Tag: perpetual war

Israel Starts Bombing Banks in Lebanon

Late Sunday, the Israeli military began launching a series of airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahieh and in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, targeting the branches of a bank.

The strikes began shortly after an Israeli military spokesman said the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would start hitting buildings that belong to al-Qard al-Hassan Association, a bank that Israel accused of financing Hezbollah.

“The air force will launch extensive strikes on targets in the southern suburb of Beirut, targeting Hezbollah-linked economic assets,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said not long before the strikes were launched.

Al-Qard al-Hassan is under US sanctions over allegations related to Hezbollah, but the bank is also used by ordinary Lebanese citizens. According to Reuters, the bank has 30 branches across Lebanon, including 15 in densely populated parts of Beirut and its suburbs.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported at least 11 Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, including one that landed near Beirut International Airport, and many targeted al-Qard al-Hassan buildings. Several strikes were also reported in the Bekaa Valley.

The bank issued a statement assuring its customers that it had taken “all of the necessary procedures since the beginning of the war to safeguard your deposits and valuables and can confirm that you should not worry they are safe.”

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Sky News Reporter ROASTS Kamala Harris For Falsely Trying To Take Credit For Death of Hamas Leader: “We? We will always bring you to justice?”

Yesterday, it was reported that Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of the Hamas terror regime and architect of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, was killed by an Israeli drone.

With Joe Biden pulling off the greatest disappearing act in presidential history, VP Kamala Harris has been forced to respond to questions by the media about her position on the devastating Israeli-Hamas/Palestinian conflict. So far, Kamala’s been straddling the fence on the escalating conflict, as she relies on financial support from the Jewish-American voting block for her campaign while at the same time, she attempts to appease voters from her radical, pro-Hamas/Palestinian base, many of whom could affect the outcome of the upcoming election in the must-win state of Michigan.

In a brilliant, must-watch 7 minutes and 28 seconds, Sky News host Erin Molan lit up Kamala Harris and other world leaders, like America’s substitute “President” Kamala Harris, for issuing stern warnings to Prime Minister Netanyahu about crossing an imaginary “red line” and then praising Israel for taking out the top Hamas terror leader.

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House Intel Chair Mike Turner Slams Biden-Harris Regime for Failing to Brief Congress on North Korean Troop Movements into Russia, Demands Red Line Against Ukraine Aggression

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) delivered a scathing rebuke of the Biden-Harris Administration, accusing it of failing to provide Congress with critical intelligence on the recent movement of North Korean troops into Russian territory.

Turner issued a letter to Joe Biden demanding immediate action and transparency as tensions escalate over North Korea’s growing military involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Turner expressed deep concerns over reports that North Korea has mobilized thousands of soldiers in support of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, calling the situation a “dangerous and extreme escalation.”

Chairman Turner emphasized that the Biden administration has kept Congress in the dark, neglecting to brief key intelligence and defense committees about the alarming developments.

In his letter to the president, Turner cited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent warnings at NATO headquarters, where Zelenskyy alerted world leaders that North Korea has deployed roughly 10,000 troops prepared to join Russia’s fight against Ukraine.

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UK Police Raid Home, Seize Devices Of Another Journalist For Reporting On Gaza Genocide

British counterterrorism police on Thursday raided the home and seized several electronic devices belonging to The Electronic Intifada’s associate editor Asa Winstanley.

Approximately 10 officers arrived at Winstanley’s North London home before 6 am and served the journalist with warrants and other papers authorizing them to search his house and vehicle for devices and documents.

A letter addressed to Winstanley from the “Counter Terrorism Command” of the Metropolitan Police Service indicates that the authorities are “aware of your profession” as a journalist but that “notwithstanding, police are investigating possible offenses” under sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Act (2006). These provisions set out the purported offense of “encouragement of terrorism.”

An officer conducting Thursday’s raid informed Winstanley that the investigation was connected with the journalist’s social media posts. Attempts to reach the Metropolitan Police Service for comment for this story have been unsuccessful.

Although his devices were seized, Winstanley was not arrested and has not been charged with any offense.

Winstanley is active on several social media platforms, and has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter/X, where he frequently shares articles, other peoples’ opinions and his own comments on Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people, British government support for these crimes, and the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide.

The vaguely worded provisions relating to “encouragement of terrorism” would clearly violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech, however the United Kingdom lacks similar constitutional protections for freedom of expression.

