Wanted List, Cruz asked one more time.

"Did federal agents or those in service of federal agents actively encourage violent criminal conduct on Jan. 6?" Cruz asked.

"Not to my knowledge," Sanborn said.

Moments later, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton pressed Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen about Epps’s mysterious disappearance.

"He was on the FBI’s Capitol Riot Most Wanted page just days after Jan. 6. In fact, he was one of the first 16 suspects added to that Most Wanted page on your website," Cotton said. "It does not appear he was arrested or charged with any offense. In July, without explanation, he was removed from the FBI’s Most Wanted page. Mr. Olsen, who is Ray Epps and why was he removed?"

Olsen referred Cotton to Sanborn after she repeatedly refused to offer details on the same case.

"Senator, I don’t have any information about that individual. I would defer you to Ms. Sanborn," Olsen said.

"You’re the assistant attorney general for national security. You run the National Security Division. The department has said that these Jan. 6 prosecutions are one of their highest priorities," Cotton said. "This is a man who was on the Most Wanted page for six months. Do you really, do you really expect us to believe that you’ve never heard of the name Ray Epps? You don’t know anything about him?"

"I simply don’t have any information at all about that individual," Olsen said.

"What other suspects on the Most Wanted page do you know nothing about?" Cotton asked.

Olsen didn’t offer an answer before Cotton pressed again.

"Can you name anyone else on the Department of Justice’s Most Wanted page?" Cotton asked.

"I’m not familiar with the Most Wanted page," Olsen said.

In the same hearing, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee asked the panel about the agency’s double-standard treatment of left-wing rioters in 2020 versus the Jan. 6 defendants who are being held as political prisoners in solitary confinement.

"How many individuals who may have committed crimes associated with the riots in the spring and summer of 2020 were either arrested by law enforcement [with] pre-dawn raids with SWAT teams or had search warrants served on them through those means?" Lee asked.

Sanborn said she didn’t have "the particular numbers" available to answer the question.

"Could you tell me at least an approximate number or whether it’s a comparable number to those who had those executed or arrested in connection with the spring and summer riots of 2020?" Lee asked.

Sanborn said again she did not have the data with her at the hearing.

"You have any way of telling me how many of these individuals who were arrested in connection with the spring and summer riots of 2020 were placed in solitary confinement?" Lee asked.

"I don’t have that," Sanborn said. "I’m not exactly sure that the FBI would house that data."
Posted by: Frank G || 01/11/2022 13:35 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


#2  Sen Cruz forgot to ask the "You say 'I can't say'; doesn't that mean you could say but you won't say"

So Sanborn could then respond, "I can't say"
Posted by: Lord Garth || 01/11/2022 13:57 Comments || Top||


#4  So Ted should ask:

Can you find your own asshole? Use Both Hands! Here's a book on basic human anatomy to help.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/11/2022 14:27 Comments || Top||

#5  They didn't say "None", did they?

The real question is "How many?"
Posted by: Bobby || 01/11/2022 14:35 Comments || Top||

#6  The proper response is, "I can't vote to fund your agency next year."
Posted by: Tom || 01/11/2022 14:42 Comments || Top||

#7  Enough to keep the drug addled cosplayers in line.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/11/2022 14:47 Comments || Top||

#8  FBI: 100% Democrat Stazi
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 01/11/2022 14:58 Comments || Top||

#9  Ray Epps is easy enough to find. A reporter took a picture of him on a local golf course the other day. If Cruz wanted answers he can find them. He doesn't so they won't. Same for Cotton. Subpoena Epps.
Posted by: Vespasian Ebboting9735 || 01/11/2022 15:17 Comments || Top||

#10  Cruz is of the Jason (Tim Curry) Chafetz / Curt Gowdy-Doody school. He doesn't want answers, just video of himself asking questions.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/11/2022 15:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Refuses to say... aka all of the people that incited this were FBI agents
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/11/2022 16:07 Comments || Top||

#12  This all felt like someone pleading the 5th. Once you please the 5th to one question you pretty much have to plead the 5th to all and lawyers have a different view of this. Civilians think guilty! Lawyers think of it just as a tactic. Politicians are lawyers so the only thing they may do is use the seeming admission to bash the other side.
Posted by: ruprecht || 01/11/2022 16:21 Comments || Top||

#13  The old saw is, once a recipe is ruined, anything you do to save it only makes it worse. FBI, CIA, CDC, NIH, Homeland Security. They all must be dissolved. And probably all current employees blacklisted from government employment for life.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/11/2022 16:30 Comments || Top||

