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Al-Qassam Brigades Spokesman Abu Ubaidah brags up details of Al-Aqsa Toofan
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
2 14:24 magpie [9] 
4 09:53 Grom the Reflective [14] 
6 18:28 SteveS [15] 
4 13:23 ed in texas [13] 
4 05:23 Grom the Reflective [15] 
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14 22:59 Frank G [19] 
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3 18:08 magpie [19] 
1 05:56 NN2N1 [12] 
2 14:21 magpie [12] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 20:11 Seeking Cure For Ignorance [21]
7 22:41 Kofi de Medici4898 [24]
4 22:59 Frank G [17]
5 13:45 USN, Ret. [23]
6 12:10 Dron66046 [18]
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24 15:25 Rex Mundi [22]
3 10:54 trailing wife [16]
3 08:09 Grom the Reflective [20]
6 11:22 trailing wife [20]
5 10:54 Gromble Dribble4342 [12]
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7 10:26 Airandee [12]
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8 18:01 magpie [15]
9 12:48 M. Murcek [15]
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4 11:52 Elmerert Hupens2660 [11]
Page 4: Opinion
2 15:12 Seeking Cure For Ignorance [14]
8 10:31 badanov [13]
2 11:21 M. Murcek [11]
5 11:37 Grom the Reflective [12]
8 18:48 swksvolFF [42]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Page 6: Politix
6 19:44 746 [21]
3 13:01 Super Hose [10]
12 23:41 trailing wife [22]
13 20:30 Ululating Platypus [14]
2 11:59 Super Hose [14]
3 13:46 Tom [12]
5 11:56 Super Hose [8]
4 13:27 ed in texas [17]
Africa Horn
Somalia: Internal divisions rock Al-Shabaab - defense ministry
[Garowe] Divisions have emerged within al-Shabaab
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
Owing allegiance to al-Qaeda, the al-Shabaab group still controls huge swathes of rural central and southern Somalia, but recent military operations have significantly destabilized them, making it difficult for the group to wage large-scale attacks against the people.

The Ministry of Defence now claims imminent fallout is looming within the al-Shabaab following the emergence of rival factions in the group, threatening its continuity to the advantage of the government of Somalia. The conflict pits two bigwigs in the group, the ministry adds.

According to the ministry, one of the factions is allied to Mahad Karate, the group's financial controller and that of al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Diriye alias Abu Ubaida, who has been in control for the last seven years following the death of Ahmed Godane, the leader who was killed by an American drone in 2016.

The groups clashed in al-Shabaab headquarters at Jilib and Hargeisa-Yarey in Middle Jubba, where the government troops and those from the US Africa Command and the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] are set to wage the second phase of operations against the group.

"Internal strife hits Khawarij as Mahad Karate and Ahmed Diriye factions clash in Jilib and Hargeisa-Yarey, Middle Jubba. Heavy casualties among murderous Moslems," the ministry said in a rare statement with regard to divisions in the al-Shabaab murderous Moslems.

"Turmoil follows the imprisonment of Mahad Karate militias. The destabilization within brings us closer to eradicating their threat," the statement further clarified what could be a huge boost to the military in the ongoing crackdown against the al-Shabaab murderous Moslems.

For quite some time, Karate and Ahmed Diriye have been fighting over the control of al-Shabaab after it emerged that the latter could be suffering from a terminal illness. Save for various blurbs he has appeared in the footage, particularly over the offensive by the military, nobody knows the whereabouts of the al-Shabaab ring leader.

Finance control has been quite a major challenge for the al-Shabaab, with the group collecting over $120 million annually of which $24 million is budgeted for the purchase of weapons. The financial fortunes, however, have significantly dwindled after the government started targeting the group's revenue sources.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [20 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
An ethnic Chechen woman spoke about her escape from Russia after the expulsion of the genies
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.[KavkazUzel] Chechen Sara Bibulatova was able to go abroad a few days before the security forces’ visit to the shelter where she was staying. The reasons for running away from home were family violence, a ban on studies and the expulsion of jinn, the CK SOS* Crisis Group reported today.

