Podcasts about Syrian Army

Lee Jae-myung wins South Korea's presidential election, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof resigns, the U.S. approves a plan to integrate foreign fighters in the Syrian Army, an American consulting firm leaves the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the White House seeks Congress' approval to codify DOGE cuts, a report warns that around 7 billion people worldwide lack full civil rights, U.S. Homeland Security is sued over its DNA collection program, U.S. officials dismiss reports that FEMA's chief was unaware of the US' hurricane, Bill Gates commits the majority of his $200B fortune to Africa, AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio launches a $30M nonprofit to build “honest” AI systems. Sources: www.verity.news

US envoy Witkoff starts talks in Qatar as Israel proposes truce extension "US presidential envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has begun talks in Qatar to push for progress on releasing Israeli captives amid a proposal by Tel Aviv to extend a ceasefire deal in besieged Gaza for 60 days, Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported. The first 42-day phase of a three-phase ceasefire and prisoner swap deal, each of equal length, between Hamas and Israel, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the US, ended March 1 after starting on January 19. Israel has reneged on the truce deal announced by Biden administration last year and wants to impose its own new deal on Palestine." White House puts pressure on Columbia University as it seeks to deport pro-Palestine activists "The White House says Columbia University is refusing to help federal agents find people being sought as part of the government's effort to deport participants in pro-Palestine demonstrations. In a briefing with reporters in Washington, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said federal authorities have been ""using intelligence"" to identify other people involved in campus demonstrations critical of Israeli aggression. She said Columbia had been given names and was refusing to help the Department of Homeland Security ""to identify those individuals on campus""." Syrians rally in support of new government after attacks by Assad loyalists "Hundreds of civilians have gathered in Syria's Latakia to express support for the government forces following recent incidents in the province. People assembled in Sheikh Dahir Square in the centre of Latakia, holding banners with Arabic messages, including: ""The forces of the deposed regime have destroyed the infrastructure"", "The Alsharaa government represents me", and ""We stand with the security forces"". Some demonstrators carried flags of the Syrian Army, while others displayed photos of security personnel who died in clashes between March 6 and 10." Portuguese government loses confidence vote, paving way for snap elections "Portugal could be heading to its third general election in three years after the centre-right government of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro lost a vote of confidence. The vote was called over conflict-of-interest accusations against Montenegro involving a family business. A last-minute attempt to avoid the vote failed when terms could not be agreed for setting up a mooted parliamentary inquiry. The country's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, must now decide whether to dissolve the assembly and call new elections." India bans Kashmir political parties days after criticising 'obscene' fashion show "The Indian government has imposed a five-year ban on two local political parties in India-administered Kashmir, declaring them ""unlawful associations"" threatening India's sovereignty, integrity and security. According to Indian Home Ministry, the Awami Action Committee (AAC) and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM), were accused of ""supporting terrorism, spreading anti-India narratives, and raising funds for secessionist movements in the region"". The Indian government invoked Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 to enforce the five-year ban."

Mokhtar Alibrahim fled his hometown of Damascus nearly eight years ago, leaving behind family, friends, and the budding career as a journalist he'd just begun other than be conscripted into the Syrian Army of Beshir al-Assad to wage war against fellow countrymen.  He lived in Lebanon, then Jordan, and now Germany despairing he would ever see home again.He learned two new languages English and German, He got his doctor wife out of Syria and they began building a new life in the west. Then weeks ago a miracle. Al-Assad was suddenly ousted, Syria liberated, and brutal civil war finally done. The future is unclear, Syria is still a mess under bombing by Israelis and Americans, but Mokhtar says he is hopeful and optimistic. There's a lesson here for despairing Americans on the brink of a new Trump regime.

In this Chapter of An Armao on The Brink, Rosemary speaks with Mokhtar Alibrahim. Alibrahim fled his hometown of Damascus nearly eight years ago, leaving behind family, friends, and the budding career as a journalist he'd just begun other than be conscripted into the Syrian Army of Beshir al-Assad to wage war against fellow countrymen. Rosemary talks with him about the future of his homeland and how it might provide perspective for those fearful of living underneath a new regime here in the U.S.

William Morris LL.D., the Next Century Foundation's Secretary General, tells what a Christian Syrian Army officer from Division Four saw of the fall of Bashar al Assad and the events of the past few daysSupport the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

We platform different voices and perspectives on this Podcast. This is a repost from the MintPress Show "State of Play." Hope you enjoy. It will be controversial... No one predicted the rapid pace of events in the most recent iteration of the Syrian Civil war, beginning with the rapid advance of HTS and other forces from Idlib province into the to city of Aleppo, the unanticipated stand down orders given to the Syrian Army, and the rapid collapse and flight of Assad's government. Rumors of backroom deals, internal corruption, and Western interference abound, so we may not have a clear picture for some time. What remains then is the potential fates of Syria and the Axis of Resistance. The situation is balanced on a knife's edge, and to help us unravel the complexities of this multi-faction, multi-ethnic socio-political development we are joined by Afeef Nessouli, journalist with years of experience, both in the UN and the Carter Institute, reporting on Syria https://www.instagram.com/afeefness/

This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts on Alternate Current Radio, as host Patrick Henningsen welcomes special guest, the former British Ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford, about the stunning collapse of Syria to an al-Qaeda invasion, as the Syrian Army surrendered to the western and Turkish-backed terrorist brigades, and the chaos which is sure to follow. Later in the overdrive segment, we're be joined by podcaster and independent journalist Ryan Dawson, for reactions and analysis as to where Syria and the Middle East are heading now that the backbone of the Axis of Resistance has fallen so dramatically. All this and more… (NOTE: Peter Ford segment was pre-recorded on evening Saturday Dec 7th, just before fall of Damascus) Watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0dE82F7qEM  This month's featured music artists: Red Rumble, Peter Conway, Joseph Arthur, Walk-On Army, Permanent Wave & Utility SUPPORT OUR MEDIA OUTLET HERE (https://21w.co/support)

The latest reports from Syria say Islamist rebels are closing in on the centre of the city of Homs - as they continue their advance to Damascus. On this programme we will hear from the Syrian opposition as well as the UN envoy Geir Pederson.Also on the programme: The singer Angelique Kidjo on the re-dedication of the Notre Dame cathedral in Pais.(Picture: A member of the Syrian opposition stands at an entrance to the Hama governorate on the Damascus-Aleppo International Highway, Syria. Credit: MOHAMMED AL RIFAI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Is the Iranian-backed terror army in Lebanon, Hezbollah, regrouping and rearming during this Biden administration-initiated ceasefire with Israel? Meanwhile, as Syria deteriorates once again into chaos, is the country's army—and the Assad regime--on the verge of collapse? And what would that mean for Israel's security? Get the latest and much more on the Watchman Newscast Podcast. Check out our YouTube channel to never miss the Watchman Newscast live updates during the week and be sure to subscribe. Miss the last episode? Listen to it here. WATCH Stakelbeck Tonight episodes for free on TBN+ here. The Watchman Newscast with Erick Stakelbeck features host Erick Stakelbeck's breakdown and understanding of current events and how they play an impact on Biblical Prophecy, Israel, and how it all impacts the world, no matter where you live. Tune in for more understandings on the major issues and news that matter to you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

//The Wire//2300Z December 5, 2024////ROUTINE////BLUF: CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCES TSUNAMI SCARE DUE TO SUBSTANTIAL EARTHQUAKE OFF THE COAST. CHINESE CYBER INCIDENTS HIGHLIGHT TELECOM VULNERABILITIES. SYRIAN REBELS CAPTURE HAMA.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Syria: On the southern front, rebel forces have taken the city of Hama, and have begun the southern push toward Homs. On the eastern front HTS has made a rapid advance to the Upper Euphrates River Valley, reaching Lake Assad overnight.AC: HTS and other rebel forces have been able to take significant ground, while the Syrian Army has largely ceded most of their terrain to the rebel advance. In most areas, HTS has encountered little resistance from the Syrian Army. Russian forces have offered up varying levels of resistance to HTS operations, with some reports claiming significant Russian retaliatory bombings (such as in Aleppo), but other reports indicating Russian forces largely withdrawing without a shot being fired. At the moment, the Russian naval base of Tartus is very much in danger of being cut-off from Damascus by land.France: Following a vote of no-confidence yesterday, Prime Minister Michel Barnier has been ousted from his position. As of this morning, PM Barnier became the shortest-serving PM in French history by resigning his post which he was appointed to only in September. AC: To highlight Barnier's unpopularity, both the far-left and far-right factions in government united to oust him for their disapproval of his handling of the budget, making his removal the only successful no-confidence vote in France since 1962. -HomeFront-California: This afternoon a Tsunami Warning was issued for the coast of northern California due to a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the region. In response to the tsunami threat, the mass evacuation of millions of people was ordered, with limited success. After some time, the Warning was canceled, with no tsunami being reported due to the earthquake. AC: Considering the sheer number of people that live directly within the high-tsunami-risk areas in California, the chances of a mass evacuation being successful in the little time allotted were always minimal. However the attempt was made, and mass traffic gridlock was reported before the Tsunami Warning was cancelled.Washington D.C. – During ongoing investigations into the incidents surrounding the inadequacies of the US Secret Service to protect Donald Trump, Director Ronald Rowe appeared to have a psychological episode during his testimony before Congress. While being questioned by Congressman Pat Fallon, a shouting match erupted between Congressman Fallon and Director Rowe, which began rather suddenly without much warning. As Congressman Fallon was asking Rowe about a photograph of Rowe which was taken at a 9/11 memorial (where Rowe was on-the-job in an official USSS capacity on protective detail), Rowe began rambling about his role in the actual 9/11 attack itself, which immediately devolved into a shouting match between himself and the Congressman.AC: Shouting at an elected official who represents the people who sign one's paycheck demonstrates a rather interesting perspective of job security. Regardless of political party, Director Rowe, was not shouting at a suit in Washington…he was shouting at the American taxpayer who demands accountability. Either way, this incident is yet another in a long list of indications of what the American political system has become, and also demonstrates the very serious problems within the agency. A Director who is mentally unwell or has anger issues to the point that he can't even control himself while answering basic questions about his job (a job which involves the use of lethal force) is probably a more practical indicator of how serious the problems within the USSS are than any other Congressional testimony.USA: This morning, vario

Over the past week, Syrian opposition fighters have seized control of Aleppo and advanced further south towards Hama. This unexpected move has reignited what was largely a frozen conflict. In response, the Syrian Army, with support from Russia and reportedly, Iraqi militias, has intensified bombing campaigns on opposition-held areas. So, what's next for Syria's war? In this episode: Qutaiba Idlbi (@Qidlbi), Director of Syria Initiative at The Atlantic Council Episode credits: This episode was produced by Ashish Malhotra and Amy Walters with Sarí el-Khalili, Hagir Saleh, Duha Mosaad, Cole Van Miltenberg, and our host, Natasha Del Toro, in for Malika Bilal. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

//The Wire//2200Z December 3, 2024////ROUTINE////BLUF: MARTIAL LAW DECLARED IN SOUTH KOREA, PRESIDENT DEPLOYS MILITARY THROUGHOUT SEOUL BEFORE PARLIAMENT NULLIFIES ORDER. SYRIAN REBEL FORCES CAPTURE ALEPPO, PIVOT SOUTH TOWARD HAMA.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Syria: Opposition forces have completely taken the city of Aleppo, which largely remains under the control of opposition forces comprising of HTS, ISIS, and various other smaller al-Qaeda splinter groups. Syrian governmental forces largely have offered little resistance to the advance, which has continued to push south toward Hama. Fighting has now reached the suburbs of Hama, where the Syrian Army and Russia have mounted varying levels of defense.Korean Peninsula: This morning President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law throughout South Korea and immediately ordered the suspension of Parliament and the deployment of military forces in Seoul. Immediately following this declaration, many events occurred in very short order. As military forces surrounded Parliament and entered the building with the goal of shutting down proceedings, legislators called an Emergency Session to conduct a snap vote to nullify the martial law declaration.While Members of Parliament were climbing over barricades and using other means to gain access to the main voting hall of the National Assembly Building, soldiers encircled the building, with a large complement of military and police taking up position at the main entrance on the south side of the building. A detachment of unidentified soldiers (likely a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) from the RoK Army Special Warfare Command) were observed breaching the exterior windows of the Assembly Building to gain entry as at least 3x UH-60 helicopters established an aerial presence over the structure (possibly intending to conduct an Air Assault to fast-rope soldiers onto the roof of the building, but more likely to provide transportation for other QRF elements that deployed to the Assembly complex).As armed soldiers were in the hallway outside the main chamber attempting to break through and/or bypass the barricades hastily constructed by Parliamentary staffers, the vote to nullify the martial law order passed unanimously, with 190 Members of Parliament who were able to vote supporting the reversal of the martial law declaration. Zero MPs voted to continue the state of martial law. Following the vote, the Speaker was able to convince the soldiers to depart from the building. A few minutes after the vote, military forces began withdrawing from the interior of the National Assembly Building, with most forces remaining in the vicinity while the details of command were being worked out.Per South Korean law, the vote to nullify the state of marital law does not actually do so in practice, President Yoon is still required to issue the stand-down order himself. The vote in Parliament merely forces the President to issue the recension order. Consequently, Parliament announced that they will not leave the building until the order is rescinded by Yoon. Though the initial confrontations have simmered down, President Yoon has not been seen or heard from since the order was issued around midnight, and military spokesmen have indicated that they will not fully stand down without the order from Yoon himself. A few moments ago, rumors indicated that Yoon may issue the order to withdraw tomorrow.However, several hours after the initial scuffle at the National Assembly Building, some reports suggested that military forces had indeed decided to follow their original orders as issued by President Yoon, which included arresting the leaders of Yoon's opposition movement in Parliament: Lee Jae-myung, Han Dong-hoon, and Woo Won-sik. Earlier in the day, Lee Jae-myung had filmed himself stating that President Yoon was no longer President due to his actions. At the moment it is not clear

