US Treasury’s hacking accusation unfounded, China opposes disinformation out of political purposes: FM
Global Times | December 31, 2024
In response to US Treasury’s claim that a China state-sponsored actor infiltrated Treasury workstations in what US Treasury officials are describing as a “major incident,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that regarding these unfounded accusations lacking evidence, we have repeatedly stated our position.
“China has always opposed all forms of hacking attacks, and we are even more opposed to the dissemination of false information targeting China for political purposes,” Mao said on Tuesday at the routine press briefing.
Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the US Treasury Department’s computer security guardrails this month and stole documents in what Treasury called a “major incident,” according to a letter to lawmakers that Treasury officials provided to Reuters on Monday.
The US has recently amplified accusations of hacking activities allegedly linked to China. Xin Qiang, director of the Taiwan Studies Center at Fudan University, told the Global Times that some US departments, in order to demonstrate their effectiveness, are emphasizing vigilance against China and claim to have discovered “dangerous vulnerabilities.” This kind of hype is actually aimed at enhancing their own presence or even securing budget support.
The H-1B program is about corruption and fraud, not ideology
Instead of selecting for the “best and brightest,'” the program facilitates the interests of a power cartel of middleman agencies.
By Jordan Schachtel | The Dossier | December 30, 2024
Proponents of the H-1B program argue it’s an essential opportunity to import workers with underrepresented occupational skills into America. Detractors say it serves to undermine and displace the American worker.
But before we even engage in an ideological debate between conservatives, liberals, libertarians, and socialists about the merits of H-1B, we must first recognize that the program, in its current 2024 form, is corrupt and fraudulent beyond recognition. Over the last 35 years, massive bureaucratic institutions and middlemen have formed to hijack H-1B, establishing a monopoly that wildly overrepresents certain groups of people over the rest of the world.
First, a bit of history:
The H-1B visa program was established under the Immigration Act of 1990. It was designed to enable U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialized occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. Initially, the program was intended to fill skill gaps in the U.S. workforce, particularly in sectors like technology, engineering, medicine, and education, where there was a perceived shortage of American talent.
The annual cap for H-1B visas started at 65,000, but the program evolved significantly over the years. In 1998, the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act increased the cap to 115,000 visas, responding to the booming tech industry’s demand for skilled labor. This was followed by further adjustments; for instance, the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 added 20,000 visas for foreign nationals holding a master’s or higher degree from U.S. universities.
Over the years, various legislative efforts have ostensibly aimed to reform the program. The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2009 increased fees to fund retraining programs for American workers, but critics say it failed in its implementation.
The H-1B program saw its cap reached almost immediately after applications opened in the early 2000s due to high demand, leading to a lottery system for allocation. One well-known lottery-busting tactic from middleman hiring companies in India, which continues to this day, involves submitting multiple applications under different aliases for the same individual to increase their chances of selection.
Today, the H-1B visa allows holders to work in the U.S. for up to three years, extendable to six and has provisions for “dual intent,” allowing visa holders to pursue permanent residency.
According to recent data and analyses, the breakdown of H-1B visas by country of origin shows a significant concentration among two nations, with India and China leading the numbers:
India dominates the H-1B approvals list, accounting for almost three-quarters of all H-1B visa recipients.
With a billion and a half people, India is still wildly overrepresented in the “talent pool,” especially because the H-1B pipeline in India tends to exclude 95 percent of the country.
India’s caste system is a complex social structure that has shaped the country’s society for millennia. Rooted in ancient Hindu scriptures, the system originally divided people into four social classes: Brahmins (priests and scholars), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (merchants and farmers), and Shudras (laborers). In 2024, India remains a highly stratified society where one’s caste determines not only occupation but also social status, marriage prospects, and even dietary habits.
Brahmins, the elite caste Indians, only amount to about four percent of India’s population, but H-1B caters almost exclusively to Brahmins, especially when it comes to managerial roles.
The issues begin in the American university system, which continues to accommodate foreign students as an increasing percentage of total enrollment, forcing Americans to compete with the entire world for admission into elite STEM programs. The State Department hands out around half a million student visas each year, and there is seemingly no plan to roll back student visas.
