[Politico] The White House is turning up the pressure on the Pentagon to carry out President Donald Trump’s directive of a further withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, as the commander in chief looks to deliver on a campaign pledge ahead of next month’s election.
National security adviser Robert O’Brien said that the Pentagon is "executing" a White House order to reduce the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan to 2,500 by early next year, brushing aside comments by the nation’s top military officer that have cast doubt on the new directive.
"We have a plan that’s been in place for some time going to 4,500 by this month, and being somewhere around 2,500 to 2,800 in early 2021," O’Brien said Tuesday in an interview as he traveled back to the U.S. following meetings in Brazil. While he noted that the drawdown is "conditions-based," he stressed that "that’s where the president wants to be ... that’s what the Pentagon is executing."
The comments mark the latest in an unusually public back-and-forth between O’Brien and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who told NPR last week that reductions beyond the near-term 4,500 number must be made based on the security situation in the country and that O’Brien was engaging in "speculation" by discussing specifics beyond that.
#2
They dragged their feet getting missiles out of Turkey. They dragged their feet closing the installations in the Philippines. Long before Deep State exercised their powers to stage a coup, they have a long history of obstructing without consequences.
The Sudanese-Israeli agreement is a blow to Hamas:
Hamas used Sudan as a transit station for smuggling weapons into Gaza Strip from Libya&Iran. Mysterious elements sometimes attacked the convoys of weapons on Sudanese soil and also hit key figures in Hamas arms smuggling system
[STARTRIBUNE] The Apple store in Uptown will close permanently, the latest in a growing list of shops and restaurants that have recently abandoned the beleaguered south Minneapolis retail center.Apple has had a presence near the bustling corner of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street for the past decade. It informed its approximately 60 employees Wednesday that the store would close.
The store had yet to reopen since March when the state’s stay-at-home orders to stem the spread of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... pandemic forced many retail establishments to temporarily shutter. Following the killing of George Floyd in May, the Apple store was one of nearly 40 businesses near the corner that was damaged by rioters.
While the damage did accelerate the timing of the closure, Apple was already in discussions to close the store before the pandemic and the riots, the company said.
"Our stores in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have served customers for 19 years, and our nearly 500 team members look forward to helping our customers for a long, long time," Apple said Thursday in a statement. "Though we’ve made the difficult decision to permanently close Apple Uptown, all of our valued team members will be offered other positions within Apple and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers at our four nearby stores."
Early last year, neighbors Columbia Sportswear and North Face shut their doors following the departure of Victoria’s Secret the year before. Canadian outerwear company Arc’teryx left last fall. The Urban Outfitters store has also been listed for possible sale or lease.
The Southwest Journal reported MAC Cosmetics closed in January of this year after City Pages reported its storefront was up for sublease.
Restaurants haven’t fared much better. The popular Sushi Tango across the street from Apple in Calhoun Square recently decided not to renew its lease due to COVID-19. Another restaurant tenant, Fig + Farro, closed in May.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM
#1
Yeah, they could be another COVID casualty, but I wonder how much their insurance went up after the riots.
#2
^ Apple's business model specifies that the insurance company pays premiums to Apple, not the other (usual) way around...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/24/2020 7:17 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"Early last year..."
That would be 2019. Sounds like this mall has been in a death spiral for a while. Much like a lot of malls are. Online buying is killing them. The antisocial plague is just hurrying things up.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/24/2020 11:12 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Watched a video of "The Mall" in Sierra Vista, AZ. I thought the guy was there on a Sunday morning, but he said it was a Saturday afternoon. It was incredibly desolate. I suppose even Fort Huachuca isn't enough to support it. But, I should think, as mentioned, that malls/brick-and-mortar outlets are all suffering with the advent of on-line shopping. Hate to see it in a way, but that's progress/life.
[IsraelTimes] British newspaper says facility in Istanbul is overseen by terror group’s military leadership in Gazoo, was set up without the knowledge of Ottoman Turkish authorities.
