シリアが対イスラエル 防空能力を高める イスラエル軍機の7発のミサイルを無力化

RT2019/1/20
Syrian air defense ‘thwarts’ Israeli ‘aggression’ – state media
Syrian air defenses successfully fended off an IDF aerial raid, targeting the southern part of the country, and prevented the strike force from achieving its goals, state media at Damascus reported, citing a military source.

The Syrian air defense systems “thwarted an Israeli air aggression” and “prevented it from achieving any of its goals,” a military source told state-run news agency SANA.

The IDF declined to comment on the alleged attack.

The military, however, stated that they intercepted a rocket which was launched at the northern Golan Heights. The IDF didn't specify where the rocket came from.

Israel has repeatedly carried out bombing raids into Syria in an effort to fight supposed Iranian proxies which Tel Aviv says endanger its national security.

Not all airstrikes and raids reported by Damascus were subsequently confirmed or acknowledged by Israel. Syria has on numerous occasions condemned the raids and called them a flagrant violation of its sovereignty.

Just last year alone, Israeli jets dropped 2,000 bombs on Syrian territory, targeting the alleged Iranian-linked militants, the outgoing chief of the IDF, Gadi Eisenkot, told the media earlier this week.

Israeli military actions in Syria were blasted by Russia. Officials in Moscow said that the “provocative” Israeli raids endanger civilian flights, and accused the IDF of using a Russian aircraft as ‘cover’ for its planes during an incursion into Syria.

At the same time, Israel’s prime minister and acting defense chief, Benjamin Netanyahu, praised the conduct and of capabilities the nation’s air force. “We are standing steadfast on our red lines in Syria and everywhere else,” he told a group of cadets in December.

FARSNEWS2019/1/20
Damascus Army's Air Defense Wards off Israeli Air Raid in Southern Syria
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Army's air defense systems thwarted an Israeli missile attack in the Southern parts of the country.

The Syrian air defenses managed to intercept all the seven Israeli missiles, while some reports said the Syrian army shot down six missiles and the seventh missile went astray and landed in a farm in rural areas.

Other reports said that the missiles were fired by Israeli fighter jets flying in Southern Lebanon's air space.

Meantime, the Arabic-language service of Russian Sputnik news agency quoted local sources as saying that the Syrian Army's air defense shield has repelled attacks by Israel on targets near Talol al-Ahmar East of the town of Hazar South of Damascus and North of Quneitra province.

The sources noted that the Israeli fighter jets were continuously and intensely flying over the Occupied Golan Heights concurrent with the attacks.

Pointing to the tensions in Quneitra Front after Israel's failed attack on Damascus suburbs today, they reiterated that the battlefield was the scene of missile exchanges between Syria and Israel.

The Arabic-language service of Al-Mayadeen news network reported that four Israeli fighter jets fired missiles towards Damascus through Lebanon.

The Russian Defense Ministry also announced that Israel's attack on Damascus Airport did not leave any casualties or losses.

The source went on say that the Syrian army's air defenses destroyed all the seven missiles fired by Israel.

The Sham Times news website quoted a military analyst as saying that there is a link between the Israeli airstrikes and terrorist attacks in the outskirts of Damascus which took place earlier today.

On Sunday morning, the Syrian security forces foiled a terrorist attack in the outskirts of Damascus.

The terrorists tried to explode a parcel in Southern al-Motehaleq near a Syrian Army military point in the suburbs of Damascus, but the Syrian Army foiled their attempt, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

The Arabic-language al-Mayadeen TV network announced that an explosive package was seized from the terrorists and defused it through controlled detonation in Southern Al-Motehalaq region in the outskirts of Damascus.

Meantime, the Syrian State-Run news agency reported that a terrorist has been arrested in connection to the foiled terrorist attack.

Moreover, the Arabic-language RT quoted some media activists as saying that the Syrian security forces have also defused a second bomb plot and they are chasing the terrorists.

A 'Convenient Killing' Of US Troops In Syria

ゼロヘッジ　Fri, 01/18/2019 - 22:45
by Tyler Durden

Authored by Finian Cunningha, via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

With unseemly haste, US news media leapt on the killing of four American military personnel in Syria as a way to undermine President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw troops from that country.

The deadly attack in the northern city of Manbij, on the west bank of the Euphrates River, was reported to have been carried out by a suicide bomber. The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group reportedly claimed responsibility, but the group routinely makes such claims which often turn out to be false.

The American military personnel were said to be on a routine patrol of Manbij where US forces have been backing Kurdish militants in a purported campaign against ISIS and other terror groups.

An explosion at a restaurant resulted in two US troops and two Pentagon civilian officials being killed, along with more than a dozen other victims. Three other US military persons were among those injured.

US media highlighted the bombing as the biggest single death toll of American forces in Syria since they began operations in the country nearly four years ago.

The US and Kurdish militia have been in control of Manbij for over two years. It is one of the main sites from where American troops are to withdraw under Trump’s exit plan, which he announced on December 19.

Following the bombing, the New York Times headlined: “ISIS Attack in Syria Kills 4 Americans, Raising Worries about Troop Withdrawal”. The report goes on, “the news prompted calls from Republicans and Democrats for President Trump to reconsider his plans to withdraw troops from the country.”

A more pointed headline in The Washington was: “Killing of 4 Americans in Syria Throws Spotlight on Trump’s Policy”.

The Post editorialized, “the bombing showed that [ISIS] is likely to be a force to be reckoned with in Syria for the foreseeable future.” It quoted politicians in Washington claiming the “bombing deaths… were a direct result of a foolish and abrupt departure announcement [by Trump], and made the case for staying.”

Democrat Senator Jack Reed, who sits on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said: “From the beginning, I thought the president was wrong [in ordering the withdrawal]. It was a strategic mistake for the whole region.”

With macabre smugness, anti-Trump politicians and news media appeared to exploit the death of US troops in Manbij to score points against Trump.

The president’s claims made just before Christmas of having defeated ISIS were widely replayed following the Manbij attack this week by way of ridiculing Trump’s order to pullout US troops from Syria.

Nevertheless, despite the deaths, Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence stated they were still committed to bring the 2,000 or so US troops home. Some military figures also went on US media to defend Trump’s pullout plan in spite of the terror attack in Manbij.

There clearly is a serious division in Washington over Trump’s policy on Syria. For Democrats and supportive media outlets, anything Trump does is to be opposed. But there are also elements within the military and intelligence nexus which are implacably against, what they see as, his “capitulation to Russia and Iran” in Syria. That was partly why his Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned days after Trump made his announced withdrawal at the end of last month.

