Hamas Members Embedded In Relief Organization Before Oct 7th Attacks

Israel Details UNRWA Employee Terrorist Activities on October 7 – PJ Media, 2024/01/30

An intelligence report given to the United States government by Israel on the actions of several employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack reveals shocking details of terrorist acts by UN employees.

According to the Israeli report, six UNRWA employees infiltrated Israel as part of the October 7 attack, four were involved in kidnapping Israelis, and three additional UNRWA employees were “invited via a SMS text to arrive at an assembly area in the night before the attack and were directed to equip with weapons.”

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UNRWA employs 13,000 mostly Palestinians in Gaza. Without UNRWA, tens of thousands of people will die. Without UNRWA, Israel would have to bear the burden of supplying aid to the poverty-stricken strip. And Israel doesn’t want the job.

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Can UNRWA be salvaged? Even its advocates must admit the situation is untenable. There are a lot more than 12 Hamas sympathizers and/or terrorists in UNRWA, making the agency a nest of vipers within easy striking distance of innocent Israeli citizens — unless UNRWA leadership can suggest a way to purge Hamas from the agency.

Definitely a tough situation when people mask evil interests and embed themselves in an organization.

Biden Administration Sent $33M Of COVID Relief Funds To Palestinian Group With Ties To Hamas

Biden admin sent tens of millions in COVID relief funds to group accused of harboring Hamas terrorists – Fox News, 2023/10/14

The Biden administration sent $33.7 million from the American Rescue Plan, a spending bill meant to combat COVID, to a Palestinian relief organization that has previously been accused of providing safe harbor to terrorists in Gaza and has been referred to as “effectively a branch of Hamas.”

The American Rescue Plan, a COVID-19 relief bill pushed through Congress with unanimous Democrat support in the Senate and almost unanimous in the House, allocated $33.7 million to the United Nations Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA) through the State Department’s Migration and Refugee Assistance program, according to data from USASpending.gov, as part of $500 million that was included in the bill for the State Department to fund migration and refugee assistance.

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In 2014, the left-leaning New Republic described UNRWA as “effectively a branch of Hamas.”

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UN Watch reported earlier this year that UNRWA schools were complicit in teaching children to hate Jewish people and glorify terrorism. UN Watch reported that USRWA has acknowledged that teachers “mistakenly” produced and distributed inciting material but promised in 2021 that it no longer circulates such material.

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Former President Donald Trump cut off UNRWA’s funding in 2018 in a move that was criticized by the Brookings Institution, which alleged that he was cutting off “life saving” aid to impoverished Gaza residents.

That funding was reinstated by the Biden administration despite acknowledging concerns that there was a possibility Hamas could benefit from foreign aid.

Here’s the article from the New Republic. Basically the UNRWA is a mixed bag. They do some charitable work. However, many of the workers are Hamas personnel.

Stop Giving Money to the U.N.’s Relief Agency for Palestinians – The New Republic, 2014/08/19

Another Earthquake Hits Southern Turkey

Death toll rises after fresh earthquake hits Turkey-Syria border – CNBC, 2023/02/21

Six people were killed in an earthquake which struck the border region of Turkey and Syria, CNN Turk reported on Tuesday, two weeks after a larger quake killed more than 47,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.

Monday’s quake, this time with a magnitude of 6.4, was centered near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. It struck at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Center said.

Wow – they are having a time of it in that region. Continued prayers for them…

Two Major Earthquakes Hit Southern Turkey

Turkey and Syria earthquakes live updates: all the latest after 7.8 and 7.5-magnitudes leave thousands dead – as.com, 2023/02/06

This link gives live updates to the ongoing situation in Turkey and Syria regarding the two earthquakes.

One report says 5600 buildings collapsed in Turkey, and over 4000 dead total. Terrible news.

Al-Qaida Leader al-Zawhiri Killed In Drone Attack

Biden: Killing of al-Qaida leader is long-sought ‘justice’ – Associated Press, 2022/08/02

President Joe Biden announced Monday that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, an operation he said delivered justice and hopefully “one more measure of closure” to families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The president said in an evening address from the White House that U.S. intelligence officials tracked al-Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family. The president approved the operation last week and it was carried out Sunday.

