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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/13/2017 11:11:52 AM
Hizbullah’s armoury is growing
Israel fears the increasing strength of the Party of God



| ARSAL


FROM a rocky outcrop overlooking a limestone quarry in the desolate valley below, a fighter from Hizbullah surveys what just days before had been territory controlled by militants linked to al-Qaeda. “There were snipers behind every rock,” recalls the young man with a wispy moustache. The operation to drive the jihadists from their mountain lair on Lebanon’s north-east border with Syria began on July 21st. It took only a week for Hizbullah to defeat its militant rivals, adding yet another victory to its growing list of military achievements since war broke out in Syria six years ago.

Along with Russian air power and Iranian military aid, Hizbullah’s ground units have kept the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s blood-soaked president, in power. The cost has been high. About 2,000 of the group’s fighters, out of a total of perhaps 15,000 (excluding reservists), have died on Syria’s front lines. But the conflict has also transformed Hizbullah, a Lebanese militia-cum-political party. Hardened by the fighting and flush with arms from Iran, it now more closely resembles a regular—and quite effective—army. That worries Israel, its traditional adversary.

Hizbullah’s roots date back to the early 1980s, when Iran’s Revolutionary Guard trained Shia militants to harass the Israeli soldiers then occupying southern Lebanon. The group honed its guerrilla tactics, including car bombs and assassinations, during Lebanon’s civil war. It claimed victory when Israeli forces withdrew from the south in 2000 and fought them to a bloody stalemate again six years later. But during its campaign in Syria Hizbullah has adopted more conventional tactics, and gained a bigger arsenal. It has used tanks, guided missiles and a fleet of drones and fought across deserts, mountains and cities.

Israeli officials report, with some alarm, that Hizbullah has 17 times more rockets than it did a decade ago. The weapons are also more sophisticated, and are said to include anti-aircraft missiles. Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah’s leader, says his rockets can now reach anywhere in Israel, including its nuclear reactor in the south and a chemical plant in the north. Israeli war planners are taking the boast seriously.

So far Israel has confined its response to actions inside Syria, where it has occasionally bombed weapons caches and Iranian arms convoys bound for Hizbullah. But Israeli officials say Iran is now building missile factories inside Lebanon. That could provoke Israeli strikes within the country. Iranian efforts to build up Hizbullah and other proxy forces on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights—thus opening up a second front against Israel—may also trigger a tougher Israeli response that could spark another conflict.

Both sides have reason to fear that the next war may be even worse than the last. Israel argues that the line between the Lebanese state and Hizbullah has blurred in recent years. So if the group launches attacks, Israel should send the entire country “back to the Middle Ages”, says Naftali Bennett, the education minister. Factories, power plants and other major infrastructure are legitimate targets, he says. Mr Nasrallah says he will muster “hundreds of thousands” of volunteers from across the Arab world to fight Israel. A miscalculation by either side could prove devastating.

New friends, with benefits

Hizbullah’s pan-Arab appeal has been damaged by its role in Syria’s sectarian-hued conflict. But it is growing stronger in Lebanon, where it has built new alliances. The group, which is Shia, has stoked Christian fears of Sunni refugees from Syria, who now make up around a quarter of Lebanon’s population. Michel Aoun, the Christian president, has allied himself with Hizbullah’s political wing. Mr Aoun says Hizbullah has a right to keep its weapons to protect Lebanon from Israel, infuriating politicians who want to disarm it. The cabinet is stacked with Hizbullah allies who support the regime in Syria and want it to take back the refugees.

This new political landscape is nowhere more apparent than in the Lebanese border village of Ras Baalbek. Jihadists from Syria infiltrated the Christian enclave in 2014. The local economy suffered as the limestone quarries and hunting lodges closed and the orchards withered. Hizbullah seized the opportunity, sending weapons, night-vision goggles and advisers to help the Christians form a militia to keep the jihadists at bay.

“Israel caricatures Hizbullah as a terrorist organisation,” says Rifaat Nasrallah, the Christian militia’s leader (and no relation of Hassan). “But the resistance is not some external force that comes to terrorise us. They are part of our society. They attend our weddings and funerals. They take care of me and I take care of them.” Alliances forged in the furnace of Syria’s war may be hard to break.