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   We dive into the unfolding investigation of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. As more information emerges about the critical failures leading up to the incident, the Secret Service, and its Director, Kimberly Cheatle, are facing heightened scrutiny. Later in the show, we'll have the latest from the war in Gaza with news that the IDF has struck Syrian Army facilities, amid tinderbox tensions in the nation's north. Plus, we'll turn our attention to South America, where the upcoming elections in Venezuela could potentially unseat a longtime antagonist of the United States. And in today's Back of the Brief, we'll discuss the newly announced running mate of Donald Trump, JD Vance. We'll explore his positions on international and national security issues.   To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com.   Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.   Email: PDB@TheFirstTV.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode. Muhammad Deif, together with his deputy Rafa'a Salameh, were targeted in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday morning as they were reportedly present in an above-ground building between the al-Mawasi designated humanitarian zone and the city of Khan Younis. Before we turn to the operation, we hear about its targets? Four IDF soldiers were wounded, one seriously, during a rocket attack Saturday on the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, as cross-border skirmishes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continued to flare. Fabian updates us on the conflict in the north. The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday it struck facilities belonging to the Syrian Army overnight in response to the launch of two drones from Syria at Israel's southernmost city of Eilat the day before. What do we know about the group behind the drones? The government will vote today on extending mandatory service for male Israel Defense Forces soldiers to three years, as well as women who serve in combat and some roles. Fabian explains the changes and talks about how the Defense Ministry is beginning to work on conscripting haredi men -- starting next month. For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog. Discussed articles include: Netanyahu says ‘not absolutely certain' Deif killed, ‘cracks' appearing in Hamas IDF strike targets Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif; group claims at least 90 killed 4 IDF troops hurt, including 1 seriously, as north peppered with rockets and drones IDF says it hit Syrian military facilities in response to drones targeting Eilat Ministers to vote Sunday on extending male mandatory IDF service to 3 years Defense minister says IDF will start drafting ultra-Orthodox men next month Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.  IMAGE: Palestinians inspect the damage at a site hit by an Israeli operation targeting Hamas's shadowy military commander Mohammad Deif in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A round-up of the main headlines in Sweden on June 20th 2024. You can hear more reports on our homepage www.radiosweden.se, or in the app Sveriges Radio Play. Presenter: Alex MaxiaProducer: Michael Walsh

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Today is Day 119 of the war. Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode. Fabian was in Khan Younis this week. What was he shown and how does that correspond with recent statements from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who among other things said Israel will maintain military control of the Gaza Strip once the war against Hamas is over. The IDF Home Front Command on Thursday eased restrictions in most communities near the Gaza Strip border for the first time since the war began on October 7. What's happening here? In a scene that could have been thought up in Hollywood, on Tuesday morning, Israeli commandos killed three members of an armed Hamas cell hiding inside a hospital in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. What took place there? On Tuesday, the IDF announced that it had been flooding some tunnels in the Gaza Strip with seawater, confirming what had been an open secret for several weeks. What is the scope of the flush operations? Israeli leaders have also signaled that they would like to establish a buffer zone as a defensive measure and satellite photos show new demolition along a 1-kilometer-deep path on the Gaza Strip's border with Israel. What is the army publicly stating about this? Turning to the north, on Wednesday, the IDF said that fighter jets carried out strikes overnight against Syrian Army positions in the Daraa area in southern Syria, in response to a rocket attack on the Golan Heights the previous evening. What else is happening along the border?For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog. Discussed articles include: Live blog February 2, 2024 Defense minister vows IDF will push south to Rafah as Khan Younis offensive wraps up As Khan Younis battles intensify, Gallant says IDF will maintain control of Gaza IDF says it killed 3 terrorists planning Oct. 7-like attack hiding in Jenin hospital Satellite photos show new demolition within Israeli buffer zone in Gaza IDF confirms flooding Hamas tunnels in Gaza with seawater Reports say IDF soldiers have torched hundreds of buildings in Gaza US, Israel believe up to 80% of Hamas tunnels intact after 114 days of war – report IDF says jets struck Syrian Army positions in response to rocket attack THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: An Israeli soldier stands guard during the ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Khan Younis, January 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Breaking news out of the Middle East as the Israel Defense Forces claim to have struck a Syrian army position near the city of Daraa. With this Israeli airstrike specifically targeting the Syrian army, are these two nations headed towards a more direct conflict? Meanwhile, mere hours after the UK signaled a desire to create a Palestinian state, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has reportedly started exploring the diplomatic process of recognizing the state of Palestine. How does all this mounting international pressure impact Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has around 90 drones for commercial, surveillance, tactical, and suicide missions. The IRGC not only shipped its suicide drones to Russia to be used against Ukraine, but also equipped its proxies such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Yemeni Houthis, the Syrian Army, and Iraqi Shia Militia groups with all kinds of armed drones. The IRGC also has sold armed drones to Venezuela, Ethiopia, and soon Armenia, to use in the case of war with the Republic of Azerbaijan. All of this is detailed in a new book, by Mehran Riazaty. “Iranian Drones: A New Menace from the Ayatollah.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the story of how when Elisha and the Israelites faced the Syrian army, God protected them with a heavenly army with horses and chariots of fire.

This is the story of how when Elisha and the Israelites faced the Syrian army, God protected them with a heavenly army with horses and chariots of fire.

7 people who have an interaction with others that ultimately leads to the Commander of the Syrian Army (the enemy of Israel) to say; "Indeed, now I know that there is no God in al the earth, except in Israel;......"

The Syrian ARMY had SURROUNDED the city of Samaria and its POPULATION were DYING of STARVATION. Having LIVED off SCRAPS of BREAD that FOLKS threw OVER the wall EACH day, four LEPERS quickly ASSESSED that they were in TROUBLE. They said, 'Why sit here until we die?' (2 kings 7:3 TLB). So they went into the CITY, only to DISCOVER God had WORKED a MIRACLE, causing the Syrians to FLEE in terror, LEAVING behind them FOOD, WATER and RICHES. What do we LEARN from these FOUR lepers? When you put YOUR faith into ACTION, God will go to WORK on your BEHALF. But you have to RISE up and SAY, 'lf l am going to die, l am going to do it REACHING for something, BUILDING something, GOING after something.' When it FEELS like you are DOWN for the COUNT of ten, you HAVE to RISE up and SAY, 'l shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord' (Psalm 118:17 NKJV). That kind of faith GETS God's ATTENTION every TIME. When you get DESPERATE enough you WON'T care WHO God uses, you will be WILLING to RECEIVE any HELP He sends your WAY Naaman the leper, a five-star general in the Syrian army, HUMBLED himself and BECAME willing to LISTEN to a girl who washed dishes and made beds in his house. (That's because she had an answer from God!) He was even WILLING to dip seven TIMES in the dirtiest river around, in order to COME up CLEAN (2kings 5:1-19). Faith says, 'l don't CARE WHERE l have to go, what l HAVE to DO or who l HAVE to LISTEN to, whatever God SAYS, l will DO it.' God's servant Rev Alfred Acheampong Prayer Point: Heavenly Father help me to develop a strong and stubborn faith that will never give up until it receives its targeted desire in Jesus name. Anchor Scripture: '...."THY FAITH HATH MADE THEE WHOLE."' Luke 17:19) Stay Blessed! YearOfSupernaturalSpeed

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Leading the Witness— Police investigators strong-arm Benjamin Netanyahu's one-time spokesman and media consultant to testify against his former boss, saying that if he doesn't they'll destroy his family and his life. Is the whole trial tainted? —We Beat the Syrian Army, Surely We can Beat Climate Change— The IDF gears up to take the lead in Israel's response to climate change. Is that a good thing? —Holding the Line— By changing regulations, the government plans to make it harder for ultra-Orthodox leaders to make sure their followers use only “kosher phones.” Are Haredi rabbis and politicians right to be upset? —Be Best, Israeli Style?— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we try to understand President Yitzhak Herzog's new campaign to be nice on the internet, so as to “shine our inner light” on others. Is this anything more than presidential pablum? All that and Ella Shik Blum!

Welcome to MintCast, the official MintPress News podcast featuring dissenting voices the establishment would rather silence. Today MintCast host Mnar Adley is joined by Vanessa Beeley, an independent investigative journalist and war correspondent based in Damascus, Syria.  While the U.S. military occupies a third of Syria -- mostly in the northeast, controlling Syria's vast oil reserves and water supplies -- Syria continues to rebuild after nearly a decade of destabilization efforts by the U.S. and its proxies, who have armed rebel groups with the intention of stoking a civil war and toppling President Bashar al-Assad. Today, the city of Daraa, which has been referred to as the cradle of the Syrian revolution, has been liberated by the Syrian Army. But, as MintPress reported nearly a decade ago, Daraa was the touchpaper lit by hardline Libyan mercenaries imported into Syria prior to 2011. These mercenaries were trained by the CIA and MI6, alongside Saudi intelligence, to hijack a small movement for economic reforms and turn it into an armed rebellion to fulfill foreign interests in the region. In this segment of MintCast, Beeley joins us to help get us up to speed with the war that was once the focus of mainstream coverage pushing a humanitarian interventionist narrative. MintPress News is a fiercely independent, reader-supported outlet, with no billionaire owners or backers. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.Support the show (https://www.mintpressnews.com/donations/)

June 2nd, 2021 [2nd Kings 5] ☆"Naaman, The Commander of the Syrian Army Appointed by the King"☆ My Heart's Desire is that you might realize that THE MOST HIGH GOD Healed in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament If He Did It Before He'll Do It Again and He is doing it again but you must Build your Faith Reconstruct your Faith, Develop your Faith the Exercise Mustard Seed Faith you will be able to move Every Mountain of situations in your life that are negative, but if you Exercise Mustard Seed Doubt, you may be diminishing the Miracle that THE MOST HIGH God has waiting for you! Sickness don't belong to us, I'm trying to get you to understand that, but you will never come to that conclusion unless: U Build your Faith by Hearing the WORDS OF THE MOST HIGH GOD {Romans10:17], Reconstruct your Faith, Began to Develop you're Faith, if you are a Man/Woman of Faith, then this is the desire of The Most High God. Sickness and Disease doesn't come from GOD! All Sickness and Disease and All Negativity comes from the Invisible Enemy and it's High Time for us to Realize this! That's why 1988, GOD Allowed me to write the song, "Tell the Word": "It's Time to Teach, Preach and Tell the Word to Everyone Who's Never Heard". So if you have ears

Are there any valuable lessons could we can learn from the story of Naaman. He was a man of valor, a powerful warrior, the commander of the Syrian Army and he was from a pagan culture. His story is found in 2 Kings 5 and includes a young slave girl who is owned by Naaman’s wife. It includes the King of Israel who doesn’t trust Naaman’s motives, and Naaman’s desire to be cured of leprosy to the point of willing to pay for his healing which is the equivalent of $4.8 Million in gold and silver. After being convinced of letting go his pride, and then after being healed of his leprosy, he asks for the strangest thing from Israel’s prophet: a truck load of dirt to bring home to Syria with him. Then you have the prophet Elisha’s dedicated servant, Gehazi, who lets his greed destroy him. Yes, there are a few lessons we can learn from the story of Naaman. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A new MP3 sermon from Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Lesson 10: Miraculous Deliverance From The Syrian Army Subtitle: Chariots & Horsemen of Israel Speaker: Taylor Dunham Broadcaster: Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) Event: Bible Study Date: 3/30/2021 Bible: 2 Kings 7:1-20 Length: 56 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Lesson 10: Miraculous Deliverance From The Syrian Army Subtitle: Chariots & Horsemen of Israel Speaker: Taylor Dunham Broadcaster: Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) Event: Bible Study Date: 3/30/2021 Bible: 2 Kings 7:1-20 Length: 56 min.

The Syrian Army invades North Eastern Israel but they are firmly repulsed.  The commander of the Israeli forces is Mosha Daylan a biography of him.  The Egyptian Army advances along the coast towards Tel Avia but they are halted.  The reason for the Soviet support for the creation of the state of Israel.  The importance of the Communist arms sales to Israel.

Picture this! Samaria was surrounded by the Syrian Army. No one went out, no one came in. Outside the city gates were four lepers, abandoned there to die. Also outside the Samaria was the camp of the Syrians, who also didn't perceive the four lepers as a threat. Everyone wrote them off, but God used them to bring deliverance to Samaria. God will move heaven and earth to bring victory and deliverance into your life. Just trust Him and let Him work through the process for you. Tomorrow you will be in Victory Land! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imwangi/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imwangi/support

Obama's "Assad must go" Syria policy lives on, even three plus years into the Trump Administration. Yesterday, US troops illegally occupying Syrian territory shot at a Syrian army checkpoint and a US helicopter followed up by destroying the outpost. At least one Syrian soldier was killed in the incident. Earlier this month a politically-connected US firm signed a contract with the US government to "modernize" US-controlled oilfields in Syria - to "starve Assad." Also today: insanity in Australia and New Zealand and mouth fungus outbreak in the US.

