The Shadowland Journal: Syria

Showing posts with label Syria. Show all posts

Sunday, November 03, 2019

Trump's Syrian Oil Shakedown, Plus News of Russia, Spies, ISIS, and More

Good morning USA, and welcome back to Standard Time. I have never decided whether I prefer Standard or Daylight Savings time, but making the switch always seemed to me to be rather silly, and since there is a two week delay between the changing of the clocks here in Paris and the spring forward or fall back in the States, things can get confusing.

Here on the Continent, the European Parliament has voted to end the twice-a-year change as of 2021, if the Council of Europe agrees. Hard to imagine it will not, since a query to the public generated 4.6 million replies and 84 percent wanted to do away with the bi-annual clock changes. But under the new rules each member state can decide what kind of "standard" time it wants, and some may choose to remain on "daylight." That could get problematic.

Still, the question of how we "keep time" (a curious locution if you think about it) and how we perceive time has always fascinated me. This is a piece I wrote for Newsweek several years ago which, I am happy to see, is still available on line: "Turning to God's Time'"

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I mentioned last week that I would be writing about Trump's Syrian oilfield shakedown. And so I did:

'SO VALUABLE'

Is Trump Saving Those Syrian Oil Fields for the Russians?

CHRISTOPHER DICKEY

In an appearance on MSNBC Saturday morning, I discussed the issue further, along with questions about whether the danger of ISIS as increased, Trump's efforts to roll back the clock on Russian interference in the 2016 elections by squeezing allied intelligence services, and the difference between the crimes of an average citizen and the highest crime that a president can commit: abuse of power. This is the link: http://us.wildmoka.com/c/clip/75r69v

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Here are some of the other stories published in the World News section of The Daily Beast over the last few days:

RETURN TO 'RIGHTEOUSNESS'

What Baghdadi's Death Means for al Qaeda—and Why It Matters

The faithful followers of Osama bin Laden and his successor are not mourning the demise of the Islamic State's leader. They're hoping to recruit his fighters.

RITA KATZ

ALL I WANT FOR XMAS

Britain Resorts to Wild, Populist Election to Settle Brexit

Britain is set to hold its first December general election for almost a century with both of the main parties touting their most radical populist messages.

NICO HINES

LEGACY OF BRUTALITY

Rights Group: CIA's Afghan Militias Are 'Death Squads'

Paramilitaries trained and funded by the CIA in Afghanistan commit summary executions, village-wide roundups, and other atrocities, according to a new Human Rights Watch report.

SPENCER ACKERMAN

MALTESE TEASER

Bill Barr's Josef Mifsud Conspiracy Story Is Plain Dumb

Mifsud's deep connections with Putin's foreign policy establishment and his glowing appraisals of Russia's role in global affairs show Barr has barked up the wrong tree.

AMY KNIGHT

PEACE OF THE GRAVE

The Russians Really Think Putin Deserves Nobel Peace Prize

ANNA NEMTSOVA

MAN ON HORSEBACK

Kim Jong Un Gets All Mystical—Then Launches Missiles

DONALD KIRK

THE SPIES LEFT OUT IN THE COLD

Here's How the KGB Knew You'd Be a Traitor

MICHAEL WEISS

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Monday, October 28, 2019

Bagging Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

A walk through the Parc Monceau always lifts my spirits, and the sight of this little boy playing with his red balloon brought back memories of my own childhood watching the marvelous short film "Le Ballon Rouge" by Albert Lamorisse when I was more or less the same age as little boy in the picture. But soon enough, I had to plunge back into breaking news from the Middle East.

On Saturday morning I appeared on MSNBC to talk about Trump and the Kurds and also about Trump and oil, a subject I expect to revisit in coming days: http://us.wildmoka.com/c/clip/7BKZvg

Early Sunday morning brought news of U.S. Special Operation Forces hitting the compound where the loathsome "caliph" of the so-called Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was hiding out. We ran several revealing stories at The Daily Beast, and I was asked to write a column about Trump's press conference as soon as it was over. His melodramatic cinematic descriptions were gruesome and vivid as he tried to tear down the mystique of Baghdadi and of ISIS—a worthy goal, but not one that many jihadists or their sympathizers will find convincing. And then there was the matter of Baghdadi's severed head.

The column:

OPINION

'HE DIED A COWARD'

Trump Turns Baghdadi's Killing Into a Reality Show

The president knows great television when he sees it, and he was enthusiastic about the images he was watching from the White House situation room Saturday night.

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Some of our other Daily Beast stories on Baghdadi's demise: