MESOPOTAMIA NEW INTEL : US Pentagon’s ‘secret army’ of clandestine operatives dwarfs CIA spy force: report
MAY 19, 2021 BY JOSEPH FITSANAKIS INTEL ORG – THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT of Defense maintains a “secret army” of over 60,000 operatives, many of whom work across the world in a clandestine capacity, with fake identities and manufactured backgrounds, according to a new report. Newsweek, which published the report on Monday, said that the Pentagon force is “more than ten times the size” of the clandestine wing of the Central Intelligence Agency, which is commonly associated with carrying out covert operations abroad.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS HISTORY : What We Did – How the Jewish Communist Left Failed the Palestinian Cause
May 12, 2021 Posted by Dorothy M. Zellner
I WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD when World War II ended, but I remember the way the war lived in our house. Both my parents were secular, non-Zionist Jewish immigrants and lifelong followers of the Soviet Union, which they believed would end exploitation, poverty, and racism. My siblings and I have memories of blacked-out windows and air raid sirens and the sound of incessant war reports on the radio, which my father turned up as loudly as possible to drown out the normal din of childhood. He raved almost daily, waving his fists in the air, cursing the “Nazi swine!” and obsessively following the progress of the Red Army, which he hoped would save not only the Jews but the entire human race. I cannot recall my parents talking about what many American Jews of that period considered the promised land, the Zionist project in Palestine.
Until the late 1940s, the Soviet Union and its Communist followers in the United States opposed the partition of Palestine to create a Jewish state, advocating instead for the establishment of a single state that would confer equal rights on everyone who lived there. In the US, this Jewish Communist left was small in number but influential. Thus it was significant that in 1947, the year I turned nine, the Soviet Union abruptly altered its position, throwing its support behind the creation of what would become the State of Israel. After a brief period of shock and confusion, the Jews of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) followed suit.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Kurdistan’s Weekly Brief, May 11, 2021 – A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Iran
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh responded to a recent report of the involvement of PUK’s counter terror group (CTG) in the US killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani by saying those who are “directly or indirectly” involved will be held “criminally and judicially responsible.” The CTG has refuted the report and denied involvement while saying Qassem Soleimani was a close friend of PUK’s late leader Jalal Talabani. The Kurdistan Region Directorate of Counter Terrorism (CTD) rejected any affiliation with the Sulaimaniyah based CTG which it said is “affiliated with Lahur Sheikh Jangi and his brothers.” The CTD statement added that, “PUK affiliated forces do not comply with the laws of the Kurdistan Region and its institutions.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS BACKGROUNDER : ISIS & IRANIAN-BACKED MILITIAS COMPETE TO CONTROL BAGHDAD REGION
May 6, 2021 – Eva Kahan INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR – Key Takeaway:
Iranian-backed militias are increasingly supplanting other Iraqi security forces and asserting control over Baghdad and surrounding areas, creating opportunities for ISIS to infiltrate Baghdad. Iranian-backed militias are also exerting control over populations and transit routes around Baghdad in hopes to eject US forces and set conditions to maintain a long-term demographic majority. Militia activity causes other Iraqi security forces to divide their attention between countering militias and countering ISIS, reducing the effectiveness of both efforts. ISIS is exploiting this gap to build durable support zones through the Baghdad Belts from which it can stage spectacular attacks. The Iraqi Security Forces must develop better local security strategies to more effectively counter both militia and ISIS campaigns in Baghdad and the Baghdad Belts.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS ANALYSIS : Security Implications of the Iran-China Deal
- By Dr. Ardavan Khoshnood BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,019, May 10, 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The implications of the newly signed Sino-Iranian deal go beyond economics. The deal also covers security matters pertaining to intelligence and military cooperation that provide both Iran and China with advantages over rival states.