#14  #11 Refuses to say... aka all of the people that incited this were FBI agents
Posted by DarthVader


No. That's not true. A lot of people were there were expecting, and looking for, a fight with antifa. Antifa was there, just not fighting Trump supporters (they fought the CapPol). The Capitol Hill Protest was largely organic. Most protesters expected to have the shit kicked out of them by Cap Police. I suspect a lot of the first people inside the capitol were antifa and FBI followed by a lot of pissed off Trump supporters. Antifa and FBI blended in with the protesters.
Posted by: Vespasian Ebboting9735 || 01/11/2022 16:48 Comments || Top||

#15  Let me be among the first to say Epps didn't hang himself.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/11/2022 16:56 Comments || Top||

#16  I suspect a lot of the first people inside the capitol were antifa and FBI followed by a lot of pissed off Trump supporters. Antifa and FBI blended in with the protesters.

The video of the entry, the people coming through the window all knew each other and had practiced such a maneuver, and darted to what must have been pre-planned objectives as they knew exactly which way to go with no wasted movements.

Using bike racks as ladders was also straight antifa.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/11/2022 17:59 Comments || Top||

#17  #15 Let me be among the first to say Epps didn't hang himself.

He has one hell of an ego. You would too if the KGB had your back.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/11/2022 21:06 Comments || Top||

#18 

May 7, 2021 - Director Christopher Wray has named Jill Sanborn as the executive assistant director (EAD) of the National Security Branch. As the EAD, Ms. Sanborn will make sure the FBI executes its mission to defend the United States and its interests from national security threats.

Ms. Sanborn most recently served as the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 01/11/2022 21:14 Comments || Top||

#19 

In November 2020, Matthew G. Olsen was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the United States Intelligence Community.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 01/11/2022 21:23 Comments || Top||

#20  Pretty pictures of people who will tell you "we didn't see it coming" or "I can't go into specifics".
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed || 01/11/2022 21:46 Comments || Top||

#21 

Christopher A. Wray is the 8th and current Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2017. It was revealed that Wray was one of the senior Justice Dept officials who nearly resigned in 2004, alongside then FBI Director Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General James Comey, due to illegal surveillance techniques the Bush administration had put in place under the Terrorist Surveillance Program.[20] In March 2005, Wray announced that he would resign from his post.[21] His last day at the Justice Department was on May 17, 2005.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 01/11/2022 21:47 Comments || Top||

#22  Summary:

"I can’t answer that," Sanborn repeated stated....why?

Likely If Forced to tell the WHOLE TRUTH. It will clearly show the FBI ROUGE UNIT's goal was to activitly escallate & incite massive Anti-Trump and cover /deflect from a clearly STOLEN ELECTION


PLUS LESS WE FORGET THE ....Trump was already on the DOJ /FBI revenge list... over the proven RussiaGate sham. That had top mgt forced to resign for their FAILED Coup.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 01/11/2022 23:26 Comments || Top||


Iraq
ISIS-affiliated families return to Iraq from al-Hol camp
[Rudaw] Iraq repatriated over one hundred families affiliated with the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) from the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava), an official confirmed to AFP on Monday.

One hundred and eleven families arrived in Iraq on Saturday and were transferred to al-Jada camp in Nineveh province, the official, who preferred to stay anonymous, told AFP.

Mainly under federal Iraqi control, al-Jada houses families with suspected links to ISIS.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Most of these people are held at al-Hol, which is home to more than 60,000 people - mostly women and kiddies of different nationalities.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Saturday reported that 113 Iraqi families were preparing to be transferred to al-Jada camp following an agreement between the camp’s administration and the federal government. The camp received some five hundred ISIS-affiliated families in late May.

Around 223 Iraqi families left the camp in 2021, according to SOHR as the camp houses over 30 thousand Iraqis from more than seven thousand families, it noted.

Last month, the Iraqi authorities announced their intention to close al-Jada camp, which is the last camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, as the Iraqi government began to shut down camps around the country in 2020.

However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
the move was harshly criticized by rights groups as they called for voluntary returns instead.

Al-Hol has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism. The camp’s internal security forces (Asayish) in late November, arrested 14 Iraqis that "confessed to killings, chaos, raiding reception centers and targeting internal security forces" inside the camp.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Kataib Hezbollah: ''tough days will pass in Iraq''
[SHAFAQ] The security official of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, Abu Ali al-Askari, warned that "tough days will pass in Iraq" after "confiscating the right of the majority."Al-Askari posted on Telegram, "we keep calling for returning the rights to their people until our voices were hoarse. We were repeatedly warned of the danger of confiscating the right of the majority and following the foreign will, especially the British and Emirati."

