Category: Middle East,

CNN Exclusive: US suspects Russian hackers planted fake news behind Qatar crisis 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Middle East,Leave a comment

US investigators believe Russian hackers breached Qatar’s state news agency and planted a fake news report that contributed to a crisis among the US’ closest Gulf allies, according to US officials briefed on the investigation.

…US officials say the Russian goal appears to be to cause rifts among the US and its allies. In recent months, suspected Russian cyber activities, including the use of fake news stories, have turned up amid elections in France, Germany and other countries.

…The Qatari government has said a May 23 news report on its Qatar News Agency attributed false remarks to the nation’s ruler that appeared friendly to Iran and Israel and questioned whether President Donald Trump would last in office.

…Partly in reaction to the false news report, Qatar’s neighbors, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have cut off economic and political ties, causing a broader crisis.

The report came at a time of escalating tension over accusations Qatar was financing terrorism.

On Tuesday, Trump tweeted criticism of Qatar that mirrors that of the Saudis and others in the region who have long objected to Qatar’s foreign policy. He did not address the false news report.

…Comey told lawmakers that one reason he decided to bypass his Justice Department bosses in announcing no charges in the probe of Hillary Clinton’s private email server was the concern about an apparent fake piece of Russian intelligence. The intelligence suggested the Russians had an email that indicated former Attorney General Loretta Lynch had assured Democrats she wouldn’t let the Clinton probe lead to charges.

The FBI came to believe the email was fake, but still feared the Russians could release it to undermine the Justice Department’s role in the probe. [emphasis: mine]

: CNN Exclusive: US suspects Russian hackers planted fake news behind Qatar crisis – CNNPolitics.com

So Comey prioritized the reputation of the Justice Department over the fabric of our Democracy and a free and fair election for the President of the United Freaking States?????!

What the hell?

If that is the judgment he used on the job than thank heavens the myopic fucktard was fired.

Way to bury the lead in a totally unrelated story CNN

Qatar crisis: Can Al Jazeera survive? 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Middle East,Leave a comment

The showpiece of Qatar’s efforts to gain international influence could be under threat.

…Al Jazeera’s broadcasting has caused controversy and drawn anger in various Arab states, not least in Egypt after the fall of Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring and the subsequent ousting of the elected president, Mohammed Morsi – a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

It has already been caught up in the current crisis, with its website blocked by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain in late May.

Those nations all severed ties with Qatar on 5 June, accusing the country of supporting extremism. Saudi Arabia has closed Al Jazeera’s offices and withdrawn its broadcast licence, saying it promotes terrorist “plots”, supports Houthi militias that Saudi Arabia is fighting in Yemen, and has attempted to “break the Saudi internal ranks”.

Qatar crisis: Can Al Jazeera survive? – BBC News

Sigh. IMHO they do good work.

Iran attacks: ISIL hits parliament and Khomeini mausoleum 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Middle East,Leave a comment

Twin attacks on the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum in the capital, Tehran, have killed at least 12 people and injured many more.

After hours of intermittent gunfire, officials said both incidents were over and the attackers were dead.

The Islamic State (IS) group has said it carried out the attacks, which would be a first in Iran.

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards accused Saudi Arabia and the US of being behind the attacks.

.

Iran attacks: ‘IS’ hits parliament and Khomeini mausoleum – BBC News

hmmm

Kurdish journalist prompts Iraq to investigate rape, torture, ki

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Middle East,Leave a comment

Arkady explains that he was embedded at ERD headquarters in Kajara south of Mosul “not far from a US base.”

…Arkady wrote that on October 22 one of the ERD fighters arrived with two young prisoners “presumed IS supporters.” Arkady claims he was later told they had been tortured for three days and then after a week were killed.

The photos, Arkady says, were taken shortly after they arrived at the facility.

One photo shows a bearded man in a blindfold with black hair with his arms tied behind his back. He appears to be hanging by his wrists with a pack of water bottles placed in the small of this back for extra weight.

A similar photo shows a man suspended by his hands in a similar manner. His neck tied to his feet making it impossible to straighten his back.

Arkady says he was surprised that he was permitted to continue filming.

“No one stopped me,” he wrote.

…On December 16, Arkady says the unit received information about an ISIS informant. Arkady recalls the man being dragged out, while one the Iraqi fighters he was with “announced that he was going to rape the woman.”

In one photo Arkady says was taken that night a woman is clutching a baby in a room as someone opens the door. She appears to be crying out and pointing at the person opening the door.

