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Israel strikes Gaza following violent riots, incendiary balloons

Anna Ahronheim
The Jerusalem Post
Sun, 29 Aug 2021 20:12 UTC
Palestinian w flag
© Atia Mohammed/FLASH90jpg
Palestinian protest August 28, 2021
Israel Air Force jets struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in retaliation to the launch of incendiary balloons that caused fires and violent demonstrations along the border fence at the weekend.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that a Hamas military compound used for training and weapon production and a shaft for a terror tunnel near Jabalya were struck. "The IDF will continue to respond forcefully against Hamas's terror attempts," the army said in a statement following the strikes.

The Palestinian Wafa News Agency said that one site at Shuhada Street south of Gaza City was hit by four missiles and another near Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip was also hit. There were no injuries.

On the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said before boarding his flight home from Washington that he holds Hamas responsible for what happens in Gaza.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, meanwhile, warned that
"the Zionist occupation bears all the repercussions and consequences of tightening the siege on Gaza and the escalation of the humanitarian crisis among its residents. These extremist policies will lead to an atmosphere of escalation and explosion."
Earlier in the evening, hundreds of rioters gathered at the border fence, burning tires and throwing explosive devices.

IDF forces who had been deployed to the area responded with riot control munitions and Ruger riot-control rifles, according to the IDF Spokesperson Unit. The troops were reinforced by special forces and tank units that had been deployed to the Gaza Division earlier in the week.
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Target

Washington war hawk John Bolton calls for pressure on Pakistan amid Afghanistan disaster


RT
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 21:38 UTC
bolton
© Reuters/Jonathan Drake
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton
Ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton is eyeing up Pakistan, viewing the end of war with Afghanistan as a chance to start another, this time with its nuclear-armed neighbor - a "dramatic change" to "wake people up," he hinted.

Invited onto the Washington Post's 'Please Go On' podcast on Friday to expand on his proposed "solutions" to the "problem" of Afghan withdrawal as set out in an op-ed for the paper earlier this week, Bolton began by sneeringly dismissing the idea that the US could ever truly leave Afghanistan in the first place.
"All of Central Asia is like a big pile of pickup sticks, and they say, 'Hey, we're going to take that American stick out of Afghanistan and nothing else will happen anywhere else.' Completely wrong, and we're seeing the consequences of it now. I think there are things that are going to happen that we can't even foresee at the moment that aren't going to be good."
The mustachioed warmonger continued threateningly warning of the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan - something that had been anticipated and even planned for months, yet somehow in his view the equivalent of an unconscionable sneak attack - could lead to the sudden radicalization of Pakistan's government, which, given its stockpile of nuclear weapons, would clearly be unacceptable. Some of those weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists, he suggested, who could carry them anywhere - even across the Mexican border. Any inkling that Islamabad "appears ready to transfer nuclear capabilities to terrorists" should result in "preventive action.

Comment: Why is anyone still listening to one-trick John?

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Attention

Bolsonaro says he'll be 'arrested, killed or re-elected'

Leonie Chao-Fong
Independent
Sun, 29 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
Bolsonaro
© AP
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and military
'No man on Earth will threaten me,' the Brazilian far-right president declares...

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has said he sees only three alternatives for his future: victory in the 2022 presidential elections, prison or death.

Speaking at a meeting of evangelical leaders on Saturday, Mr Bolsonaro said: "I have three alternatives for my future: being arrested, killed or victory." He later added the first option - being arrested - was out of question. "No man on Earth will threaten me," he said.

His remarks come as most polls show the far-right president trailing former leftist president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil's huge Christian evangelical voting bloc was crucial to the president's election victory in 2018.

Tensions have been building between the country's judiciary and election authorities, and the president, who is hoping to run for a second term next year.
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Binoculars

Terror attacks in Kabul suspiciously on cue... Who gains?

Finninan Cunningham
Strategic Culture Foundation
Sat, 28 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
Taliban
© REUTERS/Social Media
Could an atrocity have been arranged by some of Baradar's men at the request of the CIA?

Three days before the bloody carnage at Kabul airport, CIA director William Burns held a secret meeting with a top Taliban commander in the Afghan capital. That is only one of several suspicious events this week in the countdown to the dramatic U.S. evacuation.

At least 13 U.S. troops guarding an entrance to Kabul airport were killed in an apparent suicide bomb attack. Dozens of Afghans waiting in line for evacuation by military cargo planes were also killed. A second blast hit a nearby hotel used by British officials to process immigration documents.