The "Caucasian Knot" wrote that the girls from Chechnya and Dagestan, who told their stories in the BBC film "When I Ran Away", were forced to decide to run away from their families by domestic violence, forced marriage and death threats. For victims of domestic violence, escape is often the only way to save life, human rights activists emphasized.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under: Devout Moslems


Zakharova accuses the United States of exacerbation in the Middle East
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] US policy based on the theory of “controlled chaos” has led to an escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova announced this on October 12 on the air of Solovyov Live .

According to her, the United States, with its significant intelligence potential, could not help but know that a large-scale operation against Israel was being prepared in the region. During the preparations, such capabilities were involved that it could not have been seen from satellites.

In addition, the United States monitors all cyberspace in the region, but Israel, its closest ally, for some reason did not receive information from them. This could not have happened, and there is an explanation, she added.

“We are returning to the theory of controlled chaos, which is at the core of the policy of the United States. The only problem is that the chaos is no longer manageable,” Zakharova said.

Chaos is out of control, and the United States, with its “misanthropic” statements calling for the destruction of civilians, is only complicating the situation, she concluded.

As Regnum reported, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict reached a new stage on October 7 after an unprecedented rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. Radicals from the Hamas movement invaded areas in the south of the country. The Israeli army is conducting Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Posted by: badanov || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I repeat, Paleos been running mock attacks for more then a year. Eventually, IDF got tired of responding.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 3:13 Comments || Top||

#2  When your Initial Assumption is that the "CIA is all knowing" it is amazing how warped the following logic can get. If Israel's HUMINT had a catastrophic failure I just don't see how the US's SIGINT would take up the slack ...because there is always plans and skullduggery at work in that region.
Posted by: magpie || 10/13/2023 14:21 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
European Commission Vice-President Schinas: Türkiye ''must choose which side of history it wants to be on.''
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 10/13/2023 2023-10-13 00:09 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  I understand how a nation joins NATO (unanimous agreement), but how is one expelled?
Posted by: Jerens Black9355 || 10/13/2023 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Eradication
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/13/2023 8:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Turkey has a side, In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful: Muslims gonna islam.
Posted by: mossomo || 10/13/2023 13:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, I wouldn't want to be on the EU's "side" in much of anything. Hitching your wagon to a stump.
Posted by: ed in texas || 10/13/2023 13:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
AOC: U.S. Should 'Prevent' Israel from Potential 'Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians'
[BREITBART] Rep. Alexandria Boom Boom Ocasio-Cortez
Dem Congressgirl from da Bronx in Noo Yawk and leader of the Mean Girl Caucus in Congress. One of the Great Minds of the 21st Century, she is known as much for her innaleck as for her dance moves. She is all in favor of socialism, even though she's fuzzy on the details. She was the inventor of the Green New Deal, though she doesn't talk about it much anymore...
(D-NY) said on Thursday the United States has a responsibility to prevent Israel from attempting to ethnically cleanse Paleostinians from 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 an 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.

Speaking on X about Israel’s clear intention to destroy Hamas
...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
after its gruesome terror attacks over the weekend, Ocasio-Cortez said it is the United States’ responsibility to stabilize and secure the Middle East. "That means being able to support ... Israel in its defensive capacities ... in that context," she said.

She then suggested that Israel could try to ethically cleanse Paleostinians from Gaza. Ocasio-Cortez’s suggestion came without making the distinction between Hamas gunnies and Paleostinian civilians who live under Hamas rule.

"It also means that the United States has responsibility to ensure accountability to human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
— to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Paleostinians, and to ensure that horrors do not happen in the names of victims who do not want their tragedy used to justify further violence and injustice," said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke to news hounds on Thursday, making clear Israel’s war is focused on "fighting terror" and that it would spare no expense in eliminating Hamas.
Posted by: Fred || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Why? They dedicate their lives, money and energy in the death of Jews and the destruction of Israel. Time to return the favor.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/13/2023 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Nothing to see or hear here.
Just another Antisemitic Liberal Socialist Democrat running off at the mouth and exposing the DNC's 20+ year old Antisemitic, pro-terrorist agenda.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 10/13/2023 5:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Starbucks workers' union posts support for Hamas, sparking boycott calls
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 7:08 Comments || Top||


#5  Ocasio-Cortez said it is the United States’ responsibility to stabilize and secure the Middle East

Another stupid meme.
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/13/2023 8:21 Comments || Top||

