Enduring Terror Forever: from al-Qaeda to ISIS-K

August 30, 2021

by Pepe Escobar and first posted at AsiaTimes

It was 20 years ago today. Asia Times published Get Osama! Now! Or Else…The rest is history.

Retrospectively, this sounds like news from another galaxy. Before Planet 9/11. Before GWOT (Global War on Terror). Before the Forever Wars. Before the social network era. Before the Russia-China strategic partnership. Before the Dronification of State Violence. Before techno-feudalism.

Allow me to get a little personal. I was back in Peshawar – the Islamic Rome, capital of the tribal areas – 20 years ago after a dizzying loop around Pakistan, tribal territory, a botched smuggling op to Kunar, biding time in Tajikistan, arriving by Soviet helicopter in the Panjshir valley, a harrowing road trip to Faizabad, and a UN flight that took ages to arrive.

In the Panjshir, I had finally met “the Lion”, commander Masoud, then plotting a counter-offensive against the Taliban. He told me he was fighting a triad: the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the Pakistani ISI. Less than three weeks later he was assassinated – by two al-Qaeda ops disguised as a camera crew, two days before 9/11.

No one, 20 years ago, could possibly imagine the subsequent slings and arrows of outrageous – terror – fortune. Two decades, $2.3 trillion and at least 240,000 Afghan deaths later, the Taliban are back where they were: ruling Afghanistan. Masoud Jr in theory leads a “resistance” in the Panjshir – actually a CIA ops channeled through CIA asset Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan Vice-President.

Al-Qaeda is a harmless skeleton, even rehabilitated in Syria as “moderate rebels; the new bogeyman in town is ISIS-K, a spin-off of the Islamic State in “Syraq”.

After negotiating a stunning package deal with the Taliban, the Empire of Chaos is concluding a humiliating evacuation from the land it bombed into democracy and submitted for two decades. Once again the US was de facto expelled by a peasant guerrilla army, this time mostly consisting of Pashtuns, descendants of the White Huns – a nomad confederation – as well as the Sakas, nomadic Iranic peoples of the Eurasian steppes.

The CIA shadow army

ISIS-K, the new viper’s nest, opens multiple Pandora boxes that may lead to the new incarnation of the Forever Wars. ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the horrific Kabul suicide bombing.

ISIS-K is apparently led by one ghostly emir Shahab al-Mujahir (no photo, no biography details), supposed to be an urban warfare expert who previously worked as a mere mid-level commander for the Haqqani network.

In 2020 media-savvy ISIS-K released one of his audio messages in Pashto. Yet he may not be Pashtun, but actually from some latitude in the Middle East, and not fluent in the language.

Even CENTCOM commander Gen Mackenzie has admitted that the US military are sharing intel on ISIS-K with the Taliban – or rather vice-versa: Taliban spokesman Zahibullah Mujahid in Kabul stressed that they warned the Americans in the first place about an imminent threat to the airport.

The Pentagon-Taliban collaboration is by now established. The perennial CIA shadow wars are a completely different ball game.

I have shown in this in-depth investigation how the top priority for the Taliban is to target the ramifications of the CIA shadow army in Afghanistan, deployed via the Khost Protection Force (KPF) and inside the National Directorate of Security (NDS).

The CIA army, as I explain, was a two-headed hydra. Older units harked back to 2001 and were very close to the CIA. The most powerful was the KPF, based at the CIA’s Camp Chapman in Khost, which operated totally outside Afghan law, not to mention budget.

The other head of the hydra were the NDS’s own Afghan Special Forces: four main units, each operating in its own regional area. The NDS was funded by the CIA and for all practical purposes, operatives were trained and weaponized by the CIA.

So the NDS was a de facto CIA proxy. And here we have the direct connection to Saleh, who was trained by the CIA in the US when the Taliban was in power in the late 1990s. Afterwards, Saleh became the head of the NDS – which happened to work very closely with RAW, Indian intel. Now he’s a “resistance leader” in the Panjshir.

My investigation was confirmed right away by the deployment of Task Force Pineapple last week, an operation carried out by CIA/Special Forces to extract the last sensitive intel assets from Kabul who were being chased by the Taliban.

In parallel, serious questions are piling up regarding the Kabul suicide bombing and the immediate MQ-9 Reaper response targeting an “ISIS-K planner” in eastern Afghanistan.

This page has been carefully tracking prime information regarding what could be described as the Abbey Gate Massacre, not surprisingly buried by Western mainstream media.

The You Tube channel Kabul Lovers, for instance, is engaging in street-level journalism that puts to shame every multi-million dollar TV network. A military officer who examined the bodies of many of the bombing victims at Kabul Emergency Hospital claimed that most were not victims of the suicide bombing: “All victims were killed by American bullets, except maybe 20 people out of 100.” The full, original report, in Dari, is here.

Scott Ritter, for his part, has emphasized the need of “perspective” on the claimed drone strike against ISIS-K “from an actual drone expert like Daniel Hale, but they put him in jail for telling the truth about how bad our drone program actually is when it comes to killing the right people.”

By now it’s established that contrary to Pentagon claims, the drone strike hit a random house in Jalalabad, not a moving vehicle, and there was “collateral damage”: at least 3 civilians.

And the civilian death toll of a subsequent missile strike on another alleged “ISIS-K planner” in a car in Kabul is already at 9 – including 6 children.

The Syria-Afghanistan rat line

The much-lauded Pentagon offensive against ISIS in “Syraq” has been derided all across the Axis of Resistance as a massive farce.

Over the years, we have had exposés coming from Moscow; Tehran; Damascus; Hezbollah; and some of the People’s Mobilization Units (PMUs) in Iraq.

Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly asserted how “the US have been using helicopters to save ISIS terrorists from complete annihilation in Iraq/Syria and transporting them to Afghanistan to keep them as insurgents in Central Asia against Russia, China and Iran.”

The extremely well informed Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, has pointed out that Russia had received the same information from local tribal leaders. Even former President Hamid Karzai – now a key negotiator forming the next Taliban-led government in Kabul – has branded ISIS-K a “tool” of the United States.

It’s important to remember that ISIS-K has become much more powerful in Afghanistan since 2020 because of what I describe as a shadowy transportation ratline from Idlib in Syria to Kunar and Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan.

Of course there is no smoking gun – yet: but what we do have is a serious working hypothesis that ISIS-K may be just another CIA shadow army, in collaboration with the NDS.

All that, if confirmed, would point to a dark future: the continuation of the Forever Wars by other means – and tactics. Yet never underestimate the counter-power of those no-nonsense descendants of White Huns and Sakas.

Ansarullah Urges US, Saudis to Prepare Plan to Retreat from Yemen after Afghanistan

August 31, 2021

By Staff, Agencies

In the wake of America’s disgraceful withdrawal from Afghanistan after a futile war, a senior Yemeni official called on the United States and Saudi Arabia to draw up a plan for pullout from Yemen as well, warning that the Arab country will eventually turn into a “graveyard for the aggressors.”

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, an Ansarullah official who is the chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, made the remarks in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday, after the US announced an end to chaotic withdrawal efforts from the airport in the Afghan capital, Kabul, effectively ending its two-decade-long occupation of the South Asian country.

“With the departure of the last American colonizers from Afghanistan, I call on the United States and its Saudi ally to leave Yemen too and devise a plan to that effect so that the Yemeni people can live in stability and away from occupation and guardianship,” Houthi tweeted.

“The Yemeni nation will never accept occupation and guardianship, no matter how long the conflicts and confrontations last. Yemen will be the graveyard of the aggressors,” he added.

Saudi Arabia launched a US-backed military aggression against Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allied states in a bid to return to power the former Riyadh-backed regime and crush the Ansarullah movement.

Now, the kingdom is stuck in a costly quagmire, with Yemeni forces conducting retaliatory operations against Saudi targets.

The US commander responsible for American troops in Afghanistan announced the end of the Afghan war on Monday afternoon, the deadline US President Joe Biden had set for the withdrawal.

General Kenneth McKenzie said that the US and its allies had evacuated 123,000 people during the 18-day airlift but conceded the military had not been able to rescue every American citizen or Afghan ally.

This is what a dying empire looks like

August 30, 2021

By Aram Mirzaei for the Saker blog

These past weeks in Afghanistan have been what some would call a shit storm, in lack of better words. What is unfolding in front of our eyes is truly both a tragedy of great proportions and a spectacle of some sort I guess. After 20 years of occupation, Washington and its obedient dogs are not just retreating, they are fleeing in panic from Afghanistan. The US backed regime, just like all such puppet regimes, was fragile, corrupt and had no popular support whatsoever. This is why it collapsed after a few weeks since the start of the Taliban offensive. It was a collapse that shocked not just the Western imperialists and their propaganda tools, but even the Taliban themselves were surprised. The NATO trained and supplied Afghan Army either fled the battlefield or surrendered, often without even offering any kind of resistance.

To some of us observers, this didn’t come as a surprise at all. Those of us who have been following the war in Afghanistan for the past 2 decades are well aware of the problems that the so called Afghan armed forces have had. Rampant corruption, criminal incompetence, and drug abuse have plagued this army for as long as it has existed in its current form. It is a well-known fact that a large percentage of the Afghan armed forces were drug abusers, often getting high on heroin or opium while on duty. Furthermore, the corruption from top to bottom was unprecedented. Many police chiefs were outright rapists and pedophiles who would kidnap children to rape and kill, instead of fighting crime, and the level of turncoats who would sell arms and supplies to the Taliban was so high that most Afghan bases stood without any kind of heavy equipment or even fuel when faced against the Taliban onslaught. If you don’t believe me, then check this video: 

To say the least, morale among these soldiers and officers was at rock bottom. And why would this be a surprise? All the good fighting men had joined the Taliban or been killed in the past years. The only people left were drug abusers and opportunists. I quote a former US soldier in Afghanistan:

“By and large the Afghan National Army is recruited from the dregs of society. The good soldiers went off and joined the Taliban.

I don’t mean that lightly. I have fought the Taliban and trained and been on joint operations with ANA. The Taliban are tough, brave, well-disciplined soldiers, and frankly, I respect them. If I had been born in Afghanistan rather than America and raised with Afghan morals I likely would have joined their ranks.”

Billions of dollars were poured in by the occupying NATO powers, to prop up warlords and criminals across Afghanistan, not to create a stable society, but to buy their temporary silence and loyalty, and this is the result after twenty years. The Taliban just had to wait patiently for the occupiers to one day leave, and they even warned the NATO regimes of this inevitable reality when they said many years ago: “You have the watches, but we have the time”. Alas, the arrogant and self-worshipping West, drunk with their own imaginations of superiority based on the number of cool US warships and awesome Navy Seal gear, could not, and still cannot understand why they lost in Afghanistan.

