[IsraelTimes] The military is working to systematically demolish the web of shafts it says would be used in an Oct. 7-style attack on the north
A tunnel in southern Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force was recently demolished by combat engineers, the IDF said Saturday. The military described the underground passage as one of Radwan’s central tunnels in Lebanon, which included a command center, a weapons depot, rooms to reside in, scooter bikes, and other equipment. Next to the tunnel, the IDF said troops also located dozens of weapons and equipment belonging to Hezbollah.
Additionally, more than 50 other tunnel shafts and three other major tunnels were demolished by combat engineers under the 91st Division in southern Lebanon, the IDF said. According to the IDF, more than 100 tons of explosives were used to demolish the four tunnels.
Israeli forces have spent much of the past year destroying Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ’s vast underground network in 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 a rusty 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... . They are now focused on dismantling tunnels and other hideouts belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Scarred by Hamas’s deadly massacre into Israel last year that sparked the war in Gaza, Israel says it aims to prevent similar atrocities across its northern border from ever being carried out.
The military has combed through the dense brush of southern Lebanon for the past two weeks, uncovering what it says are Hezbollah’s deep attack capabilities — highlighted by a tunnel system equipped with weapons caches and rocket launchers that pose a direct threat to nearby communities.
Israel’s war against the Iran-backed terror group stretches far inside Lebanon, and its Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in recent weeks have killed more than 1,700 people, about a quarter of whom were women and kiddies, according to local health authorities. The IDF estimates that more than 1,500 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the conflict so far.
But its ground campaign has centered on a narrow patch of land just along the border, where Hezbollah has had a longstanding presence, in violation of UN resolutions.
HEZBOLLAH HAS DEEP TIES TO SOUTHERN LEBANON
Hezbollah, which seeks Israel’s destruction, is the Arab world’s most significant paramilitary force. It began firing rockets into Israel a day after Hamas’s devastating onslaught on October 7, 2023. After nearly a year of tit-for-tat fighting with Hezbollah, and warnings it would not tolerate the terror group’s continued presence on the border, Israel launched its ground invasion into southern Lebanon on October 1 and has since sent thousands of troops into the rugged terrain.
Even as it continues to bolster its forces, Israel says its invasion consists of "limited, localized and targeted ground raids" that are meant to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, so that tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return home. The fighting also has uprooted more than 1 million Lebanese in the past month.
Many residents of southern Lebanon are supporters of the group and benefit from its social outreach. Though most fled the area months ago, they widely see the heavily armed Hezbollah as their defender.
That broad support has allowed Hezbollah to establish "a military infrastructure for itself" within the villages, said Eva J. Koulouriotis, a political analyst specializing in the Middle East and Islamic terror groups. The military says it has found weapons within homes and buildings in the villages.
A LAND OF TUNNELS
With Israel’s air power far outstripping Hezbollah’s defenses, the terror group has turned to underground tunnels as a way to elude Israeli drones and jets and prepare its attacks against Israeli communities. Experts say Hezbollah’s tunnels are not limited to the south.
"It’s a land of tunnels," said Tal Beeri, who studies Hezbollah as director of research at the Alma Research and Education Center, a think tank with a focus on northern Israel’s security.
Koulouriotis said tunnels stretch under the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah’s command and control are located and where it keeps a stockpile of strategic missiles. She said the group also maintains tunnels along the border with Syria, through which it smuggles weapons and other supplies from 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... into Lebanon.
Southern Lebanon is where Hezbollah maintains tunnels to store missiles — and from where it can launch them, Koulouriotis said. Some of the more than 50 Israelis killed by Hezbollah over the past year were hit by anti-tank missiles.
In contrast to the tunnels dug out by Hamas in the sandy coastal terrain of Gaza, Hezbollah’s tunnels in southern Lebanon were carved into solid rock, a feat that likely required time, money, machinery, and expertise.
An Israeli military official said that using prior intelligence, Israel had found "hundreds and hundreds and hundreds" of underground positions, many of which could hold about 10 operatives and were stocked with rations. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military rules, said troops were blowing up the tunnels or using cement to make them unusable.
The group used tunnels during the monthlong 2006 Second Lebanon War, but the network has been expanded since, defying a United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... ceasefire resolution that compelled Lebanese and UN forces to keep Hezbollah out of the south.
In mid-August, Hezbollah released a video showing what appeared to be a cavernous underground tunnel large enough for trucks loaded with missiles to drive through. Hezbollah operatives were also seen riding cycle of violences inside the illuminated tunnel, named Imad-4 after the group’s late military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in Syria in 2008 in a kaboom blamed on Israel.
HEZBOLLAH’S TUNNELS COULD BE HINDERING ISRAEL’S MISSION
Israeli troops are pushing through southern Lebanon using tanks and engineering equipment, and air and ground forces have struck thousands of targets in the area since the invasion began.
The military recently said it found one cross-border tunnel that stretched just a few meters into Israel but did not have an opening. Israel also exposed a tunnel shaft that was located about 100 meters from a UN peacekeepers ’ post, although it wasn’t clear what the precise purpose of that tunnel was.
Israel says the tunnels are stocked with supplies and weapons and are outfitted with lighting, ventilation, and sometimes plumbing, indicating they could be used for long stays. It says it has arrested several Hezbollah terror operatives hiding inside, including three on Tuesday who were found armed. The Israeli military official said many Hezbollah operatives appear to have withdrawn from the area.
Lebanese military expert Naji Malaeb, a retired brigadier general, asserted that Hezbollah’s tunnels were preventing Israel from making major gains. He compared that achievement to the war in Gaza, where Hamas has used its tunnels to bedevil Israeli forces and stage insurgency-like attacks. Nevertheless, Israel has managed to largely dismantle Hamas’s fighting capabilities in Gaza.
Israeli authorities insist the mission in Lebanon is succeeding. The military assesses it has killed hundreds of Hezbollah operatives in the ground operation (and a total of 1,500 in the conflict), while 17 Israeli soldiers have been killed during that time.
Israel has encountered Hezbollah’s tunnels before. In 2018, Israel launched an operation to destroy attack tunnels that crossed into Israeli territory. Beeri said that six tunnels were discovered, including one that was 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) long and 80 meters (87 yards) deep, crossing some 50 meters into Israel.
AN OCTOBER 7-STYLE INVASION
For Israel, the tunnels are evidence that Hezbollah planned what it says would be a bloody offensive against communities in the north.
"Hezbollah has openly declared that it plans to carry out its own October 7 massacre on Israel’s northern border, on an even larger scale," IDF front man Rear. Adm. Daniel Hagari said the day troops entered Lebanon.
Former Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , who was killed by Israel last month while in an underground bunker, had signaled in speeches that Hezbollah could launch an attack on northern Israel.
In May 2023, just months before Hamas’s massacre, Hezbollah staged a simulation of an incursion into northern Israel with rifle-toting gunnies on cycle of violences bursting through a mock border fence bedecked with Israeli flags.
Related: Another Times of Israel article has video of what more than 100 tons of explosives looks like when blowing up a Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force tunnel in south Lebanon.
”Stop being so mean to people we like better than you.”
[IsraelTimes] The United States would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around the Lebanese capital of Beirut, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says.
“The number of civilian casualties have been far too high,” he tells reporters at a G7 defense gathering in the Italian city of Naples. “We’d like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut, and we’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
#5
Israel has been following the US advice for nearby 30 years and are still no closer to peace than at the start. Time to do what the US has forgotten Lloyd. Win a fucking war.
[IsraelTimes] Police say they have arrested a man suspected of sharing a fake video claiming to show a hostage rescue after the IDF repeatedly denied rumors about an operation to free captives held in Gaza.
[KhaamaPress] Siros Amanollahi, Commander of Iran’s Northeastern Ground Forces, announced that the border closure project with Afghanistan will take three years to complete.
He stated that the project has made significant progress in various areas and that the necessary resources for its acceleration have been provided.
Iranian media, quoting the commander of the Northeastern Regional Headquarters of Iran’s Ground Forces, reported that the border project would span 300 kilometres and be carried out by four engineering groups and the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s ground forces.
The operation to close the Iran-Afghanistan border includes the construction of a four-meter-high wall. Additionally, artificial intelligence technology will enhance the border’s security.
The border closure project also includes installing warning radars and using drones for surveillance and monitoring.
Earlier this month, Iranian officials announced progress in building the Afghanistan border wall, stating that 10 kilometres of the wall had been constructed so far.
The border closure project in northeastern 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... began in May 2024, and Iran has allocated three billion euros for its implementation.
Iranian authorities have stated that this measure aims to prevent illegal immigration, the movement of terrorists, and drug trafficking across the borders.
Despite these efforts, the challenges posed by cross-border issues persist, with concerns over increased tensions between the two countries. As winter approaches, the need for robust border control is becoming more critical, particularly with the anticipated rise in migration.
[KhaamaPress] An amateur Irish historian named Brian Cleary has discovered a short story by Bram Stoker, the author of the famous novel "Dracula," after it had been missing for 134 years.
The story, titled "The Gibb’s Hill," was last seen in 1890 at the National Library of Ireland before it disappeared.
Bram Stoker, the Irish writer best known for creating the horror novel "Dracula," wrote this story early in his writing career. In this work, he explored themes central to his later works, such as the battle between good and evil.
The story was written during the early stages of Stoker’s work on "Dracula" and also deals with the struggle between good and evil. The discovery of this lost work offers readers new insights into Stoker’s development as a writer and his path towards creating his famous novel.
"The Gibb’s Hill" is set to be published alongside artworks by Irish artist Paul McKinley. The proceeds from its sale will be donated to a fund dedicated to researching infant deafness.
This remarkable discovery will also be featured at the Bram Stoker Festival in Dublin, further celebrating the life and works of the iconic Irish author.
The story’s rediscovery highlights the ongoing fascination with Stoker’s legacy and adds a new chapter to his literary contributions.
The discovery will also be highlighted at the city’s Bram Stoker Festival later this month.
#1
There are only two hits for a search on "The Gibb's Hill" and "Bram Stoker", and the Khaama Press site is one of them. The BBC says it's titled "Gibbet Hill".
#2
I was just really impressed that a little English-language news site in Afghanistan thought it worth reporting, Cochiti. Thank you for the correction.
[IsraelTimes] Reports say suspect is Libyan national who entered Germany in November 2022 and was denied asylum last year; arrest came after alerts from unspecified foreign intelligence services
German security forces arrested a Libyan national on Saturday on suspicion of planning a terror attack on Israel’s embassy in Berlin, according to the Bild daily.
The news outlet reported that police commandos had stormed a flat in Bernau north of Berlin in the evening and taken the 28-year-old man into custody.
The report said the suspect was collared in a town near the German capital and is believed to be a supporter 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.... terror group, adding that the arrest came after alerts from unspecified foreign intelligence services.
The Spiegel daily said the man was identified only as Omar A. and that he would face a judge on Sunday.
Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, thanked German authorities for "ensuring the security of our embassy" in a message on the social media platform X.
"Moslem antisemitism is not limited to hateful rhetoric, but fuels global terrorism," he wrote. "Israeli embassy staff are particularly at risk because they are on the frontlines of diplomacy."
Attacks targeted the Israeli embassies in Copenhagen and Stockholm in early October.
In early September, Munich police rubbed out a young Austrian man known for his links to radical Islamism after he shot up the Israeli consulate and on police.
More than 3,200 crimes motivated by antisemitism have been recorded by police in Germany in the last year since early October of 2023, roughly double the figure for the same period last year.
’THREAT LEVEL HIGH’
Bild said that in Saturday’s operation, a second flat was searched and witnesses were questioned at an apartment block in Sankt Augustin near the western city of Bonn. The flat belonged to the suspect’s uncle, who was not detained and was treated as a witness, it said. It was believed the alleged ISIS follower may have planned to head there after the attack before fleeing the country.
Bild said the Libyan man was thought to have entered Germany in November 2022 and to have made a request for asylum the following January, which was rejected in September 2023.
With the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) making ground in regional elections, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has toughened its stance on new arrivals. Germany has vastly extended border controls to the frontiers with all nine of its neighbors, temporarily suspending elements of the EU’s free movement rules.
The German parliament approved on Friday curbs to the benefits offered to asylum seekers, as Berlin followed other European countries in taking a stricter line on migration. MPs backed plans to withdraw social support from asylum seekers who were already registered in another EU member state and are slated for deportation.
[IsraelTimes] As tensions with Tehran escalate, Alma Center pundits urge drying up the supply of weapons to Shiite terror group; warn that terrorists could lay hands on Assad’s chemical arsenal
In early September, Israeli special forces reportedly carried out a raid on a weapons facility in the Masyaf area in northwestern Syria, killing at least 14 people and wounding 43.
According to international media and unconfirmed Hebrew-language reports, the operation was particularly daring. Security sources quoted by Greek Middle East expert Eva Koulouriotis state that Israeli helicopters reportedly did not land but instead hovered above the target as special forces rappelled down ropes, landed on the ground, seized equipment and documents and destroyed the structure.
The site had been targeted various times in the past. The Masyaf area houses facilities of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, known by its French acronym CERS (Centre d’études et de recherches scientifiques), which has branches throughout Syria.
Israeli experts say the CERS network was converted into a military structure in the hands of Iran. The Masyaf area in particular hosts six sites of CERS’s Institute 4000, which focuses on the development and production of the precision middle-range projectiles used by Hezbollah.
In a position paper published in March, the Israeli Alma Research and Education Center, a nonprofit funded by private donations that focuses on security on Israel’s northern border, recommended a wide-scale strike on all CERS facilities in Syria. In a recent interview with The Times of Israel, Tal Beeri, the director of Alma’s Research Department, who served for decades in IDF intelligence units, reiterated the advice, in light of the ground offensive the IDF has launched in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... , and escalating tensions with Tehran.
The CERS network officially serves as Syria’s national military industry apparatus, and employs around 20,000 people among researchers, engineers and military officers in at least 18 facilities spread throughout the country, according to the Alma Center.
The specialized CERS Institute 4000 produces UAVs, bombs and propellant fuels, and also works to upgrade the military capabilities of other Iran-backed militias in Syria and Lebanon, Alma wrote in a recent report.
