Tag: war

China threat ‘increasing’ as Xi Jinping’s army ‘is preparing for war’ says Taiwan minister

Dylan Donnelly  – May 27, 2021

TAIWAN’s foreign minister has warned China is “preparing for war” as the island country braces itself for future conflict.

Joseph Wu said Beijing has been trying to “cut off” Taiwan from the world with military actions and international pressure. Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has threatened to start a conflict in order to reunite the island with mainland China.

Mr Wu was asked what he believes Beijing’s intentions are in the wake of increased military drills and aggression.

The minister said: “I think Beijing has been preparing for war against Taiwan, and that is what we have been seeing. They are preparing for it.

“If you look at the number of sorties (attacks from troops), it’s around 2,900 times last year. So, the threat has been increasing.

“And when we examine in a closer way, the Chinese sometimes even cross the middle line of the Taiwan Strait.”

Speaking to PBS reporter Nick Schifrin, the minister suggested Beijing is “forcing” other countries to cut ties with Taiwan.

He told the programme he believes “they are also trying to cut off Taiwan from the international society”, suggesting Beijing wants Taiwan out of the World Health Organisation and other bodies.

Mr Wu then added: “They are forcing other countries not to have official contact with us. And, moreover, Chinese are also engaging in cognitive warfare.

“They use cyberattack, disinformation, and something similar to disrupt the democratic process here in Taiwan, to create a conflict in between the government and the society, or to create a distrust between Taiwan and our major ally, which is the United States.”

Since the start of the year, Chinese warplanes have been scrambled over Beijing in preparation for a potential conflict.

PBS reports that Chinese jets have carried out the incursions almost daily.

https://www.express.co.uk

WATCH: Palestinians Riot Again at Al-Aqsa Mosque; Israeli Police Enter Compound

Joel B. Pollak – May 21, 2021

Palestinians rioted again Friday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, hurling stones and incendiary devices, and Israeli police enter the Temple Mount compound to stop the violence and disperse them– the same pattern that the Hamas Palestinian terrorist group used as a pretext to launch a war with Israel two weeks ago.

Video of the confrontations emerged, with anti-Israel media falsely claiming Israel had attacked “worshipers” at the mosque — which, despite being an Islamic holy site, is used as a base for rioters.

The Times of Israel noted that Hamas had called for a “day of rage” at the Temple Mount. 15 Palestinians were reported injured.

The Jerusalem Post reported:

Israel Police clashed with Palestinians on the Temple Mount on Friday afternoon, firing tear gas and rubber bullets, according to Palestinian media.

Israel Police stated that a riot broke out on the Temple Mount with hundreds of youth who threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police officers. Jerusalem District police commander Doron Turgeman ordered police to enter the Temple Mount and handle the rioters near the police station, while allowing those not involved to leave the Temple Mount.

False claims about Israel “attacking” the mosque two weeks ago, on the last Friday of Ramadan, inflamed Muslim public opinion throughout the world, and were hyped by anti-Israel critics in general.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the Israeli people for their “resilience” in the conflict.

https://www.breitbart.com

Beijing issues deadliest war warning yet as China declares it is now ‘ready to defeat’ US

Oli Smith – May 15, 2021

CHINA has issued its deadliest warning yet as Beijing warned that the US will be “defeated” if the two superpowers go to war amid a tense stand-off over the South China Sea and Taiwan.

China has pledged to rapidly defeat the US in a military conflict in one of the country’s most explicit warnings yet. China’s Global Times, which is seen as a Government news outlet, published an editorial revealing the threat in response to joint military drills carried out by the US. The US joined drills with Japan, Australia and France this week in an intended show of force against Beijing.

However, instead of backing down, China appears to have been rattled, prompting a fierce rebuke in Beijing’s state-run newspapers asserting confidence in Chinese military superiority.

RT America’s Alex Mihailovich said: “The Global Times put out an editorial saying the US would be defeated if any conflict broke out in the South China Sea.

“Many see the drills as a show of force aimed at China as Japan works towards consolidating military alliances in an effort to deter its neighboring superpower

“However the drills appeared to irritate China rather than contain it.”

He continued: “According to the Global Times editorial, the US will be defeated if it engages in combat with China in its neighboring waters.”

https://www.express.co.uk

Israel Strikes Gaza Tunnels, Palestinian Rocket Attacks Persist

Newsmax – May 14, 2021

Israel fired artillery and mounted extensive air strikes on Friday against a network of Palestinian militant tunnels under Gaza, amid persistent rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

The largest Israeli operation against a specific target since the conflict began included 160 aircraft as well as tanks and artillery firing from outside the Gaza Strip, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.

Rocket barrages against southern Israel swiftly followed the 40-minute pre-dawn offensive on the fifth day of the most serious fighting between Israel and Gaza militants since 2014.

A woman and her three children were killed in Gaza, health officials in the north of the enclave said, and their bodies were recovered from the rubble of their home. An elderly woman in Israel died while on her way to a shelter to shield from the rocket attacks.