The sheer arrogance and incompetence of those in charge over at Washington is astonishing to watch. US intelligence had at first calculated that the Kabul regime would survive months or even years, this was later revised into 30-90 days and finally, it fell in less than two weeks after the Taliban began attacking provincial capitals across the country. Kabul itself fell in less than a day! Washington’s “guy” in Kabul fled the country, reportedly taking with him millions or billions of dollars in cash to the UAE while the Taliban waltzed into the presidential palace- the same palace where Ashraf Ghani had held a speech only 48 hours earlier, vowing to “resists and push back the Taliban onslaught”.

Which takes us to the reality of today. Over the past two weeks, NATO countries and their friends have been evacuating their troops, citizens, and Afghan collaborationists in a chaotic and shameful manner reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in 1975. This is while White House fool Joe Biden and his clown Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claimed that this wouldn’t be another “Saigon moment”. Tragic scenes have since played out at Kabul airport, where people have been flocking in hopes of catching a plane to flee the country. Men who have been holding onto the side or landing gears of planes, only to fall off mid sky after take-off, stampedes and people throwing their babies off fences to US soldiers standing guard on the other side. Thousands, if not tens of thousands have been left behind as NATO forces have prioritized the evacuations of their dogs, cats, and beer kegs.

One can only help but wonder how such “sophisticated” countries with the best military forces in the galaxy can be so pathetically disorganized in their evacuations, especially since they knew they were leaving several months ago. As if the Afghan people’s misery wasn’t enough, Daesh has entered the scene now as well, and allegedly conducted a heinous terrorist attack outside the airport, killing well over 200 people in the mayhem, including 13 US soldiers. The scenes from Kabul airport on that day were the pinnacle of the misery and death that the Western imperialists have brought upon the Afghans. I say this because it is the US that has brought Daesh into Afghanistan and I believe there are several suspicious things to mention with regards to the terrorist attack of last week.

Firstly, why is it that every time that the US is withdrawing or looking to leave a conflict zone, a Daesh terrorist attack suddenly occurs against its forces. The same happened in Syria 2019, when a Daesh terrorist blew himself up in the town of Manbij, killing US troops, just as former president Donald Trump had announced his intention to withdraw US troops out of Syria. Why is Daesh, a supposed “enemy” of the US, trying its hardest to make the US continue its occupation of these countries?

Secondly, isn’t it interesting that both British and French intelligence allegedly had knowledge about an imminent terrorist attack, several hours before it took place and didn’t do anything to stop it? Isn’t it also interesting that the US who hasn’t conducted a single strike on Daesh in Afghanistan by the way, suddenly knew exactly who was behind the bombings and “took them out” with pinpoint accuracy only a day after the bombings? And thirdly, isn’t it also interesting how the Pentagon refused to even release the names and identities of the supposed “planner and facilitator” that were killed, with spokesman John Kirby holding a mock press conference and refusing to answer any question whatsoever from the multiple journalists in place?

Well, I won’t go into further speculation but I find this terrorist attack to have been plotted in one way or another by Washington itself, in order to save face in some way. Perhaps they hoped that the focus won’t be on the evacuation disaster but rather on the “strength” they showed in “confronting terrorism” even now when they are leaving.

Elsewhere, the US seems to be plotting for another civil war in Afghanistan as former Vice president Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the famous Mujahid during the Soviet-Afghan War are amassing forces in the still unconquered Panjshir province, to the east of Kabul. It is worrying that they are seemingly stupid enough, to think they actually stand a chance against the Taliban and are both pleading and hoping for Western support. Apparently, they didn’t learn a damn thing from Ashraf Ghani’s mistakes, or any other puppet that put their faith in the West’s “benevolence”. But no matter what Washington is plotting, they cannot escape the fact that this defeat has been humiliating for them and more humiliation is to come. Their days in Iraq and Syria are also numbered. The scenes at Kabul airport won’t just disappear so lightly as they tell the tale of a failure and a disaster that will have consequences for many years to come.

General Allen of the US occupation forces in Afghanistan once declared, drunk by his own arrogance, in the belief that they had succeeded in Afghanistan that “This is victory, this is what winning looks like”. I would like to revise that phrase into – this is what a dying empire looks like.

‘Israeli’ Sniper Shot from “Zero Distance” at Gaza Border Dies

AUGUST 31, 2021

By Staff

The Zionist occupation entity pronounced the ‘Israeli’ sniper who was shot from “zero distance” along the Gaza border dead on Monday.

The ‘Israeli’ broadcaster committee added that Barel Hadaria Shmueli, 21 years-old, died after sustaining critical injuries.

The incident took place as a Palestinian hero shot the ‘Israeli’ sniper from a small hole in the cement wall that separates the Gaza Strip from the occupied territories while he was sniping Palestinian protesters.

The protest was held in commemoration of the 52nd anniversary of burning the holy al-Aqsa Mosque. On the same day of the protest, some 41Palestinian protesters sustained injuries, two of which, among them a child, succumbed to their wounds.

Additionally, ‘Israeli’ warplanes launched hostile strikes against Palestinian resistance posts under the pretext of responding to the shooting of the sniper.

The ‘Great Reset’ in Microcosm: ‘Data Driven Defeat’ in Afghanistan

August 30, 2021

Alastair Crooke

There is little mystery as to why the Taliban took over Kabul so quickly, Alastair Crooke writes.

Nation-building in Afghanistan arrived in 2001. Western interventions into the old Eastern bloc in the 1980s and early 1990s had been spectacularly effective in destroying the old social and institutional order; but equally spectacular in failing to replace imploded societies with fresh institutions.  The threat from ‘failed states’ became the new mantra, and Afghanistan – in the wake of the destruction wrought post-9/11 – therefore necessitated external intervention.  Weak and failed states were the spawning ground for terrorism and its threat to the ‘global order’, it was said. It was in Afghanistan that a new liberal world vision was to be stood-up.

At another level, the war in Afghanistan became another sort of crucible. In very real terms, Afghanistan turned into a testbed for every single innovation in technocratic project management – with each innovation heralded as precursor to our wider future. Funds poured in: Buildings were thrown up, and an army of globalised technocrats arrived to oversee the process.  Big data, AI and the utilization of ever expanding sets of technical and statistical metrics, were to topple old ‘stodgy’ ideas.  Military sociology in the form of Human Terrain Teams and other innovative creations, were unleashed to bring order to chaos. Here, the full force of the entire NGO world, the brightest minds of that international government-in-waiting, were given a playground with nearly infinite resources at their disposal.

This was to be a showcase for technical managerialism. It presumed that a properly technical, and scientific way of understanding war and nation-building would be able to mobilize reason and progress to accomplish what everyone else could not, and so create a post-modern society, out of a complex tribal one, with its own storied history.

The ‘new’ arrived, as it were, in a succession of NGO boxes marked ‘pop-up modernity’.  The 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke, of course, had already warned in Reflections on the Revolution in France, as he witnessed the Jacobins tearing down their old order: “that it is with infinite caution” that anyone should pull down or replace structures that have served society well over the ages.  But this managerial technocracy had little time for old ‘stodgy’ ideas.

But, what last week’s fall of the western instituted regime so clearly revealed is that today’s managerial class, consumed by the notion of technocracy as the only means of effecting functional rule birthed instead, something thoroughly rotten – “data-driven defeat”, as one U.S. Afghan veteran described it – so rotten, that it collapsed in a matter of days. On the extended blunders of the “system” in Afghanistan, he writes:

“A retired Navy SEAL who served in the White House under both Bush and Obama reflected,[that]  “collectively the system is incapable of taking a step back to question basic assumptions.” That “system” is best understood, not simply as a military or foreign policy body, but as a euphemism for the habits and institutions of an American ruling class that has exhibited an almost limitless collective capacity for deflecting the costs of failure.

“This class in general, and the people in charge of the war in Afghanistan in particular, believed in informational and management solutions to existential problems. They elevated data points and sta­tistical indices to avoid choosing prudent goals and organizing the proper strategies to achieve them. They believed in their own provi­dential destiny and that of people like them to rule, regardless of their failures”.

Whatever was not corrupt before America arrived, became corrupt in the maelstrom of that $2 Trillion of American money showered on the project. American soldiers, arms manufacturers, globalised technocrats, governance experts, aid workers, peacekeepers, counter-insurgency theorists and lawyers – all made their fortunes.

The flaw was that Afghanistan as a liberal progressive vision was a hoax in the first place: Afghanistan was invaded, and occupied, because of its geography. It was the ideal platform from which to perturb Central Asia, and thus unsettle Russia and China.

No one was truly committed because there was really no longer any Afghanistan to commit to. Whomsoever could steal from the Americans did so. The Ghani regime collapsed in a matter of days, because it was ‘never there’ to begin with: A Potemkin Village, whose role lay in perpetuating a fiction, or rather the myth of America’s Grand Vision of itself as the shaper and guardian of ‘our’ global future.

The true gravity for America and Europe of the present psychological ‘moment’ is not only that nation-building, as a project intended to stand up liberal values been revealed as having ‘achieved nothing’, but Afghanistan débacle has underlined the limitations to technical managerialism in way that is impossible to miss.

The gravity of America’s present psychological ‘moment’ – the implosion of Kabul – was well articulated when Robert Kagan argued earlier, that the ‘global values’ project (however tenuous its basis in reality) nonetheless has become essential to preserving ‘democracy’ at home:  For, he suggests, an America that retreats from global hegemony, would no longer possess the domestic group solidarity to preserve America as ‘idea’, at home, either.

What Kagan is saying here is important – It may constitute the true cost of the Afghanistan débacle. Every élite class advances various claims about its own legitimacy, without which a stable political order is impossible. Legitimating myths can take many forms and may change over time, but once they become exhausted, or lose their credibility – when people no longer believe in the narrative, or the claims which underpin that political ‘idea’ – then it is ‘game over’.

Swedish intellectual, Malcolm Kyeyune writes that we may be “witnessing the catastrophic end of this metaphysical power of legitimacy that has shielded the managerial ruling class for decades”:

“Anyone even briefly familiar with the historical record knows just how much of a Pandora’s box such a loss of legitimacy represents. The signs visibly have been multiplying over many years. When Michael Gove said, “I think the people in this country have had enough of experts” in a debate about the merits of Brexit, he probably traced the contours of something much bigger than anyone really knew at the time. Back then, the acute phase of the delegitimization of the managerial class was only just beginning. Now, with Afghanistan, it is impossible to miss”.