In recent years, 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... has reportedly extended its control over CERS and Institute 4000 in particular, with the dual goals of developing a better arsenal for its proxies and significantly shortening the weapons supply chain to Hezbollah.
"Delivering missiles by land from Iran through Iraq and Syria can take days, and the deliveries are exposed to Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on the way," said Beeri. "By sea, the shipping takes 11 days, and by air, the amounts that can be sent are limited."
"CERS has become a strategic asset for Tehran, as it saves the logistical effort of transferring weapons from Iran. In addition, Iran sees it as a ’growth engine’ for the development and production of weapons such as precision missiles and drones for Hezbollah and militias in Syria," Beeri said.
The March position paper recommended a wide-scale strike on all Syria-based CERS facilities because such an attack would "greatly affect Hezbollah’s efforts to recover, rearm and restore its military capabilities," Beeri said.
Furthermore, it would send a strong signal to the Islamic Theocratic Republic, as tensions escalate between Jerusalem and Tehran following the October 1 massive launch of about 200 ballistic missiles from Iran at Israel.
Beeri said it is not clear why such a large-scale preemptive attack on CERS sites has not yet been conducted, adding that some of the facilities are located underground.
The September raid of the Masyaf CERS center that many attribute to Israel was probably "significant" even though its exact scope is unknown, Beeri said. But all strikes against the weapons research and development network have been "attempts to contain the fire, not to extinguish it."
"The strikes have not undermined Tehran’s determination," he added.
The main site of Institute 4000 in the Masyaf area had already been severely damaged in an airstrike attributed to Israel in August 2022. Syrian media reported that firefighting aircraft had been scrambled to extinguish the fires in the area, which were still burning nearly two days after the attack, suggesting the presence of flammable chemicals.
Determined to pursue its use of the structure, Iran almost immediately took on the reconstruction of the site, contracting construction companies connected to its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Alma Center.
ASSAD’S CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN HEZBOLLAH’S HANDS
Chemical weapons are an integral part of the Syrian regime’s arsenal, even though the country committed to their destruction in 2013 by joining the Chemical Weapons Convention.
According to international reports, Assad’s army has used them against rebels in the years after its alleged disarmament, and as recently as 2018 in Douma, outside Damascus. Some of its anti-insurgency operations involved the use of the lethal Sarin nerve gas.
"We cannot exclude a scenario where these substances fall into the hands of Hezbollah. It’s not very likely but it’s possible," Beeri said. The Alma Center published a report on this scenario in August.
The use of such substances by Hezbollah is not considered probable at the current stage because their handling and storage require specific facilities and know-how.
"We know for sure that Syria has them, but we don’t know about Hezbollah," said Beeri.
However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... if the Lebanese terror group was bent on conducting chemical warfare against Israel, it would have other options.
"Chlorine, for instance, is a very primitive substance, commonly used for civilian and industrial purposes. It can be easily obtained, easily stored and inserted inside the heads of mortar shells and rockets, and it’s lethal. Even ISIS in Syria used it against Assad forces," said Beeri.
SMUGGLING ROUTES INTO LEBANON
Another way for Israel to prevent projectiles manufactured in Syria from falling into the hands of Hezbollah is to cut off the supply chain that leads into Lebanon.
To that effect, the IDF recently conducted aerial strikes against border crossings between the two countries, chief among them the Masnaa crossing, located on the highway between Beirut and Damascus, to prevent trucks from using it while still allowing displaced people fleeing Lebanon into Syria to do so. Trucks transporting bugs and gas moving about in Syria? Who knew?
On October 4, the IDF also targeted a two-mile tunnel that crossed under the border and was used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah.
However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the Shiite terror group still has "enormous amounts of weapons" at its disposal, stockpiled in various locations throughout Lebanon, Beeri said.
"Even Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... today, one year into the war, still manages to launch missiles sporadically. Even with the army inside 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 a rusty 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, it still manages to produce some small amounts of projectiles," Beeri said.
Hezbollah entered the war with far larger stockpiles of weapons than Hamas, distributed over a much larger area than the Gaza Strip, and will be able to sustain a war of attrition with Israel for a long time.
"Even after the outbreak of the war, we know that Hezbollah continued to receive Iranian weapons. They fired brand-new Almas missiles manufactured in 2023," the expert added.
"We need to halt the supply chain in order to start to dry up the swamp of Hezbollah’s arsenal, but it will be a very long-term effort," he said.
#3
Beo is right and we knew, despite the press lies, that the weapons facilities, at least the mobile ones, were moved. I hope Israel cleans up on this before they stop. When you attack an objective you dont stop when you get to it, you fight through it and decimate any remains. Infantry 101...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/20/2024 11:51
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[IsraelTimes] Demand has surged for voyages to Turkey that normally only carry cargo, as residents say this is ‘currently the safest option’
Hassan Alik, fleeing escalating violence in the Israel-Hezbollah war, left Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... on Saturday aboard a ship to avoid Beirut’s airport, which he feared "could be bombed" at any moment.
The 31-year-old traveled to the northern port of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast, which has so far been spared Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s during a month of intense fighting across much of the tiny country.
And though Lebanon’s only international airport has not been hit either, Israel’s military last month warned it could strike there to stop weapons transfers to the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, which has been launching daily attacks on Israel for over a year.
Since then, many Lebanese seeking safety abroad have favored the 13-hour sea trip to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... aboard cargo ships adapted for passengers, instead of flying from Beirut’s airport, which was targeted during Israel’s last major war with Hezbollah in 2006.
"I’m traveling from here because I’m afraid to go through the airport," said Alik at the Tripoli port.
"If I buy a plane ticket, the airport could be bombed," said the man from the densely packed south Beirut suburbs — a Hezbollah stronghold that has seen heavy bombardment over the past weeks.
With the exception of national carrier Middle East Airlines, most companies have stopped serving Beirut’s airport due to the violence.
’NOT SAFE’
The massive ships at the Tripoli port used to carry cargo to Turkey’s southern shores five times a week, but about a year ago they started carrying passengers too, selling tickets for about $350, said captain Salem Jleilati.
But demand has soared since the conflict intensified in September, from about 150 passengers a week to at least 900, he said.
Muammar Malas, 52, from Lebanon’s north, said he "chose to travel by boat because it’s difficult to reach the" airport in Beirut, which is "very close to the southern suburbs," a Hezbollah bastion.
The cargo vessels are not designed to carry passengers, "but we are forced to use them," said Malas.
More than one million people have fled the violence across Lebanon, officials have said.
Mohammad Hawar, 22, has been displaced twice, first from the southern city of Nabatiyeh — which saw intense Israeli strikes this week — and then from south Beirut.
"The best thing to do now is flee Lebanon," he told AFP as he boarded the boat.
Passenger Israa Sweidan, a Paleostinian woman from the nearby Beddawi refugee camp which has also been targeted by strikes, said the sea journey out of Tripoli was "currently the safest option in Lebanon."
[SudanTribune] Residents of areas in northern Khartoum Bahri that remain outside of army control are facing a dire situation, with reports of renewed violence by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), acute food shortages, and a deadly outbreak of disease, local sources told Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... Tribune on Friday.
These sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said RSF fighters have returned to the Halfaya suburb, where they are conducting house-to-house searches, arbitrarily detaining, beating, and humiliating civilians accused of collaborating with the army.
This comes after the army declared it had seized control of Halfaya and the surrounding areas of Kadru and al-Azirqab in a late September offensive. However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the RSF subsequently released videos showing their continued presence in the southern part of Halfaya, which borders the Shambat neighbourhood.
The RSF has imposed a blockade on southern Halfaya and the al-Samrab neighbourhood, cutting off access to essential supplies and leading to widespread hunger. Adding to the suffering, a lack of medical care has allowed an unidentified fever to spread rapidly, claiming lives, including an entire family — a father, mother, and two children — in al-Samrab.
"People are dying here from fever. There is no medicine, no way to get help," one resident of al-Samrab told Sudan Tribune.
Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck slipped the habañero into the roasted jalapeño... in Shambat, the RSF has re-established checkpoints, severely restricting movement. Residents are unable to reach the central market to buy food or cross the Halfaya bridge to safety in Omdurman. Those remaining rely on handouts from community kitchens and fear being caught in the crossfire as the army attempts to push southwards.
"We are trapped," a Shambat resident explained. We can’t get food or medicine, and we are terrified of the fighting coming here."
"People are starving," one source said. "Families are dying from fever because there is no medicine and no way to get to a doctor." In the al-Samrab neighbourhood, an entire family — a mother, father, and two children — reportedly perished from an unknown illness within two days.
An army source, who also asked not to be named, revealed that an army truck was hit by a Kornet anti-tank missile fired from an RSF position in Shambat on Thursday. The source added that the RSF is using high-rise buildings in the area as sniper nests and launching pads for attacks, hindering the army’s advance.
The RSF has held most of Khartoum Bahri since the conflict erupted in mid-April. This latest report paints a grim picture of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in areas where they retain control, highlighting the urgent need for increased aid access and a cessation of hostilities.
[GeoTV] Security forces apprehended five bully boyz — or "Khawarij" — in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Pishin, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday.
During the operation, a large number of weapons, ammunition, and explosives, including three boom jackets, were seized from the faceless myrmidons involved in multiple terrorist attacks who were planning to target security forces as well as innocent civilians, added the military's media wing.
The development comes amid security forces' ongoing efforts to curb the scourge of terrorism which has witnessed a notable spike in recent times.
As per the third quarterly report (Q3) issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the total fatalities from three quarters of this year have surpassed the total fatalities recorded for the entire of 2023 with 1,534 deaths compared to last year's 1,523.
A total of 722 people were killed, including civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, while 615 others were maimed in as many as 328 incidents recorded during the third quarter.
Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been on the forefront of the country's war against terror and have faced the brunt of terror attacks.
Separately, the ISPR also said that the security forces carried out an IBO in Balochistan's Zhob district on Thursday wherein two khawarij were eliminated and weapons and ammunition were recovered during the sanitisation operation.
Security forces of Pakistain remain steadfast in their commitment to eradicate terrorism from the country and protect innocent civilians from this menace, added the ISPR.
Lauding the security forces' efforts, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the officers and soldiers.
"The entire nation including myself, pays tribute to the brave Pakistain Army soldiers and officers for purging the country from Fitna al-Khawarij," said the premier, adding that the entire nation stood united with the armed forces in their mission to thwart the ambitions of country's enemies who wish to spread unrest and stability.
The recent IBO's come after security forces, last week, neutralised four bully boyz in two separate intelligence-based operations in KP districts.
[SudanTribune] Tens of thousands of people have fled to Chad after Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias attacked 13 villages in northwestern North Darfur state, tribal leaders said on Friday.
Earlier this week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that due to the intensifying conflict in Darfur, close to 25,000 people arrived in eastern Chad in the first week of October alone. That’s the highest number of new arrivals this year within a week. Chad is host to over 600,000 Sudanese refugees — that’s more than any other country.
Adam Mezza, a Zaghawa tribal leader, told Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... Tribune that 40,000 people fled to the border with Chad after the RSF and allied militias burned 33 villages in Kutum locality.
He said most of the displaced have arrived in the border town of al-Tina, where they face a dire humanitarian situation due to a lack of aid.
"They are living in the open without shelter," Mezza said, adding that he had contacted authorities and aid organizations to appeal urgent humanitarian assistance.
He accused the RSF and allied Arab militias of widespread abuses and crimes against the displaced, most of whom are from the Zaghawa ethnic group, including ethnically motivated killings and looting of property and livestock.
There are fears that the conflict between the army and the RSF in North Darfur could escalate into ethnic violence due to sharp polarization between population groups in the region.
Arab tribes support the RSF, while African tribes, including the Zaghawa, support the army and allied armed movements.
The festivities in northwestern North Darfur are an extension of the fighting that has been taking place in El Fasher since May. Two weeks ago, the area witnessed bloody confrontations between the RSF and a mobile force belonging to the joint force of armed movements.
[Breitbart] Former President Donald Trump told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview on Sirius XM that his rally at Madison Square Garden next weekend sold out in mere hours.
Trump joined Breitbart News Washinton Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle for a 25-minute-long special report interview Saturday. When asked what Americans can expect at Sunday’s rally in the Big Apple, Trump emphasized that it will be a sold-out event.
“We sold it out in less than three hours. But people are going to come anyway. We have big screens outside. It’s going to be unbelievable. So come anyway. I mean, come, maybe you get in, I don’t know, but it sold out very quickly,” Trump said. “It’s fantastic. It’s going to be fantastic.”
Madison Square Garden has a vibrant history with American sports, entertainment, and politics. It was the sight site of the “Fight of the Century” between Muhammid Ali and Joe Frazier in March 1971, the historic game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, and the 1994 New York Rangers’ Stanley Cup victory.
Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and the Rolling Stones are some of the music titans who have graced the new Garden with their talents, while it has hosted several Democrat National Conventions and one Republican National Convention in 2004. And, of course, the old Madison Square Garden, which closed in 1968, was where Marilyn Monroe sang the most memorable iteration of “Happy Birthday” in world history to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
Trump first told Breitbart News back in December 2023 that he was considering renting the Garden for a rally.
“I may rent Madison Square Garden, and that’s the belly of the beast, right?” he said.
And while Trump looks forward to a magical night on New York’s biggest stage, he has plenty of other big rallies in store, including Saturday in Pennsylvania.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A Marine veteran accused of fatally choking a homeless man on a train will face a jury this week in an effort to fight charges that could land him in prison for 19 years.
And when Daniel Penny's high-powered legal team mounts his defense, the eyes of the nation will be watching: were his actions a selfless act of heroism, or a cruel show of violence that left a relatively harmless man dead?
The 24-year-old launched at Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely,
...a homeless schizophrenic who had 40 prior arrests including violent attacks, and was loudly working himself up to attack riders in that car, in part because of the apparently interesting drugs in his bloodstream...
30, as the homeless man went on a wild rant on the train car in New York City on May 1, 2023.
Witnesses testified that Neely was behaving erratically, screaming and threatening people. Penny held a squirming Neely in a chokehold for six minutes until he lost consciousness.
