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West Nudges Ukraine to Dirty Bomb and Nuclear Terrorism – Russian Security Service

Sputnik – 26.11.2024

“The collective West, led by the US, aiming to preserve its dominance and continue its predatory colonial policies, can only respond to these processes with the ‘stoking’ of general tension,” Director of Russia’s FSB Security Service Alexander Bortnikov said during a CIS meeting in Moscow.

The West is secretly pushing Kiev to engage in nuclear terrorist activities, as well as to create a “dirty bomb,” the Director of Russia’s FSB Security Service Alexander Bortnikov said at a meeting of heads of security and intelligence services of CIS countries in Moscow.

“The Anglo-Saxons are covertly urging Kiev toward dangerous escalation: engaging in nuclear terrorism and creating a ‘dirty bomb,'” he said.

Kiev is capable of provoking an incident with a “dirty bomb” to counter Russia and its goals in the special military operation, as existing capabilities allow Ukraine to create such a device, said Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, earlier in November. Ukrainian Security Service employees are being trained in the use, manufacture, and detonation of a “dirty bomb” in crowded places, the general reported.

A “dirty bomb” is a container filled with radioactive isotopes and an explosive charge. When detonated, the container breaks apart and the radioactive material is scattered by the shockwave, causing widespread contamination over large areas.

Ukraine Turned Into Testing Ground For Instability Tools

The West has turned Ukraine into a laboratory for methods to undermine the security of not just Russia but the entire post-Soviet space, stated Bortnikov.

“Threats to the security of the CIS countries are mostly linked to the aggressive and cynical course of the collective West and the Kiev regime it has nurtured,” Bortnikov said at the same meeting in Moscow.

“Through their efforts, Ukraine has been transformed into a testing ground for experimenting with methods to undermine the security of not only Russia but the entire post-Soviet space,” the FSB director noted.

US Foreign Policy To Remain Unchanged

It is unlikely that President-elect Donald Trump’s victory will lead to a fundamental change in Washington’s foreign policy, stated Bortnikov.

“The collective West, led by the US, aiming to preserve its dominance and continue its predatory colonial policies, can only respond to these processes with the ‘stoking’ of general tension,” Bortnikov said during the meeting.

“It is unlikely that the election of a new US president will lead to a radical change in Washington’s foreign policy,” he added.

Biden May Try to Escalate As Farewell Gift

It is possible that the outgoing team of US President Joe Biden will try to exacerbate the situation in Eurasia to complicate political decision-making for the incoming administration, Bortnikov added.

“Moreover, it is possible that the outgoing Biden administration, within the framework of domestic political struggles, will try to escalate the situation in key regions of Eurasia — primarily in the post-Soviet space, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The main goal is to complicate the new administration’s ability to politically resolve accumulated problems,” Bortnikov explained.

“The first step has already been taken: the Kiev regime has been allowed to launch long-range missile strikes deep into Russian territory, which will inevitably lead to an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and its surrounding regions,” he explained.

Ukraine Became Shadow Arms Market

A global shadow arms market has been created in Ukraine, with weapons constantly being transferred to other unstable regions, stated Bortnikov.

“The consciousness of the Ukrainian population has been restructured with an anti-Russian agenda. Land, natural resources, and industrial enterprises are being bought up by transnational corporations. The territory has become a magnet for mercenaries and terrorists from all over the world,” Bortnikov said at the same meeting in Moscow.

November 26, 2024 Posted by | Environmentalism, Militarism, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

Ukraine receiving nukes would be ‘insane’ – US lawmaker

RT | November 26, 2024

Any move by outgoing US President Joe Biden to help Ukraine obtain nuclear weapons would be “insane” and would amount to treason, Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene has claimed.

The House representative from Georgia was reacting to a post on Tuesday by entrepreneur Mario Nawfal, who weighed in on a New York Times article, bylined by four of its journalists, claiming that US and EU officials are “discussing deterrence as a security guarantee” for Ukraine, including giving Kiev nuclear weapons.

Nawfal described the purported talks as a “desperate” move “to tip the scales against Russia” before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, which would mark an “unprecedented escalation” in the conflict.

Responding to the post, Greene wondered whether Biden administration is “trying to start a nuclear war and use it as the reason to stop the transfer of power to Trump.”