Having invested years and money in regime-change machinations in Syria, there is bound to be US military and intelligence cabals which are resistant to Trump’s move to pack up. Not that Trump’s move portends a peace dividend for the region. It is more a “tactical change” for how US imperialism operates in the Middle East, as his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Cairo last week.

That is why Trump’s order to take troops out of Syria may not be a clear-cut withdrawal. His National Security adviser John Bolton on a tour of the Middle East last week has already tried to undermine Trump by attaching all sorts of vague conditions to the troop pullout. Bolton and Pompeo have talked about the need to ensure the total defeat of ISIS and of the countering of Iranian presence in Syria.

This brings up the question of who may have carried out the bombing in Manbij? Was it really a suicide bomber? Was it really ISIS? Several observers have pointed out that ISIS have not had any presence in Manbij for the past two years since the Americans and Kurds took control of the city.

As always, the key question arises: who stands to benefit from the killing of the American troops? The scale of the attack suggests it was carried out with a sharp political message intended for Trump.

One potential beneficiary are the Kurdish militants who are being abandoned by the putative US withdrawal. Without their American sponsor on the ground, the Kurds are in danger of Turkish forces launching cross-border operations to wipe them out, as Ankara has vowed to do. A Machiavellian Kurdish calculation could be to “disprove” Trump about “ISIS being defeated”, and that US forces are needed to prevent any resurgence of the terror group in Manbij and northeast Syria.

Another sinister player is the CIA or some other element of US military intelligence. It is certainly not beyond the realm of plausibility that the CIA could facilitate such an atrocity against American personnel in order to discredit Trump’s withdrawal plan.

Certainly, the way the anti-Trump media in the US reacted with such alacrity and concerted talking points suggests there was something a bit too convenient about the massacre.

It would in fact be naive to not suspect that the CIA could have pulled off such a false flag in Manbij. As in 1950s Vietnam, as told by Graham Greene in ‘The Quiet American’, the CIA have been doing such dirty tricks with bombing atrocities and assassinations for decades in order to precipitate wars in foreign countries that the agency calculates are in America’s geopolitical interests.

シリア テロリストの訓練

※　he Lemniscat @theLemniscat氏の2018年10月12日のツイート
How can there ever be peace in Syria if US/NATO and some Arab states continue to hire & train anti-govt mercenaries, most of whom are probably not even Syrian, to kill Syrians who support their govt and army?
Video
Sept 2018
More terrorists being trained
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX2_qCGiayU …

https://twitter.com/i/status/1050448627532001281

シリア マンビジ 自爆テロで米軍兵士死亡

2019/1/16、現地時間正午過ぎ、マンビジの繁華街のレストランの前で自爆テロがあり、店内にいた米軍兵士らが死亡しています。

ISISが犯行声明を出したとされていますが、これはおかしい。ISISが自分たちのボスのボスに爆弾攻撃を仕掛ける？　続報を待っていましたが、現地の方も疑問を呈しています。

ISISのテロリストは、米軍がいなくなれば職を失います。

米軍引き揚げを再考させるため？

私は違うと思います。米軍はテロリストは砲弾並みの消耗品とみているわけですから、それが暴れたら皆殺しでしょう。

テロリストの、行き場もなく打ち捨てられることに対する怒り？　その可能性が高い。

それが実態ならISISテロリストと米軍の関係は冷え切っていることになりましょう。

ロイターが米軍撤退見直し論を書きましたが、トランプはランドポールに撤退は進めると述べたそうです。残留すればさらに兵士に被害が出るわけで、兵士を狙ったテロは米軍を引き留めることにはならないでしょう。トランプは、シリア、アフガンからの撤兵が国民から支持されることをよーく知っています。再選出馬ならそれを最大限有効に使うでしょう。

米軍関係の犠牲者の中には正体がよくわからない人がいます。







※　Jim Sciutto認証済みアカウント @jimsciutto氏の23:17 - 2019年1月16日のツイート
New: ISIS has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack it says targeted a patrol by the US-led Coalition in Manbij, Syria. The ISIS-affiliated Amaq agency said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber with an explosive vest.

※　Bassem @BBassem7氏の2019/1/16のツイート
BassemさんがJim Sciuttoをリツイートしました
this is bigger than just ISIS claiming responsibility for this attack, someone else is behind it, someone other than ISIS orchestrated it

※　Bassem @BBassem7氏の2019/1/16のツイート
Bassemさんがasad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليلをリツイートしました
ISIS was so sad to see US forces leave Syria they decided to blow up few US soldiers to convince Trump to stay

※　Bassem @BBassem7氏の2019/1/16のツイート
BassemさんがThe Lead CNNをリツイートしました
What are you talking about!
There was no ISIS to begin with until US invaded Iraq and destabilized Syria by arming the Islamist militants

ロイター　2:35pm JST - 01:36　2019/1/17
シリアでＩＳが米兵ら19人殺害、トランプ氏に撤退再考促す声も（字幕・16日）
シリア北部マンビジュで１６日、自爆攻撃があり、米軍関係者４人を含む１９人が死亡した。過激派組織「イスラム国」（ＩＳ）が犯行声明を出した。事件直後の演説でペンス米副大統領は「ＩＳは敗北した」とするトランプ大統領の主張を繰り返したが、ワシントンからはシリア撤退の方針を再考するようトランプ氏に求める声が上がった。
・・・ロイターが早々とシリア撤退の方針再考を言っています。米国戦争屋が背後にいる！　米軍は5人か死んでいます。自国の兵士を犠牲にしても軍隊をシリアに置きたい人たちがいる。

FARSNEWS2019/1/17
US Reinvigorates Military Base in Manbij after Suicide Blast
TEHRAN (FNA)- A military convoy was sent to one of the US-occupied bases in Manbij in Northeastern Syria, one day after several American soldiers were killed in a suicide blast in the region.

Field sources in Manbij reported on Thursday that the military convoy was dispatched to al-Sa'ediyeh base occupied by the US in the Western parts of the town of Manbij.

They added that the convoy which consisted of 7 armored vehicles was sent from Eastern Euphrates region.

The US forces still continue occupation of areas in Eastern Euphrates despite Washington's claimed decision to withdraw them from Syria.

A huge explosion at the center of Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo killed and wounded over 30 people, including several US soldiers.

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported on Wednesday that the explosion occurred in Kasr al-Umara restaurant at Sondos street, killing at least 10 people, including members of Manbij military council.

Meantime, the Arabic-language service of Sputnik news agency quoted local sources in Manbij as saying on Thursday that the number of people killed in the blast has increased to 23 which includes 5 US forces and 18 members of Manbij military council and civilians.