The Paleostinian terror group Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®, is secretly operating a facility in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor... where it conducts cyberattacks and counterintelligence operations, according to a British newspaper report Thursday.
Continued on Page 49
#1
One imagines the places is bugged six ways to Sunday, leading to all sorts of interesting people at the far end of the communications — a thought which only occurred to me on rereading it this morning.
[Rudaw] The public prosecutor in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... ’s Sanliurfa province demanded on Thursday a life sentence for a Syrian-Kurdish fighter from the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) who was captured by pro-Turkey snuffies in Syria last year.
Dozgin Temo, known as Cicek Kobane, fell into the hands of militia groups backed by Turkey during Operation Peace Spring in Ain Issa district, northern Syria on October 21, 2019. She was later taken to Turkey to be tried on charges of "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the Ottoman Turkish state."
Kobane stood before the judge in Sanliurfa on Thursday, her third court date. She said in her defense that she was a YPJ fighter but was not involved in armed festivities, according to the pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency (ANF).
The YPJ is the all-women version of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkey considers both YPJ and YPG as Syrian offshoots of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The public prosecutor demanded a life sentence for Kobane, according to ANF. Her lawyer requested more time to mount a defence. The trial was postponed to November 24 when a verdict is expected.
Ayse Surucu, Sanliurfa politician for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... (HDP), called for Kobane’s release in the Ottoman Turkish parliament on Wednesday. "Under what right did you arrest a Syrian citizen like Cicek? Is fighting FSA [Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... ] and ISIS a crime?" she asked.
When Kobane was captured last year, the YPJ called on the international to "urgently intervene" to secure her release and "speak up against this brutality of Ottoman Turkish-backed gangs."
In video published on Telegram channels linked to the Syrian militias, snuffies call her a "pig" and say she will be taken to "slaughter."
A United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... report released in September found that the Ottoman Turkish-backed militias may have committed war crimes in northeastern Syria, known to Kurds as Rojava, including against the female population. "Women and girls have also been detained by Syrian National Army brigade fighters, and subjected to rape and sexual violence," read the report. The Syrian National Army is the renamed FSA.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2020 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
Earlier German reporting: "According to an estimate by US Goldman Sachs, Turkey has spent $65 billion (€55.2 billion) this year on managing its currency. As a result, its gross currency buffers have dropped by more than a third this year to $49.2 billion as of July 17. Including gold, they stand at $89.5 billion. Making matters worse is the central bank wasn't using only its own reserves, but dollars borrowed from domestic banks, to buy the lira. It now owes more foreign currency to the banks than it has in its coffers."
[WashingtonExaminer] The U.S. Embassy in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... received "credible reports" of potential terrorist attacks and kidnappings, including those against U.S. citizens, in Istanbul, according to a statement Friday morning.
"The U.S. Mission in Turkey has received credible reports of potential terrorist attacks and kidnappings against U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in Istanbul, including against the U.S. Consulate General, as well as potentially other locations in Turkey," the statement read. "U.S. citizens are advised to exercise heightened caution in locations where Americans or foreigners may gather, including large office buildings or shopping malls."
Between 2015 and 2017, several terrorist attacks were attributed to 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.... , including a bombing in Ankara that killed 102 people, according to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named. In July, Turkey detained 27 people whom it believed were connected to ISIS. There were also attacks from an outlawed Kurdish bad boy group and a far-left group that previously targeted the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.
[Washington Examiner] On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that yet another Middle Eastern Muslim-majority country will formally recognize the Jewish State of Israel, in yet another massive foreign policy coup for the president’s diplomacy in the Middle East.
"President [Donald Trump] has announced that Sudan and Israel have agreed to the normalization of relations— another major step toward building peace in the Middle East with another nation joining the Abraham Accords," Judd Deere, deputy assistant to the president and deputy White House press secretary, announced on Twitter.
The recognition of Israel appears to be part of a broader agreement by which Trump will formally rescind Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Between 1989 and 2019, military dictator Omar al-Bashir controlled the North African country, allegedly engaging in human rights abuses and sponsoring terrorism. After protests in 2018, a coup d’etat ousted Bashir from power in April 2019.