The history of Sino-Iranian relations
During the rule of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Sino-Iranian relationship was strained. At a time when socialist countries in the Middle East were moving quickly to establish diplomatic relations with China (Egypt and Syria in 1956 and Iraq in 1958), Iran had close ties to Western countries and recognized Taiwan as a sovereign state. However, as the ideological and political distance expanded between China and the Soviet Union in the 1960s, Tehran and Beijing found they had a common rival in Moscow and grew significantly closer.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SENSATIONAL ! KURDISH PUK IDENTIFIED QASIM SOLEIMANI
PUK counter-terrorism units linked with assassination of Qasim Soleimani: Report
“When the target stepped off the airplane, Kurdish [PUK] CTG operators posing as baggage handlers were also present to positively identify him,” the report said.
Halgurd Sherwani – Iranian commander Qassim Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (left) and the flag of the PUK CTG forces (
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Counter-terrorism units affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were involved in the US assassination of top Iranian commander Qasim Soleimani in the first days of 2020 in Baghdad, according to a new piece of investigative journalism.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : ERDOGAN’S GHOST TOWNS IN KURDISTAN
Silvan is abandoned and deserted Nurcan Baysal AHVAL NEWS – May 09 2021
It’s hard to believe that five and half years have passed since my last visit to Silvan in Diyarbakır.
We had gathered together some aid on the morning of Nov. 28, 2015 and headed to the city with a few activists. It was in ruins. While out visiting some local families, Fırat Anlı, who was the co-mayor of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality at that time, called to tell me that Tahir Elçi had been killed and that he was in the morgue. Everything has been a disaster ever since.
Five and a half years later, I’m back. Some of the houses damaged in the period from 2015 to 2016 were repaired, very few of them were demolished. Local people reveal the government has granted them 5,000 to 20,000 Turkish liras in aid. As everywhere, agriculture and animal husbandry have decreased. There are seven or eight garment workshops. Most people find seasonal or daily work.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS THE FORESEEABLE FUTUR OF MULLAH IRAN
IRAN’S MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT DOUBLES DOWN ON “REVOLUTION”
by Farzin Nadimi PolicyWatch 3482 May 5, 2021
By dismissing the Zarif tape and calling for further securitization of government decisionmaking, the officials truly in charge of Iranian foreign policy are previewing what negotiators and neighbors can expect from Tehran for the foreseeable future.
Amid heightened nuclear diplomacy and controversial new revelations by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the leadership of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has called for a review of the country’s regional policies. Yet far from scaling back its current posture, the military establishment—often referred to as “the field”—seems intent on further securitizing Iranian foreign policy, increasing the budget of the IRGC-Qods Force, and otherwise cementing the Islamic Republic’s ingrained military adventurism.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS INSIDE : Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief meets with Syrian counterpart in Damascus
The meeting takes place during the first official visit to Damascus by Saudi Arabia since 2012.
Al-Monitor Staff May 5, 2021 – Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief met with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus on Monday in a sign of possible rapprochement between the two governments a decade after relations were severed.
London-based Rai al-Youm news outlet reported that Gen. Khalid al-Humaidan’s met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his trusted intelligence chief Ali Mamluk to discuss restoring diplomatic ties after the Eid al-Fitr holiday later this month.
The Guardian independently confirmed that Humaidan met with Mamluk.
The Saudi visit is the first of its kind since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2012. Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have also signaled interest in restoring ties with the Assad regime in recent months.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : THE ANTI-KURDISH (ANT-PKK) INVASION OF TURKS IN IRAQ HAS STOPPED !
5 May 2021 – The Turkish Defence Minister underlined the “high tech” equipment that the Kurdish fighters have been using. “They have remote-controlled Dochkas. Even if the air forces are able to hit them, they [Kurdish fighters] somehow ensure their own safety. They use sniper rifles we call the Zagros. They have the Bixi [PK machine gun], the RPG [Russian hand-held disposable anti-tank grenade launcher], the kalashnikov. They also use the kalashnikovs with silencers. They have bazookas. They have various high-tech war systems,” Akar said.
Turkish Defence Minister: ‘Our helicopters are unable to land’
As Turkey’s cross-border operations in northern Iraq continue, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar shared critical information regarding the “challenges” that the Turkish military faces in the battle against Kurdish fighters.
12:20 pm 04/05/2021MEDYA NEWS
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