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October 07, 2024

Palestine Open Thread 2024-240

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

> In the year since, Israeli soldiers have posted thousands of videos and photos on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

These videos and photos form the foundation of the I-Unit’s new film, which investigates Israeli war crimes primarily through the medium of the evidence Israeli soldiers themselves have provided.

It is, according to Rodney Dixon, an international law expert featured in the film, “a treasure trove which you very seldom come across … something which I think prosecutors will be licking their lips at”. <

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Posted by b at 13:05 UTC | Comments (323)

Ukraine Open Thread 2024-239

News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...

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Posted by b at 13:03 UTC | Comments (215)

October 06, 2024

Palestine Open Thread 2024-238

News & views related to the war in Palestine ...

Posted by b at 14:30 UTC | Comments (373)

Ukraine Open Thread 2024-237

News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...

Posted by b at 14:30 UTC | Comments (264)

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2024-236

Last week's posts on Moon of Alabama:

Ukraine:

Palestine:

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Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - OT 2024-236

Posted by b at 14:26 UTC | Comments (195)

October 05, 2024

The 'Birth Pangs' Of The New Middle East May Not Be The Ones The U.S. Has Wished For

Edward Luce for the FT:

How Netanyahu is ‘running rings’ around Biden (archived)
The US president had hoped to disentangle from the Middle East. But the turbulence in the region could influence the election and define his legacy

“Netanyahu knows how to play the Washington game better than most US politicians,” says Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat, now columnist for the Haaretz newspaper. “And he has been running rings around Biden.”
...
On countless occasions over the past year, Netanyahu has appeared to agree to one thing with Washington and done the opposite in practice. Whether it is wranglings over the terms of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, or the more recent attempt at a 21-day ceasefire with Hizbollah, each time Biden is left looking impotent. “The Biden administration seems to be saying, ‘We’re suffering from a bit of autumn damp,’ ” says Pinkas. “No, this isn’t seasonal damp, it’s Netanyahu urinating all over you.

This has been the general theme of a media campaign for a while. "Natanyahoo is steamrolling Biden and the poor guy can do nothing about it."

I do not buy it. One phone call from the White House to the Pentagon would hold resupply flights from the U.S. to Israel. Without constant supply renewal the Israeli Air Force would have to stop its bombing campaigns in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen within days if not within hours.

Cont. reading: The 'Birth Pangs' Of The New Middle East May Not Be The Ones The U.S. Has Wished For

Posted by b at 16:11 UTC | Comments (520)

October 04, 2024

White House To Meddle In Lebanese Policies - Provoking More Bombings

David Ignatius, the CIA's and administration's spokesperson at the Washington Post, is peddling one of these day's most stupid ideas:

The U.S. has an opportunity to help rebuild Lebanese sovereignty - (archived)
Israel’s decapitation of Hezbollah has created a security vacuum.

The Biden administration’s diplomacy has failed to restrain Israel and de-escalate the Middle East conflict over the past year. But the administration has a new opportunity for constructive engagement: helping the Lebanese Armed Forces fill the void left by a collapsing Hezbollah and reestablish the Lebanese government’s sovereignty.

To start a column with a lies shows the way it will go. The Biden administration has not 'failed to restrain' Israel but has urged it to peruse its attacks on Hizbullah:

Presidential adviser Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East, told top Israeli officials in recent weeks that the U.S. agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broad strategy to shift Israel’s military focus to the north against Hezbollah in order to convince the group to engage in diplomatic talks to end the conflict, the officials told POLITICO.

The Lebanese Armed Forces, which Ignatius wants to promote, have a nominal strength of some 80,000 men. But, thanks to U.S. influence over it, they is only lightly armed, little trained and of no use against any serious enemy. The LAF's fighting value in quantity and quality is well below that of Hizbullah's cadres.

Ignatius is dreaming:

Israel’s decapitation of Hezbollah — culminating in the killing of Hasan Nasrallah last week — has created a security vacuum in Lebanon. The shellshocked lower ranks of Hezbollah undoubtedly hope to fill the void. But for the first time in a generation, there’s a real chance that the LAF takes control of the nation’s security and its borders, with proper assistance.

'A collapsing Hizbullah' is a wet dream of imperialist and Zionist but has nothing to do with reality. Just ask the Israeli forces which, in recent days, tried to infiltrate into southern Lebanon. The alleged 'security vacuum' hit them with all its might:

Cont. reading: White House To Meddle In Lebanese Policies - Provoking More Bombings

Posted by b at 15:35 UTC | Comments (519)

October 03, 2024

Ukraine Open Thread 2024-235

News & views related to the war in Ukraine ...

Posted by b at 14:43 UTC | Comments (362)

Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2024-234

News & views not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine ...

Posted by b at 14:42 UTC | Comments (199)

Biden Is Pushing Israel Towards Larger War

After being hit by some 200 Iranian missiles Israel has not yet dared to response to to the strike. It instead has launched new air attacks into the center of Beirut and its southern area known as Dahiyeh (which simply means suburb) with its predominantly Shia population.

Israel seems to have forgotten what attacks on Dahiyeh mean:

Hizbullah asserts that it has established a new deterrence equation: an Israeli attack on the al-Dahieh neighborhood in Beirut will be met with a retaliatory strike on Tel Aviv.
...
According to Hizbullah, the new equation established by Hassan Nasrallah is that any attack on Tel Aviv will be the response to Israeli actions taken in the al-Dahieh district in Beirut.

Hizbullah's new leadership will certainly adhere to that doctrine.

That Hizbullah has not been degraded by Israel's strikes at is leadership could be seen by yesterday's incursion attempts by the Israeli army into south Lebanon. Its special forces was immediately ambushed by Hizbullah forces. Eight of its soldiers were killed and many more wounded. Additional casualties were reported today.

Israel is now tempted to risk an all out war with Iran. There is little chance that such a war would achieve anything but an all out war in the Middle East, a rapid increase in oil prices and a severe hit on the Democratic chances in the ongoing election campaign.

Iran, who's ballistic missiles had no problems in passing Israels air defenses, has threatened an all out attack on Israel's infrastructure - electricity and gas installations as well as harbors - should Israel attempt to take revenge against Iran.

U.S. media still spreading the myth that the Biden administration is trying to hold back Israel.

The Washington Post for example headlines:

Biden works to limit conflict as Mideast edges closer to all-out war

However the piece admits that some views disagree strongly with its headline:

Cont. reading: Biden Is Pushing Israel Towards Larger War

Posted by b at 13:20 UTC | Comments (562)