"President Donald J. Trump has informed Congress of his intent to formally rescind Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism," the White House announced on Friday. "This follows on Sudan’s recent agreement to resolve certain claims of United States victims of terror and their families. Yesterday, in fulfillment of that agreement, the transitional government of Sudan transferred $335 million into an escrow account for these victims and their families."
#1
Must be shocking news for the Deep State merchants of death and Endless Wars advocates. Any response from 'Never Trump' senior members of the Intelligence Community ?
#3
This is tremendously good news. The Arabs and Israelis have been at each other's throats during my entire lifetime (I'm 71.) How much better off is the entire Middle East with President Trump!
[Rudaw] Two camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) west of Baghdad in Abu Ghraib, once overwhelmed by families fleeing violence in Anbar, have been closed down, announced the government on Sunday.
"All the refugees sheltering in Shams camp, numbering 105 families, and others sheltering in Ahl camp, numbering 67 families, returned to their areas [of origin] in the towns of Ramadi, Qaim, Haditha, Ana and Amriya in Anbar province," Evan Fayaq, minister of Displacement and Migration of Iraq, announced in a statement on Monday.
The returnees from both camps numbered 860 displaced individuals, according to Fayaq.
"The families were brought to their original areas," the minister said, adding that in "the next few days [we] will witness the closure of more camps in Baghdad and its outskirts."
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.... group (ISIS) seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, forcing millions of people to flee. Many of the displaced fled to the relative safety of the Kurdistan Region, but others remained in federal Iraq.
Each returning family is entitled to receive a grant of $1,250 from Iraq's Ministry of Migration and Displaced People to help them resettle back into their communities.
According to the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 300,000 internally displaced persons still live in formal camp locations, and over 150,000 more live in informal settlements and cities throughout the country.
The Iraqi government declared the territorial defeat of ISIS in December 2017. The battle to retake territory from the group led to further displacement.
At the height of ISIS violence, some six million Iraqis were displaced across the country. Displacement was particularly pronounced in the north and west of the country — including the provinces of Anbar, Kirkuk and Salahaddin. While the majority of Iraq’s IDPs have returned home, some 1.6 million continue to reside in camps.
Many are reluctant to return home because of continuing violence in their home areas, a lack of reconstruction following the destruction of their homes, and little in the way of basic services. Some who voluntarily left the camps to salvage their homes and livelihoods have been forced to return to the camps, unable to piece together the basics.
A report by Human Rights Watch in 2019 documented a series of forced returns, highlighting both state force misconduct and civilian violence. Allegations against security forces include lying to IDPs about where they are being taken, and the forced return of IDPs to areas where ISIS activity is known to be rife.
The New York-based rights monitor claimed that more than 2,000 IDPs have been expelled from camps in Nineveh to their areas of origin in Salahaddin, Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... and Anbar.
"Some were forced to return to their home regions, despite fears for their safety, including from former neighbors who perceive them as being linked to the Islamic State. Some have come under attack since being forced home," the report said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/24/2020 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
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[AnNahar] Paleostinian officials on Thursday denounced a decision by Israel to brand the student branch of the hardline Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine as a "terrorist" organization.
Israel, the United States and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... consider the leftist bad boy PFLP as a terrorist organization.
On Wednesday, Israeli General Tamir Yadai said in a statement that the army now considers the PFLP's student branch of as an "illegal and terrorist" entity.
Would that be the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades — known before 2001 as the Red Eagles Brigades — which draws membership from West Bank universities? It happens to be the PFLP’s armed wing, but a quick search reveals no other potential candidates.
Yadai, who heads the Israeli army's Central Command in the occupied West Bank, claimed the branch had been for years behind "destructive acts that led to the deaths of many Israeli citizens."
He accused the PFLP of "recruiting young men to commit acts of terrorism."
Paleostinian social development minister Ahmed Majdalani said the designation was "dangerous" and stressed the student branch of the PFLP was an "unarmed" body.
Majdalani also voiced concern the Israeli move could lead to a crackdown on young Paleostinian activists.