Based on available data, there’s a large discrepancy between student visa holders and H-1B holders. Here’s a breakdown of student visas by country of origin in terms of percentage, focusing on the academic year 2022-2023, based on available data:
- China: Approximately 27.4%
- India: Around 25.4%
- South Korea: About 4.1%
- Canada: Roughly 2.6%
- Taiwan: About 2.1%
- Nigeria: Around 1.7%
- Japan: Approximately 1.5%
- Brazil: About 1.5%
- Saudi Arabia: Roughly 1.5%
- Mexico: About 1.4%
Around one-third of H-1B holders are U.S. university graduates, and about half come into the American workforce directly from their country of origin.
Because of the massive corruption and fraud in the talent pipeline, many current H-1B workers lack the social, cultural, and technical aptitude to mesh into an American workplace despite their claimed qualifications, leading to a major headache for their employer and the prospective American applicant who was left behind in the process.
Massive corporations like Infosys, Tata, Cognizant, Wipro, and HCL Technologies exist to facilitate this “talent” pipeline, and they have enormous influence on U.S. foreign labor policy. With a pooled value of hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization, they monopolized the H-1B program into a centralized cartel that recruits, hires, and fills roles in major American companies, freezing out applicants outside of the pipeline.
So, instead of finding the “best and brightest” in tech, three-quarters of all of America’s H-1B imports are likely to come from a social caste of around 50 million people, leaving behind 1.35 billion Indians in the process. In a world of 8 billion, the centralization of three-quarters of the H-1B program does no favors to Americans on either side of the debate.
Collapsing Empire: RIP ‘Overt Operations’
By Kit Klarenberg | Al Mayadeen | December 30, 2024
In recent months, a remarkable development in the Empire’s decline has gone almost entirely unnoticed. The National Endowment for Democracy’s grant database has been removed from the web. Until recently, a searchable interface allowed visitors to view detailed records of Washington-funded NGOs, civil society, and media projects in particular countries – covering most of the world – the sums involved, and entities responsible for delivering them. This resource has now inexplicably vanished, and with it, enormous amounts of incontrovertible, self-incriminating evidence of destructive US skullduggery abroad.
Take for example NED grant records for Georgia, the site of recent repeated color revolution efforts, at the forefront of which were Endowment-bankrolled organizations. While still accessible via internet archives, they were deleted during the summer. Today, visitors to associated URLs are redirected to a brief entry simply titled “Eurasia”. The accompanying text describes in very broad terms the Endowment’s aims regionally and the total being spent, but the crucial questions of where and on what aren’t clarified. In a comic hypocrisy too, the blurb boldly states:
“The heart of NED’s work in the region is the need to maintain access to objective information for local populations. Across the region, government actors are attempting to limit the space for citizens to distribute information and communicate freely online.”
Resultantly, independent academics, activists, researchers, and journalists have been deprived of an invaluable resource for tracking and exposing the Empire’s machinations. Yet, the Endowment incinerating its public paper trail can only be considered a significant victory for these same actors. NED’s explicit and avowed raison d’être was to do publicly what US intelligence did – and in many cases still does – covertly. Now, after 40 years of wreaking havoc worldwide in service of the Empire, the CIA front has been forced underground, defeating its entire purpose.
‘Spyless Coups’
NED was founded in November 1983, after the CIA became embroiled in a series of embarrassing public scandals. Then-Agency director William Casey was central to its construction. His objective was to create a public mechanism to conduct traditional CIA meddling overseas, except out in the open. Ever since, the Endowment has financed countless opposition groups, activist movements, media outlets, and trade unions to the tune of millions to engage in propaganda and political activism, to disrupt, destabilize, and displace ‘enemy’ regimes the world over.
The NED’s true nature was openly acknowledged by the mainstream media for many years. In June 1986, Endowment’s president Carl Gershman told the New York Times, “It would be terrible for democratic groups around the world” to be subsidized by the CIA. The exposure of such connivances meant they had been “discontinued”, and farmed out to NED. Several high-ranking interviewees strenuously denied there was any connection between NED and the Agency, although the outlet acknowledged many Endowment programs seemed “superficially similar” to past CIA operations.