On FPF #460, I discuss the chaotic and dangerous situation unfolding in Idlib, Syria. Turkey is backing the al-Qaeda linked rebels who remain in opposition to the Syrian government. The Syrian Army - along with its Russian ally - are attempting to retake the Idlib Province of Syria. Turkey is invading Syria in an attempt to prevent this from happening. Turkey has asked the US and European allies to get involved and establish a no-fly zone over Idlib. The no-fly zone would result in the US shooting down Russian planes. NATO rejected Turkey's demands. Now Turkey is allowing some of the 3 million refugees - who settled in Turkey during the Syrian War - to cross into Europe. Turkey hopes this will pressure the European powers to act in Syria.  Link Afghan "Peace Deal" has rough start created by US

An airstrike last Thursday, which killed 33 Turkish soldiers and wounded 60 more, was a game-changing development in the Syrian conflict. In the days since, Turkey has unleashed a major military response, carrying out scores of drone attacks on Syrian Army units and facilities. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of a massive and growing humanitarian crisis, with nearly a million people fleeing toward the Turkish border. Charles Lister and Sasha Ghost-Siminoff join host Alistair Taylor to discuss how events are unfolding.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jodi Dean, a professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a commentator on political issues, whose latest book is called “Comrade.”Super Tuesday is tomorrow, with voters in 14 states and American Samoa going to the polls to cast votes for Democratic candidates for president. California and Texas are the big prizes, with about a third of all delegates necessary for the nomination between them. The Democratic Party elite are desperate to stop Sanders. A second American has died of the coronavirus, this time a man in his 70s from Kirkland, Washington. The virus apparently is more virulent than previously thought, and its victims likely have been undercounted in the United States because of delays in testing. Meanwhile, the disease is spreading across Europe and the United States. Mike Wong, the Vice President of the San Francisco chapter of Veterans for Peace, joins the show. The United States and the Taliban signed an agreement over the weekend laying out a 14-month timetable for full US troop withdrawal in exchange for the prevention of attacks against the US and allied foreign forces. Both sides pledged to support a lasting peace between the Taliban and the Afghan government. But this morning, Taliban forces attacked a football match in Khost Province and said that they had no intention of ceasing operations against government forces. Brian and John speak with Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, the Scholar-in-Residence and director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Pakistan and Afghanistan Studies. Turkey shot down two Syrian fighter jets over the weekend hours after Syria shot down a Turkish drone. The Syrian Army also captured a major highway in Idlib Province that had been controlled by extremists. Turkish president Erdogan announced that he would meet with Russian president Putin in Moscow on Thursday to discuss Syria. And in the meantime, Turkish police arrested and harassed a Sputnik News journalist and released him only after intervention from President Putin. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former British Ambassador to Syria, joins the show. Monday’s segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” is where Bill helps us look at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto,” joins Brian and John. In this segment, The Week Ahead, the hosts take a look at the most newsworthy stories of the coming week and what it means for the country and the world, including Joe Biden’s victory in south carolina, why Pete Buttiegeg actually dropped out of the race just two weeks after CNN proclaimed him the front runner, tomorrow’s Super Tuesday vote, the intensifying conflict between Turkey and Syria and Russia, and more. Sputnik News analysts and producers of this show Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek join the show.Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa and software engineer and technology and security analyst Patricia Gorky join the show.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell.There was a bare-fisted street brawl in Las Vegas last night, and a Democratic presidential debate broke out. Indeed, the New York Post called last night’s debate “the single best debate in the history of American politics.” That may be a stretch, but Mike Bloomberg looked unprepared, angry, and defensive. Elizabeth Warren looked like the big winner of the evening, as she relentlessly pummelled Bloomberg. Pete Buttigieg seemed to hold his own, and Bernie Sanders appears to have come out on top with no real damage other than over his medical records. Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), joins the show. One of Julian Assange’s London-based attorneys said yesterday that President Trump had authorized former Congressman Dana Rohrbacher to tell Assange that he would be pardoned if he showed proof that Russia was not behind the hack of DNC computers in 2016. Assange has repeatedly said over the years that no state actor was involved. But Rohrbacher issued a statement several hours later saying the report was not true, and that he had made the offer on his own volition. Brian and John speak with independent journalist Diani Barreto, and Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of Consortium News, founded by the late Robert Parry. Roger Stone was sentenced today to 40 months in a federal court in Washington DC. Judge Amy Berman Jackson sided with prosecutors in their demand for real prison time for Stone, and she read several of Stone’s text messages to his friend Randy Credico into the record, including messages where Stone threatened Credico and his dog. This is despite the fact that Credico wrote to the judge and asked not to give Stone any prison time at all, saying that he never took Stone’s threats seriously. Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent who in 2002 was named Time Magazine person of the year along with two other whistleblowers, joins the show. Fighting broke out in Syria’s Idlib Province today after two Turkish soldiers were killed and five wounded in a Syrian Army air attack. The Turks responded, saying later that they killed more than 50 Syrian troops. A Turkish government spokesman said that move does not constitute a Turkish attack on Idlib, while a Russian government spokesman said that both sides need to stand down. Meanwhile, reports circulated that were denied by Turkey that it had asked the US to deploy two Patriot missile batteries on its southern border to protect Turkish troops from Syrian air attacks. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, joins Brian and John. The U.S. government issued harsh new restrictions on Chinese public media outlets this week that would put them in the same legal category as foreign missions. This dramatic move is being denounced as yet another escalation of the war on alternative media. In retaliation, several Wall Street Journal reporters in China had their credentials revoked. KJ Noh, a peace activist and scholar on the geopolitics of Asia, and a frequent contributor to Counterpunch and Dissident Voice, joins the show.A regular Thursday segment deals with the ongoing militarization of space. As the US continues to withdraw from international arms treaties, will the weaponization and militarization of space bring the world closer to catastrophe? Brian and John speak with Prof. Karl Grossman, a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury and the host of a nationally aired television program focused on environmental, energy, and space issues, and with Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jamarl Thomas of Progressive Soapbox, and soon of Political Misfits, which will be on from 12:00-2:00 starting next Tuesday right here on Sputnik Radio.The New Hampshire Primary is today with voters heading to the polls until 7:00. 33 Democrats are on the ballot, and every poll released today shows Bernie Sanders leading by 7 or 8 percentage points, followed by Pete Buttigieg. Some polls show Amy Klobuchar in third place, while others have Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden tied for third. Roger Stone is facing prison time for lying to Congress and witness tampering in the Russia investigation. President Trump immediately took to Twitter, calling the prosecution of Stone unfair and saying, “I cannot allow this miscarriage of justice.” And now the Justice Department seems to be backing off. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books--“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins the show. Our friend and guest Abby Martin was scheduled to give the keynote address at an upcoming conference at Georgia Southern University. Before the event took place, however, she was told that she had to sign a contractual pledge to not support the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement against Israel. Abby refused and her talk was canceled after other scheduled speakers supported Abby’s position. She is now taking the issue to the courts. Brian and John speak with Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files. Syrian opposition leaders said today that a counteroffensive against government forces in the country’s northwest could begin at any moment, amid escalating tensions. The warning came yesterday just hours after five Turkish troops were killed in shelling by the Syrian Army. The Turkish Army retaliated by hitting more than 100 Syrian military targets. Meanwhile, a Russian diplomatic delegation arrived in Ankara to try to head off the fighting. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, joins the show. Today, in federal court in Washington, DC, four people, including Adrienne Pine, David Paul, Margaret Flowers and Kavin Zeese, will go on trial on charges of “interfering with certain federal protective functions.” That’s code for refusing to leave the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington so that it could be handed over to coup plotters and followers of presidential pretender Juan Guaido. They were removed by force in a SWAT-style raid on May 16, 2019. Wyatt Reed, the producer of By Any Means Necessary, which is on Radio Sputnik every weekday from 2pm to 4pm, joins Brian and John. Today is Loud & Clear’s weekly series about the biggest economic news of the week with special guest -- Prof. Richard Wolff. Professor Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work whose latest book is “Understanding Socialism,” joins the show.Tuesday’s regular segment is called Women & Society with Dr. Hannah Dickinson. This weekly segment is about the major issues, challenges, and struggles facing women in all aspects of society. Hannah Dickinson, an associate professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and an organizer with the Geneva Women’s Assembly; Nathalie Hrizi, an educator, a political activist, and the editor of Breaking the Chains, a women’s magazine, which you can find at patreon.com/BreakChainsMag; and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell join the show.

Repentance is hard. It involves putting to death pride and openly recognizing and admitting you sinned, have no real future in continuing in your sin, and that your sin is against a holy and righteous God without which there is no hope of salvation. Sometimes God puts us in difficult situations so that we will face up to our transgressions and deal with them in a way that brings peace and comfort out of the consequences that our sin has placed us in. Jehoshaphat in our Scripture text today was in this position in spades. The whole Syrian Army was barreling down on him, waiting for the signal to light up his body with arrows and swords, all because Jehoshaphat through his alliance with evil Ahab and his refusal to stand up for Micaiah as the LORD was blasphemed had brought himself into this time and place by his sin. But what did Jehoshaphat do and how did God respond? He cried out to the LORD in repentance and faith and his Savior and Redeemer heard his call and turned away the advancing troops thereby bringing him out of harms way. Now, the Lord may not always remove the temporal consequences of our sin, but the great truth of the Gospel is that through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit those who turn away from following the dictates of our pagan culture and the wisdom of the fallen mind have the assurance that they are forgiven from the real, actual serious penalty of death, and receive by faith the awesome blessings of eternal life in Christ. It is never too late to repent, to turn away from sin. The Lord Jesus calls you this day to put away the childish things and to rest and trust in the heavenly mercies and grace offered in Him alone. Blessings on your week!

Syria's army has moved into towns and villages in northern Syria, setting up a potential clash with Turkish-led forces. The deployment came hours after Syrian Kurdish forces previously allied with the U.S. said they'd reached a deal with President Bashar Assad’s government to help fend off Turkey’s invasion. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says President Trump has directed U.S. troops in northern Syria to begin pulling out "as safely and quickly as possible." He says the administration is considering its options. Rescuers are searching for those missing from a typhoon that's left dozens dead and caused serious damage in central and northern Japan. The typhoon hit Japan's main island on Saturday. Pope Francis' chief bodyguard has resigned over the leak of a Vatican police flyer identifying five Holy See employees who were suspended as part of a financial probe. The Vatican says the police chief bore no responsibility for the leak but resigned so as not to disrupt the investigation and "out of love for the church and faithfulness" to the pope.

21WIRE's Patrick Henningsen reporting from Beirut, Lebanon joins Fault Lines Radio hosts Garland Nixon and Lee Stranahan on Monday morning DC drive time: A lot of Americans are marinated in a set of mainstream media ‘facts’ — that somehow the Kurds have a nation-state located in Syria. They’re not even a majority in northeastern Syria, where the US is currently occupying alongside the so-called ‘Syrian Democratic Forces', that are basically Kurdish YPG militia who’ve been given a patch on their uniform that says ‘SDF’ and loads of weapons and money by the US. The Kurds wouldn’t be massacred by the Syrian government. That’s just preposterous. And they wouldn’t be massacred by ISIS, if the Syrian Army was allowed in with the Russians and also the Iranian militia and Hezbollah – who would pretty much wipe them out within about a month. This would also force the Kurdish separatists, if there are any real separatists there, to negotiate with Damascus and come to some sort of arrangement. That’s the reality on the ground. Turkey’s had a long-running plan of setting up ‘safe zones’ with the US in Syria, for refugees. It’s Turkey wanting to basically cleanse its hands of the refugee problem; when in fact, Turkey helped create the refugee problem by backing the so-called rebels in Syria since 2011. And they’re still using remnants of the Free Syrian Army as their shock troops in places like Afrin, Idlib and Jarabulus. So, Turkey is actually directly responsible for the proliferation of militants. They’ve also been implicated with letting ISIS traverse their border back and forth. Patrick also covers briefly the current situation in the UK with Boris Johnson and Brexit, as well as the latest on 'Ukrainegate' and the real election meddling that took place in 2016. *** Listen to Fault Lines Radio LIVE on Radio Sputnik: MON-FRI | 7-10 AM ET | 105.5 FM & 1390 AM in DC | CALL-IN: 202-521-1320 | Watch on twitter.com/FaultLinesRadio and YouTube This segment was clipped from the October 7, 2019 live broadcast: https://21w.co/faultlines-7Oct2019 

In the book of II Kings Chapter 5 verses 1-10 talks about a man named Naaman. He was a mighty man of valor and the captain of the Syrian Army, but, he had a terrible disease called leprosy. Often time we tend to look at others and their faults or shortcomings until we forget about our own. In this lesson Naaman goes in search for the one man who could heal him of his Leprosy a man by the name of Elisha which proves that God can heal us of all our Leprosy. What's yours? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gary-mccleod/support

The challenge of writing about war is to take stories and experiences that are almost beyond language and put them down on paper. Take part in an intimate evening showcasing recent work by two extraordinary writers, who will discuss how and why they grapple with writing about the harrowing reality of war. British-Pakistani writer and The New York Times columnist, Mohammed Hanif will discuss his latest satirical novel, Red Birds. This dark comedy sheds light on the ugliness of war by following the unlikely journey of a teenage refugee and a philosopher dog. Palestinian-Syrian writer and human rights activist Kassem Eid will introduce, My Country: A Syrian Memoir, a book that recounts his experiences in the Syrian Civil War where he joined the free Syrian Army and experienced the 2013 sarin gas in attack in Ghouta first-hand. This event is presented in partnership with UNSWriting and Adelaide Writers' Week and supported by the Goethe-Institut.