According to PFLP official Ahmad al-Tanani, Israeli authorities had arrested more than 60 Paleostinian students since the beginning of the year.
The PFLP is a fiercely anti-Israeli Marxist-Leninist group that pioneered plane hijackings in the 1970s to highlight the Paleostinian cause.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian lawyers file a complaint to sue the British government for the 1917 declaration setting out London’s support for a national home for the Jewish people in Paleostine.
The lawyers file a complaint in the West Bank town of Nablus that claims "the suffering of the Paleostinians" stemmed from this document.
The Balfour Declaration, signed by the then-British foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour, is seen as a precursor to Israel’s creation in 1948.
"The British mandate is at the root of the suffering of the Paleostinian people and has paved the way for the violation of their rights and the plunder of their land," Munib al-Masri, head of the Federation of Independent and Democratic Trade Unions, tells a news conference in Ramallah.
As well as the trade unions group, the complaint is filed on behalf of the International Commission to Support Paleostinian People’s Rights and the Paleostinian Journalists’ Syndicate.
The Balfour Declaration was published on November 2, 1917, a year before the end of World War I.
In one sentence it announced the British government’s backing for the establishment within Paleostine, then a region of the Ottoman Empire, of "a national home for the Jewish people."
It was a shock to the Arab world, which had not been consulted and had received vague promises of independence of its own in the post-war break up of the defeated Ottoman Empire.
The Paleostinians have continuously condemned the declaration, which they refer to as the "Balfour promise," claiming Britannia was giving away land it did not own.
With the Balfour Declaration, London was seeking Jewish support for its war efforts, and the Zionist push for a homeland for Jews was an emerging political force.
The British Mandate for Paleostine was later set up in the wake of World War I, and ran until Israel’s declaration of statehood in 1948.
If you think the dems would not throw Israel to the wolves under a Harris administration, please think again.
If you've ever wondered why some former Rhodesians, or many South Africans have no use for the West (particularly Great Britain) perhaps this will explain a thing or two.
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 ||
10/24/2020 9:05 Comments ||
Top||
#6
That's a hell of a big ambulance to chase.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/24/2020 11:15 Comments ||
Top||
#7
L’audace toujours l’audace
The are enough idiots in a jury pool to make a longshot case give crumbs or publicity to keep welfare checks flowing into the coffers in Gaza. The peace process is a business like racism now.
[Rudaw] Thousands of suspected members of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) will be tried in northeast Syria (Rojava) in early 2021, a Kurdish official has confirmed to Rudaw.
The trials will be conducted by the Kurdish authorities as per local laws but under international monitoring led by Sweden, the official told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
ISIS prisoners "will be tried in the beginning of 2021 as per Rojava laws," said Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) office for internally displaced persons and refugees.
"There will be observers from Sweden which has indirectly expressed its support for the trials," said the Rojava official, adding that observers from other countries will also monitor the trials.
Ahmed said that Sweden will play a "significant role" in the trials . Both men and women will face prosecution.
Rojava is home to tens of thousands of ISIS-affiliated prisoners - including 10,000 foreigners, 5,000 Iraqis and some 25,000 Syrians. There are also about 68,000 people of many nationalities, including Syrians, in the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka.
Most of the prisoners were detained during the fight against ISIS between 2014 and 2019, especially when the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) regained control of Baghouz, the last bastion of the terror group, in March 2019.
Shiyar Ali, representative of the NES in Sweden, told Sweden's SVT television service on Wednesday that they have already begun legal proceedings for the trials, expected to begin in January or February.
"We are ready to repatriate the orphans and the humanitarian cases to Sweden but those who committed crimes here will be tried," head of NES Foreign Relations Abdulkarim Omar told the outlet.
Beatrice Eriksson, spokesperson for the newly-founded Repatriate the Children Sweden group, told Rudaw English on Wednesday that ISIS-linked children with Swedish citizenship should be repatriated.