This article appeared in the Middle East and Africa section of the print edition under the headline "When the guns come home"

(economist.com)

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/13/2017 4:00:08 PM



US Airstrikes in Afghanistan Kill 16 Civilians, Mostly Women and Children

August 12, 2017 at 9:43 am

(ANTIWAR.COM) — Afghanistan officials confirmed that US airstrikes targeted and killed at least 16 civilians, mostly women and children, in the eastern Nangarhar Province, targeting the civilians as they tried to flee out of an ISIS-held district where heavy fighting has been ongoing.

The governor of the Haska Meena District said that the attacks targeted vehicles trying to get out of the area, and that eight of the slain were all members of the same family. An unspecified number of others were wounded in the attack.

The Pentagon, for its part, confirmed the attack, but insisted that everyone killed was an “extremist fighter,” and that they believed the people piling their meager possessions into the vehicles were actually “loading weapons.” Officials added that because the vehicles were in the middle of nowhere “there was zero chance of civilian casualties.”

Which would conceivably have been true if the vehicles weren’t packed full of civilians in the first place. Claims of “extremists” are common enough for the Pentagon at first blush, but with the casualties heavily women and children, it won’t stand up to much scrutiny.

This is the second strike in the last few weeks in the district which killed civilians. The previous attack targeted a prayer ceremony, and the US similarly claimed that the praying civilians were “ISIS members.”

By Jason Ditz / Republished with permission / ANTIWAR.COM


This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.



"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/13/2017 4:33:24 PM
Torch-wielding white nationalists march on University of Virginia ahead of massive rally
Aug 12, 2017, 2:40 AM ET


WATCHWhite nationalist rally turns violent in Charlottesville, VA

White nationalists holding tiki torches marched Friday night through the University of Virginia in Charlottesville ahead of Saturday's far-right Unite the Right rally.

Chanting "white lives matter," "you will not replace us," and the Nazi-associated phrase "blood and soil," some of the white nationalists engaged with counterprotesters and scuffles broke out.

Police arrived on campus, declared it an unlawful assembly, and ordered the crowds to disperse.

It is unclear if anyone was injured or arrested.

Teresa A. Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, said in a statement Friday, "I am deeply saddened and disturbed by the hateful behavior displayed by torch-bearing protestors that marched on our Grounds this evening. I strongly condemn the unprovoked assault on members of our community, including University personnel who were attempting to maintain order."

Sullivan added, "Law enforcement continues to investigate the incident, and it is my hope that any individuals responsible for criminal acts are held accountable. The violence displayed on Grounds is intolerable and is entirely inconsistent with the University’s values."

Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer said in a statement of the torch-bearing white nationalists, "I have seen tonight the images of torches on the Grounds of the University of Virginia. When I think of torches, I want to think of the Statue of Liberty. When I think of candelight, I want to think of prayer vigils. Today, in 2017, we are instead seeing a cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry,racism, and intolerance march down the lawns of the architect of our Bill of Rights ... I am beyond disgusted by this unsanctioned and despicable display of visual intimidation on a college campus."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chimed in, tweeting of the torch-bearing white nationalists, "their ideas are fueled by hate & have no place in civil society."

The Unite the Right rally, slated to take place in McIntire Park, is in part a response to the city's decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a municipal park. A judge on Friday ruled that the rally could continue at the permitted location, even though the city had asked it be moved to a larger venue.

Virignia governor Terry McAuliffe said he finds the rally "abhorrent."

In a statement Friday he said, "Many of the individuals coming to Charlottesville tomorrow are doing so in order to express viewpoints many people, including me, find abhorrent. As long as that expression is peaceful, that is their right. But it is also the right of every American to deny those ideas more attention than they deserve."

And the Anti-Defamation League said the rally is "the latest indication that the darkest corners of society are emboldened to come forward and openly parade their bigotry on main street. Hate has no place in our communities."

ABC News' Amanda Maile and Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/13/2017 5:10:00 PM

Military Surveillance Plane Has Been Circling Seattle For Weeks And Nobody Knows Why

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
8/13/2017 5:41:08 PM

YouTube Begins Purging Alternative Media As The Deep State Marches Toward WW3

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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