イエメンは残酷な攻撃をかけてきたサウジにアッパーハンドを確保した

※　mko@trappedsoldier氏の2019/9/16のツイート
サウジはイエメン戦争に負けた。イエメンのドローンや弾道ミサイルから、ライフラインを守る術を持たない。アラムコ攻撃に先駆け、フーシー軍は事前に情報を収集し、サウジ国内にいる者の協力も得て準備した。もしさらにイエメン攻撃を続けるなら、フーシーは攻撃を拡大する！
https://moonofalabama.org/2019/09/attack
注：このリンク先はセキュリティ警告が出ます。

上のmko@trappedsoldier氏の発言は誇大ではありません。

サウジの攻撃されたとされる石油施設の衛星画像です。出所はロイター
中央下に黒い煙のようなものがありますが、これに隠れた部分には貯蔵。精製施設とみられるものはありません。


上の画像の左上にタンクが8個並んでいるところがありますが、ここは Abqiaq Plant South Gate です。この石油精製施設の全体画像。Google Earth　から。


アブカイクの町の全体像


さらに範囲を広げると、首都リヤドはアブカイクよりも近いことがわかります。パトリオットによって守られているはずですが、町全体を防衛できるか極めて疑問。


イエメンは、いつでもサウジ王宮を爆撃できるのです。前回石油輸送施設がイエメンのドローンによって破壊されたとき、サウジは米兵の派遣増員を求めました。

サウジの防衛は他国頼りなのです。イエメンであれだけ残忍なジェノサイド、幼稚園バスの爆撃など蛮行を繰り返してきたMbS。今頃恐怖に震えているでしょう。カショギの亡霊が現れている？

2019年09月16日
中東の緊張激化　軍事衝突があれば100ドル突破かに引用したFARSNEWSの記事に　

The Yemeni commander then addressed Saudi officials and underlined that the Yemeni Army is capable of hitting any target in Saudi Arabia at any time it wishes.

He then warned that another attack may be soon launched on Saudi facilities, and urged foreign companies and operators working at energy, power and other facilities to immediately leave the sites to avoid being hurt in the attacks.

とあります。サウジの建設工事などは外国企業に発注か、外国人労働者によって担われています。工事受注企業の従業員は浮足立ちます。雇用者たる請負企業は従業員に犠牲者が出れば、イエメンの警告にもかかわらず避難させなかったと責任を問われることになりかねません。

世界の最貧国の一つイエメンがどうやってサウジの仕掛けた戦争に戦ってきたか、サウジが米英仏から輸入した戦闘機をはじめとする武器、これらの国が派遣した操縦要員を使い苛烈な空爆を遂行する中で、イエメンがこれに耐えてサウジに報復できたかは、注目に値します。

イエメンが戦闘機を飛ばしたという情報はありません。勇敢な戦士、ミサイル、そしてドローンが主力です。

現代のの戦争ては、戦闘機の出番は少ないのです。最近ではカシミールでインド、パキスタンが戦闘機を飛ばして撃ち合いをしました。

他にはバルト海などで敵国の航空機の識別活動がしばしば伝えられます。

シリアでは、ロシア、シリアの戦闘機が爆撃を続けていますが、これは「地上軍」しかいないテロリストが相手ですから効果が上がるのです。
�@　衛星やドローンによる偵察活動、標的の確認
�A　戦闘機による爆撃、ミサイル攻撃
�B　�Aと並行した地上での迫撃砲などによる攻撃

シリア、イラクでは米国同盟の戦闘機がずさんな爆撃を繰り返して民間人に多くの犠牲者を出しています。

一方、イエメンは衛星利用の標的設定はないはずです。
�@　既知のデータを主としたインテリジェンス情報による標的設定
�A　ドローン、ミサイルによる攻撃
これだけです。

イランもミサイルを重点開発、戦闘機も自国産に成功しましたがかなり小型のものです。そしてイランの場合は、高度な地対空防衛システムを開発、配備しました。

イランは威力誇示の狙いもあってイラン国内からシリアのデリゾールに弾道ミサイルを発射しテロリスト拠点ビルを破壊しています。ミサイル1発だけの画像しか公表されていませんが、なかなかの精度です。航空母艦なら外すことはないでしょう。

北朝鮮がミサイル開発に取り組んできたのは防衛戦略としては当然です。大国の物量作戦に対抗するには心臓部に一発で攻撃を決めることしかないのです。イエメンも北朝鮮も同じ戦略です。

そういう力がないと米欧の侵略を受けるという過去の教訓があります。イラク、リビア。ボルトンは北朝鮮に対してリビア方式をとる、つまりキンジョンウンを捕らえて斬殺する戦略に言及し、北朝鮮の反発を買い、国際世論も驚きました。

日本のF35戦闘機の大量買い付け、これは時代錯誤もよいところ、笑っている国が多いでしょう。欠陥戦闘機ですでに自衛隊パイロットに犠牲が出ているのに。

ロシアや中国との衝突を想定して防衛体制を固めるのなら必要なのは、S400のような柔軟な対応ができる高性能な地対空防衛システムです。

ロシアは、米国が先制攻撃してきたら発射地点だけでなく関連施設を報復攻撃すると公言しています。米国がロシアを攻撃したら日本の米軍基地にミサイルが飛んでくるのです。パトリオットは性能が低く、トルコはS400を選びました。

米軍基地の周辺は、米軍が基地を守っているから安全？　とんでもない、逆です。オスプレイが落ちるかもしれないということは別にしても、日本で一番危険なところは原発周辺と米軍基地の近くです。

週明け石油価格は10％強上げて始まった

2019/9/16朝の海外市場は、パニックは見せていません。
原油先物は10％を超える上昇
ブレント原油先物 取引 - 11月 2019　 68.10 +7.95 +13.22%
原油（WTI原油先物）　現在値 61.37 (19/09/15 19:59 EST)
前日比 +6.52 (+11.89％)
日経225先物 (F) 21,712.5 -170.0 -0.78%

今回のイエメンによるサウジの石油施設攻撃は、予想を大きく超えるものでした。
�@　イエメン国境から1000km近く距離がある施設が正確に攻撃されています。そしてドローンはイエメンに帰ったとされています。（サウジはイエメンの残骸を示していません）
サウジの防空網をすり抜けており、ドローンの性能、操縦技術共に驚嘆に値します。
�A　攻撃地点が遠くにあるため、イラクやイランの領内から発射されたのではないかとの見方もありますが、両国ともにその憶測を否定しています。イラクやイランに運び込んで発射するには時間もかかりますし、途中で人目に付くリスクもありますからそれはまずやらない。
�B　サウジは48時間で復旧させるようなことを述べていますが、施設の炎上などの様子からみればそれは到底無理。障害は長く続くでしょう。プラントの建設会社としてyokokawaの名が言及されています。
�C　サウジのMbSがトランプと電話会談をしています。日常的に連絡を取っているのでしょうが、サウジは大打撃を受けました。米英仏から武器を入れ、人的な支援も得て民生施設を攻撃してきました。今回は石油施設ですが、王族の居住地域なども確実に攻撃できる力を示したことになります。
�D　世界の石油市場への影響は、まだ見定めることは困難な状況です。サウジの在庫、米国の備蓄があると強調されていますので、逆に言えば石油価格の高騰が米国経済に与える悪影響が関心の的です。

今週末、ブレント原油価格1バレル80ドルを試す可能性があるとの見方が出てます。

※　Holger Zschaepitz @Schuldensuehner
Attacks in Saudi Arabia are a recipe for $100 Oil & global recession. Saudi's production is from single entity: Saudi Aramco. They move and transport a large fraction of the production through relatively small areas. Makes it extremely vulnerable to attack https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2019/09/14/a-recipe-for-100-oil/?source=bloomberg …

PressTV　2019/9/15
Attacks on Saudi oil make waivers on Iran necessary: Experts
Experts say critical oil supplies lost due to Yemeni attacks on Saudi Arabia’s production plants can only be compensated if the United States eases its sanctions on sale of crude by Iran.

Sandy Fielden, an analyst at Morningstar, a global financial services firm based in the US, said on Saturday that the current oil stocks in Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil exporter in the world, would not suffice to compensate for a loss of around 5 million barrels per day (bpd) that could be caused by attacks earlier in the day targeting the kingdom’s vital oil facilities located east of the country.

The attacks "resulted in a temporary suspension of production at Abqaiq and Khurais plants," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. It led to the interruption of an estimated 5.7 million barrels of crude, or about 50 percent of total production, he added.

Fielden said the disruptions could cause a real jump in the global oil prices, adding that the US, a main player in the oil market and an ally of the Saudis, would have no option but to allow Iran to resume its crude exports after months of a halt that has been caused by Washington's unilateral bans.

“By all accounts the Iranians have tankers full of storage ready to go,” he said, adding, “The obvious short-term fix would be waivers on Iran sanctions.”

Yemen’s ruling Houthi Ansarullah movement said on Saturday that its drones had successfully attacked two oil plants in Abqaiq, the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

The Houthis said the attacks were a firm response to Saudi Arabia’s relentless bombardment of Yemen, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed since Riyadh launched its illegal military campaign four years ago.

James Krane, Middle East energy specialist at Rice University’s Baker Institute, suggested that supplies from a country like Iran would be the best option to replace the lost Saudi production as most of the Kingdom’s exports normally go to countries in Asia that are closer to Iran than any other major oil producer.

“For the United States, the main threat is in the price of oil,” said Krane, adding, “Asian countries are more at immediate risk because they are the big importers from Saudi Arabia, with 80% of Saudi exports going to East Asia.”

Riyadh defenseless against Yemeni strikes

Analysts said Yemeni attacks on Saudi oil installations showed that Riyadh, which pumps just below 10 million bpd of oil into the global market, is effectively defenseless in the face of strikes from its impoverished neighbor.

Fielden said Washington would also find it impossible to try to solve the crisis on its own by sending tankers full of oil to Saudi customers in East Asia.

“It takes 19-20 days to ship Ras Tanura (Saudi) to Singapore, but 54 days from Houston to Singapore. So US ‘relief’ will take time,” he said.

However, US officials said right after the attack that they would try to ensure a smooth supply of oil to the global markets despite the attacks in Abqaiq.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that Washington was committed to well-supplied oil markets while adding that US President Donald Trump had held a phone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following the Saturday attacks.

Oil could rise $10 per barrel

Oil analysts and traders say that the impact of the attack on crude prices could be double digit and the commodity’s price could jump as much as $10 per barrel.

“This is a big deal,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. “Fearing the worst, I expect that the market will open up $5 to $10 per barrel on Sunday evening. This is 12 to 25 cents per gallon for gasoline.”

Kevin Book, the head of research at Clearview Energy, said the price impact will depend on the repair time which can take weeks to months. “Our baseline assumptions, which incorporate public assessments of strategic petroleum reserve capacity and OPEC spare capacity, imply a net shortfall of ~1 MM bbl/d, or at least a ~$6/bbl premium to the ~$60 Brent close... Exclusive of this supply offset, and assuming a three-week shutdown, our models imply ~$10/bbl of upside.”

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled 0.4% lower at $54.85 on Friday, and Brent crude futures traded 0.2% lower at $60.25 per barrel.

IEA: No real concerns

The International Energy Agency (IEA) also said that in the short term was there were no real concerns about supplies to the markets.

“For now, markets are well supplied with ample commercial stocks,” it said, adding, “The IEA is monitoring the situation in Saudi Arabia closely. We are in contact with Saudi authorities as well as major producer and consumer nations.”

The United Arab Emirates, a close ally of Saudi Arabia and a major oil producer, said it would support measures adopted by the kingdom to safeguard its security following Saturday attacks.


FARSNEWS2019/9/15
Baghdad Denies Iraqi Territory Used to Hit Saudi Oil Facilities
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq denied on Sunday that its territory had been used to carry out attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, referring to the Saturday incident that knocked out more than half the Kingdom’s output.

A Baghdad government statement denied “media reports that [Iraqi] territory was used to attack Saudi oil installations using drones”.