"The children shouldn't even be there in the first place. Sweden, and the international community, should have made sure no families even traveled to Syria and Iraq. And as a second step, Sweden should have brought them home already," said the spokesperson.
"Most of the Swedish children held captive are below the age of five years. No child can be claimed guilty of any crime, yet they are kept locked up in terrible conditions. They need to be rescued immediately, with no further delay."
A Swedish delegation, led by the Special Envoy for the Syrian Crisis Per Orneus, met with Kurdish officials and parties in Rojava this week.
The delegation discussed building "strategic relations" with Rojava as well as supporting them politically and militarily.
"We discussed means of supporting the region politically and militarily, solutions regarding ISIS detainees in the SDF prisons and their families, and how to build strategic relationships that serve the region," said Newroz Ahmed, commander of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ).
#5
The headline is ambiguous. Who is the it whose weapons must be destroyed?
Is it Iran or Israel?
To be sure, Iran's are only half built, but perhaps Iran does want its weapons programs to be destroyed. The world might like it better and not want so much to boycot it.
Posted by: daniel ||
10/24/2020 11:05 Comments ||
Top||
[al-Monitor] 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), which is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the United States, announced through its Sharia Council the disavowal of prominent jihadist ideologue Issam al-Barqawi, aka Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi.In a statement released Oct. 10, the HTS-affiliated Sharia Council said, "He [Maqdisi] is not one of us, and we do not follow his ways. We distinguish between his heretical notion of 'tawheed' [the oneness of God] and the notion we were taught by our predecessors and successors [scholars]. We disavow Barqawi’s ideology and behavior."
Maqdasi said in a statement via his Telegram channel a few days ago, which was later removed, "We have been shown the injustices and grievances of the HTS members and their cooperation with Ottoman Turkish intelligence in their investigation with Moslems. Those who abet Ottoman Turkish intelligence against Moslems commit a contravention in Islam, showing their apostasy and deviation from religion, if they cooperate with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2020 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[Jpost] Multiple incidents appear to point to a rising tempo of tensions. Foreign media reports indicate that the Hezbollah and pro-Iranian presence has grown.
On Wednesday morning, the media in Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and the Gulf highlighted a story claiming that Israel carried out an Arclight airstrike
Continued on Page 49
[AnNahar] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday announced that the United States "will continue to target, disrupt, and dismantle 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... ’s financing and operational networks," in a statement marking the 1983 kaboom on the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. service members.
"This attack, and the many more that followed around the world, make clear Hizbullah’s commitment to violence and bloodshed and demonstrate its continuing disregard for the lives of the very people that it claims to protect. These terrorist acts have unmasked Iran, Hizbullah’s patron, as a rogue state willing to pursue its malevolent interests at all costs," Pompeo said.
"On this solemn day, we honor the sacrifice of those brave Americans, and we renew our commitment to preventing Hizbullah and its sponsor Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... from spilling more innocent blood in Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... or anywhere in the world," he added.
"The United States will continue to target, disrupt, and dismantle Hizbullah’s financing and operational networks, and will continue to take all actions available to starve this terrorist entity of funds and support. We are grateful for the nations around the world that have designated or acted to ban the activities of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization," Pompeo went on to say.
[AnNahar] The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two members of 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... ’s Central Council, Nabil Qaouk and Hassan al- Baghdadi, it said in a blurb on Friday.
Qaouk and Baghdad "are responsible for creating and implementing the terrorist organization’s destabilizing and violent mostly peaceful agenda against U.S. interests and those of our partners around the world," said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.
Treasury argued in its blurb that Hizbullah, which Washington considers a terrorist organization, leaders have frequently supported the use of military action against Israel.
"Qaouk and Baghdadi were designated under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists, leaders or officials of terrorist groups, and those providing support to Lions of Islam or acts of terrorism," it said.
Under the sanctions, all property and interests of Qaouq and Baghdadi that are under US jurisdiction are blocked and Americans are prohibited from having dealings with him.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor...
/\ The UK's GCHQ has proven record. Doubt them at your own risk. 
...every time you hear the phrase 
...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 
...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 
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
...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 
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
