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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Daesh suffers devastating defeat as Syrian Army liberates entire Al-Safa region
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Taliban say no pact struck with US over deadline to end war
[DAWN] A three-day meeting between the Tali­ban and the US special envoy for Afghanistan to pave the way for peace talks ended with no agreement, the hard boy group said a day after the diplomat declared a deadline of April 2019 to end the 17-year-long war.

Afghanistan’s security situation has worsened since NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure....
formally ended combat operations in 2014, as the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
battle to re-impose Isla­mic laws following their overthrow in 2001 at the hands of US-led troops.

Leaders of the hardline group met US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad at their political headquarters in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
last week for the second time in the past month, said front man Zabiullah Mujahid. "These were preliminary talks and no agreement was reached on any issue," he said in a statement on Monday.

Taliban leaders had not accepted any deadline set by the US to wrap up talks, three Taliban officials added.

The US embassy in Kabul declined to comment.

Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US diplomat authorised by US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s government to lead peace negotiations with the Taliban, on Sunday said he hoped to cut a peace deal with the group by April 20. That deadline coincides with the date set for Afghan presidential elections.

Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Arabia
Saudi royals turn on king's favourite son after killing
[Al Jazeera] Members of Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
's ruling family are agitating to prevent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016....
from becoming king after the international uproar over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, sources close to the royal court told Rooters news agency.

Senior US officials, meanwhile, have indicated to Saudi advisers in recent weeks they would support Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz - who was deputy interior minister for nearly 40 years - as a potential successor to King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians....
, according to Saudi sources with direct knowledge of the consultations.

Amid international outrage over Khashoggi's murder, dozens of princes and cousins from powerful branches of the Al Saud family want to see a change in the line of succession, but will not act while King Salman - the crown prince's 82-year-old father - is still alive, sources said.

They recognise the king is unlikely to turn against his favourite son, the report added.

Rather, they are discussing the possibility with other family members that after the king's death Prince Ahmed, 76, uncle of the crown prince, could take the throne, according to the sources.

Prince Ahmed, King Salman's only surviving full brother, would have the support of family members, the security apparatus, and some Western powers, one of the Saudi sources said.

Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia


Yemen rebel calls for halt to military operations
[DAWN] A high-ranking Yemeni rebel official urged his leadership on Monday to freeze military operations and stop firing missiles into Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
as the UN prepares for peace talks.

Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, head of the Huthi bully boys' Higher Revolutionary Committee and an influential political figure, tweeted that he also wants his group to announce "readiness to suspend and halt all military operations".

He called on "all (Huthi) official Yemeni sides to issue directives to end launching missiles and drones against aggression countries... in order to deprive them from any reason to continue their aggression and siege."

He also said the rebels should be ready "to freeze and stop all military operations on all fronts" to achieve "a just and honourable peace". Houthis have controlled the capital Sanaa since capturing it in late 2014.

They have since fired hundreds of ballistic missiles into neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which since 2015 has led a regional military coalition aiming to restore to power the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Although Mohammed Ali al-Huthi is head of the Iran-linked rebels' Higher Revolutionary Committee, he is not their ultimate decision-maker ‐ that power lies with supreme leader Abdulmalek al-Huthi. Mohammed Ali al-Huthi's comments came after UN special envoy Martin Griffiths said he would visit Sanaa this week to finalise arrangements for peace talks in Sweden.

Griffiths ‐ whose efforts at kick-starting peace talks collapsed in September ‐ said both the government and the Houthis have shown a "renewed commitment" to work on a political solution. He said both sides have given "firm assurances" that they would attend the talks, although no date has yet been set.

Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Saudi King Salman to Shura Council: We adopt values of moderation, tolerance
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians....
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud inaugurated the activities of the 3rd year of the 7th session of the Shura Council in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince of Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
as of 2016....

bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense.

Immediately after the King's arrival, the Royal Anthem was played. Then, the 3rd year of the 7th session of the Shura Council was inaugurated with a recitation of verses from the Holy Koran.