The draconian legislation “curtails a range of freedoms,” according to University of Edinburgh law professor Andrew Cornford, including “the freedoms to discuss controversial topics openly, and to share moral, political and religious opinions.”

Human Rights Watch has called on the British government to repeal the repressive provisions of the Terrorism Act (2006), noting that “the definition of the encouragement of terrorism offense is overly broad, raising serious concerns about undue infringement on free speech.”

In August, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service issued a warning to the British public to “think before you post” and threatening that it would prosecute anyone it deemed guilty of what it calls “online violence.”

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Leaked US Intelligence Documents Related To Israel’s Attack Preparations On Iran Appear Online

A major leak of US classified documents has appeared online Saturday… or we should qualify alleged leaks of at least two TOP SECRET documents, with both marked NOFORN – which is among the highest classifications – given it indicates the specific intelligence cannot be shared with allied foreign intelligence agencies. 

A breaking Axios report suggests their authenticity: “U.S. officials are extremely concerned about a potentially major security breach after two alleged U.S. intelligence documents about Israel’s preparations for an attack on Iran were published by a Telegram account affiliated with Iran,” Barak Ravid, who maintains close Israeli military and intelligence sources, writes.

The documents include one which was reportedly authored by the Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), dubbed a “Visual Intelligence” report and distributed among the US intelligence community (IC) earlier this week, and dated to Oct.14-16.

Neither the Pentagon nor NGA have offered official confirmation or comment, nor are they likely to. The documents first appeared on a pro-Iran Telegram channel. Axios has identified the channel name as “Middle East Spectator”. 

The docs first appeared online Friday, but the Axios report has strongly pointed to the authenticity of leak.

The region has remained on edge as Israel prepares to retaliate against Iran for its Oct.1st ballistic missile attack which saw some 200 projectiles pummel various sites in central Israel, some of which were said to be Iranian hypersonics. Axios has noted that “The leak could be an attempt to disrupt the Israeli operation.”

A US official told Axios that the alleged leak is “extremely concerning” – again implying authenticity. The leak is also being described as potential very serious breach within the US intelligence community.

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UAV Targets Israeli Prime Minister’s Residence – Reportedly Gives Israel Green Light To Attack Iranian Leaders Residence In Tehran

Today, reports from Israel indicate a UAV hit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence. No one was there and he was not injured. However, reports from Israel describe the incident as giving the IDF the legitimacy to attack the leader of Iran’s residence in Tehran.

This morning, three UAVs  crossed into Israel from Lebanon. Two of them were intercepted. Another aircraft hit a building in Caesarea without activating an alarm. As a result of the incident, alerts were activated in the Glilot base near Tel Aviv only. The IDF stated that the incident is being investigated, reported Amir Tsarfati.

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Beware of War Hawks in “America First” Clothing

For the past eight years, the two major political parties have been gripped by a messy and ongoing realignment. It began with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, which was a major repudiation of the neoconservative-establishment coalition that had dominated the Republican Party since the presidency of George W. Bush.

Trump’s condemnation of the war in Iraq—which he correctly said was sold on lies—and his skepticism of continuing to fund radical Islamists in a misguided attempt to overthrow the government in Syria drove some of the staunchest Bush-era neoconservatives to leave the Republican Party and do everything they could to keep Trump out of power. It didn’t work.

Trump’s four years in office only accelerated the realignment. By the time the 2020 election rolled around, the political establishment had awakened and thrown its entire weight behind Joe Biden. Of course, Donald Trump stuck around after leaving office and is now, for the third time, the Republican nominee for President.

This election cycle has seen the same establishment support for Trump’s opponents that we’ve seen previously, along with “defections” from former high-level Republicans like W. Bush’s own Vice President Dick Cheney. Whether we’re seeing a permanent change in the Republican Party or a temporary coalition against one candidate will rest on what happens on and after election day next month. But it’s clear that, at least for the time being, the neoconservative domination of the American Right has dissipated.

Given how damaging the neoconservatives were to the well-being and security of the American people, this is a very positive development. But critics of Washington’s hyper-aggressive foreign policy need to understand that the flight of many of the worst war hawks from the Republican Party does not mean the GOP has returned to its non-interventionist roots. In fact, as many interventionists have fled, others have remained. And those interventionist elements are working hard to bring back the same old neoconservative foreign policy under the guise of a new “America First” doctrine.