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Al-Zawahri’s death eliminates the figure who more than anyone shaped al-Qaida, first as bin Laden’s deputy since 1998, then as his successor. Together, he and bin Laden turned the jihadi movement’s guns to target the United States, carrying out the deadliest attack ever on American soil — the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.

The house Al-Zawahri was in when he was killed was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, according to a senior intelligence official. The official also added that a CIA ground team and aerial reconnaissance conducted after the drone strike confirmed al-Zawahri’s death.

Definitely a good day in this regard. Credit to President Biden (or whomever made the decision) for approving the operation. Credit also to the military experts.

First Major Non-Government Airlift Rescue In Afghanistan

39 Americans Evacuated From Afghanistan In First Major Airlift Rescue Since Taliban Takeover – Zenger News, 2021/12/18

Months after U.S. government flights ceased, 39 American citizens and legal permanent residents were rescued by a two-man covert team, flying on a privately funded plane out of Taliban-controlled Kabul.

The group, sponsored by the non-profit Project Dynamo, is expected to land at New York’s John F. Kennedy International airport by 9 AM on Saturday morning.

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“This is the first [rescue mission] that we’re aware of, of Americans actually going in, flying into Kabul, putting boots on the ground, and going and getting the evacuees and escorting them from Kabul to the continental United States,” said Judge. “The U.S. government hasn’t done that since August.”

Project Dynamo has no official ties to the U.S. government. Many of its staff are former and reserve military members who served in Afghanistan, or that theater of war, and say they feel a moral obligation to save stranded Americans and their Afghan allies.

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Experts differ on how many American citizens or U.S. visa holder remain in Afghanistan. After the last U.S. military plane left the country in August, President Biden said that “about 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan with some intention to leave.” Other estimates range into the thousands.

Since August, Project Dynamo has rescued more than 2,000 people from Afghanistan. Many others have joined waiting lists to leave the war-scarred land.

The other 2,000+ people were evacuated by means other than air travel.  Congrats and thank you to the Project Dynamo Team.

Rockets Fired Toward US Embassy In Baghdad

Rockets fired toward US embassy in Baghdad – Israel National News, 2021/12/18.

Rockets were fired on Saturday night towards the Green Zone in Baghdad, where the US embassy is located, Arabic-language media reported.

A security source quoted by AFP said two rockets were shot down near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital.

There were no reports of injuries, but the rockets reportedly caused damage to two civilian vehicles.

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The incident came a day after a drone was intercepted and shot down near the US embassy in Baghdad.

Stay alert…

Marine Jailed For Social Media Posts

Dissident Marine Jailed for Social Media Posts – Human Events, 2021/09/28

Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller went viral on social media for blasting the military’s leadership during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal.

Now, he has been sent to the brig – in simpler terms, military jail.

“All our son did is ask the questions that everybody was asking themselves, but they were too scared to speak out loud,” Scheller’s father, Stu, said, per Fox News. “He was asking for accountability. In fact, I think he even asked for an apology that we made mistakes, but they couldn’t do that, which is mind-blowing.”

As previously reported by Human Events News, Scheller posted a video to Facebook following the suicide bombings that killed 11 Marines, one Army Green Beret and one Navy corpsman, along with several Afghani citizens.

In the video, Scheller – who wore his service uniform – challenged his chain of command and demanded accountability from senior leaders on the situation in Afghanistan.

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Scheller released several more videos until he was eventually told to stop posting to social media in general, which he ignored.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was put in jail so that he could not comment on the Afghanistan hearings in Congress today.

The Adventures of Afghanistan, Gen. Milley and Treason

Need to hit this, because there are multiple things in play. This will be one of my longer posts.

We all know what happened weeks ago in Afghanistan when the Biden Administration chose to pull the military out of that country. The problem was not that the military was pulled out, but that the planning and execution was horrible on numerous levels. 13 U.S. military personnel died from a suicide bomber… the Taliban took over the country in a few days… and hundreds to thousands of Americans were left stranded. Definitely one of the worst events in decades.

The hearings for Congress started earlier this week on Tuesday. However, the defense department was a no show.