The Syrian Army and Turkish backed rebels are in a firefight now. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dontspeak/support

Tonight on Prepper Intelligence Losing The Streets A top police officer has warned we are ‘very close to losing the streets’ as government funding cuts continue to bite. Civil Unrest After No-Deal Brexit A leaked report shows police fears that a "no-deal" Brexit would lead to a shortage of goods, resulting in civil disorder. First News Story What was the first major news story you remember as a child ? Cyber Threat GCHQ merely recognised "offensive cyber" as part of the arsenal of weapons at a state's disposal. Cincinnati Bank Shooting Four people have died including a gunman after a shooting at a bank in Cincinnati. Emirates Plane Quarantined Some 100 passengers were reported ill aboard an Emirates flight currently grounded at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Acid Attack In West London Three people have been injured in a suspected acid attack on a street in west London. Monkeypox Passengers on a flight to Britain from Nigeria this week are being contacted after the first ever case of a person in the UK suffering the infectious monkeypox disease was discovered. North Korea Parade On 9 September, North Korean military displayed a new long-range anti-tank missile carrier at a military parade to mark its 70th anniversary. US Considering Options for Syria Events are moving rapidly in Syria as Russian jets pound insurgent positions in Idlib Province and as the Syrian Army initiates a ground invasion which Damascus has described as coming in a "phased" approach. Coup Against Maduro: US officials met secretly with Venezuelan military officers who were plotting a coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. more shows on Prepper Podcast Get Involved New Paladin Facebook Group

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host Nellie Bailey. Coming up: the U.S. has been trying to overthrow the leftist government in Venezuela ever since it was voted into power, back in 1998, but Trump is threatening to use direct American military force; the Syrian so-called “White Helmets” are treated like Hollywood heroes, but they are really Al-Qaida terrorists, subsidized by Britain and the U.S.; and, Mumia Abu Jamal reviews a book about Black communists organizing in Alabama in the 1930s. Folks on the Left have a lot to say about the pros and cons of Deocrats like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the young woman that won an upset congressional victory against a machine Democrat in New York City. But Black Agenda Report managing editor Bruce Dixon says left activists should concentrate on improving their own organizational skills, if they want to serve the people effectively. Mark Weisbrot is an economist and co-director of the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research. The center intensely follows U.S. policy in Latin America. Mark Weisbrot hit on a novel way to critique U.S. behavior in Latin America since the turn of the 21 st century. He wrote a totally fictional letter in which Thomas Shannon, a long term U.S. diplomat in Latin America, gives advice to Mike Pompeo, President Trump’s Secretary of State. Weisbrot’s fictitious ambassador Shannon tells Pompeo that President’s Bush and Clinton carried out remarkably similar policies to undermine leftist governments in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, and elsewhere – and with much success. The so-called White Helmets are hailed as heroes in the U.S. and Britain, but Syrians say the White Helmets are actually part of the Al Nusra Front, the Al Qaida terrorists in Syria, and are not in the business of rescuing anybody. Vanessa Beeley is a crusading journalist, one of few westerners that actually cover the war in Syria. Beeley has done more than any other reporter to expose the Helmets as a fraud. Now that the Syrian Army is closing in on Al Qaida and the other western-backed jihadists in Syria, Israel is lobbying to allow hundreds of jihadists to escape, through its territory or through Jordan, including those claiming to belong to the White Helmets. Vanessa Beeley was interviewed by Phil Taylor, on his radio program in Toronto, Canada. The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, has reviewed a book on Black Communists in Alabama, during the Great Depression.  

Marked for Illness Leper Sinner was Unclean   (Lev.13:44). General Naaman is shown as a man who had climbed to the height of his profession in the Syrian Army. Yet, he is at the same time revealed as a man who has fallen into serious trouble, he was a leper. Leprosy was considered a curse that was caused by sin. Then too, because he was considered unclean, he had to be isolated from the people. Being defiled, his only hope was for the mercy and forgiveness of God to overcome. Else, he would have to live alone for the rest of his days. His high position could not save him. His worldly authority could not protect him. His political connections could not deliver him.  He was trapped in a body that was full of rottenness and depravity.  He was spiritually poverty-struck. His false gods could not deliver him. The Bible says, (Lev. 13:44-46) “He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. 45 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. 46 All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.”

Theme: Naaman the Syrian, the Commander in Chief of the Syrian Army

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined for the first time by co-host John Kiriakou.In the first hour, John and Brian discuss how the September 11th attacks changed the United States and the world, alongside professor and author Peter Kuznick and author and columnist Patrick Lawrence.To start the second hour, Brian and John address how the FBI is investigating Sputnik for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act along with Sputnik US editor-in-chief Mindia Gavasheli.Next, Hurricane Irma is ripping through Florida, causing huge devastation in its wake. Were preparations adequate? And how will residents rebuild? Ruth Beltran of the Tampa Chapter of Black Lives Matter and Juliana Musheyev, a board member of the Sarasota Peace Education and Action Center, join the show.The United Nations is set to vote today on additional sanctions against North Korea. Will China and Russia stand up to the United States, which are seeking suffocating new measures? Gregory Elich of the Committee for Peace and Democracy in Korea discusses the vote.Hillary Clinton’s memoir of her election defeat is released tomorrow in which she blames seemingly everyone for her shocking loss to Donald Trump. As Schumer and Pelosi cozy up to President Trump, is the Democratic Party elite completely incapable of learning from their mistakes? Ted Rall, editorial cartoonist and columnist, joins Brian and John to discuss.The Syrian Army is advancing on the city of Deir ez-Zor at the same time that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have started an operation to clear Daesh from the countryside to the north of the city. Rick Sterling of the Syria Solidarity Movement talks about these developments.

RUSI Visiting Research Fellow Kamal Alam discusses the reported Syrian Army take over of Deir el-Zor from ISIS