“This is insane and completely unconstitutional, possibly an act of treason,” she wrote on X.

The White House is resorting to more aggressive measures in aiding Kiev ahead of Trump’s return. The Republican has repeatedly vowed to end the Ukraine conflict swiftly, and is expected to try to push Moscow and Kiev toward peace talks.

With two months left in office, Biden last week reportedly gave in to one of Ukraine’s long-standing demands and authorized the use of American-supplied ATACMS missiles on targets deep within Russian territory. The missiles had already been used in strikes on Russia’s Crimea, Donetsk, and Lugansk regions, which Washington considers Ukrainian.

Last week, the New York Times reported that certain US officials have suggested that Biden might provide Kiev with nuclear weapons as a deterrent against Russia. “That would be an instant and enormous deterrent,” the paper argued, noting however that such a step would be “complicated and have serious implications.”

Russia recently updated its nuclear doctrine, allowing for a nuclear response to a conventional attack by a non-nuclear state that is supported by a nuclear power, such as a missile strike on Russian territory. Moscow also used a new medium-range hypersonic missile against Ukraine in response to Kiev’s use of foreign-made long-range weapons for strikes deep into Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the attacks have moved the Ukraine conflict to a global level. He has repeatedly warned that Moscow will consider an attack by Western long-range weapons on Russian soil as directly involving the countries that donated the arms.

November 26, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

‘Problematic Reality’: Biden Regime Seeks $5.7 billion in Emergency Funding for Virginia-Class Submarines

By Oleg Burunov – Sputnik – 26.11.2024

The US president’s Office of Management and Budget has issued a request to Congress for about $5.7 billion in emergency funding to tackle extra costs regarding the Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines, American media cited a senior navy official as saying.

Approximately $3.5 would go towards addressing the cost overruns, while the remainder will be split between submarine prime contractors General Dynamics Corp. and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. for increased wages and “other productivity enhancements,” the official said.

The official made it clear that the navy also projects delivery delays of 24 to 36 months for the aforementioned vessels.

“Our Virginia-class fast attack submarine program is not where it needs to be right now. The program and the shipyards are not producing submarines at the rate that our national security strategy and the national defense strategy require,” the source stressed.

This comes after House Defense Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert said that a shortfall in funding for Virginia-class attack submarines is projected to grow to $17 billion over the next six years, adding that the US Navy suffered from persistent delays and cost overruns in the service’s shipbuilding program.

The Defense News earlier reported that the situation with the Virginia-class submarines remains “a problematic reality” for the navy, which currently has 49 such vessels, despite a formal requirement for 66.

US Vice Admiral Rob Gaucher earlier insisted that crewing and maintenance will dog the Navy’s submarine fleet in the coming years.

The National Interest magazine, for its part, noted that the navy’s submarine fleet is “under congressional scrutiny for repeated delays and rising costs”– problems that “won’t be easy to fix.”

November 26, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | | Leave a comment

What’s all the fuss about? Is nuclear war really that dangerous?

By Drago Bosnic | November 26, 2024

We’re in the Second Cold War. Those thinking otherwise have probably been living under a rock. Unfortunately, that rock won’t save anyone and we know it by the change in rhetoric. Namely, in previous decades, nuclear war was a mere hypothesis in the minds of most people, an extremely unlikely prospect that we could casually discuss, theorize on, contemplate as to how it would play out, etc. It truly is meticulous work, involving an enormous amount of moving parts and it could even be argued it’s fun, as evidenced by numerous mass media that use it as their main trope. Whether it’s a post-apocalyptic scenario, a modern war that got out of control or something along those lines, it’s quite prominent in movies, TV shows, video games, etc. Now, imagine fan favorites such as the Mad Max franchise, Fallout or Metro series, certain Call of Duty titles, etc. suddenly becoming a reality. It’s certainly a scary thought.

Well, thanks to the warmongering oligarchies in Washington DC and Brussels, this is exactly the scenario we’re facing. And if you think it’s too far-fetched or even impossible, think again. Leaders and top-ranking officials of the most powerful NATO countries openly support long-range strikes on Russia using Western-sourced missiles, operated by American, British and other NATO personnel. This comes despite President Vladimir Putin’s crystal clear warning that Russia would consider the world’s most vile racketeering cartel a party to the conflict and that it would respond accordingly. Worse yet, even after Moscow used a conventionally armed ICBM/IRBM in response to these NATO attacks, the political West only keeps escalating. The purpose of this text is to understand what’s at stake and that if the warmongers, war criminals, plutocrats and kleptocrats have their way, the world will pay the ultimate price.

