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Scott Ritter: Iran’s Retaliatory Attack ‘Reestablished Deterrence’ to Hold Israel, US in Check

By Svetlana Ekimenko | Sputnik | April 14, 2024

Iran’s mission to the United Nations stated earlier that Tehran’s retaliatory drone and missile attack against Israel had “concluded.” The “military action” was a response to Israel’s “aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus,” it said, adding that the strike “hit designated targets.”

By launching its retaliatory drone and missile attack on Israel, Iran “reestablished deterrence,” former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter told Sputnik.

“Israel believed that it could launch a strike against Iran and suffer no consequence. That is no longer the case,” Ritter noted.

As Israeli military officials survey the damage done to their bases, “they understand the following: that Iran deliberately chose not to inflict extremely lethal action against Israel,” the analyst remarked.

Iran launched a massive drone and missile attack against Israel overnight, assisted by Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthis. Over 300 projectiles were fired at Israeli territory from Iran, with Iran’s mission to the United Nations stating that its retaliatory attack on Israel had “concluded,” and that the strike “hit designated targets.” Israel’s military has claimed that 99% of the projectiles were intercepted.

Iran’s strike was designed to send a signal to Israel and the United States, “that it could do what it did in Nevatim, at Ramona, anywhere in Israel, anywhere in the Middle East, and there was nothing the United States or Israel could do in response.”

“This is deterrence. This means that in the future, if either Israel or the United States plan on carrying out an action against Iran, they have to weigh in the consequences of their actions knowing that Iran has the capacity to reach out and touch any place, any spot, any target in the region in Israel or out of Israel, and there’s nothing anybody could do to stop that,” the retired US Marine Corps intelligence officer said.

US President Joe Biden issued a statement on Iran’s attack against Israel after he spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The POTUS condemned the strike “in the strongest possible terms.” He also reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to help support Israel, and added that there were no attacks on US forces or facilities on Saturday, but that the US “will remain vigilant to all threats.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US does “not seek escalation,” but will “continue to support” Israel’s defense. “I will be consulting with allies and partners in the region and around the world in the hours and days ahead,” he added.

Weighing in on the flurry of talks between US and Israeli leaders, Scott Ritter said:

“This is why President Biden has been on the phone with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, telling him, ‘Do not retaliate.’ The United States will not be a partner in any offensive action against Iran. Not because the United States is friendly to Iran, but the United States understands the consequences that will accrue, should such an attack take place. The United States has been deterred against further action against Iran.”

The question uppermost at the moment is, “what will Israel do?” Ritter noted.

“Israel has been trying to lead the United States into a larger conflict with Iran for some time now. Indeed, some people have speculated that the Israeli attack against the Iranian Consulate in Damascus was designed for just that purpose… But the Iranians were very clever in designing their response – just like they did, when they retaliated against the United States for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani back in 2020,” Ritter said.

He recalled that at the time, Iran launched over a dozen missiles against the Al-Asad air base in Iraq, but Tehran gave Washington advance notice that that base was going to be struck. Thus, Iran ended up destroying empty buildings, Ritter recalled.

“But it demonstrated to the United States that it had the capacity to strike any American base in the region with extreme precision and kill as many Americans as they wanted – if they wanted to do that. And America was deterred against future action of that sort. Will Israel be deterred?” the analyst wondered.

No decision has been made yet regarding an Israeli response to the Iranian missile and drone attack, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel. It was added that a potential response would be discussed at a war cabinet meeting set for later on Sunday. Israel’s response to the Iranian attack will be coordinated with its allies, The New York Times reported earlier, citing an Israeli official.

After Iran’s unprecedented strike, Tel Aviv “understands that any escalation could mean the destruction of Israel,” Scott Ritter noted.

“Israel probably isn’t going to launch a response against Iran. Israel has been deterred from launching that response by the Iranian actions. In this case, we can say that operation ‘True Promise’ was an extraordinarily successful operation, not only for Iran, but indeed for the world, because Iranian deterrence now is a reality that can hold Israel and the United States in check,” Ritter said.

April 14, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , | Leave a comment

The dramatic mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic must finally seal the fate of the WHO (We Host Obtuseness)!

By Geert Vanden Bossche | Voice for Science and Solidarity | April 11, 2024

About ten years ago, there were serious discussions about dismantling the WHO due to its mismanagement of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. An even more dramatic mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic must now finally seal the fate of this organization!