According to a statement from the Iraqi Prime Minister's press-service, the constitution of Iraq does not allow the use of its territory for aggressive actions towards its neighbours.

Drones attacked Saudi Arabia's oil facilities on Saturday, causing major fires and disrupting oil production.

Yemen's Ansarullah movement claimed responsibility for the operation but the United States has blamed Iran for the incident. Tehran has rejected the allegations.

Following the strikes, US President Donald Trump, a stalwart supporter of the Riyadh-led war on Yemen, spoke on the phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), who has been leading the military campaign in his capacity as the Saudi defense chief.

Trump offered Washington’s support for what he called “Saudi Arabia’s self defense”, stating that the attacks on Saudi oil facilities had a negative impact on the US and global economies.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also took to Twitter to put the blame on Iran, claiming, “Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia” and that “there is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen”.

“The United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and Iran is held accountable for its aggression,” he added.

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi blasted Pompeo for his big lies against Tehran, and categorically rejected his allegations about Iran's involvement in Yemeni attacks on Saudi Arabia.

"Such allegations and blind and fruitless remarks are meaningless and not understood in diplomatic framework," he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also responded to Pompeo’s claim, stressing that the American diplomat is now resorting to a campaign of “max deceit” against Tehran after the administration he serves failed to achieve the desired results from its anti-Iran “maximum pressure” policy − which has seen Washington impose the toughest of economic sanctions against the Iranian nation.

“US & its clients are stuck in Yemen because of illusion that weapon superiority will lead to military victory,” Zarif wrote on Twitter.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures. Weddings, funerals, schools and hospitals, as well as water and electricity plants, have been targeted, killing 20,000 civilians, including women and children, and wounding hundreds of thousands.

France, the United States, the United Kingdom and some other Western countries have faced criticisms over arms sales to the Saudi Arabia and the UAE, whose aggression against Yemen has affected 28 million people and caused what the United Nations calls “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world". According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A UN panel has compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.

中東の緊張激化 軍事衝突があれば100ドル突破か

※　mko@trappedsoldier氏の2019/9/16のツイート
「サウジの石油施設が空爆された。我々は犯人を知っており、弾は込めている。しかしサウジからの正式発表を待っている」
またアホなトランプのツイート。6月イランが米ドローンを撃墜した時、イランは米軍の報復に構え、全軍が超警戒態勢に。カタールとUAEにある米軍基地と米艦が攻撃目標に入っていた

※　mko@trappedsoldier氏の2019/9/16のツイート
サウジアラビアの空爆と傭兵によって、市民が虐殺されてきたイエメンのフーシー軍が反撃し、アラムコを攻撃。フーシー自身が正式に攻撃を認め、声明を発しているのに、なぜポンペオはイランを批判する？　米サウジの戦争犯罪の結果だと認めたくない？

※　mko@trappedsoldier氏の2019/9/16のツイート
サウジはイエメン戦争に負けた。イエメンのドローンや弾道ミサイルから、ライフラインを守る術を持たない。アラムコ攻撃に先駆け、フーシー軍は事前に情報を収集し、サウジ国内にいる者の協力も得て準備した。もしさらにイエメン攻撃を続けるなら、フーシーは攻撃を拡大する！
https://moonofalabama.org/2019/09/attack

FARSNEWS2019/9/16
Saudi Attacks Threaten US Gasoline Price Hikes
TEHRAN (FNA)- US motorists most likely to feel the hit from rising gas prices following the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities are on the West Coast, which accounts for nearly half of all of US crude imports from the kingdom.

The attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities on Saturday knocked out more than 5% of global oil supply and sent oil prices surging as much as 20%, Reuters reported.

US pump prices are likely to rise in coming days as gasoline futures spiked by more than 10% on Sunday trading, analysts stated.

The national average price of regular gasoline was currently $2.57 per gallon, according to AAA.

However, California motorists, some 8,000 miles (13,000 km) away from Saudi Arabia, could be hit the hardest. Refineries in that state rely heavily on imports for supplies due to its isolated location and lack of pipelines to connect it with oil-rich states such as Texas.

Saudi Arabia exports more than 7 million barrels of crude oil every day, much of that to Asia, but about 47% of what it sends to the United States goes to the West Coast.

For the 12 months ended in June, the US West Coast imported an average of 11.40 million barrels every month of Saudi crude, much of it going to a number of refineries based in California, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

“I absolutely think it’s likely that the West Coast will see more of a pricing impact than other regions since they’re more tied to Saudi imports,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at tracking firm GasBuddy, noted.

Saudi Arabia accounted for about 37 percent of California’s total foreign oil imports in 2018, according to the California Energy Commission.

“Saudi Arabia has always sought to portray itself as a reliable supplier of crude to the market and for this reason we think they will opt to supply the export market for crude first then products,” Robert Campbell, head of oil products research at Energy Aspects, stated.

The state currently has the second-highest average gasoline prices in the United States at $3.63 per regular gallon of gas, trailing only Hawaii. Fuel prices in California are typically higher due to tight regulations and differing gasoline specifications.

Among the biggest buyers of Saudi Arabian crude are Chevron Corp’s 245,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Richmond, California, and the 269,000-bpd El Segundo refinery in California. The West Coast, known as oil region PADD 5, includes Washington State, which has also taken in barrels from Saudi Arabia in the last year.

A Chevron spokesman told Reuters the company sources crude from “multiple global suppliers”, and it will “take the necessary actions to continue to meet the needs of the marketplace”.

The United States has more than 640 million barrels of oil in reserve that could offset tighter supply as a result of the Saudi attacks.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he authorized the release of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) if needed in a quantity to be determined.

“I don’t yet think any area will see ‘spikes’ because of the attacks, but it certainly could become that if Saudi Arabia production doesn’t return to 90% of normal very quickly,” DeHaan added.



FARSNEWS2019/9/16
Yemen: New Attack on Saudi Facilities Imminent
TEHRAN (FNA)- Spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said on Monday that his country is ready for another attack on Saudi facilities, urging foreign companies and workers to immediately leave their working sites in the kingdom for their safety.

Speaking to Arabic-language al-Masireh news channel, Brigadier General Saree said today the Yemeni forces used ordinary and jet engines in their drones which hit Saudi oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais during Operation Equation Deterrence II.

He then warned that another attack may be soon launched on Saudi facilities, and urged foreign companies and operators working at energy, power and other facilities to immediately leave the sites to avoid being hurt in the attacks.

The Yemeni commander then addressed Saudi officials and underlined that the Yemeni Army is capable of hitting any target in Saudi Arabia at any time it wishes.

“Riyadh must reconsider its calculations and stop its attacks and blockade against Yemen,” he affirmed.

Yemen’s Ansarullah movement announced on Saturday that its drones had successfully attacked two oil plants in the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, stressing that the attacks were a firm response to Riyadh’s relentless bombardment of Yemen.

Abqaiq, 60 km (37 miles) Southwest of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, contains the world’s largest oil processing plant. Khurais, 190 km further Southwest, contains the country’s second largest oilfield.

Saudi stocks fell sharply on Sunday, after attacks on two plants at the heart of the kingdom’s oil industry on Saturday knocked out more than half of the crude output.

It came just weeks after Yemeni forces conducted attacks on an oil field affiliated to Saudi Aramco in the East of the kingdom in retaliation for Riyadh’s war on their country. Oil facilities at Shaybah, which has the largest strategic oil reserve in Saudi Arabia near the UAE border and operated by state-oil company Saudi Aramco, were targeted by 10 Yemeni drones.

RT2019/9/16
Trump says he waits to hear from Riyadh on oil attacks’ culprit, US ‘locked & loaded’ to respond
US President Donald Trump has said that Washington has “a reason to believe” it knows the mastermind behind the drone strikes on the Saudi oil refineries and is poised to respond pending the confirmation from Riyadh.

“Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!” Trump tweeted Sunday.

Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2019

“PLENTY OF OIL!,” he added in a follow-up tweet.

Although the attacks on the two Saudi oil facilities were claimed by the Houthi rebels, Washington has immediately pointed the finger at Tehran, claiming that the attack was too complex and too devastating to be coordinated by the rebels. A senior US official told Reuters that the US intelligence believes the attack generated from the direction of Iraq and Iran, rather than from the area controlled by the Houthis.

Trump's annonucement comes shortly after he green-lighted the release of the US emergency petroleum reserves, “if needed,” to offset the fifty percent drop in production by Saudi Aramco, whose largest Abqaiq oil processing plant was crippled as result of the Saturday morning attacks.

Riyadh so far has fallen short of naming the perpetrator, branding the drone strikes “terrorist attacks,” aimed at disrupting the global oil supply. Tehran has dismissed the allegations of its involvement, calling the US claims "maximum lies" and saying that it was ready to protect itself in case a war breaks out.

Following the recent resignation of hawkish US National Security Adviser John Bolton, there have been some tentative hopes of a looming thaw between Tehran and Washington. On Wednesday, Trump seemingly hinted he was open to easing the crippling sanctions stifling the Iranian economy. “We’ll see what happens,” he said, when asked about this possibility. Earlier this week, Trump said that he would have “no problem” in meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with US State Secretary Mike Pompeo telling reporters on Tuesday that “the President has made very clear he is prepared to meet with no preconditions.”

However, on Sunday, Trump appeared to have contradicted his own top diplomat , denouncing reports that he was willing to meet with Iran with “no conditions” as “fake news.”

“That is an incorrect statement (as usual!)” he tweeted.

RT2019/9/15
‘Maximum lies’: Iran rejects US’ claim it attacked Saudi oil facilities, warns it’s ready for war

Iran has rebuffed US accusations of launching a drone attacks that cut Saudi Arabia’s oil output in half. A senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, meanwhile, has warned Washington that Tehran is ready for war.

Allegations that Iran was behind the drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities are “unsubstantiated” and false, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Seyyed Abbas Mousavi stated on Sunday. He also said officials in Washington are accusing Iran in order to tarnish its image on the world stage in preparation for “future actions” against Tehran.

The Americans adopted the ‘maximum pressure’ policy against Iran, which, due to its failure, is leaning towards ‘maximum lies’

The Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for sending 10 armed drones to hit two Saudi oil refineries on Saturday. The attacks caused massive fires and other damage to the sites, which halved the kingdom’s oil output.

The Houthis previously admitted to launching similar drone and rocket attacks against Riyadh, some of which were directed at oil pumping stations. The Saudis have been waging a devastating aerial bombing campaign in civil war-torn Yemen, where they intervened in 2015 on behalf of ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, squarely blamed Iran. Senator Lindsey Graham even suggested the US should respond by striking Tehran’s oil refineries.

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, warned that Tehran is fully prepared to retaliate if attacked.

“Everybody should know that all American bases and their vessels in a distance of up to 2,000 kilometers [from Iran] are within the range of our missiles.”

香港の人は植民地支配に戻りたいのかな

アフガニスタンの人々は、米国による占領支配を終わらせるために100年でも戦い続けるというのに、香港の若者は英国による植民地支配の復活を望んでいる？　彼らはまともなのか。そういう彼らを応援する日本人。日本人は米国による占領を歓迎し満足している？

香港の暴徒を応援していた人は、事件の歴史的背景、裏に隠された動き、陰謀に思いを致さないと自らの奴隷精神を露呈してしまうことになります。リベラルのようなふりをしていても、その実はネオコンの手先、宣伝マンだったりするのです。

tightrope@tightrope_jpn氏の午前11:33 ・ 2019年9月16日のツイート
田中龍作はベネズエラでおかしくなって以来壊れた。
ジャーナリストとしてもうダメかも。

Protesters heading to #WanChai, holding the US flag, singing The Star Spangled Banner. #HongKong #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/g0XK2R5rg2

— Katy Wong (@katywmw) September 15, 2019

[Recap] Hundreds rally at UK consulate in Hong Kong urging London to admit China violated 1997 Handover treaty #HongKong #antiELAB #hongkongprotests @benedictrogers @foreignoffice @UKinHongKong https://t.co/8o3gjupchq pic.twitter.com/5moILLYqjO

— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) September 15, 2019

FARSNEWS2019/9/15
Rule, Britannia! Hong Kong Protesters Sing Ex-Colonial Sovereign’s Anthem
TEHRAN (FNA)- Activists flocked to the UK Consulate in Hong Kong on Sunday, waving Union Jacks and singing ‘God Save the Queen’ in a bid to convince London to step in and protect them from Beijing like it would have in the colonial era.