In his speech, King Salman bin Abdulaziz stated that the kingdom adheres to Islamic Sharia law and adopts the values of moderation and tolerance.

In his speech, King Salman spoke about a number of issues, including oil, stating that the kingdom’s policy on oil is based on cooperation and coordination with other oil producers.

"We are keen on a strategic partnership based on mutual benefits and respect," the King said, referring to oil production.

"We are working to maintain the stability of oil markets to protect producers and consumers," the King said.

The King also said that the kingdom is continuing to develop the governance of state institutions.

He added that the Saudi citizen is the main driving force of development in the country, adding that development plans are achieving set goals at a satisfactory rate.

The King also stated that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is focused on developing human capabilities and preparing the new generation.

The King also spoke about terrorism in the region, stating that the kingdom will continue to fight extremism and support a developmental approach. He added that the Paleostinian case will remain the number one priority "until the Paleostinians get their rights."

In the Yemeni file, the King stated that Saudi Arabia’s involvement was not a choice, but a duty to confront the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ...
militias. He said that the kingdom supports a political solution 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. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
according to Security Council resolutions and the GCC initiative.

Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  "Going forward we will only lightly behead apostates..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/20/2018 3:51 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Mossad said to thwart Hezbollah terror plot against Jewish targets in Argentina
[IsraelTimes] Israel’s intelligence service reportedly passed information which led to arrest of suspects in Buenos Aires; 3 men said to confirm they planned to attack Jewish targets

A terror plot against Jewish targets was thwarted when the Mossad intelligence service passed information to Argentinian security officials which led to the arrest of suspected members of the Hezbollah terrorist group, Hadashot TV reported Monday.

According to the report, police incarcerated
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
two brothers and their cousin at a hideout in Buenos Aires which was found to contain an arsenal of weapons and explosives. The suspects were said to have admitted they planned to attack Jewish targets in the country.

Argentinian police announced Thursday they had arrested two Argentinian men on suspicion of ties to the terrorist group and that in the course of the investigation, they had discovered evidence of foreign travel "along with credentials in Arabic and an image of the Hezbollah flag," the Rooters news agency reported.

No further details were given on the credentials or travel, and the discrepancy in the number of individuals arrested has not been clarified.

The two men, aged 23 and 25, were arrested at a Buenos Aires residence, and were also found to be in possession of a "small arsenal" including a rifle, a shotgun and a number of handguns.

A Hezbollah jacket wallah carried out the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. The attack, orchestrated by Iran, killed 85.

Earlier this year the Argentine government targeted a Hezbollah fundraising network in the northern Triple Frontier with Brazil and Paraguay.

Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that the Mossad not only is responsible for preventing attacks against Israeli targets, but also provides intelligence to Israel’s allies around the world.

In October, Israeli officials said the Mossad provided its Danish counterpart with information concerning an alleged plot by Tehran to assassinate three Iranian opposition figures living in the Scandinavian country.

Mossad is also said to be behind the thwarting of an Iranian government bomb plot that aimed to target an opposition group in Gay Paree in June.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


India-Pakistan
Pakistan PM Responds to Trump’s Comment
[ToloNews] The US President Trump and Pakistain’s Prime Minister Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
trolled each other on Twitter on Monday.

Following a Fox News interview over the weekend in which Trump accused Pakistain of hiding the late Osama bin Laden
... who doesn't live anywhere anymore...
and berated it for not doing a "damn thing" for the US, Imran Khan pushed back on Monday tweeting, "Instead of making Pakistain a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140,000 NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops and reportedly $1 trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
today are stronger than before."

"Record needs to be put straight on Mr Trump's tirade against Pakistain: 1. No Pak was involved in 9/11 but Pak decided to participate in US War on Terror. 2. Pakistain suffered 75,000 casualties in this war and over $123 bn was lost to economy. US 'aid' was a miniscule $20 bn," Khan said.

