Image is of Assad’s presidential palace in 2013. There’s more images of it in this article, though the words in it aren’t worth reading.
Here is Assad’s version of events. I like to imagine he’s making one of those Youtuber apology videos where they sigh at the start and talk in a chastised yet somewhat defensive tone of voice.
As terrorism spread across Syria and ultimately reached Damascus on the evening of Saturday 7th December 2024, questions arose about the president’s fate and whereabouts. This occurred amidst a flood of misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth, aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.
At such a critical juncture in the nation’s history, where truth must take precedence, it is essential to address these distortions. Unfortunately, the prevailing circumstances at the time, including a total communication blackout for security reasons, delayed the release of this statement. This does not replace a detailed account of the events that unfolded, which will be provided when the opportunity allows.
First, my departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed. On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday 8th December 2024. As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia in co-ordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations. Upon arrival at the Hmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen. As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes.
With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December. This took place a day after the fall of Damascus following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.
At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party. The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.
I reaffirm that the person who, from the very first day of the war, refused to barter the salvation of his nation for personal gain, or to compromise his people in exchange for numerous offers and enticements is the same person who stood alongside the officers and soldiers of the army on the front lines, just metres from terrorists in the most dangerous and intense battlefields. He is the same person who, during the darkest years of the war, did not leave but remained with his family alongside his people, confronting terrorism under bombardment and the recurring threats of terrorist incursions into the capital over 14 years of war. Furthermore, the person who has never abandoned the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, nor betrayed his allies who stood by him, cannot possibly be the same person who would forsake his own people or betray the army and nation to which he belongs.
I have never sought positions for personal gain but have always considered myself as a custodian of a national project, supported by the faith of the Syrian people, who believed in its vision. I have carried an unwavering conviction in their will and ability to protect the state, defend its institutions, and uphold their choices to the very last moment.
When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless. This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people – a bond that remains unshaken by any position or circumstance. It is a belonging filled with hope that Syria will once again be free and independent.
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Last week’s thread is here.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel’s destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
The Romanian government cancelled the results of a recent election because they didn’t like a specific TikTok campaign. Turns out that people from all over the world were using this international platform and some had opinions on Romanian elections. How shocking! By this standard, all elections since the invention of the internet are invalid.
Turns out that this sinister “foreign campaign” that the current Romanian government used as justification to cancel the election was run by the ruling party! Couldn’t they at least point at some foreign TikToks talking about the Romanian elections? How hard is that to do!
This is an absolutely bombshell: the story about the cancelled elections in Romania is even far more sinister than previously thought.
A new report from investigative outlet http://snoop.ro/ (https://snoop.ro/anaf-a-descoperit-ca-pnl-a-platit-o-campanie-care-l-a-promovat-masiv-pe-calin-georgescu-pe-tiktok/) reveals that the TikTok campaign which was cited in the declassified Romanian intelligence documents (summarized in my post below 👇) as evidence of foreign interference - and used as grounds to cancel the presidential election - was actually paid for by the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL), the very party that supported cancelling the elections!
According to the investigation, the campaign called “#EchilibrușiVerticalitate” that the intelligence services claimed was “identical to Russian operations in Ukraine” was organized by a marketing firm called Kensington Communication, hired by PNL (the ruling party), who paid Kensington over 1 million RON for it (about $210,000). Kensington then used a platform called FameUp to coordinate 130 influencers with specific scripts and messaging guidelines.
This puts the declassified intelligence documents in an entirely new light. What they presented as evidence of foreign interference was actually a campaign paid for by the ruling party. The same party that then supported using these allegations of “foreign interference” to cancel an election they were losing.
Even more bizarrely, confronted by journalists, Kensington Communication initially denied using the hashtag but later admitted to creating the campaign for PNL, claiming it was meant to be called “#echilibrusiseriozitate” and was changed to “#echilibrusiverticalitate” without their knowledge. Yeah, right…
This means that either the Romanian intelligence services didn’t know this was a PNL-funded campaign when they used it as evidence to cancel the election (which raises huge questions about their competence), or they did know and didn’t disclose it (which raises even bigger questions about their integrity).
In any case, it seems to indicate that something extremely sinister happened in Romania: a ruling party used intelligence services to cancel an election based on “foreign interference” evidence that they themselves paid for!