The hundreds of protesters who gathered in front of the British Consulate-General claim the Chinese government is encroaching on their freedoms established under the ‘one country, two systems’ formula at the end of British colonial rule in 1984, RT reported.

Calling on the former sovereign to do something about it, they waved British flags as well as those of colonial Hong Kong, and sang patriotic British songs, including ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.

Britain had control over Hong Kong for decades after taking it from imperial China – a result of the Opium Wars, which reduced what was an economic powerhouse to destitution.

Since it’s highly unlikely that modern Britain would launch a colonial war the way it did so often in the 19th century, the protesters have other ideas on how Her Majesty can support them. For example, granting full British citizenship to holders of the British National (Overseas) passport – a special type of document that was granted to hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents. It allows visa-free travel to the UK, but only for six months, and does not include work privileges.

Some protesters were eager to pledge allegiance to Britain, chanting, “We are British and we will never surrender” and “Rule, Britannia!”

It’s not the first time the Hong Kong protesters have urged a foreign power to intervene on their behalf. Demonstrators have also been seen waving American flags, singing the US national anthem, and holding up meme-like photos of a rifle-toting Donald Trump standing on top of a ‘Trump’ tank, urging him to “liberate Hong Kong”.

The protests started in March over a now-scrapped extradition bill – which activists claimed was meant to undermine the city’s judiciary and to persecute dissidents – and have continued with ever-increasing demands from the protest leaders. Some demonstrations turned violent, leading to clashes with police, but Beijing has so far been reluctant to intervene with force.

Beijing accuses the US and UK of spurring the protests, and the demonstrators’ ostentatious gestures of loyalty to those very nations – like Sunday’s anthem-singing – hardly allay those perceptions.

Syrian Army-Backed Tribal Forces Preparing to Drive Out US-Backed Kurdish Militias from Deir Ezzur

FARSNEWS2019/9/16
Syrian Army-Backed Tribal Forces Preparing to Drive Out US-Backed Kurdish Militias from Deir Ezzur
TEHRAN (FNA)- Syria’s tribal forces backed by the Syrian Army have declared their readiness to drive out the US-backed Kurdish militias from areas under their control in Eastern Deir Ezzur, media reports said.

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted al-Baqer Division, which is under the auspices of tribal leader Sheikh al-Bokareh Nawaf al-Bashir, as saying that his forces are fully prepared to liberate the areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Eastern Syria.

It noted that the al-Baqer commander in a meeting with a Russian officer in Eastern Deir Ezzur has declared that his men are waiting for the Syrian Army Command’s order to launch military operations to take back the SDF-controlled regions.

He also reiterated that the tribes of Eastern Syria do not accept the occupation of Syrian territories by the US or Israel.

In a relevant development in early May, residents of Eastern Deir Ezzur had called on the Syrian government to return to the Eastern parts of the country to expel occupiers from the region as tensions had heightened between the SDF and the civilians.

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper reported that residents of different parts of Eastern Deir Ezzur had raised the demand in several contacts with the paper.

It underlined that residents of towns and villages of Deir Ezzur were highly dissatisfied with measures adopted by the occupying US forces and the SDF, including detentions, torture of civilians and seizure of the civilian properties.

The newspaper said that the occupied areas in Hasaka and Deir Ezzur did not enjoy even the minimum living standards, including electricity, adding that a large number of residents of the towns and villages in Eastern Deir Ezzur had been transferred to the Syrian army-controlled areas.

Meantime, residents of tens of towns and villages in Eastern Deir Ezzur had staged rallies in late May against the SDF's vis-à-vis civilians and their hoarding of fuel and closed the roads, demanding their withdrawal from the region.

Russia prevented Israeli airstrikes in Syria, Putin warned Netanyahu: Report

PressTV　2019/9/14
Russia prevented Israeli airstrikes in Syria, Putin warned Netanyahu: Report
Moscow has reportedly moved to prevent Israeli airstrikes in Syria, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the strikes.

Putin told Netanyahu that allowing Israeli strikes on Syrian military assets would undermine Moscow’s relations with Damascus, the Arabic edition of the UK-based Independent newspaper reported on Friday.

The report comes after Netanyahu met with Putin in the resort city of Sochi on Thursday to discuss “security coordination” in Syria.

According to an unnamed Russian source cited in the report, Moscow has also threatened to use its “fighter jets or the S-400 air defense system” in order to counter any Israeli aircraft striking Syria.

In August, Moscow stopped an airstrike on the strategic Qasioun region near Damascus, where a Syrian S-300 missile battery is said to be placed, according to the report.

Moscow allegedly prevented another airstrike later on a Syrian outpost in the southwestern province of Quneitra and a third in the western coastal province of Latakia.

The report comes as Syria has intercepted several Israeli missile attacks in the past month, casting doubt on the extent of Russian commitment to counter Israeli ambitions.

The Israeli regime has acknowledged repeatedly launching attacks against Syria in recent years, some of which have been carried out from Lebanese airspace.

Such aggressive moves have been viewed by observers as attempts to weaken the Damascus government as it increasingly gains the upper hand fighting terrorist groups which have plagued the country since 2011.

‘A failed meeting’

The Independent report also cited unnamed Israeli sources who described Netanyahu’s meeting with Putin as “a failure”, falling short of reducing any Syria policy disagreements with Moscow.

Israeli sources added that Israel airstrikes on Syria had “embarrassed” the Russians from failing to protect its allies.

During the "failed" meeting, Netanyahu had also called for Tel Aviv to be given “freedom of action” against Iran by Russia.

The Israeli prime minister had even sought to use the meeting to “present positive message of the cooperation between the two countries” for his election campaign but failed, the report wrote.

According to the Russian source, Putin’s disagreements with Netanyahu also went as far as Putin condemning Tel Aviv’s recent actions in Lebanon, with the Russian president saying that he "rejects the aggression towards Lebanon's sovereignty."

Israel launched a number of drone attacks into Lebanon last month.

Following the drone raids, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, vowed in a televised speech that fighters of the movement would counter any further violation of the Lebanese airspace by Israeli drones, warning the Tel Aviv regime to immediately halt such breaches.

Last week, Hezbollah fired two anti-tank guided missiles at a moving Israeli armored vehicle at the Avivim base north of the occupied territories, killing and wounding its occupants.

石油の価格が上がる 値上がりの秋

明日、2019/9/16は日本は休日ですが、石油相場が大きく動きそうです。関連して為替相場も海外の株式市場も動くでしょう。イエメンのホーシスがサウジの石油精製施設をドローンで攻撃し、施設が大炎上。アラムコの精製能力の半分が阻害されていると報じられています。

識者は、イエメンのミサイル、ドローン攻撃能力は日に日に高まっており、この先の攻撃能力はさらに増大することを見込んでいます。

ブッシュがイラクを攻撃した時、原油価格は26ドルから100ドルまで上がりました。

FARSNEWS2019/9/15
Saudi Stocks Tumble After Yemen Drone Attack on Aramco
TEHRAN (FNA)- Saudi stocks fell sharply on Sunday, after attacks on two plants at the heart of the kingdom’s oil industry on Saturday knocked out more than half of the crude output.

In the aftermath of the successful operation by the Yemen's Ansarullah movement on Saturday, Saudi shares dropped three percent at the start of trading Sunday.

The Arab world's largest capital market shed some 200 points in the first few minutes after the opening bell, before regaining some of the losses.

The key energy sector plunged 4.7 percent, while the telecom and banking sectors each slid three percent.

Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), the kingdom’s biggest petrochemicals firm, was down 2.4 percent after it announced it had curtailed feedback supplies by about 49 percent following the strikes. Other petrochemical companies such as Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co and Kayan also announced significant reductions in feedstock supplies.

Other Persian Gulf markets also reacted negatively to the incident, with Kuwait’s premier index down 0.4 percent and Dubai stocks falling 0.5 percent, although they recovered from sharper intraday losses.

FARSNEWS2019/9/14
Saudi Arabia Confirms Nearly Half of Aramco's Oil Production Halted After Yemenis' Reprisal Operation
TEHRAN (FNA)- Drone attacks on two Saudi Aramco facilities will lead to 5.7 million barrels or 50 percent drop in the oil giant’s production, an official in Riyadh declared.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stated that the attacks crippled the facilities, forcing Saudi Aramco to partially halt crude and gas production, but the company was working on recovering the lost quantities and would make an update within 48 hours.

The decrease in supplies would be partially compensated through the company’s oil reserves, the energy minister promised.

Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement announced on Saturday that its drones had successfully attacked two oil plants in the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, stressing that the attacks were a firm response to Riyadh’s relentless bombardment of Yemen.

Oil analysts and traders say that the impact of the attack on crude prices could be double digit and the commodity’s price could jump as much as $10 per barrel.

The recent operation came just weeks after Yemeni forces conducted attacks on an oil field affiliated to Saudi Aramco in the East of the kingdom in retaliation for Riyadh’s war on their country. Oil facilities at Shaybah, which has the largest strategic oil reserve in Saudi Arabia near the UAE border and operated by state-oil company Saudi Aramco, were targeted by 10 Yemeni drones.

In mid-May, Yemeni soldiers, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, launched a major operation against the strategic oil facility in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the Riyadh regime’s devastating military aggression and siege of the impoverished country. Following the attack, Saudi Arabia stopped pumping crude oil on the major pipeline across the country. The retaliatory attack also led to the rise of oil prices and fall of stock markets in Persian Gulf Arab countries.

The attack bears extra significance at this stage of the war because the Yemeni forces could fly armed drones so far and carry out precision strikes and then fly them back while evading all Saudi defenses on the way. The long-range drones open unlimited possibilities for Yemeni resistance forces, which have already surpassed all expectations by surviving the massive Saudi onslaught and mounted a potent response with an arsenal of ballistic missiles.

Yemen's Ansarullah movement has also warned that its recent attack on a major Saudi oil facility was the start of operations against 300 vital targets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The Ansarullah said its drone attack on pumping stations of the Saudi state oil company Aramco was the start of operations against 300 vital targets. The group added that other planned targets include military headquarters and facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures. Weddings, funerals, schools and hospitals, as well as water and electricity plants, have been targeted, killing and wounding hundreds of thousands.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) announced in late August that the total number of reported fatalities in Yemen has passed the 91,000 mark over the past four and a half years.

France, the United States, the United Kingdom and some other Western countries have faced criticisms over arms sales to the Saudi Arabia and the UAE, whose aggression against Yemen has affected 28 million people and caused what the United Nations calls “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world". According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A UN panel has compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.

※　Ian56@Ian56789氏の2019/9/14のツイート
Drone attacks trigger huge fires at Saudi Aramco oil facilities, Houthis claim responsibility
https://rt.com/news/468796-sa

Video showing the fires & huge plume of smoke rising from Saudi Aramco's huge oil processing plant at Abqaiq, after being hit by multiple Houthi drones.

Pretty clear from this why the huge plume of smoke can be seen from space!

Expecting oil to spike Monday as people try to assess damage done to Saudi Arabia's exports by the Houthi attack, & the risk premium of future successful attacks as the Houthis rapidly improve their drone & missile capabilities.

When Bush invaded Iraq, oil went from $26 to $100

※　mko@trappedsoldier氏の2019/9/14のツイート
イエメンのフーシー軍がサウジのアラムコ精油施設を10機ドローンで攻撃！　イエメン国境から1,000ｍの距離。サウジとイスラエルと米国に大打撃。中東政治をフーシーがひっくり返す！　これでやっとイエメンのジェノサイドが終わる？　注：1,000ｍは1,000kmの単位誤り

アフガンのタリバン、イエメンのホーシスはベトナムのべトコンと同じ

ن وبلاگ از طالبان حمایت می کند.
هذه المدونة تدعم الحوثيين اليمنيين.