I still have serious doubts about whether the Covid-19 pandemic was planned; it certainly wasn’t orchestrated by the Vaccine Industry. Moreover, it’s also difficult to reconcile the broadly approved effort of the Vaccine Industry to develop a vaccine with the notion of a powerful lobby harboring nefarious intentions. Back then, no one anticipated, indeed, that vaccination during a pandemic could worsen its spread and health impact, given past successes in curbing infection chains through vaccination during pandemics or epidemics.

Nobody ever officially reported, though, that in the case of these alleged success stories (such as Smallpox and Ebola), deaths of contacts of index cases ring-vaccinated with replicating vaccines during the incubation time of the disease substantially contributed to halting viral transmission. Consequently, the WHO erroneously believed that vaccination during a pandemic or epidemic was a highly effective strategy for ending it.

‘Regrettably’(?!), in the mass Covid-19 vaccination program, this never-investigated or mentioned ‘killing effect’ didn’t materialize, as the vaccines used were non-replicating and the ring vaccination protocol didn’t apply, considering that the transmission of this virus is airborne rather than via direct contact. Therefore, I strongly believe that the egregious incompetence of the WHO is at the heart of the mismanagement of this pandemic. It’s only right that such a screw-up should vanish from the face of this earth.

April 13, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

US has ‘no viable plan’ for Ukraine – senator

RT | April 12, 2024

Kiev cannot win against Moscow because it has run out of men and needs more weapons and ammunition than Washington could possibly provide, US Senator J.D. Vance said on Friday.

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer argued that “the biggest reason Ukraine is losing the war is because the hard-right in the Congress has paralyzed the US from acting.” The New York Democrat claimed that a small group of Republicans have been holding up a vital $60 billion aid package for Kiev.

In an op-ed published by the New York Times, Vance addressed Schumer’s claim and accused President Joe Biden of having “failed to articulate even basic facts” about what Ukraine needs and the reality on the ground.

“The Biden administration has no viable plan for the Ukrainians to win this war,” Vance argued.

“Ukraine’s challenge is not the GOP; it’s math,” the Ohio Republican wrote. “Ukraine needs more soldiers than it can field, even with draconian conscription policies. And it needs more matériel than the United States can provide.”

Not only is $60 billion a fraction of what Ukraine would need to turn the tide, Americans “lack the capacity to manufacture the amount of weapons Ukraine needs us to supply to win the war,” Vance argued.

He pointed to the fact that the US can make 360,000 shells for 155mm artillery per year, “less than a tenth of what Ukraine says it needs,” and that’s after doubling prewar production capacity.

Vance also took aim at the White House’s messaging that funding Kiev is good for US military industry.

“The notion that we should prolong a bloody and gruesome war because it’s been good for American business is grotesque. We can and should rebuild our industrial base without shipping its products to a foreign conflict,” he wrote.

The US insistence on not negotiating with Russia is “absurd” and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s goal of restoring Ukraine’s 1991 borders is “fantastical,” Vance added. He urged Kiev to dig in and hold until some kind of peace can be brokered by Washington.

Earlier this week, however, Zelensky said Ukraine was planning yet another counteroffensive – after the costly failure of last summer’s operation – but needed even more weapons and ammunition from the West.

April 12, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | Leave a comment

China tells US it won’t be bullied on Russia

RT | April 10, 2024

Relations between Beijing and Moscow are their business alone, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has said, responding to veiled threats by a senior American diplomat.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Tuesday that any further Russian advances in Ukraine will “have an impact” on the US-China relationship.

“China and Russia have the right to carry out normal cooperation. Such cooperation should not come under external interference or constraint,” Mao said, when asked about Campbell’s comments at Wednesday’s press briefing. “China will not accept the accusations and pressuring.”

Speaking to the nonprofit National Committee on US-China Relations, Campbell – who recently took over from Victoria Nuland – said that recent Russian gains could “alter the balance of power in Europe in ways that are, frankly, unacceptable” to Washington, and that the State Department has told Beijing as much.

“On Ukraine, China has always taken an objective and just position and played a constructive role in actively promoting peace talks,” Mao told reporters. “If certain countries truly care about peace and want an early end to the crisis, they should reflect on the root cause of the crisis and do something that will actually help bring about peace, rather than deflect the blame to China.”

Beijing has repeatedly resisted US pressure to side with Kiev and join the Washington-led embargo against Moscow.

