By Walter E. Block
Thank God for the Hezbollah truce violations in Lebanon. Ordinarily, I am not much of a fan of this terrorist organization, but fair is fair: when upon the rare occasion they do something positive, I compliment them upon it.
Yes, I full well acknowledge, superficially this seems like an awful thing to say. First of all, have I now switched my long-standing very pro-Israel stand? How else can I actually praise this terrorist organization of anything?
Secondly, a truce means a cessation of hostility, an end to fighting. War implies the death of innocent people. Therefore a truce, or a pause, or a cease fire, or peace for that matter, would appear to be a good thing; a very good thing. How can I, a peace-loving person, oppose this Hezbollah policy?
Peloni: Kedar provides an important detailed examination of the context, background and implications of the fall of Assad in Syria. Highly recommended.
Dalia Ziada tweeted the following:
VERY IMPORTANT TO WATCH
The birth of pragmatic Political Jihadism in the Middle East
We are witnessing a critical shift in the history of the Middle East. What we are seeing today is similar to what happened in the 1980s after the Islamic Revolution took over Iran.
The… pic.twitter.com/ZJAM0uta8l
— Dalia Ziada – ????? ????? (@daliaziada) December 10, 2024
VERY IMPORTANT TO WATCH
The birth of pragmatic Political Jihadism in the Middle East
Rebel leader Mohammad al-Jolani stated today: “Syria will not wage a new war with Israel. The country is not ready for another war. Our biggest threat is Hezbollah and the Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Syria.” – Osint613
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "If the new regime in Syria allows Iran to re-establish itself, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah – we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price." pic.twitter.com/B5UTGCXoGN
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) December 10, 2024
Sadly, many Jews today realize that governments aren’t protecting us and that we must stand up to Jew-haters.
Antisemitic mural in Milwaukee. Source: Screenshot.
Peter Mehler and Zechariah Mehler will walk into a Milwaukee courtroom on Dec. 12 and potentially face three years in prison for the crime of destroying a mural showing a swastika within the Star of David that read: “The irony of becoming what you once hated.”
Dennis Ross is on television and in news articles offering unsolicited advice to Israel. But from 1993 to 1994, he was a source of hot air.
Moshe Phillips
Dennis Ross, a former U.S. Mideast envoy and peace negotiator, attends the Israeli Presidential Conference at the International Conference Centre in Jerusalem on May 14, 2008. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90.
[Moshe Phillips is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel (www.AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization.]
As chaos envelops Syria—with one gang of terrorists overthrowing the other gang of terrorists who ran the government—the question needs to be asked: Can you imagine the danger Israel would now be facing if it had surrendered to U.S. demands in the 1990s to give up the Golan Heights?
Peloni: Natasha presents a brilliantly effective voice to the Oxford Union debate.
Peloni: While the world celebrates Assad’s fall, Turkey steals a march in regards to its war against the Kurds
FDD | Dec 11, 2024
Latest Developments
• Turkish-Backed Forces Advance on SDF Territory: On November 30, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) launched “Operation Dawn of Freedom” targeting the Manbij region with two main goals: disrupting supply lines controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and creating a corridor between the cities of al-Bab and Tel Rifaat, which the SNA captured on December 1.
• Manbij is Key to Turkey’s Ambitions in Syria: Manbij, the last SDF-controlled area west of the Euphrates, is key to Turkey’s goal of pushing the SDF eastward beyond the river to thereby enable the Syrian National Army to advance toward the city of Kobane on the Turkish border.
By
Israel is thinking tactically and the Biden administration is on autopilot.
Obama drew a ‘red line’ in the sand on Assad’s use of chemical weapons and then bowed out and told Secretary of State John Kerry to outsource the job of dealing with it to Vladimir Putin.
Peloni: A great speech by Mike Doran with an important message for Israel.
Peloni: It is vital that as a new regional paradigm is being pursued in the ME, Israel should continue to pursue her own national interests with vigor so as to help shape the new paradigm to include, rather than disregard, her national interests.
By Janet Levy | AM Thinker | December 10, 2024
Mountebanks peddling miracle cures in the Old West would often pretend to be qualified doctors.
It is rare to come across mountebanks now, rarer still for qualified doctors to peddle miracle cures. But Dr. Mehmet Oz – a former cardiothoracic surgeon, famed purveyor of ‘medutainment’ on his T.V. show, and the man President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to administer Medicaid and Medicare – has been doing so unchecked.
On his show (that ran from 2009 to 2022) and on numerous other occasions, Dr. Oz has hyped dubious medical “miracles” and recommended cures that range from the anodyne, to the bizarre and dangerous.