At this time, NED was hard at work killing off Communism in the Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact, and Yugoslavia. This included for instance enormous investment in Poland’s famous Solidarity trade union, which became a global emblem of anti-Communist resistance. In September 1991, the Washington Post published a highly laudatory appraisal of these efforts, stating the “political miracles” the Endowment achieved in the former Soviet sphere had ushered in a “new world of spyless coups” and “innocence abroad”:
“The old era of covert action is dead. The world doesn’t run in secret anymore. We are now living in the age of Overt Action… When such activities are done overtly, the flap potential is close to zero. Openness is its own protection. Covert funding for these groups would have been the kiss of death, if discovered. Overt funding, it would seem, has been a kiss of life.”
NED proceeded to take down a number of governments throughout the 1990s and 2000s, very overtly. In many cases, mainstream outlets published highly revealing accounts detailing precisely how. In Ukraine in November 2004, Endowment-trained and bankrolled activists forced a rerun of that year’s presidential election. As The Guardian jubilantly reported, the entire effort was “an American creation” and “sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in Western branding and mass marketing,” which had been repeatedly deployed in the new millennium to “topple unsavoury regimes”:
“Funded and organised by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations…the operation – engineering democracy through the ballot box and civil disobedience – is now so slick that the methods have matured into a template for winning other people’s elections.”
‘Kiss of Death’
The next year, USAID published a slick magazine, Democracy Rising, bragging extensively about how it and NED were fundamental to a wave of revolutions in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Yugoslavia, and elsewhere during the first years of the 21st century. Fast forward to February 2014, and Ukraine’s government once again fell victim to an Endowment-orchestrated coup, in the form of the Maidan ‘revolution’. Yet, the media either ignored the irrefutable US role in fomenting the upheaval or dismissed the proposition as “Russian disinformation” or conspiracy theory.
This is despite contemporary polls never showing majority Ukrainian support for the Maidan protests; ousted President Viktor Yanukovych remaining the most popular politician in the country until his last day in office; every actor at Maidan’s forefront, including the individuals who started the demonstrations, receiving NED or USAID funding; leaders of US-financed organizations in the country openly advertising their desire to overthrow Yanukovych in the years prior; and the Endowment pumping around $20 million into the country in 2013 alone.
This mass omertà, which has intensified since, may be attributable to ever-rising hostility towards NED by foreign governments and populations, and associated efforts to restrict or outright proscribe the organization. The reality of the Endowment’s raison d’être and modus operandi has thus not only become unsayable but must be vehemently denied by Western journalists. Representatively, a July 2015 Guardian report on Russia banning NED quite unbelievably relied on a brief quote from the organization’s own website to describe its operations.
While the mainstream media may have remained silent on the NED’s mephitic influence overseas over the past decade, the same is not true of independent academics, activists, researchers, and journalists. The Endowment grant database served as an invaluable tool for keeping a close eye on Washington’s international intrigues and mapping the personal and organizational connections of agents and entities of influence. Meanwhile, NED’s status as a CIA front could be simply proven, via multiple public admissions of its own leaders.
Whenever protests erupted somewhere in the world and received widespread Western news coverage, concerned citizens could consult the NED grant database and find in the overwhelming majority of cases, most if not all individuals and groups quoted in media reports were in receipt of Endowment funding. While impossible to quantify, it would be unsurprising if dissident voices calling attention to this fact have averted color revolution efforts, disrupted external meddling campaigns, protected popular governments and political figures, and more.
Of course, despite NED brazenly purging evidence of its vast operations from the web, that conniving continues apace regardless, covertly. One might even argue the Endowment’s chicanery is all the more dangerous now, given individuals and organizations can conceal their funding sources. But the move amply shows NED today cannot withstand the slightest public scrutiny, which its very existence was intended to exemplify. It demonstrates that “overt operations” with open US funding are now the “kiss of death” the Endowment was meant to replace.