According to field information and security evaluations, he added, "tough days will pass in Iraq, in which everyone will lose."

Earlier today, an Iranian delegation that included diplomatic personnel and figures from the Revolutionary Guards arrived in Baghdad to contribute to the convergence of views between the Coordination Framework and the Sadrist Movement and unify them in the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament.

A political source told Shafaq News Agency, "The Iranian delegation left the Iraqi capital angry and upset after failing to reconcile the two sides."

"Al-Sadr kept insisting in his decision not to ally with the Framework if Nuri al-Maliki, the leader of the State of Law Coalition, will be a part of the alliance."

The Source told our Agency that the Shiite Coordination Framework categorically refused this suggestion and stressed the importance of allying with all its forces."

He added, "al-Sadr's desire to remove al-Maliki from the alliance and the Shiite House prevent the Iranian delegation from reaching a solution."

The Sadrist Movement and the Shiite Framework recently held several meetings and agreed on many subjects. Still, the main differences are forming the new government and the components of the largest bloc.

On the shape of the government, al-Sadr insists on a majority government while the Framework suggested a consensus.

Earlier, al-Sadr hinted at the political forces allied with him to form the next government, saying, "Any threats will make us more resolute (Tasmeem bloc/ five seats), advanced (Takadum bloc/ 37 seats), and determined (Al-Azm bloc/ 14 seats) to reach an Iraqi democracy (Kurdistan Democratic Party/ 31 seats)."

It is worth noting that according to the results of the elections, the Sadrist Movement won the highest number of seats (73.)

Compared with 2018 results, The al-Fateh Alliance, a leading party of the Framework, lost 31 seats, taking only 17 seats in the last elections.

The Shiite Coordination Framework, which includes the State of Law Coalition and al-Fateh, renewed its call to "all representatives of the largest social component (Shiites), especially the brothers in the Sadrist bloc, to form the largest bloc to preserve this constitutional entitlement and the stability of the political process."

A State of Law member, Aref al-Hamami, warned that excluding his alliance from the next government is "a political suicide," expecting new developments in the coming hours.



Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies


Iraq's New Parliament Holds 1st Session Marked by Disarray
Unexpectedly.
[An Nahar] Iraq's new parliament has reelected its speaker for a second term, the first step toward forming a new government after a general election whose results have been contested by powerful Iran-backed factions.In a reflection of tensions, the meeting was marked by disarray, with the eldest member of Parliament who was leading the session being evacuated to the hospital apparently due to the stress.

The chaotic meeting ushers in what is likely to be a lengthy period of political wrangling among rival groups to choose a new president and prime minister. As leader of the biggest bloc, Shiite holy man Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival, al-Khoei, assassinated only a few hours after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
— a maverick leader remembered for leading an insurgency against U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion — has the upper hand in forming a new government. But he will have to manage tensions with rival Shiite groups who continue to reject the election results and are demanding to have a say in the government formation process.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian Authority summons Dutch envoy over NGO aid cutoff
[IsraelTimes] The Paleostinian Authority summons the Dutch representative in order to object to the Netherlands’ decision to halt funding to a Paleostinian civil society group that Israel controversially outlawed as a terrorist organization.
"Give us our damn money!"
In a statement, the PA decries the "unjust and biased" decision to cut off funding to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), one of six groups that Israel outlawed in October over alleged organizational ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP) terror group.

The Paleostinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank and coordinates security with Israel, claims that the UAWC provides vital aid to Paleostinian farmers struggling to remain on their land in the face of Israeli settlement expansion.

The Dutch government based its decision on an independent audit of the UAWC that found no evidence the organization was involved in terrorism. It said the audit did, however, find a "worrisome" number of UAWC board members were linked to the PFLP. Two former UAWC employees were arrested in connection with a bombing that killed an Israeli teenager in the West Bank in 2019.

The UAWC has rejected the findings, saying it does not concern itself with the private political activities of its board members or employees. The PFLP has a political party as well as charities and an armed wing. Israel and Western countries consider the PFLP a terrorist organization because of attacks going back decades that have killed civilians.

Israel says the six groups are fronts for the PFLP but is said to have provided little evidence to substantiate the allegations. The terror designation paves the way for the Israeli military to shut down the groups and arrest their members, but it has yet to do so.

The groups deny the Israeli allegations, which they say are aimed at stifling civil society and pressuring Western donors to cut off funding.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2022 00:51 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Eyeing Iran, Bennett says military undergoing largest rearmament in years, and more
[IsraelTimes] Prime minister tells Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Tehran remains country’s most significant foe, Israel fighting Iranian forces constantly

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the Knesset on Monday that the country’s military and other security services were undergoing their largest rearming in years.

