© Slant Magazine
Puppet Masters
© Haftar
Russia has been helping Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA)
Russia has been helping Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA)
"We strongly oppose foreign military involvement, including the use of mercenaries and private military contractors, by all sides" in Libya, White House national-security adviser Robert O'Brien said in a statement on August 4.
The U.S. military has accused Moscow of supplying Russian mercenaries and military hardware to Libya in an attempt to gain a foothold in the North African country.
© Jim Watson/AFP/Getty.jpg
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden
The Biden campaign on Wednesday is announcing what it says is the largest TV ad buy ever by a presidential candidate, with $220 million set aside for commercials to air through the fall and another $60 million budgeted to reach audiences digitally on social media or gaming platforms.
Biden's team is planning to reach voters in at least 15 states, with messages that feature the former vice president speaking directly to camera about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fall.
Signaling the states they see as most competitive, the Biden campaign said their ads will target: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado, Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Texas.
"I feel that Britain exaggerates, very much, its place in Russian thinking," Andrei Kelin told the Daily Mail. "The scope and place of Great Britain in Russian politics is not that big. We have other problems of much larger magnitude," the ambassador said.
The ambassador also dismissed the UK media narrative about nefarious Russian 'oligarchs' doing the Kremlin's bidding in London. Kelin pointed out that, in reality, the British capital has turned itself into a haven for wealthy Russians trying to evade justice back home.
© AP/Hussein Malla
Firefighters douse a fire after an explosion took place in Beirut, Lebanon, August 4, 2020.
Firefighters douse a fire after an explosion took place in Beirut, Lebanon, August 4, 2020.
Initially, the story was that a warehouse containing several tonnes of fireworks slated for use in festivities had blown up.
Then official military sources said the warehouse housed flammable or explosive material, further specifying that it was ammonium nitrate, which was stored in a warehouse for six years.
But even as the Lebanese authorities were feverishly investigating, some of the public were quick to suggest that this wasn't the result of an accident or negligence, but a terror attack reminiscent of the bombings that rocked Lebanon in the 1980s, or the huge bombing that killed Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 as he traveled in a guarded convoy. The implication was that it was a bombing perpetrated by Lebanese actors.
Fingers were also pointed at Israel, accompanied by the explanation that the bombing at the port was part of Israel's campaign against Iran. Lebanese pundits cited the fire that erupted on Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf port of Bushehr a few weeks ago, an incident attributed to Israel, as well as other recent fires in Iran.
© Alahednews
Former Israeli Intelligence Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz
Former Israeli Intelligence Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz
In a rare interview with Saudi Arabian media, a top Israeli government minister last week threatened to return neighboring Lebanon "to the Stone Age."
Israel Intelligence Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz was speaking to the Saudi online newspaper Elaph when he was asked about the threat of increased Iranian arms supplies to Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist militia.
"The more accurate that Hezbollah's missiles get, the stronger and wider Israel's strike will be," Katz warned. "What happened in 2006 will be a picnic compared to what we can do. I remember a Saudi minister saying they will send Hezbollah back to their caves in south Lebanon. I am telling you that we will return Lebanon to the Stone Age."
Dr. Michael Callahan
Soon, Callahan would be poring through thousands of case studies emerging from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, examining patients in Singapore and briefing U.S. officials on the location of the next likely outbreak, according to NatGeo. The doctor marveled at the "magnificent infectivity" of the disease, which sits "like a little silent smart bomb in your community".
The doctor's strange fascination with viral infections and morbid titillation might well be attributed to the fact that he has dedicated his life to studying these microscopic killers. "Triple boarded" in internal medicine, infectious diseases and tropical medicine, Callahan, nevertheless also has a strong entrepreneurial streak, that drove him to launch no less than 11 companies and develop 8 patents.
© Screen Shot Youtube Dana Perino Jill Biden Fox News Grabien
In an appearance on Fox News' "The Daily Briefing" with Dana Perino, Biden's wife was immediately asked if her husband would show up and take on President Donald Trump at the three scheduled presidential debates following speculation they could be canceled.
"Oh yes," Biden said. "He will. I think it's three debates that they decided on. Yeah. He'll be there."
The question comes as Democratic strategists and supporters of Biden have said he should not debate Trump.