Campbell’s remarks echoed the statements made by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during her visit to China earlier this week. Mao responded by saying that China would “take resolute measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.”

On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also condemned US travel warnings as “totally unwarranted,” “wrongful” and “groundless,” noting that they have “deterred many Americans” who wanted to visit the country.

China and other members of BRICS have helped Russia mitigate the “illegal policy of unilateral sanctions” by the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, after meeting his counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing.

Moscow’s trade with the rest of the world has surged over the past two years, more than offsetting the embargo by the US and its allies, imposed over the Ukraine conflict.

April 11, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , | Leave a comment

Xi meets Lavrov, reaffirms China’s emphasis on partnership with Russia

By Yang Sheng | Global Times | April 9, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday in Beijing. Chinese analysts said the meeting sends a strong signal that China will firmly develop its strategic partnership with Russia, despite pressure from the West. The China-Russia partnership continues to be key for the global strategic balance and the hope for promoting a multipolar world in which countries of the Global South will have greater roles to play.

Xi asked Lavrov to convey his sincere greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Xi said China and Russia have embarked on a new path of harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation between major countries and neighbors, which has benefited the two countries and their peoples and contributed wisdom and strength to international fairness and justice, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Lavrov in Beijing, and both sides expressed hope for strengthening practical cooperation in various fields, Xinhua reported.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China is willing to work with Russia, in accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state, to strengthen the synergy of the two countries’ development plans and promote practical cooperation in various fields.

The top diplomats of the two countries held a joint press conference after their meeting. Wang mentioned “five always” at the press conference. For example, he said that the two countries should always follow the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, and should always adhere to the principle of no-alliance, no-confrontation and no-targeting at any third party.

China and Russia should always stay on the right course on major matters of principle. As permanent members of the UN Security Council and major emerging countries, China and Russia actively respond to the common aspirations and legitimate concerns of the people of all countries, advocate a new path of state-to-state relations featuring dialogue and partnership rather than confrontation and alliance, and actively promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, said Wang.

Yang Jin, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the remarks made by Xi and the “five always” raised by Wang provide a “framework and outline” for the future development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

Yet many voices from the West, mainly from the US as well as some senior NATO officials, insist on depicting the China-Russia relationship as akin to an “anti-West alliance,” which is completely wrong. By reaffirming the principles of “non-alignment, non-confrontation, and not targeting any third party,” China and Russia are refuting those voices with a clear stance, experts said.

Multipolar world

China always attaches great importance to the development of China-Russia relations, and stands ready to strengthen bilateral communication with Russia and enhance multilateral strategic coordination in BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation  Organisation (SCO), Xi said when meeting with the visiting Russian top diplomat.

Xi said that the two countries will show more responsibility, unite countries in the Global South in the spirit of equality, openness, transparency and inclusiveness, promote the reform of the global governance system, and vigorously lead the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

China and Russia are trying to promote a multipolar world where developing countries and emerging economies of the Global South will play a greater role, which is the antithesis of the unipolar world dominated by the US, analysts said.

“China and Russia will not target any third party, but if hegemonic forces threaten China and Russia, or threaten world peace, China and Russia will stand together and fight to protect their own interests and safeguard world peace together,” said Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University.

This is why China and Russia, as well as other members in the UN Security Council, are pushing an immediate cease-fire and the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, even as the US vetoed these attempts time and again, before the Ramadan cease-fire resolution eventually passed on March 25, experts said.

Wang said at the joint press conference that Russia will hold the BRICS presidency this year, and China will take over the rotating presidency of SCO this year. The two sides will support each other’s chairmanship and light up the “moment of South” global governance.

Richard Sakwa, professor of Russian and European politics at the School of Politics and International Relations of the UK’s University of Kent, told the Global Times at a forum in Beijing on March 28 that China-Russia relations are “one of the key axes for international politics, and it’s not only very important but also necessary” to maintain the global strategic balance.

Lavrov said at the meeting with Wang that Russia supports the China-initiated Global Security Initiative, and is willing to deepen cooperation with China on multilateral platforms to promote the establishment of a more just and democratic international order.

The two sides also had in-depth exchanges on the Ukraine issue, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and other international and regional issues of common concern.