Kiev announces US gift of $15bn from seized Russian funds
RT | December 30, 2024
The US will provide Kiev with $15 billion, leveraging future revenues from frozen Russian central bank assets, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal announced on Monday. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has previously said about Washington’s purported illegal transfer of Russian funds to Kiev that Moscow may challenge it in court.
The American funding is part of a broader $20 billion contribution under the G7’s $50 billion loan framework to Ukraine. The agreement was signed by Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance and the World Bank under the PEACE in Ukraine initiative, Shmigal claimed, in a post on his Telegram channel.
The G7, comprising the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, initially pledged the $50 billion loan in June 2022, using profits from frozen Russian assets as collateral. Of the estimated $300 billion immobilized, $213 billion is held in the Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear.
Euroclear froze the assets of the Russian central bank in late February 2022, shortly after the EU imposed sanctions on Russia in response to the conflict escalation in Ukraine. The frozen funds have already generated billions in interest, with the clearinghouse transferring €1.55 billion ($1.63 billion) to Ukraine in July.
Moscow has vehemently criticized the asset seizures. Last Wednesday Dmitry Peskov condemned the measures as theft and warned of legal retaliation. He was reacting to Shmigal’s announcement that the US had already transferred to Ukraine the first installment of the $1 billion from the frozen Moscow central bank funds.
Last month, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said there are plans to mirror the West’s actions, using income from frozen Western assets in Russia.
“We have also frozen the resources of Western investors, Western financial market participants and companies. The income from these assets will also be used,” the official said.
The decision to use frozen Russian assets has previously stirred debate among G7 nations. European members of the club such as Germany, France and Italy have raised concerns over financial market stability and about the legal implications of such actions. The IMF has warned that seizing these assets without robust legal frameworks could erode global trust in the Western financial system.
Deborah Birx’s Bird Flu Fearmongering Campaign
By Daniel McAdams | Peace and Prosperity Blog | December 29, 2024
In June, I wrote about Deborah Birx, one of the key “public health” officials from the orchestration of the American coronavirus scare, being back in action stirring up fear of another disease. This time Birx’s fearmongering was about bird flu. And she was advocating for government to follow a similar disastrous course to supposedly counter this disease as had been pursued in regard to coronavirus in the crackdown begun years back.
Here is an update.
Birx is continuing on her quest to stir up a new bird flu scare in America, and to build public support for a government response harmful to health and liberty. A recent stop on Birx’s bird flu fearmongering campaign was a Friday interview at CNN in which she warned that, like coronavirus early on, bird flu is not being addressed sufficiently by the United States government. Now, she said, routine weekly testing of people who may have been exposed to bird flu needs to be undertaken.
This testing which Birx suggested mirrors testing that was pursued to build up fear of coronavirus through jacking up the number of coronavirus cases via testing that shot out many false positive results. Indeed, Birx stated in the interview that with bird flu much increased testing is needed because “we know from covid most of the spread was asymptomatic.” Got that? The testing is purposed to identify people as sick despite the fact that they are not sick.
Birx has her pandemic propaganda process down pat.
In her CNN interview pitch, Birx tried to butter up her potential victims, declaring “I find the American public to be incredibly smart.” Hopefully, most Americans will prove too smart to fall for Birx’s new fearmongering campaign and the attacks on health and liberty it supports.
Major Winners and Losers of Halting Russian Gas Transit Through Ukraine
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 29.12.2024
As the Ukraine gas transit contract with Russia is set to end, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK received its first delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US on December 27.
Winners
US LNG producers:
- The halting of Russia’s gas deliveries through Ukraine will increase the US share and reduce competition in the EU market.
- The latest US LNG delivery amounts to 100 million cubic meters of gas (1 TWh of energy, or 3,530,000 MMBtu), bought by D.Trading, DTEK’s pan-European trading subsidiary. The shipment arrived at Greek LNG terminals such as Revithoussa, where it will be “re-gasified” and distributed “through EU and Ukrainian gas networks,” according to DTEK. One network, the Vertical Corridor, will transmit US LNG deliveries between Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
- LNG from the US for Europe is at least 30-40% more expensive than pipeline gas from Russia.