FARSNEWS2019/1/16
Several US Soldiers Killed, Wounded in Suicide Blast in Manbij
TEHRAN (FNA)- A huge explosion at the center of Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo killed and wounded over 30 people, including several US soldiers.

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported on Wednesday that the explosion occurred in Kasr al-Umara restaurant at Sondos street, killing at least 10 people, including members of Manbij military council.

It added that two US soldiers were also killed and two others were wounded.

Meantime, some field sources reported that 5 US forces have been killed in the attack which was a suicide blast.

Eyewitnesses in Manbij told the Arabic-language service of Sputnik that leaders of the local military council and an unnamed delegation were at the site of the blast.

According to them, the explosion took place near a cafe where the leaders of the council and guests from the delegation, "whose identity has not yet been established", had gathered.

Other sources also reported that 20 people were wounded in the blast.

According to the Sputnik, the ISIL terrorist group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the explosion.

The city of Manbij in the Northern province of Aleppo has switched hands three times since the war began in 2011. With US troops allegedly withdrawing from the country and Turkish forces concentrating at the Syrian border to launch attack against the Kurds, the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which was in control of the area at the end of December, invited Syrian government forces to the city.

SPUTNIK2019/1/18
Trump Vows to Exit Syria Despite Manbij Attack Killing US Soldiers
During a meeting with a group of Republican senators on Wednesday, President Donald Trump signalled his readiness to adhere to his plan to withdraw US troops from Syria and Afghanistan, according to Senator Rand Paul.

"Not only is he following through with his Syria policy, I really do think there will be changes in Afghanistan as well. If you look at the polling data for the American people, I think the American people are with the president and they're tired, frankly, of both parties, who are unwilling to stand up and say enough is enough", Paul said.

He declined to elaborate on what Trump said about exact timelines for US forces' pullout from Syria and Afghanistan.

戦争の悲惨さを忘れた国民の高価なおもちゃの兵器

バカジャネ？

外国はそれぞれに魅力がある 読者はこう見ている

ある読者のお便りから

> 肌に合わないところは、異文化の面白さはあっても、長くはいられませんよね。
そう思いますね。
> 東南アジアは、特に子供たちの目が輝いているところが良いです。
ですよね。＊＊＊＊は、大人の目も結構輝いてますよ。笑
なんというのか、元気なんです。
それと、自分が生きるのに一生懸命というか。
いい意味で、あまり人を気にしないというか。でも大きな意味でファミリーを大切にします。
> 年明けで忙しいんじゃありませんか。接客業の知人は昨年末から売り上げが落ち込んだといっています。
> 私は、病気治療とか不祝儀でカネを使っているからではないかと思っています
それと、普段の道行く人の顔つきとか、、昭和の頃と違いますよね。服装も、以前のような華やかさは あまりないですね。
先ほど、「45年間 ずうっと働いてきたんだ。45年間、ずうっと働いてきたんだ！」と、歩きながら独り言をずうっと言ってる男性がいました。
辛いんだろうなぁと思います。
みんながそれを労ってくれる社会では、無くなっているから。

※　Luchia @gRwYZkwuQfdRkiZ氏の2019/1/18のツイート
昔ベトナムの方が、「私達のお米は食味が軽いから、2膳3膳食べても太らないけど、日本米は食味が重くて、同じように食べると太る」と。
よくいえば日本米は「腹持ちがいい」ってことですが、世界的には日本米は特殊な米です。
美味しいを含めて食生活や文化の違いを認め合わねば、とその時実感。

追記予定

IWC脱退

【山本太郎事務所編集】2017.6.13農水委「文化じゃなくて水産庁の利権なの」


※　SVX‏ @88_svx氏の2018/12/28のツイート
IWC加盟中も太地町などの沿岸捕鯨は小型鯨類なのでIWCの管轄外だった。脱退は太地町に何のメリットもない。また加盟中は南極海調査捕鯨が認められていたが、脱退により南極海調査捕鯨が不可能になった。また、IWCは過去３度南極海調査捕鯨中止を条件にEEZ内商業捕鯨を容認する案を日本は蹴ってきた。

※　kaz hagiwara（萩原 一彦） @reservologic氏の22:19 - 2018年12月28日 のツイート
それにしても、脱退してできるようになることが、脱退しなくてもできることだったという、意味不明の日本のIWC脱退って「日本政府が世界から孤立したい」が理由じゃないなら、他にどんな理由があるんだろう。ほかに筋の通った理由がないならこの政府は本当に無能だ。

※　昭和おやじ 【安倍政権を打倒せよ】 @syouwaoyaji氏の13:56 - 2018年12月27日のツイート
海外ではオリンピックをボイコットだと、大騒ぎになっとるぞ！！
調べてみ！！

※　共同通信公式認証済みアカウント @kyodo_officialの2018/12/21のツイート
英紙が、日本は【海賊捕鯨国】になる恐れがあるとする動物愛護団体のコメントを紹介。こうした意識のギャップがこれまでの問題の底流にあるのでは。きのうの特集（司馬）　#ＩＷＣ #商業捕鯨 #調査捕鯨 #クジラ #鯨 　

※　共同2018/12/20 09:43　12/20 11:09updated
政府がIWC脱退方針を来週にも表明へ
　政府は商業捕鯨の再開に向け、国際捕鯨委員会（IWC）から脱退する方針を固めた。来週にも表明する。政府関係者が20日、明らかにした。
・・・クジラはPCBなど汚染物質が蓄積されます。日本近海のクジラなど食べてはいけません。

※　boukendanji ‏@boukendanji 氏の2016/9/28のツイート
「恥ずかしい国」象牙の取引禁止条約に反対。金儲けの為なら何でもする国。調査捕鯨は商業捕鯨と世界にばれても平気。放射能汚染で海洋生物に大打撃を与えても知らんぷり。クロマグロも絶滅寸前。その上象牙の為に密猟。今や世界の常識が通じない癌国家だ。

※　NHK2019年1月16日 4時00分
ＩＷＣ脱退「評価する」半数超 ＮＨＫ世論調査
日本政府が、ＩＷＣ＝国際捕鯨委員会から脱退し、商業捕鯨を再開すると表明したことについて、ＮＨＫの世論調査では「評価する」と答えた人が、半数を超えました。
ＮＨＫは、今月12日から３日間、全国の18歳以上の男女を対象に、コンピューターで無作為に発生させた固定電話と携帯電話の番号に電話をかける「ＲＤＤ」という方法で世論調査を行いました。
調査の対象となったのは2166人で、56％にあたる1206人から回答を得ました。
日本政府がＩＷＣ＝国際捕鯨委員会から脱退し、ことし７月から商業捕鯨を再開すると表明したことについて、「大いに評価する」が13％、「ある程度評価する」が40％、「あまり評価しない」が27％、「まったく評価しない」が10％でした。
また、日産自動車のカルロス・ゴーン前会長の事件で、勾留が長期間にわたることや弁護士が立ち会わない取り調べに、海外のメディアから批判が出ています。
日本の司法制度をどう思うか聞いたところ、「問題はない」が31％、「見直すべき」が21％、「どちらともいえない」が41％でした。
さらに、ことしの景気がどうなると思うか聞いたところ、「良くなる」が10％、「悪くなる」が26％、「変わらない」が52％でした。