Arkady claims that the abuse wasn’t only directed at ISIS fighters and informants; Sunni members of the unit also raped Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary fighters.

Arkady works for a US-based photo agency, and said he was surprised when he was asked to participate in the beatings. 

“I come from Khanaqin, a small city in the north-east of Iraq, where the Kurdish and Arabic parts meet. With us, it was always normal that Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Arabs live side by side and together,” Arkady wrote.

He wrote that shortly after he went back to Khanaqin to get his wife and daughter, and then fled from Iraq.

Kurdish journalist prompts Iraq to investigate rape, torture, ki

hmmm

Turkey summons US ambassador over Washington brawl 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Middle East,Leave a comment

Turkey has summoned the US ambassador in the aftermath of last week’s brawl in Washington DC which left nine people hospitalized by Turkish Security forces in an unprovoked attack.

Turkey summons US ambassador over Washington brawl – CNNPolitics.com

Dive on in through the looking glass… The fact that this story even happened is a pretty damn good indicator both of the Cheetos in Cheif and his team’s incompetence and the fact that they are puppets in the pocket of foreign leaders.

Donald Trump Committed Another Impeachable Offense This Week 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Middle East,, Military,Leave a comment

On Wednesday, US forces carried out more unauthorized airstrikes on pro-government forces in Syria. Though the Constitution explicitly states that the legislative branch, not the executive, has the power to initiate new military actions, Trump has steered the United States deeper into the Syrian conflict.

 

[Congressman Ted Lieu] issued a statement:

For the second time in as many months, the US military has conducted airstrikes against pro-Assad forces in Syria. The Trump Administration does not have congressional authorization to carry out military strikes against the Assad regime. Furthermore, the situation that led to today’s strike is precisely why I warned against getting further entangled in the Syrian civil war without a clear strategy. President Trump needs to explain his plan for Syria to Congress and the American people.

Donald Trump Committed Another Impeachable Offense This Week | The Nation

hmmm

Melania Trump eschews headscarf in Saudi Arabia 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Middle East,Leave a comment

That’s not uncommon, illegal or even particularly impolite. While Islamic women are required by sharia law to cover their heads in public, there’s no such expectation for western women. And King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud greeted Melania Trump warmly at the airport, even shaking her hand — again, something forbidden between unrelated Saudi men and women but allowed for foreigners.

So none of this would be an issue, except for the fact that President Trump himself made it one — when Barack Obama was president.

“Many people are saying it was wonderful that Mrs. Obama refused to wear a scarf in Saudi Arabia, but they were insulted,” Trump tweeted. “We have enuf enemies.”

Melania Trump eschews headscarf in Saudi Arabia — and it’s not an insult

Cheeto in Chief is such a woman-fearing loser.

Palestinians and settlers talk about peace in a shack in “The Field”

On By peanutgallerynhIn Middle East,Leave a comment

So about three years ago, he built a small shack on a plot of land owned by his family in Gush Etzion, one of the large West Bank settlement blocs, and invited some settlers to join him in a new grassroots initiative. They would look each other in the eye for once, talk about their fears and dreams, pray together, plant crops together, share meals together, hike together, and start thinking out of the box about how to live together.  He gave the space this unpretentious name: “The Field.”

…In the fall of 2015, barely a year after the initiative was launched, Gush Etzion was targeted in a series of bloody terror attacks. The fresh wave of violence challenges the bonds that have been painstakingly forged between the Palestinian and settler peace activists.

In a particularly charged scene, following the stabbing to death of a 25-year-old Israeli woman at the Gush Etzion junction, Abu Awwad tries to explain to a group of agitated settlers gathered in his shack why it is difficult for most Palestinians to sympathize with them. The two sides in this conflict, he cries out, are not equals.

“After we leave this place, you go back to your nice settlements, and we go back to our refugee camps,” he says. “You call us murderers and criminals, but you are sitting on our places of livelihood, you are sitting on our homes, and you are sitting on our hearts – not as partners, though.”

Palestinians and settlers tried to make peace on their own, and then this happened – Israel News – Haaretz.com

hmmm

‘Stark choices’ for 450,000 civilians trapped amid fighting in Mosul’s Old Town

On By peanutgallerynhIn Middle East,Leave a comment

As many as 450,000 civilians are trapped in Mosul’s Old City, caught up in house-to-house fighting between Islamic State and Iraqi government forces and cut off from aid, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday.

 

‘Stark choices’ for 450,000 civilians trapped amid fighting in Mosul’s Old Town: ICRC | The Japan Times

sigh…