#6  stabilize and secure the Middle East

We already know we can't. Happy days when we accept that we shouldn't try.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 10/13/2023 8:28 Comments || Top||

#7  /\ Yes, left alone they will destroy themselves. (hardly a new concept)
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/13/2023 8:33 Comments || Top||

#8  I should elaborate and refine. We have already seen we can't. Precursor to happy days is our politicians admitting we can't and shouldn't try.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 10/13/2023 8:54 Comments || Top||


#10  ^Hurray for elections!
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 9:08 Comments || Top||

#11  U.S. Should 'Prevent' 'Assist' Israel from in Potential 'Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians'

FIFY
Posted by: Angstrom || 10/13/2023 11:22 Comments || Top||

#12  It worked in eastern Europe in 1945-46. And we haven't had a major war on the European continent since then.
Posted by: Tom || 10/13/2023 13:39 Comments || Top||

#13  ...well, until the Ukraine.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/13/2023 16:21 Comments || Top||

#14  ^ Nah. That's a Very Special Military Operation
Posted by: Frank G || 10/13/2023 22:59 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli PM Netanyahu visited IDF's 98th Division today
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 10/13/2023 2023-10-13 00:35 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  The calm before the storm.
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/13/2023 8:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Calm? Logistics, logistics, logistics must be organized.
Posted by: magpie || 10/13/2023 14:24 Comments || Top||


Iranian Foreign Minister says in light of Israel's actions, the opening of new fronts remains possible
[PUBLISH.TWITTER] Goodbye, Beirut.
Posted by: Fred || 10/13/2023 2023-10-13 00:11 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Yea, sure. Hizballah will be happy to sacrifice everything they own for Palestinians.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 3:11 Comments || Top||


#3  ^It is for Generation Z.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 11:10 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 15:22 Comments || Top||

#5  yes. open it at chah bahar in return for 1979.
Posted by: irish rage boy || 10/13/2023 16:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Sobbing is not an effective offensive technique.

"You can get further with sobbing and a can of bear spray than you can with sobbing alone."
Posted by: SteveS || 10/13/2023 18:28 Comments || Top||


IDF says Hamas video purporting to show 3 hostages being released is propaganda
[IsraelTimes] Footage appears to show Avital Aladjem, from Kibbutz Holit, freed at 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 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...
border along with neighbor’s children; IDF: Footage is days old, from shortly after abduction


The Israel Defense Forces Arabic-language spokesperson said Hamas
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
was trying to "alter the truth" of its brutal massacre Saturday with footage broadcast by Al Jazeera claiming to show a woman and her two children being released from the terror group’s captivity.

Al Jazeera on Wednesday broadcast the footage, portraying it as new footage of Hamas releasing hostages.

However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
the military said the video was several days old and the incident occurred on Saturday at the height of Hamas’s devastating onslaught on southern communities.

The video showed a woman, Avital Aladjem, in a blue and pink jacket walking toward a child and the two embracing, as button men walk away. She is said to be holding a second child.

They appear to be near the Gaza border fence.

The airing of the footage appeared to demonstrate Hamas’s efforts to deflect the world’s gaze from the brutality of its devastating onslaught Saturday, when Paleostinian snuffies rampaged through the south of Israel slaughtering some 1,300 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and abducting at least 100 captives to Gaza. Some 3,000 were maimed.

In an interview with Channel 12 Wednesday, Aladjem recounted her harrowing experience with Hamas terrorists.

She said she was hiding out in her home’s safe room with one neighbor and communicating with her next-door neighbor, Adi Vital-Kaploun, via WhatsApp, when Hamas snuffies blew up Aladjem’s front door and entered the house at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The women dashed to hide from the terrorists. The neighbor who was hiding together with Aladjem was discovered by the button men, shot, and killed. Aladjem was also found and pulled out of the closet where she was hiding. The button men then brought her Vital-Kaploun’s children from next door, ages 4.5 months and 4, and began walking the three of them through the kibbutz.

Adi Vital-Kaploun, a dual Israeli-Canadian citizen, was killed by the terrorists, her relatives told Canadian media on Thursday.

In an act that "certainly saved their lives," Vital-Kaploun told her father and her husband to stay where they were, and not to come to them, her cousin-in-law, Aaron Smith, said in an interview with CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning. "And however she was able to convince the snuffies that murdered her to take her kids to her neighbor — she saved their lives as well. She’s a hero."