London Destroying Evidence on Skripal Case - Russian Foreign Intelligence Chief

London Destroying Evidence on Skripal Case - Russian Foreign Intelligence Chief

海外ニュースいくつか

FARSNEWS2019/1/16
Report: Sharp Differences Arising Between US-Backed Militants, Civilians in Eastern Syria
TEHRAN (FNA)- Differences intensified between the militant groups backed by the US and civilians in Eastern Syria as massive military operations by Turkish Army are imminent.

The Syrian media activists reported that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have arrested a large number of people in areas under their control in Hasaka, Raqqa and Deir Ezzur provinces with the aim of forced recruiting of conscripts.

The activists said the SDF move has angered the local population, intensifying unrests in the region. "In one of such cases, civilians torched an SDF military base in the town of al-Qahtanieh in Northeastern Hasaka," they said.

Meantime, battlefield sources said a fresh Turkish military convoy comprising weapons and military hardware has been dispatched to Kilis region behind Turkey's borders with Syria.

The Turkish-language Yeni Shafaq newspaper, meantime, pointed to the Turkish Army's full preparedness to launch military operations in Eastern Euphrates, and said, "A total number of 80,000 Turkish Army soldiers are ready to take part in the upcoming assault on the Kurdish forces."

Yeni Shafaq said that the Eastern Euphrates military operations are to be commanded from the two border regions of Shaneli Urqeh and Kilis, adding that the Turkish Army's military operations will simultaneously kick off from 10 military points.

In a relevant development on Tuesday, media reports said that the Turkish Army and Tahrir al-Sham al-Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) in close cooperation dispatched over 10,000 terrorists to Northern Aleppo from Idlib and its surrounding areas to prepare for an upcoming battle with the Kurdish fighters in Eastern Syria.

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted sources close to the Ankara-backed National Liberation Front (NFL) as saying that Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham and Ankara are running close security cooperation.

The sources also reiterated that the recent attack by Tahrir al-Sham at NFL militants in Idlib and its surrounding areas have taken place in coordination with Turkey and with the aim to push them towards Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo and other areas under the control of the Euphrates Shield militants in a bid to engage in a battle against the Syrian Democratic Forces fighters in Eastern Euphrates.

The NFL sources pointed to the forced exit of over 2,000 terrorists from Idlib towards regions dubbed 'Euphrates Shied' and 'Olive Branch', and said that about 500 Jeish al-Ahrar terrorists are slated to leave their positions in Northern Idlib and Lattakia for Northern and Northeastern Aleppo.

The sources reiterated that the number of militants stationed in Idlib, Hama suburbs, Lattakia and Aleppo who are due to join the Syrian National Army affiliated to the Turkish Army in the upcoming battle against the Kurdish forces in Eastern Euphrates has exceeded 10,000 militants.

FARSNEWS2019/1/16
Taliban Threatens to Pull Out of Peace Talks with US
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Taliban threatened to stall peace talks with the United States if Washinton deflects from the issue of foreign force withdrawal from Afghanistan, a key demand of the hardline militants to end the 17-year war.

The Taliban said in a statement that America must pursue the peace talks with “sincere intentions” or it “will be forced to stall all talks and negotiations until America ends her unlawful pressures and maneuvering and steps forward toward true peace”, according to Asia News.

Last week senior leaders of the Taliban canceled the fourth round of peace talks with Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, over an “agenda disagreement”.

Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Tuesday after meeting officials in India, the United Arab Emirates and China, according to the US Embassy in Kabul. The Afghan-born former US ambassador to Kabul was named to oversee Washington’s peace efforts last year. He has met with the Taliban leaders at least three times to discuss foreign troop withdrawal and a timeline for a ceasefire.

The United States has also insisted that any final settlement must be led by Afghans themselves.

“The US goal is to promote dialogue among Afghans about how to end the conflict, and to encourage the parties to come together at the negotiating table to reach a political settlement in which every Afghan citizen enjoys equal rights and responsibilities under the rule of law,” the embassy said in a statement.

But the leaders of the insurgent group have rejected requests from the United States and regional powers to deal directly with the government in Kabul, which it considers an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime.

“The United States agreed during the Doha meeting in the month of November 2018 about discussing the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and preventing Afghanistan from being used against other countries in the upcoming meeting,” the Taliban stated, adding that the United States “is now backing away from that agenda and is unilaterally adding new subjects”.

Direct talks between the US and the Afghan Taliban recommenced in July last year, with senior US State Department official Alice Wells meetings with representatives of the armed group in Qatari capital.

A second meeting, this time with Khalilzad, was held in October, also in Doha. This was followed by a third two-day meeting last month in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which also included representatives from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE.

Also, Khalilzad is due to arrive in the Pakistani capital Islamabad for talks with the country's civilian and military leadership. He is expected to land in Islamabad on Thursday, although the envoy's schedule has been fluid in recent days after his visits to New Delhi, Beijing and Kabul, with brief stops in Dubai, since embarking on his regional tour earlier this month.

In December, US President Donald Trump told Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that he considered Pakistan to "[have] the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory", in a letter requesting Afghanistan's Eastern neighbour for its "support and facilitation" for the Afghan peace process. Islamabad denies that it holds direct influence over the Afghan Taliban.

Pakistan has long advocated for a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan, the US's longest-ever war - reaching more than 17 years of fighting.

"Pakistan's long-standing position to give peace and reconciliation a real chance in Afghanistan has become the basis of an international consensus," Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesperson Muhammad Faisal stated at a recent press briefing.

The Pakistani Foreign Office has acknowledged the country's role as a "facilitator" in the Afghan peace process in several statements, but denies having direct control or influence over the Afghan Taliban.

Following the last round of talks, Khan said his country would do "everything within its power to further the peace process".

"Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi. Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people," he added.

FARSNEWS2019/1/16
Report: Thousands of Iraqi Troops Preparing for Joint Anti-ISIL Military Operations with Syrian Army
TEHRAN (FNA)- Over 30,000 Iraqi Army troops backed by the Russian Air Force have lined up for launching joint military operations with the Syrian Army against the remnants of the ISIL terrorist group in Eastern Syria, an Arab media report said.