Ukraine crisis and counterterrorism

Wang said at the joint press conference with Lavrov that on the Ukraine issue, China hopes to see a “cease-fire and an end to the war as soon as possible.” China supports the timely convening of an international conference recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation by all parties, and a fair discussion of all peace options, whether it is track one or track two, Wang noted.

Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday that “some Western countries have always blamed China for its ‘pro-Russia’ stance, but actually we are just asking for a mechanism that can be accepted by all parties and can treat everyone equally.”

“China’s stance is based on the desire to stop the bloodshed, but the US’ stance is to use the [Russia-Ukraine] conflict to weaken Russia as much as possible. The development of the crisis to some extent depends on the US presidential election later this year,” Cui noted “If Donald Trump is elected, there will be a chance to break the deadlock, but if Joe Biden gets reelected, we might also see some changes, as Washington and its allies might not be able to afford the war anymore.”

Xi stressed at the meeting with Lavrov that China supports the Russian people in following a development path that suits their national conditions, and supports Russia in combating terrorism and maintaining social security and stability.

At the joint press conference with Lavrov on Tuesday, Wang stressed that China must also pay attention to the resolution of other global and regional hot spot issues, including continuing to counter terrorism. “China once again reiterated its condemnation of the terrorist attack in Moscow and its condolences and support for Russia,” said Wang.

“The Chinese people are also victims of terrorism, and terrorism has always been a common threat facing mankind. The international community should resolutely combat all forms of terrorism with a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude, firmly support the efforts of all parties to maintain national security and stability, strengthen international anti-terrorism cooperation, coordinate development and security, and eliminate the breeding grounds for terrorism,” Wang remarked.

“I want to thank China for their condolences in connection with the terrorist attack in the Moscow Region on March 22, and for their support of Russia’s fight against terrorism,” Lavrov said during the meeting with Wang.

All those involved [in the terrorist attack] will be certainly punished, Russia’s top diplomat stated. “Our [Russia-China] cooperation on counter-terrorism will continue, including within the framework of multilateral institutions.”

China and Russia are two major powers in the SCO, and  counter-terrorism cooperation between them and other SCO members is significant for regional peace and stability, especially when the threat of terrorism has reemerged in relevant regions, experts said. Apart from the discussion on the diplomatic level, the militaries, law-enforcement and intelligence agencies of the two countries will promote cooperation on combating terrorism, experts said.

April 9, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia launches terrorism probe into US and NATO officials

RT | April 9, 2024

Intelligence agencies and law enforcement are looking at certain Western government officials as part of an investigation into the funding of terrorist attacks such as the massacre at Crocus City Hall and the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines, the Russian Investigative Committee announced on Tuesday.

The probe was launched after a referral by several Russian lawmakers, which accused the US and its allies of organizing the March 22 attack on the Moscow concert venue.

Investigators are currently looking at the potential involvement of “specific individuals from among government officials, people with civic and commercial organizations of Western countries,” said committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.

It has already been established that funding for terrorist attacks inside Russia has been funneled through Ukrainian companies, including the notorious Burisma Holdings – former employers of US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter – Petrenko added.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia has also said it would follow the evidence leading to “persons and structures located in the US, Germany, France and Cyprus.”

In addition to last month’s Crocus City Hall attack, the investigation is looking at other terrorist acts, including the assassinations of prominent public figures and the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in international waters.

Investigators are establishing the connections between the direct perpetrators of terrorist acts and “foreign curators, organizers and sponsors,” Petrenko added.

April 9, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , | Leave a comment

America Has Paid a Total of $38,893 to Avalanche of COVID Vaccine Injured Citizens

By Jefferey Jaxen | March 29, 2024

What Americans were sold during the COVID vaccine rollout hype was an injection to return to normal – medical blackmail. A two-dose series turned into multiple boosters, as high as nine now recommended by the CDC if you are counting. As many capitulated, no public spokesperson or mainstream media outlet marketing the shot uttered a word about its safety or what would happen if someone was harmed by the rushed, experimental product…a tactic called strategic silence.

A ‘black hole’ for COVID vaccine injury claims was the title of a June 29, 2021 Reuters article describing the Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program, or CICP, run by the Health Resources and Services Administration. A program few Americans ever knew existed and probably still don’t.