Xander Snyder and Jacob L. Shapiro talk about the geopolitical consequences of new U.S. sanctions against Russia, North Korea and Iran.Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: goo.gl/hfTxMX TRANSCRIPT: Jacob L. Shapiro: Hello, everyone, welcome to another Geopolitical Futures Podcast. I'm Jacob Shapiro. I am joined once more by Xander Snyder. Xander, it's always good to talk to you. XS: Thanks, good to be here. JLS: We've been trying some different things with the podcast in the last couple weeks. Last week, Kamran and I had a little discussion about democracy and geopolitics. We appreciated all your feedback on that. Before that, we were doing some talk about history and battles and geopolitical contingencies. This week, we're going to go in a little bit of different direction. We're going to just try and take a sense of what's been going on this week in geopolitics in 30 minutes and try and talk through some of the major issues and the things that have happened this week that might actually have staying power beyond the week itself. Because some many of the things itself, so many of the headlines and the things that happen in the news really don't matter that much once the headline is out there. So we're going to try and get to the deep stuff that we think is going to matter in the long term. And the major thing I think, Xander, that really affected this week was not just the House but the Senate also apparently has just passed sanctions not just on Russia – although that's getting most of the attention – but also on North Korea and also on Iran. Just this morning as we're recording before we went live, I saw that a bunch of different news organizations were reporting that North Korea also tested some kind of missile this morning too. We don't know whether it was an ICBM or something else. But it seems to me the real magnetic issue of this week has been sanctions, would you agree? XS: Yeah seems like a lot has been revolving around sanctions this week. And very quick timeline of it is back in mid-June, the Senate overwhelmingly approved some form of sanctions and then it kind of got negotiated between the House and the Senate for another month. And then the House earlier this week passed sort of a new and improved version that both houses had agreed to by I think it was like 419 to 3, an overwhelming majority, and then the Senate passed it again with an overwhelming majority of like 98 to 2. And one of the big changes in the new version of the sanctions bill – well compared to the sanctions that were passed against Russia in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea and took control of that area of Ukraine – basically ties President Trump's hands in a lot of ways. So the way that some of these clauses were phrased in the original sanctions bill was saying the president “may” choose to implement one or several of the different measures that are provided for in the sanctions bill. And in this new one that just passed both houses essentially an amendment was proposed that changes the word “may” to the word “shall,” so the president shall implement all of these sanctions. And what that does is it removes a certain degree of power from the president to decide who sanctions who or what corporate entity sanctions are going to be levied against. And it also reduces his ability to issue waivers against individuals or individual entities that do have sanctions levied against them. So that's just kind of like the starting point for how a lot of activity has revolved around these sanctions over the last week. JLS: Yeah, I think one of the interesting things to point out is that both President Obama and President Bush tried to really reset relations with Russia in a more positive direction. That was definitely something Trump wanted to do as well. And Trump has encountered the same types of geopolitical obstacles externally that both Obama and Bush did. I mean, there are just interests that are divergent between Russia and the United States and no matter how much Putin and Trump may or may not like each other, those issues seem to come to the forefront. But Trump also seems to have on top of that, a domestic situation in the United States that is blocking him from doing anything even in some of the foreign policy realms, right? You talked a little bit about how it's enforcing and making Trump raise a bunch of sanctions that were only there through executive order in which he had some options with. But so Congress is basically forcing his hand in that bit. But there are also some parts of the sanctions that relate to energy and I know that you did a closer look at some of the energy-related stuff, especially in terms of where Russian energy goes, so do you want to talk a little bit about that? XS: Yeah, I think the point that you make speaks to one way that we look at the world, which is leaders always encounter constraints and frequently they encounter constraints that they were not anticipating on the campaign trail. So they're able to use boastful rhetoric and you know say almost anything that they want to. Either not realizing or maybe recognizing but not playing up the fact that they're not nearly going to be able to do as much as they say they're going to when they get into office. And this has just been sort of another one of these constraints in the foreign policy world that Trump has run into when he's been in office. Now, the European Commission and Germany in particular have taken umbrage, they've been a little concerned with the set of sanctions that were passed this week. This is because the sanctions bill provide for measures to be taken against companies with residents in any country really that have a certain degree of involvement with Russian energy companies, and I think the threshold is something like 30 percent investment in a joint venture project. Antonia, one of our senior analysts, wrote a Reality Check on that earlier this week in a little bit more detail so you can go read up on that there. But the idea is that since the sanctions can potentially target companies that are not Russia, and Germany has some energy projects that they've co-invested with Russia because Germany gets a lot of their both natural gas and oil from Russia but especially their natural gas. And now they're concerned that potentially both their companies and potentially their energy securities to a certain degree can be threatened by these sanctions. And they're saying, “Well, you know, the U.S. shouldn't have the right to target non-Russian companies when the point is to go after Russia with these sanctions.” So that's been one of the other issues that's kind of arisen surrounding the sanctions bill. JLS: Yeah. And I think one thing to point out there is that the sanctions themselves I don't think are the major story. Sanctions have been levied a lot of different times by a lot of different countries and I wrote a piece the other day that sort of talked about how sanctions are usually, not always but usually a fairly ineffective obstacle. It's not the sanctions so much that are interesting. I don't think the sanctions are going to compel Russian behavior one way or another. It is though I think from the Russian point of view, a provocation. So especially with the sanctions that are being levied against Russia in this particular case, Russia's not going to be able to not respond in some kind of way. And we've already seen in the last couple days, I would call it weird stuff happening in the Ukraine. Just electricity being cut off to one region, the stuff about Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia who became a Ukrainian citizen and was a governor of Odessa in Ukraine. His citizenship has been revoked. There have just been some signs that Ukraine seems to be feeling a little bit more willing to push back against Russia. And of course, the big thing was that the new special representative to Ukraine that the State Department appointed suggested that the United States would look into arming Ukraine with defensive weaponry. So all of those things mean not that sanctions are going to do what the United States wants necessarily. I think Russia is going to perceive this as a challenge and Russia's going to have to try and push back if not in the Ukraine, probably somewhere else along the periphery and I think that's why this issue is going to be important going forward for a while. XS: Yeah just before I hopped on to do the podcast, I was reading that Russia has begun to retaliate a little. They've basically begun kicking out some U.S. diplomats and reduced the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia to the number of Russian diplomats in the U.S. which was fewer and have begun to seize some U.S. diplomats' vacation properties and some warehouses I guess that were used to store U.S. diplomats' goods. So that's something sort of short term but another way you can look at sort of Russia's flexibility in terms of how they can retaliate in a larger way, I mean one way you could look at that is in the energy world because a lot of Europe is dependent on Russia for its supply of energy. Europe imports really a lot of its energy needs. I think Germany in particular imports approximately 60 percent of its energy consumption. And something like 55-plus percent of its natural gas consumption comes from Russia. So there is some deeper structural dependencies on Russia in the energy market that actually gives it the ability to retaliate at least against U.S. allies in a somewhat more serious way than just kicking out a couple of diplomats. JLS: Yeah, absolutely. Moving on from Russia, though, Russia is not the only player in the sanctions regime. I think that it's getting the most attention because of the complicated and convoluted relationship between Donald Trump and Russia and the United States, but the bill originally was not designed as a sanctions bill for Russia. It was designed as a sanctions bill against specifically Iran. And you know both Russia and North Korea were things that were added on later. Iran and North Korea are both countries that the United States has been having trouble with for a long time and has been trying to use sanctions with for a long time. And it seems that Congress is trying to reinforce that method but I'm not sure it's going to work. You know Iran really was able to come to terms with the United States not so much because of sanctions I think but really because the Islamic State rose and broke Iranian strategy. And Iran really had to measure what was the more important enemy and I think that they prioritized defeating the Sunni Arab force in the Islamic State over basically the nuclear program that they were developing and when you see Iran testing and still using missiles. I don't think they've necessarily abandoned that program. They may not be enriching uranium and I think they are probably abiding by the terms of the deal. But that doesn't mean that they aren't working on other parts of a delivery system. And on top of that we have North Korea which seems to not be going away and I know that a lot of listeners probably have been hearing us talking for a while about how the situation in North Korea is deteriorating and the tensions are high. But we continue to see it that way. You know, I think one of the things that we're doing is there's probably some kind of negotiation or diplomatic process going on there. And you know, I think there's a lot of misdirection coming out of the U.S. right now. On the one hand, you get the three carrier battlegroups there. Then the carrier battlegroups disperse and you have the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying, “We're going to give the diplomatic route a couple months.” And we'll see from that so. You've looked a lot at North Korea, Xander, what is your sort of current read on U.S. posture towards North Korea and how do you see it going forward in the next couple weeks after this test, especially if it turns out to be an ICBM that was tested? XS: Yeah, we are still waiting on confirmation on whether it was or not. If this most recent launch was another ICBM, that would appear obviously a lot more threatening because it could potentially show that North Korea is making progress on developing a delivery system that could potentially deliver some sort of nuclear warhead. We don't believe that they're there yet even though they may have missiles that can fly further now as we saw earlier this month. As far as North Korea generally goes, sanctions like you said they generally don't work. When we say generally, we don't mean never. I think you cited a report from the Peterson Institute in your piece that said something like two-thirds of the time sanctions prove ineffective. And North Korea has been sanctioned repeatedly for 20 years and all we've seen them do in that time is basically start a nuclear weapons program, develop it, get to a point where they are very close to, you know, within a year or two having some sort of miniaturized nuclear warhead, potentially having intercontinental delivery capabilities. So sanctions just don't really seem to work a whole lot about North Korea and if you try to put yourself in the mindset of the North Korean regime, it kind of makes a little bit more sense. You know, a lot of people think that Kim Jong Un is just crazy and that the Kim regime is insane, that you know it's this terribly oppressive autocratic regime, and it is an oppressive autocratic regime. But a perspective that doesn't get out there as frequently, is that this is a regime that's been around for 70 years. They've withstood the collapse of their biggest patron, the Soviet Union, for several decades. And they've gotten through increasing pressure placed on them from the United States and arguably China recently, although those numbers are a little bit harder to read. I think it's difficult to claim that a regime that's been around and has stayed stable for that long is truly insane. They have to be acting at least to some degree rationally. And if you look at the effects or lack of effects of sanctions on North Korea, you know, the regime believes that it is at constant threat from the United States and if it gives on some of the things that the United States wants it to give on, that it's going to be at even a greater risk of if not collapse then losing its control on the governing institutions in North Korea. So for a regime that feels completely threatened for survival, it seems like sanctions are, they're going to be more willing to just accept that their country will be hurting than to just give up control, give up reins of power on their country. JLS: Yeah, and I think that the other side of this is that sanctions are probably not going to compel North Korea to give up its program. Like you said, if they haven't given it up already with the sanctions that have been levied against them, it's doubtful that this new batch of sanctions is going to be the one to do it. But I think the other thing that this brings up is that everybody is wondering what is China's role in helping manage North Korea and how much can they actually do? And one of the things that we looked at this week was new data out of Korea that said that while Chinese imports from North Korea have decreased by about 25 percent year-on-year, their exports to North Korea have gone up quite a bit, almost 20 percent that way. And so that's not a new thing, we've seen data from China itself confirming that earlier in the year and Donald Trump even tweeted, you know, about how China wasn't living up to its end of the bargain in terms of taking care of North Korea. But I think this is a good way of showing also the sort of ineffective logic of sanctions because, OK, so you've sanctioned North Korea, but the hard thing with sanctions – it's also the hard thing in getting something like an OPEC agreement to work – is making sure that everybody does it in the exact same way. The problem is that everybody doesn't have exactly the same interests. So you can't necessarily expect everyone to carry out the sanctions the same way or to be completely 100 percent consistent. So maybe China, it's dealing with North Korea in the way that it's dealing with it, perhaps not in the way that the United States wants. Are you just going to go and sanction China then? Like where does it stop? The problem at the end of the day is that North Korea is developing a nuclear weapon that can strike the United States. And you can sanction North Korea all you want and you can sanction China all you want, you know, unless those sanctions are going to compel someone to stop developing a nuclear program or are going to compel China to do something to stop North Korea from developing that program ­­– and I am not convinced China can do anything to stop that – it's not really going to work, right? XS: It seems unlikely, yeah. One thing that we are focused on that we've talked about before, certainly internally, I think maybe we've written some Watch List items on it, is whether or not the United States will be effective in obtaining sanctions on imports of crude oil to North Korea. Late last year, there were sanctions placed on North Korean coal exports to China, and that was seen as a significant or at least sort of a milestone in the development of the sanctions regime against North Korea because that's one way that North Korea receives a lot of hard foreign currency from abroad. But it seems like their supply of crude oil hasn't technically changed that much, and Tillerson mentioned a couple weeks ago that that's one thing that they would be seeking through conversations with China. But North Korea, there's some reports, some data that seems to indicate that they get a lot of crude oil both from China and Russia. It's hard to know because those numbers are no longer officially published by China and I don't think they've ever been officially published by Russia so they come through like North Korean defectors who supposedly have been dealing with imports from Russia. So that might be one area of sanctions where, if somehow the U.S. could pull that off, it might change the game a little bit because it could impact North Korea's ability to wage a conventional war. But there's no reason, or I can't see any reason at least, why China would get in line behind that or certainly why Russia would. It seems like they would want to extract pretty significant concessions from the U.S. in other parts of the world in order to actually implement a sanctions regime like that. JLS: Yeah, and then of course, the last piece to the puzzle of these sanctions here is Iran. And I think Iran has fallen a little bit by the wayside in terms of people's attention and in terms of even the U.S. attention. You know, before he was secretary of defense, James Mattis was very, very focused on Iran in general when he was thinking about U.S. foreign policy. And I think that Iran is going to become more and more of an issue for the United States. I think the Middle East is going to become more and more of an issue for the United States, not necessarily because of Iran itself but because the battle against the Islamic State is progressing. I don't think that it's imminently over. I think the Islamic State is going to stand and fight for quite a while longer. But you can sort of begin to see the end game for the Islamic State and for defeating this particular iteration of the Islamic State. And I think that you're not going to get peace out of that. What you're going to get is that the coalition that formed against ISIS is going to break apart and there's going to be a lot of power vacuums all over the Middle East that different countries are going to be looking to fill, and I think Iran is the one that is most aggressively pursuing those things. So we've had a couple years here with a very uneasy understanding between the United States and between Iran. I don't expect the nuclear deal to fall apart anytime soon or anything like that. And like I said, I think we're still looking at another year maybe two of the Islamic State being a major actor. But I think if you start thinking about the Middle East five years, 10 years out, and you think about what's going to happen once the Islamic State loses some of its what core territory is left remaining to it. Iran and the United States don't see eye to eye in the Middle East. The United States is trying to reconstruct a balance of power there and Iran is trying to set itself up as a regional hegemon. It is expending a lot of money and a lot of even its own soldiers in Iraq, in Syria, even in Lebanon with its relationship with Hezbollah to try and make that come to fruition. So I don't think that these sanctions themselves will be that consequential in terms of the relationship between the United States and Iran, but I think that relationship overall is probably trending in a negative direction. I don't think that we should think for a moment that just because the nuclear accord happened a couple years ago, that things are going to stay rosy there. XS: You mentioned a couple of minutes ago that your of Iran's acquiescence to the nuclear accord was not due to the prior sanctions regime implemented by the U.S. but rather the regional challenge it faced by a potential Sunni leader, ISIS. Could you explain a little bit more what you mean by that? JLS: Sure, and I don't want to fall into the fallacy of saying that one thing is the most determinative or deciding thing, right? Like obviously all these things were working in concert together. And I do think that the sanctions that the U.S. carried out against Iran in 2010, they certainly hurt the Iranian economy. We have plenty of evidence in terms of shrinking GDP and people not buying Iranian oil across the board that indicated that Iran's economy was hurting and that average, everyday Iranians were hurting. Again, though, when you have a country like Iran that has for so long been a U.S. enemy and frankly has some reason to think of the U.S. as an enemy. The U.S. was involved in trying to – I mean, not trying – helped a military coup in Iran in 1953. This is not a country that has a reason to trust necessarily United States motives. So I am saying that to say in the same way that we were talking about North Korea and we're saying, “Well, are sanctions really going to affect a regime that has already sacrificed so much and which has such a level of sort of autocracy and dedication in the population itself?” I sort of see Iran the same way. Iran is a very proud country with a very well-defined national identity, and I don't think that Iran is going to bend just because the United States or the West even is trying to make Iran feel things economically. I think what Iran did was, I think that before 2010, they saw a very real chance of extending their influence from Tehran all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Iraq was in shambles and that's a majority Shiite Arab country, so they thought that they could dominate there. You had Syria, which was under the control of Bashar al-Assad and that was another Iranian – I don't want to say client state, but another Iranian ally in the region and definitely looked towards Iran for guidance and money and things. And then you had Hezbollah, which had basically taken over large parts if not all of Lebanon and is that rare militant group that has gone from militant group to governing group, and has done that fairly well. That was the story in 2010. There was an arc of Shiite influence going to the Mediterranean and things looked very good for Iran. That all fell apart because ISIS rose in Iraq and significantly challenged the Iranian idea of stability there. Bashar al-Assad faced rebels in his own country, which ISIS eventually came to capitalize on. Brought Hezbollah into that fight, so Hezbollah can no longer focus on annoying Israel or doing any of the other proxy things that it does. It's committed to almost a conventional-style war in Syria. So you had all of these strategic things just fall apart on Iran, and you have to understand that for Iran, it's Iran's Ukraine, basically. You know we talked earlier about how Russia has such a deep interest in Ukraine. Iraq and the state of things beyond the Zagros mountains in that direction is the same type of thing for Iran. So I think sanctions played a role, and I think sanctions hurt the Iranian economy, and I think it would certainly be hard for Iran to go back to where it was before. We've seen very high GDP growth numbers out of their economy, and I think that both Iran and some of the Western companies that are partnering with Iran would make real sanctions hard to enforce. But overall, when I look at the deciding factors over why that deal had to be made, the United States decided that it needed to defeat ISIS and it needed to defeat ISIS first and then it could deal with other problems later. And I think Iran sort of saw the same thing. They were worried about ISIS not just taking over Syria and knocking out one of their client states along the way to the Mediterranean but also significantly threatening Baghdad, and it's not an idle threat and it's not something that they were imagining. I mean Saddam Hussein – the Sunnis were ruling but it was not only a secularist regime – but the point is that was Iran's mortal enemy. They fought one of the worst wars that's not talked about I think in the 20th century between 1980 and 1989. So that's kind of what I meant about that. I think that the United States and Iran, the sanctions stuff is all surface level. The deeper problem there is that the United States wants a balance of power in that region, and Iran wants to be the power in that region. And for as long as that's the case – and I don't see that stopping anytime soon – they are going to butt heads, and sanctions aren't going to do anything to change that underlying reality. XS: So despite these conflicting long-term divergences in national interests, countries can still find ways to cooperate on short-term security interests? JLS: Yeah, absolutely. I mean the United States and Russia are definitely at odds against each other in Ukraine. They're tacitly cooperating in Syria. I mean that goes underreported, I think. I mean there's no way that the United States could have the assets running around that it does in Syria and Russia could have the assets that has running around in Syria and there not be some level of coordination. And when we look at the U.S.-backed forces in the region, especially the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian Democratic Forces, and we look at what the Syrian Army is doing, which is backed by Russia, you can see a coherent strategy of basically trying to cut the ground out from underneath ISIS. And sure maybe there's not a formalization or maybe they're not having tea and cookies in the afternoon together, but there's definitely some level of communication between the United States and Russia on that issue. So yeah, it's very rare that you have a relationship between two countries that is just totally hostile and has no bounds for cooperation. I would say one example, though, of where there isn't a lot of – there's really no grounds of cooperation that I can think of between North Korea and the United States. Can you think of anything there? XS: I mean not really. North Korea's core security imperative is to deter an attack from the United States, which requires developing a weapon which would violate one of the United States' core security imperatives, which is keeping North Korea from having a deliverable nuclear weapon. JLS: And I mean one of the results of North Korea being such a closed regime to the rest of the world is that North Korea really does not on a global stage have a lot of power that it can play with or bargain with, right? There's nothing that North Korea can do for the United States in East Asia if the U.S. did want to make some kind of deal. Whereas Iran is a powerful country and has power over a lot of different actors that the United States sometimes has trouble interacting with. In that sense, Iran is much more like China. China is trying to present itself as an actor that can help the United States or can find common ground with the United States so the United States should cooperate with it. North Korea doesn't really function that way. North Korea really is shut off and is really crouched into a defensive posture. Mostly because I don't think there is any other real way for them to do it. And in some sense, they've succeeded. They have created a situation that is incredibly difficult even for very powerful countries like China and the United States to deal with. XS: So if you're interested in this stuff, we've written a lot about sanctions but really about how sanctions sit on top of a lot of deeper, underlying structural causes for why we see nations acting the way they do. We've written a lot about that this week. You can check out the RC that Jacob you did yesterday. Antonia published one on sanctions earlier this week. I will be having a piece that will analyze Europe's energy dependency on Russia and perhaps give some sense of how Russia could retaliate there and that will published on Mauldin Economics, our partner's website, on Monday. And that should give you a bit of a deeper understanding of what's really going on behind these sanctions. JLS: Yeah, and I think it will be an interesting exercise of maybe 3-6 months from now, Xander, we sit down and we start a podcast and we see where these sanctions are and what impact they've actually had over the course of the last 3-6 months. XS: Let's do it. JLS: Yeah. On that note, thanks, everyone, for listening. We're glad you are enjoying the podcast, we will catch you next week. See you out there.