The Iraqi Army troops are standing orders to join the Syrian Army for an imminent battle against the ISIL along Iraq-Syria borders, Al-Etejah Press quoted an Iraqi military source as saying on Wednesday.

The source said over 30,000 Iraqi soldiers are now behind the borderline in order to enter Syria's Eastern deserts (Badiyeh) and engage in battle with remaining ISIL terrorists along the border.

The source noted that Iraq's Hashd al-Sha'abi (Iraqi popular forces) plan to actively take part in the anti-ISIL operations.

He noted that the military operations will soon start, and said the Syrian and Iraqi governments have done the needed coordination to launch the joint assault on ISIL in cooperation with the Russian Air Fore.

In relevant remarks on Tuesday, a senior commander of Iraq's Hashd Al-Sha'abi (Iraqi popular forces) in Al-Anbar Province underlined that his forces have prevented the US Army's spying on security units along borders with Syria.

"The US troops are trying to obtain precise and sensitive intelligence from Iraq's security forces along borders with Syria," the Arabic-language Al-Maloumeh news website quoted Qassim Muslih, the commander of Hashd al-Shaabi forces in al-Anbar province, as saying.

He reiterated that Hashd al-Sha'abi operations command has stopped US spying operations by preventing the US troops from getting close to Hashd al-Sha'abi units and forcing them to return to Ba'er al-Morasemeh base.

Muslih pointed to the US forces' reconnaissance operations along Iraq-Syria borders and questions from border police and Iraqi army about the battle zones off the border regions, the amount of ammunition, type of weapons and the number of troops of each region, and explained that secret intelligence related to the forces stationed along the border regions helps them to easily target any region.

He pointed to the provocative measures by the US troops to obtain secret information from border security guards, and warned that the move is a blatant violation of Iraq's national sovereignty.

FARSNEWS2019/1/15
Rights Group: Dissident Saudi Professor Brain-Dead After Toxic Injection
TEHRAN (FNA)- A renowned Muslim preacher and a university lecturer has been declared brain-dead after Saudi officials injected poisonous substance into his body during brutal torture in prison as a crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) against Muslim preachers and intellectuals widens in the conservative oil-rich kingdom.

The rights group Prisoners of Conscience, which is an independent non-governmental organization seeking to promote human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page that Dr. Ahmed al-Amari, who was a professor at Faculty of the Holy Qur'an in the Islamic University of Madinah, suffered severe brain hemorrhage after the injection, presstv reported.

He was then taken to King Abdullah Medical Complex in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, where all doctors confirmed that he is brain-dead shortly afterwards.

Also on Monday, Prisoners of Conscience announced that activist Yaser al-Ayyaf is suffering from severe burns and bruises all over his body as a result of savage torture he endured during his detention in solitary confinement.

Saudi Arabia has lately stepped up politically-motivated arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful dissident writers and human rights campaigners.

Saudi officials have also intensified security measures in the Shia-populated and oil-rich Eastern Province.

Eastern Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region.

The demonstrations have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown by the regime with security forces increasing security measures across the province.

Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.

In January 2016, Saudi authorities executed Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who was an outspoken critic of the policies of the Riyadh regime. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif in 2012.

FARSNEWS2019/1/15
IDF Chief Admits Israel Supplied Syrian Rebels with Weapons
TEHRAN (FNA)- The outgoing IDF chief of staff spilled the beans on a poorly guarded secret of the Israeli military, that it has supplied Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s government with weapons “for self-defense”.




The general, who is retiring from military service, said that Israel supplied rebels at the border with light weapons for the purposes of “self-defense”.

While the direct links between Syrian rebels and Israeli commanders have been officially revealed for the first time, rumors of close military ties between the armed militants and the Israeli government have been circulating for years.

Foreign Policy magazine reported in September that Israel supplied weapons and gave money to at least 12 rebel groups holed up in Southern Syria. The arrangement reportedly included Israeli officials also giving $75-per-person monthly allowances to rebel fighters, in addition to the funds their leaders received to procure weapons on the black market

In return, rebels were expected to deter Hezbollah and Iran proxies from the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights.

The scheme was reportedly in effect throughout Operation Good Neighbor, which officially kicked off in June 2016 and was wrapped up only last November. Within this undertaking, Israel was openly assisting the rebels but claimed that assistance was strictly humanitarian. Israel treated wounded Syrian rebels and their families in its hospitals, provided some 1,524 tons of food, 250 tons of clothes, 947,520 liters of fuel, as well as a huge amount of medical supplies.

However, until recently Israel kept vigorously denying any involvement beyond that. The Jerusalem Post's report in September on the IDF confirming that it had provided light weapons to Syrian rebels was promptly pulled from its website. The newspaper told RT at the time that it was forced to remove the article by the army's censor, apparently, “for security reasons”.

In November, Maj. Gen. Gershon Hacohen, a former senior commander with the IDF, revealed that former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon had personally met with a group of Syrian rebels, without specifying the time period. Ya'alon was Israel's chief of defense from 2013 to May 2016.

The Israeli military seems to have finally begun to reveal the scope of its involvement in the Syrian conflict, previously shrouded in secrecy.

In an interview with the New York Times, Eisenkot acknowledged that Israel has been waging a large-scale bombing campaign aimed at degrading Iran's military influence in the region.

In 2018 alone, the IDF dropped 2,000 bombs on alleged Iran-linked targets in Syria. Sorties into the neighboring country's territory became “near-daily events” after PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government greenlighted the expansion of the operation in January 2017, according to the retiring general.

日本側から日ロ外相共同記者会見なしを提案

【モスクワ時事】（2019/01/13-22:41）
ロシア外務省のザハロワ情報局長は１４日にモスクワで開かれる日ロ外相会談に関し、「最も驚いたのは日本側から会談結果について共同記者会見を行わないよう求められたことだ」と明らかにした。タス通信が１３日、国営テレビでの発言内容として報じた。
　日本外務省は、河野太郎外相とラブロフ外相の会談後の記者会見について「ロシア側との間で調整していないので、共同での記者会見、発表はないのだろうと思う」と述べていた。
　ザハロワ氏は、北方領土問題をめぐる最近の安倍晋三首相の発言や日本メディアの報道を念頭に、日本側は会談前に情報発信して過熱した状況をつくり出す一方で、会談結果を受けた共同記者会見を行うことを望まないのは、奇妙で矛盾していると指摘した。
　外相会談を前にザハロワ氏は日本側の情報発信姿勢をけん制することで、交渉を優位に進める狙いがありそうだ。

米国とトルコの関係がさらに緊迫化

sputnik2019/1/14
'Fatal Mistake': Turkey Slams Trump Over Warning on 'Economic Devastation'
Tensions between Ankara and Washington have further escalated over the Kurdish issue as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced last week that Ankara would launch a military operation east of the Euphrates River if the US failed to withdraw its troops from the Arab Republic in time.