Over the summer, former national security advisor Robert O’Brien penned a lengthy feature in Foreign Affairs that aimed to do just that. O’Brien was a representative to the UN during the George W. Bush presidency, and he worked at the State Department under both Bush and Barack Obama before leaving to work as an advisor on Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign. He’s an establishment creature if there ever was one. Still, he was appointed as Trump’s National Security Advisor in 2019 and is now seen as a contender for a cabinet position if Trump wins again.

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Biden to ‘surge’ U.S. funding of Ukraine war effort as U.S. military plans for major black swan event causing ‘civil disturbance’ here at home

With the swipe of his pen, Joe Biden announced another $425 million in military aid for Ukraine this week as he updated Ukrainian President Zelenskiy on his efforts to “surge” American funding of Ukraine’s war with Russia over the final months of his term in office.

The package includes air-defense weapons, air-to-ground missiles, armored vehicles, and critical munitions to meet the urgent needs of a badly outmanned Ukrainian army, according to a White House statement that said Biden spoke by phone with Zelenskiy about additional U.S. military aid to the country.

The statement reads:

“In the coming months, the United States will provide Ukraine with a range of additional capabilities, including hundreds of air-defense interceptors, dozens of tactical air-defense systems, additional artillery systems, significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armored vehicles, all of which will help to equip Ukraine’s armed forces.”

During the phone call, Zelenskiy updated Biden on his plan to achieve victory over Russia. A victory which any rational observer knows is impossible.

It’s impossible by the simple fact that Russia has a population that is nearly four times that of Ukraine and Russia has a defense industry that’s shown itself capable of out-producing all NATO countries combined when it comes to critical ammunition, such as 155mm artillery shells.

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“I am personally proud of the holocaust of Gaza,” celebrates Israeli Minister for Social Equality and Women’s Empowerment

The Benjamin Netanyahu regime of Israel is extremely proud of its accomplishments in the Gaza Strip over the past year, including the holocaust-style killing of nearly 43,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children. And nothing, including a new Israeli government – it is election season in Israel as well as here in the United States – is going to interfere with his plan for complete victory, announced Flora May Bedra-Golan, Israel’s Minister for Social Equality and Women’s Empowerment, this week.

The other day in front of a room full of Israeli politicians, Bedra-Golan proclaimed how proud she personally feels concerning the massive death toll in Gaza. She said she looks forward to the future when the baby Jews of today are all grown up and telling their children and grandchildren about what Netanyahu did in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the details of which scream false flag, 9/11-style.

“I am personally proud of the holocaust of Gaza, and that 80 years from now they will tell their grandchildren what the Jews did,” Bedra-Golan yelled from the podium”.

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Departing Russian ambassador to Washington warns of escalating U.S.-Russian tensions and rising risk of nuclear conflict over Ukraine

Russia’s former top envoy to the United States has concluded his term with a dire warning about the escalating risk of deteriorating tensions between Moscow and Washington that could potentially lead to a nuclear confrontation.

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov has been relieved after seven years of serving as Moscow’s top diplomat in the country. In an exclusive interview with Newsweek, Antonov shared his concerns before stepping down after seven years of service.

During his tenure, Antonov became a prominent voice for the Kremlin’s stance on U.S.-Russia relations, which have steadily worsened amid the conflict in Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s increased military support for Kyiv.

In his final interview in the U.S., Antonov expressed concern that the ongoing conflict was drawing American leaders deeper into a dangerous situation. (Related: Preparing for WWIII? Thousands of French soldiers to join military exercise in Romania next year for simulated war with Russia.)

“‘Project Ukraine’ is dragging American politicians further into an abyss, from which it is increasingly difficult to escape,” Antonov told Newsweek. He criticized U.S. officials for responding to Russian military gains in the contested Donbas region and Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast with repeated commitments to continue supporting Ukraine “as long as we can.”

Antonov lamented that Washington had not signaled any interest in negotiations or attempts to reconsider its stance. “There are zero signals to [Ukraine] about the need to think over their position and sit down at the negotiating table,” he said. “Nor are there any hints about stopping the senseless flow of weapons at the expense of the local taxpayer.”

He further warned that U.S. discussions about potentially allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied ballistics to conduct long-range missile strikes in Russian territory were particularly dangerous due to recent warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin that such actions would amount to NATO’s direct involvement in the conflict.

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