- In December 2022, the US became the world’s leading exporter of LNG amid Europe’s energy crisis and the sabotage attack on Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines.
Losers
- Ukraine: Ukraine will lose almost $1 billion annually from Russian gas transit fees. Additionally, Ukraine is likely to pay more for US LNG coming through the Revithoussa LNG terminal than for Russian pipeline gas, which used to come in the form of a “virtual reverse.”
- Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia which have long relied on Russian gas transit through Ukraine, will face challenges. Being landlocked, access to LNG delivered to marine terminals is costly and difficult. Long-term contracts with Russia’s Gazprom allowed them to buy natural gas considerably cheaper than EU gas spot prices. For instance, Austria had been receiving Russian gas at a price almost three times cheaper than EU spot prices in 2022, according to Reuters.
- European Union: After sliding to $11.79/MMBtu in October, European gas prices rose to almost $15/MMBtu on November 22. On December 27, benchmark futures rose further by 5% on the news of halted Russian gas transit through Ukraine. Stopping the supply of Russian gas through Ukraine will cost Europe around $125 billion in total losses in 2025-2026, according to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
New York Governor Hochul Signs Controversial Online Safety Bill, Renewing Free Speech Concerns
By Dan Frieth | Reclaim The Net | December 28, 2024
A controversial legislative package signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul is likely to once again ignite concerns over free speech; as critics argue – just like the last time she tried to enact such legislation – it promotes censorship under the guise of online safety. Among the measures is S895B/A6789B, a bill mandating social media companies disclose their terms of service regarding so-called “hate speech” and submit detailed reports to the state attorney general.
We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.
In a press release, Hochul’s office borrowed a turn from the pro-censorship UK government and touted the legislation as a step toward “Online Safety,” but many see it as a tool for stifling expression. The term “hate speech,” often deployed in ambiguous and subjective ways, has frequently been used to suppress dissenting opinions. This bill empowers both government entities and social media giants to arbitrarily regulate speech.
Assemblymember Grace Lee (D-District 65), a vocal proponent of the legislation, justified the measures by citing the spread of information during the COVID-19 pandemic. She argued that “hate and disinformation” were spreading like “wildfire,” necessitating stricter controls.
Lee further criticized Big Tech for failing to adequately police content, stating, “These companies have a responsibility to protect users from this hate, but have failed to do so.”
Similarly, NY State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-District 47) framed his support for the bill in language emphasizing identity-based violence and discrimination. Hoylman-Sigal asserted that social media companies must act to prevent the spread of “disinformation and hate-fueled violence.”
He even pointed to the events of January 6, 2021, as evidence of the alleged dangers posed by unmoderated online speech, suggesting these platforms bear responsibility for addressing such issues.
Opponents of the legislation view these arguments as a pretext for imposing sweeping censorship measures. They argue that handing more control over speech to government officials and powerful corporations undermines fundamental freedoms.
Critics of this latest measure draw parallels to an earlier law championed by Hochul that was blocked by a federal court. The law, enacted last summer, sought to regulate “hateful conduct” online by requiring social media platforms to implement mechanisms for reporting content deemed “hateful.”
The broad definition of “hateful conduct,” which included content that could “vilify, humiliate, or incite violence” based on various identity categories, raised alarm among free speech advocates.
The legislation faced a legal challenge from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), free speech platform Rumble, and First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh. Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. of the Southern District of New York struck down the law, citing its chilling effect on constitutionally protected speech.
“The First Amendment protects from state regulation speech that may be deemed ‘hateful,’ and generally disfavors regulation of speech based on its content unless it is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling governmental interest,” the court ruled. It further emphasized that the law compelled social media networks to adopt speech policies aligned with the state’s definitions, violating their editorial discretion and the First Amendment.
US, British jets rain fire on Yemeni capital in new late night attack
The Cradle | December 28, 2024
US and UK warplanes launched a new round of airstrikes on the Yemeni capital late on 27 December, targeting the 21 September park in the Maeen district of Sanaa, according to Yemen’s Al-Masirah TV.