"Cooperation with terrorists will lead nowhere. May we remain hungry, without food and water, but we will do everything that is necessary. The United States and all other countries should show sufficient respect for Turkey", Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusoglu said, addressing the US president’s warning of "economic devastation" should Ankara target US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria.

"We see that Trump is under great pressure so that he does not withdraw troops from Syria, and he is in a difficult situation, but, nevertheless, it is impossible to discuss such topics via social networks", Cavusoglu added.

Earlier in the day, Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesperson has taken to Twitter to respond to the recent comment by the US president.

"It is a fatal mistake to equate Syrian Kurds with the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party], which is on the US terrorists list, and its Syria branch PYD [Kurdish Democratic Union Party]/YPG [Kurdish People's Protection Units]. Turkey fights against terrorists, not Kurds. We will protect Kurds and other Syrians against all terrorist threats", he stressed.

The Turkish official's remarks follow President Trump's statement on Twitter in which he threatened to "devastate Turkey economically" if Ankara hits Kurdish forces in Syria.

He noted, however, that Washington doesn't want the Kurds to provoke Turkey as well.

The US support for Kurdish militants, who have been fighting Daesh* in Syria, has been a major sticking point in relations between the two NATO allies. Turkey considers the YPG to be affiliated with the PKK, which is banned by Ankara as a terrorist organisation.

The issue has intensified since Trump declared victory over Daesh, claiming that he would withdraw some 2,000 US troops from Syria. When addressing the matter, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the US would ensure that the Turkish military does not massacre the Kurdish militants.

Additionally, the Syrian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Damascus has intensified negotiations with the Kurds amid threats of a Turkish operation.

* Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia

Senior Opposition Figure Urges Iraq's Mediation to Return to Syria

FARSNEWS2019/1/13
Senior Opposition Figure Urges Iraq's Mediation to Return to Syria

TEHRAN (FNA)- Ahmed al-Jarba, leader of the Syrian opposition group al-Ghad al-Souri (Syrian Tomorrow), has traveled to Baghdad to demand Iraqi officials to mediate his return to Syria, regional Arab media said.

The Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news channel quoted informed sources as saying on Saturday that Jarba is ready to send a delegation to Damascus to meet with Syrian officials.

The report said al-Jabra has stressed his full alignment with Iraq's strategy on Syria.

"(In his meeting with the Iraqi officials) al-Jarba also called for the deployment of tribal forces, under the Syrian government flag, in regions the US forces are due to withdraw from," the sources said, adding that he seeks to have a meeting with the Syrian officials in Baghdad or any other place and favors to implement the experience of Iraq's Hashd al-Ashayeri - using tribal forces to protect the country - in Syria.

Jarba is the former head of the opposition National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

He enjoys strong ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE and commands what he says is a force of 3,000, currently deployed between Deir Ezzur to the East, Raqqa to the North and Hasaka in the Northeastern corner of Syria.

Hamas Offers $1mln Reward for Info on Botched Israeli Op

FARSNEWS2019/1/13
Hamas Offers $1mln Reward for Info on Botched Israeli Op
TEHRAN (FNA)- The military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas offered a reward of one million dollars for more information about a botched Israeli raid on the besieged Gaza Strip two months ago, saying the operation was aimed at planting surveillance devices on the movement's landline communications network.

Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades shared on Saturday video footage of Israeli commandos in action inside Gaza as well as several photos of the equipment they left behind, presstv reported.

The failed raid on November 11, 2018 sparked the heaviest fighting in Gaza since the 2014 Israeli war on the coastal sliver of land, prompting the Palestinian resistance to fire over 400 retaliatory rockets into the occupied territories. An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended tensions on November 13.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaza, Qassam Spokesman Abu Obeida said a 15-member elite Israeli military unit had infiltrated into Gaza under the cover of fog and traveled there in cars disguised as vehicles belonging to a local charity.

The Israeli forces used fake Gazan IDs and forged documents of humanitarian workers and had undergone training for the operation from January to October 2018, he added.

Their goal, Obeida noted, was "establishing a spy system to eavesdrop on the communications network of the resistance in the Gaza Strip".

Hamas fighters, he said, managed to stop the Israeli operatives in a civilian car at a checkpoint near the city of Khan Yunis, prompting a deadly gunfire.

“As the Qassam patrol began detaining them, the [Israeli military] unit members opened fire, killing Nur Baraka, the [Qassam] field commander, and Mohammed al-Qarra, a Qassam fighter,” Obeida added, stating, “The Qassam fighters responded with gunfire, killing the commander of the unit and wounding one of its members.”

A helicopter which had been dispatched to Gaza managed to take away the remaining Israeli agents, the Qassam spokesman noted.

He further offered a million-dollar reward to any local "collaborator" who supplies Hamas with information about the Israeli raid.

“The enemy and its security forces should be very worried,” he warned.

“The treasure of information we gained will give us a strategic advantage on the level of the battle of wits with the Zionist enemy," he stressed.

Reports said the Israeli military censor unit had demanded the public and media not to republish the images released by the Qassam Brigades.

The Gaza Strip has been under a crippling siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008.

It has also witnessed a fresh wave of tensions since late last March, which marked the start of “the Great March of Return” protests.

The Tel Aviv regime carries out regular attacks on the coastal enclave under the pretext of hitting positions belonging to Hamas.

CIA長官がガンタナモでブラックサイトを運用していた

FARSNEWS2019/1/12
Court Docs Reveal CIA Director Gina Haspel May Have Run ‘Black Site’ at Guantanamo Bay
TEHRAN (FNA)- CIA Director Gina Haspel, confirmed by the Senate last year amid accusations of involvement in torture, may have run a so-called ‘black site’ at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as she did not mention this role in her confirmation hearing.

Haspel’s apparent involvement in the site was revealed in the partially redacted transcript of a secret hearing held at Guantánamo last November. Haspel’s name was mentioned in court by a terror suspect’s defense lawyer, who argued that the CIA Director must testify before the court on classification guidelines for reports from the apparent black site, RT reported.

Torture allegedly took place at the site, and the defense lawyer noted that the prosecution was “not trying to cover up the torture… But the one thing that they're not willing to talk about is the names of the people involved in the torture”, thanks to Haspel’s classification guidelines.

Haspel’s guidelines, the lawyer continued, “make it impossible for people at Guantánamo, who may have seen her when she was here as chief of base, to identify her and talk about it”.