Bennett’s comments came as the IDF was working intensively to prepare for a potential military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, amid growing concerns that ongoing talks between the world powers and Tehran in Vienna about curbing the latter’s nuclear program may result in an agreement that Israel deems unacceptable, or in no agreement whatsoever.

"We are investing in security rearmament of the IDF and the entire defense establishment. I would say this was rearmament that we haven’t seen for years. This rearmament is important to our survival, and I am very glad about it and am determined to see it through quickly," Bennett said, speaking to the parliament’s powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Bennett’s government increased the 2022 defense budget to nearly NIS 60 billion ($19.2 billion), a large chunk of which was to be earmarked for planning on military engagement with Iran, including billions to upgrade or procure vehicles, ordnance and more.

In a criticism of his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett claimed the military had been in a "tailspin" for years, which "severely damaged Israeli national security, in every dimension." Bennett was defense minister under Netanyahu in 2019 and 2020.

Bennett reiterated that Israel will not be party to a nuclear deal with Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
and will do whatever it deems necessary to ensure the country’s security.

"In terms of the Vienna talks, the nuclear talks — we are indeed concerned. It is important for me to say and to clarify here in a way that can’t be misunderstood: Israel is not part of the agreements, Israel is not bound by what is written in the agreements if they are signed, and Israel will continue to ensure its full freedom of operation in any place and at any time, with no limitations," Bennett said.

The rest of the premier’s remarks were delivered behind closed doors.

This was Bennett’s first appearance as prime minister before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, a parliamentary body meant to oversee the military, foreign policy and related issues.

In his remarks at the start of the meeting, Bennett told the committee that Iran was "at the top of our list of challenges."

"Iran is the head of the octopus that sends enemies and proxies and its tentacles at us, on all of our borders. We are dealing — day and light — with Iran and its proxies. We are making a change, moving to a mindset of constant attack and not just constant defense," he said.

Israel has been engaged in a long-simmering shadow war with Iran for years, mostly through regular Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on Iranian-linked targets in Syria and en route to Syria, as well as occasional attacks — both physical ones and cyber attacks — on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to foreign reports.

Israel has opposed a return to the 2015 deal, instead pushing for negotiators to revamp the accord with stricter restraints on Iran and to address malign activity in the region beyond the nuclear portfolio. Officials have threatened that Israel could take military action to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, even without the support of other nations.

PM said to expect escalation with Lebanon or Gaza, not seek Palestinian peace talks

[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reportedly told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this morning that Israel could have to face a military confrontation soon with Lebanon Hezbollahstan
...a strong argument in favor of European colonialism, even French colonialism...
or 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 an iron fist by Hamaswith 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...
, alongside plans to thwart Iran’s nuclear program.

According to the Ynet news site, during the part of today’s discussion that was closed to the media, Bennett also referred to Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s recent meetings with Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
The report says Bennett clarified that he isn’t planning to advance peace talks with the Paleostinians at this time, adding that Israel’s interest is to keep the stability in the West Bank and the Gaza strip.

He also reportedly said his government wants to prevent the Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, terror group from arming and to return two civilians and two bodies of IDF soldiers believed to be held in Gaza.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2022 00:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Illegal Iranian Oil Shipments to China Skyrocketed in 2021
[WashingtonFreeBeacon] Iranian crude exports jumped 40 percent in total as Biden admin shuns sanctions enforcement.

Illicit Iranian oil shipments jumped by 40 percent in 2021, with China and Syria the top importers of this heavily sanctioned crude, according to figures published by a watchdog group that highlight the Biden administration, the same old faces in slightly different places, the same old ideas, the same old graft
...the collection of boodlers, grifters, hangers-on, and self-proclaimed experts affiliated with the Biden Crime Family. Entrusted with an entire nation as the result of a suspicious election, they set about happily implementing stuff they absorbed in college, all of which blew up and splattered the rest of us...
's lax enforcement of U.S. sanctions.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Reports: Shiite Duo Sees Imminent Cabinet Session 'Only a Wish'
[An Nahar] "The Cabinet won’t convene anytime soon," Shiite Duo sources said, adding that the statement Prime Minister Najib Miqati made from Baabda about an imminent Cabinet session is "only a wish."
The Duo sources told Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, in remarks published Monday, that Miqati will not call for a Cabinet session without the Shiite approval, and "no consensus has been reached yet."