中央がタリバンのポリティカルチーフ　Stanikzai スタニクザイ。両脇は政治部門のトップ、それともデピュティでしょうか。応答はStanikzai に委ねるという形のようです。右側の方の耳がとても立派です。髭も。でも表情は穏やかです。とてもテロリストのリーダーには見えない。右の方のチョッキ、まさに背広の発祥地と言われるだけのことがあるしっかりした仕立てです。イエメンのほうが普及度は高いですが。左の方は、中央アジアでよく見かける感じのお顔です。


スタニクザイ。元記事の動画見るとわかりますが、能弁ですね。彼の主張は簡明で訴える力がある。彼は外務大臣に相当するわけですから、トランプと会談してもおかしくない。ラブロフは、ホワイトハウスに招かれました。


次の記事によるとRTのインタビューは、モスクワで行われたようです。使節団がモスクワ訪問中だそうです。

FARSNEWS2019/9/13
TEHRAN (FNA)- After talks with the Taliban to end to the US ‘forever war’ were killed off by Washington last week, the Afghan militant movement is prepared to fight the “imposed” conflict for another hundred years, its chief negotiator stated.

The year-long peace process was shut down by President Donald Trump just days ahead of a formal signed agreement. The draft had even been initialed by both parties, top Taliban negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai told RT.

He added that he does not see the US decision as set in stone, however, and said the group remains committed to negotiations.

“Our stance is that there is no solution to the conflict except negotiations and except peace on the table,” Stanikzai stated, noting, “We hope that Mr. Trump rethinks his announcement and comes back to where we were.”

The talks were ostensibly called off over a Taliban car bombing that killed a US soldier stationed in Kabul last week – along with nearly a dozen Afghan civilians – with Trump abruptly cancelling a planned meeting with the militant group at Camp David. The Taliban argues their bombings are a justified response to ongoing attacks by American and Afghan forces, and insist they are defending their land from a hostile foreign occupier.

"The war was imposed on us. It is American soldiers who are in Afghanistan. It’s not our mujahedeen in Washington," he said.

Stanikzai was skeptical about the president's reason for stopping the talks, arguing it clashed with statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who appeared on TV the following day and bragged that the US had killed “over 1,000 Taliban” over the previous ten days, even as the negotiations progressed.

“If they can kill a thousand of us, why can we not kill one or two of them?” Stanikzai asked, adding that “this is our right. We have to defend ourselves and defend our people”.

The Taliban representative stated that Trump has failed to distinguish himself from his predecessor Barack Obama, who also attempted peace talks with the Afghan militants before changing course at the last moment. He questioned Washington’s commitment to ending what is now a 19-year-long counter-insurgency, and vowed to continue fighting as long as there is a US presence.

"We can do it for a hundred years," he added.

Only after a formal agreement is signed and American troops are pulled out of Afghanistan can the Taliban settle its differences with other Afghan political factions, including the US-backed government in Kabul, Stanikzai said, calling for “inter-Afghan talks” and a “comprehensive ceasefire”.

The Taliban delegation visited Moscow this week as part of regular meetings with Russian officials, which have continued parallel to the American talks with the militant group brokered by Qatar.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City and Washington, DC. US officials accused the Taliban of harboring members of Al-Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the infamous attack. The war has dragged on for nearly two decades, and has cost American taxpayers some some $877 billion dollars as of March 2019. This includes both fighting the Taliban and trying to rebuild what was left in its wake.


RT2019/9/13
‘We can fight Americans for 100 years,’ Taliban tells RT after scrapped peace talks
After talks with the Taliban to end to the US ‘forever war’ were killed off by Washington last week, the Afghan militant movement is prepared to fight the “imposed” conflict for another hundred years, its chief negotiator told RT.

The year-long peace process was shut down by President Donald Trump just days ahead of a formal signed agreement. The draft had even been initialed by both parties, top Taliban negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai told RT. He added that he does not see the US decision as set in stone, however, and said the group remains committed to negotiations.

“Our stance is that there is no solution to the conflict except negotiations and except peace on the table,” Stanikzai said. “We hope that Mr. Trump rethinks his announcement and comes back to where we were.”

The talks were ostensibly called off over a Taliban car bombing that killed a US soldier stationed in Kabul last week – along with nearly a dozen Afghan civilians – with President Trump abruptly cancelling a planned meeting with the militant group at Camp David. The Taliban argues their bombings are a justified response to ongoing attacks by American and Afghan forces, and insist they are defending their land from a hostile foreign occupier.

The war was imposed on us. It is American soldiers who are in Afghanistan. It’s not our mujahedeen in Washington.

Stanikzai was skeptical about the president's reason for stopping the talks, arguing it clashed with statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who appeared on TV the following day and bragged that the US had killed “over 1,000 Taliban” over the previous ten days, even as the negotiations progressed.

“If they can kill a thousand of us, why can we not kill one or two of them?” Stanikzai asked. “This is our right. We have to defend ourselves and defend our people.”

The Taliban representative said President Trump has failed to distinguish himself from his predecessor Barack Obama, who also attempted peace talks with the Afghan militants before changing course at the last moment. He questioned Washington’s commitment to ending what is now a 19-year-long counter-insurgency, and vowed to continue fighting as long as there is a US presence.

We can do it for a hundred years.

Only after a formal agreement is signed and American troops are pulled out of Afghanistan can the Taliban settle its differences with other Afghan political factions, including the US-backed government in Kabul, Stanikzai said, calling for “inter-Afghan talks” and a “comprehensive ceasefire.”

The Taliban delegation visited Moscow this week as part of regular meetings with Russian officials, which have continued parallel to the American talks with the militant group brokered by Qatar.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City and Washington, DC. US officials accused the Taliban of harboring members of Al-Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the infamous attack. The war has dragged on for nearly two decades, and has cost American taxpayers some some $877 billion dollars as of March 2019. This includes both fighting the Taliban and trying to rebuild what was left in its wake.


RT2019/9/13
War is imposed on us by US, we can fight it for 100 years, Taliban tells RT after talks cut off
Talks with the Taliban to put an end to the longest of America’s forever wars were killed off by the US last week. The Afghan militant movement is prepared to fight a hundred more years, its chief negotiator told RT.

The peace negotiations between the US and the Taliban were called off by President Donald Trump days ahead of a planned signing of a formal agreement. The draft has even been initialed by both parties and Qatar, which mediated in the talks, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who headed the Taliban’s delegation, told RT. As far as the Taliban is concerned, the US decision can be easily reversed and the agreement put into force as agreed, he said.

“We are still committed to the negotiations. Our stance is that there is no solution to the conflict except negotiations and except peace on the table. We hope that Mr. Trump rethinks his announcement and comes back to where we were,” the official said.

Trump cited an attack by the Taliban, which killed a US soldier stationed in Afghanistan, as the reason for the surprise cancellation of the talks. The militants say their attacks were well justified by attacks against them by the US and the Afghan security forces. They see the Americans as a foreign occupying force and themselves as freedom fighters and protectors of the Afghan civilians, who are injured and killed when the US attacks the Taliban, which regularly conducts terrorist attacks.

“The war was imposed on us. It is American soldiers who are in Afghanistan. It’s not our mujahedeen in Washington,” he said. He added that Trump’s justification for stopping talks clashed with statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who appeared on TV the following day and said the US killed “over 1,000 Taliban” over ten prior days, as negotiations were under way.

“Mr. Pompeo admitted that they have killed a thousand Taliban,” Stanikzai pointed out. “If they can kill a thousand of us, why can we not kill one or two of them? This is our right. We have to defend ourselves and defend our people.”

The Taliban representative said the Trump administration proved to be no different to that of Barack Obama, which also held peace talks with the Afghan militants before ending them at the last moment. He questioned Washington’s commitment to resolving the situation and ending what is now a 19-year-long anti-insurgency war that the US apparently cannot win through military force.

“If the American side is not willing to negotiate and they do not want peace on the table, we will be compelled to defend ourselves,” he said.

We can do it for a hundred years.

Stanikzai reiterated that only after a formal agreement is signed and US troops are pulled out of Afghanistan would the Taliban be able to settle its differences with other political forces in Afghanistan, including the US-backed government in Kabul.

“We need a practical thing. When it is signed, there will be [a] ceasefire between us and the American forces. We will give safe passage to the American forces,” he said. “When they go out, inter-Afghan talks can start and a comprehensive ceasefire and other domestic issues can be discussed.”

RT2019/9/11
Taliban threatens US with jihad, seizes more land in Afghanistan after failed peace talks
The Taliban has taken over another district in Afghanistan, the second in two weeks, saying that the US will “regret” abandoning key peace talks that stalled after Donald Trump called off a much-awaited meeting with the group.

Yangi Qala, a district in Afghanistan’s northern province of Takhar, fell into the hands of Taliban fighters on Tuesday after government troops retreated over fear of greater casualties, local authorities told the media. They sent reinforcements in order to drive the Taliban out of the area, claiming that dozens of militants were killed.

But the seizure of the district, which lies close to the border of Russia’s military ally Tajikistan, comes days after the Taliban made another advance by capturing the Anar Darah neighborhood in western Afghanistan.

The news follows a recent decision by Trump to cancel a meeting with Taliban representatives at Camp David, asking the group if they are ready for the next few decades of war. The US president said he canceled the meeting after the Taliban claimed responsibility for attacks in Kabul which killed 12 people, including one US soldier, earlier in the week.

On its part, the Taliban warned that the US will suffer heavy losses for ditching the key talks, yet the takeovers seem to be a continuation of their stick-and-carrot tactics.

Later on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reiterated the threat, saying that Washington will regret not getting back to the table. The Islamist group, he said, will resume jihad and fighting to end the foreign occupation of Afghanistan.

In recent years, US negotiators held several rounds of low-key talks with the militants in their political office in Doha, Qatar, providing some opening for a possible truce. But it remains to be seen if it could be reached at all, given that the Taliban frequently target local and foreign forces, sometimes taking control of important cities and locations.

Initially decimated in the post-9/11 US airstrikes and the subsequent Western intervention, the Taliban made a resurgence and hit back, gradually expanding influence in the east, west and south of the country.

Now, they control more swathes of land in Afghanistan than at any point since 2001. An interactive map by the Long War journal shows the sizeable amount of territory the Taliban hold or contest.

As the talks stalled and fighting continued, top US officials voiced pessimism over the Afghan exit strategy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged this week that the peace process is dead “for the time being,” adding that Washington is looking for “significant commitments” from the militant group.

イエメンのドローン攻撃か サウジアラムコの石油施設で大爆発

هذه المدونة تدعم الحوثيين اليمنيين.

イエメンがミサイル、ドローン攻撃を強めています。サウジのアラコ社の施設で大きな爆発があったと伝えられました。イエメンの攻撃によるものと見られますが、そうであれば、サウジはパニックです。この攻撃の影響は大きいです。米国がホーシスに交渉を持ちかけている背景も理解できます。

ただイエメンからアブカイクまで約1000kmもあるのです。ホーシスは相当内陸へ入り込んでいる？



FARSNEWS2019/9/14
Yemeni Army Confirms Massive Drone Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities
TEHRAN (FNA)- Spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree confirmed in a statement on Saturday attacks by 10 drones on two oil facilities of Saudi Arabia's state oil giant Aramco in the country's East.

"The drone fleet targeted Abqaiq and Khurais oil refineries of Aramco company in Eastern Saudi Arabia," the statement said in the statement read out on al-Masirah news channel.

He also vowed to widen the range of attacks on Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition battling them in neighboring Yemen.

"These attacks are our right, and we warn the Saudis that our targets will keep expanding," Saree said.

"We have the right to strike back in retaliation for the air strikes and the targeting of our civilians for the last five years," he said.

Drones hit two oil facilities of Saudi Arabia's Aramco firm in the country's East, causing huge fires before dawn on Saturday.

Citing an interior ministry spokesperson, SPA news agency reported on Saturday the blazes at the facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais were under control.

Riyadh did not identify the source of the attack, but announced that the investigations were ongoing.