Police who were first to the scene performed CPR - but only after several minutes had gone by and they had first administered a shot of Narcan, it emerged in court during a pretrial hearing earlier this month.
Neely was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Penny pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, and his legal team attempted to have the charges dismissed back in January.
A jury trial kicks off on October 21, and Penny's defense will argue he intervened to protect himself and other passengers from Neely's 'insanely threatening' actions amid a rash of subway assaults and other crimes in the subway system over the past two years.
Neely, who was homeless, was a former Michael Jackson impersonator and had been battling mental illness in the years leading up to his death. Well, he really had the MJ thing down, then
The case itself has divided the public. Some agree that Penny acted heroically in the best interest of himself and fellow passengers' safety, while others say it was a blatantly excessive show of force toward a mentally ill, homeless black man.
KEY FOOTAGE MISSING FROM EVIDENCE
A tourist couple who were on the train and witnessed the incident are reportedly unwilling to turn over footage which Penny's lawyers believe would be 'incredibly favorable' for the former marine.
Back in September, the judge revealed the couple 'declined to testify in the Grand Jury, having gone back to their home in Europe someplace' and have also 'so far refused to share the video that they took.'
'They refused to share it with the DA, or with anyone else, and they are so far refusing to come back to testify,' Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley said.
NARCAN OVER CPR
During a pre-trial hearing on October 3, one of the officers who was first on the scene revealed that CPR was not performed on Neely right away, despite indications he was still alive.
Instead, they administered a dose of Narcan, the medication used to reverse opioid overdoses.
Prosecutors have been at pains to argue that Neely's past conduct and substance issues are not relevant to the case, but the admission gave the defense ammunition to argue that drug use played a factor in how he was treated by officials in his dying moments.
STATE ACCUSES PENNY OF EXCESSIVE FORCE
While prosecutors have previously accepted that Neely's behavior made some passengers fearful, they argue Penny held him down for significantly longer than was necessary.
Assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass wrote in an earlier court filing that at least one witness described Neely's ramblings as 'like another typical day in New York.'
He argued that the F train they were traveling on arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette station and the door opened less than 30 seconds after the chokehold started.
'Passengers who had felt fearful on account of being trapped on the train were now free to exit the train,' Steinglass said.
'The defendant continued holding Mr Neely around the neck.'
Steinglass said second degree manslaughter only requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally.
LINKS BETWEEN DA AND PENNY'S DEFENSE
Penny's defense attorney has personal history with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Thomas Kenniff was the Republican nominee campaigning for the DA job against Bragg back in 2021, following the retirement of Cyrus Vance Jr.
Kenniff was always a long shot given the Democrats significantly outnumbered Republicans in Manhattan.
He attempted to argue that Bragg was too soft on crime for the office, and was concerned he would implement 'lenient' policies which could ultimately worsen the crime rate.
Related: there is a GiveSendGo for Mr. Penny here.
[FoxNews] Nearly one-quarter of adults over 50 have used cannabis in the past year, a poll found.
While cannabis has historically been more popular with younger groups, a growing number of older adults are turning to the drug for a variety of reasons — but are the potential benefits worth the risk?
A recent poll by the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging found that among people 50 years of age and older, around 21% said they have used a form of cannabis that contains the psychoactive compound THC at least once in the past year, and 12% use it on a monthly basis.
Dr. Barbara Krantz, medical director of Older Adults Program, Withdrawal Management and Chronic Pain for Caron Treatment Centers in Florida, said her practice has seen a "significant uptick" in the use of cannabis by individuals over the age of 50.
"In our patient population at Caron, nearly all patients in our Older Adult Program have admitted to trying cannabis in some form," she told Fox News Digital. "So, it is very common."
Krantz outlined the following 10 potential dangers associated with cannabis use for older adults.
Increased risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, stroke, increased hypertension and tachycardia
Interaction with other medications, which can increase their toxicity or decrease their effectiveness
Worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Accidental poisoning from ingestion
Balance issues that can lead to falls and breaks
Delayed reaction times that impair driving and cause accidents
Increased confusion or cognitive impairment
Psychosis
Increased anxiety, depression or anger
Surgery-related risks, including complications due to anesthesia and delays in healing
#1
In my state it is legal. I get up a lot at night due to IBD. But yet I sleep pretty good with a couple of gummies. Much safer than prescription or otc sleep aids.
#2
Speaking truth to power comes at a cost. If the Bots and haters on line are all she has to deal with, she is all good.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/20/2024 11:48
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#3
I don’t agree with her in most regards but in this case I am in agreement with Lizzo’s dark prophecy.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/20/2024 12:37
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#4
Lizzo left Detroit for Houston in 1998 and I don't think she has ever lived in Detroit since then.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
10/20/2024 15:22
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#5
Kamala wants us all to be equal and she wants to destroy "white supremacy." When both of those goals have been accomplished the whole country will indeed look like Detroit.
Posted by: Difar Dave ||
10/20/2024 18:45
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[FoxBusiness] Of the top 12 insurance companies in CA, only five are still writing new policies.
Wildfires have burned more than one million acres in California so far this year. That is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island.
Natural disasters like that have insurance companies abandoning some areas entirely, not just in California, but also in states including Texas, Florida, Oregon and Colorado.
"Our premiums more than doubled, but our coverage was cut in half. So, this was the perfect storm of bad," said Steve Archer, president of the HOA for his community in La Cañada Flintridge, California.
Of the top 12 insurance companies in the state, only five are still writing new policies. One local insurance company blames California’s regulations.
Archer says folks in his community have tried to protect the area from disaster.
"We have new roofs on every one of our buildings here. We've done a lot of extensive tree trimming. We have inspected every fireplace …to install spark registers. We've installed seismic shut-off valves that are tripped by an earthquake in order to stop the gas flow," said Archer.
Farmers Insurance has covered the community for two decades. But in July, the company called it quits. That left the community scrambling for coverage.
"After an intensive search, we ended up with a California Fair Plan, which is kind of the last resort for people who can't get insurance elsewhere…So our premiums went from 70,000 to 170,000. Our coverage was $45 million -- liability coverage and wildfire insurance for our homeowner's association, common area and our buildings. And…the fair plan has a maximum coverage of 20 million," said Archer.
This means less coverage for more money.
"We've seen some people's insurance go from $2,000 to $6,000 a year for their homeowner's policy, some to eight. And these aren't big houses. These are kind of normal," said Rick Dinger, president of Crescenta Valley Insurance.
Of the top 12 insurance companies in the state, only five are still writing new policies. One local insurance company blames California’s regulations.
Right now there's a ton of regulations for an insurance carrier. If they want to raise the rates, they submit the rates. The Department of Insurance, it can take three years. Well, those rates, they're worthless. But, you know, they're outdated. They're not really where they need to be. And a lot of times, the insurance commissioner would come back and wouldn't give them the rate they need," said Dinger.
Looking ahead, the National Interagency Fire Center projects parts of Southern California and Texas to have an above normal risk for November.
[Conspiracy Sarah] "I’ve been fighting and been saying that that company was going to explode. No one listened. " Whistleblower Kenny Johnson walked out of his testimony and promptly died on the steps of the capital.
I’d like to thank Ryan Christian from TLAV and Sage Hana for being some of the only people continuing to cover this catastrophic event.
That is still happening.
Right here.
Where I live.
The following 4 minute video is the October 8 testimony of Rockdale County Soil and Water Supervisor, Kenny Johnson, 62. He collapsed and died shortly after giving this testimony, while still at the capitol building. Cause of death has still not been released as of this writing (October 19).
#2
Interesting how the Media, Biolabs and the various government agencies played down or outright avoid the Mustard Gas it generated.
Then there is a Epstein solution and missing Biolabs donations reports.
Either the list of acknowledged chemicals from the fire.
Primarily Chlorine. Chlorine is a chemical that is used in disinfectants or cleaning products (such as bleach) and is used to disinfect things such as drinking water and swimming pools.
At one EPA testing station on Tue, 10/01/24, testing data showed chlorine levels in the air were over 62 times the EPA limit.
Georgia Tech professor Sally Ng reported a peak 1,400-times increase compared to regular levels.
Other Chemicals in the plume include:
* Chloramine, a disinfectant used to treat drinking water,
* Chlorine compounds,
* Hydrogen Chloride,
* Hydrogen Sulfide,
* Bromine, an alternative chemical used in spa/pool treatments,
* Trichloroisocyanuric acid,
* PM2.5 – category of fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller,
* E2I2 stated they were seeing rates of PM2.5 that were almost 650% greater than the recommended EPA level for humans,
* Chloramine, a disinfectant used to treat drinking water.
* Various Chlorine compounds,
* Hydrogen Chloride,
* Hydrogen Sulfide Bromine,
* Trichloroisocyanuric acid,
* PM2.5 – category of fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.
* and E2I2 stated they were seeing rates of PM2.5 that were almost 650% greater than the recommended EPA level for humans.
#6
I love Brookhaven, the convenience, walk to Dresden and eat well at Arnette’s restaurants and then there’s Buford Hwy, the greatest gastronomical experience in the country, BuHi’s farmers market is incredible
The city police are looking for stuff to do, this spring an “arborist”, kept putting me off after our down payment, 3 weeks of no shows and excuses. I go to city hall show them the texts, he’s in the hoosgow that day, the next I have money orders refunding my deposit
[X]
Hezbollah-affiliated sources reported that Bassel Shokur, a senior commander in the Radwan force, was eliminated in recent fighting with Israel. Shokur was also involved in the 2006 kidnapping of soldiers Goldwasser and the late Regev.
#2
What did it cost to build the tunnel infrastructure, Grom? What did it cost to supply the destroyed weapons, train the dead and maimed men now useless for the purpose?
Relatedly, How much did Nasrallah, et all have socked away in private bank accounts, and can Israel hack them? Ditto for Hamas, not to mention the several million in Israeli shekels found in Yahya Sinwar’s hideaway — that’ll come in handy in paying for a small part of the war he started.
#5
You have to explain these things up front, Grom, or I’ll keep completely missing the point. I was surprised, too, but as I have no sense of money value, I wasn’t sure if I should be.
Over the last year, when the U.S. or one of its allies was poised to take a significant military action against #Iran's regime and its proxies, strange things have happened.
Anonymous U.S. officials appeared in media outlets trying to distance Tehran from an attack. We saw this…
#10
It is hard for me to discern whether our government hates the Jews more than it hates the American people.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/20/2024 13:00
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#11
Per RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar, a U.S. intelligence source has indicated the documents in question were leaked from the Pentagon’s office of low-intensity/special operations — notably, the office where Ariane Tabatabai works. - Insty post.
I'd highly to reassign the entire office to Fort Wainwright, AK. It's just coming into its season right now.
#12
#11 is likely a result of #3-but I submit it is tiny formatting or punctuation errata that works better than content for tracking. In any event, what is done to the leaker is what matters. If you cannot severely discipline those who have access to our closest secrets, you can never be trustworthy.
[AA.COM.TR] The Nigerian army killed 101 holy warriors in the last week in operations that targeted Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , 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.... 's West Africa Province (ISWAP) and criminal gangs, an official said Friday.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, confirmed that the military conducted operations across various regions of the country in the last week.
Buba said a Boko Haram commander was neutralized in the operations.
Additionally, 157 individuals held captive by the holy warriors were freed and 182 holy warriors were arrested.
The military seized 71 weapons, two vehicles and a large amount of ammunition.
Nigeria has long struggled with attacks from armed gangs, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, particularly in parts of the country.
Despite the death penalty for kidnapping, ransom abductions remain common, especially in the northern regions, where villages, schools and travelers are frequently targeted for ransom.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2024
00:36 ||
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[11172 views]
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Now that she is free and home, we learn more about the travails of the brave young lady kidnapped by ISIS, the first two versions of whose tale we read here — in the article and comments.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by Islamist terrorists aged 11 has given a harrowing account of her years in captivity and the brutality she faced as a sex slave at the hands of ISIS before being trafficked to Gaza.
Fawzia Amin Saydo,
… previously appeared in the Rantburg archives spelt Fawzia Amin Sido …
now aged 21, was snatched from her home in Sinjar, Iraq, along with dozens of other children and women, whose babies she said were slaughtered by the terrorists.
The group were starved for four days before being handed plates of meat and rice, Fawzia said. Desperate for food, they consumed what was on the table, but soon began to have stomach ache and feel sick.
'When we were done, they told us that the meat was from the babies,' Fawzia said. 'There was a woman who had a heart attack at that moment and died.'
She told The Sun that the ruthless terrorists taunted the group with pictures of beheaded kids and babies, allegedly telling them: 'These are the kids you ate.'
One of the women is said to have recognised her own baby from the pictures by its hand, Fawzia is said to have recalled in her horrifying testimony.
Taken from her family in 2014, Fawzia went on to endure a decade in captivity, first being bought and sold as a slave in Syria.
As a 12-year-old in 2015, she was forced into marriage with a 24-year-old Palestinian ISIS supporter, according to Israeli media. Living in Raqqa, the child bride gave birth to two children, a boy and a girl. In 2019, her husband was reportedly killed during Islamic State's last stand in the Euphrates River Valley.
Fawzia and her children were sent with other families to the Al-Hawl camp in northern Syria, a site which held some 10,000 people at the time and which had notoriously grim conditions. From there, with the help of IS, she was smuggled into Turkey to be under the 'protection' of her dead husband's family, who are then believed to have sent her via Egypt into Gaza in 2020.
Fawzia said she was subjected to horrific treatment by her husband's family, who she said regularly beat her and restricted her freedom. She also told The Sun that she had been treated as a 'sabaya' - or slave - by Hamas. During this period, she became separated from her two young children, according to her German lawyer Zemfira Dlovani, who said they were 'taken' from their mother.
'It hurt her of course, every mother knows how it feels to not be with with their children. That was not her choice. It is not an option for them to be reunited,' Dlovani said.
Other reports have suggested that Fawzia's children were also trafficked to Gaza, but had to be left behind by their mother in her desperate attempt to escape, knowing that they would not be accepted into the Yazidi community as the product of rape.
