The new transitional Syrian government to broadcast a statement on all radio and TV channels imminently, announcing the end of Assad's rule. The shrine of Sayyeda Zainab is being besieged by rebels from three sides.

Syrian Civil-War Part 2 will begin now.

If anyone out there can talk me out of a dark place re: Palestine, I'll take any nuggets of hope folks have to give

Where can I get more info about the DPRK’s internal workings and why does the party general secretary appear hereditary?

HTS have a Pantsir AA system by the way, on top of other modern IGLA variants abandoned by the SAA. Just seen a video of them downing a Damascus govt helo.

They'll probably get some T-72s and T-90s in the coming days because the SAA rolled them up To Hama and then tried to do a blitzkrieg without any fucking fuel and left most of their tanks in pristine condition on the side of the highway.

Inb4 Turkey deploys a captured Oreshnik MRBM against Kobanê by January

EDIT: Emergency talks in Baghdad tomorrow morning to discuss a potential joint military intervention between Iran, Iraq, and Syria.

Danish Cyber Warfare Agency Crippled By Austerity

Denmark’s Center for Cybersecurity (CFCS), responsible for surveillance of citizens and defending national IT infrastructure, is grappling with severe austerity measures that threaten its operational effectiveness. The cuts come despite daily reports of cyberattacks on Danish institutions and a self-declared "very high" cyber threat level.

The austerity, driven by overspending within the Nordic hermit kingdom's scandal-ridden spy agency FE—to which CFCS belongs—has led to hiring freezes, mandatory overtime compensation through time off, and the suspension of essential activities such as inspections, international collaboration, and participation in knowledge-sharing conferences. Additionally, CFCS has canceled nearly all professional subscriptions, curbing access to vital cybersecurity developments.

The economic mismanagement stems from FE’s overestimation of future funding under a new political defense agreement, leaving the agency with a DKK 118 million budget shortfall. Despite being at a level of paranoia not seen since the Cold War, the Danish state still adheres to neoliberal budgetary orthodoxy, forcing cost-cutting across CFCS. These measures, combined with red tape and uncertainties in transferring CFCS to a new Ministry for Civil Security and Preparedness, have left the organization in disarray.

Experts warn that the cuts will hinder Denmark's ability to address cyber threats, jeopardize critical infrastructure, and risk the loss of skilled personnel.

• Source: DR (state media), December 3rd, 2024

Vice-Chair Of Denmark's Naturalization Committee Resigns In Protest Over Racist Interviews

Helene Brydensholt, MP for the small green radlib "Alternative" party and vice-chair of the Integration and Naturalization Committee in Denmark's rubber-stamp parliament, has resigned in protest against new "mindset interviews" being conducted for the first time as part of the Danish citizenship process. These interviews target three applicants who, despite meeting all stated criteria for citizenship, have been singled out for questioning by the parliamentary committee about their "democratic mindset" due to controversial social media posts. Legal experts have warned that the interviews violates several basic legal principles and can be in violation of international law.

• Source: DR (state media), December 2nd 2024

Well it seems this will be retired

average amerikkkka ambassador

A United States Navy P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft is currently observing the Russia airbase in Latakia, as Russian transport aircraft continue to leave.

Iranian jets, both from Mahan Air and the IRGC, continue to also make evacuation flights. C5SKY, the private jet that was suspected to be used by the Syrian government for evacuation flights to the UAE over the past few days, was also spotted, and followed by US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, again.

South Korea: Martial law troops storm Lee Jae-myung's office... Attempting to arrest Han Dong-hoon and Woo" -Yonhap

Israel sure ain't wasting any time, dammit

Yo news nerds almayadeen is a good news site right?

Several uprisings have broken out simultaneously in Daraa province in southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Local radicals, inspired by the victories of militants in Hama and Homs , captured several villages, took weapons and equipment from local soldiers and police, including armored vehicles and even tanks, and took them prisoner.

This region has always been problematic and was considered the "cradle of the revolution", which was brought back under control only after heavy fighting and a series of successive processes of application with the removal of the most inveterate radicals. But it is obvious that in Daraa there were still many opponents of Assad, who have now raised their heads.

All of this gnostic talk kind of proves the pitfalls of supporting any religion based resistance movement. It's not very deep, people are just losing faith. (Ironically alawites are influenced by gnosticism too which is probably partly why they are in such danger right now, remember what happened to the melek taus worshippers)

Now is the time for honesty. The honest issue here is that the axis of resistance requires a strong Iran and a strong Russia. This is probably why Israel let October 7th happen, it was the worst possible timing for an intifada. At the end of the day, Hamas is a Muslim brotherhood offshoot that supported Syrian rebels, the fact that hezbollah even helped them at all was an act of mercy that explains the initial hesitation.

As for the future of Syria, the knives are already coming out. The new Bin Laden is talking about legal principles for the protection of minorities, but I am pretty sure he just means jizzya taxes and other tolerances of people of the book that is already found in sharia. (Not sure if that applies to alawites since sunnis view them as super heretics) He also talked about communal confederalism (Occalan's comunalism winning in Syria was not on my bingo card) which is probably why I am hearing rumors that Erdogan is about to sanction him. (Will confirm later)

As this goes on greater Israel expands past the Golan heights. The question here is how they deal with a Druze breakaway state and if they think attacking Latakia is worth missing off Russia and clearing the board for Erdogan, the true winner of the Biden administration. (He helped orchestrate the defeat of both Armenia and Syria, neo ottomanism is going to replace axis of resistance talk for the next two decades.

So is there going to be some sort of accountability from the users and mods here who spent this whole week calling everyone who was saying this situation was bad a "doomer" and accusing people, including people from the region, of spreading CIA/terrorist misinfo and deleting posts, or are you all going to pretend you didn't do that?

