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Israel's military is told to prepare to defend a Druze community outside Syria's capital Story by AP • 3h • 2 min read Syria Israel© Omar Sanadiki JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense ministry on Saturday said the military has been instructed to prepare to defend a Druze settlement in the suburbs of Damascus, asserting that the minority it has vowed to protect was “under attack” by Syrian forces. The statement, citing an order from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, follows an Israeli warning last weekend that the forces of neighboring Syria’s new government and the insurgent group that led last year’s ouster of former President Bashar Assad should not enter the area south of Damascus. Saturday’s statement indicates that Israeli forces could push farther into Syria as its new authorities try to consolidate control after more than a decade of civil war. Israeli forces recently set up posts in a buffer zone and on strategic Mt. Hermon nearby. There have been no major clashes between Israeli troops and Syria's new forces. “We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze. If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us,” the statement said. There was no immediate response from Syria's government. The Druze are a religious minority who live in southern Syria and in Israel’s Golan Heights, where they navigate their historically Syrian identity while living under Israeli rule. Israel’s statement followed the outbreak of unrest Friday in the Druze settlement of Jaramana, when a member of the security forces entered and started shooting in the air, leading to an exchange of fire with local gunmen that left him dead. On Saturday, gunmen came from the Damascus suburb of Mleiha to Jaramana, where they clashed with Druze gunmen. That left one Druze fighter dead and nine other people wounded, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor. The Israeli warning last Sunday to Syrian forces and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main former rebel group, made clear that Israeli forces would stay in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period. “We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Sweida from the forces of the new regime,” that earlier statement said. “Likewise, we will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria.” After the fall of Assad in December, Israel seized the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory. The zone was set up under a 1974 ceasefire agreement. Syria’s new authorities and U.N. officials have called for Israel to withdraw. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s government has been under pressure to protect Israelis living near border areas in the north as it tries to return residents of the north to their homes.

AFP Trump says could support using US military against Americans Story by AFP Donald Trump issued a sinister election-related threat to "radical" leftists Sunday, saying he could support US military force against Americans he described as "the enemy from within" if they disrupt the vote next month. "I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroyed our country," Trump told Fox News show "Sunday Morning Futures," referring to American citizens as opposed to migrants he criticizes for flooding into the country. "We have some very bad people, we have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they're the -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military," Trump said. "Because they can't let that happen." The Republican former president was responding to a question about what he expects will transpire on Election Day, after President Joe Biden said last week that while he believed the vote would be free and fair, he did not know "whether it will be peaceful." Trump claimed in his remarks that fellow Americans are "more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries." The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival in the presidential race, swiftly pushed back on the Republican's extraordinary remarks. "I know people have grown numb to Trump over the past decade, but this should be shocking" to Americans, said Ian Sams, a Harris campaign spokesman. "Donald Trump is suggesting that his fellow Americans are worse 'enemies' than foreign adversaries, and he is saying he would use the military against them," Sams said. "Taken with the Supreme Court's decision to give presidents immunity (for their official actions as commander in chief), and Trump's vow to be a 'dictator on day one' willing to allow the 'termination' of the Constitution... Scary stuff," he added on social media platform X. Trump has alleged widespread fraud after his 2020 defeat to Biden and continues to repeat the baseless and widely debunked claim that he did not lose. Pro-Trump rioters, riled up by his false claims, ransacked the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 in a vain attempt to halt the election's certification. Following two failed assassination attempts on Trump in as many months, the Republican reportedly has requested to use a military aircraft in the final weeks of the campaign. mlm/st

Texas Newspaper Issues Warning About Secession Story by Natalie Venegas • 2mo • 5 min read Texas could have its own military "within weeks" if Governor Greg Abbott dramatically increased funding and recruitment for its State Guard, a leading independence campaigner said. Daniel Miller, the president of Texas Nationalist Movement, a secessionist organization, discussed strengthening the State Guard during a "Late Night Coffee Talk Live" question and answer session on May 8. In recent months, tensions have surged between Texan authorities and the federal government over subjects such as illegal immigration and reform to Title IX anti-discrimination legislation in education. On January 22, the Supreme Court ruled that federal agents could remove razor wire placed along the border with Mexico on Abbott's orders by Texas National Guard troops. In response, Abbott said his state was being "invaded" and invoked its "constitutional authority to defend and protect itself," leading some Democrats to argue that the Texas National Guard should be brought under federal control. During his Q&A session, which the TNM broadcast on Facebook, Miller was asked whether there were "any plans to pressure Abbott to convert the Texas National Guard into State Guard to circumvent federalization?" Miller said: "We've said that the State Guard should be fully militarized, should be fully funded. It's our belief that Operation Lone Star should have been funds shifted for a full militarization and deployment of the State Guard. "Open that enlistment wide up for prior service military to come in there. We could effectively, within weeks, have our own military." Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in 2021 as a collaboration between the Texas Military Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety. On April 12, the governor announced that 507,200 migrants suspected of entering the country illegally had been detained under the program. Newsweek has contacted Governor Greg Abbott and Daniel Miller for comment by email and X direct message, respectively. In 2017, the Texas Military Department reported, the Texas National Guard had about 21,000 members, while the Texas State Guard had almost 1,900 personnel. Miller said federal authorities had an incentive to try to weaken the Texas National Guard. "We're seeing the federal government already start to make these underhanded attempts to sap the National Guard, and I would say that Governor Abbott is going to be in a bit of a predicament here, particularly with the border issue where it is. "If the federal government senses that there is a weak spot there that they can exploit, where they can sap the National Guard from the state, then Texas will have no choice but to double down on the state guard." In February, a survey conducted exclusively for Newsweek found that in a hypothetical independence referendum, 23 percent of Texans would vote for the state to become "an independent country," while 67 percent would support Texas remaining "a state within the United States." Speaking to Newsweek in December, Joshua Blank, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, said he didn't believe Texas could leave the U.S. peacefully. He said: "I think history has made clear that there is no plausible scenario in which Texas could peacefully extract itself from the United States, even were that the will of its populous—which there is no indication of to my knowledge."