Now the fun begins. Tuesday afternoon, we get this.

Treason?: Gen. Milley Undermined Trump White House With Secret Calls, Promising To Alert China Of Potential U.S. Attacks – The Federalist, 2021/09/14

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made secret calls to his Chinese counterpart in the final days of the Trump administration out of hysteria that President Donald Trump might order an attack.

Milley made two phone calls to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, according to an excerpt published Tuesday from a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa titled “Peril.” One call occurred on Oct. 30, 2020 — four days before the November election — and one on Jan. 8 of this year, two days after the Capitol riot by a mob of Trump supporters. In each, Milley assured the Chinese the United States was not preparing to strike.

“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley reportedly told Zuocheng in October. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”

According to Woodward and Acosta, Milley even pledged to alert the Chinese in advance of an impending strike.

“General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise,” Milley allegedly said.

Once this starts spreading out among the atmosphere, it is the big story – especially in the anti-Biden media. Now with stuff like this, you can’t get lost in the story itself. You have to take into account who produced the content and when it came out. People from the Washington Post put this out there, which is strange – since they have been rock solid defenders of Democrats and the Biden Administration.

So now the anti-Biden media is all over the issue of Gen. Milley’s treason issue – to which I think… how do you prove treason with China if China has never been officially declared as an enemy?

Then I see this on Tuesday night.

‘Milley made it up’: Trump says top general invented story of contacting Chinese military leader – Just The News, 2021/09/14

According to the New York Times, journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa allege in their upcoming book “Peril” that Milley made secret phone calls to China because he was afraid Trump might launch a nuclear strike.

Trump refuted these claims in a statement Monday night, saying he believed Milley made the story up and leaked it to Woodward and Costa.

“The good news is that the story is Fake News concocted by a weak and ineffective general together with two authors who I refused to give an interview to because they write fiction, not fact,” Trump wrote. He added that actions “should be taken immediately against Milley,” and “better generals” should get involved.

“If the story of ‘Dumbass’ General Mark Milley… is true, then I assume he would be tried for TREASON,” said the former President.

“For the record, I never even thought of attacking China—and China knows that. The people that fabricated the story are sick and demented, and the people who print it are just as bad. In fact, I’m the only President in decades who didn’t get the U.S. into a war—a well known fact that is seldom reported.”

Now my wheels are turning, and I have to do some recalculating. The treason narrative is growing, and Trump says it’s not true. Is it possible that this whole thing from the Washington Post people is made up? Well – it’s WaPo, of course it could be made up. But why?

Remember – there are multiple things in play… treason with Milley, and the Afghanistan debacle – which is now getting pushed to the back of the closet… which is also much more of a real threat to the Biden Administration.

Why isn’t the treason issue a threat? Numerous reasons… one – the source is from a quote in a book written by WaPo personnel. More evidence needs to be gathered. Let’s say it’s true. Two – Democrats run the government. Even if it was real treason, nothing substantial would offered in the way of punishment. Three – I already mentioned that China isn’t an official enemy, even though we know that they have been conducting anti-American operations for awhile now. I think this is a total distraction to get Afghanistan off of the headlines and bylines.  Four – the narrative is being controlled by the propaganda media.  This just didn’t organically happen.  This was proliferated upon the public.

In Afghanistan, there were real errors that has resulted in a catastrophic situation where hundreds of lives have been lost, and locals who were allied with us have effectively been handed over to the Taliban. It makes sense that they would want this shoved under the rug as much as possible. Milley and treason have provided the necessary cover that they need.

If they want to deal with treason – fine. Do it separately and don’t neglect what happened in Afghanistan and the lives that were lost.  There are many more players in the Afghanistan debacle and it should require the nation’s full attention.

Report: Biden Administration Lied About Drone Strike In Afghanistan

This is amazing to behold – on numerous levels.

Last week, after suicide bombers attacked the Afghanistan airport and turned the whole evacuation debacle into further chaos, the Biden Administration claimed they did a drone strike that killed to ISIS-K members.