Let’s imagine that Russia decides it’s sick and tired of over three decades of NATO’s lies, deceit, crawling invasion and now nearly three years of direct attacks and total war. The Neo-Nazi junta keeps launching these Western-sourced missiles and the Kremlin knows who’s behind it. Do you think Russia would use thermonuclear weapons in Ukraine, a land that has belonged to it for over 1,200 years, against the people it considers ethnic Russians (even though they reject this notion)? Even if we ignore these basic facts, the answer is no, as it would be suicidal to fire a nuclear weapon at an area so close to home. The fallout could easily reach any Russian and/or Belorussian territory. Thus, it can be expected to see Moscow use more “Oreshniks” and similar missiles. However, Russia’s updated strategic doctrine also allows the use of such weapons against targets beyond NATO-occupied Ukraine.

Namely, Moscow knows exactly which NATO command centers are used to coordinate attacks on Russia’s undisputed territory and may decide to neutralize them. Missiles such as the “Oreshnik” give it unprecedented non-nuclear strategic strike capabilities, meaning that Russia’s first retaliatory attack should not trigger NATO’s nuclear response. However, the world’s most vile racketeering cartel doesn’t have comparable weapons and could only use nuclear-tipped missiles or bombs. In response to this, the Kremlin deploys its unrivaled strategic arsenal in full force. How long do you think this would last? I’ve recently argued it would be largely over in 15 minutes. Now I’ll explain in detail how. First, the early warning systems (composed of a plethora of land, sea, air and space-based assets) would sound an alarm and the Russian strategic nuclear-armed triad would react immediately.

Composed of Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), Aerospace Forces (VKS) and Navy (VMF), the Russian triad could deploy at least 5,500 thermonuclear warheads, each of which is orders of magnitude more destructive than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, combined. As of October, the RVSN has 772 warheads on over 200 RS-24 “Yars”, 340 on 46 R-36M2 “Voevoda” and 78 single-warhead RT-2PM2 “Topol-M” ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles). The number of strategic HGVs (hypersonic glide vehicles), specifically the “Avangard” is unknown, but is usually thought to be in the dozens. The VKS operates 580 nuclear-tipped cruise missiles (the Kh-102 and several advanced iterations of the Kh-55), deployed on 55 Tu-95MS and 17 Tu-160 strategic bombers, better known as missile carriers in Russian military nomenclature. And last, but certainly not least, the Navy, the most survivable element of any triad.

The VMF operates 15 SSBNs (nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines) carrying 240 SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles) armed with at least 896 warheads. The grand total is 2,657 thermonuclear warheads ready to go at this very moment. Note that this doesn’t include well over 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons deployed on SSGNs (nuclear-powered guided missile submarines), hypersonic weapons such as the 9M723 used by the “Iskander-M”, the 9-S-7760 “Kinzhal” and numerous other missile types. Altogether, Russia has well over 4,500 warheads ready for both strategic and battlefield use. However, it also has upwards of 1,500 thermonuclear warheads awaiting dismantlement, but which could be returned to service due to NATO aggression and be installed on land-based ICBMs, IRBMs (intermediate-range ballistic missiles), SLBMs, ALCMs (air-launched cruise missiles), etc.

Once again, this is without even considering newer Russian weapons that we know exist (RS-28 “Sarmat” ICBMs, “Avangard” HGVs, “Oreshnik” hybrid/modular IRBM/ICBM/HGVs, the “Poseidon” nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed underwater drones/torpedoes, etc) and those that we don’t know anything about (except that they exist), including experimental, as President Putin himself spoke of “weapons based on new physical principles” on many occasions. However, just to illustrate the destructive power of the new “Sarmat”, consider that it can carry a range of heavy and light MIRVs (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles). This includes 10-15 heavy warheads or 20+ light ones. The destructive power of heavy warheads is stated to be 750 kilotons (kt) to 1 megaton (Mt) each. Light warheads have a yield ranging from 150 kt to 450 kt, with one kiloton being equal to 1,000 tons of TNT.