Today’s Guest Brian Glyn Williams is today’s special guest for our discussion about Syria.  Brian is a professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and a former Counterterrorism Center, Central Intelligence Agency officer.   Brian’s Website:  http://www.brianglynwilliams.com/ Brian book, “Counter Jihad: America's Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria” https://www.amazon.com/Counter-Jihad-Experience-Afghanistan-Foundation-ebook/dp/B01MAXUKIO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494194559&sr=8-1&keywords=brian+counter+jihad   In the News Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general, testified before a Senate subcommittee yesterday while stating that, “General Flynn was compromised in regard to the Russians.”  Yates explained she had concerns that Flynn could be blackmailed because he was allegedly lying to the White House regarding conversations with Russian officials.  In response, President Trump tweeted, “Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to the White House Counsel. James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, also testified today.  He indicated that there were no signs of Russia meddled in the U.S. Presidential election vote tallying and did not know if the Russians influenced the overall outcome of the election. Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, signed SB-4 into law late Sunday which was broadcast on a Facebook Live event.  The law seeks to end sanctuary city policies in Texas and also gives law enforcement officers the right to ask the immigration status of people they stop. Officers who fail to cooperate with federal immigration agents could face jail time and fines up to $25,000 per day.     In Business News Coach, the handbag and accessory company plan to acquire Kate Spade which is another handbag company for $2.4 billion.  The CEO of coach intends to operate the two companies separately and envisions Coach as turning into a multi-brand luxury company.   The deal is priced at 27.5 percent over the value of Kate Spade’s stock price prior to the deal becoming public knowledge.   In International News The U.S. Department of Defense confirms that the leader of ISIS in Afghanistan was killed in a joint U.S.-Afghan raid last month.  The operation took place on April 27th in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. The foreign minister of Syria stated yesterday that the four de-escalation zones as declared by Russia, Iran, and Turkey could not be monitored by outside parties to include the United Nations.  The minister continued by saying, “the Syrian Army will be prepared to respond in a decisive manner.” In Tech News Rumors are afloat that Amazon will reveal a new Echo as soon as today. The new Echo speaker which is an internet connected device that uses voice commands may come with a 7 inch touchscreen to assist with video telephone capacities and displaying results for user queries. The U.S. Air Force landed the X-37B yesterday after it spent two years in orbit.  The details of the unmanned space vehicle mission were not clear and are likely classified in nature.  

On April 26th 2005, Syrian forces finally pulled out of Lebanon, after being stationed there for almost 30 years. The withdrawal came after a series of massive popular protests, and international criticism following the assassination of a popular Lebanese politician - Rafik Hariri. Zeinab Dabaa has been speaking to two Lebanese people with very different opinions about the Syrian presence in their country.Photo: Syrian Army trucks carrying tanks cross the Lebanese-Syrian border crossing point of Masnaa in April 2005. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

On April 26th 2005, Syrian forces finally pulled out of Lebanon, after being stationed there for almost 30 years. The withdrawal came after a series of massive popular protests, and international criticism following the assassination of a popular Lebanese politician - Rafik Hariri. Zeinab Dabaa has been speaking to two Lebanese people with very different opinions about the Syrian presence in their country. Photo: Syrian Army trucks carrying tanks cross the Lebanese-Syrian border crossing point of Masnaa in April 2005. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Ben Swann show us how the news about Syria and Aleppo is mostly all FAKE NEWS Proof That Those Moderate Rebels in Syria are Really Jihadists   OGA note. I had a lot of consternation coming to grips that most if not all the "news" we hear and see about Syria and Aleppo is staged and Faked, but it truly is. Remember the little-wounded boy in the orange seat in the brand new sparkling clean ambulance we saw so many times, yep it was FAKE 0-00 well one week ago I told you that 0-01 national media is not giving you the 0-03 full story about what is happening in 0-05 Syria specifically that the Free Syrian 0-07 Army and the so-called Syrian rebels who 0-10 have now lost control of Eastern Aleppo 0-12 are not freedom fighters they are in 0-14 fact aligned with terror organizations 0-16 and while tens of thousands of you have 0-18 voiced their support some other media 0-20 are asking me where's the proof tonight 0-23 the proof in a reality check you won't 0-25 see anywhere else 0-28 well as i told you national media has 0-31 framed the fight in Syria and for Aleppo 0-33 as anti-assad rebels against Syrian 0-36 President Bashar al-assad what they do 0-38 not say is that throughout Syria there 0-40 are really only two groups fighting 0-42 against Assad Isis and al-qaeda in 0-45 fairness that is a crude assessment in 0-47 reality there are dozens of small 0-48 malicious and factions fighting Assad 0-50 the Free Syrian Army it's always been 0-52 made up of many different smaller groups 0-54 for the for the sake of explaining how 0-55 jihadis are actually the ones fighting 0-57 this on we're going to refer to the Free 0-59 Syrian Army here as if it is one group 1-01 the free syrian army was formed in july 1-04 of 2011 but within just one year there 1-07 were already widespread reports that 1-09 al-qaeda in Syria had infiltrated in 1-12 2012 i became the first reporter to 1-13 question President Obama directly about 1-15 the US Army a group that had members of 1-18 al-qaeda there's some concern about the 1-20 u.s. funding the a Syrian opposition 1-23 when there are a lot of reports that 1-24 al-qaeda is kind of heading up that 1-26 opposition 1-26 how do you justify the two well I share 1-29 that concern and so what we've done is 1-32 to say we will provide non-lethal 1-34 assistance to Syrian opposition 1-37 leadership that are committed to a 1-40 political transition committed to 1-43 a an observance of human rights while 1-47 there were non jihadist rebels in the 1-49 original free syrian army they did not 1-52 last long 1-53 one year later in 2013 the CIA began 1-55 delivering weapons to those Syrian 1-57 rebels the shipments began streaming 1-59 into the country over the past two weeks 2-00 along with separate deliveries by the 2-02 State Department of vehicles and other 2-04 gear a flow of material that marks a 2-06 major escalation of the u.s. role in 2-09 syria's civil war that was the 2-10 washington post in 2013 2-13 but things only got worse because while 2-14 the weapons were flowing in well so 2-16 we're jihadist and by sep tember of 2013 2-19 london-based global defense consultancy 2-21 group IHS Jane's reported that 10,000 of 2-25 the estimated 100,000 insurgent fighters 2-27 were linked to al-qaeda another thirty 2-29 to thirty-five thousand belong to 2-31 powerful factions that were fighting for 2-33 an Islamic state within a larger Middle 2-35 East Calif it stretching from the 2-37 Atlantic to the indian ocean now in 2-39 addition to that that report showed at 2-42 least a further thirty thousand 2-43 moderates belonging to groups that have 2-45 an Islamic character that means that by 2-48 late 2013 only 25 to 30,000 so-called 2-51 rebel fighters were part of secular 2-53 nationalist groups again that's 2-55 twenty-five to thirty percent of the 2-57 rebel force that could be considered 2-59 friendly to the west seventy to 3-01 seventy-five percent of forces against 3-03 Assad 2013george honest but that didn't 3-07 stop the u.s. from sending funding and 3-09 sending weapons and with some members of 3-11 Congress like Senator Rand Paul 3-12 insisting that these rebels were jihadis 3-14 by 2015 the u.s. committed five hundred 3-17 million dollars to find and train 3-19 moderate rebels instead by September a 3-22 major blow 3,000 of the few remaining 3-25 FSA fighters they defected from the 3-27 organization they proclaim their 3-29 allegiance to Isis those fighters belong 3-32 to multiple brigades that formed the 3-33 conglomeration of the FSA also in 2015 3-37 the Pentagon publicly admitted that an 3-39 additional 70 us train Syrian rebels 3-41 surrendered a weapon stockpile to 3-43 al-nusrah fighters from Division 30 they 3-45 surrendered to the al-qaida-affiliated 3-47 group after crossing into Syria over the 3-49 Turkish border and as for that 500 3-52 million dollar moderate rebel training 3-54 program 3-55 that was halted a week later when the 3-57 Pentagon admitted it had only trained 3-59 four or five fighters not 400 or four 4-02 thousand four or five and it was in 2015 4-06 when the International Business Times 4-08 reported that the moderate movement in 4-10 Syria could be officially considered 4-12 dead as of last week when the last us 4-14 back rebel faction disbanded its members 4-16 joining extremist groups such as the 4-18 nusrah front the al-qaeda option in the 4-20 country some of the men joined a group 4-22 called the Livan front a coalition of 4-24 rebel militias that also have ties to 4-27 al-qaeda and again that was 2015 and yet 4-30 through 2016 weapons and funding from 4-32 the West continued in September of this 4-34 year 2016 the u.s. delivered 3,000 tons 4-37 of weapons and ammo two fighters in 4-39 Syria including rocket launchers and 4-40 anti-tank guided weapon systems so what 4-43 you need to know it is a fact that since 4-45 2012 those so-called moderate rebels in 4-47 Syria have been absorbed into al Qaeda 4-50 groups or pledged allegiance to Isis and 4-53 for the past year the moderates they 4-56 have been gone so when media only calls 5-00 these groups freedom fighters and yet 5-02 these fighters have pledged themselves 5-03 to al-qaeda and to Isis the no make no 5-07 mistake they are not looking to make 5-09 Syria free they are looking to enslave 5-11 it as they have in so many other places 5-14 that's reality check let's talk about 5-16 that on twitter    

The CIA alleged that Russia engaged in hacking in order to help Donald Trump become the next president, but does the evidence back up the accusations? More than a month after his victory, why is the anti-Russia hysteria still being ramped up by the establishment and Democratic Party?And were these hacks - a malicious remote attack - or were they really leaks - when information is physically removed and released by an insider?Five-party coalition talks appear to have failed after Iceland’s Pirate Party has been invited to form the country’s next government. How does this party of activists and outsiders change Icelandic and European politics, and what comes next in the complicated process to form a government?Oktavia Hrund, a deputy MP for the Pirate Party, joins the show. As Aleppo sits on the verge of being fully liberated by the Syrian Army, Daesh launches an attack to retake the ancient city of Palmyra, sending thousands of reinforcements from Raqqa. Syrian journalist Alaa Ebrahim joins Becker from Damascus to discuss the latest in the battles against Daesh and what's next in Syria's war.

As Donald Trump doubles down on his anti-China rhetoric following President Obama’s so-called pivot to Asia, could a coming escalation between the U.S and China actually lead to a war?The Syrian Army advances in Aleppo with the vast majority of the city now under its control. Opposition forces in the city all but acknowledged defeat as they propose a 5-day ceasefire - will they ever recover? Brian discusses these developments with Syrian journalist Kevork Almassian.Fidel Castro was buried over the weekend, but his legacy continues to live on in the Cuban Revolution. Yanela Gonzalez joins the show to look at how the revolution brought about tremendous progress for Cuba’s Black population and the country’s contribution to Africa’s liberation struggles.

The Syrian Army and its allies have captured more than a third of the territory held by Islamist forces in the eastern part of the Aleppo in what is being called the biggest setback since 2012 for the opposition to the Syrian government. The battle lines in France’s presidential election have become clearer after the primary held last weekend by the center-right The Republicans party. President Francois Hollande’s so-called Socialist Party is in dire straights while the danger of the far-right National Front of Marine Le Pen looms. Brian is joined by Eugene Puryear, host of Radio Sputnik's By Any Means Necessary, and Walter Smolarek, producer of Loud & Clear. The Washington Post reported that news outlets such as RT and Sputnik helped to spread “fake news” during the election. Weeks later, there doesn’t appear to be any letting up in the mainstream media’s campaign against alternative news outlets. Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activist, joins the show to talk about the new McCarythism.

President Obama is meeting European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel today, and will meet with the leaders of Italy, France and Britain on Friday. Coming as it does following the election of Donald Trump what is the main agenda of Obama in Europe? Russia and the Syrian Army have launched a major offensive to retake all of Aleppo from Islamist forces while Russian airstrikes in Idlib may represent a new phase in the Syria war. Becker speaks with Syrian journalist Kevork Almassian about what's next in Syria's war. When Donald Trump takes office on January 20th, he will oversee and control the largest surveillance machine in history. How did this police state get constructed and what kind of powers will Trump have? Joining Becker is former CIA analyst and case officer John Kiriakou.

With just two days left before the planned creation of a Russian-U.S. joint implementation group in the war on Daesh and Nusra in Syria, the Americans have done the unthinkable. Not only did they break the ceasefire they had allegedly agreed to last Friday; they targeted positions of the Syrian Army in Daesh-besieged Deir ez-Zor. The troops defending the city there were not even involved in the war against the U.S.'s "moderate" jihadis in other areas of the country. Now, 62 Syrian soldiers...

With just two days left before the planned creation of a Russian-U.S. joint implementation group in the war on Daesh and Nusra in Syria, the Americans have done the unthinkable. Not only did they break the ceasefire they had allegedly agreed to last Friday; they targeted positions of the Syrian Army in Daesh-besieged Deir ez-Zor. The troops defending the city there were not even involved in the war against the U.S.'s "moderate" jihadis in other areas of the country. Now, 62 Syrian soldiers...