There is therefore, little mystery as to why the Taliban took over Kabul so quickly. Not only did the project per se lack legitimacy for Afghans, but that aura of claimed expertise, of technological inevitability that has protected the élite managerial class, has been exposed by the sheer dysfunctionality on display, as the West frantically flees Kabul. And it is precisely how it has ended that has really drawn back the curtain, and shown the world the rot festering beneath.

When the legitimating claim is used up, and people no longer believe in the concepts or claims that underpin a particular system or claim to rule, the extinction of that particular élite, Kyeyune writes, becomes a foregone conclusion.

Lavrov: West Openly Used Terrorists to Overthrow Syria’s President

AUGUST 30, 2021

By Staff, Agencies

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said while the West had openly used terrorists to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow helped the war-torn country preserve its statehood.

When real terrorists from Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group] and its affiliates “were on the threshold of the Syrian capital city, when terrorists were about to seize power in Syria, the West was watching it quite calmly,” Lavrov said on Monday.

The Russian diplomat said his country has created conditions for a political process in Syria, but it is not its fault that the process is slackening.

“We have created conditions for a political settlement process [in Syria], which is currently slackening not through our fault. Nevertheless, it is underway,” he stated.  

Since January 2017, Russian, Iran and Turkey have been mediating peace negotiations between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups in a series of talks held in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, formerly called Astana, and other places, including Sochi.

The talks are collectively referred to as the Astana peace process.

The 16th round of the Astana process was held early last month, with the three guarantor states renewing their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

Meanwhile, Russia’s defense minister said on Monday that all of Russia’s latest weapon systems have been tested in counter-terror operations in Syria.

“In Syria, where we have tested over 320 [types of weapons], in fact, we have tested all the weapons, except for easy-to-understand versions,” Sergei Shoigu said in an interview for the Solovyov-Live YouTube Channel, TASS reported.

The deliveries of the latest weaponry to Russian troops have increased substantially lately, Shoigu noted.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since 2011.

In recent years, the US has been maintaining an illegal military presence on Syrian soil, collaborating with militants against Syria’s legitimate government, stealing the country’s crude oil resources, and bombing the positions of the Syrian army and anti-terror popular forces.

The United States has also slapped sanctions on Syria, which have targeted the country’s oil and banking sectors, and in turn, created deep misery for millions of innocent people.

Terrorists Increase Bombings in Syria; Is False Flag Looming?

MIRI WOOD AUGUST 30, 2021

Terrorists armed and supported by NATO countries, who refused reconciliation with the government, and rejected getting on those air conditioned green bus to join other al Qaeda savages in the temporary haven provided by NATO invader Erdogan, have increased deadly attacks against Daraa al Balad.

The NATO supremacist junta ruling the UN was wailing its tears for the savages, on Wednesday, one day after the first batch of the beasts with two legs, along with their concubines and unfortunate biological footprints, had been shipped out. The second parcel of human garbage was sent on its way, on Thursday — with some reports claiming they were en route to somewhere in Europe.

On Saturday, terrorists who went into hiding with their NATO weapons — weapons do not fall like manna from the heavens — and used ground to ground mortars to blow up a civilian home, murdering two children, and injuring their older siblings, and mother. Lest it still not be clear after more than one decade of heinous atrocities, the NATO rabid dogs of war would still have us believe that the savage terrorists are altruistic human beings, yearning to be free — likely from pre-NATO Spring affordable food, housing, schooling, and full employment — and will stop at no lie to continue the barbaric, war criminal lies.

NATO stenographer Reuters, recently notorious for fraudulent fact checks, lied about Saturday’s terrorists bombings.

On Sunday, the NATO sponsored terrorists bombed the building of the Internal Security Forces, murdering one policemen and injuring two others in Daraa al Balad.

Our NATO double standards of murderous hypocrisy and other war crimes are increasing, along with attacks by terrorists in Syria. NATO stenographer-media will wax poetic about hushed reverence among grieving families under gray skies as caskets with dead US soldiers are returned from a Taliban terror attack in Kabul, and ignore Syrian Arab Army soldiers coming under terrorists’ bombings, and lying about murdered civilians.

Somber Joe Biden checks the time as US troops return home in caskets.

We provide the photo of President Biden and the watch, not to point out a singular bit of rudeness, but to bring attention to his increasingly coming under attack, even by those ignoring his obvious dementia (despite his meds, his massive herding noted at the inauguration and at the G7 meeting, his likely getting plenty of sleep, his recent onset of some extrapyridimal side effects — caused by neuroleptics noted in his gait). That much of the bipartisan country is perturbed by him suggests it may be time for another false flag, to divert attention to a 10 minute hate.

To help us continue, please visit the Donate page to donate or learn how to help us with no cost.
Follow us on Telegram: http://t.me/syupdates link will open the Telegram app.

In September 2016, uninidicted war criminal Barack Obama accidentally slaughtered 83 Syrian Arab Army soldiers in al Thardeh, near the Deir Ezzor Airport. These soldiers were about to wipe out the hiding place of a small army of ISIS terrorists, who were accidentally rescued by this little faux pas of the 44th president.

Mass funeral for 83 Syrian Arab Army solders accidentally murdered by Obama terrorists.

Syria News mentions this seeming ancient history as preface to the response of then US ambassador to the UN, also unindicted war criminal, and NATO supporter of terrorists in Syria, Samantha Power.

Power was enraged that the Russian ambassador had disturbed her by calling an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. At her presser, she not only voiced her annoyance, she not only ignored the fact that the US led coalition bombing the SAR was a war crime, but she also let the proverbial cat out of the bag, albeit via the geopolitical version of Freudian projection — that is, blaming another country for the nefarious actions one’s own country has previously perpetrated, and is amenable to perpetrating again (e.g., the Gulf of Tonkin ‘incident.’)

She explained that when there is a problem, the puppeteers of the terrorists create a diversion; her admission in 2016 hold true, today.

US Americans are increasingly faced with home evictions, endure unaffordable healthcare, are terrorized by COVID and its ever-increasing variants, are watching food costs skyrocket. Do they really care about fraudulent monthly meetings on the ridiculous chemical Syria files?

Or, while they complain about Afghanistan being ‘abandoned’ to terrorists, are they in need of a need false flag by terrorists against the people of Syria, so they may enjoy a short-lived dopamine rush to divert attention from their very real problems?

— Miri Wood

To help us continue, please visit the Donate page to donate or learn how to help us with no cost.
Follow us on Telegram: http://t.me/syupdates link will open the Telegram app.

Congress Supremacists Remind White House of Regime Change Doctrine in Syria

https://syrianews.cc/congress-supremacists-remind-white-house-of-regime-change-doctrine-in-syria/embed/#?secret=IUyo9nAaJC

9 Women and Children Injured Trying to Put Out a Fire in Al-Hol Camp

https://syrianews.cc/9-women-and-children-injured-trying-to-put-out-a-fire-in-al-hol-camp/embed/#?secret=b3UxLExcy3

NATO Turkish Army Drone Bombs NATO Kurdish SDF Vehicle in Hasakah

https://syrianews.cc/nato-turkish-army-drone-bombs-nato-kurdish-sdf-vehicle-in-hasakah/embed/#?secret=ap5sz1a5vD

Blowback: Taliban target US intel’s shadow army

August 29, 2021

The Kabul Airport bombing shows there are shadowy forces in Afghanistan, willing to disrupt a peaceful transition after US troops leave. But what about US intel’s own ‘shadow army,’ amassed over two decades of occupation? Who are they, and what is their agenda?

by Pepe Escobar with permission and special and first posting for the new website The Cradle.

So we have the CIA Director William Burns deploying in haste to Kabul to solicit an audience with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, the new potential ruler of a former satrapy. And he literally begs him to extend a deadline on the evacuation of US assets.

The answer is a resounding “no.” After all, the 31 August deadline was established by Washington itself. Extending it would only mean the extension of an already defeated occupation.

The ‘Mr. Burns goes to Kabul’ caper is by now part of cemetery of empires folklore. The CIA does not confirm or deny Burns met Mullah Baradar; a Taliban spokesman, delightfully diversionist, said he was “not aware” of such a meeting.

We’ll probably never know the exact terms discussed by the two unlikely participants –  assuming the meeting ever took place and is not crass intel disinformation.

Meanwhile, Western public hysteria is, of all things, focused on the imperative necessity of extracting all ‘translators’ and other functionaries (who were de facto NATO collaborators) out of Kabul airport. Yet thundering silence envelops what is in fact the real deal: the CIA shadow army left behind.

The shadow army are Afghan militias set up back in the early 2000s to engage in ‘counter-insurgency’ – that lovely euphemism for search and destroy ops against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Along the way, these militias practiced, in droves, that proverbial semantic combo normalizing murder: ‘extrajudicial killings,’ usually a sequel to ‘enhanced interrogations.’ These ops were always secret as per the classic CIA playbook, thus ensuring there was never any accountability.

Now Langley has a problem. The Taliban have kept sleeper cells in Kabul since May, and much earlier than that in selected Afghan government bodies. A source close to the Ministry of Interior has confirmed the Taliban actually managed to get their hands on the full list of operatives of the two top CIA schemes: the Khost Protection Force (KPF) and the National Directorate of Security (NDS). These operatives are the prime Taliban targets in checkpoints leading to Kabul airport, not random, helpless ‘Afghan civilians’ trying to escape.

The Taliban have set up quite a complex, targeted operation in Kabul, with plenty of nuance – allowing, for instance, free passage for selected NATO members’ Special Forces, who went into town in search of their nationals.

But access to the airport is now blocked for all Afghan nationals. Yesterday’s double tap suicide-car bombing has introduced an even more complex variable: the Taliban will need to pool all their intel resources, fast, to fight whatever elements are seeking to introduce domestic terror attacks into the country.

The RHIPTO Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses has shown how the Taliban have a “more advanced intelligence system” applied to urban Afghanistan, especially Kabul. The “knocking on people’s doors” fueling Western hysteria means they know exactly where to knock when it comes to finding collaborationist intel networks.

It is no wonder Western think tanks are in tears about how undermined their intel services will be in the intersection of Central and South Asia. Yet the muted official reaction boiled down to G7 Foreign Ministers issuing a mere statement announcing they were “deeply concerned by reports of violent reprisals in parts of Afghanistan.”

Blowback is indeed a bitch. Especially when you cannot fully acknowledge it.

From Phoenix to Omega

The latest chapter of CIA ops in Afghanistan started when the 2001 bombing campaign was not even finished. I saw it for myself in Tora Bora, in December 2001, when Special Forces came out of nowhere equipped with Thuraya satellite phones and suitcases full of cash. Later, the role of ‘irregular’ militias in defeating the Taliban and dismembering al-Qaeda was feted in the US as a huge success.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai was, to his credit, initially against US Special Forces setting up local militias, an essential plank of the counter-insurgency strategy. But in the end that cash cow was irresistible.

A central profiteer was the Afghan Ministry of Interior, with the initial scheme coalescing under the auspices of the Afghan Local Police. Yet some key militias were not under the Ministry, but answered directly to the CIA and the US Special Forces Command, later renamed as the infamous Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

Inevitably, CIA and JSOC got into a catfight over controlling the top militias. That was solved by the Pentagon lending Special Forces to the CIA under the Omega Program. Under Omega, the CIA was tasked with targeting intel, and Special Ops took control of the muscle on the ground. Omega made steady progress under the reign of former US President Barack Obama: it was eerily similar to the Vietnam-era Operation Phoenix.

Ten years ago, the CIA army, dubbed Counter-terrorist Pursuit Teams (CTPT), was already 3,000 strong, paid and weaponized by the CIA-JSOC combo. There was nothing ‘counter-insurgency’ about it: These were death squads, much like their earlier counterparts in Latin America in the 1970s.

In 2015, the CIA got its Afghan sister unit, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), to establish new paramilitary outfits to, in theory, fight ISIS, which later became locally identified as ISIS-Khorasan. In 2017, then-CIA Chief Mike Pompeo set Langley on an Afghan overdrive, targeting the Taliban but also al-Qaeda, which at the time had dwindled to a few dozen operatives. Pompeo promised the new gig would be “aggressive,” “unforgiving,” and “relentless.”

Those shadowy ‘military actors’

Arguably, the most precise and concise report on the American paramilitaries in Afghanistan is by Antonio de Lauri, Senior Researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, and Astrid Suhrke, Senior Researcher Emerita also at the Institute.

The report shows how the CIA army was a two-headed hydra. The older units harked back to 2001 and were very close to the CIA. The most powerful was the Khost Protection Force (KPF), based at the CIA’s Camp Chapman in Khost. KPF operated totally outside Afghan law, not to mention budget. Following an investigation by Seymour Hersh, I have also shown how the CIA financed its black ops via a heroin rat line, which the Taliban have now promised to destroy.

The other head of the hydra were the NDS’s own Afghan Special Forces: four main units, each operating in its own regional area. And that’s about all that was known about them. The NDS was funded by none other than the CIA. For all practical purposes, operatives were trained and weaponized by the CIA.

So, it’s no wonder that no one in Afghanistan or in the region knew anything definitive about their operations and command structure. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in trademark infuriating bureaucratese, defined the operations of the KPF and the NDS as appearing “to be coordinated with international military actors (emphasis mine); that is, outside the normal government chain of command.”

By 2018, the KPF was estimated to harbor between 3,000 to over 10,000 operatives. What few Afghans really knew is that they were properly weaponized; well paid; worked with people speaking American English, using American vocabulary; engaged in night operations in residential areas; and crucially, were capable of calling air strikes, executed by the US military.

A 2019 UNAMA report stressed that there were “continuing reports of the KPF carrying out human rights abuses, intentionally killing civilians, illegally detaining individuals, and intentionally damaging and burning civilian property during search operations and night raids.”

Call it the Pompeo effect: “aggressive, unforgiving, and relentless” – whether by kill-or-capture raids, or drones with Hellfire missiles.

Woke Westerners, now losing sleep over the ‘loss of civil liberties’ in Afghanistan, may not even be vaguely aware that their NATO-commanded ‘coalition forces’ excelled in preparing their own kill-or-capture lists, known by the semantically-demented denomination: Joint Prioritized Effects List.

The CIA, for its part, couldn’t care less. After all, the agency was always totally outside the jurisdiction of Afghan laws regulating the operations of ‘coalition forces.’

The dronification of violence

In these past few years, the CIA shadow army coalesced into what Ian Shaw and Majed Akhter memorably described as The Dronification of State Violence, a seminal paper published in the Critical Asian Studies journal in 2014 (downloadable here).

Shaw and Akhter define the alarming, ongoing process of dronification as: “the relocation of sovereign power from the uniformed military to the CIA and Special Forces; techno-political transformations performed by the Predator drone; the bureaucratization of the kill chain; and the individualization of the target.”

This amounts to, the authors argue, what Hannah Arendt defined as “rule by nobody.” Or, actually by somebody acting beyond any rules.

The toxic end result in Afghanistan was the marriage between the CIA shadow army and dronification. The Taliban may be willing to extend a general amnesty and not exact revenge. But to forgive those who went on a killing rampage as part of the marriage arrangement may be a step too far for the Pashtunwali code.

The February 2020 Doha agreement between Washington and the Taliban says absolutely nothing about the CIA shadow army.

So, the question now is how the defeated Americans will be able to keep intel assets in Afghanistan for its proverbial ‘counter-terrorism’ ops. A Taliban-led government will inevitably take over the NDS. What happens to the militias is an open question. They could be completely taken over by the Taliban. They could break away and eventually find new sponsors (Saudis, Turks). They could become autonomous and serve the best-positioned warlord paymaster.

The Taliban may be essentially a collection of warlords (jang salar, in Dari). But what’s certain is that a new government will simply not allow a militia wasteland scenario similar to Libya. Thousands of mercenaries of sorts with the potential of becoming an ersatz ISIS-Khorasan, threatening Afghanistan’s entry into the Eurasian integration process, need to be tamed. Burns knows it, Baradar knows it – while Western public opinion knows nothing.

Enforced Disappearance: A Crime against Humanity Systematically Practiced by Saudi Arabia

August 31, 2021

By the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights

On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, which is commemorated every year on August 30, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that, despite being “strictly prohibited by international human rights law in all circumstances, enforced disappearances continue to be used worldwide as a means of repression, intimidation and stifling opposition. Lawyers, witnesses, political opposition and human rights defenders are at particular risk of enforced disappearance,” he said. “This deprives families and communities of the right to know the truth about their loved ones, accountability, justice and reparations.”

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia practices enforced disappearance, on a large scale, especially against political detainees and opinion-makers through blatant circumvention and evasion. Most families of the victims are unaware of the fate of their relatives, after they have been detained on the street or in their workplaces, because they have been deprived the right to communicate with them and have no access to a lawyer.

In many cases, after a forced disappearance, that last for hours or days, officials at General Investigation Prisons allow the disappeared person a brief contact to inform his family of his whereabouts, only to return and disappear for periods lasting a year or more, during which he is tortured and denied the right to communicate with the outside world or access a lawyer.

In other cases, enforced disappearance extends without any information about the victim’s whereabouts or the reason for the arrest, for months or years. In light of Saudi Arabia’s intimidation policy against activists and human rights defenders.

The European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights documented the Saudi Arabian government’s use of enforced disappearance as a prelude to torture, extracting confessions, and in many cases the use of these confessions to issue death sentences.

Enforced disappearance is defined, according to the article II of the International Convention for the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as “arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of individuals acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which deprives him of the protection of the law”.

During 2021, ESOHR monitored the practice of enforced disappearance by the security services against a number of detainees, including activists:

Abdullah al-Mubaraki:

On July 22, 2021, Al-Mabaheth forces arrested online activist Abdullah bin Awad al-Mubaraki from his home in Yanbu. The family does not officially know the reason for the arrest and news broke from the moment of the arrest. Despite attempts by the family to find out where he is, and to verify his whereabouts from the prisons of Yanbu, Medina and Jeddah, they have been unable to reach him. However, activists believe that the reason for his arrest stems from his expression of opinion, his participation in campaigns on social media to defend political and civil rights, and his opposition to government policies.

Lina al-Sharif

In late May 2021, officials from the Saudi State Security Presidency raided the Sharif family’s home in Riyadh, arresting Dr. Lina al-Sharif and taking her to an unknown location. Before her arrest, al-Sharif had been active on social media, discussing Saudi politics and defending human rights issues in Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah

On May 12, 2021, State Security forces arrested Abdullah Jilan, in Medina, after it stormed his mother’s house and searched him before taking him to an unknown location. Jilan was active on Twitter, calling for his right to work and fundamental freedoms in Saudi Arabia. So far, his fate and whereabouts remain unknown.

Najla Abd El-Aziz:

Saudi security forces arrested activist Najla Abdul Aziz Mohammed al-Marwan on July 20, 2021, from her home in the capital al-Riyadh. Najla is a young divorced woman and a mother of two children. According to reports, Saudi Arabia is still forcibly hiding her after more than a month in detention, and the family has no information about her.

Najla’s Twitter account shows that she welcomed and supported the call to demonstrate in conjunction with Arafa Day. A group of activists launched a hashtag called #Arafat_Day_protest, and called for participation in a campaign against the government’s policies and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with the goal of calling for the release of detainees, in addition to enabling young people’s right to employment, tax removal, and more.

ESOHR also monitored other arbitrary arrests. Local sources said victims were also subjected to enforced disappearance, including Sheikh Abdullah al-Shihri, who was arrested for tweets criticizing statements made by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Among those reported missing are Reina Abdulaziz and Yasmine al-Ghafili.

Continuous Enforced Disappearances:

In addition, Saudi Arabia regularly hides individuals, with no information on their whereabouts for years.

In April 2016, preacher Suleiman al-Darwish disappeared during his visit to Mecca. His family does not know any details about the arrest or its reasons nor has it been officially informed of any information about his whereabouts. However, the Ministry of Interior posted his name on its website, which is dedicated to identifying the names and status of detainees. The statement indicated that he was “under investigation”, but his name was removed after a while.

Al-Darwish is still missing and despite the request from the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances for official information from Saudi Arabia on his whereabouts, his whereabouts remain unknown.”

Human rights organizations that received information in May 2012 confirmed to them that Al-Duwaish was transferred directly to the office of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman after his arrest, where he beat him.

In August 2015, the Saudi government announced the arrest of Ahmad al-Mughassil in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Since his arrest six years ago, the family has not been able to contact him or to know his whereabouts. Although Saudi Arabia announced the arrest, it did not announce where he was being held or the charges he is officially facing. Information the family received about the possible murder or death under torture raised concerns that the family could not get any information about his condition since his arrest.