No photos or videos of the attack have been released or circulated on social media. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
The latest western aggression came one day after Israeli warplanes launched massive airstrikes on Sanaa and the coastal province of Hodeidah in retaliation for continued drone and hypersonic missile attacks by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Earlier on Friday, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis marched through the streets of Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, Hajjah, and Al-Mahwit, proclaiming, “We firmly stand with Gaza, the glory… without limits and without red lines.”
Demonstrators also called on the YAF to intensify their operations in support of Palestine.
The mobilizations started soon after YAF spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree confirmed that Sanaa conducted drone and missile attacks targeting Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, “a vital target” south of Tel Aviv, and an Israeli-linked ship in the Arabia Sea, in response to Israel’s aggressions on Yemen and Gaza.
At least six people were killed and 40 others injured when Israel bombed Sanaa International Airport, Red Sea ports, and power stations on Thursday.
“[Ansarallah] are more technologically advanced than perceived by many [and should not be] underrated,” an Israeli official told the Washington Post on Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
He claimed that with support from Iran, Yemen has been able to take “practical steps” in fighting a war against Israel and its close allies.
“Because it’s so cheap for them to try to get a drone or a missile every few days or weeks into Israel, they can win this,” Yoel Guzansky, a former official on Israel’s National Security Council and senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv told the US daily.
The US and UK launched an illegal war on Yemen at the start of the year, seeking to protect Israeli trade interests and shield the country from the pro-Gaza operations of the Axis of Resistance.
Yemeni operations have been ongoing since November 2023, and Sanaa has vowed not to stop until the genocide in Gaza comes to an end. The daring operations by the YAF against Israel and its allies have forced several US aircraft carriers and European warships out of West Asia.
Iraq’s Sudani walks a tightrope after Syria’s fall
By Khalil Harb | The Cradle | December 27, 2024
In the aftermath of significant strategic setbacks for West Asia’s Axis of Resistance, Iraq has emerged as the focal point of an escalating regional crisis. But for many Iraqis, the scale of the brewing storm has not been immediately apparent.
The trajectory has been unmistakable: from the assassination of Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah on 27 September, to Israel’s ominous “threat message” to Iraq on 18 November, culminating in the fall of the Syrian government and its far-reaching repercussions.
The challenges Iraq faces today extend far beyond its borders. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is proceeding with extreme caution, akin to crossing an active minefield. His administration is weighed down by internal pressures, security threats, and regional dynamics while also contending with foreign demands, including resisting calls from the US and its allies to dismantle the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) – the Iraqi military backbone in the fight against ISIS.
These forces are seen as a key pillar of Iraq’s security architecture and a counterweight to Iranian influence in the region, despite the support some of the factions within the PMU umbrella receive from Tehran.
Dr Hussein al-Moussawi, a senior media official with the PMU’s Al-Nujaba Movement, tells The Cradle that both the Shia religious authority and Iraqi people “did not and will not accept any compromise on the dissolution of the Popular Mobilization Units,” accusing the US “occupation” of trying to extend its presence in Iraq, which “[they] will not accept.”
Baghdad’s regional role
An Iraqi government source also reveals to The Cradle that Iraq shares its deepening concerns with neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, and Egypt. Following the upheaval in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, many Iraqis fear their country might be next in the chain of regional destabilization.
According to the source, Washington conveyed a message to Tehran through Swiss intermediaries, warning of a major strike – potentially targeting a nuclear facility – in early 2025.
Meanwhile, a UN official based in Paris shared with The Cradle that the Axis of Resistance underestimated the scale of the current offensive against the region, failing to comprehensively initiate the Unity of Fronts strategy.
Initially viewed as a reckless Israeli gambit, the attacks on Gaza and Lebanon have since revealed themselves as being part of a broader, opportunistic, western-backed strategy to reshape the balance of power in West Asia.
In Iraq, the signs of heightened tension are visible everywhere. Along the 600-kilometer border with Syria, the Iraqi army and PMU maintain a vigilant presence, deploying armored brigades, thermal cameras, and watchtowers to prevent a repeat of the 2014 ISIS invasion.
