Friday, October 20, 2017

At the Hamptons Film Festival, we saw the documentary My Daughter Nora  “Ma Fille Nora” -  A mother tirelessly pursues her runaway teenage daughter, who left her home in Belgium to join the war against the infidels in Syria. Interestingly, she forms a support group and protests the government for allowing their children to travel and join the terrorists.

In London, lots of reporting on the dual threats of terrorism and RT, Russia, and Putin. "Western democracies are being targeted by the Putin regime and its agents of atavism, racism, and irrationalism," Oliver Kamm, The Times.


Germany: Iran Working to Build Nuclear-Armed Missiles - Benjamin Weinthal (Jerusalem Post)
Iran Behind Kurdish Withdrawal from Kirkuk - Dexter Filkins (New Yorker)  On Sunday, Qassem Suleimani, Iran's chief spymaster, met with the leaders of the PUK, one of the two main Kurdish political parties. Within hours, PUK fighters began abandoning their posts, making way for Iraqi military units that took over the former Kurdish positions and a stretch of oil fields near the city of Kirkuk.

Kirkuk's Kurdish Governor Is Forced to Flee - Eli Lake (Bloomberg) "Shiite militias raided Kurdish neighborhoods, and today thousands are leaving. They beat up people. This was all from the Shiite militias - the ones the U.S.-led coalition said were not there."   Iraqi Prime Minister "Abadi claims there were no casualties. We have seen trucks full of dead bodies."

Saving Sirte, Libyan City Returns To Life After Fall Of ISIS   Maryline Dumas (Le Figaro/WorldCrunch)

Hizbullah Playing Prominent Role in Eastern Syria - Mona Alami  (Al-Monitor)  The Hizbullah commander said the organization is using the recent de-escalation deal in southern Syria to do reconnaissance work there. According to a previous interview with a Hizbullah official, Hizbullah "has missiles with a range that could target Israel [from Syrian territory] without Hizbullah having to be physically present near the border area."   



Hamas Chief: We Won't Discuss Recognizing Israel, Only Wiping It Out - Dov Lieber  (Times of Israel)
Fatah Spokesman: Fatah Will Never Recognize Israel
- Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik (Palestinian Media Watch)

Turkey-Israel Talks on Natural Gas Pipeline at "Advanced Stage" - Ebru Sengul and Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu (Anadolu-Turkey)