‘Chief of base’ is CIA-speak for the officer in charge of one of the agency’s secret foreign outposts, including the clandestine prisons known as ‘black sites’. The site in question here could refer to one of two such prisons at Guantánamo, code named ‘Maroon’ and ‘Indigo’. The existence of these sites - separate from the main ‘Camp Delta’ naval base and prison - was revealed by the 2014 Senate torture report.

Both sites were operated by the CIA between September 2003 and April 2004, and captives there were ‘interrogated’ before being passed into US military custody at the main prison. While the names of the officers in charge of the main prison are public, the names of the CIA spooks running the ‘Maroon’ and ‘Delta’ sites are not.

If Haspel was indeed in charge of one of these sites, the position would fill one of the many blank spots in her 30 year career at the CIA. She was reticent to talk about these blank spots during her confirmation process last year, and her official CIA resumé notes that these assignments were short-term, covert assignments that remain classified.

Her time at the helm in Guantánamo would have most likely been short, former CIA counterterrorism officer-turned-whistleblower John Kiriakou told McClatchy.

“Nobody wanted the job,” he said, adding, “So they resorted to sending people on temporary duty assignments ranging from six weeks to nine months.”

The revelation could leave another black mark on Haspel’s career with the agency. Her confirmation last summer was met with intense opposition from former military and intelligence personnel, who accused her of being “intimately involved in torture”; and from some Democratic lawmakers, who pressed her on whether or not she would continue the CIA’s post-9/11 shady practices of torture and detention.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) asked the CIA to declassify documents relating to Haspel’s involvement in the agency’s torture program, which was described by Kiriakou as “the greatest recruiting mechanism for our enemies”. The CIA agreed to declassify some of Haspel’s history, but kept the bulk of her covert assignments under wraps to protect its agents.

Haspel had managed a secret prison in Thailand, codenamed ‘Cat’s Eye’, one year before the court documents put her in Guantánamo. Months before Haspel took over the reins in Thailand, a suspect was tortured almost to death at the facility. Abu Zubadayah, incorrectly believed to have been an Al-Qaeda operative, was waterboarded to unconsciousness, physically assaulted by CIA officers, and forced to spend over 11 days in a coffin-sized “confinement box”.

Other detainees at the facility were subjected to similar treatment, in a facility that one officer likened to “a dungeon”.

After finishing her stint in Thailand, Haspel returned to the US, where she drafted an order authorizing the destruction of 92 videotapes of interrogations that took place at the site, including those of Abu Zubadayah. A subsequent CIA review found that Haspel acted appropriately when she ordered the tapes shredded, with the agency’s Deputy Director Michael Morell calling Haspel a “good soldier” for doing so.

Some former agents have cast doubt on whether Haspel actually ran either of the sites at Guantánamo. Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent who also conducted interrogations at Guantánamo told McClatchy that the chief of base at that time was a man, but that Haspel may have visited briefly, while managing another black site.

Meanwhile, in the court case outlined in the transcript, the suspect, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, is facing the death penalty for allegedly plotting the 9/11 attacks. Mohammed has been in detention since he was captured in Pakistan in 2003, and after three years in CIA detention and over 180 rounds of waterboarding, confessed to being “responsible for the 9/11 operation --- from A to Z”. Four other men have been charged in the same case.

トゥルシギャバード大統領選出馬表明 米国外の反応

松戸のお兄さんがこの方に早くから注目していました。すごいですね、見込み通りとなりました。

※　Sarah Abdallah @sahouraxo氏の2019/1/12のツイート
Welcoming news! Tulsi Gabbard has been a powerful critic of US regime change wars, especially in Syria, and a consistent voice against the arming of Al-Qaeda terrorists and Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen.

米国政界は本当にパニック トゥルシギャバード大統領選出馬表明

RT2019/1/12
‘Putin puppet’ vs ‘Assad shill’: Dems & Reps unite in panic over Gabbard challenging Trump in 2020
With Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) entering the 2020 presidential fray, establishment figures on both Right and Left are scrambling to smear the anti-war congresswoman with impeccable identity-politics bona fides.

Ever since her 2017 visit to Syria, Gabbard has been condemned for daring to seek firsthand accounts rather than blindly trusting the MSM narrative, so on Friday the pundits were again off to the races, with fresh accusations of Assad-sympathizing.

“Assad apologist” seems to be the Tulsi equivalent of “Putin puppet,” judging from the early tweets, though she was accused of being one of those too.

Gabbard certainly poses a thorny problem for the neocon-neoliberal axis, as she checks all the identity politics boxes – the first Hindu member of Congress, a woman, a veteran – and she has undeniable populist appeal, given her anti-establishment record. While Gabbard is a Democrat, she was emphatically not a Clinton supporter, resigning as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee in February 2016 to endorse Bernie Sanders in the primary.

But Republicans, too, felt the need to speak up against her. “Liberals think she’s too conservative, conservatives think she’s too liberal, and just about everyone thinks her coziness with Bashar al-Assad is disturbing,” Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said, also mentioning the congresswoman’s “lack of experience.”

The RNC released a “cheat sheet” of talking points following the news of Gabbard’s pending announcement, though some took that as a sign of weakness.

The Israel-first crew made its opinion known, though no one really asked them.

Others didn’t even bother with “issues” or “facts,” preferring guilt by association and personal insults.

サウジで雨が続き花畑状態もバッタも出現

なかなかきれいな花畑ですが、無骨なお兄さんは引き立て役？　ごめんね。カショギ事件の印象が強すぎて。女性は顔を隠しますのでね仕方ありませんね。



この地域は、砂漠といってもときどきこういうことがあるんだと思います。これだけの面積が1年のうちに花が咲いて種ができてまた芽が出てということではありませんよね。

それに次の画像では花見の場が作られています。酒は飲みませんから歌を歌う？　楽器のようなものがあります。花が咲いたらそこでこういう催しをする習慣があるのではないでしょうか。


豪州には、山火事があると種が発芽する木もあります。ここでは何年も前にやはり一面花が咲き、その時の種が2018年の雨を何年も待っていたんだと思います。2018年は雪も降りました。

上の画像は、繰り返される大雨の中で、サウジアラビアの砂漠がまたしても花と緑に覆われるから転載

メッカをバッタ（イナゴ？）の大群が襲ったそうです。バッタの卵も何年も土中で生きる？
Massive swarm of locusts plagues Mecca

こちらは人の群れです。

‘Era of American shame over’: Pompeo delivers ‘good news’ of US ‘liberators’ returning to Mideast

RT2019/1/11
‘Era of American shame over’: Pompeo delivers ‘good news’ of US ‘liberators’ returning to Mideast
In his keynote speech in Cairo, the Secretary of State continued with Trump-era policy of not just refusing to read the room, but baiting the audience with cocksure declarations of American greatness verging on the evangelical.