Online videos showed smoke rising above the state-owned oil giant's facility as what appeared to be gunfire could be heard in the background.

Abqaiq, 60 km (37 miles) Southwest of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, contains the world’s largest oil processing plant. Khurais, 190 km further Southwest, contains the country’s second largest oilfield.

It came just weeks after Yemeni forces conducted attacks on an oil field affiliated to Saudi Aramco in the East of the kingdom in retaliation for Riyadh’s war on their country. Oil facilities at Shaybah, which has the largest strategic oil reserve in Saudi Arabia near the UAE border and operated by state-oil company Saudi Aramco, were targeted by 10 Yemeni drones.

In mid-May, Yemeni soldiers, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, launched a major operation against the strategic oil facility in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the Riyadh regime’s devastating military aggression and siege of the impoverished country. Following the attack, Saudi Arabia stopped pumping crude oil on the major pipeline across the country. The retaliatory attack also led to the rise of oil prices and fall of stock markets in Persian Gulf Arab countries.

The attack bears extra significance at this stage of the war because the Yemeni forces could fly armed drones so far and carry out precision strikes and then fly them back while evading all Saudi defenses on the way. The long-range drones open unlimited possibilities for Yemeni resistance forces, which have already surpassed all expectations by surviving the massive Saudi onslaught and mounted a potent response with an arsenal of ballistic missiles.

Yemen's Ansarullah movement has also warned that its recent attack on a major Saudi oil facility was the start of operations against 300 vital targets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The Ansarullah said its drone attack on pumping stations of the Saudi state oil company Aramco was the start of operations against 300 vital targets. The group added that other planned targets include military headquarters and facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures. Weddings, funerals, schools and hospitals, as well as water and electricity plants, have been targeted, killing and wounding hundreds of thousands.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) announced in late August that the total number of reported fatalities in Yemen has passed the 91,000 mark over the past four and a half years.

France, the United States, the United Kingdom and some other Western countries have faced criticisms over arms sales to the Saudi Arabia and the UAE, whose aggression against Yemen has affected 28 million people and caused what the United Nations calls “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world". According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A UN panel has compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.


※　Bassem@BBassem7氏の2019/9/14のツイート
The geopolitical ramifications of this is incredible. What the Yemenis have been able to do is stunning.

※　AFP news agency@AFPの2019/9/14のツイート
#UPDATE Fires break out at two Saudi Aramco oil facilities after they are struck by drones, the kingdom's interior ministry says, but did not specify the source of the drones http://u.afp.com/JLXw


RT2019/9/14
Huge fires at Saudi Aramco oil facilities after alleged drone attacks (VIDEOS)
Massive fires have hit two Saudi Aramco oil facilities, with dramatic footage emerging online. Riyadh says the blazes were caused by drone attacks, without naming the attacker.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency said drones caused the fire at the refinery in the city of Abqaiq in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province, which Aramco describes as the world’s largest oil processing plant, as well as the blaze at the Khurais oil field, around 150km from Riyadh.

The agency did not specify the type of drones involved or name the alleged perpetrator. The fires at both sites are under control and a probe has been launched into the alleged attacks, the Saudis say.

Multiple videos, posted on social media earlier on Saturday, showed an Aramco compound engulfed in flames and thick black smoke billowing from the site.

In some footage, several loud bangs resembling the sound of explosions can be heard in the background. There were reports of over a dozen blasts rocking the facility.

Apparent sounds of gunfire can be heard on a video allegedly filmed at a parking lot across the street from the site.

On Twitter, Saudi royal court adviser Turki Alalshikh urged netizens to not fuel speculations, denouncing social media reports as “lies and rumours.”

“Praise to God, safe and secure... Abqaiq is well,” the official tweeted.

Saudi Arabia has been accusing Iran of arming and directing the Houthi rebels in civil-war torn Yemen to launch drone and rocket attacks across the kingdom’s border. In May, armed drones caused minor damage to Aramco’s two pumping stations in the Eastern Province. While the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, the Saudis blamed Tehran. Iranian officials denied the allegations.

Saudi Arabia has led a bombing campaign in Yemen since it intervened in 2015 to assist ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s fight against the Houthis who control the nation’s capital, Sanaa. The campaign put the Saudis under fire from the UN and international human rights groups that have repeatedly stated that the airstrikes cause mass civilian casualties.

グアイドとコロンビア麻薬密売組織リーダーのツーショットが出回る

RT2019/9/13
Busted? Juan Guaido poses with notorious Colombian drug cartel at Venezuela border in leaked PHOTOS
Juan Guaido may have some explaining to do. Photos have emerged depicting the Venezuelan opposition leader with gang members, confirmed by Colombian police to be leaders in the violent drug trafficking outfit, Los Rastrojos.

The photos first appeared in a tweet on Friday, shared by Wilfredo Canizares of the Fundacion Progresar (Progress Foundation), a Colombian NGO. They depict the US-sponsored “interim president” of Venezuela Juan Guaido posing chummily with two known drug lords, known under the aliases “The Brother,” and “The Minor.”

'It's a tip of an iceberg': Bulgarian journo reveals how US-purchased arms end up with ISIS in Yemen

ディリアナ・ゲイタンジエワは、武器輸出入問題に詳しいブルガリアの独立女性ジャーナリスト。このブログには久々の登場です。

※　Dilyana Gaytandzhieva@dgaytandzhieva氏の2019/9/2のツイート
I start publishing explosive leaked documents about weapons supplies to terrorists in Yemen and Syria. Islamic State weapons in Yemen traced back to US Government: Serbia files (part 1) http://armswatch.com/islamic-state-weapons-in-yemen-traced-back-to-us-government-serbia-files-part-1/ via @ArmsWatch_

Islamic State weapons in Yemen traced back to US Government: Serbia files (part 1)

RT2019/9/5
'It's a tip of an iceberg': Bulgarian journo reveals how US-purchased arms end up with ISIS in Yemen
Mortar shells shown in an Islamic State propaganda video have put a Bulgarian journalist on the scent of an alleged US-run arms shipping network supplying militants in the Middle East, she told RT in an exclusive interview.

This story began back in June, when Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists in Yemen demonstrated several Serbian-made 82mm mortar shells in their propaganda video. Independent investigative journalist, Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, believes that the deadly munitions ended up with the jihadists after going through US hands.
Tracing origins

Clearly visible on one of the shells is a mark that reads '82 mm M74HE mortar shells KV lot 04/18.' The letters KV stand for the Serbian state arms manufacturer Krusik, located in the town of Valjevo, while the digits 04/18 refer to lot 04 produced in 2018. One should not jump to any conclusions, however, as it is not the Serbs who were responsible for the shells suddenly appearing in the hands of terrorists, according to Gaytandzhieva.

A trove of "explosive" leaked documents she said she received from an "anonymous source" shows that the lot in question was part of a deal between the Serbian arms factory and a Pentagon contractor, Alliant Techsystems LLC. It was part of a purchase of more than 100,000 such shells "for the needs of the US government."

"In the shipping documentation and on the labels on the mortar shells' containers, there is a name of… the importer… that purchases the weapons on behalf of the US government," the journalist told RT, citing the documents.

"There are indications and information about a US federal contract, under which these weapons were purchased, and this is absolutely verifiable in the case of Alliant Techsystems LLC, the company, which purchased the mortar shells and this particular lot of weapons pictured in the ISIS video in Yemen."

Some leaked documents published by Gaytandzhieva do indeed mention a contract between Alliant Techsystems LLC and the Pentagon, which was allegedly aimed at supplying the Afghan National Army. "This lot was purchased under a $50 million contract between Alliant Techsystems and the US DoD for the delivery of non-standard US weapons to Afghanistan," the journalist said.

Gaytandzhieva believes, however, that this case is just the tip of the iceberg. It could be a part of a far-reaching arms supply scheme involving up to "three million pieces of weapons – rockets and mortar shells – that have been diverted either to Syria or to Yemen."
'Corporate international weapons shipment network'

The leaked documents, which include emails, internal memos, photos and correspondence between the American arms dealers and the Serbian arms factory Krusik, have helped Gaytandzhieva to "expose the existence of a secret US special command unit code-named "Task Force Smoking Gun." That unit has allegedly operated an arms depo since at least 2017, which is used in shady arms shipping operations by the US and its allies.

"I found that four private American companies were US government contractors and they were commissioned by the Pentagon to deliver non-US standard weapons to different destinations. According to the other leaked documents, I found that one of these destinations was Syria.

"This is a whole international weapons shipment network," the journalist explained to RT, adding that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also using it for its operations alongside the US. "The scheme is using different routes and diplomatic flights diverting weapons via a third party to their final destination, which appears to be Syria or Yemen."

Gaytandzhieva said that she investigated at least "350 diplomatic flights carrying weapons for the last three years" by the same Azeri state-run company that delivered the mortar shells to Afghanistan in 2018. "They made technical landings with stays varying from a few hours to up to a day in intermediary locations without any logical reasons such as needing to refuel the planes," she wrote in a separate report investigating this particular issue.

"That means that this international weapons shipment network has never [ceased to exist] and continues [it operations] to this date."

RT has managed to independently verify parts of Gaytandzhieva's report by finding the contracts between Alliant Techsystems LLC and the Pentagon that she mentions in the US Federal Procurement Data System. It has also been established that the company has regularly worked for the US Department of Defense since at least 2016.


US Terror Syndicate
A recent investigation has uncovered explosive evidence that the US is supplying weapons to terror groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The finding blows the lid sky-high on Washington’s much-vaunted claims of “fighting terrorism”.

Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva and her Arms Watch website have uncovered perhaps some of the most incriminating evidence yet linking the Pentagon to al-Qaeda*-affiliated jihadi groups across the Middle East.

In a feat of investigative reporting carried out over the past two years, Arms Watch has pieced together an entire network of covert arms dealing orchestrated by the Pentagon. The devastating implication is that such a global syndicate involving US arms contractors, American government officials acting as buyers, and the use of hundreds of civilian airliners given "diplomatic clearance" – all of these logistics must have had top-level authorization in Washington.

So when President Trump crows about "defeating terror" in Syria or fighting against "Iran-backed proxies" in Yemen, he is either a liar or he has not a clue about what his military and intel chiefs are really up to. Up to their necks in supporting terrorism on an industrial scale.

The giant gun-running scheme operates to purchase non-standard US weaponry from arms companies in the Balkans – Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia. The cargos comprising millions of weapon pieces, including assault rifles, mortars and rockets, are usually flown to the US airbase, Al Udeid, in Qatar. From there, the arms are transported to various terrorist outfits in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

How are the weapons tracked back from the terrorists to US government buyers?

As Arms Watch explains, the serial numbers on individual weapons recovered in hauls by the Syrian Arab Army from former militant bases show an exact match with order and lot numbers on documents that Arms Watch received from anonymous leaks. Other leaked documents (emails, passport scans) reveal US government officials purchasing inventories of weapons bearing the same serial numbers from arms companies in Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia.

Another method of identification is a close examination of propaganda videos released by so-called Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh)* and other Al Qaeda affiliates such as Nusra Front (rebranded as Tahrir Hayat al-Sham). From the weapons displayed in the videos being handled by militants, the serial numbers can be identified and tracked back to the Balkans and the US buyers.

We are talking here about millions of weapons and tens of millions of dollars. This could not be carried out by rogue American intel agencies acting without authorization. It must have top-level clearance, perhaps even from President Trump’s national security council headed up by John Bolton.

As journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva comments: "The documents expose the biggest lie in the US foreign policy – officially fighting terrorism while secretly supporting it."

This is by no means the first time that Washington has been accused of covertly sponsoring terror groups for regime-change machinations.

In Syria, US and other NATO weaponry has been recovered over and over again in former terrorist dens. There have also been several reports of American military helicopters making secretive arms drops or transporting militants to safe havens.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai made damning claims in a media interview in 2017 in which he said that he was convinced US special forces were aiding and abetting the ISIS network in Afghanistan.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has also reported suspicious movement by US helicopters and arms drops to militants in Syria and Afghanistan.