Jenin Brigade reports that 237 PA security forces have been arrested for refusing the most recent Israeli-ordered operation to eliminate the resistance in the refugee camp.
Not one EU flag in sight, just people enjoying the moment
Not that I’ve caught your attention, I want to make a mini write-up about the situation in Serbia. There have been pretty massive protests ever since a train station canopy in Novi Sad fell and killed 15 people, due to inexcusable government negligence. When the news first came up, they said that it happened because they forgot to renovate it, despite the fact that videos came up of them literally fencing off the area and working on it lmao. People immediately started protesting against the government and asked for transparency regarding the technical documentation of the renovation, which Vucic didn’t want to provide. The students started honoring the victims by blockading streets for 15 minutes (for 15 victims) each day on 11:52 AM exactly (the time the tragedy happened). Vucic thought he was hot shit and did his classic move of getting his masked thugs to beat up and disperse the protesters. This, in a surprising twist, ended up backfiring spectacularly and instead emboldening the students in their message, where now they held plenums and in agreement with their professors ended up blockading their respective universities. The majority of them are now blockaded, and almost every famous Serbian singer, dancer, athlete, writer and actor has ended up voicing their uncritical support for the protests and blockades.
And if you thought this was a color revolution in any way, here’s our good friend amerikkkan ambassador Christopher Hill seen in a bus that Vucic rode today to showcase him building more roads, this time the work of a usasian company named Bechtel.
On the other hand, this is a pretty interesting move from the students with this letter, but since I figure this wouldn’t work in
since all their education is privatized, I’d really like to hear from someone familiar with 
or 
colleges, with Macron appointing his 15th prime minister (along with racist rants) and Magdenburg being pretty valid reasons for them to do this rn. Like maybe I’m crazy, but I figure sending this letter to Hasan would be a pretty effective way of getting their plight out there, since traditional media from anywhere isn’t covering this shit at all.
Or TL:DR - watch Yugopniks stream (skipped to the part where he talks about it, along with the political background). Also tell me if I should do an actual in detail write up about the political situation, because even the shit Yugo says in the stream doesn’t cover even half of it.
Panama Canal belongs to Panama, says the country’s president after Trump’s threat.
In social media posts on Saturday, the US president-elect accused Panama of charging “exorbitant” fees to cross the canal and threatened to take back control of the waterway. “Our country’s sovereignty and independence are not negotiable,” Mulino said in a video published on X. Mulino said that a 1977 treaty between the two countries recognized Panama’s sovereignty over the canal.
“Panama respects other nations and demands respect. With the new US government, I aspire to preserve and maintain a good respectful relationship,” he said. “Security issues such as illegal migration, drug trafficking and organized crime must be a priority on our bilateral agenda, as they are a real threat that should concern us,” he added
He went on to suggest growing Chinese influence in the region, writing: “When President Jimmy Carter foolishly gave away a dollar during his term in office, it was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else.” Trump doubled down on the suggestion during remarks in Phoenix on Sunday, arguing that the US has a “vested interest” in operating the canal without Panama charging “exorbitant prices and passage fees” for ships operated by US companies and military personnel.
The Torrijos–Carter Treaties (Spanish: Tratados Torrijos-Carter) are two treaties signed by the United States and Panama in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 1977. The treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal after 1999, ending the control of the canal that the U.S. had exercised since 1903. The treaties are named after the two signatories, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Commander of Panama’s National Guard, General Omar Torrijos.
The treaties were the source of vehement controversy in the United States, particularly among conservatives led by Ronald Reagan, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, who regarded them as the surrender of a strategic American asset to what they characterized as a hostile government. Support for the treaties came from a variety of interests, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and members of Congress, such as Ernest Hollings, Hubert Humphrey. More moderate conservatives, including former President Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger, both made public statements in support of the treaty.
Many world leaders also came out in support of the treaties, including positive statements from Bolivian President Hugo Banzer, Dominican President Joaquín Balaguer, Guatemalan President Kjell Laugerud, Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza, Peruvian President Francisco Morales Bermúdez, Chilean President Augusto Pinochet and Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
Actor John Wayne, who was friends with Omar Torrijos. Wayne and fellow conservative William F. Buckley believed that the Panamanians had the right to the canal and sided with President Jimmy Carter. Wayne was a close friend of Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos Herrera, and Wayne’s first wife Josephine was a native of Panama. His support of the treaty brought him hate mail for the first time in his life.
