Monday, 30 December 2019

Nasrallah: Trump is on the verge of a stroke over Iran, Yemen is now a threat for Israel

December 28, 2019
Nasrallah: Trump is on the verge of a stroke over Iran, Yemen is now a threat for Israel
Speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, on November 11, 2019, on the occasion of Hezbollah’s Martyr Day, commemorating the operation against the headquarters of the Israeli forces in Tyre on November 11, 1982, which killed 75 occupying officers and soldiers.
With the translation of an extract from the last speech of Sayed Badr al-Dine al-Houthi, leader of the Ansar Allah, and a report by Al-Mayadeen on Yemen facing Israel.
Translated by resistancenews.org
Transcript:
[…] After having talked of martyrdom and resistance, allow me to come to the second part of my speech, where I’ll just mention two points concerning the situation in the region in order to have time then to talk about the situation in Lebanon. I will only mention two points that are of paramount importance. It’s been quite a while that I have not addressed the situation in the region, and there would be a lot of important things to say, but not having much time today, I will only address these two points.
The first point concerns Yemen, namely the historical position which was announced from Yemen by the courageous and dignified leader Sayed Abd-al-Malik Badreddine al-Houthi during these last days, yesterday or the day before yesterday, on the occasion of the celebrations in Yemen commemorating the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, about the fight against the Israeli enemy. These statements have attracted the attention of the enemy’s leaders, and we also must mention them, as children of the Lebanese Resistance and peoples of Palestine and the region directly affected by the struggle against the Israeli enemy.
Two days ago, this noble jihadist leader announced in all clarity, in response to Israeli threats of strikes and aggression against Yemen, addressing a huge audience (millions of people), about which I will also say a word. He said that if Israel attacks Yemen, Yemen will retaliate by forceful strikes. Strikes of the utmost violence. Yemen will not abstain from retaliating, and will do so without hesitation. From where was this said? From Yemen. From San’aa. From Sa’ada. From the provinces of Yemen.
As well, he said that Yemen’s struggle against the Israeli enemy was based on their faith, religion, humanitarian values and ethical, moral and religious obligations. I say this because (our enemies) are always trying to present the struggle as a political struggle, a (mere) rivalry between states, etc.
What is the significance of these statements? More often than not do we hear speakers, Imams, Secretaries General of parties or groups of leaders from a particular location in the Arab-Muslim world, threatening the Zionists in their speeches. But with Yemen, it is much more than empty words because these threats come from the military leader of a front where the fighting has been raging for 5 years, who has been fighting (successfully) for 5 years against forces supported by the US, Britain and the West in general (France, etc.), against entire armies with their air force, enormous amounts of mercenaries, and very broad fronts.
This threat was issued by an officer commanding a front that now has weapons very modern and sophisticated, whether missiles, drones, etc., and who has the courage to use these missiles and these drones, and did use them on the ground, and challenged the whole world (by its devastating effects on the Saudi oil production). And while Yemen is abandoned, oppressed, and in self-defense.
This threat was issued by the leader of a front whose fighters are fighting on a great many fronts and achieve stunning victories in military terms, almost miraculous. The latest operation was the ‘Divine victory’ (which destroyed three entire brigades, with hundreds killed and thousands of prisoners from Saudi forces).
Therefore, we are talking about a leader who has high credibility, and has proven his ability to follow through on his threats. Because he always did what he said and what he promised.
The Israelis have been much attention to that. In the (history of the) Arab and Muslim world, there has been a lot of pompous but vain speeches, that have led to nothing, either in fact or even among Israeli leaders or media. But we have seen the profound effect this speech from Yemen two days ago had in the enemy entity. Why? Because it is issued by an extremely serious and credible force, which proved itself, earned its spurs (and stunned the world).
This is not something new from the Houthis, but it’s a very clear announcement, very frank and very strong, which greatly concerns Israel. This clearly announces the addition of a very important and very powerful element in the Axis of Resistance: Yemen. The Yemen of faith, wisdom, endurance, steadfastness, jihad and victories. This was announced in a clear and explicit way. And Yemen is quite capable of hitting Israel hard. The peoples of our region and the Resistance movements should be proud of this announcement, and welcome happily this new important and strategic element of strength. Because Yemen, the Yemeni position, the strategic importance of the Red Sea and Yemen’s ability to reach the enemy entity, as well as the secret al-Houthi kept regarding his intentions, and the targets and locations that would be hit with extreme strikes… All this is of great importance.
Also, the enemy must know that this is the new strategic environment he faces today, the every one he always feared and strived to prevent with the United States and the whole world (i.e. a military alliance of Arab-Muslim countries against Israel), so that our peoples would forget Palestine and hostility toward Israel, abandon this cause, be silent (against the oppression of the Palestinians) and reconsider (their relations with Israel). This is a new force that joins the ranks of the Resistance, a new country, in a new geographical area, with great credibility and great enthusiasm (for the Liberation of Palestine), battle-hardened, incredibly effective and with incommensurable courage, and this force now fully integrates the front of the struggle against Israel. It is a development of great importance. Some may not realize the importance of this event, but the Israeli enemy and the children of the Resistance are perfectly aware of it.
The other aspect of this point is the popular masses present at the event. It was not a simple press conference. I also want to stress in two minutes the importance of this popular massive presence. You may have seen these huge events, although most TV channels have ignored this these mass, millions-wide gatherings. Gigantic rallies, whether at San’aa, Jeddah … sorry, not in Jeddah (city of Saudi Arabia), maybe one day with God’s grace… At San’aa, Sa’da, Hajja, in different cities of Yemen, we could see these massive rallies that fill us with joy, without any camera manipulation transforming 1 000 people into 10 000 or 100 000. Hundreds of thousands of people attended, under the sun, in the middle of the day, for hours, standing or sitting on the bare floor and on the streets, not in a room, on chairs, in a place with air conditioning or anything like that, with the constant risk of an aerial bombardment, the country being at war (and with recurring massacres), but they sat for hours and listened to their leader, supporting his position and vision.
This huge rally, this spectacular scene, is a treat for me and amazed me: in the sun, a gathering so massive in conditions so difficult, demonstrates their boundless love for the Prophet Muhammad, God’s blessings be upon him and his family. This demonstrates the extent of their faith when we speak of the Yemen of faith.
Similarly, and I will conclude this point with that, this is a very strong political message: a whole people, after 5 years of (ruthless) war, tens of thousands of martyrs at least, between civilians and combatants, and hundreds of thousands of Yemenis threatened with death by cholera, disease, famine, etc., an economically and financially beleaguered country, and a government that has often not even enough to pay its civil servants, and is subject to the greatest difficulties, threats, intimidation, abandonment of all (with the exception of Iran and Hezbollah), but despite all this, they attend these commemorations so massively to affirm their commitment and determination, and directed this strong message to all the tyrants of the world: you strive to frighten & to despair our people, to send us backwards and see us sink into poverty, famine, poverty and blockade, to make us abandon our Prophet, our faith, our religion, our freedom, our dignity, our holy sites or our root cause (Palestine), but we will never do that, ever. The Yemeni people proves this, and addresses this message to the world.
And it’s the same for other peoples of the region. I say and repeat, this is where lies the secret of the strength of the Axis of Resistance to which we belong. An Axis whose real strength lies in his faith, his doctrine, his soul, his love for God and the Messenger of God, his belief in humanitarian causes, his belief in the importance of holy places (and the absolute need to liberate them), his high readiness for sacrifice.
All this does not depend at all on money or gains that we can secure, not any more than on achievements on a personal level, enjoyment or pleasure (the very things Trump wants to deprive us of through his maximum sanctions against Iran and Lebanon), even if they are legitimate quests in this world and the next, to which can legitimately aspire man and that he must achieve (for his comfort), but this does not weigh anything at all on our impulses, our principles and positions.
The other point (I want to mention) is the Islamic Republic of Iran. In recent months, the specter of a war (between the US and Iran) haunted the region. Everyone assumed it was inevitable, and some regional countries did all their calculations on the assumption of an American war against Iran. And I have already mentioned that unfortunately some Lebanese forces (Hezbollah opponents) also made their calculations based on this assumption.
I can say today that this possibility, even if I did not state categorically that it is 100% off the table, I can say that it strayed 99.99%. All countries, peoples and competitor Axes in the region must do their calculations on that basis. Whoever counted on such a war must forget this hypothesis. We see a change of rhetoric from several countries in the region and some Gulf countries that were hostile towards the Islamic Republic, but I will not give their names now.
Similarly, in this respect, Iran’s steadfastness became clear after all this time has passed since Trump left the nuclear deal and imposed severe sanctions on Tehran, but Iran stood firm and overcame this predicament. Of course, this does not mean that Iran does not face difficulties, but Iran managed to overcome them.
Today, strategic observers in the United States and the West, and even within the enemy (Zionist) entity, publish analyzes that argue that the strategy of Trump against Iran failed. For what was the Trump strategy? Exit the Iranian nuclear deal, impose sanctions on Iran, trying to make Iran collapse from within, put pressure on Iran and constantly threatening of imminent war to intimidate Iran and to make it come to the negotiating table. That was the Trump strategy.
The possibility of war is no more, Iran has held firm and overcame the difficulties (consecutive to the US withdrawal from the nuclear) Deal, and for a year, Trump has been holding the line, (waiting for Iran to call or pick up the phone), but he is deluded. It will never happen. This strategy has clearly failed. Today, Iran comes out powerful, strengthened, capable, dignified and ready to face (the challenges), to assume its leading role in the region and to support the causes and peoples of the region.
I recently read an amusing information, and I told myself that when Trump will learn about it, he will become enraged and have a heart attack. Because you know that all that matters for Trump, is oil and dollars, money, nothing else. We saw that in Syria, in the East of the Euphrates, he forsook his allies in the blink of an eye, while they had fought with him and alongside him, and he justified this move at length, saying that the Kurds had not fought at their side in Normandy (in 1944). This is a ridiculous argument.
But he eventually reconsidered his decision to withdraw US troops from the East of the Euphrates and maintained them. Why? For the Eastern oil fields of the Euphrates. For Trump, only oil matters. Do not believe that for him, oil is more valuable and more important than the rest, no: in his eyes, nothing else has any value at all. The human, even if he is an ally, a friend and a comrade, is worthless to him: Trump is ready to forsake him at any time.
I refer to the discovery of a huge oilfield in Iran: we all saw yesterday His Eminence the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sheikh Rouhani, who officially announced the discovery of a huge oil field, a priori containing 53 billion barrels of oil! 53 billion barrels of oil! It’s definitely a heart attack for Trump! I’ve done the math: if Iran extracts, when it begins to exploit these oilfileds with God’s grace, 1 million barrels per day, how long will it take for this deposit to be exhausted? How many generations will come to pass before it is exhausted? I will not give you the result in years because I’d be afraid to be mistaken in my calculations…
His Eminence (Rouhani) explained that the area of ​​the oil field is 2 400 square kilometers, is located in the Khuzestan region, south-west of the country, and that the width of underground oil layer is up to 80 meters. And most importantly, he stressed that the process of discovery of these oil deposits has been conducted by the National Iranian Oil Company, and extended from 2016 to last week. So it was made by an Iranian national company of experts and Iranian specialists (not foreign). I deliberately emphasized this aspect in view of what I will say then about the Lebanese situation [reference to a widely disseminated fake news according to which a Revolutionary Guard commander threatened to destroy Israel from Lebanon: Nasrallah stressed that Iran does everything by itself, and does not need to hide behind anyone)]
So, today, thank God, Iran comes out… Experts and economists believe that the value of the discovered deposit is estimated, based on the current price of oil, at more than 3 trillion dollars (3 billion billion dollars). For I must tell Trump about the number of barrels of oil and the dollar value, to make his heart attack complete…
In the Middle East, the core of the Axis of Resistance comes out of the risk of US war and overcomes the worst stage of its history more powerful and capable, and God Almighty bestows on this country these resources and this new horizon. […]
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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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إيران دولة مواجهة مع «إسرائيل» وتل أبيب بلا طيران في الحرب المقبلة





ديسمبر 30, 2019
يعتقد كثير من المتابعين لتطورات المواجهة بين محور المقاومة والمعسكر الإسرائيلي بأنّ السيد حسن نصر الله والجنرال قاسم سليماني لديهما من المفاجآت الكثيرة والأسلحة السرية التي تجعل النصر على العدو هذه المرّة ليس فقط مُبهِراً بل وإعجازاً من إعجازات عصر الانتصارات، وقد يكون واحداً منها إخراج قوة طيران العدو من المعركة في الساعات الأولى من المواجهة…!
لنستمع الى أكبر وأقوى جنرالات “إسرائيل” في هذا السياق: “لا توجد حرب بلا خسائر، وأنا لا أستطيع ضمان حرب قصيرة (أن تستغرق الحرب وقتاً قصيراً)”. لذا فإنني “أنظر في عيونكم فرداً فرداً وأقول لكم: يجب الاستعداد لذلك. يجب علينا ان نستعدّ عسكرياً وعلى الجبهة الداخلية وذهنياً أيضاً”. (أيّ على صعيد الوعي الجمعي… بأن يكون المجتمع واعياً لحقيقة أنّ الحرب لن تكون قصيرة…).
“في الوقت الذي ستُشنّ فيه الحرب، بعد فشل كلّ الحلول، فإنّ الحرب المقبلة، سواء مع الشمال أو مع غزة، ستكون فيها كثافة النيران أو القوة النارية للعدو كبيرة جداً (The Intensity of firepower of the enemy will be great هذا هو التعبير الذي استخدمه باللغة الانجليزية)”.
وهذا يعني بلغة الميدان:
ستفتح عليكم أبواب جهنم ولن نكون (كجيش إسرائيلي) قادرين على حمايتكم…!
وهو كلام يُشتمّ منه انعدام الروح القتالية عند الجيش وتساقط المعنويات وقدرة التحمُّل عند جمهور الاحتلال. وهذه هي أوضح نُذُر الهزيمة دون حرب…!
الكلام الآنف الذكر هو لأعلى مسؤول عسكري في جيش الكيان الصهيوني..
وهو كلام كان قد أدلى به رئيس الأركان العامة الإسرائيلي، الجنرال أفيف كوخافي، يوم الخامس والعشرين من كانون الأول/ ديسمبر في لقاء موسّع لمجموعة من الشخصيات العامة الإسرائيلية، المدنية والعسكرية والأمنية، بمناسبة إحياء الذكرى السنوية لرئيس الأركان السابق، الجنرال أمنون ليبكين شاحاك، وهو تصريح مليء بالشحنات العالية، حول الجيش الإسرائيلي واحتمالات الحرب او المواجهة العسكرية مع إيران.
ومن أهمّ ما جاء في هذا التصريح المطوّل ايضاً إضافة لما سبق هو:
1
ـ إنّ “جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي” يستعدّ لمواجهة محدودة مع الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية، في الوقت الذي تواصل فيه “إسرائيل” العمل على مواجهة التغلغل الإيراني.
(كما ورد نصّاً، حسب موقع صحيفة “جيروزاليم بوست” الإسرائيلية، بتاريخ 25/12/2019).
2
ـ سوف نواصل العمل، بمسؤولية، ولكن كان من الأفضل لو انّ “إسرائيل” لم تكن الوحيدة التي تبذل الجهود لوقف إيران (يعني نفوذ إيران).
أيضاً، كما ورد بالنص.
3
ـ إنّ “جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي” ينفذ عمليات علنية وسرية (ما ورد حرفياً هو: عمليات تحت الرادار/ أيّ سرية أو غير مكشوفة) لمنع العدو من الحصول على صواريخ دقيقة حتى لو أدّت تلك العمليات الى حافة المواجهة.
4
ـ أضاف قائلاً: “لن نسمح لإيران بالتغلغل في سورية والعراق”. وبالتالي فهو يعترف فعلياً (ورسمياً) بقيام سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي بتنفيذ كلّ الغارات الجوية التي تعرّضت لها أهداف في العراق وسورية طوال السنوات الماضية.
5
ـ وفي هذا الصدد نشرت صحيفة “نيويورك تايمز”، على موقعها الالكتروني،، بتاريخ 23/8/2019 تصريحاً لمصدر عسكري، رفض الإفصاح عن اسمه، جاء فيه أنّ استمرار “إسرائيل” بتنفيذ غارات جوية، ضد سورية والعراق، قد تفضي الى سحب القوات الأميركية من البلدين (يقصد بذلك انّ العمليات الإسرائيلية ستؤدّي الى ظهور مقاومة مسلحة في البلدين ضدّ الوجود الأميركي).