This is the program people who are injured by the COVID shot get tossed into if they are educated enough to recognize the harm from the shot and their doctor understands and is courageous enough to file a claim. And here are a few other stipulations that matter:

  • No attorney & medical expert fee reimbursement
  • 1-year statute of limitations (from the date of administration)
  • No reimbursement for future medical care
  • No pain & suffering damages
  • No appeal to a higher court in the CICP
  • No medical testimony or hearings. You vs Sec’y of HHS
  • Lack of transparency on reporting of decisions

It’s been three years since the COVID vaccine rollout and hundreds of millions of doses later, injury compensation is still lacking to the point it borders on criminal. The CICP has recently released their monthly updated injury compensation numbers – three weeks late for those keeping an eye on them.

11 claims compensated…

For a grand total of… $38,893.

Proponents of COVID vaccine safety will use this number, 11, as proof the vaccine is indeed safe ignoring how the CICP is monumentally unfit for its current purpose.

Speaking to Wayne Rohde, author of The Vaccine Court and host of Right on Point podcast about the the CICP program, he said, “The CICP was never designed for a long-term, nationwide pandemic public health crisis.”

Meanwhile, as the public tries to piece together the true human damage caused by the COVID shots, we take a look at another broken, unfit program in the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Can you spot an issue once the COVID shots began going into American arms on an industrial scale in 2021?

In addition to the deaths, there have been 214,906 hospitalizations, 154,245 urgent care visits, 242,537 doctors office visits, 10,767 cases of anaphylaxis, 17,688 cases of Bell’s palsy, 5,115 miscarriages, 21,524 heart attacks, 28,215 cases of myo/per-carditis, 69,936 cases of ‘permanently disabled,’ and 39,544 ‘life-threatening’ and so many more reports to VAERS after the COVID shot. In all, a total of 1,630,913 reports.

Let’s take a moment to do some math here. VAERS is a system that is notorious for underreporting. A study of the system found “fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported.” Assuming the current number of VAERS reports of 1,630,913 is only 1%, the true number may be closer to something like 163,091,300.

Last month FDA director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Dr. Peter Marks appeared before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to discuss possible issues with the fast-tracking of the COVID shots.

When asked by Chairman Brad Wenstrup if the government was prepared for such an avalanche of reports to VAERS, Marks replied, “We tried to be prepared for that but the avalanche of reports was tremendous.”

So on one side with VAERS, we have a broken government intake program getting overwhelmed on the front end while the other (CICP) sees the outflow of compensation for damages and cases awarded administratively throttled. Caught in between are untold numbers of Americans left hanging in the wind shouldering unsettled medical harms and the bills to follow. America can do better.

The entire vaccine damage infrastructure needs a historic overhaul. From education for medical professionals to recognize and encourage reporting of harms from the shots to greater research on why some are more susceptible than others to vaccine injury while addressing decades of ignored scientific research.

Most importantly, a true compensation mechanism for the injured beyond CICP’s pittances and the long-broken National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The beginning of a fair compromise should, at the very least, end the product liability shield for vaccine manufacturers.

“Drug companies should be liable in civil court for vaccine injuries and deaths and so should anyone giving vaccines to people being denied the human right to informed consent to medical risk-taking,” said NVIC co-founder and president Barbara Loe Fisher. “There is an urgent need to hold vaccine manufacturers and doctors accountable in civil court for the safety of vaccines and how they are being given.”

March 31, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | Leave a comment

New President of Senegal: It’s time for France to leave, we need to reconsider all agreements with Paris

TopWar | March 29, 2024

France’s fiasco on the African continent continues. Now Paris has received a blow from where it could hardly have expected it – from Senegal, the West African country most closely associated with France.

The recently elected President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, made a harsh statement regarding the former metropolis. Once a French colony, Senegal spent almost its entire sovereign history collaborated closely with Paris and was considered by the latter as the most important outpost in West Africa. But it is possible that this situation will remain a thing of the past.

“It’s time for France to leave the country, and we need to reconsider all agreements with Paris” – said the new head of the Senegalese state.

A 44-year-old left-wing politician who won the presidential election, Faye advocates distancing himself as decisively as possible from France and Western countries in general and weakening the country’s economic dependence on the former metropolis. In economics, he advocates the elimination of the CFA franc as a currency, and in politics he is guided by left-wing pan-Africanism.

According to Faye, Dakar needs to reconsider cooperation with France in the political, economic, cultural and military spheres. In fact, we are talking about the plans of the new leadership of Senegal to abandon close ties with the French state. Previously, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and the Central African Republic broke off close relations with France.