Said Aladjem: "Everything was destroyed and full of blood; they took us from house to house with shooting all around, as they burned the houses and the cars."

"Me and the kids and the terrorists," said Aladjem, weeping as she spoke. "’Quick, quick,’ they kept saying."

After the snuffies brought Aladjem and the children into Gaza, they left them standing alone. Thinking on her feet, Aladjem turned around with the children and began walking with them back to the kibbutz. She passed more button men and hid with the children in the sand dunes, slowly making her way back.
Not released by Hamas so much as quietly took French leave.
"We continued and continued and I believed we’d get back home," she said, adding that she had no idea how much time had passed.

When they entered the kibbutz, Aladjem saw other kibbutz members leaving in their cars and told the 4-year-old that he would see his father soon.

The three were taken to the nearby community of Gvulot, where the children were eventually reunited with their father.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Next legend: hostages were killed by Israeli bombing.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 3:18 Comments || Top||

#2  We’ve got that one here, Grom.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/13/2023 5:08 Comments || Top||

#3  ^IMO, hostages were killed immediately after being paraded through the streets of Gaza.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 5:18 Comments || Top||

#4  ^^If they were alive, we'd see videos of hostages calling on Israeli Gov not to bomb.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 5:23 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russia bitches about IAF strikes on Damascus
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 10/13/2023 2023-10-13 00:19 || Comments || Link || [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Fuck Russia!
Posted by: Dron66046 || 10/13/2023 3:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Armed escalation? Logically challenging, when the purpose is to prevent the delivery of arms and/or the destruction of those arms being delivered.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/13/2023 4:16 Comments || Top||

#3  But it's okay to bomb Ukraine cities?

Hypocrite much 'eh?

Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 10/13/2023 6:49 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 9:53 Comments || Top||


Turkey deports 13,000 Syrians in September
Oct 5, 2023
[NPASyria] Administrative sources of four border crossings in northern and northwestern Syria revealed, on Thursday, that Ottoman Turkish authorities forcibly deported more than 13,000 Syrians to Syrian territories in September.
The official count.
The Ottoman Turkish authorities initiated a forced deportation campaign against Syrian refugees residing in its territories in July. More than 18,000 individuals were deported in September, according to the sources.

"The number of those forcibly deported via Bab al-Hawa border crossing in northern Idlib, northwestern Syria, to areas held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS — formerly al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front) reached 2,579 individuals, marking the highest toll this year", an administrative source at the Bab al-Hawa crossing told North Press.

Other sources at the Bab al-Salama border crossing in northern Aleppo, northwest Syria, and Tel Abyad in northern Raqqa, northern the country, told North Press that the number of those who were deported from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
via Tel Abyad crossing during September reached 4,200 individuals, while via Bab al-Salama crossing, amounted to 3,783 individuals.

The sources added that the total number of those who were deported to northwest Syria from the three crossings, in addition to Sere Kaniye border crossing, in September reached 12,355 individuals.

Turkey deports over 16,000 individuals to Syria within month incl. non-Syrians
Sep 30, 2023
[NPASyria] On Saturday, Turkish authorities deported 600 Syrian refugees, including women and children, through the Tel Abyad and Bab al-Hawa border crossings in northern Syria. The total number of deportees during September exceeded 16,000 individuals, including people of non-Syrian nationality.
This is the unofficial count.
On Monday, the Turkish authorities deported a Moroccan tourist claiming that he was Syrian. Prior to that, they had deported three Moroccans, an Algerian woman, and two Afghanis, as part of their campaign to deport Syrian refugees from their territory under the pretext of voluntary return.

An administrative source at Tel Abyad border crossing stated to North Press that the Turkish authorities handed over about 120 Syrian refugees to Turkish-backed factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) via the Tel Abyad crossing, north of Raqqa.

The Turkish-backed factions transferred the deportees to shelters where they will be investigated.

As for HTS, which controls much of northwestern Syria, it received 800 Syrian refugees, including women and their children, according to administrative sources at the Bab al-Hawa crossing.

The sources indicated that the deportation process took place after the Turkish authorities collected all personal identification documents of the refugees. The authorities also took their biometric data to ensure that they would not return to Turkish territory.

