Author: Steven Sahiounie

A US military base at al-Omar oil field in the southeastern Syrian province of Deir Ez-Zor was attacked by unknown assailants on Friday, Al-Ikhbariya broadcaster reported. The attack coincided with the arrival of trucks with military equipment at the base, according to the broadcaster. US soldiers reportedly responded with shelling and stun grenades. US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said earlier in the week that US troops in northeastern Syria had finished re-manoeuvring as needed and that the total number of troops on the ground would remain at around 600. The movement of US forces has been causing much uncertainty in Syria since…

By Andrew Korybko The Mainstream Media is pushing forth the weaponized narrative that the Iranian government is carrying out a cover-up of mass killings that supposedly occurred during its recent unrest, though this is nothing more than an infowar conspiracy designed to make the majority of the non-violent citizens that participated in the large-scale protests suspicious of the state as well as further discredit the country’s international reputation. Amnesty International scandalously cited unpublished and vaguely described “credible reports” to claim that over 200 people were killed during Iran’s recent unrest, adding that “the real figure is likely to be higher”. This accusation is…

By Shane Quinn Africa now contains 1.3 billion inhabitants, almost twice that of Europe’s population, and the number of African people continues expanding rapidly in what comprises the world’s second biggest continent. Following five centuries of pillage and exploitation by Western imperial powers, Africa is today riddled with poverty and social injustice. Africa remains a sought after land mass for the world’s strongest states. One of the reasons for this is that two African nations, Libya in the north and Nigeria further south, contain the world’s 9th and 10th largest oil reserves respectively. Among the motives behind the March 2011 United…

By S. Brian Willson It continues to be very difficult for we US Americans to acknowledge that our political system and its capitalist economy is deeply corrupt and fixed, that we find it easier to always distract ourselves by demonizing others. In some ways, it is irrelevant whether the Clinton and Podesta emails were leaked or hacked, as the Democrats created the hoax of Russiagate to avoid severe self-examination of their own corruption and deceptive practices. The Democrats have ignored working people’s needs for at least 40 years as it became corporate. And the large amount of disenfranchisement among US voters…

Two mortar rounds have struck the Balad air base north of Baghdad on Thursday, agencies reported citing Iraqi military sources. There were no casualties. Balad is located approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad. In addition to Iraqi security forces, it is home to an unknown number of US troops and contractors involved in the fighting against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists, who once controlled large portions of Iraq and Syria. Thursday’s mortar attack comes just two days after five rockets struck another Iraqi base housing US forces. The attack on Al-Asad airbase in the Anbar province likewise…

Washington has spent “the past couple years” working to make sure its allies around the world are aware of the risks of working with companies such as Huawei, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Lisbon on Thursday. “The United States’ mission has been to share what we know, what we understand and then how America’s thinking about decision we will have to make in light of where America’s information travels,” Pompeo told reporters. He made the statement when asked about the Chinese electronics giant’s “involvement in Portugal,” Reuters reported. He did not cite the company by name, instead referring…

Yemeni forces have intercepted and shot down a third surveillance drone belonging to the Saudi military coalition, flying in the skies over the border of the southwestern Saudi region of Jizan. The unmanned aerial vehicle was downed with a precision-guided missile over the Jahfan area of the region on Thursday, the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network said. The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, earlier said in a statement that Yemeni forces and their allies shot down Saudi reconnaissance spy drones on Wednesday. “One spy drone was shot down near the border of the southwestern Saudi region of Jizan, while the other drone was downed near the southern Saudi region of Asir,”…

At least two Syrian civilians have been killed and six others sustained injuries as a result of two bomb attacks in the northeastern province of Hasakah. Two explosive-laden cars went off in the Kurdish town of Ra’s al-Ayn in Hasakah on Thursday afternoon, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported. The report further said several residential buildings in the southern part of the town and its nearby villages were also destroyed following the blasts. There has been no immediate claim for the bombings. On Monday, Turkish military forces killed at least 11 civilians, including eight children, in an artillery attack that struck…

Tehran has allegedly taken advantage of the ongoing unrest in the neighboring nation to stockpile its secret arsenal of short-range ballistic missiles, US intelligence and military officials claim. A possible offshore Iranian arsenal could allegedly provide superiority to Tehran and the nation’s military in a possible standoff with the United States and its regional allies, The New York Times said Wednesday, citing US military and intelligence officials. According to the media report, the intelligence sources declined to name the exact type of missiles allegedly smuggled into Iraq, noting however, that short-range missiles have a range of just over 600 miles, meaning that one fired…

The Pentagon may further reduce the number of US troops in Syria if European allies contribute to the mission there, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said in an interview with Reuters that was published Thursday. “The coalition is talking a lot again. We could see some allies want to volunteer troops,” Esper said. According to the agency, the defence secretary gave no indication that a new contribution was imminent. “If an allied country, a NATO country, decided to give us 50 people, I might be able to turn off 50 people,” Esper added in the interview, which was taken on…