6
ـ لقد حصل، في السنوات الماضية، تغيّر في التهديدات، على كلّ الجبهات النشطة ضدّ “إسرائيل”… (أيّ تلك التي تواجه “إسرائيل”). فبينما لم يكن الوضع كذلك دائماً ازدادت التهديدات في الأشهر الأخيرة…!
ففي الوقت الذي لم تكن فيه إيران تشكل تهديداً داهماً في الماضي، فإنها أصبحت اليوم عدواً نشاهده ونتعامل او نتعاطى معه (المقصود عسكرياً طبعاً من خلال اتخاذ إجراءات ضدّ إيران مثل عمليات القصف الجوي ضدّ أهداف تقول “إسرائيل” إنها إيرانية في العراق وسورية)…!
وتابع كوخافي قائلاً: “إنّ إيران تواصل إنتاج الصواريخ التي تصل او بإمكانها الوصول الى الأراضي الإسرائيلية”، على حدّ تعبيره، كما “انّ الصناعات العسكرية الإيرانية أكبر بكثير من الصناعات العسكرية الإسرائيلية مجتمعة؛ الأمر الذي يتيح لها (أيّ لإيران) إنتاج المزيد من الصواريخ الدقيقة والأخرى بعيدة المدى التي تهدّد الجبهة الداخلية (الإسرائيلية)”.
وتقييمنا لكلام كوخافي هنا هو أنه يقول لجمهور الاحتلال بأنّ إيران قادرة عملياً على ضرب الجبهة الداخلية بقوة، ولن يكون الجيش الإسرائيلي او الصناعات العسكرية الإسرائيلية (ويقصد هنا قطعاً القبب الحديدية وما الى ذلك) قادرة على الدفاع عن تلك الجبهة. أيّ أنه يقول بكلمات أخرى: نحن ليست لدينا القدرة على مواجهة إيران…!
ما يعني إعلان هزيمة مسبقة حتى قبل الدخول في حرب رغم تبجّحاته وتبجّحات زملائه…
هذا وقد استطرد الجنرال كوخافي قائلاً “إنّ قوة القدس/ وحزب الله يمتلكان قبباً (قبب كهرومغناطيسية لا تخترقها الإشارات اللاسلكية او الألكترونية، وبالتالي لا يمكن للصواريخ المعادية إصابة المنشآت والأسلحة المحمية بهذه القبب او الخِيَمْ الكهرومغناطيسية) ضدّ التردّدات والإشارات اللاسلكية، وكذلك صواريخ مضادة للطائرات متطوّرة بإمكانها تهديد طائرات سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي…!
وعلى الرغم من ذلك فإنّ سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي يواصل نشاطه عبر “الشرق الأوسط”. يضيف كوخافي…
وتقييمنا لهذه النقطة التي يتحدّث عنها المسؤول العسكري الإسرائيلي الأبرز:
هو أنه يقول للمستمعين وللجمهور الإسرائيلي انّ سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي غير قادر على تدمير الأسلحة المعادية (أيّ الأسلحه الإيرانية وأسلحة حزب الله لأنها محمية بقبب كهرومغناطيسية يعرف العسكريون الإسرائيليون وغيرهم مدى فاعليتها في تأمين الحماية الكاملة للمنشآت العسكرية والمدنية.
وهي أهمّ سلاح حرب إلكترونية تعرفه التكنولوجيا العسكرية. ومن المعروف أنّ إيران لديها خبرات واسعة ومتقدمة جداً في مجال إنتاج هذا السلاح الدفاعي).
وعليه فإنه يرسم نتيجة أيّ مواجهه مقبلة، مع الإيرانيين واللبنانيين، ويبشر “الإسرائيليين” بفشل سلاح الجو “الإسرائيلي” من خلال وصفه بأنه غير قادر على تدمير صواريخ قوة القدس وحزب الله الدقيقة…
بكلمات أخرى فإنه يقول لهم:
إنكم مهدّدون من هذه الصواريخ ولا حماية لكم.
وهو بذلك يعلن خروج سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي من أية حرب مقبلة، سواء على الجبهة الشمالية او في أيّ مواجهة محتملة مع إيران مستقبلاً…!
يُضاف الى ذلك أنّ مثل هذا الأمر قد يمثل المفاجأة الاستراتيجية كذلك للمقاومة الفلسطينية في قطاع غزة إذا ما حصلت حرب إقليمية تشمل الجبهات كافة…!
فهل من قارئ دقيق لحالة “أزعر الحارة” الذي بدأ يتحوّل إلى نمر من ورق خارج معادلات صراع القوة!؟
أتى أمر الله فلا تستعجلوه. بعدنا طيبين؛ قولواالله…
مقالات مشابهة