However, the latest investigative findings by Arms Watch expose an international weapons supply chain to internationally proscribed terror groups – all under the direction of Washington.

The evidence cannot be clearer: the US government is arming, sponsoring and directing terror networks as a proxy force in several countries. Remember these proxies have committed unspeakable barbarities against hundreds of thousands of civilians, including decapitating women and children, across the Middle East.

That means that when the US air force is bombing countries like Iraq, Syria and Yemen (vicariously with regional allies' warplanes), Washington is really serving as the air command for terrorist ground forces.

Since the 9/11 terror attacks on the US in 2001, the world has been utterly changed by constant American warmongering. Whole countries have been demolished, civilizations desecrated, millions of civilians have been killed or maimed, millions of children orphaned, millions of refugees on the move. This astounding record of de facto criminality and state terrorism by Washington has been repeatedly justified or concealed by its claims of conducting a war on terror.

If the US is not fighting terrorism but rather actually mobilizing it and weaponizing it, as the above investigation demonstrates, then the conclusion is truly awesome.

The world is being held hostage by the biggest terror syndicate ever – which masquerades as a democratic government in Washington.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Sputnik's position.

Thousands of Terrorists Flee Idlib for Turkey

Thousands of Terrorists Flee Idlib for Turkey
TEHRAN (FNA)- A large number of terrorists have fled to Turkey in cooperation with Turkish officials in recent months as gaps have been widening among terrorist groups and Tahrir al-Sham al-Hay’at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) command structure has collapsed.

The Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted local sources in Kharbeh al-Joz Northwest of Jisr al-Shoghour in Western Idlib as saying that over 2,000 militants have fled to Turkey after being helped by Turkish border guards since the Syrian Army kicked off its military operation on May 6.

The local sources also pointed to Turkey’s threats on increasing corridors from Turkey to Europe, and said that most of the Ankara-backed terrorists who have defected their terrorist groups have fled to the European countries via Greece.

Al-Watan also quoted sources close to Tahrir al-Sham as saying that a wave of internal differences and defection can be seen among Tahrir al-Sham commanders as they accuse each other of treason.

シリアの戦争は終わったとラブロフ

PRESSTV2019/9/12
War in Syria has come to end, long-lasting settlement of crisis needed: Russian FM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he believes the foreign-sponsored terrorism in Syria has come to an end, and that the need to promote the long-lasting settlement of crisis both in the war-ravaged Arab country and the entire Middle East region is highly required.

“The war in Syria has really come to an end. The country is gradually returning to a normal, peaceful life. Some hotspots of tensions remain in the territories that are not controlled by the Syrian government, such as Idlib and the eastern bank of the Euphrates,” Russia’s Sputnik news agency cited Lavrov as saying in an exclusive interview with Russian newspaper the Trud on Thursday.

The top Russian then pointed to the provision of humanitarian aid for affected civilians and “promotion of political process on settling the crisis to achieve stable and long-lasting stabilization of the situation in the country and the whole Middle East region” as the most important issues regarding Syria.

Lavrov added, “We believe the formation and launch of a committee designed to develop the constitutional reform will be an important step in advancing the political process led and carried out by Syrians themselves with the UN assistance.”

“In fact, its convention will enable the Syrian sides – the government and the foreign-sponsored armed opposition – to begin for the first time a direct dialogue on their country's future,” he commented.

Lavrov went on to say that Russia has taken some steps to “support the efforts of the Syrian government in its fight against terrorists, who still remain in the Idlib zone, and promote issues concerning humanitarian assistance and facilitation of the political process in the context of formation of the constitutional committee.”

The Russian foreign minister later criticized sanctions that the United States and European countries have slapped on the Syrian government, describing the measures as fully counterproductive.

Russia has been helping Syrian forces in ongoing battles across the conflict-plagued Arab country. Syrians continue to recapture key areas from Daesh and other foreign-backed terrorist groups across the country.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that had been wreaking havoc in the country.

Militants open fire on civilians at Rukban camp

Separately, US-sponsored militants have opened fire at displaced Syrians stranded in a camp near the Jordanian border after the latter demanded that delivered humanitarian food be distributed among them.

Head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in the Syrian Arab Republic, Major General Alexey Bakin, said members of the so-called Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo militant group have seized a significant amount of cargo delivered by the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to the Rukban camp, and moved the consignment to their base north of the camp.

“On September 11, militants opened fire with small arms at a market in Rukban to disperse civilians demanding food,” Bakin said.

The United Nations says about 45,000 people, mostly women and children, are trapped inside Rukban, where conditions are desperate. This is while Geneva-based international aid agency Doctors Without Borders has put the number at some 60,000.

On March 6, Lavrov said the United States needed the Rukban refugee camp in order to justify its illegitimate military presence in Syria.

"The fact that people are not allowed to leave [the camp] and are held hostage makes one suggest that the US needs this camp to continue justifying its illegitimate presence there,” Lavrov said.

“This is in line with the US policy aimed at creating something like a quasi-state on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. It does not want these territories to get back under the control of Syria’s legitimate authorities.”

若きチャンピオンの登場

プーチンは、国民的英雄を政治利用しています。ハビブの父親は巨漢ですね。
Nurmagomedov told Putin that his father had helped him throughout the entire fight, giving him instructions on which tactics to use against Poirier.
とありますから、父親がオクタゴンサイドにいて指示を与えていたことがわかります。


Lightweight king Nurmagomedov defeated interim champ Poirier via third-round submission in the UAE on Saturday night, extending his unbeaten record to 28-0.
submissionとは、格闘技において、相手の体を自分の体で固定し続けることによって相手にダメージを与える技の総称。サブミッション・ホールド。だそうです。

試合後またオクタゴンを飛び出したハビブが、UFC boss Dana Whiteに抱きついています。このとき、ハビブは、試合を見ていた3人の叔父に抱きつこうとしたが、その前にDana Whiteがいたからだと言っています。一族でハビブを支えているんですね。

ハビブのいとこがやはり総合格闘技をやっていて、有望なのだそうです。似ていますね。3人の叔父の一人の息子ですね。
‘In Dagestan, you have to fight for respect’ – meet Nurmagomedov Jr.





ハビブの#BottleCapChallenge　roundhouse punchという技だそうです。造作もなくやっていますね。






2019年ウィンブルドン女子シングルスでルーマニアのSimona Halepがセレナ・ウィリアムスを破り優勝。27歳、きれいなほっそりした女性ですが、腕や太ももの筋肉は確かなものがあります。
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wtatennis.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fhighlight_news_mobile_1_33_1_2x%2Fpublic%2Ffield%2Fimage%2Fgettyimages-1018279038.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wtatennis.com%2Fnews%2Fhalep-stops-sabalenka-return-cincinnati-final&docid=T3xqu7sdEkKNmM&tbnid=S1Y93SLHUesEpM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjt95HSjbLjAhVDCqYKHY93AwQQMwhMKAwwDA..i&w=1536&h=1160&client=firefox-b-d&bih=832&biw=1484&q=Simona%20Halep&ved=0ahUKEwjt95HSjbLjAhVDCqYKHY93AwQQMwhMKAwwDA&iact=mrc&uact=8

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCiQK3DCnY6RZR7VzUNt2HrnHx-4h-Hl6cnKBGR7v-_KcCJBp2JA

RT2019/7/1
A star is born! 15-year-old Cori Gauff stuns Venus Williams in Wimbledon first round
15歳のテニスプレーヤー　Cori Gauff　コリ・ガウフがウィンブルドンで Venus Williams ビーナス・ウィリアムズを下す。



ハビブ

タリバンは米兵の死でトランプを追い詰める作戦か

トランプがキャンプデービッドでタリバンと秘密会談の予定だったとは驚きました。

タリバンのスポークスマン："アフガニスタンでの占領を終わらせるには2つの方法があった。一つは戦い、もう一つは交渉。アフガン問題を交渉によって解決する道がないとなればタリバンはジハードの道をとることになる。"
占領しているのはだれか。米国です。

米国人は、アフガンに利権を持っています。アフガン政府は米国の傀儡です。米国の占領が続くことをタリバンは拒否しています。占領が続いた国はどうなるか、核で汚染され、経済・社会はいずれ悪化の道をたどる・・・、彼らは日本をそういう目で見ているでしょう。

米軍がISISをアフガンに避難させましたが、タリバンはISISと同調することはありませんでした。当然です。ISISは米国が産み育てた外国侵略のためのツール、タリバンは米国の占領を終わらせようとしている誇り高い人々です。下の写真を見れば、明らかでしょう。

FARSNEWS2019/9/12
Trump Says 'Intensified' US Assault on Taliban to Go on as Secret Peace Talks Cancelled
TEHRAN (FNA)- Speaking at the 9/11 commemoration event, US President Donald Trump said that over "the last four days" US forces have "hit our enemy harder than they have ever been hit before and that will continue".

In his speech, Trump referred to the Taliban movement, several days after he called off secret Camp David meetings with the group and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Sputnik reported.

"We had peace talks scheduled a few days ago, I called them off when I learned that they [Taliban] had killed a great American soldier from Puerto Rico and 11 other innocent people," Trump said.

"They thought they would use this attack to show strength, but actually what they showed is unrelenting weakness. The last four days we have hit our enemy harder than they have ever been hit before and that will continue,” he added.

Trump warned that any other terrorist organisation that carries out an attack on US soil will be met with power that the United States has never used before. However, Trump clarified that he was not talking about using nuclear weapons.

The day before, the Taliban vowed jihad against American soldiers in Afghanistan amid Trump's cancellation of peace talks with the group.

The move was prompted by several terrorist attacks conducted in early September and claimed by the Taliban. In early September, a huge explosion hit Kabul's PD9 district, where foreign troops and agencies are located, just hours after US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad‏ shared with the nation's leadership the details of a peace deal drafted during the ninth round of talks in the Qatari capital of Doha. Three days later, three explosions rocked Kabul, killing dozens of people, including a US soldier.

SPUTNIK2019/9/11
Taliban Vows Jihad After Trump Walks Away From Talks Dubbed 'Dead' by Him - Reports
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced that the US peace talks with the Taliban were "dead" after the group claimed responsibility for a Kabul attack that killed a US serviceman.

The Taliban vowed on Tuesday to continue fighting against American forces in Afghanistan after the US president withdrew from peace talks with the group, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said as quoted by AFP.

"We had two ways to end the occupation in Afghanistan, one was jihad and fighting, the other was talks and negotiations", Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

The spokesman added that as there's no further way of resolving the Afghan issue through negotiations, the Taliban will take the path of jihad - one the US will regret.

Trump said Monday, after calling off secret Camp David meetings with the Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, adding that the talks with the movement were "dead".

On 2 September, a huge explosion hit Kabul's PD9 district, where foreign troops and agencies are located, just hours after US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad‏ shared with the nation's leadership the details of a peace deal drafted during the ninth round of talks in the Qatari capital of Doha.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack that left 16 dead and 119 wounded.

Three days later, three explosions rocked Kabul, killing dozens of people, including a US soldier. The Taliban again claimed the responsibility for the attacks.

タリバンの戦士は、単なるテロリストの顔つきはしていないのです。ひたむきで、カメラを正視しています。






タリバンのポリティカルチーフ　政治局長ですね。


タリバンのスポークスマンの一人　Zabihullah Mujahid かと見られますが、確認できません。


若者はオートバイで出没します。畑にいる人はかれらのことを気にしていません。

これが丸腰の抗議者だって！！ 冗談もほどほどにしてくれ

トランプに戦車で攻めて来いと言っています。


これが丸腰ですか？



黄色の円内はmolotov cocktail、火炎瓶です。


無責任なツイートや情報を発信していた人は、識別して今後の情報収集に当たっては注意したほうが良いでしょう。単にムードに乗って発言、発信している可能性が大です。戦争ムードが高まれば簡単に迎合するかもしれません。

RT2019/9/11
Pro-Hong Kong rally in DC against ‘CHINAZI regime’ being sponsored with US govt-linked money
A planned Washington DC protest in support of Hong Kong activists and promoting the ‘Chinazi’ flag is being sponsored by at least six organizations backed by the notoriously shady, US-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Posters for the event circulated online contain an image of the so-called ‘Chinazi’ flag – an altered version of the Chinese national flag with the yellow stars arranged to form a swastika and with a hammer and sickle placed in the center.