U.S. drone strike kills two high-profile ISIS members following deadly attack in Kabul – CNBC, 2021/08/28

The Pentagon said Saturday that two high-profile ISIS-K targets were killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan. The development comes less than two days after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the gates of Kabul’s airport, resulting in the deaths of 13 American service members.

The Pentagon said the strike targeted two ISIS-K members believed to be involved in planning attacks against U.S. forces in Kabul. Army Maj. Gen. William Taylor said Saturday that there were no known civilian casualties following the strike.

Last night, the NY Times and Washington Post put out articles claiming that it wasn’t ISIS-K members that were killed, but a US-Aid worker and 9 others – 7 of them children.

Times Investigation: In U.S. Drone Strike, Evidence Suggests No ISIS Bomb – NY Times, 2021/09/10

Military officials said they did not know the identity of the car’s driver when the drone fired, but deemed him suspicious because of how they interpreted his activities that day, saying that he possibly visited an ISIS safe house and, at one point, loaded what they thought could be explosives into the car.

Times reporting has identified the driver as Zemari Ahmadi, a longtime worker for a U.S. aid group. The evidence suggests that his travels that day actually involved transporting colleagues to and from work. And an analysis of video feeds showed that what the military may have seen was Mr. Ahmadi and a colleague loading canisters of water into his trunk to bring home to his family.

While the U.S. military said the drone strike might have killed three civilians, Times reporting shows that it killed 10, including seven children, in a dense residential block.

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Mr. Ahmadi, 43, had worked since 2006 as an electrical engineer for Nutrition and Education International, a California-based aid group. The morning of the strike, Mr. Ahmadi’s boss called from the office at around 8:45 a.m., and asked him to pick up his laptop.

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A Times reporter visited the director at his home, and met with members of his family, who said they had been living there for 40 years. “We have nothing to do with terrorism or ISIS,” said the director, who also has a U.S. resettlement case. “We love America. We want to go there.”

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Since the strike, U.S. military officials justified their actions by citing an even larger blast that took place afterward.

“Because there were secondary explosions, there is a reasonable conclusion to be made that there was explosives in that vehicle,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, said last week.

But an examination of the scene of the strike, conducted by the Times visual investigations team and a Times reporter the morning afterward, and followed up with a second visit four days later, found no evidence of a second, more powerful explosion.

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“It seriously questions the credibility of the intelligence or technology utilized to determine this was a legitimate target,” said Chris Cobb-Smith, a British Army veteran and security consultant.

Here’s the video from last week… OMG

Watch the first 45 seconds… 4:45 – 6:25…  These are just total fabrications in reference to ISIS-K.

Afghan Refugee Traveling To The U.S. Had Explosive Material In Luggage

Afghan refugee stopped on U.S.-bound flight with explosive materials, but terrorism not suspected – Just The News, 2021/09/07

A male Afghan refugee who was departing the Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the United States was detained Monday after it was discovered during pre-flight screening that he had blasting caps and other explosives materials in his carry-on luggage, three U.S. officials told Just the News.

The man, who was born in the early 1990s and an Afghan citizen, was working as contractor for the U.S. government when he was evacuated, and officials believe the materials were related to his work and not terrorism, officials said.

Nonetheless, the man was placed on a restricted list and prevented from traveling to the U.S., according to a Transportation Security Administration summary of the incident obtained by Just the News.

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Screeners, including a member of the German military assisting the U.S. at the Air Force base in Germany, found five blasting caps, one igniter switch, a “def cord” and one shock tube when the refugee was apprehended late Monday morning German time, according to officials and the TSA summary report.

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The incident occurred the same day Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged many Afghan refugees were not fully vetted before they were evacuated from their country to U.S. bases elsewhere.

Let me get this straight… an Afghan as part of his contractor work, would bring along blasting caps, an igniter switch, a detonating cord, and shock tubes… and he was held from coming here… yet he was not suspected of terrorism.

The Last Call Before The Fall

You have best military, but what’s the plan: Biden-Ghani phone call before Afghan collapse – India Today, 2021/09/01

In the last call between US President Joe Biden and his Afghanistan counterpart before the Taliban seized control of the country, the leaders discussed military aid, political strategy and messaging tactics, but neither Biden nor Ashraf Ghani appeared aware of or prepared for the immediate danger of the entire country falling to insurgents, a transcript reviewed by Reuters shows.