“It’s the truth, lower-case ‘t,’ that I’m here to talk about today. It is a truth that isn’t often spoken in this part of the world, but because I’m a military man by training, I’ll be very blunt and direct today: America is a force for good in the Middle East,” started off Pompeo, part stern homespun preacher, part P.T. Barnum getting the show back on the road.

And what’s the best way of drawing customers to your circus (or church)? It’s definitely not focusing on granular analysis of intractable centuries-old geopolitical problems, or admitting that you are just a tawdry freak show.

‘A liberating force, not an occupying power’

Instead, the wholesome and magic-filled Mike was all about “the good news,” America’s “innate good”, a “bright future”, and boasts bordering on the hard sell.

“America has always been, and always will be, a liberating force, not an occupying power. We’ve never dreamed of domination in the Middle East. Can you say the same about Iran?” asked Pompeo, almost as if expecting pantomime-style boos from his audience.

“In World War II, American GIs helped free North Africa from Nazi occupation. Fifty years later, we assembled a coalition to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. Would the Russians or Chinese come to your rescue in the same way, the way that we have?” cue more inaudible jeers.

Any problems – well that was “another American that stood before you”. The last pastor didn’t just “gravely misread” history, he perhaps collaborated with Satan himself, when he took the shape of Iran.

“He told you that the United States and the Muslim world needed, quote, ‘a new beginning,’ end of quote,” said Pompeo in reference to Barack Obama’s speech in the same city in 2009, but refusing to mention him by name, perhaps lest he be summoned.

“What did we learn from all of this? We learned that when America retreats, chaos often follows. When we neglect our friends, resentment builds. And when we partner with enemies, they advance.”

But now the flock will be arighted, continued Pompeo, a politician who has unironically spoken in public about his belief in the coming Rapture.

“The age of self-inflicted American shame is over, and so are the policies that produced so much needless suffering. Now comes the real new beginning.”
‘Robust humanitarian aid’ for Yemen & ‘peace’ for Syria

But Obama has not been president for two years – haven’t most of the problems he left behind still remained?

What about Yemen, for example, which according to the UN – and even US allies - continues to be the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis, with millions starving and displaced.

“In Yemen, we’ve assisted our coalition partners as they take the lead in preventing an Iranian expansion that would be disastrous for world trade and regional security. As is always the case with America, our engagement has also been coupled with robust humanitarian aid.”

Syria and Iraq? “Life is returning to normal for millions of Iraqis and Syrians. Nations in the global coalition should all be enormously proud of this achievement. Together we have saved thousands of lives.”

Islamic State? “Life under ISIS was real hell, a living hell on Earth. Today, those areas are liberated, thanks to our coalition’s power and might and commitment.”

In fact, almost everything has been sorted - “When the mission is over, when the job is complete, America leaves,” said Pompeo, bragging about the reduced contingents in the region.
Speaking in tongues

Of course, almost any politician making a speech in the Middle East is obliged to put a glossy spin on the situation, if they don’t want to just collapse on the floor and wail in futility for forty minutes instead.

But the benefits of the new Pentecostal style of diplomacy, based on mass delusions and leaps of faith are less obvious. A penny for the thoughts of the Egyptians in the audience – some of whom no doubt came in with sympathetic trepidation to listen to the powerful foreign official, who ended his speech by blessing his audience.

Did they feel blessed? Is the US a church they believe in? Do they want to continue watching the shows from the same ringmaster?

Igor Ogorodnev, RT

ロシアが外貨準備をドルから人民元などにシフト

人民元が持ち直しています。


ファナックの3年間価格推移


村田製作所の3年間価格推移


人民元高は、ドルを捨てて人民元やユーロ、地域通貨による決済が広がっていますから当然の動きです。

上にグラフを掲げた企業は国際優良銘柄といわれるものですよね。外国人が売っている？　日銀は吸収できていませんね。

彼らは何か大きな経済変動を見込んでいる？

RT2019/1/10
Russia shifts $100bn of its reserves into yuan, yen & euro in a great dollar dump
The Central Bank of Russia has moved further away from reliance on the US dollar and has axed its share in the country’s foreign reserves to a historic low, transferring about $100 billion into euro, Japanese yen and Chinese yuan.

The share of the US currency in Russia’s international reserves portfolio has dramatically decreased in just three months between March and June 2018, from 43.7 percent to a new low of 21.9 percent, according to the Central Bank’s latest quarterly report, which is issued with a six-month lag.

The money pulled from the dollar reserves was redistributed to increase the share of the euro to 32 percent and the share of Chinese yuan to 14.7 percent. Another 14.7 percent of the portfolio was invested in other currencies, including the British pound (6.3 percent), Japanese yen (4.5 percent), as well as Canadian (2.3 percent) and Australian (1 percent) dollars.

The Central Bank's total assets in foreign currencies and gold increased by $40.4 billion from July 2017 to June 2018, reaching $458.1 billion.

Police deny top lawmen carried casket of crime boss after viral funeral

RT2019/1/10
Police deny top lawmen carried casket of crime boss after viral funeral VIDEO
A video of a huge procession in Russia’s Far East went viral over a claim that it showed the funeral of a local crime lord, and his casket being carried by the city’s police chief and top prosecutor.

On Tuesday, there was a big funeral in Amursk, a city of some 40,000 located in Russia’s Khabarovsk region. The deceased person was said to be a career criminal in life with numerous convictions, local police confirmed without naming the man.

According to a video of the event published on the social media, the man was better known under his criminal nickname Zaruba and he was the head of organized crime in Amursk. His influence in the city was so great that the head of the city police force and the senior prosecutor were allegedly present at the funeral and carried the casket while road police stopped traffic.

The video quickly went viral and sparked understandable outrage among internet users, who were not happy to learn that modern Russia is not far removed from Al Capone’s Chicago. Except their anger may be misplaced.

Regional police launched an investigation and are now saying the claims are not true. The prosecutor was not even in the city on the day of the funeral, said the Interior Ministry’s branch in Khabarovsk, the region’s capital which oversees the police department in Amursk. The police chief was not at the funeral and the traffic police didn’t stop traffic but fined procession members who disrupted it, the statement said.

“The person, who posted the video and the comments, has been identified. He is known to the police. He was summoned for an interview and failed to explain why he did it,” a spokesperson for the police branch in Khabarovsk told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

Police demanded the original publication of the video be deleted, but given its viral fame copies are still widely available. Law enforcement is considering filing a libel lawsuit against the author, the spokesperson said.