The sources in the two border crossings said that the number of the Syrian deportees since the beginning of September exceeded 16,000.

Posted by: trailing wife || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Palestinian gambit. Who plays the Middle Eastern kings
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Gevorg Mirzayan

[REGNUM] The Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) planned ground operation in the Gaza Strip, which is to begin after the ongoing carpet bombing phase, could literally change the face of the Middle East.

From this point of view, perhaps the most discussed issue is the degree of Iranian participation in the “flood of Al-Aqsa” (as Hamas designated its operation) - participation both in the Palestinian group’s attack on Israel itself, and in the further escalation of the conflict.

The topic of exactly what dividends the Islamic Republic will receive from changes in the Middle East remains debatable - and the fact that the region will change after the current war is more than obvious.

Opinions in expert circles and in the press can be divided into three main versions.

The first is that the conflict was orchestrated by Iran and the Palestinians find themselves as bargaining pawns in Tehran’s gambit combination.

The second is that the conflict is directed against Iran.

The third version is that the whole world is witnessing a situation where a pawn has taken hostage not even two, but three kings.

Iran is behind the conflict
This first version was perhaps the dominant one at the very beginning of the conflict.

The main arguments were, firstly, the extremely high level of military-political cooperation between Gaza and Tehran - so high that Iran could not have been unaware of the impending attack.

“We have said from the beginning that Iran is still broadly complicit in this attack because it provided significant funding for Hamas militants,” said Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan. “Iran taught, Iran provided opportunities.”

Moreover, according to some experts, Iran not only provided the opportunity, but also planned the attack. This, in particular, explains the complete failure of Israeli intelligence, which was unable to uncover the preparations for the attack. According to American media estimates, the attack had been planned for many months.

It is alleged that Ismail Qaani (commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) held biweekly meetings in Beirut with representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, banned in Russia, and the pro-Iranian Shiite group Hezbollah.

This version is also supported by the benefits that Iran received from the Hamas attack on Israel.

Firstly, the Iranians (if, of course, they actually took part in the attack) publicly saved their face.

In recent years, Israeli intelligence services have killed a lot of Iranian officers, as well as nuclear physicists. Organized a number of cyber attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Iranian convoys and bases in Syria were bombed.

Tehran defiantly did not respond in any way (since launching missiles from Gaza or Lebanon towards Israel cannot be considered answers).

Consequently, Iran's leadership appeared weak, both in the eyes of its citizens and in the eyes of neighboring countries. Now he answered.

And - this is secondly - Iran has already demonstrated the weakness of Israel. The catastrophic failure of the Mossad, the many killed and captured IDF soldiers, including officers and generals, and the civilians driven into Gaza - all this showed Israel's enemies that the state is not so strong, not so invincible. This means you can fight against it. You can join the de facto Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance.”

Thirdly, Iran, according to a number of experts, has broken the alliance emerging against it in the form of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel. By provoking the war in Gaza, the Iranians made the same Saudi-Iranian rapprochement impossible.

All these arguments, of course, are very strong - however, in recent days, the position of experts has begun to change.

Conflict against Iran
More and more analysts are starting to say that Iran may have nothing to do with it. And now The New York Times is publishing an article stating: “ According to preliminary intelligence data, Hamas’s actions came as a surprise to the Iranian leadership.”

Of course, this position of the New York Times (and the American leadership, which is in no hurry to accuse Iran of direct participation - only of “ complicity in a broad sense ”) is explained by the reluctance of the United States to enter into a direct war with Iran. However, there are other arguments in favor of the version of non-involvement.

Firstly, the Islamic Republic did not need to destroy the Israeli-Saudi-Turkish alliance with the war in Gaza - after all, Tehran had already done this without a war.

“Tehran has recently achieved success in the diplomatic field. Through the mediation of China, an agreement was reached with Saudi Arabia. And even with the Americans, with whom relations are bad, there have been some improvements, for example, in terms of unfreezing some of the Iranian assets in South Korea in exchange for fuel supplies,” Elena, an international political scientist and expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, listed in a commentary to IA Regnum Suponina .

Another evidence of contacts between Tehran and Washington was a deal to release people with American citizenship who were in American prisons on charges of espionage, the expert notes.