In August 2023, after almost ten years of suffering away from her family, Fawzia managed to get help through a plea on the internet. In an emotional TikTok video, in which she wore a hijab and covered part of her face with a crying emoji, she reportedly said: 'I hope you can rescue me from this place... If anyone comes and enters Palestine, no matter the location, I will go to them.'
She got in contact with a lawyer and other intermediaries, who helped to organise an operation to extract her from Gaza. Led by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Cogat, the Israeli agency that works in Gaza and the West Bank, it involved meticulous planning.
On October 1, Fawzia finally received the phone call she had been waiting for - telling her that help was on the way. She was instructed to flee to a hideout to be picked up by a vehicle which was sent to bring her out.
'The young girl was extracted from the Gaza Strip in recent days in a secret operation through the Kerem Shalom crossing,' the IDF said in a statement earlier this month.
'After crossing into Israel, she was taken to Jordan via the Allenby Crossing and then on to her family in Iraq.'
Canadian Jewish philanthropist Steve Maman, dubbed by some as the 'Jewish Schindler' due to his efforts to rescue Yazidis from ISIS captivity, said he was among those who helped to organise the incredible feat. Maman shared a heartwarming video after news of her rescue broke, which he said showed Fawzia reuniting with her family shortly after the news broke that she was finally free.
'I made a promise to Fawzia the Yazidi who was hostage of Hamas in Gaza that I would bring her back home to her mother in Sinjar,' Maman wrote on X.
'To her, it seemed surreal and impossible but not to me, my only enemy was time. Our team reunited her moments ago with her mother and family in Sinjar.'
Fawzia's rescue is said to have been achieved after several failed attempts, as well as years of diplomatic discussions and planning. After her rescue was confirmed, Hamas released a statement claiming Fawzia had been willingly living in Gaza - and only wanted to leave because of the war. She hit back labelling this 'a lie', and said she is now happy and can 'breathe again' at last.
More than 6,000 Yazidis were captured by IS from Sinjar region in Iraq in 2014, with many sold into sexual slavery or trained as child soldiers and taken across borders, including to Turkey and Syria. Over the years, more than 3,500 have been rescued or freed, according to Iraqi authorities, with some 2,600 still missing. Many are feared dead but Yazidi activists say they believe hundreds are still alive.
Posted by: Credit to Fred ||
10/20/2024
00:29 ||
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#1
a "24-year-old Palestinian ISIS supporter"
a traditional by-the-book follower of the exact example of the prophet mohammad
#2
The "allenby crossing" named to remind us all of the British "lawrence of arabia" idiots who let the saudis control the oil and gave Jordan and Iraq to the Hashemites (and syria but they lost that quick to the french installment).
And then blocked the Jews from fleeing ww2 putting them in a concentration camp on cyprus
and then when the arab muslims declared war on israel in 1948 they sent a million pounds a year and 27 officers to advise the Jordanian military, trying to wipe israel out
oh yes, britain of the "balfour declaration" thanks to those idiots. Those puffed up purple-faced gin-addled idiots flattered by the "romance" of islam that they didn't have the brains to understand was a threat to their entire way of life
[X-IDF]
Fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force attacked a short time ago, under the precise intelligence guidance of the Intelligence Division, a number of munitions warehouses and the headquarters of the intelligence headquarters of the terrorist organization Hizbullah in Da'ha in Beirut
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר, בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין, מספר מחסני אמצעי לחימה ומפקדה של מטה המודיעין של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדאחייה שבביירות>> pic.twitter.com/RSwesXrVli
[NYPOST] A man in Greece was given a suspended one-month prison sentence for sneaking into his neighbors' homes at night and smelling their shoes. Rex Ryan?
The 28-year-old sniffer, who told the Thessaloniki court he couldn't explain his foot fetish, was in essence put on probation and ordered to seek therapy.
He went on to explain that the unusual act did cause him plenty of embarrassment — and it was not his intention to harm anyone or break the law.
Neighbors testified to the fact that he never showed any signs of hostile behavior.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2024
00:19 ||
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[11160 views]
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[X] Google Translate: Fighter jets of the Air Force together with the forces of the 7338 fire brigade under the 91st division attacked and killed the terrorist Hossein Muhammad Owacha, commander of a battalion in the Bint Jabeel area of the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Ouacha was responsible for promoting firing lines from a number of villages in the Bint Jabal area to the territory of the country
>>
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר יחד עם כוחות חטיבת האש 7338 תחת אוגדה 91 תקפו וחיסלו את המחבל חסין מחמד עואצ׳ה, מפקד גדוד במרחב בינת ג׳ביל בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה. עואצ׳ה היה אחראי על קידום מתווי ירי ממספר כפרים במרחב בינת ג׳בל לשטח הארץ>> pic.twitter.com/iPHqBmYeJ1
A few highlights for each city — more at the link.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Terrifying new research has laid bare how notorious Venezuelan super gang Tren de Aragua's criminal tentacles have spread across America.
Members of the violent migrant gang TdA have crept into the US hidden among the one million Venezuelan migrants who have entered the country during the Biden administration.
Arrest data shared with DailyMail.com has now revealed that the tattooed gangsters are operating in even more US cities than originally feared - with San Antonio, Texas, the latest hub of activity.
Dubbed the 'epitome of evil' and 'MS-13 on steroids', police investigations showed that the mob is behind a spiraling crime wave across the US, with members accused of murders, violent assaults on cops and sex trafficking women.
'MS-13, they were never organized; Tren de Aragua is a transnational criminal organization from the bottom to the top,' Colorado's former ICE director John Fabbricatore told DailyMail.com.
'These guys right here [in the US] - they're sending money back to leaders in Venezuela. They're set up shop like a corporation - it is the like the mafia. What it took MS-13 to do in like a ten-year period, Tren de Aragua has been able to do in less than a year,' he added.
EL PASO, TEXAS
Texas' largest city to straddle the US-Mexico border has been called the epicenter for TdA activity by state law enforcement officials.
As DailyMail.com exclusively reported, El Paso's Mexican sister city, Juarez, is the gang's new headquarters.
From its base on America's doorstep, gang members move back and forth between the US and Mexico, federal sources tell DailyMail.com.
Texas' sixth largest city, the busiest border crossing for most of 2022 and 2023, has also been used as the entry point for many TdA members.
In March, a rare riot on the border was orchestrated by TdA, in which a migrant mob overwhelmed Texas National Guard members, kicking and overpowering armed soldiers at a border crossing in El Paso, the governor of Texas said.
AURORA, COLORADO
Most of the nation first learned about Tren de Aragua when a video of armed men storming an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, surfaced in late August.
While local leaders initially denied there was a gang problem in the Denver suburb, they later admitted the international crime ring had taken control of additional apartment complexes in the area.
By September, Coffman acknowledged Tren de Aragua was in the city limits, but continued to claim their presence was isolated to just those three apartments.
However, a July 3 letter to the city manager obtained by DailyMail.com detailed a meeting between the Aurora Police Department, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations or HSI to discuss the gang problem at the three properties owned by CBZ Management.
'In that meeting, it was disclosed that our situation is not an isolated event, but numerous other multi-family projects in the City of Aurora and throughout the State of Colorado are subject to the same gang control,' disclosed CBZ management's attorney.
A special regional task force between Aurora cops, Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Bureau of Investigation was created on August 19 to take the cartel down.
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
TdA has been caught replicating its Aurora criminal model San Antonio, Texas.
Law enforcement sources confirmed TdA had been operating at the Palatia Apartments for five to six months, squatting in empty units they either rented out to other migrants, used as a base to deal cocaine or, most horrifically, as prostitution dens to pimp out women and children.
However, DailyMail.com can reveal that this apartment invasion is just the tip of the iceberg, with at least three additional rental properties also occupied by the criminal organization.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
The gang's exploits in the Big Apple have garnered much media attention, with two TdA mobsters charged over beating New York City police officers earlier this year.
The gang has been found to have taken part in cell phone thefts on mopeds, participated in thefts at stores, and have sold a pink, powdery drug known as Tusi, according to the New York Times.
As of September, the police had officially identified 24 Tren de Aragua members in the five boroughs, with the department explaining individuals had to self-identify as being part of the criminal network in order to be counted.
'Do we think that there's only 24 TDA members in New York City? That would be silly,' Chief Joseph Kenny told the publication. 'Obviously there are more.'
Just days ago, NYPD warned of the gang's growing power in Gotham.
'Right now what we have, I like to call a "perfect storm" of sorts. We have individuals, tremendously brazen, absolutely ruthless individuals that have committed a multitude of crimes with basically no repercussions,' NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Savino of the detective bureau told Fox 5.
'What started out as a robbery crew...20 individuals arrested for upwards of 50 robberies. Out of those 20 individuals, every single one of them is on the streets today.'
Savino went on to explain how the notoriously clever and adaptable crime ring is recruiting kids to do their dirty work because minors face little or no legal consequences if caught.
TdA is operating mostly in Times Square with a splinter group called 'Los Diablos de la 42' (or the devils of 42nd Street in Spanish) setting up shop on 42nd Street.
SAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
A motel murder has been pinned on TdA in a wealthy enclave of Connecticut that's considered a New York City suburb.
Gregory Marlyn Galindez-Trias, 24, and Moises Alejandro Condollo-Urbaneja, 22, have been accused of shooting Angel Samaniego, 59, at a Super 8 Hotel before fleeing the state, reported Fox News.
Investigators arrested them at a train station in New York State where they were traveling with their two children aged three and one.
ATHENS, GEORGIA
The man accused of killing a Georgia nursing college student has also been linked to the criminal enterprise TdA.
Jose Ibarra, 26, is charged in the death of the Laken Riley, 22, who was beaten to death while out running on the University of Georgia campus in February.
It is unclear if TdA is active in other parts of the Peach State but officials are concerned.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WISCONSIN
Unexpectedly, TdA has also popped up in the northern state of Wisconsin, where police said they are 'confident' a gang member beat and sexually assaulted a woman in September.
Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, 26 of Venezuela, found his way to the small town of Prairie du Chien, about two hours outside of Madison, Wisconsin, when he went to spend time with the woman he later assaulted.
'Based on our investigation, we can confirm that Mr. Coronel Zarate entered the United States in September of 2023 at or near the El Paso, TX point of entry,' the cops said.
'Since that time, he has been arrested in Minneapolis, MN on November 17, 2023, for receiving stolen property. He was charged with Strangulation/Suffocation, False Imprisonment, Battery, and Disorderly Conduct in Dane County, WI on December 1, 2023.'
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Venezuela's most infamous export has been operating in Chicago since October 2023, according to NewsNation.
Described as a 'new threat developing amongst the newly arriving immigrant community,' the professional criminals have followed the thousands of law-abiding Venezuelans who have made the Windy City their final destination.
TdA is known to hide among its own law-abiding, asylum-seeking countrymen - not just to blend in, but to also exploit their own people.
MIAMI, FLORIDA
In South Florida, two Venezuelan migrants who police believe have TdA allegiance are accused of killing a former Venezuelan police officer in a Miami surbub.
Authorities claimed Yurwin Salazar and Julio César Hernández Montero lured victim Jose Luis Sanchez-Valera, 43, to a hotel where he met with a woman last November.
Surveillance video showed Sanchez-Valera left the hotel. But then three men were seen following him in another car before forcing him from the driver's seat and into the back seat of his SUV.
The next day, Sanchez-Valera's blood-splattered SUV was found on the side of the road.
OTHER TEXAS CITIES
In Dallas, a violent home invasion has been linked to TdA where a woman was pistol-whipped and threatened with having her fingers cut off if she didn't show armed goons where her valuables were stashed.
Manuel Hernandez-Hernandez, 28, is one of four men police in Texas believe took part in the September 21 home invasion.
He illegally entered the country near El Paso in March without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by an immigration officer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told DailyMail.com.
In Houston, state police announced the arrest of confirmed gangster Jorgenys Robertson Cava, 32, earlier this year.
Local cops have also been working to establish whether the brutal murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray is tied to the group.
Houston also has a large Venezuelan population concentrated in the Katy suburb, which has earned it the nickname 'Katyzuela.'
In the Lone Star State, there is legal threshold for anyone to be classified as a gang member by the cops, with police around the state stating that simply having tattoos associated with a group is not enough.
Texas has offered $5,000 to anyone with information on gang members.
Reports can be made anonymously by calling Texas Crime Stoppers at 800-252-TIPS or on the Texas Department of Public Safety website, according to the department's social media accounts.
The Iranian Embassy at the UN denies responsibility for the assassination attempt on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming: "Hezbollah was behind it."
The primary proxy, the tentacle Iran created, funded, armed, trained, and now controls in all its operations, is…
“Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, we have shot down missiles targeting Israel, we were among the first to recognize the state of Israel and we will always be on Israel’s side.” pic.twitter.com/p7WHWkhRhT
#3
Probably the politician looked at posted by Jewish Voice for Peace, and assumed it made the post ok, Elmerert Hupens2660. Even more Germans have never met a live Jew than Americans. I can’t tell you how often PTA moms came up to me with questions after we moved to the outer suburbs of Cincinnati — even in Cincinnati, home of Hebrew Union College, the Reform (most liberal) rabbinic seminary, I was their first to talk to. They all were really sweet about it, but these were questions that had haunted them since childhood Sunday school lessons, and they’d never had anyone to ask. Not just outer suburbs in the Midwest, either. Mr. Wife grew up in the city of Lackawanna, on the edge of Buffalo, NY, and he didn’t knowingly meet any of us until he went to university — we talked about it, because at the time he was my first born-again Christian, so we both had lots of questions. ;-)
Foreign Minister Israel Katz says his ministry will take “legal and diplomatic measures” against French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to bar Israeli companies from presenting at the Euronaval defense exposition in Paris next month.
In a French-language post on X, Katz calls the boycott “an anti-democratic measure that in our eyes is not acceptable, especially between friendly nations.”
“Israel is the only state on the front lines in the fight against the radical Islamic regime, and France, along with the entire Western world, should stand with us – not against us,” says Katz.
An Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that Jerusalem will take the issue to French courts, where they will claim illegal discrimination by Macron.