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Sunday, 29 December 2019

Syria Repels Militant Drone Attack on Army Air Base in Hama


December 28, 2019

Syrian air defense forces have reportedly managed to foil an attack by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants against an air base in the country’s west-central province of Hama.
Sham FM radio station reported that the country’s anti-aircraft defense systems intercepted unmanned aerial vehicles attacking Hama Military Airport, located more than 210 km (130 miles) north of the capital Damascus, late on Friday.
The development took place less than a week after Syrian government forces captured and dismantled an unmanned aerial vehicle rigged with explosives in the same Syrian province.
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that air defense units managed to intercept and shoot down the drone as it was flying in the skies over the city of al-Skailabiyeh on Tuesday morning.
The report added that the aircraft had been launched by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants operating in the area, and was armed with six missiles.
The projectiles were recovered by Syrian government forces and later defused.
Meanwhile, an unidentified unmanned aerial aircraft on Saturday bombarded a prison run by Turkish-backed Takfiri militants in northwestern Syria.
Local sources said the unknown aircraft conducted an airstrike against the jail in the village of Sajou, which lies near the city of A’zaz and 43 kilometers (26 miles) north of Aleppo.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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The Afghanistan Fiasco and the Fall of the American Military



By Philip Giraldi
Afghanistan Marines 86aa5
A devastating investigative report was published in the Washington Post on December 9th. Dubbed the “Afghanistan Papers” in a nod to the Vietnam War’s famous “Pentagon Papers,” the report relied on thousands of documents to similarly expose how the US government at the presidential level across three administrations, acting in collaboration with the military brass and civilian bureaucracy, deliberately and systematically lied repeatedly to the public and media about the situation in Afghanistan. Officials from the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations have all surged additional troops into Afghanistan while also regularly overstating the “success” that the United States was attaining in stabilizing and democratizing the country. While they were lying, the senior officers and government officials understood clearly that the war was, in fact, unwinnable.
The story should have been featured all across the US as Afghanistan continues to kill Americans and much larger numbers of Afghans while also draining billions of dollars from the United States Treasury, but the mainstream media was largely unresponsive, preferring to cover the impeachment saga. Rather more responsive were the families of Army Chief Warrant Officer Second Class David C. Knadle, 33, of Tarrant, Texas, and Chief Warrant Officer Second Class Kirk T. Fuchigami Jr., 25, of Keaau, Hawaii. Both were killed in a helicopter crash on November 20th in Afghanistan’s Logar province while assisting troops on the ground, according to a Pentagon press release. They were participating in what was characteristically dubbed Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas. The Taliban took credit for the downing of the chopper, but the Army is still investigating the cause.
Knadle and Fuchigami are only the most recent of the more than 2,400 American service members who have been killed in Afghanistan since October 2001, together with 20,589 wounded and an estimated 110,000 Afghan dead. In the wake of the Post’s report, Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1974, told a CNN reporter that the Pentagon and Afghanistan Papers exposed the same governmental dysfunction: “The presidents and the generals had a pretty realistic view of what they were up against, which they did not want to admit to the American people.”
The New Republic observes how “The documents are an indictment not only of one aspect of American foreign policy, but also of the US’s entire policymaking apparatus. They reveal a bipartisan consensus to lie about what was actually happening in Afghanistan: chronic waste and chronic corruption, one ill-conceived development scheme after another, resulting in a near-unmitigated failure to bring peace and prosperity to the country. Both parties had reason to engage in the cover-up. For the Bush administration, Afghanistan was a key component in the war on terror. For the Obama administration, Afghanistan was the ‘good war’ that stood in contrast to the nightmare in Iraq.”
The Afghan War’s true costs have never been precisely calculated, though they certainly exceed $1 trillion and counting. The documents relied upon for the Post report include more than 2,000 pages of confidential interviews with people who played a direct role in the war, including soldiers and diplomats, as well as civilian aid workers and Afghan officials. Many of the interviews were initially carried out by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The Post divided the interviews and supporting documentation into subject categories that demonstrate how the situation in Afghanistan began to deteriorate as soon as the United States followed up on its rapid invasion with a plan for nation building. Resorting to the usual American expedient, the occupiers flooded the country with money, which meant that the only thing blooming on the thin soil was corruption, apart from the poppies that have made Afghanistan the world’s leading supplier of opium.
One contractor who was involved in nation building described how he was required to spend $3 million daily for projects in an Afghan district roughly the size of a US county. He asked a visiting congressman if he could be authorized to spend that much money in the US “[The lawmaker] said hell no. ‘Well, sir, that’s what you just obligated us to spend and I’m doing it for communities that live in mud huts with no windows.’ ”
In another interview the report cites Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, the White House Afghan war czar during the Bush and Obama administrations, who told the interviewers in 2015. “We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan — we didn’t know what we were doing,” later adding “What are we trying to do here? We didn’t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking.”
Part of the problem with Afghanistan was the rotation of American soldiers in and then out after one year or less, just as they were learning about the country and the problems they faced. It has led to the joke that the United States has not fought an eighteen-year war in Afghanistan: it has fought a one-year war eighteen times.
The Post investigative report coincides with an interesting deconstruction of the US military and how it operates. David Swanson of World BEYOND War provides a lengthy review of West Point Professor Tim Bakken’s new book The Cost of Loyalty: Dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the US Military. Per Swanson, the book “traces a path of corruption, barbarism, violence, and unaccountability that makes its way from the United States’ military academies (West Point, Annapolis, Colorado Springs) to the top ranks of the US military and US governmental policy, and from there into a broader US culture that, in turn, supports the subculture of the military and its leaders. The US Congress and presidents have ceded tremendous power to generals. The State Department and even the US Institute of Peace are subservient to the military. The corporate media and the public help maintain this arrangement with their eagerness to denounce anyone who opposes the generals. Even opposing giving free weapons to Ukraine is now quasi-treasonous.”
Bakken even disputes the widely held view that the military academies have high academic standards. He describes how the “system” pays to get potential athletes and accepts students nominated by congressmen commensurate with donations made to fund re-election campaigns. Swanson sums it up by observing how the academies offer “a community college-level education only with more hazing, violence, and tamping down of curiosity. West Point takes soldiers and declares them to be professors, which works roughly as well as declaring them to be relief workers or nation builders or peace keepers. The school parks ambulances nearby in preparation for violent rituals. Boxing is a required subject. Women are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted at the three military academies than at other US universities.”
Bakken concludes that appreciating the fundamental structural flaws in the US armed forces “leads to a clearer understanding of the deficiencies in the military and how America can lose wars.” In fact, he does not even seek to identify a war that the United States has won since World War 2 in spite of the country being nearly constantly engaged in conflict.
Together the Bakken book and the Afghanistan Papers reveal just how much the American people have been brainwashed by their leaders into believing a perpetual warfare national narrative that is more fiction than fact. Donald Trump may have actually appreciated that the voters were tired of the wars and was elected on that basis, but he has completely failed to deliver on his promise to retrench. It suggests that America will remain in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future and the inevitable next war, wherever it might be, will be another failure, no matter who is elected in 2020.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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SYRIAN WAR REPORT – DECEMBER 27, 2019: ARMY LIBERATES MORE TERRITORY FROM IDLIB MILITANTS