Thus, 150 kt is equivalent to 150,000 tons of TNT exploding at once. To put this destructive power into perspective, we can use the “Little Boy” atomic bomb which the US dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Namely, it had a yield of 15 kt and it virtually instantly killed around 100,000 people, with at least another 50,000 dying in the aftermath of the explosion. This would mean that the combined yield carried by a single RS-28 missile is up to 750 times greater than that of the Hiroshima bomb. It should be noted that at least 50 of these are being built, as they are slated to replace the aforementioned R-36M2 “Voevoda”. That’s the equivalent of the destructive power of 37,500 Hiroshima bombs. And that’s just 50 missiles, out of well over 300 land-based ICBMs in the Russian military. However, thanks to US/NATO aggression against the world, Moscow might decide to make 100 of these, doubling that destructive power to 75,000 by 2030.

Unfortunately, some completely delusional lunatics at the Pentagon think they can launch a “decapitation strike” on Russia and “ensure” there’s no retaliation. There’s just one “tiny” problem with this – the Russian Navy. Namely, even if the world’s largest country suddenly vanished, its Navy alone could destroy much, if not most of the world. Even just half of its SSBNs, namely the now legendary eight Borei-class subs, carry 16 R-30 “Bulava” SLBMs (each missile armed with up to ten 150 kt thermonuclear MIRVs). I’ll let you do the math on that one. To top it all, the Kremlin’s nuclear triad can also be used even if the entire Russian leadership is neutralized. The system enabling this is called the “Perimeter” (known as the “Dead Hand” in NATO) and is activated automatically in case of an all-out attack on Russia. Perhaps the most dumbfounding fact is that the US military is perfectly aware of all this, but it’s still pushing for escalation.

Some of the world’s most prominent leaders, intellectuals and experts have been warning about the dangers of nuclear warfare. Perhaps the best example of this is the message conveyed by the late Fidel Castro in an interview with the globally renowned Professor Michel Chossudovsky. Namely, President Castro said that “in a nuclear war the ‘collateral damage’ would be the life of all humanity”. It doesn’t get much simpler than this and yet it’s 100% on point. What’s more, the mainstream propaganda machine is also perfectly aware of this, as evidenced by the BBC’s latest piece on Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Obviously, because it’s the BBC, it cannot do even this without ludicrous lies, as they’re claiming the information came from an “anonymous Russian deserter” who supposedly revealed “war secrets”, even though this information is publicly available (if one is bothered to look for it, that is).

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.

November 26, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Poles recall RFK Jr. battled US corporate farming giant

Over two decades ago, Robert Kennedy Jr. took on Smithfield Foods in Poland over its actions to eliminate its competition, small family farms

By Liz Heflin | Remix News | November 25, 2024

RFK Jr. says the second in command at Smithfield Foods in Poland offered a $1 million bribe to a state official to pass legislation to essentially shut down local hog production.

The reveal was made during a podcast with farming expert Joel Salatin. The official turned Smithfield in over the bribe attempt, but others were quick to take the bribe and pass the desired legislation.

None of this is new news. However, RFK Jr.’s alliance with Trump, not to mention being nominated to serve as secretary of health and human services in his administration, has given him a new platform to draw attention to the issues surrounding commercial farming and the food we eat.

And when I say not new, I mean, this topic has been around for a couple decades, actually more.

A 2003 article from Ecologist highlighted the issues with the way Smithfield and “fellow industrial pork producers” delivered bacon, chops and other pork products to American consumers. The article stated these entities had “driven tens of thousands of family farmers off the land, shattered rural communities, poisoned thousands of miles of US waterways, killed billions of fish, put thousands of fishermen out of work, sickened rural residents and treated hundreds of millions of farm animals with unspeakable and unnecessary cruelty.”

Pretty harsh. And then, Smithfield turned its eyes to greener pastures. Where? All the way over in Poland, fresh out of its decades-long stint under the iron fist of communist rule. What may not be known by many was the rather strong presence, i.e., high number, of family farms that survived under communism. Kennedy refers to this himself in the podcast around minute 25, “small farms that were self-sufficient farms” and that had no money for chemicals.