News|Military Iran thwarts drone attacks on Isfahan military site Iranian defence ministry says a loud blast heard in Isfahan was caused by ‘unsuccessful’ drone attacks. Members of the Iranian Army take part in a military exercise in Isfahan on September 8, 2022. [File: Handout/WANA via Reuters] Published On 29 Jan 202329 Jan 2023 Iran’s defence ministry has reported several drone attacks on a military plant in the country’s central city of Isfahan. The attacks were “unsuccessful” and there were no casualties, the ministry said in a statement early on Sunday. “One of [the drones] was hit by the … air defence and the other two were caught in defence traps and blew up,” said the statement carried by the state news agency, IRNA. “Fortunately, this unsuccessful attack did not cause any loss of life and caused minor damage to the workshop’s roof,” it said. The ministry did not say who was suspected of carrying out the attack. The statement came shortly after Iranian media reported a loud blast in Isfahan. News agencies published a video showing a flash of light at the plant, said to be an ammunitions factory, and footage of emergency vehicles and fire trucks outside the plant. The ministry said the attack “has not affected our installations and mission … and such blind measures will not have an impact on the continuation of the country’s progress”. Reports of the drone attacks in Isfahan also came as Iran’s state TV also said a fire had broken out at an oil refinery in an industrial zone near the northwestern city of Tabriz. It said the cause was not yet known as it showed footage of firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze. There have been several explosions and fires around Iranian military, nuclear and industrial facilities in the past few years. Sign up for Al Jazeera Week in the Middle East Catch up on our coverage of the region, all in one place. Sign up By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy They come amid a long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel. The two countries are at loggerheads over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Israel says Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, an allegation Tehran denies. In July last year, Iran said it had arrested a sabotage team made up of Kurdish fighters working for Israel who planned to blow up a “sensitive” defence industry centre in Isfahan. Iran also blamed Israel for the assassination of its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, in 2020, as well as an attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility in April 2021 that damaged its centrifuges. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s secret military units or its Mossad intelligence agency. SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

Salam all, I uploaded a new vlog on Iran's F-14 and the hunt for spare parts. Hope you like it and would appreciate any feedback. If you have suggestions for other topics, please let me know. Description: Iran Military Vlog episode 4 discusses the IRIAF's endeavor to keep its fleet of F-14As flying. Under the Shah, Iran became the only country in the world authorized to purchase the interceptor aircraft as a joint US-Iranian project to deter habitual incursions by the Soviet Union. Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, all maintenance support for the Tomcat ended and a sanctions regime denied Iran all access to spare parts. Because the F-14's sensitive maintenance knowledge was denied to Iran as part of the initial deal, the Tomcat was expected to remain non-operational. This vlog problematizes that enduring myth.

Salam Alaikom. What is Religion? We must know about religion, what it is, to develop to know our position to it. How can we practice Islam that is a religion-not any religion but religion to the whole creation beyond derby -, without knowing about what religion is. Sure all are good and excellent followers of Islam, but Islam is a religion so what is religion again! What specific thoughts occur in you, please let us know. If it is not cool to mention I, AGAIN I AM, than maybe we should use 'you'- hmm how logical is this sentence -. Our scholars say religion has three parts-or 3 whatever - that is: Ahklaq, Aqaed and fiqh- respectively Ethic-ethical morality, belief and jurisprudence-Islamic law -. If any religion misses one of these parts, that religion is defected, handicap,or either sick but can we say it is no religion! Why Islam is the last holy religion to humanity? You have probably confronted the above question in your life! In this topic following questions should be dealt with: What is religion? What is a defected religion? If we accept the concept of religion, than why should we accept Islamic religion and not any other Ibrahimic religion; what answer is needed here? Why Islam the final stage, what can we say about the development of religion because we read in the holy Quran, some Prophets Peace upon Them said that we are muslim! Hope this topic is successful Allah will, and this 'riter a excellent host to guests participating in this topic. Please leave your view and thoughts, this servant will be frugal in using posts to develop text in this regard.

Salam all, This is my first real effort at making a vlog. It discusses how and when Saddam Hussain was capable of using WMDs against Iranian troops and Iraqi civilians during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). It also offers a short timeline. Your feedback is much appreciated! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1nCJ55wAaQ

Hello guys, Started a new YouTube channel the other day on Iran's military/industry and thought you might be interested! The upcoming video on chemical warfare during the war Saddam Hussein waged against Iran during the 1980s will be up after this weekend. Here's my short introduction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXvqSQWvlkM You can stay updated by doing the following: -Regularly check ShiaChat -Subscribe to my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iranmilitaryvlog -Like my Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/iranmilitaryvlog Thanks!

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