The men spoke for roughly 14 minutes on July 23. On August 15, Ghani fled the presidential palace, and the Taliban entered Kabul.

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In much of the call, Biden focused on what he called the Afghan government’s “perception” problem. “I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said. “And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”

Biden told Ghani that if Afghanistan’s prominent political figures were to give a press conference together, backing a new military strategy, “that will change perception, and that will change an awful lot I think.”

The American leader’s words indicated he didn’t anticipate the massive insurrection and collapse to come 23 days later. “We are going to continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to make sure your government not only survives, but is sustained and grows,” said Biden.

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Ghani told Biden he believed there could be peace if he could “rebalance the military solution.” But he added, “We need to move with speed.”

“We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this,” Ghani said. Afghan government officials, and US experts, have consistently pointed to Pakistani support for the Taliban as key to the group’s resurgence.

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In a follow-up call later that day that did not include the U.S. president, Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, General Mark Milley and U.S. Central Command commander General Frank McKenzie spoke to Ghani. Reuters also obtained a transcript of that call.

In this call, too, an area of focus was the global perception of events on the ground in Afghanistan. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Ghani “the perception in the United States, in Europe and the media sort of thing is a narrative of Taliban momentum, and a narrative of Taliban victory. And we need to collectively demonstrate and try to turn that perception, that narrative around.”

Wow – the U.S. leadership had no clue. They were fighting the war on perception, instead the war in Afghanistan. Ghani told them what was coming, and they didn’t listen.

Linguist Sentenced 23 Years For Outing Sources Who Helped The U.S. Kill Iranian Leader Suleimani

Defense Department Linguist Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Transmitting Highly Sensitive Classified National Defense Information to Aid a Foreign Government – Dept. of Justice, 2021/06/23

Mariam Taha Thompson, 62, formerly of Rochester, Minnesota, was sentenced today to 23 years in prison for delivering classified national defense information to aid a foreign government. As part of her March 26 guilty plea, Thompson admitted that she believed that the classified national defense information that she was passing to a Lebanese national would be provided to Lebanese Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

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According to court documents, Thompson worked as a contract linguist at an overseas U.S. military facility where she was entrusted with a Top-Secret government security clearance. Thompson admitted that, beginning in 2017, she started communicating with her unindicted co-conspirator using a video-chat feature on a secure text and voice messaging application. Over time, Thompson developed a romantic interest in her co-conspirator. Thompson learned that the unindicted co-conspirator had a family member who was in the Lebanese Ministry of the Interior and that the unindicted co-conspirator claimed to have received a ring from Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Lebanese Hezbollah.

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Following Suleimani’s death, the unindicted co-conspirator began asking Thompson to provide “them” with information about the human assets who had helped the United States to target Suleimani. Thompson admitted that she understood “them” to be Lebanese Hezbollah, including an unnamed high-ranking military commander.

After receiving this request for information in early January 2020, Thompson began accessing dozens of files concerning human intelligence sources, including true names, personal identification data, background information and photographs of the human assets, as well as operational cables detailing information the assets provided to the U.S. government.

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When she was arrested by the FBI on Feb. 27, 2020, Thompson had used her access to classified national defense information to provide her co-conspirator with the identities of at least eight clandestine human assets; at least 10 U.S. targets; and multiple tactics, techniques and procedures.

U.S. Navy Seizes Thousands Of Weaponry Heading To Yemen From Iran

Navy seizes THOUSANDS of Chinese and Russian assault weapons, sniper rifles and anti-tank missiles hidden on ship ‘sailing from Iran to Yemen’ in the Arabian Sea – UK Daily Mail, 2021/05/08

The U.S. Navy has seized an arms shipment of thousands of illicit assault weapons, machines guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea likely headed for Yemen, officials have said. 

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The Navy seized nearly 3,000 Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, a variant of the Kalashnikov. They also recovered hundreds of other heavy machine guns and sniper rifles, as well as dozens of advanced, Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles. The shipments also included several hundred rocket-propelled grenade launchers and optical sights for weapons, AP reported. 