Comment: The Dems are understandably worried about their walking disaster of a candidate making live televised appearances of any kind - but standing toe to toe with Trump?! This is likely to be quite the show if Biden actually shows up.
See:
- Democrats urge Biden not to debate Trump
- A worried New York Times lays out conditions for Biden-Trump debate or loophole to save Joe from live sparring
© Israel Mission to the UN/AFP/Timothy A Clary/KJN
Above: Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks to the Security Council in New York, July 23, 2019 showing Iran's alleged transfer of weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Below: PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the General Assembly UN on September 27, 2018 holding a placard detailing alleged Hezbollah missile sites in Beirut.
Above: Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks to the Security Council in New York, July 23, 2019 showing Iran's alleged transfer of weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Below: PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the General Assembly UN on September 27, 2018 holding a placard detailing alleged Hezbollah missile sites in Beirut.
In the quarterly meeting on the Middle East, Ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council that Israeli intelligence has uncovered evidence showing Iran's Quds Force has been using the port of Beirut to ship items to the terror group since last year.
"In the years 2018-2019, Israel found that dual-use items are smuggled into Lebanon to advance Hezbollah's rocket and missile capabilities. Iran and the Quds Force have begun to advance the exploitation of the civilian maritime channels, and specifically the Port of Beirut. The Port of Beirut has become the Port of Hezbollah."In a statement, the Israeli mission said "Syrian agents" purchased the dual use items from foreign companies under false pretenses, and handed it over to the terrorist group after picking up the shipments from the port.
Danon presented the Security Council with a map of the Hezbollah transfer routes that included major hubs at the Damascus airport, Beirut's port and airport and the official border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, such as the Masnaa crossings.
Comment: The above article came out on July 23, 2020 for Israeli readership and perception management.
It includes Hezbollah's reported 'Friday' statement (from more than a year ago): "growing pressure from US sanctions on Tehran could trigger such a conflict sooner rather than later." (see above for inaccuracies)
And this, actually presented in 2018 (not last year): "Hezbollah was hiding precision missile production facilities underneath Beirut. He [Netanyahu] revealed satellite photos purporting to show the secret facilities, located within close proximity of Beirut's international airport."
See also:
- Lebanon Braced For High Number of Casualties as Absolutely Gargantuan Explosion Obliterates Port Area of Beirut
- July 31: Israeli defense minister threatens to bomb Lebanon infrastructure
- Netanyahu rattles the saber some more: Lebanon's 'Hezbollah is playing with fire'
- Lebanon refutes Israeli claim that they host Hezbollah missile sites
© NurPhoto via Getty Images / Aziz Sana
Kandahar province
Kandahar province
Our terrible failure in Afghanistan, with lives wasted despite billions spent, has produced only one winner: organised crime. A senior Hungarian career detective friend of mine recently told me there has never been so much cheap, pure heroin in Budapest. Another Turkish Police colleague of mine told me a similar thing about Istanbul this week.
Last year, I worked in Afghanistan with a small number of International Police Experts. My US, German, Australian, Hungarian, Turkish colleagues, like me, each had 30 or more years' experience, and many had years of extra experience in Afghanistan and in other conflict zones.
But just like in our home countries, the many politicians, military leaders, diplomatic staff and NGOs there would not listen to us experts in policing. NATO, just like the Soviet Union before it, has been resoundingly beaten in Afghanistan, and the country will almost certainly continue in chaos. The story is little different to the West's failures in Iraq and Libya, and, probably before too much longer, Mali and a few other places in Africa.
Comment: The West's bogus "war on terror" was the justification for occupying and infesting Afghanistan with its corrupt and corrupting personnel. What the article doesn't mention is that it is the Western intelligence agencies, and their allies, who are quite likely the ones profiting from the massive growth in heroin production and distribution coming out of the plagued Middle Eastern country.
- Afghanistan and the CIA heroin ratline
- US rejects ICC report alleging war crimes by military, CIA Afghanistan
- Facilitating the narco state: Rumors persist regarding the CIA's involvement in Afghanistan's opium trade
- American War Machine: Deep Politics, The CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan: book review
- Phoenix 2.0: CIA unleashes Vietnam terror upon Afghanistan
Comment: See also: US signs deal with Kurdish-led rebels to steal Syrian oil