Moon of Alabama

BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days.
Syrian state television aired a video statement by a group of men saying that President Bashar Assad has been overthrown and all detainees in jails have been set free.
...
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and turn its functions over to a transitional government.

“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” Jalili said in a video statement. He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and called on Syrian citizens not to deface public property.

He did not address reports that Assad had fled.

During and after its fight against takfiri terrorists Syria had come under heavy sanctions. Its main assets in the east were under U.S. control. Israel's airforce was bombing its military infrastructure at will. It was ripe to fall.

As soon as the bogus ceasefire in Lebanon was signed Turkey unleashed its takfiri 'Syrian rebels', many of them foreigners, against Syria. These were exceptionally well armed and trained. They have (vid) night vision equipment, drones, artillery, Starlink communication and a capable, professional command.

The Syrian Arab army proved to be unreliable. Some units just vanished. Others were ordered to retreat in haste even before coming under pressure. One wonders how much of its command level has been infiltrated or bribed.

Throughout the last months Syria's allies, Iran and Russia, had sought to negotiate a compromise between the opposition and the Assad government. In the end they were unable to overcome the stubbornness of Bashar Assad. They perceived that they were being drawn into a trap and rejected to fall for it.

Syria is now likely to fall apart. There will be many bloody acts retributions. A large number of people will seek refuge.

The 'axis of resistance' has lost its main connecting rod. Logistics between Iran and Lebanon will become very difficult.

Resistance however will continue.

A few tweets that caught my eyes:

Cont. reading: Syria Falls

Posted by b at 9:36 UTC | Comments (502)

December 07, 2024

Craig Murray - The End of Pluralism in the Middle East

by Craig Murray
Republished from craigmurray.org.uk

A truly seismic change in the Middle East appears to be happening very fast. At its heart is a devil’s bargain – Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the imposition of Salafism across the Eastern Arab world.

This also spells the end for Lebanon and Syria’s Christian communities, as witness the tearing down of all Christmas decorations, the smashing of all alcohol and the forced imposition of the veil on women in Aleppo now.

Yesterday US Warthog air-to-ground jets attacked and severely depleted reinforcements which were, at the invitation of the Syrian government, en route to Syria from Iraq. Constant, daily Israeli airstrikes on Syria’s military infrastructure for months have been a major factor in the demoralisation and reduced capacity of the Syrian government’s Syrian Arab Army, which has simply evaporated in Aleppo and Hama.

It is very difficult to see the tide turning in Syria. The Russians now have either to massively reinforce their Syrian bases with ground troops or to evacuate them. Faced with the exigencies of Ukraine, they may do the latter, and it is reported that the Russian navy has already set sail from Tartus.

The speed of collapse of Syria has taken everybody by surprise. If the situation does not stabilise, Damascus could be besieged and ISIS back on the hills above the Bekaa valley within a week, given the speed of their advance and the short distances involved.

Cont. reading: Craig Murray - The End of Pluralism in the Middle East

Posted by b at 6:38 UTC | Comments (639)

December 06, 2024

U.S. Has Stopped Ukrainian ATACMS Strikes On Russia

As further ATACMS strikes on Russia seem to have stopped this timeline is of interest.

November 18:

U.S. allows Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles against targets within Russia:

The reversal of policy, nearly 1,000 days since Russia started its full-scale invasion on Ukraine, comes largely in response to Russia's deployment of North Korean troops to supplement its forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv, a U.S. official and a source familiar with the decision told Reuters.

[Note: There is no evidence that any North Korean troops were deployed by Russia anywhere near Ukraine.]

November 19 and November 20/21:

Ukraine hits an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk Oblast, far from any relevant frontline, as well as military facilities in Russia's Kursk oblast:

On November 19, six ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles produced by the United States, and on November 21, during a combined missile assault involving British Storm Shadow systems and HIMARS systems produced by the US, attacked military facilities inside the Russian Federation in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
...
The fire at the ammunition depot in the Bryansk Region, caused by the debris of ATACMS missiles, was extinguished without casualties or significant damage. In the Kursk Region, the attack targeted one of the command posts of our group North. Regrettably, the attack and the subsequent air defence battle resulted in casualties, both fatalities and injuries, among the perimeter security units and servicing staff.