‘The cache of weapons included dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launchers,’ the U.S Fifth Fleet said in a statement. 

‘After all illicit cargo was removed, the dhow was assessed for seaworthiness, and after questioning, its crew was provided food and water before being released,’ the Navy added. 

I wonder if President Biden will apologize for this?

Biden Ready To Cave In To Iran And Lift Sanctions

Biden Administration Caves: Will Lift Sanctions on Iran for New Deal – Washington Free Beacon, 2021/04/08

The United States is prepared to remove sanctions on Iran to resume compliance with the Iran nuclear deal, including those that are inconsistent with the 2015 pact, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday, without providing details.

The Trump era of neutralizing Iran and negotiating peace deals is over. We are now reverting back to 2016. Except now, China recently inked a 25 year agreement with Iran.

Iran: Many Are Protesting The Iran/China 25 Year Agreement

“Iran not for sale” protesters in Tehran and Karaj chant against Iran-China accord – Iran News Wire, 2021/03/30

Protesters against the Iran-China 25-year agreement took to the streets in Tehran, Karaj, and Isfahan yesterday. They believe the regime is selling out their country to China. Footage circulating in social media showed Iranians gathered outside the parliament, chanting “Iran is not for sale” and “Iranians support us!”

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In Karaj, protesters gathered outside the Provincial Governor’s office. In Isfahan, the protesters held signs saying, “China get out of Iran” and “We want the 25-year agreement cancelled.”

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The Foreign Minister of Iran and China signed a 25-year cooperation agreement on March 7, which was aired live on state-run TV. While the complete details of the China-Iran 25-year agreement are yet to be released, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the agreement was a “road map” for trade and economic and transportation cooperation, with a special focus on both countries’ private sectors. It is also expected to include Chinese investments in Iran’s energy and infrastructure sectors.

Unconfirmed sources wrote that China will invest 280 billion dollars in Iran’s oil and gas industry, and 120 billion dollars in Iran’s transportation industries. In exchange, Chinese projects will be prioritized, and 5,000 Chinese soldiers will be sent to Iran to oversee the “security” of their projects.

The regular Iranian populace doesn’t seem to trust China either. I wonder if the regime will allow the money to reach the mainstream population. That hasn’t been the trend in the recent past.

That last paragraph is interesting… 5,000 Chinese troops to Iran? Um… is Iran going to become the Middle East wing of China?

Iran, China Agree To 25 Year Deal

Iran and China Sign ‘Historic’ 25-Year $400 Bln Strategic Partnership Agreement – Sputnik News, 2021/03/27

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed the highly anticipated Iran-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement after more than five years of gruelling talks.

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The deal reportedly envisions increasing bilateral trade over 10-fold to $600 billion per year, and promises Iran Chinese investment of as much as $400 billion into the Middle Eastern nation’s oil, gas, petrochemicals, renewable energy and nuclear energy infrastructure, with Tehran committing to becoming a major reliable source of energy for Beijing.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani praised the signing of the agreement on Saturday, expressing gratitude to Beijing for its support for Tehran in the international arena in the face of unilateral US sanctions, including insofar as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal is concerned.

Rouhani went on to suggest that the US military presence in West Asia is the root cause of regional instability, and stressed the importance of collective efforts by regional parties to ensure regional security – including via Iran’s proposed Hormuz Peace Initiative mechanism.

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Wang echoed the Iranian officials’ sentiments, saying “relations between the two countries have now reached the level of strategic partnership” and that “China seeks to comprehensively improve relations with Iran.”

Independent investigative journalist Ben Norton called the deal “huge,” characterising it as “the nail in the coffin ending US imperialist hegemony over West Asia.”

This is a big deal… possibly of biblical proportions.

Iran, Israel Are Jabbing At Each Other

Iran Missile Hit Israel-Owned Ship in Arabian Sea, TV Says – Bloomberg, 2021/03/25

An Iranian missile struck an Israeli ship sailing from Tanzania to India, Israel’s Channel 12 said, without saying where it got the information or how Iran was implicated.

It’s the fourth time in about a month that the bitter enemies have traded allegations of attacks at sea, and comes amid heightened tensions as Israel opposes U.S. President Joe Biden’s efforts to rejoin the 2015 deal that limited Iran’s nuclear activities.