Senegal remained one of France’s most reliable allies on the continent. Severing ties with this country will lead to very unpleasant consequences for Paris in terms of its African policy. Moreover, Dakar’s actions can become an example for the latest former African colonies collaborating with France.

March 31, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | Leave a comment

A potential UAE-Hezbollah thaw?

By Radwan Mortada | The Cradle | March 31, 2024

The veiled details behind the recent visit of Wafiq Safa, head of Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit, to the UAE remain undisclosed. Rumors propagated by Saudi media have tried to insinuate that the Lebanese resistance party aims to placate its stance towards Israel, possibly even contemplating concessions.

This narrative seeks to undermine or distort any real achievements gained during the rare trip. Despite all the conjecture, one development is undeniable: there has been a nascent shift in thawing the longstanding hostilities between Hezbollah and the UAE — a prominent Arab ally of both the US and Israel.

Strained relations 

The sudden revelation of Safa’s visit to the Persian Gulf state on 19 March was indeed astonishing — a first by a senior Hezbollah official in many years — particularly given Abu Dhabi’s active role in clamping down on even pro-Hezbollah sentiments within the UAE.

The UAE’s track record includes arbitrary arrests and expulsions of Lebanese nationals under all sorts of dubious charges, often subjecting them to inhumane treatment, exemplified tragically in the case of Lebanese businessman Ghazi Ezzeldin, who was tortured to death while in Emirati custody last year.

News reports suggest that seven Lebanese citizens — four serving life sentences; two others facing 15 years in prison — remain incarcerated in the Emirates under charges of laundering funds for Hezbollah and Iran, and for the spurious claim of having made contact with Hezbollah. All of the detainees deny these charges.

In short, UAE authorities need little justification to accuse Lebanese individuals of ties to Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist entity in the Emirates.

The UAE, it should be noted, is Tel Aviv’s closest Arab ally in West Asia, marked by Abu Dhabi’s decision in 2020 to normalize relations with the occupation state — with Bahrain, the first Arab state in the Persian Gulf to do so. Despite Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, economic ties between the UAE and Israel continue to flourish, further entrenching their alliance against common adversaries.

Against this backdrop, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad emerges as an unexpected mediator, leveraging his amicable relations with the UAE leadership, united in their opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Behind the scenes, the UAE has been quietly leveraging its international clout to lift US Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, with an eye on participating in the war-torn country’s reconstruction efforts. As the first Arab state to break Assad’s diplomatic isolation, the UAE has now seized the opportunity to engage with Hezbollah via its renewed Damascus channel.

Preliminary discussions, facilitated by Syrian General Intelligence Director Major General Hossam Louka, bridged the gap between the two parties. These exchanges, held on Syrian soil, involved representatives from both Hezbollah and UAE officials.

Louka also visited Lebanon and the UAE to meet with Emirati officials and the leadership of Hezbollah and convey a detailed message to Assad.

Contrary to the many sensationalized reports in regional media, informed sources tell The Cradle that Safa encountered no explicit demands from UAE officials during his visit. Instead, discussions centered on two pivotal objectives: first, securing the release of Lebanese detainees unjustly incarcerated in the UAE under charges of affiliation with Hezbollah, and second, improving the precarious conditions Lebanese expatriates face in the UAE, where their presence is securitized by the state.

The sources affirm the constructive nature of the meetings and indicate there may be imminent releases of the Lebanese detainees before the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

What do both parties want?

But the timing of Safa’s visit, as Israel escalates airstrikes on Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, raises speculation about the implications of this renewed relationship. Safa himself is on a US sanctions list, while Hezbollah retains its designation as a terrorist organization by both Washington and the Persian Gulf states.

The UAE, having previously subjected Lebanese nationals to unjust treatment, now initiates efforts to mend ties with Hezbollah. Conversely, Hezbollah, having waged a war to free prisoners from Israeli detention, displays a willingness to engage in dialogue, even if the optics of its representative shaking hands with UAE officials may not be well-received back home.

Following the visit, Hezbollah issued a very brief statement:

“The head of the Liaison and Coordination Unit, Hajj Wafiq Safa, visited the United Arab Emirates as part of the ongoing follow-up to address the case of a number of Lebanese detainees there, where he met with a number of officials concerned with this case, and [a solution to this issue will be reached hopefully].”