John Wayne normally:
John Wayne when he is friends with Socdem Military Dictator of Panama:
A big selection of news (and some combat footage) from Syria, the Donbass, occupied Palestine, and Yemen:
Yesterday, Syrian patriotic resistance forces (composed of former Syrian Arab Army soldiers) ambushed some of Washington’s al-Queda “HTS” proxies in Talfita, in the Qalamoun mountains area north of Damascus (video): https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,-ex-SAA-unit-consisting-of-loyalists-to-the-Syrian-Arab-Republic:0
Russian forces liberated the Kharkov oblast settlement of Lozovaya (south of Kupyansk) and the DPR settlement of Krasnoye (northwest of partially Kiev-occupied Kurakhovo): https://sputnikglobe.com/20241222/russian-forces-liberate-two-key-settlements-in-donetsk-and-kharkov-region-1121235815.html
Russian forces captured an Australian mercenary near the Kiev-occupied DPR city of Kramatorsk (video): https://news-pravda.com/world/2024/12/22/934377.html
This longer news report mentions that today Palestinian resistance forces killed and wounded several more Zionist occupation troops in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp with a thermobaric rocket strike and sniper fire: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/22/739542/Palestine-Israel-Jabalia-refugee-camp-buildings-destroyed-ghost-town-Israeli-military
The Yemeni Armed Forces launched eight cruise missiles and 17 drones at the US imperialists’ “USS Harry S. Truman” aircraft carrier in the Red Sea. At some point during this engagement, a US F-18 was shot down. Washington claims that it was “a friendly fire incident”, while Yemeni army spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree states that Yemen shot down the warplane: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/22/739549/Yemen-armed-forces-Yahya-Saree-thwart-American-British aggression-down-US-F-18-fighter-jet-CENTCOM-friendly-fire-claim
After being accused by the Israeli government of using “double standards”, Pope Francis once again criticized the bombings in the Gaza Strip this Sunday (22/12). The comments were made during the Angelus prayer, held exceptionally online because the Pontiff has a cold and wants to spare himself before his Christmas commitments.
“With pain, I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children machine-gunned, of the bombing of schools and hospitals. How cruel!” he said at his residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican.
The traditional Sunday event could not be held in the apostolic palace in St. Peter’s Square because the Pope is ill. However, Francis decided to hold the prayer online, insisting that he was moved by the Palestinian population. The day before, he had already expressed sadness at the death of seven children in attacks on Friday (20/12) in the Palestinian enclave. According to the Gaza Civil Defense, 10 members of the same family died in an Israeli bombing in Jabaliya, in the north of the territory.
“It’s not war, it’s cruelty. I say this because it moves me,” he said in an audience with members of the Curia, the Holy See’s government.
The Pontiff often speaks out about wars around the world. But in recent times, he has intensified his criticism of Israel, raising the tone of his speeches and abandoning a certain political neutrality. At the end of November, the Pope denounced “the arrogance of the invader” in Ukraine, but also in “Palestine”, a week after the publication of a book in which Francis advocates “carefully investigating” whether the situation in Gaza corresponds to the “technical definition” of genocide. In September, the Vatican leader had already criticized the “immoral” use of force in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Israel was quick to rebut the Pope’s statements. “The Pope’s comments are particularly disappointing because they are disconnected from the real and concrete context of Israel’s fight against jihadist terrorism,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted on Saturday.
What exactly is going on in Georgia? Was the current government not democratically elected? Why are protesters calling it illegitimate?
I know they’re trying to do Ukraine 2014 and all in Georgia but I thought that Georgians voted against that bullshit.
Elon Musk’s ‘X’ deleted the account of Saudi-born far-right terrorist Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, and reinstated it hours later, but with all the pro-Israel and anti-Islamic Tweets removed.
House Democrats say GOP caved to Musk in funding bill, protecting his China interests
House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut say their Republican colleagues in Congress caved to the demands of Elon Musk, sinking a bipartisan government funding bill that would have regulated U.S. investments in China.
Congress passed a separate stopgap funding bill over the weekend, averting a government shutdown.