A PMU leader confirms to The Cradle that its leadership decided early on that it would not cross the border to support Syrian forces – first, because the Syrian army itself was not deployed for the fight, and second, because then-president Bashar al-Assad had restricted the activities of allied forces in recent years. Those restrictions increased as the Gaza war escalated and as Assad began to mortgage his country’s fate to both the Russians and his newfound Gulf state relationships.
The vigilant Iraqi presence on the Syrian border is matched with Baghdad’s close monitoring of Turkiye’s force build-up in the Suruj area near Kobani (Ain al-Arab) accompanied by tanks and heavy artillery. They are also watching the incursion of Israeli forces into Syria’s Quneitra governorate, descending from the Golan Heights to reach the Yarmouk Basin in Deraa governorate, along the opposite side of Rashaya, Hasbaya, and the Lebanese western Bekaa, toward the Masnaa Crossing – the only currently operating border crossing between Syria and Lebanon.
Compounding this are revelations that the actual number of US troops in Iraq and Syria is significantly higher than previously disclosed, with thousands stationed in the region to counter Iranian influence and provide logistical support to their Kurdish allies. Worse yet are the unconfirmed leaks that Sudani is not only prepared to accept the extension of US troops’ presence in Iraq beyond the 2026 withdrawal deadline, but may also allow Americans to enhance their Iraq–Syria border monitoring missions.
While the Pentagon officially reported a total of 3,400 US soldiers in the two countries – 900 in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq – it now states the figure is at least 4,500, with 2,000 soldiers in Syria as a rear operations base to support US forces in Iraq.
Sudani’s defensive diplomacy
Sudani’s recent diplomatic maneuvers underline the gravity of the situation. An informed Iraqi source discloses to The Cradle that following the Israeli threat, Sudani convened leaders from Iraq’s Coordination Framework and the State Administration Coalition to discuss potential responses.
The same source adds that US intermediaries later delivered a second Israeli message, listing targets that might be struck if drone attacks launched from Iraq were not halted. Although opinions within Iraq’s political and security circles diverged, the PMU leadership leaned toward de-escalation, prioritizing Iraq’s stability.
Despite this, Iraqi resistance factions have carried out several operations, often aligning with attacks by Yemen’s Ansarallah-aligned armed forces. These acts of defiance, however, have not deterred Baghdad from seeking a delicate balance.
For instance, the Iraqi government has resisted Iranian requests to transit forces through Iraq to Syria, citing the risks of further destabilization. According to sources close to the PMU, this approach reflects a calculated effort to shield Iraq from the spiraling Syrian crisis and preserve its fragile sovereignty.
As one Iraqi politician close to the resistance factions explains to The Cradle:
“Sudani’s performance is good, and the Iraqi opinion is present in the decision, and we are trying to spare Iraq the repercussions of what is happening in Syria. We certainly do not want the same fate, and Iraq is strong. We are with the government in all its decisions because they are in the interest of Iraq, and we have authorized it to take what steps are necessary. We are following Sudani’s movements, and we see that Iraq has begun to regain its regional health, and has become present in the region, and we support him in this.”
On 11 December, Sudani landed in Amman to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, one of the most apprehensive Arab leaders regarding the situation in Syria. Shortly after, he traveled to the Al-Mualla resort to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
By 13 December, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq, emphasizing US priorities in controlling Iraq’s borders with Syria and preventing the continued flow of Iranian arms to Lebanon. This flurry of diplomacy illustrates Iraq’s central role in regional and foreign security calculations.
PMU as a ‘wall of defense’
Sudani’s diplomatic outreach extended beyond these high-profile meetings. According to an Iraqi source, before the opposition’s attack on Syria escalated, the Iraqi prime minister dispatched PMU head Faleh al-Fayyadh to Ankara and Damascus to mediate between the two sides. However, this effort failed, leaving Sudani with no leverage to pacify armed factions or mitigate potential Iranian pressure.
An Iraqi government source denies any formal assurances or threats from the US regarding Syria but confirms to The Cradle that prior warnings had been issued to resistance leaders. For example, Qais Khazali, the Secretary-General of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, has reportedly relocated to Iran as a precaution.