In January 2020, Saudi security forces arrested Mohammed Al Ammar during a military raid in Qatif. The Saudi government announced the arrest of Ammar, who had been on wanted lists for years, but the family was unable to find out where he was, and they did not allow him any visits. In light of information about his severe injury during the arrest. Al-Ammar was not offered a trial, unless his whereabouts were known to be in enforced disappearance.

Hide as an introduction to unfair judgments:

Besides the cases in which individuals are still forcibly disappeared, detainees face harsh sentences, sometimes up to death, despite being subjected to enforced disappearance at the time of arrest. Among them is Mohammed Al-Shakhouri, who was forcibly disappeared by the Saudi government for three days after his arrest, and who was then able to communicate with his family in brief call, not being able to know what he was exposed to for eight months. The organization has also monitored executions of detainees including minors, despite violations there were subjected to including enforced disappearances, such as Abdelkrim al-Hawaj.

According to ESOHR, the Saudi government uses enforced disappearance for a variety of reasons. While in many cases concealment is used as a prelude to torture in order to extract confessions, it is used for reprisal motives that refuse to disclose definitively the status and location of the person forcibly disappeared and to intimidate the community and families.

The organization maintains that Saudi Arabia, through its practice of enforced disappearance, is committing a “crime against humanity” violating its domestic and international laws. And it recalls that no justification for the continuation of this crime can be invoked, as affirmed in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance: “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or the threat of war, internal political instability or any other exception, may be invoked to justify enforced disappearance.”

Amir Abdollahian, Assad Discuss Iran-Syria Cooperation

 August 30, 2021

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad talked about the regional and international cooperation between the two allies at a meeting in Damascus.

The new foreign minister of the Islamic Republic, who is visiting Syria with a high-ranking delegation, held talks with Assad on Sunday.

Amir Abdollahian congratulated Assad on holding a successful presidential election, and hailed Syria’s political and international victories and its achievements on the battlefield, and extended top Iranian officials’ greetings to the Syrian president.

He further referred to the economic cooperation between the two countries, highlighting the need to activate the Joint Commission of Economic Cooperation and other existing related mechanisms, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website.

Additionally, Abdollahian briefed Assad on a summit in Baghdad which he had attended a day earlier.

The Syrian president, for his part, expressed pleasure at Iran’s support for his country and outlined his views on the bilateral ties and also cooperation between Tehran and Damascus in the regional and international spheres.

The Iranian diplomat has traveled to Syria after a visit to Iraq, where he attended the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, a summit with the objective of calming regional tensions.

Before leaving Tehran for Baghdad on Saturday, Amir Abdollahian complained that Syria had not been invited to the summit, saying, “However, we are in contact and hold consultations with Syria’s leadership about the region’s security and sustainable development.”

قمة بغداد مشروع ماذا؟

ناصر قنديل

–

ربما يكون أسهل الأوصاف لقمة بغداد تشبيهها بحلف بغداد الذي أقامه الأميركيون في مرحلة صعودهم السياسي والعسكري على مسرح المنطقة لمواجهة المدّ الوطني الذي أطلقه الرئيس الراحل جمال عبد الناصر، طالما انّ منظميها والمشاركين فيها باستثناء إيران توافقوا على استبعاد سورية عن الحضور، لكن هذا التوصيف لا يستقيم مع ثلاثة عناصر رافقت القمة، الأول هو دعوة إيران، والتي بدون دعوتها ربما فقدت القمة بريقها وجاذبية المشاركة فيها بالنسبة للكثيرين من الذين لبّوا الدعوة، والثاني غياب مشروع أميركي صاعد قادر على بلورة مهمة محددة بجدول أعمال واضح لهذا الحلف، في زمن تعيش عبره المنطقة تداعيات الهروب الأميركي من أفغانستان، وتعجز واشنطن عن استعادة الوحدة بين حلفائها الذين جمعتهم خلال السنوات الأولى للحرب على سورية، يوم كان لديها مشروع وجدول أعمال، والثالث فشل القمة في بحث أي ملف جدي والخروج بأيّ موقف مشترك له قيمة وحصر جدول أعمالها بالكلمات الافتتاحية الإنشائية للمشاركين، وفتح بعض القنوات الثنائية للحوارات بين بعض من المتخاصمين، الذين ينتمي أغلبهم إلى منظومة العلاقات بواشنطن.

–

الأكيد أنّ غياب سورية أفقد القمة فرصة ان تتحوّل الى قمة منتجة، فالملفات التي تستدعي الشراكة والتعاون، وهذا هو شعار القمة، هي ملفات الحرب مع تنظيم داعش، ومصير القوات الأميركية في مناطق التوتر بعد الانسحاب من أفغانستان، ومستقبل التعاون في قطاع الطاقة عبر شبكات الربط الكهربائي وأنابيب النفط والغاز، وفتح صفحة مصالحات تاريخية بين قادة ودول المنطقة، وهي ملفات لا يمكن مناقشتها بجدية دون مشاركة سورية كطرف رئيسي حاسم في كل من هذه الملفات، والأكيد أنّ مشاركة إيران لم تتجاوز العنوان البروتوكولي، بغياب سورية، لإدراكها أن تغييب سورية مكابرة وإنكار للحقائق، ومحاولة تجاهل وتجاوز لمكانتها الرئيسية والحاسمة تلبية لطلبات إقليمية ودولية لا تزال عاجزة عن تحمّل تبعات الإعتراف بفشلها في الحرب على سورية، ويستهدف بالتالي حرمان إيران من حضور حليفها الرئيسي في القمة لإضعاف قوة النهج المشترك الذي تلتقي عليه الدولتان، ولذلك لم يكن ممكناً للقمة ان تتحوّل إلى قمة حوار عربي تركي إيراني، بغياب سورية، لأنّ إيران لن تنفتح على الملفات الحقيقية لهذا الحوار دون سورية، وأغلب الملفات في هذا الخلاف سورية، وتجب مناقشتها بحضور سوري فاعل.

–

كانت القمة فرصة بعد الانسحاب الأميركي من أفغانستان وما يطرحه من تحديات على المنطقة وحكوماتها، للتحوّل الى نواة تأسيسية لنظام إقليمي جديد يدير الفراغ الناشئ عن التراجع الأميركي الإستراتيجي في المنطقة والعالم، لو تمّ التخلي عن العنجهية التي تحكم مواقف بعض الأطراف الدولية والإقليمية التي ربطت بغداد نجاح القمة بحضورها، والدعوات لحضور القمة بشروطها، لذلك لا يمكن توصيف القمة بغياب حضور أميركي فاعل، الا بالون إختبار استعملت بغداد وباريس لإطلاقه، مقابل توظيف القمة إعلامياً كإنجاز لرئيس الحكومة العراقي قبيل نهاية ولايته مع الانتخابات النيابية بعد شهر ونصف الشهر، وتقديمها كمنصة في الحملة الإنتخابية للرئيس الفرنسي الذي يحصد فشلاً تلو الفشل في السياسات الدولية، بعد خيبات أفغانستان ومالي ولبنان، وبالون الإختبار يهدف لاستكشاف حدود دنيا لبدء التفاوض الإقليمي بين حلفاء واشنطن من جهة وإيران من جهة مقابلة، بالتوازي مع التحضير لاستئناف مفاوضات فيينا، وقد جاء الجواب على هذا الحدّ الأدنى المعروض واضحاً وحازماً عبر كلمة وزير الخارجية الإيراني حسين أمير عبد اللهيان، بإطلاق عناوين واضحة، لا استقرار دون الخروج الأميركي من المنطقة ووقف الرهانات على التدخلات الأميركية في رسم سياسات حكومات دول المنطقة، ودون الاعتراف بنصر سورية ومكانتها وحضورها الوازن في أيّ معادلة إقليمية، ودون العودة لمعادلة فلسطين القضية المركزية لشعوب المنطقة ودولها، ودون التعاون الجدي في الحرب على الإرهاب وثقافة الإرهاب والتطرف والتعصب، ودون حلّ الملفات الخلافية بالحوار والتعاون والمصالحات بعيداً عن التدخلات الأجنبية.

–

ستلي القمة محاولات مشابهة حتى يصل الأميركي للتسليم باستحالة تفادي مصير مشابه لما جرى في أفغانستان، دون التسليم بالخروج من المنطقة دون أي مقابل خصوصاً الطلبات الأميركية لضمانات لأمن كيان الاحتلال، والتسليم بأنّ معادلة جديدة في المنطقة رسمها محور المقاومة وفي طليعته مكانة سورية المتجددة، كعنوان للدولة الوطنية المستقلة، وأنّ الدول التي شاركت في الحروب الأميركية لا تستطيع أن تطلب أكثر من ضمانات لعدم تدفيعها فواتير مشاركتها في هذه الحروب، ما يعني تسليم هذه الدول بوقف تورّطها في حرب اليمن وحرب سورية ومحاولات التدخل في شؤون العراق، دون أن تطلب أثماناً وتعويضات مقابل الانسحاب مما تورّطت به، لأنّ عليها الاكتفاء بعدم محاسبتها عما تسبّبت به من خراب، وليس أكيداً ان يصل الأميركي وجماعاته إلى التسليم بالشروط الموضوعية اللازمة لتشكيل نظام إقليمي جديد، قبل الانهيار الكبير الأشدّ قسوة من انهيار أفغانستان، لكن الأكيد أنّ الانتخابات العراقية المقبلة ستشكل الإختبار الرئيسي الذي سيبني التوازن السياسي الجديد بين المحورين المتقابلين في المنطقة، والواقفين على ضفاف الاستحقاق الانتخابي.

فيديوات متعلقة

مقالات متعلقة

• الأسد وعبد اللهيان يؤكدان التحالف الاستراتيجي… وسفينة المقاومة تدخل المتوسط / فورين بوليسي: الانسحاب الأميركي من سورية هو الخطوة التالية بعد أفغانستان
• إيران تؤكد رداً على واشنطن أن إرسال وقود إلى لبنان هو “قرار سيادي”
• حصيلة قصف قاعدة العند اليمنية: 30 قتيلاً و106 جرحى
• لبنان نحو مزيد من التصعيد
• هل يحق لأحد اعتراض ناقلة النفط المتجهة من إيران إلى لبنان؟
• لقاء طحنون و«الخليفة»: صفقة الخائبين
• اختبار ما بعد أفغانستان | ابن سلمان لواشنطن: موسكو تنتظرنا
• من تركيا إلى قطر… طحنون يتلو فعل الندامة
• بين التأميم في عهد عبد الناصر ومصادرة أموال المودعين في لبنان!؟
• لا تسوسوا الشعب إلى حروب البنزين…
• الإمام موسى الصدر وتعزيز التضامن العربي

Taliban Supreme Leader Akhundzada Is in Afghanistan, Says Spokesman

 August 30, 2021

Source: Agencies

By Al Mayadeen

Taliban spokesman Zabihuallah Mujahid and his deputy announced that the Taliban commander Hibatullah Akhundzada, who never made any public appearances, is in Afghanistan.