Nevertheless, the underlying question remains: What does the UAE seek to achieve? Did it initiate this thaw in relations merely to reopen its embassy in Lebanon after years of closure and diplomatic strife? Does the UAE have hidden intentions concealing these superficial objectives — and what role could Hezbollah play in this equation?

Outreach to Iran via its allies 

Early this year, as the regional war expanded, CIA Director William Burns wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine: “The key to Israel’s — and the region’s — security is dealing with Iran.”

Abu Dhabi too, knows that the relationship with Tehran is pivotal to resolving crises in the region. Hence, the UAE has taken a significant stride towards Hezbollah, recognizing its critical regional role. While this unusual meeting could have taken place in Damascus, in secret, the UAE opted instead for a public airing and even arranged for Safa’s transportation via plane to the Emirates.

Moreover, Abu Dhabi’s interest in improving relations with Hezbollah and its leadership could have direct security benefits. The Lebanese party has influence with Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement, whose naval operations in the Red Sea and other waterways are impacting international navigation and, thus, Emirati interests from the Persian Gulf to the Horn of Africa.

While a Syrian source tells The Cradle that the meeting yielded positive outcomes and is likely to be followed by further engagements, the visit carries implications that extend well beyond the immediate parties involved.

Beyond improving Hezbollah-UAE or Iran-UAE understandings, it will be essential to monitor the subsequent actions of Saudi Arabia’s leadership after this event.

In essence, these developments could lead to improved future relations between Hezbollah and Arab states of the Persian Gulf, in turn reversing Washington and Tel Aviv’s strategic target of clinching further normalization deals for Israel in West Asia.

March 31, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Young People Getting Cancer — What’s Behind the New ‘Public Health Crisis’?

By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D. | The Defender | March 27, 2024

Catherine, Princess of Wales, who on March 22 announced she has cancer, “is part of an unfortunate new trend of more and younger cancer cases,” according to Dr. Pierre Kory and journalist Mary Beth Pfeiffer.

Kory and Pfeiffer addressed Princess Catherine’s diagnosis in an op-ed published Tuesday in The Washington Times, in which they said there’s evidence suggesting that the marked increase in cancers among young people may be linked to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and pandemic policies, such as lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

“We are facing an emerging toll of illness and death in the young,” they wrote. “We cannot shirk from asking what is causing it.”

Kory — president and chief medical officer of the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance — told The Defender that early-onset cancer and excess deaths are “poised to become the next public health crises that our medical system is not equipped to manage.”

This latest op-ed is Kory and Pfeiffer’s fourth. Their three prior op-eds — which appeared in USA Today, Newsweek and The Hill — also called attention to excess mortality and disability rate spikes occurring after the global COVID-19 vaccine campaign.

“Our intention for writing the op-eds is to raise the profile of this important issue to prepare for a future crisis and advance the conversation on possible causes and treatments,” Kory said.

In their latest op-ed, Kory and Pfeiffer said an “unthinkable twist” in cancer rates is occurring and it has garnered the attention of the American Cancer Society, Yale Medicine and the Harvard Gazette.

According to the American Cancer Society’s 2024 report, about 2 million people in the U.S. will develop malignancies this year — and a larger share of the more than 600,000 who are estimated to die will be younger than before.

CDC data show ‘red flags’

Kory and Pfeiffer cited cancer death records through 2023 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that included data two years beyond what was in the American Cancer Society report.

“The later data, which is provisional,” they wrote, “shows a cancer pattern that appears to have gone from slow simmer to rapid boil in the heat of a pandemic.”

They found that cancer deaths across all ages rose by 2% from pre-pandemic 2019 to 2023 — and in people 15-44 years old, cancer-related mortality rose at double that rate.

“Why is this happening now?” Kory and Pfeiffer asked. “Moreover, what will be done to address it?”

They saw additional “red flags” in the CDC data including:

  • Deaths from colorectal cancer rose 17% among people ages 15-44 in 2019-2023 — 4 times the population-wide increase.
  • Uterine cancer deaths rose 37% among people ages 25-44 from 2019-2023, and 15% overall.
  • There were much larger increases, from 2019-2022, in liver and pancreatic cancer mortality in young adults than in the overall population.

The U.S. Society of Actuaries also reported 76% and 101% increases in death claims among insured workers ages 25-34 and 35-44. “COVID-19 was ruled out as the cause,” Kory and Pfeiffer said.