But other sources say that Sudani’s government did receive US warnings for Iraqi forces to stay out of the Syrian battle in support of the former Assad government, a position that was ultimately supported by Iraq’s main political forces and blocs, including maverick Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
However, this support will have its limits and red lines; one of these is the PMU, and the other is the US occupation. Al-Nujaba’s Moussawi emphasizes that the PMU, alongside other Iraqi forces, remains an essential bulwark against both internal and external threats and rejects any compromise on the PMU’s existence, describing it as a “wall of defense” for Iraq amid escalating regional tensions.
Moussawi also reiterates Iraq’s continued support for the Palestinian cause and accuses the US of prolonging its occupation under dubious pretexts. He warns that Iraqis, particularly the resistance factions, are fully aware of these tactics and remain resolute in opposing any foreign military presence:
“The resistance remains stronger than ever and will adapt to the evolving challenges to defend Iraq’s sovereignty and interests.”
The stakes for Iraq could not be higher. For Sudani, the mission is not just to shield Iraq from the chaos engulfing its neighbors but also to establish it as a stabilizing force in an increasingly turbulent region. Achieving this will demand diplomacy and resilient leadership, as well as an unyielding defense of Iraq’s sovereignty against relentless geopolitical pressures and the unquenchable ambitions of the expansionist, US-backed Israelis – a task in which the continued existence of the PMU remains non-negotiable.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service: US, UK special forces directing attacks on bases in Syria
Press TV – December 28, 2024
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) says US and British special services are plotting a series of terrorist attacks on Russian military bases in Syria, following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad’s government by militant groups earlier this month.
“British intelligence agencies are working out plots to stage a string of terrorist attacks against Russian military installations in Syria. The schemes seek the recruitment of Daesh Takfiri terrorists, who new authorities in Damascus have set free in the aftermath of Assad’s downfall,” the press office of the SVR said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement noted that the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden, and the British leadership intend to prevent the establishment of stability and security across Syria.
“In a broader sense, they are pursuing the goal of maintaining a state of chaos” in West Asia,” the press office stated.
The SVR highlighted that the US and Britain seek to maintain their dominance and achieve their geopolitical objectives in the region “based on the odious concept of a rules-based order.”
“However, the fiendish plot is challenged by the presence of Russian forces on the Mediterranean coast of Syria, which still majorly contributes to the preservation of regional stability,” the Russian intelligence agency said.
The statement also indicated that the United States plans to continue the occupation of Syria’s oil-rich regions east of the Euphrates River under the pretext of fighting Daesh terrorists, emphasizing that Washington has no intention of withdrawing from those areas.
Back on December 13, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Moscow had established direct contacts with the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in a bid to maintain its military bases in the Arab country despite the fall of the Syrian government.
Russia hopes to keep its military bases in Syria as they are important in the fight against terrorism, Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying.
The senior Russian diplomat noted that contacts with HTS were “proceeding in a constructive fashion.”
Bogdanov said Russia hopes the group will fulfill its pledges to “guard against all excesses,” maintain order, and ensure the safety of diplomats and other foreigners.
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Aaron Siri’s Book: Vaccines, Amen
By Maryanne DemasiMaryanne Demasi | Brownstone Institute | June 15, 2026
For decades, vaccines have been treated as the sacred cow of modern medicine. I was taught that they were the holy grail. To question them was heresy. To raise concerns about safety was to risk professional exile.
Aaron Siri makes it clear in Vaccines, Amen: The Religion of Vaccines that the story we’ve been told about vaccine science rests far more on belief than proof.
“No child should be sacrificed on the altar of the religion of vaccines,” Siri writes, as he turns his focus to America’s overcrowded childhood immunisation schedule.
I assumed little in this book would surprise me. I’ve spent years reporting on drug safety, regulatory capture, and the corruption of science. But Siri showed me how wrong I was.
Siri is not a doctor or a scientist. He is an attorney, and this, he says, is his advantage. In court, rhetoric won’t save you. Evidence does. As he puts it, he doesn’t get to say “trust me” the way many doctors do. “I need to prove claims with real data.”
And he does. … continue
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