First the poor man mistook his basic history, now it’ll be day after day of court reports stirring up the colonists, unless he backs down. He may need to rethink his arms sales boycott as well… I believe this is what Heinlein referred to as bad luck.
[Garowe] At least 30 al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... Lions of Islam were killed on Saturday morning following fierce festivities between the Somali National Army (SNA) and the terrorist group, officials said, hinting that several fighters were also critically injured during the encounter.
The operation was activated by the SNA team along with local forces, backed by the militia, who have been integral in the fight against al-Shabaab. The security team targeted Qay’ad village in Mudug, just within Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... state in central Somalia.
Military sources told the state media that over 30 Lions of Islam were neutralized during the encounter, the highest number in as many months. Over 40 Lions of Islam maimed during the battle are suspected to have retreated to Elbur town.
The fight also left Mohammed Bashir Muse and Maaday Foodey dead, ending their reign of terror in central Somalia. The two have been coordinating al-Shabaab activities within the fragile central regions of the Horn of Africa nation.
"In a successful operation by the National Army and local forces in Qay’ad, Mudug resulted in the deaths of nearly 30 al-Shabaab terrorists, including top leaders Mohammed Bashir Muse and Maadey Foodey," a statement from the state media confirmed.
"Over 40 maimedmurderous Moslems retreated to areas near Elbur," the statement further read, acknowledging the support of the local militias.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... al-Shabaab released images purportedly showing its fighters ambushing SNA units near El-dher town in central Somalia’s Galgadud region, claiming that it had killed 36 soldiers in the attack. They could not substantiate the claims.
The government of Somalia had announced total war against the al-Shabaab krazed killers, with the operations leaving close to 4,000 fighters dead. The al-Shabaab Lions of Islam are fighting to topple the fragile UN-backed federal government of Somalia.
[Breitbart] A record number of businesses are “on the edge of collapse” in Britain as the left-wing Labour Party government in Westminster is reportedly set to impose the largest tax hike in modern history.
According conducted by the Begbies Traynor business advisory firm , 632,756 companies in the UK are experiencing significant financial difficulties that may force them to close down their operations.
This represents a 32 per cent increase over this time last year, and a 5.1 per cent jump since the leftist government of Sir Keir Starmer came into power in July.
The research found that the construction, property, and support services sectors were struggling the most under the current economy, the Daily Mail reports.
It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly set to unveil the biggest tax hikes in her autumn budget. Part of her plan may potentially include an increase in the contributions bosses have to pay the state in National Insurance for employees.
The mere threat of large tax increases have already seen many wealthy people decide to leave the country for more business destinations such as Dubai or Swetz.
Meanwhile, in an apparent bid to sure up union support the government is also looking to push through a new “worker’s rights” bill, which business owners fear will make the hiring process more difficult.
The impending legislation has faced criticism for a controversial clause which free speech campaigners warn could force businesses to hire “banter police” with the leftist government seeking to make it a requirement that businesses be held responsible if a third party claims to have been offended.
Posted by: Frank G ||
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Those Jews. Giving something good and useful to the world, distilled from the utter viciousness they survived.
[IsraelTimes] Sheba Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University researchers surprised to find alcohol caused more psychological problems than psychedelics on survivors of Hamas’s Oct. 7 rave massacre
Researchers at Sheba Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University say that being under the influence of alcohol — and not drugs — worsened the psychological impact of Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ’s horrific attack at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
On October 7, 2023, about 4,000 civilians were attending the open-air music and dance festival near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel when hundreds of Hamas-led gunnies burst through the border from Gazoo and rampaged murderously, slaughtering 364 people amid other atrocities, including gang rape and mutilation of victims.
That was just at the festival. More were killed and kidnapped elsewhere.
During the Hamas ambush on the outdoor rave, festival attendees were forced to act quickly; some escaped by running away, while others hid for hours to survive. At the time of the attack, a significant proportion of the participants were under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
"Alcohol consumption led to increased anxiety, stress and depression," said Dr. Nitza Nakash, Director of the Clinic for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at Sheba Medical Center, who conducted the study with Prof. Mark Weiser, Prof. Joseph Zohar, Prof. Raz Gross and medical student Tal Malka.
The research was co-authored by Ben-Gurion University Prof. Hagit Cohen with contributions by BGU students Gal Levi and Yarden Dejorno of the psychology and pharmacology departments.
"The people who were under the influence of alcohol had higher rates of post-traumatic symptoms, depression, anxiety and disassociation," Weiser told The Times of Israel.
The findings were published in the prestigious peer-reviewed World Psychiatry around the first anniversary of the attack.
HOW DID ALCOHOL AND DRUGS IMPACT THE STRESS OF SURVIVORS?
October 7 saw some 1,200 Israelis killed and 251 taken captive into Gaza. Some of those kidnapped were dragged away from the music festival, with their abductions shared on social media.
Sheba Medical Center treated 232 survivors from one week to two months after the festival. The researchers sought to identify how alcohol and recreational drugs impacted the cognitive and stress response to the horrific event.
Researchers chose 126 survivors who met certain criteria, ruling out additional traumas and previous history of mental health disorders. The average age of the participants was 28; more than half were men. Additionally, 57.7 percent reported using psychoactive drugs at the festival, including MDMA, cannabis and LSD in various combinations.
"We hypothesized that psychedelic drugs would cause higher levels of anxiety among the survivors," Cohen told The Times of Israel. "But alcohol affected people’s memory motor skills and increased the risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)."
Weiser said the researchers also expected people who used drugs to be hyper-vigilant, more alert and more aware of their surroundings so that the attack would "hit them more directly."
"But we were wrong," Weiser said. "Alcohol and not drug use was associated with higher rates of post-traumatic symptoms, depression and anxiety."
Alcohol also caused survivors to have a greater sense of dissociation, which is when people become detached from their feelings or report feeling numb.
The researchers believe that disassociation disrupts the processing and integration of traumatic memories. It could increase the probability of developing PTSD because trauma-related memories persist in a fragmented and unprocessed state.
"You have a memory of what happened, and you’ve got to process and internalize this," Weiser said. "You don’t forget about it because it happened, but you have to find a way to give it a place in your mind so that you can move on with your life."
The researchers hypothesize that alcohol interferes "in the normative, healthy consolidation of memories to keep them in the place that they should be," he said.
People at the festival who did not use any drugs or alcohol had significantly less difficulty coping with the trauma, the researchers said.
’PROGRAMMED TO SURVIVE’
Israelis are concerned about young people in the aftermath of October 7 and the war, Weiser said.
"These unfortunate young people were exposed to a very severe trauma," Weiser said. "Many of them do need our help, but the majority are not psychiatrically impaired, even though they’ve been exposed to the most horrible traumas you can imagine."
He emphasized that research shows that most people who are exposed to trauma, no matter how severe, will be okay.
"We’re programmed in our DNA to survive," he said.
[ShabelleMedia] An explosion rocked the city of Kismayo ...a port city in the southern Lower Juba province of Somalia, at the extreme southern end of the country (always assuming Somalia can be called a country). It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region.... last night when armed assailants lobbed a grenade into a crowded restaurant at the Golol intersection, causing significant destruction and injuring at least six civilians, local officials confirmed.
The attack, which occurred in the heart of the Jubaland regional administration’s current seat, underscores the persistent security challenges facing the port city. The perpetrators managed to flee the scene.
... as though they had never been... before security forces arrived to investigate, according to reports from reliable sources.
The incident adds to the series of bombings and targeted liquidations that have occasionally plagued Kismayo, with al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... , a Death Eater group still active in southern Somalia’s Juba region, suspected of involvement in such attacks.
Witnesses described a scene of chaos following the earth-shattering kaboom, with injured individuals rushed to nearby medical facilities for treatment. The exact condition of the victims was not immediately disclosed.
Security forces have launched a manhunt for those responsible, with heightened patrols expected in the area as part of efforts to prevent further attacks.
The government has pledged to intensify its operations against al-Shabaab, aiming to restore lasting peace and security to Kismayo and the broader Jubaland region.
Looking at the photo at the link, I think the spokespersons may have been overestimating again. Big contrast to the hundreds of thousands they started with, a year ago.
[IsraelTimes] About 500 activists gather for an anti-government, pro-hostage deal protest on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, outside the IDF headquarters.
This week’s protest on Begin Road is unaffiliated with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which resumed its weekly rallies at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square rather than Begin Road today. The Tel Aviv protests were paused in late September amid IDF Home Front restrictions due to the intensified fighting in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... The Begin Road rally typically features overtly anti-government slogans and is attended by hostage relatives who are more outspokenly critical of the government.
"If there is no deal, we’ll burn the country down, this is the last chance," protesters chant.
Several members of the crowd hoist banners from left-wing groups, including Breaking The Silence, which collects testimonies of alleged human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... abuses from soldiers who served in the West Bank; binational socialist collective Standing Together; and Israeli-Paleostinian women’s movement Women Wage Peace, whose founder Vivian Silver was murdered at her home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... onslaught on October 7, 2023.
Using trucks, police cordoned off an area for the protesters in front of the Kirya army base. On the sidewalk, activists sell copies of "Mr. Abandonment," a compilation of essays by public intellectuals and hostages’ relatives criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A woman reads out the Home Command’s directions in case of a siren, reciting the its mantra: "remember, the Home Command’s instructions save lives."
"A deal also saves lives," she adds.
A deal with who, you feckless, vicious idiot? Nobody is in charge, and the spokesman yesterday said bluntly there will be no exchange for the hostages until Israel surrenders. Which means another 10/7 for your people and continued rocket barrages in the Galilee. Are you really so selfish that you demand the entire country suffer again just so you can feel a little bit better?
Relatives of hostages and thousands of protesters around the country Saturday night called on the government to leverage the killing of Hamas leader and October 7 architect Yahya Sinwar earlier this week to reach a deal for the return of the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
Parents, siblings, and other family members of hostages were present at several different protest locations, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize on the opportunity presented by Sinwar’s death to return their loved ones home while they are still alive.
“You got your revenge! Now bring consolation!” declared a large banner held by multiple protesters in Tel Aviv.
More dramatics were reported, but since they lacked giant plaster-of-Paris puppets, they are of no interest to us
[Rudaw] At least two "unofficial" border crossings on the Syrian-Lebanese border were targeted by Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s, a war monitor reported on Friday, with regional tensions high over a year after the Israel-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 a rusty 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... war.
"Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike targeting an unofficial crossing in the Qabash area near the Lebanese town of Qasr. Another Israeli airstrike targeted another crossing," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.
No information on casualties was readily available, the Observatory added.
Israel has recently intensified its strikes in Syria, targeting warehouses of the Syrian army and Iran-backed militia positions.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its over a decade-long civil war, often claiming to target pro-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... militias, such as Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... ’s Hezbollah group which supports the Syrian army.
The strikes have increased since October 7 of last year, when Paleostinian Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... bully boyz launched an unprecedented, large-scale attack on Israeli territory that has prompted significant retaliation.
Israel rarely confirms strikes attributed to it in Syria but has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.
Israel has carried out 115 strikes on Syrian territory since the beginning of the year, killing 257 combatants and injuring 181 more, according to data from the Observatory.
Or maybe it's misdirection instead of asshole Biden/Obama tools begging Iran?
That would be nice.
[RedState] A Telegram account with ties to the Tehran regime posted highly classified US intelligence about Israel’s plans for retaliation against Iran on Friday. The Middle East Spectator included a report by the Department "detailing operations carried out in recent days at several Israeli air force bases, including the transfer of advanced munitions that the report said were intended for attacks on Iran." According to CNN, one person in the intelligence community confirmed the authenticity of the documents, thereby raising the level of seriousness of the breach.
This is how Middle East Spectator describes the sequence of events, keeping in mind that this is a regime-owned account:
Middle East Spectator is an open-source news aggregator. We are independent journalists, and are not tied to any government entity or organization.
On Friday morning at approximately 01:15 AM Tehran time, one of our acquaintances received, through an anonymous source on Telegram who refused to identify himself, two highly classified U.S. intelligence documents, regarding preparations by the Zionist regime for an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We have no connection to the original leaker, and we are not aware of his identity. We also have no knowledge of the alleged authenticity of the documents.
Furthermore, we assumed that the documents had been floating around elsewhere on Telegram, making them a part of the public domain.
We reject attempts by various Zionist and American media outlets to intimidate the reporters of Middle East Spectator, who are exercising their full and inalienable right of press freedom. Free Palestine.
The information was from one of the most compartmented areas, the so-called Five Eyes—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This information was not shared with NATO or with regional allies. The Biden regime is trying to downplay the significance but is not doing a great job: Another US official said, "These two documents are bad, but not horrible. The concern is if there are more.”
Relations between Netanyahu and the White House are already tenuous, with Israel holding back on sharing its plans with Washington for fear that they will be leaked to Iran by Iran-friendly and Israel-hostile staffers.
Both the Obama and Biden administrations have shown such deference to Iran that many suspect they were seeded with Iranian agents or sympathizers.
Obama's deputy national security adviser and failed young adult novelist, Ben Rhodes, was denied a security clearance for nearly a year over issues that have never been fully explained but were rumored to center around his relationship with the Iranian government.
Odds are that if Tehran leaked these documents, they would be a sign that a) Tehran has a lot more intelligence on Israel's plans, b) they are leaking it to try to throw off Israel's planning cycle, and c) we have a highly placed Iranian mole somewhere in the Intelligence Community.
The two files were published by a pro-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... Telegram account, the "Middle East Spectator," which claimed they were sent by a source in the Pentagon and detailed US observations of measures taken by the Israeli Air Force on October 15-16 in the lead-up to an attack.
The documents have not been authenticated by news outlets, and the Pentagon and the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence have not officially commented on the alleged leak.
However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... reported that US authorities are investigating the apparent leak of highly classified information, citing three unnamed people familiar with the matter. The outlet quoted a US official casting the development as "deeply concerning."
Before that, a senior Israeli official told the Axios news site that the defense establishment was taking the leak very seriously. A US official said that the alleged leak, while extremely concerning, wouldn’t impact plans for an attack against Iran.