November 21:

Russia fires a new missile with hypersonic kinetic warheads at a military industrial complex in Dnipro:

Cont. reading: U.S. Has Stopped Ukrainian ATACMS Strikes On Russia

Posted by b at 11:11 UTC | Comments (361)

December 05, 2024

Palestine Open Thread 2024-292

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

Posted by b at 7:57 UTC | Comments (326)

Ukraine Open Thread 2024-291

News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...

Posted by b at 7:57 UTC | Comments (221)

Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2024-290

News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine ...

This currently makes the rounds:

A Giant of Journalism Gets Half its Budget From the U.S. Government - Ryan Grim / Drop Site News, Dec 2 2024

OCCRP works with dozens of major newspapers to collaboratively publish the kinds of scoops you’re well aware of, such as the Panama Papers or the Pandora Papers. What we can reveal today is that the single largest funder of OCCRP is the U.S. State Department.

Duh ...

Selective Leaks Of The #PanamaPapers Create Huge Blackmail Potential - Moon of Alabama, Apr 4 2016

A real leak of data from a law firm in Panama would be very interesting. Many rich people and/or politicians hide money in shell companies that such firms in Panama provide. But the current heavily promoted "leak" of such data to several NATO supporting news organization and a US government financed "Non Government Organization" is just a lame attempt to smear some people the U.S. empire dislikes. It also creates a huge blackmail opportunity by NOT publishing certain data in return for this or that desired favor.
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A year ago someone provided tons of data from Mossak Fonseca to a German newpaper, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The Munich daily is politically on the center right and staunchly pro NATO. It cooperates with the Guardian, the BBC, Le Monde, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and some other news organization who are all known supporters of the establishment.
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The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is part of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) which is financed by the U.S. government through USAID.
The "leak" is of data selected by U.S. friendly organization out of a database, likely obtained by U.S. secret services, which can be assumed to include much dirt about "western" persons and organizations.

...

Posted by b at 7:52 UTC | Comments (278)

December 04, 2024

South Korea - Majority Wins As President's Putsch Fails

The attempted coup by the president of South Korea against the majority in the National Assembly has failed.

The quick reaction of the leadership of the Democratic Party, which holds the majority, has saved the day.

There was a struggle over the budget which the president's minority government had lost.

In a furious reaction President Yoon Suk Yeol and his defense minister and school buddy Kim Yong-hyun decided to declare martial law. Remarkably the prime minister of the president's government was not informed about the step:

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was completely unaware of President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration. This was because Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, a former upperclassman of President Yoon in high school, bypassed the prime minister and communicated directly with the president.
Additionally, elite military units, specifically the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade, were deployed to the National Assembly, signaling an aggressive move to suppress political opposition.

A source said, "This martial law action appears orchestrated by the 'Chungam faction,' with (Defense) Minister Kim directly coordinating with President Yoon." The "Chungam faction" refers to those who graduated from Chungam High School in Seoul.

Following the president's emergency briefing and martial law declaration, the military established the Martial Law Command within the Ministry of National Defense compound, appointing Army Chief of Staff Park An-su as the commander.

Diplomatic sources noted that despite the defense minister's recommendation for martial law, no cabinet meeting was convened, leaving the prime minister and his staff uninformed.

Opposition parties suspect that direct communication channels between the military and police were activated during the martial law declaration process.

They believe that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was engaged directly, bypassing the National Police Agency, to control access to the National Assembly.

Under martial law the National Assembly was to be suspended. Strikes were declared illegal and the media would come under censorship.

But immediately after the president announced martial law the leader of the Democratic Party in the National Assembly called for a meeting in the parliament.

At the same time the military and police were sent to block any assembly member from entering the National Assembly.

The parliamentarians won the race.

Just 150 minutes after the presidential announcement 191 of the 300 members of the National Assembly voted to immediately end the martial law status. Troops and police entered the parliament but the vote against martial law had already taken place.

Unions announced to go on strike and people came out into the street to protest the president's step. Yoon's senior aids offered to resign en masse. There was no sensible way left for him but to concede:

Cont. reading: South Korea - Majority Wins As President's Putsch Fails

Posted by b at 9:42 UTC | Comments (165)

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