With just two days left before the planned creation of a Russian-U.S. joint implementation group in the war on Daesh and Nusra in Syria, the Americans have done the unthinkable. Not only did they break the ceasefire they had allegedly agreed to last Friday; they targeted positions of the Syrian Army in Daesh-besieged Deir ez-Zor. The troops defending the city there were not even involved in the war against the U.S.'s "moderate" jihadis in other areas of the country. Now, 62 Syrian soldiers...

Turkey's military has directly intervened in Syria without the invitation of the Syrian government to retake the town of Jarablus from the so-called Islamic State with U.S. cooperation. Clashes have also erupted in recent days between the Kurdish YPG and Syrian Army. Alliances are shifting fast in Syria’s ever-deepening five year war.Vice President Joe Biden has met with Turkish President Erdogan, but was their meeting enough to mend the relationship that was terribly damaged after last month’s coup attempt? Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government claimed is the coup mastermind, is safe in the United States - for now. Becker is joined from Ankara by professor and journalist Dr. Bilal Sambur.Secretary of State John Kerry is in Saudi Arabia where he is discussing the war in Yemen. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 Yeminis staged a mass protest against the Saudi bombing campaign. Massoud Shadjareh, founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, joins Becker to talk about the role of the west in the Saudi-led war.

The Syrian Army has sent thousands of reinforcements to the country's largest city after rebel groups including the former al-Nusra Front broke the siege in the east. But the Syrian government claims that they have retaken that ground. Are we witnessing a turning point, or even decisive moment, in Syria’s five year war?Turkish President Erdogan has met with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on his first trip abroad since last month’s attempted coup. Peter Lavelle, host of RT's flagship program Crosstalk, discusses if it's back to business as usual between Turkey and Russia, and if Turkey is moving to a new policy on Syria. Protesters for and against Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff rallied outside of the Senate on Tuesday as lawmakers voted on moving her to within a step of losing office. But do her opponents have the two thirds needed in the Senate to oust her? Becker is joined by Aline C. Piva of Brazilian Expats for Democracy and Brazilian-British analyst Victor Fraga.

A 'regime of silence' was introduced this weekend in the Syrian province of Latakia and the city of Damascus. This comes after 5 years of constant warfare, 7 months of Russian military assistance, and 2 months of a relatively successful cessation of hostilities. The Syrian Army has liberated hundreds of towns and villages in the past several months, and dozens have agreed to the ceasefire. The historic city of Palmyra has been liberated. But Turkey and Saudi Arabia continue to support...

A 'regime of silence' was introduced this weekend in the Syrian province of Latakia and the city of Damascus. This comes after 5 years of constant warfare, 7 months of Russian military assistance, and 2 months of a relatively successful cessation of hostilities. The Syrian Army has liberated hundreds of towns and villages in the past several months, and dozens have agreed to the ceasefire. The historic city of Palmyra has been liberated. But Turkey and Saudi Arabia continue to support...

A 'regime of silence' was introduced this weekend in the Syrian province of Latakia and the city of Damascus. This comes after 5 years of constant warfare, 7 months of Russian military assistance, and 2 months of a relatively successful cessation of hostilities. The Syrian Army has liberated hundreds of towns and villages in the past several months, and dozens have agreed to the ceasefire. The historic city of Palmyra has been liberated. But Turkey and Saudi Arabia continue to support...

12-02-15 - What Happens to Israel Effects the Whole World -- it's true! The State of Israel was declared May 14, 1948 after the end of the civil war was raging for 6 months in Palestine after the vote by the United Nation to partition Palestine between Palestinian Jews and Arabs. Declaration of independence and international recognition: May 14 – The Israeli Declaration of Independence is made in Tel Aviv, a few hours before the British Mandate is due to expire. At midnight the British Mandate of Palestine is officially terminated and the State of Israel comes into being. May 15 – The United States grants de facto recognition to the State of Israel, eleven minutes after it comes into existence,[1] becoming the first country to recognize the Jewish state.[2] May 17 – The Soviet Union grants de jure recognition to the State of Israel, becoming the first country to do so.[3] May 17 – Chaim Weizmann becomes President (or Chairman) of the Provisional State Council and Israel's de facto Head of State. May 18 – Poland and Czechoslovakia grant recognition to the State of Israel.[4] May 19 – Guatemala and Uruguay grant recognition to the State of Israel.[4] May 24 – South Africa grants recognition to the State of Israel.[4] 1948 Arab–Israeli War: Main article: 1948 Arab–Israeli War May 15 – Four of the seven countries of the Arab League at that time, namely Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria, backed by Arab volunteers invade[5] the territory of the former British Mandate of Palestine and clash with Jewish forces. The resulting 1948 Arab–Israeli War lasts for 13 months. May 14–18 – 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: Operation Kilshon – Capture by Jewish forces of buildings abandoned by British troops to strengthen the Jewish military position in Jerusalem. May 18 - An Egyptian air raid on the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station kills 42 people and injures 100.[6] May 20 – The Syrian Army is blocked at kibbutz Degania Alef in the north, where local Jewish militia reinforced by elements of the Carmeli Brigade halted Syrian armored forces. May 20 – Operation Balak begins with the objective of transferring arms from Czechoslovakia to Israel. May 26 – The Provisional government of Israel decides on the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces (the IDF) and David Ben-Gurion signs the order for its establishment. May 29 – The Egyptian Army is blocked in the Ad Halom bridge. June 1 – The Irgun and the Provisional government of Israel sign an agreement for the dissolution of the Irgun and integratation of its fighters into the IDF. June 2 – The IDF's Operation Pleshet starts. June 7 – Kibbutz Nitzanim surrenders to the Egyptian Army in the Battle of Nitzanim. June 10 – The Syrian Army destroys the Jewish settlement Mishmar HaYarden in the Upper Galilee. June 11 – The Irgun's cargo ship Altalena which carries weapons, medical equipment and 930 Jewish immigrants, sets sail from France towards Israel. June 20 – Altalena reaches the coast of Israel. The Provisional government of Israel demands that all the weapons on board be handed over to it unconditionally, in accordance with the agreement regarding the integration of the Irgun into the IDF. The Irgun refuses to comply. June 22 – A violent confrontation between the IDF and members of the Irgun occurs over the Altalena and David Ben-Gurion eventually orders the IDF to shell the Altalena, and it burns off the shore of Tel Aviv. Sixteen Irgun fighters and three IDF soldiers die in the fighting. July 9 – The beginning of the IDF's Operation Dekel, which lasts until the July 18. July 10 – Operation Danny: IDF Soldiers capture the strategically important airport at Lydda. (Territory later annexed by Israel) September 17 – The Lehi assassinates the Swedish diplomat Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel. September 22 - The Provisional State Council of Israel passes the Area of Jurisdiction and Powers Ordnance, 5708-1948, annexing all territory that Israel had captured since the war began, and declaring that from then on, any part of Palestine captured and secured by the IDF would automatically be annexed to Israel.[7] September 24–27 – 1948 Arab–Israeli War: Transport of Supermarine Spitfires acquired by Israel through Czechoslovakia. October 15 – The beginning of the IDF's Operation Yoav, aimed at conquering the whole Negev desert. October 21 – Battle of Beersheba: The IDF's Negev Brigade occupies Beersheba. October 29 – The beginning of the IDF's Operation Hiram, aimed at conquering the Upper Galilee. November 11 – Population Census is held in Israel, six months after its creation, to establish the population registry.[8] December 27 – The IDF starts Operation Horev, a wide scale attack against the Egyptian army in the Western Negev. beyondbostonprophecy.com beyondbostonradio@gmail.com #bbostonprophecy Host - Larry Barnett    

"Russian warplanes have destroyed a surface-to-air missile launcher that the Islamic State terrorist group previously captured from the Syrian Army, the Russian Defense Ministry reports. The bombing campaign in Syria is forcing the jihadists to flee. The 9K33 Osa short-range air defense launcher was destroyed by a Sukhoi Su-34 bomber in Eastern Douma near Damascus, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told the media in his Thursday daily briefing. The Su-34 dropped a precision anti-fortification bomb KAB-500 at a concrete shelter, where the launcher was hidden, destroying both the weapon and the building, he added. Osa, which is called Gecko by NATO, is a highly-mobile launcher equipped with six short-range surface-to-air missiles meant to provide tactical cover from enemy aircraft to ground troops. The launcher was destroyed during one of 33 combat missions that Russia conducted in Syria over the day. A total of 32 targets in the provinces Idlib, Hama, Damascus, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor were hit, Konashenkov said. The general added that terrorist forces appear to be abandoning their positions and are pulling back." Dan Perkins, is a Middle East analyst, and a contributor to DailySurge.com and TheHill.com. Perkins, is a master writer and author of The Brotherhood of the Red Nile Trilogy, which centers around Islamic nuclear terrorism against the USA.  

Syrian Army, Hezbollah Launch Attack to Capture Territory Near Golan Heights,Rebels reportedly seize US vehicles after Yemen embassy closes,Muslim Brotherhood: White House Official Met Us at State Department,‘Narco-Terror’ Group Hezbollah Operates Across Latin America and US,Today in Cold War History,Putting Free Enterprise on Ice in New Jersey

The story of Namaan, Captain of the Syrian Army.