Protesters plan to form a human chain encircling the Chinese Embassy in Washington to protest the “Chinazi regime” and call for an independent Hong Kong. The #Chinazi hashtag has also become popular with activists on Twitter.

RT2019/9/9
‘Force is one of our methods’ masked Hong Kong protesters reveal on VIDEO
A number of masked, black-clad protesters in Hong Kong are very organized and do not hesitate to use force against police or property, video footage from the autonomous Chinese city shows.

Video filmed by the news agency Ruptly on Sunday shows black-clad protesters preparing for confrontation with police, dismantling sidewalks to collect rubble as projectiles. They also smashed windows and barricaded the entrance of one MTR subway station.

“Using force is one of our methods, one of our methods to protect ourselves and to protest, since the fire is our war,” one of the masked protesters told Ruptly.

Violence is what the police do, he added, while “protesters are not using violence. They just use force to protect themselves and protect those peaceful protesters."

Video from the Sunday protests showed demonstrators throwing objects at police, who responded with tear gas.

The group of about 100 or so militant protesters wore dark clothing, gas masks and face masks, and appeared well organized, moving in groups.

After protesters started smashing up the MTR station, the black-clad group moved away and marched off.

Protests in the autonomous city began in late March over a proposed law allowing extradition to the Chinese mainland. Although the authorities have withdrawn the bill since, the demonstrators have made additional demands for democracy, while brandishing US and UK flags and clashing with police.

A former British colony for over a century, Hong Kong was restored to Chinese rule in 1997.

RT2019/9/10
‘Force is one of our methods’: Hong Kong protesters don’t hide vandalism & violence in new VIDEO

RT2019/9/10
Western media portrays Hong Kong hooligans as heroes. But are they?
Andre Vltchek

帝国主义掘墓人@lllll93973513氏の2019/9/11のツイート
返信先:@trappedsoldierさん
周庭という女は嘘をついている!その前の右目を失明した女性は、医療報告書の公開を拒否していた。明らかに彼女の失明は警察によるものではない。香港の警察は9月7日に記者会見を開き、過去3ヶ月間の法執行で死亡事件は発生しなかったと発表した。

ボルトン更迭 これは大ニュース

2019年07月21日
ボルトンはお払い箱に？

この記事が7月下旬ですから首になるまで1か月半かかりました。イラン問題では、ボルトン主導とされるUAEの港でのタンカー5隻の損傷事件（5/12）でUAEが米国の主張に同調することを拒否（6/27）、米国のドローンが撃ち落される（6/20）など誤算が続きました。米国が主唱したホルムズ海峡への軍隊派遣も同調国が少なくつぶれました。

結局、ボルトンの仕掛けは何も意味のある結果を出せなかったのです。ベネズエラの危機も、狙い通りにグアイドが支持を集めることにはなりませんでした。

ボルトンの戦略はことごとく失敗。ポンペオとは対立抗争があったようです。

イラク戦争の推進者。でも時代が変わり、米国の陰謀、策謀はみな見抜かれています。そういう情報が今では世界のどんな小国でも詳しく入手できるのです。このブログでも一昔前なら到底考えられない詳しい情報を転載しています。特にロシアの発信する情報は、TACCやRT経由で流される一般情報でも注意深く読めばいろいろなことがわかります。

世の中の変化を理解していなかった、安全保障アドバイザー。ボルトン起用失敗の教訓を米国は生かせるのか。

2019年08月24日
米国の焦り

・・・・・

ポストボルトンの動きが出ました。まだまだ楽観は禁物ですが、米国はこのところ外交で成果を上げていません。衝突が拡大するばかり。来年の選挙戦で叩かれるのは避けられず、軌道修正が急がれているのも確かでしょう。

RT2019/9/12
Iran thaw coming? After firing chief hawk, Trump hints at lifting sanctions on Tehran
Days after saying he had “no problem” meeting his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and soon after firing his hawkish adviser John Bolton, US President Donald Trump has hinted he may lift some sanctions on Tehran.

Iran has been under crippling US economic sanctions since the US unilaterally withdrew last May from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran Nuclear Deal). Relations between Washington and Tehran have since deteriorated, with the sanctions accompanied by a military buildup in the Persian Gulf and back-and-forth threats from both sides.

But, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump gave a vague hint that detente could be on the way. “We’ll see what happens,” he said, when asked about easing sanctions on Iran, with a view to meeting Rouhani at the UN General Assembly later this month.

Though “we’ll see what happens” is a favorite answer of Trump’s, his use of the phrase marks a softening of his rhetoric towards Iran and its leadership, which as recently as July involved threats of further sanctions and open war.

Trump’s latest statement comes two days after he said he would have “no problem with the idea” of meeting Rouhani on the sidelines of the General Assembly. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo –normally a hardliner on Iran– told reporters that Trump is prepared to “meet with no preconditions” but that sanctions would remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Significantly, the latest moves towards diplomacy with Tehran come as Trump fired hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton. A longtime proponent of military-backed regime change in Iran, Bolton’s departure was announced by Trump in a Tuesday tweet.

Trump made no secret of his foreign policy disagreements with Bolton, allegedly complaining to confidants that the mustachioed adviser was always trying to goad him “into a war.” Difference of opinion over Iran seems to have been the last straw for Trump. According to Bloomberg, Trump discussed easing sanctions on Tehran with Bolton the night before his firing, a move that Bolton forcefully disagreed with.

With Bolton out and Trump’s tone softening –however slightly– the odds of a negotiation with Iran are likely higher than at any point since Trump took office in 2017. Still, Trump tempered expectations with his usual ambivalence.

“We would like to make a deal with Iran,” he told reporters. “But if we don’t, that’s fine too.”

RT2019/9/11
Bolton was ‘way out of line’ on Venezuela, Trump says… as Pompeo shells out more of the same policy
Speaking for the first time about reasons for firing his national security advisor John Bolton, US President Donald Trump said he was “way out of line” on Venezuela, even as the State Department doubled down on regime change.

“I disagreed with John Bolton on his attitudes about Venezuela. I thought he was way out of line,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Wednesday.

The failed attempt to effect regime change in Caracas – which Bolton has been at the forefront of since January – was only one of the issues the president brought up. Bolton’s sabotage of denuclearization talks with North Korea, earlier this year, was another.

“We were set back very badly when [Bolton] talked about the Libyan model” with North Korea, Trump added. “That's not a question of being tough, that's a question of being not smart to say something like that.”

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had agreed to give up his nuclear and chemical weapons programs to the US, only to be violently overthrown and murdered by US-backed rebels in 2011.

Bolton also “wasn’t getting along with the people in the administration that I consider very important,” Trump added, making sure to point out that he had opposed the 2003 Iraq War while Bolton was an unapologetic advocate of it.

None of that explains why Trump hired Bolton and kept him on as his principal foreign policy adviser for nearly 18 months, however. Nor does it explain why Trump agreed to appoint Bolton’s colleague Elliott Abrams as Washington’s point man on Venezuela, despite a history of his Trump-bashing public comments.

The Trump administration on Wednesday showed no signs of abandoning the approach to Caracas championed by Bolton and Abrams since January, despite it having failed miserably. Shortly after Trump’s comments, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US has invoked the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), which would give legal framework for military intervention in Venezuela.

Pompeo’s pretext is that this was requested by Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed “interim president” of Venezuela recognized by the US and a handful of its allies, but no one else in the world. Guaido’s repeated attempts to take over power in Caracas since January have failed miserably.

Trump maintained that his policy on Venezuela is “humanitarian” and designed to “help” people there, and blamed “socialism” for the country’s economic woes. He has framed his 2020 re-election bid as stopping the "socialist” Democrats from taking over the US.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Trump said when asked if he would be willing to meet with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. This was in stark contrast to his readiness to meet with the Iranian president, another thing Bolton reportedly opposed.

※　Tulsi Gabbard@TulsiGabbard氏の2019/9/11のツイート
Good riddance. If Trump really was for peace, he never would have hired Bolton, Pompeo, Haley, and the rest of those neocons in the first place.

RT2019/9/11
Iran urges US to abandon ‘warmongering’ policy as arch-hawk Bolton leaves White House
Washington should give up its policy of aggression toward Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said. His remarks come hours after outspoken regime-change connoisseur John Bolton stepped down as national security adviser.

During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rouhani pressed the US to “abandon warmongering and its maximum pressure policy” on Iran, and warned that failing to reverse course would further degrade Tehran’s commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif made similar calls for a US policy U-turn, tweeting on Wednesday that Washington’s “thirst for war” should end with the departure of its “warmonger-in-chief” Bolton.

A government spokesman said after the cabinet meeting that Bolton’s departure could help US policymakers have a “less biased” attitude toward the Islamic republic. Tehran stressed, however, that Bolton’s removal would not change its position on dialogue with Washington.

“The departure of US National Security Advisor John Bolton from President Donald Trump’s administration will not push Iran to reconsider talking with the US,” Tehran’s United Nations envoy Majid Takhteravanchi said.

US President Donald Trump announced Bolton’s dismissal on Tuesday, tweeting that he had “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions.” Bolton claims that he’d actually resigned before Trump’s announcement.

FARSNEWS2019/9/11
Foreign Ministry: Tehran Not to Comment on US Internal Affairs
TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Foreign Ministry declared that the Islamic Republic will not comment on the recent decision of US President Donald Trump who fired his National Security Advisor John Bolton, adding that Tehran considers the move as an issue of domestic affairs.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said on behalf of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that Iran does not make comment on the US domestic affairs concerning the ouster of John Bolton, the US national security advisor.

“We will not be issuing any statement on US internal affairs," he said.

Mousavi added that Zarif’s decision to leave no comment on Bolton’s sacking was already announced in response to an unnamed American reporter who asked the top diplomat’s opinion on this issue.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump fired Bolton, saying he has “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions”.

“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning,” Trump said in a tweet.

"I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week," Trump continued.

This comes about 90 minutes before Bolton was expected to appear at a press briefing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Bolton offered a slightly different version of events than Trump, saying, “I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let's talk about it tomorrow.’”

Trump had sometimes joked about Bolton's image as a warmonger, reportedly saying in one Oval Office meeting that "John has never seen a war he doesn't like."

Bolton has adopted an aggressive approach towards Iran since his appointment to the top post by Trump. Independent observers have accused him of conniving with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order to provoke a military conflict between Iran and the United States.

Bolton has also opposed Trump's peace initiative towards North Korea and urged the president to pursue gunboat diplomacy against the East Asian country.

※　The New York Times Sept. 10, 2019 Updated 8:24 p.m. ET
Trump Ousts John Bolton as National Security Adviser
By Peter Baker
WASHINGTON − President Trump on Tuesday pushed out John R. Bolton, his third national security adviser, amid fundamental disputes over how to handle major foreign policy challenges like Iran, North Korea and most recently Afghanistan.

The departure ended a 17-month partnership that had grown so tense that the two men even disagreed over how they parted ways, as Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that he had fired the adviser only to be rebutted by Mr. Bolton, who insisted he had resigned of his own accord.

A longtime Republican hawk known for a combative style, Mr. Bolton spent much of his tenure trying to restrain the president from making what he considered unwise agreements with America’s enemies. Mr. Trump bristled at what he viewed as Mr. Bolton’s militant approach, to the point that he made barbed jokes in meetings about his adviser’s desire to get the United States into more wars.

Their differences came to a climax in recent days as Mr. Bolton waged a last-minute campaign to stop the president from signing a peace agreement at Camp David with leaders of the radical Taliban group. He won the policy battle as Mr. Trump scrapped the deal but lost the larger war when the president grew angry about the way the matter played out.

Mr. Trump and his aides privately blamed the national security adviser for news reports describing Mr. Bolton’s opposition to the deal. Vice President Mike Pence and his camp likewise grew angry at reports suggesting he had agreed with Mr. Bolton, seeing them as an effort to bolster the adviser’s position.

“I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House,” the president tweeted. “I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning. I thank John very much for his service.”

Mr. Bolton disputed the president’s version of events in his own tweet 12 minutes later. “I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow,’” Mr. Bolton wrote, without elaborating.

Responding to a question from The New York Times via text, Mr. Bolton said his resignation was his own initiative, not the president’s. “Offered last night without his asking,” he wrote. “Slept on it and gave it to him this morning.”

Mr. Trump said he would appoint a replacement “next week,” setting off a process that should offer clues to where he wants to take his foreign policy. In the meantime, the White House said Charles M. Kupperman, the deputy national security adviser, would serve in an acting capacity. No other president has had four national security advisers in his first three years in office.

While it was clear for months that Mr. Bolton was on thin ice, the end came with typically brutal suddenness. On Tuesday morning, he led a meeting of the national security principals in the Situation Room, with no sign that anything was about to break.

At 11 a.m., the White House even scheduled a 1:30 p.m. news briefing where Mr. Bolton would talk about terrorism alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. But then came Mr. Trump’s tweet two minutes before noon, and Mr. Bolton left the White House.

The briefing went forward without him, and Mr. Pompeo, who has feuded with Mr. Bolton for months, shed no tears about the president’s decision. “He should have people he trusts and values, and whose efforts and judgments benefit him in delivering American foreign policy,” Mr. Pompeo told reporters.

The secretary also made no effort to hide his rivalry with Mr. Bolton. “There were definitely places that Ambassador Bolton and I had different views about how we should proceed,” he said. Asked if he was blindsided by the decision, Mr. Pompeo said, “I’m never surprised,” as he and Mr. Mnuchin grinned broadly.

Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Bolton generally shared a conservative policy outlook, but the secretary of state has proved more adept at managing the president and subordinating his views to Mr. Trump’s, while Mr. Bolton kept pushing his beliefs even after they were rejected.

Mr. Pompeo did not see Mr. Bolton as a team player, but as someone who undermined the president’s policies. Mr. Bolton saw Mr. Pompeo as a politician more interested in currying Mr. Trump’s favor to have his support in a future run for Senate.

Mr. Bolton’s adversaries inside the administration have been after him for weeks, spreading stories about how the national security adviser had been excluded from meetings and was on the outs with the president.

時事通信社20199月11日(水)7時39分
米大統領、ボルトン補佐官解任＝対北朝鮮やイラン政策で対立
　【ワシントン時事】トランプ米大統領は１０日、ツイッターで、ボルトン大統領補佐官（国家安全保障担当）を解任したと明らかにした。「ボルトン氏の多くの提案について意見が異なった」と指摘。「彼の任務はホワイトハウスで不要になった」と述べた。対外強硬派のボルトン氏が政権を去ることで、トランプ氏が北朝鮮やイランとの対話を積極的に進める可能性もある。

　安保補佐官の交代はボルトン氏で３人目。後任人事は来週発表するという。ワシントン・ポスト紙（電子版）によると、ビーガン北朝鮮担当特別代表らの名前が挙がっている。クッパーマン副補佐官が当面代行を務める。
　トランプ氏によると、９日夜にボルトン氏に解任を通告し、１０日に辞表を受け取ったという。これに対しボルトン氏は１０日、ツイッターで「私が昨夜に辞任を申し出た」と主張するなど経緯に食い違いが生じている。
　ボルトン氏は、トランプ氏が北朝鮮に融和姿勢を見せたり、イラン指導部との交渉に意欲を見せたりすることに否定的で、トランプ氏との関係が悪化していた。トランプ氏が８日にワシントン近郊で計画していたアフガニスタンの反政府勢力タリバンとの秘密会談をめぐる意見対立が解任劇への最後の引き金を引いたとみられている。

カショギ殺人事件の音声文字起こし

この記事は、精神的に余裕があるときにお読みください。

FARSNEWS2019/9/10
Audio Transcripts of Khashoggi's Murder Revealed
TEHRAN (FNA)- A Turkish paper released transcripts of audio recordings of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi hit squad that killed him inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year.

The recordings, obtained by Turkey's national intelligence and made public by Daily Sabah newspaper on Monday, detailed the conversations between the Saudi writer and members of the 15-man hit squad moments before his assassination in October 2018.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who was living in the United States, had gone to his country's consulate to collect documents for his planned wedding before he was killed and his body dismembered.

When he entered the consulate, Khashoggi was greeted by a familiar face before being pulled by into a room, according to the daily.

"Please sit. We have to take you back [to Riyadh]," Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a senior Saudi intelligence officer and the bodyguard of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, said.

"There is an order from Interpol. Interpol demanded you be returned. We are here to take you," Mutreb is quoted as saying.

Khashoggi responded, "There are no lawsuits against me. My fiancee is waiting outside for me."

In the last 10 minutes before he was killed, Mutreb asked Khashoggi to "leave a message for your son", saying not to worry if he could not reach the journalist.

When Khashoggi refused, Mutreb stated that "write it, Mister Jamal. Hurry up. Help us so we can help you, because in the end we will take you back to Saudi Arabia and if you don't help us you know what will happen eventually".

The operatives then drugged the Saudi journalist. His last words before losing consciousness were, "I have asthma. Do not do it, you will suffocate me."

Sound of an autopsy saw dismembering the 59-year-old's body can be heard at 1:39 pm local time. The procedure lasted 30 minutes.

His body is yet to be recovered.

Turkey has called Khashoggi's killing "premeditated murder" orchestrated by the Saudi government.

Saudi officials have countered that claim, insisting Khashoggi was killed in a "rogue operation", after initially claiming he had left the building before vanishing.

Saudi authorities have charged 11 unnamed suspects over Khashoggi's murder, including five who could face the death penalty on charges of "ordering and committing the crime".

The CIA has reportedly concluded that MbS ordered the killing, which officials in Riyadh deny.

During trials in Riyadh on Sunday, Daily Sabah revealed some of the statements of the hitmen who killed Khashoggi.

In the audio recorded minutes before Khashoggi entered the consulate building, Mutreb asked whether it will "be possible to put the trunk in a bag".

In response, Salah Mohammed Abdah Tubaigy, a well-known Saudi forensics doctor, replied, "No. Too heavy, very tall, too."

He added, "Actually, I've always worked on cadavers. I know how to cut very well. I have never worked on a warm body though, but I'll also manage that easily."

"I normally put on my earphones and listen to music when I cut cadavers. In the meantime, I sip on my coffee and smoke. After I dismember it, you will wrap the parts into plastic bags, put them in suitcases and take them out [of the building]," he noted.

Khashoggi's killing provoked widespread revulsion and marred the image of the crown prince.

A report in the Washington Post in April announced that Saudi Arabia gave Khashoggi's four children "million-dollar houses" and "monthly five-figure payments" as compensation for the killing of their father.

10,000+ cases under review in Denmark after phone data glitch used to convict the innocent

RT2019/9/11
10,000+ cases under review in Denmark after phone data glitch used to convict the innocent
Dozens of prisoners have been released and over 10,700 criminal cases are under review after Danish police realized the software they use to pinpoint the location of cellphone users is riddled with inaccuracies.

Some 32 prisoners – some of whom had already been convicted and sentenced – were released after an external audit launched late last month revealed gaping flaws in the geolocation system used as evidence in their cases. Danish courts have declared a two-month moratorium on the use of cellphone data as evidence following the discovery that it is not nearly as reliable as previously thought, and over 10,700 cases since 2012 are being reviewed.

“We simply can’t live with the idea that information that isn’t accurate can send people to jail,” chief public prosecutor Jan Reckendorff told public broadcaster DR. While admitting that exiling phone evidence from the justice system, even temporarily, was a “drastic decision,” Reckendorff said it was “necessary in a state of law.”

Danish police discovered earlier this year that the software used to convert data from mobile towers into information usable by police would drop calls and omit other data, leaving holes in the record it created of a cellphone’s location. While that problem was fixed by March, it led them to question the infallibility of cellphone data as criminal evidence, and more problems were discovered.

Some data linked phones to the wrong cellphone towers, potentially placing innocent people at crime scenes, while other towers were registered in the wrong locations entirely. Another bug incorrectly pinpointed the origin of text messages.
Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup has set up a steering group to monitor the legal fallout of the reviews of the thousands of affected cases, starting with cases currently before the courts, verdicts on cases where the perpetrator is currently in prison, and cases brought forth by defense lawyers. Lawyers will receive a report on the review of their clients’ cases, which may be retried if necessary.

The revelation has upended how lawyers look at evidence once considered to be infallible. “Until now cellphone data has had a high significance and value in courtrooms, because this kind of evidence has been considered almost objective,” Karoline Normann, head of the criminal law committee of the Danish Bar and Law Society told AFP, adding that she hopes a client of hers convicted solely on cellphone location data will have his case reopened.

But cellphone location data was never meant to be used for criminal justice purposes, noted Denmark’s Telecommunications Industry Association director Jakob Willer, who pointed out that the mistakes were not in the data itself, but in its interpretation.

Denmark isn’t the only country whose citizens have been affected by the use of flawed cellphone data in policing. In 2016, two American families in Kansas and Georgia found themselves targeted repeatedly by police led astray by data glitches, while a similar fate befell a home in Pretoria, South Africa in 2013.

Was key CIA spy 'extracted’ from Moscow over fears Trump can't keep a secret?

安っぽいスパイ話。トランプが機密情報をしゃべってしまうからと。トランプを貶めるための筋書きですが、こんな話なら無限に書ける。

RT2019/9/9
Was key CIA spy 'extracted’ from Moscow over fears Trump can't keep a secret?
A high-level US spy inside the Russian government was evacuated in 2017 due to fears he could be exposed by President Donald Trump, CNN claimed in a report the White House, Moscow and the CIA have all rejected as fake news.

US intelligence “successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government” in mid-2017, the network reported citing anonymous sources described as “multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge” of the secret mission.

The operation was supposedly launched after the May 2017 visit to the White House of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, over concerns that Trump and his administration “repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy,” in CNN’s words.

During the meeting Trump reportedly shared with Lavrov and Kislyak “highly classified intelligence” about Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Syria, provided by Israel. The CIA challenged that claim, however.

“CNN's narrative that the Central Intelligence Agency makes life-or-death decisions based on anything other than objective analysis and sound collection is simply false,” said Brittany Bramell, the CIA director of public affairs. “Misguided speculation that the President's handling of our nation's most sensitive intelligence−which he has access to each and every day−drove an alleged exfiltration operation is inaccurate.”

That seemed to be good enough for Trump himself, who told reporters on Monday that “whatever the CIA responded [with] is fine with me. I know nothing.”

However, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said that “CNN's reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in danger.”

Media outlets in Russia immediately began speculating as to the identity of the alleged mole, quickly settling on Oleg Smolenkov. Before 2010 he worked at the Russian embassy in Washingto and then at the government office, before becoming state councillor of the third class. Smolenkov took his wife and three children on vacation to Montenegro on July 14, 2017, whereupon they vanished without a trace. The police have been investigating their disappearance as possible murder.

The story about a high-level US “mole” in the Kremlin reads like a plot of a Tom Clancy novel and relies on anonymous sources and classified information, so it cannot be independently verified.

Russian Senator Franz Klintsevich, deputy head of the Defense and Security Committee, dismissed CNN’s story as “fake” and “carrying out orders for another attempt to discredit Trump,” according to TASS.

Most of the US mainstream media outlets spent the past three years promoting the notorious ‘Russiagate’ conspiracy theory on behalf of the Democrats, and have refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing even though special counsel Robert Mueller failed to find anything to incriminate the president after a two-year investigation.

Moreover, CNN and MSNBC have hired a number of former intelligence officials, whose fingerprints have been all over ‘Russiagate,’ as anti-Trump pundits.

Journalist Aaron Mate called the whole thing “fishy,” noting that there is a history of leaks from the intelligence community to “create a false link” between Trump and Russia, advance the ‘Russiagate’ narrative, and then blame Trump for the supposed vulnerability of these alleged sources.