South Front

On December 26, units of the Syrian Army liberated the villages of Khuwayn al-Sha’r, Judaydat Nawaf, Samkeh and Delim, as well as several nearby points in southern Idlib.
During the past few days, the speed of the Syrian Army advance in the region decreased in comparison of the first days of the operation launched on December 19. This is linked to the ongoing behind-the-scenes negotiations on the fate of Maarat al-Numan and bad weather. Taking into account reports that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies rejected a surrender proposal from Damascus, a new round of full-scale hostilities will likely take place soon.
According to pro-militant media outlets, up to 200 members of militant groups were killed or injured since December 19. At the same time, they claim even a bigger number of casualties among Syrian Army troops. Both these numbers seem to be overestimated.
Early on December 26, at least 85 Turkish military vehicles and trucks entered the Greater Idlib region in northwestern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The SOHR claimed that a part of the vehicles headed towards a Turkish observation post near the town of al-Eis in southwestern Aleppo, while the rest moved to a second observation post in the district of al-Rashidin west of Aleppo’s city center.
Earlier, on December 2, about 100 Turkish military vehicles entered Greater Idlib. They were intended for observation posts in southern Idlib and northwest Hama.
Ankara is once again intensifying its diplomatic, propaganda and even military efforts in order to rescue radical groups operating in northwestern Syria.

فيلم معركة ادلب يعرض لاول مرة … سير المعركة
الجيش السوري يحاصر نقطة مراقبة تركية ثانية بعد تقدمه بأرياف إدلب
عيون السوريين نحو سراقب ومعرة النعمان الحيش العربي السوري يحرر جرجناز في ريف إدلب الجنوبي

Related News

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Boris Johnson Flies the Israeli Flag over Number 10



By Stuart Littlewood
Boris Johnson Netanyahu 4117f
Christians in the Gaza Strip are not allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year.  Israel says so.
Gisha, an Israeli rights group, said the ban points “to the intensifying of access restrictions between the two parts of the Palestinian territory,” calling it “a deepening of Israel’s separation policy” for the West Bank and Gaza. Christian leaders in Jerusalem complain: “Other people around the world are allowed to travel to Bethlehem. We think Gaza’s Christians should have that right, too.”
I well remember Gaza’s Catholic priest telling me, some years ago, that he hadn’t seen his family for 9 years. They lived just a few miles away in the West Bank but the occupying Israeli authorities warned that if he left Gaza they would not allow him back and his ‘flock’ would be without a minister.
If that isn’t religious warfare I don’t know what is.
Meanwhile, sinister moves are afoot in the UK to preserve Israel’s impunity for its crimes against the Palestinians and its contempt for international law. Boris Johnson’s new government is to pass legislation banning public bodies from imposing their own boycotts, disinvestment or sanctions (BDS) campaigns against foreign countries, including Israel, on the grounds that these “undermine community cohesion”.
Where’s the harm in BDS? It’s a peaceful response to Israel’s thuggery. It urges non-violent pressure on Israel until it complies with international law by meeting three demands:
  1. Ending its unlawful occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall (international law recognizes the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Gaza and the Syrian Golan Heights as occupied by Israel).
  2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality.
  3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.
And how is Boris Johnson proposing to block BDS? Briefing notes accompanying the Queen’s Speech to Parliament, which sets out the Government’s program, say:
  • ● We will stop public institutions from imposing their own approach or views about international relations, through preventing boycotts, divestment or sanctions campaigns against foreign countries and those who trade with them.
  • ● This will create a coherent approach to foreign relations from all public institutions, by ensuring that they do not go beyond the UK Government’s settled policy towards a foreign country. The UK Government is responsible for foreign relations and determining the best way to interact with its international neighbors.
The notes point out that public institutions should not be pursuing their own foreign policy agenda with public money and there are concerns that such boycotts have legitimized anti-Semitism. The ban will apply to institutions across the public sector, not just councils, and will cover purchasing, procurement and investment decisions which undermine cohesion and integration.
Johnson is getting his knickers in a frightful twist over this. His party’s election manifesto had already pledged:
  • “We will ensure that no one is put off from engaging in politics or standing in an election by threats, harassment or abuse, whether in person or online.”
  • “We will champion freedom of expression and tolerance, both in the UK and overseas.”
  • “To support free speech, we will repeal section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2014, which seeks to coerce the press.”
The Conservatives also promised to champion the rule of law, human rights, free trade, anti-corruption efforts and a rules-based international system – all of which Israel refuses to comply with.
Johnson and his underlings just don’t get it. BDS is a legitimate, peaceful way of opposing the Israeli occupation. Furthermore, the foreign policies of successive UK governments have not met the approval of the British people. Far from it. There is no “coherent approach” or “community cohesion” and never will be with US-Israel axis pimps in control at Westminster.
Just look at our government line-up.
Johnson calls himself “a passionate Zionist”. He praised the ‘genius of Israel’ at a parliamentary reception marking 100 years since the Balfour Declaration and said he was proud of ‘Britain’s part in creating Israel’.
When the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution to set up an independent, international Commission of Inquiry to investigate all violations of humanitarian and international human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territory, with particular focus on recent events in Gaza, Johnson (then Foreign Secretary) couldn’t bring himself to vote for it.
Conservative glamour-girl Priti Patel, while International Development Secretary, had 14 meetings with Israeli politicians (including prime minister Netanyahu and his security minister) during a family holiday in Israel without telling the Foreign Office, her civil servants or her boss Theresa May, and without government officials present. This was not only a two-finger salute to the ministerial Code of Conduct but a gross breach of security. But what do you expect from a former vice-chair of Conservative Friends of Israel?
She was accused of freelancing in foreign policy and is said to have tried persuading colleagues to send British taxpayers’ money as aid for an Israeli forces project in the Golan Heights…. like we didn’t need the money here with 300,000 homeless and sleeping rough. She actually visited the Golan knowing it to be Syrian territory stolen in 1967 by the Israelis who have illegally occupied it ever since. Touring it with the thieving occupation army was a monumental diplomatic blunder. She was forced to resign. This bird-brain is now Home Secretary.
Muslim Sajid Javid, now Chancellor, remarked in December 2012: “Israel, the only nation in the Middle East that shares the same democratic values as Britain….” He honeymooned in Israel and is a Conservative Friend of Israel. And he has proscribed Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. Hezbollah came into being as a resistance organization in response to the 1978 and 1982 Israeli invasions of Lebanon. Israel is delighted.
Michael Gove has described himself as “a proud Zionist” since he was a boy. He too is a Conservative Friend of Israel, believes BDS is anti-Semitic and that Israel is “free, democratic, liberal and western”.
Few people I know believe Israel has a friend in the whole world apart from those it has bought, threatened or terrorized into submission and, of course, the sad folk who have allowed themselves to be perverted by Christian-Zionist pastors and the Scofield bible.
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “The campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) seeks to hold Israel accountable for its violations of Palestinian rights and of international law.
“Failing to take action to hold Israel to account makes one complicit. Israel has been engaged in a global campaign to have laws prohibiting BDS introduced so that it can act with impunity. All those who believe in international law, human rights and freedom of expression must vigorously oppose this legislation.”