The documents, allegedly showing a visual intelligence report by the Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), noted observing IAF exercises using air-launched ballistic missiles (ALBMs), air-to-surface ballistic missiles, fighter jets, UAVs, and refueling tankers previously used during Israeli strikes on Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...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 legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. 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 They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... sites 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... According to the documents, the IAF has handled at least 16 Golden Horizon ALBMs and 40 IS02 (Rocks) ALBMs since October 8.
Posted by: NoMoreBS ||
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#1
Everything is in the open like it's never been. British Labour is campaigning for Kamala. UNWRA has declared for Hamas. Biden admits he's senile. The MENA leaders openly trying to kill each other. Leakers are trying to stop Netanyahu without trying hard to hide it. Boy oh boy.
[AnNahar] Russia says it has swapped 95 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian troops in an exchange deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
"As a result of the negotiation process, 95 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime," the Russian defence ministry said.
"In return, 95 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over," it said.
Kyiv has not confirmed the exchange but the human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... centre Zmina said a prominent Ukrainian rights activist, Maksym Butkevych, was freed in the swap, citing his father.
Butkevych, co-founder of the independent Hromadske radio station and also a Ukraine serviceman, was serving a 13-year sentence on charges of wounding two civilians while firing an anti-tank grenade launcher in the eastern city of Severodonetsk.
He joined the Ukrainian army in March 2022, was detained in June and convicted of war crimes by a court in Lugansk in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine in March 2023.
Despite ongoing hostilities, Russia and Ukraine have swapped hundreds of prisoners since the launch of Moscow's offensive in 2022, often in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... or The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... .
The last reported swap was in September, when 206 POWs were exchanged, in a deal also mediated by the UAE.
Earlier Friday, Kyiv said it had received the bodies of 501 soldiers killed fighting Russian forces, mainly in eastern Ukraine, as a result of repatriation measures.
Russian politician Shamsail Saraliyev told the RBK media outlet that Russia received 89 bodies of its soldiers in return.
Israeli settlers running amok. The thing is that there is usually a long-standing tit-for-tat going on, none of which is provided in the report to give the reader perspective.
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian media reports that extremist settlers have set fire to three houses, a poultry farm, and several agricultural fields in the central West Bank village of Jalud, near Nablus.
Jalud council head Raed Haj Muhammad tells the Palestinian news agency Wafa that several families who were picking olives in the area were unable to return home as a result of the fires.
Gunfire can also be heard in unverified videos of the blaze posted to social media.
#2
Given Vt's gun rights, I'm surprised the problem hasn't been corrected... must be all the migrants from NYC and Boston over the past 40 years are too timid to deal with it.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), in a now-deleted April statement, apologized and disavowed the spring remarks of one of its members, Khymani James, who fantasized about "murdering Zionists." One day after the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, however, CUAD released another statement withdrawing its apology, standing with James, and advocating for "liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance" while emphasizing in bold that "violence is the only path forward."
"It’s rare for potential perpetrators of violence, particularly school-based violence, to widely and publicly broadcast their intent in such a way as it becomes national news. But that’s exactly what Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a coalition of student groups, did on October 8, 2024," Ernst and Stefanik wrote in their letter, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, to James Dennehy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office. "These violent threats demand immediate attention and a thorough investigation to prevent any acts of terrorism."
CUAD also helped organize the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests that plagued Columbia in the spring, including the illegal encampments and a violent campus building takeover. Ernst and Stefanik, noting the student group’s involvement, said CUAD’s threats "aren’t idle and noted that the director of the Orthodox Union-Jewish Learning Initiative at Columbia and Barnard urged Jewish students to "return home as soon as possible and remain home" because "Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy."
"In light of the considerable violence occurring for which this group is already responsible, and Columbia University’s inability and unwillingness to police its own campus necessitating it to request the NYPD intervene, federal intervention is now necessary," the Republicans wrote.
Ernst and Stefanik also wrote that, according to an FBI tool, "The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective," CUAD’s threats and history make its most recent statements "a medium-level threat" that often "warrant investigation as a possible criminal offense."
#1
How much pro-hamas/Israeli hate is funded by Qatar? I heard the Columbia student body elected an Israeli student as student president while the usual boneheads were spouting their hate and nonsense.
Posted by: Difar Dave ||
10/20/2024 18:35
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[IsraelTimes] Suspected attacker, a 27-year-old Palestinian, dies in incident on Route 60 near Ofra settlement
A Paleostinian driver swerved into a parked armored police vehicle at high speed on Saturday in a suspected car-ramming attack in the West Bank, police said.
The driver was killed in the incident, and no coppers were maimed.
Security camera footage showed the car speed toward an armored vehicle and a police patrol car, as a number of officers stood around. Right before the car rammed into the police vehicle, a seemingly unaware officer stepped out of the way of the vehicle, narrowly missing being hit.
The incident occurred on Route 60 near the Ofra settlement in the West Bank.
Police said that "during an operational activity by the police of Judea and Samaria District on Route 60 near the settlement of Ofra, a Paleostinian vehicle collided with a police car, for a reason that has not yet been clarified at this stage. There were no casualties in the incident, police forces are on the scene."
Police later stated that the attacker was a 27-year-old Paleostinian from the Nablus area, and was alone in the car. They clarified that he was killed as a result of the collision.
Police said that a bomb squad was dispatched to the scene to inspect the vehicle, and that the incident was being investigated as a terror attack.
The Israeli army added that "IDF and security forces are continuing their operational activity in the area."
The incident comes with Israeli forces on high alert amid fears that the Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... terror group will try and carry out terror attacks to avenge their slain leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, who was killed by Israeli forces in 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 a rusty 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... this week.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 716 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or bully boyz carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 41 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Since October 7, the IDF has carried out more than 70 Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
[IsraelTimes] Ahmed and Alaa Omer are detained in unspecified country, were interrogated by FBI for allegedly running cybercrime collective Anonymous Sudan; Allegedly also targeted Iron Dome
The United States has indicted two Sundanese brothers linked to cyberattacks on early warning systems in Israel during the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... onslaught on October 7, 2023, and other attacks in Israel, the US and Europe, The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported Friday.
They had also claimed to have targeted Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense in an incident several months before 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 a rusty 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... war started, that saw several Hamas rockets to evade the interceptors in one incident.
Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... ese nationals Ahmed and Alaa Omer are accused of running the cybercriminal collective Anonymous Sudan, which struck two online Israeli applications that give alerts of danger. The apps were third-party warning systems and not the official IDF Home Front Command warning system.
The attack is said to have come 30 minutes after Hamas-led faceless myrmidons breached the border with Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, but the indictment against the brothers does not indicate if they were coordinated with Hamas.
The assault on the border coincided with Hamas launching several thousand rockets into Israel.
A representative of one of the applications, "Tzofar — Red Alert," which alerts Israelis that they need to head to bomb shelters amid incoming rockets, confirmed to the Times that the company’s website had been targeted during the onslaught, but said the mobile app continued to work.
"We are currently targeting some critical endpoints in the alert systems of Israel," Anonymous Sudan posted to its Telegram channel on October 7. "Glory to the Paleostinian Resistance®, we are with you."
In February, Anonymous Sudan also targeted critical computer systems at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a Jewish hospital in Los Angeles, the Times said.
"Bomb our hospitals in Gaza, we shut down yours too, eye for eye," the brothers were said to have written on Telegram. Throughout the war in Gaza, Israel has struck several hospital compounds where it says Hamas has embedded itself.
The brothers were arrested and are in jug in an unspecified country, where they have been interrogated by the FBI, the Times said, adding that it was unclear if they would be extradited to the US.
Their attacks were potentially so life-threatening that Ahmed Omer could face life in prison for one of the charges against him — the first time a cybercrime would carry such a penalty, the Times said, citing E. Martin Estrada, the US attorney for Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,’s central district who handled the indictment.
"When you’re attacking hospitals, you’re putting lives in jeopardy, and this one certainly put lives in jeopardy," Estrada said.
Anonymous Sudan has launched some 35,000 DDoS — distributed denial of service — attacks since it emerged on Telegram in January 2023, the Times said.
The newspaper cited Ian Gray, vice president of cybersecurity firm Flashpoint, as saying Anonymous Sudan has interacted with pro-Kremlin hacker groups linked to Russia’s security services.
The interaction "appears to be ideological and not based on national origin," Gray said, noting that Anonymous Sudan’s Arabic-language Telegram messages indicate it subscribes to a pan-Islamist ideology.
Anonymous Sudan has targeted the websites of several media organizations, including CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... and The Washington Post, as well as Israel’s High Court and the Haifa port.
In May 2023 during a flare-up, Anonymous Sudan targeted the Iron Dome missile defense system, allowing 16 rockets, a larger-than-usual number, to cross into Israel from Gaza, the Times said, citing Flashpoint.
Despite the claims of the group and Flashpoint, it is considered highly unlikely that they managed to affect or infiltrate the military Iron Dome system.
While most of the rockets landed in open areas, meaning they would not have triggered an interception attempt, a number of them impacted populated areas of Sderot, including one projectile that hit a work site, injuring a foreign national there.
The military later said Iron Dome had suffered a technical malfunction, which was quickly resolved. Despite Anonymous Sudan’s claims, Iron Dome’s ability to track and intercept projectiles is considered incredibly unlikely to be linked in any meaningful way to the state-run early warning system, nor any third-party application created by a private developer.
At the time, Anonymous Sudan warned on Telegram that it would coordinate with Hamas on future attacks.
"We are now playing with Israel again," the group wrote. "The strong strikes will be when there is a missile attack from Gaza.”
Excerpts from the Justice Department’s press release:
A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges two Sudanese nationals with operating and controlling Anonymous Sudan, an online cybercriminal group responsible for tens of thousands of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against critical infrastructure, corporate networks, and government agencies in the United States and around the world.
In March 2024, pursuant to court-authorized seizure warrants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI seized and disabled Anonymous Sudan’s powerful DDoS tool, which the group allegedly used to perform DDoS attacks, and sold as a service to other criminal actors.
Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22, and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, were both charged with one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers. Ahmed Salah was also charged with three counts of damaging protected computers.
According to the indictment and a criminal complaint also unsealed today, since early 2023, the Anonymous Sudan actors and their customers have used the group’s Distributed Cloud Attack Tool (DCAT) to conduct destructive DDoS attacks and publicly claim credit for them. In approximately one year of operation, Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS tool was used to launch over 35,000 DDoS attacks, including at least 70 targeting computers in the greater Los Angeles area.
Victims of the attacks include sensitive government and critical infrastructure targets within the United States and around the world, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the FBI, the State Department, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and government websites for the state of Alabama. Victims also included major U.S. technology platforms, including Microsoft Corp. and Riot Games Inc., and network service providers. The attacks resulted in reported network outages affecting thousands of customers.
Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks, which at times lasted several days, caused damage to the victims’ websites and networks, often rendering them inaccessible or inoperable, resulting in significant damages. For example, Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS attacks shuttered the emergency department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, causing incoming patients to be redirected to other medical facilities for approximately eight hours. Anonymous Sudan’s attacks have caused more than $10 million in damages to U.S. victims.
The March 2024 disruption of Anonymous Sudan’s DCAT tool, called variously “Godzilla,” “Skynet,” and “InfraShutdown,” was accomplished through the court-authorized seizure of its key components. Specifically, the warrants authorized the seizures of computer servers that launched and controlled the DDoS attacks, computer servers that relayed attack commands to a broader network of attack computers, and accounts containing the source code for the DDoS tools used by Anonymous Sudan.
If convicted of all charges, Ahmed Salah would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, and Alaa Salah would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
[IsraelTimes] German chancellor rejects Turkish leader’s claim Israel committing genocide in Gaza, asserts Jewish state has right to defend itself, calls for ceasefire-hostage deal
The Sick Man of EuropeTurkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... ’s His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... thanked Germany’s Olaf Scholz for his help in advancing a defense contract following talks in Istanbul on Saturday, although the pair remained starkly at odds over the Middle East crisis.
The German chancellor arrived on Friday night for his first visit since March 2022, with tensions in the Middle East high on the agenda alongside migration and other bilateral issues.
"We expect all political actors to take the initiative and put a stop to Israel’s aggressive policies," said Erdogan, denouncing "the genocide carried out by Israel in the Paleostinian territories and the attacks in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... But Scholz said Germany did not accept the claims that there had been a genocide and insisted that Israel had a right to defend itself from attack.
"Germany does not consider... that the accusation of genocide is legitimate and justified," he said, calling for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by 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 a rusty 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... ’s ruling Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... terror group.
Turkey’s relations with Germany — home to Europe’s largest Ottoman Turkish diaspora of three million people — are sensitive, and Berlin has voiced concerns over the state of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and democracy under Erdogan.
The Israel-Hamas war has further strained ties, with Scholz and Erdogan clashing over the conflict in Berlin in November.
Erdogan has repeatedly voiced support for Hamas and is a fierce critic of Israel’s military campaign and its recent push into Lebanon while backing Hamas which sparked the war with its October 7 massacre. But Berlin is a strong supporter of Israel and has defended its right to self-defense.
EUROFIGHTER PROGRESS
Despite their differences, Erdogan acknowledged Scholz’s efforts to lift German restrictions on defense sales to Turkey, notably Ankara’s desire to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoons.
"We wish to leave behind the past difficulties in the context of the supply of defense industry products and develop our cooperation," said Erdogan, expressing his "appreciation" for Scholz’s efforts to find solutions to the issues.
The Eurofighter Typhoons are built by a four-nation consortium grouping Germany, Britannia, Spain, and Italia. Although London is leading the talks with interested parties, any of the four nations can veto a sale.
Last year, Ankara said it was keen to acquire Eurofighter jets but the talks have been slow to get off the ground, largely because of Berlin’s opposition to Turkey’s stance on the Gaza conflict.
"Turkey is a member of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... and that’s why we always take decisions that lead to concrete deliveries," Scholz said.
"There are certain projects that are just getting started... one that the UK government is taking forward and for which negotiations have now begun," he added, referring to the London-led negotiations with Ankara over the Eurofighter jets.
Speaking to journalists in Brussels on Thursday, he said that Berlin was in favor of the talks.
According to the German weekly Der Spiegel, Berlin recently authorized major arms deliveries to Ankara, including anti-aircraft missiles worth several hundred million euros.