He also said that "Our tribal areas were devastated and millions of ppl uprooted from their homes. The war drastically impacted lives of ordinary Paks, "before asking, "Pak continues to provide free lines of ground and air communications (GLOCs/ALOCs). Can Mr Trump name another ally that gave such sacrifices?"

Four hours after Khan’s tweets, President Trump returned to the subject again, tweeting, "Of course we should have captured Osama bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistain Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!.."

"....We no longer pay Pakistain the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!" he added.

The US President’s Twitter tirade also involved retired US Admiral William McRaven, who led the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, and who has since criticized Trump on various issues, including his denigration of the media and his attacks against former CIA chief John Brennan.

Trump dismissed McRaven as a "Perennial Presidential Campaigner Hillary Crooked Hillary Clinton
... former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away...
backer and an Obama-backer," in the Fox interview although the Admiral had made no public political pronouncement before Trump began attacking the US security establishment.

Trump’s ire against his predecessor and the security principals during that administration appears to stem from the public humiliation he suffered at the hands of Barack Obama
If you like your coverage you can keep it...
during the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner when he was roasted for his penchant for spreading conspiracy theories.

Imran Khan was not done after the Trump tirade. "Trump’s false assertions add insult to the injury Pakistain has suffered in US WoT in terms of lives lost and destabilised and economic costs. He needs to be informed abt historical facts. Pak has suffered enough fighting US's war. Now we will do what is best for our people and our interests." he tweeted.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Japan pledges $4.6m for polio vaccines
[DAWN] The Japanese government has announced providing $4.6 million grant to Pakistain to support the supply of essential polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
vaccine for campaigns during 2018-19.

Notes of grant were signed and exchanged here on Monday between the government of Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
Children’s Fund (Unicef).

The grant will support procurement of 25 million doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) which would be sufficient to vaccinating children under the age of five in high-risk districts across the country thus enabling the programme to quickly close immunity gaps.

With this latest grant aid, the Japanese government had contributed about $230 million towards polio eradication initiative since 1996. To achieve and maintain interruption in polio transmission, Japan believed that robust routine immunisation was required, and had provided technical assistance for the Expanded Immunisation Programme (EPI) in Pakistain since 2001.
Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


International-UN-NGOs
UNRWA says budget shortfall down to $21 million after Gulf, EU pony up
[IsraelTimes] ’This is a very encouraging result at the end of a lot of work,’ says head of UN body accused by Israel and US of perpetuating Paleostinian refugee problem

The UN agency for Paleostinian refugees said Monday that UNRWA has dramatically reduced its budget shortfall despite US funding cuts, after Gulf and EU contributions.

"You are all aware how difficult this year has been for UNRWA in particular following the unexpected decision by the US to cut $300 million this year of UNRWA’s income," commissioner general Pierre Krahenbuhl told a news conference in Jordan.

At the start of 2018, the UN agency faced a $446-million budget deficit, he said.

But after mobilizing to tackle the unprecedented financial crisis caused by the US cuts, "we have now reduced the shortfall... to $21 million," he added.

"This is a very encouraging result at the end of a lot of work," he told news hounds after meeting with the agency’s advisory commission in Sweimeh on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea.

Krahenbuhl thanked in particular Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
, saying they had helped plug the deficit by contributing $50 million each.

Their combined contribution of $200 million "is almost half of the total amount that we mobilized this year," said Krahenbuhl, adding that aid also poured in from the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
On Thursday, Krahenbuhl said the shortfall had been $64 million.

The United States, which was by far the biggest contributor to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), announced in August that it would no longer fund the agency.

The Trump administration, as well as Israel, say they oppose the way the organization operates and how it calculates the number of Paleostinian refugees.

UNRWA was set up in 1950 to help Paleostinian refugees who lost their homes because in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Its assistance includes schools, healthcare centers and food distribution.

More than 750,000 Paleostinians fled or were expelled during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and during the Six Day War in 1967.

They and all their descendants are deemed by the UN agency to be refugees who fall under its remit.