This mega didn't learn its lesson from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Cradle: 60 days of uncertainty: Can the Israel–Hezbollah ceasefire hold out?

In the early hours of 27 November, the shaky ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, brokered by the US and France, with widespread international and regional support, came into effect. The fragile truce was immediately met with skepticism by many Israelis – officials and civilians – who doubted their country’s ability to follow through.

Some officials openly labeled the deal a defeat against Hezbollah and placed the blame squarely on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to achieve both the stated and hidden objectives of his war on Lebanon – particularly the goals of eliminating the resistance movement and returning hundreds of thousands of displaced settlers back to the north. A poll conducted by Israel's Channel 12 revealed that over 80 percent of Netanyahu’s support base opposed the ceasefire. Residents in northern Israel, many of whom were evacuated due to Hezbollah's strikes, also expressed outrage. Domestically, Israel was deeply divided over the agreement, with polls showing 37 percent supporting the ceasefire and 32 percent opposing it.

False sense of victory

The shock among Israeli elites following the prime minister's endorsement of the truce agreement was due to a false sense of victory. Netanyahu, along with former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, had misled them into believing that the Israeli military had destroyed 80 percent of Hezbollah’s missile capabilities, giving the impression that the Lebanese resistance movement was on the brink of collapse. Israelis watched in humiliation as Hezbollah prevented five enemy divisions from advancing more than three to five kilometers into Lebanese territory – an advance that was, anyway, tactically insignificant, as the divisions should have penetrated 20 kilometers deep.

Strategically, Hezbollah continued to target Israeli military assets well beyond the border, reaching as far as the Ashdod naval base, 150 kilometers inside Israel, and maintaining blistering attacks on key cities like Haifa and Tel Aviv. These strikes severely disrupted daily life inside the most populated centers of the occupation state, paralyzing military operations and showing Israel that eliminating Hezbollah was not a feasible war goal. Hezbollah’s missiles even reached Tel Aviv, reinforcing a "Beirut–Tel Aviv" deterrence equation. Netanyahu ultimately conceded that diplomacy was his only viable solution, particularly given the growing issues within the occupation military itself: exhaustion, injuries, munitions shortages, and limited progress.

Israel’s 60-day strategy

The unease within Israel over this agreement has led Netanyahu and new Defense Minister Israel Katz to direct the army to develop a new strategy within the next 60 days, a period stipulated in the agreement for Israel’s full withdrawal from Lebanese territory. This strategy involves two main actions: first, conducting targeted airstrikes on Hezbollah positions both inside and beyond the area south of the Litani River, and second, preventing Lebanese residents from returning to villages and towns within a 10-kilometer range of the border.

The airstrike directive is meant to reaffirm Israel's military freedom of action, in part to assure the Israeli public that occupation forces retain their ability to strike Hezbollah when necessary. This controversial clause, which Lebanon completely rejected, was part of private, unseen US guarantees to Tel Aviv, given without Beirut's consent. Netanyahu aims to portray Israel as having accepted the agreement from a position of strength while buying time until the five-member Monitoring Committee begins its work on addressing ceasefire violations. During the next 60 days, the presence of occupation forces in Lebanon will keep tensions high, requiring close monitoring of Hezbollah to ensure the security of these troops until their full withdrawal.

The decision to prevent Lebanese residents of border areas from returning to their homes aims to avoid an awkward contrast between the resettlement of southern Lebanese residents while the displacement of northern Israelis continues. Those optics would be politically damaging for the Israeli government.

Managing withdrawal and maintaining strength

In essence, the Israeli military’s strategy over the coming 60 days revolves around maintaining a veneer of strength and managing the delicate withdrawal process, which will conclude with the Lebanese army, in coordination with UNIFIL, taking full control of the region’s security. Afterward, the Monitoring Committee will enforce compliance with UN Resolution 1701, which prohibits Israeli military actions within Lebanon. This was confirmed by Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem in his last speech when he announced his commitment to the agreement and that coordination with the Lebanese army would be at the highest level.

If Israel insists on continuing to violate the agreement based on US guarantees that Lebanon has neither seen nor accepted – and continues to launch attacks under the oversight of the Monitoring Committee and its American chair, it could provoke a reciprocal response from Lebanon and possibly lead to a resumption of hostilities. Hezbollah has already fired a warning shot on 2 December, targeting Israeli-occupied Lebanese territory. This comes after Israel has violated the ceasefire dozens of times since it went into effect seven days ago. Tel Aviv responded disproportionately to the single Hezbollah retaliation, striking a number of sites across Lebanon. CNN itself admits, citing a UN peacekeeping source, to over 100 violations as of 3 December.

But both Israel and Lebanon need this agreement: their two-month military confrontation underscored that a continued war would only lead to further exhaustion and unsustainable losses on both sides. The ceasefire also came about due to international pressure, particularly from the US – a principal mediator – which sought to end a conflict that had become an embarrassment due to Israel’s disregard for international law and civilian lives. Despite ongoing violations, including artillery shelling, air raids, and drone activity, the agreement appears poised to stabilize the situation due to mutual necessity. For Israel, continued conflict would only lead to greater attrition, while Lebanon benefits from halting aggression and ensuring stability along the border.

Given these circumstances, it seems likely that the agreement will hold, benefiting all parties. Any violations should be addressed by the Monitoring Committee, which will aim to restore stability along the border, especially after the 60-day period and the full deployment of the Lebanese army.

Iranian Foreign Minister: A political dialogue must take place between the Syrian government and the 'legitimate opposition groups' (implying not HTS) Ali Larijani, former Parliament Speaker and current special representative of Supreme Leader Khamenei, is currently in Damascus meeting personally with Assad