But now the conflict between Gaza and Israel begins - and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen no longer excludes the possibility of a reverse freeze of $6 billion in Iranian assets - if Tehran’s involvement in the Hamas attack is proven. Iran obviously does not win.

Secondly, the conflict in Gaza could lead to Iran being included in full-scale hostilities against Israel and against the United States - and not because of its alleged participation in planning the conflict. The fact is that at a certain stage, Hezbollah, a group that is essentially a subsidiary of Iran, may intervene in the confrontation.

“The Lebanese organization Hezbollah often makes decisions independently. However, in such a serious issue, everything will be resolved in coordination with Tehran - after all, relations are very close. And now consultations will be very difficult, full of disputes ,” Suponina suggests.

The decision on how deeply to get involved in this conflict has not yet been made. Much will depend on the extent to which the situation in the Gaza Strip worsens. If as a result of missile and bomb strikes and a ground operation there are many casualties, then Hezbollah simply cannot help but intervene - otherwise its leaders will face political death, Suponina believes.

Hezbollah has up to hundreds of thousands of fighters under arms, many modern missiles - and to fend off this threat, the Americans will have to intervene in the conflict. And Iran (due to its patronage of Hezbollah) will not remain aloof from this conflict.

But who benefits from such a scenario is Israel.

It was the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who for a long time tried to drag the United States into a war against Iran. “ For Netanyahu, what happened was a chance to push through his long-standing idea that Iran needs to be rocked. Literally bleed him dry, deprive him of developments in the field of nuclear weapons,” Suponina points out.

As former US Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East David Schenker writes , the Hamas attack showed the fallacy of Israel's policy of containing Iran.

Recently, the Israelis considered nuclear weapons to be the biggest threat posed by the ayatollahs, while underestimating the degree of danger of Hamas and Hezbollah. However, it was not a matter of underestimation, but the unpreparedness of Israeli society for a full-scale war against Hamas, as well as the reluctance of the Americans to enter into a war against Iran.

Now, after the bloody attack by Hamas militants, the Israelis are ready to fight, and the Americans may have to fight. This has already given rise to a number of conspiracy theories to explain the Mossad's bizarre failure. They say that Netanyahu and his associates knew about the impending attack and did nothing on purpose.

Pawn game
However, there is another version of what happened. Behind the Hamas attack is... Hamas.

“The extent of Iran's control over Hamas has been greatly exaggerated. Hamas often acts independently - due to geographical and many other reasons,” Suponina points out. And with this seemingly suicidal attack, the leaders of the Palestinian movement were solving a number of their problems.

The fact is that the group was not doing very well in Gaza. Public opinion polls conducted over the summer showed that the blockade by Israel, the inability of Hamas to govern the territory of Gaza and the lack of any prospects led to the fact that residents of the strip began to gradually lean towards cooperation with Tel Aviv.

62% of residents opposed Hamas's war with Israel. Half of the surveyed residents of Gaza and other cities in the strip believed that the group should abandon the thesis “Israel must be destroyed” and join the negotiation process based on the principle of creating two states for two peoples.

More than half generally believed that Hamas should give control of the sector to the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (the de jure leader of all Palestinian territories, who de facto “rules” only in the West Bank of Jordan).

At the same time, according to a survey conducted in July 2022, 34% of Gazans viewed the process of normalizing Israel’s relations with Arab countries positively (and only 39% had a negative attitude towards it). In the same Arab countries, the reputation of Hamas was falling - amid the normalization of relations with Israel, the group was considered too radical.

And now the radical Islamist movement has made a move that changes everything.

First, Hamas militants have become heroes. Now (against the backdrop of massive bombings) the Arab rulers can no longer help but support the group. Otherwise, they risk coming into conflict with the Arab street.

Secondly, the carpet bombing of Gaza sharply embittered the local residents - most likely, not a trace remained of pacifist sentiments. Thirdly, Hamas could provoke a major war involving Iran, the United States and Israel - and therefore realize its dream of destroying the Israeli state.

Thus, the pawn can play three kings and change the entire Middle East.

Posted by: badanov || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [19 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  The first is that the conflict was orchestrated by Iran and the Palestinians find themselves as bargaining pawns in Tehran’s gambit combination.