It was not the main ranks of the Taliban who carried out the atrocities. The militant group which swept into power on August 15 after taking over Kabul has ring-fenced the capital with checkpoints. The explosions occurred in airport districts under the control of the U.S. and British military.

A little-known terror group, Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K), claimed responsibility for the bombings. IS-K was barely reported before until this week when the U.S. and British intelligence services issued high-profile warnings of imminent terror attacks by this group at Kabul airport. Those warnings came only hours before the actual attacks. President Joe Biden even mentioned this new terror organization earlier this week and pointedly claimed they were "sworn enemies" of the Taliban.
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Bad Guys

Taliban condemn US drone attack, prepare to set up new Afghan government - US carries out another strike on vehicle posing 'imminent threat'

Reuben James Barrete
South China Morning Post
Sun, 29 Aug 2021 16:53 UTC
Zabihullah Mujahid
© Los Angeles Times / TNS
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
The Taliban said on Saturday they would announce a new government for Afghanistan in the coming week and expected the economic turbulence and sharp currency falls that followed their takeover of the city two weeks ago to subside quickly.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the movement's main spokesman, made the comments to Reuters as the US military winds down its mission to evacuate US citizens and vulnerable Afghans and withdraw troops from Kabul airport ahead of the August 31 deadline set by President Joe Biden.

Mujahid condemned an overnight US drone strike against Islamic State militants following Thursday's suicide attack near the airport as a "clear attack on Afghan territory".

But he appealed to the United States and other Western nations to maintain diplomatic relations after their withdrawal, which he expected would be completed "very soon".

There is mounting frustration in Kabul at the severe economic hardship caused by a plummeting currency and rising food prices, with banks still closed two weeks after the fall of the city to the Taliban.

Comment: A day after this statement, the U.S. launched another drone strike destroying what the military called a car bomb posing an 'imminent threat' - allegedly the vehicle contained 'multiple suicide bombers'.
kabul car
© AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi
A destroyed vehicle is seen inside a house after a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. A U.S. drone strike destroyed a vehicle carrying "multiple suicide bombers" from Afghanistan's Islamic State affiliate on Sunday before they could attack the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul's international airport, American officials said.
At the same time, a 'rocket attack' was blamed for another explosion killing a young child:
The Taliban described the drone strike and the rocket attack as separate incidents, but residents of the Afghan capital heard only one large blast.

Two American military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, called the airstrike successful and said the vehicle carried multiple bombers.

U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a military spokesman, said the strike was carried out in "self-defense." He said the military was investigating whether there were civilian casualties but that "we have no indications at this time."

"We are confident we successfully hit the target," Urban said. "Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material."
RT reports:
The explosion was caused by a rocket striking a house near the airport, BBC journalist Secunder Kermani reported, citing a source in the Afghan Health Ministry. A police chief told the AP news agency that a child was killed in the blast, and unconfirmed reports claim that at least one other person is dead and at least three are injured.

Reporting from Kabul, RT's Khaled al-Jaburi said that the "violent" explosion was followed by the launch of five rockets from an unknown area. The explosion took place on al-Shaheed Street, which leads to the airport.


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Eye 1

US tells Americans to leave Kabul airport 'immediately' due to another 'imminent threat'

Caroline Vakil
The Hill
Sat, 28 Aug 2021 16:40 UTC
american troops plane kabul
© DOD / Sgt. John Jackson
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a security alert on Saturday night stating that Americans near the airport "should leave the airport area immediately," citing a "specific, credible threat."

"Due to a specific, credible threat, all U.S. citizens in the vicinity of Kabul airport (HKIA), including the South (Airport Circle) gate, the new Ministry of the Interior, and the gate near the Panjshir Petrol station on the northwest side of the airport, should leave the airport area immediately," the embassy said.

"U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid all airport gates at this time," the embassy added.

The stark warning from the State Department comes just hours after President Biden said that he was notified by officials that an attack on the airport with in the next 24 to 36 hours was highly likely.

"Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours. I directed them to take every possible measure to prioritize force protection, and ensured that they have all the authorities, resources and plans to protect our men and women on the ground," Biden said. "They assured me that they did, and that they could take these measures while completing the mission and safely retrograding our personnel."

Details were not immediately clear of what the "specific, credible threat" might be.

Comment: According to both US spokesmen and the Taliban, the two are currently 'sharing intelligence' on potential attacks. It would be interesting to know the source, if any, of this latest 'threat.' (The first one, prior to the recent bombing, was related to western intel by the Taliban.) It is awfully convenient...