By Phil Greaves; Global Research, July 13, 2013 Recent reports within mainstream media are pushing the theory that divisions are forming within the various camps of opposition militants in Syria, while also making attempts to highlight the disparity between the supposed “moderate” rebel forces of the “FSA” – which does not exist beyond a small cadre of defectors with no autonomy inside Syria – and the Al Qaeda affiliated militia of Jabhat al Nusra, (JaN) or the Islamic state of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), while also whitewashing the presence of the larger Salafist brigades that fight alongside them, predominantly Ahrar al-Sham (SIF). To comprehend these alleged divisions, it is fundamental to understand what exactly the “FSA”, or “Supreme Military Council” consists of. In short, these Western-backed outfits and the oft-referenced “spokesmen” that carry them hold no value inside Syria, or any amount of authority among the plethora of militia fighting on the ground. This has been the case since day one of the Syrian crisis. The “FSA” was a retroactive PR stunt implemented by the West and the GCC to uphold a facade of “moderation”, and bolster the false image of militants fighting for “freedom and democracy”. In reality, the FSA represents a branding exercise; enabling foreign powers to rally behind disparate groups of militants – often led by extremists – to undertake their desired use and mask the true identity of what are, by western legal standards, “terrorists”. When the media refer to the “FSA”, at best it is lazy journalism, at worst it is disingenuous and designed to mislead the reader – otherwise known as propaganda. Yet the “FSA”, or “SMC” seem to have a new lease of life within the media. Furthermore, General Salim Idriss has been at the forefront of recent media campaigns to persuade foreign powers to increase military aid to the rebels (including a photo-op with renowned peace advocate John McCain); rebels that Idriss, nor any other commander in the “SMC” or “FSA” have any control over. I posited the theory in early May that the US and its GCC partners (now minus the deposed Qatari Emir) were attempting to marginalize the very militants they fomented, sponsored and armed in order to build a new “moderate” force under their control that is agreeable to the public, and the many European and American Parliamentarians and Congressman that have expressed concern about the “rising” influence of radicals among the militants they are indirectly supporting. Recent attempts to purport divisions could be construed as part of this “re-branding” policy. In a Reuters report titled “New front opens in Syria as rebels say Al Qaeda attack means war” we learn that a “Commander” from the Supreme Military Council was assassinated by ISIS’ Emir: Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Whether this is even true remains to be seen; several prominent analysts have cast doubt on the report, claiming it may be a psy-op on the FSA’s behalf; presumably in order to marginalize Baghdadi and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham militants that follow him. These artificial divisions bear hallmarks to recent reports and recent analysis covering the supposed “split” between the Syrian wing of Al Qaeda, otherwise known as Jabhat al Nusra (JaN), and the Iraqi wing of Al Qaeda, otherwise known as the Islamic state of Iraq (ISI). When Baghdadi, the Emir of ISI retroactively announced the “merger” of these groups and declared the militia should now be addressed as the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham, a spat broke out between him and Jabhat al-Nusra Emir Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. The following analysis and reports covering the dispute were blown out of all proportion and have continued in this vain ever since. Again, actual divisions on the ground between ISI and JaN were minimal and did not affect either tactical, nor ideological cooperation and kinship. ISI and JaN are one and the same, in both a tactical and ideological sense, there are slight differences in their outlook for a possible future Syria, but crucially, both the tactical relationship and core ideologies remain untouched and unified. Furthermore, JaN was concieved through ISI funding and logistic cooperation. Journalists and analysts suggesting these groups are separate do not understand their mutual ideology, or they are being purposefully misleading to suit an agenda – that agenda seems to be to highlight ISI as the “bad rebels”, this could be to allow space for the “good rebels” under JaN’s leadership – which are predominantly led by Syrians and not foreigners, therefore more likely to win “hearts and minds” – to join the “moderate” brigades under the SMC command. The first paragraph of the Reuters report fulfills the false narrative that the “FSA” represents a larger force than that of “Islamists”: (NB: Reuters lazy wording not mine.) Rivalries have been growing between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Islamists, whose smaller but more effective forces control most of the rebel-held parts of northern Syria more than two years after pro-democracy protests became an uprising. One has to wonder how the supposed “Islamists” which, according to Reuters are a smaller force than the “FSA” can possibly hold more territory than the Western-backed moderates. Again, Reuters is pushing a false narrative upon its readers to uphold the image that the majority of “rebels” fighting inside Syria are moderate secularists under the command of the “FSA”, or “Supreme Military Council”. The truth of the matter has always been that Jabhat al Nusra – who are one and the same as Al Qaeda in Iraq with slightly different outlooks for their respective homelands – along with the more populist, and larger in number Salafi militia, such as Ahrar al-Sham, who operate under the umbrella group the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF), represent the vast majority of opposition fighters in Syria. These groups have close links, and it is likely that fighters often interchange depending on expertise, experience and geographical requirements. Since the onset they have cooperated closely with logistics and paramilitary operations. Supposed “secular” opposition forces in Syria simply do not exist; under the “FSA” command or anywhere else. There are many smaller groups that espouse an inclusive, and indeed, moderate outlook for a future Syria. These groups have in the majority been rampant with criminality, infighting, and a lack of funds. Leaving disillusioned fighters with the option of joining the better organised and funded Salafi brigades; which have consistently received funding and arms from both state and non-state actors in the Gulf. The “FSA” commander quoted in the Reuters piece claims: “we are going to wipe the floor with them”. Presumably this is aimed at Baghdadi and his fellow ideologues, or as Reuters labels them: “Islamists”. Again, we are supposed to buy the theory that the FSA is in a position to strike anyone militarily inside Syria – let alone a commander of one of the strongest opposition groups operating. At this moment in time, the “FSA” as a fighting force could possibly be at its weakest since its artificial inception. Recent reports have suggested there are up to 6,000 foreign militants fighting against the government in Syria. It is likely that the vast majority of foreigners have joined the more radical outfits such as ISIS, for the same reasons as mentioned above, but can also be explained by the public sectarian tone being applied to the conflict, and calls to the regions Sunni community to engage in “Holy War” against the Syrian state from influential clerics such as Yusuf Qaradawi. Recent political developments also shed light on the “re-branding” of the Syrian opposition. The Emir of Qatar’s unexpected departure from the throne – to be replaced by his son – may have been an indicator as to Qatar’s failures in leading the Syrian insurgency. It is common knowledge that Saudi Arabia have been given the “Syria File”. A fact that is portrayed with no irony by western analysts; who manage to conveniently whitewash exactly which state actor is delegating the “files” – could it be “Mother”? This handing over of the baton was solidified with the departure of SNC Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto – a Muslim Brotherhood member chosen by Qatar in attempts to consolidate the Muslim Brotherhood’s hold on the SNC. Hitto was replaced by Ahmed al-Jarba, an influential tribal figure with close links to the Saudi Monarchy. Reports on the ground in Syria have also suggested that the rebels weapons flow – including such basics as ammunition – have come to an almost standstill. And several rebel commanders have relayed their frustration at the lack of promised US weapons. Recent developments in the US Congress have also given Obama the back-door he was looking for, at least to buy himself more time until a more suitable fighting force is able to undertake the task at hand – if such force ever materializes. Direct US arms supplies – or, to be precise; the official funding for arms supplies – have been blocked by Congress until the administration can determine exactly which rebel groups it intends to arm, and what exactly the administration intends to achieve from what seem to be futile efforts to validate the now almost two-year covert policy of arming the rebels, and achieving nothing but bloodshed and destruction – of course, it would be ridiculous to suggest that was the plan? US allies in the region will undoubtedly be working under their own terms with regard to their destructive policies in Syria, to some extent. Contrary to the Saud monarchies renewed efforts to wrest control of the insurgency; recent developments on the ground, along with Russia’s steadfast support and mass public opinion against supporting the extremist dominated rebels; the Syrian Army have kept the insurgency at bay whilst they choose their strategic victories. Homs is about to become the latest “rebel stronghold” to fall, as rebels announced this morning another “tactical retreat”. One imagines the rebel siege being laid upon 2 million civilians – a war-crime that Western “diplomats” seem reluctant to “intervene” on, or indeed make any mention of – in government controlled Western Aleppo will be the Syrian military’s next priority. The Saudis through their new puppet al-Jarba have promised a huge influx of “game-changing” weapons, but without a massive influx of military hardware, and indeed, trained fighters to use them, it appears the trajectory of the conflict will remain in the Syrian military’s favour. What the various actors supporting the insurgency are willing to do to change that trajectory in the short-term, if anything substantial, remains to be seen. There are at least three interested and powerful parties whose objectives can be served by allowing the Syrian conflict to drag on for years to come; yet none of them necessarily want to see Assad fall. Phil Greaves is a UK based writer/analyst, focusing on UK/US Foreign Policy and conflict analysis in the Middle East post WWII. http://notthemsmdotcom.wordpress.com.

welcome to Syria The Truth, our episode title for today is: Qatar: US Proxy in America’s Terror War in Syria By Phil Greaves. Global Research, July 01, 2013 A recent report in the New York Times (NYT) claims, through trusted “sources”, that Qatar began weapons shipments to opposition militants in Syria at the same time they “increased” support for Al Qaeda linked militants fighting Colonel Gaddafi in Libya in 2011. Gaddafi was ousted (murdered) in October 2011; one must assume that any “increase” in Qatari efforts to arm the militants in Libya were delivered long in advance of Gaddafi’s ouster, meaning the synonymous shipments to “rebels” in Syria also commenced well before October 2011. This information again sheds further light on a timeline of events in Syria that have been purposefully obscured within mainstream media to suit certain actors agendas, and to enable the false and misleading narrative of “Assad killing peaceful protesters” to become dominant in the discourse surrounding the Syrian conflict. As was revealed earlier this year – known by many for much longer – it has been Qatar at the forefront of efforts to arm and fund the insurgency in Syria. As the resilience of the Assad regime and the Syrian Army prolonged the Syrian conflict far beyond the timeframe the backers of the insurgency foresaw; more and more evidence has become available as to the exact nature of this US-led proxy-war, and the ideologies of the militants fighting it. In turn, timelines have constantly been altered, misinformed and manipulated to suit the desired narratives of actors who claim to be on the side of “freedom and democracy”. In sum, previous to the aforementioned NYT article, there had been no reports – in mainstream press at least – of any arms shipments or covert state activity against Syria before “early 2012″. Now that timeline has once again been revised, to at least the same time of an “increase” of Qatari covert policy in Libya; which would have necessarily come before the fall of Gaddafi in October 2011. The latest “revelation” in the NYT seems to be an intentional leak, designed to pass responsibility for the extremist dominated insurgency currently destroying Syria, onto Qatar’s doorstep. Considering the timing of this report, and several others in recent mainstream media that have pointed the finger at Qatar being the main sponsor of the Syrian insurgency, it also begs the question: was there more to the Qatari Emir’s, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (and his trusted and longtime Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani’s) recent departure and handover of power to his son Tamim than meets the eye? A slap on the wrist from the US for Qatar’s destructive foreign policy maybe? Who knows, it seems most knowledgable Middle East analysts really have no clue as to why the Emir chose to suddenly step down and relinquish power. If there is one message coming from this unprecedented handover in the Western press it is this: “what goes on in Qatar, stays in Qatar”. The NYT cites a “Western diplomat” (anonymous of course) who states that Qatar: “punch immensely above their weight,… They keep everyone off-balance by not being in anyone’s pocket… Their influence comes partly from being unpredictable,” Again, this seems to be a desired caveat to remove culpability from Western actors, and is highly likely the same “source” that provided the leak on Qatar’s covert actions. What is counterintuitive to the theory that Qatar acts of its own accord in such instance; is the fact that Qatar’s military and intelligence apparatus is entirely built and run by the United States. Qatar and the US have held an intimate relationship on all things military since the early 90′s. Qatar is also the Forward Operations center of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), and the US Combined Air Operation Center (CAOC). The US enjoys the luxury of the use of three airbases in the tiny nation of Qatar, one of which (Al Udeid) is the prime location of Qatari arms flights to Syria. Considering this close military relationship; it would be foolish to believe the United States would be unaware of Qatari covert activity, particularly when one also considers the broad and global spying and SIGINT powers we now all know the Pentagon, and US government have at their disposal. It should also be noted that Doha acts as a primary base in the region for US diplomacy, as the Taliban can happily attest to. Furthermore – as covered extensively in a previous article – once Gulf covert arms shipments to Syrian “rebels” became public knowledge, the Obama administration made distinct efforts in the media to portray the CIA as the key “coordinator” and oversight of the shipments to allay concerns of weapons ending up in the “wrong hands”. The US, through the CIA has been using its logistic, diplomatic, and military power to bypass international laws and help to organise a multi-national covert arms supply chain to “rebels” in Syria. Furthermore, in a recent interview for The National Interest given by renowned former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, – a declared advocate of the US policy of arming Osama Bin-Laden and fellow ideologues in the Afghan-Soviet war of the 80′s – went as far as to openly admit the joint US-Saudi-Qatari policy of orchestrating the Syrian crisis, but refrained from revealing an explicit timeline: (my emphasis) In late 2011 there are outbreaks in Syria produced by a drought and abetted by two well-known autocracies in the Middle East: Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He [Obama] all of a sudden announces that Assad has to go—without, apparently, any real preparation for making that happen. Then in the spring of 2012, the election year here, the CIA under General Petraeus, according to The New York Times of March 24th of this year, a very revealing article, mounts a large-scale effort to assist the Qataris and the Saudis and link them somehow with the Turks in that effort. Was this a strategic position? Yet contrary to this long-revealed policy, the NYT claims: “The United States has little leverage over Qatar on the Syria issue because it needs the Qataris’ help on other fronts.” For the NYT to claim the US has no control of arms shipments from a key ally is disingenuous at best, outright propaganda at worst. Moreover, the CIA has been in direct “consultation” with Qatar on arms shipments, and who exactly those arms should be sent to, (vetted “moderates” of course!!) as Qatari officials stated in this Reuters article from May this year: (my emphasis) “There’s an operations room in the Emir’s diwan (office complex), with representatives from every ministry sitting in that room, deciding how much money to allocate for Syria’s aid,” the Qatari official said. There’s a lot of consultation with the CIA, and they help Qatar with buying and moving the weapons into Syria, but just as consultants,” Are we seriously supposed to believe that Qatar, a tiny resource-rich nation that is totally dependent on US militarism and diplomatic protection is acting of its own accord, without any US assistance, right under the US military’s nose? The NYT report goes on to state: (my emphasis) “Qatar’s covert efforts to back the Syrian rebels began at the same time that it was increasing its support for opposition fighters in Libya trying to overthrow the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi…The Obama administration quietly blessed the shipments to Libya of machine guns, automatic rifles, mortars and ammunition, but American officials later grew concerned as evidence grew that Qatar was giving the weapons to Islamic militants there.” The Obama administration was fully aware of who Qatar were arming, and sending special forces to fight alongside in Libya. It was exactly the same variety of militants and extremist ideologues that are currently waging war upon the Syrian State. Islamic radicals had used Benghazi as a base since the very start of the Libyan “revolution”, and the US knew they formed the core of the militia Qatar were shipping arms to in efforts to oust Gaddafi. The Obama administration’s concern of MANPADS falling into the “wrong hands” (a la Afghanistan) is belied by Obama’s tacit approval of his Gulf allies’ policy of allowing tonnes of arms, explosives and military materiel to extremist dominated militia. A few MANPADS simply increases the likelihood of blowback upon a civilian target, and the consequent exposure; which is the Obama administration’s major concern. As the NYT report states, one of the shipments of MANPADS that has entered Syria, came from the very same former Gaddafi stockpiles of Eastern bloc weapons looted by Qatari backed militants in Libya. In summary, the current media leaks on arms shipments to Syria can be construed as the Obama administration attempting to build plausible deniability. The constant revision of the Syrian timeline also points to the retroactive smoke-screen being applied to US-led covert policies that have already been exposed. Indeed, this tactic of using client states to gain deniability of US aggression is nothing new. The policy has provided the United States with the ultimate get-out-clause through decades of subversion and aggression upon sovereign nations. If – as is the current trajectory in Syria – the militants that the United States ad its clients foment, fund and arm, become an uncontrollable monster and fail to achieve the desired short-term objectives; the US can simply disassociate and point the finger to one of its lesser allies, on this occasion, that finger seems to point directly at the former Emir of Qatar. One wonders if in twenty years time US “diplomats” will portray the same vacant regret for their role in the creation of Jabhat al Nusra and fellow ideologues; as they do now for their role in the creation of Al Qaeda itself. As the United States continues its divisive and destructive policies to desperately cling to hegemony; the mantra of “lessons have been learned” is more hollow than ever. Phil Greaves is a UK based writer/analyst, focusing on UK/US Foreign Policy and conflict analysis in the Middle East post WWII. Thats All every body, thanks for listening. Goodnight and goodbye

Indeed, the worst of the beasts, in the sight of Allah, are the deaf and dumbwho do not think. [Al Anfal:022]"Indeed, the criminals will be in the punishment of Hell, abiding eternally.It will not be allowed to subside for them... And We did not wrong them,but it was they who were the wrongdoers!!" [Zukhruf]The Prophet (saw) said: Fear the dua of the oppressed person, since there is no barrier between them and Allah. Click on flyer for more detailsClick here to watch this talk (video)Click here to listen to this talk (audio)

October 10. 2010 - Namaan, the great General from the Syrian Army, and the Samaritan Leper had the graciousness to say thank you to God for their healing. Though outsiders, they did what no other 'insider' would do. According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Eucharist is the medicine for the soul. Are we thankful enough for this wonderful gift?