Author: Steven Sahiounie

A counter-terrorism analyst at the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has been arrested for allegedly leaking top secret information to two journalists, according to the US Justice Department. Henry Kyle Frese, 30, of Alexandria, Virginia, was detained on Wednesday when he arrived at work for revealing classified information about a foreign country’s weapons system, John Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, told reporters. “Our investigators and prosecutors nationwide will continue to devote themselves to media leak cases in order to protect our nation from the threat posed by the rare intelligence community official who breaks his…

By Tony Cartalucci When the West’s leading media organizations attempt to convince audiences they know nothing about where Mohammed Aly – a Spanish-based Egyptian protest leader – came from, the first thing one can be sure of is they are being lied to. Protests have begun to spread again in Egypt after nearly a decade of frustration in Washington over its inability to coerce Cairo into serving its regional and global designs. Protesters have allegedly been stirred up by economic turmoil still plaguing Egypt, however familiar US-backed organizations used in the past to destabilize Egypt are turning up at the center of protest venues…

By Elijah J. Magnier Notwithstanding President Donald Trump’s announcement of the deal with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tactically withdraw US forces from specific locations in occupied north-east Syria- and in consequence to leave the Syrian Kurds to their fate- the departure of US forces from Syria is highly implausible. These US forces have established several military bases and airports, offering logistic and operational support to US forces in Iraq and to the Israeli Air Force. Abandoning the occupation of north-east Syria would result in giving up a strategic location in the Middle East, a move that the US administration is not…

Steven Sahiounie, Middle East observer Turkish President Erdogan began a military invasion in northeastern Syria on Wednesday, named “Operation Peace Spring”.   The perceived threat to Turkey lies in the autonomous state of ‘Rojava’, also known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES). In July 2016, NES Assembly co-chair Hediya Yousef stated that a federal system is the ideal form of governance for Syria. Pres. Erdogan will not tolerate an autonomous state on his border, as this could influence and inspire Turkey’s fifteen million Kurds to fight to achieve a similar state. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)…

Egypt’s government sentenced 42 people to death in September amid calls for an end to executions ordered after “unfair” trials, a report says. The London-based al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper reported on Wednesday that the figure was according to data provided by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, an independent human rights organization. The death sentences were related to 13 different cases. The sentencing papers of 21 other defendants in five cases were referred to the grand mufti, Egypt’s top Muslim religious authority, who reviews all death sentences. The daily noted that Egyptian rights groups, including El Shehab for Human Rights, have launched a…

By Paul Antonopoulos  The Missile Attack Alert System (SPRN), which Moscow is currently helping Beijing set up, will dramatically increase China’s defense, protecting it against any possible “strategic surprise” from the US, experts say. Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled these plans while speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Club last week. Russia has just set up a similar system covering its entire territory in 2017. Protection against unexpected attack Experts noted that the new Chinese system would avert the risk of any unexpected first attack from the United States, while noting that such an attack appears to be purely theoretical. Miles…

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that the Syrian military is the only power that can ensure security along the country’s northern borders with Turkey. “The solution to achieving security in Syria’s northern and Turkey’s southern border region lies only in the presence of the Syrian military there,” President Rouhani said on Wednesday. He added that all sides involved needed to help set the sage for conditions that would allow the Syrian army’s presence in the region, adding that Iran had conveyed this position during talks with Russia and Turkey in Ankara last month. The Iranian president added that security in the…

Last week, Turkey announced that it would launch a military incursion in northeastern Syria to drive away Kurdish militants from the area and set up a “safe zone” in the region to accommodate Syrian refugees there. The US said it would never back the Turkish operation and would withdraw its troops from the Kurdish-held territory. Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria has officially begun, President Erdogan announced via Twitter on Wednesday. Civilians are Reportedly Leaving Ras al-Ain After Start of Operation Peace Spring People are fleeing the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain in search of safer places after the beginning…

US Republican and Democratic lawmakers are finalising legislation that would impose economic sanctions on Turkey, which has begun a military invasion of northern Syria to clear a border region of US-allied Kurdish forces, Senator Chris Van Hollen said Wednesday. “Turkey must pay a heavy price for attacking our Syrian Kurdish partners,” Van Hollen said in a Twitter message. “Senators on both sides of the aisle won’t support abandoning the one regional group most responsible for putting ISIS [Islamic State terror group, banned in Russia] on its heels. Our bipartisan sanctions bill is being finalized now.” Van Hollen, a Democrat, partnered…

Kurdish communities in northern Syria have welcomed an offer of dialogue with the Syrian government made by Russia amid Turkey’s operation against Kurds in the region. “We view positively Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statements about the matter of dialogue between the self-administration and the Syrian government,” a statement from the Kurds said on Wednesday. “We look to Russia having a role … as a supporter and guarantor.” The Kurds believe intra-Syrian dialogue is the best way to resolve the crisis in the Arab country. Earlier on Wednesday, Russia called for dialogue between the government in Damascus and the Kurdish…