Israel accuses UNRWA of helping to perpetuate the Paleostinian narrative of Israel’s illegitimacy by, uniquely, granting refugee status to the descendants of refugees, even when they are born in other countries and have citizenship there, conditions that do not apply to the refugees cared for by the UN’s main refugee agency, UNHCR, which cares for all other refugees worldwide. The population of Paleostinian refugees thus grows each year.

The "right of return" is one of the key issues of dispute in the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict. The Paleostinians claim that the five million people the UN recognizes as refugees have the right to return to their homes in Israel proper. Israel, for its part, rejects this demand, saying that it represents a bid by the Paleostinians to destroy Israel by weight of numbers.

Israel’s population is almost nine million, some three-quarters of whom are Jewish. An influx of millions of Paleostinians would mean Israel would no longer be a Jewish-majority state.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Key Israel minister slams Netanyahu, but won't quit government
[Al Jazeera] Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett has said he will keep his party in government, making an early election less likely.

In a dramatic presser on Monday, Bennett, who heads the far-right, pro-settler Jewish Home party, slammed the record of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but stopped short of resigning.

"Something bad is happening to us from within," said Bennett. "For quite a few years, including the last decade of the government headed by Netanyahu, that the state of Israel stopped winning."

"I tell the prime minister here: we are withdrawing right now all of our political demands and will stand to help you in this great mission of getting Israel to win again," he said.

"If the government would really start leading toward the right path, acting like a real right-wing government, it's worth trying," he added. "The ball is in the prime minister's court."

Bennett had last week threatened to withdraw from the coalition to protest a ceasefire in Gazoo agreed between Israel and Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,-led factions on Tuesday.
One of his campaign ads from 2014 can be seen here. With English subtitles.

Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


UN envoy says Qatari donation to Hamas already being felt
[IsraelTimes] The UN’s special envoy for the Middle East grinding of the peace processor says the impact of the Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i fuel funds, which Israel allowed to be transferred to Gazoo earlier this month, is already being felt.

"The impact has been immediate ‐ the water supply has increased; risk of sewage overflow has been reduced; hospitals are less dependent on precarious generators; street lights are on again; children can study and play more; and families have more cash in hand to meet their daily needs," says Nikolay Mladenov in his briefing to the Security Council.

"These improvements, however, are temporary. They provide much-needed relief, but can do little to reverse the long-standing, structural problems affecting Gazoo, driven by years of crippling closures and Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, control," he adds.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Is Baghdadi hiding in this ISIS stronghold in Syria?
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Just like Kurdish officials and their allies in Syria hid intelligence information related to the Beatles terrorist cell which slaughters foreigners, and which the Syrian Democratic Forces held two of its members since the beginning of this year, they once again abstain from revealing the whereabouts or fate of ISIS leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart...
A prominent Kurdish official commented in a British news report that the Syrian Democratic Forces managed to locate Baghdadi and monitor him. He told Al Arabiya English that what was published "is a mere intelligence piece of information that was conveyed to them via a journalist." The official thus neither denied nor confirmed the report.

Syrian Democratic Forces spokesperson Kino Gabriel refused to comment on these reports but military sources said there was a great possibility that Baghdadi is present in the Syrian town of Hajin near Deir az-Zour, which is close to the border with Iraq.

Deir az-Zour military council spokesperson Lilawa al-Abdullah told Al Arabiya Englsih that most ISIS fighters in Hajin and its surroundings have different nationalities, and they are among the organization’s most important commanders.

"It’s possible that Baghdadi or those close to him are in that area. The Syrian Democratic Forces monitor the movement of most ISIS members who are besieged in Hajin and who cannot easily escape," Abdullah said.

"We seek to completely end ISIS in Syria all the way to the Iraqi borders where its last stronghold is. The campaign against it is ongoing after it was halted as a result of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor....
’s attacks on populated areas," she added.

"Ever since the campaign resumed, our fighters launched major attacks against ISIS and they’ve managed to destroy a command headquarters and kill dozens of them," she also said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish-Arab factions supported by Washington in the war against ISIS, holds hundreds of ISIS members in their prisons, including two members of the Beatles cell, including their wives and children.