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

IOF Attack Final Round of Weekly Protests in Gaza

Source

 December 27, 2019

Israeli occupation forces attacked Palestinians taking part in the final round of protests held on a weekly basis near the fence separating the Gaza Strip from the Occupied Territories, leaving a number of protesters injured.
Palestinian media outlets reported that the Israeli forces shot and injured protesters in the east of Jabalia and the east of Khan Yunis on Friday.
Tens of Palestinians also suffered from suffocation due to inhaling tear gas used by the Israeli troops in the eastern part of Gaza.
The “Great March of Return” rallies have been held every week since March 30 last year. The Palestinians want the return of those driven out of their homeland by Israeli aggression.
The protest organizers announced on Thursday that the rallies would be suspended until March 2020, after which it would be held on a monthly basis.
Yousri Darwish, a member of the Supreme National Committee of the Marches of Return, said the decision to suspend the rallies was made in the best interest of the Palestinian people.
He said preparations for the commemoration of the Land Day would be done in the upcoming few months in which the protests would stop. The annual event is held on March 30 to mark the killing of six Palestinians by Israeli forces during mass protests against Israel’s seizure of their land in 1976.

جماهير غزة تؤكد تمسكها بحقوقها وثوابتها الوطنية


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انتفاضة في البحارعلى القطبية الأميركيّة!