This marks a clear change of direction after Germany drastically reduced its arms exports following the Ottoman Turkish offensive in Syria in 2016.
Trade relations between Germany and Turkey have now reached $50 billion, Erdogan said on Saturday, expressing hope to increase that figure "to $60 billion."
On the migration issue, Erdogan said there were currently around 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and that Ankara would not close the door to them.
"Our door has been open for refugees coming from Syria. It is still open... [and] for those who come from Lebanon," he said.
Scholz thanked Erdogan for Turkey’s efforts to help tackle migration and said Germany would continue to support Ankara with the influx of migrants colonists coming from Syria.
WHAT HAPPENED TO GERMAN MILITARY EXPORTS TO TURKEY?
Turkey was a large importer of German arms, but export permits were cut significantly by Berlin following a failed coup against Erdogan's rule and a crackdown on the opposition along with the Turkish military's ground offensive in northern Syria in 2016.
Having rebounded over several years, the German government has approved €103 million ($112 million) in military exports to Turkey so far this year, according to official data.
The exports are the most since 2011 and include the delivery of 28 torpedoes and 101 guided missiles, the government said in response to a parliamentary question from the left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
Der Spiegel weekly reported last week that Germany recently authorized major arms deliveries to Ankara, including anti-aircraft missiles worth several hundred million euros.
SCHOLZ-ERODGAN DISCUSS MIGRATION TO EUROPE
Berlin has been seeking Ankara's support on the issue of deporting certain illegal migrants.
Turkish nationals form the third-largest group of asylum seekers in Germany, after Syrians and Afghans.
Really? Wow — lots of Turks object to President Erdogan’s drive toward Islamic totalitarianism, I guess.
In the first half of 2024, 441 people of Turkish origin were deported from Germany to Turkey, according to official German data.
At the end of September, more than 15,000 Turkish citizens had been ordered to leave the country.
[JPost] More than anything, Nasrallah’s final, fatal misstep reveals a fascinating strategic deception that had been in the works for months.
It happened in August 2006, right after the signing of the ceasefire agreement with Israel at the end of the Second Lebanon War. Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, gave an interview to the Lebanese news network New TV—an interview that would be remembered for generations. Sitting comfortably in his bunker beneath the streets of Beirut’s Dahiya, the leader of the terrorist organization admitted that he and the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s supreme body, had made a serious miscalculation.
"We did not estimate, even by one percent, that the kidnapping of IDF soldiers (Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev) would lead to a war of this magnitude with Israel," Nasrallah confessed, adding, "Had we known that the kidnapping operation would lead to such a result, we would not have undertaken it at all."
Despite this blunder, Nasrallah managed to maintain his reputation for 18 years as the Middle East’s foremost expert on Israeli society—at least until recent months. Then, the tables turned. Nasrallah, along with most members of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, met their fate under Israeli Air Force bombs. They are no longer around to grasp, for a second time, the scale of their error. Perhaps Yahya Sinwar, eliminated this week by the IDF in Rafah after a year-long manhunt, could have enlightened them.
Hezbollah now has only a fraction of its 122mm rockets, capable of reaching Haifa, and a similar percentage of rockets that can reach Tel Aviv. It is believed that Hezbollah now holds less than a third of its stockpile of precision missiles and long-range rockets, which cover the entirety of Israel.
Following the events of October 7, Nasrallah made another poor decision—one that, two weeks ago, became clear as his last major mistake. He tied Hezbollah's fate to Hamas in Gaza and launched a war. This move speaks volumes about the mentality on the Israeli side as well. Over the past two decades, both Israel’s political leadership and the IDF General Staff hesitated to confront the Shi’ite terrorist group, often choosing to delay war or strong retaliation to attacks, even at the cost of allowing Hezbollah’s disproportionate growth and a decline in deterrence.
But more than anything, Nasrallah’s final, fatal misstep reveals a fascinating strategic deception that had been in the works for months, led by the IDF's Operations Directorate. This deception ultimately led to Israel’s official declaration: the Nasrallah era is over.
Oh, those tricksy juices! Never do they play fair with those who merely wish to murder them all.
Nasrallah’s assumption was straightforward: he believed Israel would not expand the war against Hezbollah or launch a ground maneuver in Lebanon as long as Hamas held 101 hostages in Gaza and the 162nd Division was still fighting in the Strip.
It seems Nasrallah thought that if Israel’s policy toward Hezbollah were to change, there would be clear signs, and he would notice them. He believed he could detect early indicators of a ground invasion, such as IDF preparations along the border and movements of Lebanese civilians. But the IDF, understanding his thought process, deliberately changed the sequence of actions to confuse him—a move that paid off.
In recent months, Nasrallah seemed unfazed by the reduced fighting in Gaza and unconvinced by the Israeli government's threats and senior IDF officials' warnings to stop rocket fire on Israel’s home front. What sealed his fate was his speech about a "war of attrition" against Israel.
Like the rest of the IDF General Staff, the Operations Directorate was caught off guard on October 7 and shared in the historic and bitter failure. But this time, they were ready with a detailed, creative operational plan, which included several "ladders" for Nasrallah to climb down from his position. During critical moments, senior General Staff officers exchanged meaningful glances, knowing: if Nasrallah didn’t internalize Israel’s resolve, the IDF's actions against Hezbollah would escalate, leading to increasingly painful blows.
The guiding principle was to proceed gradually but to skillfully expose Hezbollah’s most sensitive areas and destroy them. Security officials explained that such a revolutionary plan required out-of-the-box thinking, relying on high-quality intelligence from the Intelligence Directorate, the precision and timing of the Air Force, and synchronizing all these components with the "war clock" overseen by the Operations Directorate
The framework, objectives, and thresholds for the operation were set by the head of the Operations Directorate, Maj.-Gen. Oded Basiuk. The responsibility for ensuring the synchronization and accuracy of various strikes was given to Brig.-Gen. R., head of the Attack Division, one of the Air Force’s most experienced fighter pilots. He had previously commanded a fighter squadron and the Fire Center of the Southern Command and had been marked early in his career as a future general.
In the IDF’s target bank were several critical clusters for attack: Hezbollah’s senior leadership, top commanders and field leaders, the organization’s weapons arsenal—particularly its strategic systems—terror infrastructure such as launch sites, warehouses, and command centers, and finally, intelligence and command and control sites. Thus, the operation unfolded, blow after blow:
THE DEADLY DOMINO AGAINST HEZBOLLAH
July 30: The operation began with the assassination of Fuad Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen—Hezbollah’s de facto chief of staff and member of the Jihad Council, responsible for the organization's strategic systems and its precision missile project. His elimination in Dahiya, Beirut, marked a turning point.
August 25: A broad preemptive strike took place, severely degrading Hezbollah's capabilities in a short period, destroying launchers aimed at central Israel. This attack was made possible by high-quality intelligence from the Intelligence Directorate and precision execution by the Air Force, with seamless coordination through the Operations Directorate’s Attack Division.
September 5: Daily waves of attacks began, targeting hundreds of Hezbollah’s rocket launchers. A critical mass was building, while Hezbollah was left confused and struggling to form a coherent picture of the IDF’s true intentions.
September 17-18: Two dramatic strikes, attributed to Israel, took place. One involved "beepers" exploding in the hands, pockets, and faces of Hezbollah operatives. A similar attack targeted their radios, turning them into bombs in an instant. This neutralized thousands of Hezbollah operatives and left hundreds of commanders blinded.
September 20: The IDF eliminated Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah's head of operations and de facto chief of staff after Shukr’s assassination. Several senior members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force were also killed in the strike.
September 23: Operation Northern Arrows was launched across Lebanon, which the IDF General Staff described as a groundbreaking campaign. So far, the IDF has demonstrated intelligence and aerial superiority, but the Attack Division faced significant challenges in synchronizing such a massive operation. During one dramatic strike, Hezbollah was bombarded from the air for 15 continuous hours, targeting strategic capabilities such as surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and drones.
September 27: In a targeted killing that shook the Middle East, Israel settled the score with Hassan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah leaders. Nasrallah, who failed to grasp Israel's accumulated achievements and insisted on pushing forward, met his end.
Despite these heavy blows, and perhaps because of them, Hezbollah did not remain idle. In response, it expanded its rocket range and drone operations to the Haifa area and, after a period of adjustment, began focusing its efforts on central Israel. At the same time, the impact of the strikes could not be denied: a turning point in the war forced Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah to refine their arms smuggling routes to Beirut.
According to Israeli estimates, Hezbollah now has only a fraction of its 122mm rockets, capable of reaching Haifa, and a similar percentage of rockets that can reach Tel Aviv. It is believed that Hezbollah now holds less than a third of its stockpile of precision missiles and long-range rockets, which cover the entirety of Israel.
Security officials praised the multi-stage plan of the Operations Directorate, which prevented Nasrallah from predicting where the next blow would come from or estimating its scale. This element of surprise allowed Israel to achieve significant progress against the terrorist organization, which now feels exposed and hunted.
That’s because it is exposed and hunted.
Above all, the plan deprived Nasrallah of the ability to detect early signs of what was coming. As one security official put it, "Hezbollah can still challenge the IDF and Israel’s home front, given the organization’s 30-year buildup, but it’s too late for Nasrallah to understand what we’ve done. Out of the 12 members of the Jihad Council, only two remain."
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2024
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[IsraelTimes] Strikes reported in Strip’s north and center; Israel says it supplied Gaza’s isolated north with 30 truckloads of aid
More than 50 people were killed in several Israeli strikes in 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 a rusty 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... over the past day, according to reports on Saturday by local hospital officials, News Agency that Dare Not be Named journalists, and the Paleostinian Authority news agency. The IDF said its strikes targeted terror sites in the Strip, and that it took measures to warn uninvolved parties to vacate the area. It said troops had killed dozens of button men in close-quarters combat.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... Israel was said to be increasing the flow of supplies to the Strip’s much-battered north while pressing on with a renewed offensive there.
Strikes were reported at a number of hospitals and inactive schools sheltering displaced people. Israel says terror operatives regularly use such facilities as operating bases, and that it makes an effort to avoid harm to innocents. Marwan Sultan, director of the Indonesian hospital, said Israeli tanks had surrounded the hospital, cut off its electricity and shelled its second and third floors, causing risk to staff and patients. At al-Awda Hospital, strikes hit the building’s top floors, injuring several staff members, the hospital said in a statement. According to WAFA, the official PA news agency, at least seven people were killed and several were maimed in the strike on the school in Shati in the Strip’s north. In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed, including two children, when a house was hit in the town of Zawayda, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital where the casualties were taken. Another strike killed 11 people, all from the same family, in the Maghazi refugee camp, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where they were taken. AP journalists counted the bodies taken to the al-Aqsa Hospital from the two strikes.
Overnight between Thursday and Friday, the strikes on Jabaliya killed at least 30 people. Fares Abu Hamza, head of the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... -run health ministry’s ambulance and emergency service, said more than half of them were women and kiddies. The IDF said its forces, which have been operating in Jabaliya for the past two weeks, killed dozens of button men on Thursday, carried out aerial strikes and dismantled military infrastructure.
The IDF said it carries out "many measures before its actions in order to avoid harming uninvolved" people and that each of its strikes "is based on intelligence indications of terror infrastructure or the presence of terrorists."
The army accuses Hamas of using civilians in Gaza as human shields and has published evidence to that effect from hospitals, schools, kindergartens and other civilian sites.
Israel launched a new offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month targeting Hamas fighters, who it said were regrouping there. Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated the far northern Gazook towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya from Gaza City, blocking movement except for those families heeding evacuation orders and leaving the three towns. Israel urged all civilians to evacuate northern Gaza at the start of the war, but some have refused to leave.
Residents said communications and internet services had been cut, disrupting rescue operations. Hamas health officials say aid had not been reaching the worst affected areas in northern Gaza, including the three isolated towns.
In Jabaliya, residents said Israeli tanks had reached the heart of the camp after pushing through suburbs and residential districts. They said the army was destroying dozens of houses daily, from the air and the ground, and by placing bombs in buildings, then detonating them remotely.
At the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, medics said they had to replace children in intensive care with more critical cases of adults badly maimed by the strike on the school in Jabaliya, where Israel said button men had embedded themselves. Kamal Adwan’s director, Hussam Abu Safiya, said in a video statement that the children had been moved to another division inside the facility, where they were being cared for. He said medical staff were exhausted and that hospital supplies, including food, were badly depleted.
Israel said it sent about 30 truckloads of aid into northern Gaza on Friday, including food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment. "We’re fighting Hamas, we’re not fighting the people of Gaza," military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told journalists in an online briefing.
The US threatened Israel this week that it could withhold arms shipments to Israel if the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza were not alleviated. Following the threat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the number of aid trucks entering Gaza be increased to 250 a day, according to Kan news.
The broadcaster also reported that at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, ministers were expected to deliberate whether to enlist a private security contractor to distribute humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of hijacking aid trucks, taking supplies for itself or selling them at exorbitant rates.
#1
The slime ball Bernie Sanders claimed this morning that Israel is denying aid to Gaza civilians. He also said Israel is waging war on women and children. I wish he would just go away.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/20/2024 11:10
Comments ||
Top||
[WashExaminer] Preserving his meager POTUS chances in 2028
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) expressed uncommon support for Elon Musk after the California Coastal Commission blocked the latter’s efforts to increase SpaceX launches at the state’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.
"I’m with Elon. I didn’t like that. Look, I’m not helping the legal case. You just can’t bring up that explicit level of politics," Newsom said during an interview Thursday evening, later adding he wished "his friends" on the state commission would exercise more impartiality by "calling balls and strikes."
Newsom’s statement came after Musk mounted a lawsuit against the state regulator, alleging "naked political discrimination" fueled the commission’s move to pour cold water on his SpaceX plans.
The California Coastal Commission voted on Tuesday to reject the Department of Defense and Musk’s proposal to increase the number of rockets launched off California’s coastline. The Space Force, which partners with SpaceX to transport some NASA astronauts, had previously recommended that Musk’s company be given permission to launch up to 50 rockets a year from Santa Barbara County’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.