Taliban Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced Sunday that the movement’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who has never made a public appearance, is in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

“He is present in Kandahar. He has been living there from the very beginning,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

“He will soon appear in public,” added deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi.

Hibatullah Akhundzada has been the leader of the Taliban since 2016; however, his actual role is unknown. His activities were largely limited to releasing annual messages during religious holidays.

Akhundzada is yet to make any appearances since the Taliban re-assumed control of Afghanistan in mid-August, right as the United States was nearing the end of its withdrawal 20 years after it invaded the country.

Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar was no fan of public appearances, either, and he was barely in Kabul when the Taliban was ruling the country during the 90s.

Analysis of Euro-Paralysis: Uncle Sam’s Last Afghan Stand

 August 30, 2021

By Mohammad Al-Jaber

The United States dragged Europe into the Graveyard of Empires and used it as a shield in the face of its own burial.

Europe, under the guise of providing the conditions for ‘long-term’ security and stability in Afghanistan, entered the country, and the rest is history. Havoc, destruction, death, and misery infested the Southern Asian country, placing it among the world’s poorest.

A New Age Crusade

Following the September 11 attacks, the United States developed an interest in “combatting terrorism,” prompting the country known for “exporting democracy” to the rest of the world to launch what was called the “War on Terror”—an international military campaign whose goal was to eradicate terrorism abroad,

not for the safety of the populace, but rather for that of US soil.

The US, a NATO ally and core member state, did what any benevolent ally would do and dragged NATO into a multi-generational war in Afghanistan—the organization’s first commitment outside European territories.

The whole debacle started a week after 9/11, when President George W. Bush signed a resolution authorizing the use of force against those behind the attacks, followed by an October 7 announcement that the US and the UK started launching airstrikes in Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda and Taliban sites when demands for the extradition of Osama bin Laden went unanswered.

After the US ‘retaliation’ act, the Taliban announced they are ready for “Jihad”; alas, it was a short-lived dream.

The “Jihad” lasted barely over two months, as the group was defeated and its rule in the country was declared over after heavy air bombardment from the US and UK, with ground support from its allies, which included the Northern Alliance and other anti-Taliban militias and groups.

Now, the US did not get the man they came after; bin Laden fled the country. However, they did accomplish what they are always after—influence and power. Afghanistan became ruled by the US-backed Hamid Karzai, whom the western power saw as best-fitting to rebuild the war-torn country.

So, the United States had everything laid out the way it wanted it to be:

• The European hand was forced into Afghanistan
• The burden was basically split in half with Europe reaping fewer benefits
• The US was in control of a geopolitically significant country
• The US intimidating its regional foes, namely Russia, China, and Iran

A Mandated European Venture

Now back to Europe; how and why did the old continent join the war in Afghanistan?

In 2001, the UNSC-mandated International Security Assistance Force, which had the mission of re-instating a central authority in the country that was ruled by militias and the Taliban at the time, in addition to working on enhancing the capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces, was deployed in Afghanistan. 

The mission was not led by a certain country, as its leadership was rotational between its nations—the most prominent of which were the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, and France.

On August 11, 2003, NATO assumed the ISAF’s leadership. The mission’s goals were still the same; however, when seeing the current state of Afghanistan, it’s safe to say the mission failed miserably.

The ISAF’s European nations accounted for more than half the soldiers in Afghanistan. The countries that had little to nothing to do with the conflict led the invasion of a country that never did any harm to them; the US convinced them to partake in the conflict by raising national security concerns. If anything, failure in Afghanistan would have had way more political and financial repercussions for Europe than the United States, for refugees and terrorists could reach Europe a lot easier than they could North America.

Europe: The United States’ Hadrian’s Wall

Europe has been the main bearer of consequences whenever there had been a US-related flop anywhere in the Eastern hemisphere. Take the Syrian refugee crisis, for example. A US-sparked war on a Middle Eastern country resulted in hundreds of thousands of refugees flocking toward Europe. And, of course, extremists were among those who got into the continent, leading to an increase in terror attacks and national security threats.

This, alongside many other crises, is a fine testament to the US strategy that uses Europe as a shield. In the ongoing crisis and anticipation of the incoming influx of Afghan refugees, Greece took to reinforcing the European borders by building a wall. What this means is that the Syrian scenario will be replayed, as hundreds of dead children will wash up on shore in a failed attempt to flee their country.

The Europeans had little to say regarding invading Afghanistan, for the continent’s nations lacked coordination and had many domestic political issues. Had they been united in the European Union, Europe would have been able to properly alter the coalition and advocate for a much better international approach to the situation in Afghanistan—that would’ve been the best-case scenario for Europe. Obviously, on the ground, it was completely different.

Even the majority of Europeans disagree with using military force to defend a NATO ally from a hypothetical attack by Russia, according to a Pew Research Center report. 

All that Europe gained from Afghanistan was more refugees, more dead soldiers, and wasted taxpayer money. Altogether, Europe lost nearly a thousand soldiers, gained hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers, and spent tens of billions of dollars. The UK and Germany, the second-largest troop-contributors, spent an estimated $30 billion and $19 billion respectively, over the course of the two-decade-long war—a portion of what Europe in its entirety paid to keep the war’s flame ablaze.

At the peak of the invasion of Afghanistan in 2011, the year the US had finally achieved its dream of killing bin Laden, there were 90,000 US troops in the country and 41,300 troops from NATO and its allies. The US and its allies did not equally bear the responsibility, for, as we must not forget, this wasn’t a European issue per se. It only became one after the US forced its hand to invade Afghanistan, yet Europe was bearing nearly half the burden.

The situation was incredibly frustrating for Europe, it was stuck in a self (mostly US)-made pit. The choice was between pulling out from Afghanistan and putting the US-European relations at risk, as well as its security and economy following the influx of Afghan refugees from Afghanistan to Europe, (which was not an option altogether), or staying in Afghanistan and putting up with the financial losses and human casualties.

How Europe was the Stalin to the Munich Agreement

To add insult to injury, the United States decided to withdraw from Afghanistan in February of 2020. This was the then-President Donald Trump signed the 2020 Doha Agreement to “end the war in Afghanistan” without consulting European allies—it came as a shock to them. Europeans objected to the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in such a short period of time but to no avail; there was no reversing the decision.

Furthermore, when the Biden Administration took the decision to completely withdraw from Afghanistan ahead of the agreed-upon date—which had been previously postponed from May 1st as set by the Trump administration—his decision received criticism from all US allies. NATO officials, from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, slammed Biden over this decision that was taken without any consultation.

Leaders all across Europe were in disbelief following the decision, even those who long-supported Biden saw it as a mistake and a miscalculation. There wasn’t any direct criticism, for it is known that would harm diplomatic relations; instead, leaders voiced their criticism behind the scenes. However, the storm is yet to come, as no NATO summits have taken place following the failure, which will most definitely redefine the future of US-EU relations.

How will European leaders react to this whole ordeal? Will they be silent in the face of the US abuse? There could be a change in the way Europe manages its external affairs, moving away from the United States and aiming for autonomy; but nothing is certain. One thing that is though, is the fact that even the Israelis do not trust the Americans due to their abandonment of Afghanistan and their allies there, meaning the US is prone to abandoning Europe and other allies in such ‘dire’ circumstances, rendering it unreliable. After all, the US got its troops out of Kabul right around its fall while leaving Europe and the rest of its allies stuck in the mud.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, went as far as calling for an independent army for the European Union in light of the growing panic amongst the Europeans out of fear of not being able to complete their evacuations before the United States does.

Even prior to this whole fiasco, Europe was considering forming an autonomous army. In 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron had warned that Europeans could not be protected without a “true, European army,” (before declaring that NATO was experiencing “brain death“) – an idea backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the person who could be Germany’s next Chancellor, Armin Laschet. The idea of a European army did not seem too appealing for the UK, for it could be something that equates to NATO. Instead, they prefer a joint force to defend Europe in a case relying on the US was out of the window.

During the Trump administration, the rift between the US and Europe was at its vastest since the establishment of diplomatic ties and alliances between the two powers, but it seems that the Biden administration will be the straw that broke the camel’s back in the US-EU relations.

Afghanistan reminds us why it’s called the Graveyard of Empires, as the future of diplomacy between the two behemoths could crumble over its invasion.

Al Mayadeen: Death Toll on Al-Anad Airbase Attack Rises

August 30, 2021

Source: Al Mayadeen

By Al Mayadeen

STC forces attacked the Al-Anad airbase, killing 49 people and wounding 65 more. The Houthi movement has continued to attack the base.

Lahij governorate’s al-Anad airbase, where the STC troops are stationed.

Today, Al Mayadeen sources reported that more than 100 people were killed and wounded as a result of a missile attack on the al-Anad Saudi coalition military base in the Lahij governorate. Some wounded are in critical condition.

It was reported by a Yemeni medical source that 49 people were killed in the attack and 65 were injured. The number of missing people whose corpses were torn was not included in the final death toll.

Three ballistic missiles fired from the al-Hawban area in Taiz, southwest of Yemen, struck the al-Anad base, according to military leaders of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council.

The military leaders of the STC forces accused the Sana’a government forces of continuing to attack and bomb the al-Anad base, which the STC utilizes as a base for its troops, while STC spokesperson Mohammed Al-Naqib did not rule out the absence of Houthi-Brotherhood cooperation in the operation.

It is worth noting that the Saudi coalition’s targeting of al-Anad, an important air and military base, is the second after it was hit in 2019 by a drone that targeted a military parade. Several high-ranking military leaders in President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s forces were killed, including the Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Saleh Al-Zindani.

The media’s addiction to Covid-19 ‘fear porn’ is perpetuating an ever-worsening cycle of societal damage across the world

August 29, 2021 

Eva Bartlett

Aug 28, 2021, RT.com

-by Eva K Bartlett

Over the past year and a half, hysterical media reporting on matters Covid-19 has reduced some people to a fearful state of unquestioning compliance – including a great number of otherwise critically-thinking journalists.