Abdulkarim Omar, the head of foreign relations in the Kurdish-led area, had told Al Arabiya English that these detainees are a burden and pose a security threat, calling on the international community to take serious measures to find a solution.

Authorities in North Syria are not trying these ISIS members, and are demanding that they be handed to their governments for trials. This is unlike the case in Iraq where the judiciary sentenced more than 300 ISIS fighters to life in prison or execution.

The Deir az-Zour military council, a faction affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces, announced launching the al-Jazira Storm campaign in May to liberate the eastern countryside of Deir az-Zour from the organization. The council is resuming the campaign’s second phase, which it dubbed "defeating terrorism."

Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Regime change will ‘soon’ come to Iran, a US political magazine predicts
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A change will be "soon" coming to the current Iranian regime and US policies would have nothing it, according to an American bimonthly international affairs magazine.

The National Interest claimed that not the US sanctions, nor the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as "the Iran Deal," are going to bring change to the current Iranian regime.

Bur rather, it predicts that the eventual death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who is the ultimate power in Iran, will put the Islamic Theocratic Republic in hot waters.

This change is inevitable, it says, given that the supreme leader is 79 years old today. And wether he passes in a month, a year, or more, Iran will face an unprecedented "succession crisis".

Khamenei is constitutionally the commander-in-chief of the Iranian armed forces. He is referred to by his followers as "nayeb-e Imam" or ’deputy to Imam’.

The magazine says that while US policy makers focus on Iran’s elected leaders, such as President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign minister Javad Zarif, Khamenei "monopolizes all substantive decisions. He rules for life."

In 2014, he underwent a surgery for prostate cancer. At the time, authorities used Khamenei’s account to tweet out a photo of the supreme leader in the hospital, likely an attempt to begin preparing the Iranian public for the inevitable. But Khamenei recovered.

This forthcoming transition, as Khamenei’s lifetime nears an end, will be different from the one the followed Khomeini’s death -- the only transition since then.

Khamenei was elected by the Assembly of Experts as the new Supreme Leader on 4 June 1989, at the age of 49.

Within the context of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, the magazine says Khamenei drove his legitimacy from Khomeini’s pre-death blessing.

Today, the magazine says Khamenei "neither has the standing nor the charisma to ensure his choice, whoever it may be".

It added that whoever is going to fulfill the position will survive an "inevitable infighting" among Iran’s several powers.

There are other scenarios which could complicate succession, it said.

"There is no constitutional timeline for Iran’s Assembly of Experts to meet, creating uncertainty and an opening for groups like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to consolidate control.

"If the Assembly of Experts does meet, but there is no single consensus candidate, it is possible that the Supreme Leadership could pass to a council instead of an individual."

In Iran, it said, a leadership council "would exacerbate instability as it takes factional fighting to a new level."

Posted by: Fred || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Head of Northern Command: ‘Hezbollah building infrastructure in Syrian Golan’
[Ynet] Maj.-Gen. Yoel Strik, Head of the Northern Command, said that "although Assad is stabilizing, we still face challenges," and added that "Hezbollah is building infrastructure in the Syrian Golan."

Strik also referred to Iranian involvement in Syria: "We can see Iranian attempts to base themselves around the country."
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/20/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Terror Networks
U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy Risks Irrelevance in Face of Adapting Threat
[Free Beacon] The U.S. counterterrorism strategy has not kept pace with the ever-evolving threat of jihadi extremism, yielding short-lived military victories against terrorists at the potential cost of losing the broader war, according to a new study.

Despite the constantly morphing nature of Islamist extremism, the U.S. approach to defeating groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic States has changed little from that established in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the American Enterprise Institute found in a report released this week.

"The U.S. approach to countering the Salafi-jihadi base has yielded fleeting results because the foundational understanding of the enemy is wrong," the report said. "Military victories against groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq certainly eliminated the terrorist threat to the United States from that group for a time, but have proved insufficient to prevent the return of a threat."