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The cargo vessel continued to its destination, according to Ronen Solomon, an intelligence analyst and head of the Intelli Times blog, who confirmed details of the reported attack in the Arabian Sea with people close to the matter. He identified the ship as the LORI and said a missile or mine deployed by one of Iran’s fleet of small military boats was most likely responsible.

Earlier this month, Iran said Israel was likely behind an explosion that damaged an Iranian container ship in the Mediterranean, and Israel’s environmental minister alleged that an Iranian ship deliberately dumped oil in Israeli waters. An Israeli maritime intelligence company, Windward, later said the crude spill likely originated from sanctions-busting oil trade between Iran and Syria.

I guess the days of Middle East peace treaties are over.

President Trump Brokers Peace Deal Between Morocco and Israel

Yet Another Muslim Country Joins Abraham Accords With Israel – PJ Media, 2020/12/10

“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations – a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!” the president tweeted.

America gave Morocco an important concession as part of the deal.

“Today, I signed a proclamation recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara,” Trump added. “Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal is the ONLY basis for a just and lasting solution for enduring peace and prosperity! Morocco recognized the United States in 1777.  It is thus fitting we recognize their sovereignty over the Western Sahara.”

Did you know?

American acknowledgment of Morocco’s rule of Western Sahara is a major diplomatic coup for the North African nation, but Trump was also right to cite Morocco’s early recognition of the United States. On December 20, 1777, Morocco became the first country in the world to recognize American independence.

One more… note how all off the past actions tie together to make the peace deals possible.

Trump laid the groundwork for these historic deals by pulling out of the Iran deal, strengthening America’s energy independence through oil and natural gas, and moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The assassination of Iranian Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani also played a key role. Trump put a key check on Iran’s influence in the Middle East and skirted the Palestinians’ repeated obstruction of diplomatic progress. This opened the floodgates for Arab-Israeli peace deals as countries like Saudi Arabia began to view Israel as a potential ally against Iran.

Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the U.S. Meet Secretly

Pompeo, Netanyahu and Saudi crown prince ‘attend secret meeting’ – UK Independent, 2020/11/22

Benjamin Netanyahu secretly flew to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to Israeli media, signalling a potential breakthrough in US efforts to broker a deal between the kingdom and Israel, its long-term foe.

If confirmed, the meeting would be the first publicly acknowledged trip by an Israeli leader to the ultra-conservative nation, whose king is the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites and whose economy is the largest in the Arab world.

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Mr Netanyahu and Mr Cohen apparently met Prince Mohammed and the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in Neom on the Red Sea coast, where the crown prince plans to build a massive hi-tech city.

President Trump may be working on one more peace deal before leaving office.

Peace In The Middle East? Israel and UAE Agree To Peace Deal

Israel, UAE reach historic peace deal: ‘We can make a wonderful future’ – The Jerusalem Post, 2020/08/13

Israel and the UAE agreed to full normalization of relations in a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, marking the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country in 25 years.

Israel agreed to suspend its planned extension of sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria to facilitate relations with the UAE and potentially other Arab and Muslim countries.

The agreement will include establishing embassies and exchanging ambassadors, investments into the Israeli economy, trade, direct flights between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, an investment in Israeli efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine – as first reported in The Jerusalem Post last month – and cooperation in matters of energy and water. An important element of the deal for the UAE is the expectation that its citizens would be able to visit the Al-Aksa mosque in Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal “full, formal peace” with “one of the strongest countries in the world.”

…
Sources in Washington and Jerusalem said the Trump administration is in talks with other Gulf States to reach normalization agreements with Israel. Bahrain is likely to be next, to the extent that there was a chance they would have announced normalization before the UAE.

Normally this would be huge news, but because Trump was part of the process – I am not expecting much. Hopefully it works well for both parties involved.

Iran Keeps Catching on Fire

Someone is up to something over there…

Iran’s nuclear facilities are mysteriously under attack – Fox News, 2020/07/14

Black smoke rose as flames engulfed the Shahid Tondgooyan petrochemical plant in the Khuzestan province of Iran late Sunday afternoon.