With screaming headlines in bold and large font such as, ‘Will this nightmare ever end?’ and ‘Mutant virus skyrockets…’ and ‘Fear grows across the country: VIRUS PANIC’, and ‘Coronavirus horror: Social media footage shows infected Wuhan residents ‘act like zombies’, it is no wonder many people are in a state of panic.

In times when many are suffering mentally and physically under unnecessary and prolonged lockdowns, the incessant fear porn is causing excessive anxiety, which in turn will affect the health & mental well-being of some, if not many. 

In government documents from the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) dated from March 2020 advice was given saying: “The perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging… This could potentially be done by trained community support volunteers, by targeted media campaigns, social media” 

I’d say the UK media campaigns certainly did the job, and other Western nations got similar directives. The UK government also became the nation’s biggest advertiser in 2020, make what you will of the potential ramifications that could have on cash-strapped newspapers and their supposed ‘independence’.

Having myself been deeply focused on exposing war propaganda and other media lies around Syria, Palestine, Venezuela, and elsewhere over the years, my default position has become one of deep cynicism on mass media reporting. Yes, you can find nuggets of truth, or even excellent journalists in mainstream publications, honestly challenging the narratives.

But those are few and far between, generally you find copy-paste propaganda emanating largely from the bowels of the USA and the UK.

A study by Swiss Propaganda Research (SPR) noted, “most of the international news coverage in Western media is provided by only three global news agencies based in New York, London and Paris.” 

Those agencies are AP, Reuters, and AFP. SPR notes:

“The key role played by these agencies means Western media often report on the same topics, even using the same wording. In addition, governments, military and intelligence services use these global news agencies as multipliers to spread their messages around the world.”

Given all of this, I’ve come to believe that with regard to media reporting on Covid-19, my cynicism is well-deserved.

Covid-19 reporting has increasingly been utterly absurd, with stories of people dropping dead in the streets, ice rink morgues to cope with the mountains of bodies, footage of an overcrowded New York hospital (that just happened to be of an Italian hospital), claims of animals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, and more recently reports of people dying post-jab but we are told ‘it could have been worse!’

This campaign of fear caused the public to massively overestimate the lethality of Covid-19, which as un-alarmist voices note has a survival rate of over 99%. 

When months into the outbreak it became apparent that SARS-CoV-2 was far less lethal than first predicted, the media and talking heads moved from talking about ‘Covid deaths’ to ‘positive cases’. 

Although relatively early on a goat and pawpaw tested positive for Covid-19, instead of then scrutinizing the accuracy of the PCR test as a means of ‘detecting Covid-19’, the media continued to hype the rise in Covid ‘cases’. 

In lockstep, ‘Covid testing’ was increased dramatically using the PCR test (recently revoked by the CDC). This inevitably pumped up the number of ‘cases’, which mass media have in turn promoted non-stop, this in turn gave ammunition to those enforcing lockdowns and vaccines.

By now hundreds of vocal doctors, nurses, virologists, immunologists, and other professionals actually worth listening to, whose data and experience counter the hype pumped out in media have very quickly disappeared from social media, or otherwise deemed quacks, and are thus largely silenced. This leaves the general public mainly getting their information via hyped-up media. 

Alongside this, there have been relentless ad hominem attacks on journalists who pose legitimate questions and uncomfortable truths about the official narratives around Covid-19. 

For offering perspectives which contradict the standard narratives around Covid-19, journalists have been deemed conspiracy theorists, pandemic-deniers, right-wingers, selfish… I’m sure I’ve missed quite a few slurs. 

When it comes to matters Covid-19, it is suddenly unacceptable to question ‘The Science’, question the authorities, or question the same media that sold us WMDs in Iraq and chemical attacks in Syria.

Media are the drivers of Covid hysteria, and it is the daily bombardment of fear porn that confuses average people and enables tyrannical powers to be brought in, largely unchallenged. 

As it is the responsibility of journalists to expose lies around wars of aggression, it is also the duty of journalists to do so around Covid-19. For some journalists who have stubbornly refused to hold power to account, instead toeing the line on all things Covid, it appears their fear is of losing an audience and not of a virus.

Whether or not you agree with dissenting voices’ questions and criticisms, we have the right to ask and make them. We do so, knowing that remaining silent in the face of the brutal Covid measures is a guaranteed path to tyranny.

Alt-Media Is Lying: ISIS-K Isn’t Fake, Russia’s Been Warning About It For Years!

28 AUGUST 2021

By Andrew Korybko

Source

Hopefully those who’ve been misled by these influential voices will challenge them to publicly account for their lies by confronting them with the facts that were shared in this analysis in order to restore integrity to the community.

Influential voices in the Alt-Media Community have recently begun implying that no such thing as ISIS-K exists after the terrorist group took credit for Thursday’s attack against the Kabul Airport and one of its organizers was subsequently assassinated by the US in eastern Afghanistan. The emerging narrative is that the American government simply invented this group out of thin air and that it’ll now be exploited as the pretext for continuing the country’s militancy in the region. While it’s unclear whether the US will continue bombing it in Afghanistan from time to time, there should be no doubt that the Alt-Media Community is once again lying to its audience by pretending that ISIS-K is fake since Russia’s been warning about the group for years already.

Here are six reports from publicly financed Russian media over the years that confirm the group’s existence:

* 19 April 2016: “10,000 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan ‘trained to expand to Central Asia, Russia’”

* 13 September 2016: “Rise of ISIS in Afghanistan is threat to Russia – Moscow”

* 15 December 2017: “Islamic State may set eyes on Central Asia, top diplomat warns”

* 23 December 2017: “ISIS has over 10,000 fighters in Afghanistan, more arriving from Syria & Iraq – Moscow”

* 19 May 2018: “Pentagon Calls Russia’s Claims About Daesh Threat In Central Asia ‘Propaganda’”

* 21 May 2019: “5,000 terrorists amassed in Afghanistan close to CIS border – Russian FSB chief”

Many more such examples abound but these should be sufficient for proving the point.

In fact, the piece about the Pentagon’s response to Russia’s warnings actually shows that the US initially downplayed this threat. Interestingly, this means that those in the Alt-Media Community who imply that ISIS-K is fake are actually regurgitating the US government’s outdated narrative from several years ago whether they’re aware of this or not. In addition, Russian Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said earlier this month that the Taliban fights “viciously” against ISIS in Afghanistan and that its top representatives personally told him that “there will be no captives.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also officially accused the US over the summer of supporting ISIS-K, which built upon prior comments from her country’s representatives over the years about unmarked helicopters conducting flights in areas where those terrorists were active. According to publicly financed TASS‘ report about her claims, “It would have been impossible to carry out such activities unbeknownst to the US and NATO forces that had complete control of Afghanistan’s airspace.” She also referenced local reports alleging that “this is how terrorists received reinforcements and evacuated the wounded, as well as dead bodies.”

This suggests that the US supported ISIS-K’s rise in Afghanistan just like it supported the original organization’s rise in Syria and Iraq. That, however, doesn’t mean that either group is completely US proxies and that literally every single thing that they do is authorized by America. Rather, it appears as though the US decided to cultivate those groups as “autonomous proxies” in their fight against common foes, which are the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in Syria. It “corralled” them in the direction of shared interests but doesn’t fully control them. This method is commonly employed by intelligence agencies the world over but also sometimes backfires against them as seen by ISIS’ and ISIS-K’s attacks against American interests.

The Alt-Media Community would therefore be correct in concluding that the US contributed to ISIS-K’s rise but would be wrong to claim that it fully controls them. Nevertheless, no one should deny that the group exists since it’s been proven in this piece that Russia’s been warning about it for years. Those who claim otherwise are simply manipulating their audience by exploiting their tendency to instinctively reject the Mainstream Media narrative about everything and automatically believe the opposite of whatever they’re being told. Hopefully those who’ve been misled by these influential voices will challenge them to publicly account for their lies by confronting them with the facts that were shared in this analysis in order to restore integrity to the community.

Israeli Occupation Targets Gaza Strip, Again

August 29, 2021

Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen

By Al Mayadeen

Night confusion units vow to continue their activities as “Israel” targets Gaza with fresh airstrikes,

An Israeli airstrike on Gaza Strip

Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that the Israeli occupation targeted the Gaza Strip with airstrikes.

A number of strikes were nullified as the Palestinian resistance launched ground-based counter-air defenses at the occupation warplanes in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation warplanes additionally dropped dozens of dangerous and poisonous bags with a foul smell along the Gaza border.

https://twitter.com/GazaNownews/status/1431701591988523010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1431701591988523010%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.almayadeen.net%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fisraeli-occupation-targets-gaza-strip-again

Coincidingly, Palestinians confirmed that they will continue their popular night confusion activities until the Israeli occupation ends its violations against Al-Quds (Occupied Jerusalem) and the Palestinian people, and breaks the siege on Gaza.

The blockade has devastated Gaza’s ailing economy and fuelled an unemployment rate that hovers at nearly 50 percent.

Furthermore, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza on Saturday night reported 11 Palestinians wounded during confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. According to the ministry, three of those wounded were hit by live ammunition and are in moderate condition. The other eight were reported lightly hurt from rubber bullets or shock grenades.

The Israeli occupation forces, which had beefed up forces ahead of the activities, used tear gas and live ammunition to attack Palestinians.

The night confusion units vowed to resume their activities for the whole week.

شاهد| انفجار مُدوٍّ خلال الإرباك الليلي قرب السياج الفاصل شرق #غزة pic.twitter.com/1TnTo6vTg5

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 28, 2021

Night confusion units asserted that “Israel’s crippling blockade on Gaza pushes us to make the lives of the Israeli settlers a living hell, and the settlement an uninhabitable area.”

“Our demands are clear.”

Night confusion units also warned that “any targeting of rebellious youth will cost an uncalculated price.”

What is night confusion?

As night falls, hundreds of young Palestinian men begin organizing various activities which last until dawn. 

The aim is simple. To confront Israeli settlers who established settlements on Palestinian land and confuse Israeli occupation forces.

Night confusion units were inspired by the “night confusion” activities during the return marches that erupted in March 2018 in the Gaza Strip near the barbed wire barrier with “Israel”. 

Omar Abu al-Nil: Yet another Palestinian Child Martyr…

Omar Abu al-Nil: Yet another Palestinian Child Martyr…

Omar Hassan Abu al-Nil, the child martyr, embraced by his family one last time

On Saturday, 12-year-old Palestinian child Omar Hassan Abu al-Nil died after succumbing to injuries he sustained at the Gaza Strip border last week.

Abu al-Nil, a child resident of al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, was critically wounded after being shot by an Israeli sniper in the al-Ras area during his participation in a march against the Israeli siege on Gaza.

