Author: M Barbu

Defense Officials Explain U.S. Policy, Strategy in Afghanistan

The threat of violent extremists attacking the United States or allies from Afghanistan has been greatly reduced over the past 20 years, and any remaining threat emanating from the country can be addressed without a persistent U.S. military presence there, DOD officials told the House Armed Services Committee today.

President Joe Biden announced April 14 that all U.S. troops will be out of Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, the twentieth anniversary of the attack on the United States that the al-Qaida terror group planned and trained for from safe havens in Afghanistan. That attack killed 2,977 innocent people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. More than 6,000 were injured.

Several Top Hamas Commanders Killed in Israeli Airstrikes

Several commanders of the Hamas militant group have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israel announced Wednesday, as clashes between the two sides escalate.

Hamas said in a statement that the leader of its military operation in Gaza City, Bassem Issa, and other senior military officials were killed in the attacks.

Netanyahu Must Realize the Disastrous Implications of Civil War Type Conditions in Pandemic Times

The rapid escalation of violence, including Israeli air attack, resulting in civil war type conditions in parts of Israel and Palestine territories is deeply distressing and coming as it does in pandemic times threatens to move towards serious humanitarian crisis. The crisis can also widen, leading to violence and tensions in other parts of the volatile region.

The rapid escalation of violence could not have happened just like that on its own. It appears that Benjamin Netanyahu, now in his fifth and highly criticized as well as unstable term as Prime Minister, used a time of tensions to incite violence in such a way as would secure his endangered position in the top post of the country.

Rejecting Pentagon claim, IRGC urges US to stop ‘unprofessional behavior’ in Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has rejected the Pentagon’s claims that speedboats belonging to the elite Iranian force sparked an encounter with the US vessels, warning the Americans not to endanger shipping security in the Persian Gulf through “provocative” and “unprofessional” behavior.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the IRGC said the US navy’s account of the encounter in the strategic Hormuz Strait was “untrue” and part of an “escape-forward” strategy, calling on the American navy to refrain from “unprofessional behavior” and respect maritime regulations.

Treasury Targets Hizballah Finance Official and Shadow Bankers in Lebanon

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated seven individuals in connection with Hizballah and its financial firm, Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH). Â AQAH, which was designated by OFAC in 2007, is used by Hizballah as a cover to manage the terrorist group’s financial activities and gain access to the international financial system. Â Ibrahim Ali Daher (Daher) serves as the Chief of Hizballah’s Central Finance Unit, which oversees Hizballah’s overall budget and spending, including the group’s funding of its terrorist operations and killing of the group’s opponents. Â The other six individuals designated today used the cover of personal accounts at certain Lebanese banks, including U.S.-designated Jammal Trust Bank (JTB), to evade sanctions targeting AQAH and transfer approximately half a billion U.S. dollars on behalf of AQAH.

Pakistan: No More Military Bases for US Afghan Mission

Pakistan ruled out Tuesday the possibility of again providing its military bases to the United States for future counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan after U.S. troops leave the conflict-torn neighbor by September 11.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi made the remarks to reporters in Islamabad, explaining that his government has adopted a policy that allows it to become “only partners in peace” and not join any future U.S. war.

Retrograde From Afghanistan Continues as U.S. Officials Protect Troop Numbers

The retrograde from Afghanistan is going well, but U.S. officials are being careful as the effort is still in its early stages, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said today.

U.S. Central Command officials estimate that they have completed between 6% and 12% of the retrograde process. Airlifters have flown out the equivalent of 104 C-17s worth of materials; U.S. personnel have turned over more than 1,800 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency for destruction; and the U.S. has officially handed over one facility to the Afghan National Army.

Palestinians: Our True Goal is to Destroy Israel

The Palestinians are upset because Jews are being permitted to tour the Temple Mount. The Palestinians do not want to see Jews visiting their holy site; they do not want to see Jews in Jerusalem, and they do not want to see any Jew at all in the land that stretches from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

No one is disputing the Palestinians’ right to protest Israeli policies. Yet when the protests turn into large pro-Hamas demonstrations, with calls for bombing Tel Aviv and killing Jews, they expose the true deadly intention of the protesters.

EU Suspends China Trade Deal as Tensions Grow Over Xinjiang, Hong Kong

European and Chinese leaders are urging swift ratification of the trade deal they agreed to in December, after tensions over accusations of human rights abuses in China delayed approval of the deal by European Union lawmakers.

The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) took seven years of negotiations and was finally agreed to in principle December 30, 2020, following a virtual summit between EU and Chinese leaders. Europe said it was the most ambitious trade deal China had ever undertaken with a third party.