[IsraelTimes] Foreign minister embarks on regional tour purportedly aimed at preventing conflict from spreading further, even as Iranian generals vow to destroy ‘cancerous tumor’ that is Israel
Awaiting Israel’s promised retaliation for a massive missile attack earlier this month, 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... has balanced threats of a fierce response to any Israeli attack with diplomatic efforts to prevent escalation into all-out regional war.
Iran launched 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, saying it was a response to an Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut late last month. It also said it was in retaliation for the liquidation of Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... chief Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... in Tehran in July, an attack widely blamed on Israel.
Israel has vowed to respond to the direct missile barrage from Iran, the second Tehran has launched against it this year, with a "deadly, precise and surprising," attack, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, leading Iran to warn that it would in turn hit back if struck.
"If you make a mistake and attack our targets, whether in the region or in Iran, we will strike you again painfully," IRGC chief Hossein Salami said on Thursday.
"The Zionist enemy should know that it is approaching the end of its miserable life," the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, said on Friday, calling Israel a "cancerous tumor."
The Islamic Theocratic Republic severed all ties with Israel following the 1979 Iranian revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah, and has spent the subsequent decades engaged in an ongoing proxy conflict with the Jewish state while openly seeking its elimination.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are part of the so-called axis of resistance — Tehran-backed terror groups and militias arrayed against Israel and avowedly bent on its destruction.
TWO POSITIONS NOT ’CONTRADICTORY’
But the warnings from Iran’s military chiefs also come as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has embarked on a regional tour in an intense diplomatic effort to prevent the conflict from spreading across the region.
Iran’s top diplomat has visited nine capitals in two weeks and talked with United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... chief António Guterres ...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years... on Tuesday.
"We cannot say that these positions [of Iran] are contradictory," Tehran-based international relations expert Ahmad Zeidabadi told AFP.
Araghchi "repeats the words of the military," including that if Israel attacks, "Iran will give a painful response," Zeidabadi said.
He added that Araghchi has said Iran is "totally ready for war," while the country also intends to "reduce the escalation."
"The question is to know by what mechanism," Zeidabadi added.
Araghchi visited Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... ’s capital Beirut a week after Nasrallah’s death.
The minister then went to Damascus where he met with his Syrian counterpart and President Bashir al-Assad, a close ally of Tehran.
PURSUING ’DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES’
These visits allowed Tehran "to reiterate Iran’s commitment to supporting its allies in the axis of resistance," Hamidreza Azizi, a Berlin-based analyst at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told AFP.
Araghchi also traveled to Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... — whose ties with Iran have warmed in the past year — as well as 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... , Iraq and Oman, the latter of which has long mediated indirect talks between Iran and the United States.
He then flew to Jordan, which has complicated relations with Tehran, then to Egypt, for the first trip there by an Iranian foreign minister since 2013.
On Friday, Araghchi was in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , where he reiterated that Iran is "ready for any situation."
"Iran wants Arab countries to turn away from the Israeli axis," Zeidabadi said, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized ties with Israel under the 2020 Abraham Accords backed by the US.
Azizi said Iran is pursuing "different objectives."
In addition to reaffirming support for its allies, Araghchi has also delivered "a combination of warning and reassurance" to some Gulf countries, he said.
"Everybody is awaiting the Israeli response to the Iranian attack... and there have been talks about the potential use of the Arab states’ airspace" for attacking Iran, Azizi added.
Araghchi has given a "warning to these countries not to allow their territory or their airspace to be used for attacking Iran," Azizi said.
Jordan has twice intercepted missiles and drones launched at Israel by Iran, first on April 13 and again on October 1, and has said it opposes any attack that violates its airspace, no matter who is responsible for it.
At the same time Araghchi has been "reassuring that Iran is still committed to the improvements of relations with these countries," Azizi added.
"The foreign minister seeks to urgently bring together the policies of Iran and Arab countries" and to "reduce the military adventurism of Israeli leaders," the government’s official newspaper Iran Daily said on Thursday.
"His diplomatic efforts aim to create peace and put an end to Israel’s crimes in the region," it added.
[IsraelTimes] Army says over 100 rockets fired at Israel Saturday; Hezbollah command post destroyed in deepest incursion into Lebanon since start of war
A man was killed and at least 10 were maimed as Hezbollah fired multiple rocket barrages on northern Israel on Saturday. Israel struck terror targets in Beirut while ground troops carried out their deepest operation in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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... since the start of the incursion.
Alexei Popov, 51, from the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Haim, was pronounced dead from critical injuries sustained in a rocket attack near Acre, medics announced, as over 100 rockets were fired at the Haifa area and Western Galilee. The man had stopped his car by the roadside when he was hit by parts of an interceptor after it struck a rocket above the city. Motorists are urged to exit their vehicles and lie down by the side of the road when sirens are heard.
A 28-year-old was listed in light-to-moderate condition after being hit by shrapnel in a direct impact on a home in Kiryat Ata, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. Also at the scene, MDA said it treated a man and a woman in their 40s who were lightly hurt by the blast.
Five others were treated for acute anxiety, MDA added.
In another rocket strike on a road in the Western Galilee, MDA said four people were maimed, including a man in his 30s who was in moderate condition after being hit by shrapnel, and three others who were lightly hurt by the blast.
The IDF published footage of serious damage to a house in the northern border town of Shlomi, which was hit by a Hezbollah rocket during the attacks.
"Hezbollah fires rockets indiscriminately, and this is the result," the military wrote in a post on X.
DEEPEST OPERATION YET
The IDF said it has demolished a Hezbollah command center in its deepest operation yet in southern Lebanon.
Troops with the 98th Division raided the Hezbollah site, which the military said included surveillance equipment that observed Israeli towns in the Galilee Panhandle. Soldiers also found bombs, weapons, and intelligence materials in the command center, the IDF added. The military did not disclose where exactly in southern Lebanon the command center was located, or other details about it.
Additionally, troops of the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade located a cache of weapons and several Hezbollah tunnels in a school in southern Lebanon, the military said. The IDF said Hezbollah embedded itself within the school in a village in southern Lebanon.
"At the complex, several tunnel shafts and caches of weapons were located and destroyed," the military added.
In the eastern Beqaa Valley region, four people including a local mayor were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the town of Baloul, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported. The incident came days after the mayor of Nabatieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, was killed in an Israeli strike.
Lebanese media also reported Israeli strikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh, shortly after the IDF called on Lebanese civilians near several buildings there to evacuate.
[IsraelTimes] IDF says hundreds of Gazans evacuating from Jabaliya amid offensive there against Hamas
The IDF says hundreds of Paleostinian civilians have begun to evacuate from northern 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 a rusty 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... ’s Jabaliya as troops continue to operate there against Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... "During the activity, the IDF allowed civilians to evacuate safely from the area, through organized routes. So far, hundreds of people have evacuated," Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language front man, says on X.
He says that the army and COGAT are in contact with the international community and health authorities in Gaza to "maintain the ongoing functioning of the emergency systems of the hospitals, through the transfer of medical equipment and the supply of fuel subject to the operational situation, along with the evacuation of staff [and] patients."
Adraee also says troops have also detained several terror operatives in the area.
In the past day, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division have killed dozens of Hamas operatives and seized many weapons during the ongoing operation in Jabaliya.
This isn’t a war, it’s a civil engineering project. Somewhere, one of Frank G’s bridges is needed to make the thing complete.
[IsraelTimes] Leaflets purportedly dropped by Israel Defense Forces planes in southern Gaza show a picture of slain Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, with the message “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza,” echoing language used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Yahya Sinwar has ruined your lives. He hid in a dark tunnel and was eliminated when he attempted to flee in panic. Whoever lays down their weapons and hands over the hostages will be allowed to leave and live in peace,” the leaflet, written in Arabic, reads, according to residents of the southern city of Khan Younis and images circulating online.
Though attributed to the IDF by Reuters, the leaflets are designed differently to notices from the Israeli military circulated in both Gaza and more recently in southern Lebanon, which are often also published on social media.
The leaflet’s wording is similar to a statement made by Netanyahu on Thursday after Sinwar was killed by Israeli soldiers operating in Rafah, in the south near the Egyptian border, the previous day.
[IsraelTimes] The Israeli military body overseeing humanitarian aid, COGAT, announces that 81 food packages have been airdropped to Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
COGAT says that the aid delivery was coordinated with the United Arab Emirates, and is the latest of 10,000 packages of food and medical supplies airdropped into the Strip in recent months.
“The IDF, via COGAT, will continue to work to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by delivering aid via the air route and all aid routes, in cooperation with the international community,” the statement adds.
The statement comes after Israel allowed 50 trucks of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza earlier this week, hours after the US confirmed sending a letter warning that Washington’s continued supply of weapons was at risk if Jerusalem didn’t take significant steps to address the growing humanitarian crisis in the enclave within 30 days.
[SpaceNews] Intelsat 33e has lost power in geostationary orbit and the satellite is no longer providing communications for customers across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia Pacific, its operator announced Oct. 19.
Intelsat said it is working with satellite maker Boeing to address the anomaly, but “believe it is unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable.” An Intelsat spokesperson said the satellite was not insured at the time of the issue.
[LibyaReview] More than 60% of the migrants colonists who arrived in Italia in 2024 departed from Libya, according to Nova news agency.
A total of 33,349 migrants colonists reached Italia from Libya, accounting for 60.1% of the 54,577 total arrivals. In comparison, 17,309 migrants colonists, or 31.7%, arrived from Tunisia.
Nova’s analysis highlights that despite dominating migration routes, departures from Libya have decreased by 18.6% compared to the 40,966 migrants colonists recorded during the same period in 2023.
Most of the migrants colonists departing Libya embarked from Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , with only 939 arrivals from the eastern region of Cyrenaica, reversing last year’s trend, when more migrants colonists left from the east, which is under General Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly... ’s control. Migrants sailing from Cyrenaica to Greece were not included in the Italian figures.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 18,646 migrants colonists were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya as of 12 October 2024. These include 16,386 men, 1,330 women, 619 children, and 311 individuals whose gender could not be determined. Despite fewer fatalities than in 2023, the Central Mediterranean route remains one of the deadliest, with 522 deaths and 731 missing, totalling 1,253 lives lost so far this year.
According to the latest IOM report, Libya hosted 761,322 migrants colonists between June and July 2024, distributed across 100 municipalities. Key destinations include Tripoli (15%), Misrata (11%), Benghazi (10%), and Zawiya (6%). The migrant population increased by 5% due to the arrival of Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... ese refugees fleeing conflict. Most migrants colonists come from Niger, Sudan, Egypt, and Chad, with many struggling to access essential services, especially in Kufra.
On 15 October, Libyan Interior Minister Emad Trabelsi met with Nicoletta Giordano, the IOM’s mission chief, to discuss expanding voluntary repatriation programs and enhancing support for border security. Trabelsi reiterated Libya’s opposition to becoming a transit or temporary hub for irregular migrants colonists during the G7 Interior Ministers’ meeting earlier in October.
[ShabelleMedia] Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, has revealed that Egyptian forces will soon be deployed to Somalia.
In a recent interview on AlQahera News, Abdelatty said Egypt remained committed to supporting Somalia and bolstering its security.
This comes just weeks after Egypt, Somalia, and Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... agreed on a joint initiative to build a capable Somali military force to defend the country’s borders and maritime territories.
"Egypt is prepared to provide any assistance the Somali people may need," the Minister affirmed, pointing to the collaborative military efforts as a testament to this growing partnership.
This development comes at a time of heightened security challenges in the Horn of Africa, with ongoing conflicts in Somalia, tensions in the Red Sea, and Æthiopia’s internal strife raising alarms across the region.
Somalia remains embroiled in a long-standing battle against the Islamist Death Eater group al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... , which continues to undermine the government’s authority and destabilize the country.
The fragile security situation in the Horn has drawn regional and international actors to increase their involvement, making security alliances such as this one between Egypt, Somalia, and Eritrea.
EGYPT’S AMBITIONS
Observers say Egypt’s decision to deploy forces to Somalia highlights Cairo’s broader strategy to exert influence in the Horn of Africa.
This move may also be seen in the context of its concern over Æthiopia’s controversial Grand Æthiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project, which has been a source of friction between Egypt, Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... , and Æthiopia.
The deployment of forces could be an indication of Egypt’s desire to expand its presence in the region and safeguard its interests along the Nile and the Red Sea.
Additionally, Eritrea’s participation in this trilateral initiative adds another layer of complexity to the Horn’s geopolitics.
Eritrea has faced international criticism for its role in the ongoing conflict in northern Æthiopia, where it has been involved alongside Æthiopian forces in the Tigray War.
However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... this new partnership could help Eritrea rebrand itself as a stabilizing force in the region, particularly in support of Somalia’s fight against terrorism.
SOMALIA’S GROWING IMPORTANCE
For Somalia, the backing of Egypt and Eritrea may offer a crucial boost as the country struggles to build a robust military capable of handling its security challenges.
The Somali government has been heavily dependent on 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), which has been phasing out as Somalia takes more responsibility for its security.
With the joint initiative from Egypt and Eritrea, Somalia could gain the resources and military expertise necessary to secure its borders and enhance its maritime defenses against threats, including piracy and illegal fishing.
Egypt’s engagement in Somalia could also signal a shift in the dynamics of foreign involvement in the region.
Traditionally, countries like The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , the UAE, 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... have been the primary external actors in Somalia’s reconstruction and military training efforts. Egypt’s increased involvement might create new opportunities for alliances but could also lead to geopolitical competition in a strategically vital area.
As the Horn of Africa continues to face overlapping security crises, the cooperation between Egypt, Somalia, and Eritrea may prove crucial in shaping the future of regional security. However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... it remains to be seen how this new alliance will affect existing tensions, particularly regarding Egypt’s broader regional goals and the simmering disputes over water and land resources.
#2
I had such hopes for El Sisi. But he turns to be a typical third world strongman. Builds a multibillion model cities*, gets his mighty military involved in regional conflicts.
*Saudis give Egypt like 20 billion a year to buy food.
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.
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...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 
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
...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 Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
... the personification of Somali state failure...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
More than 50 people were killed in several Israeli strikes in 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah 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 dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original 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...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