The child’s martyrdom comes only days after the occupation fired live bullets and tear gas canisters at Palestinian protestors peacefully chanting “Seif al-Quds will not be sheathed.”

Abu al-Nil is another victim of not only Israeli crimes, but the International Community’s deafening silence on the endless illegal trespasses the Zionist apartheid “state” has been committing since its colonial formation in 1948. 

Related News

• Pregnant Palestinian Prisoner Appeals for International Intervention to Release Her
• Palestinian Prisoner Anhar al-Deek Fears Giving Birth in Inhumane Conditions
• Anhar al-Deek’s Brother Confirms Israeli Occupation Prevents Family from Seeing Her
• Occupied Jerusalem: Palestinian Prisoner Martyred
• During his Battle of Hunger Strike, Palestinian Prisoner Abu Atwan Revived

Daraa Peace Plan Moves Terrorists to Turkish Occupied Syria

August 28, 2021

By Steven Sahiounie

Global Research,

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). 

Visit and follow us on Instagram at @crg_globalresearch.

***

Today, a bus load Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers has come under attack on the road to the west of Daraa, with reports of one killed and eight injured. Tuesday, a Russian-backed deal went into force in Daraa, ending months-long tension between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and local terrorists there.  In late July, clashes of artillery began between the two sides.  The city in the south of Syria, on the Jordanian border, had been in military conflict which held the civilian population in peril, resulting in residents fleeing the situation.

The Russian military police entered Daraa al-Balad neighborhood to evacuate terrorists who refused to lay down their arms and receive amnesty from the SAA.  Terrorists on Tuesday night boarded buses to take them to Afrin in the north of Syria, as part of the deal. Those armed fighters who have received amnesty, and laid down their weapons, will remain in the city.

Once the terrorists are removed, the SAA will enter the area, and life will return to normal for the residents who had become hostages.  Thousands of residents who had fled the fighting will be assisted by the SAA to return home, and government institutions such as medical care will be made available, and free public schools are set to resume in mid-September.

Daraa al-Balad neighborhood is home to about 40,000 people, and it had become a critical situation with extreme challenges getting access to food and power.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) placed the number of internally displaced people in Daraa al-Balad area and surrounding areas in province at 38,000, including almost 15,000 women and over 20,400 children.

History of Daraa

Violence broke out in March 2011 in Daraa, which began the 10-year conflict in Syria.  The SAA freed Daraa in 2018 in a Russian-brokered deal which saw terrorists and their families being evacuated to Idlib, and some remaining fighters worked out a deal with the SAA, by which they would peacefully man some checkpoints inside Daraa al-Balad, while the SAA would man other checkpoints.  However, the deal fell apart over time because the fighters repeatedly targeted the SAA using snipers on motorcycles. By July, open fighting between the two-sides began.

Afrin today

Turkey occupies Afrin, and uses their militia, Syrian National Army (SNA) to keep the local population in subjugation. The SNA, despite its name, is not Syrian administered, but is under the Turkish military control, and are mercenaries following Radical Islam.War or Peace: Turkish backed Terrorists, Erdogan’s Decision on Idlib

Turkish charities operate in Afrin distributing food to Syrian Arabs who have been shipped in to displace the original population which was a mixture of Kurds, Christians and Arabs.

Turkey conducted Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20, 2018, to clear Afrin from the militia known as YPG, who is part of the US-supported SDF militia who fought to defeat ISIS.  By March 18 Afrin had been ethnically cleansed by Turkey.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of invasion operations across its border in northern Syria: Euphrates Shield in 2016, Olive Branch in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019. The goal is to create a Turkish administered border swath, which Turkey originally tried to sell to the West as a ‘safe-zone’, but is actually a Muslim Brotherhood safe haven.

Recently, the SNA abducted a number of civilians in Afrin. The battalions named, “al-Jabha al-Shamiya” and the “Sultan Murad Division” have imposed a crippling siege on the locals as they have raided the citizens’ houses and kidnapped more than 30 civilians and took them to an unknown destination.

The sources added that the abducted persons have been exposed to the worst forms of abuse, torture and insults since they have demanded to restore their properties which have been seized by the Turkish occupation mercenaries.

History of ethnic cleansing in Afrin

The National Initiative for Afrin in the German city of Bonn stressed the coordination and unification of efforts working for Afrin and its people, and confronting the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries, and the safe and dignified return of the forcibly displaced residents of Afrin. This initiative aims to expose Turkey’s violations against residents of Syria’s Afrin to international institutions and human rights organizations participating in the initiative.

After Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria, the fighters it sent across the border to carry out the mission have documented their own war crimes. Videos posted online by soldiers of the Turkish-backed SNA showing summary executions, mutilation of corpses, threats against Kurds and widespread looting have struck terror into the population.

The ethnic dimension to many of the crimes has resulted in a mass exodus of Kurds and religious minorities from these once diverse borderlands, and created a dramatic demographic change.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, claimed his invasion of Syria was aimed at removing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group Turkey classifies as a terror organization for its links to the PKK, and YPG. Turkey has supported the operation with airstrikes, drones and artillery.

Since the invasion began, the SNA has captured a swathe of territory that was home to a large population of Kurds, and smaller numbers of Assyrians, Yazidis and Turkmen. The same area faced massive upheaval when ISIS swept across northern Syria. Tal Abyad was occupied by the terror group for more than a year before being recaptured by the SDF.

Christian families have all been forced to leave their homes as the SNA made public threats to kill them, referring to them as pigs and heathens.  The SNA have uploaded their videos targeting Christians, and non-Sunni Muslims.

A widespread campaign of looting and confiscation of Kurdish property has made clear Turkey and their SNA militia want to keep Kurds out. Human Rights Watch said it had documented numerous examples of Kurdish homes being confiscated and their possessions looted.

A United Nations commission of inquiry found that “armed group members in Afrin committed the war crimes of hostage-taking, cruel treatment, torture, and pillage”.

More than 130,000 mostly Kurdish residents are still displaced from Afrin, living in camps in the SDF-held region of northeast Syria. Many of their homes are now occupied by Syrians from other parts of the country.

NATO has been criticized for allowing a member state, Turkey, to carry out large scale ethnic cleansing in Syria.  However, since the war in Syria beginning in 2011 was a US-NATO project for ‘regime change’, NATO is not complaining to Turkey, who was their partner in the 10-year war.

Idlib today

On Tuesday, an explosion killed eight Al Qaeda terrorists, and wounded 10 others, in Idlib.  The terrorists were meeting when the blast occurred.  Russia and Turkey have a ceasefire deal in Idlib, but it does not cover Al Qaeda. According to the UN, all nations must fight Al Qaeda, wherever they are.  However, Turkey occupies Idlib and supports the Al Qaeda branch there, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Turkey currently hosts nearly 4 million Syrians; however, most of the Syrian refugees in Turkey today are Sunni Muslims. Erdogan plans to resettle the Syrian refugees in the border area under Turkish military occupation, and it will permanently alter the demographics. This area stretching from Idlib province to Afrin will become a safe haven for terrorists aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda.

*

Note to readers: Please click the share buttons above or below. Follow us on Instagram, @crg_globalresearch. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

This article was originally published on Mideast Discourse.

Steven Sahiounie is an award-winning journalist. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from MD

Why I Deserted: Dissident Joe Glenton on the Futility of the Afghan War and “War on Terror

August 28th, 2021

By Lowkey

Source

In this frank discussion, Glenton opens up about the cult of imperialism within the British Army, his experiences with the opium trade, and the completely foreseeable collapse of the Afghan government.  

The world’s news feeds have been inundated this week with a deluge of images of the extremely hasty American retreat from Afghanistan. After militarily occupying the country for two decades and spending an estimated $2 trillion, the American-backed Afghan government lasted barely a week without U.S. troops backing it up. President Ashraf Ghani almost immediately fled to nearboring Tajikistan, reportedly taking hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen cash with him.

The scenes of desperate Afghans crowding into the last American planes have made this week an extremely embarrassing one for the U.S. and its allies. But what about the human cost of two decades of occupation?

One man who knows more than most about the absurdities of the war is Joe Glenton. A former soldier in the British Army, he refused to return to Afghanistan, citing his moral objections to the conflict, for which refusal he served six months in a military jail. Joe Glenton joins Watchdog host Lowkey to discuss his experiences and the recent events in the country.

Like many working class people, Glenton saw the military as a potential way out of poverty. He passed through basic training and was deployed to Kandahar Province in 2006. The Army told him he would be going there to help Afghan women, to allow girls to go to school, to build infrastructure, and to stop the booming illicit opium trade. However, he soon became disillusioned with what was going on. He developed a creeping sense of “I think we’re being lied to,” he told Lowkey. And what was sold as a peacekeeping mission almost immediately became a hot war. “It very quickly became clear that our presence had become a lightning rod. Where there hadn’t been an insurgency, there suddenly was one,” he added, noting that “on this supposed peacekeeping mission we ran out of high-artillery ammunition.”

Geopolitics, Profit, and Poppies: How the CIA Turned Afghanistan into a Failed Narco-State

After repeated mortar shelling, Glenton began manifesting the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and once back in the United Kingdom, he publicly refused to return, leaving the country but eventually coming back to fight his case. Today, he is an activist and a writer whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent and The New Internationalist. His book, “Soldier Box: Why I Won’t Return to the War on Terror,” was published in 2013.

In this frank discussion, Glenton opens up about the cult of imperialism within the British Army, his experiences with the opium trade, and the completely foreseeable collapse of the Afghan government.

Amir-Abdollahian From Baghdad Airport: US Cannot Evade Responsibility for Martyr Soleimani’s Assassination

 August 28, 2021 

Source

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s new Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the US cannot escape from its responsibility for the assassination of martyr Qassemi Soleimani and it is a must for the Americans to bring to his murderers to justice.

He made the remarks in Baghdad Airport, where he paid tribute to Lt. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at the place of their martyrdom.

Amir-Abdollahian vowed that the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs will follow up the case of martyr Soleimani at the international bodies.

“The US must be held accountable to Iran, even if the previous US administration committed such a crime, the US government cannot escape this terrorist act,” he underlined.

“The perpetrators of this terrorist attack must be punished for their actions,” the Iranian diplomat added.

Heading a delegation, Amir-Abdollahian arrived at Baghdad International Airport on Saturday morning to attend Iraq’s regional summit.

The Baghdad visit is Amir-Abdollahian’s first regional tour after gaining parliament’s vote of confidence to take power as the Islamic Republic’s new foreign minister.