Qatar continues to finance extremists: Al Jubeir
Cairo: Qatar has continued to support terrorist and militant groups despite a pledge to stop doing this, a Saudi minister has said, amid a bitter diplomatic row between the two neighbours.
Orientul Mijlociu
Will the EU Follow Britain in Banning Hezbollah?
Counterpoint host Daniel Schwammenthal is joined by Geoffrey Van Orden, British Member of the European Parliament, and Tommaso Virgili, Visiting Fellow at the Martens Centre for European Studies, to discuss the UK’s decision to ban Hezbollah in its entirety and the prospects for the EU to follow suit. Will Brussels end the artificial distinction between the “military” and “political” arms of Iran’s terror proxy?
France Welcomes the Saudis, Condemns Critics of Islam
“Mohammed Al-Issa, who heads the World Islamic League, is credited for more than 500 executions when he was Minister of Justice of Saudi Arabia from 2009 to 2015, and countless orders of torture including the conviction of the famous Raif Badawi with 1.000 lashes.” — Michel Taube, Le Figaro, September 16, 2019.
Extremist Content Online: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Releases Second Video in 2019
istribution of Propaganda From ISIS Leader Matches Scope of Previous April Video
New Address by ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
(New York, N.Y.) – On September 16, 2019, ISIS’s al Furqan Media Foundation released an address by the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Titled “And Say, Act,” the speech was widely released on Telegram and various audio, video, and file sharing platforms. Baghdadi’s last prior public communication was on April 29, 2019.
US Adversaries: Nothing to Fear from the White House?
This [shooting down a US Navy drone] was a clear-cut act of provocation against the US in violation of international law, one that required a firm and decisive response from the White House.
Riyadh and Tehran Inch Closer to War
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, labeling the recent attack on Saudi oil infrastructure as an ‘act of war.’
Are There Still “Red Lines” in the Middle East?
The September 14 strike on Saudi critical energy infrastructure by Iran or one of its allies directly challenges U.S. regional and global interests.
The attack demonstrates Iran’s ability to cause severe damage through precision strikes.
Facebook still auto-generates Islamic State and al-Qaida pages
In the face of criticism that Facebook is not doing enough to combat extremist messaging, the company likes to say that its automated systems remove the vast majority of prohibited content glorifying the Islamic State group and al-Qaida before it’s reported.
The Use of Drones in Unconventional Warfare
Drones have become a trusted tool in the arsenal of non-state actors seeking to engage in asymmetric attacks against a more powerful adversary.
Next for Turkey? Nuclear Weapons!
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan now wants to make Turkey a rogue state with nuclear weapons.
For several decades, Turkey, being a staunch NATO ally, was viewed as the trusted custodian of some of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In the early 1960s, the U.S. started stockpiling nuclear warheads at the Turkish military’s four main airbases.