ديسمبر 27, 2019



المناورات البحرية الضخمة التي تجريها روسيا والصين وإيران في مياه المحيط الهندي وبحر عمان لها طابع استراتيجي يطوق الأحاديّة الأميركيّة دافعاً بها نحو نظام دولي جديد ميزته أنه متعدّد الأقطاب.
صحيح أن هذا التحوّل المرتقب ليس ناتجاً من انتصارات عسكرية مباشرة بين المتنافسين، لكنها ثمرة صراعات اقتصادية وأخرى نشبت بين روسيا وأميركا عبر نظام قيادة الحروب من الخلف أو بتدخل نسبي مباشر.
هناك العديد من الأسباب تجعل لهذه المناورات أهمية في الصراعات الأساسية في العالم أولها أهمية المشاركين بها الذي يعلنون من خلالها أنهم انتقلوا من التساند اللفظي والآني إلى تنسيق عسكري عميق له مدى عالمي بالإضافة الى أهمية المكان الذي تجري فيه المناورات لاحتوائه على أكبر كمية معروفة من احتياطات الغاز والنفط مع قدرة هائلة على الاستهلاك لأن دولها غير منتجة. الى جانب توسُّط منطقة المناورات في الشرق الأوسط والهند وباكستان للعالم بأسره. كما يمكن اعتبار هذه المنطقة قلب العالم الروحي حيث مهد الإسلام والمسيحية واليهودية والبوذية، ومنطقة عبور بحري، بأبوابه الأربعة من هرمز الى المحيط الهندي من جهة وباب المندب وقناة السويس والبحر المتوسط من جهة ثانية.
هي اذاً مناورات بحرية تقتفي نظرية “دبلوماسية الأساطيل” التي تقوم على مناورات عنيفة لعرض قوة كامنة يجب أن تظهر لإقناع الأعداء بقوتها.
بماذا يمكن لهذه البلدان أن تسند بعضها بعضاً؟
تتعرّض روسيا والصين وإيران لعدوانية أميركية اقتصادية تدرك حدود الخنق. فالصين المنتشرة اقتصادياً على مستوى العالم تتلقى كل أسبوع أو أكثر عقوبات أميركية اقتصادية لشلّ انتشار سلعها وعرقلة شرائها لمواد ضرورية لإنتاج بضائعها، كما أن الأميركيين يستعينون بالمراكز الإسلامية التقليدية والإرهابية في الشرق الأوسط لتحريك أقلية الأيغور الإسلامية في الصين ضد دولتها.
لروسيا ايضاً حسابات كبرى عند الأميركيين، يكفي أنها لا تزال قطباً عسكرياً عالمياً يضارع الأميركيين وربما أكثر، لذلك تذهب موسكو عن تسويق ثرواتها من الغاز عن اوروبا والصين عبر أربعة خطوط من البلطيق – المانيا – روسيا اوكرانيا، روسيا الصين وروسيا تركيا نحو أوروبا. ولا تنسى بذل جهود جبارة لتحديث صناعاتها، وهذا يتطلب وقتاً، فتستغله بالانتشار العسكري والسياسي في العالم من مركزها الأساسي في سورية الى أميركا اللاتينية والخليج والعراق ومصر مع محاولات لاختراق شمالي افريقيا.
بما يؤكد أنها تريد توسيع الجيوبوليتيك الخاص بها لاستعادة قطبيتها المفقودة مع الراحل السوفياتي.
اما إيران فهي الثالثة المستهدفة بجنون أميركي لم يدخر أسلوباً للقضاء على جمهوريتها الاسلامية، واذا كانت لا تشكل خطراً عسكرياً او اقتصادياً على الأميركيين، فإنها تجسّد لهم رعباً في عرينهم الشرق الأوسطي حيث الغاز والنفط والجيوبوليتيك، فطهران اليوم موجودة سياسياً في لبنان وعلى كل المستويات في اليمن والعراق وسورية، ولها أدوار وازنة في افغانستان وباكستان، مع علاقات عميقة بدول في أميركا اللاتينية والهند وآسيا وتيارات شعبية في أفريقيا، ما يجعلها في دائرة رصد استراتيجي أميركي يرى فيها تهديداً إسلامياً لهيمنة واشنطن على العالم الاسلامي، حيث مركز القوة الأميركي الاساسي.
لماذا ضرورة التنسيق بين هذه الدول الثلاث؟
السبب المركزي الأول أنها مستهدفة من الأميركيين بشكل بنيوي قد تُركز السياسة الأميركية على روسيا حيناً مقابل التخفيف من خنق الصين وإيران، أو تخنق إيران وتتراخى مع موسكو وبكين، لكنها لا تنسى أبداً الخطر الاقتصادي الصيني الذي أصبح وسواس الاقتصاد الأميركي.
لجهة السبب الثاني الدافع للتنسيق العميق فهو افتقار كل دولة من الدول الثلاث بمفردها لكامل عناصر القوة الضرورية لمقاومة العدوانية الأميركية، فالصين معتدلة عسكرياً ومتقدمة اقتصادياً فيما روسيا رهيبة عسكرياً ومتراجعة اقتصادياً أما إيران فأهميتها اقتصادية وشرق أوسطية وإسلامية.
لذلك تبدو هذه الدول بحاجة لتنسيق قواها فتصبح قادرة على فرض تراجع بنيوي على الأميركيين يؤدي فوراً لولادة عالم متعدّد القطب تنخفض فيه الصراعات والحروب على الطريقة الأميركية التي لا يهمها إلا بيع السلع والسلاح على جثث الأبرياء والشعوب الضعيفة.
إن ما يمنح هذه الفرضيّة ميزات إضافية، بنجاح ممكن في ردع الأميركيين هي القوة السكانية الصينية التي تشكل بمفردها ربع العالم تقريباً بمدى اقتصادي اخترق الحدود السياسية في القارات الخمس، كذلك روسيا راعية تحالفات شنغهاي والبريكس التي تضمّ دولاً تزيد عن 60 في المئة من سكان العالم.
بالعودة الى المناورات البحرية التي تعطي الفرصة بولادة التوازن العالم، يكفي أنها تجري في منطقة تستوطن الجيوبوليتيك الأميركي منذ ستة عقود تقريباً.
ويمكن اعتبارها المدخل البحري إلى أكبر آبار نفط وغاز في العالم وتسيطر على بحار الشرق الأوسط من الخليج الى الأحمر فالمتوسط، وصولاً الى شواطئ باكستان والهند.
هل نحن فعلاً عشية التغيير القطبي؟
استناداً الى القراءة العلمية الدقيقة يمكن الجزم ان العالم مندفع نحو إعادة استقرار نسبي الى ربوعه تحت ضغط هذه المنافسة الثلاثية للنفوذ الأميركي.وكما قال الرئيس الفرنسي ماكرون فإن عالماً متعدّد القطب في طريقه للتشكل من روسيا والصين والأميركيين وأوروبا مجتمعة، وربما تلحق بهم الهند، أما العرب فمستمرون على حالهم من الضعف الشديد الذي يضعهم دائماً ضحية صراعات الأمم على ثرواتهم وتحت رحمة أنظمتهم المتضعضعة.
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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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