Gaza’s ruling Hamas group launched the rocket attacks at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in retaliation for Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

At least 119 people have been killed in Gaza, including 31 children and 19 women, and 830 others wounded, Palestinian medical officials said.

The death toll in Israel stood at eight: a soldier patrolling the Gaza border, six Israeli civilians — including two children — and an Indian worker, Israeli authorities said.

https://www.newsmax.com

French soldiers warn of civil war in new letter

BBC – May 10, 2021

A new open letter has been published in France warning of the threat of civil war and claiming to have more than 130,000 signatures from the public.

The message, published in a right-wing magazine, accuses the French government of granting “concessions” to Islamism.

“It is about the survival of our country,” said the text, said to be issued anonymously by soldiers and appealing for public support.

The French government condemned it, as well as a similar letter last month.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called the latest letter a “crude manoeuvre” and accused its anonymous signatories of lacking “courage”, AFP news agency reported.

The letter to the government last month came from semi-retired generals. The minister in charge of the armed forces, Florence Parly, said they would be punished for defying a law that forbids reservists or serving members of the military from expressing opinions in public on religion and politics.

However, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a candidate in next year’s presidential election, spoke out in support of the estimated 1,000 servicemen and women who backed the April letter.

The new text was published late on Sunday by Valeurs Actuelles, although the numbers and ranks of its original signatories – said to be active members of the military – remain unclear.

https://www.bbc.com

Conflict with China a ‘high likelihood’, says top Australian general

Nick McKenzie and Anthony Galloway – May 4, 2021

One of the nation’s top military commanders told his troops that Beijing is already engaged in “grey zone” warfare against Australia and they must plan for the high likelihood this may spill over into actual conflict in the future.

The candid and confidential briefing by Major-General Adam Findlay to Australia’s special forces soldiers last year gives the most detailed insight yet made public into how the nation’s top military planners view the threat of China.

The then-special forces commander, who has since stepped down but who still advises the Australian Defence Force, highlighted the steps Australia’s military was taking to prevent war but also described a “high likelihood” that actual conflict could break out due to the unpredictable nature of foreign affairs.

“Who do you reckon the main [regional] threat is?” General Findlay asked his troops and officers before answering: “China”.

“OK, so if China is a threat, how many special forces brigades in China? You should know there are 26,000 Chinese SOF [Special Operations Forces] personnel.”

Details of the April 2020 briefing have been obtained by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald from multiple sources who have requested to remain anonymous because they are not authorised to speak publicly. They say General Findlay told his troops that, if the threat of conflict was realised, the ADF needed to rely not only on traditional air, land and sea capabilities but also on Australia’s ability to use cyber and space warfare.

https://www.smh.com.au

Al-Qaeda Threatens to Wage War Against US ‘on All Fronts’ in Rare Interview With Mainstream Media

– April 30, 2021

The US holds Al-Qaeda responsible for the deadliest act of terror ever and the killing of nearly 3,000 Americans on 11 September 2001. The terror group’s influence declined significantly after 2014 and the rise of Daesh (ISIS), with fighters pledging allegiance to the competing jihadist entities often battling it out in Syria.

Al-Qaeda will continue its war against the United States after Washington’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, two operatives said to be belong to the terrorist organization have told CNN.

Speaking to the network via an intermediary ahead of the ten-year anniversary of the 2011 SEAL team operation to kill Osama bin Laden, and following Joe Biden’s announcement that he would pull troops out of Afghanistan after nearly two decades of war, the terrorist group said that their “war against the US will be continuing on all other fronts unless they are expelled from the rest of the Islamic world.”

One of the spokesmen praised the Taliban for fighting the US over the past 19+ years, and suggested that “thanks to Afghans for the protection of comrades-in-arms, many such jihadi fronts have been successfully operating in different parts of the Islamic world for a long time.”

Sputnik has been unable to independently verify CNN’s claims that it spoke to the terror group, which almost never gives interviews to mainstream Western media and instead typically issues pronouncements via its own guerrilla networks or taped audio or video releases.

CNN took the operatives’ comments to mean that there are continued ties between al-Qaeda and the Taliban, despite the latter’s commitment under the 2020 US-Taliban peace deal to prevent al-Qaeda and other terrorists from using Afghan soil “to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.”

https://sputniknews.com

Iran is just 3-4 months from breakout, says Israeli intel. Who’s to stop it?

Debkafiles – April 23, 2021

Israel’s three security kingpins go to Washington next week to try and modify, if not halt, the Biden administration’s race for a nuclear pact with Iran. Mossad director Yossi Cohen, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, and national security adviser Mair Ben-Shabbat will not arrive as a delegation but separate and make tracks for their counterparts at the top of American military, intelligence and national security organizations. Unlike in 2015, Israel will not go face to face against the administration as it did over Barack Obama’s initiative to conclude the original nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. Instead, the government in Jerusalem hopes to modify the finished product by inserting clauses that meet Israel’s most pressing security concerns and the threats that may be left open by the deal. The three officials will try and persuade the administration to accommodate those vital adjustments and talk down its fears of rejection by Tehran.