I believe that the following applies.
(a) The attack was organized by Iran.
Years of preparation, technical complexity, the combination with a massive rocket attack - all point to IRGC.
(b) Iran was surprised
I believe that they planned is to take huge number of Israeli hostages. The inevitable surrender of Israeli Government would be a smarting defeat for Israel and yield substantial benefits to Iran. However, they underestimated Gazan blood lust (even the west bank Palestinians consider Gazans to be savages).

(c) In recent years, Israeli intelligence services have killed a lot of Iranian officers, as well as nuclear physicists. Organized a number of cyber attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Iranian convoys and bases in Syria were bombed.

That's nothing compared what'll happen to Iran in near future.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective || 10/13/2023 3:35 Comments || Top||

#2  I suspect this is a second attempt by Iran at catching Israel in a pincer between the West Bank and Gaza, with Hezbollah’s vaunted 150,000 missiles coming in over the Lebanese border for emphasis' and Iran’s army as a distant overseeing threat to remind Israel that her job is to surrender.

And just like last time, Hezbollah baulked, the West Bank’s plots were spiked by extensive IDF raids removing their men and materiél, leaving Gaza to rise up all on its own — and reap the pleasures of concentrated IDF attention all on its own as well.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/13/2023 5:22 Comments || Top||

#3  ^It would seem that, as TW said, the West Bank/FATAH bureau and the Lebanon/Hezbollah Shin Bet bureaus did their jobs. Was the Gaza/HAMAS Bureau so busy distracted about Netanyahu that they could not discern that this was a 'Big One' and not the the endemic plots and schemes?

Of course Iran/HAMAS could have been unusually competent this time --that's why the enemy is called 'the enemy' because they too get a vote in how things turn out.
Posted by: magpie || 10/13/2023 18:08 Comments || Top||


Ronaldo faces 99 lashes for kissing Iranian artist
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The famous Portuguese football player of the Saudi football club Al-Nasr, Cristiano Ronaldo, may be subject to physical punishment in Iran. Index HR reported this

During his arrival in Tehran for the Asian Champions League match, Ronaldo met with fan-artist Fatima . She drew his portrait; the football player, communicating with a girl with cerebral palsy, hugged and kissed her.

The publication notes that Cristiano Ronaldo violated Iranian laws - he could be given 99 lashes if he returns to the country. His act is assessed by local laws as adultery.

As Regnum reported , a young woman was hanged in the Afghan province of Ghor. She was arrested by the Taliban (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation) along with a man named Sirajuddin on charges of adultery and running away from home.

The man was shot, and the girl Salima was to be stoned to death in front of the public. But she was hanged by her brother after the radicals handed her over to her family.

The Russian Judo Federation (RJF) suspended the Olympic champion, Russian Khasan Khalmurzaev, from competitions because of his political actions on social networks. The International Judo Federation (IJF) was informed about this, it is reported on the organization’s website with a note that the judoka is “disqualified and suspended from work.”

Posted by: badanov || 10/13/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Remember it is called
The Religion of Peace.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 10/13/2023 5:56 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2023-10-13
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Thu 2023-10-12
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Wed 2023-10-11
  Israeli Soldiers Find Dead Babies After Palestinian Hamas Attack
Tue 2023-10-10
  Death toll rises to 1,560 as Netanyahu orders to starve Gaza
Mon 2023-10-09
  Israel has officially declared a state of war
Sun 2023-10-08
  20 Israeli policemen executed in Sderot
Sat 2023-10-07
  IDF declares 'ready for war,' after rockets slam Israel, killing one
Fri 2023-10-06
  In western Syria, 80 people were killed in a UAV attack on a military college
Thu 2023-10-05
  DHS Sec. Mayorkas declares 'acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers' to prevent illegal border crossings
Wed 2023-10-04
  Niger: 29 soldiers killed in an attack
Tue 2023-10-03
  Gaza perfume company launches missile-themed fragrance
Mon 2023-10-02
  Footage showing Malian Air Force Bayraktar TB2 UCAV strike on a gathering of local militants
Sun 2023-10-01
  Terrorists On Motorbikes Kill At Least 12 Niger Republic Soldiers Near Mali, Burkina Faso Border
Sat 2023-09-30
  Security forces thwart TTP attempt to infiltrate from Afghanistan into Pakistan: ISPR
Fri 2023-09-29
  Leb military court sentences IS group official to 160 years in prison


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