Katherine Zimmerman, an AEI research fellow and author of the report, said the "crack in the foundation" of American counterterrorism strategy is the "oversimplification of the enemy into a series of discrete groups." She said U.S. policy largely ignores the fact that Islamist extremists do not exist primarily to attack America or Europe, but to replace the governance systems of Muslim-majority countries with their hardline vision of governance and Islam.

"America's view of the enemy still centers on the terrorist threats that specific Salafi-jihadi groups pose to the United States homeland or American interests," Zimmerman wrote. "It misses that these groups are part of a global movement that persists beyond the defeat of specific organization or death of a set of individuals."

Zimmerman said U.S. and European government officials and analysts wrongly point to the jihadi movement's reprioritization away from attacking Western countries toward establishing itself in local communities as a sign they have weakened. Rather, Islamist extremists move closer toward their overarching goal of regional hegemony by currying local support.

She noted that the jihadi movement assesses its success on its ability to transform society locally rather than its ability to attack globally‐"the exact inverse" of how the United States assesses its counterterrorism strategy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/20/2018 02:32 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "It misses that these groups are part of a global movement that persists beyond.....

It "misses" nothing. The Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) was intentionally deleted from our lexicon by Obama and Co.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/20/2018 3:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Cause you never really wanted to wage war?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/20/2018 6:46 Comments || Top||

#3  During WWII a massive military build-up and mobilization got underway in the United States. New car production was halted and factories were converted to the war effort. Hundred, possibly thousands of new factories both large and small sprang to life. Employment boomed for both men and women during the war years. After the war ended, most of these factories were shuttered.

As victory approached, some of the former defense workers were heard to have said, "I hope the war never ends."

~ Our business is war, and business is good.
anon


Total victory is the enemy of 'endless wars.' It always has been.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/20/2018 7:09 Comments || Top||

#4  As victory approached, some of the former defense workers were heard to have said, "I hope the war never ends."


Coming out of the Great Depression, with its lack of jobs and excess of hunger, the anxiety is understandable. And as I recall, a small depression did follow the end of the war, as factories switched over to civilian products and masses of demobilized troops flooded the employment market.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/20/2018 8:24 Comments || Top||

#5  the jihadi movement's reprioritization away from attacking Western countries toward establishing itself in local communities is a sign they have weakened.

However, once they have established themselves locally, they will attack globally.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 11/20/2018 11:16 Comments || Top||

#6  We really should ask ourselves how the Romans would handle them. I'm sure the answer is there.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 11/20/2018 22:18 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2018-11-20
  Daesh suffers devastating defeat as Syrian Army liberates entire Al-Safa region
Mon 2018-11-19
  Key Taliban commanders among 7 detained by Afghan Commandos in Takhar
Sun 2018-11-18
  43 civilians killed by anti-ISIS coalition strikes in east Syria
Sat 2018-11-17
  Taliban kill 30 policemen in Farah province
Fri 2018-11-16
  Saudi Arabia will BEHEAD Khashoggi killers
Thu 2018-11-15
  Maute brothers' teen cousin surrenders in Mindanao
Wed 2018-11-14
  Ceasefire Goes Into Effect In South Following Unprecedented Rocket Barrage
Tue 2018-11-13
  Gaza factions agree to cease fire if Israel halts attack - Palestinian official
Mon 2018-11-12
  IAF have begun air strikes on Gaza.
Sun 2018-11-11
  Yemeni forces 'seize Hodeidah's main hospital' amid air raids
Sat 2018-11-10
  Yemeni forces, Saudi-led coalition launch 'vast' Hodeidah push
Fri 2018-11-09
  One dead after Melbourne knife attack being treated as terrorism - ISIS claims actions of known wolf
Thu 2018-11-08
  Syrian Man Gets Life in Prison for Making Parts in IEDs Used Against U.S.
Wed 2018-11-07
  Trump says Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigns
Tue 2018-11-06
  Election Day open thread

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