"It is nothing more than wishes and a clear bet that the necessity of a session to discuss the state budget might secure the resumption of Cabinet sessions," the sources reportedly said.

Amal and Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
have not changed their stance on boycotting Cabinet until the conflict over Judge Tarek Bitar’s dismissal is resolved, according to the sources.

Miqati had affirmed a week ago, after meeting with President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
, that "Cabinet will be asked to convene within two days."

During the meeting, Aoun and Miqati had reportedly held a call with Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
to see if the Shiite Duo would attend the state budget session or not.


Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


FPM MP Says Hizbullah Committing 'Crime' against Lebanese
[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
MP Asaad Dergham said that "Amal and Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
are committing a crime against the Lebanese."Dergham stated, on al-Jadeed TV, that the Cabinet not convening is a "crime."

"Amid the collapse, the country needs Cabinet to approve a state budget and a plan for financial and economic recovery," Dergham said.

He added that "people are starving" and that it is not possible for the FPM to maintain its relation with Hizbullah when the latter is adopting "such a policy."

"No resistance in the world has persisted without people’s support," Dergham went on to say.

The politician also slammed Hizbullah for its "enmity with KSA," saying that "the FPM supports Hizbullah’s fight against terrorism but doesn’t support Hizbullah in 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...




Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Iran Prosecutor Threatens Action against Protesting Justice Staff
[An Nahar] Iran's prosecutor general threatened Monday to launch criminal proceedings against judiciary personnel who have protested against the denial of a planned pay rise.

"The colleagues must put an end to some actions that can open the way to abuse by enemies of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," said Mohammad Jafar Montazeri in a statement by the judiciary's media arm Mizan Online.

Such "illegal actions... contradict sharia principles and are liable to legal action," he added.

Ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi, who assumed his post in August, had proposed a salary hike in the last weeks of his previous job as judicial chief.

But the new government which he leads changed its mind and judicial personnel protested on Saturday and Sunday in many Iranian cities against the decision.

"The question of personnel livelihoods is being considered carefully by the head of the (judicial) authority and the government has likewise promised to pursue it favourably," the prosecutor added.

Shargh, a newspaper representing the reformist viewpoint, on Sunday published video of a protest by hundreds of men and women in front of parliament in Tehran.

"If our problem is not resolved, we will shut down the justice system!" they chanted.

Another reformist paper, Arman Melli, reported that judicial personnel organised rallies "in most" cities to protest against the reversal of the plan to raise salaries.

The demonstrators held up signs with slogans declaring that "justice workers are unable to support themselves" and decrying the "hypocrisy of the government and parliament".

Hit by severe sanctions imposed by the US, Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....
suffers high inflation that has curtailed the value of civil servants' pay.

Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2022 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
28[untagged]
5Commies
5Islamic State
2Hamas
2Govt of Iran
2Govt of Iran Proxies
2Govt of Iraq
2Hezbollah
2Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Govt of Syria
1Antifa/BLM
1[untagged]
1Houthis
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1ISWAP
1Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
1Arab Spring
1Mob Rule
1Palestinian Authority
1Taliban/IEA
1Govt of Pakistain Proxies

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2022-01-11
  FBI Refuses To Say How Many Informants Were Involved In Jan. 6 Violence
Mon 2022-01-10
  Turkish FM: Our Forces in Libya aren't a 'Foreign Power'
Sun 2022-01-09
  Gunmen kill 140 people in Nigeria: residents
Sat 2022-01-08
  Wannabe terrorist in failed bid to join Syrian jihad jailed for 12 years
Fri 2022-01-07
  Bandits Attack Five Zamfara Communities, Kill Many Residents
Thu 2022-01-06
  UN peacekeepers' convoy attacked in south Lebanon
Wed 2022-01-05
  Government falls in Kazakhstan
Tue 2022-01-04
  Iran Vows Revenge unless Trump Tried for Soleimani Killing
Mon 2022-01-03
  Bandits Kidnap 18, Kill One Along Kaduna Birnin Gwari Road
Sun 2022-01-02
  France: +800 carbecues on New Year's Eve
Sat 2022-01-01
  Arrests made in shooting death of Illinois police sergeant
Fri 2021-12-31
  U.S. Navy Seizes $4 Million Worth of Heroin in Arabian Sea
Thu 2021-12-30
  Hezbollah deploys air defense systems in Syria's Qalamoun mountains
Wed 2021-12-29
  France Orders Mosque Closed after 'Unacceptable' Preaching
Tue 2021-12-28
  Libya declares UK Ambassador persona non grata

Better than the average link...



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.
3.235.186.149
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (16)    Non-WoT (16)    Opinion (7)    (0)    Politix (9)