The public needs to explore the role of lockdowns, top-down treatment protocols and vaccines that were often mandated as a condition of employment, they said.

“By top-down treatment protocols,” Kory told The Defender, “I’m referring to how the public health and medical authorities made edicts on treatments that had to be followed and could not be questioned without consequence.”

“These same authorities were not open to understanding the novel treatments showing promise on the frontlines and instead allowed information to flow only one way — from the top down,” he said.

‘Just a tragic coincidence?’

In a March 27 Substack post about the data exposed in the op-ed, Kory said he and Pfeiffer compiled and interpreted these and other data from government and professional society sources after “bearing witness to so much medical carnage.”

“Just a few weeks ago,” he said, “a 20-year-old patient of mine died of glioblastoma.”

He added:

“If that is not tragic enough, her parents told me that a 20 year-old man in her college friend group had died of the same a few weeks earlier. Unsurprisingly, their university had a vaccine mandate.

“Just a tragic coincidence right?”

But reviewing cancer facts and figures has convinced Kory that such cases aren’t just a coincidence.

“We believe that the data strongly if not definitively implicates the COVID mRNA vaccine as the most proximate cause.”

Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., is a reporter and researcher for The Defender based in Fairfield, Iowa.

This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.

March 30, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in northern West Bank raid

Deceased Palestinian teenager Moatasem Nabil Abu Abed
Press TV – March 30, 2024

Israeli forces have killed a 13-year-old Palestinian teenager in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry, amid relentless aerial and ground offensives by the occupying regime’s military against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the shooting occurred early on Saturday in the city of Qabatiya, as Israeli forces stormed a local neighborhood overnight, resulting in clashes.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli troops broke into several homes and deployed snipers on the rooftops of several buildings and homes amid violent confrontations.

Israeli forces also rounded up a Palestinian father along with his son after they barged into a house. The forces ransacked several houses in the town as well, and inflicted damage to their contents.

Israeli troops then opened heavy gunfire at two young men, critically injuring one of them.

Fawaz Hammad, Director of al-Razi Hospital in Jenin, said that Moatasem Nabil Abu Abed was killed after being seriously injured by live bullets.

Israeli forces prevented Palestinian ambulances and paramedics from entering Qabatiya and transporting wounded locals to the hospital.

On Friday, Israeli troops detained at least 25 Palestinians, including children, a woman and prisoners freed from Israeli jails, during separate raids across the West Bank.

The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) stated that the arrest campaigns focused on occupied al-Quds, as hundreds of worshipers headed to the area to perform Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque.

Other detentions took place in the governorates of al-Khalil, Nablus, Tulkarm, and Qalqilia.

This brings the total number of Palestinians arrested since early October to nearly 7,870, including those who were detained from their homes, at military checkpoints, those who surrendered under pressure and those who were taken as hostages.

More than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since October 7, when Israel waged the war on Gaza after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

The Israeli aggression has so far killed at least 32,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 74,980 others in Gaza. The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

March 30, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Swedish police arrest Iranian prisoner’s son: Daughter

Press TV – March 29, 2024

Sweden’s police have reportedly arrested the son of an Iranian prisoner, who has been sentenced to life in prison by Stockholm, based on complaints filed by notorious anti-Iran figures living in exile in the Nordic country.

“After [spending] hours with no information about my brother, who had gone to visit my father…, we realized that Majid has been apparently arrested by Sweden’s police,” Atieh Nouri, daughter of Hamid Nouri, said in a post on X on Friday.

“We still do not know anything about the details of the matter,” she added.

Nouri, a former Iranian judiciary official, was arrested in Sweden back in 2019.

He was put on trial on unfounded allegations levelled against him by elements representing the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist cult that has openly boasted about carrying out deadly terrorist operations against thousands of Iranian officials and civilians.

Nouri was handed the life sentence three years later after being found guilty of murder and crimes against the international law over his alleged role in executions of criminals in Iran in 1988.

Sweden’s Appeal Court upheld the verdict in December 2023.

Earlier in March, Sweden’s Supreme Court also upheld the sentence, refusing to hear an appeal that had been submitted by the Iranian prisoner.

Iranian authorities say Nouri’s imprisonment and trial in Sweden is politically-motivated, noting that the case has been influenced by pressure and propaganda of anti-Iran groups and individuals living in the West.

Nouri, himself, has vehemently denied the charges brought against him in the case, calling them fabricated.

March 29, 2024 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

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