The Syrian civil war highlights shifting alliances, Turkey’s ascendance, and enduring threats from Iran and jihadists.
By DR. ERIC R. MANDEL | DECEMBER 8, 2024
Smoke rises, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 8, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH)
Two weeks ago, the dormant 13-year-old Syrian civil war was barely on the radar of American and Israeli political, defense, and security leaders, with everyone focused on Iran, Hezbollah, and Gaza. The lesson is that those who think they know what is coming next in Syria and the region are fooling themselves.
Peloni: Doran calls for Israel’s total victory by destroying Iran’s Ring of Fire, especially Hezbollah, destroying Iran’s nuclear program, eliminate the Obiden policy of strengthening and engaging Iran, ie return of maximum pressure on Iran, and to do this it is essential to strengthen Turkey. It would appear that maximum pressure rather than regime change is to be the posture of Washington.
He also explains that the US will no longer be as willing to project its power in the ME as it previously had been, and that Turkey should be allowed to help fill this void. While he explains that there will be certain challenges in doing so, he seems to defy the notion that Erdogan represents the radical Sunni Axis in the region. In displaying this perspective, Doran even goes so far as to compare Erdogan’s relationship to the radical Sunnis to Netanyahu’s relationship to the Settlers in Israel, a comparison which I would argue fails to be consistent with reality. Erdogan just called for an end to Western civilization in the past few days, he hosts Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey while defending them, and routinely delegitimizing Israel and calling for active moves against the Jewish State. The relationships which Doran ascribes between Erdogan and Bibi, simply defies these reality.
Mudar Zahran tweeted the following:
My interview with @i24NEWS_EN
My interview with @i24NEWS_EN
??Assad’s fall is a huge blow to Iran. Iran has managed to control several countries in the region and it will fall into everyone’s benefits to see Iran getting weaker.
??There will be a domino effect taking place with the Arab rulers who… pic.twitter.com/FV9quO3SoR— Mudar Adnan Zahran ??? ????? ????? (@Mudar_Zahran) December 9, 2024
Assad’s fall is a huge blow to Iran. Iran has managed to control several countries in the region and it will fall into everyone’s benefits to see Iran getting weaker.
Why Damascus fell without a fight.
by
The final blow to Assad, who has now fled Syria, just as Damascus has fallen without a fight to the rebels, was his abandonment by Iran on December 6. Not only did Iran fail to provide the military aid — troops and weapons — that Syria had been hoping for, but just two days before Damascus fell on December 8, Iran ordered all of its personnel, civilian and military, out of the country. Among them were two senior Al-Quds (IRGC) generals, who had to flee for their lives and sought refuge in Iraq. More on this Iranian pullout from Syria, that destroyed the morale of the troops in Damascus, can be found here: “Iran Begins to Evacuate Military Officials and Personnel From Syria,” Farnaz Fassihi and Ronen Bergman, New York Times, December 6, 2024:
Sara Harmouch | American University | December 9, 2024
The fall of President Bashar al-Assad has left a critical question: After a half-century of brutal dynastic rule has come to an end, who speaks for Syrians now?
One group staking a major claim for that role is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which, under the leadership of Abu Mohammad al-Golani, spearheaded the opposition advance that toppled Assad.
Peloni: The Americans do not know how to bring peace to the region, and they have demonstrated this time and again by trying to force thru peace treaties which exclusively result in wars, bloodshed and destabilization of the region. Instead of posturing as if none of this were true, they should sell arms to Israel and close Arab allies, all of whom have have vested interests in stabilizing the region in common with US objectives. This would be the best example of the benefit and effectiveness of the Trump Doctrine, by freeing the US from enacting short sighted policies with disastrous results. This would also leave the US with a completely free hand to deal with the significant threat from China, something which only the US can effectively approach, and only if they are not encumbered in a new fiasco of pursuing ‘peace’ deals which only trigger greater regional conflicts in the Middle East.
Peloni: The significant implications of layering Big Tech AI within governmental agency control should be obvious as government censorship has never been more significant around the world than it stands today…and yet we hear only crickets in regards to how this should handled so as to secure the rights and privileges of the relative citizens who will soon become ever more open to being surveilled, categorized and potentially silenced.
Sundance |
It’s not AI per se’ that poses the problem, rather it is the ability of AI software to connect, filter and process multiple databases of stored information in real time, creating a tracking and tracing system, that can be weaponized and poses a problem for those who do not want the USA to turn into a full surveillance state.