Washington, for its part, while not sharing the current state of its indirect dialogue with Tehran, is also making an effort to calm Israel’s concerns. On Monday, April 19, US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfield, stated: “The Biden administration will support Israel as it works to counter the threats posed by Iran’s aggressive behavior.” She was responding to Israel’s unease over possible premature sanctions relief by the US for keeping Iran at the table and the ongoing Vienna talks for reviving the 2015 nuclear accord afloat. For Iran, this is a major talking point. The release of frozen funds, following the example set by Obama, will enable Tehran to boost its support for proxies hostile to Israel like the Lebanese Hizballah, Iraqi Shiite militias and the Houthi insurgents of Yemen.

Israel’s apprehension was reinforced when President Hassan Rouhani commented on Tuesday, April 20: “Negotiations have achieved 60-70 percent progress. If the Americans act honestly, we will reach a conclusion in little time.” The US State Department spokesman Ned Price stepped in to cool this sentiment by saying: “There have been no breakthroughs and a long road lies ahead.”

DEBKAfile’s military sources note that for Israel, all this palaver is beside the point.  Rouhani needs to sound upbeat to offer a ray of hope to a population sunk in a welter of disastrous crises. The Biden administration wants to convey the impression that there is a long way to go for nuclear negotiations and the US is in no hurry to hand out concessions to Iran.

But Israel’s overriding focus is on Iran’s furtive advance on its objective. According to its intelligence services, Iran hs been creeping forward to breakout time for a nuclear weapon and reached a point no more than 3-4 months away from this target.

https://www.debka.com

Israel shifts focus to Tehran’s sea bridge, strikes Guards ship in the Red Sea

Debkafiles – April 7, 2021

A US official told The New York Times that Israel had informed Washington of an attack by its forces on the IRGC-flagged Saviz in the Red Sea on Tuesday, April 6, in reprisal for Iranian strikes against its merchant vessels. The target was a floating IRGC intelligence base stationed between Eritrea and Yemen.

No comment has come from Israel to this report. The official said the ship had been hit below the water line. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said that the large ship was hit by limpet mines; the IRGC blamed Israel on social media. Located at a strategic Red Sea choke point, the ship which has been stationary for two years can provide a constant flow of real-time intelligence on maritime traffic and military vessels. Uniformed men have been seen onboard the ship, and on the deck are small launch boats that are commonly used by the IRGC.

The incident highlights five points, noted here by DEBKAfile’s analysts:

  1. The Saviz was in position for gathering intelligence relevant to any planned Iranian sea or land Red Sea region aggression, including Israeli or Saudi coastal targets.
  2. The Biden administration jumped the gun in publicizing Israel’s role in the attack for its own ends. It coincided with the opening of the first indirect talks between the US and Iran, brokered by the EU in Vienna and through back channels to revive the 2025 nuclear deal, to which Israel strongly objects. US officials released the story as a warning to Israel not to spoil the diplomatic track.
  3. Iran, normally cagy or slow to acknowledge Israeli military strikes, got in fast with a cursory report by Tanzim.
  4. All this indicates a tidal shift in the tactics used in the Israel-Iranian conflict. Most significantly, the focus has moved from Israel’s campaign to wipe out Iran’s land bridge through Syria to a drive to disrupt its oceanic bridge through the Red Sea.
  5. The Saviz attack substantially notched up the intensity of the conflict.  Most of the sea attacks until now involved civilian shipping. Israel reportedly struck a row of Iranian Syria-bound oil tankers in the Mediterranean in 2019 and last month. This year, Iran hit two Israeli merchant vessels in the Mediterranean and Gulf of Oman. But this time, the target was military, a ship called in a US report a “covert IRGC forward base.

https://www.debka.com

Russia Warns NATO Against Sending Any Troops To Ukraine As “Frightening” Escalation Looms

Tyler Durden – April 02, 2021

The Kremlin’s latest statements out Friday amid the potential new Ukraine crisis which has seen a serious flare-up in fighting in the Donbass region, along with what appears to be far bigger-than-usual troop movements on Russia’s side of the border, has raised the stakes further.

Russia has vowed it will take “extra measures to ensure its own security” should it observe any deployment of NATO troops inside Ukraine, the Kremlin statement said Friday according to Reuters.

It firmly warned against any potential looming NATO troop movements following Brussels voicing concern the day prior over the widespread reports and videos purporting to show a significant Russian build-up of forces along Ukraine’s eastern border.

Reuters reports Russia’s Friday statement and “warning” as follows:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the situation at the contact line in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatist forces was quite frightening and that multiple “provocations” were taking place there.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Taran, and “condemned recent escalations of Russian aggressive and provocative actions in eastern Ukraine,” the Pentagon said.

“Our rhetoric [over Donbass] is absolutely constructive,” Peskov said in response to journalists’ questions. “We do not indulge in wishful thinking. Regrettably, the realities along the engagement line are rather frightening. Provocations by the Ukrainian armed forces do take place. They are not casual. There have been many of them.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the Russian troop movements across the border, calling the situation “muscle-flexing” likely to lead to “provocations” for which Ukraine’s army is “ready”.

https://www.zerohedge.com