In a series of posts on X, McGovern said more could have been accomplished. The scrapped provision “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge AI and quantum computing tech — as well as jobs — in America,” he wrote. “But Elon had a problem.”
Tesla, run by Musk, is the only foreign automaker to operate a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery plant down the street from its Shanghai car factory this year, and aims to develop and sell self-driving vehicle technology in China.
“His bottom line depends on staying in China’s good graces,” McGovern wrote about Musk. “He wants to build an AI data center there too — which could endanger U.S. security. He’s been bending over backwards to ingratiate himself with Chinese leaders.”
SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor, has reportedly withheld its Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan at the request of Chinese and Russian leaders. Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy that Beijing claims as its territory. Taiwan’s status is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-China relations.
DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote in a letter to Congress on Friday that Musk needs “Chinese government approvals for his company’s projects in the country.” It’s concerning, that Musk “has ingratiated himself with Chinese Communist Party leadership,” she wrote.
lmao
The Democrats are going with the “Elon Musk is a security threat for selling our country to China” narrative.
And yet, I would not be surprised to see the relations normalized under Trump, beneath all of Trump’s anti-China rhetoric for America to save face. China sees this as a win-win for them (though not so much for the rest of the world because the empire is going to be saved by China once again).
https://xcancel.com/koryodynasty/status/1870470848571965927#m
South Korean media reporting growing concerns about the extent of alleged shamanistic and fortune-telling influences within President Yoon’s administration, with multiple spiritual advisers allegedly operating at different levels of power.
Korea’s martial law probe has uncovered extraordinary meetings at a burger joint involving a former military commander who, after being dishonourably discharged, was found to be living in a fortune-telling shop where he allegedly practiced divination alongside other shamans.
what is it that makes south korea such fertile ground for shamans and mystics?
Statement from Ansarallah on last night’s operations against the US Navy.
Statement implies that the US shot down their own aircraft while trying to intercept cruise missiles and drones. Impressive military operation by the Yemeni Armed Forces. I wondered why they didn’t fire any ballistic missiles last night, this seems to be the reason why, they wanted to confuse the US Navy with targets that can appear similar to an aircraft. Maybe even shadowing one? Either way, they succeeded in causing a chaotic situation that lead to the downing of a US F/A-18F aircraft. That is impressive. May Ansarallah continue in their operations to dissuade the imperialists and defend Palestine.
Just going to add a tweet that Mohammed Ali al-Houthi made on the 8th March 2024, I think it fits in nicely given the current situation:
The heroes in the [Yemeni] armed forces know about the loopholes that can be exploited by synchronizing the take-off or landing of American aircraft on the battleships.
I advise the American and their ally to issue a decision not to take off at all.It seems as if the “loophole” was used. The Americans were warned, they were told what would happen months in advance, and it happened. 1 F/A-18F down.
News from Iceland:
The (fe)madlads did it! They made a new government!Socdem - People’s Party - Pro EU rightists
Their policies are of course disgustingly liberal along with some sus ones like “Revise immigration policies based on Nordic models.” but also some interesting ones like “Formulating policies on natural resources and their sustainable use.” as well as poverty alleviation and housing security
here is a transcript of the press conference
see earlier post for some context
and here is a post about the election resultsPutin on the fact that the decision to start the SMO should have been made earlier: It is impossible to name a specific date and time, but, in any case, we should have gotten our bearings earlier and understood that our opponents were not going to implement the Minsk Agreements, that they were simply leading us by the nose, misleading us. Later, Western leaders admitted this - they publicly stated that they did not intend to implement the Minsk Agreements, that they were only going to achieve one goal - to give time for the rearmament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces so that they could prepare for future military actions. And if they gave them the opportunity to prepare for future military actions, it means they were counting on them starting. This means that they assumed that there would be military actions. And we, understanding this, should have acted more decisively and promptly, should have prepared for this and chosen the right moment to start them, and not wait for the moment when it would be impossible to do nothing further. A crime can be committed either by action or by inaction. Our inaction would be a crime against the interests of Russia and its people.
The war was always going to happen. Russia was forced to seize the pre-emptive strike ahead of a Ukrainian offensive. Putin was being naive but eventually realized that it would have been far worse by just waiting for things to happen.