However, despite surviving well under communism, these family farms could never have expected the “free market” might of “private” concerns that would come knocking at their doors, or more like come to knock their doors down.

“In 1999, Smithfield began buying slaughterhouses and state farms in Poland. On July 22 this year (2003), the firm’s vice president promised Poland’s Senate agricultural committee that Smithfield will ‘modernise’ Polish agriculture and bring prosperity and jobs to rural communities,” reads the Ecologist article.

Now 25 years later, RFK Jr., is bringing to light again exactly what happened in the name of American capitalism all those years ago.

Smithfield, he tells Salatin on the podcast, had come in and bought the old Soviet slaughterhouses and was modernizing these massive facilities. The legislation that Smithfield initiated stated that you could not operate a slaughterhouse if it did not have laser-automated faucets in the bathrooms, technology that small slaughterhouses servicing local family farms would not be able to afford. In this way, as Kennedy says, “in one fell swoop,” all of Smithfield’s competitors in Poland were put out of business. Kennedy did not clarify what year this happened.

There is pretty hefty coverage of the lawsuits between environmental groups, including RFK Jr.’s Waterkeeper Alliance, and Smithfield in the U.S., alleging, for example, that the giant put small farms out of business and polluted soil. One class action suit against Smithfield that Kennedy was a part of was thrown out in 2002.

What’s crazy is that this battle reached all the way to Poland. In a letter to the Polish prime minister, dated February 2004, MP Anna Sobecka presented a brief history of Smithfield’s practices back in the U.S., including that “one of the slaughterhouse’s managers was sentenced to prison for falsifying records in the case.”

“Smithfield Foods, the owner of the Animex Wielkopolska company it bought out, is constantly breaking the law by placing large piles of manure in nearby fields near the village of Więckowice without permits. Another such pile was recently built in Sierosław, near Więckowice. This is an expression of complete disregard for the recommendations of Polish officials,” the letter reads. The MP goes on to say that for unknown reasons, the company was still awarded the “Crystal Globe of Export Leaders” by the minister of economy, labor and social policy.

The primary concern of the letter was related to “several large piles of pigsty waste without the required permits and without the slightest safeguards” near Niepruszewickie Lake. It was then alleged that hazardous chemicals seeped into the lake and ended up causing illnesses, particularly in children, in the nearby town of Więckowice.

She adds that “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., representing American farmers, has visited Poland several times to warn against Smithfield Foods’ destructive activities. Kennedy warned that further expansion of the company could threaten to destroy Polish family farms. Kennedy’s speeches provoked a panic among Smithfield Foods management, which filed a defamation suit against the American politician in the district court in Poznań,” adding that “the documents and evidence available to the American politician clearly confirm the allegations he made against Smithfield Foods.”

This letter came after Smithfield’s subsidiary in Poland had sued Kennedy in Poznan for his remarks about the company’s practices during a debate in the Sejm, the Polish parliament, where he reportedly called it a “mafia organization” that violates environmental regulations and accused parties involved of selling out Polish small farmers and consumers for profits. The outcome of that suit is unclear. However, another suit filed against Smithfield by a group including Kennedy was dismissed by the judge, with all parties ordered to pay Smithfield’s legal fees.

What is also very clear is that the world today is an even smaller place than back then, and Smithfood’s primary challenger has now been nominated to serve in the cabinet of the U.S. president.

Today, Smithfield is a Chinese-owned company, RFK Jr. says in the abovementioned podcast, adding that China owns some 30 percent to 40 percent of the hog production in the U.S.

“We’re in a colonial model. USDA now works for China by keeping little farmers out of business and strip-mining and commoditizing our natural resources, our farmland, and everything else.”

As to why RFK Jr. brought up Poland after all these years and if he plans to do something about their operations there is unknown.

He is on a mission for consumers everywhere to know their food is safe, wholesome, and healthy. As he also told Joel Salatin, “only the worst food is reaching the American public… and it’s high cost.”

He’s even teamed up with Trump’s wife, Melania, in an apparent attempt to get President-elect Trump off fast food. Good luck with that.

I highly recommend watching the full podcast with Joel Salatin, especially his explanation of “uberization” of the food system around minute 23.