After the retaliation strike that apparently killed two 'high-profile' targets, the Pentagon announced it had started to pull US troops out of the Kabul airport - 4000 out of 5800 troops apparently remain, but the Pentagon will not provide any more updates as the pull-out continues, the deadline for which is in two days.

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Sherlock

US shot civilians during Kabul airport explosion mayhem, eyewitnesses tell BBC


RT
Sat, 28 Aug 2021 11:37 UTC
afghan
© AFP / Wakil Kohsar
A US soldier stands on guard as Afghans gather on a roadside near the military part of the airport in Kabul on August 20, 2021
Some of the dozens of civilians reportedly killed in a suicide blast outside Kabul's airport may have been shot by US soldiers amid the chaos caused by the deadly explosion, according to the BBC.

Eyewitnesses who survived Thursday's attack, which claimed at least 95 lives and left 150 people wounded, told the British public broadcaster that not everyone who died that day had been killed by the suicide bomber.

Mohammed, a taxi driver from London, had traveled to Kabul to help his family secure safe passage out of the Afghan capital. He and his wife were killed in the explosion outside the airport's Abbey Gate, while two of their children remain missing. His brother and others interviewed by the BBC's correspondent in Kabul said that their family and relatives weren't killed in the blast, but by gunfire in the resulting "confusion." Mohammed's brother claimed that the firing came from the direction where US soldiers guarding the airport's perimeter were stationed.

Comment: Another interview circulating on Twitter supports the above allegations:


See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Kabul Chaos Biden's Bay of Pigs?




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Red Flag

Senior government source says Ontario will introduce COVID-19 vaccine passport system

Antonella Artuso, Brian Lilley
Toronto Sun
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 00:01 UTC
doug ford
© Chris Young /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Ontario Premier Doug Ford attends an announcement at Toronto's Ontario Place, on July 30, 2021.
Ontario government has said that it already provides proof of vaccination.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford will announce next week that his government will introduce a COVID-19 vaccine passport system, a senior Progressive Conservative source says.

The document would provide proof of vaccination status where needed to access non-essential businesses and public spaces.

Comment: Will the normally sedate Ontarians stand for this trampling upon their rights and the imposition of an apartheid state? Probably; they're simply not built like the French. Then again...

See also:

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Snakes in Suits

We are witnessing incompetence on a colossal scale

Michael Snyder
The Most Important News
Mon, 23 Aug 2021 00:00 UTC
Biden
These days, it is a surprise when someone actually does something competently. It is often said that if you want something done right you have got to do it yourself, and today that is more true than ever. Just think about it. How often have you had a delivery delayed or messed up? How often have you had someone supposedly "fix" something but it isn't actually fixed? How often have you purchased something that breaks shortly thereafter? And don't even get me started on the complete and utter incompetence that we see in the tech industry. How hard could it possibly be to release a piece of software that is not riddled with all sorts of nightmarish bugs that need to be "patched" as soon as possible?

Sadly, in our upside down society some of the most incompetent people that you can imagine end up running entire organizations, and if you are particularly corrupt and useless you may get to be a politician.

By now, you are probably thinking that I am going to talk about Joe Biden in this article, and you are right.

In this era of extreme incompetence, it somehow seems appropriate that sleepy Joe is presiding over our "idiocracy".

Barack Obama knew that this could happen. According to Politico, he once said that nobody should "underestimate Joe's ability to **** things up".
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Arrow Down

US officials deny ever giving Taliban list of evacuees

Jordan Williams
The Hill
Thu, 26 Aug 2021 19:47 UTC
talibani
U.S. officials gave the Taliban a list of American citizens and Afghan allies to grant access to Kabul's airport, U.S. and congressional officials told Politico.

In the early days of the evacuation, the joint U.S. military and diplomatic coordination team at Kabul's airport gave the Taliban a list of people the U.S. wanted to evacuate, Politico reported.

The list included Afghans who served alongside the U.S. during the war and sought special immigrant visas. Also listed were U.S. citizens, dual nationals and lawful permanent residents.

But after thousands of visa applicants arrived, the State Department asked applicants not to come to the airport. Since then, the list given to the Taliban didn't include the names of Afghans, Politico reported.

Comment: Of course they'd never give the Taliban a list. Who would think that the US - who gifted an estimated $85 billion dollars worth of military equipment and sensitive data to the Taliban - would ever give them something as dangerous as a list?

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