Hours earlier, more than 500 miles away, detonations rocked the basement of an old, nondescript home in a northern pocket of Tehran. The two-story dwelling was said to have housed at least 30 gas cylinders that were used for unclear purposes.

Both incidents came fewer than two days after a string of explosions – and power outages – were reported west of Tehran in the early hours of Friday. Local reports indicated that multiple “mortar-like sounds similar to anti-aircraft missiles” were heard.

…
These most recent attacks happened on the heels of multiple other mysterious explosions at sensitive sites over the course of the last three weeks – and no one is precisely sure what is going on, other than its rattling of the regime and stymying its controversial nuclear program.

“The tempo and tenor of the recent explosions in Iran have been unusual. There is evidence of a concerted campaign underway to thwart Iran’s nuclear program,” Jason Brodsky, Policy Director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News. “The more Iran advances its nuclear program in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the greater the likelihood for additional strikes.”

Explosion in Iran at Military Base in Parchin

Satellite image: Iran Blast Struck by Suspected Missile Site – Military Advantage, 2020/06/27

An explosion that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites, satellite photographs showed Saturday.

What exploded in the incident early Friday that sent a massive fireball into the sky near Tehran remains unclear, as does the cause of the blast.

The unusual response of the Iranian government in the aftermath of the explosion, however, underscores the sensitive nature of an area near where international inspectors believe the Islamic Republic conducted high-explosive tests two decades ago for nuclear weapon triggers.

…
Defense Ministry spokesman Davood Abdi blamed the blast on a leaking gas he did not identify and said no one was killed in the explosion.

Abdi described the site as a “public area,” raising the question of why military officials and not civilian firefighters would be in charge. The state TV report did not answer that.

…
Iranian officials themselves also identified the site as being in Parchin, home to a military base where the International Atomic Energy Agency previously said it suspects Iran conducted tests of explosive triggers that could be used in nuclear weapons. Iran long has denied seeking nuclear weapons, though the IAEA previously said Iran had done work in “support of a possible military dimension to its nuclear program” that largely halted in late 2003.

President Trump Just Detonated an Economic IED on Syria

The Caesar Act provides Syria a choice to either reform to protect its citizens according to U.N. guidelines and get economic help, or they will undergo increased economic sanctions – along with anyone who deals with them.

U.S. Imposes Sweeping Sanctions On Syria And Its Backers – Radio Free Europe, 2020/06/16

New U.S. sanctions on Syria’s crumbling economy come into effect on June 17 in an attempt to deprive Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his backers any benefits from a military victory.

The United States and the European Union already have sanctions on Syria, but the latest from Washington extend to punish any individuals, institutions, or companies conducting business with Damascus.

The bill, known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, can be used to target Assad’s main backers — Russia, Iran, and Lebanon’s Hizballah militant group.

Syria now has a choice to make.

The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, told the UN Security Council on June 16 that the sanctions are designed to “deprive the Assad regime of the revenue and the support it has used to commit the large-scale atrocities and human rights violations that prevent a political resolution and severely diminish the prospects for peace.”

…
“The Assad regime has a clear choice to make: pursue the political path established in Resolution 2254, or leave the United States with no other choice but to continue withholding reconstruction funding and impose sanctions against the regime and its financial backers,” Craft said.

The Caesar Act, which was passed by Congress in December, is named after a former Syrian military photographer who escaped the country in 2014 with 55,000 images of brutality in Assad’s jails since he launched a crackdown on protests three years earlier.

Also throw in the fact that Russia kind of took over being Syria’s main ally after we basically left and handed Syria over to them. Now they can’t officially deal with them unless Syria reforms (and not return to harming its citizens) or they cheat and smuggle items in to the country.

I remember when people were questioning why President Trump was removing the troops.  He got lots of pushback.  But this was the plan all along.

FARA Registration – Smalley

Posting this for reference purposes…

Hold Saudis accountable for Khashoggi’s murder [Opinion] – Houston Chronicle, 2018/12/18

FARA Registration – Smalley – 2020/03/19

Smalley has received $292,000 from Qatar between Sep 2019 and Mar 2020.