November 25, 2024 Posted by | Corruption, Economics | , | Leave a comment

Ukraine massacred civilians to blame Russia – witnesses

RT | November 25, 2024

Mercenaries in Ukrainian service, including Polish nationals, executed a number of civilians in the city of Selidovo before fleeing advancing Russian forces, local residents have said. Moscow believes that Kiev wanted to use the massacre for a “false flag” claim of atrocities.

Selidovo sits about 15km south of Pokrovsk, in the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic controlled by Kiev since 2014. In 2022 it had a population of around 21,000. Russian soldiers secured it completely on October 29.

The retreating Ukrainians executed local residents with the intent of accusing Russia of a “massacre,” Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry official charged with collecting evidence of Ukrainian war crimes, said on Monday.

“When the West started talking about peace negotiations, [Vladimir] Zelensky started preparing ‘Bucha 2’, but in Selidovo,” Miroshnik told RIA Novosti. He said that residents evacuated from the frontline city have reported dozens of civilians being executed in the streets.

“They said that the Nazis staged a bloodbath two or three days before the city was taken by Russian troops,” Miroshnik said, adding that the witnesses provided details such as names and addresses of the people killed, as well as descriptions of the perpetrators. Some of the witnesses, he said, described people in Ukrainian uniforms who spoke Polish.

One of the testimonies Miroshnik shared with the media was of Vladimir Romanenko, who described how Ukrainian soldiers murdered five of his family members and burned their bodies.

“I went out into the street and heard shouting. A short man was shouting, ‘Everyone out of the house, face the wall!’ And he began to shoot,” Romanenko said. He was spotted by the uniformed men and ran away, somehow managing to escape. He later identified the dead as his wife Olga Romanenko and sister Lidiya Zavarzina, both 69, son Roman (46), grandson Vladislav Nikolaychuk (33), and niece Olga Zavarzina (50).

According to Miroshnik, Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries wanted to blame Russia for the deaths of civilians they killed, but ran out of time to stage their “false flag” operation.

In early April 2022, Ukrainian media outlets published photos and videos of bodies on the streets of Bucha, a suburb of Kiev, claiming they had been massacred by withdrawing Russian troops. The Defense Ministry in Moscow insisted that not a single resident of Bucha had been harmed by Russian soldiers, who had left the town by March 30, and pointed to militants loyal to Kiev bragging about “cleansing collaborators.”

November 25, 2024 Posted by | False Flag Terrorism | , | Leave a comment

Israeli Minister: ‘Voluntary Emigration’ of Palestinians Is an Opportunity During Trump Presidency

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | November 25, 2024

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared his intention to exploit the Donald Trump presidency to conduct an ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. He believes he can cut the population of Gaza in half in two year’s time.

“It is possible to create a situation where Gaza’s population in two years will be less than half its current size. Encouraging voluntary emigration is an opportunity that arises with the new administration,” Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionist Party, said.

The Finance Minister, who himself is a settler in the West Bank and has promoted building Jewish settlements in Gaza, made the remarks while speaking at the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization for settlement authorities in the West Bank

“It is possible and necessary to take civilian responsibility for Gaza.” Smotrich continues, “The IDF will need to be there to maintain security, prevent Gaza from rearming and becoming a threat to Israeli citizens again, and in the process, oversee civilian [affairs].”

Following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Tel Aviv unleashed a devastating military campaign in Gaza that American doctors estimate killed well over 100,000 people in its first year.

Much of the infrastructure in Gaza is being leveled with bombs, with Haaretz reporting earlier this week that the Jabalia Refugee Camp has been nearly eliminated. Israel civilians have begun entering Gaza to scout locations for potential future settlements.

November 25, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel Strikes Four Bridges in Homs Province, Central Syria – Reports

By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 25.11.2024

The Israeli military has dramatically ramped up its aggression against Syria in recent months, targeting the country repeatedly amid its ongoing regional war against Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi militia. In April, an Israeli strike targeted an Iranian Embassy building in Damascus, provoking a major Iranian retaliation.

Israeli fighter jets struck a number of bridges in the province of Homs, central Syria, SANA reported on Monday.

Four bridges were damaged in the city of Al Qusayr, southwest of Homs, as the result of the strike, a correspondent told the Syrian news agency.

Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh told a meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations that firm and immediate measures must be taken by the international community to stop Israeli aggression across the region.

“The Israeli occupation forces are intending to expand the scope of their aggression on countries of our region, by targeting brotherly Lebanon. This coincided with its launch of almost daily attacks on Syrian territory, targeting buildings and residential neighborhoods that include headquarters, diplomatic missions and offices of the United Nations, economic facilities and vital infrastructure, not to mention the occupying entity’s deliberate targeting of border crossings, roads and bridges connecting Syria and Lebanon, which are used by hundreds of thousands of people coming from Lebanon to escape the Israeli killing machine,” the Syrian top diplomat said.

“Syria renews its firm stance in support of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, returning to their homeland, establishing their independent state, and ending the Israeli occupation of all Arab lands occupied since June 1967, including the occupied Syrian Golan,” Sabbagh emphasized.

November 25, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Israel used American weapons in ‘deliberate’ strike on journalists in Lebanon: Report

Press TV – November 25, 2024

An Israeli airstrike using American weapons that killed three journalists in southern Lebanon in October is likely to have been deliberate, amounting to a potential war crime, an investigation has shown.

The Guardian reported on Monday that experts in international humanitarian law have encouraged further investigation.

“All the indications show that this would have been a deliberate targeting of journalists: a war crime,” said Nadim Houry, a human rights lawyer and executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative.

“This was clearly delineated as a place where journalists were staying.”

During the early hours of October 25, an Israeli warplane dropped two bombs on a chalet hosting journalists.

The victims included cameraman Ghassan Najjar and technician Mohammad Reda from Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen network as well as cameraman Wissam Qassem from the al-Manar channel. They were killed in their sleep.

There was no fighting in the area before or at the time of the strike.

The Guardian found no evidence of the presence of Hezbollah military infrastructure at the site.

After the strike, the Israeli military claimed it had struck a “Hezbollah military structure.”

A few hours later, the regime said the incident was “under review” following reports that journalists were hit.

A day after Israel began its ground aggression inside Lebanon, a group of about 18 journalists arrived at a guest house resort in the southern village resort of Hasbaya.

The journalists drove cars marked with “Press” and wore flak jackets and helmets emblazoned with press symbols.

They said the presence of Israeli reconnaissance drones was “constant” over both the live location and the guest house during their 23-day stay.

“On the night of the attack, we were sitting in front of the chalets and the drone was flying super low on top of us,” said Fatima Ftouni, a journalist at al-Mayadeen who was staying a few chalets down from her colleagues when they were struck.

The resort is owned by Lebanese-American Anoir Ghaida, who said he searched the chalet and car of the targeted journalists after the strike “like you would search for a needle in a haystack” but found “nothing suspicious” about the journalists.

Based on interviews with survivors and available evidence, Israel used “an air-dropped bomb equipped with a United States-produced” Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit.

The JDAM is piece of equipment that turns unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions.

Sana Najjar, Ghassan Najjar’s wife, said in an interview with the Guardian that Ghassan left behind a three-and-a-half-year-old son.

“Ghassan was not a member of Hezbollah, he was a member of the press. He never had a gun, not even for hunting. His weapon was his camera.”

Regardless of their political affiliation, killing journalists is illegal under international humanitarian law unless they are actively participating in military activities.

Janina Dill, co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, said, “It is a dangerous trend already witnessed in Gaza that journalists are linked to military operations in virtue of their assumed affiliation or political leanings, then seemingly become targets of attack. This is not compatible with international law.”

November 25, 2024 Posted by | Full Spectrum Dominance, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

China Creates Coating Making Warplanes Invisible to Anti-Stealth Radars

Sputnik -25.11.2024

BEIJING – Chinese military scientists have developed a stealth material for aircraft and other defense equipment that minimizes their visibility for anti-stealth radars, Chinese media reported on Monday.

The South China Morning Post newspaper reported that the new material, unveiled by the National University of Defense Technology, can convert electromagnetic waves with wavelengths from 2.3 feet to 0.6 feet into heat, which effectively covers the operating bandwidths of most current anti-stealth radars, specifically the P-band and L-band.

The new material is lightweight, flexible and easy to produce in large quantities, making it suitable for covering aircraft or other weapon platforms requiring stealth capabilities, the newspaper said.

Scientists have said that the new material was cost-effective and could be used in various types of military equipment. They believe that this technology could become “the key for China to win future wars.”

China currently holds the majority of the world’s patents in metamaterials.

November 25, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Science and Pseudo-Science | | Leave a comment

Right-Wing Candidate Georgescu Leads in Romania Presidential Election: Why is the West Trembling?

By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 25.11.2024

Right-wing independent candidate Calin Georgescu has pulled off a shock victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential election.

Little-known candidate Calin Georgescu, who was shown running at around 5% in pre-election polls, upended all predictions and is now set to face off against center-right contender Elena Lasconi in the second round on December 8.

What Are His Views?

On NATO:

A professed champion of national sovereignty, Georgescu has often criticized what he called his country’s “subservience” to the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In interviews and public appearances he, has questioned the benefits of Romania’s membership in NATO, arguing that the alliance will not protect any of its members should they be attacked.

He criticized the presence of an American missile defense facility at a NATO-controlled base in the village of Deveselu, calling Romania’s agreement to host it a “diplomatic shame.” He has also called NATO’s ballistic missile defense shield in Romania a confrontational measure.

On Ukraine:

Georgescu has questioned military aid being pumped by Romania to Ukraine. The social media-savvy candidate recently launched a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to supporting the Kiev regime that appeared to have struck a chord with voters. “Tonight, the Romanian people cried out for peace. And they shouted very loudly, extremely loudly”, Georgescu said after his win.

On Russia:

Georgescu has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a genuinely great leader who loves his country in a 2020 interview. Romania’s best chance lay with “Russian wisdom,” media reports cite him as saying in another interview.

On Moldova:

Georgescu started out as a member of the right-wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party, which advocates for the integration of Moldova into Romania, but eventually broke with it to campaign as an independent.

Georgescu’s success feeds into the barometer of right-wing political successes across Europe amid dissatisfaction with Brussels’ policy and eroding public support for Ukraine.

Similar sentiments fueled Ukraine critic Peter Pellegrini’s win in the presidential election in Slovakia this summer, and the success of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) in Austria’s parliamentary elections.

November 25, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

NATO admiral urges Western businesses to prepare for ‘wartime scenario’

RT | November 25, 2024

Businesses in NATO countries should prepare themselves for a “wartime scenario” and adjust their production lines and supply chains to be less vulnerable to blackmail by nations such as Russia and China, the outgoing chief of the US-led bloc’s military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said on Monday.

Speaking at a European Policy Center think-tank event in Brussels, he urged Western industries and businesses to implement deterrence measures.

“If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence,” Bauer argued.

“Businesses need to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly. Because while it may be the military who wins battles, it’s the economies that win wars,” the NATO official said. He mentioned China and Russia in the context of how he believes wars are waged in the economic sphere.

“We thought we had a deal with Gazprom, but we actually had a deal with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he stated, apparently referring to the drop in Russian gas supplies to the EU, which took place after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

At the time, the EU declared that ending its reliance on Russian energy was a key priority, and many members voluntarily halted their imports, while supplies also plunged due to the sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines.

American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh blamed the sabotage on the CIA, alleging that the agency had carried out the attack under the direct orders of the White House – an allegation it has denied.

Bauer then extended his warning to China, claiming that Beijing could use its exports to NATO states and the infrastructure that it owns in Europe as leverage in the event of a conflict.

“We are naive if we think the [Chinese] Communist Party will never use that power. Business leaders in Europe and America need to realize that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation,” the official claimed.

It is unclear what “wartime” Bauer is predicting in his statements.

NATO has long declared Russia to be a direct threat, and Western officials have repeatedly claimed that if Moscow is allowed to win the conflict in Ukraine, it could then attack other European countries. Russia has dismissed these claims as nonsense. Restrictions that Moscow introduced in trade with the West have largely come in response to unprecedented economic sanctions placed on the country in connection with the Ukraine conflict.

Beijing has also faced its share of trade barriers and restrictions introduced by Western states, and introduced similar measures in response. According to most experts, including many in the West, the sanctions policy has backfired on Western economies, leading to supply shortages and inflation.

November 25, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia, Sinophobia | , , , , | Leave a comment

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